A group of adventurers was in the middle of a dungeon. They had spent around two hours getting to the lowest level. They were members of a famous guild called The Reavers. The group contained seven fighters, four paladins, six mages, six healers, and five monks. The group was close to the very end of the dungeon. One of the paladins, the guild's leader, told everyone the plan for dealing with the dungeon's boss. The fighters, paladins, and monks did most of the boss's damage. The mages were applying buffs and debuffs to the boss so the ones attacking could do more damage. And the healers were trying to heal any damage the fighters, paladins, and monks were sustaining. The boss was getting close to dying. The guild leader was screaming that they should keep focusing on trying to kill the boss. Because they were distracted, they didn’t see a figure coming towards the fray.
At first, the figure was in the shadows, so it was hard to see who it was. However, as the figure approached, they could see it was a human male. This person, who they assumed was another player, wore what looked like a jester outfit. The figure smiled while watching them fighting hard.
“Looks like you guys don’t need my help killing this thing. That’s good because it’ll make things easier for me.” The jester suddenly pulled out two long daggers from behind his back. In a flash, the boss was dead. And since he was the one who killed the boss, he would be able to reap the rewards.
“You motherf***er, you stole our kill.” Screamed the leader, whose real-life player was now red in the face. He commanded the remaining members to attack the jester. “Kill this a**hole!!” He rushed at the jester, who seemed unfazed by his insults.
“I was going to be nice and reward you, but since you insulted me, I'm gonna have to spank you.” The jester’s smile seemed sour into a grimace. Moving quickly, he was able to kill most of the guild members. Leaving the guild leader as the last surviving member. “I want you and others to know that you are not safe from people like me. I will make your life a living hell.” The jester moved closer towards the guild leader. Quickly cutting him down as he respawned in the central city.
He and the other members reported what had happened. And apparently, this jester had been appearing all over the world. Killing other players and stealing items from them. Or killing raid bosses by themselves. The admins were unsure how to handle this since the account seemed untraceable. So, they were unable to ban this player from the game. Some rumours started to surface that this person was a rogue employee trying to mess up the game. Or was some sort of troll that had no life and had been playing the game since the beginning. Nevertheless, something had to be done before it got out of control.
The jester, meanwhile, was relaxing in a forested area in Osna. Admiring the small amulet that was the reward for killing that raid boss. Enjoying the fruits of his labour and being so enamoured by the amulet, he didn’t notice something coming towards him. The approaching figure was a small boy who was wearing peasant clothing.
“Oh, you're here. What do you want?” The jester asked, not even looking at the boy. The boy, meanwhile, was pointing eastwards with a blank look at his face. “Ah, you want me to meet your boss? What the hell do they want now?” The jester looked quite annoyed while getting up from sitting underneath a tree. “Well, lead on.” Putting away the amulet while following the boy to wherever his boss was.
Elian sat at a table in Shebar's main guild hall, listening to the chatter around her with half a pointed ear. Most of the rest of her attention was firmly on those clustered around the notice board, though she spared a glance at the area chat every now and again. As a healer and support caster, she rarely lacked for people wanting to group up. It was just a matter of finding a good group. Her fans lay folded on the table in front of her, next to the mug of mulled cider she was nursing.
The most interesting recent rumor was about a human jester PvPing for no reason, kill-stealing bosses, and getting up to other poor-sport tricks. Word was, the admins couldn't trace the account, and so couldn't ban it.
Definitely someone to watch out for, Elian thought to herself. Every game had its trolls, and it seemed Tales of Endoroth was no exception.
Fortunately the community of ToE was, for the most part, a friendly one. She'd been playing since near the beginning and major issues like this were by no means common. The admins were attentive, interacting with the community and receptive to feedback. The game had become wildly popular, and had players all over the globe. Unfortunately, the larger the player base, the more likely it was that trolls would crop up.
Hopefully she wouldn't have to deal with this particular one.
"Yes, yes, I understand. I'll read some of the source material before the audition for added value. Yes, of course. Thank you, have a good night."
Robert ended the call with his manager as he leaned back into his chair.
An audition for a TV adaptation of a superhero comic book. It was nowhere near the most popular IP, but the franchise, in general, was pretty big, and thus, his manager was very enthused at the opportunity. Robert...didn't particularly care, if he were to be honest.
Nothing was wrong with the superhero genre, he kinda of liked it actually, but as far as movies went...well, it was entertaining, and thus as a piece of entertainment it did its job. Robert was not about to turn his nose down and went all 'what is this lowbrow garbage?'. It was more that as an actor, the way they went about writing the characters was not exactly his cup of tea. Rather than having a deep dive into the character in the source material and then constructing a live-action version that embodied what the character was supposed to be, only surface-level materials were used, with the personality of the character written more to just be the actor's personality or rather the actor's public persona.
In this case, some glamorous bad boy. Which explained why he was invited to the audition. That was the public persona he used. It was still a role, so he didn't mind as much at first, but after being typecast into these sorts of roles so much, it started to become boring as most roles felt the same. There were, of course, movies that were more...artistic in nature, but in the current status quo, they were either low-budget amateur films or big budget directed by big-shot directors who could afford to just shoot artistic movies based on their vision rather than chase trends.
Unfortunately for Robert, he was in the awkward position of not being low profile enough that his agency would allow him to star in a low-budget amateur production, but also not well known enough for these big-shot directors to consider for their artistic films.
Robert sighed. He supposed since he was the one who made the decision to give up on theatre to do movies, he didn't really get to complain since he did it knowing what it would entail. He certainly couldn't complain about the pay, especially compared to when he was doing theatre.
At least he still has ToE to get his acting fix. He thought as he picked up the VR equipment.
He put on the equipment while booting up the game program, along with some 3rd party voice change programs. It was a quasi-legal, in-the-gray-zone common program used by many players for various reasons...some for more nefarious purposes than others. For Robert, it was really nothing more than a program he needed to do what he wanted to do. He might be an actor and was even able to manipulate his voice, but there was a biological limit to what he could do. It was regrettable, but it was what it was. It was not as if he was out to lead anyone or to trick people.
