245 Chapter Two Hundred and Forty-Five – Zone 22... Yep, Another One of Those... (1/2)
The trip out of the Imperial Zone was fruitful and definitely had a lot of diversions to admire. Why, there were dead drow in every single kind of pose you could imagine, and so many ways to die.
There were also demons and daemons all over the place, which were promptly squashed as soon as they could be seen, without exceptions. After all, have to keep the Wake growing, and they were just the perfect fodder. If any drow got uppity in our way, they contributed to the cause, too.
Still, no need to go up and down the walls. We ran right down the roads, only the soon-to-be-dead tried to obstruct us, and out through the gates. There was only one gate some opportunistic sorts tried to block. Alas, their opportunity was fleeting, and their feet not fleet enough. They probably realized something when Elder Arg loomed up with thumb-thick lightning crackling around his fists, but oops, too late.
So, it was long, but never dull, too much incidental sniping to do. The Brothers calmly ran point, and I realized they weren't showing off for Mayfair so much as working out a new combat language and synergy with their Helices. Very smooth of them, after all.
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Wayfair headed back inside, and we stepped over the hill line of the next zone, looking ahead at...
At...
Briggs coughed. The Brothers really tried to hide their smiles. The company looked rather thoughtful...
The Wolf wondered what was up.
Yeah, it was another mushroom zone. Farmed by Mu Spores. They had a mushroom zone in between the two Empires, which, come to think of it, was pretty efficient. Of course, behind us the Empire was on fire, and the harvest teams had probably headed home on this side... but the far side of the zone was probably the property of the other Empire.
And these Mu Spores didn't look like they'd been informed of what had happened to their kin.
”Okay, take it backwards,” I said, and everyone withdrew after an eager minute, wondering what was up, but knowing enough not to question.
I didn't let them wonder long, as Wayfair came back out, and everyone looked at me curiously.
”We're going to be splitting up, AA staying with Briggs and I. I want this zone totally cleared of Mu Spores.” I paused significantly. ”However, there is no way under Heaven that we are going to miss out on all that Mu Goop. Which means, we need one-shot Compression Jars that can hold all the Mu Goop from one of these things. We are looking at what looks like approximately ten thousand square mile territories of these things, if what I saw in the last zone and seems to match the spread here remains true.
”That is at least twenty-seven of these suckers, with a few extra in the central area around the Obelisk. Each of which is giving us a minimum of a hundred gallons of Mu Goop worth a minimum of a thousand gold a gallon.” There was a very interested hum from just about everyone. ”However... we need something to put the Goop in!
”Wayfair, Rockborn, we need some Jars of high enough QL to enchant as one-shot Compression containers that can hold at least two hundred gallons of the stuff, usable one per Mu. I believe we liberated enough stuff on the way out here to pay for those, they should only be a goldweight each, and the Runes are easy.
”To be on the safe side, we're going to make fifty of them... and we'll probably need to make more if there's another mushroom forest on the other side of the next Empire.” More interested hums, cash registers going off in everyone's head. It wasn't greed, it was power. Gold made magic, magic made you stronger. And the sums on the table here were just too high.
”Since taking these things down fast requires Interdiction, Briggs and I are going to be needed to get them down out of the sky. The Brothers can take them as we land.
”Our first tactic is going to be going right up the middle, because we have to draw the Wake. We'll drag it to the Obelisk, clear the Obelisk, and then deal with whatever Mu Spores come crashing in on us.
”After that, I'm going left, Briggs is going right, and we're going to take teams of Brothers with us. Our job is to crash them down, leave a Brother behind to loot and kill, and go after the rest of them. They'll catch up when they are done.
”Four of the Brothers are going to go on dispatch duty to the most distant Mu Spores and track them for us when they wise up and start to disperse. Pure scouting, no need to kill them, just make sure you know where they are so you can guide the rest of us in. Of course, if they come in reach, you're perfectly fine to Cut their Lives off.”
I clapped my hands as everyone once again visualized the sight of great flying abominations of fungi crashing to the ground again, and all that sweet, sweet money-to-be spilling out. ”Alright, let's get us some Mu-Mu Jars made to milk these nice fellows, and then make a real profit at all this.”
Nobody complained at all as they got to work.
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In Marktell...
-Damnation. Are you serious?- Errant /asked, stunned.
-Yeah. Elder Arg even worked out the comps already. I already sent out the requests for the materials for the boiler and mixers and stuff, to make when we get back. Takes about twenty goldweight of Mu Goo, in addition to the Exemplar blood, to make the Elixir.- I didn't beat around the bush with him.
Hazé, who was listening in attentively, hissed in shock. -Gods in Heaven, Sama... the goldweight value of a Lesser Exemplar Template is... is...-
-A conservative estimate is 400k gold to duplicate the effects. So, giving up ten gallons of Mu Goop is like the best deal evah.-
-What's the Skill Check?-
-40 for Alchemy and Spellcraft. Oh, and Elder Arg has confirmed with a Level of Vizard that Skill Focus at his Level is +10. He can make the check with no problem, which is how he figured out the formula.-