"Yes, please," he finally answered with excitement. "So how do we start to grow this place?"
Chapter Eleven
Terran spent the next few hours with Petram, discussing the details of growing the settlement. He had never spent much time thinking about all it took to keep a settlement going, but now he was feeling a little overwhelmed.
"So in order to grow we need more people, but to get more people we need food for them and housing, which means we need to harvest more seeds from the Mother Tree, but it won't produce seeds unless we feed it nutrients," Terran rambled, trying to sort out all the details in his head. "Then for now I say we start collecting food, both for the tree and people."
Petram nodded in agreement. "We may find other Rock Elves join us. We all have a connection with the tree, so if any others are still alive they will sense the rebirth and head this way. When the morning light returns I will show you to a cave nearby where we can begin harvesting mushrooms and loam. Until then, sleep well in the protection of the Mother Tree."
Yawning, Terran took out his bedroll and placed it along the far side of the nearly empty space in the hollow of the tree. With heavy eyes he lay down on his back and watched the pulsing red veins of the tree coursing up the trunk. There was a rhythm and melody to the pulsing that quickly lulled Terran to a peaceful sleep.
The next morning Terran awoke to voices outside. He stretched as he listened, trying to decide if he needed to be alarmed. Although he could not make out any of the words, he sensed a familiarity between the people talking, so he chose to lay in his bedroll for a bit longer. When he heard the voices drawing nearer, he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
"Ah good. You are awake. Come meet some of my brethren who have heard the song of the Mother Tree and come home," Petram said with a large grin.
Terran stood up, stretched his arms above his head, then walked barefoot across the moss to the welcoming sun. Under the branches of the Mother Tree sat three Rock Leaf Elves. They were much shorter and stockier than Petram and their skin was as pale as the full moon. Their eyes shone with curiosity as they looked up at Terran.
"Greetings, Offworlder," the male elf closest to Terran said, standing up and offering a slight bow of his head. "We are grateful you have regrown our home and wish to help re-establish the Mother Tree and the health of this forest. We have heard her call and wish to provide our assistance."
As he spoke, the elf's voice seemed to carry a melodic tune much like the pulsing of the red veins within the Mother Tree. Terran felt as though he were being lulled into tranquility the more the elf spoke, much like the music that played in the background at a spa.
"I am Terran. I'm glad you've come," he said, offering his hand to the elf.
The elf stared curiously at Terran's hand without moving. "I am called Kumotake, and these are my daughters Chanterelle and Enoki."
Terran quickly pulled his hand back and offered a slight bow of the head to the elves. "Pleased to meet you," he said.
Chanterelle stood taller than her father with hair as black as polished ebony, bound like a knot of rope with a clasp of jade while a short blade was strapped to her back. Her gaze was more severe than her father's and sister's. They had smiles in their eyes, while she was checking for lurking danger. Chanterelle was like a finely wrought dagger, sharp and deadly, while her younger sister, Enoki, seemed like she would be at home with her hands deep in the rich soil of a family garden.
"Kumotake and his family are loamers," Petram said to Terran like he would know what that meant.
At the mention of loamers, Terran caught a slight snarl from Chanterelle's lip. She rounded her shoulders and looked away from the group.
When Terran did not seem excited by the information, Petram added, "Loamers gather food for the tree and its inhabitants. We need them to grow the settlement."
"Ah," said Terran, eyes widening in understanding. "That is great news."
You have 3 unassigned workers. Would you like to assign them an occupation? [Y/N]
Terran acknowledged the notification on his screen, and his settlement tab immediately opened to a new page labeled Occupations. After reading through the available occupations, he assigned the new elves to be loamers.
You have received a quest: Find a farming location for the loamers.
Reward: unknown
"They have also brought news of more elves being held captive not too far from here," Petram added.
You have received a quest: Free the Elves
Reward: Increased population and improved reputation with Rock Leaf Elves
Suddenly Terran realized there was a lot more to running a settlement than he'd thought. He wasn't even sure where the best place to start would be. He was going to have to find more citizens, assign them jobs, gather supplies, build up fortifications and the town, and somehow lead everyone. He let out a slow breath, looking around at the stone tree and the elves staring expectantly at him.
"Well, why don't we start with some breakfast and you can tell me about these captured elves," Terran said, gesturing for the others to sit around last night's fire. "I'll go gather some wood while Petram makes some tea."
Terran sipped the last of his soothing tea as Kumotake finished explaining how they stumbled upon an encampment of humans that had at least five Rock Leaf Elves trapped in a small cage. He drew a map in the dirt for Luna and Terran to follow, but could provide very few other details.
"We will be of no use to help free them. There were just too many humans to deal with, and we are simple gatherers with no real weapons," Kumotake added with a snarl towards Chanterelle. "But we could head to our former farming location and see what work needs to be done to get it up and running."
With Kumotake's last statement Chanterelle stood up and stormed out of the Mother Tree, her braid bouncing on her back. Terran watched as she disappeared into the forest, wondering if he should follow her. He looked at the stoic faces of the elves around him, but no one else made a move to calm her down, so he decided to call it family business and stay out of it.
