[Open|Social] Cider in the Morning

[Amyas Eoghan Hodges]

The world around him was dark and cold. His whole body was wrapped in a blanket of void and the wind rushed by his ears, screaming louder and louder as he fell in a deep nothingness. He struggled to rip the veil off his face, but his fingers could not grasp the cloth. His legs flailed wildly as if anything he could do would stop the ground from approaching fast beneath him, even if he couldn't see it. He tried to open his mouth to yell, but no sound escaped his throat, just breath. Then he turned to self-harm. He started to rip at his flesh, then dug his fingers deep into his gut. His hands acted on their own and began to rip out his own entrails. That was when he finally shot up out of bed, covered in sweat and breathing profusely.

It took him several seconds to get reacclimatised to his surroundings. He was in a small room, there was little light save for the light bleeding into the room from the window. It was a clear autumn night in the city of Londin, the moon high in the sky and the stars innumerable. That couldn't be seen, though, since he was still in bed and the window was closed with a drape over it. It wasn't much of a room. Just a small table on one corner with a chair. A small bookcase sat on the opposite side of the room, filled with stories Amyas had probably read thrice over. He's been stuck in this city for months without any progress toward his goal. He's probably stayed in this inn two dozen times, many more times in other inns dotted through the city. It's hard to find a person who's name you don't know and who's face you've never seen. This whole thing might just be a fool's errand. He wants to get out of this adventurer-controlled city. But he's not willing to give up just yet.

He peeled himself off the bed and sat up. Turning his body away from the window, what little light that could enter the room glistened off his body. His back was covered in scars from a rough childhood and adulthood. He's a broken man in many ways, and that makes him one of the few who could probably do what needs to be done in the coming years. There's no need to worry about that just yet, though. He stood up and lit an oil lamp on the end table. He stood in the middle of the room for a few minutes for the sweat to dry before he got dressed. A lose white shirt with long sleeves tucked into simple black trousers. Over the shirt he wore a thick cloth vest with his dagger's sheath attached to the left breast. Over his vest, he donned a large, black dyed burlap overcoat. He tied up his leather boots and gave everything a tug to make sure it settled on his body. Last, but not least, his black fedora hat.

He walked over to the window and peeked outside. There wasn't much of a view. A few adventurers wandering around, illuminated by the streetlamps and the moon. Another building on the opposite side of the street blocked his view of the cityscape. He walked back over to the end table, opened the drawer, and picked up a bag of coins. He slipped them into the pocket of his vest. The floorboards creaked as he walked out of his room. He was on the second floor, so he wasn't disturbing anyone else's rest with his movement.

He walked downstairs into the inn's lounge and bar. It was illuminated by a hearth against one of the walls. A few people who couldn't afford rooms were sleeping close to the fire. The innkeeper he met yesterday was probably long asleep as well, a young woman replaced her behind the bar. Amyas walked over to her and placed two 5 gold marks on the bar table. "Pint of cider, please. Also the time if you don't mind, love."

"Quarter to five. You're up early, sir." She cupped her hand over the coins and slid them off into her other hand to be placed in a tray under the bar. She then picked up two 1 gold marks, placing them on the bar to replace the two 5 marks. Amyas casually picked one up and pocketed it.

"Aye, nightmare, might as well get an early start to the day." He hadn't sat down at the bar. He was going to take the drink to a table when she gave it to him to think alone, despite the bored barmaid probably wanting someone to talk to in the dead of morning.

"By getting drunk then?" She smiled, then turned to start pouring the golden liquid out of one of the smaller barrels behind the bar. Probably not too popular of a beverage here, but he liked the taste.

"If I wanted tah get drunk I woulda asked for something harder than that, hun." He chuckled. "Nah, just something to get me through the rest of the morning I suppose. Thank you."

The barmaid sat the mug of alcohol down on the bar. Amyas picked it up and turned to walk to the unoccupied table furthest from the hearth, which was probably due for new logs. The woman was noticeably upset at Amyas choosing a table instead of the bar seating. Not upset enough to forget the 1 gold tip he left her, though. She slipped that into her pocket.

Amyas sat down and let the mug rest on the table. He leaned back, giving the lounge a once over again. Then he picked up the glass of liquid and raised it to his lips. The cider they sold here was sweet and the alcohol was starting to warm him up almost immediately.

[kittygrey]

Strangers In Waiting

Ame yawned with a wide stretch as the sun began to beam in on her face from the window close by. She fisted both of her eyes and opened them wide, looking out of the window to see the daylight outside. She breathed in and then out again softly and at the end of her bed, her small rabbit creature nuzzled her nose with his foot. She giggled and reached over, taking him in her arms. She activated her [Tongue of Nature] skill and began to speak. "Good morning Spoticus, aren't you up a little early today?" She tilted her head as she nuzzled the rabbit's nose with her own. "Aye, Mistress. Been up fer nearly two hours! I want some cidah!" Ame looked down at the creature with a tilt of her head. "You want cider? Like, apple cider?" She tilted her head to the other side and looked at him with questioning eyes. "Yeh, I needs it. They serve a good brew at the inn, so come on, take meh!" At this point, Ame was confused. How did he even know that they served the best brew, but she shook her head with a sigh, and heard her Myobu Kitsune, Mamori, chime in. "Spoticus, she'll take you, but you must say please and thank you to our Lady!" Ame smiled as she watched her sweet Kitsune come to the bed, and with a free hand, she rustled the hair on it. "Alrigh' Alrigh'! Please Mistress, take us, and thank yah!" Ame let out a soft giggle and nodded. "Alright you two, let's get going then."

