Town Builder

Chapter 26: Alchemist

I was so excited to talk to someone from the outside world I had trouble focusing. I didn’t want to seem eager, so I let them go to the inn on their own. I opened my interface and started to work on giving Galana the freedom to offer quests. I was able to focus the quests to revolve around the forest across the river. Harvest animal parts, flora, and goblin bracelets. Apparently, each goblin carried a unique bracelet to fulfill the quest requirements.

With the 4x time dilation, I was guessing I was going to have to wait at least a day in the game for the players to log back in. I set Sanso up to offer some quests to the mountains to the north as well concerning his copper mining operations. Next, Jaesmin got a handful of in-town quests regarding building materials.

I also added all my guild leaders to the quest window, but they didn’t have as much freedom in the quests they offered. From the interface, they could only offer repeatable gathering quests for their work. I guessed this was because of their lower AI quality. Simba had said the more NPC SEED AI interacted with players, the better the chance of getting promoted to a SPROUT AI, and then maybe the quest offerings would vary more.

I realized I had forgotten about my new alchemist! I had been so excited over the players’ arrival. I returned to the alchemy shop and knocked loudly. The alchemist came down and opened the door. She had a bright smile on.

“Lord Tallis, I wasn’t expecting anything this grand! At most, I expected just a lab and a small storefront. I just graduated from the Imperium College of Magic in Coral Coast City, and to be given such…Am I the only alchemist in the village? I am sorry, but I tend to talk endlessly unless interrupted. We have to work out a contract, right? And I need to see what local ingredients you have for my craft. I did bring quite a bit in my bags. Oh, I am sorry! Please speak, Lord Tallis!” Her words had been slightly accented and came out in a tumble, so I had to focus to get everything.

“Tonna, thanks for answering my call. We greatly need an alchemist in our humble village. Let’s go on a tour of the village first. You have seen all of your residence and shop?” She nodded emphatically, and I think this was going to be an easy contract.

“Fantastic! A few locals have already stopped by with welcome dishes! I want to see everything!” Tonna said with enthusiasm, and it was infectious as we toured the buildings. She talked to everyone for a few minutes, and they seemed really happy to have the dark-skinned alchemist.

My garden and wood golems impressed her endlessly, and she heaped praise on the tireless stick men. They seemed to preen at her administration. I told her she was free to use my garden as her own but said the inn’s chef also had free reign. She nodded and picked quite a few herbs as we walked the winding paths. She seemed to be able to communicate with the golems through some nature spell. She asked me if it was all right if she got the woodmen to administer the roof garden on her house.

“I think I have enough capacity to summon one more golem. I will direct that one to help you.” I cast the spell, and a new golem appeared. The other stickmen raced over to greet the new arrival. They seemed to celebrate and dance for a moment before returning to their tasks.

Rather than use the interface, I gave the new arrival a verbal command, “This is Tonna. You are to help her as needed. If she has no need for your service, you can return and help out here.” My verbal commands should be transcribed into the interface, and I checked. It was close enough to what I intended after I viewed it.

Tonna spoke next, “Lord Tallis, you are so generous. I suppose we do need to work out a formal contract. I have seen what you have to offer in terms of ingredients locally, and of the seven potions I know how to brew, I can prepare five of them with local ingredients.” My interface popped up with some information, and I checked it.

Health Restoration Potion, instantly restores 769 health, cool down 122 seconds, and has a shelf life of 209 days

Stamina Recovery Potion, increases stamina recovery by 209% for 33 minutes, cool down 12 seconds, and has shelf life of 102 days

Nightvision, gives night vision out to 202 feet for 2 hours 9 minutes, cool down instant, and has shelf life of 48 days

Nature’s Rage, gives +50% damage to nature spells for 4 minutes, cool down 4 minutes, and has a shelf life of 3 years 89 days

Elixir of Tranquility, gives +22% to skill growth for 8 hours, cool down 8 hours, and has a shelf life 19 days

Ok, I haven’t dealt too much with potions so far. Recipes for potions, I think, were like my building plans. They varied greatly, and the alchemist’s ability and ingredients could increase their effectiveness. The cooldown…I looked it up. It was basically how long a player or NPC had to wait before consuming another potion. If they didn’t wait, then they would be poisoned. Shelf life was how long a potion was viable after it was brewed. So you couldn’t stockpile a massive amount of potions as a player. Usually, the more powerful the potion, the longer the cooldown and the shorter its shelf life. I guess this made potion crafters keep their demand high.

“Tonna, this is impressive. How many potions can you brew a day? I would like every soldier and guard in the village to have three health potions and one stamina potion at hand,” I asked, not familiar with her craft.

