Stokbon, from what Grim had overheard while traveling through Wursht Outpost, Stokbon was the Capital of Falderen, the region that he was in when first logging into the game known as Terrasphere, the place where he gained his first friend, @Seth Evergreen, Seth was the guy he aided back in Wursht Outpost, seeing how the life-like AI assaulted him in the market. He knew when he first arrived into this new world that the NPC's would be different, everything was different in this game, pain, taste, touch, it all mimicked the real worlds sensations which frightened him greatly, but putting that aside, he had promised to meet Seth at the front gates just outside of the Capital, he hadn't the slightest ideal where he was. Could he have lost him while going through the large crowd of peddlers and merchants coming in and out, which made him sigh as he placed his index and thumb against his thumb, cradling it gently as his ears twitched under his hood, his tail shifting slightly about his waist while his other hand held his claymore. "Don't tell me he got stopped by merchants again... hmmm..." He simply muttered to himself, his weapon was simply sheathed and out of the way while his brown tattered cloak held snug against his form, the cream colored tunic he wore gave him the appearance of a peasant or young adventurer, it was not giving him the strong appeal he was going for, nor was his shady like attire, the brown cloak pulled over his head to hide his features. It was making the guards watch him, and cause a few civilians to scuttle away from him, pulling their items in the opposing direction, and if children came near, their parents would simply swoop in and secure their safety, it was making him feel like this was his fault, not paying attention to the character creation tab, allowing himself to overlook the race the system randomly applied to his avatar. "Seth, hurry up man, where the hell are you?" "This lot is starting to get on my nerves." He simply retorted to himself as he stood against a wall, leaned up against it, trying to not cause trouble as he could see the guards holding the half of the swords, ready to draw them encase anything ticked them off to assault him, kill him or even worst put him into jail where he would suffer even more than he would being dead, the thoughts made his skin crawl as he knew medieval era was not the nicest of any time, but more interesting because of the mystery it held.
When @Grim and Seth had agreed to meet outside the frontal gates of Stokbon he assumed it would be a normal stroll. Luckily however, traveling throughout the forest of Brisshal was an easy feat and no encounters had occurred on the way. What was troublesome though was the fact that just as they were reaching the gates a swarm of merchants came through. Determined to not repeat what had happened back at the outpost Seth carefully weaved his way through the people until he reached a comfortable spot, trying to spot Grim within the sea of people. What happened next surprised him as a group of what looked to be priests walked past him. He guessed it did make sense. This was after all the "Holy" capital. Their aura was almost suffocating and he could practically feel the magic radiating from their bodies. They stood in front of him for a moment and regarded him with calculating eyes. Seth stood his ground and looked them in the eyes in return and after a moment they all nodded in his direction before leaving on their way. "What was that about?" Seth went back to his searching and noticed that the guards looked at him with stoic gazes before politely nodding in his direction. "W-wait. Do they think I'm a priest?" Seth could already feel that a headache was going to transpire from this little misunderstanding, but he didn't bother trying to correct them. As long as he wasn't pulled into any sort of cultist group he was fine with the misconception for right now. Besides this might help them in the long run in case anything happens to either him or Grim. Eventually, he saw Grim standing beside the gate. With a few guards nearby giving him a wary look. Seth walked over in the most dignified manner he could muster and nodded at the guards to be at ease. "Hopefully that worked", he thought.
Upon seeing a group of Priest walk from the Capital, through the enormous crowd of people, it didn't concur to him that religion would be apart of the games mechanics or lore, but he had to have considered this seeing how the time this game was placed religion was the largest thing in the fifteenth century, or so, he wasn't entirely sure of the exact timeline. But upon seeing them stop further yonder, it caught his attention of why they stopped, usually nothing would stop holy men from what he knew about other fantasy based games of the era, but as quickly as they stopped, they began walking once more which made him tilt his head. He didn't stop to think what or who could have caused it until his sensitive ears ear the sounds of feet approaching him, when he looked up his gray eyes peaked out from the hood, a smile streaked across his pale face when he saw his crimson garbed ally, but seeing him nod towards the guards whom began to relax from this subtle gesture. It caught Grim's attention quickly which made him speak out when he approached his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder while turning his back to the guard so they couldn't read their lips. "What in blazes was that gesture just now?" "What did you do to get them from gawking at me?" Clearly Grim was unsure of what magic Seth used, all he knew, they only person in their group that could use magic was himself since he took Geomancy, he figured with the name like that he would have a better role as a Magic-Tank build, and he was more than correct from what he reminisced about the Masteries data. It was close range combat styled with being the best for defense, that's all he needed to know about the magic he used, which he wasn't took keen on having, since he wanted to be a pure physical Tank, but magic had its perks and he knew how powerful it could be, which now made him speak out to Seth. "Question, who were those priests just now?" "I'm not religious at all, but I know priests when I see them."
