by Jason Cheek
You have chosen to purchase a Guild Charter for The Revenants for the price of 10 silvers.
Accept: Yes / No
I selected ‘Yes’ as Garang Ralith wrote my guild’s name at the top of the sheet with a feathered quill and handed the paper to me as I passed over ten silvers worth of copper. The more money I paid out in coppers with every purchase, the more the weight of my bags seemed to dramatically lessen. Unfortunately, that wasn’t exactly a good thing.
“Seriously man, we need to go?” Yun said urgently hauling me out the door as soon as the charter hit my hand. “God, I’ve never seen anyone talk to NPCs as much as you do,” he grumbled under his breath as we raced the rest of the way to The White Unicorn. I laughed silently behind him as we ran. Obviously, it was Sarka who wore the pants in the family. Just one of the many reasons I chose to be alone.
The last serious relationship I’d been in was during my sophomore and junior years of high school with Julie Bowen. Two years of my life down the drain tied to a fellow gamer and a psycho controlling bitch. Julie was the only gamer in the area who could give me a challenge at LAN parties. Our groups of friends had played head-to-head a number of times, always trading off the title of winner, so when we’d finally decided to get to know each other on a more personal basis, it had been unsurprising to everyone that knew us.
The first year had been pretty great. We dominated together in-game and every gaming geek in high school was green with envy, not to mention the sex was pretty amazing too. It wasn’t until just before our second year that the relationship went to shit. That’s when Julie began sleeping around with all of my friends when we weren’t together and treating me like crap whenever we were. I never understood the why of it. I never understood why she got off on embarrassing me in front of my friends and beating me down. It wasn’t like she’d come from a broken family or had a previous relationship from hell that made her do the things she did. Nope, there was something inside of her that just got off on hurting people.
From the outside, our relationship had looked perfect, and my gaming friends were in love with the side of Julie that they saw. Not that I couldn’t blame them, at least on one level. A beautiful, stacked blonde that could kick ass in first-person shooters, strategy and MMORPG games. What wasn’t there to love? She was the personification of every gamer’s wet dream. So when I finally broke it off between the two of us, no one could understand why.
Well, almost no one. Jimmy, Mike, and Domenic had understood my reasons. They’d all seen how she’d treated me. Still, even though they knew all of that, there was always a part of them that would reminisce back to the good times we’d had together and be like: “Damn man, I still can’t believe you broke it off with her! I wish I could meet a girl like that.” My answer was always the same.
“You’re more than welcome to take a shot at her if that’s what you want because everyone else has. Go knock yourself out with my blessings.” The sad part was that I liked a strong woman who knew what she wanted and enjoyed gaming. In so many ways that combination was a dream. But, finding a woman like that who treated you right and wouldn’t try to dominate you was like finding a unicorn.
Meaning, a part of me was drawn to Yun’s wife, Sarka. Although nowadays finding a gaming girl that enjoyed playing MMORPGs wasn’t as hard as it used to be. Still, I was too gun-shy from my experience to have anything too serious. One time of having my heart ripped out of my chest and trampled upon was more than enough for this guy. The local girls in south Florida while sexy weren’t typically gamers, and so the relationships almost never went past a one night stand.
It wasn’t that I used girls for sex, but the physical relationships I’d found myself in were more of a mutual decision. The girls I met were wanting an easy going guy that they could get sexy with without strings attached while I needed to get laid. Some of them I’d taken home had even stayed friends with me in that loose ‘friends with benefits’ kind of a gray area which suited us both just fine.
The main street we were running down ended in a wide park-like area in front of a long, two-story building. I could just make out a sign on which the picture of a white unicorn was painted. Out in front of the building was a massive tree where picnic-like tables had been strewn about underneath the overhanging branches. Most of the tables were partly full of players and NPCs eating and drinking. Overall the effect was surprisingly beautiful in a rustic sort of way. As we approached the outer edge of the tables, I heard an accusatory shout.
