{PP-F08 "Monkey King"} Great Ape Showdown

[Reytac 0]

 

 

Reytac stretched out as the warm air of the forest washed over him, filling his nose with the medley of scents that pervaded the area. He couldn't pin it down to any one smell he was used to - at times he thought there was the smell of pine, at others the smell of damp earth was near overwhelming. His ears rang with the cries of birds and wildlife, unseen but definitely not quiet, as the man twisted his torso, getting his spine to pop as he loosened himself up after his trek through the forest. He'd left the main, protected settlement behind a while ago, and his destination was finally in sight - the forest city of Florenthia lay before him. 

The tree-city was low slung, further down than the one he had left behind, and he could see the signs where some of the buildings had been replaced within the last few months. The structures were newer, the wood still uncured, and ever so slightly off compared to the others around them. But from what he knew of the bits of research that he had managed to do, that was because the heavy storms in this area washed them away more often than not, They'd begun building higher up recently, but the reason as to why that was, was something that he was actually here to find out. A quest marker had popped up for him when he'd been asking about the different settlements on the floor back in the main elven settlement, and asking around there had only gotten him scoffing explanations about how the race-traitors couldn't manage proper settlements any more. 

"Right. Well, it somehow doesn't surprise me that elves are snooty - I don't know if I'm glad or sad that that's the trope that this world was designed with." Rey shook his head as he made his way up to the entrance to the small town, looking around as he did so. He wasn't sure, now, where he would need to go to progress the quest that he was tracking down, so it seemed like talking to the locals was on the docket. His eyes lit up when Rey spotted a tavern, or at least a place where people were congregating, drinking from tankards and flasks as they talked. Those were almost always good places to get info about odd things happening! 

Doing his best to stay to the inside of the walkways he needed to cross - looking down to the forest floor gave him vertigo like nobody's business - Rey made his way over to the tavern. He spotted a few other Players in the area, standing out from the crowd of Npcs by dint of being human, but he got his reason as to why the elves back in Ellesmera had been so disgusted with the ones who chose to live here. Talking amicably with each other, laughing and drinking, treants and elves were mingling with little concern. That made this one of the most diverse places he'd been, and was interesting from the fact that, from what he knew, the two races on this floor were, while not in direct war, definitely in conflict and keeping distance from each other. 

None of them gave Rey a second glance as he made his way over to the barkeep, though the barkeep did when Reytac ordered a refreshing tea instead of something stronger. "I'm here to look for some work, not unwind just yet." Rey explained to the NPC, who just shrugged and traded the man his drink. The brown-haired man pushed the hood on his cloak down from his head as he picked a spot at one of the relatively emptier tables, and started listening to the flow of conversation around him. With any luck, he would head enough snippets to get a lead as to where he needed to go. 

 

Spoiler

  Combat Statblock                               

Reytac | HP: 280/280 | EN: 46/46 | DMG: 8 | MIT:12 | ACC:2 | EVA:2 | REC: 2 | LD:2                               

Battle Ready Inventory:

3x Starter Health Potions (50HP)

Gear:  

Initiate Battle Hammer: DAM III

Woodsman's Leather Guard: MIT I Rec II

Amulet of the 4 Winds: Acc II EVA II

 

 

[Scarlet Firefly 0]

The nauseating lights enveloped her senses with a kaleidoscope of color. Re-actively she shut her eyes and tried to withstand the sickness that using the teleportation plaza usually made her feel. Thankfully it was a relatively quick process. Floor eight, a new prospect for her. First thing she noticed was another lush forest. If there was one thing the creators of the game really enjoyed it was trees. Granted, when you're trying to create 100 unique environments you'd eventually end up with this problem, she assumed.

Though, Ellesmera was not her target location Firefly would take a few moments to explore before making her way to Florenthia. Some of the residents had pointed ears like some old fantasy books she'd read before. The scenery was actually one of the most beautiful she had seen for a first impression on a floor so she would summon her little notebook and jot down some notes about it.

Once her little twenty minute escapade was finished, Firefly would make her way to Florenthia. There would be plenty of time to explore once her quest was finished. Due to the nature of placement in the area, she noted that the place was filled with people who have been turned away from society on the floor with most of them being exiles. It made her wonder what each one of these people did to be purged from a regular life.

