Private Eastern Brisshal Gunnin for Gold

[Brutus Dahlgren]

It was a beautiful sunny day, although most days inn Tera tended to be such. His partner had not logged on today, so he'd given her sleeping form a head ruffle and he was on his way. Morning chores came and went with ease, wood was chopped, garden weeded, clearing patrolled. Satisfied his base was secured, he headed off to Honeyhome.

It wasn't often he was on his own, usually Corsair was walking alongside him in his shadow, but it did save him a couple minutes on his walk. Finding himself in the town plaza, he went to the rather comically large quest board and began to peruse. If he didn't see anything he liked, he would simply go talk to the townsfolk. They had a wonderful way of giving him dynamic little chores, and while they didn't award him with gold per se, he usually ended up bringing something useful home to the base or got a full belly out of it.

Plus it would feed him with the warm and fuzzies.

Standing by the board, he scratched his chin hemming and hawing as he did so. "Gee Brutus, what are we going to doooo today."

 

[Ilya]

Another day, another monster to be slayed and here Ilya had found her way back in the likes of Honeyhome. An adventure ready to be had, and she had no one to spend her time with. Everyone on her friends list was either offline today, or busy with something and hadn't replied to her. Ilya was thus sitting in a corner of the tavern that housed the board she constantly took quests from.

She was taking a sip of her drink when a mountain of a man entered the building. Holy fuck, and I thought Zelrius was tall... This man had to be at least 17 times the height of Ilya. She watched silently as he looked at the board, his muscles seemed to almost gloat at Ilya, saying look at me, look at me. I'm all strong and muscular!

Ilya couldn't help but feel infatuated, like she had to talk to this person, that didn't appear to be human. If it wasn't for the tail that was adorning his bottom, Ilya would have taken in the assumption that there was a new race in the game.

Ilya took only a second longer to process what was happening. His height, the fact that he was a lion like her, drawing her in until she was right behind him. Ilya cleared her throat, but Brutus didn't hear. His height obviously the reason behind it.

Ilya cleared her throat again, "Sir?" He still didn't hear her. Ilya realized she had to shout. "EXCUSE ME SIR." Brutus would then turn around, "SORRY TO SHOUT BUT YOUR SO TALL THAT YOU COULDN'T HEAR ME. MY NAME'S ILYA." Her adorning set of lion's ears would flick in embarrassment as everyone in the tavern had turned to look.

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

I wonder if Corsair wants me to pick up some more corn on my way back...

"Sir?

Speaking of corn, we'll probably want to get like... a wok and some oil so we can pop it like she wants.

Excuse me sir?

That and salt, she fucking loves to make it super salty.

A loud jolt behind him caused him to turn and see what was going on, only to find a woman sitting-no, standing behind him. He blinked for a moment, taking in what had just happened before extending a hand in greeting and shaking her hand.

"Nice to meetcha Ilya, I'm Brutus, Brutus Dahlgren. Was I standing in your way? I can take a step back if you wanted to look over the jobs."

He shuffled to his left to give her a clear view of the boards and furrowed his brow. Alright, this is getting rediculous. Like I get it, we're in VR, I made myself almost seven feet tall, but really? This is like the fifth cute waifu avatar in a row. Where are all the dudes? The only other male player I've met is Guy, and he's just as rad as me. Where are the ugly bastards at?

 

[Ilya]

Brutus' personality was not what Ilya was expecting it to be, but she appreciated that fact. He had then taken hold of her hand and gave it a shake. "YOU'RE TALL AND BEING--" Ilya realized she might have been being a bit too loud, maybe she ought to tone it down a bit? Everyone was looking at her with annoyance and a strange look in their eyes. "Sorry..." Ilya looked around, her eyes lighting up as they landed on a stool nearby. She trudged over, grabbed hold of the stool almost too forcefully and planted it right smack dab in the front of Brutus.

Ilya climbed on top of it and faced him again, still... He towered over her, Welp... That barely helped me at all... "As I was saying, you're a lion like me. So we're friends now." She stuck up her thumb, still speaking louder than normal.

