Oberon was finally found by Sauriv in the far recesses of Derwydd's underground passages. The tunnels were never much use to the guild besides their ability to hide the Groves from invaders. Since they never were able to create any sort of item that allowed instantaneous transportation around Derwydd, and the standard teleportation wasn't mana efficient enough for short hops around the grounds, walking around the underground was very tedious, and so it was decided that continued expansion was the incorrect use of their time. The barren nature of the tunnels had reinforced this to Sauriv during his search. While the top-side of Derwydd was a representation of Sauriv's attention to space management, something that was needed considering the limited area that Derwydd covered compared to many of the other guilds, the underground's only features were occasional bits of moss and glowing fungus that one of his guild-mates must have planted during their off-time.
Probably Hilden. That guy was a freak for aesthetics.
Of course, the empty nature of the tunnels vanished slowly the closer Sauriv came to Oberon's chamber. With no sort of map to follow, signs like these were important in order to not become lost. Of course, Sauriv could always use [Teleport] in order to return to the surface, but then he would be back at the start.
The outside of Oberon's chamber was covered with a large amount of dark red crystals that seemingly grew out of the walls, surrounding a wooden door that lead into his room. Entering the room was no problem for Sauriv as he had access to everywhere in the guild, and so opened the door with confidence. The inside of the room was filled with numerous sheets of parchment, all stacked upon different books and tables. Light was produced from the ceiling through use of the [Daylight] spell, and the brightness it created seemed at odds with the scene around him, one that looked as though it deserved darkness. More of the red crystals were here, a telling sign that the room was lived in by Oberon. Indeed, the owner of the room, Oberon the Conjurer, was sitting at one of the tables in the corner.
Oberon the Conjurer was the final level 100 NPC in Derwydd, and was a Kaleidoscon, one of the final evolutions of the earth-elemental race. His whole body was made of the same dark red crystals seen elsewhere around the room, and more appeared to grow in the area around where he sat. He looked to be rather absorbed in whatever he was doing, and so Sauriv waited a moment before letting out a polite cough. The wizard turned sharply, his body's refraction of the light causing him to almost appear like a spinning disco ball, until he faced Sauriv. Although earth-elementals and their evolutions were beings without eyes Sauriv was aware that Oberon was looking in his direction, seemingly sizing him up for a moment, before a glassy voice rang though the room.
"Lord Sauriv! What a pleasant surprise!" The Wizard rose from his seat and stood to attention, at least as well as a shard of crystal could, before he continued. "I apologise for not greeting you immediately, I've just been so busy on my current project that I didn't notice you enter." Sauriv chuckled and waved his hand dismissively.
"Don't worry about it. Being invested in your work is a good sign, not a bad one." Placing his hands once again behind his back, the Dragonkin continued. "It does make me feel bad, however, as I require your services." Now it was Oberon's turn to wave dismissively.
"Don't worry about it. Whatever you need regarding the arcane arts, just ask." Sauriv started to pace around the room slowly, looking at the different pieces of paper stacked on top of one another.
"I wanted to ask for a few scrolls of [Greater Teleportation], as well as one of [Time Stop]." As a druid, Sauriv had an inability to cast arcane spells past a certain level, and so had to rely on scrolls for utility spells such as these.
"Simple enough I should think. In fact…" Oberon turned and started rummaging through a pile of scrolls in the far corner of the room, before turning back to Sauriv with five in hand.
"There we are. Three [Greater Teleportation], and two [Time Stop]. Is there anything else you require Lord Sauriv?" Oberon asked, his crystal arms folded behind his back.
"Yes, actually. We recently added a new Treant Druid to our forces, and I believe he should receive some better equipment, considering his level." Oberon picked up a piece of parchment and a pen, and turned back to Sauriv.
"Anything specific you want for it?" He asked.
"Not really, just make typical arms for a druid around level 60." Oberon seemingly looked up from his paper, although it was difficult to tell considering his lack of features.
"60? Your work I presume?" Sauriv shook his head slowly.
