Resurgence: The Rise of Resurgence Book 1 (45 page)

“What would ya know?”

“Our young Ranger friend is improving his abilities within our group. He has already figured out how to better his arrow heads, but is still looking for that perfect wood for his shaft.” Thank the gods that Dan wasn’t actually next to me when I said that line. I was having an internal fight not to make a dick joke as it was. “Elder Elven wood makes the best arrows in the land, but it is forbidden to touch an Elven tree within their forest. The penalty is death, and they take such things seriously. However, outside of the Elven woods, there are no restrictions. Our Ranger is looking for such a tree. He would of course not cut it down, but simply take a small part in order to fashion his wares. Would you by chance know of where one could find such a tree in these lands?”

The King thought for a while on my question. Locations of Elven trees outside of their forests was a closely guarded secret for the very reason we were discussing now. No wood flew straighter and farther than Elven wood. But cutting one down, even outside of the Elven woods, could have disastrous results.

“I appreciate your word Alex; it means a lot to me. But your word ain’t enough in the course of matters like this. I would need your oath that ya wouldn’t cut down the tree, but also that ya would never give away its location as well. Failure to follow yer oath will result in dire consequences for not only you and yer companions, but for the entire Clan.”

So that’s how he wanted to play it. Well I could appreciate the move, and didn’t have a problem making the oath. I spoke true that we had no plans on cutting down any trees.

Once the oath was made, the King indicated two locations on my map where one could find the trees. I thanked the King profusely and then said my farewells to him and his entourage. He reminded me that my group would be welcome any time Under the Mountain as friends of the Dwarves.

Now that Dan had arrived, and had said his goodbyes to our adopted kinsmen, it was time to inform everyone about the next move for our group.

* * *

Dan reviewed the two spots I had marked on the map. The first was a short ride from our current location and so we decided to check that one out. We approached to within 100 meters of our intended targets and dismounted from our horses. I activated my Blacksuit and fell easily back into my role of scout. I approached the tree and had to stop just to admire how beautiful it was.

Elven Elder trees are a blindingly white wood that nearly glows. The only thing that kept us from seeing this tree, and likely any other adventurer who had come along, was that it was smack dab in the middle of a copse of large pine trees that nearly hid the Elven tree from sight. It almost looked like it was by design. The Elven tree was large, but not as tall as the pines around it, which also helped to hide its location. Furthermore, I couldn’t see much around the tree due to the other foliage.

I snuck up closer to the Elven tree and spotted what I figured would be waiting. There were four Dire Wolves that had decided to call this tree home. A raised root on the west side of the tree was currently home to two of the wolves, nestling in the comfort of the overhang. The two other wolves were lounging just next to the tree. I checked their levels and saw that three of them were Yellow and one was Blue. This would not be an easy fight at all if we wanted to take control of the tree.

I ran back to the group and reported my findings. No one was eager to tackle four Dire Wolves at once, especially with three of them being Yellow, and we decided to check out the second location before making a decision on how to progress.

As we made our way toward the second location I started to worry. I looked at my map again, and verified my fears. The location the King had given us was literally sitting right over Stan’s house. I had visited there on multiple occasions but had never seen a tree of any kind. It’s possible that I missed it since I was looking for a door that first time, and after that always looking to avoid the four beasts surrounding Stan’s domicile.

In order to keep my group from seeing the entrance to Stan’s home I rode us around to the far side of the clearing that represented the entrance to Stan’s place. I told my teammates that going into a clearing made no sense, since there were no trees located there, and they bought my explanation.

I slowed our approach to where the tree was supposed to be located, much as we had done before finding the first tree. I dismounted from my horse and started walking deeper into the forest. Normally I would activate my Blacksuit before approaching an area like this, but I wanted to aggro the four mobs a bit, and force them to come out. I hoped that coming in from the opposite side would have the same effect as going toward Stan’s front door.

