Mutsu

Out of Combat: +1 EN, +1 HP

ID: 106936
LD: 18 (+1 Mat)

Loot Total: 3 T1 Mats, 30 Col, 2 Rare Consumables [yet to be submitted]

As Mutsu tromped through the tall grass of the plains, her short height allowing her to easily and completely disappear between the tall blades of grass, she occasionally jabbed her spear at random clumps of grass or else aimed sharp kicks at various bushes as she came across them. While she could not physically be seen behind the barrier that the grass provided her sarissa marked where she was and the jingling of the bells on her armor announced that she was in the general vicinity to one and all, player and monster alike.

"No point in being sneaky when I have more things that I need to kill," she said to no one in particular. Admittedly, sometimes the woman liked to talk to herself and, occasionally, it was the only intelligent conversation she would have all the day long. Marching past a particularly large bush she gave it a savage, jingling, kick. To her surprise the bush disappeared and, in its place, there was left a... well, it was a something that was for certain. Stooping, she tapped the item and its only description was 'Crafting Material.' Mutsu shrugged and tapped the button to add the item to her inventory. "Good enough, moving on."

"Fetch quest, bring back the materials," Mutsu recited to Zackeriah. She shrugged her shoulders and scowled. This was one of those introductory quests and, in truth, she had not expected it to be that tedious or that difficult. Such quests never were. All the same, that did not make it less annoying that the developers of Sword Art Online had failed to put a bit more thought and imagination into their Tutorials. She sighed and turned her attention to Hazado, as the player began to speak.

"Garnet Rangers, eh," she asked, quirking an eyebrow in his direction. "Never heard of them, they a new guild or something," she asked, leaning against Zackeriah's counter. Now that the non-player character had delivered the quest instructions, and she had swiped a finger in the air to accept that quest, it did not seem as if any further conversation with Zackeriah would be needed. Mutsu eyed the hand with her chocolate colored eyes for a moment, before finally reaching out and shaking it.

"I guess I need to go kill some boars," she said, quirking an eyebrow and ignoring the warning from Zackeriah. If the objective was to find materials for crafting then, it seemed to her, that would certainly be the fastest way to do it. "I'm Mutsu, like the battleship. You want to come along and kill some digital animals or not?"

ID: 106927
BD: 9 (Crit. Hit +1) [Heft: DMGx2] [DMG=5 (1 Base, 3 Skill, 1 Dice Roll)
MD: 6 (Hit)

ID: 107369 - (The absurd gap between the roll numbers is because @Zandra informed me that Monster Loot and Monster Fite rolls were to be separate)
LD: 18
CD: 6

Mutsu: 19/20 (0/2) (3-18 = 1 DMG)
Boar: 0/10 (5x2-0 = 10)

Loot: 2 T1 Mats, 30 Col, 2 Rare Consumables [yet to be submitted] (See LD and CD rolls)

"Well, this is idiotic," Mutsu groused, delivering several more sharp kicks to the bush that had deeply offended her by not disgorging any kind of useful quest item. Her brown eyes swept along the low row of similar such bushes that looked as if they ran the complete length of the wall that surrounded the Town of Beginnings. The brunette swore, like a sailor, and stalked off away from the wall heading properly out into the fields. Even though she disappeared into the grass after only a few steps the bobbing tip of her sarissa could clearly be seen above the grass since the weapon was a full fifteen feet in length. It was not exactly as if her location would be any kind of big secret to anyone watching from the Town, or anywhere else nearby.

Of course, with all the noise the woman was making from her complaining and the merry jingling of the bells affixed to her armor it did not take along for a wild boar to appear before her. It grunted, pawed the ground twice, and then charged. The beast slammed into her and rocked the heavily armored woman back on her feet as the porcine animal raced on past her. Mutsu grunted and glanced at her Health Bar and then chuckled. Apparently, even though her weapon was crap her armor was quite good.

"My turn, piggy!" Dropping the sarissa into an attacking position, Mutsu raked the spear tip diagonally across the boar's chest and face. It gave a squeal and exploded in a shower of pixels, leaving behind a pair of crafting material, two small phials of... well, it was definitely something. There was also a small bag of col which were quickly retrieved. When she tapped on the phials they only said 'Unidentified Item, take to the Merchant.'

"That's more like it," Mutsu grumbled, shouldering the sarissa and disappearing deeper into the grass of the plains.

