Year 267, Part 2

Delvegard

Sundus found it quite easy to bribe the existing Dwarven Lord to resign from his post, and hand it over to him. After all, he was the lord of a small town worth nothing, a bit of money and high quality equipment did more for him than his position ever did.

So, Sundus soon found himself lord of the small dwarven town of 2,000 dwarves. They worked at a mine that produced regular iron, and they had forges to make high quality steel, which they sold to the other dwarven cities.

For food, some of the dwarves farmed. It was a matter of great reluctance for the Delvegard dwarves, since they didn’t like farming all that much. On Treehome or on places like the Eastern Continent where the dwarves had their hidden underground cities, they loved to fund the other races to produce all their food and wheat or buy their food from others. It was for this reason dwarven cities are rarely mono-racial cities, because they needed some people to be farmers, and would treat them well to do what they were meant to do.

It was a productive, symbiotic business transaction. The dwarves supplied high quality equipment and ale, and the humans supplied the wheat, barley, and rye. The dwarves were also stockier, sturdier, and generally, better brawlers than the humans, so they often provided protection to the human farmers, who also enjoyed how the dwarves generally stuck to their word.

On Delvegard, there are no humans.

And so the dwarves had to do their own farming. In most dwarven towns, most dwarves do their own small-scale farming, where their produce is enough for themselves, and for the brews they make. Dwarven homes in Delvegard usually came with a small patch of land next to their existing homes where they cultivated some of their farms, or in more structured cities, there were designated shared lands where the irrigation was centralized.

But in most cases, large scale farms were extremely rare, except in certain dwarven cities where there is a functional ‘slave’ class or ‘underclass’ of dwarves. This was an underclass of dwarves that were forced to do farming.

“There’s an opportunity here.” Kafa said to Sundus, and Sundus readily agreed. A monocultural dwarven society isn’t able to do what they need to do well. The dwarves farmed, and they tried their very best to automate the process through large magical machines meant to run their farms. This was an option available to the strongest of towns, because automated farming golems were fairly difficult to make, because for dwarves who were so picky with the quality of their wheats, the unskilled [golem]’s output was still pretty bad.

A [farmer] with skills and levels produced high quality food. Materials for brews.

But dwarves didn’t like being [farmers], and those that did, are few and far between, and so, they become rather precious folks. Despite this, their society looked poorly on them. A dwarven [farmer]’s social status in Delvegard was shit, so most of them doubled up as [brewers], which was a better ‘ranked’ position.

Still, the split focus, and the micro scale meant farming output in Delvegard was low.

Despite farming being an absolute necessity for survival, dwarves in Delvegard generally avoided taking up too many farming skills. They would take 1 or 2 just to ensure that they had some viable crops, but no more. In fact, most of them prefer to subsist on a diet of hunted meats, foraged berries and fruits.

So Delvegard dwarves tend to base their cities and towns near large hunting grounds, large forests with a decent amount of berries and fruits, or near rivers where they could engage in fishing.

“But the options are fairly limited. If we bring in an entirely new race of people to serve as farmers, that is a risk of its own.” The two discussed their options. Disease, environment, and we would essentially alter the racial composition of Delvegard.

In some ways, we were already altering it with our actions, but large scale import of an alien race to a world like Delvegard did feel a little wrong. It felt like we were introducing a potentially invasive species, even though we already are an invasive species.

The alternative was to engage in import of the common necessities of the Delvegard dwarves. We had the ability to produce large quantities of high quality food on Treehome. In short, we could be the remote breadbasket of Delvegard, and pretty much throw the economic balance of Delvegard upside down.

In a way, we really had three main options, though our ultimate solution was likely a combination of them.

We could start introducing a migrant race to do farming. We also could use my trees and my blessing abilities to boost natural food sources. We could import.

“Actually-” Sundus asked. “What’s Aeon’s time horizon for Delvegard? Do we want to take over this world in 2 years, 10 years, 50 years, or a hundred?”

“Fifty. But within 10 years we want a solid foothold with at least two to three cities.” Kafa said. “The things we want in Delvegard are people, skills, academies. Things that would be destroyed if we acquired them by force. Our preferred strategy here is to trade and win over, similar to how Aeon won over the rest of the Central Continent with trade and pretty much overwhelming power during Freshka’s first Century.”

Sundus looked at the domain holder, and scratched his head. “You need to make yourself into a scary person, if that’s the case. Are you going to be the stick that looms over us all?”

The lizardfolk frowned. “That’s- that’s still a strategy that we’ll need to shape over time.”

Sundus countered. “Lord Kafa, I hope you don’t find this offensive, but, I believe you are ill suited for this assignment. If Alchemist Alka is here, we should have a significantly better time. His sheer presence as a domain-tier dwarven Alchemist should convince many to join us.”

The lizardfolk actually froze momentarily. But he was willing to entertain the idea, and as the thought swirled in his mind, he eventually nodded. “You are right. But Alka’s resurrection is still a decade away. For now, I will have to suffice.”

