The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly [Q]

The Terror Boar was a pint-sized creature and he was surprised at how difficult it was to hunt and track it down. Although the minuscule creature was obviously quite weak and tiny, it had the stealth and agility of a rabbit or fox of sorts. No wonder the annoying pest commanded such a high price. If it hadn't adapted this well to hunters for its tasty, delectable meat then the entire species would've gone extinct long before now.

The Poacher (his title and chosen name) stealthily moved away, adjusting his mask as he scented out the wild animal. He would have to be careful. Last time he had went to town, he had seen quest boards up for the protection and preservation of young Terror Boars such as the one he was hunting right now. He could practically sniff out a possible adversary.

There. A faint odor of tender bacon. He headed off in that direction, blade steady and ready to get the head and bounty of the precious source of meat and money.


@Dempsey Fabijain @Aaron Marone

 

After several hours of exploring, she decided it was time to get down to business. The day was still young, and she was eager to get a feel for what she'd gotten herself into. she'd visited a small outpost earlier, brimming with new adventurers such as herself wandering, asking questions, and making effort to connect with their RL friends. She'd even seen a collection of players had already set up a makeshift dueling ring on the outskirts of town, wagering tiny amounts of gold to see who could best whom at their current level, barely equipped and unskilled. She preferred to avoid PVP whenever possible. Up until now, in her experience going up against a computer AI designed to be challenging but beatable was always more profitable than tangling with real players who had no desire to be beaten whatsoever.

That brought her here, to the Adecus forest, where she looked over her quest log once more. find a terror boar, and escort it to a reserve. It didn't seem like the most difficult thing she'd ever be tasked with, but she was well aware that in her current state, almost any enemy in the game was going to pose a considerable threat. She didn't even have enough to purchase a set of starter gear at the outpost, and had to make due with sacrificing the sleeves of her already shredded tunic to produce serviceable foot-wraps.

With a few more taps of her index finger against her left palm, she produced a bottle of spring water and a bit of now cold but still delicious grilled fish and enjoyed a quick meal before setting out. She still wasn't sure how status bonuses worked, but it never hurt to work on a full stomach. She checked the menu again, waiting for the party finder to fill the second vacant spot, and as if by magic, a name appeared. Aaron Marone. with the pique of an eyebrow she headed off in his direction.

@Aaron Marone

 

Aaron practiced swinging his sword once or twice to get the feel of it. It felt heavy and wrong, which made sense as he still hadn't invested any mastery points into using it yet. He was probably as likely to hurt himself as anything else at this point. He breathed a heavy sigh and sheathed the weapon, before looking around at his surroundings. He was in a forest or woods, and would be looking for three things. One was a tiny boor he was supposed to protect, one was a poacher he would be protecting the boor from, and the other seemed to be a girl, who he would be helping on this quest. "Demp...sey..." he read slowly, before shrugging. Didn't ring a bell or sound like any name he was used to, but that didn't really mean anything.

"Hullo?" Aaron called out and began to wander through the woods a bit in the direction he thought the game was telling him the girl was. He wanted to find her quick, as the longer they took to find one another, the more likely the poacher would be to find the boor. That thought it mind, Aaron picked up the pace. He called out loud again. "Hello? I'm over here! Shout if you can hear me!"

He wasn't the hugest fan of pigs, though he enjoyed bacon, so he wasn't doing this quest out of any sense of protecting innocent animals intrinsically, but that said, it did seem wrong to prey helpless on things which you didn't need to prey on in order to survive. That raised an interesting dilemma, he supposed - morally, should the npcs of this game be treated the same as a human being in the real world? They didn't respawn, so once they died that was it. But were they truly alive? That was something he would have to ponder. For now, he had a job to do.

 

The trail ended cold on the river-path and the Poacher deduced that the boar had crossed the river at some point during the day. Unfortunately, he had no idea how much time had passed and, with the river water washing away the animal's scent, he had no way to track it down and no way to find it other than to wander around aimlessly with the vague hoping of catching a hint along the way. The deadline was due at night of this day and, if he hadn't skinned the glorified pig by then he would go another day without a speck of dinner on his broken plates (in his own shambled cardboard box of a home).

"Where could it be..." he mumbled to himself, his eerie, rippling voice cracking through the rough waves to the river stream with just a small whisper. It seemed unnatural and distorted due to the mask covering the lower half of his scarred face. Then, he heard a noise of a distinct man. The voice was definitely that of a young man, most likely in his early twenties, and there was little a person would do in Adecus Forest except to hunt.

So he stalked to the clearing, hiding in the shadows of the trees when he heard another pair of footsteps on the opposite side. Two people in the depths of the Adecus Forest? It was peculiar to have even one visitor here in the place where little light shined and it brought the Poacher's suspicions rising forth.

