New Arrivals [text] (Hiatus? What hiatus? The author sees no hiatus.)

[Jetroid]

>Do something illegal whilst no-one is looking to make yourself seem a more interesting character.

[mysticCharlatan]

>Feed your pet hamster. Where he's been all this time is anyone's guess, but a loving animal companion will serve to humanize you.

[Sparks]

>Feed your pet hamster. Where he's been all this time is anyone's guess, but a loving animal companion will serve to humanize you.

What, your pet hamster Captain Strong? Oh, how you wish you could, but alas, the good Captain is not with you at this moment. He's back at the headquarters, as you would never let him be harmed, and out here in the Carsil Greenwoods? Walking off the path is suicide, and there' no way you're taking any chances with your hamster. You resolve to give him an extra vegetable when you get back to make up for your absence. If anyone tried to harm him you would tear off their hands and bitch slap them to death with them.

What will you do now?

[Jetroid]

>Explain your quest to the tiny man in great detail.
==> Be the first guy
>Run away during the long winded explanation.

[mysticCharlatan]

>Realize you've gone off the path, and thus commited suicide.

[Sparks]

>Realize you've gone off the path, and thus commited suicide.

WHOOPS THAT'S NOT GOOD SUICIDE IS DEFINITELY NOT LEGAL
You haul ass back over to the bridge, thankfully without dying. You firmly grip the criminal's arm to stop him from escaping.

>Explain your quest to the tiny man in great detail.

You begin to list the reasons why you have been sent here to the tiny man in the great detail that was instructed to you by your subconscious, who listens attentively and hopefully is persuaded to not attempt to resist arrest any further.

==> Be the first guy

You are now the first guy, and you are not listening to a damn thing this guy's saying. You're cold, wet, captured and this guy just keeps going on and on about something that you're just not paying attention to.

>Run away during the long winded explanation.

You attempt to, but this guy's got a steel grip on you. You're not leaving without detaching your arm.

Looks like you can either wait for him to finish, or wait for something to happen. Your choice.

[Jetroid]

>Detach Arm.

[mysticCharlatan]

>Addendum: Discover ability to detach and reattach limbs at will.

[Jetroid]

>Addendum Addendum: Because of magic!

[Sparks]

>Addendum: Discover ability to detach and reattach limbs at will.

You fail to discover the ability to detach and reattach limbs at will. This clearly sucks, since that ability is both the best and worst possible ability to have. You swear to god you're going to make magic your bitch and achieve this someday.

What will you do now?

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God I feel like an asshole for turning down commands like this.

[Jetroid]

First Guy>Flashforward. (Reverse Flashback Time!)

[Sparks]

First Guy>Flashforward. (Reverse Flashback Time!)

You Flash Forward to hours in the future, tonight to be exact. However, your efforts to find something more interesting is thwarted by the fact that you are unconscious at the time of the Flash Forward. You resume reality and have learnt jack shit.

What now?

[Jetroid]

>Explain to the guard that as he is alone with no PET HAMSTER to do his quest for him if he departs, he will either have to abandon his post (Thereby leaving the path WHICH WOULD BE ILLEGAL!), free you or kill you.
at least we know he won't kill us
==> Be the Narrator.
>Narrate from Guard's perspective!

[Sparks]

==> Be the Narrator.

What? No. Look, I don't even have any author shenanigans going on. I can't even do a series of clever visual gags since I can't draw, so just leave me alone and go back to being the first guy.

Look, there's a mystery figure approaching our two characters. What will you do?

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WARNING. HUGE BLOCK OF EXPOSITION UP AHEAD. I APOLOGISE FOR IT. JUST MAKE IT TO PAGE 9, THE PAIN WILL GO AWAY.

[Jetroid]

>You mean three characters, right?
>Don't forget about the Spatula, man.
>The Spatula.

[Sparks]

>You mean three characters, right?
>Don't forget about the Spatula, man.
>The Spatula.

Too late, the mystery figure has arrived, and you have squandered your chances of reacting. You are now the first guy.

""Baron, I've just reported in on Briar and Masterson. They haven't found anyone yet. Have you made any progress?"

A female voice rings out from in front of the guard, who quickly turns and salutes.

"Yes Major, I have."

He pushes you forward into the eyes of a woman dressed in similar armour and clothes to him, who appears to be the superior he mentioned earlier. She appears to be in her late thirties, with blonde hair in a short ponytail, and a face that you would describe as very angular. She's got a somewhat pointed nose, a pointed chin and a very piercing look on her face, that says that she isn't particularly pleased by anything right now. She's roughly the same height as you, and her armour has a lack of any chest indentations on her cuirass, meaning you wouldn't be able to tell her gender had she been wearing a helmet. Overall she looks like someone you wouldn't want to mess with, and carries a longsword slung at her waist. One interesting thing you notice is that she has a large number of earrings running up the outsides of her ears. No studs, just no less than six rings on each ear, which is the extend of any decoration on her head.

