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| Chapter 62 | Book 7 • Chapter 63 | Chapter 64 |
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Briarland - Campground
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You ended up coming back for seconds, thirds, and even fourths of that "risotto" dish, Baur. That good, huh? Khee hee hee. |
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...Yes, well. Upon reflection, I concluded food can hardly be held accountable for man's misdeeds. |
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I'm glad you enjoyed it! |
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Ahem! If we could move on, General... |
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Right. The Silver Owls have been coming here from Howling Canyon awfully frequently as of late. |
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Those despicable illegal miners go around acting like they own the place, despoiling Briarland territory wherever they go! |
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A century ago, it was one little sailboat that came ashore at Cape Sunrise... But their population multiplied faster than you can blink, until they started outnumbering the fae who live here. Now they inhabit all the land east of Howling Canyon. |
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Grrr... FOUL HUMANS! We should have ejected them from our land from the beginning! |
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I'm sure Her Majesty wasn't expecting matters to get this far out of hand back in those days either. |
| ...... |
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If they respected animals and nature and lived modestly, we could leave them be... But we cannot let them tear up any more of our mountains and forests. I need to get Lady Maleanor's letter to their eastern stronghold, and fast. |
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Who's this Maleanor lady? |
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You know nothing of Lady Maleanor? She's our liege's—erk! Lady Maleanor is the princess of Briarland. |
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The boy's right. She's the only child of our reigning queen Maleficia. She's our commander and the lady of Castle Wildrose. |
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Castle Wildrose? Not Castle Blackscale, the royal castle in Dragonopolis? |
| There's an expanse of wetlands in southern Briarland called the Verdurous Moor. In its center stands a citadel—an object of ire for many a ruffian coming from the Coral Sea or Howling Canyon. That's Castle Wildrose. |
| *a black silhouette of Maleanor* |
| Lady Maleanor is a key figure in our national defense. She commands the royal guard. |
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We are her palace guards, whom she dispatched as a delegation to deliver her demands to the Silver Owls. We set out from Castle Wildrose just today on that mission. |
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Her demands? What kind of demands? |
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What else would it be? It's obviously an ultimatum warning the Silver Owls to cease their ill-mannered conduct in our lands! |
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*sigh* We could fly right over to their stronghold if flight magic was an option. |
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Is there a reason it isn't? |
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Every other delegation that set out for the eastern stronghold has gone missing. |
| What?! |
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Our first job is to deliver the letter. Our second is to search for the missing delegates as we travel. And our third is to seek out and expel every Silver Owl mining our lands without fae permission. |
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Rgh... Diplomacy should be our nobles' job. Why should our esteemed General of the Right be stuck with it? |
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Because the humans outnumber the fae. We've had a nonstop labor shortage ever since the Silver Owls first showed up. Besides, our nobles are a useless lot. They'd swoon where they stood at the first whiff of iron. I'm sure that's why Lady Maleanor picked me for the job. |
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Well, ah... |
| We're about to exit the Tenebrous Wood, travel across the Verdurous Moor, and head for Howling Canyon. Once we're through Howling Canyon... ...we'll conduct searches in the Scarlet Plains and Dragontail peak while approaching the Silver Owl stronghold on the eastern coast. |
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...This sounds like it's going to be a long trip. |
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Khee hee hee, getting cold feet? So, messenger boys. Do I look like I have time to go to school? |
| ...... |
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You can keep busting your tails following along with us, but all you'll get for it is a boatload of danger. look, I'm saying this for your own good. Get out of here and go back to school. |
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No, sir. If anything... Hearing all of this only reinforces my wish for you to attend Night Raven College. |
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What. |
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I'll grant that we probably can't teach you much in the way of magic. But I'm certain that school life will be an irreplaceable experience for you. |
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Silver... |
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Once your mission is over, I'll extend our invitation once more... ...to Night Raven College, our alma mater! |
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I highly doubt I'll change my mind once this mission's over with. Are you willing to stick with us anyway? |
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Yes, sir! |
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Even if it means endangering your life? |
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YES, SIR! |
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...... I'm not exactly an authority on humans, but... I'm starting to suspect that Night Raven College is full of people who are weird even by human standards. |
| *cycling between students of different dorms in a flashback* |
| It's true that it has a great number of unique individuals. |
| They come from different backgrounds, different species, different cultures... It's very diverse. |
| And that means every day is educational. |
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*sigh* Suit yourselves. Don't say I didn't warn you. |
| Thank you, sir! |
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| Chapter 62 | Book 7 • Chapter 63 | Chapter 64 |
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