Touching Down

[Seig]

As he brought the small ship down on Arplakoon's surface Zhark had to admit he was getting more and more curious as to what he would find. "The Order give people Chrono Rings and other useful tools." He muttered to himself, repeating what Cecile had told him before he had left Fol Atzo with her ship. Of course he had never needed these before when working as a tour guide, a simple sword and gun, both hand-me-downs from his father, had always sufficed. Still, perhaps if the rumors were true it would be a big help to his tour guide work.

Flicking off the ignition and deactivating the ship as she touched down Zhark couldn't help but be happy with how she handled. He had never been one for ships, but the old two man vessel known as 'The Greaphyn' was a piece of art, even if she was quite out dated compared to a lot of the ships that were used nowadays. Picking up his small bag from the passenger seat and slinging it over his shoulder he walked to the exit hatch, patting the metal frame as he opened it. "I'll be back in a bit and then we can really see what you're made of." He chuckled.

Stepping out of 'The Greaphyn' and setting foot onto the stony ground of Arplakoon Zhark found himself lost for words. This was nothing like Drio, where he had spent most of his life. It was also nothing like Nicta, in fact as Zhark walked through the hazy mist towards the only landmark he could see, the Alter of Arplakoon. As he arrived and admired the statues Zhark really regretted never having much of an interest in history or culture, after all either of those might had provided some knowledge as to how this was actually supposed to work. Trying to remember what else Cecile had told him Zhark started to mutter to himself. "Let's see, Order of Arplakoon... they were the ones who gave the rings and stuff right. And these statues are the Order. Eh, it's worth a shot."

Walking towards one of the statues at random he looked it over. "Scuse me. I was told this is where people can get Chrono Rings and other stuff right?" He said rubbing his head in an unsure way. "Well, uh, If you are one of the Order could you give me a Chrono Ring and whatever else it is that you give to people? If that's okay I mean." He added hastily, trying to make himself sound like less of an idiot than he probably already looked.

[applePAI!]

He had indeed approached a member of the Order; a large red dragon with short wings, who proceeded to metaphorically blink in his general direction and theoretically raise an eyebrow, as if confused (since he couldn't necessarily move). Although, it was not confusion, but instead a slight annoyance in the fashion of skepticism. Who was this guy to tell him that he was going to give him a Chrono Ring? And... had he said whatever else they gave people? What did they give people? "Who said we gave people things? Who told you that?" Holborn challenged. "And what if I am of the Order?"

Pausing to look the foreigner over for a moment--he seemed confused and a bit timid as to whether he was doing any of this right, which only made Holborn more interested in challenging his statements--there was no way this guy could be speaking truth to him, no way. "And what would you do if I gave you one of these Chrono Rings, were I to actually be a member of the order and be in possession of one?"

At that moment, a few paces in front of Zhark, a small ember had randomly fallen on the ground, beginning to crackle up into a fire. Piccadilly, Holborn's brother of similar shape but green in color, quickly proceeded to warn him. "The floor is on fire again! Put it out, put it out before that person is set on fire!"

"WHAT FIRE? I see no fire. All lies."

[Seig]

At the sudden outburst from the stature Zhark stepped back, trying (and failing) to hide how surprised he was. It really spoke?! If this was some kind of joke it wasn't funny, that much was for sure, though Zhark had a feeling it wasn't. Tilting his head to the side he had to admit this statue, whether it was one of the order or not certainly sounded sketchy. Perhaps he should have just asked one of the other statues, but no, that would take all the fun out of this. "Well you're at the Alter of Arplakoon and you're a statue; a talking one at that, so I'm guessing you are one of the Order." He said, hoping that pointing out the obvious would make this statue realize that denying that it was one of the order was somewhat pointless. "Whether you have a ring or not I don't know, that's why I asked." Zhark added with a vague shrug.

Listening to the next question Zhark gave a slight smile; it sounded like he had done this right after all, or at least, if not right then close to it. "Well if you could give me a Chrono Ring it would make my work as a tour guide in the wildfire zone in Mestreado a lot easier, as well as making things potentially a lot safer for my clients." He explained.

As he spoke his eyes couldn't help but watch the ember as it drifted to the ground and created a small flame. Glancing over to the green statue that resembled the red one he was speaking to Zhark shook his head. "Don't worry, I've got this." He chuckled, swinging his bag at the small fire and trying to beat it out, very glad it was made from a material designed to withstand fire, something everybody who worked in and around the wildfire zone used. When the small flame was extinguished Zhark shrugged his shoulders again. "So, are you able to give me a ring or should I just ask your friend?" He added, indicating towards Piccadilly.

[Ibur]

The red dragon didn't seem to acknowledge the fire at all, even as the zaurus beat it out with his apparently fire-proof bag. Piccadilly would have nodded in admiration, but he was just a statue, after all, and Holborn's little flame sparks weren't of an Arplakoonic nature, anyway -- it was easy to put them out, as the mortal had just demonstrated. He lightly chuckled to himself and levitated over to another group of statues to talk with them, convinced that Holborn would be fine with Zhark on his own. As the mortal asked for the ring again, Holborn sighed in an irritated manner.

"Oh, fine, fine," Holborn said in a very exaggeratedly annoyed voice. "You mortals have no sense of humor. It's always 'give me this' or 'give me that'. Never able to take things slow. Don't know why you all rush through life."

"Because they die," interjected a blue lizard that had sunflowers painted on his back. "That's the way it's always been. Now just give him the Chrono Ring, Holborn."

