We thanked the Captain for his hospitality and told him we would stay the night if he was agreeable. He had no objection and we went off to explore more of the outpost. We didn’t have to explore long.
There was really nothing there. It was a bare bones operation used for the transport of goods to the front. There was a barracks, a chow hall, stables, and a warehouse for the supplies. There wasn’t so much as a tavern, although the chow hall did serve passable mead. We decided to log out there and head back to Port Town the next day. I hoped there would be another wagon train we could hop on with, seeing as walking was going to take us forever.
CHAPTER 16
September 4th, 2043
We logged on just outside the barracks where we had logged out the day before. The outpost didn’t look any different, and unfortunately it didn’t look like there were any wagons heading back toward Port Town. Damn this was going to be a long walk.
Resigned to our fate, my group headed toward the outpost gate, and our very long walk back to Port Town. We were intercepted by the Captain of the Guard just before we reached the gate.
“Would any of you fine gentlemen know how to ride a horse?” the Captain asked as he approached. None of us did, and we indicated as much. Although Dan did say that he read about it in a book. Once.
“Well reading and doing are two very different things my Ranger friend.”
“You don’t even know the half of it.” Jason said just under his breath.
The Captain smiled. “I imagine there is a story there, but unfortunately I don’t have time for tales.” He then indicated past the chow hall and toward the stables. “I have four horses that I need to get to Port Town. I’m hesitant to remove any of my Guards from their posts, even one. And that’s what I would have to send, one with all four tethered together. That would be quite the slow ride for him. But if you gentlemen would be willing, I could show you the basics quickly and get you riding back to Port Town.”
We nodded vigorously. We anticipated learning a new skill from this, and we were right. After a quick tutorial on the horses, their saddles and gear, and how to ride, we saw a new skill in for our character.
This was likely to go horribly wrong, especially since Dan kept saying, “I want to jump something! I want to jump something!”
* * *
Turns out I was wrong. The journey from the outpost wasn’t horrible at all. It was quite entertaining, in fact. Mostly because we got to watch Dan fall off his horse more times than any of us could count. All of our mounts were pleasant to be around, except for Dan’s. Well, that is to say when Dan was around her. Otherwise, she was calm and agreeable to the rest of us. No one understood why the horse disliked Dan so much, but I thought it might be all the whispered curses he threw in her direction.
Otherwise the trip was entirely uneventful. That didn’t mean we relaxed during the ride at all though. We kept waiting for a group of bandits to jump out of the woods and ambush us and we were on a heightened state of alert the entire time. And there is nothing relaxing about riding horses, which you are learning to ride to begin with, while constantly keeping your senses on high alert. I remember hearing stories about soldiers who were expecting attacks, anxiously waiting through an entire day, who did nothing but wait. Yet those soldiers were exhausted by the end of the day despite having not moved or expended energy. It isn’t only physical exertion that can exhaust the body. Mental exertion can have an equal or greater effect. Jason would likely argue that Dan shouldn’t be tired at all if mental exertion was the cause.
Large crowds gathered by the main gates when we rode up, as we were the first players ever to be seen riding horses. We had accomplished another first in the game. And despite the discomfort, I had noted the speed and ease in which we could travel with those horses and I wanted to get some for my group. I planned to ask around at the merchants and see if anyone was selling horses. I didn’t have any illusions though that we would be able to buy them any time soon. A horse likely went for more Gold than we had spent combined since joining the game.
We were all a bit saddle sore from the ride, Dan’s back side hurting more than all of us given his frequent trips to the ground, and we were more than pleased to turn over the horses when we returned to Port Town. A guard appeared just outside the gates when we arrived and took the horses from us after retrieving a note from the Captain regarding the beasts. We earned a small bit of experience for bringing the horses. But the real reward was the increase in our Beast Riding. I didn’t know about the others, but mine had increased in the day’s journey:
Beast Riding
Specialty: Horse (36)
Jason had the highest wisdom of all of us by far, so I imagined his skill was likely maxed out for learning the skill. And while the increase in skill meant it should be easier for us to ride now, I didn’t notice that much of a difference upon our arrival. This was likely on account of us being so tired and our increase in skill was offset by our exhaustion.
After turning over the horses we stopped to answer a few questions by the players that had gathered by the gates. Most wanted to know if the horses were ours, and we explained they were not, but seemed to be part of the chain quest they would eventually get from Sir Kenyon. I didn’t know if that was true, but once the players found out we hadn’t found some way to acquire the animals permanently, they mostly left us alone. This allowed us to make our way to Sir Kenyon with little resistance from the other players.
I approached the NPC and handed him the note given to us by the Captain at the outpost. Sir Kenyon seemed to be reading the note, and then looked over at us.
“Thank you all for your bravery in delivering the supplies to the outpost. The Captain speaks highly of your deeds and that man is not one to heap praise on those who don’t deserve it. Your King thanks you.”
We received a significant amount of experience and, more importantly in my eyes anyway, we each received 10 Gold pieces. There was a collective “woohoo” from my group before Sir Kenyon began to speak again. This time his eyes were cast down and he was shaking his head slightly as he spoke.
