Adventurers of the Great Wilds

[Fletcher]

”That is ridiculous!” The mug from which the dwarf drank from was slammed back down on the table that he was sitting at, causing the liquid inside to slosh dangerously close to spilling. It had been a while since Fletcher had been this fired up about something. He’d decided to start the evening with a pint of spiced ale; the lowest alcohol content the establishment was willing to provide aside from water. This was only how the evening started though, as he’d had quite a few since he had entered. It was the first time he’d been tipsy since a Christmas party during his years in college; he wasn’t drunk, although the effects of the drink were effecting his usual demeanour and made him speak much more liberally.

Maybe he’d misconstrued what one of his newly found companions had said, or perhaps it was someone else nearby, but he was going to explain in quite clear terms why whatever he had heard was wrong. ”The reason that is ridiculous,” Fletcher drank from his tankard again before setting it down in the same way he had before, speaking a little louder. ”Is because any Dwarf worth the stone he was born knows that he can out magic, out fight, and out think any lanky bastard that looks down his nose at us!” He swung his arm over the closest dwarf to him, holding up his tankard and looking at said dwarf expectantly. He’d met this one this evening, a Dwarf by the name of Sark. It was crowded, so the pair of them found themselves sharing a table.

The other person at the table, who had joined them around the same time was a Guardian by the name of Jane. She seemed fine enough, more experienced than the two dwarves at the table by a fair margin. At first, Fletcher figured that she was a Dwarf as well given how tall she stood, but it turned out she was Human like most of the patrons in the bar. The barmaid that was servicing tables during the dinner rush approached the table and gave the two Dwarves a confused look before asking if they needed anything more to drink or were interested in anything from the kitchen. Fletcher raised his tankard and ordered another plus the chef’s mystery special to eat. He looked at the others expectantly, not wishing them to make the barmaid wait.

Word Count: 403

[Sark]

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HP: 100% MP: 100% - EQUIPMENT - Starter Greatsword (2h) Sark's L. Leather Pauldrons -- SKILLS - None Active - Words: 470 Tags: Let’s get rolling~. OOC: --

Sark sat in the bar, his mind pleasantly numb and his body light and loosely attached. A faint buzz sounded at his extremities, and a vague smile drifted across his face. He was having trouble focusing on the particulars of the conversations bouncing around him, but he was warm, and happy, and content in a simple sort of way. The bar he was in was more packed that he was used to, and he had taken to sitting with a few other dwarves. This tenuous link had been enough to get the group talking, and across the last few hours the drinks and conversation had flowed. Each person had taken to shouting rounds, and Sark had little idea what it was he was drinking at the moment. He took an experimental swig from an over-sized tankard and in his current state of mind knew only that it was beer, and not cold enough. One of his companions, an older dwarf with a well-trimmed beard, slung an arm around Sark and drew him in close. Hours of drinking in the hot tavern had left everyone sweating a little, but the discomfort of being so close to someone's armpits made little impression to Sark in his current state. The older dwarf was looking expectantly at Sark with a confident smile, and after a few seconds he realised that meant he had been asked a question. With significant effort the younger dwarf replayed the last few sentences. A belated lightbulb shone through his eyes when he recalled the theory. "Mm, yes! Yes" he cheered, his lingering resentment towards the taller people fanned by his fellows, "Damn those  Tall Poppies ! Did you know back when this was a game there was not a single dungeon for shorter folk, but some of the raid dungeons had puzzles that only chars over 6 foot could solve? It was so dumb! "But ... I guess that was when this was still a game, hey? We don't get that luxury anymore here."  He gesticulated loosely around the bar to emcompass the Unfounded Kingdom. His absentminded drunkeness was leading him down a more rambling, confessional path than he was used to. "But still ... I guess I couldn't really have a piss up like this back in the game days. And this world is so much more ... pretty" He cast a sleezy eye at the barmaid, who ignored it with everyday disdain. Orders were made, and as the barmaid left Sark hunkered back down into his drink. He cast an eye at Fletcher and Jane, noting that his thoughts had turned the mood a little sour. "Hey. Hey. Hey. How about we, uh like, do something? We're all adventurers! We can do things! Yeah! Yeah comeoneyeah." He rallied, "Let's try the culverts! Or Windsor Woods by niiiiight"

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[Jane]

Jane couldn't help but laugh at Fletcher's outburst. It wasn't exactly a nice thing to laugh at, but the tiny guardian had decided to drink tonight, and with how packed the bar was, she found it too much bother to get up and leave compared to stay and drink. "Man, you are really getting into this whole 'dwarf' thing aren't you?" She asked jovially, the voice she'd developed for her 'Jane' persona hardly catching like it once did. "You're talking like a character I once DMed for. He was all for Dwarf pride and hated elves. So cliché, but he did it sooo well." she couldn't help but burst out laughing again, this time at the memory of it all, but she quietened herself by taking another sip through the grin that had spread across her face at the thought.

"Really?" she asked, drawn out of the memory by Sark's comment, "I thought it was just another case of everyone wanting to be the tallest and stand out the most. I know in some games it has an effect, but it seems silly they'd put in something for one demographic and not the other." She shrugged at the thought, wondering how they'd made such an obvious blunder. "I should have tried out getting into game design more, I can't help but feel I gave up way too early. Bah. Regret." Jane took another big swig, downing way too much for someone her gender and size, but still able to keep up thanks to the magic of being an Adventurer.

