[SP-F5] A walk in the sands

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

As he moved back to the river and down south towards the trail, he knew that from here on out each step would start to bring him closer and closer to home.  He just had to find a few more materials on the way back- after all, that was his goal for this whole trip. 

At least while the river was going this way, the sand dunes gave a bit more cover from the glare and he was able to walk further out into the waters to search the reeds.  He picked a few pods from the most promising looking ones, testing them out one at a time, but each of them fell apart the moment he grabbed them.  This was a disappointing haul.

Still, at least he had a few areas that looked promising coming up ahead.  Surely he would be able to find what he needed from these sections- or at least he hoped so. 

Spoiler

gathering roll ID 94606
Loot roll 6 - nothing

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben kept moving along, trying to keep his scarf from blowing around as much in the wind.  Now he was beginning to worry about being caught in a dust storm or something- he hadn't really thought about the possibility until now, though he probably should have.  He didn't have a plan for if that happened.  Luckily, the wind, while brutal, wasn't picking up yet, and didn't look like it would. 

So he walked forward, checking each of the spots in the river that could be useful to search, and plunged himself into the shallows once more to check them out.  Unfortunately, as was his luck for the past few attempts, his luck remained low.  He found nothing it any of the reeds near this part of the river, and was beginning to think his luck was going to be running low for this part of the trip.  It would go a lot faster once he got the skills that he needed in order to find these materials faster. 

 

Spoiler

gathering roll ID 94739
Loot roll 9 - nothing

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

There wasn't too much more that he could do put keep checking the reeds that had the best chance of bearing fruit.  Or in this case, bearing craft able materials.  It was a long trip, and he was beginning to start to feel fatigued because of it.  He paused and grabbed a swig of water from his canteen, taking a minute to catch his breath.  The trek was long and hot, and only going to get worse.  And if he had to slow down his search, or shorten it, the materials he needed wouldn't be found.  Man, it would be great if there was an easier way to get crafting parts.... aside from the dangerous game of hunting monsters that is. 

Unfortunately he still wasn't getting any bites, and he was already halfway down this part of the river.  This might not be a very fruitful haul even if he did check everywhere on the way back.

Spoiler

gathering roll ID 94741
Loot die 8 - nothing

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

As he continued his journey down the marshy mucks next to the river, Ben's mind began to wander once more.  It had been a long few weeks since he first set foot outside of the town of beginnings, and he had made some good progress since he started, but still needed to get a few more things from the shops before he was fully prepared to take on higher floors.  And to get the loot armor he had on back order... maybe he should have settled for a rare one instead.  *sigh*

So he would have to get more col for items, to help get materials faster, to make his mark in the world.  He just needed to actually find some materials to start the cycle off.

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 94786

Loot die 12 - fail

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben checked his mini map once more- the was nearing the route back to town, and didn't want to overshoot his mark.  He had made a route that would make the path fairly hard to miss, but with the winds whipping sand about and having to keep his head down, there wasn't any guarantees that he wouldn't accidentally walk by there without noticing.  His map showed he still had a little ways to go before he had to worry about that though. 

The next few reeds weren't much more lucky than the previous ones.  He did get a few handfuls of wet seeds, but they weren't materials and just dissipated within a few seconds.  Digging around in those reeds in the river was getting kind of gross.  And on top of all that, he was still not finding anything else out here.  This trip really blew so far- maybe the next area would change that.  He hoped.

Spoiler

gathering roll ID 94850
Loot die 3, nothing

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Through this entire trip, Ben had only found four measly bits of material worth adding to his inventory.  This river was really not pulling it's weight.  Had to be the river's fault.  He was searching everything just fine, so it must be the river's fault.  Or the algorithm that chose when the materials dropped.  He had worked so hard to get here and the stupid program was just messing with him, over and over. 

He continued his search on the next patch of reeds, but these ones appeared to be all dead already.  No chance of getting anything from them, or anything at all from this area.  This was getting really tiring, the repeated misses and false leads like this.  He just wanted something to work out like he planned it for once.  Not like this string of failures over and over that kept setting him back to square one that he kept on having. 

Spoiler

gathering roll ID 94860
Loot die - 1 (come on...)

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Hoping for better luck in this area, Ben pressed onward.  His head was tilted low into the wind, trying to keep as much visibility as he could as he walked.  It was a tough thing to attempt, but he absolutely needed to see if he wanted to find anything.  The wind had knocked his visibility down enough that he was probably delayed as it was.  And he was definitely behind schedule for how many items he should have by now.

