Master of the Hoard - Chapter 37 (Patreon)

I was walking back towards my lair with Ursam in tow when I was interrupted by a wall of notifications.

[You have met the necessary criteria:

- Surpassed level 13

- Contents of the hoard improved

- At least seven Mana Crystals owned]

Awesome. I’d passed level 13 some time ago. Same for the Mana Crystals - but you couldn’t rush the quality of what lay in the hoard. With the items in the hoard slowly improving and Jazinth hard at work on creating new weapons, it was a matter of time. I lost myself in the details.

[Small Hoard has been upgraded to Small Medium Hoard.

Your current Hoard size: (7) Mana Crystals (Small Medium) grants you the following:

- Maximum Population size: (125). Current population: (61)

- Domain size: 5000 foot radius.

• Domain detection range: 30 Miles. Domains within range: 5

- Mana regeneration rate within your domain is increased by 400% (total current regeneration rate increase=750%)

- The possible quality of magic abilities gained from the hoard is increased. Uncommon possibility of multiple magic abilities.

The connection and benefits will remain for as long as your Hoard is active.]

[Criteria to upgrade hoard:

- Reach a minimum of level 20

- Improve contents of the hoard

- Own at least 12 Mana Crystals]

[Skill has improved: Inspect

You are now able to see the general status and health bar of all creatures, including hostile creatures, regardless of whether you are inside or outside of your domain.]

[Additional profession slots available. Current profession slots available 2/7]

[Skill has improved: Domain Map.

From now on, the Domain Map will include the entire tunnel system as it is explored. Outside the Domain, however, movement will not be shown, and the map may become outdated.]

[Construction unlocked:

Outpost.

With the growth of lairs, the need for guards and defensive positions increases as well. This construction allows you to define a spot, where your minions will be more effective in combat.

Regardless of the name, this construction can be positioned anywhere within the domain. It adds a field, giving a slight boost to the physical attributes of all minions within range and mildly decreasing those of any hostiles.

0/3 Outposts created

Size of field: 25 x 25 yards

Mana Cost: 350]

[Construction improved: Growth Boost

This energy field enfolds a malleable area of 60 x 60 feet. Growth of all animals, plants and vegetables within the area is increased by +100%.

-          Efficiency of Growth Boost is increased to +125%

-          Protective field added. From now on, a Growth Boost will cause a low amount of damage to any intruders within the energy field.]

[Construction improved: Hoard Defense.

This construction produces a shimmering force field, centered on your hoard in a circular six-foot radius. Anybody attempting to access the hoard or any other items stored within will have to either receive permission or physically force entrance.

-          Offensive field added, causing a low amount of damage and weakening anybody who causes damage to the energy field.]

[Construction improved: Shadow Door.

This construction looks for all the world like a regular wooden door. However, the door has been infused with shadow essence and at a cost of personal mana it can be activated to blend in with the walls to either side. The illusion effect cannot take hold if an enemy is looking straight at the door. Any sufficiently strong-willed enemy will have a chance at seeing through and dispelling the illusion. Damage to the door may unravel the illusion.

-          Camouflage improved. The illusion can now cheat the sense of touch.]

Wow. That was... a mouthful. I just stared for a while, trying to take it all in. That map update alone was going to be amazing. In fact, every single upgrade was lovely. Nothing mind blowing, but every single construction just got a tiny bit more effective. I’d take it and smile like a loon as I did.

Mostly, I was amazed that I'd already leveled up the hoard again. Sure, I'd taken every chance lately to create Mana Crystals, I needed the mana regen for all the defensive projects I had in mind. Of course, I'd also noticed how my hoard was slowly growing. Jazinth was doing her part too, no doubt, creating new weapons. New weaponry was continuously appearing in the hoard - spear heads, axe heads - looked like she was experimenting a lot. The quality still wasn't anywhere near what Arthor managed, but it wasn't bad. Every single piece would be an upgrade to their current weaponry, and that was even before we got into the magical upgrades that had started to appear on the items in the hoard.

