Rain poured down in streams around Rein as he stared off into the distance. The area west of here had so far been blocked off for him, and it was odd that he could suddenly have been able to enter into it and come back. A cruel smile curled its way across his lips as he considered the body that lay at his feet. The corpse belonged to a traveler heading in the opposite direction, he had been some advanced Guardsman sent from Falderen and had held a message from the local government identifying him as the secondary member of a scouting party. As near as Rein could tell the man's orders were to meet up with someone out in the wasteland, likely an adventurer from the sounds of it. "With the trouble brewing at home, they must be very interested in foreign affairs," Rein mused as he ran a finger down the man's cheek. A plan slowly brewed in Rein's mind as he carefully tore off the guard's uniform. Rein was a good bit skinner than the fellow, and a good five inches shorter, but it would fit over his jacket anyway. "After all," Rein thought out loud, as he pushed an arm through a sleeve, "I don't think a player is going to notice a change in denizens. I'll just need to play the part of a mindless ass slave for a few hours." Rein spent a few moments affixing the uniform over his lighter jacket, it was Falderen's colors and had similar patterns to the one's the guards wore near Stockbon. The only real difference was the clawed gauntlet that jutted out of the right cuff. It was an unusual weapon, to say the least, but Rein was confident he could play it off. All the left was the body, but a bit of aeromancy and a boulder nearby left it rather concealed away from prying eyes. Next was the harder part; the note didn't tell the guard specifically where to find the person in question rather it indicated the man had been told so prior. This caused a little bit of a dilemma, as the Norfova region was an expansive area, and searching all of it for a single person would be impossible. So Rein had to use some quick deduction, "If this is a scouting mission, they'd want to meet somewhere near the border. There aren't too many suitable locations for that; I'll just have to check each of them." One of the more conspicuous routes was the forest trail that led from Brisshal westward into the expanse, in fact, he had found the man heading towards that direction. The only other real option to enter the area safely was to come from the north, but considering the guard was likely from Stockbon it led to a clear decision leading Rein to walk towards the trail. Dismissing his cruel smile, Rein took on a persona of a much more bland person as he searched out for his soon to be teammate. @Kessler Cole Thrown die: 54
Kessler had come back from his group back in the islands, however unfortunate, they couldn't be bothered to come with him for a Waaagh buff. It was because of that that he didn't feel as strong and capable as usual, it wouldn't be right to consider him weak, but he did enjoy being a part of the crew-- It just made things more relaxed and chill, the atmosphere was better, lights and sounds, dancing and laugh while fighting and killing. He could only sigh a little, as if coming down from a high, it wasn't as fun playing it alone even if he was decent at it thanks to his combat style. While far from an adventurer, Kessler was a more of a mercenary, he didn't mind doing any kind of job, provided it didn't cross his bottom line-- he upheld a particularly strict code even if you couldn't consider it morality or law. He was tasked with a job to scout, something that wasn't exactly his forte, but if it was going into a risky area and coming out alive he was probably one of the best. As he went, his large hammer was hoisted up onto his back, the gold, dollar signs and other symbols that lined it were a little unique, but at the same time, his weapon was meant for smashing and beating people to death rather then the alternative. His heavy armor gripped his athletic frame making his role particularly clear, but if people mistook him for some kind of warrior or melee fighter they'd be sorely mistaken. His role was much more savage and vicious then anything else, even if he was a tank, he was one that would give as good as he got. When he arrived at the meeting point, he glanced towards the 'guard' in question, one that he was supposed to meet. Though Kessler's brows knit with discomfort knowing that he'd be offered some support from the area. A frown on his face, he was suspicious of everyone-- it was a facet of his life as a gangster, particularly when authorities were involved, he gave very little trust and expected very little from them alike. "So, we're going to explore here huh? What's the deal-- any more info then just scouting it out and seeing for ourselves? This game's interesting but I don't wanna spoil it with boring jobs." Kessler complained a little, but his words were laced with a few tricks to test the one he was talking to. It was something he did reflexively, testing, pushing, experimenting to see what people were like. If they were of like minded, he could relax, perhaps even associate with people, but more often then not he detected fishy things from the responses people gave him. Thrown die: 24
