FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Eternyte

Part 5: OOM

copyright comidacomida 2020

Even as Will sat on the marble ledge ringing one of the huge pillars standing at the intersection of the four wings of the Etern Hall he sat rubbing his sore muscles, mind moving as quickly (if not quicker) than his body had been during his sparring session with Minotaurus. His Minotaur companion was chatting casually with Durmel; it was obvious that he was the most physically sore out of all three of them, which felt unfair considering Minotaurus had been sparring with him and hadn't been healed while the Ork had been in actual fight earlier in the week. It was just one of many things that made a 'different kind of sense', and it caused Will to reevaluate what he knew of the world.

It had become obvious that the Mytholm which he inhabited in the guise of Will Etherborn was not the same Mytholm as was presented in the Eternyte MMORPG and yet it was still so blaringly familiar that the differences seemed almost unfair. He likened it in a way to an unannounced patch without patch notes, and that thought only frustrated him all the more. There were so many familiar aspects to what he was experiencing, and that only made the unfamiliar ones stand out even more.

Cragglecrawl had been a surreal experience, and not only because he'd actually been there when playing Eternyte, but because it was obviously changed from what he'd experienced in the game. The Cragglecrawl from Eternyte had been a monster spawning area specifically tied into a low level quest. The Cragglecrawl Will had visited and, in fact, at which he had been the guest of honor, was a living and breathing village. He had seen Kobolds carving wood and shearing wooly goats; he'd even eaten with them (albeit, not THEIR god-awful food... but the fact that they had their own version of food was almost unbelievable itself!). It was not the Cragglecrawl of Eternyte... it was a Cragglecrawl of his own making.

For whatever reason, the Cragglecrawl Will had visited more closely resembled the village that he had crafted in his head-canon narrative that had been written in his character diary. Quickly pushing his thoughts past the book lest it appear suddenly in his hand, the young man wondered not just WHY the kobold settlement had become an actual, honest-to-goodness town, but HOW. In Eternyte the gathering zones, adventure hubs, and friendly npc populated areas were considered established safe zones, hence their protection by the Celestials, the in-game-lore explanation for why monsters didn't spawn there. So what was with Cragglecrawn becoming one? That was only the first of many unexplained events.

Will Etherborn had always been an Adept. From level one to level 125, Will's character was exactly like any other player character; he chose a class when he started and that was exactly what Will Etherborn ha been. However, for some inexplicable reason, he suddenly found himself in possession of not one, or even two classes, but three! He at least could presume to understand the WHY of that happening; he had done enough healing that he'd gained a class in Priest and he had engaged in unarmed martial arts combat and thus he'd gained a level in Monk, but that was only a very superficial understanding and did nothing to explain the HOW. No character in Eternyte was supposed to have more than one class.

The young man let out a long sigh, speaking to himself as he exhaled. "It's LIKE it's the same... but this really is completely different."

The discussion between Minotaurus and Durmel came to an abrupt end and the Minotaur turned to regard him, clopping over. "Is something wrong, My Lord Etherborn?"

Will felt no reason to be untruthful. "Honestly? I don't know."

He truly didn't. On one hand, the fact of the matter was that Will was living in a computer game, or, at least a world reminiscent of the one from his computer game. On the other hand, Will had often felt that he was more at home in Mytholm than in the real world, so just how bad was it? Then again, Minotaurus had asked if something was 'wrong' and, if the Human had to answer truthfully, he continued to use the term 'different' rather than wrong. That simple case of semantics caused him to pause.

It was up to Durmel to break the silence. The Ork's fatherly tone was full of good natured encouragement. "You know, Will... you've always said you do your best thinking after a liberal dose of hot water. Considering your work out this afternoon, perhaps you should consider easing your aches and your mind and the same time in the bath hall?"

The Priest's statement was both true an not-quite-true. Will specifically remembered a time when he'd made that exact statement and it was in one of the many entries in his in game diary. Before he could second-guess himself the book was in his hand, flipping open to the exact page. He took care to close it, not really requiring the reminder. He also really didn't want to, but he remembered it anyway.

It was the last time he played with Todd, one of his friends who was quitting the game. In fact, that was the last time he played Eternyte with any other player. It was shortly after he'd recruited Durmel as a follower; Will and Todd were running an advanced level quest and didn't want to bother with finding a PC healer so they settled for a slightly less powerful NPC one. Everything had gone well but, as they finished off the final quest in the level 125 zone of "Doomwind Peak", the reality of the situation had finally begun to hit Will: his last friend was down to his final day of game time.

