The Greystone Chronicles Book Two: The Dire Lands

by Dave Willmarth

  “Can we come in and sit down? We’ve had a long day fighting mobs a good bit stronger than us,” Dayle said.

  Alexander pulled two long stone blocks from the ground, two benches. One right behind the group of players, and one behind his group. “Have a seat. I’m not ready to let you into the keep yet.” He motioned to the bench.

  Dayle looked behind himself and laughed. “Nice trick, that.” He and his group sat. Misty actually let out a long sigh of relief.

  “Actually, tricks are sort of why we’re here. This is what I meant when I said I can tell you something about yourselves. When you were ‘reborn’ in these toons, you found that your magic worked a little different, right? That you could tweak it in ways you couldn’t before?” Dayle asked.

  “It’s possible. But again, somebody clever could have figured that out from the videos,” Alexander said.

  “I’m going to show you something. Don’t freak out,” Dayle said. He and the mage rose from their seats and stepped to the side. “Do me a favor, raise me a stone target, over there.” He pointed off to the side, away from both groups. Alexander complied, raising a six foot block of stone the approximate size of a human.

  Dayle moved back several steps, and then to his left, closer to the target. He eyed his position relative to Misty, the mage. Then he raised his shield, and adjusted the angle a bit. “Misty’s going to cast a spell, now. She’ll cast it at me. There’s no danger to you,” he said. When Alexander nodded his head, Misty moved her hands and cast a massive bolt of ice at the warrior. He stepped back for just a split second, then shoved his shield forward. The bolt ricocheted off his shield and headed toward the stone target. Dayle waited a full second, then activated his shield rush ability. He chased the bolt to the target. It was faster, and struck the stone, freezing it. A second later, Dayle’s shield struck the frozen target, shattering the top three feet of it.

  Everyone was silent for a moment. They were all thinking the same thing. A tank should not be able to redirect a spell like that, and definitely should not be able to react quickly enough to follow the bolt that closely. A normal player would have been a full two seconds slower. At least.

  Sasha blurted out, “You’re in immersion!”. When she realized what she’d said, she gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

  The members of the other group laughed. Dayle said, “Better you break the NDA than me. I had to be very careful there. But now that it’s out there, I can tell you. Especially since you’re all Jupiter employees, like us.” He dropped the final bomb.

  Alexander recovered quickly. “Tell me,” was all he said.

  “You’re the boss.” Dale grinned at him. “We are indeed immersion players. From the time codes on the killer bunny video I saw last time I was out, we started our immersions about three days before you did. We’re all a week into our two-week immersions now.”

  Lainey said, “A week… then, they don’t know about Delbert Simms.” She looked upset. He’d need to have a one-on-one with her like he’d just done with Sasha. Preferably minus the tickling.

  “Okay. I believe that you’re immersion players. Or at least you are, Dayle. Nobody else could pull off that stunt. Good way to make your point, by the way. I bet my dad’s laughing his ass off right now,” Alexander said. “But that doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

  “You mind if we eat while we talk? Like I said, long day.” Dayle reached into his bag and produced some jerky.

  “Anyway, we’ve had our own run-ins with PWP in Antalia, where we started. Their guild house is there, and they killed us several times when we first hit level 10 and left the city. Stole all our gear. We managed to get past them eventually, and stayed away from the city. We found a few villages where we could get repairs and sell our loot. And we managed to level up enough to start doing some really interesting quests. When we logged out, we of course saw the videos of you taking out party after party of PWP.”

  “And the bunny video!” Misty giggled, winking at Brick.

  Dayle grinned as well, and continued. “We’d already started to make our way to Stormforge to ask to join you, when we saw the system alert about Dire Keep. So, we headed here. Arriving just in time to interrupt your ticklefight.”

  Alexander must not have looked convinced. After a few moments of silence, Dayle said, “During our last log-out, I talked to your dad about your group, and told him I was thinking about joining. He said there was code in the game called the ‘Odin Trial’ that would let you know we’re for real.”

  Alexander sighed. Sasha laughed. She knew what Dayle was talking about. Alexander had told her about it when he’d help code it back then. He knew for sure his dad was laughing now.

  Standing up, Alexander raised his hands to the sky. There was very specific sequence of actions and words required for this. It had been a funny joke to him at the time.

  “Oh, Odin, All-Father. All-knowing. All-seeing, I beseech thee. Tell your humble servant if this warrior speaks true. Are these players before me what they claim?” he yelled toward the sky.

  If Odin agreed with Dayle, there would be a harmless roll of thunder. If Dayle lied in any way, there would be lightning. Alexander was guessing by the looks on their faces, the other players didn’t know how this worked.

  A roll of thundered echoed through the sky above the forest. Dayle and the others still looked confused. Now that he knew they were friends, or at least not enemies, he decided to get a little payback for having to go through that show.

