Chapter 36 - Restoring Caisleán (Part Seven).

Søren and Neeka covered the ground between Suncatcher Vale and Caisleán fairly quickly, unburdened with the need for stealth. Neeka was still able to hunt several deer despite their speed, giving Søren the opportunity to field dress one last deer successfully for his own Hunt mission.

Hunt Ten Deer [weekly, repeatable]

Torza of the Water Finders has said their stores of food are running low after the lean harvest last autumn. They also need the hide from the deer to repair and replace their equipment and clothing. She has asked that you head east into Suncatcher Vale, hunt ten deer, field dress them, and bring them back to Caisleán.

12 / 10 deer slain

10 / 10 deer field dressed

Rewards

• 500 TEK (2950 / 3600)

• 100 Water Finders reputation

• 1 BP (build point)

• [Uncommon] engram

He popped open his inventory and pushed the eight-sided green polyhedral into an empty slot alongside the blue rare and purple epic engrams waiting to be analyzed and opened later. The ten carcasses of the deer took up a slot each, but barely made a dent in the overall weight allowed. The upgrades he'd purchased at the end of the tutorial were paying off considerably.

"Neeka, how much inventory space is being used by the deer?" Søren asked as they began to pack up their belongings.

Neeka paused for a moment and stared off into space. "Eight parts in ten."

"That much?" Søren exclaimed. Neeka nodded without hissing.

"Is that a lot?"

"Uh, well," Søren started to explain, "I guess I got lucky. When I finished the Tutorial, I got to spend money for a bunch of upgrades. Some of those included increasing how much my inventory can carry. Significantly increasing it."

"Good, it will be very useful," Neeka said and went back to packing. They were soon on their way and the treehouses of the Fuerven appeared over the tops of the trees. A pair of sentries stood to either side of the eastern gate. Søren also spotted a third sentry partially hidden in shadow on a platform of a house near the wattle fence that served as a wall for the settlement.

A ding sounded within his mind and it must have sounded within Neeka's mind as well. He noticed she had tilted her head sideways slightly as she often did when something caught her attention. He opened his interface and noticed a notification blinking in the corner. Curious, it didn't pop into view like they usually do. Maybe the system running this is learning when I want to see a notification and when I don't. He tapped the notification to bring it into view.

Congratulations traveler! You have completed the secret mission, [Discover the Hidden Threat to Caisleán]. As a reward, you may instantly complete one Build Project in your Settlement of no higher than Copper rank.

Søren frowned and opened the rest of the notification.

Discover the Hidden Threat to Caisleán [unique]

Unknown to the people of Caisleán, a threat from the skies has been growing within Suncatcher Vale. The Bloodcrest Harpies have been driven from their ancestral nesting grounds and have been seeking to establish a new settlement somewhere safer. The harpy's leader, [Matron Tethrys of the Bloodcrest (Silver IV)], has set her sights on Caisleán. Her scouts have been sent into the vale to find a suitable location to begin taking over the area. Find them and drive them off. The harpy's Matron only respects superior strength. Show them that strength.

1/1 Discover the threat of the Bloodcrest Harpies

3/3 Drive off the Harpy Scouts

Rewards

• 5000 TEK (3600 / 3600, 4300 excess TEK converted into 430 credits)

• 500 Water Finders reputation

• 600 Bloodcrest Harpies reputation

• 60 Enclave of Feathers reputation

• 10 Build Points

• [Rare] engram

Well, this is far too damn convenient. I just happened to buy all the upgrades and boosters needed to catapult me to a rank sufficient to defeat the exact foes I needed for a mission and discover and complete that secret mission. That Guide on the station hinted at something more going on than a simple Tutorial. Guess they might be trying to rig the game in their favor. I wonder what rules they have to play by?

Søren swiped away the notifications and caught the rare engram that materialized in the air above him and fell towards the ground.

"We might have Sehro back sooner than expected," he explained as Neeka caught her own blue engram and looked at Søren. "Got a reward from the secret mission that instantly completes a Build Project. Like the resurrection shard."

"Yes, that would be useful."

The pair resumed their trek towards the settlement. The sentries had noticed them and word had obviously been passed to others in town. Four young Fuervens came out of the gate with small carts harnessed to their shoulders and a pack of supplies hanging from the sides of the carts.

"Speaker Neeka! We're here to help carry the spoils of the hunt!" the first one said. His eyes split between Neeka and Søren. The other three stood back, shifting on their feet nervously. "How far to the deer?"

"Not far at all," Neeka said, waving her hand towards the ground. Ten field dressed deer carcasses appeared on the ground around her and Søren. The four young Fuervens gasped and looked at Neeka with awe, both eyes locked on her. "It is a, how to say, a Traveler thing. Søren has ten more, but I do not believe you can carry more than what is already here."

"We will come back and get them, Speaker," the largest of the four said to Neeka. He looked between Neeka and her traveling companion several times. Søren could have sworn one of the porters was staring at something in the sky above and behind him. He turned around to look as well, but nothing of note stood out. Neeka hissed in acknowledgement and waved at Søren.

