The Labyrinth, page 30
part #2 of The Gods' Game Series
“You do not. The primary source of essence crystals are dungeons in which demons manifest.”
“Demons? Dungeons?”
“Dungeons are a prison within a prison. They are the only areas in Myelad where demons may freely manifest. Essence crystals are the residue which remains after a demon that has manifested on the physical plain has been slain—temporarily of course. Demons, like gods, are immortal, and cannot be truly slain; only the corporeal form may be destroyed.”
Great, another complication. If he wanted to develop this settlement he would need to become a dungeon diver and demon hunter as well. Something he did not even want to contemplate right now, given their present troubles.
The thirteenth well was turning out to be far more underwhelming than he expected. Oh, he could definitely see its potential but right now, without the resources to develop it, it was of little help to him. But he reminded himself, he had not searched out the well to build a glorious city but to open the gates of the dwarven city and escape the labyrinth.
But how did he do that?
Somehow he had thought once he found the well the answer would be self-explanatory, but it was proving to be anything but. He realised with growing concern, that as complex as the management of the essence well appeared to be, that he might not even be able to activate the gates of the dwarven city, not without sufficient essence crystals at least. He looked at the heaps of essence crystals piled next to the well. He hoped they sufficed for the task.
Setting aside his growing unease, he broached the matter directly with the guardian. “Keeper, how do I open the gates of the dwarven city?”
“I do not understand the query. What is the dwarven city?”
Kyran groaned quietly to himself. So much for getting a simple answer. He would have to explain further. “The dwarven city is a settlement in the southern labyrinth. Its gates must be powered by natural essence to open.”
“Is the city unclaimed?”
Kyran paused in thought. “My information is the city is abandoned, so I assume so, yes.”
“And does its settlement stone still stand?”
“At the risk of once again revealing ignorance—what are settlement stones?”
“A settlement stone is the core of any settlement and its primary control interface. Through it, the settlement’s lord manages its essence structures and the flow of essence. The stone also serves as the anchor for ley lines flowing to it.
“To operate any essence structure in the dwarven city you will need to claim the city’s settlement stone and supply it with natural essence by connecting it to the essence well via a ley line.”
Kyran shook his head in misery. This was becoming more complex by the second. “And how do I claim the settlement stone and construct a ley line?”
“Assuming the stone still stands, claiming it is a simple matter of approaching it. Unclaimed, it will have no guardian to defend it. Once you claim the stone for the domain, you may use it to communicate with me. Creating the ley line between the two anchor points is then a simple matter of you willing it so.”
Simple, huh. Somehow he doubted it.
“And if the stone is destroyed?”
“Then a new one will have to be created.”
“And that will require essence crystals, I suppose?” He looked at the piles of crystals heaped next to the well. “I’m almost afraid to ask. Are there enough crystals here for that?”
“Unfortunately not. A settlement stone is one of the most expensive essence structures to create. There is not nearly enough here for that purpose.”
Of course. Never mind, he would have to cross that bridge when he reached it. Regardless of the potential complications, the dwarven city remained their best hope of escape.
“And where in the city do you think the settlement stone will be located?”
“It is usually the most protected structure, since its fall will signal a settlement’s capture. Invariably it is constructed in the heart of a settlement, within its central keep.”
“Thank you, keeper. You have been most helpful. Now before I leave, is there aught else I must do?”
“No, master, there is naught you must do. But if you are leaving, I advise you peruse the settlement management interface to direct the course of this settlement’s development in your absence.”
Kyran nodded, and set himself to study the settlement’s information.
✽✽✽
Kyran considered the information the game provided. The well slowly accumulated and stored a constant stream of natural essence. Before the well keeper’s creation the well had overflown, saturating the region around it. It had been this, he suspected, that attracted the nagas. The guardian’s creation had used about one percent of the essence accumulated in the well. That still left a significant store of essence for his use. Also stockpiled in this chamber, was what appeared to be a sizeable store of essence crystals. He walked over and ran his hand through the heaps of crystal. About the size of small pebbles, the crystals were non-descript blue stones that could be easily mistaken for coloured glass.
Acquired: essence crystals x 10,200.
Type: Building material.
Rank: Rare.
Special properties: can store or act as a conduit of natural essence.
Description: The remains of slain demons, the crystals are fossilised essence.
He returned to his study of the settlement. The sovereign trait had granted him knowledge of the area within the settlement’s zone of control and access to its settlement interfaces. These provided detailed statistics on the well and its attached settlement that, like most other things in the game, had an associated level and rank. Unsurprisingly it was of the lowest rank.
Settlement Name: Undefined (The capital of the Thirteenth Well domain).
Sovereign domain: Thirteenth Well.
Type: Undefined.
Rank: Undefined.
Level: 0.
Population: 0.
