QUESTS [SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER] [ARCHIVED]

[calderaevents]

SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER [ARCHIVED]

DRYAD QUESTS

★★☆☆☆ The Danger Room

Nesbit Stoutkind, renowned wizard of the Soot Spire, has been working on a training room of sorts for the city guard and the patrols that walk the Long Road. The manner of magics required to summon facsimiles of creatures and bandits that can react and use battle tactics are extremely complex, and Captain Innoll, head of the city guard and land patrols, has refused to commit any soldiers to testing it until its well into trial phase.

With no other options, Archmagus Stoutkind is offering payment from his personal accounts for any who are willing to take the risk of helping him work out the kinks. In addition to the risk of fighting the summoned creatures, it's entirely possible they may explode into sparks. Or turn into puddles of acid. Or suddenly start breathing fire when they shouldn't be able to. Look, just sign this waiver and take your payment, you should be honored to take risks in the name of progress!

(Stoutkind is also offering to pay any capable healers to stay on site while training is in progress.)

REWARDS: 100 Bones | 50 bonus Bones for an accompanying healer | Non-Dryad Bonus: 10 Bones

★★★☆☆ Bad Moon Rising

The last full moon, a young woman named Lily Hayward was attacked by a creature she swears was a werewolf, and she is terrified that she only has a month to cure herself of the affliction. She is begging for someone to help her gather ingredients for a potion that she has been assured will neutralize the lycanthropy curse:

-A chunk of driftwood, crystalized with salt
-A bundle of seeded silverpaw blossoms, which grow around the mid peaks of the Skyward Mountains
-A jar full of black sand, patches of which can be found at the eastern edges of the Deadlands
-A small bag of white gooseberries, which only grow on the floating islands of Heaven’s Bow

Some of the ingredients are easy enough to find and recover, such as the gooseberries and the silverpaws, and the driftwood. But the harsh climate of the Deadlands, combined with roving bandits, large stinging insects and hungry predators always looking for easy prey, in addition to the rarity of the black sand, make that particular ingredient challenging. The potion also needs at least 2 weeks to properly brew, so Lily’s time is rapidly running out.

REWARDS: 150 Bones | Non-Dryad Bonus: 25 Bones

★★☆☆☆ To Pour From an Empty Well

The residents of Hardersfield, a tiny hamlet of sheep and goat farms that lies halfway between Grey Ward and Berry Burrow, recently made a curious discovery. While clearing an area to build a new barn, they uncovered the remains of an old, dried up well. Curiously, anything dropped into the well seems to vanish without a trace, as though the well has no bottom. At first, it was simply a curious novelty, and a convenient place to dispose of any waste. That is, until the day a frantically barking Border Collie returned home without his owner: a young sheep herder named Tymothee. The boy’s father, following the dog’s lead, discovered to his horror that while trying to round up the sheep, Tymothee had fallen down the well. Desperate, the residents of Hardersfield are offering a reward to anyone brave enough to descend into the strange well and save the young boy. In addition to payment, they are supplying rope and a few precious fairystone lanterns to those willing to make the attempt.

For how bottomless the well seems, the descent is not terribly long. The bottom of the well opens up into a large, pitch black cavern, an almost unnatural darkness; even the magical properties of the lanterns struggle to light more than a few feet of space around the one holding it. The refuse the residents of Hardersfield threw into the well litter the cavern floor, and a thin stream of what looks like blood, but is in fact merely water tinged red by algae, winds further into the abyss. Following it marks a path that narrows slowly, with strange scraggly ferns and thin, thorny branches sprouting from the rocky walls. On and on the path goes, narrowing and squeezing, but just before it becomes too tight to navigate, it opens again…into a cavern nearly identical to the previous one, at the center of which is another well. From within this hole one can hear the quiet sobs of a young boy. Descending into it reveals young Tymothee, hungry and dehydrated and clutching a broken leg, but alive. The curious thing is that the cavern again seems identical, absent the piles of refuse littering the first one. If one tries to press further in, they are overcome with a sudden, horrible feeling of dread. Do you press past it? If so, you find the pattern loops yet again…only this time, the well at the end is filled with red water, barring you from going further down, and you could swear you hear whispers and soft, breathless laughter hissing at you from the darkness. You should leave with the boy, and claim your reward. There’s nothing more for you here.

