[PP-F1] Dragon Hunter Anthology - The Emerald Hatchling (Quest)

[Mack 0]

Mack stood, still as a statuesque sentinel, near the fountain in the middle of the main plaza of the Town of Beginnings. For all the Vice Commander's taciturn moodiness his familiar, Chewie the Grizzly Cub, was the picture of rambunctious motion. With a growl the cub went hurtling by his master, leaped high into the air, and then splashed down into the fountain like a fuzzy cannonball. There was a titanic splash and, an instant latter, a fuzzy brown head emerged from the fountain as Chewie paddled around in the water making contented bear noises. Meanwhile, ignoring the bear's antics, Mack pulled up his menu with a swipe of the finger and then tabbed through to the quest log. After considering things for a few long moments he settled on a newly discovered quest called the "Dragon Hunter Anthology." Judging by the name this would be some kind of campaign quest that would take a good bit of time to complete and, since it was starting on the first floor it was likely to be tedious at the outset. Cupping his hands around his mouth, Mack stepped forward into the plaza and bellowed: "Who wants to complete the Dragon Hunter Anthology quest? Get over here now!"

[Alice 0]

Alice let out a yawn, hardly containing it within the single hand held up in front of her face. She wasn't tired of the chores she had set to do today, but rather, grew quickly bored with such a mundane set of tasks. Nearly every day consisted of finding a way to obtain materials or Col, knowing that she could never stock enough of either to give herself a day's rest from the activity. Though she did have one thing going for her today, which was a nice relaxing visit to a local tea shop here on the first floor. She had quickly grown accustomed to the mimic food and drink here in Aincrad, finding that the chai tea here was absolutely exquisite. To get there, she would simply have to make her way beyond the western outskirts and past the plaza to the business. However, she would fail to pass the final checkpoint on her path as a familiar, thunderous voice intruded on her stroll, "Is that Mack?" She had knew him from two important moments, both of which were here in the digital world - the first being when he generously gifted her some gear and the second during a raid on the floor above. Having registered his identity, it took a moment before she realized the proposition he had declared for any passersby. Briefly raising her hand as she made her way over, she'd happily volunteer, "Good morning, Mack. Pleasure to see you again." His cub once again caught her attention in the corner of her eye, "I'd love to accompany you, at your discretion."

[Sey 0]

On the lounge couch of his restaurant, he would be sleeping. Well, half-asleep. One lazy leg would be swinging by the side over the edge of the piece of furniture, the only part uncovered by the blanket, but at least he slept in jeans. At that moment, he was at peace. So of course, the loud booming voice of the one being he thought he would only hear again in his memories would suddenly scream about the new quest that arrived. That one he wanted to take for such a long time, a couple days in fact. But that voice just screamed for attention, and his brunette eyes would pop open, only to be met with the bright sunshine through the window and forcing him to yell in a bit of pain. "ARGH!" The snow-haired player let out as he would close his temporarily damaged eyes. The desire to sleep was now officially over. So he tossed himself from the couch onto the floor with an awkward thump. His hoodie and his acid blue jeans both equipped before he pushed himself onto his feet. Nothing to prepare himself with, he would proceed to exit his shop to address the being who woke him up. "Yooooo... Me..." Sey would sleepily declare before yawning.

[Magda 0]

The Town of Beginnings had become a mainstay within the young woman’s life since her arrival in Aincrad. Her progress since that day had been rather… disheartening to say the least. He’d managed to attain a few levels but she’d been entirely too lazy up to this point. While those she knew soared and fought for their freedom she spent the bulk of her time fishing. That is until her rod snapped and smacked her in the face. It was a literal wake-up call for the red-haired giantess albeit a painful one.

She was resolute to become more proactive but the question was how to go about that without ending up in dire straits. A small stone skipped along the path before her after she’d given it a soft kick with her boot. Magda was a prisoner of her own mind until a boisterous voice drew her out of her thoughts. “Was that,” she started to say. Those unspoken words proved unnecessary when she turned towards the main plaza. The figure that stood near the fountain was undeniably her brother and it appeared as if two others had gathered near him.

Unless she’d misheard him he’d said something about panthology; whatever the heck that was. With a smile she headed directly for Mack. He’d receive a wave before she called out. “I see Chewie remains the energetic one of the two.” Her gaze shifted towards the other two. Both would receive a warm smile and a hand extended in greeting coupled with the words, "Hello there."

