Mortambo

I grinned as Neo and her familiar greeted mine. I guess I need to name it now that it’s going to be around for a while. “Thank you so much for the help, Neo. I really appreciate it and I hope next time we meet I can be more help to you to repay you some for this.” I bowed my head and offered her the materials I found. “But, hopefully this will pay you back a little for your time.” I crouched down next to my new familiar and almost reached out to pet it before the heat made me draw back. “I’m excited to take the next step with this little guy helping me out. Now to just figure out how to touch it without burning myself too badly.” Standing back up I offered my hand to Neo, “If you ever need help, just send me a message and I’ll come running.”

Thread Summary:

Dropping the last few feet to the ground, I laughed again at the squirrel chittering at me and made a face at it before I returned to the path and continued around the lake. Scanning the ground around the path and the lake’s edge I did not see anything promising for crafting materials but the breeze swept by and brought the beautiful smell of flowers to my nostrils. Grinning, I pressed forward and soon came to a field of wildflowers. Marveling at the beauty before me I walked to the center of the field. Slowly turning in a circle to take in the lake, the forest, and all the small creatures scampering around and I was feeling awestruck taking it all in. I waited for a moment just reveling in the sun and breeze and wonderful landscape before I began to look for materials again in the field. I began checking carefully around the gatherings of wildflowers so I did not disturb them too much.

Gathering Rolls:

As I approached the fire cat slowly and deliberately taking very careful movements, it watched me warily as it ate the food. As it finished up the first handful I tossed it I offered it some more, and reached out to and as I did it sniffed my hand. The heat from its body was enough that I knew I didn’t want to actually touch it, but it seemed all right with me being rather close. It relaxed some as it ate the second handful of food and once it had finished it looked to me as if it was ready to follow. As we walked back to Neo, it looked around and kind of batted at a rock. Looking more closely its paw had melted some of the outside revealing some ore. As I picked up the material I told the cat “Good boy? Girl? Anyway, good cat,” and I smiled at it. “Mrow?” it responded inquisitively as we caught back up with Neo.

Gathering Roll: 

@Neopolitan

I looked more around this clearing for more food stuffs, or ore, or even good straight pieces of wood for axe or spear hafts. Out of the corner of my eye I see some promising branches up in one of the trees and start to climb up into the tree. Easily finding purchase I make my way out to the branches and realize they are more twisted than they looked from the ground. Stopping for a moment I looked out across the lake and reveled in the beauty of it. Enjoying the way the wind whipped my coat back, and the sun warmed my face, I just stood on the tree branch and laughed. This was definitely the most happy I’ve been since being in this game. It was wonderful and just a little scary. I clambered down from the tree still grinning and made a face at a squirrel who was making chittering noises at me as I invaded his space.

Gathering Rolls:

This was probably the most at peace I had felt since the day we all got trapped in this game. I could feel my worries melting away and myself lulled into relaxation by how perfect and idyllic this Garden is. Not long after I ran across a small clearing. I began looking around and I found some wonderful mushrooms for someone to cook. I really need to reach out and make some friends that can cook and do the other kinds of crafts. Not just because I’m finding the materials but because I want to eat more delicious food while I’m in this game and I might need some jewelry, trinkets, and potions soon. Also, some decoration for my shop would be really nice. I guess I could do like I did with Mac and just randomly walk into shops until I find someone I like to work with. And miss Neo with that delicious toast. Maybe she would like these mushrooms!

Gathering Roll:

Looking around more in this area, I searched the ground for more good pieces of ore. It was strange to just find ore lying around on the ground but I guess anything was possible in the Garden. Searching through the nearby bushes and around the roots of the trees, I unfortunately didn’t find much more. I looked briefly near the lake’s edge but nothing caught my eye as useful for crafting items of any worth. I began to head down the trailer further around the lake and at first I was moving quickly but then I decided to slow down and just enjoy the gorgeous day. I slowly meandered down the path around the lake still keeping my eye out for good materials. As I walked I watched some squirrels and small other animals scamper around and chase each other through the trees. I just chuckled under my breath as I continued.

Gathering Roll:

The birds tweeted beautifully from the trees and the lake was mind-blowingly gorgeous the blue crystal clear water easily showing many fish running back and forth. I should come back here when I learn the Fishing skill, I bet I could fish up some really amazing stuff. It was strange in this garden. Colors were brighter, the air was crisper, the longer I spent in the Garden the more I realized what a strange juxtaposition it was to the rest of the game. I guess this was designed for the players who, like I was the past two years, didn’t want to engage in the fighting and war aspects of the game and go fight monsters. This was a crafter’s paradise, I thought as I spied two great looking pieces of ore just lying around on the ground. I don’t think I’ll ever get over this place. Just perfect materials laying around.