She walked into the inn, Mamori by her side at her feet, walking with a pretty strut, and Spoticus in her arms looking around at all of the people. Ame searched her head, seeing a lone man with purple hair sitting down at a table and Spoticus, clearly seeing him too, jumped out of her arms and ran over to the table. "Hey, yehmon, let meh have some of yer brew!" Ame's eyes widened and she ran forward. Unless the man had the Tongue of Nature skill as well, all he would see is a small white bunny, with black spots on his left ear and to the right of his tail on his bum jump on his table and begin to grunt and honk at the man. "Spoticus! No!" She ran over and lifted him up into her arms and held the rabbit tight, so he could get away. Then, she toggled her skill so that she could speak to the man, instead of her animals. "I'm so sorry! He's a little hard to control and he has some strange craving for the cider you are drinking." She let out a soft sigh and a small shake of her head. "Please forgive my small friend, he meant no harm, I promise!" Her voice was calm, but begging as she stood above the man, waiting for his reply to her apology. While she stood, Mamori sat up on the table, staring at the man. Her three tails wagged neatly behind her, and the golden fox animal seemed to be watching him with great intensity. Ame looked to her, wondering what she was doing. Then her eyes widened and Spoticus grunted to her. "Hey! Womun! Don't be givin' men yer love eyes, they be mine!" Spoticus reared Ame in her chest and with a gasp, her hold loosened.

As soon as Spoticus jumped down, he knocked over the pint of cider and stood on his hind legs, looking up at the man, he looked rather cute, but really, he was holding up his front paws as to start a fight. "Oh no! Spoticus!" She grabbed her rabbit once more and bowed her head. "I'm so sorry! Please, I'll buy you another!" She took spoticus to the bar maid and tilted her head. "I'd like two pints of cider please!" Her voice was now rushed, and she hoped badly that the man was nice, and not a player killer, or an animal killer, though technically everyone in this world was. She should have instead thought of pet killer, as she was an animal trainer, and these animals were the pets that she had tamed, well, sort of.. The bar maid laughed, giving her a nod, as she had clearly seen the scene that had just happened. Ame let out a sigh and looked down at Spoticus, shaking her head. "What am I going to do with you?" She sighed and paid the bar maid once her pints were bought. She grabbed them both into one hand and sat at a table beside his. "Would you like to sit with us? Since your table is now full of cider?" She didn't think the man would, but it was worth asking. She did love the company of the other adventurers. She sat Spoticus on the table, and called Mamori over to her. The Kitsune hopped down and then hopped up on the next table, keeping a spot beside her for the man, if he chose to sit there, or with them. He could sit beside Ame if he wanted to as well. It was up to him purely though.

- Words -
872

- Tags -
Amyas Eoghan Hodges

- Skills Used -
Tongue of Nature

- Notes -
Hope you don't mind if I jump in!

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M
Modified by KittyGrey

[Aeon]

Aeon blinked himself into their bar dropping himself down into a single seat, the mage cowled in black, swallowed by his black heavy cloak with his hood raised over his head shadowing his mask which covered part of his face.

The cloaks had extra stitching attended to it, the shapes created by the stitching where that of lightning rolling bolts and shear bolts a few small ones adorned the cape, trying to meld in as well as show its property’s and its abilities, for one clearly wouldn’t want to stick out the predators and prey when hunting in the wilds. The cowl that came from the top of the cape had no such effects on it, just pure black bringing a shadow over where the face would be of the wearer.

His hands where covered by fine gloves, on the outside they appeared rough and not soft but if on closer inspection one would notice a silk inner lining to the gloves, the fingertips of gloves where made of a slightly redder fabric or maybe they had been dyed in some method, one would have to question the creator to find out what made the tips slightly more rouge, if the palms where checked one would see swirling flames, it could quite appear these gloves where made to boost the potency of one’s fire.

His mask covered round his eyes as well as the bridge of nose, the mask had thunder motifs across it, round the eyes there was other detailing which seemed maybe to be some sort of crystal or crystal like effect.

His armour looked as if it appeared to be the standard soft cloth chest piece, but appeared to be more bulky in parts it could well have been modified to help provide such a weak class extra protection in combat.

Aeon had been a soloist of an adventurer, avoiding contact with others as much as possible of course he had to make contact occasionally it was of course a necessity to sell off loot you collected from monsters, however it was easier to head into the smaller villages to get a place to rest as you were less likely to be disturbed by other adventurer’s some of which liked to party the night away.