The dwarven [Lord] could only sigh. “I guess so.”

All the other Dwarven [Lords] successfully took control of their new towns. There was hardly any resistance, not when the right amount of money was paid.

These towns were ‘worthless’, but with the Valthorn presence, all of them dwarves selected from our own academies, our work began.

In some ways, we gave dwarves huge options. With access to the wider Valtrian Order network, the dwarves of Treehome could select duties that they were most suited for, and with a large enough net, we could have dwarven [druids], [alchemists], [blacksmiths], and [builders].

We deployed them in these five towns, and used their skills to give our new towns advantages. New walls, improved yields from the foraged berries.

As the year reached it’s end on Delvegard, Sundus finally said his town was ready for the node.

And so, I deployed my first [Node Tree] on Delvegard.

***

Mountainworld

Adrian, the last hero of Mountainworld prepared for battle.

In a year, another demon king would arrive. Fifteen years seemed too short, or too long, depending on how you see it. Fifteen years was enough for a human child to become a war ready soldier.

Because on this war obsessed Mountainworld, a life of war starts early.

Fifteen. Ten. Child soldiers aplenty.

“Will you be calling them back?” Lumoof looked at Mountainworld. He was slated to visit Satrya too, but that was a risk.

I thought about it. It was a suboptimal choice, and the exploration of Satrya took longer than I expected. Partly because I wasn’t expecting to find a world touched by the gods. “I should.”

We’ve scouted out the connected demonworld, and found it to be some kind of wolf-world. The demons took the form of gigantic wolves, but with elemental powers. Each of the slightly different variants of the horned demonic wolves controlled either fire, earth or lightning.

The demonic champions were shapeshifting demonic wolves that possessed a demonic form. They were either wolf form or demon form, where they were the stereotypical winged demons with horns.

It was amusing to witness the demons with shapeshifting ability, so I captured some of them for research.

Lumoof would’ve balked at this assignment decades ago, but now, capturing a demon champion and overwhelming it with mana?

This assignment was no sweat.

It was nothing next to being stuck in a demon comet.

We hauled three demon champions back to Treehome through the void gates, and sent them into my gigantic biolabs.

***

“That way.” Lumoof looked as the group of Valthorns carried the pacified demon champion. The wolves have been trapped in magical stasis, in a kind of crystalline prison invented by Alka a few years before the comet.

It was meant as an anti-hero countermeasure. As a prison for heroes, it’s still insufficient, but it proved effective in weakening demons too, because the combination of anti-mana glass used throughout its structure and magical formations drained the demons of their magical energies.

Once upon a time, this amount of demonic mana would prove too much. But we have changed since then. Advancements, all the little steps along the way added up, and now we have prisons able to subdue a weakened demon champion.

The Valthorns walked through the tunnel.

Here, the Valley of the Unrotten, the presence of magic was sometimes suffocating. The Valthorns gripped their equipment, and their breaths were heavy.

Aeon could have opened the valley up long ago.

But it remained the way it was, with only a small opening where Aeon’s canopy reached into the skies.

The rest of the valley remained hidden under the hardened, root-reinforced walls. The sludge was long gone, transformed into regular dirt and soil.

But here in the valley, it was a land of magic. Each tree here was slightly different, and anyone with magical sight would instantly notice the huge cacophony of signals throughout the valley. This was Aeon’s extended mind, large numbers of Aeon’s assistant trees whose sole purpose is to augment Aeon’s sight over the worlds.

There are smaller versions of these orchards of Artificial Minds around each of Aeon’s clones. But here lies the greatest of them all.

Lumoof stopped, and looked at a grotesque existence that looked like human brains cut out and piled into the shape of a tree.

Patreeck, the Titan Grand Mind Tree. And there were two of them. There were crystals and gems in them, turned into strange shapes. The crystals and gems were used as connective tissue. Precious metals turned into a web of links throughout the strange tree.

Lumoof didn’t remember the other one’s name. But Aeon planned for more of them.

It hummed, and for someone with Lumoof’s senses, he could hear a constant buzz as Patreeck thinks.

But this was not where they would be. There was a section where Aeon conducted demonic experiments.

Deeper.

There were massive trees here, but to say they are trees would be a stretch of definition. There were all a massive hollow log that could be covered, filled with Aeon’s vines. They would thoroughly examine any creature thrown inside, though it’s ability to study materials was significantly weaker.

Here, in the depths of Aeon’s valley, there were no concerns that the weakened demon champion could cause damage. Aeon’s presence alone petrified the demonic creature, and his vines pulled the struggling wolf-demon into the log.

It would be torn apart, and eventually, transformed with Aeon’s mana. Such is normal. One of them was already transformed in the field. But for those that are still purely demonic, Aeon wanted to peek into them.

Aeon would learn from them, and often, new discoveries are reflected in the beetles. Shapeshifting beetles would be a welcome addition to Aeon’s arsenal.

