Chapter 314. Hope's Light
[ Faded Plaque
Most of the inscription has been lost to time.
A few barely legible words read: ... BID FAREWELL... all ... you love... ]
The statue looked like a sitting Budha if not for the veil covering his face and the crown on his head.
Tia offered to be the 'sacrifice,' but the Necromancer wouldn't have any of it.
After brainstorming with Neyrelle for a moment, they realized that simply waving and saying goodbye should suffice to activate the runic formation.
Stepping inside the magic spiral after sending a bit of his Essence into it - even if Neyrelle said it's not mandatory to do so - Michael waved at the statue.
"Goodbye!"
Watching the Necromancer curiously, the group began clamoring once they saw him burst into flames.
Calming them down - after he confirmed the flames didn't burn him and successfully calmed himself down first - he inspected the buff he got.
[ Temporary blessing of the Swift
Movement speed increased by 10% for twenty minutes (applicable to mounts). ]
With this blessing, the party made it to Braestaig and halfway to the next Altar of Lilith before it ran out.
Obviously, the girls also wanted to try it out after Tia boldly confirmed there were no problems, and now they were keeping their eyes peeled for any other similar statues they might find.
Michael took the time to call Mina and Helen and check in with them, though they didn't talk about 'work' and what he was currently doing.
Instead, they only made small talk for a while before he hung up and contacted Aylin to tell her about the second type of puzzle statue they had found so far.
[Over there, over there! I see it!](Evelyn)
Altar 19th was swiftly located, but once everyone in the party 'activated' it, around twenty or so summoning circles appeared around them.
[ Dreadful Devotees of Lilith (Elite) - Level 58
*Terrifying: Summons seven spell circles on the ground. Targets affected by it would suffer from a Terrified debuff and temporarily lose control of their bodies. Targets inflicted with Terrifying would become Vulnerable for ten seconds. ]
One Elite and 23 mobs attacked the group but were quickly dealt with.
Tia proved she wasn't lying when she said she could one-shot Elites, though Michael was almost certain that it had something to do with the Decrepify and the other weakening skills Evelyn and Neyrelle cast.
True to its name, the area they found this Altar in was Wailing Coast, and it was chock-full of the drowned zombies they found previously during their exploration of the continent's northern coast.
While on their way to the 20th Altar, the group stumbled upon a World Event while taking a shortcut through a place called Di Falnarr.
Michael hadn't been here before, but he recognized the general location as he ventured through these places while searching for Airidah and her Peak of Solitude.
Similarly to back then, the party had to deal with Risen Remains, which were pretty much the corpses of glenfolk ancestors imprisoned within a tree that grew around them, torturing the poor bastards even in death.
The naive little Druid didn't take the situation lightly. She turned into her werewolf form and began tearing the wood and branches apart, liberating the spirits of the dead.
When all three Risen Dead were killed, the Boss appeared in the middle of this strange structure.
Unexpectedly, the Boss was only an Elite and was quickly dispatched, earning the group experience and gold similar to that of a Quest, as well as a Resplendent Chest.
"Thankfully, the Sanctuary is feeling generous today. Looks like everyone has a share. I'll take the Abstruse Sigil if everyone is okay with it."
With agreeing nods, after the split, 2 Rare item boxes, 1 Abstruse Sigil, 1 Veiled Crystal, 10 Bundled Herbs, 5 Angelbreaths, 8 Iron Chunks, and Rawhides each, as well as 10 Gem Fragments each entered the Necromancer's pocket.
Satisfied, the party moved northwest through Ancestor Heights, finding the 20th Altar.
[Finally! I thought all Altars in Scosglen were only giving Strength and Willpower.](Evelyn)
[Yes! I also got 2 Intelligence.](Tia)
[Stop exaggeration. Both the 7th and the 11th gave +2 Intelligence each.](Neyrelle)
"..."
Hearing the group complain about the stats they were getting, Michael felt his frustration increasing.
Trying to rationalize it as a 'delayed' reward, he continued following behind the girls while remaining silent.
