Jessa the Bandit Queen sat at the far end of the crypt, perched atop an ornately carved stone tomb tall enough that her feet dangled well above the dusty floor.

Maya saw the glassy-liquid glint of magic at the bandit’s fingertips, trailing away up her bared arms. She wondered if there were any way to steal it, or if it was just so Jessa could use some high-power magical attacks during the inevitable boss fight.

Sevard strode confidently forward and took a stand, legs apart, arms crossed, barely two meters away from the waiting thief. Maya stayed as close to the entrance as possible, trying to be inconspicuous.

“You’re not one of my boys,” Jessa said, sweeping her shoulder-length brown hair back from her face and leaning forward to frown down at Sevard. She wore a thin circlet of tarnished silver, but that was the only distinction between herself and her rough leather-clad underlings.

“Your ‘boys’ were garbage, barely worth the time it took to cut through them,” Sevard answered. “If you’re anything like them, you won’t be any challenge to me.”

“You’ve been here before, haven’t you? Far too often. Every time I think we’re going to crack this thing,” she tapped on the ornately-carved stone upon which she sat, “you come and ruin everything.”

“It’s not what you think,” Sevard said. “There’s no treasure in it. You’ve already got everything worth stealing from this place.”

“And I should take your word for it?”

Sevard shrugged. “I’ve opened it multiple times. How many have you managed?”

Jessa narrowed her eyes at him. “But I see you’re not alone today,” she said, her gaze flicking up to Maya.

Maya tried to back away through the door, but since they were in a conversation cutscene she couldn’t leave.

"She's of no consequence to you and I," Sevard said smoothly. “I know you have more to offer than just your life and your meager possessions. What will it take for you to show me?”

Jessa’s face lit up in a wicked smile. “Ordinarily, I’d rather fight you to the death than show you even a hint of my secrets. But today, I’m feeling strangely generous. I’ll give you one chance to prove yourself. Tell me. What could you offer me?”

“The secrets you seek may not be treasure you could sell, but there is great value in what lies beneath that door. Which you clearly cannot open without me.”

“A door, you say? Not a repository of ancient valuables?”

“Yes. I know traps. I know secrets. I can break into anywhere, make off with anything. It sounds to me like I'd be vastly more valuable to your cause than a dozen of those worthless thugs.”

Maya heard excitement in Sevard’s voice. She wondered if that meant he hadn’t gotten this far before, or if he was just acting it up for the bandit queen’s benefit.

Jessa laughed. “You, who kill me and my boys regularly, would offer me your alliance? Forgive me if I do not immediately trust one whose self-proclaimed traits are sneaking into anywhere and making off with anything. It almost sounds as though you seek to exploit me. And that, I have no tolerance for."

"Perhaps I would be better served on my own then?" Sevard’s hands snapped out to his sides, suddenly holding black curved daggers, matched but unequal in length. His tone remained light, but there was no mistaking the threat in his posture.

The bandit queen smiled. “Kill your companion, and perhaps we will talk.”

Maya froze.

Sevard didn’t move.

The bandit queen’s smile widened.

Maya sighed and stepped forward. “Go ahead. I should have known there was too little misfortune going on for it to last.”

Sevard turned to her, his face unreadable. “I’ll meet you back at the mission board after.”

But he hesitated.

The bandit queen leaned forward, her voice teasing and cold in equal measure. “Go on, quickly before I lose patience.”

“I didn’t know this would happen,” Sevard said, still not moving to attack.

“I know,” Maya said. “It’s just my luck. Go ahead.”

He took a single slow step forward, then his uncertainty vanished. He stepped into the shadows and disappeared entirely. Maya glanced around for him. The vault seemed empty but for herself and the smiling bandit queen.

Then something struck her in the chest, three simultaneous brief flashes of muted pain.

-52 health.

She glanced down.

Sevard’s perfect triangle of knives, right through where her heart would be if she were human and not a construct in a game.

Maya found herself laughing, though there was no reason to.

Jessa watched silently, grinning with obvious enjoyment.

Something impacted Maya from behind, a brief flash of coldness across her neck.

-42 health.

She was surprised she wasn’t dead yet, but turned to look around in case she could spot Sevard anyway.