"You know what? I bet there were things for smaller characters. There just weren't enough smaller characters to notice them! That's probably it. Yeah."

Jane waved away the waitress, not interested in eating at the moment, and more than full on drink for the night (not that she'd admit it out loud). Instead she sat back in her chair, watching the two dwarfs drink, all the while wondering at how little their number there was in the game. People all seemed to choose foxtails or wolfhairs or werecats. The generic fantasy races of elves and dwarves didn't seem as popular as humans even, at least from her experience.

The tiny guardian was again drawn back into the conversation rather suddenly when Sark made one of the silliest suggestions of the night, which told her they'd probably had enough for the night (or were getting close, considering they were dwarves). "That's a terrible idea! I don't think I could even hold my shield straight right now, let alone use a skill. We'd probably see something silly at the wrong moment and all collapse laughing in a pile as some level 1 boars start mauling us to death for not paying attention!"

Again she broke into laughter as the mental image of just that game to mind and for a moment everything went clear. "I love it!"

W: 484

[Fletcher]

Fletcher nodded enthusiastically in agreement, swapping out his tankard for a new one as the barmaid passed by. Sark had made mention of when this world as a concept was just a game. To Fletcher, this game was never anything less than reality. Jane seemed to pick up the conversation with Sark in his stead, talking about the logic behind his claim of height requirements in raids. Granted, he’d never done one as it never occurred to him to try anything of the sort. Living day to day seemed not necessarily more fulfilling but definitely more necessary. He’d got a nice system going, although was looking forward to being able to afford his own place. Not necessarily anything large, but something to call his own.

Sark mentioned something about tackling the Windsor Greatwood at night and Fletcher nearly choked on his drink, just in time for the barmaid to come back with his food. What was set in front of him was some kind gumbo, meaty chunks floating around in a thick meaty broth. It was a very masculine meal in terms of purpose and design, it wasn’t designed to be pretty but rather functional for those wanting a hearty meal. He spooned the first mouthful into his maw and considered what had been proposed. Jane seemed to be in agreeance to this plan even after describing a very likely occurance. Fletcher swallowed, clearing his voice and steeling himself to be a responsible adult to say that it was unwise.

”Alright. Let’s go hit up the Greatwood; I’ve been there a couple of times and have a designated driver in mind.” That wasn’t what his mind had processed him to say, but that’s what had come out all the same. He drew a circle over the back of one of his hands, refreshing the Aquarius Sigil he had running. While before he was upkeeping Vitality to keep the effects of the drink at bay and be a little more beefy in the off-chance a pub brawl were to occur, but this time he opted with Wisdom just in case they needed a voice of reason.

Word Count: 355
Total: Word Count: 758

[Sark]

stat widget coded by Oxford of ET

HP: 100% MP: 100% - EQUIPMENT - Starter Greatsword (2h) Sark's L. Leather Pauldrons -- SKILLS - None Active - Words: 427 Tags: Let’s get rolling~. OOC: --

Sark gave Jane a strange looked as she described her past DMing a game of Dungeons & Dragons. The way she spoke about things, it also seemed like she still believed this was a game. To Sark, the Unfounded Kingdom was his universe. He didn't necessarily like it, nor was he particularly skillful here, but it was his home & his world.  He had adopted quickly to the belief that he'd been somehow translated into a new dimension, and that the characteristics that seemed like Elder Tales were chance alone. After all, it wasn't like he had been able to swap servers or characters. He had been stuck in a level 1 body and unable to log out or switch or hibernate or anything. Therefore, this was truth. However, in his current state of inebriation there was no way he was able to say that, so simply grunted in agreement. The conversation had moved along, and both of his fellows laughed and approved outragously at the idea of a swashbuckling, danger-filled, adventurous bit of fun in the woods. When the maid returned with drinks, Sark immediately sculled it down and ignored the cold, heavy sloshing in his stomach. In 20 minutes he'd be regretting that, but he was living in the moment, and the moment said let's go! Taking the remains of his bread-and-dip the teen stood, and immediately staggered. He went to grab at a table, fumbled that as well, and went staggering backwards. Just as it seemed like there was no way for him to recover, the tiny adventurer performed a sharp backflip and landed squarely on his toes. With no more than a little drunken slur, Sark bragged. "Yeah, she'll be right mate. Let's fight." And with that he settled his bill and not-quite-staggered from the bar. A slow look to his newfound friends showed they were with him, and seemed in better shape than he. If he had to guess, he would assume both were older than he was, both in body and mind. "Come on!"He encouraged "Less get there! I know a shortcut through the drains." And so, heedless of any good advice sent his way he ambled to the nearest moss-strewn manhole covered and pried it open. It was a little rusted,but by using his greatsword as a wrench the iron cover was peeled back, and the dry, humid drains were available. These had not been used for thousands of years for sewerage, so thankfully the ocassional damp area was no more than rain, from what Sark could tell at least.

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[Jane]

Jane looked on in envy at some of the food the others ordered and did her best to shrug it off. It wasn't like she needed food right now, her body didn't want it, and she didn't want to spend money on it. It was one of those annoying situations where you saw food and wanted it, despite not needing it in the slightest. The envy didn't break her ability to grin when Fletcher agreed to coming along on the obvious misadventure that Sark suggested. The fact that Sark then proceeded to make an utter fool of himself as he tried to get back up probably indicated exactly how good of an idea this whole thing was, but his save made her think it might just work. Probably. Maybe not. It didn't matter.

