Megathread - (Special Event) Nightcamp | Page 2

It seemed that she accomplished what she wished. A pleased hum escaped her throat, something almost purr as she wolfed down the rest of her chicken and then very carefully licked her fingers clean. Finger by finger. To be quite honest, she did like the taste of chicken by itself. She remembered that taste, a chicken that was not raised in tight captivity, with very faint, but its own unique taste. Clenching her hand and opening it, showed her that the hunger meter was being filled up.

Next came thirst then. Nodding to herself she picked up the mug he finished drinking from and poured herself from the jug some water, frowning lightly at the taste. Compared to chicken it was much worse… But still not the worst water she had to drink. And it filled the need meter so that was important.

At least Astor sounded content and looked better, the clouds pushed away from his visage. Which made him again look noble and fierce, like an aristocrat of old. In a way, it was a fitting visage for a future King, even if she wondered if he realised just how much work that would mean for him. As a CEO in real life, as a former member of PCM, she knew that Kings rarely had it easy. But Astor had a head on shoulders, cunning mind and so perhaps it would work. She had a feeling that he knew something others did not to make the choice he did, to stand against the people of the castle.

“E?” A soft squeak left her as the object of her ponderings grabbed her and pulled her over, seating her between his legs. It seemed he had grown stronger, being able to pick her up, even if for a moment. She did not fight it, relaxing without turning into dead weight and then moved her tail to the side to not have it uncomfortably squished. She felt his chest and stomach leaning against her back, pressing firmly, but not uncomfortably against the base of her tail. It twitched at the feeling, which made the fur rub against the tight containment. It was.. an odd sensation.

Still; he was warm. It seemed the old adage of females being less warm held true even in this virtual reality, or perhaps it was the specialisation of Astor that made him be warmer. Still, she leaned back into his chest, feeling his chin on her shoulder. His hands did not restrict her movement much, so she continued to sip the water and basking in the warmth.

Colder she might be at the start, but once warmed up, she no longer felt such stark difference between their temperatures.

And, as he provided the initial warmth, she could only give it back.

“Of course.” Ilusa replied, putting the mug away, her tail swaying to side and wrapping around his waist gently (it was mobile but while she could wrap it around someone next to her, she could not wrap it around her own waist), moving it bit up and down and her hands hovered over the inventory icon. “I do have some ale still in my inventory.” As she had water and food, but that was best left for the dark hour. “Or would you prefer me to do it myself?” Sharing body-heat was not an unusual experience to her.

@Astor Balthas

 

As Noah peered into the depths of the fire, he started to hear a tune. Not one that was cheerful or bright, but almost like one would hear at a funeral. Of course for both sides of the war today’s actions would prompt a funeral of sorts. Neither side was innocent and neither side was entirely guilty. There was faults on both sides, the players were perhaps the worst. They joined sides without knowing the stories, they murdered people while they themselves are immortal, as just as quickly as they pledged an allegiance to one force it was quickly given to the next. Noah was no better than any others. He killed a handful of the elfs with no remorse earlier that day, at least his actions had some redemption as he spared the lives of the human soldiers that were inside the castle. This could come to bite him and the rest of the alliance in the ass though come sunrise. Only time would tell if his actions would sprout negative consequences.

Instead of following his eyes around the campsite, he followed what his ears had heard instead. The soulful melody coming from one of the nearby tents. Hopeful that the one playing the music was indeed his friend Beatle. The kid seemed to have a kind soul, he was probably doing his duty and soothing the wounds of the injured. A kid like that should not have had to witness the gore that the battlefield held. As Noah sat there with his eyes closed listening to the melody, the presence of a new comer would cause him to open his left eye slightly. A young woman with bright pink hair decided to make his campfire her’s as well. Fine by him, he welcomed the company, in fact he craved the company at this point. Anything to get his mind off all the death that had seen so far and all the death they have yet to see. Noah took one of the apples she offered with a soft smile. “Thank you….Yea, I was there at the hatchery. Name’s Noah and thank you for the appias. I guess you’re also part of Yulan Dragons?” It would be nice to make friends with a fellow guild mate, especially one as nice as her, couldn’t hurt to have more allies come daybreak.

