Meeting of the Craftsmen

    Doing crafting more than likely needs materials. And for that reason, it's best to get said materials. The materials needed are pretty varied these days, and it's for that reason that the were fang known as Giganpor has ventured out. He's got a large haversack over his shoulders, too. And he's returning with a lot of it full, and a bunch of smaller bags, too!

    The fact that the were fang is slightly stooped and struggling a bit probably attests to how much he's got in terms of weight. That's kinda scary. The lion form is slowly making his way towards the gates from down the road. The large bags are almost being dragged as he makes his way, and the haversack looks to be full close to bursting as well.

    The only good news is that he's not being set upon by goblins, gnolls, or anything. But still... that's a lot of what looks to be materials for one guy!

    While one person is coming in, another was looking to head out. This being a dark scaled Salamander named Xander. Who for one can't figure out some odd looks he has been given and is still figuring out himself how much of the menu interface still works.

As he tries to flip through this menu to see what is all functioning and not functioning, along with new features, is where Xander comes to a stop hearing the sound of heavy material being dragged.

Which then brings his fiery gold eyes to the large were-lion making his way back to town. Xander shoves aside the menu with a hand wave, before making his way over to Giganpor. The two, after all, only met once. Though Giganpor was more 'human', than beast at the time. So, Xander doesn't fully recognize him in the distance and was still trying to adjust to the handling of the hud menu, along with settings, in this whole new operation.

Either way, Xander gives a bit of a wave, "Hey there!" he calls over, "Like some help?"

    Giganpor huffs, obviously a bit out of breath despite taking it slow as he sets the bags down. "Sure... or a moment to rest would be appreciated as well. I'm trying to get back to Alne so I can give some of this to crafters about."

    The lion form shrinks as he's not in that much of a hurry. Red hair replaces the brown-gold mane as he bends over a bit under the weight of the haversack, which looks to have ore. "If you're wanting to help, though, I've got some herbs in that one, and leather and wood on the other."

    He shrugs his shoulders, "You can have some of them if you're willing to help?"

    The were fang lets the haversack drop down before rolling his shoulders. "Oh, my apologies... I am Giganpor." He gives a small wave.

    Xander watches him shift back, which causes the scaled man to give a tilt to his head. "... You know, there are days I kind of wish I picked a Were Fang instead of a Salamander. Only picked this race cause of their heavy defense and military background."

Though as Giganpor explains what the sacks are about, he gives a nod of his head, "Sure! Lending a hand won't be a problem at all! I'll carry the leather and herbs, as for needing anything," He hrms, "Just the herbs. I've been giving out healing packs to the less experienced players. Trying to keep them from getting themselves to injured out there." He explains, though Giganpor might pick up a lisp from time to time.

    As Xander then goes to check the weight of the bag, he looks to Giganpor as he introduces himself and goes, "Oh! Now I know why I recognize you! You're the guy from the quest! With the little earth digging buddy, right?" He gives a warm smile, "Well, for memory sake, I'm Xander. Nice to meet you again."

    Giganpor blinks, then looks at Xander. "Oh yeah! The rat cellar? And I call him Drudge. He's an earth elemental, bipedal form. It was either the armadillo or a dog. I figured the armadillo's cooler."

    The were fang shakes his head, "Ah, Salamander's pretty cool. I picked up Were Fang 'cause I liked the whole transformation thing. Not quite the whole were wolf like some early players, but the whole well... noble lion thing kinda got me when I did the randomizer."

    The bags are surprisingly heavy. If that's totally full of what Giganpor said, that's a lot of materials in there. Probably a few maxed out stacks if that's even a thing. No wonder he's having trouble. Even checking the weight is pretty up there.

    "Healing packs, huh? You might stop by the forges or point them that way if they're under equipped. I'm trying to get decent gear and got a lot of surplus I'm giving out severely discounted or free of charge lately. The crafting system being so screwed is really annoying, and none of us have figured out the trick to it. Everything's got something wrong with it in some way lately. Buckles missing, straps being too thin, swords being unbalanced all over... I swear one I made felt like I was swinging an axe, not a sword. Almost took out my own foot with it."

