Madison took a sip of ale as she eyed the job that was swiped off the board when nobody was looking. Its instructions were simple enough. Some merchants got mugged by a band of goblins while on the road, and were looking for people to recover their stolen goods. In an amazing twist, the guild rated this little task "easy", making it perfect for the budding adventurer to squash some junk mobs with junk weapons to recover some probably junk merchandise. The guild made it easier for anyone who picked up the job by attaching a map to the paper with little drawings of trees and a cave with a big red arrow pointing to it. Details given to them by the merchants who were too chicken to take their stuff back and too stupid to have hired caravan guards that would've done it for them. Oh well, the witch thought to herself as she fished off her drink. As long as their gold is good, I don't really care. Madison wanted to be anywhere but in Brisshal again. Honeyhome wasn't too bad of a city, but she could feel the call of other stranger and more mysterious regions. Wasn't much left to do in the starter area, especially when she was accumulating power so quickly. But Eyas pinged her a few days ago, saying she was going to be a bit busy and needed her to check out the newest crop of Terrasphere players for possible additions to their little band of violence-makers. So, with a soft sigh on her lips, she scoped the message boards and visited guild halls to try and find something that would be challenging enough to weed out the filthy casuals but still interesting for her, should she need to do more than stand at the rear and throw cards around. A little jaunt in the forest to fight some goblins seemed like a solid enough idea. New toons could handle a couple with ease. But if they were surrounded? She'd have a chance to flex her muscles a bit and show her companions the kind of power they could brandish in short order. Impress them a bit, put some stars in their eyes, maybe pitch them a spot in her little clan with Eyas... crap, what were they calling it again? Something really dumb that could be shrunk down to three or four capital letters nestled inside a pair of brackets, probably. They had enough disagreements over the name. Madison never had a knack for names, always thought they were stupid. Just go out there as a group, kick some ass and take some treasure, and have some brews once the sun sets. That's all they really needed. It would all start with a couple of responses she got on a forum post looking for newer players to accompany her on the quest. The pair, practically fresh off the character creation table, would be visiting her at the tavern in short order. @Jasper @Karr Hawkesridge
In a fantasy world, one often went to taverns and inns in order to get information and look for work, at least if they were seeking to fulfill the role of the brave, wandering adventurer. Getting information from message boards felt like cheating... Still, who was Karr to deny himself such an easy and available source of work and opportunity simply because it broke some kind of immersion that had never really been there to begin with. Sure, he could use magic and fight with a dagger and stuff now, but at the end of the day it was all just a game. And eventually, playing a game on the singleplayer mode got boring. Granted, this game didn't actually have a single player mode, but he'd been treating it as if it had for a little too long in his books. Finding a woman that was looking for helpers had been easy enough on the forums, it wasn't as if they were hard to navigate if somebody knew what they wanted, after all. And yes, there was the slight issue that he wasn't exactly the best suited to open combat, but that didn't mean he could ignore it entirely and only focus on catching enemies unaware all of the time. At one point or another, some plan that he was involved in was bound to go awry and then he'd be royally screwed with nothing to get him out. That was a situation he would take any steps to prevent. After all, in the end all that mattered was that whatever objective that needed completed was completed. The ends justified the means. That also meant that the other new player and this woman that had offered them work were both fair game, in regards to whether or not he could use them. The woman was already using him and benefiting from him being there, the least he could do was make sure that it worked out good for him too. He had to look out for himself, after all. It wasn't as if he had anybody to look out for him. He sighed, pushing through the front door of the tavern and rolling his eyes as a few faces turned towards him curiously. Nosy, weren't they? His eyes shifted about the room, before falling upon the face of his 'employer', sat somewhere further back. He made a slight show of walking up to the bar and ordering a drink for himself, before making his way over to Madison and sliding into a chair opposite her, a small smirk on his face. "So, Madison, was it?" He asked, pausing to sip at his drink casually as he looked her over. She seemed fairly impressive. "I'm Karr. I assume I'm the first to arrive." Though the other couldn't be that far behind, unless they'd flunked out. @Madison Freebird @Jasper
