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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2015 6:14:48 GMT
795 words
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Little Caerbannog, wary of the dangers that lay outside the city walls of Londinium, browsed through the quest advertisements for some battle-less work. There were a lot of ads from small farms but they asked for freelance farmers. It made sense, seeing as the 'discovery' of the road to Avon opened up many opportunities for trade. Being a land of death due to leaking Miasma, Avon wasn't the best place to grow bountiful crops. They were able to get by, but their land was not as accommodating as the forests of Windsor. Granted, there were dangerous beasties in the woods but as soon as an area was cleared and fenced, they tended to stay away from the loud landers and adventurers. And Caer could relate. She too, at times, wanted to stay away from her fellow adventurers who would not even let a little girl sleep; or landers who pressed quests onto her. But now that she was a heretic, things seemed different somehow. The landers did not bother her as much; as for other adventurers, they were off on higher-leveled areas so the wolf-hair had not been invited to things recently. And she liked it that way. More than being helpless and squishy, Caer hated it if she got in anyone's way. At Level 10, she was more of a nuisance than an aid. She had to learn the skills of heretics too so she was out of synch with her fellow adventurers who had kept their old classes.
"This should do..." Caer plucked an ad from the board and read the quest thoroughly.
A small farm near the city walls was in need of an errand girl. All she had to do was to pick up some small chores and bring things to and from Londinium. The farm was still under construction and it probably took too much time to stroll back to the city for supplies, when that time could be used for continuing work in the farmlands. It wasn't anything spectacular which was exactly what the heretic needed. Some menial job in the countryside, something that could give her a bit of experience points without putting her much in harm's way. Who could ask for more? Certainly, not Caerbannog. And so without further ado, the wolf-hair set off for the small place called Maya's Farm. Now why did that sound so ominous?
The wolf-hair walked on out of the city and into the Greatwoods. To remain as safe as she could, Caerbannog walked along the city walls. The familiar farm name brought back memories of that time in Savill Flower Grove when she faced a noxious field boss who afterwards broke through the wall of the Abbey and left a nice bouquet for her wedding to Kumori. But it couldn't be that same "Maya", right? Who in their right mind would name a farm after a field boss? Well, as long as there would be no poisonous attacks on her, the heretic was fine with anything, really. Soon she reached the small farm and as the ad had said, it seemed to be just about halfway done. The fence was already fixed in place and the animal enclosures were secured, but there were no farm animals yet save for three goats that rolled around under the sun.
"Hey there, lass!" greeted an old man; not as old as George, but far too wrinkly to be middle-aged, "Oh you found my ad eh? Good, good. My legs ain't as fast as they used to be, so I could use some help around here."
Before Caer could even respond, a piece of paper was handed over to her.
"I just need some materials for making some troughs, and something for lunch and dinner," the man said, "Went to town yesterday to put that ad but I couldn't carry any more than the materials that I got at the shop. Hard to lug things around without a wagon and an ox."
Caerbannog looked over the farm. Nothing noxious. She checked the list: carpentry supplies, milk, eggs, bacon, bread... and five kilos of crag cow meat. Now, that last entry was odd but she figured that the old man might have wanted to stock up for the next day.
"Names of the shops are scribbled on there," the old lander turned back to his farm, "They know me by now, they'll put the things on my tab. Gab's my name!"
The heretic nodded. She didn't dare say her name because the lander might not be able to pronounce it anyway. As quickly as she had arrived, the wolf-hair turned back towards the city. It really did seem like a simple quest to help a lander out, but that five kilos of crag cow meat sure sounded suspicious.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2015 7:44:56 GMT
1000 words
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So far the day was going well. Caerbannog had taken the time to look through some of the quests, advertisements and requests and sure enough, she found one that suited her need. It wasn't much; just a simple errand girl job for the day, but it would give her some much needed experience as a heretic. If the old man was feeling generous, maybe Caer could bring home an actual reward as well. But she did not expect such a thing. Knowing landers, the old man was probably having difficulty getting by himself already. Sure, it sounded unfair to adventurers but landers could only live the way that they had always lived. Technology was improving due to the ideas and inventions from genius and generous adventurers, but changes were still happening slowly. Londinium could not become London in a single day, a single month or even a single year. The improvements would happen over time. And so here was Little Caerbannog, an adventurer in a lander's world, trying her best to get by and fit in as a regular lander would. Although she did not always get money or items in return for her efforts, the relationships and bonds that she formed with many people was usually enough to make up for that. It was then that Caer remembered Sheep, her alpaca whom Rose's friend had sold to her. It would have been easier to move around with such a fluffy mount but the heretic was still unsure of the creature's training.
