"At last, Dunnstads." Ortix exclaimed. Upon entering the fishing town he was met with a wall of sea breeze and salty air. It reeked of fish guts and manual labor, but Ortix had a quest to do, and a quest he would complete. He began down the hilled road leading towards the docks. As the scent of the sea grew stronger and thicker Ortix came across a fish market full of a multitude of fish and other marine life. "Now that I'm a kind of cat-man, would fish taste better? Maybe I can even eat them raw with no penalties." He wondered in the back of his mind. Ortix approached a man who appeared to be throwing fish back into the water. "Excuse me, sir would you mind if I, uh... borrowed one of those fish?" He asked the man in the most nonchalant manner possible in high hopes no questions would be asked. The man turned slowly and squinted his eyes and stared at Ortix as if to read a distant book. Ortix couldn't help but to smile nervously until the fisherman broke the silence with a Hearty "Of course lad, anything to keep you kids from pirating!" as he tossed the fish into Ortix's arms. Ortix thanked the man and was on his way. He continued to walk until the man was out of sight. He then turned into an alley checking both ways to make sure no one was watching. When he was sure it was safe, he slowly took a bite of the fish. Immediately after the first crunch, Ortix's face contorted violently. He immediately spit out the foul tasting meat followed by involuntary vomiting. He wiped the throw-up and snot from his face and leaned against the wall, whimpering lightly - Ortix felt thoroughly violated by the fish. This was also one of many defeats he had already experienced today. After mentally preparing himself not to give up and and reading some motivational quotes online, he suited up once more and left the alley with his usual look of self confidence now on his way to the quests objective. Not more than a minute later he had arrived at the shop he desired. Ortix spotted the shop keeper immediately. It was easy because he was that only one that didn't appear to be selling fish and/or fishing utilities, just a wholesome equipment vendor. He glanced around erratically and worriedly until he laid his eyes upon Ortix. "Oh thank the heavens, someone here to help! I'll show you in right away while I wait for the rest" he pleaded. @Aaron Marone @Alphabet Chocolate
Alpha practically skipped the entire way to Dunnstads with joy on her face and Terry trailing behind her. This would be the first quest in a long while that Alpha got to enjoy a 'no-violence' policy or, well, as close as she can get anyway in a game that was naturally inclined to produce very dangerous situations. Where else in the world would a perfectly normal stranger get attacked by mutated slime, a pack of wolves, and who knows what else? This game, apparently. Still, she met many of her friends here so it would be wrong of her to just up and quit like that. The game was also kind of fun once you got around that entire 'slaughter-or-be-slaughtered' part. There were even scavenger hunts around, she remembered. Then Terry snapped her out of her thoughts as she noticed the pup running circles around her and positively hopping like a horse or something. "What're you doing boy?" she smiled, giving him a playful pat and rub on the ears. She was going to be meeting up with her teammates at the shop they were assigned to and the Terry reminded her of the reason why she accepted this quest so eagerly in the first place. "Aww, you miss Aaron don't you boy?" she laughed and, at the mention of the man's name, Terry yipped even more and his excitement increased tenfold. Alpha looked around to see the sailors and townspeople shying away from her companion despite his innocent happiness. She had to admit that, the first time she met Terry, she was scared too and that it was normal for someone to be fearful of a full-grown wolf despite its childish glee and soft looks. Considering that she was lucky to live in a world without hungry creatures stalking the woods, she wondered how many people could've perished at the fangs of Terry's brethren. She frowned and shook the morbid thoughts out of her head, not wishing to oblige in them for another second and pet the oblivious Terry once more. "C'mon boy," she gave him a reassuring smile. "Let's go to the shop!" By