The Poacher stood there, waiting for something to happen. Perhaps this could be his lucky day.

@Dempsey Fabijain

 

She hastened toward the sound of a mans voice calling her name. Given the nature of the quest, it was likely that time was of the essence. When the two crossed paths, he was headed almost directly in her direction. She called out "Over here!" and waved. Her appearance was probably a bit underwhelming, dressed in makeshift foot-wraps, baggy un-dyed cotton leggings, a short and sleeveless tunic, and equally makeshift hand-wraps. Her snowy white hair was pulled back into a tail and tied with a leather and stick barrette she'd chosen during customization, leaving her ears prominently exposed. As was becoming her default state, she was covered in sweat and a bit of dirt, grinning like an idiot who just figured out what her thumbs were for.

"You Aaron? Let's DO THIS! We have a... a pig to rescue. Start small and all that, right? I guess..."

She trailed off with a slight tilt of her head and an appraising expression on her face as she evaluated the man. Skinny, but much taller than her, and he had a sword, which was good. She was anxious to get started. With a start, she realized that she was being careless and scanned the surroundings with two fingers to her temple. Nothing... but she could have sworn she heard something behind them. Maybe just nerves, but she didn't want to catch a death penalty on her first quest. She nodded to the sword wielding man and commented;

"You know how to use that thing? I don't think we're alone..."

@Aaron Marone

 

Aaron examined the girl, trying to learn as much about her as he could just from looks. Her equipment and outfit was in even worse shape than his own, specifically in the sense that she had no equipment. She was likely an even newer player than he was himself. Most importantly though, she was smiling, which Aaron hoped meant she had a relatively positive outlook on life. They'd get along, if so.

"Yeah, I'm Aaron." He chuckled slightly. "It's funny, last quest of mine was a wolf, now it's a pig. Man, fate's funny like that, right?"

Aaron also turned when he thought he heard a sound. He drew his sword as she asked if he knew how to use it. "Uh, not too well, actually. Hopefully just having it will be a good deterant, though. "Hey, asshole!" He shouted. "I'm armed and she's... a powerful wizard, despite appearances! No bacon for you tonight, you got it? This pig is under our protection!"

Quiet and to the girl, Aaron would add "So do you have any idea where this pig might be? I'm not the best with animals myself. Aw man, I should have asked ABC to come. She'd be helpful right about now... Also, I never thought the day would come when I'm threatening someone and promising protection to a pig...."

 

He almost flinched and hissed by natural instinct but he managed to barely retain his composure upon being called out. He mentally hit himself. It's not like him to be this careless and get caught so easily. If it was any other job, he would've already been six feet under ground without a penny to his name. No matter, he shook his head. He pushed the leaves open and jumped down from his perch with an elegant landing, his eyes glinting with ideas. Perhaps he could still salvage this mission after all.

"Hello, my name is Masque," he introduced himself with a pleasant bow. "I am part of the agency that hired you and I am to be your guide. They had sent me last minute so there should be a notification that will pop up sooner or later. I am to help you locate the Terror Boar."

He lied smoothly and with much practice, remaining an air of calm and he shrunk into himself, making himself seem less threatening and more docile and shy than anything. Despite getting caught, the two seemed to be dim-witted enough to fall for a few tricks and it didn't hurt to try. It would be foolish of him to instigate a battle against two potentially-capable enemies.

The Poacher hid the blade in his sleeve and withdrew his hand, signalling an act of amicability and non-hostility. He would not hurt these two until he got what he want --- a location on the Terror Boar. And, he was certain, what better way of confirming the location of the animal than to follow the two adventurers tasked with hunting it down? He smiled behind his mask; a cruel and vicious smirk. This will do.

@Dempsey Fabijain

 

She was annoyed to see that her spell was ready, but at considerable cost to her mana bar. She'd only be able to use it a few times in an actual fight, and she hadn't thought to put her mana regeneration to the test before plowing head first into action. this whole situation was headed in a direction she was not thrilled about.

She cocked her head to the side at the mans entrance and snapped into a fighting stance, leading with er left fist, and preparing her force spell with her right. The strangers story was suspect at best, and just plausible enough that she had to take into consideration that the complete stranger who comprised the other half of her party might believe him. With guarded care, she asked simply;

"Fine. what organization, and how much are they paying us? Should have been plain as day on the contract they gave you. Where is that contract, by the way?"

She too was bluffing, as she had no idea either, and she didn't think it would do much good to judge the mans expression given that most of his face was covered by some strange mask, but damned if she was just going to blindly follow some random creep into the woods without a few questions first. One of hear ears twitched outward and back in an instant, and she realized that her tail was behaving equally characteristically, tense and flicking side to side in agitation. she was going to have to learn how to control that someday, but for now she saw no harm in the display of distrust and anticipation.

