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Quest: Shrooms
((Roll: 1d100+5=gathering
Novice Gatherer's Ring: +5 gathering))

Well, that node had done it: he was officially done with the quest. So now he could stop... But did he have enough Red Harvest Tokens? Sure, he might have enough to get the gloves and the gathering ring, but he certainly didn't have enough for the skinning knife... Okay, let's turn this quest in, and then, while we're in town, get another two Red Harvest Rings, and then, wearing three of them, work on getting enough Tokens to buy two knives, the gloves, the gatherer's ring, and then use whatever is leftover for other stuff. Since he was swimming in snowflakes and candies on Alyx, he could spend his time leveling Cthaer to feed the Harvester. From the looks of things, the Harvester just wasn't getting as much attention as the other events. Cthaer would need a lot of supplies for his ultimate goals, and gathering/crafting was a good way to earn levels without risking death, so it was definitely preferable to losing the items that he'd sent over to Cthaer to get the shade started. He couldn't imagine losing this dagger in a million years.

Materials acquired:
5 gloomshroom
2 gloomweb

1-50= 1 gloomshroom
51-75= 1 gloomweb, 2 gloomshrooms
76-80= 1 gloomroot, 1 gloomweb, 2 gloomshrooms
81-85= 1 gloomweed, 1 gloomroot, 3 gloomshrooms
86-90= 1 gloomweed, 1 gloomroot, 1 gloomweb, 3 gloomshrooms
91-124= 2 gloomweed, 2 gloomroot, 2 gloomweb, 4 gloomshrooms
125-150= 3 gloomweed, 3 gloomroot, 2 gloomweb, 4 gloomshrooms
151+= 3 gloomweed, 4 gloomroot, 3 gloomweb, 5 gloomshrooms

((Roll+5=gathering
100+5=105*1.25=131))

Autumnal Ale: 9-1=8

HOLY s**t what just happened? Cthaer dug his fingers into the earth and brilliant light shined from the node as he unearthed the Ark of the Covenant. He had just acquired materials that he'd never even heard of, and in numbers that were frankly probably unfair. He'd never seen so many materials come out of a single node. This was insane. Was this the Ale working? If so, he was damn sure going to become an alcoholic. This was exhilarating! It seemed like he was destined to become an alchemist. He looked over the items and tried to imagine what they were for. He had some ideas, but he wasn't entirely sure. He just supposed that he'd have to do some hands-on research. His ultimate goal was to increase survivability and damage output. He could get good at these things and then not only feed himself, but feed his potions to Alyx and Rota in order to help them dominate on the front lines. Cthaer, being a DPS without a tank, probably wasn't going to be a front line fighter. Alyx and Rota could be the trailblazers, and Cutter would probably follow in their paths, letting them take the heat while he reaped the benefits.

Materials acquired:
4 gloomshroom
2 gloomweb
3 gloomroot
3 gloomweed

1-50= 1 gloomshroom
51-75= 1 gloomweb, 2 gloomshrooms
76-80= 1 gloomroot, 1 gloomweb, 2 gloomshrooms
81-85= 1 gloomweed, 1 gloomroot, 3 gloomshrooms
86-90= 1 gloomweed, 1 gloomroot, 1 gloomweb, 3 gloomshrooms
91-124= 2 gloomweed, 2 gloomroot, 2 gloomweb, 4 gloomshrooms
125-150= 3 gloomweed, 3 gloomroot, 2 gloomweb, 4 gloomshrooms
151+= 3 gloomweed, 4 gloomroot, 3 gloomweb, 5 gloomshrooms

((Roll+5=gathering
48+5=53*1.25=66))

Autumnal Ale: 7-1=6

This was a slightly less excessive node, and was more on par with the payout he'd received from the first nodes he'd hit earlier, but it was still better than it could have been. He was getting an awesome amount of mushrooms, but he was also amassing a decent pile of gloomweb, which he was interested in knowing what he'd be able to do with. No matter what it was, at the very least it would be a material that someone needed, and thus it had value. Cthaer was probably going to focus mostly on his alchemy, but he might branch out into other crafting professions if it proved to be useful enough to do so. If the webs were used for anything good, he might start taking advantage of his ability to gather his own materials. He wasn't likely to start producing weapons, but armor wouldn't be entirely out of the question, which was his suspicion for their use, since he was himself wearing armor made from the silk of spiders.

