[F22-PP-ST-PT] A huntress pulls upon the string (What we Fight For)

[Nisahime 0]

The billowing fog of the forest of memories would invite none to travel its troublesome depths. That soft white film spreads thinly through the air, causing the faint obscurity to play upon eyesight. Beneath it the dark oak wood trees would sit vaguely through the mist, drawn loosely as hard to make out silhouettes topped with a rich and dark green that would conceal the night sky. Murmurs of the restless would chatter angrily in faint whispers near impossible to make out, just beyond perceptions enough to understand but vivid enough to confirm the dread of isolation. Worse off, it felt ever silent beyond these sounds. No rustling, no birds. As if time stood still within this forest. It smelled of rot and fresh dew, a pungent scent that seemed to stick to the nose and to clothes warn. Skin would burn under the dimly lit streaks of white that would cause the mists to glow gently.

The occasional glance of a phantom that seemed to look on in a observation or perhaps worse, a woman in white aiming to harvest a soul.

Who would dare threaten their very life by wandering so carelessly within the depths of madness?

---

<<Storyteller System Engaged: What We Fight For>>

Activated:
Library [1/1] -> Once per charge, if a Storyteller is eligible to claim a Guild Token, their character gains +10% bonus EXP at the end of the thread. This buff may only apply once per thread.
Final EXP Reward: +10% Final EXP Reward (Nisahime)

---

The Player spend their first post wandering into the forest of memories

True Tier: 7

[Sam 0]

Today was the day, it had been some time since she had come here. There was something that needed to be found, visualizing it in her mind. Walking slowly behind the guild hall, could see the mist filled air in the distance. Last time she was here, a week had passed with no real time attached for her at least. Stepping into the darken fog that impeded her vision, almost immediately hearing what sounding like chatter filled with rage so far yet so close. Not sure if this was what was heard last time she was here if if it was her mind fighting with reality as she knew it. Taking a deep breath as the smell of rot disturbed her senses. It was different from before yet familiar in a way that this time Sam wasn't in her own head, paying attention to the surrounds this time. Dark shaded figures of trees would be seen, unsure if they sat close or further away from where Sam stood. More over it felt like her skin that lays beneath her robe was burning. A new sensation from before, started to wonder if this was why her skin was so red when exiting the last time.

Continuing into the depths, silence fell. Nothing could be heard beside her own thoughts, at this point, Sam felt truly alone. A hand placed on a tree, it felt rough, trying to grip where she was in the reality that was severally impared at this point.

---

Sam | HP: 840/840 | EN: 122/122 | DMG: 23 | MIT:20 | ACC:3 | AA  | PHASE | EVA:1 | REC: 8 | LD:9 | PROSP:1 | QTY: 2
 

Spoiler

Sam, Raven of Sin
True Tier: 8
Level: 33
Paragon Level: 47
HP: 840/840
EN: 122/122

Stats:
Damage: 23
Mitigation: 20
Accuracy: 3
Evasion: 1
Loot Die: 9
Stealth Rating: 5
AA
PHASE
REC: 8
QTY: 2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket:
  - Bhafel, Decree of War (PROJ-T4-Demonic): Absolute Accuracy, Accuracy 2, Phase
Armor/Trinket:
  - Raven's Fickle Fortune - Solera:Loot Dice 2, Recovery 2
Shield/Armor/Trinket:
  - Anathema's Merit:Quality 2, Loot Dice 1, Prosperity 1

Combat Mastery:
  - Combat Mastery: Damage R3

Combat Shift:
  - AOE Shift

Familiar Skill:
  -

Custom Skill:
  -

Skills:
  - Cloth Armor R5
  - Energist
  - Projectile Weaponry R5
  - Quick Change
  - Searching R5

Extra Skills:
  - Hiding R5
  - Concentration
  -
First Aid R3
Inactive Extra Skills:

Addons:
  - Ferocity
  - Nimble
  - Precision
  - Stamina

Mods:
  - Athletics
  - Surpise Attack: Trickster
  - Tracking
  - Vanish

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - Acolyte's Light (T4-Perfect-Cloth Armor): Evasion 1, Recovery 2 x1
  - Bhafel, Strand of Vengeance (PROJ-T4-Demonic): Envenom 1, Bleed 1, Frostbite 1, Static 1 x
  - Gold Promise - Din's Flame (T1/Perfect):Accuracy 1, Evasion 2  x

Housing Buffs:
  - Basic Kitchen: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps. Ex: A perfect T2 MIT food gives 35 MIT instead of 30.
  - Storage Closet: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
  - Dining Room: Turn 2 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed. Lesser Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread.
  - Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
  - Attic (Bedroom): +1 Expertise to declared utility skill. Cannot boost a skill without ranks, or increase a skill past its maximum rank. Cannot boost a skill the user has not learned yet. Ranks obtained using this buff will make the mods of that rank available for purchase. Mods obtained this way are unusable if this buff is removed until the skill is returned to the appropriate rank by way of SP purchase.
  - Fishing Pond: +2 Fishing EXP per fishing attempt
  - Herbalist Hut: +2 Gathering EXP per gathering attempt
  - Basement: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
  - Guest Room: Players can have one «Amenity» in a «Guest Room» and the «Amenity» cannot be recovered. Players are allowed to change which «Amenity» is in the «Guest Room». Multiple instances of the same «Amenity» do not stack. This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.
  - Master Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
  - Master Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
  - Extended Workshop: +2 Crafting EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
  - Mega Slime Farm: +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post.

Guild Hall Buffs:
  - Trading Hall: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters and Rank 4 merchants/performers receive +1 crafting/identification attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters and Rank 5 merchants/performers receive +2 crafting/identification attempts per day.
  - Treasury: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:

Gathering Profession:

 

Edited October 16 by Sam

[Nisahime 0]

As the player would see themselves within the white fog of the forest of memories, they wouldn't help but feel as though they were being watched. Moreover, on their peripheral they would continue to see figures that would seemingly vanish the moment attentions would turn to them directly. Those harsh whispers took volume, almost like chanting or recanting in whispered tones. The mist would continue to trail about limply and swell and fall, stirring through the air with every step. Every step within the forest would leave it sticking or escaping from every footfall, it was so thick that one could almost cut it with a knife. Out of those silhouettes that would assault the senses, the woman in white would join them but it would seem no matter how much the player would seek them out that that figure would always be just out of reach.

Every footstep would see a crunch of leaves or brush, being the only sound beyond a heartbeat. It was cold, and unwelcoming. That smell would be so ripe and fresh, yet muddied with a whiff of decay. As the player would dig deeper into that fog, they would feel themselves turned around. Or were they? Each tree would appear the same, as did all of the surroundings. It was nearly impossible to get a sense of direction, where it all appeared to be more of the same. However the player should be more then familiar, given her prior transits. This would be the first time however that she knew not where she sought, and was threatening to get lost within the halls of memory.

Was it worth it?

Only time itself would tell if this was a mistake

---

The Player must find the gateway to the Memory Chamber (LD 17+ modified by all searching based roll modifiers)

[Sam 0]

Wrapping her arms together, maybe she should of dressed warmer or wore more layers. A shiver down her spine before jerking her head behind her hearing was sounded like whispers. Finding a shadow that was way to close but vanishes with eyes being planted upon them. Another voice that couldn't be made out in front of her, vision shifts forward before they disappears as well. They looked like those things that she slayed here but doesn't recall them trying to speak to her or rather toward her but instead attacking her at just the pure sight of her existence being her, not this time though. They seemed to be just watching her every movement, it was a very harsh feeling, like they were passing judgement on her. What the hell was going on. In the distance, silhouettes of dark figures littered the path beyond and in those groups a woman dressed in white would give a shine before they all were just gone. Sam closes her eyes trying to get a grip. It seemed impossible to know if this was all real or just a figment of her imagination. It was something that Sam was struggling with as of late and all this was not helping.

