Pag waved away the system message irritably, grinning when the movement didn’t send any fire out then took a moment to adjust as he settled into the game and its new time dilation. The cold air hit him almost as hard as the feted stench from the nearby trench, the combination of both causing him to sneeze and then subsequently gag. Pag remembered too late to cover his nose and a plume of flames spewed from his mouth, lighting the hem of a passing gentleman's waistcoat who continued walking for a few steps before yelping as the flames lapped at his rear. Pag cringed and dove into the shop he had spawned next to. The sounds of alarm rising behind him as he pulled the door closed behind him panicking. He held his breath hoping no one saw him in the seconds between spawning, lighting a man on fire and diving into this shop, sweat beading his brow.
Pag sniffled and rubbed his nose as he looked around the shop, the voices outside apparently not hot on his heels to make him pay for this latest debacle. He needed to find someone who could teach him the proper way to control his magic or he was going to end up in some serious trouble. For now he took stock of his surroundings.
The shop he hid in was dimly lit, pale light radiating from woven baskets filled with tiny pebbles that gave off a weak milky light allowing him to see that the place was packed floor to ceiling with shelf upon shelf of…. Well what he could only describe as junk. There were bones, feathers, animal skins, teeth, odd sticks and hunks of dull unprocessed metal ores. None of it seemed to hold a specific purpose but perhaps they were materials needed for. Something. Pag frowned as he padded through the haphazard aisles.
A rat’s tail? What use could that possibly have? And was that a, ew gross. Nope he was going to get out of this trash heap and get started on his daily quests. A gentle hand grasped his elbow and he looked down to see a small elderly lady staring up at him with a wan smile. Her wiry silver hair stuck out of the loose bun at odd angles looking like a fraying yarn ball. Her wire frame glasses were bent into as many angles as her back and magnified her watery blue eyes like an old glass soda bottle.
“Pardon me dear, I fear you must be lost. I don’t think someone of your class, or level would have any use for my wares” Her voice was warm and soft, rubbing against his scales like warm fur. Pag relaxed, tension melting off of him in one wave as he looked closer at the woman then glanced around.
“I’m sorry, there was a commotion out there and people started pushing so I stepped in here.” Pag’s voice was weak at his poor explanation and he gave her a small smile.
The woman gave him a snort and looked him up and down. “Just don’t steal anything while you’re in here. Not that you’d have any idea what these items are for but I prefer not to have the city guard at my door again because someone uneducated in the ways did something they weren’t supposed to.” She muttered as she disappeared into the back of the store.
“The ways?” he asked slowly furrowing his brows.
She nodded solemnly, folding her hands behind her back. “Yes dear. the ways of Contramaledictum. The ways of removing curses, dispelling debuffs and banishing summoned creatures who would do harm. It is not a profession commonly sought out these days, especially by those not of the cleric class. I have not had a student in many years and he died after using the wrong reagent. I am currently the only licensed professional of this once highly regarded profession within the kingdom.”
She squinted at him, puckering her lips slightly before speaking again. “While I doubt you would be interested in this particular profession you have to look of a traveler, and a new one at that so I will share some information with you. Should you be interested in this or any other profession for that matter, the ability to gain your first profession opens up at level five and you cannot choose another one until you reach journeyman status. Should you reach that point you can always pick up another once you reach level fifteen if you haven’t already by that point.”
“I appreciate the information and you allowing me a moment's reprieve in your store. I’ll be sure to keep it in mind.” Pag threw one last look over the shop and its wares before shuffling out of the shop and slipping into the press of people, the cold and stench of the nearby trenches once again assaulting him but this time he was better prepared. With a glance at the map in his menu he headed to the Temple of Senos to pick up the social quests. Most of the ones he had done there so far were simple things like carrying letters between clergy members, helping them lift heavy items, helping harvest the dwindling autumn crops or tending to their gardens and livestock that they kept in a small internal courtyard. It was boring and repetitive but they offered decent coin as well as a hot meal twice a day, for quick work that would allow him to kill time until it was time for other people who offered social quests to be in better moods.
