Yamato

Yamato shrugged his shoulders as the NPC's form changed to match his own. In truth, this was a slight departure from what the blonde man had considered was going to happen with the quest. Still, there was nothing to be done about it now. After all the duel had been offered and accepted and the Cardinal engine would not allow players to renege once a duel was accepted. If he didn't fight Gemini, then he would be killed. If he fought Gemini, then there was a chance he would still be killed. There was no way to not risk his life, that he could see. Therefore, the only logical course of action was to steer into the proverbial skid. "I'll let ye know in about fifteen seconds," the blonde man replied, his blue eyes narrowing as he focused on the task at hand.

OOC: Don't forget to list your stats in your first post.

The word on the street in the Town of Beginnings was that there was a new special event quest that had recently been discovered. Apparently, an NPC hunter by the name of Stentorius would lead as large a group of players as he could gather to the lair of a werewolf. Once there the players would be tasked with eliminating the beast. All in all, it wasn't that different from many quests that were often available in games such as Sword Art Online. Still, it presented a conundrum from Yamato. On the one hand, this event would likely produce a considerable amount of experience points and possibly even some good loot, which would provide a nice boost for him in building his character. On the other hand, it would mean working with an enormous group of people, something he was loathe to do. The blonde man had mulled over his choices for a few days after the notice had gone up before deciding that he would take part.

On the day of the event he had donned Rhino Hide, strapped Bramble Patch over his back where he could get at the shield if and when he needed it, and sheathed his tomahawk, Heart of the Forest, at his right hip. Ready for the challenge, the Irishman moved off in the direction of the appointed meeting place, the northernmost gate of the Town of Beginnings. On arriving it was easy enough to spot the quest NPC, Stentorius the Hunter. His cursor was the only one that was yellow in the sea of green. Yamato wasted no time in approaching the NPC and signing up for the quest before moving back to the outskirts of the gathering group of players and waiting for the quest to begin.

STATS (Subject to Change Until Sign-Ups End):

"Whoa," the Irishman grunted as Avilon rather abruptly latched on to one of his hands and took off through the Town of Beginnings. The fact that the woman was heading in the wrong direction hardly seemed to matter to her. Of course, it was also possible, and probable, that she didn't realize she was heading in the wrong direction. Setting his booted feet on the paving stones of the street, the blonde man hauled his companion to a stop.

"There's nothing to worry about, the sick person is only an NPC and they can't actually die," he continued, hauling Avilon backwards before putting his hands on her shoulders and spinning her around so that she was pointed in the right direction. "We need to head southeast. Out in the forest we'll run into plant monsters called Nepents. We'll kill them and bring back the items they drop to the quest NPC, then we get rewarded. Should be pretty simple. Along the way we can pass through the Market District, looks to me like your gear could use an upgrade."

"More than a couple," Yamato answered in a low tone, allowing his blue eyes to sweep over Avilon for a moment. He wasn't so much taking in the woman's figure as he was examining her gear. There didn't seem to be much there that was all that impressive, especially for a budding tank. But, maybe she had everything stored away in her inventory while she was in town. Some players preferred not to go traipsing around in all their armor while in a safe zone. "We should be able to clear four, maybe five or six today. It's still early," the Irishman continued. "We should start with a quest called Secret Medicine of the Forest," he grunted, crossing his arms over his chest and heading out in the direction of the appropriate gate that would put them closest to the quest area from the Town of Beginnings. "It's got a good experience reward, we should both pick up at least one or two levels from it. After that there's one called Worn Out Welcome, and then Let There Be Light and Long Live the Queen are both pretty close to each other on the second floor. By the time we get to them we should have leveled enough that neither will be much of a challenge. This will be simple, and safe, as long as you let me handle the tanking since it looks like I have the better gear."

"There is just one other little catch, my fine friend," the NPC called across the space separating them. Slowly the NPC's features began to change and morph, slowly dissolving until they took on what appeared to be something akin to heated wax. Little by little the features rearranged themselves until they took on the appearance of the axe man. That was to be expected, of course, it had been mentioned in the guidebook. What hadn't been mentioned was that the NPC's gear would also change to perfectly mimic the gear that the Irishman was using. That could certainly prove to be both troubling and problematic. "Now there, boy-o, how do ye feel about the duel now," the NPC asked, perfectly mimicing Yamato's thick Irish brogue.

