by Andrew Novak
The Tear... it was certainly connected with those kinds of quests. Old quests from the past were designed for the original version of the game, but had somehow been forgotten. Ha! If they were forgotten, then no one could come and snatch the loot. Only Jack! How to find the beginning? How to start the quest? There were no guides in any forum connected with the Tear of the Demon King.
In fact, the topic of demons was barely covered. What was known about them? The dragons, in an alliance with the natives of Stoglav, the Areuts, defeated the demons in ancient times. Later, there was another war, which buried all memory of the demons. Conquerors arrived in Stoglav from Gaerthon, the lost continent. So the game legend told.
The four peoples of Gaerthon – Scands, Taunites, Lahittes, and the Achaeans – conquered the dragons and Areuts, and by that time, virtually nothing of the demons remained. Certain relics, portentous lore, and the art of necromancy.
Necromancy and the other dark arts were banned in Havian – the realm where Jack usually played. There, and in the other kingdoms of Stoglav that he knew about. Black magic was openly practiced only in despotic Nightmare on the southwestern coast of Stoglav, but Jack couldn't access the necromancers' forums. There was a complicated registration process, loads of verifications... In a nutshell, outsiders weren't allowed.
Where could he ask about the Tear? Jack mused. He needed to find a specialist, an antiquarian, to determine how much the Tear was worth, what its attributes were, and how it could be used to get a quest.
Thunder boomed in distance – the storm was approaching. That settled it, then! Today, he wouldn't go anywhere. He would log in to Alterra, drop in the temples in Svetlograd, and chat with the priests. Relics, secrets of the past... the road to them may very well begin in a temple. The gods knew everything. They remembered when the Dragon God waged war against the King of Demons. The only problem would be whether they would want to share their knowledge.
Jack sent a message to a couple of friends who sold artifacts in Alterra and could give him some information about demonic relics. Then he dug around a bit more in the guides for temple quests, and logged into Alterra. The familiar rainbow-colored tunnel, which carried his consciousness to virt, appeared before his eyes... then he was in a little chapel and behind its door were the glorious streets of Svetlograd.
Jack pushed the door open and found himself on a sunlit street. All around him there was the movement and noise of a crowd in full dress. The weather was perfect, unlike the weather in reality. The sun was brightly shining in the clear blue sky, its rays bouncing off the knights' armor, off the precious stones, on the multitude of embellished outfits and townspeople. The heart of Svetlograd, as always, was glittering. Joining the motley crowd, Jack walked along the street and listened to the conversations.
You could hear all sorts of things here. Someone was discussing a quest, another was boasting about a good deal he got on equipment, and someone else was complaining to his companion that Queens had become impossible to pass because of some young thugs there, picking off stragglers. He was talking about the real world, of course. However, those types of conversations were rare, because the ghetto inhabitants didn't come to Alterra to think about their miserable reality. No, they were trying to forget about the hardships of real life. Alterra was a way to escape, to hide, to live, at least for a little bit, carefree and grandly.
Here was the square with the marble fountain. Crystal-clear jets of water spouted from the statue at its center and sprayed dazzling white foam, the sun playing unnaturally on the clear water. Jack admired the fountain for a moment and walked across the square to the temples.
In the center, of course, was the temple of Chronos. He was the great father of the gods, whose disappearance set in motion the beginning of Gaerthon's fall. Alterra's history seemed too complicated and confusing to many, but Jack actually liked working out the tale that the developer's had woven. During his wanderings in the Wasteland, from time to time, he would come across old books. Some he had even read through to the end, so he knew that humanity’s history before the Gendemic had also been long and complicated. Alterra's scriptwriters had often borrowed from real life. It was incredibly interesting, how they wove their own fantasies into humanity's mythology.
Jack climbed the stairs, passing the massive columns of the portico and entered through the temple archway. At the altar, where the eternal flame burned, was a priest in white robes. Chronos had been the god responsible for the passage of time, and time was infinite. Accordingly, the NPC priest was an ancient man.
