Xaltwind

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

Mammnie wouldn't say much when Gram chucked her offered brew over to Vani. There was something weird about Gram, and weirder still about her health-bar... But that wasn't really important at the moment. What was important to note was that Vani seemed to beable to chug the potion from MOFU down with no immediate side-effects. Once more, it apparently tasted like strawberries..? Was that supposed to be a joke? Or was it actually true!? If that were the case, she'd have to be careful to not accidentally using them like soda pops...

... Like that'd ever happen.

The black-and-white woman then started a long and explanatory ... explanation! to as how things and stuff and people and other things worked in this world. To be honest, it was a lot of information to soak in and remember all at once, and most of it went in one golden ear and out the other. Still, the demonette managed to pick up on a few things and bits about society and how it worked. Yes... A society that was very different from her own... In all honesty, most of it sounded very primitive and backwards to someone like Mammnoie.

"Wow... You guys are like, almost completely medieval, huh? It's almost scary to think I've gone to somewhere that's close to what the Dark Age was like back home..." The demon stated, rubbing her forehead lightly with the tips of her fingers.

Then Gram had a spasm.

Mammonie rose from her seat out of reflex. After all, she'd had co-workers who'd suffered from epilepsy and seizures, but it seemed like the monochrome madame was fine... So, she sat back down. Only to have Gram rise from her seat and then, the noise of horsies whinnied through the cave. Casting a look over her own shoulder, Mammonie spotted the familiar carriage... Wait, was it the same one? Maybe they just looked alike? Though Gram had said that she was waiting for some spirits to return to her... But... Like... Those were horses made out of bones! Where would you store a spirit in something that was litterally just hardened bits of calcium!?

Regardless, the golden demon got off her soft tuckus, brushed herself off and then turned to walk on over to the wagon. This time, she didn't wait for gentleman elf to help her inside, but rather just flung the door open on her own accord, then got herself inside, taking a seat exactly where she'd sat in the previous carriage.

"Well, now that we're all fine and dandy, mind telling me where we're heading and why?" Mammonie asked while leaning slightly to the side, resting her elbow against the interior wall of the wagon and using it as a support to rest a cheek against her cupped palm. "While I assume there's more to us heading to civilization besides getting out of the cold?" She asked, an eyebrow raised inquisitively.

Guild of Renta-Experts [[CANCELLED]]

After the fussing and scribbling of paperwork was done, Karin gave the werewolf-girl a surprised look.

"Bandits, really? And this close to Litroot? Hmm, that's a concern... I'll have to talk to the Guild Mistress about it." The raccoon-recrptionist said thoughtfully, while taking a big old sip from the coffee that Alice had made earlier. "I'm glad to hear you both managed to get away safely though. Please be careful on your trek to Gnarlton however. If there're bandits lurking about between here and the outlying farms, they might show up again." Karin cautioned, before taking another sip from her mug.

After Sofia was finished registering, and Karin had fiddled around a bit in her filing cabinets, the disorganized tanuki finally retrieved something. It was the letter that the group would be delivering. As far as letters go, it looked really run-of-the-mill. A white paper enveloped with a crudely drawn fashioned stamp and a unadorned wax seal. She handed the scrap of mail over to Alice and urged her tp deliver it to the Guild Hall over in Gnarlton, as well as reminding her not to go opening and reading the contents... Apparently such things happened occasionally and the recipient of such letters were, rightfully, a bit miffed about having their mail read by the delivery-service...

Meanwhile

"This and that and this and that. oh, that's mine too! And these! Gonna need those too... And can't forget about these! Oooh-hoooo~These lacey ones might be my favorite after all... They do kinda ride a bit high on my butt though... Ah well!"

Brandy was in full swing, packing her stuff up and shoving down into her large, charcoal-colored, geometrically-themed backpack. The thing was almost as big as the litte satyr herself, yet once it was fully loaded, the tanned bombshell hefted it onto her back and seemed to be just fine lugging it around. After a bit of swearing and tugging, she got through the doorway to her rented room - not having had the foresight to just push the pack out through the open door first and THEN puttting it on. Clomping down the stairs to the first floor, she scampered over to the dirty bar disk, where a balding, bearded fellow with bushy eyebrows and the thickest muttonchops this side of Gnarlton, was standing and lazily cleaning a mug with a... less-than-clean... rag. As the bouncing Brandy approached, the middle-aged fellow turned his head and gave her a once-over from top to toe.

