SP F5: Lazy Old Ladies [QUEST: The Traveller COMPLETE]

[Mari 1]

Mari wasn’t really able to go to the starter villages; but she was able to go to the….shall we say seedier side of the 5^th Floor, the side that Zero had helpfully pointed out to her.  Here, in this seedy dark corner of the 5^th floor players sold their  bodies for money. There were more taverns than anything else, and- best of all – Player Killers were able to enter.

Mari was on a bench outside, drinking a bottle of water when she was approached by an older lady, who was completely covered in rags, including her face – Mari could only tell it was an older lady from her voice

“E-excuse me m-miss…I seek aid…please help….”
 

[Mari 1]

Mari raised her eyebrows , this seemed to  be an NPC, was this a quest or an event? Last time Mari participated in an NPC quest she was turned into a frog. What would she be turned into this time? A snake? A Scorpion?

“What sort of help?” Mari asked.

 

The NPC lady approached Mari, and picked up her hands, giving them a squeeze. “B-Bless your soul angel. I seek aid, I am old and frail you see… and I have precious cargo in the depths of the deserts I require aid to bring it to me, I’m too sick.“  She stopped to cough.

Mari rolled her eyes, if she could she’d skip the dialogue and just get straight on with the quest. “There is always a but….” Mari mumbled.

The old lady stopped coughing. “But….”


And there it was, there was always a but with these quests. Always.
 

The old lady continued;  “But I believe it is lost, and buried. It’ll take a day and nights travel to get to the location and back, and I need the good returned to me in two days or *moans* I may surely perish. Please find these goods and you will be rewarded with the <Survivor> skill. Please help mee…..”

Mari contemplated this, normally – she wanted nothing to do with the desert – she hated it. She despised it, but the quests reward was an attractive one. That extra  skill and HP could help her greatly.
 

“Yeh, sure.” Mari said unenthusiastically, as she clicked accept on the quest.

[Mari 1]

[Quest Accepted]

It popped up in front of her, followed by a count-down timer, that must be how long she had to complete the quest. There was a new location on the map, or more so – a wide square marked on the map. It’d take her quite some time to get there, at least half a day. Great…Mari really wished they had cars…or steeds in Aincrad right now. “Best be off..” Mari muttered as she left the ‘red light’ town of the 5^th floor.
 

[Mari 1]

Mari had been walking for around an hour, it was odd how there were very few mobs around; Mari was sure to stock up on food and water before she left, but the heat of the sun was very, very strong. “Ughhh…why couldn’t she have lost her stupid junk on a nice beach…” Mari asked. It was hard to see, as the wind had picked up sand- and Mari had to shield her eyes. Attempting to search for this so called ‘precious cargo’
 

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Mari already had a bottle of water in her hand ; a makeshift map in the other. She had to start marking off sections, as she had neared the location of where the cargo was. This one was a no go. “Ah Crap…”
 

Craft Roll 3
Perma Dice Roller ID#2395
Mari HP 32/32

[Mari 1]

Mari entered the next section on the map, there was still no luck in finding the loot. She had already finished and discarded one bottle of water, and the sun was very high in the sky - it was mid noon, and probably the hottest time of the day. Mari wanted to find shelter - just long enough for the sun to pass over; just an hours rest. Mari did not do well in this heat, or this weather. She noticed a large group of rocks, with a plateau on top. It created the perfect amount of shade. Mari trudged up the hill toward it and sat down with a heavy sigh. The sand underneath the rocks was cool to the touch and the shade was a very, very welcome reprise from the heat.


"I already regret this..."

 

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Craft Roll 11
Perma Dice Roller ID#2396
Mari HP 32/32

[Mari 1]

**Internet crapped out during Dice Roll so it does not have Mari's name attached to it. Sorry**

 

Mari was resting, almost snoozing when she heard a strange scratching sound. She shot up, grabbing her dagger and carefully stalking out from under the rocks. It appeared that she had taken the resting place of a very angry looking sand Scorpion. It gave a hissing noise before diving at her, Mari ducked and one of its pincers only just grazed her - the first part of its strike bouncing off her armour. "Tch..."

Mari kicked off the sand, dragging her dagger hard across the scorpions back - she used its hard thorax as a spring board- kicking off and jumping away from it. 

"The LAST thing I needed..." Mari angrily muttered. 