Gathering Roll:

I was so focused on my familiar I did not even notice Neo looking my way. I must look pretty ridiculous down on the ground all fours splayed out trying to be small and non-threatening to this fire cat. Now what? Do I treat it like a cat in the real world? Or like a wild animal? After a few moments of me being still the cat relaxed some and just watched me inquisitively. I crept forward slowly, trying not to spook it until I got in range to be sure I could throw some food to it. I slowly took the <<Familiar Food>> out of my inventory and tossed it over to the cat. It landed about a foot away and at first the cat just stared at it like the food was going to keep moving. It looked to me and back at the food before taking one step towards it and bending down, it’s eyes locked with mine, to sniff at the food. It began to eat, accepting my offer and I let out a sigh of relief.

Taming Result:

@Neopolitan

I wandered around the beautiful garden some more just taking in the sights and soaking up the peaceful serenity of the place. There was a beautiful lake here, which was good to know for once I learned the fishing skill, and it seemed like even normally aggressive monsters were peaceful here. I stopped and watched cautiously as a boar crossed my path and hardly looked at me. Picking an apple from a tree, I walked to the edge of the lake and just sat down with my legs crossed and enjoyed the view. Finishing up the apple, I jumped up and began to look around for materials again. Unfortunately, there was nothing promising in my immediate area. Taking a deep breath, I looked out over the lake again and just soaked in the peace and beauty before I moved on and began circling the around the lake keeping my eye out for more materials.

Gathering Roll:

Seeing that she is doing more than fine, although rather disappointed in myself and missing all of my attacks, I tried my Sword Art again. This time I circled around to the Dire Wolf’s other side and made sure I was close enough, but apparently it was expecting the same attack. Just as went through the activation motion, it completely moved out of the way and I finished out the Sword Art at empty air. Looking at Kirbs, I just shook my head sadly, “I didn’t expect it to go this badly. I don’t know why I can’t seem to hit him. I’m glad you seem to have this handled.” Keeping my eye on both the Wolf and Kirbs I kept up my guard looking for a better opening. “Maybe I’ll just stick to basic attacks and see if I can just get some damage in.”

Combat Results: 

Taking Dustin’s advice I slowly went through the motions to be sure I had it right before going to punch the Boulder again. While it was common knowledge, I had been a researcher in a lab so any tips were definitely welcome which is why I had been emulating him the whole time. “Yeah, I think I see what you mean. Like this right?” As I punched the rock again, it hurt slightly less this time. Maybe I was just getting numb? Who knows? “I appreciate the advice. This game is my first real experience fighting so it’s a little rough learning. Even swinging my axe around seems like luck or the system’s help more often than not.” Shrugging, I continued “I guess that’s the point? That we don’t need to be combat experts. It still seems like it would be useful if you were a martial artist or kendo expert before coming in here though.” I kind of trailed off in thought as I backed off to let Dustin take his turn at the boulder.

Punch Results:

@Dustin

I stood for a moment on the edge of the clearing just taking in the beautiful sight. I took a deep breath and even the air here felt…cleaner and crisper than other places. This Garden was truly magnificent. The birds trilled happily and flew around playing dodging into and out of the branches of the trees. As I walked down the trodden path, a deer walked by completely nonplussed at how close I was to it. As I continued deeper into the Garden I tripped over the roots of a tree and looked up and saw two great branches that would make excellent hafts of weapons. Climbing the tree easily, I took two of them for myself. “I’m sure glad I overheard that NPC, this place makes getting materials really easy!” I thought to myself as I climbed back down. Continuing on through the idyllic garden I kept my eye out for more good materials.

Gathering roll:

As I was working in my shop I reached for a new material to use to form weapons for the day and realized I was out. Sighing, I geared up and started heading out of the Town, but on the way I heard an NPC mention a <<Garden>> in the nearby forest. Checking my New Player’s Guide I found out that places like that were awesome for gathering materials. I chased down the NPC and got directions to the Garden and headed out. I managed to skirt the edges of the boars and wolves immediately outside the town and make it into the forest without a problem. Not that they would have been a problem with my new armor, but who really needs the trouble right now? I followed the marker on the map the NPC had given me and quickly found myself on the edge of a beautiful, lush Eden-like clearing.  

