Quest - An Absence of Common Sense

Beep.... Beep.... Beeeeeeep.....

Aquila sucked in a sharp breath of air as her eyelids flew open, her heart pounding. She was laying on her side in her full-size bed, covered by the fleece blanket she'd bought during the Christmas season last year. She groaned and flapped her hand in the direction of the noisy alarm.

She flipped a switch on top of the clock, and the alarm stopped. Aquila sighed as she sat up. Another day, another chapter or five to write. She went through the motions of her day; getting into the shower, dressing herself, eating breakfast, and so on.

At around 9, she finally sat in front of her computer, ready to write out her next few chapters. But first, she decided to check her email in case her publishers had sent her anything about the last few chapters she had sent in. When she opened her email, she was disappointed to find no response from the publishers, just some junk mail.

She made to delete the glitched-out email, but accidentally clicked on it instead, opening it up. To her surprise, it wasn't another ad for testosterone, or a fake person asking for money. Instead, it was an invitation to join the online game of Terrasphere. She had heard of the virtual reality game that people said was actually immersive, and allowed for physical pain, exertion, and so on.

She wondered for a moment what it would be like if she joined the game. She could pretend to be a charismatic young man with great gaming skills -she was pretty good at MMOs, she liked to think. She leaned over to her drawer and pulled out her VR headset, turning it on and placing it on her head, before downloading the client.

While she waited for the client to download, she turned on incognito on her browser and started searching up information on the game. What little she found made her all the more interested. She was excited when her computer chimed, signaling that the game was loaded.

She clicked on the game, opening it up.

Her mind was immediately swept away into the game as the virtual reality kicked in. She swirled through an endless expanse of stars before landing gently on her feet in a white room, wearing only a bra and underwear. She glanced around. "Greetings. Welcome to Terrasphere. To begin, bring up your User Interface by flicking your dominant hand." A smooth female voice said.

Aquila did just that, flicking her left hand. "Dominant hand set to left-handed. Please select your character's appearance and race."

Aquila scrolled through the options, picking and choosing what she liked best. She set her character as male, feeling weird as the weight of her breasts disappeared, and her underwear got... fuller. She shook her head at the strangeness, before moving on to other, more important characteristics. She set her hair to black and her eyes to a deep forest green. She chose the Caenis race for her character, liking the idea of being part-wolf.

Her ears morphed into rounded triangles, and she sprouted a long, furry tail. Her vision grew sharper, and if there had been anything to smell, she would have noticed her sense of smell increasing as well. Her ears swiveled on her head and her tail swished around as she got used to them, the sensations being very different than what she was used to.

After another few moments, she turned her attention to the clothes she wanted to wear, and decided on a long purple robe and brown trousers.

Once she was finished with her appearance, she was asked to pick three Masteries to start with. After perusing the options, she decided on Pyromancy, Spell Bane, and Beast Tamer. She felt these would give her a wide array of options when starting the game. She was also asked to pick two vocations, and she went with Rhetoric and Jewelcrafting. Something she was already good at, and something new. That sounded like a good idea.

With all her options chosen, she waved her hand toward the 'Enter Game' sign at the corner of her vision.

-------

Orion Lune appeared in the middle of a forest, standing in a river. He exclaimed loudly in disgust as he leapt out of the water. His boots and lower trousers were soaked in cold water! That was just a great way to start the game, he mused. But he wouldn't let it get him down. Hopefully there was a quest or someone nearby to interact with.

He set off into the forest in a random direction after checking the UI, which told him that he was in the region of Brisshal. Not much use to him now, as he had just started the game, but he was sure he'd get his bearings quickly.

As he walked, he took in the scenery with all his senses, marveling at how real everything looked and seemed. He could smell so many things, many of which he had no name for, and the view was beautiful. He had always liked the calm of a forest.

Orion paused at the top of a hill filled with trees, and looked around. Below, to the southeast of him -he could tell by the way the sun was positioned in the sky- he could see a vaguely hominoid shape. "Ho there!" he called out, jogging down the hill and towards the figure.

 

If there was anything she took interest in, it was certainly the unmistakable thrill of exploration. Unknown locations brought to light right before her eyes, monsters across the land on which to practice her skills on, NPCs to trade with and jobs to get done. For days on end, Portia could remember each of her many adventures on the online world and eventually come to the conclusion that no other game, no other MMORPG, compared to Terrasphere and the immense number of wonders it had to offer.

Yet for all the praise she gave, there was no use in trying to evade the fact she was still a new adventurer with no clue of what to do next and she would remain the same for... Well, however long she allowed. Just as she had pointed out upon logging in for the first time, the game wasn't inclined to hold anyone's hand nor would it offer explanations and warnings during the journey. All choices had consequences, and the progress made was counted in the shape of points meant to enhance the abilities chosen on the character creation screen. No more, no less.

She loosed a breath as her steps took her along the silent path, repeating a familiar motion that prompted the game's menu to appear atop her palm. Her eyes narrowed at the flashing burst of light, scanning the screen for an option under the ''Quests'' category until it was found, earning the youth a materialized piece of parchment. With the sheet of paper now held between her bruised hands, it was a matter of time until she found a suitable group to complete this quest. Much to her disliking, it was a requirement that two to four individuals were involved.

Alas, the buzz of an unfamiliar voice breaking the peaceful silence she had kept during her walk tore her gaze from the piece of paper, just as an unknown player walked towards her with loud words to announce their presence. She brought her brows together for a moment, then raised her fists until they were balled in front of her face, ready to go down with a fight. Yet, for every step in her direction the figure took, the more Portia realized they meant no harm. And she would have kept her guard up until they came into close proximity, had the reminder of her first day on the platform and how people offered all the help and answers she sought not come to mind and ordered her to lower her fists.