[Anemone 0]

"Eek!" the woman had let out a small little squeaking noise as her feet quickly shuffled away from a boar that was attempting to sink its tusk into her behind. The woman kept running well past the safety zone of the city and dashed in and out of people before she heard a monstrous boom of a player's voice and skidding to a stop with a group of players closely gathered. The woman had stopped before running into any of them thankfully, but she had dared not to look back to see if that boar was continuing its chase. Thankfully the game had stopped it from coming into the city and where she was mildly safe for the moment. She had not heard what was said from the mountainous giant of a man that was standing as tall as said mountain, nor did she look up to see the others. 

Anemone was hunched over with both hands on her knees gathering her breath as she finally looked up to see the trio of people. First through the sunlight she was able to notice that it was Sir Sey, a player she had met recently. The other two...She looked up, flaming red hair on both shoulders, one very long the other short but with a massive grizzly beard. One had..."Oh my, that woman's back must ache everyday...Poor girl." Were her thoughts when Anemone caught sight of the massive...well, ya know... It seemed they were all joined together by something though and Anemone was not aware of what was going on exactly and it seemed Sey was more or less just waking up from the look and expression on his face. 

Then there was another, blonde hair and golden features. A woman who showed both bravery and steel in her presence, Anemone was not brave or of steeled nerves like this girl was, she looked more combative than she did at least. A small sigh escaped her lips followed by a smaller smile towards Sey.

"Ah, good morning, Sir Sey." Her passionate fire red eyes looked at the two other people, they were massive giants compared to her petite form as she had to crane her neck slightly to look up at their faces, "Good morning, and to you as well, Miss." A short bow shot to them all before she seemed more inclined to stand behind Sey and slightly dip her eyes away from the gathered group. 

@Mack (Wasnt sure who to tag next)

Edited February 1, 2017 by Anemone

[Mack 0]

OOC: There's no posting order until we enter combat. These first few should be a breeze, but we still have to hit posting requirement. We'll move out on the next round, summon the dragon on Post Rd. 4, and have it defeated (I think) by Post Rd. 5.

Chewie let out a startled noise as Alice spoke. The bear knew that voice. It was the voice of a food giver. He tried to sound off a bearish greeting, but he forgot to keep swimming as he did so. Consequently, the furry little monster sank to the bottom of the shallow fountain for a moment and received a mouthful of water for his trouble. A stream of bubbles issued from his mouth and sallied forth to break at the surface of the fountain's water before Chewie coiled his legs beneath his body and bounced back to the surface of the fountain, making a bee line for the edge of it.

"Alice," Mack greeted the blonde woman, ignoring the bear as he sank to the bottom of the fountain. The Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath also nodded a polite greeting to Sey, whom he recognized as a member of another guild though he couldn't recall which guild that was off the top of his head. As he had suspected, his booming declaration had attracted several people and, within a few moments, his twin Magda had joined them as well as a slight blonde woman with whom the red-headed giant was unfamiliar, Mack greeted each of the women with a nod of his head.

By the time the Chewie had swam over and scrambled onto the granite lip of the fountain several other people had joined his master, including the twin. The twin always had fishies. Yummy delicious fishies that she caught from Chewie knew not where. Where they came from didn't matter. They were fishies. They needed to be eaten. Bawling a greeting the bear went tearing around the lip of the fountain in Magda's direction. Just as he went to leap on her his feet slid out from under him and he whooshed along the polished granite of the fountain sliding off to the ground with a went flomp. Getting back to his feet he rocketed in the direction of the red-headed woman and launched himself at her, mouth open.

"I think five should be plenty for this quest, even if it will take all day," the soldier grunted, rolling his head around on his neck with a soft popping noise. "Introductions, I think. I am Mack, Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath."

[Magda 0]

She really couldn’t help but smirk as the bear came barreling her way. She knew she was about to be assaulted by a mound of wet fur and teeth but she found it hard to dislike the little rascal. When his feet slipped out from under him the red-haired giantess nearly doubled over in a fit of laughter. She remained like that up until the time she felt the weight of Chewie as he slammed into and promptly knocked her off her feet. “Ok ok I give... I give! Take it,” she exclaimed as she quickly cycled through her menu and produced one of her lower quality fish for her brother’s familiar.

The bear had a way of lightening the mood which was fantastic when it came to Mack who looked so somber on the other side of the fountain. Once she managed to gain her freedom from the mess of wet fur she’d stand up clear her throat. “The name is Magda." Her gaze shifted from one person with a pause long enough to catch her breath. "I'm also with the Knights of the Blood Oath. Pleasure to meet everyone.” The young woman would offer a broad grin and a heavy handshake to anyone willing. She had a very upbeat attitude; almost like nothing could possibly weigh her down. That wasn’t always the case but she definitely fought to keep up the positive exterior even in the harshest of times.

