Rune Seeker

Hidden Dynamic Quest Complete

You’ve successfully passed the third trial of the Lost Forge of Ur’Thul

Congratulations. Achievement unlocked – … comes great responsibility.

You have endured the tantalizing promises of the Urn’s great power and stood by your own moral code.

Please access a Dungeon Interface to unlock class-specific reward.

“Everybody okay?” Seena asked quietly as Hiral read and dismissed the notification window.

That was the third trial? It must have been going the entire time without us even realizing it. Influencing our thoughts to urge us into taking the Urn.

Terrifying.

“Define okay,” Yanily said, his voice hoarse.

“Oh, yeah. Totally okay, then.” Yanily then slumped back to lie on the ground and stare up at the ceiling.

Hiral’s body wanted to do exactly the same thing, but he forced himself to look around first, his eyes landing on Right and Left as they pushed themselves up off the floor and shook their heads.

“What happened?” he asked them when they staggered over to sit beside him.

“Not sure,” Right said. “We came through the door… then Odi was over in the cage and…”

“And it just goes blank after that,” Left said.

“How did Odi get in that cage?” Hiral asked, turning his attention back to Seena while he reached out and reabsorbed his doubles. They looked like they’d been through hell and back.

“Not even sure,” Seena answered. “He just appeared there… and are we sure he’s really even gone? Was that just part of the trial?”

“Looks gone,” Nivian said. “Cage is empty and… uh… maybe it’s just my eyes from whatever just happened to us, but those statues don’t look so good either.”

“Monsters?” Seena asked, a hitch of panic in her voice as she turned in that direction and tried to stand. One of her legs gave out immediately, and she slumped back down.

“No, no, nothing like that. Sorry,” Nivian said. “They just look like we feel.”

“Anybody see any threats?” Seena asked. “Other than tired statues.”

“Nothing,” Hiral said. “Room is empty… Ah, except the Urn’s pedestal is now the dungeon interface.” His eyes settled on the familiar crystal. A quick check of his interface still showed the timer for the dungeon at 999:99:99, so they weren’t getting rushed out.

“Good,” Seena said. “Let’s take a minute to catch our breath.”

“How about an hour? Or better yet, ten?” Yanily asked from where he lay on the ground. “I feel like I’ve got a bruise on every inch of my body.”

“It’d be worse if Nivian and Wule hadn’t stepped in there at the end,” Hiral said. “That was you two, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Wule said. “Sorry it took so long. The vision the Urn showed… it… it was tempting.”

“Tempting?” Hiral said. “I didn’t think you’d be one to be lured in by—”

“Hold up,” Seeyela said, a hand in the air. “Those visions were… intense. And I think they were probably different for each of us. I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to talk about what I saw right now. Can we just skip the sharing part and move on?”

From the looks on the other Growers’ faces, Seeyela wasn’t the only one shaken by what she’d seen. Did that mean the Urn’s visions really were tailored for the person? Did the Urn show them what it thought they wanted to see? Or what they secretly wanted?

Do I really want to prove myself so much I’d be willing to lead an army to do it?

That thought sent a shiver down Hiral’s spine, and when the others nodded to move past the topic of the visions, he joined in.

“Moving on, then,” Seena said, her voice seeming a bit stronger, “everybody got the notification about the third trial? Yeah, so that means we should be getting…”

Wild Dungeon – The Lost Forge of Ur’Thul: Complete

New Record

Time: 32:34:46

Congratulations. Achievement unlocked – Forge Ahead

You have completed the deadly Lost trials designed to challenge even the greatest of toddlers.

Please access a Dungeon Interface to unlock class-specific reward.

Time until Wild Dungeon – The Lost Forge of Ur’Thul instance closure: 999:99:99

“Of course it had to add in the toddler comment,” Hiral said flatly, closing the notification window. “Looks like we’re not on a time limit to get out of here, even after we use the interface.”