"You are so going to be the first to go." she said to the Samurai, then changed her mind, "Either that or me, for trying to stop something hitting you when you're being stupid. Either way, doesn't matter."

As soon as the chibi human was able to pay for her drinks, she followed the two Dwarfs out of the tavern and into the street, enjoying for a moment the clean air of the outside world. It wasn't that adventurers stunk, they seemed to have some sort of a self cleaning magic about them that prevented that, but the atmosphere of a tavern seemed to hold a sense of that stick that was normally magiced away as some sort of 'area aroma' or something like that. Maybe it was supposed to replace the background music that only ever appeared in the form of roaming minstrels nowadays.

"Geeze drinking really makes your mind wander. For a moment I thought you said- Oh, you did."

Jane stared down into the gaping hole for a moment, and couldn't help but think of the sewerage system back home. Cedric didn't live in a city so he'd never had much of a chance to see how they were set out or how they worked beyond the bit of research he'd had to do into them for a campaign once. Suffice to say, the dryness of what she saw was unexpected to say the least.

"I wonder if that's a different zone down there, or is it still covered by the London zone? Could we discover the ROUS down there?"

Not even waiting for an answer, the guardian, sat on the edge and eyed the drop. She'd probably take a tiny bit of fall damage if she'd just leapt, and even now she might take one or two points, but adventure was its own reward. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, in case the below stank just because of what it was, Jane pushed off and fell into the underground sewers, hitting the bottom with a loud clang of metal on stone. Heavy armour was not the best for jumping around in after all, though if she'd wanted to do it silently she probably could with her tracker skills.

"Come on guys, lets hit the frog and toad."

W: 515

[Fletcher]

When they were all in agreeance as to heading out into the Greatwood was the absoltute best idea ever conceived, Sark rose from the table and promptly stumbled. What Fletcher didn’t expect was the graceful pirouette following. With a wide-eyed stare, the other dwarf brushed off what had just happened as if it were nothing and paid his bill. Not waiting for the rest of them, Sark headed out into the street. Fletcher gave Jane a quick look to confirm that they were both heading out and settled his own bill before following Sark out with Jane close behind.

The crisp night air was a sudden change from the warmth of the tavern. The scenery changed from warm, loud, crowded and bright to the polar opposite as soon as they crossed the threshold into the outside world. Sark led on and stopped near what appeared to be and was correctly so, a manhole in the middle of the street. Using the greatsword that he carried as a makeshift crowbar, the manhole was pried open and Sark spoke again. Before any objections could be made, Sark took the plunge into the manhole. A shortcut to the Greatwood apparently lay down here, and was going to be faster than just walking out the front gate.

Jane contemplated area zoning and Fletcher nodded. If the sewers were a different zone to the Greatwood, or even to Londinium. Either way, Jane followed suit and Fletcher sighed before calling down to the Guardian. ”Jane! Everything okay down there?” Starting his decent regardless of the answer he was ready for whatever lay in wait in the darkness of the sewers. The gem on top of Carbuncle’s head glowed a soft red light, only barely illuminating the area locally to Fletcher. It wasn’t going to be much help for finding the way through the darkness, and if anything it cast a malicious shroud over the area in which they traversed, making the dangers of the sewer amplified before they even began. ”Hey Sark, are you sure this is a shortcut? We could’ve just walked there.”

Word Count: 348
Total Word Count: 1106
@sark

[Sark]

stat widget coded by Oxford of ET

HP: 96% MP: 100% - EQUIPMENT - Starter Greatsword (2h) Sark's L. Leather Pauldrons -- SKILLS - None Active - Words: 408 Tags: Fletcher & Jane OOC: Feel free to take this where ever :) I have no plans.

Sark numbly dropped down the pipe. Some small part of his mind knew he should have taken a care, but the larger part of his mind was calmly numb. Before his slowed mind could register fear, his feet slammed into the hard, cold bricks. Muscle memory kicked in as Sark's knee's bent to spread the shock, and Sark fell onto his hands. A small sound effect announced the loss of HP. "Yeah be careful dropping." He shouted back belated. At that point, he took a few steps back from the hole so that no-one would fall on him. While the others clambered down, Sark took a moment to look about. Mostly, he saw darkness. A faint glimmer of reflected torchlight gave a hazy shape to the culvert, enough for Sark to sense that the bottom was only slightly curved, whilst the brick walls curved over them. It was surprisingly spacious, and Sark could feel the faint, tell-tale gust of wind from the forest on his face. The wind brought trace scents of mulch & growth. A stronger light seeped into the tunnel as Fletcher came down, with a spirit fox of some description casting a mild light. It belated reminded the inebriated Sark that he had something a little stronger. He knealt down to take a cheap tin lantern from his pack and, using a flint, lit the wick. As light bloomed around them, Sark was able to better discern the stained brick walls and ancient metal brackets where other pipes or cables had once run. Deep fissures and cracks scored some sections of the wall, but nowhere currently in sight had any debris on the track. ”Hey Sark, are you sure this is a shortcut? We could’ve just walked there.” "Yeah yeah yeah. I totally know this way. I use it all the time. We just got down this way..." Sark took a few steps to the left, before spotting the grille a hundred paces down the track that made it a dead end. "I mean this way." Ten minutes later, Sark was hopelessly lost. He'd always meant to learn the common routes, but instead he had just followed a couple of experience players who seemed to know where they were going. He rarely ended up where he intended, but did end up at interesting locales all the same. His drunknesses was taking control of the situation, and in a childish wine complained. "We'll all be rooned!"

