— CHAPTER SEVENTEEN —

A Little Town Called Hope

  *Lowe*

 The scent of pine needles and wild flowers drifted on the breeze. Towering evergreens closed in around the clearing, perfectly still as they huddled around the house, while the upper branches rustled in the heavy winds above the treetops. The rustic apothecary's hut was draped in greenery - window boxes overflowing with herbs, flowering vines climbing the lattice walls, and the greenhouse's glass plastered with exotic blooms looking out and soaking in all the light they could get through the rough grey clouds.

 By the pond, a family of rabbits nibbled on the leaves of carrots and cabbages that were growing in the vegetable garden. I sat on the porch, sketching a little guy lying on top of a massive old bunny as they chewed on the same leaf. The way their noses were twitching, eyes glistening as they looked around - the amount of details in the game's ambient animations was incredible.

 The cottage door creaked open and Brynn emerged, her dark hair glinting in the foggy light. "I'm off!" she called over her shoulder. "Back by dusk!"

 "Have a good one." I replied with a wave, not looking up from my sketch.

 Brynn turned on me and planted her hands on her hips. "If you're going to laze around out here, you could at least keep the animals from eating the vegetables."

 "Aw, but Brynn, look at the little fellas!" I vaulted over the railing, diving into the garden. The rabbits scattered, but not before I could scoop one up. Its fur was impossibly soft, the resolution on the textures - was resolution even the right word? The game was closer to a dream than a virtual space. And it really did feel like I was holding a living, breathing creature. I held it up, letting it give Brynn the puppy eyes. "How could you let this face go hungry?"

 I could feel the muscles underneath its skin moving as it flailed and wiggled free. It launched itself off my chest, then kicked a clump of dirt in my face as it bounded away.

 Brynn snorted. "Fine, but it's coming off your dinner plate." She shook her head, grinning as she set off down the winding path to town.

 I got up, brushed myself off, and collapsed back into my chair and propped my feet up on the porch railing. Picking up my notebook again, I flipped to a blank page. Droplets of water condensed on the ends of the pine needles, occasionally dripping into the mirror-like surface of the pond and spreading tiny ripples across it. I began to draw.

 This is the life.

  -Fritz-

 Ah, Townsville - a forested city of fresh, pine-scented air, late summer breezes, and- oh my. Waiting for us as we walked out of the station was dour ol' Shingen. Tall, skeletally skinny - kinda looked like the grim reaper. He gave us a curt nod and opened a trade window with me without so much as a hello.

 "Some busybody at the front of the leveling curve handed over a bunch of info to the Protectorate, but the notes were bland and undetailed. All I could find was a half-remembered report of a quest in the Deep King's Woods. It doesn't say what the reward was, only that it was listed as unique."

 I said, "A'ight. Better than nothing."

 He put two items into the trade window - a copy of 'The Protectorate's Local Player Guide - Deep Kings Woods, Rev. 9-13' and a 'Trader's Wagon'.

 "What's this?" I asked.

 "Something Gary wanted passed on to you." Shingen said.

 "What is it, a decoration?"

 He put a third item into the trade - a copy of 'The Protectorate's Mechanics Guide - Vehicles, Rev. 9-15'. Printed just yesterday!

 "I didn't want to explain, so I got this for you."

 "Oh, why thank you!" I tapped the accept button, and he turned to leave.

 "Knock yourself out. If it takes more than two days, they want updates." He walked past us into the train station.

 "You got it, buddy!" I called after him. "Pleasure doing business, as always!"

 If he heard me, he pretended he didn't.

 I spawned the two books and handed the vehicle guide to Percy. "Absorb this information for me, will you?"

 While Percy looked down the table of contents of the vehicle guide, I flipped the zone guide open to the bookmark Shingen had left on the area of interest. He was right on the details - it was an isolated little corner of the forest with only a couple tiny towns. There was a list of mobs without levels or drops. A few grinding spots were marked near task hubs and a few words on the intended route of progression through the zone. It was enough to give someone an idea of how to approach the place for leveling, but specifics on quests? Not so much. The few stems there were only said things like 'difficult, need party' or 'unique'. The one Shingen had circled for us was way out in the boonies, in a little hamlet called Hope.

 "Looks like this one's gonna be a trek." I said. "Please tell me this wagon's fast."

 Percy read out, "Cruising speed of 5 miles an hour with no limit, plus an endurance system allowing up to 30 miles an hour in short bursts assuming hard, flat terrain."

 "How fast is normal walking speed?"

 "I have no clue."

 "Well, I'd rather sit than walk. So, how does this work?" I opened my inventory and looked at the item there.

