Morningstar

With the Avenger of Tanos disintegrating behind him, Morningstar fled the temple. On his search, he had come up with nothing but the confirmation that everything hidden had already been found. A yawn escaped his wide mouth. The fight with the temple's guardian took more out of him than he had thought. Still, he carried on, climbing the cliffside to the shortcut he had followed before. Caesar requested hourly check-ins from each squad. No one argued it because if nobody knew where to find them and something went wrong, they were likely dead. A ping sounded, his messaging system alerting hi

The static effect of the Soulcursed Blade shocked the Avenger's entire body. Between that and the missing arm, there was little hope for him. In spite of it all, he continued to challenge the swordsman. Fueled by nothing but fury and willpower, it lifted its club and swung at Morningstar. He evaded, knowing better than to parry a crushing blow like that. The attacks continued in a flurry, leaving Morningstar little room to breathe or think. He sidestepped a swing that might have killed him and slashed the Avenger with a short hit of his blade. Now armless, it stumbled backwards, fall

As he turned to leave, his eyes widened in alarm. Instinctively, his body swayed to the left, avoiding the giant hunk of steel that crashed into the ground next to him. He stared at the face of the Avenger of Tanos, unblinking as he attempted to process what was happening. Ignoring the large health bar, Morningstar switched into action and made do with a less-than-ideal counterattack. His positioning was off, as was his footing. He did his best to meet his mark but failed to disarm his opponent. The Soulcursed Blade hissed as it slashed across the chest of the behemoth of a creature. It h

11.20.2023 ITEM IDENTIFICATION

"Morning, Morning," came the one and only, Freyd. Morningstar waved in return. "Good to see you're still alive." If he recalled correctly, the boss raid was the last time they had met. "I like the shirt; it's very Tom Selleck." His attention returned to the girl who, as the Whisper had put it, looked like a concoction of Hirru and Hidden. Her remark took him by surprise. Why would people avoid a place as lovely as the twenty-second? "Of course people come here," Morningstar said, "it's brilliant. There's only a handful of livable places and this is one of the nicer ones."

Morningstar's eyes were locked on the dark entryway of the temple. The grounds below him were silent but for the whispering wind. What remained of the cult of Tanos had fled deep into the Forbidden Lands, building new places of worship within the mountains that few dared to traverse. This temple had been cleared out and searched once before, although not by him. He had been sent as a form of quality assurance, with the intent to find anything that had been missed during the first run. Expectations were low, of course. They had, allegedly, been quite thorough with their looting and had dis

His return to Coral was an accident more than anything. He often mixed up the twenty-second and twenty-fourth floors. They were both beautiful in their own ways and started with the number two. It would have been perfectly acceptable too, if he did not live on the latter floor. It took him numerous steps into the town to realize that he was in the wrong place. Raitoborou Bay shared no likeness to the forests outside of Coral and his beach house looked far different from the cabins that surrounded him. While not home to him, the twenty-second was rather nice during most times of the year.

11.20.2023 | IDENTIFICATION

I am actually p 10 again so: (1) Gleaming Scale, (1) Demonic Shard, +1 LD to Looting* current paragon level: 10 (82,525 xp)

Morningstar gave a salute to the young man, who wandered back to town. He nodded to Bahr's response. The beginning of what, he did not know and, frankly, he wasn't sure he cared to find out. A look of surprise formed on the blonde's face as his comrade spoke again. His words were unexpected, cutting through the silence like a freshly sharpened knife. It felt wrong but a part of them found the mystery exciting. He had hoped for a puzzle to solve. The bigger part of him was glad, however. "I wouldn't say that it was for nothing. I'd have tagged along either way." The quiet of the

fin MORNINGSTAR + 1,350 xp | (3376/10)*4*1 + 400 col

The meeting adjourned and the four went their separate ways. Morningstar did as Caesar told , receiving a crystal from the armored players downstairs and leaving the manor behind. The crystal brought him to Coral, the floor's main settlement. He had his instructions. The Nineteenth floor was his first mission. Once it was clear, he could report back to the guild leaders and begin preparation for the next. He thought about Willow and the others. They were being sent all over the place, all in search of the next artifact. There were no clues, no hints, and no handouts. It was unlikely

Morningstar was glad to see that Caesar was not the man he appeared to be. When he entered the room, the blonde was worried that he would be difficult to work with. That did not seem to be the case. If he was to be worried about anyone, he felt like Mello was the logical choice. Morningstar's first impression of him was that he was emotional and hard to predict. He was there for a reason, though, and Morningstar was interested in learning what it was. "If that's all, then I'd like to conclude this summit. You're all free to stick around and explore the estate," Caesar stood from his seat

