Alice stood up from her little blood bath, dropping the dagger at her feet. She looks over the fae noble, admiring his clothes with a small smile, "What is your name? I don't believe we have met and I would love to meet again. Maybe you can send it in a private message? We could have tea, or something nice."
She lifted her bloodied hand to her beast, her fingernails digging into the beast's arm to scrape away some of the smaller scales there (not that the beast minded), and she spoke to it, "Nith zah moon Tah, Nar zo Zaran." She set her little trap of a toy to stay near the bodies and watch over them, likely to create more if the reckless fae wondered too close to her pile.
Not that it would matter shortly, as she released a dry gasp, eyes catching sight of the fae again, and then flirting to the Pool of Prey's direction. Yes, a terrible, wonderful idea...But Flynn was leaving and she needed to keep track of him, so she waved at the fae gaily and left the scene. Her beast watched over the bodies, remaining completely neutral, until one of the fae neared the bodies.
While she walked, her body subtly moved towards Tristan at any given point, offering him a black toothed smile. At one point, she lifted her dry and bloodied hand to her throat and made a gesture of ripping it out, which actually set the command to her beast to attempt to kill the fae noble, should he still be around. She would have to wait at this new place and see if her connection would vanish, or grow steadily closer to her, bringing the fae noble's body with it as instructed.
Upon nearing the large tree, Alice looked up, gawking a bit, "It's so large. And these bodies..." Nearing the corpses, she started examining them. Holding one of their arms up, she just noticed Ms. Darkling. Staring for a bit, she looked to Flynn, "Who is that, Flynn?"
Instead of introductions... Gather up your Scales and Level-up crystals. Follow me to a safe-ish area to wait through the rest of the Hunt. We may have a Fae noble after us once he gets reinforcements. Oh, I didn't bathe in the Pool of Prey, but Baris and Alice did. I instead got Abin Sur-ed into becoming a Ballad Lord.
Flynn stays between Sir Orik and Tristan, with a degree of coolness, tolerating no back talk. Orik, Tristan, you both are in contract. I would like peace amongst us.
Between Alice and Ms Darkling. Alice, Ms Darkling. You're introduced. You should get along. Chosen of Death. Pointing to Ms Darkling. Likes the Dead. Pointing to Alice.
Plan is for us to head to the Tree of Sorrows, to the Zone Seam between it and the Forest. We will wait out the Hunt there. Us Gamers understand how we had to wait for Zones to load. When we passed by the Tree of Sorrows, I looked for Clues regarding the area. My plan is to wait in the area of the Forest just inside the seam between Zones, a little area tucked away.
To be safe, we'll be more in the Forest area than the Tree of Sorrows. The Fae shouldn't approach the Zone seam since it leads to the Tree of Sorrows, and the Revenants from the Tree of Sorrows, I hope, shouldn't cross over the loading Seam. Generally, such areas don't have spawn points on either side. Programmers usually don't want errors in loading Zones just for a character to die, then loop to a spawn point while loading into a Zone.
This game is gruesome. The Fae don't have level up crystals when they die because their souls get reincarnated into the Cycle to be reborn. Normal critters such as the Nagakin and spiders release the level up crystals imbuing our drinks and training with their soul. So at the dispensers we trade crystallized souls for powers. And I shy away from how Alice behaves? She at least is the most honest of us.
"Each god has their own familia, this is the temple of life, there are many gods. If they are in the temple each will be in their own room or out of the temple. Pelor is known as the main patron of the temple of life. What kind of god do you seek?" He relays, interested in your plight.
His answer was immediate, raising his large hands and flexing them. "I'm looking for a Familia or Guild that pursues the perfection of the body, without any weapons. I aim to perfect this form to stand on par with the best weapon masters, unarmed." It was probably a tall order, since not many games made something like that possible, but testing the limits of games like this is something that he always did. This one would not be any different.
Alice dropped the arm she was measuring and stood up to grab both sides of her tattered robes and pinch the fabric between her fingers, dipping her head in a curtsy, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Darkling. I.." She lifts her head and sets her spine upright with a quick snapping motion, "envy your title. How do you become a Chosen of Death?"[/b] She lets her robes be.
