Maya found herself once more back in the main plaza of the starting zone. Townspeople went about their business, some running shops, some carrying laundry, one sweeping her front step. A few glanced up at her when she appeared, and as before most seemed oddly afraid and quickly vacated her immediate vicinity. She thought she even heard someone whisper 'Trickster!' in a terrified tone.

She glanced down at the items in her hands, then shrugged and slipped on the flimsy, garish mask.

Select an available class: Mage. Ranger. Life mage. Nature warden. Trickster.

Maya selected mage. The mask vanished. She still knew it was present, though it no longer obstructed the sides of her vision. She couldn't even feel it's minuscule weight against her beak, but she could sense its presence.

The people who'd been fleeing halted, glanced back at her, and resumed their business as though completely unconcerned. NPC reactions must be based on the present, not the past. Well, she would take it.

With her apparently terrifying class of misfortune out of the way, she directed her attention to the area in which she found herself.

Market stalls surrounded the plaza, and behind them were established shop fronts and apartment buildings. The architectural style wasn't exactly modern, but Maya thought it would fit better in a rural small town than in a fantasy world. The textures were semi-medieval, but the structure shape and size more closely resembled any historic downtown shopping district.

Maya approached the nearest townsperson, a middle-aged woman at a vegetable stand. She seemed so inattentive of her goods that Maya couldn't help but wonder if this was intended as a low-level quest area for thieves. The woman looked up brightly as she approached and gave Maya her complete attention.

"Good day! How may I help you? Would you like to buy some wonderful fresh produce this afternoon?"

Maya put on a friendly smile. "Hello to you as well, madam. I am new to these parts and looking for the mage trainer. I … trust there is one, right?"

The woman's cheerful disposition had slipped the moment Maya said the word mage. Her hopes of it being that easy were quickly dropping.

"Well . . . old Harold over there knows a lot about magic, but with the shortages lately I'm not sure if he can be much use to you. What you have there won't be enough for him to show you anything."

She gestured to Maya's leggings, and she glanced down to where she'd wiped the magic from her arms so long ago back in the tutorial. It still clung there, like water droplets that refused to evaporate.

Maya absently brushed a few drops of magic onto her fingertips and stared at them. She still couldn’t decide if they looked more like water or glass.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and smiled at the shopkeeper. "I'll worry about that when I get to it. Which way is this Harold fellow?"

"His shop's right over there. The one with the rusty old staff hanging out front that says 'Harold's'. Can't miss it."

"Thank you."

“You sure you don't want any fresh vegetables?"

"I don't have any money. But thank you."

Then Maya frowned. She didn't have any money. Didn’t most games usually start you off with something at least? Maybe it was her -5 luck. Or maybe tricksters were meant to be thieves. Or perhaps no one got starting gold. Shouldn't the tutorial have mentioned something about this?

She turned back to the produce women. "Any chance you have any work I could do to earn some money? Or, barring that, earn some of your delicious-looking produce?"

Though Maya didn't really need vegetables, the woman's face brightened so much when she asked that she couldn't regret her offer.

"Of course! I actually have a delivery that's overdue. My runner boy went back to the farm to pick up a new crate of apples," she gestured at a nearly empty basket beside her, containing only three apples while most of the other fruits were fully stocked. "If you could run along and make sure he hasn't gotten distracted or eaten by wolves, that would be just lovely. I can't pay you much, but I can give you a few copper. And some apples, of course."

"Sounds good to me."

New mission: find the apple delivery boy. Ensure his safety and the successful delivery of apples to the shopkeeper.

Note: this is a public mission and will disappear once completed.

Maya glanced around at the marketplace, but didn't see a single other player. Apparently a handful of apples and a couple copper weren't enough to tempt the players currently engaged in battle for the political and economic control of the city.

If she was the first new player to join in months, then it made sense that the newbie area would be populated only by NPCs. Any other players would've already moved on by now.

She turned to go, but then realized she didn't actually know which direction this farm was in. She didn't seem to have a mini map either. Nor were there floating arrows directing her towards the quests completion area.

Maya turned back around. "And which way is your farm from here?"

