[PT-SP-F01] <<Earning a Living: Fisher>> A BORING QUEST

[Mari 1]

 

Mari had been fishing in the past; she had enjoyed it. She remembered the times she’d stand by the lakeside with Baldur and Shield fondly…but now it would seem if she wanted to pick up the idle hobby again she’d need to do a dang quest, not exactly something she had planned nor wanted to do, but …when you gotta do what you gotta do… so here she was. At some shabby little shake in some shabby little forest, at least it was outside the city limits. God forbid Mari risk her life just to go fishing. Fuck that.

Mari stepped closer to the fishing shack, and like clockwork a figure seems to appear from nowhere. Bloody NPCs… Mari’s distaste for them grew daily.

"Anthony Gill, at your service," he announces, executing a quick bow. "Let me guess, you were looking for someone old, with a long white beard, and a pipe?" 

Mari crossed her arms. The man was….average. If you were to search up mediocre in the dictionary his face would appear there. But Mari held her tongue, waiting for him to inevitably continue.

, "Sorry to disappoint. Now, what can I do for you?" 

“Fishing Profession, Jackass.”

Many of the NPCs in Aincrad were actually quite responsive, and full of life; almost too realistic but these ones? Cut and dry. The man, Anthony was it? Gave her a large smile. The insult soaring high over his head.

"I am honored you would come to me for help. Since we're friends, I'll let you in on a little secret." Reaching into his pocket, Anthony draws out a small tin, then offers it to you. 

"This is a special bait, because a local priest prays over it in a top-secret ceremony.  I'm the only one in the world who has it, so don't bother looking for it anywhere else. If you use it, you'll catch the rare and mysterious Rainbow Fish, which you can harvest for Gleaming Scales. Catch the fish, bring me a scale, and you'll know all there is to know about fishing."

Mari snatched the tin from his hand, rolling her eyes as she walked away. This would be hell.

 

TOTAL WC: 363
 

Mari | HP: 980/980 | EN: 132/132 | DMG: 21 | MIT:44 | ACC:5 | AA | EVA:4 | BH:54 | BLI: 32/-20 | ENV-O: 32 | PARA-V | LD:1

 

 

Spoiler

Name: Mari
True Tier: 11
Level: 34
Paragon Level: 68
HP: 980/980
EN: 132/132

Stats:
Damage: 21
Mitigation: 44
Accuracy: 5
Evasion: 4
Battle Healing: 54
Loot Die: 1
Stealth Rating: 5
AA BLI: 32/-20
ENV-O: 32
PARA-V

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket:
- Paralytic Contagion | T4 | Absolute ACC I | Paralytic Venom I | Envenom OFF I | Blight I
Armor/Trinket:
- Infernal Shadow-Redemption | T4 | EVA III | MIT I
Shield/Armor/Trinket:
- Glasses | T1 | ACC III

Combat Mastery:
- Combat Mastery: Damage R3

Combat Shift:
- AOE Shift

Familiar Skill:
- Rending Familiar

Custom Skill:
-

Skills:
- Battle Healing R5
- Charge
- Cloth Armor R5
- Energist
- Polearm R5

Extra Skills:
- Survival
- Hiding R5
- First Aid R3

Inactive Extra Skills:

Addons:
- Focus
- Nimble
- Precision
- Resolve
- Stamina

Mods:
- Athletics
- Night Vision
- Surpise Attack: Trickster
- Untraceable
- Vanish

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:

Housing Buffs:
- Storage Closet: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
- Dining Room: Turn 2 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed. Lesser Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread.
- Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
- Basement: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
- Master Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
- Master Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
- Ornate Fishing Pond: +2 Fishing EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts.
- Mega Slime Farm: +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post.

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:
- Alchemist[exp] R10
Gathering Profession:
- Fishing[exp] R1

 

Edited 13 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

Without asking, Mari swiped a wooden fishing rod from Anthonys house when he wasn't looking. He had like several of them all perched up against the side of his little hut for the taking. It was like he was begging people to grab them with a big neon sign that said 'FREE'  granted...this was a quest hut - so they were probably intended for players to take but Mari felt just a little bit better about herself imagining the plain looking man be troubled by missing one of his many precious rods.

Mari walked around the side of the lake and wasted no time in hooking the 'special bait' up and casting out. It took a few minutes, till there was a slight tug on her rod. This was better…this was a little calming. With a slight jerk Mari began to reel it in - it didn’t feel like anything big so she doubted she’d be lucky enough to get what she needed straight away, and nope.

