She nods and with the cup in her hand she gets another drink. Once done with it she writes in the air, "I will be back soon."
She promptly leaves the temple.
After the hour she walks in with a basket of apples, a few carrots, a loaf of bread with a few bites missing. Once next to you she pulls five coppers from her pocket revealing them to you in her hand.
"Master Aramil, my thanks. I needed help, and you helped me. Now I need a bow ... could you suggest for me anywhere to get one? Maybe anyone I could help people? I didn't realize that the Lady at the Crossroads had extended Ranigori's blessing to me; this is more than being Chosen, I really am reborn.""Jacen come with me to the nature shrine and of elves." He leads you over and offers his hand, once you take it he touches the tree on the shrine that somehow looks still living. The tree grows a long limb quickly and with a slight bit of effort it breaks. He hands the limb and turning it you see it grew in the form of a recurve bow. "A blessing from the elves that you may hunt and help others with. Go to Roland at the bar he will have some good strings from his boars to set that bow. Also tell him I sent ya and you should get a quiver too."
"I am not the Chosen ... I am the Blessed! How do I thank you? How do I share my gratitude with your Goddess? Maybe I already have?
When I was a young man, there was a bow, a bow that hadn't been used in decades in the corner of my team's prep room; when I first went to try outs, I went to select a bow with a fairly 'normal' draw, just like my teammates: the coach stopped me. She said, no those are not for you. You will use this bow. It is strung with a draw weight of 40lbs, and you are the first person to try out in a generation who could draw it. Go earn your place on our team.
I will see you again Aramil."
|
"I am not the Chosen ... I am the Blessed! How do I thank you? How do I share my gratitude with your Goddess? Maybe I already have?
When I was a young man, there was a bow, a bow that hadn't been used in decades in the corner of my team's prep room; when I first went to try outs, I went to select a bow with a fairly 'normal' draw, just like my teammates: the coach stopped me. She said, no those are not for you. You will use this bow. It is strung with a draw weight of 40lbs, and you are the first person to try out in a generation who could draw it. Go earn your place on our team.
I will see you again Aramil."
"You just thanked me. Ollandra and the other Elven gods smile upon you, may you preserve nature and life as you prove you are reborn and a hero! Until that day that fate or the gods bless me with your presence, may your blessings never run out!" He joyously says.
After the hour she walks in with a basket of apples, a few carrots, a loaf of bread with a few bites missing. Once next to you she pulls five coppers from her pocket revealing them to you in her hand.
"Mia!" Zaidel smiled, surprised at their good fortune. "You marvel!
How did you acquire such finery?" The satyr takes an apple and begins to eat it.
Jacen glances down again, in awe at the bow he is holding. Time to go find Roland and get you strung
He heads out of the temple and over to the tavern to find the man and get things moving ...
Otto follows his gaze and walks over to the child turning the pig roast he crouched down next to them and asks softly ”and what might your name be?”
She positively glows with the praise. She shrugs and using a flip of her hand she is able to make another apple float over to Zaidel.
If needed she produces the words, "I helped others."
"Can you tell me what you know of the Dark Souls?" Jean asks.
"I can tell you most of them are corrupted heroes. Have you heard the parable, absolute power corrupts absolutely?"
---Jacen as you enter the bar the bartender welcomes you to the Pig's Roast.
---
The little boy, you think, looks up at Otto and smiles, he quietly says, "I am Sam, Roland is my dad."
She positively glows with the praise. She shrugs and using a flip of her hand she is able to make another apple float over to Zaidel.
If needed she produces the words, "I helped others."
The satyr catches the floating apple in the air. Zaidel smiles at Mia shrewdly.
"Fine. Keep your secrets. For now."Looking back around, the caydenite looks back at his companion. "Well, I think I'm done here. Nice place. But I think it's time to enter Cayden's 'holy domain' and see what the inside of The Pig's Roast. If you don't mind paying for some drinks. I have an idea on how we can generate some more coin."
Mia gives the five copper pieces to Zaidel.
The large figure, soon to be known as Jonathan, stands outside of the temple talking with the old man. Also Jacen was in the temple, likely going to the tavern at the same as us.
She waves to Jacen.
The large figure, soon to be known as Jonathan, stands outside of the temple talking with the old man.
Upon exiting the Temple, the satyr can't help but notice the looming figure chatting with an older gentlemen. The giant seems to be wearing typical 21st century clothing.
