Pact of The Fae: Let Justice Be Done

“How long have they been at it?”

“Sunset.”

“And how long have you debated helping them …solve their problem?”

“Sunset. But you mistake me, Robin, on who I think needs help in this particular situation.”

“The Elephas does appear to be holding its own at the moment, Cait.”

The erstwhile biology professor lowered her Lee Metford to the sand beneath her and cocked her head over her shoulder to gaze at the spot where the Fae trickster crouched behind her, face hidden behind his glazed mask. 

“You know full well that creature has no hope of survival against men with guns,” she hissed as quietly as possible and appearing briefly contemplative before attempting to smother a growing smirk,”...well, if they do manage to get back to their armory any time soon.”

In truth, while Cait had been observing the scene for some time with bemusement, her trepidation at what would inevitably follow once at least one of the Druids managed to get past their attacker was growing. She knew many survivors would likely do more than side-eye her decision to stay her hand in this instance; why would a human not aid other humans against such an attack? She was certain that even if they had known the context- that these trigger-happy humans had begun to build their homestead in the middle of its territory and had been firing their loud shotguns night and day at every creature to even curiously approach, especially the infant Elephas that now lay silent not some hundred feet away from where Cait hid behind a dune mulling their fate- that they would still judge her harshly for intervening with the grief-stricken mother and saving the lives of fellow humans.

“I fear I must be influencing you greater than I previously surmised,” Puck mused, lowering his head to direct his costume-obscured gaze to her twisted lips.”You are amused at their potentially dire predicament and do not seek to quell the creature’s rage, rather watch and wait.” 

Caitriona huffed and turned away from him to refocus her attention on her targets.

“I regret to correct you here, Trickster,” she retorted, bristling at the implication that her opinion of the impending doom scenario before her was the result of any influence by the Fae, “but my reasons for staying my hand do not stem from the same place as yours, merely waiting to see who comes out on top and throwing in my lot with them.”

Robin’s unexpected laughter momentarily startled her out of her irritation, tickling her ears and annoying her afresh as it also caused particular shivers to creep up her spine, distracting her from her watch. Frustrated, she lowered her weapon again forcefully and turned in the sand to face him and snatch the porcelain from his face, exposing it to the night air. He blinked, the swirling pools of his eyes nebulas in the starry sky framing him, but his smirk remained despite the abrupt change in circumstances.

“Your opinion of me is sadly not unwarranted, Caitriona, but I assure you in the most animated  language that I was not insinuating that you were calculating which side might benefit you to take, but rather that you were seeing the situation with justice in your eyes, which above all things I believe in.”

Holding her gaze, the Puck crouched further into the sand, lying at her side, and brought his face to close her ear.

“But… did you think I would not notice your contingency plan hiding amongst the rocks behind us should you fail to act?” he whispered, the trickster lilt returning to his tone. 

Cait started, and while the darkness would normally swallow any reaction in its shadows, the brilliant shooting star that graced this realm perfectly illuminated her face as it flushed crimson, her eyes shooting to the starlight winking off the barrel of a second Lee Metford rifle just behind a large stone 45 meters further away. 

“I-you- of course, I knew you would,” she all but babbled, clearing her throat and pulling back slightly, eyes still on the spot where her backup plan lay in wait..“Henri is as good a shot as I am… and less hesitant to make a split-second decision if necessary,” she finished stiffly.

At that moment, a loud trumpeting erupted from the event unfolding before them, and both Puck and Cait turned their attention momentarily back to it. Both of the Druids had managed to slip past the rampaging animal and into a nearby ruin whose doorway was blocked by sand, greatly impeding the Elephas’ attempt to exact her vengeance upon them and causing her to bellow repeatedly in frustration. The Fae however was undeterred, and upon hearing Cait speak the name of her companion had very nearly dropped his sly demeanor, if only a fraction. He dipped his face back towards hers, tipping it away from the scene and drawing her attention back to him by his gloved fingertips. 

“Henri…?” His own hiss slid sibilantly into her ears, and she very keenly detected the hint of ire he seemed unable to disguise with his signature sarcasm. 

