Quest Update: Proper Rest II. Hisako has formally charged you with removing what she considers a dire threat. The Wood Sprites of the Hearth Tree have invoked their alliance with the Mist Village. After the goblin encampment is destroyed, she requires that all of your efforts, and the resources of your village, be focused upon destroying the Lich Lord. Failure to complete this quest will cause substantial damage to your settlement’s relationship with the Hearth Tree and will also damage your personal relationship with Hisako. Time remaining to complete this Quest to the Hearth Mother’s satisfaction: 10 days.
Richter had picked up on the fact that Hisako was serious from her tone, but reading the prompt disturbed him. If he understood it properly, his alliance with the wood sprites would be in jeopardy if he failed his quest. His relationship with the sprites was a cornerstone of his life in The Land. It had never really occurred to him that he might lose their steadfast support. Seeing as the sprites were his only allies in a world full of enemies and monsters, he took what she was saying very seriously.
Speaking formally to match her tone, Richter said, “Lady Hisako. Your support and friendship mean more to me than all the gold in all kingdoms of this world. I know I still have much to learn and count myself lucky that you have chosen to stand beside me to meet the dangers of The Land. You will never need to doubt my dedication to our friendship or our alliance. I promise you, we will destroy this threat.”
Hisako relaxed her gaze, and her face softened, “Thank you, Lord Richter. I am sorry if it appeared that I doubted you. As children of the forest, my people will always stand against forces that will corrupt it. Thank you for honoring your commitment to us.”
You have received +500 (base +250) Relationship Points with Hisako. Current Relationship: Ally. Total Relationship Points: 102,378.
The Mist Village has received +500 (base +250) Relationship Points with the Hearth Tree. Current Relationship: Ally. Total Relationship Points: 101,411.
The Mist Village has received 500 (base +250) Diplomacy Points in regards to the Hearth Tree.
Lack of Town Hallcauses complete loss of any gained Diplomacy Points. Current Diplomacy Points (Mist Village→ Hearth Tree):0
Know This! You have made a bold promise to the Hearth Mother. She has taken you at your word. All relationship and diplomacy bonuses increased by 100%. Failure to fulfill your promise will cause any losses to relationship and diplomacy to be increased by 500%. Never forget, your words have meaning!
500%, Richter thought, incredulous! So, basically, if he fucked this quest up, his alliance was gone? The sprites wouldn’t abandon him completely, but it took a hundred thousand points for them to look at him as an ally. The chaos seed was still discovering what all of this meant, but he was pretty sure that he didn’t want to lose his “ally” status. He didn’t think the sprites would completely abandon him, but it might disrupt their trade agreement for instance.
Richter shook his head. Were the higher stakes because he had used the word “promise”? Abrams and Whedon, he really had to watch his big mouth! Why the hell did it always seem like it was getting him into trouble? Why couldn’t he just be like his boy Ash and get himself out of trouble with a smooth, “Well, uhhh, that’s just what we call pillow talk, baby.”
There was nothing for it now. He was committed. Besides, he wasn’t planning on failing. He put the consequences of failure out of his mind. One thing that did grind his gears, though, was the loss of the Diplomacy points. He wasn’t even sure what they were, but he was sure he wanted them. Richter resolved to make building a townhall a priority when he got back. It would go right up on the list with his other high priorities, like making a barracks, and building the wall higher, and getting more researchers, and, oh yeah, destroying an undead lord in the heart of his own kingdom!
Richter did his best to keep the frustration and dismay off of his face. Instead, he bowed slightly and said, “It is I who am honored, Master Hisako.”
The Hearth Mother smiled at him and handed back Krista’s coin. She gave a quick command to Yoshi, and the adept started moving around the warband, doing last minute checks. The koolari attack had cost them both lives and time. There was still a task to be done, however. The Hearth Mother was standing next to the pile of dead monsters and was whispering a spell. A white glow appeared on her hand, and she touched her second and third finger to the space between her eyes. The aura faded a moment later, and she simply said, “Hmm.”
Richter looked at her for a few seconds, but her attention stayed on the body of the koolari that she was looking over. Finally, he asked, “Hmm, what?”
She looked up at him like she had forgotten he was there, but then wove her hand through the air again, almost absently, and said, “Paras Revalde.” A white glow enveloped her fingers for a second time, and she touched him between his eyes. Richter’s response was a bit more enthused: “Whoa!”
It was like his Herb Lore skill had gotten supersized! Since reaching apprentice rank, most plants that he saw had a slight glow to them. It indicated that they could be used for some crafting purpose, either as a potion component, a piece of an item or a spell component. He was also able to identify many positive and negative effects that would come from just eating them. Richter could control it at this point; the glow barely noticeable at baseline, but it grew brighter when he paid close attention. Not anymore.
Everything around him was almost pulsing with color. It was not glaring in any way but instead gave everything a faint phosphorescence. That was only the beginning, however. His Herb Lore sight normally just gave plants a faint glow that matched their color. Red lautum glowed red, Krin ocher glowed orange, and so on. Now, however, plants and certain parts of the koolari were illuminated in colors different from what he could normally see. The colors were familiar, though. After a moment, he realized what Hisako’s spell was actually doing. The chaos seed felt compelled to express himself even more eloquently than before, “Dooooode!”
Every useful herb nearby was glowing in a color that reflected its rarity. Most of the plants around were glowing white to show that they were common. There was a fair smattering of green and even a few spots of blue to indicate uncommon and unusual herbs. Richter wiped his head back and forth, vainly hoping to see the red of rare or the yellow of mythic plants or perhaps even the orange of a legendary component. It didn’t happen.
What he did see, however, and what had made Hisako ‘huh’ was that the throats of each of the Koolari were glowing the exact shade of purple that his scarce items had in prompts. Richter looked at Hisako, and she nodded.
“Let me know what you find,” the Hearth Mother said before walking off. “We need to leave in five minutes.”