We shake our heads in disbelief while Dominick and his crew nod and smile with enthusiasm.
The guards let us pass, welcoming us to the Kingdom of the Twin Rivers. Dominick takes us inside and to the gymnasium on the ground floor to drop off supplies. Much like Carcosa’s communal storage building, this space is filled with shelves, tables, and boxes all containing massive amounts of supplies. Next we’re taken to meet the king.
On the fourth floor, directly under the dome, is the throne room. Red carpets, hanging banners, and plinths with fancy items give the otherwise bland space a feeling of grandeur. Sitting on a throne made of creamy white marble is someone I never expected to survive.
“Greetings, friends, and welcome!”
Robert, old-time friend and veteran LARPer, stands and walks towards us with open arms. His once buzzed head sports long hair, and he’s no longer overweight. In fact, he’s downright jacked.
Robert strides forward, his long, white cloak dragging behind him. “It’s so good to see other survivors, and ones so well equipped.”
Stopping in front of us, Robert looks each of us over with an appraising eye. As he looks at me, he turns his head and raises an eyebrow.
“Um, hi, Rob. Remember me?”
Shaking his head, Robert snatches me up in a crushing bear hug. “Jordan!”
I cough a few times after he puts me down. Rob’s quite strong these days.
“So, you’re a king now?” I glance around the throne room.
“Indeed, I am!” Rob shows off the bling around his neck and on his fingers. “When things went to shit, I was the current monarch of the Twin Rivers. People figured I should stay in charge.”
Brian scoffs. “Promoted yourself to king, did you?”
“It seemed thematically appropriate. Plus, changing our name from Valley of the Twin Rivers has given us some clout. Half of our population showed up due to it.”
“What did you do, some kind of recruitment drive?” Justin’s look of disbelief about the whole thing is amusing.
“Sorta?” Rob motions for us to follow him. We go to a side room where a large table is filled with food. Instead of a medieval feast, this is just a bunch of canned foods. “Please, sit and eat. As for recruitment, our scouting parties talk us up really well. It’s brought in people from all across the city.”
We dive into the food. A fun effect of System provided regeneration is that we all require a significant amount of calories. The magic facilitates the increased healing rate, but the material still needs to come from somewhere. Someone performing normal activity needs about 10-15% more calories, but a combatant who’s constantly getting injured needs nearly 50% more. Once Carcosa gets farming up and running, our food scarcity will be, with luck, non-existent.
Rob, or, as he’s now calling himself, King Malkav, answers one of our questions: how did this Settlement afford so much stuff?
When the apocalypse kicked off, the LARPers were just finishing up their weekly game. All the armor they wore came in quite handy, as did one guy’s trunk full of medieval weaponry. Everyone said he was a little weird for carrying around enough melee weapons to outfit a small army…until now. With the gear, they fought their way out of Snyder Park, gaining valuable experience in the relatively higher level zone. Monster hordes forced them to keep on the move, and eventually they ended up where they are now. Several other survivors were holed up in the old school building, and with the arrival of so many combat classers, it was easy enough to stay alive.
Excursions into downtown in search of food and other survivors led them to a small jewelry store. With the valuable metals in hand, they purchase a Settlement Core. After three more trips to as many other jewelers, defenses and a Shop came next. Once a Control Zone was established and ramparts erected, their visibility increased, leading to many survivors showing up. Resources from the nearby manufacturing businesses, along with selling all the books in the library, gave the fledgling kingdom a massive boost in Credits.
“Who knew original volumes would fetch such a high price?” King Malkav, as he likes to be called, talks between spoonfuls of spaghetti and meatballs. “From what we’ve found out, when a new world is brought into System control, one of the first items galactics search for are books. The first copy to be sold to the Shop brings in a ton of Credits. Subsequent copies? Not so much.”
“Kinda weird how there’s an entire galaxy out there full of aliens.” I speak through a mouthful of chicken and noodles.
“Yeah, Ketrell’s a hoot. Hard to think orcs are such jovial people.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” I look at the others in the room. “Did you just say orc?”
King Malkav nods. “Yep. Ketrell, our Shop owner, is one. Er, or something that looks like an orc. Whatever his species is called, humans can’t pronounce it.”
We all stop eating and stare blank faced. Andy slowly sits down his single serving box of cereal and clears his throat.
“I’m sure I speak for everyone here when I say we want to meet this Ketrell of yours. Immediately.”
*****
Standing in front of Ketrell, I’m in utter and complete awe. Just like King Malkav said, he’s an orc. Ketrell fits more into the RPG orc look than the Tolkien one: big muscles, forest green skin, jutting tusks, and, as mentioned, a very congenial attitude. His yellow sclera and black pupils would look sinister if it wasn’t for the orc’s toothy smile.
“Greetings!” The orc smiles, opening his massive arms in a welcoming manner. “I am Ketrell, humble Shop owner and purveyor of all manner of things. Do you need potions? Weapons? Food? The Harpoi Emporium provides for all!”
Ketrell’s accent is weird. It’s like he learned to speak English from old 1940s movies. It’s kind of funny because he sounds almost exactly like Cary Grant.
When everyone continues to stare, Ketrell raises an eyebrow on his thick brow and looks at King Malkav. “My liege, I believe your compatriots are seeing a galactic for the first time?”
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Indeed, they are, Ketrell. You’ll have to excuse their lack of decorum.” Malkav elbows me in the ribs. “Jordan here is a settlement owner as well. Carcosa, as it’s known, is located to the south-east of Springfield.”
