Here's a little tale that happened just last night. Names omitted because I can't remember most of them and did not want to implicate certain parties.
The Epic of Magnus
It was a slow day, we were going about our tasks, settling the area slowly, when I decided on a whim to take a break and check up on the town's silver mine, which had seen some problems of late.
A group of squatters had previously claim-jumped the rich nodes and it was only through luck and sudden intervention I had managed to defuse the situation before it could escalate into hostilities. The offending party had only wished for some iron for their expedition further inland and was afraid someone else would claim and seal off the mine before them. We agreed to reopen the mine in exchange for some iron as soon as one of their number could be informed of the situation, as he was their key-holder. Situation was to be resolved within a day, or so their leader promised...
Anyway, as I tried to open the gate, I found it was still locked and barred, wondering if I was early, when I was accosted by a strange heavily armed character who claimed the mine to be his. After some mild inquiry his blatant lie soon collapsed in on itself and he admitted that he and his mates had simply claimed a seemingly untended mine, after some brief explanation about the deal I had made with his leader he revealed that there had been... complications.
The keyholder was dead, the key had changed hands at some point and the new holder had trundled off into the middle of the wilderness and gotten himself killed, most likely. I sighed inwardly and accepted the man's quest to retrieve the key to the mine so ore production could start again. Agreeing to meet a aquaintance of the deceased back at First Light.
After a quick dinner we set out in haste towards the forest the keyholder was last spotted, it was a short and uneventful trip, we saw a bear but it was rather uninterested in us, when we heard sounds of battle ahead.
Rushing to a clearing, we saw a horrific sight, a scorpion, big as a house, was attacking a band of miners in their camp! Thinking nothing of my injuries, (I had.. earlier that day fallen down a cliff, again.) I grabbed my blade and leapt into the fray. Fortunately the beast was grieveously injured from its extended engagement and soon succumbed to the miners picks and blades, while my companion hid in their mine.
Among the miners I spotted a few peasants I had assisted earlier in their material needs, frying pans and clay bowls, to be precise, but inquiring them yielded no additional information regarding the keyholder's body. No man matching his description had been spotted in their part of their woods, so I sighed and thanked them for their help anyways. And pressed on.
After almost a hour after reaching the coastline, walking up and down, exploring the miner's settlement, and cringing at the proximity of a herd of lava spiders, the beasts glowing menacingly in the dark of the night, I gave up and started on back towards First Light, when I tripped over the keyholder's corpse. I calmed my jubilations in respect of the dead.
After giving the poor man a proper burial (after carefully stripping him of his valuables and belongings) I stood there, key in hand, and returned to the miners mining camp. Handing over the key holder's belongings to my companion, who had opted to stay behind. And prepared to return home...
In hindsight, I should have asked for directions first.
After three hours of scraping and bruising every part of my body, while climbing around the cliff face, narrowly avoiding those blasted lava spiders again, getting mauled by bears and bitten by savage giant spiders, (luckily, the really big ones have very harmless toxins) my already meager food supplies was spent, as I stood on a lonesome shore, only a abandoned homestead in sight, in a increasingly desperate situation, I turned to the sky and asked for the way home...
I am not sure if hunger pains made me hallucinate, but I recall a figure pointing towards the mountains, I drank my fill from the bitter ocean water ( a bad move, in retrospect) and started walking.
After a hour, I was exhausted, clinging to a bare cliff face, eating some hazelnuts I had scraped from the grass in the valley below, having dodged scorpions, spiders, bears and vicious cavebugs, one which chased me across atleast one ridge, dread came over me. I realised, I might actually die out here. And nobody would ever find the body.
I would have failed my quest to return the key to First Light.
My memory grows ever more blurry as I try to recall the event. I stumbled among lemon trees, following a whisper, of metal against wood, people, food, drink, I cried out a hearty Hello, before I remember the moss coming up to greet me.
I am not sure how I came back to First Light, there are no lemon trees for miles around our settlement, but as I crawled slowly towards our food and water storage, gripping the key in my palm, I grinned to myself, I was beaten, battered, broken and delirious with hunger, dehydration and injuries, but I was victorious.
Later that night, as I was sawing up planks for our housing, I called our jewelsmith over, and without much ceremony, completed my Quest by giving her the key to our silver mine.
And thus, I end my tale,
Magnus McHauler
Not the most riveting tale, maybe. If you want more I can probably hammer together some day to day reports of First Light
Author
Topic: WURM Online (Read 26853 times)