3 Making Friends, Accepting Quests (1/2)
When I stepped out of the room I opened my eyes in and through the door that led in and out of the room, I walked into a lobby. It was a tiny one though.
The lobby in front of me was split into two parts. One of those parts was a small, shared space furnished with two small sofas and a table between them. This part of the lobby was unoccupied.
The other part of the lobby was right in front of one of the walls that defined the lobby and consisted of a desk, countless papers messily spread around the top of that desk, and a small woman sitting in a chair behind it. She was reading one of the many pieces of paper that decorated her desk.
If someone walked past the desk and the woman sitting behind it they'd reach a door with little windows. Sunlight was coming in through that door. Early morning sunlight, so early it looked as if the sun itself wasn't quite awake yet. Like the sun still needed to drink its own coffee cup.
Once I was through the door I turned and closed it, causing a sudden noise to fill the otherwise silent lobby. This caused the woman who was behind the desk to turn and look at me. She smiled warmly at me, and I returned the gesture, right as she began to beckon me over. She motioned with her hands that I ought to go over to her right away.
I took the few steps necessary to arrive in front of her and right as I did she began to speak to me. ”Good morning Althos! You're up bright and early today. How did you sleep?” She asked, knowing my name and repeating it with the familiarity of a friend. Which was odd, because at least at the moment I didn't know hers.
Before I responded I took a moment to examine her. She was a short woman, even sitting down, which meant that she was small standing up as well.
She had soft green eyes, brown hair, a warm smile, and delicate-looking hands. She was dressed in the clothing of a professional woman, long black pants made of some material I couldn't identify at a glance, and a dark buttoned-up shirt. Her hands were on the desk, holding a piece of paper still so that she could read it.
”I slept well, thank you for asking.” I said, as I smiled at her, and tried to mimic her warm and familiar tone. I must have done a decent job of hiding my confusion because the woman didn't question my words or my sincerity. Thankfully I didn't have to persist in my ignorance for long.
[That woman's named is Isadora. She's the receptionist at this inn, which is named the Silver Xana. A Xana is a minor type of nature spirit.] The system informed me, educating me a bit as to where I was almost as soon as I replied to Isadora's initial comments.
Isadora turned her face back to her papers before next speaking to me. She opened her mouth to speak even as she began to scan the contents of the page in front of her.
”Are you planning on looking for a quest today? I know you just got here last night so you may want to explore the town instead, but if you are looking for work there's absolutely quests suited for a druid that we'd be thrilled to see fulfilled.” She said, suggesting that I accept something called a ”quest”.
I considered her question for a moment while also half expecting the system to provide me with some juicy knowledge that would help what she just said make sense. I could tell by the context that she was asking me if I planned to go out and earn some money, but there were certain words that made little to no sense to me. But I did like the idea of going out and earning some money.
Right as I was about to respond affirmatively to the question, I was interrupted by my old friend: the system.
[If you just asked us a question using your thoughts we'd provide you with the illuminating context you need. We were not the ones who put the knowledge you came into being possessing in your mind. All we did was select this as the place you'd awake in, and modify the memories of the people here to include you.] The entity revealed.
That revelation made me curious about two things. The first thing I was curious about was the identity of whoever or whatever put the knowledge I have in my mind there in the first place, and of course, the why and how of putting it there.
The second thing I was curious about was one that probably had a more direct answer: what could the system do? And equally as important: what couldn't the system do?
If the system could answer these questions, it opted not too.
[Quests are tasks you undertake for someone else. All sorts of things can grant quests, domains, subdomains, us, you, and also people, can grant quests and stipulate rewards for the completion of said quests. Successfully completing quests grants you rewards as stipulated by the quest giver.] The system said, continuing its earlier statement without regard for my interruption.
Armed with what knowledge the system had opted to arm me with I now felt more secure in the decision I was making. It was unchanged.
”Yes, I am Isadora. I am ready and excited to get to work!” I said energetically, eager to go out into the world and learn more things. She grinned even as she continued to read the paper in front of her.
”That's awesome news! Ours is a small town, we are a frontier community after all. And as such we are lacking in magic users, but we're a kind people. I hope in time you can experience our kindness yourself. Your excitement will take you far in that regard, provided you can keep it up.” She told me. And she wasn't done yet.
”Why don't you sort through some of these papers here? These are our own, local quest-requests. That way you can select the most recent and the most local quests. Starting off your time here by completing these quests is sure to grab you a few new friends!” She said, as she idly gestured towards the desk. I chuckled and grabbed a few of the papers on the desk.