21 An Imperial Report Concerning and Regarding the Red Forest, Nyan Kingdom, Eternal Empire, Breibone Continent, and Authored in the 22nd Year of the Reign of Imperator Rax II, Being the 231st Year Since the Founding of the Eternal Empire
----------------------------------------
I, Sun Long, [Scholar], have been tasked by the Vice-Deputy of Natural and Artificial Arcane Affairs to prepare a report concerning and regarding the Red Forest located within the Nyan Kingdom. In furtherance of this task, at the end of the 21st year of the reign of Imperator Rax II, I left the imperial capital Novium and travelled to the capital city of the Nyan Kingdom, also bearing the name Nyan.
Following arrival in Nyan, and after settling myself, I met with my scholarly counterparts at the Nyan Royal College, who graciously granted me access to their archives. The following account comes from primary and secondary sources perused therein. A general familiarity with the history of southeastern Breibone is presumed.
Following a local climatological shift some five or six centuries before present, what had previously been a strip of grasslands between the maritime cities on the Seerial Bay and inland settlements and their concomitant larger agricultural communities circa one hundred kilometers away (local geography prohibiting any significantly larger population centers from forming nearer to the maritime cities, and the subsequent climatological shift pushing sapients living in the affected grasslands to abandon the area over several generations) became significantly wetter and began the growth of temperate forest. Over the course of a few centuries, as noted, the climatological shift pushed the existing population out of the area that would become the forest. Nonetheless, as a source of wood and game, the forest (contemporaneous name unknown) became a boon to both the local agricultural communities and the maritime free cities for which they traded.
In part due to this increased trade (though not entirely), the inland agricultural settlements experienced significant population growth, eventually resulting in the founding of a series of minor kingdoms in what would later become the Nyan Kingdom. Nonetheless, by all accounts, the forest at the time was mundane and, from a modern perspective, relatively insignificant.
The relevant portion of the story begins some two hundred and twenty years before present, being approximately fifty years after the Nyan Kingdom (then called the Nyanese Monarchy) had formed, consolidating most of the local power.
At the time, two significant roads traveled through the forest, then called the Northern Forest, from two of the larger cities in Nyan—Abelath and Belmont—though not from the capital itself. Whereas a series of villages and towns along the forest’s edge acted to harvest the forest’s natural wealth, these products were channeled through these two cities to either be distributed throughout the Nyan Kingdom or to be traded down to the free maritime cities. While not essential to Nyan, this trade represented a significant growth product for the fledgling kingdom.
Around two hundred and twenty years ago, we have the first recorded beast attack on a small trade caravan. At the time, the small attack was overlooked, particularly as it had not resulted in any loss of life or property. Nonetheless, the local scholarly consensus, which I agree with, is that this was the first sign of the blood troubles.
Over the next decade, the attacks increased in power and frequency until two hundred and seven years before present when a large caravan was completely wiped out. This of course took weeks to discover, and it was only by happenstance that the maritime cities were expecting the caravan, and were surprised when it did not appear in the week expected nor the week after. A pair of scouts dispatched from the maritime free cities elaborated in their report:
> After traveling for two days, we soon came across tracks of the caravan in the road, but no vehicles or persons in sight. A close examination of the tracks suggested a large battle, as blood, bits of fabric, shards of metal and other detritus suggested same. Nonetheless, the lack of any macroscale objects was disturbing. Bizarre tracks left from the scene and it was on following these that we found the skeletons and what remained of the carriages, some four hundred meters off road and hidden in a sinkhole.
>
> We never detected or discerned what had attacked the caravan.
The complete wipeout of such a large caravan was deeply concerning, and, in light thereof, the local council of Abelath at first, and then later Belmont when the merchants there refused to travel, decreed that caravans through the North Forest have a minimum size and were required to have a certain minimum guard, namely double what was then standard.
Nonetheless, the attacks continued regularly, and while no caravans were wholly lost within the following decade, tensions continued to rise. And with the rising injury and death toll, the North Forest soon developed the moniker Forest of Blood.
One hundred ninety five years before present, a second caravan was entirely wiped out, which was especially concerning as there was believed to be a second-tier [High Catkin]/[Slicing Swordsman]. There was a panic in Abelath when this occurred, even though the caravan had originated in Belmont, and most commerce in that city ground to a halt in near pandemonium. At this point, the trouble had attracted the attention of then King Leo II, who promptly acted.
