by Jason Cheek
Between the first and second graveyard we visited, Rani silently led us to a large building that was evenly spaced in-between the two graveyards. Creeping to the outer edge of a stone-like defensive tower, she silently pointed to the newfar siting outside eating and drinking. There looked to be anywhere between two hundred to five hundred players hanging out there. With a wordless nod, I signaled for her to continue to the next graveyard as we moved out like ghosts.
As we moved from graveyard to defensive tower to graveyard, it was fairly obvious that the Chaos Storm guild leader had set defenses in place to stop anyone from implementing the tactics that I’d used in Darom. Anyone trying to take over a graveyard would find themselves trapped in-between multiple forces. The deployment made it nearly impossible to get control over of the graveyards at once without sneaking in a buttload of troops.
Even focusing on a single graveyard would do little but give you a location for your own troops to use as a respawn point. Even then, they could mount a nearly overwhelming force to take control of any graveyard that they lost. To be honest, I was surprised Chaos Storm hadn’t slaughtered all of the soldiers they’d released just to cover their bases. Still, it was a smart set up that would require an immense force to successfully take out. With a frown, I realized I’d seen what I needed to. Catching Rani’s eye, I whispered for the Rogue to lead us to where Princess Reeva was being held.
This time, Rani’s meandering path lead us into the heart of the city. Here it was tougher to slip by the armed men and women walking down the streets. Most of the patrons perusing the shops and restaurants were members of Chaos Storm with a handful of other guild names that I’d seen before in the mix, like Global Brutality, Pwnguins, Dread Pack, and The Syndicate. There were also new names that I hadn’t run into in The World so far, like The Legion of Vengeance, Coven, Roadkill, and Triple A.
While I knew the other guilds in passing, Triple A was a different story altogether. Their acronym stood for Against All Authority and they were a well-known PVP guild that had a presence in most of the popular online games currently on the market. I’d had some run-ins with them in the past, but nothing really major like I’d had with The Syndicate. Still, it caught my attention, to say the least.
It was looking like we had a lot of major PVP and PKer guilds stacked against us. I took a moment to study the newfar being waited on by people of The World. Unlike the Dread Pack in Darom, the people of Telrain outwardly seemed to be proceeding with business as usual. At least at first glance. But, if you looked closely, you could see the abject fear in their eyes and body language every time they interacted with a newfar. Unsettling to say the least.
At my insistence, Rani explained the changes in the city from her own perspective. Once Prince Lekroth came to power, the Chaos Storm Alliance had immediately executed the nobles within the city, their families, the upper echelons of the Royal Forces, and disbanded the Royal Forces of the realm. That was followed up by a number of arrests, with the guilty being sent to work off their crimes on crafting and mining chain gangs. Otherwise, there hadn’t been any further widespread killings, like what had happened in Darom, but there was an increased number of people being reported as missing every day. The fear, that she went on to describe, followed the impression I’d had so far of a city under siege.
Coming to a halt atop a building at the edge of the fifty yard kill zone between the keep and the rest of the city, Rani led us to the top of a particularly tall building to give us a clear view of what we faced. The fortified keep at the center of the city was a fortress unto itself. An outer wall surrounded everything that was thirty yards high.
There were two sides to the structure. The first had a single massive tower that was ten stories tall and fifty yards square. It looked more like a stone apartment building than a defensive fortification. This, Rani explained, was the residence for the royal family and the various great halls where the king held daily court to deal out justice. It was here, in the square before the court, that Princess Reeva would be charged for her crimes and beheaded.
The other half of the keep was the prison. The Motte that the keep was built atop was too wide and included the edges of the city on the side of the kill zone. Between that and how the prison had been built lower down into the side of the hill, we could easily look into the pit from our perch. Basically, it looked like a modern day open pit mining operation rather than any jail I’d ever seen, except the sides of the pit consisted of a series of cells and barracks. The Prisoners were kept out in the elements where the dirt and waste product of the keep poured down onto the prisoners’ cells below. The rotten stench wafting on the evenings cold breeze reminded me of my friend’s house in Deerfield Beach, where he lived next to the local dump.
