20201108 Pale Rider. Pale Ale. Coincidence? I think not.

We were surrounded by three score of BriarSeed Children. I figured the BriarSeed Children came here to gather water for the nursery off to the east.
 
They did not do that.
 
I roused them with my enthusiasm, that they could do the thankless task joyfully this time, knowing that I would be supervising the building of an aqueduct so that (eventually) they would never have to do it again because Sister Gravity would be doing it for them. I figured they would thank me and sing my praises.
 
They did not do that.
 
One of them said that the "mammals" were made to do that, and he came up with the idea that they could go get some to do exactly that right now. Oh boy. I loudly praised him for his initiative and deductive reasoning skills. I pinned an oak leaf from the nearby Lone Oak directly to his chest and announced that this symbol made him the Leader. I considered that a passive-aggressive strategy, identifying myself as the kingmaker. I figured they would fall in line behind the leader who would appreciate my aggrandizement.
 
They did not do that.
 
The ensuing kerfuffle left plenty of opportunity for our SNAFU Posse to quietly step into the background, (into the cave we had seen earlier which I had been avoiding due to it screaming, "Baited trap!" at my eyes), and explore the evil-tainted cavate in apparent safety. I figured we would go straight for the Stormborn whose enslaved soul I was certain was the source of the water in this recent fabrication of a cave system.
 
We did not do that.
 
Not for a while.
 
We did find many of the townspeople forced to labor in a soot-filled room barbecuing the carcasses of the slain Hell-bovines (and who knows what else, or who else) into fatty compounds usable for fertilizer for the Arguably Evil Plant Army.
 
I other rooms, we found two plant nurseries, which was to be expected, but of course the near-entirety of the growing plant army remained out in the sunshine, forming a protective perimeter to fend off the Hell-bovine attack, much like the farmers of Purgatory Gulch planted carnivorous weeds at the perimeters of their farms to fend off the herds of ordinary cows and bulls all those years ago, which certainly led to this fiasco of killer plants battling murderous livestock.
 
Thankfully, underground crystals refracted daylight all around every cavern, allowing us to find also the "mammals'" sleeping quarters (behind a petrified wood door if I heard right), and the central massive Geode Cavern, certainly the main draw which inspired the devious Master Farvald Kerner, Alchemist Extraordinaire to lair here when starting up his Grand Scheme. Oh, and the floating Manta-Leaves that swam by in the air above me, those are pretty in the crystal-light. Fortunately, they are not territorial and are harmless.
 
In this Geode Cavern, I noted a butchery, a leather-working station, a smithy, two deep pools, and even a bit of a nursery, a whole "Circle of Life" (and death) set up in one huge showpiece of a room. And up in the back was stone-hewn stairway leading up to a star, a star, shining in the night, with a tail as big as a kite. No seriously, the grand royal suite up there really did look so sun-shiny that I literally cast Cloak of Shade on Wrong Way and myself to protect us from the scorching sunlight I expected to find.
 
A Stairwell in the stony back wall led up to what any narcissist would have to call, "My room", by which I mean, "his room", MFK's study. At the entrance was a carpet of oregano, which releases its delicious scent whenever trodden. Around the sides, among the several curtains of vines, were apparently grown (rather than carved) wooden statues of nymphs of all walks of life. I believe I saw the Spirit of Knowledge (a Teacher), the Spirit of Innovation (an Alchemist), the Spirit of Self-Reliance (a Farmer), the Spirit of Individualism (a Cowgirl), the Spirit of Freedom (a Pilgrim), the Spirit of Compassion (a Healer), and perhaps the Spirit of Tomorrow (a Mother and child). They framed and drew all attention to a platform which could only be MFK's laboratory work center with maps, so many alchemical supplies, three podiums with books like a journal and stuff, and a sort of pipeline of water rushing around in the ceiling. And the room bore exactly one Master Farvald Kerner.
 
I think he had been told (by the arch-mage or whatever whom I name Dark Serious) that I was replacing Scaevola Aemula as his employee or whatever. He also mentioned the fallen star , (but I think he called it something else), that had collided and scarred this land 100 years ago or whatever and upset the balance of Life and Death quite heavily onto the death side. Upset meaning: that's why we have a near-desert plain in the midst of the Longgrass Plains. I guess it's simple when you know the trick.
 
He also told me that he was feeding power to Padre, who was (he didn't say, "voluntarily", but I assume so, knowing Padre) summoning all of his strength, courage, holiness, fortitude, and willpower (and light, so much light, star light, sun light, every kind of light, so bright I saw it back in the Geode room, and, come to think of it, even before we entered the cave complex) to counteract the evil cloud of evil darkness-over-the-land that the evil Hell-bovine army had conjured up to allow their evil demoniness to run amok during the daylight as badly as it runs at night around these parts, which is - mighty badly. I had the idea that I could help Padre by giving him the small amount of holy beeswax that I was carrying, but MFK told me not to mess with him.
 
