Lindow

The empty node was a sign given to him that he needed to take a lunch break. He hunkered down by one of the trees and took out a loaf of dry bread. It was nothing to call home about, but then he frequently remembered the taste of the home cooked meals his wife use to make. Thick, juicy pieces of steak, bacon and cheese mashed potatoes...the thoughts made him drool as he pretended the loaf of bread was something more tasty than what it was. However, the feeling of being full was all that really mattered, taste was just a bonus. Devouring the last half of the bread, he got up and dusted his hands clean of the crumbs. He tilted his neck to one side and popped as he rubbed his shoulder. Hefting the weighty instrument, he came to his next tree after his small meager meal. Getting in a good stance, Lindow raised the axe and came down with loud crack! 

==

ID: 28088 || LD: 7 [+0 Material]

Wood: 3/5

He stepped back when the wood splintered before him, a shard of the tree had snapped off in a good long board and it was salvageable as a material for the quest. He got lucky there, two in a row and he was feeling his lucky streak was about to end. He decided the next time he would partake in one of these adventures where material hunting was required, he'd take some form of insurance and get better items to help just for that. Lugging his axe around over his shoulder, the self proclaimed Fisherman's Lumberjack [??] sported his way to the next tall oak. Taking a step back from the tree, he sheltered his eyes from the sun as he looked upwards. Perhaps it was mid afternoon, after this he would need to settle down somewhere for a quick lunch. With the axe ready to bite down, he squared himself up once more and extended his arms forward with a mighty smack to the tall tree. 

==

ID: 28085 || LD: 4 [+0 Material]

Wood: 3/5

"That's the ticket!" he exclaimed as a thin board of wood was presented to him as he lifted the object up gaining the material. Now if he could just manage three more lucky strikes to these trees he could be finished with this quest. It took him an entire day just for the ores and that turned out to be a day he would never forget, but in the end he met a nice woman by the name of Opal, a one handed Rapier user. Her lightning quick attacks were one of those most impressive displays of ability and power he had seen yet in the game. He regretted not being able to join her team for some loot hunting though, he had priorities unfortunately. Getting back to business, another tree node was found. He squared up his attack on the tree and the bit came down with as much driving force as he could muster. 

==

ID: 28080 || LD: 15 [+1 Material]

Wood: 3/5

Stretching, Lindow raised his hands up in the air still feeling groggy for the previous day. He went through his menu and opened up a water from the inventory and noticed he had received a PM from Opal. 

"Wish you were here. Scoring some awesome loot over here. Stay safe, handsome!" 

He shook his head, the peppered hair of his falling out of place as he took a few more swigs of water. He would have replied, but there were things to do such as finishing this quest. He was never one of those texter type of people with their cell phones and the what have you, but his daughter's eyes were always fastened to the thing. Finding the next wooden tree node, Lindow raised the axe, "Here goes something!" Whack! Whack! 

==

ID: 28075 || LD: 18 [+1 Material]

Wood: 2/5

The task was as mundane as it could be, sure the background music was pleasant enough but the work was down right boring, chopping wood had almost no benefit instead of possibly gaining a material here or there. Lindow came up to another large tree, he felt the wood with his hand. He couldn't tell if this one was gonna be another empty node or not. But he hefted the heavy quest axe over his shoulder and bit down into the wood with the bit. The wood splintered and cracked and he continued chopping until the tree fizzled into just a stump. Lindow leaned down and searched the surface...He must have hit the tree so hard, whatever material he was looking for had disappeared along with the node. 

==

 ID: 28703 || LD: 1 [+0 Material]

"Killed?" Lindow questioned, rubbing his chin, much like a detective would possibly do when trying to decode an answer in his own case. The subject of the matter was quite real and Lindow had starred down the barrel of this kind of gun before. He could imagine how sick people are especially now, there was still that thrill and excitement for taking life the psychos were known to have. No motivation, no plan...it was just kill and have fun. It was a sickening idea, it made his stomach churn. Lindow looked back up, his eyes on the monument as he was asked a rather personal question from his mentor, it was only fair to answer the question after he riddled Clrex with some earlier.

