Varewulf No Sara perspective this chapter, but I hope you'll still enjoy getting some insight from a couple of other characters.
This turned into one of the more altered/updated chapters from the original draft so far. Just felt like there were so many gaps I should fill, and things that were better worded differently.
Speaker Laroni was not a fan of her current position. Specifically her physical location. Not her position in life. Even though the latter had in a way led to the former. In elf terms she was a pretty recent member of the Naturalist Society. It had only been a year since she had advanced from Apprentice to Speaker.
Of course being called Speaker meant that you had to have Commune With Animals. It was considered such a common skill that you were expected to have it, regardless of whether you would get much use out of it. Most Druids acquired the scroll at some point between level 10 and 20, and at worst they could wait to unlock it at 25 if they were really stingy. Laroni had gotten the scroll pretty much right away, since that was what practically everyone did. She hadn't thought she'd actually need to use it for anything important.
So when she had been informed that she had been chosen for this mission, she had only been able to stare dumbfounded. Everyone knew you couldn't talk to hostile mobs. Not unless you were a beastkin with a compatible race. Laroni was an elf, born and raised in Komeron. She was most decidedly not a wolfkin, and yet they were telling her she was to accompany the Palace Guard into Nyolund in order to communicate with the new wolf boss which called itself the Guardian Beast. Everyone knew wolves attacked you as soon as you got too close. And what did they mean it called itself? Could it speak? Then why did they need her? Was it possible for new bosses to show up in the first place?
Yet she hadn't been in a position to refuse. The Palace had asked for a Speaker to call for the Guardian Beast, and her superiors had decided that she was the best fit for the job. By which they likely meant it wasn't a big deal if anything happened to her. While you came back from death, most people would still prefer to not experience it in the first place. Only soldiers, and guards were prepared to regularly meet death. Regular people were not. Meanwhile most mobs seemed to have very little regard for their own lives.
And so she had to march into the forest with nine other elves. Four members of the Palace Guard, two members of the Temple of the Moon, and three surveyors from the Civil Service Department. The latter three didn't seem any more comfortable with this than she did, but they probably didn't have a lot of choice either.
When they found a Night Raven watching them from a tree branch, Bishop Luneria had told Laroni to ask it to let the Guardian Beast know they wanted to see it, and when the bird had excitedly answered: "Yes! Yes!" before flying off, Laroni had nearly jumped.
Then they headed into a glade unlike anything she had seen before. There was a serene feeling to it, and something smelled nice. Perhaps it was the unusual flowers. Actually, they looked just like the brooch she'd been told to wear. And in the middle stood a large wolf statue. For a moment Laroni thought maybe it would come to life, and that would be the Guardian Beast, but according to the Bishop that was just where they had to wait.
After a short while the Guardian Beast actually showed up, and Laroni's immediate impression was how intimidating it looked. It was clearly no ordinary wolf. She had never seen nor heard of anything like it. At least that was what she thought at first, but once she got past the initial shock, there was something that gave her the feeling that the way it looked was somehow familiar. It looked slightly smaller than a Dire Wolf, with entirely brown fur, and blue eyes. Though her Sense Mana was enough to tell her that the Guardian Beast was much stronger than her. It didn't have a mana presence quite as strong as the Priestess, or Bishop from the Temple, or the Lieutenant from the Palace, but there was something telling her that it might be able to take on any one of them. Surely not all three, though.
She did find it curious that it had so many Druid skills. There were many other things too, but at least a third of its skills she recognised as being common for Druids. Other classes could learn most of them, for instance via scrolls, though the different shapeshifting forms were supposed to be Druid exclusive. She remembered one of the lessons at the Society being about how Beast class mobs could sometimes have exclusive skills from other classes, but it was still odd.
It was a scary meeting. The Guardian Beast communicated via writing, which she never would have believed if she hadn't seen it for herself. When the other wolves, and even the Night Ravens showed up, Laroni's tension had shot up. Especially since she could understand everything everyone was saying, and the mobs seemed to be going into a frenzy. What did the ravens intend to help with? Her instincts were telling her to run. And then...
