Escutcheon looked on his to-do list then gazed at the vast expanse of the world that was Desert Scream. Just outside the town were some snakes and other desert critters he once thought were threats. The arid desert didn’t look very accommodating but it was a far cry from the hell hole that is Green Despair. It was only recently that Esutcheon and Ascognati discovered they could take on more than one quest simultaneously so they had a lot to catch up. After all, the woman he saved was now leagues beyond him and that was unacceptable.

The to-do list had a number of items on it that could be done in Desert Scream and one was to be done in Bloody Ice. Since he was there, Escutcheon opted to have it all done before he returns to town for more quests. “What the hell is an Armaku+?” Ascognati was a bit puzzled. Escutcheon trudged through the hot sands until he reached a location near the Research Center. There, he saw what looked like an Armaku but a little more… orange.

He approached it and readied his shield. Escutcheon was ready for the worst. It was called Armaku+ for a reason and he would soon find out why.

Surprised

It didn’t attack. Instead, it tilted its head to the side and looked at him curiously. Escutcheon raised his sword to strike the beast but to his surprise, it didn’t try to attack or dodge. The creature rolled over instead; like a pet. It was so cute that Escutcheon couldn’t bring himself to hurt the critter. Although they had just encountered it, the Armaku+ found a place in his heart. He soon found himself attached and playing games with “Army”.

Playing fetch

Then came the fateful day for him to… let go. Escutcheon look at his Armaku+ companion and gave him a sad look. “Army” knew what had to be done so for his master, he rolled one more time.

One last roll

His time was done.

Escutcheon and his handler ascognati were never really on the same page. One was a sturdy Force Shielder that spent a lot of his time on the go and highly productive. The other was a sensitive slacker who sat in front of a computer all day for a living. This odd pair of handler and avatar could not have differed more than day and night but there was at least one thing they had in common: their hatred for Green Despair. To Escutcheon, the town was filled with a bunch of tree-hugging hippies and the mosquitoes carried malaria. ascognati was just pissed off at how everything seemed to take longer than it should. Getting from one area to another in Green Despair was just too troublesome.

“Who the hell put all this grass between the spawning points?!” was ascognati’s constant complaint. Escutcheon found only one saving grace in the god-forsaken hippie farm that was Green Despair. Kallua.

Every visit to Green Despair was generally a hassle and unpleasant but when Escutcheon would get sight of Kallua, ascognati would roll his eyes and grab a snack as Escutcheon tried to break away from his usual stammers and stutters of Lv. 1 Social Skills.

Escutcheon still hated Green Despair. Every quest (except the occasional errands that involved Kallua) was an absolute horror for both avatar and handler. But this one quest was different. Escutcheon was on another errand for that bastard Schuteberk and he was on the prowl for abominations to kill. A scream from the distance caught his attention. It seemed awfully familiar so Escutcheon followed the plea and found a familiar face. It was Artemisia; a Force Archer… under a Plant Toad. It was as if all justice had found its way to him. Both avatar and handler laughed and rolled. Escutcheon kicked off the Plant Toad and whacked it with his shield.

Green Despair wasn’t such a bad place.

**Pics to follow

Because of the continuous server maintenance for the Commercial Release of Cabal Online…

Finally, after weeks of close and open beta testing, CABAL Online is set to go commercial on June 12, 2008! This means more action, more adventure, and more reasons to play the country’s hottest and fastest-growing MMORPG today. – CM Jay

Artemisia had nowhere to go and nothing to do. Her handler Sorbetera wasn’t doing well either. There was work upon work and bad luck seemed to follow her around. Artemisia then, tried exploring the world on her own. She can only explore though, without her handler, she can’t really do anything. She can’t get her Astral Bow out and she can’t exactly defend herself.

Her light blue eyes scanned the area in Desert Scream and she was fighting the urge to visit Bein in the Research Camp right in the middle of the Desert. The bite on her shoulder was starting to heal, maybe she should pay him a visit, you know… to say thanks. But then again…

Artemisia heaved a deep breath and walked straight to the Research Camp.

… Only to go right past it and walk straight into the Zombie Warriors.

“Holy shit…” Artemisia could only utter these words upon realizing that Sorbetera wouldn’t be able to log in because of Server Maintenance. Artemisia tried summoning the Astral Bow herself but it really won’t work without your handler.

“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit” she muttered under gasping breath as a horde of Zombies inch closer to her.