Seth would've chuckled at how surprised Grim was if it weren't for the fact that he himself was slowly getting a migraine from what he thought was about to happen. Sure being mistaken for a priest had its benefits but he felt that this could all blow up in their face later. Grim is a bit better at thinking things through than him though so he'd have to run this over with him first. "As for your first question, I think everyone is mistaking me for a priest thanks to the garments I'm wearing. I don't know who those priest were or what counts as a religion in this world so I'm just as confused as you are. Sorry." Seth unconsciously began to pace back and forth with a hand on his chin. A little quirk that he'd sometimes show when he was thinking about something very deeply. What should he do? Should he let the misconception continue for a while long for some short or even long term benefits? Should he just clear everything up now before something huge happens? "Well we came here to do a little bit of digging anyway, right? Might as well go see what the hub blub in the city is about. Where do want to search first?" He looked out towards the giant city in front of them and the many construction sites in the distance. People of all different kinds walked along the streets. Some humble merchants, other rich noblemen. It reminded him much of New York back in the real world and he smiled in reminiscence. Though he realized that if this place was just like the New York he remembered then this place would also attract the unsavory types. Seth barely suppressed a sigh of exasperation at the thought. Perhaps he was being to paranoid and needed to let loose.
"As for your first question, I think everyone is mistaking me for a priest thanks to the garments I'm wearing. I don't know who those priest were or what counts as a religion in this world so I'm just as confused as you are. Sorry." The words that Seth spoke out to him about the situation made him wonder slightly about it all, Grim had the same thoughts about this realms religion. "Well, whatever it is, I will try to avoid it as best I can, I'm an atheist after all." "Hope that doesn't bother you at all Seth?" He asked his comrade, hoping this wouldn't damper their friendship in the slightest, and when more words peaked out, he hearkened to them. "Well we came here to do a little bit of digging anyway, right?" "Might as well go see what the hub blub in the city is about. Where do want to search first?" He nodded to Seth's words about their situation before speaking out as well. "We should head the market place, that and the Tavern are the best place to get information via gossip, but me being hooded would cause people to stare." "I'm afraid however to remove it, as I told you before." He sighed and slouched his shoulders before looking up, his gray eyes caught the glimpse of another Felis walking with a Human, they looked like a couple by they held each others hand which made his ears perk up. "Or... maybe I'm over thinking this whole situation?" Retorting out his comment before slowly pulling his hood down, his feline ears slowly standing up and flicking about, his tail also unwrapping from around his waist almost making his claymore hit the ground. But with his amazing reflexes he caught it, holding the leather sash it had for a hold while at the waist, and now grasping it, while adverting his eyes away from the couple, seeing the guards now turning their heads away from him, but now watching everyone else around them It almost made him wonder if the NPC's considered his race to be a common sight, but either way he could tell they were looking towards him and Seth while everyone else slipped past them, the warm breeze of the day making Grims hair flutter about. "Hmmm... I presume while we are here, an alias would be useful for me." "Grim doesn't sound like a name people would take serious." He commented on, now he himself began walking back and forth, placing his own hand upon his chin, knowing how this would be a tough name considering the age they were in, which made him then stop, he held one hand at level with his chest. Then his other hand that was at his chin balled up, guiding down before sitting in the open palm of his hand before his words leaked out from his lips and into the air about him."Arthur, Arthur Pendragon would a good alias, but not sure if people here already have a person named that?" "What do you think Seth?" He inclined to his friend, now looking towards him, hoping Seth would approve of the alias he picked for himself, seeing if another opinion would guide him in the right direction.
