Let the Games Begin

“Ah, ya daft coo! A cannae trot around in this naft getup!” The trio heard a voice yelling from the direction they were walking. “Ya didnae even try an’ make it fit!”

The yelling was followed by the sound of metal hitting the floor. John sped up, recognising the voice and the other two followed behind. They passed the coniferous tree, walking around the pool of water, and a red-faced dwarf came into view.

Hemet was too preoccupied trying to move around in armour which was obviously made for more human proportions. Grumbles and expletives were thrown around through his teeth before he noticed the three closing in on him.

He cleared his throat and tried to stand in a more dignified manner. John could barely hear him huff under his breath, “Would ya stop messin’ about noo? A have company.”

With a deep breath, he lifted his arms in the air, and threw them to the floor causing the armour to vanish. He flattened down his lapel and straightened his green waistcoat before adjusting his polished belt buckle.

“Jonny boy, a pleasure as always! Gaia asked if A would fill in t’ give ya a nice barrier wi’ some quest…” Hemet explained, giving the trio a stern smile.

< I didn’t ask, he pestered. >

“Quietn it down, Am the one seein’ to this,” he retorted seeing the message in front of John’s face. “Anywho, she didnae let me pick the setting, so here we are in the courtyard of an elvish palace. Apologise for the wait, A had something t’ take care of before comin’ to see ya; A also had ta think of a new task to send ya on due to the venue. Afor we get t’ that though, Am sure ya would like ta take a look at the Blood Knar.” Hemet nodded towards the red-leafed tree. “It’ll give me a minute ta straighten out.”

John and Ellie both nodded. The two moved over to the edge of the pool, not wanting to walk through the water, and Ellie cast Observe.

Blood Knar

[Coniferous Tree]
Similarly to the Silverwood, this tree was a gift. From the Northern Elvish tribes to the royal family, a symbol of friendship, peace and unity.

The timber of this tree is extremely strong and resilient, perfect for interior and exterior use without the need for waxes, oils or any other preserving finishes. Due to the size of this breed of tree, it’s often used for structural support, though the pleasant colour and grain make it attractive as material for many other wooden constructs.
This tree grows in the centre of a giant stump which was created when magic was used to rapidly grow the tree in order to obtain building materials in order to build the buildings in the kingdom.

The beautiful red scale leaves on this tree are the reason for the word blood in its name.

The word knar is used as a descriptor of the trunk's gnarled and rough appearance.

The Bark of this tree has some mild alchemical properties. (Obtain a sample and Observe or experiment with it to learn more.)

The wood of this tree may have mild alchemical properties. (Obtain a sample and Observe or experiment with it to learn more.)

The Blood Knar is an example of a tree that either has a male or female corn, but due to magic this tree contains both types of corns.
This particular tree has male fruit-like flowers that are hard to see, but they have a slight purple tint to them and grow on the lower branches of the tree. The flower is inedible but may have some mild alchemical properties. (Obtain a sample and Observe or experiment with it to learn more.)

The female corns of this tree grow in bunches of roughly twenty or so. They start out as green fleshy balls which though edible at this stage are unpleasant to taste. As they mature they become brown and take on a woody texture with an appearance resembling mushroom popcorn. Once in their more woody form, they are quite edible and even have a slightly sweet if earthy flavour. They may have some mild alchemical properties. (Obtain a sample and Observe or experiment with it to learn more.)

The Blood Knar is often called the bleeding evergreen because of the colour and hue of the sap which resembles blood. It has a pleasant but subtle sweetness which makes it attractive for gourmet or artisan foods; it also contains some mild alchemical properties. (Obtain a sample and Observe or experiment with it to learn more.)

Both John and Ellie read the pages with furrowed brows. Once Ellie was finished she turned to John. “So, what’s with all the sample things? It didn’t say that before,” Ellie asked.

Hemmet cleared his throat. “Ah, aye. The lassie mentioned that, somethin’ about Johnny boy whingin’ about how he doesn’t get a lot a information while you do. Ya still gettin’ more, but ya gonna have ta put in a tad more work. Dunnae worry though, lassie, A think ya will be happy that ya likely to get more information when ya take a look at each thing separately.”

“Uh, what’s whinging mean?” Robin interjected, trying his hardest to follow along with what the dwarf said.

“Bitchin’, moanin’, complainin’, take ya pick, lad.” Hemet smiled as he answered. “Either way, Gaia got ta thinkin’ and realised the lass’d benefit from the change,” Hemet’s gruff voice continued.

“Do you wanna try getting some of the tree to Observe it?” John asked Ellie, who was thumbing across the book in front of her.

“Mmmh, no, I think I spent enough time earlier looking at plants. Let's get into this barrier,” Ellie replied, smiling as she looked at John.

“Aye, good choice, lass. Well, A wanted ta do somethin’ t’ treat the three of ya with a barrier A had in mind, but what A had planned doesn’t fit with the settin’ and creature type A have been **** to use. But A’m still gonna have ma fun,” Hemet said before bellowing out a hearty laugh.

“A know yer wanted ta do somethin’ together, but tha’s not gonna work for me. Now A would explain whatcha gonna be doin, but it’ll be simpler ta give ya a quest page and answer any of yer questions after,” he explained before he raised his hand, causing a scroll-like quest page to appear in front of the three.

Quest: **** is not the answer

While the elven forces defended their territory, they had left their palace unprotected. A large group of curious goblinoids have found their way into the royal grounds and you must rid the palace of them.

Objective: You will be working against each other! You must tag as many goblinoids as you can to accumulate points. Not all goblinoids are worth the same and you might find some harder to tag than others.

Intentionally injuring or harming a target will result in negative points equal to the reward of tagging, and tagging does not count towards injury or harm.

Tagging will be done using a magical cattle tag provided and the tag must be on the left ear. Once tagged, the creature will be transported to a holding cell.

It is advised to split up and choose different locations to ‘hunt’ as the goblinoids have spread across the palace grounds.

The player with the most points will be granted a special reward.

Bonus objective: There are secrets and hidden locations throughout the palace grounds. Finding them will gain you bonus rewards which will vary depending on who finds them, or could be something to help in your hunt.

“Guess we’ll be splitting up for this then?” Robin thought out loud.

Ellie let out a soft sigh. “Looks like, yeah. You’re both gonna get your ass beaten. I might not be able to test out my glove, but I’ve got plenty of tricks in my bag that’ll make this a cakewalk.”

Robin let out a laugh. “In your dreams! I can deal with a bunch of goblins.”

Hemet let out his own laugh. “Nae, lad, goblins are only one type a goblinoids yer gonna be seein’.”

While the others talked, John was thinking, ’This sucks that we’re not gonna be together for this, that was supposed to be the point of the barrier. Plus, the abilities I have aren’t exactly suited to catching creatures, maybe Hand to Hand could help with defending without hurting, but that’s only one thing I have. Maybe I’ll have to rely on the items I have, I know I have a net at least…’

“Earth to John,” Ellie called out. “Have you been listening?”

“Uhm, sorry?” John replied dumbly.

“Hemet said he’s giving us the tagging gun we need, and he’s also given Robin an extremely basic version of Observe on his phone. I said that I’m going to take the gardens on the left side of the palace, and Robin is taking the barracks on the right. That leaves you with the palace itself. There might be tunnels or other secret passages that might lead us to someone else’s section but it should be fine,” Ellie explained.

Before getting his wits about him, a small device that resembled an ear piercer was pushed into his hands and a myriad of yelling, screaming and laughing erupted from the surrounding area, prompting both Ellie and Robin to take off in opposite directions.

Hemet was nowhere to be seen and the door to the palace was wide open.

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