Turning her blood-filled eyes to Flynn, "I can only wait for so long, Flynn. I am a very busy individual and I don't care for these Fae. Here, I am powerful. I feel it." She pulled her hands to her chest, curling them into fists. She held them there, taking an eased breath once she returned to a neutral stance. Taking a final look at the bodies, "I want to be here, just before the new day begins. I will gladly return to the seam when I am done."
Herding cats
Flynn eyes Sir Orik to determine if he is feeling the pheromone call towards attacking Baris or Alice.
Alice, You will die if you stay here in this grove between these three trees. The Nagakin come through this way and have died in a pile here due Ms Darkling, Sir Orik, Mystery Knight, Aien, and Garret. So c'mon, I'll find you a bigger pile of bodies some other time when you aren't being Hunted by half the Winter Court. I'll take you to another Zone to see the Tree of Sorrows in the morning... maybe later tonight if I get bored waiting for morning... The Tree of Sorrows has fruit you can eat! Well, I wouldn't recommend it, but you probably will... Flynn is gesturing to the Seam between Zones, pulling up his map to point the direction for the others. He looks to see if anyone needs any of the equipment from the Winter Court Guards. Bet Garret and Aien are out of ammo.
Mark this place on your Map. You can develop a leyline to it another time.
The Fae Noble ignored Alice's comments, more aloof than any other emotion. Eventually her connection to her Nagakin is severed.
There is no dissent into Jeffery's plan. Thallina speaks up though, "You don't need my help any more and I don't mean you harm but you should go and leave me here. Unless I am given a direct order I will stay here killing Nagakin."
Tristan simply shrugs at the comment of fighting between him and the Summer Fae, named Orik. Afterall I have no alligences now. Thinking to himself.
Orik on the other hand makes a direct comment, "It appears you have made another ally. As long as this Winter Fae or other creatures are your allies and don't threaten you, I won't harm them, after all we got plenty to fight with. Baris it is good to see you, how did you get caught up into all of this?"
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Between Alice and Ms Darkling. Alice, Ms Darkling. You're introduced. You should get along. Chosen of Death. Pointing to Ms Darkling. Likes the Dead. Pointing to Alice.
Jellena nods but quietly under her breath says, only Orik and the one in full plate would hear.
Alice lifts her head to the direction of her nagabeast, surprised and uncertain. She stood, but wasn't angry and wasn't sad. Perplexed, she shifted her dead gaze about, pondering the empty space between her and her beast's last whereabouts, "They killed it. Strange, they didn't appear to be able to do so."
She busied herself with looking about for the largest naga body, or at least the size of the last one. Lifting her hands to the air, by her shoulders, she daintily shrugs, "As if slaying one beast is ever enough. Perhaps it needs to be bigger?" Her hand spread its fingers outward, her voice whispering the dark words. Then she dipped low and touched a naga's body. The air around it blew outward and settled the leaves. Then the beast rose again, towering over Alice's smaller stature.
She smiled her black tooth grin; patting the beasts arm. She hugged it to herself, looking over at Flynn, "Flynn, I cannot die. But I am ready to leave now."
[One Nagabeast Juju zombie nice, fat stack of HD. 1/3 Animate Deads left today. Also, I didn't realize that zombies add HD depending on their size and the borrowed outline is of a large critter. So something bad almost happened but everything is fine now.]
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Alice dropped the arm she was measuring and stood up to grab both sides of her tattered robes and pinch the fabric between her fingers, dipping her head in a curtsy, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Darkling. I.." She lifts her head and sets her spine upright with a quick snapping motion, "envy your title. How do you become a Chosen of Death?"[/b] She lets her robes be.
She barely smiles as she dips in response to the curtsy, her free hand to her side. Then she states, "When back at Sanctuary we will visit the temple of death and get you a meeting with the Mistress to see if she approves of you becoming a chosen or something else."
Sir Orik does not seem affected by the pheromones, Thallina seems a bit but is holding it together not looking at them.
