On the left side as we entered the town was a stable, and I caught my first look at local mounts. I say mounts instead of horses, as there was a surprising variety of animals in the open stable and large yard.

While there were a round dozen horses, they seemed to be of two major breeds, dark chocolate giants that were nearly the size of Shire horses, and several smaller, slimmer breeds with varying patterns. In addition, however, there were several large lizards that walked on their hind legs, that strongly resembled 3-meter tall iguanodons, and even a large mean-looking boar that was taller than I am, with spine bristles trimmed and a pair of bronze-capped tusks.

The streets were cramped and seemed to be barely wide enough for two wagons to pass, with alleys between overhanging buildings barely a single wagon wide, maybe 8 feet. Most of the buildings had a brownstone bottom floor leading up to Tudor second stories, which broadened above the base of each building and cast the cobbled streets into a slight pall as they attempted to block out the sky.

Many of the buildings appeared to have large display windows on the second story overlooking the streets, although I use the term loosely, as there did not seem to be many glass windows at all, simply wooden grates, almost like murder holes made for display. On the whole, the place looked like it was designed to be defended house-to-house even if something was able to get past the walls.

The whole image was crowded as if they had tried to jam as many two-story buildings into the walls as possible, which made sense for a frontier walled town. The gate on the inner curve of the town’s arc was to the east, and on the Northside there was a tower of a grey stone visible from the few clear spots that didn’t match the brownstones that made up many of the lower structures, and Cassie started guiding us in that direction.

“Do you think there’s any chance of us finding a druid in this town?” I asked slightly loudly. The streets were not packed with people, but they were fairly well-used. [observe] just made things look far too crowded, but I occasionally noticed a few adventurers or players wandering around, dressed for battle and festooned with weapons or outfitted in robes and staves. I kept my eyes open for Rik or any of the Killers4hire, though.

Shiana shook her head, “Not unless they are adventurers with the druid class.” she said, “Real druids refuse to wear bands, and tend to stay far away from human habitations. Most of them are Aen worshippers, the Goddess of growth and plants, and seem to avoid crowds of people and adventurers, for some reason.”

Cassie perked up as we heard the very traditional sound of ringing metal, and I should have guessed she would take us right to a metal worker. The shops she led us to were along the outer arch of the town’s wall, to the northwest, and each of the buildings was built into the back wall. The number of adventurers increased, and despite the loud noises coming from the shops, there were two inns clearly across a broad square. This looked like the center for gear manufacturing. There were signs with helmets, crossed weapons, shields, and a backpack.

Between the two inns was the familiar sign of the Questor’s league, the tall mismatched stone tower attached to one of the inns, and the other one had red curtains and a red lamp, currently unlit in the afternoon sunlight. If traditions held across worlds, I had a fairly good idea of what the second inn sold in addition to food and booze, although there were no scantily-clad females draped over balconies to advertise it.

I watched as an adventurer, a very large gentleman that looked like a cross between a bodybuilder and a tiger with two swords strapped to the back of his black leather armor, entered the league building.

“Cassie, why don’t you and Shiana head into the shops and look for a new hammer and some arrows?” I said, “I am not going to be very useful as a negotiator unless you need comic relief, I figured I could head over to the league and see if there are any bounties we fulfilled and if we can get a room or two for the night before we go looking for more supplies.”

Cassie grinned and grabbed Shiana’s hand, leading her towards the smithies. I didn’t, particularly like being left alone, but I wasn’t in the mood to try to explain the half-understood vagaries of steelmaking to a professional smith. I had given Cassie all the information I could, and I am sure that she would appreciate a conversation with a contemporary without me piping in in the aggravating way I knew full well I had a habit of doing. I figure any smith that ignored the ideas of a dwarf was a total tool and deserved to be left behind.

I slipped into the league building, which had a simple swinging door with a rack for a bar on the other side. I made sure my fake band was displayed, and reactivated my [observe] ability.