That was something he had learned last time, allowing any NPC time to eat or otherwise begin their daily routine meant that there was less of a chance of them slamming a door in your face or worse. It was not a mistake he would soon be repeating. Also the Temple of Senos tended to offer a really good breakfast and though he had eaten before logging into the game the thought of the fresh bread, butter, hot eggs and thick juicy sausages washed down with a steaming cup of tea still made him drool. Their dinner may have been a bland uninspired stew but the breakfast was well worth it. Soon he would have both the coin and the level to be able to start doing quests outside the city then he would really start making some noticeable gains. He had tried to party up with some other players but hadn’t had any luck thanks to his low level and generalized class.
The circular logic of it was as endlessly frustrating as trying to get your foot in the door of a new job industry. Just like when job hunting you needed on the job experience to get the job but you can't get the experience without getting the job and no one wanted to be the first to give you a chance no matter how good your resume looked. Unless you were extremely lucky, or the employer was extremely shady there was just too small of a chance of making any progress. Though all his efforts hadn’t been for nothing, speaking to the other players had given him plenty of information on classes. It seemed as though the starting class options were the base line or generalized defaults. While you could earn access to more while in the tutorial, something he hadn’t had the opportunity to even attempt before being kicked out, you could also find class trainers in various areas if you looked hard enough.
While many of these class trainers could be found in cities you could also come across them while out exploring the countryside or even in dungeons or event zones. It was these, the trainers not located in plain sight, that often offered the better classes or taught you in ways that you gained abilities and power faster than what you would if you went to one of the trainers in the faction cities. Though the generalized or standard classes you started out with were skilled in their own perspective fields with the right allocation of points and skills they weren’t as effective as what were referred to as the nonstandard or archetype aligned classes. For example a fighter may be good at dealing damage with various weapons but they wouldn’t hit as hard as a pugilist if unarmed or be able to control the flow of the fighting grounds as efficiently as a battle master. A mage may be able to use magic but many could only use kinesis based skills or if they had access to the elements they only had the weakest affinity for each of the elements while still being subject to all the penalties to them unlike if they had aligned with an archetype like becoming a knight or elementalist. Unlike the standard classes each of these could then be specialized in, further deepening understanding of their understanding of skills and tactics while enhancing their prowess. They could be further improved by more specialization or augmented by acquiring classes with high synergy that could later be combined into one class with access to the skills of all combined classes.
As an example a player may start out as a mage able to use kinesis skills like mage hand or magic blast, but once they did some quests within the tutorial or even after exiting the tutorial they could then align with an elemental archetype granting them better control over their chosen element like for example fire which would be a Pyromancer. Then pick after hitting level 10 they could specialize that fire mage class to become something like Radiomancer that used both wide ranging radioactive and heat based magic to devastate large numbers of foes with long lasting debuffs or they could become a FireBrand which was, as best as Pag understood, much like that magical equivalent of a Duelist and used precise targeted attacks that were often meant for single opponent battles or one on one duels. Each could be further specialized, or if one was truly ambitious, augmented by picking up one or more other classes such as Witch Hunter which granted increasing levels of magic defense and nullification while granting the ability to use weapons such as crossbows. If that sort of thing wasn’t your style you could pick up classes like Evoker and Summoner which would allow you to call on creatures or beings aligned to the element of fire. For those who preferred to avoid fights there were classes like artificer and enchanter where you can make items using the elements you had aligned with. In short there were endless potential variants or play styles that a player could choose from.
As Pag neared the temples, weaving his way through the early morning traffic, bells began to toll. Not the usual melody they tolled out on the hour but a loud clamoring cacophonous sound that screamed something was wrong. The people around him stopped what they were and turned to stare in the direction of the racket, all falling silent before a sea of whispers rose up around him in the fading echoes of the bells. Pag leaned over to a hunched and stout old man whose nose was nearly as red as a ripened tomato carrying a bundle of sticks. He had a beard nearly long enough to brush the ground despite being at least six feet tall if he had been standing straight and Pag idly wondered how he avoided tripping over it.
“Excuse me sir, I’m not from here. Can you please tell me what's going on?” Pag asked in a sheepish tone.
The man turned to look at him with suspicion in his eyes as he looked Pag up and down first squinting, then widening his eyes.
