QUEST ACCEPTED BY - SPIDER FAIRGREEN QUEST TITLE - FIND A DREAM SEED CURRENT MISSION - ENTER THE OUTSKIRTS AND LOOK NEAR THE RIVERS FOR A SMALL GREEN AND WHITE AVOCADO SHAPED SEED. BEWARE OF CASS. BEWARE OF COL ENCOUNTERS. DELIVER DREAM SEED TO FAIRVIEW SATELLITE.

Spider enters The Outskirts, the massive overgrown forest surrounding Capital City and asks Error, her trusty Soul Shard Weapon currently in the form of a bowie knife, “So can you help me find a Dream Seed?”

On its blade, Error responds in red writing,

Yeah, I should be able to. Dream Seeds are usually found by rivers and there's a river over.... that way. : )

Spider notices that on the tip of the blade is an arrow acting like a compass would point north and seemingly attracted to something far in the distance. Trusting Error’s judgment, Spider follows the arrow into the depths of the overgrown woods. As it’s winter, Spider feels a terrible chill run up her spine, but that’s probably due to the weather. The trees above her, despite mostly being leafless and some dead, block out most sunlight from the ground below but provides just enough light to be able to see where she’s going. She hears the galloping, chittering, and squeaks of the forest’s denizens while on her trek. None of them seem to bother the wolf woman though. The forest is calming with a sharp silence beginning to permeate the air.

After nearly a half hour of walking, Spider begins to notice that the further she goes into The Outskirts, the more dense the overgrowth it. It truly is the last wild frontier in a world otherwise overcome by technology and magic, a place mostly unexplored by people due to the sheer size. At this point, Spider doesn’t even know where Capital City is, even with her finely-tuned hunter instincts. For all intensive purposes, she would be completely lost if it were not for Error guiding her towards a destination.

Curious, Spider asks her trusty companion, “so what even is a Dream Seed?”

It's a valuable item certain COLs hold that can pull people out of eternal dreams. In a sense, it is like magical smelling salts. That being said, research on Dream Seeds is still rather limited. They are very rare, but if Ashley is correct, Cass should have at least one. : )

Spider begins to hear the sounds of running water creep into her audible range. Alongside this sound, white noises begins to overtake even the sounds of the forest. It’s quiet for now, but as she steps forward, it very slowly becomes louder and more apparent. Spider, with a frown on her face asks Error, “mind telling me more about Cass?”

COL - 20 - RIVER SPIRIT
Cass the River's Guardian:

One of the four Guardian COLs of the Magickas alongside the Guardian of the Skies, the Guardian of the Earth, and the Guardian of the Forests. This one, similar in design to a humanoid Kappa, protects bodies of water from anything attempting to pollute or damage its ecosystem. It is an incredibly strong swimmer and legend has it, anyone who swims in its rivers will suffer a terrible death via drowning. If you get into its sights, it’s game over for you, especially if you intend to harm its beloved ecosystem.

A long time ago, Ashley Andromeda - then called SOLAR ADMIN Flora - encountered Cass while lost in the forest. It almost killed her, but for some unknown reason, it spared her and gave her a Soul Shard instead. This prompted her to proceed with research into the Creatures of Legend, claiming her Soul Shard let her commune with them more easily. If you ever see a golden lilypad-shaped earring, that's her Soul Shard.

As they continue to walk, Spider notices a lot of the animals in the area are asleep and something in the air feels... or perhaps, smells weird. It's a smell she's smelled before considering her experiences with Luna and Hinata in the past few months. That sweet smell that they're affected by. Spider eyes the animals and after taking note of the scent, her relaxation melts back into tension. Keeping most of her attention on their surroundings. Spider continues to walk lowering her voice to ask, "and how much danger are we in doing this?"

Error doesn't respond. The arrow continues to point towards their destination, but all other inscriptions have faded away.

"Error?" Spider pauses and gently shakes the knife, her voice laced with concern.

It doesn't respond. The amount of animals sleeping just on the ground, some deeply covered in snow, increases. Spider eventually finds herself at the river.

