Chapter 1 – Welcome to Moga
"Huh. I thought this place would be larger." Jake muttered as the fishing village came into sight.
"Well, it was listed by the Guild as a 'quaint seaside town'." John replied from the rear of the ship. "A perfect place to start our hunting career!"
The two young men had wanted to hunt since they could play-fight with wooden swords and slingshots. On occasion, one would role-play as the monster, and the other would be the brave hunter risking it all for whatever reason their juvenile minds could think of. The two did grow up, but their dream grew with them, as they constantly sought to make it into a reality. They took countless training classes, from setting traps to combining items. So as soon as they both were at the required age to become hunters for the elite Hunter's Guild, John and Jake jumped at the opportunity, sending applications. It took a few months, but the Guild picked them out over hundreds of other applicants, partially because the majority of the applicants had no training, and wanted "to hold one of those big greatswords as the sun sets behind me". The Guild knew these two new recruits would be overwhelmed by a large city such as Loc Lac, so they sent them to a much smaller place. Moga Village needed a hunter or two to fend off monsters from the nearby woods, as the beasts were slowly encroaching upon their land. A low-danger zone perfect for two rookies to get their bearings.
"Whoa!" John shouted. Their boat was shaking all of a sudden, as were the waters around it.
"Just another one of those tremors." the Felyne captain chimed in. "Nya-thing to worry about!"
"I should hope so." Jake said. "This village doesn't look sturdy enough to withstand many of those." Indeed, the town did look flimsy. Its structure was simply wood, with planks for the ground, which were held up by thick support poles going around ten feet underwater. Stable enough for the rustling of everyday life? Certainly. Stable enough for repeated earthquakes? Not likely.
"Alright, we've docked at Moga Village, nya!" the captain purred. "Please take all of your purrlongings with you off of the boat, as the Guild is nyat responsible for anything lost." And with that, Jake and John grabbed their bags and stepped off of the boat and onto the dock, the boards creaking as they stood.
Upon seeing the hunters, everyone in the village stopped what they were doing. The fishers looked away from their lines, the children stopped playing ball to stare, and even the smithy's hammer fell silent. The two felt extremely uncomfortable as they walked, but the unease was soon broken by the laughter of the village's chieftain, sitting on his stool. The villagers took this as a good sign, and went back to their activities.
"There's my hunter!" the chief shouted, still laughing. But when the smoke from his pipe cleared, he saw the Guild sent not one rookie, but two. "Oh. Right. There's two of ya. It still works, though!" He began laughing yet again, and this time Jake and John joined in, but felt a bit uneasy about it. "Name's Intaishita Eiyu, but you could just call me by last name; everyone else does. If you've got something wrong with your eyes and couldn't tell, I'm Moga's chieftain."
"Nice to meet you, Eiyu." Jake responded. "I'm-"
"Not to be rude," Eiyu rudely interrupted. "But there's no need for formalities. The Guild covered all that in the paperwork. You're Jake, a blademaster, and John, a gunner."
"So, where will we be staying?" John said. He was already a bit weary from holding his luggage for this long.
"Ah yes, your lodgings." Eiyu answered. "I'll get to that after your little tour." The old man stood up, and motioned for the two to follow him. "This here's the Guild's official quest center they set up for you two." The counter was sand-colored, with bright red borders. There was also a red flag hanging, with the Guild's insignia in white. The counter seemed almost out of place in such an otherwise modest village.
"Pardon my detective skills," John said. "But there's nobody here."
"Oh, right." Eiyu recalled. "The lass that'll run this said she'd be here in a few days. Until then, you could do some hunting practice in the woods. They're within walking distance from the village."
The trio then went to the merchants, then to the fishermen, and then to Eiyu's adult son, who told the hunters he'd 'talk more when Pops wasn't around'. They were headed to the blacksmith, but Jake stopped them.
"There's a signpost here." he observed, along with not mentioning the large wooden bridge to an adjacent island. "It reads 'Moga Farm'. Did you forget to show us this?"
"Well, due to all these earthquakes we've been having recently," the chief answered. "the farm's kinda in disarray. We're getting it fixed up as fast as we can, but feel free to head there on your own time. Now, don't you wanna see the smithy to get your blades and bowguns?" The mention of shiny, newly-forged weapons made Jake and John stick to Eiyu like a Gigginox to a ceiling. They were there in a matter of seconds; after all, this was a very small place.
The blacksmith stood in front of a giant furnace, with a metal board jutting in for smithing purposes.
"So, these are the two I'll be forging for?" the blacksmith piped up. He was short, balding, and had grey hair that suggested that him and Eiyu were around the same old age.
"Yes, Kaj. Jake here is a blademaster, and John's a gunner. Should give you a bit of diversity to make things interesting."
"Now before you two say anything my hammer will make you regret," Kajiya growled at the two young hunters surprised by his appearance. "I'm a Wyverian. A right old one, at that. We've taught you humans basic things long ago, stuff like fishing and hunting. As Eiyu over there said, my name's Kajiya. Just call me Kaj; this place is built on nicknames anyways."
"Mr. Cynical there and I were close friends back in the day." Eiyu mentioned. "We would go hunting together. Ah, the days when I could wield a hefty greatsword…"
"What weapon did Kaj use?" John asked, resulting in 3 unimpressed stares.
"Anyways," Kaj continued. "I've already made you two some weapons and armor." He turned around and grabbed a longsword and a bowgun off of his crafting bench, which also had several other projects on it, some finished, some still needing work. "This here's an Iron Katana," he said as he struggled to hand the longsword to Jake without falling over himself. "And here's yer Cross Bowgun." Kaj handed it to John, along with a Guild-approved gunner's manual on different ammunition types. "I've put two full sets of Leather armor inside the hut you'll be staying in. It's actually right between here and that quest counter."
"These are very nice weapons." Jake remarked, holding his new katana at different angles, being careful not to behead anyone. This remark caused Kaj to chuckle. "What's so funny?" Jake asked.
"This gear's at the bottom of the food chain." Kaj admitted. "You want better weapons and armor, you'll need parts from monsters. Not some sissy Aptonoth bones; I'm talking bona-fide beasts that'll give you a run for your zenny. But for now, it's a good start."
"Alright, Kaj." Eiyu said. "Thanks for getting these two up to speed." He turned to the two hunters. "Now, let's show you your lodgings so you can put those bags down." John let out a relieved sigh as the three walked towards the hut.
"It's pretty roomy in here." Jake remarked after seeing the hut's interior. Indeed it was; there were weapon racks on the walls, and two armor stands, outfitted with Leather armor, of course. There was also a large item box for storage, and behind it there was not a wall, but a railing. The back of the hut was open, giving the two a good view of Moga's waters, along with a cool sea breeze.
"This looks like it'll be a great place to stay!" John said, plopping down on one of the beds.
"You two can feel free to look around and sightsee for the rest of today," Eiyu told them. "But tomorrow I'm expecting you to head out to the woods and get some hunting practice in. We never know when the next big monster attack's gonna happen." He began to walk out of the door, before he remembered something. "Ah, I almost forgot." he said, as he turned to face the two. "On behalf of everyone in this village…" He grew a wry smile. "Welcome to Moga."