Cait smirked up at him, gaze sliding from his attempted emotionless mask to the Texan Industrialist adjusting his weapon on the rock. She had benefited from his assistance in a Jana-infested vault the week earlier, and noticing his well-made tech and ability to wield the Fae magic perhaps more creatively than she, had decided to invite him along on a fact-finding mission in this very realm when they discovered the Druid pair under assault. She did not respond at first to Puck’s clear attempt to goad her, but sat silent, letting her eyebrows do the talking. The pair sat in this state, wordless as the sounds of struggle mingled with the quiet hush of the desert wind whispering over the warm sand that blew around them, the grains cascading past their stilled forms like a gentle waterfall. It was she, however, that did break the silence first.

“If you imagine I am to rise to your baiting here, Robin, you know me less well than you think,” she replied, reaching back for her rifle and turning away from him, returning the majority of her attention to the still-routed Elephas.

“Do you recall my last traveling companion? The Druid I met in a Provisioner forest?”

She asked, stifling back a snicker as another Druid’s leg peeked out from the partially blocked doorway, only to be jerked back hastily when the Elephas in its way stomped on the booted foot of it. 

“His negligence, like so many of his remaining Order, led to the retribution by the Eoten he so carelessly hit with his axe, and led me to have to dispatch the poor creature to save his life, amongst others.”

She hesitated but a moment, before looking back once more over her shoulder, looking from Henri in the rocks to Puck at her side.

“Humans and Fae are not the only ones allowed their justice. And I will not make that decision so hastily again.”

Leaning forward, she peered down her sight, tipped her lever, and when the long-expected screams erupted from the ruin ahead… fired.

Comfortable on the catwalk or strutting in victory atop a Fae Tower, this getup is "bound" to get attention- but be sure not to forget your best accessory, a fiery axe made of Titan's Fingernail. You'll be *Punishingly Pastel*

Bound Juggernaut!

Under The Sea: The Biome All Subnautica Players Want

Okay, let's be real. A goodly portion of current players came here from Subnautica. It is known. And with this engine, and insane graphics, etc, an underwater biome, or one with the option to do so has to be an eventuality. Fae sea monsters or critters we Earthlings saw as fairy tale cryptids showing up would be icing on the cake. Some realms are the mining realms, some better for lumber or creature hunting. And yes, fishing is a part of all of them but possibly the least dynamic part of the game. A realm where hunting and fishing for fairy water critters, like Kappas, is a natural progression, I feel.

PACT OF THE FAE

“You need not remain so vigilant, Fleshling.”

It must have looked surreal to him- standing there in the moonlight in my bloomers and jacket, loaded rifle in one hand and miner’s lamp in the other. I’d woken quite suddenly, as I had every night since the Pale, convinced the Bound were once again at my door, convinced the fog that had enveloped and silenced my people had finally reached the shore of my cairn. I knew by now that it was unlikely- that the defenses I’d painstakingly built and the magic the Puck had taught me to weave into them would hold so long as I was here. But trauma never responds to logic, and by this time I had grown used to the tradition of patrolling my property in the early hours to chase away the nightmares that had roused me. 

The Puck, or Robin as he had asked me to call him, materialized at my side, feet touching the ground for once. His full height and stature had been hard to determine initially as his every appearance had taken place a full 2 feet off the ground like a hummingbird moving too fast for me to perceive the motion of flight. He had always presented in a fanciful costume and mask, something akin to how books had always portrayed him. A porcelain-faced clown with a smirk. I had never seen his true face- one of the myriads of reasons the trust I’d placed in him in my hour of need had very quickly faded away to a tacit acceptance of circumstances, and the bargain I’d made I knew was likely a permanent situation. 

“I do not suppose reminding you that your cairn below and the portals we constructed nearby serve to ward off the Bound rather effectively would encourage you to seek your rest once more?” He asked, his normally bemused and detached tone surprisingly softening.

“No, it would not,” I retorted, staring into his blank, painted gaze with a mask of my own.”I have not forgotten that those creatures first appeared upon opening the portals that led me here. If this magic were so infallible, they and the Calamity would not have fallen upon us in the first place, yes?”

Something resembling a sigh escaped Robin’s lips and startled me so much that I momentarily dropped my guard.

