[LH] Our New Home?

[Mumble Dragon]

Breaking from the crowd, Lars was at a loss of what to do. Slipping over to a shady spot, he gazed up at the towering town gate. It matched the town's run down demeanor, bits of rubble surrounded the monument, while spots of wildlife lightly began to grow among it. Judging from what Lars saw, it looked like this gate hasn't been used in some time. Still, it stood out from the town by it's sheer mystery. It seemed something powerful must have been used to power this ancient device, but us Adventurer's seem to have arrived after it's run high and dry.

With a slight twitch, his ears picked up the distress of what sounded like a young female, accompanied by a male voice. As he gazed over, he was only greeted with the sight of a large, blonde male over-towering a smaller Fox Tail. The character design of the larger one looked oddly familiar, but was disturbed by the way they held themselves. The bigger one seemed slightly skiddish and scared. speaking with a feminine voice. Behind him was a calmer looking male Fox Tale, apparently trying to calm the larger one down.

Good luck to ya mate, I'd hate to be in your shoes. Lars chuckled to himself as he leaned against a wall and opened up his character menu.

Browsing through his inventory, noting the basic armor and inventory items in his possession. Something he quickly noticed was a lack of task bar, or quest giver. If this still was a game, wouldn't he have received a notice typical of a starting character in any MMO? There was no note to find some NPC to talk to, or to head to a particular area, his inventory only filled with his items and stats.

Switching through his character menu's, he checked over his professions. He was still labeled as a Swashbuckler for his main class, and apparently had chosen Food Fighter for his sub class. Hmm...must have been hungry during character creation. 

Still running through his menu's, Lars heard a third party speak up to the strange group near him, asking something about if they were real people or whatnot. The shock and alarm of people finding out they were in a video game was beginning to wear on Lars. "No sense fretting about it now..." He gave a sigh as he closed his menu. Man, he wished interesting would pop up somehow.

[Mysticsage]

Xenos noticed a catfolk male with brown cow spots slipping down from the roof of one of the buildings surrounding the square. He too seemed interested in the scene unfolding around those he was watching before. He looked as he took a stance relatively close by where he was standing. His tail was flicking in the air as if in anticipation. Most people who choose catfolk he remembered his friend saying went for the options that did not actually have tails. Something about them looking more bestial then the other races when they had them because the model walked differently.

Xen could not help but smirk as he remembered one of his best friend's laughter over the phone. He had wanted the tail to standout from the crowd. It seemed like this cow cat Lars had a similar idea. The bored look that was beginning to form across his face it was eerily quite after all. Like everyone was waiting for something to happen. When would the other foot drop? What would happen next in this seeming bizarre dreamland?

Maybe it was the fact that his model resembled what his friend would have chose,but Xen left his hiding spot and found himself leaning next to the other man still in shadow.

"They seem like they are having fun don't they?" he motioned to the other group. His green eyes slightly humorious as he looked side long at the cow cat in question.

[Throndir]

Aria Blanchette
as Sir Hemsworth

"All I can say is aim and shoot, if the time comes." Kuwan had said.

Aim with what? Shoot at what? The look on Aria's face was pure horror as the thought started to settle. Her eyes were wide as she began to think about what Kuwan had meant. And in Thor's body too - a muscular, gorgeous, and fit body. Since she chose one of the tallest height and largest body builds wouldn't that also mean other parts of his body were to match, specifically like Thor's-

But the poor girl couldn't finish her thought as she furiously shook her head blushing all the while.

"No no no no NO!" She yelled, trying to push away the very awkward thoughts she was having, visibly waving her hands with each 'no'. She still idolized Chris Hemsworth and she would not let herself think of things, futile attempts though it was for any young adolescent girl.

"I'm sorry Mr. Fox Person, but even if you've decided this is your reality, it certainly isn't mine." She continued her loud and high-pitch voice as she still furiously held on to the hope that there was a way out. Her cheeks (or rather Thor's), were still red, though she stood her ground in her belief. This was a game after all. Even if a way out wasn't apparent, there just has to be one.

"Who's in charge of the game? Can't you like, call them or something? Look, I'm not even sure if I'm dreaming, but people just can't suddenly be in a game. It's not right. It's not possible!"

