QuestBoard - May 2021

[avalonmods]

 QuestBoard is an app you can download onto your smartphones. Each month, people around town will posts jobs asking for help with various tasks like building furniture, running errands, pet sitting, and more. Characters can make a living off of this if they choose to and assume normal day-to-day tasks you would normally find on an app IRL like TaskRabbit. Handwaved tasks do not earn credit toward gaining a title, but the special tasks labeled as this month's "Top Tasks" in the app will gain clout for your character.

 

QuestBoard Top Tasks are the ones that are posted at the start of each month. Any character may complete them, even if they seem like a unique task, because time being frozen and magic mayhem are a recipe for weird time pockets resulting in multiple occurrences in the same space. (Tl;dr there are no dibs, just have fun.) There are three kinds of tasks, each labeled with a symbol for its type:
 

 

 = COMBAT QUEST (counts toward Knighthood OR Unseelie)
 = ASSISTANCE QUEST (counts toward Nobility OR Arcane Mage)
 = SPECIAL (see quest details)

Combat and assistance quests are the most common and will appear every month. Specials are tasks that either fit both categories, neither category, or has some kind of exceptional reward. Special tasks are uncommon, so do not expect to see them all the time.
 

 

Each quest is worth 1 Rewards point unless your character has achieved Knighthood or Nobility status (See FAQ for more information), which both double rewards points.
 

 

Do not reply to this post to do a quest. Just thread out the quest and turn it in as instructed on the Rewards Points (Elphame Traders) page when you are ready to redeem. Threads must be started in the month that the quest was announced, though it may start at any day during the month and you may backtag as necessary. Feel free to reply to this post with questions about Top Tasks.

🌼 May Top Tasks 🐣

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Task Name	Details
No Buccaing Out (CW: Animal extermination, skinning)	Our small aquatic community just off of the Silent Shore has been invaded by a colony of man-eating nudibranchs. They're absolutely terrifying as their skin emits a paralytic, then they take hours slowly eating the skin off of their victims while they're alive and awake. They only operate at night, and we're close enough to the Silent Shore that victims cannot call for help. They do not communicate, they don't have brains big enough for it, they only eat and destroy. Please exterminate these pests from our underwater community. We will provide anyone who wishes to try with a potion of Underwater Breathing that will last for 1 hour. We are limited in supply, so we can only give one to each party willing to try. (Note: The community is essentially an underwater village with a cute old Danish aesthetic called Bucca. It's filled with a special variety of naga that is half-eel that lives underwater. They are largely friendly toward strangers, though may let out a surge of electricity if startled.)
Party Rock Anthem (CW: Alcohol, drugs, and partying)	A huge party has been raging in response to the political arguments going on around town; why speak politics when you can speak party? Unfortunately, someone's desperate attempt to avoid political discussion has resulted in them cursing their party to never let the good vibes end. The house's doors disappeared and the windows won't open or break. About 4/5 people in the party are party drones, a party hivemind that will attack if the good vibes stop. So drink, do drugs, dance, and be merry like it's the last day of your life! Unless you can find out the vessel the caster used to keep the party going in the house and break it, you'll never make it out. Don't worry-- if you get into trouble, performing a duet will get the hivemind to dance with you if you get into trouble. Good luck!
Holo,  Goodbye	Head up to the river just north-west of Camelot's farmland. This time of year, the river will sparkle with holographic shine. Prismatic rainbows dance across the surface of the water, and fairies of all kinds enjoy drinking and celebrating. This comes from a special spirit that goes around purifying stones that gather natural energy throughout the year. The spirit spends most of the year in Elphame and the Mountains, so it only spends one week a year near Camelot City. Unfortunately, my grandmother is ailing this year and is unable to come. I have to take care of her. If you could get one of the holographic rocks and bring it to us before the holo wears off so she can see them one last time, we'll be eternally grateful.

🌱 Dark Web Tasks 🦔

Not the goody two-shoes type? Every realm that has the internet also has a dark web-- a place where illegal opportunities are rife for the taking. Characters may hear about how to access the dark web if they are going around trying to get involved in criminal activity. This is an alternate option for characters who would not seek out nobility or knighthood and wish to take a darker path toward the titles of Unseelie or Arcane Mage.

Note that while characters may complete tasks from either the QuestBoard or the Dark Web, they can only choose either Nobility/Knighthood titles OR Unseelie/Arcane Mage titles.

