HC:Pacifist | Ch. 29 - Raven's Nest

Roth jumped from branch to branch, feeling blades of accelerated air graze his skin. Looking back, he saw thirty ravens furiously chasing after him. Seeing that the ones in the back were starting to veer off, Roth again drew their aggro.

Taunting Shot!

Roth managed to secure the aggro of the ravens at the back and even managed to get the attention of a couple more. Had it not been for the boosts that he had when out of combat and for the fact that skills that dealt no damage didn't count as entering battle, he would have been overtaken by the flock of birds long ago.

He tried to draw them to a place where the branches were thick and from where they wouldn't easily leave, even if he cut the aggro he had. He pulled out a [Soothing Scroll] and used it. The fragrance of the scroll calmed down most of the crows, but a few of them kept going toward Roth.

What? That was the first time this had happened. With the badgers, the item worked like a charm. Ravens were higher-leveled, though. Perhaps they had some added resistance to this sort of item. He felt a beak hit his face. It hurt too much. It was as if someone were sliding a knife in his face.

He panicked and used the only other resource he had to dispel aggro.

Shepherd's Shout!

The three ravens finally calmed down and left him alone. Before the birds started to disperse, Roth cracked open his repertoire of riddles and shouted them out as loud as he could!

"What has to be broken before you can use it?" He paused for dramatic effect. "Eggs."

At the mention of breaking eggs, Corvids feel outraged.

-30 reputation with the Corvids.

Damn it, thought Roth. How could he have been so stupid? Way to go! Tell the birds jokes about breaking their eggs! He hurriedly moved on to the next one.

"I’m tall when I’m young and short when I’m old. What am I? A candle!" Roth waited for a few seconds, hoping that this time he would gain some favor with the birds. "What question can you never answer yes to? ... Are you asleep yet?"

Your crowd of listeners feels peased with the intelligent riddle.

+10 reputation with all Corvids.

Uuf. Roth kept going.

"What month of the year has 28 days? All of them"

Your crowd of listeners feels amused by the trap within the riddle.

+14 reputation with all Corvids.

"The more of this there is, the less you see. What is it? Darkness!"

The ravens find this riddle funny.

+13 reputation with all Corvids.

You can entertain many people of different races at once.

+1 charisma

Roth kept pouring his whole storage of riddles on them. The most significant contributor had been a so-called GrandpaBill110. Roth kept going. After several more riddles, he got the notification he was waiting for.

"There’s a one-story house in which everything is yellow. Yellow walls, yellow doors, yellow furniture. What color are the stairs? There aren’t any—it’s a one-story house."

Ravens and crows love the quips and riddles you have gifted them with.

You have unlocked a new title, [Friend of Corvids]

+4 reputation with all ravens and crows

You are now friends with all ravens and crows.

Title: Friend of Corvids (Common)

Title description: You have come to know and be known by the wise birds who collect glittering things. They see you as a friend and impart some of their wisdom to you.

Title effects:

- Grants +2 Wisdom

- It's easier to learn Corvish.

Conditions to unlock [Friend of the Corvids]:

- To gain 100 reputation with crows and ravens without ever having hurt one; {complete};

- Or to gain 1000 reputation with crows and ravens.

Roth was ecstatic. Here was another title. It seemed that each of these titles increased one of the main stats. The most valuable one so far seemed to be the one given by befriending foxes.

Having a stat such as charisma unlocked early in the game could make one's journey much smoother. Charisma influenced the impression NPCs had of you, how fast they were willing to ask you for help, and even the rewards one could gain from turning in a quest!

If this information became public everyone would go around trying their best to please the nearest fox population. For Roth, it hadn't made much of a difference because he had already unlocked the stat as soon as he had earned the [Esteemed] title. Anyway, the +2 bonus to charisma was nothing to be scoffed at.

If things kept progressing according to logic, the title he would gain from befriending boars would grant him +2 strength. Altogether, he would gain ten stats from all his hard work. It was the same as having two extra levels! It might not seem like much at the moment, but all these differences could add up and snowball into significant advantages in the future.

He saw that now that he was friends with all the crows and ravens, the mobs in the dungeon, all appeared friendly. The first step had been completed. Now he could relax and not worry about being hunted. It hadn't been easy to gather so many ravens here while avoiding the Great Raven, the boss of this dungeon, but now it didn't matter. He gave it a second so he could hear the crows' squawk.

The squawks and croaks of the ravens start making sense to you.

Progress in learning Corvish: 1%

Roth looked at the clock. It was now 5 p.m. He still had roughly six hours to kill before the council. He would try to make the best of them and stay here, trying to learn the language. But before Roth started trying to make sense of the cacophony of sounds made by the flock of ravens around him, he sat down to gather his thoughts.

