"You're one of those adventuring types, aren't you?"
That'd be the only way to explain why she'd been dressed rather strangely. He'd seen them come and go, people wearing bright rainbow boots, paper hats shaped like crowns, bikinis when they were nowhere near the beach, mime costumes, ugly fish masks, and strange rabbit masks. And then there was the time he saw some guy wielding a rubber chicken like a sword.
This girl meanwhile, was wearing a black tank top with the design of an intricately drawn eagle in gold with its wings ripped orange. He could read the writing below the gold eagle.
Sabaton...
Why she wore a shirt with the word for a knight's boot printed on it was a mystery. Her trousers were tight and form fitting, with splashes of green in different shades like she was trying to camouflage into the lush green Kandarin background. Her black leather boots were at least normal, despite its heels like blades.
Strange clothes aside, she looked lovely enough, with brown eyes like melted chocolate framed by eyeliner, giving it a cat-like effect and long cornsilk blonde hair. She glanced around, as if still trying to take in the room, like this was the first time she'd seen something like this. The place was huge, with a pattern of interchanging banners and suits of armor. On the kiteshields and banners was a golden seven pointed star. In the middle of the room was an opulent carpet with golden thread visibly weaved into it, and on top of that was the famed round table, along with mahogany chairs for each of the knights. It was nice, but it certainly wasn't the fanciest castle not by a long shot, yet here she was acting like she'd never seen anything like it.
To her, this was indeed the largest room she'd ever seen, not to mention the fact this was the first time she'd ever stepped inside. It was incredible, so much so that for the next few seconds, her mind was blank, all she could do was stare in awe at the view before her.
A few more seconds later, she answered. "Yeah, I'm an adventurer."
The way she spoke was odd too. He'd never heard anyone in Britain or Gielinor talk like her. Whereas everyone else pronounced their "-ers" as "-ahs," she did not. Instead of keeping her "Rs" silent, she said them, like someone who said the "k" in "knight."
"I see," he said. "As you know, I'm Arthur, king of the Britons, welcome to Camelot Castle."
Well, the only Camelot I know starts with a K, she said silently in her head .
"I'm Rosa," she responded. "Wait, did you say Britain?"
King Arthur nodded. "That's where me and my knights are from."
Rosa furrowed her soft arch brows. They were a dark brown color, and they stood out so much against her glossy blonde locks and peaches and cream complexion. A strange look entered her eyes, and she let out a single, yet humorless "ha."
"Wait, so you're from Britain," Rosa started. "What do you think of America then?"
"America," King Arthur repeated. "Where's that?"
The hell? Rosa thought. You're British yet you've never heard of America? It's only the greatest country in the world.
She thought then of how everything got turned upside down in the past year, how everyone was forced to wear masks like they were being gagged, how she couldn't go out like she used to, how every one of her friends gave her shit when she dared to suggest they hang out like they used to.
Or maybe it was...
And then it hit her, and he did a mental facepalm. Of course. Of course that's why he hasn't heard of America. He's from a completely different time period.
"You know what? Never mind."
The king pointed a finger at the guys walking around the room, like they were pacing. They were dressed similarly to the king, in gray steel armor and red capes, only their armor wasn't as decorated as the king's. Theirs were plain gray, whereas King Arthur's had shiny silver motifs of seven pointed stars engraved on it, the same star that'd been carved onto the round mahogany table at the center of the room, the same star painted on the backs of the eight chairs surrounding the table.
"Legend says we will return to Britain in its time of greatest need," King Arthur continued. "But that's not for quite a while yet."
Rosa thought of modern day Britain. She'd never been there, and she usually didn't keep up to date with their news, but she'd heard some Internet friends rant over Skype about what was happening across the pond. They had it ten times as bad, and they were all miserable and depressed thanks to their nanny governments not allowing you to visit your friends, bars, movie theaters and wherever else you could hang out shutting down and pretty much everything they'd ever known tipped away from them. Even something as mundane as a trip to the department store sucked, they'd have entire "non essential" aisles blocked off. They struggled to cope with the creeping tyranny, all while their bank accounts were drained from not being able to work.
