[Log Started] [Scene: The High School. A new school day has just started, and it's that most fun of days at school, White Day. People are opening their lockers to find cards and gifts from all thier admirers, as usual.] [Well, most kids, anyway. The geeks and outcastes, of course, get NOTHING!!!] [The game begins as our heroes enter the school, likely eagerly anticipating letters, presents, and chocolate. Or not.] [Session Start] * Daphne strolls in, yawning. * The halls are filled with racket, as usual, as people converse excitedly about tests, presents, and cute people of whatever gender. * Amy walks in, all smiles and sunshine. * Ichi walks to his locker and manages to get it to open on the second try. * Cara walks happily over to her locker and opens it, peeking inside with a hopeful expression. * Amy walks on over to her locker, and opens it up. * Inside Ichi's locker is a small pile of cards, a box of chocolates, and a nicely wrapped, larger box. * Daphne swaggers over to her locker, fiddling with the lock, and eventually getting it open. * Inside Cara's locker is a single card, on top of which sits a larger, nicely wrapped box. * Shiho walks to her locker and opens it apathetically. Oooh. * Cara examines the card. * Amy's locker holds not a single card, but a small plush puppy and a nicely wrapped box. Oooh! * Amy looks at the cute plush puppy. * Shiho's locker fairly explodes with cards, chocolates, and a single large package among the smaller ones. @_@ * Shiho falls under an avalance of cards. @_@ * Ichi opens his locker and finds the small pile of cards "Death threat, Death threat... Why do they think I'd 'even think about Sarah'?" Daphne's locker holds a small steel flask, a small bag of peppermints, and a nicely wrapped box. * Amy squeezes the plush puppy.. and then looks at the nice box. * The puppy squeaks. * Daphne grins. "Good. No cards this year." * Shiho pulls herself out of the pile and frowns. "Why does this happen every year?" * The box is a fairly large one, nicely wrapped, and labeled with Amy's name. * Daphne takes the flask and opens it, taking a whiff of whatever's inside. * Ichi continues through the cards and finds one from Sarah. * Amy rips off the wrapping. * The flask is filled with pretty good quality US whiskey. * Cara reads the card. * Daphne grins, puts the cap back on and slips it into one of her pockets. * Cara's card is a hand illustrated one, from one of the members of the Comic Club, as usual. * Daphne takes the peppermints and puts them in her backpack, and then proceeds to scrutinize the box. * Amy's wrapping flies off the box, to reveal a jewelry box. Too large for a ring, though. * Cara smiles softly at the card, then unwraps the box. Hmm? That's weird.. * Amy opens the box. * Ichi shrugs and places the cards inside his bag. He then looks at the box. "I wonder how they managed to get this in here." * All the boxes are alike, for reference. * Daphne puts her ear to the side of the box and shakes it. She then proceeds to unwrap it, tossing the wrapping carelessly onto the floor as she does so. * Shiho picks up the assorted materials and begins sorting then, eager to clean up the mess before the bell rings. She scans the cards as she does so. Then the packages. * Inside each box is a small silver and gold necklace, with a small golden padlock for a pendant. * Inside each box is a note, and all are different, so give the poor narrator a chance to type, eh? * Daphne picks up the necklace and frowns at it, and refrains from doing anything else for te sake of the Narrator. Wow. This is pretty. * Ichi takes a bite of chocolate while wondering what's in the box. * Amy's note reads: "Dear Amy, wear this necklace today, keep this puppy, and think of me. A. Turco." * It is worth noting that Alexander Turco is quite possibly the best looking boy in school, bar none. * Cara opens the box and looks wonderingly at the necklace inside. "Beautiful..." ... Wow! * Amy smiles and puts on the necklace. * Cara's note reads: "Cara, I've been watching you since you arrived this year. I'm not very good at art, but perhaps I could learn, from you. Please let me be your little samurai. Jiro Sanada." * Jiro Sanada, for those who don't know, is the captain of the kendo team, and second only to Alex Turco in looks. * Cara gets all starry eyed as she finishes reading the note. She clasps her hands around the note and holds it to her chest, sighing happily. * Note, the notes are all attached to the necklaces, as they're the gift. * Daphne's note reads: "Daphne, Enjoy the whiskey, it was hard to get. Maybe we can go out drinking sometime? Shaun Sullivan" * Shaun Sullivan is widely known as the badboy of the school. He's the guy you go to for dirty deeds done dirt cheap. * Daphne grins. * Cara slowly puts the necklace on. * Ichi's note reads: "Ichi-chan, wear this necklace and think of me! I'll be cheering for you at the next kendo meet! - Lisa Milkowski" * Daphne looks at the necklace, shrugs, and puts in on, tucking it under her shirt. * Lisa Milkowski is the head cheerleader, and a stereotypical bubble headed blonde, by all indications. * Daphne looks either way to check for authority figures who are nearby. * Amy gives her plushie puppy another squeeze. * Ichi thinks "I must find someway to repay her for this." and then puts on the necklace. * There are no authority figures in sight. * Daphne pulls the flask out, unscrews the top, takes a swig, and then closes it up and puts it back in her pocket. * Shiho's note reads: "Shiho, I'm not very good at the whole romance thing. Maybe we can get together sometime, and work on our shooting? - Kensuke Miharu" O.o * Kensuke Miharu is, for lack of a better term, the military nut of the school. He's also a god of paintball. * He regularly takes on groups of ten and twenty people, alone, and wins. * Shiho frowns, but puts on the necklace anyhow. "It must've cost him a good deal. I guess I should wear it..." * Shiho looks through some of the other packages. * Shaun sidles up behind Shiho and looks over her shoulder. * Shiho notices the shadow and turns around sharply. * Shaun whispers into Shiho's ear. "Strange... I know for a fact that Kensuke's never done anything of the sort before... you must have impressed him." ... Why do you care? I don't. ... I just collect information, and this is _prime_ information. I doubt it means anything. Kensuke taking interest in something not in a military uniform? It's _gotta_ mean something. And an underclassman, too. .... Maybe I'm just