> WHEREAS, to resolve the current safety and security concerns regarding trade between Nyan, may it last forever, and the Third Free Maritime Confederation, it is hereby ORDERED that a coalition of second-tier combatants, no less than twenty, is to be assemblaged under the King’s Purse (to be surcharged to the City of Abelath and the City of Belmont) to be tasked with clearing the North Forest of those most violent and dangerous of beasts and monsters infesting therein.
A group of twenty-two tier-two adventurers gathered in Abelath and set forth to the Forest of Blood. Three weeks later, after suffering two severe injuries, innumerable minor injuries, and running out of edible food and potable water, the expedition retreated to Abelath mostly a failure. While several terrible creatures were killed, little of the forest was actually explored and the group remained clearly out of its depth. Ultimately, this became the first of many expeditions attempting to tame the Forest of Blood which utterly failed, though this was hardly the worst outcome.
To cut a long story short, with the Forest apparently untamable, the caravans leaving Abelath and Belmont soon reorganized into even fewer and larger groups, now traveling only once per month, and the guard was doubled yet again.
Nonetheless, the beasts of the forests continued to apparently grow in strength and number. With rising attacks on villages and outlying farms of the kingdom, the local agricultural economy faced a tremendous setback, and a large swath of farmland parallel to the forest was abandoned over the following two decades. Following severe rioting, the Kingdom authorized the construction of a 115 kilometer long defensive barricade. Though the wall itself was little more than a simple ten-foot palisade, the active portion of the defense consisted of a series of watchtowers and small forts every five kilometers. [Eagle-Eyed] guards would keep watch for beast movements, either singletons or hordes, and the garrison associated therewith would either intercept the beast or would send word for reinforcement from one of two army bases built nearby. As a side effect of the diversion of military resources to protecting the border, the Kingdom’s foreign policy against other states became significantly less militant itself.
This increase in attacks caused further issues with the caravans. Eventually, one hundred and sixty three years before present, the caravans were limited to thrice yearly: spring, summer, and autumn. Further, the caravans were accompanied by a tier-two warrior and five warriors with at least forty levels in their Class for each civilian. In light of the now exorbitant costs of making the trip, merchants increasingly limited themselves to crucial, high value products. One decision by a local magistrate in a business dispute illustrates the financial difficulties involved.
> The plaintiff thereon, being the buyer, does content [sic] that he has a valid and enforceable contract to purchase the said goods at a certain price. The defendant, being the putative seller and merchant, contends that prices for second-tier warrior or guardian path Classes unexpectedly doubled due to a small price war between the maritime cities. As such, the defendant contends that the cost of the goods exceeds the purchase price by eighty percent or thereabouts. As such goods were purchased on credit, the seller contends that should the contract be enforced against him, and he be required to sell at the previously negotiated price, then in turn he will default on his loan against his lender and will be haled into this court or another court of ample jurisdiction to answer for said loan. This he contends would almost certainly lead to his bankruptcy, with all his assets seized and sold, and he in turn would become a burden upon the King’s purse.
>
> Assuming that all these contentions are true, it is common in commercial contracts of this sort to include a force majeure clause where, due to circumstances entirely outside of the parties control, the performance of the contract is infeasible. See Lukas v. Martin, decided last term by the Honorable Right J.M. Bailey. And indeed, the contract at issue here contains such a clause. Nonetheless, the plaintiff contends that the defendant is not incapable of performance and that the defendant must sell the goods at the price negotiated at, and that if the defendant was concerned about the flux in the cost of goods sold, he should have negotiated a different price term, rather than rely on the force majeure clause.
Unfortunately at this time, some nobles in the kingdom soon found it fashionable to serve products with a known death count associated with the transportation. While not ultimately relevant, such decadence is indicative of the kingdom’s downfall and ultimate inclusion into the Empire.
This status quo was maintained for approximately one hundred and seven years. For the first several decades, an attempt was made once a generation to clear out the Forest. Eventually though, after three more failed attempts beyond that relayed in this writing, this was accepted as a foolhardy attempt, and only one other attempt was made (approximately seventy years before present).
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Ultimately, the situation changed fifty six years before present. It took nearly two years, but eventually both the Kingdom and the Maritime States realized that beast attacks, both on passing caravans and against the Kingdom’s Wall, had decreased to nearly zero. Hesitant to act on apparent good fortune, lest they be burned, no parties committed to any actions thereto and the status quo continued. One veteran [Heavy Pikeman] wrote as follows in his personal diary:
> I’ve been working these caravans for five years yet, and I did always expect that my time on this Pantheon-blessed world would end by the claw or tooth. So many vicious battles have occurred and I have seen good men and women die when they should not have. And yet, we have been on the road three days now with nary a [Fox], [Wolf] or [Bear] in site. The silence of the Forest of Blood is unnerving to those of us who have guarded against it often, and the other old hands are on edge just as I.