Seth wasn't one to care for names though he guesses it was needed, Grim isn't exactly a common one. Arthur Pendragon, ancient ruler of Camelot. It was iconic back in the real world and one that would obviously raise some eyebrows. However, in here, while the world was similar to our own it was on its own timeline entirely so such a name was probably unheard of. A solid plan. "Yeah, for right now go with that. It may be iconic back at "home" but it is more than likely unheard of, and maybe even normal here." Seth scanned the area and marveled at how diverse everyone was. It is clear that the creators pulled no punches in making this place as lifelike as possible. Though he was a little bit confused on the lack of Faerin residents. He obviously saw many humans along with the very occasional Felis, but Faerins seemed to be non-existent. It was more than a little unfortunate in his eyes. Seth carefully glanced around the area and spotted a lone merchant. Making sure that no others would disturb him he walked over and struck up a conversation. He was already a little bit nervous talking to someone other than Grim but he decided that now was the time to gather information instead of twiddling their thumbs all day. "Excuse me, miss. Would happen to know where the local tavern is located? I am new to this area and would appreciate your help." The merchant woman stared at him for a few moments before hurriedly giving him basic instructions on where to go. Now knowing where to go Seth smiled and thanked her before returning to Grim not noticing the pink on the merchant's cheeks. Not that he would even understand why if he did see it. "Alright. I got a place. Doesn't have a name but it's apparently just a little bit of the way down. I'll show you."
Grim nodded as Seth spoke out to him about the name he had chosen for now, the alias was just something he picked off the top of his head, while he kept his username a secret, if anyone spoke out his name, he had a sure idea they were a player, who else could know it since he set his privacy settings to public, it allowed players to see his name. "Yeah, I thought it would sound good." "And see it like this Seth, since my privacy settings are set to public." "Anyone who says Grim will be labeled as player." "Since I'm going by that alias." He gave a chuckle before listening to Seth, watching him talk to an NPC about the local area, after some time he saw him come back to describe the near Taverns location. "Good, we can go there first, but let's try to not cause trouble, I have this feeling this place has its own fair share of it." "Like Las Vegas." For some reason he held this innate gut feeling that Stokbon was not the cheery looking place that seemed to be on the surface, as Grim walked next to him he placed a hand on Seth's shoulder before speaking to him. "Also, keep an eye on your coin pouch count, I have a feeling petty thieves might be dwelling in this place." Giving his friend some helpful advice, knowing that all games held some form of petty coin pilfers, people who snatched pouches from unwary individuals, even if they came across one, Grim wasn't going to allow anything to happen to his friend. As Grim slipped his hand off his friends shoulder, he trotted before him and towards the front gate, turning his head slightly to meet the gaze of his comrade before speaking out to him in a hearty manner, one that he used to show he was confident in their odds. "Come on, we're burning daylight, I also have somethings to take care of back home as well after we explore Stokbon." He was referring to the real world, and when he said that his ears flicked ever so more and his tail twitched as it swayed back and forth, standing at a upright curled form, much similar to a happy cat in the real world.
Seth knew that it would do no good to simply wait around so he nodded at Grim and quickened his pace just a bit. Seth didn't really pay attention much for potential thieves while on the way. Perhaps that was just because he was simply too optimistic but he didn't care. He marveled at the architecture of the many buildings and pathways. Each brick was crafted to an imperfect perfection if that made any sort of sense. Eventually, after a bit of walking, Seth felt the smell of alcohol touch his nostrils. He followed it to a small nameless building where tipsy men and even some women cheered in a drunken stupor. Was there some kind of event going on? Seems like yet another thing to figure out in their time here. "Well, this looks to be the place. Let's get this information and we should be good." Seth carefully glanced around the area and hesitantly made his way into the tavern. He looked back towards Grim and inclined his head in the direction of the building. "Hopefully things go as planned", Seth whispered to himself.