popular. * Shiho gestures to the other cards. Quite a collection you have there. Are any of them from Akiko? I haven't finished sorting through them yet. * The ten minute bell rings, and the halls begin to clear. Well, you best hurry, it's almost time for class. * Ichi puts his books for his first classes into his backpack. * Shaun slips off into the shadows, as is his wont. And you too. *** Shaun is now known as Wolfgang * Shiho hurriedly grabs up the cards and stuffs them into her bag. * Daphne closes her locker (hopefully bringing the right books with her) and swaggers off to class. * Amy puts the plushie into her backpack and runs off to class. * Alexander Turco mopes his way down a random hall, to his first class. * Shiho finishes, grabs her books, and heads to class. * Ichi walks to his class. * Cara gathers her books from her locker and places the box back inside, then heads off to class. * Amy wavewavewaves to Alexander! "Thanks for the necklace!" * Alex makes no response, or indication that he even notices Amy. * Other people, on the other hand, notice, and the gossip starts. * Amy blinks. "Uh. I said thanks!" * Alex mopes his way into his classroom, radiating angst, as usual. ... * Amy blinks. ".. Why didn't he say anything?" -> *Amy* Alex _was_ wearing a necklace, though.... a silver one, with what looked like a key as a pendant... * The final bell rings, making Amy late for class. But.. Gah! * Amy runs for class. * And so the day passes uneventfully, until school is dismissed an hour early, for a mandatory pep rally, to worship the School Spirit. * The ceremony begins, as usual, with the cheerleaders. Notably, however, the head cheerleader is missing. * Daphne watches with disinterest. * Ichi looks around for Lisa. * Also missing are the captains of the kendo team, football team, and basketball team. * Ichi also looks for Sanada-sempai. * Shiho stands aside with the rest of the kyudo team, dressed in a hakama. * Cara blinks as she notices the absence of Jiro. * The whole ceremony feels strange to you. Like static building in the air. a feeling of power. But...where...? * Daphne wonders if their absence is related to that of the head cheerleader, and chuckles. * It feels somehow different from the boosted morale of a pep rally. More... arcane, somehow. * Amy looks around, noticing all the mysterious people. * Daphne continues watching, just a bit more interested, now. * Amy looks around, wondering at the weird atmosphere. * As the rally continues, and you scan the crowds, it becomes more apparent. Certain people who would normally be a the rally just aren't there. * Cara shivers, just a little. * Shiho starts talking with some of the other members of her team. Hmm. Wonder why so many people are missing.. * The feeling of power continues to build in the air. * Ichi asks the student next to him if he's seen Sanada. * Nobody really seems to notice anything wrong, except for the five of you. * Amy looks curiously around.. she squeezes her plush puppy once. * Daphne frowns, and starts to get nervous. * All five of you begin to feel... a little woozy. Almost intoxicated, but not as pleasant a feeling. Oooh. I don't feel so good.. * None of the people around you seem to notice. * Shiho rubs her forehead and looks at her obvlious teammates. * Cara puts a hand to her head. "Uhh..." * Your vision becomes cloudy, blurred. * Daphne sways a bit. * Ichi holds his head. "Did I eat something bad for breakfast?" * Amy blinks her eyes, trying to remove the blurring.. * Your vision goes dark, and you have the strangest sensation, like you're falling without wind. * Cara rubs her eyes. * You fall for what seems an interminably long time, and then you land, without any pain. The ground beneath your back is rough, and you can hear leaves crackling, birds singing, and wind rustling through the branches of a forest. * Your eyes are all closed. * Amy tries to open her eyes. * Amy opens her eyes, as the GM isn't gonna try to stop her. * Amy looks around. * Ichi mutters something about never trying to cook again. * Cara opens her eyes and looks around. * Shiho opens her eyes and sits up. * Daphne opens her eyes with a flutter. "...the fuck?" Wow... * Ichi sits up, and looks around. * Daphne stries to stand. * Amy tries to stand up. * You appear to be in a large decidious forest. Wow. This place is beautiful! -> *Cara* Your necklace is gone. * Ichi sits and looks up at the trees "Where am I?" * Amy smiles and looks around. "Wow! .. Where am I?" * Daphne wanders over to the nearest tree and rubs it, just to be sure it's actually there. * Shiho pulls herself to her feet. "Where... Where is this?" * Cara feels at her neck. "...gone?" * Now that Cara has mentioned it, all of your necklaces are gone. Hell if I know. * Descriptions, please. * Amy looks down. "Hey! My necklace is gone!" * Shiho feels at her neck. "Was I robbed?" * Amy's necklace is not gone, now that she looks for it... It's there. But she couldn't feel it, as it has apparently become a tattoo on her neck. * The same tattoo appears around each person's neck. * Ichi doesn't notice untill he hears the others exclaim. * The tattoo looks just like the necklace would, if it was a part of your skin. * Shiho is a pretty cute Japanese girl with short brown hair and brown eyes. She's currently wearing a hakama. This is weird.. * Amy is a pretty, short, cute girl with red hair. She is wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt at the moment. * Shiho feels at her neck. "What the... What is this?" * Amy pokes at her neck. "This is really weird." * The forest around you goes quiet. * Cara is a pretty caucasian girl with wide green eyes and chin length purple hair. She's wearing a grey sweater and a blue skirt. -> *Amy* The animals are scared. * Amy looks around. ".. Something is scaring the animals.." * Daphne looks down at her new tattoo. She is a tall, Scottish-American girl with deep green eyes and blonde hair, a very pretty face, and an attractive figure. She wears jeans and a loose t-shirt, along with a pair of sneakers. * Ichi is a young half-Japanese, half-American boy. If he were any more in the short hair bishounen catagory there would be sparkies following him around. He's currently wearing black jeans and a white shirt. Next to him is a large backpack, with a wrapped bokken sticking out of it. Wow...it's so pretty here... Wherever here is. C'mon, we need to move. Figure out where we are. ... How'd we get here, anyhow? * Amy looks around. "I wonder.. what scared them." Us, hopefully. * Ichi