[treasure] Cliff-side Puzzle

Though perhaps one of the more mundane areas (when compared to its adjacent neighbors), Pormount still had its unique uses, the most obvious use of course being the endless grass knolls constantly in need of subjugation and culling. Given Jack’s current skill set, it was safe to say that such an objective was ill fitting of such a character. The majority of his offensive output primarily rest in returning the undead to rest. That said, it still didn’t deter him however. (It probably didn't help that the man had already committed to aiding the locals prior to asking what they were in need of...) Worst case scenario, he could always cautiously gauge his damage input and mitigate it with healing as he slowly and inefficiently whittled away at the enemy health bars.

It was while exploring that his eyes had caught sight of a curious thing from atop a cliff. Originally sitting there for the sake of resting, his vision eventually caught sight of what appeared to be a small, sturdy and strange looking box shaped object of sorts. Not quite believing his own senses, he’d rub his eyes groggily before looking once more as a confirmation. Sure enough, his eyes had not mislead him. The tricky part however was how to get there. The item in question itself didn’t seem very accessible, nor did it seem particularly useful… which only begged the question of whether it was worth the effort to begin with. He’d have to shove his doubt aside however. Though his experiences with the game were short numbered, he had come to learn that very few things were entirely fruitless. The game tended to award getting distracted and going on seemingly tedious side adventures.

Standing from his seated position, the mage peered down and carefully walked about the edge of the cliff. Surveying the best point to descend from his current location, he’d mull over his options curiously since they all seemed rather unfavorable as a whole. It was then that a particular set of vines had caught his eye. They seemed firmly rooted enough upon walking over for inspection. For one reason or another, the plant life had anchored itself to a rocky ceiling of sorts. Though cautious, the man was even more so curious. After gingerly placing some of his weight onto the vines, he’d nod once before tugging more firmly and putting the rest of weight onto it. Given enough time, he’d slowly descend towards the cliff-side puzzle, only to make a small bunny hop the remainder of the distance in order to land next to the chest. After tinkering with the device for a bit, it would finally let out a soft click while creaking open.

An ominous timer appeared. Realizing that he was short for time, he’d quickly grab the first thing inside before the device resealed itself abruptly.

 

Ritual practice. Yes that was what brought her out here. Merkaba would need to test how her rituals worked in this world and the consequences of being in another body. As she wandered the land like a wraith. The wind blowing her wing like appendages far behind her. Her red eyes scoured the countryside looking for a suitable dark and inviting area. Were there no caverns or ruins here? Once she reached the shoreline with no proper place in sight. Elizabeth came to the conclusion that perhaps a ritual in broad daylight on the cliffs would be adequate. A place with less natural dark aura would be a good chance to see how close she was to her gods after all.

As the ritual preparations began. Merkaba noticed something that somehow missed her eye before. There was a cavern here! Praise be Babylon! Perhaps her original plans would still be possible. Gathering up her things and heading for the caves vine covered entrance. Merkaba prepared her weapon and checked her needs meters. The cave may need a swift 'cleaning' before it would be useful.

Cutting away the vines with her scythe. Merkaba stepped into the cavern. It was very enclosed. Not a good ritual location Elizabeth realized as she made her way further. The path widened some until it brought her.... back outside? Unbelievable, pointless cave! On top of that, this was a dead end. The cliff jutted out far over sea here. Perfect place to commit suicide but that was not her goal. Then she saw the chest. It was almost blurring in the direct sunlight. Well now, perhaps this was not a total waste of time.

Making her way over. Merkaba knelt down and tapped it with her scythe. It did not seem trapped or cursed at first glance. Then she saw the buttons. Merkaba chuckled darkly.to herself. How cute. Elizabeth saw the arrangement of four buttons. With one larger then the others. She would not get anywhere unless she pressed one. Pressing the large one caused the rest to light up in a certain order and a timer to start. Merkaba's face turned bored. One of these silly things? Elizabeth was a scientist. Memorization was not going to be difficult.

First was right, left, middle.
Then Middle, right, middle.
Right, right, left.
Right right, left, middle, right.
Left, left, middle, left, right.
Middle, right, left, left, right, left, middle, right.

Elizabeth was bored and annoyed with this. It went on forever and was not even kind of challenging. There should have been more buttons at least.

Finally the side slid open and Merkaba's eyes settled on what lied within.

So what was this distraction for?

 

Letting out a long and heavy sigh as she gently kicked a stone into the water, Nalani walked carefully along the shore side, studying the horizon carefully with her bright blue eyes. After a full day of exploring, she'd found herself casually strolling around Pormont just to, well... Relax a little. All this adventuring got a little tiring, and after a while she wanted to just enjoy the games scenery, maybe carry around the little mystery egg she had gotten from the beta rewards as it needed some tlc, and just breathe. It was kind of difficult while trying to avoid the territory of the Grass Knolls that presided in this area, but she seemed to have finally found a spot where she could just sit for a while and not be bothered by another random player.

That was until the glint of sun shining against metal caught her eye, and she turned her attention towards what seemed to be a chest sticking out the side of the large cliff about her. Cocking her head to the side as she carefully stashed her egg back away in her inventory, she took a few steps as far as she could until she found herself directly below it, staring up. She wasn't a climber, nor was she a tall person, and the chest was a good couple feet above her, "Well, shit..." She wasn't going to be able to get up on her own... But she couldn't just leave the chest there, nor tell someone about it.

