Golarion Online

Game Master Jaster Kite

"You aren't real great with kids, are you?" Elsie asked Tin Can after a loooong pause of staring up at him looking a bit appalled.

"What if you can get out by killing all the other players? Gonna take me out?" she asked as a follow up. "See, thing is, none of us know how to get out. So whining like a little boy who just got held down and kissed by girls on the school park is not going to help anyone. Even I know that. So how about you buck up and say something useful instead of giving me the heebee jeebees."

She went back to slurping her juice.

Milk next. With a straw. To blow bubbles.

Florentine appears shaken by these revelations, and yet is unwilling to speak up.

I hadn't thought of that. What happens if someone dies here? This is all just icing on the cake for me, but for them...

She does, however, stand at tin_man's outburst, and attempts to reassure him. "This is scary for all of us, it's true, but try to remember: This is a dangerous world, yes, but so was ours. You seem like a man who's seen a lot in his time. There are boogeymen and dragons here, but is that so different from criminals and wars? In a place like this, we can be heroes, not just bystanders. You have your bombs, Gabriel has that big sword, and I have all of this." Florentine punctuates her words with a snap of her fingers, her hand beginning to grow brightly like a torch.

Then, she lowers her tone to speak to him in private. "You look like a strong and brave man to me. These young lads and ladies will need all the guidance they can get from us if we want to get somewhere in this. I need you to stand with me and try to keep a level head. If not for yourself, then for them."

Janice slowly sipped her ale, enjoying the dark flavor of the drink, as the others slowly descended into bickering at each other. "Indeed, dying does not much concern me, though I do not wish to leave before my time is up," Janice spoke up, looking at her companions. "However, we are here for a purpose, and I believe we should discover that purpose. If nothing else, it will serve to keep the monotony at bay."

Standing up, she joined Gabriel in talking to the tiefling. "Yes, we were hoping for a good quest to start our careers."

Edein nodded at Jingles. "Yeah, that's it. Most people start out playing delivery boy before they move on to the big stuff. Unless you get cocky, of course." He laughed softly. "Sure hope this isn't Dark Souls."
"Fair warning about that Tiefling. He's either really in-character, or he's a, uh... jackass." He observes Gabriel. "Forgive me for noticing, but you seem really paternal. You have a daughter irl? How old?"
Edein frowned as he heard Elsie's mention of a respawn system, and Tin_Man's rebuttal. "Yeah, I hate to break it to you kid, but when you die here, it's permanent. And judging by the screams and the bodies left behind... yeah, it hurts. But you're going to want to level up. This game is, and it's not going to wait for you to do so."

The tielfing leaned in on his table and smiled. He was thin, dressed in a dark coat over formal clothing. He had the pretty face of a man with a maxed-out charisma score. He completely ignored Gabriel as he focused on Janice.
"For you baby," He said, fanged teeth showing in a cocky smirk. "I've got a lot of places in mind I could take you to. You want another drink? I'm sure you do."
He finally turned to Gabriel, his smile taking a darkly humorous tone. "Your finest red for the lady, please."

Taran frowns at the revelations about harm and dying, and winces as Ed confirms his own suspicions. What's the phrase? "You die in the game, you die in real life?" Even if that isn't true, let's not find out. He glances down to the feisty girl in the red hood again, a worried expression coming into his eyes.

"So Ed. 'In-character,' 'IRL,' all that. This is really an MMO of some kind? You seen anything that proves that, backs it up, or are you rolling on suspicions like me? I'm happy to start doing stuff, level up, figure out what's going on. Getting more power will make it more likely we stay alive long enough to learn more and maybe get out, right?" He looks at Tin_man and shrugs. "Seems as good as anything. Those pipe bombs are gonna be useful, though."

With a sigh, the man twists in his seat to watch Gabriel and Janice talking to the tiefling. "I've got no problem with roleplaying, I'll start doing it myself if you guys don't mind once we get on the road, but I don't like the looks of that guy. 'Just pretending' to be a jackass doesn't fix the problem that you're being a jackass." He glances back to Elsie and coughs. "Uh, pardon my French."

