Tranquil Territory - 2 - The Journey
One might be inclined towards waiting around Akihabara; yet Hachiman wanted to ensure that they reunited with their friends in the north as quickly as possible and to avoid any feeling of helplessness that might fester were they unoccupied for too long. That sense of despair had become all too visible in Akihabara even before sunset on the first day, and while Yasuo might cringe at the idea of leaving the players as they were, he had a more pressing responsibility to his friends.
Three Griffins soared northwards from Akihabara as dusk approached on the first day since the world had been turned upside down. Behind Hachiman the wings behind flapped with deceptive ease before gliding once more; in front of him Marduk held the reins more leisurely now – he had been white knuckled the first two days – never having liked heights, but now that they approached the third he seemed far more laid back, more trusting of his feathered friend. The sorcerer had been among the fourteen of Tranquil Tyranny to take part in the raid (which they had completed with the assistance of Outside Faction) that had secured the griffins, though only seven of those fourteen were online.
Hachiman rode double with the sorcerer Marduk, the guardian Tyr with the cleric Feronia and finally the druid Aja with the bard Muse; though each of the six had a griffin this formation allowed them to make full use of the advantages that the griffins offered; each could carry two people and only be used for four hours of a day. By doubling up, this allowed their party to fly for a full eight hours of the day, covering the distance in a flash.
It had been on their second day that they had been forced to divert around Tearstone Mountains to avoid the Wyverns, lacking a map of the Depths of Palm they instead relied on Aja's animal taming subclass, allowing them to limit the aggro of many of the creatures in their route north-east, it was a wonderful subclass that allowed the player to communicate to some extent with animals and to potentially train them, the result was that they had managed to avoid numerous encounters that would have otherwise been unavoidable.
The journey had been far from quiet however, in avoiding the Wyverns they had managed to veer into the nesting grounds of a flock of harpies and despite Aja's efforts the battle had been unavoidable. Burdened as they were with two riders, the griffins had been unable to perform to their full and the battle had been protracted and viscous. Combat following the apocalypse was fundamentally different; though Marduk told him it was somewhat easier for ranged classes, the use of a menu to input commands was simply too slow and clumsy given the distraction of being torn at by razor sharp claws.
Eventually they had managed to drive away their opponents and the three griffins that they had been riding retreated to recover from their ordeal, leaving the group just shy of the Lyport channel with three of their six feathered mounts unavailable; that meant that they were spending more of their time astride horses and the number of battles they were forced into rose dramatically.
It was later on that third night that they heard from the other members of Tranquil Territory in the north, things had taken a turn for the worse.
The fire crackled as darkness surrounded them; Hachiman and Feronia had the second watch that night, while the others slept in a semi-circle around the dim flame. The Samurai turned from looking around the camp and its surroundings before sitting on his haunches to add some more wood and stir the fire, to ensure it did not go out. It was his first time camping and he found the experience oddly captivating, watching the tongues of flame dance among the half charred oaken timbers and allowed the sensation to distract him for a moment. The black armour he wore glistened in the reflected baleful glow as he breathed in the chill mountainside air, tinged as it was with the slightly acrid smell of burnt wood.
The remains of dinner had been strewn across the area, thrown there by a disgusted Taku (not acting at all druid like) who had complained bitterly every night about the meal. It was a step down, he told Yasuo with all seriousness - Taku, Aja's player worked long hard hours at his job and one of the things he had enjoyed the most was coming back to have a nice meal at the end of the day; true it was usually a microwave dinner, but it was still much nicer than the tasteless mush they were confronted with in the new Elder Tales.
Hachiman stirred the refuse with his foot as he stood to resume his vigil – while the others had initially complained about the meals only Aja was so adamant, yet for Hachiman... he had not even noticed that there was any difference in taste until Aja made a huge fuss about it. Perhaps that was due to the information he had received earlier or perhaps-
"Lost in thought?" Feronia's soft, slightly lilting voice came from behind him and he turned towards her with a rueful smile before glancing once more to the dimly moonlit surroundings, the dense vegetation in one of the zones just to the south of the channel near the eastern coast was among the more peaceful in the region, however there were two types of creatures that would attack on sight at night were you to encounter them.