"If I had the choice, I would have gone military but at that point and time my wife was already with child. I have served the SFPD for five years and another ten as a Squad Captain of SWAT, then shortly after becoming Deputy Chief of Special Operations, so fifteen years on the Force. Before that I did some standard Security Guard work before becoming a full fledged officer. But with the many years under my belt as DP...I have seen so many undesirable things, the scourge of humanity. I have seen my fair share of things, and I have seen good men and women die. I have also had a few close calls myself, getting shot twice in the shoulder. You always expect to be shot at when things get dicey, but what happens when you finally do..." Lindow rubbed his shoulder, "The scars will always remain." 

He cleared his throat and took a step back from the monument, "I hope you have some place a bit more uplifting planned next. These trips down memory lane can make an old man feel uncomfortable, Cal," it was meant as a joke, but Lindow forgot to release the otherwise serious look on his face when he said it.   

Whack! Whack! His axe was chomping down on the tree as he struck it hard several times before it became just a stump in the woods. Lindow heaved his axe over his shoulder and knelt down at the base of the hunk of wood. He examined the contents to see if any quest materials had popped up. As he searched with his hands, there didn't seem to be any lumber for him to use. He shook his head dusting his hands of the shavings. He scratched the back of his head, if this kept up, he was going to end up wasting another full day just hunting for pieces of wood. He swept the peppered hand from his face and shook his head moving onto the next tree. 

==

ID: 27969 || LD: 11 [+0 Material]

He laughed to himself picking up the quest item from the previously cut tree. The timber was put into the inventory as he collected it and gave himself a pat on the back, "Thank you Lady Luck. Just four more of those and this thing will be wrapped up!" Feeling good about collecting the first piece of timber for the quest, he went ahead and searched for the next tree. The narrow path lead him to a small inlet with a cave at the base. Another cave...his thoughts of the previous night resurfaced as he and Opal fought that monstrosity of a Dire Wolf. He looked at the cave with speculation and shook his head, not with this gear...He moved away from it and head back into the woods, finding another massive tree to mow down. Hefting the axe once more over his shoulder, he started to whack at it with all his encompassing strength. He sensed the failure as he saw nothing but wood shavings from the dead tree. A defeated look he expressed and moved on. 

==

ID: 27967 || LD: 4 [+0 Material]

Wood hunting seemed to be just as difficult as gathering ore. It was more or less the luck of the system, but two dead trees in row and nothing to show for it. Lindow delved deeper into the forest and got his not so trusty quest axe out. Hefting it over his shoulder, he spotted another oak and started to hammer at it with his axe. Splinter and chunks of wood were shaved off of it until it was whittled down to a trunk where he searched the node for any questing materials. He still had a full list to go and he was getting nowhere fast with his luck. 

==

ID: 27965 || LD: 16 [+1 Material]

Wood: 1/5

Nothing there as the tree splintered into nothing. Lindow traversed deeper into the woods. The trees were thick and there was not much room to move around, every other oak was a node that could be used to strike at for the quest item so he just picked a random tree and started to whack at it with the quest axe. He chopped and chopped until the tree splintered once more, the wood breaking apart and scattering the debris before him. Lindow examined where he struck his axe to see if there was anything suitable to be salvaged from the trunk. As he looked there was nothing but shavings on the surface. Lindow turned and scratched the back of his head, "Man, this is going to be another long day..." He normally didn't complain, but since he was alone and by himself, he didn't think it would matter. 

==

 ID: 27964 || LD: 12 [+0 Material]

Coming out of the city gates, Lindow rolled his shoulders looking towards the lootable part of the forested region. He'd have to go there for some wood for the quest items and he was ready to get things started. As he was stepping out of the safe zone, the sound of heavy steps was behind him. He looked about and found a familiar face smiling at him, "Well good morning Opal. Off to tend to the hunt?" 

