Chapter #1135
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+ THE ADVENTURERS +
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+ Epic VI +
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+ Many of the locations, non-player characters, spells, and other +
+ terms used in these stories are the property of Wizards of the Coast +
+ which has in no way endorsed or authorized their use. Any such +
+ property contained within these stories are not representative of +
+ Wizards of the Coast in any fashion. +
+ The player characters depicted in these stories are copyright +
+ 1991-2024 by Thomas A. Miller. Any resemblance to any persons +
+ or characters either real or fictional is utterly coincidental. +
+ Copying and/or distribution of these stories is permissible under +
+ the sole condition that no money is made in the process. In that +
+ case, I hope you enjoy them! +
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+ Cespedes 19th level human wizard, elementalist +
+ Pallin 18th level grey elven wizard of Celestian, teleporter +
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+ Parekh 18th level female human wizard, innovator +
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+ Date: 6/7/586 C.Y. (Common Year) +
+ Time: late morning +
+ Place: the Brass Hills, within the Bright Desert +
+ Climate: hot and dry +
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+ "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." - Alan Kay +
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MCXXXV. New Foundations
Less than a day after their latest council and discussion of progress
and next steps, the wizards and their allies have split up into smaller
groups to begin work on their next initiatives. In the case of Cespedes
and Pallin, no travel was required...for their charge was to lay the
foundation - literally - for a new stronghold amidst the Brass Hills.
Pallin: (hovering several hundred feet above the hills, he concentrates
on maintaining the portal he's opened to the elemental plane of earth)
Cespedes: (sitting in a chair mounted atop a large floating disc, also
far above the hills, he works summoning magic of surpassing power)
While the remains of Rary's fallen tower (and unearthed dungeons) had
provided a huge amount of raw material to build with, it wasn't enough
for the collective vision that the alliance of wizards had in mind...and
so more stone was being sourced from elsewhere, along with the means to
quickly and efficiently bring it to this world. As Cespedes drew upon his
deep knowledge of elemental magic, an assembly line of mighty stone beings
hauled vast quantities of rock through Pallin's portal and onto the site
of the future construction. These massive brutes were creatures of the
very plane of elemental earth itself, bound to this task by the power of
Cespedes' incantations. Whatever the strange wizard had promised to the
extra-planar forces (or perhaps threatened them with) remained unknown,
but the benefits of both source and labor were unquestionable: by the
time night fell, there would be enough building material here to construct
a dozen castles...or perhaps a single, unimaginably immense one.
Yesterday, the group had briefly discussed what would be built, at least
on a basic level: a giant fortress-city with portions both in the hills
and the land below, where hills flattened into desert. The agreed-upon
site would be about a league north of Rary's former base of power, which
was close enough to use the rubble of its remains yet far enough to make
a distinction between the two locations. The long-term intention was for
the new fortress to dominate the surrounding landscape - both hills and
desert - and for Rary's tower to fade from memory as time went on.
Within the future site, their exact locations to be determined later in
the construction process, would be towers for each of the wizards. The
appearance, architecture, and construction of each tower would be up to
each wizard; furthermore, their towers would be their private dwelling
and working places and off-limits to all others. In this way, they could
retain a large measure of privacy and yet still be available in the event
of a larger threat. It was also understood that at any given time, one
or more of the group might not be in their tower or the fortress-city, but
instead elsewhere in the region or the world. No one was bound to dwell
in their tower at all times.
But for now, all of that was far in the future. The immediate goal was
one of gathering building materials, after which excavation and a measure
of foundational construction would be necessary. And then...an immense
amount of architectural and design work lay ahead. The bad news was that
not a one of the group of wizards had any skill or experience in such - if
they had, they likely would not have been wizards in the first place! The
good news was that Parekh had already considered this quite some time ago,
in the early days of her efforts to gather together powerful magi to unite
in common cause. She had foreseen that one day, some sort of large-scale
design and construction might be necessary...and so she had invested a
considerable amount of time and effort searching for someone who could do
that work...someone who could turn a section of wilderness into a castle
or similar stronghold that not only looked impressive and met necessary
short- and long-term needs, but was also soundly laid out and built, such
that it could and would withstand any assaults that might someday come
from foes.
Perhaps not surprisingly, no single individual possessed all of the
knowledge, experience, and ability to fulfill this charge. When Parekh's
efforts in the past had been completed, she had identified two names...two
people who - ideally working together - would be able to plan and oversee
the raising of the sort of stronghold that she thought would one day be
necessary. And now, roughly two years after the end of the Greyhawk Wars
and a month after the fall of Rary...that time was fast approaching. Thus
it was that, while Cespedes and Pallin handled early preparation work at
the site, Parekh ventured to distant lands to seek out two people who were
(much like her) among the best in the world at their professions.
The first of these individuals resided in Enstad, the capital of the
largely-elven kingdom of Celene, where by all accounts he had resided for
the last few centuries. He was not difficult to locate, although Parekh
found it necessary to be somewhat insistent. She was finally granted an
audience by the elven servants who had answered her knock, and who seemed
staff the tower of Talathion Undiviel. It was made clear to her than the
audience would be a brief one.
Parekh: -so I have sought you out for your expertise in the design of
sizable castles and fortresses.
