[lvl1 Social] Man's Best Friend

[Fallout]

Fall HP: 100% MP: 100%

"You can't throw me to the wolves, they come when I call."

As Fit as a Butcher’s Dog

“Okay, so the week hasn’t treated me the best. I didn’t get my armor upgrade, I didn’t get my weapon upgrade, I’ve angered the Captain of the city guards to the point of where he told me never to return and just stepped in a pile of crap.” Fall mumbled to himself as he walked down the roads towards the city gates. Many Landers stared at him as he mumbled, obviously thinking he was insane. He ran his hand through his messy hair and let out a loud sigh.

It was a relatively dull day, skies filled with rain clouds and everyone was hard at work. Fall had decided to embark on his journey without his desired equipment, even if it was a large risk. He was sick of the city, he was sick of the people. His dislike of crowded area’s and loud noises had started to get the best of him. His head ached and his feet felt blistered from all his travelling, a yawn emerged from his mouth. He had spent the night at an inn, a bad mistake. The Continues music and shouting made it impossible to sleep, Fall had spent better nights in alleyways. But despite his bad sleep he pushed on, dragging his fatigued body through the cold brick streets of Londinium.

“WATCH OUT!” An unknown voice warned him, a large cart stormed its way past Fall. The wheel centimeters away from crushing his toes, Fall fell back onto the ground. Bashing his head in the process.

“IDIOT!” The carriage driver yelled as he rode away, Fall did not disagree with the man’s insult however.

‘I know I can be an idiot, no need to state the freaking obvious.’ Fall felt like chasing the driver down and giving him a lesson on manners. But that would end with him in prison and a loss of the gold he had worked hard to earn.

Fall got himself up from the ground and brushed the dust off, patting down his crappy cloth armor. Looking both ways before he proceeded forward, setting off once again. The druid walked staring at the ground, not looking where he was going. Another disaster waiting to happen, but the combination between tiredness and worry had gotten the best of him. He still wasn’t ready to take on harder tasks, so didn’t see the point of doing any more work for measly rewards.

‘A long hard couple weeks of intense training in the woods should be enough clear my mind and make me stronger. I haven’t really got a choice either, these guards aren’t making my life easy. Better to just stay low in the forest till they forget about me, I should really stock up on some…F***!’

Whack, Fall slammed straight into a lantern poll. Once again, falling backwards onto the unwelcoming cold brick road, laughter could be heard coming from passing pedestrians and carriage drivers on the road. He held his forehead, sitting there till the pain subsided. A strong gust blew through the street, he lowered his hand, allowing the breeze to cool down his head. As the pain finally eased down, a sheet of paper struck his face.

“God, why do you hate me?” He asked himself with a whisper. Removing the paper from his face he realized it had writing on it, unfolding revealed it to be a lost dog flyer.

‘Lost Dog, owner Bharume Smith. A reward for anyone who can find my missing friend, he is a Wolfhound who answers to the name Tipsy. Last known location was the southern church, for more information please go to The Easy Cut Butchers.’

The druid still sat on the ground and brought his arm around his legs, curling up into a ball whilst he dwelled. He both wanted to leave and find this dog at the same time, a decision which was very personal to him. Despite the owner being nothing more than an NPC to Fall, he knows the feeling of losing a companion. Something an owner will never likely forget.

“Sir, I’m gonna have to ask you to move along” Fall tilted his head, to see a guard trying to shew him along. Fall yet again raised himself off the ground and dusted himself off.

“Guard, do you know where the Easy Chop Butcher is?” The druid questioned as he patted himself off.

“Yeah, on the crappier side of town located on Oath Road. Twenty minute walk from here, better watch your pockets tho’.” The guard replied replied, his voice rather friendly.

“Thank you, I will be on my way now” He wasn’t in the mood to cause a fuss, unlike so many other times.

“No problem, just don’t loiter in the future. Okay?” With that the guard walked off, back to patrolling.

‘kay, guess I could go help this dog. One more day won’t hurt. Just gotta find a dog and bring it back to its owner. I also get a reward, I guess I do need some food to take on this quest as well. It’s decided, time to find this dog.’