"I wonder if I should ask Muu-chan to help," the girl wondered out loud as she considered summoning her centipede.
Just then, she felt some presence behind the woods. It was a sinking feeling as if she was being watched but there was nothing there, just some shadows. It could be anything... some frenmic rabbits, pittered boars or briar weasels. The usual small stuff. But with her low level and squishy class, Caerbannog opted to stay away from trouble. She stepped a little closer to the city walls and away from the shadows of the Greatwoods. At that point, she noticed that there was barely enough room for her to move much less any room for Mukade to slither in, thus the thought of summoning the centipede was thrown to the wind. The walk from Londinium to the small farm was such a short one, so why did this trip back feel so long? Maybe it was because of that shadow that kept following her. Caerbannog quickened her pace. There was some muffled sound behind her but the heretic dared not look. If it was some wild beast, she was probably not equipped to fight it; and if she ran, that would only make the beast pursue her faster. What was there in the shadows? She wouldn't dare turn around...
"MISS!" came a cry from behind some bushes.
A tall, middle-aged man emerged from it all riddled with twigs and loose leaves.
"Ah, sorry! Did I scare you?" the man, a lander by the looks of it based on his information, half-ran as he laughed a little, "I figured you came from Gilbert's farm? I'm one of the shopkeepers from the city."
The little heretic blinked at the man but kept her distance.
"Uhm well he usually buys some nails and bolts from my place but... I'll be gone for a few days so I thought I'd bring him some supplies. They're right he- oh crap," the lander pattered his dark robs down but could not find what he was looking for, "Did I lose it when I fell?"
It took a few minutes before the conversation continued for the lander rummaged through the bushes. Caerbannog thought of lending a hand to the man but she'd much rather lend an Oblivion Claw to a stranger. She was no longer a tank samurai and even a weakling lander could probably overpower her at the moment.
"AHA!" the lander, whose face was actually rather pleasant when a bit of sunlight fell on it, pulled a small bag of tinkling things out of a bush. He then walked over to Caerbannog and handed it to her, "Well here it is. You can cross it off that list in your hands. The old man can pay me back when I return from Avon."
The bag of nails and bolts were then left in Little Caer's hands. She thought it odd that the lander just gave it to her without asking for her name, but she figured that close relationships- like the one that Gilbert and that weirdo lander had- made some sense of it all. That was one item off her list so the heretic did not complain.
"One down... oh wait, that's under carpentry stuff," she sighed, "I hope I don't have to lug some lumber or logs to the farm."
With the weird feeling of being watched gone, Caerbannog was in a slightly happier mood when she turned back towards the city gates. Along the walls she walked until the gates came into view and she hurriedly hopped through it. The merchants and their carts and horses were loud and many as usual. The gossipers chatted nearby and stole quick glances at the object of their rumors, and occasionally at Caerbannog as well because heretics were still curious things to them.
"Lumbering Loggers," she snickered at the name of the shop on the list but also winced at the prospect of that, "I hope I can store it in my inventory."
Speaking of which, she put the bag of metal things in her inventory where it would stay in the meantime. Off she went to Saint Pancras Station, the place where most of the shops stood. Caer made sure to stay on the main roads so that she could check if any of the other shops in the list would be along the way. Ah, there was one; Bob's Deli. She would go back to it once she was done with the Loggers.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2015 2:02:47 GMT
1125 words
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Being back in Londinium made the little heretic feel a bit more secure. Sure, there could be some weirdos lurking about but at least there were no dangerous beasties. As she checked her shopping list, Caerbannog mentally noted that certain things had to be purchased in order. Tools and other carpentry supplies ought to be checked for availability. In case they were not in stock, the crafters might have to take some time to work on it. Caer had all the time in the world but the old man Gilbert was not as carefree as the wolf-hair. He had to get by in Elder Tale seemingly by his lonesome self. Unlike adventurers, he could not risk his one life in dungeons and field boss battles. His life, even in this adventure-filled world, was as mundane as Caerbannog's life in Earth. Work, study, eat, sleep- that's about it. Well, unless he was willing to rish his one life, which in most cases, a lander would not dare do such a thing. No matter how boring their lives might have seemed, they still valued it. But as for Caer, she was content with her immortality. It gave her the chance to learn a lot more and to be less afraid of making mistakes. Of course, the heretic was not one to mess things up on purpose (except maybe when she was drunk) but she had her share of shortcomings. And because she knew that she was flawed, Caer at times took certain measures to avoid making mistakes.
