Chapter 167: Blending In

Darkshot, with his pigeon left with Rakkan, made his way to the lower branches of the city and began wandering around. Anytime he neared a group of guards, he found himself reactively tugging on his Seeker’s hood to make sure it remained firmly in place.

“Learn about the city…” Darkshot mumbled to himself as he paused at an intersection near the trunk of the tree, panning his eyes around at the surrounding environment. From what he could see, it didn’t feel all too unlike Kordas aside from the fact that it was strictly Dark Elves present. The guards patrolled the streets in groups of two, the shopkeeper NPCs tried to flag down other NPCs passing by to sell goods from a few market stands that lined the intersections, but most NPC’s AI were too simple to react to this and continued past them going about their business.

Some NPCs traveled alone, others moved in groups. On numerous occasions Darkshot spotted out families walking together, with younger children giggling and laughing along as they went.

Overall, it looked peaceful, but Darkshot’s image of the city was completely different from what he’d heard from Iuonok back in the ruins of Belmiure, so he’d assumed there was something missing, just as Aegis had.

Once he felt he’d learned all he could from just watching the NPCs move about on the streets, he decided he’d need to interact with them to learn more. He spotted a bowyer shop lining one of the dark grey plank streets just outside of the intersection he stood at and made his way towards it.Up a small staircase of three steps,, he opened the door to the wooden building and stepped inside.

The building had no windows or torches. Instead, for interior lighting it relied on the dull glow of the wooden planks that the building was constructed out of. Before stepping through the doorway, Darkshot rubbed his fingertips along the frame. It felt cold, but like normal wood. The glow was intriguing to him, but he decided to shrug it off - Aegis was better at handling the crafting and material side of things. Still, he was feeling tempted to ask Aegis to craft him a bow using the glowing wood, for its potential coolness factor.

These were his thoughts as he stepped into the bowyer and spotted racks containing beautifully crafted longbows, shortbows and crossbows, all made from the dimly glowing wood.

There was a Dark Elf shopkeeper behind the counter who looked up at him as he entered, but Darkshot was eager to inspect the glowing weapons more closely and walked toward the nearest rack, picking up the first longbow he found.

He lifted it up off the rack to inspect it and confirmed that it did indeed glow completely, at least the wooden portion of it. Unfortunately, the quality and stats of the bow were significantly worse than what Aegis’ had crafted for him.

“Can I help you?” The shopkeeper asked him with a raised brow. Darkshot turned to see him staring skeptically at him, and got nervous the moment he saw the name above his head. [Varijas(Elite) - Level 115].

“Why are so many shopkeepers elite?” Darkshot grumbled to himself under his breath. “Uh, yes. These bows are great, but where would one go to get the glowing wood to craft my own?” Darkshot asked nervously. Varijas didn’t reply immediately, instead tilted his head to the side suspiciously.

“Are you new around here?” He asked, and suddenly the air in the shop felt extremely tense.

“No, no of course not.”

“Then how would you not know where the wood comes from?”

“Ahah, well, you see…” Darkshot scratched the back of his hood awkwardly, but quickly realized he was accidentally shifting its position and began adjusting it back into position. “My parents, they never let me outside much, or teach me things. That's why I don’t know much. It’s my first time being let outside. Haha.” Darkshot laughed nervously.

“You look to be at least 300 years old, though…” Varijas squinted at him.

“Yup, yeah. That’s me. The 300 year old homebody. I’ve got a really nice house. Lots of things to do… but!” Darkshot clapped his hands loudly, taking a page out of Aegis’ book, “Enough about me, tell me about this wood. Did you cut it yourself? Where can I get some?” Darkshot asked. The skeptical stare continued, as did the silence.

“You see my parents gave me all this gold to go shopping for a bow, I just don’t know much about what to look for.” Darkshot desperately pulled out all of his gold in his coin pouch and jingled it. The sight of the large sack of coins did the trick - Varijas’ skepticism seemed to vanish almost immediately.

“I see. Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to inform you how it is made.” Varijas moved around his counter and gently took the glowing longbow out of Darkshot’s hands, displaying it more clearly for Darkshot to see. “Once you have been given approval from the Master of the Tree, you are allowed a certain amount of wood each month.”

“Master of the tree?” Darkshot asked.

“Yes, the leader of the druids that tend to the White Tree and make sure it remains in good health. They control how much of its wood is cut, and distribute it to the various craftsman within the city.”

