It wasn't much to look at, but Emerath stood at the gates of Vintergard. Construction was ongoing always, and normally Emerath would have lent a hand, but today he had other plans. Today he had asked his new friend Flints to come join him in the city. He had offered to give her a tour when they had parted, and he was delighted when she had actively taken him up on the offer. So he wore his Sunday best, and by that he was wearing his normal equipment. Such was the life of an adventurer. At least in Emerath's mind. He leaned up against a nearby wall, and was quickly told to stop doing so by one of the foremen in the middle of construction. Emerath hadn't been paying attention to whether or not that wall was reinforced. He had nearly knocked it down with his own weight. He called out an apology and decided to just stand in the center of the gate while he waited for his friend. Idly, he wondered what exactly he would show her. Probably the palace. That was a given. Maybe a nice shop or two, and then they'd have to stop for lunch at some point. Then Emerath caught himself and scoffed at his own thoughts. This wasn't some date, and Emerath shouldn't treat it as such. He hardly knew the girl, and she didn't even like him that much regardless. Yeah, that was it. Just a tour. He huffed at himself and folded his arms across his chest as the sounds of construction rang out around him, and he waited for @Kaëda Flints' arrival.
Flints made her way to the place Emerath had asked her to meet him at, she remembered their first encounter and wondered why he could possibly want another. She was rough around the edges when it came down to it, but this was different. The setting wasn’t some strange wilderness, it was a city. Come to think of it she wasn’t even sure what they would do? He could give her a tour and maybe she could learn a little more about him. She blushed and gave a small scoff. “Learn about him. Why would I want to do that?!” Flints growled under her breath. Finally finding her way to the gates of Vintergaurd, Emerath’s crimson hair not hard to miss even in the hustle and bustle. “Hey!” She shouted out to him as she stopped directly in front of him. Not sure what to expect she looked around before meeting his eyes. “So..what’s up?” She grinned, not sure if this meeting was a good idea or not. Who knows, maybe this Emerath character could grow on her a little.
Emerath was glad to see that Flints wasn't going to stand him up. She had shown up, and in good time. Emerath smiled, giving a light wave and once she asked what was going on, he said, "Well, I figured I'd show you around Vintergard. This is the only current player run kingdom in the game, and it's a good place to become acquainted with, especially if you're new." In response to this, Emerath looked over Flints in her starter gear, before confirming that she was, in fact, still new to the game. He wondered what she had been up to since they had parted ways, but figured it best not to bother too much and focus on the task at hand. So he started to lead the way. "This is the main gate to the city. As you can see, they're still doing repairs out here. We recently just finished a war with a neighboring kingdom. We won, but there was a lot of damage," Emerath explained, as thoughts of the Southwatch wall being destroyed plagued him. But this wasn't a time for sadness. Flints needed to see the good of Astorea. At least, the good that Emerath himself actually cared about. Not everything was good of course, but he could color it in a decent light at least. "In case you're wondering, the kingdom is run by a player king. So if you have any political aspirations, they can come true in Terrasphere. It's a true sandbox, it seems. As real as real gets." Emerath was actually very overjoyed by this type of news being delivered to people he knew. It meant that together they could pretty much do anything, and he had a mind to most of the time. But Emerath paused, and looked over his shoulder to make sure that Flints was still following and didn't get stuck or start marveling at something else.
Flints eyed the place, she wasn’t sure what to make of it and the more that Emerath talked about it the more..vast..she felt this game was. “A player as a king..? But giving players that sort of power seems a like more trouble than it’s worth.” She kicked at the ground, her mind shot to the idea of her being a “king” most likely her reign would end shortly after since she was easily claimed by boredom. “That’s ceryainly not my thing. I don’t really have anything driving me to be a king...what would I even do if I had that sort of power?! Her eyes darted to Emerath’s as she gently shoved him. “Well, what would be your first decree as king?” She bowed playfully to Emerath’s feet but only for a second. She figured if she was going to hang out with the man she could try and lighten up. It seems like Emerath sort of enjoyed having her around. Maybe she enjoyed having him around too..
