After the attendant walked off large doors that Davin hadn't noticed swung open a burst of noise hitting him and catching him off guard. "Welcome! You must be the new arrivals, come on in and let's get you set up." A large green man with thick tusks shouted, yelling over the noise from the room behind him. "Come in, come in, and again welcome, this is what most call The Hall, it's a mix of a bar, an inn, and a guild hall for those who know what that is." the man spreading his arms wide and gesturing to different places in the room as he'd said them. "First and foremost, let's get you set up with some equipment, now all of this stuff is pretty basic, and your class trainers will have a bit more to get you going, but we've got some clothes and other essentials that will keep you covered for a while." The man stepped into the room gesturing for the group to follow him. "As a standard rule, the first night and meal is free, but if you plan to stay here, you'll need to pull your weight. For those of you planning to just become members of the population we do have a few jobs open, but if you're planning to set out and get some class training, they’ll be the ones to take care of you after today." Waving the group over to another door that he opened and went in having the group follow him, the room was set up like a small shop, just about everything you could think to grab for a trip was there. "look around, you can only take what will fit in a single backpack, but it's covered, we have some suggested lists depending on what you're aiming to do" pointing at a wall covered in lists similar to back to school shopping lists that you'd get back in grade school.

Davin made his way into the "shop" looking over the odds and ends that were spread about, most of the items being anything you could think to take with you when camping. Moving towards the wall of suggested gear he got his first look at the available "classes" that existed in this world, most of them being the same ones from some of his favorite games, and a few new ones that he wasn’t sure about.

Bard

Barbarian

Cleric*

Druid

Fighter

Monk

Paladin

Ranger

Rogue

Sorcerer

Warlock*

Wizard

Add more classes from some home brew?

A few of the classes had a small asterisk with them, and eventually, Davin found the note for those.

*limited offerings, be warned when looking to train for these classes*

Knowing he was set for rogue and either a ranger or a druid, he set out to gather the suggested items to get him started, most of the items weren't all that surprising, dark and natural-colored clothing's, soft-soled boots or shoes, pouch belts, a bedroll, a blanket, some candles, a mess kit, a few rations, soap, tinderbox, and some torches. They didn’t seem to have any weapons here, just gear to help you be a bit more comfortable and not feel like a completely homeless person. Davin added a tent and some rope to the supplies from the list just to cover his options, then after feeling that he was pretty well set up, he went up to the man that guided them in here.

"Okay, I think I'm set up with the basics, what's next?" Davin asked. "Have you put any thought into what class you think you want to try? Some don’t settle on their first choice, so always a good idea to have your options open." The man said while looking over the stuff Davin had set down on the counter.

"Rogue, I'm sure it will be a solid start for me."

"Good choice, good for groups, and if you stick with it, they’ve got some pretty strong specializations."

"That is the hope, might mix it with another class to get a little more versatility, but that will be an adventure for another day."

Setting a sturdy backpack on the table in front of Davin, "This should hold up for some time, and the rogue trainers tend to hang out in the bar, that’s the only information I'm allowed to give you. It's the first test."

"Test?" Davin asked

"Yup, all of the classes have a simple skill-inspired test, fighters is a fist fight, barbarians like to see how mad that they can make you, and most of the casters like to see if you have the spark."

"The spark?"

"To see if you can touch and manipulate magical energies."

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Huh, part of me wants to see if I have the spark…"

The man chuckled, "yup, most do, especially if they came from a non-magical world."

"Wait… some of the worlds out there have magic?"

"Mine did, was never good at the stuff, but yeah, several of them actually, it's far more common than you'd think."

"Thank you for the info, and I just go back out to the bar and have to identify the rogue trainers?"

"Yes and no, they specifically have some false bait out there, but that is about all I can give you as a clue, so good luck"

With that, Davin took his new belongings, filling the backpack he was given, feeling that the bag was a bit more than just a backpack he attempted to identify the item. Concentrating as he had on his status window, the window popped up [Lesser handy backpack: slightly larger on the inside than it looks, also reduces the weight of items put inside. Upgradable] Davin was ecstatic, bags of holding and the like, have always been one of his favorite items from RPGs, so the fact that he had one in his hands now sent his heart soaring.

Davin looked back up at the man "what does upgradable mean?"

Smiling widely, he handed Davin a small badge "oh, I'm sure you'll figure it out" and then touched his finger to his lip in the universal symbol of keeping it to yourself. "You'll do fine out there, come back any time."

