Hit By The Frame Bus And Now I'm In A Poorly-Coded Fantasy World

With the vote unanimous, the surrounding area shimmers a bit as a complete rustic campsite phases into being. The fire in the center is already burning and casting light and heat and a few logs are placed for seating.

Two pots sit over the fire, one small pot and a larger pot on the opposite side of the fire with the glyph of a cauldron made of stars floating in mid-air in front of it.

One of the seats by the fire has a music note made of stars hovering over it.

There are four small one-person tents, but it would be easy to convert them into two larger two-person tents. Next to the tents is a peg board titled "Watch Duty" divided into three sections, in a tray below it is everyone's names on little wooden tags to put onto the board.

Next to the tents is a waist-height boulder with a flat top and a symbol of an anvil made of stars hovering over it.

At the edge of the camp are two further star-symbols, a bow-and-arrow and a berry bush.

Looks like camping has some mechanics to it.

Edited by Pentigan on Feb 28th 2020 at 12:50:37 AM

Aoife – Camp

Aoife blinked at the rapid materialization of the camp, whistling in an impressed fashion once it had fully manifested and approaching it with only the slightest caution. After a brief look over it she nodded to herself and looked at the others—clearly fighting back a grin from forming on her face.

“Huh. Guess that's better than screwing around with tent poles, huh?”

It took all of her self control not to dive bomb into one of the tents and stay there for the next ten hours. Instead she carefully picked her way through the campsite and more thoroughly studied each of its oddities—noting the sparkling aura on some of the items and how said aura seemed to resonate with her. She assumed it did for the others too in some way.

“Got a lot of crap here to play with...” she hummed, trailing a finger over the ‘Watch Duty’ board. “Won't ask any of you guys just yet. Get settled in first. Sound good?”

Her eyes were again glimmering against the light of the campfire; that same odd glowing green as before. Along with her lack of visible pupils, it made it rather difficult to tell where she was looking at exactly.

Edited by Enirboreh on Feb 27th 2020 at 2:04:10 PM

Party Camp

Runi:Eh-

-Runi whistles at the Instant Camp-

Gets more and more game-like by the second, doesn't it.

-He walks slowly around the campfire before taking a seat by the warmth

Now then...you there, headvoice?

Affirmative.

Nifty. Now...I need some questions answered...

Input query.

-Runi blinks-

"Well ok then."

Okay...what are you?

Positing...retrieving information. I am your Automatic Neuro-Tactical Analytics and Reaction Enhancement System.

-Runi blinks-

Ok, that's a mouthful. I'll just call you...Antares?

Acknowledged. I am A.N.T.A.R.E.S.

-Runi feels a sort of glee bubbling up in his chest-

Ok, this is awesome.

-Though to everyone else, he's just making happy noises and staring at the fire.-

The catboy was rather amazed by the show that was preformed in front of him, as he was just... Entranced by everything. If one were to look at him, his eyes would be dilated to the max for a few seconds, then return to normal size.

Is this what it's like to be on drugs...? He thought to himself. He quickly shook his head awake like the cat that he was (or rather, neko) in order to snap himself out of it. He then rushed towards the campfire to warm up. He had been rather chilly ever since he got gooped up by Maaris, so this was a good opportunity for him.

He looked over to Runi who looked to be happy over the campfire. I wonder if it's worth making up to him... He thinks as he puts his hands over the campfire, absorbing the heat. I'll see after I have a chat with Maaris, I suppose.

Party camp

Maaris straightened her top and tried to brace herself mentally while walking toward the camp fire, but she also stopped and stared at the marvelous set up that she had missed the actual appearance of.

The slime girl was hesitant to interact with anyone or even look them directly in the eye, but she started wandering the camp looking at the icons over the workstations until she found herself standing by the tents and rock with the anvil icon wondering what, if anything, she could do with these objects. Their intention seemed relatively obvious, but she'd never bothered much with crafty skills in the few MMOs she'd played.

Edited by BlitzTrain on Feb 28th 2020 at 5:44:41 AM

It was certainly nice to get back to that Dream Logic Bullshit. Lana's needle got moved a little bit, but no, at the end of the day this was totally still a dream. All this anime bullshit with Runicas hauling folks was... also still pretty in keeping.

