50th Day (Current day)
Altair sneezes while she is chilling on a sofa. She just mutters "Huh. I wonder who is talking shit about me this time?" Lud just casually answers "Now who would talk shit about you?" To which Altair says "A lot of people. I bet that even lil Robin talks smack about me behind my back sometimes. And that is okay since I don't give a crap about lil ol words. Everyone can say whatever they want because that is their freedom to do so. Can't say much about everybody else."
Lud says "I think you are an interesting person to hang out with." To which Altair says "Thanks, but I'm not taking your little ladykiller crap. Though still I appreciate it."
Lud asks "What ladykiller? I'm a hard virgin who has never gotten a girlfriend." And Altair says "Yeah, I know, read through some of your memories, remember? But don't act all innocent on me. You got people here who would gladly open their legs for you." Then under her breath, she adds "Maybe a guy or two as well."
Lud asks "Who?" While still dealing with paperwork. Altair then responds "While I'm all about freedom of speech, I also want the people who are into you to have their chances to have it their way. As such, I ain't spoiling anything."
Lud says "Fair enough." And the room fell silent.
Then after a while Altair says "I dare you to name one person you know has a thing for you." To which Lud says "All I can think of is that all are precious to me."
Altair sighs heavily and says "So you are going to go with the dense act. Or at least I hope it is an act, since if you can't even name one, then I actually feel sad for you."
Lud stops doing his work for a moment to think for a moment. Then he hesitantly says "You?" Altair just sighs again and says "I feel sad for the ladies around here if I'm the first that comes to your mind. When I looked at your memories, there should have been one instance that told you about one person's feelings."
Lud thinks again for a moment and says "It wouldn't be Sarah, would it?" To which Altair says "Oh look. You actually got it. Congrats."
Then Lud says "But that thing was purely to make me feel better emotionally since I was in a hard place. I get that I'm important to her, but I don't think her feelings reach that far."
Altair looks at the ceiling with an empty look as she says "I don't know what to do with this kid anymore. Did he actually grow this dense after only circling his life around his little brother? I wonder how many have missed sending their message to this guy."
Lud leans on his chair and says "Am I that bad?" To which Altair says "I'm so done mothering another child. I wonder how Algol is doing."
Lud asks "Who is that?" To which Altair says "Not important. You should get back to your work and I'll get back to my nap." Lud gets back to his work shortly after.
Some time later, Altair asks Lud "So you are going to the dwarven capital soon, right?" To which Lud answers "That is correct."
Altair then asks "Have you been drinking those drinks that I have prepared for you? Remember to take some with you when you leave since it is important that you keep taking one once per day consistently." Lud answers "I have, but can't you tell me how exactly those drinks are supposed to make me stronger?" Altair says "It is a secret. I have told Li about what I'm testing and he has approved it."
Lud asks "But why can't I know why?" And Altair answers "There isn't a real reason for you to know the exact way it is going to make you stronger, but if you really want a hint, it has to do with your nature as a homunculus and those "world items" you have been made from."
Lud says "Is that so. I don't know much about that stuff either, but I'll look into it a little when I have free time." And Altair says "Don't worry too much. It is not supposed to affect you much in the first two weeks. But if we don't see any results near the end of the 72nd day, then we can either count it as a bust or continue trying if you are still able to."
Lud says "Is… is it going to hurt?" To which Altair answers "You have asked this before and the answer is still "not likely, but we are dealing with lots of unknowns, so you never know". As long as you are healthy, then there shouldn't be any issues." Lud says "I see" and returns to his work.
Some time later, Lud puts the pen down and stretches a little. Then he says to Altair "Now that that is done, I can go rest before we are about to depart. Just to make sure Altair, you do know where the dwarven capital is located right? Since you are the one teleporting us to there. I want to make sure."
Altair doesn't answer and Lud asks "Altair?" Then he goes where she is resting and sees that she is fast asleep. Lud decides to let her be and goes for a walk.
