Path of Dragons-Chapter 6Book 9: : Intertwined

The smell of sizzling bacon reached Elijah’s nose well before he arrived at his destination. He still wasn’t particularly happy about his discovery concerning the other Primal Realm, but the aroma coming from his favorite greasy spoon style restaurant definitely helped. Anticipation and hunger clawing at him, he hurried down the street, eager to reach Mama Lou’s.

He arrived only a few moments later, entering through a simple glass door. The building looked a lot like any other in Ironshore, though the door was a nod to the past. A simple bell rang when he passed through.

“Sit wherever,” said a portly, middle-aged woman from behind the cabinet. When Elijah had first discovered the restaurant, he’d assumed she was the Mama Lou after which the diner had been named, but he’d been surprised to find that wasn’t the case. In fact, Mama Lou didn’t exist. Instead, the restaurant was owned and operated by Sue Anne – the woman behind the counter. When he’d asked why she hadn’t named the place Mama Sue’s or Sue Anne’s, she just shook her head and said he wouldn’t understand.

The look on her face told him not to ask any other questions, so he’d just accepted the explanation at face value.

As soon as Elijah walked in, he saw that the restaurant was almost entirely full. It didn’t take him long to identify Ramik, who, in his three-piece suit, looked entirely out of place. The rest of the clientele was distinctly less urbane, and Elijah suspected that most of them worked as laborers in the nearby mine.

Elijah slid into the booth, and after Sue Anne’s daughter – a much smaller and much prettier girl – took his order, he asked Ramik, “How’re things going in the city?”

The goblin sighed, pushing his papers aside. They still hadn’t developed a Crystallier, so they were entirely dependent on hardcopies. It was much less efficient, but it worked, which was all that really mattered.

“Busy,” Ramik said.

“You ever think about switching over to computers and tablets, like in Seattle?” asked Elijah. “I’m sure they could sell you some. Or even better, you could hire away some people with the right classes to build your own infrastructure.”

The goblin shook his head. “We’re traditionalists,” he stated. “Computers are not a new concept, you know. That technology they’re so proud of – there are some civilizations who have taken it much, much further. It always results in stagnation. When you rely wholly on machines, there isn’t much room for personal growth. No, no – we’ll keep going down the traditional path.”

“The mechaniques made it work,” Elijah said.

“At the cost of their souls,” Ramik argued. “There’s a reason they’re so rare. Who knows what’s true and what isn’t concerning those creatures? Besides, I have no intention of turning myself into a golem, thank you very much. To punctuate that, he took a sip of his tea. Coffee still wasn’t widely available, so most of the restaurants in Ironshore served the woefully inadequate substitute. “You know they don’t eat or drink?”

“Is that true?” asked Elijah. Via the Chimeric Forge, he had a little experience with chimeras and mechaniques, but he was far from an expert.

Ramik shrugged. “I heard it somewhere.”

So, it was just a rumor. Or given the scarcity of the elder race, myth was probably a little more applicable. Most information on elder races was thin on the ground – or just too expensive to gather. Elijah had heard that certain Scholar classes got discounts on guides, but he didn’t know many people with that archetype, so he couldn’t say if that was true. One thing he did know was that he shared Ramik’s disdain for mechaniques.

After what he’d experienced in the Chimeric Forge, he couldn’t feel any other way.

“Just because people embrace technology doesn’t mean they’ll go down that route, though,” Elijah pointed out.

“True. But it’s a logical endpoint. There’s a reason most of the multi-verse avoids delving too deeply into advanced technology,” Ramik explained. “Some of it is because we can get similar results through ethereal engineering, but it’s also because we recognize the dangers and choose to avoid them. I’d think that, as a Druid, you would understand that better than most.”

Elijah nodded, but in the back of his mind, he disagreed with that assumption. He wasn’t averse to technology. If he could have, he’d have snapped his fingers and enabled the internet and cell phones and all the other things he’d once taken for granted. Still, he didn’t want to argue with Ramik because, at the end of the day, the goblin probably knew more than him on the subject. After all, he’d lived with what Elijah considered the new paradigm all his life. Ignoring that experience was probably a bad idea.

“What did you want to speak to me about? Not that I don’t enjoy seeing a friend, of course,” Ramik said just as the server brought their food. Elijah had ordered a massive slab of bacon, a bunch of eggs, and toast with jam. By comparison, Ramik’s breakfast was much smaller but no less greasy. If there was one thing Elijah liked about goblins, it was that their taste tended toward the simple – meats and breads with lots of fat and flavor.

“A few things, actually. The first is I wanted to talk about my investment in the city,” Elijah said. He raised his hands. “I know you’re not ready to pay out just yet. I just want an update.”

Ramik answered, explaining that Ironshore was doing better than expected. The recent auction – and the need to combat the Primal Realms – had ignited a global need for high-quality equipment. It was one Ironshore was uniquely suited to meet, and they’d quickly transitioned from selling raw ore and stone to dealing more in refined products.

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“Your friend Atticus has facilitated much of our trade,” Ramik added as he chewed on a hunk of fat sausage. “He has contacts throughout the world. So, our timetable to profitability is much shorter now than we originally estimated. Perhaps ten years at the outset. Likely much sooner, and you will begin to see a return on your investment.”

That was good news. Most of the time, Elijah didn’t really have much use for money, but when he did, he usually needed a lot of it. So, getting more was a huge deal.

“Did he talk to you about my soap shop?” Elijah asked.

“He did. We are currently searching for a proper premises. We will have no trouble offering discounts to citizens. The Seal of Authority makes that trivial,” Ramik revealed.