stands, and picks up his backpack. "I have no idea." * Cara gets to her feet. Because if something else scared them, then we might be in trouble. Exactly. Let's go. So.. where are we? And how did we get here? * A humanoid figure appears out of the shadows behind Ichi. It is roughly six and a half feet tall, and looks vaguely human, except that its face more resembles a pig, with the pig nose and tusks like a boar. * Daphne checks to make sure her whiskey is still there before checking for other, less important things. * Daphne blinks. "Uhm." * PigMan is holding a short metal sword in one hand, and carrying a small shield in the other. ... * Shiho jusmps back, startled. "Wh...What the heck is that?!" What? * Cara blinks. "Wow, cool!" W.. what on Earth is that? Uh, H'lo, I guess? * PigMan grunts a little and gestures downward with the sword. ...down! On ground! * Ichi turns around and starts. "H hello?" Uh...okay... Err. Ok. Sure. ^_^; * Cara gets down on the ground, looking quite confused. * Amy lies down on the ground. Money! Give money! * PigMan beats his sword against his shield. * Amy looks in her pockets and backpack to see what kind of money she has. * Ichi blinks, and opens his wallet. * Daphne blinks. "Money?" She checks to see if she has any cash on her. Um...I don't have any with me. ^_^;; * Shiho is currently wearing her hakama. No pockets ;_; MONEY! * Ichi pulls out a twenty, a five, and a couple of ones. "This is all I've got, sorry." * PigMan shakes his sword at the group. * PigMan approaches Ichi slowly and takes the money in one hand. * PigMan sniffs the bills. If there was an ATM around here I could get you more. * PigMan drops the bills to the ground. Money! Give! * Shiho takes another step back. But...what's wrong with his money? Gold moneys! Silver moneys! Copper moneys too! Moneys not green leaf! * Ichi blinks "I thought that was money. Do you want Yen or some ...oh" I don't think we have the right kind of money.. ...no moneys? * Daphne shrugs. "Sorry. Don't have any of that." * Shiho looks at Amy. "Why did you say that?!" I'm sorry! * Ichi pulls ¢15 out of a pocket "Like this?" Moneys! * PigMan grabs for the coins. * Ichi lets him take it. * PigMan looks at the little coins. More moneys! You give! * Daphne glances around. Why would you take coins and not paper money?::digs through his other pockets:: Perhaps he likes the shinyness of the coins? * Shiho looks around frantically for a way to escape, or for something that could be used as a weapon. He looks like...an Orc...are we in some other world? He said gold and silver, so wherever 'this' is, I doubt they're big on paper currency. You're in a forest. There's deadfall for clubs, if you want it, and plenty of ways to run. You pay! * PigMan waddles over to Daphne. Or I take pretty girl and get moneys! Y'know, I really don't like the tone of that remark. What?! Pretty girl sell good! Lots of moneys! Hey, that's not a nice thing to say. Make good con-conk-conka.... whore! ... ... * Shiho bends down and grabs a makeshift club. This guy is very unpleasent. >_< You...you... * Ichi drops his backback and unwraps his bokken. * PigMan waves his sword at Ichi. Stupid little pretty man! * Daphne frowns and fishes around in her right pocket. "Uh-huh. Well, as much as I'd love to be a whore, I'm afraid I'll have to turn down that offer." You no sell good! How much could you sell this for? Wood sword no sell good! * Daphne pulls out a set of brass knuckles and slips them onto her right hand, flexing her fingers twice before forming a tight fist. Ahh, that's too bad. * PigMan does not consider Daphne a combatant, and has left himself wide open. * Ichi kneels down and looks through his stuff. * Daphne sucker-punches the guy, delivering a blow up into his diaphragm (hopefully). * PigMan catches Daphne's punch on his shield, as he was more ready than he let on. * Cara gasps. O_O Hey!? * Daphne smirks. "Cute move, ugly." * PigMan whirls and stabs at Daphne with his short sword. * PigMan slices across Daphne's arm, leaving a nasty bloody slice from the slightly serrated edge. Oh no! * Daphne hisses in pain. "Son of a bitch!" * Cara gasps in horror. O_O * Shiho screams, turns, and runs into the forest, droping her makeshift club as she does so. * Amy stays on the ground and covers her head with her hands, trying to avoid being noticed. * Cara runs into the forest, completely terrified. * Daphne backs away quickly from piggy, not caring to invite another slash from that sword. * Ichi showes the pig a gold dollar and throws it away from where everybody is running to (distract!) O_O * PigMan chases off after the gold piece! * PigMan suddenly stops, and turns around slowly. * Ichi runs * PigMan falls over dead, from the arrow lodged in his throat. * Daphne blinks. * Ichi stops running * Amy blinks. "W.. what happened?" * Daphne looks around. "Uhm. Nice shot, whoever that was." * Man hops down out of a tree and lands next to Daphne. * Man is an incredibly beautiful man, moreso than anyone you've ever seen in your life. Strangely, his ears have large point on them, like a vulcan. Thank you, sir. * Daphne blinks. "H'lo. Thanks for the save there." * Shiho peeks out from her hiding spot behind a tree. * Amy slowly stands up. "Thanks for saving us... " * Man speaks, in a strangely melodic voice, "It was no problem. Greengaard does not suffer orcs to practice banditry in its woods." * Cara is still off in the trees somewhere, gasping for breath. * Shiho sighs in relief and approaches the group again. Greenaard? Is that where we are? Greengaard is a town, just to the west. Well, that's awful good of 'em. I love Greengaard already. A town? Yes. * Cara doesn't hear any screaming, and comes sneaking back to the rest of the group. You seem... disoriented. * Shiho thinks of her geography classes, trying to place it. And failing miserably. This place sure is lovely.. Indeed. I try my best to keep it so. * Man notices Daphne's wound. That's probably because we are. * Cara sees the lack of Orc, and comes running out of the forest. "You're all still okay!" Ah, you've been hurt, m'lady. * Man bends down and pokes lightly at Daphne's wound, searching for something. Huh? Oh, I am. Piggy there got me with his sword. * Daphne winces as her wound is poked. * Man nods once, satisfied. "There is no poison. I will do what I can, young miss." * Ichi digs to the bottom of his bag and unveils his med kit, "Are you any good with these things?" * Daphne tries not to look at her wound. "Thanks." * Man singsongs a few words in a strange language, and places his hand over the wound. When he takes his hand away, the wound looks as though it has been healing for days, and is nearly healed completely. O.o ... Wow. How'd you do that? Wow...I guess you don't need it.::puts it away:: WOW! Magic! * Daphne looks back at the wound, now. "Hey, nice." 