Carol

Carol is a giant goddess-like spirit whom you can encounter exploring the High Mountain around Christmas.

## Encounter & Quest

**Ingame Description:**
You traipse the high mountainside, a light sprinkle of snow fluttering haphazardly through cold winds. The sound of your steps begins to form a crunch as the silent white blanket folds over the tops of the nearby peaks, and with your journey to the high mountains appearing fruitless thus far, you consider the possibility of going back to camp. As snowflakes pervade the air, they’ll eventually obscure your sight, leading to a far more dangerous trip both up or down. Just as you start to turn back, however, a small sob echoes from the other side of the peak. Soft enough to send one to sleep, it barely catches your attention. Do you decide to investigate?

If you decide to investigate, you will meet the spirit and the miniquest starts here.

To find the quest item, you have to explore the Mountain (note that it is not the High Mountain). Once you found it, it will be added to your Key Items in your inventory. You can turn the quest in at the High Mountain, where you will be given three choices:

* Returning the key.
* Fuck the knight (not tested)
* Fuck the spirit (not tested)

Returning the key will trigger a scene. After that you will be given two choices:

* Stay (not tested)
* Leave

Leaving them alone will result in you giving them a little time of privacy before the last scene before you head back to camp.

Hinted by a random encounter when exploring the high mountains, can be found year-round (tested in July)

You traipse the high mountainside, a light sprinkle of snow fluttering haphazardly through cold winds. The sound of your steps begins to form a crunch as the silent white blanket folds over the tops of the nearby peaks, and with your journey to the high mountains appearing fruitless thus far, you consider the possibility of going back to camp. As snowflakes pervade the air, they’ll eventually obscure your sight, leading to a far more dangerous trip both up or down. Just as you start to turn back, however, a small song echoes from the other side of the peak. Soft enough to send one to sleep, it barely catches your attention. Do you decide to investigate?

(Yes)

"You haven’t found anything as of yet, so you figure you might as well keep going. Following the quiet tune from above, you trace the spiralling side of the snow-capped behemoth, eventually reaching a small cliff hanging beneath the mountain’s peak. Upon the cliff, a small lake encompasses the area. Though it remains frozen, a single soldier lies inside, hugged by an icy grave.

The source of the song you had heard appears to be coming from a small, elderly woman huddling over the lake. She holds a small fishing rod piercing through the icy shell of the water, though by the looks of it there aren’t even any fish to be found. Trotting over, you manage to catch her attention. The old lady pats the soft, snowy ground beneath her, offering a seat by her side.

“I have a tale to tell, traveller,” she coughs. “Sit by me, will you?”

With nothing else to do, you figure you might as well hear it out. Stories may not bring warmth to your body, but your heart might find it comforting during this unnatural winter. Nodding, you sit down next to the elderly woman, to which she offers you some rock candy. You decline, mentioning that you had brought your own (you didn’t.) She beams a toothless grin, popping one into her mouth and blowing out a stream of candy-scented smoke. Suddenly, you’re glad you didn’t take any.

“Once upon a time, upon this very mountain, two lovers had ran to escape the corruption of the world. A single spirit, more beautiful than any mortal woman, and a man she had created from tin. Her brave soldier.”

Like a wistful tune, her words form vivid images within the ethereal smoke. A lone giant as tall as the mountains themselves huddles close with her soldier, an average-sized suit of armor. The foggy image twists and turns like a velvet cloth, telling the story of her soldier’s life. Though they had stayed together, he grew slower and slower each day. Eventually she carried him in her arms to the peak of a snowy mountain, but by that point he had ceased to move. She built a grave, and with her divine tears, encased him in the crystalline lake for an eternity.

“No one knew where the woman had gone, but they say she visits him once a year, when the lake is covered in a blanket of snow. Perhaps you’ll see her.”

Her gummed smile appears once more. “Perhaps you’ll save them, too.”

With that, she hushes you away to return to her fishing. With nothing to show for it, you decide to cease your journey up the high mountains, turning tail to head back to camp. In the back of your head, the tale of the spirit and her soldier stay fresh in your mind."