[PP-F1] A brave new world (backstory?) [Completed]

[Baldur 0]

As Baldur stumbled back from the force of the blow from the razor like leafy vines, he saw Tyger suddenly leap from one of the walls and land a solid blow on the creature. In rage the creature lashed out at her with several vines, but only managed to connect with one, slicing through her with a red trail of polygons.

 

Baldur recovered his balance quickly and dove back through the door frame now towards the creature's.... back? It didn't seem to have eyes, but the plant creature had an all too human mouth. Baldur quickly brought his sword back down on the <<Little Nepent>> and as the blue light trail cleared, the creature slumped over and shattered into a pile of stained glass like shards before disappearing.

 

Still keeping his guard up, Baldur looked around the small cottage they were in. "Are you okay, Tyger?"

 

---

 

 

 

Rolled a 7 on the d10 (battle) dice.

Rolled a 7 on the d10 (mob) dice.

Rolled a 8 on the d12 (craft) dice.

Rolled a 18 on the d20 (loot) dice.

 

<<Little Nepent>> HP 0/5 - hits <<Tyger>> for 1 damage

<<Baldur>> - Hits <<Little Nepent>> for 2 damage, killing it

<<Tyger>>

[Tyger 0]

The lashing appendage sliced across her, taking a point of HP with it. She still wasn't used to taking damage, and the concept was strange. It 'felt' like it was supposed to hurt, but it didn't necessarily. Uncomfortable, yes, but it didn't hurt. Same with the tusks. She'd be seriously wounded had that happened in the real world. It just didn't make much sense to her. Either way, she wouldn't have to worry about the pain again, because Baldur had finished off the fiend with a quick slash of his sword. The familiar sight of the shards disappearing soothed her letting her ease up the grip on her scimitar. 

 

"Yeah, i'm fine. I'm slowly getting accustomed. I feel like it should hurt more than it does. I mean, I feel discomfort, but nothing like I would in the real world. Though, boar tusk scars would be pretty cool on my cheeks. But, you'd have to be a Krogan to love me still."

 

She teased, letting her video game jokes and references slowly seep into the game they were playing. It gave her a sense of home. Even though she wasn't there, that connection was enough to help her still feel human among the game. 

 

"Think we might find something in here?" 

 

She wondered aloud, sheathing her scimitar, now that the danger had passed.

[Baldur 0]

Baldur had just let down his guard and opened his mouth to reply to Tyger, when a dagger flew past him and drove into the door frame beside his head. Suddenly shocked alert by the attack, Baldur raised his sword into a guard position, but rather than seeing the creature that threw the dagger not a dozen feet away from Tyger, he brought up his sword just as a second Kobold suddenly leaped through the open window to his side.

 

Baldur tried to evade the blow but he was too slow.

 

The red, ugly dog faced demi-human creature, the <<Kobold Bandit>>,  was far more agile than he expected, or else that sword move that it used prevented it from missing him. As the armored <<Kobold Bandit>> collided with with Baldur he felt his own sword sink deep into the side of the monster as well. The two fell to the ground, out of sight of the smaller, red skinned<<Kobold Ambusher>> who had missed the first shot as the creature came closer to try and get a better follow up shot.

 

Due to how overgrown the area was, the <<Kobold Ambusher>> couldn't wield its range effectively without having a severely impeded shot.

 

Baldur rolled around with the <<Kobold Bandit>> on the ground behind what was left of one of the house walls and eventually threw the creature off him.

 

"Get the other!" He called out to Tyger.

 

 

---

 

 

ID#6624 B: 10 M: 1

ID#6625 M: 10

 

<<Kobold Ambusher>> HP 5/5 - Misses <<Baldur>> (rolled a 1)

<<Kobold Bandit> HP 1/5 - Hits <<Baldur>> for 3 damage (1 base + 2 Critical)

<<Baldur>> HP 6/9 - Hit's <<Bandit #1>> for 4 damage (1 weapon + 1 skill + 2 Critical)

<<Tyger>> 8/9

[Tyger 0]

Rolled a 10 on the d10 (battle) dice.

Rolled a 10 on the d10 (mob) dice.

Rolled a 1 on the d12 (craft) dice.

Rolled a 13 on the d20 (loot) dice.