REWARDS: 50 Bones | Non-Dryad Bonus: 10 Bones

★★☆☆☆ Runaway Bride

Isabella de Woerden, the only daughter of a wealthy merchant that resides in one of the largest manors in Grey Ward, is set to marry the eldest son of the richest and most prosperous mining company. The union is set to benefit both families and is more of a trade agreement than a true marriage. The problem? Isabella has been in love with a poor miller from Oak Run since they were both young. She planned to run away to be with him, but alas, her father caught wind of her intentions and has locked her up until her wedding day.

Worry not for the path of true love, however, as Isabella has come up with a new plan. In secret, through her maid, she is hiring a group of visitors to pose as bandits to accost the caravan carrying her to intended, incapacitate the guards, and see her safely to Terra’s Pass, where a horse and a faithful friend wait to whisk her away down the Long Road, all the way to Oak Run. There, she and her beloved will disappear into the Great Shroud forest, where her father will never find them. Isabella promises that she can handle it from there–though, if one is willing to plant her torn and blooded cloak somewhere for her father’s men to find, she will offer a bonus payment.

REWARDS: 100 Bones | +50 Bones for planting her cloak as requested | Non-Dryad Bonus: 10 Bones

★★★★☆ The Children Yearn for the Mines (part 2)

PART 1

Your efforts to recover the lost children bore fruit, even if you felt your attempts weren't useful. With the location they vanished in narrowed down, a concentrated search is being organized and carried out. If you choose to join the search party and see it through, you and the villagers discover a cave entry--almost by accident, with one of the villagers falling into it. A clever bit of illusory magic has been used to conceal the opening completely. Within, you find a very disturbing scene. Thick webbing, wriggling egg sacs, a network of tunnels and strange creatures, abominations of insect and human hybrids. When you discover a clutch of child-like creatures with beautiful butterfly wings, you realize what lead the children from their homes and into the wilderness.

Thankfully, it isn't too late. The children have been either been wrapped up in a chrysalis for transformation, or in a cocoon for, er, safekeeping. Free them and lead them from the caverns...and if possible, slay as many of the creatures as you can. It won't be easy. The apparent queen of the colony, a vicious and powerful drider, is not willing to relinquish her hold on her blossoming children--and her meals--so easily.

REWARDS: 200 Bones | Non-Dryad Bonus: 50

UNDINE QUESTS

★★★☆☆ Hydra Hunt

Local bookbinder Ambrose Featheraxe is in desperate need of Hydra hide, but cannot venture out to retrieve them given his old age, and with the repairs still ongoing to Salt Spire, his usual helpers are not so readily available.

Hydras are often found not far from Blueshore Post in dark, deep caves that locals try to avoid. They are violent and each of their heads has a new and terrible trick: icy breath, poison fangs, increased strength for each head it regains, and numerous other abilities that make it a terrifying opponent. Ambrose suggested before you left you might want an amethyst tipped spear from the blacksmith in town - it is the only way to assure the Hydra's head does not reproduce.

...he did mention that, right?

REWARDS: 50 Bones per hide (max 100) | Non-Undine Bonus: 20 bones

★★★★☆ Crimson Waters

A notorious pirate captain and his crew have decided to take advantage of Salt Spire's brief moment of weakness, taking their crystalline ships directly to the spaces outside the bubble where people have been working to repair it. They take anything they can grab and do not hesitate to kill or capture those that try to fight back or resist.