the time she arrived at the shop, she wondered where the lingering scent of fish guts came from (and don't ask how she knows what fish guts smell like). Then, she opened the door as the welcoming bell chimed and the shopkeeper looked at her with a worried smile. She ignored him in favor of a much more peculiar and interesting sight. "Oh! Are you one of those cat-people? I went on a quest with one of you guys before—her name was Mary! Your ears are so cute!" she went on and on, babbling nonsense after seeing her partner. Terry growled behind her, baring his fangs at the oddly-eared man. "Nice to meet you! Name's Alphabet Chocolate, I think I'm your teammate on this quest, right?" she grinned. Then she turned to the shopkeeper. "And I'm here to make sure no one steals anything and, well, catch the culprit like Scooby Doo, right?" she laughed. Terry continued growling and snarling at Ortix's direction, drool crawling down his muzzle and floppy lips. "Oh, haha, I think he just misses Aaron. No worries!" @Aaron Marone
Aaron walked through the fishing town, for once in this game being ungrateful that there was such a realistic sense of smell. He hated the smell of fish. But he had a job to do, and more importantly, a friend to see again. It would be good to see Alphabet Chocolate - ABC, as he called her - and her pet, Terry, again. He had helped the girl meet the wolf, so he was excited to see how the two were doing. He was equally excited to show off the fact that, now, he was fully armed with a sword, shield, and armor. One problem had already arisen, however. Aaron had no clue where exactly he was supposed to go in order to find this warehouse he was guarding. He sighed and lowered his head. He desperately hoped he wouldn't be late because of being lost. Even as the sigh left his lips, he heard the sound of a wolf growling from not too far away. Aaron sprung up. Was that Terry? He made his way toward the source of the noise, which didn't take long. In fact, he arrived in time to hear ABC say it was probably just the dog missing him. Aaron smiled at that. "Well if you miss me so much, then come here, boy!" Aaron said, patting his legs and then holding his arms out. He laughed. "Long time no see, ABC. How have you been doing?" Assuming he wasn't currently being mauled by the wolf, either with excitement or anything else, he would approach Alphabet for a hug, and then turn toward the shopkeeper. "Sir, I can promise that your possessions are in good hands. We will catch the culprits of these acts, and they will be brought to justice." Finally, Aaron turned to Ortix. "I am looking forward to working alongside of you in this," he said with a smile. Slowly, that smile turned into a grin. "Okay, does anyone else find it humorous that, on this quest, we have a cat and a dog working together? Oh man, this is gonna be great."
"Okay first off, Nice to meet you guys. My names Ortix, Ortix Farlin. Second off, that's not funny and this dog is kind of scary.... Anyhow, where's the basement at?" The shopkeeper pointed towards the cellar door with, yet again, a worried look on his face as if he regretted hiring certain people without so much as an interview. Ortix lumbered over to the small square in the floor with a steel handle on the top. He then squatted down and reached for the handle. It was cold to the touch and rather heavy. He lifted it with ease however, noting that the lack of dust proved it was used daily at minimum. At an attempt to adjust his eyes to the darkness below, he squinted allowing him to make out a ladder and some shelves packed with goods. He shimmied into the mild darkness and down the sturdy wooden ladder. "Anybody got a match or a couple of candles? Not that I'm sad about it but, how are ya' gonna get the dog down here?" The shopkeeper tossed down a pack of pack of matches, a coil of rope, and a deck of cards. "Here're the matches, the candles 're already down there. The rope's fer if ya' actually catch 'im or what ever it is, an' the cards 're well, those 're fer you guys if ya' to want ta an' kill some throughout the night." "Thanks sir, we'll get the job done." Ortix said as he proceeded around the room lighting every third candle while waiting for the others to climb down. The room, now dimly lit, was lined with unpolished suits of armor mostly except one rather shiny suit that must have been the shopkeeper's family heirloom or something similar. there were also boxes filled with older miscellaneous pieces of gear like gloves and bags. "This is gonna be a long night." @Alphabet Chocolate @Aaron Marone