"Put your deer over there, out of way," Neeka suggested before stepping between the Fuerven and the scattered carcasses to head into Caisleán. Søren did as Neeka suggested and pilled up the deer carcasses where she had indicated. The difference in the quality of the field dressing was fairly evident when viewed side by side.

When Søren caught up to Neeka, she was already deep in conversation with the sentries at the gate. The pace of her speech was difficult to follow, but he got the gist of it. She had warned them of the harpies and instructed them to all carry bows and a quiver of arrows in addition to carrying their spears.

"Anything to add Søren?" she turned and asked as she approached.

"Be safe. Don't be a hero," Søren said, adding a stern edge to his voice his father had used whenever making a suggestion into something more of a command. The sentries all snapped to attention and crossed their left arm across their chest and placed a closed fist over their hearts.

"Yes my Lord!" one of them said, both eyes locked on Søren and quivering slightly. His eyes flicked up to the same spot above and behind Søren. Søren looked confused for a moment, but then shook his head to clear his thoughts and saved figuring that out for later.

"Søren, I'm going to visit Torza first then I'll meet you at the shard," Neeka said. She waited a moment for him to nod and then headed off towards her granddaughter's home. Søren watched her go and stood there for a few moments, just watching. The sentries nearby had started to shift uncomfortably, as noted by the slight color shifts of their scales. It was nowhere the level of color shifting Strik could achieve, but it was enough to show subtle, changing emotions.

"Uhm, you're, uh, free to go, about your business," Søren said lamely after finally realizing they were waiting for his dismissal. His half-assed command was met with a chorus of 'Yes my Lord's before the Fuervens standing watch at the eastern gate of the settlement returned to their posts. Søren headed towards the center of Caisleán, making his way towards the resurrection shard.

He pulled up the settlement management window and opened the notes he had made. Beneath Defense he found the walls upgrade and queued it up for production, dumping in the required build points and TEK. Ten days remaining on that upgrade. I'm curious how it's going to happen. Are the citizens going to get assigned work details or will it be like an RTS or something where the building essentially builds itself. I should help if they actually work on it. Anyway, up next...

Søren dismissed his settlement management window and stepped in front of the shard itself, a towering spire of shimmering blue crystal. The shard they had brought back from the cave had grown in size and complexity and the spinning bands of bits and pieces had grown into solid, flat rings covered in Atlantean runes. He tilted his head towards the shard and heard a soft, shifting chiming sound, like crystals sliding over each other, rubbing against the edges. A menu appeared in his interface as he reached out and laid his hand on the shimmering blue crystal.

Waystone Commands

• Bind to Caisleán Waystone

• Link to Waystone Network

• Create Restoration Point

• Restore Health (Cost Varies)

• Resurrect Champion (Sehlo, 500 TEK)

• Complete Installation of Resurrection Shard

• Use the Harpy's Bounty (No Cost)

• Donate TEK (0 / 10000)

All the options were unavailable except the last. I guess that's the reward for the secret mission and the other is the TEK requirement if you're going to wait for the installation. Here goes something... Søren tapped the option on the menu and stepped back. He was forced back away from the shard by an unseen force. Not so much a force though, more of a suggestion of impending doom and death if he didn't move.

The simple platform beneath the shard expanded into a marbled white stone circle a dozen paces across and then it grew from the ground, a set of seven steps melting into the sides all the way around the shard. The three floating bands around the shard had increased in size, but little else about them had changed. The shard itself grew to take up more than half the space of the new platform, looking like a four story iceberg drifting in the air, slowly spinning and reflecting a cascade of the Lifegiver's light into a sparkling pattern on the white marble below. Subtle colors slid this way and that, mixing and blending in a symphony of light.

The force holding Søren back faded away, replaced instead with a comfortable sense of home, of hearth. The warmth of a crackling fire in a smoky cabin in the middle of a blizzard. A flurry of notifications appeared in his view, but he dismissed them immediately with a thought. Later. Let's get Sehro back first.

Søren headed back to the Waystone and climbed up the seven steps to the top of the platform. Each step felt like a weight both lifting from his shoulders, being replaced by a mantle of something heavier. Not uncomfortably so, but requiring respect and consideration. Love, compassion. Sincerity and truthfulness. Devotion, loyalty. Honor and glory. Valor, heroism. Courtesy. Rectitude. He recognized them as the Seven Virtues of Bushido. Yet another concept from his world that felt out of place here on Gaia.

Søren reached towards the slowly spinning resurrection shard and watched as it slowed down the closer his hand got to it. With a thought, he brought Sehro back, feeling the TEK drain from him into the shard. Nearby citizens of Caisleán had returned to see what happened, slowly filtering into the plaza around the Waystone. Søren turned around to see a glyph of Atlantean runes appear on the white and grey marbled stone. The colors refracting through the shard vanished from everywhere except inside the glyph. Beams of pure white light appeared in the space, stretching from just above the stone to half the height of the shard. The beams widened slightly and shifted, as if turning in place with a silvery flash.

When he could see again, Søren saw the quiet archer, Sehro, standing before him.

"Welcome back Sehro," Søren said, a relieved smile on his features.