She turns to look at you, an annoyed look crossing her face as she sees what you're wearing.

""Captain, do you know exactly who you've arrested here?"

He looks somewhat proud as he responds, oblivious to the annoyance on her face.

"Yes Major, a member of the gang who attempted to make his exit through here alone."

"And why are you both wet?"

"He attempted to escape through the river. I had to get in to stop him."

This doesn't exactly make her any happier, and she looks at you again as she responds.

"Congratulations Captain, you've managed to arrest an Arrival."

He freezes up after hearing that.

"You do realise that new Arrivals are legally free from prosecutions until officially recognised as a citizen, correct?"

He's not sounding too proud of himself after that one. You're wondering what she means by Arrival. Is showing up in the middle of nowhere with amnesia normal around here?

"...Yes Major."

"You can let him go now Baron. I'll handle him from here."

He lets go of your arm, and she motions for you to come over to her. You comply, figuring you're better off going with her while you're still free of charges, rather than making a break for it.

She takes another look at you, scanning your features.

"Got a name, kid?"

You really need to come up with a name at some point, or you could get a lot of awkward answers to this question.

"No, sorry."

"Well, that's fine, you're new here anyway. Listen, make sure you pick a good name, 'cause you're stuck with it once you've chosen, alright?"

Well that's not strange to hear at all.

"Doesn't matter right now. You're coming with me."

She turns back to the guard.

"Baron, you're to remain here for the rest of the day. I'll be sending Briar and Masterson up to take a sweep of the path, so try not to arrest them as well."

She starts walking away from the guard, and you follow her.

"So, how long have you been here for?"

You're not quite sure how to answer that.

"I mean, how long since you woke up."

Right, that you can answer.

"About an hour and a half?"

"Where'd you wake up?"

You wonder if you should mention the ransacking. You decide that probably isn't the best idea.

"Some alchemists house. That guy back there said something about someone called Teegan?"

She laughs for a second at that.

"Thaegans? Poor girl, she probably didn't take that well. Don't worry, you won't be charged for breaking into her house."

You're still not mentioning the ransacking. You don't care how legally safe you think you are.

"And don't worry about back there either. New Arrivals are exempt from the law for the first few days, or until they're officially registered. It's to deal with the effects of Arriving."

"Effects?"

"Paranoia, hearing voices, mild insanity, the fun stuff."

She lists off a few more symptoms as you're somewhat relieved that you're not crazy. Or won't be in a while. Either way's fine.

"So, was there anyone else there when you woke up?"

She asks in a more serious tone.

"No."

"Well, one less person to worry about. When I arrived, there were four other people with me. And we woke up in the middle of some plains, not someone's house. I wonder what happened to them. Probably got themselves killed running off the other direction."

You let her reminisce for a minute, before deciding to ask a question.

"So where are we going, anyway?"

"Pub. We're going to get completely hammered to celebrate your arrival. It's your first night here, might as well make it a good one."

Well, no objections there. Any questions you want to ask?

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WELL HELLO MS EXPOSITION WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU TODAY

[Jetroid]

>"Tell me about Inventory Keyrings!"

Name Suggestions:
>Theoden River-Runner
>Olaf Tegtz (Rhymes with Text. Get it?)
>Arthur Gnoll
>James Shell
>Lost Sparks

[mysticCharlatan]

>What exactly do you mean when you say Arrival?
>Does everybody come into the world like this?
>Because I've got this fuzzy recollection that it had something more to do with avians and stinging insects...

[Sparks]

>What exactly do you mean when you say Arrival?
>Does everybody come into the world like this?

"Good question. And no, only a couple a year. Start listening, this could take a minute."

"Now, in 99% of the cases here everyone's born the old fashioned way. But a few people just appear out of nowhere one day already seventeen or eighteen years old. They arrive, hence Arrival. There isn't much of a pattern other than knowing it happens once a year and they're all wearing the same thing that you're wearing right now. No memories, no past life. Whatever you did before you got here doesn't matter now, since you can't remember it anyway."

"Right. So I get a clean slate for life, and all I give up is the first seventeen years of my life and any rememberance of a childhood. Great trade."

"Well, that and the innate natural abilities for whatever path you pick in life, the prime physical and mental condition for the rest of your life, just those too."

"So I appear out of nowhere and am an instant success at whatever I try to do?"

"Not really, just whatever Class you pick. Most people pick what they're good at, you get the luxury of picking what you want to do and working from there."

Class? What, the job kind of Class? This could be interesting.

What will you ask next?