"Ahh, dear Feronia, you know me – I cannot calm down until I have thought things through."
"Only once? But you misunderstand me Yasuo." Came her gentle chiding in response, not at all like her usual self – he turned towards her once again a frown on his face this time as he saw her fingering the silver chain she wore around her throat, the sole ornament on the chain was a pair of interlocking sapphire studded rings. It was a gesture that they had been told about earlier that day; apparently the more sizeable role-play guilds had gotten together and decided to use the symbol of the two rings (common to many of the role play guilds) to help players communicate that they wished to speak 'out of character', as the player instead of the character.
Hachiman or rather Yasuo awkwardly opened his inventory and equipped the dual silver rings he had purchased long ago; "Sorry, I am not used to this way yet, Yume. What is on your mind?"
"More importantly, what is on yours?" She shot back without missing a beat, though her voice was light. "You barely ate a bite and I doubt you got more than an hour of sleep before and ever since the start of our turn at watch you have been restless. Is it about Susukino?"
"Yes." There was no point hiding it Yasuo realised; besides, Yume had always been a great deal more perceptive than her character Feronia – something he should have realised. "Things have really gotten out of hand... rampant PKing, abductions, and-" Yasuo paused waving his hand in a vain attempt to dispel the train of thought. Apparently a number of the guilds in Susukino had taken to terrorising everyone else; the most prominent by far was Brigandia and they had come to dominate the northern reaches, even before now they had heard of small villages being sacked and pillaged as Brigandia flexed their muscle in the new Elder Tales; yet today it had apparently taken a turn for the worse. "I should have realised that trash would surface. Like turds that just wont flush." His face took on a grim, bitter smile.
Feronia gave a short snort of laughter before hastening to stifle the noise, looking at Yasuo reproachfully, "Its only ever in times like these that you make jokes."
He sighed and lowered his head slightly in acknowledgement; "It has only been three days Yume, I never imagined it would get this bad this quickly. I am worried about our friends stuck up there." The members of Tranquil Territory based in Susukino were holed up in two private zones, emerging only really to gather information and supplies. However on their gathering trips they had gotten into a number of scuffles against other players in some of the outer zones, particularly in the villages to the west of Susukino.
There were many protections in place in a city to prevent player versus player violence, yet not everything counted as violence and even then People of the Land were not afforded the same level of protection. It was this that had led to the most disturbing of the information that they had received. Several score People of the Land, mainly young women and the occasional boy had been abducted by Brigandia (and some other small guilds) and been sold in the town square; the customers were mainly other players but also apparently some affluent People of the Land; such as merchants and minor nobility. As for the poor victims of this trade - their fates were unknown, but that those who were sold were chosen for their looks was certainly damning.
"Back in Akihabara..." Yasuo paused, unsure how to continue, "I spoke to one of the People of the Land, a young human boy who said he didnt want to take over the family business when he grew up." Running one hand through his hair abruptly, Yasuo's voice tightened, "His father arrived and yelled at him, telling him to help port the goods for customers and the kid – he tried to make an excuse to get out of it and when his father cuffed him over the ear and sent him on his way, the kid looked resentful."
"Hey Yume... do you think they can really..." Yasuo didn't know how to give voice to the rest of the thought; could they truly feel emotion, could the child have truly disliked a certain behaviour or was it merely that they were programmed to seek to avoid it; could the child have resented the fact that they were forced to do something they had sought to avoid or was it merely that Elder Tales had by far the most advanced behavioural programming and capacity to give characters the appearance of emotion compared to any other game either of them had ever played.
"No way." She hastened to answer his unspoken question; "There is absolutely no way. I mean there are how many NPCs in Elder Tales? Two million maybe? More? Even if they only had to simulate the emotional reactions of one hundredth of those at any one time, we are talking twenty thousand minds, there is no way Elder Tales could have that sort of computing power, or the kinds of storage that would be involved."
