My Time At Portia -- One of my favourite games and I haven't even "finished" it yet.
I started a character a few months ago, after receiving the game from my Humble Bundle subscription, and proceeded to live in the world for 82 hours solid. Unfortunately I'm one of those people who, if something else takes my attention for too long, I can't just get back into the game where I left off. Hence my, approximately, 60 odd Skyrim characters.
And so, after several months away I started a new person! Maybe this time I'll finish the game. In 200 hours or so, heh heh heh.
Meet Alluri Ona:
Apart from her tanned skin, I think she's basically the same as the last character! Now, it's time to see if she can surpass the greatness of the last character. 😁
Fresh off the boat, Alluri Ona lays eyes on her new home -- Portia. It looks nice. A pity she's expected to live up to the name of her father: a great builder. She's never even met the guy! He walked out on her and her family when she was a mere bug crawling around on a tattered rug and fled to a continent far away.
At least, after all the hurt endured over the years, he had left her a legacy.
"What a dump," she sighed.
Bursts of wind pushed through the giant cracks and holes in the walls and floor, the bed was as old and rickety as her grandmother, and only a tiny smidgen of sunlight pierced through the dirt-caked windows.
This legacy was in dire need of some fixing.
Rummaging around outside for some wood, Alluri Ona hammered them into place, stood back, and admired her handiwork. The breeze no longer squeezed its way into her new home. She wouldn't get sick of a cold and die -- hooray!
Even more important was the fact she had successfully smashed some wood into place. Maybe she could be a builder after all.
Excited to potentially be a part of something great and help the people of her newfound city, she rushed into the local builders association and proudly announced her intentions.
"Fantastic. Wonderful!" cried Presley, the leader of the builders association and commerce guild. "We always need more builders. How lovely you're following in your father's footsteps."
"I will be better than him," Alluri Ona sniffed. "I will be the greatest!"
"If you want to be the greatest, you'd best get started on some commissions. I've got one right here--"
"I'll take that, thank you," a snooty voice interrupted, grabbed the paperwork out of Presley's hand, and waltzed off out the building.
"Who the hell was that horse-faced man?" Alluri Ona gasped.
"That's Higgins. He's a dick but we all have to work with him. He's currently got the Number One Workshop in the region so if you want to be the greatest builder, he will be your nemesis."
Alluri Ona simulated smearing warpaint over her face and solemnly nodded.
Before Presley could say any more, the door whipped open.
"Hey Presley! I've got a job that needs doin'."
"Ah, Arlo, just in time! We've got a new builder who'll take it. Won't you, Alluri?"
"Uh, sure," Alluri Ona said, staring in awe at the tall, handsome stranger.
"We need to build a bridge," he said matter-of-factly. "Mayor wants to make a haunted cave attraction on the island cave."
"I can totally build a bridge," smiled Alluri Ona, without the slightest clue of how to actually make a bridge.
"Fantastic! See you around, builder!" he winked and exited.
Presley shook his head, sighed, and handed her a book filled with diagrams.
"You'll need a lot of materials to make a bridge, lass. Blueprints're in this book. Good luck."
Dancing out of the builders guild, Alluri Ona proceeded to gather materials. She chopped down trees! Thrust her pickaxe at chunks of stone! And then kicked at trees that were too big for her to chop!
She spent days building storage, gathering more supplies, and honing her skills. All to become the greatest builder in the region and to show off to the red-haired guy who had whipped open a door and pranced into her life.
She would be the greatest!
She would build that bridge!
She would kick rainbow llama butt!
"Come at me bro!" she cried, raising her fists and punching every llama she found.
With a trail of llamas at her back and their colourful fur overflowing in her pockets, she stopped, took a deep breath, and ran back to her workshop.
"Crap -- I'm supposed to be building a bridge!"
Tripping over her workshop stage, she ploughed into her worktable and ripped her clothes.
"Crap -- now I need new clothes!"
Running to the tailor before it closed, Alluri Ona promptly bought some new clothes... new clothes somehow imbued with extra stamina so as to allow her to work longer hours.
"More stamina is always good," she smiled. "Maybe it's a good thing these clothes tore apart."
Suddenly, halfway through getting dressed, a loud gong rang three times, signifying a town meeting.
Quickly pulling her new hat over her eyes, Alluri Ona ran to the town square and joined the masses for the town meeting.
The mayor flailed his arms, paced back and forth, then giggled wildly.
"A new bridge! A new bridge will be being built soon! Ehehehe!"
Higgins marched over, shoved his way through the crowd, and glared at Alluri Ona.
"Excuse me. No-one told me, the number one builder in this region, about a bridge. Why am I not building this bridge? Hmmmmm???"
No-one bothered to answer him and the mayor kept flailing his arms.
"A bridge, a bridge! Ehehehe!"
This guy really wanted that bridge. Alluri Ona lowered her head, feeling guilty that she had spent three days slaughtering rainbow llamas for their luxurious rainbow cotton, and went back to the workshop to sleep.
The next day, she opened up the dusty old book Presley had given her and studied it thoroughly. She needed a lot of wood and a lot of copper and some rope to tie it all together.
She had all that stuff...
She could do this!
"I can do this!" she screamed, racing to where the bridge was supposed to be built.
Hammering away like a madwoman, her bangs and thumps echoed out over the quiet colourful-llama ridden meadows and reverberated around the city.
They would know that their bridge was being built.
The mayor would know.
The handsome stranger would know!
At last, the final nail had been driven down, the last rope had been tied about the last post, and to her amazement she didn't fall through the thing when she stood atop its centre.
It was satisfactory.
Taking a moment to bask in the glow of her completed work, she smiled.
She was a builder.
Until next time,
thanks for stopping by! 😊
, from the game: My Time At Portia