Private Story Quest Isulus Wipe the Slate

[Cidney Cometfall]

For the first time in just about ever, Cidney had gone and taken a job in Terrasphere that reflected her own work out of the game. She had no shame in that-experience was something to apply where one could apply it for the better. The setup had looked... frankly, it looked as daunting as any other disaster relief overview. The flooding was always the worst part.

However, this was a game-she remembered that, and how people had masteries. There was no need to pick up a whole crew, and Cidney knew herself capable to find the right people for this job.

@Luthien , the only person she recognized here, was brought over for her Hydromancy in assistance to clear the murk that remained where artifice once stood. It was the greatest Godsend she had ever seen in her career.

@Jester , an able girl with her head in the clouds, was swiftly recruited to stick her head as high as it could go to make sure the remaining structures were stable enough to leave alone. She had no idea how people had missed the opportunity to recruit this girl.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot was damn well one of the hardest workers she'd seen, so long as Cidney got her to focus on doing it in a uniform manner. She could see that quality in the girl's eyes alone, and that she was a tireless machine only helped the notion. Ronja seemed a bit too creative a girl to have a stable job making boring support structures for all of her life, but thankfully Cidney had gotten a hold of her for today.

She'd laid out the salary and work in advance, making sure that none of these jobs would come with nasty surprises. Trust was key in this scenario, and she did her damn best to make sure they knew she was an open book. When not overseeing the work, Cidney was with Ronja doing the manual laboring against the harsh beat of the humid sun. Hopefully, when the other two got to a good state of progress, they would have another company of two to keep the progress nice and smooth.

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja wasn't there at all for the whole expedition, but she did see posters asking for reinforcements and assistance from the camps that were attacked during it. For a moment, it was conflicting for the girl, who still had some businesses to attend in the beginner area. Her level and abilities were increasing rapidly thanks to her condition outside of the game, which made her give much more preference to this virtual world more than anything else, but her general knowledge was still scarce, being incongruous with the set of abilities she had.

Thankfully, however, she soon found a quest perfect for her, one that was made by a player even!

"Ronja is Ronja Bubblyfoot!" She beamed at the three when she finally met the group at the camp, introducing herself cheerfully while her eyes clicked and traced every single one of them, clicking other two times like a camera. "She is very glad to meet you all." Ronja said, before they had to focus on their work.

The task was honestly simple, and Ronja used all of her Magia strength and her automaton companions to do the heavy work, carrying things that towered her size while she cast a glance at Cidney.

"Do you think we can change the aesthetic of the camp? It honestly looks pretty ugly for Ronja. She knows it is functional, but..." She pouted a bit, the whole place already smelled terrible because of the fungi, at least it could look cute.

@Cidney Cometfall @Jester @Luthien

 

[Luthien]

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Considering the lengthy travel Lúthien had taken to reach Camp Nisus perhaps it was no surprise she was still around a few days later from her arrival. The jade jaguar hunt had been interesting and still ongoing, but afterwards the blonde had taken a day to rest and recuperate. It didn't help that this land was so warm and humid, something that the elf had quickly come to dislike greatly.

She had been chilling by the campfire when a familiar face had approached her, the white haired Magia being someone Lúthien hadn't seen for a while now but didn't mind stumbling to. When Cidney had pitched the need for someone to help clear the flooding from inside the mushroom house the blonde had readily agreed, aware that her Hydromancy would probably make the task simpler and smoother than going through conventional methods of cleaning.

Two others had been recruited into the crew as well, and Cidney had even laid out a perfectly detailed plan on how to go about today's job in the most efficient manner possible.

"Hey! Name's Lúthien~"

Her introduction had been short, sweet and straight to the point. She was amused by the other Magia, unused to hear anyone speak in third person about themselves, before that thought was quickly placed into a drawer for the time being as the blonde went off to work. After all there was a ton of water, and moisture, still left to dump out from the mushroom house... and it wasn't going to get done if the elf didn't get a move on.