@Ju Huan-Xiang

 

Sera glared at @Lord Lemming as the woman ordered her, and then tried to investigate her. "Creep," she said, and couldn't help suppress a shudder. Luckily, the status of pregnancy was hidden in an area other players couldn't see. It wasn't for a while longer than people would know, and then she wouldn't be able to hide it at all. "I don't take orders from anyone except my guild leader," she said. "And even then, he has to give me his reasons. And what even do you 'expect to see'? Anything that concerns you, you'd be told about."

She ate more of her stew, her irritation at Lemming's nosiness pulling her out of her slump. She took a sip of the water, and watched her needs meters fill with both actions. Before long, the only one low would be rest. That she didn't know if she would be able to get at all...

 

Val laid back upon the thin rags that had been strewn across the floor of the tent as a poor excuse for a mattress. Fred snorted happily as he bounced around the empty area, trying to waste the pent-up energy from hiding in Valther's inner pocket for the duration of the day's battle. Having exhausted himself, the pint-sized hog curled up on Val's chest like a cat and sniffled lazily.

Pressing the flask of water to his lips, Valther drank slowly, savoring the cool fluids as if they were some kind of lifeblood. Sitting up, he hung the flask from his neck by its rope, and Fred rolled down into his lap, already asleep and squeaking quietly. Scooping up the tiny hog, Val placed him rear-first into his pocket and stood up, shifting the tent's flap out of the way and standing out in the open, scanning the large group of sympathizers and turncoats alike for a familiar face. He only recognized one; Lemming, but the spellblade had no business with the woman and turned to head off the other way, searching for some kind of entertainment.

 

She laughed at Sera's admittance about their little contest that was, admittedly, foggy in her memory too. "If it makes you feel better, that hot waitress cut us off and ended it early." She took a deep draw of water and found herself only slight regretting not getting mead. She was decently sure they'd only had that piss water beer everyone loved so much. A right shame, really.

Gwyn was comforted in that @Sera Phim's reply was what it was. The huntress wasn't sure what she'd been expected, but it wasn't immediate resignation without a hint of accusation that she could hear. She wasn't in the least comforted by Sera's own harsh and overly critical view of her own actions. "I don't blame anyone, there was no way to know. Even I didn't know about the demons or them scouting for safe lands. I just knew Falderen had done something wrong and even then it wasn't really... common knowledge. People don't like to see the wrong in the world if they think it's something they'll have to deal with. Or take responsibility for." She shrugged and scowled slightly as the conversation took a further plunge. "No. No, you're not broken. Steele picked a different side too in the beginning. You didn't know, none of us really did. And words don't matter for shit, but your actions have weight. If this is heavy to you Sera then you gotta find whatever makes you feel like you've done right. You have to find an action great enough that a mistake doesn't seem so damning. I mean- I guess. I'm not super great at this and Akino has said before that I see things different, just like everyone else so," she let herself drift off, waving a hand uselessly in a cut off gesture.

The ranger turned to look over her shoulder at @Lord Lemming as the other spoke, nose scrunched up in confusion. "What?" She turned to look between the two as Sera replied with anger. "Guys, please." Gwyn lifted her hands as if to make a wall before the both of them and dial down anything before someone said something too wrong to make right. She knew them both, but neither well enough to know their limits. Not that Gwyn was great at diplomacy either. She was always too bull-headed. She rubbed the heels of her hands against her eyes and pressed hard enough to see spots for a moment before letting them drop to her lap. "I'm going to sleep for years after all this shit."

 

Lemming glared at Sera for the insult, but only momentarily, before standing and leaning slightly on her magical staff. Looking the woman up and down, she smiled wickedly and channeled some dark magic... up above her, in an invisible cloud of hex that would harm nobody. However, the obvious mana drain and magical casting would be enough to panic the poor woman, and with a chuckle Lemming began to walk away. She waved dismissively at Gwyn, not caring to get involved in apologies and peace talks with the huntress's latest quarry. Crossing to the shattered gates, she slipped out into the woods and left, having completed her part of things.

