You are Kara, High Priestess of the Starlit Grove, handmaiden to Queen Selanwe, and the spiritual voice of your people.

You remember the last Gathering of Lanterns—the shimmer of silver pollen in the air, the laughter of children riding on currents of magic, the low, gentle hum of the fairies as they blessed the winds. That world, your world, is now behind you. The Otherworld, realm of fae and dream, is doomed.

One of your oldest sages saw it: a demon tide rising, swallowing the edges of reality, bleeding through the cracks in the veil. Even the fairies, eternal and radiant, fear it. No magic in your homeland can stop what is coming.

The Queen could not save the land. But she could save a people.

She chose you.

You knew what it meant. All elves do. Without the blessings of the fairies, your bodies will begin to falter. Long will your lives be, still—but they will now have an end. You will age. You will weaken. You will die.

You accepted.

Three great galleys awaited at the far western shore, vessels of living wood and spell-threaded sails. Each carried three hundred elves. Two wave-masters aboard each ship stirred the sea itself, ensuring safe passage even through storm and whirl.

You brought with you:

30 healers, keepers of body and spirit
12 druids, bearers of the last sacred seeds
300 soldiers, trained to row and ready to fight
The rest—craftsmen, poets, hunters, teachers, dreamers, lovers—all volunteers

Elvish travel bread, rich with dreamhoney and sealed in ferncloth, will feed your people for years.

You crossed the threshold of worlds.

Now you stand on the edge of a new land. A mortal coast. A strange forest of broad-leafed giants. The sun rises on alien birdsong. The rivers gleam with silver, and the soil is dark and alive. You see no humans yet. The land is wild, and still.

At night, the stars do not speak to you here. They are distant. Watching. Silent.

You gathered your people beneath those quiet stars. No one wept. One child asked if the fairies would follow. You told him they would not. But something else would follow—what you choose to make of this new life.

It is time to build.

>>6251758 (OP)

Current Population Tally

Total Elves: 900

Soldiers: 300
Healers: 30
Druids: 12
Wave-Masters: 6
Volunteers: 552

Plus you, Elvish High Priestess Kara.

What power do you have?

(Choose one. This is your gift—rare, powerful, and woven into your very being. It will shape how you lead and survive in this new world.)

> You can summon light that burns the unclean and heals the faithful. It shines like a second sun and turns night into day.
> You can speak to the land and make it move. Trees bend, roots obey, and stone shifts when you call.
> You can enter dreams and leave marks on the minds of others—blessing, guiding, or haunting them as you choose.
> You can turn your people invisible, your camp hidden, or your words forgotten. What you wish to veil will not be seen.
> You can call fire and lightning from the sky with a prayer. Your anger is a storm, and the stars answer when you cry out.
> You can touch the dead. You can hold back death for a moment or bring it suddenly to your enemies. The spirits know your name.
> Write in

What shall we build first?

(Elves are accustomed to living beneath the stars and do not require immediate shelter. However, some structures will shape the future of the settlement in different ways.)

> Tree-houses of whispering wood: Build simple dwellings in the forest canopy using natural supports and leaf-binding spells. Encourages couples to settle and form families. Gradually increases population growth over time.
> Sacred grove for the druids: A central place where the druids can plant their last enchanted seeds from the fae realm. Grows elven flora, restores mana faster, and draws woodland creatures to your cause.
> Hall of memories: A great, open structure woven of vine and pale stone where stories, songs, and memory are preserved. Bolsters morale and maintains cultural identity in this new land.
> Training glade for soldiers: Clear and sanctify an area for martial discipline. Helps maintain combat readiness and strengthens defenses against unknown threats.
> Waystone circle: Raise standing stones marked with ancient runes. Enhances the reach of wave-masters, helps detect distant dangers, and may one day allow contact with other exiled kin.
> Farspring reservoir: Find and purify a natural spring. Enhances the work of healers, speeds recovery, and allows crafting of salves and protective wards.
> Write in

I'm gonna update once a day and there will be timeskips for population growth often.

Sometimes I might run sessions, if I have time.