After sending a message to his guild's group chat to see if anyone was free to farm some monsters, Robert closed his eyes as he started to get into character. The character of Claudia, whom he had created for the game. A scion of the Count's noble household descended from an angel before being forced to make a pact with an old god to save her people from an ancient dragon.
She was a woman of contradictions, caught between the purity of her celestial origins and the corruption of her dark pact. The actor let out a slow breath, his expression softening slightly as she imagined Claudia’s inner turmoil. To serve the old god was to betray her principles, to stand alongside monsters she once would have fought against. Yet, to refuse was to bring devastation upon her home, to see her people suffer the dragon's wrath.
His posture straightened, shoulders squared as he imagined the dignified countenance of a Countess who held the power to command the power of the heavens. Robert closed his eyes, imagining the sensation of divine energy coursing through him, filling him with a warmth that was both comforting and overwhelming. But this power, this gift, had not been enough to protect Claudia's people from the wrath of the Ancient Dragon. His expression darkened as he recalled the desperate pact Claudia had made with the old god Xal'Zagoth. He whispered the name to herself, feeling the weight of it on her tongue, a name that carried the stench of ancient evil and forgotten horrors. Claudia had entered the service of Xal'Zagoth, and in doing so, she had been thrust into the Ebon Covenant, a cabal of dangerous and malicious figures. The actor pictured the faces of his new companions—twisted, powerful, and untrustworthy. Yet, Claudia alone walked among them with the poise of a noble, the light of her celestial heritage now dimmed by the shadow of her unholy contract.
Finally, the actor opened his eyes, ready to step into the world of ToE as Claudia Solaria von Galatriel, to become the Countess who walked the line between light and dark, noble and damned, for the sake of a land that might never know the true cost of their salvation.
Taking a glance at the guild chat of Ebon Covenant Guild. It appeared that none of the members were free tonight.
Robert sighed, as he pushed back the persona of Claudia into the back of his mind. With no guildmates, that meant that full RP was not in the card tonight, meaning, that he should not 'fully become Claudia' but rather more of a character whose personality was based on Claudia but was still, ultimately, a player of ToE and not an actual denizens of it.
He supposed he might as well log in to the guild hall in Shebar and look for anyone who also planned to go to the same dungeon as he was. Since the material was only dropped by the boss, farming the material she was looking for required a party.
He activated the virtual dive system, and soon after, Robert found himself standing inside the guild hall in Shebar, in the form of his avatar, Claudia.
He hadn't been able to log in for a while due to a hectic shoot, so he looked forward to see if anything interesting had happened in his absence.
Jaiden had made it home in the afternoon, and absolutely grumbling too himself. He was drenched head to toe and his clothes felt ten pounds heavier on him. Especially as he had to drag in a bunch of different large boxes into the house, and down to his room. As the door opened there would be a faint chime of the security system:
"Front door open."
Only to wave off his dad down the hall, who had peeked in just to make sure there wasn't an intruder. Every time the security system let out that notification, there was a sense of tenseness to the house. The exception being if there was a prior text beforehand.
There was a severe thunderstorm going on outside, and once the door was closed it'd just barely drown out the noise. Moving the boxes to his room, and closing another door completely deafened it.
The boxes were new virtual reality gear for playing onlie MMO's, specifically T.O.E. on this one. There had been rumors, about some Jester going around PKing some high level players. It seemed a bit out of his own concern. He hadn't realized when joining T.O.E. that it had open PVP, or at least dungeons were an open PVP areas perhaps. He had always assumed it to be mainly PVE, with PVP challenge menus or some such. Still, the new VR gear should supposedly give him an 'edge', or an increasingly realistic feel which may be fun for roleplaying later. It was also considered the 'default' for new age MMOs like T.O.E., even though Jaiden made his controllers compatible with the software, it wasn't supposed to be 'ideal', especially from an immersion standpoint.
He'd slap on his headset and a pair of hand controllers. Opened up his chat overlay for app called 'Xhaos', and turned on a voice modulator before logging into T.O.E. He'd end up sick later, since he was still drenched in rain water but at least all of his stuff has long sense been waterproofed!
Goibniu would 'wake up' log on in his normal spot, near the Smithy of Shebar. It probably wasn't the only spot, but it was the main-hub in the artisan district of the city. Just around the corner would be a leather-worker's shop, or down the road a wood-carver, or even a tailor. It made it easier for crafting players to know where everything is, centralizing getting materials, or making things too. Unfortunately, materials from NPC vendors were highly expensive in comparison to their actual values. A design to motivate others to go off venturing into the world.
Goibniu, didn't have any request projects today. There was an in-game list to keep track of those. He also ran out of material, and didn't want to go off begging for more. Not to mention, he was less likely to get high end materials that way. That left one, 'ideal' option: Adventuring.
Jaiden, had briefly flicked open the 'party search' menu. But, thought it may break the 'roleplay' experience, which was part of the experimental fun. He ended up closing it, and had his character Goibniu head toward the Adventurer's guild. He would of course end up passing by other player guild halls along the way, especially the main guild halls.
"Looking for a healer, and preferably a tank! Looking to dungeon delve!" He did end up breaking character a bit anyways, by calling out along the way. Sounding more like a tired salesman shouting out a pitch. He'd also 'post' the message in the general chat of the area, so anyone could see and respond too it, versus just replying to the sound of his voice. The proximity sound function may limit people hearing him after all.
He'd make his way to the Adventurer's guild, looking for quests related to dungeon exploration. As a technically 'F' rank adventurer. He may have slim pickings if he was the leader of the party, but if someone else actually took up his offer... then maybe they could take on a higher level dungeon. As dungeon's, at least in most games were based on the average level of the party.
Goibniu was supposed to be desperate, so he'd party with just about anyone. Trusting them, might be another thing in theory.
