If you would like to play, please register an account and notify us through Discord.
Please check out our wiki for additional resources.
https://wiki.antarok.net/
You can find our Discord below:
https://discord.gg/JQJ7QfkDVV
Understand that we are currently in a playtest through the end of 2024, meaning you are welcome to play and earn experience, but there might be sweeping changes before the full site launch in 2025.
The firelands were not exactly inviting, or safe. Caelum stood there, shoulder to shoulder with Flora with AEngie and her baby slowly trailing behind. If Abraia had agreed to come, he presumed she would be with the group as well. The dragon stood at the edge of the forest, by a AElheim Sequoia that Caelum had already determined would be the main building for his Paradise. It was the closest one to the cave, though there were acres of burned plant life between him the two landmarks.
"Well, this is it," Caelum said, referencing the map he'd brought with him. The aelves had allowed him to claim a portion of this land, several dozen acres that had been circled on the map with the sequoia right in the middle. It was technically part of the firelands, but it was so massive that it had managed to resist getting completely burned down. Still, it was damaged and needed lots of repairs.
"You're kidding, right Master," Flora asked with a groan.
"Nope." He patted her on the back. "This big tree here will be the center of operations. But I don't think we will use it extensively until I've repaired it. Anyhow, we will need to build houses all around, I'll need to plant trees, etcetera. We can probably make good use of the cave, but I don't want to spread ourselves too thin. Let's build up this little area first and make sure we can keep it safe."
"Keep it safe?" piped up AEngie in the back. "It's not safe here?"
Caelum sighed, "well, it should be. I'm a dragon for fuck's sake. Anything that wants to fuck with us will have to contend against that. I may have to spend some time in my actual dragon form for a while to make sure the wildlife know I'm around."
Abraia stuck by the woman and baby. She had a soft spot for babies who were too innocent to be in a place like this. She had grown increasingly irate throughout the journey. But it was easier to at least come this far than turn back around.
Desolate. Burnt. Depressing. That was how she felt about this paradise the dragon promised. She knew it was going to be a lot of work but this was terrible.
"Where am I supposed to work and sleep?" she cared not for anything else.
"I cannot believe you brought a baby here. Do you even have a plan to get food? What about water? We cannot all survive on moonlight like you."
Stubornly upset as she was, she could not help but start planning out some buildings in her mind.
"Right there. Put my place there." She pointed where there was lots of open space. She needed space to work of course.
Flora was the one to speak up. "I think for now, we need to figure out where we will all be staying. Master can make a simple house for us, if you will just be patient. He is also a dragon so he can hunt. We have enough water from the stream to last us a couple days as well."
Caelum continued, "and of course, I will put your workshop where it needs to go. If you like that area, then it's yours." He sighed. He had been afraid of bringing them along with him before he had done any work on the place. Still, he didn't have any regrets. He liked the company and he would rather have these ladies' input so he didn't mess something critical up. Human as they were, they had proved to be useful in their own ways.
"For a temporary shelter then," he said as he stepped forwards and put his hands on the charred bark of the sequoia. He focused his saol into it, both trying to mend it and also claim this area as his grove. Though he had quite a bit of experience as a druid at this point, he had never had a grove that he really considered his. His home in the basin was in a rather dense area and so many aelves shared the space around it as their grove that he hardly thought of it as part of himself.
He looked on with mild satisfaction as the dead wood peeled away to reveal the still-living wood beneath which he invigorated to grow a fresh layer of bark. It was not a quick process as he was working slowly and carefully, but he was more worried about doing things right. This was going to be a much more permanent home than the rushed shacks he'd constructed on their way over here.
Abraia scowled at Flora. She hadn't been talking to her. For all she cared the woman could end up dead in a ditch. Filthy bootlicking slave is how Abraia thought of her. She absolutely hated humans who were so devoted to other races.
"Noted. Tell your master to hurry up then, I want to take a nap."
"Good to see you remember our deal. I'm expecting a place to start working tomorrow though. I won't sit around idly like one of your breeding humans. And I will need some of your plans so I can know which equipment needs to be brought over first. I'm here to help with metal work, not wood work."
She calmed down when the big boss get to work. She walked up to him to say that "I'm sorry for yelling at you. This trip has been terrible you know. I will feel better when I get some sleep."
Caelum smirked at Abraia's demands. He liked her fiery attitude at times. Most of the times it was cute and charming, though sometimes it could be hurtful. He knew that Flora hated it through and through – she'd asked him multiple times to exclude the crafter from their plans. Caelum hadn't actually told her that he'd tried to impregnate the woman though… so he came up with excuses about how he needed a crafter's assistance. It wasn't a lie, but he likely would have caved to his pet's demands otherwise.
"It's quite alright. I fully intend to hold up my end of our deal and give you a good life here with freedom to craft. Just… give me some time." He felt a feeling of happiness well up inside him that had nothing to do with the conversation. He'd finally claimed the area as his grove and could feel his saol seeping to the ground around him. As burned and charred as it was, that sort of environment provided the exact right conditions to grow new plants.
Over the course of the next hour he poured more saol into the ground, even getting a few saplings to sprout an inch or so above ground. On top of that, he started growing wood out of the sequoia, making a fairly large home out of it. It was rectangular in shape, with a slanted roof complete with windows and a couple doors. He even had the know-how to make wooden hinges and dowels, though they were not as good as he'd hoped.