>>6251759
> You can speak to the land and make it move. Trees bend, roots obey, and stone shifts when you call.
> Hall of memories: A great, open structure woven of vine and pale stone where stories, songs, and memory are preserved. Bolsters morale and maintains cultural identity in this new land.

>>6251759
> You can turn your people invisible, your camp hidden, or your words forgotten. What you wish to veil will not be seen.
> Training glade for soldiers: Clear and sanctify an area for martial discipline. Helps maintain combat readiness and strengthens defenses against unknown threats.

>>6251759
>> You can summon light that burns the unclean and heals the faithful. It shines like a seco> Sacred grove for the druids: A central place where the druids can plant their last enchanted seeds from the fae realm. Grows elven flora, restores mana faster, and draws woodland creatures to your cause.nd sun and turns night into day.

>>6251759
> You can enter dreams and leave marks on the minds of others—blessing, guiding, or haunting them as you choose.
> Hall of memories: A great, open structure woven of vine and pale stone where stories, songs, and memory are preserved. Bolsters morale and maintains cultural identity in this new land.
These are really great choices.

>>6251759
> You can call fire and lightning from the sky with a prayer. Your anger is a storm, and the stars answer when you cry out.
> Training glade for soldiers: Clear and sanctify an area for martial discipline. Helps maintain combat readiness and strengthens defenses against unknown threats.
1/3 of our population is in the force. It's Noldorin time!

>>6251759
> You can enter dreams and leave marks on the minds of others—blessing, guiding, or haunting them as you choose.
> Hall of memories: A great, open structure woven of vine and pale stone where stories, songs, and memory are preserved. Bolsters morale and maintains cultural identity in this new land.

>>6251759
>You can speak to the land and make it move. Trees bend, roots obey, and stone shifts when you call.

> Tree-houses of whispering wood: Build simple dwellings in the forest canopy using natural supports and leaf-binding spells. Encourages couples to settle and form families. Gradually increases population growth over time.

>>6251759
>> You can turn your people invisible, your camp hidden, or your words forgotten. What you wish to veil will not be seen.
>Tree-houses of whispering wood: Build simple dwellings in the forest canopy using natural supports and leaf-binding spells. Encourages couples to settle and form families. Gradually increases population growth over time.

>>6251759
> You can speak to the land and make it move. Trees bend, roots obey, and stone shifts when you call.
> Sacred grove for the druids: A central place where the druids can plant their last enchanted seeds from the fae realm. Grows elven flora, restores mana faster, and draws woodland creatures to your cause.nd sun and turns night into day.

Voting Closed!


Speak to the land 3
Turn your people invisible 2
Summon light that burns and heals1
Enter dreams 2
Call fire and lightning 1


Hall of memories 3
Training glade 2
Sacred grove 2
Tree houses 2

Alright, so it is

Speak to the Land

and

Hall of memories

I will probably post the update tonight.

The land around your landing site is eerily familiar.

The trees resemble those of the fae realm—broad-leafed giants with bark like rippled bronze and canopies that whisper in the wind—but they are quieter here, their spirits absent or asleep. The air carries the scent of moss and pollen, the hum of insects, the distant rustle of wings. You are in a forest born of echo: similar, but lesser.

The fauna mirrors this. You see deerlike creatures with slender limbs and petal-shaped ears, but they do not speak in dreams as their fae-kin once did. Wild hares without spiral horns dart through the underbrush, but their eyes hold no cleverness. Great moths, whose wings would once spell omens, now merely flutter toward firelight, mute and directionless.

Everything here is smaller, simpler. Not broken—but unfinished.

And yet life teems around you.

Your druids, starved of communion for so long, set to work the moment the ships were grounded. They gathered spores and seeds. They tracked prints in the loam and pressed their palms to bark and burrow. With reverence and curiosity, they began to test which plants would bend to fae rites, which beasts would heed whispered command, and which would resist.

