New Quest: Faction Wars!

Objective: Select Your Faction [ 0d 4h 34m 31s ]

As a new entry to the tutorial with no established faction, you fought your foes as a warrior and took control of their base. By killing the base leader, you have been deemed a individual qualifier. As an individual qualifier for Faction Wars, you may start your own faction or join an existing one.

NOTICE: You have shown immense hostility to the [Belar Trade Corporation] faction and taken one of their bases. You can no longer select the [Belar Trade Corporation] faction.

NOTICE: There are no other active factions in this tutorial instance. You must create a new faction.

Please choose your faction name to begin....

"Sooo, should I make a faction? Is there anything it gets me?"

"Making a faction will let you get you more XP, faster. It'll also allow you to open up different kinds of questlines. Those have better rewards normally, which means your achievements and your skills will both benefit from it."

"Hmm. If I make one, do I have to fight other factions? Or, do I need to let people into mine?"

"Yes and no. Fighting other factions is inevitable, but you could technically live peacefully with another group. You don't have to let anyone into your faction if you don't want to, but I don't think you're going to turn people away, Reid. You and I both know there's a building full of prisoners outside that need help, and you're the kind of person that's going to try and help them."

Reid pursed his lips. "I... disagree. Nyx, I'm the alien here. I don't know the first thing about these people, and I don't have a single idea of whether I'm going to actually want to interact with them. And if it comes down to a choice between me or them... I'm going to choose myself this time."

"Oh, Reid. I'm no expert, but I understand what's going on." She took an intangible breath. "This isn't Sanctuary. Not every fight requires that you sacrifice. When people in the Warrens fought the vicipods, you didn't have to jump down into that fray, right? People have to be able to fend for themselves or something, eventually, is going to come around that'll end them. You don't own other people's safety, nor their growth. You never have."

Reid took a breath through his nose, and let Nyx's words swirl in his head. His mind wandered over the possibilities. He did still have some lingering issues around Sanctuary's fight against the salamanders, but those were probably things he could get himself over. And, if he really thought about it, he wasn't too worried about having a group of people that might see him as a leader - or an absentee ruler. He would be fine just going off on his own and killing monsters and leaving them all to their own devices.

What he couldn't avoid was connection... and goodbyes.

Reid already had family on Earth waiting for him. Then he'd gained people in Lycra and Win - and honestly, that was enough. There was something that felt a bit wrong about growing close to more people and 'putting down roots' when his primary goal should be growing in power and returning to his family. Like it was an indulgent act. He wasn't going to stay here, so he would just be making more connections he'd have to break. And the idea of that break made him... uncomfortable. Separation - like he'd been separated from his family and his home. Separation from Win, and now from Lycra. He wasn't quite sure how to get over that.

Nyx let him stare at the wall for another two minutes before she called him out.

"Soooooo.... You must be... having trouble coming up with a faction name. That's okay! No matter what, you can re-name your faction pretty much whenever you want. So it's not really a big deal. But - if you need help, you could call it 'Nyx's Mob'. Or - 'Serroc's Supremacy'. 'Roc's Roughnecks'. 'Vuxarinan Union' also has a nice ring to it."

Reid let himself smile. "Those are all terrible." He rubbed his nose, and then his forehead. Nyx had managed to get his mind off one train of thought and onto another. Reid was grateful, and put his focus into the task she'd set before him. He pushed the worries about separation to the back of his mind - they could stay there until and unless they became relevant again.

Just a bit more mental baggage to ignore.

So, what should he name a faction?

While he could technically change the name later, Reid didn't really want to have to do that. Anything that would become irrelevant or potentially irrelevant, then, was out the window. He put aside nascent ideas that centered around the concept of Vuxarina, or the imminent fight against the Belar interlopers. He entertained the idea of making the name center around himself, too - but that was also a slippery slope on its own. If he used his fake name as the faction name, he was still just tying himself to something that was an association that would eventually expire. He was hiding now, certainly, but that didn't mean he was going to be hiding forever. Serroc's Resistance crumpled and bounced against a mental wastebasket.

