Tunnel Rat

Chapter 59: Partings and Choices

Two-Screws was examining the oak chest that had somehow just appeared in the center of the #7-Metals-Storage-Unit. The Snake had found and devoured the majority of the dwarves' reserves of metal, something they were keen to recover from her melted corpse. But she hadn't found all of the storage. Several of the engineers were carefully packing ingots of Dark Steel, High Grade Deep Copper, Gold, and Bright Silver into the chest.

"How the hell does this work?" Two-Screws had measured his stash chest inside and out, and was looking for any clues. So far, he'd just found it to be a sturdy oak chest.

Milo shrugged. "It's a special ability. It started smaller and I've been able to increase its size over time. I can summon or dismiss it, but it uses up my stamina."

"Hmm. So, you bring it from somewhere else to here, and send it back. Sort of the opposite of an Arcane Workshop."

Milo was immediately curious. "What do you mean? What's an Arcane Workshop?"

Two-Screws laughed. "It's one of the 'special secrets' you get to know when you’re a Senior Engineer. Not that a lot of us didn't already know about them when we were juniors. Supposedly some of the more ancient Senior Engineers used to have special places they could go. Secret workshops where they worked on projects that they wanted kept secret. You summon that chest from somewhere, and send it back. An engineer could supposedly send himself to somewhere else and then come back. I'm wondering if your chest is just a summonable, quite small, workshop."

Milo considered. "I'm not sure. It sounds more like the Arcane Workshop is just the equivalent of an Arcane Library."

D-Wrench had just put a load of metal into the chest. He straightened and looked over at Milo. "Oh boy, someone has a secret. I can smell it!"

Two-Screws had a calculating look on his face. "I notice you're quite the mage with your fancy-smancy bone magics. You wouldn't happen to know about these Arcane Libraries, would you? I might even delay your next turn on the improved 'Twirl and Hurl' if you didn't mind helping us with our research into Arcane Workshops."

Milo shuddered at the thought of the whirling torture device that the dwarves loved for some reason. "Deal. But I want to know about the workshops in return." Other engineers appeared as if by magic and soon there was a heated discussion as they took the information Milo gave them and in return recounted anything they knew about Arcane Workshops. The discussion ended abruptly as The Engineer appeared.

"Of course I find you all lolly-gagging in here. This trip uptop is never going to get moving at this rate!" The engineers jumped to their feet and saluted as they filed out the door, some in very inventive ways. A few waved to Milo or shook his hand before he left. The Engineer was one of those. "Get your business done and head back here. We have some big plans and could use your help."

He sent his stash back to where ever it came from, and headed for the exit. Two-Screws followed along to see him off. As the door to the engineering complex opened, Milo was surprised to see Throttlecog there, along with two huge packs, and a set of bronze armor similar to what he wore himself. Milo took in the gear, and raised an eyebrow. Throttlecog chuckled. "Oh, thought you'd just sneak off and get in trouble? The Engineer decided that we needed to touch base with the uptop folks. Maybe recruit some mechanics and junior engineers. We're a little top heavy now that all the juniors got promoted." fr(e)ewebn(o)vel

Two-screws paused as he was putting on the suit of mechanical armor. "Had to be done. We all got too smart! You can thank or blame Milo for that. Hydraulics and Fluid Systems? Holy crap, I had no idea you could do so much with water and steam!"

The two dwarves added the packs to their heavy suits of armor. Neither was wearing their helmets. The feel of air on their faces and the smell of stone and earth had been missed for far too long. Milo started through the caves and mining tunnels, taking a route that either let the two climb down, or where he could lower them by a pulley and rope. After one such drop, Throttlecog was making notes in a small book. "I can see that one of the first things we should do is set up a better path to the uptop. Or should we just drill an entirely new route?" There was lots of conjecture but no real decision. Milo enjoyed the talk. Too often in Section E he was just bouncing ideas around in his own head, with no other viewpoints.

As they came to the mushroom caves, Milo could tell the dwarves were tiring. Two-Screws wasn't used to moving in the heavy armor, and Throttlecog was only recently rejuvenated. They stopped at the edge of the first cave. Milo set up his camp, put on tea, and summoned George the Guard Lizard. Both dwarves spent quite a bit of time scratching him under his chin.

With a George on duty, Milo took advantage of the break to look at the notifications he'd been ignoring.

By dint of hard work, luck, loyalty of your friends and the attack of an Elemental Empress of Eels you are now the last man standing in your guild.

-Guild rule 76 states that as the last man standing, you are now the Guild master of Engineers Guild #77

-Guild rule 3 states that a non-dwarf may not be elected Guild master.

-Guild rule 17 states that only Senior Engineers may be elected Guild master.

-Guild rule 2 states 'The job gets done!', you are now considered a dwarf, and a Senior Engineer for purposes of guild membership and holding offices of the guild.

You have spent Core Skill Points on the following:

+3 INT for a cost of 9 CSP

+3 CON for a cost of 9 CSP

+3 WIS for a cost of 9 CSP

+3 TOU for a cost of 9 CSP

Cap on the INT skill raised to 10 for a cost of 3 CSP

You have gained the skill: Engineering

You have gained the skill: Hydraulics

You have gained the skill: Ore Processing

You have gained the skill: Pulley Systems

You have gained the skill: Chemistry

You have gained the skill: Physics

You have gained the skill: Fluid Systems

You have gained the skill: Metallurgy

Experience adjusted for prior knowledge. 8000 experiences has been allocated to bring Engineering, Mechanic, Metallurgy, Physics, Chemistry, Fluid Systems, Pulley Systems, and Ore processing to Level 5.