"Hey, chief! I'm headin' out!"
"Leaving already are ya?
"Yeah! Me'n the girls took a job that'll get us over to Gnarlton! Y'know it? It's like, a 'totes big town and stuff! I'm so excited!" Brandy bobbed up and down where she was standing. The barkeep let out a sigh-
"Aye, I know it alright. Ain't that big of a town... Well, compared to Litroot, it's pretty big I guess." He mused. [color=lime]"Still, ya sure you wanna leave so soon? You've been a mighty fine waitress and you're good at drawing in the customers. Woulda really appreciated ya stayin'n working full-time, y'know?"[/colro]
"Aawww-haa~ Chief, that's so sweet! you gonna be lonely without little ol' me~?" Brandy teased, closing her eyes half-way and making a coy face. The barkeep snorted and turned his head away, cheeks slightly flushed.
"D-don't be silly, girl! You're way too much of a kid to be pullin' that kinda act! You were just good for business, that's all!" The stubborn fellow muttered. Brandy just laughed.
"Maa-haa-haa~! Don't you worry your shiny, shiny head. I'm sure we'll come back someday. I'll be sure to drop by and lend ya a hand when we do." The energetic satyress promised, leaning over the counter and giving the old fart a peck on his cheek, which caused said cheeks to become even more red... As did the rest of his face.
"W-w-why you little minx! Go on! Get outta here! And I'd better see you again someday, and you're gonna wear the shop's uniform at that time!" The man blustered. Brandy laughed again.
"Only if you make it cuter~! Bye for now, chief!"

The bundle of brightness bounced out of the dank and drab drinking-hole which was the sleazier and less reputable of two local locations of serviced spirits and sustenance. As the tanned girl made her way through the village, she waved and greeted those she passed by, a smile on her face all the while. And why wouldn't she be smiling? This was very exciting for her. The very first time she'd go and see an actual town, as she'd lived in a place much like Litroot her entire youth. A tiny place where everyone knew everyone. But now she was headed for a place with hundreds, maybe even thousands of different people! The mere thought made Brandy's heart race with anticipation.

Arriving at the north end of the village, Brandy quickly spotted the pair of companions and raced over to them with a 'vroom'. Skidding to a stop, and kicking up a small cloud of dust, she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey girls! I'm sooooo ready to get going! Ya both packed'n stuff? I'm all set myself, even changed into these threads just to be on the safe side!"

Brandy was dressed in her work-clothes. The ones she worn when she and Alice went to fight the horned rabbit. Though, calling them clothes was a bit of a stretch... More like, a jeans apron-slash-leotard would be more correct. Still, at least she'd had the capability of switching to clothes that would endure some wear and tear and not get ruined in case dirt and grime got on them. Though, it might just have been that Brandy had been told by her parents or sibiligs to wear that particular outfit while on the road, and she not having had the brainpower to figure that out on her own... it was plauislbe.

"Alright, let's go, go, go! Al, Sofers! Let's head for Gnarlton, yeeeaaah!" Brandy exclaimed, throwing a balled fist into the air and doing a little jump... Which seemed to last a bit longer than gravity would have normally allowed, but maybe it was a trick of the light...?

Regardless!

The trio's journey from Litroot would begin at the north end of the little village. They would need to travel along a dirt road that winded through a region of landscape that was mostly made up of woodlands, grassy plains and small rolling hills. The foresty and hilly bits would be more prevalent during the early stages of the journey, while the grassy plains would become more dominant the closer they'd get to Gnarlton. Still, it would be a long walk, taking two full days if they just stuck to the road and didn't take side-tours or get distracted by anything, anyone or otherwise...

It was still early in the morning though and they had the whole day ahead of them to travel. Sky was blue with only a handful of tiny, wispy clouds sailing about far above. Birds and bugs could be heard all around and the breeze was mellow and pleasant, bringing the smell of leaves and wildflowers along with it. In short, it was a great day to be out and about in nature! Brandy was in such a good mood that she was singing... And surprisingly, she was actually pretty good. Not on the level of a professional bard or anything, but with a bit of practice and proper instruction, she could've probably become one of those fancy songstresses who work at fancy establishments or sing on a big stage.

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

Oh joooooooooooooy, son that thing was a lower ranking minion? And it could explode and entire carriage and shoot death lasers while being airborne. Awesome. Can't wait to see what they bring out as their big guns when they start getting serious...

