Noah stood at the edge of the forest waiting for this so called partner to arrive. He had heard that this new region of the world had just opened up and some nobles from Brisshal were paying a nice bit of coin for adventures to go exploring and see what blights filled this region. Noah found himself being paired up randomly with some older gentleman that had been also asked by the nobles, oddly enough Noah had met this man in the woods the first day he started/ Noah prayed that he had more cloths on this time around. Noah sent the man a message a few hours ago. ”Hey Jack, it’s Noah. I hear we are going to be teaming up to explore Norfova. Why don’t we meet up at the Dragonfly Inn. It’s one of the closer habitable areas near the destination. Stock up on supplies and goods, I’ll meet you there in two hours.” The inn sat along a dirt path that winded through the forest and would be only about a thirty minute walk or so into this dismal land. To pass time Noah cycled through his stat screens to see what items he had, his mastery points, and attempted to learn more about his skill set. He really had not done too much combat since starting the game, a few creatures here and there but nothing too dangerous. This region though...it might prove to be a whole new monster entirely. Once Jack would arrive, Noah proceeded to head down the path, casually glancing over his shoulder from time to time to make sure that the elderly man was able to keep up. Noah’s rogue skill had given him the distinct advantage of being able to move much more quietly than the elderly man, his movements were also a bit more fluid like a cat. When he really focused though, he could be the world’s best at hide and go seek, though he was sure Dempsey was much better than him. He messaged his kitty cat friend but she must have been busy, seeing how she never responded. The forest became less and less green. The foliage that once sparked life, now only appeared as death. Noah kept his eyes and ears out for any sort of movement or sound. Noah whispered to the elderly man, he hoped the man was able to keep up with Noah and understand with his old body. “Keep back just a bit, I’ll act as a scout of sorts. I can move quicker and more silently than you. If I come across an enemy it will be easier for us to avoid or launch a surprise attack this way.” @Jack Stevens Thrown die: 28
When he received the message, the old man lit up like a lightbulb. He was already making friends. He went and bought some food, and put in his pockets after wrapping it. It was a small sandwich, but it should do. He also had clothes on this time, after realizing that he had unequipped them before by accident. It wasn’t his proudest moment, but he was learning. He’d admit that much. The more he learned, the more he lit up like a tree on christmas. His pure, innocent happiness was something that wasn’t often found. After awhile, he made his way over to the Dragonfly inn. Once there, the younger man started moving fast and slick. Gosh, the wonders of being young. Jack was moving as fast as he could, well, as fast as he thought he could. He wasn’t quite as nimble in real life, as he was in the game. That made this slightly difficult for everything. It was a simple matter, he supposed, of taking things in stride. After all, he remembered a story that his papa told him once. Not that that story was important now. It was in the past, way in the past, and he wasn’t one to go that far back just for a story. At least, not when he was exploring. He was a real explorer! Like those of the stories his father told him. An explorer! Jack bet his father would be proud of him now. He listened to the younger boy speak sense, and nodded; though he had to add something. “You’re not wrong, kiddo. Don’t slow down too much for me, though. I’d hate to be a right, proper burden on you.” Thrown die: 8
Hew was pleased to see that Jack was able to keep up with him through the woods and even into Norfova. While he dragged behind a bit, Noah was able to adjust his speed so that the two could at least be close by each other until he told Jack of his plan. Once they entered the real region of Norfova, though, Noah was able to break away from the elderly man and crept into the woods while signalling to Jack to remain on the path. In the rotting woods, he noticed that the trees leaked a darkish, red tinted, blood like substance from their branches unlike the sap that was found in the forest of the other region of the world. Noah touched it with his hand, attempting to understand it more. By playing with it in his fingers he confirmed that it did act like a sap of a normal tree. Perhaps the blood magic that was cursing this land had caused such an odd phenomenon. “Interesting...I’ll have to tell those back home about this one…” Noticing that Jack was gaining on him, he broke away from inspecting the tree and headed back into the woods lining the path. It was eerie, the forest was too quiet. Perhaps once the blood magic took place most of the sane creatures fled in fear of it, but what kind of creatures would that leave? The sound of thin branches snapping rang in Noah’s ear. His full attention gazed into the direction the sound originated from, a mere 30 degree angle to his left. He peered off into the brush to see if he could spy anything. By placing his fingers on