She didn’t see him anywhere. The shadows seemed to warp and twist all around the room, making it impossible to tell where he might be.

-33 health.

She hadn’t even felt that one, but she wobbled unsteadily and fell to the ground.

Oh, it had hit her leg. Huh.

Maya was still laughing helplessly, resigned laughter with no joy in it, but she couldn’t stop.

One last attack sliced off her final few health; the world around her faded to emptiness.

She hadn’t caught sight of Sevard even once after his decision to attack her. So that was what a high-level rogue could do.

You have been killed by another player.

Item(s) lost: Rogue’s Jacket, Gloves of Control, Newcomer Leggings, Bracelet of Control, Survivor’s Bracelet, Bronze Dagger, Acrobat’s Ring, Dancer’s Ring, Greater Ring of Focus, Athlete’s Talisman, Rogue’s Belt, Newcomer’s Tunic, Apple, Throwing Knife x503, Circlet of Flexibility, Ring of Intelligence, Earring of Deceit, Boots of Fluidity, Deceitful Sickle, Crimson Flame Helm, Boots of Strength, Peach, Pear, Mango x3, Minor Chestpiece of the Dancer, Shirt of Meditation

Item(s) destroyed: Shary’s Orchard Map

Currency lost: 46 gold, 2 silver, 6 copper

Character Maya Starborn has been locked for two minutes. You can wait out the duration or log into a different character.

Maya stared dumbly at the notification while she waited out the respawn timer. She hadn’t even thought about that. She’d had so little to lose until recently, she hadn’t even considered what she risked before volunteering her life.

She tried to remember if there were any other items she owned that weren’t on the list, but it looked like she’d lost everything. Except her class items and the Diviner’s Orb, which thankfully hadn’t been lost or destroyed. Sevard would give it all back, of course, and this would help him with his quest.

But still. It was a sharp reminder that PVP wasn’t safe. She had to stop acting without thinking through all the potential consequences, not just the ones that seemed obvious at the time.

At least she’d stored all her magic back at the mage academy rather than carry it with her everywhere. She would not be repeating that particular mistake.

When she respawned, she found that things were not quite so bad as she’d imagined, though very nearly.

She’d kept the new cape Sevard had given her, and the stack of monkey pelts.

She laughed weakly, hoping Sevard wouldn’t be gone too long. If she’d imagined she could go to meet him, there was no chance of that without any weapons. She’d be slaughtered by the first monkey she met.

And, speaking of slaughtered - she brought up her PVP toggle and flipped it firmly back to PvE. She was not going to forget that again.

She went to ask the nearby shopkeepers if they had any use for the monkey pelts, but none would give her as much as a copper for the lot. One offered, with clear distaste, to dispose of them for her for a fee of 13 copper. She thanked him and refused.

She spent a few minutes looking over the stock of the general store again, lingering briefly over the cosmetic supplies, but that didn’t occupy her for long. Her sense of vacation had ended along with the loss of all her possessions, the vague worry that she was overlooking something even more potentially disastrous nagged at her.

She tried to focus on looking over the exotic woods, leather, and bone fragments available for purchase which she knew had to be related to the crafting system. About which she knew almost nothing. It obviously existed; Dalra was proof of that. But what could it do? How did it work?

She paced the worn stone tiles in front of the leaderboard, watching the quest Jessa the Bandit Queen for any change, checking Sevard’s name to see if he’d leveled from 39 to 40.

Nothing changed.

She cycled through the NPCs again, ignoring their scowls and glowers, checked over their items for sale. The blacksmith was especially interesting, having ‘Heavy’ throwing knives in addition to the standard ones that Maya currently used. He was out of stock at the moment, of course, and wouldn’t be making more until the morning at the soonest, and she could expect to pay a silver each for them if she was willing to buy in bulk.

She opened her journal and wrote down his stock and its prices, along with a note to check back once she had high luck to compare for a baseline of normal prices.

She checked her to-do list and added a line for practicing knife-throwing, one for revisiting the tutorial, and highlighted the line for visiting the Travelers’ Hall. If there were anywhere to get more tutorial-ish information about the game, that was her best lead so far.

She wrote her closest guess for what she remembered about Standalone and his dragon, which she really should confirm and get more exact details on sometime. She added that to her to-do list.