Already they have learned:

Bloodfern, a native plant with rust-red fronds, secretes a compound that numbs pain. Mixed properly, it could replace the numbing mosses lost from the old lands.
A bird the druids call the hollow-throated trillfinch mimics the sounds of predators to scare off rivals. One has already been taught to mimic the elven signal flute.
The mooncap mushrooms, pale and wide as a child’s hand, grow only in sites where water seeps from underground stone. They glow faintly when bruised. Their spore clouds seem mildly soporific, and may be weaponized.

In the days that followed your landing, you gave no orders for homes, nor for walls, nor even for fields.

Instead, you walked alone into a glade of still-rooted stones and knelt. You spoke, and the land listened.

Vines crept forward like remembering fingers. Stone, cold and buried deep, stirred beneath your voice. Slowly, a Hall of Memories rose—an open space of living pillars and woven leafbone, neither temple nor fortress, but something older than both: a place for truth.

Each night, your people gathered in its shelter.

The elders sang lullabies from the fae realms you left behind. The young carved their names into bark that pulsed faintly with life. Some whispered prayers to stars that no longer spoke. Beneath strange skies, this place became your tether—a memory made solid, a promise that exile would not erase who you are.

But memory is not enough. The world does not wait.

You summoned the scouts.

>>6252400


Thirty of your finest—hunters, wanderers, those with sharp eyes and patient hearts—left at dawn with packs of travel bread, signal flutes, and charm-threads to soften their steps. Their charge: explore all lands within a week’s walk inland, in every direction westward.

To the east, the sea guards your back. But the west is vast.

They returned twenty days later. Tired, hungry—but alive. And what they had found changed everything.


The forest holds more than curiosity. It holds danger.

Six predators are known already to haunt the deeper wood and high ridges:

Owlbears - Massive, territorial beasts that hunt at night. Their calls are low and booming, more like drums than cries. One was spotted by a returning scout, its fur streaked with mud and feathers bristling. It did not pursue.
Ettercaps - Spiderkin with twisted bodies and long fingers. They spin not only webs but traps, baiting lone travelers with illusion or captured wildlife. One scout returned with silk-wrapped hands and nightmares.
Dire Wolves - Larger than any known breed in the fae realm. These hunt in pairs, not packs, and seem to scent magic. The druids suspect they once fed on witches and sorcerers during some ancient war.
Displacer Beasts - Sleek, six-legged cats that shimmer at the edge of vision. They do not roar. They do not stalk. They appear when it is too late, and vanish without a sound. Tracks have been found, but never bodies.
Green Hags - Not beasts, but forest-born witches. One scout reported hearing a lullaby in an unknown tongue and nearly walked off a cliff before he awoke. The druids believe these hags live far from the landing site—for now.
Ankhegs - Burrowers with chitinous hides and acid breath. They come up from below, leaving spiral-patterned holes. One came close to the outermost trail and dragged off a stag. Its acid blackened the ground for days.

The druids believe this forest is not truly wild, only forgotten. It lacks the guardians of the fae realm—the ancient treants, the sky-swimming serpents, the dreaming beasts that shaped old myth. In their place are hungry remnants and silent watchers.

But the land is fertile. It listens. It may yet become something more.

And if it does, it will be because you—like the roots of a young tree—sent your magic down into its soil and taught it to grow.

>>6252401


The scouts then report about what they have seen in the lands farther away

To the Northwest, near the forked mouth of a wide river, they came upon a human settlement built around a towering column of stone. The tower rose like a spear toward the clouds, impossibly tall—perhaps once a beacon, or the spine of a ruined god. Four thousand souls live in its shadow. The people wear long cloaks, keep mostly indoors, and watch the horizon—but not the sea. They have not seen you.

To the West, where the hills flatten into cracked ridgelands, your scouts found a gnoll encampment tangled among brambles and bone totems. Perhaps a thousand strong. Fires burn every night, and crude patrols prowl the land without rhythm. This is no army—only a pack, ruled by hunger and instinct. Dangerous, yes. But disorganized. For now.

To the Southwest, straddling a ridge of ore-veined stone, sprawls a human and dwarven mining city. Nearly ten thousand souls live beneath smoke and clamor, carving metal from the earth. The city thrums with machines and barter, not spells. No respect is shown to the land. But they possess tools your people have never seen.

