Hardcore: Qi Worlds Chapter 12: Settlers

  All manner of wood elves came through the portal. The first to come through were the protectors two male and two female, all of which were fit, toned and graceful. They bore a long bow and three quivers all of which were stacked with arrows. Packs stuffed with equipment, herbs and what passed for wood elf rations.

 They met with Mother and Gisael and spoke briefly before one returned through the portal to summon the rest of the settlers. The four were officially guardians of the forest and they showed deference to Mother and more interestingly followed orders given by Gisael. Poor folk, Benzhi surmised. Benzhi stood near Mother and Gisael quietly observing. He nodded when anyone made eye contact, otherwise saying nothing until he was introduced as each settler introduced themselves in turn.

 After receiving, what was effectively an all clear, the mainstay of settlers started to arrive in no particular order. One thing Benzhi noticed immediately and liked was these people had no airs about them. None seemed self-important or thinking they were better than other folk. The artisans pulled their own handcarts full of tools which depicted their craft. There were several woodworkers, a weaver and a few cooks. Amongst the woodworkers, there were distinctions with some tools being similar, planers, shavers and saws while a variation between the Bowyer, Builder and a couple of other specialities. Most of the artisans were part of a family or a couple. The Bowyer was a wife where her husband was a gatherer, where the Builder had a wife and child. When the builder introduced himself, his wife was part of his team, she would plan and measure they worked alongside each other. They had a young daughter, Sakaala, who was gifted with tree running and would like to be a guardian.

 The gatherers made up almost half of the settlers. Some specialised in food, others in herbs and one had a talent for finding rare wood and coaxing it from trees. A tree whisperer. Everyone had a role, there were no stay at home mums or dads. Even the children were gifted or inclined one way or another and were apprenticed. There were no younglings who were too small to be apprenticed in some way, which was due to the fact these were volunteers to a new unknown land and most likely none would risk a new child to this environment. 

 Every one of them could tree run. Which was probably a good thing since they immediately indicated where the settlement in the trees would be, the same level as Gisael in the understory surrounding the glade. Gisael had even scouted more than enough good locations for everyone which the builders approved. Until more permanent dwellings were built, more than half set up tents on the ground. Where others set up tents in the more spacious understory layer, which is below the canopy.

 Benzhi had difficulty with their ages, the children were smaller, walked around with wide eyes and had fresh faces, but even these Benzhi could not discern which ones were just in apprenticeship and which were close to becoming fully fledged young adults. One thing was apparent, Gisael was taller than most and an adult as they all followed her advice. Their heights ranged from Mother's four and a half feet to five foot seven, the lady Bowyer. Most of the adults were between five feet and five foot three, very similar heights. Benzhi felt like a giant amongst the community being taller than most adults by as much as they were taller than the smallest youngling.

 After a period of welcoming, a short tour of the understory, setting up of tents and immediate accommodation, everyone gathered in the glade. Gisael laid out a welcoming mix of nuts, roots and berries, enough for everyone. Benzhi had seen Gisael eat while they trained together, he had never seen her eat meat and she ate like a bird. The group of fifty settlers sat and ate quietly with a quite a few gazes Benzhi's way when he did not eat anything. 

"Benzhi, try some berries," Mother advised she walked over to him and handed him some berries on a borrowed wooden bowl. He shrugged, he did not feel hungry, however, he had been going through changes. Perhaps next was he would start eating and develop thirst and hunger. 

Mother continued, "As a welcome to your new forest, each Fae will sip from the sacred pool. Benzhi will serve from his bowl."

Benzhi gaped. 'What was he a priest now?' Having no idea how their rituals worked, Benzhi would just do as Mother asked. He had vowed as much. Benzhi sat on the rim of the pool, half filling the bowl with water and allowing each person a sip. It was a nice ceremony, very tranquil, the Fae thanked him one after another and all Benzhi could do was continue to serve and say "You're welcome." It was only passing a bowl of water, not an arduous task in the least.

By this time it was early afternoon, the Fae settlers set about tasks in line with their roles. The gatherers all left together, although they were not guardians, they still all carried bows and a quiver. There was safety in numbers Benzhi guessed. The artisans, led by the Builder's wife, set about planning the tree village taking measurements, making notes and held a discussion on occasion. The Builder's wife, Radelia, was an architect it seemed.

Gisael, the four new guardians and the apprentice approached Benzhi.

"Benzhi," Gisael was politer in front of others, "we will show the forest to the guardians. You will lead Talila, Sakaala and Ailen. Today go North and East. My group will go South and West."

There were four in Benzhi's group including Sakaala the apprentice. Strange that Gisael sent the young trainee with Benzhi and not oversee her herself. Talila looked similar to Gisael, slightly shorter and not quite as well defined. While Ailen smiled almost the whole time, he looked like a human gymnast champion except for the green tinge, vines and pointy ears. He would be slighter than the typical gymnast, but the fellow did not have an ounce of fat, Benzhi thought he looked extremely fit and strong. He also smiled like a maniac, which Benzhi liked, made him seem friendly. Gisael departed with her entourage.