The Queen's Guard already have far too much on their plates and have asked the Visitors to assist in thwarting the pirate attacks. The captain of the Bad Dragon, one Crimson Waters, is a former Undine with flaming red hair and an ego the size of the entirety of Caldera. His crew is large and they're all willing to kill just as much as they are to steal from innocents. Recover stolen cargo, rescue hostages and be rewarded for your efforts. Bring the Queen's Guard the captain's head, and bonus Bones will be yours.

Crimson Waters' affinity with a sword and how even through turbulent seas, he somehow always manages to stay on his feet makes him a formidable foe. It won't be an easy fight!

REWARDS: 25 Bones per rescued hostage/cargo (max 100), +100 Bonus bones for killing Crimson Waters and bringing back his head. | Non-Undine Bonus: 10 Bones.

(obviously he can be killed more than once for the sake of numerous people doing this quest).

★★☆☆☆ The Cult of Triton

With no written history to be found, the local Calderans have only word of mouth to keep their legends and lore alive. The story of Triton, a once dedicated member of the Queen's Guard, is one told through the generations. As the legend goes, Triton was once Queen Cordelia's secret lover and would-be king, were he not murdered by Queen Cordelia herself when she grew paranoid her people would prefer him on the throne over her. His body was, supposedly, tossed into the Violet Drop.

Few believe this to be true; that Cordelia is too kind a ruler and held no lovers in her rule. But those that believe have formed a cult dedicated to Triton that meets near the drop, praying for his return from the dead to take Cordelia's place and rule the seas as he was always meant to. Most chalked it up to nonsense and lunacy, but now the cult has begun to steal people from their beds to toss them into the drop to sacrifice them to Triton. You need to put a stop to their terrible deeds before anyone else is harmed.

REWARDS: 25 Bones per captured or killed cultist. (100 max) | Non-Undine Bonus: 20 Bones

★☆☆☆☆ Kelp Me!

"My husband can't resist an adventure even in these turbulent times, and I fear something dreadful had happened. Will you find him for me? If nothing else, please bring me back the seashell necklace he always wore. Thank you."

Calliope, a local baker, has asked for the retrieval of her adventurous husband, Elthund, who went diving two days ago and has not returned. He shouldn't be far from the city. Either find him alive or take the necklace from his body to return to his wife.

[Elthund is alive, trapped in a kelp forest not far outside of Salt Spire. Oddly, when you meet him, he is not wearing his necklace, having apparently lost it somewhere in the kelp.]


REWARDS: Rescue Elthund: 50 Bones | Non-Undine Bonus: 20 Bones

★★☆☆☆ The Wreck of the Leviathan (part 2)

PART 1

The three adventurers returned safely to Salt Spire with the Visitor's assistance, alerting the Queens Guard that one of their number was still missing out in Anchor Wash. One of the Guard, a young woman named Orla, has volunteered to spearhead the rescue mission.

Orla is a fierce and powerful warrior of the Queen's elite guard and she is fully dedicated to aiding the lost Undine. However, she cannot do it alone and whoever joins her needs to be equipped properly for the dangers of Anchor Wash and the Leviathan. Orla has a list of items she needs for this mission and she expects it to be filled quickly:

1. Backup rebreathers. These are easily obtained at the docks and will not cost extra bones, especially if you toss around Orla's name.

2. Weighted boots. The current is especially dangerous in Anchor Wash, and Orla suggests weighted boots to wade through the depths without being swept away - especially if you don't have the enhanced swim speed of the Undine. The inventors up on Grey Ward can craft them, but you'll need to go into the mines to gather the necessary ore for them to do so.

3. Underwater Lanterns. The lanterns used underwater are made with special crystals found in Infinity Cove. Orla insists the whole legend of venturing there with your true love is just nonsense. Go and gather the crystals so they have enough light for the journey to the Leviathan.

REWARDS: 100 Bones | Non-Undine Bonus: 10 Bones

SYLPH QUESTS

★★☆☆☆ An Ancient Secret

A new sky island has been discovered near Gold Reach with giant trees so thick and dense that it's impossible to tell how old this forest is. The island clearly came from below, as nothing this large could grow naturally in the sky... could it? The forest feels ancient, like it could perhaps be older than Caldera itself. Locals are afraid to approach it due to superstition saying it might be full of ancient secrets that no person should ever find--that it had vanished for a reason, and whatever force that brought it back must be evil. Still, Sylphs are nothing if not curious...

