[SD:OA] More Forest Or The Desert - Chapter 11

As the four continue to make their plans, there is a knock at the door. Odd seeing as they weren’t expecting anything. They glance at each other.

Well, three of them do. Gem instead has a different reaction. “1, 2, 3, Not it!” And so they weren’t.

In the end, Emrys gets up and answers the door. “Hello, can I help you?”

The inn employee nods, “You can help me by taking this letter off my hands. Merchant Silverwhiskers was in town a month ago and left a message for your group.” And then the ratkin shoves an envelope into Emrys’ hands and walks away.

Emrys closes the door and rejoins the others. “Huh, that was rude.”

Gem nods, “I’m not one to bad mouth people working jobs like that, but seriously? I’m not asking for a smile or anything. I’m not even asking for professionalism, that isn’t quite a solid thing in here anyway, at least from what I’ve seen. I am asking for them to not be so antagonistic.”

June shrugs, “He probably has a story.”

Emrys shakes his head, “I’ve worked as a cashier. He certainly has a story, but that story is going to have a sharp downturn if he can’t manage neutrality. I’m not saying that is a good thing. People sometimes need a chance to recover from this or that. And sometimes you don’t get it. Which sucks.”

Samuel, “Whatever the case, let’s see what Silverwhiskers has to say to us? Shame that we missed him. I bet we’d probably have met him if not for the whole ‘cult island’ thing we got into.”

Emrys pops the seal on the envelope and lays out the letter inside for everyone to see.

[

Dear Gem, Emrys, June, and Samuel,

   I hope my letter finds you well. Mostly as I had predicted your ship would be back already. Being lost at sea can be hard on both locals and travellers alike.

   Since my visit didn’t line up with your return, I figured I would leave some suggestions for you. It is likely that your trip did excessively raise your level. Though if it has, I am sorry to say the rest of this letter may be less than useful.

   Anyway, I have two main regions that your group may find interesting. It depends on if you want more forests or a change of scenery and don’t mind a little heat as the other is a desert. The Adventurers Guild considered both transitionary regions, with most monsters being high grey to low white. Though there are a selection of mid to high white enemies. Now, green monsters do exist, but similar to the one we experienced on our journey together.

   The forest is known as “dagger grove” and is a five day walk from whale Island. Known as such not because of any actual daggers, but rather because it is the local source of the creatively named herb, healing dagger leaf. Known for being used in simple healing alchemy and having dagger shaped leaves.

   Monsters are relatively sparse and mostly lone threats. Though the local scurry of murder squirrels can be a hassle, conveniently sized to denote threat level. Besides said squirrels, you’re likely to come across foxes, badgers, rarely beavers, rhinos, loomers, small groups of deer, raccoons, goblins, and assassin vines. A nice selection of natural monsters to challenge yourself with.

   Besides the monsters, there isn’t much else to worry about. With the presence of the herb, the area has been thoroughly explored. Which I understand might push you towards the second region. Because the desert is, shall we say, less than explored.

   Known as the “horizon oasis desert” because an oasis always seems to be on the horizon. They aren’t, but it does seem that the area has more actual oases than normal. You just have to be careful not to keep chasing one that is “just over there”.

   While the region’s danger level is similar to the forest, reports seem to indicate it skews more towards low white. As for what they are? Well, I’m sure it won’t surprise you that there are scorpions, miniature camels, road runners, snakes (multiple), beetles, and lizards.

   However! Along with those more natural threats, there are also some whithered bones, sand sharks, sand elementals, and more. Note, I say and more because this category has a lot of “one off” threats which have been reported. And given the illusory nature of some of the oases (actual illusions, not just the natural mirages), these reports are suspect.

   The good news is that the abundance of water sources means the environmental danger isn’t as bad as it could be. Honestly, at this point, I know this is the place you will choose to go, but please do consider the forest. The desert is a couple weeks walk away and the presence of the undead is worrying. Which, in mentioning I know just stokes Gem’s desire to go even more, so I hope the more level-headed of you restrain them.

Best of luck on your travels,

Merchant Silverwhiskers

]

Gem smiled, “He mentioned me first! I’m the most easily remembered of the group!”

June raises an eyebrow, “Yep, you certainly are the most memorable.”

Samuel sighs, “I was really interested in the forest. Like, rhinos? What even is up with that?”

Gem smiled even wider, “But we’re going to the desert. Aren’t we?”

Samuel, “You certainly would vote for it. I’m just being pushed towards the desert because of how he worded that. The warnings weren’t meant to be a challenge, but boy, does it feel like it.”

June, “I would have voted for the desert. Since the forest is well explored, the only reason to go there is to level. Which is a good way to fall behind in every other way.”

Emrys frowns, “What about the herbs that are there?”

Gem laughs, “All accounted for, I bet!”

June nods, “The only reason the herbs are still in a forest that is so well explored? They don’t grow in a farm. So whenever they pop up, the local powers that be will get an eye on them. Which means either a limit on how many you can harvest or we won’t even be allowed to harvest them.”