Grim waltzed about, his step was quick and fluid like as he looked about, several people trotted about them both, Grim kept his gaze ahead of him while his ears twitched about while trying to locate anything near him or Seth, but other than that he was trying to get to the Tavern. Once getting to it, and entering the building he looked about, several individuals adverted their eyes towards him and Seth, Grim just paid no mind to these people, but many looked heavily armed, not like him of Seth. "Careful, watch yourself Seth." His tone was calm, cooling and focused on confidence as he led Seth over to a corner booth, taking a seat and placing his Claymore beside himself, his tail was however wrapped around the sheathe, just encase anyone wanted to try anything with them. "Alright Seth, keep your ears up, listen to gossip, anything can be useful.." Few people paid little mind to them as Grim inquired on anything the people said out loud, one of them was a tall butch looking individual, a heavy beard which was red stretched across his face, making him look like a large dwarf. "Listen ere' laddies, I tell ye dem fields are full of Goblin, and they bloody insects are weak I tell ya." Grim heard that series of words from the scruffy looking male, and it intrigued him that Goblins where in this game, he wasn't surprised by it, but how this man said they were weak made him feel that this figure was a well trained warrior. While another person spoke out in response to this person statement. "Yeah, but you know what is even more weak?" "Slimes, although nothing seems to faze you Galion." Galion was the dwarfish looking fellow, which was one of two things, his real name which made him a NPC, or a player and that was his Username, or perhaps he was using his real world name while playing as a human.
Naturally, Seth wasn't one for anything even remotely related to bars. The aftermath of what could potentially happen after a drink of two never sat right with him. However, he wasn't one to pass up an opportunity on learning something new. Even if it was something trivial like a new hangout or perhaps a game that just went out into the market. You could say Seth was just a casual observer of the world around him that an active participant. Some would say that was a pathetic life to live but Seth, being who he is, didn't feel like he needed to do anything. The world moved just fine without his intervention so why intervene unless necessary? When Grim told Seth to listen for anything interesting he did as he was told and got to work. He carefully sat down on a chair just opposite of Grim and leaned back. Enough to be noticed but not enough to be seen as suspicious. Not only that but he would be within comfortable hearing distance of everyone around him. He tapped his fingers rhythmically against the rough wood of the table and waited, filtering out the random babblings of the rowdier and outright vulgar guests. "I'm telling ya. Those followers of Elwora are getting out of hand.", said a tall man in armor. Looked like he was one of the guards. Such little diligence in this one he saw. "This is the third murder this month right? Are you sure it's Elwora followers and not one of the local monsters?", replied a woman in a dark hood. Her hair and some of her face covered in the shroud. "No way in Ys's name could it be anyone else! Blood splattered everywhere like a child's finger painting. No other group would cause such a brutal scene. Not to mention that even if a monster got in the guards along with anyone who can hold a sword would have it killed before it got two feet into the city." Seth narrowed his eyes at the implications. From what he could gather these followers of "Elwora" were some kind of cult. From the description of the deed, it might've been some kind of blood sacrifice but he wasn't too sure. He'd have to get more information on the various religions within Terrasphere some point soon. The last thing he needed was to be confused as one of these cultists if worst came worst. As Seth stopped leaning back and turned to report to Grim what he learned he felt a chill on his hand for a brief moment. Seth, bewildered, looked down and saw nothing on his hand that could've caused it. With a confused glance behind him, he carried on. "Seems like we got cultists. Not sure to the extent of how bad it could be but we got a few cases of murder.", Seth whispered. "What do you got?"
Grim listened in on the people around him and Seth, and upon hearing the group that Seth was listening to about the murders, it became apparent after his own eavesdropping on this male Galion his attention went back to Seth as quickly as his own went on Galion. "Just a local named Galion talking about Goblins and Slimes, just a simple mercenary I'd say, by observing his gear, maybe he could help us out with the Murders Seth." Grim spoke out in a calm quiet tone to Seth, he didn't want to attract attention to him or his comrade, but this conversation about this Cult might have some connection to the robed figures they met at the entrance of the city of Stokon. "Seth, go ask the guard over there about who those Robed figures we met at the entrance of the city." "I want to see what reaction we might stir from him." "Be sure to be as descriptive about their attire." "I'm sure they have some connection to them." As he said this he adjusted his position, itching his feline ears while his slitted eyes focused on the hooded woman, he didn't like how she held her face away from everyone about them, it almost seemed like she was hiding her face for a reason. While sitting and watching his crimson cloaked friend, his attention went towards the Barkeeper whom seemed to be watching them both, it was quite strange for them to be here and not order anything, and with a quick flick of his wrist he spoke out. "Two Honey Ales please chief." He spoke out to the barkeeper, watching him nod and begin to fill up two pints of the alcohol, he smiled when the male handed the maid the two cups, with a quick motion, Grim quickly went into his settings to pull out 25 gold pieces, hoping this would be enough when she arrived and sat their drinks down, he handed her the gold pieces and smiled in a friendly manner.