It was if the character wearing such attire deliberately intended to put others off from approaching him, as if attempting to produce an aura of fear around him, which would keep the majority from wanting to attempt to approach and disturb him, an isolationist in this world was one way for some people to deal with it.

Of course he wondered how long it would take the tavern maid to decide it was not a life threatening event to come and ask him if he wished for anything.

So to hopefully decrease the time, he placed a few coins down on the table top before he had even been approached.

There were a few other people around, some huddled round the fire collecting warmth as well as others having drinks….. As well as a fox tail…. Yea there was always something about tails all fluffy both the wolves and the foxes were rather interesting in that factor.


WC: 535

[Amyas Eoghan Hodges]

He sat there, in the semi-lit room staring off into the distance, not looking at anything in particular, just lost in thought. Occasionally he would take a sip of the sweet, alcoholic drink sitting on his table, but most of the time was spent just lost in thought. He was thinking about how to change his strategy in particular. Just wandering the city and staying in random bars was not working, even if it seemed like the best strategy at the time. He could go the sneakthief route, breaking into random houses while people slept to look for clues, that would need to be his last resort, though. He would need to start talking to people. The odds are high that she was already killed off back when the adventurers went nuts. Fortunately Amyas was still further north at the time that particular event occurred. He thought further back in time with what little information he had and what he was told by his late father and grandfather. Sifting through memories like files in a cabinet. Amyas was never much of a scribe...

He was lost in thought for a good two hours, long enough for the sun to get close to rising and illuminate the city. Adventurers entered and exited the inn. Many of the adventurers looked dead inside. Like they were just going through the routine another day. In a way, Amyas envied them, to not have to worry about death like he did. In another way, he pitied them because they had nothing to live for.

Raising the mug to his lips again, he took notice to how much was left and how long he must have been sitting here for the sun to finally begin to rise. He took a gulp of the sweet liquid and put it back onto the table, still half full. He might not finish before he decided to leave. He'd wait another hour here, though. He still needed to eat breakfast.

Someone was coming downstairs, how many adventurers actually bothered to rent rooms anyway? That would be an interesting figure to think about. Many just seemed content with sleeping on the floor. The barmaid didn't seem to have a problem with that either. Though if she did have a problem, what could she do against these monsters in human skin?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden presence of a rabbit on his table chattering away. He jumped back in his chair, stood up, and reached his right hand under his overcoat for the hilt of his dagger. The rabbit was quickly snatched by the woman who came down the stairs, who was being followed by a fox of all things. Well, she was a fox of sorts as well. One of the beast races, fox-tail if he remembered correctly. An adventurer. The woman apologised, obviously wanting no trouble, then her fox follower jumped onto the table. His eyes narrowed a bit, but at least he pulled his hand out from under his coat, not wanting to start anything himself. It was fairly obvious that the animals were a bit much for the woman to handle.

How to handle a situation like this, he thought. He could just as easily grab the fox by the skin of its neck and drop it back onto the floor, but the animal may be too wild, he could end up getting bit. That's probably how the animals got in here to begin with, the innkeeper didn't want any trouble. As a result, adventurers walk all over her and the rest of the normal people of the city as well. One wrong move and you're as good as dead to them. It's not right, but what choice did they have? Alternatively, Amyas could just as easily accept her apology and hope she leaves with her animals. But before Amyas could decide on a path of action, the rabbit jumped onto the table with the fox, spilling his drink... Well this turned rather eventful really quick.

As the fox girl apologized again, then went to buy a replacement, Amyas took a deep breath to clear his head. He's putting more drama into this in his head than he needed to. The barmaid's laugh made this apparent. There was nothing to gain from making enemies of the adventurers anyway. The nightmare that woke him up might still be lingering on his head, even if he forgot most of it already. His expression softened and he looked at the fox girl with a partial smile, "Sure, I would enjoy the company." And the alcohol after that. He pulled the single gold mark out of his pocket and casually placed it on his table with the spilled cider, tip for the barmaid who would end up needing to clean that up.

He walked over to the nearby table, "Thank you for the offer." He took the seat to the right of the fox girl and removed his black fedora, "My name is Amyas Eoghan Hodges. Pleased to meet you, Miss...?" he said while setting his fedora on the empty space on the table to his right. He waited for her to introduce herself and would shake her hand gently if she presented it. "So, I take it these two are your... pets?" He of course meant the rabbit and the fox, which was sitting on this table now. Oh well, the animal seemed clean enough. They were obviously wild animals and she was trying to, somewhat unsuccessfully, domesticate them. He wouldn't outright say his thoughts on that matter, though.

