When I came to, I was sitting propped against a tree, surrounded by elves. None of them paid me the slightest bit of attention.

Sigrid, however, noticed my eyes open. “Welcome back.”

“What happened?” I said.

“Just as your mana ran out the elves arrived. They’d heard Petal’s whistle and a bunch of warriors came pouring in.”

“It was freaking amazing,” Jane said. “Like a slew of Legolases spinning and slashing and firing off arrows.”

“Mmmm, Legolas,” Sigrid said.

“You know it,” Jane said and they bumped fists like randy frat brothers.

I chuckled. “And the Shadows?”

“A few managed to escape back to the swamp but the elves took down the rest,” Sigrid said.

“Wish I could’ve seen the elves fight,” I said.

“I’m sure you’ll have a chance to,” Jane said with a smirk, “since you own this forest now, which must include the village and all the elves in it.”

I looked over to where a bunch of elves were crowded around their Magikist, joyful at having her back to normal and able to cure the Blight. Petal was among them, and I saw her glance over at me. We locked eyes for a moment, then she smiled and bowed her head to me, just a little nod, before looking away. Sigrid noticed this.

“Did you pick up another admirer?” she said.

“What’re you talking about?”

She sighed and got to her feet, then started sidling over to where Sam was showing off his tigers to a couple of handsome elf men, muttering “dense, dense, dense.” Jane smirked, then went to join them too.

When we returned to village we discovered it was much larger than I at first suspected. There were hundreds of hollowed out tree houses, many of which were large enough to hold several families. However, attrition by emigration and battle losses had greatly reduced the elf population here, so as a result a lot of the houses were empty. I was given my pick of the vacant tree-houses to have as my own, so I chose one close to the dungeon’s teleportation circle.

The affinity circle was a ring of twelve beautiful shrubs, each one blossoming with a different-colored flower, surrounded by a manicured garden in the middle of the town. Another ring of thick-trunked trees surrounded this garden like a wall. I wasn't happy that people using it to teleport into the forest hex would appear smack in the center of town, I much prefered the way it was at the Light Dungeon: outside the labyrinth itself.

Fortunately, they had to use a circle in a location to go back to the city before they could use the one in the city to return through it. I wouldn't be able to stop people from coming to the village if the elves decided to bring down the wall, but at least I could try to prevent them from using the circle.

Jane had been right. Technically, the elf village was mine. The chain of command was a lot muddier than in the labyrinth, though. There, all the monsters instantly recognized me as their administrator, but the best that the elves seemed to manage was a grudging acceptance of me as part of the village. I was pretty sure they’d acquiesce without a struggle if I tried to force my will upon them, but I had no intention of finding out. I’m no micro-manager, I planned to let them choose their own path.

We spent that night with the elves. Although a party was suggested by many, it was pretty late so Salvia vetoed the idea, and there was no way anyone was going to oppose their newly revitalized Magikist now.

The party happened the next day, all day, and lasted well into the night. We invited the rest of Team Maple Leaf and the Round Table to come, even Kenji. He’d made it as far as ten feet into the forest when he said “nope” and turned around. He said his Shadow affinity made being in the Nature Dungeon’s hex uncomfortable, but Chika wouldn't allow him to head back. He kept out of sight for the first bit, but I later caught him playing tag and hide and seek with some of the younger elves, who marveled at his stealth ability.

Details of the party are unimportant, and frankly my memory of it is a bit vague. Elven wine, though delicious, was seriously strong. I do remember Sigrid being the happiest I’d ever seen her. She was constantly surrounded by gorgeous elf men, and not a few of the women, and was in her element. Turned out they loved her flowing blonde hair as much as she loved their pointy ears. That they, like her, were all ultra-fit and unfathomably beautiful surely didn’t hurt either.

After the others went home, I was glad I had the option to remain in the village with the elves. I stayed there for several days because I didn’t fancy being in the city. Every single Player would’ve seen the message that Team Player had beaten another dungeon and I could do without having everyone in the city stare at me like I was Harry Potter in Diagon Alley.

The team rankings said it all.

