King Dunstan paced in a slow meandering circle, the stained glass painting his face in greens and violets showing deep contrasts in the expressions he cycled through. From rage, to disbelief, to ashen sickness and loss, to sorrow and back to rage. Queen Eadwig sat in a sprawled heap on a small velvet couch, her face a crumpled map of the loss of her dearest son, her eyes staring unfocused at the wall. The twins sniffled in the corner where they huddled among their wooden soldiers and dolls while their elder sister sat between them patting their backs or petting their hair when their sobs rose in volume.
The man in the shadows took this all in without a word, waiting. The king would speak in his own time and with his current state it wouldn’t bode well to test his mood. Without preamble the king stopped and turned his back to the room. “Shasta, please take the twins to my drawing room. Your mother and I have business to tend to.” His voice was firm but softened as he added. “We will join you momentarily. I’ll have one of the maids bring you some sweets and drinks.”
The girl nodded near imperceptibly before she stood taking their hands in hers, whispering soft encouragement to them as she ushered them out the door. Dunstan stood there a few moments longer as their footsteps echoed in the hallway, his shoulders squared and stiff. A small shudder ran through him and he deflated, turning to face the man who had waited in silence.
He was obscenely tall, his silver hair hanging in a curtain around him down to his waist glimmered with the various hues thrown out by the stained glass windows of the chapel. His pale blue eyes were watchful as the king studied him.
King Dunstan took in a deep breath,“I want you to find whoever is responsible for this. I would prefer to have them alive, to make them pay for this but- “
“No, no buts. They will be brought alive. I want to make them pay, I want to repay them for the pain that they have so graciously gifted us.” Queen Eadwig began as she rose swiftly to her feet. “I want to drag them naked through the streets by their nose. Gouge out their eyes with the spoon that we used to feed Tomlin and flay them alive so that their skin may be made into a blanket. Then I want them to be placed beneath the toilets so that I may rise in the morning. I can shit on them until all that is left of them is dust and compost to feed the roses that he once helped me tend.” Her voice was husky from tears, her eyes frenzied as she stalked over to the man.
Do you accept it?> With a silent nod he accepted the quest, a rush of electricity ran through his body and he bowed. Quest rewards: you keep your new class, 1000gp, a noble title.> As your previous class was set as LittleBrother, an assassins class from the Blade Brothers Mercenary Company faction, and all other classes and skills were those specifically honed in the elimination of your targets in deadly hidden attacks Hyberion Master class morphs into Hyberion Master (Sicarii) New skill gained: Shadows call. Beginner 1(Add mana cost here) An unheard melody calls for the shadows to conceal you as much as 50% varying by the amount of light present and silencing your movements. This skill lasts for up to 10 minutes and has a cool down of 1 hour. Skill points cannot be allocated to increase this skill, only use can strengthen your call. New skill gained: Shades Blades. Beginner 1. (Add mana costs here) This skill allows you to use the target(s) shadow(s) to create hooked blades that hold them in place allowing you to deliver a devastating strike unhindered. This skill lasts 15 seconds and has a 60 second cool down time.> Exile gave a short bow, his hair fanning out in a thick curtain around his face, and slipped his face mask on as he straightened. “This matter will be dealt with swiftly your majesties.” “See that it is. Should you need any information, funds, or gear speak with Adalwolf, my advisor. You are dismissed.” King Dunstan glided over to his wife, shoulders once again rigidly squared, and took her arm. The queen said nothing to him though the force of her thoughts crashed against him sending a shudder down his spine. He waited a few moments before leaving the chapel out one of the small servants' doors and picking his way out of the castle using his myriad of stealth skills to go undetected. Once he was out of the castle walls he climbed up to the rooftop of a dilapidated tavern that leaned heavily on the stone walls of a blacksmith's shop where he pulled up his stats and quest information with a small gesture. Player Name: Exile Level: 40 Class: Hyberion Master Sub-Class: Sicarii Currently Active Title: Kingdom Blade Most used skill: Subterfuge Alignment: Royal Lapdog Health: 250/250 [R:10] Mana: 250/250[R:25] Stamina: 125/125 [R:25] Points Earned: 24 Reputation: Draggor:4589 Status Effects: Withdrawal II (Alcohol) - Addict I (Caffeine) - Cold I The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Sleep deprivation II - Blood lust II Current