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[Jane]

"Looks good to me." Jane called up to Fletcher, "I took a bit of damage but that'll heal up fast. I'll try and catch you if you'd like?" The chibi guardian set herself up in the perfect catching position, arms outstretched, body braced and all set, though Fletcher would probably either slip through, or just climb down himself. Either way, Jane would look a little flushed at the failure and just avoid looking at the Summoner in the weird light his summon was producing.

"Easier, but not as exciting. We've got to see what grand adventure awaits!" Jane piped in, not wanting Sark to be discouraged from the path he was leading. A little bit of extra fun on the way to their stupid decision wouldn't go amiss, and the stupidity of falling into the sewers to get lost sort of suited that. "Um, if we go- uh."

Jane tried to stop Sark from wandering off immediately like that, but she followed him anyway for a bit until they hit a dead end and stopped. "You know if-" Again she broke off, not really wanting to say it, as it would sort of ruin the whole adventure (and Cedric was so against railroading), but it wouldn't take long before Jane had had enough and needed to make herself heard.

"This would all be a lot easier if we just tried to go in the right direction from where we came in," she finally announced, trying to get her bearings in the dark tunnels. "It would have been a lot easier if we'd done that from the start, I hardly know which way we're facing now, so why don't we try to backtrack and go from there? It can't be that hard to find the only moonlight streaming down a still open manhole cover, right?"

Jane looked between the two dwarfs imploringly, hoping one of them would see the wisdom in her words, or even the moonlight she was talking about, if they could be so lucky. Being lost in the tunnels wasn't so bad all things considered, and Jane was still almost hoping for giant sewer-alligator-rats, or something cool to pop out of the darkness and make this whole adventure that much more interesting. No one wanted to hear a story about how she got lost with a couple of dwarves under the city and nothing interesting happened.

W: 398

[Fletcher]

As Fletcher clambered down the last few rungs of the ladder leading down into the sewer before taking a proper look at where Sark had led them. Carbuncle seemed interested too, raising its head to get a better look and casting its red light on the surrounding tunnel. The sewers were old and unused based on how dry the place was. Perhaps the dwarf was expecting something more dank and dark as opposed to just dark. Even then, the moonlight filtering down some of the sewer grating high above left beacons of light through the tunnels ahead at least giving some light to navigate by.

From what he could tell, the brickwork surrounding them was old enough to show signs of decay and erosion; the surface stained with the remnants of grime from an era where the place housed a lot more water than it did now. Fletcher cast a look at Jane, visibly uncertain whether or not they should continue pursuing Sark after all; if it came to it they all should have the Call to Home skill to get them out, but ideally it’d be great if they saved that for when they were really in trouble. Sark led on, immediately taking a wrong turn and then correcting himself, taking them down another completely different path. This continued on for another ten minutes; each junction they would come to would be a moment’s pause to look down each way, before Sark declaring to the world that this way was the one to go. More often than not they had to double back due to a brick wall or grating blocking their path mere seconds after turning the corner.

Jane so far had tried to interject on several occasions, but her voice had fallen on very drunk ears pushing the party further into the sewers. Fletcher at least had noticed, but even though he did, Sark seemed undeterred to keep going forward, or whatever direction they were going. Jane exclaimed about Sark’s method to madness and suggested they headed back the way they came. That would’ve made sense and Fletcher agreed, nodding to the Guardian as she finished. The girl’s eyes fell on Fletcher and he returned her look with a sombre, apologetic gaze.

To say the least, it was a very sobering experience. Sark shouted some nonsense yet again and Fletcher gave him a look. ”Sark, you have no idea where we are right now, do you?” He raised an eyebrow before a noise caught his attention. The faint sounds of skittering echoed around them, the sounds of nails on the brickwork signalled the presence of something nearby. Carbuncle quivered and seemed to stare at the brickwork, tracing the sound as best it could, growling softly at times where it would appear they were closer. ”Kobolds? Rats? Something know we’re here, that’s for sure.” Fletcher made sure his whip was ready and flexed his hands just in case they had to jump into combat at a moment’s notice.

Word Count: 500
Total Word Count: 1606

[Sark]

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HP: 100% MP: 100% - EQUIPMENT - Starter Greatsword (2h) Sark's L. Leather Pauldrons -- SKILLS - None Active - Words: 450 Tags: Fletcher & Jane OOC:

Sark was not going to let the truth get in the way of tonight's adventure. He knew that he was lost, but was certain that by applying enough energy and positive thoughts into the situation it would resolve to his liking. His thoughts were jumbled up further by the dregs of alcohol still working through his system, but the further they went through the sewers the more Sark was able to control himself. The warm had gone, and a slight wooziness had replaced it. He was focused on keeping his steps confident and mind clear, so failed to notice the skittering noises, or Fletcher's initial warning. It was only when the other's stopped with concern lacing their expressions that Sark started to pay attention again. "Ratmen!" He cried, placing the sound immediately, "those other guys said they'd slain the king! They shouldn't be spawning for another month!" Sark panicked. At his current level a ratman would be a significant foe, and they carried the plague debuff, which could really inconvenience an adventurer. It would kill many People of the Land, but Sark was not worried about that now. He desperately looked about, finally catching Jane's suggestion. "Yes!" He agreed. He was hoping by returning to where they started they could race through the sewers in the correct direction, hopefully keeping ahead of the ratmen. Sark took a few steps to begin that, when the first ratman came into view. It was half the size of a dwarf, with a large, oversized head. Its limbs were tiny, but their claws were strong enough to allow the creature to hold onto vertical surfaces like the brickwork it now clung to. Its fur was matted, and its tail in the telltale crooked shape to show it was one of the plague bearers. The thing about ratman was that they were never alone. The plague bearer scuttled across the roof, before dropping down not far from Sark like the legendary Drop Bear. "C-come on guys! Come on!" He shouted, more to inspire himself than his more capable companions. Inspiration struck him as he stared at Jane's helmet. "Jane! You used to organise battles, how should we approach this?" Waiting for her orders, Sark leapt back to join his companions, and equipped his sword. With the familiar, huge weight resting in his arms, the green haired dwarf was able to better keep his nerves under control. He'd fought for hundreds of hours during the game on other servers, and had even fought a few times since. He wasn't a greenhorn, but he was still nervous enough that his hands were sweaty and his eyes could not rest anywhere in case he missed an upcoming danger.

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[Jane]

Jane probably would have picked up on the sound of movement well before either Sark or Fletcher thanks to her hearing aptitude, but the little Guardian didn't really seem to pay much attention to it, figuring it was probably some sort of normal sized rat scurrying around in the darkness somewhere. Rats weren't exactly something worth worrying about, but when Sark identified them as Ratmen she had to wonder at her own decision.

In Jane's defence, Ratmen weren't exactly something she'd run across in the frost she frequented, so it wasn't like she knew they existed or anything. Then again ratmen were probably an obvious mob to appear in any videogame that had sewers, if a little boring. Wererats were so much more interesting but also infectious, so they couldn't exactly put them in without considering that aspect affecting the players somehow. Something some players wouldn't want to happen to their precious characters without permission.

"It is possible they're not spawning you know. Could be remnants from before they'd defeated the boss maybe?" Jane chimed in, not sure what else she could offer beyond moving to the side of the group that the sound seemed to be coming from. "What sort of level do these mobs have anyway?"

They sounded way too close to run, so Jane was more than ready to fight. Giant rats or smallish ratmen, it didn't matter to her. "Eh!? I usually had more time to think about it than this but uh..." Jane half closed her eyes, still paying attention to the creature that scurried towards them upon the roof. "Let's see, if they're anything like the wererats I used once, that's probably a scout. It will either try to harm us from a distance, or disable us with some sort of debuff, before scurrying back to a swarm of some sort and leading them our way. Alternatively they'll have a call to attract them, so our best bet is to destroy it as quickly as possible."

Jane's full attention was on the ratman now. "A formation that prevents access to the most vulnerable would be best, and maybe holding its agro long enough that it can't do anything but attack. Any idea what it does?" Jane pulled her shield and spear from her back, gripping them firmly and eyeing the rat for any sign of sudden movement, all the while edging towards the vermin so that she was the first target it would have to go through. "Fletcher? If you want to draw a bit of agro so I can save my taunt for if it flees I've got a way to stop it from getting to you."

W: 444

[Fletcher]

Ratmen. It just had to be Ratmen, didn’t it? Fletcher had heard of them before; bipedal rodents that lurked in the darkest of places and swarmed similar to rats. This posed a problem, as from what he had gathered by Sark’s panic attack, they were going to pose a serious threat. Jane’s suggestion of returning was seeming better and better as time went on. Sark moved first and stopped short mere steps from where he started, gazing into the darkness. There, up on one of the walls was one of the ratmen, looking as though it had been down here its whole life down to how untamed and ungroomed its fur was. The claws were what stuck out as what was more threatening about their situation though, they were long and sharp enough to cling to the brickwork ceiling and walls effortlessly.

Sark readied himself and turned to Jane. Fletcher did the same, knowing that of the three of them she had more combat experience under her belt. Jane’s idea was to rid themselves of the thread as soon as possible in case it were a scout. Made sense, and it would be horrid to be swarmed in such close quarters by mobs that ranged around level ten. Jane took position and Fletcher was already on casting as the Guardian made her suggestion. He pulled the whip from his side and cracked it briskly, Carbuncle bursting into existence and eyeing off the enemy. ”I’ll take care of keeping you both alive and support from the rear line,” He spoke with a hand outstretched, glowing a solid blue directed at Jane. ”Sigil of Aquarius!” The blue light erupted from his hand and coated Jane, taking her Strength up by 5%. If they were going to take this down fast, then whatever buffs he had would be needed. He looked to Sark and did the same thing before hunkering down for the sortie.