[Linwelin]

Kuwan got a fairly good laugh out of her response to his hint. Seeing a grown, well-built man furiously blushing a posing as a woman would was just too much for him. So much so that he made a misstep and slipped, flopping onto his rear and back, laughing more after a pause of surprise. But seeing her frustration, which she was slowly aiming toward him, Kuwan righted himself, cleared his throat a bit and calmed himself. "I didn't 'decide', I never had a choice in the first place. This IS our new reality, at least for now. It's best you get past that denial as soon as possible."

Brushing himself off, Kuwan took a look at the two panicking figures before him. "Either way, I'm not here to ride through your emotions with you. I'm going to get informed a bit more if possible. And level up a bit if deemed safe, for my own protection. I'm looking to survive and make due, at this point." As he said this, he noticed a peculiar duo under a tree to the side, as well as many others staring at the commotion they were making.

Damn, ended up a center of attention.

Kuwan sighed a little at his predicament. Just today, he'd woken up in a fantasy world, found out he was part fox, realized he may not get his old life back, and after finally settling his own sense of panic, ended up dealing with two other oddballs that couldn't handle make sense. He hadn't even figured out if he could continue his hobbies for piece of mind yet. Putting his hand to his head and closing his eyes momentarily, he began walking toward the guildhall. He didn't even know if the duo, or more, were following him. But he didn't really pay that any mind unless he was addressed again. There was only one thought that kept reoccurring in his mind, a pleading one.

I really need some music. please let there be a way to have music without being a bard! I can't mellow out without it...and I can tell this'll be a day I need to.

[Throndir]

Aria Blanchette
as Sir Hemsworth

As Kuwan started to leave, Aria hesitated, quickly glanced over at the person with them, named 'Rico'. He sported a set of ears like Kuwan, though they looked different than the Fox person's. She knew their was some distinction but Aria didn't really need or want to know at the time. This Rico was probably a good and calm guy in real life, but being rattled herself she didn't want to think more of what's real or not, she just wanted to get out.

"I'm as real as you are. I think... I'm going to follow Kuwan, someone has to have the answers and he seems to know his way around." She said, finally replying to Rico's question after things had slightly calmed down. She turned back towards Kuwan who was already more than a few steps away.

"H-hey wait up!" To Aria, there was no where else to turn to. Everything was different and strange. Nothing was familiar. To someone who's never played an actual serious game like Elder Tale before, her new surroundings was daunting. The ruckus she had made earlier caused more than a few individuals to stare and look at their direction, but that fact was lost on Aria-now-Thor as she followed Kuwan. That fox-person, whether Aria liked it or not, was the closest thing to a friend.

[Kirhart]

Rico steeled himself and began to look around, taking in the environment. He felt exposed and vulnerable, something he did not normally feel outside of the presence of his father.

The result was that he looked calm, collected, unfazed and probably notably detached. This was his defense mechanism in real life, he did not want to carry his life into his game persona, however, they were now one. The opportunity to change his life presented itself, however he did not want to be too quick to invest, just incase this was some kind of dream or temporary game error.

Rico squinted and moved in a slight run until he was walking next to Aria, moving with her following Kuwan.

Without breaking stride or looking in any direction except for ahead, Rico quipped "I'll go with you guys. If this is our situation I would rather not get caught without a party. I don't know if you guys have considered this, but I for one don't feel like finding out if we can re-spawn."

He then said under his breath, to himself "What happens when its time to sleep?"

He did not know why he felt the need to bring up the subject of their mortality or lack there of. He was able to mask his emotions in the form of jest, however this concern was one of the biggest. Video games could be just as unforgiving as the streets, and Rico lacked all of his real life resources. He knew already these other players were best resource he had available, or would likely have in this world.

He would use them.

Use, he thought to himself. Not even close to the right word. The word rely, that was more accurate, he just didn't want to admit his reliance. Not yet.

Thor girl said: "I'm as real as you are. I think... I'm going to follow Kuwan, someone has to have the answers and he seems to know his way around."

"I grew up in Seattle, but this clearly is not the same place. I do not want to count on anything I think I knew." His words even confused him slightly, this game / reality concept was just INSANE.

"Kuwan just be careful not to assume anything, we don't know what may be different, this expansion just came out" he said, masking the concern. "As long as you are making sense though I will keep quiet."

[Mumble Dragon]

Lars snapped out of his thoughts as another body placed themselves next to him. Glancing over, he was greeted with another face that seemed blatantly normal. Some of his features seemed to be a little off and he could have swore he saw some tattoos. Hmm...must be one of those ritual race things.... He found that the newcomer was staring at him so Lars returned the stare back.

