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QUESTBOARD
⋆✩ quests ✩⋆
One of the core responsibilities of guild members within Bottlecap Bay is to complete quests from the Questboard. Located in the center of the city, the questboard is a physical board where Pokemon can submit requests for help, resources, exploration, and all sorts of things. Each quest rewards characters with points to not only increase their member ranking, but also raise the guild ranking, thereby having a direct effect on the direction of the game!
QUEST TYPES
LIGHT QUESTS
These quests are simpler, RNG-style quests that are far more straightforward and don't require a summary or a thread! Light quests are available every month, but during TDM months, they are the only type of quest available, meaning that nothing plot heavy or significant will be placed into the quests. They also typically reward 50 points to characters, but occasionally reward 100 points.
HEAVY QUESTS
Heavy quests are more intensive, thread-required quests that often hold bits of plot or more intrigue, and are only available every other month. They are also often more dangerous than light quests, and unlike light quests, are not guaranteed to be completed when submitting for them! Depending on the results, these quests can reward anywhere from 200-300 points each depending on success! Characters may only participate in one heavy quest per month.
PLAYER QUESTS
These are quests submitted by other players, available as players come up with them. A player may submit a quest during any month, and may even post the same quest again on a subsequent month, when it makes sense ICly to do so. They are otherwise very similar to Light Quests; more information can be found below, but as a rule, they reward 50 points to characters.
ALL QUESTS
So what do all quests have in common? They must be submitted by the deadline date on the quest itself, and each character may claim points from a given quest only once, though they may repeat the quest with other teams as many times as they like.
Mod quests in particular will have difficulty levels, determined by the filled in stars on a scale of 1-3, with three filled stars being the most difficult. Difficulty can mean anything from physical danger to intensive puzzles, depending on the quest! Mod quests of both types may also sometimes have claim limits, with the number of teams allowed listed per quest.
Lastly, players can feel free to roleplay any of the NPCs that are not listed on the Locations page under the NPC section! If it's not game breaking or contradicting anything in the information available to players, then we generally play by the "do what's most fun!" rules.
AVAILABLE QUESTS
ICE TO SEE YOU
QUEST TYPE: LIGHT
QUEST GIVER: Spheal
CLAIM LIMIT: None
DIFFICULTY: ★✩✩
THREAD REQUIRED?: No
DEADLINE: Must be submitted by MAY 25th 11:59 PM EST.
We were originally just going to continue to our usual shores, but we heard there’s a place covered in ice right here! Please show us!
POINTS REWARDED: 100 points
EXTRA REWARDS?: A Yache Berry
GUARD TO PORT
QUEST TYPE: LIGHT
QUEST GIVER: Raichu
CLAIM LIMIT: None
DIFFICULTY: ★✩✩
THREAD REQUIRED?: No
DEADLINE: Must be submitted by MAY 25th 11:59 PM EST.
Since we’ve largely had to start from scratch with the teleporter project, I need strong Pokemon who can stand watch over the destination points being tested with items. Please be ready to contact back on your pearls to confirm the arrival of our test goods!
POINTS REWARDED: 50 points
EXTRA REWARDS?: None.
FLOWER POWER
QUEST TYPE: LIGHT
QUEST GIVER: Lurantis
CLAIM LIMIT: None
DIFFICULTY: ★✩✩
THREAD REQUIRED?: No
DEADLINE: Must be submitted by MAY 25th 11:59 PM EST.
Lately, there have been swarms of Floette attacking Pokemon in the Heavy Downmoor area! Locals have requested our aid, so please help fight them off!
POINTS REWARDED: 50 points
EXTRA REWARDS?: No.
SIMMER DOWN
QUEST TYPE: LIGHT
QUEST GIVER: Pidgeot
CLAIM LIMIT: None
DIFFICULTY: ★✩✩
THREAD REQUIRED?: No
DEADLINE: Must be submitted by MAY 25th 11:59 PM EST.
We’re at our wits end with the woods! All efforts to perform the burn-off have ended in failure, and we need to ensure that should the worst happen, the canopy doesn’t go up in flames. Help gather and dispose of any dry, dead wood we can find!
POINTS REWARDED: 50 points
EXTRA REWARDS?: No.
PLAYER QUESTS
Player Quests are now open! These are quests ICly posted by your character to any of Bottlecap Bay's quest boards. They may be quests that are meant for the benefit of the city (or outlying outposts, or good relations with local Pokemon), or they may be quests for a character's personal concerns... and even joke quests are very welcome, for CR purposes!
(Just keep in mind IC reactions while devising a quest - guild leaders may choose not to reward points for "come perform a handstand for me," and there may be negative consequences for posting "assassinate my annoying guild coworker!")
Some general guidelines:
- To respond to a player quest, other players may use the same submission form as for mod quests; they do not have to provide a thread, but do have to fill out the summary.
- For all quests, quests may reward 50 points! Points track how helpful a character is overall, so they may be awarded for (reasonable, non-joke) personal quests as well!