 Percy flipped back a few pages. "Use the item near an open space to deploy. Vehicle will be facing the same direction as the player. Vehicles cannot be picked back up manually and must be 'checked-in' at a stable, found in most large cities. Once back in item form, they may be redeployed at any time."

 "Alright." I nodded. "Let's get away from the crowds."

 We headed on down to the quieter outskirts where the buildings really started blending into the nature.

 Percy kept reading as we walked. "Trader's Wagon - it's the second wagon available out of the three currently known to exist. Above the Simple Wagon and below the Covered Wagon. It requires level 30 Carpentry to make - and look at this materials list."

 He turned to show me the book. The crafting tree spanned two pages, dipping into all the crafting disciplines to make dozens of little bits and bobs to assemble the wagon components. The raw materials alone must have been worth thousands of marks.

 "Geez, Gary's really going for the carrot over the stick now, huh?"

 Percy said, "They must be hemorrhaging people to the World Guard's umbrella."

 "Threats can only get you so much loyalty." I nodded.

 "Where do they get that much money, though?" he asked. "Is that back-alley casino really that popular?"

 I shrugged. "People love to gamble, and it's always rigged in the house's favor. But hey, all the better for us."

 At the edge of the city, where the cobblestones faded into packed dirt, I stopped on an empty stretch of road and rubbed my hands together. "This looks like as good a spot as any; let's check this baby out!" I went into my inventory, tapped the wagon icon, then hit 'deploy'.

 A swirl of dust was kicked up in front of us by a sudden burst of air that cleared the road of stray branches and anything the could be in the way. Then, a glowing blue wireframe weaved itself into the empty space. It started from the ground up, etching out four wheels, tied them together with axels, filled out the frame with a big pit bed, and finally put in the driver's bench up front. When it was done, like a brush painting across it, a wooden texture crawled over its surface. Iron rims on the wheels, finely sanded and polished planks - it was a warm, honey-colored beauty! It bounced slightly under its own weight as physics took hold on it.

 I circled around it, and I liked what I saw. The driver's seat was a cushioned bench, wide enough to comfortably seat two, maybe three if we squeezed a bit, and the bed was big enough to park a car in. A small one, anyway. The only problem was... well, it was just the wagon. There was nothing to pull it.

 "Do we need to buy the horse separately?" I asked.

 "All wagon-type vehicles are drawn by a player-owned horse, license obtained through the Cavalry class."

 "Then it's a good thing we got all those new classes! Yo, Caesar's Palace!"

 My horse, Caesar's Palace, came trotting out of the forest conveniently just out of sight and stopped next to me. I led him over to the tongue of the wagon, and a notification popped up asking if I would like to hitch him on. Hitting confirm, ropes shimmered into existence, linking him up.

 "Easy breezy." I hopped up into the driver's seat and got comfortable on the bench. "Aw yeah, this is so much better than walking. You ready to go?"

 Percy climbed into the back and lounged against the back of the driver's seat, still reading the vehicle manual. He gave a thumbs up.

 "Hi ho Caesar's Palace, away!" I snapped the reins.

 We lurched into motion, bouncing along the unpaved road.

 "Ooh, get a load of that suspension!"

 Percy said, "Apparently you can decorate these like player-owned houses - fill the back with chests for extra storage or benches to hold more people, or even add a crafting station, if it's big enough. Decorations remain after being checked back into item form, but stored chest contents are dumped."

 "Man, we should put a bed back there - sleep in style!"

 "Inns are common enough, and I don't think this is safe from roaming mobs."

 I waved a hand dismissively. "Man, just let me dream - in my wagon bed!"

 The Deep King's Woods was a different zone to the normal Greater Kings Woods where Townsville was. It was something farther from the cluster of civilization in the middle of the continent - something more wild. The sun lost its battle with the thick canopy of pines, then disappeared entirely as the remaining patches of sky turned an overcast grey. Crows cawed in the distance, and things rustled in the impenetrable darkness surrounding the road.

 So imagine my surprise when the village of Hope broke through the woods. Drooping, snowdrop-shaped streetlamps burned brightly with colorful faerie lights. Thin log cabins with steeply sloped roofs were arrayed irregularly in a meandering loop of a street that surrounded a small lake. Above the water, blue-green firefly-like motes hovered.

 As we rolled into the clearing, some of the residences noticed our arrival, and one approached us. He was a stout guy dressed in a plain linen shirt like any of the NPCs were wearing, but his nameplate had all the extra details of a player. The name read 'Hadfor Thunderfist'.

 "Howdy there!" he called out. "That's a slick set of wheels! Where'd you get something like that?"

