Eyes squinted, tongue lolling out the edge of her lips, and a faint haze of confusion morphing her youthful face into a bizarre expression of both befuddlement and wonder. All in all, Alpha looked like a thoughtful, philosophical hedgehog. The announcement had quite a heavy vocabulary, almost matching Roland's own long-winded spiel about something or the other (Alpha reminded herself to text her friend for a laconic TL;DR note later). Despite her best efforts, Alpha could only follow along every third word or so. Even with the countless tutors her parents had hired in an effort to improve her literacy, she was much more capable at spouting nonsense to sound smart than actually understanding and comprehending political speeches and the like.

To be honest, Alpha hadn't really given Astorea's nobility much thought before this. Yes, she knew quite a few people who were pretty high up in the political chain but talking politics was one of those taboo subjects people don't tend to bring up in friendly conversation. She spend most of her time lurking underneath bridges, pandering for candy, and hunting down shiny rainbow rabbits; the political sphere was completely out of her league.

She really wished she had an online dictionary right now. Everyone else in the crowd (that she could see, anyways) looked to be totally attentive to the squire and listened as if they were all experiencing rapture and the servant who was delivering the king's message was a holy man drenched in purity reciting the steps necessary for salvation. Of course, Alpha would've noticed other more rebellious figures in the audience with their own unique take on the speech had she been paying more attention but the podium was a much more interesting sight than a sea of fantastical role-players and deluded NPCs (who actually thought that they were alive and that their lives weren't just artificial constructs built to entertain others).

Her eyebrows were practically touching by the time the missive was over. She only had a few context clues to work with, her ears having subconsciously drowned out most of the words. Democracy. Property rights. United nation.

Oh. She got it now. She almost smacked herself on the top of the head for not figuring out the message sooner.

"Murica!" Alpha grinned, her cheer stifled under her breath. Everything clicked together: Roland's mass message, the new declaration by Astor (the Used-To-Be-King), and rumors of a civil war.

In her time in the game, she'd met a lot of people who were seriously invested in their fictional roles. These players were obviously orchestrating a large-scale LARPing session in-game and were reenacting the American Civil War which, with Astor's latest notice, might take place in an alternate universe fused together with the sentiments of the American Revolution. Alternative history themed role playing. Nerdy but cool.

But which side to join? Is this going to be something like Box Wars? Are there any words to leave the game (like yelling 'Oxenfree' during a game of tag) when you got bored or needed a potty break?

She stared at the written address as if it would reveal all the answers if her eyes bore into it long enough. Ah, maybe she should go ahead and text Roland later and ask him about it. Oh. Wait.

What if the game already started?

That would make sense, wouldn't it? The game's started and it'll be a mean thing to ruin the immersive experience for everyone else. No. She had to make up her role here and now.

She reached into her pocket. A dozen paperclips (all linked together); three coins of varying sizes; a small rainbow-colored potato; four fertilized eggs; a licorice-scented marker; the decapitated head of an ostrich (neck included, the joints all in varying states of decay and infested with baby maggots); an ancient artifact she'd obtained from one of her adventures (ah, that was what was weighing down her pocket; she idly threw it over her shoulder and into the trash can); a rock with googly eyes; and, finally, she got what she was looking for.

She put the accessories on.



"General Alfalfabert Charcoalate is on duty!" she grinned, giving a salute to no one in particular. The crowd began to disperse with Alpha along with it.

Alphabet Chocolate

'Tis is I, the General of...Wisconsin. That's right. Wisconsin. Wis-con-sin. Wisconsin. WISCONSIN! WiScOnSiN. wisconsin. Wyzcawnzin. Wisconsin. Wisconsin. Wisconsin. Wisconsin. Wisconsin.

A civil war is approaching in the fortnight of Shakespeare's sonnets in literature of raspberry brioche and celebratory cake. Worry methinks not for the mercenary activities are of no consequence to the state of affairs of the democracy. The harvest potatoes of sweet summer night is revelry in great honor for the lord of the flies named Alfred Hitchcock. The reconstruction period of historical terms is nought for the life of the innocent grapevine.

Agriculture and industry are, in at the moment, on the scale of pepper. Meet me at thrice the maize of Teutonic plates and I will give you my duty in exchange for fifteen dozen doughnuts of highest quality: all glazed to perfection that would rival Dunkin' Donuts for Krispy Kreme is supreme.