    Xander gives a tug and grunts a little. Yep, that is heavy, he barely manages to lift the sack of leather up, but at least he can. He probably just have to heave it over his shoulder, but shouldn't be a problem.

"Drudge huh? Interesting name." Xander says to Giganpor. "Mean anything to you or just sounded cool at the time?" He asks raising a brow.

    Xander then gives a nod to Giganpor's suggestion, "Possibly could. Though it takes me about an hour to make just a few... though as crafting goes. Yeah." He pulls up the menu to take a look at it. "I do a mix of hud and maybe a bit of my own fudging around." He then moves the menu aside again. "While the potions work, they taste horrible. Like soggy crackers." He blehs a little. "But hey, what medicine ever tasted good." Pause, "Outside of the purple cough medicine. That stuff was always pretty good."

    Giganpor nods, then picks back up the haversack of ore and the extra bag of herbs. "Oh, it was cool at the time. I have a few of them still, but they're all Black Waved as well. I'll have to find my high level ones or they'll unlock, I hope, as we get levels."

    Giganpor makes a bit of a face, "Ew. Even the healing potions taste like that? I know it was bad when the coffee tasted wrong and the food tasted horrible, but... wow. Potions, too?"

    The large were fang at least doesn't look to be having too much trouble now that one of the bags is taken up. "So, potion maker, huh? I guess if I see any with herbs, I can point them your way. Do you have a place you're normally staying at as of yet I can point them to?"

    "Hilariously, my profession when I started the game is actually Monster Riding." Xander admits as he at last heaves the bag over his shoulder. "Wanted to look cool when i," His does a bang toss with a flick of his head, as he tries to get that voice, "Rode in for the ladies." Then he just laughs, meaning it all as a joke.

"Though I did think it would look cool." Xander admits as he goes to follow Giganpor. "And I guess, yeah, when I had a gal I was love struck with, I wanted to impress her. Couldn't... really do that anymore in real life, but I knew I could in the game." Xander brows knit gently, "B-but that doesn't matter now. I'm sure this nightmare will end here soon enough and we can all laugh about it later."

    As Giganpor brings up a home, he just shakes his head. "Never have. I tend to just venture around. Lately though I've made walks between here and the Town of Beginnings, since they are not far away and doing a patrol on that road serves as a bit of a good xp gain from time to time."

    Giganpor laughs, "You, too? I took Monster Riding 'cause it sounded cool. Figured I would find like a demon horse or something I could ride."

    He sighs, "I miss the one I had. That was fun. I actually rode it against a boss one time on a raid. People started to call me the 'Golden Fang Knight' when it worked and I knocked a chunk of it's HP down. Risky as hell, fun, but I had fun with it. Too bad I can't access the skills to do it any more."

    The Were Fang looks slightly annoyed by that, then he looks at Xander carefully, "Couldn't any more? Ah, don't worry about it. Long as we're stuck here, you might find another girl to hang out with."

    "Not sure I want too honestly," Xander replies about the girl. "She was an amazing person, but eh... Who knows. I Just wonder if she got stuck in this hell hole too."

Xander shifts the bag slightly as they keep going. "Then again, I haven't seen her in a while, so she probably doesn't play anymore, which in that case... She is safe." His face then darkens a little, as if a cloud of dark realization creeps over him.

His eyes scan the ground, before he shakes it off with a forced smile, seeming suddenly fine again. "Either way, at least it is nice to know some of the interface works, though I do wonder if..." While passing by a player, he tries to activate inspect and huhs softly. "... Guess that still works too. Awesome."

    Giganpor frowns, looks considerate, then brings up his friends list. "Eh... none of my classmates are stuck... so that's good. They must've been watching the fireworks show while I was in the game."

    A small shrug is given, "What does? A lot of the interface kinda works... but I wish a lot didn't work. Like I can't seem to look at my friends list and wonder who's here and who's not so far.

    "Inspect." Xander replies to Giganpor's question. "I was wondering if it still works." He then looks over to Were Lion and decides to use it. "Showing things like you're a player, your name, your status effects, aaaand your health." He then motions it away.