@Aaron Marone

 

John sat upon his perch and saw a man and a women conversing in the distance. "Not on my property." He thought. He lined up his bow and fired his arrow at the man (Masque) and it whistled through the air towards him.

 

Aaron squinted a bit, not at all trusting the man's story. It was pretty suspect, and there was absolutely no reason to believe him or that the organization who hired them (not that Aaron knew what that organization was called anyway) would have sent a guide. He waved off Dempsey's questions. By this man trying to lie, it would actually work to their advantage. "Eh, details aren't too important, let's not worry about all that," he said, hoping and praying the girl would catch on and follow his lead. "So you're our guide, huh? Sweet. Then you probably know where the creature we're supposed to be protecting is at. That's great! Because I'm going to be completely honest, I'm not the best at searching for stuff." Aaron laughed and scratched the back of his head with his left hand. Finished with that, he would switch his sword into his left hand and extend his right toward the man for a handshake. "Well, I'm Aaron. Nice to meet you, Masque. It's really great you showed up. You know? I mean, these creatures have almost been hunted into extinction. If something isn't done to stop the poachers, it'll affect the entire ecosystem, I'd imagine, and which would then have a negative impact on the poachers as well, as they'd lose a source of income. I just wish there was a way we could communicate that to them, you know? If they would be patient, and take just a little at a time, then they can continue to hunt for as long as they live, but killing all the creatures off blindly... well, soon the poachers will be going hungry for lack of any way to get their food."

Aaron shook his head. "I mean, it's a great commentary on the nature of life itself, you know? Like, I don't think the poachers think of themselves as evil people. No one thinks of themselves as evil, you know. We all like to think we're good, and doing the right thing. I know that most of them are just trying to feed themselves, and maybe they don't know that they way they are going about it is such a temporary measure, made even more so by their action.But again, a great metaphor of commentary and the nature of evil, how even though it seems great at the time, it always hurts us worse in the end." He sighed. "Sorry, I get passionate about stuff like that."

Aaron turned his head toward Dempsey. "I think we can trust him. He reminds me of that guy we ran into the other day together, remember?" he asked, hoping that his lie would further help her realize that he was attempting to play the man the same way he himself was being played. Seriously - no forest guide wears a mask like that. The hell was he thinking?

 

It was obvious that the taller man still suspected him of something but, despite the lack of trust between him and the two adventurers, they would work together for mutual benefit until it was time for the Poacher to stab them in the back. He was certain that he'd be able to stab them in the back before they could do the same to him. He had much more experience than the two of them, after all.

The Poacher struggled to stop himself from rolling his eyes upon hearing the man's monologue. Evil? The only thing the Poacher believed in was money and, while he admitted that his primary motivation was to feed himself, he didn't agree on most of the spiel the man fed him. The man—Aaron, the Poacher reminded himself— turned his attention away to speak to the girl. In order to get his attention, the Poacher coughed. Idle chatter wouldn't finish the job anytime sooner and he would rather ditch these two as fast as possible. It had been a long time since he'd actually conversed in any form with anyone other than his employers and the chattering voices grated on his ears.

"There," he pointed at the direction of the river, jabbing his thumb behind him while still staring straight at the pair. It would do him no good to turn his back on two tentative, mistrustful allies at the moment. "I was tracking the Terror Boar down just a while ago and it seemed to have crossed the river and indeterminable amount of time ago. Perhaps we should follow its lead?"

He waited for the two to go first. It would be his certainly be in his advantage to follow them.

@Dempsey Fabijain

 

She wrinkles her nose at the mention of 'That Guy' and chimes in "I didn't like him either. He stunk like garlic and we had to stop every five minutes so he could pick flowers. last time I ever group with an alchemist. And I swear to god I lost count of how many times I caught him staring at my ass."

She adopts a mocking demeanor and imitates their immaginary friend with an exaggerated, goofy voice "I'm just looking at your tail! It looks so soft!"

"i mean *really* even if that were the truth, it's still kind of skeevy, donchya think?"

she finishes her tirade with a sour expression and a soft stamp of her foot, starting to enjoy the game that was developing between the trio. with an annoyed gesture she released her spell and stared intently at Aaron with wide green/yellow eyes.

"If this guy is the real deal, that would make this all a lot easier. It's getting late and I need a bath... and something to eat. Let's just do this and get on with it."

She turns to address Masque for the first time and says simply. "Lead the way then. My friend and I actually have no idea where the little bacon bit we're supposed to be looking for is."

during all of this, she was paying close attention to her mana bar, satisfied that it was regenerating at a reasonable amount. Nothing awe inspiring, but she wouldn't be dead in the water if it drained in the middle of a situation. She was certian that things would be simpler had the two of them killed the man here and now and been done with it, but given that this Masque fellow was clearly more experienced with these woods than the two of them, she saw no harm in leting him lead them to their quarry, and waiting for his inevitable betrayal.

