Chapter 40: Hallow Ground

The holding pattern of evening rain for the Season of Blooms came back. Theo sat in his lab, looking over his new creation with mixed feelings. He knew that some potions might have negative effects, his books told him as much, but for the item’s description to give a specific warning was frightening. The rain outside brought the scent of renewal. Only the pattering sound of the driving wind woke him from his stupor. The alchemist withdrew Fenian’s crystal and squeezed it tightly.

Theo only felt the trilling sensation a few times before the Elf answered. Theo! How are you?

I’m well, thanks. I think I have something you might be interested in, Theo said.

What is it, my dear alchemist?

I’ve been experimenting around a bit and I came up with a [Lesser Experience Boost Potion], Theo said.

You what? Hold on a moment…

Fenian went silent for some time. Theo simply sat there, holding the crystal while he waited. It was strange to be put on hold while communicating through the crystals, but after a few long moments the Elf was back.

A real one? Fenian asked.

As far as I know, Theo said. I brewed it myself.

Alright, listen to me ‌carefully, Fenian said. Don’t put it in your shop for sale. Keep it under your hat. Make sure your Tara’hek knows this, too.

What’s going on? Theo asked. He felt vindicated after having such a bad feeling about the potion.

Experience potions are rare. Sourcing the ingredients is a nightmare. I recommend you brew them in as small a batch as possible and sell them to me. I’ll sell them to a fence—not my normal contact, someone who understands discretion, Fenian said.

Why the secrecy? We deal in golds worth of potions, why is this different? Theo asked.

It's the implication, really. Restoration potions and stat potions are one thing, but an experience potion? That’s a line we don’t want to cross, yet, Fenian said. The rarity is one thing, but the effect they have on people is another. Noble born people use them very often, but the effect is bad. They produce weak-hearted adventurers unable to slay rats, let alone monsters.

Alright. I had a bad feeling about them, Theo said.

Right. I’ll take any off your hands, but keep it under 10 potions, Fenian said.

Theo let out a sigh of relief. He felt like he had something illegal in his lab, quickly stowing it away into his inventory before anyone found it.

I appreciate the warning, Theo said. Perhaps I can find another use for the reagent.

Please do. I’ll talk to you later.

Bye.

Theo informed Tresk about the experience potion problem. He made sure she knew not to tell anyone about it and the Marshling promised secrecy. She was returning home, intent on making more of the spicy wolf stew. The alchemist was excited to have something other than the ordinary. He departed the shop to check out Luras’ new place and invite him to dinner. The rain seemed to come in waves, ebbing and flowing by some unseen force. He was soaked by the time he arrived.

The new leatherworking shop was fairly small, but maintained the wood-paneled wall aesthetic of Broken Tusk. Theo knocked on the door, standing back to admire the humble beginnings of Luras’ new business. The alchemist knew he’d make something of himself. The man was simply too driven to do anything less. After a moment, the big Half-Ogre appeared at the door with a smile on his face.

“I thought you’d never be by,” Luras said.

“It’s been busy. As always,” Theo said.

Luras gestured, beckoning him inside the small building. It looked a lot like Perg’s building, only ten ‌paces in either direction. The seed core had created a gorgeous interior, but it was still bare. A small workbench sat on the far side of the room, with a bedroll on the other. None of these sparse features seemed to dim the Half-Ogres enthusiasm for his new place.

“What do you think?” Luras asked.

“I think this is the start of something big,” Theo said. “Where did all this drive come from?”

“I’ve always wanted to do it,” Luras said. “Something happened—I don’t want to talk about it—but it pushed me to go through with it.”

Theo didn’t care if his friend wanted to have secrets. Some things just weren’t ready to come out in the open and he knew that all too well.

“You couldn’t have picked a better spot to set up shop,” Theo said. “Right next to Perg’s tannery. Perfect.”

“Agreed,” Luras said, walking over to the only storage area in the room. He withdrew a simple pair of leather slacks and held them up. “I’m just crafting whatever to get my core leveled up.”

“Well, if I need some leather chaps I’ll ask you,” Theo said, grinning.

