The Forest Village

[digisolutions]

[ Now that the group is free, they can explore the forest village to gather info and supplies before heading out. Eric is going to be training in smithing with some local digimon.

The entire village is nestled beneath the trees, hidden in its boughs. A giant tree-turned-castle is in the center, with the smithing near the eastern river. An open-air market exists beneath the tree, around its base, where things both familiar and foreign are sold and traded. Clothes are scarce, although there's an Archnemon who works as a seamstress if they can find her.

Most shops are in the literal tree houses, though, especially the more specialized ones. There's cafes and an inn and the library that NeoDevimon works at. If it exists in a town, it's here somewhere, you just have to find it. Everyone largely seems to be chill, but there's definitely the sense that things are tense beneath the surface. ]

Comments

[digisolutions]

[ The nine areas are the Forest, the Desert, the Snowfields, the Ocean, the Grasslands, the Labaplains, the Cityscape, the Mountains and the Marshes. ]

Pick who you'd like to hear about first.

[lost_child_of_oriande]

[Dorumon finally catches the ball in their mouth and flops down dropping the ball and emptying the bag with the sweet bun straight into their mouth. It's hard to say if they're paying attention or just acting like it in the time it takes to eat.]

I suppose start with where we are and the local history. [Seriously NeoDevimon could just keep going after that and Lotor would not complain.]

[digisolutions]

Our Lady Mastemon is the youngest of the Nine Lords, both in terms of rule and actual age. She's... I guess you could say artificially a Mega? Because Angewomon and LadyDevimon both fuse to become her out of their love for each other, and those two are merely Ultimates, they qualify on a technicality. But she is very powerful, given the Forests have been impenetrable by our enemy. She's ruled for about three hundred cycles now.

[ He clicks on her profile and brings her up. ]

Her predecessor was Minervamon, but she was ended in a scuffle with the leader of the Grasslands, DinoTigermon, when a criminal from her lands sought refuge here. Minervamon sought to pass her own judgement, but DinoTigermon would have none of it given the crime was harming children. We were without a ruler, then for a span of about fifty cycles.

The Forest is a largely peaceful, and we keep to ourselves. There are trade towns along the border, so they're the ones who interact with the Desert and Snowfields to trade resources. We provide a lot of the agriculture for the areas that don't have much in the way of food.

[lost_child_of_oriande]

If only some civilizations where I come from had that enlightened of a basic standard. [It's...mostly under his breath and an aside, but he's not trying very hard.]

That would make this an important territory to keep protected, particularly in a time of crisis - not much can be done without food.

[After finishing the roll, Dorumon yawns and curls up, tail half over their head, to nap through the history discussion, and Lotor does have an odd conflicted moment.]

Might I ask about how your people age and what constitutes a child?

[digisolutions]

Ah. Yes, I suppose that is confusing. For equivalents, there's the youngest, which are like your infants--those are called Fresh. The ones who were hurt are toddlers, the next level up which is In-Training. Then you have children like Dorumon, who's a Rookie. After that, you have teenagers to young adults at Champion. Then you have full grown adults in Ultimates, like me. And finally, Megas are just those who are very old or have fused into that. Even if you're ancient, you won't necessarily become a Mega.

[lost_child_of_oriande]

[Lotor has a pause, glancing down at Dorumon.] Are the - rookies prepared to go on this sort of campaign?

[He's clearly got misgivings and is ... uncomfortable, both about the idea and about asking - that is the tentative moment of someone who's used to that kind of question being dangerous territory to poke.]

[It's not that Galra don't sometimes have some dangerous rites of passage or expectations, it's just that there's a difference between rites of passage and 'Go on some journey to fight an unknown enemy that threatens the world', and you know, he has a Conflicted relationship with Galran culture anyway.]

[digisolutions]

...We are built to fight. To tear each other apart with tooth and claw and magic. That we largely choose peace... Isn't that better?

[ His way of saying yeah, the kids will be fine. ]

[lost_child_of_oriande]

[It doesn't entirely help, but then, he also hasn't seen Dorumon barf up cannon balls yet, just haul him off to get toys and snacks, and currently curled up to nap.] It's... something I'd rather not pull someone young away from.

[digisolutions]

War will find these children, no matter how you try to shield them. That is simply the truth of War. They are all very capable, and Our Lady's shields will not last for eternity. As we are, we've few adults left that aren't simple merchants.

[lost_child_of_oriande]

[It's not something he's happy with, but it's not logic he can really argue with, either, as much as he'd clearly like to.]

....Which area has been the hardest hit by this?

[He'll get back to being curious about the local civilization, but right now? Focusing on the tactical situation to try to solve it with the least amount of 'putting kids in the line of fire' is a way higher priority.]

[digisolutions]

...That depends on what you mean. The Lavafields are currently mostly converted into the strange glass, while other areas are seeing higher crime rates from fear. Nowhere but the forests are safe, and that barrier will soon shatter.

[lost_child_of_oriande]

[Yep, it's a mess. He's rubbing the bridge of his nose and then resting his hands on the table the map is on.]