"I think other details as well can be pulled up, but I need you in my friend's list, which I'll probably do after we are done with this stuff." Moves the bag slightly on his shoulder. "Though back on food, I know I /am/ getting hungry, so I might see if I can find some fruit. At least eating fruit doesn't taste like crackers. Found some /really/ good wild berries while I was picking herbs last night."

Xander then grins a little. "Just the right of sweetness to sour ratio. Be awesome in a pie!" Then hrms as he gets a dead-pan look. "... but that probably make it taste like crackers."

    Giganpor looks over, confused, "Fruit tastes okay? What the hell? That just doesn't make sense."

    Giganpor shrugs, moving a hand before sending the friend request over to Xander, "There you go. Us guys trying to help people need to stick together. I'd send a guild request, but I'm still waiting to hear back from the rest of my guild. Grandeur was a merchant guild, but well... I think we're trying to find out if the guild stores are still there to help out."

    The Were Fang shakes his head, "... so you hear about the whole Dive Gear stuff from yesterday? Or, wait, weren't you there?"

    Clack. Clang. Clack. Clang.

    Up the road comes the spriggan sohei, Esclados. The sound of his khakkhara rings with his steps. Seeing others on the road, he makes way towards them. A hand lifts in greetings, his voice loud and warm. "Morning!"

    Coming to a halt, he offers a hand up in prayer. "Blessing on you quests. How are you this new dawn?" The spriggan seems to be taking this whole situation rather well. Or really good at hiding it.

    Xander goes to stop and places the bag down to give his back a rest, which he goes to stretch and it does a few pops. "I wonder if excercise is now a thing too..." He mutters under his breath.

He raises a brow at Giganpor, "Yeah, fruit actually doesn't taste like crackers. Same with grass." pause, "Don't ask." Then rolls his shoulder a little, "And as for a guild invite, I'm already in one, but thanks though." He does accept the friend request.

    "If you guys do need any healing packs, let me know though. I'll see if I can place a few to the side for you guys. Probably won't be many. Like maybe three or four, but at least that is something rather than nothing." Xander adds as he rubs the bridge of his nose gently, watching someone else walk by giving him an odd look. "... Do-- I have something on my face?"

    Then-- a Roleplyer appears.

    Xander slowly looks over to Esclados and stares at him for a moment. "... Right." he says flatly before giving a gentle smile. "Morning and yeah, all that stuff." He scratches the side of his neck gently, "And not bad overall. Just helping my buddy out here." He jabs a thumb to Giganpor.

    Giganpor looks surprised at that one. He's apparently not tried anything but what's in town as of yet. And then someone else pops up. And he face palms. "Roleplayer?"

    His question is obviously pointed, or at least at Escladoes. "Yeah, sorry, we're bringing supplies back. Want to help?"

    The large man offers the bag full of herbs towards Escladoes, "It might be the lightest of these. And we're making our way back towards town so I can give him some herbs and try to do what I can with the leather and ore to gear people back up."

    "Ah! Mr. Big Kitty Man." The light of recognition appears in Esclados' eye. "I believe your guidance kept many from getting hurt during a panic. Thank you." He gives a slight bow of respect.

    His head turns up to examine Xander's face. "A nose, some eyes, a mouth," he smirks with his dumb joke about what was on the man's face. "I don't know much about roleplaying. I just know that people need all the luck they can get right about now. And if I am to be a priest, I might as well be a priest." He shrugs and peers into the bag. "Herbs? Hrmmm. Maybe I will be able to test out this alchemy thing sooner than I thought." He hefts the bag, and stands to follow where ever they were headed. "I am more than happy to help. Where in town are we going?"

    Xander glances over to Giganpor and goes to lift the bag back up once more, with another heave and toss over the shoulder. He grunts a little as he does that. "As for the dive gear stuff? Maybe. Probably not? Fill me in anyways. Never can hurt to hear something twice or have a memory refresher."

Then turns to look back at Esclados, "Eh. I am just getting some odd looks and not really sure." Then hrms, "... I wonder if I can inspect myself..."

Though he raises a brow at Esclados. "Less luck, more faith." He says softly. "But sure. Whatever. Luck never hurt anyone either."