The next morning, Lud, Illi, Liz and four Illi's apprentices gather around the throne room. One of Illi's apprentices is human and the other three are dwarves. Illi asks "Where is that elf?" To which Lud answered "I asked Zenith to go look for her, so she should be here soon."
Illi says "That elf really surprises me. Not only is their tech incredible, but that girl is able to rest through the message that is sent via the telepathic link." Lud says "It is the first time I heard it too. But I'm more surprised that you actually think highly of someone else's work."
Illi scoffs and says "That is only because they have had more time to tinker with this world. If I would have lived here as long as they have, then there is no doubt that I could have built a space elevator of my own ages ago." Liz says "You really do think highly of yourself even though most of what you know comes from the real ones."
Illi scoffs again and says "Like you are one to talk demoness. Most of what you know is thanks to the late king Roland and the other real ones." Liz says "Is that so", closes her eyes and sneakily slaps Illi with her long tail.
Illi says "Oh real smooth, miss first. Real smooth. I bet you are proud of yourself." And Liz says "I am, thank you very much." And Lud says "Calm yourselves you two. We haven't even departed yet."
Liz says "I will be on my best behavior, master." And Illi just clicks his tongue and says "How long is it going to take that maid to locate one elf?" After which Zenith appears behind Illi and says "You called?" Illi is startled, but manages to stay strong and not react outwardly.
Zenith is carrying a drowsy Altair like a sack of potatoes, until she drops her and makes Altair make a *umph* sound. Lud goes to Altair and says "You awake?" To which Altair says "Couple more minutes."
Illi says in an irritated tone "We are supposed to be there in five minutes and you haven't made any preparations yet. Get moving elf." Altair doesn't make any attempt to move for a while, until she just takes a deep breath and raises up slowly.
Then Altair picks something from her dimensional pocket and starts handing flip phone types of devices on everyone while saying "Here" each time. Liz asks "What are these?" And Altair mumbles "Com… devi..."
Liz asks "What did you say?" And Altair says "Communica… devices…"
Illi says "But we have the telepathic link between all of us. Why do we need this?" To which Altair says "For emergencies. If you cannot get a hold of me for some reason, then you should be able to call some of my subordinates who use a device that uses some of my powers for me."
Illi says "I see, but how reliable are those devices?" To which Altair waves her hand as she says "It's fine. It's fine. So far there hasn't been any issues. Just look at the first day when I called my subordinates to capture those dark elves. But enough about that. Are you going or not?"
Illi says "We are, but can't you at least tell us how…" And Altair just sent the group in front of a giant gate in the mountains. The cold wind and snow, while it wasn't a surprise since they talked about it earlier and prepared accordingly, it did feel sudden given the teleportation between a warm place to a cold one.
Dwarves ask in surprise "Who are you people and how did you appear so suddenly?" To which Lud tries to calm them down by saying "We are the people from Elysium that have come for talks with your king. My name is Faust Ilumnos and I…"
One of the dwarven soldiers points a spear at Lud and says "Shut your mouth human. Let the dwarves or the demon talk." Liz got defensive and looked at the dwarven soldier in an angry look, but Illi got in front of her and said "What the human says is true. We are here for the talks with your king about sharing technologies."
The dwarf soldiers look at each other for a moment and then one of them says "If it is you who says it brother, then we believe you. We heard the report, but we never would have believed that a dwarf would serve a human, let alone defend him."
Illi scoffs and says "Oh yeah? I bet you my hammer that the other human with me can make better weapons than you or your sorry ass relatives." The dwarf soldier begins to laugh while saying "You really got some jokes brother. As expected of a fellow dwarf."
Illi then says "I was not joking." Which now makes the second dwarf soldier laugh at him. Liz had the bright idea of saying "So this is the level of insecurity that dwarfs of Lutah have. I would say that I'm disappointed, but that would give you too much credit."
One of the dwarf soldiers says while trying to hold their laughter "You lot are insane. Ha… You guys actually… Haha… expected us to believe that a human can best a dwarf in a smithing contest. You really should tell that to the king, I'm sure he'll love it."