Like the prior league building I had observed while waiting for Rik’s party, the main floor seemed to be taken up by a sort of restaurant bar, although in this one nearly half the tables were occupied by various dangerous-looking individuals. The mission board was covered with far more notices, probably due to the more dangerous location of this town and its much higher amount of activity. I noticed that the tiger-man was arguing with a young man at a desk off to one side, the league rep I suppose, and I could hear him grumbling something about a wyvern.

Interestingly enough, while I was noticed by several of the denizens, I didn’t draw the kind of stares I had before. Most of the stares seemed to be reserved for the few changechildren I noticed, including the tiger-man. I suppose, by adventurer standards, a well-clothed and obviously adventuring kobold was fairly normal. My own attention, however, was drawn to a HUGE bald man sitting at a table with another armored figure, who was as broad as a dwarf if a dwarf were likely nine feet tall, with a slightly greenish cast to his skin and pronounced tusks.

“I am telling you, I looked for the damned thing for nearly a day before I gave it up. The wyvern was not there anymore, and I even found its nest and poked around, and I have the kid’s helmet right here,” the catlike humanoid said loudly, dropping what looked like a hardened leather helmet on the desk. “See? It even has the Boros house crest on it and a bloodstain. The kid’s definitely eaten, but the damned wyvern was gone. There were even two broken eggs inside, and a wyvern would never leave its eggs to get eaten by wildlife.” he put what looked like a piece of brown eggshell next to the helmet. His accent in Rhydian was interesting, sort of South American, and I realized that he was probably a player.

The young man sighed, “You probably are right, but the house was very specific that evidence of the wyvern’s death had to be brought back. They already knew the kid was dead from that Merchant’s reports before you ever accepted the mission, I am not trying to cheat you, without some kind of evidence, they won’t pay us, and we cannot pay you.”

I wandered a little closer to the desk. We had killed a blue Wyvern the day before yesterday that had attacked us, and I wondered if maybe that was what he talked about. We were not very hard up for money, but based on the scuffs on the tiger gentleman’s armor and the fact that he had several unhealthy-looking scratches under the tears, he was likely in poor financial shape. “Excuse me,” I said, hoping that this was an opportunity to build up some goodwill.

Both the man at the desk, a guy in his mid-twenties with a nicely trimmed goatee wearing a good-quality but not noble tunic, and the scuffed-looking tiger turned in my direction, looking over my head. They both looked down eventually, noticing me.

“Asher’s foot fungus!” the Tiger exclaimed, “Is that a talking kobold?”

I was getting a little tired of that response, and so even though he was almost twice my height I responded with, “Holy Pussycat! Is that a talking tiger?”

I was a little worried that I might be starting a fight, but the Tiger-man laughed tiredly. “Okay, I guess I deserved that. Jaguar, not a tiger. Adventurers come in all shapes and sizes. I should be done here shortly, even faster if the guy pays me for my trouble.” He glared meaningfully at the young man, who shrugged.

“Not to interrupt, but did the wyvern have blue scales and was about 8 feet long?” I asked curiously, “on a section of newly-broken trail heading north, sort of off the main road?”

The Tiger-man facepalmed, nodding. “Yes. You don’t look like much, but if you got the beast, I guess that explains things.” He looked unhappy. “I didn’t see signs of a tribe fighting, but it wouldn’t be the first time I was beaten to a bounty.” he shrugged again and made a motion towards the desk. “Be my guest”

I shook my head, and [observed] him. Yes, he was sort of an autonymous ghost-like all players were, a sort of construct,

Raphael Barbossa (threat) (No party)

Jaguar Changechild light skirmisher(10)

Raphael Barbossa is a changechild, a race of enchanted half-animals that are much like humans but have various special animalistic abilities instead of human racial bonuses.

Light Skirmishers specialize in dodge-tanking and movement-based melee, relying more on flexibility and maneuverability for their defense than traditional armored tanking roles. This class is uncommon and was received at level 5 for having maxed dodge and learning both the parry and dual weapons skills.

