[F21-SP] <<Nature's Treasure>> Provision time!

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Benjamin inspected the treasure chest before him.  The side path down the cave had not offered him any trouble, either in the way of traps or in the way of enemies, so he was already suspicious of it.  This game had always thrown curve balls at him and the other players, so finding something this easy just felt wrong.  Still, there wasn't anything left to do but try and open it up and see what there was inside. 

Ben popped open the lid of the chest, wincing as he did so.  And he was greeted with a plethora of rare goodies for his troubles.  All that col... it might even be enough for him to finally finish upgrading his lab.  He stared at them for a while, finally getting interrupted when Sebastian reached in to try and nibble on one of the materials.  Ben stopped him, pulling all of the loot into his inventory in a few quick swipes as he did so. 

Spoiler

Opening treasure chest (ID 101408)
Loot Die - 20!!!
Found 3,150 col, 8 [T3] materials, Perfect [T3] armor/shield, 2 Rare [T3] consumables

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

After he finished gathering up his items, freshly pilfered from one of the chests, Ben dusted himself off to go searching once more.  Except his familiar had decided to hop into the chest to start seeing if there was anything else for him to eat up.  Ben gave a sigh, followed by a little laugh.  It almost looked like he was finding himself a little caterpillar for a treasure, and he was tempted to pick him up while humming the item theme from Zelda.  But instead he let Sebastian have a bit of fun in the box, before getting the little guy to climb back up onto his shoulder.  He was trying to get some work done today, after all.  Unfortunately, there was not much in the hall for him to search through or to gather up.  He had to continue all the way through it in order to get someplace that had something decent for him to search through. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 101423
Loot die 2+5 = 7, battle die 7
Found 0 materials  

49 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben and his familiar got to the end of the hall, and back to the nice searchable rooms full of materials that they came to this part of the world to gather.  The small mushrooms that were in the cave had already started to grow back a bit, and they were coming in as thick as ever.  Ben popped open his pouch, already seeing some good spots to grab materials up by the handful.  The first bunches of blueish little spores he got off of the ground fit in easily, and filled his pouch up nicely.  He then moved on to the walls, quickly adding some of the next few bits from there.  After that, he started heading back towards the entrance he came from.  By now, the things at the entrance would have started to regrow enough for them to be harvested a second time.  Minimal effort for lots of materials would be what he got. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 101477
Loot die 12+5 = 17, battle die 7
Found (2+2) = 4 materials  

53 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Benjamin was finding a lot more places to gather from on the way back to the entrance of the caves that he was in.  Since he knew about all the good places he had previously looked at, it was easy enough to start moving on down the same spots as they grew back, grabbing the amount of materials it would have taken an hour to get when he was first starting out in just a few minutes.  With these parts, he would be able to fill up all the orders he had for the foreseeable future.  Plus a few extra boss battles full of healing crystals if he got lucky with his crafting attempts.  He gave his familiar a nice scratch on the head as he went along, filling up his bag.  Now all he had to do was keep up this rate of success for the walk back, and he would have enough to craft for a long time. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 101498
Loot die 13+5 = 18, battle die 10
Found (2+3) = 5 materials  

58 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben grabbed a couple more bits from the floor that he was checking out, picking up a little more in the way of materials before he finished up.  This room was done (once again).  But, he remembered that there was a nice side room, or side cavern I guess it would be called down here, that held a lot of smaller mushrooms for him to grab up.  With no preferences on where to go next, he decided to make a nice little detour to grab up what he could from there.  His pack had started to fill up to bursting once again, which was going to force him to empty it out once again.  It was a good day when he had the problem of having to clear out all the items he gathered too many times.  Even if taking on these kinds of quests with just him and his familiar got boring after a while. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 101514
Loot die 14+5 = 19, battle die 8
Found (2+2) = 4 materials  

62 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

This quest line was a real help to all of his material finding, even if going at his own pace was a bit of a drag sometimes.  Though he walked to the beat of a different drummer enough times to know that he did his best work alone a lot of the time.  And with the deadline for the new floor boss fight coming up very quickly, he had to act fast if he had a hope of making enough healing crystals for everyone to use in the battle.  It was already getting into the mid twenty floors- things were going to be much more dangerous from here on out, and there weren't a ton of other dedicated crafters for players to rely on in these times.  And truthfully, he really wanted to feel important.  Like he was doing something that mattered, and that people would remember it... not like in the real world where he was just so forgettable. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 101516
Loot die 11+5 = 16, battle die 2
Found (2+1) = 3 materials  

65 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben let out a heavy sigh.  His thoughts had swirled back to some of the more depressing ones that he had been trying to avoid lately.  He had spent so much time crafting for other players lately that he felt almost as if he was running in place, not getting anywhere.  He had to calm himself a bit- even though his luck had been great in gathering, it sometimes didn't make up for the fact that it felt like he was going nowhere while he crafted.  Sure, there would be a ton of players he could help in boss fights, but between them there wasn't much that he could do.  He really hoped that the extra high tier items would bring more players into his shop during the down time between bosses... it would be really hard to upgrade his lab at this point in time if he didn't get more sales, and that was the sticking point.  He crafted, he didn't grind for col.  Without customers, he really couldn't ge as much done as he would like in his shop.  Not at all. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 101556
Loot die 4+5 = 9, battle die 4
Found (0+0) = 0 materials  