Amyas did take note of the figure in black that had entered the inn, though he did not immediately look in his direction, keeping his attention on the fox girl. Adventurers tended to dress in black, especially the mages who think they're being edgy. Although Amyas himself was dressed in black, aside from his shirt, it was just cheap clothing that offered the most warmth for his coin and was well enough to not be simple rags. Amyas would keep observing the man out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't move his gaze from that of the fox girl's.

kittygrey

[kittygrey]

Reckless Animals

Ame eyed the gentleman as he sat at their table. She looked over to her kitsune pet and snapped her fingers. "Mamori, down." The kitsune didn't know the english language, but she was trying her best to teach both of her animals, as the tongue of Nature skill wasn't acquired by most of the other adventurers. However, she knew her own name well, and the word down as becoming a frequently used word between them, even her rabbit knew what it meant. Mamori eyed the man up as well and then jumped down, crawling under the table and curling herself up. "Good girl!" She opened her inventory, taking out a roast beef sandwich she had made a while ago and ripped off a piece, giving it to the fox under the table to treat her for listening. She then took out a small round bowl and poured some of the cider in it and placed it on the ground, Spoticus jumped down from her lap and hopped over to the bowl, licking up the cider. "Now, behave." Both of her creatures looked up to her from their treats and she sighed with a smile, reactivating her skill. "Behave, be good." She smiled and it was Mamori's voice that kicked in after her own, but in pure english this time. "Be- have, be.. good!" Ame smiled, and took off another piece of the sandwich. "Good!" Now, with both of her animals content, she turned to Amyas, who had asked her her name.

She poured a bit of cider into a glass for herself and smiled. "Oh, I'm KittyGrey, but please feel free to call me Kitty. Most of the adventurers and even the Lander's have come accustomed to it." She let out a soft giggle and
repeated his own name. "Amyas Eoghan Hodges. Do you mind if I call you Amyas?" She smiled to him and then with his next question, she nodded. "Yes, those two are my pets. I'm an animal trainer, but, I seemed to have chosen two personalities that are decently hard to train." She let out another soft giggle and looked down at them for a moment, then looked back to the man before her. "The Frenmic Rabbit is Spoticus. He was my first pet, and the other is Mamori, a new species of two, found in Moon Dance Village. She's a Myobu Kitsune, but the other are Nogitsune. She is light elemental with healing powers, and the others are dark, focusing on power." She figured she should explain why she had chosen an animal with healing abilities, but she would wait, perhaps he would ask, and if he didn't, she was sure that it might come up in conversation eventually. She was a cleric, so the extra healing power for her, was a good thing. She picked up her glass and took a sip. She wouldn't allow Spoticus to drink the whole thing to himself, but she wasn't much of a drinker so, she would take her time as to not get drunk. The last time that had happened, she had blacked out, and to this day couldn't remember quite what had happened, only small flash backs coming to her mind.

She wondered if she should try to ask things about him, though telling from the bar above his head, he was a level one assassin, the small icon showing through. She tilted her head at him and decided to ask a question. "So, you haven't had much time to adventure it seems?" She moved her head upwards and her gaze shifted across the room to a man that was staring at them. She felt bad moving her gaze but she smiled to him, being the friendly fox tail she was and wondered if he would join them eventually. He seemed to be curious about them, her especially, though she was quite used to people staring at the ears and tail which seemed to move as she noticed. Her tail swayed back and forth behind her and her ears twitched upon feeling the man's gaze, which was how she had known to look in his direction. Turning her attention back to Amyas, she would wait for him to answer, her mind stuck on his story, as she found herself normally having those thoughts about other adventurers, she was always curious about their stories. She had met many adventurers and heard many stories, but more so than actually hearing their stories, she liked to create them, either on her own or with the others. Either way, stories, in her mind, were always good!

- Words -
766

- Tags -
Amyas Eoghan Hodges, Aeon

- Skills Used -
Tongue of Nature

- Notes -
---

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M
Modified by KittyGrey

[Aeon]

A sweet and sharp voice spoke out
“Can….. I help at all ?”
Aeon was finally approached, it seemed obviously that his appearance may be quite off putting to the People of the Land well it would look quite shady to have someone all cloaked up, face hidden waiting for service, im sure they must have suffered from some people especially adventurers after they first became trapped from ordering, eating and then running before they have paid there bill.

With your face hidden it makes it appear more that your hiding your identity and thus suspicion would clearly arise from anyone whom would have to approach you.

Aeon raised his head to look at the server who had approached him, a woman of rather moderate stature, shoulder length curled dark brown hair and her bosom was of the rather flatter nature.


Aeon brought his hand towards his coinage on the table and tapped it with his right index finger.

With a slightly posh voice, “May I acquire a beverage, mademoiselle…tea specifically?”

A quick response was heard, “We have herbal tea’s”

Herbal tea was to be expected the fact imports most likely didn’t exist in this world would clearly mean tea wouldn’t exist as he knew it.

Aeon responded back with, “that shall suffice, there is my coin and don’t worry about any change”

Moving his index finger behind the gold coins, he slid them forwards in the direction of the server.

She curtsied before retrieved the payment and turning away to deal with the order.

Aeon did notice that her lack of bosom, did mean she acquired quite a shapely behind at least that’s what he could assume from the skirt, maybe he was wrong but if he was beating he would hedge his bets in his guess.