'tis magic, m'lady. How else? * Daphne moves her arm slowly. A minor magic, to be sure. I am no magus, nor a priest. * Cara looks at the man. "Did you kill the monster? Thank you!" Magic? That's... Uh huh. Magic? Wow! Neat! * Shiho stops to think a minute. "That's not all the surprising, considering. * Daphne thinks about that. Who are you, that you do not know of magic? Lost mostly. Lost? How could you get so near Greengaard without knowing of magic, at least a little? I was at a pep rally, but then I didn't feel too good. I went to sleep and woke up here. I wish I knew. Yeah, lost. What, uh, region are we in? A... pep rally? Yeah, you know. To show school spirit. ...school? You were wizards in training, but know naught of magic? * Cara thinks a bit, then smiles widely. Well, about that... There isn't any magic where we come from. Not that I know of, anyway. * Ichi nods Then why did you attend school? Wizards? No, we were in High School... I didn't even know they had wizard schools. Come to think of it, magic's prolly how we got here. Not our magic, mind, but someone else's. To learn math and science and stuff. They don't teach magic in the school. Math? Science? if there is no magic, what need for a school? So you can learn things, and become smarter and get a fun job! I...I'm not sure, but I think we're from a different world than this. Um. I could be wrong, though. A... different... world? * Ichi holds up his bokken "to learn other things?" As crazy as it sounds... Well, we don't have pigmen there, and no magic... No, it is not... crazy. It is just... unusual. Who summoned you, demons? * Cara blinks. * Man backs away from the group. I don't know. I don't think so... No! ... At least... I don't think... Then again... I don't know. * Daphne shrugs. "I dunno." Demon? I'm a human...or at least I was when I left. ::checks to see if he's grown a tail or horns:: Human? Humans do not reside on the other planes. Only demons, summoned here through vile rituals. * Cara feels at her neck. "I got this necklace a little while before, but when we came here, it was gone. And...I'm not a demon. ... Our pep rally was a vile ritual? ;_; What is this... pep rally? I thought it was kinda nice actually. Nope, still a human. * Daphne thinks of something, and shakes her head. Does it involve a sacrifice? No. Nonono! Not that kind of other plane! It's another world like this, but not the same! You... are very strange people. * Daphne nods. "I agree whole-heartedly." Still, you do not radiate the otherworldly evil of most infernal spawn. That's good to hear. * Ichi nods again. I shall reserve judgement for Louis. He will be able to make a final verdict. Louis? Louis? (Hey, why not.) Louis? A priest. If you truly are infernal spawn of evil, he will know. * Daphne nods. "Alright. Let's go meet this Louis fellow, then, shall we?." * Cara nods. * Shiho nods. Sounds good to me! He should be able to clear this up, then. ^_^ Very well, gather your things, and we shall go to Greengaard for your judgement. Ok, let me find my money first though. I don't have anything. * Daphne puts her knuckles away, and gets her backpack. * Cara is still wearing her backpack. * Amy is also wearing her backpack. * Shiho left her backpack in her locker, with everything else :P Your clothing, your manner, even your equipment is strange. * Man begins marching through the forest, and the animals begin to come out again. * Shiho follows. -> *Amy* You're feeling a slight pull, but you're not sure what it is. * Ichi gives up the search for the dollar coin and follows the man. * Amy looks around curiously.. * Daphne smirks. "Yes, well." She follows the man, looking around with interest. * Cara follows the man, still with a big smile on her face as she takes in the scenery. I love this place! It's so pretty, and there are so many cute animals! * Man leads the group through the forest for an hour or so, and emerges onto a dirt road. I'm glad you like it. We do our best to keep it a nice place. I've never known a demon who could appreciate nature. And you still don't! ^_^ * Man begins leading the way down the road, presumably toward the town of Greengaard. * Ichi points to himself, says "Human" and then trips over part of nature and falls on his face. * Man chuckles. * Cara lets out another happy sigh. It's a nice enough place, sure. I just wish I knew how I got here. * Ichi gets back up, "Olmost made it through a day...what time is it anyway?" * Daphne chuckles. Eh? About four hours past high sun. High Sun? Noon? Noon? Yeah! You know! Noon! No... I don't. * Cara whispers to Amy. "He won't get it." ... Oh. Sorry! * Daphne smirks. When the sun is right overhead? Noon in our world is where the sun is at its peak. HIgh sun. 'Xactly. Do any of you have more clothing? I left my uniform back in the locker at school... I would hate to have you lynched before I could get you to Louis for judgement. No. ;_;. I didn't expect to be lost in a forest today. Back in my....no I don't. The only way to explain how scantily you ladies are dressed is by telling people you're demons. But if I do, they'll likely lynch you on the spot. ... Scantily? Er, lynched? ...oh. What, am I showing too much arm? That would be bad. The one there, *points at Shiho* is appropriately dressed, though strangely. * Cara looks down at her legs. "Eep." * Shiho blinks. "Eh?" She looks down at herself and shrugs. But you, *points at Amy*, are showing far too much leg, as is that other. * points at Cara* ... But shorts are comfy and easy to wear. Um...sorry. This is normal where we come from. ^_^;; So, ... say, I don't think I cought your name, sir. Well, I suppose I could call you adventurers, but you hardly look the part, aside from the scandalous clothing... only one of you has a weapon at all, really, and that is a wooden practice blade. Ehe * Cara turns a bit red from embarassment. Oh, my name? Alric. Alric Magnus, chief ranger of Greengaard. Alright, Alric. Is my attire tollerable, or should I see to coverin' my arms? Eh... don't worry about it, for now. I suppose we'll burn that bridge when we come to it. -> *Amy* The tugging is still there, a strange pull into the woods around you. * Daphne