As I stepped out of the Adventurer’s Guild and onto the street, a few cat-children… kiddy-cats? Kitten-kids? Whatever. …they were going around begging in the streets before—
“Make way!” a rider called out, an ornate caravan pulling behind him. No doubt part of a new adventure story line. A very familiar face popped out the window, her silver hair bundled up on her head with two decorated braids streaming down her smooth heart shaped face. The ornate caravan continued down the street before hooking left and out of sight.
“Princess Victoriya? Shouldn’t she be in Kristannia? Must be a bug…”
Two and three-storey timber and stone houses lined the streets. NPCs of various races shuffled up and down. There were plenty of Kappa on the streets, even one selling cabbages, they seemed like the second most dominate species in this town after Finfolk. Damn they looked cool. Just like the Kappa, they had webbed hands and feet, but were a little taller and a lot thinner. They had gills in their necks and scaly skin.
Were they following a script or were they now sentient and acting on free will?
A few steps out of the guild and my shoes disintegrated into dust, and I could feel the cobbled stones, they were cold and hard.
Huh? What the eff?! Did I step on some kind of trap, but I didn’t see anything trigger or activate! This effing blows!
Cautiously, I looked around, it seemed no one was looking at me, no one was laughing, or pointing, but was otherwise unsure. It was also eerily quiet, I guess without background music, all there was were footsteps, the sounds of buckets of water being spilled onto the streets, the jutting and closing of doors as Kappa and Finfolk came and went into establishments and of just generic chatter.
I got the occasional sideways glance but for the most part it seemed the NPCs didn’t care I was dressed differently to them and shoeless. There was definitely no mistaking that I did not belong. The real question was what do I do now. If quests are now unique and other people ported into this town or are going to, then it’s probably in my best interest to do as many quests as possible before anyone else… on the other hand, Catherine. Probably best she cools off a bit, and besides I have no shoes… what bum doesn’t have shoes…
“Oww…”
“Oww…”
“Oww!!!”
Every few steps my feet would meet a stray stabbing pebble or rock. In an effort to reduce the number of barefoot steps, the Barracks was the first stop, it was the closest and a side street led me straight there.
Ominous dark arrowslits cast their eyes down upon me as I approached the portcullis. Two guards with studded leather armour manned the gate. Through the gate the barracks itself, on the other side, was made up of a hard exterior of stone and moss. Arrowslits in place of windows. An open training yard that cut into the side of the barracks was visible from the gate.
“Halt!” one of the Kappa guards called out, stepping in my way. “The inner keep is only accessible to those with a permit, or to members of the Pirate’s Mercenary Guild.”
Pirates?
“Um, could I get a permit please?”
1 Day Pass
2,000a
7 Day Pass
5,000a
Lifetime Pass
50,000a
Holy-crud, that’s expensive! Ok well, I’ll come back when I’ve sold some stuff… The Temple of Light’s next then? There should be a teleporter there, if I can get to a starting city, everything will be a lot easier, though…
“So, what’s is take to be pirate?”
"You want to join the Pirate's Guild? You'll need to complete the quest: Pirate's Treasure."
I looked the dishevelled man right in the eye and without a shred of sarcasm asked, "What's the Pirate's Treasure?"
The man shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands wide as if to say, 'what do you think?' He pointed at a sign on the wall that read:
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Pirate's Quest
There once was a lonely pirate, with a one-man crew, that's 'ol.
He went out one day, and found a ship, sunken deep below.
He wrenched it up from the water's deep, and set it on the coast
And now he waits for a crew to holler, return his beck and call.
For a one-man pirate ship, is… no... pirate ship... at... all...
Bring back proof of the Pirate King.
That sounded simple enough, not!
“Ahh, yeah, rain check on that.”
He watched me leave, his face returning to neutral NPC blankness.
An awkward hobble through the streets got me to the main square and where the temple was. It dwarfed the city’s houses, and where the Barracks was gloomy, the temple was bright and full of life. Large golden domed caps sat a top intricately detailed white marble structures, chequered with stain glassed windows. The cluster of dome capped buildings were overshadowed by lancing white towers, attempting to pierce the clouds. There were signs of damage throughout, cracked marble, some roof tiles missing, one whole tower had collapsed, and its debris littered the grounds below.
Divinity was the home of the Temple of Holy, so no doubt the teleporters were linked to their capital: Celestia.
