Snakes in the grass [Mentor/Apprentice thread. Closed]

[Fantomu]

Day 4

Fantomu huddled herself in the tree trying to keep warm. Night was coming and with it the inevitable drop in temperature. She looked out dismally, her mood painted the color black. God, it all feels so real. All of it, she thought, How did this happen? Why did it happen? There's got to be a reason for this. something like this isn't just random. This is, or maybe was, a game. But now it's reality. I'm inside it, I'm looking out of my characters eyes and inhabit their body. This isn't how it is back home. Back home, you control the avatar, you pave your way through mapped out and rendered scenery. But this, it's all real. I can feel the breeze, I can hear the trees sway with the wind. I can hear the wildlife humming around me. I can see the expanse of land around me, right up to the horizon and quite probably beyond that. This is crazy. Maybe, maybe I'm crazy? No, no it's not me. I feel as sober as ever and very much alive. This certainly isn't a dream and I'm not dead, it's something else. Another dimension? Maybe. But if it were, why would it be an exact replica of Elder Tales? In fact, it's not exact, it's better. It's real! It's amazing. Astonishing, really. I guess, the only explanation is that I've been transported into the game. But, what happened to my body? What happened to my family? What happened to my life? Has it diverged somehow? Like perhaps a split in dimensions or in time? Like maybe my consciousness still exists and is carrying on in the real world, but, somehow, I can't perceive it. I've been divided. I dunno. It's just speculation. But I want answers. But, how do I get them? I guess the people of the land might have something for me? They might know. But going back to the city is going to be tough. I've already dodged multiple monsters out here, and then there's the people PKing near the outskirts of the city. It's messy out there. I'm not even sure how I survived for so long. I haven't died yet, and I don't plan on it. Heavens know what'll happen to you if you die here. You might respawn like in the game, but what if you don't? Or what if there's a limit? There's no telling what kind of changes have been made to the system, or if it even applies anymore. Fantomu thought silently.

She looked around, her gaze fell on the setting sun in the distance, it's dimming light cascading across the sky in a colorful display. I already know some things are different. I didn't have to go into the menu to use my abilities. Which is handy, and allows me some techniques and abilities I never possessed in real life. Of course, if I level up, I'll get stronger and be able to use much more powerful techniques. This could help me in the long run. Could help me get some answers as I'd be able to travel more. For now though I'm not sure what to do. Even eating is kinda whack. Every dish tastes the same, and all the drinks taste of water. It's weird. But when I picked an apple it tasted fine. Weird, though there must be something in that. Hm, maybe chefs have the monopoly on food now? It'd make sense. While Fantomu thoroughly considered her options, she was unaware of the Garden Snake slithering silently through the branches above. As it drew nearer, poising, ready to strike, Fantomu turned her head and spotted the creature. Cursing loudly, Fantomu fell backwards and fell out of the tree. As she fell, she twisted into a ball and somersaulted her way to the ground, landing on the ground with a hard stumble. She noticed she had taken some fall damage, but she was okay. She looked up to see the snake darting after her, floating above it's head was the Elder Tales health and information bar. She could see it was level 6, and knew instantly that she was no match for it one on one. She looked around for an escape route and using her instincts leapt into the air and reached for a high branch on a nearby tree. Her Monk and Acrobat abilities gave her an increased jump speed and height, and had been something she utilized in abundance during her first few days in-game. She neared the branch and was close to grabbing it and hoisting herself up, yet, as she tried to grasp, her fingers fell just out of reach and she grasped nothing but air. She fell back down to the ground and in a panic, whipped around to face the now circling serpent. Jesus Christ man, what am I gonna do?