"... who had the bright idea of turning a mushroom into a house in the first place?!"

It took longer than Lúthien had imagined to get all the visible water out of the places... though she was well aware of the amount of moisture still clinging to objects and the fleshy walls of the slowly rotting home. The elf couldn't help but grumble loudly, her previously delighted mood slowly deteriorating the more energy Lúthien consumed as she used her Hydromancy continuously.

Honestly the elf as pretty sure she'd never performed magic for such an extended period until today... and already Lúthien could feel the beginnings of a headache threatening to take over as another glob of water was extracted from one of the rotting outer walls of the building.

@Cidney Cometfall @Jester @Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Jester]

It was embarrassing to the average mortal entity with emotions to have one's assistance declined as many times as Jester had in such a short amount of time, but then--THEN--someone finally put her to work, and what a job it was, too!

"Keep an eye from the sky? I'm the best Crow's Nest or my name isn't Jester!" With a salute and a pretty rule-bending slew of rhymes, she made to commit to her expertise. The trick wasn't finding the highest area possible, but finding the highest area climbable. In a place so dilapidated, that was pretty much everywhere, thankfully. The magician with no magic began to climb slowly but surely up to the top of what was probably once some sort of major watchtower. If the usual raised platforms were one layer, then this structure had three, and each was at least twice as tall.

She leapt her way up and waved down to Cidney with both arms enthusiastically.

@Cidney Cometfall @Luthien @Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Cidney Cometfall]

Perhaps it was due to the slight giggles that escaped Jester, but a response was given in the form of a thumbs up towards her spot in the tower. Cidney didn't even look up to see her to respond. The project manager was focused on keeping up the work with Ronja at the front.

"Functional is good," She responds to @Ronja Bubblyfoot , "It keeps the people here safe. They're probably feeling out of wits after a disaster, so making sure that they feel secure is our top priority."

This doesn't mean, as she further explains, that the construction couldn't look more lively after they were done with it. By all means, she encouraged creativity-after the framework was built in place, that is. The woman was as strict about this as she would any other project that she managed. And it almost was like her job in real life, save for the occasional popup that informed her of progress on the building. Cidney was thankful for these messages to keep herself and the workers on-track in this unfamiliar world.

The walls were built, followed by more safety gates. There came a point where Cidney herself took to digging out a round pit around the camp as others did more easy work.

@Jester @Luthien

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja nodded at Cidney's words. As artistic and inventive Ronja could be, she wasn't really skilled in the art of construction. Trying to work as an engineer, she would probably make a whole building structure drop down. Trying to work as an architect, every space wouldn't be well planned, having zero efficiency.

The only thing she would manage is some interior design, maybe.

"Well, you tell the word and Ronja will do!" She said, and while she followed @Cidney Cometfall along, managing to do the more... heavy work. She continuously tried to keep everyone updated, allowing her companions to worry about thinking, rather than worrying about keeping in sync.

"@Luthien! We are almost done with the structures in this area. Can we expand to your area?" Ronja asked via voice message, using her UI Menu.

For @Jester, it was a bit trickier, so she sent her automoton instead. As the robot approached the girl, soon releasing a robotic voice that resembled Ronja's: "Jester! Ronja here. Is everything going well? Do you need any assistance?" The robot asked.

 

[Luthien]

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One of their members quickly squirrelled up what had once probably been a watchtower, a small whistle of appreciation given at the speed Jester possessed as she quickly reached the top. "She's super energetic~" The energy of the fellow elf was contagious even, causing Lúthien to smile in response despite her current irritation with the mushroom house.

"Wha—oh right, comms...!"

The sudden voice that popped into her head had caused the ranger to visibly startled, looking around for a moment before finally realizing that it had come from the colorful Magia that was currently working alongside Cydney.

< "Uuuh yeah, knock yourself out...?" >

Her gaze turned to look back at the walls of the mushroom house, a hand pressing against the surface to find it was no longer absolutely soaking... but there was still some humidity left in it. "Maybe a nice breeze could help..." It was a stretch, but honestly the elf was more than happy to give it a try regardless—after all the humidity that continued to cling to her skin was disgusting.

