“I still think we- whoa, check that out,” said in party chat, pointing out the fairy approaching the group. The gnome, the troll and the man turned their characters towards Pamela’s fairy and moved slightly so they faced her in a half circle. The label {Distraught Fairy} was hovering above the small creature’s ponytailed head.

“Oh, please, can you help me please brave adventurers, I am in so much trouble!” Pamela spoke through the fairy. The game transformed her speech into an appropriately squeaky voice fit for the possessed creature.

“What seems to be the problem, my dear?” asked using his character voice in the world chat that anyone outside the party could hear as well. His character’s voice was jovial but with a tinge of conceitedness; it sounded very similar to the player’s own voice, though slightly deeper, and the accent was an almost comically strong British Shakespearian stage one instead of the player’s Australian one.

“Oh sir, I desperately need help! A group of evil goblins want to cut down my beautiful oak tree! I’ll be homeless!” the fairy squeaked and sobbed. Pamela cranked up the facial expression strength to maximum sadness.

“Whoa, is this a new quest?” said, though still in party chat, so Pamela didn’t count it as an in-character answer.

“I’ve never heard of this quest either,” said. “Goblins, eh? Ooh, we hates ‘em, we do, filthy little buggers! I say we give ‘em a good thrashing, yes!” added in-character. The gnome woman’s voice was quirky, high-pitched and unmistakably young, starkly different from her player’s older male voice.

“Yes, please, come with me to the forest, we must hurry! They might have started cutting down my poor tree already,” {Distraught Fairy} cried.

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“Oi, slow down. First we gotta talk about rewards. I ain’t getting slashed at for free. Gotta pay for grub an’ ale, me,” rumbled in a deep male bass voice, again a stark contrast to the player’s teenage female voice.

“Please sir, I have no money! All I can give you is some of the rare golden acorns from my tree. They are yummy and will fetch a good price on the market, surely!” {Distraught Fairy} sobbed. Pamela created a quest screen that hovered beside her and set its visibility to just the three players.

TREEHOUSE OF HORRORS - Recommended level: 1

A defenseless fairy’s tree home is being attacked by dastardly goblins!

Completion Rewards (per player): 100 XP, 1 Golden Acorn (+10% Health [stacking], +40% Magic Resistance [stacking] for 30 minutes), public badge “Oaken’s Shield”

Completion Rewards (group): 5% chance for 1 unique item

The character animations idled while the players considered this new information. Pamela chuckled a little as inserted a huge finger into a nostril and rotated it thoughtfully. She hadn’t seen that one before.

“I say we do it, the stats on that acorn are insane. Consumables that give that amount of stacking bonuses for that long are on the auction house for like twelve hundred gold! I don’t think I’m gonna sell it even, those things will be perfect for getting through the Ghost House quest with the stupid lightning-spamming mutant bats later,” said excitedly. The other two players were also making awed noises. Pamela had a slight moment of panic when she realized she’d gone a bit overboard with the value of the rewards in the heat of the moment. They really were a bit too powerful for a level one quest, but it was too late. The players would be frustrated if she changed it now. Oh well. She’d adjust it for the automated, non-supervised version of this quest later. She saw the green check marks appear on the quest board as everyone in the group eagerly accepted the mission. Pamela spent a moment setting up a basic area for the quest instance, then created the portal for the group that would transport them there.

“Thank you so much, I will lead you to my tree right now! Follow me!” she said through the fairy and teleported the creature to the instance. After a moment, the players appeared next to her in the newly created forest area as they took the portal.