(Y7, March 8th)

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The once familiar tower rose over the horizon. Vormacinus asked Birkathane, “That’s your city?”

“Our spawn area, yes. That’s the tower. It’s been months, but it still feels familiar,” she added with a wide smile.

She noticed the slight frown. Apparently, Vormacinus wasn’t happy to face the fact that Fontana would be there and take over the Beta and Gamma contingents for the raid. Even Palacio’s second in command, light as it had been, was not to his taste.

According to her Absolute Compass and the kind of ghostly orientation it left in her head, they had passed less than 15km from the Pyramid, but she hadn’t suggested a diversion, and nobody had asked for one. Better gather all the forces together, be on the same page, and then confront the Pyramid once and for all.

As they neared the city, the raid force got spotted. A group of three Gaters, sporting small weapons, was coming their way. Upon seeing the vanguard of the raid, they slowed down, then stopped, gawping.

Vantegaard smiled. There would be plenty of adventurers all around by now, but a group of nearly thirty people was different. Notably, since most of them sported high-end attire, including Vormacinus’s own… distinctive headgear.

“Hiya. Vantegaard here. And happy to arrive at Fanduk.”

“Dosmaros. Who the fuck are you? What’s…”

One of the others put his hand on the man’s shoulder.

“That’s the other raid. The one coming from Gamma.”

He looked briefly at her and then smiled at Vantegaard.

“The big guys from Alpha arrived three days ago. Big excitement all around. I’ve been around for two months, but since the Mayor announced the arrival of the most powerful Gaters in Northworld, everyone’s been talking non-stop about it.”

Vormacinus caught up with the lead. The three local Gaters threw sideway glances at his Canis skull, trying not to goggle too much at the sight.

“Where can we find them?”

“The leadership has been to the main Inn. It would have been full, but they kept rooms for… well, for some of you guys.”

Vantegaard asked, “Is Dadanlong still running it?”

“You know Da? Yes, he’s still doing the management… oh wait. You’re that Vantegaard guy? One of the Founders?”

Vantegaard gestured toward Birkathane.

“Yes, Birka and I discovered the town here last year. We were nearly among the first in the area. Everyone still getting a Meditation?”

“Yes. Even those who didn’t pick one during Setup.”

Wait, it isn’t just with Setup?

“There are a few that didn’t pick any Meditation if they had a choice. But they always get one on their first skill anyway. At least if you’re within 75km of Fanduk.”

“75km?”

“Yes. There are even a few that spawned up north of here outside of the range. There’s another small village, a three-day trip. People there don’t spawn with Meditation, but they usually pick it the first time they come around the place.”

Vormacinus frowned and looked at Vantegaard, who nodded in confirmation.

“It’s not too much of a secret, after all. It’s all over various forums. Everyone who spawned around Fanduk had access to a Meditation-type skill. Either a static pick or a choice out of three during Setup. If you check the skill lists, only one tier 1 Meditation skill was known in Northworld until… what, July last year? Then, Fanduk residents started updating the skill bases, and six different Tier 1 Meditation variants are known today. All obtained from here.”

One of the locals laughed, attracting dark looks from Vormacinus.

“Well, you can catch up if you want. From what I heard, two of the raiders from Alpha decided to test the thing, and they both got a Meditation skill immediately.”

“It’s not like the Lorien, then?” Vantegaard asked.

That was one of the first things he’d researched. Hyboria and Lorien, the nicknames given to areas where people got multiple hammer or archery Skills, respectively, seemed to be Setup-exclusive. You did not get a relevant Skill after Setup. It looked like Fanduk was operating on different rules, and it was a locational interference area – a huge one.

“Yes. Apparently, the Meditation thing applies to everyone, not just those who spawned within the actual area. Almost everyone from the raid is gone adventuring while waiting for you to get some levels to roll the lottery for a Meditation. That’s, like, the biggest news ever. That you can come to one place and get a specific category of skills.”

The Build Maps service is supposed to have been going live now, Vantegaard noted. Apparently, either there had been a delay, or people had yet to notice.

And that had an interesting implication: Setup could be occurring after the random destination was selected. Someone, somewhere, would probably be interested in that piece of data.

The town now looked almost like a flatter version of Hilltop Samms. There still was the core of the hundred or so houses in concentric circles around the tower, but the north side of the town was littered with tents of all kinds and sizes.

Vormacinus looked at the spectacle and commented drily, “Very busy.”

“Massive population explosion,” Birkathane confirmed.

Vantegaard looked around, counting.

“Looks almost as many tents as there are houses.”

The first town ring was close now. From one of the buildings, he could hear hammering, indicating that at least one person had some form of smith skills. The small panel now hanging from the structure confirmed the fact, with the stylized Hammer and Anvil, but a second wood pane chained to the first indicated that there was also leatherworking being done there.

