[Treasure] The Mountain Pass

The Mountain Pass

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Along one of the smaller mountain ranges running parallel to the shoreline of Pormont lies a hidden passageway leading to the unknown. Upon closer inspection there appear to be markings carved into the mountain side indicating the correct path to travel. Despite these indicators still remaining visible versus the test of time, the walkway itself has long crumbled and fallen victim to decay, leaving only a centimeter worth of footing along its distance.

Hidden: The Acrobatic

With a bit of ingenuity and cat like reflexes, the walls can be shuttled across with careful movements. Various foot holds exist along the cliff side as well as narrower sections where one can press both legs against the walls to shuffle across.

Hidden: The Juggernaut

For when brains simply won't cut it, there's always brawn. A bit of brute force can carry a person from one resilient platform to the next. Just be careful to nail the landing or a visit to the morgue will be in order.

Upon reaching the other side of the chasm, you grind to a stop only to find yourself atop a plateau that juts out. A familiar scent of fresh ocean air blasts at your senses as the roar of waves crashing against stone can be heard from atop the precipice.

The Chest: Off to the side and tucked snugly within an abandoned bird's nest rests a small wooden chest littered in magical runes. Atop the runes appears to be small indent, for something large and round. A small note has been tacked to the side of the chest. "Albert likes tuna." Perhaps the right interaction will cause it to open momentarily? It seems as though the benefactor leaving this gift behind had intended for a particular bird's rear end to rest comfortably upon this makeshift throne. The chest has a ticking timer as well, and you seem to only have enough time to grab 1 item.

Note: This is an event for people who have yet to open a treasure chest this week (timer reset's on Sunday).
Last reset - 7/2.

Briefly tell a story about what were you doing up until this point, then, describe how you would retrieve this chest. (300 words minimum, 500 words maximum)

3/4 Reward Claimed​

 

Studying the secret passageway with a watchful eye, Nalani pondered upon what to do to get to the other side. Why? Well, she was curious what was over there. One thing this game was teaching her was that if there was a place that was hard to reach, there was most likely something over there that was valuable. Unfortunately the only way to get over was to either launch herself and hope she didn't fall to her doom, or plan out her way, inch over and... Hope she didn't fall to her doom. Out of the two options, the latter seemed the most promising, so turning her attention towards the wall, she studying her next move.

It would have to be careful but also quick, and the worst thing to do would be to look down, so after planning out the least most likely way to end up dying- Again, she carefully inched her way out on the one side of the passageway, ignoring the sound of any crumbling rubble between her. Whenever the passage way got closer and there was more room for her feet, she would unstick herself from the wall and carefully move her foot over to the other side, before pushing herself quickly back again. She panicked a little when she felt herself almost slip, but quietly regained her composure, and soon enough was standing back on solid ground.

And now she was on some random cliff. Great... All that for nothing? Disappointment filled her until she spotted a little nest off to the side, scurrying over and peering in to spot the chest, closed. How was she supposed to open it? It had some strange markings on it, an indent, and... 'Albert likes tuna'. Who was Albert? Was Albert... A bird? She was supposed to get a bird to sit on the chest in the nest? Well, that's pretty simple, but how am I supposed to get a bird to come down here?

Fortunately, Nalani had some left over fish from her fishing with Alpha. It had been a while ago, but the food in this game didn't seem to get old pretty fast. Take the left over pieces of fish out of her inventory and placing it on the chest, she waited... And waited... Nothing. What, do I need to?... Oh goodness. It was then the Felis broke into dance, as if trying to summon the bird, "I don't want to be a chicken, I don't want to be a duck, so I shake my butt. Na na na na~"

Thankfully, this only lasted for a couple moments before 'Albert' came swooping down, obviously more interested in the fish then in the entertainment. Nalani hadn't even had time to pout at the bird before it sat in it's place, causing the chest to open open quickly. The familiar ticking of the timer went off, and she quickly scurried over and plucked something out, turning her gaze down towards her prize.​

 

@Nalani Rosa

You quickly swipe at the chest before it slams shut with a resounding thud. Your in-game interface indicates the following item now rests in your palm:

Potion of Reconfiguration (Consumable - Soulbound) After drinking the potion, the imbiber is transformed into the opposite gender for a duration of twenty-four hours. Should the character sprite fall into neither category, they are transformed into a badger. This effect is not dispelled upon taking damage. The potion itself lacks any real tool tip and only appears as Potion of ??? when inspected in game. It tastes bitter but leaves a sweet and rich aftertaste.