"Speaker Laroni?"
"Y-yes?!" she jumped, not realising at first who had spoken to her.
"So you can understand me, good. Please tell them that the Night Ravens are here because they also want to help out with the escort, and there's no need to worry."
She could see that the Guardian Beast was looking at her, and it had spoken with a surprisingly gentle tone. A clearly feminine voice.
"Uh... right!"
The Guardian Beast looked back to the other mobs, and resumed commanding them, while Laroni started telling the others in a slightly shaken tone what the Beast had just told her. She saw confusion, and worry among the others all the same, with the exception of the Lieutenant, the Priestess, and the Bishop. Those three were remaining calm, as if they were neither surprised, nor afraid.
When the ravens started getting all excited about blasting things, the Guardian Beast spoke to her again, in barely more than a whisper.
"I'm really sorry about them. They get very enthusiastic about helping out. I think they're just very bored, and want a change of pace from their everyday life. I know they're a little intimidating, but don't be afraid to talk to them. They like people. Though they do talk a lot, so I won't blame you if you'd rather they didn't take notice of you."
Laroni smiled a little despite herself. At least the Guardian Beast seemed nice, and gentler than she had expected. It... no, she needed to be commanding to the others, but when she spoke just to her it was in a softer tone.
Shortly afterwards the expedition set out, while Laroni kept thinking about the experience they had just gone through. She could feel wolves all around them in the woods, along with those visible in front, and the ravens were flapping about overhead, apparently looking for bears.
She was still nervous, and would have rather been at home. It was hard to not worry about the mobs suddenly turning on them at any second.
But Bishop Luneria had quite confidently told all of them that the wolves had no reason to lure people into the woods, and then attack them. There was nothing to gain for them. If they wanted to attack people, there were always Adventurers to be had. Laroni wanted to believe that. She really did. And she wanted to believe the Guardian Beast was sincere.
Regardless this was an experience she would likely never forget.
* * *
Lieutenant Davril had not been enthusiastic about having to take this mission. The request had come from the Princess Guard, to the Palace Guard Captain, who had pushed it onto Davril. He had been told he could only take a patrol's worth of guardsmen to protect three surveyors, a Priestess, and a Speaker. Well, technically the last two were supposed to help with protecting the surveyors, but he knew how fragile their classes could be. Not to mention they had to escort Bishop Luneria out to meet with this supposed 'Guardian Beast'. While he hadn't read the legend himself, his little brother really liked those sorts of things, so he had at least heard about it. About a time where elves and mobs lived in harmony thanks to the Guardian Beast acting as a bridge between them.
"Then where did it go?" Davril had asked his brother, and there was no real answer. Apparently that had not been recorded in the legend. But now it was back? That definitely sounded too good to be true. Of course he was not in a position to refuse a request handed down from the First Princess.
Though according to Bishop Luneria's briefing, this was a new Guardian Beast sent to gain control of Nyolund, and it wished to establish relations with the elves. Apparently this was thanks to Priestess Mirielle's efforts. There were so many unbelievable things about all of that, but he felt there wasn't much use in asking for more details. Better to get it over with than to waste any time.
The meeting at the glade had been interesting, and shocking, but Davril was a career soldier. He knew how to not let any of his emotions show themselves openly unless he wanted them to. He had been in the City Guard before the Palace Guard, so he had been in the woods to tussle with the wolves before. But that had not prepared him for this.
The Guardian Beast had shown up, and was Identified as such. Beast class mobs were rare outside of certain areas, and it was definitely a powerful one. He still thought he stood a good chance in a one on one with it. His instincts even told him he probably had an edge, but he knew it wouldn't be a one on one if a fight broke out. His Sense Presence detected a dozen more wolves close by, and if it was him he would have stationed even more outside of detection range.
The talk went as the Bishop and Priestess had expected, which was not what Davril had expected. The fact that they were able to have a conversation at all was absurd, but the control the Beast showed over the other mobs was real enough. And soon enough they were out on the road with their escort of Dire Wolves, and also Night Ravens flying overhead. Those birds could be annoying, but they were not to be taken lightly. As a Paladin he had a few ways to bring them to the ground, but six of them? No way. One of the main reasons people could wander the world freely was that the various corvid species remained neutral if they weren't attacked first. You could find at least one type in almost every zone, they liked flying all over instead of sticking to one area, and they were all elite types, so if they decided to turn on the Residents it would be hell.