Materials acquired:
4+4+2 gloomshroom
2+2+1 gloomweb
3+2+0 gloomroot
3+2+0 gloomweed

1-50= 1 gloomshroom
51-75= 1 gloomweb, 2 gloomshrooms
76-80= 1 gloomroot, 1 gloomweb, 2 gloomshrooms
81-85= 1 gloomweed, 1 gloomroot, 3 gloomshrooms
86-90= 1 gloomweed, 1 gloomroot, 1 gloomweb, 3 gloomshrooms
91-124= 2 gloomweed, 2 gloomroot, 2 gloomweb, 4 gloomshrooms
125-150= 3 gloomweed, 3 gloomroot, 2 gloomweb, 4 gloomshrooms
151+= 3 gloomweed, 4 gloomroot, 3 gloomweb, 5 gloomshrooms

((Roll+5=gathering
25+5=30*1.25=37))

Autumnal Ale: 5-1=4

That was to be expected. A small haul, but it was still a step in the right direction. He was about halfway through the cooldown on his ale, and he was already loaded with mats, so it wasn't like he was going to be upset that he'd not received another mountain of loot. Every climb had its lulls, and this was just a bump in the road to his ascension. He could take his success almost directly to the bank right now, if he had a mind to. But he would have more excessive success if he used these goods as an investment instead of as an end in themselves. As far as he could tell, alchemy was one of the unloved arts, and, because of that, he suspected that there was something that it was hiding. If you could collect spider venom, and use that venom to make antidotes, then surely you could use that venom to make poisons, right? it only made sense that you could do more than just heal people with alchemy.

Materials acquired:
4+4+2+3+1 gloomshroom
2+2+1+1+0 gloomweb
3+2+0+1+0 gloomroot
3+2+0+1+0 gloomweed

1-50= 1 gloomshroom
51-75= 1 gloomweb, 2 gloomshrooms
76-80= 1 gloomroot, 1 gloomweb, 2 gloomshrooms
81-85= 1 gloomweed, 1 gloomroot, 3 gloomshrooms
86-90= 1 gloomweed, 1 gloomroot, 1 gloomweb, 3 gloomshrooms
91-124= 2 gloomweed, 2 gloomroot, 2 gloomweb, 4 gloomshrooms
125-150= 3 gloomweed, 3 gloomroot, 2 gloomweb, 4 gloomshrooms
151+= 3 gloomweed, 4 gloomroot, 3 gloomweb, 5 gloomshrooms

((Roll+5=gathering
99+6+5=110*1.25=137
Oh s**t. Been forgetting my 6 gathering skill. Recalculating gains.

100+6+5=111*1.25=138 | 131 no change
84+6+5=95*1.25=118 | 111 no change
48+6+5=59*1.25=73 | 66 no change
64+6+5=75*1.25=93 | 86 +1shroom, web,root,weed
25+5+6=36*1.25=45 | 37 no change
37+6+5=48*1.25=60 | 52 no change))

Autumnal Ale: 3-1=2

He was on cloud nine. Another inhuman haul, almost tied with his first attempt. He had gathered infinitely more materials than he'd thought possible in this short a time, and it was a fantastic feeling. With this pool of resources, he was on track to become a master alchemist, if his luck followed him into that pursuit. He checked his timer again, and he was about two thirds of the way through his buff. No matter. It had more than paid for itself, especially with the addition of the Red Harvest Rings. He'd even gotten a level out of all this, so he was going to have a reasonably comfortable lead on the mobs that he was going to be focusing on. Taking these quests before starting combat is probably the best way to start the game, once you know what you're doing. They give you a really advantageous lead on things, as opposed to charging blindly into battle the way Alyx had. Sure, it had worked for him, but Cthaer was nervous that he might not be as hardy as a knight.

