Rex and I settled into a stride and the desert blurred by. An hour after leaving the tree we came across a flowing river. The river had some of the clearest water I had ever seen. It was a bit like going to the famous beaches back home. There were no fish in the water and when Rex stopped for water I realized it was warm. It wasn't hot exactly it was closer to a hot tub or warm spring. My gut told me to follow the flow of the water but when I concentrated on the to my Place of Power I was pulled northward. We waited an hour in order to cool down and let Rex drink his fill. Once he was ready we pushed forward. We entered a valley where the black sand was replaced with a lush plant life. It was a bit like the banks of the Nile river. I cast revelation on one of the nearby trees and let out yelp of surprise.

You have found: Black Ironwood Tree Details: Ironwood is one of the more durable woods. The additional metal in the ground has further increased its durability and resistance to heat.

Herb Rarity: Rare

Herb Quality: Superb

Weight: 1t

Are all of these trees rare? I looked around and did a quick count. There was at least thirty different trees around me. All of them were between 7 and 15ft tall. I had no idea how much wood a tree would give you but there had to be enough for whatever buildings I would. At least for the immediate future. I decided not to check on all the other plants, one I had no idea what plants did nor did I know anything outside of what Revelation would tell me and I didn't really care. I made a note to comeback and commit them all to memory later. I pushed Rex forward the black sand becoming softer and more muddy as we did. We pushed further until we reached a narrowing in the valley. The walls of the valley rose high into the sky.

We traveled through it for another hour watching the various creatures. There was a brief scare when we came across dog sized bugs. They had two sets of wings and reminded me of mosquitoes from hell. I watched a pair of them drain a scorpion in a few seconds. Fortunately we were able to avoid fighting with them. Just as the sun began to fall and I was beginning to think about searching for a place to rest. I caught sight of something breathtaking. We crested a hill and I caught sight of star the sound of Mount Rushmore carved into the canyon wall. There was a single black spot flanked in all four cardinal directions by crystalline pathways. Each one looked like they were the size of airport runways. The crystals were dull but each of the four pathways was a different color. One was yellow, one was red, one was brown and one was a dull ivory white.

A moment later a burning sensation spread across my back. Unlike the first time this one didn't hurt. It was more like the rays of the sun on a hot day. I reached behind and slipped my hand beneath my garments but I couldn't feel anything. The sensation faded a few moments later. I pushed Rex forward wanting to reach the base of the canyon as soon as possible. With our new pace we reached the site of my new settlement in less than a hour. Standing at the foot of this massive star felt like coming home. It was amazing. I climbed off of Rex and sat against the canyon wall. I took a deep breath and pulled up the new blinking notification.

Settlement Name: Leader: Darterrius Solomon Maximillian Government: Chiefdom Leadership Path:None Magic:1000 Population:1 City Options Defense Diplomacy Economy Magic Military Resources Science City Characteristics Beauty:Attractive(+500) Corruption:Neutral Fame:0(Unknown) Health:Neutral Loyalty:N/A Morale:N/a Production:0 Research:0 Buildings Settlement Spells

Summon Light Drone:

Light Drone, Lv 1. Health: 50/ 50, Magic 0/ 0, Stamina 200/ 200. Able to perform simple tasks. Cost 50 Magic. Cool-down: N/ A. Lasts 24 hours.The properties of these summons make them able to freely manipulate their form and size.They also receive a increase to their movement speed.

Domain of Light

Cost 700 Magic. Upkeep: 500 Magic per day. Generates rays of light that alerts to the presence of anyone they touch inside the domain of the light. The technique does not reveal the location of people inside of the light only that someone is somewhere inside of it. You may grant immunity to this effect to those of your choosing.Beings that posses souls that are too simple or too grand are immune to the detection.(Soul level: Normal)

Dawn's Radiance

Cost 500 Magic. Upkeep: 300 Magic per day. Generates a miniature sun in the sky above the village. The light created by this sun banishes away all darkness magical or otherwise. This creates a always active daylight. You can select individuals or individual spells to be immune to this effect.

Disc of Light:

Cost: 50 Magic. Summons a white disc of light with a radius of up to five feet. The disc can hold between 100 and 500 lbs. Once summoned the disc can be used to carry any number of objects. Since the disc is made out of light it isn't exactly solid. This allows it to hold things it normally wouldn't be able. Each disc can last up to a year or until dismissed.

