[Paulette]

The road to Campasso was unending and dragging. The young girl was traveling alone and by foot under a heavy rain. She had left Romalia the day before and was in the middle of nowhere since then. The landscape was eternally the same rustic uninhabited region. She crossed wheat fields, woods and fenced muddy ground where pigs layed. And the more she got away from Romalia, the darker the sky went. She slept under a tiny stone bridge and discovered it had started to rain at her awakening. It rained since the morning, clouds seemed impossible to dry up and the paved way was completely flooded.

She had opened her control interface, looked at today’s date and checked to logout by an old reflex : It was the beginning of November, almost two months since the players were stuck inside this world, the time was no longer to surprise, and everyone made up his mind about what happened.

Throughout the day, she had plenty of time to think while walking. She wondered as always if her family was missing her, because she misses them. Living in Gaia Reborn was full of wonder and magic but even if she met good people, she was cut off from her roots and often felt alone. She hung on to the thought that maybe her little brother was existing in the same world. This idea, omnipresent in her mind during the first days, faded away as time flew. But a new hope rekindled her last thursday. That is why she was trampling across the countryside away from Romalia.

Her next stop would be Campasso. She was told it was the economic center of the Free City Alliance with a great Faunri population. Described as a vivid city made of lumber and full of honest workers. It was supposed to be surrounded by a vast plain with lots of mines and shops.

But all that Paullette saw so far was small wood towns and uncanny oak forest. Maybe it wasn’t the best time of the year to visit such a place. Autumn was marking its print with the rain and mud that agglomerated under the adventurer’s feet. Even in the forest, humidity penetrated and created some fog. Leaves fell by the hundreds and cold wind blew them away.

She was soaking but still advancing at a good pace, her whistle pending to her neck. She could easily use it to call Saguaro her black Marwari stallion but she chose to not. Because water on paved roads and mud on dirty ways were dangerous for him. She was dreaming he was grazing peacefully in a sunny field close to Romalia. Probably happy he didn’t have to share her wandering under the cold heavy rain. “It was a good idea to buy those boots” she thought looking at her sludgy shoes dipping into a puddle.

At nightfall the rain finally slowed down a little but a dense haze replaced it. The Alv couldn’t see very far, she casted Lightfly, one of the easiest spells she could use to see where to keep walking. The yellow light glowed pale in the grayish twilight. “At least it feels like some company, I like you, lighting bug”

She kept walking in silence and dimness. The atmosphere was bad and Paulette imagined finding an inn to dry up when she heard some outburst of voices.

Somewhere before her in the fog, there were people chatting.

The adventurer stopped to listen. What should she expect : friend or foe ? It was difficult to decide, moreover she couldn’t stand under the cold rain forever so she went toward the noise.

Little by little appeared a glowing circle and shady silhouettes in the middle of the road. They looked like a group of villagers occupying the path but not traveling, soon she catches on to them.

They probably heard her footsteps splashing or saw her light because they turned and stared at her, maybe wondering the same thing about her friendliness. Coming closer she started to understand what was the situation

-Hi she said, may I help you ?

They faces relieved and one of them answer with candor

-Oh well, we could use a helping hand, yes ! Do you see this wheel ?

He pointed to the back of a carriage that was bogged down. They were a total of six and rather young people gathered around a cart. Two of them were humans and the others were faunris. The one who spoke had spiky hairs like an hedgehog teenager

-I’m Enzo by the way, we are a rock band heading to Campasso but well… we got stuck !

A girl of the same age, completely human featured with freckles added

-We’re sorry, we didn’t mean to bother you ! This is the first time we speak to an adventurer, you must be strong enough to help us out but we have nothing to offer in exchange.

She looked concerned or a bit worried, she had taken her hood off and her hair were wet, she was standing close to Enzo. Paulette smiled because they were adorable

-It’s okay, I’ll gladly help, could you just tell me where I can find a place to warm up for tonight ?

Two kids that were shy so far, jumped and brusted in joy “At the tavern !!” and then supplied the hedgehog boy to take them all to the tavern. They looked like abandoned puppies with their soaked fur. They were behaving like kids asking for a Mcdonalds and Enzo made everyone agree

-Alright, alright ! If this kind adventurer can help us clear up the wheel, then we will all go to the closest tavern to warm up and sing ! Agreed band ?

The atmosphere wasn’t so lugubrious after meeting this very enthusiastic group. Paulette lifted the back of the carriage and they all pushed it out of the mud. This is only at that moment that she discovered what was harnessed to the cart : “Melany” a gray goat the size of a bullock.

Not so long after the event, they arrived at an isolated tavern. It was a small wooden establishment with a tiny stable leaning to it. Light went out through the windows, a bench covered with dead leaves stood outside next to a sign “inn della miniera”. The children were excited and Paulette was hurried to finally escape the rain and find some warmth.

She entered.

Speaking colour: ff8f00 , thought colour: 92541

Total words : 1,079

[Olivia]

Olivia woke up with a breeze on her face in the middle of the woods..she slowly opened her eyes to blurred vision and a blistering headache as soon as she opened her eyes. She could hear Baby birds churpin not too far away..she noticed that her whole body was slowly swaying side to side, she quickly opened her eyes wide to find she was at the very top of a tree hanging by a branch.. ''oh crap!! So high!..HOW?!?!'' She tried to get lose from the branches but was unsuccessful "well guess I'll have to keep forcin myself out of this..hope I don't fall..."" she was panicking witch made the tree move even more the birds nest above her head made little chick noises.

