Cloudheart

"You really like that 'cast gun' joke." Rhyme remarked. It seemed the worst of the fight has ended, although it seemed they were still dealing with pesky skeleton skulls trying to reform themselves? In any case, might as well nip the problem in the bud. "Myrrh!" "On it!" Just like how they savaged the bone-men when they were whole, the cat and the elf struck with nail and chain.

"I suppose it's just better to attack as much as we can, right, Myrrh?" Rhyme mused, as their tactics had not earned a hit against the skeletons before. "Yeah, let's just bring the fight to them!" The cat cheerily agreed, switching from merely hissing and harrying to revealing their wicked claws, as prince and companion attacked as one, chain lashing through the air and claws seeking the ankles of the skelemen.

Rhyme was a bit bemused by the actions of the skeletons; again, they were rather lifelike, and considering that at least partially the situation wasn't as gamelike as it was before, and considering the strange depth of certain NPCs, he thought it would be more appropriate to resort to diplomacy rather than violence--- although, to be fair, it didn't seem like these creatures of bone could be reasoned with. Well, the decision was also taken away from his hands as his comrades began their assault, to mixed results, although it seemed they were quickly winning. Myrrh the cat quickly made his way towards the remaining skeleton on the field, harrying and distracting it with a hiss and the promise of claws. It probably would have been more effective if he was a dog, but in any case it was enough. Rhyme took advantage of his companion's interference to lash with his chain against the skeleman.

"That seems appropriate, yes." he easily agreed. "And indeed, we should probably be cautious with our knowledge, since some things might have been interpreted differently in our... current state." As he assented with his words, he brought up the front along with Myrrh the cat, casually summoning in a mesmerizing flash a length of azure chain that seemed to interact strangely with gravity. "A lot of things can be fit into a fluffy JRPG setting, you'd be surprised."

Rhyme pondered the words the others said in response to him. A curse... well, to be stuck in this strange place... a simulation? A realm? Seemed a curse enough, even if it offered the blessing of the fantastical. Mercurius the Chib also added something about... not being comfy with their bodies... which was, well, understandable, too. Not everyone made an avatar that closely mirrored their appearance or even their gender, and with this situation some people would probably be an extra level of stuck. He supposed he was lucky in that way, he only had to get used to being taller and thinner. "None so far, Mister Ludwig, and please, Reason is my twin sister who moonlights as my nemesis once in a while." he joked. He nodded as Mercurius proposed checking out the blacksmith--- he had not been with them for most of the investigation but it seemed to be the last stone left unturned in the village, so to speak, and leisurely trailed at the back of the group as they made their way, looking at their strange probably not-NPC companion Dave... perhaps in the same way as Kaori, perhaps a player stumbling unto a bug. "Hey, I'm Rhyme." he said to the Mysterious Stranger. "Heard about you getting stuck with the menacing look. Condolences. Hope we find a way to fix it." He was content to let everyone else do the talking with the blacksmith, even as it seemed it didn't go anywhere?

He was soon caught up--- the other players seem to be investigating a certain murder, and they'd interrogated the owner of the tavern and the... "Mysterious Stranger", Dave, for clues, although it seems they haven't figured out anything from that, nothing concrete to connect to the rune of the spear. Rhyme looked thoughtful as he parsed all the information, mostly silent as the rest of the group discussed. "I suppose any other clues would have to be sought for outside town?" he asked, getting the impression they had scrounged the local area already for what they could possibly discover. "Perhaps the murderer would have retreated to the outskirts." "Also, uh... I guess all my fellow travelers are also missing something in their vision?" he asked, trying to discreetly inquire about... well, the fact that they were trapped in a game--- he knew that his feelings of unease would probably be noticed by Kaori, but he was... not quite sure yet how to explain their nature and condition to her--- it seemed the rest haven't quite informed her of it, either.