"Loggers, loggers..." the wolf-hair repeated to herself as she walked on past the main roads and eventually made her way to Saint Pancras Station.
The smaller streets and alleys were filled with crafters and their patrons, as usual. The familiar stalls were there alongside newer ones. While there was a short list of crafting recipes and classes in Elder Tale, the arrival of adventurers had created a sort of revolution. One of the most significant researches belonged to a certain monk but Caerbannog dared not think of his name and especially not to call it out loud lest he appear out of nowhere. Today, the wolf-hair just wanted to do things by herself, with her own hands and through her own efforts. Granted, it was rather tedious and her short stature did not help things one bit. Whenever Caer tried to peer through the crowd to check the names of stalls and shops, some much taller person would walk by. She could not blame them though; it wasn't as if they had the time to look around them. The marketplace was a quick-paced area, even quicker paced than the rest of the city. If they wanted to keep up with their fellow crafters or patrons, they would have to keep moving too. Someone as small and slow as Caerbannog did not have a place in the market area but that did not frighten her one bit. At least in this world, she could store her valuables in her inventory so that no snatcher or thief could take them while she browsed through the various sections of the Station.
After a few good minutes of being pushed, shoved and nudged out of people's way, Caerbannog eventually found a little shop named Lumbering Loggers. It was, indeed, selling logs and lumber so the heretic figured that it was the right place. Like most of the established shops in the area, it was fairly busy but the wolf-hair figured that she could still squeeze right in. And squeeze right in she did, between two massive people of gigantic heights. She would have apologized and would have excused herself if the size of the two had not already removed the air from the little one's lungs. She truly felt suffocated between the man and the woman, strangers but with a lot in common from Caer's point of view. They were both landers, around middle aged; rather round and plump but not overtly so. And most of all, they were oh so very tall. Why, Caer only reached up to their elbows! Okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration but they did seem like giants to TentaCaer. She stared at them for the longest time while asphyxia threatened to destroy her brain cells. Fortunately, the man turned to leave along with a bundle of some of the more perfect firewood that the wolf-hair had ever seen. The wood was slightly fragrant too.
"Enjoy your barbecue!" a man from behind the counter called to the leaving giant and a reply came in the form of an unmindful wave.
Once the man had left, Caerbannog inched over to the side. She could swear that the giant who had just taken his leave was about five CaerBears wide! While she thought about the dimensions of the absent man, the attendant behind the counter looked over the big lady's shopping list. He nodded a few times and then after he had given the list a thorough checking, the man smiled and went to the back room. As the lady waited for the attendant to return, she brought out a pretty little paper fan that was just about as big as her hand.
"My my, it's hot out today," the lady sighed as she fanned herself.
When she finally noticed the staring Caerbannog, the wolf-hair only nodded at the woman. The little girl then realized that staring was rude and so she went back to checking her own shopping list. The lady grumbled something about 'filthy adventurer' at which point Caer wanted to shove a cavern spider up the pig-lady's butt crack.
"OH IT'S SO COLD OUT HERE, I WONDER WHY SOME PEOPLE ARE SWEATING LIKE A CAMEL IN THE DESERT," the heretic went for Eye for an Eye in this case, "OR LIKE A PIG IN THE OVEN."
All that while Caerbannog did not look up and instead feigned ignorance. She heard a gasp and a snort from the pig-lady but the wolf-hair did not care one bit. She just wanted the pig-lady to leave, or at least she wanted her shopping to be done and over with in this place. The heretic heard a few more rude words from the pig-lady but the disgusting smell of her sweat was already making the wolf-hair feel woozy. But at least it was only sweat, something so normal and- wait a minute. Did that lady just... oh no, she did! The massive lady, who probably felt conscious due to what Caer said, brought out a big bottle of perfume spray and put a very large amount aaaall over her clothes and her entire being. That was it. OH that was it, Caerbannog was going to punch the-
And then the world turned dark.
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