Private Western Brisshal A completely normal encounter between two (2) normal, well adjusted individuals

Aroda · Sep 4, 2022

Aroda continued down the trail as she planned, her thoughts flitting between wondering where she should try going next in Terrasphere, and where she should try going next in the real world. She was spoiled for choice, in a sense, but with nothing calling to her, it was hard to actually choose. Maybe she could-

It was then, that her thoughts were finally interrupted, and she was brought back to reality. Or, virtual reality. A thunderous noise that made her jump in place, tensing as she quickly spun to see the source...the source of that bark. And there she saw...the 'hound'.

Quite obviously too big to be called a regular dog, the giant beast was heading right for her. She stumbled back in surprise, eyes widening as she tries to make a snap decision on which gun she should use for this...when she noticed. Despite the creature's size, it didn't jump her...its tail wagged like a domesticated dog...was it actually more like a dog than she originally thought.

Still not moving any closer, or moving much at all, she cautiously calls to the curious canine.

"Uh...good dog?"

Darkness · Sep 4, 2022

160 / 160

Totetsu would stop wagging her tail at the words, tipping her head some before laying down and rolling over so she could paw at her collar. The hound was wearing it for once afterall, and it seemed more to be hinting it wanted it off then anything else as the hound disliked it more then anything else. That all said though removing it without Kaede would prove difficult as magic bound it this time as she was getting annoyed by the hound getting it off so often and people not always knowing who it belong to incase of property damage or such.

That said though if the woman did try to get it off or not, once the attempts stopped or no movement to aid the hound's blight was made she would roll back over to bark again at the Magia slowly approaching and trying to look as peaceful as it could before it dawned on the hound. With a little scratch behind the ear it shrunk down to the size of a normal wolf barking again and trying to approach the magia once more to paw at her foot. it was at that time Kaede would whistle and the Hound spun and rushed back to her side.

"TO...TET...SU!"

A light whimper as the hound lowered it's head while Kaede seemed a little angry and she had a few reasons to be. She had been chasing and calling the hound for some time and it kept running around, she had to fix the damage it had done along the way, and as far as she could tell was scaring a lovely woman and that was the biggest reason she was mad as Kaede moved to offer a gloved hand to Aroda and gave a small smile.

"Sorry... Despite her looks I swear she is a good hound... Did she cause you any harm or trouble?"

Rolls

Nothing

Aroda · Sep 4, 2022

The magia stared with no shortage of confusion at the hound's actions following her innocent call of 'good boy'. She sure wasn't going to be trying to take its collar off...and she still wasn't sure she wanted to go over there, even if it seemed docile enough.

Her confusion, and surprise, only grows when the dog seems to randomly change size, a soft 'uhh...' leaking out as she wonders what exactly is going on here. Was this...some kind of event? The dog was a quest, or...a new companion, for her? It was kind of hard to say...but regardless, she pulls her foot back as it gets closer for contact, just in time to look up in surprise at the sharp whistle she hears.

The surprise the robot was experiencing was going steady, but seeing this stranger appear and start commanding the dog, her confusion was finally abating. So this was the dog's...master? Owner? Trainer? Whatever. She puts on a polite smile over her general air of 'surprised', as she first answers,

"Uh...no, not really, just surprised me, is all."

Then reaches out to shake this new stranger's hand. Of course, her grip is quite light, as she's careful with those metal hands.

"And er, who might you be? I'm Aroda."

Darkness · Sep 4, 2022

160 / 160

"Oh, right introductions before flirting. I'm Kaede, Kaede Hoshi. Most people call me the pervert witch though.~"

Kaede would happily hum her title as she would try to pull the offered hand close enough to kiss the back of it before letting it go while Totetsu grumbled some clearly aware enough to know Kaede was in a mood again. Though quickly shocked when the elf would turn to walk back to the hound and forming a magic circle around it to start placing the runes back before letting herself get distracted and give the hound a chance to run off again.

Runes pulling from the ground as seemingly fusing with the hound's fur causing it to look less black, and the horns to slowly shrink and eventually vanish to make it look like a normal husky with black and blue fur if you ignore the drifting purple runes every so often. With the work done, Kaede would tap the hound's head three time signaling it was free to go play now and it wasted no second thought to go play again. Kaede turning back to offer a small smile to Aroda as she adjusted her gloves some.

