Xaltwind

Aether Saga: A Hero's Unlikely Journey (The Irish Tree and Xaltwind)

Mammonie the Protagonist

Appearance:

Height: 161cm / 5'3"
Hair Color: Gold
Eye Color: Lustrous Gold

Bust: 95cm (38")
Waist: 59cm (23")
Hips: 92cm (36")
Three Sizes: B93538)-W59(23)-H92(36)

Current Name: Mammonie

Former Name: Camilla Sherwood

Source: Mega-Online Fantasy Universe (MOFU); future MMORPG from our reality

Age: 18~20(?)

Gender: Female

Species: Avarice Demon - A type of demon that is particularly fond of, good at and inclinde to locate and gather treasure, and gain strength and power the more wealth they accumulate.

Class: Magi-Gunner

Personality:
Cool, calm and collected, with a charming smile and half-closed eyes most of the time, Mammonie gives off an air of a mature, composed and competent woman. She has a friendly disposition and is both open-minded and tolerant towards others, most of the time. Unless someone's world-or-personal views collide and clash drastically with her own, at which point she can become stand off-ish and curt with them. Most often though, she's friendly and easy-going, with a carefree vibe surrounding her. She's also good-natured and likes to giggle when amused, which isn'often, since she's easily amused.

This being said, Mammonie's the type to wear her heart on her sleeve and say what's on her mind, regardless of what others may think or feel. If something annoys her, she'll point it out. If someone's doing something that's silly or dumb in her eyes, she'll say so. If someone is the ugliest bastard she ever did see, she'll let them know. There's no inherent malice or desire to pick fights and/or antagonize others, she's just the type to blurt things out without considering that what she's saying may cause friction or have unpleasant consequences.

She can also be stubborn and single-minded at times, fixating on something and forgetting everything around her. She can also be a bit naive and gullible, taking people at their word and not stopping to think about whether someone has ulterior or dishonest motives or intentionst. Naturally, when she figures out or realizes that she's been taken advantage of, she becomes what we call 'mundo-scary', and the culprit will feel her wrath.

Mammonie greatly disapproves of bullying, discrimination, intolerance, prejudice, chauvinism, abuse and other vile and unpleasant behavior. She has a particular disdain for drunks, those who take advantage of or exploit others, needlessly violent individuals and those who think its better to do nothing rather than risk their own skin. Those that try to enforce their beliefs or way of thinking onto others are also a source of irritation for her.

She does like people who're genuine, kind and friendly though, and even more-so those who're willing to help others. Mammonie herself is most the time willing to lend a helping hand, but only if she's asked first. She'd never actually help someone unless they specifically asked for it, since she doesn't like to meddle in others' business without permission.

At times she can be a bit silly, or even downright ditzy. She doesn't have much in the way of tact or social sensitivity and generally seems unabashed and unconcerned with others opinion of her. That being said, there are instances where even she finds herself flustered and embarrassed, especially if she does something wrong and is then informed about it. She also seems to have a soft-spot for cute things, and can sometimes be heard squeeing girlishly when she sees such things... Which causes her cheeks to flush afterwards when she realizes what she's done.

She can be a bit of a diva at times though, and is very concerned and meticulous about her appearance. She may not care what others think of her, but it's very important to Mammonie herself that she always 'looks good'. Because of this, she can be a bit vain at times, and honest-to-goodness narcissistic too. She's also a bit of a miser and money-grubber, and loves acquiring money and valuables - which was a big reason why she chose her avatar's species.

Her likes include; Cute things, stylish and pretty clothes, mirrors, kind people, lavender, sunflowers, earl grey tea, capuccino, milk, shrimp, mayonaise, eggs, chicken curry, mozzarella, garlic baguettes, gemstones, gold, silver, jewelry lemon soda, cider, sparkly water and her own avatar.

her dislikes include; Asparigus, avocado, liver and onions, celery, most forms of alcohol, black coffee, diet soda, oatmeal, narrowmindedness, prejudice, discrimnation, sexism, abusive people, bullying, hypcrites, spineless and selfish people, exploitation, unrequested meddling, drunks, drug-addicts, spiders, moths, lizards, fake jewelry and gems, looking disheveled and overly noisy people.

Background:
Mammonie's early life wasn't particularly happy or blessed. Her father was a dead-beat drunk who spent more time at bars or park benches, drinking with other low-lives, than he did with his own family. Her mother was a hysteric drug-addict, always either addled-out-of-her-mind or looking for her next fix. Eventually, the young girl grew tired of this lifestyle and attempted to run away from home, but was rather quickly found and brought back to her squalor. Well, at least until her grandparents got fed up and came by, picked the girl up and took her with them back to their own home - having grown fed up with the poor child calling them in the middle of the night, crying.

Her life with her parents-parents was far better in every way. And thanks to her elders patience, love and support, she grew up to be a reasonable and proper young lady. Though, due to their limited finances and economy, Mammonie developed a bit of an obsession with money, not wanting to spend overly much. She also elarned that sometimes, wanting to help someone who doesn't ask for it may in fact back-fire, as her grandfather was a very proud man and could get quite upset when the young tyke tried to do things for him when he hadn't asked. Of course they also made up afterwards, but it wa a lesson she learned nontheless.

Once she became a young adult though, she felt it was wrong to impose on her elderly caretakers - even if they said that they didn't mind. As such, she got a job, saved up money and eventually moved out. Starting her own life and being self-sufficient. She made some friends, both in and outside of her work and began to live what you would call a 'normal everyday life'. On one of her days off, she was contacted by a co-worker, who introduced ehr to the online-sensation; Mega-Online Fantasy Universe! Not having bhad much experience with games in her youth, Mammonie was at first a bit skeptical, but decided to not knock somehting before she'd at least tried it.

