NOVEL NEXT 3.20 - Gemstone
Getting the Gate to work was a massive win for Gladesbale Grove. The other denizens of the Grove might not understand that, but Rud allowed himself a quiet celebration. The druid soared through the air, high above the trees, catching errant currents and diving whenever he felt like it. The world fell away below him, and nothing seemed to matter as much as flapping his wings and staying aloft.
To make this plan work, Rud needed the other custodians to become part of their little council. He knew some of them would be incredibly difficult. Even as the more experienced custodians worked on getting the list together, he ran through it in his mind.
Harg was the Bear spirit, representing the Aspect of Wild. Rud understood he had a normal Grove with a custodian, but had heard little about it outside of that. Next was Aegael, the Salamander Spirit representing the Fire Aspect. Information on that grove was basically zero. Slouge was the Frog Spirit, which he knew absolutely nothing about. River was the Cleansing Aspect, and an actual river as far as the druid knew. He didn't know what that Grove looked like. Both Bent and Land didn't have custodians, as far as he knew.
That meant there was one spirit Rud knew nothing about, and another he knew only the spiritual form of. He knew there was a Mud Spirit, but didn't know its name.
Even with those things as setbacks, Rud was confident they would have enough custodians to create a powerful consortium. That led to the next problem. The Druid needed to assemble them all, either by encouraging them to use their towers or by providing them with the means to create one. On paper, that was a very simple task. They only had to empower their sacred tree enough so it could construct the building; however, not every sacred tree could communicate. That information would need to be passed through the guardian of that grove, which could be tricky.
After Rud was done flying around, he headed in for dinner after making his final report of the day. Jim already claimed to have some vague form of contact with River's Grove, and would have more information in the morning. For now, the druid allowed himself to enjoy the feast that Taz had created. It was also easy to enjoy the company of the adventurers who lingered in the Grove. They stuck around to help with the orcish threat, as well as delve into both the labyrinth and climb the tower.
Things always got a little crazy after adventurers brought out instruments. Rud excused himself from the feast after a few hours. He wasn't sure how much he could stand watching Taz's version of dancing without laughing until he cried. He climbed into bed, staring at the ceiling for far too long as he considered what would happen tomorrow. Jim was using the item portal as a lure to bring more people on board. He just hoped it worked.
***
A large pot of freshly squeezed milk boiled on one of the many stovetops. Rud stirred the contents as he got to work on another batch of his now-famous cheese. With no time to refine the recipe, he had to be happy with the basic form. After both enchanting and wrapping a few wheels in the mushroom casing, he set them to age for a bit. At least that was one way you could add a little more flavor to it, even if it didn't enhance the magical effects placed upon it. He finished the rest of his chores and headed to Taz's mine to take stock of his fragments.
After Rud counted everything out, he was satisfied that he had enough materials to spare for the other groves, and he headed to the observatory for the morning report. He had been delaying doing so, as he felt he was rushing Jim to provide information on River's Grove. When he sat at his chair, clicking the radio on, the druid held the microphone for a few moments too long before pressing the button.
"Rud here making my morning report," he said nervously, letting go of the button and hesitating. "Is there any information on River's Grove?"
Long silence interspersed with static came back at him, hissing occasionally as though the radio were trying to grab onto some air and signal. But eventually, the thing Rud wanted more than anything happened. Jim's voice filled the room.
"Good morning, Rud. I've got an update for you on the situation in Bendy Brook Grove," Jim said. "You might love me, you might hate me."
"Sounds like a dire situation," Rud said, forcing a laugh. "Alright, give me the update. What's going on?"
"The good news is that I've made contact with the custodian at Bendy Brook Grove. That's the one managed by River. It wasn't easy, but I got Basil to send a message through the network by way of Bent," Jim said. "He got a message to Kiara, who is the custodian."
"This all sounds like good news," Rud said.
"Oh, right. The bad news. The stuff you use to upgrade your Grove isn't going to work," Jim said. "Kiara needs some extremely specific items to build her observatory, which is why she hadn't done it before."
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Are you kidding?" Rud asked. "That sounds like excellent news. I can find whatever item she needs. An enchanted toad? Check. A spool of vines? I've got plenty."
"Unfortunately, she needs a specific enchanted gem to finish the observatory. It's the only item left before she can make it," Jim said. "She gave me the specifications and where we might find some. But I've got to be honest with you, Rud. I don't know where you're going to find it. I don't know where any of us would find it."
Jim gave a verbal description of the item they were searching for, and Rud had to admit he had never heard of anything like that. It was a prismatic gemstone with multiple spikes and facets over the surface. Kiara over at River's Grove claimed she had spent her entire time in the Grove searching for items to upgrade her buildings, but had never found a lot of them. This had been the most difficult one for her to find.