"Well, there's that little in-game menu/ instruction manual. The health bar and floating numbers that signal when you take damage, and the fact that I'm carrying fifty pounds of weaponry right now and you can't see any of it until I summon it give me a little clue. I've been a gamer most of my life." He laughed. "Ya know, my parents said it would never get me anywhere in life, and look at me now."
"Yeah, I don't think I'll be seeing him again. If I wanted to be condescended so hard I have to make a Will save against it, I'd talk to my ex girlfriend.. I'm going to make for a different country soon as I'm strong enough to fight the robots on the boarder. Or fast enough to run, at least. Harry Potter's cloak would sure come in handy right now." He smiled at Elsie. "I don't suppose you're so lucky with your hood, are you?"

"Forgive me for noticing, but you seem really paternal. You have a daughter irl? How old?"

"sister actually, she's 8 now but I've been caring for her for 2 years now...I need to get back there, I'm all she has..." Gabriel gains a mournfully sad look before he glances back at the teifling, right eye twitching a bit.

"For you baby," He said, fanged teeth showing in a cocky smirk. "I've got a lot of places in mind I could take you to. You want another drink? I'm sure you do."

Gabriel face falls into a annoyed frown. He immediately regrets coming here.

Janice just smiled politely at the tiefling. It wouldn't have been the first time somebody tried to pick her up, but her heart belonged to her Lord. "No thank you," she said, taking a sip from her still mostly filled glass. "A recent acquaintance informed my group that you have knowledge of a few quests to get people started in this world. Would that be truth or should we try elsewhere?"

"I mean, yeah," Taran laughs, rubbing his neck. "Wasn't sure on the gear, there must be some cosmetic option to choose if people can see it or not?" He gestures to himself, with most of his weapons easily visible on his person. "But yeah. I more meant if you ran into anybody in charge. Like an admin or something? They're usually around somewhere."

"You aren't real great with kids, are you?" Elsie asked Tin Can after a loooong pause of staring up at him looking a bit appalled.

"What if you can get out by killing all the other players? Gonna take me out?" she asked as a follow up. "See, thing is, none of us know how to get out. So whining like a little boy who just got held down and kissed by girls on the school park is not going to help anyone. Even I know that. So how about you buck up and say something useful instead of giving me the heebee jeebees."

"I'm sorry, you seem to have forgotten." he says with a scowl "I'm just a gun crazy jarhead. Remember!?"

"You look like a strong and brave man to me. These young lads and ladies will need all the guidance they can get from us if we want to get somewhere in this. I need you to stand with me and try to keep a level head. If not for yourself, then for them."

Tin_man drops his tone to a harsh whisper. He could certainly appreciate discretion. "They need to come to terms with the reality of the situation, Florentine. Trust me, it's better to consider the consequences now because when you're bleeding out in the middle of nowhere, it'll already be too late. Otherwise we're all going to get ourselves killed on some inane job; getting someone's kitty out of a tree or something like that."

"Whatever," Elsie says to Tin Can before returning to her juice, kicking her feet under her. Big Bad gave a snarl from under the table at the cross tone Elsie had used. The wolf was protective of her and seemed to know when she wasn't content.

And she wasn't. She was scared and just acting though. But her dad always taught her to fake it 'til you make it. Bad day? Keep a positive attitude and a smile on your face and things would start to turn around. Here, she was going to pretend to be tough and strong until she actually was. If that ever happened.

Hopefully the grown ups know what they are doing.

"I think if you look around," Florentine's hushed tone takes a sharper edge, not unlike an admonishin mother's, "You'll find they're quite aware of that reality already. There's no point in hammering a nail that's all the way through the plank."

Tin_man exhales sharply and sets his jaw. He looks as if he may be chewing on something to say.

"...I'm going outside" he says finally. With nothing further he gets up from the table and heads to the street outside to cool off.

Gabriel sighs, first this teifling guy and now tin_man? He turns to Janice and nudges her to inform her that he's leaving her alone.
"hey, I'll be back, I just gotta check something outside" he whispered before adding "and make sure this guy doesn't do anything shady...". He gets up and walks past the table the others are sitting at, giving Elsie and Florentine a reassuring smile, and nodding to Taran.

Once outside he looks at Tin_man and starts with
"ok...so, tell me what's wrong?"

"It's...it's nothing. I'm just getting a little tired of listening to all the nonsense in there."

"I mean, I take medication so I don't see monsters and f!+*ing elves."

