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>>178128
"Gentlemen, I shall be heading to the western isles briefly.
I have orders for you in the meanwhile I am away on this venture.
First and most important is that a State official should be coming here.
I hope to be back in time for him, but myself and Keddic have pressing business.
Should the man in question come by, he is to be treated as a revered guest.
Make the representative comfortable, and treat them politely.
Arkus, you are to assist in wood chopping and sparring alike,
so you may reasonably use the axe granted to you by Del Roga in a more...
Traditional fashion. Your primary focus shall still be research,
But it would behoove you to be more martially inclined.
You are also to look into the applications of the morphic fluids,
Beyond what creating enlarging weapons.
I have some... ideas, and would like to speak with you about them at length once I return.
To clarify, these are simply new pursuits to further split your time between,
It is acceptable to me that your progress in some fields slows as a result of taking on these new tasks."
"...Okay... one sec... so, in addition to the Skyfall cannon and the blood togas and cloak, you want me to investigate morphic fluid applications.... and... and, wait, did you sa.... nevermind, some wood chopping and sparring too, fine. Just don't expect me to be prioritizing that over the research, you gave me a rather full plate."
"Derkin, you are to continue to train those I told you of earlier.
I also would prefer that you would train them to circumvent mages,
If at all possible for you to teach them such skills.
This being in addition to leadership training, and work on subterfuge,
Stealth, and deception alike. Can you do this?"
"...Yeah, I got a couple bits of ideas and whatnot, but they'll only really be useful against second rate mages, or against the laughable idea of a competent mage who neglected to develop their magical senses. As a vanilla person, only so much that can be done when your target is magically perceptive.... but yeah, I can add what little I know of exploiting mage weaknesses I know, sure thing."
"Jojo, you are to work with an individual Derkin has scouted, the first of the three.
The one who stood against me so well in our sparring match?
If I recall, his name was... Ozrick? No... ah, Ulzrick, that was it.
Either way, see if he has any magical talents you could nurture.
Oggroth, Ugrokk, you are to continue training your men.
And for all Premen in general, I expect your studies of the common tongue to continue,
Even in my absence, is this understood?
Jojo speaks first, as most of the Premen bow in acceptance of my commands.
"..Look for Souldreaming? As Mordre asks, so shall it be done, but requested that Mordre hold no hopes on this, Souldreaming is rare... and most who use it are.... marked, crippled or broken in exchange for the power they gain. Still, Jojo shall try to teach all that can be taught, if this one proves tractable. ....Ah, and the corpse you gave me? The wounds are cauterized, melted together, it will take time to try repairing it."
I recall the Blood Iron sitting within the central tower, and, thinking on my earlier supposition that Blood Iron may increase my bodies responsiveness to my own magics, I duck inside and consume the makeshift scabbard, feasting on some tenfold more Blood Iron than my only other meal of the substance. I feel the resonance with the Hero Souls I carry deepen, and to my senses, both conventional and magical, my body feels.... sharper, imbued with new-found responsiveness. If Blood Iron does what I think it does, then I may have just grown faster still.
[Total body (discounting hands and silver mask) converted to Blood Iron: 00,076/30,000 pounds]
As I gather up some dried rations and crush together a few more of the un-salvageable sets of broken arms and armor we have stored at the Arcanoworks, procuring supplies for Keddic and myself alike, I hear Ugrokk haltingly speak... in the common tongue, no less. I listen to his attempts at a new languarge as I scoop a large portion of coins from the bag of assorted gold marks I still possess, in case I should need funds on this venture. I imagine some 1,000 golden marks should cover any cost of transportation I incur.
[840 marks at Arcanoworks, 1,000 in Mordre's possession]
"Add..... learn-time..of....new.... word-way, yes."
...Hm, halting and inarticulate, but I could understand a basic sentence, even if it was garbled. I nod approvingly at Ugrokk's attempt, to which he responds with a toothy grin. It would seem all that time spent recovering was not wasted on Ugrokk. I speak one more time as I already move to exit the Arcanoworks with Keddic and Moss in tow, the stars twinkling above.