"Okaaaay," Benzhi started. He was now leading a pack of wood elves in a forest, he was almost naked had vines growing out different parts of his body and owned a wooden sword. Oh and he recently learned some magic aka qi abilities. Amongst all the occurrences and changes Benzhi had been through over the last month, it was funny that he was suddenly weirded out by a leadership role.

Benzhi burst out laughing. His crew had no idea what he was laughing at, the two female Fae just stared at him. But Ailen, bless his heart, burst out laughing too and he didn't even know what they were laughing at!

"Ground or trees?" Benzhi asked no one in particular. The three offered no answer and with-in three seconds Benzhi stated, "too slow. Ground it is. Yell if you can't keep up." With that Benzhi lept off into a sprint and led the three on a headlong chase North. Thank goodness they were not as adept as Gisael, Benzhi thought after running for a couple of hours, the last thing he needed was to be inferior to every one of the Guardians. Stopping every now and then to allow everyone to stay in touch or point out a particular point of interest. Benzhi had a more than a dozen pet names for parts of the forest. There was hanging rock, wicked tree and watch-out gully amongst his favourites. Benzhi stopped and waited atop watch-out gully, aptly named because the first time Benzhi ran over this particular ridge he fell down into the gully.

The three stopped and to take a sip of water, Ailen offered his waterskin to Benzhi which he waved away. Benzhi informed the three, "this is watch-out gully, see over this ridge," he pointed, "you can find some water here on occasion and there is a stream to the west. Perfect spot for an ambush in this area. Especially if you were in the trees. Alright, let's keep moving" With that he took off, leading the group to the north treeline. Mother was correct, the forest had grown if he were to estimate it was at least ten kilometres larger at this border. It was obvious this was not natural growth, it probably had something to do with the additional Core, Benzhi guessed. 

As they patrolled the edge of the treeline to the east Benzhi asked the group, "who here is skilled at tracking?"

"We all are," Talila answered, "we are Guardians of the Forest." She stated as that fact explained their skill set. "And Sakaala is an excellent tracker already," she added kindly.

"Okaay," Benzhi continued, patting Sakaala patronisingly, "this area has been frequented by Barbarian tracks." He did not add that Gisael had shown him their tracks or give her any credit for training him. "They have never entered the forest, the tracks were outside the old treeline, though it would be best to be on the lookout. Especially now the tree line has moved. We did have some ferals, but they were to the south and since we have a skirmish a couple of weeks ago they have disappeared from the forest and the surrounding areas." The three peppered him with questions regarding the skirmish which Benzhi answered without embellishment.

Tracking the tree line east, Benzhi had the three keep a lookout for barbarian tracks. He had never seen a barbarian, he could only guess they lived on the mountainside and or in the mountains and were fur wearing hairy humans with clubs. Although he had made significant progress with Qi manipulation, his pathfinding, general strength and fitness. He was certain with his limited experience and training in tracking that these three would be far superior to him considering their years of experience to his sporadic day here and there learning.

The group of forest guardians made their way to the eastern border of the forest with Benzhi leading them when they encountered a disturbance to the foliage that could not be explained with Benzhi's experience. The tree line had changed at this location as well, it was apparent the entire circumference of the forest had spread outwards by five to ten kilometres. By the time they tracked the disturbance they had been travelling for over three hours and needed to head back to the glade directly in order to arrive before nightfall. Twilight would be upon them in an hour and darkness with-in another.

The disturbance was a felled tree, cracked unnaturally at the trunk, and ground covering overturned as if a two-tonne pine marten had flipped the earth looking for roots. The three guardians spread, looking for tracks and signs of what caused this, without waiting for orders from Benzhi. He stopped and engaged qi sight looking for the cause.

He spied a strange core in the distance wobbling around like a penguin and at this distance, it must be huge. At the same time, someone spoke to him.

"Troll," Ailen informed him gloomily. It was the first time Ailen's smile had been wiped from his face since Benzhi had met him. After a few moments, the three guardians grouped around Benzhi.

"You three take to the trees and offer support after I attack. If I get into trouble try to lure it away." Benzhi ordered. He didn't need to be told a Troll didn't belong in the forest. Based on game-lore and the damage done in the immediate surroundings it was obvious to him. 

There was no way he wanted one of them injured under his care, especially since they could tree run and had bows. There was no need to put them at risk. Hell, they could probably shoot it down dead while he kited it. The three took off up into the trees. Benzhi decided just to stay on the ground for now. This thing could knock down a tree if it was so inclined, so it wasn't necessarily safe in a tree. Plus it was his job to protect the forest, not to encourage a troll to go on a tree killing spree to stop being shot with arrows.

Benzhi drew his sword and engaged qi blade. Time to test the tiny spinning shurikens that he had been practising for a week and see how well they cut into Troll. 

Chapter end