"Oh silly me, I forgot. Here." The woman reached under her table and pulled out a brochure. The back side of it contained a cartoon style map of the city, including the farms around it, and had 'Shary's Apple Farm' written over a smiling structure in large red letters. She pointed at the farm, then drew a line down the road towards the town, through several sidestreets, and to the plaza where her stand was marked with another smiling face.

"We also sell direct if you're ever in need of a lot of apples," she said, smiling, then handed the map to Maya. "No need to worry about getting it back to me. I've got plenty."

"Again, thank you. I'll see what I can find out."

Following the map, Maya hadn't traversed more than half of the distance to the city wall before finding what had become of the delivery. A small cart lay overturned by the side of the road, the crate broken open and apples spilled everywhere. A young elf boy wearing a white apron and cap frantically gathered up the fallen fruit, while several larger boys nearby seemed equally intent on snatching as many apples for themselves as possible.

Maya strode forward, hands on her hips. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Free apples, hey?" One of the taller boys, a lizardine, tossed one to her with a wink. "Nothing to fuss about here, feathers, eh?"

"As it so happens, I've been sent to collect these apples for their owner. You know, the one who put in the effort and actually has a right to them? If you ask me, you lot are just thieves. Petty, pathetic thieves, at that."

If she'd expected her rebuke to shame the boys into leaving, she was doomed to disappointment. The one who'd tossed her the apple simply laughed and took a bite out of the one he still held, gathering up more with his free hand. The others ignored her and continued stuffing their packs, laughing and holding them out of reach anytime the smaller elf boy tried to snatch them away.

The aproned elf feebly protested, but couldn’t force the others to listen. And they didn't seem inclined to act out of decency or kindness. Quest villains, what can you expect.

"Hey!" Maya shouted. "Give the apples back! They aren't yours and you've no right to take them."

The lizardine looked up. He tossed the apple in his hand, but this time instead of tossing it to her, he threw it at her with enough force that, though she belatedly tried to dodge, it smacked her hard in the shoulder and dropped her health by two.

Well. Two could play that game. She reached down and picked up the apple which had bounced off her, tossed it twice to weigh it in her hand, then flung it at the offending boy with all the strength and accuracy she'd spent so long training.

It wasn't an ability, but she'd practiced throwing things enough over the past few days of work that it didn't matter. The apple smacked him square in the face, knocking the grin off his face. The other three thieves looked up angrily.

"It's rude to throw apples at strangers!" Maya shouted.

The atmosphere shifted even as she was speaking. There was no official notification, no slowing of the world into a combat mode, but she felt the difference at once. They meant to beat her into submission and it suddenly felt like a very bad idea to have provoked four enemies.

She had no weapons and her only spell was Wind Whisper, but this was an entry level quest. It should be possible. Maya found that harder to convince herself of than usual.

Another apple hit her, dropping her health another point. The felinis boy wasn't as good at throwing as the lizardine, it seemed.

“Leave xir alone!” An unexpected voice, high and terrified. Maya’s spirit lifted as the little elf boy ran over to stand in front of her. It was touching. Probably a useless gesture, but 2 to 1 felt like much better odds than 4 to 1.

Maya took a step to stand beside him, scooping up the newest apple thrown at her as she did so. It was a paltry weapon, but the only thing she had to hand. Why, why didn’t the tutorial give items in addition to abilities? Shouldn’t she at least have a starting weapon?

There was no time to ponder the question. Apples flew at her as the thieves opened fire. She dodged two. The others hit her. She hurled her own apple at the lizardine boy, then ducked underneath yet another volley. To her shock, it worked. All four of her attackers missed. Maybe this wouldn’t be as one-sided as it had at first appeared.

Then the elf boy threw himself at the thieves, punching the human in a flurry of blows that knocked the larger boy off balance.

Maya seized the opportunity provided by the distraction and started casting Wind Whisper. Her attacks drew their attention back to her before they could gang up on the elf boy, but Wind Whisper took longer than throwing apples, and she couldn't dodge while casting. She was hit by two more volleys of apples, dropping her health to 75. She was beginning to feel a bit vulnerable. They were doing more damage to her than she could do in return, and she had no idea how much health they might have.

