Private Eastern Brisshal A Tale of Liars and Lions

[Brutus Dahlgren]

It was a beautiful day in sunny Eastern Brishhal.

Brutus found himself awakening in his bed like he did every time he had a chance to get home and log out. He would take a deep breath and stretch, his back and legs cracking as he did so. This noise alerted the bed intruders to his presence, and soon he was assaulted by three figures. The first was Tiger, his tabby kitten he'd adopted shortly after joining the game, which was now getting pretty big and could no longer ride in his shirt pocket. Next to him was his darker clone, Crow (Or Scary Crow Jr as his actual owner had named him) who was an all black cat cuddling into his brother while they chirped begging for food.

The third, was the screeching gremlin that was Panasonic, the alert spider. The jittering critter landed on his face and let out a hyperpitched WHOOPING. Pan, for short, was ecstatic that his favorite giant turned launching machine was back. He would curl into a ball, rolling around on his face practically begging to be picked up and throw. The giant would groan and oblige, scooping the spider up and HURLING him out an open window.

Rising up, he would grab the two fussy kittens and go about feeding them and getting dressed in his usual attire. Donning his boots, he would be out the door and on his way to town.

...

All was as it should be. Timmy's cat was back in his possession after having wandered off and ended up in Maybel's Flour bin somehow. Gertrude's fence was fixed and her daily order of herbs filled out.

"Thank you Brucie, say hello to Toko for me!"

The giant would wave to her, flowers safely tucked into his UI for his Lepus Lady friend the next time he saw her, and continued his patrol, stopping at the center of town to observe the noticeboard for any new quests.

@Ariweyn Laundale

 

[Ariweyn Laundale]

"A gold for a reading! All sales are final!" A new person is in town, probably a Traveler, has a small shop set up, out of the way and in a rather shady spot. she has set up under one of the trees, and has a small table in front of her, looking for all who seek a possible answer to a future unknown. she spots the gargantuan man and waves at him.

"You there! I can read your future for a gold! A good deal, all things considered! and a quite accurate reading too! A refund if the tower is drawn upright for you though."

the somewhat obvious scammer does have cards in her hands, skillfully shuffling them in her hands. her hat is tied to her head, and has a gold chain dangles on her hat. she is not a regular in town, and is obviously out of place, but the way she acts is like she has been here the whole time. charlatan.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"A gold for a reading! All sales are final!"

The giant's ears would quirk up a bit, his tail swishing idly as he peeled his gaze from a posting about goblins and gnolls having a turf war to see a purple haired witch and her...table set up. His eyes would narrow into slits slightly as he would peer her up and down. She was new, but new people rolled up all the time, hell they basically fell out of the sky on a daily basis as new players logged in for the first time.

He would stride forward, finding himself towering over the tiny woman who was seated at her stand. He would eye the contents of the table, which was just a stack of what would appear to be Tarot Cards before his gaze would trail to the tiny stool meant for him to sit upon. He would shuffle it aside and sit on the ground, still probably capable of looking the tiny witch in the eyes as he plopped down a gold coin.

"Go ahead and give me a reading eh?" He would ask a smirk crossing his face. "You new in town? I don't recognize your face."

@Ariweyn Laundale

 

[Ariweyn Laundale]

the mage looks at the big man, a small "holy shit you're huge' escapes her mouth in a whisper before she shakes her head and pockets the coin with a smile

"Ahh good morning sir, I am Ariweyn. May I have the pleasure of knowing the name of one so large as yourself? My, you must be the bulwark of the town! It's benevolent protector!"

Her words have a sort of sweetness to them, however, she will get down to business

"I have just moved in near by, sir. Now, What kind of reading would you like done? A simple one card question, a three card reading for your past present and future, or perhaps you would like a message from the universe in a 4 card spread?"

she continues to shuffle her cards as she speaks.

---

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

A chuckle would escape his lips as the woman breathed the whisper under her breath. "I am huge." He would reply, cracking his neck. "Good morning Ariweyn, I am Brutus, and I am a champion of the people of Honeyhome." Drumming his fingers on the table, he would watch her as she went about shuffling her cards, keeping a wary eye on how she handled the cards.

"I'm not familiar with the reading types, but I wouldn't mind a three card spread. Seems like the most...easily understood of the variants."