Hey, my name is Raphael. I am based on a were-jaguar character from Seattle by Starlight, but this game is way more awesome VR even if I don’t get to shapeshift. If you are a ganker I will happily take bounties and I WILL hunt you down. I don’t like Gankers, but if you want to duel me I am usually up for it, unless I am with a girl, then I will beat your ass like a Pinata.

Heh. I kind of liked this guy. He spelled out all his words instead of using l33tspeak, and I agreed with the sentiment.

“Nope, I am trying to make friends with adventurers, and you look heavily traveled. You got the quest, I didn’t even know about it, my team and I just got attacked by the thing while we were trying to camp by the river.” I looked him up and down, “You look beat to crap. I have the thing’s skull, if I let you complete the quest would you be willing to share the loot? And, umm… would you like a heal? That looks like it hurts.”

He nodded quickly. “Yeah, I am still looking for a party with a healer, and I thought I could finish the quest pretty easily without taking any damage while I waited since I am kind of tight on funds, but I got jumped by a bunch of goblin bandits on the main road. I ran them off, but without the bounty, I am looking at at least 4 days of regeneration, and I get to camp in the woods.”

He shrugged a little, seemingly in a good mood as I turned and tugged the skull out of my inventory. “I have a bit of a bad habit of spending too much money on girls. I cannot help it, they throw themselves at me and it is only polite to get them gifts to show my appreciation, especially for the flexible, athletic ones.”

I chuckled, “I imagine you hear it a lot, but I wish I had your problems. Most of the girls of my type are not exactly scintillating conversationalists, and usually, the only ones that will throw themselves at me are carrying various weapons and a resounding bloodlust.”

He grinned, and accepted the skull gratefully, having to bend WAY over to get it. “You have my eternal gratitude. Are you a pl… immortal?” he asked curiously, sliding the heavy and only slightly dripping skull onto the desk. I had had plans for using the brains in experimental tanning but had to get the head open to get at the lovely, huge core.

I shrugged, “Not exactly.” and gave him my prepared story, “Part of a pilot program, sort of a beta test. Hush-hush.” I looked at him thoughtfully, having a player on the team might open up a lot of possibilities, and he seemed a lot more approachable and laid-back than Rik had. Now that I had a fake band, the risk had diminished considerably, and there was a ton more we could potentially learn from a player band, which was very different from the ones local adventurers wore.

“You know, my party might be able to use another player or two if you are interested. We are headed into the Winnowrill tomorrow, and we have some decent looting bonuses. We need to be a little more careful than most because the other members are locals and I am sort of playing in… umm… hardcore mode, but we are hoping that the Winnowrills might offer some new quests if you haven’t farmed them?” I added, “I could ask my teammates if they are interested in another melee damage dealer? We could probably use it.”

He shook his head, “I don’t know what Winnowrills are, so I am pretty sure I haven’t hunted any. I have been trying to get as far out as possible for the discovery bonuses, but most people avoid the Winnowrill because it’s a level 10 plus zone, down to level 20 by the lake. There are only a couple of guys that have passed 15 so far. But you seem kind of cool, and I just got off my break, sure, ask them. I am not a guildie so I don’t mind pick-up groups, and I figure powerful friends could help someday down the road.”

The clerk finished checking the skull and then handed a piece of parchment to Raphael. “This is the Wyvern. Take that to disbursing to get your 20 silver.” Raphael smiled, “Ahh, sweet experience.” and motioned toward me as he headed towards the bar.

“That Wyvern was level 11, and you only get 20 silver for it?” I asked him curiously, “That seems a little low, I mean, we kinda got more than that just from its loot.” I pulled out a small jar from my inventory. I had experimented with herbal concoctions, and while it wasn’t technically alchemy, and used my improvised fabrication skill, crushing some flax seeds and collecting the oil, adding some dandelion, evening primrose, yarrow, and willow bark, and then adding a twist of essence had made a rather nice, if grainy, ointment. It healed surface wounds within hours, and Shiana pronounced it tasty after a rather odd mistake with a loaf of bread.