When he had gained reputation with mice, it had been relatively easy. It was only necessary to exchange a few jokes and pleasantries and say hello to every mouse or rat he met. He had learned Ratan in only one afternoon! As things progressed and races became more complex, things seemed to get slower and trickier. Had he gone about befriending every race as he had done with mice, he guessed he would still be working on the foxes. If things kept getting more complex, he couldn't stick to just one approach.

From befriending foxes, he learned that it was more efficient to gather a group of mobs before he tried to charm them. From the badgers, he had learned that it was possible to gain reputation with a race while skipping the step of saving them from human hunters. All that was needed was to find out beforehand what the race liked.

Now, with ravens, he wanted to try something new. The title mentioned that it was easier to learn Ravanese if he was friends with crows and ravens. Was the game hinting at a relationship between how close one was to a race and how quickly one learned a language? If so, would he learn the language of the ravens quicker if he became esteemed by them first? Which was quicker? To first reach esteemed status and then learn their language, or the other way around?

He would try to find out the answer to the question by experimenting with the ravens. First, he finished throwing all those smaller, simpler riddles, one after the other. He still had many to read through.

"You see a boat filled with people, yet there isn’t a single person on board. How is that possible?"

"Squawk, croak, caw."

"Caw, squawk, croak?"

"All the people on the boat are married."

"Squawk."

Now that he had achieved a friendly status with the ravens, they started to try to guess the answer. He wasn't sure if they were getting it, but by hearing their answers, Roth was already climbing on his progress in the language.

Progress in learning Crowish: 2%

"I have branches, but no fruit, trunk, or leaves. What am I?"

"Croak, croak?"

"A bank!"

The ravens didn't know this riddle. They are amused by it.

+3 reputation with all Raveners.

He was getting fewer reputation points from telling these short riddles. The upside was that he was gaining a reputation and learning the language simultaneously. After seeing that he was not getting any more points, he tried to step up his game. Fortunately, he had left the best for last.

"OK. This is a tough one. A farmer went to a market and bought a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage. On his way home, the farmer came to the river bank and rented a boat. But crossing the river by boat, the farmer could carry only himself and a single one of his purchases: the wolf, the goat, or the cabbage. If left unattended together, the wolf would eat the goat, and the goat would eat the cabbage. The farmer’s challenge was carrying himself and his purchases to the river's far bank, leaving each purchase intact. How did he do it?"

The crows quietly squawked between themselves. Slowly, things escalated, and whispers grew into screams. All of a sudden, there was chaos in the nests. They split into focus groups and started theorizing the possible steps required to make the crossing.

After a few minutes of frustrating failed attempts, a few ravens even flew away to consult with friends elsewhere in the dungeon. More and more ravens started to come and join the fray of guesswork.

"Croak, croak, caw, caw, croak caw?"

"Caw, squawk, squawk, caw, croak."

In all the commotion, Roth rubbed his hands as he saw the progress bar climbing.

Progress in learning Corvish: 5%...8%...10%...16%...23%...

Things kept getting livelier and livelier as the ravens tried to come up with an answer to the riddle. When Roth thought that things couldn't get more interesting, a deafening sound of flapping wings drowned out the squawk of the over sixty birds that were trying to come to an answer; it was the boss of the dungeon, the Great Raven.

Great Raven (Elite)

Hp: 2000/2000

Lvl. 8

After he landed on the platform of intertwined branches and nests, Roth could swear that the trees had bent over because of the added weight of the elite. The raven was massive, with golden streaks in its plumage, giving it a slight yellow glow.

As it arrived, all the other ravens seemed eager to hear the opinion. Roth could tell that they wanted him to repeat the riddle. With the increased language progression, Roth could say some of it in Crowish.

"A caw went to a market croak croak, and a cabbage. On his way home, squawk squawk croak a boat. But croak croak only himself and a squawk, the goat, or the cabbage. If croak, croak, squawk, or the goat would eat croak. The farmer’s challenge squawk, squawk purchases to the river's far bank, leaving each purchase intact. How did he do it?"

The Great Raven pondered, and grabbing a stick, he started drawing on the floor under the watchful eyes of the ordinary ravens. Finally, they made a proposition. Roth listened and realized it was wrong.

"I am sorry. That answer is not correct. Here is how he does it: The farmer takes seven trips:

1) he takes the goat over;

2) he comes back empty-handed;

3) he takes the wolf over;

4) he comes back with the goat;

5) he takes the cabbage over;

6) he returns with nothing and finally takes the goat over."

A round of protests followed.

"Squawk, croak, croak, croak, squawk, croak, caw."

"I'm sorry, I never said that the farmer always has to bring something along on the crossing."

The Great Raven intervened.

"Croak croak caw. Caw caw croak."

Progress in learning Corvish: 36%

You have gained 147 reputation with all Corvids.

Eureka! Roth was on the right track. He still had a few of these to use. Thank you, Grandpabilly110, prayed Roth in his heart.

Ch. 28 - Brawny

INDEX

Ch. 30 - It Can Hear?