"Aww, he's so excited!" she giggled, watching as the wolf suddenly turned its attention away from the cat-boy and rush towards Aaron for a friendly welcome. Slobber dripped down Aaron's face as the man patted his knees and spread his arms wide. She smiled at the sight, feeling positively gleeful herself at the reunion. "I'm doing great Aaron! Got some cool stuff too, like a spear and everything!" she enthused, rambling on about her time buying inventory at a merchant's store. "Never used it in a fight though, but it's great for hunting fish for Terry to gobble and fatten himself on!" Then, she turned her attention to her other companion in this quest. "Ortix Farlin, huh? That's such a cool name!" her eyes sparkled as she went on. "Maybe I should change my name to that? Can we even do that? Where did you even get the ears?!" she stood on her tippy toes, trying to reach the top of the tall man's head to rub his ears. Then realization hit her and she rubbed her neck sheepishly, settling down. "Oops, haha, sorry I got a bit over-enthusiastic there I guess? My name's Alpha, nice to meet you!" she held out her hand for a tentative greeting, hoping she didn't disturb or ostracize the man too much with her blatant display. Regardless, she noticed Aaron approaching her for a hug which she eagerly reciprocated, happy to both remove herself from the awkward situation she had dug herself in and genuinely happy to see such a dear friend once again. After she removed herself, she noticed Ortix chatting with the shopkeeper and the man pointed to the cellar door. As Ortix went to investigate, Alpha followed in his footsteps with curiosity alongside Terry, who had managed to detach himself from Aaron's leg. It was a dark place with a single ladder and, upon Ortix's comments, Alpha continued to worry about how Terry would go down there. She sighed and gave a wince, calling down to Ortix who already started climbing down the ladder. "I'll see you when you get up here, I guess! I'll stay up here to keep Terry company!" she shouted down below. She then took a quick glance at Aaron to gauge his reaction. Of course, if he had needed her help down there she'd follow and assist him but she was hesitant about leaving Terry on his own. He was an awfully attached pup and he'd get bored when left alone. That was not a good thing. @Ortix Farlin @Aaron Marone
Aaron chuckled at the felis. "Aw, come on, it's not that bad," he said with a laugh. He returned his attention to Alphabet. "Hey! That's great! I can tell he's been eating a lot, haven't you, boy?" Aaron asked, scratching Terry behind the ears. He frowned slightly when ABC seemed to give the guy a hard time out his appearance. "Hey, be nice. People can't choose their names or app- wait... wait, they can here... still, be nice!" he said. He grinned when the girl introduced herself to the man. "Don't let her lie to you, her name is ABC. Mine's Aaron." When it came time for them to go down to the basement, Aaron scoffed at Alphabet suggested she and Terry would stay up above. "Nonsense!" he said. With one arm, he would lift the wolf and hold it against the side. "This way, you can help us and be with Terry at the same time," he said as he began carefully making his way down the ladder, carefully so as any squirming Terry might be doing wouldn't cause them both to fall and get hurt. Once he was down in the basement, he would set the wolf back down on the ground. "There you go, Terry." Aaron looked around. The light that Ortix were lighting helped a bit, but not really enough in his opinion. "Right, candles. Authentic, but inefficient." He coughed to clear his throat. "Illumina istum," he spoke, before clapping his hands. A small orb of light formed in his hands, and the light cast from it would fill the entire room. "That spell costs so little energy, it's all restored by the time it runs out, so I can keep doing that for as long as we need," he told the others. Aaron rubbed his hands together slowly. "Right then, so, uh.... any suggestions to pass the time? I actually don't know how to play most cards games, but I'd be willing to learn."