active quests: Revenge for the Crown: You have agreed to locate the individual responsible for the Crown Prince Tomlin's death. Speak with Adalwolf for assistance in locating possible leads. Watching out for Big Brother: The Blade Brothers Mercenary Company has sent you to ensure that their interests are furthered in the Kingdom of Draggor. Death of a Bachelor: Kill the man known as “Marcello”. Marcello is a known womanizer and took advantage of the wrong woman. Bring his family jewels back to lady Aliena de Roux for your reward. Biting the hand that feeds: Use your new standing and access to the royals to wipe them out. Return to the sunken wreck of the ship The Wasp and meet with the cult of the pale tide to claim your reward. Breaking the Tide: Kill any members of the cult of the Pale tide and report any possible gathering locations to Adalwolf or King Dunstan He frowned and looked out over the city, chilled despite wearing all black in direct sunlight and sitting with his back to a chimney that was no doubt working full force to fend off the cold. He would need to send a message to the dev team about the temperature if this was only supposed to be early fall in draggor he would need to think about visiting the caravans for the winter. It reminded him too much of the many winter storms that he had had to weather as a kid, often without power. In the worst of the weather they would layer up sheets of plastic and old air mattresses on the walls and floor to lock in their heat. It hadn't been too bad in the day, but at night even with the whole family sleeping together in one bed they shoved into a tent with every spare blanket and what clothes they weren’t already wearing layered on top of them they were still cold. He didn’t like the cold. Pushing that thought aside Exile cocked his head and pulled up the Alpha point leader-boards. He had completed a number of big quests recently and even notified the devs of a decent handful of bugs. Maybe it’d be enough to finally push passed some of the others. Ludere Online Server wide leader boards: * FelineFine - 8082 * PillowHorror - 7981 * Exile,Xian - 7881 * PizzaBoi - 7506 * Scout - 7505 * Rotapan - 6052 * SkiptumHuga - 5009 * Withered - 5001 * CoinKnight - 3211 * ProlixalParagon - 2020 The leader boards tracked all their reputations, experience points gained, bugs reported, new areas discovered and such then tallied it all together with some convoluted equation. The higher you were on the boards the more bonuses and perks you received. You were supposedly able to spend the points in a shop but why waste them for some cosmetic or something in game when you could just hoard them and get real money at the end of each month. With a quick skim of the leader-board he saw that he was still holding steady in his ranking, tied firmly with Xian for third place with PillowHorror in second by 100 points and FelineFine in the first by 101 points. However, where BIGdaddy96024 had previously been sitting squarely at fourth now sat Pizzaboi. With ProlixalParagon having fallen around 6 spots after apparently being docked points by a dev and now was sitting in the tenth spot. Exile frowned and opened the full leader-board. BIGdaddy96024, gamingG0d and ShadowKnight had all fallen off the leader-boards entirely and weren’t even showing up in the top 100 testers. It wasn’t unusual for Paragon to get docked, that happened at least once a week as a result of their shenanigans but for the others to fall off the boards entirely they had to have been fired or quit. Both were equally unlikely, he had partied up with them in the past and they were solid players, all three of them had been in the A group, the group of testers that did day shift testing and none of them played in any unintended ways. They just did quests and goofed around, in fact the only one of them that was even remotely remarkable was that moron gamingG0d in that he insisted on trying to use only a scythe as a weapon while wearing the shittiest black robes, apparently aiming to make his character like a grim reaper in hopes he could get the system to make it into a unique class for him. Exile waved the screens away and made a mental note to try getting a hold of them once he logged out, for now he wanted to get a start on the quest King Dunstan had granted him and test out his new class and its skills. Flexing his fingers he began jumping from building to building. The skyway, as the more unsavory classes liked to call it, was the fastest way to traverse the city but you had to be careful not to cross into other factions lanes or you’d have a toll to pay, one that wasn’t always in coin. It was nice to be traveling the skyway, even with the risks. The castle had sat within a set of double stone walls far separated from other part of the city. The walls themselves were two times the height of the castle, four times the height of any other building outside of the walls, had runes woven into every inch of it so that it was near