"Well I dunno about you guys but I think I might wake up in a hospital if I go to bed so I'm taking that first watch." Lana clacked her tile onto the first watch spot. Normally she'd probably say it way more slickly or something, but she was talking to herself after all, fuck it, she could afford to get functional. "You guys are, like, gamers, how about you figure out this crap here," she gestured vaguely at the icons, and turned to the tents. They were convertable to doubles and she knew from experience camping they'd want them combined—not just to share warmth now, but to keep them safe in case some monsters or whatever showed up. "I'll be putting these tents together, that's something I actually know how to do."

Astratamere-Camp Site

-Runi continues looking through his newfound tech buddy’s abilities-

Runi:Right...then maybe...

-He taps his chin-

Do I have like...a H.U.D.?

Affirmative. Launching Heads-Up Display.

-Runi’s vision lights up momentarily before dying down again. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees it-

“Woooooah...suuuuper nifty.”

-He’s drawn out of his wonderment by Lana’s remark and offhandedly replies-

“You think this is some sort of fever dream? If I didn’t have the image of that bus in my head I’d think the same, but now...”

-He trails off as he stands up to go and wander over to the bow and arrow symbol-

“Hm...I wonder...”

-He tries to poke the outline-

Astratamere Camping Anime

Upon being touched the symbol fades away and just beyond the edge of the campsite Runi becomes keenly aware of the presence of animals somewhere in the darkness.

The tents are excessively easy to convert, requiring no more than a few quick movements to change into a pair of two-person tents. There was barely any thought or effort to the process, just the briefest moment between intent and action.

Astratamere - party camp

Maaris shook her head in mild frustration when the tents were reconfigured. After the way she'd embarrassed herself and probably weirded out the rest of the party, she really didn't feel like sharing sleeping space... But starting a fight over a probably well intentioned suggestion just sounded exhausting.

Plus she really couldn't get a read on Lana, most of her suggestions had been practical and productive, but she barely seemed to notice the rest of the party. Probably because of her insistence she was really in the hospital.

The slime girl just sighed and walked up to the watch board, taking her name and hanging it. "I'm taking third watch" she stated bluntly before sitting on the edge of a log away from the boys.

Edited by BlitzTrain on Feb 29th 2020 at 9:23:29 AM

Galdra was a little disappointed by the lack of DIY camping mechanics. This is technically his first time camping- and he had been looking forward to setting up the tents as well.

"After all this emphasis on teamwork..." He said to noone in particular. He then sighs and makes a smile, but only to cover up his true feelings. His ears flickered after Maaris grabbed her name plate. "I'll pick the same watch..." He said as he walked over to pick up his tag, avoiding eye contact with the slime girl while somewhat blushing.

Edited by KingOfStickers on Feb 29th 2020 at 5:54:44 PM

Camp

-Runi nods to himself-

Runi:A Hunting station, eh?

-He wanders away-

“Well...guess I’ll take second watch, then.”

-His plate clatters against the watch board-

Aoife – Campsite

“...I'll take second watch as well,” Aoife decided, nodding to herself and then to Runi. “And I guess I can take the cooking station too... don't really think there's much else I can do, thinking about it...”

Her discus flew out from behind her as she sat down, but she snatched it out from the air so as to look at it more closely. She noted how it seemed to go dormant at her touch, retracting back into its solidified form as soon as she had gripped it. Apart from being a little blackened around the edges from her earlier fireballs, it still seemed to be in a decent state.

“...You guys ever seen anything like this before?” she asked, outstretching her arm and watching as the discus immediately reactivated and coiled around her limb in order to settle just in front of her hand. She realised she could use it as a targeting mechanism like this, and she squinted through the makeshift sights a moment before letting it deactivate again. “I'd have thought I'd get a staff, or a wand or something... never seen magic frisbees for mages...”

Astratamere - Party camp

Galdra's comment made Maaris feel a twinge of guilt, so other than noting he'd signed up for a watch she tried to ignore him for the moment. Hopefully by morning it'd all blow over while everyone was too busy trying to find someone to tell about the city. Or at least figuring out something about this world.