Still lighting candles, Ortix heard Aaron's voice from behind him. He turned back only to see Aaron with Alphabet's wolf tucked under his arm. The ladder was sturdy but this really put it to the test, however this was not the first thing on Ortix's mind. His first thought was instead: "You really gotta bring the dog down here? To be honest, I was better off when it was up top." Slightly worse off than before, Ortix continued to light candles until he heard Aaron's voice once again. Ortix peeked over his shoulder at Aaron who was, much to Ortix's surprise, holding a ball of light. "Well fuck, I kinda did all this for nothing then, huh? Thanks though." Ortix then backtracked his circular path of candles licking his index finger and pinching their enflamed wicks with his thumb while Aaron asked about card games. When Ortix finished, he pulled out the deck of cards from his pocket and slid them from their box, placing the box back into his pocket. "Okay so, this is an easy one to learn, it's called Blackjack or 21. Everyone gets two cards off the top of the deck but don't let anyone else see them. Your goal in this game is to, yep, you guessed it!, reach 21. Aces count as 1 or 11, your choice, face cards like the King, Queen, and Jack are all worth 10, and the other cards are worth whatever number is on them. If you happen to go over 21 you lose instantly while whoever gets the closest to 21 wins. Oh yea, and for this game we leave the jokers out of the deck. Did you get all that? Also what's the hold up? your pups already here, play some cards with us, Alphabet." Ortix said all this and simultaneously shuffled the deck thoroughly. Though he hadn't put any points in his rogue mastery, he could feel his sleight of hand had increased be it a placebo effect or not. @Alphabet Chocolate @Aaron Marone
Alpha followed them down in awe at Aaron's strength as he hefted the dog down to the basement without a sweat. Although Terry wasn't as big as other wolves (which was odd considering that he was definitely full-grown and was, at most, 35 pounds heavy) the feat was quite a marvel, especially to Alpha who wasn't the strongest of them all. She went down the ladder, careful with each and every step. While there was light, it was in Ortix's care and the distance that was between them ensured that there would be little illumination for Alpha on her way down. She listened to his words, a tad bit irked that he had wished for Terry to stay upstairs. Ever since she had met the dog, they hadn't really been separated at all. The very thought of it disturbed Alpha immensely. "Maybe not," she muttered under her breath, a little offended on the behalf of the oblivious Terry. Once they were all down the basement, Alpha couldn't help but feel wonder and amazement at Aaron's ability. The light that had been created in his palm had made Alpha feel surprised and a bit self-conscious in equal measure. Still, she scolded herself for the feeling and immediately went to make sure Aaron knew just how amazing his ability was. These moments made her slightly regret not taking one of those magic masteries but what's done was done. "That's so cool! Can you make fireworks and shadow puppets with that?" she asked as Terry went over to rub himself on her leg like a cat. Then, as she was talking, she heard a rustle and shifted her attention to Ortix who had pulled out a stack of cards from his pocket. Alpha tried not to look interested, as a bit of petty vengeance for the cat-man's words, but couldn't help but edge a little closer to see what was up. She mostly tuned out Ortix's long explanation in favor of playing a bit with Terry before she heard her name and her ears perked up. She had been invited to play cards. "Hm? Oh, sure, that sounds fun!" she smiled, completely confused and trying not to show it. She really should've been paying attention. So, she sat on the ground and let Terry sit in her lap, patting him as she waited. "Let's play!" @Ortix Farlin @Aaron Marone
Aaron gave the man a half smile when he began dousing the flames of the candle. "Sorry. Didn't mean to make your effort go to waste, just trying to be helpful." He laughed at Alphabet's reaction to his light though. "Uh, I've not really tried anything like that," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Man, I, I hadn't even thought of trying to do anything like that at all." When he was dealt the cards, Aaron looked at them as subtly as he could. A three of hearts and a two of clubs. Well, that didn't seem like it was anywhere near twenty one. "Uh, so, theoretically, say we know our cards are gonna be nowhere near twenty one. How do we go higher? Are we allowed to take another card?" He asked. "I'm really sorry, my parents in real life were super strict, so I never learned how to play games like these when I was younger, and haven't had the time to since I've been on my own." Aaron looked around the room as he waited for an answer. "You know, I just thought of something... so this is his storage room, where stuff has been disappearing from... how do you think whoever is doing it is even getting inside? Do you think they've been coming in the main way, or do you think there might be some hidden entrance somewhere down here? And if that's the case.... should we maybe look for that?" He asked.