Back tracking on himself, Fall headed toward the poorer part of town. He passed through there when trying to escape the city during his first day, and still remembers the streets pretty well. Whilst they weren’t friendly or inviting, the danger of the area was greatly exaggerate. It wasn’t neatly decorated nor filled with fresh food stalls and fine shops, it was still a nice area. His understanding of the district was still lacking, but he remembered the main roads he passed through.

‘It’s an area which guards rarely pass through and considering my current armor, I shouldn’t have a hard time blending in. I should have a pretty easy time compared to this area. Hopefully I should be able to get it done by the end of tomorrow, worst case scenario I get a room an inn. Another restless night, another lacking reward.’ He planned out what to do a he made his way to the butchers. Hoping for it to be easy. Knowing it would not.

OOC NOTES: Tags-None / Words-1050 / Notes-None/ Music-None / Quest/Quest Permission-link

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Fallout]

Fall HP: 100% MP: 100%

"You can't throw me to the wolves, they come when I call."

Tipsy the Wolfhound

His walk was peaceful in comparison to his others, less guards and noise around the poorer district. This being the main reason why he likes the area so much, regardless of the bad odder that came from this place. Walking past the houses, it was clear most did not have a lot. The majority of people didn’t even have curtain, allowing Fall to look straight into their homes as he strolled by. A lack of furniture and general life, just rotting wood and a chimney full of ash. A breeze blew down the street and entered the home through a hole in the glass window, scattering the chimney ash across the floor. It was just how the druid remembered it.

‘Not much has changed, don’t know what I was expecting. Maybe some improvement, but it seems to all be going backwards. Wonder if the increase of adventures has caused this place to start going backwards, maybe that’s one of the reasons why Lander have a dislike of adventures.’ He yawned, before carrying on.

Glass crunched under Falls boot, the small crack shadowed by the sound of laughter. As he got further down the road more and more sounds came into play, turning the street corner Fall was greeted by a rather pleasant sight. Lively lander’s walked through the streets, carrying large bags and baskets filled with random goods. It was very similar to the upper class area in terms of its layout. Shops to each side and markets stalls laid on the road, but of a much lower standard. Most stalls were made out of old wood and tattered cloth pieces, most didn’t even have rooves over the head. Either cloths on the ground or a poorly build wooden stand. The food they were selling seemed to be equal to that of the upper class however, most being fresh produce from the farm….except the meat. The meat seemed to range from scraps to skewered rodents, not the nicest sight.

Fall noticed the faint sound of a guitar or some sort of light string instrument, to Fall right juts down the road sat an old man. He was playing the music with an ancient looking lute, sat on a raggedy green piece of cloth. In front of him was an insignificant pile of gold coins, not more than five. Feeling sympathy, Fall approached him and dropped one more coin onto the pile. The music stopped, the musical lander raised his head and looked Fall in the eye’s. The lander pupils were almost not existent, just clouds of faded blue amongst the white. Fall could just barely recognize him, the same man from the first day.

“Thank you, welcome back young man.” His voice was croaky but soft, lowering his head he continued to play. Axton averted his attention, and walked off. A small shiver ran down his spine, unsure of what to think.

‘Hmm. It seems that the general infrastructure has declined, but apart from that everything has remained relatively the same. People still acting the same, I guess you have to keep happy at a time like this. I still don’t understand how landers work, mostly likely never will. Though that old man seemed worse off than I previously remember him. And how did he recognize me?’

Most shops didn’t seemed to have signs, it seemed most people just knew which store is which out of familiarity. Fall guessed most people who currently lived here are stuck here, so figured they would know the area by heart. Axton poked his head into each store trying to find the butcher, pretty much all the store owners gave the druid a weird gaze as he poked his head through the door. Too much dismay, Fall spent just under half an hour wondering the streets. Eventually finding the butchers to be sat on the corner of a street, with a large tree blocking all view from Falls angle.

‘Of course it was hidden behind a poorly placed tree….course it was.’

