by Seth Ring
“The valley has grown again, taking up almost the whole mountain range. I believe the mayor of Greymane Village talked to you about settling new towns, right? There are now five villages and two large towns, all bursting at the seams. You noticed that the fortress expanded as well, right? It is nearly the size of a city now and will comfortably hold a million players and natives.”
Thorn’s mouth dropped open as he tried to process Velin’s words. A million players was an astronomical amount, and he was having trouble processing the idea of the Citadel he built fitting them. Noticing his shock, Corvo jumped into the conversation.
“Is this your first time experiencing mass stretching? That is what we call it when Nova Terra adjusts based on the popularity of an area. The influx of players was so significant that an adjustment had to be made, and we happened to be in the right place and time to enjoy it. New estimates for the valley put its length close to 100 miles. But that is still being confirmed as it looks like there are a ton of offshoots.
“The bigger issue is the citadel which has grown astronomically. The front and back walls are now four miles long, and the rest of the citadel has grown with them. Our total area is now twelve square miles, give or take. I’m guessing it would have been bigger, but that whole basement area that you made when you designed the citadel has expanded to three levels, which allows for greater population density.”
“Alright, enough about this for now.” Velin could see Thorn’s eyes glazing over, so she steered the subject in a different direction. Giving Elder Havva and Captain Del’har a smile, she gestured for them to speak. “Let’s give Elder Havva and the captain a chance to report.”
“Thank you, Lady Velin.” The large Wolfkin captain stood up and saluted Thorn again. “My Lord, it is as the others report. There has been a flood of Wolfkin from all over the continent who have heard of your deeds and have returned to the valley. There is barely enough room to house them all, so we made the decision that only the members of Nova Luna and the Temple of the Moon are allowed to stay in the Citadel after the sun sets.
“Out of consideration for the merchants and crafting masters, we are selling a limited number of passes to allow temporary stays. While many have opted to stay in Greymane City instead, significant revenue has been generated by the passes. Lady Velin instructed me to use the revenue for the guard, so that is what I have been doing.”
Thorn glanced at Velin and gave the captain a thumbs up. The increased number of players and natives in the valley had undoubtedly created a need for an increased number of guards so Thorn was happy that Velin was being proactive in that regard.
Let us know if you need a bigger budget.
“Thank you, my Lord. What we have now should be sufficient. Licensing and fines have proven to be a better source of money than I originally thought. The only other thing I have to report is that there have been reports of giant wolves in the eastern end of the valley, close to the ruins of Greymane Keep.”
Giant? Like how big are we talking?
“At least as tall as me, my lord. Most of them are described as giant wolves with black fur. The reports are still being investigated, but it seems that they are quite territorial and have been chasing hunters out of the area.”
Scratching his chin, Thorn’s mind immediately flashed back to the massive wolf that he had faced in the valley after he had cleared Greymane Keep. The wolf had said something about the true ruler of the valley before being driven off. If he had a chance, Thorn decided, he would go and see what was going on by the old castle.
“That is all I have to report, my Lord.” Captain Del’har sat down again, looking toward Elder Havva, who slowly rose from his seat despite Thorn’s motions.
“Good afternoon, Lord Greymane. Haha, don’t worry, I am not so old that I must constantly sit.” Smiling, the old Wolfkin patted the top of his cane. “I am pleased to report that both the valley and the Temple of the Moon are running smoothly. Gelish has proven himself to be a good leader, and we are getting many new disciples who are joining either the Moon Guardians to guard the valley, or the Night Walker Association. We have also produced our first cohort of official Night Walkers, who we have deployed as guards and mercenaries around the continent. The integration of the disciples with the guild has also been working well.”
Thank you for your work, Elder.
“Of course, Lord Greymane. It is my pleasure to serve.”
“Okay, my turn.” Corvo didn’t get up from where he lounged in his chair, earning himself a dirty look from Captain Del’har. “Ms. Silverhand agreed to help us develop the Night Walker’s merchant arm, and with help from Elder Havva we have gotten everything rolling. Turns out Ms. Silverhand really knows what she is doing. It will take a little while for the merchant group to develop fully, but we are well on our way. The other merchants we arrested have either been released or joined up.”
What about those Wolfkin who were complaining about the moon stones?
“Hm? Oh, Elder Havva straightened them out. There is now a pretty neat quest structure that allows you to earn moon stones by doing things for the temple. But the advantages of joining the Night Walkers is so apparent that almost everyone joins. Especially since we started the merchant arm and started giving a discount on goods. I’d guess that within a couple of months there will be close to 100% participation in either the Night Walkers or the Moon Guardians from the players who are spawning as Wolfkin.”
