Thanks, I put too much work into it 
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I was hoping there would be singing too! Câmon, whaddya say? Sing for us Seurimas Songwraith!
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There are, in fact, limits to my talent, sorry 
SoâŚI was thinking about Tinny more, and I bet she gets up to some crazy adventures! How do we know that she hasnt cursed wargs in the Lucian plains to be stuck on mountains and wasting away? Or maybe she decided to have some fun with the foxes in the frosted spit and make them hallucinate that theyâre running in a straight line but in reality theyâre going all over? GuysâŚmaybe there was something to what we were told about the evils of magic? 
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Elongata the carnivorous
Its creation and redaction
when you travel the line donât do it alone, Deep in the catacombs of the old university island rests a book, The last note book of lacuna. This book shows the dangers of Patreal and how thay came to be. this is the entry of the dreaded elongata.
Date unknown, Time unknown, Our unit whenât down there we thought it would be normal hunt, Go in kill the Dragon, kill the Rex, kill the plant, Get out. Two, Only two of us survived and that was just then. We took the dragon like it was nothing. We thought it would be so easy. I thought it would be so easy we first ran in to trouble when the when we got to the rex, we lost Falta it ripped him to peaces crushed his spine it was horrifying to see. Hundreds of arrows and orbs later we had it no its knees. Tewas plunged his sword into the back of its head killing it. We made the mistake of going to the plant. That thing was everywhere almost inescapable. it took hours the twins Tewas and Kalah both lost there lives. that thing finally was dead but those creatures that fell from it escaped. The only ones left were me and Ido.
We hunted them down. Not wanting to know what thay would do if thay got out. At the time we thought we did we found out we were wrong in the worst way. We recovered the remnant of the comrades we ones knew there weapons and helms to be specific we gave them the funeral thay deserved. We told the bishop about the rooms we cleared, Despite there views on magic as a heretical art thay seem fine using it. That sealed of the rooms thay told us it was some thing that would stop any more of the creatures escaping. a few days later we heard news in mountaincrest. those monsters had killed the village out side the wood all that was left was one heavily injured guard. he said that thay ate them all the villagers. How we missed them I donât know. last he saw of them thay were climbing up and digging deep into the cliff.
It was a bad choice to begin with but Ido said we needed to see it through, we were obligated to or something to that effect. the bishop gave us an army we had so many people thay even sent runemages thay relay didnât want them running again, there was ninety of us in total most came to help build the zip-line for some deranged reason the commander thought that was easy option for getting up and down the cliff. Only fifteen of us came out alive The creatures replicated up there. it took three to eat the village now we faced forty of them. We killed thirty eight of them, They killed sixty five of us. we searched for two hours then the ground started rumbling and then nothing silence. one of the two creatures burst from the ground behind us unlike the rest this was one of the originals from the caves it pushed us back the rumbling started again this time louder and more violent tearing up through the ground it grabbed Ido and a few others in its mouth after killing the other creature we ran what ever that was. We could not let anyone near it again. we found out that there was dangerous experiments that were done there ones focused on transmutation and biological cellular redirection. The four stones resting around mountaincrest were created to harness the magic used. this was what bishop roma told us. those who survived. I donât think he will let anyone know what happened there he will likely cover it up again just like the worm worshiperâs lab.
Iâm hiding this journal or at leas this copy in the library at the island at the city. if thay find it thay will destroy it the master copy is hidden as well there rest will be scattered to places where others will find so thay know not to hunt for him and to prepare for when the monster can be killed.
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That was just lovely!!
An Exploration & A Plea
Many brave, experienced adventurers began discovering strange shards deep within the forgotten ruins of the Esasa. These shards would prove to open a series of increasingly difficult challenges. Much can be said of these challenges and those who would face them, but who put those shards there? Was it the Esasa themselves? Or was it possibly another race, from somewhere even deeper?..
To understand this, we must look deeper. Within these special dungeons opened by the shards, strange new items began to emerge. It was unmistakable to those who set eyes upon them; these items came from the seas. To an untrained eye, for example, a bow that was uncovered in these âshard dungeonsâ looked like an ordinary, quality bow. But to the keen observer, it was clearly two fish impaled on a stick with a string tying their tails together. Such a clever disguise! But who could have masked something in such plain sight?! Clearly there was more to this mystery than meets the eye.
