“Joat, may I just say; you are absolutely mad” Baila, bent double, pants at me, pointing an exhausted finger accusingly.

“I second that with equal fervor” Chuckling breathlessly, I don´t deny that I might as well be mad. But hey, we made it!

In just a short distance, across an expansive farm of growing wheat is a high stone wall, manned by a few shining soldiers.

We´ve made it to the town, and in only a single day too!

Helping the more tired people from our group up, we hobble over to the main dirt road and join the small column of people, all headed inside.

“You, yeah you” The gate guard gestures for me to come forward. “State your name and purpose in entering Shoala” He eyes me up displeasingly.

I give a gracious bow “My name is Joat and I am leading a caravan full of wounded people, seeking the aid of a healer inside this town, Shoala”

His beady brown eyes squint upon my squad and then back at me.

“They don´t look so wounded. State your purpose” The grip on his sword handle tightens audibly.

“Ah, the caravan is a day behind since they took the roads. We cut through the swamp to find a healer and waste as little time as possible, since most do not have that luxury” I look straight into his eyes, I have nothing to hide since it´s the truth.

“…Very well, but don´t go about causing a ruckus, because I´ll be watching you” He sneers at me before letting me pass.

Well that as a very warm welcome I just received.

Entering the welcoming gets even better; I can feel the slightly hostile stares directed by the random crowds in the street, whom are largely human but I do spot a number of other Humanoid races milling about/staring at me.

Well at least the NPC race count increased…but so did the racism.

“Joat, we made it!” PJ appears beside me looking worn from head to toe but still quite happy.

I guess after 3 and a bit ingame days of trekking was pretty tiring.

“PJ I can smell food” PinkyS´ ears wiggle in delight as she smells the air. Hmm she isn´t wrong, I can smell a waft of cooked food in the air.

Everyone else quickly flits through, with only BC having minor problems with the gate guard (though Charmine quickly sorts it out).

“Right everyone, let´s go to the inn for some food and drink shall w-” I notice neither Sharpy nor Miss Nameless in the vicinity. “-where´s Princess and co.?”

Joat we´re not allowed in as obvious as that should be. But we´ll find a way in soon.

Well that answers that. So the racism can be as bad as not letting well the undead in, but still not letting someone in...

Huh, got to be careful not to decrease my reputation around here.

Anyways “Nevermind, they´ll join us later. So let´s get something to eat!”

Strolling through Shoala, it´s a lot larger than the village; as far as I can tell it´s split down the middle by a wide cobbled street and then further split by a sewer canal(?) either side of the street.

And oddly enough it smells of lavender?

On the other side of the canals are buildings connected to the main street by numerous bridges with tall wooden signposts rammed into the ground next to it.

Whatever´s on those signposts I cannot understand for the life of me. I really need to learn the language.

Getting Baila to stop a random dwarf on the street; which just had to be the most menacing looking, scarred and muscle packed dwarf with two blazing eyes, he somehow gladly gives her a small rundown of Shoala and directions to the nearest tavern.

According to her (well the dwarf really) Shoala´s divided into 4 districts: The Artisan district on the North-West side, The Residential district on the North-East side, The Battle district on the South-East and the Magical district in the South-West side.

Also apparently there´s a central plaza where the governer´s house is as well as the adventurer´s guild and a few other buildings.

And to the Adventurer´s guild is where we now head.

“So we have to enlist to get cheap food and board there I assume?” Zzoid muses out loud.

“According to Rondoth it´s the best value for money, plue it´s a good source of work it seems” Baila´s already rubbing her hands in anticipation. Well I guess a source of quests is a nice start, except for the fact that I´m stuck with Nathans…hmm maybe I should try convince him to let me off, seeing as though I´ll hopefully save his life and all…

Wait a second

...

..

.

Oh my, I don't have his quest anymore! it left when I died! that's great! and awful too...Actually looking at it, all my quests are gone (except the area event). So quests are reset upon perma death? So don't die on chain quests, gotcha.

Entering the central plaza: it´s a large open space with 4 imposing buildings, one on each corner of the plaza and in front of their respective districts I´m assuming.

The Adventurer’s guild was said to be in front of the Battle district and the swinging sword and shield sign may have pointed it out quite well.

Entering inside, the place is very medieval: the main floor is covered in table and stools with a range of people sat upon, drinking, laughing and eating. Off to one side is a large notice board with little scraps of paper pinned to it while opposite to it, taking up everything to my left is a counter with two beauties standing behind.

The place doesn´t quieten much upon our arrival, mostly because I do spot a hairy hobgoblin (like werewolfed up)…maybe it isn´t a hobgoblin. But apart from that, I do see a few other monster races (though only a few) and a number of beastmen dotted about.

Phew, I´m not too strange a sight in here then.