    The lion man shrugs, then huffs as his leg gives out from the weight carrying, causing him to stumble and fall to one knee. "Okay... I need a break. Apparently limitless stamina is not a thing now."

    He settles down where he's kneeling and lets the haversack slide down his arms to set on the ground before he flops down. "Ah? Uh... oh, that was nothing.. I just... well... I've been through enough troubles, and I didn't know what was going on, so..."

    Giganpor shrugs, "I just wanted to get people to come together so we could see what's going on."

    He looks over at Xander, "Oh, they're saying the Dive Gear might be at fault for us being stuck. Something about new technology that might've accidently been booted up somehow. I think the guy might've been grasping at straws, though. If that's the case, why's there no system messages or the like saying a thing?"

    Faith. Esclados attempts to take a step with the bag and stumbles a little. He sets the bag down to attempt to find a better grip, and his lips purse in thought. When Giganpor sets his down, he gives up his own effort to lift. "I suppose I could bring faith, but can the Buddha see here? If life is an illusion, what is an illusion within life?"

    Stretching his shoulders out wide he leans down and tries with the bag again. "I suppose we'll have plenty of time to figure it out." Faith or the gear, the statement stood for both. "I don't know much about the stuff. I've only owned one for about a week. But when the register breaks, it doesn't always give an error messege. If I don't notice it is ringing things up incorrectly, then it just keeps going. I have to tell it is wrong."

    Xander pauses as he watches Giganpor go down to his knee, than sighs, before he lets the bag touch the ground and uses the leather filled bag be a nice 'bean bag' of sorts. As he sits there, his heavy scaled tail gently thumps the side of the bag from time to time.

"Is that so," he says looking at Giganpor. "Who said that to you? About the Dive Gear?" He tilts his head gently. He glances over to Esclados, giving him a nod before he crosses his arms over his chest.

    "Here is my thoughts." Xander inhales deeply. "I think someone has hacked the system. It is the most popular MMO after all. What better way to send a message, then to hack a popular MMO and leave people stuck inside. Probably holding them for ransom."

Xander closes his eyes in thought. "However, we don't know if that is impacting the other versions of the game. Such as the one in America or in Europe. We don't know if its Yamato issue or far larger."

The Salamander opens his eyes once more. "In truth, we can sit here and keep making guesses, but without seeing the code ourselves or even having access to it, we don't really /know/ what is going on... and thinking about it too much, could drive a person mad."

    "Besides," Xander rubs the bridge of his nose in thought. "There could be bigger problems on the horizon and really we should just focus on trying to keep people safe as much as we humanly can."

    Settling on the bag of ore as a back rest, Giganpor hums, "I think they said their name was.. uh... started with an M. Bunch of us had a meeting at the bar that we shared information. The whole crafting thing's one crazy part of it, you got one or two guilds trying to take on Aincrad's first floor, and then there's some players in the Ezzio Empire that need rescuing. Supposedly a GM took over an NPC there and is trying to lead them to safety."

    Giganpor looks considerate as Xander explains his thoughts. "I don't know... something seems... off. Scarily off. I mean, at least we're in the avatar bodies and not our real ones. The real ones... that wouldn't work so well for me." He looks down.

    "I really don't know for sure what the hell is going on, but... after a week, maybe a month... I think if we're not free, I'm going to start trying to figure this out for real rather than treat it as bugs."

    The sohei sits on the ground with the bag set in his lap. Unabashedly he rummages through the bag out of curiosity. He doesn't take anything, but gives a few of the herbs a sniff and attempts to inspect them. "Time is as always the enemy. I don't know about code or the like, but whatever the situation is we are unaware of the time we have. When you don't know you have to plan for the long term." He makes no comment on his own situation with his real life body.

    When he was done inspecting the plants in the bag he cinches it shut again. "Chores come before play if you will. Do we have shelter? Do we need shelter? Will we starve if we do not eat? How many people need these things?" He motions at the bags of ore and leather the other two held. "Goods are great, but will they keep us alive? Suffering is to be expected, but what to do to minimize it?" His eyes close and he gives a sheepish grin. "Sorry. I don't mean to add to the questions of the day. Just the things I have been thinking about." With a finger he draws some lines on the ground. "I don't know how many people are here, but if we need food, how much? There is people like me that don't know how to kill monsters for money. I couldn't let them starve, but that is the poor saying they'd feed the poor.