As she finished reeling in the rod she was met with nothing more than a single twinkling material. Well. Better than nothing.

 

247656  LD: 7+1 = FAIL CD: 8= +1 Material

 

Thread loot:
1 Material

 

total word count: 551

Edited 13 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

Mari pried open the tin the man had given her and with the ease and effectiveness of someone who grew up on a giant bloody island she baited the hook. Right. Just how many tries would it take to nab this thing? Five? Ten? Twenty? Mari glanced up at the sun, high in the sky. It was noon. It’d be nice if she could finish this in a few hours - She wanted to get some gathering done before nightfall, if things took too long; she’d have to wait till morning.

Red cursor = no easy forms of travel that she knew of.

Unless she was Freyd. With his void step fancy feet. Mari had to admit…it was a nice skill to have, and she would be remiss if she wanted to ask him to teach her. They both went through so much with the gemini…but would he? It felt innately and intimately him.  Not so much her.

Mari sighed as she cast the line out, and in less then a minute she had a bite, she pulled it up to have….eyup - just what she thought. Another material. Still better than nothing.
Right?
RIGHT?

 

ID: 257657  LD: 3 CD:12

 

Thread loot:
2 Materials

Word Count: 744

Edited 12 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

Speaking of Freyd…or…she supposed…thinking of Freyd…Mari wondered how he was going. They hadn’t spoken since the whole gemini thing - not really. And she missed him. She had a lot to tell him about. Mari promised to tell him if things progressed with Lancaster and now well, they really had. Mari wasn’t exactly looking forward to that conversation. “Ah…” Mari had whilst she was thinking, cast out her line again- and a slight tug on it caused her to start reeling in. Again, Mari knew this wouldn’t be the big fish with that bright ass gleaming scale that she needed, but at least it’d be something. Just as she expected. Mari pulled up yet another material.

She sighed, opening up her messenger. She wanted to see him again. He was family after all. She knew how to soften the blow of being like ‘hey yo I think Im fucking your enemy.’

Food.  That was always the answer.

 

Quote

To: Freyd
From: Mari
Subject: My home
Hey Freyd. Wanted to chat. Also show you my home. I upgraded it. Finally.
Let me know when you’re free.
-Mari.

It was probably the first time ever in Aincrad she had put a subject title in the line.

 

ID: 247658  LD: 1  CD:9

 

Thread loot:
3 Materials

 

total word count 946

Vanity tag @Freyd (this post and the one above)

Edited 12 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

Another failure meant another line to be cast out. Another hook to be baited. How annoying. She cast out the line with a heavy sigh. At least the weather was pleasant. Mari stepped from one foot to the other. If she didn’t get it soon she’d have to find a nice place to sit down. The air was nice too. Fragrant with the smell of freshly fallen leaves. Of wood. Better than the bile and gunk of the 29th floor. 

Mari hoped Freyd would like her upgraded home. She wanted him to be the first to see it, after all he had put so much effort into fixing up her first home. She wanted to show him how much that meant to her, in a way…upgrading her house was mainly because of him… and a side note of having her rafters be charred to all hell by a doting partner who just so happens to ignite when he gets too passionate. A small smile crept to her lips as she recalled the memory.

It was so nice that she wasn’t even mad she got nothing more than a single material from her line.

 

 

247659:  LD:4  CD:11

Thread loot:
4 Materials

 

total word count 1139

Edited 12 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

Speaking of…

Mari wondered if Lancaster liked fish? Could she figure out a nice meal involving it for him. Mari wasn’t really the best at cooking it, despite growing up in Australia. She always preferred the richness of red meats over it.. As she cast out her line Mari opened up her messenger with her free hand. Two messages in a day? Damn. She was on a roll. The woman hated using the message system. Found it clunky and annoying.

Yet here she was, messing people again, not for necessity but for curiosity? It’d be so much nicer just to ask him in person.

 

Quote

To: Lancaster
From: Mari
Subject
Do you like eating fish?
I picked up the profession.

 

 

Mari closed the window as she felt a bite on her line. Sending off the message and turning her attention to reeling in yet another material. At least she was getting something out of this. Materials would be useful for crafting, but she hadn’t done so in so long - Mari planned to get back into it, at least a little - if not just to craft her own potions so she didn’t need to rely on the generosity of others.

 

ID:247660  LD: 7 CD: 8

 

Thread loot:
5 Materials

 

total word count 1337

Edited 12 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

Honestly…Mari didn’t care if he replied or not. Mari had a strong feeling he was much the same with the messaging system. He didn’t strike her as someone who liked it, considering the sheer amount of notifications he seemed to get. Mari would outright ignore the message system too if she was bombarded with idiots every single day.