The game had a lot of features he was yet to get used to. The ears and tail took him thirty minutes of his time alone. They felt just as real and lifelike as the rest of his body. Can you imagine what it would feel like if the ears on the side of your head moved to the top? It was an odd sensation and took him a minute to adjust. Not to mention that tail it had feeling in it and moved. It was like having an extra toe. Jasper knew it was there and most of the time it moved on its own. Just when he wanted he could move his tail at will as well. Slowly trotting his way to the nearest tavern. Jasper tried to get a better grasp on his body control and skill functions. The masteries he chose was Nature Magic, Hunter, and Martial Artists. According to the descriptions when he first chose them. He will be able to cast spells and kick butt later. Not a bad combination. As Jasper got closer to the tavern he tried to cover his ears and nose at the same time. The tavern was abnormally loud to his keen senses. Being a hunter on top of a Caenis gave him sharper ears and nose than most. Not a benefit when in loud and smelly places like this one. Jasper did not even have enough control over his senses to tune out the unneeded information. So all the excess stimuli had him in front of the tavern door for a half minute. Bracing himself he walked in. His eyes gave a quick sweep of the interior noticing two Felis, a Yladian, and a bunch of humans. His expressionless face looked neutral as he made his weave his way around the various tables and patrons. His tail wagging lower in agitation and his ears flattened themselves back into his head. This is almost like a skeeze bar in real life. Jasper could not help but think. Without the drugs and sounds of positive pregnancy tests of course. Jasper made his way to the back of the tavern. Keeping an eye on for his contact. Normally Jasper would avoid most people like the plague. If it was not for the friend that recommended the game to say check this group out. He most likely would not even bother. For all, he knew they could be after his gold. Not that they would need it. At the back of the tavern, Jasper saw two people sitting. One matched the description given of his contact. The other was a guy, or maybe a girl. He did not pay much attention instead he sat in a chair at the table. “I believe you already know why I am here.” It may have been polite to give a name but Jasper did not care at all. He did not know these people. So why would he bother to trust them? As few words as possible would be better. @Madison Freebird and @Karr Hawkesridge
The witch greeted Karr with a nod and a wave. "Name's Madison. Yeah, you're the first one here. Just waiting on the other one. Should be along shortly." She motioned for him to take a seat and enjoy his drink in the meantime. First impression of the boy told her that he spent a little too much time in character creation, going for a slightly outlandish outfit that still managed to fit in perfectly with the more anime aesthetics of Terrasphere. Not that she could judge, of course; what with the hairstyle she picked and all. It didn't take long for the third member of their party to show up. While Karr was all-in on clothing options, the new arrival was more interested in displaying the rendering on his abs and the definition in his muscles than protecting himself from the elements. The no-nonsense dogboy strutted up to the table, said some words in a gruff voice, and tried to play the part of a grizzled mercenary. Sure, whatever; she could work with that. As long as he didn't bark back when she handed out orders and obeyed her like a good li'l pupper. "Yeah," she flatly responded, pointing at an empty chair. "Pull up and listen up." Madison reached into her inventory and produced the job order and map. She set it flat on the unwashed surface of the table and began jabbing a finger at things. "So, here's the short of it. The caravan was attacked here. Merchants said that the goblins stole some stuff, hit people with sticks and rocks, and then made their way through the forest over this way. A couple scouts mentioned seeing a small cave that they believe the little bastards are hiding out in. The goblins set up a small bit of security, mostly a couple guard towers made from tied-up logs. They're set up a little less than a mile away from where they hit the caravan. Shouldn't take us terribly long to get there. If we keep quiet as we move through the woods, we probably won't get spotted, and we'll be in and out before nightfall." The witch stuffed the map back into her pockets. "Any questions before we head out?"
