Surprisingly, Curious George didn’t have difficulty with the initiation of his character. Many, he was unaware of, tossed away the player’s manual the moment they loaded the game into the system. Curious George had taken time to read every page before he flipped the switch. Better to be safe than sorry, he told his wife when he’d kept the light on next to the bed to read the book into the night. It was all surprisingly complicated (read: it wasn’t) but he managed to get himself through. When he appeared into the world he found himself in a field. Beautiful golden light dipped in, highlighting beautiful plant life and trees and everything else programmers likely wanted to high light to appease player senses. Curious George soaked in the sunlight on his thin frame and got to work stretching himself out. He wanted to test his body before he moved long distances and it was always important to work one’s muscles! When Curious George finished he made his way through the forest and down a path he found. It didn’t take him long to find a nearby village – harbor, really. He smiled at the sight. Curious George was a harbor boy through and through. As he was walking in to the village, Curious George wondered if the sea water felt as nice as the sun had on his skin. He’d have to test it out later. But first, Curious George thought as he looked around the street busy from these ‘none player characters’ he read about, he’d need to find out where to get started in the game.
While one player in the area preferred the water's edge, there was one who... didn't. Sylpha, much like the other newbie in the town, did her own research. Her copy of the game didn't come with a manual, but she at least had the Amusphere manual. Instead, Sylpha spent time outside researching on how role playing games worked. As for being in Dunnstads, Sylpha knew that in certain places she could get supplies for her cooking for cheaper. That, or there were products she wouldn't be able to purchase in other towns. Thus, she swallowed whatever dislike she had for the sea and came by. It wasn't hard to discern Sylpha in a crowd, assuming you had vision of her - she was far too short to be a stereotypical elf (or, by non player character standards - too short for an adult Yladian) and too tall to have been a Faerin. Perhaps her face was youthful enough to be called a teenager. Maybe. Probably. Hopefully? Sylpha wasn't sure if she wanted to be treated as an adult or not, but she kept that inside. Like any good housewife she mixed into the crowd at the game's early morning and yelled with the rest, haggling down prices or just paying straight up. Her bargaining abilities weren't exactly up to par and she did not have any kind of fierce demeanour or appearance. Still, she obtained whatever she wanted and stuffed it into the magical space called an inventory. Walking by she caught a glimpse of a six foot tall human and backtracked a bit for a second take at his unique appearance. Chances are he was a player, but damn if it didn't make her height complex kick in. Sometimes, Sylpha still kicked herself mentally for not making her character any taller. It would be a few moments before Sylpha would realize she was staring a bit longer than it was appropriate.
Curious George had known bustling streets like this in the real world. When he was younger, George had traveled through the state of Maine and a little outward on his ‘personal crusade’. It gave him some experience out with these sorts of crowds for the otherwise small port town man. But that was years ago and Curious George found himself drained from dealing with the mass of bodies. Curious George removed himself from the crowds, taking a step near one of the buildings and placing a hand on the side to lean on it. Ha, he must have really been getting old if this sort of thing was wearing on his mental fortitude. Or it could have been the last project he worked on for work. Eighty hours work week for a last-minute assignment to help develop a program. It lasted for a month. He barely even got to see his family! Curious George grumbled to himself. He knew the company needed the help, but this had been a bit too much even for him. It was one of the reasons he stepped into this virtual world, to be with one of his kid (and because she called him uncool). He just…had to figure out how to find her in this place. It couldn’t be too big for a digital space, right? He glanced back out into the crowd at the None Player Characters. The ranged in size and shape and, after he squinted, race. Before he logged in he’d taken the time to run his avatar through the different races to see what changed. A part of Curious George had wanted to play the cat type he had clicked over to. His avatar had looked so amazing with the fluffy ears and tail, as scrawny as they were on him, and he had always loved felines. But Curious George decided familiar was best. Curious George tilted his head when he spotted an anomaly in the crowd. While the majority of bodies were a variant of normal hair colors like blond and brown, the person he spotted was…blue? A smaller girl moving with the rest of the crowd like it was natural. Was she a quest giver? Or maybe she was another player? Either way, maybe she could help him better understand the game. Ah, she was staring at him. Curious George gave his widest smile and waved at the girl. One his scarecrow avatar, it must have stretched from one side of his face to another. If he looked in the mirror, Curious George would have been taken aback. But for someone like him smiling came naturally. Moved away from his spot to walk back into the crowd to greet her. Curious George moved with a long stride, and the NPCs gave him a wide berth as he moved to the other player. “Hello miss,” He started, keeping his smile. “I’m Richa- Curious George.” He stopped himself before giving his real name. Well, his full real name. “Do you happen to be another player? I’ve just joined this game and I’m unsure of what or where I’m supposed to go or do.” Curious George looked around the crowd then he leaned in close (which involved hunching over a little to keep the discussion eye to eye), one hand up to cover his discussion with the girl from the NPCs. “I didn’t, uh, do anything wrong to pop up here or anything did I? You’re the only person I’ve run across since I joined up.” Curious George looked around again in suspicion. “Would you be able to help me figure out what to do?”