She paced, and the sun rose, and she missed her noob pants and chestpiece of the dancer. At least the Cape of Deceit was long and flowing, so she could drape it over her front and pretend it was something like a toga. As the only item of equipment she had left to her name, she had to make do.

No magic. No weapons. No clothing.

Where was Sevard? It had taken the two of them a while to trek out to the ruined crypt, but surely she’d been waiting long enough for him to finish with the boss and return.

The leypillar flickered with occasional bursts of electricity. Maya stared at it and considered leaving, returning to the mage academy. It was daylight now. There might be someone else logged in. Desi would be around, at least, as a fellow permanent.

What was taking Sevard so long?

Suspicion began to coalesce, small actions adding up to a questionable tableau.

She’d told him, with hardly a thought, about her loot from the Crimson Flame dungeon. He’d traded for some of it, then immediately begun leading her around from place to place. Always offering her more, helping her, guiding her.

Luring her?

Promising custom items from Dalra, an old friend who answered the door in response to a passphrase about whispers in shadows or something suspicious like that.

He was an acclaimed rogue, skilled in stealth, an expert backstabber.

And then, he’d brought her here. To a zone so high level that she’d been hard pressed to survive a minute without him. Leave her alone long enough to establish her dependence, then keep her close. Into the bandit’s lair, once; but she’d died before they reached the end thanks to the snake’s poison.

Then, when they returned to town, the quest was ‘back’ right away. No respawn time.

It could be that he’d gotten incredibly lucky. But wasn’t it more likely that he hadn’t actually finished it at all the first time? Had he always planned to lead her into an out-of-the-way place and PK her?

Or, more likely, did he know what the bandit queen’s hidden quest would demand of him? Kill two monkeys with one knife? Gain the Bandit Queen’s favor, and take Maya’s dungeon raid loot in the process.

Was it even hidden? She had only his word for it. For all she knew, turn-on-your-allies could always be an option.

Maya’s fists clenched at her sides, her beak set in sharp disapproval, her shoulder feathers bristling with indignation.

Was she really that naive? That one offer of kindness would be enough to take her for everything she had?

“Maya! Over here!”

She whirled, startled out of her increasingly self-reproachful thoughts.

Sevard waved, grinning as he jogged up the wide steps to the plaza. “Guess what!”

She let out her tense breath in a surprised huff, but couldn’t do anything about the scowl on her face as she spun to face him.

“What?” she asked, her voice sharp.

“First, here’s your stuff back,” he said, proffering a large pile of items. “And I don’t remember exactly how much money you had, but I’ve just given you half of what I ended up with. Let me know if that’s not enough. But second, guess!”

He was grinning like an eager child. His eyes glinted amber in the morning sunlight.

“I don’t know, you finished the quest?” Maya accepted the items, glancing through the list to see if anything was missing. It was hard to be sure, she hadn’t memorized her inventory, but everything she remembered was there. As well as 31 more monkey pelts, and. . . 129 gold? And this was only half?!

“Of course, but that’s not it. Guess!” Sevard’s voice interpreted her.

“You made a lot of gold,” Maya said, whistling softly.

She immediately felt terrible. She’d been standing here, doubting Sevard’s intentions, imagining him in the worst possible light.

What was wrong with her? Maybe she’d been spending too much time around the Trickster. She’d jumped to conclusions so readily, so quick to distrust her ally just over a few hours’ delay. She couldn’t let herself be so easily led astray by paranoia. People were nice here. 9352 was a good, friendly world.

“That too, but try again.” Sevard’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts again.

Maya cast about for anything to say. “You found an awesome spell tome?”

“Ooh, so close, but so very very far away.”

Maya began to re-equip her items. Her stiff anger-feathers were starting to relax now. “You should take most of this gold back, I think I only lost about fifty.”

"It's fine. Keep guessing."

"You don't want any of it?"

“Of course, I always want more gold. But you’re my lucky charm, so keep it. You’re definitely worth all that and more. I wouldn’t have made a fraction of it without you along.”

“Really?” In that case, they’d earned far more gold than what he’d estimated earlier. If this kept up, she might be able to afford his help after all.