Carved marble steps led up and through smooth round pillars of white and into a huge nave like area. Under the wide domed ceiling was the essence of freshly mown grass, all the praying areas were carpets of beautiful living green. A cautious step brought instant relief to my feet, it was cool, soft, slightly wet and delicate on my . I could just lie down and go to sleep on this, it feels so good…
“Ahh!” creepy sneaky priest guy! “How do you know my name?”
He was clothed in a decorative white robe.
“It’s written all over you,” he said.
Why did RPG priests always have such tall hats, and how does he get under doorways?
The doorways were huge archways big enough for someone twice my height to fit through.
“Look, I’m just going to cut-to-the-chase…”
He wore a bemused face at that remark.
“I want to warp to a starter city.”
“???” he tilted and scratched his head.
“…I mean, a capital city, and ahh… a teleport to a capital city.”
“Ahh yes, that facility exists, but unfortunately you have to be a member of the Temple of Light to use it.” He stroked his chin.
“How does one become a member of the temple of holy…?”
“You would like to join the Holy…? In that case, you would have to be baptised in the light, however…” He paused and stared at my hands. “…if you could help us with a few small things, perhaps we could make an exception for one with a little faith.”
Small things??? Yeah, I smell a chain quest when I see one!!! “What did you need?”
“It’s a simple thing really…” then do it yourself!!! His head was down, and he closed his eyes for a second, “The recent storms had left their mark on the temple, we require the materials to repair it. Can you please find and bring back 5 units of marble?”
You have been offered the quest ‘Nothing is impossible I’ (Quest Chain)
[Accept / Reject]
That… doesn’t sound too hard. “Yeah, yeah sure, no problem.”
The quest ‘Nothing is impossible I’ has been added to your quest log.
“So, where could I find some of this marble?”
He brought his hand to his chin in the typical NPC /think emote. “You will need to travel to the Marble Mountains, but be careful [Tomb Raider], there are dangerous creatures that lurk there…”
This probably would have been an easy quest for the right levelled adventurer group, just long-winded and annoying, however for me? Nigh on impossible.
Outside the temple, I sighed and sat on a white block that once made up one of the temple’s towers and fiddled with another smaller piece in my hands. Until suddenly, a notification appeared above the piece.
Would you like to store [Marble Block] in [Inventory]?
“Err what?!”
Your [Inventory] is full.
Clear some space before trying again.
My heartbeat quickened. Is this for real…? After clearing some space in my [Inventory] I gathered 5 units of marble and returned to the priest.
“Bless, it will be done on earth as it is in heaven!” the priest clasped his hands together and prayed. “Thank you, the God of Holy thanks you.”
[Quest Complete]
Congratulations, you have completed the quest ‘Nothing is impossible I’
You have been rewarded with 50 EXP.
You have gained +5 disposition with the Priests of Holy
Hahaha, what a hack! But what’s with the “I,” …don’t tell me…
“So, let me guess, there’s more?”
“When you look into yourself, there God will be. We need at least 5 sections of the Temple to be polished, will you offer up your sweat and tears to the task?” You’ve got to be shitting me…
[Quest Complete]
Congratulations, you have completed the quest ‘Nothing is impossible VI’
You have been rewarded with 50 EXP
You have gained +5 disposition with the Priests of Holy
You have been rewarded with a New Title: ‘Helper of Holy
“Thank you for all your hard work, as a [Helper of Holy] you can access some of our services,” the priest said with his fingers clasped together, and three menus appeared
Heal
Type
Cost
Health
1,000a
Cure Ailments
Ailment
Cost
Acne, severe
500a
Scurvy, mild
500a
Short-sighted, medium
1,000a
Heart Damage, Severe
1,000,000a
I have stinkin scurvy? Guess mum was right, I haven’t been eating right, hahaha… Wish you were here… anyways.
Blessing of Holy
(Choose one)
[Holy] +5 (24:00:00)
[Healing] +5 (24:00:00)
[Diplomacy] +5 (24:00:00)
[Leadership] +5 (24:00:00)
You have chosen the blessing of holy, [Holy]
You have already chosen a blessing
You cannot have more than one blessing active at a time
You cannot change blessings until all current blessings have expired
“Great, thanks for that.” Why do I even bother saying thanks, he is just an NPC. “Now, where’s the teleport station?”
“You’ll need to speak to the Door of Holy - Fenriz…”