Terran cleared his throat. "Is the farm close? I'd like to get that going before Luna and I leave for several days to rescue the others."
"Yes, it is less than an hour's journey from here. Though there is no telling what the state of the cave will be when we get there," Kumotake added.
While the group was gathering supplies to head to the loam cave, Chanterelle wordlessly returned to the tree with jaw set. Her brown eyes, ringed with gold, shone with curiosity and vitality as she gave Terran a quick nod while waiting for the others to finish their preparations.
"I will stay and guard the tree while you are gone. I do not think it is wise to leave it unattended without any fortifications," Petram told the group.
Terran nodded. "Thank you, Petram. I didn't even think of that, but you're right. Will you be okay on your own?"
A grin spread across Petram's face. "Oh, I'm sure I can manage." He winked.
The bright sun shone down on the group as Kumotake led them in silence towards the cave. Birds and other small animals could be heard gathering food and playing all around them. Although it had only been a day, Terran could feel the change in the forest since planting the stone seed—it was beginning to heal itself.
Terran was appreciating the strong scent of pine wafting through the air when Kumotake stopped and pointed to some rocks covered in shrubs and surrounded by undergrowth. "The entrance is here."
You have completed the quest Find a farming location for the loamers
+50 reputation with Rock Leaf Elves
Luna walked up to the bushes and sniffed. "Some kind of animal has made their home here," she informed the group.
You have received a quest: Clear out the squatters.
Reward: unknown
Terran was clearing away the shrubs using his rusty dagger to saw across the thin branches when he heard a buzzing sound from inside the cave. He had decided it must be a hive of bees or wasps when s
uddenly a giant bat-like creature came flying out of the cave straight for his face.
Chapter Twelve
Terran yelped and fell backwards on his backside as the bat-like creature flew directly towards him. He slashed at the beast with his rusty dagger and managed to cut a slit in its wing, causing it to veer away from Terran, who rolled on the ground away from the entrance. He looked up from his gymnastic feat to see more of the creatures flying out of the cave.
They had wings like a bat and were covered in dark fur, but each had an elongated nose like a proboscis protruding below their black, beady eyes. Terran had a difficult time counting them as they swarmed around the party, but he was able to use his analyze skill to discover they were level 5 strygas.
Terran's relief at thinking this would be an easy fight quickly dissipated as one of the strygas attached its long proboscis to Enoki, who screamed and tried to swat it off her. Chanterelle unsheathed her short sword and ran towards her sister.
"Hold still!" she screamed as she swung her sword down on the creature's neck.
The severed body fell to the ground twitching, which provided no solace to Enoki, who stayed cowered on the ground as her sister stood over her, swinging her blade. Enoki had lost a considerable amount of blood from the initial attack.
Chanterelle spun on her heels to catch a stryga bombing down at Terran, impaling the flying critter like a kabob, then flinging it off the blade to swing again.
"Thanks," said Terran, climbing to his feet, but keeping low as the strygas swarmed overhead.
To his right, Luna leapt into the air like a salmon, grabbing a furry stryga in her teeth. Once back on the ground, she stomped her feet on its head and ripped the creature with her teeth. Beside her, Kumotake defended himself with a short staff that he had strapped to his back. The older Rock Elf swung with much less force than his spirited daughter, but his blows landed true enough to keep the strygas from being able to siphon blood.
Terran lost track of what the others were doing as he scrambled away from a searching proboscis. The dozens of flying critters formed a cloud of leathery wings, the metallic scent of blood—friend and foe alike—rich in the air.
As spirited as their defense was, there was no way they'd survive if they couldn't get to a more defensible position. Terran's fingers wrapped around the pine cone in his pouch, infusing it with magic until the flexible seed became hard. The petrified pine cone flew into the air, exploding in the middle of the swarm, ripping through wings. He barely affected their health bars, but he was more interested in keeping them off his new tribe members than killing.
The next explosive pine cone tore the head off a stryga, sending a splatter of blood across Chanterelle, who didn't seem daunted by the battle. Her jaw pulsed as she kept the strygas from her sister.
"We need to find a better place to defend ourselves," said Terran, lobbing another pine cone into the air like a stone firework. "Is there a pond nearby?"
"No water," said Luna, rolling on her back to knock a stryga off.
When Terran looked to the cave mouth, he knew where they should go, but the idea seemed at first ludicrous.
"Follow me," he said, exploding three stone pine cones over their heads, giving them space to run.
After he'd taken a few steps, Chanterelle, who was helping her sister to her feet, said, "Are you crazy?"
"Yes," he said, "but that's beside the point. We're too out in the open here."
Chanterelle growled, but hooked her sister with one arm while keeping the other for swinging at strygas that flew near. Kumotake followed behind, but the swarm filled in the space they left, cutting them off, making Terran wonder if they were making an awful mistake.
Lumpy, uneven rocks inside the cave slowed their escape, and continued lobbing pine cones at the strygas. His supply was quickly dwindling. As the flying critters crowded them further into the cave, Chanterelle said, "What's your great idea now?"