(Bailin)

[Bailin]

[nospaces]

HP: 100% MP: 100% RH: Saurum Progressive Riffle (lvl 20) LH: Sarum Progressive Riffle (lvl 20) QS: Golden Hilt (lvl 21) AR: Flak Jacket (lvl 21)

WC: 470 (470*1.25) TWC: 587.5 Tags Fantomu Theme Song TS Credits Cortana

*OC: As to make it simpler I will try to remember what Bailin had in the early days, for that purpose please consider Bailin as a level 15 warden with a rapier and musket (the really old kind).* [break][break] “And on the fourth day of the Lord He made it rain women from trees.” Sudden, cheerful voice came from seemingly nowhere. If the woman was not too busy with falling to the ground, the voice would probably have startled her. To make matters worse, the snake that had found the women to his appetite and came slithering down from the tree to finish the job. “Oh come on, don’t tell me you ate an apple as well? This is seriously taking on biblical themes, I was merely jesting in regard to the fourth day and making it rain women.” The voice shouted out, this time rather cynical though still cheery. Soon after that the sound of a musket being fired was to be heard, a bullet hitting the snake, which caused it to shift its attention to the unknown voice, rather than the seemingly helpless women in front of it. [break][break] “Ahw, well this is mighty fine miss, but unless you want me to be your knight in shining armour and taking all the goods, you might wish to join our slithering dance and land a blow on it.” The voice rang out once more, suggesting that Fantomu join the fight, instead of spending some time on the ground. [break][break] If the women would get upon her feet once more and follow the snake she would see a chubby, tall, black hair tied in a ponytail, an eye patch over his left eye and a neatly trimmed beard male shooting with an old musket at the snake. Dangling from his left hip was a rapier and his armour looked as if it came straight out of a low budget steam punk movie, the long black coat, gold buttoned stiff collared shirt and trousers not helping to diminish the sight as if this was indeed such a movie. [break][break] Then another loud bang come, originating from the musket, making the snake’s health bar drop to about roughly 75%. However it was now close enough to pose a serious threat, despite being still at a minor distance. Thus the warden switched his weapons, smoothly storing his musket and drawing his rapier, changing his stance to be ready and able to dodge the nigh certain retaliation of the snake. The warden placed his legs a bit apart, shifting the center of balance to about his belly button, his left hand placed in a defensive position, his right arm slightly bent as to be able to service a quick stab towards the snake. Though the snake had yet to enter effective melee range, it was indeed too close to service a proper ranged assault, and so the warden waited for the snake to strike. “What’s the worst that could happen? We could die and be reborn once again.” He shouted out, grinning from ear to ear. [break][break]

[Fantomu]

((OOC: That's cool man. Will do. Also, really didn't even realize the Genesis themes I was putting in my first post hahaha, well spotted.))

What Fantomu had previously believed to be a sticky situation, quickly became an advantage as a stoutly, pony-tailed adventurer appeared from the brush behind them. He announced his appearance cheerfully, and in doing so drew the attention of the ever enclosing Garden Snake. In the next moment the man shot the creature with his musket, dealing severe damage. The Snake quickly regrouped and came after the man, looking to deal a potentially deathly blow. The man, though suspiciously sarcastic, suggested Fantomu join in the attack, and finish the Snake off. Finish it off? She thought in a panic, I haven't entered into combat yet, I'm not sure if I can do this. The worry was evident on her face, and she hesitated. The man let another shot ring out, another hit, and another chunk of health fell from the Snake's health gauge. The Snake was on it's last legs, and would likely become more aggressive. However, it's back was turned to Fantomu, offering her a clear line of attack. Now! It has to be Now! She yelled at herself.

Her hesitation gone, Fantomu launched forwards, both her Acrobatic and Monk abilities kicking in. She closed the distance quickly, and in a flash swept her leg underneath the Snake and kipped it up into the air. The bemused Snake struggled in the air, flailing like a ribbon caught in the wind. Wasting not time, Fantomu twisted onto her back to perform an over head kick, sending the Snake flying towards a tree. Upon impact the Snake seemed to suddenly burst into colorful bubbles, that proceeded to float into the sky and fade way. Fantomu sat there on the ground staring, amazed she had pulled it off. She quickly came to her senses and looked up at the pony-tailed man. "Thanks for helping me man. I was really panicking there," Fantomu got up from the ground and dusted herself off, "My name's Darwin, I'm from Cardiff," Fantomu introduced herself, sticking out a hand in greeting, "Can I just ask?" She offered nervously, then ploughed through, "What were you saying about dying just before? Do we really respawn? Cause I wasn't sure about it, and I didn't really want to test it out for the sake of laughs, you know?"