"Father God bless you," he declared in a sonorous voice that did not match his feeble appearance. "What has brought you?"
"I need guidance, holy father," said Jack, reciting the phrase he had found in the guides. "By chance, I came across a demon trinket..."
Jack was going to show the Tear to the NPC, but he had barely reached into the equipment slot.
"Stop!" the priest cried out. "Do not withdraw that abomination in this holy place!"
"But I just... just wanted to know..."
"Cast aside this thing of darkness!" thundered the old man, deaf to Jack's timid attempts to explain. "Get rid of that filth and return here, cleansed. Pray to the Father for forgiveness!”
In short, Jack obviously couldn’t count on receiving an explanation or a quest here.
Jack stepped back and left the temple, the NPC's cries ringing behind him. In fact, he hadn't particularly hoped to find all the answers right away, but for the priest to immediately pounce on a humble parishioner? That hadn't been in any of the guides. Well, this could only mean one thing: the Tear was indeed unique.
Standing between the columns of the portico, in the shadows, Jack glanced around. Something had appeared in the square... something that he automatically registered, even without really getting a good look... a-ha! Amidst the players and NPCs, lingering around the fountain, was someone who didn't act like the rest. He moved back behind the marble fence and turned away. But he had definitely been watching Jack as he exited the temple of Chronos. Who was he and what did he want?
Jack, without looking at the suspicious stranger, walked casually around the square, the turned abruptly and ran to the fountain. The man jerked his attention to him, but it was too late – Jack was standing in front of him, already reading the man's stats. The Brotherhood of Gravediggers.
"You need something? Why were you following me?" Jack barked.
This was a PvE zone, so players couldn't attack one another. Had something like this happened in real life, Jack would have unceremoniously beaten the truth out of him. In Svetlograd, however, that sort of thing wasn't permitted. The game wouldn't let you damage another player, and if you kept it up, the guards would come, clad in warrior armor and armed with a few hundred points of health. They were impossible to injure and they wouldn't kill you, but get yourself arrested, and you'd receive a fine, a boring community quest with no reward, and, moreover, be ridiculed. Basically, don't use force here. Nobody had banned yelling, though, and Jack could bellow at least as well as the priest.
"Gravedigger! For some reason, I keep running into you a bit too often. I wonder, why is that?"
The Gravedigger silently shrank away from Jack's pressing, but his answer came from another side – several more people from the guild materialized in the square. Jack immediately recognized the foremost man as Weaver Lund, the mage and big kahuna in the Brotherhood of Gravediggers. Well, that made sense. The guy hiding behind the fountain had contacted the guild through chat and called Weaver...
Jack turned toward the mage,
"Hi, Weaver. Why are you spying on me?"
"Is that so?" the sorcerer asked, feigning surprise. "We were just wandering, looking around."
"Oh, yeah, right! Looking! Only, I can't understand why you're looking specifically in my direction. I saw that this guy called you when he spotted me! Which means that you gave the order to have me watched."
"The youth could benefit from studying a f
amous monster killer," Weaver tried to match Jack's tone. "So, let them watch how he prepares for his exploits. A pious lifestyle, temples, prayers, all that."
"Aw, man, you've discovered my secret!" Jack shook his head woefully. "Now, you know how to kill monsters. You just need to pray on schedule. Well, seeing as it's no longer a secret, you gonna back off?"
"Jack, tell the truth," Weaver changed his tone. "Did you find something in the black city? How did Vigo wind up there? Who are you two, anyway?"
Jack poked his finger upward, where the sorcerer could see his stats:
Jack, Scand
Level: 33
Health: 45
"Let Vigo tell you the rest. Ask him, when you see him."
"No, Jack, you had better tell me. If you stumbled onto something interesting, some high-level quest or something, it's better to share it with us. Serious quests are too tough for a single man, but the Gravediggers can handle them. If the job is worthwhile, you can expect a share of the reward. Tell us!"