System: Team rankings have been updated

1. Team Player 750 points

2. Team Invictus 530 points

3. Team Maple Leaf 515 points

4. Team Spice 420 points

5. Team Droogs 390 points

6. Team Ninja 355 points

7. Team Overgeared 305 points

8. Team N3m3sis 285 points

9. Team Happy 280 points

10. Team Legion 275 points

11. Team Karma 210 points

I was still far in the lead. The first dungeon had netted me 500 points, but only 250 were added after the second one. I hadn't had a single quest given by System, which was how everyone else had earned their points.

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Everyone else was kept busy with more quests, so I spent the next few days living with the elves and getting to know them. Every day, Salvia went back to heal more blighted trees, surrounded by a detachment of Petal’s guards who gazed constantly at their Magikist with veneration and awe. Petal remained back in the village with me, acting as a guide and helping smooth over my introduction to the other elves.

What can I say about the elves? They weren’t much different than humans. I’d been expecting Tolkien-style elves, but there was not a single Galadriel clone to be found here. There certainly was a lot of the Tolkien influence to be found in Crucible’s elves, but there were some noticeable differences, even beyond the darker coloring. I learned later that as a species, elves have more racial variety in appearance than humans do, and that the dark coloration was specific to the forest elves in this region.

Even with Petal’s help it took some time for them to warm up to me, and not only because I’m not the warmest person to begin with. The Mirkwood elves in the Hobbit were wary of outsiders, but the ones in my forest were positively xenophobic. Perhaps they’d eventually lighten up a little now that the end of the Blight was in sight, but it would take more than just the healing of the trees and the elimination of the wall of thorns to remove from the collective trauma they’d all suffered. But my time getting to know the labyrinth served me well. I managed to meet most of the village in person, and got a feel for their culture.

I wouldn’t say that I made friends with more than a few of them during that time, but I appreciated that it seemed to be the elven way to let people do their own thing and not bug each other unnecessarily. If I wanted to, I could spend the entire day wandering around without talking to anyone, and nobody would care or take offense or think I was being cold or antisocial. It was my kind of place.

I’d heard that the elves were master craftspeople, and after seeing the town I knew it was true. All of their equipment, especially their armor and weapons, were of the highest quality, all elven-made. Their attention to detail was exquisite, and their love of nature abundantly clear in the decorative elements that adorned their creations.

Having a few days mostly to myself also gave me plenty of time to experiment with my powers. By this time I’d raised Versatility For The Win to Adept level, so not only could I copy three powers at a time, but all copied powers came at Adept level as well. A total cheat, I know, but I didn’t make up the rules. If I used Synthesis to change copied powers then I got that new blended power permanently, but only at Novice and I’d have to level it up the usual way.

There were a number of powers I wanted to customize through Synthesis. I also had some ideas for magic items I wanted to make. During their period of isolation, elvish artifice had flourished, and their craftsmen attained new levels of expertise creating innovative items, like those wall sconces that had fascinated me during my first visit. It also meant there was an Artifice forge I could use and I didn’t have to keep running back to borrow Byron’s.

When not playing around with Synthesis and Artifice, I spent a lot of time with Petal. Once she'd introduced me to everyone, she insisted on training me in the elven ways, both social and martial. There was a lot to learn. My proficiency with their dual blade fighting skill got better, and Petal and I grew quite close. Another big bonus from all this was getting my own pair of those cool elven knives.

Guardian Blade of the Forest Elves

Unique and sacred to the forest elves, this long knife requires the special skill Elven Dual Knife Fighting to wield to full effect. They always come in pairs.

Powers:

We Were Made For This - Enhanced combat effectiveness when a paired set of Guardian Blades are used; Requires Elven Dual Knife Fighting

That elven fighting skill was impressive. Not only did using it to fight together with others who had the skill increase its effectiveness, but using the tailored weapons also did too.

When it came to deciding whether or not to tear down the wall and interact with outsiders again, sure, as controller of the place I could have ordered them to end their isolation immediately, but I wanted to let the elves decide that for themselves. A village of subservient minions didn’t appeal to me, I wanted them to feel strong, independent, and free, and decided to meddle in the affairs of the forest as little as possible.