"If you're referring to the awfully feminine Thor verbally assaulting the fox, then yes, some probably more than others." Lars said in response to the other man's question.

Lars spotted the fox beginning to depart, followed by his two new companions. Finally, he pushed himself from the wall and decided to follow this group around till he got bored. Standing still was never a strong point for Lars, in the real world and apparently this virtual one as well. Passing his new friend, he turned his head and smirked at his general direction. Pointing with a finger in the direction the group was going, he gave a wink as he turned away from the other man and made his pursuit.

[Mysticsage]

Xen got the message that Lars was sending him relatively quickly. It seemed people who chose the catfolk race had similar attitudes. That behavior reminded greatly of something his other friend might have done. But he had a leg up in regards to following them if that is what he choose to do.

He had the image from earlier with the map. Opening his logs he found the image and zoomed in. It was a crudely done map with only the most significant paths and buildings scribbled badly on it. But, he could guess where the group was headed. Using the map and his knowledge of games he might be able to snake his way ahead of them using the back streets.

"Let's just see how far this goes." he smirked quickly turning and becoming swallowed in the shadows of a near by building his tattered patchwork cloak fluttering dramatically behind him. He ended up reemerging slightly a couple blocks down. he made sure to stay out of anyone elses way. Back alleys like these tended to be best for danger and homeless regardless of the world and he made sure to avoid anyone who seemed like they belonged in such a place. He ended up having to take several loops but lucky nothing too far out of the way he could just see them rounding a corner down the way.

[Linwelin]

Kuwan had nodded along with Rico's train of thought as he started walking. "Yes, I've considered the problem of whether we can respawn or not. And after seeing how many people are just lounging around hopelessly, I'd imagine they've had the same thoughts. The question is who would be willing to risk it? I mean, at some point, we'll need to gather ingredients to survive, so there's bound to be a test in a while." Kuwan paused after that thought, "With that in mind, maybe it'd be best not to go out of town for a while?"

He turned to look at them both to confirm that thought. However, he noticed that multiple random people were following them, as well. He turned back around and sighed, grimacing. Since when did I become a leader? Did they just need someone to take action? Why meeeee~. He complained internally, wishing he could just relax, or at least be left to himself like when he was making that map. ...I need to work on my scribe skill... He thought as he looked back at the map he'd drawn, trying to distract himself. Accurate, but crude. Another sigh escaped his mouth.

"Kuwan just be careful not to assume anything, we don't know what may be different, this expansion just came out"

As Rico said this, Kuwan flinched a bit. He'd completely forgotten about the new expansion. This meant that even veterans may not have quality information. He continued to walk toward the guild hall as intended, but at this point he was biting his thumb in thought. What if they're in just as much of a panic due to the expansion? It makes sense. Heck, we could be surrounded by mid-level monsters when they used to be beginner level. And new abilities are bound to surface. With mortality still being questioned, this is bound to drive even veterans nuts. He cut his thoughts there as he neared the final bend in the road to the guild hall. Better to see it myself.

When he rounded the corner, he was surprised for multiple reasons. First, there was a broad, patchwork-cloaked back inches away. He'd been going fairly fast despite not paying attention, so stopping would be troublesome. But that didn't matter, as we came to the second reason. Being shocked, Kuwan had stumbled, tripping over himself. There was no stopping him as he went face-first into the cloaked figure before him, bringing them both to the ground with a muffled yelp and grunt. When he finally regained his senses, he moved off the man, looking around to gain his bearings. They were before the hall, but couldn't see it due to a large mob of people gathered around it. Guess I'm not the only one who thought to ask some experts. Maybe they'll address the crowd in one go?

Hearing a groan, he realized that now wasn't the time to worry about the guilds. He'd just knocked down a complete stranger. Turning to his victim, Kuwan cautiously asked, "H-Hey...are you alright?" It was all he could manage. After all, he wasn't sure how to react, and was rather embarrassed. Seems even being reborn in another body doesn't help my clumsiness... He thought dejectedly to himself.

[Mysticsage]

Xenos wasn't expecting those who he had been spying on to fall directly into him. He had only locked away for amount to double check his surroundings and then he was suddenly colliding with the ground. His higher center of gravity did not help matters as he went over like a tree in a forest, to tall to course correct in time before falling.