Ortix dealt out the cards with a few flicks of his wrist to Aaron, Alphabet, and himself, then placing the deck at his side. Next, he slid his cards of the ground from the ground to peek at them noting the presence of one King of spades and one Jack of hearts. "easy pickings" he thought to himself, "I should have taught him about gambling..." In response to Aaron's questions Ortix said: "First, yes. The dealer, myself, will go person to person starting from the person to my left, you Aaron, and go around the circle clockwise asking 'hit' or 'stand.' If you say 'hit,' I'll give you another card and move on to the next person. I'll keep going around the circle until everyone has said 'stand' which means that you don't want anymore cards. Second, I've never really had that whole 'parent' issue before so I can't relate. Third, since guarding this place is kind of the entire objective of the quest, I'd say that's a fine idea. Let's start looking I guess." Ortix sat his hand down while eyeing the other two as to assure they weren't peeking and then stood up. He went to the opposite side of the room and began sliding shelves out of the way to check for holes or gaps. "Well nothing under these over here." he said now focusing on the wall. Ortix began to caress the slabs of stone that made up the basement wall where he was searching. He attempted to press and pull every single slab and slid his fingers between each one as well. He was meticulous and thorough. When he finally finished he began speaking after a short sigh: "I got noth- Every one be quiet!" the room fell silent. Then a faint clicking started, it sounded like a pencil tapping - tick tick tick tick tick tick Ortix could tell only he could hear it by the others confused and concerned expressions however, Alphabet's pet wolf seemed to be able to hear it also. The hairs on his neck were raised. Psssssssshhhhh Ortix turned his head frantically while drawing his spear. A thick white smoke spread across the floor of the basement. His eyes wide open, he stared into the smoke waiting for something to move. @Alphabet Chocolate @Aaron Marone
Alpha looked at the cards with a puzzled expression and a confusion-generated migraine beginning to form in her noggin. Sure, she had seen and played 'Go-Fish' with a deck of cards before (who hasn't?) but playing a completely new game of whatever it is they were playing (Alpha still didn't catch up with whatever Ortix had said while she had tuned him out). Hesitantly, she whispered to herself. "Uhm, do you have any sixes?" Her voice was quiet and her face was slightly flushed, a bit embarrassed at her lack of knowledge and her own desire to make herself seem a tad bit more mature. Adults always played card games in casinos and such, right? Despite being a thirteen year old in the game, she was nineteen and three-quarters in the real world and that had to count for something. She then mentally hit herself in the head for her idiocy; she had joined the game wanting to express her childish self and now she wants to grow up and mature? Never! At that note, she lost her previous hesitancy and a proud smirk planted itself on her face. "Give me a six!" she shouted on the top of her lungs, startling Terry who laid down next to her foot. She gave the dog a pat to calm him down and, grudgingly, the pup went back to sleep with a content smile on his muzzle. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like anyone heard as Aaron had asked a question and Ortix was rambling without a care in the world. Alpha knew she talked a lot but she'd never met someone who'd talk as much as him. Then, he stopped still and his ears twitched (which was rather cute, she admitted) and he had asked everyone to be quiet. Alpha closed her eyes, leaning in to try to decipher any sort of noise but she heard nothing. A quick glance at Terry, however, told her all she needed to know. "What's going on?" she asked, her voice tinged with a hint of worry. Whatever it is, only Terry and Ortix could hear it and it made Alpha feel a bit terrified. She didn't know what was coming. Alpha's thunderous aplomb died out, sinking away from her features as a wariness overtook her. She drew her spear from her inventory, holding it stiff and ready to strike at a moment's notice. As she did so, white smoke suddenly flooded the basement, drowning the floor in white. Terry barked. "What is it boy?" she asked, tense and watching the smoke carefully. She then turned to Aaron, silently asking him what to do next. @Aaron Marone
Aaron listened to the man talk about the rules of the game, then respond to his comment about his family, and then responded to him asking about looking around the room all in one go. Aaron frowned at the man mentioning not having a 'parents issue', and took that to mean the man was saying he didn't have parents. "I'm sorry," he said. "Do you want to talk about it? Your parents, I mean. It can help, sometimes, to talk about things like that." "I don't think that's how the game's played, ABC..." he said to Alphabet. "Uh... hit me, though, when you get the chance," Aaron said, before putting his own cards completely down. He stood up and helped search with Ortix. When the white smoke began to roll into the room, Aaron drew his sword. "Hold your breaths!" he shouted. "It might be some form of gas attack! Hold your breath as best as you can!" Aaron moved close to Alphabet. "Stick close to me," he whispered. "Terry will be more sensitive to the gas than us because of his smaller lung capacity. If anything happens to him, grab him and get up that ladder as fast as you can. I'll be right behind you, I promise," he told the girl. He wasn't sure if he actually would be able to follow right behind, as he would make sure the Felis escaped before he would attempt to himself.
