NPC: Galen
Location: Nordcarn
Coordinates: 13, 9
A follower of Lucaa, doing a not-so-good job of trying to protect the flowers around him.
Speak the Words
Text may not be 100% complete. Most quest text is not included.
Due to multiple options when speaking, text below may not be in comprehensive order.
*You see a gnome sitting amongst a patch of blue star flowers. As you approach he jumps up and starts to lecture you.* I wEL-DB.comill not stand idly by and let you strip this area of all its precious and important flora for your selfish potting needs!
Who are you?
You may call me Galen. I am here to help protect Lucaa's beautiful creations.But I'm not a potter
Oh, you aren't? ...Well then I won't let you strip this patch of star flowers for your stupid water essences!Not making WEs
Oh....well... blue dye then?Nope
*He begins to look disappointed* You aren't here to harvest these flowers at all, are you?Not today
*His face falls.* I was hoping you were so I could enlighten you about the current situation in Valley of the Dwarves and Nordcarn.Lucaa
*He looks scandalized.* Lucaa is the Goddess of harvesting. The Queen of Nature.You can still tell me.
*His eyes light up, he takes a big opening breath and barrels into an obviously planned out little speech.* You may have heard in your travels about King Gondric and his new plan to pEL-DB.comrovide health care to every dwarf and gnome under his reign. You will find many people who support this idea, but I do not and I am determined to make my voice heard on the situation.Why are there gnomes here?
*He seems miffed at being led off the main subject.* You will find that the gnomish race is widespread, if thinly, as we are a people who enjoy venturing to new places to perform studies and research on topics we're unable to find elsewhere. Nordcarn is a dwarven community and since gnomes and dwarves share the same stature, it just makes sense to live among each other.It sounds like a good idea.
Well sure its a nice idea in theory. But heck, in theory even communism works! Who is going to provide this health care? The alchemists, the potters, or the mages? I can just see how that will turn out!More
One or the other, or all, will come in and strip VOTD and Nordcarn of all of Lucaa's precious and beautiful plants in order to make their potions and essences. Can you imagine how that will go over with Lucaa?
Lucaa won't mind
*He looks at you, dumbfounded.* What?! Are you on toadstools? You have obviously never dealt with Lucaa before. Her wrath is one to fear.Not well?
You bet your titanium plate not well! And how will it be funded? King Gondric wants to pay for all this by harvesting mass amounts of gold from the mines in VOTD. Can you believe the shortsightedness of that plan?What's wrong with it?
You could guess the outcome simply by studying the history of Palon Vertas. During the Great War there were escape tunnels dug beneath the region and now huge parts of Palon Vertas have caved right in.No way.
Go find Caton in Palon Vertas if you don't believe me. He will tell you all abouEL-DB.comt his idea to rebuild a church that was destroyed when the whole thing happened.More
It would be the same in VOTD if they were to mine all the extra gold to keep this ogre-brained idea going for any amount of time. Eventually so much gold would be extracted that the ground right beneath the King's feet would cave in and he would realize much much too late that this is a bad idea.
Maybe there is another way?
Well some people certainly think so. If you talk to Circe, the mage, or that bone-headed bodyguard, Stryker, they would have you believe that they hold the perfect solution. Both believe that VOTD shouldn't be stripped of its resources. Circe wants access to unlimited silver so she can make essences and provide the dwarves with their healthcare.More
If you ask me, there is something funny about that Stryker. I'm not very concerned about it because his suggestions are slowing down the whole healthcare process, but something really does strike me as odd about that guy.
So?
So get this, they want to invade Morcraven Marsh and establish a dwarven colony there so that Morcraven's silver can be used to support this plan. Can you believe that? Sure that sounds like a great idea to me! Lets try to pioneer government provided healthcare by sending an army of dwarves to fight and die over the silver needed to provide it! I sometimes wonder if those two share a brain between them.Well, if they need silver...
Oh no, you are another Morcraven silver supporter? Why should we deplete Morcraven of its precious minerals for our own selfish needs? What do you people expect will happen there? Do you honestly believe that the remaining people of war-torn Morcraven will just lay down and let their silver reserves be depleted to benefit another region?But VOTD resources won't be used...
I mean, don't get me wrong, I am all for the idea of not stripping VOTD and Nordcarn of their resources, but what about Morcraven? We would be doing the exact same thing! Is it right to stave off problems in our own region by simply transplanting them to another?More
Gondric is against the atrocities of war so hopefully he will realize what a bad idea it would be toEL-DB.com try and invade Morcraven when people here and there are still trying to recover from The Great War.
Have you talked to the King?
I have voiced all my environmental concerns to both Gondric and Megera but they were unmoved by the plight of nature. Now the only thing left to do to try and stop this is a little subversive work.Megera
Megera is King Gondric's cousin, closest advisor, and the head of the treasury. Basically she takes care of all the behind-the-scenes paperwork and all that other boring business.Subversive work
Yes of course! Lucaa needs help protecting her precious plants. They can't do it themselves and no one here will listen about the devastating consequences we will incur when this plan goes forth, so I will use everything at my disposal to get what I want. Errr...I mean to get what is best for Lucaa's creations.What have you been doing?
First, I have been talking with Nestor the crafter, who is also against this idea because he feels that mining so much gold will devalue the products that crafters produce. I have been trying to get him to be a little more vocal with his concerns. I don't really care why he is against the plan so long as he is against it. Another negative spin on it can't hurt.That doesn't seem very subversive.
Oh, I have more - I've been a very busy gnome. I have also been in contact with Gerund and Aelric. Unfortunately both are in favor of the idea, but I can use that to my advantage. The additions to it that they propose will really slow things down in the decision making department.What do you mean?
Aelric is an engineer and he wants funding to build a huge machine that will automatically mine and process gold. Gerund is a manufacturer and he had the idea of developing things like steel toed boots to protect the dwarven miners.More
I have been encouraging them both to be persistent in their request for funding. The more that Megera has tEL-DB.como deal with the better. There is no way the local treasury has enough gold stocked away to fund both ideas.
But they are good ideas.
Oh and you aren't the only one who thinks so. So, I have put both of them in touch with Nolida, who has put together a union for the dwarven miners. Somewhere along the lines she got the idea that using gold mined from VOTD to pay for this whole health plan thing will exploit the very workers that it is being set up to help, so she has rallied most of the dwarven mining force around her.How did she get that idea?
I'm not sure where she got that idea, but hey, it works for me. Anyway, Nolida likes the idea of the protective gear, but is not so keen about the automatic harvesting machine. She wants the miners to be protected, not put out of a job, so she has been leaning on Gondric and Megera as well.More
I have also convinced her....AHEM, I mean, someone has also convinced Nolida that the idea to invade Morcraven to mine its silver is a dangerous and foolhardy one for the warriors and miners that would be sent there, so hopefully she and her fledgling union have been speaking up about what they think.
This is getting confusing.
That's the whole point my friend! Gum up the works so badly that this plan will never actually come into play! I have been to chat with Megera a few times a week since this whole business started. She is a very busy, high-strung lady.More
If I can get her to see what a large amount of work this will be for her, perhaps she will try a little harder to sway Gondric from putting his brain-child into action. And if I can't convince her myself, well.... hopefully all the people I have been sending her way will.
More
To top everything off I have noticed a reporter poking around the region as of late. Seems she has noticed everything that is happening and is hungry for the story. I have been kind enough to talk to her on several occasions and believe you me I have given her an earful to think about and the names of all the concerned parties. I love the press, they can make such a wonderful mess of things.