by Evan Klein
“Miss!” I pleaded as I summoned my shield, “I have never been here before. In your town or in the world of the Realmborn.”
“Ignorance doesn’t get yee out of this, don’t ya know? Yee damn Starborn are to blame.” And she struck again. This time I caught the pan on the shield. She hit it hard enough that she knocked down its durability. Who was this demonic geriatric?”
“Enough Mother!” A voice hollered through the onslaught. A robust, middle aged woman, apron wrapped around her and a hardy club in her hand came up and grabbed the wrist of Mother (which I would soon learn was what the villagers called my diminutive antagonist) and once again shouted, “Enough Mother! This Starborn along with the others helped to chase that ogre off. It would have destroyed the village without their help. We should show them thanks and not repay their help with violence.”
“Bah!” she spat out.
The woman in the apron looked at me at me said, “Thank yee!” and staring at Cali and the lithe woman (who I would soon find out named herself Flora) said, “And thank yee once again for coming to the assistance of Freehold.”
She turned from us and started barking orders. “Jon, Rey and Trill, help with that fire. If we don’t put it out we are going to lose Handel’s shop. Merle, Sahta, help Linden tend the wounded at the inn. Lante, take a half dozen of the militia and scout the perimeter of the village. I want to make sure all them fleeing orcs and especially that ogre are out of the village. Track them as far as yee dare. I don’t want them doubling back.” I could hear the authority in this woman’s voice – for as she snapped them off they were carried out without question.
“And as for yee,” she said, looking at me and the all other Starborn, “yee can help douse those flames. Once the fires are out, the wounded tended to and the village secure, we will talk.”
Quest update: Danna, the leader of Freehold, has offered you the quest: Help Douse the Flames. Reward: you will be granted experience points and your respect and goodwill amongst the villagers of Freehold will increase. Do you accept? Quest update: Speak with Danna once the village is secure. Reward: You will gain knowledge and isn’t that payment onto itself. Do you accept the quest? Haggerty said that early on I should accept all the quests offered to me – even mundane ones that didn’t include battle. So I accepted both quests.
“Well what are yee waiting for?” Danna shouted. “Them flames aint gonna douse themselves.” I had a ton of questions for Danna. And for the other three Starborn: Cali, Jarrell, and Flora. However, everything was on hold for right now. I had some firefighting to do first. I also needed to read the notifications that hovered just outside my peripheral vision like specters, but those would need to wait as well.
Chapter 5: Story One – Attack on Freehold Village
I learned a number of things about the game while helping with the bucket brigade. As a first level character, my stamina drained rapidly. I needed to take a number of breaks and had to drink quite a bit of the water that was proffered. Water and a quick rest reinvigorated me. The villagers worked tirelessly. Examining their stats, I understood why. While many had non-combat classes, they were still high level: Gregor, 10th level Tanner; Gringot, 14th level Carpenter; Gerta, 30th level Housewife (“How does one become a 30th level housewife” I mused). All of these trades required stamina. And as they grew in level and proficiency, so did their stamina.
After an hour or so, the fires were doused. A thick layer of virtual soot and sweat stuck to my body. My chest felt heavy. (These effects were due to my high non-combat receptor setting. I wanted reality in the game but this was going too far). I heard a chime and decided maybe now was a good time to look through the notifications that had piled up. I scrolled through them in order.
You incapacitated a 3rd level orc warrior: plus 10% towards next level; you helped drive away an ogre 9 levels higher than you: plus 100% towards next level. Huzzah! You gained a level! You are now level 2. You completed the retro quest, “Help defend Freehold Village!” For successfully completing this retro quest, you have gained plus 50% towards the next level. Successful use of mace in combat: plus 15%, level 1; successful use of bracer and shield: plus 30%, level 1; successful use of crossbow in combat: plus 10%, level 1. You are now a level 2 Constable. You have earned 20 more Damage Points and 5 more Attribute Points. Would you like to expend them now or wait?
I clicked the wait button as I had a question. “Angelica,” I thought reaching out to my virtual assistant, “What is a retro quest?”
“That is when you complete a quest or help to complete one that was not offered to you. In this case, you stumbled into the attack on the village. The assumption is that had you been present when the attack happened that you would have been offered the quest and would have accepted it. Hence a retro quest.”
“I guess that makes sense,” I responded.
The notifications continued: You have completed the quest, “Help Douse the Flames.” For completing this quest, you gained plus 15% towards next level. You also gained the non-combat sub-class, Firefighter, level 1. You may not have more than two non-combat sub-classes. Do you wish to keep this sub class? If you keep the sub-class, you can increase it in level. Some sub-classes also come with perks and benefits. You may discard one at any time; by doing so you will forfeit all levels, skills and perks that go along with it. Do you wish to keep this sub-class? Yes or No? I chose “Yes” only as there was no harm in doing so. I could always discard it later on.