Task Name	Details
Heist Stakes	Sneak into MagiCast and implant a nanotracker under the keys of their R&D division Julaun Anders. In order to get into their top secret R&D lab, you'll have to get past multiple levels of security systems. The first step is to walk past the physical guards, for which you will need disguises to look like you work there (suits, ID badges) and disable the security cameras (easy with technomancy, dark magic, light magic). To get to the secret lab, you'll need the retinal scans of two people with access (light magic glamours will work fine, or whatever other method you can think of). At this point, you'll run into curse-based wards designed to keep unauthorized magicians out. Either counter-curse potions or a siphon magic user can handle this portion. After that, the pressurized floor panels will lockdown and flood the room with sand like a giant hourglass if you step through the entry hall without having the device of authorized person on you to detect. So you can either steal that ahead of time or you're going to have to find a way to get across without touching the floor. (Kinetic magic or a float spell from February's rewards will do the trick.. or you can go old school and try a harness/wire/grapple hook combo.) Once you get through that hall, you're in the clear as long as you're not seen by anyone. Try to cause a distraction or evacuate the room somehow to clear it out so no one who will recognize you as an imposter will see you while you implant the tracker. The more people you involve, the more you'll have to split the 100,000,000G reward with, and you only get the reward if you succeed and you don't alert anyone at MagiCast to something happening.
A Polite Pyro	Please burn down any building completely. I just want to watch something burn. Text the address to me so I can watch.
Incubabes (CW: Murder)	Twenty or so years ago, I had a wonderful, passionate night with a rich and glorious incubus who sired a child with me. I just got intel that he's dying and has placed our daughter third in line. I need someone to kill the first two heirs so I can ensure my daughter's future. The first one works in the castle kitchens as the head chef and is married to a rich man, they have no business needing incubus money. She's not particularly skilled in combat, but sneaking into the castle to get to her will be a real feat. The second heir is a fire-breathing wizard known for his skills using elemental and kinetic magic with a rapier to direct precise flame shots at enemies. I'll double your pay if you eliminate the incubus himself while making it look like an accident so that the will is not put into question.

Comments

Question re: No Buccaing Out

[flamekthunder]

For the nudibranchs, are there any other sea animals that could be potentially "recruited" by animal magic users that would be effective against them? Alternatively, what kind of weaknesses do they have to best defeat them?

[avalonmods]

Crabs would be a great ally in this fight, since their claws can be used to pinch but won't be paralyzed because of their protective shells. If you can convince since turtles to roll onto their backs like Super Mario shells, the shells would protect them from the paralytics as well. Wrasses also eat normal nudis but would be susceptible to the paralytics, so while they may be confident they can take them, there may be some casualties if you ask them or other predatorial fish.

[flamekthunder]

Oh my God SHELLING THE Nudibranchs I'm dying nndjsn but thank you mods!

[policedefective]

So in the "probably won't happen but I am curious" part of me in regards to the Incubabes quest, how hard would it be for someone like Akechi to figure out WHO sent the text and murder THEM instead? :)

its okay if he doesn't get paid

[avalonmods]

The dark web is anonymous and smart posters usually have a fair amount of security to keep themselves safe exactly to avoid this sort of thing. Still, not everyone who posts is smart and the poster of this falls into that category, so it would only take a mid-level hacker or technomancer to get that information.

[policedefective]

Hahaha perfect, thank you mods!

Time for him to get a favor from someone...maybe with the promise of less murder and more threats.

[colchismagecraft]

So Caster is interested in this potion of underwater breathing because of course she is. Would there be a way for her to buy one further down the line/be able to get hold of another later on if she helps them out with the quest?

I'm assuming just drinking it as part of the quest isn't enough to get a feel for how it's made for her potion brewing studies, so wondering if there's a way for her to get a sample for study somehow.

[avalonmods]

They're not available for purchase, but the Lady of the Lake has been known to trade them. There may be other means to get them in the future, but they're not widely available right now.

[colchismagecraft]

Interesting, thank you! Looks like she'll have to go chat to the Lady of the Lake at some point later in the month.

[tookashirototheknee]

So, in theory, what if someone used technomancy and good old fashioned hacking for the infiltration quest instead of trying to get in there in a complicated manner?

It would be written out what he'd do, but.... Just curious.

[avalonmods]

They would still have to deal with the magic wards, which aren't tied to technology. Additionally, sneaking past the guards would still be a necessity, as would sneaking into the R&D room as the R&D room is not connected to a network to prevent technomancers from gaining access externally!

[rediscovering]

Burn down ANY building...?

What if it's like an abandoned shack in the woods? What's the least important building with the least potential for fire spreading and hurting people?

Zuko wants to burn shit BUT

[avalonmods]

Zuko...



If you want to prevent fires from getting out of control, you best be in control of your elemental magic or find someone who is.

As for buildings, you can just handwave whatever it is you need to find, but it better be standing when you start, it better be a real building, and it better be a nice big fire.

[thepattern]

My attempts to google "can nudibranchs live on land" are failing me so I'll just ask here... Would the man-eating nudibranchs die if forcibly removed from the water? Could a kinetic magic user pull them out of the water without touching them and just hold them in the air until they die? What effect would the paralytic agent have on blood mage's blood weapons?