Zaidel whispers to Mia. "Wow! Look at him! With his clothes he must be a fellow Chosen. Must have wished to be a giant as I wished to be a satyr. Maybe we'll say hello later."Also Jacen was in the temple, likely going to the tavern at the same as us.
She waves to Jacen.
"Friend of yours?" Zaidel asks his companion. "Looks like another Chosen. We should introduce ourselves, to be sure."
"Monk, huh?" Jon drew up the mental image of a friar in a hoarsely spun robe doing illustrations, and didn't really see it applying to this guy or his fellows. Perhaps if the illustrations involved perfectly shattering someone's face? "I'd be interested in some training, but I'm still getting my bearings in...well, this body." He gestured to his giant size. "I should probably feel like I'm in the right skin before I start trying to train it to punch someone's sternum in half. Do you have any suggestions for where a Chosen should go to learn more about the world and such? And yeah, I'd absoloutely be happy to give your order some help if I meet when I'm off...questing? Is that what I'm meant to do?" Maybe I can sally forth and hunt me a grail.
Upon exiting the Temple, the satyr can't help but notice the looming figure chatting with an older gentlemen. The giant seems to be wearing typical 21st century clothing.
Zaidel whispers to Mia. "Wow! Look at him! With his clothes he must be a fellow Chosen. Must have wished to be a giant as I wished to be a satyr. Maybe we'll say hello later."
She nods her head though her face looks a bit puzzled until it dawns on her what you must be talking about. She nods happily.
"Friend of yours?" Zaidel asks his companion. "Looks like another Chosen. We should introduce ourselves, to be sure."
She shakes her head showing a negative, but continues to smile following Zaidel.
"Monk, huh?" Jon drew up the mental image of a friar in a hoarsely spun robe doing illustrations, and didn't really see it applying to this guy or his fellows. Perhaps if the illustrations involved perfectly shattering someone's face? "I'd be interested in some training, but I'm still getting my bearings in...well, this body." He gestured to his giant size. "I should probably feel like I'm in the right skin before I start trying to train it to punch someone's sternum in half. Do you have any suggestions for where a Chosen should go to learn more about the world and such? And yeah, I'd absolutely be happy to give your order some help if I meet when I'm off...questing? Is that what I'm meant to do?" Maybe I can sally forth and hunt me a grail.
"You could ask your questions of me, if you want to know about the religions heading into this temple would help you. Need to wet your whistle then you could go over to the tavern. There have been quite a few of you Chosen appear today. Yes before you leave New Beginnings, our humble village, you should have at least 10 quests done. You should have enough provisions to get to New Faces... it is about a weeks worth of time by foot."
A floating blue screen appears before Jonathan, other Chosen can see the screen but cannot interact with it, it says,
Quest Unlocked
---
Helping the Brothers of the Open Palm.
---
Reward: Access to the monk class after training.
2nd Reward: Unknown.
Do you accept this quest:
Yes/No?"
A second screen then appears, it says,
Quest Unlocked
---
Search for the Holy Grail
---
Reward: Holy Grail of King Arthur Pendragon
2nd Reward: Key to the city of Camelot.
Do you accept this quest:
Yes/No?"
"Roland! You are exactly the man that aster Aramil said I should see! I am Jacen, it's my pleasure to meet you.
Yes, I want a drink very badly, but I need strong bow strings for this bow he made me. I could certainly use a quiver and arrows if I am going to hunt you some boars as well. Can you help me?"
A satyr and a human woman of striking beauty enter The Pig's Roast. The beautiful woman is draped in red, while the satyr is wearing ill-fitting black and red modern Earth clothes with a black zipped hoodie sweatshirt on. If you are familiar with Pathfinder, the satyr is wearing a silver holy symbol of Cayden Cailean on his neck and an awkwardly hung rapier on his belt loop.
All is as The Pig's tavern Spoiler says except the human man noticed earlier by Mia is talking with who looks like the barkeep, and while another human male looks to be having a conversation with the small boy manning the pit roast.
"Welcome to The Pig's Roast! What will you have?" the barkeep says.
The satyr holds up two fingers, and smiles. "Two ales, please?"
Jon stared at the choices for a moment. "Holy hell," he muttered slowly. "We've gone full Sword Arts." After a moment, he selected 'yes' on both, one thick finger jabbing the air and hoping he didn't look really, really dumb. Hopefully this wasn't the kind of quest where things went horribly, horribly wrong if you didn't complete it fast enough.