"You betcha. I got a small party coming with me, you wanna join us?" 

Lindow had to decline for he wanted to finish up his quest which he explained, "Perhaps another time. This quest is a bit demanding and I still need some wood materials. You and your party be safe out there, no risky adventures."

"No worries, thanks to that loot drop you handed to me yesterday I was able to upgrade my armor. You take care of yourself, Lindow. I also heard there was a fishing lake in the woods as well, might wanna try and gather some bait there."

"Thanks for the advice, Opal. Good luck!"

He waved his friend off and he headed towards the forest, a hand on the hilt of his starter blade. As he entered the woodland area, there was nodes all over the place for him to go chopping. Coming up to a nice oak, he got his quest axe out and started chopping. 

==

 ID: 27963 || LD: 12 [+0 Material]

A new day had started and due to his nightly activities, Lindow had slept in. Giving a monster of a yawn, his groggy body seemed to move on its own accord as he stretched wildly in his bed. Scratching the surface of his chin, the peppered beard settled back in place by long swipes of his fingers and he sat up right looking about his room. Feeling his joints and pop, even in the game he felt old as worn out shoe. He grunted getting up and stretched, followed by a face plant into the floor...Well, not exactly. He did exactly twenty push up before ending the count and got back up and clothed himself in his starter garb. Fastening the mighty greatsword to his back, he was ready to start part two of his quest. The search for wood! Yeah! He had to make an exclamation of it in his mind to make it sound more thrilling than it was. Stepping out of his room, he waved to the Shop Keeper saying few words before heading out towards the City.  

===A new Day! Tuesday: 1:39 AM===

A new day to fish! Lindow had done his normal morning exercises and was ready for action. Nearly waking up a tad bit earlier in order to get his craft done for the day. Hunkering over his tackle box, he lined up his hook with some natural fishing bait and got everything settled for his first catch. The smell of the fresh waters brought his mind at ease and peace, he twirled the line and cast it out into the big lake before the hook plummeted into the waters. And it stayed there until he felt the pull of his line. Reeling it in without much fight, he knew this familiar feeling as he dragged out of the waters a soggy boot that disappeared instantly. "Well...would've like to at least kept it." 

==

First Catch ID: 27956

LD: 1 [A soggy boot that disappears] +1 Experience

==

Lindow didn't have to reapply his bait to the hook this time since no fish nabbed it, but instead of the boot. Once more he cast the line out into those pure waters. His eyes watched with interest as he waited several more moments until there was another tug in his line. Yet once more, it was a familiar feeling as there was little fight as he pulled out a black soggy boot with the rubber sole coming off at the front. He smiled none the less, just another boot to add to his collection. Hopefully his ability to pull something other than boots would become greater with time. 

Second Catch ID: 27957

LD: 8 [A soggy boot!] +1 Experience

A friendly face approached him, tall much like himself, perhaps shorter by true comparison but not by much. The player introduced himself as Carambit, that was an interesting name and he seemed to be looking for a weapon shop and needed some help. Lindow was not at all busy with anything at the moment, and a player needing help...Well, that was something he couldn't pass up. The more players that were able to get their feet on the ground in this game, the better the survival rate and getting out of this Hell. Carambit extended his hand as Lindow reached for it, his calloused hand seized his with a hearty shake, "Lindow," he replied shortly to the player.

"Looking for a weapon shop, eh? I know my way around this city now thanks to the many available fetch quests it offers. You'll know the ins and outs of Starting City in no time. In the mean time, let's head to the shop district on this floor where the many available crafters are located." Lindow have a short smile, deciding his usually stoic expression might seem a bit too intense for those seeking help. They walked through the Starting City and Lindow was explaining how it was broken into parts for easily navigating to the right district.  

