All the same – it is concerning that it is sitting so low in the water. There must be external damage somewhere… and I don’t much like the idea of sailing in this thing. I’m starting to cross my fingers that another ship somehow does appear in port.
“How are the individual rooms and the storage areas below?” I ask, returning to where the others are waiting and gesturing over my shoulder.
“The cabins are fine,” says Captain Hitch. “Good enough for what we will need, anyway.”
“All right. Then I think we can make some progress in a couple of days.
“We may need to be quicker than that,” says Coruff. “And the captain can get a crew by tomorrow, he said.”
I sigh, looking around. The ship’s wheel is badly damaged, and there is an area for lifeboats on the quarterdeck at the back, but no boats.
“Fine. If you can source some replacement boats,” I say to the captain. “And arrange to have all the wood brought on board. Make sure it’s guarded overnight, too.”
With that, I get to work.
The existing workers comprise a pair of kobolds and a very young-looking local lad by the name of Finn, none of whom appear to have much experience with carpentry. I can quickly see why progress has been slow.
“How much are they paying you for this, Finn?” I ask the boy.
“Four coppers a day,” he says, a real local twang in his accent. “It’s slave labor, but I need to eat.”
I scoff a little – this is indeed a low rate for craftsman, even for one so young and green, though I’ve no idea what the typical rate of pay for a kobold should be. I give each of them a silver from my own money and tell them to make sure they focus their best efforts for the next day or so. “There’ll be another two silvers each for you tomorrow if you do.”
This gets their full attention, and so I give them their orders – repairing the steps and damaged area of deck. It needs to be a lot safer just to move around, and the sooner the better.
As for me, I need to focus on the area that is causing the most problems – and instinctively I know that this must involve the hull. The ship is not in dry dock, so it must be largely seaworthy or watertight. But something has let in quite a bit of water.
I move around the edge of the ship as best I can, something that is made harder by the multiple levels of the deck. The quarterdeck at the back is the highest point, but there is also the main mid-deck and a raised front area.
It’s not too long, however, before I find what I am looking for. Look over the side, I see that the damage on the starboard side is even worse than I had imagined.
Increase in skill level: Perception level 14 (Spirit +2)
Hmm… another increment. I wonder how much these skills increases will help me to attain the next level – that of adept crafter. I’d imagine that a huge number is needed over several weeks, and perhaps progress in my quests as well. Unfortunately, quests in the game appear to have glitched significantly. I only really have two – to attain shadow crafter status (which I won’t achieve any time soon), and to kill the Knights of Dawn (which is next to impossible, at least for me).
Putting this thought from my mind, I begin to work on a way to reach the damaged area of the ship. There are ropes and lengths of wood around, and I begin to rig up a contraption which will allow me to lower myself down on a board suspended between ropes. My hands work nearly automatically at the knots, balancing the boards so that they will be safe and secure. Daria knows this stuff better than I would in the real world. On the other hand, the Kjatari implant has allowed skills that I learned with my previous character to be ‘stored’ in my brain, and then to transfer over to this one. So could I transfer the same skills to the real world? If PreacherKorp are to believed, then the answer is yes.
Maybe this will provide an alternative career for me, if coding doesn’t work out…
Soon I am hanging over the sea, with no protection but the fruits of my own handiwork. The holes are not huge but they are numerous, and while they are above the water level for now, it would be fatal to set out with the ship in this state. I begin the job of repairing the outer structure of The Hurricane, humming to myself as I work.
Increments to my crafting skill are slower to come now, as the level is already high, and it is getting dark by the time one appears:
Increase in skill level: Crafting level 33 (Dexterity +16)
I take that as my cue to finish for the day. I’ve made really good progress, but there are still more holes to get to, including many of the harder to reach ones, which I have left for last.
The other three have made a bit of progress, too; I can see several areas of decking that have been replaced. I stop to fix one tripping hazard, but overall I am satisfied with what the trio have managed.
As I disembark, I see Lugg. He has been watching out for me on the dock, and is huddled on a crate cross legged, smoking his pipe.
“Any sign of the Kapa-Vanes?” I say quietly, glancing around myself as I speak.
“Not much,” he said, “at least, not here. Perhaps they don’t see this ship as a risk.”
I nod, looking back at the vessel. “Right. And actually, I need to make sure it still looks like a piece of crap. If they find out that it’s seaworthy, it will just alert them.”
“Whatever you say, Miss Daria.”
We begin to walk back towards the group of buildings where the Hummingbird Inn is located. Fortunately we are at the far northern end of the docks here, and we don’t have to pass the main open area with their patrols to get there. What’s more, we can enter through the back door once again.
Inside, Badshroom show both of us to our upstairs rooms. Mine is a small, single room with no window. This suits me well enough. I can sleep in-game, safe from enemies. I just hope that my companions are safe, too.
