Herbs & Spices

    It was a cloudy morning over the Town of Beginnings. The breeze was nice and refreshing as the winds moved it across the open field of flowers and from the ocean beach down south.

There were Landers moving about inside the city and Adventurers as well. Outside the gates however is where many of those Adventurers come and go. Heading to do quests out on the field, just grind on some monsters, or go do some gathering. Others were coming back in to return items, work on their crafting, or needing some R&R.

    One such adventurer was standing on the edge of the city limits, waving down a few of the non-experienced players and handing them healing pack or two. At the cost of nothing it would seem, though there is a donation box next to where he was handing off the items.

Once that group was gone, the dark scaled Salamander, wearing a tunic, and leather pants would call out to those who were coming in, "Free healing packs for those inexperienced! Come and get yours before you head off! Could be the difference between life and ending up sleeping for twenty-four!"

    It would just so happen that there's one adventurer on her way back to the town of beginnings, right about now, with more than a few quest turn-ins to handle and some money to spend. Amalthea makes her way down the road to Carmina Gadelica, shield on her back, and with a casual stride that says the older woman is in no rush to get where she's going.
    It's when she reaches the edge of the city limits that she spies a Salamander passing out healing packs to those in need. Briefly she considers her supplies, taking a mental tally of her inventory before actually making her approach.
    "That's rather kind of you, giving those out." She says matter of factly, rifling through her inventory for a few coins to slip into the donation box.

    It is a great day! In fact a pretty damn good day so far, having been out on his own soloing some mobs to increase his skills and levels, the Monkey like Cait Sith wanders back towards town. He does have a few quests to turn in and he hasn't been spending much money. He stretches out his arms as he walks.

    Hearing someone call out for free potions, this intrigues him and he makes his way over to where the Salamander is, "Hello!" he calls out. "Hows it going?" he asks Xander, "Hey we've met a few times right?" he asks and he looks to Amalthea, "Hello ma'am." he says to her. "I think you and I met once before as well, I think." he scratches his head a little in thought.

    "Thank you!" The Salamander says in response. If she does an examine on him, she can spot his name is Xander, but like all good things, unless in the same guild or the friend list, so much more is kept hidden by the system.

"We have a ton of players here on Elder Tale that never played another MMO or just started when the new expansion came out... So... Better to put skills to good use for our survival." Xander says as he gives her a quick once over.

"Did you have a good adventuring out there," A slight pause as he looks at her name, "Amaletha? Is it?" He watches as a player comes over, giving them a quick glance over, before handing the a health pack, then waving them off, before his attention turns back to her. "Also, would you like one?" He motions to the packs.

    He does take in as he offers her the pack, how she made her avatar look. Which is looking like an older woman. He was not used to seeing players decide on such looks, so he raised he brow gently, but whatever was on his mind, he was keeping to himself.

Wynfei would show up about then and turn his attention away from Amaletha, "Good morning! Not bad, not bad at all." He then raises a brow at the question if they had met, as he gives the monkey cait sith a quick once over. "I am not sure if we have or have not, Wynfei." He glances off to the side in thought over it, before he looks back and rubs the back of his neck.

"Sadly, I've seen so many new faces along with names, things are starting to blur together a little." He adds with a nervous grin, before offering Wynfei a pack, "Also feel free to take on. Help in a bind if you ever find yourself in one!"

    She does, in fact, do a brief EX on the Salamander; at least to learn how to address him. But the older adventurer simply dips her head in a nod with an easy smile, accepting the heal pack when offered.
    Better to be safe than sorry, after all.
    "It's my first MMO," Amalthea admits freely. "I mainly started playing to keep connected with some who are close to me."
    The woman affords Wynfei a nod of greeting as well, before she tilts her head, brow cocking. "Have we? Can't say I quite remember, and my memory is usually pretty good."

    After inspecting both people, "Well if we've not met until now, it's a pleasure to meet you both." he says and bows to them both. "I'm Wynfei as my name says." he grins and then a loud rumbling escapes from him and he rubs his stomach. He quickly reach into another pouch and pulls out a apple and eats it in a matter of moments, "Ah yeah, that hit the spot." he chuckles.

