[PP-F7] Armored Up - Grandmaster Thread

[Samriel 0]

The suggestions that the others called out were certainly intriguing, though of course Samriel focused on the last one that the brunette scout had brought up with utter serious expression. Raising a singular eyebrow and glancing at Mack curiously, she would have to ask him about that later if he refused to tell the story. But the archness of her stare was lost when he whispered into her ear, causing her feline ears to flick and her tail to bush up as it flicked back and forth. As the burly man began his tale of when his health reached the lowest without dying, the blonde was surprised and relieved that it wasn't as morbid story as she had originally thought. A small chuckle worked its way around her full mouth at the part where he had been tricked into bull rushing an immortal object. Cutting another piece of ham and scooping up some veggies with it, Sam listened with interest as he described Cerberus and she wondered how big the boss was. It had to be massive to actually pick the blacksmith up and toss him between its heads. Now that was a dog she could invest in. Though she wasn't sure if you could actually tame a boss.

Looking up at Mack again when he declared that he would need a refill before he told the next story. She still had an entire plate to get through and hadn't even reached half way through her mug, so she stayed seated. Though her gaze did wander over the other players, namely Magda who was now sitting with her Vice Commander. Sam's expression softened in a content smile seeing her Shield Sister's spirits lifted now that the girl with glasses had left her. Though she was fairly sure that her spirits were being lifted by...well spirits. Chuckling to herself, Sam raised her mug towards the red haired woman before glancing at Mack as he settled down once more, this time a bit closer to her, to which she only smiled slightly behind her drink. Nodding at his rhetorical question, the healer prompted, "So who or what is 'Tagas'?"

[Hunie 0]

Today was one of those days, that had been rather unkind to her. The blonde had once again turned up empty handed after a gruelling material gathering mission. This was especially bad, because earlier today had struggled with creating any lucky trinkets in her little workshop, consuming most of the beautiful gems and clay she had collected, till they were tarnished beyond repair. The girl's progress with the Gorehowl had been in murky waters as well, her blade still gave her trouble when she swung, the momentum of the long heavy serrated shredder, too much for her strength stats (presumably) to handle. This sometimes gave her great results as she ran through enemy mobs, but on other occasions she was left stumped, too slow to do any real damage. On another hefty note, she had once again failed to locate the quest she wanted to complete.  At this rate I'll never be strong enough to fight that ridiculous stalker, or catch up with the frontliners, she thought woefully. Unwilling to test her luck any further, and practically exhausted with all the bad luck, the girl had decided to retreat to one of the most quietest taverns she had located. It was a hobby of Hunie's to scout for good eateries and the blonde had found a rather quaint little inn.

The inn resided in a cave and was far removed from the usual bars people visited. Although Hunie preferred bakeries to bars, the peace this place offered her was unparalleled. Today however, her luck really seemed to be running out. The gruff blacksmith who had once forged her armour and then invited her to a party in which for the most part she had felt rather secluded and unimportant had now gone ahead and camped in her peace spot. The get together was seemingly rampant, there were fluffy tails and ears that Hunie spotted the moment she entered the bar. Oh great. She thought bitterly. Without seeking any attention she sidled by the walls and found a table that faced the rough interior perimeter, slid into a chair facing it. The blonde trained her eyes to the menu card, refusing to meet the eyes of the people she had been roughly acquainted with at the Hot Springs Party. The apparent host, was a generous man for sure, although without his familiar in sight, he was far less appealing to Hunie. Now if the bear was just lurking somewhere in her vicinity, maybe she wouldn't have been so upset, despite the day's events. 

At the moment, Hunie was struggling. Beyond a point she just couldn't take the constant gibbering that destroyed her peace. The parties hum was too loud for her to tune out of. Impulsively, she found herself marching to the presumable party thrower. She knew the forger as Mack. Hunie was quite the polar opposite of that guy, she was conservative and quiet, he looked more like the man who was quite used to confrontations. The blonde of course was barely in her senses, riddled with the plague of bad luck and just seeking some quiet time, her mission carved itself in front of her. Before she had the time to realise that this was probably rude, she had already found her way to the man. "What is it with you and parties? Could you please keep it down?" She questioned rhetorically and ordered firmly. "It's just getting too loud. And... Feline... not your thing." She said swiftly. Once her words were out, they echoed in her head. Oh no, what did I just do? Doing something like this was highly rare for Hunie. The only person she ever had active confrontations with, was her brother... And he never took it to heart... She covered her mouth, slightly horrified that this had just happened and try to shuffle back to her seat. 