“That’s it…I’m sittin…” Mari found a nearby rock and sat cross legged on it before shoving more of the bait, which she was fairly sure was just worms spray painted gold  back onto the hook, with a swing she cast out again. And this time…when she reeled in the hook know what she got? Absolutely nothing. The bait gone, the hook swinging gently in the warm breeze. Bumpkiss. Welp. At least she wasn’t dragged into the water or anything like that. Didn’t seem like that would happen.

Hopefully.

If it did maybe that’d be an excuse to see her man again.

 

ID: 247661 LD: 8  CD: 6

 

Thread loot:
5 Materials

 

total word coutn 1496

Edited 12 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

Mari threw her fishing line back, then as she went to cast out she accidentally let go of it when she saw a message ding - Mari never got messages. So it would have been one of the two people she had just reached out to. Her rod sailed helplessly through the air and splashed by the lakeside, it was slowly being dragged into the water. “Ah shit.” She said as she ran over to it, Mari grabbed hold of it and tried to pull it back up, getting her feet and legs wet in the process. At least the water wasn’t freezing cold.

Mari yanked her rod away from its would be thief and opened up her messages. Just three simple words.
 

I like trout

Mari couldn’t help but laugh. A part of her felt it was always so jarring, every so often flashes of him towering over that man - ripping off his arm in a slew of ash and charcoal would slip into her mind - then he’d say something like this. I like trout. Quite possibly the simplest thing in the world. He could have asked for anything, anything. And she’d h

 

ID: 247662  LOOT: 5 CD: 1

 

Thread loot:
5 Materials

 

Total Word Count 1706

Edited 11 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

Mari shook the water off her fishermans pole before hooking yet another piece of bait, which now she was almost one hundred percent sure was just spray painted gold worms (that can’t be good for the environment, good thing the woman did not care) She cast out her line, watching the waters serene surface.

Trout…huh…she wasn’t really sure how to cook it into a semi decent meal. A garlic butter maybe? That’d work. But what to pair it with? Couscous? That was easy to make, just add water… rice? No because then she’d need to figure out how to flavour it. “Dammit…” Mari knew how to cook a few dishes quite well, but being a picky and stubborn person she didn’t really branch out of those.

“Maybe Oscar could help…” She thought to herself as she stared at the water, waiting for anything to happen. He seemed to be very, very good in the kitchen. Practically anything he made oozed with a level of pride and skill she could not match in the kitchen.

A small dip in her floater and Mari yanked the rod. Gaining nothing more than a single material. “I better get this thing soon.”

 

ID: 247663  LD:9  CD: 10

 

Thread loot:
6 Materials

 

total word count 1904

Edited 11 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

Another piece of bait hooked, and another cast, and another attempt at getting this illusive gleaming scale. Mari wasn’t even sure what to do with them. She might have to ask Raidou - or Freyd. Or Anthony…eew. No. The less time she spent interacting with that jackass of an NPC the better.

Mari tilted her head, how bad would it be if he were to just…poof disappear for a few days. That’d probably attract some sort of negative attention. It was one thing to kill guards, or farmers - useless digital fodder…but quest givers…yeh. That’d put a big ol’ target on her head taht Mari quite frankly was doing her best to get rid of. Not make worse.

Tug

    Oh!?

This one felt stronger than the others, Mari gave a small jerk, to hook whatever was waiting on the other end then began to reel in. She could see it already, glimmering beneath the surface of the water. A single gleaming scale. A tiny thing that shimmered shades of blue and aquamarine in the light. “Bout bloody time…” Mari said as she unhooked it from her fishing pole. Mari glanced at the pole. Old. Worn. Almost useless. But she didn’t have one of her own, so instead of returning it, she placed it in her inventory. Ignoring the little notification pinging; telling her she stole.  May as well take what she could before she did redemption. 

Now, time to go see an average man about her reward.

 

ID: 247664  LD: 15  CRAFT: 7

SUCCESS GOT THAT GLEAMIGN SCALE BITCHES

 

total word count 2149

Edited 11 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

Mari, had completed her goal but she apparently had some extra time to kill so what do yo udo when you have time to kill, like there is totally so much time to kill. Mari thought to herself, man if only  I didn't have all this time I could actually do something meaningful, like I don't know, go make some trout food or something. Is trout even good?