Olivia looked up and saw a nest had fallen onto her head, "make yourself at home..ON MY HEAD!" The baby birds began to cry calling for thier mother. "Wait wait don't!!" The mother bird came flying over removing the nest from olvias fat head,after the mother bird moved the nest she began scratching olvias head, "hey cut it out you silly bird" as soon as she tried to sway off the mother bird she heard a crack in the branch...

"OH CRAP" the tree brach snapped and olvia came flying down face first into a pile of wet muddy dirt path.

She noticed a wagon not too far away up ahead she tried calling out for help but failed with a mouth full of dirt in her mouth it was unccessfull. "Stupid tree.
Stupid birds aaaaa" Olivia went off in rage kicking the tree.

Olvia decided to follow the muddy trail to see if thier was a village or an Inn she could bath and wash her clothing in, with every footstep she could feel the moistness of the first seepin into her boots "well this couldn't get worse, I'll have a cookie" she went to grab a cookie from her pouch and the cookies came flying out into a muddy puddle near by.

Olivia stared in anger but just walked on without caring anymore on what happens...

A little further on she noticed a inn in a village she quickly sped up her walking speed and barged in demanding a bath and a place to clean her clothing!!

385 words

[Ciriodhul]

Mud from beneath, rain from above and gentle kicks to the chest by an impatient barefooted cat Faunri spirit hanging in his collar. This was not the kind of journey Ciriodhul had expected when he had asked Maruem for a week of leave a few days ago. Almost two months had gone by after he had become the housekeeper of Astra and by now almost all initial chores and errands had been dealt with. For the first time the guild house did not require his immediate presence for some time. Actually, his guildmates would probably have been fine without him from the very beginning, but there was a difference between being just ‘fine’ and the standards he had set for himself in his now day to day profession. Working for this newfound family of sorts was all he could care about at the moment.

However, he knew that he should not stay in this state for too long. If he wanted to become the best housekeeper for Astra he could become, it was necessary for him to make some experiences on his own and build his character; just like Maruem did, when he had worked hard every single day in the first weeks to make his dream of Astra come true, when the shaman had still wandered the streets of Romalia aimless, homeless and senseless. Maybe the timing of this journey did not have to do with the condition of the guild house after all. Maybe this was simply the first time after the apocalypse, in which he could muster the mental strength to be alone again. Even if it would just be a week or two.

Travelling was simply the only idea Ciriodhul had come up with, when the goal of making his own experiences had conquered his mind and had taken a place alongside his fear of loneliness. In Germany and possibly most of Europe it was an old custom for people learning a craft to make a journey at the end of their years as an apprentice. While speaking with a few Gaians he had learned this custom also existed in the Free City Alliance: Craftsmen and craftswomen would travel to Campasso and make an effort to learn something new under a few master craftsmen there. Henceforth Campasso was also the destination of the soaking wet housekeeper with mud all over his boots and a warm spirit at his chest.

Walking hours in the autumn rain on end, he had never been as grateful for a piece of clothing as he was right now. In Romalia he had bought a rather nice but old leather greatcoat and some fitting leather boots off the ancient looking smith, who currently supplied Astra with some general house upkeep items. Apparently, it had been the travelling clothing of her more “petite” younger body, which meant it was a close to perfect fit for him now.

Without being able to see the scenery, endlessly stomping into one puddle after the next and always watching the next step unto the drowning road, Ciriodhul’s mind wandered elsewhere. Would Maruem, Katarina and Axey be fine without him? What was Campasso like? When, for the love of any god, would the rain finally stop? And how was Sola? How was Sola? He had been afraid of this question. Now that he was alone with his thoughts it finally crept up out of the mountain of work and chores he had buried it under. The question frankly didn’t come alone. It was followed by the mountain of regrets, self-pity and undead love he had almost managed to forget. And yet, he kept moving forward through the rain. One step after another he kept moving forward.

“Look, look!”, the cat Faunri spirit in his collar said and leaned forward by pressing her feet at his chest, “a group of teenagers travelling with a carriage. Can we speak to them, please? Please?” With the last word she flew directly in front of his eyes, so he could not ignore her.

“Fine. We’ll talk to them.”, Ciriodhul quickly replied, while observing how her white blouse got soaking wet in no time and thereby more and more translucent. “Now come back here, before you catch a cold. And don’t you dare going out in the rain again. We’ll be out here a bit longer.”

A shiver ran down his spine when the wet clothes made contact with his bare skin. For some reason this feeling was way too familiar now.

“Good evening, my fellow travelers”, Ciriodhul said, after he had finally caught up to the group, which was seemingly having some trouble with the muddied road. “Are you all alright?”

“O-, oh.”

A freckled girl pushing the carriage from behind and thereby helping the goat dragging it was seemingly startled by his sudden appearance behind them.

“Yes. Yes, we are alright. Just a bit of trouble with the mud and all.”

The look on her face made her look taken aback in front of a stranger being completely enveloped in a long brown coat. Ciriodhul could only imagine how hard it had to be to see his face inside the hood.

“What do you want?”

A young hedgehog Faunri walked back from the front and spoke equally playful and protective.

“Oh, nothing really. I was just curious, whether you are alright. We should look out for each other in this pouring rain, shouldn’t we?”

The hedgehog Faunri visibly lowered his guard, while they all kept walking next to the carriage. Ciriodhul could feel the four additional pairs of eyes staring at him from the other side of the carriage.

“I see. You must be one of those travelling craftsmen then, right?” The boy pointed at the old greatcoat.

“Ah-“, Ciriodhul wanted to correct the boy, but wasn’t able to properly chime in.

“You probably want to know the direction of the next tavern. It’s only a few hours down the road. You’re most likely faster than we would be, though.”

