Crimson Sands

by J. Arthur Klein

  “You’re going, huh?”, she asked. “I don’t think I’ll be able to make this one. I’ll have to survive on whatever they publish on their site during the event.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll send you the highlights," I said with a grin.

  …

  Kjara hadn’t turned in the alchemist quest yet so we stopped on the way. She picked up her discounted potions and I let her know about how it had been bugged just yesterday. She gave me a crisp high five for my part in patching that little glitch.

  As we made our way through the city, I asked her about her own tutorial adventure, but she quickly changed the subject.

  From the way she tensed up at the question I could see it wasn’t something she wanted to talk about, so I dropped it.

  When we arrived at the caravansary, I spotted Raeg chatting with a small group of other dwarves at one of the many booths.

  The dwarf glanced over as we approached and gave me a smug grin, likely already thinking of the ways he could spend his twenty five gold.

  I approached and greeted the dwarves with a respectful bow, a grin of my own emerging as I saw Haegir among them.

  He looked at me and chuckled. “Well, I’ll be damned. Raeg, is this the Saa you said was seeking passage to Sehkem?”

  At Raeg’s nod Haegir continued, “An untrustworthy scoundrel you said? The worst of his people you said?”

  I glared at Raeg. “Trying to stack the deck against me, eh Raeg?” I asked.

  Kjara shuffled from one foot to the other uncomfortably but I gave her a reassuring smile.

  Haegir turned to his kinsmen and began speaking in their tongue, gesturing towards me several times. Halfway through the conversation Raeg’s grin disappeared and he started to look a bit worried.

  Haegir switched back into common and turned back to us. “Raeg, my friend, were it any other Saa you would be counting your coins, but this one... this Saa I know. This Saa and I recently escaped a slave camp together, so my clan-kin have decided to consider his request for passage.”

  I smiled and nodded to Haegir. “It was an honor to fight with you. I see Raeg had some time to plead his case, might I speak with you privately for a moment to make my own?”

  He considered my request and nodded. He spoke a few words to his clansmen and then led me off to the side. “So Kheph, why should we allow you to travel with us to Sehkem, and your companion too?”

  Putting on my most sincere face, I began to plead my case. “While I know I wasn’t the most skilled of companions in our last adventure together, I have learned quite a bit since then, so I’m not a total waste of space should you run into danger along the way, and Kjara there is a warrior through and through. Having a priest and another blade around that you don’t have to pay for could be useful.”

  He considered my words and said, “I’m listening.”

  “And there’s also the matter of the bet I have with Raeg,” I continued.

  “What does your wager matter to me?” he asked.

  “Money," I said plainly. “Should you agree to allow me passage, Raeg is obligated to pay for it.”

  “So?” He shrugged.

  “We never agreed on an amount. So, should you decide the price of my passage is seventy five gold… we could split the excess coin between us. Say sixty forty in your favor?”

  He narrowed his eyes and looked at me. “And why not ask for more, Saa? Maybe his description wasn’t that far off.”

  I sighed. “I don't want to rob the man, Haegir. I simply want to teach him a small lesson, while at the same time ensuring that my companion and I can make it to Sehkem without being robbed, murdered, or sold to slavers. I just want to tweak his nose a bit for assuming that I would be turned away automatically.”

  His look of anger faded, replaced with something bordering on amusement. “I will consult with my kin. We have no problem with the moon elf, but you may be a hard sell."

  Chuckling, he continued, "Your ‘lesson’ for Raeg may offset that though. My kin are quite swayed by the glint of gold. I had a feeling when we arrived in this place that I hadn’t seen the last of you.”

  We rejoined the others and Haegir took his kin off to the side to discuss. I turned to Kjara and said, “You should have no issue booking passage. Let’s hope my talk with Haegir was enough.” I held up both hands, fingers crossed.

  She laughed. “Well, if they don’t take you then there’s no reason for me to go,” she said, speaking loud enough for the gathered Tel’vaar to hear.

  Raeg continued glancing nervously between me and the other dwarves. I gave him another grin when I caught him looking, after which he pretended to be occupied reading something on his desk.

  I chuckled and used the break to take note of the game time, adding it to the bug report I had in progress for this quest exploit.

  A few minutes later, Haegir and his kin returned and called us over.

  “We have made a decision. We have decided to allow the Saa to purchase passage. However, due to his heritage, and other factors, we will be doubling the cost of passage to offset the difficulties that having him along will bring.”

  I looked over to Raeg and he was standing with his mouth agape. I grinned and said, “Well that’s that Raeg. Looks like I win our wager. Pay the man.”

  He seemed to freeze for a moment. Not standing still, but actually freezing in place as if whatever logic behind the NPC was stuck in some sort of loop.

  Several seconds passed, but the other NPC’s seemed oblivious to the strange behavior. After thirty seconds or so, whatever glitch seemed to resolve itself and Raeg started moving again.

  He reached into his pouch and counted out the one hundred gold and handed them to Haegir. Kjara handed over her own passage fee as well, securing both of our places.

