pt-pp-f01 Buyers & Sellers - EAL: Appraiser

[Sinnamon 0]

Earning a Living - Appraiser

So she knew it was an NPC. But the short little bald man was terrifying. The exact type of guy who made her skin crawl back in the real world. Sin hadn’t gotten herself trapped in a death game only to deal with the same balding, pervy mother fuckers she’d left in the real world. She might have worked him over, if he had any money to part with. Or she might have bolted for a brand-new post code. Sin had no problems using a guy’s thirst against him, but there was something about that balding, undersexed, accountant look that just made her shudder.

And it wasn’t like her to hesitate. But here she was, standing outside of Drax’s shop - trying to muster the courage to deal with it. 

Why was she even trying to pick up a Profession anyway? It wasn’t like she was hurting for money. And it wasn’t like there weren’t a ton of dudes willing to throw their wallet away just for a chance at a glimpse at what she kept barely hidden by her clothing. Sin could have very easily turned on her heels and walked away. Headed back to the Blackbook, tackling the mountain of paperwork waiting on her.

But that was the thing wasn’t it?

The Blackbook was reason enough for people to come through the door. Drinks and dancing. Fun. But she found herself wanting to give it the best shot it could to really take off. And if there was a promise of a high-ranked Appraiser in the back office? Players from all over would be beating their door down.

She found herself caring whether the place popped off or not. It was the first time any real responsibility - besides herself - had been dropped on her plate. She just wanted to do a good job. Creepy bald man be damned.

But god damn it if she couldn’t use some moral support - from anyone, really.

 

Spoiler

"Name: Sinnamon
True Tier: 1
Level: 2
Paragon Level: 0
HP: 40/40
EN: 22/22

Stats:
Damage: 1
Loot Die: 20

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - 
Armor/Trinket: 
  - 
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - 

Combat Mastery:
  - 

Combat Shift:
  - 

Familiar Skill:
  - 

Custom Skill:
  - 

Skills:
 - Keen Sight X

Extra Skills:

Inactive Extra Skills:

Addons:

Mods:

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:

Gathering Profession:
"                                                                                                                            

 

[Reytac 0]

Reytac was not going to go through dropping another forty or more Unidentified items on poor Hirru, even if his guild mate hadn’t minded. He doubted he would ever be as skilled at it as the man was, but if he had to run through and just do a poor job of identifying things himself, he would. He could go to Hirru for more specific appraisals, or of better quality things – but bulk bs.. He needed to be able to handle that himself. Which meant that he had to do something that he initially hadn’t ever really intended to do – he had to branch out, ad taken on a second profession. Thankfully, the Appraiser profession wasn’t a crafting one like his Engineer, so taking it wouldn’t eat into his, admittedly limited, fund of materials. Just – his money funds. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he thought about that, but shook his head. Rey wasn’t going to back out now, not when he was walking up to the store for the appraiser currently. He was already this close, might as well commit to it.  
He turned the last corner to walk up to the store, only to pause when he saw a woman standing outside of the shop, her posture tense as she stared at the door like it was threatening her. She bounced on the balls of her feet, and he watched as she shifted her weight back and forth, like she was used to being in motion. He didn’t know why she seemed concerned about going in – until he got a bit closer and realized that her outfit was – on the lesser side. Not in terms of quality – but amount. Reytac hummed under his breath for a moment, then gave a light shrug as he walked up to the lady.  
”Afternoon there Miss, you here to try the quest for the Appraiser class too? I’m thinking of trying to take it to help my guild some, I can join you for it if you’d like?” Reytac gave her a smile as he tilted his head to one side, keeping a short distance between them since he didn’t know how she’d react to another Player walking up to her out of the blue.  
 

  

Reytac:  
Level 30 
Stats:  
Reytac | HP: 600/600 | EN: 78/78 | DMG: 13 | MIT:36 | ACC:2 | EVA:2 | BH:6 | REC: 2 | BLD: 24  | LD:3 
Skills: 
Hammer R5 
Searching R3 
Lock Picking R1 
Light Armor R5 
Quick Change 
Straight Sword R3 
Battle Healing R1 
Equipment  
T2 Perfect: Refined Battle Hammer  
Dam II | Bleed I 
T1 Perfect: Woodsman’s Leather Guard 
MIT I | REC II 
Demonic Tier 1: Amulet of the Four Winds 
Acc II | EVA II 
 

  

 

[Sinnamon 0]

Sin had managed to claw together enough nerve to reach for the door handle when she heard a man's voice behind her. It was all she could do to keep herself from jumping out of her skin. Temper flared and she wheeled around, eyes full of fury at the sudden interruption. She was ready to tell him off - to fuck off, up, down, and sideways. Why the fuck was he bothering her? Couldn't he tell that she was having a moment? Her mouth parted, every fiber of her being ready to unleash a stream of obscenities at the man. Something possessed her to lock eyes with the man as she planted her feet. Had to make sure it was all just so. Had to make sure someone understood exactly to what extent you were cursing them out. Then she deflated. He actually could tell she was struggling. There was some glimmer of concern in his face. She really was that obvious. Letting out a heavy sigh, her expression softened. At least he'd been kind enough not to call her out for being chickenshit about it. 