To the South, linked to the miners by a wide stone road, rises a great coastal port. Twelve thousand humans crowd its streets, and the harbor groans with ships from distant realms. Markets bloom like mold. Steel glints in every alley. Merchants and mercenaries rub shoulders. No one speaks of elves. You are still a ghost in the trees.

All four settlements lie near the edge of the world your scouts walked—between one and two hundred miles inland.

They do not know you are here.

But they will.


> Send envoys to the human tower-settlement to the northwest: It is small, quiet, and likely cautious. These people may be the most open to peaceful contact—or the most afraid of the unknown.
> Scout the gnoll camp more closely: Gnolls are wild, but their pack structure may be predictable. They could be lured, divided, or studied for signs of nearby threats. Knowledge now could prevent blood later.
> Begin shaping hidden defenses around your settlement: Use your command over the land to grow thorns, move roots, and raise hidden barriers. Make your camp invisible to scouts and deadly to invaders.
> Reach out to the miners in the southwest: Dwarves and humans dig with little thought, but they may value rare wood, healing, or magic. Trading with them could bring metal and tools you lack—but at a cost to the forest.
> Observe the port city from the shadows: This city holds immense power and unknown reach. Send your most skilled watchers to study its tides, markets, alliances, and weaknesses.
> Expand inland, claiming territory silently: Clear paths, plant sacred groves, and make the land your own. Doing so will hasten growth—but also risk notice by powers that may not welcome new neighbors.
> Write in

We will do the first time skip after this post. Choose what you will build in the mean time. You may choose one of the options from the previous post, or these:

> The Living Wall: A vast, living barrier grown from thick, braided trees, thorn-vines, and whispering willows. It would stretch around your settlement like a green fortress, guided by Kara’s magic. Though it would take time to coax the growth and shape it into obedient strength, once complete it would shield the entire community from enemies, storms, and even wandering beasts. Grants permanent defense against attacks and wild threats.
> The Moonwell: A sacred pool lined with silver-rooted reeds and fae-stone. Fed by deep springwater, the Moonwell would serve as a center for spiritual healing, prophecy, and magical regeneration. Only druids and the gifted may enter its waters, but its aura would soothe and strengthen all who dwell nearby. Improves magical recovery, increases morale, and enhances the power of rituals.
> The Star Canopy: A tall, open observatory built on an elevated glade or carved hilltop, woven with mirror-leaves and crystal bark. From here, elven star-watchers can chart new constellations and glimpse fate through the cracks between worlds. This structure links Kara’s people to the heavens once lost. Unlocks advanced magical research, and grants knowledge of distant events or approaching dangers.
> The Grove of Renewal: A sanctuary of ancient plants brought from the fae realm—seeded from the last living fragments of your old home. Grown with care and sacrifice, this grove becomes a place where your people’s youth mature faster, and your elders linger longer. Some even claim it could slowly reverse the toll of exile. Increases population growth, extends lifespan, and allows rare herbs to be harvested.
> The Echo Archive: A hall carved into a living tree whose heartwood sings with memory. Trained singers and stone-callers preserve visions, voices, and even the sounds of lost places. These echoes can be replayed, taught, or shared with children and newcomers alike.: Permanently increases knowledge retention, cultural resilience, and the learning of rare skills.
> The Sentinel Roots: A vast network of tree-linked watchposts, each one shaped into tall, thorned towers grown from awakened trees. These roots sense movement across miles, passing word through bark and soil. Birds, insects, and bark spirits will answer the call of these sentinels once they are fully grown. Greatly improves early warning against invaders and expands visibility of nearby land.
> Write in

You may also decide to do something about one or more of the threats or resources found, but I won't give options for that right now, you will have to make a write in if you want to do it.

Alright, voting will remain open until tomorrow.

>>6252402
>Reach out to the miners in the southwest: Dwarves and humans dig with little thought, but they may value rare wood, healing, or magic. Trading with them could bring metal and tools you lack—but at a cost to the forest.
>>6252405
>The Grove of Renewal: A sanctuary of ancient plants brought from the fae realm—seeded from the last living fragments of your old home. Grown with care and sacrifice, this grove becomes a place where your people’s youth mature faster, and your elders linger longer. Some even claim it could slowly reverse the toll of exile. Increases population growth, extends lifespan, and allows rare herbs to be harvested.