Lumoof stood, and watched. No. He could feel it as Aeon’s vines began to work on the wolf-demon. He could feel the vines pierce the skin and hide of the creature, and felt it crawl through it’s body and grab what’s left of the demon champion’s dried soul. It was vivid, and Aeon loved studying creatures that it never encountered.

Across all worlds, Valthorn and Valtrian Order operatives continue to harvest and collect new specimens for studies, a tradition that started long ago during the days of New Freeka.

Aeon had reached the wolf-demon’s body, and Lumoof knew Aeon had just made a copy of the creature’s dried soul spring. He would attempt to rebuild it on Lavaworld later on.

Lumoof noticed the other Valthorn operatives’ trembling hands as they pushed the second crystal prison close to the log. They’ve done this many times, but for non-domain holders, they know this is face to face with the jaw of the beast. They know it is safe. They know what to do.

But fear is primal.

Lumoof merely gave them a knowing nod. They have to face their struggles. It is safe. Aeon would not hurt them.

As Aeon finished digesting what was left of the third demon champion, he concluded his research. Biolabs were one of Aeon’s favorite tools, and he loved experiments. He was also eager to study the Delvegard dwarves and the humans of Satrya, but it’ll have to wait for a while.

***

“Silver weapons will be needed.” I remarked. This message was delivered to the Mountainworld hero, Adrian. He visibly facepalmed.

“Oh great. I’m facing Werewolves. Are the others coming to help me?”

“Only Prabu, Colette and Khefri. Chung-”

Adrian shook his head. “Don’t have to explain. I get it.”

Werewolf demons were surprisingly hardy, resistant to magic and also blunt weapons. But like their nature, silver somehow pierced through those defenses fairly easily. It wasn’t too hard to modify some of our existing weapons to incorporate a bit of silver, and many of our existing weapons already have some silver element within them.

My void mages triangulated the location of arrival, and prepared for the battle.

In our usual way. The surplus weaponry from the Demon’s Comet were redirected for this purpose. Lumoof and the other domain holders would return for this. Their adventures on those new worlds would have to wait for a while.

***

Satrya

Edna, Roon and Ezar explored all the relic cities, but they eventually concluded that Patriarch Lumoof would have to be present in order to convince the other two Head Priests to switch sides.

The head priests of the seven relic cities met once a year for what is known as the Hawa’s Circle. Hawa himself only selected the Hawa’s Champions after the demon king arrived, and that was a few years more.

In short, they have at least a few more year before Hawa would come. If they have to, they’d have to crash a meeting with Hawa’s Champion.

“Well, let’s head back.” Edna concluded. “We need to be there for the fight with the wolf-demon.”

Stella would open the portal from the other side-

“You don’t want to say goodbye to the priestess?” Ezar teased. “I bet she’s going to hate you if you just disappear without telling her.”

Roon was about to roll his eyes.

“You promised her you’d take her on a trip.”

He gulped. “Ah man- come on, I can’t be taking a woman on a trip. Not when we’re going back to fight demons-”

Edna laughed but nodded. “Ezar has a point. I think you need to be more sensitive to how a woman of her age thinks. Let’s take her with us.”

“What if she’s a security risk?” Roon countered. “She’s a high priestess of Hawa. We’re revealing information about ourselves!”

“Agree on that too. But at least, tell her you’re going away. I know she’s trying to observe you even now-”

Roon flinched. It was true he was notified that his [domain] blocked attempted scrying.

But there were ways around it. She attempted to scry locations close to them, and it was possible to do so when their locations were not secret.

He frowned, but nodded. “I’ll send her a message.”

“I’m leaving your world.” Roon said via a magical message. He activated an item that allowed him to have a magical conversation. “Also, you can stop scrying now.”

The spell only facilitated a voice conversation, partly because Roon didn’t really want to see her. “-you know?”

“Of course. I keep getting notified it’s blocked!”

“If you’re leaving, can you take me with you?”

“No.” The unspoken reason was clear. She was a risk, and they didn’t want to cannot expose our location.

“My God is not a threat.” She answered, clearly sensing the cause of her rejection.

“We don’t know about that.” Roon said. Edna and Ezar listened nearby. There really was not much point for privacy in such situations.

“I’m certain of it. We have a common foe.”

“I hope so. But until we are sure, we’re not taking the risk.” Roon countered. “If you’d arrange for the audience-”

“It’s all about the audience.” The priestess repeated. “Fine! I’ll tell Hawa! But if you get to speak to him, I want you to take me to your world.”

The ranger sighed. He wondered why he had this type of trouble. “Look. It’s not my decision. It’s a collective decision as an organization. I cannot promise you that. Goodbye.”

The magical spell was cut off.

“There.”

Edna laughed. “Well done, but I do think you need some relationship coach. The way you spoke to her was quite harsh.”

Roon shook his head. “Why are you trying to matchmake me with a foreign priestess? Can’t you just let me date Aeon’s priestesses instead?”

“I’m not. It’s your personal choice in the end.” Edna nodded. “Come. Let’s get back and deal with a giant pup.”