Chapter 131 (Patreon)

Chapter 131

Riven stood beside his two minions in an audience chamber, with Mesha and her cousin Snagger beside them.  The room was coated in multicolored crystals and illuminated by glowing multi-colored gemstones set into the walls.  There were also two rows of elevated platforms that came down from the sides of the room like the stands of a stadium would, with higher ranking members of Snagger’s rat-kin brood filing in for what was apparently the very first meeting on today’s schedule at the home court.  They all wore fancier clothes than many of the other rat-kin did, with very well made silks or stitched shirts with bioluminescent properties similar to the plants Riven had seen through the cave systems.  He even saw one of the rat-kin wearing a monocle of all things.

He was deep inside the mound-fortress that snagger’s personal family unit, or his ‘brood’, kept.  They were awaiting an audience with the family matriarch per Snagger’s request, but she’d been caught up with something else and had sent a messenger to tell them she’d be there shortly.  Ratkin guards about Snagger’s size with large halberds and heavy, studded leather armor  stood at intervals along either side of the large room, and tapestries depicting battles, giant lizards, wyrms, drow, and other scenes or creatures from the underdark were hung from the ceiling.

It was certainly not what Riven had been expecting after seeing the rest of the ‘nest’ of these creatures, but then again each mound had been hard to peer into without actually traveling into them.  He’d expected something like a dirty, grimy place - but although the city up above was somewhat disorganized and violent: it wasn’t too outlandish.

Especially when entering the mound.

On their way to this particular audience hall and in Snagger’s brood-mound: There’d been smiths, libraries, unique pipe-line sewage systems, and even an alchemist in his own little cove of the tunnels leading down - so it was truly a civilization in its own right, and the forums of the cortex here had actually been extremely active.  Snagger had told Riven that he wasn’t sure exactly how many of them lived here, but he guessed it was well over 300,000 with the vast majority of them being non-combat civilians.  With that amount of people all living in one place, it meant that there’d been sub-forums of the city created for jobs and quests, barter systems, advertisements, discussions on the war with the dwarves, and many more topics that updated in real time.  The city forum itself correlated with the city’s name, and was called ‘Deepnest.’  Not very original for the name of a ratkin nest-city deep underground, but it was what it was.

“The brood-mother of us-we makes her grand appearance-show!” A rather cute, three-foot ratkin girl with red fur and a white robe yelled out above the muffled whispers of the weather brood members in the stands.  The rat-kin along the sidelines immediately became quiet and they all stood to show respect, staying that way as a tall and rather large ratkin woman entered the throne room from a hallway to the left.

She was slightly taller than Riven was, standing at 7 feet akin to Snagger’s height, and wore a platinum necklace that hung down over her chest.  She was thinner though, with brown fur and was dressed in a form fitting white robe similar to the smaller girl who’d just announced her presence.  Her long bare tail, the clawed hands and feet, and her mouse-like ears and face were a stark contrast to any women Riven had ever known - but he could still tell she was feminine for a rat person.

The brood-mother waved at the audience and gracefully moved to the large stone throne, sitting down with a courteous smile oriented towards the group on the floor beyond the slightly elevated platform the throne stood on.  “Mesha-kin!  Snagger-kin!  You have brought-found a new friend-thing to us?  Do tell-show how you’ve been!”

Mesha comfortably waved back, but Snagger straightened and motioned for the others to stand up before turning around with a large smile.  “Brood-mother!  It is good-fond to see you!  I have been well-good, Mesha-kin and I have explored-sought through the tunnels and it uses-takes much time.  It is a travel-adventure though!  Sadly, Bort-kin and Cheshish-kin died-passed to the dwarves on way-trek here.”

Snagger’s face fell at this last bit of information, as did the brood-mother’s.  “They died honor-proud, taking many dwarf-devils with them.”

Murmurs of sadness at how they’d passed and approval that they’d taken dwarves with them crossed through the gathered rat-kin in the stands on either side of the vast room.  Riven was a little confused at how everyone here seemed to know who these people were, or how Snagger was so familiar with the brood-mother in such a large compound, but Athela couldn’t help but snicker slightly under her breath.

