Dungeon Crawler Quest(Original Fantasy)

like i said, those numbers are just example figures. I am not sure where the line is drawn between those different stages. only one we have confirmation on is the level 5 and below will upset people

 

Plan arkeus is go.

 

All according to plan.

The non-branded have souls, the Goddesses just don't love them as much.

 

Alright. I'm sorry folks. tried to get the update done, but stuff kept coming up and in the end I wasn't able to finish the update. I'll have it out tomorrow.

Again sorry, this week has kinda been kicking my ass.

 

Missing an update?! You sicken me. Way to let down the team.

/been a week since Guile's quest updated

 

It's ok, the foreign legion will definitely come.

 

-apologizes for missing an update-
-updates everyday-




Thank you for the heads up. I hope whatever is beating on you passes. Don't stress out too much.

 

“Just let me get one of those Ethers, and stick the robe in the vault for now, it’s decent for switching if it comes down to it.” you say after scanning the list yourself, “We’re going to need to expand the vault sooner than we thought, huh?” you add as an afterthought, that thing is really filling up fast.

“Probably so, I think the first upgrade was two thousand gilder…. So that would be four hundred from each of us. Might be worth considering,” Maya adds thoughtfully as she stows her new gear.

You notice Shimah equipped her new boots almost immediately in place of her old belt…. No change in health, so that bonus must be the same. She seems a lot less chilly now though. Cold resistance is pretty useful.

“We should probably start heading back,” Sera says as the dungeon fades and you get dumped once more in the snowstorm outside. She raises her voice over the wind as she continues, “It’s a pretty long walk, and the storm might slow us down.”

“Sera’s right,” Anshelm grumbles, the snow is almost up to his knees after all, even if he can bull through with little trouble.

So yeah, first order of business is getting out of this snowy zone, you might not mind the cold, but the storm is a pain.

The trip is honestly not too bad, though you do run across a flock of ice faeries and a couple of Yeti’s that need put down. No drops again, so that’s annoying. They were higher level than the ones you just fought, probably the D-rank versions, but with so few of them against Sera’s firepower it hardly mattered. The Yetis did show the ability to fully take blows for the faeries though, so that’s something to watch out for when you come back.

24XP, 1 JP, 34 Gilder

Everyone lets out a little sigh of relief when you exit the snowstorm and start back down through the hills toward Altkhot. The rest of the trip passes in relative peace, no more monster attacks at least. It’s as you’re approaching the city gates under the last of the days light, that conversation turns to your plans for the evening.

“So we’re gonna check and see if one of the other parties wants to swap for the Highlander crystal?” Anshelm asks, with the gates in sight, his shield and spear are stowed in his inventory.
“Yeah, was thinking so, after that I think I might like to go visit home, it’s been a little while, and I’ll feel kinda bad if I don’t visit once in awhile,” you say thoughtfully.

“Ah, Ms. Falconis seemed very nice; do you think she would mind me coming along?” Sera asks hopefully.

You glance at Sera, and then down to her hand, which you are once again holding, “Yeah… I don’t think she’ll mind.”

“Oh my, don’t you move fast Al, already introducing her to your relatives,” Maya says blithely, her tone innocent.

“Hey, it’s not like that!” you pause, and grimace, “Well… it is, but that’s not why I agreed, the rest of you can come too if you want I guess?” Goddess you’re babbling.

“I suppose that would be fine, you mentioned your mother worked at the labs, yes? I can ask her a few things,” Shimah responds after a beat of awkward silence.

Maya glances down at Anshelm, an amused smile on her face, you can’t see his face with his helmet, on, but he gives a little shrug, “Well, it’d be rude to refuse an invitation, wouldn’t it.”

You glance over at Sera, who sighs, looking amused too. That isn’t fair, “So… party at my place I guess,” you grumble. Crap, what have you done. Maya and Mom in the same building, you shudder to imagine the embarrassment that could stem from that.

You swing by the Inn first of course, and wait around a bit until Rolf shows up, he doesn’t really have anything to offer, guy hasn’t even seen a green crystal outside of a shop yet, so you must have gotten a really lucky roll.

