Nova Terra- Greymane

by Seth Ring

  “I do, but it is nothing that can’t be dealt with.” Velin nodded. “It seems like the biggest issue facing us is time. Do you know how long we have until the region unlocks?”

  “Let me check.” Pulling up the notification, Thorn looked at the timer that was counting down.

  [13:23:56:43]

  “Thirteen days and twenty-three something hours. So fourteen in-game days. Two day in the real world.”

  “That is not much time.” Her brow furrowing, Velin thought for a moment. “Normally, situations like this are handled by guilds because of the need for manpower and financial resources. Honestly, the easiest route is to sell this information to a guild and let them deal with it.”

  “Would they let me keep my position as Lord Greymane?”

  “Probably not.” The elven War Priestess shook her head. “Not unless you joined them. And even then, they may not.”

  “Then that isn’t going to happen.” Thorn smiled, his glinting teeth reminding Mina of a large wolf.

  “My Lord, I might have some ideas regarding this situation.” The wolfkin captain said, dropping to a knee.

  “Please stop doing that,” replied Thorn. “If you have to, salute or something.”

  “Of course my lord.” The tall Wolfkin stood and crossed his right fist over his heart in a warrior’s greeting. “During my youth, the castle’s upkeep was the responsibility of the residents of Greymane Village. As Lord Greymane, you can assign them to work on the keep.”

  “True, but honestly, they will have their hands full with rebuilding the village, so we cannot count on them for much.” Thorn rubbed his chin. “There is a lot to do everywhere, and not nearly enough hands to do it.”

  “Well, uh.” Captain Del'har paused for a moment and looked like he was lost in thought. After a serious internal struggle the tall wolfkin looked at Thorn and spoke in a subdued tone, “My lord, we should take a trip to the lands beyond the valley.”

  “You mean the mountains?”

  “Yes, my Lord. There is a group of my people who used to live here but were forced to move after the curse twisted the former lord. Now that the curse has been lifted it might be possible for us to bring them back if you’ll accompany me to go talk to them.”

  “Are they soldiers?” Mina asked, remembering the group that they had encountered in the tunnel leading to Davyos’ Fall.

  “No, they are the descendants of the monks who used to live in the Temple of the Moon. They were once warrior monks, but due to the strength of the werewolves, they fled to the mountains where they have lived ever since. If you could bring them back to the valley, you would gain a strong workforce.”

  “Are they still monks?” Thorn asked, curious. “Are there still Night Walkers among them?”

  “Yes, my Lord, though there have not been many Night Walkers for the past few generations, ever since the last Temple was moved from the valley. These monks are a mix of the descendants of the Moon Guardians who were tasked with protecting the valley, and the remnants of the Night Walkers. Over time, as the memory of Hati, the Moon Wolf, faded, so too did their power. By the time the werewolf arrived and corrupted Gargish, the monastery was nothing but a shell of what it had once been and the few remaining Moon Guardians had no choice but to join them and flee.”

  “What makes you think they will join us?” Velin cut in.

  “The Wolfkin are a proud race, and we serve the Greymane.” The captain bristled at Velin’s question. “My Lord, as the one who freed the valley from the werewolf’s curse and claimed the wolf throne, you are the only one the wolfkin will follow.”

  “Excellent,” Thorn nodded. “Let's go tomorrow. I am going to head to Greymane Village. I’ll be back once I’ve had a chance to talk to Elder Thomas.”

  “Should we come with you?”

  “No, you and Velin can stay here. I’ll move faster by myself.” Thorn shook his head at Mina’s question. “Captain, please help these ladies take inventory of what in this dump is still usable.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  After thinking it over, Thorn decided to go see Thomas in Greymane Village to turn in the quest and activate the temple as a respawn point. This way, should anything happen, he would not be respawning days away in Berum.

  Leaving Captain Del'har and the girls to guard the castle, Thorn ran back through the woods. By himself, he covered distance at a fantastic rate, cutting the trip that had taken two hours that morning down to only twenty minutes. The village was quite different from when they had first arrived, and the loud sounds of a party could be heard spilling from the ramshackle tavern that stood near the center of town.

  As soon as he ducked into the bar, Thorn was hit full force by the scent of alcohol and roasted meat and his stomach let out an involuntary grumble. The village leader, Elder Thomas, and Captain Charles noticed him at the same time and smiled happily. Yet, suddenly, their expressions froze and with a horrified look at each other they ran over, both bowing low and seeming quite nervous.

  “My Lord!” The elder’s face was pale and white. “We were just celebrating your magnificent ascension to the throne. We were going to visit you first thing tomorrow to bring tribute.”

  “Oh, that is great, uh. Actually I had a couple questions so I thought I’d come over.” Thorn looked around, totally oblivious to the terrified stares of everyone in the tavern. “Um, I’m kind of hungry, could I maybe get a plate of something?” he continued, absentmindedly scratching at his face.