Alice you are too far to hear or see anything about your last zombie. The Nagakin are only medium, though some of the specimens do stand up to seven feet tall.
"You may go hide in your zone. I will stay here with Thallina killing these monstrosities. The more we kill the better. Aien feel free to go with your allies, I will catch up with you later." He says with stern conviction.
"We have the teleportation system to the gods up and running again, if you have decided which God you want to find, simply go to the portal say their name, wait for it to power up, then step through. Don't think I am rushing you to a decision, just letting you know before I forget. Do you want to know more about any of the gods?"
'I really should have read the tutorial...'
Stepping off of the portal disc, the expression on his face was thoughtful. Not quite "deep thought" thoughtful, but something that the attendant had said seemed like it might be somewhat relevant. "You said 'associated' with Life in regards to the evil gods. Does that mean my affiliation is something that can be perceived?" If it could, that raised the issue of the more zealous seeking out members of the opposing affiliation. Potentially troublesome.
As an aside, he looked at the disc and said, "Irori."
Alice walks around the tree once, having left a hand along the bark. Her fingernails scratched at it, her palm sliding along its rough bark. Her lumbering, new beast followed behind her in small steps. She watched the tree's branches with a tight-lipped smile. But her attention is caught by Ms. Darkling's words. She stops her circulation of the tree, and approaches Ms. Darkling. She stopped as close as she could get to without Ms. Darkling retreating and thankfully left her weapon with her beast, "I would like that. I've never been to Sanctuary before."
With a charming smile... Tristan, you say your kind is flayed alive if you get too close to the Revenants. Stay here with Thallina, guard her because she is my Mentor in Woodcraft - maybe... She is one of Mordriac's Adepts. Something obviously amuses Flynn, his blue eyes sparkle.
Sneaky Blue Haired Fae, unless they are twins... Thelrilla was the Fae girl I trained with and this one goes by Thallina...[some dirty thoughts redacted]... I hope Tristan gets in good with her. He needs to socialize with a better class of Winter Court Fae.
Please distribute the weapons especially bows and arrows... make sure everyone has a melee weapon. I am going to take Baris and Alice away since they smell of the Pool of Prey. This way no conflict will come from Hunters trying to capture Baris and Alice. My goal is for the Nagakin to die but not the Winter Court Fae... Defend yourselves, as a first priority.
Anyone following our trail will lead to this pile of dead Nagakin.
To Baris and Alice I would rather solve this night through being clever than purely through Martial Might. Making a stand here with Thallina and Jellena means that the Winter Court King may assume all we are good for is Martial Prowess. When I Killed Vellcrax with Baris and Tristan's help, we got the King's attention, let's keep his attention by out foxing his Noble Hunters.
Alice's eyes drifted to the side, her head slowly turning towards Flynn, "Fine, Flynn. I will play your game, for now. But should word of a noble Fae being skinned, I will be very upset that I wasn't able to witness it." She eyed Ms. Darkling again, speaking to Flynn without looking at him, "I will leave for this seam when you do. Believe me when I say that I am watching."
Since you have been talking with the attendant for quite a while now you can see a white crystal floating above his head, you recognize that you did not see it initially only as time has progressed did it became slowly translucent.
With the name said the portal begins to light up and you can see a forest scene slowly begin to appear. In the distance you can see a figure in dark, no black, armor.
Thallina and Orik have no reaction to the name Vellacrux.
The group separates again. Most stay at the tree leaving the three to go to the Seam alone.
Another two dozen nagakin are killed before the horn is blown. Those of melee nature waiting for the threat to get to them before striking out and the ranged attackers doing what they can before the beasts get too close. Another crystal each, and 4 scales each for Aien, Garrett, Orik, Jellena, Thallina and Ironfist.
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She scoffs at Alice's comment and takes a step back to give some space between them, then says, "You surely jest. Are you a NPC then? Jeffery where did you pick her up from?"
Once the whole group is on the ground Jellena goes over to Thallina, "Would you prefer to have more scales, I saw that you weren't so keen on the crystals? I will give you a scale for each crystal."
