Itzal

With no more shadowlings being spawned in, and the boss itself looking both angry and nervous, as well as Orgoth finally on his feet and looking ready for a fight, he was guessing that they were going to have a final phase coming up soon. Music even started to play in the background to set up the mood. As everyone slowly finished off the shadowlings, they all began making preparations for this final phase. As Itzal charged at the last shadowling in his party, he slashed it's knees while ducking it's swing, thrust his blade into it's back, then pulled the blade upward slicing it in half from the chest up. With it destroyed he checked his party's status. Everyone seemed to be on full health which was good, but most of everyone's energy was beginning to run low. The price of AoE costs and constantly landing hits he supposed. Not to mention that the higher your damage multiplier the quicker your energy ran out. And given that everyone here had one higher than his, he could see how he had the most energy out of everyone. However. He wasn't going to be attacking the boss right off of the bat. He still needed to use some debuffs. And even then, it would seem that the bosses were being given resistances to certain debuffs... He had to make his choice wisely on which to use.

ID# 182803  BD: 10  22+2+5*11-25=294 dmg   +bleed, +toxic venom, +paralysis... Also dead.  -11 EN

Wow. Second attack in a row and the boss still hasn't said anything. Was Christmas early or something? Itzal didn't waste this opportunity to activate the charge skill (which for some reason he forgot to activate on his last opponent), and release Meteor Strike. While he had the night vision, the field debuff had gotten in his way a little, so it was a big relief that he didn't have to worry about it from this point onward. At the end of his sword art the shadowling shattered into the crystals every mob did when dying. With that one out of the way and just one left in his party, he could take a moment to look around. No one was mocking the boss anymore, or doing much talking at all really. At this point Itzal would guess that they were just tired of this and wanted to get this boss fight over. Of course, he didn't think this was the end. This was just the horde of underlings. The real fight was up next. Orgoth prepping himself was proof of that.

ID# 182027  BD: 5-2+5=8  22+5*11-25=272 dmg

Battlehealing +97, -11 EN

As he transitioned from 'Fall of the Magister' to 'Nature's Light' by blackmore's night, he thought for a moment about how to answer his question. "When I'm taking a break to relax, I usually enjoy visiting beautiful landscapes I discovered in my exploration of the floors. Mountain summits are my favorite places to watch a sunset. Crystal clear lakes enjoyable in the summer. There's a place on the fourth floor where giant crystals exist outside of the caves, so when the full moon is out it's reflected off of the snow and shines through the crystals. Only happens on certain days, but it's breath taking every time." He watched Aldion fly back over to him, landing on his shoulder. The bird was staring at the other's familiar, as if concerned that it's lack of intelligence was contagious or something, which drew a chuckle from Itzal. "When I want to have fun, well that's another matter altogether. I'm an analytical person, and I am a gamer. So honestly I have fun interacting with npcs, going on quests, dungeons and the like. Basically any combat that doesn't involve me fighting against another human being whose intentions are only 'steal', 'kill', and 'torture'. Sometimes even enslave."

@Grimm Reaper

From what he could tell, most of the players were done responding to the boss and just focusing on hacking down the shadowlings. There were some players who still had those fragments and were using them now, but beyond that there really wasn't much else they could do here. The boss continued to boast about how it was too late, hinting that he'd already taken over everything. If that were the case they wouldn't be standing here then would it? He may be reaching out to the world, but from what he could tell he was still here in the room. And since he was a boss in Aincrad, he was killable. Even someone who would go so far as to trap an entire population in a video game with life and death circumstances wouldn't do so knowing they'd just be slaughtered by an unbeatable boss. He had an end game, or some kind of plan at least. So really, these comments didn't do anything to Itzal. And besides, if they couldn't do anything about the world, they'd just keep fighting anyway. If he had to die, Itzal would rather die fighting for everyone trapped in this world. With that in mind, he unleashed another Meteor Strike on one of the shadowlings. Only this time, he failed to destroy it completely. Frowning at the reminder of his disappointingly pathetic damage, he simply leaped back before it could hit him again. When he saw his health go up, he gave @Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows a nod in thanks before taking a defensive position with his blade again. Hopefully whatever was going to happen next would happen already. He did not want to lose all his energy before they fought the boss itself... Or maybe that was the entire point of these minions?