Elian glanced again at the area chat. Oh hey, look at that. Some Goibniu_the_Waylander was looking for a healer and a tank. She grinned, downed the rest of her cider, and got to her feet, sweeping her fans off the table and into her hand as she did. She pinged Goibniu in the area chat with a reply:
Elian Zefra: Healer here. I'd love to go for a small-group dungeon. Any level up to A. I'm at the main guild hall. Come find me!
She was a B-rank adventurer, closing in on A rank, but helping people with lower levels was fine by her. Not every run needed to be a challenge. She didn't have long to wait, either. A voice saying the exact same thing as the post caught her ear. The source was sphynx -- a purchased skin for centaurs. Not many players went for centaurs, but there were some. Elian wondered how it would feel to have an extra pair of legs and how the VR interface handled the sensations just about every time she saw one.
"Oi! Goibniu, yeah?" she called, waving one hand to attract his attention. "I'm Elian. Let's find a tank and get rolling, shall we?"
It was a bit later than when he usually logged on, but Rathello's eyes opened inside the Guildhall Bedroom he had logged out of the day before. He wasn't the type of Roleplay player that liked to log off in the bedrooms to simulate sleeping, but it gave him a second to get used to his surroundings- he found it a lot easier to get adjusted to movement when he logged off while sitting. Very slowly lifting to his feet, Rathello slowly shifted his weight from one foot to the other, lifting the free foot off the ground before pacing a few times inside of the room. At this point, he didn't expect anything different, but it was more a peace of mind thing anyway.
With the certainty that his legs worked the way he wanted them to, Rathello confidently strode into the main room of the guild hall, idly checking his messages as he did. One of the guys he regularly partied with was in the middle of complaining to a group chat about getting PK'd by the 'Jester', it wasn't the first time Rath had heard about it, but it seemed the guy was striking at dungeon diving teams all over the place. Irritating, and time wasting, but not the end of the world, ultimately- and it sure wouldn't stop Rath from doing dungeon delving of his own. He was about due for a some material farming anyway, one of the Guild crafters he had added the other day had agreed to build him a new sword in return for some rare materials.
"I wonder how long it'll take me to- oh"
Rath didn't even have time to finish his sentence before he saw Goibniu's message pop up in the area chat. He was answered not long after by a healer, so Rath figured now was as good a time as any to chime in as well.
Rathello: I'm in. I can tank, already at the guild hall.
Pausing to switch his interface to display player names, it took only a few moments for Rathello to spot the others- the fact that one was a centaur made it easy to catch the eye. He'd seen a few players like that, but couldn't really see the appeal, though maybe he was biased towards liking a pair of legs. The big firbolg walked over to the pair already in the middle of introductions.
"Yo!" The big man called out cheerily, "Looking for a tank, right? Rath, good to meet ya." He gave Elian a short nod as well. "Heya El, been a while huh? Haven't seen ya since that field boss in Ebrax."
"Looking for a healer, and preferably a tank! Looking to dungeon delve!"
Claudia saw a party recruitment popped up in the global chat of the area.
He's neither a healer, well not primarily a healer, nor a tank, but since he WAS looking for a party, he might as well ask.
Claudia briefly scanned the room to look for the player with the handle of 'Goibniu', before eventually finding the centaur. It appeared that some players had approached him already. He recognized one of them, being known in the community as a reliable but rather 'firebrand' healer, though the two of them never ended up partying together.
He sent a message to the general chat.
Claudia Solaria von Galatriel: Oh, the timing is quite serendipitous, I am looking for a party. I will make my way there posthaste."
It was, of course, written in character for Claudia. While he did not intend to go full roleplay as in pretending he was a denizen of the game, that was the extent he would compromise. His mannerisms, way of speaking, and so on will be Claudia's.
Making his way toward the three, Claudia introduced himself, "Goibniu, I presume? My name is Claudia. I am not a dedicated healer or tank, though I can somewhat heal adequately. I am rather good at dealing with damage, however."
Turning to the rest, he added, "If it is all right with all of you, I would like to join the party. Oh, and...if it is not too much trouble if you do not have a specific dungeon in mind, might I suggest that forest area in Osna? I am looking for a material dropped by the boss of that dungeon."
As the players started meeting and gathering at a party, someone watched them afar. As they got inside the adventurer’s guild, they could see other players preparing for other quests as they came towards the board of the various F,E and C rank quests they could take. Most of them were pretty minimal and didn’t seem to be quite interesting. However, there was one quest that would catch their eye. This quest was to grab an artifact from a temple in Ocren. This artifact could be used to craft items that could be used or sold in the auction house. While they were looking at what quests were on offer, they were interrupted by someone wanting to contact them in chat.
“Hi, are you guys looking for another party member? I’m a Death Knight who could help deal with any bosses we encounter.” the player said in the chat. The Death Knight player waited for the others to accept or decline his offer of services. Another player, a ranger, pinged the group in the chat.
“Are you looking for a ranger? I can help you guys with the traps I heard were inside the temples.” The ranger wrote in the chat. There seemed to be a lot of interest in joining the group. Whether they picked up another player was up to them.
When they did make up their minds, they made their way out of the main city and towards the docks. They would need to take a boat to the main city of Mogora. There, they would need to travel via horseback to the temple. The ride itself was pretty uneventful. Although it would be the perfect time for the players in the group to get to know each other better.
As they approached the temple, they saw that it was incredibly huge. Someone with a keen eye would admire the craftsmanship involved in making the temple. Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched by someone. When they entered the temple, they would be in a massive room with two statues at each end of the room. A doorway leading to a long hallway was at the end of the room. In the hallway, there were many doors leading to various rooms. Although each room had the possibility of being booby-trapped. As well as enemies hiding somewhere in the temple, waiting for the right time to attack.
Elian Zefra: Healer here. I'd love to go for a small-group dungeon. Any level up to A. I'm at the main guild hall. Come find me!