She fired her one Wind Whisper, but didn't start charging another. Instead she gathered up an armful of apples to throw back at them. At least she had decent aim. The tutorial hadn't been completely useless.

But it was a thin consolation. She was still outnumbered. And anytime she failed to maintain complete attention on dodging, the apples kept hitting her.

The human thief recovered from the surprise of being attacked physically and promptly wrestled the elf boy to the ground, holding him down so he couldn’t come to Maya's aid.

She began feeling hopeless again, clearly outmatched. Her health kept dropping under the relentless barrage of fruits. Slowly, one or two at a time, but steadily. 60. 55. She retaliated in kind, but wished the enemies had health bars or some indication of whether she was doing any damage.

She couldn't keep up. Attrition wouldn’t play out in her favour. There were just too many of them and she was already closing in on half health.

She needed to change the balance of the fight. Somehow.

Taking a deep breath, she blew into her hands, overcharging the spell with half of her energy pool. The buildup felt interminable, seconds passing so much slower than they should have as her opponents continued pelting her with fruit and her health steadily trickled downward. Then, finally, the spell was ready.

She pushed her hands, and the gathered energy, forcefully at the boy holding down the elf. Her Wind Whisper blasted across the street and hit its intended target, sending everything in its path flying.

Even a beginner spell could pack a serious punch with that much overcharge. The boy was small, and the sudden powerful gust of wind threw him off of his prisoner and several feet away, knocking him over in the process. In fact, it seemed to have knocked him out completely. He didn't move.

The elf boy jumped up and looked around, as though ready to take on another opponent.

Maya shook her head in frustration. “No, come here! Quick!”

The boy hesitated, turning to look at Maya questioningly. Two more apples battered into Maya, dropping her health by another two.

If she died because of a group of children pelting her with apples, that would be the stupidest death she’d ever heard of. She had no patience for this.

“Get over here now!”

This time, the boy jumped to obey.

Maya grabbed his hand as soon as he was in reach, and fled. She found the nearest alley between buildings and ducked inside, panting until her nearly empty stamina recovered somewhat.

“We can’t let them just take the apples!” protested the boy, tugging to pull away.

“Shh, wait. We’ll get them back, but first we need a plan. Otherwise, we’re both dead.”

The boy paled, and stopped trying to escape. “They’re not usually this aggressive,” he whispered. “Normally when an adult comes along they run.”

Maya sighed. Thanks, -5 luck, way to ruin a perfectly simple quest with unnecessary combat. “They really don’t like me I guess. But that’s beside the point. What are your stats?”

“7 Strength, 6 Agility, 5 Momentum, 6 Control, 8 Attumenent, 8 Intelligence, 9 Focus, 8 Flexibility,” the boy answered without pause.

“Wrong question. Do you have any abilities?”

“One. Drain Will. But I don’t know if it’s any use.”

Maya could have laughed if the circumstances hadn’t been so tense. “Perfect. If they normally flee, then it should be enough. I’m going to charge at them, and you use your ability. Can you use it on all of them?”

“I’ll try.”

“Then here we go.”

Maya had two apples left. She charged out and threw them at the thieves, who’d resumed stuffing fruit into their sacks. The tense awareness of being outnumbered returned, the feeling of being in a fight, and Maya struggled to remain focused.

“Now, do it!”

She sensed the moment the elf boy came out to join her, a lessening of the oppressive atmosphere, and she raised her hands, ready to overcharge another Wind Whisper.

"You saw what I did with a single spell," she shouted, gesturing at the fallen human. "I'll let you go this once if you run now and don't come back."

There was only a moment's hesitation, then the would-be thieves fled, leaving their unconscious companion behind.

Maya lowered her hands slowly, waiting for fate to turn against her again. But this time, at least for the moment, it seemed she’d managed to escape misfortune.

She let out a long breath, finally turning back to the elven boy.

He stood staring at the wreckage, apples crushed and splattered off the walls. "Shary's gonna kill me."

Maya started collecting any of the fruits that had survived the battle and stacking them off to the side. Now that she was no longer using them as weapons, she winced to see how many had been destroyed in the fight.

"Don't worry, I'll explain it to her. It's not your fault."

"I still can't believe they attacked you."

