Stage 1 Minimum Level: 3250 Location:Appleseed Town (6, 12) Required Item: None Required Kills: None

The music of the Cursed Bards is a distant dirge that echoes across the land. Normally, the sight of a large town evokes feelings of warmth and merriment, as it is not too often that you indulge in the pleasantries of life on this long, arduous road. But with the discordant music all around, there is a sense of dread that lurks like shadows in alleyways. Naturally, you take in your surroundings, waiting for the first sign of trouble to rear its head. You watch the people go about their business, seemingly unaffected by the music. The occasional child runs up to you and asks how many monsters you’ve slain, with their mothers quickly ushering them away with a gentle apology. Perhaps this town is alright? Explore the Town

Stage 2 Minimum Level: 3250 Location:Appleseed Town (10, 3) Required Item: None Required Kills: None

You wander the streets of the town. Suddenly, as soon as you begin to feel this place may have been spared from the accursed music, an old maid rushes up to you. "Please. You're a warrior, aren't you? I can tell by the way you carry yourself. I ... I need your help." The old maid pleads. Judging by her clothing, she appears to be some sort of servant. "A few days ago, something terrible happened in the manor. The young master, Samson, awoke one morning transformed into some verminous beast! Oh! The sight of him made his mother ill, and his father, the Lord of the Manor, was furious!" The old maid begins to weep, wiping her eye with a curl of her finger. "They couldn’t send Samson to work in that state, so they locked him in his room."

Stage 3 Minimum Level: 3250 Location:Appleseed Town (10, 3) Required Item: None Required Kills: None

The old maid looks up at you again with tears streaming down her face. "I went to go check on the young master this morning, but he was gone!" The woman sobs, blowing her nose. "So I rushed to his father, only to be told that he had thrown poor Samson into the sewers where he belongs!" The old maid wipes her eyes with a handkerchief, occasionally looking over her shoulder. "How could he do such a thing? Do they not want to help him? He might look that way but he is no monster!" "I ... don't know. The sewers are dangerous. This is why I want you to find Samson and bring him home. I might just be an old maid, but I will not stand for this ill-treatment of the young master! He works hard and brings joy to the dinner table – for his father to abandon him like that is ... unlike him!"  You've heard something like this before. People in these lands do things that are uncharacteristic of them when exposed to the Cursed Bard's music. As the old maid waits for your answer, you give her a nod and a smile. "T-Thank you!" the maid smiles. "Do be careful, dear. The sewers in this town are not for the faint-hearted. Before you go, Samson's little sister tied a little red bow to his antennae to make him feel better. May that help you find him, warrior!" Enter the Sewers

Stage 4 Minimum Level: 3250 Location:Appleseed Sewers (2, 10) Required Item: None Required Kills: None

The sewers stink. Rot and grime grow down the gelid walls, dripping into sludge where tiny roaches gather like nobles at a banquet. You hear the distant skittering and scratchings of pests, the occasional pop of a waste-filled bubbling mass, and like many sewers you’ve been in, they are filled to the brim with all sorts of monstrous creatures. You call out for Samson, but are answered by your own echoing query. Perhaps you need to head deeper into the sewer network. Look for Samson.

Stage 5 Minimum Level: 3250 Location:Appleseed Sewers (14, 5) Required Item: None Required Kills: None	A chittering mass of monstrous vermin crowd around a large and pathetic-looking insect. One drooping antennae is weighed down by a tiny red bow dirtied by sewer grime. The creature seems to react to the name but quickly backs away further into the corner as the other monstrous vermin encroach on its space. Kill 100 Monstrous Vermin.

Stage 6 Minimum Level: 3250 Location:Appleseed Sewers (14, 5) Required Item: None Required Kills: 100 x Monstrous Vermin	Samson trembles as the monstrous vermin close in. After slaying the monstrous vermin, the larger insect edges further into the corner, as if expecting you to slay it. "Y-You - click - know me ...?" Oddly, Samson seems to be able to talk, albeit with a garbled sort of speech with the occasional click and tap. "Who - click - are you?"