nods. "Sounds good to me." * Amy looks around again. "What.. is that?" What is what? Is what?::looks:: Don't you feel that? Huh? * Shiho blinks. Feel what? * Some time later, the forest gives way to farmland. Men are working the fields with medieval equipment and techniques. No, I don't. What are you feeling, girl? It's like something is pulling at me. Pulling you? Where? Uhm. Considering what we just went through, that has me worried. Maybe it's just a dream and she's waking up. Feels like it's coming from the woods.. A pull, into the woods? Any particular direction? -> *Amy* Yes, there is a direction. You mean...the woods we just left? This probibly isn't good is it? Yes.. * Amy points at the woods. ... Well, that settles it, and without even going to Louis. Uh? I doubt any demon could ever hear the call of the wild. What do you mean? .. Call of the wild? Beg y'pardon? ...oh. Call...of the wild? Isn't that a book? Eh? * Daphne chuckles at that. A book? No. A spell. A.. spell? It's how druids find each other. Like a magical lighthouse. Ah ha. I suggest you seek it out, when you've time. Alfred will want to see you. Souunds usefull. ... Who's Alfred? Alfred is the local druid. Considers the woods to be his. A bit reclusive, but a nice enough fellow. Oh, he looks the woods too? He must be nice then! Ooh. Neat. * Alric continues walking all this time, and soon the walls of a town come in to sight. * Amy looks back towards the woods for a second, then looks at the town. * Daphne mulls that over. * Shiho points out the obvious. * Greengaard is a fairly large town, by medieval standards. It has an eight foot high wall encircling the city for defense, with two gates on opposite sides of the town. * Daphne hums. Nice... * The city lacks a keep of any sort, but there are more than a few buildings that rise several stories above the wall. Nice place. I'm so glad you like it. * Shiho nods in agreement. Looks nice. If anybody asks you, you're adventurers from a far away land. Ok! You were captured by orcs and rescued, and that's why you don't have any of your gear. Sounds good to me. I'd thought up much the same excuse, actually. Okay! That is true, though. You'll be free to go where you want, but I suggest you find jobs, or some way to make money. Partially, yes. Hmmm... Jobs? I wonder if they need a vet? Say... You said you're the head ranger, right? Yes. And what, pray tell, is a vet? Would I be able to join? I'm pretty good with a bow... Someone who takes care of animals. Ah, a druid. I suggest you talk to Alfred. Just follow the call of the wild, and you can't go wrong. As for the rangers... ah... * Alric blushes cutely. * Daphne raises an eyebrow and smirks. I'm... er... the head ranger... mainly becausetherearen'tanyothers. So.. a Druid is a vet.. I see.. ... Oh. But still... I can't really do much else. What about me? There has to be something I can do, right? *looks at Alric hopefully* If the lot of you want to take up adventuring as a profession... well, the world can always use more adventurers... It's dangerous, though. I'm sure you'll all be able to find something to do. But if we don't, we might not find a way back home. If you do decide to go adventuring, though... I still suggest you stay here for a few months and learn what you can... * Daphne thinks. "I doubt there's much call for commercial artistry, here. Maybe I could get some work in a bar, or tavern, or whatever they call it in these parts." Ah, you'd make an excellent tavern wench. If you don't mind me saying so. *blush* * Daphne chuckles. "Thanks, I guess." * Ichi thinks out loud "I'm not a good enough fighter to get a job that way...perhaps a job working for a builder? No, I'd break something...uhm" * Daphne grins. "Oh, not at all." A number of the current residents of Greengaard were adventures at one time or another. Many of them have things they could teach you, if you only ask. * Ichi starts digging through his bag looking for inspiration. * You near the gates of Greengaard. OOI! Who goes there? Gary, it's me! Open up the gates, I've rescued some adventurers. * Gary motions, and two strapping young lads open the gates, while staring openly at Amy and Cara, especially at their legs. ... * Amy notices the stare and blushes. * Cara blushes deeply and tries to hide behind someone else. * Shiho says very quickly. "Um, they were captured!" I told you ladies... long, shapely legs, completely uncovered... *blush* * Ichi finds himself between Cara and the men. By orcs, who dressed like that so they could sell them. * Daphne opens her backpack and fishes around. * Alric tears his eyes away from Daphne's legs. * Alric strolls in through the gates. * Daphne notices and grins. * Shiho follows rather quickly. * Daphne follows, sauntering along. * Amy takes one last glace back at the forest and follows. * Ichi walks through the gates. * Cara follows quickly, trying to keep her legs out of sight. * You walk slowly through the streets of Greengaard, with the girls getting more than their share of lecherous stares, while the occasional girl waves shyly to Ichi. * Ichi smiles back at them. * Daphne ignores the atention. She's not even wearing shorts. * Daphne still gets lots of attention, as she's a hottie. * Daphne waves to all the nice lechers. * Shiho probably isn't getting much attention in the first place, being neither incredibly hot or scantily clad :P * This is true. * Alric leads the group to a small one story ranch style house, marked with a lion, rampant, over crossed swords. * Alric bangs on the door. Lawrence! Open up! * Daphne notes the standard and hums. * Lawrence opens the door. Whaddaya want, Alric? * Lawrence is an immense man, easily seven feet tall, bald, with a full beard. He wears a smith's apron. Behind him, on the wall, you can see a sword and shield bearing the same device as the door. Who did you bring now? Can't you see I'm busy? * Ichi admires the metal working it took to get something that complex legdable on a sword on the other side of a room Busy, busy, busy. The iron can wait, o great mayor. * The sword is a greatsword, and is nearly six inches across at the hilt, where the engraving is. The gold inlay also stands out quite nicely against the silver of the blade. * Cara blinks. "Mayor?" He's the Mayor? Yep. Such as he is. Something wrong with that? Why are you bringing harlots to my door, Alric? * Cara blushes beet red. * Amy blushes. Er, they're not harlots, Lawrence... They're adventurers... sort of. * Daphne chuckles. ehrm...yeah They say