Yamato rolled his ice blue eyes from behind his opaque player menu that was popped up between himself and Avilon. If what she said was true, about having looked after some of the children that were stuck in Sword Art Online, then she was at least a good person. Possibly even a trustworthy one. Still, it seemed that short-term memory might be a bit of an issue for her if she couldn't remember over the space of a few seconds that she had introduced herself. However, she did raise a valid point in offering to help. The experience point rewards earned from the quest would be the same regardless, and it was far safer to tackle even a simple beginner quest in a party than it was to go it alone. "Yamato," the Irishman grunted in a thick Irish brogue that made it clear to all that, despite the name, he was not actually Japanese. "Working on a tank build too, and it's early enough in the day we should be able to clear several quests if we don't waste too much time." The axe man suited words to action by scrolling through his menu and sending Avilon a party request before closing out of his player menu.

"Finally," Yamato muttered to himself as the NPC stopped and presented the request to duel. Once he had accepted the request and the timer had appeared in the space that separated the two of them the Irishman prepared himself for the fight that was to come. Reaching down to his right hip, he drew the Heart of the Forest from its sheath and twirled the tomahawk experimentally in his hands for a few seconds to test how it felt. This would be the first time that the weapon had seen battle, or at least that was what Yamato assumed to be the case. Next, he reached back over his right shoulder with his left hand and unslung Bramble Patch, his kite shield, before sliding it onto his arm.

The most guidebooks that were available to players had mentioned that there was a merchant with a traveling shop built right onto a wagon. He was easy to find, or at least to identify, based on the green flame that marked his shop. The wagon itself was full to bursting with various items, but Yamato had not tracked down the merchant for the purpose of purchasing an item from him. Instead, the Irishman was after a different skill that the merchants had. The appraisal skill. The shield that the axe man had picked up for free from the mystery box was only rare quality, that meant there was a possibility that it might have some other traits and that was what Yamato was here to discover. "Can you appraise my shield," the warrior asked, holding out the shield for Hirru to inspect.

Yamato looked up from examining his quest menu, not bothering to close out of the menu, and his ice blue eyes swept over the obviously feminine form in front of him. Clearly that body belonged to the voice that had just spoken to him. He grunted once, shrugged his shoulders, and turned his attention back to the quest menu rather than allowing his gaze to linger on her clearly curvaceous body. "I'm selecting a quest to complete from the list of quests that I just finished picking up from NPC's in all of the safe zones yesterday," he answered after a long moment, during which time he had debated whether or not he wanted to answer the woman's inquiry or not. "Is there something you need?"

"Fine, friend, fine," the NPC answered in an amicable manner. Stopping on the spot in the midst of the jungle environment the NPC spun to face Yamato. An instant later another quest window popped up in front of the Irishman. He squinted at it for a moment, reading the writing on the screen before nodding his head and tapping the Accept button. The first window closed and was quickly followed by a second window. This one was informing him that he had been challenged to a duel and asked if he was willing to accept. Shrugging his shoulders, the blonde man tapped the Accept button again and a time appeared in the air directly in the middle of the space that separated Yamato from the NPC.

"That's far enough," Yamato declared, just before they could pass out of sight of the main gate of the town of Amazon on the sixth floor of the tower. Already the vegetation was encroaching and the sounds of the jungle were impossible to miss. Yamato was not about to allow himself to be dragged too far away from the gate. The blonde Irishman was more than smart enough to be well aware of the fact that, were he to be jumped by even a standard floor strength mob on this floor. "If we're going to have this duel, lad, then we're going to have it within sight of the gates that lead into Amazon," he declared in a flat tone, crossing his arms over his chest and waiting for the NPC to respond.

