Aspect

OOC: My follower is Mute, and souly communicates through sign language.

I stood there, I started to daydream, I let my mind wander around for a while. Before I heard something behind me in an orange bush. It wad a rustling sound. A grin formed on I face: “Oh boy, I sure wonder what I will ever do while my buddy is gone!” I said overdramatically. Subtly backing up towards the bushes. “What will I ever do without you!” I said in the same overdramatic voice. Before swiftly turning around and grabbing someone, yanking them out of the bushes. A red haired guy with black and red clothing laided on the ground. “Ouch.” He said in sign language. “Where. Were. You?!” I practically shouted at him. “Sleeping.” He signed. “You know, coming from you, I really should have expected that.” I said a disappointed tone in his voice, he offered a hand to help him up. After helping him up, I figured I should introduce both myself and my friend. “Anyway, I don’t think I introduced myself. I’m Aspect, and this is Athel. He isn’t a man of many words.” Athel looked at me like I was an idiot. Then he said some things in sign language I’d rather not translate. I merely chuckled at this. I decided listened to the group for a bit, as I did only other guy started flirting with the girl he didn’t looked like he knew, telling her her hair looks nice, etc. “He is not wrong.” Athel signed, smiling. I looked at him and raised a brow. “Smooth. Real Smooth.” I said in a joking expression. “Relax, they don’t sign.” He signed. Even then,  it's not worth the risk.  “Eh… I mean…”

I listened to the other girl that arrived. “Yeah, sure. We could stay a bit. I’ve got nothing better to do. Right Athel?” I turned to Athel, who seemed to be staring up in one of the trees. “Something wrong buddy?” Athel continued staring. “Thinking I saw movement.” Athel turned to face me. “Ok…” I slowly turned my head back to the group. “He said yes.” Athel immediately turned to face me with an expression that I can only assume meant: I'll kill you later. I sit down on the blanket, Athel hesitantly follows. “So, I'm gonna grab a sandwich..." 

@Ghost

@Hydravion

@Dustin

@Pinball

(OOC: Signed = Sign Language)

"Alright, just, don't do anything stuipid while I'm gone alright. Better yet, don't do anything." I said jokingly toward Athel, who formed a smirk in response. He signed: "Did you think I'm easily prone to disaster?" Athel signed at me, expecting the worse out of the response. "Eh..." I tilted my head side to side as I said it. "Ok, got me." He responded. Turning around and heading to the Market District, but he immediately made a one eight degree turn as soon as I was out of sight. He left the town of new beginnings and went towards the forests. Athel, upon reaching the treeline, climbed up the tree to one of the highest branches. Then he stayed in a silent state watching the town, the people, the sunset. Not many people knew this about Athel, not even I did. But he liked to sit back and watch everything unfold from a distance. 

@Neopolitan

"Athel! ATHEL!" I shouted into the trees, cupping my hands over my mouth as I shouted. "Where are you!" I shouted again. "I swear, if I find him I'm gonna kill him." I told himself. Of course it isn't what I'm actually is gonna do. But the fact that he wasn't responding and the he caused me to get lost in the forest certainly put me in the mood. Sure we spent lots of time in the firest, heck we even camped out under the stars, but none of that experience prepared me for this. My head perked up when I heard a voice, it sounded female. I reluctantly went towards it, hopeing they saw someone that  matches Athel's description.

"What the, what's she doing?" I whispered to myself. I was currently hiding behind a bush, watching a girl who was, talking to herself? "Man, she needs some friends to talk to..." I kinda felt sorry for her. I tried to readjust my legs, mainly because a big 'ol  branch was digging into my spine. That's when I made my mistake.  I stepped on a branch, which made a loud snapping sound as I moved. The girl suddenly looked paniced, and desperately tried to put her "friends" in her little picnic basket. I stood up and stepped out of the bush. "Um... Hello. Tell me, have you seen a man with a face mask, red hair and a big sword?"

@Ghost

Sig? You mean signature? If that's the case then sign me up!