 

Baldur had went to reply, but she saw the little weapon hit the doorframe, sitting there ominiously as the wielder ambushed them. The canineesque creature was ugly, and judging by the attack, as well as the red name, it wasn't here to hold hands and help them find anything. Tiger's Fang was at her side, but she remedied that quickly. The curved blade slid out of the sheathe with ease, creating a metal 'shing' as it was pulled out. 

 

"Jason!"

 

She yelled, watching him tussle with the Kobold. Rage filled her sights, clouding her judgement as she went to slice at the Kobold tussling with Baldur. However, before she could strike, he told her to take the other one. What other one? Her eyes glanced outside, where there was another one, waiting for an opening. It wouldn't get one. She quickly darted outside, leaving Baldur to tussle around on the floor. Please be careful, please be careful... She whispered in her mind, moving Tiger's Fang to her side as she ran at the Ambusher. She didn't hear herself yell. All she recalled was the tiny, crystal-like shards slowly dissapearing from a defeated creature. Her scimitar was shaking. No, her hands were shaking.

 

Either way, it was gone.

 

<<Kobold Ambusher>> HP 0/5

<<Kobold Bandit> HP 1/5 - Hits 

<<Baldur>> HP 6/9 

<<Tyger>> 8/9 Hit's <<Ambusher>> for 5 damage (2 weapon + 1 skill + 2 Critical)

 

Drops: 25 Col, 1 mat

[Baldur 0]

Baldur and the <<Kobold Bandit>> rolled around with each other on the floor of the dilapidated cottage as each tried to get leverage on the other. Baldur tried to use a few martial arts moves he knew, but the system seemed to fight against him. It must be a game skill he didn't have. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tyger run off to deal with what he hoped was only another mob. God he hoped it was only the two of them.

 

Finally managing to separate from the red creature, he quickly took up a fencing stance. The creature leaped at him with its sword, but Baldur held fast to his training and reflexes as he just barely stepped to the side of the blade and brought his own sword down diagonally to slash across the creature's throat. A second later there was the sound of shattering glass as he looked out into the clearing to see that Tyger had taken care of hers.

 

"Well, that settles it. There MUST be something here."

 

He tried to smile encouragingly at Tyger in hopes that she wouldn't be too scared about what just happened.

 

"Why don't you look around while I keep watching."

 

---

 

 

6556  BD: 7 MD: 5  LD: 15

 

<<Kobold Ambusher>> HP 0/5 (Drops 25 Col & 1 mat to Tyger)

<<Kobold Bandit>> HP 0/5 - Misses <<Baldur>> (drops 25 Col & 1 mat to Baldur)

<<Baldur>> HP 6/9 Hit's <<Kobold Bandit>> for 2 damage (1 skill + 1 weapon)

<<Tyger>> HP 8/9

[Tyger 0]

• Rolled a 2 on the d10 (battle) dice.
• Rolled a 2 on the d10 (mob) dice.
• Rolled a 5 on the d12 (craft) dice.
• Rolled a 9 on the d20 (loot) dice.
•  

"Will do."

She kept her eyes open for any trouble, keeping her scimitar out instead of sheathing it like normal. The lat time she did that, just a few moments earlier, it had proved to be rather detrimental. Her reactions had been slowed, and she couldn't be very useful if she wasn't able to swing her sword fast enough before something happened.

Thankfully, she had made the right choice.

There was another Kobold, this time a bulky creature wielding a large, heavy axe. Slobber dripped down it's jaws, and it snarled at the pair, emerging from the woodworks.

"Baldur, look out! This one is huge!"

The creature slammed it's axe down, and Tyger narrowly dodged as she rolled on the ground. Her feeble attempt to slash at the creature had been thwarted as she lost her balance, catching herself with her hand.

"Be careful!"

<<Kobold Reaver>> HP 5/5 (Missed an attack)

<<Baldur>> HP 9/9

<<Tyger>> HP 9/9 (Missed an attack)

[Baldur 0]

Baldur waited for Tyger to start searching while he kept an eye out, but when he realized she wasn't looking around either, he just smiled and decided to do it himself since he didn't want her to feel more self-conscious than she probably was about how low his HP was. However, as soon as he knelt back down to start searching, the largest Kobold they had seen barged into the cottage with a huge two-handed axe.

 

"Hoooleee Sneakers!"