As he made his way to the front, he realised that the store was of a fairly high quality. It’s structure was far more intact than the rest, no broken glass and the outside was kept clean. Peering through Fall could see a sizeable man standing behind the counter, slicing meat with a large cleaver. Each hit shook the counter with great force, his rather large arms made him an intimidating looking man. His legs one the other hand was a completely different story, two thin twigs sat dwarfed below a pot belly. This completed the man’s disproportional look, making him represent an overweight gorilla. His head was bold with a long ginger beard, Axton just hoped none of that facial hair got in the food.

Looking behind the butcher he noticed a pile of blanket, relatively clean. Placed beside were to metal bowl, both had “Tipsy” crudely engraved on the side. Thankfully, a clear sign he was in the right area. Walking through the door, the smell of blood struck him like a hammer. The butcher raised his eye’s to meet the druids, large bags laid under them. He placed the clever down beside the cutting board, a jolly smile spread across his face as he placed his messy ahnds on his waist.

“What can I get ya boy?” His voice was deep and raspy.

“Are you who has lost there dog? If so, I will be needing some more information before I can start looking.” He question the ginger giant.

OOC NOTES: Tags-None / Words-923 / Notes-None / Music-None / Quest/Quest Permission-link

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Fallout]

Fall HP: 100% MP: 100%

"You can't throw me to the wolves, they come when I call."

Whiskey and Spit

The giants arm slammed on the counter, slowly bringing his face towards Fall’s own. The druid didn’t flinch, but instead stood his ground. The giants beady eye’s gazed into his own, their faces were inches apart. A burp came from his mouth, before the butcher burst into laughter.

“HAHAHAHAH! You’ve got some balls on ya little man. HAHAHAHA!” His burst of laughter caught Fall by surprise, as well as the smell. At least it was a good surprise, kind of good. He came across as a stereotypical Welsh, his breath smelt of whiskey and spit from his laugh covered the room. The druid smiled to himself.

‘Nice to know that they brought some less than politically correct features into this game.’

“Thank you, sir. I was making my way out of the city when I came across your sign, decided I would come and help in the search.” Fall pulled the help sign from his pack, handing it to the butcher.

“Yes, I hung these up a little while back but no one answered them. Nobody likes this side of town, and nobody round here cares for helping others. His name is Tipsy, she my wolfhound. Got him a little while back from my brother, before he passed away. Bless his soul, I can’t lose both my friends so close together.” The butcher’s eyes began to dilate, but managed to hold back his tears.

‘hmm, typical giant soft bear underneath a hard as stone exterior.’

“Would mean the world to me if you could go and fetch him, or at least find out what’s happened. Ya see, he’s not usually like this. He went running round after some rat but never came back, I’m a little worried he might of got caught in a trap or worse. Please bring him back wont ya? I’m more than willing to pay for what it’s worth.” Fall could hear some desperation in his voice, which was to be expected.

‘Anyone who would come across Tipsy would most likely shoo him away, most likely at this point would have been picked up by someone else. This area is well known to thievery, it’s not uncommon for pets to go missing. They are normally taken and then just sold off to someone else, or kept as guard dogs for thief groups that thrive in these sort of areas.’

“No need to worry about money good sir, I’ll bring your pup back in one piece.” Fall brought his hand to his heart and extended it across the counter.

“Ayy boy, you are a hero this place needs.” The butcher extended his hand to meet Falls. “The names is Bharume Smith, the cheapest butcher this side of Londinium.” A small chuckle came from his mouth.

“The names Fall, just a simple wanderer.” He shook hands with the butcher. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring Tipsy home.”

Fall turned and left the store and set his gaze upon the street, pondering where to begin.

‘oh lord, I have no clue what I’m doing. Okay, think for once Artyome. He’s been missing for just over a week now, most likely been picked up. Best start picking up on some gossip, maybe I find one of the thief groups. They will need a large area to operate, so it’s probably best to start at one of the abandoned warehouses. I’ll check the side alleys on the way just in case, maybe ask some of the locals.’

A heavy sigh erupted from the druid “Why do I always take on these long, low paying and uneventful fetch quests?”

OOC NOTES: Tags-None / Words-598 / Notes-None / Music-Link / Quest/Quest Permission-link

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Fallout]

Fall HP: 100% MP: 100%

"You can't throw me to the wolves, they come when I call."

