by Seth Ring
“Greymane?” the lead hunter’s eyes narrowed and he shot a glance at his companions. “What business do you have there?”
“I need to go there for a quest.”
“I can direct you there but I must warn you, it is infested with werewolves at the moment. Have you received the quest to recover the Statue of Hati?”
“Is there a quest for that? I don’t know anything about a Statue of Hati. No, I was heading there for a different reason but I would love to get the quest if it is available.”
“Hmmm, I think you could get it at the town hall.” The lead hunter relaxed his guard a bit. “I’m Charles Mallard, Captain of the Watch in the town of Greymane. Follow us back and you can pick up the quest.”
Walking back with the hunters took a couple hours and while at first they watched Thorn closely, by the time the wooden palisade of the village came into sight they seemed to have accepted that he was what he claimed. Akira was much to be thanked for this change as she lost no time in making herself acquainted with the hunters and within a short amount of time was trying to con them out of snacks.
The village was a shabby affair, comprised of one main street with houses on either side. In the center of the village was an empty forge, a tavern covered in peeling paint and a small building that housed the village leader’s office and the jail, all arranged around a little town square. It looked like the village had been larger at one point, the broken remains of houses among the weeds giving evidence to this.
Charles brought Thorn into the center of town and stuck his head into the jail, calling, “Thomas, we’ve got a traveler who wants to challenge the castle.”
“Huh, another fool?” responded a grumpy voice and the door pushed open to reveal an old man leaning heavily on a cane. “Ho traveler. I am Thomas, head of this pile of excrement they call a village. Want to challenge the castle, eh? Can’t say it is a smart idea, but we all have the right to choose our own death.”
Stomping over to Thorn he pulled out a weathered piece of paper from his breast pocket and shoved it in Thorn’s face, growling, “Please, kind traveler, help our poor village. Our poor village has come under a curse because we lost the statue of Hati from our temple. Go to Greymane Keep and get it back from the evil werewolves that live there. I know it will be hard but our lives depend on it. Blah blah blah.”
Hearing Thomas’ totally out of character tone Thorn couldn’t help but chuckle. “So, tell me. What do I get for clearing out the castle?”
“Our eternal gratitude.” responded Thomas, a mocking look in his eye.
Greymane Village: Lesser Curse
Thomas, the head of Greymane Village, has asked you to retrieve the statue of Hati that once stood in the village Temple. The statue was stolen away during a raid by a group of werewolves, causing a curse to settle on the village. Returning the statue will break the curse, allowing it to be used as a respawn point.
After looking over the quest update that popped up in front of him, Thorn dismissed it and carefully considered his next course of action. According to the information that Velin had dug up on the area, Greymane was the only village in the valley, which made it strategically important. The village was located near the entrance to the valley, while the keep stood against the cliffs on the other side.
While his current goal was to clear the keep and claim the throne of the Wolf Lord, Thorn did not know what to expect after that. Undoubtedly, this adventure wouldn’t end with assuming the position of the Lord. Thorn had not shared the specifics of his quest with Velin and Mina, but the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed that this was going to be a quest chain. After a moment of consideration, Thorn looked at the old man and held up his hand, showing the ring he had gotten off Gargish.
“Thomas, I will not conceal my purpose from you. I defeated Gargish, the Blood Hunter, in battle and have come to claim the keep as my own. I can break the curse for you, but I need some information about the castle and the werewolves in it.”
“Eh? You killed that monster?!” gasped Thomas. A flame sprang into his eyes as he looked at Thorn intently. The longer he looked, the happier he got. “Well, who knew? You might be able to do it traveler. Talk to Charles. He has some supplies for dealing with the werewolves that might be helpful. And before you go, come talk to me.”
Charles was behind the faded inn, working with the other town guard to clean and dress the three deer they had brought back from their hunt. Seeing that one of the deer was still waiting to be processed, Thorn offered his help. After the work was done, and everyone had washed the blood from their hands Thorn brought up his objective of clearing the werewolves from the keep and retrieving the statue of Hati.
“That is quite the task you are taking on, traveler. Hold on one second, I might have something that will help you.” Charlie rummaged around in his bag, pulling out two colored bottles. Shaking the blue one he said, “This is a scent neutralizing potion. It should help you get close to the keep. You’ll drink it and it should last around four hours. This green potion is the opposite. It will attract all the werewolves in a certain area. You pour a bit out on the ground and they’ll gather. Should be enough for five uses in there.”
“Thanks. Can I get more of these potions? I have some friends who are coming to help me, and it would be nice to get some potions for them.”
“Sure, we can make some more but you’ll have to collect the ingredients yourself. Here, let me write you a list. You’ll need three Blue Bells, one Wolfsbane, and a Zimph root for each scent neutralization potion. The attraction potion is a bit harder to make. For that you’ll have to find seven Silverleaf and one deer heart.”