As she spoke, words gained in confidence, it was clearly something that she had been considering for days and with her background in electronic engineering, her confidence about her conclusions was infectious. "No, I don't know exactly how their algorithm works, but it has to be some sort of sophisticated behavioural mapping – and only for a portion of NPCs at any one time. Heck, they probably are using our own computers to complete a lot of the work load relevant to that particular player and their surroundings." She nodded her head at that, a victorious smile on her face as she stood with arms folded, confident of her analysis.
Yasuo could feel an easing of the tension between his shoulders; that had been one of the most troubling aspects that he had been plagued by since the Apocalypse and the recent events in Susukino had brought that fear into sharp relief – if the people of the land could feel emotion then what truly were they? And what would that mean for the Adventurers and their players? "Thanks Yume, I knew you were the one to ask, I feel a lot better. If they had been able to suffer I don't think I could stand by."
She gave a grin yet the words that followed were said without hint of humour, "Well I am glad I could help, we need our leader to have his act together right now." The silence in the camp-site seemed oppressive and Hachiman turned back to his task; not noticing that few among the sleeping bags were still asleep.
The next day they made excellent time despite only having three Griffins at their call, the last leg of the journey was far less hazardous as there were far fewer aerial enemies in this region north of the Lyport channel, a fact that allowed them to make a beeline for Susukino in the north. As they passed over the peninsula that lay northwards past the Lyport channel yet before Susukino, Hachiman's face grew increasingly grim.
At first in the southern reaches of the peninsula there had been little sign of anything wrong, yet the further north they travelled the more apparent were the effects of the rampant brutes operating out of Susukino. Clusters of people, here a small family fled afoot with their meagre possessions, desperate to escape the carnage in the north; there what seemed almost an entire village had abandoned their land in search of safety in the south.
Though the escapees were casting about warily for any indication of trouble, few looked to the sky to search for potential enemies, after-all few had ever been faced with an enemy that struck from above. As long as the Hachiman and his party were careful where their shadows fell, they were able to observe the fleeing masses with relative ease, though twice they were spotted, which sent the people of the land scurrying for cover.
It was as their Griffins neared the end of their daily use that Tyr spotted the problem, to the north-east rose a column of smoke which drifted to the north-west on the sea breeze, in that direction lay the small township of Gull's Rock, one of the satellite cities nearly two hours by horse to the south of Susukino. The black clouds rose ominously even as the party veered downwards and towards the plain further towards the west – just in case there was trouble, landing directly in the midst of it would surely act to place their party in jeopardy.
Closing in quickly on the site, the six prepared themselves – the rising pillar of smoke rose like some sort of nightmarish grey barked tree, its warped billowing mass grasping into the sky above as if to reach upwards and spread its soot stained canopy into the sky above – to chase away the memory of the sun with it's dark promise; in the spreading shadow beneath the malignant mass, the collection of huts and cottages flickered orange and red, like a bracelet of prayer beads to a god that had turned away. Victorious roars and the despairing cries of fear and impotent rage sounded out in the dying light, as the sounds of metal clashing punctured the silence between blasts of mage-fire; yet the battle seemed to have reached it's zenith and resistance was already beginning to crumble, with the cries of the aggressors becoming more and more frenzied. Dimly in the firelight, they could make out two groups of attackers.
Though Yasuo realised it was not in their interests to intervene, instead they should strike directly for Susukino, Hachiman would have none of that – he closed his eyes for just a moment, reconciling the two yet as he opened them there was no hesitation as he drew his blades and quietly pronounced (without any hint of the embarrassment Yasuo would have felt), "For Tranquility." The six war horses dashed forwards, tanks in the fore - Hachiman took the right and Tyr the left even as Muse began to cast her buffing skills to provide their party with an increase in their attacking powers. With two groups to attack it was essential that they determine which to take down first, and so Hachiman and Tyr were responsible for making sure which of the two groups was the more dangerous and to strike them down quickly.