“I see, they need to make sure not to take too much from the tree, else it’ll die, right?” Darkshot asked.

“Precisely. To receive approval from the Master of the Tree, you must demonstrate exceptional craftsman ship in a skill that utilizes the wood, so that it is not wasted. I, of course…” Varijas did a light bow and motioned proudly to his creations hung about the shop. “Easily impressed the Master. And, from the wood of the white tree I’ve been given, have crafted all of these magnificent creations.”

“That’s awesome.” Darkshot smiled as he got taken in by the story, but quickly shook out of it. “So, can anyone go before the Master of the Tree and try to impress them?” Darkshot asked.

“Well… I suppose. Why, you think you have what it takes?” Varijas’ went back to staring skeptically.

“Oh, no no. I could never craft anything as impressive as you have. I’m just curious…” Darkshot shrugged.

“Well. I suppose, yes. The Master Resides in the upper city, though, and to enter there you must be granted permission by Kur’aktos. As you probably know.”

“You need permission from Kur’aktos to enter the upper city?”

“Yes. The Royal Ring, to be more precise. Kur’aktos keeps the upper tree under strict guard. Only those of nobility or great wealth are typically allowed up there, but you can be given a special, temporary pass in order to meet with the Master of the Tree. I of course, was able to easily obtain it, once Kur’aktos saw my impressive woodcrafts.”

“So you’ve met Kur’aktos before?” Darkshot asked him.

“Yes. Only once, and very briefly.” Varijas replied proudly while gently setting the longbow back down on the weapon rack.

“What was he like?” Darkshot asked with glowing eyes.

“I’m not sure. He didn’t speak much. He was busy, but of course approved my request. So, even in our short meeting, he could see my talents. Now, what would you like to purchase from me today?” Varijas stepped back and waved once more at his wares.

“Oh, uh…” Darkshot glanced around at the shop. Truthfully, none of it, but he knew his story wouldn’t fly if he walked out empty handed so instead looked carefully around the shop until he spotted the cheapest Shortbow he could find.

“That one, that looks perfect.” Darkshot pointed it out. Immediately, Varijas looked between the bow and back to Darkshot with disappointment.

“Are you sure? There are much better options available. If you’re looking for a shortbow, how about this one?” Varijas quickly waddled over to the most expensive shortbow in the shop.

“Nah, I think that one there is the one for me.” Darkshot insisted, causing Varijas to sigh with annoyance as he wandered towards it and lifted it up to hand over.

Darkshot fidget with his coin pouch to balance the currency, then gladly held it out and exchanged it for the bow.

“Thanks for everything!” He grinned over-enthusiastically.

“Have a pleasant day. May the tree’s light forever shine on you.” He bowed politely.

“Ah, yes, you too. May the tree’s light forever shine on you.” Darkshot bowed back before leaving the shop and stepping back out into the street.

“Yo Aegis, once we’re done these quests, I figured out how you can get some cool glowing wood to craft with.” Darkshot eagerly sent through the party interface.

“Awesome, I was wondering about that. A lot of the buildings and furniture around here look really cool with how it glows.” Aegis replied.

“Forget furniture, I want a glowing bow.” Darkshot replied.

“Oooh, I want a glowing staff.” Pyri joined into the conversation.

“Guys, c’mon, focus.” Aegis sighed.

“Ok, ok. I learned we need permission from Kur’aktos to enter the upper city, something called the Royal Ring. And theres a group of druids that live up there that take care of the tree, they control the supply of the glowing wood. Kur’aktos also doesn’t talk much.” Darkshot said to the others.

“Anything else?”

“Nope, not yet. I’ll keep looking.” Darkshot replied before closing out of his party communications interface, then panning his eyes around the nearby buildings once more.

Feeling more confident now, he decided to step up from shop and head towards a more social building - a tavern. He spotted one built out away from the base of the tree a few meters out of the same glowing planks that everything else was built out of, but had light grey stone as a foundation and used for several pillars to hold up the large three story structure.

The tavern’s floors were high, so that the third story of the building reached a branch on the tree above it and the structure appeared to continue into the branch itself, up through it and out the top where the Tavern’s roof was sitting atop a 4th floor on the branch above. What it had in height, it lacked in width, but Darkshot could see several NPCs wandering in and out of its welcoming set of double doors.