Then Illi says "Can we enter or not?" To which one of the dwarf soldiers says "Sure. Welcome to the dwarf capital, Kingjewel." The gate opens and the group enters the city.
The city starts with a small section of the city being beside the mountain outside, but once you go deeper, you enter the real city that has been built inside the mountain of Hightear. Hightear is one of the tallest mountains in the middle realm and it's filled with all kinds of ore veins.
While the group is being led by a dwarf guide to the "golden palace" that sits in a wide space underground and surrounded by the houses that make the noble district. The group gets mean looks as the dwarfs see that humans are entering the place where most dwarfs dream of entering.
While they were getting to the "golden palace" the guide explained some things about the city. For instance, there are "greenhouses" that give oxygen to the city. Most of these "greenhouses" are watched over by elves that have made their home inside the city. The greenery gets their necessary sunlight via artificial suns that are scattered around the place. These artificial suns work by absorbing the sun's power outside and guide it towards the mechanism that makes the artificial suns do their magic.
The guide says "I would go further into the specifics, but since you aren't working for our country, we cannot divulge this information." This makes Illi say "Well I don't even need to get the details to guess that I could probably make them better with what we have in Elysium." This irks the guide a bit, but he refrains from commenting on it.
The guide also explains that while there exists a noble district, every dwarf in Goldrock builds things one way or another. The way that the guide is going on about how things work in Goldrock reminds Lud about the communist system back in his original world. He thinks about that but he also acknowledges that he doesn't know the specifics of how communism worked in his world. He decides to just think of it as the dwarven country of Goldrock, reminding him of the communist system back in his original world and leaving it at that.
The guide guided them to a waiting room, where they would wait for the "hearing" to start. Lud was a little confused, until Illi said "Don't worry boss. We'll make sure that they won't mess with us or our sovereignty."
Lud said "So you think they will do something like that." To which Liz says "We are here to make it clear where our loyalty lies. The governing body of Goldrock seems to think that every dwarf belongs to Goldrock, but we are here to make it clear that dwarves in Elysium are people of Elysium."
Illi says "I didn't expect you of all people to say such things. Guess I must apologize a little." To which Liz says "Oh don't do that. My opinions on beards and alcohol are still the same as ever." And Illi says "Alcohol I can kind of get, but what is wrong with good old beard?" To which Liz says "They are just so… gross."
Illi asks "How?" To which Liz replies "They often get messed up when eating or drinking and I just can't stand it." Illi says "Well guess you lose some potential fans." And Liz replies "As long as I can serve master, that is enough for me." Lud starts rubbing his chin wondering what Liz would do if he would grow a beard.
Someone then comes to pick the group up to get to the hearing where the dwarven king himself will be attending. The group doesn't resist and simply follow the dwarf guiding them to where the hearing is held.
Soon they find themselves in a room that looks like a courtroom. Illi, Lud and Liz go to a pedestal where they will plead their case and Illi's workers are sitting nearby.
Then a dwarf in a fancy suit starts to say "We have gathered here today to hear the reason why a dwarf named Illi Tipten refuses to work for the benefit of Goldrock. The defendant has a guard demon named Lizbeth Cardigan and his supposed human king named Faust Ilumnos. On the side there sits two of Illi's dwarf apprentices together with Illi's supposed human apprentice."
The people who had gathered started to whisper amongst themselves, but soon the fancy looking dwarf shouted "Enough!" Then he started saying in a strict way "Say, Illi Tipten. What is your excuse?"
Illi says "I only serve one king and that king is the human besides me." This made the room chatter once again and the fancily dressed dwarf shouted "Silence" and after the people stopped talking, he said "You do understand that Goldrock doesn't recognise Elysium as a kingdom or Faust Ilumnos as its king, correct?"
Illi answers with "I think that is a you problem."
Then the fancy looking dwarf says "You do understand that that constitutes as treason, correct?" To which Illi says "I don't ever recall siding up with Goldrock or its ruling body."
