“Aye, in fact the one next to you bears a semblance as well. Could be family and I would have guessed that, but she is an adventurer and not normal folk like Bettie was.” Gehry motioned at Amythyst during his speech then shook his head. “Ah well, let's go about and finish this up, shall we?”
The group followed him out as he approached the trail and began to build gates and towers to block the path. Once he was satisfied he looked at the group again, “I can add two more sets of them further down if you would like.”
Terets spoke up, “Please. In fact, if you would place one of them right at the base of the trail it would be wonderful.”
Gehry shrugged, “Works for me.” He began to walk down the path, widening it to 30 feet and paving it as he went. “This way you can get two wagons side by side with ease if you need to.”
An hour later Gehry paused and looked at them, “How much father is the trail head?”
“About an hour more for you, sir,” Amythyst informed him.
“That be a bit of a walk. Wish I had known that ahead of time. Ah well, I said I would do it and I will. First I shall drop the other set of gates here.” A few minutes later another set of towers and gates straddled the road. Gehry then began to follow the path again.
Finally they reached the bottom and Gehry laughed, “Now I see why you asked. Be hard to get a wagon through that crack. Hell, a full grown bear would have likely get stuck trying that.” Still laughing, he crafted the last set of towers and gate to block the path. “There you go youngsters, one dwarven stronghold made to order.”
Dumadin went to one knee before the elder dwarf, “My thanks, mighty crafter. We shall endeavor to do honor to your work.”
Gehry smiled broadly, “It is well to see the respect. I was glad to help knowing you knew Thallien and wished to honor his memory. Fare you all well and may luck favor you.”
The dwarf vanished as he finished speaking, leaving the group standing there. When Dumadin blinked, “Oh, I have a pop-up. It’s asking me to name the guild that has built this castle.”
The group laughed and shook their heads, “The Bananas.” The group said in near unison, chuckling as they did so.
Dumadin nodded, “As if there was any doubt. Looks like I’m the guild master, let me toss you all invites. Now we know how guilds work, must be based off the keep or castle buildings.” He sent guild invites to each of them and had another pop-up asking him to submit the guild emblem. Chuckling he found a picture of a banana all by itself and submitted it. “Emblem registered as well. We can now wear our namesake with pride.”
The group accepted the guild invites and toggled the guild emblem on. The Banana appeared on the upper left breast of their armor. “So fitting,” Garthur said with a laugh.
Gwennie giggled, “You should know, as you founded the first version of the Bananas dear.”
Garthur chuckled and smiled, “Yup, and a crazier 'bunch' I have never met.”
The group groaned at the pun and shook their heads. “That was truly not 'appealing',” Kittish said to more groans.
“Okay, enough puns for now folks we need to split back to Stoutbank and tell them we have a solution for them.” Dumadin said to groans at his own pun as they vanished leaving him all alone. “I was going to ask pretty please with a cherry on top too. Spoilsports,” Dumadin said with a grin before he also fast traveled.
The Journey
The group appeared in the square of Stoutbank and found the remnants of a battlefield instead of the tranquility they expected. The obelisk was the only unmarred feature they could see. The front of the inn had fire damage, as did all the other houses near it. The ground had been turned into a churned mass of dirt and drying blood.
Eyes wide, the group looked on and wondered if maybe they were too late. As they started towards the inn Dado came out and stopped, looking at them before nodding and stepping aside.
“What happened, Dado?” Kittish asked.
“Vengeance came and demanded we turn over Alvira to them. We refused and they attacked with all of their guild. We drove them off and killed a few in doing so. My brothers and myself were the most injured, but a few of the others were lightly wounded as well. The handful of adventurers in the area jumped in to help us, but they all died.” Dado was grim faced as he spoke, “The shopkeepers are arguing in the back room. I fear they are about to shatter the bonds they had formed.”
The group rushed into the deserted inn and straight to the back dining room where raised voices could be heard. “We should wait for the Champions, they have never failed us before.” Bjorn’s voice was heated as he said the words.
“What could they do Bjorn? They are like the others, only interested in what we can do for them. They don’t really care for us.” Camelia’s voice was filled with emotion.
Dumadin burst through the door on that note, “Is that what you really believe, Camelia?”
“We have been attacked, robbed, threatened and more by adventurers. Your group and one or two other people have been the only ones to even treat us as people instead of mobile objects. How else should we feel?” Her voice was thick with heartache and pain as she spoke.
Dumadin’s face was granite but he gave a curt nod of his head, “I understand. We,” he gestured at his friends behind him, “do care, though. We have finished the task we set out to do just a few hours ago. We have the solution if you have the courage to take it. We have set up a place for the folk of Stoutbank. It not only includes housing for every person of this town, but business areas for each of you. We have done all that we can, there are no furnishings as we cannot afford to do that as much as we wanted to. If you are willing to move to the north we have places for each of you and all the other townsfolk.”