Bryce the Beleaguered Boyer took a deep breath in to speak and choked dropping the bundle of sticks in a clatter heap. A man next to him, tall and wiry with matted brown hair and a crooked nose, slammed his hand on Bryce's back as he looked Pag up and down a moment before speaking.
“Thems war bells sir. The King and his council met before dawn to debate the best course of action. It be seeming that they chose war. The bells are a call for all able bodied to sign for training and willing enlistment or risk conscription.” Bennigan who did appear to indeed have only nine fingers.
Pag blinked in surprise. “Who are we going to fight?” he asked.
“We go to fight the Lunar Empire sir.” Bryce finally coughed out, slapping at the tall man's hand which was still slamming into his back. “They been stealing coastal lands down south where we fish in winter and claiming it for their own. Apparently they’re moving to do the same thing in Soohan too. You'd think the two lizard races would get along but good for us they don’t I guess. Anyway King Dunstan ain’t too happy ‘bout it. His wife’s cousin was Marquess of the city they just took a few weeks back. Killed him and the kids, left them on the steps of the Tynoril Cathedral there for the birds. Some of the men loyal to Marquess Tibald waited until dark then got the bodies and brought them here as sort of proof, see. They wiped out two entire platoons, nothing left of them, not even food for the crows from the way I hear, they’re just gone. King Dunstan didn’t want to go to war, said we be needed to come up with a dipl- a uh whatcha you call it. A peaceable end. His wife and the nobles weren’t hearing of it, ‘specially after they took the Cathedral.” The man sniffed and thumbed his nose before spitting to the side.
Bennigan nodded. “Since you don’t look like a citizen you best get out or enlist. You enlist, you get paid, paid good too. You get conscripted any pay you might get goes to fees so you just work for free.” he said before the two trudged off.
“Thanks for the info” Pag said to their retreating forms, he rubbed his chin contemplatively nearly jumping when the notification appeared in front of him.
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>Yes<
<*Note: While accepting this quest does not mean you are required to enlist, not doing so after speaking with a recruiter may have a negative impact on your Karma, reputation, and Hygieian meters. Accepting this quest opens up the chain quest line “Shoot for the Moon” while allowing you a fast track to citizenship within the kingdom and granting access to the royal court class trainers which normally require a high reputation or large sum of gold. Not accepting this quest could negatively impact your standing with The Faction: Kingdom of Draggor. Every hand is needed for the war effort and each participant will be granted rewards and points equal to their contribution. Reward(s) for speaking with relevant recruiters: 20 experience points, 3 reputation points, should you enlist you will have access to the royal class trainers who may offer class specific gear or skills at discounted prices, free lodging at the barracks of unit you enlist into, access to the chain quests “Shoot for the moon” and “A path to citizenship” As a player of a race not native to this faction this can have many beneficial aspects.>
Pag stared at the notification. He really didn’t want to know what would happen if he had his reputation with Draggor drop. As it was he currently sat just above neutral thanks to his title and the few quests that he had done. He gave a long sigh and accepted the quest then began to trudge off to the coordinates of the recruiter he had to speak with, stopping as he stood in front of the first bank he had seen since starting the game. The line to speak to someone snaked out the door and down the street. If he wanted to get any quests done today he couldn’t afford to waste time in line. He marked its location on his map, making a mental note to return later.
Despite the cool air rolling in off the sea, sweat trickled down his back beneath the thick woolen robes as he stood in the line that snaked out from the large doors set into the dark grey stones of the castle. He had been in line for almost an hour and had taken no more than 10 steps since getting in line. If things didn’t get a move on soon he wouldn’t be able to do any daily quests and would need to make a donation or rent a room at a tavern if he wanted to have a hot meal or a bed. There was a slight cough to his right and he looked down, his eyes landing on a group of children looking up at him expectantly.
Pag gave a slight frown looking them over. “Yes?” He asked.
There were seven boys, each young and each caked in a thick layer of dust and grime that seemed to extend well beneath the threadbare clothes they wore. How they managed to keep warm he didn’t know. The tallest took a step closer, his linen wrapped feet landing squarely in a pile of muddy slush, and cleared his throat pulling a greasy knitted cap off his head letting even greasier hair spill loose. “Sir, mages are to enlist at the other doors.”
Pag furrowed his brows and he looked around. “What other doors? This is the entrance to the barracks right?” He asked as he scratched his chin.