Rathello: I'm in. I can tank, already at the guild hall.
Claudia Solaria von Galatriel: Oh, the timing is quite serendipitous, I am looking for a party. I will make my way there posthaste.
Goibniu was honestly surprised by how quickly he would end up getting responses. Probably because 'Jaiden' the player was used to playing a few older MMOs with a lot less populace and activity. He hadn't expected things to fill up so soon, that he would basically end up with a whole party in seconds, practically! He would quickly start putting together a 'group chat', and labeled it simply 'Dungeon Delving'. He'd invite the first handful, rather the first three who had replied too him.
Group chats, weren't quite the same as a 'team' chat. Simply in that, one didn't need to be in a team to join one. People who were invited to a group chat, could also invite other persons to join even without a party leader's permission technically and once a team was disbanded, the group chat would still exist and function by messaging all members linked too it.
Goibniu_The_Waylander, would be the player name floating above the player looking for a group. Those who would approach would see a large sphynx avatar. Sphynx's were a purchasable skin for centaur races, which replaced the lower horse body instead with a lion one. The top half of the body was that of a human man with a dark complexion, and thick black wick dreads going to the back of his neck. His general frame was somewhere around middle 8ft to lower 9ft tall or so, and generally 'bulky'. He could possibly be confused for barbarian give the hefty and strong looking frame.
Although his clothes and equipment including a smith's apron, a cog looking broach, and some form of metallic esoteric dial on his waist would likely denote him toward a crafter focus, and likely a magic class.
It may be noticeable, that the avatar's expression remained generally neutral. It didn't seem to have the 'face rigging' set up like most VR immersive characters. Either that, or the player didn't express a lot of emotion in general.
Goibniu's mic, would shift over to the group chat so only those directly invited could hear him. It seemed polite, to not continuously drone out in general chat and flood it as much. It would probably be uncanny for some to see his lips move, but no sound come out at all during the in game group chat though.
"Oi! Goibniu, yeah?" she called, waving one hand to attract his attention. "I'm Elian. Let's find a tank and get rolling, shall we?"
"Yeah, that's me. Once we get a tank, should look at the boards for a mine or cavern. Hoping to pick some metals up." Goibniu would pause, and clear his throat.
"-And don't get in the way of it. Not entirely sure about the adventuring type yet, rather being out with them myself. But whatever gets me closer to studying artifacts." This line would be cut off with a small snicker, and a mutter of: "I hope that was good-" Which probably wasn't meant to be picked up over the mike. As Jaiden was trying to play into character, and wasn't the best at it.
"Yo!" The big man called out cheerily, "Looking for a tank, right? Rath, good to meet ya."
"Yeah, nice to meet you too!" "Er... yeah, welcome to the group. Let's try not to get ourselves killed at there." Goibniu's voice would try to maintain the gruff, and somewhat serious tone too it. Although he clearly slipped up at the greeting, as even with a voice modulator it sounded rather upbeat in the bass voice tone. Goibniu would take a moment to look over Rath as they joined the group. He was fairly certain that Rathello was some form of Barbarian, but they wouldn't know until they officially sent requests to join a party/team. Still given the equipment on the two. Higher level dungeons, definitely seemed like an option with the growing party average. Better than being stuck with F rank at least.
Reading over Claudia's message, definitely brought to mind someone who was in character deeply so. Goibniu's player couldn't live up to match that, or at least wouldn't take the time to be so eloquent on the matter. But, it did make him feel slightly more comfortable to keep trying the 'roleplay' aspect out. It was still rather, left field for him.
Goibniu would look Claudia up and down. It seemed pretty clear that they were a human paladin by the armor, and by the mentioning their a split between a healer and a tank. Leading toward Goibniu, overacting and letting out a 'tch' noise similar to a click of the tongue. He had the avatar use an 'emote' option, which lead to a very drastic head tilt and exaggerated scowl. Before the expression would snap right back to neutral.
Goibniu, I presume? My name is Claudia. I am not a dedicated healer or tank, though I can somewhat heal adequately. I am rather good at dealing with damage, however."
"Your guess is correct." "Seeing as you tank hits and heal, you'll be able to save yourself in a pinch I supposed. And frankly, the more healing the better. As long you don't plan to deal damage on us." Goibniu would start, before immediately turning it toward a bit of over-correction: "Sorry if that's a bit too harsh, I can tone it down a notch."
"A material you say? While forests are more the area of Elves and woodworkers. The recommendation, is... grateful. Depending on the material type, may be eager to pursue it. If it was a land abandoned by dwarves or grand metalworkers my interest will be greatly inclined. Then again there is a certain elf I need an eye out for..."
"The one with the most experience should likely take the helm as lead. Unfortunately, that wouldn't happen to myself, for now. But should there be any tools or features of engineering, I hold no illusions that I won't pursue it first." It was also an excuse, just to make sure that if the dungeons were locked by the leader's level... that he wouldn't have to worry about it. Otherwise he'd end up stuck with Rank F dungeons, with clearly a bunch of higher level players. He didn't know how much higher in rank yet, but definitely more than him at the bottom of the rung!
"Perhaps a Rank C area or quest, to know each other's... skill sets." He would recommend as a general middle ground. He probably wouldn't die instantly to Rank C level threats. Maybe close to it though.
Goibniu would look at the Death Knight. Death knight's were generally a mix of tank & dps, mostly through debilitating a target in other games. Poisons, lifesap, summoning undead pets in certain games.
While Rangers, were usually primarily DPS, & maybe Support roles. Though, he couldn't guarantee the classes function the same. Since it was different games. Seeing as they could help with traps... and honestly, Goibniu would enjoy trap collection or breaking down more components he'd lean toward Ranger personally. So far the group had a dedicated tank, a dedicate healer, a hybrid tank/healer, but no real confirmed strict DPS. Goibniu didn't count himself yet, since he was very new to actual adventuring.