A silence settled over the room as the shopkeepers sat there with their mouths open in shock. Dumadin continued, “We will have to have a small tax on goods sold as maintaining a castle is expensive. However it will be much, much lower than what you are being asked here. Also, we would ask you to maintain our gear and help provide help in defending our mutual home if we are attacked.”
Quest completed: Solve Stoutbank's issue.
Receive: Increased reputation with Stoutbank citizens.
Congratulations, you are now Heroes of Stoutbank.
The town honors your names as you have shown your heart to them.
The town folks will give you discounts and buy all your items at increased rates.
Your name has spread to surrounding villages and towns and you will be known there.
Bjorn stood up and wiped tears from his eyes, “Truly, you are Heroes. You take on our burdens and shoulder them to help us. I will come with you even if the others do not. You have helped me with honoring Thallien and more.”
The others all started speaking up saying they would come as well, leaving only Camelia as the one who hadn’t spoken yet. Her head, which had been downcast, came up with tears gleaming in her eyes. “Why? Why are you doing this for us? I know most of you adventurers don’t really care.”
The group looked at each other, then nudged Dumadin a step forward, causing him to stumble slightly and glare back at them. Seeing their expressions he sighed knowing they were forcing him to take up the mantle of leader. He walked around the table and stopped next to Camelia, “You are right.” A gasp went up from the other NPCs but he ignored it and went on, “Most of our ilk do not care at all. They see all of you as little more than paper dolls to interact with. They don’t understand the full beauty that is in front of them. We however do care, you should judge us by our actions. A wise man once said, ‘for evil to prevail all that must happen is for good men to stand idly by and do nothing’. We have chosen to not stand idly by, we will fight for those we care for regardless of how it seems to others. I can only promise we will do the best we can for those we care for. Will you join us Camelia?”
Her eyes wet, she stood up and looked down at the serious looking dwarf before bending down to hug him. “Thank you,
for proving me wrong. Some of you really do care for us. I will come and do the best I can.” The group let out a deep breath they didn’t realize they were holding at her words.
“Right, so we have a trip to the north to make. Where are we going?” Bjron asked, rubbing his hands together briskly.
“Thallien’s cave,” Felton replied, “It has been modified by Gehry to become our stronghold.”
“We shall start preparations at once. A weeks journey barring problems if we go straight north or two weeks if we take the roads most of the way,” Bjorn stroked his beard in thought.
“Bjorn, we should take into account Vengeance as well, they might attack us again. We will be in a more vulnerable state as we travel with everyone,” Weskit added.
“We should recruit the other adventurers, pay them to act as guards,” Karst pointed out.
“How will we pay for that?” Phobee piped up anxiously. “It will cost us to set up the shops when we get there.”
“We will help as much as we can,” Kittish said for the group with the others nodding behind her.
Bjorn looked up, his eyes gleaming slightly, “You will aid as much as you can?”
“Yes,” Terets interrupted, “firstly, we can split into two groups and be with you on a rotating basis so at least some of us are always here. We can also give a little coin to the cause to bring even more to help.”
“It will be done then,” Bjorn said nodding. “It will take us close to half a day to spread the word and be ready to travel. Is that okay?”
Garthur chuckled, “Just about perfect, I would think.” The others chuckled with him and agreed that would work just fine.
“We shall see you in half a day Bjorn. We will be here to travel with you until then we must rest.” Dumadin nodded and turned to walk out of the room when Bjorn stopped them.
“Heroes, you shall stay here at my inn tonight. It would be an honor to know that this roof served one last time before we leave,” Bjorn stated before calling out for room keys. “Rest well, Heroes,” he said as he handed the keys one of the maids brought him. The group went upstairs and found their rooms before logging out for the night.
* * *
David grimaced as he sat up in his pod as the pain from his broken bones and the constant ache hit him again, along with a sharp stabbing pain in his left arm that vanished quickly. He hated logging out of the game now, with the constant pain waiting for him and the reminder of his dwindling time. He wiped the expression as best he could from his face as Miriam sat up in her pod and looked over at him with concerned eyes. He gave her a smile and slowly and carefully got out of the pod. “Looks like we’ll make a big change in the game. I wonder if the developers ever thought this kind of thing might happen with the tax system they put in.” David said as he leaned against the pod for a second.
“Doubtless we shall find out soon,” Miriam said, watching her lover. She could see the pain lines around his eyes as he tried to hide the pain from her. “I’ll whip up a quick meal for us, why don’t you take a quick rinse in the tub while I do.”
David nodded and limped off to the bedroom, knowing her eyes were following him. He felt bad trying to hide how much pain he was in now, but he didn’t want her to feel even worse. He took a quick sponge bath instead of a real rinse as he just didn’t want to deal with the air cast or the splints on his hand. He came out of the bathroom to find her plating up food. “Looks like I am on time,” he said forcing a chuckle.
