Master of the Hoard - Chapter 29 (Patreon)

I’ll bet there are a lot of artists that nobody hears about who just make more money than anybody. The people that do all the sculptures and paintings for big building construction. We never hear about them, but they make more money than anybody. - Andy Warhol

Of course, I did not just sit back and relax. I could have done just that, if I really wanted to. It wasn't like there was anybody here who'd be able to challenge me on it. Well, Arthor could potentially call me out on it. But when push came to shove, he wasn't the scaly monstrosity in charge. No, that was all me and I had a plan to start enacting. I had an unprecedented chance here. I was actually starting a second life, a second chance I never thought I could have or would have. Apparently I had wasted my previous life, or so it would seem. This was my chance to make something special. Actually build something I could be proud of, for a change and for myself. There had always been that tiny hint of disappointment when I wrapped up a project with a client. That feeling of "That could've been my house." or "All that effort, and we just hand it over for a paycheck." Right now, however, I had the chance to do something more. To build what would amount to a monument to myself, cementing my place in this world I now found to be my home. I could be the ultimate ruler of this place, but more importantly I would do this the right way! So what if the idea that might made right was the name of the game? If I handled things correctly, I could build a kingdom from scratch right here and teach this world the three tenets of the future. Freedom, brotherhood and Carl is fucking awesome. Well, for sure the first two.

Of course, my dreams meant piss all if I couldn't get my high-flying plans to work. I started to work out a schedule - and quickly realized that I needed more to keep myself busy. Even though it felt like I had a lot on my plate, once I started planning out my day, I realized that the work demanding my direct participation was pretty much limited to training the Clenchers. Everything else was more hands-off. I didn't want to go on the offensive too soon either, like we had just done with the Salamanders. Every outing was a risk that some surrounding dragon discovered our presence and decided to investigate. Not to mention that I still needed to grow to ensure I had every advantage I could get to make sure I continued to come out victorious. No, I'd much rather just drag it out while we built up our defenses. Once we made it that far, I'd have to become far more involved. Even with Creziel on board, I'd have to teach them a lot about construction in order to complete my plans. For now, however...

I slowly got up and stretched, walking around my room. Considering that I'd already passed a couple of weeks inside my domain, I hadn't really spent any time going over the place. To be fair, the decor wasn't that impressive. Take the room I'd taken as my own. The room was completely empty. No furniture, no fixed appliances, no smoothie machine. I mean really, at the very least, one should have expected some sort of nefarious appliances, replete with caked blood stains or dried-up poison. Maybe a few hanging chains and some arcane machinery or inscriptions. But nooo. We just got some well-made, but bland tilework on the floor and nondescript, rough stone walls that had been painted dark. Huh. Some day, I really needed to give this place a thorough scrub-down. Or more likely get someone to do it for me. I scrubbed my front leg over the wall, watching the imprint it left in the amassed dust of decades of negligence. It was pretty nasty. I daydreamed about the irony of a dragon with dust allergies, as I watched the dust floating around. My eyesight focused on a part of the wall, where some of the paint had flaked off. Shabby paint job. Wait... was that a groove in the wall?

I lightly traced the groove with a claw, watching as dark paint flitted to the ground. It was... a symbol of sorts. Inspired, I let my claws slide over the wall from the bottom up, feeling the miniature indentation of a multitude of grooves. Breathless, I stood back, studying the dark stone walls surrounding me in a new light. "ARTHOOOR."

The lanky Talpus stood before me, unimpressed by the sight of the symbols I had uncovered in the walls. "So there are traces of the Soul Carver present? What of it?"

I flailed for the right words. "Arthor. You're not seeing this. How the hell do I say this best?" I indicated the mountain surrounding us. "Might makes right. That's what you're used to. That's exactly how it used to be where I came from too, a long time ago. However, there was one thing that we learned - namely this: Knowledge is power. It may sound trite, but sometimes, knowledge beats physical might."

The patterns of his brown and white fur undulated as he shrugged. "Where you come from, maybe. Not here."

"Oh yeah. And what if these writings hold a secret of the Soul Carver? His plans to dominate the mountain? Or arcane knowledge? Or descriptions of how to create lethal poison?"

He seemed less confident at that. "It would still have to be a major stroke of luck. For all we know, they're just decorations. None of us know how to read them, regardless."

I raised an eyebrow, letting my humor bleed into my words. "Decorations that he bothered to paint over?"

"... decent point, dragon. Get some of the filthy Crawls to clean it off. That way, they're off my back too, and if the substance is dangerous, the cost is bearable."

I nodded. "A simple job for simple souls. How are you getting along with them so far?"