Oh yeah. The rate at which my items improved was speeding up. And multiple magic abilities? Hell yeah! I finally got exactly how the dragons in the stories all seemed to know exactly what they own. Sure, my domain improved along with the size and level of my hoard, but that didn't have me going through the piles like a scaled Scrooge McDuck. Until now. The fact that I could gain new and improved magical items for my underlings on an almost daily basis and boost their efficiency in leaps and bounds? Yeah. Every morning saw me lovingly going through the hoard, sometimes setting aside items that would be better off equipped on my minions. Oh, and the items were starting to see some interesting buffs. Sure, there was the occasional buff that we wouldn't be able to use straight away - Increased Cold resistance, or Increased Physical Damage. However, the wealth of items that gained single or even double useful buffs was increasing and I doled them out where they would be the most useful. A +1 Toughness necklace went straight to a builder, and I gave a gem boosting Mental Power to Jazinth, asking her to make a necklace for herself. One interesting fact didn't escape me, though. Not only were better quality items more prone to receiving multiple buffs, they also received more intriguing ones. It looked like there was an unwritten rule book here, defining which items could receive which buffs. Arthor's huge stone spear gained a wonderful bleeding debuff, increasing bleeding damage on enemies, for instance. For now, quantity beat quality, because their current equipment was crap, especially compared to what the shamans were able to craft now.

The detection range had been amplified again. That jump from one domain to five did not bode well. Something told me that those 30 miles made for a sizable chunk of the mountain, though. I’d have to check with Aelis. Hopefully, 30 miles meant that somebody would have to travel in our exact direction for quite a while to find us. Still, if they upgraded to a Small Medium sized hoard, same as myself, they would know I was out there too. Not a nice thought.

That Outpost, however… I decided to create one right away, inside the throne room. I had the mana to spare, and it would do wonders for any defensive battles. Besides, nobody would balk at receiving a nice buff when they waltzed through the Throne Room.

I was feeling pretty good about myself these days. The construction on the secret tunnels was amazing. They had finished the dual tunnels over the throne room, replete with murder holes and everything. Laive claimed she'd have a nasty concoction ready for me any day, that would have intruders ready to claw their eyes out. We had also excavated the final room in the western part of the lair. It turned out to be a shelved space that looked like it might have been a library or something. It was all empty now, of course, but I felt better off knowing that there were no additional surprises waiting for us there.

I was relaxing inside my room, idly talking with Arthor about the possibility of attacking the earth elementals, when one of the scouts returned. Wreil, I think his name was.

"Sire. We have trouble."

My instincts were becoming pretty sharp. I automatically spent half a second, checking over the mini-map for any attackers, before focusing my full attention on the scout. "Tell me."

"Erm. It's not right now... I think. We have spotted another dragon, though."

Five minutes later, my room was packed. Arthor was busy shooing out everybody except for the shamans, Roth, Aelis and Wreil. The rest of the tribe was right outside in the throne room, waiting for news.

"We’re all here. Wreil. Could you please repeat what you saw?"

He nodded, nervous at the attention. "Okay. Well, I was alone today. We have been ranging farther lately. Mostly because it feels safer, but also because Aelis told us we needed to know what was out there. I did what you said though, Aelis. Take care of smells, move slowly, stay hidden - everything. Well, we used to stay a bit further north-east, past where the Dweelers dwelled. There was this good feeding area, where smaller animals flocked. You know, the open cave filled with Gaer fronds and a large stream moving right through the middle? Good news is that everything looks unchanged. Bad news is that I couldn't get any closer, because a large pack of Urten were there, carving up a Clencher carcass and storing the meat."

"Urten?" I asked.