[avalonmods]

These special freshwater Nudibranchs can't survive for long outside of the water, but they can burrow into the sand to get to it, so i that's your method, make sure that you don't drop them. That said, they can close their gills so this method would take a very long time, even if it's effective.

Because the blood is outside of the body, it would take longer for the paralytic agent to get to the main body. In other words, your character could get the job done and think everything's okay, then an twenty minutes later end up having to take a good look at the grass for an hour or so while recovering.

[eightfoldfiend]

So...kinda the reverse question of the above.

For POLITE PYRO what if someone wanted to set a fire in the city in hopes of it causing maximum destruction before those pesky wizards got it under control?

[avalonmods]

The poster would be like, super happy. That's what they want. It's the dark web, they're not hoping people are going to go burn a bunch of lumber in a safe controlled environment. u_u Good guys need to stop trying to find dark web loopholes and just embrace arson!!

The elemental wizards of the Elemental Disaster Department of Camelot City would be much less happy. If you want that to be a mass disaster event, please let us know what you have in mind and we can work it into this month's event, as it's all still up in the air right now pending the poll results so we've got some wiggle room if you have an idea. :) As it stands, we're going on the premise that a number of fires have been reported throughout the city and because there are so many, it's hard for them to give resources to one particular one unless it really stands out.

[eightfoldfiend]

Yuber himself has no fire magic but he's a man with very good eyes for causing big fires with minimal effort. If he can create a molotov cocktail or a magical equivalent thereof he can cause some damage.

And if he ropes a fire mage into it...

I'll keep you posted!

[gynvael]

I have two questions regarding the never ending party:

1) is it noticeable from the outside that the doors and windows are missing or is it just from the inside?

2) is it possible to somehow enter the building (or get magically sucked inside via curse) once the curse has befallen it or is it sealed up both ways?

I'm mostly just wondering if it's possible to not mean to actually attend a party, but investigate strange happenings and then get yourself trapped amongst the eternal good vibes.

Thank you!!

[avalonmods]

1. It looks normal from the outside and it's easy enough to enter!

2. It's not going to magically suck anyone in, but the door will open from the outside like a normal door. It may be possible to notice someone trying to tap on the sealed windows to signal for help though, which may draw your character in if they're the helping type.

[gynvael]

That's perfect, thank you!

[standvastig]

For the "Holo, Goodbye" quest, would there be a known estimate of how long the holographic shine lasts on the rocks, given this is apparently an annual event? And does something happen to the natural energy in the mentioned rocks if they aren't purified...? That line just caught my eye while rereading the request.

[avalonmods]

Items imbued with negative energy over a long period of time can become cursed objects in the general 'bad happenings happen to people who possess this' sort of sense. Avalon's river rocks absorb negative energy around them throughout the year almost like a filtration system, and the purification helps clear that out safely. The holographic shine lasts for about a week.

[troubadamsel]

For "Party Rock Anthem" -

Unless you can find out the vessel the caster used to keep the party going in the house and break it, you'll never make it out.

What IS the vessel? is it a bong

[avalonmods]

If you want it to be a bong it can be a bong! It could be another person. It could be a Chihuahua. That part is up to you. We try to leave some parts of quests open-ended so players can sort of choose their own adventure and how it plays out. As long as it's within the spirit of the quest and wouldn't have potential influence on future setting information/other players experience, have fun.

[troubadamsel]

I see! Just wanted to make sure I wouldn't step on any toes. Thanks for letting me know, and have a great day!

[avalonmods]

And we appreciate it. Go forth and have fun~

holo, goodbye!

[snaccs]

What would happen if someone collects some of the river water? And could it prolong the holographic shimmer of the rocks?

Re: holo, goodbye!

[avalonmods]

How refreshing! It's just water, the shimmer comes from the purification magic, not the water itself.

It's hella fresh tho. What a good cup of water.

question about No Buccaing Out

[shiliu]

Are there any other underwater monsters, in addition to the paralytic nudibranches? because who doesn't love a good quest when it goes really sideways.........

[avalonmods]

It's pretty close to the shore, so there aren't going to be too many in the area, but there are some special faeries in the area;

First are the Alven. They aren't malicious unless you cause destruction of their home (the nearby environment)-- at which point they will attack underwater. They are translucent under the water, so while they aren't powerful, they're nearly impossible to see. These lake fae don't have wings, but are capable of building strong bubbles that can catch on the wind and take them long-distances around Avalon.

Selkies often hang around the Silent Shore since there are fewer people and they're able to protect their tribes while still close enough to get to Camelot if they need to. Most of them will leave you alone unless you stumble into their territory or steal one of their pelts while they are bathing.

In the winter, characters may also worry about Fir Darrig, which are ugly, red-wearing faeries sometimes called Rat Boys- who loves to cause gruesome mischief-- but it's far too warm for them right now.

Perhaps the more significant dangers in the area is the possibility of creating enough noise to draw the zombies out of the Land of Rot to the water.

[shiliu]

Thank you!