(Later)
I’d just gotten back to the inn, and immediately noticed that most of the ladies I’d come here with were off in one corner, looking anxious at the crowd that was in the common room. The only one missing was Yukiko, who was with the crowd, which meant the strange lot were Travelers. They hadn’t noticed me yet, so I went over to the girls. Best sort this out first.
I sat down at the table with Brylres, Shagar, and the elf sisters, and said, “Well, ladies, I’ve had a chat with the Princess, and someone will be coming along to check on things, and help out how they can. Brylres, Shagar, if you want, they will have a mage transport you to one of the capitols. And you three,” I turned to the elf sisters, “I can tell you that they’ll at least try to help you get back on your feet here. They were shocked to hear what had been happening in that place.”
Brylres nodded. “That’d be for the best, I think. I’ll not be getting any armor here that is better than what I can make once I get to the clan forges, and I wouldn’t go traveling without a weapon and armor.”
Shagar looked upset. “I do not wish to leave you, but my duty to the tribe is clear. I should return.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll come visit as soon as I am able. I am a Traveler, after all. And I suspect I’ll be traveling a good deal, until I can complete the quest Brylres gave me.”
The sisters looked like they were about to speak, but then Yukiko’s voice sounded behind me. “Master, we have some guests that have traveled a long way to join us.”
I turned, and saw a dark elf maiden in a ranger’s getup, with twin scimitars and a bow. From the grin on Yukiko’s face, I had a feeling this would be interesting.
Lexichan do’Urden
Dark Elf Female
Level 30 Ranger / Barbarian
Titles: Hunter, Tempest, Daywalker, Undead Bane
I looked askance at the drowess, and chuckled. “So, you finally made that tribute character you were always talking about, Lexichan?”
Lexichan grinned, and said, “You know it, boss. Anyways, I gathered almost fifty of the old crowd. You just gotta give the word, and the guild is back, and ready to see what this world has to offer.” And with that, she handed me a bag containing the 100 gold needed to start a guild.
Opening the interface, I went to the area to register a guild. After paying the fees, I was able to create the name, and the symbol for the guild. Then I’d just need at least 11 others to sign on before the guild became official. I’d thought about what to call this guild, since ‘Lords of Light’ was out, due to us going dark side. In the end, I decided on something that was symbolic of our path, but not something that would just scream “Pallys come gank us” like ‘Demons’ or some crazy shit like that.
‘Aria of the Twilight’ would be the guild name, and our symbol would be a silver skull gripping a red rose in its teeth, set upon a black field. With a wave, I sent the invites to all the travelers in the room, and to the NPCs I was familiar with. Brylres shook her head, and declined, which I nodded to, expecting that, but Shagar, the three sisters, and my slaves all accepted, along with the Travelers.
Guild: Aria of the Twilight
Leader: Zayn Darkmore
Subleader: Lexichan do’Urden
There, I’d fill in the rest later, but for now, I set the guild tax as 10% of the gold people got from monster drops. This would help fund the building of a guild hall. I stood, and said, “All right, people. Now that we’ve got our guild again, I say we make this city our base. But that’s boring talk for later. Right now, it is almost time for the midday meal, so I say it is time for drinks, and a feast!” I held up my drink, and said, “To the Aria of the Twilight! First round is on me!”
Cheers echoed my call, especially the part about free beer. Never failed.
(Much Later)
There were introductions, and drinks, and stories told of our adventures in this world, as well as in WoD. Before the end, the crowd had grown to standing room only, as other NPCs and Travelers came to hear some of our stories. It was only after the evening meal that people began settling down, and heading to their homes, while the members of Aria found rooms for the night.
Before long, it was just me, my pets, and the core of the old Lords: Lexichan, the drow ranger; Bercilac, the gnome rogue; Raunaeril, the baby dragon flame sorcerer; Cookie, the human fighter; and Ruva, the Medusa monk. Reunited after all this time, we raised a glass together, and the conversation turned to friendly matters.
It was Ruva who started it. “So, Yukiko, you finally worked up the nerve to spread for the guild master, huh?”
Yukiko blushed, and said, “It wasn’t like that! I-I mean, it wasn’t all like that. If I’d known who he was in this game, I would have sent a message. But I started off a slave because of my qualities.”
Severa chuckled, and said, “So that’s why you were spending every moment you could bending over for Master, hoping he’d take you first?” There were more laughs at Yukiko’s expense.
Ruva broke in again, ‘looking’ at my pets. Between her snakes and her monk training, apparently she’d gotten a Blindsense-related title, so she could ‘see’ without taking off her blindfold. “So, I assume all you girls have had the pleasure. Tell me, is he really as big as the stories we’ve been hearing say?”
The girls looked at eachother, and giggled, before looking back to Ruva. “Bigger.”
I shrugged, and said, “I may have gotten a little carried away during character creation.”
Yukiko giggled. “A little?”
Lexichan, Cookie, and Ruva looked at eachother, and then turned to me. “Let us see!”