“Yessir this is the barracks entrance but this is for the armed or armored fighters. Ya know. The ones that use swords, spears, bows and the likes. You don’t look like one of them. The mages enlist with the Arcane Core. We’d be glad to show you for a small fee.” The boy smiled, brushing a lock of greasy brown hair from his face.
Pag rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Oh yeah, and how much would that be?” He snorted, turning from them knowing a scam when he smelled one. Or was that the open drainage trench.
“Just four coppers, enough to get me an’ the boys here something to eat tonight out the cold. Nothing more. The line there is far shorter for them too so you can go back to doing your business ‘til you’re called to serve.”
Pag looked at him out of the corner of his eyes, narrowing them to thin slits as he crossed his arms. “You won't be paid until after you get me there and I’ve made sure it's the right place.” He growled.
The boys all took a step back, the smallest clutching onto the arm of another as his lower lip began to tremble, a few of the nearby men chuckled ruefully and the one who had been speaking nodded his head silently. Pag sighed then gave a short nod and slipped from the line.
The eldest boy pointed towards a tower that was just visible on the other side of the castle roof. “That’s where the Arcane Core have their headquarters. Obviously the fastest way to get there is through the palace but we’re not allowed so we have to go around.” he said as he turned, waving for Pag to follow. “C’mon, we’ll get ya there in record time.”
The kids moved fast, weaving through the crowds and slipping past the carts with ease stopping in the mouth of an alley to wait for him. “This here is rovers alley. Call it that on account of the fact that it's a perfect ring around the castle walls an’ the guards use it for roving patrols. Bit tight in some places but the fastest way to get to the gates on the other side.” He said scratching at his chin with grimy nails before slipping his cap on and padding into the alley.
Pag followed them, having to nearly run to keep up as they jumped over debris and refuse. He could feel his lungs burning and cursed, the group of boys let out hooting laughter as they ripped a few pieces of drying underwear that hung on a low string across the alley. Pag grasped a hand full of rough fabric that flew into his face, pulling a thick black blanket to the side and taking a deep breath to call out to the boys. Stars exploded across his vision, a searing white pain exploding from his forehead and he felt himself begin to fall forward. His ears rung and darkness encroached on his peripheral vision only to be blown away as pain exploded from his knees in a searing white wave. Pag threw his hands out, barely managing to catch himself on his hands.
“Gil, this doesn't look like one of the usual rats.” a thin rasping voice called out from behind Pag.
Pag tried to turn his head but stopped as even the most subtle movement of his head made it feel as if things that should be very much stationary were now moving, sending a wave of hot nausea overwhelmed him causing him to squeeze his eyes closed. He swallowed fighting back the reflex as the heat and nausea pulsed through him, his mouth suddenly flooding to the point even his convulsive swallowing couldn’t remove it all. Drool slid from his pursed lips as he squinted through one eye to look at the debuff counters.
“Oh, and what gave you that impression? Was it the scales?” a low nasally voice drawled.
“Oh is that what those are? Thought those were some of those sores like what Lan got after he took those lessons from that Ilmas devotee, but you know worse.”
“They kinda do look like ‘em boss.” another voice from behind Pag said with a wet chuckle.
“Still wouldn’t explain the spines nitwits.” The slow drawl said with a thread of annoyance.
Pag mentally cursed as another wave of nausea hit him, his stomach steadily trying to climb up his throat as the debuff counters slowly slunk downwards. Every word these morons said sent a sharp pulsing pain through his skull. He clenched his fists, gritting his teeth to the point that they squeaked and the muscles in his jaw shuddered. Somehow he didn’t think the last thing he had eaten in game, a thick and chunky stew, would be that great the second time around. Anger rose in him almost as forcefully as the attempts his stomach were making and he tried to focus on pushing them both back down.
“Oh is that what those were?”
“What did you think they were?”
“I dunno, maybe he was like that one fella who had all those arrows stick out? You know, the one who didn’t want them out, said it was for the aesthetic. Far be it from me to judge.”
“Fair point, that, boss.”
The one directly in front of Pag let loose a long sigh before responding. “We can debate it later. For now shake down the rats. I’m thirsty and think I hear some stew calling my name. I’m so glad we ran across these little rats since their dues are, well due.” he said chuckling with the last.
