Solitary Evening [open]

[Asheik]

oh how wrong we were

to think that immortality meant never dying

✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥

Far off in one of the edges of the city, atop a building, sat a peculiar Wolf Hair. This building in particular was nearly in ruins thanks to the overgrowth, but half of the roof had managed to stay in tact. It was covered in moss and vines wrapped around the entirety of what was left of the building. The moon, if you could call it that, hung high above. It's glow was bright, one of those nights that seemed to be lit up clearly due to the sheer brightness. Asheik, the aforementioned Wolf Hair, was simply staring up at this "moon". She was still trying to separate reality from this game, but each and every day it was becoming a bit harder. She disliked this fact greatly, just about as much as she disliked the whole situation.

Since first coming to this world, Asheik had found herself greatly conflicted. At first, she was utterly excited. It's not like she had anyone to truly care about in the real world, majority of her friends were online anymore. In fact, she had been playing this MMORPG quite a bit before "The Catastrophe", as everyone referred to it. But, the excitement faded quickly when she realized the one important factor. This was no longer a game. Which meant people were rationalizing from a reality perspective, and that meant she could not trust anyone.

Thus, she had taken to the edge of the city. Less people meant less to worry about. Every now and again she saw the occasional PKer right outside the the city's boundaries, but as long as she was inside the city she had nothing to worry about. Each day her curiosity grew about what exactly was outside the city, but she was hesitant to leave. It was fear of the unknown, though she'd never admit that. She was just finally getting her ground in this new place, that was all...

Groaning audibly, Asheik rubbed her temples. All this basking in the moonlight was making her think too much. Standing up, she hopped down from the roof of the ruined building. For now, she would take a stroll in the alleyways. Then, perhaps, she could make a decision on what exactly her next move would be.

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TAG: N/A WORDS: 376
NOTES: Anyone is welcome to join!

Temp by Melz @Caution 2.0, cyberlink, @adoxography and RPGD

[Balore]

It was unbelievable in the best way possible! The fact that he was finally here in the flesh was something that he could not truly wrap his head around just yet. It was exciting, terrifying, and a rush all at once for him. The fact that he was standing on his own two feet was unbelievable as it had been almost eleven years since he had done so. Extending one of his legs forward, a wide grin spread on Balore's face as he threw his right fist into the air and whooped aloud. It was easy to hear in the surrounding area, the shouts and laughter of someone who seemed way too excited to be alive. Turning this way and that, Balore removed his sword from it's sheath behind his shield and waved it about happily. The swish of the metal slicing through the air was a comforting sound to him as it reminded him of the heroes he had spent time playing in games. Now he was going to be the hero, the one who saved all the damsels from their world of darkness. Giving his sword a powerful thrust forward he noted that his arm and hand seemed to be completely steady. In this world he was a lot strong, faster, and apparently his body was steady compared to the shaking wreck of nerves he was in the real world. Once he was satisfied with all of that he sheathed his blade rather dramatically with a flip of the sword. Peering around at the city around him he noted that it seemed to be in general disrepair, something he hoped to fix. That was why he took the woodsman skills, he wanted to change this world with his own two hands. Once the moment of excitement passed he took off down the streets at full speed. Now that he could use his own two legs he was probably never going to walk slowly ever again. Every time he passed one of the people of the land he turned to see what they were selling. Despite it not being much different than the world he came from it was exciting to be able to interact with them personally. Pre-chosen dialogue options were never that exciting to Balore, he always wanted the ability to be able to speak as he wished and have the NPC's respond the differently to what was said. Coming to a screeching halt in front of a stall that seemed to possess the tools required for a woodsman, Balore quickly bartered for a set so that he could begin his work. There would not be much progress from him on the front today however as he was way too excited to get out into the field and try out his abilities. Looking at the skill menu, he was delighted to see that some of the games main functions were still present even if the world was "real" now. It was because of these menus that he would not pay attention to where he was going unfortunately. A six foot armored man caused a lot of trouble when he was not watching his steps in a crowd. As he walked, people jumped out of the way as they realized he was not going to course correct himself to avoid them. "Hmm. Only one skill. No good. Going to have to go level up outside the city.." he said aloud to himself as he turned a corner and started to wander down one of the many alleyways of the city. It was safe to say that he no longer had any clue where he was as he was no longer paying attention to the buildings or streets around him. In his haste to figure out the worlds systems and explore he had gotten himself lost on the outer edge of the city. That was when he first felt it, a forceful thud against his body as he walked right into a girl coming right at him. A guy his size shouldn't have fallen normally from colliding with someone her size but due to regaining his ability to walk only recently his balance was not exactly one hundred percent. With a loud yelp the guardian fell over backwards onto his butt with a loud clank of armor. "Ow ow ow ow." he exclaimed as he sat up right and stared in disbelief at his own clumsiness. So even now that he could walk in this world it did not mean that he was as good at it as everyone else just yet. This he would note for later as it would be something important for him to work on. Climbing to his feet, the towering knight looked down at the woman he had run into with a slight red blush on his cheeks. "I am very sorry, miss. I was reading my skill menu and I forgot to look where I was going." he said to her as he scratched his cheek nervously. His first encounter with another adventurer and he was already going to be off to a bad start, what a bother. This was going to complicate finding a leveling party as he was going to find the first few people he saw around his level and ask them to team up with him. "Please, forgive me." he said placing his arm over his chest and bowing slightly in a formal fashion. Word Count: 905 Tagged: Asheik

