His walk westward was largely uneventful, the only hitch when he heard more movement in the forest and turned in fearful anticipation only to see a startled deer fleeing deeper between the large trees. After half an hour or so of carefully padding across the loamy ground, he saw the bright streaks of light through the trunks that indicated the treeline. Sighing in relief, he headed towards the bushes at the edge of the forest towards the sunlight.
Morgan crashed through the bushes at the perimeter and burst into the light. He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted from the darkness. He found himself at the edge of a large field filled with rows upon rows of large flowers almost as tall as he was, like a sunflower plantation. The flowers had brown tipped white petals around a seedy black core, that sat on thick brown stalks. A little further to the west, beyond the field, he could see a small sprawl of buildings. He made his way towards the village through a corridor of the large flowers. Emerging through the flowers after a minute, he came across a chest high stone wall. Following it north, he saw the first humans of his short time in Oneiroi. Two older men, one short and stout, the other tall and lean, and very obviously farmers, leaned on either side of a wooden gate that gapped the stone wall, deep in a slow and melodious conversation. He heard their thick rustic accents getting louder as he closed the distance.
"Aye, so I says to 'em, I ain't seen 'im. Never see nothing out here. Just me and the flowers and the crows." Said the short man.
The tall man replied, with a similar gruff voice. "Them Greasers are always comin' 'round these days Mike, I don't never wanna help 'em, they gives me the creeps. The geese don't like 'em. Now they don't like nobody, I know, but they really don't like 'em Greasers." The conversation stopped abruptly as the tall man finally noticed Morgan's approach, and turned to greet him.
"Hoy, thar young 'un. You be alright?" both men took in the ragged wounds and the dirty and bloodstained attire of the traveller. Morgan nodded to them in greeting. "Hi guys. I'm ok, thanks. A run in with a forest beetle. I'm Morgan, nice to meet you."
The two farmers beamed at him before the tall one replied. "Ain't you polite for an outworlder. Good ta meet you Morgan. I be Erik, and this here is Bobby" he waved at the shorter man. "Forest beetles be sharp, they're no laughin' matter. Musta been making a hella hullabaloo to summon one of they on this here side of the forest."
Bobby chipped in. "You prob'ly came from further out then. You travelled far, young Morgan?" Morgan felt his face redden as he replied.
"Actually, not that far at all, I've really only just... "Morgan paused, assessing the two characters. He felt pretty sure they weren't actual people, but characters controlled by the game, and didn’t really know how to broach the subject. ".. started my visit in this world. I did make a lot of noise in the forest." The two farmers chuckled as they shared a knowing look.
"Not to worry lad," consoled Erik. "Ya weren't to know. You lot always come here so green behin' the ears. Say you take yourself to the inn, just over yonder. "He pointed a gnarled finger towards the centre of the village behind him. "Go find Ma Baker, she'll set you right."
Morgan smiled at the two men appreciatively, as Erik moved to open the gate. "Thank you both, I'll head over there now. I hope to see you again." as he moved through the gate, Bobby turned from a basket behind him, and with a grin and a flourish, handed Morgan a shiny red apple. "Say nothin' of it" said Bobby, as he waved Morgan down the track.
Morgan smiled, warmed by the encounter. He had also noticed when the farmers had looked him up and down, that his wounds didn't look quite as serious as before. Glancing at his health bar showed it had risen slightly since his fight. He was relieved to see his hit points, and in a strange tandem, his body repairing without his input. The wounds he'd taken would have taken weeks, maybe months to heal over in reality. At this rate he'd be back to normal by dinnertime. He vowed to look into his regeneration once he was properly holed up. Whilst walking between the buildings towards the village centre, he inspected the princely gift he'd been given.