    He looks to the healing potions, "Mind if I can get one?" he asks, then looking to Amalthea he smiles. "It's all good. I've met so many people lately I've stopped doing large duties, just so I can spend time just trying to make friends and such." he shrugs his shoulders. "Oh! Excuse me, you two hungry?" he asks.

    "Oh, is it?" Xander grins a little, before that grin saddens just a bit. "Do you know if... Those close to you are also trapped here as well?" He asks, seeming a little concerned.

Xander nods to Wynfei, "Sure!" And hands him a healing pack. "Just be warned, like all things crafted..." He gets a dead-pan sound to his voice. "... It tastes horrible."

Though when the Monkey Cait Sith offers, Xander places up his hand and shakes his head, "I'm alright, but thank you for asking." He says with a soft smile.

    "Mhm." Amalthea's first MMO. Though her expression briefly hardens at the next question, it's a briefly pained look that crosses the older adventurer's face, before she shakes her head. "I'm not sure." She admits. "I haven't heard a peep out of them since this all started. But I guess it's like they say. No news is good news, yeah?"
    That's when her lips purse, brow knotting as she puts on a briefly unreadable expression when offered food, before a halting smile manages to form.
    Everything she's eaten here, so far, has tasted like actual depression. It's disheartening.
    "I'm alright, thank you, young man."
    As for making friends though, she dips her head in another nod. "That's good. I can't say I've properly met anyone yet until just now. I was pretty casual up until... This all started. It's a pleasure."

    Wynfei tosses both Xander and Amalthea an apple, "Just eat it and thank me later." he grins as he takes the health pack. He then listens as the two speak, "Seroiusly try the apples." he says to them. As for Amalthea, he studies her for a long time, "I hope they aren't here, but if they are, and you want help, I would like to help you." he says to her.

    Thinking, "This isn't my first MMO, but my first VRMMO." he says as he looks between the two. "So I guess I know how to do things but, nothing wrong with getting a bit of help as we go about this new world."

    "Speaking of food. I still don't get how raw food, like fruit from trees and berries from pushes, taste great... But as soon as you try to turn berries into jam..." Xander sighs softly, "Man, I miss scrambled eggs, jelly toast, and.." Pause, "... bacon." his head then lowers as he mutters, "... who ever think playing these games as long as I have... I would come to hate them for making me miss actual real food."

Xander sighs and rests his hand over his face slightly. "I swear when we get out of this game. I am going to take my closest friends, to America with me, and we are gonna chow down on steaks, shakes, and fries."

    Xander catches the apple and stores it for later, before looking over to Amalthea, "He is right, give it a try. Given it hasn't been touched by the crafting system, it should taste normal."

The Salamander then looks at the two, realizing they are both new and hrms gently, before handing them both another pack. "One for the apple-- and the other for the company." He says softly, as his tail twitches. "And hopefully yes, they don't show up. This place is hell, and while my real life is not great, it at least..." He pauses not sure if he fully agrees with the statement he is about to make. ".. was living."

    "You mean to tell me that it actually tastes good?" Amalthea sounds incredulous for a moment, when she catches the apple. But then the explanation sinks in. The poor old lady had no clue apparently, as she takes a bite into the apple and then it hits her.
    "... I've missed that." She mutters. "And I miss sushi." Added on a little sourly, before she huffs. "And steak, and shakes, and fries. And good food, in general."
    A little more solemnly, she murmurs, "Yeah, I hope they're not here, too." But then a gentler smile finds its way to her lips. "I'd never say no to the help."
    The second heal pack offered her way makes the woman purse her lips, before she gently eases it back into his hand with a smile.
    "Save it for someone who needs it more. I may be an old dog, but I've got my wits and I've been learning a few tricks to this game to keep myself going."