The [Heavy Pikeman], whose name was not revealed in the diary, retired after completing that run, citing the strain upon his mental faculties by the lack of attacks.
Finally, the King acted. The King summoned Ager’s Great Greenhouse—more commonly known as the Druid’s Guild—to investigate the Forest of Blood to see if the danger had truly passed. (Incidentally, this was delayed by at least a week as the Guild did not respond to the summon. It was later discovered that, after the Guild proved unable to provide any guidance regarding the Forest of Blood centuries before, and lacking any other significant forests in the area, the Guild had slimmed down their guildhouse in the Kingdom to a single member. And, for over a century, the posting there was used as a punishment for unruly members thereof. And, indeed, the sole member at the time of the summons, a Christopher Hawkins, fifty-six years of age, but only a [Druid] (L22), was inebriated and had missed the summons.)
Though not well Skilled, the [Druid] was at least mildly knowledgeable and informed the King that one possibility was that a sufficient powerful natural beast [Leader]-path Class had arisen, such as [Big Cat Steward] or similar. Despite his protests to the contrary, the King then ordered the [Druid] to be escorted by a party of tier-two adventurers into the Forest of Blood to confirm. The sales receipt from the general store indicates that four liters of high proof aqua vitae were brought on the journey.
On return, the [Druid] reported to the King (cleaned up):
> Your Majesty, as you may recall from my last counsel to you, I had suspected that a [Leader]-path Class had arisen naturally among one of the stronger denizens of the Forest of Blood and that it had used this Class in order to either take control of its unruly citizens or to marshal the other forces of nature to kill same.
>
> Having now visited the Forest of Blood, I can now confirm that indeed some [Leader]-path Class had arisen. It is not one of the first tier Classes I had suggested previously, such as [Big Cat Steward] or [Brown Bear Baron], and, accordingly, I suspect that it is a second tier Class. However, I am unable to confirm this as my Skills are too weak to communicate with same. Moreover, I do not feel qualified to interact with such a beast, particularly if it has not achieved sapience through either magic or the System.
With the [Druid’s] testimony before the King, the Kingdom was able to reach out to the Guild’s primary officers in order to send along more qualified members, including two second-tier [Archdruids] or similar. Reviewing the notes left behind by the group of five before arriving at the Kingdom, it is clear that the group experienced extreme optimism and confidence that they would be able to locate, communicate, and either subsume or make peace with the presumed-second tier [Leader]-path Class, such as a [Forest Lord], that had arisen in the Forest of Blood.
Now three years after the Forest had gone quiet, the Guild party arrived at the King’s Court and, following a week of the appropriate politicking, the Guild party departed with a locally provided escort towards the Forest. The journal of the junior-most member, albeit still a [Druid] (L29), is most colorful:
> Two kilometers out from the edge of the Forest of Blood, [Archdruid] Gilgom invoked a Skill that confirmed that the Forest of Blood had been established as domain under a [Leader] Skill.
>
> Upon entering the Forest, [Archdruid] Esh invoked a Skill to communicate or signal the [Leader] Classholder. This however failed, though Esh advised that it was more effective farther into the forest.
>
> Two kilometers into the forest, [Archdruid] Esh repeated his Skill, though this too failed, albeit more violently than before. Master Esh reported that the presence was hostile to any that challenged it and that they would need to locate and subsume the [Leader] Classholder. Master Gilgom then invoked a Skill to locate the [Leader] Classholder though this failed entirely.
>
> Then, together, the five of us cast a grand working to attempt to locate the [Leader] Classholder again. However, even this failed and a vast and titanic pressure bore down on us until the working ended.
>
> Exhausted and worried, we together with our escorts made to leave the Forest. Nonetheless where before plants would give way before our movement Skills, they now hindered us. Where the tree would have given us direction, we found ourselves turned about constantly. We were unable to take a bearing from the sun, and even if we turned around entirely in a circle, we found we were no longer looking at the same part of the forest we began in.
>
> We stumbled forward yet another kilometer. Soon, small woodland creatures encircled us, though not entirely, and with their chirping and gesticulations, we were soon herded into a nearby glade. Though we had been guided by [Squirrels] and [Rabbits], the glade was lined with many of the most fearsome beasts of the forests. First, the high first tiers, such [Wolves] and [Bears] and [Beavers]. Then, farther into the glade, the second tiers, including [Direfoxes], [Greater Sloths], and [Great Horned Owls].