Aeon then leant back into his chair, closing his eyes waiting for the drink to arrive his throat had become quite parched.

Word Count : 320

[Amyas Eoghan Hodges]

"KittyGrey..." He murmured slightly, committing the name to memory. Many adventurers always seemed to have the oddest names. Though it's not uncommon of a name for regular people, especially as a nickname, it just seems to fit better with an Adventurer. "Sure. I can't expect you to call me by my full name all the time, can I?" He responded with a smile. He listened to her explain the origin of her pets, genuinely interested in her exploits. Most of his travelling through his life had been along roads and safe within guarded convoys while in the cities he was protected by city guards. Adventurers, as their name suggests, adventure in the areas between the main roads, so they find things that have been hiding more often than people who spend their whole lives in the confines of their villages or farmlands. He envied this part of adventurers, something that they've had even before the Apocalypse, as they call it. The drive to just go off the beaten path to discover the forgotten lands between civilization without having to worry about death taking them if they make a wrong step. Something she said caught his attention, though. "You're a Cleric, why do you need Mamori? Don't misunderstand, I'm sure she's a fine companion, but wouldn't the attack breed complement you better, especially if you travel alone? Or does Spot there do the damage?" Though how much damage would a rabbit be able to do, honestly. He didn't say that last part, since the rabbit seemed to have a bit of a short fuse and Amyas didn't know if the animals could understand him.

She asked him about himself. He thought for a second or two to figure out how best to answer the question, specifically paying attention to how she worded it and the apparent disconnect she made when she mentioned People of the Land earlier. She might not know that he wasn't an adventurer. This was advantageous, he might learn something from her if he pretended he was like her. Though, how many clues has he already given away to the contrary? "No, I haven't. I've kept to the city for the last several months. I've been looking for someone, a relative, and it's proving to be... difficult. I've managed to get by with doing odd jobs here and there. The city is just so large and there's so many people. I see new faces every day." He noticed her eyes turn toward the man in black who had walked into the inn, though Amyas kept his eyes on her. He could still see the silhouette of the man against the light entering the front window of the inn in the reflection of her eyes. He reached his left hand up to his head, lifting a few stray hairs out of his face and took note of her level. "You've very obviously been busy these past months, though. It must be good to settle in an inn in the city after countless nights sleeping under the stars, I'm sure." He was trying to drive the conversation back to being about her. He wouldn't be able to keep talking about himself before he ended up bringing up information he'd rather she not know. At least he was able to move the conversation along well enough. Part of the set of skills his grandfather had taught him was the ability to direct a conversation to get the most out of your conversation partner without giving too much. At the same time, you need to make it seem like the conversation is balanced in the sense that the person you're talking to doesn't realize you're withholding information. It can be a difficult skill to master and is just as valuable as any sword in a battle of discourse. This wasn't a battle, though. This was just practice. He normally rarely speaks to adventurers unless he needs to. This whole meeting was a change of pace. And so far an enjoyable one, aside from the spilled booze.

kittygrey

[kittygrey]

To Battle and Beyond

Ame let out a laugh as she sipped the cider. No, he really couldn't expect her too, but others were, well.. "You would be surprised." She rolled her eyes and continued her laugh, tilting her head at the man. Some adventurer's and Lander's alike were strange in their dealings and most Lander's didn't like the Adventurer's for some reason. The Lander's she had met, were completely fine with Adventurer's, even going so far as to remember her and things about her. It made her happy, knowing that people here remembered who she was, unlike back home, where it proved a task to be noticed at all, not that she had tried very often, but here was different. She wanted to be known and wanted people to remember her. Here, it was a lot easier, especially as being one of the highest cleric levels around. People swarmed to her for help and she never turned a blind eye to anyone. She was happy to be apart of the community that she now lived in.

His next question made her laugh again. She was expecting some sort of question, but she enjoyed his. "Spoticus? No, he doesn't fight. He's a level 3 and would die in an instant if I brought him to the places I went." She let out a small giggle as she continued. "And yes, I am a cleric, but I'm not a support clerics, they focus on just healing, and curing diseases and debuffs and things like that. No, I am a battle cleric. When I'm off on my own, Mamori does the healing and I become the tank. When I party up with others, if the group is large, I bring her along for extra healing, just in case I'm too far from someone or my mana is too low. I try not to bring her along too often though, as Animals die once they are killed. There isn't a respawn and I can't resurrect her either. That's why Spoticus stays home. I don't want any chance of him dying." She smiled down at her two animals and then looked back up to Amyas with a smile.