◀ MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

[Asheik]

oh how wrong we were

to think that immortality meant never dying

✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥

At first, Asheik's walk was extremely peaceful. It got her back to a level point in her brain and she had come to a firm decision finally. She was going to try venturing out of the city soon. But then the question would be would she go it alone or try to find some sort of temporary party? That was the hard part to figure out. Letting out an audible sigh as she rounded a corner, smacking head first into... a wall of armor? "Oof!" she grunted, getting knocked back into the wall. She was still standing, luckily enough, but whatever or whoever she just hit went flying back onto the ground. And while she still stood, her breath was something that had gotten knocked out of her. A few moments passed as she stood there in a slight daze, catching back up with her breathing. She almost saw stars, if that was possible in this reality. "What the hell?!" she growled, coming back to her senses. Shaking her head quickly, she pushed herself off from the wall and looked at the source of this mess.

A... guy? Immediately her arms crossed, one of those instinctual protective things us humans tend to do. Her dark grey eyes flickered over him as he seemed to gather himself together. How strange such a big guy was able to just fall over like that. Unless he was one of those cases. She had heard both excitement and negativity toward getting used to one's avatar. Some people had made avatars much larger than their real life selves, which was the biggest complaint. Aurora hadn't had much trouble getting used to Asheik luckily, but that was due to the close similarities she held to her character. The excitement however was worthy in her opinion, that the disabled could now hear, see, or walk. It must have certainly been a miracle to them. A piece of her was actually happy for this place in that aspect, but she was too removed from the subject to let it greatly effect her opinion thus far. The thing she was wondering now was what this guy fell under, was he just a clumsy oaf that was still adjusting to his too big character or was there something more?

Suddenly he stood, and he was a very towering fellow. Definitely an adventurer, though she hadn't had a doubt in her mind before he stood up that he was. No People of the Land really ever seemed to try and come out this far from town, another reason she liked it. Those "Landers" creeped her out, the way they seemed to actually be people now. It was just too strange for her, as she was still hung up in this place being a game. Snapped out of her thoughts by the man's sudden apology and explanation, she frowned. He seemed just as strung out as she was at first. A part of her felt pity for the guy, but for the majority she was still very cautious. Stepping back a bit she looked him in the eye, which meant craning her neck a bit. "If you can't multitask, perhaps it is better to sit and use the skill menu," she stated bluntly. It may have come off as rude, but she had little desire to converse with this guy. She was pretty sure she'd have a gnarly bruise by now in the real world.

As the man bowed, asking for forgiveness, Asheik's cheeks flushed slightly. Wh-what's with this guy?! she asked herself, glancing away from him awkwardly. He was far too nice. In fact, opposites reversed, she would have probably just kept going on her way without paying him any mind. But here he was being all formal and even bowing like a knight would. Perhaps he was a roleplayer? He seemed to take his role seriously anyway. "Listen, it's fine," she sighed, shaking her hand at him as if to tell him to stop, "There's no need for the apologies and bowing." Rubbing the back of her neck nervously, she was unsure how to proceed. Since arriving she hadn't spoken to a soul, so this was her first real interaction with anyone in Elder Tale since the Catastrophe. At this point, that all felt like ages ago to her, even though it really wasn't.

This guy though, he seemed nice. She was constantly blowing off any and all adventurer's who had attempted to speak to her before, but they were all the same. After one thing only, helping themselves. This guy was the opposite, and seemed like he needed a little help if anything. Just like her... Mustering her courage, Asheik stuck out her hand suddenly. "I'm Asheik," she introduced herself.

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TAG: Balore         WORDS: 791
NOTES: N/A

Temp by Melz @Caution 2.0, cyberlink, @adoxography and RPGD

[Balore]