[Anemone 0]

Anemone had taken refuge behind @Sey, whom she thought would be a good buffer against everyone else. Still unbearably shy, the woman gave a smile to Magda but would not offer her hand to her. Poor thing might get crushed under the power of those giant hands of hers. Instead, she simply smiled softly and contently and bowed her head to the rest of the group. Introductions, right. "I-I- I am ugh...Anemone from...Town of Beginnings..." She said the last part with a meek cheer, since the last two seemed to give off their position and status as Blood Oath members, "Boy, there sure are a lot of them. I knew Beatbox wasn't the only one, but still...two in one day." Anemone thought to herself. She bowed her head graciously to the others lifting the fins of her cape and doing a small curtsey in the process of it all. Her eyes met the mass of muscle and wet fur that was unknown familiar. Gah the last thing she needed right now was to get assaulted by...Wait, was that a BEAR!? 

The meek and mild mannered woman stood frozen for a moment before retreating slightly behind Sey again as to not get in the cross hairs of that dangerous creature? She found it adorable though that it was pacified by Magda's little fish, but oh boy did that little sardine never see the light of day as the Bear familiar took and ate that thing without much chewing. Anemone herself was a cook, and so was Sey. So it probably might smell the aroma of food on them as well. She wondered if she had anything that would appease this familiar. She was on good terms with Valenia, Itzal's feathered dragon, so maybe she could be on friendly terms with this...Bear....It's been a strange day already and Anemone was feeling very exhausted by it all already.

[Sey 0]

"Hey there Ane..." Sey mumbled his sleepy little reply as he would slowly shift back to the resting state of sleep once again. Eventually, he would wake up to find the petite blonde behind him, making him alert and summoning the spear into his hand, prepared to defend her. It took him a few seconds to realize that no monsters were attacking or anything. Shoot. "Ah... Sorry. Just kinda... Tired... Names Sey..." The words rolled off his tongue so lazily as his eyes would begin to shift again, blurring and inviting sleep back in for a few seconds, only to wake up and shake his head once again. The snow haired player seemed so restless. To help wake himself up, he would pull out a vanity bottle of water and open the cap before splashing it in his face, and the pressure alone got him to be awake. "Woo! Sheesh... Anyways, the name is Sey. I am a Celestial." Now that was more of a proper introduction. He could be even more formal, but for what purpose would there before for doing such a thing?

[Mack 0]

OOC: @Sey, @Magda, and @Anemone we're going to go ahead and move on. @Alice can catch up when she gets a chance.

Mack nodded as each of the members in the party for tackling the first of the dragon quests introduced themselves. Some of them seemed a bit low leveled and under geared for tackling a series of dragons. Still, all things considered Sey looked like he was quite capable of handling himself in a fight and since the first several quests in the line were bound to be relatively simple there would be ample time for the others to level up to be able to complete the latter portions of the storyline quest in relative safety, especially if Mack handled the tanking for the group.

Chewie, for his part, ignored the introductions with great aplomb. Magda had produced a fishy for him, as he had known she would. Greedily, the cubs chocolate brown eyes followed the path of the fishy until it was offered to him at which point he jumped into the air and caught it before devouring the delicious treat whole in just a few bites. Once the fish was gone the grizzly's black nose began sniffing again. Somebody smelled like food. Somebody very close by. Thumping down on his haunches Chewie closed his eyes and sniffed turning his head in every direction until he found the one where the scent was strongest. Opening his eyes they landed on Anemone and Sey. Making a happy noise, Chewie popped to his feet and set off in Anemone's direction at top speed, skidding to a halt in front of her and pawing at one of her knees before directing a clawed toe down his throat and making hungry noises.

"Well, that should about handle introductions," Mack rumbled, shouldering Invictus, "Let's get a move on, we've got a lot of ground to cover to finish up this quest line." Without any further preamble the hulking Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath started walking in the directions of one of the gates that led from the Town of Beginnings out into the fields and wilderness beyond the town's gates. As he walked the cloaked man swiped a pair of fingers in the air and called up his player menu. With a few quick taps of his finger, as he was walking, the Vice Commander sent a group invitation to each of the group members as he continued through the town.

[Anemone 0]

Anemone's eyes lit up at the sight of the bear cub going down over towards her. She wasn't sure how to react the moment it came skidding towards her and plopping down like a hungry puppy. The ball of muscle and fur was much more comical than she thought it was going to be. The thought of a bear devouring her made her a little squeamish, but this one looked pure and tamed. Perhaps thanks to Mack's strong arm. The woman elated to see such a thing and simply made a movement towards her menu before plopping down a sizeable piece of meat down on the ground for the bear to chew. Happy eyes looked over everyone, they all seemed really eager to do something, but she had no idea this gathering was for a quest. She clapped her hands and nodded. 

