Sutopia
Ch 26, SSocialization: Space Socialization
The next day passed in a blur-- in the most pleasant of ways. Nagol and Hanna went out to adventure just as she'd promised, and, as with Ozar Realm's Foothold quest line, it was mind-blowing. Thankfully, unlike the Foothold there was no drama with exes. The Amber Hill Trail, as Hanna had suggested, was an entirely different area from what Nagol had experienced for his first several levels.
The trail was a relatively linear path with the initial quest giver located along the southeastern portion of the lengthy, meandering path in what was called 'The Lowland Camp'. After three quests they were encouraged to proceed onward and, from there, the road rose higher and became rockier until the next quest area, which was a small tribal village called 'The Golden Vale'. Nagol was overwhelmed at just how beautiful the area was-- it was also much more laid back than the goblin war going on around the Foothold.
Even without having Bellever along, and Hannah having nowhere near the amazing combat skills that Daliah could bring to bear, the two of them managed to work well together in completing the quests set forth. During their adventures and the trips between the different quest givers (the third was even higher in the hills along the first of what Hanna said were three peaks), Nagol learned a little more about different types of play styles when Hanna explained that she was significantly higher level than Nagol, but her adventure level was actually lower.
The two were walking shoulder to shoulder along the path which, despite hugging close to a relatively steep cliff face to their right, was still wide enough to give them ample room to spread out. Nagol stuck close to the inside of the path and Hanna took the outside, gesturing to the decent drop beneath them-- Nagol could see the Lowland Camp far below. She used that to illustrate her point. "You know... a high enough level adventurer with an agility build, acrobatics, and certain helpful traits could EASILY survive that fall..."
Her sudden change of topic caused Nagol to reassess what she'd been saying. "Ooooookay... but neither of us could... so what's the point?"
She offered a smirk in response; while Hanna lacked the ethereal, almost surreal beauty of Daliah, something about the expression resonated within Nagol-- it felt more authentic. "Well... if you were level 20 and didn't build yourself out right you could still die while a level ten character with the right build WOULD make it just fine. I'm a level forty two crafter, but I'm actually behind you one level when it comes to adventuring."
Having gone the whole day without his implant, Logan still managed to do the math just fine. "So, you're a level 48 character? You're barely keeping up with me in combat! How's THAT supposed to work?"
She rolled her eyes. "Like I was saying-- me; this character: Hanna Kraff is a reasonably high level character, but she's a CRAFTER and a low level ADVENTURER. There's a difference. Some adventurers hit hard but have very little health points; other adventurers move really fast but are really bad at doing damage; some adventurers use lots of magic and others can't cast a single spell. This is the OTHER side of the equation: some characters do a lot of adventuring and others fill more of a 'support' role. This character of mine is focused on making things, not killing things.
The more Nagol thought about it, the more it stood to reason. "Okay... so if you're here in Ozar's Realm you can be more than an adventurer. Got it."
Hanna nodded. "Right. Since Ozar's Realm needs all sorts of effort to keep it running, Ozar built into everything a way that players can enjoy themselves with a hobby or a profession that also helps out the hub at the same time. Sure, the aptitudes are still pretty much knowledge that the hab will gate-keep behind skill levels, and, yes, the actual work is still done by fabrication, but, if I wanted, I could still craft clay by hand and the fabricators will just fine-tune all of the blemishes and imperfections. Honestly, it still feels really good to actually MAKE things."
The way she spoke with such passion made Nagol smile. "Wow... I guess Ozar's Realm really does have everything for everyone, huh?"
Their eyes locked for a moment and he saw a faint blush appear on Hanna's cheeks. She looked away, back toward the drop off to her left. "And for people who have different moods. That's why I have different characters; depending on how I'm feeling I can choose a character who will give me the kind of experience I want and that's my Corpus for as long as I want to occupy it here in Ozar's Realm."
Nagol ran his hand across the stone to his right; in a way it reminded him of a retaining wall his grandparents had at their home outside the city limits. Logan hadn't spent much time out in unimproved land, but he often thought fondly of the occasional trips his family had made into the country to visit them. He pulled his hand away from the rock after a moment and glanced back to Hannah, whose eyes were on the path ahead. "You have a lot of characters, do ya?"
She shrugged in response. "Lots more than some, but plenty less than others."
