Chapter 354: Life Finds a Way
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Chapter 354: Life Finds a Way
Near the ancient city of Gadobhra, just outside its walls, was a small cave that hid a newly created passage to the lands ruled by the Fae. To a human, it was well hidden. The ancient druidic magic that caused the rapid growth of the forests was still strong, and the woods here were a dense tangle of trees and heavy underbrush. The lumberjacks who harvested the trees could make no headway against the forest, and only the well-built road leading to the city was kept clear. Assuming you knew it existed, it would require using the bed a small stream as your pathway to get to the gateway. The trees grew thick above the stream, nearly to the water, and staying in the stream was difficult. A traveler would be soaked to the waist for sure and, in all likelihood, to their eyebrows when they slipped on the slimy rocks and went under in the deeper pools. Explore the labyrinthine roots of this substance at Nøv€lß¡n
And it wasn't very nice water to wade in. The spring it came from was in the Beast Woods but too near to the slaughtering pens. The murky water tasted foul from the blood that soaked into the ground. It was an unpleasant experience, and the owner of the gateway felt it was well hidden. And it was...from humans. If you were a hungry sedge beast, it looked like the entrance to an all-you-can-eat buffet. Like the fast-growing forest, the ancient druids had created the sedge beasts. Their job was to cleanse the land of the dark magic that seeped from the dungeons in the city and prevent the city from expanding. The horribly mutated cattle had a taste for magic, and the sedge grass was their choice of meal. The sedge absorbed the dark mana; the beasts ate and processed it, releasing the raw mana into the surroundings minus the darker parts.
Sedge beasts bred amazingly fast, growing to adulthood in a month and carrying calves to term in only three weeks. If their numbers dwindled, that time went down. No pack of wolves or an army of butchers could destroy all of the herds around the city. The Butcher was trying his best but only increased the breeding rate. He was doing his part to disperse the dark mana by curing the meat so humans could eat it. There was a strange symbiosis between all of them. The dungeons pushed out rivers of dark mana controlled by the forests and absorbed by the sedge. The beasts ate the sedge, and the Butcher got rid of the beasts, or they died of natural causes when they were a year old. (Except for a few that led the herds, growing stronger and meaner.) The mana released was absorbed by the druidic spells still active after centuries and was responsible for the rapid growth of woods, sedge, and beasts.
Only Baron William's determined efforts to make a few dollars for his overlords at ACME changed the status quo. Dark mana had flowed like a river, creating daemons from the raw materials it encountered, warped the wildlife, and mutated some of the plants. This was solved when a Barmaid tapped into the flow of mana and used it to brew beer, dispersing the darkness across the land where it was processed in the bellies of thirsty beer drinkers.
What greeted them was a small meadow of sedge grass that was quickly pushing out the native sharp grass, giving the Fae their first lesson about invasive species if anyone had been around to notice. The sedge grass on this side of the gateway was much tastier, having drawn both dark and poisonous mana from the soil. The sedge beasts got to work doing what they do best: Eating, pooping, and breeding more sedge beasts. The ancient druids would be proud to see how their work was being carried on without them.
The dire beasts were thrilled to have more of the tasty new prey animal. They were less thrilled to find out that they might be the prey animals as well. While one calf was a small snack, full-grown sedge beasts could give them trouble, and a herd working together was death beneath trampling hooves or from impaling horns. Sedge beasts were also omnivores and not averse to adding a little meat to their diet. The two populations of animals were equally matched, and while they occasionally met up to see which species were on the menu, they mostly avoided each other. The snakes and other fauna were upset to find out they now had to worry about two sets of predators, and the flora was adjusting to providing dinner for the ugly cattle. Silverthorne vines took the lives of many sedge beasts, their poison enough to overcome even an adult that ate too many berries. However, the sedge beasts were adapting generation by generation.
When Lord Alwyn got around to exploring the vale and making plans to begin caring for it, he found his work already started. Several acres of sharp, poisonous grass had been converted to sedge grass. Silverthorn enclosed the area, but the sedge beasts were pushing it back bit by bit as the herd grew larger. Only a few more beasts had made their way here, but with their rapid growth, over two score cattle were grazing in the toxic meadows.
Alwyn turned to Twitterberry, "Ride to my herd master and inform him that we won't be bringing the unicorns in to begin the cleansing. The horn-ponies didn't want to come anyway and I've found a replacement for them."
