F22-PP <<What We Fight For>> Just Another Dungeon

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

Floor 22
<<What We Fight For>>

Recommended Level: Any
Non-Repeatable | Party Limit: 2
Credit: Hestia

Rewards:

•  A framed picture containing the player(s) most missed memory from the real world.

Requirements:

• At least 1 page of RP content (20+ Posts)
• Must roll LD: 17+ to find the memory Chamber

Summary:

Within the Forest of Memories, there have been hazy anomalies all throughout the forest that provide a feeling of familiarity. If the player would travel deeper into the forest, they will discover a set of stairs that lead down into the ground. The stairs eventually level out into a simple stone chamber, the doors creaking as they close behind them. The walls of the chamber soon reveal to be lined with reflective mirrors that show the player what they miss most from the real world. If the person has a strong connection with this desire, a scene pertaining to that memory will show itself upon the mirror they look into. After that the player will then receive a picture of the thing they miss most about the real world.

The twenty second floor had been an entirely different beast from the floor below. Unlike the restrictive yet picturesque caverns surrounding the mining town of Tomoko, the open spaces and lush fields of floor twenty two were as far from a dungeon as Shield could imagine. He knew better than to lower his guard entirely, but the monsters and loot had, for the most part, been lack luster. He hadn't even found a single dungeon since they had begun exploring. Granted, the spaces were so open and without direction that if there were dungeons, they would need landmarks or else blend in with the field around them. That, and Shield was hardly looking for dungeons to explore.

While they gave players an edge over regular monster grinding, at least in regard to potential rewards, they did come with increased risk, and the previous floor had plenty of that to offer on its own. Shield walked alongside Beat as they combed slowly back away from the main lake of the settlement, approaching the mountains that rose from the sparse forest beyond.

"It's like this floor intends to lure us into a false sense of security," he growled, glancing across the expanse of green that stretched for what seemed like miles in any direction from them. "I know there are dangers, but they are not obvious, and the setting is so serene that even as you try to focus on staying alert, the fields and forests and their calming noises become a distraction of their own and take you back off of your guard."

There was a forest ahead of them. The trees were interlaced with trails of vapor, though it was not as sinister as the fog on lower levels, where witches and powerful rocs had been known to take up residence. It seemed more like something that might just embrace and then leave behind little droplets of dew without so much as an unpleasant breeze to threaten the passerby.

@Beat

[Beat 0]

Beat stretched his arms and released a loud yawn as the serenity Shield spoke of served to cause the younger player to feel drowsy, "You're not wrong. There are monsters, but it's nothing aggressive. I would think the lake probably has some aggressive monsters in it, but this is ridiculous. Finding new challenges keeps me sharp, this crap just makes me want to fall asleep." He let loose another yawn as they entered the forest, feeling to cool vapor surround and embrace him like a pleasant mist that managed to bring him back to his senses as he kept his eyes out for any signs of trouble, though he hardly expected to find any. 

"hm?" Beat's attention was suddenly drawn to faint whispers coming from somewhere in the fog, though he was having trouble discerning the direction they were coming from, "Do you hear that?" He said, straining his senses as the whispering voices continued. Normally, beat could have dismissed such distractions, but the odd familiarity or them bothered something in his core that he couldn't identify. 

[Shield 0]

"Well," Shield mused aloud, recalling a rather large filet of of fish in his inventory and the water dwelling king that it once belonged to. "The lakes do contain bigger challenges than the fields and forests seem to, but-" He paused at Beat's mention of a sound. He looked both ways, then back at the younger player. "...hear what?" he asked, his eyebrow lifted in a visible show of confusion. He strained his ears against the calm early morning that surrounded them. "I mean, there's a slight breeze, but that's all I hear."

Still, despite his detection skills, he did not want to dismiss the concern. He unslung his shield from his back, holding his arm slightly bent, not fully defensive, but prepared to become so if the need arose. The mist of the morning continued to roll around their ankles and shins, but at the moment Shield did not detect any fell phantoms on the wind. He turned back to Beat, watching his expression for clues rather than asking further questions as to not break the other player's concentration. If there really was a noise, it was clearly very faint and would need silence to properly detect.