Rosa wondered what King Arthur would say, when he found out that his beloved country was brought to its knees by a disease that was about as dangerous as a cold and a government that used a "pandemic" as an excuse to exert more control over its people.
"How would you know?"
King Arthur stroked his beardless chin. He didn't have the long beard she remembered, and he didn't have the brown hair either. Instead, he was clean-shaven and his hair was a short, light blond do, though he did still have his old crown. He must've gotten a graphic update, and it was about time too. Everyone in Camelot looked so generic, so forgettable, like recolored players. Now he reminded her a bit of Arthur from Merlin.
"Well...when we came to Gielinor, we took the round table with us."
He gestured to the circular silver crystal in the middle of the carved star in the middle of the round table. "When Britain needs us again, the flat crystal over there's supposed to glow and start beeping, then when we all gather at the table, and it'll show us exactly what the problem over there is. Merlin enchanted the crystal, I'm no wizard myself, so I don't really know the precise details of how it works, he can explain it better than I ever could, if only …"
The king's voice trailed off and he sighed sadly. "That's the problem. Merlin got himself trapped in some crystal. He got into a fight with Lady Morgana...he's lucky she didn't kill him."
He then sighed exasperatedly. "I'm at my wits end. Merlin is so near and dear to my heart. I can't be without him, my other half. That's the quest. Free Merlin from his predicament. Do whatever you must. If you succeed, I will make you an honorary knight. What say you, adventurer?"
Rosa opened her mouth, but no sound came out for the first few seconds. And then it was like time slowed down, as she considered her moments in Gielinor.
"M'am? M'am? Are you there?"
Rosa eyed the gnome banker. He was wearing the same gray suit that every bank teller wore, and he was balding and so short, he had to stand on a crate to go eye to eye with her.
"Oh sorry," Rosa apologized. "I zoned out."
She was surrounded by a sea of people minding their own business. It was surreal, after a year of utter insanity, where people would stand six feet apart and wear masks even in their own cars or even when they were jogging in an empty park, some even took it a step further and wore a face shield. Speaking of masks, no one wore one, and no one stood six feet apart either. It was kind of like riding the bus or subway less than a year ago when things were still normal, when you'd have the cops called on you if you made your way into a bank with a mask on.
There was a guy in bright red dragon armor, someone in Bandos gear, another person in full ganodermic, another guy in seasinger robes, another guy with a noxious scythe trying to cut down a training dummy. A few feet away, she caught a glimpse of Mistress Fara with her purple vest and brown hair tipped in green. She was reading off a long scroll made of papyrus. She was clearly giving out or collecting a challenge for the guy in front of her in full Torva.
It was a nice breath of fresh air, especially after the obnoxious campaign to normalize masks, to make them cool even. Rosa could never avoid the billboards, the Internet, and the PSAs on TV. It was like trying to make herpes cool. Masks are not and will never be cool, and anyone with working eyeballs knew that. It was a strange feeling, finally seeing something normal after being bombarded with annoying ads and PSAs and the eyesores that were face masks. Gielinor was an island, an oasis of sanity in a sea of brainwashed sheeple. It took a while to get used to, but Rosa smiled when she got accustomed to it.
The gnome banker sighed and then repeated himself. "Good day. How may I help you?"
"I'd like to access my bank account please," Rosa told him.
"All right, get ready to access your vault."
The banker shot a spell at her, and then she was surrounded by swirls of soft pink and blue. She shot up into the air and grew more and more transparent. Rather than becoming scared, Rosa knew what was going on, she was being teleported.
...=^.^=...=^.^=...=^.^=...
