CHAPTER 17: TEMPLE TASKS
WC: 1509
From the eastern wishing well, a cobblestone road zig-zagged up the hill and passed through Bassavakka’s town gate. Guards patrolled the road and peasants walked along with the weird vacant expressions of NPCs that I couldn’t interact with. All in all, the terrain of the eastern side of the island was more craggy and desolate than the area around Majah. Steep hills blocked the view often and I had learned to walk slowly until I could see over each rise. The place was overrun with pirates, and I was just as happy to practice my Sneak skills and get close so I could kill them quickly instead of running around with my sword swinging and get mobbed and overpowered.
I had already found the only two wishing wells on the island…and I was tired of wasting time trucking back to my quest markers from them when I got careless. On one of those walks-of-shame I passed what appeared to be a trade caravan stopped at a fork in the road. At first I thought perhaps they were in trouble, since it was only a handful of horse-drawn carts. As I got closer I saw a few merchants were selling wares out of their brightly painted wagons so I purchased all the potion and poison ingredients I could afford and continued on my way.
There had been much debate earlier that day in the break room about whether poisons were more beneficial overall than they cost in time. The grind of running around to find ingredients was easier on the pocketbook but it cost in time that could be spent levelling on harder enemies that gave more XP. We set a friendly wager on who would max out their alchemy skill first, and with ten of my own dollars in the pot, it sure would be a shame to not give it my best, right? So, maybe I spent that whole afternoon picking flowers and avoiding pirates and a nest of huge spiders that spit poison from the shadows and did obscene amounts of damage for a beginner area.
I looked at my quest log to see what my next steps were. I still had two open quest lines for the island of Ujala. Majah was done, but the other big town on Ujala, Bassavakka, had several of the small quests to find. I always tried to wrap up the little ones before I tackled the big one. If I got too far into the main quest, I might not be able to return and do the little tasks, and I had gotten a fair amount of gold and crafting stuff (that I would probably need in the future) from doing the menial jobs.
I had already driven the rats out of an old lady’s basement, put out a fire at the forge, and brought supplies from Majah to feed an orphanage. That left the flower quest I was on and Saariq’s quest that sent me to Bassavakka in the first place. Luckily, both markers were taking me to the temple. I just wondered where the quest was going to end. And what happened to Captain Misana and Davi Ben? Surely, I was going to get back around to that, right?
I walked around the town center looking for merchants and a potion shop on my way to the temple of Marjane. I was supposed to bring forty stupid flowers that I picked out on the dry scrubland that stretched from one coast to the other, all along the eastern half of the island. Forty of the same thing—yellow hibiscus. Which took a surprising amount of time to find…in what could best be described as a desert.
I was just about to hit level five, which would give me my first racial bonus of increased Health Recovery, Magic Recovery, and Stamina Recovery. Fingers crossed, the quest would send me over the line.
Entering the temple, the background music changed from Medieval fantasy music to a mix of etherial voices chanting in a choir. Priests and priestesses in light blue toga-ish garments tended sick and injured people on the floor of a great open room. It looked like less like a cathedral from the inside and more like a palace. It was built of parchment-colored stone with blue-violet veins running through it. Polished and bright, the walls reflected light from the open-air courtyard.
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Around the whole huge room, a trench of the same blue-veined stone carried water. The inside of the trench was tiled in bright turquoise tiles, giving the water an almost supernatural blueness. Plants that looked like Mom’s yucca cane lined the room in huge pots. Vining things with tons of small leaves and ferns grew here and there in little planters that ran next to the water channels. The room smelled humid like a greenhouse we visited at the botanical gardens. Just outside, in the courtyard, palm trees and taller yuccas lined the high wall. That was where my quest marker was taking me, so I followed it.
A man with a long beard and a ring of white hair sat next to a fountain. Baskets of plants lay around his feet and books sat all over the bench next to him.
“Here are your flowers,” I said. I didn’t have to take them out of my inventory. Instead, the quest completion popped up.
QUEST COMPLETE: DELIVER 40 YELLOW HIBISCUS TO DIN MAYUR
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU REACHED LEVEL 5
MEDIUM ARMOR INCREASED TO 6
LIGHT ARMOR INCREASED TO 4
ASSASSIN’S WAY INCREASED TO 2
103G
“Oh, thank you,” the old man said. “We’ve used up most of our antidote potions trying to cure a mysterious poison.” He held up a bottle. “This is the last one I have, but thanks to you, I will have more ready by tomorrow. Speak to Kum Azha, I’m sure she will want to thank you personally. You are just the person we’ve been waiting for. You’ve saved so many lives. Many blessings, dear friend.”
NEW QUEST: SPEAK WITH KUM AZHA ABOUT POISONINGS
Hmm. Weird. The original quest I got from Saariq told me to meet him in Bassavaka and the dot for that quest seemed to be right on the same spot. It was probably going to be the priestess in the middle of the room.
I went back into the temple. Lanterns hung throughout the building and courtyard, lit even in the daytime (because I guess they didn’t take oil to burn). Censers hung from the four-foot square pillars holding up the beams and roof. They emitted little swirls of smoke with a sweet, flowery smell.
A woman with long loose black hair and a golden leaf crown with blue gems at the center front stood in the center of the room. When I walked past her my quest updated and she said, “Welcome, traveler, we could use your help.”
QUEST COMPLETE: SPEAK WITH KUM AZHA ABOUT POISONINGS
“How can I help you?” I asked.
“Hello, traveler,” the priestess said. “These people were bringing supplies to Ujala to help the refugees. Their ship was led aground by wreckers and all who washed up have been afflicted with some kind of poison. We are trying to help them, but there are still some missing. With all my healers busy, I cannot send anyone to find the missing crew members. Would you find them and send them here to receive an antidote treatment?”
“Sure,” I said. “I’ll go find the missing crew members.”
QUEST COMPLETE: SPEAK WITH KUM AZHA ABOUT POISONINGS
NEW QUEST: FIND THE MISSING CREW MEMBERS
NEW QUEST: TALK TO CAPTAIN RUCHIKA
“Thank you. I’m sure Captain Ruchika will be glad to see her crew members again. She had regained much of her strength, but I know she is worried for their safety.”
“Okay, I guess I can ask her about her crew.” I followed the quest marker, which was on the other side of the little river trough. I found the target spot and saw a lady in a mix of leather and metal armor lying on a mat on the floor. “Hello, I’m going to go find your crew members,” I said, waving.
QUEST COMPLETE: TALK TO CAPTAIN RUCHIKA
“Three members of my crew are missing,” she said. “And my quartermaster Emir.”
“Okay, I’ll find them.”
NEW QUEST: FIND QUARTERMASTER EMIR
I left the temple, still not sure where Saariq’s marker was supposed to be pointing. I didn’t see anyone else to talk to in the room, at least none with an arrow pointing at them.
After leaving the temple, I headed down to the rocky shore. It wasn’t pretty and sandy like the beach near Majah. Bassavakka’s craggy terrain made it harder to see a person lying on the ground so I searched slowly, making sure I investigated all wreckage.
Actually, there were a lot of broken ship pieces lying around. It got me wondering why they all ran aground in the same place. The priestess had said someone did it on purpose. What a nasty thing to do. I wondered what kind of person would do that.