The staff we made could take care of the Blight, but the Shadow Demon and the rest of its army were still there in the neighboring swamp, and I knew they wouldn’t just wait there for someone to come and subjugate them. If nothing was done about them they’d be back with a much larger force, but that was an adventure for another day. The Shadow Dungeon could wait until the elves were back on their feet. Which, I hoped, wouldn’t take too long.

From a Player’s perspective, it didn’t hurt that we had helped all this happen; it gave outsiders a good name again. Or at least a less foul one. I was sure that Salvia would convince her people to open up to the outside world again.

While I stayed in the village I kept a low profile, but I can’t say I didn’t meddle completely. Anticipating the end of elf isolationism, I made two requests through Her Magikistness: first, send a delegation to the beastfolk lands to invite the elves who’d moved there to come home as well as to reopen trade with the beastfolk themselves, and second, please leave the camp of orcs just outside the wall alone. Why? Because they were, ah, an important ingredient.

“Don’t worry,” Salvia said, “we won’t chase them away. We’ve kept them there for the same reason: they’re delicious.”

Who knew the elves here were meat-eaters who farmed orcs for food? Elrond never chowed down on war pig skewers, that’s for sure.

In the end, the elves proved more resilient than I’d given them credit for. It only took a few days before the wall came down. The elf forest was open for business. Word spread quickly. Soon, lots of Players were wandering around in the elf village, so I relocated to the labyrinth again. I didn't even have to ask Petal to increase security before I left, she took care of that herself. I did make sure she knew not to let any Player get near the teleportation circle, though, apart from the members of Team Maple Leaf and the Round Table. Keeping them away from it ensured they'd never be able to use to get into the village.

As fierce and xenophobic as they were, the elves were also strangely trusting. Of one another, at least. Their buildings didn't even have locks on the doors. All I could picture was arrogant Players wandering into the elves' homes and plundering them like they were in a video game, smashing every pot they saw looking for loot drops. I figured I could trust Petal's guards to keep an eye on things.

It hadn’t occurred to me what tearing down the wall of thorns would mean to all the Players who’d tried and failed to get past it, most of whom ending up with an arrow sticking out of them. I should’ve anticipated something the way they flooded in to see what was behind it, but I really didn’t expect what they ended up doing.

I guess some people hold a grudge after being shot with an arrow, and a lot of players had felt the sting of an elven bow when they’d tried to get past the wall of thorns.

Okay fine. I totally should’ve known. Look at Kiki. Her first reaction to this place had been to murder her competition, namely me. Of course there would be a high probability that there’d be some Players who’d see the reopened elf village as more than the chance to gain experience and loot, they'd also be looking for revenge.

And so a few days after that, I was in Daedalus’s office working with Alice on revamping the labyrinth's security as well. No other Players had discovered it yet, but it was only a matter of time. Once word got out, I anticipated another barage of "visitors" like the one that had descended upon the elves.

With everything still so volatile with the elves, I wanted to have a way for them to contact me in case of emergency, like another Shadow attack, or in case any Players got any funny ideas about the proper way to act. There's no way those horny trogs would be able to resist the charms of the exceedingly beautiful elven women.

The NPC citizens of dungeons could use the teleportation arrays to travel between other dungeons controlled by the same team, but only if they were accompanying a member of that team, so that wasn't an option. Cellphones would've been handy, but lacking any post-industrial tech I had to make do with what I had. And that was whistles.

Since the first time I'd left the elf village after taking control, elves had been positioned at strategic points so that they could relay messages between both of my dungeons and the city using their whistle codes. It wasn't only handy for getting in touch with me, there was also now a number of elves in the city, the curiosity about the outside world being too much for them to resist. They were all careful not to reveal what they were, of course, it wasn't too hard to blend in as just another NPC, but it was good to have a way to keep in touch with them, too. Just in case.

That's why I wasn't overly surprised when a Doppel barged in through the secret door, followed closely by a young elf. They looked alarmed, so, not good news.

An important message had been whistled along the relay until it reached the elf boy positioned outside the entrance to the labyrinth, and using the secret doors the news was in my ears in under a minute.

Elven watchers had detected Players marching upon the village, a lot of Players. There could be little doubt what their intentions were, they couldn't stop jabbering about how rich they'd all get on elven loot after they pillaged the place.

So much for creating good will toward outsiders. Stupid Players.