Emerath was caught off guard by Flint's playful banter and light pushing. It was a side of her he hadn't seen, well, since he met her. He raised an eyebrow at her question, not even having considered the idea that he could someday be a king. "I-I don't..." he started, wanting to correct the idea. But his words caught in his throat, as he came around to the idea. Anything was possible in Terrasphere. Wasn't he just explaining that to her? Sure, he could be a king, but that still left the question of what kind of king he would be. "You know, to be honest, I know little to nothing about politics," he stated, as they walked into the markets of Astorea. "I guess I would want to be a just king. But that's so much easier said than done, really. A king can't watch every part of his castle at every moment. So even if I myself was just, that doesn't meant that everyone would be..." and realistically, that's why politics were so hard. You had to trust that the people working for you, the people in your country, would do unto others as you wished to do for them. That wasn't quite how the golden rule went, but it was close enough. "I guess I'd just focus on being a scholar king. I'm not interested in military or anything. I'd want to be peaceful, while advancing the science of this world. I know, pretty boring, right?" he asked with a light chuckle, before putting a hand out to indicate all around them. "Either way, we're in the markets. Do any shops strike your fancy at all? If none do, we can head straight towards the castle. I doubt we'll get an audience with the player king himself, provided he's even logged into the game right now, but we can always take a look at his house." Emerath shrugged, and looked to his companion for her input.
Flints shook her head lightly as Emerath tried to dismiss the question at first. “I wouldn’t want to be king either, but if I was put in that situation by some odd twist of fate I would probably waste the opportunity at hand, or maybe become grossly obsessed with my power.” She waved her hand nonchalantly as she listened to Emerath speak. Looking him over as he tried his best to fit himself into the role he didn’t necessarily want. “Well at least you know what you would generally strive for. I have no clue what to do half the time I’m here. I have no real goals..” idly rubbing her arm in slight embarrassment. Before she could question Emerath on his in game choices he pointed out their surroundings, to which until now Flints hadn’t really noticed. “Ah..what does one buy from a shop..here..? You have to forgive me but I don’t really spend a lot of the time in here..being productive. I end up just wondering around. Maybe that’s why I haven’t really progressed all too well, or at all honestly.” She wondered if she actually needed anything but couldn’t think of anything. Her thoughts lingered on exploring the King’s “house” wondering if it was rude or not to poke around. “So..what do you do Emerath? What drives you to be..you..” This was the best time if any to get to know the man personally.
Emerath paused as she asked him what should have been the simplest question in the world, but was actually one of the hardest things on his mind. What did make Emerath who he was? Sure, there were things that people knew about him. Skills he possessed that often ended up being called out as what defined him. But was that truly who he was? What drove him? Taking a step back from these thoughts, he broke it down to the simplest answer, as he rubbed his chin, watching the other people mull about the marketplace. "Well, when I started this game, I just wanted to Tinker. I really liked the idea of making all these gizmos and gadgets in a medieval setting. Like, being a medieval Batman type superhero or something." It sounded silly, almost childish. But that was why they played games right? To live these fantasies that they couldn't live in real life. "Turns out, I found much more than just Tinkering that interested me. Sure, at the core science is what drives me, but I've found joy in music, in being a magic caster, and in hand to hand combat." He realized something as he spoke, which he translated to Flints, "In Terrasphere, you end up being more than just one thing. You're the sum of a bunch of different parts. In different games, you're usually locked into this one specific class or something. But here, you're something greater as a whole." Emerath cocked his head and realized he had never really asked Flints before. "What are your Masteries anyway? Maybe if I know what you're into doing, I can help you find something interesting at the market!"
flints chuckled at Emerath's words, "a tinker...er? i suppose being a super hero has its own benefits, cool gear, all the ladies? being someone that everyone would know and trust, heck, maybe even rely on when things turn sour" she stroked her chin at the thought and shook her head. "maybe i wold rather be a vigilante, i do my very best for whoever pas me the most" she looked to Emerath to gauge his reaction, she didn't really take him for someone who is for everything that is right and just in the world but he could prove her wrong. "alas, i'm not nearly strong enough to talk like that though, for now i'm just here, trying to get by with what I have but once I make something of myself maybe i'll try a little harder to find my niche." Tapping her chin she tried her best to remember exactly what class she had chose to begin with. "i believe i went with shield...and some sort of slashing sword..." flints blushed a her lack of knowledge on her own skill sets. "and...beast taming..? not really sure where i would get a beast from..."