Defensive strength: 0.
Zone of Control: spherical radius of 200m.
Available essence: 99,000.
Available essence crystals (EC): 10,200.
Current effects:
Hidden Veil.
Existing essence structures:
Essence lighting system: Basic lighting system, triggered by motion.
Secret door: A warded barrier, concealing the entrance to the settlement.
Essence chamber: Containing the thirteenth well.
The settlement had a unique property, hidden veil, that concealed it from magical and physical sight. It was this, no doubt, that had kept the well’s existence secret for so long. The veil extended two hundred metres in all directions from the well, covering the entire settlement. Other than the corridor through which he entered, the rest of the settlement was solid rock. There were only three structures within it, the essence well, a lighting network and the secret door.
Both the settlement’s type and rank were undefined. He queried these oddities with the keeper. “Why is this settlement’s name, rank and type undefined?”
“The settlement’s name and type are for you as the sovereign to define. The rank will be automatically assigned based on the settlement’s level and type. You may choose to develop this settlement in one of three ways—either as a city, fort, or fortified city. Cities level primarily through population growth, and provide the largest zone of control and productivity bonuses. They are normally founded within the protected heartland of a domain.
“Forts level on the basis of their defensive strength. Their zone of control is smaller. They provide mostly military bonuses and are usually constructed on a domain’s frontier. Fortified cities provide the benefits of both cities and forts but at a substantially increased cost and more stringent levelling requirements. They must meet both defensive strength and population pre-requisites to level.
“But all settlements, regardless of type, have access to all basic essence structures. Sovereign, what name and type do you choose for this settlement?”
Kyran considered his options carefully. The well’s greatest strength was the secret of its existence and he wanted to keep it that way as long as possible. Allowing people to settle here ran contrary to those ends. Not to mention the impossibility of finding people willing to living underground in what could only be politely described as a wild frontier. No, his choice of settlement type was clear. As to the name, he could think of several that were appropriate.
“Keeper, name the settlement Deepholm and set the type to fort, please. Oh, and while you’re at it, rename the domain to Labyrinth Deeps."
“As you wish master.”
The domain, Thirteenth Well, has been renamed Labyrinth Deeps and its capital, Deepholm (outpost).
Your trait settlement lord (?) has changed to Squire of Deepholm.
Squire of Deepholm: You have been granted stewardship of this settlement by the sovereign of the domain. As an outpost (rank 1 fort), stewardship of Deepholm confers upon you the title of Squire, which grants you the following benefits: +4% to all defences when within the settlement’s zone of control.
“Now, are there any structures you wish to begin construction on? There are sufficient essence crystals in stores for a few basic structures.”
Kyran was momentarily nonplussed. “But where? The entire space within the settlement’s control is solid rock.”
“That is correct. However, on the list of structures available for construction, you will note the miner essence constructs. These can be used to excavate rock, mineral and stone deposits within the settlement to create chambers to house both mundane and essence structures.”
Thoughtfully, Kyran pulled up the list and the essence miner’s details in particular.
Deepholm structures available for construction
Essence structures:
Ley lines: (costs 0 EC, requires level 0). Connects the wells to its settlements through the ether. As the distance from the well (primary node) increases, the inefficiency/losses of essence to the ether increases.
World portal: (domain unique, costs 10,000 EC, requires level 0). Allows instantaneous transport to other world portals. Only one allowed per essence well.
Essence construct: (costs 100 EC each and natural essence (variable), requires level 0). Miner, blacksmith, stone mason.
Mundane structures:
Guardroom, bailey, well, moat, barracks.
Creature: Essence Miner.
Type: Essence Construct.
Class: Miner.
Rarity: Uncommon.
Level: 1*
Health: 10 / 10
Attack: 0
Defences (Physical/ Psi/ Spell): 1 / 1 / 1
Special Effects:
Construct: All experience (XP) gains are modified by -50%.
Essence creature: Consumes 1 unit of natural essence every month.
Homebound: Cannot leave the settlement.
Tool-less: No tools required to perform its profession.
Description:
The essence miner is an essence construct specialised as a miner. It possesses no free will and is fully under the control of the well keeper. It may only perform mining-related tasks, and while it gains experience and levels over time, its levelling rate is significantly impaired compared to players.
* The miner essence construct’s starting level can be boosted up to level 20 using natural essence. Each additional level granted requires 10 natural essence.
Other than the essence constructs and the world portal, the rest of the structures available for construction were all mundane in nature—non-magical and not requiring any essence to be powered. He realised right away that he had to construct the world portal. Its strategic value was incalculable. He also had a strong feeling that the quest reward had been tailored to exactly this purpose. Not exactly subtle of Eld. But where to build it? It would be foolish to construct it here, in the heart of the settlement and next to the well which he knew he had to do his best to isolate and fortify.
