[IC] Pariah Online III

[mickilennial]

MAXX IS A FOOLISH MAN WITH WEAK IDEALS

[mickilennial]

_{The Laughing Worg Tavern, Thorinn}

---

Rael had never seen someone die in such a graphic way in her life.

It was like if the glitch that was effecting their inability to log out was also messing with the game’s filter; the censor designed to diminish the graphic reality of death. Rael had betrayed people before for what she was after in other dungeons, sure, but she had never sat down beside them as they choked on their own blood while she was there next to them holding their hand cursing herself that they were out of healing spells. She may not have been afraid of the reality of death, but the act of dying was one she was still not very used to. Though she knew she was going to have to deal with it. There was no choice. It was get used to it or lay down and admit defeat; and admitting defeat was not something that existed in the red-haired Japanese girl's mindset.

“What else is this... glitch... going to throw at us? What else has changed?” She mused, thinking over the realization of the filter as she had done the last seven days.

She took a light breath, as she tried to vent her anxiety with another cup of wine. Wine that was still on discount due to her party “succeeding” on destroying the dungeon that had spawned outside Thorinn. A discount and sense of thankfulness that some members of her group didn’t think was enough. Maybe it was survivor’s guilt? She wasn’t sure. She sighed. At least she made it out alive and was handling things a lot better than other players.

She looked over at the tavern’s occupants; nearly full of players who were having anxiety attacks about their fate despite it have been only a few days since the gamemasters reached out to them to tell them the old tired cliché; if they died in the game, they died for real. Parties were divided. People were debating on hiding in Thorinn until it got “fixed”. But it had been a full week with no updates and no announcements. Rael couldn’t even remember how many hours that was in the real world or if time even worked the same anymore. What if this was it? She took another drink. It could’ve been worse.

She could’ve been a coward like them.

Stepping up from her seat after a few moments of contemplation she straightened the red color of her longcoat as she shuffled her hands in her pockets; bored of her secret anxiety and bored of everyone else’s not-so-secret anxiety.

“I need some air.” She remarked to nobody in particular.

She then gave a quick wave to the bartender as she made for the doorway, heading to the streets of Thorinn to get some fresh air and some distance away from everyone's incessant stupidity. However, no matter how far she got she knew one principle fact: the City of Thorinn was not going to have a shortage of people panicking about their fate. Hell, the only reason they weren’t looting the town dry was probably because the town gave them the false idea of safety.

Some wayfarers they all were.

[mickilennial]

_{The Laughing Worg Tavern, Thorinn}

---

“Tch.”

Qoren had been in charge of observing the wayfarers in Thorinn since their initial descent into his world. As far as he was concerned, they were as unwanted as they were needed. The consensus among his inner circle that included some very powerful citizens of his native-born city was that the wayfarers ability to bind and destroy the dungeons that sought to destroy all living things was a sick and cruel irony. If he had his way, wayfarers would not have been given license to trample and defile his beloved city; they would've been captured and studied to the point of dissection. Whatever it took to understand the abstract magic that they held in their bones.

But unfortunately they had been given protections -- and for the last few months he had been tasked to observe and nothing more.

However, something had changed in the air and in the wayfarers themselves. Their lawless bravado had been shaken and tons of them flooded the city in fear of something he did not understand. It amused him, but it also concerned him with curiosity and caution. Their strange ramblings about game masters, becoming braindead, and never returning home was something he picked up on as he wandered the tavern and even earlier, the Wayfarer's Hall in the city. As far as he could tell, whoever was behind the manifestation of dungeons had made their first move to attack those who could stop their plans to wipe the Kingdoms of Sarna off the face of the planet. This unseen evil was not the only problem, however. With the Wayfarers acting scared and beginning to panic they could soon unleash their despicable powers upon his fellow countrymen of Thorinn.

He needed to talk to the Queen of Thorinn. Convince her to expel the wayfarers. Convince her to save Thorinn before they turned on them as their madness overwhelmed them.

He moved forward, a lone wayfarer in his way. Normally he would've politely manuevered around them. But as far as he concerned, they had lost their protection. Their armor. He grabbed the shoulder of the wayfarer and for the first time since the wayfarers arrived in the Kingdoms of Sarna, a denizen had not acted like a “NPC”. The female wayfarer was tossed to the ground as Qoren moved past in a huff, brows narrowed.

“Move.” He spat, as he left the building.

It was only the beginning.

[Supermaxx]

_{:: the laughing worg tavern // thorinn ::}

---

The plate of food set before Graves remained untouched, save for the occasional poke with a fork to give the impression that he was trying to eat. But he wasn't hungry. Not in the slightest.