You have gained 7000 experience in INT

You have gained 1000 experience in DEX

You have gained 2500 experience in Trapmaking

You have gained 2500 experience in INT

You have 12,500 experience to allocate to skills. An equal amount of experience will be allocated to the stat associated with those skills.

You have 47 Core skill points to allocate.

Milo read that through a couple of times. From what he could decipher, he had been counted as both a Senior and a Junior Engineer when he was allocation experience and points. He also counted as a dwarf, and had gained the dwarf only stat of Toughness for 3 points. It looked like his reputation had improved with dwarves over all because of that.

Reputation change

"No one really likes you." has been modified.

Dwarves in general will be neutral to you, improving to slightly respected if they know you are a Senior Engineer.

Dwarves who mine, pursue any technical skill, or explore underground will be friendly to you if they know you are a member of a Deep Rock Engineering Complex.

Dwarven Engineers will show you respect and treat you like family if they know you are a Senior Engineer.

non-Dwarven Engineers will respect you, but might not like you and will certainly be jealous of you.

Anyone who likes Eels really doesn't like you at all!! But who cares what an eel-lover thinks?

The last notification was long, and was going to take a lot of thought.It looked like he could move to Tier 2 and pick a new class.

You have accumulated enough experience and Core Skills to advance to Tier 2.

-New Classes are available to you. Each class may give new skills, bonuses to statistics, new core skills, and special perks. Choose wisely.

-Skills keep the same experience total and may advance to Level 10.

-experience Totals and ranks for statistics are reset to 0. You keep all advances from Tier 1 and may build upon them in Tier 2.

-New Core Skills will be available to you depending on your class. Core Skills from Tier 1 may gain additional ranks to purchase.

-Note that costs for Tier 1 Core Skills will increase in Tier 2.

-You must allocate all CSP and experience earned before advancing to Tier 2.

-Attaining a value of 10 in any two stats while in Tier 1 will give you a permanent perk. (Note that class bonuses from Tier 2 do not count for this.)

Classes Available:

You may not continue in your current class. This has been blocked by Admin Sidney.

Deep Explorer

You seek the hidden secrets unknown to surface dwellers. You specialize in finding new ore deposits for mining, unraveling ancient secrets, rediscovering lost ruins, or studying the cultures of the people living deep under the surface. Skills will focus on solo exploration, survival, and finding secrets.

+2 Perception, +2 Agility, +2 Wisdom, +2 free points

Smuggler

Some people are against the free movement of goods into and out of their cities. Luckily there are people like you to help out with this chore. No one knows how you do it. They can't catch you. And you didn't do it in the first place!

+3 Perception, +3 Agility, Increased storage and movement.

Packrat

Every adventuring group needs someone to bring along the gear and hold the treasure. Maybe you keep a little extra for yourself? So, what! Focus of this class is on storage, and novel ways to acquire other people's goods.

+4 strength, +4 dexterity, +2 perception.

Sharp Tail in the Dark

You are the unseen hunter. The dark alleys and lonely rooftops are your home. No one is safe from your claws and blade once you have taken a contract on their life. Whether you work freelance or for a powerful Boss, you are feared and respected by any that know you exist.

+2 corruption, +3 dexterity, +3 agility, +2 perception. Emphasis on combat, stealth, and removing people who become problems.

Eel Hunter

Their time has come to an end; they just don't know it yet! One by one you will find them, (or they will find you!), and you will end them. Bury them deep in the cornfield. Erase them from the great book…you get the idea.

+10 free stats. + 500 Health. New skills to give you a small chance of killing your nemesis.

Experimental Senior Engineer

+3 toughness, +3 con, Skill: Invention, Skill: MacGyver, Perk: 'This is fine.'

Sometimes you're a 'Genius'. Sometimes you have to explain to the mob why everything is on fire. Accidents happen and you can't build the future without breaking a few skulls! This skill is perfect for the bored engineer that needs to know what happens when you turn the knob to 11.

Rune-Boned Mage

+2 intelligence, +2 constitution, +2 wisdom, +2 perception, +2 toughness, +2 free points. Skill: Ancient Rune Lore

You have discovered the ancient creatures that vied with the Eels for dominion of the world when it was young and unformed. More, you have gained the favor of three such creatures. Bonemancy is but a pale shadow of what you could do as a master of the ancient runes used by these creatures. Focus in on runic lore, rune carving, finding more of these creatures or their runes, and enhancing your own form.

Sidney didn't seem to like him for some reason. Wererat Scout wasn't something he could continue into Tier 2. Oh, well, he couldn't fix that. It didn't stop him from being a wererat and having a tail.

Two things came to mind as he looked through the new classes available. Firstly, he should spend his experience and CSP wisely, taking into account his next class. And he should see how many of his stats could move to a value of 10. He had read about this on the forums at one time. STR and CON at 10 made you tougher. He assumed their were benefits to each combination.

So, his list of things to think about were:

1) What did he want to do or accomplish in the game?

2) What class let him do that?

3) How to allocate his experience and core skill points to do that.

He should talk to the Two-Screws and Throttlecog about his classes. They'd have good input for him on some of it.

Coming to this conclusion, Milo started to log out and check in with his data collection on Section H. He stopped as George suddenly started hissing and pointing into the cavern.

THUMP!! THUMP!! THUMP!!

A massive creature of some sort was moving towards them with long, slow steps. Milo quickly woke up the dwarves. All three made ready for battle as a thirty-foot tall creature loomed over them from out of the gloom.

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