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« manta board: august 2024 »
Quests are separated into five categories and all have flat point values: General (4pts), Corsair (4pts), Paladin (4pts), Bounties (6pts), and Specials (12pts). Note: characters helping opposing armada quests will only be rewarded 2pts for participation unless specified otherwise. Special quests won't always be available so it may appear blank at most times. These can range from group quests such as for special ship upgrades or island related quests, or they could be special event quests. All quest points can be used for the Rewards Shop.
For this month's board update, the quests have new postings now that control has been returned to the MANTA organization. Comment to the designated thread for participating in the for the Light Cleaners quest.
If you have any questions, comment to this entry.

With the current expeditions down into the Abyss on the Nameless Isle, many people have been coming up with cuttings and seeds from the various flora and fauna from down below. Many farmers, horticulturists and herbologists are hoping to see how the strange plants grow on the surface and they are hoping to cultivate and grow new crops that can benefit everyone.
They are asking for help with planting, cultivating and harvesting whatever comes from these little planting projects. Take tree cuttings and plant them to watch the trees grow upside down where the roots are reaching for the sky. Or plant the mushrooms collected in hopes of seeing even more of them bloom.
Any seeds planted will bloom into various mixed vegetable and fruit plants that seem to be strange hybrid mixes of what we already know. Things such as tomatoes that taste like cucumbers or oranges that look like bananas and peel like them too. The upside-down trees in particular seem to grow a tasty pear-like apple that when eaten makes the eater feel incredibly rejuvenated. What other sort of combinations can be discovered?
One special thing to note about all the plants from the Abyss is that all of them try to grow towards the sun as if they are reaching for the sunlight… What could that mean?

It wasn’t only plants and flowers that were brought back from the depths of the Abyss. Explorers came out of the Abyss with armfuls of treasure. There have been a plethora of new relics and trinkets to decipher and several researchers are keen to catalogue everything that was found.
Be it on Elah or Nogard, test out your new treasure finds in the various designated safe areas so that the local researchers can document everything.
The two most important items to note that were found down below are the loads of elemental gemstones and strange ancient tablets that were farmed from the lower levels. Researchers are particularly interested in seeing how these elemental gemstones can be used in conjunction with magitech to help fuel or power objects. And the strange metal tablets found… Well. No one knows what those things do. All that has been hypothesized is that these metal tablets are more like discs or cards that have to be inserted into something… What could this say about the old world?

A famous bard by the name of Black Jack is in town, searching for his next big inspiration and hit. He's travelling through Eltrut, hoping to find that one special spark that will ignite his creative mojo to create something beautiful. Here’s a little sample of his brilliance.
For a chance to be a part of his creative genius, help him write his next song. Create and write lyrics about what is important to you, about your adventures or what you’re passionate about. Or even about the things you’ve lost, the wishes you want to make and your hopes for the future.
Share these lyrics with others and help him craft these songs. He’ll be happy to create melodies for your poetry and to sing them too. When all is said and done he will put on a performance in the center of Eltrut’s main town, Shellton. Bring a date and enjoy the show.

A tavern on Naughtilust is once again seeking help in testing out one of their new brews. They’ve created a new tropical drink that is an icy mixture of rum, frozen pineapple, pineapple juice and coconut cream. Yes, they’ve created the fabled Piña Colada.
Why do they need testers for this kind of classic drink? It’s because this special drink comes with a twist. The drink must be enjoyed with a partner in the rain. It’s only then that the drink’s truest and deepest and tastiest flavours come out. It is sure to be a delightful dream come true on the tongue.
Take a tall glass and two straws and enjoy the delicious drink in the rain with a partner. And report back about just how delicious it really is. It could change your life! Or your relationship.

A few months ago Snaxburg was discovered which was native to a sprawling amount of food-shaped creatures called Bugsnax. It was later discovered that consuming any parts of these creatures would infect the body and cause abnormal growths such as growing strawberries for hands or celery sticks for legs. After this discovery, the island was closed off to the public until a safe investigation can be done and a proper cure can be found.
“Save them…”
Now, a mysterious cloaked figure has delivered an anonymous tip that the captain of corsair ship the Desert Wind has been capturing prisoners and feeding them parts of his Bugsnax, the Megamaki.
He apparently has the intent to raise his own personal Bugsnax army with the infected! Investigate the ship, its captain, and his activities to find out the truth of what is going on and rescue these poor souls before they are all converted into the sea captain’s monstrous food-shaped pets…
(A log for this will be posted around mid-August. There will be limited sign-ups to confront the captain.)