"I... see." It was... exceedingly strange, now that he had room to think for himself. Myrrh was an excellent example of the game's AI; he had acted miffed when the Chib unceremoniously dropped him in favor of whatever errand they were supposed to do, but then trotted back to him, waiting for his actions. He had no way of knowing if the talking cat actually thought like a sentient being, or it merely had a pretty expansive dialogue tree. On the other hand, Kaori--- what he was feeling from her was--- well, if it was some sort of contrivance, they put a lot of effort into depicting the mindscape of an NPC that only a few players would be able to appreciate, and that was if they knew to use their quirk on her. That was... strange. A crawling puzzlement filtered through their link. "Well, I suppose I could at least help you, as well." he asked, even as he puzzled through the widgets and the menus. To Kaori, he must seem to be looking around into nothing in the air. "I take it what they're doing is part of it---" ...he couldn't find the logout button. Not here. Not here. Not here as well. Okay. Stay calm. He told himself that, but a note of panic flitted through the bond he had with the local swordswoman. He wondered how much his purviews were helping with him not crumpling into a heap--- he did select keeping calm in odd situations--- does that mean he was being influenced by his character not merely physically, but mentally? Also, what sort of situation were they in? There wasn't an announcement by an evil game administrator of having to complete the game to get out, unless that was happening later, or did he miss it? Was it more Log Horizon and they had drifted into a world that simply was remarkably the same as their game, or was the game like magical programming and they were all stuck in it like Digimon? My apologies. He expressed through the bond. I noticed something... off-putting. "---if you don't mind, could you bring me up to speed on what they're investigating? So I could see if I could help somewhere with it..."

Well, it seemed he wouldn't be getting a complete audience of this group anytime soon. The Chibs were talking to the... innkeeper? And the Rai-Neko and the human, who hadn't really acknowledged him, seemed to be busy with accosting the very stereotypical hooded stranger who was even named... Mysterious Stranger. Was it a very tongue-in-cheek joke, or something that changed when you got to know him more? Ugh, he probably shouldn't be letting himself get distracted like this. The... NPC who was with the group, some sort of... Samurai? Her name was Kaori... understandably did not quite understand what he was saying, although considering the other Chib who mentioned something about Bread Orator, she had a better excuse of not understanding things. The quirk did not work with Myrrh, so he was... uncertain if it would work with her, since the obvious conclusion was that it only worked with player characters, but... well, with the headache kicking him in the... head, he figured he could at least try? He took her hand tentatively, and... ...the thoughts of everyone in the room quieted down, except for Kaori's, and suddenly he could think clearly again. [Did it work? I think it worked? Um, hello?] he sent over, testing the link. Whether it worked completely or not, he was filled with relief (which he might be leaking into the link as well) over not having to hear the cacophony of thoughts in the area again. "Thank you! Thank you! Uh... I guess I should've probably introduced myself. I'm Rhyme. Although... maybe I should do that when everyone's gathered back together..."

I keep on getting turned off by D&D, but I just want to say that I appreciate how clear the application rules are for Rin's games, and which options are available.

It seemed he came at a bad time. This group seemed busy or something. Some sort of involved quest? Well, he'd already intruded, so he might as well plead his case. He managed to smile through the pain as the Chib among the group cooed among the group petted Myrrh, who, like the silly creature that he was, seemed to like it very much, and even without saying anything, seemed to emit a smugness that said that this was how he was supposed to be treated. "I, uh, took the Soul Link quirk in character creation, and while we were in the glade it wasn't really a problem, but the virtual reality seems to be very... realistic and it's now giving me a migraine." he confessed. "Also, somehow it doesn't allow me to link with my companion, Myrrh, here. Maybe they just locked it to player characters?" "So, uh, I guess if any of you guys don't mind, I could link with one of you? There should be some measure of privacy where you can select which thoughts and emotions to send, but considering how things don't seem to be working how they should be, I'd understand if any of you are hesitant..."

