[SD:RtR] InkyCat And Her Crew - Chapter 2

Gem waves at the others as they enter the inn’s common room. “Hey guys! Remember that chat from yesterday? Well, who wants to go meet up with InkyCat? Since whatever is happening with the undead won’t start till tomorrow, at least going by what the Guild has said, me and her decided to do a little meet up. Apparently, she’s the leader of her team? Anyway, the meetup will be for lunch.”

Samuel, “Who’s paying?”

Emrys baffs the back of his head, “We’re obviously covering ourselves. This isn’t a date, and besides, even then the first date should be a split bill, anyway. If only because you don’t want to put pressure on either side to stay longer than they’re comfortable.”

Gem nods, “Yeah, it’s a nice little pub. Well, they call it a bar, but I think that’s just for the name’s sake. Sand Pub doesn’t have the same ring as Sand Bar. Clever name, honestly. Brings to mind water while staying in theme for the area.”

June raises an eyebrow, “Uh, we didn’t ask about where yet?”

Gem blinks, “Right, got distracted. It’s a nice little pub, and has decent prices, so covering our own bill won’t be too hard on our wallets. I think I got distracted there remembering the bar’s name.”

Emrys, “Well, I think it sounds lovely and if some people don’t want to spend their money on it, they can just be there for the chat.”

June nods, “This looks like a full-on raid, given how the Guild is reacting. Having another team to work with only improves our odds of surviving.”

Samuel shrugs, “Sure, I guess. Are they at least similar in level to us?”

Gem nods, “Yeah, they’re from the same batch as us. Though it sounds like she had a different starting city. Just how big is the region? And why are the chats so empty?”

June laughs, “Most people don’t bother with the chats. They keep to their normal chats since the admins prevent a lot of their quote unquote fun. Like, you can’t post videos showing how to learn skills that you don’t have permission to share.”

Samuel, “Yeah, I only joined in since you all seem determined to keep using it.”

June, “Oh, and the proper guilds all have their own chat servers already set up. From the grapevine, I’ve even heard that some managed to get permission to spread a skill or two around and are using that as an incentive to join them.”

Gem, “What about normal skills? Like, I wasn’t told not to spread around Wind Blade or my Mana skills.”

Emrys, “I can answer that! Wind Blade is simple enough. You got that from a book. Any attempt you make to teach others to use the skill will be purely your own effort. Whereas if a person taught you the skill, you not only would have said skill, but also the method they used to reach you.

“As for Sense and Manipulation? Good luck trying to teach that through a video. There’s a reason they have trainers do it. Like, yeah, you can in theory unlock them through stuff like meditation, but that takes actual years to do.”

They talk a bit more before going their separate ways. After all, tomorrow is going to be chaotic enough. Better to use today to unwind some.

Though they all end up back in front of their inn a bit before lunch.

Gem points towards the edge of the city. “The Sand Bar is thataway. Should only take us a few minutes walk, even with the crowds. I actually wandered over that way to get eyes on it. Mostly because I hate being late for stuff.”

June, “Fair enough. I simply asked the inn staff about it. Though I guess actually taking a look isn’t a bad idea.”

Gem shrugs, “Yeah, it’s not not an adventurers bar. We’ll be fine there, but they don’t take anyone getting rowdy.”

Emrys smiles, “Ah! A fine establishment then. Hard to find a place that will take rough and tumble types while not allowing them to actually be rough and tumble. Generally, it's cheaper to serve swill and make sure all the furniture and silverware is easy to replace and cheap.”

The group walks down the busy road, glancing around at the various stalls, while not stopping. One spot has an assortment of fulgurite, which Emrys is particularly interested in. Though everyone in the group can appreciate the so-called “fossilized lightning”. After all, the shape made when lightning strikes sand can be quite Eldritch in appearance.

Emrys is more interested in the stuff for the magical aspect. A mix of Air, Earth, and Fire. Though the Fire aspect outweighs the other two. All that heat needed to flash fuse sand together does a decent job of pushing everything else out. Which makes the material perfect for him to work with.

He likely would have stayed there and haggled over some of the more shattered pieces if the rest of the group didn’t drag him along. They do though and so manage to reach the Sand Bar right on schedule.

Gem points to a group of six people, “There she is!”

A short fiendkin turns around. She looks mostly human, but the small horns coming out of her temples give it away. There’s just something about the horns of anyone related to a fiend. They don’t actually glow, but the markings on them feel like they should.

Her’s have a grey crackled pattern that straightens out into lines towards the tip of the horns. Though this is a little hard to notice at first. This is because as they grow out of the temple, they form a half circle going back and up. Then, as the horns reach just past the apex of their curl, they suddenly go straight back. Which is the point at which the pattern turns into straight lines.

Also of note, this isn’t a smooth transition. In fact, the horns end up having two spiles, each. The one at the tip of course, but also another at the point where they abruptly change directions.

The fiendkin lady waves, “Hey! Are you May slash Hem?”

Gem laughs, “Stop trying to sound old! I even told you my name in our messages. Or do you want me to refer to you as Inky Cat instead of Josephine?”

The fiendkin shrugs, “Actually, since you’re bringing it up, can you refer to me as Inky? I thought that being in a game like this, I could finally go by my name. Except then you know what? 