The growl she had initially released made Balore quite weary of interacting with her for the moment as he had no idea how she would respond to him after this incident. It was awesome that he was even having this problem right now, in the real world it was unlikely to happen. Yet despite how he felt he was sure that she was not thinking the same thing about all of this. Even though he was often carefree he was not blind to the emotions of others and she was giving off the vibe of irritation that he could not fault her for. That was why he was apologizing to her so hard, he felt that if he didn't his reputation in this world would start to decline before he could even raise himself to hero status. Taking a moment to examine the woman before him he noted that she was not part of the group "People of the Land" but indeed and adventurer as he could see her class. She was part of the Swashbuckler class, something he had almost chosen for himself but decided that defense suited him better. "Y-yeah, perhaps I got too excited by all of this. I forgot to watch where I was going. It's just.. this is all great isn't it?!" he asked in an excited tone as he threw his first into the air like a goof. He was way too stoked for his own good and he was sure to annoy those around him in an instant. That was a big flaw of his though it could also be considered a strength, he was incredibly cheerful. "I would hate to have someone think ill of me so early in the adventure. Please, can you forgive me?" he asked once more. It seemed that she was bothered by how formal he was, however he was unable to help himself. He was always taught to be respectful, especially to women. His father would have chewed him out something fierce if he had not apologized and done his best to try and sort the situation out. Once he had this sorted he would begin his next challenge; putting together a group to grind some low level quests and monsters for experience and gold. Assuming the world still functioned the same as the game, he would take the logical next step by trying to advance his own power and his groups. "Asheik." he repeated as he rolled the name around on his tongue for a moment. It was easy to remember and fun to say to him. Though right now everything sounded fun to him, he was having the time of his life. "It is nice to meet you, Asheik. You may call me Balore." he said as he bowed once more, instinct, especially for a role-player. Straightening up he figured he should probably get to the point as he had a pensive look on his face that usually suggested he was about to ask you something. "Asheik, you wouldn't be interested in taking on a quest with me, would you? I hear that the low level monsters outside of this town like to harass the merchants as they come and go. I was thinking about lending a hand." he said as he tapped his right hand on the shield being held by his left. His gear was not exactly impressive but he was proud of the semi-shiny knight armor he wore and thought it was cool how his sword sheathed behind his shield. "I am only a guardian. While I have high defense my damage is not as high as one might wish. I could use a damage dealer to aid me in this." he said. If she chose to accept his next step would be to open his friends list. Perhaps he was jumping the gun a bit but he liked to add the people who partied with him to his list. That way if they were split up they could communicate and he had quick access to them should he ever have need of them in the future. Word Count: 685 Tagged: Asheik

◀ MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

[Guthbrand]

They had said that he had went this way, apparently wandering almost aimlessly after he had accepted their request. Guthbrand wondered if he could catch up to the man before he left the city, especially as if the last person had pointed him in the right direction he was nearly out of it already. He sighed as he strolled along keeping an eye out for the tall (though not as tall as he was himself) long white haired knight, he had no idea why someone would accept a request by themselves like he had from those concerned merchants, they had asked him to help the knight when he had returned with the boar meat and sold them some of it, showing that he was finally leaving the city. The merchant's had been happy, oddly enough that he was no longer simply running errands for them in the city proper, but was willing to go out and fight against the various mobs. As he was turning the corner of one last street having decided to head out on his own if he didn't find the man soon he heard a loud crash coming from just beyond the corner at the end of the road, the sound of armor being hit heavily was familiar to him, it meant someone thought that just because this was close to the outskirts of the city that they could attack another player, or that someone in plate (like the knight he was looking for) had possible tripped and fallen, though that seemed to be the more likely of the two when he actually thought about it. Either way it had piqued his interest and while just a short while ago he would have headed the other way this time instead he hurried along to see what it was that had made the noise. 

Guthbrand's long strides carried him forward at a pace that soon allowed him to round the corner and perform a 90° turn to the right done, by rotation on the ball of the left foot and the heel of the right, he executed the turn nearly perfectly as if he was marching. He barely avoided running into the back of the small woman who had offered her hand to a.. "I'll be damned if he doesn't fit the description of the man I'm looking for to a T." he thought to himself as he examined the white haired knight who had yet to take the small woman's hand though he had just finished speaking. He performed a left turn in nearly the same manner as he had the right and came to a sudden halt next to the two of them, he stood off to the side in his vest covered dark brown padded armor, arrows on his hip and bow strung across diagonally across his back. He stood there and brought up the menu quickly, checking to see the location of his brother. Satisfied with what he saw he punched his name and put his finger in his ear, "Hey bro, found the guy. Seems he might already have a party though. Still going to see if he wants to join up." he used his telepathy to speak to his brother and let him know where they were located, before removing his finger and waiting for the knight to finish taking the girls hand before he interjected himself into their conversation with what he wanted and why he had stopped. 


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Word Count: 578
Strast Dandris
Asheik
Balore

[Asheik]

oh how wrong we were

to think that immortality meant never dying

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This man's response to her initial quip caused her brow to raise. Great? she repeated mentally, as though it was a foreign word to her. He really thought being trapped here with a bunch of people from the real world was great? Truthfully, she had initially felt the same, but this guy obviously hadn't interacted much with others. Where this may have been a great place to be trapped in before, it was no longer such. Most if not all of the adventurers were simply untrustworthy. She would say nothing on the topic however, deciding it would be best for this guy to learn on his own. She could not dictate how someone felt or perceived their circumstances, just as her mind would not be changed by anyone else's opinion.

Finally, he had stopped with the bowing and apologizing. Instantly she felt relief, her cheeks' red shade fading away. He was far too kind. She felt badly for him, knowing his kindness would be abused by someone eventually. As he tried out her name, she came to a realization. Anyone she bothered with would be calling her by this character's identity, not her own. That was an oddly satisfying notion. Maybe the people who take this game so seriously were on to something? Might as well enjoy the fact that the already slim chances of someone knowing her in the real world finding out who she was here was basically eliminated.