So he began his usual method of checking each and every patch of reeds that he came across and hoping he got lucky. Difference was, this time he did! Finally, he got something new to add to his inventory.  He almost did a bit of a victory dance, but the heat and wet ground meant he would likely end up on his butt if he tried.

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 94880

Loot die 20 - 5th material found

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Hoping that his good luck would continue, Ben rechecked the area that he had just looked through, hoping to get something extra out of it.  As he sifted through the seed pods in each of them, he managed to pull out another full handful of usable materials! Score! It looked like his luck was finally turning around, and he would have enough crafting materials to truly make what he wanted.  This was great.

Still, he had a ways to go, and hopefully a bunch more successes to add to his pile of materials before the day was done. Technically, he could just turn around and walk the path again, searching even more areas for the items he wanted.  He didn't want to do that though- there was enough for him to do back at the lab, and he was eager to get back there.

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 94890

Loot die 20- 6th material found

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

He continued trudging along the river bank, still intent on finding some more supplies for himself and his lab. Unfortunately, the winds blowing their way through the sands of the desert had other plans that didn't mesh with his own.  Ben was forced to hunker down for a minute or two, though it felt a lot longer at the time, while a particularly strong wind tossed up sand and other debris all around him.  When he could finally look up again, he saw that there was no way for him to get anything from these reeds- they had been all knocked flat into the river waters, and Ben did not feel like getting wet and muddy to try and salvage anything.  Well, he was still pretty lucky so far, so he moved on forward to the next spot to search in. Maybe his luck would change as he kept moving along some more.

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 94893

Loot die 13, nothing

 

Edited January 27, 2018 by Benjamin Bookworm

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

As he crested the next high point in the sands along the river, Ben saw the path that ked back to town up ahead.  It wouldn't be long until he got back at this rate.  He continued to check the different reeds along the river as he went, though he once again didn't find anything worth salvaging as he went along.  While he didn't have a terrible haul yet, he could do better once he got a few extra skills under his belt.  It would just take some more time and a lot more effort.  

Then, before he got back to the path, he spotted something off in the distance.  It was some sort of weird terrain near the sand dunes that he had just passed by.  Since there was always a possibility of treasure or something of value out here, he started moving that way, hoping to get lucky with what he found.

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 94902

Loot die 8, nothing

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben had to fight the winds the whole way up to the strange terrain that he had seen.  He managed to work his way up to the top of the nearest dune, and looked down onto what he had been walking toward.  Unfortunately, instead of anything worthwhile, he just found a large bunch of rocks that had been blown clear in the last large gust of wind.  With a sigh, he turned back to the path that would lead him to the way into town.  

He checked what he had gotten once again- it was enough materials to last him just over a full day's worth of crafting.  Maybe if he could do one of these searches a day it would work, but that was not feasible at all.  Improving his skills was the only path that would lie ahead of him- hopefully after he got a few of the items he had on order.  Waiting for perfect gear to be made was an action he was beginning to regret as he continued to walk along.  

Spoiler

Sub-dungeon search roll ID 94903

Loot roll 9, nothing

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

There were always a few caravans running up and down these patyjs in the sand.  Rather than players, it seemed there were NPCs driving them.  This made them tempting targets for PKers for a while, until everyone realized there wasn't very much good loot to be had from them and moved on to other targets.  Ben had wished there were more quests that involved escorting the wagons or trading with them.  There was always a lack of peaceful quests in these games, though he supposed it was by design.  Players liked fighting enemies more than they liked trade and gathering.  I guess he was in the minority in this regard.  Unfortunately, there was not much to gather from on this part of the road.  Once he went along further, maybe there wouldf be some cacti that he could check, but right now he was coming away empty handed.  He would have to move further down the path.

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 94904

Loot die 2, nothing

 

Edited January 27, 2018 by Benjamin Bookworm

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

The path was worn d own from the many wagons that had gone over it.  The ruts where the wheels bit into the ground were visible even when filled wit h sand, and the dirt had been compacted down into a hard path that made travel much easier for anyone who took the road.  This made coming to asnd from the different towns on the floor a much easier task, but what he took the roads for were the plants that had been grown along the roadsides.  

The NPC caravans seemed to drop seeds of whatever they ate along the roadsides, which meant there were patches of plants here and there that could be harvested from.  It was a neat system, andx Ben liked it.  It a always made the world feel more alive- and, as the plant he harvested from showed, helped bring him some much needed profits for crafting with.

