Forge of Eternity: Alpha Testing, page 20
Level: 4
Class: Aegis
Race: Stonetouched Human
HP: 240/240
Stamina: 180/180
Armor: 20
* * *
Primary Statistics
—Strength: 19
—Agility: 11
—Constitution: 20
—Intelligence: 10
—Luck: 10
Unspent Stat Points: 1
Gear
—Head: (empty)
—Shoulders: (empty)
—Neck: (empty)
—Chest: Leather Jerkin, Level 1
——Type: Light Armor
——Armor: 5
——Weight: 1 lb.
——Durability: 5/35
—Back: (empty)
—Arms: (empty)
—Hands: (empty)
—Waist: (empty)
—Legs: Rough Woven Pants, Level 1
——Type: Light Armor
——Armor: 5
——Weight: 1 lb.
——Durability: 12/25
—Feet: Soft Cloth Shoes, Level 1
——Type: Light Armor
——Armor: 5
——Weight: 1 lb.
——Durability: 9/15
—Finger 1: (empty)
—Finger 2: (empty)
Weapons
—Main Hand: Iron longsword, Level 1
——Type: Sword
——Damage: 8-13
——Weight: 2 lbs.
——Durability: 37/40
—Off Hand: (empty)
* * *
Abilities and Traits
—Weight of the Mountain (Racial)
—Tremorsense (Racial)
—Like a Rock (Racial)
—Instant Earthwork (Class Ability)
—Kinetic Capacitor (Class Ability)
* * *
Skills
—Persuasion - Level 1
—Defense - Level 3
—Sword Proficiency - Level 3
—Shield Proficiency - Level 3
The sorry state of my armor’s durability and the loss of my shield bothered me. Otherwise, though, I was pretty happy with how my character was shaping up. Maybe once we finish this quest I could get some crafting skills and make something with all the components we scavenged. I felt a tap on my shoulder and dismissed the menus, turning quickly out of reflex to see Goodwin right behind me.
“You ready to head in?” he asked, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. “Amalie says it’s clear but we need to group up before moving further in. Apparently, they see something interesting but haven’t said much more about it, other than insisting we look for ourselves.”
“Alright then, Phelyya will lead and I’ll be at the rear,” I sighed, “let’s get going.”
Everyone filed into the cramped tunnel with varying degrees of comfort. Uri had to crawl on his hands and knees, which did not bode well for me. I gritted my teeth and followed, unsure whether I’d be able to move once I got started. There was only enough room for me to crawl on my hands and knees if I didn’t mind taking it slow to avoid scraping against the ceiling the whole way. Maybe something on the other end of the tunnel would kill me and I wouldn’t have to climb back later. After several agonizing minutes, I could feel the tunnel entrance opening up in front of us through my tremorsense. Barely fighting off claustrophobia, I scrambled out of the tunnel and tried to get to my feet in a somewhat dignified fashion.
I stopped almost immediately, transfixed by the small spikes of stone jutting from the ground. Did Amalie not warn us about some spike traps or dangerous terrain? I looked a little closer, trying to shift and illuminate the area better with the glow dust on my armor. After a few seconds, realization dawned on me and I slowly made my way to my feet.
“Are those stone flowers?” I asked, seeing more leading to the edge of our meager illuminated area.
“Yep, tulips. That’s not even the best part,” Amalie said, pointing up.
“Wait, is that tree full of…”
“Eggs!” Amalie squealed, louder than I’d have liked. “We’ve gotta be close to the queen here!”
As if summoned by her words, I felt a large shifting in the earth accompanied by a deep grinding noise. The movement was on a scale larger than I’d felt before and the sensory overload disoriented me for several seconds. When I recovered I drew my sword, expecting to see a massive locust emerge from the ground. Instead, there was a huge, perfectly rectangular section of the nearby cavern floor missing. I approached cautiously, just barely able to make out stairs at the far end.