+97 BH

Meteor Strike on Shadowling 64 (-11 en)

ID# 181510  BD: 4+5-3=6  22*11-25=217 dmg

He certainly hadn't expected the shadowling to quite literally blow up in his face. However it was admittedly a clever way to deal damage by surprise. Was this going to be another boss fight where the damage came from too many damage outputs, as opposed to one singular powerful strike from the boss itself? Or would they have to deal with all of the above? From what he could tell, the boss itself had finally learned to just shut up already, which he was grateful for. Less nuisance in his ears. Why it had stopped didn't concern him too much, as he had enough to worry about already. Ariel seemed to have a new air about her, and he thought back to the meeting and what they said. If he recalled, this is where they were forced to retreat. If that were the case, she could be concerned about the unknown from this point on. It didn't make it any less unnerving when you added the fact that teleport crystals don't work. He watched as the shadowlings surged forward to assault them all again and was about to attack one of them when Freyd called out and warned him about one from above... Though, not knowing his alias had put a delay in his reaction. Turning just in time, he blocked it's claws with his sword and shoved the creature off, his sword art canceling midway.
      "Thanks @Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows". He dodged the attack of the shadowling aiming for him and turned to look at @Zandra. She was starting to get excited. She always did love her battles. He wondered if she was bothered, excited, or indifferent towards their explosive ends. Either way. He caught up to her and whispered to her: "Have fun, but keep your focus. No teleport crystals. No backing out. And a stronger boss than normal. Please be careful ok?"

ID# 181294  BD: 3+5-3=5  Miss  (-1 EN)

Battlehealing: +97

Hey everyone! I've been playing around with RPGMAKER VX ACE for a while now, and I'd like to make a full blown attempt at an actual, start to finish game. Morg had suggested I try making one for our site, about our site, and Mina encouraged me to give it a shot as well. So that's what I'll be doing. I'll be handling most of the development, but there are a few things that I need assistance with. Namely: tilesets, animations, artwork and sprites. That's why I'm making this thread right here. I wanted to see if there was anyone in our community who has any skill in pixel art and/or digital art, who is willing to help me out by creating textures and graphics not present in the game maker by default. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Once the ball starts to get rolling, and I'm 100% sure I can do this, I'll make another thread. This thread will be for anyone who wants to participate in the game's development by requesting their primary OR alt character be added in (format will be included for personality, etc.), as well as ideas for main storylines and/or side quests.

If you're interested in helping me out, please reply in this thread and tell me which of the following you'd like to help me with.

• Sprites (visible characters on the screen and in combat)
• Tilesets (graphics & textures. The visual representation of the map including grounds, buildings, etc.)
• Animations (used in events as well as visual flair for combat)
• Battlers (monsters basically. Does not have to be pixel art)

Itzal began playing the song: Fall of the Magister from dragon age inquisition. He never played the game, but he came across the song at some point. He only played the musical half however since he was in a conversation. He wasn't about to break into singing and interrupt it. As he pulled on the cords, testing the sound and adjusting it, he listened to Grimm talk about his job in the real world. Curious now, as he didn't hear of many jobs that were, say, out of the ordinary and unique like a zooligist before, he listened as he talked about studying animals, volunteer work at the zoo. Itzal smiled as he thought of working with live animals. Before SAO he never would have even had the thought cross his mind, but now? "I've already scouted just about all of the beginner floors, and most of the intermediate. I know where most everything is. There are some pretty cool creatures, monsters and animals in this world. Have you taken the time to just be with them recently?" He continued playing his song, closing his eyes as the melody flowed beautifully.