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

 Not wanting to let on we had anything worth stealing, I said, "We, uh, rented it. In the big city. Figured why not - it's a lot of road to walk out here."

 "They're renting wagons now? Man, things are moving faster than I thought!" He chuckled. "It feels like we're still in the early game!"

 "Oh yeah." I nodded. "We've got a government forming, and they managed to take down the first boss. It's all coming together."

 "No shit?!" he raised his eyebrows.

 "Do you not get the newspaper out here?" I asked. "You can take out a subscription and have them send you one every day."

 "There's a newspaper?!" He looked genuinely stunned.

 "Yeah, man." I opened my inventory and spawned my copy of the Celestial Daily from that morning, handing it over to him.

 He flipped through it with surprise. "Wow, here I thought we'd be living in a fantasy world, but they're full-on restarting society!"

 "You can't keep humans down." I said. "Hey, so, you know of any quests out here? We're looking for a little adventure."

 "I don't know much about that - I haven't been paying too much attention to the game." he laughed. "But there's another traveler in town - he's staying over in the tavern. He's been poking around the area; you could ask him."

 "Alright, thanks, man!" We kept riding around the lake to the building with a bed and mug sign on it. It was a large, low building built halfway into the ground. The dirt sloped up around it, making it look like a hill, and its walls were draped with vines and moss. Sitting on the roof, a half-story above the surface, was a biergarten looking out at the lake.

 There was no stable I could see in the town, so we parked the wagon around the back of the tavern. There was at least a lock function to prevent anyone from hitching their own horse onto it. Satisfied no one was going to steal it, we headed down the stairs inside.

 Even in the middle of the day, it was a dark, earthy place with a homey feel. The fireplace was roaring, keeping out the dreary weather and filling the place with a warm, woody smell. A smattering of patrons were lingering about - looked like a handful of NPCs and two players having a conversation by the hearth. One of them looked like a local, and the other was wearing light chainmail.

 "Hello there, fellow people!" I walked toward them with a wave.

 The guy in chain, nameplate 'Hafan' raised his mug in return. "Ahoy! You just blow into town, too?"

 "That we did!" I took a seat with them, while Percy turned a chair from another table around and sat a few feet back. "Anything crazy going on around here?"

 "Nothing you won't find anywhere else." Hafan said. "It's a quiet little corner of the forest. Nice place, too."

 The local, a man named Lowe with unkempt brown hair and a ruffled button-up, said, "Oh, yeah - not too busy, not too active. It's a good place to settle down."

 "So you've been living here?" I asked. "How long?"

 "I came in a couple weeks ago. A few others had already found the place."

 "So you'd know if there were any quests here?"

 "Quests? Noooo." he shook his head with a chuckle. "We don't have any of those. It's very... quiet. Honestly, I think they forgot to fill this part of the world out - it's so far from anything there's no reason for anyone to hang around aside from leveling, you know?"

 "I'd believe it." Hafan nodded. "One for the roleplayers!" He and Lowe clinked mugs and took a drink.

 Checking the time on his menu, Lowe said, "Oh, I should probably get something done today. Enjoy your stay!" He stood up.

 "Have a good one!" I called after him, then got myself a cider and sat with Hafan. "So, what level have you gotten up to?"

 "Almost done with this zone - just hit 19 the other day."

 "Nice, nice." I nodded. "We're still 14 ourselves."

 "You'll want to start closer to the border with the Greater Woods then. The mobs down there are only 15."

 "Oh, we know." I said. "We're not here for leveling, strictly, and, between the two of us, we can handle higher-level mobs. What we're after is quests - the loot! The adventure!"

 "That's what it's all about, isn't it?" he grinned, and we raised our mugs.

 Looking past me, he asked, "Hey, where'd that kid that was with you go?"

 I turned and saw Percy's chair was empty. Not at the bar, either - he was no where in the tavern. "... Who knows? He's old enough to take care of himself." I turned back to our table. "So what kinds of things have you ran into out here?"

 "In the Deep Woods? Not much, truth be told. I've been focusing on the task-based quests - the zone story stuff. I want to grind through the levels so it's safe to move around, then dig into what's in the game. Now that I'm near the zone's max level, I guess I'm just starting to look around myself."

 "Solid plan - better safe than sorry."

 "I keep telling myself - in this world, at least, adventure will wait."

 "Very true." I nodded. "Now, I'm gonna go around town and check out the gossip dialogue - get some lore for the Protectorate. You staying the night?"

 "I figure I will. Good view, good beer - it's a fine place to recuperate. The view of the fairy pond from the biergarten at night is something else."