indestructible and even controlled the climate within the castle walls. Between the castle and the wall lay acres of perfectly manicured orchards and fields of various crops that were always in season thanks to the magical climate control. All flourishing from the spring that bubbled up in the castle courtyard and flowed into a stream that had been set to a very precise path. It was designed so that even if the surrounding city fell, the castle itself would be sustainable even while besieged and had proven to be so in the many attempts that had been made to destroy the royal family. Exile launched himself from the edge of the rooftop, landing silently with a roll that transitioned smoothly into a crouching run that ate up the distance of the rooftop before launching himself to the next roof. His breath plumed out in a thick plume as it mixed with the cold air that slowly began to burn his lungs and throat. He would need to make a stop at the herbalists shop and get something to prevent and illness, he had managed to avoid any of the more serious illness based debuffs up to this point and he was not about to risk it. As if debuffs weren’t bad enough the developers had decided to include illnesses, both real world and lore relevant ones. Things like the common cold, the flu and pneumonia were not only annoying be actually posed a real hazard to stats and development if allowed to progress too far that could become a permanent decrease in stats on top of death that itself ate up a chunk of a persons experience gains. He had heard of some lore relevant illnesses that stripped a persons ability to use skills based on mana and others who forced permanent death of a players avatar forcing them to start from scratch. Exile came to a stop, eyes flicking between the three hooded figures before him as he ran his fingers over the hilts of his daggers as he spoke. “My brothers, to what do I owe this visit?” “Eldest brother requests a status report of the task.” said one of the hooded figures. Exile, unable to see their faces beneath the hoods couldn’t even guess which one it had been. “It is progressing smoothly. I have been offered a task by the king himself, this will make the twelfth and final task and as he agreed upon our first contact once completed our status within the kingdom will be secured.” “So soon? You are performing better than expected. What is the estimate time for completion of the final quest little brother?” another hood asked. “I cannot accurately say due to the nature of the quest. I must investigate a murder and bring the killer in alive for punishment however it is my hope that my elder brothers will be signing an agreement with the kind by the end of the week.” There was a moment of cold silence before each of the hooded figures offered him a nod, stepping into the shadows and vanishing without a word. Exile slowly exhaled and hopped from the roof, padding across the final distance to darkened windows of the herbalists shop. He knocked lightly on the worn wood and began to form a mental list of all the supplies he would need to gather before he began his work. Exile slipped through the bustling marketplace, his senses heightened, absorbing the sights and sounds of the city. A cacophony of bartering, laughter, and gossip filled the air, a stark contrast to the hushed solemnity of the throne room he had just left. He paused by a fruit vendor, pretending to inspect the wares while discreetly eavesdropping on a conversation between two cloaked figures nearby. "Have you heard?" one whispered, their voice hushed, barely audible above the din of the marketplace. "They say the King's grief is so profound, he's sought counsel from the Silent One." The other figure gasped, their hand flying to their mouth in a gesture of shock. "The Silent One?" they breathed. "But… that's just a legend, isn't it? No one's ever spoken to them, not in generations." "Shh, not so loud," the first figure hissed, their eyes darting nervously around the marketplace. "Some things are best left unspoken. But the whispers are growing stronger. They say the Silent One is stirring, that their power is rising once more." Exile's interest piqued. He had heard the term Silent One before, whispered in hushed tones, often accompanied by a fearful glance over the shoulder. The citizens of Soohan, unlike the people of Draggor, never spoke of their deity openly. Their faith was a private, almost clandestine affair, shrouded in secrecy and whispered allusions. The Silent One, Exile mused, his mind racing. Could this be the true name of the Soohan deity? And what does it mean that they are stirring? The two figures moved on, their conversation fading into the background noise of the marketplace. Exile lingered a moment longer, his mind abuzz with questions. He had been tasked with uncovering the truth behind the crown prince's murder, but it seemed that his investigation was leading him down a path far more intricate and perilous than he could have imagined.