“Ah yes, I believe Chugg is your Shop owner?”
Rubbing my side, I give an awkward smile. “One and the same.”
“How is the old boy?”
“Good. Whittles away at a block of wood most of the time.”
“Typical Chugg.” Ketrell looks us over. “Not to be rude, but I am a businessman and time is money. Will you be purchasing anything today?”
Unlike Chugg, who deals in a wide range of items, Ketrell’s wares are geared towards adventurers and higher end amenities. There are weapons and armor up to Tier VII, consumables up to Tier VIII, Talents galore, and many random, useful items. I'm overwhelmed with it all. By everyone else’s looks, I’m not alone.
Ketrell’s Shop is set up in much the same way as Chugg’s: stacks of crates and boxes, shelves of items, and a cot in the back for the orc to sleep on.
We spend the few thousands Credits we have on us: Sarah loads up on potions; Jennifer exchanges her kitchen knife for an actual dagger; Andy and the other Rogue grab some stealth enhancing Tier VIII footwear; Brian is saving his money for a much better sledge; Justin grabs a set of Tier IX bracers; the Scout with us buys a variety of arrows; I’m stuck picking out a Talent.
“Troubles, sir?” Ketrell gives me a toothy, friendly smile.
“Somewhat, yes.” I run my hand across my beard. “I’m level eight now and need to buy a Talent. I just have no idea what to get.”
“Ah, I understand. Many new adventurers have difficulty determining the best build for their class. Would you be willing to share your character sheet with me? I could offer some suggestions.”
Sending my info over, I watch as Ketrell rubs his square jaw. The orc nods to himself, consults a few menus only he can see, then nods again.
“Good news, I hope?”
“Always! I see you’re going for more of a tank build.” I nod. “Now, there are no wrong answers, so please don’t think my questions are a judgment. I’m simply trying to ascertain your preferences to better advise you.”
“Um, alright?”
“Are you not interested in magic?”
“Not really.” I shrug. “I figure that’s the domain of Wizards and such.”
“Fair enough, but the utility it provides is not something to ignore. If you were to put a few points into your Magic tree, you’d be far more versatile.”
Versatility is never a bad thing, but specialization provides better results. Then again, being a specialist means I’ll be lacking in more than one area. Decisions, decisions.
“I’ve been looking ahead to what my Advanced Tier provides. I was thinking of going into the Forest Domain.”
“If you want to remain a tank, that’s your best course of action. Then, if you choose Bear Aspect as your Elite Tier, you’ll be a truly formidable combatant.” Ketrell flips through a menu. “Let’s say you’re going that route, or at least something close to it. While Basic Tier points are important, they’re not so much so you can’t experiment with them a little. Besides, a respec isn’t that expensive until you reach Elite.”
Several Talents appear in my menu.
Endurance (Basic Talent)
Prerequisites - None
Effect - Your physical endurance increases to where you no longer tire from normal activity.
Magic Resistance (Basic Talent)
Prerequisites - None
Effect - All spells and spell-like effects are less effective when used against you. Note: this applies to all magic, beneficial or not.
Skill Focus - Melee (Basic Talent)
Prerequisites - None
Effect - Your ability to effectively wield melee weapons of all types increases.
Weapon Focus - Axe (Basic Talent)
Prerequisites - None
Effect - Your ability to hit with axe weapons is increased by 5%.
“I was thinking of taking the weapon focus, but that endurance Talent seems useful.”
“Oh yes, many find a near limitless amount of endurance beneficial.” Ketrell gives me a wink. “Especially with the ladies.”
That elicits a snort from a nearby Sarah. I manage to keep my composure.
“What about Skill Focus - Axe versus Weapons Focus - Axe? Is one better than the other?”
“To some degree. A skill focus imparts better overall use of a particular skill. So, in the instance of the melee skill, you’ll be able to wield all such weapons better. This means attacking and defending, along with any utility functions they might have. The effects are small but broad.
“A weapon focus, as the description states, is a single bonus. It is also much larger than the bonuses given by a skill focus. As you specialize more and more into a specific weapon, the skill focus will matter less.”
I nod my head in understanding. “I’ll go with the weapon focus for now. Hitting more often means more damage overall.” The funds are transferred and my abilities are updated. “Ketrell, you mentioned I could respec. How does that work?”
“Very simple, really. At any time, for a fee of 20% of your current experience gains, you can reset your Ability Points, Class, Talents, and Spells. When you reach the third class Tier, Elite, when the experience needed to level increases substantially, that 20% can be quite high.”
Justin speaks up. “Why would anyone want to respec?”
“When System mechanics envelop a world, each person is given two hours to choose their class. If you’re unable, or unwilling to do that, System assigns what it thinks would best suit you. That’s not always accurate.
“And, once the tech level increases, additional Classes become available. Since you were on planet when the change first took place, your options were limited to this time period. As the eras advance, Classes will appear and disappear. In all likelihood your Druid class will be replaced with something like Park Ranger. Eventually, modern Classes like Fighter Pilot, Information Technology Specialist, or Radio Host will come available.
“Sticking with an early era class isn’t always a bad thing. As each class reaches a higher and higher Tier, their abilities become more powerful and unique. Respeccing, while useful, can permanently remove options.”
We all listen and nod with interest. Considering how much is still unknown, any tidbit of information is a boon. Knowing other classes will come available, everyone purchases a copy of Guide to Classes. Ketrell lets us know Earth specific classes aren’t listed there until we advance in eras, and once we do, the guide will automatically update. Until then, we can see what the rest of the galaxy offers.