Orleana. Day 03.

A great levee encircled Orleana in a massive, tall crescent that extended over a half mile into the ocean on either side. It was an engineering marvel that one could see from almost any rooftop. As one got closer to the port, the stone pathway and uninhabited towers, pristine and untouched unlike Araedi’s, gave way to a massive network of multistory boardwalks which connected multiple levels of buildings built atop one another. The port itself was more like a city built atop of a city built atop of another city.

Saiph’s favorite part of the city were the aqueducts and pipework that threaded through the boardwalk. The aqueducts worked to divert flood waters around the city and the pipes carried magically replenishing natural gas to power the city’s array of gas lamps.

Parts of Orleana had changed from how he’d remembered it in the game. The major difference was the size; there was much more to see than the game had shown. But Saiph’s memory still fared well in guiding him and Nix from Orleana’s guildhall to The Brotherhood of Pirates’ capital ship, The Pride of Orleana.

The Pride was a massive ship of the line with three stories above the water and three masts that made up over half her imposing height. Her black and maroon sails were furled, but two massive fore and aft flags proudly displayed The Brotherhood's crest. It was the same crest Saiph and Will had designed nearly ten years ago; a bust of a skeleton wearing a pirate hat with arms crossed at the chest. The right hand held a sword and the left, a flintlock pistol.

Two women stood upon the Pride’s gang plank waiting for Saiph and Nix. One of them; tall and slender, draped in a black and violet capelet that ended just passed her hips. The cape hid a black and silver swallowtail coat and Saiph counted at least twelve bladed holstered across her person.

“Hello, Isaac! Aren't you a sore-eyed sight! It's been too long!” Kamila lowered her parasol and embraced Saiph in a hug. She pulled away to introduce the woman beside her. “This is Clarke, steward of the Pride. She's the one running the show when we aren't around.”

Clarke smiled and extended a hand, clasping Saiph’s wrist as he did hers. She was about Kamila’s height and wore a red duster with gold buttons draped over her shoulders like a cape.

“It's a pleasure to meet a former guild member, and one of her founders, no less.” Clarke spoke with an accent that Saiph would have associated with Ireland if it existed in this world. Not the stereotypical one most Americans knew, but a bit softer.

“The pleasure's mine,” Saiph returned. He still wasn't quite sure how to take his fame in this world. He turned to Kamila. “I'm sorry for not doing a better job of keeping in touch. I promise I'll do better from now on.”

“The best friendships are those that can be picked up exactly where they left off.” Kamila pulled her parasol back over her head. “But come, let's take this inside. Even with the sun so low in the sky, it still hurts.”

There were burns and reddened areas on the exposed bits of Kamila’s skin, the hallmark signs of a vampire. Even glancing at the ground, Saiph could see she didn’t cast a shadow.

Kamila led them up into the belly of the Pride where they entered a room with a swarthy-looking man… no, cat, who was hunched over a table, his orange and white tail swishing back and forth. He'd been carrying on a conversation with someone, but there wasn't anyone else in the room. Only an owl that had been perched on his shoulder that flew to land on Kamila’s. She patted it on the head.

“What are you looking at, Will? Saiph asked.

Will-I-Am spun around, his green cat eyes lighting up with excitement. “They're maps. I wanted to talk about this when you got here. My guild is setting up an expedition. Come take a look.”

The maps showed the coast of Rielle, white paper had been placed next to it and hand drawn islands added to it south west of the coastline. Saiph knew those islands. Any player who spent even a modest amount of time in Orleana knew them.

“You're sure that's them?” Saiph asked.

The owl on Kamila’s shoulder suddenly spoke. “Absolutely. We've been working with the crew to narrow down their positions. No one can know for sure as no ship that's ever gone that way has returned. But we're pretty sure that's where we'll find Raine’s Islands.”

Saiph knew that talking owl. And sure enough, focusing on the bird revealed it was actually Quark, a level one hundred Druid-Pirate. He had taken the form of one of his two familiars, a spell all Druids had.

Quark flew to the open seat beside Will and his form was replaced by that of a thin man with dark skin and a messy head of salt and pepper hair with a matching goatee. His skin carried the same black and white mottling his owl form’s feathers had.

Will looked to Saiph and Nix. “You’re both more than welcome to join us. You might lead another guild, but you’ll always be among the Brotherhood and this is our quest.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Saiph glanced at Nix, who was quietly studying Will’s map. One of the developments of that dungeon crawl the pair had done the previous day was Nix’s summon, the very same Captain Raine von Alder the islands the Brotherhood wanted to travel to was named after, had told him in no uncertain words that summoned beings willingly came to the aid of their summoner and breaking her moral code would stop her from answering Nix’s call. Going to those islands and stealing her buried treasure there might be one such violation, especially given how angry she’d been when Nix had used a sword she recognized. And now Saiph wondered if that would extend by association with the Brotherhood even if Nix didn’t participate.

Nix looked up and shook his head. “You’ll have to count me out.”