Well, a retired dump. It had been replanted with grass and trees to make it look pleasing to the eye. Like that would somehow camouflage the mini-mountain of garbage. People bought their houses there because they were so cheap, not realizing that once summer came the air would be unbreathable. We’d play a game of Warhammer 40K in his garage on the hot, summer days nearly dying from the putrid stench that filled the air. You could literally taste the garbage pit from ten miles away. For the first time since I’d rescued the princess from the Meer-Lizards, my heart went out to her for being imprisoned in a shithole like this.
Surprisingly enough, the top of the prison’s walls were filled with the lights of players keeping watch. The keep itself, surprisingly enough, seemed nearly deserted in comparison. It made me wonder if the difference between the two signaled a trap or, due to low resources, they’d been forced to shift the majority of their forces to watch over the princess. Honestly, I was shocked that they’d been able to get their guild members to pull guard duty in a place like that.
There was no question in my mind that rescuing her from inside that shithole was completely out of the question. Still, I was curious as to why they thought she was so important. Maybe they were making sure to take out any possible competition. If they controlled the new King and there wasn’t another heir to the throne, then they in essence would control the kingdom. As my mind chewed over that thought, my eyes studied the royal side of the keep. Noticing Rani’s eyes watching me, I inclined my head towards the keep’s central tower.
“Any idea where King Isolde might be inside?” I asked, watching her face for a reaction.
“Prince Lekroth,” Rani corrected me with a look of pure disgust, before answering. “He should have taken over the royal chambers at the top of the central tower once he became king, but instead, that newfar seductress moved into the king’s royal chambers.”
“If he’s not there, then where’s his room and who is this seductress you’re talking about?” I asked, trying to understand what was going on. Besides, who was this woman? No regular Swordswoman would have this level of detailed information about the royal chambers.
“The prince still resides in his original room, which is three floors down.” Rani thoughtfully said, pointing out a point of light a little lower down. “There!”
“And this seductress?” I pushed. “Who might she be? Do you know anything about her?”
“She’s a level 44 Battle Priest and the guild leader of Chaos Storm.” Rani said, as if reliving a painful memory. “Her name is Cristiane Sekhmet.”
Immediately, I froze as an icy shiver ran down my spine. Even after so many years, the physical response of my body at hearing that name was strong enough that Rani looked over at me in alarm, only to flinch away at the look on my face. She wasn’t the only one who picked up on my distress. My soulmates had too. In the blink of an eye, Neysa appeared by my side with Helgath as if by magic.
Using her muzzle, the Silver Dire Wolf nudged at my frozen arm until she managed to get it over her neck, while Helgath pressed herself to my side and laid her head against my cheek as her clawed hands gently held me. The presence of my soulmates filled me with warmth and love as the pain from my past melted away
“What�
��s wrong?” Sarka urgently hissed, as the color slowly returned to my face. “Who the hell is this Cristiane Sekhmet?”
“Her real name is, Julie Bowen.” I managed to rasp out from my suddenly dry throat.
“Julie …” Sarka repeated the name, trying to remember where she’d heard it from before.
“Isn’t that the name of your ex-girlfriend?” Yun asked, as he joined the conversation. “The one that-“
“That screwed you and your friends over?” Sarka continued, cutting Tinyr off. “The girl everyone was going on about the other night?”
“I’m not always going on about her-“ I began to say, when I saw the looks on my new friends’ faces. Well, only on Sarka and Yun’s faces, since everyone else lived too far away to come to our impromptu LAN party. Julie’s name usually only came up when we were all hanging out together. “But the guys do like to bring her up.” I finished weakly.
“I’ll give you that.” Sarka agreed patting me on the shoulder. “You doing okay now?”