I plan to rise very early the next morning, because the sooner we get away from the Islands of Dubasa, the better things will be for the coven.
* * *
As Daria lies down, I open my eyes to the real world, now seeing the non-immersive overlay of the game, just as I did before when I first hacked the Shadow Kingdoms code on my Kjatari.
I click the door open and look around. Kashif is still outside, sitting at the study desk in the corridor. He’s agitated; I’ve been longer than I said I would, I realize. It’s now really late here, just as in Shadow Kingdoms.
“Sorry, Kash,” I say.
“They’re closing up here,” he replies, twitching slightly as he speaks. “I thought I was going to be locked in here all night. Can you imagine?”
I nod. “I can. That would really suck. I am sorry, Kashif – I really appreciate you watching out for me. Thank you.”
He calms slightly. “Shall we go then?” He looks at his watch again. “I haven’t eaten.”
I realize that I am very hungry; the ale and mushroom stew might have sated Daria’s hunger, but it did nothing for my own! Just as in the Shadow Kingdoms world, it has been almost a whole day since I came here.
“I’m sorry again,” I say. “I’m starving too – let’s get going, and I’ll buy you something to eat. It’s the least I can do. And I’ll stock up on food next time.”
“You want to go back in tomorrow?”
“Uh… yes. I kind of have to.”
He nods, and we make our way down the corridor, and then follow the way out to the car park.
Soon we are sitting in a roadside fast food place, having just finished devouring two burgers each. I’ve been telling Kashif about my exchange of messages with Connor Champion.
“I wouldn’t trust that guy,” he is saying. “Game developer shows all this interest in a random player who just happens to be female? It’s creepy.”
“Give me some credit,” I say, glaring at him for a moment before looking back at my food. “I’m not just some random girl. I was the only human player still in the game after the intermission. Or close enough, anyway. That’s enough to get his attention.”
I smack my lips a few times as I think about this. We turn round the corner of the building to where I have parked, and we both stop. “Actually, he didn’t ask for anything,” I said.
“See? Very suspicious.”
“Maybe. But I reckon he wants to know how I did it – how I stayed in game. I also know he doesn’t like PreacherKorp – at least, I don’t think so. He seems happy for me to be asking questions. Maybe he wants to learn from their mistakes, or just get some satisfaction that things went so badly wrong after he left.”
“I guess. But why are you so keen to get back there, anyway? There are other games, and as you said, this one has gone badly wrong once already.”
“Well, I need to know more about how the game works, and what had gone wrong, thinking as a coder. Plus, a part of me wants to get a bit of closure.”
He nods. “Makes sense I suppose,” he replies, apparently accepting my lie; I’m not quite ready to tell him or Andros how much the safety of my in-game companions means to me. “Just be careful. And I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You don’t need a lift home?” I ask.
“No – it’s close enough to walk to my parents’ house from here.”
He spins on his heel with a wave, and I watch for a moment as my college friend departs.
Chapter 11: Further Information
It’s well after my younger siblings’ bedtime when I get home, and I head straight to my room. I have another email from Connor Champion, and I sit up straight in my chair as I read it:
Hi Lucy,
Yes, you are right about the Knights of Dawn, I think. The Knights were set up as a tool of the Varian Empire in the game – a ceremonial knightly order. It’s a classic idea throughout history, like the real-world Knights of the Garter or Knights of the Thistle.
However, the parameters of the pre-set plotline only go so far. It’s a guideline, and things can be pushed in various directions as the AI progresses, especially now that the monitors are out of the way. Also, the Emperor is a human player, and it looks like things have gone down a very specific path now. At a guess, I’d say he is using the knights to gain control over leaders in other realms in Kingdoms, and to further extend his power.
Why? I’m not sure; perhaps partly ego, but I also think it’s all about control of the in-world game. As things were set up, different realms were in balance. For example, the Varian Empire was designed to be deadlocked in a struggle with its neighbor, the Confederacy, while struggling to maintain control over its own constituent parts – the provinces of Vyalia and Dathmir in particular.
But now, it looks the Varians are taking over, knocking down realm after realm. The Emperor is using real-world strategy knowledge and has tools at his disposal like the Knights of Dawn.
I suggest you don’t get in his way – leave that to me! If you do make it back in, then please let me know where in the game world you are, and I might be able to offer help. I’ll try to find out where the knights are, too.
Best,
Connor C.
This gives me a lot to think about, right enough. And some of what Champion has said fits with my experience. Coruff and the others told me about the Kapa-Vane Company building up control over the merc business on in the Isles of Dubasa, and they had previously been working with the Knights. All of this fits with the idea that the Emperor has been trying to establish more control over territories.
World domination, in the long run.
But is that really what he wants, or just a means to a different end? After all, there are major omissions from that version of the story.