his temple, he was able to focus his vision. This allowed him to see a bit better than before. As his scanners were picking up on all of the plant life that was lurking in the area a serious of a couple question marks floated over the bush. Noah reached for his wooden training sword on his belt and brought it in front of him. He sent Jack a message to give him a heads up. He was not sure if the older man had any fighting abilities but he might have to improvise a couple here soon. “Jack… I think there is something up ahead...if you have any weapons it would be best for you to ready them now.” After the message was sent, Noah found a small rock by his foot. He lobbed the rock into the brush and saw a mutated serpent like creature dart out from it and towards the path that Jack was walking on. The serpent had to be a meter in length, jet black with speculated silver diamonds, and the most unique feature, twin heads. Noah chased after it but the creature was a bit quicker than him, hopefully Jack would be quick on his feet and mind. Thrown die: 89 @Jack Stevens
Jack would still follow the younger guy, since he seemingly knew what he was doing. Jack was clueless, as he was simply trying to not fall down and break his nose. He hadn't felt a broken nose in awhile, and he wasn't planning on doing it now. That was teh thing, though. Jack, for all of his skills, was still an old man. An old man who had done many things in his life, most of which he couldn't be bothered to remember these days. That was the sad part. Thankfully, it was mostly his will that was going and not his memory. Other than that, though, it wasn't like he had to deal with anyhone on a day to day basis that actually had him remembering anything important. His reminiscing was brought to a full stop by the inclusion of a snake in our adventure. He pulled out his wooden blade and looked at it. "I'm afraid this might not be enough." Thrown die: 81
Noah bite his lip as he chased after the two headed snake. Jack may be an old fart but this was a video game, after all, he should have some sort of skill to help him fight out in the wild. If he did not then the two of them were screwed, well not so much Noah, he could probably make it make to the safety of the inn without running into too much of an issue. That was a rather self-centered thought process but who cares, it was a game after all, not like he was going to be killed in real life, though that was a possibility, look at the SAO event. He pulled out a wooden blade but it looked rather poor and his stance did not reassure Noah that he was capable of handling the beast on his own. He pushed his body to it’s limit, jumping into a tree, using a tree branch as momentum to launch him into the air. His shadow seemed to cause the snake to divert its attention to the sky, at least one of its heads. As Noah came crashing down the head that looked up at him. This sent the body into a fit of rage and panic. Noah’s wooden training sword was out and he quickly bashed the other head with as much strength as he had in his body. As he bashed one head, the other struggled to get free. Noah was eventually thrown off balance. He did a quick jump into the air coupled with a backflip to land a few feet away polar of Jack’s position. The head he had just bashed in was unresponsive, the other he landed on seemed dazed and confused. Noah raised his sword up high, gripping it with two hands to maximize its damage, he brought the sword down on the snake leaving it presumably dead. He looked up at Jack to see if he was alright before noticing that he had splattered snake blood all over the two of them, it was not red like a normal beast’s, but blackish green from the dark magic pulsing through its veins and the land around it. “Well that was a nice bit of action huh?” Thrown die: 5 @Jack Stevens
"Too much action for an old man like me. You were wonderful, though. Reminded me of a young Clint Westwood. He spoke, misquoting a famous actors name. He laughed, softly. This way fun, but it was stressful. Far too much so for his old man heart. He'd have to applaud this young man, as he was quite heroic. That's, in fact, what he did. He clapped for the young fellow in front of him, for the masterful experience of heroics that jack had just witnessed. Jack felt a little bad for not being able to help the boy, but he'd probably accept that he was an old man. "I thank you for your efforts." Jack decided to start moving and heading off to the tavern that they had come from. In his slow, measured gait, he wasn't a sad old man for once, he was just a man. A man who held his chin up high. Thrown die: 60
((You guys kind of went off script a little, but no worries. Your rolls landed you square in the "stop here and head home" ending. I'm not going to step on toes and narrate over what you've already written, so if you guys want to just wrap it up here and I'll ping the thread for lock/archive tonight, or keep going w/o rolls. Up to you. I've recorded your scores for the prize giveaway and added your totals to the total exploration points though, so cheers! If you guys want to take another swing at the quest, have at. Next time though, finish your 6 rolled posts so that you're still out in the field. I'll later the quest description/signup post so that is more visible @Noah Krane @Jack Stevens