He was also surprised to realize that the location of the 21st Altar was hidden in a place he hadn't explored yet, as the entire part of the MAP was covered in fog.
[*Sigh* Looks like we'll have to take a detour. There's no road to pass through.](Neyrelle)
"Looks like it. Let's see... taking the road south through the Aisle of Whispers, then moving east through the Gaunt Eyrrs, then all the way north to the coastline."
[We should make haste. It's getting dark soon.](Evelyn)
About 25 minutes later, they crossed the Gaunt Eyrrs and reached a place called Gamall Nook, but also uncovered a new city with a Waypoint, as well as three new Side Quests.
Side Quests aside, Michael was interested in the Waypoint since it was a place he had yet to visit.
While the group continued north through the Cursed Scarps, he checked the details of the three Side Quests.
Two were located in the new settlement, while the third was east of it, reasonably far away.
[ Side Quest: Whispers from Below (Level 55+)
Description: Beware what calls from the murk. ]
[ Side Quest: Stemming the Tide (Level 55+)
Description: Shambling hordes of the drowned threaten Marowen's livelihood. ]
[ Side Quest: A Briny Fate (Level 55+)
Description: Some things are better left at sea. ]
The only piece of intel he got from the descriptions was that the settlement should be called Marowen.
He also had reached Stormbreak Cove, with the water of the sea/ocean wetting the shores.
It would've been a beautiful sight if not for the droves of drowned zombies attacking them.
The seven ships run aground and battered by the waves also detracted slightly from the beauty of the scenery, prompting Michael to remember the mythos of Chuthulu for some reason.
Upon continuing their exploration, the 22nd Altar brought them through the Eternal Watch, making everyone wonder exactly how the Sanctuary came up with the names.
'At least I am leveling up nicely. Already at 1,541,840/2,067,950 and almost 75% of my current level.'
Much to everyone's delight, they encountered another strange World Event, which brought about droves of water zombies to be 'rescued.'
[ World Event joined - Death Knell
Objective: Destroy the Drowned Bell. ]
The beautiful metal bell was oddly out of place when taking the wrecked surroundings into consideration.
It was spotless and had plenty of beautiful inscriptions on it.
It didn't stop Tia from smashing it to pieces, though.
Once the almost two-meter-tall Drowned Bell fell to the ground, its ringing stopped, and the event content changed.
[ World Event joined - Death Knell
Objective: Survive the Drowned assault
*Mastery: Destroy 6 Drowned Bells before time runs out (0/6). ]
Seeing the large number of water zombies rushing at them, Michael went to greet them while the rest of the party had to deal with the odd Drowned Bells appearing from summoning circles here and there.
The Event was a resounding success, with over two hundred creatures slayed by Michael and about nine Drowned Bells smashed to pieces by the overly enthusiastic Tia and her friends.
This success was further confirmed by the Sanctuary, who awarded them each a Rare item box, 20 Murmuring Obols, 1 Veiled Crystal, 25 Bundled Herbs, 10 Angelbreaths, 25 Iron Chunks and Rawhides each, as well as 30 Gem Fragments each.
Seeing his Murmuring Obols reach 492/515 capacity, the Necromancer was already planning another gambling session once they returned to Kyovashad.
Less than five minutes later, Altar number 22 was also located, and under the girls' insistence, they headed toward a strange place recently uncovered after the fog over the MAP dissipated.
[ World Stronghold Event - Hope's Light
Description: A great lighthouse towering above the jagged shores, its sacred flame has been extinguished. ]
Adding Túr Dúlra into the mix, this would be the third and final Stronghold Event Michael would have to deal with in the Scosglen region.
Furthermore, the Necromancer had to agree that the formation of the small islands on which this lighthouse was placed was very interesting to him.
He counted at least thirteen of these small islands connected by what appeared to be bridges.
Unfortunately for him and the girls, they would soon discover that the bridges weren't at all bridges but something else entirely.