 

Baldur tried to jump backwards, but he was at that awkward half crouch half kneeling stage so instead he fell backwards onto the ground. The creature sparred with Tyger as Baldur threw himself at the creature, however the metal spike at the bottom of the axe handle was able to be leveraged to easily throw Baldur off from his attack, so instead Baldur moved around to try and flank the creature while it fought with Tyger.

 

---

 

[iD: 6679 BD: 4]

 

<<Kobold Reaver>> HP 5/5

<<Tyger>> HP 8/9

<<Baldur>> HP 6/9 - misses

[Tyger 0]

ID: 6698

• Rolled a 6 on the d10 (battle) dice
• Rolled a 2 on the d10 (mob) dice.
• Rolled a 8 on the d12 (craft) dice.
• Rolled a 19 on the d20 (loot) dice.

"Be careful! Let me keep his hate. You just come in occasionally and slap at his legs or something."

Tyger warned, stepping into the role of protective warrior quite easily. She had wanted to look around, but the large Kobold must have been just behind it's friends. The slobbering, snarling animal stared at her, and she could feel his eyes burning holes through her clothes, through her skin, and out the other side. Good. Better her than Baldur, considering the circumstances.

"Listen here, mutt. Howsabout you let your friends know to leave us alone, eh?"

She dashed forward, carrying her scimitar low until the last slash. Her blade left an orange streak across the Kobold, causing it to roar out in pain. The axe it held was readied for a slash, and Tyger jumped forward, kicking off of the creature's stomach like a trampoline to avoid the slash. Her eyes wandered to Baldur, curious to see if he'd finish the creature off with his next attack.

<<Kobold Reaver>> HP 2/5 (Missed an attack)

<<Tyger>> HP 8/9 (Damaged Reaver for 3 pts)

<<Baldur>> HP 6/9

[Baldur 0]

Baldur waited, watching the <<Kobold Reaver>> with an analytical eye. When he thought he saw an opening, he lunged in slashing for creature's leg, but mid swing the giant axe whirled back around and Baldur had to throw himself into a roll to avoid the backhand swing. Rolling to the side, he quickly jumped to his feet and slashed at the creature ones more but it seemed to sense he was there and leaned to the side, dodging his attack.

 

"Why won't you just die?!" Baldur roared out at the red skinned mob, annoyance filling his eyes at his missed attempts at hitting the creature and the embarrassment that followed the display.

 

What he wouldn't give for a katana right now.

 

---

 

 

ID: 6758 BD: 3

 

<<Kobold Reaver>> HP 2/5

<<Tyger>> HP 8/9

<<Baldur>> HP 6/9 - misses the Reaver

[Tyger 0]

She could hear the frustration in Baldur's voice as he questioned the creature's resilience. Why wouldn't it die? For such a large, lumbering creature, it sure did have the luck and evasion to miss their attacks. Even now, with hardly any HP left, the creature was bounding away from their attacks. It was frustrating, but there wasn't much she could do about it, was there? 

 

"This thing needs to die!"

 

Why was it dodging the inevitable? It wasn't like it wouldn't respawn. Maybe the large creature was wondering the same thing. We didn't have a respawn, why were we fighting this hard? Well, this Reaver had another thing coming. She wasn't about to just roll over and let him stomp on her.

 

She charged forward, meeting eyes with the creature as she did. It let out a roar, and got into a defensive stance. When she slashed at him, the large creature merely batted her away like some sort of rag doll. 

 

 

 

6760 4 2 10 6 Tyger

 

<<Kobold Reaver>> HP 2/5 Deals 1 damage to Tyger

<<Tyger>> HP 7/9 Misses the Reaver

<<Baldur>> HP 6/9 

[Baldur 0]

Baldur cursed under his breath as the <<Kobold Reaver>> batted Tyger away and so he charged forward, instead of making a tight attack though, he made a broad stroke, just trying to land SOME damage on the creature. It's health was almost gone, surely just a little bit of damage would tick the final points off.

 

The strange sensation of contact between his blade and the creature's digital ectoplasm was only a brief precursor to the shower of light that followed. Baldur let out a sigh of relief as he leaned on his sword like a cane.

 

"Finally." He opened his mouth, about to ask if she was okay, but he realized more comfortably now that he could just see her health bar. He had to admit, that was handy.

