Part 56: Nice New Fur Rug

PART 56: NICE NEW FUR RUG


[And we're back from hiatus with a thrilling FOREST ADVENTURE. Are you pumped? I'm pumped.]



[The forest is a maze of twisty pathways with occasional wolves. The enemies periodically respawn too, which can make backtracking annoying.

Fortunately we have a pretty beefy party loaded up with DLC weaponry, so we can carve through forest creatures quickly.]



[We have to fight werewolves as well now. They have a few skills that can stun opponents- notably Overwhelm, which lets them pin a character down and attack repeatedly. This can get seriously annoying if a few werewolves chain the move.

They also get a move called Terrorize, which works the same as Barkley's Dread Howl- an Area of Effect stun. Luckily for us, it's apparently bugged, because it never actually stuns anyone.]





I don't like the look of this.



Hrrr. The watch-wolves have spoken truly, my brothers and sisters.

The Dalish send a dwarf, of all things. to put us in our place. They send a dwarf to make us pay for our attack.

Great. Racist werewolves.

I thought werewolves were savage beasts.

We are beasts, but we are no longer simple and mindless. Let that thought chill your spine.

Oh no, we're killing talking animals instead of mute ones. How terrible.



You speak to Swiftrunner. I lead my cursed brothers and sisters. Hrrrr. Turn back now, go back to the Dalish and tell them that you have failed.









…

I said: You speak to Swiftrunner. I lead my cursed brothers and sisters. Hrrrr. Turn back now, go back to the Dalish and tell them that you have failed.

...Oh! Right, yeah.

Hrrr. Tell them we will gladly watch them suffer the same curse we have suffered for too long. We will watch them pay!

You sound as if you hate the Dalish a great deal.



That we do. How dare they send you here to stand against us! Turn and leave, while you still have the chance!

(Persuade) I would prefer to talk to you. I mean you no harm.

You've already killed three werewolves today.

That was all in the past. Can't we move on?

Was it not Zathrian who sent you? Hrrrr. He wishes only our destruction, never to talk!

You attacked his clan, why should he not retaliate?

You know nothing, do you? Nothing of us and even less of those you serve. You are a fool, and we are done talking.

T'would seem the elves were not entirely honest.

Beggars seldom are.



Run from the forest while you can. Run to the Dalish and tell them they are doomed.

Nah. (Intimidate) I'm going nowhere.

Hrrr. Very well. I will not risk throwing my people at you like unthinking brutes.

Smart move, Nipples.

Come, brothers and sisters, let us retreat. The forest has eyes of its own, and it will deal with intruders as it always has.



Cheery bunch, aren't they?



[Following the chatty werewolves gets you attacked by a pack of the less talkative variety.)



Now I know they can talk...



...I feel a lot less comfortable about skinning them.

Yet you do it anyway.

It's 23 silvers, just lying there. I'm not made of stone.





Hey, there's someone down there.



What? Who... wh-who comes?

You're badly wounded. What happened to you?

We were sent to find Witherfang... bring his heart... attacked... I-- (He falls unconscious.)

(Examine him)

(His wounds are deep and some are still bleeding heavily... the result of an attack by creatures with large claws. He does not appear to have any bite marks.)

He'll live. Perhaps not as an elf, but... he'll live.

(Take the hunter back to the Dalish Camp.)




LATER...



Andaran atish'an, Grey Warden.

Our scouts saw you approaching and tell me you carry the body of one of our hunters with you.



Ah, Deygan. He is wounded, but I think he will live.

Ma serannas--your help is appreciated. Come, lethallin. Let us take Deygan to the keeper, and quickly. If we are lucky, we may still save him.



And that's our good deed for the day.

Almost makes up for skinning all those werewolves.

[We could have robbed or even killed Deygan as he lay unconscious, and got a few pieces of average loot. Sparing him will pay off later, with a small reward. It also makes the elves like us slightly more, which is just super.

Also. we got warped back to the start of the area, so time to retrace our steps]






Darkspawn? Here?



[They brought an ogre too.]



[Game ogre.]







[Game ogre.]







[Ogre sounds like over.]







[Look, it's been a while since I've written one of these.]



[Nearby is a fallen tree that we can get ironbark from, for the elven artificer's quest we picked up last time.]





There's something odd about that tr--





I should have brought a bigger sword.



[So now we have to fight the goddamn trees too. Sylvans are trees possessed by demons. No, really, that's a thing.

Annoyingly, they always start a fight using a move called 'Roots' that pins a target in place for a loooong time. Almost every fight with them starts with Bianca getting pinned, while everyone else goes to town.]





[This area is lousy with Sylvans.]



This why I loathe nature.

You loathe everything.

I especially loathe nature. It's so... moist.



This one looks different.

Hrrrrm... what manner of beast be thee that comes before this elder tree?

Can't you see me? I'm a dwarf.



Ahhh, a child of the deeper stone. I should have heard it in thy tone. The woods have never been thy home, 'tis far beneath the earth you roam.

Allow me a moment to welcome thee. I am called the Grand Oak, sometimes the Elder Tree.



It... rhymes? ‘Tis a rhyming tree. One can only imagine what manner of spirit is involved here.

A sadistic one, no doubt.

This is going to be a long day.


NEXT TIME: Well, I'm the Elder Tree and I'm here to say / I like to talk in a rapping way (Break it down!)

NEW CODEX CONTENT:
Werewolf
Wild Sylvan