  “Did that sound like angry thunder to you? Or friendly? I can never tell. If it’s angry thunder, you’ve got about five seconds before lightning hits you.” He smiled at the group, and took a few steps back for effect.

  The others’ eyes got wide and they all looked to the sky. When nothing happened after five seconds, Alexander began to laugh.

  “Sorry. Just a joke. The thunder meant you were truthful. There really would have been lightning if you lied, but it would have been instant. I was just a lil ticked off about having to go through that whole show. You can be sure when you log out there will be video of that.” He shook his head.

  Lyra chuckled a bit. The others didn’t think it was quite as funny.

  “Have a seat. We need to talk,” he said. He raised a table between the two benches, and sent a guild message to Lola, asking her to have Mattie bring out a pot of stew and bowls and spoons for nine.”

  “You can put the jerky away. There’s some good food coming. I’ll invite you inside in a bit, but there are some things best discussed away from the ears of citizens.”

  The serious look on his face had the other group curious. He decided not to beat around the bush.

  “The last night of our last immersion, which would have been… almost six days ago, Olympus was attacked. It was a group of people who used a car bomb to try to break through the gate, and had a van full of people carrying automatic rifles and rocket launchers. The attack was unsuccessful, and nobody on our side was seriously injured. Two of the people who were on top of the van shooting rockets were shot by our security. Then something exploded. We don’t know if it was a vest, or a dropped rocket, or what. All of the attackers were killed.”

  “Oh my god,” Misty said. The others were silent. Alexander gave them time to soak in the information.

  “Why… why would somebody attack Olympus?” Lyra asked. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

  “You said you’ve seen some of the videos on PWP. Did you see the one where a player who’d been arrested, the one Lainey here shot in the nuts so many times, got all raged out and threatened a GM and his dog? Got himself banned for life?” Alexander asked.

  Warren, the other warrior, snorted. “Dumbass. I saw that video. The guy was all ‘they tortured me!’ and the GM was totally ‘you deserved it’, and the dude just went nuts.” The others nodded their heads.

  Alexander looked at them. “That player’s name was Delbert Simms. He was one of the people who attacked Olympus.”

/>   “Holy shitballs!” Misty said. Again, the others were silent. Alexander gave it a few seconds, then continued.

  “Yesterday, I was challenged to a duel in Stormforge by a warrior who was part of a group serving the Dark One, but not PWP. There was a battle, actually two battles, and the group was arrested. The warrior mentioned during the duel that he was a friend of Delbert Simms. As you know, our gameplay is being monitored. So, the folks at Olympus saw that. We kept him and his friends busy long enough for the FBI to mobilize and raid their houses. We don’t know the results, or if they found anything. But the warrior also said the ‘Dark One’ was a real-life person, who was paying in American dollars for people willing to try and take down the Greystones.”

  Alexander paused when Mattie and four others showed up with trays of food and utensils. She laid out the pot of stew, loaves of bread, and some fruit. There were a couple pitchers of ale, and a couple more of water. Alexander thanked her, and Sasha gave her a hug, before they returned to the keep.

  He continued to wait while the four players dished up some stew and poured drinks. He knew this was a lot to process. They were in no rush.

  Finally, Misty said, around a mouthful of stew, “This is REALLY good!”

  Sasha laughed. “Thanks. It’s a recipe we got from our friend Lydia. You’ll meet her.”

  Warren gulped down some ale. “Did you guys notice how much BETTER the food tastes now?”

  Lainey laughed, “I don’t know about better, because I didn’t play before, but it does taste damn good. My first meal here I told a stranger the food was orgasmic.”

  The player group all chuckled at that.

  Dayle got serious again after a few more moments of enjoying the food. “So, players serving this Dark One here in the game could be working for him in real life, too?”

  “Yes. We won’t know for sure till we log out again in ten days. But that’s what it looks like. Which brings me to why we’re out here talking. Nobody knows who you are right now. But if you join us, your faces and names will get out there on videos. And this group seems to be able to get their hands on personal information. They had mine and my dad’s home address in a file in the van that blew up. So, if you join us, which you are welcome to do, you need to know of the potential danger to you. And maybe those close to you. My dad has initiated a protocol that gathers all employees in lockdown mode inside Olympus. Those who feel the need can bring their immediate family, too. There’s plenty of housing on the compound. You would be offered the same accommodation. You’d use immersion pods on Olympus.”

  Warren volunteered, “I’m already at Olympus. So is Lyra. We’re brother and sister.”

  “Dayle and I are at corporate housing in the city,” Misty said. “Are we in danger?”

  “My father and Michael hired an army of security. All of our facilities have been locked down, and armed up. You’re under guard right now, and well protected. If there’s any threat, they’ll log you out and evacuate you,” Alexander reassured her.

