Complete - The Forward Fleet

The Forward Fleet

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After a long and heated conflict, Azog has been felled! The ashes settle to a clear view of victory. While no lives were lost in the battle save the brave sacrifice of Eleanor Loan, many of the gathered PCs and NPCs alike find themselves wounded, exhausted, and suddenly without an easy way home from Mount Vulpus. Without the initial teleportation of the mysterious Arena Master, all eyes would turn to the hot air balloons landing carefully around the group for help.

The Monster Hunter League has agreed to shuttle all who have taken part in the fighting with their fleet to the distant Pelham Springs on the border of Norfova and the growing player nation of Astorea. On the side of the largest of the balloons stands a woman, both feet on the railing and one hand loosely curled around a rope above her, who is quick to shout toward anyone headed her way.

Nedra Nyx

Gooooood afternoon passengers! This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight Bat Out of Hell. We are now inviting those passengers with small children, tames, particularly cute pets, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time! Please have your compliments and cash tips ready for me. Regular boarding will also begin in approximately right now. Thank you!

With that she gives a half-assed bow and hops back into the balloon. While there are many hot air balloons present bearing the league's crest, the so-called Bat Out of Hell is easily the most well-suited to hosting a large amount of passengers. It would appear they don't want to waste the fuel or mana to take the entire fleet to Pelham Springs. The balloons each have a gangplank of sorts leading up into it. Supplies are tied to the inside walls and sacks full of water, sand, and coolant are tied to the outside. An interwoven mess of ropes lines the floor, but there are no obvious places for seating. Copping a squat or perching on some of the supplies seems your best bet. Once all are accounted for and the balloon begins its ascent the woman from before bellows out over the din.

Nedra Nyx

This is your Captain, Nedra "Ned" Nyx, speaking. First I'd like to welcome everyone onboard Bat Out of Hell. We are currently cruising at an increasing altitude of some amount of feet and at I guess an airspeed of something slow. The time is whatever pm. The weather looks good minus all the steam and ash and with the tailwind on our side we are expecting to land at Pelham Springs approximately fifteen minutes ahead of schedule except I'm making that up entirely.

The cabin crew refused to come with me with all you here and took all the snacks and beverages. It was mostly peanuts and beer. I know, I'm upset about it too. For now, sit back, relax and enjoy the rest of the flight! If you think you're going to throw up, need to use the restroom, or want to start a fight? Take it outside!

Instructions

• This thread is only for people who had participated in Vanquished - Azog the Prince of Fire
• This thread is for your reaction to the end of the World Boss fight and traveling.
• Your reaction post can take place before or after this post.
• You do not have to RP here to join the Pelham Springs Spa Vacation thread.
• There is no posting order and you are not required to take part.
• Tag those you want to address using @Username.
• Patch yourselves up, praise @Eleanor Loan, and enjoy the flight.

 

They may not have beer, but Sylpha, despite being relatively new to the game and completely ill-equipped for the fight against Azog, had just the thing for this kind of situation. Sitting with her back against the wall, she opened her inventory through her palm menu and searched for the item.

With such a small inventory, it would not be long before the blue-haired Yladian produced a wine glass which she set on her lap and a curious bottle containing a blood red liquid. Despite it's opacity, the silhouette of an ornately-shaped dagger could be seen through it. Utilising one of her skills, she popped the cork with her bare hands and placed the cork into her inventory before picking up the wine glass.

Filling it a third of the way through, she swirled it lightly, brought it to her nose and gave it a good whiff. If no one had heard her pop the cork, anyone in her immediate area would be able to smell the rich aroma of the wine.

Yes, this was not any classy place to be drinking something like wine, but it was the only alcohol she had on hand and Sylpha had no intention of buying beer any time soon.

Setting the bottle between her legs, she thought of the lady who sacrificed herself to Azog (@Eleanor Loan), made a small toasting gesture to no one in particular (or, to be exact, to no one actually present), then took a sip.

A truly lavish and opulent wine, untainted despite the dagger floating in the bottle. Sylpha made a mental note to try this wine again in a better environment.

