I wish you would go ahead and give us a list of every available spell/upgrade when the time comes to take one. More options is always good when it comes to character improvement.
Do you mean like a map, of all the spells you could ever possibly learn and how they all upgrade? Or do you just mean offer the full variety of learn-able spells for 'purchase' when you pass the next corruption milestone?
I'll gladly do either if other people agree, but my thoughts were that if I offer everything all in one massive clump people wont know what to go for, or that maybe it's more fun having to make a difficult choice from a few equally-balanced options.
See guys, I would update, but there's been only a very few votes, and there isn't even a clear winner out of them.
I turn to you now for advice: should I postpone and wait for more votes to come in? Just go with D)? Or allow everyone to vote again, and see if we get a clearer winner?
OK, I'm just going to go with D) - North East, then double back.
----
Flushed with the power of her victory, Eve sets off once more into the jungle. She decides to head north-east - Goblins are famous for their deception and half-truths. It's safer to go in a direction he wasn't expecting, then look over at the place he pointed out.
So, with that all decided upon... onward!
Despite all that she's been through over the last day... or two... Eve can't help but admire the beauty of this place. Trees soar effortlessly into the sky, brightly coloured flowers and insects burst into sight every few steps, and the whole place just smells and sounds.... so alive. The sounds of chirping insects mingles wonderfully with the sound of birds chirping merrily to each other (small, harmless looking birds, this time). Vines dangle daintily from the branches of trees, while others, thick and twisted, curl around entire trunks. The forest floor has a fairly dense covering of undergrowth - ferns, shrubs, small flowering plants.
Until a violent shudder in the undergrowth causes Eve to whip round. Unsheathing her sword, she's instantly on full alert.
"Come out with your hands up!" she calls - before realising her mistake. From behind a large clump of bushes and a few scattered ferns... a pair of antennae are waving in the air.
"Oh, fuc-" Eve begins, but there's no time to complete her curse - the thing comes barreling out from behind its cover and straight at Eve. In the brief glimpse that Eve catches, she sees it's a huge, brown-shelled beetle. Vicious looking mandibles, strong spiny legs. Wait, is this the same one as before, when she first entered the jungle? She's come along way since then... but Eve's not hanging around for an up-close and personal check.
Turning and sheathing her sword in one movement, Eve begins to sprint away. Her legs carry her at breakneck speed through the undergrowth, past plants trying to trip her, low-hanging vines trying to twist around her neck - and away from the blasted beetle. A quick glance behind, and Eve sees the thing is keeping pace - antennae bob through the air only a few metres behind her.
Eve keeps running. Her heart beats furiously in her chest, her mouth snatches for breath, her arms pump furiously. She crests a small hillock -
And goes soaring over a ravine in a single bound. Hitting the other side, she stumbles, and falls to the ground. The ravine's nearly a metre wide - God, that was a good jump - but it plunges down into the depths. Small plants cling to the rocks nearest the top, but beyond that... it's too dark to see anywhere near the bottom.
Thankfully, beetles aren't really known for their jumping skills. Even as she looks up, Eve sees the brown-shelled monstrosity clambering over the top of the hillock. It manages to stop in time - a couple of small pebbles go skittering into the darkness. Most worrying of all is the fact there's no sound of them hitting the bottom.
"Oh, shit." Eve's stomach seems to fall as spots bad news in the making - a tree has fallen over the ravine, making an easy crossing point. At least ol' bug eyes hasn't noticed it yet... but who's to say how long it'll take?
Eve turns and runs again, heading back into the relative safety of the trees (strangely, there don't seem to be any growing within a couple of metres of the rift).
It's nervy stuff - there's no way of knowing if the beetle's managed to follow her. Eve looks around again, just to make sure... and promptly goes sprawling over a root.
Picking herself up, and spitting out a mouthful of dirt - bleugh - Eve prepares to run again... but is stopped dead. Standing all alone, in the shade of a vine-encrusted tree... is a small, eldery woman. A human woman. White frizzy hair, wrinkled skin, spectacles. And is that a grey, knitted cardigan she's wearing?!
She turns to look at the ground near Eve's feet.
""My God, they've burnt the heart right of you, haven't they." she mutters.
"I'm sorry, what?" is Eve's reply. The old lady looks up, locking eyes with Eve. The spirits within Eve, quiet for so long, shriek as one - a horrible, wailing, dischordant scream; the sound of nails ripping down a blackboard, magnified a thousand times over.
