[SP-F2] Rose Atop the Mountain (RGQ) (Complete)

[Birdie 0]

Birdie carefully trekked up the dirt path, advancing towards the giant garden situated atop the mountain. A quest given by an NPC asked of her to retrieve a small delicate rose in the flower gardens of the High Fields of Crossing, a landmark she had yet to visit. Despite talks of it being a popular dating spot, she didn't much mind making the journey to the top alone; the thought of taking a quiet hike was pleasant and calming, above all else. Wasting not even a second, she ventured away from the main city of the second floor and began the long walk to the quest area.

"It should be right up ahead, 'follow the fence posts until you reach a gate'.. oh!" A short ways up the path, a small wooden gate came into view. Rushing to the top, she pushed it open and entered the safe zone, leaning against a fence in order to catch a breath or two. 'Note to self, start doing morning jogs..' As the girl rested up, her eyes inspected the garden sitting before her; flowers and plants of every kind were arranged in beautiful displays, little cobblestone paths allowing those passing by to walk between the aisles of flora. The sight was almost breathtaking, but Birdie's lungs soon began to relax, and she felt rested enough to stand on her own two feet again. She swiped her fingers through the air to bring up the menu and navigated to the quest tab, looking for a description of the quest objective. "Hm.. 'A standard rose with bright red petals, held together by a thorny stalk.' Seems.. easy enough?"

Edited September 6, 2016 by Birdie

[Birdie 0]

She stepped forwards, being mindful of the carefully-crafted display of flowers in order to reach the beginning of the cobblestone path. It seemed to wrap around the entire face of the mountain, looping in an imperfect circle back to the spot she stood in. 'It's easy to see why couples would love this spot so much.. whoever was in charge of designing this place got a promotion, I hope.'

ID# 66973

LD: 20 (+1 Red rose; quest objective.)

Shining in the light, a tiny red object caught the girl's attention. "..." She began to walk towards it, and upon closer inspection it indeed turned out to be the very thing she'd gone there to retrieve; a red rose. "Wh.. really?!" She screeched in confusion, those blue eyes conveying the same emotions her voice carried. Scooping it up in her hands, she watched as the rose deposited into her inventory, marking the quest as complete. Flabbergasted, she stood silent for a moment. 'It'd be a waste of time to head back already.. oh, wait, these flowers could make for nice accessories!' 

[Birdie 0]

With a new goal in mind, she picked herself up from a crouched position and examined the flowers lining the cobblestone path. Though she wanted to just scoop them all up, she had to mindful of the environment, even if it was digital and would probably regenerate in a matter of seconds. She began to walk slowly along the path, her eyes surveying the displays for particularly eye-catching flowers whilst her mind began to wander elsewhere.

She recalled a memory from her childhood, back when her father was the man she'd always want to remember him as. It was a camping trip in the countryside, and her entire close family had been dragged along by her parents. They'd pitched their tents between the edge of a forest and a hill, and had the entrances pointing towards the stars so that they could watch the night sky go by under the safely of their shelter. Before it was time for the lights to go out, her father took her for a walk to the peak of hill where a bed of beautiful blue flowers glowed under the moon's light~

ID# 66975

LD: 11

Edited September 5, 2016 by Birdie

[Birdie 0]

Though the memory becomes fuzzy from that point onward, she recalled a passage her father read out to her that night. 'Always do the right thing, even when nobody else is looking.' It was strange to think back to that moment, it'd stuck with her as a core memory for the best part of her life since, and she could never really figure out why. That passage became a rule that she would always live by, however; her interpretation of it is that even if you have to opportunity to do something deceitful without the risk of capture, the guilty conscience that came along with it is a far worse fate than being caught.

~~~

Birdie shook her head and blinked in rapid succession, bringing herself back to the 'real world'. She'd almost forgotten where she was, though the sight of bright flora out in the corner of her eye was enough to remind her. Keeping her eyes peeled, she eyed a small patch of blue and purple flowers.

ID# 66977

LD: 8

Edited September 5, 2016 by Birdie

[Birdie 0]

"Hm.. the colours are kind of washed away.. I'll let you guys grow some more." Having crouched down to inspect them, she wasn't quite comfortable with removing premature flowers from the display, and instead chose to pass them up in favour of searching further along the path. She moved along the path at a steady place, admiring all that the High Fields of Crossing had to offer.

If one thing stood out about the area, it was that the landmark appeared to be incredibly empty. It was very early in the morning and she knew how much most people enjoyed a long lay in, but other than a few middle aged couples, not much else was going on up there. The thought caused a smile to rush to the girl's lips, 'Maybe they're just making the most of the peace around here, the towns get pretty rowdy.' Her search continued.

ID# 66979

LD: 8

Edited September 5, 2016 by Birdie

[Birdie 0]

Seeing as her luck was at an all time low, she decided to change her plans a little. Rather than walking the entire cobblestone path in search of high-quality materials, she thought it wiser to start heading back the way she came and search for some on her way back to town. Seeing as she was already around halfway there, she moved to the opposite side of the path and began to work backwards, observing the opposite aisle to the one she had previously been searching through. 'Hopefully I find some goodies, my trip here wouldn't been for a dumb old quest otherwise..' Her eyebrows pulled inwards a little, she was disappointed in herself for putting it that way. 'Maybe not 'dumb', but..' she sighed, 'I could've been searching in a cave for gems right now, I'm so close to being able to make lucky charms...' her words trailed off into nothing as she walked by a lone flower, planted and arranged away from the others. "Hm..?"

ID# 66980

LD: 16 (+1 Material)