On the nearby huge house, the tankard and turkey drawing left little doubt to the nature of the building, in case Vantegaard had forgotten where Dadanlong had set up shop.

The group reached the Inn’s door and entered. The Inn was almost as he remembered. The tables and chairs had acquired a polish and patina that suggested old age despite the mere eight months since the town’s founding. Although the furniture had initially been recovered from various houses, its antiquity was uncertain.

Quite a few groups were seated, and many looked fairly high-level. Vantegaard didn’t have Quandocor’s level detection skill, but a sword with neon runes and a crown with glittering sparks that had over 70 Aether didn’t look like a local product, even if the guy with the scabbard didn’t have more than a hundred Aether himself.

“Hello! Is Dadanlong around?”

“Nope. Anything special?”

“Was just going to say hello. Long time no see and all that.”

“Oh? You’re the west group?”

Vormacinus walked up to the bar, dropping his hammer on it.

“Yes. Is… the First Gater around?”

“He’s at the Tower. He’ll be around shortly, I think.”

The two raider heads followed Vantegaard and Birkathane toward the Tower.

“So that’s where you had your broken raid,” Palacio asked.

“Yes. Some kind of construct watching over an orb in the center, but the door was unlocked, and you had free access to the treasure room behind. You’ve seen some of the Stones that were there at the auction.”

“Break The World,” Vormacinus said.

“Did the winner – whoever that is – test it yet?” Vantegaard asked.

“I’ll check during Recess. I assume your Cartographer’s Guild will know more by now,” Vormacinus replied.

“You still owe me some for letting you have that Skill,” he immediately added.

Things had been a bit frostier between his superior in the Guild and the two co-leads. And while she’d said nothing, she had also been much more distant with him.

The Tower was open – with a nailed sign saying so, and had been arranged into some kind of reception area on the ground floor. They found Redcap, along with a man Vantegaard recognized even if he’d only seen him represented naked in a monochrome hologram.

Palacio moved and slapped his hand with Arnoldo Fontana’s own.

“Made a good trip?” the First Gater asked.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Nothing slightly hard. The forest at the end was the biggest slowdown.”

“There’s a small section after Glacier that is tricky. I swear it’s the homeland of the Pumilus. There are hordes of them. But we have a pair with massive AOEs, so…”

“How’s the thing looking?”

“Everyone’s out hunting or practicing. I already picked my Meditation here. I had not tried to pick a skill in a long, long time,” Fontana said.

Absolute Meditation

Tier 1 Fortitude

Action

You can enter a state of meditation in any circumstance, clearing your mind and regenerating your powers.

Mind-affecting effects clear at an accelerated rate while you are meditating. Mental, magical, and physical energies recharge at an accelerated rate while you are meditating. Meditation is interrupted by any action taken and has a chance to break upon being the target of an ability.

Maximum meditation period: 68 sec

Cooldown: 303 sec

Vitals recovery: 17/sec

Mind debuff recovery: -17sec duration per second

Interrupt chance: 75%

Skill level 68 (base 5)

Advancement: 91%

“Got that one as well. The debuff clearing isn’t that useful so far…” Vantegaard said.

Fontana interrupted him.

“You haven’t been in some high-level areas. You’ll like it when you need it.”

He stopped his interruption and waved, “Go on.”

“No. That’s it. It’s also a great source of experience since even if you don’t expend vitals in combat, you can still use it,” Vantegaard added.

Fontana smiled.

“For once, I’m happy I never got a basic Meditation skill. Fortunato had purchased a Skill Stone for a tier three a year ago, and he ran the lottery here, hoping to get a better one. Instead, he got… Farsight. Not what he hoped for.”

Farsight

Tier 3 Perception

Passive/Continuous

If you can see it, you can recognize it.

Accurately identify people’s handles at a distance.

Maximum distance: 2.9 km

Skill level 29 (base 1)

Advancement: 0%

Vantegaard winced.

“He’ll get back some stats and level points out of it. It’s not a total waste. But yes, he wanted more out of a thirty-eight-level investment,” Fontana said.

The three co-leads went out, leaving the duo along with their successor for Fanduk.

“Long time no see,” Vantegaard said.

“I definitively did not expect to see you three again. Where’s Quandocor?”

“He’s not with us this time. He’s busy way up north with a different expedition.”

“Related to aliens?” Redcap asked.

Seeing them startle, he laughed.

“I had some advance warning when they started to organize this expedition, and then the First Gater explained stuff when he arrived.”

“How much did he tell you?”

They spent a few minutes filling in Redcap with the news.

