With the exception of the debate over the players' motivation for later on, I will try to answer all the other questions. The motivation is something that I want to play around with in my head before I give a final answer either through replies or the story itself. Agreed. Curbstomping mooks is always such fun. As for Ludwig's appointment, not yet. Part Thirteen of Chapter Three takes place late in the day of when the deal was first made with Ludwig and tomorrow will likely involve the beginning of Chapter Four. Sorry if I did not make that clear enough in the story. Will try to find some way to correct that. Anyway thanks for reading. Thanks. I'm glad someone caught that part with the Judge, even if the player, and be extension, Setsuna does not realize the significance of said item just yet. Definitely sadistic on my part as the player is going to rack up many more kills as time goes on in an effort to 'grind' at the levels like any other good MMO or RPG player. Stop reading my thought bubbles! Just kidding. Will change that part as soon as I can come up with something to show her amusement in that scene. I just press reply on every post and it all gathers together in the reply to thread to answer multiple people. Not sure if that helps. It will get more and more difficult to explain away some of the actions and words of the other NPCs when no computer programming could possibly so advanced, even with the aid of some of the brightest minds in the world right now. As for writing in this style, it definitely is a challenge I understood from the very beginning because it adds a certain element of detachment, yet a bit of freedom in the method of interacting with others due to the no direct danger to the physical well-being of the player. Thank you for you constructive criticisms and various feedback. I really enjoy reading them and I hope that the story continues to hold your interest. There will be a motivation, but I would rather not say just yet. LOL. Yeah. Many gamers do tend to be absolute dicks while playing that, in real life, would get an asskicking or five for saying and doing things that are not nice. Even I want to kick Setsuna in the rear for acting in some rather thoughtless manners that is typical of MMO players. But don't worry, as the player will get hit hard with real life after the big reveal happens that Halkeginia is not just another generic, fantasy world to play in. Definitely has connections. I mean, in the canon, how can Scarron get away with the enforcement of no hurting the girls, but flirting is allowed, in a time when human life does not yet have the same implied and explicit value as it does in our own 20th/21st century morality/ethical/legal frameworks. He has to have known some people, I think, in order to get away with such enforcement, as just hugging them closely never really seemed to be enough of a reason for me as a deterrent. No matter the time period, tax collectors tend to be the least favorite people of anyone. Even if the Royal Court of Tristain itself gets involved, there are, as you said it yourself, dozens and even hundreds who would love to have tax collectors disappear. In a permanent way. Evidence in this time period will be a lot like the Scotland Yard's hunt for Jack the Ripper and it is more of 'he said, she said' and all that entails rather than our modern use of DNA and technology. Very true on the part that no noble would ever want to entertain the idea that a mage could be taken out by a commoner. Especially one who has a lot of friends in the Royal Court and the Royal military. Killing the tax collector will just be brushed under the rug, as this tax collector has quite the reputation for thinking between his legs and most likely, many would think that he just went after the wrong person to fulfill his desires. Besides, the current, larger picture of Tristain right now is one of quiet preparation as the Civil War in Albion is coming to a head and may end up spilling over into Tristain and one dead tax collector is the least of their worries as it stands right now. As for FF.net, I don't have an account there right now. I might think about opening one up sooner or later provided that I have enough time and the site there is not riddled with any kind of viruses or anything like that.
Yeah, keep digging that hole, Setsuna. If it wasn't deep enough already, that last part will let you reach China in no time. Though it does beg a question - what about actual law enforcers? Killing a single person, while still a crime, can be covered up - these things happen, after all. Slaughtering... what was it, 37 people? In a pretty gruesome way, too. It's rather optimistic to assume something like that would simply be ignored and "the blame could be placed on the crime-ridden area". Even if they all were "corrupt officials 1-37", it's still a lot of people. Doesn't this deserve another Wardes mini-chapter? Also, at the rate things are going, you'd have to seriously power up the usual ZNT antagonists to present some actual threat - especially if she leveled up from that massacre. Or give them some GW anti-assassin mechanic... whatever that was, been ages since I played it.
There might be another sidestory or three coming along if I can just word the scene just right. Also, please note that not everyone was killed. This might come back to bite Setsuna in the butt for not being careful to take out everyone. The usual ZnT antagonists will still be plenty of trouble for Setsuna due to some factors, like Void Haxx, ability to fly, taking away the prep time of the player to effectively engage in the assassin's greatest strength - the element of surprise, and so on. Also, the assassin can be taken out easily by necromancers and in the ZnT world, high-level water mages can learn necromancy.