@Grimm Reaper

Once the minotaur had fallen to his knees and the shadow began to leak out of him, Itzal recognized it as phase one of a boss fight ending. Every boss fight would come with multiple phases. They'd just reached the second phase of this boss fight. He wasn't sure how many phases there would be exactly, but all the same they had to be ready for it. Looking at the edges of the battlefield, while he couldn't make anything out, it was clear that the Shadow was trying to do something outside of this fight alone. Frowning, he wondered if this 'conquer Aincrad' stuff was happening as they fought, or if it was to happen after they lost. Either way it was clear Kayaba wanted this to be a "last stand" type of deal. Itzal returned his attention back to the boss as it summoned dozens of shadowlings. Each shaped differently, like disfigured humans or monsters and the like. Each twisted in a tormented manner. He sighed. "So much for conserving energy until the boss itself. Come at me then!" He dashed forward with much haste, activating the charge skill against the first shadowling, and cleaved it in two with ease. "I hope we have enough AoE dps players in everyone's parties for this."

BH: +97
Meteor Strike on Darkling 13
ID# 180515  BD: 5-2+5=8  22+5x11-25=272 dmg. Shadowling 13 Slain
-11 EN, +1 Hate

With that rather humorous distraction out of the way, Itzal turned his attention back to Grimm. "I would like you to take the rest of tonight and just relax. Loosen up a little bit and let's engage in some casual conversation." Shifting to a more relaxed position he chuckled. "If you don't, you'll only succeed in building up stress and tension." Itzal opened up his inventory and began to scroll through it, looking for something in particular. "And mind you, when we write your schedule you will have a day every now and then to relax and take a break. That's something you won't have a say in the matter, save for what form of relaxation it is you wish to enjoy." Eventually he found the item he was looking for within his inventory and smiled under the shadows. He selected it and his guitar materialized on his lap. The guitar was black and had the image of a purple dragon flying on the surface. "So then. What pastimes do you enjoy? Any sports? Games? Anywhere you like to go? What do you enjoy in order to relax?"

@Grimm Reaper

He could see her getting a bit nervous. It was in her eyes, her stance. But she had told him enough to have expected it, and he was understanding enough not to have any fears or doubts. He simply kept smiling. Showing her the encouragement and support he planned to give her from this day forward. She would never be alone after today. After this they would be as one, and Itzal was perfectly happy with that. From her reaction to his vows he could tell that the message he had meant to send was delivered to her. That made him happy already. When she had begun her attempts to speak, and failed the first few times, he hoped no one in the crowd would say anything or mutter, and to his relief nobody did. He just smiled and gave the slightest of nods to show that he understood her, and that he wouldn't be going anywhere. He was a scout after all. If anything he was a master of patience. She then managed to voice her vows, and though it wasn't as long as Itzal's, he knew she worked long and hard on it. He knew she meant every word, and by the end of it he was holding back tears as well. Able was silent for a moment as he smiled and watched the two look into each other's eyes for a moment.

"Ring bearer, you may approach the stand." Normally the ring bearer would be someone from either of their families, or in this case friends, but since both groups weren't exactly massive enough to fill a grand number of seats, the ring bearer was a young npc boy who walked up with a pillow. Both rings were resting on it. Able took both rings and handed them to the players. Itzal's ring to Zandra, and Zandra's ring to Itzal. "These rings represent both your love to one another, the bond that now binds you together, and the vows you have made for one another. Take them and give it to your spouse." Itzal smiled and took two steps towards Zandra. When she lifted her hand for him, he would slide her ring on her ring finger, back up and hold his hand out for her to put on his ring.

@Zandra

The fact that the teleport crystals were not working hadn't been lost on Itzal, who narrowed his eyes and silently cursed Kayaba. Even as he swung his sword around cutting all of the shadow's tendrils before they could reach him, he was processing what was about to happen. Without teleport crystals, they only had one way to escape. Their priority needed to be survival first, and victory second. If someone's health was low, they would need to shift strategy to focus on protecting and healing them. Otherwise they'd need to focus on all out damage. However... The shadow itself hadn't even appeared just yet. Itzal did not have infinite energy, and he didn't have any energy recovery consumables. After he slashed the last shadow tendril, he knew he was going to have to say something.

