Do Fish Dry Their Scales?

A man stood before a vast river. Only, it wasn't particularly vast; rather, it was simply the widest watery divisor in the forest area.

A man stood before a tranquil forest. Only, he had the distinct sensation that he was missing out on some more important event, just a little ways away. In that regard, the forest was only relatively tranquil because everyone else knew where to be.

A man...

Well, Rory decided it was a little hard to wax lyrical with no particular inspiration around. He'd been a little slow on whatever big event was going on at the moment, and was the sort of guy to go, "eh, I'll catch the next one around." After all, there were plenty of people manning the front-lines; if he wanted to hear about something cool that had happened, he needed only to wait a little while and have some newbie-impression show-off type fill him in.

For the time being, he was enjoying his vacation sitting by the riverside, shoes off and toes in the water. Idle thoughts filled his head: should I have shelled out some money and gone on an actual trip? I wonder what my wife is making tonight? I hope it's not the chef's special curry that uses a billion pots because I'm the one who has to wash them.

In any case, the lack of company was undeniably a little boring for such a social game, but in a rather perverse way, it was nice to take in nature within the realm of Terrasphere. Not like there was much nature to speak of in Hartford, anyway. Rory found himself looking around, wondering if there was someone on their way to the big event that he could annoy with some chit chat.

 

Lucia let out a hum idly making her way towards town where things would be getting started. As a Duchess she was forced to appear whenever things got dicy, it was Astor who was being kidnapped as well, and considering how they had once started a guild together as friends, she couldn't just let trouble into the player kingdom. Stepping out from the foliage, Lucia had made the forest her home, rather then the more comfortable cities, as a necromancer, associating with others got difficult, NPCs would be judgmental and hate-filled towards her the moment she flashed her abilities. It made sense to make her home farther off of the beaten path for those reasons alone.

Despite the drawbacks though, being a necromancer came with it's advantages as well. Once she was free from the trees, it was easy to see she wasn't alone. A myriad of others followed up behind her, some covered in thick black plate armor, burning eye sockets and white bleached skulls made it clear they were no longer alive. Others were merely covered in black cloaks, carrying sacks or wooden boxed tied to their backs with an array of unique tools for a variety of jobs. Lucia could summon undead at the drop of a hat, the army that proceeded to cross the river to find a place to settle while Lucia went to town was one that belonged to her.

As she went, she shot a glance towards Rory, despite her profession, she had a very gentle smile, a welcoming atmosphere. If it weren't for her being forced to show off to move equipment and resources, it might be hard to place her as someone invested in 'evil' things. "Hey, you're not heading towards the meet and greet? Big things are supposed to be happening at the Player castle you know." She tried to be encouraging, after all, a big part of the player's advantages was their ability to gather and communicate across long distances with the game interface. "If you need someone to show you the way, I can help." She tried to offer, unsure if the person was new, lost or simply chilling out. If they didn't want a part in the event, she wouldn't try to pressure anyone, but something big seemed to be brewing, every little bit would help she thought.

 

After a certain amount of empty pondering, Rory became aware that there was something akin to a small raiding band headed in his direction. He stood up, not out of skittishness, but mostly to be polite. He understood that mundane pain of talking to someone and then another person came up the street and insisted on walking in the middle. Very bad manners.

The small unit that came into his view caused him to cough slightly, somewhat unexpected as it was. He studied the more noticeable members of the troop before a rather not-undead woman came into view. Rory raised his hand slightly in a universal gesture of 'awkward hello'.

It seemed this person was the sort concerned about newbies, and perhaps equally unconcerned about world events? "Uh, I'm good, I think. A lot of people seemed pretty, I dunno, into it. Didn't want to dampen the mood and all." Rory shrugged slightly, and looked down at his clothing. It was easy to see why someone would think he was new here. Considering all the not-adventuring and not-questing he'd done, he might as well have been new from a game perspective.

