Evolution: A Warlock’s Rise To Power

Lucan left his castle and stepped into Shadowsweep. He was surprised to see Raze appear in front of him.

"Seem like yo have been quite busy." His patron said while giving a quick look around.

"Mmm, Baramore has pretty much given up and decided to flee." Brax said.

"Be careful, a lot of people have come into your territory. There is potential for disaster here. You need to hurry up and increase your personal power." Raze said.

Lucan could only sigh. "I want to get stronger, but it seems like I am always bogged down with a million things to do."

Raze chuckled. "That is unavoidable. Don't fret to much. You have already met the population and city requirements to advance from Baron to Viscount, you only need to improve your personal power to be promoted. At that time, you will get higher level guards and your army will increase. And there are also some other benefits to be had."

"Oh really? Like what?" Lucan asked.

"He, he, you will see when the time comes." Raze said with a chuckle. "If you are really interested in knowing, you can go ask Hellfire."

"Eh, I am to busy to go track him down, I will find out when the time comes if you don't want to tell me."

Raze nodded. "I hear you are developing a dwarven citadel. Do you mind if I take a look."

Lucan smirked. "Are you not going to look if I say no?"

"Of course, I will still take a look." Raze said. "You don't seem to understand how rare a dwarven citadel is."

Lucan shrugged. "Is it really something so special?" He asked.

"Dwarven strongholds and dwarven fortress are fairly common, but a dwarven citadel is truly rare." Raze could see that his Hand was confused on what the difference was so he continued and explained. "A dwarven citadel is like a holy land to dwarves. Don't you see?" He said while pointing a group of twenty dwarves who just stepped out of the teleporter.

Lucan saw them step out and head towards the underground entrance but he didn't understand why it was such a big deal.

"No one told them a citadel was being built, but they still came." Raze explained. "It is something they can feel in their bones. A dwarven citadel is not something that can be built simply because somebody wants to build one. No, it needs to be in a specific location and meet certain requirements. It is truly a rare opportunity that you were able to find a place that meets all the dwarves requirements."

"Is it realy that hard to meet the requirements?" Lucan asked.

Raze nodded. "It needs to be at least a mile underground, it has to be built by dwarves and it also has requirements of the stone used to build it. It can't be built by just staking bricks together, no, it needs to be carved from the earth. The dwarves say that all the citadels in the various planes already exist, but it is up to the dwarves to find them and free them from the stone in the surroundings. I have been keeping an eye on Shadowsweep and I have already seen over a thousand dwarves who received the call in their soul and came running to help out."

"What! Last time I checked there were only a few handfuls of dwarves working on the project."

"it is true, you are quite lucky. In all the territory I control, I don't have a single dwarven citadel. You should consider yourself lucky. In the future you will have a very safe place to escape to if you ever find yourself in trouble. On top of that, it will be a place where craftsman come from all over to advance their craft. Enough chit chat about this. Let's go take a look."

Raze didn't wait for Lucan's reply and set off towards the underground entrance.

Lucan followed and was surprised to see how fast the dwarves worked. They had already cleared a large space underground, near the surface. It was filled with thousands of homes, cut directly into the stone. Lucan was amazed at the speed of their work. Each of these temo=porary homes had several families inside. They were living here while other construction projects were being completed.

Raze ignored all of these and proceeded forward. There was a tunnel at the end of the underground city that led downward towards the dwarven citadel. Two dwarves stood guard. When they saw Lucan and Raze approaching, they both stepped aside and gave a dwarven salute.

The tunnel snaked downhill until they were deep underground.

Raze was surprised and Lucan was stunned at what they saw upon reaching the bottom. The three square miles of open area in front of the future dwarven citadel was already unrecognizable. It was filled with stone buildings that had been built from the materials excavated from the citadel. Not only that, but there was over five thousand dwarves present.

Upon seeing Lucan and Raze, Edgit Hammerstone rushed over.

"Supreme ruler, Lord Quilldrake." The dwarf said with a bow.

"It appears that I underestimated the call of a citadel." Raze said with a murmur.

"How is the progress?" Lucan asked.

"Things are advancing very quickly." Edgit Hammerstone said while leading them to the entrance of the citadel.

As they drew closer, the rhythmic sound of pickaxes hitting stone could be heard. A large entrance over a hundred feet tall had already been carved into the stone. Peeking inside, Lucan could see the dwarves hard at work while Edgit reported on their progress.

"things have been progressing smoothly. We have already exceed the entrance and are now working our way further in."

"Looks good." Lucan said with a nod.

"We have also found a decent amount of rare ore and gems stones. I have given half to Oar to transport to the vaults but I was hopping that you would let us keep the other half." Edgit said. "I have kept them, but I haven't used anything yet without your permission."

"Do you have a need for them?" Lucan asked.

"Yes, Lord Quilldrake. A citadel is not just made of stone. We need a lot of materials. But things shipped in from the outside won't be as effective as the materials we are able to obtain from the citadel itself." Hammerstone explained. "If we can use the materials we acquired here, it will elevate the citadel and make it even more amazing. I also fear that if we were to just carve it from the stone, it won't be ever fully completed."

"Then do as you like. I left you in charge of this project so I will trust your decision."

"Do not worry Lord Quilldrake, I won't let you regret it." Said Edgit happily. Give me a month and the foundations should be complete. I won't let you down."

Lucan and Edgit discussed the minor details while Raze went further in to have a look for himself. Raze nodded happily as he was satisfied with what he saw.

"You have done good work." Raze said as he came over an interrupted the conversation between Lucan and Edgit. Neither one of them minded. They were happy that Raze approved. "Keep up the effort and I will give you a nice surprise when you near completion."

Before either could ask about the surprise, Raze waved his hand and disappeared into the shadows.

Lucan turned back to Edgit. "If you have any plans drawn up, I would like to see them. I need to start planning the formation that will protect this place."

Edgit had a strange look on his face that Lucan didn't miss.

"What is wrong?" He asked Edgit.

"Well… it would be best if you didn't build a formation. The citadel will have its owns way to protect itself. A formation isn't necessary and adding outside elements into the construction to complete your formation may have a detrimental effect. Every stone and every cut is purposely placed in the citadel." Edgit explained. "If you try an alter it, the natural formations of the citadel will be effected. It may not be worth the effort and money you expend to build your own formation."

Lucan thought it over and decided to heed Edgit words. He was starting to understand just how amazing a dwarven citadel really was. If Edigt was certain that it didn't need outside protection, Lucan was willing to let him complete the project before he made his decision. For now he would just wait and see.

Lucan received an unexpected telepathic transmission.

'Lucan, this is Sturdy Willow, something has gone wrong. Can you come out to the fortress we are attacking?'