 

Noah stood at the shore of one of the many streams that emptied out into the ocean nearby. He had been doing a bit of exploring and getting the lay of the land for the most part. Really he had been lucky to not have ran into many enemies or creatures while being out here. As Noah picked up a stone to throw it into the water he felt the gaze of something staring at him. Call it a sixth sense or some aspect of the game’s mechanic but Noah knew something had their eyes on him. As he bent down to find another stone he quickly spun around and threw it into the nearby brush prompting a rather large boar like creature to rush out. Noah scrambled into the nearby river in hopes that the boar was not a great swimmer.

Unlucky for him the boar jumped right in behind him. Racing to the other side, Noah spotted a rocky path that lead up into the mountains. Noah dashed up the cliffs and away from the boar. As he ran he noticed strange markings along the walls that seemed like arrows leading him down a path but to where? Assuming that the boar was just as good of a climber that it was a swimmer Noah followed the markings on the walls with a sense of urgency.He came across a narrow footed area that seemed to offer little to no options to get across a steep dropoff. Hearing the boar’s grunts as it pursued him, Noah started to make his way across the area using the limited footings and grips that were available to him. Thanks to the rogue’s nimble ability he was able to make it from one footing to the other with only slight difficulty, though he needed some concentration. About halfway across he turned back to see the boar standing there grunting in anger that it could not make it across the area. With a smile on his face Noah proceeded across the path.

On the other side Noah sees as large cliff area that held several empty nests. As he scanned the area he notices a small box laying under one the of the nests, a treasure chest perhaps? He walked over to the chest and saw the note that mentioned something about tuna and an Albert. Was Albert a bird? Noah opened his inventory and pulled out a half eaten tuna sandwich he picked up in town. As he stood there with the tuna in hand the shadow of a bird covered him and promptly flew and sat on his makeshift throne. The moment it sat down the chest opened with a clicking sound. A timer perhaps? He threw the sandwich to the bird and scrambled to grab the closest object in the chest. Right as his hand pulled the object out the chest slammed shut. He gazed down at the object to see what he might have been so lucky to win.

 

The chest does not open due to improper interactions with the runes.

 

A look of pure and utter glee was visible upon the redhead's face as she raced through the nearby forest, jumping and sliding in between all the trees, only occasionally getting the odd scratch from a rogue twig every now and then. It was truly an act of masterful dexterity, anyone seeing her would be in complete and utter awe at the site of the red blur.

At least... That's what would have happened if Katarina had actually upgraded her mastery once in a while. In actuality, she was little more than a mess, sprawling through the trees, multiple scratches along her exposed shoulders and face. Heck, she had even managed to almost poke one of her eyes out! So much for being the most beautiful woman in Terrasphere. Right now, she looked like an extra from a horror movie. The one that somehow managed to fail at running.

After tumbling down a hill, Katarina groggily lifted her head. Her vision suddenly focused, much to her surprise. There seemed to be a huge cliff? She took a moment to wipe the small amounts of blood which had started to pool up in her eyes using the sleeves of her shirt. She blinked a couple of times to finalize the deed and took one more look. Her eyes widened, it seemed that she wasn't completely delusional! There was actually a cliff there, in front of her, above a scary-looking ocean which could probably kill her if she accidentally fell in...

A huge grin appeared on her beautiful yet scratched face. Challenge. Accepted

She ran up to the cliff, following the guiding markers until she reached a point which meant that she could no longer move as carelessly, after all, who -in their right mind- would sprint across an incredibly tight gap? Exactly. So, using her terrible (Yet existent) acrobatic skills, she made her way through the valley, stopping to wipe her eyes with her sleeves every few minutes. Thank god no one was there to see her at this moment, they'd probably be scared out of their mind!

She soon reached an outcrop, which seemed to lead nowhere. She sighed, looking to the left and right as she did this. Had this whole ordeal really been for naught? While looking around, she saw it. A seemingly abandoned bird's nest, which looked... Magical.

With an almighty leap, she landed next to the nest. She loved nature! Maybe a bird was somewhere? Much to her disappointment, there didn't seem to be any. She groaned, not even noticing the wooden chest with magical runes. So, using her incredibly loud voice, she started screaming "Ka-Kaw Ka-Kawww!"