“So, then it's settled, we join a guild?” I asked Athel. Who looked like he was staring behind me.  “Yes.” was his response, this wasn’t like him, usually he would go into detail, but he seemed distracted. “Athel, are you ok? Maybe we can get something to eat if you feel like you need to think this over…” Most of the time, this was my ultimate persuasion power move against Athel. Usually he can be easily bribed into doing something if something tasty is involved afterward. He made the same gesture as before, yes. Still not paying too much attention to what I was saying. I turned around and the group of three we saw a minute ago was still there. “Maybe, we should ask them, I mean, I certainly don’t see ‘Best Guild in Aincrad’ billboards anywhere and I don’t know what to think of guilds to begin with.” To be honest, I did have an opinion on guilds. I think of small guilds as friend circles with cheesy names, and the large guilds as glorified profit machines. Which is why I was skeptical about this whole idea in the first place. “Yes” Athel repeated in sign language. “Ok. Come on now, we have a whole day ahead of us…” I said, trying to at least nudge out the idea that something good might happen, unfortunately, Athel had other opinions. “Lots can go bad in a minute.” He signed. 

When we approached the group, I had to admit, I was, a little more than intimidated. There was three players total, along with two familiars. One of which looked like a wolf, but  I guessed it was a wolf. When I approached, I attempted to gain their attention and said: “Um, excuse me, do you know where I can sign up for a good guild?” I can already tell this might be a bad idea. I looked over at Athel, who looked way more confident then me at the moment. “One of them was watching us.” He signed. “Which one?” I mouthed the words so they hopefully didn’t hear me. “The girl.” I nodded slightly in acknowledgment. I turned back to the three players. “Sorry about that. Can you help us out? Maybe, give us a recommendation?” Oh jeez, I sound like a high schooler asking their teacher to be a recommendation on my resume. I need to stop that.
 

@Hei @Eatos @Stryder

“Hey, Athel, I’ve been thinking, should we join a guild?” I said as I walked along the roads of the Town of New Beginnings. Personally, I found the name Ironic, mainly because some people viewed it as the end of the old them. “I don’t know.” He signed to me. “Because, I think we could both use a little help.” I said solemnly. “As much as I’d hate to admit, if we don’t get help, we could get ourselves killed easily.” Athel squinted at me, almost as if he was studying me. “Why is that?” He signed. “Well, for starters, I don’t know how to make a potion, and at the very beginning I chose a support type. Then there is my ability to defend myself, which inflicts as much damage to me as it does my target. Oh, how about literally every other mechanic in this game, I just don’t understand it!” I said, attempting to cling to what was left of my dignity, and if I wasn’t mistaken, I’m pretty sure I shouted some of it, mainly because Athel made a gesture that almost everyone knew. He put his pointer finger to his mouth and faced it upward, or formally known as Shhing someone. I sighed. “Sorry. But, I know what your thinking though. I wouldn’t be considered “pro” in this concept, but that's not what I’m aiming for.” Athel grinned at me. “What are you aiming for?” I tried to come up with an elaborate response, but I settled on something simple instead. “Oh, how about not dying? Is that a good enough goal for your?” A mischievous smile grew across Athel’s face. “My goal is also simple. Become king of Aincrad.” I grinned at this remark. “Oh shut up already.” Athels eyes grew more diabolical. “I cannot shut up. I am mute.” He signed. I facepalmed. “There it is again. Did anyone ever tell you that you overuse that joke?” I responded. “Sorry. You lined it up. Could not resist.” He signed. Its at this point I noticed a group of individuals. They looked like they knew what they were doing, sorta. But, I didn’t want to intrude, especially because I didn’t want to make a fool of myself.