He shrugged. "They stay out of our way most of the time. When we point, they act. They're too dumb to understand proper speech, though. Sometimes we have trouble making them understand what we need."

That was great. No real conflicts - sounded like they were fitting in pretty well. "If that happens, come to me. I'll explain. In time, maybe they'll learn to understand you." Or not. They really didn't seem too bright. "One final thing, Arthor. I need to know everything you know about the Soul Carver."

"That is going to be a short tale, but alright. Hrm. Actually, it might be a bit longer.” He sat down on his behind, absentmindedly letting the round rock roll around him on the tiles. “There is more that you should know, to not come off as entirely ignorant. You may know that we are not the only group of Talpi inside the mountain. By nature, we stay close to our tribe and do not intermingle much. However, when our paths do cross, we usually stay civil and share information and tales. Nothing that costs us anything, mind you, but general information and tales that should not be forgotten." He indicated the tunnels surrounding us. "The Scoured Mountain used to have a name. Galaveram. That is the name we were told when we decided to leave the harsh environs of the plains and try our luck inside the mountain, several generations back. At that time, the mountain was both more and less dangerous. Less, because there were several relatively safe zones, where nobody reigned, large areas nobody had lain claim to. More, because there were several forces struggling to gain the ultimate power over Galaveram. We never knew all of them, because they were in a state of constant flux, but we always made sure to know the powers closest to us. The snake-men were easy to avoid. Shadowkin, less so." He shook his head. "I'm not going to bore both of us with the details of a past that's not coming back. Just know that it was easier back then, except for when the powers inevitably clashed in brief, violent struggles near us. When that happened, we just hid and hoped for the best. That is, until Selys arrived. At first, she was just one of many forces within the mountain. Dragons were not the only race to establish domains back then either. She overwhelmed everybody, however. You see, she did not arrive alone. She brought horrible golems with her, and two pet human sorcerers. Wherever her enemies gathered, she would send her golems to smash, or the humans to burn and twist. And where they entrenched themselves, she would go herself." He shook his head. "The Burning End. That's what they called her in those early years where they battled for supremacy. You see, where she herself arrived, that is what her enemies would meet. Their burning, terrible end. She is not subtle."

I connected two dots. "Is that where the mountain got its name? The Scoured Mountain?"

"Exactly. She and her pet humans blasted through the mountain, leaving nothing but charred corpses and scoured hallways."

"So those scorch marks back there in the throne room?"

He nodded. "Exactly. I would guess that they're not from Selys herself. From the tales told about her, she would have trouble fitting through the doors. But there is no doubt that they are the remnants from when the Soul Carver was sent packing. My guess is that either one of the humans lit the place up from a safe distance, and the Soul Carver simply decided to run. Good call, too. And judging from all the flawed souls remaining in the halls, Selys and her armies never bothered to clean up after chasing him off."

"Hmm. It must have been an orderly retreat, too, with how little remained in the rooms." I blinked as I suddenly realized something. "Wait. The Soul Carver isn't dead?"

"Doubtful. He was one of the last powers to fold to the might of Selys and we have heard nothing of their clash."

I grimaced at the thought of an evil, purple-shadowed necromancer strolling through the halls to regain his rightful throne. Yeah. Better get those defenses up and running. "So, do we know anything more about the Soul Carver himself and his powers?"

The Talpus looked up at me. "Yes, of course, lizard. All those nice chats we had, sharing dinner over the bonfire. He told us all about-"

I laughed. "Alright, I get it, I get it. I was talking about rumors... or anything. But knowing that he was run out of his home is really helpful too."

Once I'd sent Arthor off, I made myself busy. As in really busy.

I started out in what was going to be the future Farm and went over the possibilities. The place was huge already - an open cave system, consisting of three interconnected caves. In total, they must have been the size of three football fields, one after the other. According to Aelis, they would definitely have been inhabited, had they been connected to the tunnel system. As it stood, Arthor was the one who had discovered them, hidden behind a thin connecting wall. At that moment, even though the Talpi and a few Crawls had already been working on the place, leveling the ground and tearing out unnecessary growths, I felt like an adventurer, going through a place that had lain hidden for eternities. The place was awe-inspiring, walls and ceilings dripping with moisture. It even had a pool in one corner, ringed by stalactites and stalagmites, untouched for God knows how long. I couldn't wait to tear everything down and get to work.