The fancy looking dwarf says "Every dwarf belongs to Goldrock and every dwarf answers to king Edmund Diamond. This is something that has been laid in concrete ever since the birth of our race. This means that you belong to Goldrock and are hence at its disposal. What you say and do are for the benefit of the kingdom of Goldrock and what Goldrock deems as worthy of their services. Even after all this is clear to you, do you still pledge your allegiance with that human king?"
Illi answers "I hail from another world. This means that I, nor any of my brethren that came from that world, are at the mercy of the rules you lay down. There is only one person I pledge my allegiance to, and that person is Faust Ilumnos. The second king of Elysium and the brother of the first. I don't respect you, nor your king, so FYI, go fuck yourselves."
The room is filled with gasps and chatter, until the fancy looking dwarf shouts "Enough" and then turns around to the king who is sitting higher up "My king, as you clearly can see, this dwarf is treasonous. Please lay down your judgment." To this, king Edmund says to Illi "For someone supposedly so great, your supposed king sure is silent."
Illi then says "Well, he is simply doing what one of yours told him to do and keep quiet. But in my opinion, he does not need to speak as his voice would be wasted on people like you." King Edmund says "Is that so? A human whose voice is much more precious than mine is quite a fun statement. Alas, what is so great about that man who can't even make a good knife?"
Illi says "He might not be able to, and that is completely fine with me. But since you brought it up, how about we do a bet." King Edmund says with interest "A bet you say? Of what kind?" And Illi says "I challenge you, the king of Goldrock, Edmund Diamond, to a smithing contest with Ballin, my human apprentice."
There is silence for a moment, until the whole room full of dwarves begins to laugh out loud. Even the fancy looking dwarf has a hard time not laughing, but he musters the strength to shout "Si-silence! Silence to the… to the court!"
The laughter quiets down a little, but when king Edmund asks "And what do you say is the prize?" the whole room quiets down. Then Illi says "If you win, I and every dwarf in Elysium will join your kingdom. But if we win, you will be giving 10% of every ore extracted from your mines."
King Edmund says "Interesting. I'll accept this challenge. Mr. Kurt, if you could go and make the necessary preparations for the "contest"." The fancy looking dwarf bows to king Edmund while saying "Yes your highness" and then turns around and announces to the room "Tomorrow at 8:00, the contest between king Edmund Diamond and the human apprentice Ballin will be held in the hall of smithoffs. The winner will be the one whose sword will be able to last the longest. Thus, the hearing has ended. Dismissed."
Then the people in the room start to leave while chattering about what just happened. Illi also starts to leave and the rest of the group follows him until they are once again greeted by a dwarf guide, who guides them to the waiting room. There the group talks about things.
Ballin asks Illi "Master, are you sure it is fine for me to be the one who enters the contest? I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it work." Illi slams Ballin's lower back and says "Nonsense. I made sure to look at the king and I didn't sense that much skill in him that you couldn't handle." Ballin says "But…" But Illi says "No buts. And it is too late to back down now, so you better show the skill you have honed after all these years of practice."
Ballin looks at Lud expectedly and Lud just says "If Illi thinks you can do it, then I have nothing to say either. Besides, it would be funny if the underdog would beat the top dog in a showdown." Lud then turns to Liz and asks "Do you still have the recording device?" To which Liz says "I do. When the contest starts, I'll livestream the contest to all the screens that have previously shown the livestream of Jeremaja's struggles."
Lud says "Good. That should cover us if they do something drastic." And Ballin asks "Are you sure that it is alright not to do a formal contract?" To which Lud answers "I think it is fine. There is a reason why we brough Liz this time."
Ballin asks "What do you mean?" To which Lud answers "Let's hope it won't come to it." And this made Ballin worry.
The group is guided to their rooms and in the morning, the guide comes to fetch the group and shows their way to the hall of smithoffs. Illi, Lud, Liz and the two dwarf apprentices go to their designated area and once they are there, the guide guides Ballin to the arena.
