image [https://i.imgur.com/0iyk7mv.jpg]
When we arrived at the quarry, Ally waved us over. Seagulls looked for food droppings while the quarry workers toiled. We caught Ally up on our adventures in the lizardfolk dungeon while the quarry workers labored and seagulls stood sentry.
After we finished our tale, Ally relaxed, unsurprised by any of it. “It sounds like ye stumbled into a lizard ruin. Lizzes inhabited Miros first—earlier than dwarvenkind. Their ilk is long gone, but we pick through their ruins now and again—but there’s scant to say about ’em. When humans settled on the northern shores, they blundered into a bunch of their ruins. Some say they’re kin to the lizards in the swamps beyond Otter Lake or ancestors to the dinos.”
None of it explained why or how the lizards came to revere the aquatic species who built the ward worm’s lair. When I described the murals, Ally only shrugged. Stumbling across two references to this unheard-of culture seemed to be a regional phenomenon. If we could translate the gnoll’s writing, it might lead to better dungeons nearby.
Behind her, raised voices caused a commotion. From a distance, it seemed to be a dispute about quarrying stone. Two quarry workers gesticulated at a block they’d been cutting with a long wire.
Maggie called to them in a chiding tone. “Quit yer flapping, or I’ll put Murdina in your stead. Ye can count sheep all day!”
When the confrontation ended, Ally waved Maggie over.
Maggie thumbed toward the workers. “A typical morn. The blue granite will be our yoke o’ death. Any sightings of fresh stone?”
I shook my head. “Nothing closer than a day’s journey.”
Maggie and Ally nodded in resignation.
I changed the subject. “What about gnolls? Fab says we might find gnolls in Grayton to translate a journal we found in the dungeon.”
Ally shook her head. “I dunno about gnolls beyond avoiding them. Sleekit bastarts will bully ya down to the marrow if ye let them. I hope ye find another way to translate yer book.”
It became my turn to look discouraged.
Maggie waved away my question. “Bah. Forget about the bloomin’ gnolls. I’ve got something ye might like.” She began walking and beckoned us to follow.
We left the quarry and followed the dwarves to the center of the motte and bailey. Fabulosa scanned the tree line as we walked, probably looking for excuses to ditch the camp and join Yula on patrol.
Perched atop the mound’s center stood an altar and idol waiting for activation—Forren.
Maggie carved the idol in smooth geometric shapes. Its form resembled more of a symbolic feminine than realistic, and its design included nothing ornate. It looked like an abstract sculpture. For dwarven work, the statue seemed austere, rough, and devoid of artistry. Knowing Hawkhurst Rock’s stubborn nature, one could hardly hold it against her.
Maggie looked proud of the effigy, so we expressed our admiration.
Building
Altar (tier 1)
Description
Cultural Structure
+2 percent culture
Activates idol and generates 1 favor point per follower per day.
Details
Structural Points 50
Location -0.8, -12.9
Core Bonus
None
We still hadn’t any details about the deity. The only building information about the altar mentioned a 2 percent boost to culture and that it generated favor points. What’s a favor point?
Ally placed her hand on the altar. “Maggie finished ‘er idol, and we’re eager to see Forren’s blessings. Idols need altars to attract a deity’s favor. Settlements begin with one deity slot, though some deities allow for another—but the Hearth Mother isn’t one of ‘em.”
Maggie’s gaze darted between us, eager to see what her idol could do. “Even for a master mason, I had a pure tough time on her. She’s solid, that Hawkhurst Rock.”
Charitybelle rubbed her hands together. “Everyone except Yula said they would become followers, so let’s see what Forren can do.”
We all placed our hands on the altar. My settlement interface had a new tab for religion.
I focused on the interface element that read, “Favor—zero.” The interface described favor as a currency religious elders could spend to rush construction projects, generate resources, or bless followers. Each expenditure had different costs and conditions.
When I focused on the idol, I received a prompt.
Deity
Forren, Beloved Hearth Mother
Description
Forren is the fertility deity of the Rosestone Clan.
Domains
Fertility, Hearth
Idol Blessing
Increases settlement fertility. Free fireplace in settlement buildings.
Altar Blessing
Unlocks blessing Hot Air
Shrine Blessing
Unlocks blessing Glowing Coals
Temple Blessing
Unlocks blessing Holy Smoke
Sanctuary Blessing
Unlocks blessing Ashes-Ashes
A free fireplace would reduce our town hall’s building time by a few days. It would also make it easier to build a second roundhouse and avoid quarry delays. Charitybelle hadn’t accepted the installation of the idol, so we could still reject it if it wasn’t right.
