Awaken Online: Dominion

by Travis Bagwell

  “So, these three intruders could be anywhere inside the city,” Vera said, her eyes hovering on the ghostly image of the city sitting before her, although Jason had noted that she was no longer fidgeting. Her eyes were trained on the emerald figures that walked the Twilight Throne’s streets.

  “Assuming we are really only dealing with three opponents,” Jerry offered helpfully. “And that they have remained in the city. They could be camping outside the walls. For all we know, this could be a vanguard force, and more are on their way.”

  “Well, aren’t you just a bundle of joy today,” Frank commented, earning him a shrug and a grin from the innkeeper.

  Jason mulled on Jerry’s words. He was right that Thorn’s initial group might not be their only opponents. However, Jason wasn’t so certain that was true. From what Thorn had said and based on his own best guess, he expected that the Order was likely a small group left over from the previous war. It was probably difficult to recruit zealots to harbor a grudge for more than a century. If he was right, then they might be spread thin – Jason certainly wasn’t the only avatar in the game world – even if they were trying to make an example of him.

  And then there was the way that Thorn had confronted him. It was almost like he was personally looking for a challenge and he had seemed offended by Jason’s “trick” during the fight. It felt like he had wanted to give Jason fair warning that they were going to burn down his city – which implied a mis-guided sense of honor. Those weren’t the actions of a man acting as the vanguard for an approaching army. It certainly wasn’t how Jason would have acted under these circumstances.

  “For now, maybe we should assume that the Order’s presence in the city is relatively small,” Jason finally said. “Even if they only have a handful of members, that didn’t stop them from taking out me, Frank, and a group of my Death Knights without any problems. So that doesn’t exactly make the situation any easier.”

  Cecil’s brow furrowed. “How exactly did they beat you two? You mentioned that they were draining the magic from your minions and spells,” he prodded.

  Jason nodded. “They just broke apart my minions. They also seemed to be able to sense my curses and were able to reflect some of my spells. The strangest part was how they killed Frank. It looked like Thorn cast some sort of blast of dark magic. I can’t tell how they managed that. Maybe they are dark mages themselves? Although, that doesn’t quite fit with their goal of ridding the world of the gods.”

  “And their bodies were covered in a ton of bandages,” Frank added. “They seemed to need to move the cloth out of the way to drain mana. So maybe it has to do with touching their skin somehow,” he offered with a shrug.

  Cecil didn’t seem convinced, and a puzzled look lingered on his face. However, he didn’t offer any more questions or ideas.

  Riley sighed. “So even if we somehow found them, we aren’t certain how they took out you and Jason, and they have an easy counter to one of our greatest strengths – Jason’s minions,” she said, gesturing at him.

  “Basically,” Jason agreed with a nod.

  “I suppose I’ll summarize then,” Jerry offered as the group lapsed into silence once again, staring at the image of the city floating above the table. “We are being attacked by an unknown enemy who can drain magic and are dedicated to stopping the Dark One. We aren’t sure how to track them or fight them. Oh, and in a month, they will destroy the city somehow. Sound about right?”

  “As usual, your insight is always illuminating,” Morgan replied sarcastically.

  “My mother always said I was the spot of sunshine on a rainy day,” Jerry replied wistfully, earning him a pained expression from the mage.

  “We could take troops and search door to door,” Frank offered, ignoring the innkeeper’s antics.

  “Because there’s nowhere to hide in the dilapidated southern quarter, right?” Vera groused. “There are more hidey-holes in those buildings than actual rooms.”

  “Well, at least it’s something,” Riley suggested. “It’s not like—”

  Jason started to tune out the group as they began bickering. He didn’t see any easy way to find Thorn right now – assuming they even had a way of defeating him once they found him.

  Taking a step back, Thorn and his crew also presented more than just a direct threat. At a critical time for his city, its leader had been caught on camera getting curb stomped by a small group of unarmed NPCs. That wasn’t good for his public image or the protection it afforded their fledgling city. Even if they managed to stop the Order, they would probably have players and NPCs bashing down their door soon. They needed recruits and a show of strength.

  Unfortunately, there were only so many ways to bolster his ranks. Well, technically, there was only one way. He needed to convert more followers – and available corpses were in somewhat short supply. If only they had a few more villages like Peccavi tucked away…

  As that thought crossed his mind, Jason froze. Didn’t they, though? He couldn’t help but remember the quest the Old Man had given him when he had first conquered the Twilight Throne, and he quickly pulled it up with a flick of his wrist.

  Quest In Progress: Prime Real Estate

  After being appointed as the Regent of the Twilight Throne, you were tasked by the Old Man with taking control of the surrounding lands and cities that were once part of the Kingdom of Lusade. You have only conquered the town of Peccavi at this point. You’re really taking your time here, but you have gotten some sightseeing done in the meantime. And to think, you didn’t even send a postcard…

  Difficulty: A

  Success: Take control of the neighboring towns and area that were once part of the Kingdom of Lusade. Destroy anything and anyone who gets in your way.

  Status: 1/12 Towns have been conquered.

  Failure: Unknown

  Reward: Acquisition of new residents and resources. Expanded area of influence for the Twilight Throne.