Their sudden appearance took one of the groups completely by surprise – so absorbed were they in their depredations that they failed to recognise the new threat quickly enough and Marduk's sorcery quickly took down two of their number before they were even aware the newcomers had arrived. Yet with Tyr in the forefront taking the bulk of the attackers and Hachiman intercepting the sole swashbuckler who had managed to avoid the young elven guardian. Marduk provided the bulk of their fire-power and the druid Aja supported, the two combining to ensnare and then rain down death on Tyr's foes, Feronia the cleric had little healing to do and instead relied on the bow, striking at the Summoner towards the rear even as their front collapsed. The six that they had initially encountered went down with little difficulty and although the second group of five was more composed having heard the initial confrontation, they were a weaker group than the first and went down with only slightly more difficulty.
After the battle Hachiman lifted his face to the heavens and growled his victory, yet the rising stack of smoke soon brought him back to his surroundings which gave lie to that sense of accomplishment. Smoking ruins still burned as the slashed or scorched corpses of Landers (or people of the land) lay strewn around them the flush of victory left him and his face drained of colour as he surveyed the scene. The bodies of more than one woman were in various states of undress he noted with mounting distress, some of the figures were smaller than the others – though whether dwarves or children he was uncertain as the bodies began to disappear one by one. Here and there landers could be seen blackened by soot or bloodied by wounds inflicted by the adventurers or the debris, some had been wondering around dazed even during the fight while others had come out after the combat had ended and Hachiman's group had shown no inclination to strike at the survivors.
After a few moments, without any hint from Hachiman Marduk began casting his ice spells, doing his best to douse the fires while Aja moved among the wounded, his gap toothed smile and folksy charm bringing some around while Feronia moved among the women many of whom shied away from the male adventurers. There were also likely survivors hiding in the surroundings while others had likely fled and not looked back. Tyr moved off to check the rest of the village, it was only a few moments before he used telepathy to call Hachiman down towards the northern road, his voice grim he had encountered an enchanter – though the fight had been quick.
When the samurai reached the outbound path it did not take him long to find Tyr, the petite guardian was standing slightly back from two young women, one an elf and the other a human. "Good work Tyr. What happened?" He asked after barely hesitating.
"Found an enchanter dragging these two north, looks like he decided to cut and run," Tyr's voice dipped lower – intended to be pitched for Hachiman alone, "taking these two with him – destined for the Susukino markets it seems."
Hachiman grimaced in distaste, well at least they had prevented two Landers from being abducted. The two girls clung to each-other half sobbing in equal parts fear and relief; it was only as Hachiman gazed at the two that his eyes widened further and further in shock. Quickly accessing the interface, Hachiman called Muse to assist the pair back to the village and suggested that Tyr stay with the two while he made his way back to camp – his own stature was far more intimidating than that of the small elf which seemed less likely to further the anxiousness of the pair.
In the aftermath as he made his way back through the broken and blackened debris the sky darkening overhead, Hachiman shook his head with barely restrained anger, almost eager for another foe upon whom he might unleash his anger – born of his disgust at their actions as well as the unease he had already carried with him, fear for his friends in the north. How much of that emotion was Yasuo's own he was not sure, it was true that Hachiman would be angry in such an occasion, but what of the player? How much was his own fear at being stuck in Theldesia, the world of Elder Tales? How much of it was his own uncertainty at his loss of control over his own life and destiny? How much his hatred at the ugliness that despoiled the world that he had spent so many years engaged with in every way as real as his own? Where did Hachiman's fury end and his own begin?
The two young girls now made their way back to the burned out village under the tender graces of Muse and the vigilant Tyr guiding them towards Feronia's capable care; it was in part because of that one moment – in the dying moments of the fourth day since the Apocalypse, that one glance would stay with him forever it seemed. It was only because of the interface that he could tell that the young human was in fact an Adventurer, and the Elf a Lander; had he not been able to see their status, he would not have been able to tell which was which. Yume might be able to mount an impressive argument that they could not really be aware, but to his eyes their tears, to his ears their cries, to his heart their plight – he could not tell the difference.