The change of location was more a perception shift than anything else, a brief and quickly fading flash of white filling his vision between one step and the next, and he paused to look around the area. It was entirely possible that this was a god's realm, which did not have quite the standard rules as the spaces in the normal areas, but it was also possible that this was simply a location in the world that would be otherwise unreachable. It was difficult to tell which at a glance.
Slightly wary, as he did request to visit the god of self-perfection, he focused on the figure in black armor. Did they have a crystal above their head? The one above the attendant only showed after a while, maybe it was focus dependent?
A deep breath settled himself, and let him focus, only now did he look at his body, curious about how it was generated, since he did spend a lot of time in the character creator, and he had a feeling that he may need to be very familiar with it, quickly. To him, it felt heavy, but strong. Definitely heavier than he was outside of the game, but it was a sense of strength, than just weight. He moved easily, and a brief examination made him grin, as he definitely had tusks, though they were not as pronounced as to inconvenience his jaw.
"Greetings! I am Augrok!" He could not keep the note of enthusiasm out of his voice as he greeted the figure in black armor, as he spread his (large) arms wide. "Augrok Manyteeth! If you are here to oppose my pilgrimage, will one of your teeth be the first of many I will gather?" A grin was on his face as he shrugged off the backpack to carry it with one hand just in case this was to be a fight.
A portal opened just as the horn was sounded. Augrok can hear the horn as well. Augrok steps out of the portal and advances towards the group, unarmed, unarmored, but with a willful attitude and strong muscles.
"Greetings! I am Augrok!" He could not keep the note of enthusiasm out of his voice as he greeted the figure in black armor, as he spread his large arms wide. "Augrok Manyteeth! If you are here to oppose my pilgrimage, will one of your teeth be the first of many I will gather?" A grin was on his face as he shrugged off the backpack to carry it with one hand just in case this was to be a fight.
Looking around Augrok sees that there are many bodies of medium sized aberrations made of serpents that have arms with massive claws. The man in black armor is not alone, there is a scantily clad woman with a scythe, she is covered in blood. Also there is a humanoid with green feathers for hair and the green tint to his skin, he wears dark green attire almost like a suit, and a chain in his hands twirling at one end with a blade attached.
"Why would I oppose your pilgrimage when you call my name and come to my location?" The figure in black armor says sternly almost chastisingly.
Alice steps forward after Ms. Darkling, her gums bloody and her teeth like charcoal. She didn't smell to be dead, as a rotting corpse would. A strong scent of blood lingered on her arm. She smiled slowly, her eyes staring Ms. Darkling down, "Would you like to find out?" She flirted her face closer with her words, but drifted back and made silent laugh and a wriggling of her shoulders, "So would I."
She walked when Flynn left in a way that she was always facing Ms. Darkling, her beast lumbering along by her side. Then she turned around and left the scene.
'Unexpected... Still got to sell it!'
Chuckling, he did not lose an ounce of his smile, still enjoying every moment. "Ah, but the world is an uncertain place... My apologies.", his warm, deep voice rumbled his reply as he approached. "Armor does not seem to become one focused on self-perfection." A curious expression crossed his face as he looked at the others with him. "However, I am clearly arriving in the middle of something. How might I be of assistance, or— considering the quality of company— not a hindrance?"
Flynn shrugs at Jellena's question. Giving her a look to explain this crazy night when there are much less Nagakin and Crazed Winter Court Hunters around.
Flynn leads Baris and Alice to an area that shows subtle changes in landscaping. The Forest where the Hunt happens merges with an area where the ground slowly turns to frosty tinted forest.
When this was a game, you would have time to take a sip of your Mountain Dew or eat a bite of pizza as your character was loaded into another Zone. These areas where avoided as no one wanted to wait through the Load Time. You handled all the Quests you could, even if it didn't fit your Narrative, before moving through the Seam.
Flynn pauses a moment, looking over the area, appreciating the beauty of the juxtaposition the subtly, where the Zones merge.
Ironic. You pause he so long, but you never see the beauty.