Broken from her thoughts once more by the white haired guy, he finally introduced himself. Balore? That name seemed to suit him quite well. "Gah!" she squeaked as he bowed again, "S-stop with all the bowing!" Her cheeks lit up with red again, as she really wasn't getting used to the whole politeness thing. As he straightened up a second time, she certainly noticed the look on his face. It was almost nervous, but not quite. She was really bad at reading other people sometimes, but luckily for her Balore's intent wasn't to hide what he was thinking. 

His request caught her off guard. He wanted to... create a party? For some sort of low level monster killing quest. Sounded simple enough. She really cared less about helping the strange People of the Land but she was in dire need of gaining some levels. Before she responded however, she finally noticed the new guy as he stepped off to the left of them. He didn't say anything, but it was obvious he was just waiting for Balore and her to finish. A frown graced her lips, her right hand resting atop her katana that was strapped to that side of her. "...I accept your offer, Balore. But now I am wondering just who this guy is," she stated bluntly. It was a step in the right direction, accepting his offer. She knew that, because going out there alone would have possibly been a bad choice. But this newcomer needed to speak his words quickly before she changed her mind.

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TAG: Balore, Guthbrand        WORDS: 500
NOTES: N/A

Temp by Melz @Caution 2.0, cyberlink, @adoxography and RPGD

[Balore]

The fact that he kept bowing politely was probably never going to stop. Asheik would have to get over the fact that Balore was into his character that much or else she would eventually turn so red she popped like a balloon. Still he supposed that he should try and cut back on being so formal since it made her uncomfortable, habits were pretty hard to kill. Blinking at her reaction with a surprised face he did it once more, bowed somewhat and apologized for what he just did all over again. It was going to be an endless cycle of this it seemed. "Sorry. I cannot help myself, it's just the way I was taught to do things." he said, laughing nervously. With all of that out of the way they had more important matters to attend to anyway than how he chose to apologize to someone too much. There were monsters to hunt that were not going to simply go away on their own, especially now that they had a taste for the food that was on the merchants wagons. It was even rumored that one of the merchants knew how to make something that had a taste beyond the salty mush that Balore had been eating for the past few days now. Even that was not enough to dampen his spirits it seemed as with everyone else they seemed to be quite distressed about it. A smile spread across his lips as she accepted his offer. To be quite honest he had never expected it to be so easy and considering that he smashed into her he would not have blamed her if she declined. Still he was relieved, that was one more person to aid him so that he did not die in the field. Even if you revived at the cathedral he would lose all of the items he gathered and that would make him a little more than upset considering he worked hard to collect things during quests. "Thank you so much for your aid, I could not have done this without you. Now I think we should be o.." he started to say but then he realized she was looking at something. Spinning around at her statement, Balore was greeted by the appearance of another rather large male who seemed to be standing quietly behind them. He took a moment to examine the newcomer, narrowing his eyes slightly as he thought about the possibilities. 'Potential ally or PKer waiting to take us out?' he thought to himself as he decided what to do. They honestly wouldn't know unless they spoke to him, that much was for certain. Balore sighed inwardly as he stepped forward, still too distracted to ever shake Asheik's offered hand, and put on his best smile. "Hello there! I am Balore, this is Asheik. You wouldn't happen to be looking for something to do, would you?" he asked. It was a bit dangerous but he was too trusting of a person when it came to the other adventurers. He wanted to believe that at the end of the day everyone else was like him, just trying to survive in this world. For now he would not worry about it considering that the worst case scenario would be that he would have to throw himself in the path to save Asheik since he brought her into this. Snapping back to a more positive thought process, he waited patiently for the mans reply and hoped it was favorable. The faster he got through this quest the faster he could take up another one and he really needed the boost in power. Word Count: 609 Tagged: Asheik, Guthbrand

◀ MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

[Guthbrand]