"The name's Ilya, pleasure to meet you. So anything catch your eye? I'm in the mood to turn some monsters into a puddle."p[\b] She smacked her fist to her hand, making a satisfying noise before squinting at the board. "What about htat one?"[ She pointed her finger towards one on the edge of the board for Brutus to read out to her.

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

He squinted as the woman suddenly hopped up to almost eye level. "Well then, I do suppose that does make a good jumping off point." He chuckled, a small grin dancing across his face. His eyes followed her gaze as he peered at a request.

"A plantera has been terrorizing people on the way to the Mudspring..." he mused aloud, extending his arm to grab the paper and rip it from the board with a quick tug. "Plant creatures eh? I don't think I've ever fought one, but I've got Pyromancy just for that..." he turned back to the woman. "You a particularly good fighter? I'm pretty new but I've cut my teeth on some pretty spooky lookin fuckers."

She had spunk, he'd give her that, but her small stature inspired a similar urge to protect her like Corsair. He'd never really felt this way about tiny people before, but perhaps that was the giant in him now. He was no longer short manlet Olivier Clisson, he was Mountain Giggachad Brutus Dahlgren.

 

[Ilya]

"Yeah! That one! I heard of something similar awhile back, but I never took it. I've actually always wanted to try to fight plant-like monsters. I'm tired of the repetitive bandits and wolves. It gets so boring. I need some adrenaline in my life." Ilya struck her hands to her hips, giving off a little puff of her chest. "I'm very talented at fighting. In fact, I might daresay it's the only thing i'm good at!" If anyone else had said it, it surely wouldn't have come off in such a positive way as when Ilya said it.

She felt pride in her combat skills, even if she hadn't invested any time in learning anything else, she still had something to show for all of the hard work she had put in. "So you've got fire, what else can you do? Figure we might as well get to know each other a bit and our fighting styles before we land ourselves in a life or death situation just because we're unable to work well together."

Ilya would wait a second, wanting Brutus to go first as she jumped off the stool. "A GREAT JUMPING OFF POINT IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF." She would then return the stool to where it had been before heading back to Brutus a wild grin plastered on her face, excited to actually fight something new. Everything she had been doing thus far, had gotten very repetitive, and that was something she was not fond of.

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Brutus walked with her, shortening his stride so she could keep up. "You're a talented fighter eh? I guess I could say so myself. I fight with a canon." He would draw his weapon, a huge pillar of iron from his inventory and casually lug it over one shoulder with one hand. "I shoot it at foes from a distance, and then when they get too close I clobber em with it." He grinned, remembering the satisfying CLUNK of Iron against his foes. "I'm also really good at tanking hits for teammates, I tend to be the front liner in my normal party configuration. Though I guess really I can be useful from just about anywhere."

They reached the edge of town and he quickly opened his palm menu, scanning over his various statuses and skills. "You got all of your bars topped off? Water, Food, Rest, etcetera etcetera? No telling how long this is going to take or what this thing is gonna put us through." He raised a worried eyebrow at @Ilya , for some reason he got the sneaking suspicion that she was the type of woman to forget about her bars.

 

[Ilya]

Ilya's mouth fell to the floor when she saw the beast made of metal, she reached out to touch it, standing on her tiptoes as they walked. "Woah.. I've never seen anyone fight like you to be honest. Consider me impressed!" The personality of her friend speaking volumes in the way that he fought.

"Oh... I... Er..... Aha...ha... I never check those..." Ilya then opened her palm menu to take a look. They seemed decent enough, "It seems decent enough, it's all above 80%." Ilya then clicked her inventory to check on her food and water supply. "I've also got one skin of water to really immerse myself in the fantasy aspects, and two sticks of bread.. Or uh... Baguettes!" She materialized one out of her inventory and began to swing it through the air as if it was a sword.

Her hands moved it too fast and too hard, it broke in two and half of it fell on the floor, "Oops...." She sheepishly picked it up and dusted it off, before placing both pieces back into her inventory.

