[Level 1] Hiding in Plain Sight (Nori, Aurora, Leocan)

[Nori]

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

Nori gracefully moved along the streets of Londinium, which was not only the starting area of the Unfounded Kingdom server, but was also the main area throughout the game. Many buildings which looked as if they should be holding grand Guild Halls and player based stores were empty. Nori knew without a doubt one day they would be full of experienced players, continuously tackling the mysterious and seeming infinite expanse of Log Horizon.

As Nori continued examining the buildings, she saw there seemed to be one that was packed and overflowing with other players. "What could be happening there?" She very curiously thought to herself as she began to make her way closer to hear the commotion.

The crowd of players were all new as well. Over the noise, Nori was able to make out that they were all looking to buy better armor, but it seemed as if the shop keeper inside had run out. "Stop shoving!" She heard the keeper yell over the fellow newbies, "For the 100th time, I don't have the materials to make you all armor. Just wait a bit and I will have them. But for now please quit crowding my store. You are scaring other potential customers who might want something other than armor. Please forbid anyone wanting a weapon to fight off the monsters. No. Only armor."

As the keeper shouted over his crowd of aspiring tanks, they began to file out of the store. All looking a little more than disappointed. Nori took the opportunity to get more information. "What was that all about?" She asked the spent shop keeper.

He looked up to her and sighed. "Look, I have told everyone more than enough times, I don't have the material to make anymore armor."

"I am not looking to buy any armor though. I am an enchanter after all. I can't wear any.", Nori said cheerfully, "But I would be willing to help you out if I could."

The keeper instantly brightened up. "That would be great honestly. I have some other players going out and collecting boar hides for me so I can whip something up to sell to that crowd, but I don't know how long they are going to take. If you could get me maybe 5 hides quickly so I can get started on thinning out that mob, I could give you a small reward. If you are fine with that."

Nori chuckled "That would be amazing. I did just get here and have nothing to my name. Something quick to start me out would be very appreciated. I will go get started on that right away."

Nori began making her way out of the shop before realizing something. "I am only an enchanter, would it be alright if I recruit a few other players to help me out with this and they could get the rewards also?", she asked.

The keeper nodded. "That is fine. Just be quick. Also, I haven't told you my name yet. I am Zuth Onyxheart, the smith of this shop, The Stout Iron."

Nori nodded at his greeting and replied, "And I am Nori. A simple enchanter starting out in this new world. Well, I will see you when I have those hides." She waved and left the shop. Just outside she found the crowd of players who were looking to buy armor.

"this is as good a place as any to look for help." She thought. Nori found a crate to stand on and yelled out over the crowd. "Hey! Does anyone want to help me get some hide so some of you can get your armor?", she hoped someone withing earshot would be willing to help.

617 wordsLeocan Aurora

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[Aurora]

Count 'em:747
Jams:Bang's Theme
Ramblings:We eatin' good tonight
Willing Victims: Leocan  Nori

It was just any old day in the Londinium District, Aurora casually and absentmindedly walked around. The birds sang their little song and the trees danced along with the wind, just another ordinary day. "This might just be one of those days where I can just relax, yeah that sounds like a great idea," she thought as she decided to bask in the sunlight for a minute. It was days like these that people could actually cherish the small things and forget that they were in another world all together. A loud growl tickled her ears, she looked around and saw no one, then heard the growl again. She looked down to figure out that her tummy was rumbling, she opened her little coin purse only to see emptiness. If this was a gag, a moth would have fluttered out.She heaved a heavy sigh as she put her hand on her hip as she scratched her head, "Maybe I should go talk to Donna again at the Inn and see if she has anything she needs done. Don't think I can go a day without having a scrap of food in my stomach while it's all rumbling and whatnot." It was time to go pay a certain piper, at least that's what she thought until she happened to hear upon a huge ruckus coming from over yonder. She quickly trotted over to the location, all you could hear for miles was armor this and armor that. Either there was a sale going on and people were quickly trying to get in on the action or they were out and people are crowding around in need for a product that's not in stock. As soon as she got over to the little building, she tapped a somewhat brawny man on the shoulder, "Hey, Doc. What's all the hubbub about?"



The guy turned around and hulked over the petite girl, Aurora was taken aback by the sudden change in stature. The man opened his mouth, "You know my name, stranger?" The girl blankly blinked as it took a moment to put the pieces together, "Oh, no no no. I'm sorry, I didn't think your name was actually Doc. So, Doc what's all the commotion all about?" "No problem, missy. Well, you see Ol' Zuth here, is running low on materials to make armor and everyone has been in a uproar since this morning," the an crossed his arms and he continued to watch the spectacle. A sly grin ran across the girl's face, "I see, thanks for the info, Doc. The name's Aurora by the way. Nice meeting ya." She started to quickly sift through the wave of people as if they were stalks of corn in the field. She was happy that her preconceived notion was right on the money, because if this was a problem, surely Ol' Zuth had a way to compensating anyone who wanted to help him. As she made her way to the front of the crowd, she saw this grizzled old man that was trying to calm the crowd as best as he could. She beelined towards Zuth, "Yo, boss. I heard you're in a predicament. What's the problem?"