  “Yes, of course my Lord! Quick bring out something for his lordship to eat!” Thomas, trembling slightly, led Thorn to a nearby table, shooing the occupants away. Scrambling to their feet and bowing repeatedly they seemed almost eager to get away from Thorn who was finally starting to notice the deep silence in the tavern.

  “Why is everyone so quiet?” Thorn whispered to Charles.

  “Um... My Lord, have you seen yourself recently?” Asked the alchemist gently. “You look something awful. No offense your Lordship.”

  Frowning, Thorn looked down at himself for the first time and noticed that his outfit was in utter shambles. The armor he had gotten in Berum was twisted and bent beyond recognition and his body was absolutely covered in dried blood, both his and his enemies. No wonder everyone was staring at him in fright; he looked like the main monster out of a horror flick. Disgusting flakes of dried blood fell from him every time he moved.

  Blushing until his face was the same deep red as the rest of him, Thorn asked for a bath to be drawn up, and despite his hunger he spent the next 45 minutes scrubbing the evidence of his battle away. The warm water was soon filthy with blood and grime and Thorn had to replace the bathwater twice before he felt clean. As he scrubbed himself he thought carefully about all that had happened since he first logged in. In a way, everything that had happened to Thorn in the past few months was utterly unbelievable and he still hadn’t fully wrapped his mind around it.

  But a couple things he had certainly realized: first, he was currently the new Lord Greymane. Regardless of how he felt about it, he was stuck here in Angoril for the next fourteen years and the local population all now knew him as the ruler of Greymane Keep and the surrounding region, and second, he had no way to log out apart from going to Fantasia which, at this point did not interest him. A part of his mind worried that the role he had inherited would restrict his freedom, but at the same time there was an excitement in knowing he could be at the center of something grand.

  Assuming, that is, that he could hold the castle. In the little bit of research that he had done, Thorn had read that towns, cities, castles, and even whole countries could be held by players if they had the strength and capital. The major issue was that Thorn, while he had plenty of capital, was only a single player. Compared to a guild his power was quite insufficient even with Mina and Velin.

  Relaxing, Thorn’s mind turned to Oberlin. He had sent the thief south after a long conversation and from Oberlin’s last message, it sounded like the trip was going to pa
y off. Hopefully, he would make it back within the next week. If he took much longer, Thorn might be in real trouble.

  Soon after, a refreshed and somewhat bashful Thorn made his way back down the groaning stairs and into the tavern’s main room where the villagers were engaged in subdued conversation. Looking him over, the villagers got their first good look at their new lord and all were quite impressed with what they saw. While huge, Thorn was well muscled but not bulky, handsome but by no means a model. A gentle air emanated from him and his eyes were deep pools of brown that looked at the world with great calmness, a testament to having seen and survived great suffering.

  Overall Thorn gave the impression of a stately mountain, solid and unyielding. Certainly a better option than the last Lord Greymane. Elder Thomas walked over to Thorn grinning.

  “Feeling better m’lord?” he asked, chuckling at Thorn’s blush.

  “Yes, I am. Sorry about that, had a lot on my mind.” replied Thorn scratching his head bashfully. “So, how about that food?”

  “Of course, of course. Please be seated!”

  And so the night passed. The villagers soon realized that Thorn wasn’t at all stuck up and got back to celebrating their new lord with copious amounts of alcohol, and it wasn’t until the morning dawned that the tavern finally emptied. As the man of the hour Thorn had been inundated with free drinks, all of which he consumed readily.

  Despite his young age in real life, he had consumed alcohol before and while he was indifferent to the taste, it was practically impossible for him to get even the slightest of buzzes due to his abnormally large body.

  The early morning light of Nova Terra’s sun saw Thorn supporting a staggering Charles while carrying a completely blitzed Elder Thomas over his shoulder as he walked them home. The evening had been intense and everyone in the town was going to get some rest. Like the rest of the town, the two men were soon in bed sleeping off the effects of their wild celebrating. Thorn, on the other hand, walked around greeting the few people who were up and getting a better feel for the town. As he made his rounds, he stopped at the rundown temple and placed the silver wolf statue in its proper place.

  *ding*

  You have unlocked Greymane Village’s respawn point by returning the statue of Hati. You have gained Hati’s favor.

  Greymane Village was situated on a hill that at one time had been encircled by a large stone wall about a quarter of the way from the top. That wall had long fallen into ruin as the village had been sacked again and again. Instead, it was now surrounded by a fragile looking palisade that ran around the very top of the hill. The town itself had been reduced to a handful of stone buildings and wooden shacks with a barely functioning guard that was often away from the town hunting for food.