This author sets forth that another, even older race exists than the Esasa, a race that dwells within the seas. In search of the bravest, keenest, most stalwart and resilient warriors and adventurers that these (or any) lands have ever seen, this unknown race would scatter the shards among the ruins of the Esasa. Knowing that only true survivors couldâŚwell, survive, the testing began. They set about crafting a new set of weapons and armor to reward these adventurers, in hopes that they could make it to the final, greater challenges.
Of course, this all sounds noble. But it seems to this author that the greatest evil these (pardon my slang) âfish-folkâ would face, is none other than the the evil fish-monger and his minions who overfish the waters of these fine lands. Of course, nothing is ever that simple; It seems that there are, indeed, many prime-evils for the fish-folk. Of course I speak of a man who is no longer a man at all, but a hybrid of man and Elk. One whoâs absolute rampage on the seas would send a chill down the spine of even the deepest dwelling fish. There was also the one who was once known as Mac, but cloned himself using forbidden Esasa tank technology to create a Decoy of himself, short-cutting the natural process of life and death. And what of Johann, the stranger from distant shores who not only stripped the seas bare, but the lands as well? Perhaps the fish-folk knew only of these three? If this was the case, this author feels relief that they know not of the fury of the woman Carly scorned. Some say the seas are limitless in their bountyâŚshe would prove that even the mightiest of waters could be over-fished.
So, while we see these âbraveâ and ânobleâ adventurers parading about their fish-laden equipmentâŚlet us remember the cold-blooded blood that was shed to create these totems of death. Let us remember that for these weapons to be worthwhile, they must shed even more blood of even greater monsters than the monsters that lie deep within us all.
Author Redacted
Time Unknown
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@Seurimas_Songwraith so youâll be the mastermind composer and weâll find someone to perform it! Your song should totally exist and haunt the Wilds! Is the song just stuck in my head, or is it mingled with background noise and growing louder?!
@Sparky hooray Elongata story! I especially like how you kept it tied to the lore of the game!
@aeonblack6 so THAT must be who the mysterious Fisherman of Fishermen is avenging! It all makes sense now! I love that you wove in our famous fishers! 
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When the low level chef mission is fixed (demanding chef) maybe get him to pop a line in like âremember to talk to folk, there was a time I was shy tooâ
I know this isnât much but it would make a nice in joke about the mission not popping
Did you guys hear the one about the ghosts in the Tradu Mines? I was down there last night and I heard themâŚtelling bad jokes and making everyone and everything feel really self-conscious about their teeth! I know that some of the ghosts in the world will haunt you, some will sing you towards their gravesâŚbut now some just want people to hear âhey did you hear the one aboutâŚâ for eternity!
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âGhost Bandits and Nightmare Flowers
Once upon a time, before the art of resurrection was bestowed upon us as a divine gift from Maâat (for musketeers, mind you!) graveyards were placed far out of town - as far out into the Wilds as anyone could tread. The dead were not visited, only taken to be lain to rest. Evil runemages took advantage of this custom of respect for the dead, experimenting in the graveyards so far removed from civilization. Rumor has it they called themselves Laughing Coffin, for they mock death itself. In their attempts to figure out how to resurrect the dead themselves, they inadvertently created horrifically dangerous aberrations of the local wildlife, and undoubtedly many of those runemages were killed upon trying to return to town. The sudden appearance of a rare cemetery flower as an evasive species in Lamavora tipped off the authorities that something very wrong was happening in the outskirts. Once their plot was uncovered, distant graveyards were moved much closer to town and now have guards stationed nearby 24/7. We thought that nightmare might be behind us now that they couldnât congregate safely in remote graveyards, but a presence of evil lives on⌠Brave gatherers of rare resources and dauntless hunters have bested the trek and the aberrations only to be attacked by ghost bandits. Those that return tell tales of what theyâve seen, lucky to have barely escaped. Witnesses say a lone traveler saw what he believed to be a bandit, so he turned to flee to town.
BUT THE BANDIT DISAPPEARED FROM BEHIND HIM AND REAPPEARED IN FRONT OF HIM, IN THE GRAVEYARD!
