Hi Olive,
Sorry if it came across as Regale was going to die - I was trying to take inspiration from Rejuvenation, where it says "at last, he could rest". Since this is the very last time I'm going to have the chance to do Regale's Quest for a while, and I'm so close to the end, I wanted to have the idea of Regale confiding in someone he had grown to somewhat trust over the quest that he was exhausted by his duties as an immortal and the Red Star saga. My idea is Regale himself was going into a deep state of sleep/inactivity to recover from his experiences - so deep he would be unable to actively protect the glade or sense the flow of time around him. His concern for his foals is a reflection of how much he loves them, worried about how his absence would affect them despite desperately needing the rest. By closing off the Glade, he could ensure his family was safe and also uninterrupted because he would be helpless - which as an immortal, and a recluse, would be something very difficult to admit.
The link to the prompt is the idea of it being the last quest, while I tried to make the presentation of the whortleberries a large part of the story, it's pretty hard to write 10 stats worth of 'here are your berries'. I thought it might be fun to explore the tentative friendships Regale creates with ballators that do his quest, especially in Sole's case since she became a bit of an angry Hannibal follower during her quest but still respects Regale as another ballator as lost to the whims of the Highlords as she is.
I'm happy to add an explanation in the description of the lit to clarify the above.
Sorry if it came across as Regale was going to die - I was trying to take inspiration from Rejuvenation, where it says "at last, he could rest". Since this is the very last time I'm going to have the chance to do Regale's Quest for a while, and I'm so close to the end, I wanted to have the idea of Regale confiding in someone he had grown to somewhat trust over the quest that he was exhausted by his duties as an immortal and the Red Star saga. My idea is Regale himself was going into a deep state of sleep/inactivity to recover from his experiences - so deep he would be unable to actively protect the glade or sense the flow of time around him. His concern for his foals is a reflection of how much he loves them, worried about how his absence would affect them despite desperately needing the rest. By closing off the Glade, he could ensure his family was safe and also uninterrupted because he would be helpless - which as an immortal, and a recluse, would be something very difficult to admit.
The link to the prompt is the idea of it being the last quest, while I tried to make the presentation of the whortleberries a large part of the story, it's pretty hard to write 10 stats worth of 'here are your berries'. I thought it might be fun to explore the tentative friendships Regale creates with ballators that do his quest, especially in Sole's case since she became a bit of an angry Hannibal follower during her quest but still respects Regale as another ballator as lost to the whims of the Highlords as she is.
I'm happy to add an explanation in the description of the lit to clarify the above.