"We'll send one squad to each of those floors. Each squad will include four people. We may want to recruit a few extra hands, considering Morningstar will be on Nineteen. If anything strange is found, it will be communicated to each of us. We will send assistance depending on the situation." The plan made sense. They scribbled down names onto sheets of paper, compiling each of the four squads. Sixteen players in total were listed and Morningstar recognized very few of them. Willow was leading her own team on Floor Two. He wondered where she was; he was under the impression that she would

The eyes of totems were different coloured crystals: Purple, Green, Blue, Red, Yellow, White, and Black. They had already discovered purple, the Artifact of Mind. That left six remaining artifacts hiding within the game. "Let's assume that none of the totems are located on floors that have yet to be unlocked. Waste was found before the Twenty-Eighth boss raid, so anywhere from Floor One to Floor Twenty-Eight is on the table. We'll begin with the green artifact and work from there. I believe that it would be most efficient to send multiple teams out in search of a single totem, considering

The blonde smiled, returning his nod. The group went on to discuss many other ideas until the thought of an actionable plan was mentioned. They considered their next moves and determined that the best place to start was back on the Nineteenth Floor, where the first artifact was found. The area was, for the most part, cleared out so Morningstar would take on the mission alone. His objective was to do a thorough walk-through of the mountain temples in the Forbidden Lands, take down whatever remained of the Tanos worshippers, and ensure that nothing had been missed on the first expedition. They d

Morningstar had ideas, although he was not fond of any of them. "The most obvious answer is to disband the alliance and go our separate ways. Whether we like it or not, the player base would become a free-for-all if they found out there were only a few open slots on the trip home. The people with friends and family would prioritize them over strangers, even if they are from allied guilds." Caesar seemed to have expected an answer like that. Morningstar continued. "Alternatively, we send back people who are unfit to stay here. Children and the elderly would be a priority, of course, and as

It was a respectable goal. Difficult, but respectable. "The glaring issue that I see is that we have no way to know how many of us could actually be logged out. I mean, what if this alliance backfires? What if some of us are left behind?" Morningstar asked. "And how do we choose who stays and who goes?" Greymore added. He sounded like a leader, in a similar way to Caesar. In a group of one hundred or more, he thought that they would stand out, their words booming throughout the crowd. He was even more surprised to hear that he and Morningstar shared the same thoughts. Perhaps it was

"Our people have been allied for a long time now—almost since the beginning, actually. Sometimes, we get caught up with ourselves. We forget what it's like to be a solo player. Our goals may be aligned but the way we push towards them is quite different. We don't see the field nearly as much as you do. Not anymore. While we hold meetings in fancy rooms, you are out there every day, working towards a way out. There's honor in that. Wisdom too, we think." Greymore spoke next. "It can be a lonely world, Morningstar. Lonely and dangerous. There will come a time where progressing alone is no l

"I apologize for my shouting," he began, his voice hushed, "I only mean to say that I feel this meeting was called prematurely and with little information to offer." "I know you mean well, Mello," Caesar replied, accepting his apology, "and I appreciate your concerns. I've considered them as well and that's precisely why we are holding this meeting now, without all of the answers. I'd like to ask our three guilds to cooperate and research this topic further. I think we would all benefit from searching together and sharing the information we find rather than keeping it to ourselves."

"But where is the evidence that this is different from any other quest item?" Caesar stared at Mello for a moment before speaking. "There was no prompt for any quest when the item was retrieved. Besides, don't you think it's strange that there is no description, no indication of what the item is used for?" "To be honest," Greymore added, "this isn't much for us to work with, Caesar." "No! It's nothing for us to work with! Let's say that you're right—that this group of items will beam us back home if we perform some silly ritual. How? How do we do it? More importantly, where in t

Admittedly, Morningstar had thought the same thing (even if he was polite about it). There was little in terms of evidence and what they did have was a stone statue and a poorly painted piece of cave art. A broker's word went a long way but, in this case, he was skeptical. Caesar responded but it was hard to tell what he was thinking. "I said what I said. The Black Knights believe that if there is even a one percent chance that these items are the real deal, it is our duty as players to seek them out." "One percent chance? Even that is hard to believe! Don't you think that if there w

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Morningstar marched toward the two men, listening as Bahr offered him a choice. It would never have worked; both of them knew it. Nonetheless, it was noble of him. The King's Soldier dropped to his knees, defeated. Still, there was passion in his dying eyes. "Praise be—" The warrior's final words were cut short. His head flew through the air before tumbling to the ground. His body toppled over and, not a second later, disappeared. Blue pixels floated into the sky and the soldier's spirit returned to Cardinal. The victory was bittersweet. He glanced at Levi, who was half-hiding behind

Morningstar claims the following: Braso Crystal-A | Removes one enhancement on a weapon and replaces it with Absolute Accuracy. (This effect cannot override the Absolute Accuracy enhancement cap. Consumed on use.) ID: 218300 Braso Crystal-B | Removes one enhancement on a weapon and replaces it with Phase. (This effect cannot override the Phase enhancement cap. Consumed on use.) ID: 218301