"Interesting." ponders the lady. There's a certain gleam in her eyes, Eve thinks. Here stands a woman... well, maybe a woman... that knows what she's doing.
"Anyway, that doesn't matter. I've got a quest for you, if you'll take it, my fine... woman. And I'll make it worth your while. See this bag behind me?"
Eve spots a small, sequined bag near the lady's feet for the first time.
"You can help yourself to a couple of... items from that bag, if you do this simple job for me."
----
Option time! Option A) Listen to old lady's request, then attempt to complete it if possible. This woman is not all that she appears... it could definitely be worth our time. Option B) Slay the woman without a word, then take her bag. We are no-one's errand girl. Option B1) Attempt to force the woman to give us her bag without actually slaying her. We're not uneccessarily nasty, right? Option C) Run away from the whole situation, that bloody beetle will probably be here any minute.
A - what could possibly go wrong with accepting a mystery quest from a creepy old woman? Maybe if we like more than two of the shinies afterwards, we can give her a few extra breathing holes... <Insert evil laugh>
Option A) Listen to the woman's quest first, then decide what to do.
----
"What did you have in mind?" asks Eve. There's something seriously disturbing about this woman; a million and one things patrol this jungle that should've eaten her by now, but she stands there without a care in the world.
"Oh, nothing much. I'd like you to fetch me a specific mushroom; it's known as Fricai Anglát to those who know what they're talking about. Gold, sort-of luminescent... quite hard to miss.
The spores, when mixed with other things, make a wonderful remedy for arthritis, you know. And it shouldn't be too hard to find either; you can probably find some in that ravine I happen to know you passed by earlier."
"Why don't you just get it yourself?" questions Eve.
The old lady smiles. Something flickers briefly in her eyes... but then it's gone.
"I imagine that's hardly any concern of yours, my dear. Now, off you pop!"
"Wait just a minute!" Eve angrily retorts. "What's in it for me?"
For the first time, the old lady's smile falters, and a look of impatience flashes across her face. Then, in the blink of an eye, she's smiling jovially again.
"I have a wide variety of things in my bag - bigger on the inside, you know. I'll let you have any two of them if you get me that mushroom."
"What sort of things?"
"Very well, I see you are not to be denied. A potion that will completely restore your health. A potion that will completely revitalize your ability to use magic.
There's also some enchanted steel breastplate armour - I used to wear it back in my youth. What the enchantments do, I'm no longer quite sure. There's also an enchanted dagger - likewise - and one of my most prized possessions; a spellbook that fully details elemental magic. I don't need it any more, of course. And that's without mentioning the Diamond Jewel that will allow you to become completely invisible for a few moments, the Lustrous Pearl that will give you a great degree of control over any man you meet... and the Shadowed Staff, which will allow you to command the Dead themselves.
I'm not stupid though. Just one of those last three objects, or two of the others."
Eve takes a moment to think it over.
----
Previous options stand. Option A) Wow, that's a pretty good offer for just a mushroom. We've got time to take this Quest. Option B) Slay the woman without a word, then take her bag. We are no-one's errand girl. Option B1) Attempt to force the woman to give us her bag without actually slaying her. We're not uneccessarily nasty, right? Option C) Run away from the whole situation, that bloody beetle will probably be here any minute.
A. The potential payoff is worth the side-quest, in my opinion, with either the Spellbook and Breastplate, the Lustrous Pearl, or the Shadow Staff interesting me the most at the moment.
B is out of the question, though. There's a reason this lady doesn't need that spellbook anymore, and it's because she's probably mastered everything in it and could kill us in an instant if she wanted to.
A1 Be suspicious of such a great pay off and ask "Not to look a gift donkey in the mouth, but that sounds far too good a deal." And commence bargaining before saying "This sounds far too suspicious, unless I get everything in the bag, I'm not doing it." As an ultimatum.
Hmmm....
Just for the lawlz...
Option D - not on the voting list. Eve just looks at the old lady and says "Instead of giving me any items.." Blushes and looks somewhat bashfully "Cou-could you teach me so-some things that yo-you have learned? L-like..." Out of character part or due to corruption "sex" Whispering the last part.
OK. Option A), complete the Quest, but throwing in other people's ideas for the lulz.
----
Eve feels a little bit suspicious about the offer... it sounds almost too good to be true. Thinking on her feet, she tries a different approach.
"OK. What if, instead of the mushroom, I gave you... a great deal of pleasure... in exchange for some items in the bag?" It's only with the utmost difficulty Eve suppresses a shudder as she completes the sentence.