“Sorry, should have mentioned before,” Amalie said, joining me at the edge, “we found something.”
Amalie - Investigation
I followed Gavin down the halfling-sized tunnel, crouching forward to avoid the ceiling. Gavin was walking at a comfortable pace, checking over his shoulder on occasion to make sure I was still there. I waved back enthusiastically each time, making him chuckle. Despite having the rest of the team nearby, relatively speaking, we were both a bit paranoid so it helped to relieve the tension a little.
As we left the tunnel, Gavin let out an appreciative whistle. I slapped him upside the head and the noise died immediately, replaced by a shrug of apology. A handful of trees dotted the edge of the cavern wall, which was odd considering the solid stone floor and complete lack of sunlight. A quick scan of the area showed no immediate threats. I considered the absence of glowing bug maws in the distance to mean all the enemies in this area were drawn through our tunnel and already dealt with.
“I think we’re clear for the moment,” I said, keeping my voice just above a whisper. “I figure we’d be huge targets considering the glow dust.”
“Apologies for the earlier noise,” Gavin said, matching my volume. “I just could not hold it in. This is spectacular.”
“Yeah, underground trees are neat I guess.”
“They’re marble,” he said, putting a hand on the closest one and then immediately backing away. “And there’s something more organic in the branches.”
I fished the mana lantern out of my inventory, not my fault Goodwin didn’t see it first after the fight and focused it from diffuse area lighting to a narrow beam. Sure enough, football-sized eggs filled the branches of the tree. Several of the eggs were already hatched, others sat cracked and leaking fluids that ran down the branches of the tree.
“Where there are eggs, there will surely be a queen,” Gavin said, still looking up. “Let us examine the area further before summoning our companions. I would not appreciate being caught unaware without a means of escape.”
I shrugged, slowly sweeping the lantern’s light around our immediate surroundings. At first glance, the flowers covered the entire floor of the cavern. Closer inspection revealed a complex pattern with deliberate paths of empty of any stone plants. Several areas showed broken stone flowers, evidence of something large ignoring the walkways and bursting through the ornately sculpted garden.
Tracing the paths with the light showed all of them converging on a central clearing with a circular platform raised above the floor. The clearing was about thirty feet from our position, so further detail was hard to make out despite the lantern’s light.
“I would love to know what happens if one were to depress that plate,” Gavin said, his voice almost reverent. “Would you allow me the honor of investigating it further?”
“Look, but don’t touch until everyone is here,” I said, hesitant to encourage Gavin’s recklessness but curious all the same. “Wait for my signal.”
He let out a squeal of glee and began to tiptoe his way through the marble tulips instead of following any of the surrounding paths. I gotta hand it to him, he really was enjoying himself in his new world. At this point, I was certain we weren’t going to be ambushed by a horde of enemies so it was safe enough for everyone to join us.
Amalie: Coast is clear, come on through.
Phelyya: On our way.
“Lady Amalie, I do believe I have made a discovery of significance,” Gavin said, pointing off in the distance. “There is a line of runework engraved around this raised disk that leads to a thick line in the cavern floor. Given the context, I assume pressing on the plate will cause a section of the floor to drop away or raise into the air.”
“Okay, that sounds pretty cool but don’t push it yet,” I said, grinning as an idea came to me. “Wait until everyone makes it through, then step on it. Don’t worry about warning anyone, I’m sure we’ll be fine, even if it doesn’t activate what you think it’s connected to.”
Deacon had the best reactions to unexpected things. I couldn’t help but make this a surprise. He had absolutely no chill when things weren’t going his way, and at the same time seemed to shine when surprised. This was pretty low risk, as far as potentially deadly pranks were concerned, and I’m sure he’d laugh it off eventually, even if we didn’t survive.
