Surface- Shinning Hills Region
Kingdom of Arang'mor- City of Arkburn
Low Town District- Shattered Shield
The city of Arkburn could best be described as beautiful, and massive in scope to say the least. Massive granite walls protected it, most of the inner rings of the city were constructed of marble, it was known as the 'City of Light' due to it being the seat of the Council of Light being here and where all the Light Races would meet and discuss any problems.
A little over a million people lived within the walls of the city and it would be easy to get lost within its walls. Hopefully, no one would come hunting him Alex thought as he walked through the gates of the outer reaches of the city. A double handful of guards were watching everyone coming and going and only stopped anyone with a cart or wagon.
Alex was just wearing his newbie gear and had a crappy knife equipped, all his Assassin gear was stowed away for the moment. Alex was hoping he wouldn't draw unwanted attention this way and he succeeded for the most part. A few people glanced his way since it was rare for newbies to go outside the city walls without leveling up enough but once they could see his level the just moved on.
Low Town was one of the poorer districts of the city, a ramshackle collection of buildings and people. It also housed the headquarters of all the shadow organizations, Thieves, Beggers, Smugglers, Assassins, anything at all that was borderline or outside the law, they had a presence in Low Town. Alex quickly made his way to the Shattered Shield and more then one person studied him as he entered the Inn and made his way to the bar. "You sure you are in the right place lad?' the man standing behind the bar asked and Alex quickly equipped his Mark of the Assassin ring and tapped the bar to grab his attention. 'Well then, that's entirely different. Go down the hallway, second door on the left. I assume this is your first time here, talk to Dagger Thrace, he will be in the Peach Pit diner down below. I will message him and let you know you are coming." Alex placed a silver on the counter and followed the instructions of the bartender.
The man guarding the door looked at him and glanced at his ring before moving out of the way and letting Alex have access to the door. He quickly moved through the door and moved to the nearby bookshelf and studied it. A small handful of books glowed gold due to his Keen Sight Skill. Ales gently pulled on all of them causing a trap door to swing down and reveal a passageway leading downwards and into the Undercity.
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"You might have gotten away with walking outside the rules we have out west, but we are far harsher here. Don't break our rules Initiate and we won't have a problem. I am Dagger Thrace, I run the day-to-day operations of the Assassins Guild within this city and nearby areas. You will answer too Valerion, she is one of my seconds and is currently out on a contract. I will notify her that you have arrived and she will be in contact with you with a couple of days. Stay out of trouble at least until then." Thrace stated before turning away in clear dismissal of Alex.
Alex simply turned and walked away, and walked towards the nearby Guild Board. It was twice the size as the one in Prahmore, but then again Arkburn was twice its size, so more jobs to take. Most of the Termination Contracts called for a higher rank then he had, but some fell within his purview. After some consideration, Alex made his choices and acquired them.
Termination Contract: Anthony Ulay
Description: This contract was taken out by the Smugglers Union. Anthony Ulay is a former member of the Smugglers Union and was cast out in disgrace. He is working in direct competition of the Smugglers Union and they want him eliminated as soon as possible.
Required Rank: Initiate
Time Frame: 1 Week
Rewards: 500 Experience, 5 Gold, Increased Reputation with the Assassins Guild
Guild Quest: Rat Attack
Description: Its that time of the month again, the rats are almost overrunning the sewers and we have to do our part in cleaning them out. Those rat bastards (I am so under-appreciated) can be found almost anywhere within the Sewers below the city. Hunt some of them down and report back to Factor Luciell within the Assassins Stronghold for your reward.
Rat Kings Slain: 0/10
Sewer Rats Slain: 0/40
Success: Hunt down and slay Sewer Rats and Rat Kings
Failure: Do not hunt down and slay the Sewer Rats and Rat Kings
Rewards: 2,000 Experience, 10 Gold, Increased, Increased Reputation with the Assassins Guild and the city of Arkburn
"Don't take it personally, Thrace has a lot of pressure on him from the Guild and this place has a lot of eyes on it due to it being the center of our power here in Arang'mor. So if anything bad happens, it makes him look bad." Another Assassin stated as he walked up.
"Sure, whatever you say," Alex replied with a congenial smile before walking away but he knew arrogant people and Thrace was arrogant, to say the least. It didn't mean it was not warranted, just it was rude for new people. Alex shook his head, he would hold the man in the same regard he held Alex, as nothing of note until he was proved otherwise. Alex moved over to the local map of the Undercity and updated his map with all the information before heading out, time to find some lodging and get some sleep.