“Dwarves don’t have anything on devils.” Athela whispered to Riven on the side. “To even compare the two is an insult to all demonkind.”

The brood-mother took Snagger’s words to heart though, and her frown was very evident when she lifted a clawed hand and rubbed her forehead.  “That is sad-sorrow to hear.  Did you show-tell the guards of where the battle-fight happened?”

“Yes-yes brood-mother, I did show-tell.”

“Good.  This war is bad-poor to us all, and us-we have lost many family-kin to them already.”  The brood-mother’s eyes turned to Azmoth next, then Athela, and then to Riven.  She leaned forward on her throne and steepled her fingers, the jingling of her platinum necklace audible even from a few yards away.  “Are you their summoner-owner?”

Riven couldn’t help but smile with amusement at the comment, giving Athela a sideways glance when he noticed the glare.  “Why yes.  Very much so, I use the big one as a pack mule and the sassy girl here to make me sandwiches.  It’s been quite the investment.”

Both demons looked his way at that one as he tried to not laugh at the unamused stares from either demon.  The tall brood-mother took it in stride though and didn’t seem to notice the joke at all.  “Sandwitch-foods?  Hmmm… Well it isn’t-not my place to ask about your preference-tastes.  I am Rashtalia, Brood-Mother of Brood-Tarrow in Deepnest-city.  What is your name-flag?”

“Riven Thane.  It’s very nice to meet you.”

Rashtalia’s smile widened.  “Your manners are not forgotten-unnoticed.  Many-much of your kind could be taught-learned lessons by you.  How-when did my nephew-niece Snagger-kin and Mesha-kin meet-find you?”

Riven cocked an eyebrow at that one, glancing over at the two ratkin next to him and clasping his hands behind his back.  Nephew and niece of the brood-mother huh?  “I met snagger a few weeks ago in the tunnels under Brightsville.  Sewers actually.  It’s a city from my own planet, Earth, on the surface.”

“So you are-is not from Zazir?”

“No, I didn’t even know that Zazir was another planet until the integration.”

Murmurs of curiosity started spreading amongst the gathered rat-kin in the stands and the brood-mother slowly nodded, deep in thought.  “Curious-interesting that is.  So there are vampire-batkin on this… Earth, too?”

Riven hesitated, then shrugged.  “I honestly don’t know.  I assume so, but I can’t be entirely certain.  It’s a bit of a weird situation, I was originally human and my bloodline was locked until integration happened.  We had stories about vampires back on Earth though, so probably.  Other than that, the planet was run by humans.  There weren’t any of the other races there, aside from legends or stories passed down in novels.”

Rashtalia remained silent for a time, un-steepling her fingers and leaning back against the stone chair she sat in.  She motioned for a nearby servant and was approached with a plate of food, then picked off some kind of berry and stuffed it into her mouth to chew while keeping eye contact with Riven the entire time.  “Perhaps that is why you-you have bright-eyes and not dull-eyes.  I have not seen bright-eyes of the batkin before now-here.”

“Ahem!”

The brood-mother was interrupted by an older gray ratkin man who had several trinkets dangling around his neck and from along his arms.  His violet robes were decorated with sigils Riven didn’t recognize, but he scurried over and whispered something in Rashtalia’s ear.

The brood-mother’s eyebrows raised in turn when the older ratkin left to stand a little ways off to her side on the platform again, and she drummed her fingers along the right-hand side armrest.  “No-no, that is not right-correct.  You are pure-pureblooded vampire, like what bat-kin have been looking-searching for in the deep-depths.”

The room immediately became silent, and all eyes locked onto Riven’s form as he stood there unmoving.

His brows furrowed in confusion, and he exchanged glances with Snagger and his demons - who all had no clue what the brood-mother was talking about.  He straightened a little, put his hands on his hips, and cocked his head to the side with a curious stare.  “Yes… I am pureblooded.  But what are you talking about, exactly?  Someone is looking for me?”

Rashtalia tapped her clawed fingers on the stone throne a couple times, then leaned forward and nodded while steepling her fingers again.  “Other bat-kin.”

