by Aleron Kong
CHAPTER 43 -- Day 133 -- Kuborn 23, 15368 EBG
The healer’s hut was built only a few days after the house of scholarship. Roswan had been right that building with wood was much faster than building with stone. Despite the building’s “hut” rank, it was still helpful.
Know This! You have built a fully functional Healer’s Hut. Your settlement will now enjoy the Building Bonus of increased village Health and other healing bonuses from having such a building.
Healer’s Hut. Durability: 1,060/1,060. Building Quality: Well-built. Building Bonus: +6% village Health. +6% disease prevention. +6% recuperation speed after injury.
The healer’s hut and the house of scholarship weren’t the only change to the village infrastructure. Roswan started moonlighting on his own recognizance. As the village Builder, he had access to the workshop’s interface and had apparently taken the poorly made quality of the ship cradle as an affront. On the same night that the workshop had been finished, he rounded up several of the villagers who had the Construction skill along with more than one hundred mist workers.
Shiovana had apparently been sleeping on the half-finished boat when some of the mist workers lifted it up and carried it to the side while the rest demolished the wooden cradle. A few of the guards had heard her screaming in rage and had run forward to help but stopped once they saw the comedic scene of the short elf maid shouting down at Roswan and the other builders. The mustached elf had just ignored her and went about constructing a well-built ship’s cradle to replace the ‘bundle of sticks assembled by a blind shit eater’ as Roswan called the original ship berth.
Shiovana had let go of her initial irritation and had become ecstatic when she saw the quality of the building that was being made for her. That goodwill apparently disappeared again after Roswan had commented so harshly on her earlier efforts. Richter decided to stay out of all of it and was just happy with the results.
Ship Cradle. (wooden) Durability: 1039/1039. Building Quality: Well Built. Building Bonus: +6% Shipbuilding speed bonus. 0.6% bonus to ship stats.
It wasn’t a level one building, so the bonus was meager, but it was still an improvement. When Terrod heard about Roswan’s willingness to take on smaller projects, the captain asked for a favor. After the ship had been completed, Roswan started a new pet project creating simple wooden towers that were twenty feet high. They each stood on four legs that were buried at least a yard into the ground and had a small platform. Four reinforced wooden walls topped the platform, and a simple roof sat atop it. The towers greatly increased the line of sight of anyone in the crow’s nest, and it also gave a shield location for archers to fire down on enemies. With the abundance of raw materials, Roswan was able to create one or two per night.
Richter was more than pleased. The village was operating with a well-oiled efficiency and his own skill progression advanced daily. Nothing really disrupted the flow of events until one overcast morning. He was eating a handful of berries when a mass of pixies flew towards him sounding extremely agitated and speaking all at once. The high pitched sounds hurt his ears, and it took Elora to calm them down.
“They all say that their meitu’meidons are close.”
“All of them,” Richter asked surprised. Usually, the sprites only approached in groups of two to three.
Elora nodded, “They also agree that they are approaching from the south.”
Richter turned his head to look in that direction despite knowing that he wouldn’t be able to see anything. After a moment, he grinned. He had a feeling that he knew what was going on. He walked over to give an order to Randolphus.
Terrod and Sion had been eating with him when the pixies arrived and had heard everything he had. With a nod of his head, the two moved off. Terrod to gather the guards and Sion to gather the meidon sprites. His Companion had become the impromptu leader of the bonded sprites, which Richter thought of as a good thing.
One thing that had become obvious since more forest sprites had emerged from their meidons was that there was a bit of friction between the forest and the wood sprites. Both Sumiko and the other sprite guard Hisako had left behind had been seen arguing with their more woodsy cousins. From what Richter could gather, the wood sprites thought the forest sprites were uncultured and uncivilized, and the forest sprites called the wood sprites, heoltea. It loosely translated to ‘city boy,’ but they said it with a dismissive twang that, back on Earth, only someone who had gone cow tipping could pull off. Sion was able to bridge the gap, being a forest sprite, a meitu’meidon and the son of the Hearth Mother. Needless to say, Richter was glad his Companion was there to smooth ruffled feathers. HR had never been his strong suit.
