Chapter 103 (Patreon)

Chapter 103

Elder Bren’s treehouse was the largest in the village, being formed from what Ethel described as ‘tree shaping’ to create rooms, balconies and multiple floors all the way from the base of the trunk to about thirty feet up.  The leaves, bark and roots were all still intact and the tree was actually still very much alive, unlike many of the smoking husks of the other buildings in the village after the greenskins attacked, but it’d been expanded and molded like clay to fit the needs of the people living in it.

“I’ll be waiting outside!” Ethel whispered, urging him in with her one remaining hand and waving enthusiastically while Athela sighed in irritation in the background.  “I’ll talk to you after!”

The door to the first level closed behind him, leaving Riven staring at the hunchbacked old man and two redheaded women - one about his own age and the other being middle-aged.

“Riven, let me introduce you to my two wives.”  Elder Bren gestured to the older woman first, an elf with a deep purple dye coloring the front of her woven leaf vest.  “This is Cherri.”

The old man’s staff moved to the younger, middle-aged woman next.  “This is Nil.”

Both women bowed politely, remaining silent and standing in the background behind a couch molded out of the tree itself that was adorned with furs and pillows.

The rest of the room was also a lot fancier than the house Ethel and her family lived in.  It had a spiral staircase in the back leading to the next floor up, a long ovoid table and a kitchen to his right, a couple tapestries, a glowing yellow-orange stone in the ceiling that illuminated the main room, some open chests with various garments of clothing, and many open-aired windows similar to the ones he’d seen across many of the cabins or treehouses here.

Elder Bren smoothed out his vibrant blue and green robes, sitting down with a huff and motioned for Riven to join him on the opposite end of the couch.  “Do you drink tea?  I’ve never really asked a vampire whether or not they still enjoy… normal food.”

“Tea would be great.” Riven replied pleasantly, enjoying the smell from the herbs hanging from the ceiling in a similar manner to Ethel’s home.

Nil, the younger wife, quickly went off to the kitchen and brought back a wooden tray with wooden cups that were filled with a warm and soothing liquid that ran down Riven’s throat like a breath of fresh air.

He sipped casually in the warm light of Elder Bren’s home, putting the drink down on the nearby equivalent to a coffee table and turned his attention back to the old man who was silently evaluating him - tea in hand.

“So what did you bring me here to talk about?”

The old man took a sip of his own drink and placed it on the table next to Riven’s.  Hiccupping slightly and beating his chest with a gnarled fist, he cocked his head to one side and crossed his legs.  A single pointed ear stuck out from the left side of his head that was angled up, and Riven could now distinguish a long scar leading down from the ear onto the old elf’s neck that he’d not seen before.

The elder spoke.  “First of all I would like to reiterate that you are a welcome friend here in the village after the lives you saved.  We were on the losing end of that battle until you arrived, and with the casualties you and your creatures inflicted I doubt the orcs or goblins will mount any attack on us any time soon.  That being said, after seeing you fight, I have a proposal for you.”

There was hesitation in the old man’s words, and Riven raised an eyebrow.  “Go on.”

“Ahem, yes.  I was hoping you’d eradicate the rest of the greenskins for us.”

The room became utterly silent and Elder Bren’s two wives stared just as intently at Riven as the elder did.  Riven was a little taken aback by the brazen call to arms, especially after not having known them for more than half an hour now.

“And why would I do that?” Riven asked slowly, concern in his voice as he leaned back against one of the pillows on the couch.  “Assuming there are a lot more of them than the group that attacked, what makes you think that I’m even capable of that?”

“Most of the fighting force of the orcs and goblins are already dead due to your actions.  The problem is that goblins breed like rats, and the orcs still have a chieftain as well as a small warparty of his elites that weren’t here based on our scouting reports.  We know where they are, if you are able to take advantage of that knowledge for an ambush or surprise strike you will certainly be able to kill them all.”

Riven wasn’t so convinced, but he didn’t reply and motioned for the old man to continue the sale’s pitch with a wave of his hand.

“As for why you would do so…” Elder Bran continued while clearing his throat awkwardly.  “They are a threat to the surrounding area as a whole.  They would threaten you, as well as the people you care about.”

