MIDIAN: OMG, Rutger? I was wondering if you'd made it through.

RUTGER: Yeah, sorry, I started in a dangerous place. I've been really busy surviving.

Midian has sent you a friend request!

Accept? Y/N

“Yes!” Rich burst out, and Geebo gave him a cautious look. But he didn't care.

This was one more connection from home, one with no bad feelings attached to it.

MIDIAN: So you landed in a dangerous place, huh? Lucky.

RUTGER: I don't know about that.

MIDIAN: I started out in the opposite situation. My starting location is big, safe... and boring. So very boring. I went elf, and now I'm regretting it.

RUTGER: Why? Elves are awesome.

MIDIAN: Usually, yeah. But these elves are so very goddamn boring. They sit around in their tree cities all day and talk. Whenever they do something they do it really slowly, and they obsess about getting it right. It's annoying!

RUTGER: Can you leave?

MIDIAN: I'm into day two of an apprenticeship that's supposed to take three years. But honestly, I'm thinking of grinding up levels to where I can solo my way out of the forest and finding some place that's more interesting.

RUTGER: Will you be safe traveling alone?

MIDIAN: Probably not, and that's fine because I'm itching for action. ^_^ But it'll be fine. I won't be the first player to scoot out of here. Hell, if I'm lucky someone else will make an elf and we can leave together. Say... you think you might want to reroll?

RUTGER: Um, no. You can't delete old characters, and it costs stupid money to make an alt. Besides, I'm happy with my race.

MIDIAN: Oh yeah? What did you choose?

RUTGER: I'm a dragon.

She didn't respond immediately, and Rich bit his lip. He let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding when she finally replied.

MIDIAN: Wait.

MIDIAN: We can play as monsters?

RUTGER: Yeah, totally. My friend Norm got an option to be a slime. He didn't take it, though, it's kinda hard to get

MIDIAN: Get what?

Rich had been about to say “It's hard to get laid when you're a slime,” but he thought better of it.

RUTGER: Sorry, got interrupted. It's hard to get through the game without hands.

MIDIAN: I would have totally done it if I could have been a unicorn or something. I won't lie, I'm a little jealous.

RUTGER: Don't be. The programmers haven't made a tutorial for new dragons, so I had to figure things out the hard way. And I started out in a lair that was being raided by other players.

MIDIAN: Oh no! Did they grief you?

RUTGER: No, I got away with my teeny little treasure hoard.

MIDIAN: You get a hoard?

RUTGER: It's like a tiny sack of silver and copper coins, a few weapons and bits of armor I can't use, and a ring that makes my breath minty-fresh.

RUTGER: And I can't even use rings because dragons have “Skills” that don't let them do stuff like craft things or equip most items.

MIDIAN: I have to say I'm not surprised. Game balance means that if you're playing something more powerful than other players, there need to be penalties and disadvantages to keep it fair.

RUTGER: I'm not THAT powerful. I mean I'm tough and strong and I've got wings and firebreath, but I'm a hatchling. I come up to most people's waists.

MIDIAN: Aw! Cute! Can you send me a picture?

RUTGER: Um... Hang on.

He shuffled over to the edge, and tried to find his reflection in the water. Geebo followed, quizzically. But the water churned and rippled, moving too fast from the flowing waterfall above.

“What are you doing, Little Great One?” Geebo asked.

“I'm trying to see my reflection.”

“Oh, is that all?” Geebo pulled a sack off of his harness, and reached in, pulling out a polished square of steel lined with wood. “Have a mirror!”

“Thanks!” Rich eyed the mirror, stepped back, and took a screenshot. Then he sent it through to Midian.

MIDIAN: Awww! Hey, what are those white patches on your scales?

RUTGER: What? He stared into the mirror, and sure enough, there were little flecks of white starting to come out among the scales of his neck and body.

RUTGER: Those weren't there two levels ago. I think they're just coloration?

Was he growing new patterns? He was still pretty young... less than a day old. But he didn't know how long it took for reptiles to get their colors in after they were born. Was he a reptile? He didn't even know that. Rich made a note to learn more about animals the next time he was surfing the net.

MIDIAN: So you're going to come out black and white? Nice. Well regardless, you're adorable.

RUTGER: I'm more of a scaly murder machine.

MIDIAN: The two things are not incompatible.

RUTGER: Hee hee, no. So have you heard from any of the others? Are we going to try to be a guild over here, too?

MIDIAN: Yes and no. I've found four of our guildmates, and they're promising to try and track down the others. But I'm not sure guilds are a thing here.

RUTGER: What? Why not? No, wait, I remember this. LivingDeadGrrl said that they haven't been implemented yet.

MIDIAN: That's what everyone is saying. I've tried asking NPC's about it and they just get confused.

RUTGER: Hey, about NPC's...

MIDIAN: Yeah?

RUTGER: Do they ever act funny to you? I've got a sort-of-companion that talks intelligently to me when I'm alone, and reverts to a stupid mode when there's other people around.