âŚand the guards couldnât see the banditâŚ
They say that the runemages perfected the resurrection ritual on a rare flower that used to only grow in the distant Lamavora graveyard. That version of the experiment worked a little too well, and now Lamavora is overrun with what has come to be known as the Nightmare Flowers. They canât even be drowned! Have you seen the bottom of the lakes?! I heard a brand new guardian sent to Guild City crossed over into Lamavora and was quickly killed by its wildlife⌠Only to reappear alive in the middle of the flowers to be killed again in a vicious cycle. Youâd think a fancy resort would want to be among the flowers, but no, thatâs why itâs high above. Make sure to wash off in the waters below before taking the balloon up, I hear itâs taken so seriously that itâs enforced by the mobâŚ
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Before everything changes with Defend the Realm and Reborn, we need to document our lives! Our stories! The hearsay! Donât let them be forgotten. We will remember Troll Cave! And the ânatural disasterâ that destroyed Old Kingsport and moved Ernestâs fishing hut from near Leisa Falls to closer to Highsteppe! Why the temple at the top of Leisa Falls is so heavily guarded by mobs! How did Green Lady Forest get its name?? The mythology behind where a land bridge appeared between first dungeon cave and Guild City! What sunflowers and nightmare flowers mean to us! Whatâs the rioter in Highsteppe going on about to that crowd? Rumors about NPCs or assumptions regarding quest things. How/why armored wargs got those skulls, and how is it that help always comes when they call?
Personal misadventures!
Hope things keep rolling with Defend the Realm and Reborn, but while the world is as it is, preserve our history! Our customs! Our geography of the before time!
Speaking of which, my walking song is about to not reflect the current world. Iâd meant to include each region, but ended up limiting it to the Midlands and like a beginner experience. scrambles for ideas for other areas
One day I thought, hey you know what, I ainât been out this town
I could see the world below, realized hey I wanna go
Airship would take me above the world but I wanna wade its depths
Teleporting would spare some dread, but Iâd rather use reagents to raise the dead
Went down the stairs and found a lake and there learned how to fish
What more to learn if I explore, Iâll just walk along this shore
Barely escaped a mob of kelpies and by falls found a door
Went to take refuge inside, wasnât the only here to hide
Headed back over to town, hey where do these stairs go?
Iâll just climb and take a peak, giant spiders made me shriek
Fled for my life through the woods dodging skogtrolls
Think I passed a bandit site, kept on running with all my might
Ran on down and back to town but didnât wanna go home
Iâll just head the other way, I ainât done adventuring today
Passed Cennâs Farm and down the stairs and followed the bank right
This path leads to Guild City, but civilization is what Iâm fleeing
Headed south through the wargs past an apple grove
Narrow Orchard gives me the creeps, donât know how anyone there sleeps
Music floated from across the field I followed past a garden
Thereâs a really cool game they play in The Twins, I wonder which one of themâs gonna win?
Escorting the donkey to Wenderwood surely wonât be that bad
I feel like we arenât making any headway, how many more wargs are there to slay?!
After failing this mission again and again we finally formed a clan
Warrior, ranger, musketeer, and runemage wearing all of our gear
Runemage and ranger attack from afar while warrior keeps aggro
Musketeer focuses on healing orbs, oh look at that sheep ainât it adorbs
A stray shot shoots that sheep dead and a monster rears its head
How many more times are we gonna die, hey whatâs that shadow that passed by?
A plains guardian lurks out of range, with each step danger grows
Thieves have already claimed this pass, good thing we have more than one of each class
Wenderwood at last in sight and now the donkeyâs safe
It seems hunters here could use a hand, even wargs wearing skulls roam in this land
We fought our way to the mountainside, uh does anyone here smell smoke?
I thought it came from a gap in the rock, but turned and dropped my jaw in shock
A forest fire reigned hell on earth where wargs did not dare tread
Wyverns were weaving through the flames, whadaya mean weâre going, are you insane?!
Some the frick how we make it through, I swear I donât like yall!
Thank Maâat after fire thereâs some water here - WHAT THE HECK IS THAT, THAT LADYâS SHEER!
Screaming and fleeing from a vengegul ghost, these swine canât slow me down!
Dodging the swing of a tree-sized glaive, I tucked and rolled to hide in this cave
NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE flew across the field and a bridge
Hit the ground running and darted right, oh thank goodness, a fort in sight!
Took a breather around the fort and fed the donkeys there
When I exited the other side, saw an airship that next time I might ride!
Living peacefully in Guild City Iâm getting bored again
Next time I decide to venture out, Iâll take others with me without a doubt
I farm catfish to save my dram and found a fellowship
Gathering members with a shared goal, weâll take on the world, come on, letâs roll!
