by Jason Cheek
They’d both been surprised when they saw me casting Frost Blasts since they’d taken me for a warrior. Yun especially since he’d basically only had two heal spells and limited offense capabilities. I told him that The World had no set classes and that it would be smart to at least take-up offensive spells from the Frost and Fire mage trainers when we reached the town. That basically, since he had a spell book, he should be able to load it with whatever spells he wanted. Sarka wasn’t interested in casting spells period. She likes smashing things to death, which made me wonder what kind of relationship the two of them had in real life.
Overall, the work went pretty fast, and in an hour we each had a massive bundle of pelts and meat. Then came the work of recovering portions of their inventory from each gravestone during their flight. Slowly the woods became less dense, and the mobs dropped down into the level 5 to 7 range. It was also good to see that the obvious trail of their gravestones matched their story too.
I was generally a pretty good judge of character, but it still made me feel better to see the evidence that I’d helped the right people. During the trip back, we’d hit it off pretty well. I smiled to myself thinking that we’d just found two new players to join the guild. Once we hit their first gravestones where the PKers initially jumped them, Yun and Sarka were finally able to suit back up into their original gear. Yun wore a set of cloth armor made up from an assortment of coarse fabric pieces, while Sarka pulled on a motley assortment of leather armor with her beginning chainmail vest over the top. They’d basically been running around in their beginning clothing this entire time, which was somewhat eye-popping when it came to Sarka.
“Damn, no disrespect intended Yun, but I’m gonna miss the lingerie show.” I said arching an eyebrow in Sarka’s direction. “I felt like I was having lunch at the Full House Sports Bar.”
Yun laughed along with me as Sarka blushed all the way down to her neck giving me the evil eye. “Keep it up and I’ll give you this hand-axe back in your ass.”
“Wait, did you say Full House Sports Bar?” Yun asked looking at me oddly.
“Yea, but don’t judge me. I only went there once to meet my friend AJ for lunch, not to see the lingerie-“
“You’re from West Palm Beach?” Sarka asked in surprise.
“Umm more like Boynton Beach, but basically yeah. Why’d you ask?”
“We’re from Lake Worth,” Yun said shaking his head unbelievably. “Ha, imagine that.”
“That’s pretty crazy. Most of my guild is from South Florida. We usually meet up on Sundays at the Gun Club Café for breakfast.”
We talked about going to High School locally as Sarka led the way back to town. I’d gone to John I. Leonard while they’d both been Twin Lakers. Gamers came from everywhere, but it was still surprising to run into people who actually lived near you in a game like this. The ten minutes it took to reach Delonshire went in the blink of an eye. As we approached the mouth of the main thoroughfare, I was surprised to see that the city was relatively large or at least spread out. There was too much snow on the ground to be sure, but it looked like large blocks of fields surrounded the outskirts of the city. Not that there were any walls or other obvious defensive structures in sight. At least I could see small patrols of Light Elves astride large horses patrolling in the distance. Still, any have assed attack would roll up the city and everyone in it in a heartbeat, which could be a problem in the near future if places like BrokenFang Hold had fallen to invaders.
The houses themselves reminded me somewhat of one of those Christmas cards. You know, with those picture perfect landscapes from France or Germany where they have all of those old country farmhouses. The ones with the white stucco walls pieced together with those dark wooden beams. Yea, those. Well, these buildings had that same kind of feel, but with an Asian infusion to the design. Or was Asian infusion only a term used for new Asian-American style restaurants. Whatever. Either way, the structures had an ornate open feel to them, but still made me think of French country meets traditional Japan.
The only horses seemed to be those with the guards. Otherwise, I didn’t see any being used as draft horses for wagons, just people walking to and fro everywhere. Maybe there was a city-wide ordinance again using mounts in town or something. Most of the people walking around looked to be fellow players. Unlike a European town’s central structure being a church like structure, here there was a grove of massive trees rising near the center of the main square. There were also three tall spiral like structures, but everything was dwarfed to insignificance by the grove. We were just about to enter the main street when a brusque voice called out to me from behind.
“What do you think you’re doing here, Halfling?” I turned around in surprise at the harsh voice to see a troop of three Light Elves come trotting to a stop behind us. The guards had something on their arms that looked surprisingly similar to modern day ranks. The lead Elf addressing me had three horizontal stripes with a chevron on top. Obviously, the term Halfling could also be used as a slur, I noted.
“I’ve just arrived with my good friends here and was going to partake in your fine town’s trade. Is there a problem with that, sergeant?” I addressed the lead Elf while trying to keep the sneer from my voice. I’d never done well with prejudiced dicks, but I had a feeling this was neither the time nor the place to comment on the guard’s lack of civility.
“I don’t smell any stench of the darkness on you, but House of Kayden’s love for the black arts is well known around here.” The sergeant spat the words at me like a curse. Addressing Yun and Sarka with the disgust clearly written on his face. “Do the two of you vouch that you will take responsibility for this Halfling?”
“He’s with us, sergeant.” Yun replied smoothly as Sarka gritted the words out through clenched teeth. “We will ensure to his proper behavior while he’s within the city limits.”