Theo trusted Luras as much as anyone in his new world. His problem was that he was often too trusting with people, even his close friends. The issue with the [Swamp Truffle] was something he didn’t want to bring up with the leatherworker. It seemed like too much burden to place on another person, and he’d learn to heed Fenian’s warnings. If the Elf said it was dangerous information to spread around town, he’d keep it under wraps for now.

“Need any funding?” Theo asked.

“Gods, you just throw money around, don’t you?” Luras said, groaning.

“It’s a defense mechanism,” Theo said.

“No, I’m funded for quite a while,” Luras said. “I appreciate the gesture, but it just seems like another ploy to get your hands in my pockets.”

“I’m managing an entire town now. I need all the money I can get,” Theo said.

“How is that going?”

“It’s going well. I’ve been doing it since I got here, anyway. I just don’t want to get caught unawares,” Theo said. “If Aarok is right about a monster wave, we could be in some trouble. The good news is that I expanded our territory out into the swamp, so Broken Tusk owns the dungeon outright.”

Luras seemed to accept the answer. He talked about his business and how he’d leverage the fine wolf leather to become well known. Theo didn’t doubt him for a moment, his mind going back to the convergence of events that bred greatness within the townsfolk. Until the Half-Ogre leveled his [Leatherworking Core] up, he’d be making simple things for a few coins. Before departing, the alchemist invited him over for some spicy wolf stew that night, to which he agreed.

Theo couldn’t help himself. While he distilled the [Swamp Truffle] down to its base property’s essence, he still wanted to see what secondary properties it had. With Tresk nearing the shop, he ran off into the eastern reaches of his property and searched for another buried mushroom. The range on his [Drogramath Alchemy Knife] was excellent, allowing him to find one quickly. He dug it out of the muddy ground, stowing it away in his inventory and burying the hole, before his companion returned to the shop.

The alchemist returned to the shop, finding Tresk upstairs preparing the meal for the night. “That’s it?” Tresk asked as Theo produced the truffle from his inventory.

“The thing Fenian warned me about, yeah,” Theo said. “The experience boosting properties are dangerous, so we’ll avoid it as much as possible. But I want to see the other properties.”

“You’re gonna eat it?” Tresk said, grimacing.

The truffle was roughly the size of Theo’s head. It was black as night and lumpy all over. He took his knife and cut into the fungus, revealing a lace of black and silver inside. A strange scent filled the room, like a mixture of cut oaken boards and olives. The alchemist took the smallest piece he could and popped it into his mouth. That nutty, oaken flavor spread across his tongue, followed by an intense sensation that flooded his mind. His stomach churned in objection, but he managed to not vomit. The familiar window filled his vision, explaining the new property.

[Properties Discovery!]

You’ve discovered an additional effect from the [Swamp Truffle] by eating it.

[Hallow Ground] discovered.

“Hallow ground,” Theo said, tilting his head to the side. “I wonder what that does.”

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“Can you distill it before our guests arrive?” Tresk asked, stirring her copper pan and smiling. The smell of the cooking wolf meat hadn’t yet been infused with the extremely spicy aroma of the [Fire Salamander Eggs].

“With my new still, yeah,” Theo said, immediately attending to the process.

With the [Drogramath Still], he could easily cook the 5 unit mash down in a few minutes. He had the first distillation done before Tresk even introduced the eggs to her dish. The special properties on his new still kicked in on the first run, producing double the amount of essence. It seemed absurd, but Theo ran the second distillation to purify the unstable mixture. The [Hallow Ground Essence] was as unstable as the [Experience Boost Essence], meaning that he’d have to be careful when working with it. He had a feeling that the [Drogramath Distillation Specialty] in his lab made it more stable, but he couldn’t be too careful.

At the end of the run Theo had 10 units of [Hallow Ground Essence]. Inspecting it, he found it to be much like the experience boost version.

[Hallow Ground Essence]

[Essence]

Excellent

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Great Quality

10 units (liquid)

Concentrated essence of Hallow Ground.

Theo kicked off a single unit reaction with [Stabilized Water], exactly the way he handled the experience boosting essence, and inspected the potion as Tresk was finishing the meal.

[Lesser Hallow Ground Potion]

[Potion]

Epic

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent Quality

Drink to create a zone of denial.

