[SP-F1] <<Earning A Living>> (Complete)

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

Quisani Wordcaster stretched in bed. He looked around around the room he had spent the night in. It was rather plain. A chair, a table, and a drawer in case he wanted to store any items. He left some bread and a glass of water to give it the appearance of being lived in. He also had left his hammer leaned up against it. He sighed. I guess the Town of Beginnings is meant to encourage people to leave. I can't do that yet, though. Not until I find the tailor quest that the guide spoke about. Quisani let himself yawn. It was time for get ready for the day. Quisani helped himself to one more stretch, reaching his arms towards the cieling. At the end of the stretch, he swiped his left hand and opened up the UI. He looked at it for a moment. He navigated through the submenus to the armor icon. Should I wear peasant clothes or peasant clothes? So many choices! Quisani tapped the basic clothes icon in his inventory. He felt the dark red shirt and navy blue pants materialize over his skin. It worked its way down his body until a set of boots materialized. It was still a weird way to get dressed, but at least he never had to wash anything. The durability on this seemed pretty good, though it was probably to ensure nobody ended up walking around in their underwear. Quisani took a deep breath and sat up. He was ready to go. He still didn't understand how it was able to materialize between him and the bed, which he could feel underneath. Video game magic, he supposed. Either way it was time to start the day.
 
He wandered through the streets with a better sense of purpose. He had a goal. "Good morning!" "Greetings Quisani Wordcaster." "Good morning!" "Salutations Quisani Wordcaster." Sure he was talking with NPCs, but he kinda liked how they would all say hello. I'll take an semblance of humanity I can get right now. I wonder if they'll answer any questions? He waved at a female NPC standing at one of the stalls. "Hey, excuse me, but where can I can find a tailor? I read I about a fella here in the east markets, but I can't find him." The NPC looked for a second, and then nodded. "I know the fellow you're talking about. His name is Floratine, and I think you will find his shop a few streets over. Keep going down this street and take the third left." "Thanks a bunch. Have a good day!" "You too, Quisani Wordcaster." Perhaps I should have gone with just Quisani. Quisani started at a leisurley pace. It was a nice day and the sun was shining. There was a cool breeze in the air. He couldn't help but notice the lack of many other players in the streets. He'd ran into a few, and they said quite a few were holed up in some other parts of town. Some folk had apparently been working on trying to get them enough training to afford stays in the inns. Quisani felt a bit guilty, and promised to himself that he'd try to help someone in the future. We all in this together.
 
 
Quisani rounded the corner and saw his quarry. There was a little stand just outside a building marked with a clothing icon. Standing behind the stand was a burly bearded man. Quisani looked at his marker. He was an NPC and his name was Floratine. This is gonna be easier than I thought! Quisani walked up to the stand. Floratine stroked his beard with his hand. "Welcome, traveler! Are you seeking the fine merchandise of Old Floratine?" His voice was provincial and deep. "Perhaps I could interest you in a fine robe?" "Actually, I'd like to learn to become a tailor like you, Floratine!" The NPC took a hard look at Quisani and after a moment began to stroke his beard again. "Well, you are not the first to seek tutalage under the Master Clothsman Floratine. Not everyone has what it takes to tease the fibers of cottonflower into a fine piece of fabric, or coax the silkbuds into becoming a masterpiece. But nevertheless, Floratine will give a traveler such as yourself a chance to prove that you are worthy of learning Floratine's trade! Go out and bring me cottonflower and silkbuds!" Quisani had noticed a quest icon appear in his HUD. "Excuse me Floratine, but I was able to gather some cottonflower the other night..." "That is no good! The cottonflower you carry will make a good cloth, but I will not count it. To teach you, the cottonflower must be fresh. The silkbud must still sparkel with dawn's dew. You go now and return when you have what I require to teach you!"
 
Quisani stood again at the towngates. It was different than when he had come out the other night. The night he saw someone die.... Quisani shook his head. Success would not be found in such thoughts. He began striding out into the fields. There were fewer players than the other night. Odds are I won't be able to catch up with the others, but I was never going to be number one anyway. If I were the best of we had to offer, we'd probably be doomed. I might as well play support and do that well. He started walking out to look for some silkbuds and cottonflowers.

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

Quisani didn't have to go far before he saw a Silkbud. He hadn't seen them the night when he'd been out. Maybe they don't spawn at night... or maybe I'm just blind. Either way, he didn't mind, since he had secured the first of 5. This was starting off quite well.

 

ID: 19934

LD: 19

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

Quisani took out a bread and took a bit. Can't work on an empty stomach, right? If only this food tasted like food. Quisani sighed. Perhaps the higher level food tasted better than this dirt. He was pretty sure he'd been moved by now. His family was bound to notice he'd been trapped. He sighed. Time to keep moving on.

 

 

ID: 19937

 

LD: 7

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

"Now, if I were a common item, where would I hide? Probably someplace easier than I'm looking. Maybe if I drop the items from my inventory, and pick them up, Floratine won't notice...... Well, I kinda figured that woudln't work." Quisani kept walking through the fields. He was bound to find something eventually. Either that, or walk off the edge.

 

ID: 19942

LD: 2

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

"Why would you design a game to have things that you can't find?!? This creator is some kind of sadistic monster for sure!" After about an hour of seeing nothing, Quisani was starting to get a bit frustrated. He swiped open his menu, and selected one the waters.He took a deep drink. "It's not even supposed to have a flavor and they managed to mess that up! Worst deathgame ever!"