The Warehouse of Drunks

His journey to the warehouse had be uneventful, Fall had asked every person he came across if they had seen a dog. They all responded with a no or just told him to get lost, a couple insults directed towards adventures was also thrown. But that came with the life of an adventurer, until you are needed that is.
“Excuse me sir, have you seen…” Fall was rudely interrupted.

“THIS IS THE THRID TIME YOU’VE ASKED ME ABOUT THIS DOG! NO!” The old man stormed off.

“……Rude” Fall muttered to himself.

The druid has searched every road, every alleyway, the nook and crannies between the building. But to no success. Fall eventually came to a crossroad, he looked both ways before turning left and heading up the hill. The day had ran away, leaving the land gloomy. The street was semi lit with lanterns, shadows surrounded the main path. Doorways pitch black, he could see light candles from behind the houses curtains. The muffled sound of chatter, followed by the muffled sound of glass smashing on the floor.
The warehouse was insight. It stood on top of the hill, dwarfing surrounding homes. The worn wood and damaged windows had clearly gotten worse from the last time he saw it, the large fencing surrounding still stood tall however. Stopping any trespassers from entering, keeping those inside safe.

‘Shouldn’t be that hard to get inside, they always leave a way to get in. Probably a hole in the fence or I could just jump over, I just hope I don’t encounter anyone. I’m in no place to be fighting, especially not against a group.’

As the gates came into site, Fall noticed two figures stood by the gates. Both armed with swords, keeping watch. The druid kept to unlit patches, slowing his pace down. He hide behind stone wall of nearby home, observing the two guards. One leaned against a wall whilst the other sat in a chair, Fall inspected them using his interface. One was a mere level two, whilst the other higher level 5.

‘Regardless of their levels I can’t take them on, just gonna have to be sneaky. I’m still at level one, no chance. Maybe if I pretended to be a customer they would just let me in, but I have no gold. And once I’m inside there I would be a dead man, just gonna have to sneak…..Was that a dog barking?' The echo of a dogs bark could be heard, followed by multiple others.

‘Well, there is a good chance one of those could be him.’

Moving from his spot, Fall stayed crouched. Crawling through the shadows, he dived and ducked behind different objects, trying to stay out of site. Being a druid, sneaking wasn’t exactly his strong point. Fall managed to get round the back of the ware house, bracing himself along the wood fence he peered through a hole. Inside of the yard where large boxes, a training area, two unconscious men and a pen of dogs. Surrounding the two men where beer bottles, their loud snores suggested they were not going to wake up any time soon.

“Guess this situation could be worse, it could also certainly be better." Fall mumble to himself.

Opening his interface, he scanned the yard checking to see which dogs had a title. Most were just named dog, after five minutes of searching he came across Tipsy. He was locked in a cage on the left corner of the yard, trapped with two others. As went the leave his position, loud stomps could be heard. Peering back through, the druid watched as the door was kicked open.

OOC NOTES: Tags-None / Words-613 / Notes-None / Music-Link / Quest/Quest Permission-link

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Fallout]

Fall HP: 100% MP: 85%

"You can't throw me to the wolves, they come when I call."

Ka’Joi the Marked

“Would it kill one of you lazy little runts to shut those F***ing dogs up!?” A gargantuan Werecat stood in the doorway, a great sword mounted on his back. His size dwarfed the weapon, making it look a one handed weapon. His aggression, steel plate armour and heavy weapon clearly demonstrated his status as leader. Fall entered his interface and scanned the beastly bandit, his name was Ka’joi the Marked. A level 10 bandit leader, someone capable of killing the druid in one shot.

‘What sort of mess have I gotten myself into? I can’t take on any of these guys. Ugghh, they’ll wipe the floor with me.’

Fall found himself growing more annoyed with each second, his only chance to complete his duty was to somehow distract all the bandits and run ‘n’ gun to the dog. Technically speaking there was no way to call city guards, no obvious crimes had been committed. No guards are even within this area, not to mention his bad rep. His ran his fingers through his hair, too scared to let out a sigh in case the Werecat heard it.