Monsters, 9 out of 10 games, could not chase you into another Zone. Gamers would use these Zone Seams to escape from a Mob too dangerous.
Off to the distance, into the area Flynn describes as another Zone, The Pale Tree, the Tree of Sorrows, can be seen. Few other Trees grow in its proximity, as if the Tree steals all other life from the area. The ambient heat, even a conservative distance into the neighboring Zone, is obviously cooler. The Tree dominates a clearing all to itself. The Tree rises to a massive 200 feet, higher than the normal trees in the forest by a good 75 to 100 feet tall. The Tree needs no leaves, so has none. Its many limbs have many branches, to remind itself that leaves once were there in "better" times. There is about 100 feet gap between it and the surrounding trees. Underneath the Tree, the ground is covered in a frost, as the dirt and grass are all white.
Flynn acknowledges the tree even at such a distance. Whispering softly, but with an openness that Flynn rarely shows. Tree of Hope, I have returned. I shelter beneath Your Shadow this night. Protect us from your Revenants.
Vellcrax didn't trigger a response in Thallina or Orik. I have found Fae of House of Sorrows, such as Modriac, Patches and Screams, and Tristan. I have found Fae of the House of Ballads, in Sir Orik. Could the Revenants be what is left of the House of Courage? A dead House, still respected, but no Domain? How do I change this?
Flynn looks through the downloaded 3k Loarim points of interest for House of Courage reference to aid in the knowledge of House of Courage.
Feeling lucky, as this is important.
Flynn allows the armor to control the arm and hand motions, as if the Set wants to be revealed, the search for a moment in the Lore section of his Journal.
"Training, as in all things. It is better to know how to protect one self many ways. Come stand with us and if we come under attack again join in the fray. Though with the horn sounding the Hunt is over." He replies less sternly. Then with a bit of mirth he says, "Come introduce yourself, here is Ms. Darkling, and Sir Orik, above is Thallina, Aien, and Garrett. Now you think me Irori, and that would be correct but now I go by Ironfist, Motranin Ironfist."
Looking through your database reveals very little about the House of Courage. It is a Summer Fae associated House. It is nearly dead, as most members were recently killed by a successful mission.
Being in the Seam Zone does not allow you to see any creatures.
Alice sits on the seamline, her hands turning their palms up in her lap. She stares blankly and blinks rarely, her beast nearby. After a while of sitting perfectly still, she speaks up with lazy toss of her hand to her right, "Flynn, how long must we sit here? There is nothing to look at but trees." This area is so quiet. I hate it. She frowned deeply, turning her head to the side to stare at the distant and large tree. Her cheeks inflated and she held her breath for as long as she could.
Breathing again, she smiled wearily, then looked towards Flynn with a questioning tilt of her head, "Flynn, what would you do if my body expired at this moment?"
When we hear the Horn we can head back. That signals the end of the Hunt. When summoned, you will be able to go before the Winter Court King. By tradition, because you survived being Prey he will grant you a blessing or boon. Have you thought about what you would request? If you ask for something too extravagant, then you might simply be slain as a lesson not to get to greedy with the King.
Baris, have you thought about your request?
A great man... no, I guess he was a good man... well, he was alright... He said something that was very appropriate for a moment like this. Flynn turns to look at Alice, delivers the next line with a dead serious expression.
and I quote, "I will get very choked up. Honestly, there could be tears." End Quote.
Flynn's blue eyes sparkle with joy.
"No I have not given it much thought, any suggestions Jeffery?" He asks as he lays in the grass waiting.
If you do something to advance your Familia as well as relations between Sanctuary and the House of Sorrows. Such as you would like to create a temple in Loarim to spread your Greatness to anyone. Another option would be to join their Voting Council. That one would get me killed if I were to ask it, but since you are a god, they may welcome it.
Or you can do a short term gesture that is awesome in scope, gets you the most positive notice of everyone, such as they throw a massive party in a week's time in your honor where everyone attends. Food, drink, music... This allows you to influence a lot of people quickly and get out of Loarim the soonest. Not sure what Mordriac's angle in this is, involving you.
