Duty Session 626: Clearing the Way to Shibuya

The Hunter's Guild has outfittted the party for overland travel and assembled the crew just outside Fort Ouph. They gather in a small clearing just south of the city. The planned mission is a trek to Shibuya, or as close to it as supplies and mettle allow for. The objective is to help clear out monsters along the way and find probably locations for monster nests. If these can be found, later efforts can clear them out.

"Monster nests," Uta mumbles to herself, as she waits for the time to set off on a journey of adventure and monster bashing. "I've been wondering for a long time how monsters originally came to be in this world. Maybe, if we manage to find enough information, we will be able to crack this puzzle..."

    Merek nods a bit to Uta, looks like he's come to assist. He is wearing his dark attire, hood back while he sighs a small bit, "Well, like always it will take a bit of work to do. I'm hopeful we can learn more, it'll be nice to have the way to Shibuya clear."

Goldenblade has joined the quest, as it is, in the end, about roadbuilding, if at a preliminary stage, and it occurs to her that she might advise on the routing and such. About the natural terrain features, of course. The monsters will have to go in any event. She has set her gear for a long trek, backpack loaded with food, plus camping gear and various possible necessities.

Goldenblade looks to Uta, but shrugs. "The game would hardly be interesting without monsters to fight, wouldn't it? I mean, that's the whole point, isn't it? Or have you fallen into the soap opera life like so many other players?" she asks Uta skeptically. She eyes Merek, and says, "Yes, and I'm surprised it's taken so long to put the job out, you guys have been in Shibuya since practically the beginning of the game."

The morning dawns bright and clear as the party sets out from Fort Ouph. They follow a trail blazed by previous surveyors and scouts. Well past the outskirts of Fort Ouph, though, the land becomes less tame. Farms are smaller and less frequent. Out this far, only the hardy or desperate try to make a living from the land.

Uta nods to Merek. "It will be nice indeed. And who knows, maybe we can even compose a song about it, afterwards!"

"There is game mechanics," Uta begins in response to Goldenblade,, "And there is the storytelling. I've always been more interested in the latter than the former, to be honest." After a few steps along the road, she adds, "And it seems like the story is so intertwined with events, creatures, and mechanics that it... well, unlocking more story unlocks more possibilities." She scoots closer and leaning over she says, "Have you heard of the party that found out about relics and Cosmospheres, by the way?" She turns to look to Merek. "Merek was there. I'm sure he can tell us amazing things about it!"

This far from the city, Guards and Soldiers are a rare sight. Because of this, goblin bandits are common, seeking to take advantage of traders that move through the area. Spotting the party, one such raiding group moves into an ambush position and launches an attack, hoping to make a quick profit.

    Merek nods a bit, then walks along with the party. When they find the goblin bandits, he tries to take his time to aid in the combat, but it looks like he's not successful. He offers a small sigh, and takes both his blades to keep swinging though. "Well, whoever came up with monster nests, I don't want to meet them."

Goldenblade says to Uta, "Storytelling is all well and good, but you need to have things to tell stories about. And a story about how you went down to the market and bought some eggs isn't going to be very interesting much past breakfast-time. Stories that stay interesting are about people who are resourceful and overcome challenges. Those stories lift our hearts and encourage us to live up to those ideals, ourselves."

She huhs about relics and Cosmospheres, and looks to Merek. "What's this about, then?" she wonders, but is interrupted by goblin attack, and she fades into the background, losing herself in the forest. Uta and Merek, though, seem to be getting the worst of the fighting, and she will dart out of the shadows to strike down goblins as fast as she can, but it's not fast work, and the goblins are persistent. At last they're disposed of, but it was a hard fight, and she says to Merek, "Yeah, I'm sure it was some useless computer programmer type. They wouldn't be very interesting, or very good with a sword, I'm sure. I'm pleased to say, this game has provided me with considerably more exercise than I got at home. Though I suppose if I did all this at 75, I'd fall over."

It is, in fact, hard to hide from bandints when they jump you as you're ranting about cosmospheres and relics. Sometimes being overenthusiastic and loud about things can get in the way.

So, after much beating (and being mostly on the receiving side thereof), once Goldenblade has taken care of the threat, Uta picks herself up from the ground. "T-thank you, Paula. That was really appreciated. I didn't see them coming."