    "Trust me," Xander says to Esclados, "This is stuff I ask every day to myself and not openly. You talk to much about these things, people will panic and that will only cause /more/ problems."

He then looks over to Giganpor, "If time is relative to real time, and isn't faster here, than out there... You should start to concern yourself sooner than later." Though he doesn't get into details as he goes to stand back up.

Xander tsks gently and whatever he is thinking he is keeping to himself. Looking up at the sky as his jaw moves a little.

    Giganpor shrugs, "Probably should. I know I'm pretty young. The thing is, if we're stuck... I don't think most of us want to stick around here. I think I'd rather be over in Ninetails Dominion than here."

    He shakes his head, "The thing is, if are stuck, we're at a serious disadvantage. Poor gear among other things. The Black Wave really screwed us over. The higher level spells, skills, and such all appear to be locked."

A sigh is given, "I guess this is why I kinda did what I did on the day thing."

    Esclados nods his head in agreement and lets out a light sigh. "Yes. You two seemed to be the ones I could pose such questions to. I will not make these concerns known to the general public on my own. I do not foresee them being taken politely without answers already attached."

    He pats the bag he had been sitting around, the herbs inside scrunching slightly. When Xander rises he does so as well, giving the bag a tug as he finds a better way to carry it. They had been trying to bring the supplies into town for Giganpor, getting things made and started for the coming turmoil. "I am from the Ninetails Dominion as well. If there is a chance to head back there, I would happily join. I do not think I am up for that tower, and my patron is supposed to be in the Dominion. Maybe she could provide me answers that we don't have." The sohei stretches, places his hands on his back and gives it a good crack. "Ugh. Numbers might make travel easier for now, and I am not set up to be able to fight my way there alone. That's what I get for being a support role."

    Uta struts with the satisfied radiance that derives from a job well done; with her every step, a muffled jingle comes from the satchel that has recently been added to her belt, which means that this adventurer has moolah. Also, she's already licking her lips, savoring the upcoming moment in which she will sink her teeth into the scrumptious-looking sandwich she's carrying. When the intent becomes action, however, her eager face morphs into a metagrabolized one. Wide eyes, forehead creased asymmetrically due to one eyebrow being raised and the other depressed, and just... paralisys.

    Irises rotate downwards, to look at the item which caused so much confusion and grief. Her mouth opens barely enough to allow the bread to be slowly removed and distanced from her oral cavity. "Et tu, Brutus.", she pleads in a whisper, hurt. "...watery crackers? Seriously? is this some gamer's pun on 'submarine' sandwich? A local cultural thing?"

    All is forgotten when her glance falls on Xander in the distance. "Oh, hey... It's Xander. Xander!", she calls out, waving a hand. She sprints towards him (and, by extension, the group). "Xander, Xander, I gotta show you this nifty trick I learnt!"

    "Trust me, I get that. I am a top-tier raider, even did some pvp stuff. Losing everything sucks, but what is important." He walks over to Giganpor and places his hand on his shoulder. "Is we are still /alive/."

He then kneels down before the were lion and smiles. "Alive and able to do what we can for others. We can't lose hope and we got to find whatever we can to just keep us going." He then pats the big guy on the shoulder. "Just got to believe, we will always see the next sunrise."

Xander tries to smile, to lighten the air a bit. As he stands back up. Giving a nod to Esclados that they all seem to be in agreement that such heavy matters are better left to them and not to the general public for now.

    Though when Esclados brings up Patron, he raises a brow. Patrons were not part of the original game. Did they come with this expansion? "Patron?" Xander asks going back over to the leather sack and heaving it over his shoulder once more.

"And yeah, numbers are always better for travel, even more so for long distance travel. Apparently there is some issue where the npcs don't want to help with boat travel, which seems crazy to me." Xander admits with a frown. "But my character here hails from Westelande, so sadly seems once we all head to our stating nations.. Probably won't see you guys for a while."