Quest Objectives:

Quest Mechanics: 

Quest Rewards:

Combat Stats:

As I watched Neo fight out of the corner of my eye I saw the fish’s health drop pretty low. Confident that she had it handled I began to wander a little farther away in search of materials. As I wandered and looked for things that stood out among the rocks I noticed something shining light in a small outcropping. I slowly creeped around the corner and saw an amazing sight. It was a creature that in appearance was the form of a domestic cat, but completely wreathed in fire. At the moment it was grooming itself and just sitting there regally, and I was stunned. This was exactly the kind of familiar I wanted! I loved cats and they could be so useful at my forge. I began to inch closer, but stumbled sliding down the ground and out into the open. The fire cat’s ears flicked up and it looked towards me showing I had startled it some.

Roll to find familiar:

@Neopolitan

Grinning back, I darted forward trying the same Sword Art again. Hopefully, <<Hack>> would hit this time, especially since the wolf was focused on Kirbs. Once again, he mistimed his attack and his two hacking slashes narrowly missed the wolf’s flank. Shaking his head in frustration he fell back for a moment to refocus himself. “You’ve got this man, you guys are doing fine. Don’t get shaken just because it’s big and scary. Neither of you has even taken a hit yet. Just…focus…” Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and tried to calm his mind that kept flashing with images of his first encounters of floor one. Eventually he managed to banish then and taking another deep breath, he rejoined the fray and began to circle around the Dire Wolf again looking for another opening. “Sorry, I’ll get a good hit in eventually!” he kind of sheepishly smiled at Kirbs.

Combat Roll:

@Kirbs

Seeing that Neo had fished up another monster, I started to rush back to help but then stopped. “I’ll probably just get in her way. She handled the last one so effortlessly. I’ll just keep an eye out and stay close if she needs me but I’m sure she won’t have any problem.” I still kind of meandered my way back towards the fishing spot, trying to stay out of the combat, but ready to jump in if it looked like it was going south. As I kept one eye on the fight I continued to look around for more materials to gather or any interesting monsters to tame as a familiar. Something did catch my eye but as I bent down I saw that it was nothing, just a useless rock buried in the dirt. Disappointed, I stood up and watched Neo fight the fish for a few moments before continuing.

Gathering Roll:

@Neopolitan

Slamming my other fist into the Boulder, I watched the HP drop just a smidge. At least I’m making progress. I felt the flash of pain again and backed off kind of shaking my hands some out of reflex to get it to go away. “I’m actually hoping I can just toughen up a bit. I figure eventually I’ll get used to it, but it just sucks right now.” Seeing Dustin drinking the apple juice, I pull out some water and take a sip as well getting in a quick break. “Hunting would be great, although I’ll admit I’d like to level up my skills a bit more. I’m not sure I could keep up with you and the things you’d be hunting at this level,” I said grinning. “Whew, I think I need a bit more of a break,” I continued as I walked over to the spot Dustin was sitting and folded down to a sitting position on the ground. “Punching rocks can take a lot out of you apparently.”

Punch Results:

@Dustin

Not long after I placed my order I received a message that it was completed. "Wow, that was fast. I hope one day I can compete on that level of Smithing," I thought as I headed back toward the Blazing Typhoon. As I entered, I saw Macradon behind the counter again and said "Hey! Thanks for getting to my order so quickly. I know this armor will definitely come in handy. I'll definitely be back soon for a weapon and a shield though. I am looking forward to trying the armor out soon." Smiling I put the new armor in my inventory from where it was waiting to be picked up and then equipped it on the spot. Taking a moment to let it settle on my shoulders I grinned, "Yep, perfect. Thank you so much. I feel much better protected." Nodding to Macradon, I left the Blazing Typhoon a happy customer. 

Gained the Armored Coat of the Warrior

Seeing her suddenly vault up and over using my shoulders to get behind me and then slash the fish in two, I was in awe. “Wow, I’ve never seen anyone fight like that before. You’re awesome. Are you on the front lines?” I went over and looked at the remains of the fish. “I wanted an animal from this floor as a familiar to help me with my blacksmithing. Maybe not a fish though, I’d like something a little more mobile.” Assuming Neo would settle down and continue fishing, I walked back over to where I was gathering and had seen something on the ground. Digging around some he found some rocks that might make good gems or weapons. Guessing Neo was a cook he began to look around for some more relevant materials like…spices maybe on this floor? Looking around at the desolate bleak ash covered wilderness cooking materials didn’t seem likely except maybe from the fish.