After some searching Rein eventually found a man standing alone. Much as he had predicted the man was an adventurer who wore a rather large hammer on his back. The weapon itself was worth note, but none of the rest of man's equipment stood out to Rein, not that his own was spectacular. This worked in his favor if things went poorly, he should be able to escape without too much diffculty. Slowly Rein approached the man drawing labored breaths as he faked fatigue. Before Rein could speak the man spoke, "So, we're going to explore here huh? What's the deal-- any more info then just scouting it out and seeing for ourselves? This [Heavy Static] interesting but I don't wanna spoil it with boring jobs." Rein had to suppress a crooked smile; the man just gave away his mission without Rein having to say a word.Fidgeting more than needed Rein fished the dead man's orders from his pocket holding it out for Kessler. The notes contained a brief synopsis of the immediate area with instructions to scout it. Continuing the act Rein made sure to breathe slowly while replying, "Ahhh I was asked to give that to you, I'm sorry I'm late my lord." he said in an amendable tone between breaths, "I tried taking a shortcut, but this rain made it run afoul. I hope you're not too displeased. " As he finished, Rein doubled over as if in pain, inhaling sharply. Truth be told, Rein didn't have a plan, he had been scouting the area when he had found the guard, killing him from behind. When he had looted the corpse and found the note he had decided playing pretend for some time would be fun. Now that he was here, he wasn't sure where he wanted to go with the deception, so he decided the best thing to do was to continue to play along, "Well my lord?" Rein asked with what he hoped was a friendly smile, "Shall we get started?" @Kessler Cole Thrown die: 63
Kessler couldn't help but sigh at the man's response, a frown coming to his face, almost instantly it was clear he was more suspicious of Rein, as if a hot button was pushed revealing his identity. Unfortunately, the reason was rather unique-- Rein didn't react to Kessler's query the way an NPC was meant to; typically they all reacted harshly when the 'game' or it's mechanics were spoken of or implied. Rein however maintained his demeanor as a 'suck up' which was a new and unusual reaction-- one Kessler suspected only came from players. "Huh... Okay." He spoke, his gaze narrowing, eyes cautious of the man's actions as Kessler began to visibly guard himself against the man. "So, how long you been at this job? It must be tough if you're new-- but you should be pretty qualified to get handed a task like this." Kessler mused starting to try to poke holes into this person's story. If he was a player, why appear here? What was there to gain from playing pretend as an NPC? Kessler couldn't fathom the rationale-- what was the payoff? He'd have to probe deeper to try and figure it out, but at the same time, there was a chance that the answer was 'nothing'. Weren't here just players who liked to try and cause trouble and make problems for others? The thought of running into one made him sigh internally. He'd have to figure out how to deal with this as he read the note. "Alright then, let's just scout things out for now, we'll check to see if anything's out of the ordinary." He spoke, keeping his guard up, and focus on the 'guard'. No matter what beasts or monsters would be out there waiting, he was most prepared at this moment for an ambush then anything else. Thrown die: 98
Rein couldn't suppress his glee any longer as the man took the note from him. His lips twisted into a crooked smile as he moved directly behind him at about half a pace away. It was amazing how easily player characters were duped by Rein's superior intellect. The thought filled him with such hilarity he almost forgot to answer the man's questions, "Oh I've only gotten this job a few moments before I set off here." Rein said with a smile; it was true after all. Without missing a beat, he continued, "My previous job, for the kingdom, of course, was located in Brisshall where all of you players start showing up at. It was my job, to filter out miscreants, and evil doers from your ranks, it was all undercover though, very highly secretive stuff, but that's over now, so is no harm in telling you right?!" All of it was technically accurate as well (except the being employed by the kingdom bit, that had made Rein giggle a little), before coming here, he had stayed quite a long time in Brisshall harassing the local player population in an attempt to find out their origin. It had been a fun time. Rein had paused in his explanation as he flashed back a bit, but he continued onward with a bucket of obvious lies, "Since I had done so well, I was promoted twice, and sent out to meet you here. It is, a great honor." Their short journey that had taken them here had led to the outskirts of Norfova which in this area was the lip to a large barren basin filled with sandy dunes. The sounds of wildlife had stayed behind as they drew too close the basin. Cloaked in utter silence, besides the clanging of their equipment, Rein suppressed his natural reactions the best he could. In Rein's eye, the vista was simply stunning, he could tell this had used to be a valley full of life and vegetation and some sort of powerful magic had transformed it into its current state. As such it was dotted with the occasional brown dead tree or bush that had somehow escaped the initial destruction only to die of thirst. It was the perfect example of everything that Rein loved, just pure and chaotic destruction. Growing bored of faking his identity, Rein merely trodded off, heading down the slope into the bowels of the basin. Thrown die: 54