There was a small flash of white light from Holborn's body. A small ring covered in similarly small buttons and intricate-looking designs appeared in front of Zhark. Some of the lights would occasionally flash in a different color as the ring slowly spun around. Holborn sighed again and explained, "This Chrono Ring comes equipped with several useful apps. You can access them by touching the "App List" button on the ring and then scroll through them via holographic display, but some of them are hotlinked to buttons already, such as the SOS Button. It's on the section of the ring with... um, the design that looks like the weird heart monitor thing you mortals use in hospitals. And it has four spells already downloaded onto it. A weak Fire, Water, Earth and Air spell. You can get more spells by buying scrolls from stores anywhere. Furthermore, there are several items already in your Chrono Ring's inventory. You can also view and use those by selecting the inventory app."

The red dragon fell silent, apparently through talking to the zaurus and ready to send him on his way. Just as soon as he stopped, Ar jumped into the conversation again. "You forgot the weapon," said the lizard crossly.

"Nobody would want one of our weapons," muttered Holborn. Still, a cheap-looking sword, a pair of worn gloves with spikes on the knuckles, a thick wooden staff, a poorly-kept bow and quiver of arrows, and a rusty hand-cannon appeared before Zhark, each levitating just as the Chrono Ring had. "Pick one. Only one."

"He gets two," corrected Ar.

"What, really? When did that happen?" All of the other statues within hearing distance muttered something about it always being two weapons, causing Holborn to sheepishly tell Zhark, "Whatever, two."


Apps:
[ul]
[li]Level 1 Monster Catcher: Tames and holds up to three monsters inside a Chrono Ring. It can be upgraded to hold more monsters.

[/li][li]"Black Hole" Inventory: Stores items in a bottomless inventory.

[/li][li]Map Display: Displays a holographic map of whatever area the user is currently on. This map can be zoomed in and even has bits of information about relevant areas in the current zone.

[/li][li]SOS: Sends a distress signal to the nearest "haven point" when the user is critically injured or near death, or when activated manually. The haven point will then use the signal's coordinates to dispatch an emergency ambulance to the person in danger.
[/li][/ul]

Spells:

[b]Level 1 Fireball:[/b] [i]Conjures up a flame to singe the enemy. Element: Fire. Attack: 1[/i]

[b]Level 1 Rockbarrage:[/b] [i]Summons a boulder to crush the enemy. Element: Earth. Attack: 1[/i]

[b]Level 1 Waterjet:[/b] [i]Fires a stream of water to drown the enemy. Element: Water. Attack: 1[/i]

[b]Level 1 Windcutter:[/b] [i]Sends a gust of wind to knock the enemy over. Element: Air. Attack: 1[/i]


Items:

[b]Healer:[/b] [i]Restores a Chrono Ring force field or a monster's energy by just a little bit. Two uses.[/i] Quantity: 3

[b]Bait:[/b] [i]Draws more monsters closer when placed on the ground. One use.[/i] Quantity: 1

[b]Repellent:[/b] [i]Drives monsters away when sprayed on something or someone. One use.[/i] Quantity: 1


[Seig]

Listening to the explanation Zhark nodded as he slipped the ring over one of his claws, it fitting surprisingly well for something that had materialized for him without any prior measurement. Turning his hand over and looking at the ring he pressed the buttons experimentally and after a few failed attempts found the app that worked like a bottomless inventory, chucking his bag and it's contents inside for the time being. Like Holborn Zhark had thought that was it and was about to leave and head back to the ship, but when the other statue made a mention of weapons it made him stop in his tracks.

As the five weapons appeared in front of him Zhark had to admit he was disappointed, but nevertheless these would have to suffice until he could get to a better shop and buy somewhat better ones, ones that actually looked like they wouldn't break as soon as he tried to use them. Taking the cheap sword and rusty hand-cannon he nodded to himself, giving an experimental swing of the sword before dropping them both into his rings inventory. "Could be worse I guess." He sighed under his breath.

[Ibur]

When Zhark selected his two weapons, the unselected ones vanished into nothingness, as they always did. Truth be told, none of the Order members were very surprised at his selection. Lots of Kylians picked the sword, likely due to the romanticized versions of heroic knights or swashbuckling pirates people always heard about. Plus, the sword at least could pretend to look cool. The staff, on the other hand...


[b]Level 1 Amateur Sword:[/b] [i]A sword that appears to be made of plastic. At least it's eco-friendly. Attack: 1[/i]

[b]Level 1 Amateur Hand-cannon:[/b] [i]A small rusty pistol that has ammo included. Hitting things with it might be more effective than trying to fire it. Attack: 1[/i]


"You're right, it could be a lot worse," said Holborn cheerfully in response to Zhark's dark murmuring. "For example, you could have a child's plaything instead of something that's compatible with Chrono and will actually increase in strength. Now, off you go now! Enjoy your life!"

With that, he slid away from the zaurus and ceased talking, much to the relief of nearby members of the Order. For several moments, there was an awkward silence save for the shuffling of statues or hushed whispers from the back of the Altar. Trying to help Zhark get on his way, Ar offered, "That light blue portal right there, the one near the snake -- you can take that to Larot III and go somewhere else from there."

He tilted himself so that his head was facing the direction he'd indicated. Sure enough, there was a light blue congregation of an aura-like substance swirling around near a snake statue. The statue in question appeared to be asleep, for a soft snore was coming from him (definitely a him, as the snoring as very masculine). However, once Ar gave directions to Zhark, everyone in the Order of Arplakoon appeared to lose interest in the mortal, and went back to chattering to one another.