Talathion Undiviel: (holds up a hand) Let me stop you there, before you
proceed any further with this discussion. Simply put, I no longer take
commissions or design anything.
The high elf was middle-aged, as elves went, meaning that he could be
anywhere from about six hundred to a thousand years old. Parekh well knew
that this was the time in most elves' lives when their focus changed and
they often lost interest in worldly matters. She'd suspected this would
be the case if Talathion rebuffed her offer...and she was prepared for
this. It would involve a bit of verbal sparring first, though.
Parekh: You're...retired?
Talathion Undiviel: That is not a term I can easily understand. Suffice
it to say that I no longer have interest in such work.
Parekh: But you've planned...masterminded some of the greatest and most
significant sites in the Flanaess. The royal castle here in Enstad, for
one. And the series of guard-keeps in Waybury, in Ulek. Not to mention
Fort Redoubt, south and west of Courwood in the foothills of the Lortmil
Mountains. Or the entire elven city of Tiras-Lii, many leagues to the
north.
Talathion Undiviel: (smiles to himself) Ah, the long works of a longer
life.
Parekh: Yes, they are. And I'm here to invite you to mastermind another
one.
Talathion Undiviel: There is no need. The palace of Enstad houses the
ruling family, and rises above the surrounding city, a gleaming beacon
of hope and prosperity. Sadly, I will never craft anything greater.
Parekh: Ah, but what if you COULD?
Talathion Undiviel: Impossible. For that work, I had a large portion of
the treasury of Celene, and thousands of highly-motivated workers.
Parekh: Understood...but what if I could offer you something of even
larger scope...with funding suitable for a kingdom...and a labor force
of not just people but also golems, elementals...and magic. Not the
magic of one great wizard, or two...but many more?
Talathion Undiviel: (regards her, a glimmer of interest forming in his
eyes) Before I ask you exactly what you are planning, I must first ask
you...why me? Why an old elven architect whose work is done?
Parekh: My response will answer both questions at once. And you just
said it...you've been at this for a long, long time - far more than any
human lifespan. You know things that others in your profession will
never even learn. You've seen both strong and weak designs, castles,
fortifications, even cities. You've walked through structures that have
now been rubble for centuries. There may be - there are - great human
architects out there...but I'd be a fool not to seek out the greatest
elven one.
Talathion Undiviel: Your praise is well-worded, and well-planned as well,
I suspect. What you fail to realize is that flattery will have little
effect on me.
Parekh: (sighs, quietly)
Talathion Undiviel: However, what I do care about is my work, leaving a
legacy behind. So assuming I would even consider this, I ask you...in
what way will your plans be of greater benefit to the world?
Parekh: Simply put, we have won ourselves a kingdom, strategically sited
but empty of any inhabitants, military, or gathering places larger than
small towns or forts. We are looking beyond that, at the much greater
potential of the region...but to achieve that potential, we need some
means of safely gathering and protecting people, and putting them to
work to make the area better. We need a stronghold, a symbol, perhaps
a capital - all in one fell swoop.
Talathion Undiviel: (sits back in his chair) I will hear your story...
tell me more.
A couple of hours later, and with the aid of magic, Parekh was on the
other side of the Lortmil Mountains - specifically in Havenhill. within
the hilly central region of the Principality of Ulek. Here, she sought
her second discussion of the day. This individual was quite different
from Talathion Undiviel; while the elf was a visionary and a planner who
mostly dealt in quills and parchment...the dwarf who now sat across the
table from Parekh was short and stocky, with hands thickly calloused from
many years of digging and stonework. At least he didn't profess to be
retired or unavailable as Parekh laid out the general idea.
Vogric Stoneshaper: As long as the gold's good, I'll take the job.
Parekh: This job won't be like any other you've ever taken. And I say
that knowing that you've overseen the construction of a dozen dwarven
mountain-fortresses, some of which are considered to be so solid that
they're basically impregnable.
Vogric Stoneshaper: (rolls a small pebble in his hand, before crushing
it between thumb and forefinger) That I have. I can take any plans
and turn them into an actual place where you can walk the halls, and
touch the stone...for sure, I've made that happen many a time. And I'm
not seeing how this one could be any different.
Parekh: (thinking about how the group of wizards basically intends to
turn a range of hills into a gigantic fortified city that sprawls down
into the nearby flatland as well, using magic far beyond most peoples'
comprehension as well as golems, elementals, and perhaps other means of
labor) You will.
Vogric Stoneshaper: (shrugs, and takes a long drink from his mug of ale
before setting it down and wiping the foam from his long, gray beard)
Sounds good. We can work out the details later after I've taken a look
at the job. (he scowls, grumbling about some past memory) At least I
won't have to work with any elves!
next: Kronos, Parekh, and Neera ponder what lies below the desert
map: http://www.peldor.com/world/atlas/bright_desert.jpg
www: http://www.peldor.com/download.html
homepage: http://www.peldor.com/
email: tmiller@peldor.com
released: 2/2/2024
notes: That's the first of the sub-tasks. The entire list was in
episode 1134. I'll tackle another sub-task in the next episode. The
idea is to show them all underway, which will more or less happen in
parallel.
This is the first new story I've actually written in 2023. 1126-1134
were done in 2022 but I held them since I needed a break, which I took
after 1125.
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previous chapter (#1134)
next chapter (#1136)