《Sanctity Of The Surfmancer》 1. The Surfer ¡° ¡° Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. 2 ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡°This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡° ¡° ¡° 3 ¡° The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡° ¡° ¡° 4 Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡° 5 ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡° @GoddessDestiny. I couldn¡¯t do that right? I mean this is supposed to be about you correct? I couldn¡¯t talk about how I have over 300 different outfits of varying degrees of filthy on my page could I? I wouldn¡¯t mention that if people used my name when they sign up that they might get a freebee perk huh? Or that I would become their personal guide? No, of course I couldn¡¯t!¡± ¡° could be a God. Could you see it Crash? Could you get on board with me being a Goddess? DESTINY, Goddess of Welcoming! Goddess of questions and Answers! Goddess of Social Media perfection!¡± ¡°Could you see me as a Goddess?¡± She seemed to be asking a real question. Of course this is the first new world I have ever been too so it¡¯s the truth heh.¡± I would worship you as a Goddess of The Island, as the Goddess of welcoming, as the Goddess of questions and answers!¡± ¡° 6 ¡° ¡° W.T.F.? ¡°Umm Destiny? Wha...¡± ¡° ¡° feel like a God amongst men.¡± She started moving her hand deeper. ¡° This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡° @GoddessDestiny for more deets. She looked over at Crash and beamed a smile from ear to ear. ¡°I am going to have such a head start on the others that they will never catch me. I will take in millions before some of their names are ever discovered.¡± So listen close. You will of course have a special ability just for your title. And you will be able to level that line for more and more abilities just like any other class. It¡¯s a Paladin-like class for your Goddess of course. But here¡¯s the kicker, and one that hardly any other adventurer will be able to boast about. You will be able to take on a second class at level 10 just like everyone else! It will be a sub-class for sure, but it will be all yours, whatever you want to do. Be kind to newbies and npcs Crash and answer any questions they have no matter how ridiculous.¡± Crash gave her a serious nod of agreement and asked ¡°So what is this title you have given me?¡± A burst of laughter erupted behind him and Crash spun around to see who it was. It was Malia! She had one hand trying to cover her mouth and was bent over laughing. Her other hand was pointing at his head. He had a big smile on his face from seeing her and he said, ¡°Malia, Hi! Whats so funny?¡± She straightened up and tried to talk thru her laughter. ¡°Oh Crash, I¡¯m so sorry for laughing but O.M.G. that¡¯s funny!¡± Tears of mirth were streaking her face. Whats funny?¡± Umm your title?¡± He looked over at Destiny with a scowl on his face. ¡°What is my title?¡± Malia said, ¡°Your title¡­ it¡¯s¡± Destiny¡¯s Child!¡± 7 Crash put his hands on his hips and turned to Destiny with a scowl on his face. ¡°Destiny¡¯s Child? Really!? What were you thinking? Did you want to make me the laughing stalk of every person that sees me? How could you do this to me?¡± Destiny had a look of pure innocence on her face. ¡°WHAT? What are you going on about? You are my first! Like my child. That is a perfectly good title. I do not see a problem.¡± I looked back at Malia who had a huge grin on her face, trying not to laugh. ¡°I really do think she doesn¡¯t get it, besides, what¡¯s the big deal? Queen B is a total badass and one of the most powerful women on Earth!¡± She shrugged her shoulders. I gave her a look of disbelief. ¡°Then please explain to me why you have tears of laughter running down your face!¡± She held her hands up in surrender. ¡°I dunno, seeing you with a hip hop, women¡¯s empowerment group over your head is just¡­ well¡­ Hilarious! I would picture you more of a Foo Fighter / Chili Pepper kinda Guy!¡± I AM a Foo Fighter / Chili Pepper kinda guy!¡± I heard Destiny behind me I looked back over at her. Oh Crash, I really wasn¡¯t familiar with that band¡­ Wow, I really like this put a ring on it song!¡± She started prancing around looking at her hand swiveling it back and forth. She started singing. ¡°Put a ring on it, Uh Uh O Uh Uh O!¡± Stop, Stop, Stop! For the love of all¡­ Stop that Destiny!¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Malia started laughing. ¡°That¡¯s not even Destiny¡¯s Child, that is Beyonce, but that hand swivel thing would make a great unique salute for you!¡± I put a finger across my lips. ¡°Shh don¡¯t say things like that, we are on a live stream. Don¡¯t give people any ideas. I wonder if anyone is even bothering watching at this early stage?¡± Malia chuckled. ¡°I was watching, and commenting, and talking to the stream before I came in. There was a umm¡­ There was a goodly number of people watching.¡± Crash raised an eyebrow. ¡°How many is a goodly number?¡± Malia put a finger to her forehead as if trying to remember. ¡°Oh before I logged off I think it was around 15 million.¡± Crash felt his knees go weak and dropped back in the chair. ¡°15 million!?¡± Yeah, but I¡¯m sure it will be over 20 now that I¡¯m here. I have a nice little following! And it IS the first day! So cheer up!¡± Crash looked over at Destiny who was staring at a ring with a diamond the size of a plum on her finger. She looked back at him and said, ¡°I put a ring on it!¡± Crash sighed, closed his eyes and sat back in his chair pulling his knees up to his chest. He looked over at Malia and said, ¡°Mommy!¡± Malia walked over to Destiny and knelt in front of her. She put a fist over her heart and said. ¡°Goddess Destiny of Social Media Perfection I humbly beg to become your second official supplicant.¡± Destiny nodded and placed her hand on Malia¡¯s head. A pink aura of soft light surrounded her head and slowly sank in. Destiny said. ¡°Rise, Malia First Priestess of Destiny!¡± Malia got to her feet and Destiny stepped forward and embraced her. She kissed Malia on the cheek and Malia whispered something in her ear. Destiny stepped back and said, ¡°It shall be so Malia! Now I have to go and secure some things. A world message and patch are about to come.¡± She turned to leave. Crash called out, ¡°WAIT! I still have so many questions! How can I reach you!?¡± Destiny said, ¡°Oh my most precious, I will always have a small piece of myself set aside watching over you. All you have to do is call out for me and I will be there. Now I really must hurry. The starting village is about a half mile down the path. I have arranged a small beach villa for the two of you. Go and eat the feast awaiting you and watch our double moons rise above the planet. Ever Ever awaits, go explore!¡± Destiny took a few steps and seemed to be walking up an invisible staircase. A few seconds later she was gone... Crash looked over at Malia and spotted the well defined path behind her. ¡°Well, shall we?¡± Malia grinned at him. ¡°We shall!¡± She held out a bent arm and waited for Crash to hook his arm in hers and they started off. 8 Crash looked over He asked her, ¡°So, Where have you been Australia or South America or somewhere more exotic? Actually I have been in Externia for the last month or so.¡± What? You have been gaming? I thought there was a few tourneys scheduled for the last month?¡± Yeah, I skipped them so I could learn more about these MMORPGs. I never played many games before. I wanted to learn what I was getting myself into before I came here. I didn¡¯t even know if I would enjoy it, but boy was I wrong! I have been having a blast! Plus I spent a LOT more time on my socials and modeling. I make 10 times the amount of money from them than surfing you know?