@Hei @Eatos @Stryder
 

Athel was currently chowing down on a shrimp shish kabob. He looked into the water and wanted to join all the smiling faces. But how would he be able to start up a conversation, especially in sign language. Maybe he could send someone a friend request, then message them that he couldn’t speak? That might work. He was tempted to try it. Most of the players looked like they were forming small isolated groups. Others looked like they had no one to group with, like himself, another girl with black hair sitting by herself, she didn’t look like a outdoor person. Ryder, or formally known as Aspect. He got bored quickly, finding nothing to do, and no one to talk to that could understand sign language. He decided to come up with something on his own. He saw a small tree, it looked like a palm tree, but with a strange fruit growing off it. He opened his menu and equipped his combat spear. Then began taking a whack at the tree, trying to knock down the fruit. The sounds caught Ryder’s attention. “Athel! Sorry, tell me later about the competition later, I’m gonna have to prevent someone from doing something very stupid.” I said, bolting off in Athels direction. Upon arrival, I said the only logical thing. “Athel, what are you doing? I mean seriously. Why?” I asked. He looked at me, then resumed tearing up the fruit on the tree with the sharpened spear. “Ok, you do know I’m going to ask you to stop, right?” I said, he only grinned at me. “Athel!” I grabbed him by his arm and essentially dragged him along towards the beach, mainly to throw him into the water, he tried squirm away. But something wasn’t right, it seemed there was some resistance, but not as much as he would usually commit. Then Suddenly, when I was at the shoreline, which at this little part happened to be a dropoff, I tried to use my momentum to throw him in. Instead, he pushed me in, unfortunately for Athel, I had a good grip on his arm. We both struggled and tumbled into the water, going down with two large splashes. Getting a few people with it. I returned to the surface of the water around the same time as Athel did. “Athel, why.” I said scowling at him. He merely responded with a grin and a few gestures in sign language. “Plan didn’t work.” He signed. I splashed him in response, he splashed me back, It went back and forth until there was enough water flying around that I couldn’t tell what was going on.

The first girl, who called herself Arabelle gave them a quick easy answer, but not without a question. “Yeah, he is mute in real life. It had him calibrate his voice, and he had none, so he can’t talk here either. It's, a bit problematic when it comes to communication with people who don’t know sign language.” I then turned to Athel, who was about to chow down on some barbeque. But we made eye contact. “You look like your enjoying yourself, wouldn’t it be a shame, if I were to do something about it.” I said out loud. I then made the sign language gesture for “Water.” Almost instantly, he looked paranoid. I turned back. “Well, that should keep him in check for a bit, until he does something in retaliation. Thanks for the information, Arabelle.” The other player, was a blonde girl who introduced herself and gave similar information. “Thanks Sunova, it's nice to meet you.” I said with a smile. I then walked off to met the person that Arabelle described. “Excuse me, you Zandra, right? Well, I have some questions about this competition, if you won’t answer directly, can you at least given me a hint as to what it is?”
@Arabelle @Sunova @Zandra

“Look! There is a party!” I said to Athel, who wasn’t paying attention to me and was obviously busy eating a churro I bought for him. “Should we go?” I asked Athel, it was apparently far more difficult then it appeared to drop his tasty churro and talk, but from what he was trying to gesture I took as a yes. “Alright. Lets see, its a beach party, with food, and some kind of, competition?” I turned to Athel, who was trying to scarf down the rest of the churro, the way he devoured the churro reminded me of an anaconda. “From my map, which I’m so very glad you told me about…” I said sarcastically. “...it would be, that way.” I pointed to the nearest exit of the town. He then finally finished his churro and nodded in acknowledgement. We had to walk for about ten minutes until we finally reached the beach. At the time, I was wearing gray swimming shorts with black stripes down the sides and a pair of leather water shoes. Athel, on the other hand, didn’t look like he planned on getting wet. He was wearing pair of shorts, not swimming shorts, a pair of sandals, and a hawaiian shirt. Along with the black gloves he never takes off. I didn’t recognize anyone, currently there was around, ten people, I wasn’t sure because everyone was moving around and I’m pretty sure someone was underwater. There was two guys in the water, one was trying to get people to come in. Two girls on the shore with swimming attire, and one who was wearing a jacket for some reason. An additional two guys scowling the beach, and another, who looked, a bit odd, was he wearing a robe? “We are here.” Athel signed. “Thank you Captain Obvious.” I said jokingly. “We mind as well find out if this is the right party. Right?” I said, turning to Athel, who was already down the shoreline. “Pff... Idiot.” I said offended, he seemed to want to eat some more, I already gave him a full churro, what is with him? I sighed and walked down from the outskirts where the sandy beach ended to the few girls on the shore. “Hey, I wanted to introduce myself, I’m Aspect, that’s Silence...” I pointed behind me, my finger following where Athel stood hovering over the food. “It's very nice to meet you. Also, I wanted to hear about this competition, so I wanted to talk to the host. Do you know where she is?” 

