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Now's your chance!
A lifelong goal of mine has been to be a stick farmer. Ever since I saw my first stick linked in Crossevents, I knew what I wanted to do in life. There was just one problem though... There has always been content in my way. How could I possibly focus on practicing my stick farming when there were new dungeons and raids to run, new gear to farm, new content to prepare for? Thanks to Brasse, I was finally able to chase my dreams. Let me tell you a little bit about it, as it can get very complex.
The stick (Officially known as "A Stick") is one of the most sacred of items in Telara. It's origins are not known, however, many believe that it comes from the Pine Tree. Now, before I started, I had no experience. I had no idea what to think about the origins of the stick. The first thing I did was learn as much as I could about various trees so I knew what I was looking for (See 50 Different Types of Trees to get started). Once I was familiar with some of the trees native to Telara, I began my journey.
Given it's name, I thought Silverwood would be a good place to start. The wildlife was considerably lower in level. posing no threat to me, and from what I could see, there were plenty of trees. Searching high and low, from tree to tree, I searched for these sticks, but much to my dismay, there were none to be found. Not to be defeated, I started my way up, climbing towards Moonshade Highlands. It was there that I discovered a sparkling mound of stone (That I would later understand to be a Cairn, pictured below:
Investigating this mound, I noticed there was something hidden inside. A small dusty sack. After wiping the dust off, I untied the worn, brown rope that served to protect whatever treasure was hidden inside from the elements. Inside, I found A Scrap of Paper. This scrap of paper had started to crumble so I carefully flattened it to see what it said; to see if it could give me a clue as to where the stick came from. But what did I find? This small scrap of partially crumbled paper was blank. Why would someone go through all of the trouble to hide a blank piece of paper in a mound of stone on top of a large hill? I was intrigued. As thoughts and ideas began to bombard my head, I decided to look in the surrounding area for more. Surely someone as meticulous as this would have left a second clue.
Scrutinizing every inch, I left my home shard of Greybriar and headed to Deepwood. Shocked, I found another mound in the same place, only this one wasn't sparkling. Not wasting any time, I quickly jumped to Faeblight where I found a sparkling mound. I raced up to it and tore away at the stone pile to unearth yet another dusty sack. I swiftly reached inside to pull out the next clue and felt something sharp pierce the side of my hand. Wincing, I jumped back and dropped the sack. And there, on the ground next to the sack was a stick. My heart started racing, my mind unable to comprehend thought. With the pain having been overcome by adrenaline, I walked over to the stick and picked it up. It was smaller than I imagined it would be, though I felt a sudden sense of importance holding this piece of Telara in my hands.
As the awe subsided, I felt a growing sensation of ambition. From what I had been told, this wasn't the only one so I moved on to Hailol where I was greeted by another mound of stone and yet another dusty sack. I took caution opening this one, as I was expecting another stick, but it wasn't another stick. Inside the sack was yet another scrap of crumbled paper and this one was blank too! The intrigue had subsided, leaving a sense of skepticism behind, a feeling as if someone or something was trying to discourage me from pursuing my goal. As one who is not easily swayed, I stuffed the paper in my backpack and continued on to Laethys where I found my second stick. I couldn't believe it. I had gone from someone dreaming of a day where I could reach my goal of being a stick farmer to holding two of those sticks in less than a day. I continued this pattern, jumping from Laethys to Seastone to Wolfsbane, and finally back to Greybriar. Upon reaching Greybriar, I noticed that the same stone pile where my adventure began was sparkling again. Much to my amazement, there was another dusty sack. Too excited to question the impossibility that had just happened, I quickly hopped to Hailol and found that mound sparkling again as well. I continued on, picking up items such as some old chocolate (Even as hungry as I was, I was not interested in finding out how old it really was, though it seemed completely inedible), cobwebs, and a bunch of very small rocks.
As the free space in my backpack became smaller and smaller, I continued to fend off requests for content such as SPEs, old raids, and warfronts. At this point, I was finally living out my dream and there was nothing that could stop me. I couldn't tell you how much time had gone by, only how many sticks I had collected. The more I found, the more I realized I had never felt so invested in anything else before during my time in Telara. This was my purpose and this was my destiny. I was to be a stick farmer.
And then it hit me. I picked up another stick, went to put it in my backpack, and heard my backpack start to tear. The thrill quickly subsided as I realized I would be unable to continue until the following day. Accepting this as a chance to prepare for another day in the hills, I headed home, proud of what I had accomplished. As I emptied my backpack into my bank, I thought about how tired I'll be tomorrow. But that thought quickly dissipated as I looked at my collection. I am a stick farmer and I have a whole month where I can just do what I love.
With another month until any content, I encourage you all to pursue your dreams and find your purpose. I'd like to thank Rgi for getting me started by teaching me about the stick and my father, Darkdaemon, for always pushing me to reach my goals. I'd also like to thank Brasse for providing me with this opportunity and also let this serve as an official request for the in-game title "Stick Farmer". Good luck to all as we endure this next month together.
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Originally Posted by Artewig 
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