A New Adventure Begins
Amethsit looked around her. It was a bright, sunny day and the people were bustling back and forth through Bastok. She watched as a group of adventurers ran past, in fancy armor wielding fancier weapons.
"I wonder where they're off too..." Amethist thought to herself.
"Hello, can I help you?" A woman asked. Amethist jumped slightly, startled. The woman, decked in the chainmail common amongst the guards of Bastok, raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, um, I was told to hand you this.." Amethist said softly, fishing through the various pockets in her vest for the small piece of paper the musketeer by the gate had given her. She fished it out and handed it to the woman.
The female guard took it, eyed it scrutinizingly, and then her face lit up with a light of realization.
"Aha! New around here huh? I see you're lookin' to be an adventurer for good old Bastok too. Well that's great!" The woman said cheerfully, slapping Amethist on the back.
"Uh... yeah." Amethist said, sweating. "She scares me..." Amethist thought to herself.
"Innyways, here you go." the woman said, handing Amethist a small pouch of gil. "Ya got fifty gil in there, but I'm sorry to say you probably wont be able to buy a bag of seeds with that, much less any equipment, so I hope you've at least got a weapon if you plan to do any adventuring."
"Yes, I have one right here..." Amethist said, setting down her backpack and fishing out a small, brown colored blade.
"Ah, typical newbie sword! That'll do!"
"Newbie sword...?" Amethist thought to herself, "This thing cost me a month's worth of saving.."
"Here let me help you with that." The woman said, grabbing Amethist, spinning her around so she had easy access to her left side, and then clipped the sword onto the startled girl's belt. "There you go! All set! Go on out and kill some little buggers!" The woman said, giving Amethist a hearty shove, causing her to hop a little ways on one foot before falling over.
"I never noticed how depressingly desolate this place is coming through here..." Amethist said to herself, walking into North Gustaberg. She lived in a small village a little ways north of Bastok, where there's at least a little vegetation. Even a few trees with leaves. Gustaberg, however, was nothing but dirt, sand, rock, and mountain. Graced by the presents of no more than twenty-five trees per square mile and minimal grass, it could almost be considered a desert if not for the fact a fair sized river flowed straight through it.
"So.... she told me to practice using my sword on the local wildlife... Where would I find something I could practice on though..?" She said. She unfastened her sword and swung a few arcing slashes. One of them connected with a very large bee. It turned toward Amethist, making a high pitched cute sounding squeaking noise. Cute as it was, it managed to sound fairly pissed off.
"Why is that thing so large...?" Amethist said aloud. The bee, purple insect blood oozing from its cut, made a sort of flailing motion and stung Amethist with such force she almost fell over backwards. Amethist chopped it in half.
"I guess that's good practice... Kind of.." Amethist said, staring at the two twitching bee halves. "I wonder what else there is out here..."
Amethist walked forward a few steps and suddenly found her foot knocked from under her. Rolling, she lept up into a defensive position, fearing a beastman attack. Instead, she was met by a large worm, which she assumed was staring at her. She put her sword back on her belt and began to walk away.
"What's with this vermin problem around here...?" She mumbled to herself, shaking her head dissapointedly. "For a capital city, it sure has a lot of bug problems outside.."
Her thought was interrupted when a large rock flew from the ground and smashed into her chin. This was followed by series of other large, jagged stones erupting from the ground. Amethist fell to all fours, bleeding from the head, panting, and with fairly wide eyes. She looked over her shoulder slowly to see the worm waving it's tentacle-like structures in what she automatically assumed to be a taunting gesture.
"YOU DEMON!" She yelled and launched herself at the worm, grabbing it, squeezing, and trying to yank it out of the earth. Her hands slipped right off its slimy body, and it swung itself in an arc and struck a blow to Amethist's head, sending her rolling.
"What... is with this thing...?" She gasped, climbing to her feet. The worm flexed its worm muscles, making a sound like an old rocking chair.
"I'll kill you... Yes.. you will die.." Amethist muttered in a halting, insane manner, reaching for her sword. She rushed the worm, swinging in an overhead slash fashion. The worm quickly retreated underground, and her sword connected with the earth, but no worm.
".........." Was Amethist's response. She rolled over on her side, breathing hard. "This... really sucks.." She said between breaths. She heard something behind her, and turned her head a little, so that she was looking straight up. She was greeted by the worm looming over her.
"Eh heh." She said. The worm made a ringing noise that sounded a little like a bell.
"HIYAH!" Came a random guy's voice. Suddenly the worm was devoid of its head and slumped over on its side. Amethist blinked.
Suddenly a new figure loomed over her, and reached for her hand. The man helped her stand, and looked her over. Placing a hand on his chin in thought, he came to a conclusion.
"You're new, aren't you?"
Amethist was bending over with her hands on her knees, still a little worn and from the beating. The fact it was from a worm kind of unnerved her as well. She noticed he had actual armor on, and she felt kind of silly standing there in her everyday clothing.
"Yeah... sorta. I guess."
"Great. I'm a rookie too, let's team up for a little while." The guy said, smiling, "My name is Junius."