"If you take a look at your map in the menu, you'll be able to see sections of the city. Often times they are broken up into small segments such as the one we are traveling to; the Shop District. That is where many of the crafting shops are located where people sell their wares. Normally they can be sold for Col or by hunting for materials to use as payment. This district also has many cafes available of all varieties. Do not think food is underrated here, especially if your thinking its like a normal game. The feeling of being full and without food will both have an effect on your mind, so its always good idea to eat something and keep your mind fresh at all times. When I arrived I knew the basics of surviving, food and water are essential. You should have received a few for free when you first noticed the items in your inventory.  If you are looking for something with more taste though, the cafes are a good choice."

Lindow explained, normally he would have to stop for other players to catch up to his long strides, but Carambit seemed to be with him foot for foot as they walked towards the Shopping District. The sign that they were close was the big black billowing clouds from the smithing shops and the smell of fresh food in the air. Although the mixture could be an experience, "We are pretty close now," he said pointing to the giant looming black smithing clouds in the sky. 

"Was there something in particular you were looking for?"

Lindow was happy about the fact that Calrex had found a companion in this game, something like that must be precious. The hunt for a suitable suitor for his daughter was still on, at least he could help somewhat by finding a decent fellow. He stroked his with his right hand, the faded color of black and grey weaved in his beard as he followed Calrex to something of a monument. It was not something he had heard of before. He followed suit behind the veteran player, Lindow was pondering what this monument was for, but he would soon learn the detail of it all as they walked through the winding city. His eyes stayed forward and he walked casually among the rest of the denizens as they ended up towards a staircase Like a trooper, they both made their way upwards before reaching a lone monument. Stepping before the stone, Calrex had explained what it was and the names of the crossed out.

"This is a..." Lindow dropped to his knees examining the monument, there was a sadness in his eyes. Sure, you'd expect the game to be filled with many players, but there was more than just many. He shook his head, "All of them like us, lost in this world and then the few who were not so lucky. God rest their souls." he crossed his body with a short prayer and stood up, "Excuse me. I am not a religious man of any kind, but they all deserve prayers. I have ended people's lives before...Young kids such as yourself when they were mislead into the darkness of life. But I always hold a prayer for those who fall, the heroes, the less fortunate, those who fell from God's Grace. They were mislead...if only they were given a chance to repent. But...when that door goes down, and you are in a raid. You have the man behind you to protect as well as the safety of those around you. Sometimes...you have no choice but to fire first..." he stood up, those were memories he thought had perished in the back of his mind, he stumbled slightly catching himself from falling over. There was a solemn look in his eyes as he looked at the monument, there was a nightmare that started with his name being crossed out from that monument. He blinked and refocused, his stoic expression once more taking effect.

"I am sorry for your loss, Calrex." Lindow was unable to withdraw any more words for the moment.  

It was the start of another day and Lindow was eager to meet it head on. From his bed he stretched and yawned as he gathered himself. He scratched his scruffy beard out of habit and was up by dawn, the first light just passing over the horizon giving off that eerie orange glow. After a few pushups, as he normally has done from day to day, he went from the inn door to the outside. He stretched his muscles, although it probably was not necessary for that and ate a bit of his bread from his inventory and drank a few gulps of water.

Outside he soaked up the golden rays that were coming up over the massive Starting City. He made his home at an Inn close towards the inner city. Now he just needed something to do. There were many things to do in Aincrad; hunting for materials seemed like an idea…if it wasn’t so dangerous. He wanted to take a closer look at those swords he saw the other day, he was coming into some Col now and he would like to get his hands on some armor or perhaps a trinket, potions would work wonderfully as well. The options were vast, perhaps he would just let fate steer him in the right direction.

He set out in motion walking the streets. Lindow was a tall player, reaching an extravagant height of six and half feet tall, most of the players here were teenagers and young adults and they only came up to his torso, but there was the occasional player that was able to meet him inch by inch, though he did not have a massive frame like some of the body builders he saw. None the less, his height was a nice advantage; he was able to see most things clearly doubled with his excellent vision. With his mighty two handed blade in tow sheathed behind his back, Lindow went out into the world and come whatever may.