A certain loud, blue-haired master blacksmith named Darin Altway has been hard at work, scrounging up the scratch to open a proper smithy on Eltrut. And now, with his goal in sight, he'd love to commemorate the grand opening with an offer!
Got any special or rare materials lying around that you'd love to see made into something custom-made? Got any particularly strong monster bones or giant carapaces that you'd love to repurpose? What about a giant isopod shell that you think would make a cool shield? This man is willing to make anything out of the materials that you find in your quests or from your past adventures! So long as you have the materials and a big idea he can give it a go.
Darin Altway is looking to make your custom gear dreams come true! Contact him today for him to make you something truly unique.

Kaveh is once again asking for assistance in gathering energy using his mechanical butterflies that measure and store that same energy. A few months ago Kaveh started his research in this area and now he’s hoping to expand.
This time, Kaveh would like it if people take the butterflies out and use a LOT of energy around an area. Measuring before and after using bursts of magic or using magitech is most helpful! The butterflies have also been upgraded to not explode when used multiple times now, and will now return to someone when they are done measuring various energies.
Although, still be careful. Extremely high levels of magic might still blow them up so certain over-aspiring people should be careful.

No one knows how this happened but some of the sheep from local ranches on Elah have gained the uncanny ability to fly. Not only that, they seem to have developed a taste for the flesh of other sheep.
This mutant breed of sheep has been seen flying all over Elah, hunting and eating several of the normal sheep from the various flocks and ranches. And they obviously need to be stopped!
Elah sheep ranchers are looking for brave fighters to take out these flying aggressive cannibalistic sheep before their entire flocks are killed! It’s going to be a messy bloody job. But someone's got to do it.

Someone left a plate of fried chicken out in one of the main paladin offices and forgot to eat it...
Ever since then, the offices haven’t been the same. Paladins have been reporting strange noises coming from seemingly nowhere. Such as the sound of quiet clucking or tiny little bird nails scratching on wood. It’s left the offices feeling eerie and unsettling.
They need some savvy paladins to come in and investigate the issue of the spooky chicken noises. Find the source of the ghost-like noises and dispose of it. And find a way to expel the bad vibes from the offices and return them to how they once were because no one can work properly when chickens are clucking in the shadows.

It’s time for another paladin challenge for the new and old. This time, the senior paladins are challenging everyone to see how long everyone can endure under the cold rush and pressure of one of the many waterfalls on Elah. That doesn’t seem so hard for some hardened paladins, right? Even for the new recruits? The only twist is that everyone participating has to complete the challenge completely butt naked.
Take the challenge and sit yourself under one of the freezing cold waterfalls on Elah and see how long you can last. You’ll more than likely have to deal with bad brain freezes and the terrible chill.
But a good paladins never gives up!

Something must be in the water on Nogard. The turkeys herds have gone crazy! They’ve mutated to double the size and have been terrorizing local farms eating all of their crops at an alarming rate. They’re aggressive and have also grown razor-sharp teeth!? They obviously need to be culled before this gets out of hand!
Nogard needs corsairs to come hunt down these angry avians. Kill them before they make more trouble or make more mutant turkey babies. It will be a very messy job but at least there should be some huge turkey feasts that come out of this. Yum?

A bizarre phenomenon has been occurring on Nogard’s shores. Every early morning several large deepwater fish have been spotted dead on the sandy shores, eyes glossy and bodies dried out… And no one knows how or why these fish are coming up from the depths only to be found dead on the shores in the mornings.
Savvy corsairs that are willing to look into the issue are needed. Watch the beaches at night or investigate the waters to see why or how these giant fish are getting to the surface. Once again, these fish are all from deeper waters where their main habitat is the darkest and sunless depths below. So why are they coming to the surface…?
Is it because they want to see the sunrise once in their lifetime? Is that worth dying for?

The corsairs have an interesting challenge for everyone this month. August marks a month when corsairs celebrate a special skill called, “shibari” which means to tie or to bind. It is the beautiful art of masterfully tying up the body with specialty ropes to create the sensual allusion of being bound. It's also an excellent skill for a corsair to have, wouldn't you agree?
Try out your shibari skills or try learning the various knots with a partner. Just remember this is a consensual challenge so be sure to create safe words with your partner in case it gets too intense. Enjoy the feeling of being tied up and test out how flexible you are once you try contorting your body within the rope's bonds. Have fun and learn a little something!

We don't know! It keeps singing! Good King Moggle Mog! Good King Mog! Lord of all the land (Kupo!) Good King Moggle Mog! Good King Mog! Rules with iron hand! Please get rid of it! Fast! We're scared!
Read More.
✦ Size: Small
✦ Type: Undead
✦ Strengths: Eating flesh, darkness magic, devouring your sins
✦ Weaknesses: Light magic, antiseptics, a sharp weapon

We're not sure if this one is a moogle or not... But can you make it go away, please? We drew you a picture so you can find it.
Read More.
✦ Size: Large
✦ Type: ???
✦ Strengths: Long???
✦ Weaknesses: ???

