On my way out of the village I see an old man with a scowl on his face sitting in the shadows of his front porch. As I walk over he seems to tense up. I say “Hello, I am new in town and I am looking for any quests you may have. Is there anything I can do for you?”

  “Be on your way.”

  “Really? I am happy to help, it’s no trouble at all.”

  He now looks pissed as he leaps up and says. “I said be gone.”

  “You know you are the first person here who hasn’t had a quest or indicated what the requirements are to get one. What is the deal here? I will be happy to leave after you explain.”

  The old man seems to deflate as he collapses back into his chair. I hear him mutter. “Thrice asks and thrice heard.” He looks at me with a very depressed expression as he says. “You may as well have a seat.”

  As I take a seat he continues. “I am Cal and I am a jeweler, though there is not much need of it here in the village. I will offer you the chance to learn jewelry, but you will have to bring me twenty amethysts. Amethysts can only be found in the Gnoll area. They are the toughest creature here in the starter area. To get an Amethyst you must mine copper ore and one in twenty copper nodes you mine will have an Amethyst. There are only 6 copper nodes in the area and it takes a day before they regenerate. Each time they regenerate in a different location.”

  I accept as I say. “That sounds like a very hard and long quest.”

  Glumly he says. “Yes.”

  “Good thing I have this then.” I reach into my inventory, pull out the geode and hold it out to him.

  His shocked face is something to behold. He snatches the geode with more energy than I would have credited him with just a minute ago. He begins to laugh as I get an interesting new prompt.

  “How in the world did you find this geode?”

  “I found it in the Starter Glade.”

  “Incredible, well this is both our lucky day. Come on in and I will have something to teach you.”

  I follow him into the house, which seems hardly lived in. He heads into a study and gestures for me to take a seat. The desk has magnifying glasses, small clamps, tools, and some powerful lamps that focus light on various parts of the desk. He places the two halves of the geode on a felt covered pedestal and focuses a light and magnifying glass on the two pieces in turn. These have a deep purple color under the light.

  In a jovial voice he says. “You have 27 Amethysts here, 12 medium flawed, 5 medium cracked, and 10 flawless. I will remove and polish these. While I do that I have two books for you to read.”

  He gets up and removes two thick books from his bookshelf. They are A Jeweler’s Craft and Gems of all Kinds.

  “Well start reading.” He says as he moves back behind the desk and begins to set out various tools.

  I focus on A Jeweler’s Craft and get a reading prompt while once again feeling like something is possessing my body as I begin to flip pages at a fast pace. I finish the book, look up and see the smaller of the two geode pieces is now empty of crystal. Cal is now working on removing the crystal from the other piece. I greet a new prompt as I realize why he is using the cushioned pliers on the outer crystal.

  I pick up the second book and once again start reading. When I finish the second book I know all about every type of gem, their characteristic, and where they are found. I look up again. It is now dark outside and Cal is putting a final polish on the gem stones. The geode is now empty and a piece of felt is now covered with over two dozen gems. Cal stands up and stretches. He says “It is getting late. I am going to need two more days to finish the stones, so come back then and I will teach you more about being a Jeweler.”

  I yawn and say goodnight as I head over to the Tavern. The owner asks how my hunting went and I admit I never made it out of the village. He laughs and says. “No problem. That happens when you try to get all the quests at once. Let me get you some food.” After scarfing down another bowl of delicious stew and bread. After eating I am ready to pass out. I go to my room and fall right into bed after locking my door. I check out my Status Panel before allowing myself to drift off.