Frank

Crossing the next set of hills was no trouble, and on the other side Frank could see that the valley opened up into a nice, level, series of plains. The plains were filled with slightly longer, slightly more-worn grasses. From this aerial view, Frank could see small creatures moving about, creatures about the size of a small dog. Moving down the hill, he was careful to watch his step for poor footing and finally at the bottom, he felt solid on his own two feet again. Moving towards the area where the creatures had been, was now much easier. Once he reached this area, he could see the peaceful-looking creatures as they bound, scampered, and hid between the lush grasses.

Several of the creatures were eating the longer stalks of grass, and so Frank decided he would catch one of these creatures and see if they were a murphumple. Creeping up on the creature, Frank reached out and grabbed it by its hind legs. Of course, he didn't want to kill the thing, not if he didn't need too, so instead he looked at the in-game menu which came up. It did indeed identify the creature as a murphumple, and all the other nearby creatures now had hovering display-names which matched. Also on the menu, was an option "Harvest (Non-Lethal)". Pressing the option suddenly added a material to his inventory, and it was "Fur of the Murphumple". His task now complete, Frank let the scared creature go.

ID 110948 LD 12 +1 Material

Reaching the top of the series of hills he had seen, it was a pleasant view out over the grass. Still, Frank could find no murphumples. No murphumples here, no murphumples there, no murphumples anywhere. Trotting down the hill, Frank continued to look off in the distance at a patch of trees. Perhaps murphumples were wooded creatures, he pondered. Or perhaps they were creatures which burrowed and only came at out at night. Keeping his eyes on the ground, Frank looked for any odd distortions of dirt, or mounds which might indicate a creatures burrowing hole. Finding nothing however, Frank continued traversing the series of hills, he would have to remember this place, it seemed like the type of place which might lend itself to good coverage in the case of a fight. You could set-up on the high-ground, have excellent observation of the area, and descend easily to engage in combat.

ID 110947 LD 2

The next item on the list was 'Fur of the Murphumple', and next to that was a hastily hand written note, 'Bites!'. Frank didn't have the slightest idea of what a Murphumple was, or what color its fur was. Still, he had a good idea that it was something which was going to be in this general location. Following that very straight-forward chain of thought, he took a look around and tried to find any wildlife, as it was occurring to him that since he had been out here, he hadn't actually seen any other living creatures. The grass blowing the wind, the sound of the breeze itself were the only things Frank was aware of. So clearly the beasts weren't in this area, undeterred, he decided to move onward, over a group of hills and see what may lay further from the town. Putting one foot in front of the other, he set off.

ID 110946 LD 7 - Nothing.

The night sky was full of what seemed to be a thousand stars and even here, in the midst of the city, it was still a sight to behold. Frank had a special warmth in his heart for a clear-enough night sky that you could see the stars. It wasn't the stars that he loved, but it was his daughter, eight or nine years old, standing outside with her telescope looking at the constellations. Frank looked up at that sky and he would flash back to some of those nights, nights where the two of them would be sprawled out with a blanket and a telescope, just staring through its lenses and finding the constellations together.

Moving in and out of the crowded vendors, Frank was in no particular hurry. This laissez-faire approach was in stark contrast to his usual demeanor, but with the nights festivities going on, it would be best to enjoy the brief respite that was given. Besides, he had no intentions of moving towns until morning and he hadn't spent much time in Snowfrost, he might as well take it in. Just a bit ahead of him, in a similar direction, walked the taller, blonde, young man @Cosi. He was just one of many players Frank had never spoken with. Not entirely sure why, Frank spoke out, "So, you won the shield in the raffle, yeah? That's good stuff."

Frank gathered with the crowd awaiting the results. He had picked up a cup of hot chocolate, and slowly sipped on it, standing with his back to the nearest wall. Being around this many people made Frank a little on edge, simply because he hadn't been around this many people at once in what seemed like a long time. Still the hot chocolate was delicious and took his mind off of things. With a bit of anticipation built upon by the showmanship of Benny and his assistants putting on a drum-filled musical display, Frank could feel a bit of excitement begin to take the air. Through the vapors of his hot chocolate he observed the people around him; first the sword was given out, to a small young woman with pink hair, who accepted the prize silently, simply with a smile. Next, the shield was given out, though it went to someone sporting a two-handed battle-axe. Perhaps the unique shield would appear as a hot item for sale soon. Next, the cloak went to a woman whose name was "Jinx", Frank realized she was someone who he didn't know anything about. He made a mental note to look into her later.  The next item, a trinket, went to a finely-dressed young man. Frank watched as the man deposited the item directly into his inventory and made his way back to a young woman, clearly his companion. The cookies went next, and then Benny did something Frank wasn't expecting, he called Frank's name. Stepping up through the crowd, Frank accepted his Teleportation Crystals and then returned to his spot. It wasn't what he had been wanting the most, but the TP Crystals were very valuable items which allowed an escape in a desperate situation so they would no doubt end up being useful later down the road.

