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Continuing his narration, Melvin turns to the new players and says, "Then you five see this white elf and this six-meter-tall half-giant approaching the table together with Mr. Nobody."
Explaining what he wanted to do, Algie says, speaking in a country accent while looking at Bucky, "As soon as they get close, I look at Bucky's character and say: Whew, you're way too big, boy!"
"Haha, my name is Tristan, nice to meet you, Mr. Duck!", Bucky greets Algie's character with a smile, scratching the back of his neck as he introduces himself.
"Well now, the pleasure's all mine, big fella! My name's Robert Berson. Those strong arms of yours would be a big help on the farm back home", Algie says, returning the greeting before introducing himself. [I didn't get the last name wrong; it's Benson, but with his country accent, it sounds like Berson.]
"Thanks for the compliment! Anyway, I've already introduced myself, so it's a pleasure to meet everyone", Bucky thanks him for the compliment before turning to the rest of the group and greeting them all.
Pete then narrates what his character does before introducing himself briefly, just saying his name in a nasal voice: "Bob just makes a peace sign with his fingers in a relaxed way and says: Bob!"
Since Pete takes the initiative to start introducing himself, everyone follows his example and introduces themselves.
"My name is Camila, nice to meet you", Christy greets the two newcomers calmly and peacefully, roleplaying her character.
Roleplaying her character, Angie greets them shyly, "Hmm... my name is Milena, I... it's nice to meet all of you."
"My name is Alice!", Mandy greets them tersely and disinterestedly, roleplaying her character with a more reserved personality.
Seeing that everyone else, except her, had introduced themselves, Beatrice says briefly and directly, "I am Agnes."
After narrating the actions of his NPC, Melvin explains what the group's mission would be without going into too many details: "Sitting in one of the only empty chairs at the table, Mr. Nobody says: Alright, enough small talk, everyone has already introduced themselves, and now it's time to talk about why all of you were brought here.
You all have something in common. At some point in your stories, everyone here has come across something involving hell, whether satanic cults, demonic rituals, or perhaps grotesque creatures straight from the devil's own lap.
Your mission is simple: find out why so many demonic rituals are being performed in the Kingdom of Magnolia and prevent this from continuing to happen.
We suspect that this has to do with the Lucifer cult, the same organization responsible for all the incidents you guys have gone through so far."
Upon hearing about the suspected involvement of the Lucifer cult, everyone straightens up in their chairs, their expressions turning serious.
Describing what her character does, Beatrice asks objectively, roleplaying Agnes, "I sit in one of the other few remaining chairs and ask: Do you have any idea of where we can start, sir?"
"GM, I'll just stay standing!", Bucky then tells Melvin, receiving a nod of acknowledgment in return.
Turning his gaze to Beatrice, Melvin answers her with a sigh, "Well, there's a guy."
"What do you mean?", Beatrice asks, a little confused by Mr. Nobody's reaction.
Lightly scratching his chin, Melvin explains the whole situation, giving more details about the case: "The Order has been investigating this cult for months. They're spread all over the world, like a plague; they've got cells everywhere!
The thing is, these cultist cells are usually sneaky and operate in the dark; to give you guys an idea, we discovered the existence of this cult purely by luck.
The problem is that here in Magnolia, something very strange has been happening for a few years. There's been an outbreak of rituals happening in broad daylight, and most, if not all of them, are being carried out by people who have never even come into contact with that cult.
And this has been a huge headache for the kingdom's authorities, so when the King learned that the Order was dismantling cells of this cult in other kingdoms, he invited us to investigate the situation, and we came to the conclusion that this outbreak of rituals was premeditated.
We believe that there is a large Lucifer cult cell present here in Magnolia, and they are the ones responsible for spreading methods to perform rituals around, all with the goal of causing chaos and diverting attention away from their actions.
And of all the cases we've investigated since being invited by the King, this guy I mentioned is the only one who took part in one of these rituals and managed to come out alive, and he's here in the capital."