He'd also need to be careful what he thought about, since it could also apparently trigger a quest. Maybe it would give him some clues about what might be possible? If he thought about, say, grail related actions, would some pop up as quests? It seemed really risky to try and game the quest system for clues. The devs - or gods, he supposed, in this place - might get real tetchy if you exploited the obvious bugs.
"Ten quests, that makes sense. Any suggestions for a good starting quest? I think I should get some gear. My brain is telling I can just hurl rocks with ludicrous force, but I'd like to purchase or earn some better stuff than rocks." Hey, World, any local quests for good gear?
"That girl has the NICEST apples, wow, I wish I could show people how it's done ... who else could pick from the top of the tree!?
A new man enters through the portal. His clothing marks him as chosen: combat boots, cargo pants, a jacket over a t-shirt, sunglasses and trucker hat. Likewise his hair is a brilliant gold, the eyes hidden behind the glasses emerald green. He looks around. Hmm. If I'm to be a champion of heaven, I suppose I should go to that building. Looks like a church. He heads over to the temple.
"Roland! You are exactly the man that aster Aramil said I should see! I am Jacen, it's my pleasure to meet you.
Yes, I want a drink very badly, but I need strong bow strings for this bow he made me. I could certainly use a quiver and arrows if I am going to hunt you some boars as well. Can you help me?"
Roland heartily chuckles at your antics, then merrily says, "It is good to meet you too Jacen. It's good that the priest is making friends. Here have one on the house!" He then offers a wooden tankard with ale within. Then he asks, "Do you know how to string a bow? If not I could have it ready for you tomorrow morning. Yeah I can give you a quiver of arrows too, but first you are going to chop some wood for me. Out back there is an axe, cut up the stumps for me."
---Jean nods and says, "Yeah, I have heard that one. Do you know where any of these Dark Souls happens to be? They sound like the type that leave a mark when they pass through a place."
---
[B]Quest Unlocked
---
Search for his lost Bear Buckled Belt
---
Reward: simple armor under 20 gp from Roland.
2nd Reward: maintenance kit
Time limit: none
Do you accept this quest:
Yes/No?"
Then another one appears:
Quest Unlocked
---
Destroy the black wolf clan
---
0/20 black wolves dead
Reward: simple weapon under 20 gp by Roland.
2nd Reward: whet stone
Time limit: none
Do you accept this quest:
Yes/No?"
again:
Quest Unlocked
---
Find the fletcher's daughter
---
Reward: bow created for you or Ranger's backup bow.
2nd Reward: quiver of arrows
3rd Reward: Title: Savior of the Fletchers daughter, 20% discount with the fletcher and 5% discount with the village.
Time limit: 5 days
Do you accept this quest:
Yes/No?"
again another 6 times
Then another one pops up and any Chosen that can see Jonation see the blurr of many screens in front of Jonathan. The monk doesn't notice the blue screens and replies, "I think Roland is missing a few things but ask around we all could use a helping hand. And if you need to be trained in hand to hand come on back! Praise be Irori and may you be blessed."
---
A new man enters through the portal. His clothing marks him as chosen: combat boots, cargo pants, a jacket over a t-shirt, sunglasses and trucker hat. Likewise his hair is a brilliant gold, the eyes hidden behind the glasses emerald green. He looks around. Hmm. If I'm to be a champion of heaven, I suppose I should go to that building. Looks like a church. He heads over to the temple.
Heading to the white marble dome then, as you walk up you see a gaint of a man speaking with an elderly man. A bunch of blue screens appear before him.
Mia would happily take the ale but after one sip she puts it on the bar, then points at it then Zaidel, indicating it is all his.
The satyr smiles at his companion. Holding both ales aloft, Zaidel addresses the barroom.
"To my first drinks on a new world, in a new body, I raise them both up to toast Cayden Cailean! The Accidental God! The Drunken Hero! May all present enjoy cool and refreshing beverages for all their days!!"
The satyr then drinks one down and the other quickly, ending with a significant belch. "WOOOOOO!!"
After the drinks, the satyr holds out a chair for the woman in red to sit, then he sits next to her. Shaking out the remains of the ales, the satyr waves his hands over the empty mugs and says a few words. The glass mugs immediately fill with water. The the satyr waves his hands over the mugs, saying different words, and the water in the mugs changes to a familiar brown fizzy color.