A huge crowd has gathered and many people are frankly talking shit about Elysium. Ballin enters the west side of the arena and king Edmund enters the east side of the arena. When king Edmund enters the arena, the crowd cheers heavily and shouts such as "Show those bastards the pride of dwarves!" and "Don't give them no mercy!" can be heard.
The fancy looking dwarf is the announcer and he explains everything about what is the reason they have gathered. Liz has already brought out a glass ball that functions as a recording device, so the whole middle realm now knows about the match.
King Edmund's area has bars of different ores prepared while Ballin's area has a bunch of scraps. Lud asks "Are you sure that he can do it?" To which Illi answers with "If this is enough to make him make garbage, then I have failed as a master."
The contest starts and the two start to make their swords. While they are on it, someone goes to king Edmund and whispers about this being broadcasted to the screens provided by Elysium, which makes king Edmund say "So what? It is only going to show the disparity between us and them." And with those words, the person leaves and king Edmund continues his craft.
The sparks that are spewing from both of their work are like fireworks to someone who knows nothing of smithing. To the dwarves of Goldrock, they see Ballin hammering the heated metal as something akin to a god doing their craft. They hate to admit it, but they cannot look away from the beauty that Ballin shows with his smithing.
King Edmund catches on and he scoffs at his subjects. He has no doubt in his mind that his sword will cut right through the sword made by human trash.
But Ballin on the other hand, has been completely lost to what he is doing. His focus is as unyielding as diamond and resilient as tungsten.
Both king Edmund and Ballin forge for around 3 hours straight until Kurt calls for a one hour break. The audience disperses and some are even marveling at how good Ballin was doing. Those who were speaking fondly of Ballin and loyalists bumped heads several times during the one hour break.
When the break is finished, people gather to go back to the hall of smithoffs and the second phase begins. The two begin to grind their swords to sharpen their swords and looking at Ballin's work is like looking at a god who is delicately taking care of their craft. Only a few eyes were focused on the work of king Edmund.
Then was the time for putting magic to the swords. Well, king Edmund only hammered rune carvings to his sword, giving it power, while Ballin carefully used his blood as a conduit for the enchantments.
The grinding and enchanting took around 2.5 hours and Kurt called another break, but this time only a half hour one.
When the contest continued, it was time for Heat Treatment and Quenching. The blades are heated in magical flames, changing colors as they absorb the enchantments. This part took around an hour, and the next part was about making and attaching the hilt.
King Edmund was given the finest wood found in elven lands, while Ballin was given some tree stump they found somewhere in the wood pile. While the hate for humans was great, some of the dwarves began to look at king Edmund with judging eyes.
Ballin was ready with his sword 40 minutes later, whereas king Edmund was ready with his sword around 10 minutes later than Ballin.
Now was the time to test the blades. The one to use king Edmund's sword was one of his loyal guards, while Ballin had to represent himself.
The tensions were high in the hall. Most of the audience knew that Ballin had some serious talent, but their pride as dwarves couldn't admit it fully.
The guard and Ballin were waiting for their mark for a moment. Then Kurt gave it and the two slashed their swords against each other.
The victor was clear. Ballin's sword had cleanly cut king Edmund's sword without a hint of resistance. It was as if the sword itself knew that it couldn't best the masterful work of Ballin.
Then the hall was dead silent for a moment. The dwarves there couldn't believe that a mere human could make a sword that far surpsasses the sword made by the king himself.
The silence was broken by king Edmund, who gave the command "Capture the dwarves of Elysium and kill the other three." Not even his subjects completely were on his side on this decision, but their pride as dwarves was so high that they couldn't allow humans to best their king.
Illi just said "Wrong move Edmund. Wrong move." And Lud said to Liz "You know what to do."
Liz said "As you command" and said the words "Areal blind" and the sighs of those who bore ill will towards Lud's people turned black as night. The effect would vane off after a while.
