by Matthew Kent
“This is your unit floor four, aisle two unit seven.” She was mater of fact and acted like she had been there done that and had several of the t-shirts. I wanted to ask who had pissed in her Cheerios, but I refrained. She then proceeded to give me an introduction in how to access the game through the pod. “It was very impressive, you have scored extra bonus points toward character creation.”
“Thank you” I said smiling, “how many points” I asked.
“All totaled forty three. It sounds like a lot but you will of course wish for more as players always do.” She said before turning and walking away.
I sighed as I just stared at her butt receding down the hallway. I shook my head and turned around.
I sat down and logged into the system.
First I reviewed my account. I nearly choked. It showed a balance of over one hundred and twenty thousand credits. I don’t think I’d ever had that much in my life, but this game would cost me ten thousand credits a month for my account which including room. I looked around and thought what their was of it the old adage beggars can’t be choosers did apply. To put it in perspective the last hotel I stayed in In Hot Springs Arkansas cost me three hundred a night, it had more amenities and a better view, But here I could play the game and make money while being out of the governments eye.
Next, I tried out the shower and then the bed. I decided I should sleep for a few hours. Trust me, trying to sleep on a public transport isn’t a great idea.
CHAPTER FIVE
Chapter 5
I woke up several hours later. I won’t say that I was refreshed but I did feel better. Before I entered the gaming pod, I reviewed my goals. First was to get a character I could use to make money with. While there were two ways to do it in the game world, the best generally accepted method was to farm mobs, which were monsters. I was confused about that at first, I thought I might have to beat up someone named Guido and take his loot.
Just like anything in project management, I needed to define the problem and understand the solution. The problem was, I needed to stay anonymous while I tried to make enough money to be able to leave the country and find a new place to live where I could practice my crafts. The solution obviously was Arabella, but there were four types of accounts in the game world.
They offered four levels of accounts a daily grind or bronze account. That cost five thousand credits and allowed you a level zero character who worked for a daily wage in the game. The plus side you could be injured but you were not subject death penalties.
The silver plan that cost ten thousand credits. Your character could level up but you were prevented from owning land or property in the game. Finally there was the gold and platinum plans; twenty thousand and forty thousand respectively.
So I had a silver plan. Next was how best to use it. Well I knew it would take time to level my character and farm loot. My other thought was who actually made the money in the gold rush - well any of them really. Does anyone remember the miners and how many took gold out of the valleys? No? But everyone remembers Levi Strauss and they still buy his jeans today. So it wasn’t the miners that made the money but the farmers, the merchants and merchants that sold them goods.
I had to figure out my niche in the game, but first I needed to develop my character. I popped the lid of the capsule and crawled in naked as the day I was born. I placed the goggles over my eyes and put the breathing tube into my mouth and nose then closed the lid. I felt the solution pumped over my body and I felt my senses fade to black. Then I felt like I was hovering over a world that was spinning beneath me. It seemed like it was a blue jewel.
Then I heard a voice. “Welcome to Arabella the Lands of Fate.” A figure resolved in front of me, a female form that looked like a mix between a classical angel and a pixie fairy.
“I am Lianna and am your guide through character creation.” She paused then cocked her head and her eyes began to glow softly. I felt like she was starring through me. Her head cocked the other way. “Your online data is corrupted”
I thought uh oh, thats not good. I tried to speak. “I don’t have a large online presence beyond my old business…” I wasn’t sure if I spoke the words or what but she seemed to hear or understand my thoughts.
“I must perform a scan.” A bright light assaulted me and I started to get a world class migraine. Then it was over and she was standing before me once more. Beside her were two figures both male; one tall, blond, and broad shouldered, with a bluish tinged skin tone and eyes that were nearly completely white. He had my face, but it wasn’t me at the same time. The face was more chiseled and muscular.
The other was very different. Short, almost nut brown with black hair, and large blue eyes. Again it looked like me but wasn’t. This one stood maybe half a foot shorter than I was in real life, and I noticed decidedly pointed elvish ears.
“These are the two races judged to fit your personality best.” She pointed to the one on the left the dark one. “The Wood Sprite is a smaller cousin to the fae and elves. They are considered wise and crafty, creative and extremely dangerous. They seem unable to back down from enemies more powerful than themselves. Known for their skills in crafting and the arts they can learn any and all crafting skills. They are highly intelligent and are adept at spells and spell craft.”
Then I saw text come up after: Racial ability fighting above weight class does 5% more damage to and takes 5% less damage from enemies of a higher level but takes 10% less xp from enemies of an equal or lower level.
Racial ability Creative; you find it hard to focus on just one profession and are known for inventive solutions to lacking ingredients. Able to learn any and all professions but have a 5% reduction in item quality checks.
