With Kohli and the mage dispatched, the hobos and freed slaves made quick work of the rest. A few of the thieves tried to make a run for it, but Luda still had a few arrows, and she and Em both took them down.

The quest timer froze at: 2:06.

And still kneeling over Lex’s body, Gunnar was hit with a wave of notifications.

[Congratulations! You have completed the quest, Mermaid’s Vendetta! You have successfully defended your keep from Sykes’ cronies. It ain’t over till the fat lady sings, but for now… Here’s 80 XP!]

[Congratulations! You have completed the quest, Salvation of Souls! You protected the souls of this place and provided enough time to move the crypt. Here’s 120 XP!]

[Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 10 in Enhanced Blow. You’ve reached Level 8 in Slashing Blow. You’ve reached Level 12 in Parry Blow. You nearly died, and you lost a lot of allies. But this was not a complete failure. Consider us, befuddled.]

[You led your troops to victory. You’ve earned the Half-Star General Badge! People will willingly follow you to their deaths. Now, that’s a super power: +1 to Creativity, +1 to Charisma, +1 to Strength, +1 to Constitution.]

[Congratulations! You have reached Level 15 in Glory!]

Nymoria appeared before him, dazzlingly beautiful with her radiant skin and flowing gown, and recited the praise Gunnar had become well familiar with.

“Well done, faithful servant. You have taken another step on the path to greatness. You have received two attribute points, which can be distributed at any time. But remember that every choice you make will echo into eternity. Choose wisely.”

Gunnar ought to have been thrilled, but it was hard not to feel like he had failed. The whole problem was that he did not know exactly what he’d failed at.

He didn’t know what was going on with Lex in the first place, and he couldn’t help but conclude that someone had wanted this to happen. Someone had wanted her to die before he found out what was going on.

Defy the gods, she’d said. It’s the only way to…

Only way to what? Get out?

Perhaps it connected to what Nymoria had said back in Grid Eight. She was a low “god” aiming to rise against the greater powers in the game. And if he helped, she suggested she could get him out of prison.

But am I supposed to be in prison at all? he wondered. That elf was here for me. But why? To let me know I should trust Nymoria?

Gunnar was not sure what to think. He was tired and angry and frustrated, and he wanted some damn answers. He was so sick of not knowing the truth, or who he could trust. Ever since he’d landed in Grid Eight, everything about his existence had felt entirely out of his control.

But here, in the crypt, they’d been victorious. And that opened new opportunities.

For now, he had to take what he could, and keep moving forward.

The rest of his crew hooted and hollered as they rushed around the chamber, and then out into the halls, gathering loot from all the dead with blue sparks hovering over their bodies. The chamber had leveled out now that the battle was over, and Gunnar guessed that the Crypt Keeper was tethering them once more.

Em knelt beside him. “You all right? I thought that elf was just one of the slaves you freed from that ship last night.”

Gunnar nodded. “Yeah, she was. I just… I didn’t realize how many of these people I was putting in harm’s way, you know?”

“They wanted to fight. You gave them something to fight for.”

He shrugged. “I hope so.”

“Besides, they’re not real, right? They’re NPCs.”

“Most of them, I think.”

“Well, any players will respawn soon enough.”

Hank the Kobold let out a loud yell and pointed across the room.

“Grippa! You survived!”

The mountain orc grinned as he emerged from the loot room. A dwarf came scampering after him, looking a little dazed.

“This pissant tried to loot my coins!” The orc rumbled with laughter. “Got a rude awakening when I woke up with his hands down my pockets, and I threw him across the room!”

The dwarf walked a little unsteadily, but he laughed along in good humor.

Em grinned at Gunnar, and he smiled back. He needed to act normal. This was a game, and only he knew that Lex had been anything but an NPC.

He stood, and Em clapped him on the shoulder. Everyone was looking at him.

“They’re waiting for your orders,” she said.

“Er, right… okay, look, you all fought valiantly, and defended our new home from these bastards. We all fought together, so I think it’s only fair that we share the spoils equally. Hank and Grippa, take a few others and check for loot back at the entrance. I want the bodies brought in to the main burial chamber.”