  Merchants had long since abandoned the road that cut through the forest despite how long it took to go around because of it’s dangerous lord and Greymane Village suffered as a result. The good news was that the forge was still in relatively good shape despite being rarely used over the last few years and the town had gained a rebirth point in its small temple.

  One of the notifications Thorn had received said that Greymane Village was unlocked as a starting location once the shrine had been restored and opening a browser he looked for information on that process. After a couple minutes of hunting Thorn learned that the town would go through a countdown before opening up as a new start location option. During this time new natives would move into the area and set up, waiting for the incoming players.

  A bit more exploring led Thorn to figure out that it was going to be important for the town to be a strong defensible location as beginner towns were hugely important. Each beginner town had a spawn point, allowing players to bind the town as the spot they would be resurrected if they died. If a guild or organization could hold on to a spawn point they would possess a massive advantage in the area as they could set the rules for using the rebirth shrine. In fact, that is why Thorn had to pay to use the respawn point in Embersplit. That money had gone into the coffers of the guild that controlled the city and they in turn paid for the guards and other city improvements.

  Opening his inventory, Thorn looked at what sort of money he had available. Currently, his purse was woefully small, holding only a few gold. However, money was the last of his worries as Julia had set up an account in fantasia with a few million universal credits which, when converted, came out to 15 million gold. Surely enough to rebuild the town and castle.

  The real issue was in finding enough people to help him hold the area. It would be maddening to sink tons of money into improvements only to have the town and castle snapped up from underneath him. Mulling over all of this, Thorn left a message for Elder Thomas and Charles to come see him at the keep and ran back with some breakfast.

  The girls had logged out for a couple hours, so Thorn and Captain Del’har ate the breakfast Thorn had brought and then spent the morning demolishing the rotting parts of the castle while they waited for Thomas and Charles to arrive. Inside the crumbling wall of Greymane Keep were four other buildings besides the stone keep itself.

  A few hours later, as Thorn was ripping the last of the rotten roof off the castle smithy, the village leader and the alchemist made their way into the yard, looking around in astonishment at how different everything was. All the buildings except for the keep had been reduced to their bare states or simply ripped down entirely if they were rotten. Del'har had watched in awe as Thorn leveled entire buildings in minutes with little more than his bare hands.

  Seeing the two of them come in Thorn quickly finished snapping the wooden slats. Throwing them into the fire they’d built in the center of the courtyard he made his way over to the others. Instantly the two men dropped to their knees but Thorn stopped them and told them to cut it out. Already uncomfortable towering over others, he instinctively disliked when they saluted on one knee.

  “Enough of that. If you must do something salute. Anyway, come on inside. We have a lot to talk about.” Waving them inside the keep he introduced the tall Wolfkin as they entered. “This is Captain Del'har, he is the Captain of the First Company and my second in command. Okay, grab a seat because this might take a while.”

  Getting comfortable in his throne, Thorn waved for the three natives to pull up some of the chairs he had moved into the throne room and then began to outline the issue as he saw it.

  “First, let me lay out the problems. Problem number one, this castle and the surrounding areas are a complete and utter wreck. We have no economy, no infrastructure, barely any people and no money in the treasury. Given the number of people who will be coming the whole area is likely to turn into utter chaos soon.”

  “Uh, my lord? Who is coming?” asked Charles, confusion written on his face.

  “Yeah, that’s right, I forgot to mention. Greymane Village will be unlocked as a spawn point for travelers within two week and we have gained a respawn shrine. This means that soon you will have travelers and merchants coming and bringing new wealth, but also bringing new trouble. As it is, the town is woefully unprepared and unprotected.”

  “A spawn p.. point?” stammered Elder Thomas.

  “Yes. I’m sure you know what that means? This whole area is about to be blasted wide open for exploration, trade and settlement. On top of that we will undoubtedly see an increase in banditry and other criminal activity if we can’t keep a tight hold on everything from the get-go. This brings us to problem number two. Our second major problem is that once this area is announced as a new start location we will probably have guilds coming in to try to take the town and castle for themselves in a bid to control all the land. This means that apart from the normal issues we would face in developing this land, we are probably in for a war almost immediately.”

  Here Thorn paused to look over the others. Elder Thomas’ face was pale, Charles' face was grim and Captain Del'har’s face was unreadable, though that could have been the fur.

  “This means that we need to do three things. Repa
ir the city and castle, find people to settle, and find an army. And all this needs to be done before our two weeks are up. The captain has mentioned he might know where to find some other wolfkin who can help with the castle, any other ideas?”

  For a moment they all sat in silence, thinking about the coming changes and all the ramifications of those changes. Finally Elder Thomas spoke up.

  “My lord, we have tried to get new settlers to move out here in the past, but the werewolves and bandits kept them away. You have solved the problem of the werewolves, so more people might be willing to come. If you could deal with the bandits as well?”