In the same vein, he shouldn't use his real name. He shouldn't use Win's or Lycra's full names either, but maybe if he put them all together, it would work. There was a bit of vowel gymnastics he tried to get all three of them in there, but Rewily, Lywied, Wycre, and the other consonant soup options all seemed pretty terrible. So, no names.

He came back to the idea of what he was representing - himself. He was a self-affixer. His prowess revolved around a still-less-than-fully-explained control stat no one else seemed to have. He was capable of self-healing and self growth. But none of those things could be advertised to the cosmos at large. What else defined him? He was... a father that hadn't seen his daughter in a long time. He was a human man in G grade. He tried to be a good friend. He considered himself a decent fighter and combatant. He was apparently a pretty skilled smith.

An osteal smith.

The ability was one Win told him would be something he could hardly keep secret, so it would be a fine thing to include in a faction name. Reid still wasn't too keen on his main identifying trait being that he was a smith instead of that he was a fighter - but it was something that was going to carry with him for... well forever. He couldn't really imagine a point where the skill would ever be irrelevant to him or his path towards power.

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He would always carry a bone weapon, and would always wear bone armor. He'd make sure those around him had the same bone equipment advantages, as much as he could. But something like "Bone Army" or "Bone Warriors" didn't feel quite right. Overfocusing on the crafting aspect by calling it Marrow Works or the Skeletal Forge gave him the same sense.

His mind went to Sara. Her Earth-ruling faction was named the Calderwall Empire. Reid couldn't completely copy the name. That would be like shooting a flare into the void, and there was no telling who would react to a declaration like that. Best case scenario, it would get him and Sara both into trouble. But - he could borrow from her faction's name. Another smashing-together of half-decent ideas.

CONGRATULATIONS! You have founded [The Osteal Empire]

NOTICE: As a faction leader, you may allow others entry into your faction. Pending requests will appear in your system interface. Establish rules, laws, and a hierarchy through the system menus. Faction Menus unlocked. Faction Quests Unlocked. Faction XP Distribution Unlocked.

New Achievement Earned!

Early Founder (Earned for founding a faction while in G grade).

Early Founder

Increases the efficacy of titles you bestow. Decreases the effect of other being's titles on you.

New Title Earned!

Lord (You are a lord of your faction. Title is stripped if your faction falls.)

Lord

Slightly increases your ability to influence others.

Reid hadn't earned an achievement since the challenge dungeon, so he was happy to see a new one added to the list. The effect was similar to regicide, but with a boost to titles Reid doled out instead of a damage reduction from other titled people. No matter what effect it came with, though, the new achievement meant his XP Multiplier for Accelerated Growth had gone up again - and would now be granting him an extra 9% experience.

But of course, that wasn't the only thing Accelerated Growth was doing.

NOTICE: TUTORIAL QUESTLINES UNLOCKED

Faction Growth - Your New Faction must learn to live and survive. Grow your faction to 20 members, or maintain your faction for 20 days.

Defeat Beasts (Stage 3 of 10) - Note, stage 1 and 2 have already been completed. Stage 3: Defeat the HyperRats and clear the den (Level 10). Note - if a competing faction completes this quest, it will become unavailable to you.

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NOTICE! Skill Triggered - Accelerated Growth Questline Difficulties Upgraded for [The Osteal Empire].

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Faction Wars - Claim your place as the dominant faction in this Tutorial Space through conquest or negotiation. NOTICE: Negotiation unavailable. Objectives: 1. Clear or Conquer Enemy Camps and Fortresses (1 / ??) 2. Defeat Enemies (19 / ???) 3. Clear the Main Camp(s) ( 0 / 1) 4. Defeat the Enemy Faction Leader within this Tutorial Instance (0 / 1) 5. Secret Challenge: Liberated Fighters. Free prisoners from enemy faction(s) and have them join [The Osteal Empire]. (0 / ???) 6. Secret Challenge: One Man Army. Conquer Camps without utilizing any combatant allies in offensive movements. (1 / ??) 7. Secret Challenge: Blitz Campaign. Conquer any Three Camps within three days of each other.

