[PP-F2]Persephone's Support Services: Long Live the Queen

[Persephone 0]

It was another lazy day for Persephone. She lay beneath the tall shady pines on Floor two, not too far outside of Urbus, just watching the clouds roll by through the sky. Even thought it’d been many a year since she’d gotten stuck in Aincrad, she was always so amazed by how real everything seemed. It was all pretty amazing really.

 The woman had recently acted as support for many a new player on easy quests, making use of her Blood of Champions. So far it had gone well as she had led many a successful mission. While she wasn’t earning experience, she was just glad that she was able to help others up along the way. That in itself was all she had wanted to do to begin with. Rasing a hand toward the sky, Seph shaded her eyes from the sunlight that peeked through the branches and shone down on her face. “Mmmm,” she sighed softly and smiled as the sun warmed her skin. It was a lovely, lovely day indeed.

Not too far off, there was a rustle of grass and she heard the padding of footsteps drawing near and she sat up , placing her hand upon Light Reaver’s hilt to be ready, just in case. “Good afternoon,” she called out politely as the stranger drew near. Normally, most people were friendly in these parts, but one could never be too careful.

[Sotarou 0]

It was a rather sunny day... Too hot on floor 1 and he was in relatively high level gear, so Sotarou decided to take a jaunt to Floor 2 instead, looking to get a leg up towards the higher floors. Slightly stronger monsters and he has experience killing mobs... At least a small bit...

Floor 2... Sunny as well, but less so than Floor 1 and he was in armor that didn't take kindly to warmer temperatures. If he was to find some stuff going on, he needed to hope the NPCs would give him quests. Luckily, one such quest giver was there!

After talking to the farmer about a gigantic queen bee terrorizing the fields where his farm animals graze, Sotarou was presented with a dialogue: Accept Quest 'Long Live The Queen'? Yes No. Of course he accepted. Should be easy enough... But after accepting the quest, it was added to his questlog with the warning of recommended level 8... He sighed. Maybe others were doing the quest as well.

Traversing the foliage on his way to the field where the bees were, Sotarou suddenly encountered life! "Good afternoon," the female said to Sotarou. Quick glance showed her cursor green so Sotarou smiled. "Afternoon. Hey, you wouldn't happen to be doing Long Live The Queen, would you? I would very much appreciate some assistance with it." A smile adorned his face as he awaited the woman's response.

( Summary: Accepted Long Live The Queen, interacted with Persephone and using equipment listed in Signature along with 5 Starter Potions )

[Persephone 0]

The young man who approached seemed friendly enough and so Persephone withdrew her hand from her blade and eased back. He inquired as to whether or not she was going after the Queen and Seph shook her head. “Been there, done that,” she replied, “But if you’re thinking of taking her on, I’ll give you a hand,” she agreed to his request of assistance. “I often patrol these areas looking for inexperienced players to help out with lower level quests so I’m glad I ran into you. Tha name’s Persephone,” The pretty brunette stood and dusted herself off before offering the young man her hand, “Nice to meet you.”

 

With introductions out of the way Seph began her game plan. “So I’m a healer. My skills aren’t very high but I also have crystals so if you don’t have any I can supply you with one to use in a pinch. I’m fairly useful for support as well. My Light Reaver is quite good at stunning my opponents so it’ll make it easier for you to hit things without worry of being attacked. Let me start first so I can have her attention on me instead of you, okay? Now send me a party request and then turn around so I can put an enhancement on you.” Although she liked to use her<<Blood of Champions>> on the newer players, she also liked to keep it under wraps so they didn’t exactly know how she’d boosted them.

[Sotarou 0]

Sotarou listened to Persephone's words and nodded in response to each. "And I'm Sotarou. Samurai. Or... at least, I'm trying to become a Samurai. Haven't had the opportunity to forge my own Katana yet, nor have I found one." He shrugs. But he does as bade him, pulling down his menu and adding Persephone to a party with him. "So... you help newbies with quests? Rather admirable in a death game like this..." He seems to trail off towards the end a bit and his face looks a bit somber, as if remembering something... then as suddenly as he went to depressive, he was just fine. "But either way, I would welcome the help all the same! I have some Potions that I can use to keep me topped up in the case that I'm hit."