The road between the Hunting Post and the glade had been in a decent shape, so the surveyors had just made some quick notes on their way to the meeting. It was past that point that the real work started. Whenever they came across anything in particular disrepair, or something else the surveyors noticed that he didn't understand, they had to stop while they made measurements, and wrote more notes.
Davril could tell this was going to take several hours, possibly most of the day, and the danger hadn't even started yet. It was when the road turned to head straight north that the dangerous mobs would start appearing. Then they would see just how much help this 'alliance' would be.
It turned out to be somewhat... boring. By Davril's count there were about 40 wolves around them, 20 on each side, and they seemed to be intercepting any deer that came nearby. While he was high enough level that the Nyolund Deer wouldn't give him all that much experience (or trouble) any longer, he had kinda hoped to get a little for his subordinates. Fighting the deer was not a fast process for the wolves though, so he could theoretically asks his guardsmen to go help out. They couldn't abandon the surveyors, but sending them one at a time was an option.
There were two wolves walking ahead of them, on either side of the road, who according to Speaker Laroni had been given the task of trying to lure down the Stalker Jaguars from above. Priestess Mirielle insisted on staying at the front so she could shield them, and heal them as necessary. He didn't really understand her concern, and would have preferred she stayed back, but he did respect the Guardian Beast's line about not wanting to treat its subordinates as disposable.
It mostly worked as well. The cats would pounce on a wolf, a howl would ring out, and more wolves would rush out from the woods to finish off the cats. Mirielle made sure to heal up the injured wolf if it hadn't already been shielded, and then they kept moving.
Only once did Davril have to spring into action to swat a cat out of the air as it tried to pounce on one of the surveyors, and his guardsmen quickly finished it off with the help of a nearby wolf. The poor surveyor was quite startled, but at least he wasn't hurt. It was an odd feeling to be within a wolf's Howl range, yet not feel the Fear status try to affect him.
So they see us as friendly, at least. But not so close that we get the effect of Rally. Assuming that's even possible for Residents to get. It would be interesting to find out. Maybe once this alliance is finalised, I can ask to come back out here...
He realised he was starting to get ahead of himself. He was supposed to be pragmatic about this. Not to start envisioning the best case scenario already, or give in to his own fantasies.
After a while things got even stranger, as the Stalker Jaguars just started falling from the trees, and seemed too stunned to move. They were quickly finished off by wolves, and arrows, but there was no indication of what had caused them to fall in the first place. Davril looked upwards, and glimpsed brown fur up among the trees.
Is that the Guardian Beast? How did it get up there? Is it knocking down the jaguars for the others to take down? It can tell where they are?
And then the patch of fur moved on, and quickly got out of sight. He was aware that Keen Nose could 'see' through Stealth, but only at a limited range. So that likely explained how it found them, but it did not explain how the Beast had gotten up there in the first place. Or how it could apparently jump from tree to tree.
There had been no skills that indicated anything like that on the Guardian Beast's skill list, but he was aware that it was possible to hide parts of your status with certain skills. He sadly didn't have any ability to see through such things, but ranking members of the Temple had their ways, so it was likely that at least the Bishop was aware of it. Maybe the Priestess too.
He wondered for a moment why it wouldn't show its full power, but then quickly realised that if he had been able to, he would have disguised several of his good skills too, just to catch people off guard. It was a sound tactical decision. The Guardian Beast should not be underestimated.
When they reached the northern half of the zone they entered bear territory, and things started to get a little busy. Sometimes they just heard a ruckus off to the west as the Night Ravens were unleashing their spells, but a few times a bear would come crashing onto the road, with wolves and ravens chasing it. At that point Davril sprung into action, and went out to meet the bear head on. He had never faced one of them before, but the Captain had told him about how these beasts liked targeting people more than other mobs.