"Oh, we're nearly there now friend," the NPC replied, chattering away happily and clapping the armored axe man on the back once again, even though it seemed pretty apparent that Yamato didn't want to be touched by the NPC. Of course, the NPC was only following the hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of lines of code that made up its program. Simple program, simple NPC, simple quest. No doubt this quest was only meant to be an introduction to dueling and how that worked within the world of Sword Art Online. The NPC was still yammering away happily as the duo passed through the gates of Amazon and moved off a short ways from there, perhaps fifty meters into the surrounding jungle.

Yamato stood with his hands behind his back as he scanned through his quest log standing within the safety of the Portal Plaza on the first floor of the Aincrad Tower within the Town of Beginnings. To him, the most efficient use of time had been to go to the safe zones of every town that was already open and to gather up as many quests as possible. On the one hand, this meant he wouldn't have to engage in the same action later. On the other hand, it meant that there were now myriad options available to the blonde Irishman and his ice blue eyes scanned through the list, quickly discarding quests left and right as being too difficult or too dangerous for his current level. For example, to take the Falling of Tagas right now would be suicide. But, there were also plenty of options available to low level players as well.

Taking with @Avilon.

"I'll settle for the col, a shield, the skills, and the potions," Yamato muttered under his breath. In his experiences with women, nearly all of them bad, all women did was cost a man time and money. He wasn't overly thrilled with the idea of losing either of those things at the moment, given that he was already far enough behind the front liners that it was going to be a major slog just to catch up to them. Of course, to be fair, he also assume that most women viewed men in much the same way, or rather that they would if their experiences with them had been as universally poor as his own had been. "How much further?"

"Fabulous rewards my friend," the quest NPC replied, clapping one hand on Yamato's back as the other rested upon a glittering rapier at its side. "Col, armor, weapons, potions, women..." the NPC continued, trailing off on that last one to wink in a conspiratorial manner. "Even new skills. All you have to do is best Aincrad's greatest duelist in single combat. How hard could that possibly be," the man asked, continuing to lead Yamato through the town in the direction of the shabby looking gate that was the exit from the town populated by Amazons in an Amazonian environment.

"I will duel you," Yamato replied in a low tone, his own Irish brogue mixing with the soft English accent of the NPC. As he spoke the required words of quest dialogue a window popped up in front of him again. This one informed him that the quest was proceeding correctly and directed him to follow the NPC just outside of the safe zone limits of the town of Amazon. The blonde man shrugged his shoulders and trailed his right index finger over the wickedly sharp blade of the Heart of the Forest as the silver-bladed tomahawk dangled from where it was secured to his hip. "What's in this fight for me," he asked, falling into step with the NPC.

"You look to be an adventuring sort," the voice of the NPC called out as it neared where Yamato was standing. The NPC laced its fingers together and cracked its knuckles before yawning loudly. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in a quick duel? I could always use the practice and your gear doesn't seem as if it's seen too much combat," the NPC continued in a tone that carried the slightly clipped notes of an English accent. Of all the things to find in a game that was developed and, largely, released only in Japan. 'Why does everyone think that an English accent automatically makes you evil?' Yamato wondered to himself as the NPC continued to talk.

The blonde man was just taking another good slug from the canteen that he held clutched in his hands when the briefest of flashes caught his eye. Turning his head in the appropriate direction, the Irishman's blue eyes narrowed as they zeroed in on the just appearing character. The yellow cursor over the head of the recently appeared indicated, quite clearly, that the new arrival was an NPC and, as the figure slowly sauntered over, Yamato drained away the last of the water in the canteen and dropped the item to the ground where it promptly dissolved into pixels. Given the quick appearance, it seemed likely that this was the quest NPC related to the Gemini quest that the axe man had been waiting for.

Moving to the shade of one of the few nearby storefronts in the town of Amazon, which was clearly situated deep within a sweltering jungle that had both significant heat and significant humidity, Yamato swiped his finger in the air again and scrolled through his pitifully small inventory. Tapping on one of the canteens of water, of which he had fifteen, the Irishman extracted the beverage and took a long slug from the bottle before wiping his hand across the back of his mouth and replacing the cap on the bottle. Slowly, his ice blue eyes scanned his surroundings as he kept a steady watch for the approach of the quest NPC, which would become Gemini according to the freely available guidebooks.