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Brutus let out a small chuckle that erupted to boisterous laughter that boomed over the ambient bustle of the outskirts of town. This girl was a treat, the way she just approached everything with such ambient wonder and innocence. "Make sure to keep an eye on your bars when we go out on adventures, if they dip too low they can fuck with your stats and actively make you feel worse. Gotta be on our A game if we're going to be Heroes you know." He gave her a warm smile and banished his canon back to his inventory, no need to lug it physically around if he didn't have to.

"Bread and water should do for now, this forest if filled with apple trees so if we get hungry we can also forage them." He peered over to a signpost and lumbered over to it, peering at the text with squinted eyes. "So we need to go to theeee....mudsprings. So we need to go..." He took a moment and oriented himself. "That way," he pointed. "And follow the signage..."

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

"You take the lead, cause i'll be honest. I'm a child when it comes to finding out where to go. I get lost wayyy too easily." Ilya admitted her weakness to Brutus. It wasn't very common that she would just outright be so open with someone she had just met, but Ilya was more than happy to share things with this man. They were both, lions after all. It was the first lion-like person besides herself that she had met and it made her happy.

Despite the fact Brutus had slowed down his stride, Ilya found it difficult to keep up with the tall hunker of a man. Her feet pattering on the ground faster as she tried to take three steps in the time it took the man to take one. Their adventure seemed to be on its way as they made their way over to the mudsprings. "So how long have you been in Terrasphere for?" Ilya might as well start up conversation, get to know him a bit more, especially if they would be travelling together for a bit.

Ilya walked with her hands behind her back,, acting like she was carefree. She had to act like she wasn't struggling to enable her to boast, despite the fact that it was hard to keep up with him. Rock after rock, the two of them passed drawing closer and closer to their goal.

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"You get lost easily? How do you get around then? Hire guides to help you out?"

There wasn't a sense of judgement in his voice, but more an honest sense of curiosity. This woman seemed remarkably ditzy for a self proclaimed adventurer. Her struggle to keep up concerned him, so he found his stride shortening more and his pace slowing from brisk stride to slow saunter. Last thing he needed to do was tire her out before they got to the fight.

"I've been playing for about..." he furrowed his brow as he mentally counted the days. "About a week or so? The days tend to blur together when you're having fun so I'm not quite sure." He'd taken point, keeping an eye out for various trail markers. Every turn they needed to take would be marked symbol that looked like a steaming tub on a wooden post. He made sure to keep his eyes peeled, one wrong turn and they could end up horribly lost. "And you? How long have you been playing Terasphere?"

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

"Unfortunately so... I mean I eventually get to my location but sometimes it takes me awhile! I'm never really in any rush anyway though. So it all works out."

Letting Brutus take the lead lifted a lot of weight off of Ilya's shoulders. Though she tensed up when he returned the same question she had asked. "A week, you seem to know a lot for only playing a week. I feel like it took me months to get a grasp on this game haha," Ilya looked ahead, a hazy look in her eyes, "I've been playing for a very long time, too long..." She shook her head, "I was one of the players that played before the game was shut down for four years. Back when everything was new, even before we knew that you could actually die in the real world."

The days that had followed the discovery had been filled with panic, though it hadn't stopped the young girl from still itching to play with every passing day. "So what's your favorite thing about Terrasphere so far?" Ilya wanted to get to know him more, but knew that she had to give her own reasonings as well she answered her own question first. "I like the diversity, and the fact that you can befriend all kinds of people here. Sort of just have fun and do whatever you want with next to no limitations. I daresay i'm not as carefree in the real world."

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Brutus' eyes widened a bit as the woman's cheery demeanor gave way to a Vietnam flashback. Her words seemed...haunted, and a declaration of hers shocked him. "I thought that was a rumor..." his brow furrowed. "You can actually die in real life if you die in this game?" That was...concerning, and for some reason the image of Corsair flashed through his mind.

He would have to be extra careful.

She quickly pivoted from the conversation, which to some degree he was happy about, something to distract him from the nagging thought that if he died in here he might actually be in mortal peril. "My favorite thing?" He rubbed his chin as he pondered this for a bit. "Well I guess it would have to be the people. The NPCs are incredibly immersive, it makes helping them out feel less like a chore and more like being a hero. I've made a lot of good friends here too, and adventuring with them makes the days go by in the blink of an eye. Whether Im just hunting down a rabbit or a blood mage, it never fails to be an exciting adventure."

