I actually had a number of relatively comfortable hiding places prepared in the Slime Fields. It was a great place to hide out because no one really liked going out there on account of the hordes of disgusting slimes roving all over the place. I flew low and circled far to the south, so I was confident that no one in or around the Emerald Sea would have seen the ship in the night. Anyone camped along the road would have had a chance, but I had the airship down and hidden relatively quickly in a cave that I subsequently blocked and camouflaged.
I wasn’t super worried about the airship at the time. I was worried about the large army that I saw camped alongside the road to the south. I saw them faintly in the distance at just about the furthest point to the south on my route, but some quick reconnaissance with my daylight spy glass revealed a significant force of what I gathered were orcs and goblins. The Emerald Sea was well populated today compared to our early time with just the fae and it was also relatively well positioned to defend against attack from the south, but this certainly looked like a final challenge on the way. Given the size of the force, it looked like a big challenge actually, so I was sure that it was intended to require the cooperation of the various forces in the Emerald Sea to respond successfully.
Since I had flown so far south and circled back to the Slime Field, I estimated that the army was about two weeks out if they marched twenty miles a day. I also figured that they wouldn’t be visible from town until they were two to three days out based on the geography. I would be in town within the day, so now I had even more to talk over with Leirin and Galan than I originally thought.
***
I don’t know if you can be nostalgic for something that is less than a year removed, but I was flooded with pleasant memories when I connected with Leirin and Galan in the second floor of the board game cafe across the alley from “my” bookstore. After a quick greeting, I jumped right in. “So two things. One, there is an army of what I think are goblins and orcs about two hundred and eighty miles south of town along the road. Two, I built an airship and tried to sail over the Giantspire Mountains, but as I proceeded extremely far north, I ran into a giant storm. Some quick study suggests that it is circular in shape, at least in the north. I am wondering if it rings in the whole region. Do you know anything about it?”
Even this news wasn't enough to fluster Galan. He simply said, “It seems the Unseelie Court has made their move on the Emerald Sea. We shall have to put our own plans in motion. You and your friends have a role to play in this as well Harris. We will all need to prepare. As for the storm, I haven’t seen it personally, but I have observed it in my own way. I think that you and I both have our theories about what it means, but we won’t know for sure until we can reach the other side. Perhaps we can work together once this is all over and find our own truth. I know that you have had your issues with the tutorial, but you are with us against the Unseelie Court, aren’t you Harris?”
Galan turned to me with the same serene smile that he always wore, but he had a real spark in his eyes at the mention of the approaching goblins and orcs. “Of course Galan. I am happy to help you and to protect the town, but I also believe that this is important for all of us from the tutorial.”
Galan responded, “Make sure to find me once the threat from the Unseelie Court has been resolved, I expect that we have much more to discuss when the time is right. There is a little town called Loramen where we may be able to catch up after all of this is finished.”
Leirin looked puzzled for a moment, but elaborated on Galan’s words, “Loramen is far from Region Eleven. It is in the old country. We haven’t been back for some time, but I would love to show it to you Harris. It is beautiful.”
Galan just chuckled and said, “So tell me about this airship. That sounds very interesting, Harris.” We spent the rest of the day putting together our plans.
Leirin filled me in on the activities of the tutorial instructors and Lyle, Karl, Erin and Lando. Apparently they were preparing to make their own run at a class upgrade quest. It didn’t sound like they had worked to shore up their foundations like my party members, but the information that Leirin had didn’t paint a full picture of their situation or motivations. I wanted to check in on them personally, but with the impending invasion I had bigger fish to fry.
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Galan and Leirin were going to warn the other powers in the Emerald Sea, root out some Unseelie Court collaborators that they believed were already hiding in the outpost and do what they could to shore up our defenses. Leirin was also going to warn my old teammates who had stayed on with the tutorial instructors. I was going to inform the elves of Eastern Tear and my teammates of the impending threat, make my own preparations and return to the Emerald Sea and join the defense before the army arrived.