Watching the rest of the picks Frank watched a younger player receive the WIll-O-Wisp, that had been the one he wanted the most personally, but he was glad it went to someone who looked like they would get good use out of it. Finally Frank watched an even younger, and even more pink hair-colored girl win the Adventurers Pack. She carried the heavy pack to someone and handed it to them. With the main event now over, Frank decided to spend more time moving through the market stalls, looking at the art display, and sipping his cup of hot chocolate.

@Benny

Behind the empty eyes was a cold anger, an anger Frank pushed back down inside of himself. As his eyes continued to scan the water, his sight line lowered, lowered until he was staring down and into the depths of the stream. There, in the murky depths, were patches of green staring back at him. Curious, Frank knelt down to the stream-bed and plunged his hand into the icy-cold water. It disappeared into the mud-swaddled depths. After the sediment settled, Frank could see the tufts of weeds underneath the waters surface. The groups of weeds lined the bottom of the river, it was there where they poked up between the stones and shells which also called the bottom home.

The weeds felt slimy, even under the surface of the water. Grabbing a handful, Frank pulled and felt the ground give-way to the roots being uplifted. After breaking the surface of the water, Frank could in-fact see the weeds were slimy. Adding them into his inventory, he pulled his list back out and began looking at the next item to retrieve.

ID 110903 LD 13 - +1 Materials!

Becoming more aggressive in his searching Frank began turning over stones and moving the earth beneath his hands. The mud was soft, and slightly damp to the touch, feeling it move between his fingers, Frank frustratingly slapped it back down and returned the rocks to their positions. Clearly the weed wasn't here, on the shoreline of the river. Frustrated, Frank was acutely aware that he was neither a herbalist nor was he aware of where this Water Lilly Weed might happen to be. Standing back up, he turned his attention to the stream again and resigned to taking a few moments to stop and recollect himself. Further reflection over the water would do him good. It wasn't just the weed he wanted to reflect on, but he had yet to really stop and reflect on this game itself. On being trapped in a virtual death game. Staring back over the water, Franks eyes were hauntingly far away.

ID 110902 LD 3 - Nothing

Moving just a bit farther down the stream embankment, Frank listened to the soft wrrrrhhhing of the nearby insects. The noises were reminiscent of crickets, but were in fact, more a longer, drawn-out sound rather then the typical high-chirp. Frank thought back to home, or rather the thought pressed it's way into the forefront of Franks mind in an all-consuming fashion. He was suddenly sitting not near a digital river, but near a river in a much different environment. The workers in the nearby town had come out to tend rice-paddy fields, the water of which was supplied by the very river Frank was now in. Their had also been other reports about the villagers, that some were violent militia hiding weapon caches in the rice-fields. Frank carefully observed each villager, looked at them closely seeing their clothes, their open-toe'd sandals, and even the amount of dirt on their faces. He looked into their eyes from his hiding spot....

Suddenly Frank snapped back to the present moment, pushing the thought out of his mind and continued to search for the weed, finding nothing.

ID 110901 LD 5 - Nothing

It's water flowed swiftly, as if they would never be stopped. Looking down, one could see the stones lining the bottom of the river-bed, some of which sparked in reply. Kneeling down to the edge of the river-bed, Frank ran his hand under the cool, swift stream and felt the water rush past. Every now and then his eye would catch sight of a fish quickly swimming it's way upstream. Frank had never considered fishing to be a possibility in this game, but it was beginning to seem like everything in this game had a reason, perhaps the fish did too.

After taking a few silent moments of simple observation, Frank began to sort through the edge of the river-bank and carefully looked for the weed he was interested in finding. Their were many types, once you looked close enough, but sadly, the Water-Lilly Weed was not one of them.