Several seconds later, she was standing behind a train of mining carts, like she was in Keldagrim and was about to get to the Grand Exchange. She glanced around. Aside from the steel mining carts, and the tracks, everything was brown. They were underground. There was dirt everywhere, and overhead stalactites were hanging like icicles. On the ground were stalagmites, though they weren't as numerous. They were a few feet away from the track in rare clusters.
"Are you coming aboard or not?" The dwarf driver in the front asked.
"What?"
"You wanted to access your bank account right? I need to take you to your vault then."
"Oh...yeah."
Rosa hopped aboard and sat beside the bearded dwarf in purple, and the mine cart sped forward.
...=^.^=...=^.^=...=^.^=...
They stopped in front of a large circular vault the color of rune, with a keyhole to its right. After climbing the rocky steps to reach the vault the dwarf reached out a scarred hand.
"Key?"
Rosa looked puzzled. "Uh...key? I don't think I have…"
And then she did something that reminded her of an old cartoon she'd seen, she pulled out a golden key from what had to be, hammerspace, like how Prince Adam would pull his sword out of nowhere to transform into He-Man.
"What the fuck?" Rosa muttered. But a few seconds later, she realized it made sense. The player was never seen wearing a backpack of any kind, yet they were always able to pull out weapons, food and potions out of seemingly nowhere. If she'd become the character she played as, of course she'd be able to do this too, but she guessed that she'd be limited to twenty eight items, for your inventory limit was twenty eight.
The dwarf swiped the key, and placed it into the keyhole. There was the sound of him turning it, and then the door popped out. Rosa could then see it seemed to be about two feet thick, but when she stepped inside, her eyes grew wide, and her jaw dropped.
There were gold coins everywhere, enough for someone to dive into it like they were Scrooge McDuck. Up until then, the most gold she'd seen were the necklaces and earrings in her mom's old jewelry box, none of which she'd gotten when that bitch passed. Instead, everything was given to her snobby, narcissistic sister who had no use for them and didn't even care a bit for the "worthless trinkets. " Rosa knew nothing about the exact value of gold but she knew enough that while the value of paper money fluctuated, gold was always worth a shit ton. If you could afford it, you invested in gold. With the amount of gold she had, it'd be like winning the lottery and becoming a multi millionaire overnight. If she could bring even a few coins back to the "real world," then…
No, Rosa told herself. Everything's shit there. That's why I left for RuneScape. I shouldn't even be thinking about going back.
She looked around, and this time she spotted several stacks of runes the height of the Empire State Building, as well as stacks of blue, crimson, green and gold charms. There were also armor and weapons, and potions, and food that never went bad, rare seeds, rare herbs, protean planks and logs and hides and bars and memories, and a shit ton of slayer masks. She also saw quest items, like an anti-dragon shield, a wolfsbane dagger, blisterwood weapons, Silverlight and Darklight, Iban's staff, Ava's accumulator, a steel key ring loaded with keys, a sixth age circuit ring, a Balmung, amulets for speaking to animals, greegrees, Korasi's sword, and colored tokens for the gnomes' anti illusion machine. That was just scratching the surface though, there were tons more, and-
"Aren't you gonna get something?" the dwarf demanded. Clearly he hated his job. He should've been wearing the "I really wish I weren't here right now" button Squidward had on in the Krusty Krab training video. "Tell me you didn't make me drive you all the way here just to gawk at how rich you are."
Rosa gave him a strange look then spoke very slowly. "How...rich...am...I?"
"Mm…" the dwarf paused to ponder. "According to the bank records, you have about 100 million GP, and with all your other assets you're worth about 150 million GP."
"Holy fucking shit."
Rosa knew she wasn't anywhere near Gielinor's version of the one percent, but this was loads better than anything back "home." There was no way in hell she'd ever make that much, not with her current job at Sephora, even if she lived to be a thousand. She wanted to poke around for a little longer but the dwarf was having a bad day and she didn't want to be rude, so she grabbed some runes. Rosa got two hundred of each of the elemental runes, plus death, blood, mind, body, nature, and law runes. It didn't matter what she'd encounter, runes were always useful. Rosa then spotted a staff of light a few yards away, and then she had an idea.
