Chapter Three-Hundred Twenty-Five

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Gerlfi

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The goblin summoner eyes the cemetery gates, his friends and party members at his side.  He had been hoping for an opportunity like this, but once it actually became an option, he found himself scrambling to prepare!  He’s formed pacts with dungeon fey before.  It’s his specialty, in fact, so he knows he has to have something to offer that the fey actually want.

But what could a scion want?

It’s a question at the forefront of his mind ever since he learned Thedeim got a fey spawner.  The odd dungeon has its quirks, but he had no doubt that a fey spawner would mean a fey scion, even if it took almost a week for the Dungeoneers to officially announce her: Titania.

Something about the name has weight to it.  Bargaining with her will be no easy task.  Luckily for him, Wold and Vieds both understand how significant it could be for him to form a pact with her.  Wold, the large bearkin, knew without being told that a scion would need far more than milk and honey to agree to be summoned.  Vieds, the changeling pyromancer, was even willing to check his mysterious contacts to see if they had any advice.

What he could give was easy enough to guess the generals of, but the specifics will be daunting: a scion wants something to help their dungeon.  But what could he offer a dungeon like Thedeim?  A year old dungeon should be glad to get maybe some piece of enchanted gear to examine, maybe a seed to grow, a potion to learn.  But by all accounts, Thedeim is the one making new enchantments, new potions, even new seeds if he understands the rumors about a great tree correctly.

The next obvious thing would be to offer him a new variety of denizen.  Thedeim has quite a number of spawners, and seems to have no qualms about making even more.  His latest expansion has him with fey, plants, bears, and foxes!  And that doesn’t even take into account the other spawners getting upgrades!  The difficult thing with getting a new denizen, however, is nobody in his party is a tamer of any sort.  He’s heard that some denizens can be tamed with little or no training, but to get one from a dungeon Thedeim doesn’t already have close ties to would probably take a month to travel, delve, capture, and travel back.

Then Veids had a simple suggestion, something that Gerlfi still isn’t sure if it’s genius or idiocy.  Any other dungeon, he’d never even entertain the idea.  But with Thedeim, it might just be crazy enough to work.

Ask Titania what she wants.

Sure, it ruins the mystery, but it’s difficult to solve one with so few clues!  So now here he stands at the gates to the cemetery, his friends at his side, preparing to enter and go through to the Forest of Four Seasons beyond it.

Wold moves first, ever willing to take the fore and guard his friends from the dangers lurking ahead.  Gerlfi chuckles and shakes his head as he follows, quietly laughing at himself for being so dramatic.  He blames the fey, though not anywhere they might hear.

Veids brings up the rear, closing the gate behind the group before speaking softly, so as not to spoil the atmosphere of the cemetery.  “Do you think it’ll work?”

“Ordinarily: no.  But Thedeim isn’t very ordinary.”

Wold snorts at that and waves at Grim, the intimidating scion peacefully trimming the grass over the graves.  The scion nods in reply, most of his attention on his duty.  “That’s an understatement.  I’m looking forward to the encounters in the forest.  I hear they’re tough, but rewarding.”

Vieds eagerly nods, and somehow manages to keep his voice down as he replies.  “I’m definitely looking forward to it, even if Gerlfi can’t form a pact!  It’s been a while since I had to worry about burning anything other than you two.  It’ll be good practice, if nothing else.”

Wold rumbles a low chuckle as Gerlfi replies.  “You’ve been doing well with that lately, too.  Wold and I may actually need to see a barber soon, instead of simply letting you singe our hair to a more manageable length.”

“I’m glad you appreciate my efforts for the good of the party.  If you two would like me to give you a trim, I’d be happy to oblige.”

“I prefer to let my winter coat shed naturally, thanks.”  The three quietly banter and rib each other as they take the main path through the cemetery, and soon find themselves at the gates to the Forest of Four Seasons.

They head through with little comment, and once inside, the three keep their eyes peeled as they ponder which way to go.  After a few seconds to consider, and consult his mental map, Gerlfi takes the lead.

“This way, I think.  The Scion’s name feels linked to summer, and I think it’s in this direction.”

Wold moves back into the lead as Vieds pulls out his tome, the changeling going over what kind of fire expertise to bring to bear in the woods.  “You guys heard about there being new denizens, yeah?”

Gerlfi nods, a hand grazing over his linked crystals, trying to decide which would be best for this situation.  “The Dungeoneers haven’t updated the packet officially yet, but brambles and armory bees are all the other Adventurers want to talk about.”

“And grizzlies,” adds Wold, earning a nod from both the others.

“I think I’ll focus on area attacks, Gerlfi, if you want to summon something to help Wold in melee?”  Vieds snaps his book closed and stows it, his plan now set, and the goblin turns to the large bearkin.