Todd's last line was "Hey... you think you got the time to run an instance?"

Instances were in-game areas that only grouped parties could go where each party got their own 'instance' of a map that nobody else could enter. They were harder than normal areas but the rewards were better. Depression had started to take over Will at that point and he had declined, coming up with some stupid excuse or other about needing to shower before studying for classes (that he didn't actually have). He'd logged off immediately without a goodbye and never saw Todd again.

A calloused hand came to rest on his shoulder; Durmel took a seat beside him. "What's wrong, Will?"

Like almost any other of his followers Durmel was both Loyal and Devoted and yet he was also Nurturing; was that why he didn't call him 'My Lord' or 'Master' like Minotaurus did? Will wondered if trying to figure things out in terms of the game was even a worthwhile effort at that point. After several moments of silence, the only answer he could provide was "Yeah... but I guess I'll feel better after getting clean. If nothing else I won't be all sticky and grimy. I'm sure I'm not doing you and Minotaurus any favors by stinking so bad."

Minotaurus let out a hearty chuckle. "I do not mind your scent, Master Etherborn. I like how you sme--"

The bull man's expression froze and his whole body went rigid; his muzzle halted mid-word as if suddenly realizing that something he was saying could possibly be misconstrued. Eventually he reached up and smoothed out some of the fur which was sticking straight up on his neck, voice straining as he pushed the words out. "Yes... I belive a bath DOES sound good. Please excuse me."

The Minotaur practically fled down the hall, berating himself in the Minotaur tongue just a little too loudly to be silent about it; Will knew that his character spoke Minotaur but didn't realize that he knew it himself until he recognized that Minotaurus was calling himself stupid and foolish and an idiot as he went, subtly pulling at his own mane in embarrassment about what he'd said. The massive berserker in such a state helped improve his mood by just a little. The realization of the situation changed immediately when Durmel pointed out "Ah... in that case perhaps I shall join the both of you. This may very well be the perfect time to socialize as well."

The statement made Will pause as surely as Minotaurus had. "What... you mean... in the bath or something?"

Durmel stood. "Well, Will, unless I don't recall correctly, you DID have them created for the benefit of all of your followers..."

The Ork was right; Holdings only had a limited number of upgrade slots and the Bath House gave all followers stationed at the Holding increased healing and mana regeneration rate. "I... guess so?"

Durmel chuckled, reaching out to pat Will on the shoulder again before giving him a gentle shove down the hall in the direction Minotaurus had 'fled'. "Good. Go on ahead and take some time to relax. I will go get the Twins. They'll be glad to know you've returned and I'm sure they could benefit from some time in the water as well."

Will realized right away who the Ork was talking about since only two of his followers were related. As brother and sister, Matt Blackpaw and Pat Greenpaw were collectively his 5th and 6th recruit. Right after the 3rd Eternyte expansion Will had gained enough levels to get another Adept ability allowing him to increase his Followers slots and during that first night of gameplay he found himself in Artara, a forested mountainous area and home to the game's Ursuan people, large, humanoid bears.

In order to better round out his follower list, Will had recruited two: a male Ursuan and a female Ursuan, and decided to write in his in game diary that they were fraternal twins. Despite the fact that one had white fur and one had dark brown the background story stuck, and so he'd maintained that as head-canon ever since. It was strange to think that such a thing had carried over but before he could spend any more time considering that another issue popped into his mind. Will was not very keen on a public bath but one of the twins was a 'she'. "Wait a minute... Pat is going to be bathing too?!?"

Durmel seemed surprised by Will's sudden concern. "Yes... though presumably she would be bathing in the female pools. Why?"

Will felt his face burning red as he considered everything all at once as a bite so large his brain kept choking on it. In the end he stopped trying. "Never mind. I-- I guess you'd better let the Twins know and... I'll see you at the baths I guess?"

The Ork smiled warmly, his tusk-and-a-half prominent in the expression. "You would guess correctly. See you soon, Will."

The young man nodded. "Uh... yeah. See you soon."

The Bath Hall in Eternyte was at the end of the eastern hall which meant that it wasn't at all difficult for Will to find. He stood in front of the large door he'd seen so many times while playing the game that he'd stopped paying it any attention but, suddenly facing it in person, he found himself completely overwhelmed. In addition to never actually having taken a bath in Eternyte, he hadn't so much as ever stepped foot in the Bath Hall; it wasn't an implemented component in the game and had always worked as an upgrade rather than a specific location. Steadying himself with a deep breath, Will pushed against the door and walked in.