• OOC: Leaving event.

 

Sera blinked as the other girl tried casting some hex, not even act her. She sighed, and muttered the incantations to purify the area of rebuffs and hexes, even as Lemming left. "She's... strange, isn't she?" Sera asked @Gwyn ap Herne.

She shook her head. "Yeah, I don't want to dwell on serious stuff right now, I think. I agree with the sleeping for years, though." She laughed, weakly, but she couldn't help getting serious again. "I want this world to be a good one. To do anything I can to make it good. So that the people who'll live in it in the future can enjoy their lives here. I... I know this might just be a game, but... some things have happened that make it seem so real... maybe even more real than the one where I'm wearing a headset to even be here..." she looked down at her food. She didn't have the stomach to finish it.

 

"Evening then?" She called after Lemming's retreating back as the other left, expression withdrawn at her odd mood. She shook it off slowly and let the other woman blend into the shadows and all but vanish in the night in peace. "Yeah, she's an odd one." The ranger watched as Sera cast her magic with interest. She had opted not to take any magics, still too unused to even the concept of VR games. It seemed interesting though, to experience something impossible in their world and her eyes were locked on the gestures and effects it cause. Even the hostile magics thrown about in the fight had their own kind of wonder and beauty. She wasn't super keen on pyromancy though, even with reduced pain it still felt wretched. For all the beauty of the magic, however, the Oakhearts and Treants had been a far more wondrous sight.

Gwyn raised the bowl of stew up to drink the rich broth as @Sera Phim spoke more on their odd situation. The guilds, and players in general, were always in an odd spot, but this was more than most of them had expected of a damn game. "It's like nothing I know, certainly. Funny, but this is the first game I've ever played. And I mean game, not just VR. I'm not exactly the sedentary type back home. It's why the hunting and beast taming and the idea of being a warrior of the wilds is so enchanting. I can't be out there back home right now and in here I can be even more than the real world could offer." She wrapped her arms around one knee while she kicked the other leg out in front of her to stretch tired muscles. "But... it's still... different. It's hard to explain, but even with how realistic all this is there's something off. Like the danger of standing at the edge of a mountain and jumping? Isn't real here. You just pop back up, right as rain. It's not like that there. Doesn't make this world have any less right to be loved and protected though. Every life deserves to have a good one, especially NPCs that don't have a choice in it all." She shrugged helplessly at that. It was a strange place and situation to find oneself in. The ranger wished she knew better words to soothe her guild mate's odd melancholy.

 

Sera nodded at @Gwyn ap Herne's words. "We can be things we here that we can't be there. Heroes. Wizards. Rulers. Or we could just see it as a second life. Be merchants. Hunters. Parents..." she trailed off a bit. "And we could die and die and die and die, and be no worse off, more or less... so yeah, the danger might not be real for us players. But the NP- the people... of this world... the people born here..." her hand shifted on her stomach. "This is their real life. Do we have the right to just... be here? Treat it like a game?" She wondered, before sighing. "It's the only life they'll ever know... If they ever learned the truth about us, do you think they could forgive us? Still love us?"

She realized the woman she was talking to might not really understand what was bringing about all this. She let out a heavy breath. "We're both in the same guild, you'd find out soon eventually.... can you keep a secret, at least for a while?" She asked.

 

"I don't know, the uh, people here are real enough. They are born, age, die, have kids, have likes and dislikes. They're all unique and all have their own personalities and family histories and stuff." She rolled her head to the side, another fierce pop making her sigh lightly. "They all have different opinions so I think some would hate us. Some would ignore us. Some might even worship us. I think a lot of them are just people and like politics in the real world, you hear things and you have to shrug it off and keep going. You still gotta work and eat and sleep, yanno?" It was disquieting to imagine being on their side of things. There were conspiracies that spanned decades back home of aliens or the like living, hidden, with people. Actual human beings in the real world were paranoid that was true. They had no proof it wasn't and if these NPCs could live their lives with that kind of reality who could say? That not knowing was something she didn't want to linger on. "As for love, even people in it are confused by it. That's not even close to a cut-and-dry topic."