He shrugged, “This town has a lot of adventurers. Mostly the board is useful for its experience rewards, but the monetary rewards are not exactly decent offerings. Still, it’s a pretty good home base for exploring and quests, and you can sometimes find better rewards from what you kill than what you get for the quests.” He examined the little jar as I handed it to him. “What is this?”

“Healing ointment. Great for surface wounds, you should feel right as rain in a few hours after putting it on, just slather some lightly over the scratches and cuts and it should heal and disinfect them even with your fur.”

“Huh,” he stated, “that’s a little different. All I have seen have been healing potions that just return a part of your hit points. The damned things are expensive, and after level 5 the low-grade potions barely heal anything before you hit potion cap. No one can afford the higher-grade potions yet, and I have enough hit points that it might not be worth it.”

I grinned, “It works on a different principle, based on wounds instead of hit points. Try it.”

He shrugged and I saw that he used his investigate skill on it. Probably checking to make sure it’s not poison. He sat at one of the barstools to wait for the bartender, and pried off the cork top to the bottle, sniffing it. “Hey, that actually smells pretty good. Have you ever smelled a healing potion? It smells like an old dead rat and tastes even worse. This smells like bath salts.” He took a fingerful and spread it on a nasty cut on his arm, where the armor had a gap and his shirt beneath had a nasty bloody slash in it and then sighed audibly. “Oh wow. That feels awesome.”

I nodded, “Yep when I was making it, pain relief was an important part of the formula. It’s not an instant cure like a healing potion, but it keeps going and if you put it on and put a bandage on it, as long as you don’t have a nasty deep puncture, you can keep fighting for a while and a good night’s sleep has you healed up.”

“You made this?” he asked curiously.

I nodded, “Yeah, I have a special primitive crafting skill that lets me make a lot of stuff outside of the normal crafting and gathering skills. It’s generally not supposed to be as good, but I use it all the time, so it’s high level, and it lets me come up with a bunch of new recipes.” I patted my armor, “Like this armor, and that ointment.” I shrugged. “I figure by the time the top tier crafters start making super gear, they might leave me behind, but most of what I make is decent and cheap, so if I want to I can just give it away.” I nodded to the paste he was applying to his other arm.

“Dude, you totally have to let me on your team. I mean, your armor isn’t super fancy, but it’s more protective than any other light armor I have seen yet.” He slid the scrap to the bartender who had come over, and the guy counted out 20 silvers, of which he tried to slide half to me.

I held up my hand. “Keep it. I am just glad to have made a friendly contact. Most of the players I have been dealing with are all gung ho world PVP. It’s aggravating sending them back to their graveyards.” I grinned a bit evilly, an expression I was perfecting, “For some reason, people seem to underestimate me.”

Raphael nodded, “Yeah, I cannot say they underestimated me, but I am not quite in the groove yet for picking up PVP bounties. I don’t want to Red name, so I have to be careful about what games I play. I figure when people get pissed enough I will be able to start an anti-ganker guild since it always happens with open-world PVP.”

I asked him carefully, noticing Shiana and Cassie coming in through the doorway. “I do have a question though. Have you been killing locals?”

Raphael shrugged, “I took out a few gnolls on my way here, but I think that they are considered monsters. I also dropped a leader of a bandit gang out near Mancy Hills, does that count?”

I shook my head, “Not even remotely. I just don’t want people that farm locals on my team.” I leaned forward and whispered to him, “Some of us might just BE locals now.”

His eyes opened wide and he nodded vigorously, “No no no no. I honestly cannot tell the difference between a local and a player that’s roleplaying. I love the girls here, they are not even close to as crazy as at home, I would never want anyone to hurt them.”

He shrugged, “I work for a resort, showing rich California women a good time when they are on vacation. I don’t know this technology stuff that good. The women here? They are alive. The men probably too, but when you have your tongue in a woman, you can tell if she is real.” He grinned. “They are real. If I find players who are murderers, I will hurt them as much as possible before I send them to respawn. If I could find them outside I would beat them with my bare hands. Even if girls here are computer minds, they are as real as our flesh and blood minds.”