  “If any of you have family you want brought in, say so now. The folks monitoring us will see that it happens.”

  He watched their faces. They were all deep in thought.

  “Lyra and I are all that we have. Our folks are dead. We spent most of our time playing Io to pay the bills. Not much time for social lives,” Warren said.

  “I have a sister that lives in the city. Please have somebody go see her. She probably won’t come. She’s kind of a badass. A cop. But she needs to know she might be in danger,” Misty said.

  Dayle shook his head. “I don’t really have anybody either. Had a girlfriend, but she dumped me when I signed up for this.”

  Misty giggled. “Yeah, that’s why she dumped you.”

  Alexander looked at Misty. “If your sister was listed as next of kin on your employment forms, I imagine they’ve already reached out to her.” After a moment, there was a roll of thunder. “See. Odin confirms.”

  “Thank you, that makes me feel better.”

  Alexander leaned forward and put his hands on the table. “You have some options, now. In light of the situation, if any of you feel the need to log out now, or even discontinue your involvement with Jupiter, you will be paid for your time, plus a bonus.”

  He gave them a minute, but nobody spoke up. “It’s not safe for you out here. We expect the Dark One’s people to attack. We actually figured you were scouts. I can teleport you to a safe spot in the palace at Stormforge, or you can come inside the keep and lay low, keep yourselves out of any videos, until your immersion is up. Then you can get more details on what’s going on, and make a decision from there. It may be that the raids solved all our problems for us. Then again, maybe not,” he continued.

  “Or, if you’d like to join us and take an active role, you are certainly most welcome to do so. We could use help we can trust,” he finished.

  Lainey spoke up. “You only need to decide now if you want to be teleported and quit. Otherwise, you can come inside and think it over.”

  Dayle looked at the others, who all shook their heads. “None of us wants to quit. This gig pays more for a year than any of us would make in three years playing the game for profit.”

  “Amen to that,” Max agreed. “That’s how Brick and I were livin’ too.”

  Alexander said, “I can still teleport you back to Stormforge. The city is relatively safe, and you’d be just a group of unknown players.”

  Lyra put her hand on her brother’s shoulder. “The way I see it, we’re as safe as we can be inside Olympus. And there’s nothing we can do outside the game to help. In here, at least we can be useful. I’d like to join you. All in.”

  Warren looked at her for a minute, thinking. “If she’s in, I’m in,” he said.

  Misty said, “I’m in too, for now. Until we log out again, and get more information, at least.”

  Dayle shook his head. “These young fools would be lost without me. Guess I’m in, too.”

  “Great! Glad to have you.” Alexander sent them all guild invites. “Let’s head back inside. We make tempting targets out here.

  They all grabbed some dishes and headed back to the gate. Lola met them just outside, and handed each of the new members a Greystone medallion. They’d been tuned to the wards of the keep, as well as the compound in the city.

  “Oh, yeah. There are wards both here at the keep and at our compound. These medallions will grant you access. Anyone trying to get through without one will be killed, or ported to a dungeon cell, depending on the setting,” Alexander said. “Thank you, Lola, for thinking of that. Everyone, this is Lola. Our apprentice chamberlain, recent guild member, and future treasurer.”

  The others introduced themselves as they walked through the gates. Mattie was there with helpers to take away all their dishes.

  “We’ve just started rebuilding the keep. I’m afraid we’re a bit limited on housing at the moment. There are some very spartan rooms, and some tents available. Lola, can you help figure out a place for them to sleep?” Alexander asked.

  “Of course, Alexander.” She smiled.

  Max thumped Dayle on the back. “There’s some good news. Three new guildies who just joined yesterday went with Alexander to clear the mine today. Their share of the loot was over thirty thousand gold each. Our boy here has a way of finding money.”

  The four players stared at Alexander. “We got lucky,” he explained. “There was a tribe of kobolds mining ore and gems. It was just laying around everywhere. And we found a large deposit of refined mithril worth a lot of gold.”

  Leaving Lola to manage the new members, Alexander went back up on the wall. When he got to the top, he looked out over the field, and forest beyond. He pictured an army crossing that field, intent on killing all those inside the keep. Those he’d promised to protect.

  I need to stop screwing around and focus on defenses. We have fifteen players in the guild now. Ten of us in immersion. We could make a decent stand, with backup from the citizens
on the wall. But decent is not good enough, he thought.

  Deciding to check on the status of the keep, he teleported himself to the control room. “Jeeves, please show me the keep’s status”

  “Of course, master” the keep’s AI replied.

  The three-dimensional display appeared with its normal blue glow.

  Dire Keep: Level 14/25

  Physical Status: 340/500

  Resources: 15,000 units

  See Infrastructure for details

  See Resources for details

  Current Population: 139

  Defensive Capabilities: 80%

  Citizens: 137 Guests: 2