Still, he wasn't a Paladin for nothing, and something like this wouldn't get past his shield with a single charge. Stopping the bear in its tracks was enough to allow him, and the others to take it down, especially since it was already hurt. It still took them some time, since each bear was practically a mini boss in its own right. He didn't notice until after the kill that his sword was glowing black. It only lasted for a few more seconds before it faded, but it had unmistakably been there. One of the ravens must have given him an enchant. He felt some conflicting feelings about using dark magic, even accidentally, considering the path he had taken, but the ravens were likely just going to do as they pleased no matter what he wanted. And it was probably hypocritical to want to turn down their aid after he had earlier been thinking it would be interesting to fight under the effect of Rally.
There were a couple more encounters like that, and it clearly unnerved the civilians. They were able to keep working, but it slowed them down even further.
As they kept moving he really came to appreciate how helpful it was to have a full-fledged Priestess with them. He could heal himself, but it was much easier to not have to worry so much about it. He and his guardsmen could focus on the fight instead. Especially when a fighting pair of a Dire Grizzly, and a Noble Deer ended up on the road. Everyone had to put their all into it at that point. Even Speaker Laroni did her best, but her level was quite a bit lower than the rest, at only 22. Still, it had to be a useful experience (and helpful experience points) for her to take part.
The spectacle of elves and mobs fighting side by side against ferocious beasts had to be a sight for the ages. At that point Lieutenant Davril felt a little glad that he had been sent on this mission so he was able to experience this. The Guardian Beast appeared as well, but stayed at a distance to support with spells rather than join the melee. Its vines didn't slow the bear down much, but the other support, and attack spells helped speed up the process.
By his judgement it didn't seem like the Guardian Beast's spells did any more damage than the ravens', but it had a much wider toolkit to work with.
That intense battle was their final encounter before they reached the edge of the forest. Seeing the trees break apart after so many hours was an odd sensation. He very rarely travelled beyond Ildhena, so he was not used to such open spaces. Their task was not over, since they still needed to check the condition of the road all the way up until it joined the roads coming from the east, and west. But the worst was probably over. They could hurry their way back to Komeron afterwards, and were less likely to suffer more bear attacks if they could jog their way through that area.
The Guardian Beast appeared again, and took root to write to them.
"I have not had the chance to move beyond the forest yet," the board read. "Are there any dangers ahead?"
"Not particularly," Davril replied. "The road to the border fortress is not long from here, so there are few mobs in the area. The only thing to worry about is a few wolves, ironically enough." Though the ones outside of the forest were nowhere near as strong as the ones inside. Even a pack of them were unlikely to be a real menace.
"May I come with you, and have a look? My wolves will have to stay behind, but I'm curious," the Guardian Beast wrote.
There was some cawing above, then barking from the treant, and more cawing in response. Then it erased the board, and wrote anew:
"The ravens also want to follow. I tried telling them there will be no more excitement until we have to go back, but they don't seem to care."
Davril suppressed a smile. So the Guardian Beast didn't really control the Night Ravens. Maybe the birds were only doing what they wanted for their own amusement. They were still a welcome addition to the forces, no matter their motives.
He had quite the report to write when they got back. Regardless of the state of the road, they would have to do something about safeguarding it from the bears if they were to open it for regular travel, but for the first time in the Goddess knew how long, they were actually making some progress, rather than having to cede more of the forest to the wilderness.
While it was unlikely to actually happen, there were negative voices saying it was only a matter of time until they lost control of the west as well. He thought they were overreacting, but it was true that the bandit presence had grown in the last six months. Both the Watermane Lion, and the enigmatic wolf boss were troubling to deal with as well. Since the Hanoleav Kingdom had already lost control of half of the Great Forest of Ildhena compared to what they'd had at their peak, he understood why people would worry, but hyperbole helped no one.
Making some strides towards regaining control, even if it was with the aid of unlikely allies, would surely boost morale.
"Alright. Just don't stray too far, so no one up ahead mistakes you for a wild mob," he replied.
And it would be fun to tell his brother that he had met an actual Guardian Beast.