65 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben got himself back to work, picking his way through the cave system.  There were tons of the little yellow mushrooms from earlier for him to collect, though individually they did not make up enough to count as a single material.  He had to grab them up by the handful at a time to make any progress.  Even so, it was steady progress as he went along- he had a lot of good spots to search through- under the bigger rocks, in the shadowy parts of the caves, and just growing up the cracks of the walls.  And as he grabbed them up, and judged when he finally got enough to craft with before sending them off to his inventory again, he kept on moving his way back towards the entrance to the caves, ready to start bringing these assets back home to work with.  It would be time to craft soon enough. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 101840
Loot die 19+5 = 24, battle die 2
Found (2+1) = 3 materials  

68 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben was beginning to get a bit tired from all of the work he had done so far today.  The cave system had been a lot deeper than he had first predicted, and it was a lot more twisty and turning as well.  He could easily get lost in here for days at a time, filling his bag up to its maximum capacity if he wished for it.  It would be great if he had that kind of time to do nothing but gather up bunches and bunches of materials for future crafting with, even if he could get through such a task without driving himself crazy from the tediousness of it.  Today was not the day to consider something like that though, he thought as he kept on adding more and more items to his bag for now.  Maybe another time, when he didn't have more pressing concerns, he would figure out some way to pull off a big quest like that. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 101994
Loot die 8+5 = 13, battle die 7
Found (1+2) = 3 materials  

71 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben kept on filling up his bag, his thoughts drifting off to the future as he kept on grabbing more of the mushrooms in the caves for himself.  He still had a lot of items to make for his shop right now- even if orders weren't coming in, again.  At least the tier 3 materials would make some good items that could be sold to the front liners- or more likely be given to them, since he wanted to help everyone get out of this crazy game of death as fast as possible. 

He considered those possibilities as he moved along the cavern he was in, checking the rocky formations and stalagmites in the area for any mosses that were growing on them.  He remembered from his first pass through this area that those were actually really good for crafting with, or at least were worth a lot of materials according to his inventory.  So adding a few more handfuls of them to his bag should help out a lot. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 102018
Loot die 9+5 = 14, battle die 8
Found (1+2) = 3 materials  

74 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben was busy grabbing a bunch of the mossy patches from the rocks, bending over to grab the ones that looked the largest and most full.  He actually found a nice big patch below one of the rock formations that looked like it would work, but he had to really work his way in there to reach it.  He scooched his way onto his back, below the rocks, to try and reach his target.  It took a bit of working to get himself in there, and he managed to see what he was going for, and grabbed a handful of the moss.  Which... didn't go into his inventory as he had hoped.  Instead, the big glob of slimy substance just dripped down, splattering over his face and hands.  This wasn't the moss he had picked up before- it was just a bunch of slime that he now had all over himself.  He would have a hard time wiping this off of him before moving on.

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 102019
Loot die 3+5 = 8, battle die 5
Found (0+0) = 0 materials  

74 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben tried to wipe to goop from his eyes, smearing it more and more with each attempt.  He couldn't get this slime off without help, so he reached into his pack and rooted around for something that would help, pulling out one of the flasks of water he kept there (which he was very glad to have remembered to pack after the last few times he had forgotten).  It took a bit of work to splash enough water over his face to wash everything off enough that he could clean himself, and he got plenty of grit and dirt caked on himself while he did it.  When he finally rolled to his side, finished, he just felt tired and kind of stupid for getting himself into this situation in the first place.  But, he had some luck- there were some plants below here as well, and they looked like they had some good leaves for him to put into his pouch- and they were worth a lot for him. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 102020
Loot die 16+5 =21, battle die 7
Found (2+2) = 4 materials  

78 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Unfortunately, the few plant he did find down here were in a very limited supply.  The couple he had added to his inventory were worth a lot, but he needed to head back out of here to get some more materials.  Ben tried to crawl his way backwards to reach the entrance, but bumped right back into the slime patch that he first crawled under here for.  He didn't want to get that stuff all over himself again, so he tried to maneuver himself around the spots it was at, squirming back and forth on the ground to push his way through.  His familiar decided to pop his head back out while he was doing this, looking at him questionably as he did his best impersonation as he went.  Sebastian, I'm just trying to get out of here without getting all of this muck on me.  Don't look at me like that.  It isn't funny. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 102022
Loot die 3+5 =8, battle die 2
Found (0+0) = 0 materials  

78 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben finally managed to get himself out from under the rocks, at least without getting any more slime on him while he was doing so.  Sebastian had decided to watch the whole way, emoting happily as he saw Ben struggling.  Ben sighed as he got himself out and on his feet, picking his familiar back up into his scarf.  This guy was much more likely to just laugh at him than actually help out when he needed.  Well, at least he could start back on his work now.  If Sebastian would stop laughing as he settled in. 