“Vampires?”

She nodded in confirmation.  “They come-run to seek-find purebloods.  They want-need help for world quest.”

“World quest?  Now I’m completely at a loss.”

Rashtalia put up both hands to either side.  “I not know-perceive why.  But vampire bat-kin come-seek you-others of pureblood for world-quest.  Perhaps go find-seek them yourself to ask-question them?  They come-travel two weeks ago, live in darker-depths of underdark.”

“Do you know exactly where?  Could you lead me to them?”

Rashtalia shook her head.  “Strangers.  Not know.”

Riven felt himself deflate slightly.  Just great, another group of people seeking him out that lived somewhere deep in the underdark of his new planet Panu.  This time it was the local vampires instead of the intergalactic ones.  Why though?  He didn’t have any ties to any vampires back on Earth, and it seemed like they were just looking for ‘purebloods’ rather than ‘Riven’.  But if it had to do with a world quest, he probably needed to figure it out eventually.

His shoulders slumped slightly, but he didn’t take his eyes of the brood-mother.  The man who spoke to Rashtalia may have even been an identifier.  In fact that was very likely, as when Athela identified him he only came off as [Vampire Warlock].  It didn’t even give his full class title of ‘adept’ to people without an advanced identifying class.

Regardless, he was getting off track.  Pulling up the old notification that was stashed in his status page - he reviewed the world quests and quickly identified which of them these vampires were likely pursuing him for.  However why that was the case - he still didn’t know.

[World Quests (6 of 6 remaining).  You have 5 years to complete these quests as a worldwide team effort.  Further details on each of these quests will be presented to you individually when you come into direct contact with the given quest.  Only the basics are initially handed out otherwise.  Current Threat level is an indication of threat concerning the world at large, and not a direct representation of how it may or may not affect you individually.  The World Quests are as follows:

• World Quest 1, The Lich King’s Plague: In the far reaches of the northern Chaos Wastelands, an ancient lich begins to stir.  Advanced details are locked until you come into contact with this quest.
• World Quest 2, The Apocalypse Beasts:  ***ADVANCED DETAILS HAVE BEEN UNLOCKED*** Ah, this is one of my personal favorites.  I present to you the apocalypse beasts!  Your world has been cursed with 3 tyrannical creatures of astronomical power that are currently being incubated and grown into their adult forms.  Each of these absolute monstrosities is able to turn the world on its head, demolishing countries in their path and tearing the very fabric of reality apart.  Know that if these creatures are allowed to awaken you will likely not live much longer than the 5 years’ limit.  Each of these monsters have cultist worshipers from your own planets, given knowledge of these creatures before the integration even begun.  They will try to awaken the monsters’ adult forms to destroy your world entirely, leading to astronomical amounts of power as a reward for the cultists in their success for when they leave the smoldering wreckage of Panu.  Your goal is to stop and kill their cult worshipers, and find out where these creatures are being incubated so that you will have a world to live on when the 5 years of time runs out.  Current Threat Level: Extremely high, death toll within the billions.  Catastrophe upon failure of completion when 5 years has passed:  Nekra, the Skeletal Devourer will be unleashed onto Panu.  Chalgathi, the Plague Dragon will be unleashed onto Panu.  Chubin, the Glass Kraken will be unleashed onto Panu.  Click for updated details.
• World Quest 3, Invaders from Beyond: Other galactic civilizations greedily watch your fledgling world, wanting these lands for their own.  Invasion tokens have been distributed.  Advanced details are locked until you come into contact with this quest.
• World Quest 4, Blood of the Fallen God: An unnamed vampiric elder god has fallen from grace after having sinned against the Elysium Administrator.  The elder god has been trapped within a hidden, guarded labyrinth in the deepest levels of the underdark, and you must stop him from awakening.  Advanced details are locked until you come into contact with this quest.
• World Quest 5, Realm of the Snow Giants: In the southern reaches of the glacial islands in the Numenor Sea, on the opposite end of the world from where the Lich King lays in wait, an ambitious king of the snow giants has united the warring tribes.  Advanced details are locked until you come into contact with this quest.
• World Quest 6, Drums in the Deep: The mer-people and naga of this world have been given a choice… Advanced details are locked until you come into contact with this quest.]

