Battle Avatars

by Ed White

  ***

  The shop is half curio and part smithy, and all amazing. A rambling old place with stone walls and tall, thin windows too thin for all but a lanky kid to squirm through and enough windows in a row, to adequately light the front area of the sprawling shop. Exotic scents tickle our noses as do vague harmonics felt in our bodies and sensed in the depths of our ears. My skin tingles—there’s power in here.

  Artificer’s workshop. Artificers and Combiners work with ley crystals and other items of power within their arcane smithy.

  Ex passes Remy and peruses the various collections of items. Weapons and armor are common closer to the side of the store with the appearance, but none of the heat, of a blacksmith’s shop. Still, there’s plenty of room beyond the depths of the shop, and the building itself is like a New Jersey warehouse in scope from the exterior. A muted din similar to the sounds of a foundry thrum from the rear of the darkened smithy. The ceiling, crossed with thick, dark beams, is a reasonable ten to fourteen feet above our heads, hung with many more items on both sides of the thirty foot room. The room itself, to the left, is filled with tables, racks, shelving, and displays of countless weapons and talismans of all sorts, and a select number of shelves containing tomes of magic. Not so rare, these books, I’m thinking, but a useful necessity for a new PC.

  It’s relatively quiet compared with the busy street outside and like the many stalls lining the street, we’re likely to spend far too much on things we never expected to see and don’t need.

  Remy turns to me. “Okay, the artificer’s name is Kirbrige, and he’ll serve anyone who can pay his fee in advance.”

  At that point, Kirbrige makes himself known, emerging as if from the shadows of the smithy, a calm, old, gaunt man dressed in dark leathers and an apron with several small pouches. He presses his worn gloves into his belt, hanging them against his hip as he greets Remy with a nod.

  Artificer: Kirbrige

  Specialty: Socketer

  Sockets per job: 2

  Location: Haven guild district.

  “Good day all, what can I do for you?”

  Remy smiles and gestures my way. “This is Greywaters, he’s recently acquired a red ley crystal he’d like socketed to his baton. I said you could help.”

  Kirbrige takes and shakes Remy’s hand. “I appreciate the recommendation.” He turns to me. “Mr. Greywaters, depending on the effort, I can provide you with a socketed crystal for six hundred gold pieces.”

  My eyes shoot to Remy, who raises his eyebrows.

  “I’m actually trained as an engineer, sort of like an artificer, but fell into sales and never left. But really, I like working with my hands, fixing, creating. I don’t get to do it very often, because I work a very different job, and funny enough, one that’s pretty useful right now—I’m a salesman.”

  Charm vs Kirbrige: Success!

  This time, it was the artificer who raised an eyebrow, and I noticed Ex watching from beside an assortment of maces.

  I raise my hand and gesture toward Kirbrige. “You must get a fair share of work here in the guild district, what can you do for 400 GP?”

  Kirbrige smiles, pushes out his bottom lip and nods. Sucking his teeth, he rubs his hands together and glances at Remy. “Told him my price, did ya?”

  Remy shrugs.

  “Five hundred it is.”

  Negotiation. Bonus.

  Cha +1

  I look down at the crystal, turning it in my hand, glancing at Lisa. “You know what? Lisa, I think you should socket your baton. I mean, if you can afford the price.”

  Remy and Lisa do a double take.

  Did I see the imp crack a smile? I believe I did.

  “Are you sure?” Lisa says, her face full of anxious joy and a touch of confusion.

  “If you don’t think it’s too forward?” I add.

  Remy guffaws.

  Lisa steps up to me, I offer the crystal to her, and our fingers brush as she takes it. “Thank, you David.”

  Remy gestures to her, if you’ve got the gold, Miss Lia, we’ll have this done in a jiffy.”

  Lisa laughs. “Call me Lisa, Remy.”

  Remy bows. “Lisa it is.”

  I roll my eyes. I mean, come on, jiffy? Who says “jiffy” anymore?