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 94905

Loot die 15, found 7th material

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben continued down the well worn path, hoping to come across some new places to search before he got back to town.  He spotted  something in the distance and squinted to try and get a better view of it.  It was, unfortunately, just another of the caravans that ran through here.  Ben stepped his way to the side, letting it pass by without running into him.  The NPCs didn't have any reactions to his being there, as expected, but it did leave him a bit of a prize.  One of them threw a pile of seeds out as they went by, and his HUD showed that it was actually a pile of materials.  Well, that was an easy thing to add to his inventory.  Maybe today was going to be pretty lucky for him after all.  Now all he had to do was head on to town and use these materials.

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 94907

Loot die 15, found 8th material

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

It was getting close to the end of this quest of his.  Ben just had to finish up his trek without running into any of trouble.  It should not be too hard, with how quiet it had been up until now.  He did hoped that he would find some more materials to grab on the way there, but so far he hadn't gotten any luckier than he already had.  At least the winds seemed to have died down.  He wasn't sure if it was because the winds were lessened near the roads, which seemed like it was something the game would do, or if he was just past the worst of the weather.  Actually, it was pretty nice without as much wind kicking the sand up as it had been.  

Still, he had gone out pretty far, so he had a while to go before he got all the way back.  Maybe he would even see a few players as he got close to town.

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 94912

Loot die 10, nothing

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

He continued on the path, seeing only sand and dirt ahead of him rather than any more players in sight.  At least it gave him some more time to concentrate on looking for more materials, or to just organize his thoughts a bit.  It was still going to be a while until he got back, so he figured he would take advantage of the extra time.  According to his mini-map he was halfway to town, but there was always a detour or two he could take to add to that amount.  

He spied a few more of the roadside plants up ahead, and hurried forward to check them out.  A few pulls on them, and he had another piece of material in hand.  This actually put him well ahead of the amount he had been hoping to collect in this trip.  Maybe he should stick to the roads from now on if they were this good for gathering from.

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 94976

Loot die 15, found 9th material

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben checked the next few bends in the road, hoping for a few more bits of material to add to his inventory.  At this point, it was just seeing how many days that he could use these materials for before running out.  Right now, it would last him nearly two days of crafting.  But if he managed to keep finding more, that might actually last into a third day.  If he managed to keep up these walks every other day, he could get enough to craft as much as he possibly could every day.  That wasn't really feasible, but it was a nice goal to have.  Hopefully his new skills would boost how many materials he got from now on.  That seems to be the only way he would be able to craft as much as he could.  Well, that and actually selling some of his items, if anyone was ever interested in them. 

Spoiler

Gathering Roll ID - 94995
Loot die 15, 10th material found

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben's trip was beginning to near it's end, at least according to his mini-map.  His pockets were full of good items, and he spotted another patch of plants ahead.  A quick search nabbed him yet another crafting material to add to his growing collection.  At this point, he got more materials from this one walk than he had in his current inventory.  Which was a nice haul no matter how you looked at it.  Now though, his focus was to try and figure out a way that he could do enough of these gathering runs to keep his material count up and allow him to make his potions every day.  Actually, that wasn't even taking into account the fact that crystals would be so much more expensive to make.  Maybe he could rely on a bit of luck to help him out... or get some extra consumables to help him search a lot better. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID - 94997

Loot die 20, 11th material found

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben had been wondering what he would do about the amount of materials it would cost to start creating crystals once he got his next level.  They were much better in just about every way, but with the costs would be crazy for him to produce a lot of.  He would have to make them sparingly to conserve all of his materials.  Or he could sell them, but that hadn't been successful so far.  Maybe players just didn't need as many healing items as he had expected.  I mean, a lot of the early quests gave them a bunch of healing potions.  So it could be that those lasted players until they were high enough level not to worry about them.  Still, that made it really hard for craters of consumables to make a living.  Especially since he had no further luck finding any more plants to harvest from on this stretch of road.

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID - 95005

Loot die 10, nothing

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

With just a little further to go, Ben had settled for having the amount of materials he got already being the total that he got from this trip.  It was a bit more than he had hoped, but not by much.  Not much at all.  Well, at least gathering materials got him a bit of xp.  If he could keep this up, he could level himself up so that he could gather and use better items, and eventually be able to buy some materials with the col he earned from the occasional monster hunt or quest.  Though it seems like it would be better to buy a house or help start a guild that would allow him some good buffs.  Unfortunately, almost all the buffs were for more crafts per day, not better luck with crafting.  This was useful, but not going to help him out if he was constantly short on materials to craft with. 
Nothing to do about that but level his skills up as fast as he could, and hope to make things to sell.

Spoiler

gathering roll ID -  95006

Loot die 11, nothing