Freyd

Rank 5 Appraiser (Base: BD 10, CD 8+ for unique, 10 identifications per day) +1 to CD from Hermes’ Scale +1 to CD from Deliberate | 244885a +1 to CD from Witch's Brew | 244267c +2 EXP: Hard Working (also +1 IDs per day) +2 EXP: Lucrative (Firm Anima) (also +2 IDs per day) +1 EXP: Custom Ambition Tool (bought from own shop 2020-07-16) Crafting Respite | Dragon's Breath | 174619 Identifications: 26x T4 Perfect Items (@3040 col) = 79,040 col 26x 1st Rerolls (@1,000 col) = 26,000 col 26x 2nd Rerolls (@2,000 col) = 52,000 col 23x 3rd Rerolls (@4,000 col) = 92,000 col

It wasn't a victory, but at least it once again stood a chance of becoming one. As players from all corners of Aincrad rallied against the proliferating tides of glass and madness, the front lines found themselves gaining ground thanks to a few choice enemy defeats. Organizing themselves into parties best suited to their respective tasks, Freyd had joined up with a few trusted friends to break the enemy lines near Donoghue's Inn & Tavern. Not yet familiar with the area, they would have to improvise, as all had been forced to do since first setting foot on this accursed floor. "Wulf

"She also typically answers in half-truths and obscurities. Not provably lies, but hardly ironclad truths either. Be careful there." Freyd suppressed a smile at Sam's mention of Hadgar. Rosaria never operated directly. She manipulated others to do her dirty work and stuck to pulling strings in the background. It was how she'd managed to keep a green marker, despite being one of Aincrad's more prolific players killers, indirectly at least. The O&I captain's original offer had been a safe bet, since he already knew Rosaria's name never appeared anywhere on the monument. What inter

Pouring the second drink, Freyd took her observations in stride. Candor was rarely a problem, the man’s own brutal pragmatism having long since done away with any ease for getting under his skin. “You remember,” he replied, a pensive, pleasant smile spreading as the cool mountain winds dried and tossed stray unruly hairs atop his head. “Amari.” It felt familiar, like she’d somehow told him before and it had been buried in the snowdrift of a thousand lifetimes since they’d last just sat and chatted. Realizing how much had happened to him in Aincrad made it feel like forever, but n

Glass clashed against steel, chips and razor shards spraying around like shrapnel as the knight's form poorly weathered the blows. "They're like sacrificial lambs, cannon fodder for something else, to keep us distracted and worn down." A disturbingly effective strategy, not that Freyd could tell who he was meant to be addressing. “I have its attention. Go now!” Wounded players scrambled to safety behind him, their faces an awkward mix of terror gratitude and shame, though there was no call for the latter. They’d already answered the call and done their part, price paid in the lif

“Y-You do that? Regularly?” "From time to time, yea. Ever since we fought Shadow in that raid, ages ago. Something passed on, I guess. And I was already numb enough inside that it had little impact. Speaking of which..." Rolling over and up into a seated position, Freyd set himself akimbo before summoning two toblers. Each frosted and equipped with a single hunk of ice eerily similar to the familiar algid blue of her home's floor, Mari watched as Freyd summoned an ornately blown glass bottle filled with dark amber ambrosia. he started to pour. "Whiskey, if I sniffed it corre

“You know…that’s probably one of the smartest things you’ve ever said to me.” About to object, Freyd’s lips parted to find no rebuke, no quip, nor sarcastic remark. He had nothing, because she was probably right, and the realization of it had left him flabbergasted. Grabby hands yanked back her two rescued wards, Mari cradling them like they were newborns, save the suckling went the other way around. Actual glee glowed behind her green eyes, made extra verdant with a sudden greed and hunger for their contents. Freyd saddled the casque up beside him, trying to set it in a way tha

Flappy-fluff squawked and took off, probably terrified by Reliq's distraught wails - or at least so he thought. Skipstones, by comparison, was getting frisky. There were sparks, and everything. And then fire. Oh. That was probably bad, right? Too distracted by the ill effects of his own antics, at first, his comrades efforts effectively dislodged the mimic's lapsing focus from its own plight by their efforts to actually deal with the problem. Brittle and raw, flesh sloughing off like shedding snake skin, Borris' efforts at nudging him along were also making him extremely ticklish. Regen