After blatantly staring at the undead troopers a little more, he cleared his throat rather obviously. "So, uh, any actual pla- 'scuse me, adventurers in there? Gotta admit, it'd be kind of cool being a member of the skeleton crew or something. Or are these all, uh, raised help?" There hadn't been any undead options for character race that he'd seen, but Rory still wondered if perhaps under one of the hoods was a top-ranked player with amazing knife skills, which would've only been a little cliche. "I guess not, though, right? Otherwise you guys would be heading towards the, er, meet and greet too?"

 

Lucia only chuckled a little, the person seemed reserved because of their attire? It wasn't such a bad thing but at the same time, who could bare to judge someone for being new? She herself, like everyone else had been new to this game, to this world in general, nobody started on top unless they were an NPC here, there should be no reason to shame or feel shame at it. "Don't worry about it too much, usually at big events there's someone to lend casual attire, but even then I don't think anyone would bother you. Everyone else had to start somewhere as well, you don't just start in nice robes or leather vestments." She tried to explain hoping the person wouldn't put themselves down. After all it might be demoralizing to be new and think you were behind. In truth it wasn't too hard to catch up to the veterans she thought, she'd been caught up and surpassed in a few ways by many people after all, and she was among the beta testers.

Hearing the man hesitate to use the words 'player' though she didn't mind, adventurer or player, she used both words regularly, they were practically synonymous. As a player herself even her subordinates were familiar with the gamer terms despite being NPCs as well. "Among those? Not yet-- becoming a member of the Undead race is pretty hard as an Adventurer, despite trying I might add." Lucia commented, her goal of becoming a Vampire was far off, preferring the elegant Vampiric race over the deathly looking Liches and ghastly Wights, she wanted something to at least look human. It was however a long and far off goal. "If some had died, I could res them into one, but you wouldn't be the same. It's all raised help at this point, once I get good enough though I might be looking to recruit for it though." She added with a sly smile, when a player dies they would be logged out after all, she could revive them once normally but the second time the player might not necessarily be the one in control until she got stronger.

"I do have some specialist subordinates, but they aren't adventurers like me." She admitted simply, despite having those kinds of goals, it was too far off. Rory himself seemed to be suspicious of a race change option as well, but Lucia, after looking into the details knew it was harder to achieve then one might think. Creating a race wouldn't be possible until the Risen joined the forefront, that was a plot that wouldn't be happening at least until the new season began... Whenever that would be. "I was heading towards the Meet and Greet, but I have to take my house and things with me to stop them from being robbed, so it's taken a while. What about you?" She asked, wondering if he might just be lost or if this was a sight seeing-like adventure for him.

 

Rory frowned a little, dramatically putting his cupped hand to his chin. "Uh, sorry, uh, Miss? I didn't mean my clothing or anything." Although his wasn't particularly powerful, it was suited to his unique aesthetics. Then again, this conversation was a good indicator of where those aesthetics might clash with the other players. "What I meant was that I'm, ah, less gung-ho about gettin' into character, you know? I haven't really been active, but I've kept my ears open, and most people have a certain panache or whatever for it."

In any case, the mechanics of undeath were...not actually all that interesting, in the grand scheme of things, and Rory maintained a placid expression. If this was one of those crazy 'death games' like what they showed in the cartoons or something, that would've been one thing. Lacking that particular element, necromancy was basically kind of like summoning, albeit with a vastly different flavor. "That's pretty cool, I guess," he eventually said with a slight cough.

The traveler's belongings, though, that was interesting. "You've brought your estate? That's actually pretty damn cool." Most classic MMOs had static real estate for obvious reasons, and it was usually quite costly. "Guess that's the immersive experience for ya. For me, my most treasured belongings are my memories of this excellently rendered forest scenery. Damn, that was bad," the red-haired man added with a staggering chuckle.

He thought about before addressing her question. "I'm just looking around for something special, I guess. After all, don't you think this game is pretty interesting, in various ways? Makes you feel like there might be some crazy secret." A sigh escapes his lips. "Well, maybe I gotta grind up before I can find something like that, huh? What do you think?" He looks toward the river again. "Think there's a hidden gem outside the story quests?"