“What in the hell took you guys so long?” Sarka pissed-off voice rang out across the small park as everyone glanced our way. “You’ve been gone for almost an hour and a half. I thought you guys were going to take maybe twenty or thirty minutes. Seriously, what the hell took you ladies so long?”
“There was a huge line at The Frozen Spiral, and it took longer than we expected-“ Yun started explaining as he plopped down at the table when his wife angrily cut him off.
“Why are you sitting down? There’s no time for that shit now. I had them pack up the sandwiches to go for your slow asses.” Sarka barked as she stood up tossing us a wrapped package each. “Let’s get moving. Daylight is burning.”
“But Startum and I wanted a mug of dark beer,” Yun whined looking at me for support.
“I’m not in this argument. Water’s fine for me.” I said holding my hands while backing up in the direction of the mines. As Sarka laid into her husband, I unwrapped my sandwich and wolfed it down half starved. The flavors were incredible. Inch thick freshly baked bread, thick slabs of meat, cheese, onion, tomatoes, and lettuce. It made Cracker Barrel look like fast food in comparison. It was so good I finished the massive sandwich before we crossed the fields outside of Delonshire.
Yun finally smartened up and just ate while Sarka gave him a hard time for taking so long. It wasn’t a hateful kind of bitching. More of a couple who knew each other’s particularities and gave each other crap about it from time to time. Even though, Yun probably fell into the ‘hen pecked’ husband category with a wife that truly loved him. Sarka also handed over my cut of the money from the skins and meat which ended up being 48 silver. We had a small argument about the unequal disbursement since she ended up giving me two-thirds of the money saying it was more than fair since I’d helped them so much. Grudgingly I accepted the silver since I wasn’t getting anywhere arguing with the stubborn woman. As we entered the mining trail winding through the woods, I reminded everyone of our surroundings.
“Just keep your eyes open. We still have those pissed off Syndicate players around here somewhere.”
“You don’t think they’ll just decide we’re not worth the trouble, do you?” Yun asked looking around nervously.
“Those cowards won’t attack us here. They’ll wait until we’re in the middle of a battle with a bunch of mobs and then try to gank us.” Sarka said with a scowl.
“That’s what I would do if I were them.” I agreed, thinking back to the fight and my own PVP strategies.
“That’s what you did,” Yun said somewhat unhappily.
“Zackly man. It’s effective.” I agreed with an unconcerned smile. “Don’t worry man. You’ll have to make sure you don’t pull too many adds once we make it to the mines.”
“What do you mean, I need to not pull too many adds? I don’t fight. I’m a freaking healer.” Yun indignantly said.
“Wrong answer. You do fight, but you mostly heal. I need to level up my Light Magic, and you need to level up your Frost Magic. I’ll take over the majority of the healing for now while you play damage dealer and Sarka can tank like always. Sounds good?” I asked with a knowing smile as I whittled down Yun’s reluctance.
We all went back and forth about the pros and cons of pulling, fighting and healing as we walked down the trail following the signs to the Delonshire Mine. I could tell as we talked that Sarka was happy to see that her husband getting into playing more. Yun hemmed and hawed but came around once I told him I’d help him with the pulls
until he got comfortable with the process. The thing that The Game had over regular MMORPGs and PVRMMORPGs was that it was an in your face kind of real. It felt like being physically transported to another world. Meaning, Yun needed to learn to play classes and professions that he’d never tried playing before. As we walked, Sarka suddenly remembered she needed to share out the quests for the mines with us as five quest windows appeared before my eyes.
New Quest! Kill the Kobolds that have taken over the Delonshire Mine!
When the Goblins invaded the Delonshire Mine, their Kobold allies took over the mines. Kill the Kobolds infesting the Delonshire Mine.
0/100 Kobolds to kill.
Objective: Kill the Kobolds infesting the Delonshire Mine.
Difficulty: Difficult.
Reward: Experience, money, and Reputation with the city of Delonshire.
Accept: Yes / No
New Quest! Kill the Goblins invaders that have taken over the Delonshire Mine!
