Raiders of the Lost Yolk

"'I've been needing a fresh start, to do what I love AND run a business, not only do what I love for the sake of business.'""—Valencia"Raiders of the Lost Yolk is a Rare quest released in 2020 as part of the Grenwog Festival.

Summary
Valencia has heard rumors about an order of mysterious necromancer authorities seeking an ancient temple that is said to house an artifact known as the "Covenant of Boundless Life." What power does this relic possess, and what could the necromancer's sudden interest mean?!

Dialogue
Valencia: Well, if it isn't [Name]! What brings you out of your busy schedule and into my corner of town!

<>: About a half dozen identical letters with the most menacing use of little hearts that I've ever seen.

Valencia: You can't argue with style. And it got you here! Now then, about that ruin I found a lead on. I'll have to handle rewarding -

<>: I'm in.

Valencia: - you myself, because… Wait, you are? Just like that?

<>: Last year, you told me all about why Grenwog is so special to you. And if you think you've found THE temple that your parents' excavation was meant to unearth, of course I'm helping you. But there are some details I'm curious about. This is more expedition than treasure hunt material. So wouldn't you need a major excavation team, and more time to prepare?

Valencia: It's true, the Temple of the Covenant is huge and so ancient that it may be in need of a full crew's careful touch. This thing is older than the K'elds, after all. But I have a lot of reasons to want to rush over and have the first look myself. The shifting forests uncovered the suspected area very... noisily. Others might be on the way too. There's also at least one record from another civilization of that time about a fortress-monastery "nursing a living artifact of boundless potential."

<>: …Ah. And we don't want anyone to get their hands on that until we know exactly what it is. Anything else?

Valencia: I maaay have been buying up the supply of genuine golden egg relics from the Taurisian civilization while they were dirt cheap, so this is a chance to secure the last source of supply and start selling dear.

<>: …I don't know if I should feel like we got back to our comfort zone, or we're at risk of getting back to the egg puns, so let's just supply up and get going. 2 BATTLES
 * Battle with Valencia's help!
 * Battle by yourself!

Full heal

2 BATTLES

Full heal

Valencia: Not good. We've made a lot of headway very fast, but the amount of trails we've run into suggest a lot of traffic.

<>: And the way the forest has been for some time now, maybe there were more trails that already got covered up. That suggests these tracks are recent - But they all end around here.

Valencia: What if the forest patches up from its depths and outward instead of evenly, though?

<>: …I didn't think of that. There's nothing to say it's not getting better at misdirection, and that would be the better way to cover up.

Valencia: Have you got enough steam left in you to push through the night?

<>: I adventure by trade, I'm used to running on life-threateningly low amounts of sleep. It helps to sell the dunce act. A little too well sometimes.

Valencia: Maybe a short rest first, then. I don't want you too tired to handle delicate relics.

<>: You just don't want me to find out if you snore.

Valencia: Keep teasing and I'll have to reconsider it having to be you that comes along for this.

<>: Wait, it had to be me specifically? I thought it was because of last year, or because I was around town.

Valencia: Oh, look who's all eggcited now.

<>: …If I say I'm sorry, will you tell me instead of giving me the pun treatment?

Valencia: It's alright, I'm joking too. But the thing is - it's not just the temple itself that's special for me. The reason why I'm making the expedition in the first place… it was only right for it to be you.

<>: Why is that?

Valencia: Clean slates. People thought very differently of you leading up to the Devourer's coming. Actually, everyone thought something different. It was very hard to tell where you stood sometimes. But it's not that you were doing nothing - you were doing your own thing, and a lot of good came out of it most of the time.

<>: It was very early in my career, for lack of a better word. I guess people didn't know me very well yet, or I hadn't had time to make a lasting impression. I didn't have a solid path ahead of me, but I did have my own way of doing things. I didn't fit a quick mold.

Valencia: I wouldn't say you do now, as convenient as it is to just call you a hero and be done with it. But the relevant part is that you didn't stay there forever. You didn't carve out a niche and stay there. But… I'm afraid I did. I do love treasure hunting, but some time after the family broke apart, I got... comfortable.

<>: …That sounds rather unlike you.

Valencia: You'd think that, wouldn't you? I sure did. Yet somewhere along the way, I got the whole 'turning my passion into my business' backwards. And realizing that has left me looking back at my dreams, not looking forward to them… You could say I don't have a solid path ahead of me.

<>: Oh… Valencia, I didn't know it was troubling you that much.

Valencia: And neither did I. Life's better when you're having fun, so it didn't matter as long as I was smiling. But if I pull this off, I'll have plenty of reasons to smile for real. So, what do you say? Care to come along while I try to pull a [Name] and clear a new path?

<>: Well, I can't very well turn around and walk all the way back now… But you bet, Valencia.