“The news about Rendu is quite sad. Like the Captain, I knew him as well. He was a fighter to the last I see. Those bandits are going to be a thorn in our side while we try to move the King’s supplies toward the front. We can’t afford to send more guards out with each patrol and still maintain the garrison here, at the outpost, and the men for the front. I am leery of calling on you brave travelers yet again, so soon after you have returned from a job well done, but I seem to have need of people I can trust and whose skills I have faith in. You defeated a group of bandits, but that was but a small contingent of the larger problem. Deep in the woods the bandits have fortified themselves in a camp. We have heard rumors of their location but there is no definitive proof that this camp even exists. But if the King’s Army has any chance of turning back and routing the Children of Loust, we will need every supply we can get our hands on. I beseech you, find this camp and eliminate the bandits. Will you eradicate the bandit plight in the Deep Woods?”
Dan and Naugha high fived each other, Jason smiled wide, and I told Sir Kenyon, “Yes, we will eradicate the bandits.”
We were met with the usual golden glow and a new quest was added to our list.
“Excellent! I have added the most recent location based on the rumors we have heard that could house the bandits. Again, I do not know if this intelligence is accurate, but it is all I have to go on. Be careful my friends, these will not likely be the same easy foes you faced on your way to the Outpost. Arm yourselves properly.”
When we looked on our maps we saw the general area where Sir Kenyon believed the bandits to be. And it was quite a trek by foot. Horses would have been great, but I doubted that we could afford them. So it looked like we would be hoofing it over to the area, likely having to kill mobs as we traveled. That would be good for leveling, but would undoubtedly slow us down. I hoped we could find a compromise and I told the guys I was g
oing to head to the Market to try and see what was available. No one wanted to begin our run out to the camp today anyways, and everyone agreed to meet at the square the next day. I saw Dan and Wayne head toward the Tavern and Jason headed toward the nicer area of town. Jason had been doing that a lot lately and I needed to find out what he was getting up to out there.
Usually when I told the guys I was running off to accomplish some errand, my true goal was to get away so I could work on my Rogue specializations. But in this case, I really did hope I could find a way to ease our journey. Only I didn’t have much faith in being able to muster up four horses, even with all the Gold we just received.
I meandered down the Market, checking out wares while asking about where one could look into purchasing a mount. I received conflicting directions on more than one occasion, and if I had followed them all, I would have ended up back at the entrance of the Market. I didn’t get the feeling anyone was purposely trying to confuse me. It just felt like no one actually knew anyone that sold horses.
My last stop was at our friendly merchant who had given us one of our first quests. He greeted me kindly and looked behind me for Jason and Dan. Seeing neither of them, he wondered at my reasons for being there, “Unless you decided to change your life entirely young man, I don’t think I have anything in my shop that would interest you. I’m more geared toward your Cleric friend and the annoying one.” Dan makes friends wherever he goes.
“True indeed my friend. I came as purely a social call and to say hello while I was in the market, I apologize that I won’t be purchasing any of your wares.”
“No need to apologize young man, I rarely get anyone that just says hello these days. All of these adventurers running around here, and all they have time for is to ask how much a spell costs. What brings you to the market today?”
“Trying to find someone who sells horses. My companions and I have a long journey ahead of us and it would be made easier if we had horses to ride. I doubt that even now I could afford even one, but I wanted to see where they were sold at least. But every merchant I went to sent me to someone different.”
The older merchant sagely nodded his head and said, “I see what your problem is lad. The reason you can’t find anyone to sell you horses is because there aren’t any to sell. The King has requisitioned every horse that can carry a body for his war. I don’t know how well known that is, so I doubt anyone was pulling a fast one on you. They likely just didn’t know and thought they were sending you to someone who did. Who sent you to me?”
“To you? No one actually. I just came here to say hello.”
The merchant cocked his head to the side a bit and looked at me a little more closely. He had an odd twinkle in his eye, and I was a bit uncomfortable with the look he was giving me. Not the same discomfort I get when Dan talks about his trips to Thailand, but a discomfort all the same.
But then the merchant smiled, and a genuine smile at that, and told me, “Lad, the only way you are going to get horses is if they are summoned mounts. Magical horses if you will. You cast a spell and a horse appears. Great for everyday travels, but useless in a war, which is why the King doesn’t use them. One cast of dispel magic by one of those bastards of Loust and all the soldiers on horseback would be sitting on their rumps in the mud. But for you and your companions, I think they could be useful.
“And before you ask, believe me, you can’t afford them. Not even one at this time. But I got em, and when you have enough, I will sell them to you. They are 1 Platinum piece each.”
I was right, with everything we had collected we didn’t have enough to cover one platinum piece. Hell, with everything we had made since we started Resurgence we had not earned 100 Gold, the equivalent of 1 Platinum piece.
“Right you are my friend, no way we can afford that. But now that we know, we will start saving up for those prizes.”
The old merchant nodded and then laid a hand on my forearm and said, “And lad, I don’t go advertising this to just anyone. So let’s keep this between us. Just you and your companions. Although it would be too much to ask you to not tell the annoying one.”
