B3 – Chapter 46: Preparations

Immediately upon arrival Tristan headed over to the Gnomes who were set up and hard at work over at the crafting stations. They were humming a tune as they worked; peal of hammer and clang of metal, intertwined with the consistent thrum of a spinning wheel that danced delicately under fingertips to weave wonderous textile that shimmered with rainbow hues.

“Gather up for a quick meeting,” Tristan said loudly.

It took a few minutes, but the Gnomes gradually gathered together, Dorni at their head. “Lord Tristan. What can we do for you?”

Tristan quickly went over what he had discussed with the Headmaster, ending with, “…I want you to continue to outfit our forces – but split attention between preparing the markets for the coming groups of students, and then working on the militarization of the Fey Realm.” He pointed to Dorni, “You’re going to work with me on some personal items. And, I need one more Gnome to work on a special list for a friend of mine.” He held out the slip of paper from Eloise, and one of the Gnomes snagged it from him with a curt, polite nod.

Dorni grinned and barked out some orders to his fellow Gnomes, assigning them various duties which they took to with gusto and grins. Then he turned to Tristan, “What do you want me to work on?”

Tristan tapped his bracer, “I want more of the rods that I can swap out depending on my need.”

Dorni reached up and grabbed the gauntlet, fidgeting with it for a moment before pulling it off. Then, he flipped it over and began fiddling with the latches. “That may not be the best idea for a design. Switching them out is going to require incredible dexterity if mid-combat. What I would rather do is add more chambers. It would increase the bulk of the wrist and forearm, but you could store more spells.” He looked up, “Unless you want to…” a mischievous smile slid across his face. “I have an idea!”

Dorni turned and began near-jogging over to one of the smithing stations, with Tristan a few steps behind. “What’s the idea?”

Dorni reached the anvil and grabbed a pair of pliers. “I’m going to make your gauntlets loadable. Just like with a crossbow.” He began taking the rods out, and then rapidly started disassembling the small plates and bolts holding the entire device together. “Give me all your armor,” he said.

Tristan glanced up, looking in the canopy above for any fairy dragons. He spotted two, lounging lazily as they watched the Gnomes work. “Hey, you two. Help me get out of my armor, please.”

They quickly flew down, shifted to their Elfanoid forms, and assisted him in removing the armor. Dorni took the pieces and began disassembling them with practiced efficiency. “What I’m going to do,” he said, “Is redesign the vambrace so that you can simply remove a clasp, and take off an entire piece of the housing.” He pointed to where the gauntlet would meet up with vambrace and couter, “I could easily make it so that you can simply swap out the vambrace by turning it then pulling.”

Dorni pulled out a set of metal blocks, and muttered something in Elvish as his fingers danced with a spell gesture Tristan could barely track. A moment later, he was holding two cylinders; one with a small knob protruding from it, the other with a channel that looped back on itself. Sticking the two cylinders together, Dorni twisted slightly and then pulled back down – the tubes locking together. He then pulled the two pieces apart. “In this fashion,” he explained, “You could swap out vambrace loaded with different artificed rods without much fuss.”

Tristan understood the design, “Like a puzzle with moveable pieces to lock it in place.”

“Close enough,” Dorni replied with a smile as he looked at the armor now set up on a rack. “I did take the liberty of making a whole bunch of those rods, expecting you would want more.” He walked past the armor rack and to a small chest on the ground, lifting it up and placing it in front of Tristan. “Here we have thirty more.”

Tristan opened the box and picked up one of the smooth, inscribed with vines, platinum rods. “Excellent. I like your idea. How many rods can fit into one vambrace?”

“No more than three, still, unless you want to risk being unable to wield your weapons as you usually do.”

Tristan shook his head, “No, that’s fine. Having too many options open at once risks choice paralysis, and in a fight every second counts.” He closed and picked up the chest, “I also need more amulets for the belt.”

Dorni pointed down to the market area, “Jeweler’s shopfront. Take what you need. We have more than sapphire, if you want to bedeck yourself in some other gemstones.”

Tristan smiled, “Okay. Thanks. We do have a timeline-”

Dorni waved his concern away with a flex of his hand as he set to work on the armor. “This won’t take me more than two days at most. Less if I get some of the other lads on it.”