Aelis nodded. "Large, bipedal creatures. Very limited fire affinities. They are tool users if they have to be, but prefer close combat." She grimaced. "I commend you on your deduction, Wreil." She expanded with her arms. "Milord, a pack of Urten by themselves is not an issue for you. In fact, they would be good eating. They lack subtlety and we ambush single Urten now and then, because they tend to wander, get distracted and take chances."

I sensed a "...but?"

"But they take orders very well. Urten would never dissect a carcass if they had the choice. They would eat what they could and return when they were hungry again."

"How does this translate to a dragon being present?"

"Urten are strong, proud and defiant. They would not kneel for just anybody. It would take someone of your magnitude to have them succumb."

I grimaced. "I appreciate the flattery, Aelis. And well done, Wreil. I want you to go and take something off the hoard for yourself as a reward. You’re free to choose, but the tiny stone dagger with a notch in the handle might serve you well." It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but I liked the idea of rewarding people thinking on their feet. As he left, I turned towards the others. "Alright. You all heard it. We have a dragon nearby. How far away, Aelis?"

"13 or 14 hours marching as a group to reach that cave. Nine hours if I go by myself." The words came promptly, without any deliberation. Damn, she was good.

"Thank you. So. Any ideas? Basically... anything?"

Aelis spoke up again. "Regarding the terrain: The north-east is kinder than here. There is more vegetation, more water, it is warmer and more open. This is also the exact reason why we fled the place. The lack of hostile environs attracts all sorts of prey animals, which in turn attract additional predators. Our known hiding places were being discovered and it was becoming increasingly dangerous for us to stay there."

I smiled at her. "That's a great start. Which kind of predators?"

"Urten and Dweelers, obviously. Also Wrathspurs."

Arthor spoke over her. "In our past, many races have struggled over the area because they're good feeding grounds. It's also beside the point, because any dragon worth their scales will have done what you did here, clear an area for their own domain."

I nodded. "So the Urten were probably on the edge of the dragon's territory, hunting? That would make sense. Okay, so we have a bunch of hard-hitting minions and a dragon roving not too far away. The dragon might even know that there’s another domain nearby, but they probably don’t know where we are. Yet. However, at a certain point, the range of either of our domains is bound to expand to the point where they intersect. At that point, there’s no escaping the conflict. So we might as well decide what we want to do about it now. Ideas?"

"Urten are easy. A few traps before we all jump them. That should take them all out. Then we send in the Clenchers against the dragon along with you, Onyx." Unsurprisingly, this came from Roth.

Arthor snorted. "Pfah. You're going to get killed any day, you maniac. We don't even know if the dragon has other creatures roaming around. Besides, we don't need to attack the dragon. We could just collapse a couple of tunnels, block off those approaches and let the others in the area handle it."

Aelis shook her head. "Apologies, Arthor. But would collapsing the tunnels not alert them to our presence? In my reckoning, there are at least three tunnels leading toward us. Perhaps, we could just avoid conflict entirely. As it stands, there is not really any life or vegetation that justifies their groups spending the half day to approach us. We could wait this out and spend our energy on improving our defenses. Then, if everything goes wrong, we will be prepared for them."

I watched the small group bicker over the issue. As it stood, the votes were evenly divided between defending and attacking, with varying degrees of subtlety. I let them talk for a while. The discussions were heating up when I interrupted. "Listen up." Their faces moved up to look at me and I almost grinned. They had actually managed to forget about me. "Two things: First off, we don't know enough to decide on any approach right this moment. We could go on the offensive and find out that the area is teeming with minions, leaving us entirely outmatched." I raised a claw to stop Arthor from speaking. "Conversely, the Urten could also be the only real opposition and deciding not to attack could leave an easy target for somebody else to gobble up. I need not remind you of the rewards from the last time we defeated a dragon, do I?" I let that sink in for a while. My own mouth started watering at the memory of the savory meat of the red dragon, and the gifts it granted. "My second point, however, is this: Do we need to fight? So far, you are all talking about whether we should fight or flee, basically. What about an alliance?"