“All of them?” Hank asked.

Gunnar nodded. “We’ll burn our enemies. Our friends, we’ll bury properly. This is a crypt after all.”

They hurried off. The glowing gridlines that had encompassed the crypt during the untethering flickered out.

Gunnar turned to see the door to the Soul Room open. The Crypt Keeper strode over to him, looking utterly spent, a scowl on her face as she surveyed the damage.

“We’ll clean this place up, don’t you worry,” Gunnar said as she neared.

“Considering what Angus already did, it was probably time to move anyway. The souls are safe, that is what matters. And I know this did not come without sacrifice.” The Crypt Keeper’s eyes settled on Lex’s body.

“They all fought to the bitter end,” Gunnar said.

“You kept your word, Gunnar, and for that, I think we are all grateful.”

[Your relationship with the Crypt Keeper has gone from Begrudged Ally to Trusted Ally. She is more likely to provide useful knowledge and your long term prospects for this alliance have significantly increased.]

“The new entrances have been set,” the Crypt Keeper said. “One of them, I placed outside the city. I thought a more discreet entrance might be prudent. Assuming, of course, you wish to stay here long term.”

“If you’d allow it, I think we all would.”

“I’ll do you one better.”

A new notification flashed in front of his vision.

[Would you like to establish this crypt as your new base? Yes/No]

Gunnar could not help but grin. He’d entertained thoughts about this scenario, but the idea of having his own base, with secret entrances in and out of the city was even better than he hoped. There were so many possibilities.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Your people fought and died to protect this place. You’ve earned the right to call it home.”

Gunnar eagerly accepted the prompt.

[You have established your base in the Crypt of the First One. With your own housing and at least ten characters who see you as an ally, you have unlocked the option to create a faction of your own. This provides you with a new opportunity to create your own quests for faction members. All loot from said quests may be distributed as you see fit. Keep in mind, faction loyalties are not exclusive. Morale is key for maintaining a thriving community. The more success your faction achieves, the better your morale. But should you let them down, they will leave you to rot. Or worse, stab you in the back. Tread carefully.

Do you wish to proceed? Yes/No]

Leave it to the AI to always end on a dark note, Gunnar thought.

But he did not let it bring him down. They’d got off to a tough start, but this might actually be worth it. He hesitated though, remembering Nymoria’s instructions when he met her in Grid Eight.

He turned to Em. “Would this be a problem for the Nighthawks?”

The chimera shrugged. “Everybody is making their own way in this world. No one’s loyalties are strictly with their guild. Look at who we just fought. Sykes is a master at playing multiple angles. Thieves and undercover Red Cloaks all with the same objective. And that’s the key. You’ve got to make sure your objectives are in line with the Nighthawks. Don’t compete. Don’t do something that would harm their goals. But ultimately, you having a bunch of loyal followers at your command is good for all our interests.”

“Do you have another faction?”

Em smirked. “Do I look like someone who does? If I did, I wouldn’t have time to save your ass all the time.”

“Do you want to… help form one?”

“Er…” Em stared at him for a moment, as though trying to determine if he was joking. “You’re serious?”

“I never would have escaped this crypt the first time without you. And we wouldn’t have a faction to form now, if you hadn’t come to help. I’ll still be the founder, but I’d like to form some sort of council of leadership. You know, democracy or whatever. And you’d be on it. You don’t have to, if you don’t—”

“Shut up,” Em said, punching him softly in the shoulder. “Of course, I want to.”

Gunnar mentally assented to the faction-forming prompt.

[What would you like to name your faction?]

“What do you think?” he asked Em. “The Cryptos?”

“Very punny,” she said, rolling her eyes. “If you’re gonna do something lame like that, might as well make it something slightly cooler. Like the Cryptids.”

“If it’s good enough for Bigfoot, it’s good enough for me.”

[You have selected the faction name, Cryptids. Do you wish to proceed? Yes/No]

“Hell yeah,” Gunnar said.