I reviewed my updated character sheet and it wasn’t looking too bad for the short time I had been online.
Mace
Class: Constable – Level 2 (65% towards Level 3)
Sub Class: Firefighter – Level 1(1%)
Pools and Bars
Adjustments
Current Percentage
Physical Pool
100%
Magic Pool
100%
Stamina Bar
100%
Damage Bar
100%
Damage Points
Damage Point Allocation
Bonus
Total
Subtotal
Level 1
20
20
20
Starting fighter class bonus
25
25
45
Physical Strength 10
2
2
47
Physical Fortitude 7
1
1
48
Level 2
20
20
68
Attributes
Attribute
Natural
Adjusted
Total
Physical Strength:
10
10
Physical Fortitude:
7
7
Hand-Eye Coordination:
6
7
Nimbleness:
5
5
Mental Acuity:
3
3
Mental Fortitude:
3
3
Providence
3
3
Allure.
3
3
40
40
Unallocated
5
Weapon / Defense Skills
Skill
Level
Percent towards new level
Blunt weapons (Mace)
1
16%
Dagger
1
1%
Crossbow
1
11%
Brawl
1
1%
Shield
1
31%
Non-Weapon Skills
Skill
Level
Percent towards new level
Examine details
1
1%
Perks<
br />
Perks:
True Sight
Behind the Veil
Liar! Liar!
Glean Truth
Intimidation
Blunt Force Trauma
A painful pinch to my arm from Mother broke my reverie. I swear! I took a step back from her. Luckily, she didn’t seem to have her dreaded frying pan.
“Come with me,” she ordered as she turned and started to walk into the heart of the village. There was no way that someone as old as Mother should be able to move as briskly as she did, and I was losing my breath just trying to keep up with the ancient. The hard packed dirt crunched beneath my boots. Thick ash hung in the stifling air. We entered the merchant center of the village. There was an inn, a general store, a baker, and not too far away a smithy pounded away on her anvil. The merchants, who had closed their stalls when the attack occurred, had opened them once again. A skirmish in the village wasn’t going to keep them from business. Not too far away, I heard the bleating of sheep and goats.
For a small village, the inn appeared to be quite large. Of course, in a small village in the middle of the wilderness, drinking was probably the main nighttime entertainment – not that I necessarily saw anything wrong with that. The inn was simply named: Moonshiner. The wooden tables where the patrons normally placed their tankards had been converted to gurneys for the wounded, with grunts, groans and occasional curses coming from them. Dozens of candles sat strewn in holders to provide more light. Most of the injured seemed to be recovering. And I could see why. Several of the villagers deftly sewed closed wounds or administered foul smelling poultices. Meanwhile, Flora would place her hands upon a slash mark or other injury, a dim yellow light would appear, and the wound would soon be gone. The healing, however, seemed to take a great deal of stamina from her. This was the first chance I had gotten to really take a look at the girl. And a girl she was. She was lithe and appeared to be no more than sixteen years of age. She had a dark complexion like Cali, but while Cali had long braided hair, Flora’s was short and pixyish. I glanced at her information: Flora Windstorm, Half-Elf, Air (major) / Life (minor), Level 9. The girl did seem like a flower but was about as far from a storm as one could get.
Off in a corner of the inn, Jarrell and Cali spoke in a heated whisper. However, Cali seemed to be the one in charge as the dwarf just lowered his head and mumbled his agreement. A few minutes later, Flora joined them and the trio began another heated discussion in whispers. Flora also deferred to Cali, so at least now I knew who was in charge. I also sensed that they knew each other closely in the real world and that there, too, Cali was the boss.
Mother led me to a small room in the back of the inn, which seemed to be the kitchen, where Grothar, the orc I had knocked into unconsciousness, struggled against ropes that held him tight.
“You!” He screamed, straining against the taut rope that bound him. Two villagers stood above him: a slender middle-aged woman holding a crude spear and a young, robust man nervously grasping a pitchfork, its tines covered with what appeared to be blood.
“Hush young Grothar!” the woman spat. “Yee be glad that we in Freehold are a peaceful and good people. Over in Riverhold or Wildhold they’d ‘ave left yee to rot like the bird killed by the fox. We tended ya wounds with a nary a thank from yee. Yee used to eat me pumpkin pie and play with Jenik here,” pointing to the man holding the pitchfork, “when yee were just lads. We never saw yee as a cruel orc but as a neighbor. What brought yee to your wicked ways, burning our village, attacking neighbors like yee cousins of the wild? Yee want to go back like them?”
