Life After the Apocalypse

Raquel shudders a little bit looking at the overgrown highway and broken cars, a poignant reminder of the world that was. "Right. Well, as the British say, 'stiff upper lip and all that.' Let's make sure there aren't any hidden dangers lurking around before we set up camp for the night."

>>>The overgrown overpass provided a tranquil spot, shaded from the sun and sheltering the humid coolness of the morning until well past noon. BradL33 dug out a few apples from his pack and offered them around for those that wanted to break up the blandness of their rations with a bit of flavor.
>>>Grace, joined by Piphany, checked out a selection of cars that still remained mostly intact. Only hollow shells of their former selves, they nevertheless provided shelter to life but nothing larger than curiously alien vermin and chameleon-like lizards. Several 'cars' retained the larger bones of their driver's and passengers. Their smaller bones no doubt scattered by the ancestors of the life that now calls the cars home. Raquel's sweep of the area turned up nothing immediately hostile either.


>>> "Yo, T..." Guy sat on the remnants of a car, rusted into a solid hardly-definable mass. "You didn't tell me this game was like Mad Max meets WoW." He scratched a bit of moss and dirt from the rusted mass and revealed a chunk of yellow paint beneath. "I used to drive a lorry this color..."

>>> "Yeah, the Devs didn't really keep a consistent story or timeline or anything but it's supposed to be in the far future of Earth." She accepted an apple from BradL33, "Even so, all this stuff would be long gone if that was the case. The practical explanation was that the makers of Elder Tales used an old satellite map of the Earth at half-scale as the game map because they bought out the company that made the map.". She produced a fancy looking knife from her pack and sliced a bit of the apple with it.

>>>"It's a lot creepier now than it was in the game. Makes me wonder if we're the lucky ones to have skipped all that horror or is being here now an even worse fate?" he mused as he climbed up a chunk of fallen overpass to clear vines and moss from the twisted remnants of an overpass sign. "Oh! This is the 255/65 Interchange..." he read the faded numbers on the sign. "We're not too far from Mound City. It's due-West from here! Just a couple hours walk. We can make it before dark, no problem.". He looked around, readjusting his bearings, "I think there's a beginner dungeon around here somewhere, maybe just North of here. Hard to say without the minimaps working or an online guide to access."

---

>>> 'What kind of strong performance are you talking about?" Piphany stole up to Atalanta/Taylor while BradL33 was talking. "You fought way better than I did...that's for sure." She just looked at Atalanta for a minute before she spoke again, "I get the impression that you're just a kid. Not some Old Farts in new bodies like me and Grace. That so?"

Clara's eyes linger on the long abandoned overpass, in awe at the resemblance to the modern world. "I know it's the game developers' intention, but this is eerie."

Her gaze then falls on the rusted cars. "I wish we could just drive through here instead of walking," she jokes. "I'm still not used to my new short legs."

Turning to BradL33, she asks, "Tell us more about this dungeon. Is it some kind of ruin?"

Fren agrees with Calico. He lets a deep sigh and sits with the others. "I am intrigued about the dungeon, but I believe we shoulde enter the City and make a base of operations there. We can always return back, can't we?" he says as he eats a bland pancake from the village. He makes a grimace, he forgot that in this world looks and taste are not equivalent to real life. "I do not remember this game having vehicles..." he says as he dreams a Mad Max modded car.

"The dungeon could be a good place to practice our skills and level up," Raquel agrees. "After we get established at Mound City, though."

She looks around at the overgrown environment and feels a song coming on. In a soft voice, she sings:

Sometimes I feel like I don’t have a partner
Sometimes I feel like my only friend
Is the city I live in, the City if Angels
Lonely as I am, together we cry...

Grace considers the Mad Max theme… and that seemingly useless skill she took at character-creation."I wonder if Ride Exotic Beast actually means a mad-maxyish thing, like one of those motor-tricycles but with giant spiked tires." She’s kidding but… "Maybe if I’d picked the ‘construct’ type..?"

>>>The tranquil state of the deteriorated overpass stands in stark contrast to the unspoken horror of its existence. Nothing in the surroundings, not plant nor animal, ranks the site as being of any significance. It's just a feature of the pastoral landscape despite the implications of its existence.

>>>"Yeah. From this side of the screen it's a pretty bleak sight to realize that this is what's left of our world...assuming this is somehow Earth. But it can't be, right?" The Druid let that statement hang in the air for a moment before deciding that a change of subject was in order before the mood deflated further.
>>> Calamity's question served as the perfect turning point for him the conversation. "Um, yeah. There's a beginner dungeon near all the Player Cities. Something, something LaGranda is the name."

>>>"Ruined Temple of LaGranda." Tina butted in. "They're all attributed to LaGranda. Liberty City has the Fell Ruins of LaGranda, San Angelo has the Lost Canyon of LaGranda, Sunshine City has the Haunted Swamp of LaGranda. You get the picture."

