“GUYS! YOU AREN’T GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!”

I jump out of my chair, heart pounding as Felix comes racing into the Wizard’s Den, garnering the attention of almost every other bar patron as he does. Resting his weight on the table we’re sitting at with both hands, he’s panting heavily as he tries to speak and catch his breath at the same time.

“Hang on there, Jethro,” Rubble says with a raised brow. “You ain’t speaking clearly.”

Felix arcs his back and takes one long gulp of air and lets it out slowly before beginning again. “Guys. This is crazy. Come on.”

I make eye contact with Rin and Rubble, who both seem as confused and skeptical as I feel. With a shrug, we get up from our seats and follow our eccentric bishop out the saloon doors and on to the streets outside. Felix kicks up the pace; taking off on a jog and leaving us with little choice but to match his speed. He weaves through Birch Castle and leads us to the outer walls. Before we know it, we’re outside the city and running along the dirt road through the country side.

“Where are we going?” Rin asks, exasperated. “Can we just slow down and talk?”

“No time!” Felix yells, craning his neck behind him. “We gotta go fast before reinforcements arrive!”

“Reinforcements?” I ask.

“I’ll explain when we get there. Just run!”

A groan escapes all three of us as we following him. It would help if we just knew why we were running, but I guess that it must be some kind of surprise. At least the mountain and ocean-side scenery is nice and the weather is cool.

As we crest onto the top of a hill, the surprise becomes clear. I was so focused on keeping pace and watching my feet for tripping hazards I hadn’t realized that we were zeroing in on Bandit’s Pinch. Or what’s left of it. Our party pulls to a stop to see the thorpe of a village nestled between the hills is in complete disarray. A column of smoke rises into the sky from the burning tavern, and splintered logs lays scattered all over the roadside.

“Come on,” Felix says with a motion of his arms. “No one is there.”

Luckily for the rest of us, he takes off at a brisk walking pace instead of running again. As we enter the husk of what used to be a wretched hive of scum and villainy, I can’t help but feel somewhat dismayed that I wasn’t the one to smash this place to pieces. Not a single building escaped unscathed from whatever, or whoever, attacked this village.

“What happened here?” I ask, stooping over to examine a busted-up wagon. “How did you find out about this?”

Felix smiles. “Well, I was just about to leave Gormsay to head your way when I heard that there was a high-level assassin in the area. I can’t remember his name, but he apparently came here all the way from Yastren on the other side of Libertas for something. Rumors are saying that he did this. The assassin tried to pass through here but the River Raiders, in their high-and-mighty ways, tried to extort some gold out of him. Obviously, justice was served. I just wish I would have been here to see it.”

With a raised brow, I say, “I find it hard to believe that one dude did all this. When you say high-level, exactly how high do you mean?”

With a shrug, Felix says, “Mid forties, at least. And assassins are any magic-user’s bane. It’s just too bad we aren’t level 20 already so we could step in and lay claim on Bandit’s Pinch since the village is in contested status without any River Raiders here.”

Rubble purses his lips together and blows a raspberry. “Come on, man. I don’t think we want our brand-new guild associated with the shadiness of the River Raiders. Besides, they would probably come try to take it back.”

“Speaking of the River Raiders,” Rin says, “We should keep moving and get to Gormsay. We’ve got a dungeon to run, and I don’t want to eat dirt today.”

With a grin, I materialize the Rose Sabre in my hand and let it glimmer in the sunlight. A surge of pride runs through me as I admire the beautiful blade. “I think we can handle some goons.”

Rin smiles slyly and shakes her head. “Cool it. We’re so close to getting this guild formed we shouldn’t take any big risks.”

I shrug, a smirk of my own on my face. With a flick of my wrist, I stow away my weapon in it’s scabbard and take a quick glance at my statistics while I’m thinking about combat.

Aiden Rockwell

LV. 15 Warrior

HP: 294/294

STRENGTH: 15 (17)

FORTITUDE: 20 (23)

DEXTERITY: 30 (31)

WISDOM: 20

INTELLIGENCE:18

SWAY: 32

(LV. 15) Bronze Celata: +8 ARM

(LV. 15) Bronze Cuirass: +15 ARM +2 STR +2 FORT

(LV. 15) Padded Leather Kecks: +12 ARM, +1 FORT

(LV. 15) Leather Caligae: +6 ARM

(LV. 10) The Rose Sabre (A Class Backsword Sabre)

+20 Damage

Special Feature: Substitutes STR for DEX and doubles class speed.