Word Count: 321
Total Word Count: 1927

[Sark]

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HP: 100% MP: 80% - EQUIPMENT - Starter Greatsword (2h) Sark's L. Leather Pauldrons -- SKILLS - None Active - Words: 583 *1.1 Oct Art = 641 Tags: Fletcher & Jane OOC:

His companions reacted quickly to the threat challenging them. Sark felt slow in comparison, his movements unco-ordinated and his mind foggy. While Jane summarised information, Sark shook his head try to clear it. Dregs of drunkenness remained though, putting a dull edge on his fear and reactions. Jane asked after the danger of the ratmen, and in the moment's silence when Fletcher did not answer, Sark replied. His voice seemed tight with tension, much like his grip on the sword. "They tend to range from fifteen to thirty. The biggest danger is the number of them, and that ratmen can have the [Plague] debuff. Luckily you can tell the Plague bearers by their crippled, zigzag tails. "I could probably take one myself, but I'm not that high levelled at the moment ..." It was a little shaming to admit, but Sark was still in single digits for his level as a Samurai. In the game, that meant he would have been in the first 10 hours of gameplay. Yet, with almost 2 years of danger holding him back, Sark was progressing much slower. The silver lining was that his character had been built around the concepts of strength and agility, giving him a battle prowess slightly above his true level.  His companions seemed to take his personal failing in their stride, with Jane suggesting the two martial classes form a front line and Fletcher volunteering to support them. Between his support and Jane's intimidating defences, Sark began to feel his fear dwindle as his hopes were rallied. The grip on his sword loosened slightly. A blue set of zigzags appeared over Jane's head, and a few seconds latter Sark felt the same happen to him. A sense of confidence and capability washed through his body, making Sark feel like he could better make the most of his natural strength. The boy spared a quick glance and nod towards his elder, before returning his focus to the danger. With the thought that the sole ratman might be a scout who needed to be silenced, Sark tilted back his sword so that it rested against his right shoulder, the tip almost pointing straight up. "Ace Move:         Lightspeed!" Small, crackling arcs of mana erupted from his body. They danced across his limbs, and set his ruffled hair dancing in flowing waves of static electricity mana. It made his strengthed body feel lighter, and sharpened his alcohol addled mind. With renewed focus, Sark nimbly sprinted past Jane. "Take out the scout, right? I've got this!" The Plague Bearer watched for a moment, before it reached a satisfactory conclusion and leapt from its perch with an explosion turn of speed. With outstretched claws the ratman tried to gouge Sark, but the enhanced Samurai stretched his arms forward and raised his shoulder, almost giving the appearance of a labourer carrying a heavy beam on his shoulder. Just before the ratman made contact, the samurai twisted at the hip, and the flat of his blade parried the attack. The sound of claws scratching at the oiled steel shrieked through the tunnel. Not losing momentum the dwarf twisted about and sent a heavy horizontal slash through the wererat. The Plague Bearer seemed injured from the attack, but had not quit the ghost yet. It snarled menacingly, showing off rotted yellow teeth. Halfway between Sark and Jane, it spent a moment eyeing off both before moving towards the girl. She hadn't injured it so far, so might be less painful to fight.

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[Jane]

"Let's just hope they aren't level 30, then." Jane mumbled under her breath as she felt her grip on her spear tighten with Fletcher's powers. The tiny guardian glanced back at the dwarf for a moment before refocusing on the ratman, watching Sark dash forward with some magically enhanced speed. "That's hardly keeping a defensive formation!" Jane called out, not even sure why Sark had decided to ask questions if he wasn't going to listen to the instructions. She had to admit he was holding his own against the creature, that extra speed his skill was giving him allowing for just enough movement to avoid what could have been a heavy attack, but the fact was he was now over extended, and a bit too far out of reach for her to cover him if needed.

For a moment Jane was split between the idea of keeping close enough to Fletcher to defend him, and moving up to back up Sark on the front line, eventually deciding to edge her way towards the Samurai so she could dash one way or the other if needed. If her head had been clearer she would have been a lot faster at these sorts of decisions, but as it was she was over thinking and over wanting to defend all the things, which was just counterproductive in the end. If they'd all been at full (mental) power it would have been a different situation entirely, but they all had to work with what they had, which wasn't really that much.

When the ratman did start charging at her (one of the benefits of being higher level was the higher aggro she drew from the world around her), Jane took a moment too long to raise the shield, blocking what would have been a great block into a glancing blow, taking a tiny slice out of her hitpoints despite her armour absorbing the majority of the damage. Sadly blocking with her armour wouldn't actually defend from damage, just the bodily damage that would come with most attacks. The creature left a good groove in the metal of her platemail before Jane's mind shifted enough to allow her a change in stance to jab at the creature before it could move.

Even as she pulled the spear back, Jane was activating one of her own skills. Lifting one of her feet with great purpose, the tiny guardian readied her Heavy Anchor. If her jab kept it distracted long enough then Jane would slam her foot down on one of the monster's feet, pinning it right next to her in a way that would prevent either of them moving. A very useful skill for when her opponent was immune to standard CC, but also dangerous as it made it a lot harder for Jane to dodge and weave through the rat's plagued attacks. A trade-off that would allow the others to unleash some skills of their own however.

"Quickly, while I've got it pinned. Hit it with your best shot!" she called out, trying to somehow keep her shield between her and the ratman's claws. There was no way to defend her pinning leg however, and the ratman seemed to sense that. After a few moments of confused panicking it changed its assault, going for her leg and trying its best to get between the plates, to get at Jane's vulnerable flesh below.