The next thing I knew I was on the ground. I could sense Athel silently snickering at me from up in the braches above me. I heard movement, then he landed quietly next to me on his feet in a planned and composed drop. “Ow…” I moaned, I think I landed on my own hunting knife. At the time, was wearing a red long sleeve shirt, which has a leather chestpeice, with a black jacket over it. I was also wearing black pants that had leather shin guards. "Why did you think climbing the tree was a good idea?” I said with irritation in my voice. Athel looked at me for a bit, I couldn't tell what his expression was, the sun was in my eyes. “Not my fault, your clumsy.” He signed in response, Athel was currently wearing his brown trech coat, which covered the chainmail underneath, black pants, and black gloves. I scowled at him. Athel offered me a hand and I began to get up. That's when I saw someone in what looked like heavy knight armor. 

“Ow!” I said in response, not because I was hurt, but because I was surprised, to be honest, I have no idea why I said ‘Ow’. “Why?!” I demanded, knowing exactly why he slapped me, I kinda deserved it. He scowled and crossed his arms in response, the silent version of the silent treatment. “Really Athel. Your acting like a child, you know that right?” His scowled look changed to a dull look that looked like it meant “I’m the child, am I?”. I decided to end this short feud to prevent him from being even less communicative for an even longer period of time. “I-I, I saw someone when I looked back.” I said, my voice sounding as rickedy as a poorly made wooden bridge over a cliff. Athel uncrossed his arms and stopped walking, he looked both annoyed and intrigued. He used his hand and pointed his finger to the top of his lip and moved it around the clockwise until it was left of his lip. The sign for: “Who.” “I don’t know, I’m pretty sure she was the same person as we saw in the basement.” Athel’s eyes widened a bit with surprise. “She?” He signed. I nodded in acknowledgement. “Strange.” He continued. 
 

We continued to walk towards the direction of civilization. Athel kept asking questions like, what did you see, who was it, why aren’t you answering me, all in sign language. I tried to ignore him, which was fairly easy considering the fact that he couldn’t speak. Though his frequent rapid gesturing that I could see out of the corner of my eye made it difficult to concentrate. Who is she? Was she trapped in the basement the whole time, right below me? That would explain the slashes against the iron door. But how did she get there? The door was obviously locked on the outside why didn’t she just open it from the inside? Why didn’t she escape when we were asleep, was she afraid of Athel, or me? I tend to overthink things. So many questions filled my mind, my brain unable to decide which on to clear up first, luckily for me, I had just gotten the best stimulant that you could ask for, a hand across my face. While I was in the realm of riddles and questions, Athel had gotten so annoyed with me ignoring him that he slapped me, which his way of screaming “NOTICE ME” into my ears.
 

The tower looked like it would crumble to a mound of pebbles the second any wind were to touch it. The only splashes of color on the structure were the moss and lichen growing on the outside, from here the hole in the top floor was completely visible. But that's when I saw her. She was the silhouette from the basement. From here I could see she had long wavy blonde hair. A combination of chainmail and leather armor with fur underneath, probably designed for comfort, and a skirt, that was all I could see from a distance. Female body armor makes no sense, it seems like the more skin they show off in video games, the more protection they have. Thank god this game didn’t work like that. Athel didn’t know what I was staring at, but after a few seconds the figure disappeared. “Ok…” I said slowly. “Let’s get going…”
 

 “Come on, let’s get going, we wouldn’t want to spend another night in this place. Would we?” I turned around to see Athel staring down the stairs, squinting his eyes as if trying to process something that didn’t make sense. He pointed down the stairs then flattened his hands out at his waist and zig zagged in unisen them all the way up to his chest. The sign for: “Movement.” “What?” I asked, confused, thinking I read it wrong. He made a series of signs that read: “I saw movement.” Athel continued. He looked at me with concern. Then signed: “S-o-m-e-o-n-e is downstairs” He backed up a bit and pointed down the stairs, his eyes locked on me, which was his version of “See for yourself”. I walked up to him and looked down, I saw a silhouette duck behind a tipped table. Near the back of the room. I immediately freaked out. Mostly with a calm and collected. “Alright, that's enough for today. Lets go.” Athel began to follow looking at the doorway, then turning back around towards me. We walked past the desecrated campsite and into the forest, after getting a solid twenty-five meters away from the building. I turned around for one last glimpse, I mean, it was strange for some random watchtower to be located in the middle of a forest with no good reason.