Standing there for a moment, eyes still shut tight. Steps small feeling leaves crunch beneath her feet, a sudden snap of a branch that finds her jumping just a bit. Slowly opening, those things were still seen in the distance as the voices and whispers that Sam couldn't make out. Glancing to the trees now, they all looked the same. Made her question if she was even going in the right direction, not even sure what the correct way actually was. Sam grabs a small sharp rock from the ground. Carving a line within the tree standing next to her, maybe this will help her navigate better. Looking for something in a blinding environment, it was not in her favor.

After a while of walking and making her marks upon the rot smelling trees, not entirely sure how long she was in this forest. For all she knew it could of been another week... Out of her peripheral vision Sam would see something shinning just meters away. Questioning to herself if that was what she was looking for. Making her way toward it, it looked familiar.

235888 | LD:10+9=19 Success, Gateway found for the Memory Chamber

Edited October 16 by Sam

[Nisahime 0]

 

Wandering their way through the forest, under a constant and uninviting scrutiny the player would find themselves deeper within the maw of this place. The fog seems to thicken and become even more obscuring, causing eyesight to twist into a blanket of white. Thick enough it would feel almost like a blizzard, yet there was no howl of wind. Instead it sat frozen, absent and empty. Those pale images would continue to appear and vanish the moment they were witnessed, dropping out phrases that would not be understood and avoiding all perceptions enough to discern what they were. The players heartbeat would be pounding in their chest, a harsh reminder just how isolated they were. How alone they where.

The marks she places upon the trees, would fade away as quickly as they are made. For this place would remember not this players interference, this was not for the common man to traverse. The enchantment on this place would not allow it. Frivolously she'd try to no success. The girl would not notice, but as she'd travel those ghosts would follow her path, yet never move to attack her as they had before. Within the depths of the forest, she'd find that which she sought. A small stone structure, one easily missed even when sought directly. Like a doorway it sat in solace upon a small crested hill, surrounded by the very mist that the forest held strong. In its entryway a pale reflection of the forest that surrounded it.

As the player would look upon it, they would see themselves but a child from the real world. That would look back at them with a smile.

The Defenses of Avalon were not easily overcame.

---

The Player Must Outwit their Reflection

[Sam 0]

Wrapping the ends of her sleeve within her fists creating a form of gloves, it was all she had to work with. The pure coldness of this place pieces through her skin causing less body functions than she wanted. Walking up to this mirror, it looked like a younger version of her. The appearance before everything started to go down hill in her life. Long black hair, a purple robe that looked slightly rigid, it was something that Sam had gotten from her parents on her birthday. Remembering that it was worn everywhere they went. It looked to big, her mother wanted it to be something that Sam grew into. Something that would wrap her in love and comfort, to know that no matter what, Sam would never be alone. Something that the girl had long forgotten about. A tear drips down her face, freezing half way.

This reflection of her was smile as was Sam but not fully like this was. Raising a hand, the image does the same. Raising her hand as the other does as well, dropping both, the mimic does as well. Watching the image closely, taking her hand from that sleeve and staring at the palm presented by both. "I have spent my entire life scared, that if I were to walk into the street that I would cause another to fall at my behest. It is why I stayed in my room and ignored the world around me." The memory of that boy laying on the ground, blooded, taking his last breath. "I have recently learned to except what has been done, that I have been given a second chance which most people do not get. To live my life to the fullest as best as I can in the game surrounded by death."