Varewulf No Sara perspective this chapter, but I hope you'll still enjoy getting some insight from a couple of other characters.
This turned into one of the more altered/updated chapters from the original draft so far. Just felt like there were so many gaps I should fill, and things that were better worded differently.
Speaker Laroni was not a fan of her current position. Specifically her physical location. Not her position in life. Even though the latter had in a way led to the former. In elf terms she was a pretty recent member of the Naturalist Society. It had only been a year since she had advanced from Apprentice to Speaker.
Of course being called Speaker meant that you had to have Commune With Animals. It was considered such a common skill that you were expected to have it, regardless of whether you would get much use out of it. Most Druids acquired the scroll at some point between level 10 and 20, and at worst they could wait to unlock it at 25 if they were really stingy. Laroni had gotten the scroll pretty much right away, since that was what practically everyone did. She hadn't thought she'd actually need to use it for anything important.
So when she had been informed that she had been chosen for this mission, she had only been able to stare dumbfounded. Everyone knew you couldn't talk to hostile mobs. Not unless you were a beastkin with a compatible race. Laroni was an elf, born and raised in Komeron. She was most decidedly not a wolfkin, and yet they were telling her she was to accompany the Palace Guard into Nyolund in order to communicate with the new wolf boss which called itself the Guardian Beast. Everyone knew wolves attacked you as soon as you got too close. And what did they mean it called itself? Could it speak? Then why did they need her? Was it possible for new bosses to show up in the first place?
Yet she hadn't been in a position to refuse. The Palace had asked for a Speaker to call for the Guardian Beast, and her superiors had decided that she was the best fit for the job. By which they likely meant it wasn't a big deal if anything happened to her. While you came back from death, most people would still prefer to not experience it in the first place. Only soldiers, and guards were prepared to regularly meet death. Regular people were not. Meanwhile most mobs seemed to have very little regard for their own lives.
And so she had to march into the forest with nine other elves. Four members of the Palace Guard, two members of the Temple of the Moon, and three surveyors from the Civil Service Department. The latter three didn't seem any more comfortable with this than she did, but they probably didn't have a lot of choice either.
When they found a Night Raven watching them from a tree branch, Bishop Luneria had told Laroni to ask it to let the Guardian Beast know they wanted to see it, and when the bird had excitedly answered: "Yes! Yes!" before flying off, Laroni had nearly jumped.
Then they headed into a glade unlike anything she had seen before. There was a serene feeling to it, and something smelled nice. Perhaps it was the unusual flowers. Actually, they looked just like the brooch she'd been told to wear. And in the middle stood a large wolf statue. For a moment Laroni thought maybe it would come to life, and that would be the Guardian Beast, but according to the Bishop that was just where they had to wait.
After a short while the Guardian Beast actually showed up, and Laroni's immediate impression was how intimidating it looked. It was clearly no ordinary wolf. She had never seen nor heard of anything like it. At least that was what she thought at first, but once she got past the initial shock, there was something that gave her the feeling that the way it looked was somehow familiar. It looked slightly smaller than a Dire Wolf, with entirely brown fur, and blue eyes. Though her Sense Mana was enough to tell her that the Guardian Beast was much stronger than her. It didn't have a mana presence quite as strong as the Priestess, or Bishop from the Temple, or the Lieutenant from the Palace, but there was something telling her that it might be able to take on any one of them. Surely not all three, though.
She did find it curious that it had so many Druid skills. There were many other things too, but at least a third of its skills she recognised as being common for Druids. Other classes could learn most of them, for instance via scrolls, though the different shapeshifting forms were supposed to be Druid exclusive. She remembered one of the lessons at the Society being about how Beast class mobs could sometimes have exclusive skills from other classes, but it was still odd.
It was a scary meeting. The Guardian Beast communicated via writing, which she never would have believed if she hadn't seen it for herself. When the other wolves, and even the Night Ravens showed up, Laroni's tension had shot up. Especially since she could understand everything everyone was saying, and the mobs seemed to be going into a frenzy. What did the ravens intend to help with? Her instincts were telling her to run. And then...