Only a handful of days had passed since he and the rest of his party managed to escape that dungeon with their lives. He'd taken a rather nasty blow to the head that he could still feel the effects of ringing in the back of his skull like a phantom's bell. 'Course it wasn't the only thing from that fight that was bouncing around in his head, refusing to go away. Death was a strange thing. Graves had seen it a hundred times in Pariah, yet...something about that last one felt so much more real. The desperation on the other man's face as he tried to cling to life,to his last, precious few seconds in the world. It was nauseating just remembering it.

He wasn't the only one thinking about it. Rael said it aloud first. Brought all their fears and worries out into the open air to stew in that stinking tavern. "I'on't know, Red." He said with a heavy sigh. "Maybe everything."

Graves had shed his armor and other combat gear, leaving it behind in a pile in the room he'd rented out for the last couple of days. Most of it was in dire need of repair after Arnaakus nearly tore him in two. Part of him didn't want to even bother. With all the new bullshit they were learning about the game, he was becoming less and less comfortable running around in that suit. He felt naked in something so lightly armored. It might be worth it to just scrap his current gear and invest in a suit of half-plate for the time being. While they hid away in Thorinn he was comfortable enough in his normal attire, at least for now. A simple, hooded tunic of gray linen and a black jerkin pulled over it did more than enough to keep him warm.

Keeping warm. In a video game. 'God, nothin' makes much sense anymore, does it?'

He was torn from his thoughts at the sound of chair legs being dragged against wood. He looked up just in time to see Rael stand from the table and make her way to the door. "Where're you go-" He started to ask, only for her to interrupt with a non-answer and leave without another word. "...Or don't tell me. Fuckin' bitch." He snarled under his breath, letting his head fall into his hands so he could massage his temples. The headache was getting worse. They'd lost a man in the dungeons and a few more had abandoned the party the moment they'd gotten back to Thorinn- off to panic on their lonesome, Graves assumed. God knows why he hadn't walked away, too. Babysitting had never been his strong suit, and keeping some, unnamed members of that party together was like herding cats.

Sighing, he did his best to reset himself and looked out over the rest of the party. "Alright guys," he started, sitting up. "It's been a couple'a days and we haven't gotten any word on when we can get outta here. We can't sit around drinkin' our troubles away forever, so...what'do we do next?"

---

[Kuro]

---

Laughing Worg Tavern
City of Thorinn

---

She wanted to go home.

It had been a week since the players, or wayfarers as some called them, were notified that dying in-game would cause you to go brain dead in the real world. These men and women had simply wanted to play a game for fun, but now they could die for real? Eaudenil had wanted to be like her father, but she was afraid. Afraid of dying–of death. She wasn't the hero her father was; no, Eaduenil, or rather, Lili, was just a kid. A kid trapped against their will in a death game. It simply wasn't fair.

Raising her head from the tavern counter, Eaudenil took a swig of the warm glass of milk she had ordered. Virtual milk could never truly compare to the real thing, but at least it brought her comfort. It reminded Eaudenil of simpler days; of when her father gave her glass of warm milk just before bed. At least back then everyone was still alive.

Taking a deep breath, Eaudenil reached into her coin pouch, drawing a few coins to pay for her beverage. She still needed to find a new party, having been ditched by her previous group. With the recent developments happening, maybe it wasn't a bad decision to seek out others, too. Thankfully, today seemed to be her lucky day, as a red blur ran past Eaudenil before she could make her way outside. Whoever she was, the girl still appeared confident, contrary to everyone else Eaudenil had seen. She was like a blaze–someone who took charge, as if they were capable and understanding of the fact that they were forced to face reality.

She needed to be in a party with her, but would the redheaded girl care to party with a weak-willed person like Eaudenil? There was only one way to find out.

"H-hey!" Eaudenil called out, following the girl down the packed streets of Thorinn. "Wait up!"

Before she realized it, however, Eaudenil had been tossed to the ground, having been grabbed by her shoulder. A daze befell Eaudenil, confused and at a loss. One moment, she was on her feet, and the next, on the ground, as if she had been pushed. When her gaze met her assailant's, it was met with hostility. Unknowingly, Eaudenil had been blocking the exit to the Wayfarer's Hall, but rather than squeezing past or saying excuse me, the man had desired to be an asshole.

Huffing, the man walked away after uttering a single word–move. Eaudenil was no stranger to rudeness, but it certainly hurt to be thrown on the ground. Cobblestone wasn't exactly soft like grass, after all.

