“What about the stairs?” Gerald asked curiously.
“No idea, but I’m sure they’re heavily defended,” Fluff replied.
“Kind of like the castle in Stormguard has two walls before the Castle proper,” Alburet nodded. “Plus, the outer walls of Stormguard are high and thick as I recall.”
“It’s a living world,” Gerald nodded.
“Greetings, travelers,” the Elven guard called to them. “Is this your first time visiting Brightgrove?”
“Yes, sir,” Alburet replied with a salute. “Alpha Company, based out of Stormguard.”
The elf eyed Alburet for a moment before nodding slowly, “Don’t make any trouble while you’re in town, Two-souled.”
“We endeavor to never make trouble, sir,” Gerald replied.
Looking at Gerald the guard nodded, “Just keep him in line then,” he nodded toward Alburet, “We’ve never heard anything good about Half-blooded Infernals from Stormguard.”
“We would like to take the lift, sir,” Fluffball said softly.
“Yes, ma’am,” the guard nodded to one of the men behind him, who stepped away from the platform surrounded by a waist high railing. “Stay calm. It goes up a bit. Don’t hang out over the railing. We’ve had a number of Two-souled fall to their deaths that way.”
“Thank ya, sir,” Stacia told the guard, who eyed her red-hued skin suspiciously.
The group walked onto the lift, standing fairly close to the center. Once they were on the platform and had paid their coin, one of the guards blew his horn once and the lift began to rise. Alburet followed the four cables at the corners up to where they disappeared into the tree above them.
As they rose, they got a look at the forest that stretched out under them. The trees didn’t have any lower limbs to block the view. “This is so cool,” Karen breathed out, her eyes shining. “I want to grab a chute and go base-jumping.”
“All of the buildings have emergency parachutes in them,” Fluff told her, “I learned that the last time I was here.”
“So that’s why you’re so calm about how awesome this is,” Karen replied, looking at Fluff with a smile.
“I did my best to see as much as possible during the first wave of the Two-souled that came to this world,” Fluff replied.
After a few minutes, the elevator finally came to a stop well above the ground. Another set of guards stood there. One of them opened the small gate for them. “Welcome to Brightgrove. Can I direct you anywhere?”
“We’re mostly sightseeing,” Gerald replied. “Can you tell us where to go for portals out into the wilds?”
“If one of you will show me your map, I’ll mark the Portal Guild for you,” the guard replied. He tapped Gerald’s map once it was presented to him. “Right, there you go. I wish you good hunting.”
“Thank you,” Gerald replied as he led the group down a walkway bordered with a waist-high railing. They followed Gerald out onto one of the bridges that crossed between the platforms. It was a graceful arch, made of the same wood as the trees the supported the city.
Karen frowned as they walked across the bridge, “Wait, this isn’t a bridge. It’s a branch.”
“Yes,” Fluff told her. “The Elven God and Goddess, Hunter and Magica, formed the city for the Elves before they stopped walking the world. The platforms and bridges are made of the living wood of the trees, formed by the hands of the gods themselves.”
“All Stormguard got was a city set towards the western edge of their continent,” Alburet shook his head. “That seems strangely weak to me.”
“Wildwood was created by Bastet,” Fluff added, “and Bunker was crafted by the Dwarven gods, Forge and Hearth. Only Stormguard was not built by a god. Justice and Peace encouraged the human race to build on their own.”
The group winced a little over the names of the gods, wishing the Devs had done better with that. “I wonder why humans got the shaft like that?” Karen mused.
“It might be in the lore somewhere,” Alburet mused. “We can always ask Ioaniss sometime.”
“The first city of the Empire be named after Justice,” Stacia told them. “The second one be in ruins in the Dead Lands. It be named after Peace. In the war, when the retreat from the Dead Lands ended, a mighty storm raged over the lands. So, the city of Stormguard was built to shelter those who had survived the horrors.”
The group was silent for a bit after the brief history lesson. Eventually they reached the platform they had been aiming for. A large wooden building stood before them, with the Portal Guild emblem emblazoned on it.
“Let’s go see where our next adventure lies,” Alburet said, nodding to Gerald to lead the way into the building.
The walls of the building rose smoothly up from the platform, with no visible seams. Smooth bark covered the walls. It was decorated in a warm green and yellow color scheme. A receptionist sat behind a desk that grew smoothly up from the wooden floor.
She smiled at their awe-struck expressions, tucking an errant strand of blonde hair behind her elven ear. “Welcome to Brightgrove, travelers. Are you seeking a place to hunt?”
“Yes,” Gerald replied, pulling his eyes to the receptionist. “We’re hoping to hit the lowest zone today. We’ll be working our way through the zones after that in the next few days.”
“Ah, you’re the sixth group of Two-souled to come through here with that intent today.” She smiled at Gerald, “It’s good to see the traditions being upheld. That is an old adventurer’s trick to help them power up faster. Do you have a guild account with the Portal Guild?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Alburet replied. “I set that up for my guild as soon as I found out about it.”
Her eyes went to him and tightened, “Ah. Well, the stairs are off to my left, take them down one level. I hope your hunt is beneficial to you.”
The group walked to the stairs, and Karen leaned over to Alburet. “Your rep?”
He nodded, “It took a hit with the change. I’m sitting at Wary, which is why I’m getting these looks.”
“Hmm, maybe I should do the talking for us until you can get back to Neutral then,” Gerald cut in.
“Good idea,” Alburet agreed. “I don’t want anyone to look down on the guild just because of my rep.”
They descended the stairs to find a single archway on the first level. A plaque on one side of the arch informed them that this portal served the Underbrush. “Underbrush, here we come,” Karen said, stepping on the glyph ahead of everyone else.
As they appeared on the other side, they discovered a thick hedge growing next to them, forming a formidable wall. Thorns as long as daggers thrust out from the branches in all directions. They were in front of a break in the hedge, which was manned by an Elven guard. The guard nodded at them politely.
“Welcome to the Underbrush,” the guard greeted them. “The Gunso is just inside the grove.”
“Gunso?” Marysue asked.
“It is the equivalent of Sergeant in the human kingdom,” the guard replied.
“Thank you,” Gerald replied, leading the group through the opening.
Tending to the hedge just inside the break was an older elf, his dark hair just starting to show touches of grey. His robe bore the emblem of a tree in the same place the guild logo appeared on the group’s outfits. He smiled pleasantly at the group, running his hands over a branch. The wood moved like putty under his hands, being sculpted by his touch.
Fluff paused, “What are you crafting today, Woodweaver?”
He met her eyes, “I am crafting an image of my grandchild. Her birth remembrance is next week.”
“I wish her well,” Fluff replied, and started walking, prompting the others to follow her.
“Wait, how was he doing that?” Karen asked as she caught up to Fluff.
“He is a druid, for all intents and purposes, but he crafts as well. All the keeps here are manned by a trio of Woodweavers. They tend to the hedges, aiding in the defense of the keep during attacks and repairing any damage done to the hedge and buildings if something ever attacks the fort.”