"..ok, that's.. fine" At this point Spider's stress is almost palpable as she scans the riverbank looking for the seed

She finds three of them, smallish ovular green and white striped seeds. They look... weird, like a cross between an easter egg and an avocado just as the Quest description claimed. In the distance, however, she notices something else passed out on the ground, some weird humanoid creature she's never seen before with olive green skin, a weird lilypad atop its head, black long claws on both its feet and hands, and a body that seems very lean. It appears to be completely unconscious on the riverbank, not even snoring. The white noise seems to lessen significantly near the riverbank.

After a second of studying the creature not trusting for a second that it's actually asleep. Spider carefully walks over to a seed and picks it up slipping it into her rucksack. It’s easily taken and Spider notices that Error recovers from whatever happened to it.

What-- what happ-- ned.? Wait, is that cass..? :(

Not wanting to speak in case it attracts Cass's attention Spider gives a small nod. She looks at the second seed and after a moment of deliberation it quickly joins the first in her bag. Spider then turns to leave her attention still trained onto the COL. It's not waking up. Considering its position, especially with its arms, it seems to have attempted to grab a Dream Seed before whatever happened happened. From the distance, Spider hears something CRASH!! onto the ground, maybe a few hundred feet from the riverbank back the way she came.

what the fuck. should we investigate >:(

Spider flinches violently at the crash quickly glancing over her shoulder at Cass before answering Error in the same quiet tone as before, "can you scan from here?"

Error's cone goes red.

Attempting scan. Might take some luck from the Gods of RNG. Scan complete. It cannot be! It's... can we PLEASE get closer. I can't believe it... Celeste, no. D:

Spider frowns thinking something over, "before we do, can Cass put people to sleep?" Despite her wording they do start moving cautiously towards the source of the crash.

It cannot. It is a very physical Creature of Legend. Most of its Magic is connected to its swimming prowess and physical strength via Induction. Nor is Celeste.

Spider sees a new creature at the source that's knocked down six trees like dominos from just how FAST it was moving. On the ground is what looks like a light brown lion shaped animal with large wings on its back and extremely sharp looking black claws on its paws.

Error scans the creature and Spider can almost feel her bowie knife shake. Whether is from fury or from fear, it's unclear.

Creature of Legend confirmed:

COL - 21: WIND RIDER
Celeste - The Guardian of the Skies

Celeste, much like Cass, is one of the four Guardian CoLs, this one a protector of the skies and one who defends its ecosystem against people attempting to pollute it or damage its brethren of the sky. It is a Griffon, a lion with large wings resembling that of an eagle. It is usually very gentle unless provoked and lots of people seem to be fans of it, even if most have never seen it in person. It flies in the skies at supersonic speeds and will assist other Guardians if need be.

Keeping her distance Spider watches Celeste her frown deepening, "..this doesn't make sense."

The scent from before is especially strong near where Celeste crash landed.

Are you sure? It makes some sense to me so far. Whatever this eff-- ct is in the air-- its affec-- us.,,

Error seems to be fading out again.

"hey stay with me." Spider gives Error another shake.

im try--g.. im awake...

It seems to be struggling. Its red cone continues to attempt to scan for any other dangers. It does not find any others in the immediate area. Celeste is completely knocked out, not even snoring. Its breath is light.

"..hang on." An idea sparking Spider jogs back to the riverbank and picks up the third dream seed. They're very light.

Spider looks down at Error holding the seed a bit closer to it, "you with me?"

...im here.. sorry spider

"Don't be." Spider sighs glancing around, "it's that scent again which means Nova's behind this."

yeah, uh can we please leave? i dont like the smell. it makes me tired..

Spider cannot find where Celeste crashed.

Glancing at Cass Spider replies, "we can in a minute, are these dream seeds one time use?"

As far as I know, no they are not. It's possible to extract the Magic contained with them, but as they are when they grow, they can be used multiple times : ) It seems to have recovered.

Nodding Spider walks over to Cass and places the Dream Seed in the hand that was reaching for it. They then disappear in a shower of green sparks. Right as Spider disappears, Cass seems to grip the Dream Seed.

Next stop, ADMIN Andromeda's office