“See that you do.” The sergeant said gruffly. “If anything happens, I’ll hold you both responsible.” Giving me a nasty parting glare, the guards trotted off on their steeds.
“What in the hell was that all about?” Yun exclaimed, looking at me in surprise.
“Yeah, how did you manage to get through town after the training area with that crap going on?” Sarka asked. “You didn’t PK someone within the city’s limits, did you?”
“Naw, this is my first time here,” I said with a bemused look as I watched the guards retreating backs. “I just don’t think they like Half-Elves … er, Halflings here.”
“Then what was that ‘stench of darkness’ comment about?” Yun mused thoughtfully.
“How did you not come through Delonshire after the training grounds?” Sarka looked at me questioningly still trying to make sense of the strangeness.
“The starting race I chose came with the option of selecting a House. I chose House of Kayden. It turns out they have skills with something called Dark magic.” I said giving them ‘a whatever’ shrug.
“So does that mean they’re Darth Vader like evil?” Sarka asked as her faced screwed up in consternation.
“I don’t think it’s anything as cool as that. Ilana, the leader of the survivors I rescued from Goblin Raiders, said that no Light or Dark magic is intrinsically good or evil. It’s the intent behind the use of the magic that is important.” I said with a shrug trying to put them both at ease.
“Wow, that’s very utilitarian,” Yun said clapping me on the back with a smile. “Works for me.”
“Thanks, man,” I said returning his grin.
“What’s utilitarian?” Sarka frowned looking at us both as if she’d bitten into a sour apple.
“More or less the concept that actions are morally right or wrong depending upon their effects,” I said eying Yun. “Does that cover the basics?”
“I’d have tried to put in something about the rejection of moral codes based on traditions or supernatural beings too,” Yun added in with a wry grin looking expectantly at his wife. “Otherwise, I think you covered it.”
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“Oh my god!” Sarka exclaimed rolling her eyes. “Not another one! Give me your stuff.” Holding out her hands impatiently, she punched me in the shoulder to get me moving. “I’ll take care of selling the skins and meat while you guys get your spells situated.” With a shrug, we both handed over our bundles as she continued with the bossy attitude.
“I'll be at the White Unicorn getting a beer. Just don’t take all day. I still want to get a few levels in before we log out for the day.” Loading up the two massive bundles onto her back without difficulty, she walked away from us looking like an ant with a full load as she headed towards the far side of town grumbling under her breath. “Just what I needed, another geek in my life...“
“I didn’t mean to piss off your wife, man.” I said unsure if I was in trouble or not with the two of them.
“It’s cool. I do that to her all the time. Not to mention she wouldn’t be bitching like that if she didn’t like you.” Yun said giving me a hearty clap on the shoulder while guiding me onto the main thoroughfare chuckling. ”Sarka is a more hands-on type of woman. Now how about we head to the priest trainer first?”
“Sounds good to me.” I said following Yun as he took the lead. Even though I wanted to get a feel for the prices for myself, I appreciated the help and decided to go with the flow. So far, I liked them both and didn’t regret getting involved. Maybe I might even get them to help me finish up my Nightmare quest.
The players we passed looked my way in surprise. I guessed they didn’t get too many Half-Elves passing through. As soon as we entered Delonshire, a multitude of message windows began appearing at the corner of my vision on top of each other. Keeping an ear on what Yun was saying, I started going through the messages. The multiple friend requests were easy to accept as I mentally triggered the checkbox to add each sender to my friend’s list when I got to my first message.
Hefe Beatudown: Yo J. It’s Hefe! Did you wipe out too on your nightmare start?
Startum Ironwolf: No man, I’m still good. I went to town to get some training for the next phase, but I really can’t talk right now. I’ll email you later tonight or first thing in the morning. Are AJ, Jill, and Krystal still mad at you man?
Hefe Beatudown: OMFG! You heard about that?
Startum Ironwolf: Dude, I saw the video along with half the internet.
Hefe Beatudown: Ack! Sorry J. We’re heading out. Gotta go. CUL
The next chat window got my full attention.
Mike Instagib: J, U good?
Startum Ironwolf: Yea, just came to town for some training before heading back out. The whole quest is in the outback. This nightmare shit is rough.
Mike Instagib: UR telling me! Mine is mostly in the city. The whole quest line so far is assassin style work. Hard as hell. Kind of reminds me of the game Thief. If I can complete it, we’ll be sitting good.
Startum Ironwolf: Awesome man. Same w/mine. Could be a something like a Warlock or a Death Knight profession. Anything from Dom?
Mike Instagib: He might be on a Paladin quest. Said something about his house being persecuted by the Temple of Light. Whatever it is, lots of fighting.
Startum Ironwolf: Need help? AJ, Jill, Krystal and Hefe R in UR area. Sure Hefe would LUV to give U a hand.
Mike Instagib: -_-
Mike Instagib: No thanks. Rather poke my own eyes out w/a dull spoon.
Startum Ironwolf: Good Luck Mike.
Mike Instagib: Same. T2UL.
Startum Ironwolf: Later.
