Overnight Town

D true to form, ate everything they had leftover and then some before crawling into bed to sleep exhausted. Also, true to form Dean woke him up at dawn to do drills. Despite being exhausted, once they ate and his daughter was in bed. Jeremiah spent time telling the others of the battle for Lenders' Mire. Even abbreviating the story greatly it was several hours in the telling. He wasn't sure how they would all take such a tale. Even as he told his story it started to sound too wild to be true. Battling a seemingly endless army of Bunyips, Skrags, Trolls, and even a dragon. Not only had they fought them but for the most part they had wiped them out.

He might not have seen the battle against the dragon in full but he had plenty of theories on how it had gone. None of which were true but by that point, the D of his stories had evolved into an almost godly tactician with magical and martial abilities worthy of legends. The most surprising thing was that no one seemed to doubt him. Or even act all that shocked. The extremely pale girl practically clawing at the door to the men's beds like a cat got a bigger reaction. The oldest of the girls, not that she was that old, seemed exasperated as she went to drag her away.

Talking to her as one might a child or well… a pet despite not being that much younger than his own daughter. The one armed ranger gave up his own bed to Jeremiah. Although, the old wastelander was woken up at dawn when he came to get D. Despite being up just as late the icy eyed ranger looked wide awake.

At breakfast, the story was told again, this time with Dorothy adding in her bits. Pena couldn't help but giggle at how she continuously used words like "Heroic" or "Dashing" or "Knightly" to describe D. Whenever she did most of those gathered for breakfast would glance at D who was hunched over breakfast shoveling it in as fast as possible. Despite everything he still had a tendency to guard his food as if someone would risk sticking a hand in there to steal any. Not that anyone would ever try. They'd be lucky to only lose the hand.

D for his part added little to the story other than to point out the sword and give a very… very brief explanation of the enchantment. He actually glared at the sword angrily. When Rachel asked confused why he looked so angry he let out a long dramatic sigh and explained he had wanted to do something better. But in the heat of the battle that is what he made.

Dean was also interested in the explanation he had used to convince the two newcomers to not freak out about him turning into a monster. When he told the ranger in private that he had simply told them it was magic and they accepted it. The ranger stared at him and then shook his head, such a simple solution. Yet, he realized most common folk wouldn't know magic from monsters.

After breakfast Dean wanted to go patrolling. D argued that it was pointless, he insisted that most of the monsters were wiped out. Besides, he looked over at the huge rattle he had brought back sitting on a shelf. There were new wards to be done. With a powerful catalyst and a spell quill, he could do all new wards. Better ones. Permanent ones.

"Ya can do your wards later. We need to keep the area secure, plus winter's around the corner. Need more supplies." Dean growled annoyed that D wasn't willing to take orders, the ranger wasn't used to anyone bucking against his orders. The fact that the boy, even if they were a monster, wouldn't listen to him drove him nuts. Worse, he couldn't think of a solid argument to make him listen. D was stronger than he was now that he only had one arm and no Hexcutter.

D seemed to think for a moment then turned to Jeremiah. "You haven't paid me yet." He held out his hand as if expecting the old wastelander to produce the coin right there. Dean slapped his palm over his face with enough force that it made a loud slapping sound while Jeremiah seemed embarrassed.

"Um D. I lost everything but the clothes on my back." When the boy started to frown Jeremiah gave nervous smile. He hadn't expected this and was caught off guard.

"Damn it D. Think of something other than money and food for a change." Dean shook his head. "What did ya think the man was going to do?"

D's frown furrowed deeper. Despite how Jeremiah and his daughter had sung his praises, the truth was D had saved them solely because of his single minded nature. The idea that they hadn't constantly carried everything of value they owned with them never even crossed his mind. After all, he did.

"Um, we can work off our debt. I'll gladly help with patrols. Then come spring I'll show you the valuable herbs that only grow in this swamp. They are used to make healing potions, so I'm told. I have a contact in Mennemarc that pays well." Jeremiah switched gears quickly. If he offered to work off the debt he would also ensure they could stay. Despite not having walls the magic protection around the place was reassuring. More so the others had explained that on another trip to Nimil they had discovered the place filled with refugees.

The tiny outpost had only a few dozen residents before. Now it numbered in the several hundreds. While they were primarily women, children, and the elderly their sheer numbers prevented the locals from exploiting them. Mostly.

