“Alright, I missed you too. No tears needed. Good job killing all those…things. Let’s go get the flower.”
They moved on, and faced no meaningful problems until they reached their final destination. The mountain path curved around, giving the party a beautiful look at the heart of the mountain range.
A trio of mountains surrounded a vast, three-way canyon that formed from the valleys running alongside each mountain and converging in the center. These three were the tallest mountains for miles, and the trio had neared the peak of theirs, so they were able to peer down into the abyss of the canyon below and look out over the mountains surrounding them. It was late in the day, the clear sapphire sky transitioning to a variety of soft yellows and oranges. The sunset itself was hidden by the hulking mountain to their west, but the weakening light and the clear skies made the stars easy to see. Lacking the light pollution of Orario, the party watched as a blanket of heavenly lanterns popped into existence overhead, little glimmers of pearly luminesce making their presence known as the sun retreated.
Adama easily shook off the initial awe of the spectacle. They weren’t here to stargaze; they were here to work. He glared at the lands below and recalled Airmid’s words:
“I’ve heard from a reliable source that there were some Morgana Lilies growing in a hidden location near the center of the Beol Mountains, just north of here.”
He’d tried to get more out of her later on, but she’d clammed up beyond that. Apparently, the merchant hadn’t given her more specifics beyond “The center of the Beol Mountains.” Well, here they were. According to his maps, this was definitely the center of the range, but the words “hidden location” seemed to be doing some work. He doubted the place was in the literal center of the canyon, but it wouldn’t hurt to investigate.
“Stay here.”
Were the only words Adama left the other three before he hopped off the ledge. Controlling his descent with his sword, he fell quickly down into the heart of the valley. Adama missed his ability to fly with aura control as he crashed onto the valley floor, splintering the rock there but taking no serious damage himself. Casually brushing off some debris from his cloak, he began inspecting the center of the range up close.
The valley and the mountains surrounding it were little more than drab gray stone. Adama’s eyes tore into every tiny detail within the canyon and the surrounding mountains, looking for any caves or clear discrepancies. Failing to find anything obvious at first glace, he began to ponder what information he had on hand:
- This was a hidden location. Obviously it would be concealed from an obvious first glance, even from Adama’s discerning eyes.
- This was a merchant they were talking about. In theory, there could be a cave well covered by artificial means. But that would be expensive, probably beyond what was worth doing to conceal the secret of Morgana’s Lily.
- Therefore, whatever was concealing the place was likely natural. Or possibly reliant on natural concealment alongside a lesser artificial construction. Tim couldn’t see anything interesting right now, but he could hear something in the distance.
The sound of rushing water echoed faintly throughout the canyon, easily picked up by Tim’s enhanced ears. Once he’d verified there was nothing obvious in sight, Adama dashed off to investigate. Along the wall of the western valley, originating from a cave outcrop up above, was a small waterfall flowing into a still pool below. Adama first jumped upward and examined the opening, trying to see if it led somewhere interesting. But the cave with the underground river stretched back miles to the south, with no end in sight. Adama stared into the blackness of that cavern for a few minutes, but he elected to examine the waterfall itself first.
The swordsman walked under the rushing water, unbothered by the power of the forces of nature. Finding nothing obvious, he traced his hands along the rocky back of the fall, pushing gently to sus out its integrity. Then he found it, a square section of wall that was only loosely attached to the rock next to it. Tim easily pushed it over, revealing the opening to a small, damp subterranean cavern. Shaking off the water, Adama stepped inside and followed it inward, but it wasn’t long before he found his quarry.
The cramped cavern soon opened up to a massive underground room. The walls were bedecked with bioluminescent blue moss, usually characteristic of the Underground Tree Labyrinth yet growing here quite naturally. They cast the room in a soft, otherworldly glow that danced across the waters of the small lake that made up the center of the underground chamber. The room radiated a sense of tranquility and life that juxtaposed heavily with the harsh and barren world outside, with a variety of plant life besides the moss that thrived on the walls of the cavern and at the edges of the lake.
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Including several large, healthy lilies that grew sporadically at the boundaries of the water, their petals shining a beautiful bright white.
Adama didn’t actually need to check his description, but he pulled it out anyways, along with a well-drawn picture that he held up near one of the flowers. No doubt about it, these were Morgana’s Lilies, exactly as Naaza had described them. Adama harvested them per Naaza’s instructions, placing the flowers into their proper preservative containers. He took more than he needed, but still left roughly one third of the population intact. It didn’t hurt to have more than required, just in case, but taking all of them could destroy the population for good.