“Who the fuck are you and what did you do wtih Freyd?” “Freyd,” he laughed, raw essence of precious joy in his voice momentarily pushing back the floor’s oppressive malaise. “Just Freyd.” Mari could see the same mischievous twinkle in his eyes. She’d been privy to it many times, but something in this new version of the man lost the ominous undertones of his earlier self. This was just joy for its own sake, without all the maniacal metaplots. Turning her attention to their approaching destination, neither one of them expected the carriage to suddenly faceplant, sending her barreling

Jeeves' panicked cry instantly caught Freyd's attention, the man's sardonic quips rarely giving way to such tones of concern. "What the... did you feed it after midnight, or something!?" Suddenly flanked by two boss mobs, with a horde of baddies barreling towards them on top of everything else, Freyd forfeit safety in favour of effect. Blade swung wide, he aimed for maximum reach and effect, slicing deep into both foes and intended to draw them closer to him for control. It worked. Mostly. And also hedged on the fact that both their health bars were deep in the red. "Looks l

Spotting the spectral knight's attempt to snare their smaller companion, Freyd's hand flashed as he summoned a mangled mechanical contraption and snare the mob's entire arm. With a vicious snap, the bear trap shut and pinned it in place, shattering half of the limb in the process, while his sword art would wreck the rest of it. "We're getting close. Keep at it." While the Knights were tough, he'd yet to see them actually do much. The two fought to date had been effectively stun locked into oblivion. That suited him just fine. The wicked way he'd seen them first move, combined with

"You want to be very careful with how you treat that word, Sam. 'Truth' is a very changeable thing, often revealing more about the person who claims to speak it than whatever it is they claim is true." A bold and Faceless statement from a man committed to a legacy of multiplied existence. Freyd knew many truths, and forged from them many, many lies - most done with the best intentions, the rest out of necessity. Watching the scene play out on Sam's mirror, he took it for what it was; its 'truth', as she described it. It was a scene playing out in a mirror. Nothing less, nothing more. "

Thread Closure: Word Counts: 6457 Freyd receives: 23,245 EXP (Word Count [6457/5*18]) 3,486 col (0 page [0] + 15% P5 Reward [3486]) 1 mon Acanthus receives: 10,331 EXP (Word Count [6457/5*8]) 1,549 col (0 page [0] + 15% P5 Reward [1549]) 1 mon Baldur receives: 12,914 EXP (Word Count [6457/5*10]) 1,937 col (0 page [0] + 15% P5 Reward [1937]) 1 mon Jomei receives: 15,496 EXP (Word Count [6457/5*12]) 2,324 col (0 page [0] + 15% P5 Reward [2324]) 1 mon Morningstar receives: 10,331 EXP (Word Count [6457/5*8]) 1,549 col (0 page

More sky blasts detonated additional tree tops, tweaking Freyd's nogging to a disturbingly predictable pattern too closely matching explosives in controlled building demolitions. "Seriously?!" Grumbles from above sounded suspiciously like chuckling as one escape route after another closed itself to possible passage. Leaping onto the carriage, Freyd slid his cargo inside with impertinent care before slapping the back of the infernal machine to kickstart its idling engine and send it lurching forward. Sparing a glance behind them, flaming logs impacted the giant ship and tore a fatal gas

Having long since grown accustomed to Nisa's prankish sense of humour, Freyd chose to endure it in silence and focus on facts instead. Anything more only encouraged her, and they'd done quite enough of that so far. "Primordial water? Echostone? Aer?" None of these terms meant anything to him, though something withing felt like they should be familiar. Too much haze got in the way, even his ample will and recounting failing to clear its obscurity. "Is this some sort of ley line or something?" Unbidden, the thought roused sensations from beyond the reaches of his soul, almost like the

"Okay..." Freyd had wondered purely because Sam had so often acted as a follower in the time he had known her. It made him wonder how she'd acted during her relationship with Katoka. Had she been more assertive? Kat was easy going, but he knew her temper could carry remarkable stubbornness. It wasn't something to bring up, certainly not now, but potentially relevant to deciphering whatever was motivating all of this. He'd also never seen any key signs of Sam's claim and found himself curious. "So Lium and the others dubbed you grand pooh-bah. Things go south and you feel responsib