Riven thought back to Allie, and he tried to hide his grin.  “I doubt they’d be able to handle the people I care about.”

“You speak of the other vampires?”

“Vampires as in plural?”

“Yes, your sister and whatever others follow her in the city to the north.  Correct?”

“Wait.  How did you know about her?”

To this, the old man looked confused.  “Ethel and Senna informed us of her.  They said there were more, were Ethel and Senna mistaken to assume you have a coven there?”

Riven opened his mouth to reply, but hesitated momentarily as he thought about how to reply.  “That is somewhat accurate… though not entirely.  I wouldn’t really call it a coven.”

“Then what would you call it?”

Riven thoughtfully tapped his fingers against the wooden table in front of him.  “What would you call a large group of undead?"

“Undead that weren’t just vampires?”

“Yeah.”

Elder Bren furrowed his brows and crossed his hands.  “You would call that a necropolis…”

There was an awkward silence between the two men, and then the older man cleared his throat with a dismissing wave of his right hand.  “Regardless, I was also under the impression that you cared for Ethel.  That is what she has been telling us, Senna confirmed this.  They were saying that’s the only reason you came to help, and that you expected recompense by taking in her as a… personal food source.  As property.”

Huh?

Riven stared blankly back at the old elf, trying not to give away any of his internal emotions.  Though he was definitely piecing things together now.  The comments Senna had made about Elder Preen wanting Ethel’s hand in marriage.  The comments about how Ethel didn’t like the leadership and her change in body language when talking about it on the trip here.  The speech Ethel’s little sister had given him concerning the problems Ethel and her mother Genua were having with Elder Preen’s more than forward attempts to force himself on them whenever Farrod wasn’t around.

Was Ethel using him as a scapegoat to get out of a forced marriage to some old guy?  He didn’t know whether or not to feel irritated about being tricked or not.  Couldn’t really blame her for wanting out of a situation like she’d been in, but she could have at the very least asked him first.  She’d outright lied to the village elders too, but perhaps that was a necessary evil to conduct her plan successfully.  Apparently even her friend Senna had gone along with it, and this also explained why her father Farrod had been so hostile towards him when Riven had briefly talked to the man not long ago.

“I see…” Riven eventually said with an even, controlled tone despite the mild anger simmering up inside of him.  “What if I said she was right in saying so?”

Riven lied through his teeth with that one, but the look of relief washing over Elder Bren made him even more confused.

“That would be good, very good.” The old man leaned forward, picked up his cup and took a long sip again.  “Then it makes sense.  I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why else you’d come help us, being a vampire, but this does make sense and it puts my mind at ease.  You’re wanting to turn her into your version of cattle, or a thrall then.  Or as your wife to add alongside your female minions like so many other warlocks do.  I do not care.  Well I can tell you that Elder Preen is less than happy about this because he’d wanted Ethel as his own third wife, but the village as a whole - including myself - has decided against his wishes to obtain her for himself if what Ethel had said was true.  You may have Ethel as your own, and you may live or visit here in Greenstalk as a member of our community.  We could even set up trade negotiations between your necropolis up north and this village.  There is a stipulation though.”

“Being that I need to eradicate the remnants of the greenskins.”

“Correct.  Or at the very least you need to drive them away from these lands.  That was the concession that I made to Elder Preen, if you wish to live or travel openly amongst us you’ll have to do us this favor.  You’re more than capable based on what we all witnessed already and it appears you have backing from more of your undead brethren too.  You are far stronger than any of us, and many of our most experienced warriors are now lost to the earth and heavens.”

Riven wanted to groan and rubbed his forehead with his fingers.  This is not what he’d been expecting nor what he wanted.  He didn’t have time to take responsibility for Ethel, because it was more than just that and she likely knew it.  If he accepted her as a thrall, he’d be committed to making sure she was safe - but he’d also in some ways be obligated to help her family out too.  Her mother, her father, and her little sister were also in a bad situation concerning this ‘Elder Preen’ prick, and she’d likely try to drag him into the middle of it all.  He also had a world quest oriented directly at him, specifically concerning the apocalypse beast Chalgathi, and he had no doubt Allie would have a lot to say on the matter because she’d been in his trials as well.