>>>"Yeah! That's it. This one is the Profane Temple of LaGranda. I remember now... I never ran those dungeons but they all have a level cap of 30; nobody over level 30 can get in. Mostly filled with Elemental Dead...Burning Dead, Frozen Dead, the Drowned, the Risen. Changes randomly each day so you have to go in with different strategies and gear each time." BradL33 's mind suddenly kicked into gear. "They're pretty close to the cities so new players can level up and learn tactics quickly. Dunno what the drops are like, though. Probably pretty low and elemental themed. I don't remember hearing if they were good for farming." he shrugged.

>>>"You only get one run at it a day, so probably not great for farming drops or mats. You'd probably need a good map to avoid getting lost or swamped with Mobs in there though. They're supposed to be pretty big dungeons with an upper course for levels 10-20 and a lower course for 20-30...and that's where the Boss is located."


>>>Guy had totally zoned out the whole time BradL33 and Tina were MMO nerding out but snapped back to the here & now at the mention of vehicles. "Hey, yeah. Are there things to ride or drive here? All this hiking around is picturesque and bucolic enough but going everywhere on foot is gonna get old fast."


>>>"Yeah. There's mounts and wagons and maybe chariots in places?" she didn't sound confident in the last assertion. "You can buy Items called Summoning Flutes that can conjure up a specific kind of mount. Usually horses but there's rarer kinds of Summoning Flutes that can call up all kinds of other things...including flying mounts. Those are some really rare drops from end-game events and dungeons though..."

>>>"Oooh. I wanna ride a dragon!" Arga practically drooled.


>>>"Never heard of anything like that but who knows??" BradL33 shrugged. "Ride Exotic Beast is usually a Summoner skill for riding some of the things they manage to pick up as Summons.
The Faerie subtype is maybe Unicorns...or is that a Spirit type? Anyway, you can buy Summoning Flutes for a lot of things so maybe you can find one for a Faerie type mount?"

>>>"R.E.M Constructs..." she used the abbreviation, "...is for riding Golems and Magitech Remnants and...Puppets. More Summoner stuff but yeah. Maybe there is a Magitech artefact motorcycle out there somewhere?" She shuddered unexpectedly, "The Puppet thing is creepy AF though."

"REM performed with puppets once," Grace muses, maybe to get her mind off of the end of the world.

As we know it…

"But yeah.. summoning a unicorn with a flute. That’s, yeah… that’s exactly what I should’ve expected a faerie mount to be!"

Looking at all the people in the party, she wonders, "Any chance there’s a song that summons an Alice-in-Wonderland caterpillar as big as a bus?"

Clara's face turns pale, or as pale as a cat can be. "I'm... uh... not the biggest fan of insects."

She ponders over all the dungeons Tina and Brad listed. "What's LaGranda? Some kind of ancient civilisation?"

"I would like to mount a Golem...sounds like fun..." murmurs Fren as he is lost in his thoughts. "What's a Magitech? Like a magical robot?"

>>>"I...hm." BradL33 thought a moment about Calamity's question. "I really don't know if there's any lore about LaGranda. I never ran those dungeons and haven't really looked into it. Kinda took it for granted, I guess " The young Druid shrugged, mentally adding another point to his growing list of things to look into. "I know when they were first put into the game they had a lot of issues since there were so many of them added all at once. Players called them the 'Dungeons of Lag-Landia'...."

>>> "I don't even know how 'lag' would even manifest here. Or if it can..." Tina offered. "Philosophy made my head spin in college. I might've paid more attention if I knew it was actually going to be useful someday."

>>>"Ooh, a bus would be nice. Or a lorry..." Guy piped up. "Bug or not. I said I'd never drive a lorry again but if it gets us out of walking everywhere, I'd be willing to take that back." Experimentally, he forced the hood open on one of the derelict cars. A mass of pale ferns and a swarm of swiftly scuttling lizards lay beneath the rusted hood hiding in the unrecognizable mass of rust, vines and soil.

>>>"Magitech stuff is like the crazy JRPG stuff in the game, like some traps and big Construct guardians and weird ruins and stuff. Guns too, probably." She slid off the car she'd been resting on and stretched a bit. "It's how they shoehorned in a bunch of kinda sci fi anachronistic stuff into the game. It all comes from the "Ancient Alv Civilization" in the lore. They ruled the world with advanced magic and technology until the latest Dark Age...or something. That's where we are now... as surreal as that is to say out loud."

>>>"If there were any Therapists that played this game and got caught up in all this, they're gonna have more clients than they could ever wish for!" Piphany said, stretching along with Tina. "We can do all the philosophizing we want in the city without, hopefully, attracting stuff that wants to kill us. So, can we get moving again?"