These snarky coments were kept inside a monologue within Mammonie's head as she listened to Gram explain the situation and likely current scenario. Of course, the mention of having an entire army of some celestial host teleported onto their position as soon as they left the cavern wasn't exactly something to joke about. Especially not when her two comrades had barely scraped by when encountering this supposed low-level mook - on its own - just mere minutes ago.

"That's high praise." Mammonie replied when Gram mentioned Vani's apparent strength as 'the stronkest paladumb' in all the lands. "That mean I shouldn't rely on your strength then?" The demonette asked, a wry smile and raised eyebrow being the expression on her face. It was fine to talk others up and put them on a pedestal, but if their enemy had access to an army, even if Mammonie could hold on her own against a large number of them, she couldn't very well win alone. And just having a single lone ally that was capable wouldn't be enough.

"Welcome back, good work, Barney." She said, dryly, once the elf returned with his haul. She was actually moderately impressed the guy had managed to not only find, but also haul, the lumber back to the cave all on his own. Though, she couldn't help but notice his lack of a proper woodcutting tool. She knew that such things worked fine enough in a game-setting, but if this was a reality with game-like elements, then using your primary weapon -- which was a SWORD -- to cut up a frozen tree was probably not a good idea. Then again, the guy had mentioned he had a spare sword earlier... But did he have it on him? She couldn't remember...

Still, the newly sparked campfire was nice and toasty. Not that the cold bothered her overly much - despite her lack of atire. Maybe demons were just more tolerant to the natural enviroment or weather than humans? She knew for sure that if she'd come here in her own, human body, she'd been a popsicle by now. She mulled that over in her mind for a bit... Yes... Her actual body... Just what had happened to it? Had it been switched with Mammonie's body in MOFU and now there was a MOFU-avatar in-game that looked like her real self!? The thought was both horrifying and hilarious. She giggled to herself.

"Well, not much that can be done about that..." She mused to herself, forgetting she had two people nearby. "Oh well. So, what now? We wait for Gran here to rest up and then we get in the bone-cart again, or what? Not to be a jerk or anything, but I'd kinda like to get the hell outta these snowy deathfields and somewhere more... Hospitable, as soon as possible." The avarice demoness said while looking over her shoulder and back out through the cave's entrance... At the cold, cold snow and ice and wind of sub-zero temperatures...

"Recover... Yes... Hm, wait. Hold on." A thought occurred to the golden one and she paused for a bit. Closing her eyes, she felt around in her mental, meta-physical inventory that was both within and all around her. Eventually, she found what she was looking for, and with a bit of concentration and 'hnnnnnnn'-sounds, somethig suddenly... Popped... out of nowhere, into her hand. It was a small glass bottle, with some kind of lustrous ruby red liquid inside of it. Mammonie proceeded to tilt the bottle, inspecting it from one side and then another, feeling the small cork at its neck and rotating it to make sure there were no cracks or leakage.

"Huh, well, whaddya know? It worked. Good thing I had some of these on me before you guys did the whole drag-me-here-deal. Here, try drinking this." She said, holding the bottle out for Gram to take. It was just a potion of lesser healing from MOFU. She had stronger ones on her, of course, but she hardly felt like giving one of those away, especially since there weren't any guarantees that consumables from her game-world would have any effect on anyone from this new reality. So, the best option was to experiment with something that wasn't too valuable. A potion like this wouldn't even heal 10% of Mammonie's total max HP anyway, so it was honestly just clogging up her hammerspace. "It might help you heal up." She paused, tapped her chin, looked up at the cavernous ceiling, then back down at Gram and smiled while tilting her head. "Then again, you might have an allergic reaction to it or something and just drop dead on the spot. Still wanna try it?"

Guild of Renta-Experts [[CANCELLED]]

"Very well, will you please just fill out this form and we'll get you resigstered." The tanuki receptionist responded as the undead woman posed and verified her desire to join the adventuring guild of rentable expendables adventurers. While Karin buised herself with informing the new applicant that adding things like 'Destroyer of Chaos' and 'Master of Destruction' weren't necessary in the 'name:'-section of the form, Brandy's ears perked and twitched as Alice listed off the various available quests.

The pickings were.... Slim... To say the least. Still, when the mention of going to Gnarlton came up, Brandy's eyes sparkled a bit and her already present smile became even larger.

