[PP-10] Wail of the Banshee

[Ethereal 0]

@Mack

A bearded man would be tapping his chin, gazing and surveying the wooden bulletin board in front of him. Tracing a finger across a few items he would mutter "Too easy.. Too low.. Too finicky. Hmm. Hello.." Emerald eyes catch a notice "Those who venture near Tartarus say they hear an unholy wailing. If they linger too long, that wailing becomes louder, many flee before the sound reaches them. Those foolish enough to stay encounter a deadly fate!" Intrigued, the player - apparently wearing only commoners clothes and an old Crimson Inquisition cloak taps the "O" key. The quest would ding "ACCEPTED" and the tall stranger would smile. "Right then.. Where the hell is this Tartarus place? Greek mythology, huh?"

Edited February 24, 2016 by Ethereal

[Mack 0]

"Been there once," Mack grunted from behind Ethereal as the other man accepted the quest. "Tristan, Xion, and I started that quest a long time ago and abandoned it to go and take part in a Boss Raid. At the level we're at now, it shouldn't be too hard to take care of. I can also swap out my gauntlets for a pair that generate light, and that will help a great deal." The hulking axe man crossed his arms over his chest and then, after a moment, reached out with his right forefinger in front of him and tapped the 'Accept' button floating in the air before him. "We're heading up to the tenth floor, Ethereal."

[Ethereal 0]

Ethereal seemed a little surprised at Mack's entrance - for such a bulky man he sure could be quiet when he wanted. The wild-haired man instantly recognised the Knights of Blood insignia emblazoned on the man's equipment. Not only that, it was traced with gold - the Strike Force. This must be the infamous Mack judging by his distinctive appearance; Eth was in two minds whether to salute or address him as sir. Better to be safe than sorry. The straightsword user raises his hand, placing it against his brow in a formal salute and confirms "Yes, sir."

He then swipes his other hand, opening the party menu and inviting the axe-wielder to join him officially as a party. In addition, with a few more gestures jagged black and red equipment appears on his body in a flurry of pixels followed by a huge greatsword latching to his back. The gear would seem like some of the highest quality available and would be inlaid with the gold of the Strike Force. Eth would leave his helmet off.

[Mack 0]

"No need to salute or use that 'sir' stuff," Mack rumbled, throwing back the gold trimmed crimson hood on his cloak to reveal equally crimson trimmed features in the form of his unruly red hair and beard. "In the real world, I'm enlisted and not an officer... only officer's stand on ceremony for that kind of thing, or martinets," he continued. Mack wasn't nearly that formal about such things, so long as no one slipped into outright disrespect and insubordination they would have no problems from him about petty things. Pulling up his menu, Mack toggled through items before finally replacing his gauntlets with a different pair, the Angelic Lantern, that would generate light in a limited area and prevent them from having to take a negative hit to their accuracy during the quest. "You're party leader, this is your show."

[Ethereal 0]

(OOC I guess I messed this up chronologically, since I'm in the meeting thread as well and should know the salute thing :S ah well)

Ethereal nods at Mack, lowering his hand and assuming a more casual posture "Thank heavens for that. I had an old guild leader who was a stickler for the formal stuff." The warrior would smile as Mack equipped the gauntlets. "Nice bit of kit, that. I could use one of those when I'm caving.." As Mack mentioned that he would be the party leader, he raises an eyebrow; "Alright, I'll warn you that I'm a little out of practice though." Swiping down quickly with his hand, the Strike Force member opens his map and takes a quick look at the tenth floor's layout before leading the two towards the center of town. "Anything you can tell me about your last attempt at the quest?" he inquires curiously as they made their way to the teleporter.

[Mack 0]

OOC: We will need to add a few monsters to this thing... otherwise we'll NEVER get to 2 pages.

"Probably some pretender that doesn't understand the way the real world work," Mack grunted, spitting on the ground and listening to Ethereal's question about the quest. "We didn't get too far into it before were were all called away. There's an old lady standing outside a jail, she offers us a big reward something like ten thousand col to go into the jail and rescue her husband from a banshee. Should be a cake walk with our levels being what they are," the strike team leader said, shrugging his broad shoulders. Swiping a finger in the air, Mack pulled up the map data and sent it over to Ethereal since this was the swordsman's show to run. "Whenever you're ready."