"I know a bit about military history," Mutsu replied, glaring up at the man that had just revealed himself as a member of the United States Marine Corps, even as she hopped again and made another swipe to try and grab his ear and drag him off. "If you know military history then I assume you know where the name Mutsu comes from in history," she continued, referencing her own name as being related to a battleship. Then she thought she should probably spell it out since most Americans only bothered to learn about the silly Yamato.

"The Mutsu was a Japanese Battleship," she paused and then grinned an evil toothy grin up at Black. "That would be Department of the Navy, aren't the Marines a Department of the Navy too," she asked in a sweetly evil tone, the bells on her armor jingling merrily. "That means you have to do what I say!" She crossed her arms over her chest and glared defiantly at Black, certain that she had just fired a broadside in their verbal spate that would allow her to emerge victorious. "And I saw we're going to go do Secret Medicine of the Forest. Now."

ID: 106922
LD: 4 (bupkus)

Mutsu craned her head back to look at the high arch of the gateway that allowed players to pass from the safe zone of the town out into the unsafe lands beyond it. "Mighty big arch," she muttered to herself, passing the invisible barrier and stepping out truly into the beginner fields that surrounded the town. "I wonder if the game designer is compensating for something. Bet he is." Swiping a finger in the air in front of her, she pulled up her player menu and, after tapping a few buttons her vanity weapon appeared in her hands. The sarissa was next to useless, compared to the weapon she was trying to secure for herself. But, at least using it would allow her to tap into her level one sword skills. Or, in Mutsu's case, her level one spear skills.

Who wanted to use a sword anyway? A sarissa was a much better weapon, sure to strike fear into the hearts of everyone that saw it. Plus, it could be used for other things as well.

"How do I search for materials anyway," she asked no one in particular, walking up to one of the bushes that flanked the heavy wrought iron gates of the Town. The bushes looked decorative, but bushes could give out goodies sometimes. She'd played the old classic Legend of Zelda games enough to at least know that much. "Nothing to do but try it," she muttered to herself, rearing back a booted foot and delivering a sharp kick to the bush. This failed to produce any appreciable results.

"You look like someone who's just been given a fetch quest," a voice crawled lazily from behind Ptolemy. The woman's chocolate eyes scanned him up and down, lingering on his hair, as she clearly seemed to considering her options. As she examined him her left foot tapped an idle sort of beat that was punctuated by the bells hanging from leather tassels on her boots.

"Fine," she said after a moment of considering her options, detaching herself from the wall she was leaning against and bouncing in Ptolemy's direction. Had she not been wearing heavy steel armor.she would likely have been bouncing in more ways than one. "I'm coming too," her hand reached out and snagged the front of the guy's clothing, jerking him down until they were eye level.

"One shot joke or comment, and I will end you," she said in a sweetly deadly tone that was ruined by the jingling bells on her armor. "What's with the seafoam green hair?"

After having accepted the quest Mutsu pushed open the door to the performer's shop and let herself back out onto the street. Her brown eyes squinted as she glared up at the sky and snorted in a derisive manner. Swiping a finger she pulled up her player menu to glance at the mini map and completely confirm that she had properly accepted the quest for taking an official profession.

"Figures it would be a simple fetch quest," the short woman grumbled, turning her feet in the direction of one of the Town's main gates that would put her out in the fields where she could begin collecting in earnest. The sooner she left, the sooner the chore would be done, the sooner she could find something more worth while to do.

"Early for Christmas," Mutsu asked, her milk chocolate colored eyes flashing dangerously at the remark. "If you say one word... one word about Santa and elves then we'll both discover just how low my spear can make you go," she continued in a low tone. With practiced ease she dropped the weapon, pulled up the menu, and hit the 'store item' button before the gargantuan sarissa could hit the ground. The weapon dissolved in a shower of blue sparks just before it would have hit the floor with, no doubt, a resounding thud.

"It's not a limbo stick," she declared, crossing the distance between herself and Black and then craning her neck back to look up at him before jabbing him in the chest with a finger. "It's a sarissa, Alexander the Great developed them to make his infantry stronger in the field." The shorter woman huffed and glared up at Black through narrowed eyes. "I was going to do that quest too, so..." Abruptly, Mutsu's right hand flashed out and swiped at Black's left ear. To accomplish this, the shorter woman had to make a slight hop into the air. "Let's get going, my new weapon isn't going to buy itself, you know."