Edited April 13, 2016 by Hunie

[Takao 0]

Takao's gaze wandered back to Piera from Mack's direction, and raised an eyebrow at the curious look she gave him. His glance faltered for a second, and was quickly followed by a shrug of his shoulders. The statement had been true, at least to some extent. Perhaps a little crude in wording, but still honest all the same. Her comment about Kayaba and his sadism inspired a pensive look on his face, and his gaze to drop to the table. If the future boss raids were to follow suit with Rohk, then they'd truly only been given a taste of his cruelty. His head bobbed into a slight nod as he glanced back up. "Yeah, he's uh... he's not makin' it easy." He said, a small smile briefly appearing on his face.

"Don't worry about it." Takao responded to her inquiries about why he was pushing himself. He pushed against the back of the chair and sat up straight, though his arm remained hooked over the back. "I'm... just tryin' to be prepared. For anything, y'know? Rohk was unpredictable, and I don't wanna be caught off guard... if I can help it." As he spoke, his gaze faltered and wandered across the room. He'd glanced over the food laying across the table but found himself more interested in simply looking at it than actually indulging. Lying wasn't a skill of which he boasted talent, and rightfully so. He was terrible at it. He distracted himself with the thought that it would've already been a mess had he brought Otoko along, but it did little to help the dishonest look on his face.

With his wandering eyes, he managed to spot Hunie enter the inn. Watching her was a much more welcome distraction than the potential messes that his familiar might have created. He snickered at her comment and glanced up at his own twitching feline ears, stood upright at attention. "Mack really does have some kinda obsession with doin' this sorta thing, doesn't he?" He glanced over to Piera briefly, then back to Hunie as she shuffled back toward her seat, his right hand raised to wave to her.

[Mack 0]

OOC: Of course Chewie is here... there's food.

When they had arrived at the inn, Chewie had been relegated back behind the inn keeper's counter with a stern command and a pointed finger. Huffily, the bear cub had complied, even though he knew full well that there was going to be copious amounts of food. He had heard master speak the sacred word, party. Well, it was one of the sacred words and party meant food. Everyone knew that. When the bear heard Hunie's familiar voice, his snout appeared around the corner of the inn keeper's counter. His beady chocolate eyes scanned the crowd and quickly picked out the owner of the voice. Something was very different about her. She didn't have funny ears or a tail. She wasn't at the party! She could give him food! And, scampering over to her wouldn't interfere with the party because Hunie wasn't at the party. Everyone knew that. Bawling a greeting, the bear tore off across the room, tripped over his own paws and rolled over several times before coming to a stop against the back of Hunie's legs.

"Join the party," Mack said jovially, gesturing around him as Hunie interrupted. He honestly didn't care if she wanted to join them. Free food. Free beer. Clearly Chewie was happy to see her. "I've just amassed enough skill points to grandmaster heavy armor," he continued, explaining the reasoning for the get together. "The more the merrier, I'm sure Takao is happy you're here," He took a long pull from his recently refilled mug, shot the jade-eyed scout what he hoped was a subtle wink, and settled in for the next tale as his own tail twitched madly with a mind of its own.

"Tagas is an angel and he forms the basis of one of the quests a few floors up from here," Mack rumbled, warming to his topic as much as the blonde woman seated next to him. "The quest begins after he's been captured by some necromancers or something," he continued, gesturing about the room with his free hand. "But, the real story begins with a tiny little potion sold to be by Piera. You remember the gloriously glittery effect of the punch at the Hot Springs. Imagine that magnified a hundred times because it was all consumed by one person. Imagine that person was our very own Vice Commander Rainbow Brite," Mack leveled a finger in Opal's direction. "You know the kinds of armor she favors, she could have used part of her body to guide airplanes safely down onto a runway... and yes, that's a very important part of the story," Mack continued, taking another long pull from his mug.