Chapter Three Sidestory Unknown Corrupt Official, Snippet ------ After having stumbled into the sewage system of the capital through a hidden escape route, he continued to rub at his eyes of that Founder-damned powder or dust that had been launched into his face through some kind of hidden trap mechanism or magically concealed wind-earth spell. "I am destruction incarnate!" Those awful words spoken with such a bloodthirsty tone continued to leave chills running up and down his spine as he tripped and fell over a variety of awful substances that he did not want to know as the smell was absolutely horrible. "Sanity is for the weak!" A few seconds later, he emptied the contents of his stomach with great heaving as the smell of the sewers and the fresh memory of the one-sided battle rose back to the surface. Despite the vomiting, he continued to stagger around as he did not want to find out if the mad knight clad in black armor was chasing after him. Even now, he did not know what had happened to Olivier who had escaped into the sewage system with him and could only fear for the worst. Or, at least hope that Olivier had slowed down the mad knight. 'After all,' he thought, 'who else but a knight could cast such high level magic multiple times without losing power and attack with melee weapons in such a precise way'. Every few minutes, he would dry heave as there was nothing left to vomit due to the smell and the last memories he had had of his poor brother who had detonated in a green mass of gore as though a barrel of gunpowder had been rammed into his brothers' belly and lit with an unseen fuse. Normally, he would have been busy cursing the name of the unknown assailant had he not nearly vomitted again from some strange substance that landed in his mouth from the ceiling of the darkened tunnel. 'There! Some light at last!' Emerging from the sewage tunnel for what could have been minutes or even hours, he fell to his knees and raised his fists into the air in apparent triumph. "FREE AT LAST!" "Free from what," asked a feminine, but stern voice. Slowly, he turned his head to the right only to see three women wearing the uniform of the Musketeers of Her Royal Majesty, on horses, looking down on him with disgust as they all covered their noses at the smell coming off of him. "Uh...um...free from oh Founder don't kill me!" And with that, he fainted. ------ Authors' Note: This scene takes place as soon as the two that ran down the trap-filled alley used a pre-determined, hidden sewage route that the player did not pay close attention to, thinking that such NPCs would never think of something like this. Now, the Musketeers have in custody someone who has been on the payroll of Count Mott and working on behalf of the Judge Lishimon.
*grin* Oh the kind of clusterfrak that could ensue from this development... yeah, I'll be waiting for the excrement to hit the air ventilation system
In some ways, Tristain will be better off than the OTL due to minimizing the damaging effects of a lot of the more corrupt and treasonous factions who will get caught and possibly turned into double agents, dealt with permanently (interpret that as you wish), or lay low for a long time and wait for the watchful eyes to pass over. In other ways, Tristain might be worse off when the player decides to do some things that will not go over too well with a lot of the established powers that be.
Chapter Three, Sidestory Louise Snippet III ------ After re-entering her room, Louise fell upon her bed with a sigh of relief. She could not believe that the Headmaster of the most prestigious school, the Magical Academy of Tristain, had acknowledged her crazy and perverted Familiar as a member of Royalty in both words and actions. Deciding not to focus on the political and religious implications of branding members of higher status, she focused on the one aspect that would, hopefully, help her regain mental equilibrium. I have summoned a powerful Familiar! Her Familiar was a Princess! Therefore, I am a powerful mage! In the back of her mind, one of the smaller voices tried to remind her that her childhood friend was also a Princess and what would happen if she had branded Henrietta. It also tried to remind her of her past, philosophical lessons that even if the structure of her reasoning was truth-functionally valid, it was not truth-functionally sound as soundness of an argument or reasoning required that the conclusion was true, unlike validity which only cared about the structure and not the result. Resolutely ignoring that line of thought, she continued in her mental questioning and self-examination. My Familiar has shown the ability to cast magic, so I can cast magic now?! And the Familiar reflects the mage, right?! Did that mean that she was really a mage now?! Once again, that annoying voice called common sense tried to reach her and tell her that just because her Familiar could cast magic did not necessarily mean she could cast magic as well. Quickly, Louise began a new line of thought or, rather, grasped desperately for anything, in order to drown the other voice before the world as she knew it crumbled around her. Were all of her struggles and efforts going to be vindicated? Was she no longer Louise the Zero? Was she no longer the failure of the Valliere family? Was she no longer going to be the disappointment to Mother? Her thoughts screeched to a halt as she remembered her mothers' most important creed: "Rule of Steel," she murmured. "...." "...." As her thoughts wandered to what Rule of Steel meant to her mother, she had only one thing to say after having branded Setsuna....no, Her Royal Highness, Princess Setsuna: "Mother is going to kill me." ------ Authors' Note: This takes place while Setsuna is busy in the capital city of Tristain and the implications of the little talk with the Headmaster has begun to sink in and Louise will begin to experience some change in her character much earlier than in the canon OTL with Saito and that little bit of change will be permanent unlike that pesky reset button that often happens in the LN's, manga, and anime. Anyway, just doing a little more research into how magic could reasonably circumvent some of the logistical and manufacturing issues that plagued a lot of gunpowder warfare in RL earth until much later in the early modern era as a legitimate strategy and combat doctrine.
