Jake panted as he followed behind the ghostly stag. They’d been moving for around two hours now and there was no apparent end in sight, Jake only able to guess what this “Shrine of the Wilds” would look like. He swore as the skull in his arms somehow managed to get its antlers tangled in a low hanging creeper for what felt like the thirtieth time in the last hour, yanking it free as he hurried after the stag. He gave a groan as the ghost passed through yet another tree, forcing Jake to go around the wide trunk, giving the skull more opportunities to get caught in underbrush or on branches and creepers. He wasn't even sure why he was bringing the thing, only that it seemed to exude a hidden power, and he thought it might be important. He would have just put it in his new bag, but it turned out that it was some kind of special item that refused to enter his inventory. He wasn’t even sure why he was bringing it with him, just that it seemed important.
It also didn’t help that the further north they travelled, the thicker and denser the underbrush seemed to become, lush plants growing all over forcing Jake to push through them or skirt around. There was even a good number of the mushrooms Jake had been collecting before, though now he didn’t have the time to stop and grab them. He clambered his way through another patch of undergrowth, muttering quietly under his breath as the skull got caught halfway through, wondering if he could just saw its antlers off.
Another hour of slow but steady travel passed, Jake starting to feel like he was about to snap from the infuriating antics of the skull, and the occasional sarcastic snort of the stag. He pushed his way through a clump of bushes after the stag, before almost walking straight into its rump. Blinking in surprise, he walked around the side of the ghostly beast, looking around the small clearing in confusion.
“What’s going on?” Jake asked, “Are we there? Where’s the shrine?”
The stag just snorted as it looked at the small hill that rose up from the ground in front of them, Jake staring at it in confusion. He couldn’t exactly tell, but there was something off about the hill itself, apart from the complete lack of trees on it. Stepping forwards, he pushed his hand into the soft soil that covered it, brushing away at the surface until his fingers hit stone.
“What?” he blinked, “Wait…is this the shrine? This hill? Or is it something inside it?”
Behind him the stag just snorted, leaving him to stare at the strange bulge in the earth for a moment. Setting the skull down, he kneeled beside the hill, digging his fingers into the dirt and pulling it away, a strange sense of excitement rising in his chest. Twenty minutes later, he’d made his way almost a quarter of the way around the hills base, digging out the soil until he found a change in the structure.
A hole, the perfect width to be a door, sat in the curved wall of the dome that made up the hill, facing due south. A new sense of vigour rushing through him, Jake quickly worked to unearth the apparent doorway, frowning slightly when he found a stone plinth about a meter in, blocking the hole. He didn’t let it perturb him though, simply continuing to empty the space as quickly as he could. Several hours later, he stared at the strange statue that sat in the hollow.
It looked vaguely feminine in shape and stood just slightly shorter than Jake himself. The statue itself was covered in detailed carvings across its surface, making it look like the woman’s body was meant to be formed out of leaves and vines. The strangest thing about it though, was its lack of a head. It wasn’t like the head had broken off, but rather that it hadn’t been added to the statue at all, instead only a stone rod sticking up out of the neck.
Stepping back, Jake stared at the statue some more, looking over to the ghostly stag for some clue, but the creature only snorted at him in mirth. Shaking his head, Jake walked over to where he’d left the skull, sitting down beside it as he stared at the statue some more.
“Maybe you’ll be better company?” he chuckled weakly to himself as he patted the skull, glancing at the ghostly stag as it simply watched him, “At least you won’t be sarcastic all the time.”
Picking the skull up, Jake started to inspect it, wondering if it had any clues on what he was supposed to do. Turning it over, he saw the hole for the spine in the back of the skull, a thought occurring to him. Getting back to his feet, he walked over to the statue, inspecting the stone rod again. It was just the right size to fit into the hole on the back of the skull and would allow the skull to hang off the neck like it was the head. Of course, this would be a little macabre, but it wasn’t like Jake had any better ideas. Shrugging his shoulders, he carefully slid the skull onto the rod, setting it down on the neck and stepping back.
“Just as I thought,” Jake said as he looked at it, “It’s kind of creepy.”
The ghostly stag just snorted, making Jake look at it for a moment before the ground beneath him shook. Snapping his head back around, Jake watched open mouthed as the statue started to glow, lines of soft green light flowing down the carvings on its body and limbs. At the same time glowing symbols started to appear as the dirt and mulch that had covered the structure for who knew how long was shaken off. In only a few minutes the entire dome was clear of dirt, an intricate pattern etched onto its surface in glowing green lines. The floor shook again, the dome suddenly splitting apart down the centre, the two halves of sliding back to reveal the secrets within.