"Teleport crystals don't work!" He yelled for everyone to hear. Specifically those who hadn't figured it out. "Don't let fear overtake you! Keep focused and on your guard! If we can't retreat, we need to give it our all to end this boss." Itzal grinned as he prepared to charge for Orgoth. "It's ironic. You may have wanted to share that bit of information to scare the sh*t out of me... But." He took a stance. "All you did was strengthen my determination. You're all talk. You want to make an impact? Stop hiding behind a shield and step out into the open!" Charging, he focused only on drawing the shadow out to speed up this fight. Yes, he noticed it mention spreading across Aincrad. That statement proved it was at least self aware. But that wasn't his concern right now. He needed his mind to be on the present, not the future. Thus he rushed up to Orgoth and struck him without a sword art. That meant only dealing one point of damage, but if he could save up his energy for the real fight, that was all he needed. Besides, most of his damage came from the DoTs. One of which he was able to land.

ID# 179694  BD: 8+5-3=10  (bleed applied).  22-100=1 dmg.

Itzal watched the tendrils stretching out to the other players, noticeably the ones wearing hoods, and put two and two together. Holding his sword out, he turned on his heels and swung his sword thrice, slicing the tendril into three individual sections. Watching it retreat into the darkness, he scanned for any additional tendrils that might come out as well. He had taken appropriate measures to ensure no one could just walk over and take his hood off, namely hidden fastenings inside and outside the hood. However given that this was a floor boss, even if it was a shadow, he was willing to bet that it could force those fastenings off if it wanted. Thankfully Itzal was too on guard to let that happen. "There are a great many differences between us, and you. For one, many of us use the shadows against the shadows themselves. Fight fire with fire. For another, we don't boast and flaunt our power so readily as you do. We act. We don't talk. Show me this 'great strength' of yours, and maybe I'll take you more seriously." Taking a step back now that the tendrils weren't pursuing him anymore, he added: "As for my reasons? To protect the ones I care about." Returning his attention to the main boss he noted what the others were doing. Nodding in understanding, he prepared his stance. "Good thing my damage is worth sh*t" he said to himself amusingly before charging forward at Orgoth.

Taking a leap into the air, Itzal took his sword in both hands upside down, and thrust it past Orgoth's armor. The second he pierced it his DoT's were applied. "Come on Orgoth. You're a warrior. A champion. And warriors do NOT give up. He's no God. He can be killed just like you and me. This is a battle of willpower. Think of all you hold dear. Everything that drives you. Focus on your purpose. You will not die this way! If you are to die then it will be the death of a noble and proud warrior! Now fight! Fight him Orgoth! And prove to him who's the true warrior!" With that Itzal pulled his sword out and backflipped off of him, back with the rest of his party. While he kept his battle stance, he didn't move. "Well. If anything, I'm good for motivation at least."

ID# 178643  BD: 9-3+5=11  Critical Hit: Bleed, Paralyze, & Toxin Applied.  22+1x11-100=153 dmg
-10 EN  1/3 Rested

A pretty risky thought process, Itzal thought. But not the worst one he could have come out with. Essentially according to what he was hearing, he would leave it up to chance, or fate, on whether or not the killer would be satisfied, or if he'd just kill everyone. Of course, that wasn't what he wanted to teach Grimm here. "Interesting. I want you to continue to ponder this scenario deeply and thoroughly. Each and every outcome you can think of. Which choices would be good or bad. What each choice would mean to you, to the killer, and to the victims, and so forth. And I want you to take your time thinking about it too. Whenever you want to talk to me about it, please approach me without hesitation on the matter." Itzal took another drink of water as he gave his apprentice a moment to ponder on what Itzal had just said. Patience was part of his training after all. And more than that as well. "Now then, I want you to-" He was interrupted however as Grimm's familiar burst from the forest with a stick. To this Aldion stopped eating and looked up. Only for him to become incredibly confused by what he was seeing. Itzal just started laughing at the sight.

