The Abandoned Hunting Lodge [Treasure]

A Wild Treasure Chest Appears!

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Rules:

First person to post a valid response here has a chance of earning whatever goodies rest inside this chest randomly lying about! The rules are straightforward and it’s all about speed! So get your fingers warmed up and keep your impromptu writing skills on hand! Please note that any individual is only eligible for one chest a week. (Rule subject to change)

Feel free to leave your post up even if you're not first! You can keep the gold/mastery points earned from the post and who knows? Maybe the person before you might've missed something... (Threads will be locked after at least an hour has passed from awards being doled out.)

To create a valid response, the person must reply with a post consisting of the following:
1. 400 words
2. Specific mention of area (sub-forum) and setting (thread title) the treasure chest is in
3. A story recounting what the player was doing prior to stumbling across the chest

Note well, some chests may have specific requirements to access/open them… so keep an eye out!

 

Alpha had been, for the lack of a better word, bored. She had been searching for a team around the outskirts of the Adecus Forest for a bit over half an hour by now. Surely it shouldn't be this hard to find a team to enter that new Ice Block instance, she had thought. She had been proven wrong twice over. With a groan, she went back to her idle stroll and halfhearted search for another soul.

"Aurggh!"

She couldn't help but scream. It wasn't like anyone could hear her now. The area was emptied for some reason and Alpha seemed to have missed the memo. Who knows, maybe everyone had moved onto the next instance or town without her. Still, Alpha was still one stubborn mule and she trekked onward, pulling the strings of her hair out with dismay.

She entertained herself by repeatedly clenching and releasing her fists quite a few times. She had familiarized herself with the game HUD to the point where she could probably navigate it perfectly while blind and deaf (although deafness wouldn't really have an impact on such a thing).

"What to do, Alpha?! What to do?"

She was pretty sure that talking to oneself was a sure sign of insanity of some sort but she couldn't bring herself to care. The boredom was, figuratively and may soon be literally, killing her. Suddenly, just as she finished the thought, she bumped her foot into something. Although the game minimized pain sensitivity in its simulated setting, Alpha couldn't help but cry out in shock.

"Urgh, I hate stumps!"

She roared with the pent up anger of a thousand suns before looking down to fix a nasty glare at whatever inanimate object she had wounded herself with. She resisted the urge to do an exaggerated face-palm (do people even do that in real life?) and stared at the offending object. It was, to her surprise, not a stump.

The chest was made of gnarled wood that seemed to blend in with the surroundings of Adecus quite well. In fact, it was nearly impossible to distinguish between the chest and the nature around it with a simple observation. She absentmindedly wondered how did the game pull off camouflage and texture so well.

Either way, she shook her head and rid herself off of the shock. Then, just as soon as the novelty of the situation wore off, a doggish grin plastered itself on her face and she fell to the ground on both knees, inspecting the object closely with a single eye closed and with her nose touching the rusted metal hinge.

Interesting! As quick as a rabbit (or any other fast-moving animal, really) she leaped up with the chest clutched tight to her chest. Her grin remained and, for a moment, it seemed like the entire debacle was a still-photo of a young girl carrying a barrel of treasures that seemed to be a third of her size. It was a humorous image that, if Alpha could look back upon in third person, would send her into a giggling fit.

"I'm gonna open this chest~ Gonna see what's inside! Gonna find out what's hidden in this here chest!"

She idly sang, skipping out the wooded area and into the nearby town. A sparkle glinted in her eye and her toothy smile widened. Who cares about some piece of ice when you have a treasure box to open!

 

You're not quite there yet! Try to figure out what you're missing! (The chest is still up for grabs!) I'll go off the earliest timestamp for an edit or a new, unaltered post!!! Feel free to keep posting until I announce a winner! (AFK IRL)

 

The abandoned cabin

Location: Adecus forest | Season: Spring | Time: Dawn​

_____The muscles in her legs felt like fire was spread across them as she struggled to keep up with her friend who, despite them traveling by foot all night without a break was still perfectly fine. His white hair swayed in the wind and got in Alice’s face making her exhale quickly to blow it away from her eyes and make her fall a bit further behind him. She wanted to ask him to slow down or if they could take a break, but with his back to her she could not sign to him such request and was forced to keep enduring the hike.