"So what brings a Magia this far into the woods? I don't think there is a power crystal near these parts, least not above ground that I have come across... Sure I could make the joke fate has led you to the pervert witch so you could experience mortal bliss even in artificial body... but that's likely not it either.~"

A playful chuckle as she made a small magic circle to seal her magic taking note her other half was trying to protest to Kaede being a flirt and not acting on her desires. She was trying to get better at keeping herself civil with the intent to one day maybe not even flirt less she was close friends with them or was flirted with first. Sadly that was a long way away if she kept flirting first and thinking second. A little hum as she awaited to see how the Magia would react to the information so far.

Rolls

Nothing

Aroda · Sep 4, 2022

Aroda's brows are most certainly raised at the stranger's - Kaede's - unexpected course of action, being that she immediately waltzed right past the typical boundary of 'personal space' that usually existed between total strangers. She withdraws her hand close as soon as it's released, glancing to check if there were any noticeable mark left on the back of it...

"...Right..."

She clears her throat and takes just a moment to re-center herself - her worry about the hound had mostly fade, but mow it was being redirected a bit.

"Personally...I was just traveling, and seeing the sights. I heard there were lots of places dotting this trail...and a big fort, somewhere, too. So on my way through, I wanted to check all that stuff out."

Her gaze shifts a bit, going from Kaede to Dog for a moment, before she continues addressing the woman.

"I'm uh, glad to have run into you - at least, now that I know the giant dog isn't gonna kill me. It's always nice to meet a new friend."

She's sure to enunciate her final word in that line clearly, as she smiles to her new conversation partner.

"So...what are you doing out here, then? Just chasing your...dog?"

Darkness · Sep 4, 2022

160 / 160

"Ouch right into the friend zone.~ More serious note, I live nearby and tend to roam these woods looking for more spots with medical herbs and the sort. Also seems to lead me to finding more attractive woman then in big cities.~"

Kaede hummed more as she held her chest, trying to least show she still felt a bit heart getting tossed right into the friend zone even though she showed clear interest. Not like she was un-used to such or would try to get free from that zone any chance given to the bare minimal as a good time call or friend with benefit category but that was not her focus at the moment as she looked over where Totetsu had rush off to. her mind also recalling the other people she had met in these same woods.

Most led to a small smile as she recalled the antics that had followed, but the last she seemed to recall made her frown and a heavy sense of sadness befall her. Her magic flickering out as the ground around her began to decay before she quickly snapped back to reality and used her other magic to repair the damage she had done chuckling nervously. She had a decent guess this girl was a star called and not a lander that would panic and run at the sigh of a Taboo magic like she had just displayed.

"If by fort you mean the wrecked airship in the former player capital I'd advise against getting super close to that place. if not I don't think there are any other forts worth visiting less your a bit of a history buff. I'm more of a Manga, or medical nerd. Well among other thing but friends don't talk about those things.~"

Kaede playfully hummed as she tried to prevent herself from going into detail of other things she liked to do rather then serious things but failed to fully avoid the topic as it was honestly not in her character. Moving closer to the girl to see if she might back up and if she did she would step back also getting the idea clear as day this was not someone she could goof around and tease to make them agree to at the very least not decline her playful advances or antics.

Rolls

Nothing

Aroda · Sep 4, 2022

Aroda notes, with slight concern, the sudden strange magic effects surrounding the equally strange woman. That decay definitely didn't look pleasant. And while she wonders, what exactly that was about, she disregards it for now as she tries to retain polite conversation skills...

"Er, wrecked ship...? No, not the thing in Vintergard...though I was thinking of checking that out sometime, too. Around here, in this area of the woods, there's supposed to be a fort...I heard it was called Fort Worth. Thought the name was funny, and it's supposed to be a cool, huge fortress city...so I really wanted to check it out."

And she then has to suddenly clear her throat as Kaede moves closer. Rather than backing away herself, she holds a hand up in a classic 'calm down there, friend' gesture, giving the still-relative-stranger a bit of a weird look.

"I don't exactly like having to say this on a first meeting, but uh...I have a boyfriend. Sorry."

She explains simply, with a slight grimace. Like she said, she clearly feels a bit awkward having to say that.

@Kaede Hoshi

Darkness · Sep 5, 2022

160 / 160

Kaede would narrow her focus for a few moments at Aroda. She did not believe the girl had someone to that level in her life. But with a heavy sigh Kaede would adjust her posture to a more professional and normal strait back while moving her arms behind her back. If the woman did not wish to be smothered with love from another woman she could have simply said such not made up a possible lie but she was not in any place to critic the woman.

"Never heard of such a place, but then again not my circle of things to look into. So from that it is likely in the area I never really go towards being... that way."