And after trying it, she became quite pleasantly surprised. She adored the graphics and customizable characters, and had fun running around a digital world, doing silly and fun things that were otherwise humanly impossible. She spent the next six months being a regular player - not quite and addict or hardcore fan - but enough to get to the end-content and take part in most events.

... But then one day, she suddenly got sucked into her monitor while playing as normal... And ended up in a frigid, foreign and unfamiliar frozen landscape... Stuck in the body of one of her own main avatars... And she was quite bewildered.

Level: 100

Status:
HP: 57/100
MP: 83/100
Strength: 46/100
Agility: 79/100
Vitality: 51/100
Intelligence: 84/100
Wisdom: 36/100
Charisma: 79/100

Skills:

• Tailoring: The ability to turn various fabrics into clothes and accessories. Had this skill maxed out back in MOFU.
• Enchanting: The ability to imbue or strip magical effects from various items. Had this skill at four-fifths of the max back in MOFU.
• Cooking: The ability to turn ingredients into tasty meals with beneficial effects. Had about average skill for this in her own reality, and had this skill at about half-way to max in MOFU.
• First Aid: The ability to properly treat injuries and ailments in the most basic, but correct, way. Had education on this in the real world, and in MOFU this skill was half-way to max.
• Riding: The ability to properly mount, direct and stay upright on any animal meant for personal transport. Had this skill at max back in MOFU.
• Driving: The ability and knowledge to properly operate a vehicle. Had a legit license in her own reality, as well as owned her own car. Had a license for operating motorcycles as wlel, but did not own such a vehicle.

Powers:

• Fortune's Favorite: This passive grants a boost to all money and valuable acquired, either by killing enemies, from quest-rewards or by finding treasure chests in the wild. In MOFU this passive also allowed the holder to detect randomly generated tresure chests on their mini-map within a certain distance - regardless of if there were obstructions in the way or if they were on a differeny Y-level.
• Dark Resist: As a demon, this individual has naturally high resistance to the Dark-element, and any sub-elements derived from it. This isn't an outright immunity, just a very high tolerance.
• Electro Absorb: This individual has a natural ability to absorb any and all Electric-elemental damage they take, converting it into HP. This ability works regardless if the damage is physical or magical, so long as it's of the electric-type.
• Eye of Quality: This individual has the ability to see and identify the truth behind any item they touch. They can see an item's properties, special features, stats and level of craftmanship, all without the need for using identification-magic or appraisal-skills, as this ability of theirs is active all the time. This skill allows them to also properly discern any item's true value and whether something is genuine, a replica or an outright counterfeit.
• Dual Wielding: This skill allows the individual to make use of a single-handed weapon in each hand, at the same time, without suffering any penalties to accuracy, damage or attack-speed. Note that the person still needs the appropriate weapon-skill for the weapon(s) wielded.
• Gun-Play: This passive allows the user to equip and effectively use any firearms and ranged weapons under the cclassified as a 'gun' - regardless if they be a pistol, rifle or hand-held cannon. Higher skill-level in this passive increases accuracy and critical-chance.
• Swarm Shot: The user fires their weapon in such quick succession that their projecitles become similar to that of swarming insects, tightly packed and almost impossible to avoid. The skill targets a specific direction and has a width of about 10 ft. The prjectiles travel until they hit something solid, or fizzle out due to exceeding the weapon's max range.
• Point-Blank Burst: When an enemy gets too close, the gunner can use this skilll. It rapdily charges energy in their weapon and unleashes it in a thick and powerful short-ranged beam infront of themself. This attack has enough power to actually push the gunner backwards, allowing them to put distance between themself and their assailant, as the beam also greatly slows the movement of anyone caught in it. This skill has a 30 second cooldown.
• Five-Star Trick-shot: This skill allows the gunner to fire their weapon and bounce the projectile against surfaces - or enemies - before ending in a small explosion of magic energy. The projectile can bounce up to four times, exploding on the fifth impact. This skill allows the gunner to shoot enemies even behind cover, or to bounce an attack between multiple foes, similar to something like chain lightning.
• Mortar Meteor: The gunner charges their weapon with magic energy, creating a sphere the size of a fully-grown pumpkin infront of the muzzle of their weapon. They tend fire this ball of energy in an arcing upwards fashion, causing it come crashing down in a desired area. Upon impact, it explodes like a massive cluster-bomb, causing explosions of magic damage in a 15 ft radius around the impact area. Because of its arcing trajectory, this skill can shoot over or onto walls, over cover and even into areas that a straight shot couldn't hit.
• Aim: Legs: The gunner specifically targets an opponent's leg. The attack inflicts a debuff to the victim's movement-speed, as well as dealing regular weapon-damage.
• Aim: Arms: Same as above, but the gunner target an opponent's arms instead. This skill inflicts a debuff to the victim's attack-speed and accuracy, along with dealing regular weapon-damage.
• Aim: Back: This skill can only be used on an enemy which the gunner can see the target's back. Upon impact, the target is Knocked Down for a time, and takes regular weapon-damage.
• Aim: Head: This skill makes the gunner target an opponent's head specifically. It deals considerable extra damage, has a high critical-chance modifier and leaves the victim momentarily Stunned if they survive the attack. This skill has a 60 second cooldown.
• Twin Target: The gunner can use this skill to target two different individuals at the same time, provided they're dual wielding. However, this skill only allows for the use of standard attacks. If the gunner tries to use a skill, they'll automatically target the first opponent and stop attacking the second. Naturally, the gunner must have line of sight to both enemies in order to attack them.
• Plasma Blast: The gunner charges a large amount of enery infront of their weapon and then unleashes a large, concentrated sphere of swirling energy. This orb is roughly the same size as a medicine ball. It moves at a slow, sub-sonic speed and can be avoided - but any foes hit by it as it travels take heavy damage and are set on fire for a time. The further the projectile travels, the samller it gets though - eventually fading into nothing.
• Splitshot: The gunner fires a projectile that splits into multiple identical bullets. This creates a fan-like wave of projectiles that sweep forth from the user. The gunner can select the spread of the shot by targeting far away from themself (tighter spread), or close to themself (wider spread).
• Vulcan Fire: This skill throws accuracy and critical-chance out the window. Instead, the gunner will stand still in one place and unload and unedning barrage of magic bullets in the same vein of a gatling gun. This skill puts down a veritable curtain of cover-fire in a desired direction, but the gunner cannot move. They can adjust where they're firing, but if they move the skill is cancelled. This is a channeled skill and can be maintained so long as the gunner has MP.
• Mode Two: The gunner can, in emergencies, turn their firearms into melee-weapons. This is done by creating an energy-blade - the same length as a typical long sword - from the barrel. This way, the gunner can fight in close-quarters should they need to. Note, this is a channeled skill that constanly drains MP, and the gunner cannot use any of their gun-skills as long as the weapon(s) is in blade-mode.
• Power Charge: The gunner maximizes the output of her weapon(s). This slows her rate of fire by 50%, but increases the damage-output of her regular attacks and skill-based attacks by 1.5x, for as long as she maintains this skill. This is a channeled skill, but it ddoesn't cost MP to maintain since it has a demerit. This skill does cause the durability of any equipped weapon(s) to drop faster as well though, so the gunner needs to be careful and watch their gear.
• Disco Bomb: The gunner fires a large orb of magic-energy that lazily floats to the desired location. Once there, it begins spewing out laser-like beams in every and any direction, until the magic that keeps it together is used up and it pops like a balloon, causing a small 5 ft diameter explosion. This skill is best used in an enclosed, but open enviroment. The beams also curve around and won't hit the gunner or her allies if they're within range.
• Chromecalibur: A magic gun of great power. It fires luminous azure bolts of concentrated magic. As a magical firearm, it doesn't require ammunition, just MP to fuel it. By default its attacks deal some Cold-element damage along with its regular damage. This weapon has also been enchanted to increase its wielder's Agility. Chromecalibur has a unique active ability with a 1 hour cooldown. It can triple its own attack-speed for 10 seconds.
• Star-Ender: Another magic gun of incredible power. it fires luminous glowing golden bolts of concentrated magic energy. By default the weapon deals some Electric-element damage along with its normal damage. As a magic firearm it doesn't need ammo, just MP. This item has been enchanted to also deal fire-damage. Star-Ender has a unique active ability with a 1 hour cooldown. It can create a gravity-well on a fired-upon target, causing them to be stuck in place for 8 seconds and take crushing earth-elemental damage.
• Gambler Godess' Garb: This revealing outfit grants avearge physical and magic defenses to the wearer. Its main selling-point though is that it grants the wearer increased critical hit-rate while worn, and good resistances to Dark and Holy-elemental damage. It also comes with a unique ability with a 1 hour cooldown, which grants the wearer a Haste-buff for 10 seconds.
• Glitterworld Gloves: These fancy elbow gloves grant physical and magic defense on par with other Cloth-armor of the same level. They grant good amounts of Fire and Ice-resistance though, and gives a small boost to the wearer's attack-speed. They also have an active ability with a 1 hour cooldown that let's them open a single locked container without the need for the actual key, lockpicks or appropriate skill (Doesn't work on quest, palayer-owned or magically locked objects though).
• High-roller's Heels: These swanky high-heel boots are more than just a pretty and glamorous piece of apparel. They offer good physical and magic defense, resistance to Earth-elemental damage and resistance to all forms of movement-impairing ailments (Slow, Paralysis, Knock Down, Immobilize, etc). They've also been enchanted to grant the wearer better Jump-height/length and Waterwalking.