She shrugged at Aoife's question "Not really, seems more like a sci-fi thing than something for a fantasy setting. But there's gotta be some kind of books on magic in this world, good chance one of them will talk about that thing"

Then walked toward the edge of camp, swiping her hand through the constellation of the berry bush. "Guess I'll try foraging then. Picking plants can't be too hard..." Maybe that'd help her get her mind off things.

Edited by BlitzTrain on Feb 29th 2020 at 1:12:07 AM

Galdra stared at the discus. "No that's... Nothing I've seen before either." He said as he then looked at Maaris swiping through the constellations, although he wasn't really paying attention to them.

"I'm fairly sure that I saw a few wands in there, and some odd ones like a frying pan..." He continued. "And I know we're in a video game world and that was likely a tutorial of sorts..." His ears flickered as he closed his eyes, pondering. "But what if there's a more concrete explanation?" He asks.

The neko maid then thought to himself, I suppose I can help with the cooking...

Aoife – Campsite

“I mean, ‘how did we get here’ for one,” Aoife pointed out, glancing at Galdra shortly. “Unless this is what the afterlife is. A barely functioning MMORPG. Which is... kinda funny in a way, actually... but it doesn't make it any less surreal.”

She frowned, seeming to realise something as she looked down at her discus again and rubbed at its surface with the heel of her hand. Its reflectivity was limited anyway, but she managed to catch a proper glimpse of herself for the first time—a brief tug at her hair and flick of her ears later, and she shook her head with a chuckle.

“Freaky. Didn't even think about that. Thought I just looked like... myself,” she commented, continuing to search her own facial features a second or two more before clearing her throat and releasing the discus yet again. “Wonder what kind of elf I'm supposed to be. And Runicas too, actually...”

She seemed to consider this a moment, and her brow furrowed again a fraction in sudden confusion.

“That's weird, actually... now that I think about it, I think I've seen this face before...”

Campsite

-On his way back to the hunting station, Runi pauses to respond to Aoife and look through Antares’- menu-

Runi:I...think I’m a half-elf? My Traits tree has both “Elven Progression” and “Human Ingenuity” so...maybe? Might explain why my ears aren’t that long.

Galdra pawed at his ears as though he was grooming them. "And I'm obviously a neko..." He said as he flicked his tail upwards.

He smiled at it in excitement. "God it's so cool!! I do wonder why I don't have human hands-" The neko maids big paws then poofed or shrunk down in the blink of an eye, almost as if retracting into them. The fur was completely gone, revealing pale, dainty hands. Perfect for a maid.

The neko stared at them. "...Neat." He said as he stared at them. He put his arms upwards and twisted them around, looking at their backhands as if admiring them.

Lana nodded, just deciding to at this point listen. Weird dreams were best when you just let stuff take you along after all. The dream was actually pretty resistant to being called out on it, too, people were commenting back. Until the rest of the party got to talking more.

"Oh shit." It was like a gut punch, out of the dumbest shit: neko. An absolute nonsense word, to her. It couldn't have come from her own head. Almost everything else she could chalk up to her dream talking to her, but that was too specific an outside knowledge to just be bullshit she made up. On reflection the crazy looking discus wasn't anything her brain could just generate. What even was an MMORPG?

Lana thumped down on her haunches, vaguely shocked and definitely lightheaded. "Okay, you win. This is real. Fuck, uhh..." She frowned and looked up at the gang of weirdos she was realizing were, in fact, more ready for this than her. She was the weirdo now! She held up her hands, frowning.

"Okay, okay, you're throwing out a lot of words I don't know. I'm like... I don't..." She frowned. "Okay, how do you all know about this stuff from the jump? I don't really, like, play videogames or anything. What am I actually going to see out there if I go take first watch?"

Astratamere Camp

Similar to when Runi took upon the duty of hunting, Maaris becomes keenly aware of a number of edible plant species she is likely to find in the local area.

And with all the watch shifts for the night settled the fire crackles warmly as the night drifts on. To the north most of the lights in the city skyline flicker out leaving behind intricate neon blue lines spiraling up the nine tallest spires, runes in a language none of you can read.

Aoife – Campsite

“...Probably monsters?” Aoife suggested in response to Lana, her tone softened out of hesitance yet at least trying to lighten the blow somewhat. “Or it could be nothing! We don't know. I know I've played... well, games like this, so... I'm only drawing from that.”