"And why did you sigh when you mentioned that person? Is there a problem?", Mandy asks suddenly. Her character is a meticulous and observant thief, so she was being careful to pay attention to these kinds of details.
"Let's say he's problematic; the experience he went through traumatized him deeply. The guy is a good person, but he refuses to talk too deeply about the incident, and you'll hardly ever find him sober", Melvin responds with an exasperated expression. This particular Mr. Nobody had already tried talking to the guy, but just like the many who came before him, he didn't manage to get much more information than what had already been said.
Slapping the table with his palms, Algie says, eager to start the mission right away: "Heh, don't matter he's drunk on the booze, we'll figure a way to interrogate this feller. Now let's get movin' before we miss the wagon!"
"Well, that task is yours, I've got things to do", Melvin says. He didn't want to force an NPC into the players' group, so that's why Mr. Nobody gave that excuse not to accompany them.
"Where can we find him, Mr. Nobody?", Angie asks, thinking it important to know.
"At the tavern Three Mugs, he practically lives there nowadays!", Melvin replies before telling Algie that his character knows where that tavern is. "Robert, upon hearing the name of that tavern, you remember having gone there the night before, so you know the way."
Letting out a loud laugh, Algie says, telling everyone, "Heh, I know where that tavern's at! Had me some booze there last night!"
Narrating what Mr. Nobody does, Melvin says while portraying him, "Mr. Nobody then speaks before standing up to leave, giving one last piece of information before saying goodbye and starting to walk out of the establishment, leaving you on your own: Great, his name is Edward Manson, and he's a bard! Ask for him at the tavern, and the staff will point you to the right person. And one last thing before I go: the ritual he took part in wiped the city he lived in off the map. It was the biggest incident so far! Well then, see you later, good luck with the investigation, and if you need anything, ask for me at the adventurers' guild."
"Well, I saw there was some commotion in there just now. Does it have anything to do with us, or can I still order something to eat?", Christy asks suddenly, acting casually.
"Uh, I think it's better if we leave!", Bucky replies while scratching his head, not quite knowing how to explain what happened in there.
"Did you guys cause trouble?", Pete suddenly asks with one eyebrow raised, his character curious about what happened.
"Tristan broke the place, and the owner of the café is racist, so it's better if we just leave", Beatrice then replies for Bucky, summarizing what happened.
Pete then pretends to stand up in real life, something his character actually does in the fictional world, and says, "What are we waiting for then? Let's get going before that racist woman comes to bother us! I'd rather not have to shoot her in the head."
Beatrice then narrates what her character does: "Alright, GM, I stand up and go back inside the establishment, heading for the exit."
"Me too", Pete says, informing them that his character would do the same as Beatrice's.
Deciding not to get stuck in an endless back-and-forth, Melvin asks the rest of the group, "Is everyone doing the same thing?"
"Yes", everyone except Tristan replies in unison.
Turning his gaze to Bucky, Melvin asks, wanting to know what he would do: "Tristan?"
Letting out a short laugh, Bucky says, intending to go back inside the café, and it's not that his character is dumb; he's just slower than other people: "I'll follow everyone."
"Do I see this happening, GM?", Beatrice asks quickly, not wanting Bucky's character to break anything else.
Melvin turns his gaze to Beatrice and replies, "He's a six-meter-tall man, so yes, you see this happening, Agnes!"
Narrating what her character does, Beatrice turns her gaze to Bucky and asks, "I stop walking, turn to Tristan, and ask: Why are you following us? Are you trying to break more of the establishment?"
"No… I was just leaving the establishment like you guys", Bucky says in a somewhat embarrassed tone.
Letting out a tired sigh, Beatrice says, pointing out the obvious to Bucky's character, "You're in the outside area. Just jump over that little wall, which, by the way, is the height of a step for you."
"Oh, sorry, I hadn't noticed that!", Bucky apologizes upon realizing his 'mistake.'