 

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Craft Roll 8
Battle: 10
Mob: 7

-2 Accuracy Applied
Perma Dice Roller ID#2397
Mari HP 31/32

Sand Scorpion: 9/17

[Mari 1]

"OK Scorpion, I stole your resting spot and I am totally not sorry about that but its hot as censored out here, and you are cutting in on my rest time - so no hard feelings eh?"   The Scorpion didn't reply, Mari would be pretty worried if it did reply. It tried to strike her with the toxic barb on its tail but Mari rolled to the side out the way. "Hah!" She cried out triumphantly, her joy was short lived as she had to charge it it again - the sand proved to be a difficult surface to work on. Mari wanted to land the kiling strike on the Mob, but her dagger missed its vital mark - It still slid across the thorax of the scorpions black body. One more strike...Mari was breathing heavily now. Beads of sweat dripping from her face.

One more strike...one more strike....


 

 

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Craft Roll 7
Battle: 6
Mob: 5 MISS

-2 Accuracy Applied
Perma Dice Roller ID#2398
Mari HP 31/32

Sand Scorpion: 3/17

[Mari 1]

One more strike...one more strike...one more strike....

It was a mantra for Mari, the sun was beating down on her - the sand was in her eyes but she would...she would annihilate this beast. Mari turned on her heel in the sand, she tripped but she quickly steadied herself. Her strike aiming fast and true- she landed the dagger into the centre of the Scorpions head and it shattered. Defeated. Dead. "Phew..." She didn't get any loot from the Scorpion. But she had defeated it. Mari headed back to the shade, and collapsed. She needed to rest a moment. She opened up another bottle of water and downed half of it.

 

 

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Craft Roll 12
Battle: 5 +2
Loot: 3
Mob: 4-2 MISS

Perma Dice Roller ID#2400
Mari HP 31/32

Sand Scorpion: DEAD

[Mari 1]

Mari had rested; napping for an hour. She had woken up and the sun was beginning to set, she quickly moved onto the next area she knew it'd be harder to do anything in the dead of night. Perhaps she shouldn't have been so lazy during the day and saved that time for searching. She needed to get there soon and time was running out. Where 'there' was Mari didn't exactly know, she was just marking off the sections on the map she was given. Hoping, Praying that she'd get this 'cargo' soon.

 

 

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Craft Roll 7

Perma Dice Roller ID#2402
Mari HP 31/32

[Mari 1]

A golden light started to wash over the dessert, the beating heat of the sun was now replaced with a cool and very welcomed breeze. Mari knew that after a few more hours night would have fallen, she wasn't sure what the night would be like in the desert - but she had Moartea's jacket - that he had given her if it got too cold. This area was another dead end - another failed attempt at looking for the old ladies loot. Mari had to wonder exactly what was inside this precious cargo. How big was the box? Whas it even a box or was it more or a sack? She wished she had more information to go off of - it was like finding a needle in a haystack. 

 

 

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Craft Roll 9

Perma Dice Roller ID#2406
Mari HP 31/32

[Mari 1]

The wind had suddenly picked up, knocking Mari over and sending a flurry of sand into her eyes and mouth. Mari coughed and spluttered, flailing around before falling over. "AcK! Oh AhCK!"  She tried spitting the sand out her mouth but more just made its way in there. She cursed the old lady and this mystery cargo - she cursed her lack of hindsight. Why didn't she bring glasses or goggles? Or even a face mask! A scarf! ANYTHING!

"God dammit Mari you stupid dumb censored!" She shouted into the wind as she equipped the cloak Moartea gave her, wrapping it around her frame and lowering herself into the ground. Waiting for the sudden sandstorm to end.
 

 

 

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Craft Roll 1

Perma Dice Roller ID#2408
Mari HP 30/32

-1 HP Harsh sands/winds

[Mari 1]

Just as quickly as it had come, it had ended - the sandstorm was over, Mari spluttered as she shook the hand off of her cloak. "Thank you Moartea..." She muttered as she placed the coat loosely over her shoulders. Mari stretched and started another bottle of water. "Geeez...." Mari muttered. Using the last of the bottle to wash out her eyes. She still had 10 bottles left. She felt it was plenty to finish this quest. This section had nothing in it either. It was almost nightfall, and already beginning to get difficult to see. 

"Oh Mari...why did you have that stupid nap...."
 

 

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Craft Roll 2

Perma Dice Roller ID#2409
Mari HP 30/32

[Mari 1]

Mari had walked a good half hour, and still she found nothing. It was more or less nightfall now, and it had proved difficult to see. The day was now just a golden thread along the horizon and Mari was now beginning to feel the chilling effects of the desert night. Mari slipped her hands through the sleeves of Moartea's jacket. zipping it up tight. Its collar covered her mouth - probably would have been useful during the sandstorm - but oh well. Mari was beginning to feel frustrated. She thought she would have found what she was looking for by now. How much longer did she have to look? Her legs were tired. her mouth was dry, and she wanted to punch that old lady upside her head.