It was easy to see why I never saw the tree in previous encounters. One, it was much smaller than the first tree we found. And second, it was hidden amongst a grove of trees much like the other Elven Elder tree we found. As I continued to walk toward the tree, slowly as not to over aggro the mobs, the four animals appeared. It was the same two Giant Bears, one Dire Wolf, and one War Boar. And as they had been since the first time I encountered them, all four mobs were still Red to me. For the first time, I was thankful for this fact!

I walked back to our group and told them again what I had found. Dan gave a low whistle, and rightly assessed we should stay away from this tree. Since we were close to Port Town at this point, I suggested we head back to town and decide what our next move would be. Dan was the first to agree. Mostly because it had been days since he had visited the Tavern.

“I can’t wait to get back and tell everyone how I saved Naugha’s backside. I’m going to tell everyone about it. Everyone!”

“What happens if we just don’t give him any money? Can we do that Alex?” Wayne begged.

“Sorry man, money or not, Dan isn’t going to miss this opportunity.”

While we continued to chat, we arrived at town and settled down next to the fountain in the Town Square. Jason and Dan were at 85 percent or so into Level 17. Wayne and I around 60 percent. Not all that far from Level 18 for any of us. Admittedly, I would feel better about taking on the Dire Wolves with another level, and Dan and Jason with all their new spells. But if the guys wanted to try now, I wouldn’t say no. However, the guys were all in agreement that we should get our next levels and spells before we tried to tackle the unknown encounter. We hadn’t been online long today, but our previous day was exhausting to say the least. Dan planned to hit the Tavern, Wayne was going to go find Jenny and her group and hang out there, while Jason planned to log off. We agreed to meet the next day at our usual time.

I then went back out of the city and headed to go see Stan.

I activated my Blacksuit long before I arrived at Stan’s place and made my way to his door. I walked through the front door, losing my Blacksuit as the one point of damage that came from the trap dropped my invisibility. I couldn’t wait to learn how to disarm those things.

“What brings ya back here lad? Are you heading to the Capitol already?” Stan asked.

“No, nothing like that. Still haven’t been told to head that way. I’m actually here to talk to you about the tree growing behind your house.”

“What do you know about that tree?” Stan asked, coming closer to me and looking a little worried.

I then went through the whole story, from Wayne meeting the Dwarves, to liberating the mine, to meeting the King Under the Mountain and finding out about the tree. Stan’s jaw dropped more and more as the story went on.

“Well look at ya lad! Making deals with Dwarves! And the King no less! You made a wise move by getting the King to name you a friend to the Dwarves. That will pay ya back time and again. Far more than any Gold could.”

“Thanks Stan. Those were my thoughts as well. But that is what brought me and my group here today, looking for the Elven Elder tree.”

“Did your friends see my place?” Stan asked, showing a bit of worry again.

“No. I realized quickly where we were heading and I took us around the back side of the hill. I rationalized that there wouldn’t be any trees in the middle of a clearing, and so we needed to head around. My friends agreed with my assessment.”

“Good. I can’t imagine what would have happened if they had seen me door and wanted to go inside.”

“Well I don’t see us coming back here anytime soon. Your guardians stepped out like they normally do once I got close to your home without my Blacksuit on. And my friends were in no mood to challenge four creatures who all looked like they could kill us with one hit.”

“My guardians? Is that what you think dem beasts are?” Stan asked while laughing. “Lad, those beasts are out there to guard dat tree!”

Due to my confused look, Stan explained in more detail.

“I can’t even tell you how many years ago it was that it happened, but that tree had been there for as long as I could remember. Loved it too, all shiny and bright. I knew what it were, but didn’t realize its significance until later when a traveling Elf passed through my glade.

“Said he could feel the tree from miles away. Walked right on up to it, he did. I had already snuck around behind him, in case he planned on doing it harm, and was ready to slice him open deep. But when I heard him speaking quietly to the tree, with admiration and love, I knew he wasn’t there to hurt it. So I walked some distance away and stepped from da shadows. When the Elf realized I was there he started to cast a spell, but I put my hands up to show him this weren’t an attack.