Confused by the interaction and enticed to hurry to some dry place by the wet sensation at his chest, the housekeeper did not try to correct the misunderstanding, simply thanked the boy and bode the group farewell, before quickly fastening his pace again to overtake the goat in front.

“You’re really not good at this, are you?”, a gentle but nonetheless stinging voice came up from his collar.

“I know.”, he replied and sighed with a smile on his face. “That’s exactly why we are on our way to Campasso. Hopefully I will be a bit better with this when we reach the city.”

Then, his left hand carefully pressing the spirit closer to his chest, he silently walked towards the aforementioned tavern.

It was around afternoon, when he finally reached the small wooden establishment “Inn Della Miniera”. It seemed like he was the first traveler to reach the inn, after the last guests had already left for the road again. He took one of the beds in the only two-bedded room, the small inn had to offer, hung his greatcoat to dry and made sure to place himself with his spirit as close to the fireplace in the taproom as possible.

The inn keeper was a short and a bit heavy Antas, who lead the place with his family of one wife, one daughter and two sons. When the sun started to set, Ciriodhul was brought a bowl of stew as part of his lodging deal and a mug of cold beer. One of the sons even brought him some tiny bowl of stew for his spirit, which looked like he had carved it from a small piece of wood right this afternoon. As some kind of weird recompensation, the little cat Faunri girl played around in his horns and let him pet her, while Ciriodhul had to answer the young man’s questions about the current situation in Romalia from an adventurer’s perspective.

A bit later, Ciriodhul had settled next to the fireplace again with his spirit napping on his lap, the door to the tavern swung wide open and seven people entered. The group of teenagers he had passed on the road entered first followed by a familiar Alven face.

“Paulette? Is that you? I haven’t seen you since we rescued that Faunri girl in the catacombs!”

---

Word Count: 1388
Total Word Count: 1388
Tags: Paulette Olivia

[Anomaly]

Okawa Matsuri, in his attempts to find a leveled player scribe and tailor, had managed to reach the inn della miniera, some random inn in the campasso district of the free city alliance, apparently, it was an economic center. But it didn’t feel like it. So, using some level zero materials, he’d made a sign, laying it over himself as he’d fallen asleep, leaving it up next to the seat he’d taken



Unlike what may be expected, it wasn't begging for someone with a leveled job, instead, stating

“Looking for work, loot, or skilled workers”



He’d end up startled by the woman who’d made her way in, his clothes already messed up from the constant fighting he’d been doing recently ending up even more wrinkled as his panic causes him to silently slip from his chair, taking him a few more seconds to sit back up, sign still firmly in his grip. the bags under his eyes making his face seem darker than usual, and creating the optical illusion of his eyes following whichever person was looking at him.



The eye on his forehead was, as always, covered and closed. The extra sensory information constantly flowing into his brain, alongside his memorization of game mechanics, timers and tracking caused his brain to numb with a headache, which he was beginning to think wouldn’t really matter if he’d kept on this path of losing sleep over items and wealth. But survival was paramount, even over his comfort. So, he’d slowly wake himself up, listening as Ciriodhul began conversing with paulette. Shifting his sign to the side of his chair.

Word count: 268

[SidO]

SidO walked down the stairs from the second story of Inn Della Miniera. He had woken up from a long sleep a little while ago and was now thinking about his plans for the day. 

Man. Its been two months and I still take a millennia to get ready in the morning.. Er evening.  like in the old world.

He kept climbing down, deep in thought.

Why did I come here in the first place? What was I gonna do? Find a pharmacist to train under?... Nah... Find a girlfriend? Also nah. God knows I've done enough love searching with Steel.. So why then? Was I looking for a vacation? Hmm... All alone? 

He looked at the floor below. 

Yea I must've shat my brains from drinking and skirt chasing.

He arrived at the ground floor of the inn, and looked around.

Might as well figure it out as I go-

He paused after making an observation. He saw three individuals that he was familiar with and another individual he hadn't met yet, already there at the inn's hotspot before him. Ciriodhul and Anamoly at the tables, and Olivia and Paulette along with other individuals accompanying her.

Well. This is an interesting way to begin the day.

He smiled and walked toward the convocation of Adventurers and Gaians alike.  

word count: 219
  

[Paulette]

As she entered the room, the downpour din stopped and the warmth of the fireplace wrapped her up. The place was so peaceful and clean compared to the outside that the young Aventurer suddenly felt all the tiredness she had accumulated along the way. She started a big yawn, not willing to move forward in order to not waste the neat wooden floor with her muddy boots.

The teens seemed not worried by this sort of concern and went straight to the bar to salute the inn keeper’s wife. A conversation engaged between them, apparently in a cheerful tone but Paulette did not hear about it, because another voice catched her attention.

Still mid yawning she turned her head where the voice came from. The vibrant colors of the fire enlightened the face of a man sitting close to it. He had the ways of an old person with his white hair, old fashioned clothes and petting a cat half asleep on his knees. But his bearing and look were those of a distingate young gentleman. Paulette knew this calm gaze, although she wasn’t expecting meeting anyone right now and never saw him in such relaxed circumstances.

Her weariness vanished at the instant, replaced by a happy smile. Forgetting about the floor, she approached Ciriodhul.

-No way, Ciriodhul ?! How are the odds we cross each other in such a far away tavern ? How have you been since the last time ?

She was really glad to have an interlocutor after two days of wandering alone. She immediately took the lead of the talk and chatted with emphasis about the weather, their errands and Campasso.

