Quest - Vitamin C(ounterfeit)

Rivers stood outside the Quilliam's Teashoppe looking in. He'd taken the quest to prove that Quilliam wasn't using genuine Esuilian Green Tea Leaves. The quest note had also said that if forgery was not the case, that the player convince the people that it was. Rivers didn't know how to feel about that. It seemed a bit underhanded to lie, but he pushed that from his mind. If the quest giver was so convinced that something was off, then it probably was.

Rivers waited for his fellow quest takers to join him. Currently, he stood across the busy street from the Teashoppe and watched the steady stream of people go in and out. It was certainly a popular place. Many patrons poured in and out of the place, all in an incredibly fancy manor of dress. Rivers looked down at his simple adventurer garb. He'd look out of place if he went into the establishment looking like this. He did see a few people in simpler garb enter, but they were met with concerned looks. They were still served, but it would draw too much attention to just go in and try to figure out what was in the tea.

Rivers frowned. He couldn't figure this out with the information he had. Hopefully one of his fellow quest takers would have an idea. He took a couple deep breaths. Surely they would! Between the four of them they could solve the mystery of the secret ingredient! When his fellow quest takers arrived, he would tell them what he'd observed from his post.

"Hi! Nice to see all of you. I've been standing outside the Teashoppe for a while and it's certainly popular. I can't figure out how we're going to figure out what's in the tea unless we can somehow get in the back. We'd draw too much attention going in unless we blend in a bit with the high-society clientele. Do you guys have any idea?"

@Hanno Futaba @Aristides @Endo

 

Another day, another quest. Hanno was excited to finally be able to do a mission with his friends, and it was a investigation one... It wasn't something that he was good at, so it was a chance for improvement!

The Faerin opened his UI, reading the details of the quest. "A fraud, huh?" He said to himself, then frowned at the 'convince people it was', that smell fishy, to screw someone's business by spreading lies. 'Of course I won't do this. If it isn't fake, then it isn't fake. Case closed.' Hanno thought, nodding to himself. And he believed his friends wouldn't do something wrong like that too, so it wasn't something that bothered him too much.

He was finally getting close to the destination, even being able to see @Rivers Asteire, the friend that invited him to join the quest. With a soft smile, his steps became hurried until he got there. "Hiiii!" The small Faerin greeted everyone.

"It's nice to see you too!" Hanno said before pondering, normally the best way to find out if something is fake or not, it would be to basically sneak into their deposits or something. But... This investigation had some big advantage to the Faerin, making him smirk a little.

"We could try to sneak into their deposit to find something weird. But if we can't..." He held his chest. "I can just try their tea out, nothing can escape from my keen palate." If there was something Hanno was good at, it was e̶̷̶a̶̷̶t̶̷̶i̶̷̶n̶̷̶g̶̷̶ being able to distinguish any ingredients that could be in that tea. But before getting to any conclusions on how to solve that mystery, he turned to wait for @Aristides and @Endo. He was already a big friend of Aristides, but he never met this Endo person, he wondered who it was, maybe a Rivers's friend?

 

His first real quest in TerraSphere that wasn't trying not to die from a pack of wolves. Well, color Aristides eager to get rolling. Approaching the tea shop he saw Rivers and Futaba already gathered there, as well as a face he didn't recognize, and adjusted his hair so that it wasn't in his eyes. It was more a nervous habit than necessary. Hm. He knew there would be other adventurers in the area likely to join when the took the job, but he was still not the best with new people. Rivers and Futaba got something of a pass, since they all saved each other from being eaten alive. Some things were just better ice-breakers than others. Still, letting anxiety get in the way of a quest would be counterproductive. He didn't want to get in the way.

He approached the little gathering with his best "please don't make me talk much" smile.

"You as well."

Aristides' sensitive ears perked up at the noises inside the tea-house. It, too, was full to the brim with people, and made his stomach twist up inside. He didn't care if they were dressed well or not, they were a crowd, and he grimaced at the thought of going in among them. Why did they need to take a job that wasn't just slaying twenty boars and collect their tusks and call it a day? Why did it need to involve people? Even NPC people?

Focus, Vivi, for Pete's sake. You're a Frenchwoman. You can handle high society nonsense.

(Gulp.)

"Taste-testing would at least...be a good start. If I can get a scent, too, I should be able to track it to a storehouse."

He gave the window a grimace.

"Though...if we want to blend in better...clothing upgrade may be our priority. Is there a tailor near here?"