Seeing the population set at one hurt. It was a reminder of the fact that I am alone here. I have no friends, no family no one that cares about me. The closest people I have are the Ifrit and they were at least three days travel away and that was assuming they knew how to get to me. It also assumed that they would want to help me. It was terrifying. The rest of the status screen was much more fun. Focusing on it took my mind away from my troubles and filled me with excitement. I had just gained one thousand more magic points to spend. A quick test told me that I could spend it on my own spells. This should let me use the scroll as soon as I reached the next level. There was a section for a name but I decided to ignore that for now. Coming up with names for things was either the easiest step or the hardest step. The thing I cared the most about though were the settlement spells.

Each one of them seemed amazing. Dawn's Radiance and Domain of light seemed like clear defenses. Unfortunately my home didn't see it fit to actually fight or defend itself from anything. My place didn't have any sense of stealth either. I began considering how I would defend this place. A wall would make some sense but the fact that we were in a canyon made that less effective. I wasn't sure if it was possible to scale one of the walls but if someone could I would be in some trouble. I decided not to cast the defense spells. The benefits would be nice but I would be screwed if bandits followed the light back to me. The drone seemed good only for physical labor which was good. It meant I would have a simple work force. I wouldn't need to pay them either which hopefully would help my baby economy. I attempted to review the other parts of my screen but they didn't provide any new information.

I had no defenses, the beauty of the valley was pretty innate so nothing I could do there. Apparently the beauty provided a boost to happiness but since I was the only person here it didn't do anything. The other categories told the same story. I needed more people. I checked the leadership path tab but that was inaccessible until I built a "Seat of Government". Lastly I turned my attention to the settlement name tab. The more I thought about it the more one name came to mind. I wanted a city of hope. A city that people wanted to find. A city that was spoken about with hope. I typed in the name of my new settlement and smiled.

You have selected the name: Radiance. Are you sure you would like to use this name?

Yes/No?

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I selected yes and dismissed the screen. I pulled up the next message which was another quest message.

You have been offered the Quest: Suzerainty Trial I

You have gained control over your place of power but you are not the only power in the area. Eliminate the others and proof your sovereignty

Success Conditions: Clear out the Burrow of the Silver Queen

Penalty for Failure: Unknown

Reward: Unlock one of your powers.

Do you accept: You can not refuse this quest.

Well it looked like I knew what I was doing next. I assume the Burrow of the Silver Queen is a dungeon. I didn't have the gear for a proper dungeon crawl but I didn't have a lot of options. I had a few swallows of my healing potion left. I didn't know where the nearest city was and riding all the way back to refill everything would take way too much time. I would have to tackle the dungeon with that I had. After that I should have gained at least one level. I could then get my partner and then go searching for a city. I pulled up the second notification.

You have been offered the Quest: One With Your Lands I

In order to control you territory you must know it. Explore your territory and find out what secrets it holds.

Success Conditions: Investigate three sites that are at least notable Locations within your domain and determine their importance.

Penalty for Failure: Unknown

Reward: Unknown

Do you accept: You can not refuse this quest.

I dismissed that screen and felt four dull tugging sensations. I assumed each one would lead me to the quest locations. It appeared I didn't need a map at least not for my own territory. The sun had fully set by now which meant we weren't going to be dealing with these quests until tomorrow. I guided Rex closer to the base of the wall. I placed my back against the wall and closed my eyes.

I awoke early the next day. Thankfully, nothing disturbed us during the night. I stood up and stretched, expecting to feel some stiffness or exhaustion, but I didn’t. I felt wonderful, actually. It was like this was the first time I had truly slept since coming here. There were no new statuses or notifications, so there was nothing special to it, just a really pleasant feeling. It didn’t make much of a difference, so I decided not to dwell on it too much. There wasn’t much to do before heading for the burrow. I gathered Rex, and we set out within the hour. Finding the path was easy. The pull to this place was like a dull magnet, but now that I was here, it was like I had a compass. I couldn’t “see” where I was supposed to go, but it accounted for every slight movement. It gave off major big brother vibes, but it assured I wouldn’t get lost. As long as I stayed within my domain.