[Ethereal 0]

Ethereal nods, "Let's get this done." Having reached the glowing portal that was the teleporter he takes a step into it - in a moment he seems to disappear into the circle of light. Blinded for a moment, the swordsman takes several further paces as he feels his body return after the transport. Blinking, the warrior turns and awaits his leader to follow immediately after. Studying his map, he makes his way through the streets of the spawn area in the direction of the crone. Eventually, the two of them happen upon what seems to be a witch of some sort trying to catch the attention of several passing players. They would shy away, not wanting to have anything to do with her.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Ethereal

[Mack 0]

"No time like the present," Mack rumbled in his distinct low tone, following Ethereal into the portal and, soon enough, he was also emerging onto the tenth floor into one of the few areas of the subterranean level that was well lit. Of course, that would all change as soon as they left the safe zone in the main town. Sure enough, as they emerged from the portal there was the old crone in the town square, going from person to person and begging them to help her wreak bloody revenge on the banshee that had deprived her of her husband. The fact that she was an NPC and offering the most generous col reward that came from any quest that had, so far anyway, been discovered was also a pretty good incentive to help her in her quest for revenge. "She's all yours."

[Ethereal 0]

As Ether approached, the old woman would notice him and stare deep into his eyes as the warrior approached. "Please help me.. My husband.." she would begin, crooning. Ethereal sighs, nodding tiredly; "Alright, what do you want me and my comrade here to do exactly?" The witch pushes some greasy black hair from her eyes and replies with saddened eyes, "Kill the banshee! I'll give you all this Col!" She holds out a large bag brimming with the currency and continues "She kille-" before being interrupted, "Where is it?" After a second, she skips to the next line of programmed dialogue, "East of here, inside of a place the call Tartarus." Ethereal would nod once and then make his way back to Mack. "You catch that? East, apparently." The swordsman begins making his way through the streets of undead NPCs and the rare player or two. "Tartarus rings a bell.. It had something to do with containing a dragons nest?" he ponders as they walk.

[Mack 0]

"The area around these floors in the tower seems to have several Greek Mythology themed quests. Down on nine you have to tackle Cerberus, the three-headed guardian dog of the underworld," Mack answered in a low tone as Ethereal continued to lead the way for the party. The truth was that the big ginger headed man knew, at least, where the entrance to Tartarus was. But, this quest represented a good, and relatively safe, opportunity to see what kind of leadership qualities Ethereal might have and, since the man was part of the Blades and relatively new to Mack the soldier knew it would be a good idea to figure out exactly what it was that Ethereal could do and whether or not he could be trusted in a leadership position.

[Ethereal 0]

"Cerberus, eh? I wonder if there's a quest where your morality is weighed in relation to a feather.." he trails off then looks around at Mack with a grin, "Before this death game I used to enjoy tales like that. Man, I knew Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Norse.." the swordsman seems to be lost in his own thoughts, following the trail that Tartarus was likely to be on. Occasionally he would enquire "Excuse me, ma'am. Do you know the way to Tartarus?" To which the warrior would either get worried looks or the odd general direction. Either way, the person being asked would scurry away. Eventually, the two of them wound up at the front of a large, archaic jail-like building. There were bars on the few windows that were present and the entire structure was midnight black. "Hmph. No point waiting out here.. I suggest that when we find the banshee I stun it while you dish out the heavy DPS. Sound like a plan?"

[Mack 0]

"I would assume that every major mythological group will be covered with bosses, quests, or mini dungeons at some point," Mack answered musingly, considering the offered question for a moment. It stood to reason that if Greek was being covered then the others would eventually be represented as well. After all, there was only so much truly original content that could go into a game like Sword Art Online before they either started coming up with bosses from mythology or they started creating things like 'Sheeptar the Sheep King' just to fill out the rest of the game. "Sounds like a solid plan to me, but we'll probably have to hack and slash our way through some guardians as well."

[Ethereal 0]

(OOC I rolled twice and forgot to link the first roll to the post RIP because it had a 12 LD)

Loot: 5 (+1 = 6)

Ethereal pushes open the heavy ash door - hanging off its hinges - and steps gingerly inside the structure. Squinting through the darkness, he moves over to what seems to be an unlit torch on a sconce situated on a nearby stone wall. Pulling it down, the swordsman searches around the top of a nearby table. Luck would have it an ancient tinderbox is perched on the edge, Ethereal knocks it but manages to grab it before it falls. Striking the box a few times, the torch flares into life and casts looming shadows on the tiles. Grabbing another torch from the next closest fixture, Eth offers it to Mack before lighting it with his own.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Ethereal

[Mack 0]