“I’ve been better.” I replied, consciously swallowing my saliva. “She was one of the best gamers I’ve ever met.”
“She could beat even you?” Kenzie asked, thinking she was being funny.
“Well no, not even once.” I admitted, with my normal shit eating grin. “That’s one of the reasons she hated me so much.”
“Imagine that?” Kenzie said, giving me an “oh really” look.
“So how does this change the plan?” Tinyr asked, looking out across the kill zone at the keep.
“It doesn’t change anything for right now.” I answered thoughtfully, following Tinyr’s gaze. “But, it’ll help to counter her plans in the future.” Seeing everyone’s questioning looks, I explained what I meant. “While she’s a kick ass player in her own right, I know her general strategies for RTS, which centers on playing one side against another.”
“She’d usually position herself into a place of power in which to launch overwhelming attacks against her enemies.” I said, thinking back over our past games. “Whenever we’d play Civilization, Stellaris, or any games like that, she would consistently talk the other players and computer AI opponents into attacking me first. She was a master at talking people into doing what she wanted them to do. Her plans always centered on the idea of depleting my forces using others so she could come in afterwards and clean my clock.”
“And she still never beat you?” Sarka asked, looking me over as if trying to figure out if I was talking shit or not.
“Nope, I’d always turtle up, weather the storm, and then come out swinging.” I said with a smile. “I’d always out play her using superior tactics. It would piss her off every time.”
“Now, I’m starting to understand why she hated you so much.” Sarka said, giving me a wink as I flipped her off. “Were you always this much of a pompous ass?”
“Naw, I’m much better now.” I shot back, as Sarka and Unalia both helplessly shook their heads at my comment.
While I played the part of being a cocky asshole at times, it was never meant to be serious. Usually, I was very careful about any comments I’d make when playing with friends. Not that it always helped. No matter what you did or said, people would get mad when you always won. In that way, meeting new friends like Sarka, Yun, Tinyr, Unalia, and the Devil Dogs was a nice change of pace.
The goal of an MMO was very different than that of an FPS or RTS game. You weren’t going head-to-head against each other, but playing together to help each other grow and improve. I didn’t have that old baggage hanging over my head like I did with my older friends, which meant I could joke around and talk a little shit from time-to-time without hurting anyone’s feelings.
“So then, what’s the plan?” Kenzie asked, getting back to business.
Instead of answering the Devil Dog Rogue, I turned back to our guide. Catching the look I was giving her, Rani hurriedly looked away. Taking a deep breath, I leaned in close so that only she could hear my next words.
“Who are you?” I gently asked, ignoring her sharp intake of breath. “Because, I doubt a simple Swordswoman or Rogue would have that level of detailed information about the inner workings of the royal family’s bed chambers.”
“What do you plan to do with Prince Lekroth?” Rani countered, studying my face intently.
That was a good question. What were my plans for Prince Lekroth? Was the prince really a snake that had planned the murder of his father and sold his older sister into slavery to gain the throne? I silently asked myself, trying to understand the unformed plan in my head. Knowing that Julie was now involved changed everything.
The whole thing seemed too nice and tidy. So much so, that my mind couldn’t help but call shenanigans. In my limited experience, life was rarely so straight forward. Even so, people always seemed to make snap judgements every day without questioning whether the accusations being made were true or not. Simply being accused of a heinous crime was enough for many people to automatically assume guilt. If you think that’s just a bunch of crazy talk, look at the shit I’ve been going through with the online trolls’ accusations. For my own sense of justice, I had to make sure the Prince was truly guilty of those crimes, before condemning him to death. Even if doing so would make everything that much easier.
“I want to talk with Prince.” I said, studying our guide’s face, before looking back at the central tower.
“I thought we were here to kill the duplicitous bastard?” Kenzie snapped at me, showing her annoyance.