I think back to my last experience in the game. The knights’ killing of magic users. Their recruitment of P’oytox, and their attempts to resurrect an ancient warlord. None of this quite tracks with the idea that the Knights of Dawn are simply being used as a kind of in-game special forces, carrying out political missions as their Empire grows in military might.
I have a feeling that I need to understand this puzzle more if I am to secure my friends’ safety in the game – and my own.
I ponder for a moment over whether I should respond to CC’s question about my location. Can he be trusted, I wonder? If so, he could provide a useful ally and one of the few players who apparently has access to the game.
Hi Connor,
Thanks again…
I stop and delete that line. Should I be thanking him? I remind myself that I am unique, and as valuable to him as he is to me. I start again:
Hi Connor,
Good to hear from you again. What you say about the Ks of D makes some sense. I have reason to believe that they have secured the Islands of Dubasa for the Emperor – or are at least close to doing so.
However, there is more to it that you should know. Much more than PreacherKorp has openly revealed, if you get my meaning.
I would be willing to tell you all I know, but first I need as much information as I can get on the knights. Even if they have gone ‘off script’, there must still be information that I can use to stop them. And yes, if you are able to keep track of where they are, that would help a lot.
Regarding your question, I have found a way to get back in, yes. I was on the Islands of Dubasa, but I am now leaving. I will fill you in soon when I have a new secure base – but it should be in the Empire, well away from Varia itself.
I pause, and wonder if it might be more efficient – and safer – if I provide a way for him to contact me in game after all. A part of me is reluctant to trust anyone – but with Champion, I can at least be pretty certain that he is not behind the Knights of Dawn. After all, he wasn’t in the game when I was stuck before, and doesn’t appear to have an inside track to the powers that be inside PreacherKorp.
And so I add:
Our first port of call is Sefindarg City. Leave a message for me there if you wish to speak in-game.
Regards,
Lucy
Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, but nothing lost either. Hopefully I kept things vague enough that there is no chance that the message could get into the wrong hands and put me at any risk.
* * *
Early the following morning I seat myself at the terminal again, well fed and with plenty of food and drinks to hand. It’s a weekend, and the place is nearly deserted. Kashif has agreed to sit outside on his laptop for a couple of hours, and then to lock the room and leave me to it.
This means I’ll be all alone for most of the day, and possibly overnight too. What other choice is there? Kash will check on me tomorrow evening, he has promised, and will be available for a call or message before that. For what it’s worth. I put my laptop on low power and tuck it into my backpack.
It occurs to me that Kashif reminds me a little of my in-game friend Lugg in his manner, though obviously not in appearance. Andros is more like Garner – quiet but reliable. Or perhaps I am just projecting, and allowing my time on Shadow Kingdoms to distort my thinking…
After the brief jarring sensation again, the strange unnatural sound – surely a glitch because of my unconventional method of accessing the game – my eyes open. I am half expecting to see the same small room in the coven, with its little window, single bed and bookshelf. But no. I am still at the Hummingbird Inn, of course.
Downstairs there is no sign of Coruff or van Turk, but I meet with Lugg in the backroom as we agreed the previous evening. And after grabbing some food provided by Badshroom (freshly baked bread and oysters – even better than the mushroom stew!), we head outside together, and soon we are back at the ominously named ship, The Hurricane, and I can see that more supplies and two serviceable rowing boats have been left there for us.
“Thanks for watching out yesterday, Lugg,” I say, and he nods. “I think that if we are to get this ship moving, I might need your
help on board, though.”
“Lugg will help.”
“Good. I was hoping you would say that. I know you’re not a crafter, but it would speed things up if someone could carry the wood to me as I am working. And perhaps attach those rowing boats to the uprights? I’ll show you what needs done. It’s not hard.”
“Lugg will work like a horse.”
He’s not exaggerating, either. Soon we are both at work, and Lugg proves tireless in his efforts. I show him how to connect the small boats to the pedestals that hold them to the deck. And when I show him a skill such as planing the wood, he repeats it enthusiastically – the only problem is sometimes he doesn’t stop soon enough.
Still, I can’t exactly criticize, since I started out with Daria working a blacksmith’s forge on non-immersive mode!
I make sure to keep an eye on his progress, and on Finn and the kobolds too, and still achieve a lot of progress myself. Something that I’ve done along the way must have boosted my social prowess, too, because I see the following uplift to a new skill:
Increase in skill level: Leadership level 13 (Spirit +1)
By the mid-afternoon, Lugg is helping me by lowering down sawn pieces of timber as I work over the side on my hoist contraption once again. Finn is working on the last few damaged areas of deck. The day wears on, and the sun is low in the afternoon sky by the time I complete my fix of the last of the major areas of damage, and raise up the little platform once again.
The Call of the Coven: A LitRPG novel (Shadow Kingdoms Book 2) Page 7