As expected, a beautiful bird came flying out of nowhere, landing somewhere behind her. She followed its flight and that's when she saw it. A wooden chest, and a bird sitting on some kind of throne right next to it.

Not wasting any time, Katarina ran up to the chest, scooped her hand in and brought out the first thing she touched. What could it be?

 

@Noah Krane

You quickly swipe at the chest before it slams shut with a resounding thud. Your in-game interface indicates the following item now rests in your palm:

Rusted Dueling Saber (1H Slash)

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@Katarina Akiri

You quickly swipe at the chest before it slams shut with a resounding thud. Your in-game interface indicates the following item now rests in your palm:

Hand-me-down Thieves' Kit (Field Tool)

 

Beatle never thought of himself as "active". Heck, in real life the last thing he wanted to do was go on a hike or rock climb. Why, then, did he find himself so curiously drawn to the strange passageway and the old, weathered pass? What could there be to gain from risking your life over a dangerous climb? In real life, the answer would be "nothing" and Beatle would've walked away without a second thought. But this was a game, and while the path looked dangerous, it was definitely traversable, with enough caution. While there was no guarantee that something was on the other side, Beatle was willing to take the risk.

The question became how. Beatle briefly considered using his naturamancy to make some sort of bridge over the gap, but alas, he was ill-versed in the art. The most he could manage at his level was a simple snare spell and a defense buff, neither of which would help his current situation. That left him with his music.

"In that case..." Beatle muttered, taking a few large steps back from the ledge. "I think this can work..."
Beatle took out his guitar, but before he began playing, he cast Vine Snare on the opposite ledge, causing Magical roots to spring up and capture anything in the area. As soon as Beatle finished casting the spell, he began playing Song of Winds, granting himself a speed boost as he ran towards the ledge faster than he normally could. At the last second, Beatle jumped with all his might, putting his guitar away and reaching out desperately to grab onto the vines he'd made.

For a brief moment, Beatle felt like he could fly. His body felt weightless at the peak of his jump, and then the virtual gravity began to drag him down to earth. It was sooner than expected. Beatle reached out desperately, hoping beyond hope that he would manage to grab one of the vines before the snare expired. As he hit the wall on the opposite side, he felt the odd sensation of vegetation beneath his fingers and grabbed on for dear life. He was on the very edge of the cliff, holding on to a stray vine from his snare. He had just enough time to move his grip to the cliffside itself before the spell wore off and the vines disappeared back into the ground. Beatle grunted a bit as he lifted the rest of himself up to solid ground, then collapsed at the edge of the cliff, breathing heavily.

Beatle took some time to allow his mana to recover, as well as his psyche, before exploring the plateau. The smell of the ocean overrode his senses, and for a moment all Beatle did was stand there quietly, listening to the ocean waves crash and enjoying the gentle breeze. Not too long later, he spotted the chest and read the note.

"Tuna? Where the hell am I supposed to find...." Beatle's attention slowly shifted to the ocean, now with a sense of dread. "This better be worth it." With that, he began to climb down the Plateau, carefully planning his steps.

~45 minutes later

Beatle finally reached the edge of the water, a while aways from the plateau's summit. "Great. Now I just need to catch a tuna..."

Beatle thought for a little. He'd never been fishing before, even in real life, but how hard could it really be?

~30 minutes later

Beatle stared at the single, pathetic little tuna that had taken him so much effort to catch. Various different attempts ranging from stabbing in the water to trapping with Vine Snare. After all his efforts, it was sheer luck that one happened to swim into his guitar while he wasn't looking. Beatle wasn't sure if virtual water was bad for the guitar, but right then he didn't care. Part one was done, now he just needed to get back....

~1 1/2 hours later

Beatle gave up on the idea of climbing the plateau again, favoring the leap of faith. What he wasn't ready for was how difficult it would be to find the location of the pathway again. He'd searched for what felt like forever before stumbling upon it. This time, Beatle aimed the Snare trap closer to the edge, so some of the vines were easier to reach on the edge of the cliff. Again, Beatle played his guitar and ran at the wall, jumping even farther than he thought he could. It still wasn't enough to close the gap, but the vines were there and ready to take Beatle in.

After a brief recovery time (again), Beatle placed the Tuna on top of the chest, awaiting it's response.

 

@Beatle the Bard

Max words exceeded. The chest does not open.