“Me, too,” Saiph said after a pause. He glanced over at Nix who returned his stare with a small nod.

“Why come?” Will asked. “This is only the biggest monster hunting quest in all of Annwyn Online!”

“Because I’m assuming you’ll probably want to take her treasure and I can’t help you with that,” Nix answered.

“She’s been dead for over five hundred years, I don’t think she’ll mind.” Will waved a dismissive paw. “Besides, it’s not even really about the treasure. We want the monster guarding those islands, Avanyu.”

“Actually, she might. One of my summons is the Captain Raine von Alder.” Nix told the group about how he’d summoned a sword in the firestone mine dungeon and the anger Raine had regarding it. “I still don’t fully understand it. It wasn’t a particularly strong weapon. The gear we players have access to is significantly stronger.”

“Have you tried explaining that to her?” Will asked. “Maybe what she thought was strong back then just isn’t today. Five hundred years is a long time.”

“And I’m sure if she knew the destruction Avanyu had caused in all that time since her death, she’d be more than willing to help us,” Quark added.

Nix sighed and pulled out his grimoire. “Ask her yourself.”

The Sword Princess appeared in her tattered black pirate coat with rusted green chainmail underneath, the ugly wound in her chest where her heart was had an eeriness to it. She looked around the room, then locked eyes with Nix.

“I assume this isn’t a summon for battle?” Raine sheathed her sword.

“No, they wanted to ask you a question,” Nix answered, gesturing to Will and Quark.

Quark stepped forward. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Captain Raine von Alder. I am Quark, the lore historian for our guild, the Brotherhood of Pirates.”

Saiph wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw Raine’s eyes shift to Nix for the briefest moment.

She still politely accepted the offered hand and the two shook. “The pleasure is mine, Sir Historian. But you should know that I gave up piracy near the end of my life.”

Quark raised his hands in a placating gesture. “That is just our guild’s name. We are not marauders. The only treasure we seek is that which we recover off shipwrecks off the coast. Which, by maritime law, is ours to claim as the finders. But we are much more than treasure hunters. Our guild maintains the largest fleet on the continent and we regularly patrol the coasts to keep them safe from sea monsters.”

“And you want my help in finding the treasure legend says I’ve hidden on the islands bearing my name?” Raine shook her head, not with anger, but resignation. “You waste your time in that endeavor. The legend is just that, legend. I was killed by my mutinous crew and they no doubt spent or lost that treasure in the five hundred and twenty-three years since.”

Clarke stood suddenly. “Whether or not you choose to acknowledge the existence of your treasure is your own business. We aren’t after it, we want the sea monster Avanyu.”

The mention of that name got a reaction from the normally stoic Raine. Her face darkened and there was just the briefest hint of defeat as she spoke, “You are confused. Avanyu was the man who led the mutiny against me. A monster he may have been to me, but I assure you he was still just a man.”

“The sailors call the beast who patrols your islands Avanyu. A sea monster who has sunk hundreds, if not thousands of ships in the years since the end of the Age of Sail. My parents among them. Even myself and my uncle were attacked coming here from Moirasland by airship. We were saved only by random luck that he—” Clarke pointed at Will. “—and his ship were nearby. We were attacked hundreds of miles from your islands. And I know my parents would have followed the same route we took.”

“I am sorry for the loss of your parents, but that isn’t possible. The sea monster guards not the treasure you think you seek, but something far more dangerous. He is bound to the islands and can’t travel far from them. Do not go after him or those islands,” Raine said, finally acknowledging the existence of the sea monster.

Quark frowned at Raine. “Something more dangerous than a sea monster that’s already claimed thousands of lives already?”

“Far worse. I swore an oath upon my soul that I would not allow anyone near those islands. Avanyu may have mutinied and killed me, but he still serves me in the end.” Raine undid the uppermost button on her shirt and pulled out a necklace. It was a small silver oval with a black circle in the center. “You would be wise to leave those islands alone.”

Saiph stood sharply. He recognized that necklace, but it really couldn’t be the same thing. “Where did you get that necklace?”

Raine tucked it back inside her shirt. “It was a gift from a friend. Why?”

“Remember the other day when we told you we aren’t from here? Your necklace bears the same logo as the one belonging to the group I’m pretty sure brought us here.” Saiph pulled his bag of holding from its space near the small of his back and rifled through it. He pulled a book, the player’s guide, from it.

There was no mistaking it, Sonnet Entertainment’s logo was the very same one as the design on Raine’s necklace. Saiph slid the book over to Raine who picked it up and flipped through its pages.

Saiph had read the guide hundreds, if not thousands of times. It contained a very basic overview of all the races and classes available for players to choose in Annwyn Online when designing their character. It also contained information about the three new player starting cities, Araedi, Delphianna, and Orleana.

Raine set the book down. “I would speak to Nix and Nix alone.”

Will waved a paw. “You may use my quarters. Clarke, could you take them?”

Clarke nodded and led Nix and Raine out of the room.