Artemisia had to spend one whole week trying to wash away the awful stench the Plant Toads inflicted on her. It was an awful one week, she wasn’t able to do any of the quests the people from Desert Scream asked her to do. Hey, she was a girl after all… she has to do some little freshening up before she goes around meeting people right?

Her handler, sorbetera was busy with IRL things too. You know, she has to work to get money. And as far as Artemisia knows, her handler had one too many beers that weekend. When sorbetera logged in to Cabal Online and woke Artemisia up, sorbetera was actually tipsy and a little bit drunk.

That’s why when Artemisia was trying to wash her boots in the little oasis in Desert Scream, she wasn’t able to turn around fast enough to defend herself from the Giant Snake that was about to attack her:

She was bit pretty bad. One thing she remembers about snakes though is that you have to suck the venom out if you want to live. Artemisia doesn’t really know if that’s how it works in the real world, all she knows is what her handler sorbetera knows. And sorbetera is holed up in her room most of the time rather than exploring the outdoors.

So Artemisia went to the nearest place to get help. (No, not Captain Mark’s place… that man would probably just let her go on another tough dungeon errand again) The research camp was nearby so she decided to go there. As she trudged inside the worn-down research camp, she could hear voices inside.

Arionell: Why don’t you stop being so uptight about all this Bein!! Cheer up a little!

Bein: But… I do not feel sad at all.

Arionell: You’ve been thinking waaaay too much about that girl. You haven’t had food for days!

Artemisia hesitated on entering the room. They seemed to be talking about Naain, if she wasn’t mistaken. Last time Artemisia met Bein, he asked her to gather as much information on Naain as she possibly could. She figures that Bein must be quite amused (if not genuinely interested) at Naain.

// start flashback

// end flashback

Bein wasn’t usually talkative though, Arionell on the other hand was being her usual annoying happy self. Artemisia doubts if Arionell could get anything out of Bein. In any case, she may have come in a bad time, so Artemisia turns around and prepares herself to leave. The sudden move made the wound on her shoulder gush even more blood out. Bein is apparently used to the scent of blood. He hushed Arionell from talking and immediately made his way to the entrance, flinging chairs and tables along the way.

Bein: Artemisia?! Is that you?!

He sees Artemisia’s pale face.

Artemisia: This is… nothing. I’m going now.

Arionell: WA! What’s wrong with her? Does she have a return stone?

Bein: That would tax even more of her strength. We treat her here now.

So the night was spent nursing Artemisia’s wounds. It wasn’t a particularly tough job but Bein was surprisingly gentle on her. Usually he was curt and official, he never talked about personal things or let his emotions pass through, whenever it does seep in a little though, he immediately changes the subject. But Artemisia kind of admires him like that.

The next day, Artemisia thanked them. She has a lot more quests to go, she can barely stand her ground on mummies. She has to train more.

Artemisia: I’m sorry for the trouble…

Bein: I believe we will meet again.

Artemisia: You don’t have to be so serious like that. *laughs* Anyway, I’ll be going now… thanks again!

When Artemisia got out of the Research Camp, she could’ve sworn she heard Arionell say, “Why does Artemisia smell like a Plant Toad?”

Oh great. How smooth. XD

Everyone knows that the hottest female avatar in Cabal Online is the Wizard. Everybody knows that. Apparently, Plant Toads didn’t get the memo. Artemisia was off on a quest to get a leaf from the back of a dire boar. She was a bit stingy with her Alz and didn’t spend much unless absolutely necessary. So whenever her MP runs short she goes to a safe place to sit. However, there she was near the area were plant toads were abundant.

Artemisia wasn’t aware that it was mating season.

So when a Plant Toad suddenly goes on top of her and squashes her underneath, she screamed for help. Luckily, her Force Shielder friend Escutcheon found her. Escutcheon just recently let go of his girly pink shield to be replaced with a red one and he was more than ecstatic to use it. After all, how long did he have to endure being called a fag by Artemisia? He wanted to show Arteisia immediately that his shield was definitely more manly now.

With all the luck in Artemisia’s side, the Plant Toad wasn’t able to do much damage other than inflicting a horrible stench on her clothes. Artemisia wonders when the alchemists would start making soap.

Everything ended well though… she leveled up after she finished the quest. (not without Escutcheon’s help of course) Oh and she promised she won’t call Escutcheon a fag anymore.

Well… maybe sometimes. She did see him dancing buck naked in Bloody Ice one time. XD