She turned to look at him with a false smile and nodded, “Sponge bath?” He nodded at her question and sat at the table where she placed the food. “I would have done that for you dear. I was hoping you could relax in the tub. I was going to bring the food to you.”
David looked up from his plate to her and gave her the best smile he could muster. “It’s fine dear, I’m just tired and didn’t want to fight the tub. Thank you for the food,” He picked up slice of quesadilla and dug into it.
They ate in silence before retiring to the bedroom for the night. David passed out, having taken a painkiller before Miriam got out of the shower. She paused in the doorway and watched him for a moment before crawling into bed with him. She carefully snuggled up next to the man she had found love with and kissed his cheek. “I will always love you,” she whispered as a few tears trickled down her cheek as she wrapped her arms around him. Sleep came slowly to her but eventually she was able to slip away into darkness.
* * *
Dumadin got out of the bed and stretched out his short, compact body. It was as close to heaven as he could imagine, the pain gone from his body here in the virtual world. He smiled as Kittish appeared on the bed. As her eyes opened her leaned down and kissed her, “Morning, lovely. We are going to have a full day ahead of us.”
“Yes we are dearheart,” she grinned as she got out of the bed as well and stood up, stretching her body. She chuckled as she noticed Dumadin’s eyes tracking her form. “I don’t think we have time for that, though.”
“More’s the pity,” Dumadin grumbled before chuckling and wrapping his arms around her. “We should go and see if the town is ready, but first a hug.”
They separated a moment later and left the room together. As they made it to the main room they found twenty players all sitting around chatting amongst themselves. “Nice turn out, I wonder what the quest is like.” Kittish murmured to Dumadin then blinked as a quest pop-up happened.
Quest: Defend the Townsfolk
Help the fleeing Townsfolk get to safety.
Reward: Gold or reputation per day spent defending the townsfolk.
Dumadin accepted it and laughed, “Nice, rep or gold reward which hopefully cuts down on how much it costs them to get help.”
“The smart ones will take the rep bonus instead. Having merchants give you discounts would be better in the long run.” Terets said as the group came down the stairs. “We’re all here. Shall we go check on the status of the others?”
“Yeah sounds like a plan,” Dumadin said before leading them out the door of the inn.
The group paused upon exiting the inn to find the street busy with people milling about. Mostly NPCs by the look of it, but with players sprinkled throughout. At least one wagon stood before every building with people piling chests up in the back along with other furnishings. “Well, they certainly look industrious,” Terets marveled at the speed and efficiency they were seeing.
“Yeah they look motivated to me as well. Why don’t we split up and walk around, talk to the townsfolk and see how they feel about it all, while lending a hand here or there?” Amythyst suggested while watching some kids push a chest into a wagon.
“Sure, sounds good to me,” Gwennie stated before walking off with Garthur into town.
The group split up and started to circulate amongst the people, chatting amiably as they went and lending a hand here or there with the heavier chests. The majority of what Dumadin heard was thanks for the opportunity to start over. As Dumadin started to head back towards the inn awhile later he pulled up short upon hearing someone call his name.
“Dumadin Shieldbreaker, hold up for a minute,” the voice called again.
Dumadin turned to find Kristof Runeblade approaching him with a firm stride. “Greetings again, Kristof. How are you doing today?”
The men shook hands before Kristof spoke, “I am doing fine actually, thanks for asking. I wanted to find out if you had a hand in this? I was away from the game for a while, in fact since the feast held in your honor. I log on today and find this quest and the massive press of people loading up wagons. I ask around and hear about Vengeance being dicks and how the Heroes of Stoutbank have given them an offer they couldn’t refuse.”
Dumadin chuckled, his cheeks coloring slightly, “Yeah me and my crazy bunch of friends. We heard about the problems Vengeance was causing and offered aid in our own way. The town seems to have jumped at the chance to leave. The quest was unknown to us until we logged in today, but we did suggest they see if any adven
turers in town might help guard them.”
With a smile growing on his face Kristof smiled, “You did right in my book. Vengeance are a bunch of assholes, they all treat the NPCs like dirt. This isn’t like the old RPG’s though, not that they understand that. The NPCs here are alive and active in their own ways. It’s almost like a real second world where we are the intruders.”
Dumadin leaned against a wall out of the way of the people working. “Yeah, and here the pain fades away.”
Kristof looked over and nodded with sad understanding, “I read on the portal that you’re dealing with a terminal illness. I want to ask, but don’t want to step on any toes either, why you are here?”
Dumadin snorted and looked over at the player, “Here I am alive and vibrant. Out of the game my bones are becoming as brittle as paper. It won’t be much longer until I am gone for good. So I can either live my days and nights in pain barely mitigated by the drugs or I can be here. Here I am without the pain and agony of my body failing me. My lover and I get to touch youth again if only for a short while longer. Also, I get to change this world, look at today. My friends and I are helping an entire town. Where in the real world could we do the same as effectively as this?”
Last Horizon: Live Page 12