Tonna tapped her chin. “Well, some potions take longer than others to brew… I think maybe 24 health potions and 8 stamina potions would take me roughly a day. With the building bonuses…26 health potions and nine stamina. That time includes harvesting the ingredients as my alchemy proficiency increases the potency, time of effectiveness, and shelf life! Unfortunately, the cool-downs are fixed…I would need a new recipe to change that.” She looked at me expectantly. It was better than I could have hoped.

I thought about the terms of the contract before speaking, “Tonna, how about this? The residence will be yours.” Her eyes lit in delight. “You will supply those potions, 26 health, and 9 stamina to either Galana or Tanguin daily. The potions you sell in your shop below will be taxed at 20%. You are free to utilize ingredients within reason from my personal garden, and the golem I have sent to assist will continue to do so. Finally, your monthly salary from the village will be one gold.” Tonna had been nodding at each point until the last. She seemed to be thinking before nodding again.

“This is most fair, Lord Tallis. Who are Galana and Tanguin?” I remembered they were out leveling the militia and guards, and she had not met them yet. The contract formed in my interface when she agreed.

“They are the village giantkin defenders. They will stop by to meet you. Please feel free to take the rest of the day off, though. You can get started tomorrow.” I finished. Tonna left to go socialize at the inn, excited to meet more townsfolk. Her enthusiasm reminded me of a naive child…well she had hired an escort here, so she couldn’t be that naive.

It was getting toward dinner time, so I headed home. I checked my map, and Jaesmin was at the inn. I filled my satiety bar with some apples and cheese. If Jaesmin was serving as the waitress tonight, I should probably look for a replacement or two for her to take over the waitress duties.

My thoughts drifted to the inn. We needed a brewery in town. It shouldn’t be too hard to draft an improvement over my original effort.

Uncommon Brewery Plans, Health 5000, Requires Masonry: Foundations 23, Woodcraft: Carpentry 23

I decided the new brewery would be slightly upriver on the banks of the river so it could siphon water for the brewing process. I wasn’t sure how advanced brewing was in the game, but I guessed that, like most things, it involved the basic materials but was expedited.

My brewery would be a stone warehouse. The first floor would be partitioned into four equal units. Three of the units would be for different fermenting rooms. The fourth partition would be for raw material storage. The second floor would be for aging casks and storage. I figured the facility was way too large for our current needs, but best to plan ahead.

Next, I made an effort to work some artistry into the building’s exterior. This was just in hopes of raising the building’s quality. I went with an African theme, adding carved stone animals to the stone supports around the building. I thought maybe we could call our ale the Jungle Brew. As I was finishing, Jaesmin came home. She looked tired.

“Jaesmin, you don’t have to work at the inn. We can find someone else to be a waitress.” I said with concern in my voice.

“Oh, I wasn’t working! I was having a special dinner that the Fareth prepared. It is supposed to help with the baby’s development, and it was the best food I have ever had!” She sat on my lap and looked at my plans. “What are you working on tonight?” She asked, genuinely interested.

“It is an attempt at a brewery. I was hoping to recruit a brewer soon and just planning ahead. I didn’t get much done today, so I needed to do something productive tonight.” I said, holding her. I examined the fruit of my effort.

Uncommon stone brewery warehouse, 75,000 health, requires masonry 23, masonry structures 23 and woodcraft 23, bonus +6 to brewery skill

A skill bonus…that was new. If I could double it on construction…that would be +12 on completion. I would just need a brewer with the skill of 1 to effectively get good ale! That was kind of amazing—no, it was magical. I planned to start using my skills to select the best materials I could find for this project. The roof was made of wood, and the rest of the structure was made of stone. I would enlist Sanso to help tomorrow. For now, I had a beautiful young woman in my lap that needed some attention.

Early the next day, I summoned Galana and Tanguin to the inn for breakfast. “So, how did your hunting go yesterday?” I asked as I dug into some fabulous potato pancakes with rich butter.

Potato Pancakes, +15 to Stamina for 24 hours

The great thing about Fareth’s food was that it always maxed out my satiety bar no matter how little I ate. But I was already on my sixth pancake. Food buffs didn’t stack, but I didn’t care. Also, you could only benefit from one food buff at a time. A 24 buff to stamina seemed good for today. Galana spoke while chewing her own pancake.

“Lord Tallis, it got a little competitive between me and Tanguin…the recruits only made a single level. But the good news is the harvest was seven times our normal. And I brought home the most among your warriors.” She grinned while chewing.