 

Another day, another foolish attempt to get money. At least it was money and not anything. It made Endo antsy that he didn't have any friends to do quests with. It was pretty boring. But he couldn't blame anyone else for that, it was his own fault for being so anti-social. He had his head down the entire time standing outside of the tea shop. For that very moment in time, he didn't want to talk to anyone. Just do the quest, get the reward, and move on. Making friends isn't really a top priority in this case. They all looked friendly at least. He didn't know anyone, but he would get to know all over their names later on.

In response he just nodded his head. He had a few ideas of his own, but none of them came out victorious in any way. He took his before coming here to scout around the area. For a tea shop the place on its own was pretty packed to the brim. There wasn't a single person who wouldn't open that door to come in or out. Most likely they were NPC's, but there could be a few players wondering about in there.

The first idea was a good one, to say the least. sneaking in would be good, but in a crowded area like this, not an option. The second idea seemed to be the most liable at best. Well, without looking suspicious at least.

Also pretty reasonable, although getting a tailor would mean less time to do the quest and worst of all, the losing of money. And that's the one thing Endo didn't want to lose, money. Endo had an idea. He was not sure if it would work. But why not. Endo looked up at three in front of him.

"Why not illusion magic? That would seem to do the trick."

@Rivers Asteire @Hanno Futaba @Aristides

 

Rivers greeted Futaba and Aristides. It was nice to see them again. With them by his side, this quest would be a non-issue. Their fourth, Endo, appeared. "Nice to meet you Endo, I'm Rivers Asteire. This are my friends Hanno Futaba," he motioned to his short friend. "And Aristides," he motioned to his furry friend. He hoped everyone would get along. As long as no one went against the flow, everything should be good. After all, the scope of their mission was pretty simple. He opened the field for ideas from his compatriots.

Rivers nodded to everyone's ideas. Everyone had such good ideas! He almost didn't know which to choose. Have Futaba get a taste, have Aristides get a whiff, or use illusion magic. Rivers grin widened. He would choose them all!

"All of your ideas are fantastic. I say...we do all of them, and pull of the biggest heist this game's ever seen." He gathered his comrades around and drew his voice to a whisper.

Cue ridiculousness

Hidden: THEME

You can hide the video while it plays for the best results

. . .

Rivers and Aristides stood outside the back of the Teashoppe. Any moment now, an NPC would come out for their break, that's when they'd strike. As soon as the employee opened the door to step outside, Rivers and Aristides jumped the guy, quickly tying him up. He was roughly Rivers' height and also had blonde hair. This would work perfectly. With a bit of finagling, they got his waiter clothes off and Rivers quickly changed into them.

As he straightened his bow-tie, Rivers walked in and explained the plan very Ocean's Eleven style. "With the crowd so busy, no one would notice if a waiter's facial features suddenly shifted. The build was the same and that's all anyone would notice. With me posing as a waiter, I could make sure things went smoothly on the ground. I could keep people away from the kitchen long enough for Aristides to do his thing in the back. I made my rounds and blended in and waited for Endo and Futaba, posed as fancy customers, to walk in...the front door."

Cue dramatic music

 

That place was indeed very crowd, even around the area had a lot of movement, so they could barely find a place to talk without anyone hear them.

Hanno looked at Endo. "Nice to meet you!" He exclaimed, then began hearing everyone's idea. Aristides was a Caenis, so it was expected that they could smell anything illegal in those teas, it was almost like they had a hound, but of course he wouldn't say something so rude.

'Of course! Illusion would be the best way to get a disguise that would be flexible enough!' Hanno nodded in agreement, that was a good idea. But if Endo said this, that meant they were an illusionist? With that, they had a full group, since the closest thing to a mage that were there was himself, but being a tank you couldn't be exactly on the background casting spells.

Suddenly @Aristides and Rivers went to the back of the Teashoppe, striking a waiter down and swapping their clothes. He didn't know how to feel about doing that to someone that may have nothing to do with this, but that was infiltration mission for you! And it was not like the guy was getting hurt or anything, so he just shrugged it off. "Relax man, you will be fine." He said with a lazy smile to the terrified waiter.

For some reason, Hanno couldn't shake away the thought of all that was starting to look like a 'Mission: Impossible' or 'Ocean's Eleven' plot, peharps it was because it was a more stealth-ish quest? But that wasn't important, he turned to Rivers, that began to explain their mission:

Hanno pulled his scarf up, covering his mouth and made a different idle stance he was doing before. Making it look something more formal and elegant, as opposed to his usual relaxed and lazy pose. And finally he turned to Endo. "Hehe, make we look like one of these fancy costumers. If we act well, there's nothing we should fear of!" The Faerin said with a much more deep voice he usually had, while messing with his scarf like it was a beard.