they're from another world, but aren't demons. And I don't think they are because the less red one over there heard Alfred's call of the wild. ... Fine. * Lawrence looks over the group. Get in here. * Lawrence steps back from the door. * Daphne doesn't argue with the seven-foot guy, and steps inside. I'll just be going now, Lawrence. * Alric beats a hasty retreat. * Amy steps in. * Shiho enters. * Ichi walks in and looks around * Cara steps inside. * The inside of the house is more forge than home. It's incredibly hot in the house, from the forge fire roaring in one corner. Half of the back wall isn't there, apparently to let heat out from the forge, and racks of weapons, barrels of nails, some light suits of armor, and various other tools line the walls. Coooool... * Lawrence gestures to a large table across from the forge. Wow. It's hot in here.. Everybody sit down. * Daphne looks around. "Nice place." * Daphne has a seat. * Amy listens to the large man and sits down. * Shiho takes a seat. * Cara takes a seat. Now, I want you to talk, and I don't want you to stop talking until I have the whole story. I'm smarter than poor Alric, so dont' think you can pull the wool over my eyes. O.o ... K. * Ichi sits down and looks at Lawrences' tools. We were in school, and I got a pretty necklace from Alex, but then he didn't pay any attention when I tried to thank him. You were in school. What kind of school? High School. * Shiho considers how best to phrase her first sentence... The sighs and gives up. Are you wizards in training? They don't teach magic where we come from. No. School is where we go to learn math and science and history and things like that. Math? You know your numbers? * Shiho nods. And how to write. Pretty well. I don't get the best grades.. but I'm pretty good! I can speak 2 languages... And you can read and write? That'll make it easier for you to find work. People can always use scribes. Now, why are you here? ... I don't know. I wish I knew. No idea. I don't know! We fell asleep, and woke up in the forest. I'm not even sure how we got here. My guess is that someone wanted to bring us here. We didn't exactly have a choice in the matter. It just sort of...happened. I got dizzy, passed out, and woke up in that forest. I see. And my necklace was gone. Kinda. So you were summoned, but when you arrived, the summoner wasn't there. ...you lost a necklace too? Unusual, but not unheard of. * Amy nods. "Kinda." * Cara blinks. "Kinda?" * Amy shows Cara her neck. See, it's.. kinda still there. * Cara blinks. * Ichi wonders if he has the same thing, as he can't quite see his own neck. * Cara pulls down the collar of her sweater so that her neck is more visible. "Did it happen to me, too?" * Amy looks. * Strangely enough, everybody has an identical tattoo. Yeah. Looks like a bond of servitude, to me. * Daphne hums. "I have one, too. I noticed it back when we arrived, but that guy with the pig-face kind of distracted me from it." ...that's really strange. But it...servitude? ...A what? .. servitude? To who? * Daphne frowns. "Servitude?" It's used to bind someone to your service. Wizards use it to bind slaves and summoned demons. ... I'm not a demon! Really! Alexander gave this necklace to me. Hmm...but the wizard wasn't there... I'm not saying you're a demon, girl. ... That means... probably. Most likely it was a magical accident, by some lackwit wizard. * Shiho shakes her head. That means you're stuck here, until you find some way to leave. Stuck? * Cara looks sad. "So then...Jiro didn't send this to me." * Daphne frowns. "I don' much like the thought of being a slave." * Shiho looks at Cara. "Then who did?" ... But.. who then? I mean... If you think about it, someone sent us the packages. * Cara looks at Shiho. "Uh...whoever summoned us?" * Ichi nods at Daphne. We were set up. We sure were. That sucks. The cards too... There's no way it could've been an accident. So what are you intending to do about it? But why would Lisa do something like this? * Shiho looks back at the big man. "I'm... not sure." We find the guy or girl and make him send us home! If my guess is right, we weren't summoned. We were sent here. Really now.. * Daphne shrugs. "What can we do, really?" magical exile? ...I could be wrong. Why would they exile me? I didn't do anything wrong! But it seems to make sense... * Shiho shakes her head. "I guess it doesn't much matter right now." That would mean...there's magic in our world too! Really? Neat! For all the good it does us. So are you going to try to get back? I don't know about the others, but I am... Yes, my family is there. * Amy nods. "I gotta get back to my mom. She'll worry about me if I don't." Good. I like to see kids with drive. First lesson you gotta learn, this is a dangerous world. So we've noticed. If you go off half cocked, you're going to die. * Cara nods. "I have to get back home...but this place is nice, too." ... So what do we do? Yeah, I kind of figured that out when the pig-man cut me. Second lesson you need to learn, the multiverse is big. There are an infinite number of worlds out there, and you're likely going to have to search most of them. Multi... what? ...then why did Alric say that all the other planes were full of demons? .. Multiverse? Everything that is, girl. the multiverse. Ah ha. Lots of different realities out there, across the planes. The planes are what connect all the worlds together. Multiverse..? .... You're... Not from here, are you? Oh, I'm from this world. I've just been around the block a few times. Ah. I see. I was an adventurer, before I settled down here. Out on the planes, you'll find anything and everything you could ever hope or fear to find. Ahh. Good, evil, law, chaos, and everything in between. Now... first things first. Everybody who had something come with you from your world, put it on this table, now. If it's in a container, dump it out. * Shiho empties her pockets... oh wait, she has none. * Ichi starts to empty his backpack. * Amy empties her backpack onto the table. Out falls a stuffed penguin, a book of animals and various snack-treats. * Cara takes her backpack off and begins emptying it onto the table. Mostly schoolbooks, but also a sketchbook and miscellaneous drawing supplies. * A large pouch also falls from Amy's backpack. ... * Amy blinks. * Daphne empties her backpack, producing sketchpads, pencils, colored pencils, a flannel shirt that smells of smoke, and a small pouch. Hey. I don't remember THAT being in there. * Daphne blinks and opens the