"I don't know about that, to be honest," she adds on the subject of the one who came up with monster nests. "Maybe they were created for good, and then... twisted, somehow?"

For some time, the party travels untroubled by danger. The sun has traveled across the sky a considerable distance. For a while there has been no sign of bandits, farmers, or others. However, there are clear signs of wolves in the area. Animal remains, scats, and other clues are obvious along the path. These point at the presence of a sizable pack. Though not in the immediate path, it's important to find and clear the pack, or the wolves will plague travelers.

    Merek looks to the path, and nods a bit to one of them, "Well, I think that's the best way we can look." He then speaks to Goldenblade, "Ya, I told Uta what I know. A few people learned apparently that it's possible to Dive into Cosmospheres, which is like a soul, that or your mind. And apparently it might be a way for people to get their memories back. It is also the place that relics apparently reside."

Goldenblade shrugs to Uta. "Whoever created them was the person that said, 'You know what we need? A place that spawns monsters for everyone to fight! And they can track it down and get an accomplishment for taking it out and killing the boss monster.' You guys remember this is a game, right? It's a computer game, and I'm glad I never played them when I was alive if they're this buggy and trapping people inside all the time."

She ohs to Merek, and hrms. "That's interesting," she allows guardedly. "But what can we do with this information? That's what so many people lose track of. It's not enough to find out about things, but you need enough information to take action on it." She looks around. "Like there, wolf tracks. We can follow them and find wolves," she says.

"Getting memories back..." Uta ponders. "It would be a groundbreaking success. That would mean that- that we don't really -lose- memories. It would mean we just lock them away. It would mean that they still are somewhere where they can be accessed, and brought back."

"I can follow the tracks!", Uta offers, and begins doing exactly that. It is not easy, the tracks sometimes simply disappear; at which point, Uta just... wanders around aimlessly, and somehow, she ends up stumbling on where the track resumes.

The party has, through skill or utter dumb luck, tracked the dire wolf pack successfully. Now it is time to put an end to them. The pack is of a concerning size, with ten powerful wolves, found surrounding a recent kill. They've got to be eliminated to make the area safe!

    "We'll see," Merek then says to Goldenblade, "We know that it takes Dive Crystals, the problem with that is the Dive Machine is located someplace quite dangerous." The man takes the time to begin sweeping into the wolf pack, punching and kicking to get rid as many as he can with the flames that trail along his attack.

Goldenblade nods to Uta about following tracks, and will follow along, pointing out the few she finds, herself, when Uta loses them. She agrees about getting memories back being a good thing, saying, "That struck me as odd about the game system. Why lose memories of before you came in, and not memories of things that happened in-game? And why lose them at all. Is it supposed to be some kind of penalty? I mean, if dying booted you out of the game, it'd make more sense, I guess?" GB: Not a game sesigner.

Wolves, though, she has a solution for: It's fire. So much fire. Wolves, it turns out to no one's surprise, don't like being on fire. But Goldenblade is providing quite a lot of on fire to quite a lot of wolves, and they're quite a lot of not happy with it. Goldenblade, on the other hand, seems quite happy with herself.

"Dive Crystals? What are those? Where do we get them? This is what I mean about half the story. I have to keep digging out bit by bit. There's never a full briefing."

"My goodness!", Uta exclaims, dual-wielding a pair of wolves by the tail and spinning them around to impact against their bretherns, who are then projected at a distance, whining, "You can't swing a wolf without hitting more wolves. This place is packed with them- now, wait just a minute, is -that- why it's called a pack?" But there is no time for reflection as she slams another wolf in the distance. "...Was that last one on fire?"

Once the area has been clear, Uta hurls the two wolves who have served as weapon at a distance so far away they disappear as dots in the horizon. "I'd also like to learn more about these Dive Crystals. And... a dangerous place, you say? What pl-"

A whistle, and a line of arrows plant themselves into the tree just ahead of Uta. She looks in the direction they came from, points, and exclaims, "Orcs!"

    Merek speaks to the two, thinking about it a moment, "Well, I know that we found a crystal in the place the machine is, it's like a dungeon maze, with... What I'm to believe are chimera experiments with the creation of Werefang. I am not aware of the whole story, though I know if we want to learn anything, we are going to need to go back to where we were and fight. Though it might not be easy." Then he's watching the orcs, looks like he did not realize that there was a sign that says there are orcs.

