NOVEL NEXT 3.3 - Hear Me!
Unlike Gladesbale Grove, the mortal settlement did not experience rapid periods of development. They had to build everything by hand and could not rely on druidic magic to make things happen. Barlgore was small compared to the massive tract of land that the Grove occupied, but it was jam-packed, filled with people from all parts of the world. There were elves, dwarves, and beastkin who all mingled together. Sparwyn, the nation supporting this colony, was an amalgam of cultures Rud knew little about.
These thoughts fluttered through the druid's mind as he grumbled. Dean was too busy to take him to town. Rud sat atop a tree in his squirrel form. He was on the southeastern side of the grove, overlooking rocky hills that led toward the town. From this vantage point, he could see the lake, but the palisade walls were still too distant. Jumping from the tree, he soared, catching the wind and sailing most of the way to the lake. The rest of the distance, he had to run.
Rud shifted into his otter form, plunging into the lake and listening as the sounds faded away in an instant, giving way to the echo of his own heart and breathing. He made quick time dashing through the water, coming up on the eastern side of the lake where several boats were now patrolling the waters. Although the frozen island at the center of the lake was still cold, it was no longer encased in ice. It was thawing out, giving the people of the town access to the lake's bounty. Given the number of fish he had seen at the bottom, he figured they were in for a decent fishing trip.
Of course, it was always best to shift into his true form when walking through the town. Rud dropped his shape-shifting form and picked a path, eventually finding his way to the wizard's tower, where he was met with disappointment. Elmera, a local mage, had gone somewhere. Her assistant said as much, anyway. That meant that Rud only had one person he could turn to for help.
After knocking on the door of a stately manor only once, the door swung open, revealing the form of the local leader, a man who went by the name "Feather." Compared to his normally diplomatic demeanor, today he seemed giddy and beckoned for the druid to follow him inside without hesitation.
"Have I told you how much we appreciate you dealing with that island situation?" Feather asked, inviting Rud to the table. He then busied himself near the fireplace, putting on water and cranking open a fresh jar of the druid's own tea.
"Oh well, this is awkward," Rud said, kicking his feet as he sat in the chair. He wasn't as short as a dwarf, but he certainly wasn't as tall as the other human-like mortals in this world. Sometimes he liked to tell himself he was 5'4", but he knew he was likely closer to 5' even.
"Why would it be awkward to express gratitude?" Feather asked, pinching tea between his fingers and depositing it into the copper pot. He leaned close, breathing in the aroma and nodding with approval.
Rud took the deepest breath he had ever taken in his life and then spewed out the situation in one unbroken sentence. Feather watched in horror as the druid's face turned purple. When he finally drew his next breath, he had explained everything about the adventurers going west to fight the orcs, the tower appearing, and subsequently the scattering of dungeons that now plagued the grove itself.
"You knew you needed to learn to pace yourself," Feather said, the look of concern still on his face. "I wasn't expecting so many dungeons to appear so soon. And a tower… Are you sure?"
"We are sure," Rud said. "It's hard to miss the gigantic tower. So I wanted to know if you had some spare adventurers who might come along and help me clear these dungeons out. They don't have to destroy them. I can do that."
Feather took a very long time to consider this. That gave the druid time to think for himself. He remembered what Jim from the Cliffs of Mog had told him about the way Basil was handling the dungeons. There was plant magic that could destroy them, although it took a long time. The plants he could summon to encase the dungeon would both prevent monsters from coming out and drain the life away from it. Unfortunately, it seemed like a bit of magic that was outside of his reach for now.
If Rud couldn't seize that bit of magic for himself, he would have to find alternatives, the worst of which was going into the dungeons himself to clear them. That was a last resort in his book. His magic was tied so closely to the Grove that he wasn't sure he could do much within the dimensional confines.
"We have several retired adventurers," Feather said with a half-hearted shrug, "and people like myself who are in positions of power. If this becomes an emergency, I can mobilize them, but that's a last resort, you understand, Rud?"
"Right, you don't want to sound the alarm bell in the old folks' home until you really need to," Rud said, nodding along. His eyes went glassy as he considered the best way to approach this. "Is there any chance new adventurers are going to come in? Do you know how many stayed behind?"
Feather stood, claiming he had records of such things in the back room. He left, and by the time he returned, the teakettle was whistling. He removed it from the fire and poured out two cups of Deep Spice Galactic, which the druid was all too happy to drink. The energizing effects were immediate and welcome.
Stolen story; please report.
"We have 12 official adventurers still within town. According to my records, 8 of them are in your grove, still searching for dungeons. Then I've got about 15 unofficial adventurers. Perhaps we could mobilize them. As far as colonists go, we've got nothing. The mainland says they're not sending anybody for now." Feather paused for a few long moments. Long enough to take healthy sips of his tea. "How many do you think you'll need? Do you have a count of the dungeons and their ranks?"
