Scythe of Flame
| Type | Weapon |
|---|---|
| Discovered By | Zinn Lightstar |
| Discovery Date | 23 February 2008 |
| Discovery Location | Dwilight |
| Abilities | (unknown) |
| Current Owner | (unknown) |
After his peculiar encounter with the cabbage-stealing, pitchfork-wielding, tusked monsters in Linhai, adventurer Zinn Lightstar found himself on the road again to the nearest town of Caiyun, a new golden brooch affixed to his belt. So far, he had found a decent amount of gold from the lairs of various beasts and from doing the odd task here and there to help out local farmers.
Now, the man recently come from the Far East Island, where many various religions vied for the belief and support of the populace, set out to see for himself the new temple built in the name of Sanguis Astroism, dedicated to the mystical Blood Stars. Zinn hoped to learn more about this religion upon which the realm of Morek was founded and to eventually join the fold of the faithful as soon as his purse allowed him; in this way, he believed that he could better blend in with the locals and perhaps make new friends in this new world.
The adventurer whistled to himself as he sauntered forth on the dusty path, travel pouch slung over his scabbarded blade, which was itself held with both his hands behind his upper back, palms facing forward. Zinn breathed in the fresh, crisp air, slightly tinged with the smell of the ocean not too far away, and wondered what this new day would bring. He was in high spirits, ready to take on whatever dangers lurked behind the next ominous rock formation or shady tree. As the young man passed by an especially ugly-looking boulder on the side of the road, an evil cackle sounded from a few yards away.
"Yeeeeee HA AHA HAHA ahaaaah!! Tehahaeheheaha hoo!"
Zinn immediately spun towards the source of this odd noise, almost spooked out of his shoes! He peered cautiously into the dark bushes behind the large rock.
"Wh-Who's there? Show yourself!"
A wizened, old hag materialized out from under the boulder and pointed a scraggly finger deeper into the shadowed forest off the side of the path.
"Meny wundrus trezures aweyt ye in yonder woods, me young, preetti boi... iff'n ye dare te goo en dere..."
With a final crooked, toothless grin and a stomach-churning wink of her baggy eye, the witch dropped away from sight. Zinn gaped at the suddenly quiet scene and felt a chill course up his spine, tingling all of his nerves. He glanced in the direction of the dark forest path indicated by the old woman and, for some inexplicable reason, started down the path into the creepy woods.
After a handful of twists and turns, venturing past low-hanging branches and tripping over the occasional tree root, Zinn entered a clearing where a trickle of sunlight shone down upon a mysterious stone pedestal. At the moment, it appeared bare on top, and quite tall, reaching almost to chest-height, made of a cloudy-gray rock. He remained out of the light for a few breaths, looking around for any traps or enemies lying in wait. When Zinn figured that it was safe, he ventured forth to examine this peculiar altar of sorts.
All of a sudden, there was a soft whistling noise, and a juicy red tomato flew out from the shrubbery towards Zinn's gawking face. He ducked at the last second, and the vegetable sailed harmlessly high for a few more seconds before splattering against a tree. Wide-eyed, the adventurer held his scabbarded blade in front of him in a ready stance, legs spread apart to maintain balance. More whistling noises similar to the first sounded from all around, and a veritable barrage of red fruits assailed the bewildered man from all directions.
Zinn let his natural instincts take over, coolly swinging his weapon with calculated ferocity. His efforts caused almost a third of the flying fruit to rebound back towards his still-out-of-sight ambushers. As the tomatoes began slamming into the surrounding shrubs, small grunts of surprise echoed forth, and the onslaught of edible projectiles slowly ceased. After the last enemy was hit with a taste of his own medicine, a tense moment of silence ensued. Then shouts sounded out from everywhere.
"Wabbid! Wabbid! Wabbid!"
The adventurer still could see no sign of these creatures, whether they be human or otherwise, so he waited with tense anticipation for them to make the next move. Three loud heartbeats later, the bushes directly across from him rustled, and a small, furry animal padded forth on two hind paws, holding a large tomato with both of its front paws. Zinn cocked his head sideways at the sight of this creature, who looked strangely like a cross between a rabbit and a bear. The tan-colored beast moved solemnly to the stone pedestal, staring intently at its destination.
Once it reached the stone, the monster raised its eyes to stare directly at the adventurer. Then it reached up to place the tomato on the exact center, which it almost could not reach. After the task was completed, it padded backwards and bowed down. All at once, the whole clearing rustled, and the rest of the rabbit-bears moved forwards to bow down in a semicircle around the pedestal.
"Waaaaaaabbbbbbiiiiiiiiiddd..."
They chanted once, then stopped all movement. Suddenly, the tomato exploded upwards in a fountain of red spray, showering all the monsters with its pulp. Zinn gasped as stray droplets managed to splatter on his face, even though he remained at the opposite end of the clearing. As the explosion settled down, the adventurer was able to see what had actually caused the unexpected event. Protruding upwards from the stone was a weapon with a long, curved blade, now stained crimson. In his brief trance staring at the mystical scythe, he did not notice that all of the beasts save the first had disappeared from sight again.
The remaining rabbbear stood and bowed once to Zinn before hopping away into the shrubbery. As the adventurer stared after it, he heard a voice shout from its direction.
"Brave One, Tomato Cutter Yours! Use Well, Reap Fruit!!!"
Zinn blinked, lowered his scabbarded blade, and then went to retrieve the curved scythe from the altar. Thus armed with a new weapon, the adventurer backtracked through the woods and resumed his course to the temple at Caiyun.