Charitybelle turned to Ally. “If Forren can help with fertility, does that apply to food and livestock?”
“Aye, lass. It does.”
“I hope it applies to flowers, too. We should buy some flowers the next time someone goes to town. Our camp could use a little cheer, don’t you think?”
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“That’s a good idea, baby. A little color might improve the camp’s morale.” I turned to Ally. “Does the fertility rate apply to people too? Does that mean more pregnancies, and do children grow up fast?”
“Fertility is voluntary, but Forren will give a fleet pregnancy and safer births for mums and wee-uns alike.”
Charitybelle’s eyes sparkled at the mention of dwarf children running around. Her nurturing side made for excellent leadership. Being connected to and involved with everyone in our little community wasn’t in my DNA.
As far as I could tell, it wasn’t in Fabulosa’s character either. She seemed to be a different type of leader—the kind who’d lead a charge into battle.
The free fireplace seemed like a decent perk, but my socks were still on. However, I reserved my judgment until I understood how the rest of the favor system worked.
I focused on the altar’s blessings.
Power (blessing)
Hot Air (tier 1)
Prerequisites
Altar, follower of Forren, receive blessing from elder.
Elder must spend 1,000 favor for every other blessed follower of Forren.
Cooldown
Once per day
Cast time
1 second
Description
Blessed follower may vertically raise or lower themselves for 10 seconds for every blessed follower of Forren.
The blessing’s complexities required a bit of parsing. While anyone could become a follower, one of Forren’s elders needed to anoint someone with a blessing to become a blessed follower. The cost of giving a blessing increased every time we gave this power to another follower. And yet, for every blessed follower, the Hot Air’s duration lasted longer.
Hot Air became more expensive and powerful for every follower who had it. The first blessing would be free because of its multiplicative cost, and we had zero blessed followers. Since it counted as a blessing and not a spell, it didn’t require mana to invoke.
Hawkhurst could generate over 1000 favor points within a month, assuming everyone in the camp jumped on board to follow Forren. The cost of blessing a third blessed follower would cost twice as much. The favor system provided incentives to grow the congregation.
Unlike our personal and settlement powers, the game revealed all tiers of religious bonuses, probably because it didn’t overwhelm players with choices. Each tier had only one blessing, and if I didn’t like them, I should follow another deity. The interface allowed us to unfollow Forren at any time, and the only penalty for apostasy involved losing her blessings. It made religions low-risk investments.
I looked at the second blessing.
Power (blessing)
Glowing Coals (tier 2)
Prerequisites
Altar, follower of Forren, receive blessing from elder.
Elder must spend 1,000 favor for every other blessed follower of Forren.
Cooldown
Once per day
Cast time
5 seconds
Description
Within 30 yards, blessed follower creates a 5-foot radius of hot coals lasting for 1 hour. Must be within settlement boundaries to invoke.
A damage-dealing blessing? I liked Forren already—this hearth momma has some sass!
If enemies rolled into our neighborhood with a battering ram, they’d better be ready for a little hotfoot. My frugal side noticed we’d want to give Glowing Coals to the same follower with Hot Air to keep the cost multiplier down. The description limited the effect to our boundaries, so Glowing Coals acted purely as a defensive measure for the settlement.
I looked at the next blessing.
Power (blessing)
Holy Smoke (tier 3)
Prerequisites
Altar, follower of Forren, receive blessing from elder.
Elder must spend 1,000 favor for every other blessed follower of Forren.
Cooldown
Once per day
Cast time
5 seconds
Description
Blessed follower may assume the form of smoke at will, materializing on altar 1 minute later. Must be within settlement boundaries to invoke.
Holy Smoke felt like another game-changer. We could become gaseous at will, like a town full of vampires. Would becoming gaseous release me from combat so I could perform a quick Rest and Mend? Perhaps I would materialize with my health and mana intact. I wished the description gave more information.
I almost didn’t want to read the last blessing because its building requirements cost so much. A sanctuary seemed like a high-level structure and would take a long time to construct. I almost didn’t want it to be worth the trouble of growing Hawkhurst into a big city.
I inspected Forren’s last blessing, Ashes-Ashes.
Power (blessing)
Ashes-Ashes (tier 4)
Prerequisites
Altar, follower of Forren, receive blessing from elder.
Elder must spend 1,000 favor for every other blessed follower of Forren.