“Thanks.” Thorn looked over the list he had been given. “Would you be willing to sell the hearts from the deer you brought back today? I have three companions, four if you count Akira here. I’d be willing to pay well for them. Say, 10 silver per?”
“I think that should be okay. Let me check with the others, but I don’t see why that wouldn’t work.”
“Excellent. Let me know.” About to leave, Thorn turned back at the door. “Oh, I wanted to ask, do you know where I can get a map of the area?”
“Talk to Markus. He has the little general store at the end of the street.”
The next task was getting a room for the night so after thanking Charles for his help, Thorn found his way to the front of the inn. The receptionist, a thin bespeckled elf, assigned him a room with the largest bed the inn had and invited him into the general room for a meal where he found the locals enjoying their evening repast. The food was hearty, if plain, and Thorn was careful to control the amount he ate, lest he eat them out of house and home.
After he finished his meal, Thorn retired to his room and sent a message to Velin, Mina, and Oberlin, letting them know that he had found the keep and they should all gather here when they logged in. The trip from Berum took about two days, so he had plenty of time to look for potion materials.
Thorn had a good sleep despite barely fitting on the bed. He uncurled and stretched as he got up, refreshed. One of the things he appreciated the most about Nova Terra was that any sleep was good sleep. Unlike the real world where he would often wake up throughout the night, he had never had a bad night’s sleep in Nova Terra.
Eating a quick breakfast of ten eggs, two loaves of bread and a giant bowl of oatmeal, Thorn decided to visit the general store as his first stop. The valley was large so a map would be helpful if he was going to be wandering all over.
The general store was as run down as the rest of the buildings, but as Thorn squeezed inside he was surprised to find the small room meticulously clean and well organized. A bell on the door tinkled and an older man limped out of a back room and took a seat on a stool.
“Afternoon, sir. What can I do for you?” The old man eased his leg and scratched his grizzled chin.
“Hi, are you Markus? Charles sent me down here. I’m looking for a map of Greymane Keep as well as one of the surrounding areas
.” responded Thorn.
“Greymane Keep huh? That is a dangerous place. Quite a dangerous section of country in general. Try the second shelf up on the left. There should be a green scroll. Bring it here, would you?”
Finding the appropriate scroll which seemed to be made from dyed leather, Thorn brought it over to the shopkeeper who spread it out on the table next to him.
“This is a map of the land around the castle, though you’ll notice the castle isn’t filled in. Never made it inside you see. There is a ruined village right near there, about seven miles from here. The village was destroyed by the wicked werewolves who live in the castle. In fact, this whole area is dangerous because it’s their hunting grounds so I’d be careful if you have a quest over there. Maybe find a party before you go.” Sniffing at the map and scratching his chin again the shopkeeper continued. “Anyway, if you want it I can copy the map to you for 2 gold. Oh and 40 silver for a general map of the surrounding area between here and there.”
“Yes please.” Thorn pulled the money out of his inventory. “Did you make all these maps yourself? They have a ton of detail.”
“Heh, you bet I did.” replied Markus proudly. “I was quite the famous cartographer before I took an ogre’s mace to my left hip. But I don’t regret it. Those were good times, but certainly not comfortable times.”
After thanking the talkative shopkeeper again Thorn took his leave and headed out of town. Finding a rock to sit on, Thorn pulled out his updated map and beckoned to his battle pet.
“Alright, Akira, let's make a plan. We need to find 12 Blue Bells, 4 Wolfsbane, 4 Zimph root, 28 Silverleaf, and one more deer heart. I’m going to rely on you to help me scout for this stuff, okay?”
“Of course! I’ve got the best nose!” Akira jumped up and down in excitement before leaping into the branches and bounding off.
“And…” before Thorn could continue, she was gone, leaving him with his mouth open. With a shrug he put away his map and stood up, dusting off his pants.
*ding*
Accepting Mina’s call, Thorn walked after Akira while chatting.
“Hey Thorn! We’re on our way so don’t get too excited and run ahead without us! It is only Velin and I coming right now, Oberlin said he had something he had to do in the south. Something about a deal with snakes? I don’t know. He’ll probably send you a message about it. Velin dug up some interesting information about the keep, apparently it used to be something else? A temple? I don’t know, I wasn’t really paying attention. Haha. Here, let me add her, she can explain it to you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“The whole situation is pretty complicated.” Flashing a brief smile as a greeting, Velin immediately launched into her explanation when her image appeared next to Mina’s in the video chat. “I ran across a story that talked about a group called the Night Walkers. From what I could figure out, they were followers of Hati and were a monastic order based out of the area you are currently in. There was no mention of Greymane Keep, but there was a mention of the Temple of the Night, a monastery fortress from which the Night Walkers operated.