Kill the Goblin invaders infesting the Delonshire Mine.
0/100 Goblins to kill.
Objective: Kill the Goblin invaders infesting the Delonshire Mine.
Difficulty: Hard.
Reward: Experience, money, and Reputation with the city of Delonshire.
Accept: Yes / No
New Quest! Kill the Goblin Slave Master Cralo Gutripper that has taken over the Delonshire Mine!
The Goblin invaders that have taken over Delonshire Mine are led by three leaders. Each must be killed to free the mine.
Objective: Kill the Goblin Slave Master Cralo Gutripper.
Difficulty: Hard.
Reward: Experience, money, and Reputation with the city of Delonshire.
Accept: Yes / No
New Quest! Kill the Goblin Shaman Kharborg Bonebreaker that has taken over the Delonshire Mine!
The Goblin invaders that have taken over Delonshire Mine are led by three leaders. Each must be killed to free the mine.
Objective: Kill the Goblin Shaman Kharborg Bonebreaker.
Difficulty: Hard.
Reward: Experience, money, and Reputation with the city of Delonshire.
Accept: Yes / No
New Quest! Kill the Goblin’s War Leader Vorgak the Brutal that has taken over the Delonshire Mine!
The Goblin invaders that have taken over Delonshire Mine are led by three leaders. Each must be killed to free the mine.
Objective: Kill the Goblin’s War Leader Vorgak the Brutal.
Difficulty: Hard.
Reward: Experience, money, and Reputation with the city of Delonshire.
Accept: Yes / No
By the time I’d finished reading through and accepting each of the quests, I could tell we were getting close to the mines from the distinctive sounds of combat and the murmur of many voices coming from up ahead through the trees. Sarka took the lead with Yun a step behind as I brought up the rear. Coming out into a large clearing, we stopped bunching up together to look out at the odd sight before us.
The forest gave away to a small valley that was mostly sparse grass, sand, and rocks. In the center was a broad rock formation that had a cave-like entrance where a mass of players had gathered out in front in a tight knot of bodies. Between us and the rock formation were a number of players frantically running across what looked to be a no man’s zone where Goblin Worg Riders roamed around mostly in groups five strong.
The majority of the players sprinting across the expanse were able to reach the island of safety in the middle of the valley, while a handful was being run down and slaughtered by two different groups of Worg Riders. There was a field of gravestones scattered along the path the players were taking. Even more disturbing was the cluster of gravestones at the base of the rock formation.
At first, I didn’t understand how such a large group had managed to coordinate making the crossing together, but within a few minutes, the answer to that question became clear soon enough. There was a graveyard nearby. As the players respawned back to life, they’d gather up at the rim of the valley until they had enough numbers to make a run for the rock formation in the middle of the valley, similar to a school of tuna clumping up together when being hunted by sharks.
It still didn’t explain why none of the players had stopped to fight as one group to cross the expanse together in safety. If they’d done that they would have easily overwhelmed the Worg Riders blocking their way. Eying the Goblins and their mounts more closely, I frowned at what I saw. Then again, maybe not so easily. Even from this distance, I could see the blood-red names and small golden crown above the Goblins’ heads. That meant both the Goblins and Worgs were elites and at least five levels higher than me and I was a good nine or ten levels higher than most of the players trying to cross below.
“So, how are we going to do this?” Sarka grimly asked behind me.
“Looks like we are going to have to make a run for it like everyone else,” I said, leading my new friends down the ridge towards the players gathering point below. “Those Worg Riders have to be at least five levels higher than even I am, and that little crown by each of their names means they're elite mobs.” Seeing both Sarka’s and Yun’s confused looks, I explained.
“Elite mobs are much tougher than regular mobs. Where a normal level 21 Goblin might have around 700 Hit Points if that. An elite level 21 Goblin will have somewhere around 1500 Hit Points with the rest of their stats being within the same realm of overpoweredness.