Finishing packing his bag, Davin headed back out to the bar floor, seeming to be the first one in his group done. As the doors into the room opened, he was hit again with the wave of sound that this room seemed to harness. Making his way through the room, just checking out the random collection of people, recognizing a number of the "races" since all of the game experiences that he'd had up to this point called them that. Several new ones were unmistakable, seemingly humans with at least one thing off about them, usually isolated to a single thing, like a hand, a portion of the face, or a lump under the clothing, as if they were twisted by some kind of nightmare… The sheer variety of people in this room was a little staggering and made him question how fantasy settings could really support that many races without more conflict.

Shaking his head to try and empty it of the random thoughts racing through it, he had work to do, he started thinking about all the movies, books, and games, "what would a rogue look like?" His mind started racing with every single cliché that he could come up with, cloaks, daggers, masks pulled up to cover their faces, but then he started to actually think about it, "why on earth would a rogue be in a bar dressed like they are about to murder someone?" And with that he started asking himself a different set of questions "how would you go unnoticed in a room this crowded? You blend in, you look like everyone else" with that he started to look at people a bit differently" noticing several individuals that fit into the idea of his cliché. "plain, simple, innocuous, and inconspicuous" with those criteria in mind he started to look for the people that blended into the background a little too well, and since he was looking for them they did start to stand out, just a few of them, at the edges of the rooms, seemingly invested in conversations, but their eyes constantly scanning the room never lingering anywhere long enough to be seen as though they were staring. Trying to pick up the same habits, trying to split his focus while still keeping an eye on the few individuals he'd spotted, he made his way up to the bar.

"What's on the menu for a first-timer?" he'd asked the bartender that was pulling a few drinks, Davin guessing they were beer.

"Do you eat meat?" The single central eye of the barkeeper looking over Davin.

"Last I checked," Davin said with a grin.

"Then we have a roasted game bird, some tubers, and a gravy to go along with it, that also covers a single drink, not including water, that’s always free" setting the beverages on the bar and sliding them down like Davin had seen in every western ever.

"That sounds amazing, I'll take it, what are the drink options? That looks like ale." pointing at the glasses as they were scooped up by a few patrons at the other end of the bar.

"Good guess, luckily, alcohol is almost universal, so other than the names being a little different we have just about anything you can think of." Waving his arm at the wall of bottles and small casks.

"As long as it's not too hoppy I'll take an ale" gesturing at the taps from where the other drinks were poured from. With that, Davin was passed a large ale.

"Food will take just a minute if you want to wait right there." the barkeeper smiled widely.

Nodding in agreement, Davin went back to his people-watching, seeing a few more viable candidates that he'd not noticed before. "I should go to one of the obvious decoys and see what they say" was a stray thought in his mind, just that curious nature that he'd nurtured that constantly got him in more trouble than anything else in his life.

"Enjoy! And we bus our own tables here, so when your done the plates go over there and you wipe the table, rags are in the same spot" the barkeeper pointed over to an open window to the kitchen.

Walking his food across the busy room, looking for a seat near one of his targets, hoping to catch a bit of the conversation that they were having. The first bite of his food was amazing, he'd not realized how hungry he had become over the… he had just noticed that he had no idea what time it was. Having found an excuse to as his target a question, he leaned over "Excuse me," he tapped the shoulder of the one closest to him "Do you happen to know the time?" this action seemed to catch his target off guard.

"The what? The time?" pulling out an old-style pocket watch and looking it over, "Just about seven in the evening."

Giving Davin a chance to give the man, now that he'd heard the voice, who had light blue skin that seemed to shift between a few tones as they spoke, a better once over. "Thank you" was all Davin had said before going back to his meal. Enjoying his meal with every fiber of his being, almost as if this was the first meal he had ever eaten, and with a thought, he remembered that this was a new body, so this was the first time he had eaten. After the meal, he just sat and enjoyed the setting, the mixed conversations around him, just people watching, continually looking over his few targets thinning his list as time went on. Deciding to take action after finishing his beer, he walked his dishes over to the window, grabbed the rag, and took care of the clean-up, Davin picked his target and worked on his approach.

Sitting next to one of those in the dark cloaks in one of the dark corners, moving very deliberately to do so. "You must be one of the "Red herrings" for the rogue trainers." Davin said looking into the hood of the "rogue".

"A red what?" the person responded, clearly confused.

“Oh, that might not be a term here, you're the distraction to keep those that aren't meant for this out, since you fit all of the tropes," Davin said confidentially.

“What is a trope?" the person adding to their confusion.

"Oh, sorry, they're things that are so common that they become the idea that when something is done or said, that it's what your mind goes to" smiling sardonically.

"Ah, and if I am?" the sound of confusion still clear in their voice.

"Don't know, just thought it would be fun before I go and talk to one of them", pointing out the few marks he'd made while eating. "Wish me luck" Davin had said, before getting up and heading toward one of the closest marks.

Letting out a small chuckle, low enough to where no one would hear it "good luck", they whispered to themselves.