"I'm... Amethist... Amethist Naka-"
"Nonono! You NEVER give your last name out if you're an adventurer!" Junius said, holding up a finger to emphasize the point. "Too many people will eventually hate you and if they know your full name you'll be easy to track!"
Amethist stared at him doubtfully. "With that in mind, are you implying that you will one day want to hunt me and take my life?"
"Hey it's a rough business." Junius said, putting his hand behind his head and laughing slightly.
"..."
"I'm just joking with you. Anyway, with the two of us, we should be able to take on stronger things than these silly bugs!"
"...Like what...?" Amethist muttered, looking up at Junius.
"LIKE THOSE!" Junius said, pointing at strange dome shaped blue things skittering across a bridge. Junius had led Amethist down the North Gustaberg road a little ways until they had reached a small branch from the Gustaberg River. On the bridge over it and along the shoreline there were a number of these blue, crablike oddities.
"These, my friend, are known as river crabs."
"Gee what a grand and awe inspiring name." Amethist said, eyeing the crabs. Normally she wouldn't pay things like these any heed, but after that worm she decided to be a little more cautious. Plus, she could have sworn she saw one of the crustaceans give her a dirty look.
"Alright, let's maul em." Junius said, whipping out his dagger. Amethist stared.
"Is that your weapon..?"
"It may be small, but it's still sharp and pointy. Don't sweat the details." Junius said, and charged a crab.
"Right.." Amethist said, taking her sword from its resting place and following Junius.
Junius stabbed into the crab's shell, chipping it a small bit. The crab made a deep voiced bubbling sound, and turned. Amethist swung down hard, and her sword took off another chip. The crab stared at them blankly.
"Well isn't this an interesting developement." Junius said, sweatdropping.
"I don't think I like you." Amethist said.
The crab jumped forward a little ways and lashed out with it's short claw arm, knocking Junius's legs out from under him. It turned quickly and lashed out at Amethist, who jumped back a little ways. The crab bubbled again.
"Oooo weak underbelly!" Amethist said, seeing the pale white underside of the crab now that it was raised into it's defensive position. She wondered why it would expose a vulnerable area as she thrust her sword. It glanced harmlessly off the crab's belly, causing Amethist to loose balance and fall over.
"Let's try this again!" Junius said, slamming his dagger down onto the crab's back as hard as he could. A slightly larger shell chip flew off. The crab bubbled in rage.
"This thing scares me." Amethist said, standing, only to have her legs taken out from under her by the crab once more.
"I think now we should run away." Junius said, sheathing his dagger, and taking off back down the road.
"No, I really don't like him," Amethist said, laying on her stomach and looking down the road after Junius. She turned her head back to the crab, which was looming over her, bubbling viciously.
"Oh, hello..."
Bastokan Newbie: Part 2
Getting Around Town
Amethist drug herself through the gate to the Port District of Bastok. The river crab was still latched voraciously onto her ankle. The galkan Iron Musketeer stationed on guard duty came over, yanked the crab off of her, and booted it back through the gate. He kneeled down beside Amethist.
"You alright?"
"WHY?! IT WAS A CRAB!!" Amethist groaned in delirium, then passed out.
The galka shook his head at the other guard, a hume male.
"Where am I...?" Amethist groaned, lifted a hand to hold her forehead. She was laying on her back, on what she assumed to be a wooden surface. She heard a fire burning nearby. "I'm almost afraid to open my eyes..." She sighed, opening her eyes slowly.
She saw a strange demon-like creature hovering above her. Do to the light cast by the fire, it's body was shadowed over, except for around the contours.
"Kupo!" The demon said, holding up a short stubby arm in greeting.
"YOU WONT TAKE ME ALIVE!" Amethist yelled, jumping to her feet and backing into a corner, her sword at the ready.
"...Kupo?" The demon said, cocking its head to the side.
"Ah, see you're awake." came a voice from outside as the door opened. Amethist now noticed she was actually inside a small room, complete with a rug, a door, a single window, and a fireplace. Her backpack was sitting in the corner opposite her.
The person entering her room was a Bastokan guard. The blonde woman eyed Amethist, raising an eyebrow. "You don't have anything to worry about with this little moogle here. He wont bite." She said, putting her hand on the small white creature's head. "It's your personal slave, here to do whatever you want! You can make him garden for you, clean your house, cook your meals, hell, eat it if things get tight. Just don't expect replacement staff."
"KUPO!" The moogle said, sinking its jaws into the woman's hand, accomplishing nothing but hurting its teeth on her chainmail, but it still didn't let go.
"Uh..." Amethist said, becoming a little less tense.
"Oh yeah. This is your Mog House. It's where you'll stay. Free housing for Adventurers. This little critter here can garden for you, manage your furniture if you ever get any, and even magically stores things in your own personal Hammerspace we like to call a Mog Safe. Though you can only get to your junk if the little bugger is around, and they're too scared to actually go outside..."
"KUPOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" The moogle growled, and sunk its teeth into the guard's head.
"YOU ANNOYING RODENT!!" The guard yelled, yanking the moogle off and booting it into the wall.
