The Fell War - Chapter 25

“What do we do now?” Izo asked, and wasn’t that the question of the hour.

They had a more people in the cathedral than they could reasonably hold, and Alfre didn’t trust Summer and her more ardent supporters to play nice while being transferred from the cathedral to the building Ren had turned into a makeshift prison. And they couldn’t possibly hold them there indefinitely. They needed to pay for their crimes, everyone agreed about that, but how to do so was the issue.

“They should rebuild the city,” Einmora said, and that seemed to make a lot of sense to a lot of people.

“How exactly do we expect to make them do that?” Ren questioned. “There’s a good chance that they’ll just attack us all over again the moment they step out of the restricted area. It’s fairly obvious that the cities are no longer pvp-free.”

That’s when Silver spoke up. “Well, we alchemist do have a potion that could be useful.”

“Silver, I love you, but please don’t be vague,” Ren chided.

“Once someone maxes their alchemy skill, which isn’t terribly hard, they’re able to craft a level-reset potion,” Silver explained. “If we can brew enough of the potions, we could administer it to Summer’s gang and leave them all at level one, with all of their stats brought down accordingly. “

“That seems terribly unethical,” Ludovico pointed out, having finally made his way to Ahmar after the fighting had finished.

“We don’t have a whole lot of other options,” Silver argued.

“What was the original point of the potion anyway?” Alfre asked, arms crossed thoughtfully over her chest.

“Mainly it was for people who didn’t like the build they’d made of their character. It was a way for them to start over and rebuild their stats to better fit their play style or the class they chose,” Silver clarified.

“As unethical as it may be,” Alfre said thoughtfully, “And we can have a whole ‘nother discussion about that later, it does dole out the most poetic justice. These assholes held up their level and stats as the end all be all of the game. It was a point of pride for them, the only thing they could lord over the new players coming in after them. To strip them of that…well, I can think of no better punishment.”

“What about the others?” Hadi demanded. “The ones who surrendered.”

“Let them keep their levels, they can rebuild the city,” Alfre decided after some thought. “I have a feeling that most of them who surrendered were less in the fight because of their beliefs and more because it was their guild, and they didn’t want to be left behind. That doesn’t make what they did okay, but I think the hard labor will be punishment enough.”

Briar turned to Silver. “How quickly can you brew up that potion?”

Silver shrugged. “If I have all the ingredients and equipment on hand? About a day to make three doses. I’ll be able to get the required amount ready faster if I had others helping me, including folks to get me the necessary ingredients. They’re not necessarily hard to get, but some of them do require a dungeon raid.”

Alfre turned to June and Hunter. “Do you think you two could help with that part?”

The two of them nodded.

“My guild has many maxed-level alchemists,” Ludovico added. “I’m sure they’d be more than happy to help with the brewing process.”

“Good,” Alfre said with a nod. “Now the question is, will we be able to distribute potions in the cathedral?”

“Should be able to,” Ren figured. “Potions aren’t considered an ability, so the cathedral shouldn’t block their use.”

“Seems we’ve found our solution,” Alfre said, ended that discussion. “Now…to address the four elephants in the room.”

All eyes locked on Orli, Abital, Koseret, and Canus. Orli looked a little surly at the sudden attention.

“What?” she snapped.

“Koseret came to us a few days ago with an idea,” Alfre said calmly, hoping not to ruffle Orli’s feathers if she could avoid it. “We thought…it would be a good idea if each of you were given a patron city…so that this sort of thing didn’t happen again.”

Orli looked intrigued. “Patron city? Explain.”

“In exchange for your protect, the people of the city of Heart would…honor you,” Alfre explained, choosing her words carefully. “A temple could be built, and festivals could be held, things like that.”

“I’d only have Heart?” Orli queried. “What of the other three cities?”

“We figured Abital would be more suitable to watch over Spade, seeing as his dungeon is on Siniy,” Elias said.

“And Koseret would watch over Diamond,” Spica added.

“And Canus would watch over Clover,” Ren finished for them. “Four gods, four cities.”

Orli stared them down, expression contemplative and edging on scheming. “Why would you give me a Fell city to care for when I’ve made my feelings about Fell perfectly clear.”

“Honestly, you really haven’t,” Alfre argued. “You made a big deal about not wanting us to fight the Wonderlanders cause you cared too much about losing your worshipers, then you turn around and give me the Vorpal Sword and bless a good third of the guild masters who were present for my duel with Summer. Your signals are mixed at best and contradictory at worst.”

“Summer was a greater threat than you were at that point in time,” Orli explained, brushing off Alfre’s concerned with a dismissive wave of her hand. “That was all.”

“Or,” Traveler drawled, her voice carrying a teasing lilt. “You care about the Fell more than you say you do.”

Orli glared at the hero, lavender eyes icy. “Don’t push your luck, World Walker.”

Traveler simply smiled. “I quite like that title, you know. It’s very apt.”

Orli turned to Alfre. “I will protect the city as long as she leaves it.”

Alfre shot Traveler a grin. “You heard her, lass, time to come back to Spade.”

Traveler sighed dramatically. “I suppose if I must. I hear there’s a lovely new guild there in need of members.”

Orli’s expression fell into something softer, more sympathetic as she addressed Alfre once more. “You know, by doing this, Canus will not be able to remain at your side anymore. You will lose him.”

“Hardly,” Canus barked. “The Wilds are mine, Orli, I can go anywhere I please. Besides, my pack sees all, I can be anywhere and know where I am needed next.”

Orli snorted. “You always were one to shirk your duties.”

“Come now, we were just starting to get along,” Koseret chided, reminding Alfre a bit too much of her aunt when scolding her cousins.

“Shall we be off then?” Alfre said, louder than necessary to stop any bickering that was about to occur. “I think Silver needs to get started on those potions.”