Once Persephone was added to the party, Sotarou turned around as bade by the healer, curious about what exactly she was going to do...

[Persephone 0]

Sotarou, as the young man was called, was most obliging and listened to what Persephone had to say. He sent her a request and she quickly accepted, and then turned around like she bide him do. Opening her inventory, she removed the <<Blood of Champions>> and touched the crystal to the back of the young man’s neck. As expected, his health bar increased over its regular limit. “ There…. You ought to be 100 hit points higher than you were, and be able to hit those mobs a little harder too,” she explained as she quickly put her crystal away and slapped the young man on his back.

“On to adventure!” she said as she turned and started heading toward the Queen’s field.

The young man had remarked that her helping others was indeed admirable. “I don’t know about all that,” she said. “I just want us all to make it back home, and if that means running interference for beginners, then I’ll do that. Being with me though, the Queen is going to be a little tougher, but with that boost I gave you, you should be alright. Not too much further now. “ remember, let me hit that bitch first and you follow, and if all goes well, we’ll celebrate with a drink on me in Urbus. Deal?” She said as she glanced over at her companion with a bright smile.

 

PERSEPHONE USES <<BLOOD OF CHAMPIONS>> ON SOTAROU

SOTAROU’S HEALTH BY +100 OVER HEALTH AND DAMAGE BY +2

[Sotarou 0]

Sotarou stood there and heard Persephone open up her menu, curious as to what she was doing... but he refrains from turning around. Then he felt something touch the back of his neck and he shivered as he suddenly felt a little more hardened than he had before. "Whoa... that was weird..." Then she explains what it did and he checked his stats. Indeed, he was now at 120 HP and his base damage was 2 higher than normal. He chuckled. "Alrighty, then. I guess that'll help quite a bit!" 

Listening to the plan of attack whilst they were travelling to the farmstead, Sotarou nodded a bit. "So in this instance, you're not just a Healer, you're the Tank. Got it. I love how you can pretty much be both in these instances." He fiddles with his bracelet a little bit while he just... looks slightly somber... but he stops immediately as Persephone said the last bit. "Deal. I'll even give you the Stinger. It's not useful to me." It was pretty much true. He used physical materials rather than alchemical ones. "But if we find any mineral materials, can I get those so I can get started on my Shop?" He looked rather hopeful.

[Persephone 0]

“ You keep the stinger… and any of the items. If there’s col though, we’ll split that. Deal?” she said. Things she didn’t necessarily need so much, but col was col and if they were going drinking, money was necessary. They reached the field of the queen, and just as before, there she was just buzzing around in all her glory. A giant wasp, at least 20 feet in length hovering off the ground in an endless loop going from one side to the next until he was activated.

“You ready?” Persephone asked the young man before getting her ass in gear.

 

WASP QUEEN STATS

HP: 110

DMG: 30

 

PERSEPHONE IS GOING INTO BATTLE WITH THE FOLLOWING GEAR, STATS, AND ITEMS:

Spoiler

 

AT READY:

3 Mass Healing Crystals (+15)

4 Health Crystals (+15)

 

 

 

Charging in, Persephone jumped up and swung Light Reaver , activating <<Rage Blow>>. Her falchion smashed right into the queen’s chest and stunned the creature, stopping her from moving. The young woman landed lightly upon her feet, and turned the young man with a wide grin on her face.

“And that’s how it’s done. Now go ahead and give her a good whack while she’s unable to move. “ She said as she stepped back giving her companion room to strike. She readied her weapon once more getting into position so she could stun the monster again once it resumed movement. If they could keep this up, the mob would be dead in no time.