Chapter Three, Sidestory Wardes Snippet ------ As I remembered all that the young boy had told me of the mystery, female assailant, I heard the gruff voice of one of my closest confidants. "Captain, we've done a preliminary analysis on site of the third suspect and it looks like a clean cut case of hostage rescue gone right," spoke the one-eyed lieutenant as he approached me near the entrance of the alleyway. "Gone right? Is it not gone wrong, Andre?" I questioned my trusted lieutenant more out of habit than of any real doubt of Andres' investigative skills. "No. Definitely gone right. According to the other two would-be criminals, a strange, noble lady in a green, chest-revealing uniform was chasing down our victim when he decided to ever so conveniently pick up an unwilling shield in some kind of attempt to negotiate with our mystery noblewoman," Andre said in a matter of fact tone. When I did not say anything, Andre took that as a signal to continue. "Strangely enough, the boys and I couldn't find any murder weapon even though we did find a clear puncture wound that entered our victims' head, right between the eyes," he said as he used his own head as an example of where the entrance wound had been. I gave him a nod of acknowledgment and waited to hear more. "Your little boy told us that there had been some kind of blurry object involved. But, as far as I know, no spell is that clean without leaving some traces of injury resembling burned skin, frozen flesh, and any other elemental markings," Andre said to me as he rested a hand on his wand-sword and began stroking it in what I knew was an anxious manner. "Which probably leaves the possibility to some kind of physical object. Might be a throwing dagger or a knife of some kind." I had come to the same conclusion and rubbed my chin in contemplation as Andre finished his report. "Another strange thing you might want to know Captain is that all the shopkeepers from the Merchant District wont say a damn thing. Everytime we try to approach them, they just clam up tighter than virgins." My only response was a snort at Andres' analogy and a gesture for quiet as I thought on all that had happened thus far. After a few moments of silence, I decided to voice my own thoughts on the matter. "But, the young boy did not stay long enough to see if the likely murder weapon was removed," I pointed out. "That'd be true, 'cept for the fact that there were no typical signs of abrasions, bruising, or tearing of the surrounding injury when removing a weapon that can cut through flesh and bone like a hot knife through butter," he said worriedly as I began to consider certain implications that would complicate this investigation much more than I had initially thought. "Almost as if the weapon just disappeared after entering our mans' brain. If you ask me Captain? I think this was a high-level hit." "Well. Unless we can get enough witnesses who can actually identify our mystery woman and are willing to testify, this case will go nowhere and we do have better things to do," I said as I rubbed my right temple because of the coming headache I knew I would experience when I returned and reported my findings to the Chief Constable of Tristania. Letting out a sympathetic sigh, Andre looked me in the eye and tried to reassure me. "Don't worry Captain. It's not like this day can get any worse." Before I could lightly chide Andre for making such a statement, one of the Gryphon Squires came running down the alleyway towards me. "CAPTAIN! MESSAGE FROM MUSKETEER CORP! SAYS IT'S URGENT!" "You just had to say it didn't you," I dryly said as I gave Andre a flat look. "Um....sorry?" he sheepishly apologized as he shrugged his shoulders. ------ Authors' Note: This scene takes place about one hour after the Unknown Corrupt Official has been captured and interrogated. Normally, the corrupt official would be able to count on the support of the Corrupt Ringleader to bail him out, except for the fact that the Ringleader is very much dead and our dear official is tired, hungry, and traumatized. Now, our dear Wardes will discover a rather bloody fight (if it can be called a fight) and find that some of his support network has been destroyed, messily, and the paranoia starts to kick in. Fun times ahead!
'Fun'? Like 'Setsuna being mistaken as Foquet due to her dagger disappearing being seen as earth/metal dagger transmuted and vanishing afterwards' fun? Or something even more ruinous? Either way, I'm liking where this is going...
