As soon as she finished speaking the word ‘park,’ a pillar of light flared in the distance, indicating the following location of our mission, and a bright yellow indicator appeared on the map.

[Mission: Speak to the Storyteller in the park to find 3 stories and save the Merchant]

“Thank you,” Sinbad told Jasmine, following his words up with a short, polite bow.

Like a lifeless puppet suddenly brought to life, she smiled and turned back toward him, her cheeks coloring with life. “Don’t you start that with me. You two are doing me a real favor, getting that husband of mine out of trouble,” she shook her head, ashamed, “A djinn of all beings….”

“We’ll do our best to save him,” he promised. I nodded, focused on observing the curious change in behavior the in-keep had displayed when interacting with me vs. my companion.

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” she said, “and so long as you keep your end, you’ll have a bed to sleep on and a plate to eat, besides.”

“Then we shall endeavor all the more.”

“Thank you. Now, you two better get going. The storyteller only spends a few hours in the morning before vanishing.”

We gave our goodbyes, and, as we exited the building, I pulled out my old small paper notebook I’d had stashed away, jotting down the odd behavior I’d noticed. I clicked the back of the pen rapidly as I thought. Was it related to the fragments or something else? My brain kept running through the other odd things I’d noticed, such as Sinbad’s inability to interact with the standard players. I frowned as the sunlight struck my face, warming it.

The smell of baked goods and merchant wares struck my nose, and the sound of a bustling street battered against my ears, doubled by the ongoing chatter of the open area chat, that allowed anyone in the same room, or area, to use voice chat to speak to each other. It was too much. I quickly navigated back to the menu and turned off the voice chatter. Instantly, most of the noise vanished.

“...Hayden?”

I turned to face the voice, meeting Sinbad’s worried face. “I had to silence the chat.”

He nodded as if he understood. “My men often used to speak over each other on our radio. It makes it hard to focus. Still, you look troubled. Daric, for your thoughts?”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Did you notice how differently the in-keep acted around you?”

Sinbad blinked once, slowly, and tilted his head as he considered. “I hadn’t.”

“It was odd. Almost as if she were just a non-player character to me, but she acted human to you,” I explained, now able to put the crux of the matter into words. “And then there’s the fact that you haven’t been noticing the typical players around but were able to speak to me, Black Cat, and White Owl.”

We fell into contemplative silence as we passed merchants selling food and other wares, walking through players as we navigated our way through the touristy area of the city and toward the park in the center.

As we reached the arch that separated the merchant’s area from the residential streets, a notification appeared out of the corner of my eye. I paused in my steps, Sinbad watching curiously.

“A message,” I explained, as I reached a finger out to tap on it.

Another blue box filled my vision.

[Cove Doyle has accepted your friend request.]

[Cove Doyle has sent you a message.]

[Cove Doyle: I was worried you and Ani would be stuck when you let go. Glad you made it. Where are you?]

[Hayden McCarthy: I’m with Sinbad in Al-Azmehr, completing the Merchant’s Quest. We will have two days left until we can finish it. You?]

Cove took a few moments to respond.

[Cove Doyle: Samarakand. I’ve been questing for money and searching for any sign of a fragment. Haven’t found anything puzzling yet.]

Samarkand was the capital city of the Black Islands and was the largest by far. It was also the most tumultuous city, as the queen, Shahrazad, was planning and developing a cou against her cruel husband even as we walked, using her friendly nature to speak to the slaves and showing kindness where her husband never did, easily swaying their loyalties. As the mamluks were the military, it was a smart move, ensuring no arms would be raised against her when the time came.

It was also only half a day's journey by ship and was where Sinbad’s companions were imprisoned. An odd coincidence, that our separated companions would all end up in the same area.

[Hayden McCarthy: I’ve discovered a few things, but it will be easier to speak in person. Sinbad and I were planning to head to Samarkand in a few days, so we’ll meet you there.]

It was the easiest solution to our problems, as we’d need a ship and Sinbad’s crew to get very far. There were merchant ships for hire, of course, but they didn’t have the variability that Sinbad did.

[Cove Doyle: 👍]

I was tempted to see what he’d think of Sinbad’s bizarre interactions with the inkeep, and lack of interactions with the players, but I wasn’t quite sure it was something that could be properly understood without seeing it in action himself. Or if we’d be able to understand it at all.

“He’s in Samarkand,” I told Sinbad, ducking out of the sun underneath a canopy to dig through a potion seller’s wares.

I’d used some of my stock during the dungeon training session yesterday, and was wary of being too low on potions. I spent about half of my mony on the potions, planning to use the rest of what I had, and some of the money we earned form the Merchant’s quest, to buy myself some better equipment later. Ani sat perched on my shoulder, his tail flicking against my back as he watched.

Sinbad followed my lead, sticking a few vials of potions and ethers into his pockets, where they disappeared into his inventory.

The storyteller wasn’t difficult to find. Even if the pillar of light that died down around him as we approached hadn’t been a clue, the crowd of players surrounding him would have been more than enough to give his location away.

A black hood covered his face, masking him completely. The Storyteller was a man of mystery who spent his time collecting and exchanging stories from across the Black Isles. For children, the gifts of his stories were free. For players, he’d usually require a task.