Karr found himself fairly unimpressed by their other companion, a shirtless dog-man who seemed far too grumpy to even enjoy anything that even barely resembled cameraderie. Though, at the same time, he supposed that was fine so long as the guy could pull his weight, along with the weight of anybody that wanted to use him for their own benefit. Not that he was admitting to wanting to do such a thing, Karr was far too shrewd and intelligent to let the help realize that they were the help. He'd just have to wait and see if the man would be any help at all. Though at least the woman that had actually called upon them to begin with wasn't going to mess around with long winded introductions and irritating attempts to display dominance, though Karr had to confess that he was curious as to how much of a dog the newcomer would act like. And for god's sake, why couldn't the guy put on a shirt? Was he proud of being able to make some sort of attractive body that he couldn't dream of achieving in reality? Of course, this went by the assumption that most gamers were unfit and generally just pretty unattractive. And of course, he ignored the fact that he himself wasn't exactly at the peak of human physicality in reality. Why did you need brawn when you had brains after all? That was when Madison started to outline some sort of plan, though it was left fairly open ended as to what the objective of this really was. "So what's our true objective? Wipe out some goblins, take back the stolen stuff, or all of the above?" He asked, casually taking a sip of his drink. @Madison Freebird @Jasper
Jasper was not sure to scoff or to remain silent. If it was not a recommendation from his friend Jasper had major doubts as to if he would continue staying in the bar. The place was a mess upon further inspection. Jasper had the feeling that these two people are suspicious as can be. The lady seemed vaguely iffier. As if she knew she could handle the both of them with one hand while using the other to fix her hair if necessary. It was that type of gut feeling that made this seem more incredulous. Why would a woman like this need the two of them? No plausible battle strength can be given to her by just the two alone. It was not hard to make the connection that an ulterior motive must be at play. Finding it easier to play it through and get it over with. Jasper decided to simply listen to the explanation that was given. Following that train of thought, Jasper found it easier to believe that in a way this was a test for the duo. The real question now. Was this a test he felt like passing? If Jasper did not feel like passing what was the best way to fail it. If he did want to pass that was another question he would have to think about. The questions swirling in his head as he tried to figure out his next plan of action. His ears pointed straight at the lady, and his tail twitching. Feeling that the explantation told all the things he should know, directly or indirectly. Jasper got up to start heading out when the edgelord spoke. This was the time he looked at him better. The person that Jasper assumed to be a guy. Must be incredibly smart to also figure what was going on and actually felt like asking, or too oblivious to actually get what was happening. Choosing to continue exiting the bar, Jasper sighed before speaking “We can walk and talk at the same time. I would prefer to get this over with. This place is very loud to be having a meeting.” The place may not have been too loud to his travel companions, too him it grated on his ears. “If you two need a name to call me. I answer to Jasper.” He casually spoke over his shoulder as he headed outside.
Madison glanced over at Karr as she folded up the map and stashed it in her inventory. "Yeah, main objective is to recover the stolen goods. But if we end up butchering a lot of noisy, smelly little bastards along the way, that'll save some caravans trouble in the future." The witch cracked a grin. "So, if you see any and you get the itch to try out your weapons, nobody's gonna' stop you." The dogboi, Jasper as he called himself, spoke up and expressed his desire to get moving. Didn't even wait for the others to follow him; just up and walked out the door. Rude. And yet, Madison agreed with him. The mission was easy enough; there shouldn't have been any tough questions for her to answer. Waltz in, throw up middle fingers, take the stuff back, and get out and cash in the quest for enough money to fund her trip to Dunnstads. Rising from her seat, she tossed a couple coins on the table to cover her drink and nodded at Karr to follow her. Once outside, she led the boys to the outer limits of Honeyhome, closer to where the merchants were ambushed. The weather was fair that afternoon. A line of clouds rolled in from the west, casting shadows on the ground as they walked. Light gusts ruffled the fabric of her dress as they moved. Pretty good questing weather, all things considered. So long as the breeze didn't shift, they'd be downwind of the goblins the entire way there. Once the arrived at the scene of the attack, however, the mood naturally darkened. Telltale signs of chaos littered the place. Blood spatters stained the grass, a couple broken weapons laid discarded by the treeline. Hoof-prints and wheel lines ran jagged up and down the road. This was definitely it. Madison retrieved the map, squinted at it, and began looking around. "Right. Says we need to go that way," she said while pointing in a northeasterly direction. "Goblins aren't exactly the most graceful creatures; so if there was an ambush party, then look for a bunch of broken branches and stuff so we have a clear path to follow." The witch shot a look at the caenis. "And Jasper? If you catch any whiff of 'em nearby, let us know, yeah?"