  *** Quest Complete! A Fools Wager! ***

  *** You have gained 100xp! ***

  *** You have lost reputation with the Val’deen Dwarves! ***

  *** You have gained reputation with the Tel’vaar Dwarves! Unfriendly → Neutral. ***

  Haegir beckoned us to follow him as we left the caravansary and headed back into the city towards the merchants’ quarter.

  Once we were clear, Haegir handed me a small leather pouch full of coin. I tucked it into my inventory to deal with later.

  “Be at the north gate two hours after midday and bring your own food and gear. We’ll provide water. Should we be attacked you will be expected to aid in the defense of the caravan. My kin are still uncertain of you Kheph, and I cannot blame them as our interactions with the rest of your people have not gone well for us. I think they agreed to this simply to make things difficult for Raeg and the Val’deen clan. You’ll have to convince them on the trip.”

  With that, he took his leave, heading off to finish his own business in the city.

  I took twenty five gold of my own coin and handed it to Kjara. She took it and looked at me with a confused expression. “What’s this for?” she said.

  “I told you that I'd pay for half of your passage if they agreed."

  “Oh,” she said. “I forgot about that. There’s no reason for you to do that though, I have enough coin.”

  “A deal’s a deal,” I said. “You agreed to come and help me with my quests, no reason for you to have to bear all of the cost. If it makes it any easier, think of it as reimbursing you for all of the repairs and potions that you’ll likely need to carry my ass."

  “Fine,” she conceded, but there was something mischievous lurking behind her eyes. I wasn’t quite sure if I'd welcome whatever it was she had planned.

  Changing the subject, I took out the pouch that Haegir had given me and counted the coins inside. “So twenty gold was my cut from the quest exploit. Did you notice the NPC freeze like that?”

  She nodded. “Yeah it was like he was stuck in a loop or something. It was pretty freaky, especially with the realism here.”

  “I don’t even want to know what was happening under the hood, but now that I have
a full set of info, I can submit that bug. Give me a minute,” I said, and she gave me a thumbs up.

  I opened up the bug report I’d started for the current issue and added the final details: The extra payment, the NPC freezing, and a note that the extra coin was going to the local orphanage. I clicked send, and then turned to my companion and said, “All done! Let’s go find an orphanage.”

  We headed into the market district and asked around. There were two orphanages in the city. One was located near the center of the city and was run by the Temple and the other was on the border of the crafters' and residential districts that was more of a community effort.

  After all I had heard of the Temple in this place, I decided to pass on their operation. A community run orphanage sounded like something that would be more in need of some additional funds anyway, so we headed through the crafters district and towards the location our latest questions had added to my map.

  As we approached, I spotted several children milling around a small courtyard bordered by a series of small wooden buildings that were all connected by canvas walls to unify them into a single entity.

  The children were dressed in a motley collection of often mended clothing, some barely more than a quilt of patched together scraps.

  While the children did not appear to be starving, they definitely showed signs of hard times. Their hollow cheeks and scrawny limbs were a testament to their plight.

  Even though I knew in my brain that these were digital creations and not real people, it still hurt to see kids living like this. At least I could do a little bit to help.

  Kjara was staring at the kids too, her eyes glistening on the verge of tears. I coughed and headed to the door, knocking lightly. Kjara stood at my side.

  An older woman opened the door, her own clothes only slightly better than those of the children. She held a baby in her arms, being fed from a small bladder. She was grinning down at the baby, true affection evident in her features.

  One look at me and her look turned to ice. “We told you, Priest. Our children are our own. We'll care for them. Now run off back to your temple and leave us in peace.” With that she stepped back into the house and slammed the door.

  “Damnit!” I screamed, earning a startled look from the nearby children. Kjara put a hand on my shoulder to try and comfort me but I was so damned tired of this city. One day, I was going to come back here and raze that temple to the ground and build a new one that actually served the people.

  “Soon we’ll be out of this place, Kheph. Hopefully, it’s all not like this,” she said, giving my shoulder a squeeze.

  I took a deep breath and knocked on the door again. While I waited, I took out the pouch that Haegir had tossed me with the twenty gold and added ten of my own coins to it.

  The older woman opened the door again, sans baby, with a cast iron frying pan clenched in one hand. She opened her mouth to begin shouting again but the glare I gave her in return stopped her in her tracks.

  ***Presense check successful! ***

  I tossed the coin pouch to her, but in her shocked state she didn’t react quickly enough to catch it. It fell to the floor and several gold coins spilled out around her feet.

  “Now. You will listen to me," I demanded. “I am not with the Tael’va Temple or their orphanage, nor do I have any designs on your children other than to see them fed and clothed.”

  I pointed to the coin purse on the ground and continued, “That is for the children. We are all the children of the gods, not only those who can afford to bribe their way to glory.”

  She looked down at the coins, seeing the glint of gold and then looked back at me, eyes even wider. “But, but…” she stuttered but couldn't get the words out.

  “Gold is nothing compared to the potential that you care for within these walls. Nurture them, raise them to be better than those who would push them down, and one day maybe they can change the world.”

  With that I turned and walked away, Kjara following behind, a grin plastered on her face.