Nagol smirked, chiding her answer. "Thanks. That's a VERY specific number."
Her resposne was dismissive. "Well... that was a VERY personal question."
The counter caught the young man by surprise. "It was? Asking how many characters someone has is a--"
When their eyes met again Hanna started cracking up, and only then did Logan realize that she was joking. Once she'd had her fun, the woman provided some explanation about Daliah, starting with her because she was one of her oldest characters. She offered some anecdotes about her heroics, favorite adventures and battles, important story lines completed (while letting him know that she was editing the specifics down so she wouldn't spoil anything for him), and, finally, concluded that Daliah was considered part of Ozar's Realm's first crop of characters, which meant that she had a place of honor in the hab.
After that, she started going over the specifics of Hannah-- one of her newest characters. She made Hanna for days she didn't feel like heading out to adventure. She wanted a character who could just hang out in the safety of town but still have a sense of fulfillment by completing projects; she could make things, or repair things, or build things, or grow things-- sometimes one or more of those at the same time. According to his companion, Hanna was one of the most versatile crafter characters in Ozar's Realm, and she'd been around for "only" about thirty years.
Hanna also explained that she had almost as many characters as she had names. Over the centuries she'd gone through quite a few names and she paid homage to her past by using those for her different characters. Nagol mentioned that it seemed to be a very endearing trait, which got another blush out of his companion.
As they ascended along the path, Hanna pointed out that their next quest hub was just over the next rise, and that she was sure Nagol would enjoy some of the adventures they'd get from Black-Beak Cloud-Jumper, one of the Avians who lived there. Before she could go into detail, however, Nagol jumped forward with another question he'd had in his mind all day, hoping to seize the chance before the topic changed completely. "So... you use your old names to name your Ozar Realm characters... what about what Ozar called you last night-- 'Bri'?"
Hanna slowed the pace until she eventually came to a stop. Glancing around the empty path, she ran her fingers through her bangs, moving the hair out of her face. "That's me... the 'now' me, anyway. I go by Brianna. It's the name I've used for the past few decades."
Logan couldn't remember the last time he got such a shot of endorphins from someone telling him their name. It felt almost like being privy to a special secret. He was even more surprised when he received notification that he was getting a friend request via his social media account; Brianna Moon from the JSN wanted to connect with him."
The announcement caught him off-guard, and the question running through his mind escaped out his lips. "JSN?"
She started walking again while providing a simple, straight forward answer. "The Jovian Social Network."
Nagol moved to catch up, changing his pace to match hers once he did. "Jovian... that's... Jupiter-related, right?"
She offered a nod to the affirmative. "Right."
He realized that he hadn't accepted the friend request, and quickly did so. "Okay... so you're Brianna Moon--"
Hanna interjected with a blatant attempt at deadpan humor. "And you're Logan Bradshaw."
Nagol took the opportunity to roll HIS eyes for once. "Well okay then. Since we're supposed to stay in character, I'll just keep calling you 'Hanna' then... Bri."
She gave him a light poke with her elbow. "It's all the same to me. Since all my characters share a name I used at one point it's me either way."
Eyes returning to the road before them, Nagol noticed that they were approaching flatter ground and he saw what looked like tree houses ahead of them when the pathway opened up on the right; they were approaching the next area. With little travel time left, he pushed his earlier question. "So... how many characters did you say you had?"
An impish glimmer in her eye made him aware that he wasn't going to get an answer easily. "I DIDN'T say."
Taking the final steps toward what appeared to be a village full of bird people, Logan remembered something that Pete had told the class during orientation: among Transhumanity, communication involving the exchange of information was often 'played' like a game by a certain segment of the population. He made his first unfamiliar attempt at bargaining an answer. "Did you know that Star's mother-- my sister-- um... did you know that her name was Susan?"
Hanna glanced back his way with a faint smirk. "I did NOT know that. And, most people don't know that, including Hanna, I have nine active characters in Ozar's Realm."
In the scheme of figuring out the social intricacies of Transhumans, Logan was pleased to realize that he was indeed doing SOMETHING right. It was also a path toward a more personal discussion as the day wore on.
* * * * *
The bird-folk of the village, which Nagol learned was called 'Steady Bough' was a straight forward enough quest hub. There were three primary quest givers: two were birdfolk native to the village (the chieftain and the blacksmith) and the third was the commander of an advance force sent from Trylon City. Hanna encouraged Nagol to do the quests for the birdfolk first and save the commander's quest until last-- as usual, she refused to go into any great detail on the basis that she was trying to avoid spoilers.