Odd script for the game, but I played along and nodded my head in what I hoped was an understanding fashion. “Annoying he may be, but he knows how to keep his mouth shut. The information is safe with us.”
I left soon after and headed back to the square, looking forward to logging out and a long night’s sleep.
* * *
September 5th, 2043
I met up with the guys soon after logging in and relayed to them what I had learned. “So I have bad news, good news, and bad news. Let’s take it in that order.
“First piece of bad news is that there are no horses to buy. Period. They have all been drafted by His Majesty, the King for service in the war. If it can’t be used to fight, you can bet they are out pulling those wagon trains that we were protecting. Good news though, there are summoned horses you can buy and don’t have to be a caster to use them. No mana required. They are tied to an item and with an activation of said item, you can get a horse. Our friendly merchant in the Market has them for sale.”
“Nice man! Let’s go get those now!” Dan said.
“Hold on Dan, if I remember correctly, Alex still has one more piece of bad news for us, don’t you Alex?” Jason said.
“Sorry guys, but indeed I do. Bad news is that each horse will cost 1 Platinum piece. So four total. We aren’t anywhere near that guys. So looks like we are going to hoof it unless someone else has an idea.”
I looked around but no one else could think of a way for us to travel quickly to the area Sir Kenyon had placed on our map. We had been lucky so far in that everything in the game centered around Port Town, with the exception of the wagon train quest. But even then we got a ride there and horses for the way back. So we hadn’t experienced one of the duller parts of virtual gaming. The long endless treks across areas to get from one place to another. We are all seasoned gamers, so while we weren’t happy about having to stomp through the woods for the next several hours, we knew it was coming eventually.
As we walked toward the woods I asked how the guys wanted to play this scenario. “We can head along the road, which would be faster than any other route, plus we won’t likely run into any mobs. Maybe the occasional bandit, but we know we can handle those. This route does take us a bit out of the way though and we would have to decide when we want to dip back into the woods and make our way toward the camp. Our other option is a straight line through the woods. This will likely take us longer as I’m sure we will run into lots of mobs along the way. What do you guys think?”
I wasn’t shocked that everyone wanted to take the forest route. Just walking along the road would be boring. And more importantly, if we didn’t have anything to keep us occupied, Dan would talk. At length. And none of us wanted that to happen.
So with a nod in the direction of the woods, we headed out.
* * *
Our first hour was fairly dull. The mobs outside of Port Town were all too low for us and none of them would attack our group. We had Dan ranging ahead to make sure we didn’t stumble on anything dangerous, and that kept Dan occupied. So at least that part of the plan was being executed without fail.
After that first hour we started finding mobs that were blue to us and were able to get some experience. Like most of the mobs in the forest, these were some variation of the wildlife one might find in a forest. As such the loot wasn’t very good, as you don’t expect a Dire Wolf to have much on them. But we kept plugging away as we moved closer to our goal of the bandit camp.
After the first hour of fighting, the guys all got their level 14. Two more hours after that, I got my level 14 as well. We allocated all of our skill points and took the time to go over everyone’s character. My group was definitely diversified:
Level 14
Alex (Alex) – 16 (+2) Strength, 18 (+12) Constitution, 10 (+1) Agility, 33 (+11) Dexterity, 6 (+1) Wisdom, 1 (+1) Intelligence, 13
(+2) Chance
Wayne (Naugha) – 25 (+2) Strength, 43 (+4) Constitution, 4 (+1) Agility, 17 (+1) Dexterity, 6 (+1) Wisdom, 2 (+1) Intelligence, 1 (+1) Chance
Dan (TheClaw) – 16 (+12) Strength, 20 (+2) Constitution, 37 (+11) Agility, 3 (+1) Dexterity, 18 (+1) Wisdom, 1 (+1) Intelligence, 1 (+1) Chance
Jason (Allister) – 11 (+2) Strength, 20 (+2) Constitution, 3 (+1) Agility, 1 (+1) Dexterity, 55 (+8) Wisdom, 5 (+6) Intelligence, 1 (+1) Chance
Having reviewed our characters, and being pretty damn happy about how badass we were, we continued on toward the bandit camp. With our current progress, we figured we would be there after another couple of hours. While we were looking for the camp, we were also looking for a safe place to log out. It was the consensus of the group that whatever we found, we would want a full day to take it on. Since it was going to take us almost six hours to get there, we planned to scout for another two hours or so, discuss strategy, and then hit it the next day when we had all the time we would need. Getting tired was not a good option.
Dan continued to range ahead as he had the best map out of all of us with his Class skill. We lingered behind and made sure no mobs snuck up on Dan. I also practiced my Conceal/Stealth.
At this point I was successful with engaging my two skills 95 times out of a 100. It wasn’t failure of the skill that was the downside, but the continued drop in movement speed. Although with my bonus from training with Stan and my Blacksuit skill, I would be moving at 90 percent of normal once I maxed out the skills for level 14. Continuously moving around in Conceal/Stealth was all that was needed to improve the skill, but I did fall behind the other guys. Not terribly dangerous for me though since I was invisible with Conceal/Stealth.
Resurgence: The Rise of Resurgence Book 1 Page 20