People of the Land
Contents
Summary
People of the Land is the term of the 'NPCs' in the MMORPG of Elder Tale Online. Adventurers have taken to calling them Landers by shorthand. This is a term that the People of the Land use to refer to themselves as well - in the way that humans in the real world refer to their own collection as humanity, regardless of their looks and race.
Historically, People of the Land in Elder Tale Online boast some fairly complex behaviors for a video-game. A shopkeeper may favor players that come to their stores more often, and nobles will infight. One will not find a People of the Land whose only lines are 'Welcome to Corneria', and based on their stature in life, they will be able to engage somewhat on topics they might logically have some knowledge of.
Intelligence and Behavior
There is a 'spread' when it comes to People of the Land, which tends to be related to their Importance. A shopkeeper is likely to be able to engage in some very basic small talk, but may repeat various sentences a lot. Their responses when they don't know things, tends to be fairly standardized along the lines of 'I do not know' or 'Sorry, I do not understand'.
However, more complex People of the Land exist. Heroes, Nobles, Military leaders and the like will stand out in their ability to hold more complex conversations, and even wax some philosophy. They might plot against other kingdoms, or come up with complex tactics to take out monsters. Their personalities tend to be more 'notable', and tend to have more depth to them.
Quests
Some People of the Land have the ability to generate official quests that result in rewards. A large sum of these tend to be requests that get posted at the Hunters Guild. But exceptions exist.
Death
Death for People of the Land is permanent. If their physical form expires and does not get resurrected in the small window of time after their ending blow, that is the end for them.
We Created You
While Landers seem to understand that Adventurers came from another place, summoned during one of the great changes to their world, they do not seem to have heard that they are the creation of the Adventurers. After all, they are not gods. They summoned them here. More notably, it seems almost like they can’t hear adventurers when they try to explain otherwise.
Look Out It's...
People of the Land seem to have an innate understanding of when they are dealing with a Monster, a Beast, an Adventurer or a fellow Person of the Land.
Culture
The culture of the People of the Land has historically been limited. While there's some invention that goes on, putting devices together to see how they'd interact - there're various elements in their society that have seemed to have stagnated. For instance, the People of the Land across the Yamato region know exactly 42 songs at the point of the Apocalypse occurring - none of which seem to be sung in a regional dialect or language. There is little in the way of technological progress that has been made over the past 300 years, with a few exceptions.
It Is I
Landers have a tendency to name themselves in sentences, especially when speaking to Adventurers. Usually it’s done as an implicit introduction; “I, Jeanne Arc, welcome you Adventurer.” Or “I, Sir Swordguy, Like Swords.”.
Lander Names
In Yamato, Lander names have a strange aspect to them in that they are mixed from all kinds of cultures. From ‘Yuuji Yamamoto’ to ‘Jim Klein’ to ‘Sir Swordguy’. They're all however, to some extent, reasonable names.