I sighed, dramatically. “I’ll let you see, but on one condition. You pick one of you three to ‘test drive’ it for the rest of the night, while the others watch.”
What followed was a very spirited game of rock-paper-scissors. And Ruva won.
Chapter 39 – Traveling to the Caverns
The next morning’s breakfast saw a good deal of knowing grins and whispered jokes amongst the members of the guild, seeing how things weren’t exactly quiet after we went up to my room. Lexichan and Cookie looked flustered, but then, I’d given them both a substantial introduction to the Tentacles. The real winner, of course, was Ruva, who seemed to have trouble walking, or sitting, this morning. The three, in turn, saw my pets in a whole new light.
Over breakfast, I talked with some of the other guild members, and shared the information I had gained on the Grizzly Catacombs and the Decayed Tunnels. The locations of prime, untouched dungeons were a windfall for a new guild in any game, of course. Raunaeril decided he would take a group to the Tunnels, and see if we couldn’t clear out the mine. If there was still Mithril or other metals to be found there, it would provide a nice boost to our guild’s income. Meanwhile, Johnist, one of our companions from WoD, declared his intentions to clear out the Catacombs. Two full groups would go with him, so they could try and claim any treasures left behind in the ruined city. Lexichan and the rest would stay behind in the city, taking on the local monsters, and trying to find a good location for our guild hall, with the help of the three sisters I rescued. Mylenoris would be our permanent base of operations.
As for my party, after we saw Brylres and Shagar off to their respective lands, we were going to be heading back out into the wild. The Scheming Caverns, and a possible route into the Underdark, were too tempting to pass up. Plus, now that I had a couple humans, a kitsune, and a half-celestial elf, not to mention an orc thrall, I kindof wanted a drowess to play with.
A couple hours after breakfast, we gathered at the western gate, along with Johnist’s party. We would be traveling together for part of the way, since the Catacombs were in the same direction as where we were headed.
Johnist Azurefang
Half-Dragon (Blue) Elf Male
Level 25 Swordmage / Elementalist
Titles: Reliable, Graceful, Assassin, Hunter
Johnist was an elf with the half-dragon type. Even back in
WoD, he always played half-dragons. I guess he liked the power that they gave him. In real life, he was a fairly average guy, and being a powerful descendant of dragons in the game was one of the ways he got to cut loose. Slaughtering undead didn’t hurt his mood any, either.
The Swordmage/Elementalist combo was an interesting one. Swordmage was a class built around infusing spell effects into the swordsman’s blade and body. It was a generally low-MP consumption class, with the potential for devastating ‘finishers’, if you worked it right. What it lacked, however, was much in the way of ranged or area effect options beyond the reach of his sword. It was a duelist or PvP class, to be honest.
Elementalist, on the other hand, was a kind of generalist in controlling the different classical elements (earth, wind, water, fire). How much you could control was dependent on your MP, and it controlled elements, not created them, which meant to control fire, you needed a flame. However, it gave one some ranged and AoE options, and allowed someone to counter many of the more common elemental spells. A flame sorcerer would be more powerful with fire, but an elementalist could cause their fire to bend around him, or send water to strike their fireball and fizzle it.
The combo was not something one would see at the top of DPS reports, but it was a good generalist who had little to no weak points, and could thus respond to almost any threat equally. In other words, perfect for exploring the unknown. Back in WoD, Johnist was the first person to get 100% on completing the world map, getting him the ‘Explorer’ title. It looked like he was intending to do the same this time around.
At level 30, I gained the ability to summon a Hellsteed mount, which was basically a black horse with a flaming mane and hooves, and a saddle and bridle made of black leather. This was useful, as it meant I didn’t need an extra horse for Nithroel. This meant the only supplies we needed to gather were food and other consumables that we’d depleted on our last trip (like potions and arrows), so it was easy enough to set out at the same time as Johnist’s group.
Riding side by side with Johnist at the head of our motley procession, I asked, “So, Johnist. I assume you reincarnated, right? Do you plan to go exploring the world like you did in WoD? I remember we didn’t see your face for almost a year, except for times when you summoned guild members via portals to help with dungeons you found in the wilderness.”
Johnist laughed, a deep, throaty sound. “You know me, Boss. Gotta find what’s just beyond that horizon. You can’t do any exploring in Real, because of having to be an adult and all that drek, but at least here I can go where no one has gone before.”
And then the cocky bastard winked at me. “Anyways, you know full well that you enjoyed some of those adventures. Remember the time I found what we thought was going to be an ancient crypt, and it turned into an entrance to a drow city?”
I hid my face. “Oh god, the Lair of Arachne! What a nightmare! We were all specced out for undead, and suddenly we’re having to deal with fucking drow and their poison crossbow bolts and pet spiders. First time we’d ever been captured, as I recall.”
“Yeah, lucky Brecilac was there to convince the guards to turn on eachother, or we would have been worse than dead. I read on the forums that someone else who tried that raid got their chars tortured to the point where the equipment shut them out of the game to keep their minds intact, and they got kill-spawned back to 1.”