Materials acquired:
4+4+2+4+1+2+4 gloomshroom
2+2+1+2+0+1+2 gloomweb
3+2+0+2+0+0+3 gloomroot
3+2+0+2+0+0+3 gloomweed

1-50= 1 gloomshroom
51-75= 1 gloomweb, 2 gloomshrooms
76-80= 1 gloomroot, 1 gloomweb, 2 gloomshrooms
81-85= 1 gloomweed, 1 gloomroot, 3 gloomshrooms
86-90= 1 gloomweed, 1 gloomroot, 1 gloomweb, 3 gloomshrooms
91-124= 2 gloomweed, 2 gloomroot, 2 gloomweb, 4 gloomshrooms
125-150= 3 gloomweed, 3 gloomroot, 2 gloomweb, 4 gloomshrooms
151+= 3 gloomweed, 4 gloomroot, 3 gloomweb, 5 gloomshrooms

((Roll+5=gathering
57+6+5=68*1.25=85))

Autumnal Ale: 1-1=0

He maybe had enough of a buzz to last one more harvesting node, so he stepped toward one after he'd gathered his large haul from his last node. Getting down on his knees, he combed his fingers through the dirt, the feeling of soft, damp earth squishing between his fingers warmly. It had a slightly grainy texture, but it was not unpleasant. It felt nice to be working with his hands. He'd always been sort of easy like that: the simpler things in life brought him some level of joy, and that probably influenced his decisions to play the way he did, even if he rather enjoyed combat as well. The metalworking artes seemed like they were more complicated and involved, while shaping wood and cooking were a little more relaxing. He was sure that alchemy was going to be fairly involved, but at least the rewards from that would be immediately helpful. He combed through the earth, bits of dirt falling from his almost completely blackened fingers, stained with wet soil.

Materials acquired:
4+4+2+4+1+2+4+3+3 gloomshroom
2+2+1+2+0+1+2+1+0 gloomweb
3+2+0+2+0+0+3+1+1 gloomroot
3+2+0+2+0+0+3+1+1 gloomweed

1-50= 1 gloomshroom
51-75= 1 gloomweb, 2 gloomshrooms
76-80= 1 gloomroot, 1 gloomweb, 2 gloomshrooms
81-85= 1 gloomweed, 1 gloomroot, 3 gloomshrooms
86-90= 1 gloomweed, 1 gloomroot, 1 gloomweb, 3 gloomshrooms
91-124= 2 gloomweed, 2 gloomroot, 2 gloomweb, 4 gloomshrooms
125-150= 3 gloomweed, 3 gloomroot, 2 gloomweb, 4 gloomshrooms
151+= 3 gloomweed, 4 gloomroot, 3 gloomweb, 5 gloomshrooms

Quest: Field Reconnaissance

Cthaer listened to the Ranger's quest prompt and followed the man, hoping to glean enough information that he could be of some use in mapping out things that would be useful. Dungeons came to mind. If he could map out the quickest path to the boss room, he could name his price on those instructions, but he had the feeling that he'd share it with Alyx and Rota just in the name of gratitude for their help in getting him started. Without their work, Cthaer would never have had this fantastic start that he'd gotten. It was an ubelievable boon to have gotten a legendary dagger and this special equipment at such a low level. He was going to be able to parlay that advantage into becoming a self-sufficient --or at least mostly self-sufficient-- player that had something to offer to the game. undoubtedly, potions would come in handy later, and the rookie healing potions were not going to cut it at the higher levels. Cthaer watched carefully the Ranger as he outline the finer points of creating maps and different methods of keeping track of the native animal population and terrain, as well as the availability of resources, and how to recognize animal paths and markings, which Cthaer had never noticed before. He was actually learning a lot from this tutorial, which was refreshing from thinking that he had had everything in the game figured out.