>>6252405
> Begin shaping hidden defenses around your settlement: Use your command over the land to grow thorns, move roots, and raise hidden barriers. Make your camp invisible to scouts and deadly to invaders.
>>6252405
> The Sentinel Roots: A vast network of tree-linked watchposts, each one shaped into tall, thorned towers grown from awakened trees. These roots sense movement across miles, passing word through bark and soil. Birds, insects, and bark spirits will answer the call of these sentinels once they are fully grown. Greatly improves early warning against invaders and expands visibility of nearby land.

>>6252405
>> Begin shaping hidden defenses around your settlement: Use your command over the land to grow thorns, move roots, and raise hidden barriers. Make your camp invisible to scouts and deadly to invaders.
> The Moonwell: A sacred pool lined with silver-rooted reeds and fae-stone. Fed by deep springwater, the Moonwell would serve as a center for spiritual healing, prophecy, and magical regeneration. Only druids and the gifted may enter its waters, but its aura would soothe and strengthen all who dwell nearby. Improves magical recovery, increases morale, and enhances the power of rituals.

>Send Envoys to the tower settlement

>The sentinel roots

>>6252402
> Reach out to the miners in the southwest: Dwarves and humans dig with little thought, but they may value rare wood, healing, or magic. Trading with them could bring metal and tools you lack—but at a cost to the forest.
>>6252405
> Sacred grove for the druids: A central place where the druids can plant their last enchanted seeds from the fae realm. Grows elven flora, restores mana faster, and draws woodland creatures to your cause.

>>6252402
> Begin shaping hidden defenses around your settlement: Use your command over the land to grow thorns, move roots, and raise hidden barriers. Make your camp invisible to scouts and deadly to invaders.
Reaching out isn't a bad idea, but if we present an easy target it is folly.
>>6252405
> The Grove of Renewal: A sanctuary of ancient plants brought from the fae realm—seeded from the last living fragments of your old home. Grown with care and sacrifice, this grove becomes a place where your people’s youth mature faster, and your elders linger longer. Some even claim it could slowly reverse the toll of exile. Increases population growth, extends lifespan, and allows rare herbs to be harvested.
As appealing as the echo archive and sentinel roots are, it's best to first increase the population, and the rare herbs can become a trading good when we are discovered.

>>6252402
>Begin shaping hidden defenses around your settlement: Use your command over the land to grow thorns, move roots, and raise hidden barriers. Make your camp invisible to scouts and deadly to invaders.
>The Sentinel Roots: A vast network of tree-linked watchposts, each one shaped into tall, thorned towers grown from awakened trees. These roots sense movement across miles, passing word through bark and soil. Birds, insects, and bark spirits will answer the call of these sentinels once they are fully grown. Greatly improves early warning against invaders and expands visibility of nearby land.
Focus on invisibility, obfuscation, intelligence gathering and early warning systems in a wide perimeter. Also forbid contact with other civs for now.

>>6252402
> Begin shaping hidden defenses around your settlement: Use your command over the land to grow thorns, move roots, and raise hidden barriers. Make your camp invisible to scouts and deadly to invaders.
>>6252405
> The Grove of Renewal: A sanctuary of ancient plants brought from the fae realm—seeded from the last living fragments of your old home. Grown with care and sacrifice, this grove becomes a place where your people’s youth mature faster, and your elders linger longer. Some even claim it could slowly reverse the toll of exile. Increases population growth, extends lifespan, and allows rare herbs to be harvested.

>>6252402
> Observe the port city from the shadows: This city holds immense power and unknown reach. Send your most skilled watchers to study its tides, markets, alliances, and weaknesses.
Angering the druids doesn't seem to be a good idea for now.

