Convergence: Eclipse Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Basic Item Quest Rewards

Read chapter 18 of Convergence: Eclipse by J.L.Hollingwell on NovelPedia.

Maps do not reveal the world. They reveal what the world is trying to hide. El Primer Latido del Mapa ― Santiago Copí Laurie and Maeve spent the next few hours lying on their bank of dirt, propped against the inside of the wall, watching the people of Hope’s Dream go about their business. They were recovering from the event quest - quickly, it seemed. The wounded were tended and those in need of rest were given the time to do so, whilst others maintained a watch on the top of the walls. Dragonheart and Eostra were moving around ceaselessly, offering quiet words of advice and encouragement, and barking orders. It wasn’t too long before search parties started to venture outside, to go and look for the settlers who had been outside the walls when the event began. Others started to haul in the bodies of the beasts, dumping them in a bloody heap beside the central cookfire, where they were set upon by the designated cooks - a small band of men and women who began the grizzly work of skinning, gutting and butchering the meat with a rather surprising enthusiasm. Still, Laurie had to admit, when the first steak of horned crocodile meat was set on a large spit over the flames, the smell made his stomach rumble fiercely. When he felt well enough, Laurie sat up. He still hurt all over, but the cuts had mostly closed and the bruises were a little less tender. Someone had put a bandage on Maeve's head, wrapping it snugly around her forehead to stop the bleeding. She cracked one eye open as he sat up, her gaze accusing. “What,” she said, flatly. It wasn’t really a question, more of a demand. “I’m going to speak to Dragonheart and ask for some tusks and stingers from that corpse pile by the fire. For my quests.” Laurie stood, trying and failing to not groan as he stretched his aching limbs. Maeve watched him acidly for a moment before sighing, opening her other eye, and reaching out her hand. “How can you even be thinking about quests right now,” she grumbled, as he pulled her, wincing and wobbling, to her feet. They found Dragonheart a moment later - he wasn’t exactly hard to find, given his height, and his giant, conspicuous sword - and he happily agreed that they could take anything the cooks were willing to part with. That was surprisingly less than Laurie had anticipated. Who knew bones were so vital to the flavour of a good broth? But soon enough, after several disgusting minutes rooting around in the pile of bodies, Maeve watching from a distance, her nose wrinkled, Laurie had all his quest components. They approached the GM, Laurie walking quickly, excited to see what would happen when he completed the quest. The GM turned smoothly to face them. Laurie spoke first. “Hello, inexplicable entity,” he said, cheerfully. “Greetings, Laurie Tamworth. How may I be of service?” The voice answered in his head, in the same neutral, genderless voice as before. “I want to hand in the items for the two quests I have?” Laurie said, his voice riding in a question, as he hefted the pile of body parts that he was awkwardly carrying. “Place the items at my feet,” the GM instructed, and Laurie did so, unable to stop himself considering the fact that the GM did not, in fact, have feet, just an empty space beneath the floating hem. Once his loot was suitably placed, his quest screen popped up, unprompted. The two quests the GM had given him turned green, and a new list appeared over the top of his quest box. Stinger Stockpile: Collect 10 Scale Hide Stingers. Completed. Boarling Bash: Collect 10 Boarling Charger Tusks. Completed. Basic Item Quest Rewards Choose two. Basic bed roll Tinder box Simple knife, fork and spoon Wooden bowl Basic undershirt Basic trousers Charcoal pencil Non-magical paper (5 sheets) Basic bandages Rations (15 portions) Large water skin Large rucksack Rope (10 meters) Basic cloak Basic boots Socks (2 pairs) Underwear (2 pairs) Small belt pouch Maeve moved closer as he read through the options, startling as the cloak turned in her di