[HokumPocus]

_{:: the streets of thorinn // thorinn ::}

---

Alex's leather boots took frustrated steps as they paced around the town's stone roads, hitting the ground at uneven intervals as he was forced to move around herds of people slower than him. All this recent talk of death within the game had caused a surge in fear among the other players, and a desire to stay in the safer parts of the world. For Alex, the stress turned into an overwhelming feeling of irritation, one which he was desperate to quell. He wasn't used to being around so many people. The archer groaned at the realization that his favorite hunting spots were going to be taken and dried up. Maybe he could use his crafting skills as his main way to get by? He looked around, noting the dread and worry spread across a lot of people's faces. Nope, they definitely didn't seem like the types to want birdhouses right now.

The sight of a small girl that had been knocked to the ground caught his attention. He could tell she was a player, er, wayfarer, judging by the expression on her face. Alex had spent his days sticking to the safest parts of the game, enjoying it mostly for the crafting and exploration bits over anything else. Even so, he knew that other wayfarers were likely to have gone through quite the messes when the announcement had hit. He walked quickly towards the girl and called out to her, weaving through the crowd surprisingly well.

"Hey, you alright?" he said. He'd sooner let a dragon or whatever monsters were in this world eat him than be one of those snobs who matched their speech with the atmosphere. He was going to speak the way he wanted to, even if it meant going against the image his neat and proper merchant's outfit gave off.

There was no way that she was completely fine. Being shoved to the ground by some sleazebag? It would've been impossible for Alex to resist turning the man into a human pincushion had he been in that position. The girl's clothes reminded him of the kind of things someone affiliated with the drox would wear. If she really were a drox wayfarer, then Alex reasoned she'd be a good place to start with to get a team going. That and, he struggled to remember what the other affiliations stood for past the basics.

The words hurried out of his mouth before he could really think about them. "You're a player too, right?"

---

[Stern Algorithm]

Eileen Fang // Ailanthus Altissima (Tessa)

_{:: The Laughing Worg Tavern // Thorinn ::}

Tessa looked up from the vice that she had clamped to the bar table. Within the grip of the vice was a magic crystal, delicately filigreed with precious metals, embedded with rare gems, and engraved with runic symbols. Her hands held an assortment of tools. She had been quite busy before the depressing topic of her party mates brought her out of her focus. She slid the magnifying glass setup away from her face to look at Graves. Death was on everyone's mind, but after the initial panic that Tessa had experienced in the dungeon, a cathartic, nihilistic sense of calm had descended upon her.

"'What do we do next?', you ask. We continue to make a killing, that's what we do. People have been so afraid, that demand for defensive enchantments have far exceeded supply. Prices are skyrocketing. Business has never been this good. By the time this bug is patched out, we'll be filthy rich." Perhaps seeing a man in the throes of death was disconcerting for some, but for Tessa, it had had the opposite affect. In real life, she had always felt a sense of dysphoria and disassociation from her body, even more so in the digital realm. But actually seeing someone die made her realize that it was the clinging to life that was the source of terror and pain, that after a swift and maddening explosion of suffering, all that followed death was calm and stillness. Death was inevitable and inescapable, but the fear of it was so easy to exploit. And that was what Tessa had been doing since.

"If you're getting restless, we could try to grind a low-level dungeon. Most people are so scared that we probably won't find much competition. We can farm some low-tier materials, because people will still pay out of the nose, even for C-class enchantments." Regardless of his answer, he could tell he wanted to go after Rael, so she also got up and began packing up her enchanting station.

[Supermaxx]

_{:: the laughing worg tavern // thorinn ::}

---

Graves slunk forward in his seat, his shoulders sunken with the weight of some unseen burden. Good posture wasn't something that had come naturally to him. He spent much of his time in real life sitting in front of a cash register at a shitty gas station for hours at a time- it was easy to develop bad habits during that time. His mother used to get onto him about it all the time. Somewhere along the way, though, she just stopped bothering.

It wasn't a problem Graves, the prickly mercenary, had. Graves was a confident warrior that walked with his chest out and head held high, like he didn't have anything in the world to fear.

Pulling his chair forward so he could rest the weight of his arms on the table, the slouching man turned his attention toward Tessa. She was always tinkering every time he saw her. Always chiseling away at some knickknack, doodad or trinket that she'd pawn off at the market for a couple of coins. Graves figured it was because she needed the money, but...the fervency and constancy of it made him question that.

So her stopping to speak demanded that he sit up (if only a little) and pay attention.

'You wanna exploit these people for money?' He thought, disgusted, his nose crinkling up in instant revulsion at the idea. She was so casual about it, as if making money off the back of genuine terror was the only logical thing to do. It was difficult for him to imagine that just a few days ago this same woman was having a panic attack at the idea of dying in one of those dungeons. And now she was talking about going back in- and for a reason like that?

