LIMITED QUEST: THE MYSTERIOUS SKY ISLANDS

[cccorp]

You check the quest board one day to find something curious— Limited Quest: The Mysterious Sky Islands.

Limited quests like these are hard to come by and even harder to accept before other eagle-eyed explorers swoop in to claim one of the few slots available. Luckily for you, you can count yourself among that fortunate group today.

After accepting the quest, an NPC totters over to your side: a wisp of an old man who might very well topple under the pressures of a modest breeze. You hunch down to listen to his tale of misspent youth, dreams of taking flight long passed.

His days were spent perfecting the ultimate flying machine, a veritable tin can held together by scraps of metal and rusting bolts. His invention is finally complete, but at his advanced age, braving the skies is no easy task. That's why he's selected a small handful of intrepid adventurers to take to the skies in his stead and fly to an island that's always hung just out of his reach.

After listening to the old man's tale, you agree to board his rickety flying contraption and set sail to islands unknown... and if you're lucky, you'll manage to get there in one piece.

You're flying to the mysterious island with four others and each of you have been tasked with exploring a different part of the island. Unfortunately, your flying machine... explodes just above the island proper. The five of you are flung to different sections of the island and marooned there, but as it happens, what you find on your stretch of island correlates with the tasks handed to you by the npc. How very auspicious.

Take care as you go about your individual tasks: this island is incredibly windy. One misstep and you'll end up hurtling to the ground with your task incomplete and the old man relying on you sorely disappointed. Good luck, adventurers!

Comments

BUILD-A-GATE

[cccorp]

[After your less-than-secure flying machine blew to pieces and sent you flying, you sit yourself up to find yourself stranded on the southernmost section of the island. You feeling okay? That was a rough landing. Get up and take a look around to gather your bearings... but take care not to stumble over any of the bits and bobs strewn haphazardly around the area.]

[curvaceous]

[ Oh my. Kara groans as she rises to her feet. Her head is pounding from the crash, and she's certainly pissed about it. She's grumbling as she collects herself and dusts off her armor.

Let's look at our surroundings. What kinds of bits and bobs are we talking about? ]

[cccorp]

[We're talking about metal bits and bobs, primarily, many of which are curved or otherwise circular in design.]

[curvaceous]

[ Okay, let's lift one up! Is it heavy? And while she's doing that...what else can be found on this part of the island at a first glance? ]

[cccorp]

[Oh, it's hella heavy, but Kara's a strong lady! She'll be met with some resistance picking it up, but it's nothing she can't handle. Aside from those bits of metal, there's a golden platform sitting at the center of this segment of island. By the platform is a scrap of paper.]

A BRIDGE TOO FAR

[cccorp]

[After a painful crash landing, you right yourself and find that you're stranded on the centermost section of island with no way to move from point A to point B. That sucks, man. Sorry for your shit luck. It's just you and that curious pile of Stuff sitting in a neat little pile toughing it out on this windy stretch of land...]

[conjecturecycle]

[You'd make Pete, a very old man if everyone else's opinions is to go by, crash land painfully! Oh! Oh!! Jail for admin! Jail for 1000 years! Just kidding Pete has his pain simulation turned off. That said;]

Ah, what the hell! There better be a way back down so I can tell that damn old man how much his flying contraption sucks ass.
[Even alone, Pete will complain. But as he gets up he's gonna investigate this bold stuff. What's in the pile?]

[cccorp]

[Wah, wah, wah. Everyone's a critic. In the pile are many planks of wood, several segments of rope, large metal spikes, a hammer... and climbing gear.]

[conjecturecycle]

[Well this is just going to make him complain more.]

The hell am I gonna do with all this?

[If he looks around, is there anything else in sight? NPCs, other islands, landmarks, etc?]

[cccorp]

[Complain all you like, Pete, but the task in front of you is obvious: build those ladders. If it isn't clear enough — or he's just that unwilling to believe he's being made to do manual labor — a scrap of paper flits through the air and affixes itself to his face.

The text on the paper reads as follows: Build those ladders. Got it?]