¡± No I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve never enjoyed social media. I can¡¯t take the trolls taking potshots at me over a surfing mistake or those stupid fashion comments.¡± Honestly? Your fashion seems fine to me, although I prefer seeing you with no shirt when I¡¯m stalking your photo¡¯s!¡± He looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. ¡°Stalking huh? Really? You stalk my socials?¡± She stopped in her tracks and yanked Crash back to her. ¡°Listen Crash I want to get this out in the open. You and I¡­ We have been flirting with each other for over two years now right?¡± Crash started to blush and looked down at his feet. ¡°Well, I was trying to flirt with you. I didn¡¯t really know if you liked it or were just being nice to me, I mean...¡± Malia¡¯s mouth opened into a big O. ¡°Are you kidding me? I have practically thrown myself at you! I have never been more flirty with another man! The only reason I agreed to come here was because they told me that they were going to try for you. If you turned this down, I wasn¡¯t going to come. I want to try hanging out with you and if it feels right for both of us maybe giving it a shot?¡± Crash looked her in the eyes and felt foolish. He was never shy around anyone, but Malia made him feel like he needed to be more. He smiled and said ¡°I would really, really like that. The only reason I came was because of you. I have been really kicking ass on tour lately you know?¡± She laughed. ¡°Oh I know. I watched your last tourney. What were you thinking about taking that last wave? That was stupid! I nearly had a heart attack watching that!¡± He laughed back at her. ¡°That is almost word for word what my dad said. I dunno though. The big waves seem to be my only edge. From what I hear we are going to be handling some real monsters here. Both on the water and off!¡± By the way, what did you whisper to Destiny, If you don¡¯t want me to know it¡¯s fine, I¡¯m just curious.¡± She grinned and looked up at an invisible camera just like Destiny did. ¡°When you look up like this by the way the live stream camera focuses on your face and the streamers know you are speaking to them! I whispered to Destiny to ask her if the class I wanted to play was appropriate for the Goddess of Welcoming. I¡¯m not going to tell my audience what it is, but if they tune in tomorrow or the next day they will get a peek at what a total badass bitch I can be!¡± She looked up at the sky again and asked, ¡°Stream Director, can you mute our voices for one minute so as not to spoil my surprise for tomorrow?¡± She leaned over to Crash and whispered into his ear, ¡°I am going to play a total badass Shield Maiden like Lagertha from Vikings. A huge ass round shield and a wicked sharp spear with a barbarian outfit like the Valeria chick from the Conan movie!¡± Crash raised his eyebrows remembering the shining mithril outfit Valeria wore. He whispered, ¡°Do you want to live forever?¡± He smiled and whispered to her, ¡°I told Destiny I wanted to be a Paladin, but I am SURE she would approve a Conan outfit with this stupid body she put on me!¡± Destiny looked him up and down. ¡°Ya, I noticed that. Not my normal thing, but I¡¯m already getting used to it!¡± She wiggled her eyes up and down. He laughed at her and pointed ahead. ¡°Look, the starting village.¡± He rolled his eyes and laughed. ¡°Can you guess which one is our villa?¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. They looked over and a decent sized villa sat at the waters edge. The entire building had a pinkish haze floating over the top of it. The entire settlement was set up like a luxury vacation village from Bali or some other exotic paradise. The buildings were stylish round exteriors with hardened thatched roofs. There was exotic greenery and flowers everywhere you looked. Pools and hot tubs were visible everywhere. Their villa looked to be 4 round buildings attached to each other. One was set in front and three others sat in a semi-circle behind it. The front room was a general living room with couches and tables. The back room to the right had a symbol for a female on it. The middle hut was split in two with a kitchen and bathing area. The back room on the left had a symbol for a male. There was a huge feast sitting on the tables with fruits, meats and breads. A glistening pitcher of something sat at the front with two glasses. Crash looked at the food and almost started drooling. He glanced over at Malia and said, ¡°Mind if I take a quick shower before we eat? I was in a hurricane earlier and I¡¯m a bit gritty!¡± She chuckled and said, ¡°Go for it, but I am going to drink that entire pitcher of Sangria if you don¡¯t hurry!¡± Crash hustled off to his room. There was a huge bed and it was furnished better than any resort he had ever been to. He opened the closet and it was filled with different outfits. He focused on them and found that they were just generic clothing with no stats. He snagged a pair of white silk pants that looked like lounge wear and went to the bathroom. A pile of towels sat on a side table outside of the walk-in shower that had smoked glass from thigh to neck level. Crash turned the handle and put his hand out to feel the temperature of the spray. He scrunched up his eyes in confusion as the water was already at the exact temp that he liked. He pulled off his shirt and stepped into the shower and took off his shorts and tossed them out on top of his shirt. He grabbed some body soap and started lathering up. The soap had some kind of effect that vibrated on his body making it feel better than any shower he had ever had before. He started involuntarily moaning. He heard some noise in the bathroom as Malia was poking around for something. She said ¡°Just looking for some toothpaste! Not peeking!¡± Crash laughed ¡°The glass is smoked out, Ya can¡¯t see even if you peek!¡± Malia started laughing. ¡°Oh my God are you moaning!?¡± I can¡¯t help it, this body wash vibrates. It feels like I¡¯m getting a massage as I¡¯m soaping up!¡± She laughed again. ¡°I can¡¯t believe all of your fans are seeing you all nakey rubbing soap all over your body erotically and moaning before I can!¡± Crash almost dropped his scrunchy. ¡°WHAT! WHO IS SEEING ME ALL NAKEY!?¡± Malia started laughing even harder. ¡°At this point I¡¯d say about 25 million people, but prolly half of the men went to make sandwiches or fix a lawnmower or do something manly!¡± Crash opened the door a bit and held out his hand. ¡°Oh my God!, Oh my God hand me a towel quick!¡± Malia walked over and picked up the pile of towels and his clothes and walked away. As she went back out of the door he heard her say, ¡°What towels? I can¡¯t seem to find any!¡± Malia! Malia, come back!¡± He closed the door and looked down at the body wash. He looked up at the sky to his viewers and said, ¡°Fuck it, I hope you all are getting your jollies off, but if you knew how amazing this body wash was you wouldn¡¯t care anyway!¡± Crash spent another 5 minutes showering even hamming it up a few time by over moaning and licking his lips trying to be sexy, but he ended up laughing at himself and looked up and winked at his fans. He really didn¡¯t care about nudity and he really did look like like Conan Jr. body wise. When he opened the shower door his towels were back with his pants and he smiled at the thought of Malia sneaking back in when he was hamming it up. Crash strolled out into the living room in his white silks with a towel throw over his shoulder. Malia was grinning like a fox at him and he threw the towel at her. ¡°That was mean.¡± She started laughing. ¡°When I came back with your towels you sounded very, very busy. Did you umm?¡± She raised an eyebrow. Did I umm what?¡± He poured himself some sangria and took a sip. You know what I mean!