Chapter 4 As I made my way back around to the school I couldn't help but wonder at how much Storm Cove had grown over the years. It's probably best if I describe Storm Cove at this point. On the Seaward side, there were almost sheer cliffs running roughly north to south. The cliffs themselves ranged from about 100 meters tall at the lowest point, and the highest point was about 1500 meters high. For about 400 kilometres to the north and 700 kilometres to the south, it just looked like some god cut a straight line and took away one side of the continent. Only once the shoreline curved eastward did it look more like a normal shore. Scouts had reported dozens of craters like the one our town was built around, ours was about a kilometre across which was about the average. The Storm cove crater was the only one close to the cliffs though, the rest were much further inland. The storm cove crater was almost a complete circle as if whatever impacted here came straight down. Some of the other craters further inland were more oval-shaped as if things came in on an angle. Storm coves crater also had an almost vertical wall and had a huge lake of water filling it up. The crater rim was about 100 meters away from the cliff edge and Earth mages had by this point carved a big tunnel through the rock linking up the crater lake with the ocean. The sides of the tunnel had all kinds of lanterns and carvings depicting various pantheons. For defences, it had big chains that could be raised to stop people from entering, or leaving. Right above where the tunnel was a gigantic lighthouse was built. It also served as the base of the mage guild, as they like to say, everyone knows mages have to have the biggest tower in town. On both sides of the lighthouse, there were public parks, like the one I used for my meditation. The inside of the crater was divided into two. The eastside had a big platform built on stone pylons raised by the earth mages. This held all of the warehouses, harbour buildings, inns and houses of ill repute. With one main road leading up to the furthest inland point. There a road with multiple switchbacks had been made for ease of use by carts and wagons. At each switchback was a gatehouse, mostly to keep drunken sailors inside the harbour. They did come in handy during a few of the shahuagin raids that happened every few years. The other half were the wooden piers jutting out everywhere with dozens of ships docked. The main part of the town was built topside. There was a huge outer wall that ran from one cliff-edge in the north all the way around to the south. With a tower every 100 meters or so. there were three gates. one each, north-south and west. The city had three distinct feeling districts. The one around the north gate was mostly diplomats, houses of the rich and held the council hall. the council hall was built from four ships of the initial fleet. mages had helped to raise them from below. To me, the building looked like how a kid would break four toy ships and then stick the parts together randomly. This is where the council of captains, the city's ruling body, met. The area near the south gate was mostly where the common folk lived. No slums, but tightly packed stone houses, often with multiple floors. With a maze of small streets linking up to the main road that was right next to the wall. The area near the eastern gate had all the commerce buildings like markets, stores and craftsmen. It also held the school and adventurers guild building. The wide road leading from the crater went straight to the west gate. There it split off into the main road circling the city. Along my walk back I got a few messages on my HUD saying that one of my skeletons was ready to be spawned. I decided to wait until after I spoke to the authorities as unregistered necromancy inside the was frowned upon. I also needed to talk to Grim about our house-hunting. If I was to be commanding an army our place needed to be a lot bigger. We also needed to formally register with the adventurers guild. When I got back to the school Grim was standing in the lobby, our chest next to him. "Well how did it go?" he asked. "Let's talk about it at lunch, there is a lot to go over. And I'm bloody hungry." I said rubbing my belly. And I stored my backpack and blanket in the chest. We already made sure that we could leave the chest here until we found our own place. "It's a bit earlier than when I usually eat lunch. Your awakening must have lasted a while." He knew about the time differences as he went through it himself. "But as you know it takes a lot of food to keep up this pristine body." And he flexed his muscles. Ever since Grim got his class he went shirtless. The only thing covering his chest were two belts hung in a cross. Each one was to strap one of his cleavers to his back. "There is a new place I've been dying to try out." Smiling at him, I could feel that my fangs had grown a bit. It was at that point that my being part vampire finally hit me. And my smile turned into a frown real quick. "What's wrong?" Grim asked looking concerned. "Just one of the things that we need to talk about at lunch." Reaching up and patting him on the back. "Let's go. The place is right on the edge of the common quarter." Along the way, Grim tried to cheer me up. Ever since the stunt I pulled this morning, the twins had been, trying, to subtly follow him around. Each time it was that he noticed them they acted as if they were doing other things. He just thought it was cute, and a bit hilarious. He thought they were gorgeous and was tempted to ask them out after they came of age in a few weeks. "You should brush up on your gorgon mating rituals then." I joked. "You don't want to be turned to stone by accident right." "Anyways, we are here." Pointing to a small tavern. And when I say small I mean small. It was staffed by a colony of sprites. The building itself was shaped to look like an upside-down beehive, with sprites darting in and out honeycombed passages. With a few bigger openings for trays of food to be flown out. All around it, picnic tables were set up, as of course, nobody would fit inside the structure itself. Groups of pixies were seen bringing out plates of food and tankards of alcohol. "I've heard they have their own brewery inside making mead and a ton of beehives on a farm not too far outside the city" I loved that sweet drink. "And looking at the amount of beastkin here salivating over the burgers they are having the food must be good too." Grim had a huge grin on his face. As soon as we were spotted one of the sprites that I could see what a little bit better dressed than the others came flying up to us. She ignored me and flew straight up to Grim and sat on his shoulder. To my surprise, she kissed him on his cheek. "Master Grim what can we do for you?" "Master Grim?" I turned to him in surprise. "Yes, I wanted to surprise you. One of my beginning Milestones was to have my own business or be a partner in one." gesturing to what I could now read was called Meet, Mead and Meat. With the logo M3 underneath it. “When looking around I stumbled on this place which at the time was just a brewery. I partnered up with queenie here, her sprite name is unpronounceable. She is the queen of this colony of sprites. I supply the meat, they cook it up and serve it alongside the mead. As you can see it's doing great.” “The nondescript building just across the street is where the actual kitchen is and with a small tunnel under the street to the hive, it gives the impression that the food is made inside. Giving an air of mystery on how so much food can come out of such a small structure." He pointed to the single-story building. "Let's go up to the roof. There are a few tables up there that I've used before." "Queenie dear could you have the cook prepare us some of the steaks I brought in yesterday, And bring up a big tankard of mead and two glasses please." "Anything for you big boy." and queenie flew off after giving him another kiss on the cheek. "So this is why I haven't seen that much of you the last couple of months." wiggling my eyebrows. "Something like that. Part of the partnership agreement is that I Uhm, help, out queenie every two years when she goes into heat. As you know that's when sprite queens need to mate. With no males of the species, sprites can either enlarge themselves or shrink someone for a few hours at a time. Her last heat was a month ago. I now know why sprites often choose to mate with bigger races that have more stamina. After two straight days, she nearly killed me." Grim blushed. "But man what a way to go would that be." "So your the father of a lot of the sprites we could see?" I knew that the time between incubation and a queen spawning new sprites would only be a few days, and about the same for them to be full adults. "Sprites have no concept of fatherhood. And as they are magical creatures there is no genetics involved to speak of." By now we made it up to the rooftop. And to my surprise the sprites already had the food and drinks waiting, they worked fast. "Enough about me, now tell me what did you find out during your awakening." And grim sat down to eat.