This was a lie, Tarot readers were a dime a dozen at reenactment fairs, and he was well versed in the grift and tricks of the trade. However, this game had some actual future telling In theory, he could judge her reading skills on that sort of thing. Whiff the past, the one thing set in stone, and he could call her out for certain. After all, a gold might not be worth terribly much to him, but for the people of Honeyhome it could be the difference between someone eating or not. The last thing he could let happen was for someone to take advantage of the trust of these people.

"So, how does this work?"


@Ariweyn Laundale

 

[Ariweyn Laundale]

"A pleasure to meet you, Brutus. I have heard about you from the people, though not too much. They had not mentioned your... stature. You are quite impressive."

As she shuffles, he'll notice her flipping cards around, always facedown. she will nod and stop, fanning the cards on the table, a faint glow coming from the cards

"let us be down to business. pick your cards. three cards. past, present and future, all chosen by your hand. no better way than that, after all."

she folds her arms

"and less of a chance that i will muddy the reading"

---

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"My reputation is forged in good deeds, good work, and..." he would motion to himself and his stature. "I pride myself on taking care of people." Reaching forward, her would curl his fingers into a point, waving it around a bit as he danced it through the air, pointing to various cards.

"Let's go with..." he would frown a bit and tap one card. "This one...." he would squint a bit and bring his finger to another one giving it a tap. "This one." Finally, after a while of mulling it over, he would bring his finger to the card right in front of him and give it a tap. "Last but not least, this one."

He would retreat his hand back and rest it neatly on his lap, watching the woman carefully for any tricks up her sleeves. The wind idly blew through, ruffling his hair slightly.

"What's next? You say some words and flip em?"

@Ariweyn Laundale

 

[Ariweyn Laundale]

Many would be right to be skeptical of the readings, as often times, they are faked, but Ariweyn actively is invoking Astramancy to perform this.

she flips the first card. The first card is Judgement, Reversed.

"Something has happened in your life to put you on this path, something that made you feel like you had missed out on something. It could have been adventure or family or some self-doubt. Perhaps it brought you to honeyhome, or to this Path in life."

She flips the second card. it is the two of swords, upright.

"you are at a stalemate, this card is not particularly in depth, though. perhaps you are having trouble at home?"

but bad reading or good reading, there is one thing obvious. the upright tower shows up as the future card. something that makes Ariweyn turn a shade of ghostly white.

"I am a woman of my word, the tower has appeared in this reading. here" She passes him his coin back. "as promised, your coin."

it is quite obvious that the first two are, while not lies, they are overblown and vague, a tactic of the Tarot Readers.

---

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

The giant would listen to her words carefully as she flipped each card and explained the meaning behind each reading. The first one seemed pretty straight forward, vague enough to be right by virtue of it being vague. Anyone playing this game was doing it because they felt like their life was missing something. To call that a correct read was like saying tomato sauce was a serving of fruit.

The second reading was interesting, but didn't feel quite right either. Sure, life was peaceful, but he didn't feel like he was at a stalemate. Between his works to make a new canon, forging new friendships, and growing stronger, that didn't feel right.

The last one drew his attention though. The Tower was something that even the uninitiated knew. Some interpreted it as a pending disaster, others saw it as sudden change lurking in the near future. The coin was returned, and the giant carefully scooped it up and flicked it into the air, banishing it back to his UI midair.

"Interesting. Not quite sure what to make of all that," the man would rise to his feet and dust himself off. "Though I would advise you work on your showmanship a little bit. Not a single spooky voice, minimal flashing lights, not hand waves or wooooooos." A smirk would cross his lip as he raised an eyebrow. "Now if you excuse me, I have some work to do..."

@Ariweyn Laundale

 

[Ariweyn Laundale]

"Make of it what you will, but usually the tower represents a rather sudden, unshakable change. Delaying it is bad and sometimes the change is bad too. But its shown up in every reading ive done today. Definitely a concern."

she shrugs and puts the cards away, definitely a bit frustrated at herself.