¡± Do not, what are you trying to say. Spit it out.¡± Come on.. you know¡­ Erm.. shaking hands with the milkman!?¡± Crash Spit out a tiny bit of his drink and started coughing. Malia had an evil grin on her face. Celebrating Palm Sunday? Buffing the...¡± Crash held up a hand laughing. ¡°Quit, Quit it. I give, you win! No, I was not buffing anything in there. I did look up to the stream and licked my lips as I moaned though HAHA! Please tell me the toilet is off limits?¡± She nodded. ¡°Yeah, TOTAL toilet privacy and if you want it they can blur out your nether region in the shower. But everything else is fair game. By the way, no one can film these streams and use them for anything else. They cannot be recorded even if someone sits in a seat filming with their phone. All they get is fuzzy rolling lines of snow. New streaming tech!¡± Well that¡¯s good to know. I would hate to have thousands of videos out there of me slaughtering bunnies!¡± They both nodded and chuckled at each other. ¡°Let¡¯s eat! This looks amazing! What does that say? Roasted Unicorn?¡± Twenty minutes later and feeling stuffed and tipsy from the amazing sangria like drink they headed out to their front deck and sat in some over stuffed chairs. Wow! Those two moons are freaking amazing! Is it even possible for them to be that big? They must be super close! That one on the left definitely has an atmosphere. I can see continents! Wonder how that affects the waves?¡± Crash nodded. ¡°Jimmy did mention surfing 60 foot waves every day.¡± So what do you want to do tomorrow? Crush the local low level animal population into mush? Learn how to exploit the native npc¡¯s for gold? Take over the town temple and co Crash just stared at Malia in disbelief. ¡°Whoa, whoa, whoa, Dr. Jekyll! I thought maybe we could get the lay of the land. Check out the starting town. Find out where to get our starting gear. See where the best place is for waves¡­ get maps? You know, get set up for some adventuring? Who were you playing with this last month? Dracula?¡± Malia snickered. ¡°I told you earlier I was a badass!¡± Crash said, ¡°Alrighty then. On that note I think it¡¯s time for sleep. I can¡¯t wait to explore The Island!¡± Malia said, ¡°I¡¯m gonna meditate for a bit before bed. Good night.¡± Nighty night!¡± Crash climbed into the huge bed. He instantly let out a moan. ¡°Sweet baby Jesus I¡¯ve never felt a more comfortable bed! What is it with this realm? Everything is better than home!¡± He started to drift off right away. Ten minutes later he felt Malia climb into his bed. She kissed his shoulder and snuggled up to him. Two minutes later he heard her lightly snoring. Crash smiled and fell asleep. He already loved this world. 9 NPC¡¯S can no longer maneuver single adventurers into providing the requirements for achieving divinity. Groups of an undetermined number will be required for this feat. Crash was awakened to the sounds of a muffled conversation in the living room and the unmistakable smell of his favorite Kona coffee. He sat up and stretched feeling more relaxed than he had in years. He slipped out of bed and made his way to the door where he saw Malia talking to someone with their back to him in what looked like a maids outfit. Malia saw him and a smile stretched out on her face. ¡°Good Morning Sir Crash.¡± Crash smiled back. ¡°Morning to you to.¡± The maid turned at the sound of his voice and his smile grew even larger as he took in her face. ¡°And who do we have here?¡± The maid gave him a tiny bow of her head. ¡°Hello Sir Crash!¡± The little maid was positively beaming at him. ¡°We have been waiting so long for visitors I can hardly contain myself!¡± What is your name beautiful?¡± Crash flirted with her. She seemed to blush if that was possible. ¡°My name is Beebee Sir, A pleasure to meet you. I am your housekeeper for the duration of your stay in Bolina Bay!¡± Facing him was the cutest creature he had ever seen. She looked like a baby seal pup except that she was walking on two limbs. (He assumed she had legs, but they were covered by her outfit.) She had on a baby blue maid outfit with white lacy trim. The thing that took him in though was her huge seal eyes that were a deep blue color. As crazy as the whole getup seemed, it worked on a level that he instantly believed. He had no problem accepting that she was real. Beebee I¡¯m no Sir, please just call me Crash. Everybody else does and I¡¯m only 22.¡± Beebee gave a small nod of the head to him. ¡°As you wish Crash. I have brought a small breakfast and some coffee. After you are finished you are very much invited to the newbies welcome center in the middle of the village. There are many people dying to meet you two so please make sure to go there first thing!¡± She gave a small bow again and turned and went outside. Crash took a chair and poured himself some coffee and started a plate with fruits. He looked over to Malia. ¡°Can you believe how cute she was? I wanted to run over and hug her as soon as I saw those big eyes!¡± I know right!? She was filling me in on The Island and the history of the bay. This bay is a perfect circle believed to have been created thousands of years ago by a huge meteor that crashed here. It got it¡¯s name from the legend of a beautiful maiden named Bolina who was being chased by a God and threw herself in the waters and changed into a Sea Nymph! The bay is HUGE! It is in the shape of a perfect letter C. Tip to tip at the entrance to the bay is over two miles across! She said that there is a magical city down below the entrance that is guarded by a race of fish centaurs called Itchyocentaurs or something like that. Fish Centaurs? I wonder what they look like?¡± I asked the same thing. She said they have a fish body with 4 legs and a fish tail. Attached to that is a human torso and head. They are supposed to be fierce warriors, they guard the citizens of the bay and let no creatures in here. It¡¯s been a stable place for as long as it¡¯s been here. Oh, and one other thing. The bay has a magical event every day. She said that the elder locals say that every day at noon a huge bubble of magic floats up from the area that the city is located. It lasts about four hours. The release of the bubbles creates perfect waves that are magical.¡± Wow! Magical how?¡± Well, from what I can tell they are perfectly spaced out coming in exactly 30 seconds one after the other. When you paddle in the catch one, the wave ¡°accepts¡± you and forms the perfect size according to your ability! The entire town shuts down every day and heads to the beach. From what she said it seems that every person in this village can surf like an expert. From child to elder they are all surf crazed!¡± Crash just stared at her taking it in. ¡°Whoa, no wonder they sent us two here! This sounds like our kinda place! It feels like it is about ten in the morning right? We better get a move on it before noon hits and the place shuts down. Wanna go hit up this newbie center?¡± Malia nodded in agreement. ¡°Yeah, Lets get dressed and hit up this town!¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Crash went in to his wardrobe. There were a bunch of surf shorts and all kinds of shirts including colorful Aloha button-ups. He picked a bright one with parrots slipped on some thongs and headed out. He stopped at the doorway stunned by what Malia was wearing. She had a long, sparkling green sarong that looked like it was made with layered, sparkling scales and a tight sporty black bikini. ¡°Whoa!¡± Was all he could say. Malia twirled for him. ¡°I know right? This sarong makes me look like a Mermaid or Nymph or something!¡± Crash couldn¡¯t tear his eyes away from her. Her long, wild, unbrushed hair was flowing halfway down her back and her shimmering skirt was mesmerizing. She looked like a wild sea Goddess come to human flesh. Malia snapper her fingers at him, ¡°Yo stud, wake up!