W: 567

[Fletcher]

Great. Just great. These things had a status effect to make them deadly, on top of having power in numbers. If luck had anything to say about this, they were probably right on top of a nest, meaning the others were likely to be right behind the one they were facing off against now if they didn’t do something soon. Sark made a comment about being able to take one if he was a little bit higher in level, but that applied to all of them; it just came down to a matter of levels. Speaking of, Fletcher’s small buff on his companions died down almost as soon as it had cast; the downside of neglecting to level up his Sigilmaker subclass, but for the time being starting strong was what kick started their morale.

Sark sped off, an electrical aura surrounding him and heading straight for the enemy. Sark didn’t seem to grasp the tactics that Jane was trying to set out, but launched head first with an attack in the air, parrying the first exchange to keep himself somewhat safe. With the revised positions, the rat took a turn at Jane, snarling and lashing out with an attack. Jane mustn’t have been ready for it, for the ratman slipped past her guard and landed a glancing blow against her chest. It paid for it thought, getting jabbed with her spear and being knocked back just an inch or so, losing its balance. It was all the Guardian needed to lock it into position, bringing her foot down upon the rat and keeping it in place, shield fending off the incoming attacks from the bound creature. The shield wasn’t going to last forever, but for now, it seemed to be doing its job.

Holding out his hand, Carbuncle clambered up onto his arm before the dwarf launched the fox into the fray, giving the small fox a bunch of air time. While in the air, Fletcher sized up the ratman and held his palm out, frowning. ”Elemental Bolt!” Jane was in charge here, and if she said to attack then attack he shall, lending support in the form of additional damage given healing right now wasn’t a top priority. Given how the next exchange may go however that may change. As the spell was unleashed, a bolt of light shot from the ruby atop Carbuncle’s head, showering the rat with magic from above, leaving its flanks and rear wide open for Sark to capitalise on. It wasn’t dead just yet, but they were getting closer.

Word Count: 426
Total Word Count: 2353

[Sark]

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HP: 60% MP: 30% - EQUIPMENT - Starter Greatsword (2h) Sark's L. Leather Pauldrons -- SKILLS - None Active - Words: 547 *1.1 Oct Art = 601 Tags: Fletcher & Jane OOC: Jeet can decide if the attack hurt her or if friendly fire does not exist :3

Sark's mind reeled after the brief spurt of action. While the [Lightspeed] skill was active he was able to keep himself alert, but the sudden shift in positions and momentum had been too much for his drunken-and-alert mind. While he battled with his stomach to keep its contents, Jane was adeptly keeping the ratman's focus, shifting her shield about and even shoe-stomping the foe in place. "Awesome move!" He cried, as Jane had single handedly stopped the ratman was being able to escape. With three on one, it was a sure victory. The sprightly Guardian cried out for Sark & Fletcher to give all they had. Sark caught Jane's eye and nodded firmly, dashing in to close the distance. Fletcher was one step faster, throwing his familiar into the air, who sent a strong blast of magic directly at the Plague Bearer. The demi-human shrieked in pain, twitching its miniature limbs as the magic passed through. Using its distraction and restricted movements the samurai performed his most powerful combination. It was something he'd practiced repeatedly, but never had the chance to use it in live combat with this. The first part was trickiest; he would lay down an attack that would further restrict motion, but didn't know if 'friendly fire' occurred within this new reality. He'd have to be careful of Jane. "Ace Move: Flash wave!" He cried, sliding his hands down until they were gripping the very end of the pommel. His thick, wedge like sword flashed a pale green, and with a twist of his hips the samurai performed a strong pirouette, his arms straight as his sword slashed a circle about him. He felt the sword tug and bite into the demihuman, but his momentum was enough to carry him through. Trailing behind the path of the sword was a glimmering mass of magical wind.It passed directly through the ratman, and to Sark's horror, also Jane. Keeping the momentum of his spin, Sark activated his 'combo finisher' attack. Like the ten hit combo in a fighting game, this ability required a complex, 3 second dance. The more errors made, the less powerful the attack would be, so Sark had spent several afternoons trying to get the motions memorised. In the game the character seemed to mutter a ritual or something, but so far Sark had been able to activate it silently. "Ace Move: Divinity Slash!" The sword dipping, lightly scraping the ground directly in front of the samurai, before performing a tight figure of 8. A sharp, 'blood-flicking' gesture was made to the right, and the sword was slowly, carefully, brought up until it was overhead. The wrists were tightened, angling the sword just ever so slightly to the left. Just before he brought the blade down like the headsman axe, he recalled Jane. Shifting to the left as he dropped the sword down, it sliced cleanly through the ratman before exploding on the ground. A short ray of concrete-churning destruction lanced ahead for 3 meters, narrowly avoiding the guardian and summoner both. The impact left his hands and elbows feeling tingly, but as the demihuman evaporated into soap bubbles the samurai pushed that feeling aside. A tired grin spread from his face. "Guys, I need to drink with you again. That was awesome."

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Skill Descriptions:
Chain 1: "Lightspeed" Denkosetta, "Steel-Cutting Blade" Zantetsuken
Chain 2: "Flashwave" Shunsen
Chain 3: "Blade Clone" Tsuguri Bunshin, "Divinity Slash" Seinaru Shinken

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[Jane]

Thankfully Jane didn't have to wait long before her allies came to her aid. The chibi guardian tried to twist her leg out of the way, making it harder for the ratman to stab and impale while still keeping it stuck in place for her drinking buddies. Fletcher didn't disappoint, a blast of magical energy coming up from behind to stagger the beast, drawing a little bit of agro too, that made it to try and draw away from the small girl. It was a moment of relief from her legs at least. It really didn't know what to do when Carbuncle also attacked. It kept trying to get away, but upon realising it couldn't move would return agro to Jane and went for her legs again.

