Raven- The Beginning

by David Wadsworth

  The bartender, Ga’arvn from what the dwarf called him, looked at him and frowned, then lifted his arm and then the dwarf fell to his knees, his skin fading to a sickly gray that started cracking and oozing thick, yellow pus.

  “Damnit Grokrak, you should know better than to fuck around with Ga’arvn, you know he’s a necromancer! Please, Ga’arvn, we’ll leave okay? Here, I’ll even give you a couple of gold if you let him live, please Ga’arvn,” Nordred pleaded.

  This brought a smile to my face, there was just something so damn amusing to see a dwarf begging and pleading. They were normally such a “up in your face” race. Typically more brawn than brain, both NPCs and players alike. I supposed that race just had something that drew people, I could never understand why.

  “Very well. I’ll accept your terms. Human veil-walker, you will pay tribute to Kali as well. 2 gold.” Ga’arvn’s tone made it so that there would be no argument from the player. Most NPCs referred to players as veil-walkers, perhaps a way to explain the abilities that players had over the NPCs. Or it could be a derogatory term, who knows. However, it made me wary of the human who I now knew was a player.

  The human only smiled and nodded, agreeing to the terms. When he reached to his coin purse, he caught me looking at him, to which he smiled and winked at me.

  Rolling my eyes and turning away to go to the bar, I began to think to myself, “He actually winked at me? What the hell. For fuck’s sake, this is why I played as a male instead of a female. There has always been something about games that always made guys think with their dick’s rather than their brains,” I silently fumed to myself.

  Behind me, I could hear the exchange of coins and heard the swoosh of smoke, which I could smell, nearly making me gag.

  As I made my way to the bar, the barkeep appeared, yet again teleporting in a cloud of smoke. I was really getting tired of smelling that, which made me wonder if NPCs could smell their effects. I couldn’t imagine that they could.

  Ga’arvn looked at me as I approached and smiled. For someone that worshiped the dark-aligned deities, he was surprisingly well maintained with a lazy grin. “I apologize about the distraction, what can I get you,” he asked me.

  I looked over the various bottles and kegs, and decided on getting my usual, Rennor Jhinrae. I handed my 2s to the barkeep and received my sweet, dark wine that tasted of blackberries in return. I turned my back to the bar and leaned against it and looked at the other people that were drinking and eating various breads and cheeses.

  There were a few humans, including that human player, a couple of gnomes in the far back corner talking heatedly between themselves, and a couple of other expected dwarves. “Where there was a tavern, you could make sure there was a dwarf,” I thought as I chuckled to myself.

  There was a dark elf that was sitting by himself in another corner of the bar, with a dark blue drink in his hand. However, ever since I was scanning the other people in the bar, he had yet to let the drink touch his lips. He was dressed like any other dark elf, in a plain, dark shirt. It almost looked as if he didn’t want to stand out, which to me, made him stand out even more. It also helped that he was gazing right back at me, his dull green eyes inviting me to have a chat with him.

  I walked in a round-about way to the table that this mysterious dark elf was sitting at, thinking that he preferred not getting too much attention. He still looked at the bar, however, I could feel his eyes watching me from the corner of vision. He may not be looking directly at me, but he was keeping an eye on me. I had a good feeling that he was the representative from the assassin’s guild that Youssef requested I speak with. Once I got to his round table, I sat down in a seat that was across from him. He looked me up and down as if taking stock of me, which to say, he wasn’t looking at me as a woman, but regarding me as a potential threat. While that should make me tense, it was actually relaxing for me.

  “Raven,” he started, his voice low enough so that I could hear, but no one else would. “Our grandmaster, Youssef Tarrokh has deemed you, at least slightly, worthy of joining the Order of the Velg’larn. We have a test for you though, before you can seek guidance. A high elf merchant will be entering the city tomorrow, his name is Aidelas Laemthius. We want him dead before the sun rises.”

  Thinking of the previous NPCs that I had killed, I felt a bit nauseous, but decided against running and hiding. I needed to get over this if I was to become an assassin. “Why does he deserve death? I’m not going to kill someone just for the hell of it, even if it is a request from the grandmaster.”

  The representative gave me an appraising look, and it seemed he was satisfied with whatever internal discussion he was having with himself. “Very well, we know he has been transporting and selling illegal drugs. He is suspected of doing worse things when his entourage and himself visit the slums. Goodbye,” he said, dismissing me. A quest notification window appeared in front of me informing me that I had been tasked to kill Aidelas Laemthius.

  Swiping away the notification window, I stood up to leave, and he actually took a sip of his beverage, clearly he didn’t drink on the job, and his job now ended after he relayed his message. Good to know.

  I went back towards the bar, my own drink now needing to be refilled, and as I waited for Ga’arvn to get to me, that human player decided to ambush me. I wanted to reach for my dagger and shove it in his eye, but alas, I maintained some semblance of control.