An archaeologist named Leofard Avalor from Heaven's Bow has taken an interest in the land and is hiring adventurers to take him deep into the forest despite protests from the locals of Gold Reach. He will provide an airship to any who dare enter with him to sail to the island, and promises to split any rewards you might find.

Upon landing the airship and setting foot on the island, a child's sobbing is heard in the distance. With each step you take, the sobs seem to grow further and further away. If that doesn't seem to work, a voice from your past will cry out begging for your help. Something sinister is beckoning you into the ancient forest... but maybe you shouldn't follow it. Leofard does not wish to press too far, and eventually you will stumble across some ancient stone tablets with strange drawings you do not recognize. Your group can haul them back to the airship, and Leofard promises to study the tablets and let you know what he can glean from them. He seems terrified and refuses to stay on the island any longer.

REWARDS: 100 Bones | Non-Sylph Bonus: 10 Bones

★★☆☆☆ God Save the Bees

Given Aella's blessing of experimentation as long as it never hurts another Sylph, many scholars and alchemists have since settled near Gangcheori's Spine to conduct all sorts of experiments due to the lush life outside the spine and the brimstone heat found within the old skeleton. This has lead so some... unfortunate mishaps.

An alchemist was working on three special breeds of bees to help promote plant life in all of Caldera, each breed designed to survive the climate of land, sky, or sea. Unfortunately for her, her first experiment went wrong--and now the bees are on fire, rabid, and hostile to anyone that comes near their hive. She's requested help with the extermination of them but requests that the queen be brought back alive so she can take a look at what went wrong. She also added a request in case any of the special honey can be found.

Upon quest completion, the bees must be eradicated (save the queen, if you choose--who can be jarred and returned to the alchemist for extra rewards). The honey can be located in a tree nearby where the bees have made their home--it's a hot honey, spicy but sweet and perfect on all sorts of food.

REWARDS: Eradicate Bees: 75 bones | Save the queen: 25 bones | Gather a honey sample: 25 bones | non-Sylph bonus: 10 bones

★★★★☆ Ghost Ship in a Bottle

Some sky pirates have been ravaging the skies and taking prisoners below the deck of their ship. Their ship is unlike any other airship and instead seems like an ordinary ocean-faring vessel that somehow flies using some sort of powerful dark magic. You've been tasked with stopping these pirates.

The only human on board seems to be the Captain, Cassius Drake. He seems to be a madman who fears nothing and no one--and why should he, when his ship's crew are all undead monstrosities? Some of them, you realize, resemble those that have been taken prisoner. None aboard--not even Cassius--will speak to you. Instead, Cassius pulls out his longbow and takes aim at you.

Dealing enough damage to the ship will cause it to retreat into a porcelain bottle that Cassius wears around his waist. If Cassius or his crew manage to kill any members of your party, their body will turn into a magical mist that also gets absorbed into the bottle. Once Cassius is taken care of, the bottle can be opened and all the souls trapped inside are freed--but anyone that was trapped inside is unfortunately still dead. (Players can be resurrected through normal means.) The ship, and now Cassius' soul, are stuck inside the bottle for good and there is no way to free either one. Turning in the bottle to any of the faction leaders, however, may prove to be a worthwhile endeavor...

REWARDS: 200 Bones | 50 bonus Bones for a returned bottle | Non-Slyph Bonus: 20 Bones

★★★☆☆ For Whom the Bell Tolls (Part 2)

PART 1

Thanks to Visitors' investigations in the Stormlands, there are rumors springing up among the Sylphs of a large mansion that appears only at the full moon in the area. Disappearances are common in the Stormlands still, and have become even more commonplace as more people attempt to investigate the area.

