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Lurien the watcher.
That was his title, the title that the King had bestowed upon him. A title that he had inherited from the last watcher, which had inherited the title from one before that. A title that would last forever through the ages, a protector over Hallownest capital.
So much for being a protector…
He had always looked up on the duty of the watcher. And when he had been taken in as an apprentice he was as happy as one could be. And to even meet the King of Hallownest , the bug he had looked up to even more, the most in the whole world.
Others would call his feelings for the king as fascination.
He would call it love at first sight.
Lurien couldn’t help himself, he was just so stunning. And the few times Lurien had seen him smile during their talks, it meant more to him than any treasure in the world could. How the Kings glow not only lit up the room, but also lit up Luriens heart with joy any time they could meet.
But then he started to visit less and less. He spoke of his wife so fondly every time, how she wanted more of his time and thus couldn’t visit as often. Lurien understood and accepted that the King loved his wife dearly. So he could never berate him from spending more time with her.
But then he stopped coming altogether… weeks turned to months. Then that infection broke out and Lurien had to close off his tower from the public. No one could go in or out as he watched his city slowly turn worse and worse through his telescope.
He was so sure, so certain that the king would soon come knocking on his door. That’s why he gathered as much information as he could… so that he could tell the King everything he knew of, everything he had noticed about this infection.
But he never came…
No, instead one of the king’s knights came. And not through the door either, but through the roof. He was loud, smelled horrible , but he had an honest heart as he wanted to help the two of them escape his tower without alerting these root zombies.
He didn’t want to leave, the King would come here. He would . But when the knight said that he hadn’t seen the king even before he left the castle… then perhaps he had succumbed to something as well. This would need more research…
And so he agreed to follow the white defender.
… but he did not expect him and his butler's new settlement to be that of feces. And he was sure to tell so to the knight as he tried to not gag at the smell. His assistant wasn’t as resilient to the smell and released his breakfast onto the floor.
And while it was not ideal, Ogrim had been right to say that no root zombies came to this area. They never figured out why, since they weren’t alive anymore and could wander everywhere, but one shouldn’t look a gift stag in the mouth when such facts were presented. So while hesitant at first, Lurien conceded and made a small patch of woodwork among the feces so he could have a proper settlement.
They reached out to Monomon first in fog canyon, to start researching this strange root disease. She was already way ahead of them and had clad her student in thick armor as protection against the disease and he was the only one allowed in and out of her facility. With the help of himself and Ogrim, she got a few more root samples to further her research. It did not have immunity against acid so her acid filled building was perfect for this investigation.
Lurien hoped he could’ve done more…
They reached out to Herrah and the mantis tribe, getting no sympathy from the mantises and Herrah didn’t want anything to do with the trouble of helping the king. He had never helped her, so why should she?
At least she had that mindset before her people started to get infected…
Monomon reached out and she agreed to the summon, sharing everything she knew for the same of Monomon's research. She got Acid from Monomon to protect against the roots and Deepnest became another safe haven for the bugs who survived the plague. Two small havens…
Lurien wanted to move quicker, do more to fight against this than to just sit and wait.
And especially when Monomon discovered the roots had hints of the flower Wisteria . The flower of the queen.
He rushed towards the palace, to see how the King fared, to see if he was even alive .
He had to be alive, he just had to, Lurien couldn’t-. He couldn’t imagine a world without his king!!
He was so close as well. He had gotten so close but Ogrim caught him at the ancient basin and dragged him back towards the hideout.
The woman the King had loved the most, the very Queen herself was the cause for this. The Queen was killing her own people and Lurien couldn’t do anything but sit and watch as the bugs he had sworn to protect were dying. That no one knew if the king himself even was alive as he lived in the clutches of that queen!
The watcher … such a useless title…
When they returned, he cried.
He could do nothing but… watch. Watch, watch, watch as the people were consumed by the disease. Watched as Ogrim battled these… these creatures they’d become without killing them. Watched as new reports came from Quirrel about the update on the root disease and ways to possibly get rid of it. Watched and came up with strategies to gather supplies for Herrah and her small settlement of safety.
Because that was all he was good for.
He couldn’t even watch out for the king, the man he cherished the most…
Lurien often found himself mourning. Mourning over the things he was uncertain about, mourning his people, mourning for the loyal knights who had been consumed by the disease and were wandering the halls. And he also mourned because he felt so useless in the endeavour against the disease.
It wasn’t until two small bugs wandered into their feces covered camp that he could feel some kind of joy, hope and anticipation.
They looked so similar to the king… two small children with horns, both with pristine while shells and cloaks over them.
They were obviously the King’s children, one could see that immediately. And if they were alive… then the King must be alive too!
Ogrim refused to believe the Queen was the source of all this chaos even if two live witness had appeared. He even went so far as to do battle!
Thankfully the children were strong but that was just too much! He made sure to reprimand the knight for it and once again remind him of how much evidence they had that it really was the Queen who was doing this!
That made him admit defeat… Lurien had gotten used to this horrible smell, at least somewhat, so he let the knight cry and grieve on his shoulder.
Then, he watched Ogrim leave to assist the royalty.
Lurien sat there, waiting in their camp. Waiting… hoping… because there was nothing else he could do.
Wait. Wait. Wait.
Watch. Watch. Watch.
It was all he had known to do and now it all felt so useless . It was pointless to watch when it was now time to act!
So he waited… and waited.
Until he heard footsteps approaching the camp and he got outside with a smile on his face and a shout of joy ready to come out.
Only for the joy to get stuck in his throat as he saw the figure stumble forward. A hulking, large figure. A figure who wore armour over his shell. A figure who held a large hammer in his hand and white roots that peeked out here and there through the cracks of his armour.
That wasn’t Ogrim…