"Whaaaat? Shut. Up! We get to go to Gnarlton!? That's like, 'totes a big city, yeah? Papa-- err... I mean, my dad used to say he worked there back when he wasn't an old man. Said it was really big and bustlin' and full of people and stuff! So yeah, no duh are we gonna deliver the heck outta that letter, Al!" Apparently, even something as simple as being an errand girl was enough to excite the excitable satyress.

Hearing the two girls come to an agreement what to do, Karin turned her head towards them - leaving Sofia alone for just a moment.

"Hold on now, you two. Miss Keller still needs to fill out the form for your previous job. After taht, we'll set things up so the three of you can take that delivery job, alright?" The beaurocratic enforcer enforced.
"Bah! Can't we just fill them both out when we get back?" The satyr protested.
"No, you cannot. Delivery quests like this don't need you to return to where you got them, so long as there's a Guild Hall in the place you're going to. And Gnarlton just so happens to have a much larger and more lively guild hall than us here in Litroot. So, once you've delivered the letter, you can just go there and get your reward."
"Boo! Boo!" Brandy kept protesting.
"Shouldn't you go and get ready for the trip, Miss Vanillarin? It'll take you at least two full days on foot to get to Gnarlton, you know?" The raccoon, with a now twitching vein visible in hher temple, stated with a strained smile.
"Oh yeah! I needa get my things ready and put on some road-clothes! Al, Sofer! I'll see ya both at the road outta tooooooooooooooooown!" Brandy's elongated shout became more and more distant, as the race car-like noise made when she was running at full speed could be heard once more as she almost flew through the guild's door and out into the dirt paths of the village.

Karin sighed a sigh of relief and returned to helping her newest recruit fill out the last of the paperwork.

Also, Brandy had apparently decided what to call her new companion already. Without stopping to hear whether that it was acceptable or not. She was far too busy running back to wherever she had been spe staying in order to change into her Labor Clothes and get her backpack for the journey ahead.

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

Awesome! So now I'm on the hitlist for Heaven because I defended myself from one of their cronies. Greeeaaaat... And they hate demons on principle. Good to know racism and prejudice is alive and well in this world too.

Those were Mammonie's throughts as she listened to Gram. She refreained from commenting on the matter when the dracowoman stated that she and Vani could have defeated the cherubiwhatsit on their own with a little effort... It sure hadn't seemed that way to the demoness, what with the Paladin barely being able to muster enough strength after the initial attack to even defend himself. Still, maybe he was holding back too, just like this other woman claimed she had been?

When the topic moved on to her apologizing for her decei in trying to force Mammonie to aawaken, and the subsequent offer of anything and everything she owned. Mammonie let out a sigh.

"What's the point in apologizing to us both if half of us ain't here? Look. You don't need to apologize to me. We're strangers, and the only thing that's currently keeping me by your side is the fact that, in this world and as it stands, I have litteraly no other options at the moment. So if you want to apologize, do it to that elf-fellow, since you two seem to be companions and all." She stated, very bluntly and earnestly. "I don't need your life either. I've got no use for it. I don't believe in things like owning others or having control over others' freedom. I'll settle for taking everything you have, including the clothes on your back, once we're done though." She continued and finished, with one eye closed and the other looking straight at Gram, with a sly smirk on her face.

She then stretched and let out ab elongated 'Hnnnnnnnnnmmmmgh!'-sound, arching her back while bothe arms were stretched above her head. Which is also when she noticed that she was still holding Chromecalibur in her hand. A look of bemusement crossed her face as she inspected the weapon.

"... It looks just like it did back in MOFU, huh? Higher resolution and better textures, of course, but still... Wouldn't mistake it it for anything else... How do I pu- Oh?" As she was about to ask how to put the weapon away - seeing as she lacked a holster on her person... or pockets for that matter... The weapon suddenly phased out of reality, but Mammonie could still feel the weapon. it had gone into whatever ethereal inventory-space that was currently inside(?) her own being - but at least now she knew how to bring it, and other things, back out into actual meat-space.

"Anyway. What're the chances we'll get ambushed by more of those cjerry-dudes? Or are there worse things that'll come after us now that they lost one of their goons? I'd sorta like to avoid nearly wetting myself from surprise by being caught off-guard by random, vehicular-destroying bombardments in the future." She paused. Tapped her chin, then looked over at the cave entrance. "Is there really any firewood around here, by the by? I only saw ice and snow and... Well, more snow, out there." She tried to focus her vision to try and see the floaty, game-like mechanic of Vani's name and current condition... It was a useful test, as it'd allow her to determine just how far away she could be in order to see someone's status. Might be useful to know, for a number of reasons!

