He looked over the list of available powers. Enchanter was the most obviously relevant to his crafting, though he'd done very little making of magic items so far. He definitely wanted to learn more types of magic. More raw effectiveness would certainly help him do things like shielding a whole group by himself, but only with one element. He wasn't committed to any particular element, though. And for nerdy reasons, Selen was sure to give him a hard time if he became a sonic specialist. He smiled at the thought and placed a personal bet about how long it'd take her to bring that up. As for the Wand Wielder option, Tazo was making good use of it and it'd help him too. But he had a two-handed weapon already. Heh, could he make a rifle that was also a wizard staff? He ought to have a bayonet at least.

He shook his head and focused. As he'd discussed with Selen, some options had a greater payoff for the kinds of things he wanted to do. And the best of these for him was Enchanter, for a potential lifetime of making cool things.

Then, he made an unusual choice. This season he went for a point of Charm, buying it with the skills of Fashion, Deception, and Storytelling. There was a tale behind each of those. It wouldn't directly help his magic or crafting, or his combat numbers, but it shored up a weak spot in his near-total lack of social abilities. Better yet, it applied to the Music skill.

The gods' glow set him down on his feet, and revealed where he now was in their judgment.

[

Vonn, Vulin Male

Engineer 4, Mage 3

Physical: Agility 2, Toughness 2

Mental: Learning 3, Wits 2, Sanity 1

Social: Charm 1, Will 1

Feats: Balance, Harmonious Join, Freezing Strike, Crystal Integration, Well of Energy, Enchanter

Skills: Woodcutting (Strength), Candle-Making (Agility), Dodge (Agility), Flight (Agility), Staff (Agility), Smithing (Agility), Woodworking (Agility), Endure Heat (Toughness), Endure Wounds 2 (Toughness), Hiking (Toughness), Swimming (Toughness), Clockwork 2 (Learning), Healing Magic (Learning), Literacy (Learning), Caster Support (Wits), Dungeoneering (Wits), Traps (Wits), Consolation (Sanity), Storytelling (Charm), Meditation (Will)

Health (Toughness + Will): 55/55

Mana (Sanity + Will): 45/45

Stamina (Toughness + Sanity): 55/55

]

He was tempted to earn two more Strength skills at some point just to spend them and get Woodcutting off the list. But anyway, he was still someone who prioritized mental stats over physical, over social. He'd balanced his growth between the Engineer and Mage fields and started to hit respectable power at both.

Outside the temple he examined the stakes embedded in the ground. These were the kind meant to improve soil fertility, making them a form of life energy enchantment. Crouching beside one of them showed him a distinct shimmer, now, reaching into the ground. He went to the house of Ian the Geomancer, who had an unobtrusive little home and garden with an identical stake.

Ian's wife answered the door, but the man was home and at work. He beckoned Vonn in. "You mentioned the basic problem of being unable to stick a wooden object into rocky ground. If you're going to try that again you need proper tools. See what I'm doing here? This one is made to meld into the stone around it."

Vonn peered at the grey spike on the man's workbench. "I got another Mage level and took a feat for enchanting. I can see a little of the magic on this thing; looks like earth-element Mana."

It was still strange for him to use the word "Earth" in the local language.

Ian said, "Right. But Enchanting as a skill is less useful for geomancy work than for other fields, since my skill is pretty much all about making items like this. Given your low Senses, this might not be the field for you."

Vonn frowned, but nodded. Meanwhile, the wizard's toddler was tugging on his tail. He turned and grinned at the kid. Then he asked Ian, "Is there anything I can do with other magic skills and engineering to help you out? Lately I've made a new machine for carving wood and metal."

"A pick might be good for cutting notches into the dungeon ground, but that's ordinary smithing work. What I could use from you is physical containment. Something to keep monsters from trampling me while I work."

"Does that mean you can limit their movement, once the right kind of stakes are in place?"

Ian sighed. "Sadly, no. I might be able to discourage them from entering certain areas, but surrounding the whole site will mean a complicated and leaky barrier. As for that iron rail idea you mentioned, we haven't got nearly enough -- especially now."

Vonn thanked him and walked away, thinking. He paced along the river. Containment, iron production, rails, elements. Tazo's spell had been a slightly different approach using a brief wave of life-based Mana through the ground. It'd been enough to stun and damage a creature. So maybe what he needed was a way to set off a powerful burst only at the moment a monster approached, instead of the weak and passive emissions of a typical Geomancer widget. Vonn was thinking in terms of sensor equipment that used low-power electronics, emitting a radio signal to a scanner in response to a radio ping that might even power the sensor. The great Nikola Tesla had experimented with beaming energy through the air, arguably inventing radio tech in the process, but it hadn't been a practical way to send more than tiny pulses at a time. Not unless you had, say, an orbital solar satellite beaming microwaves down.

He said aloud, "So I'm thinking of this as a mix of dog training and orbital death rays."

All this speculation might be moot if that group of adventurers managed to do the conventional heroic thing, making their way to the dungeon core and destroying it. Which was fine, but so far there wasn't even a clear idea of how many floors the place had.

He returned to the workshop, where Ashfall was working with Birb on some woodcarving. Birb chirped hello and said, "I'm not ready for my third Engineer level yet. And we're trying not to waste metal."

Ashfall added, "And I'm still just a Smith 2. So we're kind of stumped. I haven't decided on a second class, and I don't want to get something I'll end up throwing away."