"No. Birch seemed to be spawned from one of the regular pools. In fact, that was something I wanted to ask one such as yourself about at some point." The Kaleidoscon gave Sauriv a blank stare before the Dragonkin waved his hands in front of him. "Of course, it isn't important at this time, I just thought that I might get you to look in on it when you were free to." The crystal shrugged, and then continued marking on his parchment.
"Well, from what it sounds like, the Groves were probably just exposed to a large amount of magic during their incubation period, resulting in stronger summons." Oberon looked up to Sauriv's look of admiration, before quickly looking back at his parchment. "Of course, that's just my immediate gut feeling. I'd have to take a look myself for a proper analysis." The elemental returned the paper to his inventory, before bowing slightly to Sauriv. "The equipment shall be ready as soon as possible Lord Sauriv." Sauriv bowed slightly to Oberon in response.
"Excellent. Thank you, Oberon. And once again, sorry for interrupting you." Oberon turned toward the left-hand wall, waving his hand in goodbye.
"No problem Lord Sauriv. Always happy to help the guild-master." And with that he walked through the wall toward his forge.
Earth elementals had the highest level in the skill {Burrow} of any race or class, and Kaleidoscons were no exception. They could walk through solid rock and dirt as though it were air, and so the player that had created Oberon had placed all of his work stations inside the walls. Sauriv had been concerned at the time that this would trigger the Ariadne system. However, because this part of the guild base did not impede movement to the heart of the guild, it did not activate. Sauriv was happy that Oberon could therefore work relatively unimpeded, but he did wonder what the inside looked like. He had heard from Sigilite, the player who created Oberon, that the Kaleidoscon had different earth elementals that he used as workers to haul materials about, as well as many different creatures with their own specialisations that he used to assist him, but this was only speculation. What Sauriv did know was that, when it was just a game, Oberon was known to have powerful item creation skills and spells, and could generally create anything the guild asked for, as long as he had the correct materials. Of course, this was usually a difficult task, as the guild did not have a surplus of anything, to put it lightly.
An influx of magic, though. Sauriv thought to himself as he left the workshop. Where could that have come from? Could that be from the transfer from Yggdrasil here? If that's the case…
Sauriv shuddered to himself as he considered that possibility. If the magic had come from the transfer, whoever, or perhaps whatever, had caused it had an incredible amount of power. To be able to move an entire structure, as well as the mind of one of the players as well? Nothing in Yggdrasil could even compare to something like that, and that scared the dragonkin to his bones.
Hopefully, though, I won't have to deal with whatever it is for a while yet, Sauriv thought, as he pushed it to the back of his mind.
The main reason that Sauriv had visited Oberon was to get the scrolls he wanted. Before, one simply needed to open the item tab on the NPC and make a request, but in this new place he was no longer bound by the confines of that menu, and could seemingly ask for anything, this being the reason he asked for an unconventional item (the Druid's equipment). This showed to him that the NPCs' abilities far exceeded their original programming. Indeed, these tests were what he wanted to focus on for the moment. Discovering any limitations to his or his guild's abilities was very important, especially if better informed enemies came after them. Information was key to the guild's continued survival in this strange new world, and Sauriv was not about to let his incompetence be the instigator for their downfall.
Specifically, the druid thought, as he opened his copy of the map that Faënor made.
Those flatlands look rather curious.
Calca Bessarez was currently frustrated with how things had been going with the southern nobles. Her ascension to the throne had angered them slightly, seeing as how she had passed her older brother. This anger was in spite of her brother, Caspond, reinforcing to them that it had been his idea to make her queen. She angrily sipped her tea in her throne room, before swallowing it quickly because of how hot it was. She was attempting to fan her tongue as the doors were opened, and she quickly halted the action. Through the door strode a woman in white robes covering plated armour. Her bob-shaped brown hair betrayed who she was to Calca, who immediately recognised her as Remedios Custodio, leader of the Paladin Order and one of the Nine Colours. Remedios bowed sharply to Calca, who reciprocated with a small lean forward.
