Cairo Posted March 11 Clone Share Posted March 11 ImpBiscuit A Chib woman with platinum blonde hair, dressed in an elegant, white bell-sleeved romper with lavish copper-colored cuffs and details. She wears boots in a similar style, a white stocking only on her right leg, and a three-tailed dark blue cloak. For jewelery she has a four-pointed obsidian star pinned to her hair and a copper circlet floating above her head. Just as Biscuit is starting to feel somewhat at peace with the admittedly sad and terrible scene, Olwin reanimates. The platinum blonde Chib freezes where she stands, missing Ludwig and Kaori's travails entirely as the dead woman turns to her. Biscuit doesn't much care for scary movies and this is like being in one. Worse still... the dead woman speaks in riddles! "Oh n-n-n... no..." Biscuit mumbles, then lets out a frustrated, dramatic groan. "I'm terrible with riddles! He whose name is written up on your heart..." Fortunately Mercurius is thinking straight. His words prod Biscuit on. "Right, right! Uh... miss Olwin, can you describe your killer so that we may identify him?" Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penchant Posted March 11 Author Clone Share Posted March 11 (edited) The body shudders and then Olwins speaks again, "He is vast and loathing, disguised in Lions Clothing. Of putrid mein and liars game, his true face revealed by calling of his name." Olwin once again goes inert. Edited March 11 by Penchant (see edit history) Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cairo Posted March 11 Clone Share Posted March 11 ImpBiscuit A Chib woman with platinum blonde hair, dressed in an elegant, white bell-sleeved romper with lavish copper-colored cuffs and details. She wears boots in a similar style, a white stocking only on her right leg, and a three-tailed dark blue cloak. For jewelery she has a four-pointed obsidian star pinned to her hair and a copper circlet floating above her head. "Uh huh..?" Biscuit says as Olwin quiets down. Surely she's just taking a.. well, breather before answering the question properly. Three heart beats pass (for Biscuit), but Olwin remains silent. It's like she was... "Oh no. More riddles." Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trigun Posted March 12 Clone Share Posted March 12 Ludwig winced as he saw Kaori's reaction to the whole thing and felt guilty. Regardless of whether the NPC was real or not, this world was real to her and seeing the death of someone she knew would of course hit her hard. While he heard what Olwin said to Biscuit, the sage was more focused on the grieving girl, moving his right hand to place on her shoulder before stopping and switching to the left hand. Ludwig felt it was better she didn't know he got cursed earlier, not wanting to add more to her plate, whether it was scripted or not. "My bad. I didn't think how this would affect you. I'm sorry, Kaori. But we're doing our best to find out what happened here. Just take your time and let it all out. We can handle the rest if you're not up to it. I can at least stay if you need company while the others find out more about what happened to Olwin." He offered, saying nothing more to Kaori. By all rights, she should simply be an NPC, yet he was having trouble seeing her as anything else but a normal, living girl. "You're too nice for your own good sometimes, Luis. I mean I'm considering her a person. Then again, we just got SAOed here and I doubt they'd have amazing enough tech to simulate actual pain." Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rorytheromulan Posted March 12 Clone Share Posted March 12 <Mercurius> The sudden outburst catches Mercurius off guard. Well there we go - someone's bound to show up any minute now. Please vouch for us, emergent-AI-greeter... "Yeah, riddles suck." Of course, the victim had to be the town mystic. "Kaori would know if a resident has a description that fits the riddle, but if there's nobody like that in town, then it must be the stranger. And whoever did it had to take a weapon from Perdwin's forge." OOC: Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inquisitor D Posted March 13 Clone Share Posted March 13 *sniffle* "Thank you, Master Ludwig." Kaori takes the sage's hand, needing a little help to get back to her feet. At his suggestion she leave, the warrior pauses but ultimately shakes her head. "I should help. It's my... responsibility." That word feels hollow right now. But it's all she's got left. An idea. As Tana starts breaking down the logic a little, Kaori laughs grimly. "Is that even a description? Unless our culprit is a giant wearing a lion fur cloak, it's a metaphor. Someone faking being bold. But they look putrid, and their true face is revealed by calling out their name." Getting to say it out loud... helps. This is not just tragic, but strange. Kaori hangs her head, considering this strange description. "I... thought it had to be the Necromancer. His power growing greater. And the clue about the name would fit: we all just call him 'The Necromancer'. But brave? Hiding himself? Something's odd here. Someone threw the spear. Someone snuck in and did this." But who? Why? And..."What makes you think the weapon comes from Perdwin's forge?" Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rorytheromulan Posted March 14 Clone Share Posted March 14 <Mercurius> The tiny warrior shrugs and gestures to Ludwig. "Ludwig said something about scaling that needs to be brushed off while making a weapon. He rubbed some of it off, and then got hit with a Curse. To me that sounds like the weapon isn't in a condition to be sold. Maybe the Necromancer has something to do with the Curse, but the smith wasn't done fixing it up, so he would keep it until he could. Does Perdwin have the only forge in the town?" OOC: Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cairo Posted March 14 Clone Share Posted March 14 ImpBiscuit A Chib woman with platinum blonde hair, dressed in an elegant, white bell-sleeved romper with lavish copper-colored cuffs and details. She wears boots in a similar style, a white stocking only on her right leg, and a three-tailed dark blue cloak. For jewelery she has a four-pointed obsidian star pinned to her hair and a copper circlet floating above her head. Seeing no more movement from Olwin Biscuit carefully steps back and takes the gruesome scene in one more time. She remembers Ludwig's warning not to touch the spear, so she doesn't, but her low vantage point might reveal something others might miss. While looking things over she can't help but feel conflicted about what they just witnessed. On one hand it's a sad affair, but on the other.. a fortune teller not seeing her own death? A dying person managing to croak out a few last, cryptic pieces of information before expiring..? So cliché. It is kind of fun to be right in the thick of it, though, and that's good enough for her! With renewed enthusiasm the Chib jogs around the table to join the others in sharing their thoughts. "It was someone on the taller side," she says when given an opportunity, quirking an eyebrow at Ludwig's Cursed! Symbol but staying on the subject. She mimes striking with a spear at a downward angle like Olwin was to make her point. A short person couldn't do that. "Strong too to go through her and table both. Ludwig, you said there was a rune on the spear..? Maybe that's the name of her assailant she said was written on her heart? It does look like it might have been impaled by the spear." Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penchant Posted March 14 Author Clone Share Posted March 14 (edited) Finding nothing else to investigate at the Fortune Tellers, the party goes to the Inn. Those going to the Inn find a two story building. Hanging over the front door is a hand carved wooden sign with a loaf of bread and a frothy mug. Inside the double swinging saloon doors is a small pub with four tables, three with four chairs and a larger one with six chairs that seems unoccupied. There is a fifth table off in the corner that is rather small and has only one chair. That chair is occupied by a man in a cloak. Over his head is the title 'Mysterious Stranger'. Oblivious to the man, Delvin comes from behind the bar. He is a portly man with a wide braided beard and very little hair on top of his head. He has deep laughlines in the corner of his eyes. "Hello Adventurers! Come in, come in! I have a table for you. Just let me know what you need and I'll fetch it." The smells coming out of the back are wonderful to your noses. There is a narrow staircase leading upwards and a door to the kitchen in the back. Windows let in daylight but there are also lit lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Edited March 14 by Penchant (see edit history) Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trigun Posted March 14 Clone Share Posted March 14 "I think it's more like one of those magic runes. I mean if you wanna see it, it's already imprinted on my right hand. I can show you where I wiped the runes off though, see if it is Perdwin's signature." Ludwig offered to Kaori, but whether she accepts and looks or says no, the group does move on to the Inn, to find the Mysterious Stranger, sitting in a corner of the saloon, complete with cloak obscuring his appearance. The sage nodded at the innkeeper, Delvin. "Our thanks, we'll make ourselves comfy then." He then glances at the group. "How do we do this? We approach him all at once or send someone to speak on our behalf, as in one of us talk to the guy?" Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cairo Posted March 17 Clone Share Posted March 17 ImpBiscuit A Chib woman with platinum blonde hair, dressed in an elegant, white bell-sleeved romper with lavish copper-colored cuffs and details. She wears boots in a similar style, a white stocking only on her right leg, and a three-tailed dark blue cloak. For jewelery she has a four-pointed obsidian star pinned to her hair and a copper circlet floating above her head. Back at the Fortune Teller's... Biscuit is curious to see this rune Ludwig spoke of, so she takes a good look at it whether anyone else does or not. Even if it's not familiar to her now, she might spot it later. Coming back to the other Chib's question, she looks thoughtful for a moment while inspecting her minimap. "It does look like Perdwin's is the only forge around. Unless there's a secret forge.." At the Inn... Biscuit greets Delvin enthusiastically. The wonderful smells wafting in the air immediately make her mouth water, but.. this is a game, right? It feels so real yet the act of eating can't possibly sate the kind of longing the smells incite. Right? So she parks the subject of sustenance for now and focuses on the matter of the mysterious man. "You could show the rune to him? Maybe it elicits a response." Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3owdy Posted March 17 Clone Share Posted March 17 Cleo Cleopatra A vague, but powerful sense of hunger, like a hitherto unknown primordial urge filled Cleo's chest. An invigorating yearning. She felt like taking an ugly chomp out of one of those mutton(?) legs thick as a thigh with a single perfectly white bone through them, then downing an entire tankard of scientifically, medievally impossibly fizzy and frothy ale. And then, oh yes, proceeding to arm-wrestle and/or beat the crack out of every last equally intoxicated patron in the establishment without so much as care as to the legal ramifications of committing affray. "Mys-terry-oose S-trãnger," Cleo said with a strange enunciation, reading the cloaked man's title out as if it were his name. "Dunno, Mr S'trangeré doesn't look too friendly to me. We could send the one of us with the highest Aura over and try to make an impression." "Or Delvin might have a unique dialogue option. Just hope it doesn't put us in any forced events we'd be better off without." "I'm supposed to have some sort of noble-related background, and I'm a Rai-Neko too. Known for our superior beauty and intelligence, hmm?" - Cleo prodded Delvin with a cocky smile on her face. "I'm a 10/10. Sheet says so. I'd be happy to lead." "You wouldn't say no to a catgirl in a maid outfit, would you, eh?" "Tanabackmeuponthis." Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trigun Posted March 17 Clone Share Posted March 17 "I can definitely confirm that with 100% seriousness and utter confidence!" Ludwig surprisingly spoke up. A bit too loudly as he realized the outburst he just made and simply coughed, acting like nothing happened. "Anyway! We shouldn't rouse his suspicions so I agree with Cleo's ideas. Someone can go talk to Delvin about the stranger, while I go with Cleo to talk to the stranger. Biscuit's idea of showing him the rune on my hand has some merit, in my opinion. I'll also address the elephant in the room and point out we're five, not six. I think the tenebrate wandered off while we were following Kaori into town. While I'm not her babysitter, I'm worried she may end up causing unnecessary trouble. So we should be prepared if we hear about her while we're figuring out Olwin's 'predicament'." A thought then came to the sage and whispered, knowing Cleo would pick it up. "It's very likely we're not the only ones who are stuck here. If we run into someone acting strange in a way we all understand, it's likely a player in similar circumstances to ours." Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penchant Posted March 19 Author Clone Share Posted March 19 @Cloudheart The countdown clock to the server going live ticks down. Players have completed character generation and are just waiting for the PLAY button to light up. Some are using the latest VR gear while others are chugging away with primitive monitors and keyboard/mouse setups. And all await the experience with a variety of levels of anticipation varying from glee to dread. The countdown timer reaches zero and the button lights up. Everything is already loaded and ready and the players one by one click PLAY. There is a pause of silence and things start to happen. The world starts to swirl around you and the lights go down. With a lurch there is a feeling of falling and brief hit of noxious smells and your feet find new ground. The lights come up as the world comes into focus. You are now standing straight up with tufts of grass waving at your shoes. You look around and find... the world of Dynasty around you. The eternal sunrise is to the East. There are Tucca trees with fresh tuccanuts swaying in the breeze. The town of Cherubim lies below you along a winding road to the seaside and the peak of Stormwatch Mountain looks down on everything. It's a callback to the start of Dynasty Legends 2. But there is more. You can feel the wind on your face. The sound of your shoes crunching the grass reaches your ears and you can smell both the salty sea air and the fragrant flowers of the fields. You can feel the straps of your packs meagerly filled with starting gear and the coarse woven fabric of your clothes. You are taller (or shorter) than you should be and your hair waving in the breeze is not your own. Looking at your hands you see fresh unblemished skin that hasn't seen a day of work and you feel utterly new. As you look around you notice strange incongruities. Wherever you look you can see a compass at the top of your vision and a little circular picture in the corner with a cluster of dots, one of them green in the center. At the bottom there are little hearts and a few symbols with mysterious intent. Looking up you can see your character's name floating over you in green letters. It seems fixed over your body however you move. The glade seems empty and there is only one exit from it leading down to the village. With nothing to draw your attention, you follow the path down to Cherubim. You see people going about their business but they all have generic labels over their heads. Looking around you see a group of people with green names over their head (presumably players) all pile into a building with an 'Inn' sign over the door. You decide to follow them to see what's going on. Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cloudheart Posted March 19 Clone Share Posted March 19 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..." Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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