Chapter 292. Curious Curios
Three Rare items and a Legendary pair of pants entered his inventory, and Michael allowed himself a couple of moments to breathe and review the information on them.
He compared the two and sighing, he ended up leaving his current ones on.
[ Boneweave Fauls of Disobedience
Legendary Pants
470 + 20 Item Power ( Upgraded x4 )
Legacy Item
-----------------
470 Armor
* While Injured, your Potion also grants 14% Maximum Life as a Barrier.
-----------------
* +14 to All Stats
* +32 Willpower
*+9.1% Healing Received
* +1 Rank of Corpse Explosion (Necromancer Only)
Legendary Aspect: You gain 0.8% increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to 48%.
+2.5% Maximum Life (Chipped Ruby)
+2.5% Maximum Life (Chipped Ruby) ]
[ Boneweave Faulds of Occult Dominion
Legendary Pants
579 Item Power
-----------------
579 Armor (+109 when compared to the currently equipped item)
* +46 Intelligence
* +84 Maximum Life
*+27 Life per Second
Legendary Aspect: Your maximum number of Skeletal Warriors and Skeletal Mages is increased by 2 (Necromancer only).
Empty Socket]
While he could pay to add an extra socket, and the Affixes weren't bad, the Legendary Aspect could also be swapped... but something still felt like it was missing.
Pondering as he left the Dungeon, Michael temporarily stored the item in his inventory and opened his MAP to check the next direction he should be heading in.
"Already reached 2,150 Renown, and I am at 16/21 Dungeons for the Dry Steppes. *Sigh* Helen asked me to return early and sleep, but my heart really can't accept wasting the blessing."
Irrelevant of that, Mina and Helen agreed to accompany Michael on another date tomorrow, leaving him worried about where they should visit.
Furthermore, the day after, he promised Neyrelle, Tia, and Evelyn to accompany them across the Dry Steppes and collect all of Lilith's Altars.
Then, the day after, he has to meet with Natalia and wrap up his promotion Quest by upgrading his minions.
With the Boiling Plains as his next stop since the area was covered with fog on his MAP, the Necromancer traveled on horseback while thinking about which area to visit next.
In the end, he decided on Tirmair and Under the Fat Goose Inn. In doing so, he could walk the ladies through his 'adventures' while also checking up on the people there.
Leaving the ex-murder-turned-innkeeper to his devices didn't sit right with him, while he also wanted to check on the forest affected by Nafain's death and Lilith's corruption.
Seeing two blue symbols appearing on his MAP once the fog was cleared, Michael took a deep breath and calmly headed toward the first.
[ Side Quest: Weight of Sin (Level 50+)
Description: Bring peace to those who only knew sorrow. ]
[ Side Quest: Curious Curios (Level 50+)
Description: A curio collector seeks strange relics of the Overseers. ]
He wasn't sure about the first one, but the second Quest was 100% related to the Curio Collector he found in Fate's Retreat camp.
The MAP identified the area he was traveling through as Remnants of Toutai, and he dismounted to travel on foot.
It made clearing the dense mobs in the area easier.
After some tousling with the demons, he found a woman sitting in front of what appeared to be a small lake of blood.
Judging from the woman's mental state, she was grieving, but there was also boiling anger under the surface.
"Excuse me, are you okay? What happened here?"
No matter how he looked at it, there were signs of a struggle here, and most of them were recent, probably less than a week or so old.
[Another Wanderer, huh? Maybe you can help since all others refused. It was those cultist bastards! They took everyone... everything... The Triune came through and spared no life. I returned to dust and echoes...](?)
"I am Michael. Do you know when it happened?"
[I... I am Nekhii. I am not sure, as I returned a couple of days ago, but judging from the signs, it has been around two weeks or so, maybe a bit more. After I tracked them, I realized they were all shackled and brought to the mountain. I searched the dead seared into te cliffs... Dawa and Naraa... they're still missing.](Nekhii)
'The mountain she speaks of should be Mt. Civo. It's where Elias tried to sacrifice enough people to summon Andariel. Which means the villagers here were unlucky collateral damage.'
[They cannot be left among the horrors of the Triune. They wore carved bracelets, each bearing eagle wings. I must find them... Give them proper rest...](Nekhii)
Seeing the dark circles under her eyes, Michael reassured the woman and told her to go rest somewhere safer, only to see her refuse.
Shaking his head inwardly, he prepared to see what the situation was with the second Quest, after which he'd go find the remains of the two mentioned by Nekhii.
[ Side Quest issued - Weight of Sin
Objective 1: Aquire Dawa's Bracelet
Objective 2: Aquire Naraa's Bracelet
Description: Nekhii is the lone survivor resident of Toutai. She returned to find her family taken by the Triune and killed on Mt. Civo.
She wants to retrieve the bracelets of her siblings, Dawa and Naraa, and give them proper rites of passing. You're likely to find them among the Charred Remains along the mountain. ]
As unfeeling as he thought he was, Michael couldn't help but pity the poor woman.
Judging by the Sanctuary's description of the situation, the Necromancer couldn't possibly imagine the type of despair and grief Nekhii must be feeling right now.
The Quest area was north of Fate's Retreat, where, if he wasn't wrong, this next Quest would bring him to.
Traveling less than ten minutes away on foot while taking care of the demons infesting the area, Michael found himself standing in front of a very unique and peculiar structure.
It looked like a pontoon, but at the same time, it didn't. Multiple wooden bridges created by planks standing about one meter or so above water interconnected in multiple paths, forming an almost maze-like formation between the cliffs formed almost unnaturally in the middle of a lake.
After a long and hard look, the lake appeared to be split in half by this 'bridge' and the weird structure sitting in its dead center.