She then pointed to the second figure “The Samsaran is from far Tsia T‘an. They are spiritual creatures that remember things from their past incarnations. While they favor law and order, they are more prone to serving the good balance. The memories they have of their past are cloudy, but they are capable of drawing lessons from the past. The Samsaran are often feared by other races. They are known to make fine craftsmen due to the knowledge they have gained and carried through to the current incarnation.”
Racial ability reincarnation:You lose 10% less experience after death but level 5% slower.
Racial Ability Focused Craftsman: You may chose one skill at character creation that is 1 level above starting players. Journeyman instead of apprentice and a random skill will then be chosen that you are unable to learn.
“Which do you choose?” She asked me. I found the choices difficult until I started to really think about who I was.
“I choose the Wood Sprite,” I said, with a little quiver in my voice. As I did, I felt myself flying toward the figure. I thought of it as a figure but I know other gamers called them toons. Suddenly, I was inside of his/my body, standing there looking at myself like in a mirror. I felt Lianna standing next to me but I also say her standing next to the figure that was me.
“The recommended classes for you are Wwarrior, True Bard, Rogue and Mage”
“What are the best stats for each of them”
“The game has seven statistics: Strength, Agility, Endurance, Intelligence Wisdom, Charisma and Luck.” She said pausing and then continued. The Warrior needs strength and endurance. The True Bard needs Agility, Intelligence and Charisma, though seldom do they use whatever wisdom they might have.” Wait did she make a joke? “The Rogue uses Dexterity and Endurance. Finally, the Mage uses Intelligence and Wisdom”
I thought for a moment, raised my hand to my chin and rubbed it like I normally did when thinking through a problem. “Can you tell me about the Bard?” I asked
“The Bard was a tribal poet and singer skilled in composing verse. Often they were itinerants who garnered knowledge from far off lands, and in some societies were skilled craftsmen. In the game world they have additional skills to knowledge checks. They are skilled with many Rogue and Warrior abilities while retaining a Mages ability to
use spells.” She paused. “They can use any weapon they can learn in the game and any spell. Many Players see the Bard as an inferior class that splits the primary skills of three classes to make an imperfect whole.”
“How many players currently are Bards?”
“Currently there are two-hundred seventy-three registered Bards.”
“I would like to be a Bard”
“Accepted, it is time to assign stats.”
A slider appeared in front of me. I had twenty base stats plus my bonus forty-three.”Can I purchase additional points?” I asked.
She looked at me and smiled. “You may purchase up to five additional points, the first for one hundred credits and then half again as much for each other point.” So, for thirteen hundred and twenty credits I could get five more points. I remembered what Gretchen had said.
“I will buy five points.” At this point I had sixty-eight points to use. This is how I chose my abilities:
8-Strength - carry 80 pounds and 0.8% Damage to weapons damage and energy regeneration
8-Agility - 0.8% increase weapon skill and avoid damage
10-Endurance - 80hp to base hp and 2% to base energy pool
12-Intelligence - 120 to base Mana pool and 1.2% spell damage
8-Wisdom - 0.8% recovery base Mana regeneration rate
12-Charisma - 1.2% increase in favor-ability from NPC’s
10-Luck - 2% increase to all positive rolls or negative rolls
“You will be unable to change this after character creation. Shall we proceed”?
I nodded. ”Your verbal authority is required”
“Yes, I accept.”
“Would you like to change the physical parameters of your character?” With that the area changed and I was able to change the color of my outfit, my hair, alter my skin tones slightly and make minor other tweaks.
At the end my character stood five foot five black hair, green eyes and more of an olive complexion than a nut brown.
“Based on your Intelligence, you are granted two beginning spells. Your Charisma qualifies you for three songs.” When she said that a list appeared in front of me.
Magic Missile - Sends a ball of energy that does15 damage - Mana cost 10.
Levitate - Allows a character to levitate up or down at his whim - Mana cost 12 Mana Per second.
Song of Healing - returns hp by 20 and +5 hp per second for 30 seconds Energy cost 30.
Song of Courage - A buff that increases a players HP by 10% and damage by 5% Energy cost 40.
Song of Derision - A debuff that affects an enemy with -5% to hit and -5% damage warning this may act as a Taunt. Energy cost 40
Apparently I was unable to change out my starting spells, but I was ok with that. I guess those guitar lessons as a kid were going to come in handy after all.
“We seek now the name of he who would enter onto Arabella for fame, fortune, or folly,” she said, her voice rising in a crescendo. “Who joins his song to the worlds melody?” A screen popped up in front of me and a virtual keyboard appeared. I typed in Lorcan It meant “little fierce one.”. Then I hit accept,
“We welcome you Oh Fierce One to the world. See now that which passed and learn your future.” Then she shoved me backward and I fell. The blue ball of the world rushed to meet me as I gained speed, until I blacked out just as the earth rushed to meet me.
CHAPTER SIX
Chapter 6
“Lorcan get up you loafer,” a voice said as it shook me to consciousness. Above me stood an elf tall around six feet, with blond hair, blue eyes and wearing chain mail armor.