“I had guessed it would have to be your expedition that found this so-called Pyramid next door. So the rest died in there?”

“Yes. And we were close to suffering the same fate, but we made it out.”

“After we got that warning, a few hotheads wanted to go and check. I posted warnings all over the town, reminding them that apparently it was full of elite rank 100, and no life insurance policy covers Northworld.”

All three briefly laughed.

“Hotheads everywhere.”

“Northworld attracts the type. I like adventure too, but at least I’m reasonable about the risks I take,” Redcap said.

“I didn’t quite anticipate those when we left. Things have changed.”

“They sure did. So you heard about the local attraction since the First Gater mentioned it.”

Both Vantegaard and Birkathane nodded.

“We call it Towerland now.”

“Towerland?”

Redcap brought out a large poster.

“That’s the local map. We have someone applying for the Cartographer local office, but that’s not validated yet.”

Vantegaard interrupted, “We’ve got Vastragal with us. She is the Alpha sector head and second-in-command Cartographer, and she can probably audition that guy.”

“Gal. She’s the one who updates that map,” he said, pointing out the poster.

“Oops.”

“No biggie. So, here’s Towerland. That’s now the semi-formal name for the area. There’s Fanduk’s tower, of course, but there are other ‘wizardry towers’ around. We have found three more so far.”

Vantegaard’s eyes bulged.

“Four? Wow.”

Redcap snorted in mirth.

“Sorcerer country, with all those meditating mages. Someone wanted to call this Recluce, but most people vetoed this.”

“Do they have leylines, too, like the one that ends here?”

“Now that you ask, I think they do. First, there’s this mirrored tower south, 20-40ish dungeon. Got the exact same floor plan both above and below ground. All elementals, and boy, do they come back fast. Geomancers say there are three minor leylines crossing just under the door into it.”

Vantegaard took out his notebook and took notes. He already knew what Geomancer Skills would be there since he’d checked the intersection’s combination back in Tarquar, but the location was good to know. Besides, three leylines had more potential.

So far, his hypothesis was that an intersection of three separate leylines was required for an Aether skill interference since that’s what he’d gotten at least three times at the stones of Fanduk, Tarquar, and the Earthen Keep. The three minor leylines would be particularly interesting since he could compare the effect with the Tarquar one.

“There’s a tower next to the eastern gorge up north. Two-day walk. It sits on the gorge’s leyline, but nothing else.”

Vantegaard added that mention, checking the location.

“The last is in ruins. It’s up north also, next to that slice of high-rank zone.”

Vantegaard had a smile.

“Don’t say that with the raid around. They can probably solo that area while flipping a coin on which skill they’ll use.”

Redcap laughed.

“So there you are. I noticed you were interested. Thinking of settling back here? Although I’m not giving you the job back.”

“Oh, no. It’s a bit early for long-term projects, and we haven’t really discussed it,” he said, looking at Birkathane.

“Cartographer stuff, then? Although with an agent in place…”

“Yes.”

He hesitated.

“You’ll probably hear about it soon, but Towerland isn’t the only place where the lottery can get you specific skills.”

“Uh… wait, you’re serious?”

“The Cartographers have or will be opening soon a service to find out where you can get Skills you could use. Meditation, but more. My job is to scout some of those possible places, and I’ll do that. But after the raid. The raid takes priority, of course.”

“No kidding. You asked about leylines… is there something about them?”

“It’s more complicated than that. But leylines are one indicator.”

Redcap looked back at his map before looking back at him. But Vantegaard didn’t elaborate.

“So… leylines. The only other place where we have a leyline knot, besides the floating Stones, is west. Geomancers say one major leyline is coming from the southwest and ending there, and two minors are ending as well, making it like a partial peace sign. There’s a kind of… crater there. Nothing looking special, but it’s full of critters, rank 35-ish.”

Vantegaard looked at the map, noting down the locations.

Vantegaard came out of the Tower mildly satisfied.

As he walked toward the Inn, he stopped and suddenly backtracked. Was this place… yes. That was his ‘old’ house, back when they all picked one. There was a small wooden plaque next to the door.

Moderbatus/Azraessia

So, two names? Given the shortage of houses, it made sense you’d get multiple people into the existing ones. So, roommates or more? For a while, Vantegaard debated on whether or not to knock. But the odds of them being around were low – most people went out to adventure or work on some crafting or another during the day. Plus, indulging in nostalgia wasn’t that nice.

He’d still ask around about those two.

He’d been looking after her for half an hour before finally finding Vastragal setting up a tent next to a group of raiders.

“I presume you heard…” he started.

“I’m lucky I managed to grind back enough points after that grove. So, yes, I ran the lottery.”

Life’s Lessons Meditation

Tier 2 Reasoning

Active, Channeled

Life is a journey, its reflections endless, its lessons enriching.