While she was speaking, she looked around her, enjoying the firewarm but needing some acknowledgement about the place. A quiescent inn made of oak beams held by a family of Antas, in sum. She was standing in the dinner room with a great fireplace on one side and the bar on the opposite. A platform was facing the front door and a solid wood stair allowed to climb upstairs where the travel bedrooms must be. They were not alone even if they were few : the group of teenagers got their permission to perform on stage this evening and were busy setting their musical instruments on the platform. The innkeeper, his wife and children were walking around drafting the tables and carrying food supplies.

Finally, another visitor was sitting in the room, quite mysterious to Paulettes’s eyes. The man sat on a chair and didn’t move but his eyes seemed to follow her. She had the feeling he was listening and at the same time didn’t give credit to anything. Moreover he had a scar on his tired face, damaged clothes and a strange sign in hand.

Not willing to let her doubts carry on during the evening, she was waiting for the right time to address him, but for now she didn’t want to interrupt Ciriodhul’s story.

However, events never go as planned and the poor housekeeper was interrupted anyway by the arrival of another well known face.

The door opened to a small blue haired fox girl with the dirtiest clothing of them all, as always overflowing with energy.

-Olivia ?! What happened to you ?? You look like you fell on a pond !!

Paulette felt bad for cutting short on Ciriodhul but thought little about it when seeing her faunri friend covered in mud. Since their meeting at a party in another town, she cared for Olivia like a big sister would do. Rushing towards the newcomer to help her, The Alv didn’t even notice the last protagonist coming from the stairs.



Suddenly, the dinner room was filled with many animated silhouettes and it was easy to feel a small dizziness because there were too many distractions from one individual to another.

The Gaian band started to perform their first chords, and the innkeeper’s wife shined by her kindness when she invited the adventurers to gather around the biggest table in the center of the room, right under the main chandelier.

At the menu tonight was a gazpacho soup, a dish of veal with mushroom and amaretti cakes. Two or three other tables got taken and the evening took a festive atmosphere as the kids band played. Their music was playful, one called “Speed life” sounded especially familiar to the adventurers, the other titles were unknown to Paulette but were part of the Gaia Reborn game soundtrack.

When the meal was almost over, the teenager girl with freckles initiated a new song she named “Money Mine” her sparkling voice rose above the ambient noise going as

“Down the earth, down the valley,

A secret treasure for me await,

Some prize so long forgot, under the stone of memory,

Kept by a mammoth, the goldy lefts of past glory,

Divine fortune guarded by a giant,

Millions lie for me at hand.

Money, money, money,

Millions in mines

It’s the jewel’s cavern.

Money, money, money,

That will be mine,

It’s the song of tavern.”

This song had a strange effect on the assistance. Gaians and adventurers alike went silent, even the innkeeper stopped his activities to listen. Paulette found that the singer had a real talent but still noticed that it wasn’t her only voice who caught the attention. Something in the melody held their curiosity.

“So young and so full of skills, she is wonderful ! Yet, she sings since the beginning of the meal, why does everyone seem to notice her only now ? Maybe it is something in the lyrics that keeps everyone focused ? Ah, wealth and greed always pick everyone’s attention ! …Still, it weird”

At the same time she thought about it, she heard one of her companions whisper “it’s weird, it wasn’t in the game before…”

The song ended in thunderous applause, the young singer looked like in a trance, she was trembling. The Alv also saw someone at another table wipe away a tear. In her turn she whispered :

-”I don’t understand ?”


Speaking colour: ff8f00 , thought colour: 92541 , singer colour: 5c9b2a
Total words : 1.010

[Olivia]

Olivia Stood at the door Soaked, Muddy, and strange creatures biting at her skin from the mud and the Tree.. ''Guess no one heard my shout for a bath...'' she whispered to herself. She just looked at the floor in sadness and depression (ugh....guess ill have to actual talk to the lady giving  ALE  and food out..) Olivia then noticed a familiar Purple haired Goddess coming towards her...it was like she was coming towards her in Slow motion.

Olivia's face lit up like a child (but with mud all over her face)  ''OMG THE GODDE--'' a song started playing interrupting the whole inn from everyone's conversations.

Olivia listened to all of the song while moving out of the way of the inn door so people could come in (well that was a interesting song...have I heard it before in game?!) Olivia thought to herself, She saw  Paulette stopped in the middle of the inn to watch the music too, she then saw someone coming down the stairs of the inn he looked like someone she knew very well and used to jump on for no reason...but her mood made her just not remember. 

Olivia sat down on a table next to some random villager at a random table ''Um miss could you not rub all that dirt on me please and that seat is for my friend when he arrives..'' Olivia Turned to him with a glare...''Does it look like I care old man...the seat is free for anyone to use...does it say your name on it!'' Olivia was having enough of everything...Dripping with mud and soaked she just slammed on head on the table and cried her eyes out..

''Um miss...it will be ok ...I'm sorry for being rud-'' Olivia looked him dead in the eye and just fainted on his lap.

''Ummmm miss...''

Total words 690
Total words

[Ciriodhul]

Only moments after Ciriodhul had greeted Paulette, she took the lead of the conversation. Her upbeat demeanor made it rather easy for the shaman to relax and made him forget his awkward conversation with the adolescents on the road.

“I’ve been well. How have you been?”

“Yeah, it’s truly awful out there. Sola, my spirit if you remember, got quite wet again, so I needed to find a tavern as soon as possible.”

“Ah, I am on my way to Campasso, because I wanted to make some experiences on my own. As of yet I have practically been saved by my master, the Eclipse of Astra, so I need to stand more on my own feet if I truly want to be the head-housekeeper of the guild hall.”