When he spoke about trying to find a relative, she tilted her head. Many people had friends here that they were looking for, but without their real names, it was hard to find them, so how easy really could it be for him to find his relative? She tilted her head again, suddenly, she felt something was off with Amyas. She shook the feeling away mentally and smiled at him. "I could help you if you'd like? I'm not a tracker but I have pretty keen eyes. Is it a boy, a girl? Sister, brother, uncle?" She would offer her help, hoping for him to accept, though some people rather did things on their own, so she wouldn't take it to heart if he turned her down. With his next set of words, she shrugged her shoulders. "I enjoy the nights under the stars. I don't often come to the Inn as I have my home else where, but Spoticus said that he wanted some of the cider here. Said it was the finest, though I'm not quite sure where he heard that.." She let out a soft laugh and opened her eyes wide. "Not that I think the cider is bad! This is my first time trying it, and, well, I suppose it's the finest I've ever tasted." She started off with a louder voice than usual, and then softened it down. Then she smiled widely as she finished her sentence.

- Words -
602

- Tags -
Amyas Eoghan Hodges, Aeon

- Skills Used -
---

- Notes -
---

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M
Modified by KittyGrey

[Amyas Eoghan Hodges]

Amyas listened to her talk of herself and her pets, keeping his eyes trained on hers as she spoke. It was interesting to listen to how adventurers described fighting. She used a couple words he hadn't heard before, and using context he figured their definition himself. He wouldn't comment on what she said, though. He really had nothing else to add and if he spoke on that topic further he could probably end up saying something he didn't mean to. The talk of death piqued his interest, though. How did she see normal people if she was this protective of her animals? He wouldn't ask her that, though. Unlike adventurers, monsters, and animals, normal people don't just come back to life when they die. And while she might think her animals will die permanently, they will return to where they came themselves, though without memory of their time his her, he theorized. That might as well be death, perhaps. He had no proof that this was the case, though, and never would know for sure.

She asked if she could help him find the person he was looking for. For the first time since sitting down, he averted his eyes from hers. He looked down at the golden liquid in the glass in front of him. He had almost forgotten it was there. He lifted it up to his lips and let the sweet and bitter liquid bite into his taste buds. A few long swigs and the bitter taste was overridden by the sweet taste of the apples. It wasn't the best cider he'd ever tasted, but is was cider nonetheless, it was a drink he had taken a liking to. In all his years on this land, he had never tasted anything until after the adventurers went mad after the event they call the "apocalypse". Adventurers were never like this. They were never so human as they are now. Before they always ran around, expressionless and cold, like machines. Now, here was this girl, this adventurer who was laughing and having a long conversation with him. It didn't change his opinion of adventurers much, but it made him consider a few things. "I don't know what she looks like or even her name. I don't even know if she's still in this city. It probably doesn't matter any more. If I find her, I find her. If I don't, well no big loss. She wasn't exactly a big part of my life to begin with."

Amyas took another gulp of the cider, then placed the glass back onto the table before looking back up at Kitty. "What about you? Any relatives back home?" He wanted to keep his question vague so as to not give anything away. He hadn't spoken to many adventurers before and he wanted to know more about them, like where they came from and what exactly happened to them several months ago. Perhaps talk of family will give him some clues.

kittygrey Aeon

[kittygrey]

Living in the Real World

As she spoke, she watched him, he seemed to be listening and considering things in his mind, but she suddenly realized that something was off. It wasn't the way he acted, but with her question and his answer, she began to wonder if the man could be a Lander. It was the way he explained the person he was looking for. The said person was female, nothing really out of the ordinary there. He didn't know if she was still in the city. With this sentence, and the word 'still' lingering in her brain, it told her he had met her before, or how else could he know that she had been in the city, unless perhaps, on his search he had heard of her. The thing that really caught her off guard was his last sentence. She wasn't a big part of his life. Now, for an adventurer to know that, it would take a long while to even figure out, one, who their character was, two, where they were and three, they had to know them in the real world. Friends that she had met had been looking for their friends from the real world, and even they had a hard time figuring out where they were, who they were. Some people still couldn't even find the ones they were looking for, yet this girl he spoke of, hadn't been a big part in his life?

Her thoughts were thrown off before she could decide on her answer and she tilted her head as if trying to survey his question. "Well, I do, though they aren't related by blood. I have a mother and a father, an older brother and a sister. It's been a while since I've seen them though.. I wonder how they are doing.." The last part of her statement she really hadn't meant to say out loud and even in the whisper that it was, she knew that he had heard what she had said, but her tone was soft, like a thought process and she hoped that he wouldn't try to answer, though she doubted he would. Her mind flickered from the thought, however, as she chose to push it aside. That kind of thing was meant for alone time and she really didn't want to be rude but getting lost in her own thoughts. She smiled as she put her hand to the back of her head and let out a small giggle, her face flushing a light pink. "Sorry, I didn't mean to turn all depressing there, but it's hard not to wonder. Don't get me wrong, I love it here. Everyone I've met on my journeys have been amazing, and I do like to think that this world is my own, but sometimes the memories of my family sink in and well, I suppose every one experiences some sort of feeling of being home sick sometimes." With that, she decided to throw out a question that would hopefully help her decide if this man was an adventurer, or a lander, not that it mattered, but he was playing the conversation quite well and she was curious. "What about you, Amyas? What's the story with you and your family the girl you're searching for?" She thought it was a pretty good question, but she was afraid that it might over step boundaries. She would wait patiently, seeing what he would say in regards to it anyways.

