[Quest] Fix The T Gate! [INVITE]

Brisshal.

It was the region known to the residents of Terrasphere as a bountiful huntsman's land. A place ripe with wild life, and not known for great danger. The worst one would find here are occasional goblin raiders going a bit too far from their homelands and terrorizing local villages or traveling merchants. Compared to the Grass Gnolls of Pormont or the Treants and Orcs of Adecus. Brisshal was a safe land second only to being behind the walls of the Holy Capital of Stokbon.

For the adventurers, the players themselves. Brisshal was known as a fairly boring place. It was the spawn point for their first adventures. Which usually entailed running around in rags until they built up enough gold for a leather chest piece and a short sword. Basically the equivalent of the start of many a rpg. The enemies were basic and the villages wares were cheap and unrefined. Not many worthwhile dungeons or areas of interest to explore. Sooner or later, the region would likely fade into obscurity as the general player base moved on to the 'real' game.

There was one place however that many players were still trying to figure out. A large circular disk like platform located near the center of the region. It had four trees perfectly aligned around it and flowers all around. Butterflies were often seen congregating here as well though out the day. The stone circle had a very unique design on it's surface. Looking like deeply ingrained lines.

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It sat quietly and no matter what anyone did. The mysterious circular platform did nothing. It eventually became a forgotten feature except for the most curious of die hards.

Today was a nice summer day. The heat was just starting to rise the local temps. A young blue haired girl whom many a player would recognize by this point was now sitting partly on the disk. Her feet in the grass and her chin resting in her hands. Trinity the extremely bubbly and out of place NPC who is seemingly in charge of tutorials and the occasional system wide announcement. The girl was waiting for three players who had offered to help her fix the entrance to the Trinity Center. A location she was hoping the players would seek out and use regularly when the time came. The heroes needed to have this function if they wanted to play at the pace she hoped for them to. The fact that the gateway was damaged... was a strange one. It would be easy to fix herself actually but she wanted to spend a moment with the players from another world and get to know them more. It was always so nice to have company!

@Tyris Ferrell @Earley @Jack Stevens

 

Brisshal was not the sort of place he had imagined they would journey to on a quest to fix this... whatever it was. From what he knew of the quest they were on a mission to repair something both mechanical and arcane, which meant it was probably "srsbznz" as the professionals might call it. He wasn't sure what a Trinty Center was for or how it operated, but it seemed a promising sort of time to find out. The woman that guided them must have named it for herself, which spoke well for how the day ought to go. Typically you only named a thing for yourself if you loved it, which meant she was prepared to devote resources and energy into seeing this thing to completion. Or would, if her programming was written that way...

Arriving upon the scene with her, he looked about at the trees planted equidistant from one another and the flowers strewn all about. This was a nice sort of place to be visiting for a change. Different from the typical demonic crypts and urine-stained slums that he had spent much of his time in since joining the game. A bumblebee drifted down and landed upon his shoulder, buzzing contentedly as it crawled along, ignored and left to its own devices until at last it drifted off again in search of flowers. He had felt it tickle him through the fabric of the clothing, a sensation so real that momentarily he humored Merkaba's rantings about this being a reality in and of itself. But... no. Such dangerous thoughts were from drunken nights, not when he was on the job. Walking around the perimeter of the stone disc, he was careful not to crush too many flowers under heel or touch the disc itself. He didn't know what it did. He didn't know what it was. Best to wait for an explanation, before sticking a fork in the power socket and seeing what would happen.

"I suppose each of us needs to... stand at a tree, or something?" he asked aloud, his voice polite but not exactly enthused. It felt like the right thing to do; four people, four trees? This was a game after all and usually there would be pedestals or altars to stand at and do the magic hokey-pokey to make the MacGuffin work again. Thank god they at least hadn't had to collect any crystal shards or mana batteries, or jump into a dungeon for the proper tools to fix this thing. If it really was as simple as the four of them working together, he'd eat his hat. Or he'd find a hat he could eat. Maybe one made out of chocolate? But that would be ridiculous, and couldn't possibly be a thing.