As research into the Ancient Leviathans and the underwater temple continue, there is a now a concerted effort to try and remove the strange black oil that is covering the walls of the temple. The oil is strangely slick, sticky, and gooey has been determined to be difficult to remove, as it will retract back onto the wall if attempts to wipe or pull it away are made. Reports have also been made that touching it gives a hint of dark elemental magic along with a sense of sorrow or anguish that will envelop the person. If one lingers too long, the person may risk being trapped into the strange oil, however it's not consistent and instead unpredictable. Light based magic has proven effective, but only temporarily as the oil is thick and will converge back. Perhaps a larger blast will be enough to temporarily uncover it if they can't completely remove it?
Thus researchers are asking anyone who may be able to:
- Use powerful light magic (this includes lightning, holy, and basically any type of magic that features all aspects of "light")
- Find a material of similar qualities that can be used instead of magic, as magic can be dangerous to use underwater (especially electric based)
- Quickly record or take pictures of whatever is managed to be uncovered

Strange activity regarding different species of whales have been reported. Ships and ports have been "mysteriously" targeted and attacked by large whales, such as humpbacks and even the giant blues. These whales are usually docile and leave ships alone, so these sudden attacks are concerning.
The Paladins are issuing a general request to investigate into the attacked ships and ports make sure they aren't performing illegal activities such as whale hunting that could be spiking their ire. They are also concerned for the whales and are making efforts to try and calm and move them away from contested areas.
The Corsairs have noticed that while the types of ships and ports are spread out, there are more Corsair affiliated ones than they like and they don't want Paladins to catch a whiff of some other unrelated activities, so they are issuing high rewards for those who can catch the bastards who put an unnecessarily larger target on their backs, and perhaps distract the Paladins before letting them do their job if it's clear.
What everyone will notice is a pattern of higher amounts of trash and pollution around the areas... As well as notice local fish and ocean wildlife seeming more sickly than usual. Hmmmmmmmm.
Light Cleaners
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As for what Ranma may be able to see and hear from the scholars, it's clearly a mural hidden beneath the oil. It's very damaged and scratched up, but there are some depictions of land, cities, people, and more large, strange squiggly lines. It's all very vague, so the scholars will have to try and patch it all together and release their finding later.
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For the depictions on the mural, if there's enough time to before it's covered up again, would it be possible for Ranma/anyone else who may be there to snap a photo (can't recall if the shellphones are stated to be waterproof) or draw up an image? Or is there not enough time to?
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As for what Aerith may be able to see and hear from the scholars, it's clearly a mural hidden beneath the oil. It's very damaged and scratched up, but there are some depictions of land, cities, people, and more large, strange squiggly lines. It's all very vague, so the scholars will have to try and patch it all together and release their finding later.
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How would she fair if she tries to release one big ball of light, probably not quite enough to fill the whole room but darn close?
She and Bakugou are running off the idea that if they can clear all the oil at once it may stay cleared.
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Even if the wall manages to be completely cleared at once, it won't stay that way. If they manage to succeed with more people joining in the group burst (either directly through people using their magic or through other devices and such), they will notice the oily substance seep through from the cracks within the walls to instantly cover it again after the time limit is up. However, they will notice that it is thinner and easier to clear in subsequent rounds.
There really is something strange to this oily substance...
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Please hand out sunglasses to prevent blinding please.
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That said, there are still things that everyone can notice!
It is also possible to draw or copy what's available and take it out of the temple. The scholars will be a little hesitant and disgruntled because they always want to be the ones who discover things first, but with how obscure, difficult, and important this all is, they will begrudgingly allow others to try and find their own research. All they ask is to be kept apprised of any findings.
Of course those of the Corsair group or just in generally more selfish can completely ignore that, but what can you do.
Hope that helps!
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As a historian and scholar, of course, that specializes in a dead civilization? >_>;
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Direct magic use would still be beneficial as Cid's device will have something like a low to medium power to it as well as limited in area. Thus magic users will be able to use more powerful magics to uncover larger spaces more quickly. The device is more for longer stretches of study and, again, as a backup for when there are not enough magic users and give them a break lmfao.
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Could you elaborate on that for me? My general knowledge of plants is that most of them grow in the direction of sunlight. Some even slowly move their leaves to follow the path of the sun throughout the day. What's different about how the Abyss plants are growing towards the sun compared to normal plants?
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