  “Aw, don’t be like that. I just wanted to come over here and say hello. Its pretty unusual to see people in newbie gear these days, and I wanted to see if you wanted some help,” he said in a voice that sounded like he was trying to be romantic, yet failing at it miserably.

  “Go away,” I replied, both my face and voice deadpanned. He looked at me as if he had a thought come to his mind.

  “Okay, look. My name is Darrius, and my main is a dark elf assassin, and I know from experience, with you talking to that NPC, that you’re on the initiation quest. In your gear, I can tell you now that you won’t be able to kill the guy, since he has 5 guards with him too. Don’t let my gear fool you, it’s custom crafted, and I have a quest to help some dwarf girl that has been getting harassed in the slums. That was the reason for the fight earlier. Help me, help you?”

  My deadpanned eyes squinted at the human. For him to be in Kinderfell meant that he must have started his character and used the inter-continental gate system and then inter-city teleportation system. Both of which are not cheap to use. Sighing, I replied, “Fine. I’m Raven. What class are you anyways? And no, I’m not going to sleep with you.”

  He rewarded me with a heartfelt laugh, “Raven, look, I don’t even swing that way, and even if I did, my boyfriend would cut my balls off, in the real world. So no, I don’t need any virtual sex. As far as my class, I’m a warrior monk. I can keep them off of you while you do your back-stabby stuff. I’ll even let you keep the drops, alright?”

  With his explanation, I smiled, and then had a thought. “Sure, I’d love the help and thanks for letting me know about the guards. But, can I ask for you for a favor?”

  It was his turn to give me a frown. “I suppose, but it depends…”

  I said in return, as meekly as I could manage, “I was lucky enough to get a skill book as a drop, but I don’t have the gold yet to learn it. Sounds like it might come in handy?”

  His frown wiped from his face, now turning into a small smile, his eyes shining. “That’s damn sweet! What skill book did you get?”

  “Shadow Step,” I replied.

  “That is a damn nice skill to have. Sure, I can help you out. Here’s 50 gold. You can upgrade some of your equipment while you’re at it.”

  I got a trade invitation window which asked if I’d like to trade with Darrius, which I accepted. He added the 50 gold into the trade window and immediately accepted the trade, which I did as well. My eyes now glowed with excitement and I gave Darrius a well deserved smile. “Thanks Darrius, this really helps. I owe you, okay?”

&nbs
p; “Na, don’t worry about it. But if I need help with something, I’ll keep the debt in mind. I’m off for a bit, but I’ll be back on this evening after my class ends. He usually arrives in the city at 11:00am GMT. I’ll send you a message tonight when I see you on-line, alright?”

  I gave him a curt nod, and he looked down to his feet, his avatar giving a silver aura as he closed his eyes, and then his avatar started flickering indicating he was logging out. After 15 seconds, he disappeared.

  “That really freaks me the hell out when they do that,” I heard Ga’arvn say from behind me.

  I looked behind me and stared at him, “You’re one to talk,” I informed him, setting my now empty bottle of wine on the counter before leaving. I had places to be, equipment to buy, skills to learn, and people to kill. It was turning out to be a much better day than when I started.

  After getting back to the inn after my late evening of shopping, I was quite content with my shopping spree. I managed to purchase a full outfit of thick leather, which was a little higher level than myself, therefore I felt a tag sluggish, which I would until I hit level 15. I did pick up some new, bronze daggers, which were level 10-15. I wasn’t as concerned about the daggers as I was about my gear, since dexterity and vitality where the weak points with the Amulet of Noctis. My armor rating was a respectable 111, so as long as I didn’t take any major hits, I should be okay, at least, long enough for me to take out whatever was attacking me.

  I also was able to get to the skill trainer and learn Shadow Step, which, as I knew, allowed me to immediately stealth and transport to another target as long as they were in range. The range itself would increase by 10% per level, so for now, the enemy had to be within 5 meters.

  The only bad thing about my shopping spree was that I was back down to 2 gold, 16 silver, and some copper. Regardless though, this would help in the long term, or rather, short term until I was able to level out of everything. But life before then would be much, much easier.

  With these happy thoughts, I made my way over to the large bed that was calling my name and jumped into the middle of it. I didn’t even take off my gear, but I did take off my daggers and laid them on the nightstand beside the bed before my eyes closed, my mind drifting towards the dreamworld.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Initiation Quest

  “I see that you’ve been progressing my little Raven,” Noctis said from behind me as I awoke in the dreamscape.

  “Damnit, I was hoping for dreams of unicorns and rainbows with sweet blackberry wine,” I muttered under my breath, as I realized that my wish for a good night’s rest was shattered.

  “Sarcasm does not become you, or anyone for that matter. It does tend to annoy me,” the goddess of shadows said as she frowned at me when I turned around.

  “I’m sorry Noctis, its been a long few days for me, trying to adjust to this new reality of mine. I’ve actually been wanting to meet you so that I can ask a question. Are the harbingers meant to be killed? As you probably know, I did meet the Harbinger of Chaos not too long ago and he gave me your amulet.”