 

"Now lets find whatever they were guarding and get out of here."

 

---

 

[iD: 6765 BD: 6 LD: 18]

 

<<Kobold Reaver>> 0/5 (drops 25 Col & 1 material)

<<Tyger>> HP 7/9

<<Baldur>> HP 6/9 - Hits <<Kobold Reaver>> for 2 DMG

[Tyger 0]

The giant Kobold should have fell with a tremendous thud. It should have made the earth shake a little bit, and a bit of the pebble work around the house to shift. However, it never hit the ground. As soon as Baldur's sword made contact with the creature, it was gone in a shower of light. Tyger picked herself up off the ground, dusting off the majority of the dirt and dust that had accumulated on her clothes during her slide. 

 

"Not bad babe!"

 

She called out, smiling to Baldur. 

 

"Damn demon just didn't want to go down. I'm with you, let's find whatever it's guarding and GTFO, shall we?"

 

Tiger's Fang was situated back inside the sheath at her side as she made her way back inside the little cabin. They hadn't gotten to explore too much, which meant there could be goodies inside here. If there was a quest item, didn't items have strange names? Otherwise, you'd see every rock with the name 'Rock 1683' and 'Rock 147.' Did rocks with lower numbers have bragging rights? They were made sooner than others in the code. Were there alpha rocks? Tyger wasn't sure. She probably hit her head a little harder than she imagined when she'd been batted away. Items had names, and that wasn't right.

 

Or was it? 

 

"Baldur, come here!"

 

There wasn't much in the cabin in the way of furniture, but under a large growth of Kudzu, hidden in the leaves, was a chest. It was bright, shiny, and everything she'd hoped for. Tiger's Fang was out in a flash to cut away the foilage to expose the chest in all it's glory. 

 

"Dude! I found a chest!"

 

She exclaimed, happily.

 

 

ID: 6768

• Rolled a 13 on the d20 (loot) dice.

[Baldur 0]

Baldur walked over to where Tyger had cut away much of leafy vines that had overgrown a corner of the cottage and there, hidden in the corner, was a shiny golden chest. He knelt down beside her and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge in the least. After a moment of considering trying to pry it open with his sword, he instead tapped the lock with his finger as if it were any other item, and a menu popped up.

 

He was given two options - <<Disarm>> or <<Force Open>>

 

He had no idea there were even trapped chests, but he figured he would give disarm a shot. As he held down the button, a circle spun around his finger showing the progress and he really hoped the thing wouldn't explode, but instead a "SUCCESS" window popped up in front of him showing an item menu.

 

"Sweet! It worked!"

 

Baldur hit the loot button on the menu screen and then stood up.

 

"Now I think we should get the hell out of here, spend some of this col and get some healing potions!"

 

---

 

 

[iD: 6834 LD: 20]

 

<<Baldur>> HP 6/9

[Tyger 0]

"Nice!" 

 

Tyger smiled, clapping her hands together before clapping one against Baldur's back. 

 

"And here I was worried it was about to explode. We seem to have the darndest luck sometimes."

 

The chest had given Baldur everything, but that was fine with her. She already had Tiger's Fang, and hopefully she would be able to find some stuff in the marketplace tomorrow with all the Col they'd received. Items were the best way to get through these fights and levels, so why the hell not?

 

"We should be heading back soon, though. Don't wanna be out here after dark, and i'm beat."

 

She wasn't sure if that was her body that felt tired, or her mind, or her in the game. She didn't understand how all of it worked, but either way, she wanted to go to sleep, and soon.

[Baldur 0]

Baldur stood up, but had a frown on his face in spite of them finding the chest.

 

"That begs the question... can we sleep in here?" The question was oddly intriguing to Baldur. The brain functioned differently when they were asleep, but if the game was directly stimulating their brain, could they sleep? Would they dream of electric sheep? It fascinated and worried him.

 

Pushing his way through the foliage, he was happy to leave the forest behind them. Off in the distance, the press of players was reaching the tree line and all of the wolves and boars they saw were engaged with players. That would make it a safe walk home.

 

Which begged another question.

 

Where was home for them?

 

"Speaking of sleep... umm... do they have inns? I know they have housing, but... where can we sleep?"