“You’re just full of good news,” Elijah said, grinning. “Anything else going on?”

“The usual. Some of our whalers report seeing a great leviathan in the sea to the north,” Ramik explained. “A few of our merchant vessels have gone missing, and some of our caravans inland have been attacked by bandits. Our people fought them off, but we suspect there is a sizable settlement of ill repute somewhere out there. We’ll find it, but it’s going to take some time. Those places, by their very nature, are difficult to plot.”

“Do you need help?” asked Elijah.

“You want to spend days – or even weeks – scouring the mountains for a bandit camp?” Ramik asked. Then, he shook his head. “No. Your time is too valuable for that. Our scouts can handle the job.”

Elijah took a bite of his bacon, and once he’d savored the taste for a few seconds, went on, “Okay – here’s what I really need from you.”

Then, Elijah laid out his plan. On the surface, it seemed simple enough. He wanted to establish an outpost on Chimera Island, partially to protect the tree but also to give the people of Ironshore the ability to take advantage of what could prove to be an incredible leveling resource.

However, just because the idea was simple, that didn’t mean making it a reality would be easy. For one, Elijah could only transport people twenty at a time, and then, his dolmen was far enough away from the surface that it would take a week or two to ferry everyone topside. That meant that, aside from getting things started, it just wasn’t a viable option.

Instead, they needed another way to the island.

That meant building a ship and manning it with people capable of traversing the storm. Guinevere and her companions had done it, so it was obviously possible. However, they’d lost people along the way, and even then, Elijah suspected that luck had a lot to do with them making it through the maelstrom alive.

“So, we need a high-level ship captain,” Ramik said, tapping his pointy chin. “That’s not that difficult. I have someone in mind for that. He’ll probably enjoy the challenge. However, he will not risk his own ship which, frankly, wouldn’t make it anyway. We need something far more durable.”

“Makes sense,” Elijah said, digging into his eggs. He didn’t think they came from chickens, but they tasted similar. “What else?”

“We need an Envoy of the World Tree, obviously. Someone willing to establish a new Branch,” Ramik went on. “I have someone for that, too. The Envoy from Norcastle will leap at the opportunity, I’m certain.”

“What about the outpost itself? We don’t want to use the local stone,” he said. Because of the high ethereal density, it was incredibly hard. That it could scuff his scales at all was evidence of that. However, Elijah sensed that it wouldn’t make good building material. “Dragonstone?”

“Probably for the best. We have some leftover from the Forge of Creation. Our Builders will likely use similar techniques,” Ramik reasoned. “They each got significant experience – both in terms of levels and with the use of their techniques – so they should be well prepared for such a project. Getting them out there will not come cheap, though.”

“I’m prepared to invest heavily in this,” Elijah said. “I suspect Ironshore will as well.”

“Indeed,” Ramik agreed. “This is a golden opportunity for our people. The tower is good for a few levels, but it quickly peters out. We have continued to use it – even sending our groups to other towers – but the Primal Realm you described represents the advantage we need to set Ironshore apart.”

“So, once we work out the details, I can count on Ironshore’s help?”

“You can.”

After that, the pair finished their meals while working on the ins and outs of the plan. It was far more complex than what Elijah wanted to deal with, so he knew he’d end up having to trust Ramik and his Administrators to do a lot of heavy lifting. However, the basics weren’t difficult to establish.

Once they’d agreed to the initial phase of the plan, Ramik explained what was going on in the Hollow Depths. Elijah was a little surprised to learn that Colt and Miguel had made contact with the Illythiri, though he was happy to find that the beginnings of a truce had been worked out.

He was less happy to discover that there was another Primal Realm down there.

“How close is it?”

“Not very, from what I understand. The Hollow Depths spans the entire planet, and from what I can tell, the Primal Realm is thousands of miles away,” Ramik explained. “It is also buried deep underground, so it’s likely that the people right above it on the surface – if there are any – have no idea it even exists. The trolls represent a significant threat to everyone, though.”

“That’s how it works with all Primal Realms.”

Ramik frowned. “This planet is odd,” he stated.

“How so?”

“Primal Realms typically relate to an elder race. That is normal enough. However, to have those elder races themselves manifest in conjunction with a Primal Realm is abnormal. I’m certain it’s not unheard-of, but to have it happen on such a low-grade and newly-touched planet? It suggests that there is something different about this world.”

“What do you think it is?”

“Who knows? Perhaps it is only because of the potential it represents,” Ramik answered.

Though Elijah suspected a different culprit. After all, he didn’t think having the attention of so many elder races came without consequences. He had a dragon core, and he’d already seen evidence that angels, demons, and mechaniques had meddled with Earth’s people. That wasn’t normal, and he had no difficulty believing that it had affected the Primal Realms.

Or perhaps they’d been drawn to Earth by the fact that it was different from most other newly-touched worlds.

Elijah sighed. He just didn’t know, and he questioned whether or not he’d ever find the truth. For now, though, it couldn’t matter. It didn’t affect the things he needed to do. Because, even though he’d only recently conquered one Primal Realm, there were still others out there.

“The work never ends, does it?” he said, leaning back and enjoying the feeling of a full stomach.

“Never,” Ramik agreed. “But that’s part of the fun, isn’t it? We’re building something great, Elijah. In time, we will shake the multi-verse.”

Elijah smiled. “Or die trying, right?”

“That is…a less desirable outcome.”

Elijah definitely agreed with that, but he couldn’t escape the notion that it was probably more likely than the other one.