You end up selling it to him at half price, since that’s what you would get in the shop anyway, he’s pretty thankful, says he’ll check with you guys first if his party runs across a green they aren’t going to use.

+50 Gilder

Then, you can swing by the crystal shop and head home. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem they have any new stock from yesterday. If anything they have even less, naught but starting jobs and a few of the lesser elemental race crystals… you were thinking of buying Sera one, but she doesn’t seem particularly interested in any they have right now.

Soon enough your little group is heading down the street leading to your house, and you find yourself dragging your feet a bit. Is Mom going to be okay with you bringing so many people? What are they going to think of your place… you know Sera is used to pretty fancy places, and you strongly suspect that Maya comes from the slummier parts of town, but you don’t really know about Shimah and Anshelm.

“Hm, so this is your place Al?” Maya is the first one to speak up as you come to a halt in front of your crooked, cramped home tucked back among others of similar look.

“Yeah this is the place, nothing much to look at huh?” you say wryly. Too late to worry now.

“Um, it’s very nice,” Sera tries, “Very…. Umm…” she trails off, trying to think of something nice to say you suppose.

Anshelm squints down the alley on the left side of the house, “Why are the paving stones purple and glowing down here? Heck, why is everything all twisty and warped, do you have a dungeon in your alley?”

“Huh?” you blink, shuffling over a step to see what he’s looking at, “No, the stones are my fault, I had uh… an accident, awhile back. The twisty stuff is just time space around here being weird. It comes out three streets down by the apothecary, pretty useful short cut.”

Why is he staring at you like you’ve grown a second head. You shrug awkwardly, “Lots of wizards and alchemists down here, stuff gets weird some time. Don’t eat anything unpackaged, sometimes the alchemists like playing pranks.” You pause, considering, “I don’t know if that kind of thing would even work on branded though…” No time like the present, you step forward, past Shimah, who is observing your upstairs window carefully… huh, that’s new, it didn’t used to smoke like that, Uncle musta been working on something. Anyway, you knock, and wait for the response.

It takes a few moments before footsteps approach… huh, those sound like irritated footsteps, and not Uncle's, they lack the clack of his fake leg. Maybe this was a bad idea. The door opens, and indeed, there is your mom, frowning and looking a little frazzled, her expression softens when she sees you though, and gives way to bemusement as she sees the small crowd outside her door. “Your friends dear?” she asks after a moment.

“Uh… yeah, I guess I should have asked first, but do you mind if they come in for a bit?” you ask awkwardly.

She sighs, brushing a few errant strands of hair from her eyes, “It’s fine Alice, it will be good to meet the people you are out and about with, just give me some time to finish cleaning up. Your Uncle nearly burned down the house. I swear, it’s as if that man is trying to make up for your absence by doing the sort of ridiculous things you used to get up,” she looks over your head to your friends and offers a smile. “Please come in and make yourselves at home, I just have a few things to take care of.”

“That’s fine Ms Falconis,” Sera says quickly, earning herself a nod from your mother as she steps back from the doorway to let everyone in. You step inside first, glancing around, at least everything downstairs seems like its in good order… though your struck again by just how small your home is as everyone files inside, taking up chairs and seats near your old dining table.

Mom heads back upstairs with an absent minded apology once everyone is inside, leaving your friends looking around in curiosity, Maya is the first to speak up, “My Al, your mother looks a little harried, is anything wrong?”

“No, she’s always kinda tired in the evenings, just… some extra trouble this evening you guess,” you kinda feel bad about not asking about this ahead of time now.

“She did not seem to mind our presence, I would not worry too much,” Shimah says, seeming to notice your worry. You wonder what her perception is.

“This place is kinda weird,” Anshelm says flatly, eyeing a bubbling cauldron of green stuff sitting on the stove…. Looks stable to you though, you are sure exactly what the extract is, but it’s nothing dangerous, so you have no idea what the problem is, “Your Mom seems like a pretty nice lady though.”

You lapse into chatting about nothing in particular until Mom comes back down, she seems pretty tired, but reasonably cheerful as she finds a seat and sits down, “So, now that that’s taken care of, may I know your names. I’m already familiar with Seraphine of course, but the rest of you…”

“Of course, my apologies,” Shimah speaks up first, “Shimah, it is nice to meet you Ms Falconis.”