  “Is that so? Well, Chaos does work in mysterious ways as you should know. However, I cannot answer your question, since it is up for the players to come up with their own strategies in dealing with our Harbingers,” she answered without really answering my question.

  “Ok, then, what I can I do for my goddess then?”

  Noctis moved closer to me, her black eyes penetrating into mine, she was now close enough to me that I felt her chest brushing on mine, before the world of fog seeming to vanish as I fell into her gaze.

  “All done!” Noctis shouted happily as I came back into the dreamworld. It felt like I had dozed out and I struggled to get the fuzziness out of my head. I shook my head, not understanding what was going on while I looked downwards, towards our feet which seemed to disappear in the fog. I looked at Noctis again, a question forming on my lips.

  She gently placed her finger on my lips, her finger a mix between both ice cold and scalding hot. She moved closer to me, her lips almost touching mine. “It’s time to wake up. You have your mission, and I have mine. We’ll meet again.”

  I felt rapture when her breath touched my lips. But then, the world of fog slip away from me, and felt myself falling as the world around me went black, a longing in my chest that I’ve only ever felt once before.

  ****

  I suddenly woke up, out of breath. It felt as if I had just ran 5 miles, however, instead of my body aching, it was my heart that ached. Before I could contemplate what had happened when I was asleep, a group invite window flashed in front of my eyes. It must be evening in the real world, even though in this one the night had past and it was now early in the morning.

  I grudgingly accepted the invite, as I silently wished that the Veil had the nectar of the gods, also known as coffee. But alas, it was not meant to be as I looked at the group window, now seeing the full window as it should have been when I originally logged in.

  I was speechless and couldn’t move. I clearly saw both Darrius and his health, stamina, and mana levels. Moreover, I could see the amount of each he had left. He had 8,950 health and 6,910 stamina, but he obviously didn’t focus on mana since he only had 1,250.

  My own stats paled in comparison, the benefit of crafted gear apparent, as I only had 2,575 health, 1,625 stamina, and 2,350 mana. On the upside though, I knew that I had much more of a chance for my hits to have critical damage, a benefit of my class and attribute specializations.

  Even though I wanted to crunch the numbers, I was still stunned that my group window was actually functioning, so much so that I missed out on a few messages in the group chat, which was only really used when other group members were out of vocal range, or if you didn’t want to make any noise. I read the messages out the messages before responding.

  “Hey Raven, I’m back!”

  “Raven?”

  “Hellooooo…”

  “I guess you’re AFK?”

  “Lemme know when you’re back in game, we have about an hour in game time before the guy gets into town, and we’ll want to track him down and see where he goes.”

  I sighed gleefully. Such a typical guy, impatient as any of them. I slightly concentrated on the glowing text window to reply. “I’m back. Where do you want to meet up at?

  “Welcome back. Let’s meet at the entrance so we can follow him.”

  “He should head to the trade house first to drop off some merchandise, then he usually looks around town before going towards the slums when night falls.”

  “Last time I had some friends and we killed him just as he entered the slums, but for my quest I need to find Coira, Nordred’s sister.”

  I read his messages before giving my agreement, and I walked out of my room to leave the inn. Before I could leave though, Merzen interrupted me.

  “I hope your stay has been comfortable. Its a shame that I had to agree to rent that room for a meager 25s per week. It usually rents for 1 gold per week.”

  I could hear the irritation in his voice, and I turned to him. “Yes, it is. I appreciate the discount, though I would be careful with your tone innkeeper.”

  “Hmph.”

  I sneered at the innkeeper before I left. He obviously didn’t like me for some reason. Outside, the town was busy as usual of the large cities. I made my way towards the gates leading towards the entrance of the city when I caught sight of people hiding in some alleyway shadows. Slowing my step, I veered in their direction, curious as to who they were. Despite being curious, I had my hands on my daggers, ready to fight if they decided to engage me.

  “Stop right there missy, we have no business with the likes of you,” a human’s voice said as I reached the alley.

  Maybe, maybe not. What’s going on,” I asked the human that called out to me from the left.

  “Nothing to concern yourself with. This is Op’Elgin guild business.”

  “Ah, I see now. The Op’Elgin guild was the thieves guild. They must
either be looking for a mark or doing something else,” I thought to myself.

  “Of course. If the Op’Elgin are in need of an assassin then, come find me. Us rogues need to stick together, you know?”

  The voice responded with a hearty laugh, and he walked out from where he was hiding. “I might keep you in mind, if you were in the Order. You’re right though that us rogues need to stick together, but the guilds are family, and family comes first.”

  I gave him a nod in acknowledgment before leaving the alley when he called out to me again, chuckling, “Some friendly advice, don’t wander in the alleys, even if it’s during the day. Someone might lift your purse of those sweet gold coins you have there.”

  My hand immediately went to my coin purse that I had looped around my belt and checked it’s contents. I was rewarded in finding that I had 2 gold, 11 silver, 5 copper in it.