Kaede would move her right hand to point over to the east, and more so closer to the border that aligned the current lander capital of Stokbon with the former player capital of Vintergard. It made sense it would be over there since players and the Landers did have a war in the past. Moving the arm back to hide it as she looked up to the sky to check if it would rain soon and still being safe for the time being. Without flirting or jokes she did not exactly know how to deal with cute woman.

"Not good at the whole normal social things... Spent to long locked in game and drunk pervert to recall how normal people conversed... Now it's just pervert with desire to get drunk to avoid these awkward moments... Guess I can ask How your week has been going? Still sort of feels dumb to ask that though as it's kind of prying into someone's life and if they don't want to talk about it they shoot it down and you feel even more awkward and I'm rambling... Ignore me..."

Rolls

Nothing

Aroda · Sep 5, 2022

Aroda shrugged casually at the first bit of Kaede's dialoging.

"I'm not really sure the specifics anymore, actually. What I remember is the fort's here to protect against 'greenskins', they have patrols that watch along this road and all the stops along it...and it was a couple miles south of some big river."

For as much as she remembered about the fort in relative terms, she didn't actually know where that all translated to...thanks to her being fairly lost. Internally, she was still sure she'd find her way there, though.

"But uh...don't worry so much about rambling or...prying. I don't mind as long as we stay at, y'know, friend level. My...week has been fine. Haven't found much time to play, but..."

As she mentioned her time, and how much of it she's spent playing this game, she picks up on something that she sort of glossed over when she heard it.

"Wait. Locked...are you..."

She, sensibly, hesitates to say 'dead', instead pausing to wonder how exactly she should phrase it.

"One of those people that's, stuck in here?"

She wasn't sure if she'd hit the mark on managing to phrase it gently, but, it was the best she could come up with.

@Kaede Hoshi

Darkness · Sep 6, 2022

160 / 160

"Ye, got stuck way back think a few weeks or at most a month or two before the game got blocked. If it makes things to weird thinking your talking to a ghost or a fragment of a person to help you sort of are... Not the same as I was before the lock much less so after those first two years... But not going to talk about that and if you try to make me Boyfriend or not I will be demanding make out as payment for the stories!"

Kaede tried to make it clear she did not want to talk about what happen after the other players vanished as far as her side of things went. She did not mind talking about events on the game scale, or what she knew of others during that time but her own story was locked until she could fully come to terms with what she had done. Moving to sit down on a rock as she looked to the sky recalling the 'real world' for a moment with a heavy look of sorrow that quickly vanished as she sighed and reformed the normal bubbly side of herself.

"Before you take the time to ask, Yes i miss the real world mostly because proper bathing here is near impossible on a budget. No, I don't think I would go back given a chance as my place in the real world is long gone of my dad respected my wishes to be cremated if I died before him and kept beside the fireplace. No, I don't think those trapped here SHOULD go back as there is to much unknown and if we can go there it would also mean other things might be able to come back with us... And I rambled again... If you want to ask other questions I chose and hope you respect some I will only say 'next question' to."

Rolls

Nothing

Aroda · Sep 7, 2022

Aroda listens to...all of the rambling, clearly pretty interested despite any parts where Kaede was acting weird.

"Well...sorry to hear about what you've been through, then. It all sounds pretty grim."

She starts, with a fairly thoughtful tone, as she considers all of what the woman had said in that rant. When she continues, it starts out in a more careful voice,

"But, so...if you don't mind my asking, then...what sort of things did happen during all that time, when the game was supposed to be down? On the larger scale, you know...major events. And...well, what's it like? Did anything about Terrasphere seem different after you were stuck, compared to before? Does it seem any more or less realistic - for reasons other than missing the UI? I guess...do you remember, back when it started, if you thought that this place seemed as...real, as the outside world?"

Of course, as she goes on longer, she sounds less 'careful' and more 'extremely interested', but surely there's no harm done, she thinks.

@Kaede Hoshi

Darkness · Sep 7, 2022

160 / 160

Kaede did not respond right away, sure she was given a few things to respond to but she felt like taking time to think them over as she did not wish to give an response less interesting then Aroda's interest in the matter was conveyed by her tone. Sure she knew how to start it all but thinking the questions over her mind could only fall on more philosophical responses to the questions the more she mulled them over in her head without adding in a disliked topic.

"Well major events wise I believe a meteor crashed over in Norfova and has since made the place hard if not impossible to enter solo or in small groups to check it out. I don't know the full details what is stopping people from going deeper nor did I think going there with my mastery set would be wise based off the feeling I get just going near the border.

