The smell of a farm, or a zoo, immediately assaults your nose as you step past the wide doors. You'd expected the horses, of pretty much all breeds and coloration, but they've also got some exotic creatures in here! You see a couple of species of bears, some wolves who've clearly grown beyond what's natural, to allow their use as a mount. Further down you see some odd, brightly colored bipedal birds peeking up from their enclosures to take a look at you. Chocobo, you think they were called. And that's just the first aisle, who knows what else they've got hidden in here.
"You lookin' to buy, or just lookin'?" A voice shakes you from your stupor. Seeing no-one around at first, you quickly look down to reveal a goblin girl, her head barely reaching your waist. Her dark hair, black with a purple-ish sheen is held up in pigtails, while one of her lower canines protrudes from her green lips. She's wearing a beige overall with a dirty white shirt underneath. Not wearing any shoes, you can clearly see her four green toes pat against the ground as she waits for your response. "Well?"
"Uh, neither actually" You admit. "I only just started, looking for a way to make some money"."Whelp, best keep lookin then", the goblin bluntly states. "Don't have anythin' to offer ya". "Really, nothing? Don't even need someone to lug the feed around or anything?" You can't fully hide the disappointment in your voice. "Nope, sorry. Can perfectly handle the physical side of things meself. Now, if you're not gonna buy, then could ya- aah? hmm...". The goblin stops mid-sentence as she looks at you ponderingly. "I... may have somethin for ya after all. T'won't be pretty though."
"It doesn't matter, I accept", you quickly state. The green stable master quickly waves away your enthusiasm. "Ye, ye, that's what they all say, 'till they find out what the job entails. Follow me, and put these on." She presses a much more sturdy pair of nose plugs in your hand. You start to worry slightly but obey, quickly slipping them over your nose before dashing after her. She leads you deeper into the barn to a solid door, clearly made from a different wood than the rest of the building. You notice three sets of heavy duty bolts keep the thing locked from your side. "This here's a more recent addition to me shop", she explains nasally, perching a pair of plugs on her own nose as well. "You'll want to keep those on", she points to your set as she unbolts the locks. When the last one is released, the door flies open, nearly hitting you in the face. A rush of hot air bellows out of the opening and... oh gods... You can taste the stink emanating from that room. (+10 KO meter, -5 willpower) The goblin watches you dry heave for a bit with a grin. "Not getting cold feet, are ya?", she taunts, before disappearing into the door opening. You take a moment to steel your nerves before following after her.
"These", she proudly announces, standing before some sort of indoor circus ring. "Are me very own, special edition gasser mounts". You notice the animals here have much larger pens. further, in contrast to thosen you saw before, these are completely enclosed. The thick wooden bars on top of the walls reaching all the way to the ceiling. Even then, they're further separated from you by a second steel fence, surrounding the entire ring. She must have noticed your confused expression, as she immediately launches into an explanation. "Gassers are, to put it briefly, combat mounts. They'll carry ya wherever you need to go, same as their normal counterparts, but they can also charge in to help turn a fight in your favor with their potent stench." "Umm, that's great", you state, still not sure what your job entails. "But what do you need me for?"
"Well, bluntly put, I need ya to let 'em gass ya out", she responds, like it's the most normal request in the world. "...Excuse me?", you respond, astonished by her shamelessness. "Yeah, thought I found a goldmine when I stumbled upon a supplier", she explains. "Trouble is, these are just level ones. they're way to expensive to buy for new players, like yerself, but they're also way too weak to be of any use for more experienced blokes". She shrugs, taking the bad business decision in stride. "But there's a way out of this little shitnugget I found meself stuck in. Ya see, these beauties also get experience and level up if they do well in combat". "So all I need is for ya ta keel over a couple o' times, and they'll be up to snuff in no time", she concludes, brightly smiling at her own genius.
"But I'm only level one myself...", you try, looking for an acceptable excuse to not end up as a fart-cushion for hire."I can't be that useful, right? "Nonsense", she waves your protests away. "There's no better way for a critter to gain exp than by beating a player, no matter the level". Her smile fades, her expression suddenly becoming more serious. "I should prolly also warn ya. Normal mounts are nothin more than meek, dumb animals. These guys though... The game treats em as full-fledged NPC's. They're a fair bit more intelligent and dangerous than their normal counterparts, even without the stink. Ye wouldn't be the first to underestimate a gasser, just to end up huffing on their colon for the next few months. Or gettin' eaten by them."
"You're... not really making the job sound any more enticing", you state, suddenly becoming aware the pens occupants are staring at you in great interest. Some even go so far as to push their buttocks against the bars lining their enclosure, proudly putting their pucker on display for you. (-5 willpower) "Ah, s'only fair ya know what'cha gettin' yerself into", she ignores your worries again. "But how's this fer enticement, ya do a good job on yer first charge, and I'll give ya any one of em ya like". "You'd do that?", you ask in amazement, remembering how much these supposedly cost. "Sure. I recon it'll pay itself back when I'm able to start offerin' custom-leveling gassers as an added service. And, full disclosure, I'm also abit desperate. Had a big client comin in earlier asking for just that service. Was starting to consider divin' under their bums meself to get the job done."
Well, put like that... A combat mount would surely increase your odds drastically. Sure, you'll need to take the increased intelligence into account, but it seems worth the risk. Just... "Say I agree, how exactly am I supposed to get free after they knock me out?" "Oh, I dunno actually...", she casually shrugs. "Honestly don't expect ya to agree, nobody else has. Guess you should lead your charge out into the back pasture for their session, that way they'll come back when they get hungry. Or they'll eventually get bored of ya. Probably." "What about them eating me?", you ask in a panic, remembering her warning from earlier. "Nah, these ones prolly won't. They's well fed, wouldn't want to lose their toy like that."
That doesn't sound convincing at all...
"So, whaddaya say. We got a deal?". She extends her hand with a grin.
▼
HP: 100/100
Willpower: 90/100
KO-Meter: 10/100
Exp: 5/10
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