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

"Oh.. Ummm, well. If you die three times in the game you get what's called a UI lock. It means you can't log out... If you die again, well... You're dead... For good." Ilya got chills down her spine as she thought about it. "I was lucky enough to not have a single death, though my best friend Zelrius... He took two, and Sean...." Ilya trailed off, letting Brutus fill in the dots. "WELL! Enough about the sad talk!" Ilya clapped her hands together, "We're on a mission, aren't we?" Ilya's face lit up again, as she nudged Brutus with her elbow.

Thinking on the NPCs, they actually didn't feel like NPCs in other games. They didn't seem to have a preset dialogue. Essentially, you could probably even fall in love with them if you wanted to. "Being a hero... I used to want to be a hero more than anything. Now I just wanna become the strongest so I can protect those I care about. Though that still kinda makes me a hero-type, doesn't it?" Ilya chuckled at her own contradictory personality. "Then who's your bestest friend, tell me about them! How'd you guys meet? What's the best memory you have with them?" Ilya wanted to know more, and she was hungry to read more into this guys' mind as the two of them grew incredibly close to their destination.

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Her name is Corsair, she and I are partners. We even came up with a little team name. Together we are GunDame, cause I have a huge gun and she's quite the Dame." He smirked. "She's a uh...Magia is what I think they're called? And she's pretty freakin smart, she makes cool little magiteck drones and fills them with spirits and uses them to fight and heal and stuff. I met her my very first day playing, and it feels like I've spent ninety percent of my time in game with her at my side." A goofy grin spread across his lips as he spoke, remembering some of their fun conversations and adventures together. "We even have this cool little shack out in the woods together that we got for clearing out some goblins. We're in the process of turning it into a base."

"When we fight together, I take the front and make sure she doesn't get hurt and she helps me from my shadow. Keeps me healed and throws in support whenever she can. We've taken on a hell of a lot of creatures together, so Im beginning to get a lil cocky."

As he finished his speech, he found himself standing before a large arch that proudly declared itself to be the entrance to the Mudspring. "The most relaxing place in all of Brishal"

"It would appear we're here... Keep your guard up."

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

Hearing Brutus talk about his friend Corsair made IIya happy. Not only due to the fact that he had someone on day one when she had no one, but also due to the fact that it would give him and his friend a reason to keep each other safe. To stop others from becoming UI locked like the unfortunate souls that already were.

"She sounds like a lovely person, you'll have to introduce me sometime!" Ilya had been caught up in listening to him that she hadn't realized that they had arrived. "Oh, well... I have yet to be here, so here's to exploring and demolishing some nasty plantera." Ilya held up an imaginary glass, waiting for Brutus to clink his with hers before continuing, "Where do you recon we start first?"

It was very obvious that there were monsters already showing up, Ilya had caught sight of a few plant-species farther up past the gate. Whether or not they were the ones they were looking for, Ilya didn't care. They still looked threatening, "What say you, o' tall bear. Shall we take care of those ones first?"

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Brutus clinked imaginary glasses with the woman and drew his canon, carrying it at the ready. "Lets let them come at us first, right here's defensible enough. Theyll bottle neck down that path and we'll light em up."

The first of the strange plant creatures began to slither towards them rappidly. It looked like a flower with a gaping mouth surrounded by brightly colored petals. It gnashed its teeth agitatedly, acudic saliva drooling down its petals.

"Wait for it..." Brutus calmly commanded. "Waut for it...." The creature got within thirty feet and the giant sprang to action. "Cover your ears."

BOOM

His canon cracked thunder and spit hellfire, nailing the creature in the mouth and sendint it flying backwards, tossing and tumbling up the path. Hastily, Brutus stuffed another canonball into his gun, readying it for another shot. Three more strange plant creatures writhed onto the path screeching and drooling corossive spittle. He let off another shot, nailing the closest one and sending it backwards, but the charge kept coming, wirse yet his first target picked itself off the dirt and spat out his canonball.