“Do you want something defensive, or offensive?”

“Offense.  Forming a shield wall with Freddie and Fiona is all well and good, but sometimes I just want to tear foes apart with an ally looking for the same.”

Gerlfi nods and pulls out a crystal.  “Then I think Vieds will need to take extra care with his fire today.  It’s been a while since I summoned Kelpie.  It should be wet enough here she’ll accept, but she definitely doesn’t like fire.”

Vieds shudders and nods.  “That horse terrifies me, but this does seem like a good place for it, yeah.  I’ll be extra careful, so keep an eye out for things on the edges escaping.”

Gerlfi nods and speaks into the crystal.  “Kelpie, I ask your aid.  I offer you a new battleground that can give the variety of a year in only a day.  I offer you untested foes to learn your fury.  And I offer you a bottle of brandy once we get back to the guild.”

Moments later, water gushes from the ground and a pale blue horse steps out and onto the land.  Seaweed replaces the hair of the mane and tail, and the eyes have a distinct predatory gleam to them.  It looks around for a few moments before snorting, briefly revealing sharp teeth that don’t belong in the mouth of any ordinary horse.

Gerlfi does his best to hide his relief that Kelpie seems to approve of the forest.  Kelpies are notoriously difficult to pact with, as their violent nature makes them difficult to tempt.  But offer one a new battleground and new foes, sweeten the deal with some potent booze, and even the quintessential wild horse will deign to listen for at least a while.

Calling Kelpie soon proves to be a good decision as a pair of grizzly bears spot the group through the dense woodland of spring.  Their challenging roar is echoed by Wold and Kelpie, leaving Gerlfi and Vieds to hurry to keep up with their charge.

“Lancing Orb!” cries Vieds as he weaves a sphere of fire to float over the battle.  Wold and one grizzly clash, the denizen’s paws slamming against the bearkin’s club while a swift kick from Kelpie momentarily dazes the other grizzly.  Vieds’ orb shows its name as lines of fire dart down to sear the bear Wold is fighting, the party mostly letting Kelpie have her fun with the other one.

“Impact,” casts Gerlfi, improving the strength of Kelpie’s blows as she continues to kick and buck at the bear, pummeling the thing with the kind of viciousness her kind is known for.  Wold’s bear tries to disengage to somehow deal with the floating orb, but he shoves as it tries, knocking it to the ground before slamming down his club to finish it off.  Kelpie gets the hint and looks disappointed as her bear rears back to slash, only for her to dart forward and take a bite out of its neck.

She happily trots in a circle, chewing as the bear quickly bleeds out, and Gerlfi just keeps repeating to himself that this was the most reasonable Kelpie he could find.

They have several more encounters, one with a bramble fused with a soil elemental, and another with a group of armory bees.  The first is handled by Kelpie washing out the elemental and Vieds burning the bramble, while the second is more of a classic melee brawl.  After the bees, they take a break to catch their breaths.

“The Guild wasn’t joking about this area being tougher.  It looks like even Kelpie is putting in effort,” comments Vieds, and Gerlfi nods at the sheen of sweat on the fey.

“Ordinarily, I’d offer to give her a dirt rub down, but I think she’d bite my hand off if I tried.”  Kelpie nickers and nods at that, looking in high spirits despite being so sweaty.  At least she won’t have any arrows in her quiver to argue Gerlfi didn’t deliver on his offerings.

“Any idea where Titania is?” asks Wold, looking around the warm woodland.

Gerlfi shrugs.  “I think we’re in summer, but aside from that, I don’t know.  She might be around the garden in the center of the woods?  I think the plant scion calls that area home, and a lot of Thedeim’s scions group up.”

Vieds nods at that.  “We don’t have any other… Kelpie’s spotted something.”  The other two look and see the watery horse staring off into the woods, teeth bared at something they can’t see.  But now they’re paying attention, they can hear something… a buzzing sound that’s only growing louder.

Though Kelpie is focused on one direction, Bumblebees descend all around them, each ridden by a bark pixie.  The numbers actually dim the area slightly, the flying denizens blotting out the sun with their numbers.  Suddenly, the buzzing goes silent as every branch, twig, and leaf nearby is landed on, the fey staring intently at the adventurers.  Only one bee stays in the air, and it’s not difficult to tell it must be Titania on her own steed, staring down Kelpie as she continues to buzz forward at a steady, regal pace.

“Please be gentle, Kelpie.  I need to pact with her.”

The summoned fey snorts and paws the ground, clearly looking for a fight.  Gerlfi just hopes the dungeon understands it’s her who wants a fight, not him.