Guthbrand watched the actions of the two, the female blushing at the bowing and apologizing that the male, "Name is Balore apparently." had been doing. He thought that they were simply ignoring him, "Wouldn't blame them if they were. It's not like it wasn't common to do so when this was a game, like in any MMO.", but it seemed that they were simply not acknowledging him until they had finished, which was entirely reasonable. Apparently they had come to some kind of deal and were closing it as of now, or at least she was agreeing to the terms of it. He pondered what it was a moment before the girl frowned, put her hand on the katana that she carried "Not that she could do anything in city limits with out the guards intervening.", turned to face him and finally addressed him in a way as she agreed to his proposal. Balore the large man hadn't acknowledged him either, perhaps hadn't even noticed him at all until the she had spoken bringing his attention to Guthbrand. His eyes had been narrowed, "Probably wondering what the hell I'm doing, just the same as she was." before Balore smiled instead, probably deciding that he presented no threat, "Which was right, we are in the city after all.", Balore introduced himself and the female "Asheik, interesting name.", then proceeded to ask if he was looking for something to do. "Actually Balore, I was looking for you. One of the merchants mentioned that you had headed this way, and I was hoping to catch you before you made it out of the city." He spoke in his gruff baritone before glancing over at Asheik smiling and giving a shrug, "I did not realize that you already had a party set up, and thought I'd offer to join up with you alongside my brother so that we could take down the monsters bothering the merchants when they come into town." He wasn't sure about mentioning his brother, but then again they would find out sooner rather than later when he arrived, raising his hand Guthbrand brought up his menu so that he could examine the two of them, both where level one, Balore was a Guardian and Asheik was a swashbuckler, that would mean that they had everything but a healer for their party. Luckily most low level quests didn't require a healer, the natural replenishment was pretty quick and would take care of that. After a moment he realized he still hadn't introduced himself and spoke up, "I'm Guthbrand," he would offer his hand to Balore and then to Asheik, after a moments pause he would add, "And my brother who isn't here at the moment is Strast Dandris, he is a summoner." While Balore seemed welcoming enough, he wasn't sure the reaction that Asheik would have, she seemed more cautious "Which is a completely reasonable thing to be, especially with some of the things that go on in this world." when it came to players one was not familiar. While it might seem that Guthbrand was more trusting, it was simply that he knew most people shunned the player killers, so if he were to follow them out on this quest and be slain "That would be my first death since the catastrophe." simply telling others when he woke up in the cathedral would be a fairly easy way to get back at them, especially if he and his brother both told others of it and showed up one after another in such quick succession.


Now it was just a case of waiting, what would be their reply? Would they accept what he said as true at face value, think him a liar or simply refuse to work together on the same quest. "That might make it a bit weird seeing as we have the same goal, I wonder if the Lander merchant that was wanting this done would reward multiple parties? It's not just a game anymore after all. One could only try in that case" Though Guthbrand had his doubts, after all would you pay two different people claiming to have done the same job, or would you have only paid the first and told the second to shove off?



---------------------------------
Word Count: 711
Asheik
Balore
Strast Dandris

OOC: Italics is thoughts. Hopefully it works out alright with my writing them down like this. Might wind up bolding the speech to make it stand out more.

[Strast Dandris]

Strast acknowledged his brothers telepathy and headed towards his location hoping to meet up with them soon. The now familiar streets were still busy with people coming and going even at this time of day and Strast wanted to meet up with them before they headed out of town. This of course all depended on weather or not him and his brother were going to be able to tag along for the quest with the others. Deadite was follow Strast close behind him making quite a bit of racket with his rusty armor and shield bumping along his rattling bones. Deadite was of course Strasts skeletal minion just with a more affectionate name.

When Strast and Deadite arrived in a great clamor of noise as Deadite could wake the dead with all his clanking, Strast waved at his brother and gave a small bow to the other two. "Name's Strast how do ye do?" Strast says slightly out of breath from hurrying over. Looking at the two others as he walked up gave Strast time to form some opinions of the two before he extended his hand politely to the duo.

****************
word count : 191

[Asheik]

oh how wrong we were

to think that immortality meant never dying

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By this point Asheik had completely forgotten she had ever offered her hand to Balore, it having fallen back down to her side and was now the one atop one of her katanas. She knew the rules simple enough, PKing was not allowed immediately in town, but that didn't stop her instinctual reaction. All she knew is if anyone attempted it, she wouldn't go down without a fight. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled quietly while carefully watching her new comrade's next move. He was a bit delayed in realizing this newcomer, instead thanking her for deciding to tag along. But, when he did notice, she saw the flicker of uncertainty in his eyes as well. So Balore was not a complete fool, that was a relief. It made him that more reliable in her eyes.

Still, his trust went miles beyond her own. Unsurprisingly, after a moment's hesitation, he invited the man to join them. For a moment, she wanted to object, but then decided against it. For now, if Balore thought him trustworthy, she would go with it. After all, she had agreed to party up and complete this merchant's task. It was beneficial as long as no one was playing mind games here. Taking her hand off of her blade's hilt, she shook the man's hand rather firmly after he introduced himself as Guthbrand. An interesting name, though most people's were in this world. "As Balore said, I am Asheik," she reintroduced herself, releasing his hand. Bringing up her console, she recognized Guthbrand as a monk. And his brother would be a summoner, which meant they would be an overload of damage when partied together. That was definitely a good thing to have at this low of a level. Too bad there wasn't a healer, but that wasn't much of a worry considering how much damage they had. They would easily wipe out the monster's before much could be done to the party.

Then the final member of their newly formed group appeared, the summoner. He seemed like he had been in a hurry to catch up, his breath somewhat ragged. Behind him was a strange thing she had actually yet to see anyone else have, some sort of skeletal minion. It piqued her interest quite a lot, her dark eyes looking it over. A sudden wave of confidence hit her, with these guys she was sure to gain some power in a quick fashion. And, if it came down to it, they probably be easy enough to ditch. After all, that was a tracker's specialty. It seemed one more round of handshaking was in order, and once again Asheik shook hands, this time with Strast. "I am Asheik," she introduced one final time, releasing his hand quickly afterward. "Well, we've got a decent sized group... So are we all ready?" she asked, looking at Balore for his final answer. By this point she had decided that, unless he proved untrustworthy, she would simply follow the white haired man's lead. It was a logical choice after all.