Fun as in "fun hits the fan" pretty soon... I hope. Foquet though... doubtful. (S)he wasn't really known for (mass) murdering nobles, was (s)he? There's a slight difference between stealing from someone and killing 30+ people while screaming about Blood God. (does that count as heresy or simple madness?) Then again, it's not like this is 100% canon, so maybe Foquet does kill nobles in her spare time.
To answer both posts above: Let's just say that the player may end up leaving a calling card similar to Jack the Ripper, only the targets are not some random prostitutes. This is part of the beginning chain reaction that upsets a lot of the established powers and not just in Tristain due to the implications. As far as my research has gone into Renaissance to Early Modern era crimes and punishments in the European continent, there appears to have been a huge decrease in the number of 'violent' crimes (physical harm from one person(s) against another person(s), usually for honor or desperation), but a relatively stable number of property crimes (usually robbery) throughout the time period, with the exception of war-related crimes. From what I was able to dig up, there was a huge social, economic, and political pressure by the Royal families and the noble class that 'violent' crime was the realm exclusive to the upper classes and this appeared to be true according to documents from Milan, Venice, France, England, and other such major nation-states of this period in the major cities. In fact, it appeared that the 'violent' crimes were most common in the countryside where the heavy hand of the aristocracy could not reach effectively with any prolonged amount of time. Also, the constables and whatever passed for law enforcement during the late Renaissance to Early Modern tended to be poorly trained, poorly equipped, and poorly funded (if there was any funding at all). As a result, most of the people who joined the law enforcement, especially in the countrysides, tended to be either people who had a very, very strong desire to see justice be done or the more numerous population of people with questionable morality and tastes. Corruption and false imprisonment was the norm by the local law enforcement, especially when the accused did not have the necessary connections, wealth, or physical attractiveness to buy off/intimidate/sleep with the guards. Now back to the scenario Setsuna has unintentionally created is the shock that will come from the massacre of many nobles or, at least, many magic users (as not all magic users are necessarily nobles as evidenced by Foquet/Matilda) which will make the bloody fight of the thirty have a huge fallout at the Tristain Court as there are usually not too many 'violent' crimes in the big cities, especially the capital when compared to the countryside where the law was determined by whoever had the bigger stick and the willingness to use it.
YES!!!!!, Mothra sized butterflies, also the way you seem to be researching the historical period equivalent to FoZ setting in real life, and the tone of the story so far and Setsuna very non standard nature gives me hope that this is going to end resembling more Le Chevalier D'Eon, than the original FoZ, please do some lavish architectural descriptions of notable buildings.
Heh... If this was Le Chevalier D'Eon, then I would expect biblical verses to come out while she was killing nobles.
Heh. Mothra sized butterflies. Those who use Chaos Theory should use that kind of analogy. While I cannot guarantee resemblence to Le Chevalier D'Eon, I can at least try to go away from the seemingly endless pressing of the reset button by the FoZ directors/executives/editors every so often. The research I have been doing is to show that this is a very real and thriving world that, in some ways, closely resembles the late Renaissance to Early Modern period of OTL Earth, but in other ways, is vastly different due to the presence of sapient non-humans (elves, winged people, vampires) and nobility with magic to enforce their rule. There would be biblical verses, except that this world never had the Judeo-Christian heritage that OTL Earth has and the only religion is the Church of Brimir of which I have no idea what kind of religious text they use.
I'm not saying that the story is like Le Chevalier D'Eon, but rather that with the right literary elements, descriptions and a certain je ne sais quoi, it could end with a passing resemblance to Le Chevalier, which in my opinion would be a good thing, as long as it was done tastefully without detracting of the core elements of the story. EDIT: I'm perfectly fine with that, what prompted me to think of Le Chevalier was the superficial similarity between Setsuna and D'Eon de Beaumont one a female gaming avatar of a male user and the other a young chevalier possessed by a female ghost that can take control of his body, also necromancy and zombies which exist in both settings and are elements of the plot in both.