"More over I have chosen to speak less and pay more attention to my surrounding. To listen instead of judge when I am being spoken to." Thinking about Kat, how much Sam didn't listen to what she was trying to say and was just selfish in every way possible. Mother and father, whom cared for her till the very end and all Sam could do was pretend that they were not there. "I am ready to watch and hear what I have been ignoring all these years. To be better, do better." Sam felt like she was speaking to herself, in this reality, in this moment, maybe she was. Shadows filled her peripheral vision but all Sam wanted was to focus on this one moment. "I am not afraid anymore," clenching that fist as does the other.

Edited October 16 by Sam

[Nisahime 0]

The reflection would look back at her, mirroring her every move despite the obvious height difference. "Then why are you hiding, who do you think your fooling?" the thing would respond in kind with the players voice, as it would start to cry but maintain that smile in a strange mix of emotion. "So quick and brash, so selfish and self serving." the reflection would answer. Matching her every motion, it would express the same level of shock and dismay as it would continue to stare daggers into the player. The sound of shattering glass echoes from the trees, as hisses in the woods would portray an argument. Then shift to pleading but the language wasn't vocal enough to be heard.

Not like the total embodiment upon reflection in front of her. "Katoka was right, your scared. You've always been scared and you tried to push that fear onto her. Aren't we in the forest to escape, to get away? Normally this is none of my business but when has that ever stopped you?" The thing would break the charade for a bitter moment, just to point at its own face. "Where's the robe, where's your family? What LIFE?" the tone would shift to something much more violent, as it would turn almost feral. "You keep on using excuses, keep trying to run away. Stop fucking around with everyone else's life, or trying to insert yourself into theirs and find out how to live your own for once. Stop trying to make everyone else as scared as you. Why the fuck are you here Sam? The last place in the world you need to be. One step forward, two steps backward. Like a broken record. What a fucking waste. STOP LIVING IN THE PAST, FOR FUCKS SAKE!"

It screams at her as the voice becomes more male, and the howls in the dark seem to stir. As if agitated by the sound. A flicker of white light will see the tide simmer, but remain like an audience in a dark theatre. Watching the little play of pretend.

[Sam 0]

Then why are you hiding, who do you think your fooling?

Clenching her fists tighter against her side, she didn't want to hide but this forest gave her comfort. Being alone in a place that no one could see who she really was. Sam realized that the reason she had so little issues with playing those games back then, being fully involved was because only her voice could be heard. There was no chance to be judged by her looks alone, it was why she hid behind the robe all those years in SAO. A small tear falls down her face.

So quick and brash, so selfish and self serving.
Katoka was right, your scared. You've always been scared and you tried to push that fear onto her.

It was the only way Sam knew how to survive. In those other MMO's if she didn't keep her stats up or her armor up to par then death would be the only option. It followed through with what she felt though. Sam was trying to be happy but for the wrong reasons and in her mind it didn't matter who she hurt. Sam wanted this whole life with Katoka that in all reality was not possible. So afraid that they were going to die from doing the most dangerous thing that one player could have done. Sam wanted this normal calm life and thinking that Kat wanted that too, it just wasn't an option that was on the table. Nothing else mattered... That was where Sam was truly wrong...

Where's the robe, where's your family?

Ignoring the fact that there was other people that cared for her, it was said plenty of times, but Sam couldn't hear it. Remembering the pure silence of her house while her parents so desperately tried to get her attention, but again Sam couldn't hear it. Firm Anima has always said this guild was like a family but Sam couldn't connect with that aspect. So distant, it was like calling out from the mist but no one could hear her. The one thing that she did learn from being with Katoka was that she wanted so badly to be loved. Why can't she just let them in, open the flood gates and allow. Why could she not just let her parents love her, all Sam had to do was walk away from the computer.

You keep on using excuses, keep trying to run away.
Stop fucking around with everyone else's life, or trying to insert yourself into theirs and find out how to live your own for once.
One step forward, two steps backward.