 

It was a good day to try explosion fishing. Backfire had seen this done on the internet where people would use live dynamite to try and kill fish. She wasn't really sure how the fuse situation worked underwater in real life, but thankfully in Terra "magic" was a good enough answer.

Backfire walked towards the water and noticed two people talking... two people and a bunch of skeletons. The skeletons weren't attacking, no one was crying for help, and it seemed like none of her business so she ignored it for the moment. She was excited about the the fishing, making this her first priority. She deiced that after she set up her fishing trap, she would go over and see if anyone wanted to pay her to kill off some skeletons or whatever.

Backfire waded into the water. It was cold, and she didn't typically like getting wet, but if this worked she could use her Fire Mine spell to blow the fish up. If the experiment worked, not only would the fish catch themselves, they would be cooked and ready to sell in one easy step. Genius.

Reaching the middle of the river, Backfire reached into her pocket and pulled out a worm she had dug up on her way to the river. She wasn't a fan of worms or even digging, but this was a potential business venture. Securing the worm between two rocks so the fish wouldn't go downstream, Backfire casted her fire mine spell on top of the worm bait. She then waded out of the water and turned to the people and skeletons.

Cupping her hands, Backfire shouted out, "HEY! Y'ALL NEED SOME HELP WITH THOSE SKELETONS? I'LL DO IT FOR CHEAP! GIVE YOU A 'SAVING YOUR LIFE' DISCOUNT!"

 

Lucia chuckled a little, she'd clearly misread the person's reservations. It seemed he wasn't very much into his own character though, while it was a little interesting it wasn't uncommon. She'd had an old friend Jack who was much the same way, viewing it all as a simple game just wanting to fight and play while the NPCs looked at him confused or astonished when he wrote them off as programs. "It's not very strange though, if you aren't into it, why not look at it in a different way? The NPCs in this game understand we're advenurers, they all know we're different, they just don't know 'why'. You are your character-- there's no reason to try and look into it any deeper then that if you don't want to." Lucia tried to explain, no matter how someone looked at it, they were still them, behind a screen under their rendered appearances. If you didn't want to 'change' who you were, you could just be 'yourself'.

Being told undead were pretty cool though, Lucia only nodded back, she did enjoy the undead race, it was fun to watch them grow and learn. Feeling like she had a part in their development and building their civilization and creating culture for them. It was a fun and interesting experience, it was the reason she played at this point, to see what they can become with her help. "To call it an estate might be grossly overestimating me though. My home is pretty simple." She tried to explain. A person could make their home just about anywhere after all, building a crappy tent. For Lucia, she'd built a large tent-like structure using a series of bags once used for carrying loot. Furniture and the like had been moved in over time, as she needed them. It was easy to pack and clean up when she needed to move. "It's not very hard finding a place for yourself, but I needed one that was mobile, so I had to make my own." She commented with a nostalgic sigh. Even now, Rory might be able to see a Knight or wraith carrying a stray chair or team lifting a dresser.

As for grinding up, Lucia had a brief look of pity, just hacking apart creatures was a very slow way of making progress in a game that tried to emphasize realism; particularly with things like magic or sciences. "It wouldn't be bad after you've developed a foundation for fighting. Going in at zero Masteries wouldn't be much different from suicide though. Life or death battles start getting more plausible around 100 MP, otherwise you might come back with a death affliction." She explained, having died before herself she knew the kind of experience it was and how tough it was to survive in the game sometimes. It was hard to play half heartedly at the very least. "As for hidden gems though, there are a lot I'm sure, most of them come from story quests you make for yourself. It might be a little hard to find without immersing yourself a bit though." Lucia offered, her Necromancy was a good example, during a Raid she ended up doing something very stupid for the sake of writing a good story for her character. In the end she was rewarded for it with skills and a brief meeting with one of the game's Deities.