Well, that was easy enough. Main objective to retrieve the stolen goods by any means necessary was something that he could get behind, though Karr figured he could probably support any cause so long as it had that phrase slapped onto the end of it. By any means necessary was pretty much his motto at this point, so it made sense that jobs that followed such a rule would capture his interest. It wasn't his fault that he enjoyed a chance to flex and play with some of his newfound powers every once in a while. Anybody that could suddenly start wielding magic in a fantasy world would want to figure out what they could do with it, after all. He stood, weaving a tiny illusion onto the table, to make it seem like Madison had left more coins than she actually had, seemingly to cover his own drink as well as hers. After all, why should he bother paying for something he could get for free. With a smirk, he followed her out of the tavern and bar. She was technically the leader for this one, which meant it was probably a smart idea to follow orders, especially if she'd been playing this game for longer than himself. It was always smart to learn from observing, after all. Honestly, he wasn't too shaken up when they came across the remnants of the battle site, caked in blood and dirt with broken weapons lying everywhere. It was like the tension building scene from nearly every fantasy film or game that had ever been made, honestly Karr felt like it was a little overused. He chuckled, looking around at the remains of the obvious carnage, curious about something. "Huh, there are no bodies here, goblin or people." He hummed to himself, half thinking out loud and half making sure that the others actually noticed the same thing. "Was anything actually killed in the skirmish, or was there just a hell of a lot of wounding done? If something was killed, did the people retrieve the bodies, or did the goblins take them?" But why would they take bodies? Did goblins have a use for human corpses? Weird. The whole thing was kind of odd to be thinking about. "Still, I don't have any real investigative or tracking talents. I'll keep an eye out though." He could always cast subtle, minute illusions over everything. The beginner illusions weren't much, after all, but they suited what he wanted quite nicely. "Lead the way, o' fearless leader."
The outside air felt very refreshing. Jasper felt the tension ease from his shoulders. As the sludge and odor from the bar became replaced by the natural wood smells, and clean scents of the outdoors. Jasper did not have to say a single word as his tail and ears relaxed from the previously overwhelmed state of his mind. The quick trip to the caravan was enough to give Jasper more time to appraise his two traveling companions better. The lady did not look as sketchy with the artificial lighting she did carry an air on her still. Jasper felt like this was a walk in the park more than a mission to clean up monsters. The other one that Jasper became 80% sure is a guy, was a lot harder to read. Jasper could not put a finger on a thing from him. Which only strengthened the feelings of suspicion on that one. Jasper smelt the metallic iron tinge of blood before they completely reached the wreck. The damage was easy to notice. Various size stains covered the grounds in certain spots, making it easy to see why the smell was so loud. Jasper felt sad for the NPC people that certainly died in this area. The loss of life, in general, should always be a sad thing in his book. Even if the life was a bunch of ones and zeros. Hearing the male travel buddy speak, Jasper just sighed in his heart. The man did not warrant a response, not that Jasper would give one. He thought everyone knew that Goblins ate human flesh. Even as dead bodies the carcasses can be taken back to be properly disposed of. It was in the forums, for common monsters. Goblins would leave their dead but not seeing any humanoid bodies, the conclusion that any of the ambushing Goblins dying felt unlikely. Edge Lady spoke giving a command to move and special instructions for him to stay on his toes. Not that Jasper needed a reminder to keep his senses sharp. At his current level, he could not turn it off if he wanted too.He turned on investigation mode instead and slowly walked the way he was being led. “We have two or three coming up ahead,” Jasper informed the group, his nostrils flaring with the smell. The wind carried the goblin scent, it was not strong enough for it to be the entire ambush group, yet it kept a familiar tang to it. The familiar scent of blood was also mingled with the Goblin smell. “I believe these are the injured members that got left behind after the main group hurried to the destination. We can follow them and end them after we know the location. Which risks the chance of goblin enforcement arriving to help them. Or go for the kill now and spend more time trying to find the cave later.” Jasper gave the options to the group leader. She made the choices he just went with them. Making choices for a these two would be crazy. Rather than give himself the responsibility. It would be better for Jasper to play the good boy.