"Sounds like a good way to die to me." He grunted, brushing off his immediate revulsion as self-preservation. "That last dungeon killed Vulcan n' it wasn't exactly s'posed to be top tier shit. Running anything right now is suicidal at best."

There had to be something they could do to keep occupied that wasn't throwing themselves into the lions den and hoping for the best. What, he wasn't sure- but Graves couldn't keep himself stuck up in some tavern drinking away his digital liver forever.

He was glad to see that Tessa was getting up, though; it gave him a decent excuse to head out after Rael. They'd lost too many party members already, and she was a little too useful to let wander off into the aether alone like that. Graves hoped they'd run into Tiff while they were out, too. He hadn't a clue where she'd gone off to. Taking up what meager belongings he had with him, he dropped a few coins on the table and made his way toward the door, hopefully with Tessa right on his tail.

They hadn't gotten too far at all before Graves spotted a scene in the middle of the road. Some chick knocked on her ass, probably by some asshole in a hurry, and some guy stopping to help her out. It wasn't as uncommon a thing to see in Post-Panic Thorinn- everybody here had lost any semblance of good manners. He was honestly surprised the entire place hadn't descended into total anarchy yet. "You see Red anywhere, Two Chains? She couldn'ta gotten far..."

---

[Kuro]

---

City Streets
City of Thorinn

---

For a moment, Eaudenil hesitated. Since the deceleration, the city of Thorinn had mostly been a free for all. Panic splintered groups, and some were clearly afraid to venture outside the city gates. It was every man for himself, and yet, someone had the decency to worry about her of all people. "I-I'm fine, I think." Eaudenil spoke, having pushed herself back onto her feet.

Before she could say anything else, however, the archer cut her off, and asked if she was a player. Whilst Eaudenil had been a mess mere seconds ago, having moped the day away in some tavern, she soon was full of energy, as if she seemingly forgot that they had been trapped in a game, if only for the time being. "That I am! The great Eaudenil Pelerine, warden of the green, at your service!" She announced, striking a dumb pose.

Nonetheless, the clear cheesiness of her display soon caught up to Eaudenil, who awkwardly scratched the back of her head.

"Sorry, ehehe..." Eaudenil uttered, rather apologetic. "It's just my kind of thing. We have to stay strong during times like these, right? To not let the bad get to us. My mother once said something like that." The green warden explained, then realizing she had yet to ask the man's name. The red-haired girl was likely gone (for now), but with his asking if she was a player, there was potential for a party to form, were the archer willing to group up. There weren't many groups being formed these days, but it was probably worth a shot.

"Anyhow, what's your name? I don't think I've seen you around here. Then again, people come and go these days, so it's hard for someone to make an impact like that skeleton lady I've heard of."

[HokumPocus]

_{:: the streets of thorinn // thorinn ::}

---

Alex paused before continuing their conversation. Oh, she´s one of those roleplayers. It was something he´d never been interested in, though he was more or less familiar with the basics from seeing the cringe-inducing displays of knighthood that his brother and his friends engaged in. His brother, who was now stuck in the same game as him and most likely in some horrific and dangerous area surrounded by tryhards of the same skill level as his obsessive self. Fuck.

He pushed those thoughts back. "Don´t sweat it, playing this game means I get used to this kind of stuff. Not that I´m any good at it myself."

His back slouched. "Right, staying strong."

It was hard to stay strong in a world that was getting scarier by the minute. Camping inside of a claustrophobic village wasn´t going to cut it any more for Alex, and taking his frustration out on woodworking wasn´t going to change the fact he was stuck here and very much in danger. People were getting stronger than him every passing moment, and whether he liked it or not he was going to have to step out into the wild and face the very real possibility of dying.

He held his hand out for a fist bump, which he corrected into a handshake. It was hard to pay attention to a conversation when you were briefly coming to terms with your mortality. "My name´s Alex. I´ve just been screwing around this place for awhile, but things are getting crowded so I´m thinking about setting out." She looked like someone who would make a good teammate, if her introduction was anything to go by. There was, however, something she said that had caught his attention.

"Skeleton... lady?" He made no effort to hide his awe.