Most of the quests they went through for the blacksmith were fetch quests and the majority of quests for the chieftain were about getting kills of certain kinds of enemies but having Hanna along made the time fly by. They continued to talk as they undertook the quests, going over a wide range of topics including topics outside the game that was Ozar's Realm. As Logan got to know Brianna better, the questions became even more personal.
It was Hanna's player that swung things in that direction. "So... how're you settling into the Lunar Spire? Are things... 'interesting' enough for you there?"
The way that Hanna had emphasized 'interesting' made the young man wonder about what she was getting at. He decided to let it slide and not read into it. "It took a little while to get used to everything-- you know... not being on Earth... being a Transhuman... being several hundred years in the future."
Hanna snickered as Nagol claimed the last of the rabbit tracheas he needed for one of his quests. She waited for him to finish before she followed up with another. "There's a lot that goes into getting caught up after all that time. I can imagine how stressful that would have been which, I suppose, explains why you made your way here."
Nagol shrugged, waiting as she took her turn to loot the slain Blade-Tooth Rabbits they'd defeated. "I guess. Everyone was saying about how great Ozar's Realm was, and Star thought it might be good for me to have a little change of scenery... I guess she was right."
Hanna glanced back and smiled at him, sticking the two final quest items she needed into her pouch. "Nothing like unwinding with a little bit of fantasy immersion. I think that's one of the reasons this hab does so well."
Nagol let out a long sigh, using his implant to check in on other quests they had. Although the two of them could have returned to Stable Bough to do the turn-in, there was another quest they could accomplish with only a slight detour. "Heal Roots next so we can bring back a few quests at once?"
Hanna nodded. "Sure."
They continued talking as they walked. Nagol explained that it took awhile for him to find his mental stability, but it was nice knowing others at the Spire were going through what he was dealing with, and visiting Ozar's Realm was a good way to help his brain reset. Hanna, at that point,acknowledged that most Class 1s ultimately found their way to Ozar's Realm at some point. Setting aside the seriousness of life and embracing an alternate identity in a fantasy world made real helped bridge that gap.
A silence hung in the air for a time as that discussion ultimately came to a close, after which, Nagol attempted to strike up another. "You know... I've never been to the Jovian System... that's where you are?"
Hanna gestured to a small collection of herbs and the two began to pick them. "Well... right now I'm HERE, but that's where I spend a lot of my time, yes."
Nagol followed her lead, picking herbs as well; apparently only certain herbs would meet the quest-giver's approval. "And... I guess you've spent a lot of time there? Or is it... more like a recent move?"
She smirked at his inquiry. "You know that 'a lot of time' is a pretty personal measure, Nagol... but, yes, I do spend 'a lot of time' on Jupiter's moons and some of the surrounding habs there."
Her comment caught his interest and, as he stuffed another herb into his pouch he asked "Surrounding habs? Like... more than just on the moons? How many habs are in the Jovian System?"
Hannah straightened her back up and tossed Nagol the last herb he needed to complete the quest; she'd already got her six. "Total? Eight... but only five major habs... the rest are more like small outposts."
Nagol stowed the last herb as he thought about her statement. "What's considered a 'small outpost' compared to a 'major hab'?"
Hanna explained the differences as they made their way back to the birdfolk village. She explained that major hubs usually had over 1000 Transhumans while outposts ranged in the double-digits to the low hundreds. She then explained that most of the habs in the Jovian System were fairly welcoming.
He found himself enjoying her explanations; Brianna was eloquent in a casual way-- it wasn't so much the words she chose or her tonal inflection; it was more of the laid-back manner in which she communicated... the non-verbal cues. It made him want to hear more. "So... what are the Habs there like?"
She explained as they walked, getting back to the main path to avoid any unwanted encounters with wandering enemies. "Well... I like to stop by the underwater hab on Europa every now and again-- they have amazing food.... then there's Ganymede-- that's a nice enough Hab... lived there for over a decade. Each of those moons have an orbital hab too-- the one around Europa is tidally locked so you always have a view of Jupiter. My favorite though is probably the L-5 Hab trailing Ganymede because there's so much activity there."