“I’m just very unlucky. Come on, let's get these apples gathered up and get them back to Shary before anything else happens. Thank you for helping. I couldn’t have won by myself."

They collected all that was salvageable, which amounted to well over half the fruit. Between the two of them they managed to heave the wagon back upright.

Maya's health recovered slowly, not nearly as quickly as the stamina, energy, and will she'd expended which all returned within minutes. She was more glad than ever that she'd taken the health-focused specialization. She probably wouldn’t have survived this fight without it. She may come to regret the hasty decision at higher levels, but right now it was proving invaluable.

Together she and the boy pushed the cart the rest of the way. One of the wheels had cracked and it made for a bumpy trip, during which Maya had to regularly expend her stamina fully to keep the wagon from tipping over again. But they reached the market stall without further incident.

She wasn't exactly hungry, but by the time they arrived she definitely wanted nothing more than to bite into one of the apples she'd gone to such effort to retrieve.

"Thank you!" Shary called as they wheeled the cart up beside her. "I see it didn't all survive the trip unscathed, but I'm sure anything that would have delayed my valiant young hero here must have been a pretty dangerous accident to the health of the apples." She ruffled the boy’s hair.

"It wasn't an accident!” he declared vehemently. “It was an ambush! That rotten thieving gang is at it again. Knocked me over and pushed the cart right off the road! I couldn't stop them. I needed Maya's help with that. But together we drove them off!"

"I hear too much about these gangs these days," grumbled Shary. "Whatever happened to common decency? Used to be as ruffians would've been run out of town by now, but the Guard hardly comes around these parts any longer. Must be something important happening in the rest of the city."

Thanks to the economics tutorial section, Maya knew that the Guard was probably busy trying to maintain some balance between the government and the two player factions trying to take over. But she couldn't think of a reassuring way to say ‘your city is in the middle of a power struggle between the two most powerful players in the game and no one has time for you’ so she remained silent.

After exchanging pleasantries with the Shary, she accepted her reward of five copper and three apples and set off down the street to find Harold the mage.

She stored two of the apples in her inventory, munching on the third as she walked. It was delicious.

Character Maya Starborn Average Androgynous Harpy Level: 2 Affinities: Magical Physical Tier: 1 Class: Trickster Specialization: Path of Life Total Base Items Modifiers Sturdiness: 8 8 0 0 Momentum: 12 9 0 3 Agility: 9 8 0 1 Control: 8 8 0 0 Attunement: 10 9 0 1 Focus: 9 8 0 1 Intelligence: 11 9 0 2 Flexibility: 9 8 0 1 Luck: -5 0 - -5 Unassigned: 0 Health: 55 of 88 Will: 18 of 18 Stamina: 56 of 56 Energy: 56 of 60 Speed: 82% Switch penalty: -52%, 10.2 secs Stealth: 78% Chain bonus: +4% Awareness: 66% Cooldown: 95.5% Max abilities: 3 Abilities Abilities: [3 of 3] Wind Whisper

[5 energy] Blow into cupped hands, then push the air toward the target.

Creates a light breeze, a quick gust, or a damaging slash.

[Overcharge: +5 energy, +0.2 sec cast time, +50% force/duration/dmg] 2.2 sec

5 dmg

(wind) Throw Knife

[5 stamina] Throw a knife at a target with high accuracy. Requires a knife. 1.1 sec

n/a dmg

(physical) Sense Balance Discern if an area is lacking in or has an excess of any materials, creatures, etc. Inventory Item Name Slot Stu Mom Agi Con Att Foc Int Flx Newcomer's Tunic Body Newcomer's Leggings Legs Trickster's Mask (Mage) Special Money: 5 Copper Quality Item name Details Soulbound Trickster's Dice Soulbound Trickster's Orb 4/5 uses remaining Flimsy Shary's Orchard Brochure Normal Apple x2 Consumable Missions Mission Description

Time Reward Trickster Day 1 Side with a person who is losing an argument or disagreement. 14h 12m Trickster's Reward

??? Missing Delivery Find the overdue delivery boy. Ensure his safety and the successful delivery of apples to Shary's Produce Stand. DONE 5 copper

3 apples

+10 reputation with Shary and Elaph