With 22/34 Altars of Lilith collected and the clock showing 7:50 p.m., the party entered the grounds of the Stronghold Event.
The first thing everyone noticed was the large number of statues placed near the bridge leading forward.
As the group approached the bridge leading into the Cursed Bay, the system helped everyone identify exactly what these statues were.
[ Drowned Idol
An ancient idol dredged up from the deep, carefully erected, and adorned with briny charms.
Haunting work with an unknown purpose. ]
It took every manly cell in Michael's body not to scream and run after reading that description.
There were few things he found terrifying while reading back on Earth, and the Chuthulu mythos were one of them.
'There's no way in hell there's a hidden civilization of outer gods into the water... right? Fuck! If the Sanctuary says they were 'dredged up from the deep,' then they were certainly 'dredged up from the deep.' Furthermore, whoever did that did it for an 'unknown' purpose?'
[This place looks fun!](Tia)
Feeling he should definitely smack this brat, Michael quickly checked the Stronghold Event description.
If there was any mention of 'unknown beings' or 'tentacles,' he was out of there!
[ World Stronghold Event joined - Hope's Light
Objective: Find a way to the Lighthouse. ]
The lighthouse area was marked on the MAP with a golden circle; usually, the stone bridge would have led to it...
However, for some goddamn reason, the bridge collapsed, and they had to find an alternative path.
Seeing the four 'bridge' symbols on the MAP, moving from one island to the next, the Necromancer almost let out a scream at the thought of getting closer to the water.
The first 'crossing' was between the small piece of land the bridge was built on and the first island on the left.
[A lighthouse built out here on the rocks, but no lit beacon. It's pretty creepy...](Neyrelle)
Mentally agreeing with this lovable little scholar, Michael carefully inspected his surroundings.
Upon seeing their 'bridge,' he almost slipped and fell into the water.
"Is that a ship's mast, or am I tripping?"
Drawing the attention of the trio, everyone approached the mast curiously.
While the water was murky, there was no way they wouldn't be able to see the remains of the ship that the tide washed over, even if it was sunk between the cliffs.
However, there was none. It was as if the mast and its black sail grew out of the damned water.
Furthermore, the 'bridge' in question was the rope tying the sail to the mast.
Unlike Michael, whose face was slowly draining blood, the trio immediately sprang into action, crossing onto the other side like monkeys.
"*Sigh* This is really bad for my heart..."
Unable to go back since the situation had progressed this far, the Necromancer took a deep breath only to be disgusted by the salty air and followed behind the girls.
Fortunately, nothing like the mast suddenly vanishing below the sea level happened, though it didn't help when the creepy drowned zombies began assaulting the party.
It didn't help either, as most of these small islands on the left side of the bridge were connected using the decks of ships—more than one, judging by the different types of wood Evelyn recognized.
Deciding to speed-run this bitch, Michael took the frontlines and frenziedly dispatched the drowned that stood in his path, Elite or otherwise.
The creepy feeling further intensified when they reached an actual goddamn ship 'parked' alongside the island.
Its deck and everything else were rotten and covered in salt, but the deck was surprisingly sturdy, even as Quarterback ran across it to smash some zombies to pieces.
Things turned even stranger as the Sanctuary prompted them to activate the winch next to this ghost ship's main mast to create a way forward.
Gesturing to the girls to stay on guard, he pulled on the winch and slowly rotated the level until the sail moved to the right, creating another 'bridge' to the next island.
Unsurprisingly, the hyper trio was treating this like a game, but Michael felt a strong sense of dread creeping up his spine with the sun slowly setting in the distance.
From the next island, they found a passage connecting to another island on the right side of the bridge, which was barely above sea level.
Then, they climbed atop another ghost ship by taking one of the ladders conveniently placed near its bow.
He couldn't help but wonder who had placed the ladder there or if he was overthinking this whole mess as his fear levels increased by the second.
Having to repeat the whole 'use the winch' shenanigans again, the party searched for the missing winch while dispatching large groups of water zombies coming from Heaven knows where.