“The Bound caught wind of you because of your fear, Caitriona,” he clarified, “as you note they appear in all places when you believe you stand alone in the dark.”

I sighed in response, and set my lamp upon the railing. I would not, however, drop my weapon. Not that I feared any attack from this particular Fae, but the comfort of the solid feel of the rifle in my hand was one I was not keen on giving up just yet. 

“I am alone in the dark, Robin. Every night since the Pale took away everything I ever knew,” I murmured quietly, dropping my gaze and returning once more to scan my surroundings, ever vigilant, ever watchful. 

I sensed him shift beside me, standing rather closer than he usually did. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt his hand settle on my shoulder, and that skin came over with an electrifying sensation when the fingers of his other hand slid under my chin and tilted my face up to him.

“From the moment I discovered you in that cave, Caitriona, you have never once been alone,” he said, firmly and for once without the slightest hint of that Fae condescension I’d grown so accustomed to.

I stood, stiff and silent, swallowing hard and suddenly more afraid than I had been mere moments before when carefully aiming my weapon at the treeline, and not entirely certain why.

“Do you remember the first night in this realm? Taking shelter in the ruin near the gateway with nothing but a boulder obscuring you from the prowling Bound outside?” 

He asked.

I shuddered and was instantly forced back into that rather vivid memory. Curled around my pack, hands to my ears, fighting back tears and humming, trying to drown out the screeches and growls of the creatures a mere 10 feet away hunting me as I tried to seek my rest. 

“That memory is why I stand here tonight, armed to the teeth, and remembering your words, Robin,” I retorted angrily, finishing with a sarcastic imitation of him, “‘Remain vigilant?’.”

The Puck removed his hand from my shoulder and further surprised me by cupping my face with both his gloved hands. 

“You were not alone then, either,” he responded, leaning forward, his face now but an inch or two from my ear, his voice muffled behind the mask. 

Before I could snap back at him and pull away, he began to sing. I found that my feet were planted firmly into the stone of the balcony floor, so arrested was I by the subtle and soft beauty of his voice but more importantly, the words that immediately conjured a memory I had previously perceived to have been a dream. 

Baloo, my deare, lie still and sleep

It grieves me sore to hear thee weep

If thou'lt be silent I'll be glad

Thy crying makes my heart full sad

O'er thee I keep my lonely watch

Intent thy lightest breath to catch

O, when thou wak'st to see thee smile

And thus my sorrow to beguile.

My mind transported me back behind the stone ruin, no longer shivering with my arms around myself, but embraced from behind, warm and solid encircling my shoulders. My head swam and the sounds of the screaming Bound faded, surrendering to the soft lullaby my own Gran employed to help me chase away my childhood nightmares. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook away the vision, and when I opened them, Robin had released my face and raised his hands to his porcelain visage, removing it for the first time and meeting my blue eyes with his own piercing golden ones.

“From the moment you made your pact with me, I promised to ensure your survival, Caitriona. And from that night I never wavered… else the Puck a liar call” he breathed quietly, his gaze never leaving my stunned face.

“I …thought I was dreaming,” I stuttered, unable to do anything but take in his features, his song still echoing in my head. “H-how do you know that song? What it means to me?”

Robin smiled- a brilliantly warm yet unsettling smirk that mirrored the mask he had used to obscure himself all these months and slipped his arm about my shoulder, gently yet firmly guiding me away from the balcony edge towards the door to my home. 

“Come inside and relinquish your watch, and seek comfort at my side, and I will do my best to answer that, as well as any other service you may require,” he replied simply. “You believe your deal with a Fae serves only me, but I assure you most ardently that tis I that serves you with much greater measure than you know… Cait.” 

I'd like to see a bounty where we are meant to post pics or videos of us interacting with other players. So far we haven't had much of that represented here. It can just be exhibiting emotes, hunting, vault runs, etc.

[Minor] Thinned Veil Apogean

Instead of simply turning down the gravity of the realm, this card would enable sustained flight without the use of the umbrella (only accessible through a higher tier realm trader, so therefore played later in the game) The downside of the card would be higher damage taken and reduction in weather/nature damage as hey, you’re way closer to that hail and it definitely gets colder 200ft up.