by Brian Simons
Coral watched Sybil hesitate, no doubt weighing the possibility of keeping the five dollars’ worth of gold, or spending it on potions for their journey. “We’ll need those potions if we’re going to get the Regent’s reward,” Coral said.
Sybil sighed. “The potions, please,” she said.
“I’ll also need a weapon…” Coral said.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. You expect me to buy everything for you?” Sybil asked.
“Sybil, what good is it for her to go out there unarmed? We want to finish this quest and get paid.” Daniel said.
“Fine,” Sybil said. “You get the cheapest bow Otto has. You get twenty arrows. And you kill everything you see in the swamp to scavenge as many items as you can to sell off and pay me back. Capice?”
“Yes,” Coral said sheepishly. “Thank you.”
Otto handed over the supplies and the team said goodbye. Coral inspected her new bow and the 20 arrows Sybil had bought her.
>> Pine short bow. Hastily made and poorly finished. Try not to get a splinter! Dexterity +1. Durability: 20/20.
>> Metal arrow: Isn’t it iron, don’t you think? Dexterity +1. Durability: 5/5.
“What does Durability refer to?” Coral asked. “I’ve seen it on a few items so far.”
“The more abuse your items take,” Otto explained, “the more they degrade. Higher quality items start off sturdier, but cheap items have low Durability. They’re likely to break and need repairing or replacement more quickly.”
“Ah, thanks,” Coral said. She felt better now that she had a weapon, even if it was on the cheap end.
Next they headed to the temple. From the outside, it was far from ostentatious. Red bricks of uneven sizes built up a row of arches, which supported a large triangular roof. Inside, however, the building was spectacular. Golden candelabras stood every three feet, each with a dozen candles lit up. Behind them vibrant frescos depicted haloed saints praying or slaying various demons. The paintings made liberal use of gold paint and had small jewels inset for some of the demons’ eyes.
One painting drew Coral’s interest. It showed a lizard the size of a man standing on a rowboat staring into the distance.
The altar was a solid block of marble with a shape etched into the front and then filled with gold. The shape was of two triangles, each with a point facing outward so that their bases formed a pair of parallel lines. Another line ran from the far point of each triangle. Coral wasn’t sure what it was supposed to symbolize, but it gave the impression of being a two-headed arrow. Behind the altar stood the head priest.
“Hello, children,” the priest called out. This rubbed Coral the wrong way. “Have you come to worship Januar or seek his aid?”
“We’d like a blessing please,” said Sal as the group walked toward the altar, passing mostly empty pews with only an occasional player or NPC kneeling in prayer.
“Januar bestows great blessings on players who are generous of heart,” the priest said.
Right. He wants a donation. Just like real life.
“I took care of potions and weapons,” Sybil said. “It’s someone else’s turn.”
Coral had no money. She knew Daniel didn’t either. All eyes were on Sal.
“Fine, fine. How much money does Januar want today?” he asked.
“Januar asks only that you give what your soul can part with. Blessings, however, generally go for fifty gold apiece.”
“Ok,” Sal said, dropping gold coins into the alms box. “Now we’re even, Sybil.”
“I have to warn you,” the priest said, “I’m not sure the blessing will work on you two.” His eyes dwelled on Sal for a moment, then darted over toward Sybil.
“We’ll take our chances, thanks,” said Sybil.
The priest waved his hands in some complicated arrangement. Coral wondered if it was just for show. He said, “May the God of Constant Renewal grant you the most auspicious and infrequent beginnings.”
The priest then tapped each of them on the head. Coral was not impressed, but she did begin to glow, so whatever this was seemed to be working.
“Thank you, Father deCretum,” Sal said.
“May I ask a question?” Coral asked.
“Of course, child,” the priest replied.
“Does that painting mean something, or is it just decoration?” Coral pointed to the image of a lizard helming a boat.
“The Januarian Mystery,” the priest said. “Januar does not give life or inflict death. He does not decide who is born or reborn. He does not pass judgment. He simply leads souls from Travail to the void, and if they are to return, he provides safe passage back to Travail.
“It is said that once, long ago, the gods were at war. Ze, the goddess of life, allied with Sagma, the god of wisdom. Thanaker, the god of death, sided with Podonos, the god of power. The war raged on for ages until Podonos finally killed Sagma.
“When Podonos proved that Sagma had started the fight in an effort to create enmity among the pantheon of Travail’s gods, the gods prayed that Sagma would never return.
“Januar brought Sagma’s soul to the void for judgment. On the journey, Sagma begged Januar to turn his boat around and bring Sagma to Travail instead of the void. Januar refused.
“Sagma offered to share his infinite wisdom with Januar, but again Januar refused.
“Then Sagma cursed Januar with age and frailty. In 100 years, Sagma promised that Januar’s body would disintegrate. He offered to lift the curse if Januar turned his ferry around, but Januar was resolute. He brought Sagma into the void, from which he never returned.