Another route you could do is training. When you excel at fighting monsters, you help out everyone. You could get someone to train you in a spell or fighting technique. But if you do that, some one might ask what does a God need a trainer for?
"Training, as in all things. It is better to know how to protect one self many ways. Come stand with us and if we come under attack again join in the fray. Though with the horn sounding the Hunt is over." He replies less sternly. Then with a bit of mirth he says, "Come introduce yourself, here is Ms. Darkling, and Sir Orik, above is Thallina, Aien, and Garrett. Now you think me Irori, and that would be correct but now I go by Ironfist, Motranin Ironfist."
Approaching the group, Augrok looked up to see who he was indicating. With this being a forest, he should have thought to look up sooner, and made a mental note to do so more often in the future. The pack was kept in his hand, and he approached them respectfully. "Well met", he said deferentially to them all, looking back up at those that were above. "I am Augrok. I came to ask to join your Familia", he said, giving a deferential nod to the god he had come to see.
'Hunt? It looks like I just missed an event. If the others accompanying Ironfist are on the same level, then all of these are NPCs... probably?' He shifted his gaze to every one of them in turn, trying to see the crystal indicator that had shown over the head of the attendant in the Portal room.
Alice smiled without that cruelty that usually lingered with the motion, laughing in her throat, ”You are so funny, Flynn.” She pushed his words away, her arm that was bathed in blood a much brighter and lively skin tone than the rest of her body. But she did stare off into one of the large trees, her head shaking or lips forming an indecisive frown.
Eventually, she leans her cheek on her palm and settles the elbow into her lap. Trailing a dead fingernail into the ground, she draws a circle with a jagged line down the middle idly, ”I think, if I slew this body that my beast would become wild. It would wish to feed on you both, but Baris is very quick..” She looked towards the other two, ”Flynn, it would chase you. It’s not part of the game anymore, it would chase you. And it would grab your legs, and it tear them from you. And it would eat them while you bled out.”
Shifting her head to lay upon her shoulder and stopping her motions to lay still, ”I don’t think I would cry once I returned. But I would make Tristan cry for me.” Her blood filled eyes lifted from the ground, ”Maybe, I will ask for a bath.”
You would note that I have positioned myself appropriately as we wait. But yes, your creature would probably attempt to kill me. It is a good thing we are in the Loarim area. They have a fascination with death. They may welcome you and your creature into Loarim's citizens. You would belong.
Flynn smiles slightly, turning to Baris. Tomorrow during the feasting, you may want to avoid eating any stews or meatloaf. They may contain Nagakin. Been thinking of a Hidden Fortess. It would require food like you would not believe. Without farms in this area, the Fae are required to use magic or to hunt in the forest for food. Given the rough math, assuming they eat like a human. A base of 3,000 individuals eating a pound of food a day would mean you would need slightly over a million pounds a year. Give or take a hundred thousand pounds.
Flynn's eyes soften a moment at Alice's comment about crying.
Alice lets her eyes draw a line between Flynn and her beast. Letting her head fall from one shoulder's side to the other, "Oh...Look at that." Her body convulsed in a dry, heaving laugh, but her lips pulled into a frown. Shaking her head, "I care not for belonging, or for who welcomes me. But they probably have what I want. I would like to visit this Loarim."
Baris nods and agrees, "Yes those seem like excellent choices I will keep them in mind." He spimply shrugs at what Alice says continuing to lie in the grass he picks one and begins to lightly chew on its end.
Continuing in an inquisitive way he asks, "Why do you seek my familia? It will be a hard and rough trail ahead of you follow it."
A wide grin grew on his face as Ironfist posed the question. His reasoning was simple. "It is the path that I would be taking already. However, there is little sense in traveling alone if others are going in the same direction", he jovially replied. The pack was shrugged back onto his shoulders, the starting clothes awkward in that generic sense that they conveyed no personality whatsoever, and when fit on such a large frame as his, they just did not seem right. "More perspectives can only yield better results."
