[F23-PP] A strange reading or two

[Simmone 0]

Slinking out in the long red chair that graced the center of a rather bigger box, that was the odyssey. Poured out over the length of that seat, a billowing pile of yukata that droops off the sides. It was long enough to reach the floor, and through a slit on the side one can catch up the thigh of an equally long and slender leg. Bouncing off an extended foot, a single sandal only attached via the toes on a curved foot. Simmone was bored, fiddling with that dangling bit of her attire. Today's business had been droll, and slow. Moro and Maru continued to race back and forth, placing objects of all manner of strangeness upon platforms and shelving. "Why is it so slow today, is there some event or something I am missing?" Simmone remarks out to the empty chamber, with no one to confirm or deny her rhetorical suspicion. Sliding out a hand and plucking an awaiting cigarette holder and lighting the end. Pressing it to her lips as her head tilts toward the ceiling. An inhale heavy, drawing deep that ash, before she expels it in a stream into the roof. "I wish something interesting would happen along, my chores are done, and I don't really feel like going out. Any messages girls?" The black cat beckons as she folds her arms and continues to puff, staring at her twins.

"Nope"

"Perfect..." Simmone sighs.

Spoiler

Simmoné, The Black Lotus
Level: 31
Paragon Level: 32
HP: 740/740
EN: 92/92

Stats:
Damage: 27
Mitigation: 63
Evasion: 4
Accuracy: 3
Loot Dice: 8
BLD: 48
BLGT: 32
BRN: 56
ENV.O: 32
REC: 8

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Mythril Foil - Viper [T4/Demonic/Rapier] Blight 1, Bleed 1, Envenom 1, Burn 1
Armor: Black Leather Bodice - Feline [T4/Perfect/LA] Mitigation 2, Evasion 1
Misc: The Black Lotus - Expedition [T4/Perfect/Trinket] Recovery 2, Evasion 1

Custom Skill:


Skills:
Saber R5
Lock Picking R3
Searching R5
Light Armor R3

Active Mods:
Meticulous
Energize

Inactive Mods:

Addons:
Focus
Hyperactive
Dismantling
Precision
Field Medic

Active Extra Skills:
First Aid R5
Concentration

Inactive Extra Skills:

Battle Ready Inventory:
Resonance of the Grave [T1/Perfect (Instant)/Debuff/Incarceration] x5
Resonance of the Grave [T1/Perfect (Instant)/Debuff/Incarceration] x5
Vocal Augmentation - Resonation [Tierless/Perfect/Support/Instant] +15% HP x5
Flash of Rejuvenation [T1/Perfect/Crystal] Mass Heal x5
Flash of Rejuvenation [T1/Perfect/Crystal] Mass Heal x5
Resonance of the Grave [T1/Perfect (Instant)/Debuff/Incarceration] x1

Housing Buffs:
Well Rested: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
Squeaky Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
Hard Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Item Stash: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
Delicious: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Col Stash: +5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests
Advanced Training: +10% Exp to a thread. Limit one use per month [1/1]
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
Decor []: This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

 

[Celeste 1]

Wandering into the building, not even sure why the hell she was here. Others had referred her here if she was looking for something, but what she was after wasn't like a solid object. It was more of an idea, and how the hell would she find it on a shelf? A sharp sigh as she reaches for the door slider, clutching a paper screen and pushing it off to one side. "Anyone in here?" Celeste quips to the entryway. Another set of paper screens slide open to her left in that walkway, and pouring out was a set of girls about the same height. One topped in blue hair, and the other in pink. Their skin was almost a sickly grey color, and the indistinguishable yellow cursors. "NPC's?" They both salute without even a second of pause. "How can we assist you today?" They speak out together, and it dawned on her where she had seen them before. "Oh shit this is Simmone's shop isn't it." She'd caught the girls once or twice when the chick made her morning deliveries. "What does she actually sell, then?"

"All sorts of things."

"I am not really looking for a thing." Celeste remarks again, followed by clutching her forehead. "This is stupid, why I came here for this is beyond me." Turning on her heel and debating just getting the hell out of here. "How can we assist you today?" Fuck I'll shoot. "You all got any idea how to control my temper?" They spread apart and open that screen door, watching a parade of smoke begin to pour out of the entry.

Spoiler

Celeste, The Crimson Tide
Level: 31
Paragon Level: 17
HP: 680/680
EN: 86/86

Stats:
Damage: 29
Mitigation: 63
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 6
Battle Healing: 20
Loot Dice: 3
BRN: 56
HLY: 16
PHASE

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Wash in Cardinal - Reaver [T4/Hammer/Demonic] - Holy 2, Burn 1, Phase
Armor: Red Woven Wave - Stampede [T4/Light Armor/Perfect]: Mitigation 2, Evasion 1
Misc: Platinum Buckle [T1/Trinket/Perfect]: Accuracy 3

Custom Skill:


Skills:
Hammer R5
Light Armor R3
Charge
Battle Healing R3

Active Mods:
Meticulous
Vanish
Surprise Attack (Assassin)

Inactive Mods:

Addons:
Ferocity
Stamina
Precision

Active Extra Skills:
Hiding R5

Inactive Extra Skills:

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleport Crystal x1
Crystal of Divine Light [201986d] x1

Housing Buffs:
Well Rested: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
Squeaky Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
Hard Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Item Stash: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
Delicious: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Advanced Training: +10% Exp to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

 

[Simmone 0]

Her ears perk up as she hears that obvious sound. The sound of her storefront being opened. "A visitor?" Simmone slides up, taking another drag of that cigarette and allowing even more of that smoke to bleed from her lips. As the girls open the set of doors, Simmone can make out the shape, and it takes a moment to clear for her to see. "Celeste?" The acknowledgement of who had graced the black odyssey today. "We'll now, this is interesting." Holding her teeth around that almost glass rod, black and polished. Turning to the rounded table just beside the only arm on this couch sofa thing, and reaching for a piece of fine china.

The black cat begins to offer some hot liquid into it, in a rich brown. A couple lumps of sugar in a cubed shape, one after another, making the top take to ripples. The clattering of a spoon as it batters the edges of that white porcelain, nearly the same color as the woman's skin. Removing the utensil and placing it down on the tray beneath it, it clicks as it drops. To her lips, as she flicks the budding bit of ash from that slender and fuming bit of paper. "What brings you to my humble abode, can't be here on guild business? You don't strike me as the type, no offense." The woman's eyes were muddied with an intensity, as if it was analyzing every move Celeste would make. Like a scientist watching surgery through a window. Matched with this coy and playful smile as she took a sip.

[Celeste 1]

Taking a few steps into the room sees the doors slam shut behind her, which startles the crap out of her at first. "Nah, it's not guild crap. Can't you open a window or something? It stinks in here." The scent of ash was pungent and especially brutal on her keen sense of smell. As she peered at Simmone through that smoke, slowly drinking in the rather detailed and eccentric bit of the room. To her right a large silver mirror embossed and extravagant, to her immediate left a small case with a lifting glass lid pressed into four stilts like wooden legs. On the walls were weapons of all types, everything was so organized.

Complete night and day to her store, which was just a bunch of shit crammed onto tables. Shelving with the strangest shit imaginable, eyeballs floating in liquid, parts from creatures and what looked like rocks with odd markings. It really was an oddity store, kind of explained the recommendation she was paid. "I was told you might have something to help me handle my temper? Like a potion or something, seems kinda farfetched now that I am saying it out loud. Forget it, people can just deal with it." She was willing to accept that such an item would never exist. It was crazy for her to try to seek out something like that, right? You could buff your damage, your defenses. But changing who you are, the game couldn't do that shit. Right? Or it probably would have done something like that already.

[Simmone 0]

That smile widens just the slightest bit, As Simmone places down that glass in her hand. Raising her feet up to her left and folding them upon her sofa. "Is it? There are quite a number of strange things in this game, you know. Stones that change the color of your eyes, drafts that make cutting you burn others. Poisons that make enemies bleed out their insides. It's fair to say that if you can think of it, it may very well be possible." She begins to drink this strange dark purple mixture out of this slender little vial, and as soon as she replaces the cork it starts to fill up again on its own. Once imbibed, her eyes envelop in a gold light.

The skill turned up to 11, Simmone begins to inspect the girl uncomfortably long. "Now, you wish to cure yourself of your temper? Might I ask what for? That seems such an odd request. I've experienced that temper of yours first hand. It's effective, it suits you as much as the color of your clothes. Why would you be rid of it, my dear?" It was an honest question, one backed by truth that was not easy to deny. They'd just the other day engaged a dragon, two trolls and a bunch of babies. And in every instance, it was the girl's temper that kept her moving and swinging. Why would one want to dismiss such a useful source of strength. The black cat was dying to hear the answer.

[Celeste 1]

Caught in a weird space, and slightly uncomfortable with the way that Simmone was staring at her. Folding her arms in a way to shelter herself from the glowing eyes piercing her skin. "I don't know, I just get myself in trouble all the time because of it. Sometimes I just lose control." The red-headed girl admits, maybe it was something about this room, or perhaps something had changed with her directly. But she'd seen others be just as good as her without getting so damn angry. Raking her hand through that weave coming out of her scalp, she contemplates sitting somewhere, but knowing her luck, whatever she found would actually bite her in the ass.

Instead, she finds a wall, one without ornamental weapons slung across pegs and bolted in place. Leaning up against it, her arms take to a cross. "But if I can't control it, wouldn't it be better to just be rid of it entirely. That's what I am looking for. Some option, some way to fix this." All too often she found herself blinded by her fury, and in the process she missed way too much to really participate. It worked fine when it came to little mobs, but when it came to much grander raids. It was there she usually suffered, not able to hear her companions or even communicate at all. The woman couldn't shake the feeling that it would end up getting someone killed. At one time that may have been ok, but now she was able to see that it wasn't.

Edited December 1, 2021 by Celeste

[Gaius 0]

Right into the chamber, Basically as completely out of the blue as Celeste. "That's actually pretty easy. All you have got to do is remember what you are fighting for." Gaius, sliding in and giving a little box to the twins, who quickly rush off to store it away. Gaius wasn't usually one to make these sorts of visits. But Simmone needed this, and hell, he was in the area anyway. He was pretty well versed in what it came to when it came to handling a temper, and he'd never considered that he'd be the one offering any sort of advice regarding it. "Find something to fight for, and hold on to that. It will keep your head clear when it matters." His was Freya, the blonde girl that fell into his life one day, and now he couldn't do without. Celeste just needed to find that thing, that something special, and it wouldn't be as nearly hard as she thought.

Spoiler

Gaius, Firm Anima Tank Buster
Level: 31
Paragon Level: 32
HP: 800/800
EN: 112/112

Stats:
Damage: 23
Mitigation: 50
Battle Healing: 40
Loot Dice: 3
BLD: 48
FLN: 16
H.M.: 6

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Eye of the Gale - Brionac [T4/Demonic/2HAS] - Fallen 2, Bleed 2 (8-10)
Armor: Dragoon's Mantle - Fervor [Heavy] (T3/Perfect) 1 Recovery, 2 Heavy Momentum
Misc: Boar Hide Belt [Trinket] (T1/Perfect) [+3 Loot Dice]

Custom Skill:


Skills:
Polearm R5
Heavy Armor R5
Charge
Energist
Fighting Spirit
Battle Healing R5

Active Mods:
Impetus
Energize

Inactive Mods:

Addons:
Ferocity
Stamina
Iron Skin
Hyperactive

Active Extra Skills:
First Aid R3

Inactive Extra Skills:

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleport Crystal x1
Bird Seed (T2/Rare/Snack) Vitality 2 x1
Crystal of Divine Light [201986a] x1

Housing Buffs:
Well Rested: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
Squeaky Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
Hard Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Item Stash: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
Delicious: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Col Stash: +5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests
Angler: +1 material gained when fishing
Advanced Training: +10% Exp to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
Decor []: This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

 

[Simmone 0]

Looking to the brand-new addition, raising an eyebrow. Simmone had never expected Gaius to ever step a foot in her shop, they were not exactly on the best of terms. More like associates at best. "He is entirely correct, dear. That anger of yours is a strength, but it must be harnessed." Slender legs find the floor, as she starts to move to the right side of that chamber, facing the door. Reaching out to a large linen cloth, and giving it a hardy tug. It slides free, revealing a large platinum mirror. "Come, let's see what it is you see in your reflection." This had worked time and time again, peering into one's true self and what they aspired to be. Such an elegant and yet simple piece, embossed edges rimmed that silver reflective surface. Her eyes still glowing, that refilling potion still ripe in its delivery of power.

[Celeste 1]

Unfolding her arms as she peels her back off the wall. She vaguely remembered Gaius from a few little exchanges, and the guy had seen her at her worst. "That's so simple, and a little stupid. Find something to fight for?" The concept was completely lost on her. It was plastered on her face as one of her eyebrows begin to slowly raise in disbelief. Simmone speaks next in turn, making motion for some large object sporting a cover. Once revealed its this huge standing mirror about the size of a wall. "Is he?" The words came off snarky and a bit sarcastic. "Fine, it's not going to leap out and bite me or any weird shit is it?" Moving out in front of that mirror, she can't even see anything in it for a few good couple seconds. Wtf was it broken?

Manifesting in front of her, an image of herself but sporting different clothes. The composure seemed much more gentle, more refined. But it sported a nasty set of crimson eyes, the weapon she didn't even recognize either. She didn't own anything like it.