Chapter 73 - Sharp. Pointy. TEETH!

Not long after we started moving the next dawn, we reached Fort Bilman. Well, it was more of an outpost with a wooden palisade guarding the gate through the pass into the Tribeslands. Still, there was a place for people to be checked over before crossing the border. The soldiers didn’t do anything to keep us from passing, but did offer a warning that we shouldn’t tarry out doors after nightfall, as the monsters were much stronger on the other side.

Fortunately, we’d sent Kamla’s new pet, Braleia, to Lithaes. As a new vampire, she wasn’t able to withstand the sun (and since she’d already had her Ascension, she probably never would be). However, we found that Kamla was able to sense and give commands to any vampire she created so long as they were on the same plane, and not in a warded space. I gave leave for her to make use of a space in the former dungeon below the Castle, provided she protected the Dark Shrine from any attackers.

You know, I seem to be capturing a lot of enemies and sending them to make themselves useful back home. Next thing I know, I’ll be seeing places offering free healing with identical nurses and ten year old brats will start pestering me to fight them so they can get badges and… yeah, stopping there.

At any rate, the walk from Fort Bilman to Cadbury was fairly tame. We stayed along the road, so we didn’t see any of the monsters that the guards were talking about until we were almost to Cadbury. Well, we saw the beastkin first.

Cadbury Farmer Catkin Male Level 40 Farmer / Craftsman Titles: Green Thumb

The catkin, who obviously had zero combat ability, was running towards us along the road. From what I’d heard, classes like Farmer or Craftsman actually gained XP primarily through their associated activities. It allowed someone who wanted to be a full-time crafter to simply do their thing, I guess, though having no combat abilities would mean that they’d be in trouble if they actually needed to fight something.

The catkin was screaming for help as he approached. I was already looking that way, so I barely managed to see the blur that bounded up from the woods, and launched itself at the catkin. The little ball of white fluffy death streaked through the air, and in its wake blood sprayed from where the farmer’s throat formerly was.

Without thinking, I cast Darkbolt at the white missile, and managed to hit it!

Vorpal Bunny (Deceased) Magical Beast Male Level 60 Magical Beast

Aaaand I one-shotted it, with the basic spell I’d been training since my earliest time in game. Looking at the other players in the group, I sighed. “Great. These baddies are going to be a pain. They’re probably a straight DEX build, pumping everything into going as fast as possible. Makes them hard to hit, but they’ve got no defense to speak of, and their HP is trash. So one hit kills, but hitting is going to be trouble. And if the kitty is any indication, their attacks are going to HURT. So defensive formation, Della in the center, Severa and Kamla in stealth. Everyone else, keep your eyes open, and your guard up. Those of us with better defense may be able to tank a hit, but don’t count on it. Assume they are capable of one-shotting us if they crit.”

Everyone nodded, we began advancing down the road. Interestingly enough, the loot from the dead catkin included an Egg. It looked like a chocolate treat wrapped in foil, but the description was surprising, to say the least.

Hare Egg
Type	Material	Rank	Uncommon
A unique feature of the Tardy Hares (the female version of Vorpal Bunnies) found in the Cadbury region is the eggs these creatures lay. No one knows how they lay these eggs, as in most respect they resemble normal rabbits. However, it is known that Vorpal Bunnies and Vorpal Hares hatch from these eggs as full-grown adults. Simply carrying an egg gives one a bonus to their stats, though at the cost of increased threat from Vorpal Bunnies. One can also eat the egg, use it as a crafting material, or shatter it to confer a temporary bonus on an individual. When carried: Gain a bonus to all stats equal to (101-Level)% of the base attribute (+48% to all stats at this level) +300% Threat from Vorpal Bunnies Vorpal Bunnies start at Hatred towards you. When eaten: Permanently increase a random stat by 100% current base stat. Random permanent buff Random permanent debuff Can only be used once per character. When used as crafting material: Adds +100 DEX, +100 Luck to resulting item. Random effect When shattered on an individual’s head: +20 to all stats for 1 hour Invisible to Vorpal Bunnies for 1 hour Unable to attack Vorpal Bunnies for 1 hour (damaging a Vorpal Bunny ends the effect)

I checked, and saw that the counter on my quest had moved to 29/30. Twenty-nine more chances to find eggs, plus wherever these Tardy Hares were. If I could get a breeding pair of these creatures, that would definitey secure the guild some high-quality crafting materials, and would also give our newbies a substantial boost in their levelling.

But first, we needed to finish the quest. I decided to hold on to the egg for now, since I had enough DEX and defense that I could see the bunnies coming, and defend against them well enough. If they all focused on me, that would give the others free shots. Normally, I would have given it to Yukiko, since she was actually a tank, but she had a weakness for cute, fluffy things. Asking her to keep the rabbits from killing her and the others was one thing. Making it so that the cute fluffies actively hated her would just be mean.

The next hour was pretty hairy, as the closer we got to the town, the more often we began encountering the Bunnies. One of them wasn’t a problem, since with our formation, and making sure they were all focused on me, we could more or less spot and intercept the attacking rabbits before they did any damage. But now they were coming two, sometimes three at a time! And a glancing blow from one of those things took off 500 HP. I didn’t want to find out what a clean crit would do.

We had all too clear ideas on what a rabbit’s attack could do, as we came upon villager after villager, all dead, and each with a Cadbury Egg, sometimes more than one. We had almost forty of the things now. Unfortunately, the effect of carrying multiple eggs wasn’t cumulative.