I shuddered at that. “Yeah. Keep an eye out for stuff like that. While I don’t have any proof, I’m pretty sure that the game is allowing some mental influence to happen this time around. A couple of my pets literally feel pain as pleasure now, and I’ve been able to enslave PCs, and force them to do my will, even keeping them from logging out until the system auto-kicked them. Don’t count on the torture settings working like WoD.”
Johnist frowned. “That’s dangerous news, Boss. How you figure that works?”
I considered my words carefully, before saying, “I think it has to do with the reality settings, and the way the game is being shunted directly into our heads. People have died in the game and come back, so we know that it isn’t a death game or any of those urban legends, but if you look at the forums, you’re seeing more and more people getting sucked into their AAO life. The Better Than Life settings mean that everything feels more real. Including pain and pleasure. So psychological conditioning should be possible.”
“Damn. This isn’t just a game, is it?”
“Nope, we’re dealing with a living world, not a fancy MMO like WoD was. You can already see it in the fact that combat doesn’t run like it would in an old-school MMO. Boss fights can be over in seconds if you’re lucky, or good. If a fight with a boss lasts beyond a couple minutes, you’re probably already dead. Not like in WoD, where you had to grind the HP down.”
Johnist considered that. “So raw DPS isn’t as important as where and how you hit the enemy?”
I nodded. “Yeah. At least for living targets. In WoD, if you stab a dragon in the eye, all you did was piss off a dragon. In AAO, you’ve got a pissed off, half-blind dragon. Take the other eye, and they’re all blind. Slit a demon’s throat, and unless they got some nasty regeneration, they’re going down. Doing that is going to take skill, and guts, but it is possible.”
“What about undead or other types of mobs?”
“Only undead I’ve faced were skeletons, back during the tutorial. I hadn’t figured out the full range of ‘kill shots’ yet, so I just kept kiting and biting, until they went down. You and Raunaeril’s groups are going to have to figure that out for us. Raunaeril is going to face oozes and the like, and you’re going to be seeing undead. Keep a close watch on what works, and what doesn’t. And if there are creatures that have lore surrounding them, either in game or in RL, check and see if it carries over.”
“So see if zombies go down if you shoot them in the head?”
“Exactly. But also check and see if certain types of damage do more against certain foes. Finding out this information will be almost as useful as having map data of a raid dungeon in planning a raid.”
Johnist grinned. “Which is why you’re telling someone who can use all the elements this. I’m to be a guinea pig.”
I laughed. “Hey, you’re our best explorer. You’re going to find yourself in all kinds of situations. But I’ll just say this: don’t go off on your own, this time. This world isn’t likely to be as forgiving as WoD was. One mistake and you’re finished. So have people to watch your back, and who can take it in turns to stand watch at night.”
“Anyone you suggest, Boss?”
I shook my head. “Not that comes to mind. But if you have the coin, you can always do what I did, and get some slaves to help you out. But I’ve also got the Slave Trainer profession, which helps improve their loyalty. So that may not work for you. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but walking around with slaves in tow makes me something of a target. If you’re looking to be low key, that might not be for you.”
We continued making small talk and coming up with general strategies based on our experiences in the game so far for another few hours, until it was time to make camp for the night.
When I summoned the Hellsteed, I saw that it was a unique creature, so I named it Midnight. And it turned out that my hellsteed was a stallion, and was quite intelligent, for a horse. But then, hellsteeds were supposed to be descended from demons that bred with horses, so the fact that they were intelligent shouldn’t be a surprise.
The night passed mostly without incident. We had eighteen people and their mounts in our group, which scared away most of the monsters. Because of that, everyone had a good rest after their first day of travel, like we were out camping in Real.
The next day, we had to part ways with Johnist and his party shortly before noon, as the road forked. The road to the ancient city headed off to the north, while our path curved slightly to the south and west, towards a distant mountain. That would be the Nawyss Mountains, a couple days further on, where we would find the village of Ullelone, a
small hunting village that was located near some ancient caverns. It was these villagers who had first raised the alarm of drow in the area, so checking with them first could give us insight into the situation.
Well, that was the plan, anyways. But since when did things go according to my plans? My best results so far in AAO had come from bursts of improvisation and insane luck. I wasn’t complaining, since it worked, but still, I had a feeling not all would be as it seemed in the village. Mainly because the fact that the villagers had seen the drow and still lived didn’t exactly sit well with me. There was something else going on.
Chapter 40 – Ullelone Village
As night fell on the third day of our journey, we made camp at the top of a small hill. We weren’t far from Ullelone Village, but traveling through the countryside at night was perilous, even when one didn’t have to worry about things like monster attacks.
It felt like I had just gone to bed after ‘relaxing’ with Severa for a bit in the tent when Della started yelling for everyone’s attention. She was on the third watch tonight, so it was a little past midnight, probably. Grabbing my weapons, I ran out of the tent, and started looking for the enemy.
Rules-Free VRMMO Life: Volume IV: To the Deeps Page 2