Chapter 12: A "Talk" With "Friends"
You speak English? Edwin blurted out, followed promptly by him choking over his own words and descending into a coughing fit. Smallbeard- Thrandin?- said something in Dwarven, and the librarian stroked the tip of his silver beard.
Lost stranger, nativenguage of English, you said? thest part was directed at Edwin, who managed to pause his coughing long enough to nod.
Can I get some water? he croaked out, Sorry, I havent talked muchtely.
Certainly. Thrandin, would you fetch a tankard of water for our guest here? He shall need his voice at full capacity. And a mug for myself. Much obliged. He dismissed Thrandin- Edwin made sure to update his Almanac tag for him, no <em>way</em> he would remember that name otherwise- and turned back to face Edwin, motioning at a stone chair with some <em>very</em>fortable-looking cushions on it, Please, take a seat. I do foresee a very long conversation ahead of us.
Relieved, Edwin sank into his chair, his legs in bliss upon finally being given a break. He was about to speak when a knock on the door yielded Thoro-<em>Thrandin</em>, Almanac already proving itself useful, bearing a metal cup filled with water and a ck stone tankard full of some steaming liquid. Edwin gratefully epted the metal mug as it was offered, and drank deeply, sputtering for a moment but recovering, Sorry. I havent been able to get a solid drink in I dont know how long.
Truly? Sounds like a fascinating tale. First muste introductions, however. I am Rashin, the resident diplomat of n ckstone, and you are? Rashin- who Edwin took the chance to Identify as a First Inheritor of the ckstone Tapestry- prompted.
Edwin. Edwin Maxlin. How can you understand me, if you didnt even know what English is? Is it a Skill?
Very astute of you. Indeed, I have the Polyglot skill, which enables myself to make myself understood by and to understand allnguages. Very useful when examining the Records, and simrly excellent to have when, to provide a random example, a strange human speaking a strangenguage is found by a trader on the side of the road. Rashins eyes sparkled like pale emeralds, May I inquire as to what has brought you to the hallowed ckstone halls?
Well Edwin hesitated, not really sure how much to divulge, I woke up further down the mountain a few days ago, sort of wandered around for a little while, fled up the mountain in the battle a couple days ago, got stuck in a blizzard, then found the road leading to here. I was found on the road and brought up here. Wherever here is, anyway. He shrugged.
Interesting. So you dont remember how you got here? Do you have any other holes in your memory? Rashin sipped his drink, though Edwin had still yet to see the dwarfs mouth. Did the drink go through his beard, or how did that work? Did he even <em>have </em>a mouth? Even Smallb Thorodansparatively tiny beard still utterly hid the lower half of his face. How might that oh wait, Rashin was waiting for an answer.
Not really. I remember working one day, and then the next thing I knew I found myself in the middle of the woods.
Did you get any Paths that might help you know what happened?
World Traveler.
Truly? Were you teleported? You must havee a long way. I suppose you must have, I had never heard of this English you speak prior to today. What continent did youe from?
Um, well, ah Edwin stumbled over his words before finally admitting, I also got the Realm Traveler path.
You came from apletely different world, then? Interesting, interesting. There are some who arrive upon Joriah from other worlds on asion, though never many. It truly is fortuitous that you arrived here. Did you know of the existence of n ckstone before today?
..No? How couldve I?
I must ask. Do you intend to bring any harm upon n ckstone as a whole or to any of its members?
What kind of question was <em>that</em>? No? Do you have a skill that lets you tell the truth from lies, by any chance?
Rashin didnt respond, though there might have been a smile buried underneath all that hair. Well, assuming he had a mouth, anyway. The possibly-mouthless dwarf took another sip of his drink before continuing, Well. With such matters thusly dealt with, please, allow me to extend the hospitality of n ckstone unto you. We can speak more of your experiences in the morning. For now, allow us to grant you cleaner clothes, a meal, and a bed. I presume all of those have been in short supply for you as ofte? Edwin mutely nodded, Marvelous! Please, wait here, I shall make the appropriate arrangements.