It was often said that characters which reflected or had some aspect which strongly resonated with the player were among the most immersing and rewarding. Yasuo had always believed that Hachiman represented an ideal, one which had the ability to protect that which he held precious. For Yasuo this world and its people had been a source of incredible moments and unforgettable memories – true, they were all experienced through Hachiman, but they were precious beyond measure. For Hachiman, the People of the Land were the true beauty of the land, they were those who toiled long in the fields, who laboured with chisel and saw, who earnestly polished their skills and sought to carve out a moment of happiness with their families. Whether to Yasuo or to Hachiman the People of the Land were precious, this world was precious to them both and whether in character or out of character, whether they were there for a day or a lifetime, he had decided – he would protect the world he loved and the people in it, Adventurer and Lander alike.
It took nearly an hour to coax those nearby to return to the village, during which time Marduk managed to douse the remaining structures, assisted by a bucket line that the locals had formed. For the Landers who had been through so much at the hands of the last set of Adventurers, it must be somewhat disconcerting to suddenly receive aid from these Adventurers, though they still looked at the newcomers warily, they accepted the help – some with numbness, some with relief and some even with gratitude.
The village was in shambles, not a single residence had escaped unscathed and their meeting hall and the markets had both been completely gutted; fully a quarter of their number were dead or missing, the survivors numbered one hundred and forty seven or so Hachiman was informed by a wrinkled old soot stained woman. Her dress might have been considered fine by local standards before the attack, but now the embroidery was stained beyond any hope of salvation, the edge frayed and saturated with the stench of burned hair and the remains of Gull's Rock.
Her name was Rin Gull, the mother of the former lord of the village, the magistrate appointed by the Ezzo Empire had been her son Shinji and before that had presided her departed husband Ken. It was only natural that the survivors had turned to the old matriarch in their time of need, even if she were a mere woman and hardly fit for the more complex task of negotiating with these Adventurers, perhaps the newcomers might feel pity for the Locals' plight were they to face a woman rather than a man.
At least that was how many of the menfolk had reasoned it – they had failed to recognise that old Rin Gull was every bit the seasoned curmudgeon that she looked, her nails might have chipped and packed with dirt from digging among the ruins, her tightly bound hair might have been marred by soot and debris– yet she had managed to find time to wash the ash and tears from her face and carried herself with a dignity that few could muster, let alone under such strained circumstances and it was her steely eyes that commanded Hachiman's attention.
"The damage is extensive Lady Rin," Hachiman noted gravely as he came to stand beside the much smaller woman who stood iron backed looking at the scenes of people rooting among the ruins for any dim chance of survivors or valuables that might be salvaged. "Repairing the outer-wall will take at least a week – and that is if it were the only task to be completed." Without a perimeter wall, the Landers would struggle to stave off attacks from wolves let alone the giants that roamed Ezzo or the Adventurers plundering from the north. "It might be best if you were to..."
Hachiman's voice trailed off as Rin turned her head abruptly fixing him with a glare; though her face showed less emotion than others, Hachiman could sense the anguish that clutched at her outweighed her anger. "I know." The weight of her years and her responsibilities seemed to press in on Rin, yet her old back remained unbowed even though the sorrow was palpable. The duty she had for the welfare of the people of Gull's Rock and the love she bore them had warred with and was victorious over the precious memories of the place she had lived with her family. "We must flee, though whether to the south or to the east I do not know."
To the east lay the promise of protection from the Ezzo Empire, or at least that was how it seemed on the surface, but the old woman had quickly realised that while the Ezzo court might perhaps protect them from wolves or giants, they seemed to lack any sort of answer to the menace of the Adventurers. While the cities themselves might be protected by their ancient alven artefacts, even now small villages and towns burned in a band around Susukino – including those that stretched to the north and east – on the outskirts of the Empire's cities. Yet the cities could only take so many refugees and they had already had word that some were being turned away. "We would not find refuge in the eastern cities; yet to the south lies the peninsula." They were a fishing folk, they were used to the open water, yet the Lyport channel would be too much – it was not that the distance was particularly far but rather that the creatures that dwelt beneath would attack any who passed over the deepest waters.