Valencia: You're the best, you know. Now, don't go expecting me to magically turn into some great and charitable hero overnight. I do get that some things are delicate enough to belong on an exhibition, and maybe some remnants of history ARE invaluable… But I'm a treasure hunter by trade. And that's not changing. I'm not about to let Zephyros guilt me into sticking everything in a museum. But I've been needing a fresh start, to do what I love AND run a business, not only do what I love for the sake of business.

<<You>>: It's your life and your choice, Valencia. It wouldn't be right to expect you to be anything but yourself at the end of this. Now let's rest up for the last stretch.

1 BATTLE: Dryad

Full heal

1 BATTLE: Death Knight

Full heal

Valencia: Huh. I guess it was distracted. It usually takes a lot more punishment than that.

<<You>>: Undead fighting dryads… That's new. And there are an awful lot of both around here.

Valencia: It doesn't look like Dryads are fighting them OFF, exactly. It's like the undead are swarming this place.

<<You>>: They're certainly not doing a very good job of it… Especially without any trees to get in the way.

A dryad appears.

Dryad: That is precisely what has occurred. The forest has taken all that it needed from this place in order to recover. To draw on it further would be pointless excess.

<<You>>: What exactly has the forest taken?

Valencia: …The Covenant. The legends were more literal than I assumed, then.

Dryad: Anima blossoms when it grows close enough to draw on this place. Once the forest began to live and dream, the remnant in turn began to soothe its pain. But we no longer require its power, and our withdrawal was exploited by those who crave it.

<<You>>: The living artifact you were talking about, then. Someone else must've had a good idea of how potent it was.

Valencia: The Covenant doesn't seem like something the shadier necromancers would be interested in, though. Just being near its temple seems like it's slowly taking their minions apart.

<<You>>: It's still better not to underestimate the creativity of someone determined to do harm. Especially when I imagine many are still desperate to find shortcuts to recovering their lost power and prominence. Although if it's someone like that, I'm curious about how they could be animating minions en masse. If the dryads can keep fighting the minions so that they won't swarm in behind us, we should go in before they do too much damage.

Dryad: The forest does not need to assist you, but your enemies could eventually harm its creatures if left unchecked. I can convince my sisters to interfere with this blight.

Valencia: You lot seemed one-track, but you really aren't so single-minded after all. Alright, thank you. Let's go, [Name].

<<You>> and Valencia enter the temple.

2 BATTLES

Full heal

Valencia: It looks like some of the weaker minions didn't even make it this far. Good, that'll make for fewer enemy reinforcements… And they haven't managed to damage the ritual walls!

<<You>>: You can read these?

Valencia: Not all of it, but I've studied enough to try and figure out what I don't get. Before one of the first elemental wars cut off records of their history, the Taurisians were at the end of an age. They were notorious fortress builders in spite of having very little territory, and called themselves guardians of dangerous magics. They were transitioning away from ideograms, but this is earlier than that. They still used the same symbol for 'Death' and 'Zero'... Actually, they had a very mathematical approach to life and the soul. They classified life according to what "Direction" it moved away from death.

<<You>>: That makes some sense. Paladins and Necromancers were starting to use similar concepts some time after the ley line broke.

Valencia: How very ahead of their time. They were also definitely more than just hoarders. It says here that they were specifically guarding their secrets while… Oof, this is tricky. Something about being adopted? Joined? Part of something greater, but it doesn't carry any implication of being subsumed. And we had the name of this place wrong, too. It's more of a fortress than a temple - And it doesn't have a name of its own. It takes on that of the secret it guards. In this case, the Covenant of Boundless Life.

<<You>>: That does explain the confusion, though. With a name like that, defensive rituals, and such a peculiar form of seclusion, it makes sense for other civilizations to assume this is a temple.

Valencia: You're not so bad at this yourself, you know. I wish there was time to take a rubbing of this wall, but we have to move on.

2 BATTLES

Full heal

Wall Trap!

...Did you just feel your feet sink?

Difficulty: 90

Stat Used: Dexterity

2 BATTLES

Full heal

Valencia: Something doesn't make sense. There isn't a single mention of Taurisians being trappers. A lot of these trapped areas cut off the historical records and defensive ritual instructions, too.

<<You>>: The stone looks different, too. It's all very worn down, but… Huh. If something went wrong and the natives left this place, maybe someone showed up later and dug up the space to add traps.

Valencia: Looking at some of these skeletons… The ones that still had flesh when they walked in, I mean. Whoever did that sure got what they wanted. They kept people away for CENTURIES.

<<You>>: Still, that means the traps themselves are so old that the already broken space they filled in can't be very stable. We'll have to watch… our…

The floor below < > opens.

Valencia: Uh oh.

<<You>> fall through the floor.

<<You>>: STEEEEEEEEP!

<<You>> land on a lower floor.

<<You>>: Oof. That felt like falling on a giant pile of rotten noodles… Hey, Valencia?

Valencia: Are you alright down there?

<<You>>: That depends. You said this is centuries old, right?