[Stern Algorithm]

Eileen Fang // Ailanthus Altissima (Tessa)

_{:: The Laughing Worg Tavern // Thorinn ::}

@ComradeMaxx @Kuro @HokumPocus

"Well, staying in town and starving is a form of death in its own right," Tessa disagreed with Graves, alluding to the slow collective realization that the players were beginning to actually experience hunger and thirst. Though no one had died from malnutrition just yet, the dawning lack of resources weighed on the minds of those who looked just a little further ahead. There wasn't enough in their little 'safe haven' to go around, and everyone just hoped other people would risk their necks to plunge the dungeons and haul in large quantities of sustenance; as if they wouldn't just hoard it all to themselves. Tessa had read enough Chinese history to know that desperation, and cannibalism at worst, were just around the corner.

But, deciding not to be more contrarian than she already was and alienating one of the few other players who actually tolerated her existence, Tessa followed the direction of his new topic of discussion. She scanned left and right for the red-headed spearwoman. "Shit. Hell if I know." Tessa was usually quite good at picking out the flow of foot traffic, but Rael had never been that predictable. "I swear, next set of enchantments I give her is gonna include tracking runes."

Seeing a pair of people on the street nearby, she decided to just probe them for answers. Marching over, Tessa interrupted, "Hey, you two! Did you see a spearwoman? Kinda short with long red hair? Dumb grin?" It wasn't the best, nor most flattering description, but Tessa had run out of patience, of which she had very little to begin with.

[AlteredTundra]

_{City of Thorinn (various locations)
@ComradeMaxx @Kuro @HokumPocus @Stern Algorithm}

Since first answering the call in the world of Pariah Online, Verglas Zero (as it is seen on his profile ID), had a bit of a rough start. First, it was being alone in the game, though it wasn’t due to him being a bad player. Once he got used to the mechanics and roamed around in the safe areas, Verglas was able to adapt rather well to the world itself. It’s when he started to party up with fellow new players as well as those who gave him a hand here and there that he started to have difficulties, but not because of his skill. It was due to his reputation and high energy personality that soon got him blacklisted from some of the local groups.

So, finding a friend was becoming more trouble than it was worth. At some point, Zero just figured going solo was in his best interests. He stayed away from the tougher dungeons, didn’t stray too far off from the main roads, and just enjoyed the sights.

There came a point in the game where Zero, and by some measure, a lot of other people too, found out that death in-game would equate to death in the real world as well. Now, Zero -- or as he was known in the real world, Sebastian Blake -- wasn’t sure what to do with this information. He was so uncertain that he sat on it for a while. He pretended he didn’t hear about it. Sebastian or Zero, whatever he wanted to call himself right now, always had the tendency to ignore the larger picture and instead focus on what was going to happen to him in the next five minutes.

And in Verglas Zero’s case, the entire week.

As he sat in his room of one of the many inns in the City of Thorinn, the usually positive man was doing everything that he could to not have a mental breakdown. One, it wasn’t in-character but to hell with that, right? He wasn’t Zero right now -- not mentally, at least. Verglas Zero has switched places with Sebastian Blake and Sebastian Blake was a worry-wort. He tried not to be, but could anyone blame him? He didn’t want to die. He may not have had a bright future in the real world but it was his future and he didn’t want to die, damn it!

So heading out of his room, he rushed downstairs and looked at the Innkeeper. The Innkeeper was an NPC, so of course, he had to remain in-character. “Good Innkeeper!” Verglas Zero said smiling, “where would I find this city’s nearest tavern?”

“Look no further than the Laughing Worg!”

He hit the streets, searching high and low for the tavern.

During his search, Zero was bumped into by a short redhead with a spear. By the time he was going to respond to her rudeness, she was out of sight. That or she was so short that her height was hidden among the traveling NPCs around him. Soon he would return to the search.

“Huzzah!” He cheered to himself, spotting the tavern.

The words ‘Laughing Worg’ spread boldly on the sign attached to a pole. His newly-discovered hope of finding answers seemed to be delayed when a group of what he thought were NPCs brushed past him just like that redhead and rudely didn’t apologize.

“Seriously, it’s not that hard to show some manners.”

Zero didn’t get annoyed easily, but enough was enough. He couldn’t approach the redhead because she was long gone, but the two who had bumped into him weren’t. So he approached them as they seemed to be in conversation with a pair. He first thought they were NPCs, but upon the mention of a redhead that seemed to fit the description of the one he encountered, perhaps this encounter was not meant to remind those who did not grow up like he did that manners exist but some higher power pulling their threads of fate together.

Zero made his presence known with a cough. “Excuse me, I couldn’t help but overhear.” He spoke clear and concise. “This redhead friend of yours sounds like someone who rudely bumped into me as I left an inn not far from here.” He told them. As he felt he had done a good deed, Zero forgot the most important thing. “Oh, where are my manners! I am Verglas Zero, but you may call me Zero!”

