Homeward Bound

The way you said it implied you had a loaded itinerary, but using your new Claimant Crystal is the only thing you have planned. It is a deception, but not an outright lie—a line any sidhe worth the title could dance across. That deception kept your actions unpredictable, which is important to make sure you get back to the barrow safely with your Crystal.

You briefly consider staking a claim to some other location, but dismiss the idea quickly. You aren’t sure why, but abandoning the barrow feels wrong, somehow. It was your home for as far back as you could remember. And there is something… else…

Even now, the fog lay thick upon your mind.

Thankfully, you make it to the stream, and ford it, without incident. But once you have, it doesn’t take long for you to hear a familiar voice.

“Hey there stranger.”

You look, and you see your neighbor, the Naiad. But when you lock eyes with her, she gives you a look of surprise.

“Woah,” she says, “what’s up with your eyes?”

Your… eyes?

You kneel down next to the stream, and look into your reflection. The image is somewhat distorted from the flow of the water, but you can make out faint flickers of light in your golden eyes. Unlike her comment earlier in the day, this time there actually was something going on with your eyes, but…

“I don’t know,” you tell her.

She’s silent for a few moments, before speaking. “Weird. So, did that plan of yours work?”

“Nearly,” you say, “but there’s still a little bit left.”

“And you’re… heading home?”

“That’s right,” you say, “it has to happen there. I welcome your company now, but once I get there, I’d like to do it alone.”

You stand, and you see her giving you a strange look. All the same, she swims upstream alongside you. Naiad swimming is different from other creatures, as one might expect of spirits of the water, and it is an appealing sight. She wiggles and writhes through the water, but still retains a certain grace in her movements.

The minutes pass in silence, and before long you’ve reached the barrow. You give her a nod, and head inside. It really would look just like a hill, if not for large hole in one face, bounded on all sides by stone. It is as you left it: vaguely round, roots, water, blankets, sarcophagus. Sarcophagus.

You walk up to the sarcophagus, and run your fingers over its carvings. Whoever this was, their grave has been your home for as long as you can remember, and now it would be more.

“Thank you,” you say softly.

With a flick of your hand, you open your inventory. You call up the Claimant Crystal. You aren’t sure how to make it work, but…

Something, some ancient instinct, bubbles up from deep within you, and you squeeze. You aren’t sure how long you’re standing there, your fingers wrapped tight around that little red rock. It starts slowly at first, with faint flickers of red deep in the lattices of the Crystal. In time, it rises into a dull glow. You look up, and a screen has appeared.

Claimant Crystal used.

Alankor_Fey_Barrow_12.7_Location_1

Claim Land?

That... That is the barrow’s True Name. This Crystal has revealed the True Name of the barrow to you. Your conscious mind is reeling from the revelation—you had hoped to discern it somehow, but to just be told outright—but your body is still acting under the direction of instinct. Your free hand taps the screen to accept the Claim, as, without thinking, you recite the Name in front of you.

Land Claimed By

Error: Unnamed_Creature

Process Paused

Unnamed…? You have a True Name, as all things did. That much was indisputable. But you do lack a regular name. Which is apparently required. But before you can curse your ill fortune, another screen pops up in front of that one.

Please Name Character: __

You are paralyzed with indecision. One problem has been solved, but now you’re faced with another. Should you give yourself a dignified name? An esoteric one? A clever one? But then something else rises up within you, shining and clear. And before you can even enter it, it appears in the screen.

Merovon

The screen vanishes, as does the one behind it. The glow from the Crystal intensifies, and your eyes are filled with the blinding bright red. It shatters in your hand. The Crystal becomes shards, the shards become dust, and the dust becomes nothing. By the time you can see again, a new screen had appeared.

Land Claimed by Merovon!

Claim Type:

Monster Lair

Fey Court

Resources Detected:

15 x Rough Stone

1 x Inscribed Archfey Sarcophagus, Sealed

3 x Worn Blankets

Natural Features Detected:

Water Spring

Elder Holly Roots

Add resources to stockpile?

It is a lot to take in.

Technically speaking, you aren’t actually a monster, but that had been the same term used by the update. You do share the same adversarial relationship most actual monsters have with heroes. Perhaps that was just the general term for those who did?

And a fey court… you were fey, and you were nobility. This much only made sense.

However, all of this was only distraction. You look down at the sarcophagus. Archfey. Hidden inside that stone was the body of one of the Archfey. The highest of the high, alike to gods in their power and splendor. One of them had died, and it was there. It had always been there. And so had you.

You. You are a squire, but that never felt quite right. Squires served knights, but you could never remember having a master. Yet, you were here, living in the crudely-cut tomb of one of the Archfey. You could not remember living anywhere else, and the thought of leaving always felt wrong, no matter how much your heart knew you didn’t belong in this land. Is this the reason? It makes a certain amount of sense. Yes, the fog is thinning now, just a little. You are bound here by duty and promise, standing vigil over the grave of your mas–

“You were always the most loyal. And now, here, at the end, you have proven it once again.”

It came to you unbidden. It tears the breath from your lungs. It sends you to your knees.

Memory. Your master’s voice. Your Lord’s voice. Your k– Your b–

“–our glorious and loving master, all hail the Lord of the B–“

You’ve fallen to your hands now. As your mind begins to clear, it occurs to you that you’ve unwittingly prostrated yourself before the sarcophagus.

That had been your own voice. You were… naming your Lord. The Lord of– of the…

No. It is gone now. The fog lay thick upon your mind. But it is beginning to clear.

You laugh. You can’t help it. It roars from your throat as you fight up to one knee, and then up to both feet. It takes you a moment to collect yourself.

You glace at the single open screen, and then look back to the sarcophagus.

“I am sorry, but I must. I promise, I shall build a grave more deserving of you.”

With a single tap, the screen vanishes, and the chamber is barren. No tattered blankets. No roots on the back wall. No pool off to the side. No sarcophagus.

“What…”

Your head turns to the barrow’s entrance, and you see the naiad, your friend. She looks worried.

“I,” she begins, “I saw the light, and I was worried, so I came up. You were on the ground, but then you started laughing… What just happened?”

You smile back at her. “I made this land mine, in Claim and in Name. I am more, now, than I was. And I remember.”

“Remember?”

“What came before. It’s only little pieces now, but more will come.” You could feel it in your bones.

The concern on her face is starting to fade. “That’s good, then?”

“Very much so. I’m of a mind to celebrate.”

She gives you a questioning look. In response, you begin to unlace your gambeson, and give her a suggestive look.