Chapter 78
The entire run had taken a few hours and the group was visibly exhausted as they passed through the exit and appeared in the entry room. A notification appeared in front of each of the group members.
You have entered the Rewards Hall for Kagan's Dome. If you do not have points to redeem please do not block the rewards terminals.
“What did you do?” Orin demanded as he walked up to the group and grasped Jay's arm, steering him and the others through the gathered crowd to sit down in chairs along one side of the room.
Aiden noticed that the center pylon that had once held eight featureless slabs now had those same slabs lit up. They glowed dimly with a blue radiance as men and women held their hands against the slab and then read what was on the notifications that popped up and called it out to others.
“Is that what slabs look like to you when you see them?” Aiden remarked without meaning to.
Jay, confused, looked over at the glowing slabs. “Yes actually – that's exactly what they look like.”
“Hey!” Orin half shouted to get their attention, “What happened in there?” he demanded.
“Oh,” Jay said weakly, “sorry. We're all a bit tired from the run.” he answered without answering the monk's question.
Priests were clustered around the prize terminals and all eight terminals were in use. The people using the terminals would give it a go before becoming frustrated and letting someone new take a look.
“What's going on out here?” Norri asked, finally finding her voice.
“What's going on out here?! The slabs all lit up! The room lit up! The exterior of the Temple lit up! There's a crowd outside right now demanding to know what is going on and we can't give them an answer because we don't know the answer ourselves!” Orin said in a rush, the words all pushed together in an emotional jumble.
Jay grinned but smoothed over the expression as he saw Orin's terror.
Orin was in charge of the temple and its attached dungeon and as a rule the people who had put him in charge demanded he keep things..calm. Normal. He was supposed to keep things running smoothly. Whatever had just happened was the opposite of normal or smooth operation and questions would soon be asked. Very pointed questions. Orin was afraid that Jay's group had done something wrong to the Temple, to the dungeon – the very things he was supposed to be protecting.
Jay made placating movements with his hands, “It's ok Orin. While I can't tell you with certainty what happened I can give you a pretty good guess.”
Orin waved Jay to wait and motioned over a scribe to take down his words just so he wouldn't forget them. “Ok, go ahead.”
“First guess – dungeons with temples don't give xp or loot but they used to. Once the temple was built those rewards turned off.” Jay started.
Orin nodded, Jay was merely saying what other priests had already guessed.
“Second guess – the Church didn't like that. They needed a way to lock down those dungeons but no one would want to clear them unless there was a decent reward.” Jay continued.
Orin shrugged, that was just basic economics.
“Third guess – the Church built a way of providing alternate rewards aside from loot drops and experience points and gold. Instead a dungeon runner would only gain points and then use those points to pick out and purchase their own reward. People would come from all around for a chance at running a dungeon where you could pick your reward out yourself.” Jay said slowly as he commanded his staff to shrink and attached it to his backpack before he turned back to face Orin.
“It's in line with Gaia's core concept of Choice – She would have liked the idea of people choosing their own rewards, She loves Choice. At some point maintenance needed to be done on whatever was handing out the rewards but when it completed for whatever reason there were no more Travelers to reactivate it.” Jay said with a shrug.
“Those are my guesses.” Jay finished and grinned as the scribe scribbled furiously.
“And you managed to restart whatever it was that needed to be restarted?” Orin asked, still looking a bit shocked at everything. A number of Church Guards were passing through the room in full armor and armed with pikes. They ran out of the room and headed towards the front of the Temple to help with crowd control.
Jay and his group all nodded, “Yes, we did. Just wait until you hear about the fight!”
Orin appeared thoughtful, “Did you earn any points?”
M'redith nodded, “We all did. If you can clear out a few terminal slabs we can spend them and tell you how it goes?”
Orin shouted at the group gathered around the central pylon and the people clustered in front of the display slabs. “Make a path! Everyone MOVE!” he said in a booming voice that brought all the conversations in the room to a halt. “If you don't have points then back away from the terminals.”