“Shit on me. That’s five times my Hit Points.” Sarka said looking stunned.
“That’s eight times mine.” Yun chipped in with a sick look on his face.
“Just calm down guys. It’s not all that bad.” I said lowering my voice. “I could take on three of those guys by myself, so together we shouldn’t have any problems taking on an entire group if we had to.”
“How many Hit Points do you have, man?” Yun asked, looking at me wide-eyed.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m just a higher level, that’s all.”
“How much higher is higher?” Sarka asked in a tight voice.
“Hold up, guys,” I said shushing them both as I saw the crowd of players around us shifting restlessly. “Something is happening.” It was a convenient distraction since I generally didn’t like sharing out my stats or player information.
Around the outcrop, I saw a group of three Worg Riders come into view. Unlike the other Worg Riders, these riders had an Orc leading them and rode a silver-white Worg. The Orc had large spiky shoulder pauldrons and carried two nasty-looking, double-headed axes in his hands. The two Goblins riding beside him looked equally fierce but carried swords and shields. On top of that, they had that oversized look of Gliogheeq the Gruesome. The mini-boss I’d killed saving the refugees.
“Get ready to run.” I heard a male Light Elf named Tinyr Nebril say next to us in an urgent whisper to his partner.
“I don’t understand why we keep killing ourselves trying to get over there. No one will team with us anyways. Our levels are too low and who needs two damage dealers. We might as well re-roll our characters at this point.” The female Light Elf named Unalia Nebril complained dejectedly. “Or we could just go back to hunting wolves to get a few more levels before trying again.”
“Come on Steph, just one more try. We’ll get there this time.” Tinyr said eyeing the Worg Riders as they began passing by the waiting players.
“Okay, one more try, but if we don’t make it this time, I’m rerolling a priest.” Unalia snapped angrily, rolling her large green eyes behind Tinyr’s back.
I sighed inwardly at overhearing the unfortunate pair’s rash of bad luck. Like most of the players standing around us, they were stripped down to their basic starter clothing. I understood the woman’s obvious frustration. In instances like this, no one wanted someone just on the edge of the level requirement to be in their group unless they were friends. Even then that could be iffy.
On top of that damage dealers were typically a dime a dozen in most MM
ORPG games, while healers and tanks were much harder to come by. Most players generally preferred the freedom of playing a damage dealing classes instead of the responsibility that came with being a group’s main healer or tank. Also, there was a certain prestige amongst players that came with doing the most damage in a team or a raid, even if said damage threatened the safety of the entire group by pulling the aggro off the tank. Obviously, if that happened, it meant the tank sucked and didn’t know how to play their class. Besides, who ever heard of stats for damage taken? That’s just lame.
“Hey Sarka, invite those two to our group,” I said, pointing at the two lowbie players standing in front of us. Seeing her raised eyebrows, I tried to explain my reasoning. “I have a good feeling about those two, and we could use a full group to take on the instance.” I could see the doubt in her eyes, but still, she sent the pair an invite. As I saw the couple start at the sudden invite, I introduced myself.
“Hey, guys. We need two damage dealers to fill out our team if you’re interested.” I said giving a reassuring smile as Sarka and Yun waved behind my back.
“Wow, thanks, guys,” Tinyr said immediately accepting the invite.
“Why bother inviting us to join your group?” Unalia asked, looking at us suspiciously as her man paused at her words.
“Look, I overhead your issues with finding a team and the obvious whole crossing problem. We are looking for good people to team up with and needed two damage dealers to fill out our ranks. Like the Dazds,” I said pointing at Sarka and Yun behind me. “You’re obviously a couple. I thought this could be a good matchup for us all.”
I could see Unalia considering my words as she whispered with her man for a moment before finally accepting the invite to join our group. ”Sorry about that.” She said with an embarrassed grin. “We had a run-in with a group of players all with the last name of Syndicate, and I’m still a little jumpy.”
“Steph, you don’t say shit like that to strangers.” Tinyr urgently hissed waving his hands in consternation.