“Oh, I see. You are looking for your little brother. If you let me know a bit more about him at some point, I may be of assistance. I do come around a bit in Romalia, so I may be able to gather some intel there, when I am back.”

However, before Paulette could answer his offer, another person came into the tavern: a blue and pinked haired female fox Faunri, possibly a druid from the looks of it, since she was covered in mud as if she had taken a swim in it. Paulette apparently knew the girl and immediately rushed to the door to help her in.

Ciriodhûl sighed with a small smile on his face. It was hard for him to hide his disappointment of another conversation he tried to partake in being cut short. And it was equally hard for him to not irrationally seek some kind of fault in his behavior, when the obvious reason was simply Paulette’s commendable kindness and worry towards a good friend.

He felt a slight smack against his right temple. “Not too bad. Now you just have to work on your charisma enough, so she doesn’t get distracted by a friend in need.”, Sola said jokingly while sitting on his shoulder.

Ciriodhûl did not know, how to reply to that kind of playful nonsense. Instead he looked around the much more lively taproom: The travelling group of adolescents were seemingly in the middle of preparing a musical performance. Only now he realized, that there had been another men inside the taproom with him all along if one excluded the Antashi family. A Zarian, although having his third eye closed was sitting on a chair with some kind of sign besides him, which the shaman could not read from his position.

And yet, before his interest was intrigued enough to make his way to the tired looking stranger, another familiar face showed himself at the stairs towards the guest rooms. Some weeks ago he had met this Antashi enchanter at the steps of the guild hall in search for Maruem, his guild master. Since Paulette was still busy with Olivia, he intercepted the young man, who was similarly walking into their direction, right in front of the table the Zarian was sitting at.

“SidO, wasn’t it?” The housekeeper made a quick bow. “What a pleasant coincidence to meet you here as well.”

Again their short conversation was cut short, when the children began their performance of some apparently well-known songs he had now heard a few times. The last song, however, was different. He had not heard this one before, which was odd, especially since otherwise the song repertoire of Gaians had been rather limited to his understanding. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one being surprised by this particular piece of music. The whole inside of the inn had suddenly gone silent, when the freckled girl had first raised her voice, and when it had ended, the whole inn erupted into thunderous applause. Neither he nor his spirit were an exception. It was almost as if something forced him to applaud, although he didn’t even try to resist it.

“This was weird”, Sola whispered in his ear with a confused voice.

“I know. This almost sounds like a riddle or maybe a hint on the location or at least presence of a dungeon.”, Ciriodhûl replied lost in thought. “Any ideas, SidO?”

---

Word Count: 698
Total Word Count: 2086
Tags: Anomaly SidO Paulette Olivia

[Anomaly]

Anomaly partially nods off, seeming as though he was more tired than he actually was, and, in that blissful foggyness of floating between consciousness and unconsciousness, begins to recognise the classic riddle start point to a secret quest, though, not one that he’d known of before the apocalypse, so it was likely this was going to be entirely new…



Silently, he’d move his hand to his side, reaching into his magic bag for his staff, raising it vertically, before heasitating a moment, a grimace on his exhausted face as he second guesses himself, before the resolve on his face begins to reach the same level as the exhaustion, and, with that, he brings the staff down on his own foot as quietly as he can

[very minor damage: HP 90 > 89]

A slight grimace spreads over his face as the CRUNCH of the staff being slammed into him leaves a slowly spreading sting across his foot, his eyes slowly begin to re-sharpen, though seeing the world how it was meant to be seen for the first time in weeks, the third eye on his forehead still very clearly shut tightly, but he seems and FEELS more aware once, the coincidental gazing replaced with a purposeful gaze, though, not as unapproachable as he was before



“AG- fuck that hurt… if this money mine is a real thing, it could probably speed up my research on magical power tools and general high tier equipment items, though it carries quite a few risks, especially since i'm still rolling around in novice gear…” he thinks to himself, the gist of his thought process obvious on his face



In the meantime, as the others were no doubt going to begin discussing this, he’d start to go through the process of cleaning up his gear, which, while visually tattered, pulling things in and out of his inventory half blind, a few high end essences, and even a Golden Borough were there, but unfortunately, no spare robes… so, instead of preparing his gear, decides to listen into the conversation, in order to decide if he’d want to interrupt them for what could possibly be a false lead.




Thought colour: 1979e6
word count: 360
total word count: 628

[SidO]

SidO slowed his approach to the centre of town to observe all of its recent happenings at what seemed like breakneck speed. He made mental notes as his eyes darted around to keep up with the ongoing events. 
Interesting. Olivia looks exhausted. Paulette's trying to help her. And Now Cirio's going over to her for a greeting... Okay.

He walked by in a direction, away from Olivia and Paulette. He made sure to listen to the song being played by the travelling choir as it piqued his curiosity. His walking continued until he  stopped in front of the table that the individual unfamiliar to him was sitting at. He looked over their head to see their information on his status screen. Let's see. Anomaly. Sorcerer. Zarian. Interesting. 

He turned to see Ciriodhul's approach with a smirk and his hands in his pockets. He gave him a short greeting as an ode to their familiarity. "Yo. How's it going for you and your spirit girlfriend?"

He then turned back in the direction of the table and its somewhat tired resident. Is he tired?

Following that, he spoke briefly to address Ciriodhul query. "This sounds like a quest from back when this was a game. The mammoth could be a big bear, Minotaur, or Hippocampus that we have to kill, and the loot sounds hefty if the song's anything to go by..." 