"Might need your help getting the windows and doors to open and close properly," he noted to Abraia.
He addressed everyone after he was finally done. "How's this?" It's not the best, I know, but it should last us a while. I've started growing some plants around us too, so we will have a nice little grove going soon enough."
Abraia ended up napping against a tree stump. She did not wake up until she heard Caelum talking again. She had not spoken to him after he told her to give him some time. She could do that but her patience was limited.
She was surprised to see the house that he made. It was much better than what they had been sleeping in for their travels.
"now this I can work with." She pushed the door and frowned.
"Where is the furniture? Oh don't tell me we have to sleep on wood again." She calmed herself again "it's fine it's fine. When I go fetch supplies for the hinges I will also pick u some cushioning unless you can grow that too."
She sat down on the floor and put her bag to the side. She took out the pillow she brought and laid down. It was time to nap.
"She finally fell asleep, Master," Flora said to Caelum who was outside taking a swig from his flask and relaxing against the tree.
"Good, and the others?"
"They're fine, Master. Baby's asleep and the mom's kind of in a daze. I think it's been a rough month for her."
"To be expected. But it only gets better from here."
"Master… will you be doing any more work? You should try to get some rest. I can stay up and keep watch."
"It's fine," Caelum said tiredly. "I've some energy to spare, but I'm saving it in case we get some unexpected company. I'm guessing most of the small fry creatures wouldn't bother attacking a group of us. Well, I hope."
They stood there for a while, leaning against the tree and just staring out at the desolate burnt firelands. An hour passed, two. Caelum yawned and couldn't hide his boredom. Ideally he would have simply absorbed saol from the environment but he didn't want to suck any out of the little that was there. Once he had some basic defenses set up, then he would feel comfortable leaving the ladies alone for a while.
"You should get some sleep, Master," Flora pressed, hugging him lovingly and trying to pull him away.
"Alright, alright." He stepped inside the house and looked at Abraia. He shook his head at how she was sleeping on the floor but he said nothing.
"Let's make a couple simple beds then," he murmured as he did just that. The wooden planks formed slowly from his hands which he melded together magically in a configuration resembling the simple beds he had at home. "These will have to do," he said with a yawn.
It was at that point that Caelum's eyes widened. He saw something out of the slit in the window… something red, fast.
Abraia was sleeping away so peacefully. Oh, so peacefully. Then there was a noise. Scratching at the door. From one side, no, two sides.
"What's happening? Is he building more already?"
She realized something was wrong and got to her feet. She did not know how to use a single weapon if there was trouble.
"do something dragon! I see something outside" She did not realize they had already seen it. What she could see was some kind of creature that was attacking the house. It was almost dawn. Maybe the light made this place more visible and easier to attack. That would make sense and why they had arrived at night.
Abraia did not like this kind of danger. She was sure the baby would be crying any moment now. A cry like that was like bait for monsters. She flipped through her spell book but forgot that she hadn't brought any alkahest.
"Fucking…" Caelum said as the creature made contact with the house. He growled and put his hands on the wall, sending his saol into it and reinforcing its strength. Then there was a crash against the opposite wall, so he had to send saol over to that too.
"They would wait until I'm about to sleep. I should have rested when I had the chance. Damn!" He looked over to Flora who looked a little scared, but was confident in her master's ability to handle the situation. AEngie, on the other hand, looked positively terrified. Strangely, the baby hadn't woken up.
The pounding didn't stop. Thought he was sure the home was not actually in danger of falling, the creatures outside were persistent. He'd thought that they'd give up after realizing it was fruitless but no, they crawled around the house, clearly attracted to their scent. Shaking his head, Caelum prepared himself and waited for a gap in the pounding.
"Now!" he grunted to himself as he pushed himself out of the door and out into the charred earth. He turned around to see foxes, not much different than the one he first encountered in the area so many years ago.
"I'm a little stronger than back then. Actually, a lot," he thought to himself as he put his hands on the sequoia. It was a simple matter to squewer the foxes one after another until both of them were dead. He angled the spears he'd made in such a way that the foxes would be hoisted up and left there on full display to any creatures that dared to come near.
"Actually, let's see if I can't get a little saol from them," he thought as he clambered up and put a hand on each. He drained them dry before dropping back down.
For several seconds, Abraia was sure she was toast. She thought she was going to get eaten alive and for the first time she regretted coming on this trip. Nothing they encountered so far was like this. She prayed even though she believed in no god. Prayed for a miracle.
Her miracle was standing right in front of her. Caelum the dragon with his proficeicny in druidism managed to keep the monsters at bay and within moments he had made the attack stop.
"He really is strong isn't he," she commented to the woman she hated the most. She did not expect a response, she saw how confident the pet looked.
"I guess I should not worry about my safety. Good night." She did not wait for caelum to come back inside. She cozied back into her corner and slept like a baby. Rather she pretended to until Caelum fell asleep. THEN she felt sleep pull her away.
Thread Summary: The gang [Abraia, Caelum, Flora, Aengie] go to visit the fire lands where the dragon owns property. They make a simple house and get attacked by some weird foxes. All is well and they sleep.
