by Randy Nargi
“So you don’t know what happened to Lazarus?”
“No…” Mariel trailed off, tears welling up in her eyes. “I tried to message him.”
“Me too. No such player.”
“Pari, it was so bad. You don’t know.”
Mariel was crying now. Pari pulled her close and hugged her.
“The worst thing was… there was no sign of the Lance. No clues. Nothing.” Mariel wiped her eyes. “Everyone died for nothing.”
“It’s okay…”
Mariel shook her head. “It’s not okay, and I’m never going back there. I don’t care about winning any more. It’s not worth it to go through that.”
“Did you leave feedback?”
“I’m not ready to yet. I’m still messed up from this. Our whole freaking fellowship wiped out. It’s unfair.”
“We still have nine months. We’ll build up Wood and Silence again. Make Lazarus proud.”
Mariel looked down at the floor. “I can’t, Pari. I can’t start over.”
“What do you mean?”
“I ran into these guys in Marby and they offered me a place with them.”
“What guys?”
“You don’t know them. It’s a new fellowship, but they have a lot of level fives. They’re really nice. I just came back to say goodbye and get my stuff.”
“C’mon, this is our thing. We can’t just bail on it. I even found us a new recruit. A sage.”
“That’s great, Pari. I’m happy for you. And I respect what you’re trying to do, but I need a fresh start, okay?”
“At least meet Justin. He’s downstairs. I also have an NPC named Klothar.”
“You got a hireling?” Mariel asked.
“Yeah. I think he’s part of Justin’s quest. He’s a ranger.”
The half-truth just came out. Pari didn’t know why she wasn’t upfront with Mariel about the whole Iron Veil thing. Maybe it was because Mariel had just told her she was quitting the fellowship. Or maybe it was something else.
“Are they staying here?” Mariel asked.
“For now. I’m not sure how long I can afford this place. Especially if it’s just me.”
“I’m not going to take any fellowship gold. You can keep it all. Blue Honor has tons of treasure. I don’t have to buy my way in that’s for sure.”
“Blue Honor? That’s what they’re called? I’ve never heard of them.”
“They’re from Northfleet. As I said, really nice. The leader’s name is Rodney something. I’m supposed to meet him tonight. Hey, you want me to ask if they need another healer?”
Pari got up from the bed. “No. I’m going to try to rebuild Wood and Silence.”
“Pari, I’m really sorry. I’m sorry I’m so freaked out, and I’m sorry to bail on you.”
“I guess you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
With that, she left Mariel’s bedroom.
Bitch.
It was hard enough that Pari lost Iniya and the whole entire fellowship, but now this. Well, people were who they were. You can’t change someone’s personality. But still, it really pissed her off.
Pari found herself wandering back to the bedroom that she had shared with Iniya. It was a long room on the east side of the upper floor with a lot of light and its own fireplace. Both of the beds were four-posters with wood headboards carved with their names. Each of them also had a big freestanding wardrobe and a trunk to store their stuff.
There was a little vanity with a wash basin and a mirror. A few bottles of perfume and scented oils shared the counter with some bangles and earrings and other jewelry the two of them shared.
The far end of the room was where they did their crafting. Pari had her loom and knitting supplies and Iniya had a workbench with her chisels and carving tools.
It was hard to believe that her sister was really gone. Pari curled up on Iniya’s bed and buried her head on her sister’s pillow. She thought she smelled Iniya’s perfume, and she felt even more empty inside. Pari must have dozed off for a while, but the sound of soft knocking on her bedroom door woke her.
“Come in.”
It was Justin. “Hey there, the cook lady wanted me to let you know that breakfast was ready.”
He took a step into the room. “Whoa, is this your bedroom? It’s huge.”
“I shared it with my sister.”
Justin’s eyes roved around the room and then settled on the carved headboards. “That’s pretty cool.”
Pari sat up. “Yeah, Iniya did those for us. Her crafting skill was woodcarving. Sh was amazing.”
“Really? Could she make weapons too? Quarterstaffs? Clubs?”
“No, she mostly did small pieces of furniture—stools and tables. Some artwork and signs. Other players would buy her stuff.”
“That’s cool. My grandfather was a woodworker too. He made these incredible bowls from all these exotic woods. Sold them for a ton of money at craft fairs. Is there any more of your sister’s stuff?”
“I don’t know. There’s some downstairs I think.”
Justin had wandered over towards the workbench. “What’s this?” He picked up a square of wood that looked like one of Iniya’s unfinished pieces.
“Don’t touch that!” She stepped over to the workbench and grabbed the piece from him.
“Sorry.” Justin stepped back.
Pari sighed. “No, don’t worry about it. I’m still upset that she’s not here anymore. I don’t have much to remember her by.”
She looked at Iniya’s carving. It was a square plaque about eight inches wide with a series of concentric circles carved into it. The design almost looked like some kind of labyrinth.
There were words etched into the back side of the plaque. Worlds within worlds will show you the way.
Hmmm.
Pari didn’t remember seeing this particular carving before—although she must have.
Justin leaned in and peeked over her shoulder.
“That’s pretty cool. What’s it supposed to be?”