Then Lud said loudly "In response to king Edmund's command, I, Faust Ilumnos, declare that those who live in the dwarven capital of Kingjewel shall only see nightmares in their sleep from henceforth!" This made Liz say "Land of nightmares" and with those words, the capital was now under a curse that didn't let those inside it sleep soundly.
Lud said "I think that is enough. Let's call Altair and go back home." To which Liz said "Just a moment before we leave. I have something to take care of."
Lud said "If it doesn't take too much time, then go ahead." And Liz responded with "Thank you. It'll be but a moment."
Liz left Lud's side for a moment to go meet king Edmund. King Edmund was as confused as the rest of the dwarves, but then it became much harder for him to breathe as something coiled around his neck.
Liz said to king Edmund "Since you made peace between Elysium and Goldrock impossible, I shall punish you accordingly." Liz goes and touches king Edmund's left cheek and suddenly king Edmund felt his left cheek burning a little as if something was leaving a burn mark on it.
After Liz is done with the marking, she says to king Edmund "There. Now you will see nightmares wherever you decide to go. Will you push through or will you succumb to madness is all up to you."
Then Liz loosens her grip with her tail to let king Edmund go, knowing full well that this man will pull the kingdom of Goldrock down along with his future madness. Then Liz went and fetched Ballin and went back to Lud so that they could leave.
At first Lud didn't get a response from Altair with the telepathy and he was considering using the devices she gave them, but Altair ended up answering eventually and she fetched the group back to Elysium's throne room.
Illi said to Ballin "Good job kid.You sure showed them the folly of their ways." Ballin blushed a little and said "Aww, thanks master. I did my best to not disappoint."
Illi then said "But you still have a lot to improve on. Given that you had that much time, I expected a little more from you. Learn to be better if there comes a next time for this sort of thing." Ballin says "Yes master. I'll do my best."
Then Illi looked at Liz for a moment, who then looked back and they both nodded for some reason.
Lud said to Illi "I'm sorry that we had to do that sort of thing to your kin Illi." To which Illi said "Don't apologize. They got what they deserved. But now that that is done, we still don't have a steady supply of ores."
Lud said "I'll think of something in the future. We should have some time before we run out of our stock, so there isn't that much worry for the near future."
Then Illi says "Now that that mountain of ores is cursed to those unwanted, I have no doubt that Edmund will use slaves to mine there. We can send some of our people with permission from Liz, but that could be considered theft."
Liz says "But we are basically enemies at this point, right? What is so wrong to steal from your enemy territory?" And Lud says "While we are enemies now, in the future, if things smooth out a little, it'll be harder for us to find a compromise. Perhaps we should make a separate mine that doesn't connect to any of Kingjewel's systems."
Illi says "That'll be hard, but not impossible to do. If we ask that spider's assistance, then we might get a map of how the city and the mines are set up." Liz says "Then I'll just need to make sure our people who sleep there won't suffer from nightmares." Illi says "Exactly" and turns back to Lud with the words "If you really want a separate mine there, then I'll support that decision. Better go talk it with some of our ministers first though."
Lud says "I'll do that. Now I think it is time for us to go to rest." Lud leaves and goes back to his office to write down all that happened in Kingjewel. Altair comes with him to sleep on the sofa.
Some time later, Liz came to Lud's office to hand down the judgment she had made, and it read as…
"The people of the middle realm have made sweet dreams of humans be filled with nightmares. They do not let the beautiful dreams of those humans who want to live in the middle realm be fulfilled. Thus, so shall the sweet dreams of the people of the middle realm who oppose the ideals of Elysium be filled with nightmares until their sanity leaves them. Until the day the humans can finally rest peacefully in the middle realm, may those who defy our king's wish be damned by the gods of this world.
This is my declaration. This is my resolve. This is the proof of my loyalty."
Second judgment: Lizbeth Cardigan
Lud was rubbing his forehead as he read it. He thought "To think that Liz would decide to make this."
