I've been playing together with my good friend @NaluTheMermaidPrince for quite some time now. I, being very new to the game myself but having watched a fair amount of tutorials, introduced her to the game. Right after starting our game, I introduced her to panning, and we spent a few of those early nights panning away. Well, there were also a few ruins nearby with some coveted (well, coveted by me) bony soil. I was very excited, thinking about all the goodies we could get. And so we begin panning our humble assortment of bony soil.
My enthusiasm is high, my inventory slowly filled with bones and the odd nugget of silver or gold. Then, next to me, I hear "I got some jewelry". I turn around to see my friend flaunting a bronze armlet. Wow!! I didn't even know you could find jewelry in here!! I bet its only a matter of time until I get something cool as well!!! Better keep going! I think to myself.
Well, I had no such luck that night, but I was still optimistic. Fast forward and it must have been, what, the next day? Our memory is a bit rusty as these days are long past, but we both agree it can't have been very long after. We are once more panning (something it is becoming clear I enjoy doing more so than my friend) and once more, she goes "hey check out what I got". I turn around, and low and behold, lying there on her chest, glittering and shining....is a bronze gem necklace. Well, that is odd - but if she got two pieces of jewelry this fast, they can't be that rare, can they?
Now, at this point, we had exhausted our supply of bony soil, and soon we were so consumed with other tasks (such as my friends ever-growing berry obsession, but that is a story for another day...) that we simply ceased devoting our time to it. But, every now and again, I couldn't help but think about those beautiful pieces of jewelry. And so, one day, after many a night of wondering, I consulted the panning drop table on the wiki. And lo and behold, what do I see?
A drop chance of 1 in 625 for the bronze armlet.
Well, that's much rarer than I thought, but no need to give up hope right? Hold on, what about that necklace? "Hey Nalu, what's your jewelry called?" I ask, unaware of the despair about to befall me, as I see....a 1 in 2500 drop chance. Now, how she managed to get not just the bronze armlet, but also the gem necklace, in what could at most have been a stack and a half of bony soil divided to both of us, I will never understand.
Now, a smarter seraph would have given up at this point. Perhaps an even smarter seraph would have plundered far and wide for as much bony soil as they could find. As it happens, I am neither, and so I spent my days tending the animals, the windmill, the forge, watching the ever-growing assortment of berries... And as life would have it, it was this obsession of Nalu's that would make my dreams come true. You see, she had a great love for exploring, and often went out looking for berry bushes, and later, for sea shells to add to our collection. So it happened that she came upon the odd ruin or two, and given she had the carrying capacity, she would bring me bony soil from her travels. It wasn't very much still, mind you, 10 or so blocks each time. But I appreciated it greatly as my hunt for treasure continued.
And last night, in July of our second year, most likely over a year after she had made those faithful discoveries (i had grown a beard during that time)....I finally found it. Panning away during the night, I looked upon my spoils to see a...silver diadem. I finished up the bony soil (it had only been 21 blocks) and went to show her the spoils.
How did we celebrate, you ask? Well, by looking through the handbook at what kind of other jewelry might be available for us to obtain. I've set my eyes on the gold waist chain myself, but somehow I feel like this is only the beginning.
After all, you know how the saying goes: Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Or, alternatively, and certainly true here: If you've got it, flaunt it.
