The Coveted Armaku+

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.

Yes, Green Despair

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