The journey took us further west and out of the main valley. We avoided a pair of the mosquito like creatures. We arrived at the entrance to the dungeon almost an hour later. It was mundane looking. The entrance was a sloping ramp that led into the earth. Darkness covered the entrance once you got a few feet in, so I couldn’t see anything else. I sighed before urging Rex further inside. Instead of moving forward, Rex let out a hiss and nearly bucked me off the saddle. I tightened my grip on the reins and pulled him back. Our fight nearly sent me sprawling into the hot sand, but I got him under control. I tried to urge him forward again, but once again he refused. I climbed off of his back and tried to guide him down, but he nearly ripped my arm off in his desire to pull away. “You really don’t want to go down there, huh?” I looked down at the burrow and felt like I was staring into the mouth of a beast just waiting to swallow me up. I considered leaving and coming back another time. When I had more people, but I knew that was impossible. If I backed down now, I wouldn’t be able to convince to come back. There would always be an excuse.

I couldn’t back down, not to fear. I ran my hand over Rex’s scales. “Just wait up here for me. I will return soon. I stepped into the darkness and a chill passed over me. It felt like someone had an industrial fan aimed at the bottom of the slope. It was refreshing, but also a bit creepy. The sand ended a few feet out of sight of the entrance. In its place was an entrance chamber made of black stone. As soon as I stepped onto the stone, I received a notification.

Notice! You have found the Old Dungeon Burrow of the Silver Queen.

I dismissed the notification and cast Sphere of Light. I spread the light throughout the chamber. The room was pretty large. It had a set of stone double door on one side of the room with the image of a tree in the center. I attempted to push both doors open, but it was like trying to move a mountain. Neither door so much as budged as I pushed with everything I had. I turned my attention to the rest of the room and did my best to catch my breath. My gaze was drawn to the opposite side of the room. There was a mural carved into the stone. It depicted a woman sat beneath the canopy of a massive tree. The image called to mind the various world trees of mythology. The only odd thing about the image was the “drips” coming from the branches. At first I thought it referenced rain, but there were no clouds or anything depicting a storm or the weather. Further, it looked like the drops were coming from the leaves, not off of them.

It was possible that the person who made the image was limited and that I was thinking too much about it, but that felt wrong. Either way, I committed the image to memory. If it turned out to be helpful in the dungeon, then great. If it didn’t, it wouldn’t cost me anything. Once I was confident I had every detail memorized, I turned back to the doors. This time, I didn’t try to physically open them. Instead, I focused on them and tried to will them open. It felt ridiculous until I received a notification.

Would you like to open the Burrow of the Silver Queen?

Yes/No

I selected yes, and the doors swung open. There was only darkness on the other side, which was expected and still creepy. I hesitated for a moment before straightening my robes and stepping forward. For a moment, there was nothing but darkness. I had no idea if I was still moving or not. I couldn’t tell if my eyes were open or if I had closed them. Just when I was about to panic, a light exploded around me. I took a deep breath of stale air and dropped to one knee. It took me several seconds to get my bearings. Thankfully, there were no other living things in the room. When I could stand again, I scanned my surroundings. There were two archways leading deeper into the dungeon. Both were side by side and identical, as far as I could tell. “Alright, it looks like it’s my choice of path. I didn’t have a coin, nor any reason to pick one path over the other, so I chose to go right. I stepped through the archway before I could convince myself to do something different. I cast Sphere of Light and led the orb to guide me forward. I kept an eye out for traps, but nothing stood out to me.

I paid extra attention to the stones I was stepping on since that seemed like the most obvious trap method. At least if Indiana Jones had any truth to it. I rounded a corner and entered a hallway with bullet sized holes in the walls. The holes created a literal kill zone between them. I glanced down at my feet and caught sight of a stone that was raised slightly when compared to the surrounding ones. I stepped over it and waited. When nothing happened, I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. “Alright so I avoided the obvious trap. Now I just need to figure out where the trap that should kill me is.” I pushed forward and entered a large room. The room was mostly empty except for a large statue situated in the center of the room. The statue was in the shape of a creature that was a bipedal elephant. The statue’s mouth was open as if sucking in air. In both of its hands, the creature held dull grey stones. In the center of the statue’s body was a stone plaque. I stepped closer to the statue, ready to lash out if it started moving.

Once I was close enough to see the plaque, I realized I was looking at a puzzle. It was a five-by-five grid that formed an image. The image was scrambled, but it was clearly supposed to be the mural from the entrance chamber. It didn’t take a lot of time or effort to slide the stones into the proper place. When I finished, I stepped away from the statue and waited. After a second of silence, I started to worry I had done something wrong. I was just about to start casting Revelation when the wall behind the statue fell away. I slowly stepped around the statue, not trusting things to be this easy, but when I reached the freshly revealed room, without being assaulted. I let out a sigh of relief. I stepped into the next room, eager to see what the rest of the dungeon held.