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--TheirWorld--

“Wear it?” Guin asked. “How do I do that? I’ve already got a cloak and it doesn’t seem suited to much else…” Guin pulled up her character window and looked at the cloak made of Amikavi’s pelt.

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<<[ Guise of the Tailed]>>

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<< A cloak made from the skin of powerful fox spirits.

This cloak contains the skin of the Lady Amikavi, who once ruled over the White Fox Forest. Legend portrays her as a great trickster, and fierce protector of the Veil. Hers is a skin filled with powerful magic to summon storms, ride the wind, and beguile creatures great and small.

This item can be upgraded.

This is a class item. See [Tatterskin Settings].>>

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“What the hell is this…,” she muttered, clicking the [Tatterskin Settings] button at the bottom of the flavor text button. It opened to a class screen that had a four ability chart, each with two sockets attached to it. There were three locked abilities and one unlocked one with a fox head shape on it. She went though and looked at each one, but the locked skills only told her that she needed to unlock the abilities before she could gain more information. The unlocked skill was considerably more enlightening:

<<[Form: Tatterskin - Fox Spirit Focus]>>

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<< You are but a person wearing a fox’s skin. How appalling. >>

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Filled with a new sense of dread, Guin exclaimed, “What the hell is this?”

Liorax chuckled as he floated around upside down. “Are you shocked? You are, aren’t you! Look at you! Your face!”

“How am I supposed to fight with a class like this?” she demanded to know as she reread the details. “This is a laborer type class, not a combat, or even adventure type class!”

“Hmm,” the two tailed fox went. “If it is a combat class you seek, then you must simply dress the part! ...After you make such trappings for yourself, of course. So long as you gather the materials yourself, your pretty little constructions should be… viable, at the least. Don’t get me wrong, little princess, I’ll not be your fairy godfather and do all the work for you.”

Guin stared at him. “I sincerely hope that’s all code for dropping this pelt of yours into one of these slots here.” She waved at her class screen though she wasn’t sure he could see it.

“Hmm, something like that, I suppose,” he considered, the shrugged. “But not really.”

“Liorax…” Guin growled.

“It’s quite simple - You’ll see! You must attach my pelt to the lady Amikavi’s,” he told her. “You can drop it into the slot after that, you see? Look, there should be an area where you can see the lady Amikavi’s pelt appears on your class screen — but it takes two pelts to give yourself a new gown, and therefore, a new form.”

A new form? With Liorax’s words, she looked over the chart with new eyes. The warnings had said that the Tatterskin class was a shapeshifting class — was each of the locked abilities a new form? But in that case, does that mean that the Tatterskin class is one with only three actual class abilities?

It was hard to know what was normal in this game. She knew that, for the most part, abilities were locked only by the amount of work a player put into gaining it. Classes, as they were, generally served to help build certain skills faster in addition to having a few, select skills that masters would only teach to those specific tracks. You could find ways to discover them, of course, but so far this was considered to be more work than it was worth for the most part.

Looking at the details of current form available to her, this Tatterskin class reduced her to a crafting and gathering class. But this was the base form, and it was the only thing she really had to go off of to know what this class was.

But if the other forms are like the base form with a different set of bonuses… If that were the case, and one of the three forms was a combat form after all, then this base form would be far more important and powerful than her initial reaction after seeing the ability.

Guin sucked on her lower lip, then, making a loud pop! sound as she breathed out, she said, “Alright. Well, I guess I’m stuck now, so let’s do this. How do I attach the your cloak to Amikavi’s?”

Liorax grinned his special grin that was somehow far more creepy and unsettling to her in his fox form than it had been in his cat form. “The half-Che must sew her own dress. I don’t sew. There is more worth in you doing it yourself, anyway, don’t you think, Lady?” Liorax rolled around to face Amikavi, whose face twisted in displeasure as she glared at him.

“The darklander speaks correctly,” Amikavi said. “Unfortunately, this is something we cannot help you with; it is something that you must build on your own. Your Tatterskin form should help you in building the skill that you need in order construct your coat of skins. An apprentice leather working skill can suffice, but as you grow in skill you can rework the seams to make them stronger, giving your forms more power. Each of the spirit skins that you gather and attach should be of powerful spirits, and can therefore each hold an enchantment to increase their power. Take care with the skins you use, however, for if you damage them, the spirits who use their power to aid you will lose trust in you, weakening both bond and power. Should you destroy a skin, then you shall lose a great amount of reputation amongst the Veil.”

“I see…” Guin looked down at Liorax’s pelt in her hands. “So, the first thing I should do is gain a crafting skill?”

Amikavi nodded. “I shall assign you a quest,” she told her. “First, gain the crafting skills [Skinning], and the crafting skill [Leather Working]. When you have achieved [Leather Working - Intermediate], sew Liorax’s pelt onto mine. At that point, return to me here, and I shall explain more about your job and your abilities as a Tatterskin.”

