Post by Anonymous Police Officer 10:57 PM April 12th, 20XX

The passivity precept hasn’t stopped all crime, just the violent ones and the those it considers as violence (which, apparently includes many types of theft but not all of them). So, on the plus side, I still have a job. On the minus side, working for the police is now mostly ticketing traffic law offenders, catching drug dealers, and dealing with thefts. So, yay? I still have a job?

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We arrived in a small grassy area between two buildings where a stone path wound its way up to a bench that resembled a boulder. Lore wrapped his arm around mine and pointed through an archway where a tree that looked almost like a jacaranda in full bloom had been perfectly framed. He leaned in close. His warm breath tickled my ear in a way that almost seemed like he was attempting to seduce me.

“Fifty-two thousand,” he whispered.

[Kirick Ceruleanwolf would like to give your team 52,000 PMk. Would you like to agree? Yes or No?]

Hell yeah!

I felt a small gust of wind and the money appeared in our wallet. Just how high of a level did that Ceruleanwolf person have? And how much time would it take for me to get there?

I must have worn an inquisitive expression because Lore answered me as if I’d asked.

Lorevinel Silvercat: Right now, we're secretly selling almost all of the very rare items that I’ve collected over the many years I’ve lived within the PPVS.

I nodded. He also probably couldn’t let this chance to stick it to his jailor pass him by.

Mia: Isn’t there an easier way though, like an auction house that connects all over the game?

Lorevinel Silvercat: No. Nothing like that. That would be too convenient. But there are big auction houses in larger cities that have some branches in other similar-sized cities, but the nearest one is about 6 days travel from here.

Mia: That far?!

Lorevinel Silvercat: It’s a big simulation.

“Come on. Let’s purchase some items for the party and general travel.”

We walked back to the merchant area. Lore dragged me to various stalls where he had me buy a large quantity of fruity soap for me, another kind of soap similar to the one he gave me in the dungeon, towels, bags, sleeping bags, glass vials, boxes, masks, gloves, more towels, rations, caltrops, rope, climbing tools — basically everything a hitchhiking murder hobo might need — and extra complete outfits of simple casual clothes, one set of which, Lore had me put on right away.

“This is a lot of gear, Lore.”

“Yes, but it’s better to be prepared in case you have to leave an area right away.”

“Okay, you have a point. But if all these are needed, why didn’t I get it as starting gear?”

“Most players stay in a city for weeks to learn how the simulation works. By the time they’re ready to leave they should have enough PMk to buy all this. You just leveled more than your wallet did. Speaking of which, we need to sell our junk items to an NPC merchant.”

We found one in a small store. At least that’s what Lore said. I honestly couldn’t tell the difference. After selling a bunch of junk that cluttered our inventory spaces, we earned back a little under half of what we spent. I blamed the stupidly expensive soap. Plus, Lore seemed way too smug when I paid for them with my individual earnings.

Lorevinel Silvercat: We have some time before our next rendezvous so let’s purchase the items we’ll need for the party next.

Mia: More shopping? Really? Can’t we take a break and fight something instead?

Lorevinel Silvercat: It won’t take that long.

He brought me back to the fancy clothing store I pointed at earlier. When we entered a short black-haired woman walked up to Lore and began warmly speaking with him about what we needed and for what reason. I tuned it out and looked over the dresses.

Hmm. We were going on a heist so I probably needed something dark and stealthy. A dress caught my eye. It wasn’t exactly a good style but it had long sleeves, which looked like pants that went with it and it had a dark charcoal color. The perfect party skulking dress.

“Hey, Lore! What about this one?”

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He peered at the garment with distaste. “If you wore that dress to the Crimsondallia’s once-in-a-lifetime bonded ceremony then I and everyone else would question your aesthetic sensibilities.”

Owch. “But I was just thinking—”

He pressed a finger to my lips to stop me from speaking.

“I can tell by that glare that you think I’m being inconsiderate right now but think about this logically.”

I raised an eyebrow at him and he grinned.

“Right now, you’re in an area of the simulation that is similar to my homeworld. There are certain cultural aspects that I know and understand that you, right now, do not.”

Damn him, but he was right. “Okay, so what is wrong with the dress I picked out?”

“To begin with, for formal attire, color is important, especially for a rare event like a Bonded Celebration. Everyone must wear the color of their clan, even if it doesn’t suit them. And, everyone wears either monochromatic or analogous colors, never contrasting colors. In general, those in outted relationships with each other tend to wear matching outfits, so even if they come from separate clans and wear different colors everyone can tell who is in a relationship with whom.”

“S-so does that mean...”

