[PP-F1] Appraising game <EaL Cook> (Freyd)

[Freyd 0]

"Two things," Freyd added, holding up three fingers just to see if Marv was paying attention.  "First, promise me you'll never ask me to find your familiar with you., or to train it." A mild shudder trembled through his shoulders at the thought of repeating that ordeal.  He'd gone through it too many times already. 

"Second," he added counting the next finger, "You need to promise me that you'll get capable enough to help me on a dungeon run someday."  

He paused, as if wondering if his count might have been off.  

"And, also second, I'd ask that you pass it forward someday when you eventually find another player who is just starting out.  I don't do generosity, if that's what you're thinking.  This is an investment," he explained, nodding towards the items in Bismuth's hands.  "If anything, I'm repaying a debt I incurred in my own early days.  Now, don't we have raspberry fragments to find, or some such nonsense?  Maggie always wants the strangest ingredients."

[Bismuth 0]

Bismuth listened to all three, well two if you believed Freyd's words, conditions towards getting these items from him, all of these seemed like completely acceptable agreements, he wasn't planning on getting help with a familiar, and he didn't even really know how, and when it came to dungeons he would need all the protection he could get anyways, he wanted to start diving into dungeons anyways, it was a place where his research was absolutely and severely lacking, and he needed to fix that, maybe with Freyd's help that would be possible.

Bismuth nodded "That seems like a fair trade." He smiled at the much higher level man sitting next to him, he was odd for sure, but maybe he wasn't so bad after all. Bismuth found himself nodding again at Freyd's asking to leave stepping to stand astride him at the gate. "Though I think she was looking for blueberries. Luckily I am pretty sure I know just where to find them." Bismuth winked at Freyd before starting to walk out into the sprawling fields that were the first floor

[Freyd 0]

Waiting until Bismuth had wandered a dozen paces beyond the gate and well out of earshot, Freyd turned and shared a knowing glance with Marv, except Marv didn't look back.

"Wait 'til he gets to the one with the boars.  It either goes quick or really badly.  Keep an eye on him, will ya Marv?  He might need a little saving, when the time comes."  Unspoken memories lay behind those words, but they didn't need re-hashing.  Both of them knew what he meant, or at least Freyd did.  Waving a hand in the tepid afternoon breeze, he dismissed the dregs of their ritual sup to whatever mystical elsewhere such objects were banished when they were not in the 'here'.  It was one of those 'tree in the forest without anyone around' type of places, he was sure. 

Stepping aside and through Marv's shadow, Freyd was suddenly striding a pace behind Bismuth again, without the slightest sound having been made.  Such were the talents of a Whisper.  A reasonable bargain struck.  The foundations of future benefit laid.  It had been a good morning.  But, by whatever gods there might actually be in this place, did he ever hate wandering around in circles picking plants.  He'd much rather be wading through endless waves of mobs, or just handing the needed mats to Bismuth than wandering around.  Sometimes the price was unpleasant.  

"Just, please," he finally added, a hint of strain in his voice, "keep the glasses on.  You have no idea how many times I've wandered these field looking for 'blueberries,' or some other variation on a theme."

[Bismuth 0]

Bismuth was practically buzzing with excitement, he had already been around the first floor hundreds of times at this point, avoiding anything actually dangerous or hiring guards, but the excitement never wore off for him when it came to the exploration of his environment. Bismuth didn't notice the slight lag that Freyd had as he was leaving the town, Freyd had practically if not completely silent footsteps so he had just assumed that the man was following a step right behind him like he normally did. "Trust me, I don't think these glasses are ever coming off, I can already feel the difference that these are going to make when it comes to my gathering and my research." Bismuth smiled a big goofy grin, something that didn't seem in place with his normally carefree and cool smiles. "Here this way, I know where a bunch of blueberry bushes can be found really close to here. With any luck, it won't take very long to find the materials." 

Bismuth found himself walking very fast, eager to try out these new glasses, the bushes were only a fifteen minute walk from the gate that Marv was stationed at, but it only took him 8. Finding the grove where he remembered it to be Bismuth practically dove into the bushes. Not fully knowing how the glasses would be helpful, he just sort of looked around the bushes, hoping to see just how good they were, but nothing came up immediately.

Spoiler

Gathering:

LD: 6 + 3 = 9 = failure

 

Edited February 6, 2022 by Bismuth

[Freyd 0]

Freyd perched himself on a familiar rock, content to enjoy a bit of warmth and sunlight on skin that seemed to remain pale no matter how many scorched floors he traversed.  He'd sat on this rock a dozen times doing the same thing, helping one player or another get their first foot out the door, just as he'd been helped, albeit in a less direct manner.  Not everyone could be lucky enough to have an epic blade fall from the sky and clatter to the ground at their feet.  He still wondered how @NIGHThad lost it in the first place.  The weapon had since been passed on, though he hadn't seen its bearer in ages.  It might be worth looking her up to see whether or not she was keeping her promise.  @Ruler wasn't the type to skip out on an oath.  She was, ironically, too much of a rules follower.

"Try over by the bull rushes.  They are usually a few nodes clustered near the reeds.  Just, mind the ducks.  They can be nasty."

[Bismuth 0]

Bismuth considers Freyd's advice for a second before shaking his head a little "Normally I would agree with you, but the nodes over by the bull rushes generally only give reeds or duck eggs, unless you're really lucky that is." Bismuth stayed where he was still just looking around, until he saw it, one of the bushes seemed to have a feint blue outline. Bismuth took a few steps towards it before lifting off the glasses again, no more blue aura. Putting the glasses back down Bismuth noted that the aura was very faint, so extra attention would have to be payed when searching, but these were definitely very helpful.

Bismuth looked back towards Freyd "These glasses are amazing" he was smiling ear to ear at his new toy, he didn't look long though before he started walking over to the bush with the faint blue glow, he picked the handful of berries off of the bush, before noting that when he was done the faint glow had dissipated. "I found some, but I don't think this will be nearly enough." Bismuth called out, making sure to now pay extra attention to the outline of the bushes he was searching through.

Spoiler

Gathering:

LD: 15 + 3 = 18 = success

+1 Material

1/5

 

Edited February 6, 2022 by Bismuth

[Freyd 0]

"I once watched a friend of mine turn several lumps of coal, shards of glass and a bowl full of purple goo into the best-tasting sandwich I've ever tasted in this place.  The point being: don't limit yourself to what seems to make sense.  However real and immersive it may feel, this world is still an MMO, with all the various oddities and inconsistencies that usually entails.  I have several dragons' hoards worth of materials available at my fingertips, for example, none of which I can provide to you to help finish this quest.  Because the system won't allow it.  You could use them as mats yourself, of course, but not as viable quest items."

Freyd just shrugged, as if that were the best and only way of explaining the weirdness of their world.  

"What really throws me for a loop is the notion that we might eventually return to our world and have become so used to how we live in here that everything out there won't make any sense anymore.  We'll have to adapt all over again.  Or, maybe, all the time we spent in here will amount to five minutes out there, and we won't even remember any of it."

Turning his right arm so that that the palm faced skyward, a black, liquid-like ooze poured out from his sleeve to cover his hand.  It looked like a vial of spilled ink, at first, until the stuff rose up on its own and took the shape of a small ferret-like creature and opened a pair of large azure eyes that blinked at him a few times.  The shadow-thing sat upright on two legs, shifting its gaze back and forth from Freyd to Bismuth as if awaiting instructions.

"Persi, meet Bismuth," Freyd said, chuckling softly.  "Please try not to eat him."

[Bismuth 0]

Bismuth shrugged at Freyd's story, there were a lot of things that could be made out of a lot of different things, the part about the quest made since though, the quest was to gather materials after all, not to just have materials, if he didn't do the gathering, then he didn't actually do the quest. "Yeah, that might be the case for some, but for me, I can't make a blueberry pie without the blueberries, even though it could be possible. I don't know maybe it is OCD. And beyond that if you were to just hand me the materials I needed then, that wouldn't be gathering them would it, and that is half of the fun." Bismuth shot Freyd a wink from behind his round golden glasses before returning to look at the bushes.

"The outside world doesn't have much for me anyways." Bismuth seemed to falter in his searching for berries before continuing "At least here I can do something marginally useful." Turning back to Freyd some of Bismuth's glee and joy had faded, but at seeing the ooze leaking out of Freyd's hands his curiosity was peaked. "Persi huh? What is he, I don't think I have seen anything like that before." Bismuth pulled out his journal and pencil "May I?" he asked before flipping it to a completely blank page.

 

Spoiler

Gathering:

LD: 1 + 3 = 4 = failure

 

Edited February 6, 2022 by Bismuth

[Freyd 0]

Freyd felt something when the man mentioned a lackluster existence beyond the confines of their imprisoned existence.  It was his reality also, but not something he shared casually.  Instead, his used it as fuel to motivate him in the game.  If getting everyone out who wanted it accomplished something, then it was a goal worth pursuing.  He'd also made promises to that effect, and didn't easily abandon oaths once given.

"Persi?  Actually, Persistence is her full name.  Wait until you do the familiar quests and you will understand."  The lean, inky creature gave Freyd a knowing glance that suggested he should watch his tone.  To be fair, she always looked at him skeptically, so it was hard to tell if she could actually understand a word he said, or just thought he was a moron.  It could go either way.  

"She's a shadow mongoose.  We found each other on floor five, in a series of canyons not far from Fortaleza.  That's a stinking hot floor, if you're ever looking to have your outsides baked for no real reason."  Fondness filtered from behind his eyes towards the diminutive creature.  Rubbing the nape of her shadowy neck made her flop like a puddle onto the stone.  "We've been through an awful lot together.  And she's one hell of a fighter, having saved my butt and Raidou's on a couple of occasions."  

Pulling his hand away, he tapped a few times at the open air.  A small package appeared in his hand, which he casually tossed in Bismuth's direction.

"Here.  Take this.  It might improve your odds a bit.  I keep a full larder around for just such occasions."

***

Freyd gives Bismuth:

Berry Crumb Bars (Snack) | LOOT DIE 3
Tart crumbled and held knitted together by jam and cut pieces of berries. Chewy, crumbly, complex. Mild.
ID 195115-1

[Bismuth 0]

Bismuth made a very quick sketch of the shadow mongoose that Freyd called his familiar before it turned into a shadow once more. "It definitely seems like it would be incredible to have a shadow around." Bismuth remarked, definitely something that would make an amazing scout, but he had heard that the gypsy was hard to track down, so he wasn't really going to decide on any specific creature to have as a familiar, rather just see what happens if he ever does run into the gypsy. 

Bismuth caught the treat as it was tossed to him giving it a glance to see what it was before consuming it, it was a bonus to his luck, and therefore his chance of both finding and gathering from the material nodes around him "Why thankyou, hopefully with this we can get this gathering out of the way so you don't have to help me with it anymore." Bismuth ate the small tart snack and could feel it taking affect, this coupled with the glasses would have him finding the materials he needed in no time. "I guess I will get back to it." With that Bismuth turned back towards the bushes rustling through them as he searched.

Spoiler

Bismuth Consumes Berry Crumb Bars (Snack) | LOOT DIE 3

 

 

[Freyd 0]

The end results were all that mattered, in the Whisper's eyes.  Gratitude was not required for resources provided, and he cared little for the etiquette that others relied upon to sustain their fragile social structures.  In other words, Freyd didn't need people around to be nice, so long as they got the job done.  Whether Bismuth had figured it out or not, Freyd was tagging along for one simple reason: to evaluate him.

"She definitely has her uses, if you can manage her attitude," he said, softly, his grin pairing off against her narrowed gaze.  "And, if I had any compunctions about tagging along, you can rest assured that I wouldn't be here.  But you have a fascination for information, as I do.  Making contacts is mutually advantageous.  I also happen to be someone with a hearty appetite for consumable, and it can be helpful to know as many suppliers as possible."

He paused, leaning one elbow against a raised knee while the other pinched his chin.  

"I do wonder, though, why you seem so eager to put people off, or push them away.  This game of witty banter combined with aloof sass sends mixed signals.  It doesn't bother me in the slightest, but seems counterproductive."

This time, Freyd wasn't smiling at all, and Bismuth was the one being scrutinized by a pair of azure eyes.

[Bismuth 0]

"I merely meant that you don't seem to like gathering very much, no reason to keep you helping me with something you don't enjoy, whether you don't mind helping or not, even if just to gain a contact." Bismuth looked back towards Freyd as his demeanor seemed to shift. Bismuth wasn't sure what he was going to say next. but judging on his expression, it was probably nothing good.

Bismuth was right, to an extent, Freyd's question wasn't necessarily a bad one, but it was one that he wasn't expecting. Though bismuth simply smiled at him and winked "We all have to have a few secrets don't we, there is nothing to gain from being an open book." Bismuth turned to survey the plants around him again, none of them seeming to have the blue aura, but it was faint, and there were a lot of bushes surrounding him. "And besides, I think my witty banter and aloof sass send the exact signals I want them to send." The hunt was taking bismuth longer than he had hoped, even with the buffs and all the knowledge he had on gathering, luck was still the most important factor.

Spoiler

Gathering:

LD: 8 + 6 = 14 = failure

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Bismuth

[Freyd 0]

Freyd snorted, unable to contain his agreement, but his smile returned in the process.  The cowl remained to conceal most of his features and expressions, like a sort of shroud behind which the many details of his own exploits and adventures would likewise remain a secret.

"Yeah.  Foraging is not my thing, at all.  Doesn't really bother me much, though fishing is better suited for me, I think."  Had he misread the man?  Not likely.  But this approach was likely to rub others the wrong way, despite his assertions.  Freyd was more inclined to believe that he had figured Bismuth out - classifying patterns and traits akin to the way his companion took everything down in his sketchbook.  He dissected people in much the same way Bismuth had, wondering about Persi just a few moments earlier.  

Shifting his gaze to a nearby tree, Freyd seemed to be looking through it, or more accurately at a shadowy crook where its tangled assortment of roots met the ground.  Lips pursed in reaction to whatever he observed, but parted to say nothing.  The man was oddly unfathomable, seemingly random yet utterly purposeful.  It made him seem a paradox, which might have been entirely the point.  If so, it begged questions.

"Funny way to put it," he replied.  "Open books are usually the easiest to read."

[Bismuth 0]

Bismuth chuckled a bit, he didn't understand how anyone could not like foraging, the exploration the excitement that comes when you do find something, and if that's something that you had never found before that excitement only grows. "Fishing is so boring though, just standing there with a pole, foraging is so much more fun, there is exploration and wonder." Bismuth wasn't really the type of person who could sit in one place for very long and be content, unless he was painting or drawing that is, you have to be willing to sit there for hours on end if you want to get all the details just right after all. 

The snack that Freyd had given him made it more likely for material nodes to spawn around him, and pairing that with the glasses ability to see those nodes more clearly led to a much faster time at finding the berries that he was looking for, picking another handful off a bush to his side before responding to Freyd's last remark. "Being easy to read is what makes you easy to manipulate, it's easiest to use people who you know everything about." Bismuth was very nonchalant about all of his ideas, which were all far more pessimistic then his tone would normally let on. He seemed to be talking from experience, though on which side no one would be able to tell.

Spoiler

Gathering:

LD: 18 + 6 = 24 = success

+1 Material

2/5

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Bismuth

[Freyd 0]

"Spoken like someone who's been burnt in the past.  I know.  I've been there too."  A single arched brow countered any surprise.  Freyd crossed his arms over his chest before consciously making the effort to break down that barrier and place them on his knees instead.

"It's not easy to let people get close, or take the risks that trust requires.  It leaves you exposed, and almost inevitably hurt."  He licked his lips, clearing his throat as if trying to clear hesitation away.  "It also doesn't leave you with much a life, cut off from everyone and everything."  Freyd pointed at the fields through which Bismuth was scouring.  "Foraging is no different.  What would you be able to find if you never left home?  You'd never have to chance to return home with handfuls of treasures, and a sketch book full of stories to match."  He wrung his hands for a moment before lacing long, slender fingers together and resting his chin atop their backs.

"Be careful how much you choose to hide, Bismuth, for others, or from yourself.  It carries a far less obvious but more dangerous risk than most people realize."

[Bismuth 0]

Bismuth didn't look towards Freyd, he just laughed dryly "Burnt? More like beaten." Bismuth voice was barely above a whisper as he remarked that to himself. "I don't mind people getting close, I don't know if you've noticed, but I like people real close to me." Bismuth looked back up at Freyd winking before going back to his bushes, picking more berries as he scrounged through them like a raccoon. Bismuth was trying his best to keep himself focused and to not let his mind wander as he went through the bushes checking the same bush multiple times due to his distraction. Bismuth doesn't respond to freyd's analogy as he just sort of stands there quietly scanning all of the bushes before him. To him the risk was a calculated one, he knew what he was doing, and he was being the kind of person who no one could use, and no one could hurt, and that was just fine by him. 

Spoiler

Gathering:

LD: 20 + 6 = 26 = success

+1 Material

3/5

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Bismuth

[Freyd 0]

Freyd remained still as the stone upon which he sat, pondering the significance behind Bismuth's unspoken words.  He had his own demons of his own and the trauma to back it up.  Watching the junior player scurrying through the underbrush, he saw himself from the not-so-distant past.  Could he really blame him for being elusive?  He'd been ten times worse and far more skittish as his earliest self.  

"Yeah," he add, lifting his head to stare at the distant edge of the floor, that strange false horizon leading to an endless, empty sky beyond.  "That's fair.  I've been there too.  Just promise yourself that when the time is right, you'll find someone to trust.  I'm not asking for anything, here.  It's just a bit of friendly advice from someone who's been down his own bumpy road, like so many of us have."

Snaring a small stone from atop the larger rock, he flicked it out into the grasslands, scaring the bejesus out of some poor starling in the process.  

That's just what I do, isn't it?  Scare the absolute crap out of everything I go near?

Memories intruded, filled with angry Irish scolding and the flutter of hair the colour of verdigris.  

"This is a tough place to stay alone, Bismuth.  Solitude exacts its own price, and it's rarely what you expect it to be."

[Bismuth 0]

Bismuth didn't even know what to think, in this moment, he could just feel his mask crumbling around him, Maybe it was the way Freyd was talking, or maybe it was just getting too hard to keep up the act anymore. Bismuth couldn't see any glowing bushes as he looked up at Freyd, a broken face of sorrow replacing what was there before, it was like Bismuth had shrunk and deflated, all of the confidence gone, replaced by fear, So intense it seemed to be radiating off of him in waves. 

Not trusting his words Bismuth just nodded at Freyd before turning back to his task, still deflated, still broken. Alone, that was something that Bismuth had always been, since the moment he was born. An orphan, unwanted and abandoned. Bismuth's life was spent alone, and when he finally thought he had found people, they just wanted to use him for his smarts. It wasn't even that Bismuth didn't want to let people in, at this point, he was just to broken to let his shell go. Maybe that would change, but for now, he needed his mask to survive. Someday he would find himself, but that would not be today.

Spoiler

Gethering:

LD: 3 + 6 = 9 = failure

 

Edited February 8, 2022 by Bismuth

[Freyd 0]

Old Freyd would have watched dispassionately as the man before him wilted into himself.  He wouldn't have understood and wouldn't have cared.  But, thanks to the efforts of many and over the long haul, he'd finally managed to rekindle that spark within that required to connect to another human being's plight.

"Look," he began, haltingly.  This wasn't really his thing and never had been, so it was more like trying to turn a nugget of raw ore into a sword than just shaking the rust off.  "If you need space and to do your own thing, that's cool.  I've been there. I've actually been to some of the very darkest corners of there, partly brought thereby my own choices.  Those choices are yours, and should only ever be so.  But, I can offer this: when the time comes that you want to choose a different path, I will be waiting."

He scrunched his face off, as if the words carried an unfamiliar taste that would take time to properly acquire.  Why did human decency have to taste like black licorice?!  Yuck.

"I'm not getting all sappy, and would probably fail if I tried, but one of the biggest consequences of keeping your distance from the world is that there can be no one left around when you're ready to change your mind.  That's all I'm offering: a person to be there when you need it, because I know how much it sucks." 

Freyd quieted for a moment, looking back down the road he'd traveled to reach this rock, sitting on the same stone over and over again.

"I'm still here because were there when I needed them, even though I didn't realize it at the time.  And, like you, I don't much like feeling indebted to others.  So, take this as me paying forward and paying off one of my own.  But only if you want it, and without any strings attached.  Has to be that way, or it means nothing."

[Bismuth 0]

Bismuth just stood there letting Freyd talk as he looked over the bushes surrounding him, not looking very hard as he just listened, it was hard to describe, the amount of comfort that Bismuth took in the man's words. Someone being there for him wasn't really something he had ever had, and whether he knew the person he was here with or not, the idea of that alone was enough to send the man into a breaking point, something he had already surpassed. 

"Thankyou." Bismuth looked at Freyd, the sorrow didn't seem as sharp, still clearly there, but much softer and round at this point, it seemed like instead where there was nothing there was a tiny fire, not a big one, easy to put out, but more than there had been before. Bismuth smiled, it wasn't the carefree or cocky smile he normally had, but want that seemed genuine, but it soon faded away. Bismuth looked away again intent on finding his berries, today had been more than he had expected, but, Freyd seemed to be genuine, and that was the first time anyone had been. Bismuth pocketed more berries before continuing his work, stealing glances at his companion, maybe there was more to him than Bismuth could see.

Spoiler

Gathering:

LD: 11 + 6 = 17 = success

+1 Material

4/5

 

Edited February 10, 2022 by Bismuth