“Anyone else have anything to report?” Velin looked around the room after Corvo finished. When no one responded, she nodded and turned to the next page in her notebook. “The next topic is specific changes in the guild. Thorn, as I mentioned, we have gotten an absurd number of applications for the guild. While a large part of them are not going to be considered, we could easily expand our guild to a few million players if we wanted to.
“Obviously, that would not be manageable, so we will be expanding the professional portion of Nova Luna to five thousand players, and the social portion of the guild to fifteen thousand players. This leaves us with 5.98 million applications. What I would like to propose is that we further strengthen the ties between the Night Walkers Association and Nova Luna. I want to develop the fifteen thousand spots in the social guild as leaders of the Night Walker Association. This way we can divert the guild applications into the Night Walkers Association without losing its loyalty.”
Leaning back, Thorn looked up at the ceiling. Truthfully, much of the organizational stuff that Velin proposed made his head spin and the scale of it was simply beyond what he could wrap his head around. When he started playing Nova Terra he had expected to spend his time hitting things with a sword. Yet more and more he found himself being drawn into the swirling maelstrom of power. There was something about setting the course for other player’s lives that did not sit well with him, but the more involved he got, the less he could avoid it. With a sigh, Thorn leaned forward and wrote on his paper.
That sounds fine.
“Excellent. That will also allow us to tie ourselves into the merchant group we are developing. From now on, our new structure will be divided into four groups. Nova Luna will house our professional teams and the leadership of the merchant group, the Moon Guardians, and the Night Walker Alliance. The merchant group, which we are calling Silver Moon for now, will be led by players from Nova Luna and will focus on developing trade for the valley. The Night Walkers will focus on providing mercenary services and protecting the Silver Moon caravans.
“Similarly, the Moon Guardians will focus on the defense and security of the valley. The Temple of the Moon will continue to recruit disciples who will be able to advance into any of the organizations. Nova Luna will recruit from the three other groups as necessary. Thorn, due to the sudden spike in applications, we have hired a significant number of support staff. Rather, your aunt, Athena, hired the staff. I would like your permission to extend their employment, creating an internal support structure for the four groups.”
Yeah, that is a good idea. Come up with a budget and I’ll take a look at it.
“I will. Now, on to the third topic.” Making a note, Velin flipped to the next page and cleared her throat. “Currently, apart from our management issues, we are facing two problems. First is Thorn’s trial. We still have three weeks until he has to be in the capital city, but with his cursed state, he will not be able to mount his own defense. I do not feel comfortable leaving his defense to others, so we need to do something about this curse.
“The second problem we are facing is the fact that our fearless leader swallowed a cursed heart and can no longer speak. I mention this as a separate problem because we are about to have an astronomical number of new players joining our various organizations, largely because of Thorn, and they will want to have some sort of interaction with him.”
“We could take a picture of him giving a thumbs up.” Corvo winked at Thorn.
“Whatever we do, it needs to be sooner rather than later.” Velin glanced around the room.
How about we send out a personalized letter? Welcoming people to the guild?
“You mean, when they sign up?”
Yeah, and maybe inviting them to a party in two months. Then we can throw a big celebration in the valley. Your plan will not take more than two months, right?
“Hm. That could work. It would give everyone something to work toward, providing cohesion. Let’s try that.”
If we want something to provide cohesion, how about this? I want to open a bounty on Ragnarok. Five gold per verified kill, a bigger reward if their caravans are knocked over. I’ll pay for anything that disrupts their operations.
“Whoa, are you serious?” Oberlin sat up straight after reading Thorn’s words.
I’m tired of getting pushed around so it is time they felt a bit of our weight.
The thin thief grinned and rubbed his hands together.
“You sure you can afford this?”
“An open bounty on Ragnarok actually fits in with the next topic. BurningCloud has asked us to join Eastern Alliance and a few other guilds in declaring formal war against Ragnarok. I was going to suggest that we avoid a formal war, so this would fit the request nicely. If you are okay with it, I’ll negotiate with BurningCloud to get a standard bounty structure established. BurningCloud also asked for a formal alliance, but the details of that are still being worked up. My guess is that she wants to use the alliance as a way to pull us into her guild.”
Probably. Isn’t that how the Eastern Alliance formed?
“Yes. They began as a collection of guilds that wanted to stand up against Ragnarok. “
You can tell her we’re interested in a loose alliance, but nothing too binding.
“That sounds appropriate.” Making another note, Velin nodded and flipped to the next page of her notebook. “Alright. That brings us to the final topic. Helping Thorn get rid of the [Living Statue] curse.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Taking a vial out of her inventory, Velin held it in the air for the people sitting in the office to see. Curious, everyone but Corvo leaned forward to examine it. The golden liquid rolled around like quicksilver in the vial as she moved it back and forth.