Ten minutes after Elora spoke to Richter, a war party was formed and waiting at the gate. Richter had a strong hunch on what they were about to find, so he handed out Potions of Clarity to all the members of the war party. After that, they headed out of the gate.
Richter took only one of the pixie children with him as a guide. That had caused the expected tantrum in the other fifty or so pixie children, but the fact that so many sprites were coming at once meant they were probably in a group, so only one pixie was needed to find them. Richter didn’t want to risk having dozens of the flying children in the wild at once. The small celestials weren’t without power, but all it would take would be a swooping hawk to end one of their lives.
The war party had to travel the entire way to the edge of the mists before they found the sprites. Richter crossed out of the hazy enchantment and walked to the top of a hill. What he saw brought a broad smile to his face. Just as he had thought and hoped, Richter saw Hisako’s war band. Approaching from less than a mile away, there was a host of sprite warriors at least three hundred strong. Several sprites at the front rode what looked like abnormally muscled stags. At their head was Hisako and Yoshi.
“Greetings, Hearth Mother!” Richter shouted, waving.
Hisako smiled back and rode closer, “Greetings, Lord Richter.” He walked down to meet her. When he got close, the deer she was riding grew unsettled, but she calmed it with a touch. His Analyze skill identified it as a ‘strike stag.’ The Hearth Mother reached out a hand, and he gently took it and kissed the back. Her smile broadened, “I ask permission to bring my warriors into your domain.”
Richter raised his voice so that everyone could hear him, “The people of the Hearth Tree are always welcome in the Mist Village.” Scattered cheers met his pronouncement. The sprite warriors stood erect, but they had clearly had a hard time. More than one wore severely battered armor. “I invite you all to join us for respite and relaxation.” He turned to Hisako, “I will give your fighters immunity to the mists, but while I do, I would like to introduce you to someone.”
Sion walked up behind Richter and smiled at his mother. She looked at his face, and her mouth dropped open in shock. “Sion? Is it you? Were the legends really true?”
Richter’s Companion helped his mother down off of her steed. She reached up to touch his face in wonder before embracing him. Richter smiled and started selecting each of the sprites to give them immunity to the village’s protective enchantment. Soon, all three hundred moved back towards the village. For once, Richter had almost no fear moving through the forest. Animals and monsters made way in front of the large force. The one exception was an attack by an undead creature called a barrow beast. It lunged up from a fold in the ground as the host approached. On reflex, Richter used Analyze.
Name: Barrow Beast Disposition: Enmity
Barrow Beasts are zombies created from the bodies of predators. They are often formed by simply being in the presence of other undead or are created accidentally by exposure to ambient Death magic.
Level: 4
Health: 140 Mana: 20 Stamina: 140
Strength: 9
Agility: 7
Dexterity: 9
Constitution: 14
Endurance: 14
Intelligence: 2
Wisdom: 3
Charisma:
1
Luck: 10
Richter barely had time to read the prompt before the creature was destroyed. There was a reason the other monsters were smart to avoid the armed party. Five imbued arrows impacted against the barrow monster as soon as it appeared and destroyed it utterly. All that was left were gobbets of decaying flesh and a filthy rib cage. The pace of the group didn’t even slow. Despite the very minor threat of the attack, Richter was bothered by the presence of the undead creature. Hisako met his eyes, and he could see that she was discomforted as well.
“Have you seen more of these foul creatures?” she asked him.
“As you warned, monsters and dangerous beasts are becoming more common around the village. Over the past two weeks, though, there have been several sightings of undead creatures. I have had to deal with several of the spirits myself as conventional weapons don’t seem to work, but outside of an initial encounter, there haven’t been any major threats.”
“Have the undead been appearing during the day like this?” she queried further.
