20:46 ST
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[EVENT] Warding the Withering Wood (Nov 6 - Nov 20th)

 

It’s on a late autumn evening that you find yourself walking along the edge of the woods, the cobblestone path lit only by the softly glowing mushrooms growing in spatters along its edges. There is a bite to the air—the promise of frost setting in by morning—but despite the chill, it’s a pleasant night for a long, lonely walk.

“Finally, we meet.”

The voice is unfamiliar, marked with a thick accent—almost broguish, if such a thing were to exist in the Cave. A figure steps from the treeline: a drasillis garbed in a dark coat, the lower half of his face obscured from view; ruby red eyes framed by shaggy, white hair. He rests one paw upon a cane—though you hadn’t noticed any sort of limp to his gait—and holds the other folded behind his back like some sort of old-timey general.

 

He seems to notice your hesitation—the momentary flicker of your glance back towards town, whether looking for a clear exit or hoping to find yourself less alone with this stranger than you feel—and he gives a vague wave, taking another step into the evening half-light. “Apologies, I don’t mean to frighten ye.” He says, “Just lookin’ to have a wee chat.”

When you don’t turn and run—and he certainly gave enough of a pause that you suspect he might have expected you to do so—he continues: “Sure you’ve noticed by now,” he begins, gaze sliding back to the dark woods from which he emerged, “that recently there’s been some mischief about. Laughter on the wind, misplaced belongings, more little accidents than usual. Small misfortunes, all about.”

Now that he mentions it, you do recall having seen a few odd happenings recently; hearing a few strange sounds that you’ve been unable to place. In fact, now that you’re thinking about it, you realize that this drasillis actually looks a bit familiar, too. Those red eyes—like you’ve seen him somewhere recently, tucked away in a crowd or barely noticeable in your periphery. For just how long has he been watching you?

“I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it seems your little town here has been besieged by fairies. They been slippin’ through from these very woods—a great number of ‘em, too. Causin’ all sorts of devilry, they have been. An’ the more that come about, the more malevolent they become. Bad influences, that lot; bad influences all around.”

“How do you know all this?” You ask, finally finding your voice. “Who even are you? And what do you want with me?”

“The name’s Bardouk, and I’m in the business of keepin’ these sorts of creatures from meddling with common folk.” He replies, giving a polite tip of his hat as he introduces himself. “Typically tend to do me best work alone, but this particular infestation seems to have gotten a wee bit out of hand. I’ve been approaching folk who seem like they’d be a help.”

A tight, wry sort of smile pulls itself onto your face. “And by that, you mean ambushing unsuspecting Mycenians while they’re walking alone at night?”

You hear a puff of air leave his snout, and figure that’s probably as close to a laugh as he can manage. “I’m sure it’s apparent by now,” he says, giving a bit of a half-shrug, “but I’m not exactly the social sort. I apologize—again—for any fright I might’ve caused ye.”

“How, exactly, do you want me to help?”

“I’ve got a small workshop set up in the woods, here.” He motions vaguely toward the trees. “I’ll provide the know-how and the charms; you, as my assistants, will help me put together some wards—and then set out into the forest to capture as many wayward fae as possible. Bring the captured fairies to me. Once we’ve got the lot of ‘em gathered up and their pathways warded off, I’ll return ‘em back to where they belong.”

This isn’t the first time you’ve been approached to help with something like this. First time for fairies, sure, but doing strange work for mysterious figures is almost a Mycenian tradition, at this point. So, you ask, “What do I get out of it?”

“Of course, it’s only fair that you’re compensated. The experience is invaluable, but I doubt if ye’ve got what it takes to make a career out of doin’ what I do.” Bardouk gives you a bit of a once-over, then shakes his head slightly. “Dangerous path, that. So, I’ve gathered up some trinkets and whatnot from my travels, includin’ a couple o’ interesting mushroom specimens, which I’m happy to trade in exchange for your efforts.”

While you’re perhaps, momentarily, a bit offended that he’s so quick to write off your ability to do whatever mysterious work he makes his living off of, the rest sounds pretty typical. If he’s as well-traveled as he seems to be, you imagine he must have picked up some pretty interesting items along the way—and your wardrobe could always use a few more accents.

He extends a paw toward you and says, “Have we got a deal, then?”

Clasping the proffered paw, you give a firm shake.


Event Information
  • This event runs from Nov 6th (at noon ST) through the end of Nov 20th.
  • This event is similar in style to previous Fall events, in that you will be collecting and combining components, and then using those components to play a game similar to Battleship.
    • This year, you will be collecting charms from Bardouk’s workspace and combining them into wards. You will then use those wards to capture fairies throughout the Withering Wood. Captured fairies will grant players different boons, which have various effects on the event mechanics.
  • The event prize shop will open on November 13th and close after 23:59 ST on November 27th. Players will once again be able to purchase event points with gems.
  • Unused charms and wards will crumble into points 24 hours after the event ends. Within 24 hours of the shop closing, any unused boons you’ve received will convert to 50 nuggets apiece and any leftover points will be used to buy prize bottles as efficiently as possible. Any remaining points thereafter will be converted into 100 nuggets apiece.
  • There are several event-specific random encounters, including two which give out new item recolors as a gift.
Posted 11/05/22, edited 11/06/22
The event is now live!!

Happy hunting! :D

Posted 11/06/22
The event coats are gorgeous! Totally hope I bring in enough points to get them all!
Posted 11/07/22

Is anyone able to list what each vial does? I’m using my tablet and I can’t hover over them to see.
I tried searching the items database but there’s nothing that comes up under ‘vial’ o.o

Posted 11/09/22

LAsDarkFireWolf
I relate to this strongly because I do a good chunk of the event on my phone, haha. Thankfully the Give a Boon, Get a Boon thread has a handy list:

Vial of Root Hairs - Consume up to four potions for an excursion
Vial of Sticky Spores - Highlights an anomaly location during your excursion
Vial of Smallest Pebble - 2 minutes off your timer.
Vial of Glowing Petals - 1 minute off your timer.
Vial of Curled Bark - Choose your scavenged next component.

Posted 11/09/22
Oh awesome Azurrys thank you!! Yeah I forgot that people make those threads xD! I either give to friends or randomly.
Posted 11/09/22
i wish i hv the dryad mushroom but i need alot of points to get it
Posted 11/11/22
Now that they’re buyable and I actually have the chance to play with them hands-on, I have to say I absolutely adore the event coats this year! They’re extremely fun and full of character. In terms of prizes alone, this is probably one of my favorite events since Search for the Fallen Stars :> Art team, y’all have outdone yourselves!!!
Posted 11/13/22
Ah, shoot! I’ve been sick with the flu the past week and totally forgot to spend the rest of my points in the shop. XP I think I still had a lot too…
Posted 11/29/22
WindyFox There will be an autobuy here shortly (we should have time to do it tonight) that will automatically spend unspent points so none of them go to waste!
Posted 11/29/22
Myla That’s fortunate! Still… Wish I’d remembered. XD Oh, well… I think I got everything I really wanted, so the rest doesn’t matter as much. Plus, this saves me from my indecisiveness, I suppose.
Posted 11/29/22
Uhh.. Did the stickers ever get handed out for this event..? I feel like that never happened, or at least I didn’t get one..
Posted 01/29/23

Crycket
Ah shoot - you are correct, they seem to have been missed. I’ll see if we can get those handed out ASAP! Thank you for the reminder!

Posted 01/30/23
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