~~~

Total gained Materials: 1

Edited September 5, 2016 by Birdie

[Birdie 0]

She crouched to the ground, lowering herself in order to get a better look at the flower. It was a deep blue colour with little swirls swishing around the centre of each petal, splotches of purple scattered around it, faintly reminding the girl of a starry night. She brought her hands to the earth and scooped up the flower in her palms, watching as it disappeared and deposited into her inventory. Her weak smile grew stronger, "Maybe this trip wasn't worthless after all?" One flower wasn't going to satisfy her however, and she continued along the path in search of more.

Coming up to a small gap in the aisle of flowers, it looked as if someone had hopped off the heads of some lilies and left the stalks, rendering them completely useless. She huffed, 'At least get rid of them so they'll respawn, jerks..' She picked up each ruined flower by the stalk and raised them out of the ground, each disintegrating seconds after. The flowers already seemed to be spawning back, causing her to sigh in relief and continue onwards.

ID# 66981

LD: 4

Edited September 5, 2016 by Birdie

[Birdie 0]

Her thoughts began to drift away from the flowers, having turned up no results in the short distance she'd covered since deciding to head back to town. Bad luck was almost certainly playing into her lack of findings, and given that the path was steadily drawing to a close, she was beginning to accept the fact that she'd retire her search with only a single flower to bring back to the shop. 'If there's some ribbon in the shop I might be able to make a nice little corsage. Granted, I'm not exactly sure how to go about making anything like that.. I'm the worst Artisan in history.' She kicked a stone with the tip of her toes, pushing it into a small bundle of flowers lining the cobblestone path. At first glance they were certainly eye-catching; a stunning display of red, yellow and orange poppies grown together created a beautiful peace of eye-candy, that's for sure. "Now, let's see.."

ID# 66983

LD: 20 (+1 Material)

~~~

Total materials: 2

Edited September 5, 2016 by Birdie

[Birdie 0]

She picked up the collection of flowers, staring in wonderment at how each colour complemented the others. Her mind began to gush with ideas on what she could make of these; a bouquet for a wedding? A stylish headband? It was far too early to decide, and as the flowers disappeared into her inventory, the thoughts dissipated straight away. With a smile the girl began to move again, closing the gap between herself and the fence leading away from the mountain top.

'Maybe this trip wasn't such a waste - at least I know where to find some nice flowers.' She glanced over her shoulder, the smile on her lips weakening as she reminded herself how few materials she'd actually gathered up there. 'Emphasis on some..' Before she knew it the aisle of flowers had come to an end, leaving only the cobblestone path leading away from the High Fields of Crossing. Though it was a shame to be leaving so soon she more important duties; the shop, for one. Narrowing her eyes, she gave the flower beds one final inspection, maybe something would catch her eye?

ID# 66990

LD: 18 (+1 Material)

~~~

Total materials: 3

Edited September 5, 2016 by Birdie

[Birdie 0]

As she turned her back to the flower bed, one little sparkle amidst the flora caught eye. Twisting herself around, the twinkle of a glowing Iris drew her in - 'It looks like it's in perfect condition!' Wasting not a single second, she hastily picked out the flower and deposited it into her inventory, smothering the dirt around where the plant had previously been so as to not give anything away. With a few materials she could be proud about in the bank, she made way for the gates of the garden and held her head high.

Closing the gate behind her, she knew how long the trek would be back to the main city. Given the lack of a teleportation crystal, she would be well and truly stuck there for a while if she didn't get moving right away. 'Let's take it at a slow pace, there's bound to be some goodies along the way.' She slowly began to descend along the winding path, ensuring the journey down would take longer than it had going up.