As far as I was concerned, the only limitations lay in the time needed to properly prepare the areas and find the plants we needed. We established the perimeters we were going to work with, designating each its own area. The largest cave would be the Fields, reserved for actual farming where we would improve the soil and, eventually, end up with something resembling an actual field, growing… whichever regular seed-bearing fruits, grains or vegetables we could find. The next one was for all growths and mosses, including the horrible Talon Rot. I labeled that one the Jungle, because, according to Aelis, it would end up completely overgrown. The innermost chamber held the pool. I debated getting rid of the pool to make more space for growth, but decided to keep it. From what I knew, the moist and dark environs would be excellent for growing mushrooms.  I decided to get started right away, and erected a Growth Boost in the first cave. I smiled to see the swirling colors settle into the earth, promising well for our future self-sufficiency.

Then I got back to training the Clenchers. I continued where I had left off with the male, ordering him about inside the cave just outside their enclosure. I was seeing definite progress there. He didn't even try to attack me once. As for the training, I went with the words of wisdom instilled in me by the only canine trainer I'd ever trained with, who had trained my trusted German Shepherd, Hoff. "The key to good training is simplicity and repetition. That's it. You'll find plenty of trainers who wax nostalgic about the bond between humans and dogs or awareness about their natural instincts. That's all nice, but it's also so much fluff. If you want your dog trained properly, it's all simplicity and repetition."

I wasn't sure you even could apply her words to the huge, untamed beast I was ordering about, but that's what I went with. I started out with some of the basic commands and got to work. Stay. Come. Sit. Repeat ad nauseum in different variations. Later, I'd tack on additional commands.

Then, it was back to the Training Chamber, where I oversaw some of the training Roth was putting the other Talpi through. Watching him put a couple of builders through endurance exercises, I had to commend him - he had that lovely sadistic streak that you usually didn't see outside the military. I noticed a couple of younger Talpi at play back near the walls too. It seemed, Roth wasn't as harsh with them, as with the grown-ups, but the way they were jumping around the place, trying to tag each other with hard-packed leather balls did share some resemblance with training, so they were sure to improve.

From there, I moved on to help with the excavation of the old tunnels on the east side of the throne room. Things were going well so far, but this was a place where I could really help. Jazinth was present, helping out with the larger rocks.  In combination with her guidance, we got to work removing the larger rocks. The present builders then scooped out all the dirt and smaller rocks and placed them on rough tarps for the four assisting Crawls to drag away. We worked in silence, only interrupted by Jazinth's occasional squeaked commands when she noted something special in the composition of the dirt and rocks to be aware of. Back on Earth, I had experienced more than my share of backbreaking monotonous heavy labor, but right now, the mind-emptying dullness of the task was a pleasant change.

"I must admit, Onyx, I had not expected the Crawls to be such effective helpers." The mental message drug me out of my no-thinking zone, where I was humming the tunes of Seven Nation Army on repeat inside my mind. I glanced around and the ugly, squat monstrosities were all away at the moment.

"Really? I've found them to be a bit of an annoyance. They're just so... dumb."

She nodded and grinned. "True. But their memory is excellent. I just need to show them something once and they've got it. And they are strong enough for two of us."

"So you wouldn't mind having a couple of them along for future projects?"

"Not at all. I mean - I still don't trust them, but as long as we outnumber them and the work is not too complex, they'll be a boon."

I nodded. I was glad to see this part developing so fast. In truth, I had expected some clashes already, but the Crawls might be dull enough to just accept their fate and get to work. In the future, I might have to work on making them a part of the team, but for now, good muscle was better than expected. I dug my claws into a pile of hardened dirt, bracing myself to grab a particularly stubborn object. When I hauled it out with a grunt, I recognized one of the large blockish timber pieces I'd seen in the entrance tunnel. "Hey, does this look like a shoring beam to you?"

She squinted at it. "It does. Could you place it here?"

Curious, I did as she asked and watched as she glanced over the length of it, tapping the end with a huffing sound. "What?"

"Oh, nothing really. The beam just confirmed my theory - they must have collapsed the place themselves."

"Who? The Soul Carver?"

She nodded and gestured at the hallway behind us. "Well-built hallways don't just collapse, and the rest of the place feels very solid. Besides, if you see a natural cave-in, it has a tendency to spread. You would see walls caving in, damage in the throne room, stuff like that. Here? This is all dirt from the ceiling, and watch this." She indicated the size of the beam, walking the distance in the hallway, stopping smack in the middle. "This is only half of the beam. The crack wasn't natural." I followed her paw, seeing that she was right. One end of the heavy beam was frayed and splintered for the first part, but the rest was impacted by a deep, clean cut.

"Interesting. So they collapsed everything here before they left? Why the hell would they go to all that trouble and leave the throne room intact?"

She shrugged. "Second guessing a Soul Carver sounds like a brain dead undertaking."

"Hah. Good one."

"What do you mean?"

"...nevermind."