We took the guardian statues to the build site. It took a while to get there with all the interference. "This is getting ridiculous. When we get to the next city, we need to go to the courier's guild. We have to activate them and get help. There is no way this is going to go well if everyone is going to stop people who want to help." I said and the others both nodded. Wolfden was the nearest city and we had to make a detour there. We were allowed in and we went to the guild for their services. Most of them refused to help us. Only one would accept the task, but he needed to be guarded from the roving bands of extremists. I asked Chien to go with him. He was getting a bit antsy from not fucking and the courier needed a reward for going into harm's way. Chien looked at me and then the courier. "This kid won't satisfy me. He's even weaker than you are." he said, seeing right through me. "Well, it has to be either you or Leon." He sighed and stood next to the courier. "Go to all three of the forts and tell them to help clear the roads." I told them. They nodded and set off.
The shrine was four in-game hours outside the capitol city of Illhir. We met Chat there and he joined the party again. "None of these people could keep up with me unless they ganged up on me four on one. Why is Chien not with you? What happened to him, and what took you so long?" he whined. We told him and he rolled his eyes. If I said something in response, he would give me a catty response. "Well I got my task done. I even had to help with the construction and guarding it from crazy people." he reported. I checked the quest line. There were several requirements to clear the event. They were:
Builder
-Torii – Shinto gate (Complete)
-Stone stairs (Complete)
-Sandō – the approach to the shrine
-Chōzuya or temizuya – place of purification to cleanse one's hands and mouth
-Tōrō – decorative stone lanterns
-Kagura-den – building dedicated to Noh or the sacred kagura dance
-Shamusho – the shrine's administrative office
-Ema – wooden plaques bearing prayers or wishes (complete)
-Sessha/massha – small auxiliary shrines (complete)
-Komainu – the so-called "lion dogs", guardians of the shrine (4/2)
-Haiden – oratory or hall of worship
-Tamagaki – fence surrounding the honden
-Honden – main hall, enshrining the kami
-Visible chigi (forked roof finials) and katsuogi (short horizontal logs), both common shrine ornamentations.
Sculptor
-Koma-usagi (4/2)
Founding clerical staff
-Three priests (1/3)
-Two monks (1/2)
-Inquisitor(0/1)
Relic
Treasure
We decided to go and drop off the koma-usagi. We were thanked and given some good exp. When two of the sculptures were put in place by the auxiliary shrines. They glowed slightly. The male-female pair were white with pink eyes. The other two were brown with black eyes. The brown rabbits were the ones the staff wanted placed. It was entirely up to them. From there we decided to stay and help out. There were more raids, but there were now guardians defending the shrine. Two young men with a bunny tail and ears. They were unarmed, but they could kill enemies instantly with their strength. The two guardians were focused on speed and agility. Lots of hops and jabs were seen in their combat. At a certain point, we just let them handle all the attacks and focused on construction. The guardians both wanted to see us everyday and make sure that we were supposed to be on the grounds. They were gods were called Cocoa and Cinnabun. I did not give them the names but other Players liked them and they accepted it. They were both level 1515.
In the game, the highest level a Player could reach was 999+. Sages were given the ability to have the rank of 1111, but it came with severe restrictions. They could not harm NPCs at all. A sage got around this big limitation by having an elite guard of NPCs that they designed protect them and do their bidding. Anyone with the level of 1000 or higher was considered a deity. The gods and goddesses of the main churches worshiped in Ether were all Level 20000. To make it fair, they had restrictions as well. They could only interact with mortals using avatars. Non hostile avatars could range from 1-100. Hostile avatars could range from 200-300. The apocalyptic avatars were from 500-600 unless facing an enemy higher that that. At that point, a Level 999 avatar will spawn. The developer's logs said that Apocalyptic avatars could wipe settlements off the map. Each of the roses were level 10,010. Cocoa and Cinnabun were nice to those that shared the faith and were even docile. Those not of the faith were constantly checked and watched like a hawk.