The basement looked as if it would collapse on top of me at any minute. There were a pair of shackles on the floor that were shattered. Whatever was in here, is now long gone. “These stupid scripted in-game events.” I muttered to myself. Immediately, I was startled by my friend, Athel, stumbling down the stairs landing on his back on the cold granite cellar floor with a loud and sudden “THUD!”. “Ow” He signed. Which kinda looked funny because he refused to put effort into it, making him look like he was balling his fists near his chest as they slowly moved away from each other, but it was his dissatisfied facial expression that tied it all together. What it actually looked like was “Hurt” but I could tell what he meant. I chuckled a bit, then helped him back up, like a friend would do. We went back to the ground floor to see my knapsack, which I gracefully picked up, and put on my back.
 

In the morning, I woke up. I sat up, Athel was nowhere to be found. I looked out the gaping hole in the wall. He was out cold next to the fire. I facepalmed and walked down the stone stairs, and right outside tapping him on the shoulder. He woke up immediately in a panic, then he saw me and relaxed. He the used his hand, forming an A looking symbol with his right hand. Rotating it on his chest using a couple of clockwise motions. This meant, sorry. “It’s alright, I mean, I’m still alive aren’t I?” I said sarcastically. Athel scowled in response. “Come on, let's get our sleeping bags.” I continued. We both went back inside the deteriorated building. Athel went upstairs to collect our things. But I was distracted by some strange sounds. The basement door, which was locked before, was wide open. Well, not really, when I say wide open I mean the door was open with a lot of slash marks on the inside of the door, which typically translates to “Someone didn’t like that door.”. I looked down, it was dark, I could still see. But I doubt the few beams of light that shown through the cracks in the walls near the ceiling would help much. I cautiously crouched, the leather soles of my boots were squeaking like I was walking on stairs made entirely of rubber ducks. 

I like this Guy, Ducker, just because he died in a respectful way...

“Athel, there was a map, to see where we were, this whole time?” A wicked grin formed on Athels face. “Oh… I see… I would say this allowed if it wasn’t for the presence of another decent human being.” I gestured to the player who announced herself as Mina. “...but…” I then made several furious gestures sing sign language I wouldn’t dare translate. Athel didn’t look shocked, he didn’t even look intimidated. If anything, it made his grin wider. A request to join a party formed in front of the two players. They both read the following:

Tricolor_Mina? Weird name. Still, without much hesitation, I pressed the “Yes” button saying “Better then being lost.”  A notification popped up in front of Mina:

Athel stared at the buttons, before reluctantly pressing “Yes” as well. Another notification popped up:

“Alright. So where are we heading. P.S. The whole reason we got lost was because “someone” wanted to go adventuring.” I turned to Athel who was staring back at me, he signed: “Not lost.” I quickly turned away pretending he wasn’t here. "Anyway, the name's Aspect. Pleased to meet you, that's Silence, he doesn't talk much."
@tricolor_mina

“D#mnit Athel! You got us lost, again. What is this? Are you trying to make the world record?” I said in a sarcastic tone, I really didn’t like Athel at the moment. For someone so interested in adventure and discovery, you’d think he’d be smart enough to make a map, or at least leave a trail of thread to trace back to. Athel looked at me with a scowl on his face, unable to put words to it, he couldn’t speak, he was mute. Athel was currently wearing a modified version of an adventure jacket, the difference being all the extra pockets on the inside. I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulled a two handed battle axe out from underneath it. That and his usual chainmail with a white shirt underneath, along with some black jeans and his fingerless black gloves which I’ve never seen him without. Athel then signed: “We are not lost. Just improvising.” “Oh yeah? Tell me, where did we come from?” Athel was about to point, then he hesitated, as if his thoughts were conflicting with one another. Then, slowly and reluctantly, pointed towards a grove. He didn't look so confident with his choice of direction. “That's what I thought-” That's when I heard a female voice. I couldn’t make out what she was saying but it came from behind me and Athel. I turned around thinking there was someone else lost too. Walking forward, and going through some shrubbery, I found a path, looking down the path I saw buildings. I signaled Athel: “This way.” He followed. Further up the trail, I saw a girl walking by herself wearing a tunic and skirt. I run up behind her and said: “Excuse me miss. We are kinda lost…” Out of the corner of my eye, Athel was giving me a cold stare with an expression that meant “We weren’t lost.”. “...could you tell us where we are exactly?”