@Grimm Reaper

"The murderer kills you, then the hostage, and then Valentine without hesitation." Itzal says immediately before taking another drink of water, putting it down this time. He had no doubt that his apprentice would be at least a little shocked at the response he had just given, as well as how 'matter of fact' he was saying it. When Itzal had said he wasn't ever going to be going easy on his apprentice, he meant this in every instance... Well almost every instance. There were a few areas he needed to go slow burn on as opposed to full throttle, but still. Seeing Aldion fly back into the clearing with something in his claws, he simply nodded to the familiar as it dropped it on the ground, landed beside it and started to nibble the carcass. Returning his attention he asked: "Now why did you choose that solution? What was your reason, your thought process. What lead you to that decision?" A gentle breeze began to flow through, enough to chill players who didn't have the survival skill. Itzal wondered if this player had managed to attain that skill or not. If he didn't, then that would be on their to do list. If he did have it, then that was one less thing to worry about.

@Grimm Reaper

Chuckling, Itzal stoked the fire before responding to Grimm's question. "Well first of all: patience. You're going to need to learn a lot of that if you want to master stealth and scouting. As for what lessons you'll start with..." Itzal took a moment to think about a good scenario he could use. "Imagine this scenario as if you were in the real world for a moment. Say that someone completely innocent, a stranger you don't know, was being held at gunpoint fifty feet away from you by a known mass murderer. You have a knife in your hands and Valentine tied up and gagged in front of you. The murderer tells you to kill Valentine, or he'll kill the innocent person. The distance is far too great for you to stop him, even with knife throwing skills, and he could easily kill the hostage, you and Valentine. In this instance you're secluded with no one around to help you. What would you do in such an instance?" Itzal, after dropping such a heavy scenario on his newfound apprentice after a small meal, took a drink of water for a moment. After that, he sat cross legged as he looked into Grimm's eyes awaiting an answer.

@Grimm Reaper

Along the way to the campfire, he heard the comment he made and paused a moment to look at Grimm... Very tempted to use a pun in regards to his name but very wisely held it back. "Don't underestimate your talents and skill. You fought rather well in our little spar. True there is much to learn, and those skills need refining, but beyond that you should be proud." With that he sat down and let Grimm open the food. In fact Itzal hadn't once touched the food or the tin foil save for handing them to Grimm to handle. He figured his horrible skill at making food was so bad that it would spread onto him like bad luck if he did anything to help in the process, even if it was to open it. However the food seemed to be decently cooked enough and Itzal took his rations onto his own plate. He watched Grimm take half of his mask off, specifically the bottom half and grinned under his shadowy mist. "Very creative, and thoughtful. It's a good skill to have," Itzal said before he began to eat himself. Given the fact that the mist covering his face wasn't solid, he could eat like normal with no issues and reveal nothing about his features. "Now then." He said in between bites. "From what I observed. We first need to work on changing how you think about your surroundings. This includes the environment. The game's npcs, mobs, traps and other such generated things. Other players. And finally your familiar. After that, we can work on other things such as combat tactics, stealth, stalking and the like." After finishing his food he put his plate and fork back into the inventory. "We'll also be going over specific scenarios to determine, and if necessary refine your logic and reasoning. I doubt your moral compass will need any tuning either, but it doesn't hurt to check."

@Grimm Reaper

Quite honestly he was rather impressed by the initiative his apprentice was showing. Technically he was out because he had put his hands outside the border, but he was willing to let that go as it wasn't that far outside. All the same, he did reveal a slight weakness in that strategy by quickly slashing upwards at him, landing his second hit in the duel, and turned around so that he kept his attention on him while keeping his guard up. And then he saw his apprentice fall after landing. Normally this would be when he did something terrifying but effective to a player killer, but... No, he swore he'd never go easy on him. So rushing forward before his apprentice could get to his feet, Itzal thrust his sword forward through his apprentice's chest, and put enough force into it that would press him against the ground, his sword acting like a nail. Once he did this he kept it there for about two seconds before pulling the blade out of the ground and Grimm and sheathed the blade. "Alright. Let's see if our dinner is ready," Itzal said casually as he helped Grimm back up to his feet.