  “Wait!” the woman called. “Who are you?”

  I looked back. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not who you ARE that matters, it’s what you DO,” and then continued on my way.

  Kjara hung back as I left but quickly caught up. “I saw you add more gold to that bag Kheph,” she said. “It seems strange to care so much about bits of code, but I get it. This game is such a trip.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, it really blurs the lines for me. I know they aren’t real kids. I know that they are just bits of code, that it’s just a game, but when I’m in here, when I look at those hungry little bodies, I care.”

  “Plus,” I said, smiling, “all I’m giving them are little metal coins that are also made of code, so it works out I guess.”

  She laughed and we headed to the marketplace, picking up supplies for the trip. While there I found a small shop that sold cooking supplies.

  I splurged a bit and spent five of my remaining gold on a cooking kit, a small book of recipes, and ingredients to go along with it. I shoved it all into my pack and sighed as a notification popped up.

  *** You are now encumbered. Stamina requirements for normal activity increased by 25%. ***

  My hoarding tendencies had finally come home to roost, penalizing me for the amount of stuff I was lugging around.

  I told Kjara of my predicament and she just laughed and led me to a nearby shop where we could sell off some of of our extra baggage.

  I liquidated the falchion, my old shield, a bronze dagger, and some of the ruined weapons I had been saving to repair. I only got a few gold pieces in return for my hoard, but my pack felt a hell of a lot lighter.

  We went to the stables and retrieved our camels, stopping by nearby merchants to see if there was anything else we needed for the long trip.

  They had barding, saddles, saddle bags, and even armor for all types of mounts. Most of the equipment wasn’t any better than what was on the camels when we’d liberated them from the bandits, but some saddlebags could solve some of my issues.

  I shelled out the three gold for a pair of saddle bags and loaded them with my cooking supplies and non-essentials. Kjara saw what I was doing and decided to pick up a set of saddlebags for herself as well.

  By the time we were done with all of our errands it was time to meet Haegir and begin the next step in our adventure, but I had one last stop to make.

  As we approached the jobs board, Kjara seemed a bit confused. “If we’re about to leave, won’t getting any quests just be a waste?” she asked, gesturing towards the board.

  I grabbed a piece of parchment from the board and a piece of charcoal and began writing as I answered, “Sure, but I wanted to put some more quests out there before leaving. Tie up some loose ends since I won’t be around anymore to do them myself.”

  After I finished writing them out, I tacked them onto the board and watched them morph into new quests.

  *** Quest Offered: The Children Are Our Future (Repeatable, Daily) ***

  *** The desert is a harsh place to live. Many children find themselves orphaned to its harsh lifestyle. Assist the caretakers at the Home of the Lost in the residential quarter of Tael’va to feed and clothe the many orphans of the city.

  *** Reward: xp, reputation with the common people of the city. ***

  *** Quest Offered: Mending Fences (Repeatable, Daily) ***

  *** The djinden people have been trampled down by the Saa Empire for generations. Some have sought refuge in Tael’va, but still the boot of the empire seeks to find a home on their throats. An influx of Saa workers expelled from the empire have recently started to harass the djinden residents of the city, and it’s time for that to stop. Teach the racist newcomers the errors of their ways.

  *** Reward: xp, reputation with the djinden people. ***

  “There we go,” I said, and read the new quests aloud to Kjara who just shook her head and punched me gently on the shoulder.

  “You’re such a softie”, she said, a w
arm smile on her lips. “Any other emotional fingerprints you want to leave on the city before we go?”

  “Nah, I think I’m good for now,” I answered. “Onward to hopefully not a painful death in the desert!”

  We were both laughing as we headed towards where we would meet up with the caravan.

  …

  The dwarves showed us to our assigned wagon. It was a small sized wagon with just enough room in the back for us to both sleep at the same time without being on top of each other. The bottom of the wagon was hollow and half full of goods leaving just enough room for our gear.

  The driver let us know we were free to ride on the wagon or on our mounts, but should the need arise we were expected to be ready for action.

  At the front of the wagon was a sight that took my breath away. Instead of traditional pack animals, the dwarves used something that resembled a giant iguana.

  From what I could draw from the game knowledge database they were called lleven and were raised by some of the bedjvain tribes that roamed on the western edge of the desert near the mountains the dwarves called home.

  Lleven were able to go without food or water for even longer than a camel and were priced accordingly.

  We stowed our packs in the wagon and tethered our mounts and the extra camel as well.

  I turned to Kjara and raised a waterskin in a toast, “Here’s to new adventures on new horizons!”

  She returned the gesture with her own skin, brushing off her armor as she replied, “And less sand maybe?”

  I laughed and took a good long drink, looking behind me and bidding good riddance to the sprawling mass of semi-civilization.

  I’d miss the folks at the Stone Serpent and would probably never see how my coin was used for the orphans, but getting away from this place would be good. Not just for my progress, but for my sanity as well.

  A horn sounded from the front of the wagon train and we were underway. The driver of our wagon clucked his tongue and the lleven started forward, pulling the wagon almost effortlessly.