AVOWED - IN SEARCH OF THE LOST EXPEDITION

Sometimes, as I'm aimlessly walking through the wilderness or around the settlements in the Living Lands, the island on which the game is set, I come across some surprisingly interesting quests that start like a minor adventure and then slowly evolve into something epic.

Today, I'm gonna say a few words about one of such quests.

It all happened some days ago, when I went for a casual walk around the streets of Paradis, the biggest city in the game.

I was taking screenshots for a post I published last Saturday, when I came across a young man who recently escaped from a dangerous situation.

We talked a bit, I heard his story, and decided to help. He was part of an expedition that got lost in some ancient ruins. There were pilgrims, scholars, soldiers, and his brother, whom most of all he wanted to see brought to safety.

It took me some time to organize and buy a few things in Paradis. The night had fallen when I left the city.

The mushrooms were glowing like neon.

I passed by an outpost not far from the city ...

... and continued along the river.

This screenshot was taken when I reached the mountains.

There, in the mountains, I found the canyon that led to the ruins where the expedition got lost.

At the end of the gorge, near the entrance to a large cave system, I came across two members of that expedition guarding the place. Not all of them were lost, and that surprised me.

They were a bit weird, standing there, unable to help the rest of the expedition, and trying to guard the entrance without enough power to secure anything. Anyway, I passed them by ...

... and entered the cave.

Near the entrance, the remains of ancient buildings were merged with the rocks.

I had to fight some skeletons, but they weren't too strong, so the experience wasn't stressful at all. A bit later ...

... and a bit deeper into the cave ...

... I saw this majestic scenery. After taking a couple of screenshots ...

... I continued deeper.

Glowing mushrooms were bordering the path.

In some places, the sunlight was coming from the distant cravices above my head.

Here, you can see me approaching a well-illuminated hall with some giant roots, huge crystals, and the remains of refined architecture ...

... of some lost civilization. On the way there ...

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... I came across the missing brother of the dude I got the quest from. He was seriously injured, but I gave him some magic healing herbs that got him in good shape very quickly. Before heading back to Paradis, he explained to me a few things about the expedition; what they were looking for, his thoughts about why, and some other stuff, I won't talk about here, becouse this is a visual post that won't go into details about the plot and stuff. Anyway, he went back ...

... and I continued.

In this screenshot, you can see me sneaking behind an Xaurip. Xaurips are primitive reptilian humanoids with whom you can't communicate in this game. No matter what you do or how you approach them, the Xaurips will attack you if they spot you.

I fought quite a few of these reptilians there in the caves.

Here you can see me posing near a dead Xaurip.

A bit further, I came across the bones of someone who had explored this place before me. And before the lost expedition, as well. His backpack provided a few very useful things.

This picture shows another Xaurip I killed soon after the screenshot was taken.

When I finally reached the well-lit area I mentioned a bit earlier, it wasn't as deserted as it looked from a distance. Someone was there. It looked like an elf or human ...

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... with golden skin. The dude seemed calm and kind, but there was something shady in his way of explaining things. It looked like he was hiding something. We talked about the lost expedition, he told me where to search for them, and asked if I could try to find some artifact he needed, an artifact hidden somewhere deeper inside the ancient ruins.

Before continuing the search, I took some time to explore that place under the sun.

I saw some mysterious machines that looked weirdly advanced ...

... and an even stranger giant sculpture that looked almost like a robot of sorts.

Here you can see an abandoned machine I found a bit later, on my way further into the ruins.

At some point, I was very surprised to find a fairly well-preserved library in this forsaken place.

The floor was muddy and flooded, and the overall experience was quite surreal.

In the same part of the cave, I had to fight this giant spider. If you take a good look at all the details, you may notice a big drawing on the wall.

It seems that the drawing shows the giant sculpture you saw a bit earlier.

Here you can see me continuing my exploration of the ancient ruins.

This is the interior of one of those structures, abandoned long ago.

I saw a wide variaty of mushrooms in this place.

Not far from there, I encountered more Xaurips and some giant beetles.

In the area shown in this screenshot, I have to fight many angry skeletons, but...

... but you won't see that batlle becouse it was too intense. I mean, those skeletons were very resilient, so I didn't have time to take screenshots while trying hard not to get killed.

Here you can see some scattered bones and glowing mushrooms from that area.

A bit later, in the same area, I found the artifact I was looking for.

Here you can see me continuing in search of the lost expedition.

It didn't take long ...

... to find them in a hidden room not too far from the dude with the golden skin.

Members of the expedition were all dead.

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I didn't find any sign of violence; it looked like they all just collapsed somehow.

After a bit of exploring in search of details that could help clarify the situation, it was time to leave that place ...

... and revisit the strange golden dude that lives in isolation, surrounded by machines.

We had a long talk, and I learned that his name is Sargamis. I also learned that he used some mysterious powers to kill the members of the lost expedition. Sargamis needed the souls to trap inside the giant humanoid automaton. The talk was really long and interesting, but I won't be explaining all that stuff here. Suffice it to say that Sargamis is an ancient creature, many hundreds of years old, and his reasoning and morality are quite different from those of ordinary humanoids of this world.
I had the option to kill him for what he did or try to make him understand my point of view. I decided to avoid the fight, and got rewarded with a very interesting, well-written philosophical conversation and a new friend.

Sargamis decided to stop his cruel experiments with the automaton and do some humanitarian work, for a change.

I spent some more time exploring the place and the machines ...

... especially the giant automaton, and then ...

... I got myself ready to go back to the city of Paradis.

At some point, not far from the city ...

... I stopped to photograph this cute boar-like animal.

In Paradis ...

... I soon met the reunited twins.

And that's it. That's how the quest ended, so the post ends right here. THE END.

This is my entry for the https://ecency.com/@gamingphoto/gaming-photography-weekly-contest-380a2928e462 by @gamingphoto