_____The sole of her foot falling down on a sharp rock causing Alice to stagger and lose her footing. Frame wobbling backwards for a few moments before she fell down on her butt with a light thud and quickly rushed to rub her rear from the impact. Turning her focus back in front of her she no longer saw her friend and her mind entered panic mode. He had gone on without her and she was already struggling to keep up with him, she would never catch up and had no idea where he was leading her.

_____Franticlly scrambling she rose to her feet and tried to sprint to make up for lost time. She did not want to be left alone in the forest again. A distant howl sent shivers down her spine and caused her ears to slope downward with fear and worry as she tried to keep sprinting but felt her muscles denying her any real speed. She was not used to going beyond fifty feet without hitting a wall back in her room, and even than she would fall over from such a walk, the game might have helped her slightly but it did not change the fact she was stressing the body.

_____Eyes caught a faint flicker of light from her right and quickly turned to see a small cabin and a glimpse of white hair enter the door before it shut behind them. It had to be him, forcing her muscles to keep moving Alice kicked forward and moved to approach the cabin taking in the view carefully. It was old, some parts had been destroyed and that alone made Alice worry that the place no longer had any occupants. Hands reaching for the door as she struggled slightly to push it open and saw her friend sitting atop a small chest.

_____Her hands waved rapidly in protest for him leaving her behind as he simply stood and waved at the chest asking her to open it. She puffed her cheeks up and began to protest more, it was not their chest and they should not open it because of that. She watched as he slowly pointed to the side of the room she could not see drawing her to look around the corner as her stomach sank. Lodged into the corner was the bones of two people picked clean, around one of their necks was a key.

_____Alice fell backwards in terror, her eyes wide and filling with tears even after her friend moved to block her view of the bodies and tried to calm her down. She wanted to run away from the house, but her muscles would not let her go much further. All she could see was her friend waving to keep telling her to open the chest, to take the key from the bones and see what was inside. Her heart sunk when she moved despite not wanting to do it. Something drew her curiosity to discover what was inside the chest. The key clicking lightly as she lifted the chest lid and peek inside carefully.

 

Dusk was setting upon the virtual world of Terrasphere. The sky was no longer the bright blue cloudless void that was during the daytime hours. But instead was colored in swathes of warm oranges and reds with smaller streaks of golden yellow and pink amongst it's palette.

This lovely view was almost completely ignored by one very serious and determined Felis.

The feline-like being stood tall and stern his muscular frame gathering sweat as he his body moved in fluid and practice movements. The sound of wood being chopped echoed loudly through the early evening air the only noise accompanying it were the clamoring song of the crickets chirping merrily to their nightly serenade.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Thunk.

With one final mighty swing the sound at last ceased as the tanned woodcutter stood up to his normal - if imposingly tall height. Wiping away the seat that gathered on his brow he quickly brought his hand to his side flask made of animal hide before taking a welcoming swig of the life-giving liquid. Finishing his drink of water he casually put it back to his side before admiring his handiwork.

Several neatly stacked piles of freshly chopped wood could be seen throughout the area - a sight that brought a proud smirk on his face. "Well that's definitely a job well done - at least for today." Grunting his began rolling his shoulders and massaging his tired arms before letting out a relieved sigh.

Finally looking up at the skies it dawned on him that it was beyond late! Checking his Palm Menu he checked to see how much time he left to finish his Quest. It wasn't a hard quest to say-to-least - not by a long shot. It was a simple Domestic quest he suddenly got by talking to the residents of a village that lied some paces away from the Adecus Forest, a large sprawling woodland that covered quite the large part of Falderen. This tiny cozy village was one of many that was dotted alongside the borders of the vast, deep, sea of trees. Who, like many others specialized in the creation and trade of lumber - a very important and necessary material for everyday life.

To put it simply he needed to cut about three-hundred pieces of lumber to construct a new Hunting Lodge as the old one was abandoned, quite literally. Vincent managed to get to know some the local pub patrons and somehow got enough reputation from helping the folks around there with minor Artisan things. He was quite surprised to see the Quest pop up after he finished helping some kids made a birdhouse - of all things.

But who was he to deny such luck?