After an eternity of anticipation, Phelyya emerged out of the tunnel and cleared the entrance to stand tall, casually sweeping the room with her gaze. I waved to ensure I had her attention and beckoned her over. Goodwin appeared several seconds later, stretching expansively before looking around. Uri and Deacon took longer to arrive, crawling out of the tunnel entrance into a prone position. I glanced over at Gavin, just long enough for him to make eye contact and nod in acknowledgment.
Deacon scrambled to get his feet under him, looking around nervously. “Are those stone flowers?”
“Yep, tulips. That’s not even the best part,” I said pointing up to get keep everyone focused away from Gavin.
“Wait, is that tree full of…” Deacon trailed off.
“Eggs!” I said with enthusiasm, glancing at Gavin out of the corner of my eye. He was jumping in place on the raised section of the floor. “We’ve got to be close to the queen here.”
Gavin gave a final exaggerated jump, slamming his staff down with both hands when he landed. The plate finally depressed as he fell to the floor. A massive grinding sound began as the ground started shaking. I felt my weight shift between my feet, small corrections happening automatically to compensate for the shuddering floor. Thank you Elven Grace! Past Gavin, I saw a section of the floor slide away, revealing a deep pit. Deacon approached wordlessly, his jaw clenched.
“Sorry,” I said, trying to sound as smug as I could, joining him near the edge. “Should have mentioned before, we found something.”
“No shit,” he said, throwing his hands in the air. “A little warning would have been nice.”
“Consider it payback for sending the healer and mage out as scouts.”
The rest of the party joined us, looking down into the newly revealed lower level of the cavern. I adjusted the lantern’s shutter, focusing the light to see how deep it went. The floor was at least 80 feet down, the section immediately below us appeared to have a smooth stone floor like the one we were on, but the majority of the level was covered in something casting long shadows. It was difficult to make out from this angle and in the lighting we had available. A staircase with flat, wide steps was cut diagonally into the far wall.
“So, onward?” I asked, indicating the stairs. Deacon looked around and let out a huge sigh.
“Yeah, I guess the locusts are probably already in this mystery cavern if they’re not up here hollowing out the silver vein.”
“Or we killed them all, maybe,” Uri offered, his voice hopeful.
“The quest isn’t complete,” Deacon said, tapping a finger on the hilt of his sword. “We still have to kill the queen at least, and a few more drones. I don’t think this will overwrite our current quest.”
I nodded in agreement. “True. Despite how convincing it is, especially to you UPCs, it’s still going to operate off gaming principles. That being said, finding this place isn’t a coincidence. The game is adaptive, the world and events in it aren’t static. I’d actually be surprised if this doesn’t turn into a quest.”
New Quest: Learn to Know
Summary: Have you just stumbled upon a horde of treasure, a nest of evil, or an entirely unique underground society? You’ll never know if you don’t learn more.
Learn the secrets 0/1
Know what you did 0/1
Reward:
Experience
???
“That’s a little ominous,” Deacon said a moment later. “Did you make that happen by talking about it, or was that just good timing? Would it have even generated a quest at all if not prompted?”
“Doesn’t matter, let’s go find some bugs to squash!” Phelyya said, taking off along the edge of the pit toward the stairway at the other end. Gavin stepped off the circular plate to follow, triggering a new round of grinding as the stone plates began slowly sealing off the pit. The cleric quickly reinstalled himself in position to keep the floor from closing.
“Ideas?” The halfling asked, looking around.
“How much do you weigh?” I asked, giving him an appraising look. He held a finger to his chin in thought.
Deacon answered a moment later, “an average halfling is about 40 lbs. Then we’ll need to add in the weight of his armor and other gear.”
“In that case about 60 lbs., at the moment,” he said gesturing to himself.
“Amalie, can you knock down one of those rock trees?” Deacon asked, pointing back in the direction of the tunnel. “I think a section of the tree’s trunk will be sufficient.”
