Freyd

"AHAHAH!", she cackled, breaking for the outskirts. "Works every time!" As a distraction? It never worked. As a means of bleeding away tension and replacing it with capricious joy, it did, indeed, work every time. Even in a calmer state, Elora's nature was always in motion. Where she'd started the day in a coruscating tempest of self loathing, this was an outpouring of her purer, happier nature. Watching her bound beneath the boughs, crippling weight relieved and replaced by bubbly ebullience reminded him of their earliest forays. Could I ever have imagined that racing a wildl

"You're better suited to the guy firing the flare gun into the compressed air canister in Jaws' maw. Let me play the part of bait on this one, for old time's sake." Ushering the group towards Fortaleza's crumbling gates, Freyd ensured his weapon was loose in its sheath and at the ready, surveying the landscape and terrain as one might a battlefield at dawn. Dust and tumbleweeds moved like ephemeral currents of distant memory, or the promise of impending violence. Such was the nature of Floor 5, trapped beneath the scorching scourge of an oppressive sun's heat where peace and beauty alike w

"You've got this," Freyd whispered to Ty in passing, his features illuminated from the orb resting in his hands. It looked weird to see the tank in his heavy armor gingerly walking around in the dark, taking baby steps to keep their passage to Koko's halting pace. The poor girl looked weak and tired, clinging to Freyd's arm like a literal lifeline. Progress towards the exit was slow, but steady. Ominous sounds of shifting rock and the scraping of talons on stone breaking up the bouts of silence to remind them that they were definitely not alone. Worn and tired, they finally rounded

Their glow stone revealed a terrified young girl, her clothing torn from crawling around in the darkness and hiding from critters she could only hear flapping about around her. Hair caked with mineral muck dripped down from stalactites overhead, she had a few bruises and would need a good wash, but was otherwise intact. "Hey," Freyd began gently, speaking slowly not to spook the poor child. "You're okay, kiddo." Kneeling down and reaching out a hand, he made sure to keep Ty visible within the sphere of light. "I know, I might look a bit scary, right? That's why my friend Ty came with

[Note: The following an annex to the main Witherwind Rest estate in Elora's name, per https://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/15355-housing-evaluation/?do=findComment&comment=691351. Doubling up because standard housing doesn't actually allow enough slots for two players to get all of their housing buffs. Also, courting but not married means house goes poof if one dies, so this is protection against that.] House Name: Witherwind Rest (Annex) Location: Floor 2, In a small valley nestled in the cliffs on the outskirts of the plateau that marks the High Fields of Crossing (Safe Zone) Plot

Freyd merely smiled as the rest of the group bantered in the aftermath of their victory, contented by their shared achievement and the ensuing comradery. Wulfrin went on to lay out their next steps, and what would surely prove to be an utterly devastating afternoon nap for a three-headed fire-breathing puppy dog. Having experienced much of the content before, it seemed only fair to let others soak in the full potential of their first run-through at their own pace and choosing. Persi reacted to Ciela's self-deprecation and doubts before he could even say a word. The spoopy little mong

"Gods, I hate that prick," Freyd muttered as he exited Abdullah's abode, his appearance shifting from that of a pink-haired waifu with a too tight skirt and proudly bouncing boxum funbags to his far less attention-seeking usual self. Pink became black, skin turned to oily-black plate armor, and a keen black katana sprouted from his back to complete the ensemble. "There must be a way to trigger this quest without having to suffer through that NPC's insufferable ego every, single, time." Rolling his eyes as gauntleted hands pulled the soft woolen cowl over his head, the locals stared at h

Taking the blood of the vilest of the vile, combined with quasi-convincing yourself you’re a digitally spawned sentient construct, tends to skew your perspective on a lot of things. Mobs and monsters, for example, made of the same shards of shattered glass and code and painted with a skin veneer no thicker than a pixel. Or, the physical manifestations of the deepest, darkest parts of a wounded girl’s soul. As strange as it might seem, these were not unknowns to Freyd, nor frightening. It was why he often seemed trivially calm, even while facing down the worst of Kayaba's horrors. His own d

Nod returned, Freyd raises a single eyebrow to take in his companion's new duds. "Suits you." Delivered deadpan, Kyoto couldn't tell if the captain was joking or not - which was probably the point. Freyd had a mildly annoying habit of messing with people to let them guess his intentions. Handy tool for a spymaster. Not great for social interactions. And likely also a hardwired part of his personality that wouldn't soon or easily be shaken off. "The bandits haven't gone far. Without a steady source of supplies, they survive by raiding the mining camps." A general wave of his ha

Suppressing the urge to laugh, lest it be taken in the wrong light, Freyd merely grin proudly. "Well done, Ty. Just keep practicing and you'll have the hang of it in no time." Sheathing his blade, Freyd reached into the ether before him and drew forth a small black sphere about the size of his fist. Shaking it briefly, wondering if the magic might have done out for lack of use, a dim willowy light blinked into existence within. Bathed in its increasing, pale light made his features seem pasty, like he'd lived his entire life underground. The look was more than a little ironic, give

"We don't have a choice," he called back. "Koko's inside and this thing isn't likely to follow us into the light. We have to fight it here." The giant critter's claws raked across his back, but failed to find any true purchase. It was simply too weak to actually hurt him, but that had never been the point. Freyd wanted to see how Ty fared in a real fight where she had to make her own decisions. Trial by fire, so to speak. He'd keep the threats off her back, but wanted her to feel pressure nonetheless. "You need to use your sword arts. Basic attacks won't cut it. Call out its name

Callisto's claws raked across his upper arm, drawing a string of parallel red gashes that would surely have led to fatal infection if not outright blood loss in a different world. Fortunately, their berserker healer had his back - all of theirs, really. The wounds closed nearly as soon as they opened, thanks to Zandra's ongoing and watchful efforts. Still struggling to find and keep his bearings, Freyd's eyes scanned over adjacent groups as well as his own. Senses still discombobulated, some things didn't feel quite right. It was like part of him was missing, left behind and fumbling

Thread Closing: Xena receives: 2,270 EXP (Word Count [6059/10*3*0.7] + Quest [1000]) 400 col (1 page [400]) Monkey Agility | Uncommon Consumable [potion] | A strange potion that boosts the user's Evasion by 1. Lasts for one thread. This item does not stack with existing Evasion Consumables. TECH-D collected sword art unlocked. Freyd receives: 7,623 EXP (Word Count [6059/10*18*0.7] + Quest [0]) 1,143 col (1 page [0] + 15% P5 Reward [1143])

"Alright, so first we have to go tolerate an absolute and total ass-wipe of a mob boss, who thinks he's literally the hottest shit in this entire bloody desert and... Wulfrin?" Freyd had agreed to bring Xena along for a quick run through Terra Firma territory, acknowledging with silent satisfaction that his old Sharkbait placard was still leaning against the nearby crates, albeit considerably more sun bleached. "Wait... are you doing the thing?" He'd noticed the young woman standing next to his counterpart, raising an eye at the potentially compromising catch and useful tool for cau

"How do you know?" An honest question. "I've done more impossible things than you might suspect, or ever imagine. Would you at least let me try? I can only do that if you let me know what's going on." Others might have given up by now, but the Whisper had a persistence about him. Literally and figuratively. Persi, his little black shadow mongoose familiar slunk out from beneath his armor and took on an inky solid form. Her blazing blue slotted eyes revealed her nature as she tilted her head to assess the feline woman balled up before her. Deciding to seek her own sustenance inst