That got them started. Everybody talked at once, causing an unintelligible mental cacophony. Within seconds, they expanded their discussions into their own language, squeaking noises mixing with the attempts to drown out the mental cries of the others. I slammed a paw flat down on the floor. "Enough!" Once they had subsided a bit, I held up a claw. "One at a time. Creziel - I haven't heard from you today. What do you think?"

The tiny Talpus bowed under the scrutiny of his kin. His mental voice came out haltingly. "I - it is a novel idea, that's for sure. I don't know, really."

I egged him on. "Come on. Consider both the pros and cons. Are you telling me no dragons have ever worked together?"

"Yes. Obviously, they have, otherwise there wouldn't be a clutch of eggs right this moment. Also, I guess Selys has a handful of dragons serving under her. So maybe it's not completely out of the question."

Arthor couldn't keep quiet anymore. "That's enough. I'm disappointed to hear that you haven't been paying attention when I tell stories, Creziel. Now, our ancestors clearly tell us that dragons only gather for mating very rarely, and also that a new clutch is guaranteed to bring strife and conflict. As for Selys? Everybody serves because she's the one who calls the shots. There is no alliance. Anybody serving under her doesn't do it because they decide to, but because she orders them to do her bidding or die. We don't have that position. It’s kill or be killed."

"Good points, Arthor. I need you to stop berating Creziel though. Just because something isn't commonly done is no reason to deem it impossible or take it out on him. History from my world is teeming with examples of unlikely alliances. Besides, if we are going to make it inside the mountain, we will need further allies. Some will be clearly subservient, like our Crawls. But imagine the difference it would make if we had another dragon on our side. The challenges we could take on if my illusions and weakening powers were combined with the might of a red dragon. Jazinth. What do you think?"

The shaman didn't answer right away. She looked at her feet, measuring her response. The sense from her was, unexpectedly, one of self-pride. When she spoke, she looked not at me, but at the others. "I think we should believe in Onyx." The reaction from the others was immediate, but she held up her paws and spoke on. "I know. I'm one to say that - I mean it, though. We have handled our survival the same way for generations - you say so yourself, Arthor. What do we have to show for it? A diminishing number of pups and young ones who hardly level because we're too weak to even take on a Crawl in a one-on-one battle. We used to be faster, smarter. Our tribe had an actual home back in the day, not just a temporary cave. I doubted Onyx to begin with, and I learned my lesson. That doesn't mean I'm automatically siding with him whatever he says. But if he actually has experience from his world that shows that this could work, who are we to refuse?"

Jazinth stared at the others in turn, challenging them to gainsay her. Nobody did, however. I sent a thankful thought at her, before taking over the conversation. "Okay, we still haven't decided anything. We need more information before we decide whether we're the weakest ones in this scenario and how best to handle it. We need to be sure that there actually is a dragon present and which kind. In short, we need you and your scouts to get to work, Aelis. Do you believe that you are up for the task?"

She swallowed, nervous. "Perhaps. As you know, some dragons are trickier than others. I will do my best, however. There used to be a tiny, half-collapsed tunnel system that we should be able to use for a staging area."

I nodded. "Good. Besides, I don't intend for you to risk your lives for nothing. We will need a backup plan in case you are discovered, apart from running away, obviously. We will pick a proper present for the dragon from the hoard, present it as a peace offering. What else?"

We worked on distilling the planning into actual to-do lists and managed to get some real work done. Soon, we had a number of agreements in place that helped ease the minds of everybody. First off, we wouldn't move on immediately. Instead, we would ensure that our defense was up to specs before we went out scouting. That would take at least a week, and give me a chance to increase the training for Ursam and the others. I would feel a lot better, if I went out with a well-trained attack bear at my side. Jazinth and Arthor would also focus on weaponry, ensuring that we had a full complement of weapons, and possibly some armor of sorts for our Crawls too.