@tricolor_mina

Most of the conversation went underway as usual, all the way until the girl, who announced herself as Vivila, said that she thought she understood sign language. Athel’s eyes widened in surprise and excitement, mainly because he wanted to know as many people as possible who speak sign language so they would understand him. He looked at the girl, clapped to get her attention, then made a repeated series of gestures that meant: “Do you sign? Do you sign?” The only thing unusual about the gestures was he was doing them more rapid than usual. I stared at Athel for a few moments then turned my head towards Vivila. “Want me to translate? He is saying “Do you speak sign language”. He wants to know if you do. I’m afraid if you don’t answer soon, he will pass out exhaustion.” I said in a joking manner, unfortunately, what followed was complete silence, and I’m not talking about Athel slowly trailing behind us like a ghost. After about a minute of awkward silence. Vivila asked if this was are first quest, I obviously had to answer true. “No, my very first quest was to cut him down from a tree. He got, um, tangled.” I pointed to Athel who was looked around like he had no idea what I was talking about, but he did give me that “I’ll kill you later” look. “...but other then that yeah, this is our first.”

@Vivlia

I was almost stunned by the other person’s reaction, the sound was high pitched enough that I thought I heard my ears start ringing, I shook it off just fine. The girl looked kind, however she looked at me with a emotionless stare, it kinda looked like she was doing it on purpose, I was pretty good at reading people and I could tell she didn’t want to be here anymore then I did, which just made me feel bad dragging her into this. “Well, it seems you're more experienced than we are.” I said trying to lighten the mood. Then the player offered to help if we wanted, which is just was I needed, we really did need help. “Thanks, we could use a hand in this.” Athel, who was still in back tried to get in on the conversation, which I happily forced him into. I grabbed him by the shoulder and placed him next to me, he looked like I put him in a very uncomfortable position. “This is Athel, he can't talk, he is mute.” Athel then scowled at me and made a few gestures in sign language that you couldn’t make me translate. “...and that was the sign language version of an angry rant.” I forced a grin to Athel’s silent tantrum, which he calmed down from saying in sign language: “Don’t say my name. Remember.” “Right!” I concluded. “Lemme restart that. I’m Aspect, this is Silence. He doesn’t talk much, and you are…” I paused waiting for the girl to finish the sentence, and also, in case she had anything else she wanted to add in.

@Vivlia

Unfortunately for me, Zack didn’t serve adventure, only gathering materials that I wouldn’t even get to keep. “Wow…” I said turning to Athel. “...Looks like today will be filled with tons of meaningless quests.” I said in a half sarcastic, half serious tone. He scowled back at me, not enjoying the comment. I backed away from the counter now having my instructions, and walked towards Athel, who was in the back of the room. “I don’t suppose, you know how to gather materials?” Athel nodded and signed “No” at the same time. “Maybe I can just cheat the system and give him some materials from my inventory, I mean, I have like twenty-five.” Athel just nodded no this time, I didn’t like my chances at this quest. “So, let me get this straight, you dragged me into a fetch quest that neither of us know how to complete?” The one time I actually wanted him to nod no. He nodded yes. “Looks like we'll need some help.” I said looking around the room, and spotting another player, she kinda looked like she was trying to avoid us, but unfortunately for her, I was kinda what people would call, desperate. “Athel, I have an idea, it's not a good idea, just an idea.” I said, with a hint of confidence in my voice. I approach the player, who was looking at all the potions and alchemy related items stacked on the wooden shelves. “Excuse me, but, we kinda need your help.” I said with absolutely no confidence in my voice, it seemed like a good idea to ask for help until the very last second, I don’t know why either, I just have trouble asking strangers for help. “You see, me and my buddy over there…” I gestured behind me, Athel made a weak smiled and waved in response. “...have no idea how to gather materials, and, well, are you any good at gathering?” I said, my voice got a little better than before, why couldn’t I be mute like Athel? That way he can’t force me to be the one to talk to absolute strangers, but this girl didn’t seem like that bad of a person, at least, from the outside.