Grothar stopped squirming and sat still, embarrassment and anger plastered on his face.
Mother explained, “We’ve been asking nicely why he and his kinfolk attacked the village. I don’t know Grothar here very well, so I don’t know if he is dull in the head or stubborn like the ox. Keep explaining how my pigs would love to munch down some nice orc slop, but he don’t seem to care, don’t ya know? We thought maybe we’d let yee try to speak with this oaf and find out what brought his war party into Freehold bearing weapons against thy neighbors.”
“Will you accept the quest, “Find out why the orcs launched an attacked against Freehold Village?” If you achieve the terms of the quest, you will be awarded experience points, your respect amongst the villagers will increase and you may, but don’t count on it, receive a boon from Mother.”
“I accept,” I told Mother. “I am good at asking questions and getting answers.”
“I could see that in yee eyes, don’t ya know?” was all she responded.
Danna, the leader of the village, arrived a few moments later along with Lante, one of the scouts she had sent out beyond the village walls, and who had just recently returned. I quickly glanced at both of them: Danna, Freehold Village Ombudsman, Level 15. Sub-class: Husbandry, Level 30; Herbalist, Level 25. Wow, she is loaded up I thought. Lante’s stats were also impressive. Lante, Builder, Level 27. Sub-class: Hunter, Level 16; Trapper, Level 13.
“If I was going to be investigating and asking questions, I needed to raise the skills that would help me. I didn’t overthink it. I thought in my mind, “Angelica, please add four attribute points into Allure and one into Providence.” I had been planning to raise these traits quite a bit, just not so soon. If I were going to be questioning this orc, the extra Allure could only help. I heard a chime and the points were allocated. My updated attributes now appeared in front of me:
Attribute
Natural
Adjusted
Total
Physical Strength:
10
10
+5 DP
Physical Fortitude:
7
7
+2 DP
Hand-Eye Coordination:
6
7
Nimbleness:
5
5
Mental Acuity:
3
3
Mental Fortitude:
3
3
Providence
4
4
Allure.
7
7
45
45
“Before I question him,” I said pointing my finger in Grothar’s direction, “I need to know a few things. “I arrived to Freehold and found myself in the middle of a battle. What exactly happened?” I asked looking to Danna for answers.
“Well there aint much to say,” Danna responded. “Grothar and another lad from Coblestak– which is one of the three orc settlements in this region – showed up early this morning with a cart laden with goods. We have been trading with the three orc settlements since before me grand papi was just flailing around learning to walk. I know the stories yee all hear about orcs and their kin, but aint all orcs like that. Coblestak is prosperous – well as prosperous as any village can be here on the outskirts of civilization. The guards waved Grothar, and another of their kinfolk, Gronog, through the main gates with nary a thought as they have been here a hundred times before. They drove their cart to the center of town where most of the shops be. That’s when the Grey Spirit overtook them. Old Man Winters who happened to be heading to the inn for eggs, sausage and an ale or three said four other fellows jumped out the back of the cart where they lay hidden under a tarp. One grabbed a torch and set it aflame with some flint and steel. He wasn’t really sure what he was seeing till Krag, that was the orc’s name, went and tossed that torch up against Young Tillson’s shop. I fear we be going with holes in our shoes for a while as his shop was burned to the ground.” She threw a dark look at Grothar again and continued the story. “Winters said that Krag and Grothar began screaming at one another but it was in orcish, and his orcish aint so good, so didn’t know what they was saying. He sees the other lads pull clubs, axes and even a sword from beneath the burlap. So he did what needed to be done. He ran to the tower, which with his gimp leg aint no easy task, yanked the bell and started screaming, ‘Attack! To arms! The
orcs have returned to their dark ways. To arms people of Freehold!’ The town wasn’t fully awake yet yee see. Breakfast was being prepared, and morning ablutions being attended to. But once that carrion call rang, the villagers grabbed whatever weapon they had at hand – be it stout club or rusting sword their papi carried in some war long since passed – and ran into the roads of Freehold to protect what is ours. The rest yee can guess as yee ended up in the middle of it.”
“So they pulled a Trojan horse,” I said. None of the Realmborn seemed to grasp the reference.
“If yee mean they snuck ‘em like the fizzl to the coxtail pen, then aye they did,” Danna said.
I didn’t know what a fizzl or a coxtail were but figured one day the simile would make sense. “Where did the ogre come from? They didn’t sneak it in,” I asked.