It didnt feel like very long, but Rashins return did snap Edwin out from a doze, so it might have actually been quite a while. He chugged the rest of his water in one go and plodded along as <em>Thrandin </em>led him to a fairly spacious room, with a bunk inset into the wall, a stone table bearing some bread, cheese, and meats, and arge basin filled with steaming water and human-sized clothing sitting on the ledge. Thrandin, after ushering Edwin inside, turned and left, closing the door behind him.
Edwin tried the door- it wasnt locked, fortunately, though he admittedly didnt know what he could do if it was- and followed it up by devouring all the food on the table. He paid no mind to pacing himself, which he knew hed regret, but it was the first amount of substantial food hed had in so long.
<strong>Level Up!</strong>
<strong>Nutrition Level 35</strong>
<strong>Survival Level 910</strong>
Ooh. Perfect. That put Edwin at just above 60 skill points, and as he peeled off his mud-encrusted clothes, balefully eying the many, many holes poked into them, he dropped them all into his Skilled Arcanist path. As he sank into the steaming bathwater, he looked over his influx of notifications.
<strong>You may evolve your Basic Mana Maniption skill into the Mana Infusion skill!</strong>
<strong>ept Evolution? Y/N</strong>
<strong>Done!</strong>
<strong></strong>
<strong>Calcting Rewards</strong>
<strong>ss Change!</strong>
<strong>Outsider Novice Outsider Apprentice</strong>
<strong></strong>
<strong>You havepleted the Skilled Arcanist path!</strong>
<strong>You have grasped the endless possibilities which magic makes avable to you. Following this path will make you a force to be reckoned with as your skills grow in surprising and potent ways. With your every action now filled with the power of the arcane, all manner of possibilities lie within your grasp.</strong>
<strong>For continuing along a magical Path, your mana has increased!</strong>
<strong>Mana 4 5</strong>
<strong>For continuing along a magical Path, your mana has increased!</strong>
<strong>Mana 3 4</strong>
<strong>For continuing along a magical Path, your mana has increased!</strong>
<strong>Mana 2 3</strong>
<strong>For continuing along a magical Path, your mana has increased!</strong>
<strong>Mana 1 2</strong>
Huh. Did that increase every 12 skill points? Might be worth putting points into Paths even before he couldplete them, if that were the case. Mana Infusion sounded <em>really</em> interesting, and he couldnt wait to try it out.
<strong>Mana Infusion</strong>
<strong>Is it magical? No? Well, why not?</strong>
<strong>Imbue magic into an object or skill</strong>
<strong>Density increases with level.</strong>
Imbue magic into an object or skill? That would be worth trying out. He tried using it, pushing magic into his bath, and felt a faint trickle of mana flow into the water. It wasnt immediate, though the water did seem to be more rxing the more mana infused it. Eventually, it seemed to hit some sort of cap, but it was still quitefortable.
<strong>Level Up!</strong>
<strong>Mana Infusion Level 12</strong>
Eventually, Edwin started nodding off, but he caught himself before he fully fell asleep in the bath. With an absolutely titanic expenditure of will, he dragged himself out of the bath, toweled off and dressed in clean clothes (a in, but clean, well made andfortable cotton shirt and pants), and copsed onto his bed.
He was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.
<strong>Level Up!</strong>
<strong>Sleeping Level 89</strong>
<strong></strong>
It was heavenly, sleeping in a real bed. Though Edwin was somewhat confused when he first woke up as to where he was, that was a small matterpared to what had to have been the best sleep of his life. He felt so well-rested it was <em>amazing</em>. Though the magical crystals embedded in the walls gave no indication of what time it was, it <em>felt</em> like morning and he was up and ready to go! He stretched and ventured out of his room. The nk hallways gave no indication of where to go, and he hadnt been paying close enough attentionst night to remember.
A few minutes of confused wanderingter, one of the dwarves (a Skilled cksmith) he passed seemed to recognize him and waved him over. Up stairs, down stairs, through long hallways- were they <em>trying</em> to get him turned around? This was a maze!- and past many rooms, mostly with closed doors, others still open, allowing him to see a mix of bedrooms,rger halls, a few smithies, and a few half-filled with all kinds of weapons and armor. Eventually, he found himself back in Rashins room, who weed him back in and beckoned him to sit.