Ambition:
Mammonie's ambition, be it in the reality' she's form herself, or this new one, will always be the same. The acquisition of vast amounts of wealth so she can live a comfortable and luxurious life.

Other:

• Mammonie's name is a massive pun. Not only idoes it include "Mammon", one of the seven deadly sins representing greed, but it's also a play on the words 'My Money'.
• Some of Mammonie's attacks are based on gun-skills from the Disgaea-series. In particular, Point-Blank Burst and Five-Star Trick-shot.
• Mammonie's Mortar Meteor-skill is based on Annie's "bomb" from Wild Guns.
• The Splitshot-skill is based on one of the Amazon's abilities from Diablo II.
• The various 'Aim:'-skills in Mammonie's arsenal are based on skills that the Archer-class in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance have uses.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

Druid Girl shook her head at the nomad's proposal to get the rats and roaches to fight one another.

"I can't actually command the animals I speak with to do anything. I can ask them for help or information, but telling them to do something that'll endanger their own lives... Well, I'm not advanced enough yet to fully order them around." She explained, scratching the back of her head and looking a bit dejected. Emphasized further by the girl kicking a small bit of stone into the nearby stream of nasty. "Still, I can at least handle talking any of them out of blocking our way if we need to run." She added, confidently puffing out her chest and putting on a big smile, full of determination.

At Big Red's comments, and the newly invented nickname for their nomad archer-friend, Druid Girl stifled a laugh by covering her mouth with her hand. Little Puff? Now that was just adorable, and it fit the cute little archer perfectly too! She'd have to remember to try calling her female comrade that at a later time too, and hopefully get it to stick. It was a shame Lizzie-poo hadn't worked out with Big Red, but hey, you can't have everything.

Reaching over and taking the map from the lizardman, Druid Girl would do her best to read the chicken-scratches and faded, or blurry, lines of their map. To tell the truth, it was almost more of a hassle to try and navigate with the damn thing rather than just venture forth without it! Heck, Big Red were leaving smart little markings wherever they went, so it wans't like they'd get lost anyway. But the former farm girl couldn't bring herself to saying that, so instead she kept directing the party - safe inbetween Big Red in the front and the Steppe Archer behind her.