"We counted the dungeons, but I think there are closer to 20 active dungeons," Rud said. Feather spit his tea all over the table, spraying it far enough for the fire to sizzle. "That was my reaction. I didn't get as much distance, though… As for the ranks, I'd put them between 0 and 1."
"Thank the spirits for that," Feather said, dabbing the sides of his mouth. "I know you've come to Barlgore searching for aid. Yet all I have to offer is advice."
"I'm all ears."
"Eight adventurers isn't a lot. That's not enough for two dungeons. But if you work directly with them, you'd be in better shape. They're all experienced and willing to work with a Sacred Spirit."
Rud had to take a mental step back and figure out what was going on. He had already been aware of the adventurers in the southwestern part of the Grove. It was his magic that wove the paths, allowing them to camp near the dungeons and clear them out. Part of that was the power of his new staff, and another part was his latest ability, Grove Specialization: Plant Magic. He couldn't tell if he had forgotten about those people or if he didn't believe they were enough.
He wasn't solving the problem standing around in Feather's office, though.
"Thanks for the top tips," Rud said, finishing his tea and standing. "I should have a new batch of cheese and tea coming up soon. Just so ya know. Also working on new variations of the cheese."
"More cheese?" Feather said, rubbing his hands together and licking his lips. "How delightful."
Rud said nothing about the cheese being from once-squirrels. He chatted with Feather for just a few minutes before heading out into the town. While he could've made a few stops, he wanted to get back to the Grove. And the best way to get to the southern section was via the road west out of Barlgore. The druid smiled to himself as he passed the brambles he had erected to defend the town.
The walk to the southern reaches of the grove was torturous. Rudd was not having a good time and complained in his mind the whole way until he set eyes on the grove once again, and all those frustrations melted away. He approached the nearest bush and passed through, teleporting around until he spotted a small group of adventurers. With no desire to waste time, he made himself known.
"Hear me!" Rud shouted, shifting from his squirrel form to his true form.
The eyes of several tired adventurers dragged to the druid, blinking lazily.
"What?" a human adventurer said.
"Sorry, I normally get a different reaction than that," Rud said, clicking his tongue in disappointment. "You are the adventurers clearing the dungeons, aren't you?"
"Yeah, and we're pretty tired," the same human shot back, reclining on the wooden platform and sighing. "The walkways you made us aren't long enough to get to the other dungeons. We keep getting lost."
Rud grimaced, not willing to dampen their spirits further by telling them it would be simple for him to extend the platforms. "I'm going to bring you guys some supplies," he said instead, deflecting from his own mistake. "Energizing tea and cheese that will help you push forward. I can also construct crude shelters for you to sleep in."
"I love cheese," an elven woman said, clapping excitedly. "Getting out of the weather would be nice."
"So it shall be!" Rud shouted, thrusting his hands into the air.
When Rud first arrived in this world, his abilities and skills were minimal. He didn't possess the Plant Magic skill, but since then, it had become his most powerful skill set. The Plant Magic skill itself was now at rank 1, and he had his Grove specialization, which meant that all his spell abilities and skills that influenced plants were bound to the Grove and dramatically more powerful. They cost less mana and made it far easier for him to manipulate plants.
Drawing on his Shape Plant spell, Rud reached out to a nearby tree and twisted it. Ribbons of green light wrapped around it as he leaned heavily on his collection of plant-related feats. The shape of the tree changed, the center hollowing out as roots burst from the ground to form a walkway. That path connected with the webwork of paths already existing, crude furniture springing up within the hollowed-out space within the tree.
"Behold!" Rud shouted, putting on a few finishing touches on the simple tree house. "We're calling this one 'home base' because I'll drop supplies here."
"Not bad at all," the human man of the group said, pushing himself to his feet and jogging over to the tree. "Hey, this is pretty spacious."
"Please rest," Rud said. "I'll clean up the existing path, and create new ones to the dungeons we need to clear."
"How many more dungeons?" the elven woman said, yawning and stretching.
"Only a few," Rud lied. "But I know you guys can do it!"
That got a single hoot of excitement from the group. The elven woman was chipper, while the others were worn down to a dull edge. Rud winced as he watched them all pile into the tree, collapsing on the ground, tables, or whatever other surface was available.
"Yikes," Rud whispered to himself, making a quick getaway.
If the mortals slept within a structure connected with Ban, they should recover quicker than normal. Combined with his tea, cheese, and trail mix, they would recover even faster. The druid scampered away from the scene with two new items on his to-do list. First was to get some food for the mortals. Next was to fix the pathways.