PURELY OUT OF SPRITE

[cccorp]

[When you recover from the crash and sit yourself up in an effort to gather your bearings, you take a look around and realize you're stranded on the northernmost section of the island with no way to reach the adventurers you traveled here with. That's disconcerting enough on its own, not to mention the strange, quiet murmurs you hear between gusts of wind if you listen closely...]

squints

[tot]

[

tragic story of her not being able to talk to the people that she was partied up with for any amount of time before being throw into the winds (quite literally), but you know the game has gotta game and uta's going to roll with the punches with this one. there are weirder things that could happen and it's not like an entirely uncommon thing for a video game to do...

so what do these whispers in the wind tell her? anything else she can see around as she scopes out the area? ]

[cccorp]

[Those whispers on the wind sound like they're pleading for help. Oh no! There are some empty buildings littering the landscape, so perhaps she could check those if she feels so inclined.]

[tot]

[ damn wouldn't it be something if uta abandoned those people who are pleading for help for some empty buildings? wouldn't that be real cold hearted? damn.



too bad that isn't uta and of course she's going to see if she can identify where those cries for help are coming from and head towards the voices. ...because real-world logic does not apply to video games. if it isn't completely clear then she'll go check out those empty buildings. ]

[cccorp]

[Their voices are plenty clear to listening ears, but only one of those voices is on the segment of island Uta is stuck on. When she enters the abandoned building where that voice is emanating from, she'll find a fire sprite struggling beneath a pile of rubble. Seeing Uta, it lets out a cry and extends its tiny hand to her.]

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

[cccorp]

[The easternmost stretch of island is where you find yourself after recovering from that unfortunate crash landing, and boy, it sure is rocky here. You can't reach the others presently, but you may have more pressing matters on the mind when you hear muffled banging and shouting from within the many stone pillars littering your section of the island.]

[tinged]

[ ow?

but hani got pretty familiar with another rock hard place last weekend, so a sore rump is nbd. they lay there, listening with some interest to the muffled banging and shouting. maybe 25% interest. the other 75% they spend admiring the view. so high, so windy, so nice!

eventually they sit up and take out their glamoured disco stick. tap-tap-tap. tappity-tap-tap. they beat out a rhythm on the closest rock, trying to match the banging. ]

[cccorp]

[The rock, or whatever is trapped inside of it, doesn't appreciate the rhythmic tapping. All that results from Hani's efforts is more angered shouting.]

[tinged]

Oh - pardon me.

[ hani pats the rock with a gentle hand. yoshi, yoshi, calm down, child. ]

Could you repeat that?

[cccorp]

[Repeat that? Sure! The yelling continues, but at least the words are vaguely understandable. "...Out! Let me out!"]

CLOUDED JUDGMENT

[cccorp]

[Did you have a nice trip? No? That's too bad, but at least you aren't dead. When you take a look around, you realize that you're stranded on the Westernmost section of island all on your lonesome. How sad! What's more, this patch of island is so cloudy that you can't see the nose on the end of your face, much less anything else. Walking around under conditions like these is inadvisable... but hold on a second. What is that faint oinking you hear a few feet ahead...?]

[insinning]

[Why did he do this to himself. It had seemed like such an exciting opportunity...

Well. He is a beta tester. And he is here for exploring.

He can't see so he uses his lance to help him make sure he's stepping on actual ground as he moves towards the oinking]

Hello? Is anyone there?

[cccorp]

["Oink! Over here! Oink!" The oinking sounds... oddly mechanical. Is Sinclair certain he wants to proceed?]

[insinning]

It's hard to tell where you are...

[Well, he is certain about very little, but he will commit with all the uncertain feelings in his heart.

He proceeds, still using his lance to mark his way. Thank god it's like 30cm taller than him. Good walking stick]

[cccorp]

["You're getting closer, oink! Just don't smack me with that thing!" Sinclair's safe and steady approach will eventually bear fruit, leading him to... something. Still impossible to see with all this cloud cover, unfortunately. If Sinclair wants to examine it more closely, he may need to bend down and touch it... if he dares.]