For a while they travelled west through a passage, then turned south for a bit, then west again. At another crossroad, they kept going west. Oddly, they didn't encounter any giant roaches or giant rats. A few regular sized rats, sure, but those fled as soon as they picked up on the trio's approach, squeaking in panic as they sktitered off to save their lives.

"Strange... We should've encountered at least some critters by now." Druid Girl said, lowering the map for a bit and looking around. "And we haven't seen any bones either, so it's not like the roaches killed and ate all the rats, and if the rats had eaten the roaches, there should've been plenty of them around to get in our way." The nature-specialist summarized.

Something was obviously strange, wrong or very much both of the above.

Sssschhlooooooooorp~!

"Huh?"

A strange noise was heard in the distant dark of the tunnel just ahead of them. It was a bizarre, sloshy noise, like a mix of someone slamming a slab of fresh meat onto a counter while also pouring a large bucket of water into a sink. The noise also seemed to have a rhytm or pacing to it, sounding off then falling quiet for a little while, before giving off another slosh. It was a rather unpleasant noise to be sure though, and Druid Girl could feel the hairs on her neck stand on end.

"W-what's that noise? It's... It's not a sound anything living down here should be making..." She said in an obviously nervous tone. At this point, she'd stuffed the map into her pouch and unhooked the sickle she kept on her hip.

i]Sssschhlooooooooorp~! i]Sssschhlooooooooorp~![/i][/i]

With another wave of wet, goopy sounds, whatever was making the bizarre noise was - undeniably - drawing closer. Druid Girl tried to peer past Big Red to try and see if she could spot the ... Whatever it was... But to no avail. The thing about torchlight and light in otherwise darkness as a rule was that you could see fairly well in your immediate vicinity, but seeing anything far away was as good as staring into pitch black ink.

Still... The group didn't have to wait for long, for within seconds, the source of the sound finally came around the corner of a short corridor just ahead of them.

"... What the heck is that thing?" Druid Girl said after a brief moment of staring, blinking and rubbing her eyes.

She was looking at... Well... A goopy mass of sludge. Just... Sludge. It had no shape or form other than a collection of goo and gunk. It had a strange beige-green coloration, no eyes, no ears, no mouth, no limbs... It was like someone had taken a sheet, filled it with liquid and then made it semi-transparent. Whatever this thing was, it was clearly neither animal nor insect. But regardless of that, it seemed to be aware that there were some lifeforms nearby... And it was slowly advancing towards the group.

Guild of Renta-Experts [[CANCELLED]]

With things said and done, trap set and the girls prepped, there was little else to do but hide and wait. The pair would watch as the hours of the day slowly whittled away, with the workers in the fields milling about, doing their chores and laboring tirelessly. Brandy had no shortage of comments and 'insight' about farm-work and was none too shy about sharing this with Alice... Like, non-stop sharing... To the point where the werewolf would later have to shush the farm-enthusiast-satyr so as to not give away their position before their prey even made an attempt at appearing.

The sun sailed across the sky slowly,a nd as noon turned to evening and evening to dusk, more clouds had formed and begun shrouding the sky. It might end up raining during the night, or at least there wouldn't be any moon or starlight once the sun had set. Fortunately, the red glow of the setting sun was still enough to illuminate the surroundings for both of the girls to see. The setting sun also signalled the end of today's work, and the farmers began packing up for the day - storing away their tools and supplies, with some heading for the barn-like bunkhouse while others began their trek back towards the village of Litroot.

When Alice offered the earplugs to Brandy, the satyr looked at them confused. She then seemed to have a proverbial candle light above her head, and was just about to eat the damned things before she noticed Alice shoving them into her ears. The tanned little satyr looked at the werewolf and blinked a few times, then looked at the plugs in her hand, then back at Alice. She shrugged and then clumbsily placed them into her own ears, making a discomfortable face as she did so... Apparently she'd neither ever seen nor heard of these devices before, and had for some reason mistaken them for those little crisp-bread things you put in meals...

Eventually, after many hours of waiting and minutes of scanning their immediate vicinity, the two girls were treated to some good fortune. A pair of erect, suspiscious rabbit-like ears appeared at the fringes of the farm, not too far from their position. Lured by a bit of bait and the trap set by Alice, the horned rabbit - which was a tad larger than one might expect - made its appearance, complete with Mega Man-boss selection theme and intro-slide-cards. In truth, the 'rabbit' was less of a rabbit and more along the size of fully-grown Boxer (the dog, not the athelete). With moist black eyes, it scanned the farmlands, sniffed the air with its small pink nose and twitched it ears like audio-parabols to try and pick up any hints of potential threats. Brandy almost squeed and spoiled their position, but was able to cover up her mouth and just let hot air escape instead of a high-pitched and girly squeal.

Slowly approaching, the horned bunny got closer and closer, foot by foot, inch by inch... And then...

Flomp!
KABRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~!

Trap triggered and bomb exploded.

The hairs on Brandy's neck, as well as the fur on her tail, ears and extremities all stood on end, evn with the earplugs. This was the first time she had ever heard something so loud so close up and personal. Her eyes were wide and agape, and she had a genuinely stupified expression on her stupid face. Their quarry was, as expected, equally disoriented, frightened and confused, looking around in bewilderment and not being sure where to go or what to do, stamping its hind-foot hard against the grassy ground and making panicked squeaky noises... Mixed with hissing.

Brandy shook her head, slapped her own cheek - lightly - and thens tood up, arms raised in a fighting-like-stance and, with her head turned skywards, let out some kind of battle cry.

"RAAAAAAAAH! OKAY, AL! LEY'S GET 'IM!"

With speed similar to what she had dsiplayed earlier when going to change clothes, the satyr hopped over the shrubbery they had used as a hiding spot and charged ahead, full speed, towards the perplexed and frightened critter. Hearing the clippity-clops of hooves, the tiny (not actually tiny) bunny turned its gaze towards the oncoming threat. What followed was a scene that would have likely made for a very good choice of a tale at a local tavern.