Thankfully no more damage was inflicted upon the girl's health bar because Sark started up his combo. Cedric felt a flash of fear deep within Jane's mind, making her bring up their shield ever so slightly to avoid taking damage from the samurai's ever so flashy moves. The fear abated as soon as the seemingly magical part of his attack passed through her shield and body harmlessly, though she had to resist the urge to step away a few moments later as he cleaved the creature in half, lest it gain enough manoeuvrability to escape. The end result was a slight knick to her health bar as tiny bits of rubble flew up, some bouncing harmlessly off her shield but others getting past her guard and nicking at the exposed flesh on her face.

The little guardian took a few steps back once the monster had disappeared, turning towards the shadows and rubbing at her face with a gauntleted hand to hide the discomfort such a close call had caused her. Her lack of experience with how parties worked had caused her some real fear within that battle, and it wasn't something Cedric's mind was too used to attributing with this game-world. Once she'd recovered her composure Jane would, whether it was in agreement with Sark or not was hard to tell, before throwing in a sharp remind lest they forget their current situation.

"That's all well and good, but don't you think we should probably get out of here before another of those beasties turns up again? Either they're a rare spawn at the moment because the Rat King is dead, or they are swarming the area and it's not exactly safe. Until we know for sure, we should probably assume the latter and get out of here, no?"

Jane glanced uncertainly down the tunnel that the ratman had appeared, not wanting to go that way in the slightest. Backtracking was their safest option right now, or so she believed, so the chibi guardian would start edging her way that way, shield still out and ready in case more of the vermin were laying in wait for the group just around the corner or something.

"Umm, which way did we come from back here?"

W: 502

[Fletcher]

After Fletcher and Carbuncle tag-teamed their attack at the command of Jane, Sark decided to follow it up with a combination of his own. His sword was a blur, each strike delivered with precision and a certain amount of grace he didn’t expect from the younger dwarf. That blade cleaved and rent the last of the rat man’s health before dividing it in two and leaving it to explode in a mass of bubbles. Fletcher did a quick assessment of everyone’s health and topped up Jane who seemed to be the only one injured from the encounter. A warm light washed over the Guardian and her health was back to full, leaving the party now with the task of moving on and possibly getting out of the sewers.

Sark made comment about drinking with them again, before Jane brought him back down to earth. The girl was right, regardless of the situation regarding the respawn criteria of the beasts given some kind of event, they were best off leaving this place and either heading back to the tavern or actually taking the road out to the woods. This whole ordeal had been very sobering to say the least. ”Agreed. Let’s get out as soon as we can.” Jane started sizing up the routes leading out from where they were at the moment, when Fletcher cleared his throat and spoke again. ”We all have an easy escape back to the surface; we have Call of Home in our skill lists which recalls us back to our home town. That should be Londinium for all of us, right? It is for me.”

From there, it would be to choose what was to happen next. In all honesty, Fletcher was growing wearier as the night went on, severely underestimating his energy from the environment of the bar that seemed to nurture that for the sake of patrons buying more drinks. It was almost unavoidable, but the dwarf already was looking forward to a good night’s sleep.

Word Count: 333
Total Word Count: 2686
Sark

[Sark]

HP: 62% MP: 32% - EQUIPMENT - Starter Greatsword (2h) Sark's L. Leather Pauldrons -- SKILLS - None Active - Words: 394 * 1.1 = 433 Tags: Jane Fletcher OOC: --

Jane was quick to point out the drawbacks of Sark's continued drinking. The danger they were in down here, lost, tired and intoxicated, was real. Three ratmen could give them a run for their money, especially as Sark was still cooling down from prior chain. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Better safe n sorry, right?" Their only problem was the logistics of actually leaving the sewers safely. Sark knew he was lost, Fletcher had a poor sense of direction, much like Jane. Still, Sark never the truth get in the way of a good story. Just as he was about to indicate a tunnel at random to say with conviction that was the exit, Fletcher spoke up. "Ah yes, Call of Home. Of course ... I know that skill ..." It was a basic skill that all adventurers knew from level 1, and was useful to quickly teleport back to your home town to hand in quest ingredients. Sark had used it all the time as a lazy player on the German server, but had assumed during all this time that it no longer existed. It wasn't with the rest of his skill list, instead listed under the "Emergency" bar which also normally included a Log Out, Call a GM & Screenshot chat-log buttons.  Given 3 of those functions no longer existed, Sark had always thought that Call of Home had not as well.  He saw one of his companions raise their hand to teleport out and Sark cried for them to stop. He insisted that they swap friend requests first, to ensure that they could meet later. These two had been friendly and talkative, a trait few adventurers shared with a level 1 character. Despite his lingering drunkenness, or perhaps because of it, the Samurai felt a desperate need to keep these two as friends. With the requests sent and recieved the samurai happily let his friends teleport away, before he too did. Several weeks later, a courier appeared at Jane's door. They were from the "Data Holder" courier service; a well known organisation that delivered important items across the discovered parts of the Unfounded Kingdom. They had impeccable service, and very fair rates. They passed an [unlabelled box] to Jane, explaining that the service fees had all been paid for. All they needed was her signature approving it, and it would be hers.

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