The next day Sasha was refreshed. He’d refrained from going in the game, and instead just hung out online and watched old gameplay videos. Sure, that might sound weird, but honestly that’s what he’d always done to relax. Gameplay videos were some of the best white noise you could have, and turning off his brain to watch them was always fun.
When he joined the game he was well rested and full, which should give him time for a good few hours of gameplay. When he got up out of his cot he decided to once more ignore the other initiates. There was no way he wanted to deal with the prejudices some game dev thought would make for entertaining gameplay, that was too much. Instead he went down to see if he could get food.
Lucky for Coney, the breakfast spread was out when he went down. Sure, it wasn’t very exciting, but he hoped the simplicity of oatmeal would keep everyone happy. Grabbing a bowl he went to sit at a table. He didn’t hear any whispering this time, but he did notice as he sat down that there were several open spaces beside him… spaces that had been filled when he started to walk over.
Deciding to ignore it he ate and enjoyed the simple food. The developers had not skimped on the taste senses, something that he knew even the most dedicated of developers were too lazy to put in for most games. It was difficult as taste, like smell, was so based on chemical reactions that simply didn’t happen in a digital space. Simulating it took a lot of work very few people were willing to deal with.
“This food is great. I know it’s bland, it’s mass produced oatmeal, but it feels real. More real than even the best food in Forestry online. That’s saying something, let me tell you, although I suppose I should be glad that game in particular didn’t dedicate as much into taste as they could. Biting someone’s guts was gross enough without being able to taste the awful.” He hoped no one in the room was listening to him. Sure they obviously had their eyes on him, but… maybe if they thought he was crazy they would leave him more alone. He certainly doubted their opinions could get any worse.
When he was done, Coney tossed his dishes into the bucket that was ready for them and walked outside with a slight skip in his step. He had a pretty easy time of it, and as he skipped he actually moved really quickly, getting to the center building in no time flat.
There, sitting on her bench in the church, was Mother Franca, a butiful little smile on her face. “Wow! I’m so glad you came back.” She said with a glint in her eye. “I was worried you wouldn’t, and I’d have to find some other strapping young bunny to do all my work.”
“I thought I was the only rabbit kin here.” Coney said, opening the gate and closing it behind him before skipping up to the porch. She grabbed him in a hug and lightly patted his head, quickly making him blush.
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“Yup, you are. But maybe there should be more.” She let him go, though his head was still a little dizzy. “I mean you are just the bestest little guy I’ve got working for me. So I would love to have more of you!”
“You have as much of me as you want.” He said, semi seriously.
“Oh? I do, do I?” She grinned. “Well, it’s time for your reward.”
Quest Turned In:
Church Care 1
Reward - Old Sickle and 3 silver
She handed him a little bag. Inside it were three little coins. They were uneven, even printed with different faces, but they were clearly pretty similar. “Can… Can you help me figure out the currency?”
“I sure can, but first here, I believe you have earned this through use.” She handed him the same sickle he’d used while working. It was surprisingly sharp, that he knew, but he wasn’t sure what she expected him to do with it. “This is a powerful tool, and in the right hands it can be a powerful weapon. This is older than you may know, older than even I know, so be careful with it.”
“Weapon? You mean, like, to fight with?”
“Yes, of course. What, did you think we had vows of non violence? Not at all child, fighting is a part of life. We could no more ban it than we could ban sex.”
“But, I heard some of the novices saying they took vows like that.”
“Sure, but that was their choice. It’s a powerful thing, denying nature for someone, especially a god. But I’m telling you now, there’s no need for you to do so.” She sighed. “As for currency, that’s rather simple. Turms is the god of commerce and trade, or rather one of them. Our name for him certainly. In any case, all of the gods of money have agreed to create an equal exchange, so that all money in the world is of one kind.”
“So, what, like there’s ten silver in a gold?” Coney asked, drawing on some old knowledge from dungeons and dragons.
“Not at all! There are a hundred silver in a gold, just as there are a hundred copper in a silver. Of course that’s just the basic coins. There are also larger coins, often called bars. This is because they are often in the shape of bars. Few people need to buy much at higher prices than coppers, so bars aren't that common. I could explain to you all the types of coins, but that would be far too long. Understand?”
“I think I do.” Coney said as he nodded, taking the sickle as well. “So what’s next.”
“Well I believe that’s up to you. I will ask you to do another task for me, but there is no rush, you have time I am sure.” She smiled softly. “So, I ask that you protect yourself while you go off wandering again. I don’t want to hear you got stuck in some hole in the ground without something to protect yourself with.”
“Oh… Alright.”
“So, now that that’s out of the way, my task is rather simple. I want you to go looking for the names of the graves here. They are lost to me, but I can not do proper respect without some knowledge of who they are.” She sighed. “This will require you to leave me, and go do research in the Archives and Athenium. Go wisely.”
New Quest Added:
Church Care 2 - Mother Franca has requested that you figure out who is buried in all of the graves at the church, she hopes you can learn by going to the Athenaeum.
Reward - Unknown