"Anyway, as I was saying, you're free to stay here as long as you like. one of the guards by the Port gate to North Gustaberg found you unconscious and brought you here. You should go thank him sometime. Amethist nodded, putting her sword away, feeling incredibly stupid.
"Well, see you around. Good luck." The guard said, and was gone.
Amethist walked over and kneeled by her new companion, who was crumpled on the floor. "You know, in normal light, it's actually kind of cute.."
The moogle sprang into the air and flew to the door, which was still ajar, and began shouting.
"DAMMIT KUPO!! THAT ******** HURT KUPOI!! GET YOUR TAIL BACK OVER HERE AND ******** APOLOGIZE KUPO!!!!!! I'LL TAKE YOU DOWN! YOU JUST WAIT AND SEE KUPO!!!!"
Amethist's eyes were startled dots on her face.
The moogle turned to face Amethist and smiled sweetly, in that special way only creatures with no visible mouths can.
"Would you like me to explain the various happy features of your new mog house?"
"That's alright... You don't need to.."
The moogle loomed over her again, in the odd light that shadowed it over. "Are you SUURREE?"
"Well if you really want to I wont stop you..." Amethist said, sweatdropping.
"Oh goody." The moogle said, fluttering over to hover in the center of the room. "Now, I, being a moogle, can do all sorts of moogle tricks kupo. I can store your stuff in the mog safe, grow you magical plants, move furniture, almost anything kupo!"
"Can you get me actual armor..?"
"Nope! Gotta go buy it kupo!"
"Okay... Where do I go to do that..?"
"Out there kupo!" the moogle said, pointing outside. Amethist sighed and walked out the door.
"I see you made it. That's good." Came Junius's voice from beside Amethist as she emerged from the residential area. She found herself in a section of Bastok she didn't recognize. No drawbridges, no taverns, no large hulking helicopter boats.
"Where am I..?" Amethist asked.
"This is the Markets District. I figure you came here looking for some real armor to wear. Much better protection than that normal stuff you have on now."
"That WAS my intention... But in all truth I had no idea where I was actually going."
Junius fell over.
"Well that's fine. Allow me to show you to the shops then. Junius said, walking down the path. Amethyst followed him.
The Port District had been busy, but it was nothing compared to the markets district. She saw people of all shapes, sizes, nationalities, and even races running back and forth. people holding conversations in corners, people setting up little displays of goods they wanted to sell, people performing strange rituals with magic crystals, everything. Junius saw a friend and stopped to talk. Amethist stood there, looking around. She saw a small child with large pointy ears. After a while she realized she was looking at a TaruTaru for the first time. Shoe couldn't help but stare. Suddenly a tall, leen shadow passed her. She looked up, knowing there's no way it could belong to a Galka. She saw an Elvaan with a large sword strapped to his back running down the path. She'd never seen an Elvaan before either, at least not this close.
"Alright let's go." Junius said, turning slightly to Amethist, then walking ahead, with her following. He led her to a row of shops located near a gate to the outside.
"Go have a chat with Brunhilde. She'll set you up right. I'll be in the Auction House if you need me." Junius said, walking off and waving. Amethist held up her hand in a sort of halfhearted wave, and walked into Brunhilde's shop.
"Yeah, I agree. You definitely need some armor." Brunhilde said, before Amethist had even uttered a word. The rough looking woman needed only to see Amethist's battered clothing and sword to figure out why the girl had come. "I can tell you're kind of new around here, so let me set you up with some hot deals. How much gil you got on you?"
Amethist laid out the 50 gil she had on the counter. Brunhilde stared.
"Weeeeelll..... Let's see what we can do..."
"Wow.... I haven't been here a full day and I'm already in debt.." Amethist mumbled.
"Alright, listen. I wont ever ever do this again, but for the sake of the story I'll let you off with a down payment of all your money, and you can get me the rest whenever." Brunhilde said, winking.
"Story...?"
"I like to think we're all living in a fairytale world, and someone's writing each day as a new chapter."
"This woman scares me.." Amethist thought as she took the harness with her and left.
"Now... Auction House..." Amethist said, walking along staring at her map. "It should be right about... here." She said, looking up from her map. She saw a large building with signs across its top adorned with the signature Mallet symbol that identifies the Auction House. She lowered her glance a little. Her eyes became dots again.
It seemed all the people she had seen before in the Markets had been concentrated into this small area and cloned four times. People sitting on the steps and around the large fountain in the plaza area in front of the building who were peddling wares from all over. Some people were standing around shouting and holding up signs advertising "teleports". She saw groups of people at a time performing the strange crystal ritual. She walked up to one and noticed they had laid out several chunks of metal in front of them. Suddenly the man's crystal, which was floating in front of him, burst into flame, and the three chunks of metal began glowing. The crystal eventually exploded in a burst of light and the metal was replaced by a perfectly forged sword. Amethist stared in awe.
"Hey there! I see you scored yourself a bit of gear." Junius called, running up to Amethist, waving. "There's a friend of mine Who needs a little help. Wanna come? He's willing to pay."