     

[Paulette]

Under a tremor of applause, the young girl with freckles bowed at her public. Her cheeks were red and she was panting but a flattered smile enlightened her whole face. Her friend the spiky hair boy took the floor
-Thank you everyone, it is a top-notch welcome for this song ! We must admit we were worried because it is the first time we played it but it sounds like a success to me ! We will now take a break if you can excuse us, our singer deserve some rest
He put his arm around her shoulders and made her leave the scene.

Paulette watched them with an amused smile, she was thinking “young, free and so in love”. The void they left when quitting the scene was immediately filled by the assistance’s chattings. In her back, the Alv heard Olivia quarrel with someone, she turned just to see the small fox faunri collapse on the lap of an unknown Gaian.
-Oh she’s… !
Without hesitating, Paulette grabbed her friend out of this person's legs and cradled her in her arms.
-I’m sorry, my friend is completely exhausted by her trip, please forgive her behavior
Then, turning around, she looked for the innkeeper or his wife. The Antas was serving mugs at a table so she carried sleeping Olivia towards the room
-Sir, do you have a room left ? I would like to offer my friend a bath and a bed for tonight
The man looked sorry and answered
-You can borrow the bathroom but I’ve only two beds and they are already bought for tonight to these kind men you see over there.
He showed Paulette the two adventurers that had booked the rooms, they looked in the middle of a talk together. The first one was Ciriodhûl, this wasn’t a surprise since he took up residence before everyone’s arrival. The second was an enchanter and Paulette recognized him immediately “how long has he been here ?!” That was, with Alma, the first friend she made in this world, two months ago.
Speaking for herself she said
-I didn’t saw him but I must go and greet him the right way
Then, thanking the innkeeper for those informations she crossed the room again in the direction of their little chatting group, only to be interrupted again by a hand grabbing her softly. Once again, she got distracted from her aim by another situation.

A young boy, the same size as Enzo, with black straight hair falling over his eyes had grabbed her harm. He was followed by an even smaller girl with round fur ears and two long incisors. They were the last two members of the kids band Paulette hadn’t yet a chance to talk to.
-We just heard what you ask to the innkeeper, if you want, we can make you and your friend some room in the stable.
Paulette thought back to when they arrived at the inn and they struggled to make their big bull-goat stand inside the tiny stable.
-That is a very nice offer, but I don’t think many more will fit in that small stable. I know these people over there so don’t worry I can ask…
She made a few step in Ciriodhûl and SidO’s direction but the teenager interrupted her
-But we didn’t do nothing to thank you for you help down the road, we would like to do something
Now Paulette was close to the group of adventurers, her voice could reach them. Eager to meet SidO again, she would like to properly refuse the kid’s invite
-It was noth-... actually, I’m curious
Suddenly changing her plans she tried to take a more powerful voice so she could gather adventurers and Gaians alike around her. The band was a playful group delighted to share their music and stories, on the other hand she and the spectators were a onlooking assistance. It was a marvelous opportunity to ask for more details and listen to enticing stories. She seized this chance
-I was wondering how you came up with this song, The Money Mine ? I think everyone would like to learn more about it

The fire crackled in the fireplace, the food and beverage were delicious, and there were enough chairs for everyone to rest after a long traveling day. The atmosphere was perfect for a good fable.
Of course, Enzo saw this opportunity and made a great entrance : his best friend the kind black haired teenager introduced him to his assistance “This song is also the story of the foundation of our group, it all began when Enzo decided to search fame at Campasso”
The hedgehog boy jumped on stage and recited his story as a theatrical play
-Two years ago, proud of our talents and innocent as two fawns, Fabio and I took our drums, cymbals and lute and left our native village in search of adventure and fame in the great wealthy city of Campasso. It was just the two of us, faunri and human hand in hand, but one day, at the beginning of October, as we were crossing a red hawthorn wood, we heard the prettiest, clearest, purest sound we ever listened to on this day !
He was moving along the wooden platform, his pointy shoes and thigh pants making him look like a ballerina, his belt too big for him flying behind him like a piglet’s tail. He used his lute to add sounds effect and enlightened specific words in his story
-Right there, in the middle of the low branches furnished with crimson berries, was knelt a lovely girl, singing alone. This is the day we met Vaniglia
He designated the human singer among the assistance, and she was turning red out of embarrassment.
-She was gathering wood sticks for her fireplace so we helped her. That night we were introduced to her grandfather, Baia, Jody and Jony. Around a big fireplace just as this one, we stood in a circle and listened to the old pa’s tales.
Looong ago, back in his own youth, at a time when everyone was mining and had his own mine to dig and be well off, there was a popular myth about the richest mine of them all. Some bottomless pit covered by jewels as radiant that looked like the sun was coming from out of the ground !
Grandpa told us that once, very long before his birth, a fierce faunri conquerant tried to dig up all the wealth this mine could offer, but he never succeeded and ended up swallowed by his own greed.
At this point, Paulette had forgotten about Olivia still sleeping in her arms, needing a good bath, or that she wanted to greet SidO. She was taken by the story that the hedgehog boy was giving life to
-That was all. The end. Buona notte as we say ! But you know what ?! We saw it ! We truly saw the money mine !!
Enzo continued his play
-The day after, not even past noon : Baia, who was supposed to gather food with the twins, came back crying. Our two skunky friends, not even height years old, had fallen into a trap ! Without waiting, Fabio and I grabbed our most useful tools -the lute- and rushed into the old mining land. Under a great concretion alike all the others, was a burrow hole. We entered the cave, large enough for a man to stand up and slowly descending under the earth with a smell of clay and wet dust.
Vaniglia called the names of our missing companions, her clear voice echoing in the void. Suddenly we heard an answer ! It was coming from under our feet. There they were !!
We found the skunk twins ! They had fallen in a pit !
The pipe was deep and a glowing light was coming from the bottom. Our small friends were standing on a promontory at the edge of the precipice, not far away from our reach but still too remote for us to grab them. I lent my lute so they could use it as a ladder, but at that very moment…
Paulette held her breath
-We heard a dreadful trumpetting coming from the bowels of the earth !!! Fabio and I, who have a great ear, also heard the sound of breaking glass-cutters and ringing coins. Quick ! The boys climbed on my music instrument, we grabbed their arms and pulled them with all our might, the lute fell down the well0 As we glanced at it one last time we saw a monstrous beast rushing down there. That’s enough fear for us, we clear out as fast as possible ! Soon we reach the outdoor light and finally we are safe under the October’s gray sky.
The six children, heroes of this tale, climbed the stage while Enzo was speaking. The hedgehog boy made a break so they could all wave at their public. Finally, on a lighter tone he pursued
-Next to the mines were grazing peacefully a flock of big goats. Our friendship was forged, we made a band and followed our dream. But we had to make a song out of this story, and that's how we created the Money Mine song.