It took them a moment to untangle from each other, and he tried his best to try not and pull any furred appendages by accident. It was in that moment of awkward silence where Kuwan looked at the crowd  however, that Xen hatched a plan

"I'm fine, I'm fine really" he said with an honest wave extending a hand to help be pulled up. "It's my fault, I was looking at the mess in front of the guild hall and wasn't paying attention. It doesn't help any that whatever happened to us changed my body size." He tried his best to give a smile. Readying himself to lay a bit of truth as bait.

"My friends started a small guild when the game came out, and they finally talked me into joining them for the new update. I figured if they got stuck here too then they would be somewhere close by due to spanning and bases rules. Though I doubt I'll be able to find anyone in that mess. And here I thought they'd help me Level fast for the game since most of them got close to the level cap."

It wasn't a total lie they had incentivized his joining by promising to help him level with their favorite characters, which were close to the cap. Though now that this had happened, whatever this was. He very much such.a deal was still on the table. The promise of information alone should be enough to get them at least curious.

"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself please call me Xenos, my friends call me Xen."

[Kirhart]

Rico appeared over Kuwan and Xen, offering a hand to each to help them back on their feet.

At this moment he could not help but think he had made a huge mistake.

Even being virtual bad asses could not avail the others from their worldly physical prowess. In so many words, he felt like he was surrounded by nerdy gamers who had never done anything physical in their lives.

Yes he was a different size than he was in the real world, and far more hairy than he was comfortable with, but he still was nimble on his feet and just as capable as he was on the streets. He had a twinge of excitement thinking about what might happen as he leveled up, he never was able to get stronger without doing a great deal of training and dieting. This might be the best thing that had ever happened to him.

He faced mortality in the real world many many times. Hospital visits were almost as regular as holidays. He could not help but feel he had a slight advantage over the others he had met so far.

"You guys got to be more careful, next time it might be a nest of creatures you step in."

Realizing he was staring to sound a bit like an ass he smiled.

"If we are not going to get any help from these folks perhaps we are just better off forming a group of our own. We will after all need to eat."

He thought back to earlier when he had thought about using these people. He felt that given his real life experience they may in fact need to use him. He did not want to have to take a position of authority, his father had always been the model of an authority figure in his mind.

Perhaps that is why he was here, if not to lead at least to advise. The other players seemed to have no motivation outside of the group he had joined. If mortality is an issue, the world may become sparsely populated before very long.

"I think we should keep moving.."

He turned away from his companions and the smile quickly melted from his face. A sinking feeling gripped him as the inevetablity of their first combat situation was increasing with every passing minute. Nobody plays a game for too long before they get attacked, otherwise why would it be fun?

He put a hand on the handle of his dagger, not to be threatening, but just as a precaution.

He leaned over to Kuwan and whispered so only he would hear. "Perhaps we should do some sort of practice, do you know of a training arena nearby?"

[Throndir]

Aria Blanchette
as Sir Hemsworth

Respawning? What are these people talking about? What do they mean by respawning? Aria thought. She had been keeping up with Kuwan, trying to take in as much of her surroundings as she can. Everything was so different, and even though she had already been there for what felt like an hour or so now, she still couldn't help but keep watching intently the new sights that surrounded her. Though it didn't take long for Kuwan's quick pace to get the best of him, crashing into a stranger right before a large gathering of people surrounding some sort of building in the distance. The new individual introduced himself as 'Xen'. Aria had never really been into fantasy or sci-fi stories, so even the name 'Xen' sounded foreign and strange. She pulled out the option to take a look at the player names around her, and sure enough he was called 'Xenos'.

So is that how it worked then? People introduced themselves by their character's names? Aria thought. She found the idea strange, but then she realized that the game was supposed to be in the cyberspace, and everyone knows of the horrible stories one always hears in the news about sketchy people in the internet.

"Keep moving... where?" 'Sir Hemsworth' asked.

[Linwelin]

"Ah, Xenos, no Xen, is it?" Kuwan replies sheepishly, "Are you sure your friends ended up here as well? Have you been able to contact them?" Suddenly, Kuwan had a thought. "Wait, does the friends list and private messaging work in this environment?" Unfortunately, being new, the fox tail had no official 'friends' on his list. So, to test this, he decided to pull up his character interface. Sure enough, there was a (blank) friends list, so he decided to drag his new Thor friend's name into his list. He knew he'd probably end up doing anyways, due the girl's insistent, panicky attitude. "Alright." He paused in anticipation before hitting the chat icon.