“Mhm, what she said, I’m Maya, I hope you have plenty of stories about Alice to share,” Maya adds cheerfully, ignoring your glare entirely.

“Oh I have a few,” your mother responds dryly, a smile tugging at her lips. You shoot her a betrayed look.

“I’m Anshelm, nice to meet ya,” your last party member says lazily. Mom looks at him oddly, and Anshelm shifts as she stares for a minute, “What?”

“I’m sorry, it’s just odd to see someone who looks so young as a branded, what a strange condition,” Mom muses. You wince as Anshelm glowers, you kinda forgot that Mom only has slightly more tact than you do.

Maya pats him on the shoulder consolingly, “Oh Anshelm is a fine warrior, among other things, a thing like that doesn’t impede him at all.” Huh, Maya is pretty good at calming him down you guess.

“Oh, of course not, physical proportions are completely meaningless for branded function, it’s really very interesting. Where does the strength come from if not the muscles, and how do you ignore basic functions of physics…” Mom replies, trailing off before shaking her head, “My apologies, you aren’t here to listen to me theorize….” She frowns, “What are you here for Alice? Not that I mind meeting your friends.”

You shrug uncomfortably, and glance over to Sera, who is seated next to you. You reach over under the table and take her hand, its kind of comforting, “I uh… just wanted to visit, and things kind of snowballed,” you mumble, but well… you might as well, you straighten your shoulders and look up to meet your mothers curious gaze. “I… I guess I should do this though, Sera and I are… uh… together, if you know what I mean.”

Sera goes red, and gives your hand a squeeze, your Mom for her part cocks her head to the side, studying the two of you like specimens in a jar, seeming entirely bemused. After a few long moments of awkward silence she nods, “I thought there was something a little strange about how you two interacted. Good for you dear. I honestly never thought we would have this conversation.”

Whatever pleasure you might have felt at her easy acceptance fades under indignation, “Hey! What's that supposed to mean!” Stop it! Stop laughing Maya, I can see you covering your mouth over there.

“Oh, I just assumed you were never interested in that sort of thing. Heavens know you never showed any interest before, and I never got beyond explaining the mechanics of it before you bolted,” she sighs, crossing her arms under her chest as she leans back in her chair, regarding Sera with some amusement, “I suppose this explains some things though,” she pauses for a moment, “I know I explained the necessary anatomy, but do you need the rest of the lecture, I still have the diagrams in the attic…”

You go red in the face, and glance over at the similarly red Sera, and speak up over your Mom in an oddly high pitched voice, “No that’s fine, no need for that, I’m fine, we’re fine, everything is fine, let’s talk about something else!”

There goes Maya, she finally lost her balance and fell out of her chair laughing, and now your Mom is looking at your other friend as if she’s gone a bit loopy. Anshelm just sort of looks bewildered, glancing at Maya and back to your mother, and muttering “Diagrams…?”

Shimah looks remarkably unfazed, though you are pretty sure she’s amused too, “If you do not mind Ms Falconis, I was wondering if you could answer a few questions about Hexer fusions.”

Your Mom stares at Maya for a few more moments before turning her attention to Shimah, “Of course, what do you want to know?”

As Maya recovers from her laughing fit under your glower, Shimah and Mom discuss Hexer options. The path she’s on now, Shaman and Hexer, will get Witch Doctor, which will allow her to combine Curses and Hexes and free up a slot. You listen with half an ear as Mom lists off the other elemental combinations with Hexer besides Ice… looks like Dark and Fire are it. here’s a Sword Warrior combo as well, and a Dual Blade one.

You hang around for a few hours more, alternating chatting with your friends and your Mom…. You definitely noticed her and Maya discussing something, and feel a shiver of dread go up your spine. Nothing good can come of that.

Eventually the night wears on though, and you head off to the Inn, saying goodbye to mom. Who reassures you that you can review the diagrams any time. No thank you mother. On that note, the odd idea you had of asking Maya about kissing? No way, no how, not with how she’s grinning right now. You have your dignity thanks.

Well you do before Sera leans in and gives you a quick peck on the lips before you separate for the night, leaving you blinking and off balance.

