Zak was simply doing a daily chore. He rummaged through the Cartographers' supply stash, with the standard pile of unused weapons and armor lying about.

As per the group's standard procedure, if they had four of the same type of weapon available, then that is what he would use. But on this day, as countless others before, he simply went for four unmatched items - a rifle, a mace, a pistol, and a set of medium pauldrons.

The jog from the huntsman's station to the mystic forge was not far, and Zak went about his work.

After the standard delay of a few seconds, Zommoros consumed the items and returned one in exchange.

At first glance, Zak was mildly pleased - "Ah, some sort of exotic longbow. Not that I use them, but a few of my group do."

But then, he looked more closely at the item. "By the Six! This is not just any exotic longbow … this is The Leaf of Kudzu!"

The Cartographers assembled at Lost Precipice to share the news and see the Leaf of Kudzu.

Dudaeus could hardly contain himself. "This weapon is already so wonderful, how can we possibly make it even finer?!?"

Magnus reminded the others, "Now you know why we have been so frugal all these years. Fate has smiled on us all today, so let us be wise in our expenditures and work on this together."

Jene' said that she would add to their collective luck from her gaming in the Dragon Ball Arena.

But Magnus reminded her, "Our first priority remains filling the BLE treasury with more essences of luck first. When that is done, then, well, it will be acceptable for us to increase our luck some more."

Magnus rejoined the group with a book, borrowed from the Priory.

"A tome with research on Kudzu," he stated.

They pored over the pages, with Zak and Dudaeus taking notes.

After some time, they finished their studies and came to the conclusion. "I am confident we can complete this quest without breaking our bank!"

Magnus knew that his sylvari friend was the most anxious of all to get that longbow, but he still had to be prudent. "That is great news! Let us spend our earnings on the components that cannot be obtained any other way than from merchants, and focus our gathering and harvesting efforts on the rare materials to take care of the rest!"

Trips to the bank were always quite common, but now they had taken on new importance.

Zak rubbed his chin as he took inventory.

"So let's see, we are nearly full on some of these lower level materials," he said to himself.

After a quick review of the Black Lion Trading Post price list, Zak shared his conclusions with the others. "We will do quite well for ourselves if we trade in some of our overstocked items and use them to buy the rarer ones, in particular the ancient wood logs. Most of you are more than capable of refining them into planks, too."

Chauncey gave a mew and a purr. "That's right, Chauncey," added Magnus. "Laurels! Another of our currencies that we will put to use for the highest tier components."

Sylgja commented, "You know, you could just spend some of our gold and complete your task …"

Inge gathered a large parcel and brought it to Magnus.

"Looks like an anonymous benefactor has sent over a bundle with some of the materials you are looking for!"

Magnus was pleased. "This is very nice, indeed!"

Dudaeus and Zak added the materials to their totals, and could barely contain themselves. "That's it! We have everything!"

"Well, almost," added Jene', who had not been too involved with the proceedings until now. "Based on these notes, you need something that your resident Master Leatherworker can craft - and that's me!"

She took the gold needed to buy the recipe and then crafted the Gift of Nature. Magnus agreed that Dudaeus should do the honors. "My friend, you have spent many hours at that forge, and I believe that Kudzu belongs in your hands first."

Dudaeus nodded his consent and appreciation. He gathered everything carefully, double and triple checked his notes, drew a deep breath, and placed everything into the forge. And waited. And there it was … Kudzu!