Stage 7 Minimum Level: 3250 Location:Appleseed Sewers (14, 5) Required Item: None Required Kills: None	You approach Samson, careful not to startle him with any sudden movements. "D-Don't bother. Father - click - is right. I belong here. I can't - click - do anything anymore." Samson's antennae droop even further. "Look at me. I'm - click - repulsive. Anyway, I've started to get - click - used to this form."

Stage 8 Minimum Level: 3250 Location:Appleseed Sewers (14, 5) Required Item: None Required Kills: None

"I'm sure there is a way we can reverse it," you say, offering a smile. Before you can give any more words of comfort, you hear a scream coming from another part of the sewers. "S-Someone is - click - in trouble?" Samson chitters, scuttering across to peer around the corner. "W-We should - click - help them?" Samson's verminous form begins to dash down the length of the sewers. This bumbling young master certainly has a kind heart, despite his circumstances. You follow close behind him with your weapon raised. Find the source of the scream.

Stage 9 Minimum Level: 3250 Location:Appleseed Sewers (16, 16) Required Item: None Required Kills: None

A gargantuan pest has a young woman in its terrible grasp. Samson seems to react to the woman's presence. "T-That's my - click - sister, Grete!" Samson shouts, "We have to - click - help her!" You are ready to charge into the fray when Grete pulls an apple out of her satchel. She screams as she throws the apple at the gargantuan pest, which lodges itself in the creature's eye. It lets her go and she falls into the sticky sludge below. "S-Sister!" Samson scurries towards his sister, but the gargantuan pest looms over both of them, readying a strike. Defeat the Gargantuan Pest (Elite)

Stage 10 Minimum Level: 3250 Location:Appleseed Sewers (16, 16) Required Item: None Required Kills: 1 x Gargantuan Beast (Elite)

You battle the gargantuan pest, chopping off bits and pieces of its thick chassis that bubble in the noxious mire below. "You saved me ..." Grete gathers herself up. The muck and grime on her dress do not seem to phase her. Upon noticing Samson, she smiles brightly. "Brother! You're alright! When I heard Father had thrown you down here, I needed to come find you." Grete kneels in front of Samson. "Are you ok? I ... don't know what's happening. With your transformation, father's strange behaviour ... did we get cursed?" "It's the Cursed Bard," you say, sheathing your weapon. "The music causes bad things to happen. Twisting stories and the like." "A cursed bard, huh ..." Grete says quietly, before looking at Samson. "Is there any way we can turn my brother back? What about our father?" "I have an idea" you reply, thinking back on all the experiences you have had thus far in the Storybook Forest. "Samson, can you give me something of yours? Like a scale?" Samson's antennae twitch slightly before he scratches off a scale from his carapace. "W-Will this - click - do?" You receive 'Samson's Scale'.

Stage 11 Minimum Level: 3250 Location:Appleseed Sewers (16, 16) Required Item: None Required Kills: None	You take the small scale with an idea of what to do. That blasted bard and their music ... when will it end? Grete and Samson head towards the sewer exit. Craft the Anti Pestform Bomb.

Stage 12 Minimum Level: 3250 Location:Appleseed Town (10, 3) Required Item: Anti Pestform Bomb Required Kills: None

Grete, Samson, and the old maid wait expectantly outside the large manor. Few townsfolk glance at the large verminous creature, looking visibly disgusted by its grotesque form. Samson trembles, but perks up when he sees you walking down the street. To Samson's surprise, you immediately hurl the bomb at him. A billow of smoke bursts out all around him and disperses to reveal a young man where the monster once was. "Samson! It worked!" Grete shouts gleefully, rushing over to her brother to dust off his clothes. Soon, Samson's mother and father exit the manor, their eyes shifting from an apathetic haze to one of realization– they must have been under some sort of strange spell, perhaps come about from a common fear of vermin. The family and the old maid embrace, exchanging apologies and words of relief. "Thank you," Samson begins, glancing over at you, "something tried to break our family apart. I won't forget what you did for us ... for me." Satisfied with your work, you part ways with Samson and his family after a spot of tea and continue on your journey. You gain 231,247,582 experience & A Spot of Tea!