<<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>

---

Spring 23, Year 4

With still no idea where Beep was supposed to meet the portal, and time running out, Beep had started retracing his steps through his journal to try and find what "[...] where you came closest to returning from whence you came" could possibly mean. Today he was walking around the Mountains to try and meditate on things he had done here.

The weather was lovely today, so it was no surprise to Beep to see Maru had moved some kind of big machine outside to work on it. Beep had already sold his livestock to Marnie, and used the wizard's spell book to demolish the sheds, barns, and coops off Avalon Farm. He would've asked Robin, since she built them, but... Ever since Demetrius threw rocks at Beep his first Fall here, Beep was intent on making sure they crossed paths as little as possible. This unfortunately meant he didn't see Robin or Maru much, outside of seeing them walk around town, or very carefully timed visits to request work on farm buildings over the years.

Beep was fine to keep on walking, but Maru spotted him and waved him over. She was one of the few townsfolk who actually took note of Beep's intelligence (that he wasn't just some Weird Ass Deer) alongside Marnie and Robin. The three of them had been the brains behind the circular nest bed Beep had been using since his first Winter here. It was still a very nice bed, perfect for the peryton. Beep sat down as Maru explained this machine, a robot, to Beep. It made absolutely no sense to him, but Maru had studied ancient dwarven technology and clearly knew more than enough about technology and science to know what she was doing. The robot was almost complete, and as Maru was going over final checks, the door behind him opened, then slammed shut. Beep turned around, ears swivelling, but saw nothing.

-CRASH-

The sound of shattering glass had Beep on his hooves and alert, turning around to see the broken jar just inches behind where he had been sitting. Demetrius was yelling, holding up an empty bottle. The sudden danger, very present threat, and being surprised on top of it all had Beep panicking, Demetrius's threatening words blending into the sound of blood pounding through Beep's ears. Maru ran past Beep to try and stop Demetrius, but when he raised the bottle, Beep took off running. He heard the sound of glass shattering against the ground as he fled. Beep leapt off the cliff and took to the air, flying away without a single glance back. He'd have to meditate on his adventures in the Mountains from somewhere else.

Maru was pissed. She had put in all this effort to build this robot to help her mum and dad, and here Demetrius was ignoring the evidence that not once had Beep ever hurt her, and instead chased off someone she wanted to learn more about. Who knew if there were more like him? Maru had done her research when Beep had gone gravid, and then no signs of a fawn. She'd heard he was some endangered type of deer (type 3 survivorship curve?) drawn here by the magic of the valley, far from his normal migration pattern. She independently figured out he was a monster, but he never behaved like the ones in the mines, who would attack humans on sight. Were there other sapient monsters? Maru had tried to plead Beep's case to Demetrius, but it only seemed to justify his reaction to the peryton even more.

Defeated, Maru went inside, leaving her robot leaning against the house. Demetrius looked at the hoof prints left behind by Beep. If he was a monster, and the Adventurer's Guild hadn't dealt with him like they were with the ones in the mine, then they weren't doing their job. He had a phone call to make.

---

Things different from canon; (AU???)
Gramps never had an heir, or they never show/ed up.
Stardew Valley Expanded; new maps, new NPCs, new events, a LOT of new stuff.
The new “Farmer” is just a Weird Ass Deer. NPCs will respond/react accordingly.

This is my first time playing Stardew Valley Expanded. Please no spoilers if you play SVE.