Mari pursed her lips. She never had trout before…so instead of having a nice and easy trip to go visit the quest NPC she sat down on a nice flat rock, cross legged with her arms firmly folded across her chest. “Hmmm” She thought aloud. How should she prepare it? Slow cooked? Grilled? If only she could google stuff in Aincrad. At least she had friends who were very, very, very good cooks that she could rely on and ask.

Speaking of those friends…Mari missed Cordelia… she made such good ramen.

 

total word count 2308

Edited 8 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

As Mari sat there, in the waning hours of the quickly dissipating evening, upon a large rock that sat in the forest. The forest of the first floor, a forest that was filled with a variety of trees, nature and trees…and like dirt and stuff. Also the fishermans hut. Boy howdy was she happy he wasn’t in the middle of the Town of Beginings… if he was..Mari wasn’t sure she’d be able to complete it…

It was one thing to hide your identity on the upper floors but in a city filled with players too nervous to leave its walls? Yeh…no…the last thing they needed was some angry orange haired Pker wandering around screaming about wanting to just sit and have a nice time and catch some fish, or trout, she guessed. Considering it was Lancasters favourite food. Actually…what was Freyd favourite fish? Should she ask him? Or should she figure out something she was actually good at cooking for when he visited. Wait..would he even WANT food?


Total word coutn: 2467

 

 

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

Mari was tempted to message Freyd again - mostly because she was incredibly bored. Having to wait for the NPC to be around at a specific time was like absolute torture in these quests…its why Mari hated them so much. You could finish up your tasks quickly, but no Mr Anthony just decided to go off and do something else. She supposed it was a nice day for fishing. Mari was tempted to pull out the rod again, almost. But she was already feeling frustrated from the whole ordeal and fishing was supposed to be her happy time. A serene moment of meditation. So if she started to do it when she was angry…it’d just ruin the experience for her. She didn’t want to do that.

Speaking of fishing…She wondered…did Baldur still fish? It’d be nice to get together with someone, and just sit by a lake and chat. A competition, or a bet to see who could get the most chests could be fun too. Mari glanced at her friend list, barely 10 people. Over half of whom were missing.

“Well… so much for that idea…”

Word count: 2653

Edited 7 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

Mari sighed as she leaned back on the rock- using her folded arms as a cushion. Her eyes watering slightly as the filtered sun danced against her skin through the waving canopy of trees above. She supposed…waiting like this wasn’t all bad…it could potentially give her a chance to reflect on recent events.

So much stuff had happened since she was released from jail, a rekindling of friendship with Freyd. Something unexpected. Things had always been so terse with him in the past, and now…now… He was one of the people she was closest to. She couldn’t imagine her life without him. A part of her, a selfish part wanted them all to stay here in Aincrad just so she could say she had a family member who gave a rats ass about her. But…that’d be the opposite of what he wanted. Maybe Mari should ask him if he’d be willing to see her on the other side.

That’d be nice..

 

Total word count 2814

Edited 7 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

“Speak of the devil…” Mari breathed as she received yet another message. This time from Freyd. A small warm smile rose to her lips which only grew wider when she saw his response.

 

I would love to see your new home. I’m glad you felt it time to renew it.

 

Normally Mari was not one to use her messenger so much, normally she’d leave the message at that - and wait till they inevitably ran into each other again. But, she had nothing better to do right now so with a flick of her finger she opened up the messaging system, and with a little bit of effort, as she was still lying down on the rock she feverishly whipped up a reply for him.

 

Quote

 

To: Freyd
From: Mari
Subject; Re My Home

Seeing everything you did was one of the reasons that pushed me to do so. Next time though. Maybe just ask for a key. I’d give you one so you don’t have to break the frame of the door to get in. Or maybe try climbing through a window. I’d like to see a wriggly tin man try that.

 

 

With a small laugh, Mari sent the message off, feeling a little bit better now about having to take the time to wait here.

 

Total word count : 3,029

 

Vanity tag @Freyd

Edited 7 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

Mari sighed. Great. She replied to him….now what? Continue to think about things since she escaped prison? She supposed that was a good idea….not much else to do right now. Baldur and Macardon…they were the two people she had seen again once released. At the time Mari was so very happy and relieved, but after the elation settled she couldn’t shake the feeling something felt off. Jacobs Ladder felt off. Was it because she had spent such a long time trying to find Shield, Beat, and Oikawa? They were gone. The Ladder was now filled with new people. Some she knew, some she didn’t. Some she considered her closest friends and yet…and yet… She felt like she was standing on the sidelines looking in.