After some time, she found Florenthia. It was more quaint than she had originally imagined. Little shacks surrounded by the trees overlooking a lovely little waterfall falling from the nearby cliff. Once she arrived at the outskirts of the city, her quest marker would widen and her task would change. 'Find the captain of the guard: Sewallus' and 'Speak with the resident zoologist Remington'. That would be easy enough at least, but they didn't have a direct location to travel to so she would have to do some sleuthing of her own. Her eyes immediately locked onto what she assumed was a tavern. Information, adventurers and alcohol. Two out of three of those being necessary in finding the men she needed.

Her entrance was not grand yet she still got several interesting looks from the patrons that ranged confusion and interest. Perhaps her new outfit had people wondering where her armor was, or the size of her sword being disproportionate to her tiny frame even if she wielded it with a second hand. Her swiftness to ignore those around her led her to the worker behind the bar not too far from Reytac's table.

"Hello, I'm looking for either Sewallus of the guard or a man named Remington. I hear they're looking for help." Firefly would explain. The man behind the counter would think on that for a moment. "Well, Sewallus should be an easy one. A strict man of duty clad in armor head to toe. You can easily find him at the barracks building towards the north of town. Not a fellow for manners but he does his duties well. As for Remington, depending on the time he could be out in the forest studying. He comes into this very tavern as long as your willing to wait however long it will take for him to return."

The girl took a moment to consider her options now. She could go find Sewallus first but considering it's the 'Monkey King' she was hunting, speaking with an expert on animals might not be a bad first move. She slipped into one of the chairs at the bar and gave the man a smile. "Give me your local specialty please. Might as well get something to eat while I wait for Remington to return to town."

"I'm on it little lady, give me a few minutes." The man said as he walked off towards the grill. Firefly would turn in her chair and take a look at everyone around her. Seemed like conversations had returned to normal and the eyes had left her. With that she'd take a sigh of relief. If Remington didn't return in a reasonable time, she would just need to talk with some of the patrons here. Maybe one of them would help her, or give her some good information on the boss she didn't already know.

---

Scarlet Firefly | HP: 540/540 | EN: 72/72 | DMG: 22 | MIT:-24 | ACC:4 | EVA:2 | BH:11 | LD:4

Spoiler

Name: Scarlet Firefly, The Blinded Light
True Tier: 3
Level: 27
Paragon Level: 0
HP: 540/540
EN: 72/72

Stats:
Damage: 22
Mitigation: -24
Accuracy: 4
Evasion: 2
Battle Healing: 11
Loot Die: 4
Stealth Rating: -1

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Butterfly Cross-Blade - T1 Str. Sword | DMG III
Armor/Trinket: 
  - Emerald Cape - Tier 1 Light Armor Perfect | EVA II; MIT
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - basalt - T1 Trinket Perfect | ACC III

Combat Mastery:
  - Combat Mastery: Damage R3

Combat Shift:
  - ST Shift

Familiar Skill:
  - 

Custom Skill:
  - 

Skills:
  - Battle Healing R2
  - Light Armor R3
  - Searching R4
  - Straight Sword R5

Extra Skills:

Inactive Extra Skills:

Addons:
  - Ferocity
  - Precision
  - Stamina

Mods:
  - Meticulous

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - Starter Healing Potion x3

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:

Gathering Profession:

[Reytac 0]

Reytac was sipping on his tea when he saw a small shuffling in the crowd of people as another person entered the tavern. So far, he hadn't really heard anyone, player or NPC, mention either of the people that his quest log was telling him to track down, and he was slowly getting close to the point of giving up and just walking through the town until he spotted either one of them. There weren't that many people that lived in this town, so it couldn't be that hard to find one of them! But he kept paying attention as the person walked over to the bar and talked to the bar keep, and asked him a question. 

About the same two people that he was needing to talk to. And got an answer in seconds instead of sitting around wasting time like he had been. The dark haired man dropped his face into his palms as he chewed himself out - he'd managed to forget, again, that this was a game, despite how real it felt and the very real threat looming over them all, and that it would of course be prompting people towards quests. And if he had actually used his brain instead of just, oh, thinking he had to be subtle, he could maybe have already been working on the quest instead of sitting in a tavern and sipping tea. Rey reached up a gloved hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing his frustration with himself back down as he took a few calming breaths.