She casted telekinetic grab. Several rings within rings appeared over her head. They were a transparent gray and they headed straight for the staff of light. They hit the staff and it vanished, before Rosa pulled it out of hammerspace a second later.
"Cool."
"All right, let's go" she said to the dwarf. "You know what? Don't bother. I'll just teleport myself out."
And if he gives me that kind of attitude again, I'll call up the bank and have him fired, Rosa added silently.
It was nice to be rich and to have the power to decide whether or not someone kept their job. Rosa never had anything like it, and she was already eager to exercise it.
...=^.^=...=^.^=...^.^=...
Rosa decided to go back to Burthorpe to explore the town. All the stores were open and business seemed to be good. There were no "out of business" signs, and nothing boarded up. Everything seemed so good, so unlike what she'd seen on the news.
She approached a building that looked like a castle, except it was smaller. Built from white stone blocks, it looked cool with its second floor balcony and large blue and white banners displaying a pure white four pointed star.
Of fucking course it's a Saradominist star, Rosa thought. It's a Saradominist city, right next to Falador, the most Saradominist city to ever Saradomin.
She couldn't help but think about how it would've looked so much cooler if it'd been purple with the Zarosian celtic cross inside a white circle against a purple background.
Wait a minute, I can make that happen, Rosa realized. Now that I've become my character, I can do whatever I want. I can definitely take over Falador and make everyone follow Zaros.
The possibility of a Zarosian Falador, a Zarosian Asgarnia even was all that could occupy her mind, which was why she barely said a word to Achietties, the guard at the door who immediately let her in. But the sight of three people on the second floor balcony sitting around a marble table snapped her out of it.
One of them was a ginger in a green dress that had slits on each side, which showed off her long bar stool like legs. The effect was exacerbated by the brown leather stiletto boots she had on, which matched her leather wristbands. With her red hair and green eyes, she reminded Rosa of Lindsay Lohan in the 2000s before she bleached her hair and ruined herself with drugs and too much lip filler. The other two were guys. One of them was in full white and blue Temple Knights armor. He had chiseled features and a square jaw and he reminded Rosa a bit of Henry Cavill. Even though he had a long scar from his hairline to chin, it only seemed to make him look more rugged. His ebony hair contrasted so much with his light blue eyes, he reminded her a bit of Ian Somerhalder, from back when he was on Vampire Diaries. The other guy looked Medittereanean, he had brown hair and eyes, with a goatee. He wore an orange vest that showed off the tattoos on his arms and black pants and boots.
"Holy shit! It's Ariane, Sir Owen and Ozan!"
Ozan laughed. "You all right, Rosa?"
Rosa could feel her face growing hot, she took out a compact mirror, and sure enough, she'd turned scarlet. "Yeah, fine."
Sir Owen gave her a crooked smile. "Don't act like you don't recognize your friends."
"I have friends ?"
Right after she said that, she wanted to punch herself. It was an automatic reaction, a reflex. Thing is, she badly needed face to face contact with some friends. Back in the real world, they existed sure, and she'd sometimes see their posts on Facebook, but aside from that it was like they'd lost contact. They didn't hang out like they used to. When Rosa suggested they get together in her apartment for bad movie night with plenty of booze and pizza and games like the good old days, they chewed her out like the lemmings they were. The lockdown was causing them to drift apart, and it made her sad, and she'd find herself thinking of the episode of Teen Titans (the real Teen Titans, not that Teen Titans Go shit) where Starfire went into the future and saw how badly the titans were doing after they drifted apart.
"Of course you do, silly!" Ariane answered. "We're all adventurers, sure we all go on these separate adventures, but every once in a while we'll catch up here, grab a few drinks….and y'know...hang out, so we don't turn into the group that used to be close but never does anything together, and you want to hang out like you used to but it's been so long and it feels weird to even ask."