"I'm leaning taking the ranger along, though we could ask for both if you're down. But I think we were aiming for a smaller group or so?" He'd say in the group chat, which meant only the group could hear and thusly choose on the matter. Or whomever stepped up to to be party leader could pick should they take the immediate initiative.
Either way, once the party was officially formed by sending around the 'join party' request. It'd probably be fairly clear that Goibniu_The_Waylander, was a low level artificer who was only a handful of levels into his adventuring class, roughly around level 5, still in Rank 'F' territory. As most of the levels could be found in the tutorial intro. Which definitely would make it dangerous to choose higher rank dungeons. He wouldn't stop the rest of the group if they stuck to the high level temple of Ocren. An ancient artifact was too much to turn down if he could get his hands on it. Not to mention the wondrous or at least higher level crafting materials involved! But, it would become immediately clear that he was sticking to Elian's side like he was glued to it! Probably, to not die.
Elian quickly joined the group chat. She couldn't hide a grin at Goibniu's efforts to stay in character. He played gruff, but he was definitely eager. "Ooh, you squishy," she said, once she saw his rank and level. "I can help a little with that -- got a nice buff that grants HP based on my level, but we probably shouldn't go above rank C for questing."
When Rathello turned up, Elian brightened. It was always good to have friends along. "Hey, you big blue bastard! How the hell are ya?!" she said. "I can vouch for this guy, he's a good tank. Knows what he's doing, and stays where I can heal him," she added for Goibniu's benefit.
Claudia was an interesting one. She seemed to be keeping in character too. "Ocren is fine by me. I go where the wind takes me, so I'm up for just about anything," Elian said. "We should keep in mind that Goibniu is super squishy, though. A stiff wind will kill him right now. We need somewhere he won't die to a stray hit. I can't work miracles."
Two others asked to join their party, a ranger and a death knight. "I'm good with taking both along. Six is a good party size," she said in group chat.
------
It was by boat to Mogora, then on horseback to the temple. Elian chatted cheerfully with her fellow partymates along the way, eager to get to know them better. She also hit Goibniu (and the rest of the party) with a preemptive buff to HP. "Just so you don't keel over and die," she told the sphynx with a grin. "It lasts a couple hours, so I'll recast it once we get closer to the temple."
When they reached their destination, Elian tied her horse to a tree, and marked the location for teleport in case of death. Not that she expected to die -- this should be smooth sailing for their current party composition! But it was an ingrained habit, so she did it.
"Alright, gather round. Let's get our long-lasting buffs up, and then head in!"
"Your guess is correct." "Seeing as you tank hits and heal, you'll be able to save yourself in a pinch I supposed. And frankly, the more healing the better. As long you don't plan to deal damage on us." Goibniu would start, before immediately turning it toward a bit of over-correction: "Sorry if that's a bit too harsh, I can tone it down a notch."
Recognising that Goibnu too, was attempting to roleplay, Claudia smiled, in an attempt to reassure him, "No, no, it is quite all right. That was a fair assessment. Though I have to say while I could, technically, 'tank' I am not exactly exceptional at it—"
Paladin could tank, but the way his character was built the Paladin class was more to boost damage and some utility. Though the Aura was a good defensive skill to prevent status ailments.
Turning to Rathello, he added, "—so it is fortunate that we have this gentleman here to do that duty for us."
Claudia was an interesting one. She seemed to be keeping in character too. "Ocren is fine by me. I go where the wind takes me, so I'm up for just about anything," Elian said. "We should keep in mind that Goibniu is super squishy, though. A stiff wind will kill him right now. We need somewhere he won't die to a stray hit. I can't work miracles."
Two others asked to join their party, a ranger and a death knight. "I'm good with taking both along. Six is a good party size," she said in group chat.
Claudia nodded, "Hmm...yes, now that I take a proper look at Goibniu, it appears that he is still rather new to this, er...no offence intended. While my original intention was to gather material, I am fine with Ocren, it seems to be an intriguing quest. Oh, and I am also in favour of taking both, but no more though. Six is about the ideal number for a party.
His main goal here is to roleplay, in any case, and with Goibnu seemingly also trying to stay in character, he should be able to get a bit of an RP session in, more than he thought he would be able to with a random party, anyway. So he would be fine reneging on his plan to farm.
With the party agreeing on a quest, they travelled to Ocren, where they reached their destination, the temple where the artefact they need to recover was.
As usual, when arriving at a dungeon, Claudia automatically started casting buffs from his Divine Soul Sorcerer spell list that he had access to.
One, in particular, the Aura of Righteousness buff from his passive skill would appear on everyone's HUD now that they officially formed a party. It was a passive skill granted to the Paladin class granting resistance to status effect based on the Paladin Charisma stat. Based on the resistance granted, it was clear that Claudia was built with most of the points put to Charisma.
Finally, he activated the Angelic Form ability, as a pair of angel wings sprouted from his avatar's back, while a radiant halo manifested above his head.
Rath chuckled cheerily as more offered to join the party. Frankly he was a bit surprised they'd rounded out their number so quickly, but Shehar was a pretty busy area, so perhaps it shouldn't have been too surprising. With Elian along, Rath felt fairly confident he could tank just about anything that was thrown at them fairly easily enough, especially if they were looking at Rank C dungeons. Rath was already well and used to participating in high level raids, so this oughta be a walk in the park.
"The more the merrier I say, we'll clear rooms faster with more DPS." Rath remarked as he looked over their growing group. They had Tanking and healing with himself and Elian, a mixed smattering of DPS between the paladin, death knight and ranger, and then they had their artificer- who perhaps was not cut out for higher level dungeons, but they had enough around to carry him.
Outside the dungeon, Rath did much the same as Elian, tied up his horse and set a teleportation marker- he'd have to buy some more teleport crystals soon, he had just the one left and wasn't capable of casting the spell himself. Rath twiddled his thumbs idly as they party began casting their party wide buffs, sizing up the entrance to the dungeon itself. "Sorry, don't have much in the way of party buffs." Rath chuckled, "Mostly just personal buffs- and anything I could cast, Elian does better anyway."