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I'll try to make the inevitable exposition less than boring.
Also, our hero's name shall be decided soon, so drop in some name suggestions if you want.

[mysticCharlatan]

>What classes are there?

I'm no good with names. If you left it up to me, the poor guy would probably be named Herbert or something.

[Xindaris]

>Name suggestions:
Zellith Nariz
Gene Teroson
Reil Rinzt
Lorentz Galiero

>Consider combining numerous suggestions into a name of some 20 words or so so you can always just tell people to call you by a different "middle" name if you decide you dislike the sound of your initial "first" name. The only disadvantage is you have to remember ALL of those names to sign legal documents, but on the bright side if you get really arrested later they're going to have a heck of a time identifying you.

>"What is the deal with inventory rings?"

[Sparks]

>What classes are there?

"To put it simply, a lot. It basically comes down to whatever you can make up, so you tend to end up with a bunch of tough guys who chose 'The Doom Knight of Death and Chaos" and don't end up doing much more than beating someone's head in with a hammer since they don't have any actual talent in the field of chaos or doom. Most people tend to go for something they're good at, like hunting, magic, fencing, that kind of thing. You, on the other hand, get the advantage of choosing whatever you want, so get creative. It tends to be the more abstract ones that are more useful. A couple of months ago we had a ton of trouble with a Dream Rogue, and you'd be surprised how much you could do with a class like that."

Right, come up with a class, possibly obtain the ability to set people on fire with your mind. Got it.

"So what'd you pick?"

She looks both proud and slightly embarassed at the same time.

"Blaze Guardian. It sounded awesome at the time."

"Still sounds like it."

"Well, not at first. It's not being able to control fire that's hard, it's figuring out how to put it out before you burn down every building you start a fight in."

"Oh, right, I never did tell you my name, did I? Karis Riva, Major first class in the Order of Giad, highest ranked in this province. We're in charge of the law in this country."

Well, looks like your new friend is in charge of the law around here. This could work out in case that alchemist ever reports you.

>"What is the deal with inventory rings?"

"What, you managed to find one already?"

You pull out your keyring, now carrying only the SPATULA OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and hand it to her.

"Well, it's simple to use these things. You just tap the ring onto whatever you want to store, and just kind of hold it and will whatever you want to grow back to normal size to do so. You tend to do it instinctively after a while."

You take it back and attempt to do so, and after a minute of trying, you finally manage to produce your SPATULA, it appearing full sized in your hand. You reattach it, the thing instantly appearing on the keyring without any delay, and try a few more times, getting faster each time. When you're confident that you can get the thing to work, you put it back into your pocket.

Seeing that you've achieved it, after watching in amusement somewhat unhelpfully, Karis continues.

"There's a couple of rules with these things. First, you can't attach any organic objects. Food isn't going to attach to those, so you'll need to carry them the old fashioned way. Second, there's a size limit on what you can pick up. It varies, but you can tend to judge it by whatever you'd be able to carry on your own. So just keep that in mind before you try to store a cart, ok? Third, you can't store something that's carrying things inside. This includes water, so you can only store an empty bottle, or an empty bag. Fourth, never store an Inventory ring in another Inventory Ring. Just... Don't, ok? You don't want to know what happens."

Ok, you now know how to work this thing. Your keyring has now been set as your KEYRING INVENTORY, and has been added to your INVENTORY STATS, and is currently carrying the now accessable SPATULA OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. Your INVENTORY STATS include what you're carrying on your KEYRING INVENTORY, your pockets, your clothes, whatever weapons you happen to be carrying, and any kind of pouches, satchels and backpacks that you may be using.

As for your name, you feel like you've almost come up with enough names to pick a good one. Just a few more and you shall be officially named. Any more questions to ask?

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Boom, exposition bomb over. Hopefully it isn't too dull. As for classes, it can operate by whatever name you give. Knight of Strife, Aquatechnician, Shark Avenger, just come up with a few names, and the class will be decided once everyone's had a chance to drop in an idea. Naming is almost done, so we can finally achieve what almost every adventure does in the first three entries. SUCCESS

[Jetroid]

>Inquire what would be a good class to choose.
>Inquire about different models of Keyring Inventories and their properties.

>Thief of Law
>Master Exploder
>Wayfinder
>Lord of (the) Elements
>Mage of War
>Bard of Law
>Spatula King ( )
>Summoner of Luck
>Wraith of Hunger

[Xindaris]

>Alchemic Mageknight...would give you skills in like three different things, presumably.

>Are there huge wars going on or anything megapolitical that we should be concerned about in the near future?
>Does this world have some kind of creature that is uniformly hostile to people (i.e. monsters/demons/etc.), or just people and animals?

[Jetroid]

>Inquire if she has a job for you. <== VERY IMPORTANT.