For a second the old lady just stares at Eve, completely po-faced - before bursting into gales of laughter.
"Oh.. oh my dear..." she giggles, bent over and wheezing hysterically. "You're quite the funny one, aren't you? When you've lived as long as I have, you'll realise there's more to life than just stimulating your lady-parts. Oh, bless you..." She creases up again, before straightening up and trying to keep a straight face.
"No, I'm afraid my previous offer stands. Mushroom for some rewards."
For the very briefest of seconds, Eve considers just threatening this old lady and taking her bag... but something about her makes Eve suspect doing so would be a very, very bad idea.
"Very well, I accept."
Eve wanders back under the trees, keeping the position of the woman logged her mental map at all times. Before long, she's passed through enough of the towering, wooden trunks, rubbed past enough of the low growing, winding bushes - and returned to the ravine that she leapt across earlier. A quick scan of the immediate area suggests there's no threats around. No sign of the mushroom either, though. Sighing despondently, she gets down on her hands and knees - a position becoming far too familiar to her now - and lowers herself over the edge of the abyss.
Eve's never been a natural at rock climbing - not enough practise, perhaps - but now she's giving it ago, she finds it's not as hard as it looks. As long as nothing tries to attack her, she should be fine. One foot down, one arm down, keep three points of contact with the wall at all times... Well, the rock-face is pretty damn near vertical, but at least it's crumbly, with lots of foot and hand-holds. And hey, is that a pleasant yellow glow in the distance? And is that an ominous clicking noise?
Wasting no time, Eve fires a ball of fire at the source of the noise ("Brisingr!") and is rewarded with a pained squeal, and a brief glimpse of something hairy loosing its grip on the wall. Moving faster now, she shimmies across to the glow, keeping only a couple of metres away from the surface at all times. C'mon, quickly, quickly... There! She approaches the mushroom from the side. It certainly seems to be the right one - golden, sort-of glowing. It's about the size of her splayed hand, and growing out of a small soil-filled crevice in the wall.
She seizes it around the stalk, only for a small pore to open near the tip and spay her with a fine coating of... feels like dust. Coughing, Eve tries again, ripping the thing out of its hidey hole, roots fairly intact.
Oh, shit, there's that clicking sound again...
Holding the stem delicately in her mouth so as to free all her limbs, she begins to climb, with haste born of fear. She's practically flying up the rock... nearly there...
There's the faintest sensation of something brushing her foot, but with a final pull, Eve's back over the top, and already spinning around to meet her attacker. For some reason, it chooses not to follow her. Cautiously, she peers back over the top of the ravine... but there's nothing there.
Whatever. Brushing herself off, Eve carries her prize back to the old lady... but not before spotting the beetle sitting idly on the other side of the ravine.
"Oh, fuck off, you!" she shouts, but with no effect. Deciding it's not worth wasting magic on, she leaves the creature.
Before long, Eve returns to the old woman, mushroom in hand. Her eyes practically light up at the sight of it.
"Ah, thank you child! Thank you very much indeed. Yes, feel free to now choose your reward.
Incidently, I expect your wondering why I didn't just get it myself? This mushroom... its name translates to Death's Friend. The spores from it would probably kill me, but I see it's used them all on you. Not to worry, not to worry! The corruption boiling beneath your skin will no doubt render them harmless. In fact, if you ever need anything to decompose, you can probably just touch it, now.
And no, it's not the spores that make a remedy for arthritis. It's the flesh. How silly of me.
Now, I should probably be heading back to the town - yes, it's in the jungle, but it's protected - that I left this morning." She smiles broadly at Eve, doing her best to look completely innocent.
"Now, your reward. What's it to be?"
----
Choose 2 from:
- A potion that fully restores HP.
- A potion that fully restores MP.
- Enchanted breastplate armour, enchantments unknown.
- Enchanted dagger - enchanted to never loose sharpness and cut through almost anything.
- Elemental Spell Book - will allow Eve to learn all the possible spells in the Fire Blast, Ice Blast, Water Blast, Thunderbolt and Heal Pulse ranges.
OR choose 1 from:
- Diamond Jewel: turns users invisible for 5 minutes, then recharges for 5 minutes before being used again.
- Lustrous Pearl: gives great control over any man you meet.
- Shadow Staff: allows one to control the dead themselves.
Option A) Continue heading north. Option B) Hold up, lets check out this settlement the woman mentioned.