Not many people moved. The draw of a newly discovered feature in the temple at the entrance to a dungeon was just too much excitement.
Orin motioned at one guard, “Cory could you and a few of the boys clear people out for me? I'm not sure everyone really needs to be here.”
The guard nodded. He looked like every other guard and Jay would have found it impossible to pick him out of a crowd but Orin managed to recognize him apparently. The guard motioned to a few other guards and began herding the crowd towards the stairs leading upstairs.
Once the guard had cleared everyone out the room was a lot quieter. It was Orin, his scribe, a few Church Guards, and Glimmerhide Group with Angelica.
Orin motioned Jay to go ahead and Jay walked up to the central pylon. It was ringed with eight glowing slabs and Jay chose one at random and placed his hand on its smooth cool surface. A notification appeared in front of him.
Welcome to the Kagan's Dome Rewards Terminal.
You may choose a reward if you have points or ask for help.
You have 1000 points.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Jay explained what he saw to the gathered group before picking help.
This Rewards Terminal is used to spend points gained while running the Kagan's Dome dungeon. You may pay either 100 points for a Small Choice, or 500 points for a Greater Choice. Once the points are paid you will be presented with a number of options, of which you may only choose one. All selections are final.
Jay read the help description out to the rest of the group. Everyone nodded in understanding, it seemed like a fairly simple process. Run a dungeon, get points, pick a prize size, pay points, pick your prize. Easy.
Jay selected Greater Choice and the notification disappeared. Instead three windows displayed next to each other appeared. These would be his offered rewards.
Serbo's Gloves of Retention – Uncommon – While wielding a weapon you may not be disarmed while wearing these gloves. Scaling walls, climbing rope, and any action that requires a secure grip are easier to perform. Grappling attacks performed by the wearer will do extra crushing damage. The gloves may not be removed except by the owner. The gloves are enchanted and are resistant to damage.
S'hal'n' Elven Tattoo Kit – Very Rare – This kit comes with everything needed to begin practicing elvish tattoos and includes instruction booklets, inks, needle sets, practice wafers, and a selection of starter tattoos. Each tattoo confers permanent benefits to the wearer. Additional tattoos may be unlocked through the use of upgrade stones – that is in addition to the normal upgrades provided by upgrade stones.
Casper's Spellcaster – Very Rare – This device is a small box with a sliding lid. The owner may open the lid and press the trigger inside to summon a Spirit Mantle. The mantle is insubstantial and does not interact with normal matter. It does however remain attached to the caster. The mantle allows the wearer to interact with spiritual objects as if they were substantial. After one minute the mantle disperses and the user must wait 24 hours before the box may be used again.
As Jay finished his group looked very excited at Jay's third option. They were all amazing choices but the third one was the exact item Jay's group needed to run the Dungeon of Rebirth. Jay couldn't pass up the chance and selected Casper's Spellcaster.
Orin looked a little surprised at Jay's choice, “Really? You had the chance to learn how to do elven tattooing, an art so old most barely remember it even exists, and you picked a crappy spellcaster instead?”
Jay smiled, “I say this with one hundred percent sincerity – I picked the one I thought Gaia would want me to pick.”
Orin looked a little surprised at Jay's answer but didn't know how to reply to it. Orin opened his mouth but then closed it without speaking. After a moment he nodded, “Ok. I can respect that. Still, I'm not sure you realize what you just turned down.”
Jay nodded, “I'm certain I don't realize what I just turned down but I'm just as certain I picked what I was supposed to.”
Jay's group did not appear flustered at all by Jay's choice. They would have picked the same thing no matter how tempting the elvish tattoo kit was. And it was tempting. It was literally a lost art and would have been an amazing money maker, not to mention the bonuses it would give to the wearer of each tattoo. Still, Jay had picked what he thought was right.
Angelica just looked shocked. She was used to running a dungeon where if you were lucky you might get a chance at rolling on loot. It was not uncommon to run a dungeon and only come away with a split of the coin. Here she had just witnessed a level 4 character choose between an Uncommon reward and two Very Rare rewards. It was a big deal and she was already wondering how to get on the Church's list of dungeon runners.