It was nice to be in such a lively looking group, although smiling at Sir Sey, he looked like he just got out of bed or something. Giving herself the look over, the woman summoned her satchel that would be carried around her shoulder and over her hip. She knew what her position in this team was gonna be. She would be the acting White Mage of the group so to speak. She just hoped it would be enough for the entire to get through this quest. But Mack had said something particular and it offered up a question from the meek girl, "So there is gonna be more quests like this one?" She asked, noticing the pop up menu about the group invite. It was enough to press the Circle indicating she was now part of the team. Addressing each individual in her vision and keeping a steady eye on their health points. Should things get hairy, she would try her best to not let anyone down with her healing, although at times it was just horribly unforgiving at times when she failed. 

@Mack @Magda @Sey

[Magda 0]

Magda just offered the shy one a slight smile, even though she didn’t take her hand. There were all sorts in this world it seemed but this particular girl stood in stark contrast to the red headed giantess. Magda could be quiet at times but usually she leaned more towards the rowdy side. When Sey introduced himself as a Celestial Magda wasn’t quite sure how to take it. Eventually she ended up pushing the thought aside once her brother declared that it was time to move on. Once he started off towards the gates she’d quickly fall into step behind him. It was finally time to get this show on the road. The thought brought an elated grin to her face.

“This should be fun,” she mused with a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure the others had decided to follow. Course she was distracted by the slight ping and sudden appearance of a window before her. Once she realized it was a group invite she quickly accepted it. Once the girl inquired if there would be more quests like the one they were on Magda tilted her head so her gaze would rest on the back of her brother. The thought had crossed her mind but she’d been so caught up in her elation to be doing something that she completely forgot to ask. It was a good question but she just figured Mack would say something like “focus on the current quest” or something of that nature. Then again she was likely wrong but the idea nearly made her chuckle.

Both her shield and weapon were equipped before they reached the gate so they’d be at the ready should they encounter anything in the field. However, on the first floor she didn’t really expect to come across anything too dangerous.

[Mack 0]

Meat! Hunk of meat! Chewie went berserk at the sight of the treat, hopping up and down on his paws then rising up to stand on his back paws and bat at the meat with his front paws while he snapped his jaws in the direction of the treat. Why had it appeared? To be fed to him. Everyone knew that. The second the meat was placed on the ground before him, the grizzly cub pounced on it and began making some truly horrifying sounds as he ripped enormous hunks out of the steak with his teeth. There was little doubt, in the mind of anyone assembled, that if they were so foolish as to try and take the delicious treat from the bear that there would be blood. A lot of it, but none of it belonging to Chewie. As people started to move off and out of Town the bear gave an alarmed sound, snatched up the half-eaten steak in his jaws, and scampered off clutching it in his teeth. When he reached Anemone he popped up on his hind paws and held up his front paws, snack still clutched in his teeth. He couldn't very well eat it and walk at the same time, therefore Anemone would have to carry him. It was only logical, she was the treat giver.

Mack remained rather silent as they marched across the first floor in the direction of the cavern that the first of the dragon hatchlings called home. "Yes, there's several of these quests. I don't honestly know how many, I suppose we'll find out when we get to the end of the quest line though," the Vice Commander rumbled as he led them through the wilderness in a rather uneventful fashion. After about forty-five minutes of walking the little group came to a stop outside what appeared to be a small cave. A small stream of smoke was issuing from somewhere within the darkened bowels of the cave. "Looks like this is it."

[Anemone 0]

Anemone peered down at the familiar and shook her head. She knew that 'pick me up,' look. "You are too heavy for me to carry, Chewie. I don't even have any combat skills, I'm pretty weak. You'll just have to scarf it down." The woman brushed the hair off her shoulders once more and turned back to the group and the leader of the pack, Vice Commander Mack. The walk was anything but adventurous, the group of players had known this floor since the beginning of their time here, nothing was gonna catch them off guard, even if Anemone was the weakest of the bunch, she could get by with a few boars running into her skinny legs. 

Anemone kept her arms to herself, her eyes rolling over the larger woman with the heavy chest. Her eyes scrunched together, "How does she stay upright like that? Oh Anemone, that was rude to be thinking that. She was blessed with a good body and a healthy image. Maybe if you ate more chicken and drank more milk as a younger girl, you would have something to show for as well." A mental fight in her head as she looked away from Magda, had she ever known an Amazonian Woman, she would be it. 

They had come to a stop and a cave entrance. The Flower Maiden kept her arms to her back and peered into the darkness, "What exactly 'is this?'" Anemone asked, not knowing the exact details of the quest. But it seemed they had to venture perhaps into the cave? That would be dangerous, but then...this was floor one, how dangerous could it be? @Mack @Magda @Sey

Edited March 9, 2017 by Anemone