¡± As she started to turn her back to him Crash could see a slight blush on her face and an all-knowing smile. He shook his head to clear away any impure thoughts and trotted after her. ¡°Coming dear! As the two of them started down the path to the main village Malia reach down and grabbed Crash¡¯s hand. He could almost feel a tiny surge of electricity between the two of them. He looked over at her and smiled. He couldn¡¯t remember that last time he had felt this excited. They were coming around a big bend that was engulfed in tropical plants making it impossible to see anything but the path. They heard what seemed to be a throng of conversation and came out into a large rounded plaza that was packed with locals in some sort of market. When they stepped out into the opening all conversation ceased and the crowd turned towards them. Crash whispered to Malia, ¡°Uh oh, What did I do now?¡± Then as one the entire mass of people started cheering and clapping. Children were jumping up and down and running at them. Malia started to laugh as a tiny feline child of some kind jumped into her arms. An old man with long grey hair tied into a pony hurried up to them. He held out a hand. ¡°Finally we can officially open! Hi there, my name is Oha. I am village elder.¡± He grabbed the cat child from Malia¡¯s hand. ¡°Kala, don¡¯t smother our visitor¡¯s right now we have some things to do!¡± He patted the child on the head and set her down. ¡°run along now.¡± He took Crash¡¯s hand and pumped it up and down. ¡°Seems like we have been waiting ages for our first adventurers to show up. The village is quite excited as you can see. Let¡¯s get you over to the center so we can fill you in!¡± As they walked thru the crowd everyone wanted to shake their hands and offer some kind words of welcome. Men were patting them on the back and the children who seemed to be everywhere were jumping around and pulling at Crash¡¯s shorts for attention. They walked to a standard looking one story village building, but when they stepped inside their mouths both dropped open in amazement. They were in a huge room that looked like a luxury hotel lobby. White marble was everywhere offset by colorful red hibiscus in planters. There were check in counters all over the place and desks behind golden chains and poles. Oha chuckled. ¡°Not what you expected when you saw the building right?¡± Crash shook his head. ¡°This is amazing, How is this lobby so huge?¡± Oha shrugged. ¡°This realm is magical. Anything you can think of is possible. In a month this place will be packed with new arrivals. Bolina Bay is a ¡°Premier¡± starting town you know? We are proud of the fact. No slums or roving bands of thieves here my friends!¡± Oha led them over to a desk. ¡°Have a seat please and let¡¯s get started. First of all take these.¡± He handed each of them a hardened leather pouch the size of an envelope. They had some kind of velcro on the back of them. These are 50 slot pouches of holding. Normal folk will get 5 slotters to start hehe, but your not normal are ya? No indeed! You are our first couple and the most V.I.P.ish we will ever have here, so only the best for you two. You have one of the best villas with the best view also! He winked at both of them. Crash nodded his head at him. It has been amazing so far, thank you.¡± Oha nodded back with a big smile. ¡°OK, I would advise you to attach the pouch on the hip of your dominant hand for the easiest access. Once you place it that¡¯s where it stays forever. Inside of those right now are equipment tailored to your class, some potions, a map of the bay, and an information packet about the do and dont¡¯s of our town. I highly suggest you read that as soon as you leave here.¡± Crash nodded. ¡°We will.¡± Oha pulled two colorful bracelets with seashells and tiny crystals out of the desk and put one in front of each of them. ¡°These are your personal I.D. bracelets They are attuned to your spirit and cannot be faked, copied or hacked. These little babies handle all kinds of good things. They allow you and only you into your villa unless you invite someone in. They can be used when you wish to buy or sell something. Oh by the way, you each have been gifted 20 gold each which is a pretty hefty amount here I can tell you. Anyways you must put those on now in front of me. You don¡¯t want these getting in someone else¡¯s hands before you put them on for the first time heh¡± Malia and Crash attached the bracelets and admired them. They felt a tiny jolt and the bracelets started to twinkle. Oha nodded. ¡°Now with that out of the way I only have a couple of things to ask of you. You know of the magical properties of our bay right?¡± They both nodded. ¡°We will ask all of our new community to observe our customs. From noon to four every day we gather on the beach. You are not required to be at the beach, but you have to observe our custom of not doing ANY business during these hours. No coin can exchange hands from noon to four. It is meant as a time of thanks to our God for keeping Bolina Bay safe. Our God can be a little cranky at times and his siesta is important to him. Do you both understand?¡± His seriousness was plainly evident and they both nodded at him. Great! Now one other thing. Today is a VERY important day of celebration for us. Going forward this date will be know as Pioneer day and celebrated every year. It is the day that will change The Island for better or worse. I have no doubt that you cannot understand how important Adventurers are to us. Our futures and fortunes are tied to you all. We have a little welcoming party going on in the ballroom pagoda out back and we would like you to attend. The people of the community wish to meet and greet you and present you with a most important gift if you would allow it. Then we have our beach hours that I know for sure you will want to see. Finally, tonight is the Pioneer celebrations with fireworks and festivities. You must see it to believe what we have planned!¡± Malia and Crash looked at each other and nodded their heads. The least they could do was to attend these parties that the town was having for them. Crash stuck out his hand to Oha. ¡°Let¡¯s get this party started then!¡± 10 Patch Notes #1.1 The ballroom pagoda that Oha had mentioned was a spectacle. It stood on the other side of the welcoming center and was hidden from sight by huge palm trees until you went all the way around it to an open side that face the bay. The entire building was open to the elements and had 4 separate levels each topped with a rounded roof making it look like a tropical wedding cake building. The entire thing was held up by ten living trees covered in ivies that twisted up their heights. It was decorated in bright white banners that were hung from the railings. The space was filled with locals hovering over tables laden with food and drinks. When Crash and Malia stepped inside the place erupted in applause. Oha put a hand on Crash¡¯s back and guided him to the drink table. ¡°Be sure to try some of the local fruit drinks there are flavors here I¡¯m sure you have never tried.¡± He leaned into the two of them and quietly said, ¡°Don¡¯t turn around for about 30 seconds. They are going to try to surprise you with a gift!¡± Crash and Malia put their heads together and pretended to try and guess what flavor the bright pink drink would be. They heard someone loudly clear their throat behind them and someone said, ¡°Excuse me adventurers?¡± They turned around and found the crowd in a semi-circle around them. A good looking man with a goatee was standing in front of the mob. He bowed deeply to them and said, ¡°On behalf of the people of Bolina Bay and our patron God Barnabus, we would be pleased if you accepted a small token of welcome.