@Grimm Reaper

Anticipating a comeback and counter, Itzal brought his weapon back from it's strike, never leaving his defensive guard, before noticing his opponent twist his body for a long kick up towards his chest. Stepping to the side, specifically in the general direction of where Grimm's foot was swinging, Itzal swung his blade through Grimm's leg, and immediately pulled up, twisting the blade so that the flat end came into contact with the underside of his leg. The reason for this was that when the flat end of the blade hit something, it didn't pass through the limb as it would via the blade. Therefore instead of cutting through him and dealing damage, Itzal forced the leg to go up much higher than Grimm would have intended it. At best it would knock him onto his back, where Itzal would then perform a flurry of stabs into him before leaping back prior to any counter attack. If it only caused him to stumble backwards Itzal would again strike him with a flurry of strikes but be more careful to jump back before his opponent could counter. If Grimm used his momentum to simply backflip, Itzal would just sheath his blade as he would have stepped outside of the arena.

@Grimm Reaper

If Itzal's memory served him correctly, a martial artist's best advantage when it came to fighting someone with a weapon such as a longsword as Itzal's would be dodges and counters. Specifically if he could knock the sword out of the way by slapping the flat of the blade, or Itzal's hands, and therefore create an opening. Either that or wait for Itzal to make a mistake and create an opening himself, though he'd be hard pressed to find one. Keeping his sword in a guard position but low enough that his sword's length gave him an advantage, he began to rotate around the edge of the ring. Analyzing his opponent's stance he noted that he was in fact using the best stance, giving him stability but also free to jump back from any lunges. Attacking his feet was out of the question, and he had to attack in a way that would prevent him from parrying the attack with his hands. The claws specifically were an interesting feature however, as it indicated he used his knuckles at some point. Which was more boxing than it was martial arts, in which case he'd need to restrategize. That however was the reason he preferred the straight sword despite it's absurdly weak damage: it was easy to adapt in combat. Itzal decided to start with a feint attack, activating the charge skill to reduce the distance between them in the blink of an eye, go for an overhead strike but curve his momentum at just the right angle to turn it from a vertical slash to a horizontal slash at the last second.

@Grimm Reaper

When Grimm turned to Itzal, he'd see him wielding a black sword, but more basic than his usual one. "What's next, is we see where you are in regards to level of combat. I want to see how you fight, and what you do in a tight spot." This was going to be a challenge, as Itzal had martial arts himself but had never mastered it... That being said, he did talk to some masters, and knew how one should fight with martial arts as opposed to how most people fought. It would be interesting to see how Grimm fought as a default method. Gesturing to the circle Itzal had cut into the ground, which gave them both about fifteen feet to work with he gestured for Grimm to enter the circle. "Without sword arts and with a basic sword this won't deal any real damage against you so you don't need to fear that. However I will not be going easy on you, and in fact I never will. Not even with this assessment. Now then." Itzal took a one handed stance and prepared himself for his apprentice's advance. "Whenever you're ready, step inside."

@Grimm Reaper

"Listen, if you can cook food and not turn it into charcoal, that's good enough for me," Itzal told him before pulling some supplies out. He then handed the supplies to Grimm, including tin foil. "There's a camping trick I heard about from another player. Put the appropriate foods in the tin foil here and keep it above the fire, and it cooks over time without burning anything. I could never get it to work, so perhaps you'll have more success." Leaving him to it, Itzal whistled to Aldion, and even gestured for the cockatrice to come over. "We're not feeding you two, so go out and find some food for yourselves." Aldion bobbed his head in acknowledgement before turning around and flying gracefully into the forest. With that he turned his attention back to the large bag he had pulled out and began looking inside. 'Martial arts huh?... That could be a bit tricky to work with. I had hoped he would have some form of weapon, but I suppose we can't do anything about that. From the looks of it he has short claws on his gloves... Alright then.' Itzal nodded and pulled a few things out, though kept them hidden from Grimm's view.