 

It's over. After that long battle against the Prince of Fire, Verity was able to sigh in relief as he sat back at the ship in silence. From what he can recall from it, it was actually the most intense fight he ever had, not to mention how he has to be more physical than he ever did in real life. It was just a game that he can experience with a virtual body, but being in a battlefield was more tiring than his physical education from his middle school days and office jumps before his lectures.

However, the thought of a player, @Eleanor Loan sacrificed herself to defeat Azog still haunted his mind a little. He thought of her a little reckless when he first saw how she fought against the boss, but he had to admit, he did saw her took the plunge without any fear. That took a lot of courage and bravery to take the final blow at the cost of her life. He already sent an email to this Eleanor about some things he wanted to discuss, but he might try to congratulate her for that honorable sacrifice.

Standing up from his seat, Verity left the back of the ship in order to wander around the ship. In his honesty, there was nothing to do on the ship than to wait for them to return to their intended destinations. He wanted to log off right now, but he didn't want to leave his character anywhere other than the inn. However, he did notice a young woman (@Sylpha Astarte) some kind of wine as he approached her with his eyes set on her. "Mind if I sit beside you?"

He still hasn't got the concept of food items that can mimic any taste in Terrasphere, but at least there was something that will alleviate his boredom for a bit.

 

Sylpha expected to be approached, but, unlike what she thought would happen, the man who came to her did not come with complaints. With her free hand, she gestured to her left with an open hand to accept his presence.

Only after thoroughly tasting her mouthful of wine did she look up and examine @Verity's features: A lithe man, a few inches taller than her (not that it mattered much when they were in a seated position) with hair that curled at the ends giving a somewhat scruffy impression.

Not like anyone would be tidy and flawless after a fight like that. Turning her glance down to her wine, she offered the glass to him.

"Would you like some?"

She didn't have any idea how she procured this item in the first place, so even though she could tell that it was a high quality item in real life standards, she could not say the same in a game. Thus, the only hesitation in offering this to others was the question if the other party actually wanted any.

 

The battle was over. Ilusa sighed and glanced around at many yellow or red health bars. She itched to heal. But it seemed that first was the problem of how to get out the place. Luckily the floating fleet agreed to get them all out of here.

“Huh… Okay…” Ilusa murmured, glancing at the woman who had been the Capitan and at the other adventurers who were seated around there.

As they flew toward their destination (Pelham Springs) Ilusa decided to get some last healing practise in. So, she started to cast some healing spells. Well, to be honest, she cast a lot of spells. Because the journey won’t be over quickly and without any pressure from enemies she could heal, then rest and watch her energy meter climb up and then heal again.

It was a thrill seeing all those nasty burns healing, leaving not even a single scar. Of course there were traces that the wounds were there; gear completely destroyed, or in need of repair. Her own clothes and light armour had holes where the lava, or molten gold hit here, leaving her with patches of uncovered skin; however, they were nowhere near inappropriate to show places.

To be honest Ilusa more bemoaned the fact that her armour would have to be repaired than that there were holes in her clothes. At the same time she was reminded again that perhaps she should find herself actual full set; get her body fully covered in the light armour. But she was picky and also did not want to spend too much money on it.

Sitting next to @Astor Balthas, whom she, of course, healed firstly, she took out some earlier prepared (but not capable of being consumed during a fight) refreshments (with the actual set to drink it). Pouring a glass of wine to Astor (that reminded her that she needed to give Roland a drink she promised him but she wanted to give him the best drink) she gave him the glass and then poured herself the glass of wine and clinked the glass with his.

“A toast for our victory.”

 

Verity nodded to her offer as he sat beside @Sylpha Astarte and accepted the glass from her. As he examined her, he noticed how different she was from him and some other players. She looked like a normal human being, but he noticed that she has pointy ears, which he wondered if her character was an elf just like in one of those epic fantasy stories. Granted, since he was unaware of the races since he chose Human without reading the other ones. Though he was aware of the feline-like races after he ran into some other players with cat ears and tail.

"I still can't believe all of these events. I never even expect how intense that fight was." And he hasn't recovered the shock from it even during the aftermath. He was still a new player, but the whole event just made him a little frazzled after the battle.