First Interlude Player Snippet ------ And so, I closed my laptop as I had just spent a five hour grinder on my recent MMO addiction, Void Ascension. Normally, I would spend only two or three hours per session at the most as I did have a life outside of my quaint little home. "Time to get some well-deserved rest. Tomorrow, I can figure out what I'm going to say to Ludwig when I surprise him about a much earlier visit than originally anticipated," I discussed to myself quietly as I performed some much needed stretching to get the blood flowing throughout my body. My dinner was some Yakitori and a few sushi rolls that I had ordered from the Japanese restaurant down the street. Usually, Japanese meals tended to be more expensive, however, I was on a first-name basis with the owner which translated into all meals twenty-five percent off for being such a good customer and being friendly with the man in charge. It certainly didn't hurt that he had served in WWII as part of the famous Japanese-American unit and he was more than happy to share quite a few of his stories spent in Europe whenever I passed by. He was almost like the cool grandpa everyone wanted to get to know and had even acted as a mentor/counselor for some of the veterans who came back home and needed to talk to someone who could understand. Once finished with the meal, I said goodbye and left to get some shut-eye. After taking care of my personal hygiene, I got on my bed and fell asleep soon after. Strangely enough, I had a rather odd set of dreams from an outsider perspective. The first one seemed to be inspired from the made-up story my fellow guild members and I had created as the backstory to my character, Setsuna. "Young lady. Wake up now or Master Togo will assign you more menial punishments again!" "Don't wanna," came the muffled reply from what appeared to be a human-sized cocoon made of silk and feather-stuffed pillows. "Again with the stubbornness?" "...." *sigh* "Will we have to do this the hard way or the easy way?" "....if I can't see you, you're not there." "Hard way it is," came the exasperated voice of the female servant. After signalling for assistance from outside, several servant ladies took a firm grip on the entire left side of the blanket bundle and pulled hard. Before the teenage girl could react, the original female servant took hold of the little girl under the arms and carried her to the bathing room. "Put me down this instance, Mai! I command you!" "If you would only act with maturity, I would do so. Act like a child and I will treat you like a child. Act like an adult and I will treat you like an adult. Now, hurry up and bathe before Master Togo sees you are not yet ready for the morning exercises," the servant known as Mai gently reminded the pouting, teenage Setsuna. And so Mai carried Setsuna all the way to the bathing quarters where Mai proceeded to assist the teenage girl get ready for the day. The bathing room itself was shaped in the form of an octogon with a pagod on the top and open entrances on four of the eight sides. In the center was the pool and numerous supplies of sponges, towels, shampoos, and other items were on the left of the pool, on a raised stand. It was here that Setsuna sat on a ledge inside the pool as Mai began to untangle the bed hair. "...." "So you choose to be silent then? Good. At least I will not have to worry about having my ears ringing from your harpy-like screaming." "...." "I'm sorry? I could not hear you over the sound of washing your hair." "...." "Very well. I guess I will have to tell Mistress Kairi that you will not be enjoying her company later today whe-" "I can talk just fine." "See? That was not so difficult now?" "I still hate you," came the retort as Setsuna folded her arms in a childish gesture of disapproval. "And I hate you as well, but Master Togo will not approve if you come, oh what was it again, ah yes, smelling like a 'ten-year old batch of apples that had gone sour' and I know that you do not want to spend more time bathing the farm animals as punishment again," Mai said as she finished cleaning the teenger. Getting dressed in the Canthan Assassin clothing, Setsuna made her way towards the Temple where Master Togo waited to begin their meditation. And with that, the dream abruptly ended and I woke up in a half-asleep state. "Man, such mrjhlj dream. Too tirfjkl to think right now. Sleepy time." And so I went out like boxer getting KO'd. Unfortunately for me, I had a second dream that night. It was there that I saw a young, pink haired girl running away in tears as she traveled through the trees and bushes in search of something. More than once, she stumbled, but for some reason, she would stand up and continue her search for some person or some place despite her never-ending tears. Eventually, she reached a body of water and a small boat that was anchored near the shore. There, she wept for nearly half an hour before a well-dressed, adolescent male approached her position and stopped a fair distance from the boat. "Little Louise. You should not be here alone," came the gentle voice of the man. *gasp* "Chevalier Wardes! What are you doing here?! Mother will not be pleased with you if she finds that you are not practicing," said the voice of the little girl that had stopped her crying for the most part and had peaked over the edge of the boat when she had heard the familiar voice. "I am not yet a Chevalier, but a Squire and didn't I say that you could call me Jean?" In response, the girl named Louise blushed slightly and looked down. Then, she gasped again as she realized the state of her dress and ducked back into the boat. "Chevalier Wardes, do not approach me for I am most certainly un- un- not presentable," she squeaked as she tried her best to brush off the dirt, twigs, and leaves that had found their way on various parts of her dress and hair. "Heh, heh. No need to worry little Louise. I am more pleased to know that you are safe than about your state of cleanliness," Wardes said amusingly. "Although, I have to admit that you do look even cuter with your dress so dishevelled." There was no response save for an even brighter blush from the young girl who was no furiously rubbing out the dirt from a particularly dark, black stain on the front of her dress. And this dream ended just as the first had ended: with my waking up. "What the fjios is going on? Definitely shouldn't have eaten that raw octopus. Knew it smelt funny," I said with a drowsy tone as I tried to sleep once more. This time, I had no more dreams and foolishly uttered words I would regret later on: "It's probably nothing." ------ Authors' Note: Well, the dreamscape will certainly be interesting for the player as we head to the fourth chapter in the story. I can say this for certain. The dreams will not just view Setsuna and Louise. Well, that's all for now and the fallout from the previous fight scenes will begin to cause some major deviations from canon.