Things had been chaotic enough the others weren't wanting to return. Dean had been worried knowing D that he would insist on returning to get another job right away. But for now, the boy seemed focused on his magic.

D just looked between the one armed ranger and the old wastelander. "But you can't pay?" His tone sounded almost… depressed.

Jeremiah and Dean shared a look, though they had just met it seemed they bonded over dealing with the single minded warden. "I'll also help out. I can cook for you, D."

Dorothy had been working at the cooking pit nearby. D glanced at her then at the cooking pot. "Ok, that will work." He glanced at the slightly shocked Jeremiah, the man was confused at how quickly the boy shifted gears. "But you still owe me money." With that D turned and headed back into the cabin. Jeremiah looked to the ranger who just shrugged.

It was the least of the surprises the previous residents of Lender's Mire had as they settled in. The woodworking wards D had prepared had stopped working while he was away. Without a catalyst, they didn't last before burning themselves out. But with the spell quill in hand, he quickly fixed it up. Not only that he modified it thanks to his experience patching the wall at Lender's Mire and his new partitioned mind constantly working on refining his existing wards.

Not only could it produce useable lumber, it now could process bricks from clay or stone. It could even turn reeds into a useable rope after the group, dazed from his explanation in far too much detail about how it all worked suggested it. After that other than meals and the morning training D reclused himself. He said it was to work on a new set of wards using the dragon's rattle as a catalyst. But some of them, mostly the menfolk, seemed to think he was hiding from the girls.

Tension was in the air between particularly Jane and Dorothy. With Jane almost in tears when D casually stated he preferred the other girls cooking. Pena who always loved drama fed the flames. Making them even worse when she resumed her less than secret trists out of sight with D.

Nuala was talking more and more but still mostly things about D. She seemed even more attached to the boy than before, giving the others a run for their money on clinginess. D always looked put out by it all but never seemed to grow angry.

With more hands and the improved production magic, they completed a second cabin. They were now working on other buildings including a barn and a dedicated cookhouse. With nearly three weeks having passed since he started reclusing himself the others were shocked out of bed when a wave of magic rolled through the budding settlement in the middle of the night. The air vibrated and the ground seemed to shake. Scrambling out of beds nearly everyone burst out of the two cabins, one for men and one for women.

There was D standing in front of a circle of golden light around the dragon's rattle. It pulsed and flowed through the ground and in the wake they watched in awe. Rough dirt was smoothed out. Small wicker fences literally grew out of the ground around their garden area. The half finished clay brick cookhouse and barn… built themselves. While around them most of the red maples seemed to dissolve into the air.

It rolled out further than the previous limits of the old defensive barriers. Wet marshy soil dried and grew solid. Then in a space, nearly twice the size of Lender's Mire earthen walls rose up twenty feet and nearly half that wide. A wooden door complete with a winch and bar forming.

D plopped down to sit cross legged exhausted after the effort. Then glanced back at everyone, all their jaws hanging loose and open. "You… You built a whole town… all at once?" Rachel was the first to speak. "Is… is that even possible?"

She glanced at the others as if hoping one of them could answer. "Apparently so." Mil shook his head.

D had gone back to looking at the dragon's rattle sitting on the ground for his part. A faint dome of light shimmered around it. He was studying the wards tied into it and more importantly how the catalyst was holding up. Beyond simply building up the area he had put in a ton of not only defensive enchantments but utility ones. Everything he could think of, that others had mentioned, even a few he wasn't sure where the idea came from. In his initial tests, the dragon's rattle didn't seem to have any particular affinities. But housed an almost incomprehensible ability to channel magical energies. Even better, it didn't seem to degrade at all no matter how much magic he forced thru it.

Looking at the rattle he sighed as if depressed. "What's wrong D?" Jane took a step forward concerned.

"I should have done more enchantments. It isn't even strained at all." D shook his head.

"Uh, isn't that a good thing?" Jeremiah asked confused.

"My experiment was trying to push the limits." Shaking his head D stood up. "I'll have to try something bigger next time."

Everyone just looked on in a mix of confusion and shock. Dean muttered. "Damn that crazy Mage rubbed off on him. If he ends up as crazy as Larian, I'll track down his ghost and kill him again."