All vital energies recharge at an accelerated rate while you are meditating. Each successive meditation provides less benefit unless you rest. Meditation is interrupted if you move or take an action.

Maximum meditation period: 41 sec

Cooldown: 397 sec

Vitals recovery: 41/stack per sec

Add one stack of lessons for every use.

Remove one stack of lessons for every hour slept

Skill level 41 (base 1)

Advancement: 82%

“It’s an interesting one,” she said, adding, “Not as good as your tier ones, but good enough. All those Meditation skills will be a tremendous boost to the raid if everyone manages to pick one. I’m not even mad it’s now in the open.”

“I meant to ask, but locals we met weren’t aware that the locational interference was a thing. I thought we were supposed to launch the Build Map by now?” Vantegaard asked.

Vastragal made a face before shrugging.

“I’m not aware of any delays. It should be up. I’ll ask.”

“And I’ll add the Meditation to the base since I thought it was like Hyperborea. But it’s supposed to be all over the forums. How do we handle a location that’s out in the open?”

Her face scrunched before relaxing.

“I’ll ask the rest of the top how they want to do it. Put a note to refrain from including it for now.”

Vantegaard nodded back.

“Now, I believe Fontana has called for a general gathering in half an hour next to the Inn. I suggest we make our way there.”

The people milling in the space in front of Fanduk’s Inn were still a minor shock. Over sixty high-level Gaters, with all their best equipment gathered over years of adventuring, made for a rare spectacle for Northworld.

Birkathane made a beeline to Fontana. He, Vormacinus, and Palacio were conferring while waiting for everyone.

“Good, you’re there,” the First Gater immediately said. “Birkathane. You say this is about three days out?”

“Around three, maybe three and a half. It took us that long because we didn’t know what was ahead of the Expedition, so it should be fast, as we now know exactly what is there. There’s the 50+ area of critters west of Fanduk, for about two days, which you saw coming in. Then it’s a big 30-40ish forested area up to the Pyramid, which is in a huge clearing in the middle of that forest.”

“So, nothing particularly notable,” Vormacinus mused.

She shook her head in denegation.

“No. Even Van and I could probably cross that on our own these days. With that full raid, any critter won’t know what hits it.”

“Okay, everyone,” Fontana said.

He did not shout, but Presence and the First Gater status guaranteed everyone in front of the Inn went silent.

“We’re not far from the Pyramid. Three days. And we have no idea what awaits us there. It might be active and full of hostiles, it may be turned off. Regardless, we almost certainly will have to fight at one point because if it’s powered off, we will reactivate it to get at least the Five Gaters information.”

He raised his hands to shush the noise surging.

“However, there’s no reason why we should rush. We all traveled from far away for this, and we all have staggered Adaptation Sickness dates. There are three who are fresh from respawn since they came ahead along one of the new alpha-beta caravans, but the rest of us are all at various points. So, starting today, we are all going on Recess for eight days. That should purge the accumulated AS charge for everyone, even if you need less than that.”

He punctuated the words.

“Now, if you have recessed relatively recently, you may take a day or two around, but no more than that. I want everyone to spawn in exactly eight days, no matter how long you take for your Recess.”

He turned to Vormacinus, who was standing next to him.

“Vormacinus here will be co-lead for this raid. If you have questions and I’m not around, he can answer you. If he switches your role within the organization, he has the authority to do so.”

The wolf-cowled man advanced slightly and took over the briefing.

“Once we’re at the Pyramid, I want everyone operational for as long as possible. If you get hit by AS while we’re trying to crack it open, you’re not helping, and you’re out. If you can’t manage your recess like a newbie, you’re probably a threat to this raid.”

The man turned his head slowly, surveying the assembled Gaters.

“Eight full days, early in the morning. We head out at 10 am for the inevitable late ones. I hope you have run skills if you spawn later than that.”

Vantegaard turned to Birkathane, shaking his head.

“Even if he’s second in command, he’s still as pleasant.”

Jasper Hill let the Silvergate hit the ground before sweeping it up carefully. Erika pushed hers slightly with her foot before using a cloth to ensure it didn’t accidentally re-activate.

“Do you know if Henry is up?” he asked her.

“I doubt… here’s a note,” she replied, spotting the folded sheet with a paperweight on her living room table.

She quickly perused it and looked at the clock on the wall.

“He’s still on their fast rotation schedule, with nothing news except ‘Deva alcohol Valkyrie-bad’. He went back three days ago and apologizes.”

Jasper shrugged.

“We knew it could drift. Well, next Recess will be where we’ll have the real news.”

“I hope he’ll have some, too. But we’ll probably hear it secondhand by Com Globe.”