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Chapter 354: Life Finds a Way
Near the ancient city of Gadobhra, just outside its walls, was a small cave that hid a newly created passage to the lands ruled by the Fae. To a human, it was well hidden. The ancient druidic magic that caused the rapid growth of the forests was still strong, and the woods here were a dense tangle of trees and heavy underbrush. The lumberjacks who harvested the trees could make no headway against the forest, and only the well-built road leading to the city was kept clear. Assuming you knew it existed, it would require using the bed a small stream as your pathway to get to the gateway. The trees grew thick above the stream, nearly to the water, and staying in the stream was difficult. A traveler would be soaked to the waist for sure and, in all likelihood, to their eyebrows when they slipped on the slimy rocks and went under in the deeper pools. Explore the labyrinthine roots of this substance at Nøv€lß¡n
And it wasn't very nice water to wade in. The spring it came from was in the Beast Woods but too near to the slaughtering pens. The murky water tasted foul from the blood that soaked into the ground. It was an unpleasant experience, and the owner of the gateway felt it was well hidden. And it was...from humans. If you were a hungry sedge beast, it looked like the entrance to an all-you-can-eat buffet. Like the fast-growing forest, the ancient druids had created the sedge beasts. Their job was to cleanse the land of the dark magic that seeped from the dungeons in the city and prevent the city from expanding. The horribly mutated cattle had a taste for magic, and the sedge grass was their choice of meal. The sedge absorbed the dark mana; the beasts ate and processed it, releasing the raw mana into the surroundings minus the darker parts.
Sedge beasts bred amazingly fast, growing to adulthood in a month and carrying calves to term in only three weeks. If their numbers dwindled, that time went down. No pack of wolves or an army of butchers could destroy all of the herds around the city. The Butcher was trying his best but only increased the breeding rate. He was doing his part to disperse the dark mana by curing the meat so humans could eat it. There was a strange symbiosis between all of them. The dungeons pushed out rivers of dark mana controlled by the forests and absorbed by the sedge. The beasts ate the sedge, and the Butcher got rid of the beasts, or they died of natural causes when they were a year old. (Except for a few that led the herds, growing stronger and meaner.) The mana released was absorbed by the druidic spells still active after centuries and was responsible for the rapid growth of woods, sedge, and beasts.
Only Baron William's determined efforts to make a few dollars for his overlords at ACME changed the status quo. Dark mana had flowed like a river, creating daemons from the raw materials it encountered, warped the wildlife, and mutated some of the plants. This was solved when a Barmaid tapped into the flow of mana and used it to brew beer, dispersing the darkness across the land where it was processed in the bellies of thirsty beer drinkers.
What greeted them was a small meadow of sedge grass that was quickly pushing out the native sharp grass, giving the Fae their first lesson about invasive species if anyone had been around to notice. The sedge grass on this side of the gateway was much tastier, having drawn both dark and poisonous mana from the soil. The sedge beasts got to work doing what they do best: Eating, pooping, and breeding more sedge beasts. The ancient druids would be proud to see how their work was being carried on without them.
The dire beasts were thrilled to have more of the tasty new prey animal. They were less thrilled to find out that they might be the prey animals as well. While one calf was a small snack, full-grown sedge beasts could give them trouble, and a herd working together was death beneath trampling hooves or from impaling horns. Sedge beasts were also omnivores and not averse to adding a little meat to their diet. The two populations of animals were equally matched, and while they occasionally met up to see which species were on the menu, they mostly avoided each other. The snakes and other fauna were upset to find out they now had to worry about two sets of predators, and the flora was adjusting to providing dinner for the ugly cattle. Silverthorne vines took the lives of many sedge beasts, their poison enough to overcome even an adult that ate too many berries. However, the sedge beasts were adapting generation by generation.
When Lord Alwyn got around to exploring the vale and making plans to begin caring for it, he found his work already started. Several acres of sharp, poisonous grass had been converted to sedge grass. Silverthorn enclosed the area, but the sedge beasts were pushing it back bit by bit as the herd grew larger. Only a few more beasts had made their way here, but with their rapid growth, over two score cattle were grazing in the toxic meadows.
Alwyn turned to Twitterberry, "Ride to my herd master and inform him that we won't be bringing the unicorns in to begin the cleansing. The horn-ponies didn't want to come anyway and I've found a replacement for them."