I nodded, aiming my wand at the closest of the beautiful statues. As much as it pained me to destroy something so artistic, it was our best option and there were quite a few of these. With an effort of will, the fire blast exploded against the tree, felling it instantly. The trunk was still mostly intact so I sent a couple of follow-up blasts into the rock. Deacon held up a hand for me to stop as he approached.
“Alright, there’s a section here that should work,” he said, lifting a shattered hunk of stone with relative ease. Gavin stepped aside, allowing Deacon to set it down in the center of the sunken plate.
The flowers and trees continued around the outline of the cavern, and Gavin wanted to follow the paths to see if anything interesting happened when more plates were depressed. Deacon overruled him, stating it was more likely to negatively interact with our currently active switch and cost us time. Valid logic, in my opinion, and I also endorsed leaving the other plates alone.
When we reached the stairs a few moments later I angled my lantern down into the gloom. From this side another layer of detail was available. The strange shapes below were more recognizable from this side, showing the dense canopy cover of a stone forest. It was too hard to make out anything on the far side from the stairs, but it was clear the floor below continued further in that direction under the level we were currently on. More interesting than that, however, was a mural etched into the stone on the face of the opposite wall. Only the basic details were visible from this distance with the diffuse light of the lantern, so I paused and narrowed the beam to better examine the scene.
The top of the engraving showed a castle or maybe a temple, the image simplistic and unremarkable. Below the building, two paths were shown diverging to the left and right of the wall and snaking downward. The left-hand path was marked by a fire symbol, followed by a small group of figures defeating indistinct monsters and claiming treasure along the path. The simple depictions became more detailed and equipped as they continued. At the end of the path, the hero stood holding a key, staring up at a large throne-looking shape out of reach overhead. The other path started off with a crowd of armed figures, a key prominent in the hand of each hero. They encountered significantly larger and grotesquely detailed monsters. As they progressed along the path, the crowd of heroes slowly dwindled in number and became less detailed. It terminated on the opposite side from the first path, with a single featureless figure standing beside the throne, engulfed in flame. In the blank space under the throne, several runes were arranged in a circular pattern. I wasn’t sure if they held any significance or were purely decorative, but they did radiate their own faint light.
“That’s more than a little foreboding,” I said, adjusting the lantern to provide light for our descent. “Do you think it’s a puzzle? Or maybe a warning?”
“Could just be a story from long ago in this world,” Uri said, sounding hopeful. “Just something to mark a hero’s tomb?”
“No, Amalie’s on to something. You don’t throw up a giant mural just for flavor,” Phelyya replied, looking at the image. “Probably is a riddle, or it fits into a challenge below. Or we’re overthinking and it’s simpler than that; defeat the first challenges to get the key to the harder ones. Or a dungeon on one side, raid on the other?”
We discussed various theories as we made our way down the stairs, not really finding anything conclusive we could all agree on. Phelyya was certain it would have some bearing on a future puzzle, while Gavin thought it was some sort of mystery with a tie to some larger world plot because of the quest we got. Being that we were still in alpha testing, there wasn’t much to speak of so far as solid world plots active so that wasn’t too farfetched. Deacon took the image literally, assuming there would be two paths below and that the solo path was one for treasure and the group path would be for glory.
“I still think it’s both informative and meant as a warning,” I said, shaking my head at Deacon’s suggestion. “We’ll find a single path, and completing it will give us rewards and the option to try an even greater challenge. But I think the second challenge will take things from us as we proceed through it. Maybe a sort of cumulative handicap as we proceed?”
“Regardless of the meaning, we’re going to be going in as a group,” Deacon said as we reached the bottom. “None of us can complete the locust quest on our own, so we need to stick together.”
We all nodded in agreement, our speculation tabled until we had more information. As we continued down the stairs the density of the tree cover blocked all visibility into the forest. It would be difficult to get our bearings again if we got lost, there was no way we’d be able to see anything to orient ourselves from within the forest. Climbing the trees to get above the canopy wouldn’t do much good either, since that requires moving branches and leaves out of the way.
