Jay 
		  Marauderator 🧭 
    		   
    		   
		      
		   
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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: 0   Gold rewarded: 0      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        
			
			
  < Message edited by DemonicDarkwraith -- 3/19/2025 16:44:00  >					
			
			
				  
				  		 	
		  
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