Slowly the world of Tayra fades into view as I open my eyes. I appear to be laying on an altar or something similar. I sit up, and look around. I appear to have the most basic of gear on, wearing naught but a tunic and some form of shorts. Beside the altar is a bag, presumably mine and presumably full of the rest of my gear. Standing up, I stretch and finally feel the beauty of standing five and a half feet tall, a whole half foot above my normal height. I lean down and grab the rucksack, my black hair sweeping down into view on the edge of my sight.
Looking through the bag shows a belt with a coin pouch, some basic rations, a dagger, and a scroll. Reading the scroll gives me the skill [Observe]. Using the skill on my equipment reveals that the bag is a minor bag of holding, the dagger is basic with no special effects, the clothes are a basic tunic and basic leggings, and the coin pouch is enchanted with two enchants. One enchantment on the coin pouch is an anti-theft, which sounds fairly useful, depending how NPCs and Players act. The other enchant is an ‘Official Bank Enchant’ with the ability to convert each type of currency stored into other types. Given the two gold coins I have, that means I could draw up to two-hundred silver, or twenty-thousand copper. Also fairly useful.
After giving myself a check over, I look to see what the room I am in is like. It's relatively fancy given it is made entirely out of stone, and using [Observe] on the altar reveals that it is an ‘Altar of Respawn’. I try to bind my spawn point to it, but given I can't interact I assume that has been done by default. The entrance to the room is a rather plain wooden door, and walking through, leads out into the world.
I come out into a busy little market place, down by a harbour. Looking in the opposite direction of the harbour is a keep, and the whole area is walled off. The structure I came out of is rather church-like, but mostly plain compared to the houses and shops along the rest of the street. Many of the buildings have a ‘Gothic’ style, with some buildings being typical fantasy style, and others being incredibly themed. Moving on to the people, there is a majority of dark elves, with some beastkin and humans mixed in. I decide to follow the foot traffic, which leads down to the harbour.
Down at the harbour, a booth and stage have been set up beside an odd boat. Multiple people who are in gear awfully similar to mine are gathered in front of the booth. I head that way since even if it isn't where I need to be, it can't be far off. Getting down to the booth, I see a sign labeled ‘New Uwha Expedition’ beside it is a clearly foreign panel not unlike the character customization screen. The panel reads ‘Begin your adventure here.’ The NPCs are clearly ignoring it, so I presume it is a panel to guide players, and invisible to the NPCs. Most of the people I assume are players, are gathered around the booth, where an NPC is passing out some form of passport. When players get the passport, they either fade into the crowds and head towards shops, or move over to the nearby stage.
I join the crowd around the booth, and attempt to find some form of order, before just giving up and watching to make sure I get my pass before anyone who may arrive after I did. Looking over the crowd I see several people dressed up differently, presumably our NPC company on our journey. It takes about half an hour, and telling off people who try to go before me, but I manage to get my pass. Using [Observe] on my pass gives ‘Fay's voyage pass’. Looking to the stage shows a device with bells. The device most likely will notify us when it is time to leave, so I venture off into the crowds, in search of equipment so I am prepared for the expedition.
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Walking up the street shows several stores, the ones that catch my eyes the most being; ‘Cloaks and Daggers’, ‘Tinker's Tailoring’, and ‘Rhora's Herbs and Potions’. The first sounds like it is either a hitman and spy operation, or a tailor's shop that sells weapons. The second will definitely be a Tailor and seeing the Tinker part, probably an Artificer. The third stood out because it was so simple and straight to the point.
Seeing as I had an interest in Sewing after my last test, I decided to head for ‘Tinker's Tailoring’. Tinker's tailoring is a little shop with large, probably fake, spools of thread as its external decor. Inside a multitude of machines are moving about. One of the machines is very clearly a sewing machine, and has a man standing at it sewing together a bright piece of fabric. Rolls of fabric lay against a back wall, and the shop smells of freshly cut fabric. As I enter, a bell rings, and the elf at the sewing machine turns it off, and greets me.
“Good day, madam. Are you here to peruse my wares?” I look at him oddly, before I nod.
“Yeah. I’d like to look into buying some needles and thread. Probably along with some various pieces of fabric as well. And I'll need a bag to hold it all.” I tell him.
He nods, and begins to wander through his shop. He passes through a section filled with bags, and picks out a light grey one with streaks of colours, seemingly at random. Moving on he passes through another section, this time filled with various needles and other sewing implements. He grabs a small device that looks not too unlike his sewing machine from earlier, along with several different needles and a pad that looks similar to the bag to stick them in. In that section he also grabs a pair of fabric scissors. Next he passes past shelves filled with various types of threads and picks out several key colours, one being clear. Finally he reaches the fabrics and calls me over,
“Madam, which fabrics would you like to purchase? I sell each cloth bolt for twenty-five copper apiece, and each basic silk bolt for one silver apiece.”
I look at the many colours of fabric, and pick out a nice black, a light gray that again matches the bag, and a several white bolts. “Do you happen to have any dyes, or ways to change the colour of the fabrics?” I ask as I do so.
The elf smiles, and guides me on to yet another section. This time with several vats, and the equipment to make and mix dyes. “This would be what you are looking for, no?”
I nod, and we move over to the counter to settle the price. “So how much will this be costing me?”,
“Not much, the fabrics will cost two silver and fifty copper, as they are all basic cloth. The needles are a silver apiece, and I grabbed you five. The scissors cost 5 silver, and the sewing contraption costs 1 gold, but you can choose to not take it of course.” I shake my head at the price of the sewing machine, comparing it to my current funds, as he continues. “The spools of thread each cost half a silver, but they are several meters long so they should last you a long time. I grabbed you five spools, so you will probably have several months if not a year. The dyeing vat and related equipment together sell for one gold. And finally the bag costs 25 silver. Your total would be, with everything, two gold and forty silver.”
I nod, and pull out one gold and forty silver. “I’d rather not buy the sewing contraption, so this should be enough to buy the rest correct?” He nods, and with a quick exchange I get enough equipment to start a basic tailoring shop, and he gets his money. I decided not to haggle as I probably would not see him again, and I also probably wouldn't have much use for my money for a long time once we get to the ‘New world’.
Moving on, I head to the herb and alchemy store. There is a lady running the shop, and she is rather friendly. I end up spending fifty silver on various alchemy and herbology goods, before hearing the bell that signifies time to gather to leave. I head down to the harbour, and my adventure truly begins.