He grunted, frustration was mounting and he was very tired to begin with. Another empty node and he shook his head. He continued walking down the dark, dirty pathway as he seemed to come closer and closer to Starting City, the allure of the lights was drawing him in, but he had to stay steadfast and at least finish this portion of the quest before going to bed. Sighing greatly to himself, he turned towards another node. He placed a hand on it and bowed his head, "Come on, give me an ore...Come to Papa..." He thrust his pickaxe into the node, pushed his weight into the shaft until the dirt and rock were free of it and out sprang a fist sized metal ore. He hurried to the ground and picked it up, "Yes! My preci-...Stop it, Lindow. No need to get silly." he cleared his throat and was finished with part one of this horrifyingly long quest. Next were the wooden planks he needed from a very strong tree. It was specifically stated on the note in the journal for the quest item. The night seemed to welcome several long yawns from the Journeying Swordsman, his eyes sagged with sleep as he moved out of the mining portion of the first floor. He yawned yet again as he neared Starting City and was within the confines of the safe zone. His feet dragged behind him as he walked, yawning and barely able to keep his eyes open much longer. 

==

ID: 27842 || LD: 16 [+1 Material]

Ores: 10/10

Wood: 0/5

Falling on his butt, Lindow dusted his hands after collecting another shiny object for the quest. One more ore was all he needed, then he needed the wooded. His head lowered and he scratched his thick beard. Getting up and dusting his hands once more, he drew closer to the next refreshed node. From this distance he could see the distant lights of Starting City. It was well past his bedtime and he was feeling the grogginess as he moved towards the next node. Hefting his pickaxe over his head as he would do with his larger than normal sword, he swung down on the node and attempted to pry some extra pieces of rubble from it and get this quest moving along. As the formation cracked from his pickaxe, it fell to the ground as it had normally done from the others. Leaning down and moving the fragments with his boot, he attempted to scavenge for some shiny material. 

==

ID: 27841 || LD: 14 [0 Material]

Ores: 9/10

Wood: 0/5

The rock fell from the broken node from the swing of his pickaxe. He examined the object and he gave a sigh of relief as it glinted back to him a shiny exterior. Two more ores to go but there was a lot of night left out. The darkness fell around his surroundings like a massive blanket, punctured by the radiant stars above. Perhaps he would stay and camp out for the night, but probably the not the safest plan. He yearned for a hot shower right now, he knew the dirt was encrusting itself in his fingernails and clothing. His wife Crystal would normally throw a fit after working out in the yard, his jeans muddy and stomping dirt into the house, or the oil messes in the driveway when he was working on his '77 Pontiac. Those were times he missed right now, those thoughts still fresh in his mind. He would never forget them, never. 

With new invigoration, Lindow took to the next node and he would take all his frustration out in the next swing of his pickaxe. The sharp edge lodged itself into the node. He placed a booted foot onto the wall and pulled with all his weight until it cracked and splintered off. The rocks crumbled to the ground, he fell to his knees and searched once more for anything shiny amongst the dull rocks.  

==

ID: 27837 || LD: 17 [+1 Material]

Ores: 9/10

Wood: 0/5

"You got the killing blow, Opal. Go ahead and take the loot. Use it as a reminder to protect your friends in the future," Lindow crossed his arms over his body as he stood up, gestured his head to the treasure laying on the ground that the dire wolf had dropped. Opal wasn't sure what to say, she thanked him for that and the glowing light of loot disappeared and she sent an empty trade request to Lindow. His brows arched, it was a material for the quest he was on. He thanked her and accepted the trade. 

"I didn't realize it was so late now. We better hurry back to Starting City. You are still on your quest for material hunting, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I was heading back to where I was and just checking out some refreshed nodes so I can get more ores. Thanks to you, just need three more to go in that department. Why don't you head back, I'm gonna loiter around a bit and wait for these nodes to refresh and try to finish up this quest I am on. A new sword is gonna come in handy after a battle like that. I need to replace this starter Greatsword," Lindow explained. 