At least, now, he had a lead on both of them. And, perhaps even better, he had, at least, an opportunity to team up with someone who was also trying to do the same quest.  He took a sip of his tea before standing up from the table he was at, then walked over to a seat a little away from the silver-haired young woman so he wasn't crowding her. As the barkeep worked on preparing her food, Reytac cleared his throat, trying to get her attention.

"Excuse me, young lady? My name is Reytac, and I think we might both be here for the same quest, if you're looking for Sewallus and Remington. Though, I gotta say, you're doing better than I was, I didn't even think to actually ask anyone about where to find them." He sheepishly scratched at his cheek with one hand." Anyway, I was wondering, would you be amenable to teaming up for the quest? I understand if not, though, so don't feel any pressure to say yes! " Rey made sure to get the words out, though they came in a bit of a rush as he spoke at the end. His interactions with other players were still limited, and for all he knew this young woman was going to laugh him off because he was missing something about the etiquette of forming parties properly. Or, want to avoid him because he was a stranger. 

Even if she did turn him down, he at least knew where to look for the quest information and npcs now. And he would be alright with waiting for the target monsters to respawn if she took it out solo - while he did want to keep moving up, he wasn't about to be upset about having to be patient. As he waited, somewhat tensely, for her response, he picked up his mug of tea and drained it, to give his hands something to do so he wasn't sitting there fidgeting. 

[Scarlet Firefly 0]

As she waited for her food, Firefly took a moment to check on her little Chartreux cat who had hopped up into the vacant seat next to her. It mewed quietly to her, expressing it's annoyance with the loudness of the tavern. In return she would give the cat a soft pet on the head. "I know it's loud in here, we might be sticking around awhile though. It can't be worse than the sandstorm we endured though!" She did her best to keep the cat's spirits up. It thought about it for a moment, then gave her a comforting purr as it's acceptance.

That's when a man would enter her field of vision, putting a seat's distance away from her and himself. Myst would jump down from the seat to allow him some room and move to the seat on the other side of her mistress. He spoke about her quest and that they were both doing the same one! Would this be the first time that she got the chance to quest with someone who wasn't in The Trackers Alliance? "Oh, it just felt natural for me to do so." The girl chuckled. "I'd be glad to team up! If there was one thing my friends in my guild would always tell me it's that you should always try to party up if possible. My name is Firefly, but you can call me Sam or Samantha. Any of those names is fine."

Opening her menu, Firefly struggled to find the correct section that would invite a player to her party. Even now she still found herself being less than adequate at reading the Latin alphabet. "Uhhh... Sorry.. I'm slow at this still." Eventually, she found it and a pop-up would obstruct her view of him.

"Order up!" The barkeep would lay her food down in front of her and turn to her new friend. "What about you fella? Tea alone won't fill that stomach o' yours."

Firefly would butt in and smile up at him. "We'll be waiting around here for Remington, if you haven't tried the food in the area you should. Cuisine differs a lot depending on what floor your on!"

[Reytac 0]

"Likewise, you can call me Rey, Reytac, or Reynold." Tension melted away from Reytac's shoulders as the young lady - Firefly, or Sam, he'd have to make sure to actually use her name in his head not just 'lady' - almost immediately agreed. He looked down at the small cat that was meowing from her other side, sounding quite upset and grumpy, and a small smile spread his lips. 

"There's no hurry on the party invite. I haven't even had a chance to look for it myself yet, honestly." Despite being in Jacob's Ladder, he hadn't even met any of the members other than Mari, and he had not been in any kind of position to party up with her when they met. Then her screen popped up between them, and he had to lean back in his seat to avoid having it shoot through his face. He hadn't even realized that he had leaned forward far enough for that to be an issue! Or maybe it was some display setting that hadn't been adjusted? The pale blue screen did seem a bit too large, but he had almost immediately resized it when he logged in - fixing some of those settings was almost second nature when it came to games for him. Rey resettled on his seat as the barkeep moved over and placed her food down in front of her then turned his attention to him. 

"Yeah, okay, fair." Rey chuckled, the sound falling easily from his lips. "I'll take some... Skewered meat and veggies, then. That way if I haven't finished I can just take it with me." And, maybe, he could slip the little furball that was hanging around Firefly some of the meat. It had been too long since he had been around his own cats at home, and now that he saw one, he found himself missing them. Nope. That's going in the emotion jar, nope nope. The brunette shook his head as he paid the barkeep for the food then turned his attention back to Firefly. He didn't mind waiting as she navigated the menu and finally sent him the party invite to accept - it was... nostalgic for him.