    The come the voice of Uta, one of those newbies who, has no idea just how much danger she could be in. Hell, even he wasn't sure how much danger she could be in. This gives him pause to look over to her.

He forces a smile on his face in her direction, "Hey! Uta! How you doing? Been staying safe, yeah?" Then raises a brow, "What you wanna show and come along with us. You can show and walk after all."

    Giganpor blinks, then looks considerate. He looks over at Esclados, "Is that some NPC that keeps messaging you? Or Lander? I keep getting one from someone called 'Lady Ghost' here? Something about kids missing me at the orphanage?"

    The were lion looks confused by that one, but shrugs, "I might have to go check it out, I guess... patrons might be something useful for us now."

The were lion moves to stand, then lifts the haversack full of ore and starts along again. "Not far to town, I think. That's a good thing."

    He looks over at Uta and Xander, then over at Esclados as he waits for the answer on if that's the Patron thing.

    "Well, I got bored last night and was searching through my menu," the spriggan explains as he swings his bag over his shoulder. "I don't exactly know what it means, but it is in there. Says I have a patron. Is that like a noble that pays me for work?" The monk takes a few experimental steps on his tall single-tooth geta, the wooden shoes making sharp clacking noises on the ground.

    "Seems very feudal. Do I owe them allegiance? Or maybe they give quests? Haven't figured out the quests things yet."

    Esclados' head rises when the female spriggan approaches. He offers up a stiff hand in greetings. "Good afternoon. I think," he peers up at the sky and tries to take stock of the sun's position. "I do miss having a watch." He motions for Giganpor and Xander to lead the way. "Still don't know exactly where we are going."

    Sandwich still firmly held in one hand, Uta slow down, having almost reached the spot where the rest of the gang is assembled. She nods to the people around. "Hello, gentlemen, I will be with you in just a moment..." Barely able to contain the excitement, she turns to Xander again. "Now, now, look at this!" She clears her throat, moves as if to crack her knuckles, notices that one of her hands is still full of bread, frowns in displeasure, hesitates, stuffs the sandwich in her mouth, cracks her knuckles, retrieves the sandwich, chews.

    She wiggles her other finger, and with a determined swipe of her hand pulls up her menu. There still is a hint of hesitation in her movements, but this particular sequence she seems to have practiced until she got it down to an art. A crayon scribble, mind you, but still technically art.

    People can see the 'Inspect' option popping up, probably mirrored from their vintage point so that it's right for Uta. "There we go, see, here it says you're Xander, and-"

    She blinks. Her pupils explode to such a size that they threaten to swallow her whole iris.

    "...your name...", she says, her voice cracked, a trembling finger of a sandwich-filled hand slowly raising to point at the HUD.

    "...your name... it... it is red...", she says, as if she was starting to have trouble breathing.

    "...that is... so... AWESOME, dude!", she explodes into excitement. "I've never seen this before! You gotta tell me how you've done it, I want that too!"

    Xander hrms softly as Esclados brings up how he found out about this-- lander npc that wasn't in the original game. "I'll need to look that up later as well."

Though whatever else he had on his mind to say, was being distracted by Uta's eagerness and attempting to look cool. He can't help but grin like an older brother watching a younger sister finding out something awesome.

After all, Uta was new to the game, so for her, everything was probably amazing and unique. Kinda brought back memories really when he was new to games.

    As Uta goes through her motions, "By the way guys, this is Uta. She joined the game before the expansion dropped. Fresh player." He would save the introductions who they are after Uta was done.

Though when she dragged up his name color he blinked and peered at the reverse of what she was seeing. ".. That... can't be right..." He says softly and his nose twitches a little. "That so can't be right."

He doesn't answer Uta's question, but looks over at the other two, "Could you guys like, check to see if your see what she is seeing?" Knowing they had more game experience. Then peers over at Uta, "... and if I think that is what it is. No, haha, No you don't want it."

    Giganpor blinks, then turns to look at Xander. His hand moves to his menu to bring up the inspect on him as quickly as he can. The haversack of ore is lowered back down as his hand reaches to his sword. "Hey. Step away from him. Red's not a good thing in this game. It means he killed someone."