“But it hasn’t been a full week since the last time we had dues, we don’t have it yet. We was doing a job before you showed to earn more.”
“You don’t have it?” the low nasally voice dropped lower. “Boys you know the routine.”
Pag wasn’t sure if there had been an unspoken answer before the meaty thump or resulting pained yelp, not that it mattered. He slammed a fist onto the ground, he couldn’t take any more of this. Not only was he dealing with these debuffs but apparently these assholes regularly extorted these kids and if they didn’t pay up they were abused. He wasn’t having any of this, giving up on waiting for the debuff counter to run down he pushed himself up from the cold ground and whirled deciding it would be best to take out the incapacitate the two behind then deal with the remaining after.
As he spun he swiped an open hand around to where the two voices had been when they were speaking, a trail of roaring flames spewing in an ascending arch. The flames bit greedily into the surrounding detritus and threadbare laundry, something Pag didn’t register until one of the men that he had spun on had a line of flames licking at him from one hip to the opposite shoulder. Pag immediately cut off the flames, the wave of nausea from his debuff redoubling as he realized he hadn’t stopped nearly soon enough, the second man had taken the flames right to the face. He let loose one blood curdling shriek, hands slapping at the flames, and as Pag watched in horror took another before stiffening momentarily and falling to the ground as the other ran screaming. Pag stared numbly at the body, sound fading out from around him and his stomach still climbing his throat.
“You Bastard. I’m going to beat your ass so bad they wont even register your remains as anything more than a smear you worthless ignorant pair of boots. I will set my house on fire and force feed you the ashes then when you choke and die on them I will use your face as the new seat cover to my latrine.”
Pag blinked, snapping back to his senses and whirled to face the final man. As he locked eyes with him, Pag knew he had made a grievous mistake though for some reason the only thing he could really focus on was “What the heck does ‘Personage of many Stews’ mean and why is it a title?”.
The man was running at him full tilt, a fist wrapped in grimy metal links cocked back and ready to punch. Pag grimaced, unable to fight it back any longer as his stomach gave one final heave. Flaming half digested food spewed into Archibald Vandersnatchs face and down the front of his worn bright green leather vest.
Archibald shrieked and sputtered, hands blindly clawing at the flaming chunks clinging to his face and missed a step plowing into Pag. All the air in his chest left him with an oomph as Archibald's head plowed into his chest, his chest muscles seizing when they both fell to the ground. Ringing once again filled his ears and he noted the new debuff taking effect as the old ones wore off.
Pag glanced at his stamina and mentally cursed. He was already down to 48/55 Stamina, at this rate he would have less than half a minute before it started eating into his health and he could already feel his lungs starting to burn. Would he have to suffer through the entire time and feel every moment of his death by suffocation or would he go unconscious before then? Did the effect increase if he attempted to move? On top of him Archibald stopped clawing at his face as he gave a wheezing growl, staring hatefully down at Pag. He wrapped a hand around Pags neck and cocked his fist back. Blackness encroached from the edge of his visions as Pag fought to make his lungs work. Archibald let his fist fly and stars exploded in Pags vision, the fist hitting him square between the eyes. Idly Pag noted the suffocation debuff clicking off and being replaced by a stunned debuff. Archibald cocked his fist back again and Pag closed his eyes waiting for the hit. He’d get hit with at least one more before the debuff ran out, assuming it didn’t stack with each subsequent hit. Pag Squeezed his eyes tight, bracing for the hit. Kerthunk
All of Archibald’s weight left him and his eyes sprung open, the stun debuff flicking off as he did. Pag sat up taking deep breath in as he did and frantically looked around. The kids were gone, Archibald was laying in a motionless heap not far from him and the flames that had been licking at both the detritus and dead man were steadily dying as if all the air around them had been removed. Uniformed men ran through the dying flames, a thin robe clad figure following in their wake muttering inaudibly until the last of the flames sputtered out. Pag shakily stood watching as the guards surrounded first Archibald then him.
“You are under arrest. Try not to resist.”
Pag waved the system message away with one hand, grimacing at the tongues of flames that fluttered out at his movement, just in time to see the gleaming plated fist that knocked him out.