 

Mission impossible. That Aristides could handle much, much better than socializing.

With his and Rivers' combined strength they easily took care of the unfortunate NPC waiter and get his costume. Then, with him dressed to impress and Futaba and @Endo ready to party in the front room, he was ready to do his part. His task was simple: follow his nose from the busy kitchen to the store-room where they were getting their tea-leafs. So he stayed in the alley, ears flickering, tuned to each noise they heard, and trying his best to be as inconspicuous as possible while he waited for the go-ahead...which was a bit easier than real world heists, since they had an PM function.

ARISTIDES

Is everyone ready?
Good luck Futaba, Endo.
Give me a good distraction, Rivers, I'm kind of too tall for stealth.

 

Huh, Mission Impossible. Not a bad reference. Still kinda lame but not bad at all.

They had already walked inside of the tea shop, an NPC had been taken care of and the heist was about to commence, nothing better than that, I guess. He looked as fancy as can be, with the least amount of money spent. He didn't like that he had the job of walking through the front door, but as long as the money comes in, then it's worth it all the way through. He held the the door for @Hanno Futaba, looking back at him.

"Ready?"

 

Rivers was waiting tables as he noticed Endo and Futaba walk through the door. He'd fallen into the groove of things, and gone unnoticed. He turned and took plates back to the kitchen to get cleaned. For this to work, there needed to be a distraction large enough that he could justify getting the people in the kitchen out on the floor. That was the only way to get Aristides into the kitchen.

Rivers played busboy for a moment, taking empty cups from tables that clearly weren't his. He did this to move chairs to constrict the walking room for the waiters. It would be easy for him to cause the distraction himself, but that would draw too much attention to him, and they all needed to blend in. The plan was to force two waiters into a narrow space, distract them, and then have them collide. Should be easy enough. Once the stage was set, Rivers grabbed a plate full of teas. He would conveniently leave this at Endo and Futaba's table. Rivers stood around the area Futaba and Endo were in. Two waiters were in position. Go time.

"Excuse me, I think you have my table's order."

Huh?

The waiter turned his head but continued to walk. There wasn't enough room for the other distracted waiter to get around...

CRASH!

Cups and plates fell and shattered on the floor. Tea spilled everywhere. Seemingly out of concern, Rivers put down the tray full of different teas on Endo's and Futaba's table. He ran around the ensuing commotion at the scene of the accident into the kitchen.

"Hey, we need some help out here! Bring brooms!"

Rivers fell into the rank and file of employees getting cleaning supplies. He made sure he was the last one to leave. With a few swipes of his UI, he sent a message to @Aristides

"Go time."

Petty crime was such a rush.

@Hanno Futaba @Endo

 

Hanno grinned, while covering his face even more with the scarf, that slowly turned much more fancy along with his outfit, making his eyebrow raise. Illusion magic was something very interesting, and very useful indeed. No one would guess they were adventurers, because they were looking very noble at that moment.

He walked into the shop along with @Endo. It was show time, he walked to a table, doing his best to act naturally. Which wasn't that hard since he was already a very chill dude.

Suddenly an waiter appeared.

Act naturally. "Uhm, yes! You can indeed, me and my friend here are craving for some of your tea, that we've heard it's the most wonderful of all this land!"

The Faerin nodded with a gentle smile, just to hold the menu and look at it, pretending to be interested on the contents of it. Sometimes looking over the menu to see if he could spot @Rivers Asteire or @Aristides.

When he finally spotted Rivers, he pretended to see nothing, but remained prepared. "Here it goes, Endo" He whispered to the illusionist, right before the whole mess started. An accident huh? Good way for a distraction.

Hanno grabbed the tea and gulped it down in one-shot... And something felt wrong... The taste of that tea, it had something weird on it, something artificial. The Faerin could tell it apart, it wasn't a pure tea! Something was on it, otherwise it's taste should be mild, like any tea would be!

He looked at Endo and whispered: "Something is definitely wrong with it." Hanno gave his opnion.

 

RIVERS

Go time.

Aristides heard the sound of breaking china and footsteps rushing away from the room in back, and quickly took the opportunity to slip inside. As expected this room was connected to the kitchen, but it itself was a storeroom full of boxes, barrels, and bags of various ingredients. Lucky for him each one was labeled clearly. Sniffing around a few cloth sacks of loose leafs and a couple beans he finally found one with the word [Elusian]printed on it with a large black stamp. He undid the rope keeping it closed and dug a couple of leafs out.