Valencia: For the sake of brevity, but yes. It's an understatement, this is actually -

<<You>>: Good! Good. So if I were to, say, fall on a pile of sneaks, there's no way they would be anything but long dead and dried up.

Valencia: Well… Yes. They kind of need to eat and breathe. But… We ARE chasing necromancers.

<<You>>: Groovy.

2 BATTLES: Undead Sneaks

Full heal

<<Scene: Egg chamber.>>

Stranger: This must be it. I can't sense it through the golden shell, but I can barely infuse the resonant shadow into servants that fall apart here.

Stranger 2: We can study it at the archives, let's not linger here.

<<You>> and Valencia enter.

Stranger: Surehunter!

Stranger 2: The Chosen, too - Get that thing and run!

The undead skeleton picks up the egg.

<<You>>: …Er. Gold is a lot heavier than -

Valencia: Wait, no! That's probably trapped!

The undead skeleton sets off the booby trap.

Valencia: Uh oh.

Stranger: Wait, what?

The wall collapses on the strangers.

Valencia: Watch out, [Name]!

'''WARNING: Something huge is tumbling toward you! Make a quick decision and play to your strengths!''' If the boulder hits you:
 * Push it (STR Roll)
 * Dodge it! (DEX Roll)
 * Predict it! (INT Roll)
 * …Block it! (END Roll)
 * …Intimidate it? (CHA Roll)
 * Nah. I'm fine. (LUK Roll)

Valencia: Yikes. Are you alright?

<<You>>: I'll be fine. Let's keep looking - This is nowhere near secure enough to be the real deal, and it was clearly one of the added traps.

Valencia: I am so coming back for this egg later.

2 BATTLES

Full heal

2 BATTLES

Full heal

<<Scene: Second egg chamber.>>

Stranger: Too delicate, but so potent… The enchantment is definitely inscribed upon the shell itself, although somehow from "within." That makes the container very valuable as well. If we can apply its base principle to subversion through resonance… Oh, but whatever it holds could make up for the loss of traditional fleshcraft.

<<You>> and Valencia enter.

Valencia: Hold it there, you ridiculous cultists! I don't care what plans you have for it, but that is an invaluable relic!

<<You>>: Wow, I did not see that coming.

Valencia: I know! Me either! I can really do this!

Stranger: Valencia Surehunter, have you gone soft? I'd have expected that opener, and perhaps a speech about history, from your rivals. Not from you.

Valencia: Soft? I HAD gone soft. But I've got a whole future to reclaim, a lot of history to rediscover, and a grand total of NO patience for any possibility that you might ruin this for me.

Stranger: Oh, but you'll find that we are fonder of history than you are. Devoted to it, even. We raise history itself and plumb its secrets directly, finding things you wouldn't dare touch…

<<You>>: Don't sit through the big, impractical speeches. They're not casting, but there's got to be something they're buying time for. Maybe they haven't figured out what to cast yet.

Stranger: For a mundane example: Friends, remember that pressure plate I told you to avoid on your way in? Someone kindly hit it.

''A stranger hits the pressure plate. The room rumbles.''

<<You>>: I'm beginning to develop an allergy to ominous rumbling.

The Covenant Guardian appears, shaped like a Grenwog.

1 BATTLE: COVENANT GUARDIAN

Full heal

<<You>>: I could've sworn the Grenwog hadn't even been around that long.

Valencia: Now to give the boot to Tweedle-dee through Tweedle-Dumbest.

<<You>>: …Been spending time at the Isle d'Oriens library?

Valencia: It'll be our secret.

Stranger: That wasn't enough time - Forget the shell, we'll have to settle for denying it to our foes! Seize the artifact!

<<You>>: As if I'm letting you open -

The stranger cracks open the egg.

Stranger: Take it and run!

Valencia: …[Name], cover your face. Don't breathe.

<<You>>: What?

Valencia: NOW.

Gas emanates from the egg.

Stranger: …Not like this…

The strangers collapse.

Valencia: HA! I knew it. All of those traps kept people away for centuries, which meant nobody ever opened the artifact's shell. So this 'living' artifact must have long since rotted away, but with a magical shell having such a potent effect on what they called positive life... I admit, I wasn't completely sure, but... whew, good thing we covered up. Anyways... It's a crying shame about the shell, but we just had SUCH an adventure! There's a business side to it, but everything I studied paid off, and we're about to uncover so much lost history... This place could lead us to other huge findings! I'm so glad you stuck by my side for this, I don't know if I'd have trusted myself to do it without... Uh, [Name]? You're awfully quiet. Are you okay?

<<You>>: …I accidentally inhaled just a little of that and now I'm afraid that if I ever take another breath again, my stomach is going to fly away and I'll die for good. Wake me up when I have a nose again.

<<You>> collapse.

Valencia: …[Name]? [Name]! Oh dear.

Shields
Shard of the Covenant

Spells
Call Valencia

Summon Valencia

Pets
Undead Sneak

House Items
Grenwog 2020 Portal Painting