“That painting shows Januar sailing away from the void, looking back at Sagma, and wondering about his own future.
“Now, Januar ages and his body gets weaker each year until the Great Molting. Then he comes to Travail in person to shed his old tired skin and emerge as a strong young god, only to start the long process of aging anew.”
“Is that why he’s coming to Havenstock soon, to molt again?” Coral asked.
“Soon? Oh, I doubt that,” the priest said. “We have no record of Januar’s last appearance, but I see no reason to think he’ll molt soon.”
“A woman named Alua mentioned he would visit,” Coral said.
The priest’s smile fell from his face like a fake mustache that lost its adhesive. “Alua,” the priest replied, “is a mystery I cannot expound on.” He said nothing else, though the sadness in his eyes hinted at more.
“Before we go,” Daniel said, breaking the tension that had filled the space among them, “Have you seen DivineMarco lately? I know he works in the temple sometimes.”
“DivineMarco is one of Januar’s favorite children, but he has not been here of late. I will pray for his safe and prompt return.”
“Thanks,” Daniel said, and the team left the temple.
Coral equipped her new pine short bow and 20 metal arrows and wondered just what they were going to find in the swamp.
***
The team walked in silence past the southernmost edge of Havenstock. Coral’s map showed that they had left the city behind and entered an area called the Havenstock Wetlands. She saw some giant rats in the distance, one of which was feasting nose deep in the carcass of a recent kill. It may even have been another rat. Coral hoped Sybil wouldn’t make her attack the animal, but Sybil said nothing as they walked.
A gray blanket of clouds separated the wetlands from the sun. Marsh grass came up to Coral’s knee. Each footfall made faint squishing noises as her leather boots sank into the wet earth. “Sal,” she said, “how can you stand walking around barefoot in this?”
“Meh,” he said. “I’m used to it. Most shoes are too small for my big ugly ogre feet. And besides, every now and then I step on something I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. Like this little thing!” Sal stooped down to pick up a sprig of some thistly plant.
“Sal, don’t you dare eat that. You don’t know what it is,” Sybil said.
“That’s the fun of
it!” Sal put the plant in his mouth and kept walking. “Oh, this is so good. It’s sharp, and my gums might be bleeding now, but it’s so worth it. Like nothing I’ve tasted before. I should pick a bunch of this stuff, it may come in handy one day. Oh, there’s another one!”
“Look lively, everyone!” Daniel yelled out. A small group of frogs the size of fat children hopped in and out of the water. Their black eyes glinted in the faint light from above. Their skin was green and black, with occasional yellow swirls.
Coral focused in on one. It was a Level 18 King Rana Frog.
“Coral,” Sybil said. “You’re up.”
“Come on, Sybil,” Sal said, with a mouthful of strange plants. “Don’t make her.”
“She owes me money and she’s weak with that bow. It’s time to fix both of those situations. Coral, what’s your Dexterity?”
Coral checked her stats. “It’s 48, including the +6 from my armor and +2 from my bow and arrow.”
“And you’re level 18?” Sybil said. “Not bad. The Dexterity bonus you get as a Seamstress will help you aim your bow. You don’t have Archery skills like Triple Shot or Fire Arrow, but you’ll be able to kill a few common enemies. Go on. These frogs are a good match for you.”
Everyone was watching Coral to see what she would do. She couldn’t chicken out. Not now that Sybil was giving her a chance to earn her respect back. But Coral hadn’t joined Travail to kill marsh frogs. She was supposed to be designing fantastic gowns to sell to rich people. How did she get diverted so quickly from that?
She reached behind her head and pulled an arrow from her quiver. She nocked the arrow and aimed at the closest frog. She felt bad for the poor thing. Frolicking in a shallow pool of muddy water with its friends. She let the arrow fly.
It hit the frog in the leg but didn’t stick. The arrow flopped into the surrounding grass.
>> King Rana Frog takes 12 Damage. [GLANCING BLOW]
Twelve? That was pitiful, but the worst part was that now she had the frogs’ attention. Three frogs came hopping toward her. She started to walk backwards slowly and nocked another arrow. She released the bowstring.
>> King Rana Frog takes 143 Damage.
That was better, but still not enough to put the frog down for good. She shot again, and again, inching backwards as the frogs closed the gap between her and them. Why wasn’t anyone else helping? Finally she saw some good news.
>> King Rana Frog dies. You receive 27 XP.
She had a sudden appreciation for just how lucky she was in yesterday’s raid dungeon. Delivering the finishing blow to that zombie dragon netted her thousands of XP. At the rate she was earning from these frogs, she’d have to kill 33 more of them to get to Level 19!
The frogs were on top of her now. She shot arrows up close, with barely enough room to pull back the bowstring. The frogs jump kicked her and occasionally bit her in the arms and legs.
>> You’ve been hit! 89 Damage.