Zuth turned towards the little girl, "Look kid, if you want some armor, you gotta wait until we get a shipment of leather in." "Oh Sir, perish the thought, I'm here to help," she gave him a toothy grin. "Just tell me how much leather you need and I'll bring it back faster than two jiggles in a jack rabbit's behind," she patted on her toned arm. "I like you, Kid. The name is Zuth, and if you can bring me back five hides, then I'll compensate you for your time. Go talk to the lass over there, standing on top of the crates," he pointed towards a girl who appeared to be yelling her little heart out. "Got ya, Boss. And the name's Aurora, thanks for the time." Aurora rushed over to the girl standing on top of the crates and poked at her leg, "Howdy Howdy, my name is Aurora. You helping out Zuth as well, I take?" Deep inside her mind, she was extremely happy that she wasn't going to be starving tonight.

瑤光

[Leocan]

The days had been boring, and the nights more-so as Leocan had been attempting to find others whom would venture out into the fields to slay beasts alongside him. After all, this place had to be the MMO he had signed up for, especially since he now looked like the avatar he had made as well as the interface had his avatar’s name printed in what looked to be a status screen. Each day and night he had spent studying his interface and abilities, becoming well versed in where each screen was although actually practicing when under duress was far from done. This day was strange however, as a rather large crowd was beginning to gather around Zuth’s shop. He had spoken to the blacksmith days before and asked what kind of armor he recommended, which the blacksmith had promptly replied with “Steel, steel is always best.” The man’s voice was fresh in Leo’s head as he swore he could hear him saying those exact words. Soon after he heard the man barking at the crowd to disperse, saying something about being out of materials to make new armor.


‘That’s odd, last I checked he had an ample amount of materials.’ The crowd slowly began to disperse and moved towards him at a rapid rate shortly there-after. Leocan nearly panicked as he looked around to avoid being absorbed by the crowd, but he was too slow. One after another, adventurers kept slamming into him to move away from the shop to make casual complaints about being unable to get new sets of armor. ‘Most of these men and women are tank classes like myself... ah I see.’ He had activated his Evaluate skill to see just what made these adventurers and brief information on their abilities. ‘Most of these adventurers have played MMOs before it looks like.’ He commented in his thoughts pointing out that most of the tanks here had chosen skills that were all about early game aggro management. ‘No matter, I need to get out of this crowd; my vision it getting far too crowded.’ Leocan struggled his hardest to break from the thick mass of crowd, eventually getting to the edge and breaking free, or rather being ejected from the crowd, landing on his hands and knees.


"Hey! Does anyone want to help me get some hide so some of you can get your armor?" A woman’s voice pierced the air and the crowd began to quiet down. Shortly after most of the tanks had started shouting things like "we need armor now" and "you wouldn’t understand, enchanter." Leo shook his head while standing up, seeing the woman standing on a crate; possibly to alleviate the fact that she was rather short. The other adventurers had been ignoring her and Leo couldn’t let this continue. He was about to speak up and say he would join, when another woman ran over to the red-eyed woman on standing atop the crate. Her voice didn’t travel to Leo as well as the red-eyed woman had done due to the adventurers bickering behind him rather loudly, and the most he could get was simply, “You helping out Zuth as well, I take?”


He found his chance. “Aye, she is judging by what she was saying earlier. I’m in as well, looks like you two need a tank.” The crowd behind him went silent, and began laughing mockingly at Leocan. ‘A tank in leather armor? HAH what a noob.’ As if they actually thought that tanks were required to be durable in the early game. Leocan equipped his scythe, resting it on his shoulder so that the blade rested around his head and across his other shoulder. “The guys behind me are rather restless, if we are out getting leather we should probably hurry.” His voice kept it’s serious tone as he continued to speak. “My name is Leocan, I’m a Samurai. You two can call me Leo if you wish.” He pointed down the road, “The fastest way to the plains should be down there if I remember correctly.”

Equipment: Starter Scythe and Starter Leather Armor
Notes: Onward!
Words: 680
Color Used: Lightseagreen | 20B2AA
Tags: Nori . Aurora

[Nori]

QUICK INTRODUCTIONS

Nori was surprised by how quickly she received a response for assistance. Aurora came to her from The Stout Iron's entrance. When Aurora introduced herself to Nori, she didn't have much time to respond before Leocan approached as well.