¡± The crowd parted and two people stepped forward holding surfing boards. The boards were identical except for the paint jobs. They were big Malibu long-boards with bamboo patterns painted across them. One was yellow in the center that faded to orange and ended in a burnt brown at the edges. The other was pink, purple and black. The both had the words ¡°Barnabus Bomber¡± stenciled at the back end. They were glorious, seeming to have a blue aura surrounding them. ¡°Our best craftsman hand made them for you. They are imbued with mobility and stability enchantments.¡± Crash almost reverently took the yellow one in his hands. The board felt like he had owned it for years. It almost seemed happy to see him. He felt a surge of power and a longing in it. ¡°I have owned hundreds of boards, but I have never had one that almost called out to me!¡± The man smiled happily. ¡°Yes, well, it IS calling to you. I told you that they were hand made for you. That board is magical. It is enchanted and imbued with a blessing to Barnabus. I hope it serves you well!¡± Crash looked over at Malia who still hadn¡¯t said a word. She was holding the board in both hands and resting the side of her head against it as if listening to it. A tear was sliding down her cheek. She looked at Crash in awe and said, ¡°Her name is Fleet and she said she has been waiting for me and she will never let me down!¡± The crowd erupted in jubilation. Crash looked around in confusion. The man looked at him with tears in his eyes and said, ¡°Truly we are blessed, that is only the second ever sentient board in existence and unless I am mistaken yours will be the third!¡± He started jumping up and down pumping his fist in the air. ¡°WOOOOOO!¡± Crash tucked the board under his arm and looked at the man with a grin. ¡°I only have one question for you. How long until noon!¡± A little kid yelled out, ¡°Last one to the beach has to surf goofy foot!¡± The crowd surged thru the doors heading to their homes to grab their gear. Crash turned to Malia. ¡°You heard that pup, let¡¯s not be last!¡± Crash and Malia jogged back to the villa to grab some towels. A maintenance man was in front of their house setting up an elaborate horizontal board stand on their deck. Crash stopped and said, ¡°Is that for these two boards? The man solemnly nodded. ¡°Oh yes. Those are very special boards. They must always be kept outdoors facing the water. They will not like being indoors at all.¡± Crash said, ¡°What about if someone...¡± Someone tries to steal or damage them?¡± He started laughing. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that Sir. These boards can take care of themselves. Nothing short of a God or their owners can handle them for long!¡± Malia came hustling out of the villa with two towels. She threw one over Crash¡¯s head and said, ¡°See ya later Alligator! WOOT!¡± She took off running. Crash let out a big laugh and took off after her. They arrived at the beach and although they saw hundreds of people getting settled in, the beach still had a lot of open space. It was a huge beach. The sand was very soft and cool to the touch. It had a sparkly pink hue. It almost felt like walking on cotton. Malia looked over at him with wide eyes and shrugged and said, ¡°Magic!¡± Someone started waving them over and they recognized Beebee in a one piece blue bathing suit. She had a huge towel set out that could fit ten people on it and two beach umbrellas set behind it offering a little shade. There was a picnic basket sitting opened and a big pitcher filled with ice and something that looked just like margarita in it. Hey guys! Take a seat, welcome to your first break!¡± She shouted. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Malia asked, ¡°Break?¡± Beebee nodded. ¡°Ya, we call these four hours the break. A break from work, a surf break? It¡¯s the break!¡± Malia pointed at her setup. ¡°Is all of this for us?¡± Beebee bobbed her head up and down. ¡°Sure is¡­ Wait until you taste the cuke watermelon tea sammiches I made... deeeeeelish!¡± Malia smiled but hesitated. ¡°Umm Beebee... thanks? But it¡¯s the break, we don¡¯t want you waiting on us and setting up this whole shindig!¡± Beebee got a sad look on her face.¡±Aww, you don¡¯t? But I do this every day! And I want to! And it will look bad on me if you don¡¯t want it! And I might get reassigned! Besides it is cool being able to hang with you guys. ALL of my friends are jealous! I beat out 200 hundred people to get this job! If I don¡¯t¡­¡± Malia interrupted her, ¡°OK, OK, I get it, I¡¯m sorry! If it will upset you not to do this then I get it. Do what you do.¡± Beebee clapped her hands. ¡°Oh thanks Malia it makes me happy to share break with you!¡± She looked over at Crash and winked and put her hands in front of her mouth to cover a laugh. Crash let out a chuckle. ¡°So Beebee I already see a ton of kids out in the water on boards. When do the waves start, and how can so many people be out there at once? Isn¡¯t there a ton of collisions?¡± Beebee smiled at him. ¡°Collisions? As if! The waves will start any minute now. Those kids couldn¡¯t collide with each other even if they tried. Just watch! I¡¯m sure there will be a lot of showing off for you today! No sooner than Beebee stopped talking Crash could see the first wave of the day forming way back by the entrance. It looked crystal clear with just a hint of white water at the top of it. He could hear the kids out on the water let out whoops of excitement and he saw a bunch of them start paddling out. He noticed that three of them, who seemed to be young teenagers, were already in position to grab the first wave. All three of them were paddling to grab it within 5 feet of each other. A sure setup for a multi-person wipe out if he ever saw one. He looked nervously over at Beebee who was grinning. She nodded her face back at the kids making him look back at the coming disaster. All three kids popped up at the same time. Crash murmured ¡°Uh oh here it comes, wipe...¡± Before he could finish something unexplained happened. The kid on the far right was slid along the top of the wave 15 feet away from the kid in the middle. The kid on the left slid, (no, not slid, teleported?) 15 feet in the other direction until the three of them were perfectly evenly spaced out. Crash¡¯s mouth shot open and he looked back at Beebee who started to bend over laughing looking at his surprise. ¡°Oh boy you should see the look you have right now!¡± Crash looked back out with his mouth still wide open! Beebee was having a ball laughing at him. She actually let out a loud seal bark and covered her mouth in embarrassment! ¡°Better close your mouth or you will catch a fly Crash!¡± The second wave was now rolling in and at least ten kids were going for it! Crash watched in amazement as all ten kids, some that looked as young as 8, flawlessly popped-up and started shredding the wave. He saw kids walking up and down their boards. One guy was doing a handstand and he swore he saw a ten year old do a cartwheel! Malia looked over to Beebee and said, ¡°Whoa! These kids are good, is everyone here as good as them?¡± Beebee chuckled. ¡°Those are children Malia. Some of our villagers have been surfing for fifty years. You should see what they can do!¡± Crash looked over at Malia. ¡°Umm, we might not be the best around anymore...¡± She smiled, ¡°Wanna show them what someone from the Pipe can do?¡± He grinned back. ¡°Let¡¯s go for it!