Emrys looks around, “Well, that aside, I guess it is a good thing that I want to head to the desert as well. Though I would advocate that we use the guild to find out what we can. Since it is clearly an adventurer focused region, Silverwhiskers likely doesn’t have the full story.”

This was something everyone could agree with and so there wasn’t else much to plan. Instead, they settled for a quick dinner and an early bedtime. Which won’t be a problem as while they do wake up early in the morning, the guild still opens earlier.

Though they are up early enough that the inn doesn’t have breakfast ready, so the group heads out right away. Which might not have been the smartest decision as it means they end up in the guild’s small library on an empty stomach.

Now, using the library is free, and obviously they don’t allow food and drink. However, one quirk is that you only get an hour a day unless you reserve more time beforehand. A thing that they did not do. At least by knowing the name of the region, finding the information on it was straightforward.

After the hour is up, the now quite hungry four leaves the guild to find some food and talk it over. The search for food took both much longer than expected and yet was quite quick. They ended up down by the docks where the fishing ships came in.

There was a lot to choose from in a big port town like this. Except they had just gotten off a boat where they had the freshest seafood you can get and are about to head for a desert. So yeah, they ended up getting fresh fish again despite any claims previously of having eaten enough.

Though this time they found an out of the way shop dealing in something rare, sushi. Which was an in-world dish as the creators had made sure to tuck basically every regional cuisine they could in somewhere. If only so, the players couldn’t jump in and make fast cash with trash copies of irl food. If someone wanted to be a chef, they’d have to actually be good at it.

Gem order a roll of soft shell crab and another of tuna. The crab roll was one of those going for the wow factor, which is generally called a spider roll, having the fried crab legs sticking out of the end pieces. Which they did enjoy, though the tuna roll? A roll of just rice, nori, and the best tuna they had ever had! Just a quick dip in the soy sauce with a small smear of wasabi and wow!

Emrys followed Gem on ordering a spider roll and was satisfied with just that. Though that might have been just to avoid having to use the chopsticks more than necessary. He was less than skilled with them. Not that the other type was much better.

Emrys actually couldn’t help but ask Gem how they were so good with them.

Gem shrugged, “Eh, I used them for snacking. No gamer grime on my keyboard and mouse! I enjoy chips and cheese puffs as much as the next person, just not on my hands and such.”

Samuel and June ignored the two as they enjoyed their selection of rolls. They actually coordinated and decided on three rolls they both wanted to try so they could have half of each.

They got a shrimp and eel roll that irl would be called a rattlesnake roll. The two main ingredients being shrimp tempura and eel. The second roll was a spicy tuna roll which did lose some of the effect the piece of fresh tuna had in Gem’s tuna roll, but the spicy mayo in the minced tuna added a wonderful creamy element to the roll.

And the last roll? Well, yeah, they got a spider roll as well. Someone else had been having one when they arrived at the shop and it really drew the attention. Though Gem vehemently denied that being their reasoning as the roll was actually one of their favorite irl.

Then, as they left the sushi shop satisfied, they realized that they hadn’t actually talked about the horizon oasis desert.

Gem, “Huh, I guess we might have been a bit hungry.”

Emrys rolls his eyes, “Yeah, maybe just a bit.”

June, “Well, we can walk and talk.”

Samuel sighs, “Is there really all that much to talk about? It’s a desert. While I agree that the forest wouldn’t have had anything for us besides levels, it isn’t like the desert has much for us either. I doubt we’ll make much money there.”

Gem, “Guess what I found out!”

Emrys, “I wouldn’t say the earning potential is that low! My selection of books had a few rare desert herbs we might run into. Combined with whatever loot we get from hunting? I bet we make an easy thousand or so gold, though we might even get some rarer things and swing down attuned pieces.”

June, “The monsters can drop some good stuff from what I saw. In particular, the scorpions sting is a worthwhile drop to collect. People seem to value them for powerful antidotes. Well, powerful to us.”

Gem, “Heyo! I found something interesting!”

June nods, “And the bit went on long enough. What did you find?”

Gem smiles, revealing a full set of pointed teeth. “Why! There are ruins in the desert! Ancient sandstone buildings! Some even come with undiscovered treasures! Seems at least once a year someone will find a ruin with some kind of basement to romp around in!”

Samuel sighs, “Is this a not-a-dungeon or simply empty area because the lore says it should be there?”

June, “I had one line mention this stuff and it seemed dismissive. Where did you get your knowledge from?”

Gem bounces ahead of the others and does a small twirl to end up facing them. Their ears twitch as they smirk. “Well, while you were finding the right section, I looked at the quest board! They have multiple active quests lined up for any information on the ruins. Maps? Loot? Lore? They’ll take it all!”

June sighs, “I guess that makes sense. It is likely a recent change and so not in the books.”

Gem shrugs as they fall back in line with the others. “Eh, I bet they were always there. The system just shifted the weather or something to reveal them so us players could have some fun! Since there are undead in the area, I bet there is even a pyramid with a legit mummy!”

Emrys grimaces, “Which we will be avoiding! Mummys are a greater undead and at least a purple threat.”

I've Eaten Enough Fish - Chapter 10

Cult Fallout - Chapter 12