In the Overcavern Forest, on the continent called The Plane of Endless Wild Magic by the Aeon Slugs, which was called the Lost Continent by anyone else who lived in The World, there was a 'nation', and I use the term so very loosely, of fairies. Forest Fairies to be exact, nothing like the Dark Fairies who had joined into one being and named itself [The Bad Cloud].

The only things Forest Fairies had in common with their dark cousins was a chaotic nature, a poor understanding of when a prank had gone too far, the [Omnivore] perk which had just been granted to all the fairy races, a new fondness for eating meat, an intensely xenophobic attitude towards all non-fairy sub-species, a culture that emphasized the importance of going out and engaging in combat of some kind on a daily basis, the ability to mass communicate with one another by laughing as a group, color coordination with their element, greens and browns and blues for forest fairies, and black and purple and grey for dark fairies, and. . . and. . . and.

Well, they were exactly like dark fairies in almost every way. Most fairies were pretty much the same in terms of their average-mass temperament. The difference was forest fairies didn't think it was fun to hurt things for days on end. Tens of minutes? ‘Please and thank you,’ they would say.

No that's a lie, no fairy has ever said 'Please and thank you', not even as a joke. It's likely only a few have ever said please in an honest way, in the entirety of history.

In the Overcavern Forest, on the same tree which Ben was currently speaking to an Aeon Slug, was a village of forest fairies.

They were considered by all the other fairy villages to be completely out of their minds crazy. In fact it was famous among the entire forest for the outrageous behaviors exhibited by its inhabitants. It was also the only place in the forest that accepted exiled fae, which added to its reputation. Among a race that treats torment and light torture like a night out with the boys, it’s pretty difficult to get exiled, but it did happen, and they ended up in Strange Town.

The strangest thing about them, 'aside from everything else' a chatty gossip of a forest fairy might tell someone, was that they kept adding to the size of their village.

Fairies followed a natural order which closely resembled the hive-like nature of the honey bee. They would grow, gather resources, build a village-like every other fairy village, reproduce with one another and when their numbers grew too large? They would swarm, and half of the village would leave to establish a new village.

But Strange Town, as it was called by the other fairies, did not swarm and split. They, instead, just continued building their village bigger and bigger, until it wasn't a village anymore.

It was a town.

In fact, their rampant breeding and their recent acquisition of [Omnivore] meant they were growing at an unprecedented rate!

They were about to become an official, sanctioned by The System, City, complete with the option to purchase a City Crystal(!). The City Crystal would be only the eighth in The World. They were going to be given this option because it would be the first fairy city, anywhere, ever.

Yes, things were getting a little. . . strange in Strange Town.

The fae were swarming creatures, they worked in concert with one another; few of them even had names, going their entire lives without ever being referred to as an individual. They didn't mind it, at all. Having a name was something of an annoyance, because then it meant someone could ask them, specifically, to do something. Names, and distinct identities in general, were a responsibility which fae in general loathed, and was foisted onto some unlucky fairy who had to be the village chief and make decisions.

In Strange Town, almost all of them had names, which they'd given to themselves.

'Completely insane', the chatty little fairy gossip might say, looking over her shoulder and giving someone a knowing look. 'I'd sooner lose a wing than name myself!' she would go on, then probably get bored with talking and resume throwing rocks at creatures that couldn't catch her easily.

In the burgeoning, bursting at the seams Strange Town, the fae were starting to come into conflict with one another; something that rarely happened among the swarming fairies. They were starting to fight amongst themselves, and any outsider could see their whole settlement was on the verge of total collapse.

It would be a civil war, and a black mark on the collective memory of the fairies. A story they told their cute little bug-like babies, about why Names were bad.

They would rip each other to shreds to the last, destroying everything, consumed by madness and grief at the wrongness of their existence. Nothing would remain except a patch of forest the fae avoided flying in. They wouldn't want to remember that place, but they would never be able to forget.

“They're going to destroy my home!” the Aeon Slug cried to Ben, real tears running from his enormous, beautiful eyes and down his stalks, as he finished his tale of the strange fairies and their Strange Town.

“Please, you've got to do something! If you do, I will. . . I'll give you The Quest, the one only my kind can grant. Aeon Slugs are older than The System, and lived in this place long before he arrived and struck the bargain that made The World his. We have special privileges and rights, and one of our sworn duties is to administer The Quest.”

“What's 'the quest',” Ben asked, leaning on his fist, intentionally not capitalizing the term.

“What's The Quest? It's the quest to beat The World, Ben! It's the whole point of this game, the way out of here, the way to win! ”

“Oh,” Ben said, eyes wide, “The Quest, quest.”

“Yes, the great adventure! That which proved those who left this place were worthy of the power they would obtain here. It is given to few, but if you help me, I will join with you, and I will be your guide,” he paused, taking a deep, sluggy breath.

“Ben, will you help me?”