The rest of the group grew too excited and they broke up as each began using the prize terminals themselves. Orin went from person to person and was confused to find that one item appeared for each of the group.
Casper's Spellcaster.
Each of the group was offered the item and four of them chose it. Angelica chose instead a Luminous Patch. It wrapped permanantly around one end of her rod and burst in to brilliance when she commanded it to.
“What?” she asked when she activated it and the room lit up even brighter than it had been a moment before. “I hate carrying lanterns!” A moment later she commanded it to dim once again.
M'redith grinned, “No one is complaining. I'm happy you found something you like!”
Angelica tilted her head to the side, “You guys all had amazing choices didn't you.”
The group looked a little guilty but nodded.
“And you still chose those crappy spellcasters?” she asked with squinted eyes as she peered at the group.
Everyone nodded. Jay shrugged.
“You guys aren't telling me something. Did I make a bad choice?” she suddenly asked feeling confused.
Aiden shook his head, “We picked the items because we need them for something. Otherwise I would have loved to have gotten a Luminous Patch. I hate lanterns too.”
Jay checked his point balance.
You have 500 points.
Jay could buy five small choices or one greater choice. Jay went with the greater choice. He wanted to see if it offered just as impressive rewards as his first round had.
Starburst Pouch – Rare – A small pouch containing fine black sand. When a pinch of sand is thrown on the ground a blinding white flash is produced along with heavy smoke, concealing the user. The pouch carries enough sand for three pinches after which it will require 24 hours to recharge. This item must be bound before use.
Dwarven Baoding Balls – Very Rare - Two jade colored round balls in a small red felt covered box. The two balls are placed in to one hand and rotated around each other. The balls will make chime sounds when rotated correctly. If the balls are used in both hands for 30 seconds in one hand and then the other the user will receive a bonus to their crushing damage regardless of the weapon used so long as it does crushing damage. The bonus will last for one hour. Originally created for hammer wielding dwarven warriors these balls were often carried in to battle by those that could afford them.
Secure Coin Pouch – Rare – This pouch is bigger on the inside than the outside. You may fit a virtually limitless amount of coin inside the pouch. The pouch will inform the owner of the contained coins upon request. The owner may mentally think of a sum and the pouch will dispense the exact amount. The pouch may only be handled by the user. All coin is magically stored and may only be removed by the owner.
Jay read out his items but no one was there to hear him. Everyone was focused on their own choices. The Starburst Pouch sounded very useful. He currently had no way of escaping from a fight and would really love to fix that. The Baoding Balls looked impressive. He'd yet to see anything about Dwarfs in Eden and thought it was interesting that one of their items showed up on his rewards list.
Still, he didn't do a lot of damage with his staff as it was. He was good at defense but offense did not appear to be his specialty.
The secure coin pouch would be helpful. At least he wouldn't have to worry about having his coin stolen. He hadn't really worried about that yet to be honest though. Most of his money he kept with Boland and he usually only carried 50 silver or less.
Jay really liked the idea of being able to blind everyone and run away so he picked Starburst Pouch with a shrug.
The pouch appeared in his inventory and he took it out and put it in one of his many pockets.
Jay had just finished when a harried looking Walter walked in to the room. He was wearing an impressively tailored black suit and his hair was out of place as if he had just walked in out of the wind.
“There he is. Making waves again huh Jay?” Walter said as he headed over to him. “How are you?”
Jay grinned, “I made trouble for you again huh?”
Walter shook his head, “You made trouble for everyone it seems like. The Church is demanding to know what The Guild did to their dungeon and why everything is lighting up. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?” he said with a hopeful smile.
Orin had been talking with Angelica but wandered over to Jay when he saw Walter arrive.
“Walter. Good to see you.” Orin said with a nod.
Walter nodded back. “You too Orin. So. I guess we should all have a talk?”