  Kirbrige the artificer takes Lisa’s baton and the red ley crystal, studying both before setting the baton down on an ornate stand engraved with sigils. I half expect him to pull out a jeweler’s loupe, but instead, he draws short arcs of energy from the crystal such that it becomes suspended in a crimson web between both fingers. Moving to the baton, he pulls his hands apart by a good two feet, the web entwined and into a sphere around the crystal. This expands by several feet, into a circuit web of intent—a spell-form—encompassing both the stand, the baton, and the crystal.

  Lines of spectral light etch their way around the items. Glowing sigils hang suspended in the air, or perhaps I should say they displace the air, these things of mana—magic.

  A maze of circuit-like complexity encircles the ley crystal and Lisa’s baton, a three-dimensional spell-form of glowing red light.

  “Ex, what is that? I expected there to be a few flashes, maybe some magic blacksmithing?”

  Ex looks away from a pile of items, which to me, looks to be a few baubles short. “Proper spells, lad. Those emblems are called sigils, a form of language, an expression of meaning, a structured intention given form by willing the recoding of reality.”

  We watch as the artificer weaves his spell, working to socket the crystal into Lisa’s baton.

  “Look there, lad, do you see the unstable elements at each nexus point of intention around the items?”

  I do, at each of the empty sockets.

  “The artificer’s using the spell-form to study the items for flaws and reveal where and how they combine, or socket in this case.”

  I watch in awe.

  Ex gestures toward Lisa. “Well lad, if you’re set on being charitable, and it’s not my place to play the game for you, but I’ve an idea.”

  “No, you sorta just show up to annoy me.”

  Ex continues as if I’d not spoken. “Your baton is a six-socketed item, but that doesn’t eliminate the fact that a skilled, master artificer isn’t able to add up to three additional sockets, as with creating a typical three-socketed item—making your baton a legendary item.

  “Ohhh.” I like the sound of that. I need to start thinking about my situation after the hackers are revealed.

  “With nine sockets, you can collect items more powerful than ley crystals, or socket nine crystals. Your choice of course, if so inclined. Remember, with each level gained, a socket is unlocked and available for socketing.”

  “Wait, what other more powerful sorts of items?”

  “Well, there are items dropped by bosses and champions that you can collect to craft extremely rare items of power, or you can collect very specific items from places of power—eschen—and empower your baton and yourself.”

  I jerk my hand in frustration. “And those are?”

  “Why, sedes, lad—special soul boxes. They won’t hamper your ability to focus ley actions through your baton, in fact, sedes add to your wisdom and intelligence attributes, while boosting your mana and XP. These foci act as insulators in ley bridging, because they build ley circuits of power.”

  Lisa looks back at me as the artificer enhances her baton.

  Ex harrumphs. “You know, artificers found among the guild districts are at best, average.”

  “What?”

  “As you determined in your shrewd bit of salesmanship, artificers working in towns are looking for work. Many are journeymen, others are still learning. They tend to charge more also, unless challenged.”

  “Of course they do.” I throw up my arms. Lowering my voice, I lean forward. “Did you let Lisa get ripped off?”

  “You offered her the ley crystal, my boy. Yet you negotiated a fair and true price, and saved her the cost of battle to acquire one.”
>
  I shake my head. “Alright, Ex, where do I find these foci sedes things?”

  “On your next quest.”

  Of course on my next quest. Now, if I can learn something when we visit the location of the game instance and hunt down the hackers as easily, we can secure my position with the Conglomerate and I’ll officially do this for a living.

  Lisa smiles at me as Kirbrige continues his work.

  Yeah, for a living and more.

  Remy leans against a large chest. “Kirbrige will be done in a few minutes.”

  I nod. “Good, we’ll meet Jonesy and the group before they leave the inn.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Having returned to Jonesy and the group, we follow the Way of the Walk to the edges of the Fell Lands—about as far as the Fast Travel allows into the ruinous region. In-game the story contends that the zone is so destroyed as to interfere with Fast Travel of any kind, save for ancient paths set in place by the ancients.