“I realized that I’m not used to being called by my name at all! Everyone I talk to who isn’t a customer at work calls me Inky. It was kind of a shock, but I’m considering getting my name legally changed now. I’ll keep Josephine as a middle name, but Inky just feels right.”

Gem laughs and walks over next to Inky, shrinking in height to match her, “I get you! I don’t think I’ve been referred to by my legal name in years! And you know what? Maybe I’ll get my name legally changed to Gem Paroxysm. I’ve only used it for the few months I’ve been playing this game, but it feels so much more natural?”

Inky nods, “Yeah, the name you choose over the name you’re given before anyone knows anything about you!”

The two go back and forth about this while the rest of their groups stand around awkwardly.

June gives the other five people a once over and it seems they went with a theme as they’re all fiendkin. She isn’t sure whether they’re devil, demon, or daemon kin, but they all have horns.

Emrys steps forward and singles out the most ‘Mage’ looking member. “Hello sir! You can call me Emrys, I’m known as WizardsName on the game forums as well as some other places of interest to the game.”

The thin man with a wizards hat, kept in place by a pair of three-point antlers with white patterns, shakes Emrys’ hand. “Nice to meet you! You can call me Jeff, and no, it isn’t short for Jeffrey. I was a bit of an idiot and gave my character a properly lower planes sounding name. In other words, a complete mess no one can remember. Are you the blaster for your team?”

Emrys laughs, “No, I mostly deal with illusions, though I’m getting into more general fire stuff. No actual skills yet, but I’m working my way there.”

Jeff smiles, “You should consider instead going for a pure force spell. I can understand liking fire, but you’re just as likely to find your enemies are resistant to the stuff. And while none of us except the little chaos goblin over there are locked in.”

Gem must have heard this comment as their body begins to slowly grow taller again.

Jeff continues, “We all chose to be fiendkin for a reason. Which tends to find you fighting a group that knows to prepare for fire. Though honestly? With all the fiend infighting, I swear fire resistance is the most common resistance there is!”

Emrys smiles, “Ah! But that’s the secret. If you’re slinging fire, they’ll let their guard down. Did you know you can mix in sub-elements to partially get around those things without fully changing the thematic elements of a spell? There was a stand a bit back selling fulgurite and I was thinking of using that to add a bit of lightning to my spells! Which would not only get around some fire resistance, but would also add in an air element as well.”

Jeff frowns and nods, “Hmm, yes, I can see that. But what about—”

Yeah, the two of them also end up in their own world, talking magic.

June shakes her head, “Well, there aren’t enough of us to match you guys one on one. I’m June and I’m the support mage of the team. I don’t have heals yet, but after this I’m going to see about picking something up as healing spells do double duty when fighting the undead.”

Samuel shrugs, “And you can call me Samuel. Specifically Samuel. Anyway, I’m the physical tank. Sword and board, nothing fancy. I’ve been—”, and he does actually air quotes with his fingers, “—learning a few skills for my sword and shield.”

The other four people on Inky’s team all laugh. The stoutest one steps forward, her horns are a stark white instead of the more natural tan color of the rest of her group. Though they make a lovely contrast to her reddish-tan skin. And red in this case meaning demon red.

The horns sprout out of the side of her head, stout spikes to match her physique. They curl up and forward just enough to reach past her forehead. Red lines seem almost carved into the horns, a chaotic mess defying any attempt to call it a pattern.

She flexes, “Well, It’s only fair I introduce myself next. I’m the tank for our group, if you couldn’t tell. It’s a little stereotypical, but I’m a demonkin and connected to the Balor, so I use a sword and whip. It was awkward at first, but I think I’m getting a system assist for the thematic elements and a whip actually does a good job at CCing mobs. Well, with the right enchants.

“Oh, and my name is Bell, because if you get uppity, I’ll ring your skull like one!” And she belly laughs.

The man next to her rolls his eyes. His horns are a ram spiral style, also with a red pattern, though less chaotic. “And I’m her partner IRL so I can inform you that goes equally in or out of game. I’m not a tank, though I do go for the sword and board style. You can call me—”

Bell interrupts him, “Clapper, because he rings my bell!” And she doubles over in laughter.

He sighs, but underneath the irritation, it’s clear he doesn’t actually mind. “You can call me Percy. And no, I don’t use lightning.”

The last two stepped forward together. Their horns match though not much else does. Said horns sprout from near their hairline, three small spikes on both sides, getting smaller the further back they are. Their patterns are a cool shade of blue and also match.

The short, five-foot nothing of they’re an inch, man smirks, “I’m also a magic main. Turned my fire into ice with a focus on physical damage. After all, don’t have to worry about elemental resistance if the damage comes from the fact you’re smacking them with a physical projectile. Call me Cris, spelled without the ‘h’, middle initial is ‘P’.”

His pair, a tall lady who has to be at least six five, snaps her fingers, releasing a small spark. “And I turned my fire into fire. Except it’s a healing fire. I hope you don’t mind feeling the burn. It will keep you alive and the system makes sure it doesn’t get too traumatic. Anyway, call me Joy, because I take so much of it from my work.”

Oasis Desert Chat - Chapter 1

So You Want To Learn Healing - Chapter 3