"...Is this working?" He spoke softly so as not to cause an echo or anything distracting. And by the gasp/shriek from behind him, he figured it worked. And he laughed at the surprise. "Hemmingsworth, it's me, Kuwan. I was just testing if personal messaging worked. Thanks for your help." And he closed the chat. He could feel a glare of some sort drilling into the back of his head, knowing full well it was Hemmingsworth, but not sure if it was malice or otherwise. I'm bound to get a rant in a little bit...oh boy...

"Well, it seems the friends list and chat still work. Similar to telepathy, from what I can gather." He then turned back to the newcomer, Xen. "It seems that it's not too great an idea to look for the guild hall now. With this kind of crowd, leaders are likely holed up inside. I don't know how guilds work in this game, but that seems right, and would explain why the crowd isn't getting anywhere. Since you seem knowledgeable about the guild system indirectly, does that sound right, Xen?"

As he was asking this, he noticed Rico extending both his hands for the two of them, and gratefully accepted his offer, getting to his feet with his help. At Rico's points, Kuwan felt a bit embarrassed. He had a point; after all that talk about survival, Kuwan had assumed the city safe. What if it wasn't. "You're right about that, looks like I should be a bit more careful...and yes, for now, we should probably party up." He popped open the character interface, dragging their character frames to the party list instead of friends list, which sent invites to Rico, Sir Hemmingsworth, and Xenos. The holographic dialog box popped up in front of them, with the simple 'Accept' and 'Decline' options.

"Good, that works, too. Things are looking up, in the case of operating like a game."

"I think we should keep moving.."

"Keep moving... where?"

"Perhaps we should do some sort of practice, do you know of a training arena nearby?"

"Training arena? The closest thing I saw to that was the dueling arena near the fairy gate at the city center. That probably won't work, since we've no idea about the game's mortality. We need something like training dummies...but I didn't see that either. Would ruins work? The town thins out between the center and the market area, so it may be open enough to at least try different abilities. I can't say for certain if creatures will be there, but it's still part of Seattle, so I doubt it." He discussed quietly in reply to Rico's question.

Probably not good to assume...but considering the lack of peril in the city, I imagine creatures can't be here. He thought to himself hopefully.

[Throndir]

Aria Blanchette
as Sir Hemsworth

The sudden voice of Kuwan echoing in her head caught her by surprise. Her nerves were already rattled and she did not need any more surprises. Aria in Thor's body glared at Kuwan. Oh Mr. Fox Person's back was turned, but she was sure he could feel Sir Hemmingsworth's piercing gaze at the back of his head.

There were too many words that were confusing, or rather, used in a context that Aria simply could not understand. "Training", for one, confused her at first until she realized that they must have meant training how to play the game. Normally she would have found it slightly amusing to use such a serious word, but at the time there was nothing better to do. When they had mentioned "partying", chips and soda came to mind, though they used the words in a different context. It didn't take her long however to understand that "partying" simply meant getting into a group with others. She quickly waved her hand over 'Accept'.

These people were the only things she had in this strange new world, and if they decided to go to some sort of training arena, she would do her best to participate. At the very least, she herself was curious about it. She still wanted to get out of the game, and the fact that the people around her have started to become more used to the fact they were in this new world had started bothering her. But she held her comments in check. Her primary goal was looking for someone in charge, and get back home, but at least for now she had people to be around with. There was wisdom in their words. It was better to be with a group than without.

And if there's anything anyone needs the most in a foreign new world was people to be with.

[Kirhart]

Rico was slightly startled by the prompt when it appeared. He had always ran his game with minimal interface prior to the expansion. He felt more at ease letting his instincts guide him rather than a map or hud. This prompt may have been part of the changes. He hit accept and his fellow party members gained small colored circles above their heads which represented their class.

Well I guess my add on progarms are still in effect. Rico had a friend who specialized in breaking code and occasionally re-writing it, which was a nice way of saying, he was a hacker. Rico had to assume that the more complex macros he had emplaced were not compatible with the new abilities and skills of this expansion. However, the more simple ones appeared to be functioning.

With more and more functions of the game being revealed Rico was beginning to think that he might be better off than he first had thought.

Perhaps I was too quick to judge the others. he thought. If the interface is in tact then it stands to reason that in a fight the games mechanics would kick in and everyone would have their special abilities. Physical prowess should not be an issue, he just needed to make sure they all stayed alive until they could level and become better equipped Rico smiled, confidence returning to his face.