“Look, it's the Goddess’ pet bull-y,” A nameless voice shouted out.
“Holy shit, my friends were right—the Father looks like an overweight Dwayne Johnson.” The comment caused a big part of the crowd to burst out in laughter, which almost hid the Beep! sound that came from the man’s [Drama Meter]. Nomar’s head turned in that direction and charged into the crowd, grabbing the [Author] by the throat.
“Earle, go with Sun. You two get to the Inn and stay put until I get there, understand?” They both nodded. “And Earle, no drinking. I need you sober.” I gave Sun a handful of gold coins. It should be enough to rent a room for a year.
“What are you doing lover?” Sun said sweetly and pressed her lips to mine. For the moment, everyone was watching Nomar, but I was a known entity, and a mutant with four arms wasn’t the best at hiding in crowds.
“Don’t worry—I’ll make it back to you. I’m too much of a target for you two to be around me. Just get safe, and I’ll be along. I’ve unlocked my private room for both you and Amard. Inform Amard to make sure we have supplies for an extended dungeon run if needed. And Sun, think about an adventuring class you’d like to play.”
“Yeayea, boss is back.”
“Earle, protect them.”
“Yea, boss. I got it. I’ll look affer yer girls.”
The two disappeared into the crowd, and my head snapped around as I heard the crowd collectively gasped. Nomar was there holding two halves of the man that spoke out against him.
Chapter 54
Location: Kongdom Proper
“I love all my people. I give you everything, and you repay me by throwing rocks—”
the crowd chuckled, but it died when the Father’s head snapped up. “Everyone seeks to undermine me.”
[Detect Bullshit +1]
“…Then stop being a tyrant...” A female yelled out.
“…Shagwell is lucky, that woman is a real beauty…”
“…She is glowing…”
“Gnoks rule!” A formation of the green-belted gnoks marched to the sound of their own tune.
I stopped trying to figure out who was saying what. There were too many people here now. More were gathering by the second. But the one voice was right, the woman in the inn with Shagwell was well endowed. The robe dropped exposing her shimmering body. Shagwell’s hands roam the soft flesh, stopping only to pull on her left nipple before he pushed her against the window and took her from behind.
A man in front of me ran into the empty area around the Father, and I could see his name above his head—Decarded Kane. In the silence, he cackled and pointed towards the beauty, “Stay awhile, and glisten.”
It did not take long for the woman to realize she had a crowd. Hell, the first time she opened her eyes from that position she would see all of us staring. It was the older woman, who was no less exuberant in showing her affection towards Shagwell, that noticed first. Only the [Author] was smiling as if it was all good fun. Until both women fled the room, and he frowned as he reluctantly pulled his pants back on.
“Shagwell!” The Father called out, and the man in question walked to the balcony and addressed the crowd.
“Ah, The King was it? Or Priest? No, something mundane. Father, yeah, you are The Father.” Shagwell called down.
“How—why? My girlfriend? Mother?” The Father’s confusion and red face were something to see.
“Wait, which is it? Was she your girlfriend or your mother?” Shagwell’s face scrunched up as he contemplated his own question. Admittedly, even I was confused, was the Father dating his mom?
“That was my girlfriend! The Mother to my uh… The Father, soon to be the first lady of our city and the Goddess Ro’s priestess. And my mother.”
“Ah, so then it is The Father, which means The is your first name?”
“What? No. Stop dissembling, and how dare you touch my future wife! And my Mom!”
“Ohhh, my bad. Didn’t know that was your fiancé. Your mom and I, we’ve had a tryst for ages now, she insisted on this threesome. I honestly thought it upset you because I was making sweet love to your mom.” Shagwell smiled sweetly, and I could hear several women in the crowd swoon. “I was wondering why she brought along another woman—man, that’s messed up.”
“Nomar, seize him! Put him in the deepest hole in the [Prison of Terrich].” We could all hear Shagwell’s [Drama Meter] beeping incessantly.