pouch. "Hum. Has coins in here." * Amy opens the pouch that fell out. What is this? * A number of coins rest in the pouch. * Ichi pulls out his bokken, stacks his books. and starts to empty his medkit. Wow. Where did this come from? * Daphne pours the coins carefully onto the table and counts them. "Neat." * Amy does the same thing. * Daphne's pouch contained 15 gold, 20 silver, and 25 copper. Lucky. I didn't get anything new in my bag. *pouts a little* *Amy's pouch contained 40 gold, 60 silver, and 50 copper. * Daphne grins. "Well, blessed saints. I'm not broke after all." Wow. Well, looks like you girls got yourselves a good nest-egg. You're rich, in fact. You could buy most of this town with that much money. Cool! .. I wonder where on earth it came from.. * Daphne grins. * Shiho empties her pouch an- oh wait, she has none. * Amy tries to remember where she could have gotten that pouch. * Daphne puts the money back. "I'm still gonna need a job, tho. I'd like to save my town-buying abilties for an emergency." Yeah. DOn't bother. Eh? I'll put the five of you up here for a few months, while you train. ... train? * Ichi holds up a quarter "Would this be worth anything here?" * Cara blinks. Train? * Lawrence takes the coin and eyes it critically... Train? What kind of training? * Daphne mulls that over and smiles. "Awful good of you, sir." Only to a fool. And yes, training. That's awfully nice of you. If you people intend to go adventuring to get home, you're going to need training. Thank you... If you go off half cocked, you're gonna die. Didn't I say this before? Ahh, thank you. Well. Thank you very much! There are lots of former adventurers in this town, from all walks of life. * Lawrence walks out into the backyard. Come here. All of you. * Shiho stands up and follows. * Cara follows Lawrence. * Amy puts her stuff away and follows Lawrence. * Daphne stands and follows. * Ichi puts his stuff back, and follows. * Daphne puts her stuff away first, tho, and takes it with her. Don' wanna forget that. * Lawrence points to a tower that must be at least six floors high. That there is the tower of Aldun. He's a wizard. Wow. A wizard... Out in the woods somewhere is Alfred. If you wanna take up the way of the wild, just follow the call of the wild. * Daphne whistles. "No guff?" * Cara looks at the tower in awe. I want to talk to that guy! He's a vet, and I bet he's nice. You wanna learn how to fight, you stay here with me. In my adventuring days, they called me Lawrence Lionslayer. I know how to use every weapon I've ever made, and I've killed lions with my bare hands. * Ichi nods. Wow. ... Why did you kill them? * Daphne grins. "I don't doubt it for a second." ...that's amazing. Because they attacked me in my sleep, girl. * Shiho nods. ... Oh. Lions are vicious creatures. But they are so cute! * Lawrence snorts. Uhm... In any case, for a different sort of magic, out in the woods is a woman named Marta. Marta Glasseye. She's a witch. A witch? She specializes in minor magics, household stuff, eliminating pests from the fields, things like that. She's also an accomplished sculptor and painter. Oooh. Just don't ask her to teach you a lovespell. Hmm. She'll dose you with cod liver oil if you do. She has... strong feelings about that sort of thing. * Daphne chuckles. You wanna learn the way of the woodsman, and archery, talk to Alric, you already know him. He's a little fool, but he's damn good with a bow. All elves are. It's in the blood, really, same as magic. If you feel the call to serve a higher power, you go talk to Louis, at the temple. * Lawrence points to a slightly smaller building than the wizard's tower. That's his cathedral. Pretty small, compared to the cities, but it works. * Daphne thinks. I don't see any of you really feeling the call to serve Selene, though. I can't speak for any of the other gods, as they dont' have temples here. Well? Any questions? I don't think so.. * Shiho shakes her head. Just one. Is there a bar or tavern or something around here? I'm a bit overwhelemed. ^_^; * Cara shakes her head. There's one tavern in Greengaard. The Swimming Dwarf tavern. It's got plenty of good alcohol, pretty good food, and good company. * Daphne nods. "That's lucky. I've had a bit of a day, y'see, and so I wanna go and get m'self good and properly drunk." ... Sounds good to me. Everybody should come, it's just about dinnertime. * Cara blinks at Daphne. Mmm! Dinner. * Ichi looks at Daphne in surprise. Food sounds good. We'll all get good and drunk, to celebrate your imminent training, and in the morning, you're all up bright and early to find your teachers. Err.. I don't drink. We're under age. Underage? * Daphne whoops happily. "Don't worry, Amy, I'll teach ye' how." * Amy nods. You've seen at least fifteen summers. You're fully developed. Too young, where we come from. * Shiho nods. Bah. You're in a different world now. ... Here, at fifteen summers, you're expected to either go adventuring, or marry and have a family. Well.. I still would prefer water. Or milk. ^_^; Not to be insulting or anything. Marry...at 15? I as well... It just doesn't seem right. * Cara nods. "I don't want to wake up feeling sick." ^_^;; If that's your preference, I won't force the alcohol down your throat, girl. * Daphne shakes her head sadly. Thanks. Come on, lets' go eat, drink, and be merry! Sounds good to me! * Lawrence leads the way down the streets to the Swimming Dwarf tavern. Well. Ok. Sounds good. I guess. * Amy follows after Lawrence. * Cara follows after everyone. * Shiho follows. Oi. We might wanna find these girls something to put around their legs, while we're out. * Ichi walks to the bar. ... I like shorts. Why are they so bad? ;_; Bah! You're adventurers now! Get used to the strange looks, and the lechers. Any unusual woman is going to be pawed wherever she goes, until she clocks someone to teach the rest manners. ... ... * Daphne shrugs. "Works for me." * Cara sweatdrops. It would. * The group arrives at the Swimming Dwarf and parties the night away. * The next morning, you wake up, back at Lawrence's place, at dawn. You're woken by the clang of metal on metal, as he bangs a hammer on his anvil to wake you up. Waa! * Amy sits up and rubs her eyes. "Wow. That sure makes a good alarm clock." * Daphne grimaces. "Och, m'haed." * Shiho yawns. "What time is it?" It's dawn. Time for you to go find your teachers. * Ichi wakes up and tries to turn off his alarm clock. Dawn? Wow. Move it along, people. I've got work to do, and you have teachers to