More. A lot more. Every time he turned around, another pop-up window reported new knights spotted, and they were multiplying fast. Bent down on one knee, black armor soaked through to whatever layer was deeper than bone, Freyd was half catching his breathe, half digesting what could become a rout. Frontliners had rallied to the aid of this last patrol in responding to the threat's original emergence, and fortunately defeated it swiftly. Little time could be spared in the aftermath, as he'd risked the rest of O&I's available agents, committing them to stalling action likely beyond their mea

“WHOA!” Eyes widened at the sudden jostle and poke between his legs, something firm manifesting that hadn’t been there an instant before. Two uncertain seconds passed standing on his tippy toes until realization came that Mari now held a spear firmly erect in hand and pointed at something that took a moment and reboot of his heartbeat to catch. “Hey, watch where you- WHAT THE…?!” Black blade instantly upright in a low guard, the appearance of his grip and positioning might have been more awkward if the dead fish custodian weren’t quite so in their faces about a few muddy footpri

“Well… that was… a lot.” Foremost in Freyd’s mind had been the sheer uncanny valleyness of drinking coffee out of a glass. A mug, thermos, or skull, no problem. But glass? Eww. No. Essence of wrongness. Coffee was meant to be tasted, not seen. Clandestinely searching cupboards for less anathema drinkware while Sam laid out her autobiography, he finally found a kitty-shaped mug with big blue eyes staring accusingly at him for all his failings in life. Nope. Too soon. Nudging it silently sideways, he chose another that more closely resembled a deranged child's Father’s day g

What a weird moment to pick up their earlier conversation, though heartwarming in a completely unexpected way that she would circle back to it. Old Mari would have carved the topic to pieces using only sheer with, burned it, buried it, then salted the earth to make sure nothing ever grew there again. But not this Mari. It was eerily refreshing. Prison… Two years…. “Wait… whut?” As much as he wanted to absorb every detail, they were still in a fairly precarious position, and far too exposed for Freyd’s liking. Reaching back and snaring the edge of her water-logged cloak wit

Watching Flappy-fluffy-thing and Pile'o'skipstones with a pair of separately placed purple-irised yellow eyes, the rest of Reliq's attention was on the flagstone upon which he'd been pancaked. Twice. And, in the process, he'd somehow managed to wedge one of his longest and most wriggly tongues in a nasty-tasting groove. Normally, he'd just slice it off and grow another, but Mr.Wiggles had been with him a very, very long time. At least three buckets, two chests and seven helmets ago! You might say they'd even grown attached. Blowing hard into the tip of another appendage, trying in vain t

“I saw it. But -I don't know who told you but- it is not my story to tell. Sorry” Temptation to pry instantly dismissed, the evidence poorly concealed across the wincing lashes and droplets winked away at the edges of her eyes. The rain should stay outside. Freyd had already done too much to her to push a sore spot further. Maybe someday, if she was ever ready. “Prison?” Who would actually have the guts or the gaul to dare? Mari was no slouch, even in a self-proclaimed state of reclamation. Few other than NIGHT or Raidou could match her skill. Maybe Macradon and Baldur, bu

Something in the water. The spot marked by sonar waves delivered by the shrilling cry of pursed lips as an unusual source of revelation. Their guide's added taunts were overlooked as Whisper instincts kicked in. Another puzzle to solve. Anything to get away from the trajectory of their earlier conversation seemed a blessing. Nisa's shamelessness would win out over all, he was certain. "Huh... would you look at that." Freyd thought it wise to avoid disturbing the water any more than necessary. The ladies had already done their share with their playfighting, yet Nisa somehow still sens

"You called me, Sam. Seems like poor cricket to knock an arrow towards my face." Stepping out of the shadows, the Whisper kept his hands at his sides, in plain sight. She was wise to be careful. Appearances could too easily be altered in this world, and one poor choice could quickly cascade into calamity. "Freyd. You know. Your friendly neighbourhood PK exterminator?" Leap taken, but nobody ever asked about that damnable book unless the subject of player killers was involved. "What's all this about? Your message made it sound urgent." Swiping a gauntlet over the darkness in his w

Reference to the Sundered Spire gave him pause, clearly prompting the analytical engine perched upon his shoulders to ponder the possibility. An eyebrow raised at the prospect of connection, but promptly fell again. “Not sure it matches quite right. And that crimson plague was put down when Firm Anima hunted down Lun’Rael and buried her for good. Though… Katoka did find worrying traces recently.” A shaggy shake broke the imagined tether before it could sink hooks into his imagination. “No… I don’t think it adds up… though I’m genuinely surprised that you remember.” “You should k