"And if I don't tell you, then what? You won't accept me into your super-duper guild?"
"We are the Brotherhood of Gravediggers!" proudly announced one of the players standing behind Weaver. "We don't take just anyone. Show us that you're worthy, and our officers will think about accepting you."
"No," Jack cut him off, "I haven’t seen anything about your guild that would make me want to join. You, by the way, first tried to flake on me, plus you failed to deal with the creature, which I took on alone... no, you guys, I'm not interested."
"Jack, Jack..." Weaver drawled, clearly losing patience. "You shouldn't have said that. We will learn your secret, sooner or later. You know you won't always be able to stay in a PvE zone, right? Better to tell us yourself what was there, in the north? In the black city? Otherwise, we will follow you and...”
"Follow me? Then, after me, guys, don't fall behind!" Jack, too, was a little angry. "Today will be a holy day. You get to see a bunch of temples!"
He didn't turn around but knew that the Gravediggers were marching behind him. Whatever. Let them run around... what could they do inside Svetlograd? Or even in Alterra, with its portals and the ability to leave the game at any moment? Let them run after him.
Now it was time to get back to business. The temple of the great Chronos was a no-go. Next, Jack was going to visit the temple of the warrior Ged. This god was a lover of combat and patron of the Scands, the race that Jack played. Come to think of it, Ged would likely give the quest to a warrior and adventurer, both specializations, which Jack had developed. It wouldn't be necessary to show the Tear. Ged was an expert on weapons, so Jack could present the dagger, Shadowslayer, to the priest.
Jack had already had dealings with Ged's priest and knew what to expect. He had taken a couple of jobs suitable for a warrior Scand in this temple. Destroy a sacrificial altar or kill a dangerous predator. Before reaching level twenty, those quests were perfect. However, even those bosses rarely reached level twenty, so he would hardly gain any XP for them now. Perhaps the warrior god would give the holder of a legendary dagger something more serious?
The priest, stately and broad-shouldered, was a man of advancing age with a face full of jagged scars, no worse than those on Jack's. Maybe it was because of this that the NPC evoked in Jack a bit of irrational sympathy? Were the developers implying that the priest of the god-warrior had been a swordsman himself? It made sense!
"Greetings, visitor!" the priest met Jack with a dazzling smile. Although his beard was gray, his rosy cheeks and clear voice were more suited for a younger man. The developers had an interesting interpretation of former soldiers. "What has brought you to this temple?"
"I ask for the blessings of the mighty Ged," Jack replied, as was expected. "And I would like his assistance in one matter. A strange weapon has fallen into my possession, the like I've never seen before."
"Come now, then, show me," the priest smiled wider, "before devoting myself to the temple, I, as you know, held quite a lot of sharpened iron in these hands. Let's see, can you surprise an old warrior?"
Jack withdrew Shadowslayer. The rosy-cheeked priest's smile immediately disappeared.
"You have become involved with a dangerous and dire thing," the NPC said in quite a different tone. "This item reeks of black magic. Discard it! It is unfit for a good Scand to even pick up this abomination!"
"I will rid myself of the dagger," Jack hastily assured him. "Just to know, what is it? What if I throw it away somewhere and another finds it? Will misfortune not come of it?"
"Throw it into the sea! Or bury it in the forest! Far from living areas!" demanded the priest. "And do not tarry! Every moment that this cursed thing remains with you, it may destroy you! Go!"
When the priest, drawing his gray brows into a scowl, uttered his threats, Jack made out the heavy rumblings of thunder. They barely reached him, as if from afar, and he realized that it wasn't coming from the game. It really was thunder rolling – in reality, outside the trailer window. That was too bad. It would have been nice if the priest's speech had been accompanied by special effects. It would have been awesome.
"But what is this dagger? What dangers does it hold?" he made one more attempt.
"Go, you imbecile! Quickly, purge the world of good men of this accursed corruption!" the old man roared.