The bodies strewn around the clearing did have his curiosity, as they were certainly not something that had been seen before, and certainly looked dangerous. It looked like this was not an isolated area, and seeing the deities take part in events was something new to him. "What event was this, that has just concluded? A Hunt?"
A procession comes from the Heartwood, bloodied fey and Fae walk side by side. Good and evil stand now as neutrality returns from the incursion. Nymphs, dryads, red caps, sayturs, centaurs, dire animals, green dragons, earth and water elementals, giant owls, shambling mounds, sprites, fairies, treants, unicorns, and even several groups of elves.
Mordriac breaks from the procession and comes to your glade, he jovially says, "Come join us we travel to Loriam to celebrate, we will share gifts and bless unions and alliances."
Time to move out. Ms Darkling's... and Aien's.. icons are moving. Looks like the Hunt is over. If we head this way, we can intercept them. They seem to be moving slowly. The direction they are going towards Loarim.
Flynn reluctantly stands. Absentmindedly - and the frown as - he moves the shield to his back. The armor and robe seem to sparkle in their silver and whiteness.
Being close to the Tree of Hope, as he calls it, his thoughts push out to it... See you soon, Friend. Thank you for being the Giving Tree of this Reality. Flynn pushes through a Montage of images and feelings regarding the book, the Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. Softly mummering “... and she loved a boy very, very much-- even more than she loved herself.”
As Flynn walks, he contemplates the nature of the Hunt. Using Baris and Alice as sounding boards Baris, does Sanctuary have a pattern of Farms around it? With trade able to connect into Sanctuary from farming villages?
Alice, before the Awakening, the economy and living patterns may have been overlooked regarding what it takes for a society to survive. Now that the Awakening has happened, it seems old expectations of the game and reality clash. NPCs didn't matter in the Game, so no thought was given to how they live their day to day lives when they were "Off Screen".
Loarim by its nature does not have a farming community established for it, being a secret Fortress. So a monthly Hunt happens to pull in meat for the citizens. I bet that the Pool of Prey probably has a Gentle Respose effect, so the bodies can be harvested for the next week. 25 pounds of edible food per corpse: liver, meat around the ribs, tenderloin, breast.
If we are lead to a feast and party, look to each of the Leaders' faces. Look for the ones that show signs of concealed worry. They know that this pace of consumption outpaces their ability to gather food. Their food stores dwindle, unless they have a magical McDonald's in Loarim.
To make the math simple, by my estimates of the Hunt, less than half of Loarim is going hungry or starving, unless the Fae don't require to eat as much as a human. Magically created food would account for a fifth of the people, another fifth can gather their food from the forest, which I noticed you were doing earlier, Baris. Another fifth would require the food the Hunt produces, roughly a thousand Prey. What about the remaining two fifths of the populace? The Hunt would need three thousand corpses to harvest a month.
This Hunt may have summoned Vellcrax as a creature to bring in more Prey to provide food. A means to generate more food for Loarim.
Flynn walks in silence. What I always wanted from a video game. Food Riots and Capitalism tainting everything. The King of Sorrows must know that this pace cannot last.
Flynn picks some berries and nuts. He begins to curse. How elegant. The Armies from the Cardinal Points don't attack us because they are programmed to. But they attack for resources, spawn points, because their lands weren't developed enough, so they don't haven't the spawn points necessary to resupply.
A moment later, the berries and nuts spawn into existence.
Baris gets up and slowly keeps pace with Jeffery before responding, "Yes Jeffery, there are farms on the mesa itself. Though most of the food comes from the temple of life. Below the mesa it is too dangerous to have small communities but we trade with the communities of the area, we import a good portion of food at least that seem so to be the case."
Alice drew a picture of a fly inside her drawing, its small wings soon erased and redrawn along the bottom of the circle. Standing, slowly, after Flynn speaks, ”Good. I grew tired of waiting.” Lifting a finger, she curls it and her beast followed her after a start. Walking up to Flynn’s back, she remained just behind him, her voice close to his shoulder, ”The Awakening…” Looking up at the sky, Alice tried to search it with her blood filled eyes. But she frowned, deeply, pulling her gaze from it, ”If they run out of food, they can always kill citizens. Less mouths to feed and more to eat for the Leaders.” I wonder what Fae taste like. Once they grouped up with the others, she would have to spend such a long time staring at Tristan, like a snake watches a rat.