ID 110900 LD 2

The next item was listed as 'Weed of the Water Lilly'. Standing back up, Frank took a long look at the river off in the distance. Moving out at a slow jog, he cut back onto the green grass, and then realized just how far away that the river really was. Surely though, he might not have to go all the way to the river? Water Lilly's only needed enough water to grow. Seeing a shadier, most spot on the edge of the flower-bed, Frank moved closer for inspection. Getting down on his hands and knees, he carefully overturned stones and pushed through weeds looking for the precise one. He allowed himself a bit of patience while he was searching, making sure to be a meticulous in his efforts. Unfortunately, it did not seem to be here. Standing back up, Frank turned back towards the river and resumed his way.

ID 110896 LD 6 - Nothing

Stepping forward, Frank continued moving through the flower garden, though not as quickly as he did before. The colors and the aroma, it all brought back memories of his wife. She had loved to garden and kept flowers on the window-sill. She had asked Frank what his favorite was, and he had told her he didn't have a favorite. Hers had been roses though. Now Frank quietly admitted to himself, that the roses were his favorite too. When he finally got out of here, he was going to buy her the biggest bouquet he could find.

As he went on his way, he followed the small stone path that had been laid between these wild garden patches. It was all very deliberate, very-organized, Frank wondered what that was all about. Was it just scenery, or was their some deeper meaning even here? Finally finding the next set of flowers, this time Frank bent down and retrieved a blue one. Two items, marked off the list...

ID 110895 LD 19 +1 Material

It felt strange being out in the open. The grass ahead of Frank blew with the slight breeze, and off in the distance he could see, and hear, a stream running at a steady-pace. Their were mountains past the stream, and a world beyond that. What it may be, it didn't feel virtual, no, it felt real. It also felt strange. Inside the Town of Beginnings you were always in a hustle-bustle of activity, with players and NPC's always coming and going. More then that, you were always, always surrounded by the giant stone architecture and the stone walls of the Town. But here, there was nothing but openness.

After taking all of this in, Frank looked down at the list still in his hand. With this list, searching for materials was going to be much easier then it normally would have been. The old man, Zakeriah, had laid out exactly what he wanted, and how much. He had even included some notes on where to look! Frank decided to tackle the first item as he could already see it! Just ahead, were giant flower patches, with an invitingly beautiful aroma drifting up from them. Walking into the patch, Frank knelt down and plucked a yellow flower. One down, four to go...

ID 110894 | LD 14 - +1 Material!

Requesting this, (Illegal Enhancement Cap)

be corrected too,

Inside the workshop, strange vials brewed over small flames, casks and beakers were filled with bubbling liquids of all different colors and thicknesses. A large, dusty book-case lined the wall of one side of the room, and on it were large, equally dusty manuscripts. Raising the vials in the center of the room was an old man, Zakeriah, and he tore himself away from his work long enough to wave Frank in. Turning back to his work Zakeriah slowly creaked out, 'Soooooo, you've come to learn the basics then? Well, I've got a few tasks for you. Their will be rewards, but first work must be done.'

Frank quietly stood and replied, 'I'm not afraid of work.'

'Good, good. I'm glad to hear such a thing. Your first task will be to head out into the wilderness, and collect me several crafting ingredients. Here's a list to make it easier. Now come, come, wouldn't want to be out past night-fall.' With that, the old man led Frank to a door opposite the one he entered from, swinging the door open, Frank could see that it opened directly into the open fields surrounding the Town of Beginnings. Silent as ever, he stepped forward and left the town, for his first time ever.

It hadn't been an arduous journey to the store known as "Everyday Miracles", but it had certainly been a long one. The store was nestled around a series of plateau's giving a beautiful, serene, and very green, set of surroundings. The overgrown moss in places made it look as if the shop had always been there, or the stone building had at-least. Making his way into the shop, Frank spent time looking through the options carefully, and eyed several Unique Items locked up behind display-cases. Financially out of his reach, Frank decided instead to settle on some different equipment for now. A shield, though he wasn't a shield user per-se, and a particularly damaging-looking one-handed battle-axe, finally he grabbed a few supplies he assumed would be useful later on.

"I'd like to make a purchase."

(OOC: Silver Lining has too many Regen enhancements, the cap is now 2).

