New Quest: Shield for Kokun.
Despite all efforts, hunter Kokun failed to fix his shield. If it breaks during the fight he will be in trouble. You have to bring it to his friend Lucille to exchange for a new one.
Difficulty: E.
Restrictions: If you leave the village with the shield Kokun will get angry.
“I’ll bring you a new shield.”
You accepted the quest.
Weed believed that before doing a quest it was important to gather all available information. The shield he got was very heavy and solid.
“Now, shall we? Identification!”
Shield was all cracked and dirty, so it was hard to estimate its value from look alone. Weed was heading to the blacksmith, looking through the shield’s information window in the meanwhile.
Lucille’s Shield
Durability: 12/50.
Defence: 16.
Simple shield made of low-grade metals. It is covered by steel on the outside but very frigid on the inside. It is weak against blunt weapons. It should be replaced at first opportunity.
Requirements: None.
Effects: 50% chance to defend against projectiles.
The village wasn’t very big so it wasn’t too hard to find the blcksmith. However it didn’t look anything like Kokun described. A small furnace with an anvil in a small room with a couple swords and a few other weapons hung on the walls was all Weed saw. The only big thing there was the bearded and muscular smith Lucille.
“I see you for the first time, stranger.”
“I came here at Kokun’s request.”
Weed’s relationships with villagers weren’t quite on the good side, so he decided to take the initiative. However all his worries were unnecessary.
“Oh, come on in. There’s a familiar smell of metal around you. I love fire, that’s why I became a smith. Why did you master this craft?”
Weed quickly considered his answer. Sometimes such insignificant at first glance questions were determining your relationships with NPCs.
“I like melting cold metal and giving it a new shape.”
“Good answer. So, what brought you here?”
Weed handed the shield.
“He asks for a new one.”
“That’s it! That idiot Kokun broke his shield again. I warned him many times to be careful… Ahem! I can’t keep doing this for free. I’ll give another one for 5 gold. That useless Kokun doesn’t have that kind of money, so you’ll have to pay instead.”
“Erm…”
Weed was about to say something rude, as he felt scammed, but held himself at the last moment. It was foolish to give up on the first quest after such a long search. He convinced himself, that this is just more investments in the future.
‘Hmm, I haven’t been cheated like that since meeting that sage Rodrigues.’
Weed passed the gold to the smiling Lucille.
“Thanks. I just happen to have a spare shield for him. Here you go.”
Weed got the shield. The quest was complete and he was about to leave but Lucille stopped him.
“Hey, have you heard about the origins of our village?”
Weed was first to discover this settlement. Maybe that, or the fact of Weed being a smith himself, was what made Lucille to tell him this story.
“Kokun told me a bit. He stopped at the part where only a small part of exiled remained.”
“Great. Then I’ll continue. Survivors were wandering the land of monsters in search for a place to settle. Their first choice was a huge cave, but not everyone liked the idea of living in a constant darkness. Gradually more and more people were coming outside, and eventually they decided to found a village.”
“Incredible, they had the courage to start a settlement in the Plains of Despair!”
Weed wanted to show his admiration for their courage. Even in such dangerous environment the pioneering spirit of humans won!
“Nah, that wasn’t that remarkable. To tell the truth, at that moment there were still a lot of survivors. But they had a disagreement. They’ve split in 2 camps: ones, who didn’t want to change anything and anes who wanted to leave the cave. The latter were the ones who founded our village and later built the wall around it. Unfortunately 99 of every hundred died in the process.”
“…”
That was a story for a horror movie. Unknown lands, full of dangers and a group of defenceless people…
“Yeah, that’s how it all happened. Through trial and error, each of them costed human lives, the survivors acquired new knowledge. They learned which places to avoid, discovered habits of monsters and predators of this land. They started to better understand the world around them. Around that time life in the village started to become safe. Ahem, I guess I talked to much. I still have a lot of work to do. Here, this is my present for you.”
You acquired the map of the plains.
This is the map of the Plains of Despair.
It displays the location of castles, villages, monster dens and cursed places.
Lucille suddenly gave Weed a very valuable item. The map of Plains of Despair and everything in them! With a roughly marked landscape and main habitats of some monster kinds.
Though it was drawn really bad, like it was done by a child who was learning to write.
“Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome. Try to visit the village more often. The people who don’t hunt are more welcome towards strangers. It would be nice if more new people were coming here.”
Weed headed back to Kokun to deliver the shield. The hunter was waiting for him at the same place while sharpening his sword.
“Oh, you came back? You’re late. Did you bring it?”
Weed gave him the shield.
“Thanks. You did a favour to me, but I don’t have anything to give you. Though wait a second, here, take it.”
You received 20 steel arows.
Ding!
The quest “Shield for Kokun” is complete.
The hunter Kokun have already lost his shield a few times in a battle. He was always coming back from the hunt injured, but never yet he brought back anything worthy. Villagers consider him a failure.
No one know where he fights.
Reward: 20 steel arrows for the long bow. A little experience.