Guild of Renta-Experts [[CANCELLED]]

Brandy didn't seem phased by the stare of death which she was given by the ranger initially... That, or she didn't notice... Or the glare wasn't much of a glare to begin with. Once the undead woman started speaking though, the satyress listened intetly to every word she said, nodding at irregular intervals to signal that she'd been paying attention.

... Then the badass dark heroine tripped and fell...

If there was a sound-effect that would have signalled the mment, it'd been one of shattering glass. Brandy's eyebrow arched upward and a peculiarly amused smile formed on her lips... But she didn't say anything. Strange, given that it was Brandy we were talking about. Still, after Alice came over, helped the poor thing back up and gave her a run-down of... Stuff... Brandy finally chimed in.

"Yeah! So, I like, 'totes only understood 'bout half of wha'cha said there, but... If you're new to this stuff too, then you oughta join our party!" Brandy announced, invited and more or less sales-pitched to the new female before her. "We're legit! We've tackled runaway dogs, battled ferocious bun-buns and Al over here even kicked the snot outta some pervy bandits! She looks like one of those bookworm-types, but she's super-strong!" Brandy boasted and praised(?) her own group and partner's abilities... Leaving out any mention of deeds which she herself had achieved... Likely because there weren't any.

As the three girls chatted up a small storm though, the door to the Hall Mistress' office swung open, and a tired, slouched and somewhat slumped-over Karin emerged from the murky depths. There was an aura of fatigue and exertion on the bespectacled tanuki's face and she looked as if she'd just listned to someone read a dictionary aloud. In monotone. From start to finish.

Once spotted by the little bundle of satyr-boobies though, the raccoon-receptionist's sloow, zombie-like shuffle towards her desk was derailed. Almost flying over the counter, Brandy bounced her way over to the sharp suit-wearing woman and grabbed her hand, causing the woman's head to jerk and her body to stiffen in surprised.

"Wha-What!? Oh, Miss Vanillarin..."
"Heya, Kar! Listen, listen! Me'n Al got the job done! We smacked that horny rabbit good! Well, Al did anyway. I got kicked in the face... Maa-haa-haa, so embarrassing~!!" The way she said it didn't make it sound like she was very bothered about it though...
"I... Uh... Huh? Wait, horn-- Oh! The horned rabbit. Horn-Ed. Yes, I remember you two taking that quest yesterday. And you saud you finished it?"
"Yup, yup! It wasd like bam, wham, thank you ma'am! We got that douche-guy to sign and everythin'! Al even at the thing to gain its powers!"
"... Somehow I doubt that's why she ate it, but anyway, good job. Now, if you'll just let me get to my desk we can have your valiant friend fill out the proper paperwork." Karin said, with a polite business-like smile, while trying to brush Brandy aside.
"Whaaaa-!? Wha'bout me? Why can't I do it~?"
"Because you, my dear, cannot write in common, remember?"
"... Oh yeah! I forgot! Maa-haa-haa!"

Sighing, Karin walked over to her desk, sat down, fiddled with some paperwork which was lying spread out all over the place, lazily filed it all away in a non-organized fashion into her cabinet, then finally turned towards Sofia and Alice.

"Well then, congratulations on your second completed quest. If you'll just fill this out, and show me the writ of completion from the client, I'll hand over your pay." She said as professionally as usual. Then she noticed the new face, and she raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Ah, you must be a newcomer. I haven't seen you around the Litroot Guild Hall before. Welcome, I'm Karin, the receptionist here. Are you here to file a quest, or perhaps sign up to join? Or perhaps you're here from another Hall looking for work? Whatever the case, just let me know if there's anything I can do to help. Ah, the coffee. Thank you~" She said, explained, and wrapped up, before taking a cup of joe that Alice had prepared earlier and took a big old clunk of it, lettinng out a content 'Pffaaaah!-noise afterwards.

"So, Kar? Why were you in the big lady's room? Didja do somethin' to get a spnaking? Hmm? Hmmmm!?" Brandy suddenly appeared to the left of Karin, inching closer and closer, her face invading Karin's personal space more and more. The raccoon-woman backstepped as if she was evading an attack, startled by the quiet and sudden appearane of the short miscreant yet again.