The cave was still wide, giving the strygas more chances to attack them. He hoped to find a spot like he had in the Crag Troll cave, and wall them off, but the tunnel was too straight to allow an easily defensible position.
"Deeper," said Terran, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the faint luminous fungi along the walls providing light.
"That's what she said," remarked Luna as she bounded over the rocks.
When he glared at his companion she said, "Just trying to have a laugh before we all get our blood sucked dry. I hope you know what you're doing."
"Me too," said Terran, throwing another pine cone. He only had three left.
As they came around a bend, they stumbled into a larger room covered in a furry brown carpet, which stretched from end to end. The strange, shifting floor confused him until it rose into the air, turning into more strygas.
"Great," said Chanterelle, blade hanging by her side, "you've killed us."
"Back against the wall," said Terran, finding the most curved section to protect their backs while they defended themselves against the stryga swarm.
They put Enoki, who could barely stand on her own, in back, while Kumotake, Chanterelle, and Terran formed an arc around her. Luna, who was small enough to lunge between them, stayed in back until she saw an opportunity.
In the first twenty seconds of their defense, they killed a couple strygas, but there were still at least three dozen left. While the flying critters couldn't land without getting smashed, Terran and his companions' stamina levels were quickly depleting, and the tiny bits of damage were adding up.
Terran backed up, digging into his magical pouch, and pulled out his bedroll. It was made of a thick cotton material that was way more comfortable than it should be.
"What are you doing? Are you going to take a nap?" asked Chanterelle, wide-eyed, glancing over her shoulder.
"Keep them off me. I have an idea," he said, pulling out his flint.
He used his knife to rip the covering on the bedroll and pulled out fluffy hunks of cotton. It took three strikes before he caught the bedding with a spark, but the material quickly went up in flame, sending out black smoke.
As the fire grew, he pulled out his arrows, snapped them in half, and threw them on the fire. Enoki, pale to the point of translucence, stirred alive enough to catch what he was doing. She reached into her pouch, which seemed to have the same properties of expanded holding as his, and yanked out her bedroll.
Before long, they had a good fire going, billowing out black and gray smoke that burned his eyes and left him coughing, but it was much worse for the strygas, who seemed disoriented by the stinging smoke. As visibility grew difficult, Terran went on the offensive, darting forward in the smoke to impale a stryga that had lost its way.
Chanterelle, Kumotake, and Luna got the idea and joined him in slaughtering the strygas who had difficulty navigating in the smoke. Before long, they'd killed the majority of them, and the rest fled the cave, hopefully once and for all.
You have completed the quest Clear out the squatters
2 potions of healing (heals 35 hit points)
+50 reputation Rock Leaf Elves
Terran's arms were still shaking from the effort of the fight with the strygas as he threw himself on the ground next to Enoki. He pulled one of the healing potions out of his pack and handed it to her.
"Drink this," he said, smiling at her.
Enoki quickly downed the potion and immediately sat up feeling better. "Thank you," she said to Terran. "Do you have anything in there to get rid of the disgusting feeling of having those things suck your blood?" she said with a shiver.
"You're really good with that sword, Chanterelle," Terran said, looking up at the elf.
Kumotake's head snapped towards Terran, and he eyed him like he was trying to take the last warm cookie from the plate. Chanterelle merely nodded, but he noticed a very slight upturn at the corner of her lips before she turned away.
Terran gasped as he finally got a chance to look around the cave. The walls were covered in some kind of moss-l
ike fungus, which emitted the bioluminescence that gave everything an eerie blue glow. He deeply inhaled the scent of soil and rotting leaves as he gently splayed his hand on the spongy wall. He drew his hand away from the wall and noticed it retained a slight glow from the fungus. He imagined someone on hallucinogens would feel like a kid in a candy store playing in this cave.
Kumotake briefly eyed Terran with a scowl before pulling out his knife and moving to the wall of the cave. Terran froze, eyes wide, then he realized what the elf was doing. He watched as Kumotake gently ran his hand under the tops of the glowing fungus and cut the stalks in one quick motion. He laid the trimmings on the ground and moved to another section several inches away and did the same thing. Terran continued to watch until Kumotake had a small pile of the harvested fungus.
"Why do you only take a small section?" Terran asked the elf.
Kumotake grunted. "Humph...the fungus will not grow back quickly if you take too big of a section. We must harvest with sustainability in mind."
Terran moved closer to the elf, trying to get a better look at what he was doing. "Is that why you're only cutting off the tops of the plant too?"
"Yes. No other part of the plant is needed to help the Mother Tree produce fruit," said Kumotake.
As the elf spoke he continued harvesting the fungus and quickly had a full bushel. A tiny section of the giant cave had provided all that fungus, and there was lots more available. The supply in the cave would be enough to get the settlement going, at least. As soon as the bushel was full, Enoki began grinding the fungus with a large mortar and pestle that she removed from her bag. When it was ground into a fine dust, she dumped it into a jar sitting by her feet. She continued grinding the fungus until it was all dust. Terran noted that the dust no longer had the bioluminescent blue glow.
The Stone Tree: A LitRPG Adventure (Kingmaker Saga Book 1) Page 7