[center][h3][color=44d62c]Mountain[/color] [color=ed1c24]Dew[/color] [color=fff200]Quickscope[/color][/h3]
[b]Echo of a Wizard's Tower-Governance Hub[/b][/center]

Mountain shut the door behind him and looked around the building. As far as he could tell, the entire place was pitch-black, lit only by flashes of lightning outside. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a large flashlight that doubled as a lantern and switched it on. The bright LEDs contained in the light illuminated the entire building. He did a quick sweep of the entire place, noting the interior's bareness, before setting it down by its feet. From there, Mountain walked around the area, silently disappointed by the fact that there was no loot anywhere. However, his hopes were soon restored when he caught sight of a fresh backpack sitting by the foot of a wooden cot, which next to small makeshift firepit in the middle of the room. Rushing over to it, he swiftly unzipped it, keen on finding out what goodies were stored inside, only for his hopes to be crushed once again when he found completely normal camping supplies inside, which he didn't need.

Rather annoyed, he took his anger out on the cot, first picking it up and throwing it at the wall, which caused it to break into several pieces. Then, he tore the pieces into smaller pieces, before tossing them all into the firepit. Following this, he took out a bottle of lighter fluid and poured some onto the firewood, glanced at the bottle, shrugged, and tossed the entire thing into the pile. He rummaged through his pockets and fished out a plastic BIC lighter, flicked it several times to get a small flame, and threw it into the pit. The wood instantly ignited, bathing the area in a nice orange hue and providing some warmth. It was getting pretty cold with the rain outside, after all.

Now with a brighter source of light, Mountain was free to pick out all the details in the building. There was a staircase by the opposite wall, and he could pick up the sharp scent of finely-aged wine as he neared it, though he also could smell... something else, and it didn't smell good, either. He assumed there was a wine cellar below. Walking up the staircase, he found that the upper level was blocked by a locked hatch. Frowning, Mountain wondered if he had to get a thousand points to unlock it. Other than that, there really wasn't anything else. After inspecting it for several minutes, he descended back down to the first floor, feeling somewhat tired now that the effects of caffine had worn off.

Making his way back the blazing fire, he reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a miniature red and white bed. He then tossed it onto the floor, and suddenly, the bed seemed to expand until it was nearly ten times its previous size. It looked like a regular super single bed now. Mountain sat on the bed and absorbed the heat, eating a bag of Doritos and a bottle of Mountain Dew Code Red to wash it down for dinner. However, try as he could, he couldn't take his mind off the hatch. Something about it seemed awfully suspicious, and he had played so many horror games and watched enough horror movies to know. Tossing the remains of his Doritos and Mountain Dew into the fire (which caused it to glow red and green for a second), he stood up and walked towards the hatch. He stared at it, half expecting it to suddenly open or for a knock to come from the other side, but nothing came. Still feeling paranoid, he took out a Dew grenade and tied it to a piece of string, before tying it to the hatch. If anything opened the hatch, it would receive a nasty electric shock.

Finally satisfied, he walked back down and lay down on the bed, taking out a joint filled with the dankest marijuana from Snoop Dogg's Garden of Weeden itself, and lit it using the fire. He gently puffed on it, feeling high as fuck and relaxed, before tossing it away and crawling underneath the covers and closing his eyes. Soon, he was fast asleep and snoring, undisturbed by the thunderstorm outside, rocked to sleep by the soft pitter-patter of rain on the windows.

[center]-----------------------------[/center]

Distant booms jolted Mountain awake the next morning. So startled in fact, that it caused him to teleport to the top of the room in shock. Blearly-eyed, Mountain blinked and looked around, noticing that he was several metres above the ground. [color=44d62c]"Aw, crap."[/color] And then he fell for a much longer time than what was normal for someone falling from that height, before smashing into the ground, missing the bed by just an inch. Grumbling, he grabbed the wooden supports and pulled himself up. Rubbing the pain out of his back, he yawned and stretched, smacking his lips together to get the foul taste of a night's sleep out of his mouth. He then blinked several times, finally noticing that it was daytime, which confirmed the time as six-thirty in the morning when he checked his G-Shock watch.

[color=44d62c]"Huh, I haven't felt that rested in a while."[/color] Mountain muttered, before pushing the door open and walking out, curious to find out what that massive explosion was. Walking out, he noticed that the sun was just beginning to rise, given that it was only slightly above the horizon, which shone through the distant clouds and glistened off puddles of water from last night's storm. The city was pretty peaceful during this time, too. Birds were chirping and the air was nice, and there were no annoying cars honking their horns, clueless pedestrians who caused the drivers to honk their horns, and the toxic fumes of carbon monoxide. The sun was then blotted out by a rising cloud of dust from what Mountain presumed was where the explosion came from. 

Above, several black helicopters zipped by, followed by odd flying objects. Mountain raised an eyebrow, before the area he was in was suddenly bathed in shadow. Confused, Mountain turned around to the sky, and his eyes widened when he saw a massive black shape hovering in the air. [color=44d62c]"You have [i]got[/i] to be kidding me. It's fucking [i]Independence Day[/i] now?"[/color] He almost shouted. 

Suddenly, Mountain's heart thingy came to life. Out came the cheerful voice of the announcer, joyfully informing each contestant that teams from the College would start moving in to study the area. He then went on to say that the nerds from the College had discovered things called 'Echoes', apparently places that didn't belong in the city 'phasing in', so to speak. Mountain turned around and stared at the watchtower, wondering if it was an Echo. It certainly didn't look like it belonged, and it had seemingly risen out from the ground, given the cracked concrete around its base Mountain had missed during the storm. What really caught Mountain's attention, however, was what Oren said next. He spoke of things called 'Factions', a term Mountain knew all to well from his years of gaming. NPCs milling around, each one belonging to a certain group. He wondered if they were hostiles to each other, but he guessed he would just have to find out.

There was the sound of rustling papers over the mic, before Oren cleared his throat and informed each contestant that Round 2 was now in session. He said that it was intra-zone, so everyone had some exploring to do. Then he said that everyone could call for help if needed for up to three times, for directions or information. Excellent. Mountain always got lost during certain quests. Once that bit of information was relayed, Oren hung up. When he did, there was a slur of feedback and burst of static on Mountain's end, causing him to rear back. [color=44d62c]"AUGH! Dammit, man, get a better mic for fuck's sake!"[/color] Mountain angrily cried. So, his opponent was going to be in a different zone, which meant he probably had enough time to go hunting for loot before rekking his opponent's ass.

His stomach suddenly rumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten yet. He couldn't rekt on an empty stomach, after all. Walking back into the relative safety of the watchtower, Mountain pulled out his regular breakfast: a weed sandwich and Mountain Dew Kickstart, along with a Taco Bell waffle taco. He devoured his meal, feeling rejuvenated and full. That done, he punched his bed, which caused it to shrink into its original size. He stashed it away in his pocket and walked back out, sparring the tower one final look before getting into the Range Rover he had parked in front of the building last night. He switched on the engine and sat there for a bit, combing his messy hair into something was somewhat less messy, before driving off, following the road wherever it went, though it was in the general direction of the explosion.

Mountain connected the phylactery to the car via Bluetooth (which it had for some reason) and gave Oren a call. [color=44d62c]"Hey, man."[/color] He began. [color=44d62c]"I kind of need your help for something. Can you tell me if there are any quests available with epic loot rewards nearby?"[/color]

[center][@Lugubrious][/center]