Chapter 354: Life Finds a WayNear the ancient city of Gadobhra, just outside its walls, was a small cave that hid a newly created passage to the lands ruled by the Fae. To a human, it was well hidden. The ancient druidic magic that caused the rapid growth of the forests was still strong, and the woods here were a dense tangle of trees and heavy underbrush. The lumberjacks who harvested the trees could make no headway against the forest, and only the well-built road leading to the city was kept clear. Assuming you knew it existed, it would require using the bed a small stream as your pathway to get to the gateway. The trees grew thick above the stream, nearly to the water, and staying in the stream was difficult. A traveler would be soaked to the waist for sure and, in all likelihood, to their eyebrows when they slipped on the slimy rocks and went under in the deeper pools. Explore the labyrinthine roots of this substance at NvlnAnd it wasn't very nice water to wade in. The spring it came from was in the Beast Woods but too near to the slaughtering pens. The murky water tasted foul from the blood that soaked into the ground. It was an unpleasant experience, and the owner of the gateway felt it was well hidden. And it was...from humans. If you were a hungry sedge beast, it looked like the entrance to an all-you-can-eat buffet. Like the fast-growing forest, the ancient druids had created the sedge beasts. Their job was to cleanse the land of the dark magic that seeped from the dungeons in the city and prevent the city from expanding. The horribly mutated cattle had a taste for magic, and the sedge grass was their choice of meal. The sedge absorbed the dark mana; the beasts ate and processed it, releasing the raw mana into the surroundings minus the darker parts. Sedge beasts bred amazingly fast, growing to adulthood in a month and carrying calves to term in only three weeks. If their numbers dwindled, that time went down. No pack of wolves or an army of butchers could destroy all of the herds around the city. The Butcher was trying his best but only increased the breeding rate. He was doing his part to disperse the dark mana by curing the meat so humans could eat it. There was a strange symbiosis between all of them. The dungeons pushed out rivers of dark mana controlled by the forests and absorbed by the sedge. The beasts ate the sedge, and the Butcher got rid of the beasts, or they died of natural causes when they were a year old. Except for a few that led the herds, growing stronger and meaner. The mana released was absorbed by the druidic spells still active after centuries and was responsible for the rapid growth of woods, sedge, and beasts.Only Baron William's determined efforts to make a few dollars for his overlords at ACME changed the status quo. Dark mana had flowed like a river, creating daemons from the raw materials it encountered, warped the wildlife, and mutated some of the plants. This was solved when a Barmaid tapped into the flow of mana and used it to brew beer, dispersing the darkness across the land where it was processed in the bellies of thirsty beer drinkers.What greeted them was a small meadow of sedge grass that was quickly pushing out the native sharp grass, giving the Fae their first lesson about invasive species if anyone had been around to notice. The sedge grass on this side of the gateway was much tastier, having drawn both dark and poisonous mana from the soil. The sedge beasts got to work doing what they do best: Eating, pooping, and breeding more sedge beasts. The ancient druids would be proud to see how their work was being carried on without them.The dire beasts were thrilled to have more of the tasty new prey animal. They were less thrilled to find out that they might be the prey animals as well. While one calf was a small snack, full-grown sedge beasts could give them trouble, and a herd working together was death beneath trampling hooves or from impaling horns. Sedge beasts were also omnivores and not averse to adding a little meat to their diet. The two populations of animals were equally matched, and while they occasionally met up to see which species were on the menu, they mostly avoided each other. The snakes and other fauna were upset to find out they now had to worry about two sets of predators, and the flora was adjusting to providing dinner for the ugly cattle. Silverthorne vines took the lives of many sedge beasts, their poison enough to overcome even an adult that ate too many berries. However, the sedge beasts were adapting generation by generation.When Lord Alwyn got around to exploring the vale and making plans to begin caring for it, he found his work already started. Several acres of sharp, poisonous grass had been converted to sedge grass. Silverthorn enclosed the area, but the sedge beasts were pushing it back bit by bit as the herd grew larger. Only a few more beasts had made their way here, but with their rapid growth, over two score cattle were grazing in the toxic meadows.Alwyn turned to Twitterberry, "Ride to my herd master and inform him that we won't be bringing the unicorns in to begin the cleansing. The horn-ponies didn't want to come anyway and I've found a replacement for them."