¡± Crash and Malia grabbed their boards, hit the water and slowly started paddling out. Crash was about twenty feet out and looked down. The water was crystal clear and he could see right down to the bottom. A beautiful swaying kelp forest was below him filled with colorful fish. He looked up and noticed that all of the kids were coming in with smiles on their faces. They wanted to see what Crash and Malia had. He smiled at the unspoken challenge. They called out encouragement as they passed him. Tear it up Crash!¡± Get some for the girls Malia!¡± Show the old fogies here what you¡¯re made of guys!¡± I love you Malia!¡± I love you more Malia!¡± Talk to your board Crash!¡± I love my best friends girl Crash! What should I do!?¡± Crash whipped his head around. ¡°Huh? What did that dude say!?¡± Malia laughed. ¡°I think someone is trying to throw you Crash. By the way, Beebee told me our boards can ¡°wave whisper¡±. Just tell your board what you want to surf and it will talk to the magic in these waves.¡± Crash and Malia got to the point where they could get a long ride and looked at the wave coming in. ¡°I¡¯m going for a thirty footer, You want tandem or solo rides?¡± Malia said, ¡°Let me have the first one. I¡¯ll soften the crowd up and you can bring home the bacon!¡± Crash gave her the ¡°hang loose¡± shaka and said, ¡°Carve it up baby!¡± Malia took off and caught the wave. Crash started paddling to the next wave and whispered to his board. ¡°OK buddy, what do you say we try a 35 footer with a barrel on it?¡± Crash duck dived thru the wave and turned to paddle right behind it. He caught it with ease and said to his board. ¡°Here we GO BUD!¡± He came over the top of it and dropped-in. The wave that was 10 feet high instantly grew to about 30 feet as he hit the pocket. It was pure glass and straight as an arrow. It was kind of disorienting to be able to look so far down the wave. He did a soul arch with his back and flew down the face gaining speed. The board was so stable it felt like it had training wheels on it. Crash turned and headed back up snapping off the top. He carved up and down shredding the wave. He looked back and a long tube started to form. Crash stalled the board and let the barrel catch him. He entered it and knew right away that there was nothing on Earth like this. He stayed in the tube for a bit running his hand along the inside of the wave. Applying pressure and weight to the front of the board, he shot out of it like a bullet. He went back down to the bottom trough and straight up the face to perform a massive aerial. After some more maneuvers The beach was coming close so Crash deceided to end the ride in his usual style. He zoomed up the ramp, launched, flew out into the air, struck his superman pose and screamed ¡°BANZAI!¡± He did a fancy dive into the water and came up grinning. I really tore that wave up! He could see the kids on the beach jumping up and down and Malia standing there grinning. He held his board up over his head in triumph yelling. ¡°Woo Woo WOOOO! He brought the board down to his lips and kissed it. ¡°Oh my God I love you buddy! I have never felt so perfect on a board before!¡± The board replied, ¡°My name is Monsoon, not Buddy! I think you shall do human.¡± Crash looked down in shock. He sprinted over to Malia ignoring all of the kids shouting at him. He pointed at his board. ¡°Monsoon!¡± Malia raised an eyebrow. ¡°He told you his name!?¡± Crash nodded his head up and down as fast as he could. ¡°UH HUH! AND I TOLD HIM I LOVED HIM AND HE TOLD ME BACK HE LOVED ME TOO! And I¡¯m gonna keep him forever and buff him and wax him and love him...¡± Malia started laughing. Monsoon said, ¡°I did not say I loved you, I said I think you might do!¡± Malia stepped back in shock. ¡°I heard that!¡± Monsoon said, ¡°Of course you heard me lovely lady, you hold my most beloved in your hands, Lady Fleet!¡± Crash was waving over all of the kids that were vying for his attention. ¡°Guys come here! I would like everyone to meet my board! His name is MONSOON! Come give him some love. You with the crazy orange pants¡­ come rub him!¡± Malia started cracking up. ¡°Alright guys no one molest the living surf board! Wow Crash¡­ I have never seen someone hit a wave that perfectly before! That was epic! I mean it! A ten across the boards for sure!¡± Crash nodded. ¡°I know! It wasn¡¯t me though, it was him. I mean ya... some of it was me, but did you see that ollie? I could never whip the nose back that fast before. And he stalls like you¡¯re driving a car hitting the brakes. I¡¯ve never felt anything like it. I would win every single tourney I entered with him. It would be cheating of course, but wow!¡± Crash high-fived every kid and sent them on their way. He gave crazy pants a slap on the ass for good luck. He leaned over and planted a big kiss on Malia¡¯s lips. She stepped back a little shocked. ¡°Umm OK! What was that for!¡± He gave her a big shit eating grin. ¡°It was long overdo¡­ Can we try again?¡± 11 Patch Notes #1.2 The NPC Bishop O¡¯Connor who rings the bell atop the Thousand Step Tower every day, can no longer be thrown over the edge to his death. Also the cookie baking trainer Sister Stevens, in the same church, can no longer be prompted to commit lewd acts by spamming the phrase ¡°Kneed my dough.¡± Crash was going thru the wardrobe that was provided for him. He noticed that half of his Aloha shirts were parrot themed. He picked a bright red shirt with green parrots. He walked out into the living room and asked Malia, ¡°Did you notice an over abundance of parrots on your clothing?¡± Crash nudged Malia. ¡°Hey that dude looks familiar! Who is that?¡± Malia snarled, ¡°Ya, I recognize that jackass. His name is Jonni Fastplay, he is in all of the reality tv shows. He always plays the jerky, bad guy role. He tried to hook up with me thru my socials once and when I turned him down he harassed me for weeks!¡± Crash narrowed his eyes at the guy. ¡°I take it you don¡¯t want to meet him then?¡± Malia shook her head. ¡°Hell no, I¡¯d end up punching him!¡± Crash nodded, ¡°Ok I get it, but I do want to find out what he is doing here. I was told that we would be the only two on The Island for a couple of weeks.¡± She waved him away. ¡°Go for it, I¡¯ll grab a drink and find Oha, I have some questions about how to pick up some crafting trades to work on in our down time.¡± Crash shook his hand and Jonni gave him more than the necessary pressure needed and grinned. ¡°Jonni how are you? I have seen you on a few tv shows. I take it you are one of our lucky celeb guests in Ever Ever?¡± Jonni nodded. ¡°Yup. This is my fourth day actually. Hit level 10 this afternoon and I deserved a break so I took a boat over here for your big welcoming party! Wanted to meet the top live streamers in the preview!¡± Crash lifted his eyebrows. ¡°We are the top stream?¡± He chuckled. ¡°How did that happen and how do you know that?¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Easy, my producer told me. We talk twice a day, go over strats for domination. He felt that it would be good for me to be seen by your forty million and send them a little message.¡± He looked back at Crash. ¡°You know you can consult with your producer anytime you want to right? Just ask the eye in the sky and you shall receive. I¡¯d advise you get out there in the real world soon. You don¡¯t want to fall too far behind and end up letting this sweet little village burn to the ground with no protectors. You know what I mean?¡± Crash shook his head. ¡°No actually I don¡¯t know what you mean. Care to elaborate?¡± He pointed over at the stage. ¡°See those three hula dancers? Wanna bet me 50k that I can¡¯t get all three of them in the sack tonight? Crash shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s not too cool bro.