@Grimm Reaper

Hearing grimm's words Itzal turned to see the tents in perfect condition and evenly spaced out. 'huh.' He thought. 'looks like I'm not the only one who found a way to bring real life skills into the game with me. Neat.' With a flick of his wrist, he sparked the campfire to life and backed up a bit. "Do you know any methods in cooking food over the fire without needing to be there?" he asked. Itzal was never good with cooking anything. He only recently managed to get past the point of burning everything to a black crisp even on a successful attempt. That's why he tended to leave the cooking to more competent players and just bring previously prepared food with him wherever he went in his inventory. Of course, if this guy could cook then he'd have a much more enjoyable camping experience than he'd ever had before. Which would be a nice turn of events. While this was happening, Itzal was sorting through his inventory, moving several items he was going to need for this session into a bag which he would then pull out from his menu. As Grimm made his way over to the campfire, a large leather bag would materialize out of nowhere, and Itzal began to check inside to see if everything came out as it should.

@Grimm Reaper

Itzal nodded and began to lead him through the forest, whistling to get Aldion's attention. The raven cawed in response and, after giving the cockatrice a curious glance, took flight and flew overhead before landing on Itzal's shoulder. Grimm seemed intent on staying quiet for the most part, but Itzal was fairly certain that once they'd spent more time together he would begin to open up a bit more. At the very least he didn't want his newfound apprentice to be quiet all the time. Only when it was needed. But that would be a lesson for another time. For now he walked through the forest, his search skill active which enabled him to find the quickest and easiest pathway to the location he had in mind. Eventually they would end up reaching the clearing he'd found a long time ago. It was a fairly large circular clearing where the trees and brush almost seemed to stop like a wall around them. There were still a few trees, some bushes and patches of long grass, but for the most part it was relatively clear. In addition the combination of moonlight and starlight light the place up like the sun. Itzal opened his menu and pulled several things out. These included sleeping bags, firewood and cobblestones, a black kettle, two tents and other such camping supplies. "You can set the tents up. I'll get the campfire going."

@Grimm Reaper

Aldion hopped back to another branch, having been a bit surprised at the sudden jump made by the cockatrice. Aldion wasn't exactly fearful, as he was very agile and good at aerial maneuvering in particular. If anything the black raven knew that this dense forest gave him an advantage because he could weave through places the big bird couldn't. All the same, Aldion tried to strike up a conversation with the strange creature if it could. Itzal watched as the player accepted the party invite, which he expected he would. He shouldn't, but he would learn that in a moment or two. Itzal quickly opened the menu, not answering him just yet, and when he reached the 'party' menu he flipped his menu around to show his apprentice. There were two players set in the party: "<<Unknown>>" with a level of eighty four, and "<<Grimm Reaper>>" with a level of twenty eight. "Your name is safe with me, but until you get the untraceable mod you are not allowed to party with anyone other than me when you're in your disguise. Is that understood?" Once he said that he pulled the menu away, closing it down and continued to walk through the forest. "Also, please don't try to keep your voice hidden from me. With me at least you're free to practice how you want to be seen and heard in peace. If anything I might be able to give you some pointers. As for your name, what do you want me to call you? What alias did you choose for yourself?"

@Grimm Reaper

Aldion cocked his head as he looked at Ryoto, being extremely curious as he'd never seen nor observed a fowl of his species before. Genuinely curious, the raven flew and glided over to a branch closer to the cockatrice, and gave a little greeting to the strange creature. While he was doing that, Itzal pulled out of his inventory a glowstone, took his apprentice's hand and opened it, and placed the stone in it. Once in his hands, the stone would begin to glow, giving off a pale blue light that, while lighting the place up enough to see around him, gave off a somewhat eerie feeling to the area. This of course didn't bother Itzal, who'd been all over Aincrad. Including that weird pit in the tenth floor which he couldn't even begin to understand nor comprehend. "Use that to see. Come on and follow me." he said, leading his apprentice deeper into the forest, which only seemed to get thicker and darker somehow. "We should probably party up for a while too. That way we can keep track of each other's status," Itzal said, his eyes watching his apprentice carefully underneath the mist. He quickly opened his menu and sent him a party invitation, and waited for a response.

@Grimm Reaper