Chris woke up exactly where he had passed out, thankfully no worse for the wear. In fact, his body had healed up a bit from his encounter with the rats, but he still pulled some rations from his pack and scarfed them down. His HP and MP began to rise more quickly, and he levered himself to his feet once more. With a nod, he accessed the notifications he had dismissed while in the middle of battle.

Level Up!

Congratulations, you have reached Level 3! You now have 10 stat points to distribute. Your health and mana have also been restored!

Quest Update!

Congratulations, you have cleared the Manor House of its rodent infestation! While the Queen Rat escaped, the house can now be restored to its former glory.

Reward: 50 XP, 10 Silver, 50 Dwarven Influence, Manor House

Even as Chris read the Quest Update prompt, the darkness in the manor house began to recede. A blue glow suffused the area and items that were broken became whole once more. Windows were repaired, as was the front door, and Chris began walking through the restored manse. All of the necessities were present, and he received a notification that a new menu was available to him.

Residence Menu:

Residence: Barony of Arnveld

Owner: Chris Duskheart

Tenants: 0

Open Borders: No

Open for Settlement: No

Chris studied the options available as well as a couple additional tabs which detailed the barony’s income and expenditures before closing the panel without making any changes. “Best not to mess with things I don’t quite understand,” he thought to himself. “Good to know that I have a place to call home, though.”

Another notification sound alerted him to his mail icon flashing. He selected it and found a message from Madam Rubymane.

Hello Chris,

Congratulations on completing the quest to clear out your manor house! I received a notification on your paperwork here at the keep! In case you are interested, there are a couple local quests that might keep you busy and earn you some more experience, influence, and coin. They’re attached to this message. Good luck!

- Madam Rubymane”

Chris studied the message and quickly sent back a thankful reply before taking a look at the attached quests.One pertained to clearing out wolves in the surrounding countryside, another with delivering a time sensitive package to a nearby city, and the last with collecting an alchemical ingredient for an apothecary in Genfaldur. He filed the delivery quest away for possible completion later and accepted the remaining two, since they were located in the same general vicinity - at least according to his map.

Quest:

You have been tasked by the city of Genfaldur to clear out a small pack of wolves which ave taken up residence in the forest outside of town. Wolf pelts must be shown to the city guard as proof of completion.

Wolf Pelts: 0/3

Rewards: Wolf Pelts, 100 XP, 25 silver.

Failure: You die before completing the quest.

Quest:

Dokvarn Runewood has requested that someone gather ten arthest plants for use in his arts. These plants can be found in the forest outside of Genfaldur. Arthest plants are notoriously fickle and often wilt before they can be used. Be sure to gather them quickly and return to Dokvarn before they go to waste.

Arthest Plants: 0/10

Rewards: 2 Minor HP Potions, 50 XP, ???

Failure: You fail to deliver the plants before they become unusable or die before completing the quest.

Completing such simple quests shouldn’t take very long, so Chris headed out, closing the door of his new domain behind him. As he headed back down the path, he noticed that, not only had the manse been restored to its former glory, but the fencing beside the path had been repaired as well. What had been a rutted walkway had been cleared and restored to a passable graveled drive - wide enough for a cart to easily traverse it. The withered tress which had lined the road had also been restored, and apples hung from the branches. Reaching up, he plucked several and placed them in his bag, replacing some of the food he had eaten earlier.

New Skill: Harvest

As you gain ranks in this skill you will receive bonuses when you attempt to harvest resources from the world around you.

Current Progress: Novice (3%) - 5% chance to receive one (1) bonus resource when harvesting.

Chris read the notification, and then checked his bag, happy to find that his bonus had already kicked in. Instead of three apples in his bag - as he had expected - there were four. Whistling a happy tune, he continued down the road toward his next waypoint - the forest outside of Genfaldur.

——————————————————————————

Finding the forest had not been difficult, nor had the journey been particularly arduous. Its boundaries lay a mile outside the city, and the road passed by it and even through it in some places. Chris knew enough to not just rush into the thick copses of trees, choosing to carefully scout the edge of the forest - looking for the plants to finish his quest and keeping an eye out for wolves. He found one of the Arthest plants in a shady spot near the forest’s edge, but assumed he would need to venture in further to find the rest.

Stepping into the embrace of the thick trees, it was as if he had entered another world. The songs of the meadow birds and sounds of the many animals and insects of the grasslands quickly died down to be replaced with the quieter cries of forest birds, and he even thought he heard the howl of a wolf in the distance. Chris drew his seax, preparing for any foe he might meet, and pressed onward. In the cool darkness of the forest, he was quickly able to collect almost all of the Arthest plants he needed.

A bit more searching led him to the final plant, located beneath the boughs of a large pine tree. He carefully plucked up the delicate Arthest by the roots and turned to stare into the gaping jaws of a large wolf.