Sunlight.. Blinding as hell sunlight. Why didn’t he buy blackout curtains? Bad enough he was already waking up before his alarm was even going off. Though he didn’t much care for waking up that way either. He rolled over onto his side, facing away from where the light was pouring in and attempted to gain even a few more moments of sleep but after lying there it just didn’t happen. He opened his eyes slowly and rubbed them, sitting up now and turning his head to find out how early he had woken up before his alarm had been set to go off - only there was no alarm. Blinking the remaining of sleep from his eyes he looked around and became a little alarmed himself to find that this wasn’t his room, he was also pretty sure that this wasn’t any of his friends rooms either.
Placing his feet on the ground he rose, looking around slowly now. The bed itself had been a nook that was pushed up against the wall beside the railing of some stairs - large pillows and warm blankets, really warm.. He wished he could sleep again.. Moving away from the bed he found the room a bit cluttered with two massive windows having been the reason why light had awoken him. He found it a little odd that the farming around them was stone and heavy wood, not like modern windows at all. There was a table nearby with a small tea set on it, a single table at it and standing before it a candle on a large holder. Something else odd.. He found a small mirror hanging on a post right beside the railing of the stairs and looked at it - still himself, that hadn’t changed.
He went down the stairs now and stopped just there, looking around once more. Half wood, half stone marked the divide between the room. On the stone half was a large three faced fireplace with a roaring flame within it, a rocking chair right beside it. The mantle had drying herbs on it which filled the room with their smell. There was a large dining room table sitting in the middle, with six chairs going around it with a large teapot resting there beside some fruit in a bowl. The table sat on a large rug, large enough even for its size. At the base of the stairs was the bathroom and opening it he found it very simple, with a huge stone tub and another window letting in light. He stepped away from the stairs now and spotted something in the stone half he hadn’t, a large chest that stood out to him for some reason and he walked over to it.
With just a touch of his hand it opened up to him and looking in he saw something shining in the bottom, he picked it up to find golden coins of some kind. He wasn’t sure what to make of them so he pocketed them. There was another doorway here that he turned too, but parting the hanging wooden beads showed him it was just a pantry with barely anything within it and some dinnerware. Coming back out he started to find the chest missing.
There was one more doorway he hadn’t entered, on the wooden side now. Opening it he found it was a library but for all the shelves it had that could have hold books - it only held four. And when he opened those four up they were empty. He moved over to the desk and found a map, but it was the weirdest map he had ever seen. It was blank save for just a two spots, one of which looked like a tree with a mailbox next to it and the other appeared to be a village of some kind. He shook his head a little and stepped out, finding nothing more of use in that room - nor in the rest of the bottom floor. Finally he stepped outside..
A dirt path with wooden steps every so often moved out in front of him now, beside the door was a mailbox and looking up at the porch overhang he found it was two trees whose branches wound together to give a bit of shade. Stepping off the porch he found that this odd little straw roof house was resting right up against a tree and was nested in its roots. He didn’t think that was safe - all it took was a massive storm to knock a tree branch, or the tree itself into the house and hurt someone.
He traveled to the left now and went down a dirt path to another area, but here it was just a massive grassy field so he backtracked back up and kept following the path. He found another door in the side of a stone and grass covered hill, and stepping inside found a huge hollowed out room. A blacksmith? There was a set of stairs going up a short way and peering into the room at top he wasn’t sure what to make of it. There was a weird object he wasn’t sure what to call, and after exploring the shop a bit more headed back out. One last turn around the house and he found a barn with a grazing patch next to it. The inside was warm and smelled like dirt and hay, but there was no sign of any animals. Nor had there been any sign of anyone else around. Weird.. And it kept getting weird.
There was nothing left at this place for him to explore and weirdly enough he had found no trace anyone else had lived here, yet the fire had been going and the candles had been lit to give light. He didn’t know what this meant or even how he had gotten here, how he was wearing these basic clothes - there hadn’t been any sign of a computer or even a phone. No sign of power and yet it had running water. He would even swear that while it appeared like something from olden times, the crafting in which had gone into building it was way to careful and detailed for something like that.