"Yeah," she responded tersely. She gestured back towards the door with her thumb. "Dude just screams creepy. NPC or not, I don't like it."

She ran her fingers through her hair, twirling one of the long ebony locks around her finger anxiously. "I don't usually get skeezed out like this, but fuck. Those balding assholes are the worst. Wanna put their hands where they don't belong because their needle dicks can't handle losing their hair."

The complete and total opposite of the dude in front of her. If she wasn't so completely turned off by the NPC she might have tried her luck at climbing that tree. Some girls had icks but this was a major fucking turn-off. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so completely dessicated. Still, it could be worse. He could be trying any number of things, really. But he was being nice and she was almost about to have an entire bitch moment. Sin couldn't help but feel guilty.

"I'd really appreciate the help, if I'm being honest. And I'm sorry for whipping around on you like that. Thanks for not calling me out for it-" She gave him a slight smile and extended her hand in greeting. "Sin. Short for Sinnamon. Don't ask."

[Reytac 0]

Reytac blinked once, then twice, as the young woman ranted in front of him. He hadn’t yet seen the NPC in question, but it seemed like she had – and had already formed her opinion of him. Now, that might also be because she’d had to deal with him in some way in the past, but it also felt a bit more.. Personal. He hummed under his breath as he rubbed his chin in thought. It sounded like she’d had to deal with people whom this NPC resembled, and had strong opinions about them. And judging based off her appearance, well, he wasn’t surprised that she was approached by sleazy types in the past. He reached out and took her hand, shaking it firmly. As or her reaction in the first place - he wouldn't draw any more notice to it,  if she was already on edge because of bad memories, it was understandable and he didn't hold it against her. Instead he pressed on, giving her another smile himself.  
”Well Miss Sinnamon, that’s easy enough to work around. The names Reytac, and here.” He knew from his experience picking up the Engineer Profession that the quests could be taken by one person in the group but apply to both, so he sent her a party invite. ”I worked with a lady named Nisa before on earning another profession, so I know I can handle dealing with the NPC myself if he is giving you issues, no worries. You’ll have to talk with him some near the end for any guided instruction on how the profession works, but I’ll make sure to stick by, if you want me to.”  
Rey seriously doubted that the programmers would have put in an NPC with lecherous tendencies – but at the same time, he’d also never have thought that they’d wind up trapped in this damn game in the first place so maybe nothing was past these people.  

 

[Sinnamon 0]

Sin's eyes flicked down at the invite. She'd never really been in a party before. She pressed the button, watching as his name and health bar appeared at the periphery of her vision.

"Huh. Neat," she said. "And you're a goddamned saint, you know that?"

It felt weird to say, but she meant it. Usually she'd only say stuff like that to stroke a man's ego. It really made her pause for a moment, thinking about how often she was so insincere about her compliments. But she couldn't really feel bad about it. There were good guys out there. She didn't fuck with those.

"Alright," she said suddenly, clapping her hands together. "Let's do this thing."

Being in a death game, one would think that the most intimidating or frightening things were the swarms of monsters set upon making your health bar reach zero. She'd been out a couple times, mixed it up with a few boars and had a few close calls. But none of it really fucked her up like this one NPC did. She'd blame the trauma. But she couldn't really call it that, could she? She chose her line of work. They weren't supposed to touch, but without fail she was calling security and watching them kick the shit out of the dude. Sin liked that part, though she would have much preferred to be the one throwing hands herself. But there was just something about the shock of it all, in the moment, that made her lock up. She was never able to throw a punch no matter how badly she wanted to. It was almost like -

Yeah, trauma.

Fuck. I always thought I was better than that.

It pissed her off. Rage igniting in her chest, spreading outwards to her fingers and toes. No way in Hell was she going to let this stand. Ferocity returned to her gaze as she wheeled back around. She had to admit, there was something a little comforting about having some security in such a vulnerable moment. But she didn't do vulnerable.

Shields up, fists up.

She kicked open the door, stepping inside with all the bravado she didn't really have. It wouldn't have taken much more than a nudge to make her lose her nerve. Still, she bit through it. Stomped up to the counter and slammed her hands onto the surface.

"Alright Drax, ya bald bastard! Give me the Quest!"

"Okay, here ya go. Go find some weapons out in the field."

The Quest window popped up and disappeared. Drax didn't pay Sinnamon any mind, instead turning around to fiddle with the products on the shelf behind his counter.