Jake gasped as he was knocked off his feet by the shaking, watching as the dome slid under the ground, the statue gone as rows of stone benches appeared from the ground around him, ripping up the soil as they rose. The stone in front of him shuddered, before lifting slightly to form a series of steps. In barely a minute, Jake found himself sitting at the edge of a raised plinth, a large rectangular altar sitting at its centre. Getting to his feet Jake stared at the strange structure that had appeared around him, his heart beating in his chest.
The ghost stag simply trotted past him, going up onto the raised section of stone, looking expectedly down at him from beside the stone altar. Shaking his head, Jake followed after the stag, walking slowly up the three stone steps before approaching the large piece of carved stone. However, the stone was the furthest thing from his mind as he looked at it, rather the object that rested on top of it catching his attention as he used [Inspect] on it.
Ritual Dagger of the Wilds
A ritual dagger used for ancient rites.
Quality: Epic
[Sapping Roots]
Soulbound
Jake couldn’t help but stare at the knife in front of him. It was made of some type of wood, blade and all, Jake getting the feeling that it was incredibly sharp regardless of the material. Reaching out, he made to grab the weapon, stopping quickly as he looked around. This was a sacred place, right? It wouldn’t be right for him to steal an artefact that was probably important to it. Shaking his head, he stepped back from the altar.
“Again, you spurn greed,” the familiar voice said from behind him, making Jake spin around in surprise, staring at the statue standing in front of him, “I am impressed. You pass.”
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Quest Complete: Path of the Wild
You have encountered a strange entity that has entreated you to meet it at the Shrine of the Wilds in the northern part of the Dark Woods.
Objectives:
Follow the Guardian Stag Spirit 1/1
Find the Shrine of the Wilds 1/1
Bonus Objectives:
Open the Shrine of the Wilds 1/1
Prove yourself 1/1
Rewards:
Quest
Weapon
“What?” Jake blinked, staring at the skull-headed statue in confusion for a solid minute before he managed to speak again, “What?”
“How amusing,” the statue laughed gently, “You truly are an interesting being. It has been millennia since I last saw fit to speak with a mortal, let alone a Traveller, yet here we are.”
“Who…who are you?” Jake asked still slightly dumbfounded by everything that had happened.
“Me?” the statue hummed, cocking the skull to the side, “I am Gaia. And who might you be?”
------
Andy groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling of the small house.
“Screw this,” he heard someone growl beside him, turning his head to see another player getting up off the floor and stomping towards the door, “No way in hell am I dealing with this shit anymore! The rest of my party already have their Classes, and I’m stuck here dealing with fucking rats in a basement!”
Andy flinched at the mention of the rats.
The first time he’d been sent into the dark basement, he’d found himself in a dark room, only a small lantern the old man had given him to light his way. His job was simply to clear the basement, though if that meant killing all the rats, or simply getting to the end, he didn’t know. With his main hand occupied by the lantern, he’d been unable to draw his sword when he heard the first squeak, turning around just in time to see the cat-sized rat leaping at his face. He’d managed to block it more on instinct than anything else, sending the rodent of unusual size skittering back into the darkness.
Andy had looked around for somewhere to set the lantern so he could draw his sword but had quickly been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of rats that came out of the darkness the moment he drew his blade. Then he’d woken up in the kitchen of the old man’s house, lying beside the trap door that led to the basement. Of course, Andy had delved straight back in, setting the lantern down and drawing his sword the moment he got to the bottom of the stairs, only to be swarmed once again.
On his third attempt, he had kept the lantern in hand, walking slowly through the dark room, following the walls as he searched for the supposed end. He’d had to block a few rats leaping at him from the darkness but had managed to keep the things at bay until he found a small door. Walking through it, he found a near identical room to the first, except this time two rats leapt out at him at once. He’d managed to make it halfway across before one of the rodents had latched onto his calf, bringing him to his knees and having him swarmed.
He'd tried five more times since then, having been joined by a few other hopefuls that had managed to weather the old man’s long stories, but most of them gave up after the third or fourth try. Getting up again, Andy accepted the cup of water from the old man as he busied himself around the kitchen, kicking a few of the unconscious players awake as he made breakfast. Shaking his head, Andy drained the cup, placing it down on the table, and heading straight back down into the basement.
“Must be a puzzle or skill challenge,” he muttered to himself like he had every time after the fourth attempt, “Just have to figure out the solution or make it to the end. No big deal.”