"There. Try that. See if that is more to your liking."
|
The little boy, you think, looks up at Otto and smiles, he quietly says, "I am Sam, Roland is my dad."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Otto, how has your time here been?" he asks as the satyr walks through the door and the boy wielder starts talking to Roland.
"Roland! You are exactly the man that aster Aramil said I should see! I am Jacen, it's my pleasure to meet you.
Yes, I want a drink very badly, but I need strong bow strings for this bow he made me. I could certainly use a quiver and arrows if I am going to hunt you some boars as well. Can you help me?"
Roland heartily chuckles at your antics, then merrily says, "It is good to meet you too Jacen. It's good that the priest is making friends. Here have one on the house!" He then offers a wooden tankard with ale within. Then he asks, "Do you know how to string a bow? If not I could have it ready for you tomorrow morning. Yeah I can give you a quiver of arrows too, but first you are going to chop some wood for me. Out back there is an axe, cut up the stumps for me."
** spoiler omitted **...
"Believe it or not, I come from a place where fireplaces are a luxury, but my family home did actually have one. I was chopping wood as soon as I was tall enough to hold an axe properly, and yes sir, if the strings are cured and tied off, I can string my own bow; you can imagine I do not want to part with it."
Just smelling it made her nose wrinkle up then again that could have been the fizz. She took the mug and took a much smaller sip than before and spat it out surprised by the fizz. She seemed unsure about how she liked it but would go back to it and sip it a little at a time.
The boy looks up at Otto and relays quietly, "Oh its alright, I help my dad with what he asks. Like this spit turning. I get to smell the wonderful fat drip off the pig!" The last sentence is said in excitement.
---
Roland replies to Jacen, "Understandable, you can walk out back and see a small shack, within it are my curing items. Grab the closest line."
Zaidel checks his pockets. "Well, Mia, it looks like I'm without a pipeflute for the time being. Darn it. That was part of my plan to earn some coin: to play some music in the tavern." The satyr looks around the mostly empty tavern. "Well, once it get more full in here."
The caydenite sighs. "Unless we find a way to scrounge up some more money, we might be sleeping in the alley, or wherever you slept last night."
The satyr sees the small dragon enter the tavern, who immediately gasps as his eyes widen.
"Oh My Gods!" The satyr gets off his seat and walks over to the talking dragon.
"Wow! You used your wish to become a !! That's so fu<king awesome!! Bronze dragons are the fu<king best!! Masters of both the Air AND Sea!! They scare pirate lords more than kraken!! Oh MAN! I'm so fu<king jealous!" The satyr walks around the small dragon to give it a good look. "That's so fu<king cool!!"
The satyr holds out his eager hand for a handshake. "I'm going by Zaidel in this world. And yeah, it looks like I'm a Chosen, just like you! Holy s#|t! This is aMAZing!!"
Hmm. Another of the chosen, perhaps? Drystan thinks, as he looks at the man with all the screens. He walks up to him. "My good man, couldst thou tell me what this building is?" he asks, in his best early modern English. Ok, ok, knights wouldn't have actually talked like that. Except in the Early Modern period. But I never got the hang of Old or Middle English, and no one else would understand either of those anyway. Close enough. he thinks to himself, fighting the urge to smile.
Jean gives him a smile and says, "Yeah...I am still getting used to it all. Your a satyr? That should be pretty cool in the forest. Or do your abilities work everywhere? I was looking for some other Champions to join me to go after one of the Dark Souls who is in a desert."
"As far as I know, my other satyr abilities work.", Zaidel explains. "Though, many of those abilities I need a panflute, of which I don't have at the moment."
The satyr's eyes light up again in surprise. "You already have a bead on a.." Zaidel looks around, trying not to be too loud, "..D.S.? Yeah, sure I'll go with you! Gotta start someplace!"
"Oh. Again! Pardon my manners. Allow me to introduce my assistant, The Amazing Mia." Zaidel gestures to the beautiful woman in red that was next to him at the bar. "I completed a side-quest without realizing it, and got a co-hort!. I'm also a cleric of Cayden Cailean! So drinks and heals are covered!"
"Um, what name have you 'Chosen', hehe, get it?! To use in your new body?"