Then you have the Magia ship that crashed into the former player capital, forced a lot of us to relocate and the few that remained either got forced away or ended up dead. Since then though a number of less hostile Magia started to poke up in places mostly centered around the power stones that charge them without the need for heavy magic use from a person or such.

After getting stuck it felt, scarily not that different from real life. Your settings all get switched to realist if you had them otherwise and no matter the damage you cause no game master or the sort shows up to stop you... Then the longer you stay the harder it becomes to recall the real world least for a heavy drunk that I was back then... The few things that I hope never fade is the memory of hot shower and proper cooked meals... And I guess the few good memories I still have of my father and friend..."

Kaede spoke, all the while looking to the sky not the Magia. It was how she best recalled the real world, thinking just beyond the sky was some giant screen that let people from the real world watch what happened in the game. Though as her mind considered the case if they did see and knew how some people suffered made her anger show, Animancy and dark magic ripping out from the Witch's frame rotting the forest around her as she did not snap out of the train of thought.

Rolls

Nothing

Aroda · Sep 8, 2022

Aroda listens intently to all Kaede has to say, considering all of her different talking points carefully as they come up. She doesn't go as far as to bring out paper to write notes (this time), but her attention was undivided.

"Hmm. I have no idea about the quality of food here, but, is it really that hard to get a shower...?"

The magia muses a bit, nearly lost in thought as she wonders that maybe she could just invent showers. If it was so rare, she could make a killing. Then again, it might be kinda hard...places probably don't have such an excess of water that they can do that, if getting a bath was hard, and Aroda didn't have hydromancy to just make water...

Her train of thought goes off course as she finally notes Kaede's little magic show. She shuffles away a bit and starts again, more carefully,

"Err...well, about that meteor, then! I've heard about that too, but only super vaguely. Is there any more details you can share? What's so wrong with the area that you got such a bad feeling?"

Darkness · Sep 14, 2022

160 / 160

"Yes it very much is! Unless you have hydromancy if you not near running waterfall, or Pyromancy to heat up said water, or have Magitech to do both heat and flow of water your stuck with cold waterfall exposed to anyone who might pass by there at the time! Sure I don't mind most people passing me while I shower but least some hot water to steam hide from those I don't like! Then you have to consider soaps and the such are expensive due to time it take to make them and no players really knowing how!"

Kaede Looked and sounded like someone had just called marvel and DC the same, her anger showing more as her magic ran wild and caused a nearby tree to fully rot and fall over sending creatures and birds scattering for dear life and finally allowing the witch to notice she was not capping her magic. Hands rapidly moving as several magic circles locked around her body and runes covered her outfit as the magic would stop flowing out of her and a heavy sigh escaped her lips.

She hated having so much taboo magic sometimes as her mental state was the only trigger the magic felt was needed to act on. Waving her hands as she used her only 'safe' magic to turn back time of the area to restore the damage she had done mostly but would need more time to fully fix it all back as the second question reached her mind to consider how to phrase it. Not taking as long as she did not have much reason to hide or tip-toe her words anymore on the topic that region was known for.

"That region always sort of called to those of us with Taboo magic, with that meteor it got much stronger... Then you have people like me who have every taboo magic and corrupt magic so that place is always whispering my name and if I get close it's a full on shout... I can't control the magic as you saw without my full focus or a lot of curse and hexes on myself... if something is calling me there... I sure as hell don't want to go when I can't control what it is calling out to..."

Kaede would place a hand over her scar, hidden by clothing at the moment but the reminder of her other half was always there. Eyes moving to focus beyond the area to the region that still called her even at this distance away. She did not know anyone else with the same magic as her well enough to ask if they had the same issues. Sure she knew three herself, but she doubted the child could hear anything with all her shouting, then the other was so self focused she doubted they heard it as anything less then being praised. The last, she was not exactly on speaking terms with the emo magic girl.

Rolls

Nothing

Aroda · Sep 17, 2022

Aroda leans back a bit, gazing back at the agitated lady with raised brows. She could definitely understand being annoyed at never getting a good shower, but...was it that hard...?

"Okay, I get it...but like, aren't there places to go to bathe without using a...waterfall? It's not modern here, but it's still fantasy...there's no hot springs or like...those bath places, you know? ...A bath house, that's it."

Of course, she'd then wait as Kaede does some magicy stuff to fix up the area that was uh...just kinda, dying, around her. Aroda makes sure she maintains a safe distance as she continues talking.

"Uh, nevermind all that though if it's bothering you. Do you know if anyone else has been looking into this place with the, meteor business? It sounsd pretty interesting...and if you can't check it out, maybe I can try and talk to someone who knows more about it? Or maybe even...do you know the best way to get there?"