Sevard waved a hand impatiently. “Honest. Now, go on, keep guessing, you were getting close.”

Maya sighed, then thought back to the scene before she’d been killed. “You convinced the bandit lady of something? Unlocked that hidden questline, and that’s why you took so long getting here?”

“Yes! Look at this!” He held out a scroll. Maya accepted and examined it.

Writ of Midnight.

You cannot change your class from Trickster to Shadow.

Do you want to change your specialization from Path of Life to Nightwalker?

“Wow, that’s pretty cool,” Maya said, handing the scroll back. “A hidden class-change object? Imagine that.”

“I know! I’ll have to save and do some research before doing anything so drastic, but this could be perfect for me! I’ve never had such a good day. I’m not sure I’ll ever go solo questing again without hiring you to come with me.”

Maya shook her head. “I’m not lucky, really. The more things go well, the more nervous it makes me. Something is going to go terribly, terribly wrong, and if you stick around with me it’s going to hurt you too. I wouldn’t want that. Even if I do really really want your help.”

Sevard grinned. “I’m willing to accept the risk. If it’s more ‘terrible’ things like rare monsters spawning to attack you or impossible secret quests suddenly having solutions, I’m down for more of your bad luck.”

Maya shrugged and smiled. Sevard’s good mood was infectious. “Alright, if you’re sure. Now, before we go anywhere else though, I still need to kill something here. My quest still hasn’t completed, because you’ve been the one finishing off everything we meet.”

“Alright, I’ll catch a monkey for you to slaughter. Easy.”

He disappeared before she could respond, a faint rustle of branches the only indication of his passage.

Maya finished equipping herself and checked over her inventory again while she waited for him to return.

In addition to her own items, Sevard had given her a few other miscellaneous things. Various normal quality swords, all several levels too high for her to equip; some leather armor of similar level, probably dropped by the bandits; a glinting {Rare} Tiara of Vision which increased Attunement and Focus by a significant amount.

She started to wonder if he’d been paying any attention at all to the items he gained by killing her, or if he’d just assumed anything he didn’t recognize in his inventory must be hers. In which case, she probably had the bulk of the tomb’s loot now as well as her own. She should offer it back to him when he returned, though she strongly suspected he’d wave it off and say for her to keep it.

Which made her feel even more guilty for her lapse in trust. She’d been so sure, so convinced this was a scam. But now she had to laugh at herself.

Why would someone close to level 40 go to so much trouble to steal level 30 dungeon loot anyway? That was just her ego, trying to make everything about her. What did that say about her as a person, that she jumped to such unkind conclusions so easily? Just because he kept her waiting a few hours longer than they’d anticipated?

Would she really rather believe that she was the focus of some convoluted conspiracy to swindle her, than just accept that even on a day of bad luck someone could be nice to her?

Character Maya Starborn Average Androgynous Harpy Level: 8 Affinities: Magical Physical Tier: 1 Class: Trickster Specialization: Path of Life Base Equipment Modifiers Total Strength: 8 2 0 10 Momentum: 11 2 3 16 Agility: 8 19 1 28 Control: 8 32 0 40 Attunement: 17 0 1 18 Focus: 8 22 1 31 Intelligence: 15 3 2 20 Flexibility: 8 1 1 10 Luck: -25 - -45 -70 Unassigned: 2 Health: 186 of 186 Will: 62 of 62 Stamina: 164 of 164 Energy: 126 of 126 Speed: 2.16 Switch penalty: -20%, 7 secs Stealth: 1.1 Chain bonus: +5% Awareness: 0.9 Cooldown: 95% Max abilities: 4 Abilities Abilities: [5 of 4] 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] 1.9 sec

5 dmg

(wind) Throw Knife

[5 stamina] Throw a knife at a target with high accuracy. Requires a knife. 0.8 sec

3 dmg

(physical) Windborne Blade

[45 energy, 5 stamina] Cast Wind Whisper in a loop up and behind, aligning with throwing arm.

Throw knife straight at target with wind as augment. 4.3 sec

33 dmg

{physical} Spark

[5 energy] Draw magic into palm and snap fingers to ignite into a spark of fire.