With that the elf closed her eyes and focused, slowly tapping into the magical energies around the world before she coaxed a soft breeze to waft through the camp in slow waves.

Aaah, that feels sooo much better...!

@Cidney Cometfall @Ronja Bubblyfoot @Jester

 

[Jester]

Jester gave the automaton belonging to @Ronja Bubblyfoot an energetic salute before she turned back to looking over the area. Her previous line of work left her with some valuable eagle eyes, and she was happy to be using them for something a lot more wholesome and constructive than before. In this case literally, which got a giggle out of her. "It seems there's some unstable ground at two o'clock from me, but if you let the mud resettle you could build on it safely!"

"As well, there's eight and nine o'clock; Those risers need a test, plus I'm not the only crow who thought it safe to place a nest!" She pointed as exactly as she could at a nest where several red and brown feathered birds were building up a nest, way up high atop an unstable pillar of wood.

@Luthien @Cidney Cometfall

 

[Cidney Cometfall]

"Mud, you say?" The voice of Cidney calls out. She was there at the scene before anyone else, an arm out to stop anyone from coming. "Hey, don't worry about it! Keep up on your jobs for now, you three. Mud's dangerous-I'll take care of it for you guys!"

Her voice was firm and left little room for rebuttal. This was these people's first construction jobs, and she would not be giving these people the memory of working in complex environments for their troubles. Thus, she took it upon herself to minimize the risk at the nine o'clock square. At most, she asked for @Luthien 's help to get the water out of the ground, as she didn't have the modern wonders of Sodium Hydroxide on her to lessen the slurry.

After making sure that all of the problem would stay in one pile of slurry, Cidney got to work building straw palettes over the dangerous spots that had cropped up muddy issues before. Thankfully, the MIT had straw to spare for this project. Cidney would make sure that whatever ground the four would be working on from now on would be stable ground.

@Jester @Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja continued to spread the information between the three of them, and upon watching Cidney and Luthien's work, she couldn't help but beam about it. "This way the work will get done in no time. Ronja is honestly still a bit at loss of what to help though, so far she has only been putting her golems to work." She crossed her arms, watching her magitech golems going around and doing all the job, with her only really managing things with Cidney's supervision.

With the, now much safer, terrain ready, Ronja could once again order her robots around, and get her hands on the heavy work as well, hoping to start a new building as quickly as possible.

At the same time, her eyes clicked, registering with photos and recordings every moment of their jobs for a potential report for later, something she would need to figure out how to export using some magitech as well.

@Cidney Cometfall @Jester @Luthien

 

[Luthien]

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She hadn't even noticed the muddy section until the fellow elf had pointed it out, just in time too for Lúthien to avoid stepping into the gooey soil. "Oh...! Thanks for the heads up, Jester!!!" The blonde was sure to shoot a thumbs up and a grin back at their little 'crow', before turning to look at Cidney as the Magia spoke.

"W-Wait, I can probably help with that, too!"

Honestly speaking a part of the ranger wasn't sure if she'd been the cause of the mud in the first place, after all she'd been focusing on drawing as much moisture as possible out of the shroom house... but not where said moisture was being dumped into afterwards. Thankfully it looked like Cometfall didn't have an issue with her assistance, so long as the elf stayed at a distance that the Magia considered safe Lúthien was allowed to draw out as much moisture as possible from the soil before Cidney got to work.

"Hey you're doing plenty with that, Ronja~ After all it saves all of us from having to do the heavy lifting instead."

She wasn't sure about the others, but the ranger knew that she at least did not want to be hauling heavy shit around the camp... especially with the weather that plagued Isulus.

@Jester | @Cidney Cometfall | @Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Jester]

It seems her addition to the small team had paid off a lot more than she had imagined it would, and her grin only widened with pride as she continued to sight and cite the area until she was certain it was clear. Safe, even.

