One place of interest has been receiving a lot of attention since Legends of the Sea, that being Wanderer's Refuge which holds an important meaning if you took part in the Cursed Sails update, so I figured why not create a TallTale based around it?
Introducing the new TallTale:
The Wandering Inferno
Summary
News of Flameheart's resurrection and the events of Heart of Fire has reached the ears of everyone including Wonda, who worries that her sister has returned and is aiding them, so in response has requested pirates all over to investigate.
Main Plot
LOCATION: Wonda's Workshop - Golden Sands Outpost
Wonda talks about what has happened regarding Flameheart returning and the events of Heart of Fire. She then talks about her past and relationship regarding her sister towards the events of Cursed Sails (albeit negatively). Worried that her sister may or has already returned, she gives the player her sister's diary detailing her sister's thoughts before and during Cursed Sails as she hopes it gives them a clue regarding her return or not.
Chapter 1: Clues on Wanda
The first step will be heading towards Plunder Valley to speak with Salty to learn some more about Wanda (Head-Canon: The player is not aware of the events of Cursed Sails), Salty talks about how he met her and the eventual events before talking about her Workshop on Wanderer's Refuge, he then talks that due to Flameheart's resurrection, it's possible that she is rebuilding the Burning Blade.
He tells the player that there is a labyrinth like cavern-system beyond her workshop but could only be accessed with a special key, he then warns the player that the cavern is armed with traps and other obstacles. Salty then hands over some of his notes to the player of a possible location for the key.
Chapter 2: The Key to it All
Reading the notes, the player will go to one of the following islands (which is random), each being an important location for Wanda, along with a puzzle solution.
(The locations are based on her Journals, plus neither of them have a vault yet either)
- Mermaid's Hideaway
- Thieves Heaven
- The Sunken Grove
The notes reveal a special kind of vault built by Wanda herself at one of the three locations, the entrance doors to the vaults are covered in multiple buttons along with a centre button that confirms the solution.
The riddle's answers are based on the symbols on the buttons (which are Skeletal Glyphs) the player has to guess three character symbols correctly or else the door won't open.
(I haven't come up with anything if the player gets it wrong but I was thinking of a trap to activate if they get it wrong but that would make it too difficult).
The inside of the vault is themed around each of the three main regions with their own obstacle.
Journal will be important for these sections.
- Mermaid's Hideaway: Themed around the Shores of Plenty, the player will have to solve a puzzle (what kind is up to interpretation) with a trap that starts flooding the room, basically acting similarly to that of regular Ancient Vaults).
- Thieves Haven: Themed around the Ancient Isles, the player will have to solve a puzzle (what kind is up to interpretation) with a trap that activates a spiked ceiling that slowly lowers (think of the Jill Sandwich scene in Resident Evil).
- The Sunken Grove: Themed around The Wilds, the player will have to battle skeletons for this segment.
Upon completing the chamber, the player will then obtain the Crystal Heart (A crystal in the shape of Flameheart's Insignia) and then travel towards Wanderer's Refuge.
The player will then head towards Wanderer's Refuge and enter Wanda's Workshop, through reading the journal on how to open Workshop door. The player will make their way through the cavern until reaching the chamber where Flameheart's Burning Blade Figurehead is meant to be only to find it missing.
A rock with Flameheart's insignia painted on it is also in the main chamber and has a hole in it that oddly looks like something fits in it. The Crystal Heart will be inserted into the hole revealing the rock to be a door leading much deeper underground, beginning the final chapter of the TallTale.
Chapter 3: The Wandering Inferno
The player will navigate the large labyrinth like cave system, whilst dodging numerous traps, including some new traps, skeletons, etc.
(Think of it as the Shores of Gold and Heart of Fire cavern, but much bigger)
Some of these possible new traps are:
- Poison Dart Trap: Shoots a dart of poison (via pressure plate usually) and poisons the player.
- Cannon Trap: Automatic/pressure-plated) Cannons that shoot out Spiked Cannonballs that will instantly kill the player (the cannons are automatically loaded each time and aren't possible to loot)
- Trapdoor: A trap where upon standing on it will cause the player to fall, this can either lead to a new chamber, backtrack or death.
- Crossbow Trap: An automatic/pressure-plated trap that shoots out arrows that damage the player (not sure if they should be instant or not).
After fighting skeletons and dodging traps, the player will reach the end of the maze revealing a door that leads into the final room (the player can hear voices which from the sounds of it sounds like someone speaking to another person, similar to that of a mother comforting their child).
Upon opening the door, the player will find the Masked Stranger now unmasked revealing to be Captain Warsmith (has been somewhat confirmed that she is Wanda) and Stitcher Jim having now completed his transformation.
Captain Warsmith talks about how she found and used Stitcher Jim and reveals that the Burning Blade is nearing its completion, she then teleports up to a balcony and proceeds to watch Jim's and Player's battle for amusement.
The Player battles and eventually defeats the Ashen Lord with Wanda commenting that Jim has yet to master his new-found power (who teleports next to Wanda) and that he will need time to do so, plus they will find more candidates to become Ashen Lords with Wanda herself expressing that she has already volunteered to be the next candidate, she then throws an item from the balcony before leaving with Jim.
The item is revealed to be a child's drawing of the two sisters, the player will then leave through a secret passageway and make their way back to Golden Sands.
Once arriving, the player will hand the drawing over to Wonda, who expresses sadness at what her sister has become revealing that she actually deeply cares for her before saying that the drawing was made by a very young Wanda.
Wonda then expresses that Warsmith handing the drawing over to the player is a hint that Wanda is still in there and can be saved from her torment. Wonda asserts her new goal to help all pirates in the eventual battle against Flameheart and avenging those who became his victims.
Anyways that the main plot/idea for the TallTale, obviously its just a concept but hopefully it acts as some inspiration for an eventual new one.
What are your thoughts?