  Jason sighed. This was a possible solution to bolster their ranks. Yet it was still only one problem among many, and time was limited. Even if they recruited new troops, they would need to gear them and train them – which cost money. Similarly, they probably needed to reinforce the city’s walls and defenses, but that required supplies that weren’t directly available within the Twilight Throne.

  Original Sin had collected a stockpile of a few thousand gold from the gear they had stolen from other players, but the city’s economy was stagnating, and new funds were not flowing into their coffers. Unfortunately, they simply didn’t have anything to trade. They needed to sell something that was in high demand and that they could produce within the Twilight Throne.

  Jason’s eyes flitted to Eliza where she sat watching the conversation with wide eyes. Her potions would be a fantastic product. At this early stage of the game, he knew that potions were selling at premium on the player marketplace – which he had experienced firsthand. Perhaps he could have Cecil build Eliza’s cave complex and have her start planting new herbs. That venture would likely be expensive, but it might enable them to start producing potions en masse. That could give them a stream of income that they could use to gear their troops and reinforce the city.

  Which left just one problem – Jason himself.

  He had made it this far by being clever, but it was becoming increasingly clear that this wouldn’t be enough. The players were beginning to catch up with his progress, and clearly, some of the game world’s NPCs were in an entirely different league power wise. The encounter in the Hippie’s mad play had also stuck with him – his flailing attempts at melee combat making him wince in retrospect. Alfred was right. He needed to get stronger. And he had at least one idea of where to start.

  As Jason stared at the image of the city floating in front of him, a plan began to gel in his mind that might allow them to address each of the problems plaguing the city. They only had a month in-game, which was only a little over a week in the real world. It was possible. He just wasn’t certain the
group was going to like his idea.

  “Alright,” Jason said, interrupting the conversation that was still raging in the meeting room. The group drifted into silence, turning to stare at him expectantly.

  “The Order is our primary problem,” Jason continued as he saw he had their attention. “We have a month. In that time, we need to try to find where Thorn is hiding and exterminate them. Of course, this will be a longshot. We need a plan B. We should assume that we’ll fail to stop Thorn before his deadline. We’ll eventually need to consolidate the city’s strength by recruiting more soldiers and citizens. In order to gear those troops and purchase materials to reinforce the city’s fortifications, we also need to start trading, either with the other cities or through the in-game player market.”

  “Okay, that’s a long list,” Frank offered tentatively. “And you just added a few new problems. Thanks for that, by the way. I’m assuming you have some sort of master plan?”

  “Well, it’s a plan,” Jason replied with a grim smile. “In short, we need to split up.”

  He raised a hand to ward off their inevitable questions. “One group needs to go finish my quest to conquer the outlying towns. If we’re right, the Order will be stretched thin and focusing on the city, so they shouldn’t be able to interfere. This will provide more converts and troops to help defend the city. Assuming we survive this, it will also help solidify our city’s defense from the other NPCs and travelers.”

  “Don’t we need the troops here?” Vera asked. “We can’t assume that Thorn will leave us alone during the next month.”

  Jason nodded. It was a fair point. “As far as we know, we only face three opponents, and we don’t know where they are. More troops aren’t going to help with that problem. You could take two divisions without undermining the city’s defenses. That should be more than enough to handle the nearby towns, especially if they are in the same condition as Pecavvi was. This may only take a couple of weeks.”

  He eyed Frank and Riley. “I’m assuming that Vera will be heading this expedition, but it would probably be helpful if one of us go with her as back up and as a show of strength.”

  “I would probably be the best choice,” Riley suggested hesitantly, glancing at Jason.

  “Actually, I would prefer you stay here,” Jason replied immediately, surprised at his own response. As soon as he spoke, a small smile graced Riley’s face, softening her hard expression.

  “Uh… we will probably need your help with the Order,” he added quickly, realizing that the others were staring at him skeptically and he needed to justify his decision. He was trying to convince himself that this was the logical choice, but a recalcitrant part of his mind kept pestering him with the truth. He just wanted to keep her nearby. “With the way Thorn fought, we will likely need someone highly mobile and capable of attacking from a distance if he turns up again.”

  Riley’s smile abruptly vanished as Jason turned to address Frank. “You okay to go with Vera?”

  Frank frowned, but, strangely, he looked a little relieved. “I can’t really argue with your reasoning, I guess. I didn’t offer much help during the fight with Thorn,” he added with a grimace.

  “Good,” Jason replied with a nod. Then he pulled up his system UI. He had never tried to share a quest before, but now was as good a time as any and it would probably help for Frank to have the quest prompt. A few seconds later, Jason found what he was looking for, and he tapped a button his UI.

  Frank’s eyes focused on the air in front of him, and he swiped at a notification. “Ahh, this will help,” he murmured. Then his brow furrowed in confusion. “You know you set me as the primary on that quest, right?”

  Jason shrugged. “I’m not going to be there to make decisions. You are going to need to receive quest updates and make stuff up on the fly.”

  Frank’s frown deepened, and a thought seemed to occur to him. “Speaking of, what are we going to do with the villages? I’m not sure we can count on the townspeople to offer themselves up as a sacrifice every time.”