The bell still rings loudly, though it now becomes obvious that it rings on the night of the full moon, when the moon is at its highest point in the sky. The mansion revealed in the moonlight is large and foreboding, surrounded by terrifying creatures that seem to be grotesque versions of creatures found in the Sylphlands--elongated limbs and shriveled skin, and any noises they make sounding like the high-pitched screech of a banshee. No matter the creature, its ferocity is much higher than usual--and they are much harder to kill. The mansion itself is inaccessible, but every so often a mad cackling can be heard echoing throughout the land between cracks of thunder and flashes of lightning.

Now involving Heaven's Bow directly, the guild leaders have requested proof of such creatures so local scientists can discover what exactly they are dealing with.

REWARDS: 50 Bones (per person) for the delivery of 3 creature corpses (per party) | Non-Sylph Bonus: 10 Bones

NSFW QUESTS

Models Wanted

Tara's Tastefuls is looking for lingerie models for their new sexy clothing line. Come in and walk the makeshift runway in front of crowds of strangers to see which styles stun the onlookers and which ones get you booed off stage.

If you're not inclined to model for strangers, sharing the look with another Visitor within the changing stalls counts, we suppose.

Each outfit is custom made, and you get to keep whatever you model!

REWARDS: 10 Bones per outfit modeled (max 50)

Potent Pollen CW: sex pollen, aphrodesiacs

One of the strange results of the phenomenon plaguing Caldera is the disappearance of plant life throughout the realm. Despite their best efforts, local flora has been suffering and many necessary plants have started to go extinct. Now mages and scholars have teamed up in an attempt to manipulate the plants to have better survivability—but unfortunately, there have been some… unforeseen consequences.

All three factions have teamed up to ask Visitors to cull the plant life that has been spreading without control. The use of fire, digging, or any other means to destroy the plants is recommended. Additionally, they recommend taking someone you trust dearly—the plants’ main dangers stem from the potent aphrodisiac, and the only way to get through it is with the help of one or more partners. That said, you’re more than welcome to try going by yourself—but it’s unlikely you will be successful, and may find yourself awaiting rescue most uncomfortably.

REWARDS: 50 Bones

Tentacle Trouble CW: dubcon

The waters near Violet Drop have become much quieter than usual… there is no clear reason why, but the banshee dolphins have started roaming closer to settlements because something seems to be claiming their territory. You’ve been requested to investigate the area and take out whatever creature is scaring the local wildlife away.

In the area, Visitors will come across a creature with countless tentacles that seem to grab anything and everything in their path. Cutting a single tentacle is useless, as the creature seems to have immense regenerative abilities. Furthermore, the creature seems intent on exploring Visitors’ bodies as much as possible—inside and out. To slay the creature, it is recommended that someone distracts the creature while someone else searches for the head buried beneath its mass of tentacles.

REWARDS: 75 Bones

Siren Songs CW: cannibalism, dubcon, hypnosis

Sirens are a common occurrence above and below the seas, causing mischief and mayhem for sailors and even those that fly down too close to their nests. A particularly powerful group of sirens has been causing shipwrecks and even kidnapping travelers for their various nefarious purposes - it is your job to rescue anyone they have captured and bring them to safety.

The obvious problem is the sirens is their song is nearly impossible to ignore, and it takes a lot of willpower (and ear plugs) to endure it. Failing to avoid the call could result in capture and potentially death (sirens do enjoy eating mortals). The other, problem with these particular sirens, is that even their touch is dangerous. If you can't hear their song, they will do their best to brush up against you and force you to endure a curse for hours after the encounter. A curse that sees you turning into one of them - where everything you say sounds alluring and makes people want to give themselves up to you in any way they can.

People affected by the player character's voice can resist, of course, but may find it increasingly difficult to do so while they are speaking. Maybe shut them up somehow?