"Right.." she placed a hand over her raven hair and smiled gently, "You are a good man, Lindow. You're wife must be one lucky gal."

"I am that one that is lucky. You have a good night, Opal."

She nodded and walked away into the darkness, she was tough, she could find her way back if she came out here all by herself. Lindow turned his back and looked into the darkness, there was so much on his mind right now but there was little time to focus on that. Grunting, his arms swung to his side as he came upon a refreshed mining node, "Come on Lady Luck..."

   ==

ID: 27836 || LD: 15 [+1 Material]

Ores: 8/10

Wood: 0/5

===A new Day! Sunday: 8:15 PM===

Lindow stretched as he came into his shop and went to the back. The smell of freshly carved fish still in the air as he made his way through the different cooling areas to keep his fish fresh for packaging. As he pulled out his most basic of Rods, he sat down by his personal lake and took in the fresh air. Deep lungs full of fresh water seemed to creep into his senses as he slowly exhaled, "Time to get to work! Hopefully I catch something good!" Placing the bait on the hook, he decided to use a lure for his first cast of the day. Bringing the rod over his shoulder, he cast his line out into the waters and waited for his Lure to snag a fish. 

==

First Catch: ID: 27824 

LD: 8 [A Soggy boot!] +1 Exp

==

He felt the tug of his line and he quickly reeled it in, swinging back and forth was a yellow soggy boot with green polka dots on it and a worn out sole. Lindow took the boot off the hook, "Maybe I'll start a collection and hang it around the Shop. Then people will really know...Yes, you can catch Soggy Boots with a lure." he tossed the colorful to his side and reapplied his lure. Once more, he lifted the rod over his shoulder and swung it over towards the lake. Hopefully he would have better luck on his next catch. His final cast got a him a rotting fish. This was a disaster as he took it off his line and tossed it back into the lake. A boot and a dead rotting fish...Lindow shook his head. It could have been worse. 

==

Second Catch:  ID: 27825

LD: 14 [A dead rotting fish!] +1 Exp

Total: +2 Exp For the day

In typical MMOs that I have played, you can use your levels immediatly. I have never heard of a cool down of progression. Here, levels are based on your post count. So the more RP posts you make, the more levels you will gain and that is in direct corellation with your HP. Your HP = Level x 2 +3. 

If you are using the mechanic for situations in the RP itself, I guess it comes down to a matter of taste WHEN your character levels up. 

And I appreciate the direction, Takao. Thats why I am making it public. I wouldnt mind foregoing the loot drop to keep things honest on the forum. I like to play as fair as possible, probably could have taken the Dire Wolf out myself, however, I am just as much into creating a story and a life for my character in Aincrad as well. So, I'll wait till there is definitive answer from one of our GMs. 

So I have been doing some hunting in one of my threads and I killed a Dire Wolf with the aid of an NPC who got the killing blow. I had a few questions on collecting the questionable loot. I followed the guide lines and right now my character has 15 HP, the dire wolf had 8. That's half of the HP of the two combatants, so that stipulation is clear [I think]. But since I used a NPC to help out in the battle, would I have to forgo the chance of earning the Loot drop? Third question, does another roll need to be made to see if it does drop loot or do I use the roll on the killing blow? In that case I scored a 19 and am applicable for an Uncommon Item. But like I said, it was the NPC who got the killing blow in...so I am not sure if any of this can be used for a loot grab. Insight would be appreciated. 

I had sent a PM to Takao, our resident battle master [or so I claimed him to be] unfortunately the question is complicated and needed a more specific answer from a Mod as he couldn't give a direct answer since the use of NPCs are not mentioned in the guides. 

You seem like a sporting guy. Welcome to SAO, the forums and the role play!