ID: 19943

LD: 8

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

Quisani stopped. "Alright Wordcaster, we're gonna live up to our name if we don't see any in this sector quadrant." He squinted and looked around. Nothing. Nothing. Useless Wood Log. Nothing. Nothing. Noth-wait. Something! He laughed outloud. "Praise be to the generators! I spy with my eye a cottonflower!" He did a little dance before plucking the flower up and adding it into his inventory. 1 silkbud and 1 cotton flower. Only four of each left to go!

 

ID: 19944

LD: 20

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

Quisani trudged. And trudged. And scooted through the grass. He left no stone unturned and no leaf uninspected. Unfortunately he found nothing. Just as he was beginning to despair, he saw it. The mother lode of all silkbuds and cotton flower. He began sprinting towards it. He couldn't get close to it. He just kept running and running. Suddenly, the GM swooped down. But this wasn't the GM from the townsquare; this was a clown. He swooped in on rat-wings to scoop up the motherlode. He then began to cackle and yuk. Quisani sat up with a start. It was just a dream.

ID: 19946

LD: 1

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

To shake off the daymare, Quisani began to crawl through the bushes. He figured that It wouldn't be able to follow him if he was low to the ground. Now, he had just woken up and was still more than groggy, but despite his poor decision making skills and even poor evasion skills, he managed to find himself face-to-face with another cotton flower. He blinked a few more times and than remembered what he was supposed to do. He snagged and got back up.

 

ID: 19947

LD: 16

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

Having successfully woken up and roused himself, Quisani resumed his search for the missing goods. He searched through patch of grass. It made him think of game he had played where you captured monsters lying in wait for you in the tall grass of the fields. And while he found no monsters, He did manage to find his third cotton flower.

ID: 19948
LD: 16

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

Searching through the grass, Quisani came upon a flower. It's petals where crimson red. and had a drop of dew near the edges. Even for a game, it look more amazing than normal. He reached out to touch it. He was hoping to identify what it was, since it was a low level. He touched it, and brought up the information screen. It was there for but a moment, as the flower had already begun to shatter and scatter to the winds. As it disappeared, Quisani whispered the one word that was written on the information screen.

"Rosebud..."

 

ID: 19949

LD: 10

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

Quisani wondered what that fragile item could have meant. Perhaps is was an Easter egg put in by one of the developers. Either way, it was soon put out of his mind. He eyes focused a little ways away, and he saw a silkbud. He scrambled over to it and plucked it up. "Well well well, looks like you've given up the ghost, eh Silkbud?" Quisani chuckled to himself, because he knew there wasn't a pun to be found in what he just said. He liked to think on a meta level on occasion.

Id: 20081

LD: 20

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

Quisani kept going. He looked through some more grasslands. He then sat down and began to wonder about what he was doing. What am I doing? I'm looking for digital things, in a digital world, while my body lies in the real world, possibly atrophying as we speak! Man, I just wanna go home. He sat there for a while before he collected himself and could move on.

ID: 20082

LD: 11

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

He was lost and thought, and only managed to notice a cottonflower while walking up a hill. Well, there's another one. I suppose I should collect it. He picked it up, and kept moving. He was still lost in thought as he walked over the hill.

ID: 20083

LD: 20

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

Still in a poor mood, Quisani took a seat on the other side of the hill. Where is my direction? Who do I follow? What is my role in this world, if I'm going to be stuck here? Will we all die here? He sat there for a while. Eventually, his mind wandered and he just sat there focusing on his breathing.

ID: 20084

LD: 11

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

He breathed in slowly. He could feel a breeze blowing a cool wind. He felt the sun warming his side. This isn't the real world. But it is real. It exists as much as I do. I'm living in this world while my body lies in another. This is the stuff of sci-fi and fantasy. I am here. He took another deep breath and after another minute, stood up. He was calm again.

ID: 20085

LD: 13

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

Feeling slightly better than he had a moment ago, he looked at his surroundings. Lying a few feet away was the final cotton flower he would need. There we go! Is life really that bad? I'm making some sort of progress out there. He snagged it and bagged it. He picked a new direction and began walking. There was a bit less sadness surrounding him.

 

ID: 20460

 

LD: 18

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

Quisani had walked a little ways when he saw his third silkbud. He chuckled. "Haha! That leaves but two silkbuds before I return to Floratine and gain my skills!" He leaned down and grabbed it and looked up to see where the city was. Quisani figured he might as well start walking back.

 

ID: 20465

LD: 19

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

Quisani was a bit confused. He thought the Town of Beginnings was this way, but now a forest was looming up on him. "Well, this is exactly why I'm not the kinda guy to go do outdoorsy stuff. Well, might as well walk back the other way. Worst comes to worse, I walk off the edge of a cliff, amirite bro?" Quisani caught himself. He had forgotten for a moment where he was. 

 

ID: 20467

LD: 11

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

Is this where I found that last silkbud? I dunno... maybe I should just find a hill and see if I can see the town. This was perhaps the smartest thing Quisani could have done, because he spotted the town almost immediately after climbing the nearest hill. He'd lost some time, but he wasn't quite done yet.

ID: 20468

LD:13

[Quisani Wordcaster 0]

Quisani kept checking ever few hills just to make sure he was going in the right direction. Enough time had passed that he could also orient himself based upon the position of the sun. After four or five hills, he spotted his penultimate silkbud. He plucked it and kept moving.

ID: 20469
LD: 19