With that, Adama shuffled off to tell the ladies the good news.
…
The trio of women, especially Lilli and Emi, berated Adama for leaving them alone on such short notice, but they forgave him when he showed them the fruits of his labors. Tim wanted to get going right away, but this plan was vetoed. They needed to rest, or so he was told, and the swordsman begrudgingly agreed. They’d been going almost non-stop for days now, and it was smart to finally get some real rest. The party spent the evening in the mountains, telling stories around a campfire and eating a nice, hot dinner. They woke up bright and early the next morning and began their push to the east.
The Seolo Forest was between them and the Alv Mountains, which themselves presented a barrier between the party and their next destination, the Alv Forest. Tim spent the journey contemplating what he would use to trade with the Elves of the forest for their Thousand Year Tree Sap. Threats or force had already been ruled out, but he still wasn’t entirely sure what the Elves would actually want from him. The books on the subject tended to be contradictory or confusing. So, in lieu of proper instruction, he decided he’d try to figure things out after having seen the Elves for himself. Little did he know, a breakthrough would be easier to find than he’d initially imagined:
“What’s happening my brothers? You heard the news?”
“You gossip like a woman, Blackford! Of course you heard the news before any of us.”
Tim and the gang were staying in a slightly run down tavern in a village at the edge of the Seolo Forest. They had sprinted here at rapid speeds, arriving at the village by nightfall on the fourth day after obtaining the Lillies. Tim had decided to have them rest instead of continuing onward through the night. Navigating the forest by night was a fool’s plan, since none of them were familiar with the area, but Tim also wanted to keep his ear to the ground. You never knew what you could find out from tavern gossip. Today, that plan succeeded beyond his expectations:
“Aww, come on! You want to hear it don’t you? You’re no better than me!”
A whiny man with greasy brown hair, shifty looking eyes, and skin a shade too pale, was talking to two other men at a table nearby Adama. His watery, unfocused eyes indicated the man had been drinking even before he’d stumbled into the tavern just a moment ago, clearly seeking more company. In emphasis, he downed another beer, which had just been brought to his table, after finishing his sentence, before ordering another. His companions, an olive-skinned, weather worn, green-eyed farmer and a short, black bearded, dark-skinned blacksmith looked at each other with some exasperation. Despite that, they were both clearly interested, and the blacksmith spoke up again:
“All right, out with it. What’s the news?”
“The Empire’s invading the forest!”
“What!?” “What!!?”
Both his companion’s had similar reactions, eyes dilating in fear as they stood up, as if to run away on the spot. The ambient music stopped for a moment; the tavern’s fiddler startled by the outburst. The farmer was the first to ask for more info:
“When are they coming? How far away are they?”
“.,.Last I heard, the Imperials were a two week’s ride away from them.”
The standing duo exchanged glances, before responding in harmony:
“’Them?’”
“Yeah, ‘them’. The Empire is attacking the Alv Forest.”
The music started up again as the two sat back down again in relief. The blacksmith gave the whiny man, Blackford, a slap in the back out of irritation:
“Say so, next time! I thought we’d need to move. The Empire is no joke. If they were coming to conquer us…”
“Why would they conquer us? We’re all poor as dirt here.”
Another slap, this time from the farmer:
“Because they want to attack Orario, stupid. They’d take the forest, pilfer our food, then move onto the city. It’s the day I fear the most! Even Rakian’s are more reasonable than those Imperial dogs! A good thing they’ve set their sights on Alv instead.”
The exchange continued, this time with Blackford trying to defend himself, but Tim was already tuning them out, turning this new information over.
This could be exactly what he needed.
…
The trip through the Seoro Forest and over the Alv mountains went on without much event. While there were wild beasts in both, they were too weak and were scared off simply by the aura of strength produced by the party. Their greatest potential enemy was getting lost, but their maps were good, so they made it to their destination with little issue.
The eastern foot of the Alv mountains transitioned seamlessly to the Alv forest, the mighty trees of that ancient glade towering over the adventurers making their way down the mountain path toward them. The other’s seemed nervous, but Tim waltzed into the forest confidently, plan in mind.
The plan started to get a little more complicated once they began getting shot at.