REWARDS: 100 Bones

GENERAL QUESTS

★☆☆☆☆ To Cry Wolf (part 1)

Local adventurer Daekas the Bold has recently become a household name to many Calderans. Have you heard of the treasures he's gathered in Dryad mines? Or of his visit to Violet Drop where he has gained the respect of Banshee Dolphins, allowing him free reign of the place? What about how he supposedly rode one of the great wyrms near Gold Reach?

An anonymous adventurer has submitted a request to prove his tales are lies. Venturing to any place mentioned in his tales should make it obvious if Daekus the Bold has ever set foot there--a special crystalline flower has been provided that is tuned to Daekus' lifeforce. Once the magical keyword 'mendax' has been said while holding the flower, if he has been in that place, the flower will glow bright white and if he hasn't, it will glow a soft blue.

REWARDS: 50 Bones for venturing to a location and returning with the flower (or proof that they did not happen) NOTE: It is up to the players what the flower says, but note that some actions may have consequences...

★★☆☆☆ Lace Case

Making lace is a fine art. Each faction has a lace guild dedicated to the craft using local components, and employing local talents. Their magnificent work is appreciated by all...or so we thought. Over the last several days, guildmembers have come to work in the morning, only to find their projects entirely unravelled overnight. Hours of work, undone! Dozens of orders, delayed! This cannot stand.

Luckily, trace amounts of pixie dust left at the scene point to the culprits. Your task is to stake-out one of the lace guilds into the evening and catch the pixies in the act. The best way to distract them is to leave a pile of something granular like sugar or salt - their nature compels them to count every single grain, thus leaving them vulnerable. If you're able to capture any, even better! Please turn them in to the local magibiology scholars for (ethical) study.

REWARDS: 50 Bones | 25 Bones for a captured pixie

★★☆☆☆ Gourd Grief

Autumn is rolling around. Gourdmill's various squash patches are coming along nicely - soon it will be their time to shine.

Or at least, that would be the case, if it weren't for the magmaggots encroaching upon the fields. Having arisen from the crater, these big burning bugs are not only eating the growing gourds, but scorching the land in their wake like streaks of fire. While they can be killed by by most conventional means, their superheated bodies and blood make dealing with them up close particularly hazardous. The best technique is to put them out. Douse them in water by whatever means are available, even if it means bringing buckets of it with you to the fields. Once doused, at worst, they're just kinda squishy and gross. Kill at will from there.

Please help the locals deal with this thread before Gourdmill is forced to change their name until next year's harvest - "Scorched-Earthville" doesn't sound quite so nice.

REWARDS: 75 Bones

★★★☆☆ Scarecrow is Carecrow

Farmer Clyde McLeod claims up and down that the scarecrows in his field are getting closer to his house every morning. Originally, he thought young troublemakers were to blame, but there are no footprints to prove this hypothesis. He’s starting to get pretty spooked about the whole thing. Head out to his field at night and see what’s going on – or even better, put a stop to it. In case of an actual haunting, sanctification amulets are being lent to whomever takes up the quest.

It is, in fact, a haunting. A furious poltergeist, gaining power with each passing night, is encroaching upon Clyde's house. Anyone wearing one of the sanctification amulets can fight the poltergeist with regular weapons and/or powers. Beware its touch, which causes paralysis at the point of contact lasting about two hours.

Once weakened, the poltergeist will flee. The only thing it says is, “How could you?!” But given the bloody knife and accompanying wound in the otherwise-formless ghost, you can safely assume it’s not speaking to you. So who, then...

REWARDS: 100 Bones

★☆☆☆☆ Sea Turtle Scramble

Clutches of sea turtle eggs are soon to hatch. The baby turtles will make a mad dash down the beach to the sea, where they will begin their new life...if they can make it past the various predators waiting for them. Seabirds, crabs, lizards, foxes, and more await a freshly-hatched feast. Normally, this part of the cycle of life would be allowed to pass. But sea turtle populations are strangely and dangerously low this year. Undine biologists are asking for people to keep the predators at bay, ideally without killing them - the predators are a part of nature too, after all. Bait them, block them - whatever it takes (preferrably non-lethally).

REWARDS: 50 Bones

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