  The sun blazes down on us, even in the early morning. The heat and humidity presses in, the insects, birds and assorted cries creating a primal symphony as we enter the jungle. Leaves brush against us, our feet mired in detritus, the air both sweet and tainted by musty choking rot. Trees of incredible heights tower above the thick undergrowth fighting through the air, struggling for the sun’s mottled rays—a cool green light shimmering through the vast canopy. As we push forward, the foliage folds around us, blocking our way anywhere but the well-trodden path to the Fell Lands.

  “What’s the details on this place?”

  Jonesy ignores me, leading the way with Granger, but Lisa is happy to explain, skipping forward to walk beside me, avoiding clasping branches and hanging vines. Behind us, Malcolm watches Remy with a degree of caution while Kona walks beside him and Paul.

  “Like we talked about, there’s plenty of gossip back at the tavern.” Lisa stares up into the canopy. “When shards of the Citadel Crystalline crashed down, the Wilds and all the lands within it came into being. The collapse of the Citadel twisted and drew all sorts of places together here to form this nexus from which we access the Realms. Below is Subterranea, where you met Remy.” She gestures to our masked mystery man. “The Lemurian Remnant rules there, in the Underworld. Some say they’re goblins. But some say Subterranea leads to the true Underworld and the realm of the Chol.”

  “And the Fell Lands?”

  “They’re the devastated former kingdom of the Gryphons. The Gryphons forged an alliance with the Celestial Infinites and once protected the Citadel alongside them. They fell when it well.”

  “So...why isn’t this whole place called the Fell Lands?” I point behind us. “Is the Haven built around the Citadel?”

  Lisa shrugs. “I don’t know.”

  A voice interjects. “The Haven is built on and around the fallen Citadel and was the first step in reclaiming the Fell Lands. The Wilds are the lands surrounding Haven. Think of the Fell Lands as a…blast radius.” Remy saunters behind us, Mal staring holes into his back. “Sorry to interrupt. I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to the Lenscape. Couldn’t wait to start playing.”

  Lisa and I share a knowing look. A nerd for the game indeed.

  Insight.

  Pleasant as always, Lisa smiles. “You’re not interrupting, Remy. What do you mean by reclaiming?”

  Remy raises his hands. “Well, noobs train here, but there’s a full and evolving story in the Wilds. You don’t have to travel to the Realms to experience the unfolding stories or the cultures and civilizations of the Realms, there are settlements and cities established by and with affinities to those from the Realms. Recruiters from the war often live in these cities. But to mend the Fell Lands, and one day the Earth outside this nexus, the war must be won.”

  Lisa follows Remy’s every word, rapt with curiosity, glancing at me with her cheeks balled up by her infectious smile.

  Remy sweeps his arm in an arc. “People live in the Wilds, they establish farms, villages, and towns. They build and craft. They heal the land and tame the Wilds. But the Realms are places of war. Here in the Wilds there remains a literal haven. Once out in the Realms, at higher levels, you’re drafted into the Psychic Wars.”

  “Is that why high level players don’t play here?” I say.

  Insight: Success!

  Remy nods. “That and the lower challenge ratings. All managed by the game logic.”

  Game logic. I’m going to get along great with this masked man.

  Remy continues: “That’s why quests like this are so valuable, they’re a risk for all but a larger party.”

  “Right, no one’s completed this quest. What are we facing?” Lisa says.

  “The quest is for a legendary Gryphon item, protected by Gryphon Beast Men.”

  “We’re here.” Jonesy waves us back, the jungle thinning ahead, for all appearances, the plants avoid the blackened great stone ruins of former temples, the smell of decay replaced by the acrid scent of ash. Twenty or so feet ahead, a large shrine reaches for the sky, its cracked and worn central spire leaning to one side. At its base, among numerous offerings, a broke-down, disheveled old beast woman with a crazy owl head crouches, her wild eyes already upon us.

  Jonesy snorts. “That chic looks cray-cray.”

  Lisa raises her hand. “Maybe Kona or I should be the ones to approach her?”

  Remy nods. “Perhaps.”

  Kona leans on her baton. “Whadda we know about the quest giver? Is she the one?”