“Relax, Father. I am sure we can come to an accommodation. I wouldn’t have done anything inappropriate to your girlfriend. We are just friends, and we all know even friends listen to Endless Love in the dark.” Shagwell looked startled at the vehemence and decisiveness The Father displayed. I had heard of some of Shagwell’s exploits in Sharmon; the man was a legend among the womenfolk. Hell, he was my damned hero.
The incessant beeping let Shagwell know how dangerous the situation was, and the entire plaza could hear Nomar kicking in the door to get at the playboy. Shagwell wasn’t sitting still either; he hopped up on the railing of his balcony and ran and jumped to the one higher up and to the side. Grabbing it, he pulled himself up, until he was on that balcony. Then went back and forth until he was on the roof.
Nomar punched through the outer wall and continued to climb up from inside the inn, not even paying attention to the floor as he rose. Nomar’s recklessness could destabilize the entire hotel, not that he cared. Not to mention he was moving towards the roof faster than Shagwell.
The two faced off, but before they engaged in combat Shagwell jumped down onto another building and took off running. Green-belted gnoks were swarming the Chaos Seed Inn when Nomar jumped down after Shagwell. The Minotaur went through the roof, and we could hear him crashing through several floors before a cloud of dust announced his landing on the bottom floor.
While the others watched the scene above, I looked towards the Father and saw the gnok that tried to kill me in Shreddit. The one they called Spymon with the yellow Charlie Brown belt, and they were conspiring. The belt came off and reformed into a sword before Spymon sped off down an alley in the direction that Shagwell fled.
More gnoks were using their sharp claws to climb the walls, and soon unbeknownst to the crowd, an army was following one man. I too had been on the other end of this and wondered how I could help without being obvious. I already stood out and doubted I was strong enough to kill Spymon, but I knew the gnoks were weak, like goblins in most games. The cultists of the Father were all weak, and not just their bodies, but their minds. The Father shaped them into his toys and cared not a wit what happened to them.
Running down an alley, I had to admit the Kongdom was excessively clean. I’d almost call it pristine, which only added to its unnaturalness. The Kongdom put up this fake front, but anyone with eyes could see it was decaying at the edges.
The [Street Sweepers] supposedly came through hourly. It was hard not to notice their presence. Most of the people cringed away from them, fearing to raise their [Drama] levels in their presence. The entire town refused to speak out or question anything; they weren’t even allowed to talk about [Authors] unless they were on the approved list—which changed daily. More and more [Authors] were disappearing. Dr. Soulstoner was right; this was much worse than he had thought.
My cloak had its hood down, but my second set of arms kept the front of it closed to hide my mutation. My [Heat Tracking] tagged Shagwell before he disappeared, and I could sense him up to a few miles. Rather than head right for him, I circled around hoping to avoid the gnoks, Nomar, and Spymon. BanHammer was the worst of the bunch, but he had stayed to guard the Father.
Rounding a corner, I hissed for not paying attention. Three gnoks dropped down in front of me. Their glowing green eyes were almost invisible in the daylight, but that also meant they did not see well. I moved closer to them, but none of them pulled their daggers. Sneaking the rest of the way, I attacked. My snap kick took down the one on the left. Without even revealing my other two arms, I used that same kick to propel myself to t
he two on my right. My elbows, enhanced with my [Inner Dragon] crushed their skulls. The thing I think I loved most about gnoks was the lack of blood. I don’t think they were undead creatures, but their insides were not wet like a human, and they bled dust or sand.
Barely a sound was made in the few seconds it took to take them down. I did not want to stand around because I was still not sure if they communicated telepathically. Also, my [Drama Meter] jumped by a lot.
Shit tits!
A few more turns and I reached a nondescript home. The alley passed by it, and I approached the back door cautiously. Shagwell was near the front of the house, but I was not sure of his class. Not to mention I had no way of detecting traps.
It surprised me that I had not crossed through any traps and that the back door was unlocked. Either the guy was insane, or he was seriously estimating the danger.
[Point of View Shift
Adjusting to 3rd Person Omniscient… done.