The interior was warmer than the halls outside, and humid. There was an herbal scent in the air which he found quite pleasant and, despite the chaotic thoughts in his head, calming. The walls of the room were finished in what appeared to be light colored wood paneling with upholstered benches seated to the left and the right of the entrance. Past a small area of tiling at the door the floor itself was a sea of thick, puffy maroon-colored carpet and, while inspecting the tiling at his feet, Will noticed a small wooden container divided into multiple sections. Written clearly in the Mytholm common tongue on a sign attached to the boxwere the words "Place foot gear here."

Will quickly divested himself of his 'Conqueror's War Boots' and placed them into one of the slots before stepping onto the carpet; his feet were lost in the feeling of luxurious comfort the moment he did. It took several seconds before the young man focused on anything but the carpet but, when he did, he looked past the large mahogony welcome desk to two archways leading out of the entry room; one had the Eternyte in-game symbol for 'Male' while the other displayed the symbol for 'Female'.

He briefly remembered that in the seventh expansion MIM Entertainment jumped on the 'progressive bandwagon' and introduced a 'Neither/Non-Binary' classification for new characters but he didn't see that represented in the bath house. That made sense to him, considering that the world had seemed to be 'rolled back' to its pre-expansion days for everything excluding his levels and some of his companions. Shrugging the thought out of his mind as yet more mental noise in comparing what he was experiencing to the game, Will grabbed a towel off of the welcome desk and slowly stepped through the door to the right of the welcome desk: the one labeled with the male symbol.

As he walked into what looked like a locker room lined with many shelves similar to the one by the front door which stored footwear, Will's attention was immediately caught by the sound of a deep bass voice humming ALMOST musically. There was a roughness to the tone that made it sound as if it were slightly off key, but the enthusiasm was there. Moving closer to the sound, Will froze in place as he encountered a change in the room. The entire wall was tiled, along with the floor out some 8-10 feet from it. A row of stools were situated there with small metal grates beneath them. One of the stools supported Minotaurus, who was seated with his back to Will, completely naked.

The Minotaur was humming to himself as he scrubbed at his forearm with what looked like some kind of rough, porous stone. His tail lashed back and forth like a metronome in time with his humming, but that came to an immediate end as his ears raised and rotated around toward Will. In the next three seconds Will's face went from a warm-room glow to out-and-out fire truck red when Minotaurus rotated around on the stool, completely devoid of any modesty; it was all on display without so much as a second-thought. "Ah! Lord Etherborn! I am glad decided to join me!"

Recovering enough from the surprise to quickly avert his gaze, Will cleared his throat. "I... didn't realize you were still getting ready."

Will had never been to a public bath house and, honestly, had no idea what to expect. Aside from some used by the Romans, he didn't know of many outside eastern culture and honestly didn't know what to expect from the one at the Eternal Hall but, somehow, it was exactly what he hadn't thought to expect. He knew that public pools wanted swimmers to shower before entering and he remembered hearing that public baths in Japan expected the same from those bathing there, so it made sense, but suddenly faced with his Minotaur Berserker in the buff, Will wondered how he would survive the ordeal without his heart giving out.

Minotaurus turned back around to continue washing himself but, just as Will thought that the situation was going to improve, his Companion made it so much more awkward. "I am glad you are here... now we can wash each other."

Heart doing a drum-solo in his chest, Will's voice came out an octave higher than normal. "Wash... each other?"

The Minotaur nodded, tossing a washcloth onto the stool situated next to his own. "Mmm... it's easier to have someone wash your back than doing it yourself. You can wash mine and I will wash yours."

Relief immediately flooded through Will. "Oh... backs. Right!"

That relief carried him to a shelf where he began placing his equipment after undressing but by the time he was loosening his 'Belt of the Demonslayer' he realized that his relief was unfounded; they were going to both be naked? Next to each other? Washing each other? The room was suddenly much warmer. "Hey... Minotaurus?"

The Minotaur's response was preceded by the sound of a loud splash. "Yes, Lord Etherborn?"

Will didn't know if it would be more awkward to ask his companion to keep his back turned or to have Minotaurus turn around unexpectedly but, in the end, the Human wrapped his towel around waist and slid out from behind the shelves. "Never mind."

The berserker's back was still turned, as the large bull-man spent the time refilling a barrel-sized bucket with warm water from a trough that was by his hooves against the wall. Will quickly seized the opportunity and nimbly made his way to a stool one away from Minotaurus and, with his back to the large humanoid, doffed his towel then set it on a hook that was situated nearby, presumably for that exact purpose.

