|
Whatstone Huh? - Mission Progression: Bloodstone Fen
Wyrm
- 25 Jun 2007
"Looks kinda barren for a Jungle," said Angela.
"We're
not in the actual jungle yet," said Buffy. "These are the dry lands
between Kryta and the deep, dark jungles of Maguuma." "That
doesn't make sense." "Well,
it doesn't have to. Just accept it and let's move on." "About
that..." "Yes?" "On
our way here I heard about some goings on in Cantha." "And?" "I
want to go check them out." "What?
We're right in the middle of this." "Yeah,
but still, the festivities look really interesting. And it'll be a chance to meet
some Canthans." "Uh,
if you say so." And
thus, Angela hitched her way back to Lion's Arch, where she took a ferry over
to Cantha. It would be a while before she rejoined the party. The rest of the
team moved on, although they were worried that being short a member would hamper
them more than they would be able to compensate for. These fears wound up being
for naught, as they were able to connect with a mesmer that was looking to cross
Maguuma in search of... something... "Hello,"
said the mesmer. "Hi,"
said Stargazer. "Hey,"
said Sanskirt. "You
guys are heading into Maguuma, right?" said the mesmer. "Yeah,
we're helping out a fellow Mantler," said Arty. "Do
you mind if I join you? I have business in the deep areas of Maguuma," said
the mesmer. "Not
dressed like that you aren't," said Arty. "What
do you mean?" said the mesmer. "Strip,"
said Vex. "Excuse
me?" said the mesmer. "You
heard me," said Vex. "We
don't believe in armor," said Arty. "And if you want to travel with
us you'll have to play by our rules." "Well,
all right..." said the mesmer. "By
the way," said Stargazer, "what's your name?" "Renebelle,"
said the mesmer. "Welcome
aboard," said Buffy. "Yes,
welcome to the asylum," said Arty. Now
that everyone had been introduced, it was time for them to get moving. Meeting
up with Justicar Thommis, who they agreed to help find retribution for his lost
brother, they soon learned that the Chosen they had brought to Loamhurst had been
escorted to Maguuma and the band escorting them had been ambushed. As chance would
have it, the people Thommis wanted revenge against were also the people that had
kidnapped the Chosen, which simplified things for the group. Their new friend,
Renebelle, had adjusted herself fairly well to the lack of clothing, both in and
out of combat. Truth be told, as a mesmer, she had been practically unclothed
anyway. The
group they were after was called the Shining Blade. Thommis had sent his scouts
after them, but they had been unsuccessful at catching them, thus the burden of
bringing the Shining Blade to justice had fallen on the shoulders of the team
of disrobed heroes. They were used to it by now. After meeting with several of
Thommis's scouts and tracking the Shining Blade, they finally caught a glimpse
of them running deep into the wilds of the jungle. They now sped up their pursuit
and tried to catch them before they made it too far into the jungle, but were
unsuccessful. It seemed as though the Shining Blade had the creatures, even the
very plants of the jungle, aiding their escape; at least it seemed that way. With
the plant life and creatures of the jungle constantly attacking them, the team
found the battles to be harder fought than they originally had anticipated, and
they were having a harder go of things as the humidity was slowing them down.
Fighting in the dry cold of the Shiverpeaks seemed like it would have been easier
than fighting in these muggy conditions. By the time they were once again able
to catch a glimpse of the Shining Blade, they were mostly worn out and in need
of rest. This was not to be, unfortunately, as they had to press on or risk losing
the chase all together. Time
moved on slowly as the humid conditions were slowly getting to them. Fortunately,
they were able to find some comfort in the lakes and rivers of the jungle, which
seemed to have a restorative power on them. Passing as much time as they could
in these waters made the trek seem just a bit easier, and indeed vitalized them
so they could continue on with a bit less care. Sanskirt was at the front, as
usual, leading them onwards at a rapid pace. While the rest of the team would
have preferred moving a bit slower to help keep them relaxed, they knew Sanskirt
wouldn't slow down and that meant if they moved slower they would be down another
member of their team, which they didn't want to happen. So they dredged onwards,
being pulled along by Sanskirt. Finally,
after what seemed like an eon, they caught up with the Chosen. Sort of. Really,
they caught up with a bunch of spiders that had wrapped the Chosen in cocoons.
They had also finally caught up with the Shining Blade. Sort of. Really, the Shining
Blade were trying to figure out how to get the Chosen back from the spiders. Confused
more than ever, the group tried to figure out what was going on. "Hey,
you!" said Sanskirt to the Shining Blade. "Stop feeding our Chosen to
the spiders!" "We're
not feeding them to the spiders," said one of the Shining Blade. "Open
your eyes! We're trying to save them!" "Save
them?" said Sanskirt. "You're the ones that kidnapped them in the first
place!" "Kidnapped?
No, we rescued them," said the same Shining Blade member. "Right,
sure," said Sanskirt. "Look,
we can argue semantics all day, but in the meantime you need to help us destroy
the spiders if you want the Chosen to live to tomorrow," said the Shining
Blade spokesperson. Unfortunately,
they were right, and the team would have to give aid to them in order to save
the Chosen as there were a lot of spiders around. Fortunately, by this time the
team had figured out how to deal with the spiders fairly easily and so wasted
no time in dispatching them. As soon as the fight was over, the team confronted
the Shining Blade only to find themselves surrounded. "Well,
this isn't good," said Buffy. "I'm
not worried," said Arty. "Just let me drop a few meteors on their heads
and they'll get out of our way." "You
don't seem like typical Mantle," said the same Shining Blade person from
before. "We're
only Mantle by chance," said Arty. "We saved some old guy from some
dead guys and the next thing we know we're inducted." "That
explains it then," said their Shining Blade representative. "Explains
what?" said Arty. "Why
you risked your lives to save the Chosen." "Excuse
me?" "Hmm..." "Huh?" "Follow
me, I have something to show you." "Evennia,
no!" said another member of the Shining Blade. "Quiet,
Markis," said the same Shining Blade from before, apparently named Evennia.
"I don't think these people have a clue what the Mantle are doing here, otherwise
they wouldn't have been so gung-ho about chasing us." "What's
that supposed to mean?" said Arty. "You'll
see." "See
what?" "It's
right over this way." "What
is?"
| 