Pari didn’t say anything for a few minutes. She was still searching her mind, trying to remember when Iniya had carved the plaque.
“You okay?”
“Sorry. I’m still wiped out. Listen, I’ll meet you down in the dining room. I just need to change my clothes.”
“Yeah, I need to get some new clothes too. I’m starting to feel kind of rank.”
“I’d say you could help yourself to the guys’ clothes, but I think they’d all be kind of big on you. But maybe you can find something while Torie washes your clothes.”
“Let me guess, Torie’s your laundress.”
“Ha ha. She cleans and does the laundry. And gets paid very well for it, so don’t give me that look.”
“I didn’t say a word. I’m just extremely jealous, that’s all.”
“You get used to it.”
“Maybe we can go into town later and look around. You probably have some outfitter shops here, right?”
She smiled. “Only about twenty or thirty.”
“Cool. Now that I’ve got some coinage, maybe I can get me some sweet gear. See you downstairs.”
After Justin left, Pari went over to the wash basin and splashed water on her face. That felt good, but she really needed a bath.
Poking around in her wardrobe, Pari found a fresh pair of leggings and a clean tunic. She changed her clothes, and then—on a whim—reached up high and placed Iniya’s plaque on top of the wardrobe, hidden behind a decorative molding. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but she didn’t want someone running off with the plaque.
Pari quickly fixed her hair and went back downstairs.
In the dining room Klothar and Justin were making themselves at home—chowing down on eggs and bacon and smoked fish and those little corn cakes that Mrs. Lawson called Warwick cakes.
“Your man Tate will be leaving within the hour,” Klothar announced. “We should have our horses back by tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest. So I say we
spend the day re-equipping ourselves and set off first thing tomorrow.”
Justin looked at the ranger incredulously. “We just got here. I was thinking we could explore the city. Hang out a bit. What’s the rush?”
“What’s the rush?” Klothar crossed his arms. “Lad, do you not recall the hordes who nearly dismembered us on the Isle of Saari?”
“Sure, the Storm Reavers.”
“Did you happen to see who was commanding them?”
“It wasn’t that giant creature?”
“No, the masters were there on the deck of the ship.”
“I was too busy getting mauled by zombies. I didn’t really catch who was on the ship.”
“Six men,” Klothar said. “Humans. It was they who were firing the cannon.”
“Then it wasn’t six men,” Pari said. “Not if they could see the tower.”
“Very well, my lady. Perhaps one of the men was a woman. It was dark as you know. The important thing is that attack was not the random depredations of the Reavers. Someone knew about that clue—and was trying to destroy it.”
“Could it have been another fellowship?” Justin asked Pari. “Do you guys, like, fight each other?”
“There’s always a little rivalry going on, but nothing like this—if this really was another fellowship.”
Pari thought about the canoe guys she had seen yesterday. They were a group of six. But they were all men. Maybe they hadn’t been able find the tower. No, that was dumb. Even if they couldn’t see the tower, all they had to do was explore the island. Once one of them got close enough to the tower, they’d have seen it—just like Justin had been able to.
But who were those guys?
Klothar said, “I say we enlist aid of the healer Pari mentioned and see if we can decipher the clue from the tower.”
“Mariel won’t be joining us,” Pari said quietly.
“What?” Justin asked. “But you guys are guildies.”
“Not any more. She’s joining another fellowship.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. She wants a clean start or something. It doesn’t matter.”
“Well, a fresh set of eyes on the puzzle would have been nice,” Justin said.
“It’s not going to happen. And that means we need to keep all these clues to ourselves, got it?”
“Sure.”
“Klothar?”
“Yes, agreed.”
“Good. Now there is something we can check,” Pari said. “The Yak Shack.”
“What’s that?” Justin asked.
“Its real name is the Hall of Exalted Tales or something like that, but everyone calls it the Yak Shack. It’s a big indoor bazaar with all these halls and rooms—kind of like a conference center. But each room has a bard or a herald or an orator.”
“So you go there to hear stories?” Justin asked.
“It’s how the game communicates world events.”
“Sounds like a waste of time to me,” Klothar said. “Besides, I don’t trust heralds. Who knows where they get their news from…”
“It’s not just news,” Pari said. “We’ll hear about what the other fellowships have discovered and who’s making the best progress.”
“Kind of like a leaderboard?” Justin asked.
“Almost. But it’s all through stories. There are no rankings. You can’t just look up and see who is ahead.”
“Spoiler alert,” said a voice from the doorway. “It’s always the Hawks. They’re always ahead of everyone else.”
It was Mariel. Pari wondered how long she had been lingering outside the door.
Mariel waltzed in and sat down at the table.
“Don’t even mention the Hawks,” Pari said.
“Why?”
She quickly told the story of what had happened at the recruitment party and then waking up naked on the boat.
“Oh my god, that’s seriously messed up.”
“Yeah, I’m never going to forget that.”
“I don’t blame you.” Mariel nodded at Klothar and Justin. “I’m Mariel, by the way.”
The guys introduced themselves.
“I’m sorry you won’t be hanging with us,” Justin said.