As Brandy drew closer, the horned rabbit narrowed its eyes. When she just about to get within reach, the creature hopped up - straight from where it had been sitting - and somehow performed what could only be described as a rabbit's version of a roundhouse kick. Time seemed to slow down to slow-motion-levels of crawl, and the bunny's fuzzy eet connected with Brandy's not-so-fuzzy-face. Had this been an action-movie, the camera would've zoomed in as Brandy's face was twisted and contorted as the force of the rabbit's kick rippled through her... But what was even more surprising than this, was that the creature had enough force in its attack to actually cause Brandy's body to lift from the ground, become airborne and go sailing backwards and land with a mix of a thumping and rustling noise as the bodacious babe went and landed several feet away in a small collection of bushes.

Oh, and while the kick was connecting with her face, she let out a bullet-time scream of: "Nooooooooooo!"

The horned rabbit then turned its gaze towards where Alice and Brandy had been hiding, spotting the werewolf. Its face and eyes seemd to be saying: 'Well? Come get some!' or something along those lines. Meandwhile, Brandy was lying rather unceremoniously on her back in a crumpled fashion, with eyes spinning and a mix of shock, horror and confusion plastered on her face.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

At the Adventurers' Guild...

The receptionist merely looked at the large lizardman with a blank, unplussed face. This wasn't the first time she'd had to deal with someone questioning policies or how the guild ran their operations - and it wouldn't be the last time either. Internally, she made a snide remark about the brutish-looking muscle-lizard making a comment about others' intellgience, but being the professional she was, that neither showed up in her eyes, on her face or in her voice when she eventually replied.

"You're welcome to file a complaint and ask to to see the Guild Master, but I doubt that'd accomplish much. Whether you think your group is up to a task or not is, to be honest, completely irrelevant to the guild. We have rules and policies that everyone who joins has to follow, and they're there to make things run smoothly and fairly. If you don't find them to your liking..." She adjusted ehr glasses. "... Maybe you should find a less restrictive vocation. I hear mercenaries get to do things as they please." The girl finished, before returning to her work.

Of course, the suggestion was a not so subtly veiled comment. Mercenaries, after all, were notably known for being unscrupulous and mongey-grubbing thugs who were barely better than bandits or highwaymen. Of course, there wasn't any doubt that someone like Big Red, with his prowess, skill and large bulk would be quite well-suited to such a job.

At the latrine...

The druid listened to the archer's tale of woe. It was a rather unfortunate story, but not one that was uncommon. Many young adventurers assumed that, as far as quests go, crawling through the sewers and slaying rats and bugs was about as easy as it got... Failing to realize that they would be in an enclosed spae whrre their enemy had a vast home-field advantage, were mroe familiar with the enviroment and there being a lack of directions to choose from would put most unskilled or inexperienced would-be-adventurers at a massive disadvantage.

The tanned girl remembered her own, very first foray into the subterranean pits of Palisade Town. Luckily, she'd gone with two experienced adventurers at the time, along with one fresh noobie like herself, and managed to come out on top. Still, it had been an... Unpleasant... Experience, to say the least. Rats weren't a problem for her, but bugs... Bugs were hard to communicate with, even for a druid. They had a very fundamentally different view and thought-process when compared to mammals, birds or other such creatures. Not to mention trying to deal with a big swarm was just plain impossible.

Still, she felt that the poor nomad had gotten a really raw deal on her trip, so she offered a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry! I've been down there before, and remember that I can alwaysjust talk to the rats if we need." She stated, a bit boastful and thumping her plump chest while letting out a proud 'Ehe~!' as if to emphasize her abilities.

With Big Red showing up and offering his sage advice, and a head-pat for Steppe Archer, the druid simply smiled.

"Yeah. We're all set to head down. Oh, and thanks for the stems, but I'll be fine." Druid Girl replied, before taking the plants that her Archer-friend had picked and stowed than in her pouch. She prefered not to have tickling straws stuck in her nostrils while trying to concentrate.

When all was finally said and done, and everyone was ready, the time acme to head on down. Inside the latrine, against one of the far-end walls, there was a large door. This sturdy piece of wood had an old, crusty iron ring on it, meant for pulling. Getting the creaky and heavy thing open would've been a small feat of endurance and strength for either of the girls, though Big Red likely would've found it little more than a minor nuisance to force open. Beyond the door, there was a straight stairway leading downwards into the dark, dank and quite pungent nether-recesses of the settlement.

Going down, they would find themselves stepping through a rusty iron-barred door, similar to one found in a prison or cell. the whine from the door resounded and ehcoed through the otherwise largely quiet underground, only muffled by the sound of running sewage and water. As one would expect, for those without pleasant-smelling-straws up their nose, the scent of feces, mold, amonia, wet masonry and other unpleasant aromas filled the air. Druid Girl's nose twitched and she made a disconent grimace before stepping onto one of the underground sidewalks. She looked around in the dim darkness and then turned to her allies.

"Last time I was down here, our group travelled south and west, I think. We took down a few rats and a bunch of bugs, but I imagine those've all reopulated by now. Still, we should avoid heading to any cisterns or places with narrow catwalks or lots of ... Liquid..." She stated. "Oh, and avoid shouting or making loud noises, like running or stomping. The more sound we make, the more likely we'll end up drawing a large group of insects... They, uh... They tend to identify sound with food..." She trailed off before shaking her head. "So, which way to go first?"

At their current location, there was actually any direction to choose from. A path going north, west, east and south were all present, so really, it all came down to whatever Big Red and Steppe Archer would be best. Or whatever that map Big Red got from the guild might suggest.