Purchasing

Perusing the many vendors was no small task, you had merchants hawking furs, merchants hawking potions, crystals, and other consumable items. It was a smorgasbord of activity and going-on's. Of course, it was obvious that these street vendors were small-time. The main event, if you will, was a large stall set up in such a way as to be unmissable. Making his way inside the tent, Frank first took note of the red-headed boy bustling around the shop with a small dog dancing about his feet as he worked. The second thing Frank noticed was as unmissable as the stall had been from the outside, a regular giant of a man who was clearly the Shopkeeper. As people were currently interacting with the shopkeeper at the moment, Frank decided to take a look at the many strange and exotic items which were for sale.

He had come hoping to obtain one of two items in particular, both of which he had already heard talk of from players who had visited the shop just a few hours earlier when it initially opened. Frank's primary interests were the True-Light Lantern, and The Hammerspace Backpack, but to his dismay, these items were both priced well above what Frank could afford at this time. The thought of waiting again until next Christmas for simply a chance at these items again, was not appealing. Still, these things can't be changed.

After the group in front of him had finished, Frank made his way to the front counter and, after reviewing the list of items possible to win, politely spoke to the shopkeeper.

"Excuse me. I would like to enter your raffle."

With not much to do but wait, Frank made his way back outside the tent-stall. He wasn't one to hope he might win such a thing, but even he had to admit, from the items available in the raffle-the cloak, the the snowglobe necklace, and even that fairy-they would all be useful. Frank chuckled to himself at the thought. You believe that [censored]? A guy like me with a [censored] fairy?

@Benny

Breaking away from his deep reflection, Frank turned his attention to the sights around him. More then the surface details of the town, their were younger-aged players who were grouping up and conversing, laughing together, seemingly enjoying each others company. Frank could hear snippets of the conversations too, a physical compliment here, a small boast from a red-eyed male, a girl with dark hair had launched into a personal story of a family Christmas event involving her parents back home. 

Just kids, doing kid things, Frank thought to himself. With a sigh, he suddenly felt very old inside. He was the oldest person he had met in this game so far. Not to say that he was an old man, but Frank wasn't even sure if any of these kids had been to college, much less had kids, a true significant other. Picking up on a blonde girl, Frank could tell that she had been crying. She must have just recently stopped, as her face was still blotchy, though not overly-so.

She's talking to that young man over there, but if he notices she'll blame it on the cold no doubt.

These conversations were well and good, but Frank was no eavesdropper, and he had his own business to attend too. Turning his attention towards the market stalls here in the center of town, he decided to see what was available.

Hello, would it be possible to change my Display name to Frank? When I signed up I wasn't aware it should match my character name. I would prefer it do so if this is possible.

After confirming his choice, the next dialogue appeared with a series of instructions,

Background Information - An old NPC man, dubbed 'Zackariah', is in the Town of Beginnings. He plans on helping the new players of SAO by helping them understand the basic's of Sword Art Online.

After reading through this information, and following the tutorials instructions to pull-up a town map, Frank began navigating his way through the city to the location marked "Zackariah's Workshop'. The Town of Beginnings was certainly not a small place, and as it was, Frank had been on the far-side of the city starting out. Not one to stick to the main roads, Frank made his way down side-alley's, up crooked avenue's, and across small foot-bridges under which ran clear, flowing water. Taking in the early-morning sights, the sounds, and the smells of the town as he went, was a great opportunity for Frank to continue learning. He watched as some younger players purchased sweet rolls, no doubt hungry after the long night, and he observed others browsing the armors and weapons of street vendors.

Finally, after some time, Frank came to the workshop which sat on the outer-most-ring in the circularly-architected The Town of Beginnings. With only the slightest of pauses before a courteous knock, and after a feeble reply of 'Enter', he made his way inside the small workshop..

Though he wasn't a gamer, Frank wasn't incompetent either. He had read the manual before firing up the game, and he did know about the basic functions of using the menu, interacting with the world, and so on. The manual had mentioned an in-game Help Menu which would go into further detail, and Frank motioned his hand to open the System Menu, and from there, found the sub-category Help. Once open, Frank spent some time browsing the various informational categories, such as Healing, Stats, and most of all, the section 'Combat'. Thinking how all of this was well and good, Castle still knew what he needed more then anything else what a proper run-through. It was here, in the Help menu, where he founded an option labeled, 'Tutorial Quest'.