Strolling up to the counter, I´m stuck behind Thrash and well everyone else as they weren´t busy gawking at the room/the pale royal violet robed beauty with a smooth porcelain leg (sitting amidst a group of gruff looking men so no going anywhere near there physically).

The queue goes by decently slowly, since we apparently have to do all sorts of applications and sign this and that. So while I wait I guess I´ll converse.

“So Thrash, what are your plans once our event is over?”

“Find my Prey” he growls with a toothy smile

…

..

.

I did not expect anything less for that answer…

He´s called up by a buxom blond elf lady in almost bursting fiery red dress and I´m left to wait alone.

Hrmm, everyone here seems to have at least one lanky/petite looking person in their party. So a magic user in each party is the general consensus then?

“Excuse me sir” A light voice garners my every attention.

Taking a few steps towards a human woman with long chestnut hair I notice the wiggling fox tail protruding from her tight black and green dress. fox-beastlady then.

“So I´d like to become an adventurer, how would I go about that, forgive me but what may I call you madam?” I give her my best winning smile.

“Wendy if you must and would you not like to know what becoming an adventurer entails?” She returns the smile. Hmm she has got a good point, so I nod.

“An adventurer is someone who takes jobs given by either the guild or the town. You may be called to arms in times of war but only for the guild and the nation in dire emergencies” her tone becomes informative but she retains a beautiful smile.

“So if I join this guild will I become part of this nation, and what is this nation?”

“You will become part of the Dekin nation however that won't limit you to adventuring in other nations with which the Dekin nation is at war with, since adventurers are mercenaries against monsters not people”

“So why would we be drafted for war?” I mean I guess war against monsters but I suspect a little more

“Different branches of the guild will have wars over move important jobs, but it is more competitive battles that don´t usually end in death. And also we sometimes clash with other guilds entirely” Usually isn´t a good word but I guess that makes sense?

“You mention branch, so what branch of the guild is this?” so much to learn about the politics of guilds!

“I´m part of the WindWhistlers and my friend Rushanne is from the Salzamanders. These are the two branches of the Adventurer´s guild in this town”

“So what´s the point of the branches?” Still a little confused as to why they´d bother making segregations

“Makes managing the hundreds of thousands of adventurers an easier task and also gives them pre-defined groups which makes the handling of larger quests much simpler. Plus competition is the driver of improvement” Hmm putting us into a competitive environment does sounds like a good idea.

“So penultimate questions: what are the benefits of your branch to the Salzamanders, can I change once I´ve joined one and how do I make my own?” Doesn´t hurt to know, plus being part of an already set system does make leading life easier.

She raises a single eyebrow at my mention of making my own guild branch, but doesn´t look as shocked as one could be. It´s probably likely I'm not the first to ask that question.

“Ahem, well we´re a support group who focus on having members who can be lended out to other branches. We don´t usually take part in the front-line fighting but we help tremendously from the rear. We are currently situated in 4 branches, 1 of those in a different nation too! Our current guild count is 432 members and we´ve always got space for more!”She sounds so confident…though the way she´s looking at the counter does give away the struggle. Fair enough, most people wouldn't be happy being support.

“If you join us we´ll help you gain the basic support skills n-” I place a finger on her lips

“Shh, say no more for you have said the magical word. Now tell me, how many support skills will you be able to teach me?”

“You´ll get access to every artisan guild in Shoala and when you go to other places if you see our flag at the guild entrance you´ll have access there too. They will teach you for free all the way to a journeyman level and if you prove to be talented they might even take you under their wing for further training. All for free of course!” She´s practically glowing.

“Then, my lady, please sign me up to the WindWhistlers”

“Perfect!” She produces a few sheets of paper almost slamming them on the desk. Jee she musn´t get much positive response often. “Now I´ll need you to sign these 4 forms: the death insurance form, the adventurers code of conduct as well as the WindWhistlers and personal details which will be used to make your Adventurer´s card”

Death insurance form…that is a good question: if I die would I still be part of the guild. Guess if my character dies in front of NPC´s I will (should try it out sometime in the near future).

I look down at the sheets and I have no idea what I´m signing, so if I accidentally sell my soul to the devil so be it. For Skills!

Having her read out the forms to me (I´m not a complete moron) the Death insurance form is just a if I die all my proceeds go to the person of my choice or my guild (I chose Joat who I told them was my twin brother, just in case).

The codes of conduct were simple; don´t kill other guild members, don´t steal jobs from others, don´t take higher level jobs than you´re allowed and bring any issues with other guild members to a higher up. Fair enough I guess.

The last one was just my name, experience in the field (I said none) and a blood signature (which was mildly disturbing but more loyal?).

Thanking me, the foxy lady turns and disappears out back tail wagging madly behind her.