(Bailin)

[Bailin]

[nospaces]

HP: 100% MP: 100% RH: Saurum Progressive Riffle (lvl 20) LH: Sarum Progressive Riffle (lvl 20) QS: Golden Hilt (lvl 21) AR: Flak Jacket (lvl 21)

WC: 490 (*1.25 = 612,5) TWC: 1200 Tags Fantomu Theme Song TS Credits Cortana

As Bailin was ready to retaliate the wolf haired lass suddenly burst forward, after having a rather daft look upon her face, as if shocked by the fact that she had to do more than be kicked out of heaven’s tree by a snake for eating an apple, or so the warden presumed. The women swept her legs underneath the snake and kicked it off into the sky, turning it into some form of sky-dragon-thing, before it dispersed in the small, colourful bubbles called anima. The women had set down upon the ground, staring, probably in awe of the colourful sight and perhaps even in surprise of her own accomplishment. The latter part wasn’t that odd, had it not been for a certain someone both Bailin and Oddy would have probably ended up in either a similar position or had died at least once. [break][break] Slowly it appeared the women had regained her composure and turned her attention to the warden, standing up, dusting herself off and offering him her hand, introducing herself. Taking her hand Bailin listened… ‘Wait, what, Darwin, that’s odd, though, all things considered, it is not that strange.’ The warden thought as he heard the introduction, it explained the strange way of talking as well, though Bailin was no expert on female speech, it had sounded quite… well… male. [break][break] “I am Bailin, warden, mechanic and accountant, what all that might entice… and you’re welcome Darwin, and it’s a pleasure. So, how did you end up in this predicament? And what’s with the female look? Were you playing as a foxy lady, with a keen sense for biblical events and everything went well… FUBAR and you ended up in a female body? Or did your parents call you Darwin, despite being a girl? And how have you been doing these past few days? Do you require any more assistance? Perhaps to show you the basics and tell you some of the things I heard, I mean, we’re all in this together and we could use all the help we can get to well… not die...” The warden rattled on and on, as if he were still exited and very curious regarding well… everything. [break][break] “Ah, yes, your questions… from what I’ve heard: yes, we do respawn, though we lose a bit of our memories each time we do. I think, if I remember correctly, it starts with small things, but the more you die, the larger the gaps shall be. Though that is what I’ve been told and I haven’t tried it out either, though remember: what would be the worst that could happen? You forget your name? Or you’re dead and then nothingness I suppose… unless we follow our little ordeal here and we either go to heaven or hell…” the warden continued, merrily at the hypothetical situation of death, before deciding to remain silent so the women, man, man-women could take in all the information and respond. [break][break]

[Fantomu]

Bailin, as he had introduced himself, began to yammer on quite enthusiastically about himself. He then segwayed into asking Fantomu about her gender orientation. Ha! I knew this would happen. This conversation is going to get really annoying after I've had to do it a hundred times. Fantomu thought cynically. Fantomu moved to answer but was left flabbergasted as Bailin continued on in his speech. Fantomu could see equal parts of excitement, curiosity, fear and nervousness in the man's face, whether he would care to admit it, or not. As he rambled, he did happen to answer her question about respawning, though the answer came with a slight twist. So we lose parts of our memory when we die? That's mucked up. I don't want to forget my life, I don't want to forget myself.... Fantomu looked up at Bailin, obviously troubled by the new information.