 

Astor was unnaturally disheveled, his face and golden hair sullied with soot and ash stain. The unpleasant smell of sweat clinging to his skin would have wafted the air as well, had it not been for the air circulation that flowed past him and the rest of the people who shared his space. Drawing the cold night breeze into his lungs, Astor leaned his back against the edge of the ship, letting his long legs sprawl out on the floor as he tucked both of his hands behind his head. The cool air was exactly what he needed after spending a few hours inside a volcano with the Prince of Fire, so they called him. By now, his lungs must have been through the wringer after it had to filter microscopic volcanic glass the entire night. If Terrasphere wasn’t a game, Astor would find himself needing a new pair of lungs already.

Turning his head toward @Ilusa Nakhalee who fussed over him like she usually does, Astor let out a laugh as if to taunt her. “Stop fussing so much. Look at you, shouldn’t you be more worried about yourself? Look at these holes in your shirt,” Astor said as he stuck his point finger into one of the hole, pressing the tip of his digit against her bare skin, which should have made her jump, given how cold his hand was at the time.
After they messed around for a bit, Ilusa poured him a glass of wine. Astor was a bit of a liquor aficionado, and as such was able to identify the quality of the drink offered to him. Taking a hold of the glass, he grabbed Ilusa’s lithe body and pulled it toward his own until the space between them became intimately small. With his arm around her shoulder, he clinked their wine glasses together and joined in on her toast. “To victory over Azog, the Prince of Fire,” said Astor before he took a swig of the red liquid, letting it wet his parched throat.

Peering overboard, it finally clicked in Astor’s head that it was going to be a fairly long trip. As such, he grabbed onto Ilusa’s head and gently pushed her face against his elevated shoulder. “You should log out for a while and take care of whatever you need in real life, I’ll let your body sleep here,” Astor said.

Regardless of Ilusa’s response, Astor peered over at @Sylpha Astarte and her fancy wine, feeling a small spark within the pit of his stomach. He wanted a taste of whatever she was holding. If he managed to catch her attention, he would make a gesture indicating he would like to have a taste of her drink.

 

Seeing him accept the glass but not drink, Sylpha opted not to comment on it as she adjusted the position of her legs slightly to make a bit more space for the bottle. It was likely that he was still fatigued from the fight as he stated his disbelief at the events that unfolded earlier.

"I can. I was a part of the relic team, so I saw some more unbelievable things, too."

That was all she was willing to say. She came into a fantasy world, expecting to see fantastical things. Even if what she saw did not match her tastes, she'd be damned if it wasn't exactly the kind of thing she came to see. Giant magical creature it took an army's efforts to take down? Yes. Slavery in front of her own eyes? Yes. Magical artifacts that make those who touch it hallucinate? It came without the side-effects of recreational drugs, too. Although she did experience these things, Sylpha wasn't suited to the tasks and she believed she should have picked up some more defensive abilities so she could survive any similar encounter.

She would have to look into it later.

As she was thinking this, Sylpha was staring forwards the whole time compared to her "drinking companion" who scrutinized her appearance. Her eyes eventually caught the gaze of a golden-haired man (@Astor Balthas) with sharp facial features looking towards her... no, to be exact, he was looking at the bottle situated between her thighs. He was clearly trying to gesture towards her and the bottle.

He could be said to be the opposite of Sylpha's situation: If she was the poor drinking whatever alcohol she could get her hands on and call it sufficient as a celebration, then this was an imposing man with the atmosphere of someone at the top. He had a woman in an intimate position, wineglass in the other and he was coveting another's wine. That was, if he was coveting it at all.

Granted, he might have been attracted towards the dagger that revealed itself every time the wine was poured. That alone would spark anyone's curiosity.

Yet, while Sylpha didn't actually mind pouring wine for him, she certainly minded any impressions she would make on the cat-eared lady he was having an intimate time with. She was not willing to intrude on that.

Letting her gaze linger on @Ilusa Nakhalee, she occasionally shifted a glance towards @Astor Balthas to see if he would beckon her over anyway. Only with a more explicit gesture or approval from his lover would she get up and approach.

 

It was relaxing; a familiar thing. Messing around after the end of a mission or a contract. The words and gestures there to relax, to unwind after putting one's life on the life. Of course there were differences. There was magic in her hands, used to heal. The wounds did not stay, the death was not permanent. Even if the pain was real, she did not hold knives or guns, her life was not at risk, and the team she was with was not a closely-knit through many life-endangering missions team, but a collection of less or more random Players and one and only constant presence in the game, Astor.