And the blonde man gave them a polite, yet confident, smile.

Nailed it!

[Tojin]

Allie Márquez / / Tiferet

_{:: Wilderness -> Streets of Thorinn ::}

Tiferet's sandals crunched along a well-traveled dirt path, their owner staying alert for any opportunistic mobs. The road she was on was normally well-traveled, being one of the main roads in and out of Thorinn, but at the moment she was the only person walking it. It was, ironically, a rather nice day out, with puffy clouds scudding across the sky and a light breeze keeping her cool, and on any other occasion Tif might have let herself relax and enjoy the weather, maybe play a tune on her fiddle to pass the time. Instead, constant vigilance was the name of the game, even as her thoughts turned introspective.

A few days after the party had finally taken care of the dungeon outside Thorinn, which was beginning to become known as The Unknowable Labyrinth among the Wayfarers, Tif had decided that she needed some time to herself for a while, and told the others as much before heading out of town. She had felt like she needed to get out there and do something, even if it was just wandering around outside Thorinn and moping. Of course, it ended up not just being that; she'd ended up gathering a few herbs and such to sell later, and once she found another player getting attacked by a couple of treants. The two of them had been able to fight them off, thankfully, and the other player had given her some money before quickly departing for Thorinn. So her wandering had at least been fruitful.

She had stuck around for Vulcan's makeshift funeral, though. Sure, she'd barely known the guy, but it still wouldn't have felt right to have cut and run beforehand. She had seen it happen, and she felt like it was her responsibility to help lay him to rest, such as it was. It had also, oddly enough, been her first time seeing something die in front of her. And that, too, made her feel like she had to stay. See things to their natural conclusion, as it were.

Back in the present, Tiferet sighed deeply. Thinking about Vulcan brought her back to what had been the main topic of her little sabbatical: her interest in death, and the way she displayed it in her appearance. After seeing Vulcan get murdered, and nearly dying herself (the thought of which caused a weird little thrill in her chest, even as an echo of the terror she had felt then flickered back to life), she was starting to really question why she was so interested in the idea of dying. Was it just a simple thirst for knowledge, like she had told everyone, or was it some kind of weird, sourceless suicidal ideation? And given that she had seen what was left of Vulcan's body after the frost demon was done with it, what did it say about her, as a person, that she could see the aftermath of something like that and still feel an attraction towards death? Or, indeed, that she still felt generally optimistic about things? People dying was supposed to make you feel bad, right?

So why, then, did she still feel good?

Tiferet's navel-gazing was interrupted as the path slowly transitioned from dirt to patchy cobblestone, gradually growing more cohesive as it approached Thorinn. At that, her thoughts turned towards the more immediate and practical problem: her clothes and makeup. People probably ain't gonna like someone wearin' a buncha skulls, with everything that's going on. Then again, the few people I've seen out here didn't really give much of a shit...

She hemmed and hawed for a bit longer before deciding to just get over it and go inside. If people didn't like her appearance that much, she'd change her clothes and do away with the makeup later. That settled, she resumed walking towards Thorinn. Maybe she could meet up with some of her party members, get caught up on what's been happening. For now, though, she just wanted to be back around people. She needed a distraction from herself.

---

The streets of Thorinn were, if anything, even more packed than usual. All the Wayfarers that had been near town were crammed into it, so many that the inns were beginning to overflow. Tif had to step over a spot someone had staked out more than once as she headed for the tavern that she was pretty sure everyone was still holed up in. The overall energy in the streets of Thorinn was a nervous one, with undertones of something bubbling under the surface, the latent frustration that came with having no answers, nowhere to go, and entirely too many people in the same place at the same time. Thorinn wasn't a very friendly place to be at the moment, but it was friendlier than the outside world.

As Tif passed the Wayfarer's Hall, she overheard a couple of players a bit down the street from her talking about a "skeleton lady". Tif smiled mischievously. This was bound to make her feel better.

Using the crowd to hide her approach, she maneuvered herself right behind one of her victims, a girl in a green cape, before speaking right in her ear. "I'm curious, what have people been sayin' about me? Nothing too damning, I hope~."

She had just enough time to have a good laugh at the girl's reaction before a very recognizable suit of armor clanked towards her. Tiferet turned towards her old party member with a grin, spreading her arms wide. "Tessa! Long time no see! How've y'all been?"

[Supermaxx]

_{:: Streets of Thorinn // Thorinn ::}

---

Graves stayed just a step behind Tessa as she diverged to interrogate a pair of players on if they'd seen Red pass by this way. The two of them were scrawny and small, and from what he was able to hear of their conversation before Tessa interrupted, they were introducing themselves to one another and making small-talk about a 'skeleton lady.' Didn't take a genius to know who they meant.