"I've just started exploring past the first floor not too long ago. Been to... well.." He ticked his fingers as they talked. "Fourth floor, really, really cold there. Then the tenth floor, man that place is gloomy. Now here!" It wasn't that impressive a list, but he would be working on expanding it as he hunted down ways to advance and improve. The variety in the floors so far had been entertaining - a snowy forest, the place that looked like someone had just expanded a horror movie graveyard across an entire map, and now this place, a massive, dense forest? Now he just had to visit a desert, volcano, and underwater or sea map, and he'd have hit all the classics.

[Scarlet Firefly 0]

Her nod in confirmation with be accompanied with a smile. It was second nature for her to smile in conversation. "Nice to meet you Rey."

Noticing that the light of her screen had shocked Rey, she got worried immediately and peered around it. "Sorry! I keep it king of large because I have a tough time reading it otherwise!" Now she was trying harder to find the party invite. Once she sent it over to him, she quickly swiped the menu away to get it out of his way.

Rey would indulge in the barkeep's offer and order something to eat. A skewer and some veggies, not a bad idea. She would have to put that down on her list to try next. "I'm on it. Give me a minute." He said and went back to cooking. Firefly, who was distracted eating food wouldn't notice her cat jump back into it's first chair. It had noticed the newcomer to her party giving it looks. It's bright blue eyes pierced right through him. Firefly only caught Myst's presence when it mewed to get a reaction from Rey. "Sorry, she's a little needy." She would mention while giving her cat another good pet.

When it came to exploration, Firefly would soon be the most knowledgeable person. "I love exploring. The locales of Aincrad have so much to offer even if a lot of them seem to be forests. I wouldn't really recommend Floor Six but that would be the only floor in that category! All the places I've been have been very lovely."

A silence fell between them for a moment. In an effort to not make the dead air awkward, Firefly would ask another question: "So, what drew you to SAO, if that's too personal of a question." Her reason for picking up the game was probably one of the more unique in the game so she was always interested in what more normal people saw in the game itself. Hell, half the time she forgets that they're even in a game.

[Reytac 0]

"She isn't a problem at all - I have, well, had, six, at home." Reytac closed his eyes for a moment as he thought about the small horde. He really, really hoped that they were alright. That she was alright. He clenched his eyes shut for a moment before shaking his head, pushing those thoughts away. "No, she isn't a problem at all. If anything, I'd be trying to feed her some treats or something, and not my place since I don't know if you have her on a diet or anything." He stretched his arms out, popping his shoulders before he picked up one of the skewers and started munching on it idly. He made sure to swallow before continuing on. 

"And no worries about the screen issue. Just caught me off guard, my fault for leaning forward and being off balance in the first place." One weathered hand came up to rub the stubble on his chin as he considered how to answer her question about what had drawn him to SAO in the first place, and her comments about exploring. The first part was easy enough, thankfully. 

"The locales are pretty awesome, and seeing the diversity is great - but my big goal for exploring them right now is to get better, so I can push forward and contribute on the higher floors. Need drive to get out of here. As for what drew me in the first place?" The brunette quieted down for a minute. He'd been warned about being too free with information, but at the same time - they were all trapped in this accursed game. Rey leaned one elbow against the counter and propped his chin in his hand, eyes staring forward somewhat vacantly, his mind elsewhere. 

"I love gaming. Been doing it for a long time. Started SAO as a surprise for a wife, was Goin to surprise her with copies to the biggest and hottest VR game the world had seen. Logged in a day before I was going to give her her set up, so that I could get used to the game and be ready to help her out when we started playing together. Thankfully she never got the chance to log in." He shook the morose thoughts from his head and instead gave the younger woman a lop-sided smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Which ties back to the whole, exploring to advance thing. Anyway!" He snapped his fingers sharply, as if to clear the somber mood he'd fallen into. It was far too easy for that to creep over him, he'd found. 

"What about this little adventure we're on? Have you heard anything about the quest mob we're going to be looking for? I know it's meant to be some kind of monkey, but beyond that I don't really know much. I... Haven't really been that active in my guild, come to think of it, and probably could have asked them about it." A self-deprecating laugh bubbled up inside of him at that. It probably would have been so much easier if he had thought to ask someone in his guild about it. In a guild devoted to leveling and getting people forward to help escape this thing, surely one of them had done this quest before? Well, too late now.