The Legend of Helvetia, Pt. 1

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The Legend of Helvetia, Pt. 1

randompeep

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Posts: 1,435
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Joined: 2008-08

2009-01-24, 03:17 PM (This post was last modified: 2009-02-22, 04:14 PM by randompeep.)

Notice: If you came here for art, you will be sorely disappointed. I prefer the storywriting, anyhow. So, I don't think I will make further art aside from mini-maps. We'll see, though. Wink

For all effective purposes, this is complete. I will add mini maps and possibly some more Seos drawings, but don't expect much more in actual updates.

Patch .37 Notes

Version History

The Korilan Sea and Saravim Steppes part 1

Intro

Maps

World Map

Mini Maps

Note: I think that's it on the maps for now. I already have a fairly large Hidden Street in the second part, anyways.

Monsters

Korilan Sea to Helvetic Coast (End of the Depths)

Korilan Sea: Helvetic Coast (End of the Depths to Aqui Outpost)

Saravim Steppes, Part 1

NPCs

Quests

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

The State of the Continent
To Start: Talk to a specified NPC. (the NPC changes, but it tends to be Tantther or Nytia) Expires the day after the server check/ patch implements it.
To Complete: Listen to the speech (NPC dialogue), then open the UI for the Notepad given to you by the specified NPC. Choose the correct choices. You get a completed report. Deliver this to another NPC (Usually in Vic or Masteria). If you choose the wrong answers in the UI, you get a reward reduced by 90%! So actually pay attention!
Reward: ~100k - ~10mil EXP (depends on level)

Story

Prologue

Pre-Helvetia and Korilan Sea

Part 1

One day, the traveler received a message from Kyrin, the Nautilus captain. She had some urgent news which she wanted to pass on to Kenta in Aquarium. The traveler, realizing the urgency of the news, decided to take the news and tell Kenta himself, so Kyrin would not have to leave the Nautilus. Kyrin, grateful for the traveler's help, gave him a letter. She also told him not to open it, as the information inside was very important, and she wanted as few people as possible to know the letter's contents. The traveler agreed, and quickly set off for Aquarium.

Some time later, the traveler was in Aquarium and gave the letter to Kenta. Kenta seemed astonished, and quickly told the traveler why.

A story within a story...

Kenta had reason to believe, based on the coordinates, that the continent could be reached from Aquarium. Unfortunately, a crucial coordinate was too worn to be read, so Kenta would have to send expeditions in a grid pattern, until they find something. He told the traveler that while he was setting up and sending out search expeditions, the traveler could find out more about Helvetia, as the legend was no longer told much, and only those alive while it was known to exist, or remember the legend, can provide the much needed background. He suggest four people: the traveler's first and third job instructors, Alcaster, and Lukan of the Stormcaster Knights. Intrigued, the traveler set out to find them.

Alcaster

Third Job Instructor

First Job Instructor

Lukan

After listening, the traveler was moved, even disturbed that evil could be such to massacre a continent. However, Kenta's expeditions had not found anything of note yet, and the traveler had not much to do but train for the time when they do return...

Some time later, Kenta notified the traveler that a search party had found something. Excited, the traveler rushed to Aquarium. Kenta warned that what they had found could potentially be very dangerous, but the traveler was not listening and hopped onto the next Dolphin Taxi...

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

The magic barrier must have been emitting from somewhere in the Unforgiving Trench, of that much Tantther was certain of. What he didn't know was where in the Trench it was. He decided to refer him to Burchin, who might know more about how to detect magic. Indeed, he did, as he gave the traveler a Magic Detector. The traveler then set off to kill a small amount of everything in the trench. Afterwards, Burchin interpreted the data in the Detector as the magic residue coming from the Kraklings and their even tougher cousins, the Armored Kraklings...

Tantther had just received a report that the magic barrier's power had decreased, though so very slightly that if the traveler had not been there with the Detector at the time, the weakening would have gone unnoticed. There must be a piece of the barrier out there for the barrier to weaken so slightly...

Tantther surmised that since the Kraklings seemed to be closer to the barrier emitter, the traveler should hunt those for the Piece of the Barrier. (Note: This is wrong. The Armored Kraklings actually have a greater drop rate of the Piece) As expected, the Kraklings indeed had the Piece, so the emitter must be close to them...