I trust you have slept well, Edwin? And you upgraded your ss! Marvelous. What skill did you get, may I ask?
I slept well enough, thank you Edwin was offered a cup of something hot in a stone mug, which he epted. It smelled a bit like tea. Tasted like it too, though his efforts to try it scalded his tongue. I got Mana Infusion.
Ah! Marvelous. Well done. Magical skills are hard toe by yet are endlessly useful. So, tell me more of your story, if you wouldnt mind? I am something of a schr myself, and am always curious as to the tale of those who hail from distantnds.
Well there <em>probably </em>wasnt any harm in it, and Rashin was clearly trustworthy enough to be open with some details. After a bit of consideration, Edwin shrugged and regaled most of his experiences sincending in Joriah, though he kept quiet as to the details about his Paths and skills on a hunch. It took a few hours, and other than a bit of disbelief and some amusement as Edwin reached his fight against the bus-sized Stonehide bear, Rashin merely sat back and asionally prompted Edwin to continue his tale.
As Edwin reached telling about the fight between the two mages, Rashin flinched, My deepest apologies regarding that. Xares, the neighboring emperor, attempted to make forays into the Highpeaks. I am not aware of the full details regarding what he was attempting to achieve, but King Shoroshal drove him off. They would have been the individuals you saw.
Edwin paused, trying to digest that piece of information, And the Highpeaks are this mountain range? Are there other dwarven famili-err, ns, living here?
Rashin raised his hand and tilted his head in a manner which Edwin couldnt quite interpret, Ah, naturally. You wouldnt know. Indeed, the Highpeaks are where you stand now. Most of the inside is carved out, as is only right, but the Highpeak Kingdoms are the strongest dwarven nation on Joriah. Our borders stretch as far as the Second Deep and to every peak. There are over a hundred ns, each functioning akin to a surface city, and we, the ckstones, alongside the Skyseekers, Woodcarvers, and Highpoint ns, function as the border cities.
I see. And the names?
Named for our founders. We are the Inheritors of the True Wielder of ckstones legacy, for instance, hence the nature of our halls.
<em>Interesting. So this stone is magical in some way? Or is it the other way around, that their founder was really good at working whatever this is? Or is it just hm, well Im not sure why concrete wouldnt be known to dwarves. It was known to the Romans, after all. A magically-advanced race with affinity towards stone would probably have no problems figuring it out.</em>
ckstone? Is that like concrete, then?
Concrete? Rashin suddenly seemed <em>very</em> interested, which made Edwin feel taken aback for a moment before he rxed again, Is that something from your homnd?
Yeah. Its sort of like liquid stone, they use it to make all sorts of things. Buildings, roads, foundations, you name it. Supermon.
Truly? Do you know how to make it?
Uhhh it was water, sand, uhhhh. Cement, and was there something else? Edwin rapped on his forehead with his knuckles, racking his brain for the appropriate information, I cant remember.
Would you be capable of determining what goes into it, then?
Well probably? It wasnt something I spent that much time looking into- there were some <em>really cool</em> variants that were in development from what I remember, like self-healing or porous versions, but while my area of study does- did- ovep slightly with concrete development, it wasnt much of an interest of mine. I might be able to make something simr, though? Why do you ask?
Oh, no reason.
Edwin eyed the dwarven schr, You dont have some super-secret monopoly over ckstone, do you, and youd have to kill me to preserve the secret about how it''s made, do you?
Rashinughed, a hearty, full-body chuckle, No, no. Nothing of the sort at all! Regardless, you are a guest under our full hospitality aegis. So long as you are under our roof and do not move to act against us, n ckstone shall do you no harm.
Seemed like there were some fairlyrge and obvious loopholes in that statment, but okay? He was probably just being paranoid. So far, they had been perfectly kind and quite reasonable. This would be a perfect ce for him to recover, learn a bit more about the world, and figure out his ns for the future.
What could go wrong?