Nagol liked the way she spoke vibrantly about the Jovian System habs and the ways her eyes lit up as she discussed them; he found himself mirroring her smile. He did have to do a quick search on the meaning of 'L-5', and then follow that up with getting an explanation of what a 'Lagrange Point' was, but it barely slowed him down. She concluded her anecdotes about the various habs just as they were getting into the village. Once Hanna fell silent, Nagol followed up with an acknowledgement of her words. "I hope I'll find my way out there one of these days... it sounds amazing."
The two stopped by the blacksmith first to turn in a quest and get their reward, and then made their way over toward the chieftain. They were joking back and forth and Nagol was laughing so loudly he didn't recognize Bellever until the Wolfman was practically on top of them. "THERE you are, Nagol! I've been looking all over for you! Oh, hey! Who's your friend?"
Hanna's smile disappeared immediately, but at least it wasn't replaced by the severe scowl so common to Daliah's face. "What do you mean you've been looking for Logan all day, Noah? We've been here in the Amber Hill Trail the ENTIRE TIME!"
The Wolfman's ears fell, then immediately rose; the moment he made the connection was obvious. "Wow, Dal... I didn't know you had a crafter character. Why haven't you sent--"
She interjected, reiterating her earlier question. "The WHOLE day, huh? Just couldn't manage to find us?"
Bellever shrugged. "Almost all day... yeah."
Hanna didn't let him off the hook. "I know I changed characters, but you could have just done a simple system search for Nagol."
Whether Nagol hadn't thought of it or just hadn't bothered wasn't obvious to Logan right away, but the Wolfman's response of wagging and panting didn't really reveal which. His statement was alsu vague. "Well... I was PASSIVELY looking, anyway... after all, I'm only here for a few more days and I gotta make it worthwhile, right?"
Rather than let Hanna focus on berating their companion, Nagol resolved to take a lesson from Bellever and focus on using his time to the best effect. "Well... you're here now."
The Wolfman offered a succinct nod on obvious agreement. "RIGHT! Which means we get to make up for lost time!"
Although the night was fast approaching, the group did manage to get in one more quest, which was the start of the advance force quest-line. Bellever giggled like a giddy child, adding a comment of "Oh! I LOVE this one!"
Considering they had limited time that evening they hit the ground running and it gave Nagol a great introduction to what he was immediately sure would be an amazing story line involving an escaped necromancer, a grieving father, and four oddly colored sheep. When Bellever promised that they'd make up for lost time, he wasn't kidding. The return trip to town with his party was full of conjecture on Nagol's part, and his friends just smiled and nodded, obviously unwilling to offer any spoilers.
* * * * *
The next two days went smoothly for the party-- even more streamlined and cohesive than their first days together. Nagol had gotten used to Bellever's combat style along with the Wolfman's tactics and Hanna, while nowhere near the combat powerhouse that Daliah was, did have a huge collection of items that she crafted-- stun bombs, armor boosts and one use damage items were handy during battle and a near limitless amount of healing potions were great once combat was done. All in all, the three worked incredibly well together.
The story line that Hanna had mentioned and that they'd avoided their first day was as epic and amazing as advertised. Not only was it a lengthy one with a lot of thought put into the way it progressed, but the twist at the end got a "Holy fuck!" from Nagol upon completion. He was completely not ready to find out that the 'big bad evil guy' at the end of the quest was, in fact, the quest-giver himself! And, to round it all off, the final reward for completing the quest chain was a magical two handed sword-- it increased Nagol's combat capabilities by a huge margin!
The quest chain took two and a half days in total to complete; they fought the final battle against the demon possessing the scouting captain in the early afternoon. Even as Nagol was riding high on that victory, looking at the remaining several hours of daylight available, the sense of success felt 'sufficient', and the group spent the afternoon hanging around Steady Bough, simply enjoying the atmosphere and sampling some of the birdfolk's bbq cuisine; Nagol found it to his liking, and Hanna seemed to enjoy the downtime, but it wasn't long before Bellever got restless.
He wished them a good rest of their stay about two hours before nightfall and promised to catch up with Logan when they were both back at Lunar Spire. Although the Wolfman didn't provide a specific explanation of where he was going, Nagol thought he knew him well enough at that point to safely presume that Bellever was probably off to do some carousing. If the young man were honest with himself, he realized he should have been surprised that the Wolfman had stuck with them for as long as he did.
