Stonefield FrontierDay 2-5 of Grainworks Initiative
Ava woke early to continue her survey of Stonefield Frontier. Last night when she checked, she was #2, and that would not do. So she gathered her stuff, saddled the horse, and got on. She headed first toward Ridgemarket, a village along the path. As she rode into the village, she received a system message.
[Point of Interest Visited]RidgemarketExplorer Reputation +15◈ ◈ ◈
She stopped at the inn first to get breakfast, and while there, she convinced the inn owner and four of his staff to join the guild.
[Sponsored Members Registered]Guild Reputation +10Members Registered: 5◈ ◈ ◈
With breakfast done, she went out and found a group of four talking on the side of the road. Explaining the guild to them, she signed them up. People were really interested in the reputation and other guild perks, so it was not hard for her to get them to sign up. While talking, she found out that leather and rope were one of their big exports, and they also had pack animals for trade and offered to sell Ava one, but she turned them down.
[Sponsored Members Registered]Guild Reputation +10Members Registered: 4◈ ◈ ◈
She looked and was still in second place. So she thanked them for their time and rode northeast on the road to Stonefield Crossing. Travel went quickly, and she was surprised when she got yet another level in her horse riding skill; it was the second on this trip so far. As she left town, Swoop came back and relayed more locations she had seen.
[Aerial Survey Updated]New Locations ConfirmedStoneleaf FlatsSilent HillsShepherd's Range
Survey Progress: 27%Explorer Reputation +45◈ ◈ ◈
She sent Swoop back out and continued toward Stonefield Crossing. As she got closer, she realized it was much bigger than she expected. She had traveled more than half the day getting from one village to the next. This was going to be hard work if she wanted to stay in first place. She went far enough into town to register the find.
[Point of Interest Visited]Stonefield CrossingExplorer Reputation +35◈ ◈ ◈
She then went around talking to people. She found a caravan market and signed up five people, then found the trade square and signed up another five people.
[Sponsored Members Registered]Guild Reputation +10Members Registered: 10◈ ◈ ◈
Ava finally went to the inn and got a room for the night. Looking at the rankings, she was just barely in first place, without much room to spare. Tomorrow she would make it go up even more. As Swoop returned again, she got more locations-found messages.
Day 3
Ava traveled east around the end of the Broken Spine and then turned north toward the Ancient Watchtower. She then received a system message.
[Point of Interest Visited]The Broken Spine Ridge SystemExplorer Reputation +75◈ ◈ ◈
The closer she got to the Ancient Watchtower, the taller she realized it was. At the base, she found a group of people that were exploring the Watchtower. After she got recognition for discovering it, she invited them to the guild and got four more people registered.
[Major Survey Point Discovered]Ancient WatchtowerExplorer Reputation +100Survey Progress: 38%◈ ◈ ◈
She then took the time to climb all the way to the top and look out across the area. She was high enough she could see a good chunk of the zone. When she finally got back to the bottom, it was night. She was still in first place, gaining a lead over second. Swoop again came back from exploring.
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[Aerial Survey Updated]New Locations ConfirmedWestern Ridge PassNorth Quarry CampStonewind Trail
Explorer Reputation +45Survey Progress: 49%◈ ◈ ◈
Day 4
Ava got up again early and this time passed by three more locations on the way to her planned stop for the night, Traveler’s Rest.
[Point of Interest Visited]Stoneleaf FlatsExplorer Reputation +15◈ ◈ ◈
[Point of Interest Visited]Silent HillsExplorer Reputation +15◈ ◈ ◈
[Point of Interest Visited]Shepherd’s RangeExplorer Reputation +15◈ ◈ ◈
All along the way she signed up all those she could find. She found herbalists near Stoneleaf Flats and goat herders at Silent Hills and sheep and goats at Shepherd’s Range. She tried to get four to five more people registered at each stop along the way. She finally made it to Traveler’s Rest.
[Point of Interest Visited]Traveler’s RestExplorer Reputation +15◈ ◈ ◈
Again, she invited more people, six this time, to the guild. Again, she found the local inn and went to sleep.
Day 5
Up again, she looked at her map. The last major thing she wanted to visit was Whisper Canyon. But on the way, she first visited Eastgate Camp. She learned something she had not realized: this camp was a main entrance to the zone for people coming from the east. The locals talked about visitors representing at least four different zones in that direction. This excited Ava. To stay ahead, she needed to keep exploring and finding new things.
[Point of Interest Visited]Eastgate CampExplorer Reputation +15◈ ◈ ◈
She then rode south from Eastgate until the path turned west, heading to Whisper Canyon. Almost every camp she went through talked about Whisper Canyon. Everyone was afraid and wary of what lay down in it. But Ava was determined to find out.
[Major Landmark Discovered]Whisper CanyonExplorer Reputation +275Survey Progress: 86%◈ ◈ ◈
Ava got off her horse, which was very nervous about being here. Even Bramble growled and refused to get close to the edge. Ava, though, walked to the edge and looked down. She almost fell off, getting dizzy over the distance to the bottom. It was deeper than the Ancient Watchtower was tall, which was saying a lot. She looked around for a path leading down into the canyon but couldn't find one from where she stood. Realizing she needed to head farther south, she went to get back on her horse when she got another system message.
[Exploration Opportunity Identified]Whisper Canyon
Survey Difficulty: HighRecommended: Expedition TeamDiscovery Bonus Available◈ ◈ ◈
Okay, the system did not want her to go alone. Now what should she do next? The system then sent her a new message.
[Regional Recruitment Progress]Stonefield Frontier
Registered Adventurers: 97Registered Parties: 8Region Status: Active Guild Participation◈ ◈ ◈
Ava realized she finally had done enough to get this zone registered. She brought up the explorer rankings.
[Explorer Rankings]1) Ava2) Jarek3) Nathan4) Elira5) Tomas
Lead Over Second Place: +611◈ ◈ ◈
She smiled at that. She had almost twice as much as the guy in second place, which made her happy. Then she got another system message.
[Explorer Milestone]Stonefield Frontier
Survey Progress: 86%Major Discoveries: 12Guild Recruits Sponsored: 43Explorer Reputation +275◈ ◈ ◈
Ava looked east. There were more regions out there and more explorer reputation to gain. How far could she go before someone caught on to her trick to win?
Ava said, "If Stonefield is this interesting, I wonder what's in the next one."