“Stupid drunks” Ka’joi mumbled before slamming the door shut, neither of the unconscious men woke up despite their leaders presence.

‘At least if I sneak in I know those two won’t wake up, but what’s to stop Ka’joi from re-appearing? I need a distraction, something to keep them away from the yard. It’s clear that they are an unorganised group, so maybe it won’t too difficult to by myself some time.’

After a minute of thinking Fall had an idea, he raised his staff and summoned his Wolf Familiar [Familiar: Grey Wolf]. He pointed his staff in the general direction of the front guards and watched as his companion ran, the sound of the bandits panic brought joy to his ears.

‘That should give me at least five minutes, better act fast.’

Jumping, Fall just managed to get his fingers just over the fence. Lifting himself up, his bare hands tensed at the feeling of cold splinters stabbing into him. Lowering himself onto the ground gently as to not alert any nearby threats, it was clear he was safe. Fall dashed towards the dogs cage, ignoring the blind drunk bandits sleeping on the floor. Managing to get to Tipsy’s cage, he did a quick check to ensure he was in the safe. Tipsy was startled and in destress, a natural feeling when one has been captured and locked up. The druid used his animal trainer perk to calm the dogs, begging that it works before anything comes his way.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING, JUST KILL THE DAMN RAT WOULD YA!” Clearly the leader’s voice, whilst his wolf familiar had low health its great speed made it hard to hit. He specifically used it to round enemies or as a distraction to regain mana. The loud shouting continued as the guards ran about, trying to strike the wolf.

“Come on Tipsy, wanna go home. Go home to Bharume, go back to the butchers. Come one boy, we don’t have all day.” After roughly thirty seconds the dog calmed down and seemed to be listening, his heart skipped a beat. He felt as his familiar’s presence ceased.

‘Shit, times up’

“Follow” He whispered to the dog, running to the fence. “Come here” The dog walked to him, panting and clearly excited to be out. “Over you go” Fall grasped Tipsy and through him over the fence, he heard the sound of feet landing on the ground followed by a bark. ‘Home free’.

“I’m not an idiot like the rest of my crew, I know that someone summoned that wolf. I’m pretty impressed, you have single handily fooled my guards and nearly got away with stealing my property” The same deep voice grumbled behind him, it was clearly the leader. Fall turned to face the voice, whilst trying to keep a serious composer. Fall wasn’t scared of the Werecat, he was worried about what he wanted. If the Werecat wanted him dead, he would already be dead.

“This isn’t your property, this dog belongs to a citizen of Londinium. I’ve been entrusted with its safe return and I plan to ensure that trust is well kept, I will be leaving now” He kept his calm, maintaining eye contact with Ka’joi. He now understood why he had “Marked” in his name, his right eye had a large gash across it. Fall could hear the dogs footsteps becoming more distant, hopefully running home.

“Hahaha” A slow laughter left his mouth, displaying a row of sharp discoloured teeth. “You’ve come into my home, steal my stuff and then try to leave like nothing happened. I can’t tell if you’re stupid or brave. Tell me, what’s your name?” His grin grew, he took a step closer towards the druid.

“The names Fall, and I like to think I have a healthy balance of stupidity and bravery” Fall said with in a deep tone, raising his staff.

His grin grew bigger as he took another step closer, drawing his sword in his left hand and holding out his right. “Tell ya what, you got two options. You can either give me 500 coin, oooor you can work off you debt. Which one if it gonna be?”

“Well I haven’t exactly got 500 coin on me right now”

“I know you don’t, that only leaves you with one choice” He raised out his empty hand further, as an offering. “Come work for me, I’ll make you one of the family. I could use someone such as yourself, you’ll grow to be a great member.” Despite being against the idea, he strangely wanted to agree to the idea. But he had a mission to complete, and wanted to complete that before anything.

“Thanks for the offering, I’ll make sure to think about it. But first I’ve got some gold to collect, WILLOW SPIRIT!” Vines sprung from the ground and entangled themselves around the Werecat, Fall took this as his que to leave.