''You look... new,'' the albino girl mused as her arms folded over her chest, the same piece of paper from before sticking out in said posture. It wasn't much of a compliment but more of a string of curious words meant to assess if this person required assistance of some sort. Her lips curled upwards, drawing a simple half smile upon her pale features. ''Can I help you?''

 

“Come on… aw, that’s right, come t’mama…”

Scene: A long-eared, black-haired woman crouched on all fours, a piece of meat clutched in her fingers. Her hand is completely extended, shaking slightly with effort. She’s visibly getting a cramp in her back. Her lips are pulled back in what was probably originally a coaxing smile, but has since turned into a pained grimace. Several feet away is a gorgeous red fox, eyeing the food with some interest but the girl with considerable doubt. “Come on…” The meat jiggles a little. “Just a lil’ closer…”

The fox’s ears swivel as it hears something and it suddenly leaps to its paws. “Aw, hell—no!” It’s too late—the animal’s bushy red tail is already disappearing into the grass. The Yladian scrambles up, swearing, and throws down the scrap. “Get your furry red ass back here!”

---

Destiny was no track star, but hell, when it came to running from (or after) wild animals, she could be a world-class sprinter. She’d had a good feeling about that fox—hell, it was one of the few predators around this part that hadn’t tried to swoop at her head or chomp down on her ankle. Was she gonna let it go and wait another three months for her next chance at Beast Mastery? Hell no!

“Hey-- grab that dog!”

She came tearing around the hill with the canine about twenty feet ahead of her, shooting like a bullet through the tall grass and passing the two people there in a blur of wild eyes and rapidly-moving limbs. It veered away from the duo and shot up the hill towards the trees, the white tip of its bushy tail disappearing as it went. Des (in hot pursuit) made a desperate dive for it and overshot at the last second, boots plowing earth in a long skid mark. "Aw, no you don't--" A sudden stomach cramp stabbed at her and she doubled over to catch her breath, taking in great gulps of air.

“DAMN! I was gonna catch that one!” she panted, breathless, once the pain subsided. “Heef! Well, it’s gone now. Sorry to burst in, you two.” A dog-eared boy and a pale gal, looked like. Des hoped she hadn’t interrupted nothing too important. Christ, this was what she got for actually trying to play the game for a change. “Aw, and there goes my day.” Guess she’d spend the rest of the evening trudging back to camp—Des didn’t think she had it in her to attempt beast taming again. "Don't suppose y'all were out here lookin' for wild animals too..."

 

Waking up to the sun's rays was a pleasant change to the damned alarm clock, Fernando decided to have some eggs for breakfast. He was starving and, as it turns out, he had to go grocery shopping, which wasn't really a bad thing, seeing as he knew the nice lady who'd set up her own organic product market.

Breakfast eaten, shower taken and fully dressed, he looked around his room for anything to do. He'd finished work for the week and he didn't feel like going to the gym this early. His eyes passed over the unboxed VR system and he got the great idea of actually playing it.

Setting up the hardware was surprisingly quick and the software more-so, though he did take care to lay himself down on his bed first.

Loading up the Terrasphere e-mail, he was suddenly assaulted by a flash of colors, letting out a single whisper of "Trippy...". He soon found himself standing in front of a semi-nude clone, whose head he patted to test the sensation.

Yup, it was a clone alright, though its hair was all ruffled up now. That'd probably be for the best, so he'd leave it at that. Unnoticed by him, however, the 'clone' got a bit shorter and thinner, making it look like a younger, shorter version of himself. He continued with the character creation, choosing a random race and slapping on the random tattoo. When it came to the masteries, however, he did put some time into considering them. Arcanamancy, Illusion and Astral Magic seemed nice, so he just took those three and slapped on a random pair of vocations. Time to start!

----

Dropping from the sky over thick canopy was not how he expected to start, though it was objectively a fun way to do so. He swung his arms up, trying to see if he could grab onto anything to keep the fall damage down. He'd heard the rumors and, if they were to be trusted, falling down would be unpleasant.

Grabbing onto a thick branch by sheer luck, he actually managed to stop himself. For a grand total of a second, as the momentum swung him forward, sending him flipping into the ground, face first, right in front of a fox.

"Good morning to you, too, mister fox."

He didn't pay further attention to the vulpine as it scurried away, though he did walk towards the far voices he could hear, trying to get the many leaves, and the bit of grass on his face, off.

"Hello? Could anyone help me? I think I might've lost some hit points or something. Also, the foxes here smell like burnt meat, so it might be a glitch."

 

"Hehehe, what are you doing in my forest?"

Majolica eyed the man that just fell from the sky like some sort of ancient legend. Having started her candy company, Majolica's need for mushrooms had gone up dramatically. This being the case, on this day Majolica had decided to do some mushroom hunting to help out Susan and Frank, the witch frogs she left in charge of her business.

"Foxes smell like foxes, hehe. Don't steal any of my mushrooms or I'll turn you into a frog... oh, you're new huh? Hehehe."

Majolica set down her mushroom and brushed the dirt off her dress. Clearing her throat she stretched her back, then crossed her arm and struck a pose.

"Hehehehe! Look with fear and awe upon me new adventurer, hehehe! I am Grand Witch Majolica! Future ruler of this whole world! Hehe! As a benevolent future ruler, the Grand Witch will help you out! Hehehe! So, what do you want to do? Hehehe, and why are you weird about foxes? hehe..."

Finishing her speech, Majolica spotted a mushroom dove for it, tore it out of the ground and hungrily devoured it. She then picked up her mushroom basket and turned back towards @Ipo'ipoi

"hehehe.... mine."

@Destiny Divebird @Portia Ahrens @Orion

[OOC: Sorry this took longer than expected, I didn't get much of a lunch break today.]