“Most of the encounters are at night, but a few have been during the day,” he answered
Hisako’s face adopted a grave expression, “We will need to discuss this further. Seeing a creature like this during the day may bode ill for the future. It is possible there is a further threat we are not aware of.”
Richter immediately thought of the Death portal and the eldritch magician. Part of him didn’t want to believe that there was now yet another danger to deal with, but the timing was too coincidental. Still, he hoped he was wrong, “Maybe we just startled it awake from where it had been hiding during the day?”
Hisako nodded slowly, but from her expression, she remained doubtful. Then she looked at Sion, though, and an expression of love and affection crossed her face. She let the matter drop for the moment. The rest of the trip was uneventful, and soon they crossed into the village.
It had been several hours since they had left and night had fallen. Thankfully, the order Richter had given to Randolphus had been carried out. Suspecting that they would have a great deal of company, the chaos seed had ordered a feast to be prepared. More impromptu tables were set up, and they had been laden with meats, fruits, and nuts from the village stores. Many of the sprites started grinning at seeing the banquet that had been prepared, but a good many still strode inexorably towards the hill leading to the northern meadow. Richter knew he could not stop the meitu’meidon from going to find their pixie counterparts. He also thought he knew an even better way to revitalize the pixies than food and drink.
“My pixie allies,” Richter said, raising his voice. “You are welcome to all of the hospitality the Mist Village has to offer. Before breaking your fast, however, please come with me. I promise you will not be disappointed.” He started walking, and all of the sprites filed after him. Richter heard some of the fighters complaining in spritespeak, mostly centering around what kind of dick would show hungry men food and then not let them eat. The chaos seed just smirked and kept walking. He knew the naysayers would be quiet soon enough.
They reached the top of the hill, and many of the sprites got their first view of the Quickening. Just as Richter had predicted, they all forgot their grumblings, and many started to run forward until they remembered themselves and stayed behind the Hearth Mother. Yoshi and Hisako kept their decorum and remained with Richter. The statuesque sprite didn’t look back at her riled up troops, but from the wry twist to her mouth, Richter wouldn’t have been surprised if she was taking a perverse pleasure in having her fighters chomping at the bit.
As they approached the Quickening, something magical happened. Dozens of pixies flew out from the white leaves of the celestial tree. Their colorful wings stood in stark contrast to the cream-colored canopy and in front of all her children flew the queen herself. Beneath the flurry of pixies stood the other fifteen meidon sprites that had emerged from the silver shells so far. Those changed by the Quickening under the wondrous tree, a small promise of a wondrous future to come.
The sprites with Hisako all went down on one knee as they observed what, until very recently, would only have been considered an impossible miracle. Pixies had returned to The Land, and not only that, they had become celestial. A Quickening existed on their plane and most important, meitu’meidon were in the world again. Alma flew down to rest on Richter’s shoulders as the sprites looked on in wonder.
It was Elora who broke the spell. She flew down to hover in front of Hisako. The Hearth Mother looked at the pixie queen and said, “You have changed much, since last we spoke. Our bows and magic are yours, my queen.” Then the sprite leader bowed deeply.
Elora curtsied in midair and said, “The love of the sprites is a treasure beyond measure. Please come and hear our song. And with that, the Hearth Mother and the pixie queen crossed under the white bows of the Quickening to hear a song of rebirth and wonder.
CHAPTER 44 -- Day 139 – Kuborn 29, 15,386 EBG
Another fifty-three sprites formed connections, leaving Elora and six other sprites the only ones who had not formed the bond. When Richter asked her about it, she said that if her meitu’meidon had been born, then they would find each other in due time. Then she looked up at the silvered undersides of the Quickening’s leaves and smiled in contentment. Once the last meidon was created, A prompt appeared.