Was kinda nice though, you still have to study a little before bed though.

Spoiler: Missions

Recent mining has uncovered a nest of Ash Snakes of varying levels, branded required to clear out. 3 required Minimum level 5 1500 Gilder

Patrols Needed: Branded of at least rank C required for patrols on the eastern and southern trade roads, full parties required, if you do not have a full party, you will be added to one. Rewards are 500 Gilder per person and a 15 point writ, plus full share of loot. Minimum level 5

A number of drakes have taken up a roost near a mining village. After the death of the previous party to attempt, the rank has been increased to C, destroy the nest and return the personal effects of the deceased party. Any gear is free for your taking. Full party required.Minimum Level 7 2000 Gilder

There has been rumors of monster activity in a ruined castle. The castle has been confirmed to not be a dungeon. Number and type of enemies unknown. Extermination desired, but only scouting required. Full party required. Minimum level 7. Reward 3000 Gilder, 1 fifteen point writ each. If monsters are exterminated, rewards will include two green race mods out of the quest givers available selection.

Rare Herbs Needed! A master alchemist requires a number of rare herbs from near a dangerous dungeon. Minimum Level 4. 2 people Minimum 1000 Gilder, and 2 Elixers offered in reward.

[]Planz?

 

[X] Replenish Potions and ethers as needed
[X] Update the Guide with info from Desecrated Fortress and Ice Queen Castle.
-[X] Think about adding a section on Tame-able pets. It has been really helping your party, and could help others'.

[X] Ice Queen D rank
-[X] Equip your shiny new ice resisting dress.
-[X] Try to help Maya to upgrade her Yeti.

 

[X] Replenish Potions and ethers as needed
[X] Update the Guide with info from Desecrated Fortress and Ice Queen Castle.
-[X] Think about adding a section on Tame-able pets. It has been really helping your party, and could help others'.


[X] Switch out Fire for Dark. We might need that aura and life drain.


[X] There has been rumors of monster activity in a ruined castle. The castle has been confirmed to not be a dungeon. Number and type of enemies unknown. Extermination desired, but only scouting required. Full party required. C Rank. Reward 3000 Gilder, 1 fifteen point writ each. If monsters are exterminated, rewards will include two green race mods out of the quest givers available selection.
-[X] Careful scouting, letting Maya and Al ready their minions to act as sacrifices in case of needing to flee. Slow and steady, with Maya scouting ahead in stealth, and using her pet to draw attention to small groups for everyone to ambush. Advance slowly and cautiously. Who ever has the highest perception should keep watch specifically for anything anomalous.

 

[X] Replenish Potions and ethers as needed
[X] There has been rumors of monster activity in a ruined castle. The castle has been confirmed to not be a dungeon. Number and type of enemies unknown. Extermination desired, but only scouting required. Full party required. C Rank. Reward 3000 Gilder, 1 fifteen point writ each. If monsters are exterminated, rewards will include two green race mods out of the quest givers available selection.
-[X] Careful scouting, letting Maya and Al ready their minions to act as sacrifices in case of needing to flee. Slow and steady, with Maya scouting ahead in stealth, and using her pet to draw attention to small groups for everyone to ambush. Advance slowly and cautiously. Who ever has the highest perception should keep watch specifically for anything anomalous.

 

Hmmm, no current saving village Missions, except for the Drake. The Ash Snake might be give some Respect, since it is in a mining spot.

[Y] Shop: 2 Ethers, 2 Amritas

[Y] Split the party for 2 Missions:
- [Y] Alice (ice), Sera (lightning), Anshelm: Recent mining has uncovered a nest of Ash Snakes of varying levels, branded required to clear out. 3 required rank D 1500 Gilder

- [Y] Shimah & Maya (bow): Rare Herbs Needed! A master alchemist requires a number of rare herbs from near a dangerous dungeon. D rank. 2 people Minimum 1000 Gilder, and 2 Elixers offered in reward.

 

[X] Replenish Potions and ethers as needed
[X] Update the Guide with info from Desecrated Fortress and Ice Queen Castle.
-[X] Think about adding a section on Tame-able pets. It has been really helping your party, and could help others'.