"Anyway, Vice Commander Lite Brite led her group of merry men consisting of myself, Macradon, and Ethereal out to where Tagas spawned. We made short work of the little sub minions and then we purposely let Tagas get fully corrupted. After all, he's only a game generated mob and not a real person. Plus, the rewards are much better that way. Really, though, Tagas only landed one good hit that whole fight and Vice Commander Glitzy McGlitterkins had broken a safeguard on me ahead of time, so Tagas's blade slid right on off. Now, what was that next story supposed to be? Something about Polly," Mack asked, taking the chance to slip his arm around Samriel again since she was the one that had asked for that story.

[Opal 0]

"Mmm! Look at the time..." Opal said downing the fifth beer that was placed on the table. Opal stood up and stretched, her arms reaching for the ceiling as she yawned lightly with a bit of wobble to her step. She clapped a hand on Mack's shoulder, "Thanks for the booze and the good times, buddy. But I can't tarry around too long, we got a boss fight coming up and I have plans to help coordinate a guild meeting with the others. Everyone! It was great meeting you and seeing you all again." 

Opal in her drunkard state moved for the door and waved with a flirty smile on her face as she passed through the room and out of it entirely. She was intoxicated, light burps coming from the female as she had trouble opening the door to the outside, giggling a bit in her mess to think straight. Eventually she did get the door knob to turn and she was therefore out of that place before she was to make an ass of herself anymore. 

-Opal Exits the Thread- 

[Hunie 0]

From the tit-bits the blonde heard, she made out they were exchanging stories about quests. A part of her fell compelled to listen in, just to garner some information on what she'd be up against. The inevitable mission was to grow stronger after all... But another, larger part just wanted for all this to end. Feeling rather whiny, in a disgruntled fashion she slumped back onto her chair, hoping she hadn't collected too many eyeballs after her outburst. The massive man had made an indication towards Takao, just about the time that the blonde had reached her table. For an instant she thought she'd ignore it, but as she turned to throw a veiled scathing look at all the party goers, something else, something furry caught her eye. 

The blonde finally noticed Chewie behind the barkeeper's counter, she even noticed Otoko generally bemused with his destructive capabilities. Observing the carefree animals, sparked a sense of social duty in her. She gazed at the faces of everyone in the room. A blonde, sort of similar to her in features was tucked under Mack's arm... A very drunk Opal, as Hunie recalled, was on her way out. Her eyes found Takao's lithe figure. Upon sighting him, she recalled how he had abruptly left the hot springs party and a small feeling of concern welled up in her. Grudgingly she dragged her chair out and slid out of the chair that faced the wall and turned to face the infernal party.

The girl angled herself towards the table from where she had noticed Takao waving. Letting a very small smile play on her lips she waved back and made her way towards him. Pulling out a chair for herself at the table, she slumped once again, into her chosen seat. "Fine... Fine... But I'm not turning into some kitty cat." She grumbled stubbornly, looking in the direction of the already distracted Mack. Hunie averted her eyes only to have the familiars hold her gaze, fondly. After staring at the creatures for a decent bit she faced Takao. "Hey there..." She said tilting her chin to the green eyed boy. "What was up with you at the last party? You left so... suddenly." Hunie inquired, recalling that partially, her curiosity was to blame for dragging her amidst the feline party people. 

Edited April 14, 2016 by Hunie

[Piera 0]

At Takao's reaction to her comment concerning the sadism of the man that had stuck them all here, Piera's lips pursed just slightly, glancing down from his smile that didn't seemed more polite than genuine. It had been a thoughtless and all too obvious comment. Especially to a clearer. Fidgeting with her mug on the table in front of her, the brunette didn't glance back up at him until he stated why he was pushing himself so hard, even though he didn't have to explain himself. 'Rohk', that had been the name of the boss from the previous floor, hadn't it? The one where two players, two people, had died fighting against. One of whom she had known, albeit only barely. She didn't hear of the details, only the end result. That they had prevailed in the end...at a cost.