“Where is anyone..” He muttered as he turned to look down the end of the path now. That was the only way he could go now so he frowned and began to walk down it. He traveled what seemed like long and empty country, and often glanced back at the tree that marked the house he had started in. It hadn’t seemed like anyone was coming back to it anyway but he was a little uneased to just leave it for the unknown. It was only after he could no longer see it that he broke out in a trot, fantly panicked now in fear that there would be nothing else - until he spotted the outline of a town. Then he broke out in a run, going full speed until he came to the edge of it and fell to his hands and knees panting heavily. What the hell? He knew he could run a hell of a lot further than that before getting this worn down..
After taking a few more breaths he stood up, looking to the sign above the entrance. “L.. Littlebell?” He muttered softly. Who came up with that name? He looked down and walked in now, glancing around a bit. Things seemed.. Normal here at least. Spotting a traven he figured that would be the best place to find someone and walked inside, finding it mostly empty save for a couple of people.
Coming into the tavern, he could feel almost a homely atmosphere in the air. There were more candles here too, it seemed like electricity was a thing of the past, and he had gone back in time. Standing there however, looking around at the people that were both dressed plainly, and having their own conversations and interactions seemed to attract the attention of the bartender. A busty woman who had her hair tied back into a long simple braid over her shoulder. Wiping down a mug that looked like it was impressive she was even lifting it. Though it seemed she wasn’t going to actually talk to him unless he came to actual conversing distance.
He didn’t think that any kind of crime would be ignored by the people that seemed to behaving normally otherwise. As if testing the waters, he moved towards the stairs, only to be promptly called over now by the woman. “Oi- Rooms ain’t free, and last I checked, you haven’t paid coin.” she said, frowned. Looking over at him sternly now, he could see faint lines of age around her eyes, but not enough to really indicate an age over forty. “Come here boy, you look wet behind the ears. You a bright eyed adventurer to be?” she asked now, with a sigh. All the young men wanted to be adventurers after all, until they came across their first monster and they ran home up to their mother’s skirts.
No, no. Littlebell was better known for Milk, cheese and a calm rest stop for worn adventurers than spitting any of them out.
“Ad..” He stopped, looking at her confused now. Adventurer? Just what kind of world did she think she was? “No.. I’m just.. A little confused. Where am I?” He asked her now.
“Littlebell.” she raised an eyebrow at him now. “What town do you come from?” she asked. Pouring himself a glass of water now, and offering it out for him.
“New York..” He said softly. He had never heard of Littlebell before though. “What country is this?” He looked down at the water and took it now, though then he wondered if it was free or not. If she was baiting him..
“It’s free boy.” she smirked now at his hesitation before blinking at his words. “New york? That sounds like a dish… is it a new village?” she asked now. Every now and then a village was formed after all.
This was making him very confused now. New York was pretty well known throughout the world. Was he in maybe a part of the world where things were that backwards? “I uh.. Well, nevermind that. Do you know about this.. House on the edge of the town? By a big tree?”
“Oh yes, that’s been there for a while now. Someone constructed it recently. I think that it’s a rich young lord. It would do some good for all the unwed maidens around here.” she smiled now.
A faint bit of blush appeared on his cheeks. He was beginning to question if he wanted to know who lived there now. “Do you know where I can find like.. A phone or something? Where’s the nearest airport?”
“Ehh?” the woman looked at him now as if he had grown a second head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about boy.”
Really backwards country now it seemed. “Nevermind..” He muttered softly as he stepped away from the bar now. After a bit of thought he turned and stepped back up to the counter again. “Where’s the next village?” He asked her.