Speaking of which he still couldn’t believe Chalgathi had turned out to be a god damned apocalypse beast of all things.

Nor was Riven interested in creating any kind of harem, which apparently was a popular fad amongst the more prominent men of this village.  But based on Elder Bren’s comments on potentially taking Ethel as a wife along with his minions?  Jesus, this guy had the wrong idea, and he could only imagine what kind of absolutely insane shenanigans having Athela as a wife would mean.  Fay was attractive, he couldn't deny that, but he'd already promised himself that he'd never pursue anything of the kind with her due to the master-minion relationship they had.  It felt gross to even think about those things.

In Riven’s experience even having a relationship with one woman was enough to drive him batshit crazy.  Women were essentially like aliens to him at times in the realm of the dating world, always talking about their horoscope zodiac sign bullshit and whatnot whenever he got into a relationship long enough for them to get comfortable.  God his ex girlfriends had been truly stupid.  Perhaps it’d just been bad luck though, and he held hope that this would not be a continuing trend during his dating life in the future.  But one thing was for certain: He didn’t want to hear about scorpio, aquarius or even god damn asparagus even one more time so help him god.

“Having a warlock of your caliber in the village would also be quite a protective boon against the local monsters…” Elder Bren stated after the thoughtful pause with a more upbeat and chipper demeanor now that he seemed to think Riven was on board.  “So we’d be willing to overlook your more sinister attributes if you wished to move here.  Perhaps even the rest of your undead counterparts could move in nearby?  I do not think having them in direct proximity with our own people would be wise… but having them as a close ally would be beneficial for us, given the frequent monster attacks.”

Riven gave the old man a dubious look.  It was very apparent that after this recent orc attack, the elves were very shaken.  Perhaps they’d lost most of their fighting potential and wouldn’t be able to ward off the local enemies, and given that Riven had seen a cyclops alongside numerous wargs and now greenskin invaders?

Riven was pretty sure Elder Bren, and the village, was desperate for protection.  “You’re willing to overlook my more sinister attributes huh… I can see that.  What makes you think that I can’t just take Ethel right now?  What’s stopping me from doing it and keeping her as a thrall without your say-so?”

The hunchbacked man paused mid-sip of his tea, and his paled slightly.  Slowly he put the tea down, coughed, and folded his hands over his knees while looking at the floor.  “Ethel said you weren’t that kind of person, and wouldn’t take her unwillingly.  Was she wrong?”

Slowly, Riven let out a low groan and his head fell into his hands.  “She’s not wrong.”

The old man beamed.  “Very good.”

“What about the other elf tribes in the area?  Weren’t there other groups of your kind that could help with this?”

Elder Bren’s face fell almost immediately upon hearing the question, and he shook his head.  “They are all dealing with their own problems and are too far away from here to help.  We are quite displaced from the rest, and even attempting to travel there by ourselves would make us easy targets for local predators or the greenskins again.  Let it be known that this is one of the less dangerous areas of the wilderness according to scouting reports...”

Riven pursed his lips while he thought this over.  It was a lot to take in, and it’d all been thrown at him out of the blue - completely unexpected.  Well, at the very least if he decided to go through with this… it did solve his problem concerning finding a thrall and someone to feed on.  Perhaps it wasn’t a bad idea after all, though he doubted he’d be moving here now that he’d finally found Allie again.  No doubt he’d visit…

But that defeated the purpose of this proposal.  Elder Bren obviously wanted him to stay.  If he left, to go back to his sister, where would that leave the elves?  It would leave them defenseless, or close to it after most of their warriors had died.  At least that’s how it seemed.  Perhaps they could come back with him to Allie’s tower instead of staying here?  Or perhaps Allie could have a host of undead guard this village as an outpost for their newly growing civilization, should the elves of Greenstalk swear loyalty?