As he finished gathering his things while in thought he padded through the forest path that he had become familiar with these past few days only for something to catch his sight from the corner of his eye. The setting sun's rays cast a hazy golden light on something just within his acute senses range. Looking around and listening out for anything unusual Vincent made his way over to the object which he quickly discovered was a Chest of some sort.

"Hello.... What's this?"

He muttered lowly cat-like eyes looking for anything amiss. Well. It seemed he found a Treasure Chest of some kind - what a lucky day he was having~! With tentative hands he cautiously pried open the wooden, gold accented chest with nimble fingers...

 

Congratulations @Alice

Inside the chest you find:
Rusted Dagger req: 0+ A once finely crafted dagger with a now dull edge. It seems to have aged poorly over the passage of time.

Code:

[r=beginner]Rusted Dagger[/r] req: 0+ A once finely crafted dagger with a now dull edge. It seems to have aged poorly over the passage of time.

 

Lost. Nalani was totally and completely lost. She had started out generally curious about her surroundings and excited to explore, but the farther and farther she walked into Adecus Forest, the more confused she got. Not gonna lie, she hadn't been totally prepared for what was to come, but she hadn't thought it was going to be this difficult. And getting used to the whole 'Virtual Reality' thing was a little strange for her, but more of a strange where she still felt herself in awe, even if she'd been playing for quite a while already. She sometimes still found herself doing the wrong hand movement to open up the menu, 'Wow... I really am quite the noob.'

As much as it may be bad to be 'lost', however, Nalani needed to turn this into a opportunity for exploration. This was a new game, wasn't it? How many people had been out and about exploring already? Just the idea of her being the first of few to walk through the forest and stand on that very spot gave her the 'oomph' she needed to push on. Not for too long, however. She wasn't the biggest fan of experiencing pain, and the system implemented into game made her a little weary of venturing out too far. You know what they say, 'curiousity killed the cat'.

After a bit more trekking, she came upon just what she was looked for- An old abandoned building. Normally, Faye would've taken one good look at all the signs that read 'danger', turned on her heels and scurried away, but Nalani inched closer, studying the worn down walls with a inquisitive look. For something so random, at least random to her, the building fit in quite well to it's surroundings, and honestly may have looked quite nice with the right time of day and lighting to take a lovely picture... But that wasn't why she was here. So, after giving her head a quick shake and bounding quickly up the small steps to the door, she gave the door a hard but tentative push.

The door opened with a loud 'creak', which was enough to creep Nalani out a little as she stepped inside, raising her middle and index finger to her temple to look more closely at her surroundings. Upon inspection of the scarce items inside, she came to the realization this was a 'hunting lodge', and that a living soul hadn't stepped through the front door for quite some time now. This was both equally exciting and equally nerve wracking for the Felis. Could she luck out and find something shiny, or could their be a monster just lurking, waiting to strike?

It took her only a couple minutes to study her surrounding, as there wasn't much there. Only a few more to check the upstairs level, albeit she got frightened by a couple creaking boards and even a shadow here and there. She was trying to not be such a scaredy cat, but she couldn't help herself. But it wasn't until she walked back downstairs the she actually found herself frightened. Just as she was about the leave, a loud creaking sound behind her caused her to swerve around and stare with bewilderment, "Awh, come on... A basement?"

She couldn't turn back now, and before she knew it, she was halfway down the old rickety stairs, carefully placing her feet one after another as to not trip on her way down. The room was really dark, the only light shining in coming from upstairs, but thankfully it was small, and she could see the corners of the room from where she was standing. Furrowing her brows, her blue eyes landed on a pile of stacked items in the corner covered by a tarp. It just seemed like a couple boxes, but a strange bulge shape caught her eye. Walking over carefully, she pinched the corner of the tarp and pulled at it gently- Only to jump back and let out a small scream of surprise.

Thankfully it was only a rat that ran out from the tarp, harmless as it crawled away into the shadows. Nalani just stared for a couple seconds, catching her breath as she tried to make sense of the situation, before laughing at her silliness. Nothing but a rat. She really need to be less jumpy. She continued to relax for a couple more moments, before a small flash of light reflecting off metal caught her attention, causing her to move forward once more, although more carefully. Pulling back the tarp as her face lit up with glee, there was revealed to be a chest, albeit small but still worth her small adventure. So, carefully placing her gloved fingers on the lid of the chest, she pried it open and peered inside.​