"Speaker Laroni?"
"Y-yes?!" she jumped, not realising at first who had spoken to her.
"So you can understand me, good. Please tell them that the Night Ravens are here because they also want to help out with the escort, and there's no need to worry."
She could see that the Guardian Beast was looking at her, and it had spoken with a surprisingly gentle tone. A clearly feminine voice.
"Uh... right!"
The Guardian Beast looked back to the other mobs, and resumed commanding them, while Laroni started telling the others in a slightly shaken tone what the Beast had just told her. She saw confusion, and worry among the others all the same, with the exception of the Lieutenant, the Priestess, and the Bishop. Those three were remaining calm, as if they were neither surprised, nor afraid.
When the ravens started getting all excited about blasting things, the Guardian Beast spoke to her again, in barely more than a whisper.
"I'm really sorry about them. They get very enthusiastic about helping out. I think they're just very bored, and want a change of pace from their everyday life. I know they're a little intimidating, but don't be afraid to talk to them. They like people. Though they do talk a lot, so I won't blame you if you'd rather they didn't take notice of you."
Laroni smiled a little despite herself. At least the Guardian Beast seemed nice, and gentler than she had expected. It... no, she needed to be commanding to the others, but when she spoke just to her it was in a softer tone.
Shortly afterwards the expedition set out, while Laroni kept thinking about the experience they had just gone through. She could feel wolves all around them in the woods, along with those visible in front, and the ravens were flapping about overhead, apparently looking for bears.
She was still nervous, and would have rather been at home. It was hard to not worry about the mobs suddenly turning on them at any second.
But Bishop Luneria had quite confidently told all of them that the wolves had no reason to lure people into the woods, and then attack them. There was nothing to gain for them. If they wanted to attack people, there were always Adventurers to be had. Laroni wanted to believe that. She really did. And she wanted to believe the Guardian Beast was sincere.
Regardless this was an experience she would likely never forget.
* * *
Lieutenant Davril had not been enthusiastic about having to take this mission. The request had come from the Princess Guard, to the Palace Guard Captain, who had pushed it onto Davril. He had been told he could only take a patrol's worth of guardsmen to protect three surveyors, a Priestess, and a Speaker. Well, technically the last two were supposed to help with protecting the surveyors, but he knew how fragile their classes could be. Not to mention they had to escort Bishop Luneria out to meet with this supposed 'Guardian Beast'. While he hadn't read the legend himself, his little brother really liked those sorts of things, so he had at least heard about it. About a time where elves and mobs lived in harmony thanks to the Guardian Beast acting as a bridge between them.
"Then where did it go?" Davril had asked his brother, and there was no real answer. Apparently that had not been recorded in the legend. But now it was back? That definitely sounded too good to be true. Of course he was not in a position to refuse a request handed down from the First Princess.
Though according to Bishop Luneria's briefing, this was a new Guardian Beast sent to gain control of Nyolund, and it wished to establish relations with the elves. Apparently this was thanks to Priestess Mirielle's efforts. There were so many unbelievable things about all of that, but he felt there wasn't much use in asking for more details. Better to get it over with than to waste any time.
The meeting at the glade had been interesting, and shocking, but Davril was a career soldier. He knew how to not let any of his emotions show themselves openly unless he wanted them to. He had been in the City Guard before the Palace Guard, so he had been in the woods to tussle with the wolves before. But that had not prepared him for this.
The Guardian Beast had shown up, and was Identified as such. Beast class mobs were rare outside of certain areas, and it was definitely a powerful one. He still thought he stood a good chance in a one on one with it. His instincts even told him he probably had an edge, but he knew it wouldn't be a one on one if a fight broke out. His Sense Presence detected a dozen more wolves close by, and if it was him he would have stationed even more outside of detection range.
The talk went as the Bishop and Priestess had expected, which was not what Davril had expected. The fact that they were able to have a conversation at all was absurd, but the control the Beast showed over the other mobs was real enough. And soon enough they were out on the road with their escort of Dire Wolves, and also Night Ravens flying overhead. Those birds could be annoying, but they were not to be taken lightly. As a Paladin he had a few ways to bring them to the ground, but six of them? No way. One of the main reasons people could wander the world freely was that the various corvid species remained neutral if they weren't attacked first. You could find at least one type in almost every zone, they liked flying all over instead of sticking to one area, and they were all elite types, so if they decided to turn on the Residents it would be hell.