Can be used as a light or thrown at a target. 1.1 sec

3 dmg

(fire) Sense Balance Discern if an area is lacking in or has an excess of any materials, creatures, etc. Perks: Quick Strike Decrease one ability’s activation time by 30%.

Lasts 3.5 minutes.

1-hour cooldown. Inventory Item Name Slot Str Mom Agi Con Att Foc Int Flx Rogue's Jacket Body 3 2 1 Ordinary Gloves of Control Hands 14 Minor Waistwrap of the Dancer Legs 1 1 Footwraps of the Acrobat Feet 2 Lesser Bracelet of Control Arm 1 4 Survivor's Bracelet Arm 2 1 1 1 Bronze Dagger Held 1 2 1 2 Acrobat's Ring Ring 1 2 1 1 Dancer's Ring Ring 2 1 1 Greater Ring of Focus Ring 3 16 Cape of Deceit Shoulders 1 1 1 1 Athlete's Talisman Misc 1 7 7 Rogue's Belt Misc 2 2 2 1 Trickster's Mask (Mage) Special Money: 153 Gold, 0 Silver, 1 Copper Quality Item name Details Flimsy Newcomer Tunic Flimsy Newcomer Leggings Soulbound Trickster's Dice Soulbound Trickster's Orb 2/5 uses remaining Normal Apple x2 Rare Diviner's Orb 1/3 uses remaining Normal Throwing Knife x509 3 damage (physical) Special Key - Arrival Plaza Apartment Expires in 26 days Special Key - Room 6, Sapphire Hall Special Arena Equipment Token Registered to Maya Starborn Uncommon Juggernaut’s Collar Level 29, +12 mom, +11 str Uncommon Boots of Fluidity Level 29, +6 mom, +6 con, +6 flx, +5 foc Rare Crimson Flame Charm Level 30, +12 att, +12 foc, +6 int Legendary Ring of Concentration Level 29, +24 Int, +12 Con Legendary Necklace of Acuity Level 29, +18 Flx, +18 Foc Legendary Circlet of Acuity Level 29, +18 Flx, +18 Foc Normal Peach Normal Pear Normal Mango x3 Rare Shirt of Meditation Level 15, +8 flx, +7 att Uncommon Minor Chestpiece of the Dancer Level 4, +1 mom, +1 con Normal Monkey Pelt x70 Uncommon Crimson Coil Scales x5 Normal Short Sword x3 Level 19, +7 Flx, +6 Mom, 1 damage (physical) Uncommon Broadsword x4 Level 22, +6 Foc, +5 Mom, +5 Str, 3 damage (physical) Rare Longsword Level 20, +5 Att, +5 Int, +5 Str, +5 Flx, 2 damage (physical) Rare Tiara of Vision Normal Leather Armor of Agility Level 19, +13 Agi Normal Leather Leggings Level 19, +3 Int, +3 Flx, +3 Foc, +1 Agi, +1 Str, +1 Att, +1 Mom Missions Mission Description

Time Reward Trickster Day 5 Visit a higher-level zone and defeat an enemy more powerful than yourself. 12h 55m Trickster's Reward

??? A Private Grudge Claim Standalone's house in Conquest and hold it for at least 10 hours. Personal House Trickster Day 4 Claim in Conquest the home of the next player you see.

Once claimed, hold it for 24 hours. 5d 12h 55m Trickster's Reward

??? Arena (Shadow) Spend at least one day every week fighting in the Arena Ongoing Variable Trickster Day 3 Lose a fight to another player in the Arena DONE Ordinary Gloves of Control

+5 reputation with The Trickster Gazebo Construction Construct a new gazebo for Maylon the Poet

[Optional] Also varnish the entire structure once built DONE 3 silver 50 copper

+5 reputation with Maylon the Poet Trickster Day 2 Lose a fight to another player in PVP DONE Lesser Bracelet of Control

+5 reputation with The Trickster Windy Creek reconstruction Locate the missing workers' tools

Construct a new dam by Windy Creek

Help clear the wreckage of the old Windy Creek Dam

Help construct a new bridge over Windy Creek DONE 5 silver, 80 copper

+25 reputation with Windy Creek village Trickster Day 1 Side with a person who is losing an argument or disagreement. FAILED -5 reputation with The Trickster Help Shary the Produce Merchant Find the missing apple 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