Yes, his smile was unnatural, but Sylpha was focused on his height more than how deformed his face was or how... decrepit it looked? Maybe, but Sylpha wasn't paying enough attention to even find the appropriate word. She understood he waved at her and started to approach. That was when she realized she had been staring too long. Unfortunately, this wasn't a good place to bow and perform some kind of tactical retreat. Sylpha just resigned herself to social contact. He had troubles introducing himself, a sign he was new to the gaming scene. Sylpha couldn't fault him for it; the person he was talking to was in a similar position, having only several days of experience over the newcomer. Perhaps just over a week or so. Instead of cutting into his talk, she remained quiet and let him finish talking before she finally spoke up: "Alright. This place isn't that frequented and is usually just used as a port to grab a boat to somewhere... I think. I just come here to buy cooking supplies. NPCs here don't understand what a Player is, so generally just go by your name. Apparently the entire point of this game is to let you do whatever, anyway. It would be faster just to ask how to get a certain thing done." Without moving a step, her sea-green eyes met his... blue on black background. It was like a shining gem in the middle of an abyss. Sylpha was not mesmerized nor found it attractive... but it did pop up a question in her head regarding just how the hell did he manage that in the character creator. Well, it wasn't like she'd ever try to copy him even if she knew. Then, as an afterthought, she finally revealed her name to him. "I'm Sylpha Astarte by the way. Yes, a lot of players here do give themselves surnames, but functions like mail seem to work fine even if you only know their first."
“Do whatever you want?” Large hands ran over his pointy chin. He didn’t know of the concept of open sand box adventure or seeking out your own fun in a video game. For Curious George, video games were more a singular path or goal towards the objective. The manual had the backstory for the game in it – weren’t they supposed to pursue that? “But thank you, it is good to know I can find a boat to somewhere else.” She kept staring at him, which only made Curious George smile. “Do you like my avatar? I had a lot of fun with the sliders.” There were a lot of manual sliders in the character creation based off the type of ease he selected. Curious George wasn’t a man skilled in art or sculpting the idea form, so he went with the easiest option. “Though I think I might have gone a little overboard.” He never realized how strange it would feel to have such a sharp chin would be, or sunken eyes, or noodle arms with big hands. He felt like a cartoon character who’d just been pulled off the wall he was smooshed on. Set him up and let him wiggle in the breeze. “Ah,” the player had introduced themselves. “It is good to meet you, Ms. Astarte. My name is Curious George. George is fine.” He patted down his pants, then paused and stopped himself. Curious George had been looking for his pockets to pull a business card out of habit. Instead he lifted a hand up to scratch his cheek in embarrassment. “That’s good to know. I’m not familiar with mail systems outside of the work place.” “Back to the previous topic.Something specific? Hmm.” He hummed in contemplation. “Somewhere I could learn to cook would be nice. Practicing working with wood could be good.” The mastery’s he had selected were cooking, something he was familiar with, and artisan which worked with all kinds of lumber, and building structures and furniture. He glanced around the village while considering his options. “Since this village is for transitioning, where might I go to improve myself?” Did this game have the concept of a training facility for the players to increase their skills?
"Gone a little overboard", he said... An incredible understatement, but Sylpha would let it pass as she has known worse. "It's.. definitely unique. Some might mistake you for a new race altogether." She left it at that. He introduced himself for a second time, more properly and without accidentally dropping anything that might sound like his real name... then he reverted to a real life habit of looking for pockets. Sylpha finally took the chance to acknowledge learning his name. "Yes, nice to meet you, George. You can call me Sylpha." She said with a slight bow. Moving on, he went into asking about learning to cook and training. "As far as I know, you're supposed to start cooking with choosing the cooking mastery when you make your character. Buy some camping supplies, head to a forest, grab some twigs and... start a fire for your cooking mastery. Then get some game and cook it yourself. I don't know how artisan works, so you're on your own there. Maybe a fancier campfire? As for training facilities, they don't have one. At least, I haven't heard of one. To keep the fantasy world more realistic and less like a game, I guess." That's... actually been the biggest mouthful of words Sylpha has ever said in-game. Even so, she could not actually answer all his questions in full due to lacking knowledge. "I'm sorry I can't answer everything, I'm also quite new to this..."