Burchin, after some experimentation, found a way to shatter the Piece, and in theory, the entire barrier. It would require a rather large explosive, but Nytia would probably know how to create them. Unfortunately, a Sniveler had filched the chemical required to shatter the barrier, so the traveler will also have to fight them, too...

Nytia indeed knew how to make the explosives. All she required were the Essence of Fire from Torchiers. The Snivelers eventually gave up the Mysterious Chemical, so all was set for Burchin to treat the Explosives into one Treated Explosive. The traveler told Tantther that everything was set, so all the traveler needed was where to set down the Explosive. Tantther pointed out that the Vent of Steam could light the explosive even underwater. It even had Armored Kraklings next to it, so it would be a prime location to set the Explosive. The traveler did so, and at long last, Helvetia could once more be accessed by ship!

Meanwhile, a cloaked figure watched nearby, and said this, barely audible: "Part A of the Plan has gone perfectly..."

Part 6

Burchin was interested in the casting mechanism of the barrier, since no life-form could hope to sustain such a barrier for so long, and a self-sustaining spell would eventually implode, so it must be continally cast by a machine. However, with the explosion, the pieces of the machine and the barrier would be scattered across the Unforgiving Trench... He asked the traveler if he could retrieve the pieces of the machine from various monsters in the Trench, in the name of research. The traveler, happy to help, found pieces of the barrier, the machine, and some gears to fit it, then returned to Burchin. Burchin gave his thanks, then motioned for the traveler to leave. "This research will take quite some time. Perhaps Tantther has some other mission for you to undertake?"

Indeed, he did. Though the shattered barrier solved one problem, it had created another. The supply ships were being attacked by Kraklings, and the only way to stop them was to kill them. The traveler proceeded to kill hundreds of them, but there was something else out there that was attacking the ships, something far more powerful... The survivors of the most recent attack reportedly saw a Giant Squid attack their ship. They had just managed to fight it off and escape. This danger had to be dealt with, and Tantther knew full well only the traveler was powerful to defeat it. He also knew full well that the traveler would have to kill more than just one to resolve this. The traveler also realized this, but he agreed nonetheless, and managed to take the monstrosities down.

However, something even more powerful prowled the Trench's depths; a killer whale known as Shannu. It could easily swamp a ship with its size, and it's been reputed that it has an Ice Beam that freezes the very Korilan Sea itself! Of course, not all rumors are true... or are they?

The traveler knew he could not defeat such a powerful adversary on his own, so he gathered a party, bent on Shannu's demise, and then led an attack on Shannu. Shannu was a powerful opponent in his own right, and he had 5 Giant Squids to assist him, but in the end, he was defeated. The seas of Helvetia were safe, for now....

Saravim Steppes: Part 7

Quite a bit of time later, the traveler returned to Aqui Outpost, and discussed what Burchin had found out with him. All Burchin could figure out was that whoever cast the initial spell was extremely powerful, and that the machine seemed to be of Korilan design. "Perhaps the city is not as dead as we once thought. Whoever controls it now probably won't be very friendly to us, though." Burchin wanted to move on now to research monsters in the Saravim Steppes, but he also told the traveler that Tantther has started sending expedition members outwards around Aqui Outpost in a circle. Of them, only one, the eastern headed one, returned. "It will do us a favor if you bring both the items and communication of the parties involved back to us." The traveler, not wanting to disobey Tantther's word, agreed, and set out on his first true Helvetic expedition. Shortly thereafter, however, he realized he had been this way before, to hunt Snivelers. Anyhow, he soon arrived at a cliff, where the path seemed to have collapsed into the Korilan Sea. Artur, a shy expedition member, stood nearby. All Artur seemed to know was that they were on a road that formerly led to Vorenthos, but had since collapsed from disrepair or otherwise. For some reason, that didn't sound right to the traveler, but he passed it off as nothing and quickly collected the Sniveler Whiskers and a letter from Artur. After handing Burchin the whiskers and Tantther the letter, the traveler quickly got another mission: Head North-east, find the expedition party, collect some Seals of Velim for research purposes, then come back. The traveler was a little surprised to find some undead warriors wandering the path, but they were no problem for his now mighty powers. He was even more surprised to find Darkness Sprites, who were normally bonded to Nightwalkers at Ereb, wandering near a lone expedition member, Omar. After being reoriented, Omar told the traveler that the expedition had forged ahead into the swamp, but the party became lost, and soon some tried to find their way out alone. Needless to say, Omar was the only one to escape the haunted swamp, and he was very shaken up about it. He entrusted his letter to the traveler, who then started defeating the ghostly apparitions around Omar. The spectral warriors were quite easy, but the Darkness Sprites were annoyingly difficult, so the traveler was forced to leave them alone right now. He took the seals that some of the warriors left and quickly headed to Aqui Outpost, where he reported his findings to Burchin and Tantther. Tantther requested that the traveler defeat the Komodo Dragons that were on the path, and some of the Darkness Sprites that lay at the path's end. Burchin also wanted a Heart of Darkness that the Sprites were thought to have, so he could research into if they were actually true Sprites. After some more difficult fighting, the traveler reported yet another success, and was rewarded for his efforts.