Emiko sighs some as she arrives at the town of beginnings, brushing back her hair and tucking it together in a quick bun behind her head and securing it with a pair of chopsticks. It's a little messy, but better than nothing, yes? Spotting the familiar figure of Xander, she closes in on him, lifting a hand in greeting. "Hey, found someone who wanted the crab already it seems?" she notes with a chuckle to the Salamander

    Wynfei nods to Amalthea, "Yes it tastes like fruit." he says to her. "I'm going to work on cooking actually, to see if I can help wiht how the food tastes here." he says to them both. He sighs a little bit as the two mention foods he's used to eating every once and a while. "Ok stop talking bout food we can't eat because it would taste like crackers." he laughs. Shaking his head a little, "Hey not all things are bad, I can't say I was doing that great before the game, but at least we are still here." he says to the two.

    Seeing Emikok, he focuses on her, "Hello Emiko." he says as he gets her name. He then facepalms, "Sorry, should've just asked for yoru name instead of inspecting you like that." he says to her.

    Xander hrms softly, "... I would ask just how old you honestly might be, since... your avatar, buuut," He does take back the pack he offered her, "I also know its rude to ask a lady her age, so I'll just keep guessing in my head!"

He rubs his chin gently in thought, his brows knit gently, but the voice of Emiko breaks what was on his mind, "Hey Emiko!" he gives her a friendly finger wave. "I did yeah. A npc hunter had interest in the crab, so I gave it over to them few a few coins of silver."

Xander then looks over to Wynfei, as his tail twitches once more, "Eh. I do inspecting all the time. Old habit for me, so most vets won't be bothered by it. We are used to constantly checking folks we run into. Not just for names, but see if we can dig up any info on them or what they might have."

The Salamander rubs the back of his neck a little. "I admit, I use to do that because I liked to challenge people to duels for their gear when I was max level." He frowns, "... Now I've been reminded what its like to be down at the bottom of the food chain..."

    This causes him to hrm softly, as he peers toward some of the Landers walking around in the town, "By the way... Is it just me or have you guys noticed how the AI seems to be evolving? I've been trying to figure out if it's just in my head or... If they are actually seeming more and more... Alive."

    Now that. That earns a chuckle out of Amalthea.
    "You're right." She agrees. "It is rude to ask a lady her age!" She retorts, sounding more amused than anything else.
    Emiko's arrival is met with a nod of greeting from the older adventurer, as she rests a hand on her hip.
    "What is the etiquette on that, these days? Now that... We're all stuck here. Does one give their game name? Real name?" She asks genuinely curious, before her attention is drawn toward the Landers.
    "Mmmm. I haven't quite noticed, but I used to never pay them much more mind than turning in the occasional quest, before, admittedly."

Emiko sighs a little as the cait Sith does the inspect thing but then manages to get a smile upon her face. "Well, you could remedy that by giving your name, or would you prefer to be called Stone Monkey as a little nod to Sun Wukong?" She gives back to Wynfei, giving him an encouraging nod of the head.

"Still, you could at least give your name when inspecting and calling out to somebody with their name. That's the polite way to do after all, Xander."

"I don't believe anyone here should be obligated to give the name they used overseas. I mean, we are here under the rules of the Land and such, why not use the names we chose for Yamato?"

    He laughs and nods, "I'm Wynfei." he says and bows. "Hey I almost took that name, but then again someone already was using." he says with a brief mock sigh. He looks between Xander and Amalthea and he shaks his head, "Dude you never ask for a womans age."

    Wynfei smirks as he sees Amalthea smiles, "You do have a nice smile Amalthea." he tells her. "Well anyways, seems like we now know one another, how about we try to run some mobs together sometime?" he asks. "If this is our new lives, we need to learn how to live and grow right?" he asks.

"Maybe later, I was about to hit town to do some errands on behalf of the network. Kaleido's supply network. I had bought in and now need to run some errands to make sure it works out. But I'll see you later, ok?"

    Xander grins as Amalthea laughs a little. "My mama didn't raise me to be rude and if I didn't respect my command, along with elders, I'd be stuck in the rain giving fifty." He chuckles a bit. "Besides, people around here probably need to remember not everyone are high schoolers or college kids that play video games."

The Salamander then shrugs, "Even if there is no guarantee we will ever no one another's real age, doesn't matter in the end. We are all in this together."