All hope seemed to be lost until, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a crate making it's way up onto the beach. It seemed to be way too much of a coincidence, but in her time of need, Nalani shuffled over and waded somewhat into the water, pulling the crate out with her. Sadly, it wasn't big enough to be a stepping stool to where she wanted to get to, but maybe just maybe, it held something inside that could help her. This was a video game, right? Didn't things just work like that? So, after smashed into it with a rock she found nearby, Nalani peered inside.

And there it was. A rope. It was decently long, but strong enough to carry her body to where she needed to get to. Pulling it out carefully, she studied the ends and then the cliff, looking for a spot to throw it up and hook onto. There was one branch a bit over the chest, and maybe if she threw it as hard as she could, she might be able to hook the rope onto it. It was tricky, and there was a possibility the rope could snap and she could fall, but it was risk that she was willing to take. So, tying the end into a circle and swinging it around like they did in the movies, Nalani let go... Only to miss.

She missed a couple more times, actually, until finally it was a hit, and the rope snagged onto the branch in question. After making sure it was secure, Nalani propped her feet against the cliffside and began to pull her way up. In real life, Faye was pretty weak. But Nalani had strength and healthiness to her that she didn't, so it was almost... Well, it was an accomplishment that she could do so. It took her a little bit, but she soon found herself side by side with the chest, gazing down at the puzzle in front of her.

It took a little thinking and trust on the ropes part, but after playing around with the buttons, the chest just slid open. Thats when, of course, the timer went off, surprising Nalani as she snagged an item from inside the chest- The rope snapping as she did so. It was a small fall, but enough to make the Felis squeal out in pain. Thankfully due to the pain system, it didn't hurt that much, so after gathering herself up from the initial shock, she opened her eyes to study the item in which she acquired.​

 

Dempsey was up an hour before dawn to train, as usual. Her usual routine consisted of a long jog wearing a backpack full of stones and dirt. she had managed to scrounge a sweat band from a second hand store that she thought made her look particularly fearsome, and martial-artsy. that didn't matter right now, as her legs churned rhythmically, propelling her forward across the rough terrain. As she got into her rhythm, she began to alternate between bouts of shadow boxing and spell chants, forcing herself to the brink of exhaustion and keeping herself there for as long as she could stand without faltering.

she craved that feeling, the ache that coursed through every fiber of her being pleading that she stop, but persisting with the knowledge that she must become stronger, and this was how it would be done. she could tell that other players had capitalized on their head start, and she was afraid that she was falling behind even those who started the same day she had. All she could do was push herself forward as hard and fast as she could and hope that her determination would be the deciding factor.

After about an hour of this she stopped, allowing the pack she carried to flop unceremoniously to the ground. she pulled a water skin from her inventory and drank as much as she could before coming up for air, and poured the rest over her head and torso. With a dismissive gesture, the empty water skin vanished, and she flopped down unceremoniously on a fallen log nearby. She was near the ocean, and could hear the waves crashing onto the shore from the distance. She decided to take a break and have a look for herself. she hadn't actually been to the ocean yet since joining this world, and she had no idea when the next time she would be out this way again.

Pushing through the thick growth that was common at the edge of a forest, she moved forward until she could see the ocean plainly. she was standing on the edge of a cliff that stretched a good distance in either direction. vines and roots ran down the length, inviting her to climb down and take a stroll along the beach. she nimbly glided down the network of living handholds. when she was almost to the bottom, she noticed an opening, large enough that she could easily fit through. Curiosity got the better of her, and after a brief incantation and a dismissive wave of her hand, she cast a simple light spell and continued her descent.

The cave was well lit even without the aid of her spell, but it made her feel more comfortable, and in control of her situation, so she kept it burning as she explored. The cave was small, only about the size of a house. it seemed like it would be a great place to build a camp or hide-out, if not for the threat of tidal flooding, and just flooding in general.

Far to the back, in an area that would have been hidden in shadows if not for her light was A strange looking container; a chest of sorts. she paced back and forth while examining it, curious as to the nature and contents of the container. there was a hatch on the front covered with some kind of puzzle. She absolutely hated puzzles. she hated them almost as much as she loved the prospect of treasure or gold, in fact.

deciding to skip all the hassle and frustration, she simply brought up her inventory and produced a mirrored scrying bowl and a bottle of purified and distilled water she kept for this purpose. After filling the bowl, she settled into a cross-legged position and began repeating the long mantra that would activate her scrying device after enough mana had been poured into it to attract the attention of the extraplanar entities she invoked. Once here, exchanging the bowl of mana for visions of the puzzles solution would be as simple as asking nicely and collecting her prize.

surely enough, after several minutes of incantation, images began to shimmer on the waters surface, first revealing the solution to the puzzle, then warning her that the chest would quickly spring shut moments after being opened. with a smile and nod, she released her spell, causing the mana charged water in her bowl to evaporate in a burst of glowing blue steam. She suddenly felt drained and light headed. She'd just learned the technique yesterday, and today was the first chance she'd gotten to test it out in a real world situation. Needless to say, she was more than happy with the result.

after taking several moments to collect her thoughts and catch her breath, she set about disarming the lock, and quickly snatched whatever was inside.

 

@Dempsey Fabijain Small Coin Pouch 50 g

Dungeon Master

With the last retrieved item leaving the container's inventory, the strain finally grew too great! A large cracking sound emits from the box as it shatters. The remaining contents inside have vanished to an unknown location.