Magic Action: Extends to 10 feet in length for one attack. 60 second recast.

(LV. 15) Bronze Buckler: +6 ARM, +1 DEX

(LV. 15) Warding Pendant: +10 MR

It took every last scrap of gold I had to re-fit myself with better gear than ever before, but I think it’s going to be worth it. I shouldn’t have to worry about upgrading anything other than my attributes before we conquer a village for ourselves. For a moment, I reminisce on how well things have been going these past few days. There’s still a huge time crunch ahead of us, but we just might narrowly pull this off!

With the Rose Sabre, Sunshine Mines was a cakewalk. While Rin’s fire sprites aren’t nearly as tanky as I was with my fortitude build, we were able to take down the occultists way faster than before with my new damage-focused abilities plunging strikes and imbue weapon. Even the sword’s magic action has really helped me in a few instances, where I can reach across a wide berth between me and an enemy.

With all of my gear plugged into the warrior formula I can hit a maximum damage of 66 without using any abilities, which is perfect for executing orders and taking out the jedi, while my armor, movement speed, and magical resistance is higher than it’s ever been.

“Hey,” Rin says, nudging me with her elbow as we walk. With a cute grin, she holds something out with her hand closed and says, “This is for you.”

I crease my eyebrows in confusion. “What is it?”

She shakes her hand and reiterates, then glances forward at Felix, making me wonder if she doesn’t want him to see us talking. In a quiet tone, she says, “Just take it. I don’t need it and I want you to have it, jerk.”

Without prying into her weirdness, I oblige, taking the object in my hand. It feels heavy, and when her hand moves away I can see that it’s a ring made of some kind of black metal. I focus on it.

Added to your inventory:

(LV. 15) Thief’s Ring: +5 DEX

“How did you get this?” I blurt.

Rin shrugs nonchalantly. “I’ve had it in my inventory for ages. Always thought about selling it, or trying to go through the hassle to unlock the assassin class, but I never got around to it, so you can have it. You need the dexterity anyways.”

The way the sunlight gleams against her violet eyes makes them sparkle. At first, Rin might seem to be a bit of a hard-ass, but it’s moments like these where I can see just how soft and caring she really is that takes my breath away. On the inside, I’m just melted ice cream. “Well, thanks Rin. I mean that.”

“No problem,” she says. “But let’s just hope we don’t need it until we get to Gormsay. The River Raiders are probably on their way to Bandit’s Pinch now, and we don’t want to run into them.”

As we leave the mountain range behind us, the ground begins to even out into a gradual decline. The seaside cliffs fade into a sandy beach as the ocean seems to rise up to meet us. The prairie grass around the road seems to be getting shorter, too, and clusters of trees are speckled more frequently across the countryside.

In another hour, we’re within bow-shot range of a massive wall made from reddish bricks that makes me think of Mars. Gormsay sits at the water’s edge with a harbor that puts Birch Castle’s to shame. The dirt path is riddled with the ruts of frequent wagon travel. NPC guards stalk back and forth atop the high wall, scanning everything down below them, and through the open gate-house a view of thatched roofs, church steeples, and a massive domed-shaped building tells me that this city is entirely unlike Birch Castle.

Rin had told me that Gormsay is a player-conquerable town, but no guild has ever managed to actually take control of it. That makes it a very special place. Massive raids from guilds of other nations like Eastenport have tried to no avail. In the game’s lore, Gormsay was founded as a pirate town, guarded by a particularly nefarious captain who bound his soul to one of his treasures. If that doesn’t sound like a lead for another Artifact weapon, I don’t know what is.

Once we’re through the open city gates, the chatter of thousands of people talking and dogs barking reverberates off the enclosed city walls, stunning me. The smell of fried fish and garlic makes my mouth water. A man at a nearby stall has a small fire and grill going, and I have half a mind to walk over and buy some just to see what it tastes like, but we’ve got things to do.

“Geez,” I say, turning my eyes away the fish stall with hunger in my belly. “This place must be bigger than Birch Castle.”

“It is, brother,” Rubble says as he pats me on the shoulder. “They’ve even got a brothel, believe it or not.” He winks with his good eye.

Pulling away from him, I ask, “a what?” even though I know what he said. I’m just so thrown off, I don’t know what to think. Glancing at Rin, I must be blushing, because they are on the verge of laughing at me as they wait for me to say something. “N-No, thanks.”