Interesting development... ignoring how sharing dreams isn't part of ZnT canon, it is a good way for the player to know a bit more about the setting of the 'game'. The player has to know about the background somehow right? (at least when it comes to 1st person POV stories)
Going a few posts up about 'spouting biblical lines' thing, one can argue Setsuna was doing exact that, only she was quoting the Chaos Testament. See?
YES! I knew you were going to use "Dreams" as a way of showing off the link between the RL world and the ZnT world. On a other note I just read the first forty chapters of Shinji and Warhammer 40K AND IT IS AWESOME!!!!!
I just hope those dreams won't be used as a way of "seeing the future" to jump over some usual canon plot obstacles. That Wardes scene was just a random thing I hope? Just asking, you never know. As long as they're merely a way to mentally torture "the player", it's all good.
I just thought of something, Henrietta will be called "Royal Who Actually Do Something (Or at least trys)" Also I can't help but think that Setsuna is going to continue her BS by saying that she has some elf servants.
Chapter Four: Veritas vos Liberabit ------ Waking up the next day, I felt a little groggy as I half-remembered two, really odd dreams. "Seriously. That was the most coherent set of dreams I have ever had. Maybe I should lay off playing more than three hours at a time," I said aloud as I prepared for work. All in all, the dreams did not take any significant measure of my mental capacity as I went about on my shift. Once I had clocked out, I decided to pass by the local video game store and see if they had anything of interest with my recent paycheck. "Trash, trash, trash, have it, played it but returned it, trash, trash, yugh, I'll just go home," I said under my breath as there was nothing that really caught my eye for some reason, even the latest Dawn of War game that I had been planning to purchase for some time. "No real loss. I can just play more Guild Wars and see if the boys are ready for some raiding," I muttered as I opened the front door and did all the necessary house work before turning on my computer and loading up my favorite MMORPG. After spending about an hour having some fun with my fellow guild members, I decided that it was time to go back to Void Ascension. "Maybe I'll face more mooks to deal with. Man, I can't wait until I get to the boss battles and I can get some real challenges." The screen loaded and showed that Setsuna was still dressed in Grenth's Regalia, while the bloody remains of the various Corrupt Officials were scattered about and the blood on the floor and walls were still fresh from the recent battle. So, I proceeded to use OWTS to move about stealthily from the slums of the capital to one of the secluded buildings on the opposite side of the city and changed Setsunas' clothing from the dark armor to the green standard outfit of the Shining Blade uniform. Then, I proceeded to change her secondary profession from Necromancer into Elementalist in order to convince any person too suspicious of my activities late in the day as a noble going about her business. "Let's see if Ludwig is ready even if I am visiting him a day early." Walking towards the Merchant District, I allowed myself the luxury to really take a good look around the buildings that Setsuna passed. A number of them were unremarkable in the 21st century, but they were probably considered the height of architecture and engineering in this time period, even with magic readily available. To the left, there were plenty of residential units that gave off the Dutch feel for the flared eaves and the gamrel roofing that was quite similar in the overall shapes to the stereotypical barns found in many of the movies that showed the countryside. Some of the houses were single story, but the majority were two story and typically had square windows that looked like they had glass panes of some sort. Beside the windows themselves, there were some simple, painted rectangles of red, green, blue, and other colors. Inside the rectangles, there would be a secondary set of colors like white, black, yellow, and any type of color that sharply contrasted with the primary color. "Glass certainly looks to be in wide use, so whoever made this game certainly had a good sense of the time period of late Renaissance to Early Modern." To the right, there were more houses with the occasional fountain that had bronze statues in the middle of the fountain and placed on the top of some kind of white, stone pedestal. A few of the bronze statues even had water coming out of the sides of the statues and into the surrounding water. "Hmmm....that one statue almost looks like some kind knight about to slay what appears to be an elf? I guess the elves aren't exactly well-liked around here." As I continued my walk towards Ludwigs' shop, I noticed that some of the people nearby would give a respectful nod in my characters' direction, give a friendly wave, or in one case, address Setsuna directly. "Pardun, milady," said the bowing form of a modestly dressed, middle-aged man with a cane in his right hand, "But if ah 'ad a mument of yer