He took a deep breath to psych himself up before walking towards it and pushing the doors open to step inside.

Despite being made of the glowing wood, it had windows to allow the pure, brighter white light of the tree inside and illuminated the interior with a blinding light.

The tavern floor was large and multi-leveled, with a staircase leading up to a balcony on the second floor. Round, rectangular and square tables were scattered about with chairs and stools around them. On the far wall in front of him was a long bar that stretched the entirety of the far wall, with a door behind it leading into the kitchens and a bartender working hard serving drinks behind it.

It was all Dark Elves, and some were obviously drunk, with rosy red cheeks shining through their normally pale dark skin. There was chatter, laughter, and a light tune being played from a lute-wielding bard on the right side of the tavern.

Despite the size, it felt cramped with how many patrons and barmaids were moving about, but Darkshot was relieved to see that none of them were elite.

“They’re just non-elite NPCs. Easy to question. No need to worry.” Darkshot whispered to himself as he stood in the doorway of the tavern, panning around at the variety of individuals before him. He tried to look for the least intimidating looking NPC to talk to, and eventually spotted out a single, young looking female Dark Elf sitting at a square table by herself, drinking from a glass mug that reflected the light of the tree that made its way in from the windows.

With his target chosen, Darkshot strode across the tavern floor and pulled up the chair on the table opposite the NPC, eying [Uylien - Level 15] above her head.

“Hello, can I help you with something?” She asked curiously as she watched him take a seat.

“Yes, actually, I am looking for a friend.” Darkshot asked.

“Oh. What does your friend look like?” Ulyien replied. Her nature of speaking felt very robotic and put Darkshot at ease - he could tell this was an NPC AI that had never been interacted with by another player almost immediately.

“No, I mean, I am looking for a new friend. Can you be my friend?” Darkshot asked.

“I’m sorry, I’m not interested in becoming your friend.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know who you are.”

“My name is Darkshot.”

“Nice to meet you. My name is Uylien.”

“Okay, well…” Darkshot pondered for a moment. “What do you do for a living, Ulyien?”

“I was assigned the role of caretaker.” She replied.

“Assigned?”

“Yes, by Kur’aktos. What were you assigned?”

“Uh, me?” Darkshot replied awkwardly as he thought of an answer. “I was assigned caretaker as well.”

“Really? I’d never heard of any men being assigned caretaker. Most are assigned to be guards, or craftsmen. Are you extremely weak?” Ulyien asked nonchalantly.

“No, it’s just, I’m a very good caretaker.”

“But, every male Dark Elf is required to serve to protect the city, or craft for our people. I don’t understand.”

“You’re right, I was just joking. I am actually a craftsman.” Darkshot quickly replied as he saw her beginning to stare at him skeptically.

“I see. You were joking.” She smiled. “What sort of craftsman are you?”

“I craft bows. I just got permission from Kur’aktos to visit the Master of the Tree.”

“Oh, wow. That is quite a great honor. You must be very skilled at woodworking.” Uylien smiled at him.

“Yup, that’s me. Skilled Woodworker. I made this bow myself.” He nodded his head towards the bow on his back that Aegis’ had crafted for him.

“Incredible. It looks more powerful than any bow I’ve seen before.” Ulyiem smiled politely.

“I sometimes craft things for my friends, free of charge, you know.” Darkshot winked. “Want to be my friend now? Since we know a bit about each other?”

“Sure, I suppose I could be your friend.” She smiled warmly. “What is your rotation, so we can arrange times to meet?” Ulyien asked excitedly, but she’d said a whole lot of things that Darkshot didn’t understand.

“My rotation?”

“Your rotation. Your working hours. My 100 hours starts in 5 hours. This is the middle of my break time.”

“Your break time is 10 hours, between 100 hours of work?”

“Yes, just like everyone else's. If our break times line up nicely, we can become very good friends.”

“Ah. Yes. Well, this is also the middle of my break time. So we can become great friends.” Darkshot replied hesitantly.

“That is perfect. It is so rare for times to line up between strangers, I thought it only happened for families, pre-arranged by Kur’aktos. We are perhaps fated to be friends.” Ulyiem continued her smile, and Darkshot slowly watched as more life was brought into her NPC AI.

“Yeah, what are the chances?” Darkshot replied while avoiding directly at her. “So, caretaker, huh? What is that like?”