MIDIAN: Honestly I'm not a fan of the emulation programming in this game. It feels cheap and tacked on. Like most NPC's will be able to talk somewhat intelligently about their interests and jobs and stuff, or about things related to their quests, but if you go outside of that they revert to stock dialogue. I understand this is a huge world and it's mostly procedurally generated, but they still could have put more effort into it.

RUTGER: So it's just glitchy. Okay. He bit his lip again. I've got another question, if you've got time.

MIDIAN: Today is my elven needlepoint class. I've been spending hours resewing the same ten lines, and my instructor is grading me by the stitch. Trust me, you're not interrupting a damned thing.

RUTGER: When you log on, are you ever in a different place than where you logged off?

MIDIAN: Like a placement glitch?

RUTGER: …kind of?

MIDIAN: No. But then I've only logged in three times so far. And I wasn't paying a lot of attention to where I'd left things. I just go to my room and log out there and reappear there.

RUTGER: Maybe that's it. I've had to log out in some dangerous places, I don't have a house yet. Or even a room.

MIDIAN: I don't have a house yet either. Those things are crazy expensive around here, and every one has to be crafted from scratch and personalized to its new occupant. And guess how long elven contractors take to craft a new house.

RUTGER: So basically you can't buy a house there?

MIDIAN: Nope. I'll be dead in the real world before it's done. I think. Time isn't exactly one-on-one here, though I don't know the differential.

RUTGER: I was wondering about that.

MIDIAN: The readits probably have more information.

RUTGER: Oh! Speaking of information, can I ask you something?

MIDIAN: I already said yes, ask me anything, I'm stuck in cross-stitch hell. You're saving me from some serious frogging boredom.

RUTGER: I'm in front of a big iron gate that says “Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here.” Does that mean anything to you? It feels like it should, but I can't remember where I heard it before.

MIDIAN: Oh boy. Yeah, don't go through that door. That's what's supposed to be inscribed on the gates of hell.

RUTGER: Oh shit. Now I remember!

MIDIAN: You have a nicer preacher than I do, then. Mine's all fire and brimstone.

RUTGER: We don't go to church anymore. Mom paid the home worship fee for this year, so as long as we tune in for a few minutes on Sunday we don't have to actually attend.

MIDIAN: Lucky! I can't afford that.

RUTGER: It was hard for us, too. But it was cheaper than paying for the clothes and the transportation fees.

MIDIAN: I live close to my church, so it's not so hard. But yeah, you're probably standing in front of a very bad place. Is it a dungeon?

RUTGER: Geebo says no.

MIDIAN: Geebo?

RUTGER: My minion. He carries stuff for me. He's also really fragile, so he can't fight.

MIDIAN: You start out with a hoard AND a minion.

RUTGER: And player troubles. Hmmm... could you maybe check something for me?

An idea had just struck him, and he thought it might be worth following up.

MIDIAN: Maybe. What?

RUTGER: I'm having trouble with four players. They're griefing one of my friends, and they're making it harder to level my adventuring job. You've got contact with some of our old guildies and you're in a position to ask questions without risking yourself. Do you think you could do some digging on them? He listed their names, and gave her a brief rundown of what they'd been doing.

MIDIAN: Hmm... I'm nowhere near a frozen wasteland. This is a really big world. But I can start things rolling, and see what we can find.

RUTGER: Thank you. He yawned. Wow, he was tired. Can we talk later? I really need to get some sleep.

MIDIAN: Sure, no problem. Goodnight Rutger.

RUTGER: Goodnight, and thanks again.

Rich smiled at Geebo, who was still holding the mirror up. “It's good, you can put that away. I'm going to get some sleep now.”

He curled himself up... but before he closed his eyes, he stared at the gate one last time. “The gates of hell.”

“Sorry, what was that Master?”

“Nothing. I knew this was a bad place, but it's a bad place we need to get through. The only way out is through,” Rich decided. Wow, his eyelids were heavy. “And we'll do that in the morning...”

And with that, Rich triggered the logout. He was asleep before the countdown reached zero.

RUTGER'S CHARACTER SHEET

Spoiler: Spoiler

Name: Rutger Royal

Age: 18 Hours

Jobs:

Cultist 1, High Dragon Hatchling 3

Attributes Pools Defenses

Strength: 130 Constitution: 127 Hit Points: 257 Armor: 60

Intelligence: 37 Wisdom: 34 Sanity: 71 Mental Fortitude: 60

Dexterity: 13 Agility: 31 Stamina: 44 Endurance: 0

Charisma: 33 Willpower: 126 Moxie: 159 Cool: 60

Perception: 126 Luck: 32 Fortune: 158 Fate: 3

General Skills

Brawling – Level 11

Dodge – Level 4

Fly – Level 9

Ride – Level 1

Stealth – Level 2

Swim – Level 1

High Dragon Hatchling Skills

Burninate – Level 6

Chomp – Level 4

Draconic Tongue – Level N/A

Dragonseye – Level 14

Limited Equipment – Level N/A

No Thumbs – Level N/A

Scaly Wings – Level N/A

Slow to Age – Level N/A

Cultist Skills

Unlocked Jobs

Conjuror