 

 

 

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Craft Roll 11

Perma Dice Roller ID#2412
Mari HP 30/32

[Mari 1]

Night time sucked in the desert. It was cold, it was miserable and she could hear a whole manner of scurrying and slithering around her. Were they mobs? Sound effects or useless animals added for effect? Mari gave a small shiver at the thought of a scorpion or snake crawling over her foot or even her body if she chose to sleep that night, she was not a fan of creepy crawlies - and if it were reality she'd be scared of them, anything that could bite scratch or poison her with venom was a big no no in her books. This section was also empty, and as Mari continued forward she contemplated resting for the night or not.

 

 

 

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Craft Roll 10-1 Night

Perma Dice Roller ID#2730
Mari HP 30/32

[Mari 1]

Ok, this was getting RIDICULOUS!

It was dark, so dark that Mari could barely see, she was worried she'd wander off into the wrong section or accidently double back, the only thing that stopped her from doing that was the map she had. Sadly, that wouldn't stop her from walking into a cactus, stomping on a scorpion - bumping into a mob or - whoosh- another gust of wind picked up, and blew sand into her eyes. She flailed, attempting to grab water out of her inventory to wash it out - it wasn't another sand storm just a freak occurrence.

BANG

"Ow! F**k!" Mari screamed out as she stubbed her toe on something hard - wait...something hard?

Mari leant down, trying to get a feel for what it was..it was...a small crate, was this the cargo!? Mari noticed a pop up, stating that she had found it and had until midday the next day to get back to town.

Mari gave a sigh of relief, hugging the crate.

"Oh thanks the stars!"
 

 

 

 

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Craft Roll 2-1 Night
Damage due to winds and sand

Perma Dice Roller ID#2731
Mari HP 29/32

[Mari 1]

Mari, after hugging the crate had started pushing it. She wanted to get as much distance as possible during the cool night rather than the heat of day. She was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sleep, but she had to persevere. The crate wasn't big, in height it reached her knees and was only about 2 metres across. Still it required pushing rather than being carried. Mari coughed and spluttered, as she had circled back to the most direct route to town - the wind had picked up again and she had to shut her eyes tight - hoping she was pushing in a somewhat straight line.
 

 

 

 

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Craft Roll 2-1 Night
Damage due to winds and sand

Perma Dice Roller ID#2846
Mari HP 28/32

[Mari 1]

Mari collapsed on top of the crate in a heap, she needed a moment to catch her breath. The wind had died down, so Mari climbed up onto the crate. "I am. NEVER. EVER. going to this floor again." She moaned. Taking out another bottle of water, she had around 4 left now. she splashed half of it across her face, and the other half she guzzled down. The bottle disappeared. 

Mari rolled onto her back looking up at the sky. The starry sky was marred with a splash of light, the milky way streaking across midnight blue. It was a beautiful colour, Mari gave a soft smile. OK, so maybe this floor wasn't that bad. As long as she wasn't looking at the sand, eating the sand or having it blasted into her eyes.
 

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Craft Roll 5-1 Night

Perma Dice Roller ID#2848
Mari HP 28/32

[Mari 1]

Mari must have dozed off; she wasn't sure how long for; but when she woke the night wasn't as dark - nor was cold. There was a thin line of gold that streaked across the horizon she yawned and stretched. Checking her map. She was closer to the town than she thought. Mari shook her head and slapped her cheeks in an attempt to wake herself up, Once she got back to the less-than-safe town she was going to go wash up and eat her weight in steak. Mari rolled off the crate and started pushing with a new found vigor.

"I am so close I can almost taste that steak now."
 

 

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Craft Roll 11-1 Night

Perma Dice Roller ID#2909
Mari HP 28/32

[Mari 1]

The sun was up again, and it was only early morning - but it was already beginning to get hot. Mari had to unequipped the coat Moartea had given her. "Ugh...." she muttered, it wasn't that the crate was heavy; it was more or less light. It was just bothersome, especially in the unrelenting heat of the desert. Still Mari could see the town on the horizon. "So close, so very close..." Mari muttered, feeling her stomach growl. She hadn't really eaten during this trek - she just consumed copious amounts of water.

 

 

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Craft Roll 4

Perma Dice Roller ID#2936
Mari HP 28/32

[Mari 1]

Mari arrived in the town panting, sweating and absolutely filthy, she glared at the very few players who were in the 'sordid' town rather than the safe zone town and they scurried away. Good, so they should. Mari noticed the old woman, or who she assumed was the old woman, from behind. "Hey... hey I got your cargo." Mari said as she approached the lady, placing a hand on her shoulder.

The Old lady turned around, and looked surprised to see her.

"...You survived? Oh my....how impressive..Thank you so much.."

"Yeh...yeh..." Mari muttered, "Now what was in the loot that you needed so damn badly?"

 

 

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Mari HP 28/32