Shortly after he was done with reading Liz's judgment, Illi came to his office to hand down the judgment he had made. It read as…
"The people of the middle realm do not appreciate the ingenuity of humans. They scoff at any progress made by them and claim it is thanks to them that they are able to make their legacies.
I will not stand for the disrespect of any craftsman who pours their heart to their craft to only be ridiculed. Each craft made with passion, be it sword, shield, toy, food, house or text has its value. Granted, those who lack the necessary skills to make their apex creations come to life are few and far between, but I'll be damned if those with the heart to make something are pushed down until they give up.
The humans of the middle realm don't get any appreciation from the other races, no matter how clear it is that the humans made that possible. The fate of the Kingjewel is something that was well deserved, and I don't hold it against my comrade.
Until human ingenuity also finds respect in the middle realm, may the ingenuity of the people of the middle realm who push down human craftsmen be like water in a desert. Until that day, may their swords be dull and their shields brittle."
Third judgment: Illi Tipten
It wasn't that Lud didn't understand why the two of them had decided to write these judgments. He just didn't hope that they would have to make the whole middle realm their enemy. He gave a sigh and pondered "How do I stop the rest from making their judgments?"
Li's little corner again.
This time we are talking about nightmare demons a little and how they fit in the world GFOO.
Each nightmare demon has an innate ability to "claim" an area where trespassers will see nightmares when they sleep. In most cases, this ability ends up only being able to "claim" the size of an average house.
Two claims can't exist at the same time and place, so what ends up happening in cases where two nightmare demons try to claim the area, the one who has even a bit more power ends up being able to claim the area. A weaker claim cannot be made to a more powerful claim. However, if the two claims are at the same power level, then the two cancel each other. Nightmare demons also gain experience points by feeding off people's nightmares.
Ms. Cardigan's case is a bit of an unusual case, where she rose to the level cap and thus, expanded her area significantly during the process. If my memory serves me right, Ms. Cardigan was the only such case, since nightmare demon wasn't one of the races the real ones could pick, one nightmare demon being at max level was unusual. Granted, many complained about nightmare demons not being a playable race, but the real masters stayed strong for some reason or another.
And just to mention, there were other races that also made the real ones complain since they could not play as them. There were few cases where the real masters made the race that was not playable originally, playable.
But back to the nightmare demons. One of the most famous cases of them was in the game was in one certain town that suffered from nightmares. The condition of finishing the quest was "Get rid of whatever is causing the nightmares or convince them to stop."
Since there was a clan of nightmare demons that had made home near the town, most players just assumed that they were the issue. Often this led to getting rid of the nightmare demons with violence, be it the real one or the townsfolk.
You see, there was a hidden time limit once the quest started. When the time ran out, the townsfolk would go and "solve the issue themselves". This, and the fact that the real ones could not find the culprit within the nightmare demons, led the real ones convinced that the culprit was someone else. Granted, given that you couldn't "save" or "reload", this process took some time amongst the real ones to figure out.
Many restarts later, the real ones found that the culprit was the youngest son of the noble who ruled the town. The son was making blood sacrifices to the god of dreams in order to cast a veil of nightmares to the town. Note that the god of dreams was a neutral being, with good and evil sides to her, so this was not out of character.
The reason why the son of the noble did this was because he had a crush on a man who was in a serious relationship with a nightmare demon woman. This caused him to make the plan to get rid of the nightmare demons near the town, once and for all.
This was the first quest where the real ones realized that there were quests that had a this kind of bait in them, so the community named these kinds of quests within the game "bait quests" In total, of all the quests in the base game, 12% of them were bait quests.
Then there were those people who got offended by the fact that the "bad guy" of the quest was a gay man, to which the real masters made a post with the words "People can make good or bad decisions. If you see homosexuals as people, then does that not mean that they also can make good or bad decisions? Or do you perhaps not see homosexuals as people?" Granted, this response didn't make them look too good amongst the people and there were many headlines made about the real masters being homophobic. The real masters never took back the statement.