Real-World Test Run

Nermeria's second day with the _Ankle bracelet of Masking _was much, much more informative then the first. Getting comfortable with the bracelet's abilities, she peaked out the window house, observing several passing NPC's names, class descriptions and other miscellaneous information. Once she had worked with it enough, she'd created a bio to be proud. One that hopefully would let her run undercover throughout the city, eliciting no more glances then any other NPC in the game. She popped open her GUI.

Name: Rose Richardson

Major Class: NPC - Town Dweller - NPC

Minor Class: NPC - Clerk - NPC

Major Class Description: One of the many residents of the city of Asburn, this Non-Player Character (NPC) makes up the non-adventurer class of the King's realm. Still, do not underestimate their importance. Might this resident have a quest, item or discussion to lead you on your hero's journey?

Minor Class Description: A clerk is primarily concerned with paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. Their day-to-day job varies depending upon their specialty, but most ensure the functions of either government, commerce, or the institution they are associated with.

General Overview:

[STATS HIDDEN - NPC]

Nermeria giggled to herself as she read the bio, taking one more peak to see if it seemed inline with the hundreds of NPCs bios. It did. Jumping up and down in her home, she felt a sense of relief wash over her, for two reasons.

Her class drew attention on her, constantly. Players would ask how she'd spec'd into such a specific realm of combat, if they could train them, how long she'd been in the game, etc. etc. For someone who was attempting to be a rogue and keep her identity under wraps, that attention was always a negative. More generally, it just annoyed her to be stopped when she ran errands, stopped when she was returning or fetching a quest, stopped when she....

Shaking her head, Nermeria brought herself back to the moment, and to the bigger reason she was happy she'd stumble across this item.

The game's NPCs recognized players, no matter what they did, no matter how they dressed, nor the spells they cast. She'd once snuck into a town's more hidden areas, and discovered a vault filled with god knows what. Excited to finally use her lockpicking outside of dungeons, she'd begun to pick it, until a NPC snuck up on her and immediately handed her a quest, booting her from the area she'd gotten into.

It happened every single damn time. Hopefully, however, the NPCs would be fooled by this mechanic. Idea's ran through her head already for the usages....

A ding notified her of a buff lost. Nermeria checked her GUI.

Buff Lost!:

A Clean Hearth (24 Hour Duration - Middle Size Home Level): Reason- 24 hour duration hit 0

Grinning at that, Nermeria steeled herself for the next part of the plan. Soon, the maids would arrive to her home to do their daily sweeps of the neighborhood, and she would finally be able to test the true abilities of the ankle bracelet. A knock at her door alerted her of the presence of the maids, whom looked at her robotically, until one spoke up.

"Is...." The maid's smooth voice took a second. "Mistress Nermeria, the owner of this home, currently present?"

"No. I am was directed to allow you access to perform cleaning, however." Nermeria said, staring at the three women as they seemed to contemplate her words. All three broke out in smiles, much to Nermeria's relief.

"Great, did the mistress of the home provide you copper for our payment?" The tallest one asked Nermeria, seeing nothing wrong with the woman in front of her.

"She did." Nermeria replied, trying her best robotic voice alongside acting like a NPC. It was working! Truthfully, she wasn't being questioned, or handed a quest or stupid conversation. The possibilities....Nermeria handed over the copper, and the women all got to work.

A thought popped into Nermeria's mind as she watched the women quickly scrub throughout the already decently clean home. She could get into other players homes dressed like a maid...Having no better plan then just asking one of the girls how to become a maid, Nermeria rehearsed her lines.

"The mistress of the home wished for me to ask how I might become a maid just as you are." She asked the tallest blonde maid. The woman seemed to process her question, then nodded and smiled. Pulling something from her knapsack, she shoved it into Nermeria's hands.

"Our agency is located on Cornwey Pass, which is..." She began explaining the directions to Nermeria. "If you'd like, we can take you there when we are finished with this street's cleaning."

"Oh, it's quite fine, I do not wish to hassle you three ladies." Nermeria replied, not expecting the suddenness of the whole conversation. What she wanted was the maid uniform, just so she could potentially sneak in to nearby person's homes....

The maid's left her home and, after close to a hour passed, they came back to Nermeria's home. Nermeria had dressed in her most discreet garb, sweating bullets at what she was being roped into. What if the maids were just a one off? Would anyone notice her, possibly remember her face as the 'Magical Rogue' and wonder why she was walking with NPC's?

Her worries were unfounded. Moving through the city with her three escorts, she soon forgot they'd even existed. People treated her....normal. Like she was forgettable. She forgot even that as she talked with the three women, all of whom were covered in dirt and looked exhausted; still, their spirits were high, and each seemed to enjoy talking to 'Rose', Nermeria's alter ego.

Maggie, Sue, and Jermia, that was the three women's names. She learned that when they arrived at the agency. Being waited on by an excited receptionist, she soon was seated in a poorly rendered room with an old crone. Apparently, they'd never expected a player to see this section of the map...

"Alright dear, we'll just sign some paperwork and you can show up when you'd like to work as a maid." The old crone said to her, her poorly pixelated toothy grin unsettling Nermeria a bit. Just where was she?

She signed the fake document as 'Rose Richardson', making it purposely look just a bit illegible. She was given a similar knapsack to the tall blonde girl who had escorted her here. Feeling her heart rate rise, she fled as soon as they said she had all she needed, not checking the bag's contents until she was safely back in her home.

It was a gold mine of things, truthfully. The same maid outfit that the women had worn, some of their equipment, and schedules when to show up and expected pay. Placing it on top her bed, Nermeria giddily tried it on, struggling a bit with the large dirty dress, but she made it work. In seconds, she felt a few _dings _as she checked her GUI.

New Minor Class!: NPC - Maid - NPC

Minor Class 2 Description: This resident of Asburn is in the business of cleaning, and cleaning is their business. Offer them a few copper and they come clean your hearth. With enough gold, one may have live-in maids in their residence. An expert in all things housekeeping and cleaning, they know their way around the broom.

Level 1 of ??? [NPC Only Minor-Class]

New Items Equipped!:

Right Handheld: Duster - A humble duster used by the NPC 'Maid' class. Increases efficacy of 'Housekeeping' skill by 12.5%! [NPC Only Item]

Main Body: Maid Uniform - A dirty, somewhat squalid dress, this is the uniform for the realm's many maids, or more gender neutrally, servants. Keeping their body clean from any muck, the several layer dress is certainly fitting for a maid. Increases 'Housekeeping' by a base of 21 points, and makes skill gains 10% easier! [NPC Only Item]

Feet: Maid Boots - Boots fit for a cleaner, these allow servants to walk through the messes of any adventurer. Increases 'Housekeeping' skill by a base of 1 point. [NPC Only Item]

New Skill Discovered!:

Housekeeping - What adventurer wishes to come home, tired from a long time of conquering evil and slaying beasts, to a dirty home and empty pot? None! Thus, housekeeping is an important task throughout all of the realm, even if not for players!

Level 22 of 100 [NPC Only Skill]

Item Progressed:

Ankle bracelet of masking - Level 1 of ???, experience of 55 gained for (using in interactions). 45 more experience to level up!

Laughing to herself at the aspect of the game she had seen, but imagined she was certainly not supposed to witness, Nermeria stripped herself of the maid outfit, and the ankle bracelet of masking. Interestingly enough, the Housekeeping skill stayed unlocked, but all the items she had formerly been able to wear became unequipable without the ankle bracelet on.

Interesting!

Nermeria thought of the many schemes she could hatch with the bracelet.....