 "Then I'll see you here tonight!" I finished my drink and headed for the door.

 Pulling up the group chat, I typed:

[Fritz Carlton]: Hey, you following that local guy?

[Percival]: Yeah, he went out to an apothecary's place in the woods, then left with some building materials. He's by the road we came in on, looks like he's building a mailbox.

[Fritz Carlton]: Huh. Do you think it'll be functional?

[Percival]: Hard to say. Could be a dynamic event for the area where mailboxes keep getting vandalized - I don't see any in town. Which means there's probably a reward for catching whoever did it.

[Fritz Carlton]: You think that's our quest?

[Percival]: Possibly. We can stake out a mailbox tonight. In the meantime, what is this guy hiding?

[Fritz Carlton]: Maybe he found out who did it and is covering for them?

[Percival]: I think he lives at the apothecary's - why else would he go there to get lumber?

[Fritz Carlton]: Right. Let's check the place out while he's not there.

 I veered off the squiggly main road out to the outskirts of town, then circled around until I ran into Percy lurking in the bushes off a footpath in the woods. I joined him and we followed the little dirt trail through the trees. The sounds of the town faded behind us, replaced by the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves in the wind.

 Maybe a minute out of the town, a clearing opened up before us, dominated by a quaint apothecary shop nestled snugly in the pines. Garden plots filled with lush herbs and flowers stretched out on either side of the path, their vibrant colors almost glowing in the damp, foggy woods. At the far edge of the garden, a narrow stream slowed its burbling flow to form a tranquil pond before continuing to trickle toward the town's lake.

 Crouched at the water's edge was a young woman, her hands encased in thick leather gloves as she carefully harvested leaves from the plants growing along the bank. Her long chestnut hair was messily tied back, slick with sweat and with loose strands clinging to her dirt-smudged face. Her simple padded clothes were patched and frayed at the hems. An NPC named Brynn.

 "Excuse me!" I called out as we approached. "Are you the local apothecary?"

 She sat up to look at us, then stood and tugged the gloves off. "Oh, yes! Do you need something?"

 "We just came into town and were looking to resupply on potions. Say, do you have anything that... affects the body? You know, messes things up a little?" I made a swirling motion up by my head.

 She tilted her head. "Like an emetic?"

 I blinked. "Uhh..." Leaning toward Percy, I whispered, "What's an emetic?"

 "Why don't you try it and find out?" he said flatly. "You want to explore new drugs, don't you?"

 "Sure, emetics." I shrugged. "What've you got?"

 "Follow me." She motioned for us to come inside.

 The... well, it wasn't as much a shop as it was a home and workstation. Just inside the door were a set of short aisles filled with colorful bottles and jars. That little store area connected directly to a cozy little foyer that spun off into a living room and bedroom. Next to them, a narrow staircase led up to a balcony with a couple more doors.

 On the other side of the aisles was a room whose walls were made of frosted glass, giving it a very natural glow. The room itself was tiled like a kitchen and its counters were cluttered with an array of alchemical paraphernalia - a couple sizes of mortar and pestle, racks of dried herbs, cutting boards, jars of reagents, various other tools for mixing and grinding and cutting and measuring. Then a door in the back corner led off into a green house, a few leaves that had been caught in the door now scattered around the lab's floor.

 Brynn rummaged through a shelf of tonics. "This one's a classic!" She plucked out a copper-colored bottle and handed it to me.

 A shop window popped up in front of me, like a cart in an online store. "Syrup of Ipecac." I read the item's name. "Sounds like a magical cough syrup if I've ever seen one! I'll take it!" With an eager tap, I confirmed the purchase, and the bottle poofed into my inventory.

 "Did you need anything else?" Brynn asked.

 Before I could respond, a horrible, hacking cough echoed from upstairs, like someone was choking.

 Brynn's eyes went wide. "Oh dear, I'm late!" She turned and hurried into the workshop. "I'm coming, hold on a second!" She took the leaves she had been picking outside out of a pouch and started to mince them, mixing in a few dashes of other things.

 "Could you grab the nava leaf from the greenhouse?" she asked, not looking up from the potion she was stirring.

 "Sure, what's it look like?" I headed for the back door.

 "It's an almost blue plant with wide, spade-like leaves. It's right near the entrance."

 It wasn't hard to find; it looked like something servants would fan a king with in an old movie. Yanking one off the stem, I brought it in to Brynn. She quickly folded and crushed it into a paste, then added it to the potion and stirred vigorously. The potion shifted from a cloudy green mush to pale blue. She then poured it into a filter to strain out the fibers and bits. What dripped out was a clear, deep blue liquid, kinda looked like Gatorade.

