"Now I remember why I don't like going to cities". Korlok said, as he scanned his eyes across all of the children running around and screaming before 1st moon.
"You do remember that you were one of the loudest kids to have ever been born in Kelthor, right?" reminded Wendelyn. "Lead us to the library, it'll be quiet there." she added, with a little smirk.
Just as they suspected, Makale was already there. He was in the back room, and had been researching the reports of all the extra monsters. Once they told him about the pouch, his research was focused on that.
They didn't really find anything helpful, just one mention of a pouch from the Oracle, but not what it was for, or how it was used. The only useful information they found was that there was one other recorded increase in monsters about 200 seasons ago, which also happened to be around the time the pouch was mentioned. While it is possible for a Protector to live for 200 seasons, it was highly unlikely there were any around.
It felt like a dead end, so the group decided to take the day to rest in Amboor, and head to The Mountain in the morning.
Just before 3rd moon, while the group was lounging around near the town square, some screams could be heard in the distance. They ran to see what was going on, and found a large group of monsters had swarmed the entrance. The guards were doing their best, but there were just too many to stop them all from getting in.
Korlok and Wendelyn helped the guards take down the monsters that had gotten into the city, while Jasko and Gaeene ran out to make sure no more got in. They weren't very strong monsters, but they seemed to just keep coming. Once it looked like they were finally making some progress, several more Protectors arrived, and the rest of the swarm was cleared up.
It turns out that the Mayoral Committee had decided to recruit a few more guards for each city, after the recent attacks and increase in monsters. And they arrived just in time.
"Where are they coming from?' asked Korlok, with a look of pure frustration on his face. "This doesn't make any sense!"
"I don't know." Answered Jasko. "But I get the feeling we're gonna find out eventually. Let's get some rest, we have a long couple days ahead of us!"
It didn't take long for everyone to fall asleep, and as their eyes closed, it was time to get up.
Gaeene convinced the rest of the group to stop by the jeweler, and request the Maze Ring Quest. Each city had a jeweler stand, all owned by the same family. The processes they use have been handed down through the generations, including the process of using Legendary Spider legs to create a ring that can be imbued with Quickness. Once they all had their quest, the started their trip North.
They decided to stay on the path for this trip, but still ended up having to fight a lot of wandering monsters. After a few small battles, they could see the village of Badoo up ahead. It wasn't a very desirable destination, and was generally full of pretty shady people. So they had to decide if they wanted to go through it, and deal with them, or cut through the woods around the village, and have to fight even more annoying monsters. It only took a few minutes to unanimously decide to go around.
Jamarth was their next stop. Not for anything particular, but it was on the way. They stopped in for a quick lunch, and could see the additional guards were all in place. They did a quick check in the library there, but didn't find anything new, and decided to get to The Maze before 3rd moon.
Gaeene had fought here already, but for the rest of the group, The Maze was so much more than they were expeting. They had heard it was a bunch of rows of old shrubs and bushes, and with some dying, and others being very overgrown, it had created a maze. But none of them were prepared for how large the maze was, or how high all of the shrubs had grown. You could actually get lost in this place!
Just like all of the other outposts, there were way more monsters than expected. Everyone had already gotten noticably stronger since getting their 3rd skill, so they never felt overwhelmed, but they also didn't get very many breaks. And this time, when they found the Legendary Spider, there were two of them standing right next to each other. And each time they killed them, two more would spawn. They finally had all of the legs they needed, and decided to use the last of their strength and sunlight to get to the base of The Mountain.
It had been a long day, and tomorrow would likey feel even longer. They all fell asleep thinking about the choices they woud make in the morning.