I quickly answered a couple of other quick messages from Glen and Anthony. Glen said that he’d checked out the cost for forming a guild and it was ten silver. I sighed heavily. Later ten silvers wouldn’t be a thing but at the beginning of the game that was a lot of money. Glen said that Kitty had volunteered to get people to chip in some silver on the cost. Anthony was doing well and was looking to team up with some of the guild as soon as possible.
I reminded him that John and Domenic were both in the area, but that Dom was in the middle of a Nightmare quest line. Kitty said she’d take care of contacting them for help with the cost of forming the guild. Once we had Guild Chat available, teaming up together would be a lot easier, especially if it let us talk to each other in the wilds. I didn’t bother saying anything about my fear of the distances in-game between the various areas, while this would solve itself at the later levels, breaking into a new game and leveling up always made being in different areas a challenge in the beginning.
I wasn’t about to do a Darnassus to Ironforge run like I’d done from my World of Warcraft days in this game. That had been painful even without a full immersion interface. Shaking my head at the thought, I sent out my last messages just as a heavy hand startled me out of the interface.
“Welcome to the Temple of Light,” Yun announced proudly coming to a stop a second later as he noticed my distracted look. “Hey Ironwolf, you still with me?”
“Yeah sorry man. As soon as we entered Delonshire, my interface blew up with messages.” I quickly apologized seeing the concern on Yun’s face. “I’d talked to my guildmates earlier via email before logging in this morning, but this was the first time I’d been able to get everyone’s in-game messages.”
“The other local Floridians you were talking about earlier?”
“Mostly. We also have a couple in Texas and the Richmond, Virginia area. Everyone wants to get the guild formed up so we can figure out how to team up together to level up and knock out some instances. It just happens to be that I’m on my own on this side of the continent.” I said, shaking my head ruefully. It’ll all work out in the end, but the first few levels are always hard in a new game when you’re trying to find people to level up with and know how to play that you can also trust.”
“Ha, you don’t have to tell that to us.” Yun laughed at his own joke as he swept his arm out before him. “Here we are, Sir Ironwolf. Welcome to the Temple of Light.”
The center of the town was a wooded grove with massive trees that formed an intricate structure that was mixed into a design with natural stone to create a unique architecture, unlike anything I’d ever seen before. The stone archway that led into the heart of the grove was engraved with a running battle of heroes and demons fighting one another. At the center of the archway, the keystone was shaped like a shining star. It wasn’t the heavy gothic look you’d expect to see in Europe, but a delicate woven carving of stone.
The floor of the place was a mixture of natural granite stepping stones and moss that led to a glowing pool at the center of the structure. All around the edges priests in flowing robes talked with players or meditated. It was quite a relaxing and peaceful atmosphere. Although, the nasty looks I received from the younger priests as I walked through the main atrium of the temple made it feel like I had a target taped to my back. Was all the attention due to the fact I was a ‘Halfling’ or because I was House of Kayden? Leading me to a back corner of the temple, Yun came to a stop in front of an old Elf woman in flowing, white robes sitting on top of a large, moss-covered rock.
I’d like to introduce you to Priestess Eruaistaniel.” Yun said with a half-bow of respect towards the old lady.
“Yun, how many times do I need to tell you it’s simply Ines?” Chuckling warmly, Ines held her hands out for Yun to take. “Come let me take a look at you and see how you’ve grown.”
“I have not come here for more instruction Ines, but to ask that you train my companion.” Taking the old Elf’s hands, Yun nodded over his shoulder for me to approach. “Startum Ironwolf.”
“Ma’am, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” I said, giving a half-bow as Ines’ took my hand in her claw-like grip. In games, I generally went out of my way to be nice to NPCs to get them talking. Usually, it was a good way to get leads on unusual quests. Here in The World, this seemed to be especially true. “My friend, Yun is correct. I’d be honored if you’d teach me the ability to heal the injured.”
“Oh, my. Aren’t you the peculiar one?” In
es said with a low chuck as one of her bony hands stroked my face. As soon as I stepped close enough to the old priestess to look into her eyes, I immediately realized she was blind. Still, it felt like her milky white orbs could look right through my soul.
Unlike with the younger priests and priestesses that I’d passed by earlier, I felt no animosity in her gaze. Just a peaceful love of life. “Although many of the younger brethren of my order mistakenly believe that the injunction we were given not to train those aligned with Dark magic for some reason means everyone that is not a Light Elf, I will follow the letter of the decree from the High Priest. Until that changes, I would be more than happy to train you in the ways of healing, son of House of Kayden.” As soon as the words left her mouth, I had a system message appear before my eyes.
Priestess Ines Eruaistaniel has offered to teach you the concepts of Light Magic. Cost is 80 coppers. Accept: Yes / No
As soon as I selected ‘Yes,’ a golden light infuse my body as I suddenly understood how to cast my first level 0 spell. At the same time, several system messages blinked to life at the bottom left of my vision.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill Light Magic.
Light Magic: Level 0 – 0% Increase in affinity for Light Magic.
Congratulations! You have learned a new spell: Heal.
Cast Time: 10 sec
Mana Expenditure: 50
Ray of golden light that heals the target for 500% Spell Power. Range 60 yards.