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By +Larn Margot
It had been rumored that there would be a mysterious contest of skill and bravery across the land of Dereth, and I, being a scribe, was naturally interested. Bands of 10 to 20 brave men and women were meeting and forming teams at towns all over the continent. I caught up with "Team Three" in the swamps of Sawato.
As the adventurers easily overwhelmed a red phyntos wasp, the rumbling of thunder could be heard across the swamp. Ichi jin-rai searched the corpse and found a pair of intact wings. "I got a wasp wing. That's worth another point . . ." Ichi jin-rai said, when a mud golem crashed through the bushes, running surprisingly fast for such a large monster. Two more of the creatures soon followed. The rest of Team Three -- Elorian, Aslan the Lionheart, and Jane the Brave -- easily slaughtered the golems, their bodies crumbling to a thousand pieces. Following the battle, the relatively green Aslan jumped with excitement, exclaiming, "I've never seen a golem before!" However, after inspecting the remains of the creatures, the adventurers seemed crestfallen. What were they hoping to find?
During a brief respite from the fighting, I asked the nature of this contest. It happened that Team Three was one of the eight registered bands participating in a six-hour scavenger hunt. The objective was simple, if a bit odd: collect monster body parts, medallions, and armor specified on a public list and turn them over to an advocate for points before time ran out. Of course, different items had different point values, ranging from the one-point Auroch Horn to the thousand-point (not a misprint!) Olthoi Cuirass. Perhaps the advocates needed these ingredients for a special spell. Or perhaps this strange hunt was intended to encourage adventurers to eliminate the evil creatures of Dereth. I do not know. Team Three was trying hard not to get ambushed by golems in the process of collecting one-point wasp wings.
After the event, I discovered from an advocate that Team Four, consisting of Vidorian (the leader), Jon, Draco, Blackthorn, Doremon, Kewlbreeze, and Tobias, had achieved victory with a staggering 171 points. I sought them out and discussed strategy with them. Kewlbreeze originally set his sights high. "I wanted to go for the Olthoi Cuirass at first =)" he told me. However, Jon convinced the team to "stay with the easy stuff." Obviously the strategy worked for Team Four, whose most valuable item was a swamp stone, worth a lowly three points. Slow and steady seemed to be the key to the scavenger hunt. No team brought in an item worth more than four points.
Team Three, the team I was following, finished second. Perhaps their choice of hunting ground had cost them victory. Soon after being attacked by the golems, Ichi jin-rai was ambushed by two swamp gromnies. Jane the Brave summed up the situation best when she exclaimed, "RUN!" This scribe was glad he was not noticed by the gromnies (I bravely hid in the bushes).
Congratulations to Team Four for their astounding success!
Final Team Scores
Supplied by Dave@Turbine
(Team 1 and 5 results not available)
TEAM CRYSLIS
No list of items obtained.
TOTAL 9 POINTS
TEAM #2
No list of items obtained.
TOTAL 7 POINTS
TEAM #3
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18 White Rat Tails
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18 points
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2 Black Rat Tails
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2 points
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4 Brown Rat Tails
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4 point
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1 Swamp Stone
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3 points
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8 Drudge Charms
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8 points
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6 Banderling Scalps
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6 points
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3 Red Phyntos Wasp Wings
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3 points
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8 Blue Phyntos Wasp Wings
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8 points
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3 Green Phyntos Wasp Wings
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3 points
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3 Wood Hearts
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6 points
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2 Gold Tumerok Insignia
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8 points
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TOTAL 69 POINTS
TEAM #4
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1 Blue Phyntos Wasp Wing
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1 point
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1 Red Phyntos Wasp Wing
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1 point
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5 Green Phyntos Wasp Wings
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5 points
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1 Wood Heart
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2 points
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39 Auroch Horn Spears
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78 points
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16 Swamp Stones
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48 points
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12 White Rat Tails
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12 point
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1 Grey Rat Tail
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1 point
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5 Drudge Charms
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5 points
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15 Banderling Scalps
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15 points
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1 Skeleton Skull
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3 points
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TOTAL 171 POINTS
TEAM #6
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12 White Rat Tails
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12 points
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3 Grey Rat Tails
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3 points
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2 Red Rat Tails
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2 points
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9 Black Rat Tails
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9 points
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30 Banderling Scalps
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30 points
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2 Green Phyntos Wasp Wings
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2 point
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1 Red Phyntos Wasp Wing
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1 point
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7 Drudge Charms
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7 points
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3 Wood Hearts
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6 points
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2 Auroch Horns
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2 points
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1 Auroch Horn Spear
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2 points
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2 Swamp Stones
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6 points
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3 Skeleton Skulls
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9 points
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TOTAL 91 POINTS
TEAM #7
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1 Skeleton Skull
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3 points
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6 Swamp Stones
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18 points
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TOTAL 21 POINTS
TEAM #8
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4 White Rat Tails
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4 points
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2 Banderling Scalps
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2 points
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1 Drudge Charm
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1 point
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2 Green Phyntos Wasp Wings
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2 points
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1 Grey Rat Tail
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1 point
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1 Wood Hearts
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2 points
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1 Auroch Horn Spear
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2 points
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TOTAL 14 POINTS
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;)