@Vivlia

Have you ever had that moment where your being forced to do something your really didn’t want to do by one of your best friends? Well. That's why I’m here. For someone so quiet and slender, he had an impressive grip, specifically on my right arm. “Athel. Why.” I said in an blunt and  annoyed manner.  Athel essentially dragged me through the tavern’s door, why he wanted me to go to a tavern, I had no idea. The second I was hauled through the door the smell of yeast from alcoholic beverages filled the air. The room itself looked surprisingly tacky. I was expecting a western eighteen-fifties saloon, complete with bar fights, piano music, and angry looking cowboys. Unfortunately for me, I was wrong, the room actually looked quite depressing. The building’s clay walls were broken in a few places, revealing wooden beams and struts. The tan wooden floorboards were warped and looked like it would give way to whatever room was beneath it. The tables and chairs looked cheap and incomplete. The bar counter looked stained with several drinks and beverages, some of it even looked like blood, which as you can imagine, didn’t help me like it any further. The only thing in the room I expected was the stereotypical bartender, he was an NPC who wore a white button up shirt with a black vest over it, he was currently washing out a mug with a rag. After getting dragged across the room (and having tip of my pant leg snagged by one of the loose boards, which, as you can imagine was pretty embarrassing.) I sat down in a stool. “Really? Why are we here?” I said, getting more agitated the longer I remained answerless. He looked over at me and pointed to his mouth, then moved his hand down to his chest, the sign language equivalent for: “Thirsty.” Then he made a series of hand gestures that can be narrowed down to: “N-P-C doesn’t sign, can’t order.” I felt bad about this. “So, you want me do order for you?” He nodded in response. “Alright.” I said, turning my head towards the bartender. “Do you have any wines?” The bartender nodded in response and began to complete this order. Athel nodded with approval. I didn’t think they would serve wine here. I looked at towards players along the bar, they all looked calm and collected, some more than others, one guy in specific looked nervous. “What do you think they are talking about?” I asked Athel, who shrugged in response, I decided to continue listening. Hopefully, no one would notice. All the characters looked like they didn't know each other, like they were completely unrelated, so why were they even here?

Looked directly below the tower I saw a figure throwing more firewood into the pit. Which erupted in an inferno in response. “There you are…” I whispered to myself. I placed myself down the stairs to make sure I wouldn’t fall all the way down. Arriving outside, I waved to Athel, he waved in response, while making a stack of wood, his wave looked a bit odd because of this. He then signed to me: “Find anything?” “The inside is clear. We could camp inside if we wanted to.” He nodded and signed back: “Outside is unsafe. Monsters. I saw one finding wood.” My eyes widened. “Monsters?” I said, worry in my voice. “Inside clear, it is safe there. So…” He signed, then picked up a torch and walked to the door, he stopped and gestured me to follow. Once inside he relit a few torches on all the floors except the basement, the door, as it turns out, was locked and barred from the other side. He turned to me and signed: “Upstairs is safest. Only one entrance, allows us to keep lookout.” I nodded. “Wouldn’t it also mean one exit?” He paused and thought about this. Then signed: “We would see he threat coming.” “Ok” I replied. “You watch first though, alright?” Athel nodded. “Ok then, nighty night.” I said as a rolled out a brown sleeping bag from my pack. I went into it, I hadn’t slept in so long that is feels unnatural. But comfortable nonetheless. It felt like I was resting a massive kitten. My eyes began drooping. Before I knew it, I was out cold. Athel pulled up a chair to the hole in the wall. He looked out as if fishing for something on a dock in a lake. He was wide wake, it was part of his alert expression. He looked out with an expression that read: “Peace at last.”. He began walking around the room studying the building in detail, making sure he hadn’t missed anything. Floor by Floor, wall by wall, brick by brick, he studied it. Until eventually he was back outside, he pulled a chair from inside the building outside and sat down looking into the woods, his spear leaning against his chair. The campfire crackled. He was making sure no monsters would get past him.

 I demanded, looking up the stairs. There was no response. “I’m coming up. Don’t try anything, or I might stab you!” I shouted, that should make things safer. I mean really. there was once again no response. “Alright, I’m taking that as a Yes.” I half-murmured to myself. I wearily climbed the staircase. My eyes darting like a hawk searching for food. Upon reaching the floor, there was crow perched where the helm of a knight should have been, which cawed at me and began flying around the room in an irritating fashion. “Stupid bird!” I said as I shooed it, which then flew out a gaping hole in the massive stone slabs of the roof and in part of the wall, the stairs to the roof were completely destroyed. There was empty bookshelves, a broken table, and a tattered banner which hung from the ceiling. I approached the hole and looked over the forest. From this height you could see anything. In the distance, I saw, lights! There was something glowing in the distance, a town, a village, a trading post, who knows! The light in the distance pulse like fire, which I didn't know how to respond to.