“The reason I say that this is complicated is because the leader of the fortress was also the Lord of the valley and held a position of political importance. Anyway, what I want to say is that there may be an opportunity to pick up a class or something related to the Night Walkers, and more importantly, a class related to the Lord of the valley.”
“Why would that be such a big deal?” Thorn asked impassively, hiding his astonishment at Velin’s conjecture. This lady was a bit too sharp sometimes.
“Land. Wolfkin are not currently a playable race, but we’ve seen this pattern before in Nova Terra. The game introduces a few players to the race, gives out a few quests specific to them, and then unlocks them as a playable race with a specific start area. There is huge economic advantage to controlling starter areas, especially starter areas that come with a unique race. It could turn into nothing, but if what I think is true, there are going to be a lot of guilds eyeing this area soon.”
“Alright. Let’s think of a plan. Mina said you are on your way, right?”
“Yes. We should be there in three days.”
“Cool, come to Greymane village when you get here. I bought a map that I’ll send to you.”
Saying goodbye, Thorn could only shake his head. He had not told the elven War Priestess about his title or the content of his quest, but she had still dug up so much information it was scary. Even worse, if she could dig it up, it was likely that there were others who could do the same.
Thorn had not given it much thought, but in the back of his mind he was worried about Angdrin and his Crimson Snakes. After two encounters that both turned out poorly for the guild, it seemed likely that Thorn had made an enemy. Combined with the fact that he was now running around with two former members of Ragnarok and a grudge against another one of their officers, Thorn could see himself getting into conflict with the powerful guild easily.
While he had not done much research on the subject, Thorn had suspected that his quest was going to end in opening this territory for players. According to what Velin had said, the primary means of making money for guilds was controlling territory. If his instincts were correct, this path would paint a giant target on his already large back.
Since all of this was only speculation at this point Thorn put these things aside and continued his search for herbs. The forest was quiet and Akira was staying ahead of him, jumping from branch to branch. Occasionally, Thorn would come across a plant that looked like an herb and would get out [The Complete Alchemist], a book that he had looted from the abandoned wolfkin city.
Comparing the plant against the pictures, he would try and determine if it was worth anything. If it looked like an herb of any sort he would carefully dig it out and store it in his inventory before continuing his search.
After six hours of walking through the woods, Thorn had found 2 Wolfsbane and 3 Silverleaf. He had picked up several other plants that seemed valuable as well, but he was a far cry from what he needed for the potions. It was getting into the mid-afternoon so he stopped to eat and then decided to venture a bit further out. According to his book, both Zimph root and Blue Bells liked more sunlight, so he thought he would have better luck along the edge of the forest where the valley started to rise.
The old timber of the forest was spread out enough that Thorn did not have any trouble weaving through the tall trees, allowing him to arrive at the eastern edge of the forest with plenty of daylight left. He scoured the edge of the forest, successfully digging out seven Zimph roots. Or at least, he assumed they were Zimph roots. While he had a book to compare to, he really had no experience with plants so he was sort of guessing.
As Thorn put away the last of the roots, Akira came zipping back, dashing from tree to tree until she was above Thorn’s head.
“Master, master! There are big smelly wolves ahead! There are bunches of them! They have a gross cave and everything!”
“Whoa, calm down Akira. Where are they?”
“Up ahead, I can show you. You should bash them so they leave and stop making the forest smelly! Come on, come on!” Turning on her heel, the furry Ailuridae dashed off again, almost disappearing from sight as she rushed ahead.
“Hey, slow down. How am I supposed to follow you like that?”
“Master, you are too slow! What if they leave? Then you can’t bash them!”
Shaking his head, Thorn followed behind his battle pet. After walking for a few minutes, Thorn saw Akira crouched on a branch, peering around a tree. Trying to move as quietly as possible, Thorn moved up to the trunk of the tree, peeking his head around it. Ahead of him, three large corrupted wolves lounged in front of a small cave carved into the side of the hill.
“Master, there are six smelly wolves.” Akira scampered down the tree, climbing out on Thorn’s broad shoulder and whispered into his ear.
“I only see three.”
“I smell six
different gross smells. I have the best nose so you can trust me.” Akira patted Thorn’s head comfortingly with her tiny claws.
“Okay, let’s sneak up on them.” Thorn whispered back, pulling his arbalest out of his inventory and loading it as quietly as he could.
“Uh, master, that doesn’t seem like it is going to work.”
“Why not? If we sneak up on them we might be able to take a couple of them down before they can react.”
“But master, you are too loud.”
“Huh?”
“You sound like an earth dragon when you walk, master. Even when you tiptoe.” Akira looked at Thorn innocently. “Or, if not an earth dragon, then maybe a whole herd of big deer. Really big deer. Or moose.”
“Wait, so they know we are here?” Thorn planted his face into his hand. “Then why are we whispering?”
“I’m not sure, master, but you were doing it so I did it too.”