Date: Nov. 2, 2014 (Sunday) || Time: Morning || Location: J'oran City
((Tagging:
Jinx!))
The autumn breeze swept her to J'oran.
Melani tucked her hair behind her ear in a futile effort to keep the strands out of her eyes. The wind eddied around her ankles and scattered red leaves over her path, and she lifted her face to its cool touch. It had been a year, but it always amazed her how real everything felt. A year ago, she might have looked at that yellow-red leaved tree and joked with her friends, That looks like it was Photoshopped! And now...well, now maybe it really had been. Who knew?
Hazy morning sunlight scattered across her path as she crossed the river bridge and slipped into the market crowd. Her body language automatically adjusted to match the bustle of the people, turning her into another body of the masses, just one more black-haired girl in outlandish clothes--but once she entered the walls, her curious mind gave her away. Melani's steps slowed as she took in the new city, and sometimes she simply stopped and observed whatever had caught her eye. There was no rush. There never seemed to be any rush, these days.
But it was still amazing. It even
smelled like a city--well, okay, it smelled a heckuva lot better than an actual medieval city, but that was beside the point. It made her wonder how much control the people behind this had over her brain. Were they just feeding info in, or...were they taking something out?
Melani pushed the thought aside. The question of "Why build this?" had bothered her incessantly for a week soon after she arrived, but she hadn't ever been able to find a good answer, and Melani had better things to do than waste her time on a question she could never answer. She was here. She'd make the best of it.
That's right, she was here. It'd been a good journey. She made it mainly to test her ability to travel alone, and she felt satisfied with the results. Now, she just had to find where the quest board was, and...maybe find more info on quests altogether, considering she'd never been on one. And...it'd probably be a good idea to actually look for some other players. Melani frowned, but a good idea was a good idea. A strong party would be best, if one existed. She didn't want to risk dying simply because she was people-shy. (It was times like these she missed the internet.)
Melani paused her stroll again to scan the surroundings for anything out of ordinary. One NPC there looked somewhat irritated--that was a good sign. And her Japanese clothing looked strange too. NPCs that weren't happy were usually more helpful, and the unique-looking ones were definitely more interesting. (Granted, Melani was beyond impressed with the AI of Myth, but there was still something...missing. Some sense of fullness, of growth, of dynamism--except for those strange few that seemed more
there. Melani didn't know whether they were actually NPCs with more programming care or masks for the game masters, but it made her wonder.)
Oh, crap, she'd spent so much time musing the NPC was leaving. Melani quickly headed after her down the street, but when the woman entered a tavern, Melani hesitated. Last she checked, taverns were notorious as gathering places for actual people. What if she really ran into somebody?
Well, that was what she needed to do anyway, right? And it'd be nice if they managed to become friends. Unlikely, but- oh, now this was getting ridiculous. She rolled her eyes at herself and headed inside.
It wasn't hard to find a Japanese-dressed NPC at the bar. Melani walked up to her with a small smile. "Hello. My name's Melani."
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