    Giganpor shifts to his lion form from the human one, obviously getting ready just in case this does turn nasty. The lion's even growling towards Xander. Like seriously growling.

    "Explain yourself, Xander. Why and how do you have a red name already? What Player did you Kill?" He looks serious about it, too, and looks ready to draw the sword at his side.

    Esclados motions with a hand in a ward against evil, his bag of herbs dropping to the ground. His khakkhara striks the ground once to make its metal rings jingle. "Hold on now," he warns. "We do not know what has happened, and we cannot be fighting amongst ourselves."

    Looking to Xander he offers a smile. "Can you explain so Mr. Big Kitty Man doesn't get an aneurysm?" The sohei extends a hand out to the side, as if that puny arm could hold back the lion's wrath. "We're friends right? Or at least comrades on this mess?"

    Silence.

    A slow motion sequence of a sandwich falling through the air, with low, rumbling sounds in the background to underline the time dilation.

    A slamming noise, drawn out forever, as the food impacts against the Ground.

    Uta, shocked, stares.

    "...killed a player? It... it can't be," she says. "Xander's the nicest person I've met in game, he'd never do that. Not on purpose. There must be an explanation. Honestly, you even /thinking/ of accusing him of such a crime is the most appalling thing I've heard all day, and I'm positive that nothing could top the shock that- wait. Wait, what do you mean /she/.", she says, suddenly leveling her eyes at Xander, offended as her voice grates on the final pronoun.

    Then, all of a sudden, she has a moment of realization. She grabs at one strand of hair and tugs at it self-consciously, her body posture turning inwards. "...it's the hippie hair, isn't it? The ridiculous squeaky voice? Do I look /that/ much like a girl in this avatar?" She looks down at herself. "The weird long-ish flaring coat thing I ended up with doesn't help, either. Dang, between the coat and these weird shoes I must look like a Oscar Wilde level dandy..." She frowns. "...come to think of it, since arriving, I've been caught straight in the apocalypse and sleeping on trees. Haven't had time to look into a mirror yet." And then, back to self-conscious plaintive mode, going pale. "Oh no. Did I get one of those ambiguous-looking Bishounen androgynous guy avatars that are so popular in anime?", she asks, concerned.

    Xander places down the bag soon as Giganpor gets aggressive, "Wh-whoa now! Easy!" This does start to get people's attention. "If I was going to do something, wouldn't I have done it already?" He then places his hands up so Giganpor can see them, not reaching for any weapons or even his menu.

Though it was obvious that he was now stuttering on words, the more anxious he got and that stammering was getting any better.

    Xander glances over to Esclados who thankfully steps in the middle of this. Giving him a nod, before looking at the Were Lion once more, "L-look. I d-d-didn't," He did a deep inhale, trying to recompose himself, forcing himself to calm. "I didn't kill anyone, that is why I asked for you guys to check. It has to be an error. Seriously."

The Salamander looks over to Uta, "You might want to like... Back away incase this goes sideways." Then Uta goes on about she and he sweat drops a little. "... C-can we discuss th-that later?"

"Just back up, please." He looks to her, then to the other two, though his eyes were also scanning the other players coming and going. Along with those that may come to a stop to see what is going on.

    His hand stays on his sword, but Giganpor's not drawing it at least. "I only just met you, Xander. Are you positive that you have not killed or attacked any player recently?"

    The Were Fang Lion definitely looks serious on this. The not so funny thing is that Giganpor looks for all intent and purposes quite serious on it. He's not backing down.

    Whatever the reason, he thinks that Xander probably killed another player alright. Which has to be something serious.

    The seriousness of the moment is cut short not by Uta's impassioned defense of Xander's innocence buy by her sudden self-conscious monologue on her appearance. Impropriety prevented full out laughter at the absurdity, but he did offer a sheepish grin.

    "Um... Not to be rude, nor to offend. But Miss? Miss Uta. You are a woman yes?"

    Now Esclados normally wouldn't be the one to head in this direction normally, but an eye turns up to look at the morphed lion and can only up the upcoming fireworks don't involve claws.