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TAG: Balore, Guthbrand, Strast Dandris        
WORDS: 510
NOTES: N/A

Temp by Melz @Caution 2.0, cyberlink, @adoxography and RPGD

[Balore]

It did make sense to him that the people of the land would seek more aid than just a single knight. Still he did not expect this much of a response without having to do the work himself. When he accepted the quest he was told that he would most likely have to do the recruiting on his own. Apparently they decided to change their mind and find a few more people to aid him in his task. Unfortunately the landers seemed to have no concept of choosing a well rounded group for farming and so they ended up with mostly melee dps and no healer. Putting his hand under his chin while he thought for a moment, Balore decided that this was probably going to have to be enough for now. Without the forums to post on there was no way he could quickly find a fifth member for their party. At the very least his story reflected how he himself got here and that was enough for him in the way of trust. Taking the mans hand, Balore shook it firmly before letting it go. With that hand shake there was an unspoken agreement between then two of them, he assumed, that this was all legitimate and there would be no funny business. "Well met, Guthbrand. Your assistance is most appreciated as I was unsure whether or not our combined power alone would be enough." he said. The smile left his face and was replaced with a look of focus, that stern gaze he normally held when his initial excitement faded. Another thing piqued his interest however and that was the rattling sound that seemed to be heading their way. Whatever was making that awful noise had to be searching for them as well, presumably his brother who he had mentioned previously. This was confirmed when another man came to a halt before them with a skeletal pet clad in armor. So his brother was a summoner, a class that he had little to no experience with in the game. Shaking the newcomers hand, Balore nodded at him, releasing his grip. "Fine, thanks." he replied. So now came the part he assumed they would need to get out of the way before the started on their journey; figuring out their roles. "Right, well I assumed since I am a Guardian that I will be the main tank. Monks are also classified as tanks, are they not? If you do not mind I would ask that you fill the off-tank role assuming you are comfortable with that." he said. Looking between Asheik and Strast he assumed that they did not need any assistance with figuring out where they fit in as they only had one role in a group where as a monk could DPS as well. "Now then, assuming we are all ready, we should be off. If we delay too long I fear that the landers will be neck deep in slimes and goblins." he said. Of course he was not sure what they would face in the outskirts, he mostly just assumed. Turning towards the direction he was initially heading, Balore would lead the group to the gate that lead out of town. On the way he decided to make a bit of small talk, though they were quite close already. "Does anyone here have any previous experience with MMO's besides Elder Tale? This is my first MMO honestly, I am a bit nervous having to live the actual experience rather than control it from above." he said. He was not afraid to admit that he was not made of steel when it came to his nerves as he was always honest with those who seemed alright to him. "If there is something I am not doing during the fights that you think I could do better, just tell me. I'd rather fix it now than die for it later on." he said. Without even realizing it he would ramble on for a while until they were at the gate that led outside. Word Count: 677 Tagged: Asheik, Guthbrand. Strast Dandris

◀ MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

[Guthbrand]

With them shaking his hand, and directly introducing themselves to him, Guthbrand was satisfied that the arrangement would work well, at least well enough for the time being.  "Other than him and his brother the others would have no idea how to work with each other, but wouldn't that be the way things went regardless? Who could know them like they knew each other with so much time spent together over the years, playing games, working and just generally living?" He supposed that would simply be the way things were, but perhaps they could figure out a decent way to work together quickly enough, as long as their personalities didn't clash horribly with each other. Asheik had remained quite until they had shaken hands and had little to say outside of making sure they where all ready, "Well it doesn't look like she would be vying for the leadership role then, not that I'm necessarily interested in it, it just usually worked out that way in the end."  When Guthbrand took her hand he nodded, "Nice to meet you Asheik."  he spoke her name more for his benefit than hers, it would help him remember with out having to rely upon the game's system. He liked to know the name of those he would be working beside, even if it was for a short while, "And I'll be writing about this in my journal latter on, don't want to forget the name of one of the party members as I'm writing things down now do I?"

When Balore took his hand it was much firmer of a hand shake than he had gotten from Asheik, but then again the size of them were different so it made sense. From the way he greeted him he assumed he was a roleplayer, he had seen them about but had little actual interaction with them in this world. As long as the role he was playing turned out to be a good one then he had no problem, "Perhaps it was just the way the guy dealt with the trauma of being stuck in this world?" Guthbrand didn't know, but he supposed there were worse was to deal "Like cowering in an abandoned part of the city doing nothing to better yourself while you wait for someone else to figure out how to get home?" he asked himself before grinning at Balore, "Yes well met, the power of the four of us should be more than enough to take down a good number of the smaller monsters we are likely to encounter." Balore's appearance changed to be much more focused, the smile leaving his face replaced by a more stern gaze just as he could hear his brother getting closer, he hadn't met anyone in this world that kept his summon with him at nearly all times, "Especially considering the ruckus that this one seemed to make everywhere it goes.", Guthbrand gave his brother a nod in reply to the small bow he liked to give as the Asheik introduced herself to his brother, shaking his hand quickly before asking if they were ready to go looking to Balore for the answer, "That's as good a place as any to look, what with myself and Strast looking for him to party up. It would work until he proved he was incompetent in the role of leader or not.", when he started speaking of tanking Guthbrand nodded his agreement, "I can do that, though keep in mind I'm built as a switch-hitter rather than an off tank as of now, meaning that I don't have a taunting skill.","If the group stays together longer than just today, perhaps I can even build in that general direction as a secondary thing, it couldn't hurt in the long run."