[Inspect - Shiny Red Apple]
[Crafting Material - Common]
[Food - 10% XP gain for 2 hours]
In most games that Morgan played, food was usually a boon to health in some way, and could usually buff players, but it didn't look like it would heal him. The 10% to experience was probably a useful thing if he ate it at the right time. Pondering the matter, he realised he didn't know if he had to eat to survive in this new world. He'd have to find out. Still staring at the apple, he paused, wondering if there was a relationship between when he ate and when his real body received food. Probably not. With a shrug, he tucked the apple away in his satchel's inventory as he came out into the village square.
A lush grassy green, surrounded by cobbled streets, was squared in by a building on each side. To the left of him was the tavern he'd been directed to, the only two story building he'd seen in the village, a battered sign hanging listlessly in the calm air. He read the sign and rolled his eyes, the 'Welcombe Inn'. He walked around a barrel planted full of yellow and red blossoms and admired the inn's timber framed stone construction as he walked to get to the doorway. The big oak door was propped open, so he leaned his stick on the wall near the entrance and headed inside.
The bar area was well lit, and a small fire roared merrily in a hearth at the end of the room. Tables and benches fitted in around the wooden support pillars and he saw that the inn had a handful of patrons. A couple of farmer types sat at a bench near the bar, and at the back of the room sat a lone dwarf, brooding over a wooden mug. The farmers nodded in polite greeting, which he returned, as he approached the stout woman behind the bar. She was an older lady, wearing a flour-stained apron and a broad friendly smile.
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She addressed him when he reached the bar. "What can I be getting for you, young man?"
"Hi Miss, I'm not sure. What have you got?" He replied, politely.
"I ain't no Miss." She cackled. "Anyways we ain't got a lot, but what we got is good. Ale, apples and the freshest bread, all made right here in Welcombe. Ale's a silver, bread is 50 coppers, and apples are 25 coppers. A room is 15 silver a night if you're hangin' around tonight."
Morgan paused a moment at the mention of a room. Would his virtual mind become tired and need sleep? Using up such a large chunk of his sole gold coin when he could potentially spend the night trying out the game and levelling up his meagre skills felt like a foolish waste of money. He ordered an ale, partly out of curiosity and partly out of politeness. "Would you accept this coin?" he inquired as he brandished the gold coin. She smiled at him as she took the coin, making it swiftly disappear into a bag on her hip and with the same hand extracted a bulky canvas pouch. "Of course, and that's ninety-nine silvers back for you"
As he took the ale and his heavy bag of change from her, he asked "I was sent by Erik to find a Ms Baker, do you know her?" The lady cackled again.
"Know 'er? I am 'er! What's that old lunk want from me then, ay?"
Morgan explained. "I'm new around here, and don't really know what to do next. He told me you may be able to help."
"Presumptuous of 'im, the bugger. But 'is heart is in the right place. Sure lad, I 'eard old Simmon over at the alchemy shop may have a use for a strapping young lad like you." She winked at him. As she finished her sentence, a notification appeared.
[Quest - Talk to Simmon - 5XP]
[Find Alchemist Simmon and see what he needs]
"Barely ever leaves 'is shop, so you'll find no cause to rush."
Morgan thanked her, ale still in hand as he wandered towards the back of the inn. The dwarf caught his eye and raised his mug. He was obviously a player, his homespun trousers and shirt giving him away, though he sported a pair of cheap looking leather boots and a thick grey jacket. Morgan greeted him as he sat down at the table across from the dwarf. "Hi, I'm Morgan." The dwarf grinned at him. "So I saw. Good to meet you mate. You tried the ale? Try the ale! It's something else." After delivering these lines the dwarf followed his own advice and took a long pull from the mug, leaving foam on his bushy moustache. Morgan raised an eyebrow at him. "Sorry a second, what did you mean that you saw?" The dwarf looked incredulously at Morgan. "You know about the Identify skill, right? I Identified you while you were at the bar." Morgan tried his best not to apply his palm to his face. "Thats... a good point. Didn't really think about it, I only arrived a couple of hours ago. Mind if I Identify you?" The dwarf gestured magnanimously. "It's only fair. Though you'll only get the global information, you only see someone's full name, stats and skills if you're invited to. That, or if you are a heap load of levels higher, I've been told." Morgan focused on the player.