- For quests for the benefit of Bottlecap Bay, guild leaders will generally also allow for item rewards from guild resources. These rewards should be restricted to a single item or type of item chosen by the quest-writing player, and can be one of: berries, basic stones, basic accessories (with no special effects), or small furniture items. A character may also offer handmade items that they are able to make/obtain the resources for.
- For personal quests, guild leaders will not allow for item rewards from guild resources... but a character may still offer handmade items that they are able to make/obtain the resources for!
- Characters who are ICly posting the quest obviously cannot join their own quest! However, at mod discretion, posting a quest may result in extra points in the next point tally, particularly if the quest is for the benefit of Bottlecap Bay - the guild leaders will reward someone looking out for the success of the city.
- Quests may not have limited entry slots.
- Quest-writing players will decide whether responses pass or fail. (They may choose to respond with a blurb with more flavor details, or just a note saying pass/fail.)
- Posted rewards will be fully awarded regardless of pass/fail. If a quest says the reward is 50 points and a berry, then even failing teams will get those rewards.
- It is fine for personal quests to have a biased pass/fail outcome for CR purposes, such as a designated team being pre-arranged to be the only one who succeeds. However, this must be made clear beforehand OOCly, and the above point must be followed.
- Players may decide whether their quest is worth 50 points or 0 points. We're trusting players to use their best judgement! (ICly, points are always awarded by the guild leaders, but will still be awarded for non-joke personal quests that take effort. For example: "My important item is missing, please help me search the woods" or "I want to make a feast to cheer up my friend but I don't know how to cook, please help.")
- If a player would like to have their character ICly post a problematic quest and receive consequences from their guild leader, please contact the mods on the mod contact beforehand! (This is for quests that would be viewed as actively harmful, rather than silly ones.)
- Players may not have their own characters, even their other character, submit for a quest that they posted.
SUBMISSION FORMAT
Please use the following format to set up a player quest!
If you would like, you may also use the following format when responding with quest results (but this is not required)!
QUEST SIGN-UP
To claim and sign up for a quest, simply fill out the form below and reply to the current month's thread for mod quests, or to the individual quest for player quests. All quests require at least 2 characters to complete, with no maximum unless specified. Keep in mind that for quests requiring threading, 3 is probably a good number. Multiple quests can be signed up for in one comment.
PLAYERS: Players involved.
CHARACTERS: Characters involved. (2 minimum)
QUEST: Name of the quest you're signing up for.
SUMMARY: (Optional for light, required for heavy or player quests.) How will the quest be tackled? Write a short summary of how the characters intend to succeed and include any relevant details (tensions within the team, particular skills or weaknesses, any relevant triggers to avoid, etc.)
After claiming a quest, a mod will reply with confirmation and/or more details, and may request more information on how the team tackles the quest. For quests that are limited in some way, players who manage a sign up one month will be required to wait for 24 hours after quest posting to sign up for a limited quest the following month.
FULL NAVIGATION
no subject
Are there any injuries sustained? Describe them briefly:
Both will sustain standard battle damage and fatigue. While under the influence of the Zorua's illusions, Shoka will briefly lash out at Eleanor in confusion and instinctual aggression, leaving her with a few additional, superficial scratches, but Eleanor will be able to calm her before the teammate-on-teammate violence gets too out of hand.
How do they ultimately deal with the region's challenges?:
A combination of Shoka's familiarity with the area, warm clothes, natural type resistance, and Fire-type moves makes traveling through the heavy snow less of an obstacle for these two. Shoka's previous experiences with exploring the caves of Icefall Lake and the mention of illusions in the quest description also puts her on high alert for the types of obstacles they encounter once they've made their path through the snow. At the start of their trek, she gives Eleanor a rundown on what she had to deal with before—including hearing strange voices and sounds while in the caves—which puts Eleanor on high alert as well and lets her know not to trust everything her senses tell her.
Despite all of this, the nature of the Zorua's illusions will briefly get the better of Shoka by honing in on her innate Ghostly instincts. Combined with the eerie reflections in the ice (which mirror images from nightmares she had during the Great Grumpearl Malfunction of January), the illusions will cause her to become confused and aggressive and lash out at Eleanor. Thankfully, Eleanor will be able to stay calm and snap her out of it using grounding techniques she picked up as a Big Sister back in her home world. Once she's been successfully brought back to her senses, Shoka will be able to recognize the illusions as the work of a Pokémon thanks to her extensive experience with Emmet's own illusions. She and Eleanor will then be able to track the culprit down and drive them off, then approach the quest's actual target with their bond as teammates stronger than ever.
Are they prepared for combat?:
Definitely; both are aware that this is a bounty quest to seek out a potentially aggressive Pokémon, so they have come prepared for combat. Both have a variety of advantageous moves at their disposal (Eleanor has a Fire-type move and resistance to Ice-types, while Shoka has several Ghost-type moves—though her advantage against Ghost-types doubles as a disadvantage in her case, as she is a Ghost-type herself), and a recent team-up for a combat-based quest proved that they have good synergy in battle as well.