Heeding Aaron's words, Ortix lifted his shirt above his nose with one hand, the other still clutching the spear. Just then a panel in the center of the floor flung opened right underneath where they were playing cards. Smoke shot out of it as if it were a volcanic eruption. A man with a gas mask crawled out like a rat. He glanced over the room, spotting all three of the humanoids and the wolf. Noticing they were all struggling not to inhale the gas he rushed the shiniest thing he could find, an heirloom set of silver armor. He came for loot, not for a fight as he only had a dagger. After realizing this, Ortix thought he could finish it quick. As he went to take off towards the man, Ortix dropped to his knees. His entire body went numb without him even noticing. Though the gas was heavy enough to settle quickly, the sudden burst of it from earlier washed over him as the closest one to the source. The other's should be fine given how far away they were compared to himself as long as they didn't stir up the gas. "Get hisss masssksss..." Ortix said at an attempt to help while his jaw became paralyzed as well. He could only watch, listen, and wait now. The thief was still in his sprint at the armor, gas fishtailing up behind him. Without care he trampled Ortix, pushing off of him like a starting block at the treasure. @Alphabet Chocolate @Aaron Marone
Alpha held her breath, feeling her head grow light and heavy from the lack of oxygen. A quick look showed that Terry wasn't doing so well either and she gestured for the dog to flee. She set her determined eyes on the masked man who entered and positioned herself in front of Aaron. The man was much bigger than her but all Alpha could think of doing at the time was to protect her friend, regardless of his instructions. The brush of fur against her waist told her that Terry, too, shared the same feelings. The masked man moved too fast for her eyes to properly catch at this gaseous disadvantage but she could hear Ortix's strangled hisses. Turning to Aaron, she gave her best attempt of a confident wink despite the turning of her stomach and the stiffness of her fingers. "Don't worry Aaron!" she said, taking in a whiff of the smoke that made her choke for a bit. Eyes finally settling on the thief who went full-sprint for the armor, Alpha lifted her spear up and dashed for him with Terry on her heels. She'd only have enough power for one attack before the gas completely paralyzed her and knocked her out. She heard Terry collapsing behind her and winced but continued forward, eyes heavy. With a stab, she barely managed to cut the flaps that attached the thief's gas mask onto his face and, with that, Alpha grinned victoriously and rose her hand to give a visible thumbs-up. She had succeeded. But then her lungs felt heavy and her vision grew blurry until, eventually, she collapsed, knocked out and body stiff and still. @Aaron Marone @Ortix Farlin
Aaron watched as Alphabet practically sacrificed herself to bring down the masked man. Idiot! What. Did I tell her?" He thought, quickly pulling up his spell menu. Casting a protection spell on himself to help negative some of the effects of the gas, Aaron then proceeded to cast his healing spell twice, once directed at both of his partners. Mostly, it would just restore their health if they had lost any, but it would also make them feel better physically, and if any of the effects of the gas were psychosomatic, then the spell would assist with that portion of things. Finally, Aaron turned his attention toward the thief. The man wasn't down yet, as the moment his mask was removed he had slowed his movement. Aaron grinned at him, viciously. He readied his shield and charged at the man, slamming into the thief shield first with his full body weight, armor weight, and momentum. The force of the impact would send the man flying toward the wall, which he would strike head first and be promptly knocked unconscious, Aaron found that his lungs were beginning to ache now, and his world was growing dark. Even with his protection spell, the smoke was still affecting him. However, he had judged that it was only a debilitating, not a leathal smoke. Aaron slowly made his way to the rope and picked it up. How far was he from the thief? Would he be able to make it? He coughed, his lungs refusing to hold onto his stale oxygen any longer. He doubled over and had to force his way forward while hunched. He wrapped the rope around the man's arms and torso and tied it in a knot, Knowing that wouldn't keep the man still, he wrapped the other end around himself and tied that. Whether that would work or not, he wasn't sure. But it was all he could do, as the next moment Aaron fell over, backwards, and found his world had completely faded to black.