The Beast Lords - (Stage 1 of 10) NOTICE: You are the only faction that can currently access this questline. Beast lords are the unquestionable rulers of their domain. Now that you have proven yourself against a myriad of beasts and cleared their nests, it is time to challenge the strongest foes. Stage 1: Defeat the Beast Lord of Permilli Mountain and eradicate his spawn. (Level 20). Secret Challenge: Complete Stage 1 in less than a week. (6d 23h 59m Remaining) Secret Challenge: Complete Stage 1 without taking any losses

Reid let out a whistle. The original quests hadn't seemed all that difficult - killing things that were level 10, or completing quest intended for a level 10 would be a cakewalk. It would've probably still been a cakewalk for him if he encountered the same quest on Earth. He'd already been killing level 12 salamanders before he even made it to Sanctuary.

Then there was the faction quest starter. Keeping himself alive for 20 days was just... going to happen naturally. Skipping over a 20-day waiting period and the inevitable massacre of weak beasts was quite beneficial for him - and there was a hint at multiple stepped rewards and challenges that would be available in the harder questlines. If he got secret challenges for each of the ten beast lords and was able to complete them all... It would be a hell of a boon.

Reid mentally walked himself through the updated options. The Faction Wars questline was going to require him to clear out all the burnt points on the map - and it confirmed there was a central headquarters for him to eventually to storm. The secret challenge even gave Reid an incentive to keep going after those strongholds on his own. However, the only real reason to try and take on that questline right away was if he thought he could take out another 2 camps in the next three days. Reid wasn't even sure where those camps were.

The Beast Lord quest had a more relevant and imminent timeframe to it. He had one week to finish the entire first phase. Despite the listed level being lower than his own, there was no telling how much time and effort the task would actually require. The secret challenge to not take losses was a bit of a given, assuming Reid would be fighting alone - and he planned to fight alone.

He wasn't being forced to pick one or the other, but Reid solidified on completing the Beast Lords questline first. No matter how shitty Belar was, Reid couldn't lose out on growth because he missed a timed quest. There was just more urgency to kill the beasts.

#

Despite the urgency, Reid still found himself compelled to take a few actions at the base before he went to the cages.

He'd first dragged all the bodies, power armor, and weapons out of the main building. The step-down power armor and weapons were destroyed from a distance by setting off an explosion - leaving them around would only tempt the prisoners to use the equipment, or just be a general danger to anyone wandering around that stumbled into an F grade item. Next, he took a sweep of the entire building again for intelligence. There were mostly ration counts and resource tallies, but Reid figured anything that might give him an understanding of Belar could either keep him out of their sights for now, or give him a leg up on the company later. That whole bit of running around took him less than 20 minutes.

Last was a more benevolent act. Reid put down rations and water in the small sitting area inside the base, and used a table from the same level to lay out more of the food and water for all who might be interested in refueling or resting there. Once people were out, he could direct them over to where the food and water was - and they'd be able to use the facilities that were available inside the building for themselves. Chances were they needed a good shower or two - and some sleep. The same barracks their tormentors used would turn into their new residence.

When he was done, Reid heard Nyx chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"For someone that was just saying they didn't want to have anyone in their faction, you sure as hell just set out a serious welcome party. If you're trying to be uncaring, callous, and solo - you're going about it all wrong, Reid."

He frowned, and looked out at things. It felt like the bare minimum. A bit of food and water for the people he was about to go unlock and let go. And maybe a bit of an apology for making them wait while he moved bodies and collected notes.

"Nyx, this is all just... basic human decency."

Silence filled the room for an uncomfortably long pause.

"...Decency is far from basic, Reid. Now come on, it's time to break some chains."

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