Tantther later sent a message to the traveler, telling him that something had gone wrong on the north road. When the traveler arrived in Aqui, Tantther told him that a group of supposed bandits had taken the expedition party hostage. Tantther was attempting to negotiate terms with them, but he wanted the traveler to do it, in case something goes wrong. The traveler quickly headed to the bandits' camp, where their leader introduced himself as Seos. They were supposedly part of a far larger organization known as the Nighthawks, who controlled Helvetia for many miles to the north. Seos spat at the traveler's hopelessly pathetic terms, and ranted that the Nighthawks could easily crush Aqui Outpost, and it was just because of an internal conflict at Saravim that prevented them from doing so. Tantther, angered at Seos' blatent disregard for his terms, ordered the Outpost to prepare for a battle against the small Nighthawk camp. They managed to quickly defeat some of the Nighthawks, but they were disheartened when fresh reinforcements arrived the next day. Tantther realized that the only way to rout the Nighthawks was if Seos was taken out. A small group of expedition warriors fought and were soundly defeated by Seos' great mastery at a crossbow. Tantther asked the traveler to assemble another group, but a more powerful one, to defeat Seos. After a long, drawn-out, and exhausting battle, both sides were weary, but the traveler managed to defeat Seos. Before dealing a final blow, though, Seos managed to escape. Nonetheless, the expeditioners celebrated, for they had won victory over a skilled and tricky adversary!

Nearby, the cloaked figure smiled slightly, then quickly left...

Quotes

"You think you're ready to explore a continent? Heh, so does half the Maple World population. Put simply, the Aqui Expedition just doesn't have enough resources to go and rescue everyone who wants to travel to Helvetia and ends up in trouble. It's an unknown continent, after all. That's why I'm here. I only let those who prove they can protect themselves to me beyond here. So, you think you're any different from everyone else? Prove it to me!"
-Shempa

"Yeah, I do have potions, but with supplies such a mess as they are, I don't really have much to offer you. I can offer you what I have though. So what's it gonna be?"
-Asulo, Aqui Outpost potion seller

"So, you were referred here by Kenta? Well, I don't care if you have special privileges given to you by the rest of the Maple World; you're gonna have to do something for me before our leader will trust you."
-Nytia

"Ah, our newest expedition member. Exploring a continent is not as glamorous as they make it out to be, no? Nonetheless, you carry out your missions well. We need to assign you to higher ranked missions than just supply mule. Let's see..."
-Tantther

"Hello, who are you? _______, it is? I'm Burchin, a researcher from Omega Sector here to research local wildlife, though I have some knowledge of Maple history, as well. I'm trying to carry out research on the creatures, but I need help gathering the monster parts. Wish to help me out?"
-Burchin

"Oh hello there... This is... umm...oh right! the road to V-Vorenthos, b-but this c-c-cliff here seems to have c-collapsed. S-Sorry for the st-st-stutter, its rreally cold up here t-tthough!"
-Artur

"AHH! Die you evil ghost... wha?, you're not one of those Fallen Heroes? Sorry, those Darkness Sprites have been causing much trouble for me... Anyways, this used to be an entrance to Vorenthos Delta, but 9 others were with me when we entered, but we got lost in the myre, and when I found my way out, everyone else had dissappeared! I wouldn't dare enter right now..."
-Omar

"Why should I listen to your petty demands? You control, what?, an outpost, while we hold control of Saravim Steppes from here on! We could easily crush your puny outpost, but we have other matters to attend to first. Yet, you're trying to manipulate us! Forget trying to make peace with you; the Nighthawks will make sure this Aqui Expedition will suffer!"
-Seos, Nighthawk Officer

State of the Continent ~ February 6, 2009

Miscenalleous