For a moment, she imagined the future. Or would it be the past? The past and future at the same time, since Jester was all but a split in her own timeline.

Spoiler: Honestly some sentimental stuff you guys won't care about

She watched over children playing on the blacktop at school. Recess was obviously most student's favorite period, but there was still just so much danger to watch out for. One of them could be running and slide on the gravel from the playground; what was it doing on the sidewalk? She would sweep it aside every single morning now that she thought about it this one time.

A girl comes by crying, saying another student pulled her hair. Back when she was in school, she'd had too many teachers perhaps too at the ready to hand out discipline. There was one that stood out to her, though. The one who inspired her to become a teacher when she grew up in the first place. Jester pulled both of the students aside and talked to them both. Not about the hair-pulling, but about each other and what things they might have in common, because there was little better to do for the ones you see as your enemies than make them your friends instead.

The bell rang, and everybody... well, they didn't exactly clamor to get back to mathematics or anything.

Jester snapped out of her trance with a few rapid blinks and watched as each of the others continued without a hitch. The elf smiled fondly now, keeping a closer eye on everyone than before.

They would be done before she knew it.

@Cidney Cometfall @Luthien @Ronja Bubblyfoot (I am SO sorry. I don't get pings half the time so please harass me on Discord lol)

 

[Cidney Cometfall]

A long, grueling day sat ahead of the plucky team of four. Breaks could be had, irritations could be made clear but none of it would reduce the work that they had to finish by day's end. It was a job, one that people playing a game wouldn't normally expect themselves to get themselves into while playing.

All the same, Cometfall made sure that this was a job-one that was as organized and secure as any other that she oversaw. It was hard, yes, but it was steady and smooth. Cidney made sure at all times that her workers knew how much their efforts meant for the sake of this job.

This was how the day ended--tiring as hell, but with a smile on her face-and she only hoped that it was one that was shared around the group.

"I hope you didn't forget about those drinks I said we'd be getting a few hours ago. I'm not letting you out of this if you don't have a good excuse!" In effort to ensure that those smiles would be shared, Cometfall organized an outing near the edge of camp. Four girls around a campfire, with each-other and a few bottles to keep them company as they celebrated the hard work they put in.

After all, if she couldn't even taste the alcohol in this world, she sure as hell wouldn't be drinking alone.

---

@Jester @Luthien @Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

With a good day of work being gone, Ronja stretched and grinned at @Luthien . "Ronja may look small, but these metal muscles are really good for carrying." She flexed her non-existent muscles, then turning to pat one of the automatons that were helping her out. "These guys too. Next time she will try to get even more of them ready to work!" Ronja grinned, satisfied with the results of their job.

Her eyes then shifted to @Cidney Cometfall, considering her offer and then nodding. "Ronja would be willing to try some of those out. She isn't much of a drinker, but she could certainly go for it." She smirked, then turning to wave eagerly at the other girl.

"Hey! @Jester! Let's go because food and drinks are on Cidney's today!" Ronja giggled, excited to get around the campfire that was ready, and being eager to taste everything it had to offer.

 

[Luthien]

She was exhausted by the time the end of the day arrived, the blonde having used more energy than hse was usually accustomed too while in game. She still had enough left to ensure she'd be able to play a couple of hours more, after all Cidney had invited them all for drinks once their work was done... and Lúthien wasn't about to miss out on a good time, especially after all the hard work all the girls had done.

"Wouldn't dream of missing out on that, Cid!"

~ ~​

A bottle was raised to her lips, the blonde taking a few sips of the cool contents within before she let out a satisfied sigh. She sat by the campfire, her gaze turning to look at the white haired magia before the elf tilted the bottle in her direction. "Thanks for getting these~ They really hit well after a long day of work, huh?" Her gaze turned over towards Jester and Ronja, also tilting her bottle in their direction as the quartet enjoyed their time by the campfire.

A paper bag rested by the girl's side, filled inside with various chocolate chip cookies. Her own little contribution to the gathering...

@Jester | @Cidney Cometfall | @Ronja Bubblyfoot