“What…?” I said groggily. My senses were assaulted by the smells of burning wood, the coppery scent of blood, and new mown hay. I shook myself awake and tried to let my eyes adjust to the light. I looked around me and say that it I thought it was getting subtly darker, just before night I thought.
“The attack it's started, get your lazy ass up and get to your squad.” Where he pointed was a group of elves and dwarfs below a breast works. I saw that I would be the tenth member as I got up and trotted to them. Over the breastworks I could see a city wreathed in fire, the walls unbreached and dark walls back lit by fires. . Between our breastworks and the walls, was a no-man's-land. What I could faintly make out was an area filled with broken bodies, smoldering siege equipment and men streaming from redoubts with scaling ladders to storm the mighty keep. , I wondered.
“Good you're here,” said a short dwarf in a gruff voice. “On the next horn call t’is our turn.” Does everyone remember their role? The others nodded, but I must have looked puzzled. “Remember Fierce your job is to keep us healed up the best you can and keep the enemy confused and off my ass.” So I was the healer and from my spells and abilities a buffer.
I took up my lute. AsI began to play the Song of Courage, I thought I saw a change come over the members of my group as the music washed over them.” Thank ye,” said the dwarf as the others nodded. I could feel my Energy drain from me.
Then the horn blew, and we charged out. If you can’t already guess charging a castle is a bad idea. Magic flew over our heads, arrows flew past us, and one man stumbled but was caught by others as an arrow pierced his side. Even as I ran, I played the Song of Healing and focused its effects on him. His name glowed green above his head, I could see his wound close after someone extracted the arrow.
Soon we were under the walls, but the advance stalled out. Spell fire leapt down from the walls at the men just out of the range of the casters. Even though we were hard targets, the occasional arrow or stone from the top of the defenses would strike a soldier as he tried to climb.
I looked to the squad leader as he tried to hook a grapple onto the parapet. “Give me that,” I reached my hand out and seized it before he threw it again and almost brained another of our unit. I concentrated on my Levitation and pushed off hard from the ground, ascending to the top of the wall. I grabbed on then scrambled over, and hooked the grapnel while their soldiers were distracted. By this time there were a few foot holds around scaling ladders.
I wasn’t sure how I knew how to use my skills or abilities, but it came naturally to me. I thought about something and it would happen. This wasn’t like any game I’d heard of and it wasn’t what I had expected either. I thought I would have to be clicking on buttons for an interface or that there would be some form of game controls. This seemed to be as quick as thought.
I tried to fade into the shadows to observe the enemy. They were man height five or six inches taller than me on average. They wore a mix of dark leather and chain armor. It almost looked black to me, I found it hard to think in the chaos as I stood there observing everything around me. As the battle and the noise swirled around me.
Soon the squad was at the top of the wall. The enemy soldiers still hadn’t noticed me, but after the first dwarf was over the wall, the opposition noticed all of us. I focused on them and played the Song of Derision. I wasn’t sure if the gestures I made were part of the song or something my mind and body threw in, but the enemy in front of us seemed to go wild. I dropped my lute and took up my sword in my right hand, then put my left hand out to cast a spell. A bolt of bright energy shot out, striking the dwarf’s attacker. The energy struck him full in the face, causing him to flinch. It was enough of a distraction to cause him to miss a swift cut under his guard and into his side.
Magic missile hits for 10 points of damage
I heard a sick grunt as blood washed down his side when the sword was removed with a vicious twist. He collapsed and was pushed from the wall by his own men in their rush to attack us. Then there was one more fighting beside us.
You have aided in the death of an enemy Experience rewarded.
The first dwarf at the top of the wall, was named Thorin. He was injured so once more I played a Song of Healing and saw his strokes grow more authoritative as he fought on with the crazed humans before him.
Thorin recovers 20hp and 5hp per second for thirty seconds
As
more of our men joined us on the walls, we caused the enemy to fall back. Soon our entire squad was there I stood back, occasionally healing when needed, and casting debuffs on the enemy. I saw up in the upper left corner of my vision three bars, I had missed them earlier in the excitement. One was my hit points it was in red. One was for my Mana, and it was in blue. The last was my Energy, and it was green. The last two bars had dipped my Mana I noted was about half way to empty but the only thing I could do was to fight on. When I cast a spell, my Mana would drop, but the energy bar would drop as I used my lute to cast a debuff.
Finally, we were over the wall and into the city proper. The town was a mix of styles of homes. Most brick or stone, but many made of wood. These were the homes that burned and threated the homes of neighbors. I wish I knew why we were fighting, but perhaps that would be explained later.
The dwarfs fell on the retreating humans like a brick wall. We lost one to a lucky arrow through the eye slit of his helm. There was nothing I could do. One of the burning walls collapsed on myself and an archer. I was burned on the leg, the pain was excruciating. I could smell the charred flesh of my leg and that of the archer as he burned to death. I sang Song of healing on myself and continued to follow my squad into the city.