Also, the rabbits sometimes dropped interesting loot. We only had five more to find according to the quest, but we’d already gotten multiples of two interesting items, enough for the whole party to have one.

Vorpal Rabbit’s Foot
Type	Trinket	Rank	Uncommon
Made from the foot of a Vorpal Rabbit, some of the creature’s power remains within this foot. Superstitious sorts aren’t the only ones who carry one of these talismans around! +100 Luck

Vorpal Fur Boot Lining
Type	Item Enhancement	Rank	Uncommon
Made from the fur of a Vorpal Bunny, this item is designed to be added to an already existing pair of boots. Doing this consumes the Lining, but adds a permanent enhancement to the boots. Enhancement: +20 DEX, +25% Move Speed

As we reached the town square, the last five Vorpal Rabbits came from the direction of the largest house. Once again, they were single-minded in their hatred of me, and I used this to my advantage without the slightest regret. A flurry of spells and attacks, and the quest was complete.

Slaughter Them All Vorpal Bunnies have been harassing farmers in Cadbury. Kill them all!
Rank	C
Success	Kill the Vorpal Bunnies. 0/30 remaining.
Failure	Let the bunnies live.
Rewards	Gold Mysterious Box
Consequences	Cadbury farmers will hate you.

With the threat removed (for now), the surviving villagers emerged from the house. There were only six remaining, a wolfkin male and five female beastkin of different types. I moved to the wolfkin, since he looked to be in charge, and said, “So what happened here? The request said you were being ‘harrassed’ not ‘slaughtered like sheep’. No offense,” I said as an aside to a sheepkin woman nearby.

The man didn’t seem to appreciate that, but decided not to dig himself deeper. “The Vorpal Bunnies are a nuisance, since they interfere with our farms, but they’ve never done more than just raid the fields. The attacks only started a couple days ago, after everyone started finding eggs in their possessions.”

I held up my egg. “You mean like this?”

The man nodded, and said, “Yes, every villager has one by now. We would have all been slaughtered if it weren’t for you!” And with that, he handed me a sack full of gold (my share was 600 GP), and a box. The man tried to stop me, but I decided to open the Mysterious Box in front of everyone. What I found was pretty much what I expected.

Idol of the Eystr’e Hare
Type	Tool	Rank	Unique
This golden idol is shaped in honor of a little known deity sacred to Rabbitkin. Celebrations of the Eystr’e Hare involve hiding colored eggs for people to find. This idol contains a portion of the Rabbit God’s power. While at a shrine dedicated to the Rabbit God, Eystr’e Hare, summons 10 Vorpal Bunny Shrine Guardians and 10 Tardy Hare Shrine Maidens to defend the shrine. The 20 summoned rabbits survive from the idol’s mana, but their offspring require sustenance, as normal. When stolen from a shrine dedicated to the Rabbit God, curses the thief and their settlement. Hare Eggs are randomly distributed to 20 individuals in the settlement each day, and cannot be thrown away. 30 Vorpal Hares twenty levels higher than the thief are summoned to attack egg bearers each day while the idol remains within the settlement or the thief lives. 1/day, a person touching the Idol may summon a Vorpal Bunny to perform one task.

This was a nasty curse, as most divine curses were, but not as damning as Moradin’s curse. But this Eystr’e Hare was a lower-tier diety, so it was probably not able to do the truly nasty shit. Still, there was more than enough written there that I knew what had happened.

With a wicked grin, I held up the idol, and summoned the Vorpal Bunny. “Kill the thief who stole the idol from the shrine.” The wolfkin barely had time to yell before the bunny became a blur, ending his life just as the catkin had died earlier.

For avenging the insult to Eystr’e Hare’s shrine, you are awarded experience. You are now Level 53! You have 5 points to distribute. You have gained the Jeweled Egg of Eystr’e. You have received a quest.

Eystr’e’s Shrine The old shrine of the Eystr’e Hare, God of Rabbitkind, was disturbed and desecrated by those who proved unworthy. Cadbury’s demise is your opportunity, however.
Rank	F
Success	Create a shrine to the Eystr’e Hare in your territory, and place the Idol there.
Failure	Sell, trade, or discard the Idol, or make your intention to not create a shrine known to others.
Reward	Blessing of the Rabbits (small game becomes more plentiful around your territory) Unlocks Wererabbit race. Vorpal Bunnies and Tardy Hares available as tamable pets in your land.
Consequence	Unlocks Wererabbit race. You, your followers, and your guild all become wererabbits.

Jeweled Egg of Eystr’e
Type	Material	Rank	Unique
Just as the Hare’s Egg bestows power upon one who consumes it, so too does the Jeweled Egg of Eystr’e. The power contained in the Jeweled Egg is greater, but so are the potential side effects of taking in that power. Permanently increase 2 random stats by 200% current base stat. Random permanent buff Random permanent debuff Eystr’e’s Mark – All Rabbitkind is forbidden from attacking you unless you first attack that individual. Eystr’e’s Missive – All stats reduced by 50% while fighting a member of Rabbitkind.

Wow. That was pretty damn awesome, but the random stat boost and the random buff/debuff were worrisome. I didn’t like not knowing what I was getting into. And it looked like, if I wanted to, I could also eat one of the ‘normal’ Eggs, too, and get their benefit as well. But was it worth it to have the potential of two random debuffs?

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