  “She’s a gryphon.” Malcolm says. Kona cuts her eyes at him. All the signs of them being a couple. But if that’s true, the same can be said of Jonesy and me, or how Ex and I bicker.

  “She’s seen us all now, Kona, but wouldn’t it have made sense for you and Mal to shapeshift into gryphons and test her, uh, sanity?” I say.

  Kona turns to me and rolls her orange eyes. “We’re level one again, brah, we can’t do that yet.”

  Remy strides toward the witchy woman, ignoring our indecision. I gotta say, how did Jonesy and these guys function like this? With Remy out of earshot, I turn to Lisa. “Do you think Jonesy and these guys are taking this seriously?”

  “Jonesy wanted to enter the beta tester programs for months. But starting over at level one is frustrating.”

  Guilt flashes through me, Jonesy wanted me to join them and that meant playing at level one. Again. Worse than that, I made them wait and they did.

  Lisa shrugs. “The agreement required us to start over—to remort. Not so bad, they’re paying us to play Lenscape all day, you know?”

  That made me feel better, but I’m not being paid, I’m on a deadline, and it’s not something I can share with Lisa. I feel I can trust her, but who’s listening?

  As an unintended answer to my concerns, Remy calls out to us and motions for us to join him and the gryphon lady. She dry-washes her hands with manic excitement.

  “Welcome travelers. This young warrior says you are a mercenary company. Will you help me recover a valuable relic of my people?”

  Quest: Defeat the War Makers.

  Rewards:

  500 XP.

  Ley crystals +1.

  Assorted treasure, 1000 GP

  Foes: Gryphon Beast Men

  Reward: 50 XP each.

  Enter the Fell Lands and explore the fallen temples of the Gryphon Demos. Defeat the War Makers and recover the ancient Bemer Shield. Do you accept?

  Y/N

  “War Makers? Not ‘fight makers’?” Even fresh makers. I roll my eyes before glancing at Lisa, her face a model of excitement. Come to think of it, I don’t see “sedes” listed. Ex said this quest has a sedes.

  Jonesy grins. “Hell yeah, accepted! This is the shit I live for.”

  Quest accepted.

  The notice fades as Granger, Kona, Malcolm and Paul equip their batons. I do the same, taking a deep breath, letting it out slow and controlled. Here we go.

  ***

  The ruins resemble the monolithic buildings of central
Haven, vaguely Greco-Roman, but constructed of immense ten to twenty foot long blocks of white, grey, and red marble. Hard to imagine, then, what shattered and dislodged so many, toppling the vast temple complexes and towers that once reached to the heavens. High above, with the lack of trees to block our view over our heads, the rocky undersides of two mammoth sky islands cast shadows over the ruins in the distance, with still more of the atmosphoids dotted in the sky beyond.

  I wonder if you can shit your pants in Lenscape. We may find out. I casually drop in step beside Jonesy, ahead of the group. “Hey, do we piss and crap in here?”

  An incredulous grimace flashes across his face. “No. We sweat and feel pain, but we don’t go potty. Get your head in the game. This is not going to be easy.”

  He’s right of course, the ruins are the perfect place for an ambush, with plenty of shadows for creatures to hide or create burrows and nests. Mobs can attack from anywhere. But the War Makers sound intelligent, are they the beast men?

  Before I’ve a chance to ask, Jonesy points at Remy and I. “You two hold back. Remy, you sound like you’ve been here a bit and your stats look good. Watch out for D, will you?”

  Remy turns to me and shrugs.

  The fuck?

  Jonesy continues. “D, watch us and learn how we work together, back up anyone who falls. Protect Lisa whenever she’s healing anyone, yeah?”

  I wave off my embarrassment. “Sure.”

  Mal doesn’t seem to trust Remy. I catch the Setec rogue giving the masked man the stink eye. Kona slaps Mal on the shoulder before the two of them head off to scout in stealth and report back. At level one, they have limited shifting ability, but both shimmer and chameleon blend to the jungle as they move out of sight.

  “Damn, that’s cool.” They’ve got stealth abilities.

  Lisa squeezes my shoulder, a finger to her lips signaling silence. I blush.