Hearing about such things from Mack or Lowenthal was different than from Jomei or Takao. The former were apparently used to it by now, but the latter... Takao seemed like a decent and sensitive person, much like her ginger friend. Thinking that this was the reason behind his discomfort, Piera glanced sympathetically at the man across the table from her as she chewed on the inside of her cheek, unsure of what to say, though feeling like she should say something. "That's all you can do really. Just don't run yourself into the ground trying to do it." Inwardly punching herself for sounding so callous, the brunette glared at the small plate in front of her as if it was the mushroom's fault that she didn't know how to talk to people anymore.

She hadn't noticed someone else enter the tavern until she heard another unfamiliar voice and saw blonde teen standing not far from Mack and seemed to be berating him for his penchant for partying, demanding that he keep the noise level down. It was a rather odd sight, especially since the person she was chastising simply told her to join them...and she did. Piera's attention was drawn back to their host as he regaled them with another tale, this time of an angel called Tagas. When the part concerning one of her potions and Opal came up, she was starting to wonder if she should limit what Mack bought. Or simply made more beneficial potions, even if they didn't have any good in combat properties.

Seeing Takao wave over at the teenage blonde, she supposed that they knew each other, which was only confirmed when the girl walked over to sit at their table before beginning to converse with him. Seeing Opal rise and drunkenly excusing herself, Piera stood as well, albeit with much more balance than her friend. Nodding at Takao and Hunie, the alchemist said to the former, "It was good seeing you again." And then giving a polite nod of her head to his companion before making her way to Opal's side. "I'll make sure she gets home alright." Piera called to Mack before assisting Opal in the mysteries of the door's knob, holding it open for her as they departed.

[Piera Exits Thread]

[Takao 0]

Takao's tired gaze settled onto Mack with a glare, jade eyes rolling at the red-head's spoken words. As Mack began to spin his tale, the story he told faded to be white noise. It was a skill Takao had picked up during their dungeon adventures, and it had likely saved him a good deal of sanity in the few hours they'd spent in each others presence. He diverted his attention from Mack and onto Piera, offering a warm smile that was much more reminiscent of his usual.

"Thank you," He said, slowly pulling his arm from the chair's back and moving it to rest on the table. "For the concern, I mean. But y'don't have anythin' to worry about, I've done worse than this before and been fine. S'all good." He lied, and uncharacteristically well at that. His well-being was his own concern, he wouldn't sit idly by and let others worry about him. At least, not if he could help it.

"Ah, uh... Well," He said, the gears in his head turning to create an explanation. "I just felt like I was bein' kinda lazy. After everything that happened with the last boss raid, I thought I was bein' kinda irresponsible by lounging around a hot spring, y'know? There's not a whole lot of time to prepare, 'n I didn't wanna... fall behind, I guess." Whatever false explanation or excuse he'd tried to think up had been disregarded for the truth. Or at least some of the truth. A few personalities that Takao just couldn't stand to be in the presence of-- even less so than Mack himself-- had unexpectedly arrived, yet his tolerance of those particular individuals was his own business. In other words, nothing worth bringing up. His eyes were momentarily diverted to Piera as she stood and said her goodbyes, to which he offered a slight wave in return. "I would've liked to have stuck around, though. Sorry if it seemed like I was bailin' on you." Takao said, turning his body on the chair to face her and leaning his weight onto the arm he'd draped across the table's corner.

[Mack 0]

The party itself wound on well into the night, each of the remaining party goers becoming gradually more tired and, likely, more inebriated as time wore on. Tale after tale of Mack's exploits in heavy armor were recounted. The story of helping Samriel and Magda vanquish the giant bats for the Let There Be Light Quest. The story of the bare naked Gnoll Chieftainess that would haunt Takao for the rest of his natural life. The stories of being swallowed whole not once, but indeed twice, by two separate dragons. The story about the time Shirosu had kicked him in the crotch during a Crimson Blades training exercise and, summarily, been carried into town like a sack of potatoes. Eventually, with the food gone and the alcohol depleted the cat-earred and tailed denizens of the party trailed off one by one for their homes.

THREAD COMPLETE REWARDS:

Mack - Grandmaster Heavy Armor, +1 SP

Everyone Else - +1 SP

+400 Col to KoB Coffers