"Okay, I've got a plan. Stand by the radio and wait for Maria to come on. If she does, give the description of the gem so she can relay it to her dwarves. I've got my own dwarf here, so my plan is to ask him about it. In the meantime, if you could make contact with more custodians, that would be great."
"I might've used all the favor I have with Basil and Bent," Jim said. "But I'll work on it."
"Perhaps some cheese and tea might sweeten the deal…"
"Wasn't that already part of the deal?" Jim asked.
After a few more pleasantries, Rud finished his call and headed out. He didn't want to waste any time, so he made his way directly to the mine. This time, when he heard the sound of the pickaxe ringing against the stone walls, he delved inside, following the noise until he found Taz chipping away at the rock on one of the bottom floors. Sarya pulled a cart along, filled with the stone debris.
"Come to reinforce the mine?" Taz asked with a laugh. "Guess I could use the help…"
"For once, no," Rud said, patting Sarya on the head. "I'm looking for a gemstone."
Taz got a strange look on his face. He stopped working on the wall and turned to look at Rud. His eyes were both glittering with excitement and taking on a flinty appearance, as though he was guarding against something. "Anything in particular?" he asked.
Rud gave a description of the gem, the dwarf's face becoming more confusing to read as he gave details. Eventually, Taz just snapped his fingers to silence the druid.
"You're talking about a seriously rare gem," he said. "Something every miner and mage hopes to find."
Rud knew the dwarf had been discovering and pocketing gems since the moment he started working the mine. Although the druid himself hadn't found any, he knew there had to be gemstones down here, and they weren't resting in the shared storage areas near the mine. However, he had secretly hoped that Taz had already found this particular gemstone and had stashed it away, but his reaction proved he hadn't yet found one.
"So, we don't have one?" Rud asked.
Taz sputtered, throwing his pickaxe against the wall. "No, I don't have a King's Gem!" he shouted, falling over and rolling on the ground. "Maybe I've got a pair of golden pants and a goblet that produces infinite wine!"
"You have a goblet that makes infinite—"
"No!" Taz shouted, still thrashing around.
"Is he having a fit?" Rud asked, turning to Sarya and jabbing a finger back at the dwarf. "Sir, do you require medical attention?"
"I'm going to need the world's best healer here in a moment if you keep it up," Taz said, finally getting to his feet, huffing heavily and dusting himself off. "You still somehow don't understand how rare the gem you're asking for is. I can look for one, but we'll have to dig a lot deeper. And I mean a lot deeper. We're talking about the center of the planet kind of stuff. It's guarded by all kinds of archdemons and denizens of the deep places. This is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of adventure you're talking about."
"Okay, cool. Let me know if you come across one," Rud said, waving and skipping away.
Rud could hear the dwarfs' screams even after he exited the mine. It was fun messing with Taz sometimes, but the dire circumstances of finding the gem weren't lost on him. It was just that Taz had mentioned something that got the gears in his mind turning. He said that both miners and mages coveted the gem, which meant that his resident mage might know something about it. Instead of lamenting an underground adventure, he headed straight for the rest stop where Elm was staying. She had left for the day to study the various magical energy clusters that had gathered within the grove, but she was easy enough to find. The druid stepped from a bush, finding her kneeling near a nexus of swirling power. She jumped, releasing a strangled screech as a branch cracked beneath the druid's feet.
"Didn't mean to scare you," Rud said, offering a friendly wave as he approached. Even Daffodil was on edge, standing in something like a combat pose and snorting as she pawed at the ground.
Elm clutched at her chest, shaking her head. "Well, you've managed to scare me half to death. Can I help you with anything? Or are you just lurking in the forest?"
"While I do a great deal of lurking, that's not why I'm here," Rud said. "I have a question, then a potential follow up. Don't worry, this is related to some pretty interesting magical stuff."
Elm straightened up, dusting her robes off and smiling. "Well, you know how to get my attention," she said. "Let's hear it."
Rud described the magical gemstone thing, and Elm nodded along. She scrunched her nose, shaking her head. "Might be a gem I'm familiar with," she said. "There's a crystal fragment that forms into the shape of a gem. Normally, it appears in areas of incredible magic. They make excellent power sources."
"Interesting," Rud said, rubbing his chin. "Gotta be the best power source for mage stuff, right? Maybe even flying or teleporting cities?"
Elm's expression shifted to one of even more confusion. "Yeah. I guess that'd be the case. What aren't you telling me?"
"That's part of my second question," Rud said. "Wanna go on an adventure?"