Jumping on some crates and diving back over the fence to freedom, he felt as the wood shattered from beneath his feet. Ka’joi’s great sword smashed the crates like dirt, his fierce face showed a love for the hunt. Once Falls feet hit the ground he pulled out his mount whistle and blew, whilst running away from the warehouse. His mount appeared from behind a wrecked cottage, he hopped on his large grey friend and made his escape. But before he could leave, he was given one final message.

“THERES NOWHERE YOU CAN HIDE FALL! YOU’LL PAY ME BACK IN GOLD OR BLOOD!” His voice roared.

OOC NOTES: Tags-None / Words-1118 / Notes-None / Music-Link / Quest/Quest Permission-link

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Fallout]

Fall HP: 100% MP: 85%

"You can't throw me to the wolves, they come when I call."

The Return

He rode in the night through the slum streets, to the sound of his mounts footsteps on the hard brick ground. Fall was pondering the fact that he had made yet another enemy, and no friends. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but in this new world it was needed. He couldn’t grow stronger or get rewards without doing quests, grinding mobs in the forest was an extremely slow process that would require multiple trips. So far the option to join a group of bandits didn’t seem so bad, compared to the menial labour jobs of fetching things. Fall pondered this topic as he approached his destination, at the bottom of the hill he could see a lit lantern through the butcher shop window.

‘Do I want the life of crime? Can I even handle it? It would certainly be more rewarding than normal side quests, I can’t be f***ing asked to deal with these stuck up people anymore. The real question is what use does Ka’joi have for me? Guess he just wants to turn me into another one of his lackeys’

Fall arrived at the shop, lowering from his mount and dismissing his wolf. He took a deep breath before opening the shop door, thankful that his wishes had come true. Sat just behind the counter was Bharume, beside him was Tipsy asleep on a blanket. Bharume turned to face the druid, his eye’s slightly pink.

“I don’t suppose you would have anything to do with this? Found him scratching at the door not to long ago.” He questioned in a low, hushed voice. Clearing trying not to wake his dog.
Fall was unsure whether or not to give him the truth of the matter, he didn’t want to stir trouble. Informing him that his dog had been stolen by bandits may cause the butcher to take rash actions, resulting in him getting hurt or worse.

“I found him tangled up in some netting in an alley way, a lot of trash round there. Most likely a fisherman chucked away, your dog must have been rifling through and got caught. Once I got him free he just ran back, as you can tell he’s pretty knackered. “Fall lied, hopefully avoiding conflict. Whilst he didn’t enjoy lying, he knew it was for the best.

‘Why am I bothering to protect theses thieves, can’t believe I’m honestly considering joining these guys’ He sighed, his own mind was going against his heart.

“Thank you for your hard work, difficult these days to find honest working folk like you. Now that my friend is back I can actually rest in peace, thanks again young one. I suppose you’ll be wanting your pay, I’ve got it in my safe. Gimme a minute.” The butcher had genuine joy in his words, something that made the druids effort worth it.

Bharume disappeared under the counter, the sound of a metal container opening was heard. When he remerged he showed a coin purse of gold, chucking at the druid without a words notice. Fall estimated the weight of the reward, deciding it was a fair amount. As he raised his head a second bag was thrown at him smacking him in the face.

“Some fat for the road, a fella like you needs to put some meat on ya bones. You’ve done me a good service, I won’t forget it. A man like you will always be welcome at my shop.” A cheeky grin across his face, one of welcoming. Fall was happy to now he had at least one friend in this new strange world, regardless of it being a ginger giant.

“Thank you, that truly means a lot. If you ever need me, I’ll be around town for the foreseeable future. Good night Bharume.” Fall waved goodbye to the butcher, leaving him with his re-united companion.

“Best of luck druid” He heard Bharumes words as he shut the door behind him.

Once Fall stepped outside he looked to the sky, the stars clear. It was a mild night, a lovely temperature. He made his way down the street, passing two drunks trying to help each over stand up. Ending with failure and a bumped head.

‘Looks like I’ve decided my path, time to get to work’

“Get up ya drunk” The first drunk said.

“NO! You’re drunk” He witty friend replied.

‘They had to ruin my moment didn’t they.’

OOC NOTES: Tags-None/ Words-737/ Notes-None/ Music-link / Quest/Quest Permission-link

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.