When things got rough or tough, something is hard to talk about, Sam finds herself alone once more in a place surrounding by nothingness. Trapped in her own self pity not even trying to make any attempt to change the situation. Keeps saying that she wants to be better to rewrite what damage has been done. It all honestly, running is easier... Sam sits on the ground, legs folding underneath her. Hands placed on her lap as she finds water wetting her cloth. "You are right, I feel empty inside, stuck. The one time I tried to have happiness of my own I fucked it up because I made this imaginary world that nothing bad would happen ever." Taking a deep breath, fingers fiddling with one another as tears drip lightly against her palms. Hearing the voices in the back round very faint. This constant self pity party had to stop, but how. "I am not good with people, I struggle to connect. Maybe I just need to start simple. Figure out what it is that I like doing and share it with another." Closing her eyes, "I want to change," shaking her head, hair falls in front of her face. Tucking one side behind her ear and looking up, "I don't want to hide anymore." Pushing the other side of the long black strand away from her eyes wiping the waterworks from her eyes.

 

Edited October 26 by Sam

[Nisahime 0]

A somber retelling upon the mirrors reflected face, sporting the same tears to which the girl would wear. Like an outfit, it would appear only for show as it's expression would twist to one much more placid. "So how? How are you finally going to get out of these pathetic fort you've built around yourself." It would turn to look down upon her despite the height difference, her own past staring through her as if it could easily see her fallacy. "Your empty because you don't know what the fuck your doing, what do you have, who are you really? Samantha? Or Katoka 2. Maybe your just Freya or Raidou? Maybe not."

It would kneel folding its legs beneath a purple robe now warn, staring at the girl point blank. "Who are you? Who did I give my life for? Because as it sits right about now, Samantha." It would offer a condescending bite on the retelling. "You look like no one, a pathetic carcass wandering around pretending to be alive. I would know." the child like appearance twists its expression into a sinister yet truthful smile. "You have no place here, and have no right to be looking me in the face. After all that you've wasted." It spat as it would search her expression for something, anything that proved she was actually a living thing and not a ghost wandering around in people's skin.

A pretender.

The shadows would continue to murmur on her peripheral, like an insistent plead as they would repeat the phrases spoken:

Who are you?

Why are you here?

What will you do now?

A cutting voice much more feminine, familiar and yet aloof would sheer through the chorus of darkness and become a resonating truth:

A fate broken, and unbound and yet it remains linked to history. Raven of Sin you have sought the gates of avalon and risk your very soul upon its silver. Find the strength to stand and walk your own path, rebel against your stagnancy and fear or it will consume you.

[Sam 0]

Who are you?
Why are you here?
What will you do now?

Words pushing through, closing her eyes, hold her head.

You look like no one
Pathetic carcass wandering around pretending to be alive
You have no place here

Stop, please stop... A tightness in her chest, as it was starting to become harder to breath. Salt water drips down her face, cheeks redden. Those words on repeat in her mind like it was echoing in the void beyond what couldn't be seen. "STOP..." those phrase silence dead in the water as she smashing her hands on the ground in front of her. Trying to even her breathing, heart pounding against her ribs. It was quiet now, the voices in the distance seemed to even calm for a moment. Getting up to her feet, the rush of knowing that this was all wrong. There was something here that was not right. "I am a friend, a daughter. I am Samantha Rose Valneirr. YOU," pointing to the image in the mirror, "Are a fraud. You sit here an mock me, assume by everything your saying to be crossing the line of ones person boundaries." A glare in its direction, "WE have been yelled at and scolded by many of our friends because of this, or have you forgotten. That was when I stopped meddling with things that did not concern me."

Dusting her hands off on the new robe. "You told me that I had moved one step forward, two steps backward. This is not true, I have taken that one foot forward showing that I can stop grasping secrets that don't belong to me. Another by finding Nisahime, results of her telling me that I control my own fate, I will do just that. No more pity parties, its time to take action Samantha Rose Valneirr." Opening her HUD and pulling out, putting on her old robe, one that was a replica of what her parents had given her as a kid.