Effect:

Imbiber creates a twenty pace circle around themselves with the [Hallow Ground] effect. Undead, ghost, etc creatures may cross into the circle, but will be banished when they do so.

The completion of the potion got him level 8 in his [Drogramath Alchemy Core]. He wasn’t doing the same volume of potions as he did with his previous order, so it had slowed. The good news was that his [Drogramath Herbalism Core] was catching up and almost at level 8. Theo showed the potion to Tresk. Her eyes lit up when she saw it, mouth agape as she read the description.

“That sounds really useful,” Tresk said.

A knock downstairs sent the conversation silent. Theo made sure his companion knew not to talk about this to anyone. He went downstairs to let Luras in, but as expected he was joined by Perg. The allure of the spicy food was too much for her. He led them upstairs where the meal waited, already served out on four plates. Everyone took a chair and shared greetings before digging into the meal.

Theo’s tastebuds were once again assailed by the absurdly hot [Fire Salamander Egg] flavor, sending his eyes watering immediately. Sweat formed in beads on his forehead, but the food was just too good.

“Aarok is afraid of a monster wave,” Perg said, taking healthy mouthfuls of the food. She swallowed and continued. “There hasn’t been a monster wave in the southlands since the Ogres ran the show.”

“I’m not really worried‌,” Theo said. “My focus is getting funding to upgrade the town, just in case.”

“I imagine that’s easier for you to do than most,” Luras said. His eyes were watering, but he didn’t bother to clear them away.

“What I’d really like is to own Broken Tusk completely,” Theo said. “But that’s a far-off dream.”

“How far?” Tresk asked.

“Qavell will sell me the town for 5 spiritstone coins,” Theo said.

“Alright. I don’t know what a spiritstone coin is,” Perg said.

“It’s the coin above gold,” Theo said. “But I don’t know how many gold coins go into a spiritstone coin.”

“Hopefully 100,” Luras said. “But 500 gold is a lot of money.”

“No kidding,” Tresk said, scoffing. She had already finished her food. The Marshling fanned her face with her hand, keeping her mouth open. “What do you two think about Theo’s mayorship? Isn’t he just the best mayor?”

“He said it earlier, but he was the mayor before he took the position. From the second he came into town, he had a vision for us,” Luras said.

“You’d be hard pressed to find someone who did more for this ball of mud than him,” Perg said. “I mean, we have roads now.”

Theo waved the compliments away. “I have a theory that this is none of my doing.”

Tresk scoffed, punching him playfully in the arm. He remembered the playful hits stinging a lot more when he first met the Marshling. “Just look at this place, Theo. You’re doing great.”

“He might have a point,” Perg said.

“Sadly, I do,” Theo said. “The entity that brought me here might have messed with the balance of the southlands. That guy that bought property in Broken Tusk, Zan’kir, described it as a confluence of events.”

“We’ve only had good things happen, so far,” Tresk said. “And that’s because we’re all proactive about it. If we keep it up, we’ll be fine!”

“Your endless optimism is extremely useful, Tresk,” Theo said, patting her on the head. “We can’t slouch. We need to keep expanding. Get Broken Tusk to level 15 and put some automated defenses on the walls.”

“They have those in Qavell,” Luras said. “Very expensive stuff.”

“Extremely expensive, but I’m already sourcing some from Fenian,” Theo said. “This place will be a fortress before long.”

The group’s conversation shifted for a while. Theo could finish his soup while the others discussed smaller matters. Perg and Luras came up with interesting leather items he could craft for sale. They had insights into the market, specifically what merchants might want to buy. According to the rumors they’d heard, high-level leatherworkers could make dimensional bags.

The conversation died down as dusk threatened outside. Theo was getting too tired to hang on their every word, a fact they picked up on. The pair said their farewells before departing for the day. The alchemist sat there with Tresk for some time. They got another level in their Tara’hek core, putting them at 6, and set off to go to bed.

Theo fell onto his comfortable mattress and fought off sleep. His mind darted in every direction, unable to maintain his focus without sleep. He fell asleep with a contented smile on his face, his plans for the next day falling apart in the face of exhaustion.

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