"Some ground rules- since most of us haven't worked together yet. I'm always the first through any door, in case of traps or ambushes. Unless you're able to finish them on your own, don't fight enemies I haven't aggro'd. Rath rattled off like a football coach. "That means don't run off on your own and expect the rest of us to come to your rescue when you get into trouble. We'll go slow through the first few rooms to see how quickly we can clear, if I think we're up to it, I'll pull more and faster." He figured most of the people here knew the basics of dungeon running, perhaps aside from their artificer, but it always helped to keep the basics in mind. He glanced at Elian, "If somehow we get into a situation where we need to choose one person or the other to survive, we obviously keep the healer alive. Uhh... I think that's about it. Anything to add El?"
Before the group entered the temple, the death knight summoned some undead companions to help with combat. He also cast some buffs for himself and the other party members. Meanwhile, the ranger cast some spells to help see nearby traps. As they entered the temple, their smell was filled with the stench of death. The main entrance room had two giant statues and many glass-stained windows depicting various saints. With the only door at the end of the room, it would be the only place they could go through. There were few noises except for the sound of water dripping somewhere.
A hallway met them with three doors as they went through the door. One of the doors led into the dorm rooms for the former inhabitants. The second door led toward the courtyard and garden. The third door led to a long flight of stairs. They could take the time to search each door or to split up and search every nook and cranny. While in the temple, the ranger was checking for any bobby traps. He noticed nothing but told the group to be on their toes. Meanwhile, The death knight had his eyes peeled for enemies hiding in the shadows. They still needed to plan which room they wanted to tackle first.
“Which door should we go through first?” The dark knight asked after a long silence. The ranger looked around, thinking they might go down door number three.
“Since there are six of us, maybe we should split into pairs and explore whatever is behind those doors." the ranger suggested, arms folded.
The Dark Knight shook his head, thinking splitting up would be wrong. “I think we should stick together. We don’t know what kind of monsters are hiding here. " He responded with a grimace behind his helmet.
Elian Zefra: "Ooh, you squishy,"..... "I can help a little with that -- got a nice buff that grants HP based on my level, but we probably shouldn't go above rank C for questing."..... "We should keep in mind that Goibniu is super squishy, though. A stiff wind will kill him right now. We need somewhere he won't die to a stray hit. I can't work miracles."
The player was briefly given pause as to how exactly Goibniu should respond to a couple comments. Specifically on being called 'squishy'. Out of character he knew that it was a reference to his low defense and low health points (HP) from being low level, and a non-tank class. But, he wasn't entirely sure how to take as the Artificier Adventurer, especially when supposedly from a different country. It took him a moment longer than he wished to respond.
"I'd, rather not my weight not be brought into the matter of this venture. It is rather, embarrassing I think is the right word?" Goibniu would clear his throat."Oh! You were referring to my durability, while putting it that way is,... strange. I unfortunately accept that my constitution will not match the, strength of some others."
, Claudia: "No, no, it is quite all right. That was a fair assessment. Though I have to say while I could, technically, 'tank' I am not exactly exceptional at it—" "—so it is fortunate that we have this gentleman here to do that duty for us."
"Understandable, none the less the versatility should be beneficial to us. Especially should we find ourselves in an unfortunate circumstance. Dungeons, I hear can always be quite dangerous locales. All to even with the rewards that lie within." Goibniu would reply.
"Should grace be upon us neither you, nor Rathello will fall upon us. Even greater that none should do so."
Claudia nodded, "Hmm...yes, now that I take a proper look at Goibniu, it appears that he is still rather new to this, er...no offence intended.
"None taken." Goibniu would wave his left hand dismissively.
Temple of Ocren
Rath rattled off like a football coach..
Goibniu had been listening to the Rath's little speech about going into the temple. The Artificer would nod along although let out a quiet irritated huff. It was good that at least the party seemed comfortable with communication! It would help a lot with any upcoming encounters. He would stay quiet until it was clear that Rath's speech was concluded.
"Understood." "I would just like to add, should you find any traps mechanical in nature. Would you allow me to inspect them first? I expect the ranger among us to detect some, if not most before they're activated. In a sense it should be mentioned that I have an interest in studying devices, or matters of the natural philosophies. Eer.., I believe the modern way of saying it would be I like to 'research' the 'sciences' whenever possible."
Goibniu would shiver as the Death Knight summoned forth undead companions. The character would rub at his arms, motioning a slight discomfort with suddenly the dead rise to be used as combatants. But he wouldn't say anything aloud on the matter. It did help to know that the Death Knight focused on the 'pet' aspect of the class. The player was betting they were focused more on crowd control from the extra buffs added to the group.
Goibniu, following the example of the Death Knight would summon his own 'pet' companion of sorts. He'd reach his left hand over to the dial at his waist. He'd spin the dial back and forth with an index finger a couple times, seemingly spinning an 'inner' ring clockwise and the outer ring of the dial counter-clockwise. Leading to a brief spark popping out from the ancient device! An animation would play, as three ethereal 'cogs' would form in front Goibniu in a pillar. One would stay on the floor, another would rise to midheight, while the third would rise up to roughly chest level. Before a automaton creature would appear among the summon animation! The cogs disappearing soon after.
The automaton creature vaguely resembles a humanoid made out of brass from the waist up. Its general frame appears similar to a slim vase, with a tapered neck, and a half sphere at the top for the ‘head’. At the base of the conjured creature is a large cog that spins clockwise. This ‘cog’ base seems to apply a levitation force against the ground through unknown means. The lower half of its ‘torso’ resembles a massive compressed steel spring. It has two thin arms that resemble solid levers with prong like claws on their ends.
On the automaton’s abdomen is a massive ‘slot’, that seems to be missing some form of gear. On either pec of its chest are two concave spherical slots as well. The head of creature has ‘eyes’ formed from horizontal shaped slits. On either said of the head or small protrusions vaguely resembling the ends of a horn.