What a bummer. No one wanted to explain... and even the order to get rid of the Shadowslayer wasn't a quest, so it wouldn't result in any kind of reward. At any rate, there were no info messages, which meant no new quests there.
Jack left the temple in such a state of thoughtfulness that he didn't even glance at the Gravediggers waiting for him outside. One of them promptly entered the temple. Jack wondered, would the priest be amiable with him? Or would he tell this guy off, too?
Maybe they thought the priest would repeat his conversation with Jack. Ridiculous. NPCs weren't capable of such a thing, as they had a limited set of dialog lines. Then a thought immediately superseded his contemplation: what to do next?
Try his luck in the other temples? Go to Zaratos the Wise, the god of answers? In fact, this seemed right up his alley, solving riddles. But, Zaratos was an Achaean god. He never gave a straight answer and required a fee for each word. Or should he turn to the god of questions? Faceless protected Taunites, but was always up for playing some kind of dirty trick. Slap you with a debuff, who knows what, for asking the wrong question... no, better to stay out of his temple. That left the goddesses. Astra, Ged's companion and beloved, always followed the warrior god and healed the wounds that he inflicted. She favored the Lahittes, but he could try. Although, it was unlikely that Astra would be very helpful...
Crossing the square, Jack approached the temple of Shining Vecta. She was a kind goddess, who surely wouldn't get angry. Vecta was the wife of Chronos, and one of two entities. Her husband was responsible for the overall passage of time, while Vecta oversaw the transition of day and night.
During the day, she was the all-merciful and good Vecta, who granted everyone peace and tranquility. However, at night, in the form of Necta, her evil incarnation, she plotted all kinds of mischief. She was the mistress of black magic... that was it! That was exactly who Jack needed. Necta was not well regarded in Svetlograd and there were no temples dedicated to the evil incarnation of the two-faced goddess. Her shrines were located in the dungeons beneath Vecta's temples. To reach her, you first needed to gain the favor of Shining Vecta's priestess.
The priestess in white robes was a tall woman, statuesque, with a very kind face. She greeted Jack at the threshold.
"What has brought you here, good man?"
"I am a sinner, mother," Jack replied cheerfully.
The guides that he saw on the Shell described in detail the different dialogues, after which the priestess gave quests. Youngsters just beginning their path in Alterra willingly took quests in the temple, but after the twentieth level, temple quests did not give experience. No one went down to the lower temple, that was for
sure. With some effort, Jack found the right dialogue.
The priestess continued to look at him with her clear, kind, and understanding gaze.
"I have committed many sins, done terrible things, but there is still light in my soul. I would like to do something good to atone, if only a little, for the woe that I have brought into the world."
"Good intentions," the priestess smiled. "It is good to see sincere repentance. What good deed will you do?"
"I am a warrior, mother. Perhaps, you have need of a protector of good people somewhere? To help those in trouble?"
"If your intentions are sincere, then Shining Vecta has a request of you: the town of Narim is beleaguered by a giant wolf. Help the good residents of Narim and kill the wolf."
You receive the quest "Rid the town of Narim of the wolf".
Reward: 50 gold
Accept / Reject
"I will do it, mother. Bless!"
Jack knelt down and the priestess placed her hand on his head. The touch was pleasant. It was even useful. A message appeared before Jack, informing him that he'd received a half-hour buff – a five percent increase in strength, speed, and stamina.
The effects of the buff would end before Jack would leave Svetlograd, but Narim appeared on his map, marked by a red circle. It was in the west, pretty far from here.
Jack stood up and walked past the priestess into the temple. He’d had to accept the quest so that the priestess would allow him inside. In the center of the sanctuary, between the columns, a fire burned on the altar. Bright, like the sun, because Vecta was the goddess of day. If you didn't know exactly what to look for, then the way down to the lower temple would be easy to miss, but Jack knew. He passed between the columns and noticed a doorway in the shadows, darkness behind it.
Going down the stairs, he heard the rumblings of thunder through his virt-headset. The thunderstorm was already very close and was about to blanket the slums.