- Words -
575

- Tags -
Amyas Eoghan Hodges, Aeon

- Skills Used -
---

- Notes -
---

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M
Modified by KittyGrey

[Amyas Eoghan Hodges]

Amyas Eoghan Hodges Human Assassin Lv. 1

HP 100% MP 100%

STATUS: None

---

Bingo. Whether she had meant to give it away or not, the fox tail girl gave away a nice bit of info about adventurers. This world. Put his own knowledge on adventurers together and he has painted an interesting picture without being outright told how things went down. Before the event known as the Apocalypse, adventurers behaved very differently. They were all expressionless, they spoke very plainly, if at all, and it wasn't uncommon for an adventurer to just stand still for hours on end. They were like machines. Then the Apocalypse happened, and they all flipped out. Although Amyas wasn't in Londin at the time, he heard about the riots that took place, including the murder sprees early on. Things were well quieted down when he entered the city. The adventurers were so much more human, though. He wanted to know why without outright asking an adventurer, a little challenge he had set for himself. If what Kitty said was true, adventurers came from another world, or at least their minds did. Perhaps they were controlling the bodies of the adventurers in this world while their own bodies where in their own world. That would mean adventurers were essentially avatars for people from another world. As farfetched as it sounded, there really wasn't much of a better explanation after what Kitty just said.

And now she was asking about him. It may be impossible to convince her that he really is an adventurer at this point, especially without any prior knowledge of the world they came from. There are unlimited possibilities at this point and she would likely know immediately if he was lying. The best approach would probably be to keep as vague as possible and tell the truth, but even vagueness will give him away. This is a losing battle, but a battle he still wants to fight at. Best way to fight is with complete honesty, with some slight embellishments.

All of this thinking took place in a matter of a few seconds and his facial expression would never give the impression that he was thinking. He started with a slight laugh, "Heh, you don't want to be depressing, but you're asking about my life." He took another sip of the cider and continued. "Promise to tell me more about yours and I'll tell you mine." He didn't give her much time to respond before starting. "I was born on a farm near Dover." He had no idea how alike the world of the adventurers was to his world. He might have given it away already. He was banking that he hadn't, though. A very risky gamble that would hopefully prove to be a good play. "My mother left my father and I when I was still very young. My father raised me until he died an early death while I was only 8. I was taken in, raised to adulthood, and schooled by my grandfather in the north near the border before his death. Since his death, I'd been living on inheritances for living expenses and entertainment while working odd jobs." He suspected that that is what this world was to adventurers before the apocalypse. Entertainment. It made his stomach churn thinking about some advanced world using this world as some kind of play thing, but it was a possibility. It would explain a lot of things. "The rest, we all know. Pulled into this world and into these bodies. The woman I am looking for is my mother. It's a very long shot, but if she got pulled in here too with the Apocalypse... well, call it wishful thinking. Still, I will probably never find a woman I don't remember and, even if I did, would be completely different here, if she is even here." He looked down into the glass filled a third of the way full with the golden alcohol with a sort of half-smile. He was trying to not sound too depressed, but having spoken his life story, even if parts of it were embellished, kind of put things in perspective for him a bit. "All alone at home and alone here as well. I might be damned."

A thought occurred to him while he was saying all of this, his entire story also hinged on whether people actually died in the world adventurers came from. Of course, this thought only occurred to him after he mentioned his grandfather's death. How similar the adventurer world was to this world is likely something he will never know unless he outright asked an adventurer. Depending on how convincing his answers were, he might be asking this adventurer about the adventurer world if he unknowingly slipped some discrepancies into his life story.

---

Skills Used: n/a

Tags: kittygrey

NOTES: Sorry for the late post again. I was thinking on how best to have Amyas respond and make it believable for an Adventurer while still only using the reasoning skills of a lander character. It was a lot of thinking. ^^;

[kittygrey]

The Question Is...

Ame raised a brow at his words about her not wanting to be depressing, yet asking about his life. She shrugged simply, but leaned in as he began to speak. She nodded her head at his next words and smiled to him, not saying anything as she patiently waited. As Ame listened, in tune to his story, she began to wonder about the things he was saying. She didn't doubt that he had been born in Dover, as that was a place here, as well as in the real world, and she thought nothing suspicious of his mother leaving him and his father. That stuff happened all of the time in the real world. She had somewhat of a similar thing happen to her, well, not quite similar, in fact, not similar at all. What had she been thinking. Even still, it was his next words that caught her off guard. His mother had been pulled into the apocalypse. As far as she new, in order for that to happen, you had to create a character to be transferred here. So, either his mother had also played Elder Tale, or he was actually a Lander, like she had been suspicious of. Instead of calling him out on it, she decided to let it slide. He seemed keen on learning about adventurer's and if he wanted to pretend that he was, who was she to deny him that knowledge.