"Hey Rosa," Ozan began and held up a bottle of wine. "Want a drink?"
"Sure."
She sat down in a mahogany chair, and Ozan poured some wine into a crystal glass. Rosa realized how fancy it was upon holding it close as she was going in for a gulp. It was nicer than the plastic red cups she'd used back "home." She downed the glass, savoring the taste of the dry red. It reminded her of a cabernet sauvignon, not the boxed kind she'd gotten at the liquor store, instead it took her to the last holiday dinner with the family. She always needed alcohol to get through those.
She chugged the drink, and then glanced around. "Oh wait, where's Linza and Xenia?"
Sir Owen and Ozan glared at her, and Ariane burst into tears.
"Rosa! How could you?" Sir Owen cried.
"Hey, what'd I say?" Rosa demanded.
"You reminded her of the worst things she's had happen to her," Ozan answered. "Her mentor died, then her lover, one after the other, in such a short time, what's wrong with you?"
"I'm sorry!" Rosa said.
Ariane angrily got up, and Rosa then followed, but a second later, she grabbed the bottle.
"Hey! Wait!"
But Ariane didn't stop while they went around the shining marble stair and took a right into the hallway, then into the ladie's room. Only then did she pause to dab at her eyes with a piece of tissue paper.
"Why did you have to remind me?" Ariane cried. "I thought I was getting over it, then you mention that shit-
"Were you really dating her?" Rosa was confused and she took a drink directly from the bottle. Since when were they an item?
"Yes!"
Rosa nearly spat out the wine but she forced herself to swallow. "Holy shit! Really?"
Ariane's eyes began to water again. "It was going great till she died!"
"How the fuck did that happen?"
Ariane looked like she'd swallowed a lemon. "Did you fucking forget? That bastard Sliske got her! We were six months into our rela-
"Wait," Rosa interrupted again. "When the fuck did you start dating?"
Ariane's jaw dropped. "Are you retarded or something?"
Rosa took another drink. "I'm being honest!"
I don't remember reading this on the wiki, she added in her head. Is this an alternate version of Runescape I don't know about? Hmm...that is entirely possible. This is my first time here. I mean...King Arthur didn't look anything like the NPC I remembered, and he's so obsessed with his boyfriend Merlin, that's out of character.
Ariane sighed exasperatedly. "It was after I... killed Xenia…I was a mess. And Linza..."
Her eyes lit up for a second. "She comforted me. First it was just a friendly thing, and then…"
She shrugged and smiled at the memory. "We just became a thing."
"Oh," Rosa said.
Well, Heart of Stone does take place before Kindred Spirits, Rosa thought. The wiki doesn't say what happened to her in between those times. It would make sense she'd be doing something, obviously she's not just sitting around twiddling her thumbs. I guess it makes sense, of course the wiki would omit all the stuff that obviously exists but has nothing to do with playing the game. Like bathrooms, and toilets. Obviously no one pisses and shits out in the open but it's never mentioned on the wiki or anywhere in the NPC dialogue.
"Since when are you into girls though?"
Ariane looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "I told you before I was bi! How the fuck do you not know that?"
Clearly that took place sometime in between the quests.
"Oh sorry," Rosa answered quickly. "I uh...hit my head this morning, so...memory troubles."
Ariane looked skeptical. "Right. Sure."
Rosa offered her the bottle and she took it. While she gulped it down like a fish. Rosa began to speak. "Look, I'm sorry. For what happened to you and for reminding you 'cause I really did forget. Swear to Zaros."
She then took a deep breath. "I've...been there before. I've lost someone just like you and for the longest time, I thought I'd never be happy again."
Well, technically he's not dead, Rosa thought. But he might as well be, we don't talk anymore.