"Remedios. I wasn't expecting you to be here so soon. The tea is already done. Please, sit." The paladin seemed to hesitate for a moment, before moving forward to sit opposite Calca on the small circular table she was sat at.
"Lady Calca, I am here with the report you asked for about the state of the people to the south." Calca finished another slight sip of her tea, before placing it down and clapping her hands together.
"Excellent! Thank you, Remedios. This is a big help!" She replied warmly. Remedios flushed red slightly around the ears before clearing her throat.
"Yes. Well, anyway, here it is." She reached into a small leather satchel she had around her shoulder, and pulled out a few pieces of parchment, before handing them over to Calca. The queen took them with a smile, and began to read them. After a few moments her face began to darken slightly, before she finally finished and sighed to herself.
"Well, it cannot be helped that I am disliked by those to the south. I wasn't their first choice for queen after all." Remedios quickly rose from her chair, causing the wooden legs to scrape against the floor.
"How dare they not accept Lady Calca as the queen! Even Lord Caspond agreed that you were best suited for the position! Do you want me to knock some sense into them?" The fires of Remedios's anger were visible, and Calca waved her hands in the negative, as if she were trying to cool her down.
"It's fine, Remedios, it's fine. I understand the people's frustration. My brother has always been well involved in the southern provinces, and so it makes sense that the people there would see him as being better suited for the throne. You do not need to get so angry about it." She chuckled to herself as Remedios sat back down, obviously embarrassed. "In any case," Calca continued. "Any news about Orlando's attack on Buser?" Remedios focused once again as Buser's name came up, and she gritted her teeth.
"Honestly, Lady Calca, I don't see why I shouldn't be the one to lead the assault. I'm much better suited for the task. Orlando isn't nearly as strong as I am." Calca reached out and patted Remedios on the hand.
"While that may be the case, I need you here. My ascension has not been an easy one, and I need you for crowd control. The people like you, in a way, and the nobles are less likely to try something if you are here." Remedios pouted at this, but stopped once she saw Calca's expression.
"Alright, alright. I understand. As to your previous question, he'll be ready by the evening. Says he'll be back with Buser's head by tomorrow, though knowing the filth myself it won't be that easy." Remedios sat back in her chair with her arms folded, becoming more serious now that they were talking about fighting. "His use of martial arts that sunder weapons makes him a tricky opponent. A coward's methods, of course, but a tricky opponent none the less." She seemed to be getting angrier again, and Calca quickly cut in before she got out of hand.
"But Orlando is strong too, correct? Is he not also one of the Nine Colours?" Remedios shrugged.
"I suppose so," the knight replied, although she did so half-heartedly. Calca chuckled again, taking another sip of her tea, and smiled at its since-cooled temperature. "He's good, but he's quite over-confident in his abilities." Calca stifled a laugh as Remedios said this.
I don't think you have room to speak Remedios, she thought to herself.
"He's got some incredibly strong attacks, and his style of fighting is unorthodox." Remedios continued, unaware that Calca was snickering at her. "But his strongest attack requires he destroys the weapon he's using. Even ignoring the effect that can have on the flow of a fight, it's costing the armoury a fortune!" She leaned back in her chair slightly, causing the front legs to rise off the ground for a moment. "Or so I've been told, at least." Calca nodded at her assessment.
"By the way," Calca asked. "How is your sister doing? I heard that she recently gained the ability to cast 5th tier spells." Remedios was surprised for a moment, as she was sure that she hadn't told Calca about that yet. However, knowing Calca, it wasn't that shocking, really.
"Yes, Lady Calca. I was told that she is progressing well, although no-one has been told about her new abilities so far." Calca nodded in approval.
"As expected of Kelart. She has far since passed myself in terms of power. You should be very proud to have such a talented younger sister." Remedios grinned in response, before Calca rose from her seat. "Well, Remedios, it has been incredibly nice to see you, but I believe I have taken up too much of your time. Be sure to give Orlando's group my best wishes when you see them off." Remedios rose from her seat also, bowing deeply to her queen.
"Of course, Lady Calca. They won't fail you. Not on my watch, at least."