“I told him, ‘you be standing next to me home sir!’ and I pointed to me hill. He wanted to know if I had any idea what was growing so close to me, and I told him I did and came out here often to sit by her. I think because I called it a ‘her’ he went more at ease. He then made the offer that granted me some wonderful protection for me home. You see, them beasts out there is summoned to protect the tree. As long as the tree lives, so do they. You could stab away at just one of them for the next year and you wouldn’t kill it unless the tree died first.

“I never much minded since they don’t bother me none inside me home, and to leave I just have to step in the shadows before I walk out the house. Pretty much what I already do anyhow. And anyone approaching me hill had better be a rogue if they want to make it anywhere close to my front door!” Stan finished with laughter in his voice.

“Well I can assure you, we won’t be making any more runs this way. But I appreciate the explanation. Thanks for the time Stan and I hope to see you soon when I get word to head to the Capitol.”

“Aye lad, it’ll come sooner than you think. Just be careful around that other tree. Any elf sees you taking so much as a piece of wood from it, they won’t care that it ain’t in their forest, they will try to kill you dead on the spot.”

“Thanks again for the advice my friend.” And with that, I left Stan’s and headed back to town. I was going to follow Jason’s lead and log out early. I was ready for a nap after our crazy couple of days.

* * *

September 19th, 2043

“We aren’t going to find any mobs around here that will give us experience, so I guess we go looking for bad guys. We haven’t been out past the Bandit Camp too much, since we never wanted to aggro those guys on accident. We could try out that way,” Jason suggested the next morning when we were all logged on again.

“I’m in agreement with Allister, I want to get as far away from Port Town as we can. And we will probably need a couple of days to get our levels up to 18,” Wayne said.

Dan had kept his word, and for hours Wayne had received private messages from players he had never met or spoken to, who were asking about Dan’s exploits. It appeared that Dan may have exaggerated his role in keeping Wayne alive, among other things. The pink tutu that Wayne was allegedly wearing during the attack on the Orckin was one such example, and was the subject of much ribbing. One quarter of the messages Wayne received were from players making fun of him for wearing such a thing. Another quarter were female players that wanted to know where they could get the item. The other half consisted mostly of laughter.

To his credit, Dan didn’t mention anything about the specifics that led to the encounter, leaving out the location of the mine and the mobs the group faced. But Dan sure could weave a story and even without full details, everyone in the Tavern believed him. More so, all of the people in the Tavern had friends, who also heard the story. And the ridiculousness grew exponentially as each person told the story again and again. Wayne was bombarded by hundreds of messages.

Since AltCon had not introduced any Player vs. Player combat in the game, Wayne couldn’t just kill Dan outright. But if that system were in place, I had no doubt that Wayne would have stood over Dan’s spawn point and just slaughtered him repeatedly, yelling out over and over “How you like my pink tutu now Dan?!?” In a sign of self-preservation, Dan stayed far away from Wayne for the rest of the day, only commenting that he really shouldn’t have drunk so much the day before.

As a group, we rode out to the areas north of the Bandit camp and started looking for mobs. This route took us ostensibly in the direction of the Capitol, where the mobs were higher level. As one got farther away from Port Town, the Level of the mobs increased, as one would expect. No one knew what level the mobs around the Capitol would be, since to our knowledge no one had traveled there yet.

And when I say as a group we traveled, I really mean that Jason, Wayne, and I rode together, while Dan was off “scouting” ahead. Thankfully our Ranger could distance himself from Wayne for the time being by utilizing his innate Class skills. I really didn’t want to spend the next couple of hours watching Wayne stare daggers at Dan as we rode. Not that it wasn’t deserved, but because every time I thought of Wayne in a pink tutu I had to stop myself from giggling. Having the constant reminder would have only made the task more difficult, and would have put me right up there on Wayne’s shit list.

Dan signaled us after some time that he had found some mobs for us, and we met up with him and fell into our normal routine of pulling and killing mobs. The infamous Pink Tutu Affair, as it would be known for years to come, was forgotten for the moment.