That was why she trusted him above anyone else in the game, the game-life endangering times spent with him, the relaxing times spent with him, they created a bond between them.

She giggled and yelped, when he poked him, her hands battling his away and then trying to warm them. Tail swaying and ears flicking in content, sometimes glancing on the outside.

And when she found herself pulled toward Astor body, she did not resist and even helped with that, sighing softly when her she leaned against his body. The scent of fire, dust and burnt flesh still clung to them, but it was easy to dismiss.

Their glasses clinking made a pretty sound and she caught herself before she started purring. Thus the Felis took a sip of the wine herself for the toast; her endurance for alcoholic beverages in real life was quite strong (she always blamed her Russian roots for that), but she was not quite sure how it worked in the game. Did it work how it did in real life, or did her maximum health factored in?

Ilusa leisurely took another sip, letting the scent down out the less pleasant scents. As his hand caught her head and pushed it against his shoulder, luckily she was not drinking the wine. Still her ear flickered in a wordless question and then, she hmmed.

Clenching and opening her palm she put the glass with wine to her inventory, then glanced at the time. After a moment she nodded, nuzzling his shoulder and twisting her body to make it more pleasant to ‘nap’ on him. “Hm, true…” After few tries she found just the right position and then she murmured, still loud enough for @Astor Balthas to hear it. “I’ll leave my body in your care. Just in case I won’t manage to come back before the flight will end, feel free to carry me, okay?” Then, Ilusa initiated log-out sentence, with the choice to ‘leave’ her body where it was.

Thus the avatar closed her eyes and relaxed even further, strength leaving her as ‘she’ entered the sleeping mode. Her chest rose and fell, an empty shell sleeping. A show of trust, that the person behind the avatar was sure that Astor would protect it.

As such, @Sylpha Astarte actions and kindness would be missed, which she hopefully would notice soon.

 

The weary and soot-face Astor had his arms around his feline companion, sharing what little heat radiating from his body with @Ilusa Nakhalee to keep her warm. Seeing @Sylpha Astarte hesitation in approaching him, he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Regardless, he made more obvious gestures, beckoning her to share the seat next to him. He made sure to soften his expression to make sure his gesture didn’t seem like command, but rather an invitation. Though as soon as he opened his mouth, a verbal taunt came forth.

“Aren’t you going to take up the offer to sit next to a King? The seat’s starting to rot from vacancy,” he said, replacing the soft expression earlier with that which straddles the line between mockery and jest.

 

Just hearing @Sylpha Astarte's answer made him smile a little bit. This was a virtual world themed around fantasy, so it would make sense the lore here can be unpredictable to the eyes of the players who didn't play a video game before. "At least you're lucky. I played this game for two weeks now and I'm still processing the events after the boss battle." He sighed as he reminscise the said battle that nearly costs his virtual life. "Though if I was part of the relic team, I might see all of the magical events that transpired there as well."

A sip of the wine Sylphia gave him should able to help him find some relief from the events and boredom in the airship. But while he managed to do so, the sight of the young man (@Astor Balthas) asked the young Yladian woman to come just dampened the mood around him. If he remembered, that was the same man that contacted him, not to mention the very same man who rescued him from the collapse of Azog's remains.

Though, he remained a little cautious as he turned to Sylphia after he took another sip. "I heard that he was somehow a king of some country, but do you mind telling me more about the man who called you?"

 

Yes, the lore was unpredictable to those not well-versed to fantasy worlds. Sylpha accepted it easily because it was what she had come to see, but someone who has been in the game longer than she has was still having problems. As for being in the relic team, she had her ways of solving that problem.

"I happen to have screenshots of my time in there. Just pass me a mail and I'll send them to you." They were meant for herself, but she didn't mind sharing it around. She would definitely omit the one she took of a naked Ivan in his cell, though.

The impatient voice of the golden-haired man was already raised in her direction now. Normally, one would be offended or appalled at the radiating pride, but this azure-haired Yladian's expression was not one of disgust. The emotion in her sea-green eyes was one better attributed to confusion. She didn't expect him to call himself King, after all.