Gathering Roll: 

@Neopolitan

Watching Dustin spin up into the air his fist slamming into the Boulder making the entire thing shake I just stood in awe for a moment. “Wow, he’s on another level, I’m glad he’s helping me out.” As he walked over the Sensei I once again tried to mimic his actions. Jumping off on my back foot I tried a mid-air spin and overcompensated, falling flat against the boulder. Backing off and shaking myself I took some more time to analyze and judge the distance. This time, I executed the move much better and managed to complete the spin and put most of my body’s weight behind the punch, my fist slamming against the rock and making it move…a little. For a second, I had a grin on my face before the pain hit shot up my shoulder again. “I can’t wait until it stops hurting so much.” I grimaced as I backed off again waiting for Dustin’s turn.

Punch Results: 

@Dustin

As I walked into the Blazing Typhoon I was immediately awed by all of the items on display. This was exactly the kind of shop I wanted to have one day. Right now though, I needed better gear so I could get better materials so I could do that. So…first things first. Walking up to the counter, I began to fill out an order form, saying to the proprietor “Hi. I’m Mortambo. I really need all new gear, but,” I looked over the prices on the order form, “even with the beginner’s discount I can only really afford one thing right now. But I’ll probably be back soon with a couple more orders.” I thought about what I needed more, a weapon, some armor, or a shield. “Definitely armor first,” I said to myself and I quickly finished filling out the form. “Thank you, sir, and here’s my order form and my payment.”

Order Form:

-4 T1 mats (If this isn't the right amount just let me know)

As I approached cautiously, I saw Neo strike the fish and its health immediately drop to the red. Well, I guess she didn’t need my help, but I can’t be the kind of person to back down from the fight if I actually want to progress and get to the front lines. Taking a moment to set my resolve, before the fish could disappear under the earth again, I rushed forward and used <<Hack>> my battle axe swinging forward into two quick slashes across it before it finished its dive under the earth. Moving back to back to Neo I said, “I know you’ve probably got this handled, but I couldn’t just stand by and watch you fight it alone.” Gripping my axe tightly I warily waited for any sign of it surfacing again and steeled myself for that moment ready to spring into action the moment I saw it.

Combat Results:

As Neo gestured I moved off a little to start gathering kind of humming to myself as she began to fish. I kept an eye on her and didn’t get too far, just in case something jumped out at me. I looked away for a moment, something catching my eye on the ground, and when I looked back up, Neo was placing her fishing pole down and picking up her parasol obviously readying herself for some kind of danger. Suddenly a flaming fish flew out of the lake and came flying at her. She dodged with amazing speed and it landed not too far away. As she turned to face it, I hesitated. Anything on this floor was beyond me and would likely kill me. I don’t think she would think I was a coward if I just watched from the sidelines. Shaking my head, “No way, I am no coward.” I unlimbered my axe and began to approach slowly so she could at least get the fish’s attention before I made my move.

Combat Results:

@Neopolitan

As Kirbs narrowly dodged back, I quickly circled around the wolf hopefully cutting off any attempt as escape. "Okay, you haven't used this Sword Art yet, but I think it is like this..." I thought as I put my battle axe in the proper place to activate it. Letting the system take me the rest of the way through the motion, I lunged forward with two quick slashes on the wolf's hindquarters. However, my footing was slightly off and my two slashes went wide. I was concentrating too hard on activating the Sword Art and not enough on my facing. Disappointment flashing across my face I backed off a little and circled waiting for my partner’s next attack to give me a better opening to strike. Seeing himself surrounded the Dire Wolf just growled and looked from one of us to the other as we circled him.

Combat Results:

Seeing how excited Dustin was to get started, I quickly hurried over to the small hut and found the NPC. "I'd like to learn the Martial Arts skill." "Ah, yes, it takes much discipline and focus to master the Martial Arts. But it begins with but a single test. Make the Boulder outside crack and I shall teach you the basics," the NPC said bowing to me. I returned his bow and said "I accept your test, sensei" and went outside. Seeing Dustin in a fighting stance, I run over to him as he relaxes out of it and takes out a cookie. Dustin offers me a cookie and I take one and take a bite of it saying "We can beat it up now. Do we really just...punch this rock? It seems like it's going to hurt." 

After finishing the cookie, I take a stance vaguely, okay very vaguely, like the one I briefly saw Dustin in and try my best to hit the rock. As I did I heard a sharp crack and pulled back thinking it was the rock already cracking. Then the pain shot up my arm as I realized it must have been my hand cracking because the boulder was untouched. "Ouch! I was right, it hurts like hell!"

Punch Results:

@Dustin