"Miss Vanillarin! Ahem! That matter was related to Guild administrative personnel only, it's nothing you need concern yourself with." She answered, pushing her glasses back onto their proper perch on her nose while striking a pose with one hand on her hip.
"'Kaaaaay~! So, Al! Whadda we doin' for stuff today? There any good jobs? I wanna go 'splore some ruins, or a dungeon, or maybe judge an eatin' contest?" Brandy's ears witched excitedly as she bounded over to Alice with a clippity-clop, tail wagging just as excitedly as if she were a puppy.

Guild of Renta-Experts [[CANCELLED]]

"Nah, I'm good!" Brandy replied when she was offered coffe. "I dun really like coffee unless you put some good stuff in it, if'n ya catch my drift." The satyr explained, giving Alice a playful smirk and equally playfully nudging the werewolf in her ribs with her elbow.

Then the door to the guild hall flung open and Swanky McDeathpants entered the floor. Brandy stared. And stared. And stared some more. Alice's comment about the new arrival's weapon and appearance went completely in through one ear and out the other, as the satyr stood there with a gooft expression on her face... At least, for a few Then she squeed. Like, really, really squeed. Complete with the whole, hands pressed up against her cheek and her entire body doing that wobbly, side-to-side wiggling while her tail rotated like a ... Rotor... on a helicopter.... And her ears twitched repeatedly.

"S... S... S.. S... SO COOOOOOL!" She then errupted in a very fangirly fashion, before looking over at Alice with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes and heavy breathing. "Al! Look! Look! Her outfit's amazin'! It 'totes shows off her slammin' bod', but it's also stylish and has that whole dark hero-vibe going for it, yeah!? And her hai! She really nailed that do, with her eye color and that porcelain-skin, she's like some unobtainable ice queen! Well, I prefer a bit of color on the skin myself-" She looked down at her hands and legs before going on. "-but still! She someone you know, Al? She a regular? The town's pro? Legend? Prodigy!? We should 'totes chat her up! C'mon!"

Brandy, having no patience or understanding for the possiblity that some people were not inbto the whole being-approached-by-a-complete-stranger-deal, quickly bounced on over to the side of this dark, mysterious archer-woman. Once next to the new arrival, she spent a few good seconds looking up and down, and from side to side, and around and about, the other woman before finally meeting her eyes and face - with a face and eyes filled with sunshine on her own part.

"Hiya! Nice to meet'cha! I'm Brandy, and that's Al!" She greeted, before quickly pointing over to the werewolf. "So like, spill! Are you like a local legend 'round here or somethin'? Ya don't look anything like the other girls who've dropped by when I first came here." She announced, unabashed and completely seeming to have forgotten that she'd been to this guild hall for the whole, whopping entierty of one day so far. "Ya here to turn in a quest? Returning from some big adventure? Ooh, what's ytur name? And where'd you get that awesome outfit! I'm so jelly, I want an adventuring outfit like that too..." It seemed Brandy had no trouble what so ever in finding things to ask and talk about with this newcomer. She then seemed to remember something and turned back to Alice, waving at her companion. "Hey! C'mon, get over here, Al. Don't be shy! We're getting to know each other. We're all adventurers after all, right?" She called, with the biggest most sincerest smile you'd ever seen.

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

Mammonie listened with... Moderate... Interest, to what Vani had to say as they walked. His description of the angel-baby-thing wasn't very helpful, and his belief that the robot-voice that'd spoken to her earlier was 'divine' in nature was a bit too convenient for the demoness. Sure, it could've been some kind of deity, but depictions of gods and goddesses often didn't have them described as sounding like one of those automated phone-receptionits... So, for now, the golden lady would put that idea on the shelf.

Hearing that their draconic princess was going to be fine was nice though. She smiled for a very brief and barely noticeable moment. It wasn't that she was compassionately relieved that this other woman had survived her injuries, but more the fact that she constituted 50% of Mammonie's current chances of survivig whatever the hell this bizarre wortld was. Losing one of your two tutorial-guides at the very start of the game seemed like it'd make the future... Difficult... Not to mention the two seemed to have very sperate skill-sets and levels of knowledge, losing half of that would be not good.

Once inside the cave, the avarice demon plopped herself down next to the burnt-out campfire. She looked around a bit and waved goodbye to Vani as he left, wishing him a sardonic 'good luck'... In a frozen waste like this, trees usually didn't grow very well, nor was there an abundant supply of dry firewood... If anything, she'd be surprised if the poor elf brought back more than a handful of snow-covered and frozen-through sticks at most.