 

Off in the distance they could see over the edge of the first level and out into the sky box that surrounded the floating castle. He had always wanted to experience this, ever since watching anime as a kid. Every since reading fantasy novels. Floating castles were cool! He never, in his wildest dreams, expected to experience one this beautiful, in such an immersive way. He would have given his life for such a chance.

 

And apparently he just might.

[Tyger 0]

Inns were a common sight on the first floor, but Tyger had wondered why when they entered the game. It never occurred to her that there were so many to house the scared players who refused to leave the Town of Beginnings. To avoid anarchy, riots and player killing, they were almost a necessity. She just hoped they could afford it. 

 

"With all the crap coming out of the forest at us, I'd prefer to go back to the town."

 

Then she realized what he meant. Did they sleep in the game? 

 

"Oh, uh... I think so. I guess the GM knew that people wouldn't leave, so he put a ton of inns in the first floor for those who weren't going to play. Because our brains are going a mile a minute, 24/7, I assume we probably have to rest otherwise we'll keel over due to lack of brain power."

 

Crude, but probably a little bit true. 

 

"Let's try the inns first, and then go from there. If we can't stay there, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

 

The field was full of players and the mobs fighting, so they wouldn't really have to worry too much about being ambushed or fighting mobs. As longa s they stayed away from the wolves, the boars would probably just look at them and then go back to whatever they were doing.

[Baldur 0]

Baldur slowed his pace a half step so that Tyger could catch up and walk beside him. The sun was setting in the distance, an odd sensation when there was no true horizon... the sun had to drop quite a bit further here before it would be out of sight. Was there a world down there, below the floating castle? He didn't suppose anyone would want to find out. Lord knows you could never pay him enough money to get close to the edge.

 

"You know..." He gestures out at the field of players fighting against the boars, "This game would have gotten terrible reviews. Have you ever seen so many boar-ed players?"

 

He gave her the biggest grin he could muster as he tried to avoid laughing.

[Tyger 0]

Baldur had long legs, so she appreciated him slowing his pace so she could walk beside him. Her hand grasped for his, but with the swords on their hips it would cause for some awkward  hand holding while avoiding swords. So, she slowed down and changed her side, so that she was on his right side instead of his left. It was a habit she had gained in the real world, so it would only naturally translate here, too.

 

"I wonder if the Sun just falls down below the castle, but you could still see the round ball under us if you could repel down the castle."

 

Her musings were amusing to her, at least. When Baldur's amusement shone through, she had to bite back her laughing. It didn't work. Her laugh was loud, and gained the attention of a few players. She tried to stifle it, and almost cried at the sudden pun. When she could breathe, she looked Baldur in the eyes and spoke.

 

"I hate you."

 

She couldn't even say it with a straight face. 

 

"Nah, this game would get good reviews."

 

She paused for dramatic effect.

 

"When pigs fly!"

 

She snorted to herself, trying not to laugh at her own joke as loud as she did Baldur's earlier.

 

"Whatever you do, don't start hogging the good puns. You'll only slaughter them."

 

Gosh, she loved this man so much.

[Baldur 0]

Baldur tried to hold back his smile, which only showed as a smirk. He didn't want to giver her the satisfaction of his laughter during one of their pun wars. Instead, he gave her his best 'I'm above that' look he could muster, and with as straight a face as he could force himself to wear.

 

"That was a boorish joke, babe."

 

After another step, he let his smile poke through. It was an unstoppable force of nature. People had made bets on how short of a time he could go without smiling. It was his defining feature.

 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be so pig-headed. You can ham it up all you want, babe."

[Tyger 0]

Tyger could see the smile trying to creep up onto his face. Their pun war had begun. Usually at this point she would laugh too hard to make a pun, but this time she was determined. 

 

"Yeah, it was a little slop-py."

 

It was a stretch, but still pig related. It would have totally counted in the real world. Baldur was always so technical when it came to their pun wars. Probably because she was better and he felt like he needed to prove himself.

 

"We should probably pick up the pace to get back to the town. This looks like the wrong Neighboarhood."

 

Okay, even she impressed herself with that one. When he called himself pig-headed, she knew exactly what to say next.

 

"No need to be disGRUNTled. I've got some oinkment for that, if you'd like."

 

Her hand reached out for his as they walked. The Town of Beginnings was in sight, so after a minute or two they'd be back.