“Good,” Nivian said. “No way I want to go back out into the city feeling like this. We’d be easy pickings for the undead.”

“Since Odi got the Urn, maybe they won’t be undead much longer,” Wule said with a hopeful shrug, but it didn’t really look like he believed it.

“I don’t know if the Urn will solve his trouble like he hopes,” Seeyela said. “Not our problem now. We should assume the undead will still be there.”

“Seeyela is right,” Seena said. “The Urn is gone, and I for one am glad. We’ll get our rewards for completing the dungeon, rest back to full, then move on to the next dungeon. So, uh, who has the energy to stand up and swipe the crystal?”

“Wule’s closest,” Yanily said from his back.

“We’re all the same distance away,” Wule said.

“You’ve got long, scrawny, monkey arms,” Yanily said.

“I do not!” Wule shot back.

“They are kind of…” Nivian said.

“I’ll get it,” Hiral said, pushing himself to his feet. He felt a bit better after pulling Left and Right back into himself—maybe it was the extra stats he got from being combined. “It’ll be loot before achievements, though, so you’re going to have to get up for that.”

“Maybe the boxes will just appear beside us—that’d be convenient,” Wule said. “Hey, can you hear me, oh great PIMP?” he called loudly to the room at large.

“Seriously?” his brother asked.

“Worth a try.” Wule shrugged.

Either way, Hiral swiped his hand above the crystal interface, and the whole room went pitch dark, except for the shimmering doorway leading out. Everybody turned reflexively at the rainbow light dancing out from the portal and across the floor. Unlike normal light, this stuff spread like it had intent of its own, crawling up the walls around the door and across the ceiling and floor, until it finally reached the statues on both sides.

From there, the liquid light pushed its way into the stone representations of the lizard-people, and eyes on both sides began to glow furiously. On one side, the Ancestor’s eyes glowed a warm yellow, spilling across the ground in strong beams that illuminated a single chest. On the other side, dozens of beams of light from the smaller sets of eyes converged on six other chests.

“The PIMP didn’t listen to you,” Nivian told Wule, and the healer groaned.

“They all look the same size this time,” Hiral noted. “Other than the group chest, of course.”

“Fine, let’s do this,” Yanily said, hefting himself up and staggering over to the chests. He must’ve found his color in the small plaque on the chest, because he fell right down again beside one. With what looked like a monumental effort, he rolled on to his side and put a hand under the lip of the lid. “What are you all waiting for?”

“We can’t let Yan show us up,” Nivian said, hooking an elbow under his brother’s arm, and the two of them went over to the chests.

“Here, let me help,” Hiral said, offering his hands to Seena and Seeyela since he was already standing. The two sisters looked at each other, then took his hands, and he hefted them to their feet. From there, it was pretty quick to find which chest was his.

All together they opened their boxes, and Hiral looked inside to see what they’d gotten this time. A belt, from the looks of things, and Hiral let his eyes linger for a moment for View to activate.

Lost Sash of the Efficient

While worn, reduces solar energy consumption used on abilities or items by 20%.

Twenty percent less solar energy used on abilities, if I’m reading this right. I wonder how it applies to Foundational Split.

“A girdle? Is the PIMP trying to tell me I’m fat?” Yanily asked, holding up a belt at least a hand thick. Compared to Hiral’s sash—which seemed like it was made out of fine, woven silk—Yanily’s was rugged, worn, and seemingly made of different colors of leather that had been stitched together.

A perfect match to his hydra armor.

“You and me both,” Nivian said, also holding up a thick belt, though this one almost looked like it was made of bark. “Which is kind of insulting, considering how much effort I put into making sure we have healthy, nutritious meals. I even use less sugar than the recipes call for!”

“Less salt, too,” Seeyela said.

“Oh, don’t you start,” Nivian said.

“Everybody got something for their waist?” Seena asked, and the party members all gave the affirmative. “Reduces solar energy used?” More affirmatives. “Nothing complicated, but very useful.”