A few moments later she returns with a small plate of stone (about the size of my hand) dangling from a string, a symbol of green reed pipes wrapped in fern on the back swings in and out of view.

“This is your Adventurer Card. You´re at stone level which is the lowest at the moment. With it you´re allowed access to a large number of towns and cities across the world and you can take stone level jobs. After doing a number of successful jobs you´ll rank up. This will act as your identification as an individual so don't be doing crimes now" She helpfully explains what I can do with it after placing it over my neck. “Ah also take this!” She produces a strip of forest and dark green cloth, handing it over to me.

Actually now that I look at her dress more, it´s actually those colours too.

“You can wear it as a headband, armband or tie it to your weapons. There are many places to put it and this will act as your identification to the WindWhistlers itself!”

Wrapping it around my left wrist, hmm need to find a better place to put it soon since it doesn´t go well with my skin colour. Anywho.

Congratulations! You have joined the Adventurer´s Guild!

You have joined the WindWhistlers Branch of the Adventurer´s Guild!

Your adventurer rank is now: Stone

Congratulations! You have gained the Adventurer Semi-Class

Semi-Class: Adventurer (Novice)

You are an Adventurer, a mercenary of sorts for all kinds of plain and perilous tasks.

Semi-Class bonuses: Entrance to Adventurer friendly locations

Due to becoming this Semi-class, the guild feature has been unlocked.

This Semi-Class is permanent as long as Contract with the Adventurer's guild remains active. Semi-Class’ do not count towards your class limit. They are an addition to any normal class you may become.

Congratulations! For being one of the first 10 players to join a Guild you have earned the title: Keen One

TITLE: Keen One

You are keen to do this and that and join and see as much as you can.

You will be more noticeable when putting yourself forward for tasks or when another is looking for a volunteer.

Xp increases by 25%

Well it´s official now I guess, also free xp!

“Thank you very much. Now for my last question: would you like to show me around town, in the morning perhaps?”

Her eyes narrow slightly but for a moment “As a new Branch member I´d be happy too!”

…Branch-memberzoned…that´s harsh.

But hey can´t win them all.

Thanking her again, I turn round to see Thrash waiting patiently behind me.

I watch him join the WindWhistlers…I´m not sure what to feel about this.

Going over to a somehow my squad occupied table, I sit down between Baila and Honey and listen in to the converstation.

“The guild and branch system is actually pretty cool!” Honey sips on a wooden tankard of something. How´d he get that.

“Yes but the fees for joining aren´t exactly welcoming” Zzoid doesn´t look too happy as he sips on his tankard of milk.

A barmaid appears out of nowhere and half jumping, I ask for a tankard of ale and she asks for my Adventurer´s Card.

2 copper debt added to Adventurer´s Card

Huh that’s kind of cool.

I watch her go back to the small bar, which I somehow missed, in the corner.

“And so that´s why I think Salzamander sounds awesome” Zzard concludes something and I´ve completely lost track of the conversation.

“Wait a minute, Zzoid what´s with the fees?” I bring the conversation back to a very important point…because I didn´t pay anything.

“Well the Salzamanders ask for either 10 gold downpayment or a month of active service in a pre-assigned party” PJ answers, looking rather sour at the thought.

“Oh, I didn´t get any payment” Hmm that may be odd…slightly worried here.

“I´m not even surprised you joined the WindWhistlers” Baila offhandly comments after taking a sip of her milk.

“Because they´re awesome and will give me a whole ton of free skills?”

“Because they sit in the back and do nothing” She gives me a cheeky smile while the rest chuckle around.

“I´m guessing you joined the Salzamanders then”

“Hell no; WindWhistlers sounded like a lot less work” Ah so who´s the lazy one now?

Quickly glimpsing around for their cloth colours, I see a good split between branches: Zz´s and Pinky´s all went with Salzamander along with BC. The rest of us went WindWhistlers… even Thrash, I note as he sits down with the green neckerchief.

“Well seems like we do have a nice split and so for tonight we´ll forget about our new differences and remember what brings us together. To skills!” I raise my new tankard into the sky.

“To my Prey”

“To new adventures” the Pinky´s cry as they raise their tankards

“To all the fun we´re about to have!” the little Zz´s follow suit

“And to all the fun we´ve had” Zzoid adds on to the smiles of all

“To the two who couldn´t make it here today” Honey raises his tankard

“To making new friends” Charmine raises her milk tankard, followed by a silent BC

“And to Joat, despite his madness in having us sprint through a deadly swamp, burn down and entire forest and just be a general Jinx to our lives, he brought us together and let us experience so much together so I raise my glass to him” oh thanks Baila

“CHEERS”

*GulpGulpGulp*

…

..

.