Xander listens to Amalthea, then to Emiko. His arms cross over his chest, "For one, I don't like to give out too much information about my life. I may let something slip here or there, but for the most part. I like people to know me by my game name, unless I give them the privilege to know my real name."

    Xander's eyes then look directly to Emiko, "Secondly. It's a game. Real life rules don't always apply. This world," He motions to a npc sweeping some flowers off the road, "That npc. Even us right now! Are nothing but a bunch of ones and zeroes. We are just data transmissions. Soon as we forget that we are in a /game/ and start to treat it like a real world.. Then sooner we could forget ourselves."

The Salamander shakes his head, "So, sorry if it upsets you, but I am keeping to some of my MMO habits, as I don't want to get wrapped up in this world like some roleplayer."

He then looks over to Wynfei. "Grow, sure, live-- as in surviving? Yeah. I can get with that as well." He notices the lack of players showing up and decides to gather what healing packs he still has left, before tossing one over to Emiko, before she runs off "Surviving is always important." Then waves to Emiko, "And stay safe, Emiko!"

    "Your mother seems to have raised you right, then." Amalthea comments mildly, before she purses her lips. "Alright, game name it is." She concedes easily enough. "I can't fault you for wanting your privacy."
    But then she chuckles when Wynfei says she has a nice smile. "Well thank you." But... "I can't say I like the thought of this being my 'new' life." She admits. "But I'm picking up on the learning curve for now." She says, with a light wave as Emiko takes her leave.
    But then Xander points out the cold, hard, truth. Everything is data. It's a game, and everyone is, for the time being, stuck.
    "Mn. Surviving is important." She agrees. "That's why I plan to make it to the first ticket off this ride."

    Wynfei takes in what Xander says and he has heard a few other Adventurers say the same thing. "To each their own. I know it's a game and we are stuck here. But I will treat everyone here with respect regardless." he states. When they get on to speaking about Xanders mother raising him right, Wynfei tunes that part out and agrees that some things will not be given unless that person earns that right to know more about him.

    "Anyways, for now this is my new existance, we don't know how long we will be here so I'm planning on making it the best way I can. Honestly I don't think anyone is going to forget this is a game but for the time being we still have to live and survive." he says as he rubs the back of his head a little.

    As Xander packs up, "You done for the day or going to pick a different location from this?" he asks. "You have a good place to sell those healing pouches here." he states.

    "Yeah... and I am sure she is worried like hell right now. Given if time flows like real-time, she should have been back home by now." Xander frowns, "... Man that brings up so many questions I really don't want to think about right now." He shakes his head.

Then nods to Amalthea, "I know that is one of my goals. To help folks get out of this hell hole. No matter what." He sounds dead serious. "Only reason I haven't gone back to help push the tower, is because I need to find a means to get better gear."

"After the first push on floor one, I didn't like the fact my armor didn't hold up as well against the named monsters." The Salamander admits as he shifts his body weight, tail hanging low to the ground. "And named monsters are not the final floor boss, so if I am having trouble with that..." He doesn't even finish his thoughts.

    "Mostly done for the day," he says to Wynfei. "I am running low, so I am going to probably get a few more herbs, make some more, and then come back here in the morning again." He rolls his left shoulder a little. "I tend to be here each morning handing out packs. Then use the rest of my day to either help train players who don't know the system that well, do some solo leveling, or craft more packs."

Xander places away the last pack, before gathering the coins from the donation box. "I like to stay busy. You know the old saying right? Idle hands are the devil's own?" Xander inhales deeply. "I have a ton of devils on my back, so I like to keep them there, and out of my head."

    "'Idle hands do the devil's work' is the version I'm familiar with." Amalthea says, chuckling again. She takes a moment, closing her eyes, to draw a breath through her nose and let it out through her teeth. "I've been trying to get as strong as I can ever since things went pear-shaped. I might be hitting it a little too hard, I think, so it's good to have moments like these to unwind and actually meet people."
    One hand rises to rub at her temples lightly, "It's a good reminder that I'm not here by myself." She admits. "So it was nice meeting you all. I think I should be on my way, myself, I've got some quests to turn in."