 Brynn pulled the filled vial off the rack and hurried for the stairs. Percy and I exchanged a glance and followed her up. The hacking coughs grew louder as we entered a bedroom. A middle-aged lady was lying in bed, coughing and groaning, her body twisting under the sheets.

 Brynn sat on the edge of the bed. "Here, mother, it's ok. Here you go. Drink." She gently put her weight on the woman's shoulder to anchor her down, then put the vial to the woman's lips and propped her other hand behind her head, helping her drink.

 As the last of the blue potion disappeared, the woman went limp, falling back into the bed. Her breathing was exhausted but steadier. Brynn gently placed her mother's arm back on the bed and tucked the blankets around her. For a long moment, Brynn just sat there, staring at her mother with a heavy longing.

 I glanced at Percy. He gave me a nod. This was reeking of a quest.

 "What's, uh, wrong with her?" I asked hesitantly.

 Brynn looked at the floor, then stood up and motioned us out of the room. "Let her sleep."

 Brynn closed the bedroom door softly behind us. She leaned her head against it, her hair falling forward to hide her face.

 "It's called creeping rot." she said quietly. "A fungal infection that ravages the body. You saw the pain she was in - she can't even control her own limbs. The potion stalls it, but it leaves her so drained she barely has the energy to eat most days." She lifted her head, staring bleakly at the ceiling. "For all my skills, all I can do is watch as she waits in the mist. Slowly wasting away."

 "There has to be something that can be done." I said. "Maybe a doctor in the city has something that can kill it?"

 Brynn shook her head. "There is a cure, but it's not in any city. Comet's tooth. It's a fern, found only in a remote marshland. But it refuses to grow anywhere else, and must be used fresh. It's too far, and the journey is far too dangerous for me to make."

 "Could we get it for you?" I offered.

 "No, it's too delicate. You need to know what you're doing."

 "Well, then we could escort you. We've got a wagon - we can get you there in a jiffy!"

 She turned away, leaning against the door and looking down at the floor, silent for a long moment. "That... might be possible."

 Just then, the door downstairs creaked open, and Lowe walked in. "I'm back!" he announced, then froze as saw the three of us up on the balcony.

 Brynn straightened up with resolution, snapping out of her melancholy. "The sedative doesn't sit long."

 "NO!" Lowe shouted. "Please!"

 Percy crossed his arms with one hand on his chin in thought. "A time-limited escort quest. I could see that being difficult on foot, but should be easy for us. Definitely sounds worth it."

 Brynn looked at us with determination blazing in her eyes. "The medicine to sustain my mother can only last three days at most! If we can make the journey to the marsh and back within that time... I will be able to synthesize a true cure!"

 "No!" Lowe cried out, desperation cracking his voice. He staggered forward, grabbing the banister. "Say you can't do it! Please!"

 "Why not?" I asked.

 "It never ends well! Every time someone takes her out, she comes limping back alone, her clothes in tatters, nearly dead herself. And her mother..." He shuddered. "Vomiting blood, one foot already in the grave. Both of them, suffering on the edge of death. Over and over. And the people never come back. It's a cycle of suffering! It's... please, just leave them be."

 I scratched the back of my head, unsure how to respond. "Uhh..."

 Percy looked at Brynn, standing there looking at us with a fierce hope, completely ignorant of Lowe, and said, "We'll do it."

 "Yes!" Brynn exclaimed, clapping her hands together. Sudden tears glistened on her lashes. "Thank you!"

 "No!" With an anguished wail, Lowe collapsed to his knees, burying his face in his hands. His shoulders shook with sobs of despair. "You-...!"

 Percy leaned against the railing, looking down at Lowe at the foot of the stairs. "They're NPCs. They are not alive and do not feel. The effects of the quest are irrelevant; we need to find out what the reward is."

 Lowe slammed his fist against the floor and looked up at us. "Fine then! If you're gonna do this to her, then I'm going to make sure it's done right! I'm going with you and making sure you don't let her get hurt!"

 "Have you spent much time outside the towns?" I asked.

 "I did my share of adventuring before I came here - I'm level 10!"

 "Well at least you aren't completely inexperienced."

 Percy said, "He's going to slow us down - this is time-sensitive."

 "C'mon, we've got plenty of room in the wagon, and just look at how desperate he is! Give the guy some peace of mind."

 "Fine." he shrugged.

 "Alright, Lowe," I sent him a party invite, "welcome aboard!"

 "I'm counting on you, Lowe!" Brynn cheered.

 "I won't let you down!" He sprung to his feet, accepting the invite. "This one's going to be different, I swear!"