As he finished speaking, she lowered her head. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath then tilted her head back up to him. "You know, I think being alone is a choice. For a long time, in my world, I was alone. My father died at some point in my early life, when I was a baby, and my mother dropped me off at an orphanage. The nurses there were very bad people, and used to tell me I was worthless and that my mother had dropped me there because she couldn't stand to look at me. I was angry for a long time, even when I was adopted by a family. They took me in when I was 9 and tried so hard to make me apart of their family. It wasn't until I was in high school, and even later than that that I allowed myself to be apart of their family. I always thought that I was a bad person and that my mother didn't love me, and that's why she gave me away, but, thinking of it now, I think she was sad. She couldn't look at me because I probably took after my father. I think she put herself in such great remorse that she thought maybe I would be better off in the orphanage." She sighed as she spoke as she had literally only come to that realization now. "I've never had any friends, not in my world. I pushed myself away from everyone for so long, that when I decided to try my hand at making friends, I failed. I made friends with someone who eventually betrayed me, and the one after, well, that was worse." Unless he really wanted to know, Ame wouldn't give words to what they had done to her. She really didn't want to have to relive those memories, but if he asked, she was the type of person to allow herself to open up to him and tell him.

She let her tongue lick her dry mouth and she took a larger sip of the cider than she had been. The pain of her past coming to her head. Mentally, she shook it off and would continue. "With the apocalypse, though, I decided I wanted to change and become someone who wouldn't be alone, not fully anyways. I came here not knowing anything and being scared, but I managed to let a side of myself out that I didn't even know I had. I started making friendships and started wanting to be around a lot of people. I miss my family and I see now that I shouldn't have let them be ignored by me, but I was in pain. I was always afraid that they were going to hurt me and leave me, like everyone else had, but then I learned how great people could be. It took your world to make that happen." She smiled, but then her eyes widened. She hadn't meant to let it out but she had. She sighed and lowered her head. "I'm sorry, I tried to keep it in that I knew. I know you are curious about us, the people who came here from a different world." She looked back up at him with pleading eyes. "Please don't be mad. I know you are curious, so please, ask anything you wish to know of the 'adventurers' and I'll be more than happy to tell you." She let out a small smile, hoping that he wouldn't be angry with her, hoping that they could continue their conversation. Her mind had gotten off track with her words, so she hadn't finished what she was going to say, but it wasn't really necessary, she wanted to hear his questions, now that the cat was out of the bag.

- Words -
876

- Tags -
Amyas Eoghan Hodges, Aeon

- Skills Used -
---

- Notes -
"cat" is out of the bag XD

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M
Modified by KittyGrey

[Amyas Eoghan Hodges]

Amyas Eoghan Hodges Human Assassin Lv. 1

HP 100% MP 100%

STATUS: None

---

He sat there, lifted the pint of cider to his lips and took a quiet sip while she spoke. He gave off the appearance like he was listening to a story. Instead, he was picking at every detail she spoke. His casual demeanour wouldn't give this away, though. He was just a patron in an inn's bar and this woman was a stranger to make casual conversation. In his mind, she could have been lying. She would have no reason to lie, though, even after she gave away that she knew he was being misleading about being an adventurer himself with the simple phrase, 'in my world'. A slip like that probably went over her head, but not to Amyas. He was painting a picture in his head of the world the Adventurers came from, and it looked eerily similar to his world. Living day to day knowing death was inevitable. Her father died, that was the biggest revelation to him in all of this and she confirmed his suspicions. So if it wasn't the death bit that gave him away, what else could he have said that would have made her believe he wasn't an adventurer?

She would continue to speak of loneliness. For one who shut herself off from the affections of others, she took what others said to heart and let it affect her. It was a simple behaviour trait that could be easy to manipulate if he knew her better. A fresh start in a new world wouldn't change that, like she believes, HE believed. He still had little knowledge about how the psychology of Adventurers differs from that of normal people. They came from an entirely different world, after all. But one, perhaps, not so different from his own.

She let it slip that she knew he wasn't an adventurer, realised it this time, and then proceeded to apologise, acting like she offended him. "No no no, I should be apologising to you. I was being misleading to see if I could pass as one of you folks. Guess I don't know as much about your situation to pass as an Adventurer. I shouldn't have tried." He leaned back in his chair a bit to stretch, then sat straight again. He donned a smile and continued. "Let's pretend, for a moment, that there is no such thing as Adventurers... that were are part of the same world. Our situations are somewhat similar from the sound of it. If you could meet your mother, your birth mother, right now, what would you say to her as you are now, after how you've changed since coming here? What would you do, if you don't mind me asking." The world the adventurers came from must be similar to how the world was here for People of the Land. The biggest differences would be culture, and perhaps technology considering how much adventurers have accomplished since coming here. He wondered how she would answer his question, and if it would be any similar to what he would do if faced with his own mother after everything that has happened in his early childhood.

---

Skills Used: n/a

Tags: kittygrey, Aeon

NOTES: N/A