Insect Den

From a tall tree to a deep burrow...

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"People were living on this tree. A bonafide village was built on the branches and stilts of the giant tree. And I had been here before.

Duren and I walked up to the gate of Comodo Village. We remarked on how odd this place looked until the guard showed up. And then he pointed a spear at us! Several others came down to surround us because I was a wanted man. What did I do here?

Just before Duren and I were put to the stake, a voice that sounded oddly familiar stopped them. We were saved by Karna, who knew who I was. She vouched for me being a good hand. It bought Duren and me some time, but we were thrown into a makeshift jail for the night. Duren asked Karna why everyone hated me, but she insisted on speaking to her father, the village chief.

Later that night, Karna and her dad, Asad, finally spoke to us. The gist of the conversation was:
I have been here. I showed up two weeks ago.
Shortly after, people started vanishing from the village.
Everyone blamed me because I was the first outsider to visit Comodo in known history. I can see where they're coming from.
Fortunately, Karna believed I was innocent, and Asad trusted his daughter.
The rest of the villagers are patrolling the town through the night, which means Duren and I had to stay here.

But not for long. Shortly after they left, Duren suggested we sneak around in the hope of something triggering my memories. And so we escaped. Karna's makeshift handcuffs were no match for my information dealer. We snuck around the guards and climbed to the top. The view reminded me of everything.

The first time I was here, I met a man named Rennos, Karna's twin brother. Despite being a man in Comodo, Remnos was more interested in music and crafting. The village was shocked that I existed, and many wanted nothing to do with me. Remnios and Karna were curious, though, so they convinced their dad to let me visit. The two of them gave me a tour, and I learned Comodo is a typical village outside the forest. Men hunt, women cook, and there are even a few shops and a meeting hall. Remnos' crafting master also lived here. The twins clearly love each other, but they're total opposites. You know who Remnos is, but Karna is a fierce huntress. In fact, I only learned of the village because she attacked me. She thought I was a beast and threw her knife at me, but I deflected it with my sword. This entire thing was an apology. I spent the night in Comodo and enjoyed a good feast. I left pretty early; when Karna and the others were hunting. Remnos saw me off, but I remembered that he saw a strange figure behind me as I left. I didn't know what he meant, but maybe that figure is why the villagers have been "spirited away"?

Karna quickly realized we weren't in jail anymore but found us at the top. Everything was calming down, and even Asad showed up. But then we heard fighting. The locals descended the tree, and we watched on as per instructions. The two quickly came up on a group of masked, barely clothed people. Apparently, these two were a part of the group who were spirited away. A third masked man showed up, who easily bested Asad. If Asad is the strongest in the village, who's this guy? Duren and I decided we'd seen enough and went to help. We chased off the group while Karna tended to her dad.

He woke up momentarily later on and tried to tell us something. He passed out before he could, though. Karna stayed with her dad while us outsiders went to look for information. We found a potential hiding spot for the group: the Ancient Burrow.

We were about to investigate when Karna joined us. She's ready. The second strongest hunter in the village throws knives and hits those insects Duren and I had trouble connecting with. And we saw plenty of them as we walked around the crater. We got to the bottom and entered the bug nest. It's filled with various insects, so it's kinda scary. And there's something that'll make it worse soon. But as we entered, our ambush got ambushed. Four masked warriors mindlessly attacked us. We managed to fend them off, and the power of the masks wore off. I thought about taking them back to the village, but I was overruled.

Fighting past everything brought us to various bug cocoons. Karna could cut them down to make a bridge. We eventually found something larger than us: Melldrabie. Mell is a large mosquito. Karna knows how to throw fire from her hands, and it made short work of the creature. It guarded an ancient relic called a Dwarfs Bracelet. It has the power to shrink us, allowing us to fit into smaller holes throughout the burrow. This made us the same size as the bugs, so were face to face with the spiders. Terrifying! After crossing the mini caverns, we found a large, locked door. In various locations down here, we've found three slates. The door before us could only be opened if we put the three pieces into the slot. Once we opened it, we heard harp music. Remnos is here?

He was the masked man who hurt Asad. But I thought he was weak. Karna tried to speak to him, but he remained silent. Until he summoned a snail!

Glucarious is protected by a hard shell, meaning we could only harm the legs at the side. Karna carried us again while we held aggro. Its primary attacks were spinning around and then rolling at us.

Once we beat it, though, we were joined by the real culprit of the missing villagers. The Magician Bami is a woman who can control people. And she doesn't need the mask. She told us the masks were for a different experiment, and she uses the darkness in people's hearts to control them. She proved this by removing the mask Remnos wore and then had him attack his sister. Remnos isn't a bad warrior. He's just been pretending. I asked if she were outside the forest, which she was. Bami and Remnos teleported away, and we returned to Comodo.

Asad was awake, and we relayed what we learned from him. It turns out he had a feeling Remnos was a great fighter. Bami told us Remnos hid his skill to protect Karna. He worried about what his sister would think if she weren't the heir to the village. It seemed insignificant to me, but what do I know about the customs here? Either way, it was time for Duren and I to leave. Karna told us I went to the village on the river next, so that's where we'll go. Before leaving, we helped around town, and I beat up Duren in a fight. Two women asked us to do it...

We had to pass through the Misty Peak, and we saw two other people mapping the forest here. They were arguing about how to get out of this area. It felt like the Labyrinth from the day before. The man suggested going down whenever possible, which was correct. We found another Life Tree Sprout overlooking the village. It was quite picturesque! We set up camp, and I had a dream that night. A man and I were on a giant pikkard in the middle of the river. He told me about the Primal Lands across the river. We'll see what my previous adventures did in the morning."

-Abel.

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Didn't expect to write so much, but here we are! The bosses tonight were a lot of fun! I kinda wish I wasn't playing on easy, so I might delve into boss rush mode soon! Play as Karna!