Mutsu was not left waiting for too long before the NPC's performance came to a conclusion. Turning towards Mutsu the NPC, Alyssa Singular, spoke, "Hello there, I do hope you enjoyed my singing, I love singing for others, and I see you are here, would you like to learn how to bring enjoyment to others in terms of singing? I would love to help you."

Mutsu shrugged her shoulders and the sound of bells ringing momentarily filled the shop. "I don't know about singing, but performer seems like the best profession to choose," the brunette allowed. Performer seemed like the least cringe worthy profession. Also, bells. No one would or could complain about the bells then since they would be part of the performance. "So, what do I need to do to learn to be a performer?"

"Now, I will start to record a song, and you can watch me and take notes on how to sing, the vocalization of words is key in making a good product." Mutsu watched as the NPC reached for something from a bowl on the counter top next to her. Instead of coming up with an item from empty air, Mutsu watched as the NPC's fingers closed on nothing and Alyssa frowned.

"I can see where this is going," Mutsu muttered to herself. Surely enough, a few seconds later the NPC began with the dialogue that would begin the quest.

"Oh no! I have completely ran out, would you be a dear and gather five materials for me? I can still sing, but making a recording crystal will only work with materials. Thank you very much."

"Sure thing," Mutsu muttered, flashing a finger in the air to tap the 'accept' icon which would begin the quest.

Mutsu had made her way through the city to the point indicated by the Navigation Beacon. As she stood in front of the shop's door and peered through the window set into the door she could see a woman inside, apparently singing and, indeed, the faint strains of song could be heard through the door. "And the busy work continues," the brunette muttered to herself, placing a hand on the door and pushing it open. There was a veritable wall of song that hit her, drowning out the sound of the bells on her armor. Stepping into the shop Mutsu pushed the door closed behind her. Since the quest giving non-player character was still in the middle of her performance Mutsu took up a position leaning against the wall next to door. There did not seem to be too much that she could do until the song was finished.

OOC: Tying in with the remark from the post in Dustin's shop. Just an FYI. Also, if you want an edit to this, let me know I don't mind. :)

Mutsu stomped through the Town of Beginnings, the bells on her gear tinkling angrily, if indeed it were possible for bells to be angry. Short jokes. Busy work from Zackeriah for that ludicrous newb quest. "I need ingredients, hurr hurr," she grumbled to herself, muttering dark threats and imprecations, some of which concerned the parentage of the non-player character in question. Of course, introductory quests were simple and cringe-worthy. All the same, that did not make them less annoying. If anything it made them more annoying. She was just on her way out through one of the many gates of the city when she happened to turn her head to the side and spy someone she'd run across in a blacksmith's shop earlier in the day.

The tall one. The tall one with the big mouth. The tall one with the big mouth that implied she needed a sarissa to become a pole vaulter.

"You," she boomed accusingly at Black. Or, at least, as accusingly as someone of her stature could be said to have a booming voice. Her finger flashed in the air and the vanity weapon, a long sarissa easily twice as long as she was tall, appeared in Mutsu's hands. "I have places to be, I have things to kill. You're going to come along," she leveled the weapon at Black, not caring that it was rude or that she was in a safe zone where she couldn't hurt him even if she wanted to. She sort of did want to. "And you're not going to give me any trouble about it, right Gigantor?"

"I guess this is it," Mutsu muttered to herself as she stood before the door that led into some kind of shop, blacksmith maybe, that apparently belonged to a non-player character named Zackeriah. Placing a hand on the heavy maple door, Mutsu pushed it open and flounced inside with a jingle of bells, both from the door and her ensemble. "Nope, potion-maker," she muttered to herself, taking in the various odds and ends arrayed on the shops counter and shelves. "Definitely a potion maker."

The woman's brown eyes swept around the shop, taking in the two people that were standing within what was a reasonably well lit area. One of the men in the room had a green symbol over his head, clearly he was another player. Mutsu narrowed her brown eyes and regarded him. Judging by the fact that his gear looked like it should have been better than what she had, Mutsu made the assumption that he guy was a higher level than she was, just as he was higher off the ground. She scowled at Hazado. One crack about height and they were going to have... problems.

That meant the old guy clutching the potion bottle had to be the Quest NPC. With no hesitation, and a good bit of merry tinkling from the bells adorning her armor, Mutsu crossed the small main room of the shop to stand in front of Zackeriah. "The word around Town is that you will teach willing students a few lessons. Any truth to that?" she asked casually, testing out the dialogue to see if it triggered the quest of if she would need to try again.