Madison's lips pursed as she mulled over a course of action. Quests are so much easier when someone else is telling people what to do. The cursemage wasn't a natural-born leader. She always worked best alone, or with someone pointing her at the enemy and telling her to do anything from "bludgeon" to "wipe from existence". But this is what Eyas wanted to do, right? The Punch Pals were trying to get a small crew together and line their pockets with gold as they figured out their place in the world, but Maddy was starting to have a little twinge of regret. Wouldn't take much to send Karr and Jasper into the woods after the goblins and then make a discreet exit. They had all the information they needed to finish the task, right? Couple of new bloods like them, a little trying-too-hard socially but apparently eager to get that first taste of action. Madison scolded herself for harboring the thought. The vets who rallied around her and the other newbies on her first dive stuck around when things picked up. She felt a little responsible, a little obliged to pay it forward. "I say we should follow them," the witch said at last. "Chances are, if they're lagging behind, then the others are either leaving them for dead or completely forgot about them. I doubt we'll see more once we catch up. They'll lead us right to the cave, and we can take 'em out from there." Madison started moving towards the treeline. "Shall we?"
Karr watched Madison purse her lips, rolling his eyes to himself as Jasper mentioned something about the injured ones being nearby. It sounded like their best bet was to just tail the injured ones to the goblin cave and do what was needed from there, which was apparently an opinion seconded by Madison, despite whatever the hell she was mulling over in her head. It sure as hell wasn't the quest, probably. Heck, at the very least, they had something to do now. "Fuck it, what are we waiting for then?" He sighed, looking down at his feet before a grey outline appeared around his form, before spreading to the other two. He knew for a fact that he hadn't taken a stealth mastery in the traditional sense, but there were ways he could hide. It was a simple, relatively weak illusion, but that didn't mean it wasn't effective. People couldn't counter an illusion that they didn't know about, after all. "There, something subtle, it'll make them less likely to notice us, their brains just that little bit ready to skip past us and see us as unimportant." He shrugged, unapologetic as he was the first to move in the direction that Jasper had marked out for them. Nothing too fast, a rather casual walk all things considered, before finally he could see them through the trees. "Ugly fuckers, aren't they? First time seeing these things." At least they were a different type of threat to Wolves and Bears. Those got boring after the first few encounters with them, at least to him they did. Well, at least they had them in sight now. Hopefully the cave wasn't too far away. "So, is there a step 2 to this plan where we get inside of the cave? Maybe send dogboy in to take some shots? He looks pretty sturdy." It was kind of a compliment? It'd been meant as one, at least. "I can peg one of the sentries from range if either of you have a way to attack from a distance?"
Option one, the group chose option one as the clear choice. Jasper had to hand it to them. Choosing the first choice was a better choice in his book. Being nicer to the madame leading the group was just to avoid conflict of taking over. Jasper followed his gut and got ready to open the spell assist menu. Currently, he could only recite a binding spell and healing spell from memory. Even for those two spells, it requires him to concentrate. The spell assist menu may take up more time and energy but the chances of him saying it wrong would be unlikely. The thought that this was a leadership test reached the perimeters of Jasper’s consciousness. The one that was supposed to be leading came off as pretty passive. Actually asking Jasper to take be the lookout showed great trust or stupidity. Maybe if he actually took the lead they would be done faster. If it was like that taking the lead would be better. It may even lead to a favorable impression. Jasper may have thought them to be sketchy. He was not stupid to not use a connection later in life. “It will be best to catch them while they are not paying attention. I can take out the sentries in about three minutes. It takes time for me to grow the vines thick enough to hold them. If I grow the vines to fast they will just be like then paper. I will go and close the distance to work faster.” He felt a bit large and in charge letting them match his flow. “After the two are dead or wrapped we can have an easier time sneaking in. The element of surprise will make it easier to slaughter the rest and find any hopeful survivors.” Taking the Hunting skill continued to prove its uses. The skill may not have been capable of making him almost invisible like Incognito. Still, the ability to move almost silently at times was just as useful. Jasper reached the edge of the thicket and started to recite one of the two spells he could. Two long thick vines slowly grew behind the two Goblin sentries, coming out of the grown and up the cave walls. Jasper stopped chanting to better focus on gauging the heights of the vines. “That should be about long enough. I hope this doesn’t give