Light Online Book Three: Leader

by Tom Larcombe

  The next thing he saw was a defensive fort, one that brought a smile to his face since it showed that warriors lived in and defended this land.

  Finally a larger building appeared beyond the other ones he'd seen, one with a sign hanging from the front that made him believe he was approaching his intended destination.

  As he approached the building he made out the sign. 'Eddie's Inn', it read. While he watched, a small group of humans exited the building, each of them tapping the sign as they exited, calling out for luck.

  Geirvaldr smiled, this was the type of thing that he'd come to see, to learn about. He responded to their pleas for luck by casting his blessing upon them. With his wisdom, he granted the two casters he could see in the group added efficacy for any spells used in battle that day, with his strength he granted the other combatants in the group added strength and accuracy for any battle engaged in upon that day.

  Superstition has much to do with worship, so let's strengthen it, shall we? he thought.

  Geirvaldr strode up to the inn, pushing the door open and entering. It was a common layout, if much larger than those in his memories, so he stepped to the bar and waited for the barman.

  “Barman, have you mead?” Geirvaldr asked.

  “We do, but it's expensive,” came the answer.

  “A horn of mead then and damn the cost,” Geirvaldr answered.

  “That'll be two silver, sir.”

  Geirvaldr rooted through the coins he'd taken from the goblins and slapped a pair of silver and an extra copper on the bar. The barman produced a horn, the traditional way to drink mead, but Geirvaldr sneered at the accessories on it. The horn was balanced so that even when full it would rest on the bracket that had been attached to it.

  When the barman filled the horn, Odin took it and raised the horn to his lips, draining it then turning it upside down so the open mouth rested on the bar.

  “No need for the braces when you drink it correctly,” Geirvaldr said. “Another please, barman.”

  Instead of rummaging through the goblin coinage again, Geirvaldr withdrew a gold. With the price of the mead it would not, perhaps, be out of character to show gold as he drank.

  “And keep them coming. Let me know when that runs out,” Geirvaldr said.

  With a freshly filled horn of mead in hand, he turned and looked at the common room. It was not very full at the moment, apparently the inhabitants of the area didn't spend much time at the inn during the day. Either that, or the inn wasn't very successful.

  Geirvaldr looked about the room, approaching the map mounted on one wall.

  With the quality of the map, I think perhaps my first thoughts were correct. It is simply not busy during the daytime.

  He approached the other item mounted on the wall and started scanning the notes that had been placed upon it.

  Ah, the inn also doubles as a marketplace at noontime. Smart that, for a small town such as this. But I saw what looked like a marketplace under construction nearby so perhaps this inn will soon see some competition?

  He drained his second horn of mead before going back to the barman and having him refill it.

  Well, for my purposes I will need to speak to these people, the world-traveling mortals at least. The other inhabitants will teach me nothing new as they only know what I and the other gods have seeded them with, or do they learn as well? Perhaps I should talk to anyone at all and see?

  ~ ~ ~

  You have discovered a Quest:

  All Mine!

  The Meadowlands Mine has been lost since the fall of the Kingdom of the Meadowlands. You have re-discovered the mine. Clear the invaders from the mine and claim it to make it your own.

  Reward: 10,000 xp, 1000 Silver Pieces, ???

  “Well now, I didn't expect that,” Eddie said.

  Charles just grinned at him.

  “Interesting times and all that,” he said.

  “Huh?” Karl grunted.

  “You know? The old Chinese proverb, or more appropriately curse? May you live in interesting times,” Charles said. “Eddie not only lives in interesting times, he seems to create them.”

  “Hey, you can't blame me for this one,” Eddie said. “Besides, why would you want to? Maybe give credit to, but blame?”

  “You've got a point,” Charles said. “I'm guessing this is one of those quests that no-one has ever encountered before. A lot like the ones you get keep getting global messages about.”

  Charles' tone hadn't been accusatory, or envious, or anything, but Eddie still felt himself blushing.

  “I can't help it, there's no way to make it show anonymous, I looked!” he said.

  Charles laughed, easing some of Eddie's tension.

  “I'm not blaming you,” he said, “just supporting my interesting times statement. All these things that hadn't been done, hadn't been found before. Things that you did or found, and now here's another. I'm not complaining in the slightest, just... I suppose I'm more amused than anything else.”

  I'll take it, Eddie thought. Amused is fine, but Charles is a nice guy. I'd rather not have him pissed at me for something I've got no control over, so amused works for me.

  “Hey, check this out!” Karl called.

  He spun his screen to where the group could see it and Eddie peered at the text on it.

  Meadowlands Mine (New, Abandoned):

  The Meadowlands mine is in a cave network near the Meadowlands. In its abandoned state it is designed for groups from levels ten to twenty.

  Huh, it registers as a zone now? Eddie thought. I wonder.

  Help Rat Woods, he thought.

  Rat Woods (New):

  The Rat Woods is a zone contained within the Meadowlands that is designed for groups from levels one to ten.

  “Holy crap,” Eddie said. “Are we forcing the game to generate zones or just opening up ones that had been pre-planned, maybe through some sort of trigger or something?”