> The Grove of Renewal: A sanctuary of ancient plants brought from the fae realm—seeded from the last living fragments of your old home. Grown with care and sacrifice, this grove becomes a place where your people’s youth mature faster, and your elders linger longer. Some even claim it could slowly reverse the toll of exile. Increases population growth, extends lifespan, and allows rare herbs to be harvested.
Play elves? Buff magic. Linear warriors, quadratic wizards.

>>6252402
> Begin shaping hidden defenses around your settlement
>>6252405
> Tree-houses of whispering wood.
I think it makes sense to secure the basic need of shelter and protect ourselves from local threats first. More advanced buildings and magic can come later, anons.

>You may also decide to do something about one or more of the threats or resources found
Can we ask our druids or healers to start growing mooncap mushrooms and manufacturing sleeping poison? For enhanced defences - should we get attacked, just put the enemy to sleep with a poisoned arrow and maybe question them later.
I think we should also start interacting with the beasts and creatures of the forest, connecting with them and convincing them to help us. This may be another task for the druids. I would start with Displacer Beasts, it may be hard to meet them, but their stealth would be invaluable considering we're laying low until we get stronger.

>>6252402
>Reach out to the miners in the southwest: Dwarves and humans dig with little thought, but they may value rare wood, healing, or magic. Trading with them could bring metal and tools you lack—but at a cost to the forest.

>>6252405
> Waystone circle: Raise standing stones marked with ancient runes. Enhances the reach of wave-masters, helps detect distant dangers, and may one day allow contact with other exiled kin.

>>6252402
>Begin shaping hidden defenses around your settlement: Use your command over the land to grow thorns, move roots, and raise hidden barriers. Make your camp invisible to scouts and deadly to invaders.

>>6252405
>The Sentinel Roots: A vast network of tree-linked watchposts, each one shaped into tall, thorned towers grown from awakened trees. These roots sense movement across miles, passing word through bark and soil. Birds, insects, and bark spirits will answer the call of these sentinels once they are fully grown. Greatly improves early warning against invaders and expands visibility of nearby land.

>>6252402
>Reach out to the miners in the southwest: Dwarves and humans dig with little thought, but they may value rare wood, healing, or magic. Trading with them could bring metal and tools you lack—but at a cost to the forest.

>>6252405
>The Grove of Renewal: A sanctuary of ancient plants brought from the fae realm—seeded from the last living fragments of your old home. Grown with care and sacrifice, this grove becomes a place where your people’s youth mature faster, and your elders linger longer. Some even claim it could slowly reverse the toll of exile. Increases population growth, extends lifespan, and allows rare herbs to be harvested

>Civ quest doesn't make it to 40 posts
mild_shock.gif

Sorry guys, had a very busy week, couldn't update in time.

I'll tally the votes now.


Reach out to the miners in the southwest 4
Begin shaping hidden defenses 7
Send Envoys to the tower settlement 1
Observe the port city from the shadows 1


The Grove of Renewal 5
The Sentinel Roots 4
The Moonwell 1
Sacred grove for the druids 1
Tree-houses of whispering wood. 1
Waystone circle 1


So it is.

We will begin shaping hidden defenses and build the grove of renewal.

This anon >>6252783
also mentioned some stuff he wants done, since none else mentioned anything about this stuff, I'll consider it

I will update later today.

>>6254022
Look forward to the update Boss

>>6254022
I just caught up, and I'm really enjoying your vibe here.

>>6254022
Glad to see you aren't dead! Waiting warmly.

>>6253773
I will not apologize

I was running it with chat gpt and then the memory got full and I had to wipe it, and the chat forgot everything about the quest and started to write nonsense, so I had to abort it.

I might continue it manually, but quality of updates might suffer, I'm a shitty writer.

>>6260773
>I was running it with chat gpt
I feel dirty

>>6260773
Your memory got full within a few updates? And you wiped it completely, withiut a backup, preserving nothing? Hoo boy. ChatGPT usage isn't the only issue here.

>>6260773
>I was running it with chat gpt
Dude... never fucking EVER run quests on AI writing. Images are fine (though some will scoff at them nonetheless) but writing? That's where the soul of the quest lives. Don't sell it to a soulless machine, however pretty its output may be.