Just as Will settled back onto his stool and began looking around at the various scrubbing and washing implements in the basket attached to the wall in front of him Minotaur spoke up. "Shall I clean you now, Master?"

Will was immediately tense again, especially since Minotaurus' voice came from RIGHT behind him, suggesting that the massive bull-man had moved over one stool so they could be adjacent to one another. A thousand different answers cascaded through the Human's skull along with a thousand thousand results. In the end he threw a figurative dart at his mental dart board and realized that he had to maintain control in the situation. "No, that's alright, Minotaurus... you're mostly clean already so we can start on you."

It was a safe decision since that gave Will the prerogative; if he was washing Minotaurus' back then the Minotaur would be facing away from him and let the human pick the pace. Will intended to make good use of that time to steady himself, calm down, and even out his mind. He had to change in the locker room back in high school; the Bath House of the Eternal Halls wasn't THAT different, at least, not if he put it in perspective. His centering thoughts failed once he turned toward where the bull man had sat.

Minotaur's broad back was spread out before him, each muscle seemingly visible even beneath his shaggy fur, creating a broad canvas for him to clean. Minotaurus' enormous body created a gently sloping V with his external obliques creating almost as much of a washboard as his chiseled abs. The bull man's sculpted rump sat scurely on a stool sized properly for him; it was probably the largest stool available. Will swallowed through the tightness in his throat, feeling inferior in so many ways to the berserker. He slowly extended a hand, toward the wash cloth that his companion was offering him over his shoulder.

Will held his breath the moment his hand pressed against Minotaurus' back. Even with the washcloth and the fur between his palm and the berserker's flesh there was still a noticeable warmth from the Minotaur's body heat, and the muscles beneath his touch twitched almost like a horse responding to a fly. The human took notice of one of Minotaurus' ears twitch back toward him briefly before returning to its prior facing. Exhaling slowly, the human applied more pressure, and began scrubbing. Minotaurus replied with a contented sigh, and so Will continued his ministrations.

The Human had a lot of ground to cover, and so he took the time to really inspect the berserker. Despite the countless battles and numerous deaths Minotaurus had suffered while in service to his character, the bull man was surprisingly devoid of scars; it was most likely one of the more pleasant side effects of healing and resurrection magic. The exception, of course, was a long, jagged scar situated along the Minotaur's ribs on the right side, a little more than a hand's-width from his spine. Will ran his bare fingers along it.

Minotaurus' fur puffed out slightly at the touch. "It was worth it, my Lord."

Without saying a word, Will returned to scrubbing elsewhere. It made sense to him why Minotaurus would have a scar there; it had been part of Will's diary. The Human was confident that the bull man would also have one directly opposite on the front of his body since the two lasting wounds served as a reminder of a time Minotaurus had accompanied him into a high level instance and had coincidentally blocked the area of effect attack that would have otherwise hit Will's character. In his game diary Will had recorded that as a purposeful step to protect him rather than some random in-game AI coincidence.

The bull's soft, subtle sounds of contentment paused after a time; Will wasn't sure how long since he was lost in his own world. Minotaurus spoke up, turning his head back to look over his shoulder "Lord Etherborn?"

Will was snapped out of his musings. "Hmm?"

The Minotaur offered a chuckle. "You have been scrubbing the same spot for awhile now."

The young man stepped back, tossing the wash cloth to the floor. "Oh... right..."

Minotaurus rotated his head, speaking over his shoulder. "Is everything alright, my Lord?"

The Human returned to his stool and sat down, mind going a mile a minute as he thought about the significance of everything he THOUGHT he knew about Eternyte, and everything that he'd actually all but 'programmed' into the Mytholm he found himself inhabiting. It all made so much sense and so little sense all at the same time. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a washcloth pressed against his back, and, before he realized what was happening, Minotaurs' massive hand was washing him, almost covering his whole back as it made slow, methodical circles.

Will said nothing, but exhaled, letting all of the thoughts go; he let go of all of the concerns and worry; he let go of all of the awkwardness. There were too many things he didn't know enough about and, if he was being honest with himself, a little bit of nudity was the least of his troubles. He'd finally started to convince himself of that by the time Minotaurus was done. The Minotaur walked back around to dump one more bucket of water over himself before heading to where he'd hung his towel. "I will see you in the baths, Lord Etherborn."

The young man sat alone in the bathing area, washing his limbs slowly as he continued to muse about his predicament. The more time he had to think the more he continued to ponder his place in his existence... or was it his existence in his place? It was eerie how many things were making sense to him despite not making sense in general. In the end, he would either have to go with the flow or be driven insane.. or perhaps go with the flow and end up insane regardless. Letting out yet another sigh, Will stood up and dumped a warm bucket of water over himself before gathering up his towel, wrapping it around his waste, and heading out in the same direction Minotaurus had gone.