  He spun his own screen so the group could see it. Charles, after reading both screens, just started laughing. He spoke after he had himself under control.

  “They have an announcement system for a new zone being generated, so I think you're probably just opening up new ones that had triggers,” he said. “Maybe advancing the population level of the Meadowlands, moving up the settlement level, is triggering them? That's the best guess I've got.”

  Thinking back to the fact that the island and dungeon appeared right after he'd gotten the area to Hamlet level, Eddie had to agree.

  “Hey Karl,” he called out. “Guess what? Every time I advance the settlement level you're going to have to go exploring again to keep your maps accurate. But do me a favor and don't add this to the maps just yet, okay?”

  “Charles, think we could handle this with your group and ours combined?” Eddie asked, looking around.

  “Sorry Pellin,” he added, “I don't think you guys are going to be able to do much clearing here.”

  “Not a problem, I saw the level recommendation. But... we're dwarfs, we can spot ore veins and the like easily, and at least a couple of us have mining, so maybe we can be included after the fact? Work the mine, maybe?”

  “I don't have a problem with that,” Eddie said. “Just so long as we get a share of what's mined. You good with that Charles?”

  “None of my group has mining, but we'd be happy to have access to the ores, or at least the metals after they're smelted. Especially with a player smith in the area that can make better weapons than we've been finding. I'll have to run that by the rest of the group, you understand, but I don't think there'll be a problem with it.”

  “We'll negotiate with Delgar and you about it, Pellin, but for now, please keep it a secret even from him? You can tell him there's something you know he'll be interested in, but that we asked you to keep it close to your vest until we're certain it'll be available, that work?”

  Pellin beamed happily.

  “He'll be grumpy about it, but that'll make him happy. That dwarf isn't hap
py unless he has something to grump about. I'll do it, but if he presses, I'll send him to talk to you.”

  “That works,” Eddie said. “But for now, I think we need to make some plans to clear this place. I'm not ready to try to take it on right at the moment, anyone disagree?”

  “No,” Tiana said, “and I think this is far enough away from Hammer Hold that Jern will be willing to come with us when we clear it, so we should wait.”

  They bandied it around for a few minutes, but no-one was really ready to try to take it on right at the moment. So they agreed to come back in a day or two when everyone could be present and have prepared for the quest.

  ~ ~ ~

  When they got back to the safe passageway, they took the time to stack the rocks that had been strewn across the corridor so they blocked the entry to the mine again. They'd come down again easily enough when the group returned, but this way no-one else would stumble onto it in the meanwhile.

  The entire group, except for Pellin, headed back for the inn. Pellin stopped off at the smithy to give Delgar the items he'd wanted from Hammer Hold and tell him that something was up, but that he couldn't reveal what it was yet. Eddie expected to hear from Delgar soon, he was positive the dwarf would push a bit to find out what was going on, but equally positive that when he told Delgar that the issue in question needed to remain secret for a few days that the dwarf's questions would subside, for a day or two at least.

  Eddie walked into the inn and took a seat at one of the tables and his primary group mates, except for Jern, joined him. There was someone new in the common room, he noticed. He knew, by sight if not name, most of the people that stopped by the inn. He thought it might be a newbie until he caught a glimpse of the man's armor. It looked well-used, but equally well cared for, and was far too good for a brand new player to posses.

  Hmmm, I wonder if we're getting players from Brightport or somewhere else nearby, he thought.

  Knowing it was rude, but also knowing that the man was looking the other way, Eddie tossed out an Evaluate.

  Geirvaldr

  ???

  Level: ???

  Class: ???

  Health: ???

  Mana: ???

  Stamina: ???

  No, just no.

  The man glanced over in Eddie's direction, then shook his head and went back to talking with the barkeep.

  Eddie was used to snark from the game, but the succinct comment and the entire lack of information except for the man's name left him wondering just who this was and what he was doing in Eddie's inn. He was also pretty sure the man had noticed the Evaluate as well. Eddie took a deep breath and stood.

  “Be right back guys,” he said.

  Then he walked over to the bar where the man was sitting. He had a horn of mead in his hand and as Eddie approached, the man tilted it back, drained it, then slammed it down on the bar, upside down.

  “Hi, I'm Eddie,” Eddie said, proffering his hand.

  The man took it and shook it, his grip strong and immovable when Eddie tried to remove his own hand. The man released it a moment later, but caught Eddie's eye as he did so. Eddie was taken in by the man's single eye that was visible, the other covered by a black patch.

  “I'm Geirvaldr, but you knew that,” he said.

  Eddie made a wry face.

  “Sorry about that, but I didn't know you and I've had a little trouble around here recently. People, and goblins, trying to burn down my inn.”

  “Ah, forgiven then,” Geirvaldr said.

  “Give Geirvaldr a round of whatever he's been drinking on me,” Eddie said to the barkeep.

  “No need for that, I can afford my own drinks.”

  “It's my pleasure, consider it a tacit apology for my rudeness,” Eddie said. “Don't worry, as I said it's my inn, so I can afford it.”

  “Well, if you insist. Another mead then barman.”