“Wonderful, Sylpha. It’s good to meet you.” Curious George gave her a thumb up with his oversized hands. “Out in the woods?” Was that why he appeared out in the forest? No wait, she said buy some supplies first, then go out and train his cooking abilities. Sylpha has mentioned there were not any training facilities either. He crossed his arms with one another and looked up, contemplating. He gave his pointy chin a stroke. By the sound of it they were expecting a more rustic approach and, as she mentioned before, do it yourself approach. He could go out into the forest and gather animals and plants to cook, or as the realization slowly dawned on him, try to learn from some of the NPCs to improve how he cooked. Maybe taking jobs, if he could take jobs in this game, could help train him too? If this game played off a medieval era inspiration to build its world, could he potentially find an NPC master to learn under? In old times the master apprentice system helped pass knowledge from one experienced worker to another. Mentoring, as he would put it into a real-world business sense. Though the master apprentice system in medieval times took years to climb in. He did not think he had that much time to spend on a game. His wife would kill him. Might be best to stick with what the young lady has suggested for right now. Curious George gave his pointy chin a few more strokes, lost in thought of how the world may or may not have a means to help a player develop their masteries. Then Sylpha had apologized for her explanation. George jerked up into a freeze, then untangled his noodle arms faster than you could say ‘feels bad’. “No no, please don’t worry!” He waved his hands in front of him defensively. “It’s been a big help! Now I’ve an idea of where to get started. That’s more than I had an hour ago! Thank you, Sylpha.” He was practically radiating gratitude for the aid he had received. “Now then, I’ll need to get together equipment, supplies, decide somewhere safe to practice away from the village, fire safety…” Curious George started to count off all the things he thought had to be considered for his initial trip into the forest for training with his hands. Before George knew it, he had run out of fingers to count on. “It feels a little costly, though.” He finally said after considering everything he might have needed for the initial training. Curious George hit his closed fist downward into his flat hand, acting like he had been struck with inspiration. “A bucket of water and a fire pit will do for now.” Sometimes a man had to make do with the resources he had available to him, and what Curious George had was a whole lot of nothing right now from his start (he hadn’t even messed with the menu yet). He was going to have to change that.
The azure-haired Yladian stepped backwards in reaction to Curious George waving his arms about, preventing them from brushing up against her face or anywhere more disastrous on accident. Apparently he's just been in the game for a few hours, hence his anxiety. This wasn't the first newbie Sylpha has encountered, so she couldn't help but wonder if she was or was becoming some kind of newbie magnet... No, that can't be right. It was likely due to a new influx of players. That recent widespread advertisement was probably the culprit. As far as she remembered, though, it didn't entirely state where to get the game... Anyways, while Sylpha was thinking, it seemed Curious George had managed to come up with a plan for his own development for his character. All by himself, with just the information given to him. Sylpha just felt somewhat obliged to refine that plan, so she just added a few details: "Yes, the forests of Brisshal are the general newbie area. You grab a few branches for kindling then use Cooking to start a campfire. You can just buy a fire striker and flint from the sundries store. Not sure about the bucket, though." Sylpha used a similar method herself to start with her Cooking mastery, but was yet to reach very far other than understanding how to properly control a wood fire. For actual dishes, she just cooked whatever game she could net herself. Incredibly bland, but without herbs and spices it was as far as she could go at the time. Speaking of the sundries store, Sylpha turned and pointed towards a small building with a sign. "It's right over there. I can accompany you if you want." Sylpha could afford to kill an extra hour or so. She wasn't exactly needed anywhere else, anyway.