"Eh, im working on it. I dont have my fog machine here anyway... Wait how do you know that?."

he mage stands up with him

"would you mind having company as you do? I am incredibly bored. Its been.... Slow business today. You are actually the first person to ask for a reading."

she will place the cards in a little box on her hip, next to a book. Both are the same worn out as a newbie players could be

---

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"It showing up in every one of your readings is a lot less concerning a statement when you tell me that you haven't managed any business today besides me." The lion would let out a chuckle turning to walk away. "And if you want to follow me around, sure I won't say no." He gear and attire screamed new starcalled, but he couldn't quite be too sure. At best, he was playing mentor player to a new person and sparing them a grizzly fate, at worst he was keeping a charlatan distracted from preying on the people of the town.

He would stride up to the job board and continue his search, idle distraction over as he scanned for keywords like "Monster" or "Sick." The type of shit that usually indicated if a job was either dangerous, or for someone who was exceptionally in need of a heroes help. Some of them paid well, but it wasn't about the money, it was about making sure people were taken care of.

"I think you'll find the people of Honeyhome to be rather...wary of witchy folk like you until you build yourself a reputation. In the past couple of months there have been issues with rogue dark magicians lurking around in the woods being up to no good." He would reach up and tear a flyer or two off, folding them neatly and stuffing them into the breast pocket of his shirt.

"If you make a good name for yourself, people might be more willing to talk to you and do business with your readings."

@Ariweyn Laundale

 

[Ariweyn Laundale]

"Alright, I will then!"

She smiles and folds her arms

"its gonna be a pleasure working with you"

She thinks about the comment on the tower before she shrugs and puts the table back in her UI inventory.

"I mean, its still the tower. be wary. Its a card that typically doesn't mean anything good. especially not here"

she sidles up next to him, yawning a bit as she looks at the board. she spots a few that are not too great, but definitely are better than doing nothing. she grabs one and looks at it

"so... why don't we take them out? I'm sure its not that bad, otherwise i would have smelled something by now. Bad magic would stain the soil and air like a skunk on the highway. that or vanilla extract. not the smell, the taste of it."

she nods and looks around, sort of embarrassed at not reading the room about her magic

"I'll be sure to work on my reputation then."

---

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"I have been playing whack a mole with them." Brutus would give the witch a sideways look as he continued to scan the job board. "First it was a blood mage who was leeching blood from the local wolves and stirring them up. Me and my friend Corsair had to take care of that, but that was back when I was a rookie." He could still feel the soreness of the assbeating he'd received like it was the other day. The mere idea of clutching to Corsair as he limped out of there, barely making it to safety. A shiver ran down his spine.

"Then there was an Orcish hag who was using magic for some sort of profane ritual. I'm not quite sure what, but it seemed like it certainly wasn't going to have good for anyone involved. I put a stop to that with the help of..." he paused. "Well actually that's how I met my girlfriend, Toko" A smirk crossed his lips.

"But, it's been quiet recently, but I don't want to take that for granted. Gotta patrol and help keep the peace, there isn't any rest for the wicked, nor can the just even relax their guard. Too much at risk for the simplest of slip ups..."

@Ariweyn Laundale

 

[Ariweyn Laundale]

the mage nods, thinking about it. she will continue to stare at the board, though it is pretty likely she's just looking at a point "past" it, deep in thought.

"I see, sounds... tough. I'm sorry to have possibly caused a problem in the town. I tried to keep my... self as non threatening as possible."

She looks a bit sad, she didn't actually want to cause harm, just provide some entertainment to the townsfolk

"that doesn't answer my question though. what's keeping us from trawling up to their hideout and walloping them something good? teach them to not come back and all"

she turns to him, looking for an answer.
"and there have to be some sort of magical defenses we can set up so they have more protection than... a fence and a cat that likes gluten, if i recall the quests i saw... oh, wait... they just keep coming back since they don't know any better, right?"

---

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"I doubt you've caused an issue unless you were recklessly casting magic with malicious intent." The Lion would thumb through a couple more jobs before, seemingly satisfied, would pull the few jobs he had and scan them to a greater degree, humming softly as he did so.

"If it was as simple as figuring out where they were, kicking their door down and smacking them around, I probably would have already. These woods are dangerous for most people, even with how strong I am I cannot cover the whole thing alone. It's a long and arduous process that involves people putting their lives at risk." He would flip a few one page to another, furrowing his brow.