Virtual reality was... quite stunning. For a moment he only appreciated the sights, the sounds, the smells, even, the simple feeling of being a different height, a different body. He reached down and touched the grass, and laughed a little to himself. The compass and the text over his body were... a little bit immersion-breaking, although he supposed there was only so much the developers were willing to do for that--- immersion had to be balanced with ease. He was about to tentatively try to manipulate the icons, trying to figure out where the menu was, when a voice brought him out of his reverie. "Oy! Rhyme! How long are you going to dally there?" He turned to where the voice came from... a bit to the left, and then... down? It was... a cat. Oh, right, the Battle Prince class had a soul companion, and he selected a cat for it--- so this must be... "Myrrh." he said, simply. "Yes, that's right, that's my name, and don't you forget it!" the feline exclaimed, preening. "But you really should stop daydreaming, let's get out of this leafy place and into civilization." "Our civilization was a leafy place." he remarked, remembering the lore, but the cat didn't seem to appreciate that, harrumphing and moving forward, inviting him to proceed, and so, with a chuckle, he went along. The artificial intelligence for these NPCs was pretty well done too, huh. They proceeded out of the glade and into, yes, civilization--- the town of Cherubim. However, as soon as they were exposed to the various people walking about the town, a migraine assailed him--- various indistinct voices seemed to be whispering him. This was... the quirk he took in Character Creation, the Soul Link? "Ungh." he grumbled, even as the prideful Myrrh noted his discomfort and went back to him. "Something the problem?" "It's... the link." he muttered. "Can I link with you, Myrrh?" "Of course!" He reached out and touched the cat, in an effort to silence the voices, to only hear his cat's voice--- but somehow--- "It's not... working..." he griped, even as the cat looked flabbergasted. That was strange, did the quirk require player characters but punished you still with NPC thoughts? He was totally going to file a bug report for this. He spied a bunch of people with names in the distance, and started moving towards them, clutching his head even as Myrrh looked at him worriedly. Maybe they could help him with this problem he'd saddled himself with. "Uh... hello? I'm sorry for just jumping in, but I have a bit of a problem..."

Err... I just found this in the archives, but I agree?

Player Name: Joseph Consolacion It's been so long ago since he'd played an MMORPG. Come to think, it was Dynasty, too, wasn't it? Something he'd played when he was just a student, going to computer shops since his family didn't have their own computer and internet connection at that point. He still remembered playing a Champion because the Battle Princess was gender-locked then and thinking just raising one of the mental stats would give him magic... he didn't know about guides and proper stat allocation then... good times. Now... well, those days were long gone, and now he was a washed-up, unemployed adult who mostly helped around his parent's house, who relied on his siblings' income. Pretty pathetic, honestly. So much for that college degree, for that talent in writing, if it couldn't give him money. Somehow, though, his random urge to join the beta had been rewarded, and his envious grumpy brother allowed him to use his gaming interface, with promises of telling him how it went. Something to look forward to... it might be a good way to escape reality, even for a while... might be a good inspiration for a story or two, although he might just get disappointed again with how limited MMO options are... Character Name: Rhyme Species: Elf Medium size Tall, long white hair, long white robes with blue hydrangea motifs Silent demeanor, thoughtful expression Calling: Battle Prince Rank: 1 (0 XP) Attack Bonus: 1 Hearts: 3 Might: 8 Deftness: 8 + 1 = 9 Grit: 9 - 1 = 8 Insight: 7 Aura: 10 + 1 = 11 Abilities: Ageless Immortal Ego (Immune to Disoriented) Heart's Blade, Skytear Chain (Lash, Sky Steel) Shield of Love Soul Companion, Myrrh Guardian Animal Can speak Low Speech, Bright Tongue +0 Attack Bonus, 2 Hearts, 12 Defense, Fast Speed (0/6) Inventory slots, Aptitudes -2 of Rhyme's Fighter (attacks as if with a Standard Weapon) a fluffy white cat wears a cape with a blue hydrangea motif on it cheerful and confident disposition History: Wistful Dark, Murk Dweller Languages: Low Speech, Dream Call Purviews: Dealing with the odd and arcane A working knowledge of magic Keeping calm in odd situations Quirk: Soul Link Items: (5/10) 11 gp Standard Weapon, traveler's sword (1) Functional Outfit, brown traveling robes (2) Appealing Outfit, petal pixie clothes (2) (worn) Booster Cakes x2, moon drop candy (2)

What would be the setting's equivalent of the Wizards of High Sorcery be?

Is multiclassing allowed, and how would it be tackled?