Though the person shouting at them made her hesitate. Was there someone out there able to help with undead problems better then she could? Unlikely-- Even more wanting payment from it? Glancing towards the woman, there was a brief bitterness in Lucia's expression. This poor person didn't judge the situation properly; Her undead group consisted of Assassins and Knights, either very agile or very sturdy. On top of that, she'd Mastered Necromancy long before her last raid even, even if those skeletons were half as proficient as she was it was still 750 MP points of devastation they were capable of causing. She couldn't fathom this going anywhere but wrongly. "I wouldn't recommend that-- They're not hurting anyone now, but they're still Tier 3 level undead-- That's High Tier you know." She tried to explain hoping the other person wouldn't be too anxious. Despite being a good person, she'd had to hurt or kill a lot of people in this game who were only guilty of trying to attack her thinking she would attack them if they didn't.

 

"Hrm..." Rory hummed lowly as he considered his new acquaintances words. In any case, she seemed by his estimations to be two things: at least a somewhat advanced player, and fairly 'into it'. Her idea of hidden gems didn't quite line up with his, at least on the surface. However... "Yeah, I kind of get your point. I think I'll do my best to stick my nose into it more often." After all, someone who crafted such a game would surely hide their true intent within the parameters of the game itself...probably. In any case, it was worth a shot.

"Well, in any case, it sounds like the, uh, thing would probably be a bit much for-"

The sudden arrival of loud individual stopped Rory for a moment, if only because it went against his expectations from regular MMOs. Stopping to enter a conversation between two others was hardly usual, but then, VRMMOs had different expectations...probably? The woman he'd been talking to seemed a bit put off as well, though, so maybe not. "I'm good, I'm good," he reassured the loud one, raising his volume slightly to match hers. "Besides, I don't have much coin on me anyway."

Another thought crossed his mind, causing him to frown a little. "Isn't it, I dunno, a little uncomfortable to enter the river like that? I mean, I guess you won't really get sick, well, y'know, really get sick, but..." The common sense of the classics had been to take the shortest path possible; was this person an old-school MMO gamer? Or maybe they just didn't care? His frown deepened when he realized how asinine of a question that had been, relative to the other ones that were now occurring to him.

 

"I wouldn't recommend that-- They're not hurting anyone now, but they're still Tier 3 level undead-- That's High Tier you know."

Tch... I guess she's a necromancer or something. Too bad, saving some people would have at the very least left them indebted to me. Those undead look pretty strong, but I probably could have taken out like... four and escaped. I guess that other guy is her friend...

"AHH! WELL THAT'S FINE THEN! JUST SEEING IF ANYONE NEEDED HELP FOR A PRICE!"

"I'm good, I'm good... Besides, I don't have much coin on me anyway."

If he doesn't even have any money, why is he even talking to me? Wasting my time by being safe and in good health... just get out of here then...

"Isn't it, I dunno, a little uncomfortable to enter the river like that? I mean, I guess you won't really get sick, well, y'know, really get sick, but..."

"HAH! ONLY IDIOTS CATCH COLDS! BESIDES I'M WORKING HERE! ANYONE--"

BOOM! The mine detonated underwater sending a group of fish floating to the top.

"BINGO! HELL OF AN EXPLOSION!"

Backfire ran back into the river and started grabbing as many fish as she could and throwing them onto the shore.

"LIKE I WAS SAYING, ANYONE WANT TO BUY SOME FISH?! I GOT A LOT FOR SALE! MAYBE YOU COULD ALSO USE THE BONES FOR RAISING UNDEAD OR SOMETHING NECROMANCER! SINCE YOU TWO ARE THE ONLY ONE'S HERE, I'LL GIVE YOU A GOOD PRICE!"

 

Hearing Rory's words, Lucia couldn't help a small laugh, this game world was being underestimated. There was a brief flash of pity, but in the end she hoped to change that misconception quickly. "Actually in this game you can get things like colds and fevers if you're doing something wrong in some place you shouldn't be. It would be a bad idea to underestimate this game's realism, particularly on long adventures or big quests you might find yourself in trouble for it. I've been on a quest once where someone was unable to wield their weapon because they caught a fever sleeping without a tent or napsack." Lucia tried to explain the dangers hidden even in small and insignificant things. It wouldn't really apply to someone just swimming around in a common river, but it was for that reason a person might leave their guard down and pay for it later.