She went on. "Point is, you can't be depressed forever. Sounds harsh, but you need to get over Linza and find a new guy. The sooner the better, 'cause you'll be so much happier. The hardest part is getting started but once you find someone you'll feel happier, and you'd want to kick yourself for not getting back into the game sooner. Trust me, I've been in the exact same place."
Ariane sighed. "You're right."
Rosa sat the bottle down on the shining white marble counter. "What about Ozan or Sir Owen? You'd be so cute with either one."
Ariane shook her head sadly. "You forgot Sir Owen likes you. And Ozan's too much of a player for me."
"Sir Owen's too Saradominist for me," Rosa told her. "If he ever converts to Zaros, I'll...think about it."
Ariane managed to let out a chuckle. "He's too Saradominist for everyone...except Zilyana."
"I think you can change Ozan though," Rosa said.
"Maybe," Ariane said. She turned on the golden faucet, and washed away her ruined makeup. She then redid her foundation, eyeliner and mascara, and even put on some fake lashes. She then unbuttoned the top buttons of her shirt so it'd show cleavage, and lastly she sprayed some perfume all over her clothes.
Rosa leaned in and took in the smell of lavender. She then looked up and saw Ariane's features up close, admiring the sorcerer's sky blue eyes, high cheekbones and full ruby lips. For a second, she was tempted to go for a kiss, but she needed to be at least buzzed to do that kind of thing.
"All right, let's get back out there," Ariane said, and gave the bottle back..
They went back out, and were greeted by the sight of Ozan waving at them. As they sat back down, Ozan took out a clear plastic bag of brownies. His eyes, green flecked with gold met Rosa's brown ones, and he gave her a knowing look which she didn't pick up.
"You guys are just in time," he announced. "You took the wine, so I had to take out... this. "
Rosa didn't seem impressed. "Brownies? Lame."
"Not just regular brownies," Ozan said. "They're pot brownies."
Rosa then smiled. "Sweet, I'll take one."
"Me too," Ariane said.
"Even Saradomin wouldn't say no to edibles," Sir Own said.
The signature heroes finished their drinks and then all had an edible, knowing that alcohol would intensify the high. While they waited, the others went over what they'd been up to. Ariane had been investigating lunar magic and how the Moon Clan could do magic without runes. She'd wanted to train with them so she could gain the same power. There was a lot of wizard technobabble, and Rosa's eyes glazed over while she went on and on about the boring parts. Sir Owen showed off his new arm. In a flash, what appeared to be a normal human arm in armor changed to a robotic arm, like in Totally Spies when the spies would be able to instantly poof on their disguises, only in this case it was just his arm. He went over how Saradomin did nothing against nothing about his zombie arm and the corruption in his mind. Every day it spread further, and the urge to do things his usual lawful self would never even consider grew. Finally, he had to take matters into his own hands and he sawed off his own arm to save himself like in the first Saw. Luckily he got an Imcando dwarven smith Thurgo to make a new robotic arm. Ozan went over his adventures robbing Sophanem and Menaphos blind.
Then the euphoric high hit. It was the most glorious feeling in the world, the calming and carefree sensation. It was the ultimate stress relief. It wasn't quite the same if they'd just drank, alcohol would give you liquid courage, but it could also make you do regretful things or make you more depressed or mean, not to mention those awful hangovers and the dependence it'd cause over time.
While they were high, Rosa took out her iPhone, and they watched some movies on it, Reefer Madness, Birdemic and Birdemic 2, and the Amazing Bulk. They laughed at how they were all so bad they were funny, and when the munchies hit, they ordered chocolate bombs, cheese and tomato battas and chocolate chip crunchies from Aluft Aloft Gnome Food Delivery Service. It was the most fun Rosa had in a while, and to say that it lifted her spirits was an understatement.
Even if the Elder Gods are coming, it's still better than the real word, she thought.