"It's fine, we'll meet outside then", Beatrice says, her face returning to its usual indifferent expression.
Melvin then resumes narrating what happens as they move forward, "As you guys pass by the café counter, you see a middle-aged woman staring at you with hatred overflowing from her features!"
"Mr. Nobody paid our bill, too, right?", Pete suddenly asks.
Faced with that question, Beatrice turns to Melvin and asks, "GM, did Mr. Nobody pay the bill?"
"You don't know that", Melvin replies with a smile.
"Shit, I don't want to talk to this NPC", Beatrice curses upon realizing they would have to speak to the racist woman again.
"I'll go to the counter", Mandy suddenly says, deciding to take the initiative.
Narrating what happens when Alice reaches the counter, Melvin asks irritably, "Alright, as soon as you get there, the woman asks harshly: What do you want?"
"Hmm, I want to pay our bill", Mandy replies, her character completely unfazed by the woman's attitude.
"The man in the suit already paid, now get out of here and never come back to my establishment", Melvin replies in a disgusted tone, shooing Mandy's character away.
"Hmm", Mandy murmurs before narrating what her character does next: "I then turn around and go back to the group."
Taking the cue, Pete asks, "As soon as she arrives, I ask: So? Is everything sorted out?"
"Yes, Mr. Nobody paid for us. Now let's go", Mandy replies with a neutral expression.
Taking the liberty to continue the narration, Melvin asks, "You guys then meet outside, and I presume you're going to head toward the tavern indicated by Mr. Nobody, right?"
"Yes", everyone replies in unison.
"Alright, Robert, the humanoid duck, guides you guys through the city until you reach a lively tavern. From outside, you can already hear the melody of a piano playing softly amid the shouting of excited customers. What do you want to do?", Melvin then narrates their walk to the tavern indicated by Mr. Nobody, asking what their next step would be.
"We go in", Beatrice says, receiving nods of agreement from the whole group.
"Guys, I'll wait out here, I don't want to break anything", Bucky says suddenly, thinking that at this point his character would have already learned from his previous mistake.
"I'll bring ya a drink, big fella!", Algie says while giving Bucky a light pat on the shoulder, which, in the world of Arcadia, translates to him doing the same thing, only on Tristan's leg.
"Oh, thanks!", Bucky says, grateful for the gesture.
"As you open the double doors and enter the establishment, a smell of food and alcohol, typical of taverns, invades your nostrils. You can tell that even though it is still daytime, the place is quite busy, perhaps because it is close to dusk. People are eating, drinking, laughing, shouting, and there is nothing out of the ordinary. What do you do?", Melvin then resumes narrating, describing the environment and atmosphere of the tavern before asking what they want to do.
"I go to the counter", Beatrice says, wanting to look for information about the bard.
"Me too", Algie says, but unlike Beatrice, his objective at the counter was different.
Turning his gaze to the rest of the group, Melvin asks, "And you guys?"
"I'll wait for them by the entrance", Christy replies. If they were already handling it, there was no reason for her to go along.
"I'll do the same", Mandy says, thinking the same thing as Christy.
"Me too", Angie says, thinking the same thing.
"I want to look around to see if I can find someone who looks like a bard", Pete suddenly says, wanting to see if he could find the bard that everyone already imagined to be Jimmy's character.
"I'm not even going to ask you to roll Perception. You find several bards, but there's no way for you to know which one is the right one", Melvin says before narrating how Pete's character fails to find the bard.
"Alright, then I'll just wait for them to get some information at the counter", Pete says, a little disappointed that his idea didn't work.
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(AN: 2,271 Words)
I don't think I've ever talked about it, so here's everything all at once:
.Level-0 on my Patreon gives access to 15 advanced chapters.
.Level-1 gives access to all advanced chapters, plus bonus chapters and [Drafts].
.And Level-2 gives access to everything Level-1 provides, plus the ability to make me write a mini story with your ideas once a month.
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