Tanguin added in, “Well, if you had given me some of your porcupine quill arrows, I could have exceeded you. I was just using common arrows.” He sounded morose. We did have players in the village, so maybe we should offer a variety of goods.

“Galana, you should put some of your arrows up for sale at the general store. The players may be interested in buying them. You can retain 80% of the profits from the sales.” I said after thinking about it. Her arrows did an equal amount of damage through a bleed effect over 100 seconds. So if she did 300 damage, the victim would have a three health per sec bleed effect for 100 seconds.

Galana’s eyebrows shot up, “Really? That is generous of you, Lord Tallis. I should be able to make an extra 24 arrows each evening. Most of the stock currently is going to supply and train the militia.” She looked pleased as punch, and it gave Tanguin a slightly dour look. I could rectify that easily enough.

“So Tanguin. I have some troops coming in a few weeks. I don’t think they will be well equipped, so you will need to work with the leather workers and smithing guilds to get an armory for the troops. I think Galana already has ideas on the uniforms for our soldiers.” I said self-assuredly.

“I did see the ancient dwarven builder spirits working on the barracks. How many troops have you recruited for my command?” He asked, going from being dejected to being lively.

“Not many, I am afraid. Two hundred giantkin warriors, sixteen elven scouts, sixteen orc cavalry, and ten angelkin captains. The giantkin should be level 30, the elves and orcs level 40, and the angelkin level 60.” I said casually, sipping some cold fruit juice. Both giantkins stopped eating and stared at me.

Tanguin spoke, “Angelkin? How did you manage to recruit those self-obsessed prima donnas? Don’t get me wrong, Lord Tallis, they make fabulous leaders but don’t play well with others, if you catch my meaning. The giantkin warriors are a boon, but what breed of our race are they? Some are a bit…rowdy.”

Was I tricked? Did the admin give me an unmanageable force? I checked the description and didn’t see any subrace connotations. I sent a request to the admins for clarification at that moment, but I was somewhat worried. “Oh, I didn’t know Tanguin. I am sure your leadership skills can keep them all in line. I am not sure of their subrace, but it shouldn’t matter. You should get with Curraen and Manarag to prepare their armor and weapons. The more prepared we are for their arrival, the better their morale will be.”

Galana and Tanguin got into a conversation, and I was anxiously waiting for the admin’s response. Galana said that she would like armor and weapons for 30 town guards and 50 bowman militia on top of the outfitting of Tanguin’s troops. They then began planning a routine to harvest animals on the plains so that Curraen could make the armor. Ten minutes later, my inbox pinged, and I checked the message.

The programmers have not yet set the racial profile of the troops. If you send me your preference, we can edit it before the region they are organizing from is added to the game.

“So Tanguin, which giantkin subrace would serve best as troops? And angelkin as captains, orcs are calvary and elves as scouts?” I asked with some relief.

Tanguin assessed me and spoke, “Giantkin infantry?…either stone or storm.” Galana, being a storm giantkin, smirked at his remark. “Stone giants are sturdier, and storm giants are more nimble. If I had a choice, I would say stone for large engagements and storm for smaller engagements.”

He nodded to himself. “For angelkin? Geese, I have only met a few in my lifetime and didn’t like a single one. I guess the celestial subrace. They are the most pompous of the bunch but have innate healing magic. I haven’t actually met any orcs before coming here, but the orcs in your village seem capable horsemen. Elves…there are many species out there…for stealth…maybe the dusk elves? They are rare, and I only heard of them through rumors.” Tagnuin had finished his plate and food. I sent my request to the admin.

Please make the Angelkin=Celestial, Orc=Plains, Giantkin=Storm, and the Elves=Dusk.

I waited while the two giantkin got into a somewhat heated discussion of whether Storm or Stone giantkin were superior in battle.

My response from the admin was returned.

Dusk elves are not a playable race. How did you learn of them? They are part of an epic quest in the game. The programmers said they could do it, though, so consider it done and your compensation for the legendary library plans complete.

Fantastic! I sent a reply telling the admin that an NPC told me about them and said they made great scouts. I was going to delve further into dusk elves with Tanguin, but the players entered the common room. They scanned the few patrons, noticed me, and made their way toward my table.

Mad Dog spoke, “If it isn’t Lord Tallis! The bloody fantastic cook let us know you were in charge of this little village. How did you manage it so quickly?!” The three stood over our table. Mad Dog had a friendly smile, while the other two seemed a little indifferent, studying the room.

“I started here during the testing period. It wasn’t much, just a few buildings falling apart. I did a few favors, saved a child, and was made Lord of the town.” Wow, that was an extremely short way to gloss over all my work.