When he removed his hand from the bag, though, something beyond normal tea leafs were stuck to his fingers. Huh? He took a second to sniff at them. They smelled strongly like...dried fruit? No, not fruit. But it did smell very sweet, far more-so than tea usually was. What?

Still he didn't have too much time to contemplate. He placed the stolen leafs into his inventory, re-tied the bag tightly, and made for the exit.

ARISTIDES

I got some leafs.
It smells way too sweet, for some reason.
Futaba, are there any herbs or spices that smell really fruity or sweet?

 

Endo had followed @Hanno Futaba into the tea shop, and sitting down at the table he was at. He always already pretty calm, there was really no reason to be nervous. Soon enough, a waiter NPC showed up, asking for an order.

Wow, this couldn't be better. Once the tea had arrived, Endo stared at it while his partner in front of him drunk it down in one gulp. Impressive. He hesitated a little, but he picked up the tea cup anyways and took a sip. He almost spit it back up. This wasn't tea. Or not real tea.

"I definitely agree." Endo replied. Illusion time. Endo started to mutter something under his breath. For someone who was eavesdropping, this would sound like straight gibberish, but he was trying to create an illusion. It would take some time but he knew the right illusion to do.

 

Rivers looked around at the commotion that was ensuing. He'd caused all of this, but surely it was for a good cause. To try to blend in, Rivers helped with the cleanup of the broken dishware. Was this enough for him to not draw attention? He needed to keep them out of the back room, to buy @Aristides more time.

His head turned to look at @Hanno Futaba and @Endo at their table. Had Futaba downed a whole glass of tea in one gulp? He was making immense progress. He raised his eyebrows at Endo to get a gauge of their progress. They hadn't discussed signals before this. They really should've discussed signals.

As they were cleaning up, there came the need to take out the broken cups and plates. Oh no. That meant going in the back, Rivers hadn't received any signals from Aristides that he was clear of the back room. "Oh, I'll take them out," he said to a busboy. This turned out to be a bad idea.

No thank you, I'll get it. Get back to waiting tables.

"No, it's really no trouble." Crap. He couldn't let someone else in the back room. But, they were running out of dishes to clean up.

Hey, how long have you worked here?

Oh no. Rivers flashed a pleading eye to Endo and Futaba. Please help.

 

ARISTIDES

I got some leafs.
It smells way too sweet, for some reason.
Futaba, are there any herbs or spices that smell really fruity or sweet?

He looked at @Aristides message on his UI and pondered. He was sure he felt a similar taste not too long ago. Then he remembered it, of course! The Faerin snapped his fingers.

HANNO FUTABA

There are many herbs and spices that have this... Like mints or angelicas, even a few flowers like violets can be used this way.
But this taste... I know what this is, I was preparing some soup last week on the forest and I found a few plants that tasted and smelled a lot like 'Sassafras'. There's no doubt it have something to do with it.

'So that's the game they are trying to play, huh? I must admit it is a smart move to use sweet tastes to add some flavor on a tea. BUT-' He looked fiercely at nowhere in particular. 'Saying this is authentic tea to the customers that come here expecting what a pure tea has to offer is unnaceptable!'

Hanno then heard @Rivers Asteire voice, making him turn briefly at him. He had that pleading eye on his face. He was talking to that waiter... Maybe he was in trouble? The Faerin didn't know what exactly was happening, so the best course of action is simply distracting the waiter that is on his friend's way.

He looked at @Endo for a second and suddenly slammed his left fist on the table, as he held his chest tightly, pretending to cough hard and throwing himself on his side, making the whole restaurant look at him startled, including the Busboy that was talking to Rivers.

Distracted by the situation, the busboy ran to Hanno. The Faerin hoped that Endo could help this come out more legitimately, and that it was enough to buy time for his friends.

He began punching lightly his chest. "A-Ah- Aaah!" Hanno kept pretending like he was in deep agony.

 

Aristides heard crashing outside, and voices nearby the back room, and grimaced. Was somebody about to come in? Crap. Where was the exit again? There were boxes and bags and barrels around every corner, and absolutely no place for him to jump if somebody walked in to hide his whole six feet of dog-man. In addition, all the scents and smells of herbs, spices, and food made it impossible to retrace his own steps. Stupid tea-shop. How dare they stock and serve something with such an overpowering fragrance! Like tea!

Nobody is here to appreciate my wit. Why am I even trying.

ARISTIDES

Please distract.
I can't find the exit.
Why is this place a maze.
It's almost like they want it to be hard to steal something.
How dare they.