“Yeah, well. We all have to find our own paths, right?” She took a few strips of bacon and started munching on them. “So, Justin, you’re a newbie. How do you like Greystrand so far?”
“It’s amazing. The detail is incredible.”
“I know, right? I spent the first day just wandering around with my mouth hanging open. So alive. Everything.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“Have you checked out the AquaGlobe yet?”
“No. Not even sure what that is.”
“Oh, it’s so fun. That’s one of the things I’m really going to miss about Rathenhall.”
“What is it?”
Pari said, “It’s like a big public swimming pool, but it’s magic. The pool is a big floating globe and you can swim through it and stuff. It’s very popular.”
“Sounds awesome. When can we go?”
“I’d be up for some AquaGlobe action one more time before I leave,” Mariel offered.
Oh no you don’t. That was the last thing Pari wanted.
“Actually,” she said. “We need to twink Justin. He’s pretty far behind.”
“What’s your XP?” Mariel asked.
“I’m just over 3000.”
“That’s not bad for day two.”
Justin’s face got a little red. “Actually, I’ve been here since Tuesday. This is my fourth day.”
“Oh, well, I can see why you might want to get on it. The first few levels are kind of a drag. You’re too wimpy to do any of the fun stuff, except crafting.”
“I haven’t even started with that,” Justin said.
“Well, ask Pari to take you to the Emporium. All the crafting mentors are there. Just figure out what you want to learn and you can get started.”
“Cool.”
“But, remember, leveling fast isn’t everything. I should know, right? Most of the Febs are level 5 by now, but I took my time. And it actually saved my life.”
“What do you mean?”
Mariel picked at her food. “You probably heard that our whole fellowship wiped in this really tough dungeon. I was the only one that wasn’t level 5, so I rezzed. The rest of them are starting over with no memory.”
“That sucks,” Justin said.
“Yeah, it does.”
“So that’s kind of a permadeath thing?”
“Everyone in the beta hates it,” Mariel said. “We all think that Loneskum-Alexander just added that to avoid paying out.”
“Hey, guys,” Pari said. “Let’s not forget that Klothar is here, and he doesn’t have a clue what we’re talking about.”
“Indeed, my lady,” the ranger said. “It is almost as if you are speaking another language.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Pari said. She turned back to Justin and Klothar. “If you guys are done with breakfast, we should hit the Yak Shack. It always takes a while to find the right herald or bard.”
“I recommend drinking heavily,” Mariel said. “It can be kind of boring.” She grabbed a slice of bread and headed out of the dining room. “Nice meeting you guys. Best of luck with leveling, Justin.”
“Yeah, you too. Thanks.”
Once Mariel was gone, Pari said, “You know what? I don’t think I’m going to miss that girl at all. I really don’t.”
“She seems okay,” Justin said.
“Once you get to know her, she’s actually pretty fake, but whatever.” Pari stood up. “Let’s get going.”
Klothar patted his stomach. “That was a fine meal. I should find Mrs. Lawson and give her my compliments.”
“You old horn dog!” Justin said. “You just want to move on her.”
“He’s right, Klothar,” Pari said. “You can go courting on your own time. We need to get going. You said so yourself.”
> “I suppose so.”
They all left the dining room and Pari let Darrow know that they would be going into the city.
“Do you require the carriage, miss?”
“Actually, yes. I’m still kind of tired from walking all night.”
“Very good. I’ll drive you myself, if it pleases you.”
A quarter hour later they were all riding through Rathenhall. Justin gaped at the sights of the city while Klothar sat with an uncomfortable look on his face.
As they traveled along the wide park-like boulevard that led to the Yak Shack, Pari thought about what might come next. They were clearly in the middle of some kind of quest, but it was a really weird one—nothing like any of the other quests she had been on. It felt bigger, somehow more important. She wondered if this whole Iron Veil thing was something special being tested with just a few players.
Darrow drove the carriage to a large square in the Abel District where he let them out.
“Shall I wait for you, Mistress Pari?”
“No need, Mr. Darrow. We’ll find our own way back. Thank you.”
“Wow, this place is intense,” Justin said. He turned slowly trying to take everything in.
The square itself was filled with fountains, frescoes, and all sorts of art. It was also crowded with people—mostly NPCs, of course.
At the far end of the square a wide stone staircase lead up to the ornate entrance of the Yak Shack.
“I prefer the solitude of the forest to this teeming metropolis,” Klothar said. “Still, it is an impressive sight.”
Pari led them up the stairs and in through the entrance, which was a series of arched doorways that spanned the entire side of the building. Inside, it was cool and shady, with shafts of light shining in from high clerestory windows. The main hall of the Yak Shack had always reminded Pari of some European cathedrals she and Iniya had visited with their parents.
They pushed their way through the crowd inside. In addition to players who had come to hear the orators, bards, and heralds, there were a ton of NPCs, including vendors, guards, beggars, musicians, jugglers, and street kids. The din of all those voices was a little maddening and Pari could tell it was getting to Klothar.
“With all this noise, how can one hope to hear an orator—let alone oneself,” the ranger complained.
“You’ll see. In all your travels, haven’t you ever been to the Hall of Exalted Tales?”