"One last thing: I fear we may have made ourselves a very powerful enemy.
Weinsho, I believe his name was. Be on your guard, as he has reason to seek vengeance.
I shall have more to say on this when I return. For now, fare well in your endeavors, I shall see you soon."
And so some ten or so minutes after returning to the Arcanoworks, having resupplied and informed my troops of my requirements of them during my coming absence, we depart, running under the faint illuminations of the stars and partly obscured moon. As we build speed, I make mention to Keddic I have slaved the Soul Grave to follow him, so that he has no need to stop for sleep unless he desires it.
Keddic's only response is to chuckle, and continue his impossibly ground-eating jog.
[DAY 83]
Other than the change in lighting, nothing marks the passage of one day to another in our group: None sleep, none slow and tire, our speedy march continuing unabated. We continue traveling at a speed in excess of 20 miles per hour, and I grow convinced over the day that I truly am faster than before I consumed the extra Blood Iron. Interesting. I take a contemplative bite from the compressed mass of armor I brought as food. I note our trek taking us through Duras' borders but before the day is over our speed has carried us through to the other side. Though the lone traveler we saw, a merchant transporting wares, stares in complete confusion at the sight of our group of three dashing by, he raises no commotion, and we near the lands that once held the Mosmordren Empire, the lands of the Curse as night falls. Keddic seems to enjoy spending the night dashing through the patch of woods we cross, and I consider how VAST the Cursed lands must be: We are still in it's confines, more than a day's travel (a day's travel for me, not for a puny fleshling) south of where I first awoke.
[DAY 84]
Keddic continues to lead and I follow in silence, with Moss doggedly trailing my own form. Perhaps it is our speed, or the threat we represent, but no beast seems willing to challenge us, even as the sounds of growls and hisses can be heard about the forests as we pass through. Thankfully, as night falls once more, Keddic and I enjoy our respective meals as we continue our unending run. Miraculously, Keddic still does not look fatigued or weary, in fact....
"Hm... yes, yes, I must say, we are making excellent time. Why, at this rate, we may be able to shorten each leg of the trip there and back to five, maybe four days total. Ah, how wondrously swift one can be, lacking sleep and conventional notions of fatigue. Anyway, if I am not mistake, we should be clearing the Cursed lands soon, and at that point we'll be more than halfway there."
As the light begins to fade Keddic's words prove true, as the forest ends with the same unnatural abruptness as before, transitioning into a field of patchy grass and loose rocks that stretches before us, the periodic hill rising from the earth to grant features to the land. Keddic pays it all no mind as he continues running, and I continue following, munching on more metal.
[DAY 85]
As the sun rises, we crest a hill, finally gaining enough elevation for a proper assessment of how distant the shoreline is. ....I can see the waters, miles and miles away, and wonder if we shall reach them before the day ends. Once more, Keddic simply continues running... though I note his skin looks somewhat paler now, then it did earlier. Perhaps I am imagining it.
Some time after midday, we arrive at a port town, mostly taverns, trading offices, and brothels, a multitude of ships docked.... and as my eyes trail further out to sea, I see islands dotting the water, most of them fairly close to the shore.
....But beyond the chain of islands, father out at sea, I perceive a solid wall of boiling and thundering clouds, the sea slowly devolving to massive waves crashing recklessly about past the most distant island. Even as I sweep my gaze about, I see the super-storm coating every patch of open sea, only the waters about the densely packed islands bereft of it's calamitous influence.
Keddic, Moss and I slow down as we enter the town, reaching a normal speed as we arrive. Keddic takes a moment to take a few deep breaths before he turns to me with a questioning look in his eyes, speaking softly while we are still sheltered behind a particularly tall alehouse.
"So, do you feel like searching out some transportation to the islands, or should I handle it? Oh, and before I forget, yes, you may see some revolvers around this port... oh blast, I can't recall it's name, anyway, even though there are some revolvers here, they are all imported from the islands, no one living here can actually make them. So, do you want to find a ship, or should I do it?
I consider the one thousand gold marks I have clutched in my hand, safely tucked inside a heavy sack.
What should I say or do?
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