time." "Go on," I said as I was curious what kind of script would prompt this NPC to address my character since he did not activate any kind of alert, achievement, or message about a new quest or danger of attack by the turning on of the hostile status on the radar. "Just wanna say that ah be real grateful for whut you've dun for lil Jessica, milady," said the man as he continued to bow. "Please stand. Besides, I only did what was expected of my duty when those thieves tried to take what was not rightfully theirs in the first place," I responded as I began to make up some kind of story without giving away any details in case he might be fishing for some information. "Nunsense! I be real pleased that lil Jessica have help. Dem three fools be trying to steal from the Inn to blackmail the owner and see if the perty little daughter would spread her legs for dem," he scowled as he stood up from his bow and spat out the last part with much disgust "Anyways, ah 'ope you be in town a bit longer as I 'ave a bakery jus' down the street of de Charmin' Fairy Inn. If yer ever in town, milady, please stop by and we give yer a discount fer the 'elp you gave to lil Jessica. She be like a daughter to us and we merchants are a close-knit bunch if yer know what ah mean since we can't always rely on nobles for protection. Uh....no insult to yer milady as yer clearly not the corrupt sort and all that," he spoke hurriedly as he rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish gesture. "Well thank you mister...." At my implied question, the mans' eyes widened a bit in shock, as though he was not accustomed to being addressed in such a manner. "Ah be called Pierre, milady," he said as he bowed once again. "And my name is Hangaku Gozen," I replied as I wanted to see how the script would react once again to the foreign name in this European-like setting. "Yessum Lady Gozen. That sounds like a good fighters' name if ah 'eard of one. Well, ah won't be takin' anymore of yer time. So, thank yer again and 'ope to see yer in mah bakery soon," he stood up from his bow with a smile on his face and went on his way towards whatever destination he had in mind. "Wow. Got a lot of XP from just talking from that old man. Wonder if I can use something like diplomancing to get more XP without ever having to fight ever again. Hmmm....naaahhh. Fighting's just too fun to avoid." After that, there were four more incidents where Setsuna was stopped and thanked by some merchants or people who knew the Charming Fairy Inn wanted to give their thanks and all of them offered Setsuna some discounts at their stores ranging from weapons to food. *whistles low* "The programmers must have done a really good job if the underlying code can create such realistic interaction and have such an intricate relationship system where the NPC's can even interact with each other in the background. I bet that whoever hired these programmers must keep them under lock and key for fear of the competition getting their hands on them," I chuckled as I quietly spoke to myself about what kind of measures must have been taken to keep the programmer(s) off the grid since no other games had quite the refreshingly, realistic interactions. "Enough distractions. Time to meet Ludwig, although I'm not too sure if he's still open with the sun setting right now," I said as I hurried Setsunas' pace towards the heart of the Merchant District. A number of the merchant shops and side vendors were already packing up or had already closed shop as the number of customers or potential customers had dropped significantly from the midday rush when I had first arrived in Tristania. It was there that I spotted the burly, brown-haired Germanian cleaning the window in front of his shop as he was humming some tune. I noticed that he was not paying much attention to his surroundings as he wiped down the glass and I decided to see how he would react if I surprised him. Walking slowly to him, I approached him from behind and not in an angle that he could see my character on the glass, just in case the AI behind Ludwig had the ability to recognize a character through a reflection. In position a mere meter away, I enacted my plan. "LUDWIG!" "SCHEISSE!" Ludwig cursed as he jumped nearly half a meter into the air and turned around with a dagger in his right hand and a towel in his left thrown towards where the face would be if my character were fifteen centimeters taller. To avoid getting cut, I had Setsuna back away two steps just in case the dagger in his hand was poisoned and it would be such a pain in the butt to deal with a poisoned character since I had not loaded up Monk as my secondary profession in favor of Elementalist. Once he recognized who had done the shouting, he immediately put away the dagger into his right sleeve in some kind of wrist holder as the dagger did not fall back out and gave out a relieved sigh before he took on an unamused look. "Fraulein Gozen. You should not scare Ludwig like that." After taking two more breaths to steady himself, he frowned in my direction as he asked me to enter his store and closed it behind him. Setsuna stood in the center and waited as Ludwig put some