Curious George nodded as Slypha explained to him how to prepare for his trip into the woods. His list had been refined down to just a bucket and fire pit, out of concern for fire safety, but according to her all he needed was a fire striker and flint. Was the game not as complicated as he thought? George supposed some breaks from reality would be needed for the system to work. Still, might be best to get one just in case. Better to be safe than sorry, he always told his kids. When Slypha offered to come along for his training out in the woods Curious George gave her a thumb up. “Yes, that’d be appreciated greatly!” If George could have managed it, his teeth would be sparkling some at his approval. Instead there was only the continued freaky pull of his cartonny mouth. Curious George lead the two of them into the small store. The door opened into a store of shelves and baskets. Ropes, wood, tools, some food could be spotted with a single glance over. It felt like some kind of medieval general store. Did medieval times have those? …Another acceptable break from reality? Despite its amount of contents, the store was still small, with a lot of things stored behind the counter. Probably to keep people from grabbing and running. Curious George stepped through the threshold, wood creaking underfoot, and was greeted with a hearty “Welcome!” by the older gentleman behind the counter. Curious George paused when he saw the man, or rather, the rather surreal handlebar mustache he had. It looked almost odd compared to the rest of the NPCs. The irony of that thought process was lost on him. It didn’t take them long to find, or rather sort out with the shop keeper who had to pull out the requested materials, to gather the list of tools need. Fire starter, flint, and bucket. He gave a look to the shovel on display a look, but decided against it. Curious George didn’t want to over spend on this initial set up. “Does this look good to you?” He asked Slypha before doing the final purchase and heading out into the woods.
Did medieval times have sundry stores? Who knows? Sylpha certainly didn't, but since players had a lot of influence on the world, it wasn't entirely impossible that it was either created due to an overwhelming influx of travellers going just about everywhere or some player pitched the idea at an NPC and the rest was history. Maybe even the first person to open one was a player. Sylpha wasn't going to bother debating it. She was no historian and in a place that was clearly a fantasy world, anything goes. That's why it's a fantasy world! Entering the store with Curious George, she bowed lightly to the shopkeep behind the counter. Generally, most (human) NPCs either treated her with disdain or indifference. She wasn't sure why, either. Seeing the shopkeep directing a more cheerful greeting towards Curious George earned her silent jealousy. Not the first time, considering her height complex. Yes, it wasn't logical to be jealous of someone just for selecting a simple variable that defined his virtual form. But if it was the attitude of NPCs, then that was indeed logical. Glancing through the wares, Sylpha ultimately decided not to buy anything. She had already bought most things she needed. Instead, she turned her attention back to Curious George. By now he had already picked out what he wanted - he had a very short shopping list and limited money anyway. "Looks good, George." Sylpha replied. She wasn't entirely sure what Curious George wanted to do with a bucket, but she wasn't going to ask. It wasn't related to wood, but it could possibly have something to do with cooking or putting out campfires. In the end, she just kept her mouth shut and let George do whatever he needed to.
“Thank you.” Seemed like she was good with what he had picked. Curious George turned and paid for his tools. Fire starter and kit under one arm, the bucket in hand, Curious George went and asked the shop keep where the local well was for the town. When he was pointed in the right direction, Curious George lead the two over to draw out a little of the water to stick in the bucket he bought – George was pretty sure he’d lose most of the water if he walked too far a distance holding the bucket and tools, but a little water was better than nothing. At least he could make a wet ring around the fire if he needed too. Items in hand, Curious George nudged his head towards the forest. He looked a little like a bobble head going left and right when he did it. “This is everything I needed. Thanks for your help, Sylpha.” A big smile. “Gonna be heading out into the wilderness now and hopefully…” He didn’t want to say, ‘avoid burning it down’, sounded a little negative, “Cook something nice. If you’re still logged when I finish I’ll bring you the results to see what I made.” It would be fun to show someone else what he cooked. Well, burnt, but that was still cooking, right? (And then we can wrap up the short thread ahoy.)
Sylpha watched with a blank expression as Curious George paid and headed out to the well. She followed behind, but she had been thinking: couldn't he just... find a river and take the water from there? There was the chance he required cleaner water for his purposes, so Sylpha just shut up and let him do whatever he needed. In this case, it was drawing water from the well. She wasn't here to be his tutorial guide. She was just there to... no, she felt like being there, so she was. Interacting with another player wasn't such a bad thing, anyway. When he had finally filled his bucket to the desired level, Curious George turned to Sylpha and thanked her for helping out. Only now did Sylpha notice how awkward his smile looked thanks to how warped his face was. Hearing that he was finally going to set out on his own, the azure-haired Yladian just bowed lightly in return. "Yes, good luck with that. You can contact me over the Mailing system if you need to." Since Curious George didn't have that kind of money to do it regularly, Sylpha would tell him later that he could pay people to use their kitchens. If she remembered to, that is. "See you around, George." With her "job" now done, Sylpha waved, turned around and left to do her own thing. Who knew what other important things she had to do? Not George, that's who. [thread exit]