Paulette was amazed “Enzo and his troop are excellent ! I’m glad I met such talented kids along the way and their story is wonderful. I wonder what part of this play is true ? Probably the grandfather’s tale” She thought while clapping her hands as she could without disturbing Olivia’s sleep. Finally she faced her friend enchanter
-Hi SidO, how are you ? I’m glad to see you ! But forgive me, I have something to ask you two :
She showed the little blue haired girl asleep in her arms with sludge all over the face and made a soft smile
-... Could I borrow one of your beds so she could rest for a while ??

Speaking colour: ff8f00 , thought colour: 92541 , Enzo colour : 0328be innkeeper colour: 6f3d75 Fabio colour : 1f2c63
Total words : 1.674

[Olivia]

Olivia was in a haze...seeing the world...then seeing a blurry version...then a (Olivia cookie land) Olivia walked around in her mind stepping and dancing around on the cookies, Sometimes fazing back into the real world she saw Paulette's pretty eyes...then the cookie world came back Olivia was in and out of worlds like a yoyo, The cookies began moving around her...Olivia stopped dancing and saw one of them had grown a face..
''Huh?! why does a cookie have a face?!'' Olivia was shocked and her body in the real world  began Trembling...she was scared of cookies now?!

Olivia slapped herself in the dreamworld ''Ok...Um...Hello Mr. Cookie?!'' Olivia was confused speaking to a cookie she started laughing on the ground..'' Why I'm speaking to a cookie HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH IM GOING CRAZY!! '' The cookie Smirked and moved towards Olivia.
the World around Olivia started to change the cookies became black and it started raining and storming really hard.

''What the heck...Dammit I m going to get wet again UGGGGH'' The cookie started to speak to Olivia in a posh British accent ''Well hello young lady I m Phill the cookie and I am the king of this land you get me gaffer'' Olivia was confused...she had heard this accent before from the other world she used to live in..Olivia stood up from laughing ''Well I know this accent very well fella'' Olivia grabbed a spoon from her backpack ''well I don't know what's going on but im hungry...hehe''..

Olivia began eating the floor?! eating away at the world Phill the cookie began screaming for her to stop ''HEY STOP IT DONT EAT MY WORLD U HARLINTAN'' Olivia kept going and eating and eating away at the cookie world till she was floating in a void of nothing with phill the cookie...

''How could you do this to my world...My people eaten by a monster like you!'' Olivia smiled ''What can I say.. I like cookies hehe'' Phill was terrified of this monster....Olivia started walking towards Phill with an evil grin... ''Now its your turn big cookie : 3 '' ( Olivia has this expression on her face : 3)...

Total words 352 
 

[Ciriodhul]

"This sounds like a quest from back when this was a game. The mammoth could be a big bear, Minotaur, or Hippocampus that we have to kill, and the loot sounds hefty if the song's anything to go by...", replied SidO as laid back as ever with his hand still in his pockets. Shortly after Ciriodhûl heard a quite impact sound coming from under the table they were standing at and trying to locate the source his gaze fell upon the Zarian sorcerer, whose face had been distorted into a painful grimace, which was followed up by a rather intrigued impression. It seemed the sorcerer was as interested in the possible quest dungeon as the shaman and enchanter were. “Hmm”, the shaman looked around, “we probably have enough people to form a party if we wanted to do some dungeon delving.”

While he was looking around his eyes caught Paulette making her way towards them with a sleeping muddied fox Faunri in her arms. Only now with some of the mud having been wiped from her face Ciriodhûl finally recognized her. This was Olivia, the cookie druid, and he had met her at the same time, when he had also met Paulette. Before both of them could reach them, however, Paulette was interrupted by one of the teen performers, who offered her a sleeping place in the stables, which she turned down while pointing at him and SidO. The housekeeper let out a small nervous laugh. “I guess, it doesn’t matter I am on leave. My housekeeper duties are still needed. Don’t worry SidO, I’ll make sure those two ladies will have proper accommodation for the night without you being impacted by this. It is my responsibility as Astra’s housekeeper.”

When he had finished his sentence and was going to move towards Paulette to lend her a hand with Olivia, the Alv raised her voice, so that everything in the taproom could hear her and so that Ciriodhûl awkwardly stopped in his tracks to not be an interruption: “I was wondering how you came up with this song, The Money Mine? I think everyone would like to learn more about it.” How casual this woman could command a room.