He didn't even try to keep his face from showing his exasperated irritation at this point. It'd been too long a week to even attempt it.

He didn't have time for any of this. Well, he did, but that was his problem: he didn't want to have time to stop for pleasant conversations, or to chase Rael down after she decided to run off into the sunset. He felt jittery, anxious. Like at any second another monster could fling itself out from around a corner and try to kill him, permanently. It'd been that way since he got out of the dungeon, and sitting around wasn't making it any better. He needed to do something.

Before either of the two could answer the inquiry, someone else piped up. Graves thought he was an NPC, at first. He was dressed up all nice n' tidy and his verbiage matched theirs to a T, yet his awkward delivery seemed all too human to Graves.

"Rude, huh? Sure sounds like Red."

Leaving aside how he felt about in-character types, he was genuinely glad to have a direction they could head in. "Yeah, that's great, Zero," he started as he turned to Verglas, slapping a hand down on the verbose player's shoulder and giving it a probably-too-tight squeeze. "Really 'ppreciate the help. I'm Graves, this is Tessa, I have no idea who these two are, and-"

In the time he'd taken to turn around and start talking to Zero, some, third person had managed to sneak into and insert themselves in the rapidly growing conversation. That would've been annoying if said third person was anyone else. "Tif?" He scoffed, more than a little surprised to see her appear from thin air. "'N here I thought you bailed on us. Whatta ya doin' here?"

[Stern Algorithm]

Eileen Fang // Ailanthus Altissima (Tessa)

_{:: The Streets of Thorinn // Thorinn ::}

@ComradeMaxx @Kuro @HokumPocus @Altered Tundra @Tojin

Tessa turned to face Verglas Zero. She stared at him for a moment expectantly, wearing a face of obvious impatience. "And?! Did you see what direction she went?" Tessa blurted. Simply informing her and Graves that he had bumped into Rael did little to help them find her, and his pleasantries only delayed things. But a familiar voice brought Tessa out of her grilling. She turned to see Tiferet, which brought a sense of joy and relief, though she tried her best not to let it show. "Tif! It's been a while. Is it easy re-specc'ing into necromancer?" she joked, somewhat callously, "You haven't seen Rael, have you? She got antsy and walked out on me and Graves. Party's small enough as it is, so I'm glad you're back."

Her gaze wandered to Alex and Eaudenil, and immediately flitted away; she no longer needed them to provide information, since Zero was now her lead, so she promptly ignored them and turned her attention back to Zero. "Well?"

[HokumPocus]

_{:: the streets of thorinn // thorinn ::}

---

Alex was at a loss for words at the small gathering that had formed around what had just been him and Eaudenil. When he came up with the design for his outfit, he had played it safe and just decided to model it off whatever the rich NPCs wore, with some adjustments here and there for comfort and utility. He didn´t know a lot about roleplaying or looking like a warrior, so he had just assumed that dressing well was just looking like you were loaded as opposed to strutting around in generic peasant clothes.

All it took was one look at the other, more confident players to prove him wrong. From the intricate and morbid outfit a player called Tif wore to the brutal armor of the one who had referred to her as such, Alex suddenly felt a whole lot smaller than before. Even Verglas, who was going for the same shtick as him, managed to overshadow Alex with the booming voice of someone you´d actually think was nobility. The outlier of the group had been Tessa, who made Alex think she was trapped in the wrong game. He was especially jealous of her though, as he felt she was in the same boat as him in terms of not caring about roleplaying, if her potty mouth was anything to go by.

“Can´t say I´ve seen anyone like that, sorry guys,” he said, cupping his chin in thought. It was awkward to be in the middle of a reunion full of people you didn´t know, so he had fallen back on mentally retracing his steps. "Wait..."

His eyes narrowed and looked at Eaudenil. “You were shoved to the ground right? Could it have been the chick they´re talking about?”

[Kuro]

_{City of Thorinn}

Daytime

---

^{City Streets}

It was as if someone left food out for a "swarm of ants". Eaudenil felt overwhelmed with each new wayfarer that popped out of the woodwork, especially in regards to the rather demanding woman. Even so, the green warden noticed that they, as well, seemed to have a common goal among each other, having something to do with this "red woman".

"If you're looking for who I think you are, then I have no idea where she could be." Eaudenil explained. It seemed the blonde man had a run-in with the redhead himself, too. "Given our, well, current situation, I was hoping to form a party—y'know, strength in numbers—though it wasn't long before I lost track of her." She continued, feeling that the woman would only grow more frustrated with them. Her reply, Eaudenil thought, didn't seem like it would satisfy the woman's aggressive demands. "I doubt she managed to get far, however."