Ok, let's go on a quest, Frank thought to himself. Delicately, his fingers danced across the choice, and he chose the green 'Start' option which appeared.

Frank woke himself up. The dawn was starting to poke through the soft clouds off to the west, though the city was still quiet. It had been a strange night, filled with stranger dreams. Perhaps that came from sleeping on the ground, in a small tucked-away alcove where he was off the beaten-path for most city residents, but Frank was used to sleeping on the ground, so that wasn't it.

No, Frank surmised it had been a strange night not because of the night, but because of the news of the day before. Stuck in a virtual reality game. Not just a game, but a game of life and death. These were the words he remembered from yesterday, though they sounded incredulous as he thought about them. Still, the worry on the faces of the denizens had seemed real, and so had the players who suddenly collapsed, presumably from having their headsets tampered with in the real world. Frank could only presume that everything he had been told, had been true. With that being the case, he knew he needed to learn more about this game, after all, Frank was no gamer, not by any stretch of the imagination.

Frank silently walked himself through the bustling settlement of Snowfrost. The snow falling from the sky was light, and strangely, not as cold as one might expect. The town was lit by what seemed to be strand after strand of Christmas lights, and they each cast different colors onto the snow, the buildings, and out into the night. Wreaths hung from the doors, and garland from the roof-tops.

The kids, and some of the adults, playfully threw snowballs at one another. Frank could see across the street, someone he didn't know had been pelted by a particularly large snowball, but soon those involved were laughing more then they were hurting. Frank had heard the raffle was going to be towards the center of town, with the market vendors, and so he made his way onward.

Walking his way into the center of town, Frank drifted off to the side where he then stood quietly taking in the extremely large, extremely decorated Christmas tree. His eyes began to lose focus as he drifted into his memories, memories of hot chocolate with the family, the kids on Christmas morning, memories of his wife and her beautiful smile.

Thread Summary

1 Boar Killed

Reward

• +1 Skill Point (20 Posts)
• <<Unidentified T1 Rare Armor>>
• 2 Crafting Materials
• +400 Col Thread Completion

ABANDONING THIS THREAD AFTER SIX MONTHS OF NO STAFF REPLIES.

Making his way back down the river-bed, Ry noticed there were many caves and outcroppings in the rock-face. This at one time, must have been a mighty stream, he pondered, thinking that it would have taken strong river currents to cut-away at the rock. But then again, did a game like this even have that kind of passage of time? Or were they all created immediately into their current form? If the game had a sense of time, did the monsters also have some sort of natural selection where they would attack each other and in-time create a dominant set of monsters? These were all questions Ry would have loved to pose to the create of the game Akihiko Kayabe, but it wasn't like he would get that opportunity now.

Continuing his stroll, Ry came upon a cave, though it was dark, it clearly wasn't too deep. Something called him inside the cave and Ry decided to listen to his inner voice. It was at the bottom of the cave where Ry found himself staring into the darkness, trying to see what was there.

• Ry Lv 1 HP 20 / 20 EN 2/2 (Energy Restored Out of Combat)

 ID# 101021 results:

 Loot: 7 + 1LD Seaching - 1LD Darkness = 7 (Nothing Found)

As his eyes focused in the dark, Ry found nothing which hadn't already been picked clean. Disappointed, he would take this as need to hurry his leveling, but for now he took it as a need to leave the cave, and return to town. Crawling his way out, and treking back along the river-side, he was fortunate to not meet any other wild boars. He was ready to fight, but he also was ready to find an inn for the night. After returning to Town, he went in and ordered a room for 15 Col. Moving into the room, he collapsed upon the bed. Wondering what tomorrow's adventures were going to bring.

Bending down towards the water, Ry was interested in taking a long drink from the cool stream. Kneeling, he stared back out over the water. Something it seemed, had caught his eye.

ID# 101020 results:

 Loot: 2

But as he looked closer, Ry could see there was nothing there. Reaching his hands into the water, he brought them up and took a long drink of the refreshing stream. In fact, now that his HP had restored itself, he was feeling much better then he had been just a few moments ago. Standing, he began to walk along the shore line, back towards the Town of Beginnings, intent to return before night-fall.

• Ry Lv 1 HP 20 / 20 EN 0/2 (+10 HP Out of Combat Healing)