>
> Then, at the far focus of the ovoid glade, a great working of druidic magic had shaped several trees into a facsimile of a dual imperial throne. Upon the thrones lay two [Tigers], but not the mere first tier counterparts. These beasts were three meters tall at their haunches, and nearly twelve meters long to the tip of the tail. No doubt they weighed several metric tons. I had seen various second-tier [Tigers], mainly [High Tigers], [Greater Tigers], and [Southern Breibone Tigers], but those were but kittens to these specimens. Though the Archdruids later denied it, I had no doubt that these were third-tier specimens of their Race, truly legendary existences, let alone their Class, and the following feats laid no doubt to our minds.
>
> “Who disturbs our domain?” A ponderous voice rumbled like a landslide from the thrones.
>
> I was struck speechless, and yet, as the junior most party member, I had no reason to speak. Nonetheless, I saw that even the two Masters were shocked at this development. For while they had surely witnessed the rare animal that had developed enough sapience and the right Skills to speak, this was almost always done under the careful supervision of a [Beastmaster] and so was considered to some extent unnatural.
>
> “We are members and representatives of Ager’s Great Greenhouse,” [Archdruid] Gilgom began, “here to investigate the workings of the Forest of Blood and to determine whether the great violence predicated by the beasts within on the local populace have truly ceased.”
>
> A deep, rich, but distinctly feminine voice responded instead. “Our terms of address are ‘Your Majesty.’ And while we do not stand on ceremony here much,” the voice commanded and, after another wave of that powerful presence passed over us, “you will use them.”
>
> “Yes, Your Majesty,” Master Gilgom replied, his tone of voice indicated he had recognized he had been chastised.
>
> “To answer your question,” the first, now-noticeably masculine voice continued, “the unrestrained violence of the forest—I’m amused you call it the Forest of Blood—has ended with our dominion over it. The denizens will not leave the forest to attack sapients living or working nearby, nor will they attack travelers merely passing through, on road or otherwise. Nonetheless, sapients who fail to fully respect the forest will be… dealt with.”
>
> “D-dealt with?”
>
> “Hunting any creature of the forest or harvesting any plant thereof will be punishable by the law of retaliation. A sapient will in turn be hunted or a planted crop harvested for the Forest’s benefit.”
>
> “That is too harsh!” Master Esh finally spoke. “Sapients and animals are not equal.”
>
> “Perhaps not, but I don’t feel like arguing the philosophical point with you. The reality is that this is our decree which will be enforced. If this upsets you, you are welcome to attempt to change rulership of the forest by the same means we did.”
>
> “Which is?”
>
> “By conquest.”
While the young [Druid’s] tale is a bit fanciful, and likely embellished, it is nonetheless clear that the Guild’s report back to the King was unequivocal: Travel and nearby settlers were safe, but neither animal nor plant could be taken from the harvest without severe penalty. When the King pressed to have the Guild attempt to dominate the new second-tier forest lord, the [Archdruid] presenting the report is alleged to have responded, “They are no mere second tier [Forest Lords]. It would take the entirety of the Guild across Breibone to attempt to do so, and more likely such an endeavor would end with our extinction.”
Thus began a period of peace and prosperity for trade through the forest—now called the Red Forest—and agriculture near the same. The Guild reestablished their branch and while they attempted several times in the years to come to reestablish contact with the leaders of the Red Forest, these were largely fruitless. Nonetheless, only the academics therein were disappointed; peace was more than satisfactory for the soft Nyanites.
This continued for approximately thirty years, until a pack of [Wolves] attacked a herd of [Sheep]. Called upon yet again, the Guild reentered the Red Forest and established that the previous lords were no longer present, and instead a weaker, non-sapient [Leader] had taken control and apparently was no longer interested in—or no longer able to—enforce the prior decrees. Thus began a period of adjustment as the [Farmers] relearned was it was like to be endangered by predators and the [Merchants] hired small guard groups to protect the caravans. Nonetheless, nothing like the Forest of Blood period reasserted itself and the moniker Red Forest stuck thereafter.
With respect to the lords who had ruled over the forest in relative peace for so long, this author is unable to adequately explain what their source of power was, or what Race or Class they were. The [Druids] were never able to discern this themselves and were the only party at the time with the incentive to do so. And, while it is feasible that the lords were simply second-tier Races and Classes with a step or two higher rarity, it is this author’s belief that the young [Druid] was correct and that these lords were, in fact, third-tier in their Race and Class and, as such, had surpassed the legendary (L100) in each. The evidence for this, though thin, is multifaceted and I will relay it all here.
First, we have ….
----------------------------------------