Rosa smiled, but her eyes appeared to be far away, whilst she reminisced. Over here, she wasn't anything like her "real life" self; she wasn't the clerk at Sephora under the thumb of her cunty Karen of a boss, she wasn't living in a shitty apartment, she wasn't about to lose it from the worst year she'd had. Here, she was her RuneScape self. Cooler. Darker. Richer. Better in every way, with a vault full of gold, armor, weapons, potions, runes, and sharks that somehow never went bad.
And the best part, was that she knew everything. She'd read every article on the RuneScape wiki. She knew the ins and outs of every skill and quest. It was like going through life with a cheat sheet, a luxury she could never have in real life. The real world was pure chaos. Navigating through that was like trying to walk through a pitch black hallway without a flashlight. She could never tell when shit was gonna happen, when the fatass bitch boss was going to make her work overtime or when the bastard she gave her heart to would give her the cold shoulder or flirt with her through Messenger. Here, she felt like everything was in order. She knew exactly what to expect all the time, it was like going into the theater to watch a new movie on release date when you already had the spoilers on hand.
Even if there's surprises in the gaps in between quests, I still know more, Rosa thought. I'd know more when it comes to this place than any given situation in real life.
Please let me enjoy this perfect world for as long as possible, she prayed to Zaros. Until the Great Revision.
And then Rosa looked the British king in the eyes. "I accept."
Endnotes
I hope that was all right. I'm not a professional writer okay but I did my best. You can leave feedback but NO FLAMES!
This was originally going to be more comedy focused, but halfway during writing I changed my mind. Because I'm not funny, so it's easy to botch comedy, and bad comedy is just plain bad. Bad drama on the other hand, is hilarious. Case in point, Tommy Wiseau's Neighbors vs. The Room. Neighbors was supposed to be a sitcom but it ended up being so bad it's unwatchable. The Room is great though, albeit not in the way Tommy intended. If this ends up being shit, then I can hope at least it's funny shit.
Sorry if I went overboard with Rosa's inner rants. I wanted to emphasize that she's had enough of the real world, which is why she chose to come to Gielinor. How? I'm not telling. You'll have to read and see. :P
I was worried about showing vs. telling. I hope I'm not doing too much of the latter, and I hope her motivations comes off as understandable. Showing would be like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, where JK Rowling spent a few chapters going over Harry horrible home life, where we got to feel sympathy with him. I was worried that because I hadn't done something similar, Rosa comes off as unsympathetic. I hope she doesn't. If she does, I guess I'll have to add in some more parts, flashbacks maybe something that explores what could drive someone to say "fuck it, I'm leaving."
In the beginning I tried my best to describe an American accent from the perspective of someone who's only ever heard British accents. I have a headcanon that everyone ingame has a British accent. I hope I got that point across, it wasn't easy.
I was planning to have some more interaction between Rosa and King Arthur, but seeing as they come from different points in time, they wouldn't have much to talk about, so I spent more time focusing on her awe and wonder not unlike how Harry sees everything when he enters the wizarding world for the first time. Speaking of Harry Potter, the scene where Rosa goes to her vault, the whole mine cart ride and the whole thing about bank accounts being literal vaults, that was inspired by Gringotts the wizard bank and the scene in the Sorcerer's Stone movie where Harry and Hagrid ride the mine carts underground and Harry just can't believe the amount of gold he has after spending his first 11 years being treated like shit by the Dursleys.
Other references: the crystal in the round table that shows them exactly what the problem is, that was inspired by the T-tower screen from the Teen Titans. I remember they had a giant TV screen that'd show them the villain of the episode. The crystal works like the TV screen.
Morgan le Fay being called Morgana, I typed out the wrong name, and I decided to keep it, as a reference to BBC's Merlin.
I hope I'm not being too annoying with the references, I mean, it makes sense for someone from the modern world to refence cartoons and TV shows and they're not exactly obscure, but still...I hope that's not too much of a turnoff.
BTW, yes, the signature heroes did get high on edibles. I have a headcanon that weed exists in Gielinor.
You can smoke spirit weed. And dwarf weed.