Cooldown
Once
Cast time
10 minutes
Description
Blessed follower turns every combustible item and creature within settlement boundaries into ash. Must be within settlement boundaries to invoke.
I read this twice and still didn’t like it. Nuking a city doesn’t belong in a fantasy game.
Forren has more sass than I expected. I couldn’t reconcile this with a Beloved Hearth Mother. Wiping the slate clean might be nature’s way of starting over, but I didn’t much care for it.
I couldn’t think of anything about Ashes-Ashes that I liked. Even its name referred to the creepy, medieval children’s rhyme celebrating the Black Death. Crimson developers played a sick joke by slipping the tribute into our universe. Seeing their fingerprints in the Miros universe broke the spell of immersion. Every reference to the real world ruined the fantasy, and I wished the developers would stop inserting them.
Ashes-Ashes wouldn’t destroy idols, altars, or religious buildings—we could thank the Hearth Mother for that much, but I hesitated to follow a deity like this. Sanctuaries sounded too expensive to build, and if we never allocated this power, it wouldn’t be an issue.
Charitybelle looked as sour as I felt.
I closed my interface. “What do you think?”
Charitybelle crossed her arms. “I don’t like the last blessing. Did you read that? The person casting the spell also gets turned to ash. That’s really grim.”
I put my arms around Charitybelle. “I can’t think of any reason someone would do that, C-Belle. We won’t give that power to anyone. And I’m sure we won’t turn Hawkhurst to ashes ourselves. I mean, why would we?”
Aside from Ashes-Ashes, everything about Forren harmonized with the settlement’s prosperity. Unable to procreate, nurturing a settlement served her desire to grow something beautiful. It seemed fitting that the patron deity fosters fertility—perhaps it might help the settlement grow.
Ally mentioned that the tier-five settlement had 50,000 citizens. If our adventure in Miros lasted a lifetime, I envisioned a gray-haired Charitybelle guiding it to a prosperous size, rivaling even the continent’s capital cities. And if foreign powers had a problem with it, I wouldn’t mind fighting side by side to defend it. Its citizens certainly welcomed me more than any had on Earth.
Fabulosa didn’t look convinced or impressed by the blessings. She crossed her arms throughout the conversation and offered no opinions.
Ally wrung her hands. “Oh dear, let me explain. Most blessings are defensive and avoid vexing other deities. Otherwise, any manky minger could spark a holy war. Ashes-Ashes is a deity protecting herself.”
I turned to Ally. “I imagine blessings go away if someone takes the idol.”
Ally nodded her head. “And it curses the town.”
Following Forren, The Beloved Hearth Mother benefited us in the short and long run.
Charitybelle let Ally and Maggie Hornbuster do the honors of activating the idol, and we changed our status to “followers of Forren.”
Charitybelle fingered her chin while considering something. “My religion interface says I’m an elder of Forren, which lets me assign blessings.”
The religion interface also promoted me to the same status. “Would you look at that? I’m an elder, too. It must have turned all the settlement’s founders into elders.”
“Given that it’s a fertility idol, it’ll be girls before boys. Fab, you wanna be the first to have Hot Air?”
Fabulosa put up her hands. “No, thank you. I don’t want to be a floating target. Besides, I’d rather stay off Forren’s mailing list if you don’t mind.”
Charitybelle wrinkled her nose. “My UI says you’re not flagged as a follower.”
“Sweetie, I’m a southern girl. I’m with Yula on this. There’s no way I’m worshiping idols, not even in a game. That’s too weird.”
“I think you have it all wrong, Fab. There are no ceremonies, oaths, or rules.” Charitybelle looked to Ally for confirmation, who nodded her head.
I sighed. “It’s just a little tribalism, like rooting for the local football mascot.”
“You reckon I’m the cheerleader type back home?”
Fabulosa’s disapproval cracked me up. I mimed someone shaking pom-poms. “I could totally see you as a cheerleader.” Teasing her wasn’t helping our argument, but it was too fun to pass up.
She arched an eyebrow. “I bet you could. And I can picture you dressed up like Snow White.”
Fabulosa hadn’t forgotten that nickname. I stopped my pom-pom act—I knew when to tap out.
Fabulosa placed her hand on my girlfriend’s shoulder. “C-Belle, I love your little village, but this ain’t my thing. Okay?”
Charitybelle sighed and looked at me. “Hmm. Yula doesn’t want it. Fab doesn’t want it. I guess it’s boys before girls, after all, Patch. You’re our next best warrior.”
“Hey! What do you mean the next best?”
Fabulosa pretended to think. “I reckon he’s in the top ten.”