[Reytac 0]

Reytac walked behind Sinnamon as she walked away from the counter. From how she'd been acting before, and the relief on her face when he had offered to take care of talking with the NPC, he knew that the brash, loud attitude just now was a front. He waited until they were outside of the shop and heading towards the town gates to quietly pull a canteen out of his inventory and hand it over to her. "Take a moment, here's some water if you need to collect yourself." He pulled out a second one and spun the lid open with a thumb and took a long drink himself before he put it away. Left unsaid was the shaking of her hands from tension, the way she'd gone from uncomfortable to angry in moments. Not his place to pry, they were just meeting now, not long time friends, not yet. Still, some quiet company could do a world of good. He let her focus on herself for a moment, the two of them leaving through the city gates, before he pressed on about their mission - not asking anything personal.

"So. Our task is to find random bits and bobs out in the fields, and bring them back to him to be appraised. I've seen the stuff before, it's kinda... odd to see them. Like they aren't fully there, until they get appraised. You can sometimes, kind of, make out a shape, and tell what they're meant to be, but anything more than that, bupkiss." He waved one hand in the air. Inane babble was a specialty of his - help the other person, give them something to ground themselves on and pull themselves along without spiraling inwards. He hadn't had much call to do it here, yet, but it was something he was long familiar with. 

"Now, it should be fairly easy to find these things. Hopefully, easier than finding some ding dong damn materials for the Gatherer profession were - that's a headache and a half to deal with at the first. But if you aren't the combat oriented type, fishing or foraging is needed, so, eh, that's the breaks." 

[Sinnamon 0]

Sin appreciated the offer of the canteen, but she simply held up her hand and shook her head. She couldn't believe that she got herself worked up for that response. Of course the NPC wouldn't be a total fucking creep. She should have known. Still, it wasn't all bad. She was outside, enjoying the fresh air. Company she had wasn't awful either. As they made their way to the town gate, Sin nodded along to Reytac's explanation. All the good things aside, she really wasn't looking forward to climbing hill and dell trying to find some nebulous not-items from Reytac's story. 

"That sounds like such a pain, really," Sin lamented, tucking her hands behind her head as they walked. "This floor's fucking massive. You could walk for hours and still not make it to the edge. How are we gonna find three doo-dads in this haysta-ah!"

Sin hadn't been watching where she was going. Her heel caught something hard and rigid poking out from beneath the dirt. The end result was her falling rather unceremoniously onto her face - right in the middle of the dirt path. She looked up, huffing a strand of hair out of her face and pushed herself up with her hands. "Fucking-" Sin's hand snapped backwards, fingers wrapping around the handle of a sword that she soon yanked from the dirt. Reytac hadn't been lying. It didn't look like any sword she'd seen. It kinda had the outline of one, the way it flickered in and out of existence with gray waves washing over the surface, not-surface. It was giving question mark. She righted her posture, sitting cross-legged on the path as she held the "blade" aloft.

"So is this the thing?"

Spoiler

Gathering Unid

ID: 256004 | CD: 3, Weapon Found | LD: 20+20, Perfect Quality
1 Perfect Quality T1 Unidentified Weapon Found

 

[Reytac 0]

Reytac stopped abruptly, barely keeping himself from running into Sinnamon when she fell over, and his hand was now outstretched towards where she had been - the fall had been sudden and abrupt enough that even though he'd tried to grab onto one of her biceps to keep her from hitting the ground, he hadn't managed to make it in time. His eyes flicked over her quickly, perfunctorily, making sure she wasn't injured before he actually looked towards what she was holding up. It was - yep. That was definitely one of the unidentified, nebulous items that could be defined, refined into something that someone might be able to use - or converted down for use later in another way.  He looked down towards the ground and frowned, then knelt down to pull out another, hauling another item out. Much like hers, the item was, tentative. His was an axe, kind of, maybe a hammer? It had a long haft but the 'head' kept changing, shifting, like it couldn't make up its mind. He hummed and stood up, flipping the item in his hand a few times before dropping it into his inventory, and holding out a hand to Sinnamon to help her back up to her feet.

"Yep, that's the ticket. And that's exactly what I mean by, uncertain. Like, these things are worse about making up their minds than a kid in a candy store who got told they can get one thing for free." He chuckled and shook his head. He didn't know if their luck would hold, but at least here at the start they had gotten something, instead of showing nothing for their.. 'efforts'. He had to suppress a snicker at that thought - finding something with your foot counted as effort, he'd done it himself by accidentally kicking a useful rock or two in the past.

 

ID: 256006    CD:2    LD20

Unidentified T1 Perfect Weapon Obtained

Quest: Unidentified Items 1/3 Obtained

 

Edited 27 minutes ago by Reytac

[Sinnamon 0]

#

Spoiler

Gathering Unid
ID: 256008 | CD: 3, Weapon Found | LD: 19+20, Perfect Quality
T1 Perfect Unid Weapon Found