Rubble wraps a meaty arm around my head and ruffles my hair. “Just messing with you, kid.”

Rin rolls her eyes at us before turning her attention back to the city before us. We follow Felix through rows and rows of residential blocks, businesses and markets, until coming to a stop in the city’s central plaza. Four massive fountains spray fresh water into the air, casting rainbows across the square underneath the domed building’s majestical shadow. A black iron-wrought fence serves as a barrier, along with the guards that serve as deterrents from crime. With arches and other grand features, I can only assume the domed building serves as a royal palace.

Businesses face the square, too. Bakeries with open windows let out the smell of fresh baked pastries. Blacksmiths’ hammers ring loudly, adding to the chorus of players that stand on boxes and barrels, shouting out invites for others to join their guild. The square is packed with people, both players and non-players, flowing through the city like ocean waves. I just stand in the market square with the others, and just soak it all in.

“So where do we go from here?” I ask. “The big palace?”

Felix points across the center square, to a church with a bell tower. “Nope. We’re going in there. Come on.”

Without wasting any more time, we march up the cobble-stone steps and through the chapel’s dark oak doors. The air inside the chapel smells like paper and smoke. The rows of pews look well worn, with chips and rub marks on the wood. Approaching the dais, the stained-glass windows cast their colors down upon us. Depictions of people are the most common, but just above the lectern an image of a vibrantly glowing yellow orb on an open palm. Immediately, I motion to it. “Looks like the seeing orb you need, Rin.”

She scoffs. “Yeah, good luck getting it, though. It’s pretty hard to get.”

I smile. “We’ll see.”

A man dressed in white robes appears from a doorway on the side of the dais. His skin is a deep tan, but his goatee and the fringes of his balding head are white. His name, Wilford, appears to me as he approaches us with a smile.

“Ah,” Wilford says with a warm voice cracked with age, “Visitors from a place far away, perhaps? I don’t recognize your faces.”

“Yes,” Rubble says as he bows to the priest. In a sophisticated voice he says, “We hail from the northern parts of Anticor, here to seek work for our able hands. We’ve heard disturbing rumors of late. The harbor. Is it true what they say? That undead beasts clamber from the depths of the ocean and prey upon the womenfolk, infirm, and children? A great evil such as that must not—”

Rin scoffs. “Don’t get all roleplay-ey, now.”

Rubble looks at her, offended. “I do say, what scourge burns between your buns to make you so irritable? To make you speak that way to me? Do I not always speak as thus? Does my choice of words not always portray that of a regal king?”

Before Rin has a chance to rebuttal, something triggers in Wilford’s NPC coding. His facial expression changes from a friendly smile to a distraught look of fear. His face turns red, and he begins to sweat. “Yes, I’m afraid what you’ve heard is likely true. A plague of evil undead from beneath the sea’s waves threatens our city. Many fishermen and women of Gormsay have fallen prey to countless attacks at sea over the years, but now the dead are beginning to reach our shores. They skulk through the city’s sewer system, break through the people’s cellars and kill the innocent. People who have been missing for years, presumed dead, have returned to kill the loved ones they’ve left behind. It is horrible, and it is something that this church cannot bear to see happen even once more.”

“But how can we help?” I ask.

The priest raises a finger. “Kill the evil at its source. Gormsay has long been a home to pirate lords and knights alike. Our city is prosperous, and many have tried to capture our fabled city. Those slain in our bay sink to the bottom, but there is more than fish to greet them down there. I believe something must be under the waves that’s turning the deceased into these horrors. You must go there and cleanse the seabed in Rothgar’s holy name.”

I furrow my brow. “How are we supposed to get to the bottom of the ocean without drowning?”

The priest smiles, reaches into a pocket inside his robe and produces four bronze medallions. They’re dull and scratched, but something about them gives off a magical aura, a shimmer in the air.

“Take these,” Wilford says, “they will serve as your key to the realm of dead pirates.”

Captain’s Charm

Allows the holder of this medallion to breathe underwater for the dungeon ‘The Dead Bay’.

New quest available! The Dead Bay

Requirement: Clear the bay of undead.

Optional: Find the source of unholy magic and deliver it to Wilford.

Rewards:

45,000 experience

5,000 gold

Criteria Dependent Reward: ???

That last line must mean there’s another reward dependent on whether or not we meet the optional quest goal. As I consider the stained glass portrait behind the priest, I plan on clearing this dungeon 100%.