This was going to be interesting.

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

Ilya nodded, letting Brutus take the lead, this time around she would use her head a bit more than her fists. It was about time she actually thought things through. Plants slithering towards the two as they took notice of them. The fact that Ilya and Brutus were foreign being the main drive towards their attack or defense. Upon being told to cover her ears, Ilya flattened the set of lion's ears that adorned her head. Her hands wrapping around them and digging them into her head so she wouldn't be able to hear as much.

Despite covering them as best as she could, the loud muffled BOOM still sent ringing in her ears. She watched with wide eyes as his attack sent one of them flying backwards, only to be replaced by three more. Without giving her warning he sent out another shot, this time it was louder but Ilya's blood was boiling. Adrenaline coursing through her body as she prepared herself. The canon being more like background noise, still causing her to close one eyes and flinch slightly.

Once Ilya regained her composure she would grin sideways at Brutus, the plans coming even faster as they were pissed off. "My turn now~" Ilya smacked her fists together, magic energy coursing through her body. Her eyes began to glow in a strange orange-yellow hue. Her eyes locking on the plants. Her fists clenching into fists as the magical energy coursing through her body glided down to her fists. Causing a "materialization" of a larger hand surrounding her own, her aura grew, the pressure of it filling the area that her and Brutus were standing in.

Her gaze focusing on the one closest to her, she took a few steps forward, her fist drawn back as she flung herself forward. Once she was close enough she slammed her fist forward. The aura surrounding her fist making connection first, her real hand quick to follow. The plant she had attacked, bursting into pieces before she nimbly dashed back to Brutus' side, as soon as she was wide enough her words shouting out. "Get em' Brutus!"

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"On it!"

When she dashed back he simply grinned and took a step forward, placing himself between her and the oncoming attackers. She'd dusted one of four, leaving three left. Two were closing in fast, the last was still picking his ass of the ground reeling from his shot. They continued to dash forward, and Brutus readied another shot.

BOOM

He nailed the one closest to him, sending it reeling back. The other lashed out at him, verdant vines of briars and barbs scraping across his armored jacket looking for purchase across his vitals. He aimed his canon at the creature without reloading with a grimace and shot forward a gout of flame like some sort of...monumentally sized flamethower. The creature screamed in agony as he scorched it into charcoal.

The Giant had little time to celebrate, as the two remaining were joined by reinforcements. Another plant rose from the ground beneath his feet, fibrous tendrils winding their way up his body as they snaked together to try and restrain him. "Fuck!" he howled, struggling against his binds. "A little help Ilya?"

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

Flames as vibrant as a sunset flooded Ilya's vision as instead of a ball, of whatever cannonballs were made out of, a reeling amount of hungry flames exited the mouth of the cannon. Ilya offered a small compliment towards his idea of turning his raring cannon into a flamethrower before returning her attention back towards the plants.

Reinforcements, just what Ilya expected but didn't want. Ilya was too slow as one plant wrapped around Brutus, limiting his movements. If she had been quicker she would have been able to stop it from happening in the first place. Letting out a few curses, she quickly dropped to the ground, resting her weight on her ankles as she reached for the biggest amount of plant life that was currently seeping across Brutus' body. She dug her fingers in between Brutus' legs and the plant, peeling it away from his body. The plant fighting against her strength. It took a moment, but Ilya finally managed to peel the plant away from Brutus.

With the plant slithering and trying to now, wrap around Ilya... She moved close to the root of the plant, yanking it she pulled, standing to her feet. She turned around, her back to Brutus as she ran forward with the plant in hand. A loud POP sounded as the roots were yoinked out of the ground. This didn't stop the plant as it began to attack Ilya more furiously.

Ilya fell to the ground and began to wrestle with the plant until her strength began to overwhelm the plant. Finally after what felt like hours, Ilya managed to brutally rip the plant apart. Panting she turned back to Brutus, "Piece. Of. Cake." Letting in breath after breath as she took a second to regain her composure.