>>>"Yeah, we probably should get going." BradL33 stood and leaned on his gnarled staff. "We should make it to the City in a couple of hours but I wouldn't mind having a couple of daylight hours to look around. And that reminds me... Um, what are we planning on doing once we get there? Like where do you guys want to end up staying? As Players we could just log-out...now, we're stuck here and have to find shelter. There's Inns and stuff but that costs money every night. Not a lot but that'll add up over time and especially if we all get separate rooms."

Taylor laughs at some of the images. Then sobers. "What kind of dragons are they? I'm willing to bet they're not Puff-The-Magic-Dragon style."

Grace offers, "We don’t all need to have separate rooms. Especially with the crazies out there, and the ’PvP: Yes’ everywhere we go, maybe a roommate or three’s both cheaper and safer.

"Also, how much does a night typically cost?"

"Yeah, it would be best to buddy up," Raquel agrees, giving Grace a brief sidelong glance.

"Once we get settled, we should find out more about the city and how it's being run. Are NPCs in charge, or did other players take control? We should also see if anybody has any insights as to what exactly happen to trap us all like this and if there are any leads on how we might find our way back to our original reality."

"Yeah, room sharing would be ideal for now. How much space can I take up in this form anyway? I can't wait to put our shiny new subclasses to use in the city."

Packing up and heading out again, the Adventurers leave the ruined overpass behind and head due West in the direction of the afternoon sun. The conversation continues, broken only by sudden rustlings in the pockets of trees they occasionally pass through. So far, no surprise encounters...

>>>"I do not see a problem with room sharing. Such things are common with travellers where I am...was...from on Earth." Isbjorn announced with his booming voice. "A Hostel was where I met the mother of my son." He looked a bit sheepishly at the others, "Maybe we should keep it to separate rooms for men and women, yes?"


>>>"That'd keep the costs down for a bit..." BradL33 agreed, neither he nor Isbjorn particularly aware of the issues underlying the decision. "Depending on where you stay and what quality of room we want, we could stay in a place that's 20 Gold a night per room. The bigger, nicer places go for 50 to 100 Gold a night. The people that can afford that are usually in a Guild that can afford it's own Guild Hall, though."

>>>"Raquel's got a good point there tho... What's the City like? Are we gonna be able to even stay there?" Guy butted in. "I told you guys about talking to my mates in Liberty City and how it's gone to the dogs. Guilds are runnin' wild in the streets."


>>>"It's a risk we'll have to take. Staying out here in the wilderness isn't really an option." BradL33 countered. "If it's bad then maybe we should just grab supplies and go back to Belle? Let's just see how it is before rushing to judgement. Anyway, there aren't but a couple of bigger Guilds in Mound City and don't have a majority of the playerbase by a long shot. Not like in Liberty or the bigger player towns. Mostly just RP-ers and Crafters out here..." He sure hoped he was right. "With the way things are now, Calamity's right. SubClasses are gonna be really important and probably in high demand. There's not many SubClasses I can think of that aren't going to be super important now that we're all stuck here 24/7."

---

Sentinel Hill
Field Zone | Eusa Server
Monsters: Yes | PvP: Yes | Skill Use: Yes
Entry Restriction: None

>>>The rolling grasslands and forest copses yields to a density of ruined buildings as the Zone changes. Clearly once the outskirts of the urban sprawl that Mound City now overlays, the signs of civilization are unmistakeable. The afternoon sun sinking in the sky casts shadows in the windows of the ruined buildings, some still recognizable as homes or businesses from a long gone age. An age achingly familiar to the Adventurers.

>>>"Hey! We're really close!
Mound City is just in the other side of this Zone!" BradL33 called out. His enthusiasm driving home how young he looked. He excitedly hurried his pace, "I think I can see the Silverleaf Beam Tree from here!"

>>>Rising above the treeline in the distance, a large tree spread its enormous canopy towards the setting sun. Acting like a landmark, BradL33 guided the Party through the abandoned and overgrown streets towards the tree. The ruined buildings gave way to an open area of broken ground about 300 meters across with a few wide paths that led to high city walls.
>>>Across the broken terrain, groups of people stood watch. From their wild diversity of race and dress they could only be fellow Adventurers! Although indistinct, their calls to the Party across the gap carried a sense of some urgency.

Raquel moves swiftly through the ruins, eager to talk to the other adventurers ahead. She still keeps a watchful eye out for danger, though.

Like Raquel, Grace moves toward the people calling. She’s wary of the PvP, but doesn’t want to assume the worst about anyone.

In the real world, there are more victims than perpetrators, she tells herself… even though this world looks like something out of The Hunger Games, where everyone’s a predator but the dead. Shut up, brain!

In case of a trap, Grace activates her boots Nimble Roots feature so she won’t be easily hindered.

"Are any of those people your friends, Brad?" Clara asks while slowly trailing behind Raquel and Grace. She's not exactly wary, but the number of strangers makes her somewhat nervous.

Fren follows behind Raquel and Grace. Instictively he grabs his sword hilt as he runs.