1??????????????Soul Bound
1.1????????????Finding her Feet
1.1.5??????????An Inscrutable Mastermind
1.1.5.25???????Cinnamon bun
[Quest completed “Save the goats” - see the village headman for variable reward.]
[Level gained. You are now level 21]
[Level gained. You are now level 22]
[Level gained. You are now level 23]
[Title “Boss Slayer” acquired.]
[[GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT : “Kafana”, “Wellington”, “Bungo”, “Alderney”, “Tomsk”, “Bulgaria”, “CrimsonMoon”, “Mary-Lynn”, “Blaze”, “ChocolateTrain”, “Char” and “Nastya” are the first players in the world to gain the achievement “Boss Slayer”.]]
*ding* [Your global reputation has increased by 5. There is now a small chance that sentient monsters will have heard of you.]
Nastya: {I have respawned and am heading out to meet you. Losing 3 levels sucks. I’m back to 28 now, though I can still ride.} she chuckled, ruefully {Wellington, my sincere admiration. It’s not like Kafana didn’t warn me that you improved combat plans. Let’s work together again. I want to learn how to do what you do.}
Bulgaria: {And we would love to learn from all of you. So let me make you the first people to ever be invited to visit The Burrow, our online home. Wellington will send you a link later today.}
Mary-Lynn: {I’ve been making a fair amount of money from the traffic coming to my blog because of your recordings. I feel I ought to be splitting it with you. Where should I send it?}
Alderney: {Good question. Would you be available to discuss it tomorrow afternoon? We’re going to be holding a beach volleyball practice. There will also be gelato.}
Blaze: {Volleyball? Count me in.}
Char: {Ice cream? We’re all coming, just say where and when.}
Bulgaria: {You will all be welcome if you want to come. But this is a strictly non-combat event. Leave the spiky stuff in your inventory, and find some beach wear.}
CrimsonMoon replied with dignity: {Rumours aside, we don’t spend 100% of our time covered in blood.}
ChocolateTrain: {Just most of it.}
<hr>
They searched the corpse, but didn’t find anything. Bungo helped Alderney harvest it for ingredients and raw materials. He suggested Kafana and Mary-Lynn take the meat, as it could be used as a cooking ingredient, if the poison were removed.
Mary-Lynn: {Are you sure the troll won’t regrow?}
Bungo: {Mostly sure. Experiment by leaving a bit in a strong box. If it doesn’t grow, you’re safe. It if does grow, you’ve an unlimited meat supply.}
Then they returned to the troll’s cave, where they met the village headman and several women, who asked for aid in recovering any remains of their husbands and children. While the others helped the women respectfully wrap several remains, Alderney bounced up to the shelf and brought down a chest. The headman looked inside and disclaimed any of it having come from the village, and said it was all theirs. He also pledged a herd of 30 goats to be delivered the following spring, and in the mean time to teach any orphans who came out how to farm and look after the goats, and let them have any vegetables they grew or milk they milked. The village was low on population now, and many parents were without children. They’d welcome the orphans into their lives.
Bulgaria asked if the headman minded them taking stone away from the area. The headman laughed and said they could take as much as they wanted, and welcome to it.
Bulgaria: {There’s a quest from Sophroni, a worker near the Stadia, who has been tasked with paving Mud Road. All you need to do is bring him sufficient stone slabs to pave a couple of meters of it. That''s about one shelf’s worth of space in your stash, and I can share the quest to you if you like?}
CrimsonMoon: {Thank you. Yes please.}
Kafana figured the combat was over: {Sys, return the user interface to Kafana Normal, please.}
Then when Nastya had arrived and recovered her body, and the headman had departed, they had a look at the loot:
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Ungol’s Belt of warding - +2% mitigation, +50 soak, min STR 200
Ungol’s Boots of warding - +2% mitigation, +50 soak, min STR 200
Ungol’s Bracers of warding - +2% mitigation, +50 soak, min STR 200
Ungol’s Gauntlets of warding - +2% mitigation, +50 soak, min STR 200
Ungol’s Greaves of warding - +2% mitigation, +50 soak, min STR 200
Ungol’s Helm of warding - +2% mitigation, +50 soak, min STR 200
SET BONUS +6% mitigation, +100% hp regen rate
Tamer''s Scroll
Crafter''s Knife
Necromancer''s Bell
Seer''s Ball
Captain''s Scabbard
Emerald - ???
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Nastya: {Definitely not random. Half the stuff is for combat junkies, and half is specific to particular professions.}
Blaze: {6 set items versus 5 rare items and one artifact. Pretty balanced.}
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Char: {I’m curious. What does the Emerald do? Is it good?}
Wellington picked it up and used his Identify skills.