“Ahh”

“Wow you guys are so dramatic” I turn to see Anoobis shaking his head from nearby, the rest of his crowd and most of our village lining up at the counter.

“You made it!?” they weren´t supposed to be here for at least another half day.

“I had everyone push the carts since the roads were clear”

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.

I´m mildly impressed. Seems like rushing through the swamp wasn´t necessary. Ok guys stop giving me evil eyes. The swamp was an adventure so appreciate it!

“NPC´s safe?”

“They´re headed to the apocathery, the event says it´ll be finished once the Village Elder talks to you”

Urghh, guess I´ll finish it off.

“Right everyone, try get some sleep and I´ll see you guys sometime in the near future. Since I´m going to be busy gaining all the skills in this town!”

Waving them goodbye I get directions to the town apocathery.

Reaching there within a good 10 minutes, I see the carts parked outside fantastic they´re already here.

“Son, care to help out a poor man” A raspy voice diverts my attention to a nearby alleyway: A man in a ragged brown robe sits huddled next to a barrel, pure blue eyes looking at me from underneath ragged hair and beard.

He looks kind of like a hobo priest

“The only thing I can actually give you is my clothes” I´m not the most heartfelt person, but my clothes respawn and also begging may be a skill so his ragged clothes may come in very handy…

“Clothes? That´s a strange offer. Some would give me coins, other a piece of foodstuff. But most ignore me. Tell me why would you give such a commodity to a beggar like me?”

Oh I guess clothes in a medieval era is kind of a commodity. But I do have a better reason!

“Well I want to learn how to beg and doing so in these clothes won´t work as well as if I was in yours”

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..

.

“…Hahhhahhhaah-” *Coughcough* “-You´re a really strange man. What kind of person willingly wants to beg on the street?”

“One who wants to learn the skill of how to beg” I mean it´ll come in handy someday I assume, if things go downhill. And if not then it´s free xp.

“Son, I could teach you how to beg, but not to these poor fools who roam the street no.” He creakily stands up showing himself to be as ragged as he first looked, though he´s got a portly stomach which he holds painfully.

“If you´re telling me to beg to gods, well that is kind of what prayer is…please teach me” free skills and it´s always useful to know about religion in case I end up annoying people because I´m not religious enough…

The hobo priest puts one hand inside his robes (o...k) and pulls out a pristine white tome from under it (phew).

“This is the holiest of bibles and I will teach you how to beg and whinge and whine to the Gods so loud that they irrevocably listen to your crying tantrum and answer your pleas”

Well it´s been a long time since I went to a church…and with the way he´s preaching this may not be as dull as I remember.

“Ah but before you do go on with your preaching, I need to check on someone. They´re sick” I point to the apocathery.

“Don´t worry, I´ll be waiting out here for you” He gives me a thumbs up. Ok he´s pretty strange, but then again doesn't look like he's got much else to do.

Leaving the hobo priest, I head inside to see the Village elder sitting tiredly on a stool next to Darlene who is already fast asleep.

For old people they´ve really pushed through in the past couple of days, good on them.

“Orphan Leader Joat, good to see you safe and sound” He notices my entrance and weakly stands up.

“It´s happier to see you and everyone else here safe” I give him a smile and he offers his hand, which I duly take.

“When they´re all recovered they will go to their respective guilds, and if we see you or anyone else from our escort we will gladly teach you some of what we know” His other hand clasps over mine and he gives me a last thanks before slumping back onto the stool.

AREA EVENT Complete!

The Village Elder and all his Villagers have successfully been escorted to the town of Shoala and all but one of your escort survived the trip.

For an Astounding Success all participants have gained 1 permanent level.

For keeping all Villagers alive global reputation increases by 1 for all participants.

Villagers will give you basic training of their skills for free if you find them within Shaola after their recovery.

Due to Successfully completing an Area Event, all surviving participants have been awarded with an Event badge (Dekin Nation).

Due to being the leader of a successful Area Event you have been awarded with an additional Event badge (Dekin Nation).

For leading an Astounding Success you have gained 5 Leadership stat points.

For being the recognized leader of the Event, global reputation increases by 1.

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I am one happy man! 2 badges (still don´t know what I´m going to use them for but still), a level and stat points!!

Leading gave me so many bonuses, sweet!

But I think my global reputation is still at a -3 sadly…well I´ll get there someday.

Right, now that that´s done, I should really get to bed especially since I´ve got plans for the morning.

Heading outside I almost collide into a shiny soldier.

“Oy careful where you´re going” He gives me a cold look before noticing my armband. Then his look is colder.

Great, thought the guild might help…it didn´t.

Saying sorry, I take a quick peek around for the hobo priest, but all I see are a few guards milling about obstructively

Well guess I do really need to get some sleep…I´ll ask for the hobo after my branchzoned walk tomorrow…