¡± Crash wandered around looking for Malia in the crowd. He spotted Beebee dancing with another seal, this one looking decidedly male and wearing a dozen flowered Leis. She saw him and waved. ¡°Malia asked me to tell you that she was headed over to the Sloshed Siren. It¡¯s that complex on the far left side of the bay with the boardwalk in front of it. She said something about wanting to get as far away from someone as possible.¡± Well, this must be the place!¡± He smiled as he saw Malia up near a long bar with her arms interlocked with two women. The entire bar had arms locked and were swaying back and forth as they bellowed out the end of the song: ¡°SOOO, Jack jumped on the bed¡­ He looked down at Big Red¡­ Stripped off his pantaloons¡­ THAT WASN¡¯T MY PEG LEG!¡± ¡°AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!¡± The bar erupted in laughter! Malia spotted him in the doorway and ran over and jumped up on him placing a big kiss on his lips! ¡°Oh Crash this place freaking rocks!¡± The people are so friendly and the sing along songs are so dirty! I love this place, it is officially my new hang!¡± Malia liked arms with him and dragged him to the bar. ¡°Sounds great, I wanna introduce you to my future B.F.F.s, They are badass sentry''s on the Bay¡¯s security squad.¡± Hope grabbed his bicep and squeezed it. ¡°Wow, Malia is this hunk of man flesh yours? And will you share?¡± Hope giggled. Malia laughed. ¡°1 He is mine and 2 maybe when we get to know each other better!¡± Crash almost spit his mouthful of drink all over the place. ¡°Malia!¡± The girls all started giggling. Faith said, ¡°Where have you been Crash? I can¡¯t believe you left Malia all alone on her second night here!¡± ¡°Ugg!¡± Malia spit out. ¡°I told you that guy was a creep, what did he have to say for himself, why was he here?¡± Crash shrugged ¡°I got the feeling he was jealous of me. He was shooting veiled threats left and right. He also mentioned how he liked messing with the locals. A real creep for sure, you were right!¡± Right after Crash chugged down 30 ounces of rum drink the band struck up a song that made the bar erupt in cheers. Malia and Hope grabbed Crash by the arms and started dragging him to the dance floor. ¡°You make feel like dancin! Gonna dance the night away!¡± 12 Patch Notes #1.3 Luring in the Vampires of Darkenend Deep to the Hobbit¡¯s Garrod Hall using bags of Hobbit blood will no longer be tolerated. This is a mechanic that was never intended to be viable. Hobbits will no longer be able to be drained of their blood. Along the same line of game play Hobbits will also no longer be able to be chained to the walls and tortured. Crash moaned and tried to roll himself over. ¡°OMG, someone just finish me off please! I am never going to try shots of Hydra juice ever again!¡± Malia called from the other room, ¡°Come drink a glass of this magical mango-ade! It wipes your hangover out in seconds!¡± Crash dropped off of the bed and crawled on his hands and knees to the living room. ¡°What happened? I remember doing those shots and then¡­ a big blank!¡± ¡°Are you telling me you don¡¯t remember stripping down to your briefs jumping up on stage grinding and screaming Channing Tatum Baby!?¡± She started laughing. Crash sat back and froze. ¡°Please tell me that isn¡¯t true! That¡¯s not funny!¡± Malia nodded. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but it is true. It wasn¡¯t funny, but it was sexy as all hell! The women in the bar went crazy and a few other men joined you on stage!¡± I think we made 5 gold total from a bunch of senior citizen ladies throwing silver at you!¡± Malia showed him a handful of coins. Crash leaned back and groaned. ¡°I¡¯m ruined!¡± Malia smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, if anything you¡¯re more popular than ever. People were slapping you on the back and giving you kisses all the way out to the front door. I was practically fighting off women trying to take you home. Hope and Faith had to stop people from following us home. One woman almost made it inside here but Monsoon blew her off of the deck.¡± Crash stared at her to see if she way lying. She seemed serious. ¡°Huh? Well it could have been worse I guess. I can¡¯t remember being that drunk before. Hope kept pouring drinks in my mouth every time I turned to talk to her. She¡¯s like an Amazon, I couldn¡¯t fight her off she is way stronger than me!¡± From the kitchen a voice rang out, ¡°I am not an Amazon, but you¡¯re right I am way stronger than you!¡± He heard a different voice snicker. He looked over at Malia. She shrugged. ¡°I let the girls take my bed. It was super late when we got home.¡± Crash rolled his eyes. He barked out. ¡°Thanks for the escort home ladies, even if it was Hope¡¯s fault for how drunk I got!¡± He heard more snickering from the kitchen. Crash finished his drink and looked at the glass. ¡°You were right my hangover is totally gone.¡± Malia clapped her hands. ¡°Chop chop stud. Grab your gear. Faith told me where the newbie zone is. We are going to adventure today! By the way, all of the heads up functions operate by pure thought. Whatever you want to do or see you just need to think about it. Try thinking real hard for one second about statistics.¡± Crash said in his voice in his head, ¡°Show me my statistics.¡± A list popped up: Con: 10 Str: 14 Agi: 18 Dex: 15 Int: 11 Wis: 10 Sta: 14 Lck: 20 ¡°20 Luck?¡± Malia smirked and waved her hands up and down over her body. ¡°I¡¯d say you¡¯re a VERY lucky man!¡± Crash asked, ¡°I take it the base of our stats is a flat 10?¡± Malia nodded, ¡°Yes and no. Ever Ever has a much more complicated formula. Every base stat has five components to it. And even some of those sub-components have their own factors. Call your stats up again and concentrate on agility. I bet that is your highest stat because of surfing, it¡¯s my highest.¡± Crash brought up the list again and concentrated on agility. A list popped up: Agility: Response (Int): 12 Coordination: 19 Balance: 19 Reflex: 18 Speed: 14 Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Crash was impressed. ¡°Wow, that is crazy in depth. I bet you can work on those skills out of combat to increase the over all stat. I see my speed can use some work.¡± Malia nodded. ¡°Yeah, Faith was saying that there are libraries all over the world that you can go to. They have zone specific books that will drive up your intelligence. I wanna hit some up when we travel.¡± Crash was perusing through the statistics. ¡°Hmm I never realized that dexterity had so much to do with hand coordination. If you build your dex up... crafting skills come easier to you, neat... Makes sense if you think about it.¡± Malia nodded staring off at her own stats. ¡°Yeah, look at Int. There is an entire sub section involved in dealing with people. Perception, Psychology, Empathy, Sexuality and Subconscious Aura Reading.¡± ¡°Huh? My mom always did tell me she could read people. I always thought she was b.s.ing me.¡± She looked over. ¡°You never mention your Mother. Is she still alive?¡± Crash looked up from his stat viewing. ¡°Not much to mention. She was a super smart computer coder. Silicon Valley kept calling her to go work there. It was her dream job. On about their thousandth try they offered her so much that she didn¡¯t refuse. She begged my Dad to go but he wouldn¡¯t leave Hawaii. She moved when I was about 10 years old. Been just me and my dad ever since. She works at some super secret high tech company, never told me shit about it. I rarely even talk to her.¡± Malia said, ¡°Oh Crash, I¡¯m sorry. How did your dad take it?¡± Crash shrugged. ¡°I catch him looking at her pictures every now and then. They never did actually get divorced. I¡¯ve never seen him without his wedding band on. He always says that I am a male carbon copy of her. I¡¯m positive he still loves her.