Gwyn straightened when @Sera Phim's tone shifted and her words shifted to a different topic rather suddenly. "A secret? Yeah, I mean I'm kind of shit at lying to be honest with you, but I won't go shouting things from the mountaintops I climb. Why? Is everything okay?" Her posture went more rigid at the thought. Her and Sera weren't close by any means, but the woman was a good person and a guild mate. If something was wrong, Gwyn'd fuck it up to hell and back.

 

Elves, Humans, Felis, Faerin, Players, NPC's.... this war has brought together so many people! The game had begun to really fall into a good pace now. While for many this was a stressful or a really deep important thing. For a certain very out of place girl... it was exciting and a very good sign! To see the players all working together to change the world around them. That was what a story should be! Trinity the "Mascot Girl" of Terrasphere would have somehow appeared in the camp. No one ever saw how she entered but she was standing behind a small vendor with a small collection of trinkets. Mostly Trinity Dolls Minis and Player Badges. Stuff that no one wanted at this point, especially in the current climate. She would be also seen excitedly making statements about the situation. Also somehow... none of the NPC other than maybe Rein would notice her at all. Making this very damaging to the whole setting really.

"Okay everyone. Get reeeeady to rummmmmbleeeee! In one corner you have those grassy avengers, those champions of the wood, those long lived pretty boys, and girls. The YLADIAN ELVES! In the opposite corner we have the hub of this land, the northeastern titan, King Theodore's pride! THHHHHEEEE KINGDOOOM OF FALDEEEEREEEN! The first great war of Terrasphere that will go down in history! Of course, you the players will be the ultimate deciders of this story's words! Trust in your bonds, your love, your honor, and your GRINDING! Good luck adventurers! GO DRAGON GUYS! GO HERO GUYS! GO WEIRDO GUYS!"

Trinity flashed her smile as she fist pumped and gave victory signs to people as they passed....

 

The Admiral found herself a place to rest away from the others, to spare herself the ridiculous chaos that an unorganized raid camp would obviously become. If it had been simply players, she had no doubt that the idiocy and bitching and moaning would have been enough to psychologically force the defenders out of their castle, to come, to start smacking bitches. But there were also the elves who were far more disciplined and reserved, and she was embarrassed to be associated with the mob of players. So she was avoiding them, locked away above the shattered remains of the front gate, in the gatehouse. Someone needed to keep watch over it in case the enemy pushed out at night to reinforce their position and attempt to repair it. And it was heavily fortified, which made it a safe forwards position. Why nobody else had thought to claim it? Beyond her. It had a roof for shelter, windows for keeping an eye on things, and doors that hadn't been chopped down in the fighting. That made it far safer than a mere tent outside.

She lacked a cot of course. But that was hardly an issue, for she had thrown several sacks down, stuffed with hay she had "requisitioned" from a stables feed shed. It served as a very lumpy and crude bed, and that was fine for her. Her armor lay next to it, weapons propped against the wall, and she say in a chair by one of the windows watching the moon grow bright in the sky. There was no light in her little shelter. She did not want the enemy to see it from their window vantages, and know she was here. So she sat in the cold, the dark, and the silence and watched like a hawk for any sign of movement in that castle. Any figures in windows. Any doors opened as people might sneak off into the night, to sabotage or send a message for help. THIS was where they would fuck up... Camping, without setting watches. Without realizing the enemy could still react. As if this game were any ordinary game.