“It is enjoyable to watch over the children of those whose parents are working, or have fallen defending the city.”

“I bet. You’re good with kids, then, right?”

“Yes.” She nodded proudly.

“Was there another job you were hoping for?”

“No… well…” She looked around the tavern. “I suppose being a servant wouldn’t be bad. If i was assigned to a tavern as a barmaid, I could meet lots of different people that are not so young, like the children.” She replied.

“What other jobs are there, can you remind me?” Darkshot asked her curiously.

“For women, typically we are assigned as a caretaker, servant, or farmer. Unless we are skilled in magic, then we are given the same opportunities to become wizards or druids.”

“What about priests, or warlocks?” Darkshot asked, but the moment he had, Ulyien suddenly looked at him with horror.

“Do not speak of those, not even in jest.” She whispered while glancing around the tavern to make sure no one had heard him.

“Right, sorry. Bad joke…” Darkshot replied awkwardly as he too glanced around to make sure no one had heard him. “Then, the men of course, we’re craftsman or guards, right?”

“Yes. Depending on how well you preform in your tasks, I’ve heard its possible for even guards to be promoted to Royal status.” Ulyien replied.

“Royal status?” Darkshot asked with a curiously raised brow.

“Yes. Those who obtain enough wealth or preform particularly heroic deeds are sometimes selected by Kur’aktos to move up to the Royal Ring. Those in the Royal Ring, like magic users and nobles, are not forced to work like the rest of us. It’s the dream of every Dark Elf in the city to live up there.” Ulyien said with a twinkle of hope in her eyes as she thought on it.

“I see, so the only way to escape the 100 hours of work, 10 hours off life is to become a noble, or flee the city.”

“I wouldn’t dream of leaving the city. Nothing but death awaits us outside these walls. It’s for that very reason Kur’aktos forbids it, to protect us. We are safe here.” Ulyien nodded back at Darkshot with confidence.

“Right.” Darkshot returned the nod as he pondered for a moment. “100 hours is a bit much though, isn’t it? Don’t you need to sleep?”

“Hah.” Ulyien waved this off with a smirk. “Another funny jest, right? Everyone knows that Dark Elves don’t sleep. Only some light meditation in a place of rest once in awhile is enough for me. One hour. How long do you usually meditate for during your rest time?” Ulyien asked him curiously.

“Me? Uh… well, you know. Like, an hour also.”

“I see. Perhaps we can meditate together, since our rest times line up. Would you like to meditate with me?” She asked him, and suddenly his cheeks went red.

“Ah, well, actually, you know, I’ve already got another girl I like to meditate with.” Darkshot replied quickly.

“Oh. I see.” She looked down at the table with disappointment. “Well, if you change your mind, let me know. I’ve never meditated with another man before, so I am inexperienced, but it interests me greatly.”

“Whoa.” Darkshot eyes went wide. “I don’t know if I’m misunderstanding this meditating stuff, but, hm. I think actually, I have to go now.”

“Really?” Ulyien looked up with sadness as she watched Darkshot anxiously stand up from the table.

“Yes, but, it was nice to talk with you. Let’s do it again sometime, during our resting hours.”

“Oh. Okay. Yes. I will be here during my next resting hours.” She informed him as she stood up as well.

“Okay. Great. I’ll try to meet you here.”

“I would like that.” She smiled back as Darkshot turned and began leaving the table. “Ah, may the tree’s light forever shine on you!” she called out after him.

“May the tree’s light forever shine on you.” Darkshot waved back at her before he stumbled out of the tavern and found himself back out on the plank streets.

“Man…” Darkshot opened up his party interface to talk to the others. “Dark Elf girls are really intense.”

“What happened?” Pyri was the first to reply.

“I don’t know. One moment, we were just talking, next thing I know she wanted to meditate with me.”

“Meditate with you?” Rakkan replied.

“Yeah. Did you know Dark Elves don’t really sleep? So meditating is like their way of sleeping. So basically, she wanted to sleep with me.” Darkshot replied.

“Are you sure that’s what she meant?” Aegis answered skeptically.

“Pretty sure.” Darkshot replied.

“Did you learn anything interesting from her before that?” Aegis asked.

“Oh yeah, lots of stuff.” Darkshot said, and as he began walking back towards the house in the lower city, he explained to everyone all of the things he’d learned from Ulyien.