I asked my new buddy, MFK, a few questions to clear up our working relationship. I asked the classic priority question, if (crossbow to your head) you absolutely had to pick one or the other but not both nor neither: Should I benefit Farvald at the expense of the Cavate he has built, or should I benefit the Cavate at the expense of its Master, or should I flip a coin every time? (which is a cop out.) My buddy instantly decided that The Goal (I think he called it, or maybe The Work, or whatever) was more important than himself and the cavate put together. Good to know. He truly for certain wants me to keep The Work going and accomplish the grand Goal even if it means no more MFK and no more pretty cavate, final answer, no backsies, no do-overs. And if I'm confused by his commands in any way, I should ask my bestest buddy in the whole wide world. Right, Buddy? "That would be appropriate," is I think what my new buddy said.
 
I'm a little fuzzy on the next part. My new buddy, MFK, said really quickly and a little quieter that he wanted me to go talk to Princess, (the one Chica is still seeking,) who was at the time in the room down the stairs to the right, the Light Garden, I think, and get her to... There was something about a latch or a latch key, and her grandfather or maybe her grandfather's magic-like rune-covered skull (which Miro has or had), and get her to hand over the spirit of the territory. I tried to get him to talk louder. If you go all day with two blobs of holy beeswax stuck in your ears, you actually can forget they are in there, but everybody else seems to forget them even sooner. So, anyway, basically what he wanted me to do first and foremost is to get Princess Alfredo to sign over the deed to Alfredo Ranch to him. I'm pretty sure she is sick and tired of the ranch just as much as she is sick and tired of being a hostage to evil cows and plants and stuff. (Is it an hostage or a hostage? Whatever.) So, easy peasy, dangerously cheesey. Oh, and I think the deal was supposed to be the deed in exchange for safe passage to any place where nobody has ever heard of Purgatory Gulch. I figured that was exactly the way out that Princess was wanting in the first place, and I figured the rest of the SNAFU Posse would go for it too.
 
They did not do that.
 
They wanted me to go back with them and meet with my new buddy, the Master. I told them all about everything, of course. I'm not a secretive guy. I really wanted to get to Princess and get her out of here safely, which was a plan from way back, and I thought they were supposed to be sneaking out the stormborn first and confronting my buddy later, because that was a plan from way way back, but, no, Miro, stickler for legalese, needed what he called a "workman's comp" form signed by my buddy to keep the SNAFU Posse as part of the plant army officially, (which saved our lives a few days ago, although we did cause at least one head to literally explode, and more than a few plant deaths were involved, but that's actually a perfectly normal day for us). I was SO CONFUSED. And my Buddy told me if I was confused by his orders, I should ask my bestest buddy in the whole wide world.
 
That's when Wrong Way reminded me that we have been together through thick and thin, ever since he was just a little drone, and he is definitely my Bestest Buddy in the Whole Wide World. It was like a weight being taken off... or pants. At first he was certain I could get the message across better through interpretive dance like bees do, shaking your heinie to indicate distance. When that got nowhere, he was kinda ready to sting somebody. Then I forget who mentioned I need to get the deed first for Princess to sign it.
 
I traipsed up the stairs again and asked MFK if he knew where the deed to the Alfredo Ranch was, and could he sign a "workman's comp" form for me, so I could get my posse to go get the deed, so we could get Princess Alfredo, so we could get her signature, so he could take spiritual control of the land that the hell-bovines were using for their evil stuff, so he could spiritually and physically kick their butts. He pulled out of his filing system and showed me: the deed to the Sarsaparilla Ranch. <Facepalm> There is no deed to the Alfredo Ranch. It is a bunch of ranches that the family bought one by one. And that ranch is the closest piece to the cavate and a perfect place to start kicking the aforementioned hell-bovine butts which are in want of being kicked.
 
Oh, did I mention this? The Grand Goal is not just to smack this infestation of demon-possessed cows and bulls, it's to slam the door on every demon, every elemental, every deity, and lock them all out. I didn't hear him say, "forever," but I think that was implied. (At least, "for a really long time". Or maybe he meant, "... and install a toll gate so they have to pay us an exorbitant sum each time they want to come through," but I think he meant, "forever." I really should ask him which way he swings on that issue.)
 
Everything else but that finally made sense.
 
That's when he rooted his tree-root-like feet to the ground almost exactly like the classic Druid Entangle magic but going the other direction. I figured he would explain the foot-rooting thing.