“However you want to tackle the project,” Tristan replied as he turned and headed to the market area. Perusing the various shops that were well-stocked, he began grabbing all variety of items – amulets, fine clothing, rings, another ear cuff for an improved communication spell, and more. He also asked around and found the various coinage they had available, taking a thousand of each type so he could spend varying amounts without drawing suspicion for coming off as too rich once he arrived in the Demon Realm. Just an adventurer who is looking to make some powerful connections, he thought as he put the various monies into bags and then into the Pocket Dimension II.

Filling up his Pocket Dimension II with all sorts of items until it was very, very full. Heading up to the top boughs of the Queen’s Wood, he headed to the area with the bookshelves and bag-cushion chairs.

A few fairy dragons were lazing about on the top boughs, and with a quick ask from Tristan, one of them flew off to track down The Matriarch to see if she was free. Tristan sat down and began going through his Omnitome, taking notes on a sheet of paper as to what spells he planned on artificing into the various rods, amulets, and more.

The Matriarch came flying over in her fully draconic form, landing with a light, graceful step and walking over to him. Her large, sinuous head leaned down to be next to him. “Lord Tristan.”

He paused his scribbling and looked over at her, filling her in on the whole conversation with the Headmaster, and ending with, “…what I’d like your opinion on is how to handle the variety of spells at my disposal.” He gestured to his Omnitome, “I have access to a lot on my own, and at the Citadel Eloise and I will have access to essence-weavers of all different masteries. I’m facing a bit of choice paralysis.”

The Matriarch lay down and set her head on the cushion next to him, her voice soothing and confident. “I would continue to have a range of spells, first and foremost. You never know when you will not have enough essence for the higher Order spells. To that end, you should have a whole span. You can utilize First through Fourth for your artifice. My instinct would be to keep the planned loaded vambraces with specific combinations. I know you had fire elementalism of First through Third order grouped together.”

Tristan reached into the Pocket Dimension II that had remained open since he left the market, and pulled out small rods that he had used a bit of black paint to write the spell name on. “I’ve got two ignite-focused fire spells in these; Fireball and Inferno Trigger. And then one burst-focused fire spell in Fiery Burst to trigger the effects.” He set the three rods on a small table next to the cushions.

“I would advise you have your vambraces marked by spell type, and put rods into them that are matched up with one another. That would help organize what is needed, when it is needed.”

“That’s what I was leaning toward,” Tristan replied with a dour frown. “I needed help with the choice paralysis.”

The Matriarch shifted to her elfanoid form and sat on the cushion, pursing her lips. “I still stand by the idea of organizing by spell type in the vambraces. As for the amulets on the belt; that should hold utility focused spells.”

I had already planned that out, Tristan thought. You’re not helping at all! He didn’t say anything, but the frustration of the situation must have been evident on his face, as The Matriarch put a hand on his shoulder and words just tumbled out of his mouth. “I want to be as safe as possible while doing what I need to do, and if I make the wrong choice then I might end up in a really bad situation that could even be deadly.”

“You do not have to do this-”

“I have to,” Tristan snapped back. Not out of anger, but out of a near-pleading, as that kernel of anger and hatred kindled in his gut. “Mother was assassinated. People important to me have died. Innocent people…it has to be stopped. I can’t just sit here in the Fey Realm forever.”

The Matriarch had a slight frown on her face, but nodded. “It is noble to risk yourself to save others. I would advise consulting with Zeltana, in this matter.”

“I guess there’s no harm in that.” Tristan spun his crucible both directions, connecting to the Fey Realm. “Zeltana, you listening?”

I have been, she replied with a slight chuckle. See, this is the problem Humans have. And dragonslayers, apparently. Too many choices when it comes to essence-weaving.

“Yeah,” Tristan replied as he glanced over at The Matriarch who lifted herself off the cushion and flew off. “I want-”

Listen up; the best fighters are not those who are versatile with every weapon, just as the most powerful essence-weavers are not versatile with every spell. Having broad access is fine – great, even, and being able to use artifice to access spells without actually casting them is phenomenal. But, you are overcomplicating matters. Zeltana sounded like a disappointed parent, and Tristan felt a little crestfallen.

“What would you do in my situation then?” he asked.

Write out all the spells you have stored currently for me.