Cassie and Shiana walked over to meet us, and I noticed that Raphael had made the money disappear without insisting that I take my share too vociferously. “Hey, did you get what you need?” I asked the two of them. “Oh, this is Raphael. He might be joining us to head into the Winnowrill if you approve, he’s an immortal, but… he is a big fan of Locals. Raphael, This is Shiana and Cassie.”

Raphael was off of his barstool in a heartbeat and bowed low with a flourish I could only envy. He turned his head slightly, and gave me a wink, before saying, “Oh, Signoras. Your friend was telling me of your beauty and poise in glowing terms, but despite his lavish praise, I feel he may have done you a disservice. I am truly rendered speechless, and if you will have me, I would be more than happy to accompany and help protect you with my life!”

I noticed a hint of mana as he inspected me, and he added, “Brantley has been most generous and assisted me in completing a quest most dangerous, but danger is my second favorite stimulant, and I can only dream of being permitted to indulge in such stimulating activities with such a competent and lovely pair!”

Damn. This guy was smooth, which was only enhanced by his tigerish feline appearance. It’s possible he was a dumpy greaseball in real life, but if he was telling the truth about his employment I doubted it very much. Cassie was as red as a stop sign again, and even Shiana looked a bit pink as she smiled at him.

“He has an uncommon class and looks to be very good at avoiding taking damage. He might be able to take some pressure off of you, Cassie, and as a heavy damage dealer he could help us with our more… troublesome foes, like that psuedodrake that just would not die.”

I was trying not to be too blunt, but Shiana made up for that lack with a bluntness that she could get away with because she was vastly more attractive than I was. “I am cautiously in favor. My damage, especially against things that are resistant to piercing, can sometimes lack, and Cassie is a much better tank and healer than she is a brutal killer. Bran, like me, is often situational and based on being prepared. Someone who can serve up the hurt if we are not prepared could be extremely useful.”

She shrugged a little, “I say allow him to join for the time being. If he is competent, he stays, and if he is not, he goes his own way. Either way, for the time being, he is ornamental enough that I would enjoy having him around. If Mae joins us like she planned, she might wish to weigh in with her own opinion, as she, too, is a changechild and might have an important point of view.”

Raphael looked taken aback by her bluntness, and if I could see it through his fur, he might have been flushed at being referred to as ‘ornamental’.

Cassie nodded, “I am fine with it too, I could use a breather occasionally, and faster kills means less time wasted on healing and more time bashing things for experience.” She smiled a little, “Plus, Like Shiana says, he’s very umm… Ornamental.” She turned a bit redder.

Raphael found his words. “I will need some time to prepare. I need to get my armor repaired and get enough supplies to last me for… how much time?” he asked curiously.

Cassie smiled, “Depending on how fast we can move, and if we can find a lair or dungeon on the way to smash, we are thinking between four days and two weeks.”

I nodded, “Also, supplies-wise, all you will really need is a large backpack and any special toolsets you need for your trade and gathering skills. Both Shiana and I are very good foragers and make food with bonuses, and we have a LOT of supplies available. I need to pick up some basic seasonings and more salt, but don’t worry about your armor or food other than a waterskin. I am trying not to be insulting, but your armor is…” I stopped talking, trying to figure out a polite way to say it.

“Crap.” Shiana put it simply and then pointed at her and Cassie’s new armors. “If you give him a night, and he has the stuff, he makes things like this. His heavy armor is better than cast bronze, but not as good as enchanted plate, but his light armor is the best I have ever seen.” She looked Raphael up and down critically. “Your armor is worse than I had in the tutorial, and it looks like even dodge tanks get hit occasionally. Dyeing third-rate garbage black doesn’t improve its ability to protect you unless it’s very dark.”

She continued, “Also, we aren’t all having sex anymore, so unless you like sleeping on the ground as Bran does, you probably want a bedroll and a tent or at least a canvas if it’s raining.”