“Child, I’m a bartender, not an adventurer. You’d best go to the guild for a map. “ she pointed out. Though he got the feeling that she didn’t really know, or perhaps just didn’t really care. “Perhaps they can offer you a mission as well for coin.” she offered.
Coin.. Oh! He reached into his pocket now to pull out a coin he had found in the chest back at the place. “What is this?” He asked her, holding up the small gold coin.
The woman blinked at the sight of it, grinning a little as he even managed to turn a few heads now. “Oh my boy, that’s coin, are ya daft?” she said, though he could the feeling he had taken some snap out of her voice. “With that you can have a weeks stay and meals.” she grinned. It was a generous offer really, considering copper, or silver would have run for less benefits.
He slipped it back into his hand and tucked it away, getting a bad feeling now. The coins were small but by his count he had a hundred of them on his side right now - something he fixed by moving the bag forward and tucking it under his shirt. Okay, so he may have been a bit rich right now - though he wondered if that was because he had stolen it. “Right.. I’ll just explore the rest of the town now.”
The woman grinned and said “Come back soon boy, ya hear?” Though he got the feeling that coin had raised the woman’s hospitality. It didn’t help that he felt eyes on his back as he walked out, a clear target after having had a fat sack of coins out for greedy eyes to see. It was as he was walking out, and feeling like any of the men from the bar might have followed after him that he suddenly ran into a woman- literally as the basket she had been holding went everywhere.
“Kyaah!” she cried out, their foreheads smacking against each other, and both landing on their arses as she hissed at hitting the ground. “What’s going on with you?!” she demanded now, face flushed in anger as her fruits and vegetables were all over the place. Rolling around the ground and between people’s steps that really didn’t seem to care, or even move to help. Though they had noticed the sudden mess- it wasn’t interesting enough to care. For him though, there was something different that caught his eyes entirely. Pointed ears that were both twitching in annoyance, and were red tipped in embarrassment. An elf woman that looked damn near smacking him with the basket once she had it in her hands again. “What are you gawking at? My basket!” she whimpered, and he spotted now a couple of kids grabbing now a couple of fruits and vegetables before darting away. Stolen- and if he didn’t hurry, everything else would be gone too.
“...sorry.” He muttered as he got up. “But maybe you should watch where you’re going in the first place. A person coming out a door can really see right off the bat with the sun in their eyes you know.” But he bent down and picked up something and started at it - a.. Puppy? A peach? A peach puppy? He looked confused as he raised his hand to drop it back into her basket, helping her gather up the rest.
“You were far from the bar, you were the one staring back.” she argued, frowning as she held her basket hard now. “...Damn it. Now I have to go back to the guild..” she muttered, looking to account what had been lost.
Guild? That was where the barkeep had told him to go to learn some stuff about the area. He followed behind her now and keep several paces between them, looking around at the town as he did so. Everything else seemed normal enough - so what was up with her ears and that fruit? It seemed like a normal village, a bit behind the times but pretty peaceful. It wasn’t as noisy as New York had been.
It was as he was following behind her that he could see that there were others with her strange ears. Walking amongst humans as commonly as the air he was breathing, that when the giant building came into view, he realized it really did look like an important place. If not something that seemed out of place with the rest of the building and dirt roads. The clean white columns that were on the outside seemed to just mark the place as a hub with the gentle flow of people coming in and out. It was entering the guild building that he could see more people gathered here. Boards with what seemed like job listings all around as people were both putting some up, and others were taking some down in order to complete them. Coming up to one such board, he peered over the documents, finding one that was a mission… for more seeds? It seemed like it was a request from an elderly couple that needed more seeds and farming tools, but couldn’t quite make it to town. The rewards said two copper.
In fact, as he looked around, all the missions on the boards seemed pretty run of the mill tasks, with a low range of cooper rewards. Though some offered foods, or clothing, as far as he could tell. There was one though, that caught his eye that a group was across from. Curiously peering over the details- it seemed like this one had a reward of a weapon, daggers to be exact.
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