Tristan began writing out the various spells and what they were stored in:

—–

Armor:

• Outer Carapace – Scales of Our Foe
• Padding 1 – Armor of Ice
• Padding 2 – Near Miss
• Padding 3 – Lucky Instinct
• Rod 1 – Fireball
• Rod 2 – Inferno Trigger
• Rod 3 – Fiery Burst
• Rod 4 – Bolt
• Rod 5 – Split Bolt
• Rod 6 – Chain Bolt

Sword:

• Blade – Elemental Imbuement
• Hilt – Rime Blast
• Cross Guard – Winter’s Wrath
• Pommel – Dragon’s Doom

Other Items:

• Greatbow – Frost Flurry
• Starmetal Maul – Frost Screen
• Expensive Dagger – Minor Invisibility
• Silver Ear-Cuff – Spoken Message: Half-Realm
• Queen’s Wood Staff – Control Ice
• Fey Realm Ring – Interrealm Warp
• Cloak of Winterbloom – Thrice Command
• Gloves of the Growth Shaper – Plant Shaping
• Tunic of Coiling Frost – Hampering Growth
• Omnitome – Endless Knowledge
• Citadel Student Pin – Limited Teleport
• Anorox Family Crest – Disguise Form
• Archon’s Favor – Receive Message – Realm
• King’s Favor – Break Enchantment

Amulet Belt:

• The Belt itself – Cure Wound
• Emerald Amulet – Pocket Dimension II
• Sapphire Amulet – Minor Barrier
• Sapphire Amulet – Waveclinger’s Adaptation
• Sapphire Amulet – Waveclinger’s Fins

—–

“I can upgrade the blade of my sword from the basic Second Order Elemental Imbuement spell to the multi version of it; so that I can have multiple elemental spell types active as long as they are not polar opposites.”

A lightning and ice sword does sound very neat. Same with flame and lightning. And smoke gives armor penetration? I agree with that upgrade.

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Tristan jotted down the planned improvement. “What else?”

Show me the list of spells you noted down.

Tristan flipped through his pages of notes from the Omnitome. Zeltana was silent as he slowly turned each page, re-reading down the lists on his own. There’s just so many options, he thought.

Zeltana spoke confidently, Lots of good options. In all honesty, I like your current setup. Your defensive focused spells in the armor’s main components are low-essence-intensive, which is ideal for spellweaving. Your sword looks fine. The area that could use improvement are Other Items you have listed out.

“Which ones?”

The dagger. You should upgrade the invisibility to the Fourth Order spell Greater Invisibility. You had that one written down somewhere.

Tristan flipped to the page of notes. “It’s just like Minor Invisibility, but it also removes sound.”

Yes. A straight, direct upgrade.

Tristan unsheathed his dagger and set it on the table. Flipping open the Omnitome, he went to the spell information for Greater Invisibility. After scribbling down the words, he wrapped the page around the dagger and tied it off with some twine used to tie bundles of paper together. “Okay, that upgrade will be done. Next?”

You’re going to upgrade the Silver Ear-Cuff to be a better version of a communication spell, yes?

Tristan nodded and went to touch the ear cuff, but stopped. “This was made as a part of a set to integrate with the others made for my merchant fleet.”

Just get another one then.

Tristan grabbed another ear cuff – made of platinum – and flipping through the Omnitome, which, thankfully, was filled with all different spell types thanks to his and Felicity’s hard work in the archive, found the spell they would use. “Spoken Message – Realm,” he muttered as he wrote down the name and associated information. Then, he tied the paper around the ear cuff. “Next?”

Disguise Form is good, and you mentioned Felicity is working on learning transmutation to make you into a Demonkin temporarily?

“Correct,” Tristan replied, feeling pride at Felicity’s dedication to his efforts and her support.

Then we leave that; being able to swap your attire and other minor details at-will with relatively low essence cost is going to be valuable. And, I doubt Felicity’s spell will last shorter than a full day, so even if she was sent out scouting…yes, it should be fine. We should strip out the Archon’s Favor of the spell contained within.

Tristan flipped the Omnitome to Artifice Cleansing, and read through the spell rapidly before setting the small, wavy, black design on the table in front of him. He had to unsocket if from the Anorox Family Crest. “What do we put in instead?” he asked as he quickly performed the Artifice Cleansing spell.

I like the idea of the crest being focused around social-oriented spells, Zeltana said with a slight giggle. Get The Matriarch or someone to put in a divination spell. Something useful.

“Perhaps…” Tristan began flipping through the Omnitome. “There’s a Third Order spell here called “Locate”. It finds a specific named person, place, or thing, and then shows a path to it.”

That would be useful when in a Realm that is not your own, Zeltana replied. Wise choice.

Tristan jotted down the name of the spell and wrapped it around the Archon’s Favor. “What next?”

Your items look set. At least as much as I would do. Let’s see…your bandolier has how many elixirs?