The idea of becoming a proper knight has been on Das’s mind for a long time, and he’s been more encouraged to pursue it as he’s met others who are knights as well, fighting for what is right. With the different knightly orders in Charon, though, finding the right one for him is a difficult decision to make. While the Knights of Duros generally sound like the right fit for him, he doesn’t necessarily see himself being tied to the crown. So, he turns to the only knight of Tegrid he’s ever met: Sir Geoffrey Wolfe.

Their meeting was brief, and it has been a few months since their competition eating swamp dogs together, but that’s his first place to start. So, after figuring out a way to contact them, Das does so, asking for their guidance on becoming a Knight of Tegrid. What he knows is that prospective knights need to commune with nature, and for Das, he has always felt a connection with fire. His clan has a fiery spirit, and his ancestors hail from the volcanic lands of Zeinav. That’s where he asks Wolfe to meet him: the remnants of Mount Drakolt, the lava pits.

When Wolfe finally shows up, Das hails him. “Sir Wolfe! Thank you for coming!”

---

Quest details:

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Nature's First Green is Gold
Participants: Exactly Two
Post Requirements: 7 Post, 200 words per post
Reward: +1 Renown and Initiation into the Knights of Tegrid (Unlocks Squire Subclass)
Description: After receiving your quest and emblem, you must find a way to truly commune with nature. Many will try to speed the process up by sitting in a garden for an hour, but one can't commune with nature without becoming a part of it, both physically and spiritually. Before your symbol can activate, you must experience a life altering moment in nature, where your being momentarily blends with the soul of nature. How this occurs is entirely up to you.

"Hey!" Blue called out to Das as they walked toward him, waving an arm above them in a friendly greeting, before remembering they were supposed to be acting all knightly and stuff. They lowered their arm and clanked a gauntlet against their chest plate in a quick salute. That was more like how knights greeted each other, right? Shoot, they really didn't have that much experience with other knights, even in the Knights of Tegrid. The knight order sent its members out on missions alone, which was great for them to fight and act on their own oozey self, but not great for learning about how to knight.

Well, maybe they'd have someone else to learn knight stuff from once Das was a member too. He seemed nice from the one time they'd met before now, during a swamp dog eating contest that Blue was still a little upset about losing. They still didn't know how that small, tired-looking girl beat both of them. They felt some comradery with the Fellblood after that.

"Happy to help someone else become a knight. Are you ready? You got the thingy?"

Blue pointed out the emblem on their armor. They had gotten themself a new one for this. Once the emblem begins to glow, they'd know they had successfully connected with nature and were allowed to join the knights of Tegrid. With them helping Das make his own emblem glow, they thought it would be helpful to wear their own again. Lava pits weren't really Blue's ideal way to connect to nature, but it couldn't hurt. Maybe they'd get struck by lightning or something.

Seeing Wolfe wave, Das starts to wave back before the knight quickly presses their fist to their chest in a salute. Quickly straightening up, Das mimics the motion to be as proper as possible. Given who this duo is, they probably won’t be doing anything too properly on this day.

“I really appreciate your assistance here today,” Das says. This is his next big step on his self-assigned path toward redemption. Being a knight might make people less afraid to approach him. All he needs is–

“What thingy?” he asks blankly before looking at the one that Wolfe has on their armor. Das blinks for a moment before looking at Wolfe. He internally panics. Did he forget something? Oh no, it seems like he did. But how was he supposed to know about that emblem? Das’s voice becomes sheepish and the large man clearly looks embarrassed. “Erm… No, I was under the impression I would receive something like that from another Knight of Tegrid… And erm, you’re the only one that I know.”

Turning his eye to Wolfe again, he asks nervously, “I don’t suppose you have more on your person, do you? Otherwise… Well, this is awkward…”

"Huh?"

Well, Blue wasn't expecting that. He didn't have the thingy? The thingy that told him when he did the thing and was allowed to join the knights of Tegrid?

"No one gave you one when you asked to join?" Blue asked, confused.

How the heck did no one give him one? Did he not meet any other knights to get one? Wait, he did actually ask the Knights of Tegrid if he could join them, didn't he? There was no way he was trying to do the initiation without actually asking the order to let him do the initiation. That'd just be silly. Even Blue had managed to do that part correctly, and they were notoriously horrible at planning things out and following procedures.

"Okay, uhhh. No, I don't have an extra one, except the one I already used... You can use this one then."

Blue took the unused emblem on their own chest between two fingers and wiggled it side to side for a moment before it popped off of the metal chest plate. They handed it to Das.

Well, it looked like A Knight of Tegrid did end up handing a thingy to Das in the end.

Blue reached behind their back and discreetly pulled out their already used emblem from inside themself. The little badge still had a very faint glow to it. It wasn't nearly as bright as when they first activated it when they connected with nature on their own initiation, but it would have to do. They placed it on their chest with a shrug.

