“Alfred!” A loud voice came startling the group, Yvlena peered ahead to find a stocky, balding man ahead of the path calling for Alfred.
Alfred ran up the path leaving Yvlena, Risel and Lucas to follow after him like ducks in a row. Alfred took off his hat, revealing his sunny blonde hair and bespectacled face.
The wide brim of the lat had prevented her from seeing how handsome the grounds keeper’s face was.
‘He reminds me a bit of Laurent.’ Yvlena thought. Alfred had a much better first impression even though she still thought fondly of Laurent.
“Mayor Emer, are you alright?” Alfred asked.
The Mayor of new Verdant Vale was just about to open his mouth when he noticed the pair of new faces that had appeared at his doorstep. He laughed jovially and threw his hand in the air to show he meant no harm.
“Ha-ha, Alfred why didn’t you tell me we had guests?” The Mayor asked.
“I-I was just on my way to bring them over,” Alfred said timidly, he ducked his head apologetically to the mayor and gestured to the new people.
“This is Yvlena and her friend Risel.” Alfred said.
“Wonderful to meet you, but I have to ask what are you doing here? I hope you haven’t encountered any problems in new Verdant Vale.” Emer said in confusion.
Yvlena furrowed her brow in confusion of her own, Richard said they had to talk to the mayor but here he was asking why they were there. Could he have made that up to see if they would be reluctant to do so?
“We just wanted to introduce ourselves to you sir.” Risel said. “I’ve wanted to visit the town my brother was from.” the blonde elf looked around the house, wrinkling her nose at the smell wafting through the air.
“And where are you two from?” Emer said raising a hand to his chin and rubbing it in thought. “You must have come a long way.”
“We cleared a path from Bloom Haven, sir.” Yvlena said.
The mayor’s eyes bulged as she revealed her origins, he looked toward Alfred and Lucas who nodded, corroborating the words Yvlena had spoken.
“Excellent, just excellent. Please come in, come in!” The mayor said moving aside to let Yvlena and Risel in.
The two elves shared a glance at each other before shrugging and entering the home with Lucas, Alfred remained outside and went to tend to the grounds as was his job.
Yvlena took notice of the musty smell coming from the house the moment she stepped into the foyer. By now she could tell it was a faint scent of the Miasma which she had come to associate with the town.
Mayor Emer’s home being so close to the great Verdant tree did not help matters. Yvlena wondered how the man could live so close to the source of his problems.
“Please make yourself at him and when you settle in I have a favor to ask you.” The mayor said scurrying off towards the living room before Yvlena or Risel could ask him to elaborate
“Welcome.” a soft wispy voice said from where the mayor had exited. It was a tall slender woman with a shiny pale face, dressed in green and brown. She waved them over and walked into the hall connecting the foyer and living room.
“That’s Adina, the mayor’s wife.” Lucas said to Risel and Yvlena who bore curious expressions on their faces.
“Adina.” Yvlena repeated to herself so she would not forget. This trip to the Verdant Vale had her meeting more NPCs than she did the first time she arrived in Bloom Haven.
The three of them followed Adina into the living room where Mayor Emer was waiting form them. The woman seemed to float as she walked, with her thick, long black hair adding to the illusion. Yvlena was convinced she must have been a creature of some kind, there was no way she was fully human.
----------
“Now permit me to ask a favor of you.” Mayor Emer said as Adina served them tea and cookies as they sat in the living room together. Lucas politely excused himself and had gone to speak to Alfred the grounds keeper while the conversation occurred.
Yvlena and Risel rested the plate in their laps and took a moment to admire the sugar cookies. Each cookie was the size of Yvlena’s palm with various sweets and a powdery dusting of sugar on it.
It wouldn’t be her first choice for a cookie and Yvlena couldn’t help but wonder how it was possible to have such when trade had been closed off for so long.
Did they stockpile it?
“What is it Mayor Emer.” Yvlena said, giving her cookie a curious nibble. It had a staleness to it that she was once used to eating, but now with all the freshly cooked food Mars had been feeding her, the cookie tasted terrible even with its sweetness.
“I was wondering if you could clear up a slight issue in the basement area of our home. You see the Great Verdant Tree’s roots has been growing into the house and usually a few towns people would clear it up. But now…”
[Subclass Quest: The Mayor’s Favor
It has been a long honored tradition to chop the roots of the tree growing into the Mayor’s home but the sacred roots of the Great Verdant Tree has now been corrupted by the Miasma.
Clear the basement and any of the lower rooms of the Tree’s Roots and gain the Mayor’s favour to explore the town.
Failure to accept will damage your affinity with him and any of the towns people.
***
Rewards
Mayor’s Favor (To traverse in and out of New Verdant Vale)
***
Moon Points x1000
Exp: 1350]
[Do you accept?]
[Yes/No]
‘Geez when you put it like that I don’t really have a choice now do it?’ Yvlena thought. Since it was a subclass quest there was a high chance she could find out more about being the Harvest Guardian. Yvlena hit yes.
“Of course I’ll help.”
Bootchii· Apr 20, 2026