Col, Mat, and Item Log
Begun 4 May 2016: 1010 Col, See Inventory, and 25 Mats

Col
+400 Col - 8 May 2016
+570 Col - 22 May 2016
+40 Col - 22 May 2016

Items
+Heart of the Forest, +Rhino Hide, +Bramble Patch - 4 May 2016
-1 Water (14 Remaining) - 4 May 2016
+Anneal Blade - 9 May 2016
+Matriarch's Stinger - 30 May 2016
-Matriarch's Stinger - 30 May 2016

Mats
+25 Mats - 22 May 2016

Having finally made up his mind which quest he would be tackling first, Yamato had made his way up to the sixth floor of the Aincrad Tower. Emerging from the teleportation portal the blonde headed Irishman moved quickly down the steps and then swiped his finger in the air in front of him to pull up his player menu. Wordlessly, he tabbed and scrolled through the various menu screens until he found his quest log. He poked through the available quests on the floor, almost all of them vastly too powerful for him, until his eyes found the quest that he sought. Gemini. That quest, according to the guide book automatically scaled to the level of the player taking it. Therefore, there was minimal danger and maximum rewards from taking it right now as a level one player. Shrugging his shoulders, he tapped the accept button and then waited for the quest NPC to show itself.

OOC: Taking Rhino Hide, Heart of the Forest, and Bramble Patch.

Having finally come to a conclusion for what the best course of action was Yamato was seated on a bench in the Portal Plaza and pondering what the best course of action would be concerning which quests he should tackle first. Of course, the book was already out on a number of the quests, so what really mattered was finding the ones he was best suited for and then tackling them one at a time until they were completed. The only problem, as he saw it, was that he was still clad in his drab olive green beginner's clothing, complete with the beginner's weapon and no shield. As he was thinking over the best way to go about upgrading his gear a colossal man appeared in the Portal Plaza of the Town of Beginnings. Within a few moments a box of gear had been produced and it was placed on the ground.

"That's handy," the Irishman muttered to himself in a thick accent, not really speaking to anyone in particular. Rising from his seat on the bench Yamato, who despite his name was clearly not Japanese, made his way quickly over to the crate and read the message about a mystery box before shrugging his shoulders. Free gear. That was definitely a benefit, and here he'd thought he'd have to pay for it. Poking through the items, the man quickly extracted the best axe, armor, and shield he could find. Nodding his head once in thanks to his benefactor, the Irishman equipped the items and made his way back to his perch to both watch the box and settle on which quests he should tackle first.

Profile
Username: Yamato
Real name: Frederick O'Malley
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 185 lbs

About: History/personality

Frederick, or Freddy as he is known around the Embassy that the nation of Ireland maintains in Tokyo, is one of the handful of guards that is stationed at the Embassy. In truth, it was a duty he specifically requested and one he was quite happy to receive. An avid video gamer, nearly to the exclusion of all else when off duty, Frederick was quite pleased with the opportunity that his job posting gave him to pursue his twin interests in video gaming and naval history. So far as he knows, he is one of the only Irishmen in the world to be in the possession of Nerve Gear and a copy of Sword Art Online. On logging into the game, nearly the moment the servers went active, Frederick chose the screen name Yamato and was pleased when it went through.

When the announcement filtered down from Kayaba about the changes in the game that had been made Frederick, a more introverted person by nature, closed himself off for a good long time in the Town of Beginnings. The change in his gaming situation bore serious consideration since a well coordinated plan on his part would be vital to his odds of surviving the game. First days, then weeks, and then months ticked by with the Irishman living a laze about life in the Town of Beginnings, working on his strategy and collecting information from various sources. When he was finally satisfied that he had everything for his character build mapped out exactly the way he wanted, then and only then, did he set off to begin clearing the game, fully intending to go it alone.