Goldenblade is looking a but smug as she flamethrowers the wolves, and she asks about the location of the dive machine, "More dangerous than here?" Then an orc arrow strikes her and she frowns. This place -is- pretty dangerous, she will have to admit, and the orc ambush catches her flat footed. "Ow!" "Hey!" and she fights back furiously, but it's slow going and a hard fight. Orcs, it seems, are tougher than wolves. As to why a bunch of wolves is called a pack, who knows. "People thousands of years ago invented the word. Now you can buy a pack of bubblegum, too, with no wolves in it." Stab, slash, bite, ow!

She ohs as Merek explains about the place in the maze, and says, "That sounds about right. The good stuff is held behind some challenge. But that's OK. The whole point of the game is to overcome challenges, isn't it?" *stabbed* *slashed* The fight is very hard since the orcs are resourceful at bad times.

"Chimeras... Li Gan was very interested in those. He seemed surprised we had chimera -monsters- at all in Yamato. He sent me to capture a Manticore specifically for that reason. The plot thickens..."

"How far we've come!", Uta jokes with Goldenblade. "And then we invent machines to throw us back to the time where there were wolves everywhere, no bubble gum, and as soon as we come up with bubble gum, buying a pack of it will likely come with wolves."

In this area, there are no signs of current habitation, but there are occasional sights of ruins. Stone structures with collapsed roofs, crumbled fortress walls, and weathered stoneworks show that this was, at one time, a fortress. Now, few things stand more than a meter high. Exploring this area, the party comes upon an orc champion surrounded by its personal guard. They are heavily armed and ready to fight!

    Merek thinks about it a moment, while he uses his magic to fight the orc. When they've won the man looks to Uta and Goldenblade. "Wait, Li Gan? I think that someone named Jered Gan came up while we were there. Something about 'making the Were Fangs' if I actually knew what that meant." Then he nods.

Goldenblade hrms as Uta mentions chimeras. She hrms, though, and says, "It's strange what some characters know and what they don't," she says. Though she knows the least of anyone, at least about the gameworld. She's one of the least gamey people in the game, she feels, not that it slows her down. She nods as uta describes the slow path of progress, from wolves to bubble gum, to packs of wolf-flavored bubblegum. That would be a /Very/ Strange Mood for some cook.

At the sight of the Champion, she fades out again, and doesn't fade in until her sword is through its chest, having run it through as Uta unleashes some kung fu awesome on it. It's not a good day to be an Orc Champion.

Merek gets a puzzled look once the fight is over, and she says, "Isn't that in the world's backstory, the animal people were genetically engineered or magically or whatever?"

"Indeed, Paula," Uta confirms. "According to Lore, the Were Fang are, like the Cait Sith and the Spriggan, a synthetic species. Created artificially, likely by magic, to fight the very monsters they are made with. According to Spahtjahr, the kind of Were Fang Adventurers are are 'Ausfuehrung Zwei'. Which we understand to be sometihng kinda like 'Issue 2', 'MK II'. The Tower of Mages is believed- just a second here-"

Uta dodges a massive punch planting itself in the ground. She vocalizes a melody whose tempo accelerates at dizzying speed; a vortex of air picks her up as she spreads her wings (likely to stabilize herself -- flight is still out of the question), and extends her leg outwards, repeatedly slamming her foot into the face of the monster while the other limbs zip in and out of the vortex to deal extra damage.

Soon, thanks to the combined effort of the whole team, the boss shatters, and the way is clear. Or at least, this particular portion of way.

Uta lands on one foot. The other follows soon. "We did it, team!", she congratulats. "Now, we should probably go celebrate at some inn while we jot down notes about what we've seen, to report back to the Hunter's guild." There is a short pause. "...we did take notes about what we've seen, did we?"

Goldenblade huhs about notes. "We were supposed to take notes? I thought we were supposed to kill monsters?" She shrugs. "I did learn a bit about the terrain, though. This place is heavily forested, though. They'll have to clear that. Wake's huge on replaning trees when she takes lumber for her expansion, and I keep telling her -this- place has more trees than you can shake a stick at, but she won't buy off on forestry unless it's 'renewable'." She sighs. "And then are the trees here just going to be felled and left to rot? That doesn't sound like efficient usage. There's a flotilla of ships here," she gestures to the forest all around us. "In a very unfinished state, of course."