  When Geirvaldr had his drink, he immediately drained it again. Eddie was amazed, he knew how strong the mead was, but that was the third one he'd seen Geirvaldr drink since Eddie had come in, and Geirvaldr had been at the bar already when Eddie entered.

  “So,” Eddie said. “I don't recognize you, are you new around here?”

  “That I am.”

  “Do you mind my asking what you're doing here?”

  Geirvaldr turned and stared at him for a moment, leaving Eddie with an unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach.

  “I'm trying to understand.”

  “Understand what?” Eddie asked.

  “Everything, Her fondness for you and yours, what makes world-traveling mortals what they are, and why there are those who would destroy what you have built. As you said, there have been those attempting to burn down your inn recently. Why?”

  “That one I can answer. Some people are just assholes and they get really upset if you spoil their plans. Even if those plans involve others who aren't willing to along with the plans. A lot of those assholes hold grudges and try to get back at you for what you've done that disrupted their plans,” Eddie said.

  “Ah, but the goblins?”

  “I assume they're just programmed that way, or swayed by others to do things they normally wouldn't.”

  Who the hell is this? It doesn't sound like a player. Whose fondness for me and mine? And he used the term world-traveling mortals. The only other people I heard that term from were Freyja and Aaron. So maybe an AI or a different dev? Either way, not someone to piss off. I think I'll just back away from this conversation.

  “They are and they are not,” Geirvaldr said. “Or more accurately some are programmed that way, but others were forced into actions that they would not normally take. By other world-traveling mortals. Hence my interest and my need to understand.”

  “Well, in another hour or two this place will be filled with world-traveling mortals. Perhaps you can speak to them to increase your understanding?” Eddie asked.

  “That is my intent, and why I am waiting here.”

  “Then I'll bid you a good day.”

  Geirvaldr waved him off as though Eddie were an annoying fly. He was actually happy for that, since it meant that perhaps the strange man wouldn't keep Eddie in his thoughts. Be he AI or Dev, either option was one Eddie was loathe to deal with. He'd been lucky in his encounters with both of those so far, but he was sure that his luck wasn't strong enough to keep him in the good graces of even more people with authority over happenings in the game.

  He sat back down and waved off the question from the group while he did one thing. When he had his in-game browser open, he typed in the name Geirvaldr, then looked at the results. As he did, he grew slightly pale.

  I've got the chief AI of the game sitting in my inn, wanting to understand everything, Eddie thought. Oh, please don't tell me he's trying the same thing Freyja seems to be trying, just in a different manner.

  Finally he turned back to his group and answered the questions they'd been asking.

  “His name is Geirvaldr. Don't mess with him, you don't want to know what that's an alias of. Besides being an alias it means spear master, and I'll assume he has the highest skill possible in the game in spears due to who he really is.”

  “Come on, who is he?” Karl asked.

  “Let's just say Freyja probably knows him,” Eddie said, then lowered his voice, “and reports to him if I remember correctly. He said he wants to talk to the world-traveling mortals, the players that is. That's why he's here, he's waiting for the inn to fill up.”

  Karl stared at him for a moment, eyes wide.

  “I'm gonna channel Charles here for a moment,” Karl said. “Interesting times Eddie, you're really making some interesting times. Now I want a burger, hey, should I offer to buy him one? I bet he's never had a burger and fries before. Then he and I can have a chat while we eat.”

  Eddie groaned and buried his face in his hands.

  ~ ~ ~

  Karl did end up ordering Geirvaldr a burger, and the two of them, along with Allie, sat down at a
table while they ate, talking all the while. Eddie was amazed that nothing seemed to come of that. He couldn't imagine Karl not having screwed up, put his foot in his mouth, or insulted Geirvaldr at least once.

  I bet Allie had something to do with that, Eddie thought. I did see her interrupt Karl several times.

  When they were done eating Geirvaldr moved to Eddie's table, standing next to him.

  “Is this friend of yours, Karl, one of those assholes you spoke off? Those with grudges and ill-intent?”

  “No Geirvaldr, he's more of a joker or a prankster. No ill-intent behind it, just poor taste in humor sometimes.”

  “Ah,” Geirvaldr said, nodding his head. “I am quite familiar with one prankster, but he always had ill-intent behind his actions. I suppose it might be somewhat amusing to know one without that.”

  “Sometimes, and sometimes it's just irritating. But it's how he is, and he's my friend, so I just put up with it.”

  “Karl really is a good guy,” Tiana added in from across the table. “He just doesn't have much in the way of social awareness.”

  Gerivaldr's gaze shifted to Tiana and held there for far too long for Eddie's liking.

  “You are one of Her priestesses. With that type of insight, I can see why she would have accepted you. She is all about comfort and understanding these days. At least to those she feels worthy of it,” Geirvaldr said.

  Tiana squirmed under his gaze until he turned it back to Eddie.

  “I see there are more of the world-traveling mortals coming in now, so if you'll excuse me, I will go and talk with them as well.”

  “Geirvaldr?” Eddie said, stopping the man in his tracks.

  “Yes?”

  “You may wish to avoid the use of that term, world-traveling mortals. It is a distinct tell that you are someone different than everyone else. Perhaps use the term players instead?”

  “I will take that into consideration.”