The irony of the Fae: they have this cycle of reincarnation. The leaders kill off those starving. But those souls are not placed in crystals... but those souls are to be reborn, into bodies the leaders can't feed. The leaders simply stall for time during the period of killing of their kind. So the leaders will have to try other Sources of Power such as Vellcrax to destroy the souls so they aren't reborn... The Awakening must have happened in stages because not everything we're witnessing is from the same start point. Knowing what I know know, Vellcrax would have been the second Hunt after the Awakening if I were King. Flynn cautiously steps over a log, using it as an example of how the Winter Court King must view Vellcrax swimming in his Pool of Prey. Not quite an obstacle, but wise enough to draw attention to the caution.
Flynn pauses to review his map. The Programmers were lazy, and had the Fae recycle identities so they didn't have to write backstories for generations of Fae. The Programmers simply said, here's one story, and the past generations of Fae will relive it... With the Awakening, Fae now have their choice to embrace the past stories or create new stories of their own. Mordriac, Sir Orik, Cheshire, and Tristan are unique enough to try to create their own stories.
Flynn only has to slightly adjust for landscape and the movement of the icons on his map. In our Reality, on Earth, a Harvest Feast would happen because the food is still fresh and in abundance. Here, after a Hunt, the celebration would happen. As an Authority, celebration or holidays... and wishful thinking such as religion help control the masses. We are walking into a celebration. Peoples' guards will be lowered as Fae and people will indulge...
If I were the King of the Winter Court, I would opt for stalling at this time. Make no decision, make no promises. Simply abide as the populace finds their identity. Delay actions until after the next Hunt.
Looking to Baris and Alice. If you ask for a boon that allows the King to save face and delay any decision until later, he will happily comply. If you force him to make a decision now, you will die. If the King makes any other action, the King is either stupid or smarter than I. Flynn's smile doesn't reach his blue eyes. Though he bares his teeth.
Alice walked behind Flynn, her hands threading the red cape between her finger and thumb. She didn't notice the log that Flynn stepped over, and neither did she care when she bumped into it. She stepped over it all the same, "I've never met this King, but I have many messages about him from people. Others, that mock him. But I would like to see him myself."
Alice looks up when Flynn turns around to face them, making a look of disgust, "Flynn, you worry too much. I cannot die and I will find you again if the King destroys this body. He cannot stop me; no one can stop me." For I am the Destroyer, and I will indulge. Alice smiled to herself, but then stopped. A message popped up on her screen and she made an inquisitive scrunching of her face.
"Hey! Glad you survived the Hunt! See you at the feast maybe? We can talk about boys. K, chat with you later."
Alice frowned deeply, waving her hand in front of her, "I'm sorry, who are you?" She spoke out loud, but the message still sent. And then she rolled her bloody eyes, "Not helpful at all." The reply message had popped up, "Oh, you know! TTYL!"
"Hoh?" The procession got a raised eyebrow and a look of surprise from Augrok, as he watched them emerge. This was certainly something that he had no knowledge of, and swiped at his menus to see if there was a query for recent or concluded events in his location. Well, mostly to see if there was a function that let him see that. Matter of fact, he should have received some messages from his frineds about them logging in, but they were always late, so he figured that they hadn't even gotten around to starting the game up yet, or they were still in character creation.
Tearing his attention from his menus that he closed with a wave of his hand, he looked to Ironfist and the others to see if there were any reactions that would describe this as out-of-the ordinary.
Are you getting messages? When I tried earlier the server said messaging was down. Are you using a different channel or server?
Flynn pauses. You probably have a Yahoo Pop-up Messager that was running concurrently during the game. That way you can message without the Game Admins knowing monitoring the content of your messages.
I won't ask more about her group. The timing isn't right to recruit the rogue element that plays the fringes.