  Jason sighed. It was a good point. They couldn’t afford to take a weak stance here, and the clock was ticking. They needed the recruits – whether they were willing or not. His thoughts drifted back to the encounter aboard the Marietta, where he had slain the slaves to save the ship. Unfortunately, some decisions weren’t easy.

  “If they won’t bend the knee willingly, then you will need to use force,” Jason said firmly.

  Frank’s eyes widened in surprise, and suddenly he looked a bit more anxious, his hands clenching instinctively at the hilts of the axes strapped to his waist. In contrast, Vera simply nodded curtly. “It will be done. If they prove unwilling, should we return the corpses to the Twilight Throne?” she asked.

  Jason’s thoughts turned to the mana well below the keep. Perhaps his newfound powers would allow him to raise the dead at a distance. He would have to inspect the well carefully – since he hadn’t explored his new abilities yet. “We’ll have to play it by ear,” Jason finally replied. “Frank can contact me once you have conquered the first town.” The undead general nodded once more.

  His friend still looked troubled, but Frank shook off his fugue when he saw Jason watching him. He quickly turned to Vera, forcing a lopsided grin onto his face. “I guess we’re going to be battle buddies, huh?” The undead general didn’t bother to reply, her eerie white eyes rolling at Frank’s stupid joke.

  Then Jason turned to Eliza and Cecil. “I need you two to start building Eliza’s cave complex. We need to get production of new plants and potions underway quickly. Then we can start selling them on the player auction house and possibly exporting the products to other cities. That will hopefully give us some money – which we will desperately need to gear our troops and purchase supplies from the neighboring cities.”

  Or at least give us a way to recoup the money I’m going to need to spend right now, Jason thought grimly. Outfitting his troops and reinforcing the city’s defenses wasn’t going to be cheap.

  Cecil nodded and Eliza bit at her lip. “We’ve only started sketching out a plan for the cave,” she said tentatively. “We’ll probably need a few light mages to help the plants along. It’s also going to take a while to gather the materials, and there’s a lot of work involved…”

  “You two will have all of the resources you need,” Jason interjected, noticing the way Cecil’s eyes lit up at that comment. “I don’t care how you get it done. Just do it. Spare no expense.”

  He internally winced at saying that. They had a decent amount of funds stockpiled from their previous encounters, but that money wouldn’t last forever. On the other hand, he knew he needed to spend some money to make money.

  Eliza looked like she was about to say something, but Cecil laid a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll figure it out, lass. I’ll help you.” Jason didn’t miss the broad grin that had stretched across his bearded face. He really hoped the engineer didn’t make him regret this.

  “Just try to be discrete,” Jason urged them. “It would be best if the Order and other travelers didn’t know about this project. I’ll assign the remaining molekin to your command as well as a division of the Kin.” This earned him a curt nodded from Cecil.

  “What about our devilish, handsome rogue and dour grandma?” Jerry interjected, waving at himself and Morgan – who looked as though she was about to start blasting him at the grandmother crack. “You didn’t forget about us, did you? And after I slaved away on your latest ballad for hours…”

  “I expect you want me to keep training new mages and look into this gate Thorn mentioned,” Morgan interrupted Jerry, rubbing at her temple with one hand to ward off a headache.

  “Exactly,” Jason replied before turning to the innkeeper. “And I didn’t forget about you, Jerry. In fact, I left the most difficult task for you. I want you to try to hunt down these Order agents – which seems to be in your wheelhouse. If you find them, don’t try to kill them. Our first goal is to find their base of operatio
ns. I suspect we will need to launch a coordinated attack if we’re to have any hope of defeating them.”

  Jerry’s white eyes widened in surprise. “But this is a role fit for a thief and a scoundrel!” he said in an offended tone, placing a hand to his chest. Then he leaned forward, twirling his mustache as an evil grin curled his decaying lips. “I love it! I will find your killers, and then we’ll show them what happens when someone messes with our Corrupted King.”

  “Good, I would expect nothing less,” Jason replied, his dark mana responding automatically to the innkeeper’s bloodlust and the frigid cold seeping into his veins.

  “Perhaps Riley can help you,” Jason added, realizing that he hadn’t assigned a task to Riley – only suggested that she stay in the city. “This investigative work may be up her alley after her experience in Vaerwald.” Riley tilted her head slightly as though considering this assignment. She didn’t exactly look excited as she side-eyed the gregarious innkeeper. In stark contrast, Jerry had seemingly teleported across the room and was now sitting beside her and jabbering about the details of some plan or another.

  Jason stood, looking at the group around the table. They still looked worried, but their hesitation had been largely replaced by determination and a hint of hope. Having a goal helped, even if Jason was spreading them thin. Unfortunately, he didn’t see any other option. If they were going to succeed, they would each need to play to their strengths.

  “Okay. Let’s get to work,” Jason announced, smacking the table with the palm of his hand. “We have a lot to do and not much time to do it. The clock is ticking.”

  With that, he rose to his feet and started toward the door to the meeting room. As his hand rested on the doorknob, Frank spoke up from behind him. “You left out one important detail. What exactly are you going to be doing?”