She rolled her sore shoulders and fought the urge to yawn, mulling over the siege camp nearby. It had not gone swimmingly, in her opinion... but then, she had erred on the side of pessimism from the beginning in order to keep her hopes from being dashed. It was FUN for her to play the war dog and soldier, much more fun than the silly bard she'd tried to be. There was an intensity and an excitement to it that couldn't be rivaled. It felt like she was leader troops at Helms Deep, or rushing the beaches of Normandy. But that feeling was perverted and twisted by the lazy and complacent attitudes of other players. By their dismissive regard for cause and effect, and their lack of adherence to a proper chain of command. She felt a single leader was needed. A single voice. From them, commanders should be appointed with obvious objectives. The work needed to be divided up and everybody needed to play their part. But how would that work, when nobody could even form a simple dungeon party and behave together? Work together? They were doomed to fail, in her eyes. Even if people were appointed to see over the command structure, it would likely be a popular vote. Or those with the stats or the money to flex and show off to the crowd. Not the people that actually saw the whole picture, and reacted accordingly to it.

Well. On all their heads, let it be hung.

@Rook Whisker

 

Sera tried to smile at @Gwyn ap Herne, but it was hard to get her face to do that. "Yeah, everything's okay, more or less," she said. She mused for a bit, wondering how to best proceed. "So as you might have heard, Aaron and I got engaged, back at the fishing event the guild did?" She shifted. "He was excited to share that news with a lot of people," she said, chuckling a bit at the memory. "He practically sent a guild announcement about it. What I asked him to keep a bit quieter, for a while at least... and it's not why we got engaged! It happened after! But..."

Sera took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant. Not in the rea-.... in the other world. Here. In Terrasphere. And it's made everything... different. I can't view these people as just programs on a computer, or even call this place a game, or the other world the 'real' one. If anyone tried telling me I wasn't 'actually' going to be a mother, I think I would snap their neck. It feels so real. It happened completely on accident, but... the child is my child. And if it's true for me, and for it... then it has to be true for all the people in this world..." She shook her head. "I keep using the other words, about this being a game, out of habit. But it feels so wrong to do so, now."

 

The rain and general disregard for the goings-ons in the camp eventually drove the fragile figure of the Velten from the crowds. There were too many eyes and not near enough flares of magic, whispers of intrigue, or... anything but misery or victory in eyes. They didn't care for it and none of it was enough to capture and to keep their interest. No, Rook drifted. As if caught in a tide they passively allowed themselves to wander. Merkaba had given her orders for them to remain to besiege the castle once more. However, she had made it a point to suggest caution. It was as if she didn't know them at all. She didn't really, but Rook wasn't exactly someone who radiated loyalty and sacrifice through their words or actions. They were loyal to none but The Many. For now they were content to hang at the edges of the shadows surrounding the camp as night fell heavy on the forest. When the rain started, they whined out a noise of complaint and sought shelter from it that didn't include numerous people huddled in tents.

Rook sought for somewhere suitable when they finally noticed a gap in patrols and movements, a distance between settled areas and guarded passageways. The gatehouse of the now useless gate still stood and would be more than sturdy enough to shrug off the rain beginning to dampen their hair and shoulders. It would do. Save the person within? It was dark in the room, but the faint lines of a figure shifting was enough to catch their attention. "For fool to sleepwalk without watch or guard. The night has ivories too." They spoke quietly, tone chipper despite the breathless almost-whisper. "They can hear the mind's eye's wheel turn dizzy as orbit, This One predicts. Too loud to sleep. Too quiet to think." Rook gave a thin-lipped smile and tilted their head curiously. "We can help. There are writ words on wind to tame the thoughts river's course."

With a projected movement, kept slow and fluid, the Velten moved their hand forward to hold it palm up toward the other individual. A moment passed before the cards appeared. They suddenly flickered into being and flipped and slid wildly in a coil around their owner before landing one by one in their hand. Each card follow the path of the one previous exactly and when they all laid together as one deck, they were lined up in perfect unison. Rook hummed under their breath and brought their free hand up to press against the top of the cards. Their fingers curled in slightly as if to keep the tarot cards caged in their grasp. "They will speak if This One bids. Will you? Ask."

@The Admiral​