Goibniu would do his best to stay in the 'center' of the party's entry into the temple. Or at least the third or fourth to enter. He was a caught up in the artistry & architecture of the building itself, rather than expected immediate danger as of yet. The mosaics of saints were rather beautiful, and oddly intact similar to the statues. Perhaps the place wasn't as ancient as vaguely expected. Besides, that's why Rathello was entering first in front of everyone else.
"Personally, I don't quite agree with the idea of splitting up quite yet. Perhaps because I am a novice, but there's no presentation of urgency yet." "The dorms may contain journals, or other information related to the persons who live, or.. once inhabited this temple. It may be helpful. I doubt we'll simply find a map there, but, they may have left something useful, or perhaps what their ideological pursuits were here."
"Mayhaps, I thinking about it to relaxed, but as my first venture. Being thorough of the experience to inspect all that we can, would be appreciated. I will understand if there is a reason opposed."
Current Effects: HP Boost Unk Buff from Death Knight Automaton Active
She also hit Goibniu (and the rest of the party) with a preemptive buff to HP. "Just so you don't keel over and die,"
Death Knight:He also cast some buffs for himself and the other party members
Elian nodded along to Rath's tactical summary. "I think you hit all the bases," she said in reply to his question. "The only thing I can think to add is that I have a range of about 60 feet for most of my healing spells. If you want to get healed, you damn well better be in range -- and where I can see you!" She smiled to counter the bite of her statement.
The question of which door to take was an interesting one, but when the ranger suggested splitting up Elian immediately made an X with her fans. "Bzzt, wrong answer! You have one healer and one tank. Splitting up would be unwise. We're a party not a raid group. We don't have the support for multiple teams. Nice and steady will get us through in one piece.
"Personally, I think we should start with the doors on this floor first -- maybe the living quarters first, like Goibniu suggested, then the garden? Once we've cleared the bottom floor then we'll work our way up. It won't do to have enemies flanking us from behind."
"Understood." "I would just like to add, should you find any traps mechanical in nature. Would you allow me to inspect them first? I expect the ranger among us to detect some, if not most before they're activated. In a sense it should be mentioned that I have an interest in studying devices, or matters of the natural philosophies. Eer.., I believe the modern way of saying it would be I like to 'research' the 'sciences' whenever possible."
"Certainly. Far be it for me to deprive you of the chance to further your studies and perfect your art."
Claudia frowned as she saw the Death Knight raising up the dead as his allies. As Robert, he would absolutely have 0 problem with it, for one, it was a game, second, he actually liked playing summoners from time to time, and he definitely had a great time playing a necromancer in another game.
But he was not Robert Holden at this moment. He was Claudia, the fallen paladin, who had to harden her heart to do evil deeds in exchange for saving her fief and its people. But even while doing the bidding of an old god, her distaste of evil, in this particular moment, necromancy, that disturbed the spirit of the dead, remained. And so, without prompting, acting the role of Claudia, Robert's face scrunched up, the distaste clear in his face.
Then a moment later, he schooled his expression, turning it to a neutral one.
For the character Claudia Solaria von Gatriel knew that distaste at such a notion for the current her was nothing but hypocrisy. After all, she had perpetrated far greater evil for the old go, saying nothing of the evil those in her guild perpetrated, some of which was only possible with her assistance.
Robert then turned his attention to the Automaton summoned by Goibnu. In a reverse of the previous summon, Robert did not really care for automatons and artificers in a fantasy setting, to him, it ruined the 'ambience'. But Claudia was different she appreciated artificers and what they brought, their inventions allowing even those who lacked magic to have a semblance of what magic users might do, a way to better their lives. In particular, the automaton was something she saw great promise in. If in the future automaton army would became the norm, that would lesser lives would be lost, for the human soldiers would be replaced by constructs such as automatons.
And so, Claudia let out a small smile, before giving a nod of appreciation.
As the discussion turned to a matter of splitting up the party, Claudia spoke in agreement to Elian, "Indeed. There is an old adage that I think would apply here, never split the party. I also agree that we should take our time and make sure we've explored this floor in full. There might be worthwhile treasures or such."
"Like I said, if you want to run off on your own, don't blame me for what happens." Rathello remarked. If he was peeved with the lack of attention paid to his very simple rules, he didn't show it. To be fair, this was a lower level dungeon, so perhaps he shouldn't have been too worried, but a history of dying party members never looked good on a solo player's resume, so Rathello liked to keep risks to a minimum.
Luckily Elian had his back, as did Claudia, so he didn't have to worry too much. Goibniu, their defacto leader- as he was the one who had put the party together in the first place suggested that they go through the dorms first, and Elian suggested that they clear the first floor first anyway, which Rathello concurred with.
"Dorms it is then." Rathello nodded in agreement as they approached the first door. Nothing had sprung out at them yet, but this was a dungeon, so Rathello didn't expect it would stay that way for long. He glanced back at the others to make sure they were ready, before he placed his foot on the door to the dorms.
"Knock, knock." Rathello chuckled as his foot kicked the door down, his bulky form quickly stepping through the doorway so the rest of the party could filter in behind and around him.
The ranger looked quite annoyed that his suggestion was being disregarded. The dark knight, meanwhile, nodded his head, thinking it would be a good idea for them to stick together. When the group finally figured out where to go, they slowly entered the courtyard. The courtyard was quite vast and filled with various trees and flowers. The garden was very well maintained even though no one lived there. “Well, once I disable them, you are more than welcome to study them.” The ranger commented, still looking quite annoyed. The courtyard itself was eerily quiet, adding to the rather creepy atmosphere of the place.
