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Jay -> Gingkage's Past (1/17/2025 21:51:30)
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Gingkage's Past
Location: Path connecting Falconreach (Book 3) and Swordhaven Border -> Down -> Gingkage -> Quests! -> Gingkage's Past -> Start Quest!
Requirements: Completion of Keep Up
Release Date: January 17th, 2025
Objective: Gingkage talks about her past and just how she came to know Karina and Teral.
Objective completed: The identity of the mysterious 'them' is revealed. Time to take them down!
Experience rewarded: Scaled
Gold rewarded: Scaled
Monsters
None
NPCs
Gingkage
Karina
Teral
Rewards
None
Dialogue
*Scene fades into Gingkage holding the mysterious cloth scrap with an outline of a red potion that Karina had handed her earlier.*
<Character>: What's going on? How do you all know each other?
<Character>: And who exactly are 'them'?
Gingkage: That's... a bit of a long story.
<Character>: I have time.
*Gingkage glances back at you, before turning around to face you.*
Gingkage: All right. I'll tell you what you need to know.
Gingkage: I was raised in a forest far from here.
<Character>: How far?
Karina: Don't bother asking. The only thing she'll ever say is 'Very.'
Teral: Or sometimes 'Far.'
Teral: She values her privacy, so Karina and I are content with what she's told us.
*A record scratch sound effect plays as Gingkage glares at you, Karina, and Teral for interrupting her.*
Gingkage: If you three are going to talk after everything I say, we'll be here all year.
<Character>: ...
Karina: ...
Teral: ...
<Character>: So how far-
Gingkage: Far.
Gingkage: When I was old enough to be safely taught, my mother taught me how to make potions.
Gingkage: I'm not as skilled as she is, but I'm able to keep myself and Blaze alive.
Gingkage: When it was discovered I had an aptitude for magic, I was trained as a mage.
<Character>: And Blaze?
Gingkage: Hadn't been born yet.
<Character>: So then-
Gingkage: Patience. This is already more than I've told even Karina and Teral.
<Character>: Oh. Sorry.
Gingkage: After Blaze was born, he chose a mage as a rider.
Gingkage: I don't think I've ever seen people so mad. Mages don't ride wolves. It's considered safer for everyone.
Gingkage: No one even thought a mage could be chosen.
Gingkage: But Blaze chose me, and the wolf's choice is unchangeable, so they had to teach me what I needed to know.
Gingkage: But it meant that I never fit in at home. A mage among warriors.
Gingkage: So once Blaze was grown, and we'd learned all we needed from our teachers, we left.
Gingkage: ... I left, wanting to find somewhere I fit. Blaze came because he had to stay with his chosen rider.
<Character>: Had to?
Gingkage: Blaze and I are magically bound. Not dissimilar, I was led to believe, to yourself and the dragon I've heard so much about.
Gingkage: So yes, when I made the choice to leave, he had to stay with me.
<Character>: And Karina and Teral? How did you meet them?
Gingkage: Necessity. A nomadic life is rewarding, but hazardous.
Gingkage: I frequently ran out of supplies that I needed, that couldn't always be foraged, so always needed money.
Gingkage: And sometimes it's nice to have food that I don't have to get myself.
Gingkage: I'd heard of Hunter's Paradise as a place that always has jobs available for good money, so I visited.
Gingkage: Blaze and I weren't fond of this forest. The scents are too different for Blaze to be comfortable, and I grew up in a much greener forest.
Gingkage: But I have to admit, there aren't many places where a giant wolf won't draw too much attention, and Hunter's Paradise welcomes everyone.
Karina: We'd be more welcoming if you visited more often.
Teral: If you're worried that people will be scared of Blaze, we're made of sterner stuff here.
Gingkage: Not really. Blaze just hates towns and cities, and I'm not a fan of walls.
Gingkage: Where was I? Right.
Gingkage: I took on one of Karina's jobs, specifically a bear that had turned itself into a nuisance.
Gingkage: And after I had taken on a few more jobs, we started talking, and she introduced me to Teral.
Gingkage: Doomwood isn't our forest, but it is a home of sorts.
<Character>: And the people behind the cloth scrap?
Gingkage: I'm coming to that.
Gingkage: They're a bunch of... I guess bandits works. I've always called them 'Reds'.
<Character>: What did they do?
Gingkage: Made fake potions and sold them to anyone naive enough to fall for it.
Gingkage: I've been making potions for as long as I can remember. I know a fake when I see one.
Gingkage: There were too many for me to take care of by myself, so I asked Karina and Teral for their help.
Gingkage: It took some doing, but we managed to... persuade them to stop.
Gingkage: That was... three, four years ago?
Karina: That sounds right.
<Character>: If you defeated them before, what are they doing here now?
Gingkage: We weren't able to defeat their three leaders. They scattered before we could get to them.
Gingkage: If I had to guess, they regrouped, and didn't forget just who it was that stopped them before.
Gingkage: If I were them, I'd want revenge.
<Character>: Then we'll just have to beat them again.
Gingkage: 'We'?
<Character>: Karina and Teral are my friends, too. I want to help.
Gingkage: It's not your fight, <Character>.
<Character>: If something concerns my friends, then it concerns me.
<Character>: Let me help.
*Gingkage takes a moment to consider your request to provide aid.*
Gingkage: If you want to help, then that's your choice.
Gingkage: But first.
Gingkage: Karina, I need to know what happened.
*Scene fades to black.*
Complete Quest
Next Up: ???
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