Part 7

The group had finally made it to the South Woods, so they were getting close to The Cave. Walking through these woods was much different than walking through the North Woods outside Kelthor. These trees were more spaced out, but much larger. These trees seemed ancient. Even though they were taller and wider than any other trees on Argor, they still swayed with the wind. The way they danced made it seem as if they were alive.

There was a clearing ahead, and they could see the backside of the small mountain The Cave was in. They made their way around to the front, and stood at the entrance for a couple minutes.

"Ladies first." said Korlok, as Wendelyn took the lead.

The entrance was was longer than expected, and after winding through for a good 30 seconds, they finally entered a large cavern. It seemed much larger than you would expect, based on the size of the mountain it was in. The walls were lined with torches that would never burn out. In the center of the cavern, was small old lady, sitting next to a large cauldron hanging over another perpetual fire.

Gaeene stayed by the cavern entrance while the others approached the Oracle. They were each tasked with a trip to Amboor swamp to collect 3 sets of ritual beads from a Legendary Water Goblin. It was well passed 3rd moon, so they decided to set up camp on the ege of the South Woods, and they would make the trip East around South Lake in the morning.

When they entered Amboor Swamp just after sunrise, the couldn't believe how many monsters were running around. Water goblins, snakes, and slimes as far as the eye could see. They found out quickly that not only were there a lot of them, but for their first time fighting in a 3 skill outpost, the monsters were pretty tough compared to their last few fights.

Our heros knew that once they entered the swamp, having already spoken to the Oracle, the Legendary Water Goblin would spawn immediately. They just didn't know where exactly.

After a few quick fights, they noticed there were a few other Protectors along the South edge of the swamp.

"Hey, is there always this many monsters in here?" Wendelyn yelled over to the other group.

"No. We were just here a few days ago, there's definitely three or four times as many here today. I assume one of you is here for an epic fight? A legendary just spawned right on top of us. Right in the center of the swamp." They yelled back.

It took some work to clear a path to the center of the swamp. But once they found the Legendary monster, he went down pretty quick, and all three found a set of Water Goblin Beads in their packs.

It didn't take long for them to each get their three sets of beads, and make their way back to The Cave. As they each turned their beads in to the Oracle, they received a small Gold Orb. But Jasko noticed he also received a small pouch, with a few weird shaped slots in it.

"What's this for?" He asked the Oracle.

"Do not lose this container. When the time comes, it's purpose will be revealed." The Oracle replied.

"Well that wasn't very helpful information!" exclaimed Jasko as they were leaving The Cave.

They had all been given their 2nd solo epic quest, and all were tasked with collecting three finger bones from a Legendary Skeleton in The Catacombs.

Gaeene had already completed her two solo quests, and had already received her first group quest, but would need to complete her path quest in order to enter the Amboor Caves to to collect her wolf claws. She had also already been to The Catacombs before, but it was not a good experience. While the Legendary monsters that spawn from the first two solo quests are technically solo-able, it can be tricky when there are other monsters nearby that join the fight. Especially in a place like The Catacombs, where it's pretty dark, and not much room to move around. Her fighting style involved a lot of running back and forth, letting her skills do damage without having to get close, but she ended up gathering quite a large group of slimes, and almost did not make it out alive. She intended to never go back to that place, but being with this group of Protectors made her feel safe. She had grouped with a lot of other Protectors, but never saw any of them work together the way these three did. Wendelyn had amazing tactical abilities, and could quickly figure out the best way to win any fight. Jasko could split up group of monsters with little effort, and the damage he caused was quite impressive. And with Korlok's ability to know exactly when to heal, and never seem to run out of mana, Gaeene couldn't imagine a situation they couldn't handle, especially with her help.

That was, until they entered the Catacombs that day. Gaeene remembered there being a lot of monsters, but this was out of control. The very first fight started by attacking a single skeleton, but four others came with him. Before they could even get the first one down, there were several bats and spiders that and joined the fight. When they finally defeated the mob of monsters, they all needed to rest for a bit. It was late, and the sun would be going down soon, but they were already mostly underground, and it couldn't get much darker than it already was down there, so they decided to fight through the night.

And it took all night. When they finally made it deep enough into The Catacombs to find the Legendary Skeleton, and get everyone the three finger bones they needed, the sun was already coming up over the horizon.

They made their way back to The Cave, turned in their finger bones, and each recevied a Silver Orb. Jasko asked again about the pouch, but the Oracle just repeated her original response. They each requested their first group quest, but just like Gaeene, they would need to choose their path and complete their 4th skill in order to collect them from the Amboor Caves. They needed a different item than she did, but they were both from the same Legendary Wolves. They would all need to make the journey to The Mountains and choose a path in order for any of them to progress any further.

"Maybe we should take a break from fighting, and see if we can find some information about this pouch. I wouldn't mind looking into the ridiculous number of monsters we're running into as well." said Jasko, trying to hide his concern.

"We can do that." Replied Korlok. "Maybe my dad is still in Amboor. We're not too far from there."

As they made their way to Amboor, Jasko couldn't stop thinking about this mystery pouch. There weren't any markings on it, nothing about it indicated it was anything special.

If anyone knew anything about this pouch, or the extra monsters, it would be Makale.