“This is the sap of the World Tree.” Pausing for a moment to allow her words to sink in, Velin gave a small smile and placed the vial on Thorn’s desk before she continued. “Known primarily for its healing properties, the sap also has strong purifying abilities. Unfortunately, there is not enough of it here to deal with the [Living Statue] curse. But if we can find the World Tree itself, we should be able to get enough.”
Watching the golden liquid curiously, Thorn brought up its item description.
Item: Vial of World Tree Sap
Taken from a pool of sap that has gathered at the foot of the World Tree, this vial of sap is enough to heal the most grievous wound.
Usage: Spread the sap over the wounded area to heal it.
“Sheesh. Doesn’t that mean that Thorn is going to have to take a bath in the stuff?” Oberlin asked, looking back and forth between the vial and Thorn’s massive body.
“Actually, yes.” Velin nodded, her face serious. “That means that our only hope is finding the World Tree.”
“And how are we going to do that? No one has any idea where the World Tree is located.”
“Not true.” A brief smile flashed across Velin’s face as she shared a quest.
Quest: Returning to the Source
The history of the Elves is shrouded in the deepest mists of time, obscured by the steady march of centuries. As an Elven War Priestess, you have been chosen as a potential bearer of the highest honor an Elf can hold. Find the source of life on Angoril to learn the truth of the Elven race.
Reward: [World Tree’s Holy Emissary]
“This is a quest I’ve had for quite a while, and I’ve been slowly narrowing down possible locations of the World Tree. A couple weeks ago I finally narrowed it down to the island of Rasyn.”
“Isn’t that the Elven island off the eastern coast?”
“Yes. From the myths I have traced, that is where Elves first appeared. I was able to piece an incredible legend together from multiple sources, and if it is true, or even just grounded in truth, we’ll find the World Tree on Rasyn.”
What is the legend?
“Whoa, can we talk about the fact that you have a quad category class quest?” Corvo asked, interrupting Velin who was about to start expounding on the legend for Thorn. “[World Tree’s Holy Emissary] sounds like a pretty serious class. Where on earth did you find that?”
“The vial of sap is an ancient inheritance. I got it shortly after I started playing, but I did not figure out what it was until about a year ago, which is when I started working on unraveling the legends seriously.”
“Wow. Just wow.” The avatar of Huginn buried his head in his hands. “You people are ridiculous. Things like quad category classes are supposed to be super rare and they just fall out of the sky around here like nothing.” Raising his head he looked around scornfully until his gaze fell on Oberlin who was looking away. Corvo’s eyes shot wide and he jumped to his feet, his finger pointing at the thin thief. “What?! Don’t you dare say that you have one too!”
“Hmm? Me? What are you talking about?” Oberlin’s eyes shifted guiltily.
“I… I don’t think I can be friends with you people any more.” With a huff, Corvo sat down on his chair again.
Listen birdman, you don’t have any right to complain.
Thorn wrote out, wagging his finger at the sulking avatar. Writing another note, he passed it to Velin.
What were you going to say before you were interrupted?
“According to what I’ve pieced together, there was a time when Angoril was a single massive continent. The legend describes it as an island for some reason, but that might be an issue with translation. Regardless, there was some sort of massive war that brought the land to almost complete ruin. Only an area called the Garden of the Immortal was left untouched by the ravages of the war. However, the invading forces began to push the people of Angoril back toward the garden. Just as all hope seemed lost, the immortal who lived in the garden came forward and destroyed the invaders with a single strike.
“However, the slap was so strong that Angoril was split in half. Only the power of an Elven Archmage protected the garden by raising a mountain range in the path of the destructive force. The mountain succeeded in diverting the force, but it caused the garden to split off from the rest of the continent, becoming Rasyn. According to the information I traded from Karrandras, the World Tree is located in the ruins of the Garden of the Immortal.”
“Can you really trust the words of a devil?” Oberlin shivered slightly as he remembered the hulking form of the greater devil that Ouroboros had assumed after giving in to Karrandras’ corruption. “It seems like trusting a devil of betrayal is not a good call.”
“We cannot put absolute faith in what he said, but he has to follow some basic rul
es, and based on what I traded to him he had to be telling some truth. Plus, he probably did not expect that I would have run across the name ‘Garden of the Immortal’ before. It is a name that is quite uncommon, even among scholars. If it wasn’t for the World Quest and finding the labyrinth city, Rakkam, I never would have been able to pinpoint its location.”
How did finding Rakkam help?
“It was Baxby who was able to translate the runes on the Dwarven Earth Map, which helped me translate a few references to the Tree of Life that I had from some ancient Dwarven texts. The Dwarves call the World Tree the Tree of Life.”