If she'd known what the woman was thinking though, Lucia would likely end up vomiting blood from the very thought. The only monster she'd come across to cause such casualties in her knights had been World Bosses or other players with adept level skills. It would have been the first time she'd been taken so lightly. Seeing the girl cause an explosion though, Lucia ran some fingers through her black with a sigh. "I don't need to eat... As for fish bones-- Well, Reviving fish is an interesting prospect, but the things I would be able to make with them are very unnatural." She commented, her expression a little bitter. She was a necromancer but summoning things like abominations was not something she liked doing. Those strange and disturbing twisted amalgams of smaller creatures creating monsters was frightening even for her.

Instead, she gestured towards the woman trying to be reassuring as she spoke. "If you want to make something, Astorea's always in need of food reserves. It would be a big help at least considering all of the things that are happening. If you're looking for profits though there are a lot of other things you could do better then these small level tasks." She commented envisioning these things the same as Grinding for Mastery points. These two seemed new at least, she hoped to provide them with a step forward. "Things that sell well are usually cultivated personally. Unless you're a hunter that is, then you'd probably know more then I do." She admitted with a smile.

 

"Actually in this game you can get things like colds and fevers if you're doing something wrong in some place you shouldn't be. It would be a bad idea to underestimate this game's realism, particularly on long adventures or big quests you might find yourself in trouble for it. I've been on a quest once where someone was unable to wield their weapon because they caught a fever sleeping without a tent or napsack."

Backfire put as many fish as she could into her pockets then bundled up as many as he could in her arms. Satisfied with the amount she was carrying, she walked over to the two persons so she could stop shouting.

Maybe I can sell some fish to these clowns. There's a war coming right, other people are selling food for a profit, why the hell wouldn't I do the same?

"I don't need to eat... As for fish bones-- Well, Reviving fish is an interesting prospect, but the things I would be able to make with them are very unnatural."

To hell what she uses them for. If this woman ends up screwing up the environment with undead demon fish that's someone else's problem. This world has heroes to deal with that. No sweat off my back.

"Things that sell well are usually cultivated personally. Unless you're a hunter that is, then you'd probably know more then I do."

"Cross bridges when you come to them. I just noticed you have a heap of bone people and it seemed like you might have some use for some more bones. You could necromance some killer piranha in case you're ever in an underwater area or something.

Backfire gave the necromancer a sly wink.

"That's your call though, I don't care what you do with them after you buy them. I'm just selling fish and fish parts. As for hunting, I'm not really much of one either. I Just had an idea I wanted to try. Seems like it worked. "

Backfire looked over the necromancer and what she assumed was her friend. Then nodded her head towards the town's direction.

"Anyway, I'll be taking these to town. I'm Backfire by the way. I do demolition. You need something blown to bits, come find me and we can work out a price. I'll even cut you a deal for recommending that I sell these in town. Nice skeleton legion by the way."

Backfire looked at the redhead.

"You too. You need anything blown up, come find me. I'm an expert."

 

Rory faded somewhat into the background, watching the interaction unfold. Man, people really do get into it. His certain someone had shown him around the RP servers for some classic games back in the day, but the nature of VRMMOs really lent itself to this sort of thing. He wondered briefly if this little forest interaction was, well, indicative of how people usually were here. His head swiveled slowly from the pack of diversified undead to the fish corpses that had bubbled up to the surface of the river.

Yeeeeeeeah...probably not.

He was admittedly a little curious about the food situation. However... "I took Handicrafting, so I don't think I'll be able to fly with that." He sighed a little as he mentioned that, "To be honest, I haven't really run into anyone else with that skill, so I haven't had a chance to ask up. Uh, then again, guess I haven't been trying hard enough."