>> You’ve been hit! 102 Damage.
>> You’ve been hit! 67 Damage.
>> You’ve been hit! 223 Damage. [CRITICAL].
She managed to kill off one other frog. The third was still at full health, but she was down to 38 HP. She really didn’t want to die here in the marsh. She pulled back her bow once more and clenched her jaw, sure the frog would slam into her and drop her HP to zero.
Sybil thrust her spear right through the frog’s head before it could make contact with Coral. It died in one hit.
“Now go get your arrows,” Sybil said.
Coral watched her HP gradually regenerate as she fished through the tall grasses to find her arrows. They had bits of frog stuck on them, which Coral decided not to think about. She was back up to 17 arrows when she saw another frog materialize.
“Daniel, your turn,” Sybil said.
These frogs were way above Daniel’s level, but Coral watched Sybil injure the one that had respawned and let Daniel have the finishing blow. They repeated this a couple of times while Sal dug up more plants. Sybil was hard to read, but she seemed like a patient teacher, even if demanding.
Coral checked her status notifications.
>> Congratulations! You have improved your Ranged combat ability to 5. Total Dexterity bonuses: +10% at close range, +2% at medium range, +0 % at long range.
A modest improvement, but a welcome one nonetheless. She saw that some of the frogs would make good sources of frogskin, which she could sell later. Maybe it was because she was a Seamstress and collecting materials came with the territory, but her hands seemed to know exactly how to cut away the frogs’ skins in patches. It was a slimy, bloody task, but at least she didn’t fumble with the mechanics of it. Next she hunted down her remaining arrows and let her HP slowly regenerate. When Daniel was ready to sub out, she killed frogs until he was ready for another round. They had a nice little routine going.
Sal continued to gather the plants he was newly enamored with. Occasionally he walked over to the frogs Coral and Daniel had discarded and cut strips of meat from their dead bodies and tucked it away in his bag.
Once Daniel leveled up, Sybil left him with Coral to fight frogs as a team. They fought in silence until Daniel spoke. “Tell me about your waitressing job.”
After what Daniel had said last night, Coral wasn’t sure she wanted to open up to him about her personal life. Her attention was divided on account of those frogs though, so the easiest route was to just say what came to mind. “It was cozy.”
“I’ve never heard someone describe their job as cozy,” Daniel said with a short laugh.
“The pay wasn’t great, but I worked for a sweet old couple that had been a fixture in my neighborhood my whole life. I had regular customers that I got to catch up with. And I got a discount on French fries.”
“How long did you work there?” Daniel asked.
“Eight years.”
“What? How young did you start working?”
“I graduated high school, if that’s what you’re asking. I started working there part time as a sophomore and bumped up to full time after graduation.”
“I never doubted that you finished high school,” Daniel said. “I’m just jealous you had something going for you for that long when I’ve never had any job whatsoever.”
Ha. Jealous. Coral had a hard time believing that.
“I always thought,” Daniel continued, stabbing at frogs as he spoke, “that if I worked really hard in school, and pushed myself to get good grades in college, things would fall into place. That if I could get a job, all the debt and years of hard work would be worth it. But when the economy tanked all the banks stopped renewing student loans and I got caught in the middle. All this debt, but no one will hire me. Not part time, not full time, nothing.”
Coral ran out of arrows so she hunted down the ones she had shot while Daniel sparred with the frogs.
“Travail is nice and all,” he said, “it’s just so far from what I was told all my life I should be doing by now.”
Daniel had real sadness in his voice. Coral had to admit that maybe he had it bad too. They were all doing the best they could to recover from dashed hopes. At least Coral didn’t have student loans to contend with.
They continued to battle mobs in the marsh together in silence until Coral earned a level up.
>> Congratulations! You have reached Level 19. To apply your 10 skill points now, open your Skills and Attributes screen.
Coral would wait to apply the skill points. She gathered up some more frogskins, and then turned toward finding another batch of arrows. It seemed like there were fewer to retrieve each time now. Sure, they had low durability, but what were they doing, disintegrating into thin air?
She was still poking around in the marsh grass when she heard a sickening sound. Like a giant tar pit bubbling up with noxious gasses. Coral looked up and saw Sal doubled over, right where the frogs kept originating.
“Guys,” he said, “I don’t feel so good.”
As Sal vomited the heaps a
nd heaps of marsh plants he had stuffed down his throat, Daniel killed off the last visible frog. Coral nocked a bow, ready for the next frog to respawn.
Sal got to his feet, his face a paler green than usual. All three frogs materialized at once.
They leapt at Sal, the nearest target. He swung his mallet at them, but fell backward on unsteady feet. Coral let her arrows start flying, but each time she knocked down a frog, another popped into existence immediately. Daniel stabbed and slashed, Sybil poked their eyes out with her spear, but there was no longer a lag between respawns. They had somehow triggered an infinite frog spot.