Stepping into the open-air bath, Will was amazed by what was awaiting him. The 'bath' turned out to be a large, natural-looking hot spring set into rocky ground. The entire thing was surrounded by a tall wooden fence on three sides with the fourth taken up by the building which was finished in a similar wooden facade. True to his expectation of Asian bath houses, there were numerous clumps of bamboo planted near the fences in a garden-like landscaping and everything had an eastern feel to it. Despite it seeming out of context for Mytholm, it still somehow felt 'right' for the Eternal Halls.

Minotaurus was already soaking on the far side of the hot spring and raised an arm in greeting; his shaggy fur dripped profusely with the gesture. "Here, My Lord."

Will felt a moment of indecision and embarrassment when the bull man's eyes settled on him and he wondered how he would manage to take the towel off while Minotaurus was staring at him. A moment later he saw that the Minotaur actually still had his own towel around his waist beneath the water. Relief flooded through the young man at that point and he approached the water, dipping in just a toe to start-- and immediately pulled back. "WOW, that's hot!"

Minotaurus laughed good-naturedly. "That's why it's called a hot spring, Lord Etherborn... I cannot recall you joining us here before. Is this your first time?"

The Human somehow felt even more embarrassed hearing the words 'first time' from the bull man but couldn't figure out why. Shrugging, he slid his foot into the water again, much more ready for the heat; even so, he almost winced, but managed to keep it in place, lowering it ever-so-slowly as he spoke. "I... haven't ever found the opportunity, but now seems as good a time as ever."

The Minotaur laid his head back against the lip of the pool, gazing skyward with a content smile. "And I am glad you have. All places are better with you in them, Master Etherborn. The baths are now truly wonderful."

It took Will almost five minutes to finally settle into the pool, maneuvering himself so that he was near (but not TOO near) Minotaurus with his back to the wooden wall so he could face the bath house. He was just trying to figure out the best way to start up some small talk when Durmel emerged from the building, bath towel wrapped around his waist. The Ork was older, but he was still in excellent condition; his body had a distinct tone to it with his ample muscles moving fluidly with each step, green skin glistening with dampness from his pre-soak bath.

Durmel was old enough that much of his plentiful body hair was starting to turn white, but still young enough that much remained black. A hearty treasure trail descended from the Ork's belly button down out of view beneath the towel, but Will quickly stopped paying it any attention as the priest drew closer. Unlike the young man, Durmel waded right into the water, easing himself into it and taking a seat near the gently sloping side nearest the bath building. "I very much needed this. Thank you again for your generosity, Will."

The young man just nodded, feeling his cheeks begin to redden again. He tried to keep his mind focused on the cloud overhead, burning holes in it with his eyes in order to keep thoughts out of his head. Between unbidden considerations of his bathing companions and the never-ending questions about the world in which he found himself, Will really just wanted to be able to clear his head of everything. Fate, as it turned out, was against him.

A mirthful baritone voice half spoke, half roared a level 42 Monk class attack skill "WAAAAAAAAVVVVE CRRRRRRRAAAAAAASH!"

Will looked up just in time to see a good sized furry form leap off the ground at the edge of the pool and sail up into the air. A proper Wave Crash involved a Monk character jumping into the air with arms and legs outstretched before landing bodily onto an opponent. The attack was damage light but pulled a mob's attention onto the Monk, allowing them to effectively tank for a group. It was a good opening maneuver... but not really designed for use in diving into a bath.

The ursine shape tucked all of its limbs in close to its body, towel lost to the wind, and descended butt-first into the pool in perfect cannonball form. Matt Blackpaw rose up out of the water until only his thighs down were submerged, paws on his hips, goofball smile plastered on his muzzle, dripping water as he proudly announced "Welcome back, Lord Etherborn!"

Having already been 2/3 dipped in the pool Will hadn't considered the thought that he would get wet any further than he already had been, but the tidal wave created by Matt's cannonball had changed things. The Human reached up and wipe the water out of his face, and then held it within his field of view it to censor the bare bear parts. "Hi, Matt. Join us, won't you?"

Despite seeing his Monk companion for the first time in person, Matt Greenpaw was somehow exactly what Will had expected and it was starting to become predictable. One thing that wasn't quite so predictable was that, after the numbers of people he knew so well continued to increase around him, Will found himself starting to not mind the unpredictable predictability.