In regards to the matter of the cold, well... To be honest, the people before him seemed too far along into it. Rory felt the slight sentiment of dreadful anticipation as any newbie would standing before a game with a steep climb. He nodded towards the explosive person. "Thanks, will do. What's, uh, your handles though? I'm Rory...though I guess you guys can probably find that out easy peasy. Still feels more proper to introduce myself...uh, proper, though, y'know?" Then he remembered what his wife's expression had been like when he addressed her by her screen name. Maybe that wasn't a good thing to bring up.

Well, not like anyone would name their character something asinine like DarkLord or xXx_MasterAssassin_xXx for a game like this anyway, hopefully.

 

"Thanks, will do. What's, uh, your handles though? I'm Rory...though I guess you guys can probably find that out easy peasy. Still feels more proper to introduce myself...uh, proper, though, y'know?"

Backfire thought for a second.

"Handycrafting, huh? I don't know? Maybe with the scales? Though yeah, I'll shoot straight on this one... you're probably not going to do a lot of flying using fish parts. Hell, maybe you could use the bones for needles for sewing or something? Sew some sails for a ship?"

Damnit... now he's going to buy them and use them for needles when I could have charged more selling the bones for goddamn needles. Ugh... why am I so smart? Jesus... whatever, I can always bomb some more fish.

"Also, it's just Backfire. That's my name. I don't go by anything else in the game."

What does he want me real name for? Is he a stalker or something? I don't even let my close friends know I play games, the hell would I let some rando know for? Backfire is an awesome name anyway.

Backfire angry pouted a bit.

"Backfire is an awesome name."

 

Lucia shook her head, an apologetic smile on her face knowing that she was the frugal type regardless. If she needed fish remains she could acquire them much more efficiently on her own after all. That, and her undead didn't need to breath, what did they fear from the water? "The town is still the best place for selling food for a good return, I promise." She replied with a wink, the food shortage had always been a problem for Astorea after all, Lucia couldn't imagine the prices dropping at least... Perhaps that was why she was so well off since she didn't need to spend on it.

She mused on the thought briefly before hearing 'handicraft'. She instantly thought back to the peppy young thief Alpha. "Handicrafting has always been important after all, a lot of people need those types of things. I myself used to use that type of equipment once upon a time, though I've since changed my style to silkier and lighter combat wear." Lucia admitted knowing she'd changed out for light armor after becoming a purely magic wielding character. One shouldn't discount the usefulness of being able to buff equipment and make sets though.

The talk of scale armor though seemed more reminiscent of heavy armor classes rather then medium. For a moment she wondered if she should comment on it but in the end let it go, either way fish scales wouldn't lead to superior equipment at the very least, there wasn't a need to overload anyone. "I go by Lucia Mierz here-- I wanted a real name to try and fit in a bit among the NPCs. I'm not too hard to find, I record most of my adventures for people to watch, so it shouldn't be too hard to find info on me." Lucia commented, much like the youtubers of old, she aimed to be a professional gamer and VR Broadcaster in her own way.

 

"Backfire and Lucia, huh?" Rory had a feeling that voices his honest thoughts on the name 'Backfire' would get him a little fire up his backside, so he deferred doing so. "And I totally know what you mean about the real name sort of thing. I picked Rory because it means, uh, red something, which means redhead, y'know? My real hair is plain as hell." He seemed quite proud of this little detail, especially for someone who professed that he didn't get too 'into it'.

"Anyway, I've met a few streamers before. Y'all seem like nice enough people." He suddenly pitched a frown. "Dang, am I gonna show up on your broadcast? I'm too boring for the internet, really," he remarked with a slight chuckle. "You should point your cameras at her," he added, swiveling a finger at Backfire. "Maybe do an advertising deal?"

He fell silent for a moment after. Something seems...off about that...? Yet another moment later, Rory snapped his fingers. "Right, yeah, that seems sorta weird. Didn't you get that warning about not posting stuff about the game on social media? Well, not that a guy like me knows what qualifies for social media nowadays anyway..." He laughed a bit to himself, but nonetheless seemed rather curious.