Guild of Renta-Experts [[CANCELLED]]

At Alice's questioning of the farmhands, she'd learn taht the rabbit apparnelty either showed up near the north and west edges of the farm, usually at dawn or dusk. There were isolated incidents where it'd shown up elsewhere and at different, other times of day, but generally the previous testimonies seemed to be the general agreed-upon consensus aamongst the workers.

When Alice got down on all fours and started sniffing about, Brandy couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and let out a stifled, snorting chuckle briefly. It was the first time she saw the otherwise cool, calm and pro-like Alice get down and dirty and looking like she had a good time while doing it. Completely different from the whole Francoise-disaster, where the other girl had looked like she was ready to cry and sink through the earth. This put a smile on the little satyrss' face.

"Sure, sounds good, Al!" Brandy exclaimed, once the alchemist-werewolf relayed that she had figured out(?) where they should be heading. "Although, looking at this farm..." Brandy paused, putting a finger on her chin and scanning the area from left to right with a full semi-circle-swivel of her head. "I'm kinda surprised, y'know? They don't even have proper fences around the fields or nothing. We had some bun-buns come pester us back home too, but we at least had a fence 'round our vegetable patches. Are these guys newbie-farmers? Or ... Maybe they're too poor to afford a fence!? AL! ARE WE EXPLOITING THE POOR!?" Brandy's remark about the farm lacking proper fencing around all of its field was accurate. Her outburst about the place's finanical situation, not so much... Most likely. "A-anyway! Whadda e do now, girflriend? Thems folk said the critter shows up at dusk and dawn, yeah? Wanna hide in a bush 'til it shows its fuzzy face so we can pounce on it?" Brandy asked, her face taking on a strangely - and comically - feline-like expression, and she even balled her hand into a paw and made swatting-motions with it.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

The druid and archer would find what they needed, including some cheap, thick rolls of cloth, a set of torches, a minor healing potion for each of them and - as luck would have it - Steppe Archer located two options for her inquiry. One was an antidote potion, claimed to cure poisons, toxins, venom and other injected filth that may have gotten into your body. The other was a remedy, which was more expensive, but apparently could cure 'abnormal effects' on the body and 'return it to its natural state'.

Druid Girl pointed out, however, that neither rats nor roaches had venom sacs, and that the antidote potion would likely be completely useless, since the animals and bugs were more likely to spread disease or spread nasty ailments, rather than try pollute their blood with venom. As such, she recommended that the nomad girl pick up the remedy potion, if she was gonna get anything. The shopkeepr also insisted on this, continuing his sales-pitch and quite dramatically over-inflating the power and practical uses of his tincture.

Regardless of whetever the archer got the potion or not, the duo soon headed over to the public latrine, where they were meant to meet up with Big Red. It was a ... Unppleasant-semlling location, to put it mildly. The stench of old, dry urine, mixed with the individual scents of many peoples' unique aroma of feces made it quite abundantly clear tha this place wasn't one that got regular cleaning or maintenance done on it. Druid Girl wrinkled her nose and made sure to keep her face upwind whenever the breeze wasn't blowing from the latrines...

"Well, guess we'll just wait for the big guy now, huh?" She said, holding back a reflexive gagging noise she really, really wanted to make. "By the way, you've seemed awfully determined to avoid taking these kinds of quests before. Did something happen? Or are you just not a fan of crawling around in the dank underground where a litteral town's worth of poopies flow?" She asked, half-laughing at the bad joke of hers at the end.

Meanwhile, back at the Guild.

"The reason nobody takes those jobs is because they get re-posted almost daily. Even if your group clears both of them today, chances are they'll be back up tomorrow, or similar ones will appear. The sewers are a constant source of woe for the town, but higher-rank adventurers don't usually care to take them on, and lower levels adventurers seem to have trouble getting the job done." The guild girl explained when Big Red brought up the notion that nobody seemed to want to do these jobs. "As for taking both quests at the same time, I suppose you could but... I did tell you not to amekt thiss a habit, right? I didn, didn't I? If not, I'll tell you now; There's a lot of paperwork and talking with my superior when irregularities like this are approved, so I'd appreciate it if you tried to not increase my workload for the sake of your own convenience." The polite, but now stern-sounding, receptio0nist said.

True enough, since it was against Guild-policy to take on multiple jobs at the same time, regardless of logical or practical reasons, it would of course cause trouble for the person who permitted such a thing to be done. If anything went wrong, or if one quest wasn't completed to satisfaction, it wasn't the adventurers who botched things up that'd get yelled at, it was the one who authorized them to take on more work than they could handle. As such, while her motives and reasons may have sounded selfish and self-serving, the receptionist merely wanted to avoid both a scenario where adventurers got needlessly injured or dead from overwork anda situation where she got a pay-cut or possibly lost her job for allowing that to happen, even knowing it was against the rules.

"Is there anything else? Otherwise, please fill out tin the name of your group-members and yourself and I'll get this sorted for you." She stated, now back to her professiooal smile and customer-service-like-attitue once more.

Guild of Renta-Experts [[CANCELLED]]

"That guy? pffffft... Maa-haa-haa~! What's with that hat? It's sooooooo 'totes not stylin' at all!" Bradny burst out in laughter while her werewolf-friend was pulling, and explaining to her, towards the orcish farmer up on his perched mound of grass. As Alice greete the fellow, he tipped his hat slightly with a nod and then looked the two girls over, up and down, top to toe. Asomewhat... Disconcerned expression... formed on his face and he raised one of his - now visible and very bushy - eyebrows.