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Surface- Shinning Hills Region
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Kingdom of Arang'mor- City of Arkburn
Red Herring Inn
After some exploration and more than one talk with the local guards, Alex finally found an affordable Inn and in a location, he found acceptable to work from, in other words, easier to escape and disappear from. After everything that had happened in Prahmore if everything went to shit, he wanted to be able to escape quickly into or out of the city. The Red Herring had everything he wanted, including long-term lodging at affordable prices of half a silver a day with a minimum of fourteen days. It would include breakfast though, lunch and dinner would have to come out of his pocket which could easily eat through his small savings but there were plenty of Quests on the local Quest Board.
So after paying his dues at the Inn, Alex made his way directly to the Quest Board at the nearest street corner. Most of them were fetch quests around the city, but all of them had some experience and Reputation gains for the city which could be the difference between life and death someday. Alex collected a half dozen that he could do quickly and within a few hours before the city would shut down for the night and nicked them out before heading back to his temporary home.
Along the way, he saw more than one Thief or Begger, but they all left him alone and gave him a wide berth.
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Alex watched as the last Sewer Rat died and turned to deal with the Rat King, but before he could do anything its paw slammed into him and sent him flying into the nearby wall and took a quarter of his health with it.
Battle Alert...
Debuff Blunt Trauma: Stamina Regeneration decreased by 20% (Duration 1 Minute)
Battle Alert...
Alex swiped the notification away as he popped the cork on a Minor Healing Potion and downed it in one gulp as he stood. The Rat Kings stood just over five and a half feet tall of solid muscle, fur, and teeth. Alex had learned earlier to kill them last otherwise any nearby Sewer Rats were sent into a Berserker Rage and would keep attacking until he killed them. Having four Sewer Rats go into a rage was not a fun experience.
Alex got to his feet as the Rat King charged him and activated Shadow Step disappearing from view and dropping into Stealth. Alex watched as the Rat King skid to a stop as he snuck closer then savagely stabbed Gutter into his back as he activated Backstab. Over a quarter of the Rat King's health disappeared in a blink of an eye as Alex went to work to kill the oversized rat. However, Sewer Rats and Rat Kings were far more nimble than most MOBs and danced away as Alex advanced and activated another Skill, Flurry.
His daggers glowing slightly red, Alex ducked under the Rat King's arms and started slashing and stabbing, each hit eating steadily away at the Rat King's health as the Bleed Debuffs stacked up and eventually ate away completely at the monsters Health. With one last squeak/snarl, the Rat King died. "Better than your first fight with them, but you still have room to improve.' Alex heard behind him causing him to whirl around and come face to face with another Assassin by her gear. 'Relax, I am Valerion. I will oversee any and all work you do for the guild while you are here in Arkburn. I wanted to come by and introduce myself before you did anything that could cause problems for Thrace or the Guild." Valerion stated as she walked closer.
"In that order, ok," Alex replied as he squatted down and looted the Rat King while keeping his eyes on Valerion who frowned at his response.
"I take care of Thrace's problems, stay out of trouble and you won't be a problem," Valerion responded and Alex smirked at her.
"Is that all you do for him?" Alex asked and she snarled as her hand dropped to her sword hilt as Alex Analyzed her.
Spoiler: Spoiler
Name: Valerion Barushka
Level: ???
Base Class: Rogue
Primary Class: Assassin
Advanced Class: Duelist
Health: ???
Stamina: ???
Mana: ???
"He is my brother!!" Valerion responded and Alex smirked, it wouldn't be the first time a sibling abused another. 'What?" Valerion spat the word as she took a step closer to Alex as he put his daggers away.
"You never answered my question, so I will take it as confirmation.' Alex replied while keeping the smirk on his face, he knew he was playing a dangerous game but he would play it out. Valerion blurred forward as she drew her sword and Alex rolled his eyes as he continued to talk. 'Easily manipulated and angered, no wonder he has you take out his trash. You are a blunt instrument and nothing more." Alex stated causing her to freeze in surprise.
Alex smiled and continued, "Since you are so easily manipulated, I cannot trust you Valerion. Don't worry, I will keep my nose clean and stay out of trouble. Do me a favor, stay away and I will keep being a good boy." Alex told her and walked off. If she chooses to kill him, there was little he could do about it, so he might as well walk away in contempt for her and the Dagger of Arkburn.
It was a calculated insult to both her and her brother, what Alex had said and how he had treated her. If Thrace did anything in return, he would be breaking his own rules and acknowledging that Alex was more then just an annoying Initiate. He could do neither thing and maintain his current position as Dagger of the city.