"Okay, ready. Now, you just need to connect with nature!"

Das looks perplexed, lost even. He thought that he just needed to find another Knight of Tegrid and work with them to do the initiation, to connect with nature, and then be accepted into the order. “Uh, I thought that by meeting you here, that was the order accepting my attempt to join,” he murmurs sheepishly. “Ohh, I must have messed something up. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to waste your time.”

He’s at least earnest in his apology and his misunderstanding as a whole. Being that the Knights of Tegrid are often on the move, he didn’t realize he needed to find someone higher rank. Luckily, Wolfe seems prepared nonetheless, and they offer up the new emblem to Das, who takes it somewhat regretfully. “Thank you, Sir Wolfe. I appreciate it.”

Turning it over in his hands, he wonders what he’s supposed to do with it. Then Wolfe pulls out one with a faint glow, and Das tilts his head curiously to look at it. When Wolfe declares he needs to connect with nature, a lantern flickers on in Das’s mind. “Oh! Right!” He had heard that. That’s why he’s here at the lava pits! Duh, Das.

“Right, connect with nature.” He looks out at the bubbling surface magma, the heat radiating into the surrounding area. “The question is…how…?” Das looks to Wolfe. “How did you connect with nature?”

Wait. Was Blue actually the one that was supposed to give him the emblem? Are they even allowed to give initiations? That felt like something only members of the knight order could do. They need a knight to come conduct this thing. WAIT THEY ARE A KNIGHT. Is this an official initiation, and they're the one in charge of it!? Putting them in charge of anything was usually a bad idea, but now here they were, already in progress.

"No, it's fine! We can do this!" Blue blurted out and gave two sudden thumbs up to Das. Very smooth, and not showing how nervous they were at all.

This was fine. Everything was totally fine. They're a real knight, they can handle conducting one little initiation. How hard could it be? When they did it, they didn't eve have a knight there to help them, so this was already probably going to be easier for Das. They just needed to help Das connect with nature. No problem.

"Me?" Blue pointed their thumb at their chest, their other hand on their hip in a confident pose. "I got struck by lightning." They stated proudly.

They looked Das up and down and crossed their arms in front of them.

"That might not work for you though... You don't have any connection with lightning, do you?"

Das isn’t so sure that Wolfe is sure, but if Wolfe insists it’s okay, then he has no reason not to believe them. His fingers curl around the emblem in his hand, and Das nods. “Okay, then we’ll get to it!”

The problem is the whole… connecting with nature thing.

Das’s one eye grows wide with almost abject horror upon Wolfe just casually declaring that they were struck by lightning. “What?? Incredible! And you lived? Then you truly must be in tune with the element!” he exclaims, utterly baffled. Come to think of it, Das knows very little of Wolfe, but this tells him all he needs to know about the knight’s strength and capabilities. Sort of.

“Lightning isn’t my forte, no,” he admits, shaking his head slightly. “But…” Das turns to look at the lava pits around them. “My ancestors took pride in the magic of Ginma. In fire. The flames of light and warmth and rebirth.” With a little smile, he looks at Wolfe. “We call our spirits our ‘inner fire.’ Sometimes heat doesn’t bother me much. Granted…” He tugs on his collar a little, the radiating heat making him sweat. “It’s pretty hot here…”

Again, he looks at the emblem in his hand before looking at the lava pits again. Getting struck by lightning… Incredible… If Wolfe could survive that, could Das survive a dip in the lava pits? Would that connect him to nature? To his ancestors and their magic?

Blue put their hands on their hips and jutted out their chest plate slightly in a proud pose.

"I've survived lots of stuff. Lightning is nothing. I've got lightning in my blood or something!" Blue proclaimed proudly, their ego a bit stoked by Das's compliments.

And what they said wasn't really lying. It was true they'd survived some pretty deadly situations for anyone that wasn't them. Getting struck by lightning was actually rather low on the list when compared to things like getting eaten by a Baloth, fighting a cephaloclops in an underwater cave, or fighting a dragon god. And they did have lightning coursing through them, even if they had slime instead of blood.

"Yeah, it's really hot here. I feel like I could melt." They replied absentmindedly, looking around. Knowing Das had a similar connection to fire to what Blue had with lightning, now it made sense why he wanted to meet somewhere so lava-y. Blue looked at one of the bubbling lava pools and shrugged before turning back to Das.

"Well, if you wanna connect with fire, then this definitely looks like a good place to do that. Before I became a knight, I asked for some advice, and someone told me the best way to connect with nature was to feel it all around me. The wind in my skin and the dirt on my hair. That guy got arrested for something called public incendency or something though... And he wasn't a knight..."