Congratulations! You have completed a Quest: Fate’s Companion. Greater than 90% of the one hundred and one celestial pixies have bonded to the sprites that carried the other half of their destiny. The forces of good in The Land rejoice! As you have seen, your role in bringing this wonder back to The Land has paid dividends. You are the Master of this Place of Power, the planter of the Quickening, and the Companion of the pixie queen. The fate of the celestial pixies is intertwined with your own. You will be rewarded with the experience promised, but you are further gifted with the True Reward of your chosen path! Stay true to yourself to continue the benefits!
True Reward: Fealty of the meidon sprites!
Reward: 17,156 experience. (base 9,700 XP for 100 meidons created + 17,750 XP for personally leading 71 meitu’meidon to their pixie counterparts).
Know This! You have received 3,625 experience (base 5,800) from your Companion Sion being a support member for the party that brought 58 meitu’meidon to their pixie counterparts. You have received 3,625 experience (base 5,800) from your Companion Terrod being a support member for the party that brought 58 meitu’meidon to their pixie counterparts.
Richter smiled broadly. He hadn’t really understood why the changed sprites had bent the knee when they emerged from the silver shells. It was now clear that they were driven to it by the magic of the meidon. For a moment, the chaos seed wondered if this was wrong somehow. Were the sprites and pixies being brainwashed into serving him? He didn’t let such a potentially malicious thought take root, though. Hisako and the other sprites believed that the pixies led them to their destinies. Who was he to question that?
Richter looked around at the rest of the war party who had all received the seven thousand two hundred and fifty XP. Checking with Analyze, he found that every single member of the war party was at least over level ten now! His people were high fiving and laughing as they celebrated their rapid ascent. Richter received more than one prompt with a relationship increase as he dissolved the war party and told his people to celebrate.
The villagers weren’t the only ones in great spirits. All of the sprites received the bonuses from the Song of Joy and Remembrance. Richter was pleased, if not surprised, that the bonus raised his personal relationship with every sprite by one or two levels. The chaos seed still didn’t fully understand the importance of relationships, but it seemed to be a good thing to increase either way, so he wasn’t complaining. Thinking about the importance of relationships made him broach a potentially sensitive topic with Hisako, namely the meidon sprites swearing fealty to him. The Hearth Mother being upset was the one potential downside he had foreseen stemming from the ‘true
reward’ from his quest. He had to interrupt a joyous reunion between both her and Sumiko, but the two sprite women took it in stride and, thankfully, she waived his concerns away. Then, to his surprise, she embraced him.
“We all serve the forest,” she said. “If my people feel the best way to do this is to swear fealty to you, then that is for the best. You should know, Lord Richter, that I would forgive you any slight, however. You have begun to heal my people!”
Richter was relieved at hearing the Hearth Mother’s had such a magnanimous attitude but was confused by the healing she was referring to. When he asked, she looked at him consideringly for a moment, but then spoke. “I would not tell you this except that I view you as an ally, Lord Richter. I ask that you keep what I am about to tell you in the strictest confidence, for it is a secret of the sprite people.” Richter assured her that he would, and she continued, “You may or may not have noticed, but wood sprites and forest sprites do not exactly get along. This was not always the case. Once, we were one people. We were neither sorat’mota nor sorat’sur; we were simply sorat’shin.”
Richter’s Gift of Tongues ability easily translated the sprite-speak into ‘wood sprites,’ ‘forest sprites,’ and the last phrase as ‘true sprites.’ He nodded again and asked, “So you split into two peoples?”
Hisako shook her head sadly, “I wish that was the end of the tale. The sorat’shin have broken into more races than even I can say. Wave sprites, dune sprites, swamp sprites…” she sighed unhappily. “I do not believe there is anyone in The Land that truly knows how many races into which we have fractured. With the loss of the pixies so long ago, sprites across The Land were bereft. Where once only harmony existed, small disagreements between sprite enclaves grew into petty rivalries. These divisions worsened until we split into different groups with different ideologies. Over the millennia we have become different races. Each of us are less than what we could be together.” There was a tone of loss and regret in her voice, but then she smiled. She embraced him again and said, “This is the first step in bringing the various sprite peoples into harmony again, and it is because of you!”