"Leave the south to us." Hachiman tapped his chest and indicated his fellow travellers, the idea that had been slowly taking root since they first crossed into the Ezzo Empire began to flower in his mind's eye – he could see the vague outline of a plan that he had been harbouring unfolding. He could see the unasked question on her face and though he wished for his plan to remain a secret for as long as he could, it was only fair that he included the old woman into his trust when he asked her to trust her people to him. "In the south lies an abandoned strong hold and it is there that the banner of Tranquil Territory will truly be raised." As he spoke he noticed that his companions had drawn near; "It is time for our world Theldesia to remember the Feudal Lord Hachiman."
The Feudal Lord subclass had briefly been the most popular subclass available shortly after its introduction in the fourth expansion; but the immense time requirements and dependence on loyal competent vassals quickly reduced its popularity to less than a hundred enthusiasts on the Yamato server (the Japanese Elder tales server) who contested for control of certain zones through military force; economic power or influence with the locals. Combining mandatory missions and performance evaluations, it was a huge time sink, significantly reducing the ability of the Feudal Lord to go adventuring, to increase their level or to go on the raids required for high level gear.
Even though Hachiman had been playing for many years and was considered among the most seasoned of the Feudal Lords on the Japanese server, he had only reached the current level cap of ninety in his Samurai class six months before the Apocalypse, despite having reached ninety in Feudal Lord only two months after the cap was raised. Indeed while his armour was top notch (courtesy of an enormously expensive unbound loot drop from a high level raid), his weapons though well made were only of production class. This was the fate of all who took the subclass seriously, it was a huge amount of work which reduced one's ability to experience other parts of the game while exposing you to a different side of Elder Tales.
Though it did not require the devotion of a subclass and could provide a buff to stats; Adventurers who had become the vassals of a Feudal Lord were very nearly as rare, this was because if the Feudal Lord was incompetent or were the loyalty of the inhabitants of the occupied zones to diminish then the vassal would receive a debuff instead. Likewise they would randomly encounter Landers with mandatory quests and that failing to complete these quests might result in a penalty.
Tranquil Territory was a guild comprised of such individuals and they had been among the more successful of the guilds who took part in the Feudal System. The largest of guilds seldom managed to compete effectively in the Feudal System, because the number of quests generated by the expectations of the inhabitants of the zones they occupied would grow in proportion to the size of the guild, resulting in a situation where a Feudal System could only really operate if everyone pulled their weight – in larger guilds the ability to easily direct the focus of members to ensure that they devoted themselves to the Feudal quests was limited and as a result the expectations of the inhabitants were often unmet and loyalty was soon to fall. Large guilds could easily conquer a feudal territory, yet their ability to hold onto it was far less certain.
In the end small guilds and those medium sized guilds with a high proportion of enthusiasts were best suited for the challenge of holding onto the loyalty of the masses – that was one reason why Tranquil Territory had managed to hold onto territory in the west of Ezzo for thirty one consecutive months ending only eight moths prior to the Apocalypse after three other feudal guilds combined to overthrow Hachiman and his companions (though infighting quickly brought the end of that alliance). It was a record that was unmatched on the Japanese server and seldom matched on any Elder Tales server; Tranquil Territory had cemented its place among the top of the player managed Feudal Systems rankings despite their size.
The six members of Tranquil Territory looked at each-other, some such as Tyr were determined, the small elf's jaw set stubbornly, the half alven Feronia still looked slightly overwrought at the carnage surrounding her though her she smiled wanly, the feline featured Muse began to play gently a song which began to swell in intensity calling the others to battle which caused Aja to smile in wry amusement, the elderly fox shaking his head ruefully though he fist bumped with the dwarven Marduk. Hachiman watched his friends with pride as they began to chat excitedly about the Tranquility that they would bring to Theldesia, Feronia and Muse became so animated that they failed to notice when they dropped out of character and everyone else kindly ignored the unintentional breach of etiquette. What he did not notice was the gasp of the elderly Rin and some of the nearby Landers.