 

Hmm. A lady needed something fixed? That was curious, he'd have thought those NPC were to handle it. Perhaps the lady was doing it as a sort of charity for the players? That'd be odd, but as far as Jack was concerned, that wasn't out of possibility. It was unlikely, according to him, that anything like this would have NPC's lacking the skills, which entirely meant that this was charity. The old man, however, did not mind. He need not mind, anyhow, as he'd get to meet people and that was nice. He certainly wouldn't mind it. It was a bit hot outside, he'd admit.

However, even with the heat, he was using the wooden sword he got as a starting item as a cane to keep moving. It, while not as hot as it could be, was still hot. His old body wasn't helping his old mind make good choices, but that didn't matter. All that mattered, was that he'd finally get there into the forest. He, in time, arrived. He arrived to see a pretty, young, blue-haired lady who was standing and thinking.

He then looked over and saw a man who seemed on the older side, but certainly still had young blood.

"While possible, I doubt that it'd require such a simple fix. Not to mention, they'd have other denizens of the forest to do that."

The old mans face was met with his hand, lightly, as he forgot to introduce himself.

"Ah, I'm sorry. My name is Jack, and I'm here to help fix that T-Gate."

 

Tyris still had a bit of a strange feeling about the notice he'd seen on the town's bulletin board, looking for people to help with a project out here in the woods. He'd seen a few foreigners take note of it, but most of the other locals didn't seem to be paying any attention to it. Even Rauri had trouble recognizing which sign Tyris was talking about. Still, it seemed like an interesting thing to help out with- and maybe he'd get something in return! He had some basic tools with him, and was eager for a chance to use them.

Arriving at the appointed location, Tyris gave a wave and a smile to those present. "Hiya," he said, approaching the adult men and looking them over. The man in the hood looked more like his kind of guy, he thought. Not that he spent that much time hanging out with grownups. "My name's Tyris. Tyris Ferrell."

It only then occurred to him that there was someone else there- a teenage girl with blue hair, who must have been the one who'd called them there. He thought he'd seen her around before, now that he thought of it. But, he hadn't thought too much about her until now. Deciding it wasn't worth thinking about this subject much further, Tyris shook his head and looked back down toward the platform. "Is that it right there?" he asked, pointing toward the round platform. "It kind of reminds me of that big door." The door he'd run into nearby with what sounded like a giant monster behind it, to be exact. He hoped that nothing like that came through the gate once they'd fixed it!

@Earley @Jack Stevens @Trinity

 

Trinity stood up and waved at the party as they arrived. Her smile that seemed to always beam so brightly welcoming them to yet another task in the world of Terrasphere. Trinity always the booster of morale and enthusiasm! She saw that one player had arrived with each requested mastery. How nice! It was so great when the adventurers worked together to solve problems that they alone could not. Teamwork and friendship! Even if they did not like each other at first their bonds wold grow while they worked to accomplish the task given to them! Trinity was so glad to get to watch this unfold in real time. One of them, Earley, asked if he should stand by a tree.

"Hahaha, nope! You don't need to do that at all! "

Then the Felis NPC spoke to her.... wait what? She was noticed by a NPC? That was really.... rare. The girl would just let the strange event slide and respond in a friendly way.

"Yeppers! That is the T Gate. A special gateway that can take you directly to Trinity Center. It is the only way to get there currently! Which is why this is kind of a big emergency."

The old man of the three was correct in both of his assumptions. Older humans were so wise! This made Trinity curious. She never grew older herself. The concept of aging was only something she could know through data not actual experience. It was not the outer appearance of age that she was curious of though, but rather the inner aging. Was it anything like... no that probably wasn't it.

"Hey, you got it! Old guys really do know lots of stuff don't they! Pretty cool!"

Trinity would now focus her attention on the gate. She then looked back to the trio.

"Alright here's what you each need to do. Watch me now! Kay?"