Virtues:

Lone Wolf - Frederick will only rarely ever directly endanger anyone else. This is because the Irishman is deeply distrusting of allowing other people close to him in a game where they could, conceivably stab him in the back and kill him in the real world. Frederick will take part in large party raids, but he will never join a guild outside of anything other than exterior coercion.

Methodical - Frederick will hardly ever fail to think things through. When it comes to matters of life and death he will take his time and carefully plan what he believes to be the winning strategy. With the chosen strategy firmly in his mind he will then set out to execute the plan, whatever it may be. In major battles, he is more likely to be a wild card than a team player. If the adopted strategy and orders seem correct to him, he will follow them, if not then he will do his own things.

Honorable - Frederick can, generally, be counted upon to do the right thing. If he feels he must, then he will jump in to protect others unless the fight is completely unwinnable. He's not a thief, nor is he likely to prey on players less capable than himself. As a general rule, he will do the right thing.

Flaws:
Reference: http://www.darkworldrpg.com/lore/flaws.html

Methodical - Because he is a thinker and a planner Frederick isn't always the quickest person to act. He prefers to know the plan and, if he doesn't know the plan, either for himself or for the group in the case of big raids, he will simply not act. Or he will act as he sees fit, regardless of the impact it may have on the group. His own life is more important to him than that of anyone else. 

Lone Wolf - Because he tends to, generally, operate by himself, Frederick has very little margin for error. If he gets into a fight he can't win, he'll simply die. Because of that, he tends to wait until he is either grossly overpowered for whatever might be his current objective, or else he backs off from the conflict. This is true regardless of whether or not the conflict is one presented by SAO's game engine or other players. 

Blunt - Frederick is rather unconcerned with making friends in a death game. As such, he will say whatever it is that comes to mind when he feels he must speak. He is unconcerned with hurting the feelings of others and he is not always the most politically correct person. It is more important, to him, to present his case exactly as he sees it rather than it is to tell people what they want to hear. 

Profession: (Leave blank until the Earning a Living quest has been completed.)

Skills
Non-combat:
»

Passive:
» Survival - No Rk (Bonus)

Combat:
» Heavy Armor - 1 Rk (5 SP)
» Block - 2 Rk (13 SP)
» Concentration - No Rk (Bonus)

Weapon skills:
» One Hand Battle Axe - 2 Rk (13 SP)


Inventory (Equipped Items are Italicized)
Weapons:
Heart of the Forest: +2 DMG, +1 ACC
Anneal Blade: +1 DMG
Beginner's One Hand Axe

Armor:
Rhino Hide: +18 Mit, +1 Heavy Momentum
Bramble Patch: +14 Thorns, +1 Recovery
Basic Clothing - Drab Olive Green

Potions/Crystals:
Matriarch's Stinger
Heart Sticker (Change any 1 item into a similar item of the same type)

Misc.
38 SP (31 Used)
3084 Col
45 T1 Mats
14 Water
10 Bread

Roleplays
» [Open] Mystery Box - IN PROGRESS
» [Solo] Gemini - Quest - +4 SP, +400 Col, +Concentration Skill
» [Private] Secret Medicine of the Forest - +2 SP, +Anneal Blade
» [Private] Worn Out Welcome - Quest - +2 SP
» [Private] Long Live the Queen - Quest - +4 SP, +Matriarch's Stinger
» [Private] Let There Be Light - Quest - +2 SP
» [Private] Sixteenth Floor Raid Meeting - +1 SP, +40 Col
» [Private] Slaying Lyrica, the Werewolf Baroness - Event - +5 SP, +570 Col, +25 Mats
» [Private] Slaying Asterios, the Bull King - Event - Cancelled, +3 SP
» [Private] The Traveler - Quest - +2 SP, Survival Skill
» [Private] Seventeenth Floor Raid Meeting - +1 SP
» [Event] Nerius, the Evil Treant [Event] - +5 SP, +2074 Col, +20 T1 Mats
» [Event] Dance of the Crossed Paths - +1 SP
» [Event] True Love Strikes Harder - +6 SP, +Heart Sticker (Change any 1 item into a similar item of the same type)

Relationships (optional)

Avilon - Acquaintance

Story Thus Far (optional)