~General Alfalfabert Charcoalate of Wisconsin

Perfect. She used all the biggest, archaic words she knew and, although she understood none of it, she knew it must sound very smart from an outside perspective. Her chest puffed in delight and pride. From now on, she was no longer Alphabet Chocolate. No, she was someone much more than that. She was General Alfalfabert Charcoalate of Wisconsin; a disgraced mercenary for the slums of society who'd risen up to the occasion to defend her homeland and wallet.

The surge of adrenaline that came with a new, cool identity ended pretty soon as she stood alone, now completely last on what to do next. Wasn't there a rulebook for these sorts of things?

She knelt down and hugged her knees in a tight, prostrate position, waiting for Roland's reply. And she would stay that way; completely unmoving, imitating a deceased turtle, until she finally figured out what to do.

 

Sunday 11:50 pm

Although Akio saw the sun loom high above them when he first logged in and set in the west, he knew it hadn't been very long since he logged in. He had opted to sleep most of the journey with a piece of hay in his mouth as he stared at the ceiling of his wagon intermittently. There hadn't been much to say, so he stayed quiet most of the way. Upon entering the forest outskirts, he could already hear the sounds of critters he had no idea about. " Ey driver can I gedd'off here?" he asked with a flippant tone. The armored man nodded and said, " It's about time for breakfast, head toward the northern end of the city afterwards. There you'll get your assig---nm--ent"...

Akio gave a hand gesture and nodded back to him. He well within walking distance of the city at this point and could see the caravan head out along the curved road. As he turned to look at the fading caravan he saw a night spring out into action, barreling down upon him. He took a step back and stammered in a panic, failing to unlatch his weapon as its blade flew true and toward akio's head. He closed his eyes and waited for the death screen. However to his surprise all he felt was a gust of wind fly past his cheek and the sound of wood being splintered. " Hey young lady are you alright"! A few Finweald guards rushed out toward the knight, who was locked in battle with a living tree, who had a humanoid traits etched into the face of its trunk. The blade was lodged in its nose as it roared with blood red eyes, but was immediately put down and pacified by the others.

The sounds of harsh blades ripped toward the screeching creature, as it felt to the ground with a blunt thud.The original knight emerged from the dust cloud originating from the creature's fall. He nodded and tipped his helmet at her as he made his way into town. The other warriors were also in armor,but they weren't nearly as thick or elaborate as the falderan's. " Welcome lassy, please be careful and always watch yer step out here. Even near the settlement carnivorous plant life sometimes sneaks its way in", he said holding his hand out. Akio's avatar nodded its head and grasped it back and gave him a hardy hand shake. " The name's Alana, thanks for saving me. And you too big guy"!

The guards looked at her funny and said, " You've the handshake of a man, but the looks of a delicate flower, Alana. Strange but not bad I guess". He grinned and alana squinted at him before cracking a smile. The three entered town as he gave akio the rundown of the place. He could see immediately walking in there were damaged buildings and whole roads blocked off by military personnel. However what caught not just his attention but that of his companions was the speech of a fantastic orator.

He approached the podium looming over them slowly as the other two headed off to see their superiors, to make sure the situation stayed stable. He listened with great intent, as politics were one of his favorite things to talk about, but also one of the more frustrating things as well. Although these weren't the frivolous issues politically correct mobs asking for custom pronouns, but rather, the man spoke of what sounded to be upheaval. He nodded his head at the man and took mental notes, but couldn't help but repeat a few key words. " Nobility... monarchy...stepping down..who is doing that"? More over he took note of the mention of the nobility's wrath and said, " Ahh sounds like fun. I remember real life nobies were also pretty peeved off during the industrial revolution and ofcourse, whenever a monarchy fell. Dang they're pretty committed to rp eh"?

However his monologue was cut short by the rambling of a crazy woman. Akio's avatar looked upon her and scratched her chin as this one spoke with the opposite demeanor. The orator who initially brought the crowd together spoke of duty and establishing a democracy...flowery language which had the people's best interest in mind. He tilted his head at the other who spoke of dunken donuts and shakesphere. When she pipped down and began to assume what appeared to be a fetal position Alana tipped her masked and crouched down to the general's level.

" Ey what the heck are you talking about? Are there really mercenaries to worry about or what...the donut thing confused me", the avatar said with a grin. Her hand extended out and she waited patiently, " I'm new to this game, but y'all are hardcore rp'ers it seems. The name's Alana in game".

----

@Alphabet Chocolate