Nagol truly didn't mind; he was enjoying his time with Hanna. Since Bellever left early, that also meant that the two could head back to Trylon City together. Vowing to make the most of it, the young man was sure to engage his traveling companion in conversation the entire way. Sticking to the road, the two managed to avoid the worst of wandering monsters, finishing off a small group of goblins once they hit the plains; after that it was a straight shot back to the city gates and from there they went to The Twelve Shannons.
Nagol and Hanna had no trouble picking up on casual conversation once they were a party of two once again and they each enjoyed a drink as the evening gave way to night. The elite room was hardly full to begin with but it emptied out further as the candles at the tables burned down to nothing, leaving the wall sconces as the last bit of light within the chamber. Logan couldn't remember the last time he'd enjoyed just hanging out and chatting. It was closing in on midnight when their duo became a trio.
Ozar let out a contented grunt, taking a seat at their table as he leaned back in his chair. "Another good day..."
Nagol glanced to Hanna, who smiled at him before looking to the Orc. "Yes it was. To be honest though, I'm surprised that you've been around for a full game cycle. Normally if you make a showing it's only for a day or two... especially as Ozar."
The hab's patron offered a casual shrug, taking off one of his sandals so he could heft a foot up onto his thigh and begin rubbing it. "Well, Star asked for a favor-- she wanted me to make sure that Logan had a nice visit."
The young man rolled his eyes. "Of course she did."
Offering up a tusky grin, Ozar stared across the table at him. "Well... did you?"
Smiling in earnest, Logan set aside any concerns over his overprotective niece. "Honestly? Yeah-- I'm really surprised. I had no idea what to expect before I came... but now that I've been here, I can see the appeal."
The Orc belted out a hearty guffaw. "Damn right! That's just how I want it."
Hanna's laugh was much more reserved, and so was her smile. "Seeing as the last few days have been drama-less, at least."
Nagol reached out and gave her hand a reassuring pat, then paused, realizing what he'd just done. He felt his cheeks flush and he quickly withdrew his arm. Ozar seemed oblivious to the gesture, staring down into a tankard he'd brought with him. "Is it safe to say that I should expect to see you again in the future, Logan?"
Clearing his throat, the young man got out of his own head to address his host. "Back here? Oh-- definitely! I had a great time, Ozar. Thanks!"
Nodding, the Orc stood back up, grabbed his tankard, and downed the rest in one go. He put it back down on the table before turning toward the door. "Good. Give me a heads up and maybe I'll pop on and join you for an adventure or two."
Hanna rolled her eyes. "You know you never leave the bar."
Ozar glanced back and offered a wink. "Not as Ozar, maybe."
The comment seemed to surprise Hanna enough that she didn't respond as the Orc made his way out. Lingering at the door, he turned back. "It was a pleasure having you here, Logan. You'll get a wake-up call in the morning to report for Iactis. Please enjoy your last night in Ozar's Realm."
Nagol smiled. "Thanks, Ozar."
Silence filled the room once the Orc left; the young man realized that he and Hanna were the last ones present. Their eyes met after a moment and he saw her cheeks redden before he looked away. He actually jumped in surprise when her hand found his. "I know things aren't always easy for a Class One jumping forward hundreds of years in the future... but I'm glad you're part of Transhumanity, Logan."
He felt his cheeks flush and it was his turn to look away. "Oh... well... I'm really glad I got a chance to meet you too... Bri."
Even though he wasn't looking at her, he could hear her smile in her words. "I don't normally get along well with most of the visitors here, but you're a breath of fresh air."
Logan half wondered if the Corpus he was in would be able to blush long enough for him to lose consciousness, but he pushed through it; he hadn't had such a pleasant and reaffirming conversation with anyone in a long time, let alone a woman. "I really had fun adventuring with you, Bri... thanks for showing me around."
Her hand slowly left his and his heart sank when he realized that it was perhaps time to say goodbye. Bri's following words suggested otherwise. "I can show you to... one other place... if you like?"
He looked up at her, confused. "Huh?"
She smiled demurely. "Join me in my room tonight?"
Of all the surprises Logan had in Ozar's Realm, the biggest one was his answer. "Uh... sure!"
sitting in an inn,
Q.U.E.S.T.I.N'
...
Yes-- a rather unconventional date but it appears to have worked out okay!