He started heading his way back through the route he took in, grabbing the same spots he first visited on the way in.  It was about time to start thinking of how and when he would wrap this trip up, The mushrooms he could pick up on the way back would finish up what he needed, and afterwards he could finally get on with the crafting he would need. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 102023
Loot die 8+5 = 13, battle die 5
Found (1+1) = 2 materials  

80 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben's familiar seemed like he was having trouble going back to sleep, and had decided to poke his head out to see what was happening.  And to see what kinds of snacks there were out here for him to steal.  Ben was busy grabbing a couple of bits of mushroom from the floor, so Sebastian hopped down to see if he could stick his head into the material bag and steal some snacks- luckily Ben was on alert for those tricks.  He swatted the little guy away, pushing him onto a nearby rock to teach him a lesson.  The only lesson that he learned though, was that there was a big patch of plants behind the rock he landed on.  Even with Sebastian, munching away, Ben managed to pick up a good amount of stuff for his pouch from there.  His familiar probably didn't actually learn any lessons from the experience though. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 102055
Loot die 20+5 = 25, battle die 8
Found (2+2) = 4 materials  

84 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Benjamin finished sifting through all of the different plants in  the shady area that his familiar uncovered, stopping only to pick the little caterpillar up and keep him from eating even more of his materials before they could be harvested for his use.  Once again, he wondered why he even got a familiar in the first place.  These things were supposed to be useful, not just make cute happy faces and get in his way.  He definitely should have stuck around longer to find a better equipped one to have rather than settling for the first bug who befriended him.  Not like he could change things now though- Sebastian was his little pet, end of story.  Plus with the skills he had right now, he could gather up enough materials that is one or two went missing or found their way into his caterpillar's stomach, it wouldn't hurt him too badly in the long run. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 102133
Loot die 17+5 = 22, battle die 3
Found (2+1) = 3 materials  

87 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Benjamin headed his way back toward the entrance cavern that he came in from, stopping off along the way to grab a few more bits of mushrooms from the cave walls.  It was about time to make sure he could get home, with all the twists and turns of the cave that kept him guessing.  He turned to his familiar, scratching the little guy under his chin as he spoke. Well, it looks like it's just about time for us to start heading towards home.  I promise to make you some good snacks when we get there if you can just hold off on eating anything I've gathered until then, OK?  Sebastian nodded, kind of looking like he understood unless you knew him well.  He was just nodding so that Ben would look away.  All right... but if I catch you sneaking into my bag again there's going to be trouble. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 102133
Loot die 18+5 = 23, battle die 5
Found (2+1) = 3 materials  

90 T3 materials found total  

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

As Ben approached the last part of the tunnels that he had to go through, he began to notice that the plants weren't growing back as fast near the outer areas of the zone.  Maybe this quest had some sort of central area where the materials regrew quickly, and there was a lesser effect as he got further out.  Or maybe he was leaving the quest, so the game changed the rules because of that.  There really wasn't any way to know in this frustrating game.  Still, it did mean that he was having trouble finding anything else to pick up before the trip was done.  His pouch was pretty full, but  hopefully at least the last room had time to recover some more materials for him.  Every little bit counted for his crafts, after all.  And he was going to be crafting a lot once this day was done with. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 102154
Loot die 9+5 = 14, battle die 4
Found (1+1) = 2 materials  

92 T3 materials found total 

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

The last few parts of the cave were as bright as ever, and the entrance was the same looking too.  Colorful mushrooms everywhere, glowing with bright colors and in multiple shapes.  There was also the cave entrance that he came in through, where he could start heading back home. But first, he started picking up all the different mushrooms he had gotten when he first entered into the cave system.  Plus, he now had enough experience with identifying all the kinds of mushrooms and plants around here that he could find a few more useful ones.  It looks like the entrance cavern was a really good place to pick up materials, and that it must have regrown everything as an accelerated rate.  Maybe it was a good way of showing players what they would be getting with this quest.  Whatever the reason was, it really helped him fill his pouch up to capacity again. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 102168
Loot die 15+5 = 20, battle die 10
Found (2+3) = 5 materials  

97 T3 materials found total 

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Benjamin folded up his pouch, happy with the amount of materials that he had gathered up today.  All right Sebastian, it's time for us to start heading back. he said to his familiar as it crawled up into his scarf.  It was time to head back hoe, and any more walking around and searching was just prolonging the inevitable.  He was tired, and he was dirty, and he was in bad need of a real food soon.  Maybe he could head down to the tavern next- it would be a lot better than staying at home and cooking something simple for himself.  Especially with how poor his cooking skills were, even with the practice he had been getting. 

At least this time he knew the route back to the main town on the way back, and there wouldn't be any surprises on the route this time.  As he started the walk, once more double checking that the location of the cave stayed on his map for another trip back, he was happy with how things turned out.  It would be a good haul for crafting. 

-------------------

Thread wrap up -

Gained 2 SP (40 posts)
Gained 3950 col (2 pages for 800, and 3150 from chest)
Gained 97 [T3] materials
1 Perfect [T3] Armor/Shield (ID 101408)
2 Rare [T3] consumables (ID 101408)

Edited July 17, 2018 by Benjamin Bookworm