I facepalmed. “We were never all having sex Shiana, only you.” and I shrugged at Raphael. “I have enough supplies to make you some armor, but I have some shopping to do tonight, and some junk to sell. I might not have time to make a new set before we are on the road, but I will make sure to save out enough to get it done when we camp. I don’t sleep much.”

Raphael’s eyes narrowed a little, “I was not aware that your party was among the wealthy.” He said, and I sensed that he didn’t have a very high appreciation for rich people… maybe due to his experiences keeping them entertained?

Cassie started laughing! “Rich people? Oh lord. Do you see this armor?” She fingered her wyvern scale armor. The same hide as the beast’s head he had turned in. “This wyvern attacked us on the road. It took two of my fingers.” She wiggled her now-whole hand. “And swallowed one of them. This is not rich people's armor, this is VENGEFUL people's armor. We chopped his head off, and now I wear his skin for a suit. I am just lucky that his skin is tough enough to make amazing armor, but even if it was soft like kitty fur, I would still wear it.”

I hadn’t realized how deeply she felt about her injury, but the little bastard HAD swept in and caught us by surprise.

Raphael smiled, “Your gear was well-earned then. Should I use my wealth to replace my swords? They are quite worn, or should I expect him to magically create enchanted vorpal blades as well?”

Cassie rolled her eyes, but I grinned. “I am not even remotely a weaponsmith, but Cassie is. I plan on getting some tools for her, but I would still recommend upgrading your weapons. However, I trust completely that she will soon be making good Damascus steel weapons. Maybe not mithril or orichalcum, but she is a girl with true talents.” I wiggled my staff at him. “Primitive weapons like staves and spears I can do very well, but something like a sword takes a skilled touch.”

Raphael pulled his swords, in their scabbards, slowly out of his belt. He didn’t even look like he had a real weapon belt, he just tucked the scabbards into a normal heavy belt. The scabbards were very odd and looked almost like large spoons, but as he tugged the weapons out I realized the reasons… they were not classical swords, but were rather a pair of Khopesh!

Cassie looked over them with a critical eye. “Cast Bronze. Novice work? They are interesting, I could see how the outer curves would take advantage of the edge, especially against unarmored opponents, and the inner curve could be used as almost a pick or a hook. They are in pretty bad shape though, and short of a complete recast, I would replace them.”

Raphael nodded, “They are my own work. I am very much a fan of unusual ancient weaponry. When I was a little more flush I spent the money to craft and cast these, as they are exceptionally good for two weapons work, but I am unfortunately unskilled at casting bronze. And the design is not very good with beaten work like steel.”

I nodded to Raphael, and looked at Cassie, raising an eyebrow, she smiled a little, and in a few moments Raphael Barbossa was in the party.

"To be honest, we are sort of a survivalist party right now. There is not actually very much we NEED in a city, this was just a stop on our way to the Winnowrill. There are, however, a ton of supplies we can pick up here, and I know that both Cassie and Shiana would appreciate a bed for the night."

He nodded, and I continued, "Tell you what. I am going to take a chance on you. No one can do a good job without proper tools, and your tools are your swords. We have a gold coin, and I am going to ask Cassie to lend it to you, to be paid off with loot. Use that to get the best weapons you can, for right now, until we can do better. Consider this sort of a test, if you like."

"We are going to leave early in the morning. If you aren't in the party, I will wash my hands of it and just consider it a bad investment. If you are ready and want to go, then we can head out. For right now, though, we need to sell some loot and get some supplies. What you do with your money is your own choice, but we will see you in the morning?"

Raphael nodded, and Cassie carefully fished out a crown and tossed it to him. "I shall most assuredly join you in the morning." he stated, and then smiled brightly at Shiana, "were I to squander the opportunity to spend time with such amazing ladies, I should simply maim myself and spend my life as a blind castrati, as I would have no more use for my eyes or my manhood."

Wow. completely over the top. Then again, based on Cassie's blush and Shiana's bright smile, he somehow made it work. I shook my head, shrugged, and then we headed out into the city to trade some treasure.