[System Quest (Triggered by Elder Bren), Eradicate the Greenskins:  The orcs and goblins in this area have become a grave threat to the elves of Greenstalk Village, having raided their hunting and scouting parties numerous times.  Now they’ve even gone as far as to attack the village itself, nearly killing or capturing everyone there until your timely intervention.  Elder Bren of Greenstalk Village has offered the elf Ethel as private property in exchange for your help in killing or driving away the local orcs and goblins.  You will also be given citizenship by completing this quest, free of persecution due to your race with all the rights of a fully fledged village member.  You will lastly be given an unspecified B-Ranked prize for your level by the Elysium Administrator upon completion of this quest.]

Riven re-read the description and clarified a point.  What was a B-Rank prize?  He’d never seen ranking on prizes before.  “You want me to kill all the orc children and women too?”

“They will grow up to become monsters just like the rest of them.  So yes.”

“But you’ll be fine if I just drive them off?”

“Yes… though this will be hard to do without killing at least most of them.  We’ll also be sending one of our scouts to confirm your actions if you decide to take us up on this offer.  I can see you’re still not entirely sure of yourself on this decision however, and the village wishes to know what your decision will be.  If you need time to think on this…”

“The entire village knows about what you’re pitching me?”

“Pitching?”

“Offering me.”

“Oh.  Yes, the entire village is aware.  We discussed it publicly when Ethel and Senna revealed your original terms for helping us in the first place.  Ethel’s mother and little sister are in agreement with the terms as well, much to Elder Preen’s disliking.  And to Farrod’s disliking as well, though for obviously different reasons.”

“And you’re all ok with having undead or vampires in your midst?”

At this, the old man hesitated.  “... Yes, if it means that you offer us protection in return.  You’ll have Ethel to feed on.  Along with some of the goblins we captured, it should be enough to sustain you.  I would strongly advise against eating her though… Even though Ethel would become your cattle, or a thrall to feed upon, she is still part of the village.”

Riven had to hold back a snort of half-disgust and half-amusement concerning the comment.  “I had never intended to kill or eat any of you.”

“That is what Ethel told us.  She and Senna had some very kind things to say about you, which did a lot in convincing the others in our community.  However… there are definitely naysayers that don’t agree with you being here even after what you’ve done.  Many of those same naysayers may have their doubts quelled by doing this great service for us.”

Despite the obvious internal turmoil Riven was experiencing, he couldn’t deny that having a constant food source was a very good thing to bargain with on the elves’ parts.  He’d had hunger pains regularly when not feeding on blood and he’d been terrified he’d resort back to the way he’d been back in Negrada when he’d killed that poor man from Earth in a fit of extreme hunger.  He’d lost his sanity upon initial transition into a vampire, and his bloodline had informed him that vampires were very prone to this if they didn’t stay fed, so he had to deal with the reality of it and find a consistent food source that Ethel and her mother could provide.  The goblins would suffice too… but having fed on them already he could safely say that they were a little less than tasty.  Filling, but not good to the tongue.

His more primal side hoped that Ethel was more fulfilling in terms of the taste of her blood, even despite his conscious desire to push those thoughts aside.

In the end, a cooperation of his hunger and the want to help Ethel won out over his doubts and suspicions - even despite his anger at being somewhat blindsided and tricked by both her and Senna.  “Alright.  I’ll do it.  Let me know when and where, and I’ll finish the job I started.”

Elder Bren and his two wives were outwardly elated with Riven’s words, and the old man stood up - brushing out his vibrant blue and green robes to clap Riven on the shoulder.  “Very good young man!  I will see to it that we have a feast in your honor when the deed is done, and I will let everyone know!  The sooner you can do this the better, but we will not rush you out of the village just yet.  Rest up and be sure that you are prepared for the battle at hand, we want you to succeed more than you know.  If you fail, we will have to flee this part of the world in search of a new home… and who knows what awaits beyond the borders of this forest.”

In the distance a ruckus was building up.  Angry shouts of men and women rose up in the dark of night, and the sound grew louder the closer the individuals got.  Riven and the elves in the room became silent listening to it, and one of Elder Bren’s wives began to rub her temple - losing her smile with a frustrated groan.

Seconds later a rapid, angry knock sounded at the front door and a man’s angry voice called through.  “BREN!  Bren get out here, we need to talk!”