The fact that it had a 'second floor' with stairs leading to it from the 'bottom level' made it that much stranger since no walls separated or provided any intimacy or protection from the wind and possible waves.
The longer he looked at the weird structure, the more confused he got.
'The lake doesn't seem to connect with any major rivers or other water bodies, nor is its size humongous enough to warrant the building of the bridge. The route around either side of the lake doesn't seem more treacherous than the actual bridge itself either, so its creation for merchants to travel upon doesn't make sense either since there is no city or other body of water to connect at the end of. It's only mountains.'
Temporarily stopping his curiosity since he was on a timer for the experience blessing, he stepped on the bridge and headed toward the middle structure, where the Quest-giver was.
There, he found a wounded woman lying on the planks of the 'bottom floor,' obviously suffering from the pain she was inflicted with.
"Are you alright?"
[*Grunting* My leg... burned. I'm stuck here now.](?)
"I have a Healing Potion here. I'm Michael, by the way."
[Sameera. Listen. There's a relic in one of these pots. Lotta coin riding on it.](Sameera)
"Pots?"
Looking around, he discovered that, indeed, there were lots of odd pots and urns, most of them looking old and eroded by weather and time.
Curiously watching the woman - whom he assumed was a mercenary or possibly a Wanderer here on a Quest - he waited for her to finish drinking the potion and continue the exposition.
[*Gasp* Thank you. Those damned demons. Luckily, this place is warded with runes, so they can't come up.](Sameera)
"Runes? This... structure and bridge are?"
[Yes.](Sameera)
'Interesting. Why would such a shoddy construction be worth placing runes to ward off demons and monsters?'
"Are you here for a Quest?"
[Yes. My boss, Rakhaan, showed me this spell. No words, just a gesture. Like this. It'll send the relic back to him. You find the damn thin, cast the spell, and we can split the money. Eh?](Sameera)
Watching the woman's fingers interlock repeatedly, almost as if she would shout 'Fireball Jutsu' the next second, the Necromancer looked at her in stunned silence.
Remembering the strange, cursed ring he brought to the Curio Collector last time, and now this relic of the Overseer he sent Sameera to search for...
'He's weird. Not necessarily the villainous type weird, but more akin to the mysterious type with A LOT to hide.'
"Got it. Stay here, and I'll look around. Which area have you already searched for, so I don't waste too much time on this?"
[Thank you. Pretty much, this entire damned bridge. I was planning to look through the eastern part near the lake next, but those damned demons ambushed me. Took three explosions from the Lunatics to the face and ended up with ruined equipment and a burnt foot while trying to get away.](Sameera)
Nodding, he silently left with his minions guarding his back in case of a possible ambush.
He didn't think it was possible based on his brief interaction with the woman, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
[ Side Quest issued - Curious Curios
Objective: Search the Searing Pools for the relic
Description: You found an injured person searching for a strange relic, which may be hidden among the artifacts around the Searing Pools. ]
'No, no. Why are there 'artifacts' here to begin with? Also, the name of this lake is the Searing Pools? This place is a bit too weird for my liking.'
Reaching the end of the bridge on its eastern side, he immediately saw over twenty demons - including five self-bombing Lunatics - lying in wait.
Michael quickly cleared them up by ordering his minions forward and having his Golem use taunt to prevent the explosions.
After some back and forth, looking between items the Sanctuary helped him identify as either 'Strange Relic,' 'Old Pot,' 'Damaged Urn,' and finally an 'Ancient Pot' turning into 'Evil Relic,' the Necromancer doubled back to Sameera.
"I found the relic, I think. Do you want me to bring you there?"
[Ugh... no. If you can send it back, I'd be grateful.](Sameera)
'Tsk! So you don't want to risk the danger now that you found someone to do it in your stead, huh?'
"Before that, can you tell me how does this 'spell' work? Also, show me the hand signs again."
[Hand signs?](Sameera)
"*Cough* Never mind that."
[Right... You don't need to be a sorcerer to do it. The magic's in the relic, not you. That's what my boss said anyway. Something about how it was made. Symbols in the clay, Hell if I know.](Sameera)
Speechlessly looking at the woman who accepted the task of messing with such a weird object without proper information, Michael thanked the stars for his functioning neurons.
"What about this place? What exactly is it to deserve being warded with runes?"
[This? The ass end of Sanctuary, that's what. *Groan* Ugh! There's coin in it, though, if you know where to look. Smugglerer's caravans used to come up this way before the freaks in the red robes set up shop. Lots of caravans burned, lots of goods lost. *Groan* Like this relic. That's where you and I come in.](Sameera)
Adding two and two together, Michael realized there must be a passage through the mountains to the east, leading to Hawezar.
That would explain the need for the bridge since the roads on the side of this lake—or rather, the Searing Pools—don't look like they could support the constant travel of merchant caravans.
There were plenty of holes in the ground, and due to the nearby waterbody, the soil was wet and soft, possibly causing the caravans' tires to get stuck in the mud.
Taking a couple of minutes to learn the hand signs and hoping he wouldn't summon anything by screwing them up, Michael returned to the Evil Relic and 'warped' it away.
With the situation handled and Sameera somewhat healed, the Necromancer prepared to continue south since a Dungeon was revealed after the fog on his MAP vanished.
The woman also planned to stick around for a while longer, probably wanting to try her luck with the pots and urns nearby, hoping to hit the jackpot.
[ Side Quest update - Curious Curios
Objective: Speak to Rakhaan
Description: You must go speak with the collector of curious named Rakhaan, who knows more about these strange and sinister relics. ]
Shrugging and closing the Quest interface, he checked the Dungeon details on the MAP, after which he took out the piece of paper the City Guards handed him related to it.
[ Dungeon: Whispering Vault (Level 50+)
Description: Scholarly halls haunted by whispering spirits of the insane. ]
"Sounds lovely..."