"As for defenses, it's not like we can just build some sort of fuck off wall. They lurk in the shadows, waiting for the time to strike and hit and run. We don't know what they can do, and making like...actual magical defenses would probably cost an outlandish amount of money. Let alone getting the materials and people to make them. We're best off playing vigilantly..." He would tut a bit and then, seemingly satisfied with his picks, would begin to head off, motioning for her to follow.

"I've got the jobs picked out." he would state plainly.

@Ariweyn Laundale

 

[Ariweyn Laundale]

ariweyn will nod, taking her hat off.

"i havent been using much magic. It feels weird to. And it smells like... Cinnamon, cloves, and apples." she sniffs the air, humming about the smell. "im not hating it though"

she will think for a mmoment, trying to think of an idea. She doesnt have any plans, and so she shrugs.

"i can try and help. Hanno patrols there too, so thats some help too. But i can shadow you until i get a bit stronger... I don't think i have any combat stuff though... So eh, i'll just help you for now."

she hums again, thinking heavily.
"Well, i don't know how to make a shield for a town but i could look into it. It'll be a goal i can work for."

she will follow behind him, keeping close to the giant.

"Oh cool! What are we doing. Fighting some bandits?"

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Your magic has a smell?" The giant would quirk an eyebrow. "Interesting. Either way if you want to get stronger you'll need practice. Practice makes perfect, reppition is the mother of all learning etcetera etcetera." He would shorten his stride so the witch could keep pace with him. "Regardless, I highly doubt you'll have much traction alone but if you get with one of the guilds they might be down to help."

Her question about their work would elicit a soft chuckle from the giant. Bandits wouldn't be a problem for him, but with her? He'd constantly be on the watch keeping her safe, that could only cause potential problems.

"Up first we're going to gather herbs for old lady Gertrude. She makes health potions for the guards and huntsmen. Then we're looking for a rare ingrediant to make medicine that can cure lycanthropy. Finally," he would turn and raise an eyebrow at her. "We'll go deal with some rogue wolves to the south of town"

@Ariweyn Laundale

 

[Ariweyn Laundale]

"wait you cant smell it? I thought it was a common thing. Like... There was an old lady named ethel who had some magic on her. She smelled like orchids."

she shrugs a bit, taking his words in. She looks around.
"Im trying to figure out which i should apply to. They are all so cool. I don't think I'll be able to pick one."
she looks at the giant, confused.
"Whats so funny??"
she perks up a bit.
"oh! What are the herbs called? What do they look like? Are they a silvery green?"
she has so. Many. Questions. She eventually winds up mumbling to herself about the wolves. She'll pipe up again
"are the wolves lycanthropes? Is that why we need the cure?"

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"You," he would turn to look at her. "Are not ready to take on bandits, hells you're probably barely ready to take on goblins in any great quantity. We're going to do this in small steps. You do the fetch quests, you get the mastery points, you level your skills up, then you do the harder quests to get more mastery to get better skills. Rinse and repeat until you hit the cap."

He would let her ramble off her questions with her excited enthusiasm. "We're looking for something called healers delight, it's about as RPG herb as it comes, thin stem with about seven to nine leaves. She's gonna mash it into a pulp and steep it in hot water with some other herbs and when she strains the gunk out it's a pretty potent healing brew. The wolves are not Lycanthropes, they're wolves. We're getting reagents for dealing with Lycanthropy because the best time to stockpile medicine for Lycanthropy is before you need it. Any more questions?"

@Ariweyn Laundale

 

[Ariweyn Laundale]

she looks a bit confused, then a bit angry, then resigned to this. Brutus was being nice by helping her, she should listen to him

"Well, for one, I picked support skills, not fighting skills! I was under the impression that not a lot of people are dedicated buffers and healers when I joined up. Its... dawning on me now that that may have been a big mistake"

She inwardly groans and rubs her eyes.

"Okay so, basically, tea leaves. got it. Wouldn't it be easier to have a lot of the pots of these things in a greenhouse? I'm sure I can dig a few things up and transplant them fairly easily..."

she sighs and smiles apologetically to him

"I just realized that, that is a stupid idea right now, it would be a very big target for the bandits in the area."

she walks ahead, looking at all of the plants she can, trying to be gentle with them.

"sorry I'm asking so many questions. I just got excited. this is a new game, its fun. I'm not sure why it's illegal on the other side."

---

@Brutus Dahlgren