Trinity knelt down and began fooling with a small part of the stone circle. It would be extremely difficult for the group to be able to make out exactly what she was doing. After a few seconds of her moving her hands and lifting, pulling, and fidgeting with what seemed like a blur that for some reason the human eye could not see correctly. She would suddenly be seen lifting up a hatch that was hidden in the platforms side. She would then motion for the old man to come on over.

"Heya Jacky! Could you come over here and look at this? It needs a engineer's skill to reconnect all of the little gadgets in here. Don't worry, your skill will automatically help you figure it out!"

Trinity would then go and leave him. Repeating the strange phenomena again. This time after opening the hatch. She would ask for Earley's help.

"Heya Earl! See this crystal embedded in the machine? Could you focus your Arcanamancy into the crystal? It may take awhile if you aren't very strong but it should still work!""

Once again she opened another hatch this time for Tyris. She seemed to just stare at him for a little longer than the others before explaining what to do.

"Heya Ty! You can flip switches right? You need to use a small wrench to fix each cog in there. Here use this! Good luck!"

She would hold out a small wrench and smile waiting for him to take it. Then Trinity added:

"I hope you are having fun Ty!"

She stood up and would move on to another hatch where she would just be waiting for the others to finish.

@Earley @Jack Stevens @Tyris Ferrell

 

Things seemed to suddenly begin progressing as Jack and Tyris introduced themselves, to which Earley responded with a polite wave of his hand and nothing more. He watched and listened as Trinity began to essentially Fist of the North Star the large stone disc, her hands moving in such a blur that he could not keep up with whatever she was doing. Pity there weren't screencap options yet, or perhaps he could unlock the secret for himself... He paid careful attention to the spacing between hatches so that he could try to find them if he encountered such discs in the future. Probably he wouldn't be given access without the proper quest, but it never hurt to take initiative.

He listened intently as the woman told each of them what to do, somewhat disappointed it was going to be so seemingly simple. Surely it had to explode during the process and suck them into another plane they'd have to escape from, only to stabilize whatever portal and use it to conjure this Center, right? Or perhaps waves of enemies would come, and they'd have to stop their repairs to fight them off before returning to work, hoping all the while nothing broke the machine completely. That was how these things always went and he was prepared for them. But damn it all, his job required him to use the same mana he'd use defending the disc as he needed to use charging it. There was always melee combat, but such things were risky... Oh. And also used the same energy/mana, albeit less than casting spells would. Best to get this over with fast, then. Focusing on the jewel before him, be began to mutter an incantation and direct mana into the device as instructed, pouring it in as quickly as he was able to with his slight proficiency.

 

He had 'ought to know something, he was getting on in age. He looked at those gadgets and he was bewildered, but then his skill kicked in and it was slowly coming together. He wasn't just a scrub, he was simply the sort of man to go at a somewhat slower pace. Advanced age, thankfully, hadn't worn on his mind quite yet. It's best that he did this slowly, but surely.

He took to the gears as a man with a hammer, with all the tact that one would have. Sure, the work he was doing was currently rough. That was the case with most novices, but that's just the trick of it. He didn't have to just know what he was doing, that's what the skills were for. He'd start doing it though, and with as much speed as he could muster, reconnected previously unconnected gadgets. That was the goal, after all. To connect the gadgets and once that was done, he'd finally be able to wipe of the legitimate sweat he had gotten.

 

Tyris wasn't sure what exactly "Trinity Center" was, other than that it was where the gate would lead when it was fixed. But presumably, it was important. Maybe he'd be able to check it out when they were done!

Tyris watched as the blue-haired girl rapidly fiddled with something on the side of the platform, blinking a bit as he tried to work out what exactly she was doing. He probably had a better idea of what was going on than the humans, but still didn't feel like he could follow any of it. It wasn't magic... that usually involved talking. So what was it?