ID# 66991

LD: 18 (+1 Material)

~~~

Total material: 4

Edited September 5, 2016 by Birdie

[Birdie 0]

A gust of wind rustled the leaves of the trees up high, creating a peaceful natural remedy that ran through the ears of a certain cyan-eyed girl walking by. The walk had been incredibly calming, a feeling that she was becoming quite accustomed to in this new world. Before, she'd fear her boss' screeching voice and the passive-aggressive abuse that came along with it, but all of that had been left behind along with the rest of her daily struggles. They may have even fired her, she had no way of knowing what was going on in the physical world.

Her eyes dipped downwards for a moment, gazing at a split rock that seemed to have a strange green-yellow crystal formation grown inside of it. Though she knew very little about gem cutting, her profession obligated her to attempt to master all types of craft; perhaps she could make a nifty little charm with this? She picked up the rock in her hands and inspected it up close - it took up her entire palm but was a lot lightly than she'd anticipated. She moved back to the path, continuing down along it.

ID# 67002

LD: 1

Edited September 5, 2016 by Birdie

[Birdie 0]

The floor's main settlement soon came into view, and what she remembered as a peaceful and quiet town earlier seemed to become loud and bustling with activity upon her return. She passed through the main gates and stood in the town centre, trying to remember where she'd seen the quest giver earlier. 'Hm, think.. was it at the fountain? The market stalls?' Her mind was drawing blanks, prompting her to release a quiet sigh as she brushed two fingers through the air. The game's menu popped up and she hit the quest tab, reading over the description of the RGQ. To her horror, there wasn't any exact description of the NPCs whereabouts anywhere. 'Aw, just my luck..' She closed the menu and hesitantly began walking, aimlessly meandering around the town. "Come on - old lady, grey hair, cute little sweater. How hard could she be to find?" Thinking about all the possible locations an NPC could be in, she decided to search the town's borders first.

ID# 67003

LD: 9

Edited September 5, 2016 by Birdie

[Birdie 0]

Passing by the stables outside the city's gates, there wasn't a single soul in sight, let alone the NPC she was looking for. Journeying onwards, her search brought her to the North entrance of the city where a pair of typical guards stood, preventing the monsters in the surrounding forests from entering the safe zone. She huffed - this wasn't getting her anywhere. Passing through the Northern gates, she decided to try her luck by the housing district. Even if she didn't find the NPC, she'd be able to gain an idea of what player houses were on offer in these parts.

Her feet dragged along the path, a clear sign of the exasperation that she didn't much care to hide. The first building she noticed was a series of comfortable little cottages, each with subtle differences that made them stand out from each other. She let out a dreamy sigh, 'If only, these things cost a fortune..' Shaking her head, she passed by without giving them a second look; perhaps she'd come to revisit them at a more appropriate time. For now the NPC was her only objective, and she was beginning to frustrate herself with the task.

Edited September 5, 2016 by Birdie

[Birdie 0]

Semi-detached housing lined the busy street that Birdie found herself in. The location seemed to be a prime spot for activity, maybe people were passing through to turn in a popular quest? Whatever the reason, she thought it wise to inspect the scene, and haplessly continued onwards through the crowd of people.

Before long, she found herself walking towards the entrance to the market - from what she could tell, the street behind her was the quickest route from the marketplace to the teleportation pad. She clenched her fist, how could it be so hard to find a little old lady? She recalled the exact words the NPC had said to her - 'My garden is awfully bland - would you be so kind as to fetch me a Rose, deary?'

Birdie thought on those words for a moment. "Garden.. garden! That means she'll be in the housing district, but where? I looked all.. around.." Her words trailed off as she thought back to the cottages - wasn't there a bed of flowers outside one of them?

[Birdie 0]

Moving back to the cottages as fast as her feet would carry her, she came to a gentle stop as she reached the street they were built along. After taking a moment to catch her breath she carefully examined each of the buildings from afar, looking for any signs of an old lady with grey hair.

It didn't take long for her to locate the one with the garden of flowers out front, and indeed a rocking chair had been left vacant on the front porch. 'Am I supposed to go inside?' she wondered, stepping onto the stone path leading into the building. She passed by the garden, walked up the stairs leading to the wooden decking and found herself at the front door of the cottage. the ticking of a grandfather clock breathed some life into the otherwise silent home - if she'd come by at night, it would've almost certainly seemed like something straight out of a horror movie. Moving those thoughts aside, she brought a hand up the door and gave it a couple of gentle knocks, gathering the attention of the NPC inside.

[Birdie 0]

All was quiet for a few moments, perhaps nobody was in? Her suspicions were soon put to rest as the sound of shuffling came from within the house, followed by the sound of a walking cane tapping on the wooden floor. After a few seconds of this, the door was slowly pulled open by a familiar smiling face, and Birdie greeted the woman in the same manner. "Hi!" she greeted, "I have your Rose ma'am, fresh from the High Fields of Crossing."  She scrolled through her inventory and selected the Rose, holding out a hand as she pressed on the 'drop' button. It appeared in her hands, and she wore a calm smile before holding it out to the elderly woman.

"Thank you deary! That was ever-so-kind of you," replied the old lady, "My grandson runs a small stall by the marketplace - I believe he sells rocks. Look for him and he'll be sure to reward you with something!" Before Birdie had the chance to bid the lady farewell, the door closed immediately and the quest objective shifted, instead asking of her to find the grandson.

She huffed, 'This isn't what I had in mind for a searching quest..'

[Birdie 0]

Birdie soon departed from the warm cottage, not wanting to waste any more time than she already had. What started as a short fetch quest had escalated into a full on investigation it felt like, and the lack of marked locations in the quest's description didn't make it any easier. The end was in sight though - soon she would arrive at the market and from there she'd only need to find the stall that sells decorated rocks. How hard could that be?

She fell to a bench, hunched over with her arms drooping lazily towards the ground. "Why are so many people selling rocks.." All she knew was that she was looking out for a young man, though those didn't appear to be in short supply either. 'Noted, never take a quest from a nice old lady; I wonder wonder if they always have their 'subjects' run around a whole town like this..'

ID# 67019

LD: 18  (+1 Material)