Edited October 26 by Sam

[Nisahime 0]

A glance up at the girl as she stood, clearly the size being incomparable yet it stood adamantly regardless. "Am I a fraud, or am I right? So you have a name, but thats it. A daughter to who? A friend to who? Even now..." The thing would look left and right, around as if peering through the mirror like a window. "Boast all you like, pretender. But by all counts...." It would gesture to the ground at the girls feet. "Your meddling right now? What does this have to concern you? Why are you here?" Placing its hands to the mirror, as if to a window pane. it would look with that uncanny smile with dilated eyes. Almost doll like in its unfazed and unblinking stare. "You have no good answer for anything you do. Do you? Your just going through the motions and just existing."

A stark truth, the girl had no identity and liked to pretend that she did. No names, no personality. "Mimicry tried and true, you just change who you are to match whoever your with. Fuck I'm more real then you are, and IM DEAD" it offered in a shrill retelling, trying to push her to her limits. Make her understand exactly what defined her. The area around the forest would start to blacken, the mist itself seeming to thicken and become almost too hard to breathe within. "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back. Truer then any other statement, and you can deny it for as long as you want. We have committed a sin and never figured out how to look past it. Raven of Sin, a failure to fly because you never left the nest. You pretend to be human, by playing mockingbird and repeating everything you think is right like a parrot." it would laugh in a mad cackle, as if it found it humorous at how little the girl had changed at all.

[Sam 0]

Sam was beginning to wonder what being human actually meant. Breathing, thinking, having cognitive thoughts to respond to one another? When this game started everyone shifted back into who they truly looked like in the outside world. That meant that every single person here was real, her true self being exposed. "My father Lance Valneirr, private investigator for a Law Firm across town and my mother Lucy Valneirr, spends her days in the backyard garden. That woman makes the best Rotisserie Chicken." Sam would smile, thinking about her mother. "She would give me a choice of nail polish and I would always chose purple so for my 4th birthday she bought us this dark purple robe." Sam was staring down at her nails now just wishing that they were painted right now. Why was she hiding, who was she hiding from...

"I drank a Caramelized Mocha coffee every morning and even though it doesn't taste the same, it still reminds me of home. Maybe I can get Freya to make me those strawberry scones I liked so much." At this point Sam was thinking out loud. Remembering that there was things that she liked but didn't pay enough attention to know it to be true. It was her brain basically saying -I have to have this but I don't know why.- Walking down memory lane, a tune pops into her head, that smile widens. "Screen Name Cotton Candy, Lead Guitarist of the Top Spot Harletts. Came across her music and fell in love with it. Decided right then that if they ever came to play in town live that I would have left my screen just for that show." Folding her arms across her chest, Sam realized that she was focusing on all the wrong things all these years. Allowing her brain to be fried by mental images painted across a screen instead on seeing the world like she wanted to. Sam graduated the top of her class, she could have gone out to do anything but continued to waist it. "We actually wanted to be like them, do you remember. We had a document with all their lyrics." Looking to the image that was here but spoke like Tuatha... It was a bit weird but she understood. 

"You asked who my friends were. Lium, he kept me on my toes and showed me that I wasn't alone even if I didn't want to see it at first. Eruda, gave us a place to stay here, a girl with the most kindest heart. Simmone, took me under her wing and taught me that I had to put in the work if I wanted to be a true merchant. They have shown me true kindness and all I have done is push them away." Biting her bottom lip, thinking of just how much she owed them for their gratitude.

These were things that Sam had not really thought about in years. Like her brain was on auto pilot, but standing here thinking about it even if it was forced. It opened her eyes to stuff that she actually wanted to do for herself for once. "I did fall," glancing to the image, "I never let myself get back up and I never left the coup even though I wanted to." Pulling one arm down to her side, as the other gripped her sleeve. "You asked why I am here, I guess the real answer would be to find happiness which has been done here." Throwing her hands up in the air, "I want to be a rocker not a merchant..."  

Edited October 26 by Sam