“Break out the moonstone,” Richter said.
The chaos seed had always known that the limiting factor in making enchanted weaponry would be filled soul stones. To that end, he had arranged for any of his villagers that knew the spell Soul Trap to hunt with strike squads around the periphery of the village. The influx of soul stones had increased recently as the ranks of the guards had swelled over the past few weeks. Richter’s ability to summon hundreds of mist workers a day had had the unexpected effect of driving unskilled workers into militia service. The guard contingent of the Mist Village now numbered one hundred and nine, even counting the losses of the three guards the day before. Including the meidon sprites, Richter could now field a fighting force of close to two hundred. He had never expected that allowing Elora to bond to the Quickening would have brought him nearly a hundred highly skilled magic archers.
One of the things that had been on Richter’s mind was how many of his people he could commit to the attack. Though Confusing Mist was a powerful defense, it was by no means a perfect bulwark against the dangers of the forest. The Witch Doctor had shown that magic could overcome the settlement’s defense spell. The enchantment also did not work against nonsentients or higher level beings. There was no reason to think that angels or demons would attack the village, but monsters and dangerous beasts abounded in the surrounding land. He couldn’t take his entire fighting force into battle. Some of his forces had to stay behind.
He had decided to order everyone that would be left behind to gather in the meadow when he left. He would leave a contingent of twenty sprites and thirty melee guardsmen, including three Life magi. Roswan had done his job well and the hill that led up to the meadow had two walls, one at the bottom and one at the top. Both were made of marbled quartz with high steel gates. Theoretically, if there was an attack, his people should be able to hold those choke points for quite a long time. The archers could also fire from the meadow to hit anyone that was stuck on the slope leading up to the gate. Those picked were given the duty of finding more soul stones. Everyone that would be marching to war was told to rest for the day.
For hours, Richter worked in the smithy. He wished that Gloran could have helped with the enchanting, but the elf had been taken for his Trial along with many of the other villagers. The week he would be gone was a small price to pay in the long run, but it had come at such an inopportune time. Richter cursed Nexus many times throughout the day, but never for long. There was work to be done. Ultimately, it was the lack of soul stones that led him to stop. Though the upcoming battle was important, the chaos seed wasn’t willing to sacrifice anything higher than a common level soul stone. Luminous stones and above were just too rare and precious.
Because of the shortage, he also had to avoid maximizing the enchantments he used. It took three common souls to maximize the enchantments he could create. Richter simply didn’t have enough captured spirits to commit three souls for each weapon and piece of armor. Still, the weapons and armor that were made might just turn the tide of battle.
You have enchanted:
Moonstone Mace of Goblin Slaying.
Damage: 23-32
Durability: 147/147
Item Class: Uncommon
Quality: Exceptional
Weight: 3.2 kg
Traits: +10% damage vs. spell barriers
+67% damage against goblins
Charges: 411/411
You have enchanted:
Moonstone Longsword of Freeze.
Damage: 21-28
Item Class: Uncommon.
Quality: Well Crafted.
Weight: 3.5 kg.
Traits: +11-12 points of water damage per attack
5% chance to cause Freeze for 5 seconds
+10% damage vs. spell barriers Charges: 412/412
You have enchanted:
Shadow Moonstone Boar Spear.
Damage: 26-34
Durability: 147/147
Item Class: Uncommon.
Quality: Exceptional.
Weight: 5.4 kg.
Traits: Ignore up to 10% of physical defense
+10% damage vs spell barriers
Charges: 405/405
Depending on which smith forged which weapon, the quality would change. Quality not only affected the damage each weapon was capable of inflicting, but also heavily influenced the object’s enchantment potential. While Bowdin’s work typically let him get weapons up to the seventh enchantment rank, the weapons produced by the other smiths only let him reach the fifth or sixth rank. He wouldn’t have been able to enchant to even that rank if not for his high skill level in Enchanting. As a journeyman, Richter could add fifteen points to an item’s enchanting potential and one of his Talents increased the potential by another 20%. It was true that being a Professed Enchanter didn’t have the direct combat potential of a Warrior or a Mage, but there was no denying the power of it. After hours of work, the end result was some badass weaponry!
They worked through lunch and into the afternoon. Some of the human smiths had to leave the smithy, their stamina exhausted and overcome by the heat. The dwarves continued, though. While some of the dwarven smiths mocked the humans, Bowdin admitted to Richter that dwarves burned less stamina than other races in general, but especially when it came to actions like mining and smithing. It answered a question that had always stumped Richter. In battle, Krom’s endurance had fallen almost as quickly as anyone else’s, but the smith could swing a hammer all day and night without flagging. Richter smiled thinking about how he would throw that in the dwarf’s face when he came back. More than once, Krom had mocked Richter for having to rest when the chaos seed swung a hammer.
Ultimately, he was able to enchant another twelve weapons and six mail shirts. It wasn’t enough to outfit his entire force, but it would have to do. He also refilled the charges on all existing magic weaponry. He would leave it to Caulder and Terrod to decide who would receive the magic weaponry and who wouldn’t. There was more to be done.