~~~

Total materials: 5

Edited September 6, 2016 by Birdie

[Birdie 0]

Standing up from the bench Birdie stomached her anxieties - if she wanted to finish this godforsaken quest, she'd had to start going around to each market stall to find the correct one.

Her search started at a wooden table with a cloth pulled over it, tended by a young man with brown skin. His wares appeared to be rocks of varying sizes carved to look like fruits and animals, the most impressive of which was an intricately detailed carving of a dragon with a spear piercing its head. "Ooh.." she praised his creations, subsequently catching his attention.

"Hi! You're interested in my carvings, no?" The man asked, catching her off guard. He didn't appear to have any special dialogue for her; a dead giveaway that he wasn't the NPC she was looking for.

"Oh, sorry, not today," she said with a regretful smile, "I'm just looking for someone. I love your designs though!" Her compliment elicited a smile in return from the boy, and he reached down behind the stand the pick something up.

He extended his arm out and offered her a generously sized rock, "You can have this, make something nice out of it." She hesitantly took it in her hands, raising an eyebrow.

"Thank.. thank you." She was shocked by the gesture, 'They really made the NPCs behave like humans..' She waved him goodbye and slipped the rock into her bag, continuing on with her quest.

ID# 67020

LD: 18 (+1 Material)

(Two CD 12's in a row, sigh. >_<)

~~~

Total materials: 6

Edited September 6, 2016 by Birdie

[Birdie 0]

Next up was a slightly more decorated stall, sat underneath a canopy with colourful banners stretching across each side. The wares on sale were once again rocks, though this time they appeared to be painted and decorated rather than chiselled and carved. Manning the stall was a young man - no older than 18 or 19 in appearance - who wore a great wicked smile on his face for the entire time Birdie was there.

"Hi," she started with a light smile, "are you Grandson of that old lady in the cottage?" The question would've seemed strange and out-of-the-blue to ask to a player, but the NPCs seemed to interpret words and reply with a set of predetermined phrases. She just assumed that they'd reply with a simple yes or no answer, and her guessing soon payed off.

"Nana Reigns? Of course! She told me to expect some like you - here, have this. It's the least I could give you to say thanks." A window popped up in front of her with the message 'Congratulations!' written across the top of it. 'Finally,' she thought, hitting accept on the quest rewards immediately.

Birdie wanted to examine the shop's items but time was beginning to run short, and she was due to head back to her shop on the first floor soon. Leaving him with a wave and a grateful grin, she departed for the town's teleportation pad.

Edited September 6, 2016 by Birdie

[Birdie 0]

Birdie brushed her fingers through the air and brought up the inventory, glancing at all the materials she'd managed to accumulate that day; an assortment of flowers, rocks, and she was sure to find more on her way back to the first floor. 'So much cool stuff! I should be able to rank up my profession today, then I'll have four crafts to work with.' She gave out an almost dreamy sigh, 'Maybe I can start branching out towards other things too, wonder how hard necklaces are to make..' She reached a hand towards her chest where a necklace might go, that would be her first task once she became an Apprentice Artisan.

The town's teleportation gate came into view, the four pillars surrounding a huge stone tablet shining brightly every time someone used it. Standing atop the raised platform she scrolled through the list of beaten floors and selected the first one, accepting 'Town of Beginnings' as her target location. She gazed to the sky one last time, catching the sun as it slowly started to descend. "What a day.."

 

Edited September 6, 2016 by Birdie