While under Froslass' influence back during the September festival, Shoka was unwilling to fight against her, but time has passed and Eleanor will have already brought her back from Ghostly influence once that day (in their confrontation with Zorua). This time, she'll be determined to stay focused for the sake of the team and fight back.
Given the choice, would they spare their target?:
Yes! Both Shoka and Eleanor can be ruthless in a fight when they need to be, but they would also prefer to spare their target if possible.
As mentioned before, Shoka has complicated feelings toward Froslass and feels some resentment toward her for the effect her presence had on Noelle back in September, but Zorua's plea also makes it obvious that Froslass is in pain and not fully in her right mind—not unlike Noelle was herself while under that influence. Shoka may briefly feel that this is Froslass just getting a taste of her own medicine and get a bit of twisted satisfaction out of it, but she simultaneously knows that the way Noelle reacted to Froslass' presence wasn't entirely Froslass' fault. She also still holds reverence for Froslass at the same time—a sense that Froslass is her queen, as the ruler of Ghosts who passed in lonely places.
A part of her is still beholden to Froslass and wants to end her suffering without putting a stop to her reign for good. Plus, if she can manage to save Froslass, maybe it will feel a little like she saved Noelle, too.
SUCCESS
The top of the mountain juts above the clouds - it's bitingly, furiously cold. The ground is rocky and uneven, but the real hazard here is the wind, which gusts so harshly that small Pokemon will have to fight to even stay on their feet. Or maybe that would be the real hazard, if not for the elegant figure that stands at the very center, alternately humming to herself or screaming in rage and agony. Her fury is such that when she lashes out, even intangible things like the wind are frozen, sheets of air turning into ice and falling out of the sky. But even when she hums, twirling in place, heavy clouds curl and grow from her sleeves and billow out from underneath her skirts - is this the cause of the extra snow this past month?
It's Mega Froslass, and until battled into submission, she will not listen to reason.
The battle is chaotic and frenzied, not helped by the rifts that wink open and closed rapidly throughout. In one moment the team will find themselves atop a clear, sunny mountain, no Mega Froslass to be seen - the next they'll be back in the blizzard, dodging icicles sent to spear them through. Sometimes a team member blinks out of the battle for a few seconds, or someone else familiar to you from town appears to launch an attack or simply stumble in surprise. In another moment the team witnesses what may have been the start of all this: Froslass, inspecting what looks like a concentration of rifts tangled together at the top of the mountain. There are so many of them crossed through each other that they're actually visible as a dark, jagged mass, spitting out sparks of energy. As soon as she reaches out to touch the edge, they all collapse, sending energy ripping through her - she doubles over, wailing a ghostly cry, as her body elongates painfully. But the rift spits everyone back out into the fight before they can react to warn her or stop her.
Although there are only two of them, Eleanor and Shoka have come to this battle prepared and aware of what was likely to come. Despite the rifts throwing them off-balance, it's clear that Mega Froslass isn't completely in control either; her constant fits of pain cause her to jolt in unpredictable directions, even striking where there appears to be no one at all. With their combined efforts, they're able to take advantage of this weakness to form a strategy - hitting Mega Froslass as hard as they can with blow after blow, leaving no room for counter strikes.
There's still only two of them however, which leaves only so many ways for them to approach the fight. As such, Eleanor finds herself deliberately in the path of more than a few particularly strong Ice moves, while Shoka's disguise becomes little more than a floppy, melted cat slumped upon her form. They can't afford to drag this out - but they know this, and as Mega Froslass prepares another gust of frozen wind, so too do Eleanor and Shoka ready what will be their final attempt to calm the Pokemon down. The Brionne's voice scatters across the ice as it barrels into her, and Shoka's shadow elongates until it's just in reach of their quarry, when-
"I LOVE YOU FROSLASS!! PLEASE, NO MORE!"
...A voice screams out through the rifts, and something small latches itself on Mega Froslass' back, forcing the Pokemon to stop in her tracks!
As Mega Froslass collapses to the ground, energy bursts out of her, escaping in bright streamers into the air. The blowing winds and gusts of snow subside, revealing a clear sky... and several other teams that weren't visible to you before! Were they even here until just now? Have you all been fighting her at the same time? Is "time" even the right word to use?
Froslass, now, is back to her usual form, slowly stirring back to consciousness - which means it's time to decide what to do with her.
It's a tough decision - not many of the Pokemon are fond of Froslass for her actions last year. But ultimately, the majority decision is to let her return home. Froslass, perhaps too proud to bow, but recognizing her near brush with true death, in turn waves a hand to bring just the slightest breeze of frozen air to her. It crystallizes, hardening, and leaves for each Pokemon there a uniquely snowflake shaped piece of Never-Melt Ice before she disappears to her royal abode.
Teams are left to wonder: what consequences will this decision bring?
With that resolved, whether or not everyone is happy with the result... all that's left is to bandage your wounds, round up any collapsed or heavily injured Pokemon, and make the exhausted, careful trek back to Skull Town. For your grueling efforts, each member is rewarded with 300 points - congratulations, now get some rest!