"yeah...I wouldn't know anything about that, but what I do know is that these...monsters...are very real, and will stop at nothing to make sure that you don't escape, that WE don't escape...while I understand your anger and frustration, as I feel the same way; you arn't alone in the quest of escape. But it will all be for nothing if we are not strong enough to protect ourselves while we search...I'm not asking you to enjoy what we need to do, but I am asking you to do it because it needs to be done..." When Gabriel speaks, his eyes never leave tin_mans, and when he is finished he turns right back around and heads back into the bar to take his seat next to Janice once again

Edein shrugged. "Nope, never ran into any administrators. I mean, if we did, there'd be more than a few PCs aiming to get a stab at the guy, myself included, admittedly."

The Tiefling laughed. "You mean Eddie boy, right?" He asked. "No need to be vague when all I have to do is look over the bar, honey, and you could try and try elsewhere, but A. they'd charge you, B. The other idiots would accidentally send you on a level inapropriate quest and get you killed, and C. do you see any other guys around here as... charming as me?" He arced his eyebrow.
He looked over at Gabriel, apparently hearing his whispering tone. "Shady? Me?" He feigns a look of insult. "I'll have you know that I'm nothing more than a legitimate businessman aiding poor lost souls to an easy way to survive. Anything but shady. Saintly, maybe, if you're feeling generous."
And when he returns; "If it ain't my buddy Gabe." He said taking a seat back. "Don't look too shocked I know your name, all you got to do is scan someone with your menu and you got their name, class, and level. Blow off some steam out there?

"sighhhhh...no, I didnt, but let's get back to the quest thing eh?"
This guy just rubs Gabriel the wrong way, but he did have useful info that he really needed so he'll try to put up with it for now...

Taran looks to Tin_man when he gets up and leaves, but he decides not to interfere, and keeps more focus on Ed. "Hah, yeah, I guess." He smiles and leans back in his seat, angling his head to get a glimpse at the conversation with the tiefling.

Highlight with the menu, huh? Let's give that a try. He attempts to scan the tiefling with that technique, hoping to glean a little information about the mysterious and sketchy stranger.

The menu reads;
Jakal Reaver
Title: Torva Messor
CR:6
Class: Magus (Hexcrafter); 6

The Tiefling nods. "There are three quests available right now that might fit with your ragtag bunch of misfits. Ones a fetch quest, one's an escort, the last is your classic kill the monster deal. Tell me what you want and I'll point you to the NPC in charge of that quest."

Gabriel rolls the options around in his head for a minute or two before saying
"the Fetch quest seems to be the best bet honestly. Safe ya see...the escort could be good...yet, there would have to be something were protecting he/she from..." Gabriel looks at Elsie then turns to Jakal "...and we got a kid with us, purposely looking for a dangerous beast to fight it, does not seem smart. She is with us so she's are responsibility and all decisions must be made with her best intrest at heart...." his final comment is directed at the whole group and ends it with "...and if you guys don't want that responsibility then that's fine, I'll do it."

Taran frowns as he sees the info on Jakal come up in his view. Level 6? Then what the hell is he doing hanging out around here dealing info? And what will the cost be for him giving us a quest?

Noticing Gabriel's glance to Elsie, Taran makes the decision to be proactive and slides a little closer to the girl, trying to get himself between the shady tiefling and Elsie. "So, Elsie? Tell me about your wolf there. He have a name?"

Janice nodded with the choice. A fetch quest sounded like a good way to wet their teeth in this world. Nodding to the tiefling, she said, "We thank you for this information. Where can we find the quest giver? I think it would be best to start soon."

"You're very welcome, Madame Thanatos." He said, tipping his head in a slight bow. "There's a pretty lass working at the general goods shop, not a long walk from here. She's lost something of her employer's, and she would like it back."

"sounds simple enough, thanks!" Gabriel gives a satisfied smile, finally something good is coming there way. He pats Janice on the shoulder to indicate that they should get a move on.

Turning around, Gabriel walks to the group with Edien and claps his hand "alrighty then! We were able to get a job to help some lady who owns a general store out with a employee...you guys ready?"

"Simple, yeah." Jakal said with a nod. "If you come back, I'll be sure and give you a survivor's discount." He laughed. "And remember Mrs. Thanatos, I did this all out of the goodness of my heart. One day, I hope, you'll find some way to return the ffavor." He laughed again, slapping his knee.