PoV shifting to Gnok #3172…done.
Re-engaging vision…done.]
Dammit! Why now?
“Trust me, watch. This is what you are getting in the middle of, and you may want to walk away. So pay attention before you decide your next action.” NPC said. The teddy bear was standing next to me, but I did not recognize the location. “This is the Chaos Seed Inn, moments after Nomar fell through that adjoining building.”
People appeared, mainly gnoks, the Father, and Nomar kneeling before him. The Minotaur was offering tea to the Father and looked as if he was performing a well-learned ritual of obeisance.
“You sure?” Nomar asked in a soft voice. The bovine’s soft voice still vibrated the floors in the room. “Shagwell is a community favorite, and this will cause unrest.”
“That is why I am the only person who should control the Goddess of Games. Be the leader this realm needs. The peasants are easily appeased, I have gnoks on standby near an orphanage, and more near a refugee camp. If they pull something, I’ll burn the orphanage down and blame them for not paying attention to the bigger issues in the world. I recently heard that a flood took out the homes and farms of the West Field Gnomes, even now they are dying from famine and disease.”
“Not to question you, but maybe we should ban him this time. If we turn him into a [Ghost Writer], people will question his absence.” Nomar tried to talk The Father out of it, but it was futile.
“No. That [Necromancer] slighted my mom and girlfriend. I can’t let this slide. Do not fail me Nomar, a few more days and I’ll have the necessary amount of support to call on Trademark. He’ll grant my request because I’ll give him little choice.”
Nomar blew air out his nose, and while the Father remained oblivious. NPC and I could see the doubt in Nomar’s eyes. The goddess granted the Minotaur a Legendary class, the [Inquisitor], which meant he was her warrior, first and foremost. If the Father continued on this course of action, soon all the [Authors] would be gone and the Kongdom would lie in ruins.
The scene froze, and I got close enough to snag a [Fancy Couch]. It slipped right into my [Bag of Holding].
“Really? Now you are resorting to petty theft?”
“Well, that couch looked really comfortable.”
“Whatever, monkey. Listen, if you saddle yourself with Shagwell, you are drawing a line in the sand. You will no longer be a casual observer in this war. That is what I wanted you to know.”
“I have to help him. I can’t explain it, but there is this push to make it right, to protect the guy.”
“Dammit, should have known one of the gods was intervening. Probably the God of Portals, you could resist the urge, but had it not aligned with your desires, then you would have realized you were being manipulated. Alright, my affable monkey, I will do what I can to help.” NPC disappeared, and so too did the scene.
[Point of View Shift
Adjusting to 1st Person…done.
PoV shifting to yourself…done.
Re-engaging vision and bodily control……done.]
I looked up to find Shagwell standing in front of me, a sword point near my throat. “I suggest you start talking.”
Chapter 55
Location: Kongdom Proper
“Sorry, [Author] skill triggered,” I told him as I tried to refocus. “I’m not with the Kongdom. In fact, I’m trying to stop him, and we could use your help.”
“Who is ‘we’?”
“Sonya and probably the Blaze Bots, and whoever their people are.”
The sword moved away from my throat, and he waved me inside. His sword was at the ready, but he guided me into the cellar. A few seconds later he opened a passageway and waved me in while he put everything back in order and shut the door again.
“Walk and talk,” Shagwell said.
“Well, it starts with the [God Essence]…”
An hour went by, and we were still walking, but Shagwell had sheathed his weapon.
“So you are recruiting me then?”
“I don’t know. I guess? You get around, you are known, and most of the people like you. Your [Author] abilities exceed the Father, and you could be a big help.”
“How do you know about my ability?”
“I’ve already read some of your stuff. Are you really a [Necromancer]?” I asked, curious about how one gets a class like that.
“I am, but only because I can’t get rid of it. I’ve been trying to find another rare class, but no luck.”
“Why not level it up and phase it off that way?”