[X] Switch out Fire for Dark. We might need that aura and life drain.

[X] There has been rumors of monster activity in a ruined castle. The castle has been confirmed to not be a dungeon. Number and type of enemies unknown. Extermination desired, but only scouting required. Full party required. C Rank. Reward 3000 Gilder, 1 fifteen point writ each. If monsters are exterminated, rewards will include two green race mods out of the quest givers available selection.
-[X] Careful scouting, letting Maya and Al ready their minions to act as sacrifices in case of needing to flee. Slow and steady, with Maya scouting ahead in stealth, and using her pet to draw attention to small groups for everyone to ambush. Advance slowly and cautiously. Who ever has the highest perception should keep watch specifically for anything anomalous.

 

Oh hey look! Remember what happened the last time we saw a "We don't know what this is, have a full party go investigate this" mission?

Everyone died.

If people insist on missions, can we at least not do the obvious trap?

Look, there are 6 gradiants of missions. The only qualifier on what missions a party can try is "No higher than your highest ranked job"

If we assume that S ranked are 'ultra dangerous super-elite best of the best"

And A ranked are "Very very dangerous, aimed at experienced parties"

Then we are less than 40 JP away from seeing B ranked which is a tier below that.

It is entirely possible that C ranked missions are intended for level 10-15 branded.

(Assuming that the city has multiple teams that can clear dungeons, that puts the minimum 'high' level at 18-20ish probably. Add a pit, so 22ish, then say that the "S" ranked are higher at 25-26+

So S 26
A-22
B-15ish
C-12-15
D-6-12
E-1-6

Of course, it's possible that, say, E ranked are targeted only at those branded who never level or adventure. S ranked are probably "You aren't high enough level but you can try anyway" as well.

So, assuming my guesswork level scale (that's unlikely to be too terribly big, but could easily be way too small) holds true, we could get something akin to:

S- To Hi 4 U.
A- 25-26
B-16-24
C-8-16
D- 2-8
E- 1-2

Hell, it's eminently possible that mission ranks aren't an estimate of "What level should you be" but "How much risk is there for an appropriately leveled party for this mission." we don't know.


Well, how could we remedy this?

The easy thing to do would be just to go to the church and ask someone influential, then include any info in our guide about what mission ranks actually mean.

 

Whatever else we do

[X] Update the Guide

 

[X] Replenish Potions and ethers as needed

[X] There has been rumors of monster activity in a ruined castle. The castle has been confirmed to not be a dungeon. Number and type of enemies unknown. Extermination desired, but only scouting required. Full party required. C Rank. Reward 3000 Gilder, 1 fifteen point writ each. If monsters are exterminated, rewards will include two green race mods out of the quest givers available selection.
-[X] Careful scouting, letting Maya and Al ready their minions to act as sacrifices in case of needing to flee. Slow and steady, with Maya scouting ahead in stealth, and using her pet to draw attention to small groups for everyone to ambush. Advance slowly and cautiously. Who ever has the highest perception should keep watch specifically for anything anomalous.

 

[X] Replenish Potions and ethers as needed
[X] Ice Queen D rank
-[X] Equip your shiny new ice resisting dress.

 

New plan, to accommodate concerns over Rank.

[Y] Shop: 2 Ethers, 2 Amritas

[Y] Nest of Ash Snakes on Mining Area
- [Y] Sera to focus on Lightning Magic.
- [Y] Maya to equip her Tainted Longbow.
- [Y] People to equip their fire-resistant gears.
- [Y] Maya to try and grab Boss-level Ash Snakes as pet, like the last time on Warg Hunt with the White Warg.

 

[X] Replenish Potions and ethers as needed
[X] There has been rumors of monster activity in a ruined castle. The castle has been confirmed to not be a dungeon. Number and type of enemies unknown. Extermination desired, but only scouting required. Full party required. C Rank. Reward 3000 Gilder, 1 fifteen point writ each. If monsters are exterminated, rewards will include two green race mods out of the quest givers available selection.
-[X] Careful scouting, letting Maya and Al ready their minions to act as sacrifices in case of needing to flee. Slow and steady, with Maya scouting ahead in stealth, and using her pet to draw attention to small groups for everyone to ambush. Advance slowly and cautiously. Who ever has the highest perception should keep watch specifically for anything anomalous.