The fear won't be solved until there is some kind of visible progress against the problem. Were the Lavafields the first territory it appeared in? Has there been a pattern to its corruption? Has anyone been able to study the conversion?

[resolved]

[ War will find these children, no matter how you try to shield them.

This statement, makes Lelouch, who has been trying to study whatever he can get his hands on in this place, tense somewhat. He's been getting Lucemon's help to reach the higher shelves (wings, after all) and currently he's been working with her to try to learn as much as he can, but...

It seems even in a weird fantastical setting, he can't escape this bitter truth. When he speaks, the amount of tired but resolute focus in his voice is palpable. This is a teen who has seen much bloodshed and expects to see more. ]

... Adding to that, your battle strategies seem lacking, from where I'm standing. You had enough power and intelligence to bring in outside help in your desperation, but why wait so long to do it in the first place?

[digisolutions]

We didn't want to put human children, who are not born for battle like we are, to fight our war. But no matter what we seem to throw at this threat, well... Many of our soldiers sent to aid other Areas simply haven't come back.

[ ...They've been fighting, but it just. Hasn't been successful, in other words. ]

We don't know where this virus came from, or why it's turning the world to glass. Simply that it is, and that it infects things similar to what you call cordyceps. No one who's lived to tell about it has seen the source of the infection. You're our last ditch effort, as it were.

[lost_child_of_oriande]

[Lotor raises an eyebrow at Lelouch but is keeping his mouth shut for the moment.] So essentially, it's converting your own people against you? [He's taking a moment, hand half over his mouth thinking.] How susceptible will our partners be, and is there a region that would have some kind of facility that could study it if we were able to safely contain a piece to research a countermeasure?

[resolved]

... If we're going to fight this, we need to use strategy. I agree.

[ He shakes his head, sighing. ]

But we may not have the time needed to study it. And if they have this level of knowledge about basic subjects, I can assume some among them may have already tried.

You mentioned no one returned. I assume all attempts to study the situation have failed because of that? Are there any among you who might be counted as weapons experts, or scientists?

[digisolutions]

Not in the Forest. While we have guards, we're mostly peaceful folks. Farmers.

[ He'll change the map over to the Cityscape. ]

Many scientists would be here.

[ And then he'll bring up their Lord, BanchoLeomon. ]

...BanchoLeomon is a good man. I'm sure he'd help you, if you need it. Weapons are primarily from the Mountains and Desert, where they can mine precious metals.

[lost_child_of_oriande]

I'm sure they've tried, but we may be able to assist and find an angle they may not have - and anything anyone may have already deciphered about it might aid us in finding a way to fight it directly.

Also if there is a risk our partners may be susceptible, we need to make sure to cover them, as well.

[resolved]

If it's anything like a computer virus, the possibility of it spreading and mutating more quickly than we can do anything about it needs to be considered. ... Unfortunately, I cannot say that's really my area of expertise.

You seem knowledgeable on the subject.

[ He looks at Lotor. ]

If we split up into two groups it might perhaps be faster. The concern now is time. Without that on our side...

[ A glance to the librarian-- ]

How long do you think we have left before this region succumbs?

[digisolutions]

I'm unsure. Lady Mastemon tries to hide how bad things are, but we all know she's growing tired.

[ He looks very sad. ]

...Anyway. I heard one of you was asking about firearms, right? Those are made in the Desert, under one of Mastemon's siblings, BelleStarmon.

[ The Desert Region's Lord is brought up. ...She looks like some teenager's edgy OC, I'm so sorry. ]

[lost_child_of_oriande]

We'll need to touch bases with the others - coordinate so that we have everyone where they'd be best suited. Also, with that in mind... [He looks back to NeoDevimon.]

Is there anywhere that would need to be shored up now, before any ideas of organizing weapons or working on a countermeasure could be started?

[resolved]

...

[ He's quiet a moment. ]

I have questions for your leader.

[ ... Many, if he's honest. Of course he went looking for info on Lucemon first. And he did also ask her, but...

Well. He always assumes people will forget, lie, or lie and forget, or some combination thereof, so like. He wants to know. ]

[digisolutions]

You can go speak to her. I'm sure she's tired, but she really didn't want to have to rely on you. She felt it was cruel to involve humans in our problems unless we had to. As for help... If you could find some way of reversing this, we could free the Lavaplains and get a lot of help from that.

[lost_child_of_oriande]

[Lotor gives a grim nod.] Then I'll head to the city to touch bases with BanchoLeomon and the researchers to see what might already be known and what I can do to expand that; you can help organize weapons and resources, and we can see about the other two seeking out trouble spots to damage control until we have a way to push it back.

[Lotor is very confident in being able to get a way to reverse it.]

[resolved]

Firearms would be ideal for those of us without physical combat capability.

[ ... He's not a soldier. He's no Suzaku. God he wishes that idiot was here. ]

Small reconnaissance teams would work more safely, and faster, but there's risk involved in that, which is why I believe we should focus on information only and try not to engage as much as possible.

[ He hefts the books he has. ]

... I have some things to do. I'll be leaving.

[ Have fun, Lotor! ]