Mari recalled a long time ago…when all of Jacobs ladder had gotten together, how they were eating and enjoying their time together…how she watched from the outside..how much it hurt. It felt like that now. “I need to talk to Baldur…” Mari said with a sigh.

 

total word count: 3202

Edited 7 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

Right…another inner reflection to kill time…what else had happened recently… Vitreous… a terribly dangerous man. Oh but he was so very interesting. Truth be told…if she hadn’t had a long talk with Freyd she’d probably attempt to contact the man more often - but some hard much needed truths gave her the realisation that nothing good would come of being in constant communication with someone who just yanno, casually crafts pathogenic plagues. It was a good thing Mari threw that vial into the acidic river. Surely by now it would have disintegrated into nothing.

Even if Mari didn’t see the plague doctor again…at least she had a wonderful little place she could play around with and experiment with. Most hers were safe. She stepped way from the more volatile substances. The last thing she managed to make literally a kind of glue that’d just get you all stuck in place. Safe. Easy. Well, not easy it was a bitch to make, but still safe. No noxious clouds or creepy crawlies here.

 

total word count 3372

Edited 6 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

Once again, Freyds ears must have been burning. The man sent her another message. Was this what it was like for normal people to use the messaging system? A simple back and forth between friends? It was weird…Mari normally hated writing them, she never bothered with subject titles. She kept them as short as possible but here she was…casually and consistently messaging a friend. how nice.

Stop passing out and triggering crisis mode, and I will gladly amble up through the window instead. Just let me know when. I'll be there.

 

Oof, called out. To be fair, since he took the gemini out of her, Mari hadn’t had any coughing fits, nor had she passed out. That was good. She wasn’t sure what would have happened if he hadn’t been there to help deal with that hot mess. Another mental breakdown maybe? Another trip, and another two years in jail? That’d suck.

 

total word count: 3524

Edited 6 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

IF she had done that…another stint in jail…another breakdown, she probably wouldn’t have met him. Lancaster. A man Mari knew vehemently that she shouldn’t be with. A strong leader and force within the Laughing Coffin. A name so innocuous that not even its own members uttered it much. Hell even he admits that this relationship is no good. But the two, completely wrapped up in each other were willing to fight for the little piece of paradise they had made between themselves. The two were complete and utter fools who were just orchestrating their own mutual destruction - and yet..mari couldn't help it. She wanted to come home to him.

She wanted to see his goofy smile as he cooked up some kind of crazy scheme to impress her or shower her in the strangest and yet most sentimental of gifts. She wanted to see his brilliant mind at work as he got lost in his machinations…

Right…Thats it. Mari needed to go see him. The quest timer should almost be up now. Mari pushed herself off the rock and cracked her neck. It was time to go.

Total word count 3712

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Mari

[Mari 1]

 

Mari, damp and annoyed approached the tiny little fishing hut. Clearly unimpressed and frustrated. Never in her life had she experienced such issues with fishing before. No doubt it had something to do with the NPC; he had such a punch-able face the woman was tempted to clock him so had that he'd fall down into the water. Let him fish for his own damn gleaming scales. As she drew closer he started to clap his hands in a booming and resounding sound of congratulatory joy.

"I knew you could do it!" He approached and smacked Mari hard on the back, then offered her a sly wink. Mari recoiled, her face twisting into one of absolute disgust. Thank fuck she bought a bathroom upgrade for her house. She'd douse herself in boiling water after this. "don't wink at me you fucking weirdo."

In typical quest giver fashion he ignored her insult with a twinkle in his eye as he offered her another wink.

"I knew there was something special about you from the moment I saw you. As a gift from me to you, you should keep the scale. Just don't go giving it away now, because the next time you want one, you'll have to fish without my special bait." She didn't care, Mari practically threw the tin back at him and started walking away. Not even letting the man finish his oh so riveting conversation.

 "If you're ever in the area again, don't be afraid to visit. You know you're always welcome."

With her back toward him, Mari would flip Anthony off with a sharp pointed finger in the air. "I ain't ever coming back here again, asshole. I had a terrible time"

 

 

Thread loot:
6 Materials
1 Gleaming scale

+300 Quest Experience

Total word count 

 

Mari | [Word Count: 3997/10 = 399.7] * [True Tier: 11] * [Group Factor: 1] = 4397+300= 4697 EXP, Laurel Wreath: 659 col + 6 MATERIALS + 1 GLEAMING SCALE

 

 

-COMPLETE-

Edited 6 hours ago by Mari