"Did he say the Feudal Lord Hachiman?"
"The Tranquil Tyrant?"
The murmurs grew stronger eventually drawing the attention of the Adventurers who looked around in surprise to note awestruck faces even as Muse's strumming died away. Awe is a strange thing, part terror part admiration and it was that which filled the faces of the elder members of the community while some of the younger looked on in confusion. It was however Rin who spoke, her face ashen though she had long since cleaned away the soot. "Are you truly Hachiman the Tyrant of Tranquil Territory?" Her voice was strained into the silence, barely managing to pitch above the sound of the waves which seemed unnaturally loud in the stillness which now gripped Gull's Rock. "The same Hachiman who ruled the western coast of Ezzo for more than thirty years with an iron fist?"
"The one who hanged Sir Grack the Boulder?"
"Who burned down Tin-digger's Point?"
More and more deeds flowed forth, the Adventurers reacted with shock yet none more so than Hachiman who had frozen in place, in no small part due to Rin's trembling thin bony hands which clasped one of his gauntlets now, her veins clearly visible through the parchment thin skin, she clung now with signs of desperation – her eyes saucer wide.
"Yes."
The single word caused one of the men in back to crumple noiselessly to the ground and after barely a moment of silence chaos erupted.
Chapter Notes:
As you might be able to tell, I am not going to be covering the combat in depth, the level of combat shown in the Gull's Rock is probably going to be about the highest level of detail except in particularly important encounters which I might describe a bit more extensively.
A note about timing. Shiro and party left Akihabara for Susukino after a considerable amount of time had elapsed and the situation there had already degenerated significantly (they departed after at least two weeks). By contrast, Tranquil Tyranny has set out much earlier and due to their increased access to griffins (enough that they can ride double, allowing them to fly for eight rather than four hours a day) are able to make much better time. This allows the timeline I have proposed to be viable given the canon (to the best of my knowledge), though it does mean they would likely have had more trouble in their fights on the way north than Shiro, Akatasuki and Naotsugu.
It was shown in the series that at least some portion of some character actions are retained within Elder Tales; Shiro for example is known as a grand mage who appeared nearly a hundred years earlier. Now I assume that this is mainly for characters who achieve something really notable – performing certain key quests, being the first to finish certain raids etc. However I think that Tranquil Territory's rather impressive achievement of securing land for thirty years (remembering that Elder Tales has a twelve fold time difference) is a sufficiently notable achievement that it would also be remembered. I know that this is aggrandizing so I will avoid such in the future, it is merely that this is an important plot point.
Content Assumptions and Assertions:
Asserted: Subclass 'Animal Trainer' (this role-play subclass exists but no details are known to date), I have asserted the following abilities for this subclass: allows some higher degree of communication than standard with certain types of animals, can potentially allow the user to establish lesser states of aggression (such as preventing aggro on sight) and to even establish a bond between the user and a particular creature. I have also assumed that having a player in their party with this subclass would have allowed them to travel in the air along a different route than Shiro, therefore allowing them to bypass the Depths of Palm (and not interfering with Canon).
Assumed: That the anti violence enforcement does not cover player versus non player violence to the same extent as player versus player violence.
Assumed: Mounts can be wounded (note that discussions were made in canon about a griffin's combat abilities) and that this results in a protracted period during which the mount is not available to summon and that attempting to heal the mount before it retreats will lessen the damage and therefore the amount of time it is unavailable.
Asserted: existence of demi-human creature 'Harpy'; half bird half humanoid, highly aggressive, very proud and hates filth (will kill other harpies if plumage is tarnished).
Asserted: existence of small village zone to the south of Susukino called 'Gull's Rock' primarily a fishing village where some lower level missions had been available pre-apocalypse. Population is approximately one hundred and fifty when Tranquil Territory arrives.