The road between the Hunting Post and the glade had been in a decent shape, so the surveyors had just made some quick notes on their way to the meeting. It was past that point that the real work started. Whenever they came across anything in particular disrepair, or something else the surveyors noticed that he didn't understand, they had to stop while they made measurements, and wrote more notes.
Davril could tell this was going to take several hours, possibly most of the day, and the danger hadn't even started yet. It was when the road turned to head straight north that the dangerous mobs would start appearing. Then they would see just how much help this 'alliance' would be.
It turned out to be somewhat... boring. By Davril's count there were about 40 wolves around them, 20 on each side, and they seemed to be intercepting any deer that came nearby. While he was high enough level that the Nyolund Deer wouldn't give him all that much experience (or trouble) any longer, he had kinda hoped to get a little for his subordinates. Fighting the deer was not a fast process for the wolves though, so he could theoretically asks his guardsmen to go help out. They couldn't abandon the surveyors, but sending them one at a time was an option.
There were two wolves walking ahead of them, on either side of the road, who according to Speaker Laroni had been given the task of trying to lure down the Stalker Jaguars from above. Priestess Mirielle insisted on staying at the front so she could shield them, and heal them as necessary. He didn't really understand her concern, and would have preferred she stayed back, but he did respect the Guardian Beast's line about not wanting to treat its subordinates as disposable.
It mostly worked as well. The cats would pounce on a wolf, a howl would ring out, and more wolves would rush out from the woods to finish off the cats. Mirielle made sure to heal up the injured wolf if it hadn't already been shielded, and then they kept moving.
Only once did Davril have to spring into action to swat a cat out of the air as it tried to pounce on one of the surveyors, and his guardsmen quickly finished it off with the help of a nearby wolf. The poor surveyor was quite startled, but at least he wasn't hurt. It was an odd feeling to be within a wolf's Howl range, yet not feel the Fear status try to affect him.
So they see us as friendly, at least. But not so close that we get the effect of Rally. Assuming that's even possible for Residents to get. It would be interesting to find out. Maybe once this alliance is finalised, I can ask to come back out here...
He realised he was starting to get ahead of himself. He was supposed to be pragmatic about this. Not to start envisioning the best case scenario already, or give in to his own fantasies.
After a while things got even stranger, as the Stalker Jaguars just started falling from the trees, and seemed too stunned to move. They were quickly finished off by wolves, and arrows, but there was no indication of what had caused them to fall in the first place. Davril looked upwards, and glimpsed brown fur up among the trees.
Is that the Guardian Beast? How did it get up there? Is it knocking down the jaguars for the others to take down? It can tell where they are?
And then the patch of fur moved on, and quickly got out of sight. He was aware that Keen Nose could 'see' through Stealth, but only at a limited range. So that likely explained how it found them, but it did not explain how the Beast had gotten up there in the first place. Or how it could apparently jump from tree to tree.
There had been no skills that indicated anything like that on the Guardian Beast's skill list, but he was aware that it was possible to hide parts of your status with certain skills. He sadly didn't have any ability to see through such things, but ranking members of the Temple had their ways, so it was likely that at least the Bishop was aware of it. Maybe the Priestess too.
He wondered for a moment why it wouldn't show its full power, but then quickly realised that if he had been able to, he would have disguised several of his good skills too, just to catch people off guard. It was a sound tactical decision. The Guardian Beast should not be underestimated.
When they reached the northern half of the zone they entered bear territory, and things started to get a little busy. Sometimes they just heard a ruckus off to the west as the Night Ravens were unleashing their spells, but a few times a bear would come crashing onto the road, with wolves and ravens chasing it. At that point Davril sprung into action, and went out to meet the bear head on. He had never faced one of them before, but the Captain had told him about how these beasts liked targeting people more than other mobs.