 

are you sure she wants to replace her yeti?

There is a dungeon we never did before. I want to unlock it and scout it for our guide.
Lets do it (and ogre's den since its nearby) today.
As well as updating our guide with the ice queen castle.

 

-[] Replenish Potions and ethers as needed
-[] Do Ork Warcamp (time to unlock it) for the first time to gather intel
-[] Afterwards, do ogre's den (with splitting up) because its nearby
-[] Update the Guide when you get back with ice queen and ork warcamp dungeons info

 

We didn't take the D-rank Yeti (couldn't emprison it/aggro the afiries away? Didn't think to?), so we have a a E-rank yeti that's maybe level 5. Ash nest boss is probably stronger than that.

I am a bit torn on what to vote for myself. Feels like too many people want to break the monotony of dungeons for a bit so voting for a dungeon might be useless, but the current choices of missions don't tempt me much. However, I guess that at our ability we can try to see what's the Ash nest is about very quickly, and then do something else in the afternoon, so If I feel that my vote can matter I'd probably vote for that.

Castle seems very tempting but it could very well be "yeah we meant it for a level 15 party, sorry". OTOH, the rewards are green race mods, which level 15 shouldn't give a fuck about. Mmm.

 

[X] Replenish Potions and ethers as needed

[X] Switch out Fire for Dark. We might need that aura and life drain.

[X] Update the Guide with info from Desecrated Fortress and Ice Queen Castle.

[X] There has been rumors of monster activity in a ruined castle. The castle has been confirmed to not be a dungeon. Number and type of enemies unknown. Extermination desired, but only scouting required. Full party required. C Rank. Reward 3000 Gilder, 1 fifteen point writ each. If monsters are exterminated, rewards will include two green race mods out of the quest givers available selection.
-[X] Careful scouting, letting Maya and Al ready their minions to act as sacrifices in case of needing to flee. Slow and steady, with Maya scouting ahead in stealth, and using her pet to draw attention to small groups for everyone to ambush. Advance slowly and cautiously. Who ever has the highest perception should keep watch specifically for anything anomalous.

I want to do a mission, and since this is gaining strength... well. We'll be careful.

 

...Fucking hell.. No reason not to vote, and this mission scares the beejevus out of me.

[X] Replenish Potions and ethers as needed
[X] Update the Guide with info from Desecrated Fortress and Ice Queen Castle.
-[X] Think about adding a section on Tame-able pets. It has been really helping your party, and could help others'.

[X] Ice Queen D rank
-[X] Equip your shiny new ice resisting dress.
-[X] Try to help Maya to upgrade her Yeti.

Also, Xicree, redaeth, other people who wants to do any other things but Ice Queen Castle: switch out fire magic. Especially Grosstoad who wants to do Ash Snakes.

 

Yeah, thanks for the reminder.

 

Sounds like the we could hit the two missions near the mining town pretty easily.

[X] Ash snakes
-[X] Switch out Fire for Dark
[X] Drake nest mission
We're a range-heavy party, while still having the mook squad (sorry Anshelm). We should do better than most parties against the drakes.

I'm tempted by the rare herbs quest actually, with that comment about 'being near a dangerous dungeon.' But D rank minimum 2 is a bit low for us.

 

[X] Arkeus

 

[X] Replenish Potions and ethers as needed
[X] Update the Guide with info from Desecrated Fortress and Ice Queen Castle.
-[X] Think about adding a section on Tame-able pets. It has been really helping your party, and could help others'.
[X] Ice Queen D rank
-[X] Equip your shiny new ice resisting dress.


The mission seems incredibly dangerous - let's farm for EXP and stuff some more, before we did them.

 

Or hell, just ask somewhere what mission rankings actually mean.

 

Look:

- Requires full party. This should ring warning bell by itself.
- Level C. Toughest thing we did is Goblin Glade, rank C, which is three person dungeon.
- It is not a dungeon. You know what that means? That can mean anything. Like, dozen of rogue Branded decided to command their little piece of heaven, for example. Or yet another mysterious event encounter.