Apparently, the business Emiko wanted to conduct didn't take too long, because only a few minutes later she returned back from the town square, a little smile on the lips.

"Sorry that I had to finish that first, but it was necessary to conduct it first. Xander, there are reasons some might not want to disclose who they are 'overseas'. And it might be best not to discredit the Landers. I mean, this is a world of its own, if its real or not. We might find a way escape sooner or later, but till then we better treat it as *some* place, where things have *consequences*. You better show some respect to what you have, because even Overseas you are nothing but electrical signals that are analyzed by your brain."

    Dropping down into splits, and stretching his legs, as the others talk. Wynfei yawns a little as he is feeling a bit tired but he does look to Xander as he speaks and he understands how he felt. Honestly it was how he felt when things went to shit, but after going through the things he's had to deal with outside of the game. He felt ok about being here.

    He looks to Amalthea and he smiles at he, the older woman did cause him to smile, and then there was Emiko. With that he hops up onto his feet. "Game or not, I will help everyone as much as I can, as well as help the Landers as well. I agree with Emiko though, we treat the people as if they are living breathing people like we are." he laughs. "I'm not a person to lecture, I'm not going to do it now. I just want us all to make it out ok." he yawns a little. "Alright I need to get going myself, turn these quests in and get a nap in. If you all want to do something let me know, add me to your friends list. Can I add you all?"

    Xander smiles to Amalthea, "Just remember that. You are not alone. No matter how bad things get, we will find a way to get back home." He then places up his hand, "Just be safe, alright!"

Then Emiko comes back. Xander crosses his arms over his chest as he listens to her. His tail moves very slowly behind him, his golden, fiery, draconic eyes stare directly into her. Any warmth they had, became cold.

His voice matches this coldness as he speaks. "You really don't want to get into this with me, Emiko and I never said anyone, no one, had to give their real names, as I, myself, never will. It be very hypocritical of me to seek anyone's real identity."

Wynfei seems to agree with Emiko, which does seem to make Xander possibly the odd man out. Which leads to the Salamander to say simply, with his voice still distant and cold, "Sure. Just you all stay safe. There are still to many unknown variables."

    Xander then goes to step away from the group, "... But seriously Emiko," He looks over his shoulder toward her, "... You really don't want to continue this line of conversation with me." Before he turns away and starts to walk away from the city. Though he can be stopped if she really wanted to press the issue.

"What line of thought? That what you think is true is only what your brain interprets? I mean, that's basically what Putnam's BIV scenario is. Lehrer's Googols. Or Descartes Evil Demon. Hell, even Platon's cave is some sort of this." Emiko notes after the leaving Xander, sighing heavily. "For all it's worth, this is what our brains interpret as reality at the moment."

    Xander inhales deeply as Emiko continues. He looks up, jaw clenching a little as he decides if he really wants to do this. "Yes... and the Flash of Death was people sending impulse of images through our eye to our brains to cause us to lose bodily control, some to go into comas, and others to die."

The Salamander turns to face her. "For all we know, this could be the same viral attack. Trapping our thoughts into the system, manipulating us, till it destroys our very essence of who and /what/ we are. If not flat-out /kill/ us."

His eyes then narrow dangerous. "So I'm sorry. I can't allow myself to think along those lines. That accepting this /as/ reality is okay. I fought like /hell/ to--" He stops himself, as he can feel his words trying to lisp, to stutter. He lets out a low growl, his teeth clenching tightly. "Just do whatever. Won't change the end. We will all get home eventually. Either alive or nothing but mental soup." He then continues to walk, crossing the town's protective border and heading more for the fields to the south.

    Emiko does not follow and in some ways that is a blessing, as Xander continues to head down south, till he arrives in the place of green grass, and flowers with beautiful green petals and yellow tendrils.

This place is where he comes to stop and stand at. Staring at nothing, but the distance. The conversation repeating in his mind, till he places his hand to his face and then just starts laughing.

First it was quiet, till he breaks out into a full belly laughter, then slowly grimacing in silence to his own thoughts, even as a few flower petals roll by, before he at last says. "... how easy they make it... to want to forget ourselves in this place."