Emerath chuckled as Flints seemed to have trouble remembering her Masteries. Emerath moved next to her, and pulled his fist up to show her the fist opening motion to reveal the Palm Menu. "If you do this, you'll get a game menu. You can look up what your stats are, your Masteries, and the like. Game info, you name it." With the demonstration out of the way, he moved back to face the woman before considering what she had said. "So, the swords and the shield are pretty easy. All we have to do is get to a shop that sells basic equipment, and bam! You're situated with weapons." But as Emerath looked around, there weren't exactly "pet shops". Well, that wasn't entirely true. There were pet shops. One could get a nice domesticated dog or cat or bird, but that wasn't really what a beast tamer needed. "Perhaps after we get you a good sword and shield, we can look into going out to the city outskirts for a beast to tame. Any ideas on what you'd even want to tame? I don't know what the limits are, but I imagine that if you can tame the beast, it's yours. Interested?" Emerath smiled, before heading off towards the nearest Blacksmith while he waited for her answer.
Flints watched as Emerath motioned for his menu and gave a snort. “Well if it was that simple I feel stupid that I’ve never tried it before..” shaking her head she wondered if she had enough to purchase weapons. “Okay we can find me something decent then, but as it goes for a pet..” Flints’ Eyes veered out towards the wilderness just beyond Vintergard. “I don’t think we could find anything cool enough for me” she said with a smug grin on her face. “I want something giant. And fierce! Something that would strike fear in my enemies eyes!” She exclaimed, raising her hands above her head, fingers held taught to mimic claws. “But I also want it to be intelligent. Is that possible?” She laughed. “No chance you could be my beast?” Trying her best to hide her blush and dismiss the somewhat cheesy question she cocked her head and looked up to Emerath for guidance. “What are some beasts you’ve seen?”
Emerath rubbed his chin as Flints spoke, and raised an eyebrow at the odd question about him being her beast. "That's rather rude. I'm not even remotely beastlike. I could see you asking that sort of question if I was a caenis, or felis..." but he shrugged it off. "Honestly, if you don't have enough for at least a basic sword and shield, then I can probably spot you. Things like that aren't too expensive, and I am running my own business now." He pointed her to a nearby blacksmith, and held the door open for her to go inside. "Just something basic though. Something to survive and grow, but within your skill range. Keep in mind that you can't use stuff above a certain level," he explained, not trying to, but probably coming off as really condescending. "Honestly," he said, as he looked around the shop, "in this area all I've seen are wolves and goblins. I've heard there's bears. There was a cave that I found that had a very angry reptile beast. I can't quite remember if it survived or not." And then Emerath turned to her, "So when you say, something giant and fierce, but still intelligent, I think a bear is your best bet. The hardest part would be finding one. But we can probably look in a few caves until we find something."
Flints couldn’t help but giggle at Emerath’s response, but quickly turned and snapped “hey now! You don’t have to be either of those things to be a pet, a human pet is just as good!” Tucking her tail between her legs and her ears back under her silvery hair. Clearing her throat she followed the man into the nearby blacksmith shop. “So something..basic I guess whatever would hold me over is just fine..” she blushed at the idea of Emerath paying for her equipment, if he meant anything by it was beyond her, she was sure he was just trying to be..nice? Thinking more on the sort of beast she could own she felt a bear wasn’t really her style, but then again something was probably better than nothing. “Do you think a bear suits me?” She cocked her head as she picked up a sad looking set of gear as well as an equally sad sword and shield set. Didn’t matter what it looked like at the moment so long as it worked and kept her somewhat safe.
Emerath looked over Flints' suggestions, as she picked over the gear. "I do want to mention that it doesn't have to be something amazing for me to tinker with it. I can probably make interesting modifications to the weapons and armor to give you a bit of an edge. We'd just have to go back to my lab in Stokbon." He looked at what the blacksmith had for sale, and rubbed his chin. "It's nothing glamorous though. This stuff is barebones almost. I'll bet my resident blacksmith could actually make something better," and as Emerath said this aloud, he realized that he might have offended the shop owner, who just glared at him from behind the counter. Emerath gave a nervous laugh, "No offense, sir. But hey, if you need a new supplier, maybe I'm your man." The armorer simply huffed, and Emerath shrugged before giving Flints the gold. "Probably best if you pay him. I think I upset him..." he muttered, before going back to the pet discussion. "I think a bear suits anyone, if I'm being honest. Bears are cool, powerful, and smart," he admitted, as he tried his best to avoid the angry gaze of the shopkeep. "If nothing else though, it's a start. We can always find more cool, powerful, and smart creatures as we go along. I'm sure there's lots of things in this world that I haven't seen yet. Even more to tame, right?"