Kessler couldn't help sighing, this person either had no idea what he was doing, or was insanely confused. It was a difficult time trying to decipher what was what. In the end he could only silently take note of the person's features as they went. "Okay okay-- you don't have to keep playing man, it's getting weird." Kessler finally accused with a furrowed brow. It would be one thing if it was a nice front he couldn't see through, but Kessler was starting to have a hard time suspending his disbelief. "You're not too good at this whole subterfuge thing, would be best not to quit your day job." Kessler offered friendly advice, he was much the same in his line of business after all. There were a lot of people who tried to do jobs that they weren't built or trained for. A lot of people think it's easy to do something as simple as killing someone or making a simple transaction. He walked along, suspicious of Rein but otherwise kept himself focused on the immediate goal at least. He still suspected him of being a player rather then a stray NPC, after all 'players' were 'adventurers' or something else fitting the theme usually right? All NPCs seemed to know the difference but there were none who would call them in such a direct manner. Trying not to dwell on it though, Kessler kept his attention on the surroundings. It wasn't an aesthetic he really cared for, but then again did it really matter? Thinking about the kind of landscape he liked, he'd want something rough, maybe ragged and arid. A dessert or tropics maybe. This type of place was one he was indifferent to as they wandered. "Huh, it's not all that interesting is it, I expected a little more for some reason." He murmured glancing around still leery. Thrown die: 29
The duo have only recently crossed the border when they come across the wind worn and sun bleached skeletal remains of a horse and rider that seemed to be pulling a kind of sled westward when they met their unfortunate fate. There was almost nothing left of the human and horse duo besides bleached bones, but the sled was another story. Though rendered useless by the harsh elements, the duo discovers a mostly intact shipping crate laden with texts and scrolls in a language neither of them recognize. While they haven't done much actual exploring, this is a discovery that merits an immediate return to civilization. ((Your individual and total scores have been recorded for the individual reward and dungeon unlock. Also, Grats to Rein for taking the individual score lead. You can continue posting without rolls if you'd like))
Rein cackled madly as he slid down the slope into the basin along the way he tripped over the skeletal remains of some beast and what seemed to be a human skull. It did add to the flavor of the terrain as if it belonged there. Aesthetics like these truly did make this beautiful wasteland a Rein's home away from home. Not that he had a home, so it was more of just his home considering his cult/guild/murderous battalion or whatever it was setting up shop in the area. Among the very exciting bones, laid a very much less exciting sled of some sort. Well maybe if he considered it a gift it would be a bit more exciting. Yes, the giant present box in front of him did appeal to the child naivety that was so integral to his character. With grunt Rein kicked the box open revealing the contents which were a sled full of documents that Rein could not make heads or tails of. That was usually a good thing, as things he could not read, often meant someone who could read them often wanted quite a bit of change for them. That guy probably was watching him by this point, seeing Rein's glorious treasure trove he'd likely try to steal it. Rein smiled, as he grabbed as many as he could stuff them into the pockets of his jacket. The man was a soldier, or more like a slowdier. Rein cackled at the joke, as he empowered himself with his aeromancy greatly increasing his speed, and leaped forward several yards in succession, heading back to Stockbon to turn in the items for cash. //Rein exits
Kessler glanced first towards the mad NPC-- exactly what this person was thinking, Kessler couldn't fathom, instead, he only sighed with a measure of resignation and instead returned to the task at hand. Observing the basin and everything else, he took out a small sheet of pressed paper, unfolding it slowly, the texture and rough surface reminded him of construction paper but he didn't dwell on it. Reaching down with a hand towards the dirt, his fingertip would glow a dull brown as he grunted to use a brief cantrip pulling up colored clay. His intention was clear, he'd begin drawing a map, how to get here, the local terrain, his ability was pretty articulate and skilled, as if he'd done this before to some extent, he got the lay of the land easily with a simple map drawn. It wasn't anything like an accurate modern map, but the drawing was as close to scale as human eye could manage. Later he'd use more earth magic to draw things up properly, but he'd need to get back to his own home base and guild home. Is brow furrowed in thought as he began sliding that folded sheet of paper, watching Rein as he frolicked and played a while longer. A strange man, but not uncommon to Kessler purely because like recognized like to a certain degree. Whether or not Rein could was another story, but Kessler could, they were merely on opposite sides of the same bridge; Kessler caused mayhem and chaos to further his ends, but this man was the opposite, furthering his ends to create chaos and mayhem. It was a type Kessler had seen, the type that he often used numbers to deal with. He took note of that for the future before turning to head off. ((Kessler Exits))