Guthbrand naturally fell into step with the man just to his right and slightly behind him, matching his strides and even cadence with his own. He began to ask about experience with MMO's, it wouldn't hurt to answer honestly, "I have plenty of experience with them, though honestly I usually gear up for Player Versus Player rather than against mobs, this is different though. It's no longer a game, and that would be evil to strike down others." He looked at them a moment to see how his words effected them before continuing, "Me and my brother usually form a guild by the name "We Are Family" and fairly quickly make a mark in the instanced pvp for ourselves, usually with our father, mother and younger brother joining in and helpin' to establish us as a force to be reckoned with." clearing his throat he shrugged before answering the rest of what he had said, "It's the same for most if not all of us here, we are new to Elder's Tale, new to this type of interface and how things work here, I don't think any one expected to be brought into another world like this when they started to play Novasphere Pioneers. And the same goes for me, if I'm doing something that needs to changed let me know, it's best to squash bad habits before they take hold firmly." he hadn't expected to share that much with them, but what could it really hurt? He know that if it were to come out later that it still might cause problems, best have the dirty laundry, "Who would have thought how you used to play an MMO would be dirty laundry?", out in the air for everyone to see to start with rather than hiding it away in some dark corner hoping it wouldn't come to light. He watched to see if their stance changed towards him and his brother, he couldn't blame them if it did, after all PvP was a completely different beast in this world, and those that engaged in it willingly where simply evil in his mind. 

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Word Count: 984
Strast Dandris
Balore
Asheik

[Strast Dandris]

*The world is a strange place* Strast thought quietly to himself as he gave his short bow and introduction to the two. The lady Asheik and Balore seemed like capable companions. Strast noticed Asheik's glance at Deadite and as such brought up his follower and introduced him tot he pair as well. "This is Deadite, Hes a bit of a cantankerous sort but he is a loyal friend. I named him after a cult movie show that you may of heard of back in the other world. The Evil Dead with Bruce Campbell? If you have not I suggest giving it a good watch when you get back to the world... If we get back. Don't worry about his usefulness though for even if he drops dead I can bring him back. Oh and one more thing, Deadite has no taunts so unless he is either the only target or if you wait a while between attacks hes kinda just here for a small boost of dps." Strast says with a small smile and a chuckle. 

*Maybe this trip wont be so bad thought Strast we can get a small group of people working together building their strength than they can start forming good teamwork the will be able to start doing the higher end stuff together allowing for better gear. Never in his life did gear matter so much to Strast as it has begun to in this world. Still Strast was no unhappy at this turn of events. He was in a world of magic filled with wonders both terrifying and beautiful. No pollution that he could see, no smog, no loud cars, no people rushing to and fro to busy to acknowledge that the world was going on without their interference. Now people were actually living their lives. Maybe not how the dreamed but in a way it was a much truer world than the Real world could ever be. Here people had to make choices that mattered. Did you go out and kill the monsters to help the spawn? Did you help the newbies? Did you protect against PK's?  No laws ruled here, thus people could be true to their selves for the first time in many peoples lives. Now it wasn't all good but it was simpler.* 

The beauty lied in the fact that this world did not give people a choice on what to do, it simply let you do. Strast thought to himself as they started off. 

Strast took up position behind and a few paces to the right of Guthbrand while Deadite took up a few steps further back and to the left of Strast. His armor banging to and fro while Strast sang the March of Cambreadth quietly to himself. 


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Word count : 459

[Asheik]

oh how wrong we were

to think that immortality meant never dying

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"Deadite... curious name," Asheik muttered as Strast introduced his minion. It would be useful, simply for the extra DPS. Altogether, not having heals for now wouldn't matter if they had this much damage going for them. Enemies would most likely be wiped out before they could even touch anyone besides Balore, as long as things went smoothly. When the summoner went into further explanation about the name he came up with for his minion, she blinked. She had forgotten all about The Evil Dead. Truthfully, the girl in the real world, Aurora, had been a huge movie buff. Not just a fan of the horror genre, but literally anything and everything she could get her hands on. "The Evil Dead is a horror staple. Who hasn't seen it?!" she blurted out without thinking. Suddenly, realizing she had spoken with such excitement for the first time in ages, Asheik's cheeks went slightly red and she immediately went quiet once more. Still, it was nice to know that someone else obviously liked movies somewhat. What she'd do for a bucket of theater popcorn and the big screen again. At one point, she had aspired to be on the screen herself... but the closer she came to graduating high school, the more reality hit her that it would most likely never happen.