***
Elen led the small group through the forest to the citadel. She, Ruven and Phraan needed their charges to earn their class upgrades now. They were almost out of time and not having the party upgrade their classes would significantly impact the elves’ rewards from the tutorial quest line. She needed them to upgrade their classes, defeat the other party and complete the final event. She and her compatriots also needed to defeat the leaders of the approaching army and as many of the faction leaders in Emerald Sea as possible to get the most out of her other current quests, but that was seeming like a tall order at this point.
To ensure a successful class upgrade for the remaining tutorial participants, Lyle, Karl, Erin and Lando would need proof of their worth. That meant completing an ordeal, and under the current circumstances that meant running the Western Citadel. The party of four wasn’t really up for that type of challenge, so she needed to put her thumb on the scale with Phraan and Ruven’s help. They reached the overgrown stone building just before noon and she put her plan into action following a short rest.
Although they had all advanced their class already, Elen, Ruven and Phraan didn’t have high enough classes that they would be unable to attempt the trial of the Western Citadel. The trial didn’t guarantee a class upgrade that was optimal for one’s path, but it could be run multiple times to “farm” improvements until its maximum class level was reached. The elves would form a party and they would run the Western Citadel, but abandon their run before claiming their prize from the final chest.
The party of tutorial participants would operate separately from them, but would follow behind closely enough that monster and trap encounters would generally not have time to respawn. They would then take the final chest, return with their proof of worth and finally upgrade their classes. With Lyle’s black magic, Lando tanking and Erin’s archery they should succeed with this strategy. Karl hadn’t really pushed too far forward with his skills and would mostly be dead weight on this run, but if he was able to upgrade to a bard class like he was hoping he may also develop some useful skills.
Elen, Ruven and Phraan were a competent squad and didn’t have much trouble in the Western Citadel, which would have typically been run by a much less experienced team. Unfortunately, even with this level of support, Erin, Lyle and Karl struggled to work effectively together. Lando was extremely stressed out by the situation and their many other struggles during the preceding months.
The jovial and pleasant pre-awakening Lando was gone. He took everyone’s safety seriously, but his role on their small squad was extremely difficult. Karl issued orders without stopping to really think through the situation. Erin overestimated her abilities and often strayed too far from the team, making situations more dangerous and allowing even easy encounters to sometimes spiral out of control. Lyle’s magic was powerful, but he lacked situational awareness, so he didn’t always use it effectively.
Lando tried to protect the team as he followed the path cleared by Elen’s squad, but it was difficult. They had run across a lone demon howler, a medium sized monkey that should have been easy for Erin or Lyle to quickly dispatch. Unfortunately, Lyle and Erin didn’t communicate and each assumed that the other was going to engage the monster. When no one attacked, Karl complained “Do I have to do everything myself?” before launching a clumsy charge at the monkey. The monster evaded Karl’s strike and screeched at the top of its lungs before Lando could slide over and spear the demon howler through the heart.
Demon howlers quickly filled the room, and it took Lando and his party time to shoot, blast and smash their way through what amounted to a small army of the vicious simian monsters. Karl had received a bite and a claw slash to his back and Lyle had sprained his wrist when he fell after several of the monsters jumped him from behind. Lando couldn’t keep the monsters off of Lyle in the first place because he had to keep a separate gang away from Erin so she could continue shooting down the monsters from her position on the other side of the room. If only they could stick together, Lando’s job would be so much easier.
The long encounter with the demon howlers had caused Karl, Erin, Lyle and Lando to fall further behind Elen’s lead group than they had planned, which led to several more unwelcome monster encounters and a run in with a frightening arrow trap. When the team finally made it to the chest that held their objective, it was clear to all involved that without the support that Elen, Ruven and Phraan had provided, the team likely wouldn’t have prevailed. As it stood they were cut up, bruised and hobbled by the experience, but they each took their proof of worth from the chest. Apparently, this proof could take any form, but they each received a small polished silver hand mirror.