"Eyup, that'd be me, lil' lady. But... You sayin' ya'll here from that there G.O.R.E-place? Beggin yer pardon but, well, I thought they'd be sendin' someone a bit more... Uh... Brawny, I guess?" The orc said, with a thick souhern accent even though that isn'ät a thing in this world, while scratching the nape of his neck.
"Hey! What's that 'spose to mean, gramps!? We're plenty brawly! Just lookit these guns!" Brandy retorted in a defensive manner, then proceeding to flex her arms and show off her biceps... Which, admittedly were there, but weren't nearly as impressive as the satyress probably imagined. The farmer laughed though, surprisngly, despite his otherwise serious-looking disposition it seemed he was an easy-going fellow.
"Haha! Apologies, ma'am. I guess that was rude o' me t'say. So, yeah, name's Dooch. I run this'n here farm 'n fields." He began introducing and explaining. "About three weeks ago, I started noticin' the crops on the outskirts o' my fields were damaged though. First I thought it was jus' some pesky vermin, so I had them fellas down there lay out some traps 'n what-not. Buuuuut, instead o' catching us some regular bunnies or rodents, turns out wha'ever was causin' the mischief couldn't care less about some lil' ol' snappy-traps or snares... In fact, it broke most o'em."
"Yeah, okay, we get it! No need for the drawn-out exposition, guy! Just point us in the direction and we'll make mince-meat outta the horned furball freak!" Brandy, impatiently, interjected. Mr. Dooch raised another eyebrow in response.
"Uh... Well, I honestly dunno where that critter be hidin' out now... Seems he shows up on the edges of the fields durin' dusk or dawn, nibbles up some o' our crops and then scampers off before we can do anything. Murray down there almost had it once b ut he got himself gored in the side when the damn thing escaped. Luckily he weren't heard none too bad, but still... That thing packs a mean charge. If'n ya lil' missies gonna be huntin' him down, ya best be careful, y'hear?" The orc warned in a kind but stern fashion. Brandy puffed up her cheeks in response.
"So, basically... You don't know where this bun-bun is hiding and we're supposed to find it on our own? That what you saying, old man?" Brandy stated, both hands on her hips and leaning forward... Enough so to show off a gratuitous amount of her ample chest, which caused the straw-hat-wearing orc to avert his eyes bashfully and let out a clearing-his-throat-noise.
"Uh, uhm... Yeah... So, I'd ask them boys and gals down in the field if'n they'd seen any tracks or signs recently... Maybe ya'll can pick up the trail that way? Y-you won't be gettin' paid 'til I see that horned menace's head in yer hands, ya gots it? Already paid some folk last week after they said they'd gotten rid off the damn thing, but right as rain it showed up the very next day 'gain."
"Hmph! Don't you fear, Mr. Douche. me and AL are gonna pound that fluff-ball and make a carpet outa him for sure!" Brandy announced brazenly while cracking her knuckles... Apparently having forgotten that earlier she wanted to cuddle an d make the thing her pet back at the guild hall...

The orc chuckled a bit and then informed the pair that he had to get back to supervising the other farmhands... Which got a snide remark from Brandy about supervisors not actually doing anything actual 'work' on a farm... Just like how big brother back home used to do that when it was her sister, her own and his job to take care of the fields... Lazy bum. Still, with the weather being nice and pleasant, it wasn't going to be too hard to find any signs of the little scamp's presence, if there were any. The farm was divided into three fields, one to the north, one to the south and one to the west of the mound that Dooch was standing on.

"So... Whadda we do now, Al-Al? We just sniff and poke around the edges of the crops and look for bite-marks on cabbage and carrots?" Brandy asked, tilting her head quizzically. Alice was the more experienced one, and had bragged about her skills in hunting, so the satyr was more or less completely and utterly relying on her friend to take charge of this endeavor.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

"Hmm, I'd personally prefer to walk around outside buuuut..." Druid Girl mulled over the opinions of her compatriots. "... It really doesn't seem to matter too much. Everything pays about the same, well actually the sewer-quest seems to have increased in pay a little since last time." She stated, semi-indifferently.

In truth, she would have much prefered to walk around outdoors or ride a wagon in the sunlight, rather than crawl around in the sewers and need another thorough rinse-off afterwards.... With the potential of having to burn her old and buy a brand new set of clothes... Sewer-stank had this nasty habit of sticking to you, even after you washed yourself... Maybe visitng an alchemist beforehand and buying some of that new-fangled 'soap' that could apparently neutralize bad odor was a good idea?

Regardless, since they all seemed to not be too excited or particular about any one job, it was eventually agreed upon to do the two sewer-related missions. Druid Girl raised an eyebrow at Big Red's comment about preperations though... Did he honestly think a dingy little settlement like Palisade Towen kept maps of their sewers? The town had been built over ruins and the underground had been excavated, demolished and reconstructed several times ove. Not to mention that the local wildlife down there had probably messed up and altered paths and the layout on their own as well. It might give you somewhat of an idea where to go or what to look for, but overall they'd be outdated and fairly useless...

But she decided not to mention this. It seemed he was the type who wanted to be prepared, and got grumpy or annoyed when you pointed out that his preperations weren't always useful... Besides, he'd find out himself once he asked the Guild Receptionist. Additionally, how was he even aware of maps? It wasn't like lizardmen in the swmap had access to parchment or ink, right? Did they... Carve etchings into wooden planks with their claws or something? Or draw mud tablets? The idea perplexed Druid Girl.

"Well, since we're going into the sewers, we should probably pick up some anti-venom or curative potions too. Torches can be bought at the general store, so that's easy to get ahold of." She said, tapping the base of her chin with her index-finger. "Hmm... Might want to buy ourselves something like a hammer or club too... My staff's too long to swing around down in those sewers, and while my sickle might be able to gash a rat or twoo, hitting a skittery roach or bug with it could be... Difficult... Besides, bludgeons are always the best when smashing bugs!" She said - apparently not nearly as empathic towards sewer-dwelling rodents and insectoids as other animals... Which was perfectly reasonable.

