(Day 166) Aprilis 11th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment

I made my way out of the building and down to one of the main streets. Looking around I spotted a child, made eye contact, and showed him a copper coin.

The child made his way over to me and asked, “What can I do fer you mister?”

“I’d like to go to Rustoph’s Supplies, how do I get there?” I asked

“Well, it’s not hard but it’s a ways, mister,” the child said.

“Tell you what, I’ll give you a copper for the information, or you can earn a silver if you take me there?” I said, pulling out the silver to show he had it.

The child eyed me suspiciously. “Copper now, silver when we get there”

I laughed “You drive a hard bargain,” I said handing over a copper piece.

The child led me through the streets until we came to the door with the sign “Rustoph’s Supplies” above it about ten minutes later. I turned to the child and handed him a silver. Smiling, the child said “Thank you mister” then ran off. I smiled to myself then thought ‘he’ll probably grow up to be an assassin’ as I entered the shop.

“Good day to your sir, how can I help?” a young man asked from behind a counter.

“It would seem that my residence has a contract for you to restock my larder. I’d like to inform you of a name change at the location and see if there’s anything I need to do. The previous owner last visited somewhere around 13 years ago.” I said

“My name is Jason, and I will be right back. For such an inquiry I’ll need to get the master of the shop.” He said as he went off into the back of the shop. Within a few minutes, a heavy-set man came out.

“Good day to you, my name is Rustoph, Jason said something about a contract to fill a larder?”

“Yes, for Apolyn’s Abode in the mountains to the north. I believe the contract is magically filled.” I said.

“I know the contract, until about a week ago we were seeing some movement there for a really long time until recently. If you’re the new master that makes sense. May I see your mark, please? Need to verify you’re the master before we proceed?” he asked.

“Absolutely. First, though I need to inform you that the name has been changed to Adamantadine Tower.” I said

“Name change, easy enough to check” Just need to see your mark.”

I willed the mark into visibility and then showed it to him.

“Yep, looks like it’s changed. Give me a second while I check against the Larders, Mark.”

Rustoph moved over to a door and then said “Apolyn’s Abode.” A circle at eye level in the door shuffled through images until an image of the mark for Adamantadine Tower appeared. Rustoph opened the door and I looked through into my Larder which had recently been restocked. Rustoph closed the door, tapped the spot where the Mark had appeared before he said “Name Change: Apolyn’s Abode to Adamantadine Tower.'' Then he tapped the same spot two more times. It flashed green and the mark faded. “That’s it, anything else I can help you with?” he asked.

“Well, when I took over the treasury was a little bare. I was wondering if I could deposit some gems down here to cover some of the expenses. I found it in a stream I was walking by, couldn’t believe my luck, and figured it would allow me to keep you paid for a while to come.” I said.

“Sure, we can take payment in advance and update your account. You still want your treasury to pay the balance when we restock when your advance runs out correct” he asked.

“Absolutely,” I said as I had the nanites create and leave a copy of the Cullinan Diamond, Earth’s largest diamond, valued at 500 million dollars last time he’d checked the internet. Then I reached into my pocket and pulled it out and set it on the counter.

Jason’s eyes bugged and Rustoph coughed. “If that is a diamond, that would be quite valuable. Are you sure you want to give that to me today?”

“Absolutely, I need to make sure my home stays stocked. Though I do have one problem. I don’t know what this diamond is worth” he said.

“That’s not a problem,” Rustoph said. “I have a wand that will declare its rank, weight, and size. The rank is the most important part. Every rank above Common, a gem’s value is increased by a factor of 10.” He said, pulling out a wand. He pointed the wand at the diamond and a light brown glow enveloped the diamond. Next, a prompt window appeared above the diamond visible to all three of them.

Common Diamond 21.9 ounces.

Base Value 4,000,000 gp

Tax to Crown for Resident equals 400,000 gp

Total deposit 3,600,000 gp

Disclaimer: This value is the absolute base value before any modification due to Bartering or Merchant Skill. If you wanted to take advantage of your Skills you shouldn’t have used this wand.

“I do believe that this diamond will cover your costs for years to come. I could upgrade your stores to include rarer stocks?” Rustoph asked.

“If all costs remained the same and I upgraded my contract, How long would the payments last for each type of service you provide.?” I asked

“For your current service, I’d estimate 10 years. The upgrade, about 6 years.” He said. And sir. The amount you are depositing would last at least 10 years for one person if you were eating three meals a day.” He said.

Good to know. I did a little quick math in my head, figuring for Adaline and himself, so nine meals a day, the payment would last just a little longer than 3 years. That’s if we only ate once a day. If I upgraded, take off 30% and it’d last just over two years. More than enough time for me to find some treasure and refill my treasury or come back down and make more gems to sell. “The upgrade sounds great, Rustoph. If my math is correct, that should last just about two years.” I said.

“Is there anything else I can help you with?” Rustoph asked.

“Well, I was going to go shopping but it seems to be getting late. You wouldn’t know the way to the Adventures guild do you?”

“The Adventures guild is inside the North gate on the way to the Obelisk. Are you planning to go try your luck in the Dungeon?” he asked.

“Not yet, but I wanted to look around and maybe go register,” he said.

“It’s about a two-hour walk from here through the city. Just keep to the main roads and you shouldn’t have any problems. There are rogues and scoundrels that will attack unwary travelers so make sure your valuables are secure.” Rustoph said.

“I thank you for your concern. You two have a lovely night and may the light of Serena smile down on you.” I said as I turned and walked out of the store and North along the road. While I was walking I thought about a few things. I didn’t know how I felt about Gods or Goddesses yet but if I was going to be a Cleric, I could play the part easy enough. I Figured the Goddess would have a way to keep track of her clerics, so I thought to her. “Someday, you and I are going to have to sit down and have a talk.” I felt a sudden warmth that faded rapidly. I was immune to fire and my nanites kept me comfortable so if that wasn’t a sign I didn’t know what was.

“I walked for the next two hours and finally made it to the Adventure’s Guild. As I walked up to the building I found a place to stand out of the way of most of the traffic and checked my Personnel Interface. Only three hours had passed and I was already a level 103 Monk. Unlocking my prompts, I sorted them. I quickly discarded any that were just notifications of leveling and focused on the ones that granted abilities and skills. As I was reading each prompt I spent XP to level my new skills.

Congratulations you have reached Monk Level 1. You have learned the skill “Meditation.” Using the skill of meditation allows the Monk to become rested 1% faster per skill level in Meditation.

Congratulations you have reached Cleric Level 0. You have learned the Ability “Investigation.” This ability allows a follower of Serena to glean hidden knowledge from any writing or symbol. The chance of success is equal to 1% per ability level. The rank of the knowledge reduces the chance of success. Common 0%, Uncommon -10%, Unusual -20%, Advanced -30%, Scarce -40%, Master -50%, Rare -100%, Epic, -150%, Mythic -200%, Legendary -250%, Relic -300%, Artifact -400%, Unique -500%

Congratulations you have reached Cleric Level 0. You have learned the Ability “Purify Water.” You may purify up to one gallon of water per ability level at a cost of 10 mana per gallon

Congratulations you have reached Cleric Level 0. You have learned the Skill “Prayer of Healing.” By praying to your Divine while touching your target your divine channels healing energy through you at a rate of 1 hp per skill level per round at a cost of 1 mana per hp healed Can be used on self.

Warning: Your God has directly gifted this skill to you. Normally skills must be learned by others. Gaining class levels unlocks the ability to learn certain skills but does not grant levels in that skill or even the knowledge of that skill. As you level your class you will need to seek out teachers for skills specific to your class.