find. * Shiho rubs her eyes. "Sounds like a plan." Err. Ok. * Daphne yawns and stretches. "Sure'n it is." She stands, and looks blearily around for something. "Uh... where's the restroom?" Chamber pot's in the water closet. Empty it down the hole when yer done. * Daphne blinks. "Oh, right." * Daphne goes and does that. Where would Alric be about this time? Probably at the wall, getting ready to leave. * Cara sits up. Better hurry. I.. I think I'm gonna go see that Alfred guy.. Good. You do that, girl. * Shiho nods and runs out the door. * Cara starts getting dressed. "How would I find that Marta woman?" * Amy yawns, grabs her backpack and waves. "I'm gonna go see the vet! Bye!" Go out the north gate, her cottage is right along the road. You'll know it by the bundles of herbs hanging out front. * Amy walks out the door, and starts for the forest. Sounds easy enough. I think I will stay here. If you are willing to take me as a student. * Daphne returns some time later. "So, Lawrence, you said you killed a lion with your bare hands. Can ye' teach me unarmed fighting, or is there someone else I should check with on tha'? Oh, I can teach you. It won't be fun, but I can teach you. * Cara finishes dressing and runs out the door, heading north. * Daphne chuckles. "I didn't assume it'd be fun." Two students for me! Learning is rarely fun. Excellent. You, boy. Hai? Grab a weapon of your choice off that rack over there. * The rack he indicates contains a great variety of western style weapons. * Ichi pickes up a light, single bladed sword. "This seems to be the closest one to a katana." Sabre, huh? Good choice for a light boy like you. You _are_ a boy, right? ...yes. * Daphne has to really work to keep from laughing out loud at that. Good. * Lawrence sets Daphne and Ichi alternately to training against each other, with him, and working the forge. You should meet my sister some day. Maybe you'll bring her back here someday, kid. * Alric is just about to leave for another foray when Shiho catches up with him. * Shiho runs up out of breath. "*haaa* Wait! *haaa*..." * Alric turns around. Oh, hi! How'd your meeting with Lawrence go? Pretty... well... * Shiho gasps for air a bit. Really? What's up that you're chasing after me so hard? * Alric grins. Is it my looks? My charm? * Shiho smiles back. "Actually, I was hoping you could help me improve on my skills with the bow, and maybe teach me a thing or two about surviving in the wilderness. Oh. Damn. Sure, I suppose I could teach you some of what I know. How long do you have? * Shiho shrugs. "As long as it takes, I guess." Excellent! First job, you gotta catch me! @_@ * Alric takes off at a fast clip into the forest. You can't be ser... Wait! * Shiho groans and hurries after him. * Cara walks out the north gate, and eventually sees a cottage with racks of herbs drying outside. * Cara walks up to the cottage door and knocks. Come in! * Marta has a loud, shrill voice. * Cara opens the door. Um...hello. * The inside of the cabin is packed to the gills with herbs and strange components in jars. Lawrence told me I should, uh, talk to you about learning some stuff... * Lining the walls are incredibly good paintings, and much of the table space is taken up by small sculptures, half finished. Learning? Learning what? ...oh! Your paintings are so beautiful! *_* * Marta comes out from behind a large half-finished statue and puts down a chisel and hammer. * Marta is a shriveled old lady, the very image of the word 'witch' * Marta also has a very obvious glass eye, from which she apparently takes her name. Learning. Well, I guess witch-type magic... We're supposed to go adventuring to find our way back home... Witch type magic, eh? You wanna be a witch? * Cara is stammering a bit, rather intimidated. Think you've got what it takes? Um. Yes. Well, I don't know yet. What do you know? do you know what a sorcerer is? Or a wizard? You want to learn magic, little girl, go talk to that buffoon Aldun Witherspoon. Well, a wizard is someone who does magic spells and stuff... but how's a sorceror different? A wizard learns magic, child... a sorceror _is_ magic. Oooh. I like the sound of that... A sorceror has the blood of dragons, some say. 'tis what puts the spark in us. How do you, um, know if you have that spark? No way to know until you try. What do you do well, girl? If you've got the spark, that's where it'll show. Drawing. I love to draw. Drawing, hmmmmm. Not a bad talent to have. Do you have your own drawing materials? Yes. Preferably made with your own two hands. Those are the best, yes. All my tools, I made myself. A sculptor, that's what I am. Er...not made with my own hands...I bought them in a store back home. ^_^;; Ah, that's not so good. Hard to make the magic with someone else's tools. Well, girl... I have the materials here... Take a seat, the first thing you'll do is make your own tools. Okay! * And Cara sets foot on the path of the Sorceror. * Amy wanders out the south gate, on the way to follow the call of the wild. * Amy wanders towards the forest, trying to judge the way to the Druid's place. * The call seems to switch directions several times, but eventually, she emerges into a small clearing, where there is a large cave. * A fire burns inside the cave. Hello? Is anyone here? * Alfred steps out of the cave. Ah! Hello there! * Alfred is a man of middling height, with well trimmed black hair and beard, with streaks of silver. He wears tight utilitarian pants and a fur shirt, and leather moccasins. Who are you? * Alfred speaks in a deep, rich voice that seems to resonate with the nature around him. Hi. My name is Amy.. I.. I came here following what a friend of ours called the "Call of the Wild." * Alfred smiles. You felt it? Truly? Are you one of us? * Amy nods. Have you been trained? No. I .. I was hoping that you could train me actually. A new druid, it's been so long... There.. are not many new druids? The new gods have been driving the wild away, it's been years since news came of a new druid starting training. And you're so young... I'll warn you... the way is not easy. Nature does not offer the easy power of the new gods. I don't want easy power. 'besides, Nature is nice. Very well. Have you brought your belongings? * Amy shows Alfred her backpack. "This is everything I have." It is good that you travel light. You will not be returning to Greengaard. I will send word that you will return when needed. Ok.. From now until that time, you will live as one with nature. ... That sounds nice. [Session End]