Then, a voice spoke up from the bundle that the paladin had left behind. Mammonie's eyes glanced over to the side, looking at the newly awoken dracowoman. Her words were... A bit irritating, to say the least, especially given the circumstances. Luckily, Mammonie managed to retain a calm face, although her eyes did narrow a bit as she smiled at the other lady in the cave.

"Well, isn't that nice. Too bad both of you don't." She said in response, a bit of haughty confidence in her tone. "The very first baddie we run into, and you two get taken out almost instantly. You're not exactly making me have a lot of confidence for your side of this conflict... So--" She paused for dramatic effect, gave Gram a not-so-very-good-smile and tilted her head. "-- I hope that's not all you've got to say about this."

In this particular moment, Mammonie felt that she was - quite clearly - in a much better position than Gram. True, she didn't know anything about the world, and true, if she was abandoned here and now she'd likely freeze or starv,e or both, to death... But comversely, she'd just pretty much proven to both herself and these other two, that she was a powerhouse who could rather simply take out toadies from this Evil Goddess of theirs... ANd that the two of them didn't stand much of a chance against even a basic baddie on their own. Thus, Gram's earlier comments about the demoness' inability to fight, and her seemingly unneighbourly thinking of throwing Mammonie under the bus, was now probably going to come back and bite the dragon-woman in the butt. After all, Mammonie was a demon, and demons weren't above holding grudges.

Guild of Renta-Experts [[CANCELLED]]

As the werewolf called out to her, the drwosy-looking raccoon-woman snapped to attention and cast a quick, sideways glance over her shoulder. When she realized who it was that was calling her out though, she relaxed considerably before replying.

"Ah, good morning to you too, Miss Keller. It seems you're doing well this morning. How'd the hunt for that horned rabbit go yesterday? And where's your friend?" She responded in a polite, but largely disinterested tone of voice.

The two would reach the guild hall swiftly, and Karin would proceed to slide onto the cushioned chair at the front desk, fiddling with some papers and documents, before lazily putting them aside on top of an old drawer... Which already had a stack of paper on top of it... And from the looks of it, nobody had organized or gone through any of them in a long, long while...

"If you're just waiting around, why not have a look at the board? Or brew me a cup of coffee." The receptionist said after having finished her little charade of morning routines, giving Alice a wink and winning smile... She must've really wanted that coffee.

The quest board was, as per usual, sparsely populated with only the most basic of basic jobs. There was a 'quest' to pull out weeds in someone's garden, help pick apples, finding mushrooms, picking medicinal herbs, locating a runaway cat and - amusingly - delivering a letter to the not-too-far-away town of Gnarlton. Apart from that though, the rest were either just ads for local establishments, fliers for events and festivities that had already passed, or childish scribbles and charicatures done by local brats as a prank.

Soon enough though, a voice called out for Karin. It came from the Guild Mistress' room. The tanuki-woman sighed, took off and polished her glasses with a small hankerchief, before excusing herself and walking over to the tiny witch's office. Going through the door after knockingly gently, she vanished into the black, looming dark that seemed an awful lot like void-space, before the door closed behind her. Luckily, there were not screams of agony or shrieks of unceremonious fear.

... For now at least.

Meanwhile, as the minutes ticked on, a few familiar faces began to appear. It was some of the other adventurers who frequwnted the hall - most of them locals. Most of them were also just adventurers in name, having joined the guild because they were either curious, bored or liked to brag about it. There were also those who had ulterior motives for joining, such as finding a suitable life-partner... Or just oggling adventurers in general... Regardless, they greeted Alice with hello's and hi's, engaging in brief conversations before looking at the guild's board and letting out disapproving, disappointed or exaspperated moans and sighs of a plaintive nature. One girl grumbled under her breath about how there was never any good jobs 'in this backwater village' as she left the hall in a foul mood.

Moments after her departure though, the door to the guild flung open and slammed into the wall, causing its hinges to complain loudly. A bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and extremely confident-looking little satyr strode into the building. Her white-beige short hair, brown-red eyes and healthy tan - not to mention those ridonkulous boobs - made it very apparent that this was none other than the legendary Brandy! ... or, at least that's probably how she was seeing things, given the swagger in her movements.