 

90420

BD: 9   CRIT +1     PARALYSIS ACTIVATED

 

PERSEPHONE HITS  WASP FOR 8 DAMAGE (3 BASE +1 CRIT * 2 RAGE BLOW =8 DMG)

-2 ENERGY

 

PERSEPHONE PARALYSES THE WASP QUEEN

WASP QUEEN IS UNABLE TO ATTACK

 

 

PERSEPHONE     220/220     EN: 18/20     HATE: 1

SOTAROU     120/120     EN: 2/2     HATE: 0

 

WASP QUEEN        102/110

Edited November 5, 2017 by Persephone

[Sotarou 0]

Sotarou nodded. "Alright then. Deal." He pulled out his Curved Blade, ready to fight. He saw Persephone jump into the fray and take a heavy swing to the Wasp Queen! And suddenly, the Queen was heavily paralyzed! Well! That made it easy! "Hey, maybe we can chain paralyze it then! My blade's a Paralyze one as well!" And then getting into his horse stance as he'd been taught by his father all those years ago, it was slightly different because he was using a one-handed blade instead of a two-handed Katana... he ran forward and slashed at the Wasp Queen.

As he extended his arm to make the slash at the beast... the blade dragged across the carapace but did no damage. He stopped next to the creature with his strike. "Oh come on! I've been practicing that for ages! That should have done something!" Sighing, he now had to wait for Persephone to bail him out...

 

ID# 90438

BD - 5

Sotarou misses the Wasp Queen, dealing no damage. (-2 Energy: Miss)

PERSEPHONE     220/220     EN: 18/20     HATE: 1

SOTAROU     120/120     EN: 0/2     HATE: 0

 

WASP QUEEN        102/110

Edited November 6, 2017 by Sotarou

[Macradon 0]

[ OOC: HAS BEEN GIVEN PERMISSION BY SOTARU TO COME AND HELP SINCE PERSEPHONE IS INACTIVE ]

The steps of a heavy armor clad player would emit through the forest of the second floor. Heavy steps with a clang in between them all. Macradon was running through the forest in pursuit of his familiar, Belphegor the Cerberus. “Bel! Stop this right now! We don’t have time for this!” he shouted at the cerberus that had gone loose. The three headed hound would run through the forest with a tongue out of each maw, flapping in the wind behind it. The chain fastened to the collar would clang every now and then when it would collide with the ground, a tree or any other obstacle that could be in its way. When Macradon was slowly getting closer and closer, nearly catching up to Belphegor, the two would have arrived close to what seemed like a field boss fight. It was a one on one at this time, someone had recently left the fight with the sound of someone moving in a northern direction. Macradon would quickly grab his sword from its sheath and jump into combat. With one feral swing, Macradon would annihilate the Wasp Queen, parting the insectoid body in twain as he ripped through the digital fabric of the monster with his Phase weapon. As he landed after the attack, Macradon would take off his helmet at look at the young man in front of him. “Sorry I took the last hit, you can have the item. Seemed like you were in danger” he would say, gesturing towards the path where someone had fled.

Spoiler

ID: 101159
BD: 10+2=10(12), Crit +2! Phase Activated. Holy Damage Proc.
CD: 7, Recovery Proc!
Sword art used: Galaxy Destroyer - 13x36-(0/2)=468 Damage

- Health List -
[1]< Persephone > 220/220  HP ||  26 MIT ||  3 Damage ||  18/20  NRG She not here fam
[0]< Sotarou >    120/120  HP ||   9 MIT ||  1 Damage ||   0/2   NRG
[3]< Macradon >  1525/1525 HP || 116 MIT || 18 Damage || 144/148 NRG (-10)(+6)

< Wasp Queen >   -366/110  HP ||   0 MIT || 30 Damage ||             (-468)

Stats:

Spoiler

Macradon - Lvl 75
1545 HP
150 Energy
2 Accuracy
0 Evasion
18 Base Damage (30 w/ Holy) (23 w/ Charge) (19 w/ Ferocity) (24 w/ Ferocity+Charge)
- (1 Base + 2 Two-Handed + 5 Skill + 1 Athletics + 9 Familiar)
116 Mitigation 
- (35 Skill + 81 Armor)

Items
Blade of the Dictator ............ // +12 Holy Damage, Phase
Armor of the Scarlet Templar ..... // +81 Mitigation
Templar's Necklace ............... // +6 Recovery, +1 Accuracy

Belphegor - Familiar ............. // +9 Damage

Battle Ready Inventory
 

Buffs
 

Skills
Two Handed Straight Sword  | Rank 5: +5 Damage
Heavy Armor                | Rank 5: +30 Damage Mitigation
Search and Detect          | Rank 5: +5 LD
Charge                     | Rank 5: +5 Damage on first hit
Battle Healing             | Rank 5: Heal 75 HP each post In-Battle
Fighting Spirit            | +1 Hate generation
Gatherer                   | Obtain additional materials after a successful out of combat gathering based on a natural CD result.
Extended Weight Limit      | +3 Spaces for Battle Ready Items

Disguise                   | +1 to your BD and +1 to your opponent’s BD
Survival                   | Heal 20 HP when out of battle
Familiar Mastery: Fighter  | Rank 3: +9(Tier x Rank) Damage

Skill Mods
Precision                  | +1 Accuracy
Athletics                  | +1 Damage, +45 Health
Ferocity                   | Increases Base Damage by 1
Bull Rush                  | A successful Charge also stuns the target for 1 turn.
Finesse                    | Rank 3: Decreases Eneryg Cost of attacks by 3
Reveal                     | +2 LD when searching for dungeons and labyrinths. You may also search for a sub-dungeon or labyrinth once every 15 posts (instead of 20).
Tracking                   | Allows the user to track a previously-encountered monster, NPC, or other player. Negates all bonuses to the target’s Stealth Rating. After tracking, your first attack against the tracked creature cannot miss. Cannot be used in combat.

@Sotarou

Edited May 17, 2018 by Macradon

[Sotarou 0]

And suddenly, Persephone just up and ran off! What the- and then party left. And suddenly, he had a Wasp Queen who was only interested in fighting him! He wasn't geared to solo this! He... he was gonna die!!! He was-

Suddenly, from out of the bushes there was a 3-headed dog charging forward along with a heavily armored Claymore-wielding Knight! Looked like some sort of Templar type person from those classic parkour games... but he was powerful! Persephone hadn't even done a large chunk... and this guy ups and cleaves it in twain in one swing, making it look so easy! What... just what WAS this guy...?

“Sorry I took the last hit, you can have the item. Seemed like you were in danger” The man spoke up, and Sotarou was stunned as just after the attack and subsequent kill of the Wasp Queen, he fell flat on his butt! A rather pathetic sight from a Medium Armor wearing individual... he picked himself up, pushing himself to a standing position as he brushed himself off... "Well, that's what I get for trusting a random stranger to help me out..." He sighs in defeat. "I was hoping to get some levels off of that Wasp Queen... but I guess I'll have to live with just the quest reward experience... but yeah, thanks. I honestly would not have been able to defeat it on my own. At least, not easily..." He sheathed his jagged bolt-like Curved Blade and held out a hand to the obviously experienced individual. They had a green icon, so it was all good! "Thanks for helping me out. I'm Sotarou. Samurai in Training."

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would smile as he handed over the <<Matriarch’s Stinger>> to the man who called himself Sotarou. Macradon would chortle and reply “Yeah, it can happen sometimes. It’s a bit dangerous to go out on a quest with someone you might not know” he would say as he crouched down to grab the chain of Belphegor, as well as doffing his helmet, revealing his alabaster hair and crimson eyes, quite fitting of his attire. The cerberus would sniff around the ground with its three heads, sniffing for some food or worthy prey that didn’t just die from a single attack. Macradon, in the meantime, would reach out with his free open hand for a handshake “The name’s Macradon, Vanguard Commander of the KoB” he said and gestured to the symbols on his armor. “Nice to meet you” he would say and nod acknowledgingly towards Sotarou. “So uhh …” he would say and continue “who was that person who just left?” he asked.

[Sotarou 0]

Sotarou took the Stinger and shook the hand of the Knight as he introduced himself. “The name’s Macradon, Vanguard Commander of the KoB.” Sotarou coulda sworn he'd heard that title before... somewhere... meh. Not important right now. Though the next question snaps him back to reality as he nods. "Her name is Persephone. I was looking on Floor 2 to help boost my level gain... been stuck in Floor 1 just barely making ends meet with my crafting... but I was starting to peter out with all of the players going to higher floors. Couldn't afford the Inn anymore, so I decided it was time to make my way out. And I have some pretty damn good gear, if I do say so myself... but with a recommended level of 8, I did wanna see about finding others to help me with the Wasp Queen. That's when Persephone showed up. She seemed nice, she had a Green Cursor... so... I thought it was okay. She added me to party... we got the Wasp Queen spawned in, she made the first hit and pulled Hate... then just as I was making an attack, she ran off and left my party! All the Hate she had was suddenly on me... so... thank you. Thank you again for saving me... I don't think I'd have been able to survive more than a couple of hits from that Wasp Queen on my own." He took a breath! He had been saying all of that without really taking a breath! But now that he did take a breath, he was breathing a little quicker before he slowed it down considerably. He did still seem rather calm about it, though. "Sorry. Bad habit of not breathing between sentences..." He chuckles a bit.

[Macradon 0]

Persephone, a name Macradon hadn’t heard before, a person he hadn’t met, which was probably only for the good, since a serial party leaver could become a problem, but since she wasn’t known, Macradon wasn’t too sure if she were good at killing off party members like this, or this is perhaps one of the first times she did. Macradon would try to think of something else for now, as that would only lead to a discussion that he didn’t want to take place with now. Macradon smiled and nodded at Sotarou as a kind regard “No problem, I’ll protect everyone I’m capable of protecting” he said with a smile, thinking of the old pact he made when joining the guild. He would chortle lightly in response, Sotarou had indeed spoken for quite a while without stopping to take a short breath of air, but it only added to the eagerness of the player. “Well then, if you need some help getting through the first pair of levels, I can be at your service, at the moment I haven’t been called in for any meetings, so the frontlines are on cool down right now, I have plenty of time to help you” he said.

[Sotarou 0]

Sotarou nodded to Macradon. "I would not say no to some assistance in leveling. Thank you." Then he went a little quiet as he seemed to be thinking about things... "Umm... that in mind... what would we do next? I mean... other than killing mobs and doing quests... what are some other ways I could level? Do I get more experience if I'm in a fight that's several levels higher than me? I never actually got answers to those questions when I was looking online about this game..." He chuckled a bit nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "I probably seem like a total noob, not knowing what many would consider basics..."

His thoughts lingered a bit longer towards Persephone... I mean... why did she leave like that...? She seemed nice enough... and she even had a green cursor... if she were leaving parties like that just to kill players, you'd think her cursor were at least Orange... but... she didn't seem like the type, either... and Sotarou was a good judge of character most of the time... maybe it was skewed because of the fact that this wasn't real life... ehh, who knows. All that matters now is that there's actually someone willing to help him level. And that was worth more than its weight in gold at the moment!

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would smile and nod at Sotarou in regards of the help “No problem” he replied with a smile. Listening to Sotarou’s questions, Macradon would reply “It seems that the experience gain does not fluctuate too much even when you go up against monsters way out of your league. The best way to grind Experience Points is to probably do a lot of quests in tandem of going through sub dungeons” he would reply. That was the most efficient way for a low leveled player to get a bit more SP in their system. “Don’t worry” Macradon said with a smile “We all have to start somewhere” he would say with a smile. Even Macradon had to start somewhere, he didn’t just appear in the game at level 74, he worked his way up the ranks. “Well, since Questing and Dungeoneering are the best ways of leveling up, are there any quests you haven’t done yet? I can help with most of them” he would ask.

[Sotarou 0]

Sotarou just shrugged to Macradon. "Wasp Queen was the first one. I still need to turn it in, but... I suppose we could just grab all the quests here on Floor 2, then just run everything in one go. That would seem the best way to go, at least in my opinion. But you're more the expert than me." Sotarou would make sure his gear was secured well enough before looking quizzically at the experienced player. "So. Where would we go to start getting all the quests on this floor? I'll probably do them, then move on straight to floor 3 and do those quests and dungeons. Then just keep on going up and up."

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would smile and reply “No no, you’re right here. If we just clear all the quest on this floor and turn them in, we can rack in a good amount of EXP for you, it will help you get some levels and some better gear if not also better skills.”. He would nod and comment on his words “Aye, we can do quests all the way up, but we will first encounter subdungeons on the fifth floor and up, but I’ll do some calculations while traveling with you to see if it’s even worth for you to go into a dungeon where I’m present, it might be that I attract too strong monsters for you to fight against without taking too much damage, get in trouble or might be cornered where I can’t get to you” he would say and try to see if he could think of alternative ways of getting more experience for Sotarou.

[Sotarou 0]

Sotarou shakes his head a bit. "Don't worry about me TOO much... just... if you can keep Hate on the enemies, I'm pretty decent at a blade... or... I would be, if I could actually use Katanas... stupid Katana skill being locked behind Curved Blades... I feel so uneasy using a 1-handed blade... like I'm off-balance. And the handle doesn't exactly lend itself to being used in two hands..." He pulls out his Bolt Blade to show his point. There's only really enough room for one hand and maybe a quarter of another hand. "If I could use a Katana, I'd feel so much more at home..." He sheathes his Bolt Blade and looks to Macradon. "Well, I suppose I should add you to my party... or you add me to yours. I can never figure out the proper etiquette for that sort of thing."

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would smile at Sotarous comment “I’m not fearing that you can’t fight, but no matter how perfect your defense is, a group of high leveled monsters will take you out if you’re not covered up well” he would note. He had been in that kind of situation mutliple times where he overestimated his own strength was was nearly killed by monsters way over his level. “I think I kinda catch your drift, I’m also uneasy when using a lighter sword than what I’m used to, these greatswords have quite the weight behind them, and I just feel like I can’t conjure enough energy in my hits if my blade gets too light” he would say with all his old greatswords in mind, particularly his first crafted sword he used in combat. Macradon would smile and chortle lightly at Sotarou “The party leader is the one to get all the main rewards from quests, so you should add me to your party, but I’ll just add you to my party and make your party leader, feels easier this way” he said and quickly gestured out into the air to get the HUD to appear. Choosing the party section, Macradon would send one at Sotarou’s way.

 

[Sotarou 0]

Sotarou would of course press the Accept button, being added to the party. "Oh, I don't plan on being stupid. I've played a couple of MMOs in the past. Simple tactic for the damage dealer, attack whatever the Tank is focused on." Sotarou was glad to hear that Macradon understood his plight about using a too-light weapon and smiled. "Yeah... I worked with my dad making Katanas IRL, so I've grown more accustomed to their weight than with the weight of this puny thing. It's kinda weird that Kayaba-dono actually made the weapons have realistic weight to them... I mean, with how he planned to trap us here... he put in a ton of effort into it. How long was he working on this game, I wonder... decades, at least..." He shook his head a bit and smacked his cheeks some. "Enough of those thoughts. We should get going before Ms. Queen decides to respawn or something..." He points to the sky! "Onwards to adventure!!!"