Alaska breathed deep, standing at the foot of the mountain she could see the winding trails leading to the cloud covered peak, the game making it possible to distinguish details from any distance was one of the few surreal effects that Players got used to over time.
Deciding not to gamble with flight she thumped the simple looking staff in the ground and made her first step in a dungeon for over six months, her usual party was probably still lounging on the main deck of the ship she left less than an hour ago.
Surveying her inventory again to see if anythin was missing she took another step before the messages telling her about the dungeon were blocked, she read them already on her way here, there were non magic fields that killed anyone stupid enough to use magical flight and wind currents would crush whoever tried to fly in some other way.
The first pass was ahead of her, after walking for an hour in the sparse trees that hid low level monsters scaring away any fools that tried to conquer the mountain without the proper gear and levels, having something like half a legacy character, it was her own make but boosted by hidden knowlege from generations of Players, and the newly aquired artifacts that were powerful enough to compete with any monster she ever met around here on previous raiding parties, picking it from the board was just random, but after playing as long as she did there wasn't an unconquered quest she didn't try before, though this would be her first solo run of the gauntlet.
The first passage was all about brute force, hunting the monsters lurking in the wood until you found the stone with the right symbol and it showed you the way to the other side, most unprepared players got lost here, but the hardcore part only started after you left so a lot of parties came here to farm for usually less common resources dropped from the various animals.
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Going without a party let her explore the area beyond the common used paths, something she never did because solid parties preferred to either farm the areas most dense with whatever resource they needed or jaunted to the bosses to get the marked stone with the higher drop rate, so she left the trails and went to check on whatever drew her fancy at the moment, after all she came here to escape, not with any particular goal in mind.
Barely perceptible footmarks lead her deep into the forest where majestic trees shaded the ground animal calls filled the air with a pleasant melody, surprised nothing attacked her yet she followed the light tracks in a circle meeting her own footsteps, tghtening her grip on the staff she prepared to fight whatever lead her to this trap.
"Who speaks for the wind?" Alaska heard a voice but couln't see anyone.
She knew this story, "the trees with their falling leaves speak for the wind" she answerd in the exact words and pulled out WindSpeaker from her memory bank, the next question should be who speaks for the night.
"Who speaks for the night?" Alaska could cry when she heard it quickly answering the woods spoke for the night, and the hallows spoke for the lost and the beads spoke with the dead, it was a children's tale, about a young boy looking for his mother in the halls of dead kings and finally coming to power through guile and charisma, he spoke for the wind in the great hall of nature and made the gods let humans wield magic so they can survive against the monsters.
Alaska's heart ponded as she went through the phrases of the opening ceremony of nature, she never heard of it but obviously the story held some truth and Players couln't hide a good story from their peers only change the setting so it was harder to find, from the shadows walked a creature borne from the night and carrying the win on its hide whispering secrets of a long gone past, Alaska stared at the hulking beast with branches growing from its back and horns that could tear her to pieces but its gait wasnt menacing, it stopped before her and steam came from its bull like nose, "a challenger at last" it spoke with the deep voice she heard before, rumbling through the words like rocks falling down a mountain, "will you choose might, magic or mastery?" it asked at last and settled down before her, blending with the forest and becoming a gently sloped hill.