He leaned in close and whispered, “Yes, since you’re going as my plus one to this event, our outfits will match.” He stepped back with a thoughtful expression. “Though, I think I’d like to see you in a green that matches your eyes.”

The tips of his ears turned red. He pointed at the thin sleeves and at the short length of the dress.

“Next, this ‘dress’ is actually a robe to use while working or adventuring. You can see that because it has long, close-cropped sleeves, the actual length is short and it has no long outer robe with long swooping sleeves. It is also lacking a high collar.”

At this point, my head hurt. It figured a bard would know so much about clothing. Especially this hot fucker.

“So, this is a bad dress and I’m terrible at picking things out. Got it.”

He sighed and looked at me as if I were hopeless. “This is not a bad robe. Nothing in this shop is bad. You can tell by the fine tailoring and just look at this detailed embroidery. If you stare at it long enough you could practically see little black dragons flying off it.”

A chuckle sounded from behind us and I turned, shocked to see the tailor lady Lore had been speaking to earlier peering over our shoulder.

“If I were a high enough level tailor, my embroidery could create illusions like that. Sadly, I’m mediocre at best.”

“Well, Tailor Ocrevine, you’re certainly the best here in Grey Skies Fall on the Weary.”

The hell? “Is that a city name or a poem?”

“I mean, it’s obviously a city name.”

“How is that obviously a city name? And shouldn’t it be shortened to Grey Skies?”

“Oh, my dear young halfling. You don’t shorten the names of cities.”

I sent Lore a look that expressed my silent, “Seriously?”

He nodded solemnly. “You don’t shorten city names.”

Now that I thought about it, I’d been here for several days but I'd been too focused on my own issues to really have it drilled in my head that I was dealing with real elves and that this was a completely different culture. It was probably a lot looser than their actual culture but there were likely many similar aspects of it between their reality and this game.

I rested my hand across my eyes. “You’re gonna have to teach me out to bow properly and how to be formal or whatever too, right?”

“With your dexterity and intelligence, it shouldn’t take long. Fortunately, formalities don’t rely on charisma.”

If it did I’d be screwed.

“And since this is a newbie area that trains up a lot of foreigners, it’s fairly relaxed. It’s just that you’re unfortunate enough to have been invited to a formal party.”

“Right. Hey, remind me to murder Crimea once I hit level 30.”

“You’ll have to step in line. I hear everyone she’s taught before you are already plotting her demise.”

“And on that light note,” the Tailor Ocrevine cut in, “Lore, we should finish discussing you and your date’s outfits. Even if it’s me, you’re cutting it awfully close to the party, you know.”

They walked back over to the desk area.

“I know. Regrettably, I only received my invitation recently.”

“Fine. I can have yours and your date’s attire finished tomorrow, but you both must come in for final fittings three hours before the party so I can sew you into them. You’re not my only customer, you know.”

“Ah, but I am your best customer.” Lore flashed a blindingly handsome grin at her.

The tailor blushed and I felt a tinge of jealousy. Love’em and leave’em player bards gonna play. Yeah, I wanted nothing to do with that.

They spent some time talking about colors, cuts, and fabrics, all of which increased the pain in my head. I was just a normal tee-shirt and jeans type of person. I didn’t even wear any makeup aside from lip gloss since it cost too much, didn’t last, and made my skin itch.

“Mia! Come and get measured.”

I trudged over and nodded at the lady. A smile did not light up my face.

She gestured me to come closer and I stepped up to her. “Perfect Measure.” She appeared to grab something above my head and pulled it down. It created a measuring tape that, as she pulled down, created several more measuring tapes that wrapped around me. When she reached the ground they disappeared. The lady nodded and stood.

“Okay, I’ll see you both tomorrow!”

I blinked. “Don’t you need to measure Lore?”

She shook her head. “I already have his measurements and he hasn’t leveled or done anything that would have changed his body shape.”

Huh?! Did she just imply that people’s avatars could change physically?

I turned to Lore to ask but he was already waving goodbye and walking out the door. When I rushed out to follow him I ran into his back and he nearly fell.

“Lore,” a woman began. Eerily her voice sounded amused but as if that amusement was drenched in malice. “Funny meeting you here. And who is that little halfling behind you?”

He grabbed my waist and pulled me in front of him, like a shield. I sent him a brief glare but kept my mouth shut.

“Jethia Ravenborn. This is, Mia, my date to the Crimsondallia’s Bonded Celebration. She’ll also be helping me retrieve your birthday present.”

The woman’s eyes stared into mine with a sharp intensity I did not enjoy. Wait, wasn’t her name the same as Lore’s Jailor?

Oh shit! This was Lore’s Jailor!