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[To Sew a Dress of Fur and Leather (Class Quest)]

Quest Dialogue: “First, gain the crafting skills [Skinning], and the crafting skill [Leather Working]. When you have achieved [Leather Working - Intermediate], sew Liorax’s pelt onto mine. At this point, return to me here, and I shall explain more about your job and ability as a Tatterskin.”>

This quest cannot be skipped. (Difficulty: C)>>

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This class is so weird, Guin grimaced as she sent the quest window away, trying not to regret what she had agreed to.

“How should I find you after I have done these things? I was only able to get here because the foxes led me to you,” Guin asked.

“My foxes shall lead you again, once they sense your arrival,” Amikavi said, flipping her tails.

Guin nodded. “Alright. So… how do I get out of here and back into town?” Amikavi nodded to one of the small pink-eyed foxes that had been waiting in the room. “You’ll show me out, then?” Guin asked it, but it only tilted it’s head at her cutely. It reminded her of Tik-Tak, and she smiled as she reached down and pat it on the head. That she might have the chance to meet Tik-Tak again made the whole thing worth it, she felt. Turning back to Amikavi, she bowed. “I thank you again, my Lady.”

“Take care, Tatterskin,” the fox spirit bowed her head slightly. “You do not know what you mean to us, who have already passed. There is much ahead yet for you, but to us who have waited for what seems like forever, you need not rush in your quest to become what you truly are.”

Uncertain about what to make of the words, Guin nodded curtly and turned towards the hall again.

“Shall I buff you?” Liorax asked as he floated.

“Please,” Guin said, and he disappeared in a flash of light.

Looking at how late it was, she would be better off starting the quest tomorrow, even though she was eager to see what the Tatterskin class was capable of. She had such horrible stats in this form, but she should still have little problem dealing with smaller creature like the Moarbits to skin. Still, it was bound to take quite some time to level her skills high enough to be worth anything, and it was already eleven o’clock at night. Should I call up some friends tomorrow? Elric and Stella have been wanting to help for a while. Bahena too… But now that she had even more positive experiences with the garuli, she felt a lot more confident about working with them. It was even possible that she could call Tea up for help. She was sure he’d be excited to do just about anything he could.

The little white fox led her out uneventfully, as if it were somehow enchanted to have no enemies appear in its presence, and with that, she logged out.

Dassah stretched as she took her gear off. She was more tired than she had through she was, but she was pleased with the progress that she had made. After storing her equipment in its place at her bedside she checked her phone.

Ah… she went, seeing that Stella had spammed her KiT Talk with messages about the date she wanted to send her on. Bahena and her friend Elric had also sent a message about wanting to join up in ThierWorld. Other than that though, the world seemed quiet and peaceful.

She stood and stretched again and walked out onto her balcony to get some fresh air. The night was as cool and calm as always, and the salty smell of the sea came over on a warm breeze. The calls of the nocturnal seabirds filled the quiet night with their songs. Her thoughts drifted the garuli again; to Tea and Ibraxis. She closed her eyes. Leaning over the railing, she breathed in deeply. Were her fears groundless afterall? Not that she could have changed her instincts. Opening them again, she looked out over the hex grid filled ocean.

It wasn’t quite home to her yet, but it sure was nice.

Looking at the glowing screen of her phone, she scrolled through Stella’s messages with a raised eyebrow:

-Stella: Hey!

-Stella: Hey! Hey!

-Stella: You remember about that guy I want you to meet right?

-Stella: Right?

-Stella: Are you playing TheirWorld? You should set your game up to receive app notifications. The real world needs you. Didn’t you yell at me the other day for not checking my messages?

-Stella: Hey!

-Stella: Anyway, I set up a date for you tomorrow morning, 9 AM at the Perch! You know, the coffee shop with the cranky bat man! I figured he’d be a good conversation starter if he’s there :p. Plus, coffee motivation!

-Stella: Hey!

-Stella: Well I am going to bed now.

-Stella: At least give me your character information so I can send you messages in game…

-Stella: If you don’t go tomorrow, I won’t forgive you!

-Stella: Love you!

Dassah let out a half sigh, half laugh as she shook her head. What a character…

She supposed going tomorrow wouldn’t hurt. Though the introvert part of herself wanted to shut herself in her room and play TheirWorld all day, the part of her that knew better knew she would get stir crazy if she did that. Fancy coffee after a long night didn’t sound bad, and if the guy Stella wanted her to meet flaked, then at least she’d have coffee and a book to read.

And if he shows? Dassah groaned, but surrendered herself to her fate. There were worse things than meeting a guy for coffee.

After sending Stella a reassuring message, she got herself back into bed.