Wellington: {It says “Emerald of Harmony - your luck depends upon the purity of your intentions”. There’s also a couple of hidden properties.}
ChocolateTrain: {No way.}
CrimsonMoon: {Evil.}
Char: {Get that thing away from me.}
Mary-Lynn: {That’s practically a curse. What are you going to do? Sell it? You couldn’t pay me to wear that item.}
Bulgaria: {So I take it that you’re happy with the division where you guys get the set?}
Nastya: {I hate to admit it, but your people did more of the work. Without you, we’d have wiped. You saved us. The division is unfair upon you. Can we owe you a favour?}
Wellington: {I doubt we could have gotten both trolls in that trap. We also needed you. Rather than a favour, how about we just agree that our guilds are friends. If we see an opportunity that suits you, we’ll send you the info. If we hear about someone setting a trap for you, we’ll warn you. No lies, deceptions or coercions. No backstabbing or betrayal. We keep your confidences, we share with you what we learn about the system, and so forth. Not an alliance, you don’t need to come to our aid or anything. Just friendship.}
Nastya: {We’ll discuss it, but I’d give an 80% chance that Crimson will be back to you with a “Yes” within 24 hours. You don’t seem the types to go around threatening people with “Do what we say or else, we’re friends with Fra Gamal y’know.”}
Kafana put on her diadem: “I swear to you, I would never use friendship with you like that.” sounding disgusted with the idea.
Char: {Pretty stone. What does it do?}
Bulgaria: {Among other things, it glows red if someone lies. Including the wearer. Kafana crafted it that way, knowing she’d be the one wearing it.}
Char: {So the emerald…}
Bungo: {Yes, obviously.}
Kafana: {What? And why are you all looking at me like that?}
They didn’t answer. Instead, everyone in Fra Gamal took one piece of the armour set, and gave it all to their tank, CrimsonMoon.
Wellington took the scroll, Alderney looked at the scroll with longing, but took the knife. Tomsk took the scabbard and looked pleasantly surprised. Bulgaria took the bell, and Bungo took the ball.
The only item left in the chest was the artifact. The emerald Mary-Lynn had described as a curse.
Kafana: {Hey, wait a minute.}
Alderney: {The Emerald of Harmony is yours, Kafana. Nobody else will even touch it.}
Kafana: {No.}
Wellington: {It is safe for you, Kafana.}
Tomsk explained, kindly: {You’re pure.}
Kafana: {No I’m not, damn it. See, I swore. And I can have impure thoughts.} she stroked Tomsk’s chest. {There! That proves it.}
The gem on her forehead blinked pale red.
The others burst out laughing. Even Fra Gamal. This was so unfair. Even Sys was judging her.
Alderney said, sotto voce, to Char: {They made her a Priestess you know. The moment she walked into the Sanctum. *pounce*}
She kicked the chest in frustration. “Fiddlesticks!” She hopped up and down on one foot, rubbing her toes. At least this time she didn’t fall face down into a pool of mud.
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Emerald of Harmony (ARTIFACT)
Your luck depends upon the purity of your intentions
+100% bonus to spell durations cast via group performance
+30% to Earth attunement
Durability: 100000/100000
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Knife of the Patterner
+10% crafting
cut designs straight from overlay
Durability: 10000/10000
Scroll of the Familiar (single use)
+100% chance to tame a non-sapient living creature
Bell of the Spirits
+10% necromancy
+200 reputation with spirits
Durability: 10000/10000
Crystal Ball
+10% seer skills
+20% air attunement
Durability: 10000/10000
Scabbard of Authority
+3 to captaincy skills
+3 to social standing
+30 reputation with people listening to you
Durability: 10000/10000
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Kafana: {You’re all rotters. I’m going to write a letter to my vessel and then log out. I need to get ready for a visitor in arlife. Putting you on mute. See her safely back, please.}
She fixed the meal for Gregorio, which put her in a better mood, then sat down on a rock by the river bank, with her fishie friends, to write the letter.
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Dear Vessel Kafana
I''ve pinned a blue satin sash around the wrists of the mittens. Sorry I have not had time to sew it on. I''ll really try, but I''ve been so busy I nearly had a breakdown today. Adventuring is hard. I think I envy you the ability to just wander around Torello with Gregorio and Vessel-Alderney.
I made great use of that skill you trained: singing while dodging. So here''s one you might find useful. I call it the learning buff. Can you access System? I know people here are aware of stat points, but I have no idea how they interact with them to spend them. Anyway, if you say out aloud "System, please display the notes for the learning buff" it should bring up some sheet music that only you can see. It is suitable for playing on the violin. I''d suggest asking Cov for his help with your hand on the pendant, before trying. If you succeed, you''ll find learning things from books to be much easier.
I''ve got you free access to any book you want from the Sanctum, and if you visit the Mage Tower with the other vessels who are interested, and hold in your mind the thought "Library" when you enter the gate, you should end up there. Tell the librarian that you are Grand Master Water''s apprentice, and he has encouraged you to borrow books. You can return the ones you''ve flipped through.
I cooked a meal for Gregorio. It is on the shelf, on a pretty plate, with a blanket, suitable drink, and everything. Hope he enjoys it!
Love,
Spirit Kafana
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*flip*