@Aaron Marone

 

Aaron raised an eyebrow when the man seemed to want them to go first. "Well, you're the guide. Lead the way!" he said with a smile. He tried not to react to Dempsey's act. It was good, but he wasn't the best at improving himself. Plus, since she made the fake person out to be a creep, it sort of admitted to Masque they didn't trust him. Maybe? He wasn't completely sure.

The other possible option was that they just stall and wait around here all day. That would protect the boar from this guy if he was the poacher, right? Yeah, he couldn't get to it if he was busy with them. "I mean, alternatively, we could just... not worry about it, right? All three of us head home, prey animals like that are pretty good at hiding from hunters, the little baconator should be fine, right?"
He figured that one or both of them would shoot that idea down, so he didn't bother giving them very long to respond before he started talking again. "So hey, I really hate to be that guy, but... how do we know the differences between NPCs and not? Like, is it rude to ask people 'oh hey, are you an NPC' or is that fine? Because, I'll admit, I'm not good at stuff like this and I haven't been able to figure that out." Aaron laughed. He figured the poacher was indeed an NPC, and was pretty sure he'd heard that NPCs reacted weirdly to hearing things about NPCs and that players believed this world was a game. He was gambling that the confusion and reaction of the poacher would cause more time to pass, granting the boar more time to get away.

"Oh hey, so Dempsey, I never really asked, what all masteries do you have? Is that polite to ask, or no? I mean, I myself am training to be a Paladin, so I'm working up my sword skill here, as well as illumancy, and after a bit more I'm gonna be getting some heavy armor and a shield. Gotta go for that whole 'holy warrior' vibe, you know what I mean?" he asked. He laughed again. "What about yourself, Masque? Do you have masteries and stuff like that?"

 

There were exactly two things that the Poacher had confirmed at this point. One, the woman was definitely crazy. Two, the man was completely bat-shit crazy and annoying to boot. The woman definitely expects him to go first and, if he doesn't to protect his own back, then the entire thing will get to nowhere. The man—Aaron, he reminded himself (names were a good advantage to have)— had began rambling on and on about 'NPCs' and 'Masteries'. The Poacher never had such a headache in his life and, while he understood some parts of his ramblings such as the mention of 'Paladin' (was he a member of the Holy Order? That would explain his choice in attire), he was still left largely confused.

"I believe we should try to concentrate on the task at hand," he stated, not willing to oblige these crazed idiots in their make-believe fantasies one bit. The sun was starting to come down and he had a deadline, you know. "If you wish, I'll traverse the riverbed first. But, afterwards, I cannot trace the Terror Boar alone and I'll need someone else to take the lead until I can find another hint and lead you two to it. You will then need to apprehend the animal, alright?" he attempted a friendly smile, largely hidden underneath his mask.

Without delay, he stepped into the water. His back was tense and rigid and he was ready to attack at any sign of trouble. He gestured for the two to follow him. "Aren't you two coming?"

@Dempsey Fabijain

 

She eyed the two up and down for a moment with folded arms while watching them exchange dialogue. She furrowed her brow at mention of just quitting and going home. She needed the money from this quest entirely too much to just shrug it off and walk away. No harm in letting Masque tag along though. If nothing else, she could learn more about how NPCs behave in this game, and exactly how realistic they can be. She also supposed it wouldn't do any harm in revealing her masteries, but at the same time, did she want mask-face to know how she worked? 'The best decptions were always at least half true' she mused, Start with the obvious and undeniable fact that she fought unarmed, and used some magic as well, and go from there.

"My masteries are unarmed, Astramancy, and Smithing. I'm hoping that if I get my unarmed mastery up a good deal, i'll be able to start using fist weapons, Claws, katar, that sort of thing. Focusing on obscure builds makes gearing up easier later on, because of supply and demand. I chose magic for the mobility enhancement. figured being able to attack at range and use a blink spell would come in handy given how I'm already set up for speed and mobility anyway. Also there's the whole motif angle. Cat girl, claw weapons, nimble.. all that sort of thing. i used to play support classes a lot, but it gets old after a while, hearing the whole 'we lost because I don't know how to tank and you don't have infinite mana' thing. It gets tedious."

She turned to Masque and nodded appologetically.

"Sorry for the wait. Game talk, you know? Let's get going then!"

To emphasize her point, and put some distance between her and the sketchy fellow that she'd rather be killing right now, she did a kartwheel forward and landed it with an excited bounce and clap.

"To the Pig!"

@Aaron Marone aron