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Iâll sing anything. A bard has an obligation to sing and perform!
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The orbus saw and what really happened if it wasnât jigsaw erm hmmm more original like who is Holmes and silver why donât they just get along.
I hope for bards to be able to play every note on the staff from first ledger line on bottom to top; even if its just cosmetic it would be cool to get people to practice and write songs in orbus and having the orbs that fall on the notes appear as the notes created in the song, it would create some fun dynamics of instruments and singers in events where people want to get together but would also allow for some people to compose music and then play it in highsteppe for people whenever wanted. It would be a really cool mechanic that could make for some great folk tales.
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More writing prompts:
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How Highsteppe went from the quaint little âopen air hallwayâ to current version Orbus with RNTreesus to the 20 years in future ermagerd RNTreesus (or has anyone else come up with another name?) Is this relevant to the ârumorâ of Elongata spawning within Highsteppe shortly after it was first established?
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Details of what resources were used with Defend the Realm how, details of âsafe areasâ becoming overrun (Mi-go kelpie in Wenderwood, Leshaks at Cennâs Farm, etc) and was that rogue Skogtroll our very first clue practically a year prior? Remember the second Skogtroll several months later creeping outside our new playerhouse?
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The origin of the moon, the origin of the clouds, the origin of the new classes during/after the great Defend the Realm battles (maybe even the origin of the original 4 with the first days of Highsteppe and why they had set colors, what that symbolized - on display in fellowship hall)
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the curse of the rain and how that was resolved
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wagon cementery sky fish
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tales of the desert and the frosted spit, how/why they vanished (crime within the desert, the cactus that became cactaur, the ruins, the cool effect of the sand in the air, how rainforest suddenly became snowy, orange felids to white, the possession of the humanoid frosted spit inhabitants, the death valley and why that NPC travels it, attacking everyone in that valley while the hill tops were safe, why even the mobs on the hills refuse to enter the valley, the origin of the seahorse designs with the architecture)
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what you come up with considering your own adventures and hearsay with current Orbus and how things changed with what weâve seen so far in the betas
The most obvious of stories is that of the first runemage. Blew his bedroom up practicing his alphabet in kindergarten.
He spent all of elementary school practicing dofferent shapes with his different pencil.
Grew up on a chicken farm. Thats why polymorph always creates chickens, its the first animal that spell ever learned.
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I remember last year I ran into a group of adventurers that were in a clan called âAnd the Crystal Gemsâ. They were incredibly nice and helpful to myself who happened to be a fledgling wizard at the time. They had come to Wenderwood after locals had made disturbing reports of monsters killing sheep and wearing their bodies as camouflage. We had believed that the reports were written by scared children or crazed elders that had seen some sort of awful stray Warg ritual. After a brief period of culling sheep in search of the infected ones, we saw it.
A huge beast like weâd never seen before! It had unnaturally sleek and slender features, like that of a whale or shark. Itâs scales were pitch black, but itâs narrow white eyes and teeth were so sharp a wolfâs would pale in comparison. It had a long and barbed tongue that it used as a weapon, and itâs viscous saliva that burned the skin like acid was flung everywhere. Itâs movements were disturbing and itâs breaths were labored. It drug itself across the ground at a frightening pace and made clacking noises right before it was ready to bite.
I turned and began running back towards town. Iâve never run so fast before in my life. I was sure that if I had stopped to breathe or to look back, then the monster would grab me and eat me for sure. I nearly tackled the first Order guard I saw and I began telling her my story in a panicked voice. At first she laughed at my panicked words, scars and burns but after a moment she realized that I wasnât trying to scare her and she started taking me seriously. My hands were bound with rope behind my back and I was placed on the next caravan back to the Guild city. She had believed me overworked in the summer sun and thought Iâd imagined the beast to explain some bad experiences with he surrounding wolves and burning woods. No one believed my story and I was re-assigned to the Lamavora Frontier to continue my duties.
Sometimes at night my mind wanders back to the Wenderwoods and there it is met with the dark silhouettes of those brave warriors I abandoned for my own selfish survival. The areas, the faces and their voices are all obscured by time. The only thing I can remember in pure liquid detail is the creature we saw rip itâs way out of that sheep. When I hear the clacking and chirping of birds on my house I begin to sweat and shake.
Iâve never gone back to Wenderwood and I pray I never will.
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