As she stared at him after opening the third hatch, Tyris found himself staring back at her, before accepting the wrench that she gave him. Getting down on his hands and knees, Tyris looked into the hatch, trying to get a handle on what he was expected to do. "Okay... here we go," he said, reaching in with the wrench to start making adjustments.

 

The three players all did as Trinity requested. Wow what good adventurers! They really were doing a good job! Trinity would turn her attention away from them for a second and push a single button that was on her side of the mysterious circle. Everyone would suddenly begin to notice a strong surge of electricity flow through each of their individual work stations. A loud hum began to resound throughout the area. Trinity jumped up and waved her arms as she called out.

"Close the hatches! It's dangerous to stay close to them or leave them open you guys!"

She would back away slowly as the gate began to glow. Color began filling it's deeply embedded creases and lines. The sound of static would suddenly replace the sound of humming. It would be deafening to the ears.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Lights began to appear above the platform and slowly circle around the air above it. The buzzing of static finally faded down to a very quiet hum centered around the gate. Trinity would clap and fist pump as she cheered. They succeeded in fixing it with their teamwork! Yes!

Trinity walked up the now functioning T Gate. She stared at it nodding her head on occasion for awhile. Then she looked back at the group and smiled that perfect beaming mascot smile!

"You guys are da bestiest best guys evar! Thanks so much. I didn't know what to do!"

The blue haired girl turned to them and explained about the gate.

"This is the T Gate. There are other gates similar to this out there but this one is super special. It is the only way to reach my place. I have to clean up some but after I'm finished you are all welcome to use this to visit me! I may have lots of fun things to tell and share with you that will be even more help on your adventures in Terrasphere! Isn't that just the best thing?!"

Trinity seemed to once again have fallen into a very prescripted speech.

@Tyris Ferrell @Earley @Jack Stevens

 

This was. By far. The worst. It was the most horrible quest he ever had or would go on, of that he was sure. It had seriously been as simple as opening his menu and choosing to charge the magical crystal with his own energy meter, and not even for that long, before everything got hunky-dory again thanks to the power of fucking friendship. The others looked like they hadn't even broken a sweat, and moments after they began their work she told them to shut the panels and how GREAT and she meant GREAT they all were! Boy had they been a super help!

He was prepared to grit his teeth and ignore how patronizing the quest was when she began explaining to them what the gate was for... but not what he center actually did. From the sounds of things it was a sort of information brokerage? That could prove useful to his soon-to-be guild, so he made a mental note to return to this place once it was open and make use of her facilities. Smiling condescendingly, he waved to Trinity as he readied himself to leave.

"That just sounds super amazing, Trinity! Golly I can't wait to see what kind of interesting things your center will have, and it was super special fun getting to help you fix the gate! I hope we can continue to be besties in the future!"

Fucking basic white bitch.

 

He closed his hatch and moved back. It felt like those years, very early, when he worked in the construction business. He then heard the bzz and buzzs of the machine starting, and would still stay back. He wasn't going to get close after it started, and he heard Trinity spout off some sort of nonsense. He had just done a thing you could've gotten, quite literally, anyone to do.

Jack, of course, was smiling. It was how it was to be done. He put on a smile at the compliments, and had to try his absolute hardest not to laugh at the spiteful middle-aged man next to him who was ranting and raving about something or other. He knew the tone from the various people he met in his life. What a sort of guy.

He figured that it wasn't too much, you know, for all this. He got something running and helped get things going in the world. It made him feel nice about himself.

@Tyris Ferrell

 

Tyris backed off, almost on instinct, as the gate's inner workings jumped to life before him. Thus, when Trinity gave her warning he was ahead of the curve. He quickly slammed his hatch shut before joining the others, watching the gate's activation in all its glory. As Trinity celebrated, Tyris couldn't help but grin as well. "Yeah, we did it! Good job everyone," he said, looking with approval at the two men who'd helped. The guy in the hood didn't seem too happy, though.

Tyris looked back towards Trinity, then had a slight epiphany before holding up the wrench. "Hey, do I get to keep this wrench?"