“Especially if we’re still dealing with regaining energy out in the city,” Nivian pointed out, strapping his girdle around his waist.

“The cycling technique we’re going to get from the achievement should help with that too,” Hiral said, tying the sash around his waist.

“Shouldn’t we be getting to those achievements?” Yanily asked, somehow managing to strap on the belt while still lying down.

“One more chest first,” Hiral said. “The group one.”

“What are you waiting for?” Yanily asked, making a small shooing gesture with one hand.

“I’ll come with you,” Seena said quietly to Hiral.

“Don’t want to go by yourself?” he replied.

“Probably fall over if I can’t lean on you,” she admitted. “I don’t know what the Urn did to us, but I feel like I got run over by a whole herd of Spined Great Tusks.”

“Think Wule can do anything about it?” Hiral asked, helping Seena over to the group chest.

“He doesn’t look much better than I feel. After we’ve all had a rest, we’ll see where we’re at. Don’t tell me you feel fine?”

“Not even close,” Hiral admitted, every single part of him aching. “If it wasn’t for the boost I get from Left and Right being part of me, I’d be in the same place you all are, I think.”

“You two finished retelling your life stories?” Yanily called. “We’re still waiting to hear what’s in the chest.”

“You could come over and open it yourself,” Seena said flatly.

“Naaaah,” Yanily replied.

“Whatever’s in this chest, I hope I can use it to hurt him,” Seena hissed to Hiral.

“Let’s find out,” Hiral said, carefully lowering himself and Seena to their knees. Then he flipped open the chest. Rows and rows of flasks lined the inside, and from the looks of things, there were at least two more stacks of them below.

“Drinks?” Seena said, carefully reaching in and pulling one of the odd vials out, the liquid inside literally glowing. After a second looking at it, a name appeared thanks to Hiral’s View ability.

Potion of Liquid Sunshine

Instantly restores a portion of your solar energy.

Note: Restored solar energy cannot exceed normal maximum.

Note (2): Potions can not be used within thirty seconds of each other. Any attempt at using another potion too soon will result in no effect, but an additional cooldown.

“Oh, wow,” Hiral said. “Are they all like that?”

Seena must’ve been thinking the same thing, because she put the vial back in its slot and pulled out another one from a different row. This one had a blood-red liquid in it.

Potion of Liquid Life

Instantly restores a portion of your health.

Note: Restored health cannot exceed normal maximum.

Note (2): Potions can not be used within thirty seconds of each other. Any attempt at using another potion too soon will result in no effect, but an additional cooldown.

“Just as good,” Seena said. “Looks like we found something called potions. I count… two… no, a bunch of different kinds.

Like Seena, Hiral was lifting potions out to get a look with View, then moving on to the next.

“I’m seeing temporary attribute boosts, increases to absorption rate, increase in rank of the next ability used, some kind of one-time damage absorption, and more,” Hiral said. “None of the effects last long, and…” He trailed off, trying to pull the vial into his Interspatial Ring. The vial vanished like normal, and he retrieved it a few seconds later. “Looks like we can keep them in our rings.”

“Enough in here for us to have a few of each,” Seena said. “Good haul, honestly. We’ll sort them all out when we can…” She looked at most of the party sprawled out on the ground. “When we can… move.”

“Speaking of moving, since you’re… you know… so mobile,” Yanily said. “Achievements?”

“We don’t have to share the potions with him,” Hiral pointed out.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Seena said. “I’m curious about them too.”

“You want a hand getting back up?” he asked.

“Or you could swipe the crystal yourself,” she offered with a shrug and a smile.

“No better than Yanily,” Hiral mumbled, but he pushed himself up and went over to the dungeon interface, passing his hand above the crystal.

“Achievement Rewards,” he said, and the predictable slew of notification windows popped up in front of his eyes.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Yanily said from where he lay, and his eyes moved like he’d also gotten the notification windows.

That’s convenient.