What followed was another performance, this time by the likely leader of the group with thick spikey hair, the hedgehog Faunri called Enzo. The performance turned out to be old-fashioned dramatic storytelling, a craft the former literature student Frowin had always admired, although it was pretty much not practiced anymore in the age of mass media. It was a tale of a tale, truly a classic story structure. The elder tells a tale from his youth, on which the young embark on an adventure on their own. If this tale was indeed true, the teenagers could tell them where to find this legendary mine.

After the story had ended, Paulette finally reached them on the other side of the performance space. As the housekeeper had already expected she asked them to borrow a bed, however, only for Olivia and seemingly only for a while. A sensible modesty Astra’s housekeeper could not accept. Before SidO could reply anything, Ciriodhûl found his now well-practiced housekeeper composure and bowed towards the two women in front of him.

“I’ll be gladly of assistance then, milady Paulette. If you so desire the both of you can borrow my room for the night and make yourselves comfortable there. I have but one request of you: Make sure to properly remove all those muddied clothes before you lay her down into the sheets or you’ll make a mess for the inn keepers in my name, which I can simply not allow. Instead let me take both of your dirtied laundry as soon as you are able to, so I can wash it before tomorrow.”

Around the second half of his speech the shaman felt Sola harshly land on the back of his head and stay there, so that he had no other choice but continue bowing for now. The female cat Faunri spirit only dressed in a black skirt and white blouse and with disheveled long white hair faced Paulette with a mischievous smile. She was slightly leaning forward with her arms behind her back and said as if Ciriodhûl could not actually hear every word of hers: “Between us girls. You should probably take him up on his offer. Although it might not have sounded that way, everything he just said was completely genuine and would not be bothersome for him at all. You’ll probably just hurt his pride as a housekeeper if you turn him down. Sooo…”

Sola left the shaman’s head, so that he could finally straighten his back, flew unto Paulette’s shoulder opposite to where she was carrying Olivia and threw her hands in the air while comfortably leaning backwards.

“… let’s do a girl’s night in Cirio’s room! I almost never have the opportunity to spend quality time with panpaidi of my own gender.”

Ciriodhûl could not prevent himself from smiling. His spirit had somehow managed to simultaneously be his best wingman and get what she herself wanted. Obviously Paulette could still refuse, but it sure seemed like she had made it very difficult for the Alv to do so.

“SidO. Same goes for you, of course. If you have some clothes dirtied by this god-awful weather, just give them to me, before you go to bed. When I’ll be doing laundry anyways a few more pieces won’t hurt.”

“Oh, I almost forgot”, the housekeeper turned around towards the Zarian at the table, who seemed to listen in. “When I am at it, I’ll extend my offer to you as well, my dear fellow adventurer. It seems like you will be staying here with all of us. My name is Ciriodhûl, a shaman and the current housekeeper of Astra, a guild in Romalia.”

Then he fell silent in anticipation of everyone’s answer, while he already thought about how to arrange the necessary utilities with the inn keeper, how to help out those Gaian teens as well and finally on how to find his own place to sleep.

---

Word Count: 1024
Total Word Count: 3110
Tags: Anomaly SidO Paulette Olivia

[Anomaly]

Anomaly, in response to what he believes to be a kind offer from the shaman infront of him, slowly stands. His staff partially being used to brace him. Before he’d clear his throat and begin to speak up, voice raspy from exhaustion and dehydration



“I appreciate the offer, however my expertise lies solely in stun-and-sweep tactics, which don’t tend to be very good against bosses, so i hope you don’t mind if i do very little during whatever form of final fight this “money mine” has, since i doubt it’ll just be attrition based. Aside from that, i’ll gladly follow along, however i don’t need any other offers of kindness, i have a perfectly good tent and enough mana to keep myself safe assuming something does decide to attack me in the middle of the night”



Despite his assurances that he didn't need any extra kindness, the conviction behind his words sounded as though it was faltering, as he’d visibly had multiple nights of poor sleep, just judging by how rough his clothes were…



“If i don't do something about his sleeping situation, sound just as rough as i look, i should probably make some kind of offer to help him, preferably one that not many people would actually be willing to accept… though i guess sleeping outside city limits is already pretty dangerous, i may just be able to offer that…”



He’d dig around in his item pouch, partially pulling out items like the golden borough he’d harvested a while ago, alongside some items which seemed like partially constructed prototypes of items from the “real” world, before finally grabbing the camping supplies he’d been using and pulling them out of his bag



“Though, since it seems like you’ve already given up your room, maybe you’d like to spend the night out under the stars? Camping can be relaxing when the wildlife isn’t trying to turn you into its next meal”





Thought colour: 1979e6
word count: 321
Total word count: 949

[SidO]

SidO nodded towards Paulette as he stood in silence and watched the exchange between her and Ciriodhul. My boy's style is on point. Still as nice as ever as well.

He looked at Olivia in Paulette's arms with a grin on his face. Man. That girl is cracked.

He then focused on Cirio and saw his accompanying spirit take material form from him and barge towards Paulette. Hmmm. His eccentric spirit is here as well.. She's got a cute look. 

He moved his eyes away from Sola to make it look like he wasn't staring for too long, and focused his attention on Cirio. He reached into his inventory and materialized a black collard shirt with many red stains in his right hand. He held it towards him and said. "Thanks. I have this dirty shirt, if you don't mind"

While waiting for a response from Cirio, he looked at Anamoly. Don't need any other offers of kindness? Humble. Is he tired from exposure to sunlight? over exhaustion? or a mix of both? What was he up to before he came here?

He spoke to him with a smirk. "Camping outside? That sounds interesting. I'm down to join if you'll have me."

word count: 202