“I thought it would be cool at first, but, Deuce, the smell is horrendous. The first corpse I raised nearly devoured me because I fainted from the stench. Easy to get the class though, bring the heart of any creature, including people, to a [Lich] in any crypt-like dungeon. The heart is important, because you get rewards for type, freshness, whether you cut it out yourself, etc.”
“Is the corpse bomb a real thing?”
“Yes… but it needs a lot of corpses to do it properly. What is a bomb if you don’t have enough shrapnel? Plus, they are awful. The stench you might get used to, but the chunks of flesh find their way in all your clothing and hair. Necromancer is the worst class ever.” I must have been giving Jason a funny look because he rolled his eyes at me. “Deuce Bigbelow, I will help if I can.”
“Great, then I—”
The ground shook, and something massive blocked the light in the tunnel ahead.
“Dammit,” Shagwell muttered. “Don’t fight; they’ll overwhelm us. Don’t worry. I have a plan. I always have a plan.” Despite him saying he had a plan, I could see the doubt in his eyes.
Glowing red eyes glared down at us, and I could feel the wet steamy breath of the Minotaur. Words jumbled in his mouth as he tried to form them, making it hard to understand. As prominent a figure Nomar was, I’d think he’d learn to enunciate better and stumble over words less.
“You not worship? You too good for the Goddess of the Games?” The bull-man grumbled while his fat cow man finger jabbed me in the chest. The finger was almost bigger than my head.
“He is new,” Shagwell said. “Look at him, he reeks of newbie. There is no way he has [Acclimated] enough skills to smell like the Goddess.”
“Then he needs to know the rules.”
“Look, Nomar. We don’t have time for your religious fanaticism, and we all get it, you are the Goddess’ choir boy. So sing your tune and then take us to Terrich already. Your spiel never changes, never flexes, which is why the realm has lost more [Authors] than it’s kept.”
I looked over at Jason Shagwell with new respect. The man talked and talked and yet somehow made a lot of sense, and even Nomar paused for a few moments before a snort escaped his nostrils, splashing us with his frothy fervency.
“Take them,” Nomar said, and the gnoks swarmed us, their long-fingered claws wrapping around my arms sent a chill up my spine. From the depths of their cowls, I could only see the green light of their eyes. The floor shook as Nomar stomped off, but even I could tell that Ja
son’s words haunted him. Marched across town, people fled before us, leaving the streets largely abandoned. Windows and doors were barred and locked. Those few unfortunates—that did not escape fast enough—were cut down by the gnoks, eliminating any witnesses.
“Gnoks rule.” A voice whispered in my ear and then cackled as it faded off into the darkness. I looked behind me, and the Kongdom’s [Street Sweeper Team] was behind us, cleaning up the mess. Bodies, debris, and blood disappeared as if it didn’t exist. The streets and town remained immaculate and pure, hiding the rotting darkness beneath it.
These words wrote themselves across my mind, revealing a story I didn’t know existed and had no way of writing. I let my imagination run with it and pushed it even further. The dungeon revealed itself in my head, exposing me to a multitude of thoughts, emotions, and options. I pushed past all of it and found a way out—no, I created a way out. A narrative unfurled within my mind, capitalizing on the tweaks I made, but it was all shrouded in fog. It was not allowing me to see the random elements, and it would not let force anymore changes.
This might end up as a [Critical Failure] because I could hear the dice rolling in my head. The conclusion to the events remained vague, and no matter how I tried to force it, those parts wouldn’t solidify.
[You have learned: Quest Narrative. (There are two narrative types: Pantsing and Outlining)
You’ve created your first Pantsing Quest Narrative. Watch for system created assists to guide you through the plot of you’ve devised. Rewards are currently unknown but are based on your actions, the toughness of the event, and your achievements.
Pantsing Vs. Outlining
Pantsing allows you to create quest narratives ad hoc, but each narrative is cursed with a [Chaos Seed], meaning you have less control over the events that occur during the quest. This is because Pantsing uses your end goal, but provides the paths to completion. These paths might be influenced by other authors or the system itself. One attempt at Pantsing is allowed per week.
The Land of Trademark Online Page 32