The ranger was leading in case traps were inside the courtyard or dormitories. The dormitories were extraordinarily dusty and looked quite different from the courtyards. Both the ranger and death knight had a bad feeling about the place. The ranger was crouching and using his class ability to see if there were any traps. He noticed a couple of traps, which seemed strange to be placed in a dormitory. “Stay back so I can try to disarm these traps. Just watch my back.” The ranger said, slowly starting to disarm the traps. Meanwhile, The death knight looked around, ensuring they would not get ambushed. His undead minions would work around the group to ensure no one would try to attack them.
The ranger finished disarming the traps and looked over towards Goibniu. “You can look at them if you like; just be careful." He said, finding it strange that the centaur would like to examine some traps.
“Good. Now, we can explore the area for anything of interest.” The dark knight carefully moved deeper into the room. As he walked further into the room, he noticed something quite strange. Skeletons were lying in the beds of the dormitory. The devs could have placed them there, but he felt bad seeing them. “I got a bad feeling about this. Be on your guard.” The dark knight said, rubbing the back of his head.
As soon as he said that, the skeletons started to get out of bed, picking up the spears lying beside them on the bed. The group would need to spring into action and protect themselves from the skeletons.
Goibniu would make sure to stick strictly within Elian's 60ft healing range. The dungeon was still a Rank C Dungeon or so. While it seemed safer than earlier options, there was no reason to run about yet. Monsters or traps here would likely take a decent chunk of the squishy artificer. Not that he particularly looked to be harmed by either.
Claudia: "Certainly. Far be it for me to deprive you of the chance to further your studies and perfect your art."
"Thank you. A lot of the studies of the natural philosophies are often based or expanded on by things we already have discovered, but haven't understood. There many ancient tools and techniques that have been lost to the ages of well. Some from lack of creativity in their applications... others, unfortunately, from ruin." Goibniu's face would emote into a rather angered snarl at the thought. "But during this Age of Enlightenment, there should be plenty to discover & return to that knowledge to the current age. Did you know there are apparently methods to catch lightning, literally into a bottle? Some of which we're re-learning" He may been played a bit more 'excited' here rather than 'gruff', but it seemed a fair mix. Especially given the artificier's interests.
In comparison Jaiden as a player was quite immersed. Especially playing during the current time period inside of a fantasy setting. The game was based off the end of the 18th century or so, and it was downright fascinating that engines were being reinvented, again. In fact, he was rather shocked that the idea of the steam engine had been founded extremely long ago. He couldn't really think of a lot fantasy games that had excluding the element of technology. As a lot had some form of ancient tech, or advanced civilizations, that had created fantastic machinery, or magic-tech.
"Looks like we're agreed then, let's clear the place out steadily. Who knows what interesting things can be found or gained from it?." Goibniu was glad everyone was on board with carefully exploring the place. He hardly saw himself as the leader of this group, but was glad that splitting up front it was turned for now. It made things feel, safer.
Rathello:"Knock, knock." Rathello chuckled as his foot kicked the door down, his bulky form quickly stepping through the doorway so the rest of the party could filter in behind and around him.
It would be a moment, but Goibniu would stare at Rathello as they kicked the door down. In truth, this was more Jaiden observing the physics engine in action, how accurate it is, whether or not Rathello's avatars foot had fully reached the door when it opened, the hit box for such, etc. Just seeing how interactive this Virtual Reality MMO was, and how to 'scale' it was among other things.
Ranger: “Well, once I disable them, you are more than welcome to study them.”
"That would be appreciated." Goibniu had some skill when it came to tinkering with traps, however he did not have a ranger's perception on spotting per say. Which if he wasn't careful he could trigger and be a harmed by a trap just as easily as anyone else. Still, he may approach them for studies, scraps... or just generally messing with them.
Once the ranger had pointed at the traps. Goibniu would move a bit closer to them, eager to inspect them! He didn't get close enough as to be in the Ranger's way, or to trigger them but still seemed rather pressed to check them out.
Ranger:“You can look at them if you like; just be careful."
Once the ranger gave the go ahead, Goibniu would be immediately upon the traps! Practically lying down to inspect over the matters, as tinkering tools such as calipers & a classic screwdriver were in his hands. Goibniu himself would see various pieces of the trap highlighted and defined on his HUD, along with what he could do with them, or to collect them as scrap. Due to his Gear Head skill (Tinkering).
Death Knight: “I got a bad feeling about this. Be on your guard.”
Goibniu, as a character would be far too fascinated by the traps to take actions against the monsters immediately. It was a character flaw, that was supposed to be played up after all. Besides, Rathello was supposed to draw aggro and Goibniu attacking first would making things difficult for everybody. He could use his pet automaton, but it was best to hold off a breath and join in after the enemy aggro was attracted.
"Defend me." He commanded, and the automaton would obey. It would move to cover Goibniu's back, and would only retaliate against aggressive enemies that either tried to attack Goibniu or itself. Essentially a small damage sponge if needed.
In the mean time, Goibniu would hasten his studies of the traps. Basically turning one entirely into scrap for later use, whilst he studied and would slightly modify the other. His goal to turn the other one into a simple 'press trigger' trap as a set up. So that it could hit or harm a a creature behind him, instead himself. Of course this would take some time, and the trap would need to be 'reactivated' once done.
Current Effects: HP Boost Unk Buff from Death Knight Automaton Active: Defending
Elian stayed toward the back as the party entered the dorms area. The sight of skeletons in beds immediately set off her danger sense -- and it seemed the death knight agreed with her, warning everyone to be on guard. And they were right to be concerned, for the skeletons rose from the beds, grabbing nearby spears and threatening the party!
"Alright, here we go!" Elian called. "It's skeletons, so that means bludgeoning damage will be most effective." She whirled her fans in a circle, casting haste on the party, then protection from evil, and following that up with heroism for Rathello to boost his resistance to any diseases the skeletons might be carrying.
With her initial bases covered, she then cast a spell for boosting mana regeneration on herself. "If anyone else needs some extra mana, let me know," Elian said. She kept a close eye on the party's health bars at the edge of her HUD, particularly Rath's, so she'd know when to heal the tank.