Yup.  World Quest 4, Blood of the Fallen God - that was probably the one.

Sighing, he closed the notification.  He already was involved with one world quest, and he had 5 years to deal with it, so he’d probably push it off for now… he had another holder of Chalgathi’s artifacts only 80 miles from Brightsville and would need to take care of that first.  Not only that, but he also had an impending war with another elf faction coming up.

He and Allie were rather busy at the moment to be worrying about some fallen vampiric good on top of it all.

Riven facepalmed, knowing he couldn’t just *NOT* figure this out.  What if it was important?

His internal struggles came to a standstill, and he rubbed his forehead with two fingers while letting out a groan.  “Rashtalia, do you have any idea on where to start?  Even a small clue to point me in the right direction?”

The brood-mother blinked, cleared her throat and motioned over to the gray rat-kin who’d spoken to her earlier.  She nodded a couple times as he whispered in her ear, and then she dismissed him with a wave of her hand.  “Yes-yes.  But not exact location-spot and not much-good clues.  Only direction.  Bat-kin come to city-nest and ask-query, then leave-run next day.  Very fast when realize rat-kin and dwarf-devils at war, not wanting to fight-involve with us.  If want, I can tell-show direction later.”

Riven smiled, nodded, and nudged Athela.  “Hey.  How comfortable are you with exploring the underdark by yourself for a little while?”

Athela’s face widened into a gleeful smile.  “Sounds exciting!  Are you going to send me to find the vampire she’s talking about?”

“Exactly.  I'm hoping the quest will update whenever you do find and talk to them, perhaps they already have the quest details active and can pass it along.  Then, when that's done, we can decide whether or not that's an important avenue to pursue versus the other things we have on our plate.”

Rashtalia examined the exchange, then shrugged.  “I hope-plea that you succeed-win in finding the bat-kin.  If any of we-us find them, we-we shall tell - otherwise we show-point in direction they came.  Now, show-tell me of surface-world and what you know-found.  I am very curious-eager to hear news-tidings of beyond the nest.”

The brood-mother didn’t bring up the world quest again.  The rest of Riven’s meeting was very enlightening for both sides, and by the end of it he could even say that he honestly liked Rashtalia quite a bit.  She made jokes from time to time and she wasn’t stuck up in any way, shape or form.  Rather she was quite down to earth, and talked to Riven as an equal rather than as the matriarch of Snagger’s brood.

Riven told her of how his own experience had gone with his starter events, though left the part out about Chalgathi.  He told her about the hellscape dungeon he had to enter and learned that a few of the rat-kin in Deepnest had undergone unique trials of their own, but it was rather random and a rarity at that.  He told her of the surface world and of what he’d seen so far, with lots of information about his old planet and the city of Brightsville above them.  There was talk about the elves, the purging of the holy crusaders, and the faction his sister had created.  He gave a brief description of the geography topside and mentioned there was another war raging between the human Kingdom of Dawn and another high-elf empire he hadn’t encountered just yet, but was sure to get more details later.

In turn he learned about the ongoing events here in the underdark.  Deepnest had been a cave-city of their small rat-kin kingdom on Zazir, surrounded by friendly communities with only a few hostile forces to deal with in the form of Drow or Dark Elves.  The meshing of worlds had shifted Deepenest’s location and none of their satellite settlements were around anymore, nor were their allies, reducing their trade and resources significantly.  She told him of the encroaching dwarves and the war she and her people had been unwillingly thrust into, losing many thousands of civilians and military personnel since the conflict had started.  The dwarves had also taken over numerous mines full of valuable minerals and areas suitable for farming since the integration, and had been extremely brutal in their attacks and lack of empathy concerning the rat-kin.  The dwarves obviously thought themselves as a superior race, and looked at Rashtalia, the other brood-mothers, and the queen-mother or their people as beasts to be purged rather than equal sentient beings.

Overall the knowledge swap was a very positive experience, and the exchange had become rather friendly.