[Identify - Ralph : Level 5]
[Race - Dwarf]
[Affiliations - None]
[HP - 607/607]
[SP - 486/486]
[MP - 201/201]
"Good to meet you, Ralph. You've got a heap of health and stamina." Said Morgan, wistfully. That forest beetle had only hit him twice but taken almost a quarter of his life each hit. Ralph grinned. "Why I went dwarf. That, and I've dumped all my stats in strength. I thought about being a shooty elf for a while, but I thought I'd try something chunky and in your face instead. Come back from work and swing a big axe around for a bit, you know?"
Morgan smiled at the comment, as he finally took a swig of the ale. "It does sound like the perfect stress release. And damn, you're right, this ale is good." He paused to drink some more. "How's being a dwarf working out for you so far?"
"It's been cool so far. It's a bit weird being so short though. I don't get a lot of time to play, so my levelling is slow but I can feel what I'm working for already. Check this baby out." Morgan's eyes boggled as he pulled a large axe, the type you’d use to split logs, out of his small satchel. Ralph continued. "It's no battle-axe but it's a start, right? Don't be shy, identify. Everyone's doing it." He placed the axe on the table with a thud. Morgan focused on it.
[Identify - Sturdy Chopper]
[Durability - 109/115]
[Melee Damage - 105-307]
"Bloody hell mate, that could just about chop me in half in one hit." Morgan exclaimed. "Where'd you get that? I'm packing a stick, I mean, it's a good stick, but I could do with an upgrade in all honesty." Both men turned to the noise of Ma Baker clucking her tongue at them. "No weapons out in the bar, boys."
The dwarf sheepishly put the axe back in his inventory. "I did a quest yesterday with a friend, a quest in Brogue. Had to slay an ent for this, you know, like a walking tree. Man, it was tough. Good fun though, even if I did get battered around. A lot."
Morgan cut in before he carried on, "Where's Brogue?"Ralph stared at him in astonishment. "You didn't come through Brogue? Guess it explains your level. It's the training camp at the end of the forest path. For total noobs, you know - basic user interface training, and sorta fetch and carry quests to get you started. Though, I did get some cool stuff." He looked smug for a moment. "You should go visit. Man, this game is truly wild; I still can't believe you can do and feel all this through a headset. You see how real the NPCs are?"
Morgan nodded in agreement. "My mind has been boggled ever since I got here. Only met a few so far though. Got a quest from Ma there to talk to an alchemist, so I guess I'll go meet some more soon. The first thing I met, the help spirit, threw me out of a tree and almost gave me a heart attack. He did some magic to make me land nicely but hell, I was scared."
Ralph laughed. "I've not heard that one before, I don't think a lot of people make it up that tree. I did though. Man, what a horrible climb for your first moments, I was sure the crappy stairs were going to burst into a jumble of sticks at any moment and I'd be dead. What did you do to get thrown out of the tree?"
Morgan shrugged. "I only asked the thing if we could continue our conversation on ground level, I was having a little trouble concentrating on him while up that high. Then, zing, into the air I go."
"What a cheeky spirit." Ralph replied with a hearty laugh. "Maybe you can summon him somewhere and get your own back."
Morgan finished his drink; it was so pleasant he'd drunk it almost without noticing. "I'll put some thought into it. I'm going to go find this alchemist guy, don't suppose you want to come with me?"
The dwarf looked unhappy for a moment. "I'd love to, man. But I'm waiting for my mate, he's supposed to be joining me five minutes ago. So, I'll wait here for a little while but I'm sure I'll see you soon. Good luck mate."
Morgan returned the goodbye, and headed out of the inn. He grabbed his stick on the way out, and attempted to fit it into his inventory. Despite when he'd just witnessed with the axe, he was surprised when it shrank to size and fitted into one of his remaining slots.