While she had no clue to his identity, her conversational partner did... but he wasn't completely informed of said identity either since he was asking her about it. All she could give Verity was a "I can't, because I don't know."

Thus, there was only one solution to their ignorance: heed the King's call.

"I'll go find out."

Getting up, she picked up the bottle of wine and re-seated herself next to @Astor Balthas with a "Thank you very much, ...your Highness?" and waited for his wineglass to be empty before she offered to pour him some from her own bottle. Instead of just right out asking for his identity, she would wait until he had his time with tasting his wine. Right now, she was more interested in observing the gold and silver couple she was intruding on. The silver-haired cat lady seemed to be asleep, so Sylpha made a mental note not to raise her voice. She didn't know the lady in question was logged out and thus would not be able to hear her voice.

When she thought the time was right, she finally asked: "Forgive my insolence, could I... learn of your title?"

Chances were high that it would be beneficial to learn the identity of this man... and likely everyone else on this ship. A nigh impossible task considering limited time for interaction, but she would at least try.

 

The clinking of the strangely familiar dagger inside Sylpha’s wine bottle excited the weary blond. Unlike his usual egotistical self, Astor had expended most of his energy slacking off in the encounter with Azog that day, he simply wanted to relax and engage in a conversation with the blue-haired girl, who apparently was a part of the relic retrieval team. Once his glass was empty, he directed at @Sylpha Astarte , gesturing her to pour him a glass of the blood red liquid, which he swirled around in the glass. The way the wine formed a whirlpool at the center of the glass mesmerized him as he purposely lost himself in peering into the depth.

When the girl’s question brought him back to their conversation, Astor took a sip before meeting her clear aqua eyes. “Well…” he answered, “long story short… Falderen used to own Astorea. They called it Adecus Forest at the time and it housed the castle of Dormont, toughest fortress in all of Falderen, existing to deter northerners from coming into the country. One day, your kind decided to siege Dormont, hoping to flee from the demons in the north. One thing happened after another and suddenly, the three biggest guilds at the time banded together and turned against Falderen, siding with the aggressor and took Dormont in one fell swoop,” Astor stopped, subtly gesturing with his hand.

“Being the Commander-in-Chief and the leader of one of those guilds, I was nominated to be the King. Since a Yladian doesn’t know about that event, it must mean that you are a player. Here, let me show you something,” Astor said as he beckoned Sylpha to come closer.

If she followed his demand, he would open his palm menu and accessed the information sharing pane, where he gave her a peek of his system-recognized title.

“Since you are a Yladian, I guess that makes you my subject, then,” he chuckled. “So, what was it like to be a rift traveler. I tried to go in myself, but wasn’t compatible, apparently. Being a hero sounds fun.”

 

The Forward Fleet

Nedra Nyx

Alright! Ladies, gents, and esteemed guests~ it looks like we're arriving at Pelham Springs. Fifteen minutes late at that. Shame Terrasphere doesn't have Starbucks to show up with. Wouldn't that rock? Anyway, time to get the hell off my ship. See you next trip, have a nice fall! I'm just kidding, I'll land first.

Instructions

• This thread is closing on 10/8 so please wrap up any final business.
• Feel free to make a private thread if you would like to continue with someone.

 

Well, he did want to know what was happening during their stint in the other plane. So he didn't hesitate to give his contacts to @Sylpha Astarte before she left by his side to talk to the king. Yet as he eavesdropped on their conversation for a short while, he can guess that blonde-haired man took his title as king very seriously in here. He knew about role-playing and the hardcore gaming community from the news, but he wondered why the bother on playing this game just by pretending as a king of a fictional country.

He sighed as he shook this off, realizing that he was being cynical again. Being critical to the world around him has become a bad habit of his and he even wondered if he was starting to lose his optimism to the world and the kindness he shared with others before of that single event during his high school years.

Then once he hears the announcement, he decides to pack up and prepare to leave the airship once it landed on the springs which he planned to walk around the grounds before he can log off for a good night's rest. However, he didn't ignore what shouldn't be his as he approached the Yladian woman and offered the wine glass back to her.

"Sorry to interrupt, but here's your wine glass back. Thank you for the drink." If she did accept it, he gave a nod to her as his sign of thanks before he left them two alone go off his own once more.

-EXIT THREAD-