Taking a breath of the stale air, Andy set off in the direction of the door, blocking the few rats that leapt at him easily. The second room was crossed just as easily, Andy dodging or blocking the pairs of rats that leapt at him. The third room saw three of the creatures attacking, Andy just blocking one, dodging another and kicking the third out of the air, sending them skittering back into the darkness as he steadily made his way through the room. The fourth room was the hardest so far, Andy unable to keep the fourth rat from being able to bite him in the thigh, though he simply knocked the beast away and kept going. The pain started to cloud his mind as he took another bite to the arm, then a third to the side, before finally reaching the door. Gripping the handle, he yanked it open and stepped cautiously in.
This was the furthest he’d managed to get so far. Did that mean it was the final room? Or was he not even halfway through the challenge. The thought of having to fight off more than five rats made him shudder. Looking around, Andy found himself in a room nearly identical to all the others, plank walls and dirt floor included, except that it was actually somewhat illuminated by several lanterns hanging off the walls. A loud squeak made him almost drop his own lantern as he looked at the centre of the room, eyes going wide at the massive rat waiting for him.
It was easily as big as a medium-sized dog, its body covered in thick dark fur. It stared at him for a moment, seemingly waiting for something as Andy stood frozen. Swallowing, he carefully set the lantern down on the ground, checking around for signs of any other rats, before drawing his sword. The rat immediately hissed, jumping back into the shadows, and almost completely disappearing, Andy only able to track it from the reflections of the lanterns in its beady eyes.
It leapt at him, Andy raising his shield and bracing himself as the heavy rodent slammed into him, the rat falling backwards as it bounced off. He stepped forward, following the movements he’d honed over hundreds of hours of playing fantasy FD games, bringing his blade down on the rat’s exposed stomach. The beast suddenly flipped over, only letting him catch its flank as it shot back into the shadows, before circling around and trying to leap at him again.
Andy rebuffed it again, swinging his shield through the air to strike the rat in the nose, sending it flying back with a pained squeak, rolling around for a moment as it clutched its snout. This moment was all Andy needed, rushing forwards, and stabbing the rat in the gut. The rat shrieked and struggled in an attempt to get away, but only succeeded in cutting its own belly open even more. A moment later, the creature stilled, Andy realising that he was panting heavily as he pulled his sword from the monster and wiped the blade off on its fur.
Now that the immediate threat was dealt with, Andy looked around the room again, eyes falling on an old shield hanging from the far wall. He wasn’t sure why, but he was drawn to it, walking up and looking at it more closely. He knew it was probably just some kind of decoration, but he still focussed on it, even using his [Inspect] Skill just to be sure.
Weathered Defender’s Kite Shield
A well-used kite shield.
Quality: Rare
[Lesser Aegis]
Andy couldn’t help but gasp. This was a rare shield! One with an ability to boot! And it was just hanging on the wall, ripe for the taking! But did that mean it was his reward, or was this also part of the test? Shaking his head, he stepped back from the shield.
“Nah,” he sighed, “As good as it is, I’d prefer to get my own custom shield.”
“Well done,” Andy jumped at the words, spinning around to see the old man standing behind him, “I have to say, I’m impressed.”
“Oh, uhm…thank you?” And nodded, wondering if the praise was because he’d left the shield or completed the challenge, “Was this your shield?”
“It is my shield,” the old man chuckled, walking up beside Andy and looking at the item, his gaze turning nostalgic, “Been a while since I wielded it though. Age gets the best of you eventually, my bones are too brittle now, you see.”
“Ah, that makes sense,” Andy nodded, easily recalling how solid the old man had seemed when he’d bowled Andy over at their first meeting, “So…what now?”
“Now?” the old man chuckled, “Now we go get some breakfast. And not the gruel the rest are eating. No, you passed all the tests, so you get bacon! I love me some bacon.”
“Wait…what do you mean tests?” Andy asked as they left, the man looking around for the rats to come jumping out of the darkness again, but none came.
“The tests of patience, perseverance and action,” the old man hummed as they reached the stairs, looking at Andy, “You think I enjoy telling those long-winded stories with my old mind?”
“Wait, so they’re actually a test?” Andy gasped.
“Yep, but don’t go spreading that information around,” the old man chuckled, tapping the sided of his nose, “Got to make sure we don’t get any undeserving lot getting this Class.”
“Right,” Andy nodded, still slightly stunned by the revelation, before something caught his attention, “Wait…you mean I get the Class?”
“You already have it,” the old man laughed as they exited the basement, Andy noticing that there were even less people than before, “Congratulations, young Defender. May your shield be ever between you and your enemy.”