    Seeing no change in Giganpor's demeaner, he continues "Now, now. Maybe it was before the thing the other day? I mean that is normal in a game right? Its still a game, right? Well. It was..."

Uta, who was busy silently mouthing 'cooooooooooooool' at Giganpor's shifting snaps back to attention. "What? Oh. Oh, sure, sure. I mean, there'd be a plus side. Hopefully the new look will make me popular with the ladies and- Hey! Wait, guys, what are you doing!", Upon noticing the attitude of Xander's opponents, her muscles tense, her fists clench, and she bites her lower lip. She instinctively assume a fighting stance, but then, she seems to stop and think. "...probably wiser to listen to him," she mutters. "We're probably all at a similar low level of ability, but..." She scans her surroundings and quietly backs away in the direction that offers the best options for fleeing, as ordered, but keeps her eyes fixed on the combatants.

    "...No?", she replies at Esclados' question, looking confused at what he's getting at. "...honestly, outside the game I look like... uh... let's say I've got a young Woody Allen vibe going on."

    Xander keeps his hands up. "Lets say I /did/ kill a player. Then what? You kill me? That would be two people suddenly killed, with us having /no/ idea what would happen. Do we respawn in 10 minutes like we use too? Is it longer? Is it faster? Do we even respawn at all?"

Then he remembered that rumor he overheard while handing out healing packs. A girl. Spriggan. Bard. Seeming confused coming out of the church.

His jaw clenches a little. His thoughts racing on it. Could it be? Maybe? It /was/ just a scripted quest right? "I need..." he says softly. "To look into something at the Town of Beginnings."

    Xander goes to take a step back, "And Giganpor, I wouldn't. I honestly wouldn't do, what you are thinking of doing. It would tag you as orange. This would only create further problems. More than we already have." He glances over to Esclados, realizing he never got the man's name, "And this guy here, has the gist of it. Rules are changing, the system is changing, we don't know how it is affecting things."

Xander takes another step back, "So, before this escalates any further. Before someone watching us right now... Gets any ideas." His voice now much quieter, trying to keep his composure. "I am going to turn around and walk away... And trust, you don't swing that sword into my back." Words aimed directly at the Were Lion.

    He looks to Esclados again, doing a quick inspection gesture to at least get his name, "Esclados, is it? I'm sorry about this and I hope we can speak again on... Better terms... I just need to solve what happened or at least, lay low."

Though when Uta answers the question that she was not a she to Esclados question. He gets a dead pan look. Though whatever he was thinking, was being kept to himself, beyond saying, "Why-- no. I'll ask later."

Xander shakes his head and then slowly, carefully goes to turn away from the group

    Giganpor looks confused by that, then frowns as he backs away. His hand leaves his sword and he says simply, "Go ahead and keep the herbs." He says. He moves to pick up the bag of leather and the haversack of ore, then start off again.

    The Were Lion shakes his head as he goes, "If killing NPCs will set us into red now, we should head back and spread the word on it... something's not right about this."

The Were Lion starts moving along with the load of ore and leather, leaving the herbs for Xander at least.

    Xander pauses and goes to take the bag of herbs. "... Don't.. Tell anyone yet. We don't know and we don't need to create a panic either."

"I'll figure out what happened, then maybe we'll have a better idea how I got flagged." Then makes his way out as he says over to Uta, "Be good and keep up the great work! We will talk later! You too Esclados!"

Uta watches the group dissolve. "...I feel like this might have been a great day to keep my mouth shut." And then she glances sideways at Giganpor. "Man. Lion shifter. So cool," she mutters under her breath.

    The sohei looks back and forth, and wipes a thin sheen of sweat from his brow when both men choose the better path to valor.

    Sweat? Can you really sweat here?

    Khakkhara rings clang as he stomps his staff on the ground and offers a prayer to Buddha. "Good afternoon Xander." His arms waves enthusiastically at Giganpor as he leaves. "Goodbye Mr. Big Kitty Man!!!" He seemed particularly excited about the kitty part of it. "Good afternoon, Not-Ms. Uta." He offers a smile before taking his path off.

    Clack. Clang. Clack. Clang.