locks on the door and closed the curtain on the front window. "You are early Fraulein and Ludwig has not gathered all those needing to be informed." "You are correct. However, a situation has arisen that has forced my hand and I believe that you could provide some much needed assistance." "And what situation is that Fraulein?" "Ludwig. You already know that I am a foreign noble, correct?" In response, he leaned against the counter. "Of course. Ludwig knows clothing is too fine for commoner and name and looks are exotic. What your point?" "And you already know that I am a warrior as well?" "Ludwig did say that he has good eye for fighting." "Ludwig. I serve the royalty of my homeland of Cantha and she is currently seeking asylum under a man named Osmond." "...." "Ludwig?" "Is much to take in. You are Royal servant then? And by Osmond, you mean Herr Osmond, the square mage?" "Yes. I know that you have not gathered all those you had planned for tomorrow, but I am uncertain if we are speaking of the same Osmond. Here, look at this mouse," I said as I removed the mouse familiar from the inventory and placed him on the ground before Ludwig. "This is Herr Osmonds' Familiar. Then, we talk about same man. Herr Osmond is honorable man and one of very few Tristain nobles who earn Germanian respect," he said with a proud tone and a nod of his head. "Good," I said as I returned the mouse familiar back into my inventory, "Ludwig. I serve Her Royal Highness, Setsuna and I was wondering if you knew anything about Germanian nobility and how one goes about attaing it." "Is Fraulein seeking noble title for herself or the one Fraulein serves?" "Both as I am uncertain if her revealing her title may not have been the wisest of courses." "Very well. Listen carefully to Ludwig." And what followed was a very long and detailed explanation of the various intricacies and social, political, military, and economic expectations of German aristocracy and its relations to the other countries in Halkeginia. Unlike what I expected of European nobility, the rules were more down-to-earth in the sense that there was some kind of practical or business related reason for why certain practices were adhered to or followed. One example was the practice that all German nobility had to swear allegiance directly to the Kaiser to avoid too many uprisings that resulted from the Barons and the Counts who were loyal to the various Duchys as it was done in Gallia instead of the imperial throne itself. Another example was the enforcement of one, standardized taxation system over all of Germania in order to avoid the disputes between the various merchant guilds and their noble sponsors as time wasted on infighting was time that could be spent in economic growth and to promote a sense of nationalism over regional loyalty as it often happened in the Italian states of the Renaissance. Fortunately for me, the Journal menu had a rather nice summary that said that Setsuna, or rather, Hangaku Gozen would have to make a serious investment of money and develop some connections to some kind of sponsor for legitimate recognition. While the explanation was going on, I noticed that there were some relatively, fast moving NPC's showing up on the radar as they appeared to be set in a patrol pattern around and over the capital. Once the explanation had ended, I had my character slowly exit the shop and looked to the darkening skies. It was then that I noticed the titles of the NPC's as the Gryphon Knights and they appeared to be flying some kind of CAP over a specific area of the capital, namely where the slums were. "Something big must've happend. Oh well, it's not my problem," I said as I had Setsuna leave the Merchant District and activated One With The Shadows and traveled back to the edge of the forest, outside the capital itself. While I was leaving Tristania, I noticed that there were quite a few armed women patrolling the edges of the city as though they were looking for someone. "Huh. Might be of some interest if I tell Osmond about what's going on in his nations' capital." In the forest, I pulled down the locations menu and selected Magical Academy of Tristain. ------ Helpful feedback is encouraged. Authors' Note: The beginnings of what may appear to be some kind of temporary lockdown or even martial law have just been set into place on the capital of Tristain, Tristania as the conversation between Ludwig and Setsuna took long enough that the Musketeers, by this time, have had enough time to interrogate the survivor and discover the bloody results. ZnT/Guild Wars Crossover with PC-Controlled Assassin.
It was nicely done, thank you very much, and in a non visual medium these kind of physical descriptions really flesh out and let one imagine with more clarity the locations of the story, again many thanks.
I don't see anything urgent that needs to be addressed... Things are looking good right now. Though I am wondering, are the Griffon Knights working separately with the Musketeers or together? They could be chasing the same person for different reasons, or are the Griffon Knights pushed into service by order of the higher-ups after hearing about the massacre?