She stands up and bows as a great gesture after being introduced. Her face is a little reddened too.
Jacen heads out back, looks to find a bow string that will be strong enough, and to find an axe to get to work.
Eyes going wide at the vast number of quests, Jon quickly sorted and accepted them all, noting that some did have time limits. The one to get armour was going to end in 33 minutes, but it would be worth trying. Frankly he'd rather have power armour, but anything that involved being stabbed less was a good thing to his mind.
"OK, so apparently I need to find a bard in trouble. Apparently they're in a sticky situation. I don't suppose that means anything to you, does it?" the giant asked the monk, hopefully. Unless he was the bard? That would be worryingly meta, but he understood that his abilities were somewhat bardic, if not the usual sort.
Jacen as you head out back you first see the three outhouses and smell them as soon as you are out of the door. Going around them you see a felled tree and an anvil. Upon the anvil is a stump and resting beside the anvil is a wood splitting axe. Further to the left you see the small shed and opening the door you can see the strung strings and other items that are curing.
Jacen as you head out back you first see the three outhouses and smell them as soon as you are out of the door. Going around them you see a felled tree and an anvil. Upon the anvil is a stump and resting beside the anvil is a wood splitting axe. Further to the left you see the small shed and opening the door you can see the strung strings and other items that are curing.
"Time to get to work ... I can indulge myself when I have accomplished something."
Jacen goes over to get a feel for the axe: the real trick of chopping wood was letting the work do itself. Sure, you can swing a little, but the reality is, it's almost effortless if you let the axe & gravity do it for you.
Zaidel misses the exiting sorcerer as he goes outback. "Damn. That guy that just walked out? Likely a fellow Chosen." The satyr said to the dragon. "Slippery little mink. Well, shall we wait here for others to show? We are in a tavern in a fantasy world. The place most campaigns begin."
"It sounds like the tavern is a good place to start. If he isn't there, then someone might know where he went." The sticky part was confusing. Was honey involved? Honey was very sticky.
"Thank you, though, for all the help. Again, if I can, I will absoloutely try and help any of your brethren I meet." Giving a polite nod to the Monk, Jon moved towards the tavern. It would be good to see how this all worked. Obviously, something was running this questing system, like the program of a game. Was it a God? Or was this a game and the whole 'dying' thing a gateway into some kinda VR stuff? How robust was this quest system? Had it noted this bard was stuck, covered in honey near angry bees or whatever there issue was, and sent him a notice when it could? 33 minutes was awfully specific a time frame for it to be a generated quest, as such. Did that mean that some tests might be impossible?
Well, time to gather answers, and possibly bards. Stooping to enter into the tavern, Jon stood as tall as he could - being 9 odd feet tall was going to take a lot of getting used to, but growing up with medieval buildings had taught him the art of stooping back when he was a mere 6ft 3 - and headed for the bar.
When the barkeep was ready, he smiled and waved. "Hi there. I've been asked to find a bard who was here last night? They might have left with someone, I'm told. Apparently they're in a spot of bother. Do you think you could help me out? And them too."
The satyr marvels at how the giant was able to squeeze through the tavern door and keep from destroying any load-bearing ceiling woodwork by walking under them. Zaidel nudges the dragon and says out the side of his mouth, "A satyr, a bronze dragon, and a giant walk into a bar.."
Somehow Jonathan missed that Sir Drystan was addressing him.
Roland the bartender says, "Ah Yes Ratherbie. The bard had just come through town as he was heading East. No I don't remember who he went home with if anyone. I have a tavern to tend to maybe John can help you. John?"
The drunk mercenary shook his head, "He left alright but I don't know where he ended up. He left with a flock of girls whose father's wouldn't be so happy to find a bard in his daughter's bed..."
"In fairness," Jon said reasonably, "They probably didn't look for a bed. I don't suppose you happen to know which of the girls would most likely end up with the gentleman in a 'stick situation'. That's the only clue I have, I'm afraid."
Watching a dragon rise to eyeline was an interesting experience. "Oh! Hi. Uh, yeah. Newly Chosen to the world and all that fun stuff. Now I'm a quest." He remembered the variety of mytical quest acceptance boxes. "Or 10. Currently hunting down a bard that sounds like he's got himself into a spot of bother. Don't suppose you'd know where he is?" He paused, considering. Maybe dragons were a dime a dozen, but maybe...
"Are you another chosen?"