Mutsu pushed open the door to the blacksmith's shop on the edge of the Town of Beginnings and stuck her head inside. It was definitely a Blacksmith's shop, of that she had no doubt. But, from what she could see it looked as if there were mostly axes and certainly nothing that she would consider a proper weapon. Having tromped throughout the Town in search of a proper weapon that would be an improvement over the vanity weapon she was currently using, the short woman was in no mood to continue her search. It was time to order something and be done with it. After all, there were no experience point rewards for weapon shopping.

Pushing the door the rest of the way open, she marched into the shop, jingling merrily with every step, and pushed up next to @Black at the counter. She reached for an order form on the counter, but Black was in the way and her arms weren't quite long enough. "Ahem," she declared and, when he was slower than she wanted him to be in moving a half step to the side, she gave him a dig in the ribs with her elbow. "Aha!" The woman gave a slight hop, getting herself half onto the counter and reached all the way across it, and in front of Black in the process, to snag one of the forms before sliding back to the ground in a jingle of bells. In short order she had tapped the fields on the form and filled it out.

"How long and how much?"

(Tag @Dustin)

Mutsu sighed to herself and blew a gust of air from her lips upward to blast her hair out of her face. A few seconds later the curtains of short brown hair were in her eyes again. Growling, she reached up with her left hand to brush the hair to one side while she scrolled through quest options for the Town of Beginnings with her right hand, examining each of them and discarding many of them for the time being. "Too difficult, too difficult, too dangerous, that's for a Level Ten... why do they even have that quest? Boring, boring, oh..." the brunette trailed off as her finger lingered over a single quest title, 'Earning a Living', that was broken down into several different sub-quests depending upon the profession one was choosing to enter.

"Blacksmith? No."

"Tailor? No Seamstress option? Sexist."

"Merchant? Boring."

"Cook? I can see the boys now," the woman's voice took on a mocking alto tone, "'Hurr, hurr, yer a cook? MAKE ME A SAMMICH, WOMAN!" Mutsu rolled her eyes. "Pass."

"Alchemist? Stereotypes."

"Artisan? Well, it is true that a girl can never have too many bells," she muttered to herself, giving a little shake which set the various bells on her armor to jingling for a moment.

"Performer? Now that's interesting. Instead of making the bells I can do something useful with the bells." She tapped the "Performer" option and the next quest step popped up.

'Proceed to the shop of Alyssa Singular.' The step was accompanied by a waypoint. Shrugging her shoulders, Mutsu set off through the town in the direction of the shop.

OOC: This thread is open to ONE other player. As soon as the other person joins, this thread will be changed from OP to PP. It's open now because I do not care who else chooses to take part.

"Well, missy, if you weren't so close to the ground maybe I would have seen you," rumbled a burly looking player with a green diamond over his head, indicating that he has as much a right to be in the Town of Beginnings as Mutsu did.

"H-What," Mutsu asked, her voice a low hiss. Her right hand snapped out, twisted into the offending speaker's shirt and, with a quick twist and a throw she launched him into the stone wall, an immortal object, of the building across the street. Being as they were in a safe zone, it wasn't as if she could actually hurt the offending speaker in any way. He slid down to the ground and looked a bit dazed. "My strength stat is more than high enough to deal with you and maybe if you weren't so big you'd have less fat around your brain, moron." Throwing her unnecessarily large spear up against her shoulder, the rather diminutive woman in steel armor flounced off.

As eh wandered the streets of the two she swiped a finger in the air to pull up her player menu. Not really paying attention to where she was walking she scrolled through her menu of possible quests in the area, reading through the descriptions of each. "I guess this stupid tutorial quest is the one to start with," she muttered, shrugging her shoulders which set the bells on her bracers to jingling. Tapping the quest to set it to active, it then became a simple matter to start following the waypoints to where she needed to be. Normally, she wouldn't have considered doing such basic tutorial quests, but with the game world now being much more real those free experience points, in relative terms, would likely turn out to be rather important.

Both of these submissions are coming off of the "Tank Package" Starter Set from my Journal:

Name: Mutsu

Your Profession: N/A
Your Rank: N/A
Roll ID: N/A
Roll Result: N/A
Item Type: Heavy Armor
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare
Enhancements: +2 MIT
Description: A simple set of steel armor that is trimmed in crimson. Consists of 1 Breastplate, Bracers, and Greaves.
Post Link:  Journal