“Only if he’s guilty.” I said in no uncertain terms. “With Julie in the picture, I’m starting to think that’s not the case. Besides, if I killed him outright, there’s no guarantee that Chaos Storm will keep Princess Reeva alive. Hell, they might just use it as an excuse to execute the entire royal family and blame it on us.”
“And if he’s guilty?” Phoenix asked, already knowing the answer.
“Then I’ll slit his throat and let the chips fall where they may.” I replied, as everyone nodded in agreement.
“I’m a Royal Investigator.” Rani said, speaking up loud enough for everyone to hear as she stood up straight.
“Is that like the secret police?” Kenzie asked Zhou and Darkhorse.
“Or a Detective?” Tinyr asked.
“Probably more like an Inquisitor.” Phoenix joined in on the speculation with a laugh.
“We are highly skilled, multi-class warriors who have been charged with protecting the kingdoms.” Rani stated proudly, ignoring the byplay of the peanut gallery around us as Unalia and Yun chimed in with musketeer for the win. “We eliminate those who abuse their power or would betray the people of this land.”
My gamer-sense triggered at those words. Picking up my thoughts and emotions, Helgath pushed away from me and sprang onto Neysa’s back. With a flick of her tail, the Silver Dire Wolf sprinted away to scout for enemies. Switching to raid chat, I sent out a quick alert of a possible attack from Stealthers, before switching back to local chat. As my friends faded into stealth to look for enemies and prepare for an ambush, I did my best to keep the woman distracted.
“And what of the nobles’ treatment of the commoners throughout the kingdom?” I snapped in annoyance at her haughty attitude. “Does your order fight those atrocities too or is that level of inhumane treatment below your concern?”
“That is not our purpose.” Rani snapped angrily, her hazel eyes unflinching as she met my gaze. “We remove the worst of those that are evil, but our goal is the continuation of the Isolde Line.”
“Well, good job on protecting the Isolde Line.” I snapped irritably. Having a discussion like this before sneaking into a keep full of PKers was on the top of my list of things that I loved to do. Not! I thought sarcastically.
“While the newfar were an unexpected complication, the damage they’ve done is immeasurable.” Rani spat back angrily. “We have been trying to fight them, but their numbers are far too great. Besides, even if you manage to kill one of them, they just
come back to life every time.”
‘No one else is here’ Neysa’s thoughts came to me as I waited for the reports from my friends.
‘Stay loose, I’ll pick you up when I head over the wall.” I thought back to her as I focused back on my conversation with Rani.
“All-clear.” Kenzie’s report came through in a private message to me, bypassing raid chat.
“True, but they come back level lower each time.” I said in a somewhat calmer voice. Seeing the confusion in her eyes, I explained further. You want to hurt a newfar? Have your people wait at their corpse and the graveyards. Keep killing them until you de-level them to zero.”
“Clear,” Phoenix and Sarka both reported in private messages a moment later.
“And these nightmare Chaos Storm newfar?” Rani demanded as she soaked up the information I was giving.
“Staying on point to keep watch.” Tinyr privately reported. “Just keep me in the loop if anything goes down.”
“What about them?” I shot back at Rani. “Even if they’re much stronger than a regular person, just remember that dying hurts everyone. Be smart when you attack them, and you’ll be good to go.” Seeing the contemplative look on her face, I changed the topic. “So does this mean we’re good?”
“I’m not going to slit your throat, at present.” Rani said, looking me straight in the eyes. “If that’s what you were asking.”
“Basically,” I agreed as I turned around to move out. I stopped suddenly, realizing the Rogue was shadowing me. Seeing my questioning look, Rani grinned behind my back.
“That doesn’t mean I’m not going with you.” Rani stated in no uncertain terms. “I need to know the truth of his guilt before judgement can be made.”
Hopefully, I wouldn’t have problems with her when it came to the prince. I thought with a frown. Heading down the steps to the bottom of the building, I formed up with my people and headed out once again with Neysa patrolling ahead of us in the lead.