"Should me and Archer go buy the supplies and meet you over by the public latrines then, big guy? There's supposedly an unlocked manhole there, for maintenance, so it'd be an easy way to gain access. Plus.. Uhm... Don't take this the wrong way or anything buuut... You're kinda... Bulky... I doubt you'd even fit through any of the other manholes out in the streets... They weren't made with super-sized folk in mind." She half-laughed and poked her tongue out at the lizard in a jestful manner.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

As the group gathered up at the table, Druid Girl listened to the comments of her allies. Their archer suggested they go forage for fruits in the wild in order to pinch pennies, while the lizrdman asked if they knew where such fruits and wild veggies could be found. Druid Girl pondered about whether lizarfolk actually ate fruits and vegetables on the regular, given that such things would be rare in a swamp - and their teeth weren't exactly designed for anything but ripping meat off of bones... She decided to keep that comment to herself though. Straightening up in her chair, she would answer before the archer had a chance to do so.

"It's summer now, so most fruits haven't ripened yet. Plus, wild fruits typically get eaten by animals when out and unattended ina forest. We might find some berries and edible roots around these parts, but I uh... I doubt that would fill your stomach for long, big guy." She paused for a bit. "I suppose we could go fishing in the river though, or gather some edible grass and plants. Honestly though, we'd likely spend more energy looking for those and picking them than we'd get from eating them. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know! So we should just bite the sour lemon and pay up. That way we'll have a good start to go on!" She finalized... Obviously not at all biased towards getting to eat as big a breakfast as she wanted in contrast to scrounging for safe-to-eat plant fibres and grass...

The innkeep showed up eventually, probably roused by their voices, and grumbled something undecipherable. Druid Girl went ahead and ordered some porridge, bread, milk and cheese for herself. The grumpy man seemed to smirk a bit at the sizable order - perhaps he was finally realizing that, when it came to food at least, this girl was a proverbia golden goose for income.

"You two should get something too, even if it's just something small. After all, they'll be posting new quests today, so we'd better get ready!" Druid Girl encouraged not so subtly.

[iTime passed and a meal was eaten...[/i]

The sun had risen from below the horizon and the morning had come along a bit. Walking down the road towards the Adventruers Guild, the party could see the typical scene unfold. Windows and doors opening, citizens beginning to mill out of their homes and onto the road, getting ready to face the challenges of te day. A few stray birds flew above the rooftops and, although the sky was still blue, there were a larger number of clouds today than earlier days. Still, bright sunlight prevailed and a pleasant breeze was blowing.

Entering the guild hall, the party would find that a rather fair amount of adventurers had already assembled and were crowding the quest board. Most of them seemed to be of a higher rank than the trio though, and they werer mostly looking at the quests for steel or higher-ranked adventurers it seemed. Druid Girl approached the postings and looked at the day's selection.

"Hmm... What do you guys think? Anything look good?"

Guild of Renta-Experts [[CANCELLED]]

At being complimented, the satyress would puff her (rather significantly sized) chest out and put both hands on her hips, smiling broadly and proudly, as if she'd just been awarded the most distinguishing medal of honor you could imagine.

"I know right? Mama- err, I mean, Mom made this especially for me, since the one I used to wear was so ugly and boring! Dad always whined about it, but old men, right? Whadda they know 'bout looking fahionable! Maa-haa-haa!" She half-bragged, half-gloated, half-explained. At the notion of going on a real quest though, Brandy nodded excitedly. "Yeah! Let's go and show that lil' fuzzball who the real deal is around these parts! Hear that, bunny-breath! There're new sheriffs in tpoooooown!" She half half-yelled, half-exclaimed, half-laughed-out-loud-while-saying.

After the brief moment of grand posturing and hyping-up, the two girls were off. Off towards the western fields, in the western region of the rural area, to meet and help an orcish farmer... A farmer named Dooch. While they walked, Brandy happily bounced abouy next to Alice, talking about poretty much anything and everything you could imagine - from mundane things like how apple pies were delicious, to what color and length of lace she prefered on her underrwear. The satyress also complimented the werewolf's attire, saying it looked cool - but a bit too warm for Brandy's own personal wardrobe... She sure seemed to like... Breezy attire...

Leaving the village proper, they travelled along a thin, winding dirt path - one well-travelled, but not important enough to be paved or marked. They passed through a sparsely wooded area before finally emerging at the fields. And fields they were indeed. Vaast acres of green, stretching out for a good while, with plowed and tilled soil being fenced in by simple wooden... well,... fence! A few farmhands were present, mostly humans and a few orcs, working the fields with hoes and baskets, dressed in the most stereotypical farmer's garb you could imagine.

There were three major buildings of note. One was a large farmhouse, likely the residence of Mr. Dooch himself. The others were a rather tall silo, and the last was something akin to a barn. Funnily enough, there weren't any animals around though - not even horses to pull plows or carts. Perhaps that was where the workers slept? Regardless, as soon as they laid eyes on the quaint little farmstead, Brandy's eyes widened and sparkled like diamonds and she clasped her hands together while her little tail swished to and fro ecstatically.

"Oh woooooow! It's a farm! Al! It's a real farm, you see it!? It's just like back hoe, but 'totes different! It's so big, and there're so many workers!" There actually weren't that many... "Wowzers! If dad could see this, he'd be so jealous! Maa-haa-haa~! I wonder what they're planting? Ooh, should we help out? Should we? We should, right!? RIGHT!?!" It seemed she had already forgotten why they came here in the first place...

Meanwhile, as the satyr tugged at Alice's sleeve and bounded around her companion happily, a large, gruff-looking orc, with a straw hat on his bald head, and a stalk of wheat-grasss inbetixt his teeth, was looking down at and overseeing the affairs in the fields from a slightly elevated mound next to the residential farmhouse. He was a broad-shouldered fellow, with a muscular and toned frame, large strong hands and a stern but calm expression on his orc-ish face. His slightly pointy ears twitched at the noise of unfamiliar young women, but he didn't look away from or get distracted from his cool, dandy-like countenance. Arms folded over his chest, the man gave off the impression of a strong, serious and silent type... Perhaps he was the Dooch?

_{... He totally is!}