Still, he wasn't a Paladin for nothing, and something like this wouldn't get past his shield with a single charge. Stopping the bear in its tracks was enough to allow him, and the others to take it down, especially since it was already hurt. It still took them some time, since each bear was practically a mini boss in its own right. He didn't notice until after the kill that his sword was glowing black. It only lasted for a few more seconds before it faded, but it had unmistakably been there. One of the ravens must have given him an enchant. He felt some conflicting feelings about using dark magic, even accidentally, considering the path he had taken, but the ravens were likely just going to do as they pleased no matter what he wanted. And it was probably hypocritical to want to turn down their aid after he had earlier been thinking it would be interesting to fight under the effect of Rally.
There were a couple more encounters like that, and it clearly unnerved the civilians. They were able to keep working, but it slowed them down even further.
As they kept moving he really came to appreciate how helpful it was to have a full-fledged Priestess with them. He could heal himself, but it was much easier to not have to worry so much about it. He and his guardsmen could focus on the fight instead. Especially when a fighting pair of a Dire Grizzly, and a Noble Deer ended up on the road. Everyone had to put their all into it at that point. Even Speaker Laroni did her best, but her level was quite a bit lower than the rest, at only 22. Still, it had to be a useful experience (and helpful experience points) for her to take part.
The spectacle of elves and mobs fighting side by side against ferocious beasts had to be a sight for the ages. At that point Lieutenant Davril felt a little glad that he had been sent on this mission so he was able to experience this. The Guardian Beast appeared as well, but stayed at a distance to support with spells rather than join the melee. Its vines didn't slow the bear down much, but the other support, and attack spells helped speed up the process.
By his judgement it didn't seem like the Guardian Beast's spells did any more damage than the ravens', but it had a much wider toolkit to work with.
That intense battle was their final encounter before they reached the edge of the forest. Seeing the trees break apart after so many hours was an odd sensation. He very rarely travelled beyond Ildhena, so he was not used to such open spaces. Their task was not over, since they still needed to check the condition of the road all the way up until it joined the roads coming from the east, and west. But the worst was probably over. They could hurry their way back to Komeron afterwards, and were less likely to suffer more bear attacks if they could jog their way through that area.
The Guardian Beast appeared again, and took root to write to them.
"I have not had the chance to move beyond the forest yet," the board read. "Are there any dangers ahead?"
"Not particularly," Davril replied. "The road to the border fortress is not long from here, so there are few mobs in the area. The only thing to worry about is a few wolves, ironically enough." Though the ones outside of the forest were nowhere near as strong as the ones inside. Even a pack of them were unlikely to be a real menace.
"May I come with you, and have a look? My wolves will have to stay behind, but I'm curious," the Guardian Beast wrote.
There was some cawing above, then barking from the treant, and more cawing in response. Then it erased the board, and wrote anew:
"The ravens also want to follow. I tried telling them there will be no more excitement until we have to go back, but they don't seem to care."
Davril suppressed a smile. So the Guardian Beast didn't really control the Night Ravens. Maybe the birds were only doing what they wanted for their own amusement. They were still a welcome addition to the forces, no matter their motives.
He had quite the report to write when they got back. Regardless of the state of the road, they would have to do something about safeguarding it from the bears if they were to open it for regular travel, but for the first time in the Goddess knew how long, they were actually making some progress, rather than having to cede more of the forest to the wilderness.
While it was unlikely to actually happen, there were negative voices saying it was only a matter of time until they lost control of the west as well. He thought they were overreacting, but it was true that the bandit presence had grown in the last six months. Both the Watermane Lion, and the enigmatic wolf boss were troubling to deal with as well. Since the Hanoleav Kingdom had already lost control of half of the Great Forest of Ildhena compared to what they'd had at their peak, he understood why people would worry, but hyperbole helped no one.
Making some strides towards regaining control, even if it was with the aid of unlikely allies, would surely boost morale.
"Alright. Just don't stray too far, so no one up ahead mistakes you for a wild mob," he replied.
And it would be fun to tell his brother that he had met an actual Guardian Beast.