ID: 50802
LD: 12

"No need, these gauntlets cast a circle of light, so I'm good. But, we'll need the torch after bit when I change out for my gauntlets that have regeneration on them instead," Mack rumbled, declining to take the offered torch and holding up one hand that, surely enough, was generating it's own personal circle of light. "Lead the way, the banshee's lair has to be in here somewhere. I'm just along for the ride and the extra firepower," the ginger man continued, stepping to one side to allow Ethereal to be the first one through the doors that led deeper into the dilapidated jail house.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Mack

[Ethereal 0]

ID# 51096

Loot: 10 (+1 = 11)

 

Ethereal nodded at the mention of the gauntlets, placing the second lit torch on a sconce directly beside the exit so they may find it easily. "Let's get going then, shall we?" he muttered as he took a step inside of the the heavy doors, hanging off their hinges. Inside of the lair the air was thick and musty, as if someone had loaded up a small cupboard with old damp clothes and left them there for a year. Recoiling a little at the terrible stench, Ethereal made his way further in "Jesus, this place is a bigger tip than my room back in the real world." Eth quips as the two of them make their way down a stone-lined, dank corridor that looked like it'd drooped after years of neglect.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Ethereal

[Mack 0]

ID: 51143
LD: 5 (Nada)

"Most places in here are bigger that a room in the barracks," Mack said in answer to Ethereal, following him deeper into the dungeon and doing his best to ignore the smell that was coming from the run down jail house. No doubt, the deeper they went into the jail the worse the smell was going to become. Mack shrugged his broad shoulders, he'd smelled and personally dealt with worse things than an unpleasant odor in the real world. "How come you chose to join the Knights of the Blood Oath, Ethereal," Mack asked, after they had been walking for a few moments.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Mack

[Ethereal 0]

ID# 51268

Loot: 7 (+1 = 8)

There would be a scurrying now and again of small creatures, unseen in the shadows in the corner of their eyes. Ethereal glanced back at Mack as he raised the question of his joining of the Knights of the Blood. "Well, I was gone for so long that Square One faded into nothing so I needed a new guild. Square One was a good guild - I helped a lot of low level players when I was part of it.. Before that, though, I was the Raoul of the West of the Crimson Inquisition. Back then, I felt like I was making a difference, fighting for our freedom. So.. I guess I had enough of spending all my time helping people when I could be fighting. Guess that's why.." he ponders, returning his gaze to the front so he knew where he was going in the darkness.

Edited March 13, 2016 by Ethereal

[Mack 0]

ID: 51273
LD: 5

"Fair enough," Mack allowed, shrugging his broad shoulders as they moved deeper into the dungeon. "It has always fallen to the few to sacrifice so that the many might live," he continued, expounding about as much as he was likely to expound on his own reasons for merging the Crimson Blades in with the Knights of the Blood Oath. Of course, there had been concessions that the leadership of the Knights had made with Mack to get him to agree to the merger. But, in the end, it freed up the soldier to do what he did best, which was soldier, while passing on the administrative nightmares to Opal and Heathcliff, problems that the ginger headed man had very little patience with.

Edited March 13, 2016 by Mack

[Ethereal 0]

ID# 51811 results:

 Loot: 14 (+1 = 15)

As Mack spoke of sacrifice, Eth managed to spot a glinting in the shadows that skirted the room. Metallic, out of the ordinary and hidden in one corner of the sizeable square space. Holding his torch out before him as he drew closer, the halo of light cast by it illuminates the area in question - revealing that the glinting was a mineral deposit. This mineral deposit, however, marked the entrance to a previously unseen cave entrance through which the player might go through in single file. Moisture clung to the side of the stone and patches of moss dotted the inside. "Hey Mack - over here. I think I got something."

 

Edited March 17, 2016 by Ethereal

[Mack 0]

OOC: On the bright side, making it to the post requirement for this quest should not prove difficult.

Hearing Ethereal call out, Mack made his way over to where his fellow Crimson Blader had been searching for the proper entrance into the Banshee's Lair. Sure enough, he seemed to have found some kind of cave entrance that, most likely, would take them to their final destination. Mack rolled his shoulders around and settled back on his haunches for a moment, regarding Ethereal with an easy gaze. The truth was that the massive axe man had very little fear concerning this quest. Of course, he had thought the same thing about fighting Cerberus and then the dog had triple critical hit him on its first attack. Still, there was no way that could happen again. "Alright, so what's the plan," Mack asked in a low tone, waiting for Ethereal to spell out exactly what he had in mind for tackling the monster.