me an erection again….” He spoke to himself. Since coming to college and spending time on the game. He has been exploring himself more often. Before logging on this morning he may have discovered an asphyxiation kink that both aroused and terrified him. He already made an appointment to go to church on Sunday but the damage was done. “Kuzuia na kuvuta” No sooner had Jasper muttered the spell command the vines did as they were told. Wrapping around the two goblins quickly. The vines proceeded to choke the life out of them. If Jasper did not take the time to grow them stronger they could have escaped. He stood to feel a tinge of lightheadedness. The magic admittedly took a lot of his energy. Growing plants like that were not as easy as he made it seem. As the vines finished their job. The bodies hit the floor and the plant started to wilt. Walking out of the grass he waved in the direction of the other two. “Alright, let's go” Trying not to wobble as he walked. Jasper moved towards the cave. Trying to give off that feeling of determination with a touch of class. He fought the urge to roll on the ground like in the fancy spy movies. Jasper did not want to leave a bad impression on the two. Even if he guessed that they only thought of him as a dog. ((OOC: So sorry that took so long. I actually thought I posted it before I left. @Madison Freebird and @Karr Hawkesridge ))
Madison paused for a moment as the caenis muttered under his breath about his chosen masteries having the awful side-effect of giving him an erection. She remained perfectly silent and still, a look of disgust written clean across her thin features as she glanced at Jasper out of the corner of her eye. Terrasphere is supposed to be a power fantasy; not sure what kind of fantasy you're trying to get out of it, she thought to herself. Whether or not she had seen the appropriate amount of anime to know what was coming next, the witch had to admit that Jasper's own brand of nature magic was rather effective in neutralizing the sentry goblins. Thick vines grew from the maw of the cavern, lingered overhead momentarily, and then lunged forth and wrapped themselves tightly around their scrawny necks. The goblins' eyes bulged out of their heads as they opened their mouths, desperate to scream for help and draw in air at the same time--both to no effect. Mud-caked fingers scratched and clawed at the vines, trying to tear them away. Their flesh turned purple as oxygen was deprived to their brains. Their tongues hung loose from the corners of their spittle-flecked mouths. A minute later, they were dead. Jasper released the spell and moved from cover, just casually walking across the small forest clearing towards the cave. The cursemage shot Karr an unreadable glance. "You heard him, let's go." She took a cautious step forward out of the brush. "Just... watch for any wet spots." The trio of adventurers managed to get into the entryway of the cave without issue. The rocky walls were lined with torches, casting light down the length of the cavern until the path took a sharp turn to the left. The stench of rotting meat and offal filled her nose, nearly causing her to gag as they moved further into the goblin lair. Madison kicked herself for switching out of Astral Magic. It would've been really useful for finding out how many goblins there might be lurking deep within the cavern, or how they could best approach them. But no--she just had to have Illusion Magic, didn't she? Oh well. Deep down the cursemage knew that Black Magic was the best kind, and since it was the one she pumped the most MP into so far--why not use the hell out of it? The woman drew her deck of cards out of the inventory and slipped them out of their embossed tuck case. Even as they hoofed it through the lair, she effortlessly shuffled the deck in-hand. The pressed emerald crystal on the backs of the cards crackled with bright yellow electricity, remnants of Zeus's power that seeped into them. "Let's try and be quiet," Madison said, oblivious of the machine gun cracking of her cards as she performed a quick bridge shuffle. "Don't wanna' attract any unnecessary attention until we find out how many goblins there are." She knew that this was going to come down to a murder mission. They're just goblins, after all. The stinky little fuckers breed like rabbits and can fill up a warren in a matter of months. Plenty of the things to go around for other adventurers to burn to a crisp or split the skulls of or run through with spears and swords, right? As the party rounded the corner, Madison immediately caught sight of one bloodstained butterball of a goblin, rummaging through a chest of some sort. Unfortunately, the little bastard noticed her too. Before it could let out a whoop to alert its fellow goblins of the intruders, Madison fanned out the deck and threw three cards into the air. They ignited in brilliant purple flames, which then erupted from the cards with a snap of her fingers. Three bolts of pure malice wove through the air, hitting the goblin in the ribs, the neck, and the cheek. Immediately, shouts of alarm turned to cries of pure terror and pain as its chunks of bloody, bubbling flesh sloppily fell off in foaming chunks. Further down the caverns, Madison could make out the faint thundering noise of a barefoot army. The cursemage's eyes narrowed as she steeled herself for the coming fight. "Looks like we got company, kids."