Of the Apothecary's Delight - A Quest of the Sixteenth Anniversary

[Aia del Mana]

A curious moss, is the Apothecary's Delight;
she who plants it shall be depleted of happiness;
she who waters it shall lose her beauteous appearance;
she who tills of its soil shall be barren;
and she who consumes it shall find delirium.
It is a parasite, in every regard; and yet, the Apothecary rejoices in its discovery;
as she who returns it to the endless cycle shall reap of unfathomable felicity.

~ Excerpt from Compendia Lorerootia, 16th edition
__________________________________________________________________________________

A quest I have decided to release afore the commencement of the Anniversary celebrations, as it should allow those of the realm some additional time to complete it. For those that enjoy obtaining and nurturing creatures - this is a quest for thee!

It appears that the Unholy Guard has requested some samples of this moss; after all, he appears quite curious as to the delirium it should cause, and whether it is possible to recruit of new members to their order, by initiating them with this very moss.
He is seeking only of completely mature samples - those that have reached their final level of ascension; in return, he has chosen to divulge to myself some secrets in regard to another being, of which I am quite eager to learn.

I refer to a recent announcement - https://magicduel.com/page/Announcement/view/5153 - this, I believe, were that in question.

 

Thy quest, then, were thus:

1. Obtain this creature, and advance it to the maximal level, using any means necessary.

2. Transfer me this creature (do send the CTC via Forum PM only - I will receive it to confirm that it is indeed the final ascension) - in return, I will grant thee this other-being (via CTC, as a Forum response); this is thine to keep, but is limited to one per entrant. This other-being is the reward in question. (This other-being is not the Anniversary Creature; it is one that has not yet been released).

For those that demonstrate of this feat, there are two further - either of which may be completed independently of the other:

3a. Advance the creature that I do grant thee in (2) to its final ascension, and prove this via a screenshot of the creature in this Forum Thread, with the Creature ID and thine identity clearly visible.
The first to complete this will obtain one wishpoint, and the victor will be determined by the timestamp of the message containing this. If this is not performed by the completion of the Sixteenth Anniversary celebrations, then this part of the contest will continue until a victor should arise.

3b. Obtain further samples of the fully ascended Apothecary's Delight, for the Unholy Guard. The one who is able to grant myself the largest number of these on completion of the Anniversary will receive another (unreleased, non-anniversary) creature, also possessed by the Unholy Guard.

 

Entries for this contest shall be open until the close of the Sixteenth Anniversary - other than that stated in 3a, which shall be open as long as necessary.

Blessings.

Edited March 18, 2021 by Aia del Mana
To clarify of time-frames.

[Ledah]

Extremely disappointed by how easy this was! Truly, I look forward to getting and maxing another 2 of these...

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2021 by Ledah
Harder than I thought to edit... Removed mini spoilers, it is good artwork :)

[Aia del Mana]

I confirm that this creature satisfies the requirement for (3a), and so, Ledah has been granted a wish-point.
 

I am also quite impressed; the requirements for ascension of this creature, I had believed, were quite difficult, but mayhap, all were trivial for well-travelled veterans such as Ledah - the creature, at the time of posting the screenshot, was but a single day old.


The reward inscription reads:

"For being the first to ascend the Pure Elemental to its final ascension, as part of the Quest of the Apothecary's Delight.

An incredible achievement, considering both how little time was taken, and the prohibitive ascension requirements of the Pure Elemental. Ledah is a true veteran, and mayhap, one day, will become a master of combat."


The reward for (1, 2, and 3b) remain available.

Edited March 19, 2021 by Aia del Mana
added reward inscription

[Tissy]

I cannot level up any creature at the heat cap ????

Edited April 14, 2021 by Tissy

[Aia del Mana]

The Unholy Guard has advised me that he would like some specimens soon, that he may choose from among them.

 

Although the quest dates shall remain unchanged, I would encourage all who have such creatures nurtured and who intend to turn them in by the close of the anniversary to do so in the next two days.

 

Tissy, I am sorry that such a creature cannot be levelled at the heat-cap, but this were true of almost all creatures.

[Aia del Mana]

I declare that this quest were completed, and the Unholy Guard, through a series of... unfortunate events, is with us no longer, and so, no further moss may be exchanged.

Ledah has won the coloured priest, with a total of 12 Witherwraith granted (some, in course, with some rather amusing titles). None other did provide of greater than a single specimen.

Of note during this contest:
Nepgear provided a moss with 617 wins (no other moss had more than 10 wins more than the number required for final advancement)
Six players advanced the moss to the penultimate level and were unable to advance the same moss to the final level: Ledah, Fang Archbane, lashtal, MRAlyon, Sunfire, and Lazarus
Those that provided a completed moss and received a coloured elemental: Else, Sunfire, Pipstickz, MaGoHi, Fang Archbane, Demonic God, lashtal, Ledah, Nepgear.

Congratulations to Ledah, who, although he could not win his own combat contest, has won both 3a. and 3b.

[Aia del Mana]

I note that there are two players who had satisfied the requirements for a coloured elemental at the time of quest completion - @redneck and @Lazarus - but who I have not yet received of the CTCs from yet. As I note that the requirement was achieved prior to the end of the Anniversary, I am able to exchange these moss for the coloured elementals with thee for this quest if so desired.

edit: redneck has also turned in a Withermoss, and I have provided the coloured elemental in exchange.

Edited April 30, 2021 by Aia del Mana

[Aia del Mana]

Ah - an additional honourable mention, and that which I did observe, and intend as a strategy prior to the release of this quest, but had only been discovered and used by a single being (also Ledah) - who used it to marvelous effect.

At the Gazebo of Equilibrium, one may observe of five pillars; each of which will cast a spell upon she who would click upon them. One of these shall cast freezecreatures upon oneself; one who did wish to train a moss would find that such a method would trivialise combat, as the frozen moss cannot consume its allies.

Despite extensive use in the public eye, and many a log of combat, no others to mine knowledge have used this to this effect; well done again to Ledah for this accidental discovery.

[Aia del Mana]

An additional observation:

Nepgear is the first to ascend the coloured elemental to its maximum without the use of Wish-Points.

One must wonder how many Wish-Points have been used to ascend these beings, but I believe no fewer than three have thus far been used in this manner.