Nori waited until both had made their introductions and Leocan had given his advice. "Well, it is a pleasure to meet both of you." Nori said as she stepped down from her makeshift pedestal, "And judging by your sudden approach, I assume you both know what our goal is?"

Nori was surprised that they would know the goal before she was able to tell them. She assumed Zuth had only told her recently. "But Aurora did come from the direction of the shop and mention Zuth, so he must have told her about his needs, but how could Leocan know what the quest is if he never was able to talk to Zuth." Nori turned towards the path Leocan pointed to so her face wouldn't be seen by either of her new partners and gave a sly grin. When she turned back around she had a sweet smile to show.

"If you believe so Leocan," Nori paused for a moment. "May I call you Leo for short?" she asked. "If you believe this will be the shortest way, we might as well go then. I don't want this crowd getting so restless they begin thinking irrationally."

Nori turned on her heel, took her stave from her back, and gracefully began walking to the path.

253 wordsLeocan Aurora

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[Aurora]

Count 'em:433
Jams:Billy in Despair
Ramblings:Hungry
Willing Victims: Nori Leocan

An odd bespectacled man sifted through the crowd, saying he was a tank. You didn't have to have extra sensitive hearing to tell that peanut gallery was berating him for his equipment. She let a low growl slip past her lips. Sure, a tank in leather armor is unorthodox, but if someone was confident to be able to pull it off, she wasn't going to judge him off that. She took a deep breath, trying not to let her anger get the best of her or there was going to be some sort of scene. "Hey, Leo. Name's Aurora, nice to meet you," the fiery headed wolf hair greeted with a toothy grin. As the small group made their way to the outer edges of Londinium, a sudden afterthought came to mind. Aurora knew she had her weapon on hand, but did she have her ammunition on her as well. She didn't want to make the same mistake as before and forget it. She quickly patted herself down while still trying to keep up with her two compatriots for the evening. After frisking her entire body, she let out a sigh of relief when she actually found her bolts and placed them in a rear pocket. She decided to look her party a bit from the back, one last time and thought about the quest at hand. If it's just five boars, we should be able to handle it pretty easily, she thought.



A low growl sounded off again, Aurora quickly held her stomach. This was going to suck eggs, she still hasn't eaten yet and she was going to do a quest which was only going to be using energy she didn't necessarily have. I hope we can get this over quick, I'm not sure how much longer I'd be able to last, she looked ahead, hoping that their destination wasn't far in sight. She casually thought about dragging one of the boars back home, so that Donna could perhaps cook it for her and the other guests. At least that way, she didn't have to worry about her debt and get to eat at the same time. Thoughts of food filled her head and made her mouth salivate, her face lit up with pure happiness. If her Wolf Hair features had been showing, her tail would have been charged with assault and battery from attacking the air. She definitely couldn't wait to get this quest over with.

瑤光

[Leocan]

The two women with him agreed to group up together, introducing themselves as Aurora and Nori. Aurora was the short red haired assassin and Nori was the one he had previously noted as being short with long black hair being an enchanter. Using his knowledge of prior MMOs and the names of class he could tell that they would need to only fight the boars one or two at a time. A support class, a damage dealer, and a tank; at least the Samurai class was described as a tank when he was choosing it. Nori seemed to assume that Leocan even knew what the quest was, and he had to be honest with himself. He knew nothing of what this quest even was, just that they were killing things that produced hide, and that they needed it for armor. Once Nori took notice that they might not know the quest it seemed she had started muttering to herself, causing Leocan to blink at her blankly before Nori continued talking.

“Umm, yeah.” Leocan blurted out, caught off guard by Nori’s request to call him by Leo rather than Leocan. As he was agreeing she seemed to continue speaking about the path he pointed out, then began wandering down the path. Leo paused briefly, looked over at Aurora whom seemed rather happy that they the quest was starting. ‘Just what kind of group did I get into?’ He began to wonder as he began walking, starting with a few quick paced steps to keep up with Nori before slowing down.

“So... what exactly are we doing in this quest?” Leocan had to ask, it still wasn’t apparant and nobody had mentioned killing boars. As he began asking the question he had opened his menu up and sent both of the girls with him a party invite, causing the interface to blink in front of their faces. ‘I hope I don’t surprise them’ he thought while he pressed the party invite button. Around this time there was simply too many people along the edges of the roads, causing Leo’s interface to start filling and forcing him to turn off his Evaluate skill and re-assuring himself that the skill that hid his fox-tail features was still turned on.


Equipment: Starter Scythe and Starter Leather Armor
Notes: You know nothing Masao Saito!
Words: 375
Color Used: Lightseagreen | 20B2AA
Tags: Nori . Aurora