"I guess all we can do is speculate about the limitations of respawning. We'll never know it's full extent. But if it's tampering with memories, all I know is that I don't want to be a part of it. I'm going to try and make sure I die as little as possible. If at all. That's a number one priority for me," Fantomu paused for a moment before adding, "but I guess if I'm going to do that, I'm going to need to do some training," Fantomu stopped talking, thinking the conversation over, then suddenly remembered that Bailin's gender confusion needed addressing, "Oh yeah, just so you know. In real life, I was a man. But since coming here, I do just have a vagina. So I guess that I'm a woman now. So, to make it easier, just refer to me as she I guess. Though to be honest, I don't really mind either way. But, ehhh," she offered awkwardly, "well, should we maybe begin going through some stuff? Like, you seem to have come a long way in four days and learned a lot. I literally just ran on the first day. It got ugly pretty fast and I was too confused to be around that. I had to get my head together, you know? So I could really use some tips on what's what around here."

(Bailin)

[Bailin]

[nospaces]

HP: 100% MP: 100% RH: Saurum Progressive Riffle (lvl 20) LH: Sarum Progressive Riffle (lvl 20) QS: Golden Hilt (lvl 21) AR: Flak Jacket (lvl 21)

WC: 626 (*1.25=782.5) TWC: 1982.5 Tags Fantomu Theme Song TS Credits Cortana

“Indeed we should and keep it in mind as to avoid ending up, well… dead, I think a lot of people are with you on that bit. Though I suppose there would be some who have some memories they’d rather lose… but that would turn them into guinea pigs and I don’t suppose we’ve rescinded the Geneva convention and other ethics regarding human testing…” the warden agreed with the monk, whom had a troubled look in her, or his, eyes, rather akin to how he himself probably had looked when he was told how things stood. [break][break] “Yes, indeed, training is good.” The warden spoke with a grin, “Well, as you are a monk I presume you will fight a lot with your fists and feet?” he asked, before continuing: “I am a warden so I fight mainly with my rapier and a firearm. Wardens themselves are very alike to a mixture of the Spanish Inquisition, if you are known with them, and the police. As you can see, we have fancy gadgets at our disposal which are primarily engineered to fight Miasma, think of dark magic, which is mostly spread by either monsters or heretics. Or at least that’s what I’ve gathered from the lore and what I’ve been told.” He continued grinning. [break][break] “Well, I’ll refer to you as female and don’t worry, I’ll not judge you, don’t we all want to play something else from time to time, and just between us, if I had to choose between looking at a digital girl and bloke… I occasionally prefer the girl as well. I don’t suppose you had any idea something like this would happen, did you?” the warden said jokingly, raising his arms to shoulder level, his palms turned upward, as if pointing at the entire world. [break][break] “Well now, back to training. I indeed had quite a bit of luck on the first day, so I will repay the favour, as promised to my mentor. So the first thing you’d want to get into your head is that this is a game within the real world. This more or less means that there are some limits to what you can do, some extra things you can do and it is all based on class and levels. So for example, if I tried to kick that snake up high like you did, it would probably result in a minor damage and lift, neither is worth mentioning. However, if you were to receive my musket, you probably wouldn’t be able to shoot it, depending on your subclasses and skills. Another example, though I would have to test this one, would be something like this: I can’t make a sword, because I’m a mechanic, however, I could hypothetically construct a machine that can make swords for me. The downside would probably be that the quality of said weapons would be bad, because I am a low level mechanic.” Bailin continued, pausing a bit so Fantomu could catch up and have all the information sink in. [break][break] “So for the last bit I would say this: As you are a monk you will probably punch hard with your fists, but also are able to toss enemies about, whereas I am more based upon ranged combat. So if we were to party up, you would have to tank and keep critters away from me, whereas if you were to party up with a guardian, you would not need to tank because that’s what a guardian does. So the smaller advice I can give you is: keep an eye out for your party and act accordingly. So what do you say about some small training to get the basics into your body and mind?” the warden asked, grinning from ear to ear. [break][break]