In fact, he realised he would have to consider the entire layout of the fort before starting any construction. At this thought a new window opened in his mind, one of a three-dimensional map of the settlement, which was buried entirely within a massive deposit of marble. The marble deposit extended beyond the settlement to White Rock cavern, giving it its distinctive look. At various points within the marble were dark patches of some unknown material.
“What are those materials embedded in the marble?” he asked.
“Those are ore deposits. Three are darksteel and the other, mithril.”
“Mithril!” he exclaimed, excited. Mithril, he knew from the handbook, was one of the rarest metals in Myelad, used in the crafting of advanced magical weaponry and armour. Only adamantine was more prized.
“Will the miner be able to mine the mithril?” he asked.
“Not at first. At the maximum essence investment, the miner constructs can be created as level twenty miners, which is sufficient to mine darksteel and marble. To mine mithril, a mining skill of eighty is required, which assuming constant mining, will take the essence miner approximately two months to achieve.”
Kyran nodded. “If I construct the world portal, there should be enough essence for two essence constructs, correct?”
“Correct, master.”
Hmm… One of the constructs would definitely need to be a miner, the other… a mason or smith. The settlement had within its bounds ample raw material for both but which did he need more? The smith could craft weapons, armour, utensils and tools while the mason, using the mined marble, could create all manner of stone furniture, including doors and cupboards. Not to mention, being able to convert tunnels and caverns into corridors and chambers.
What he needed more, he decided, was to level the fort, which meant construction of defensive structures, which the mason was more suited to build. He reviewed the base layout again, comparing it to the Crota citadel. Thoughtfully, he decided to place the world portal in a chamber on the same plane as the secret door and close enough to gain synergy between the defensive structures guarding both entrances, but not so close as to compromise the defence of either entrance. In surprise, he saw the plans visualised in his mind superimposed on the base layout in the settlement interface.
Pleased, he began editing the base layout directly. He started by placing a central guardroom midway in the corridor leading from the secret entrance to the essence chamber. The corridor section running from the secret door to the central chamber he labelled the ‘first spoke’, and the corridor between the central chamber and the essence well, the ‘final spoke’.
Next, in the first spoke, he designed a series of stone doors, and a primary and secondary guardroom, with lots of room still to spare for future defensive structures.
He then connected the World Portal Chamber to the central guardroom through a ‘second spoke’, keeping its design the same as the first spoke.
Next, he created a closed network of tunnels running to and between the metal deposits that he designated the ‘Mines’ and another series of connected and empty chambers, that he labelled the ‘Craft Halls’. The Craft Halls he connected to the central chamber by a ‘third spoke’ and to the Mines by a ‘mine guardroom’.
Finally, to the central chamber he attached the ‘main barracks’.
The substantial still-unused space he left unplanned. He studied his drafts for weaknesses. The base internal design looked defensively sound thus far, with only one heavily guarded route to the essence well chamber and sufficient unused space to grow as more advanced defensive structures became available.
Satisfied, he mentally projected the base layout plan to the guardian. “Keeper, can you see this plan?”
The keeper bowed acknowledgement. “I do. I have access to your settlement interface. I can see all plans you draft or approve for construction. Additionally, I can update the drawings with actual progress.”
That would be very useful. “That means if I remotely alter the plans, you will implement the changes?”
“Yes, master, so long as you mark the plans as ready-for-construction but one note of caution, when you affect changes remotely, I cannot advise you or use discretion in my implementation. I will be forced to implement the given plans as-is.”
Kyran nodded his understanding and was about to ask how he marked the plans as final, when he saw a blinking icon that served just that purpose. He mentally approved the plans of the base and the interface changed to another requesting the build priority. He shuffled the structures in the queue, prioritising the modifications to the first spoke, followed by the world portal and the other defensive structures with the mines and craft halls last of all.
Deepholm Build Queue
First Spoke (modifications).
Second Spoke (including 3 x stone doors, primary guardroom, secondary guardroom).
World Portal chamber.
World Portal.
Central guardroom.
Main barracks.
Final Spoke (modifications).
Mine guardroom.
Mines.
Third Spoke.
Craft Halls.
The interface window changed again, this time showing the planned structures in blue—no doubt an indication that they were approved for construction, and the estimated duration of the first structure, listed as ‘infinite’.
Before he could raise the query, the guardian answered, “No time estimate is provided because no workers are available to carry out construction. For mundane structures, craftsmen with the necessary skillset are required whereas essence structures can be constructed by any essence construct.”
Kyran nodded. “Guardian, please create a miner construct and mason construct, both at level twenty.”
“As you wish, keeper.”
Two balls of essence spiralled out of the well and formed as androgynous blue humanoids.
A level 20 miner essence construct has been created, using 100 essence crystals and 190 natural essence.