Janice nodded before standing up and joining the others. "It seems like a simple way to start, but be wary," she said to Gabriel. "We should not trust the tiefling overly much. I have a feeling that we shall encounter something unexpected in this quest."

My apologies, I've fallen a little behind.

"I'm with you on that point, Janice. I don't like that man one bit."

Elsie slides off her chair, her juice finished, and clicks her tongue for Big Bad to follow.

"We going somewhere now?"

Gabriel smiles at the child and nods before turning and slowly walking towards the exit

"I'll wait outside"

Elsie shrugs and follows the nerdy guy out the door. Once outside, she pulls herself up onto Big Bad's back. "When are we going?"

"when everyone's ready" Geralt shrugs out, leaning on the side of the building.

Taran shrugs as his question gets lost in the excitement of a quest, and he eagerly stands and moves with the rest of the group. Once outside, he stretches his arms and draws his sword, resting it on a shoulder. "I'm ready to go. Lead the way, guys."

Florentine downs the rest of her ale in a single draught, relishing in a taste she hadn't known for years now.

"Let's get going; these adventures won't live themselves!" she laughs.

Gabriel quickly realized he has no idea where to go and turns back to the bar where jakal is.

"hey one more question...where is the general goods store?"

Jakal roles his eyes at Gabriel's question. "Directly across from this tavern, with a big glowing sign that says General Goods."

Elsie looks about at the adults, then shakes her head. "Adults always say kids are the reason it takes so long to get out the door. yet here you all are, slower than a heard of turtles."

She gives Big Bad a pat to get him moving, starting to make her way down the road, not looking back to see if anyone follows. She'd go do that quest herself, come back, and they'd still be here zipping up their coats at this rate.

Florentine erupts in giggles at Elsie's impatience, following the girl out the door.

"When you're all nice and ready, feel free to catch up with us," she calls out.

Tin_man sees the two enter the street but simply watches, saying nothing, lest things devolve into another argument.

Once again giving thanks to their tiefling informant, Janice heads out the door, keeping an eye out for Elsie. "Little Red, the quest is over here," she said with a small giggle as she pointed to the store.

Gabriel gives hurried thanks to jakal and runs to catch up with the group
"wait up guys!"

Taran jogs a little ahead of Gabriel, wanting to stick with the group. He looks back and gives a smile to the other man. "Least we're all eager to get started, huh?"

Elsie pauses and crinkles her nose, then turns Big Bad around to head in towards the General Store, giving a bashful smile to Janice.

At the door of the shop, she dismounts from her wolf and heads in.

"Hello yes I'm here to be a helper?" she calls into the establishment.

The shop is a piecemeal mess of hanging wires and disorganized wares, from potions, books, and general adventuring gear, to a wide array of Numarian weaponry.
Once Elsie walks in, an NPC stirs, heading towards the door. It was a young peasant woman with a grease-stained face and an ornate wrench hanging from her belt.
"Help?" She asks. "You've come here about my problem?"

Gabriel catches up with the group and enters the general store just in time for him to hear the NPC lady speak. "yes ma'am, we were told that you need help with something-"

"Yeah. You just tell us where and what and we'll be off!"

Janice smiled at the young girl's enthusiasm before turning to the shopkeeper. "While the thought is nice, I would prefer to hear more about the problem before I make my decision," she said, looking the woman over. "While our source said you needed some help, he isn't exactly a trustworthy sort and was lacking in specific details."

She turns to Janice and Gabriel.
"I've completely messed everything up! I was supposed to pick up a valuable item on the outskirts of town when we were ambushed. I couldn't even see the attackers, I got out of there as soon as possible. I... I don't think the delivery man survived. But the item was valuable, magical, I think. And my job here depends on my boss not catching me making another mistake like this. Please, you're my only hope. Without you, I'm on the streets. I can point you to where the encounter took place."
Typical fetch-quest series of coincidence and unlikely circumstance with barely any explanation as to what's really going on.

Taran laughs from his position a little behind the others. "At least it's not an escort job, huh?" He shakes his head. "Anyway. Miss, we'd be delighted to lend a hand and ensure you keep your position here. Where did the attack take place? We'll retrieve your parcel and do what we can if the courier remains alive."

"A Fair distance off the east gate of the town, by the Green River. Thank you, I appreciate it. She looked over the group. "Would you need anything from this shop for your journey? I'd be glad to hand you a few small items within reasonable value."