Lost in her thoughts once more, the adventure began. Asheik silently followed behind Balore on his left side, still not saying a word. Luckily for her, Balore would break the silence with a question. He was seeking valuable information from the group, which was good. She too had been curious if anyone else had gaming experience. She honestly figured they all did, and was a little shocked to find out that the man before her actually had none besides the short time he played Elder Tale before everyone became stuck. He was certainly respectable though, willing to take critique if he needed it. The girl would be more than willing to give him and anyone else tips if the group was not functioning properly. "I played Elder Tale a bit, but I have a background with quite a few other MMORPG's as well, in mainly the PvE aspect..." she explained after Guthbrand spoke. A part of her had become even more wary of these brothers, knowing they had a focus in PvP prior to this. However, she was only cautious. She had PvPed a few times herself, and knew that it was simply for game. So as long as they understood that, she'd be fine with them. "I'm quite used to classes like the swashbuckler, but if there is anything I should change to become better suited for our group I also would appreciate critique," she requested. Everyone had a different playing style, as Balore would most likely soon learn. Before she knew it, they had arrived at the gate which led out of town.

To Asheik's own surprised, her heartbeat sped up slightly with anticipation. These would be her first steps out of the godforsaken London replica. Maybe she would finally find something enjoyable about this world within this new group of people. Or perhaps more of a reason to avoid people in this place... Either way, it would confirm her actions and goals in the days to come. Opening the gate, the wolf hair walked out of Londinium. The moon was still hanging high in the air, and there were thousands of stars to be seen. It was much clearer, out here where there was no light pollution. Not that it was horrible in the city, but there was still a difference. It reminded her of the countryside back home. She enjoyed getting to go out of the city when she was younger just for nights similar to this. In some ways, this world's nights were even more brilliant. Because it's all fake. she reminded herself coldly. Turning her head back, her dark eyes glanced over Balore, Guthbrand, and Strast. She would wait for their next move, as she was not sure how far exactly they would need to travel to come across these monsters.

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TAG: Balore, Guthbrand, Strast Dandris
WORDS: 686
NOTES: N/A

Temp by Melz @Caution 2.0, cyberlink, @adoxography and RPGD

[Balore]

It would be an uneasy alliance at best, that much he was sure of. They were all low level so there really wasn't much that could go wrong aside from the monsters still he felt like he should be on the look out. It wasn't the way they acted that kept him on guard, simply the fact that they were open about their usual sort of play style. As they all finished their introductions, Balore rolled that thought around in his head for a while to try and figure out what to do with it. Was there really a choice at this point? They all needed each other so for now their loyalties to the group would hold he assumed. Listening to each of them mention their skills and play styles he got a better feel for what he was working with here. Guthbrand had no taunt and therefore the tanking would fall to Balore. That was how he wished it to be however as it was his preferred role in any game. That was how he purposely built his character, to take damage so that the others didn't have to. At the very least they all seemed to get along so there would hopefully be very little disagreement over how to split the haul of loot or whatever. "At least you're honest about your usual play style. Thank you." he said with a short nod. Honestly they did not have to admit that fact about themselves but they didn't wait for the two of them to figure out somehow either. It eased his mind even just a little when people were up front about things, even the things that could be considered bad in this new world. As the four of them wandered out of the gate they would not have to go very far in order to see what their quest was. There were a few over turned wagons that seemed to be crawling with little slimes. Normally they were not aggressive monsters but something out here seemed to have made them angry. The rest of the conversations sort of fell on deaf ears as he assessed the situation before them. Four slimes were on their left about 2 meters away from them and were chasing a couple landers about their downed cart. Just further up, about 6 meters away, the same thing was happening but with 5 slimes in total. It seemed they were going to be required to jump right into the thick of it the moment they got out here. The journey of a hero was never suppose to be easy and to be quite honest Balore was excited to begin. Drawing his sword which rang out into the open field before them that lead to the tree line, Balore took a few steps forward. There was a smirk on his face as he smashed the flat part of his blade against his shield which clanked loudly as he did it. At the same time he activated his [Taunting Shout] which would easily draw the aggro of one of the little slimes. He could only taunt one at a time but it had a short cooldown thankfully so he would use it as it came up. The other slimes he would now charge, swinging his sword into their jelly like torso's to draw their threat. It was an effective taunt though it did not produce as much threat as his shout. Once he had the attention of the four slimes that were now hoping towards him he raised his shield to protect himself. Now was the time for his party to act and take down the low level monsters. If he lost control of one due to their DPS he would simply retaunt them, easy enough really. If this was how it always went he could get used to this. There was something appealing to him about the role of the knight who was the sword and shield of the group, the one who was hard to replace and crucial to the groups success. "It's all up to you guys now. If you need a taunt that I don't see just give me a shout!" he called out. Word Count: 703 Tagged: Asheik, Guthbrand, Strast Dandris

◀ MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS