[PP-F01] Stepping out of the Bounds <<The First Lesson>>

[Sunflower 0]

For a floor that use to be bustling with all kinds of players everything was ominously quiet.  NPC's stood wordlessly behind their stalls waiting for travelers that would occasionally come through but never stay.  Those who lived long enough had long learned that the stores on the upper floor were better suited for surviving.  And that player stores were sometimes better than game generated items.  Luckily some of those store also existed on the first floor.  In fact, the young player had just visited one a few day ago to get her first weapon.  The one handed straight sword rest against her lower back.  It's presence still felt strange but she had started to grow slightly reassured by it.  Even if this quest did not require a weapon she had brought it and that said a lot. 

As she had started toward the shop to speak with the potions master she thought about next steps.  There was part of her that really wanted to ask another player to join her on the quest, but the other part of her didn't want to involve anyone else.  However, Sunni managed to reason with herself that if she had to tell her brother that she went out of the bounds it would be better to tell him it was with someone else.  As that reason settled it allowed her to focus on the task as hand - finding a partner. 

@NIGHT

Sunflower | HP: 20/20 | EN: 20/20 | DMG: 3

Equipment: 

• Soldier's Broadsword | 1H Straight Sword | Damage // Damage
  Description: A broadsword with a brown leather handle. It's blade seems unusually sharp.

Edited February 1, 2023 by Sunflower

[Bistro 0]

If Bistro was nowhere to be seen upon first entering Cintimani, it was usually guessed that she would be located within the laboratory itself. An open entrance frame to it behind the counter; with the ring of a bell, she would come running, or at least holler for patience before getting to a customer.

This was not the case today. Quiet and distracted, the alchemist was seated within the second section of the shop, which had gone unused the entire time since the start of her crafting career. On tables of orange and white hues, her workload was scattered -- scrap papers scrawled with short-handed notes almost threatened to flood the floor. The player, absent minded, was tapping her pen against the wooden surface, creating an ambient noise, almost rhythmic, as the backdrop of her haphazard study.

Today was not a good day for the infobroker, and the scrunch on her face showed it, had anyone been present enough to look through the windows of a neglected showroom. But the ring of a bell indicating someone had entered the Cintimani would startle her from her daze -- enough for her to fall silent once again, but not to push her from her seat. At best, they would get a concerned, "Hello?", her voice distant from the entrance, before the player even thought of searching for signs of a customer.

@Sunflower

---

| Bistro.

Spoiler BISTRO | Lv. 13 | DMG: 16 | HP: 260/260 | EN: 44/44 | LD: 3 equipment. Bien S'en Tirer | LOOT DIE III   skills. Spoiler TWO-HANDED SPEAR | Rank 5/5 COMBAT MASTERY: DMG | Rank 3/3

 

Edited January 28, 2023 by Bistro

[Sunflower 0]

Finding a partner has proven harder than expected.  At that point Sunni had approached three different players. Each one of them seemed to have a reason not to join her; “Sorry – I’m already meeting someone,” “Oh, so sorry. I’m heading back from a quest.”, her personal favorite being the one where the player just pretended not to hear her. Despite that she was determined to find a partner. 

If a player on the street wouldn’t help her then maybe a shopkeeper would. Honestly, she was running out of ideas and in a sudden wave of desperation the small girl popped into a small shop called Cintimani. Much to her surprise there was no one standing at the counter to the shop.  “Hello?” she called, the slightest bit of desperation making itself known.  Hearing the feeling come through in her voice she cleared her throat and tried again, “Hello, is anyone here?” This time the voice that left her throat sounded closer to normal.  

@NIGHT

Sunflower | HP: 20/20 | EN: 20/20 | DMG: 3

Equipment: 

• Soldier's Broadsword | 1H Straight Sword | Damage // Damage
  Description: A broadsword with a brown leather handle. It's blade seems unusually sharp.

[Bistro 0]

A response. But not from a voice she'd recognized. Had it been one of her usual customers, perhaps she would've kept still -- but at the stranger's second call, Bistro rose from her seat instead.

Maybe they didn't hear her the first time? Although, it sure would've been strange to be caught in an exchange of 'hello's...

"I'm here," Bistro announced, as she shuffled through the door frame, shrugging off the last of her concerns with her paper work for the time being. A hand was set upon a nearby wall, as she examined the gear of the other player, an eye on the blade that seemed standard. "Are you looking for anything? If there's nothing on the shelves that interest you, I've got time to handle a custom request right now."

The alchemist gestured over to the potions on sale, before stepping over quick to pick up a vial filled with liquid light. Carefully, she held it out for her customer to consider. "Going hunting? Most people look for a damage increase from these. We should have stock of mitigation potions, too, if you need them."

@Sunflower

Edited February 4, 2023 by Bistro

[Sunflower 0]

Half expecting no one to appear Sunni started to pivot on her left foot, preparing to leave the shop.  If there had been a response to her entrance or greeting it had bypassed any recognition.  Unfortunately, that tends to happen during self-reflection.  And apparently it had happened this time too.  A taller player with messy, short midnight locks wandered through the door.  While she was pretty, her most outstanding feature was the pair for red and green eyes that met her crimson ones. 

“Christmas…," Sunni mumbled, automatically being brought to a place of joy and light as memories flood her mind’s eye.  Realizing that the women was talking the young player refocused and caught the gist of the statement.  The shopkeeper was asking if she was adventuring and interested in potions. Of course, that would be asked. It was a natural response to someone entering a shop that sold good and wears.

“Maybe a bit later,” She pondered while glancing around curiously, “I actually have a bit of a different request. Ya see, I would really like to go on my first quest today and I was really hoping to have someone go with me and I’ve asked a couple people already and they said no this one guy just said ign-“ Sunni took another breath before continuing, “ored me. Anyway, if you have time could you go with me?” A hopeful smile was then directed at the shopkeeper.

@NIGHT

[Bistro 0]

First quest? So a novice, then... but there was nothing wrong with players that seemed to start on their journey late. The more the merrier, Bistro had found. Their life in captivity had turned out to be a game of endurance, in both surviving the hunt and keeping their spirits up to face it the next day.

The shopkeeper nodded, understanding the proposal, before storing the vial in her hand back on the shelf. A grin graced her visage as she realized a failing of the exchange -- "I suppose I might, but I haven't even gotten an introduction from yourself yet." -- so she extended her hand for a shake. "I'm Bistro."

Bistro gestured to her customer's weapon afterwards. "So long as you're the one willing to do battle." Though, she stopped herself, concerned. "Though, it's better if either of us managed to stay out of that for now, for safety. In truth, I've not participated in much of quest completions myself." The shopkeeper leaned against the counter, tilting her head. "You're not expecting to head out on a combat quest right off the bat, are you? Have you been out to the Fields of Beginnings, before today?"

[Sunflower 0]

It seems that Lady Luck had finally started to pay attention.  A grin a spread over the women’s smooth features as a hand extended out, and then she introduced herself as Bistro.  There was not a moment’s hesitation as a smaller pixelated hand reached out to firmly grasp the larger one, “Sunflower, but everyone calls me Sunni.”

Attention being drawn to the weapon secured behind her waist; a light smile graced her features.  The weapon had been procured not too long ago from a shop on the first floor – The Ring and the Sword. It had not yet seen the light of combat, but she was still fond of the weapon. “I have! A couple times – but never by myself,” Sunni admitted, twirling a lock of the warm ruby colored hair, “but I rest assured that I don’t plan to do a combat quest.  Reading the description, the quest appears to be gathering supplies for the old Alchemist.”

It was one of the beginning quests on the floor.  Go talk with the mayor, who will tell you to talk with the old Alchemist, and so on.  It occurred to Sunni that Bistro may have already done this quest as it was part of the introduction and the older player was not new to adventuring, “Have you done that quest before?”

@NIGHT

[Bistro 0]

In good hands, then, the both of them. Between the quest objective catering to an alchemist himself, and the experience out in the wild the two of them had, they would be unlikely to run into battle, trouble. So Bistro nodded, considering. "The First Lessons, I presume. I'm sure I can accompany you for that."

“Have you done that quest before?”

"No, I haven't. But I know enough people who have, and the quest isn't too difficult to complete. So we should be able to manage."

Bistro started to shift from her position to rummage around her shop. Her hands picked at a shelf of books and pages at the far end of the shop. Some were replaced upon a brief glance at their contents; others dissipated into the ether. "I'm not so much the adventurer than I am supportive personnel. A management for investigations, a trader of intel; those roles suit me better. There's more than enough players acting as our heroes, and they're going to need people to come back to."

When the player was done, she walked towards Cintimani's entrance. She kept the door open, leaning against it, before gesturing for Sunni to pass through. The moment they took to the streets, Bistro opted to fall in stride with the other woman, walking side by side with her.

"It's highly unlikely that the quest would require a discerning eye for the herbs. Players have completed the quest before alchemy was introduced to them."

She waved her hands idly as she spoke, a glint of light caught in her eyes. Then, curious, she turned to Sunni. "If you don't mind me asking, what took you to the fields the first few times?"

@Sunflower