She was wearing a different outfit again today. this time, she wore a white, long-sleeved shirt that showed off her shoulders... And... Either she was wearing a very, very micro-skirt, or she wasn't wearing anything at all below her waist, aside from those black panties that had been clearly
vissible the first time she showed up at the hall in her really, really revealing outfit. No matter the glares, stares, murmurs or reactions of her peers though, as soon as the satyress spotted Alice, her smiling face lit up even more, with eyes dazzling like the sun.

"Al!"

With bouncing noise, and bouncing bounces, she bounced over to where her friend-of-two-whole-quests was standing. Grabbing the other girls hands (paws?) and excitedly bobbing up and down, as if she was raising and lowering herself on her tippy-toes... Even though she didn't have toes... Well, not toes-toes, just hoof-toes...

"What's up? Ya lookin' like yerself today, girl. None of that silver-highlights-stuff ya pulled last night. Gonna be hundred-percent with you, you 'totes rock this look waaaaaaay better, Al. So wha'cha up to? Wait, where's that fat-tailed-chick that's usually lazing over at the desk? She not here yet? Maa-haa-haa~! What a slacker!"

She was, as per usualy, full of energy today too.

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

Mammonie had a mixed expression on her face as she watched the little angel-nightmare fall to the ground and dissolve into sparkly particles. she looked both relieved and annoyed at the same time. Probably because, for all the trouble that that thing had caused, it went down surprisingly easily. Also, the fact that she had just heard a robotic voice inside her head, and manifested her game avatar's weapons, were still something tat felt a bit surreal and hard to digest. However, the avarice demon had no time to stand around and daydream, as the elven paladin - carrying an unconscious Cruella - came stumbling up to her side, slinging elated praise her way.

"I... Dunno... I wished really hard for a way to fight, and then I heard a robot's voice i my head." She paused and blinked, before realizing something important. "Oh, right. A robot's kinda like... Uh... A golem, I guess? Anyway. It spoke some kind of technobabble and then POOF! My magigun appeared right into my hand, right outta nowhere." She pasued again, looking down at the elaborate fusion of technology and magical artifice resting in her hand.

It was an odd sensation, to be sure. She could almost feel her items, well, the ones she had kept on her character at the moment of being pulled into the computer, at least. It was like they were in a big... ethereal... omnipresent trunk or grocery bag, and she knew exactly where everything was, despite it being nowhere and everywhere at the same time. It was, put it mildly, really bewildering and actually a bit nauseating, for it was a feeling and sensation that was completely alien to her mind. She could p0robably make use of it again if she tried, but right at this moment the golden lady didn't feel like faffing about with hammerspace-dimension-shennanigans.

"Huh. Good to see that you two survived. I'd be royally screwed if you guys bit the dust." Mammonie then added, a bit nonchalantly and perhaps a bit more pragmatically than was socially polite. "Anyway, this little fellow is called Chromecalibur. It's a magigun and one of my two main weapons. Wait. sorry, do you know what a gun is to begin with? Bah, it's too much hassle to go into details! It shots magic. Think of it as ... Uh, what's a good comparison...? It's a ... Wand... That's... Not a wand... ... ... ... You know what? Let's go to that cave you mentioned, okay?" It was apparently not her strong suit to explain things, and using game-jargin and terminology that possibly didn't exist in this world was probably not gonna help any.

There was another thing nagging at her core though. The feeling she had gotten after the angel-baby had died. that strange sensation of having performed physical activity, when she really hadn't... And the strange surge that came after... Had she just gained some kind of power, or boost? Was this what 'experience points' felt like to 'absorb' or 'gain'!? But wait.. She was max level, so how could she gain any EXP? That didn't make a lick of sense!

As she followed Vani, who had once more checked her out with a not-so-casual-gawking, along the snowy terrain, Mammonie couldn't help but be preoccupied with all of this weirdness that kept cropping up. The most noteworthy of cousre being that she was frickin' Mammonie! A game-character! How was any of this even remotely possible!? One minute, she's sitting at home infront of the PC, sipping a cup of coffee and lazily playing MOFU, and the next she's stuck in Not-Canada fighting flying death-babies in the bod' of a fictional avatar of her own creation! She rubbed her temple with her free hand, letting out a small sigh. She then looked over at the draconic woman in the paladin's arms.

"She gonna be alright? For that matter, are you hanging in theret? Looked like both of ya took a really nasty beating to that thing. Which reminds me... What the heck was that thing anyway? You guys get a lot of flying, murderous babies in this world or what?"