It must've been hard, to suddenly have that realisation. She probably only thought it was only a dream because it was the best way for her to cope with it. Aoife shot an expression of sympathy over to her; a small flicker of a smile that attempted to reassure her at least somewhat. However, she eventually was distracted by the sight of the city in the background—which caused her breath to hitch momentarily from sheer wonderment at the sight.

“...Whoa... ” she eventually muttered, unable to take her eyes away from the softly glowing spires in the distance. “...That's... weird. Think about it. None of us have ever actually seen something like that,” she chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief. “God, let's hope the pretty stuff outweighs whatever nightmares live here– oh, crap!”

She had suddenly remembered Lana again, and had snapped her head around to look at her with wide eyes. There had been undeniable trepidation from her at the thought of what they might actually face, and she didn't want to frighten her further when she was clearly in the middle of a crisis. Nothing but broken vowels left her throat for a few seconds, before she forcefully cleared her throat and grinned nervously in a vague attempt to regain control over the situation.

“I-I'm sure it'll be fine though, right guys? There's like... five of us, vs. whatever? And we're a mixed party, so... we should be good, right?”

There was almost a begging tone to her voice, desperately trying to compel them to go along with her. Despite the fact she visibly had no clue what she was doing.

Camp

Runi:Well, technically it’s be whatever vs the watch person.

-beat-

-Oh now he realizes the trepidation-

“I mean! Yeah, the rest of us are a slap on the tent away, ahahaha.”

-He scratches the back of his head-

Galdra chuckled. A few hours spent in magical videos game world and this was Lana's wake up call??

The catboy the noted the 9 spires that lit up... His pupils went wide, as if put in a trance once again. He noted the runes on said beams of light, but couldn't read em. God damnit... Looks like I don't have that cheat. He thought to himself.

It had been a few seconds as Galdra tuned out most of what Aoife had said, before he realized that someone was actually talking as his trance-state faded away.

"Uh-uhh yeah!!" He took note of Aoife's unassurance, even though he had no idea what anyone was really talking about. "What Aoife said..." Said the maid.

Camp

Maaris looked curiously as her senses... shifted to suit her role for the night. That would make things much easier. And the sight of the city lights in the distance was a hauntingly beautiful illustration of just how far away from home they were, if potentially eerie as they had no way of knowing what the lights were for at this time.

Lana's sudden realization of the reality of their bizarre situation was a surprise, at best Maaris had figured that wouldn't happen until she failed to wake up in a hospital. Swallowing her previous grumpiness, the slime girl approaches and pats Lana's shoulder, trying to sound more confident than she knew if she should be "Don't worry, I've played plenty of games with this kind of mechanic. All you really gotta do is stay awake, make sure the fire keeps going and make some noise to scare off anything that tries sneaking into camp. That blast probably scared most of the wildlife off anyway, but if something dangerous shows up just wake us up and we'll all help you."

She nodded to the others in an attempt to get them to go believe she knew what she was talking about, then removed her hand and she started for the edge of camp again. "Now I'm gonna go look for some stuff for us to eat, food always helps me feel better"

Edited by BlitzTrain on Mar 4th 2020 at 4:21:41 AM

Lana laughed nervously. Alright, plenty of experts around her, she could turn to any of them if she needed to. She had this. "Yeah, slap on the tent, got it." She gripped her spear tighter, and stood back up. "You just touched those runes and got results right? I'm going to try this one, I used to fix stuff up back home."

Lana took a deep breath, stood back up with a grunt, and reached out to touch the anvil symbol to see what was up. "Figure I should do this before my shift starts anyway."

Astratamere Camp

Just like with all the other runes-of-stars, when Lana touches the anvil it vanishes and her senses sharpen towards a goal. She can sense imperfections in her equipment and the equipment of her allies; a loose armor strap, a hilt grip that needs replacing, blades that are starting to go dull and armor that is picking up scratches. A host of small imperfections that could be fixed with a little bit of care, attention and elbow grease.

Those going out hunting and foraging find the going easy, the process of finding edible plants and meat more akin to rummaging around the pantry than a painstaking process of finding food, cutting the edible parts free and hauling it back to camp it kind of appears to be.

Maybe it's a little uncanny how 'easy' Astratamere makes most efforts.