¡± Malia gave a nod in sympathy. ¡°Ok, on a lighter note¡­ have you looked at the map at all? The only area with any detail we can see is the Bay, However, you can zoom way, way out and view The Island in it¡¯s entirety. The Island is almost 2000 miles long. The size of the U.S. east coast. If you look it is roughly in the shape of a giant letter B. There is a mountain ridge that runs down the middle of it from the bottom of the south all the way north. I¡¯m guessing over on the west coast is higher level areas. By the way we are on the bottom eastern half.¡± Crash called out, ¡°Hope, Faith, can you come out here for a minute? I have a few questions?¡± The two women walked into the room while jamming breakfast burritos in their faces. Crash nodded at them. ¡°Thanks, can you tell me a couple things? First is there a quest hub anywhere that will guide us to where we should be headed? Secondly is there a reason I was given so many items of clothing with parrots on it and why I saw so much parrot clothing being worn all over town?¡± Faith started, ¡°There are two main roads out of town and a few paths that are less seldomly used. The southern pass leads out to the west coast and you should avoid that for a while. The northern road is where you want to head. The entrance is packed with quests. All of the goods come into town there and the main garrison is located there. There is also a large posting board there with bounties and quests on it¡± Hope spoke up. ¡°You were very perceptive about Parrots. The Island is home to many races, but the Parrotheads are one of the most numerous. Think six foot Parrots standing on skinny legs. There might be more Parrotheads on this land than humans. The Tortiles are a very close third. They are a race of sentient half Human / half Tortoise. They have hardened skin and a natural shell that grows out of their backs. The Tortiles and the Parrotheads do NOT get along at all. The Parrotheads generally like Humans in a weird kind of way. It¡¯s like a master / pet thing but more complicated than that. The Tortiles want nothing that Humans can provide and thus they tend to not interact with us.¡± Faith butted in, ¡°By the way, I must warn you. Do NOT piss off a Parrothead. That is to say, not unless you have ear protection.¡± Crash gave her a look of questioning. ¡°Have you ever been in anyone¡¯s house who owns a few birds as pets? Have you been there when they become annoyed and start squawking? It¡¯s loud and annoying right? Now imagine a six-foot two pissed off parrot that squawks in your face. Now imagine five of them doing that. The first time any of you adventurers fight with them you will get a skill-up to muffle the noise. However, you will also be headed to your respawn because that squawk will have sonically stunned you.¡± Hope spoke again. ¡°Before you head out into the wild I would suggest you go find Old Nannu. He is the Head Priest of Barnabus here. He can tell you how to set up a shrine to your God. You need a shrine to bind your soul to so you can respawn. Normally you would bind to Barnabus¡¯s shrine, but you are Destiny¡¯s Child. You need to make a shrine to her to bind to. If you die while not bound to your God¡­ Well I don¡¯t know, I imagine you just die and never come back. Ask in the market for Nannu. He is no doubt praying at his shrine. He can tell you what to do. Crash and Malia made their way to the market place and were told where to find Nannu a ways off the beaten path behind the newbies center. When they arrived the shrine was not what they expected. As they were examining it a man walked quietly walked up behind them. ¡°Not quite what you expected of a religious shrine is it?¡± Both of them jumped from being startled by the guy. ¡°Sheesh, give a guy a warning before you sneak up on him.¡± The man chuckled. ¡°Barnabus and his priests are all sneaky. We know how big of an advantage it is!¡± He held out his hand. ¡°Nannu, Nice to meet you... Crash and Malia right? You are here to ask about your shrine to Destiny right? I¡¯ve been waiting for you.¡± Crash nodded. ¡°Ya, we need a bind point so I guess we need a shrine. First thing though. Is that an organic pirate ship?¡± ¡°Color me impressed Crash, you have a good eye. That think took me over 20 years to get perfect, but it was worth it. I carved a huge rock for years to get the shape right and then planted over 50 different types of plants and flowers. Barnabus himself approved and blessed it thank the Gods.¡± He proudly smiled. Malia bobbed her head up and down. ¡°Nice, but why a pirate ship?¡± Nannu waggled a finger at her. ¡°Good question. Barnabus you see was a Pirate himself back in his mortal days. In fact, he was the greatest pirate in the history of Ever Ever. He was miles ahead of any other Pirate in wealth and created a Pirate capital right here on the northern tip of The Island. Pirates started worshiping him for good luck on the seas and then they started coming to him personally to plead for his blessings. He had an entire city of Pirates worshiping him as a living God and sure enough he turned into one! Malia clapped her hands. ¡°Wow, a real rags to riches story! So what happened to him? Has anyone seen him?¡± Nannu nodded. ¡°Of course. He pops up all the time. I told you he blessed this shrine himself. I have had the honor of meeting him a few times. He frequents this area the most actually.¡± Malia said, ¡°This Bay? Why?¡± Nannu talked as if quoting scripture. ¡°Barnabus was smitten with a woman. She was a king¡¯s daughter from across the sea. She was beautiful of course, but more than that she had a wit about her that could shame any pirate in the world and Barnabus loved that more than anything. Barnabus wanted to marry this woman more than anything he had ever wanted. But Bolina hated the city of pirates where the ordinary folks were never truly safe. She wanted Barnabus to clean it out or clear out of it. He was torn. It was his beloved city that he had founded and the Pirates were his flock. He tried to stall Bolina, but she snuck off in the dead of night. Barnabus grew furious at the deceit and chased her in his magical Pirate ship.¡± He paused and pointed up at the shrine behind him and seeing them nod in understanding, he continued. Bolina made it to this very bay when Barnabus finally caught up to her. He sank the ship carrying her and only rescued her letting the crew drown in the waves. She was so upset that she cursed him and told him that she would never be his bride for she could never love such a cruel man. She said she felt more for the drown sailors he let die than she did for him. Barnabus told her that if that was true she would spend eternity with those men... Never to escape this bay... He picked her up by the neck and changed her into a water creature and cast her into the waters. He then reached into the deep and made that crew into a hideous fish centaur race to imprison her.¡± Tears started falling from Nannu¡¯s eyes. ¡°Barnabus was so upset with himself that he tore his own magical ship to pieces. They fell into the deep and made a magical city down below the waves. His magic was so strong that to this day it causes the Break. It is said that Barnabus himself still resides here waiting for Bolina to surface so he can apologize. Bolina Bay has a protective dome over it that has never been broken by any hostile force. That is how we know that this story is true. Well, that and the fact that the Break happens every day. That¡¯s how the Break started ya know... Barnabus told the first villagers here that they had to stand witness for the Break every day in case Bolina arises from below...¡± The High Priest sat down against the base of his shrine. ¡°Go to the place of meeting your Goddess and call out to her. She will come. Now leave me. Telling the tale of Barnabus and Bolina fills me with grief every time.¡± ¡°I need to smoke a bowl and chill. Begone!¡±