Following the barechested man's introduction of himself and his friend, Eaudenil nodded in his direction. "Eaudenil, and this one is Alex." She replied, not expecting what would come next.

Unknowingly, the skeleton lady that Eaudenil had mentioned only moments earlier slithered her way beside the warden; her whispering carrying a sudden spookiness into Eaudenil's ear. The calm, collected front that Eaudenil had been putting on vanished rather instantly, with her leaping like a startled cat.

"Skeleton lady!" Eaudenil exclaimed, pointing a finger at the woman. If only for a second, Eaudenil shook in her boots before she realized just how awkward she had likely made everything to be. "E-Erm, apologies."

[mickilennial]

_{City Streets, Thorinn}

---

“Blah blah blah! I can’t even get some air without you chasing after me. You’re obsessed, tank-for-brains.”

Rael raised a brow as she tossed an apple in the air before catching it with her right hand before taking a loud, quick bite from the fruit’s flesh. The red-haired girl had stopped at the giant statue that served as the town square’s centerpiece, staring at it before she noticed a fruit stand that had caused her hunger to spike. By the time she was heading back toward the town square and toward the tavern she saw Graves and the rest of her group poking their noses around as if she abandoned them. The sentiment amused her, but it also annoyed her. It wasn’t like she told her group she was done with them.

She took another bite from the apple, commenting again with a mouthful of food.

“See ya found Tif...” She looked over toward the people she did not recognize. “...and some extras.”

As her friends moved to respond she contemplated a few thoughts. Was Graves trying to put together another dungeon group? Was he that much out of his head? or was this an attempt to replace the people who had left or died? Was he that scared he was jumping to “safety in numbers”? She shrugged off the thought—maybe she was just being paranoid herself. After all, everyone in the group had been confronted with something they weren’t prepared for. Maybe, having some new faces was a good idea? If it wasn’t, she could just scare them off by being a “bitch” as Graves had taken to calling her. Seemed like a good enough conclusion as any.

[Supermaxx]

_{:: Streets of Thorinn // Thorinn ::}

---

"Look who finally decided to show back up." Graves spun around on his heel, his annoyance plain to see. The last thing he'd been looking to do when he dragged his hungover ass out of bed was to stumble around the city streets, asking random strangers where one of his party members had run off to- it taking so long was just the shit icing on top of an already shitty cake.

He looked back at the motley crew they'd acquired by sheer coincidence, shrugging his shoulders at her 'some extras' comment. "Might be we can get some use outta them." He lowered his voice somewhat, glancing at the passersby as if they could be planning to steal his brilliant plan. "Tess n' I might'a come up with a way to feed ourselves 'till the game's fixed. Was mostly my idea, but she helped too. And before you so rudely decided to run off, we were 'bout to tell ya."

He'd been mulling it over since leaving the tavern, but the more he thought on it the more he realized Tessa was right. They'd been stuck in Pariah Online for over a week now without any word from the dev team. Whatever was going on in the real world, he couldn't guess, but he knew they couldn't keep to a holding pattern forever. Eventually their reward money from the first dungeon would run out, and they wouldn't have any means to sustain themselves. The whole...'risking going brain-dead thing' wasn't great, but starving to death in a video game sounded equally shit to him.

Graves spun around and began to speak louder, addressing the whole band of brigands. "How'd you all feel 'bout joinin' in on a business venture?"

[HokumPocus]

_{:: the streets of thorinn // thorinn ::}

---

The sudden question coming from the warrior sent a shockwave through Alex's body. Looking for people to band together with had been his number one priority up to this point, so he should have by all means felt relieved at having taken care of his most important dilemma. Instead, he only felt even more restless. Was this what his brother felt throughout his years of live action roleplaying and tabletop sessions? His breaths felt sharper and his mind felt clearer, like he was getting ready to take on something big. The road ahead would be dangerous and possibly fatal, but something about being surrounded by others who would lend him a helping hand made the idea seem a lot more doable.

He'd just have to keep those dark thoughts at bay and let his more impulsive side out. It's what got him this far, at least.

"Sure dude!"

Wait, would a guy like him take roleplaying seriously? He was talking pretty normally to his friends, so he was probably cool with it.

"I mean man. Sir?"

Alex's unleashed his signature idiotic grin, and then aimed it at Eaudenil. "You're gonna join too, right?" Despite only having met her for a brief moment, there was something about Eaudenil's hope and dedication towards embodying her character that he liked. It reminded him of his brother, in a way.