“May we join you? You were right, by the way, the food is the best we have tasted in the game to date, and the buffs were incredible!” Galana and Tanguin moved to let the three sit. Mad Dog ordered breakfast for the three of them, and three gold coins changed hands. My gnome cook was going to make a fortune if we got regular players to town.

“So, Lord Tallis, I do have some questions, but I think it is best to introduce us first. We are part of the Silver Linings Playbook guild. We are small, just ten members.” Mad Dog said, but the female elf interrupted him.

“Eleven,” she said with neutrality.

“Ok, eleven. Mary’s sister hasn’t played much with us in the last three years since she entered medical school, but she was one of the original members. Anyway. Our guild is small, and we are the only three who got to join the game-testing phase. I see you are only level 17, so I assume you are just a casual player?” He asked. I nodded, not sure what he meant by casual.

“I guess you are not part of the information gold rush then? Well, the wikis out there are buying up info from the testers at an insane rate. Last night, we sold the info for that health elixir for $100 to six different wiki sites and guilds. Can you believe that? Six hundred dollars for just a little information on a simple escort quest that took us two days in the real world to complete.” The food arrived, and their group dug in like a pack of famished lions. Even the elf woman lost her decorum eating, so her group mates didn’t eat all the food. When they finished, Mad Dog continued.

“Well, this game is going to be big…probably the biggest thing out there. Did you hear about the end game? Well, some forecasters have put the pot of gold at $50 billion if the game runs for five years. Just bloody insane, right?” I nodded. “So, like I said, we are currently information brokers in the game. We travel, find useful tidbits, and sell the information.” He paused, looking at the two giantkin briefly before continuing.

“So, Lord Tallis, what I want to know is about your legendary creation. I don’t want it. I just want to know how you did it, and we can split the payouts 50/50. Sound good?” Mad Dog sat back and waited.

“I don’t have it,” I said as Mad Dog looked skeptical. “The admins said it was too early in gameplay to have players crafting legendary objects, so they downgraded the plans to epic and gave me some compensation. I think it was a bug in the system…I hit level 43 in my artistry: drafting skill when I completed the plans, which gave them a temporary boost. But I should also mention I spent over two hundred in-game hours on drafting those plans before reaching level 43 in the skill.” Mad Dog started to nod as I finished.

“Well, that is good information. What about your village here…do you want us to make public its location? The food alone would draw players here in droves. Grinder said we should ask you first since we learned you were the Lord of the place.” Mad Dog added.

“I think I would like it kept secret,” I said softly. “I don’t think I could handle an influx of players. Could you hold off posting its location until the game launch?” The player’s eyes turned sharp, and they looked at each other.

“You are a hard-wired player? Aren’t you?” Grinder said, speaking for the first time. Mad Dog looked a little shocked.

Mad Dog spoke as he seemed to be the leader, “You are here 24/7, and you are only level 17? I don’t understand. Were you added later in the testing phase? The lowest level hard-wired player I am aware of is level 60, and she is a casual player. I know it is going to be much harder to level after the game officially launches…are the admins testing that difficult leveling system on you?” Mad Dog focused intently on me, waiting for an answer.

“Um, no. I actually have spent most of my time in-game drafting and building things. I only adventure rarely.” I felt like an idiot. I thought my cheat of killing monsters from horseback had gotten me to level quickly.

Mad Dog nodded, “So you are not accepting quests then. That explains it. Leveling by killing monsters is secondary to completing quests in terms of experience. But killing monsters is the fastest way to increase skills. Hell! We got a level for just escorting the alchemist here. They will balance out on game launch, but the programmers want to test higher-level players in the game, so they juiced leveling a bit. So what is it like living here?” He asked eagerly.

I absorbed the information and thought before answering, “If I didn’t have the interface I would probably lose myself here. It seems so real, and I often can not tell the difference. Well expediated building, crafting, and the lack of gore in combat…some things bring me back to reality.”

He nodded as I imparted my wisdom, then said, “We are hoping to get our own full immersion pods with the money we earn from selling information as testers. We will check out the surrounding area before returning to Stillwater City. We need to port to…Coral Coast City for another quest.” Mad Dog stood, getting ready to leave.

“You should talk to my captain of the city guard here. She has some quests you may be interested in.” I said, sounding hopeful. It would be great to pawn off my goblin problem on the players.

Galana, down the table, spoke, “The Darkskull goblins across the river have a fortification and village. I have numerous requests for you, brave adventurers…”

I saw the group’s eyes light up, and I told them the level range was 40 to 50, which got them even more interested. With three accepted quests from Galana, the three left to stop by the alchemist for some potions and head across the narrow stone bridge to the Shiverwood forest.