As Faelyn began looking through the rewards for the dungeon he had cleared, he received a message via his text to speech program. “So, what are your thoughts on the new system here? Have you used it enough to get an idea of whether you like it more or less than ours?”
“I think so, yeah.” Faelyn responded. “I think I like it more, but I can’t help but feel like it’s missing something, you know? Everything in our old system felt so…tight, there was no wasted space whatsoever, on any screen, but there are a few things in this system that seem superfluous. For instance, what’s the point of the ‘Race’ part of the main status window? No one’s seen a way to change someone’s race, so why bother showing us what it is?
“It’s like I keep telling you guys; there’s something that this ‘game’ isn’t telling us, and I’m sure it’s got something to do with the whole Hearth situation. Which, speaking of, I was actually going to get into today! Aleister discovered a lead, and the six of us are going to get together and go check it out! You can follow us to the meeting point, but just be aware that it looks like we’ll be heading to an area that needs the quest to be accessed, so you’re not going to be able to check it out with us.”
His chat sped up dramatically as his viewers reacted to the news with enthusiasm. He gave them his trademark winning smile, then finished tallying up his loot and used the dungeon’s exit to teleport outside. “We’re supposed to meet up in a couple of hours, and we’re going to need to start heading over now. Fortunately, I already have a route in mind, anyone have any guesses?”
Guesses started rolling in, and it seemed that the chat had a pretty good idea of what he intended. “That’s right, we’re doing a little hill surfing! In my off-stream grinding, I made sure to get my Skills with the relevant magic up to point where it’s possible, just for this! I just got back to the point where I’m comfortable with it, so I made sure to pick a dungeon up in the mountains so we’d get to have some fun on the way down!”
Hill surfing was one of the things that had made his channel famous; it was a risky activity where he used a spell to create some small coverings of force under his feet, then used another to lift himself an inch or so off of the ground and manipulate gravity, allowing him to zoom across hills at a frightening speed.
It was risky for a multitude of reasons. You needed to be extremely aware of the terrain and any minor changes that might upset your balance, know how to manipulate your magic so gravity was increased going down hills and decreased going up them, keep careful track of your Mana so you were never too low in case of a monster attack, have excellent balance and the reflexes to catch yourself if you did fall…it was tough, but incredibly rewarding.
And that difficulty is why it had been so integral to his channel’s growth; very few people could pull it off, and most of them weren’t streaming. It had made his channel stand out from all the others, and once he had grabbed the attention of his viewers, he had made sure to use his charisma to keep them all there.
He double-checked his heading, then took off, soaring down the mountainside at breakneck speed. He bantered with chat as he surfed, doing his best not to show how hard he was concentrating on the task. His long-time viewers would know that he was more distracted than usual, of course, but the influx of new people watching him for World Saviors probably had no clue, and that was what mattered. His brand was built on doing this sort of ting effortlessly, and he couldn’t afford to let his image slip in a crucial moment like this.
The time practically flew by, and he was soon making his entrance to the town he’d be meeting his party in, a gaggle of awestruck onlookers watching as he slid to a stop in front of the gate. “I’m a Player looking for the church of Hearth here,” he told the guard, “could you point me in the right direction?”
The guard nodded. “Head down Main Street, take the third left, then follow that road for a while and you’ll see the signs for it on your right. And, though you don’t seem the type, I am duty-bound to remind you not to make trouble in town; if you do, your system will temporarily strip you of your power and allow us to enforce punishment proportional to your crimes.”
“I won’t, officer.” Faelyn promised. “Thanks for your help.”
“Of course.”
Faelyn entered the city, and began making his way down Main Street. It was a fairly small town, small enough that there wasn’t even a traffic light before the turn off of main street, and Faelyn found himself smiling as he walked through it. He loved towns like this, and was happy to see that there were still some with the same vibe, even on another plane.
He found large cities stifling, the huge crowds and clogged streets giving him a sense of…distance, both from nature and, paradoxically, from other people. In crowds he was surrounded by so many people, but they were distant, no one paying anyone else even a moment of attention as they passed by.
In towns like this, the streets were empty enough that you often met eyes with other pedestrians, and the atmosphere was more personal, more grounded in reality. The people living in these towns often had a strong sense of community, relying on each other to help defend themselves from monster attacks and other disasters.
He soon reached the church of Hearth, and, like most of her churches, it was a large, simple building. Churches of Hearth often served as centers of the community, and their architecture reflected it. They needed to be big so that community events such as plays, concerts, charity auctions, and the like could be held there, and Hearth herself had made it clear that she preferred her churches plain and unassuming. Even if someone didn’t worship her specifically, she wanted them to feel welcome.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
He paused at the entrance, turning to face the few people who had made it to this town in time to greet him. “While I can’t stop you from doing anything, I’d ask that you not follow me into the church. This is a holy place, and I don’t want to invite chaos into it. Please, be content just watching the stream.”
Fortunately, his fans were generally pretty well-behaved, so no one followed him as he went into the church. The inside was much the same as what he had expected; plain and functional, and as he navigated his way through the halls, he couldn’t help but think of how similar it was to the churches of Hearth on Lim. It seemed that, even across planes, some things didn’t change.
He reached the room they had designated as their meeting room, and knocked on the door. A moment later, High Priest Luden opened the door, smiling at Faelyn. “Ah, Faelyn, come in.”
Faelyn stepped inside, where Aleister, the foxkin mage that had found this lead, and a middle-aged human woman were sat around a table. “I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.” Faelyn said, walking over to the woman and extending his hand. “I’m Faelyn, a Player from the plane Lim.”
The woman rose from her seat and shook his hand. “Evelyn, I’m the priest for this chapter of Hearth’s church. I understand that you’re here on a quest for my goddess?”
“He’s actually the first person I scouted.” Luden said, walking over and taking a seat at the table. “He introduced me to the rest of the people in this group of the quest.”
“This group?” Faelyn asked, sitting down next to Aleister and giving his friend a nod. “I assume others have this quest too, then? I had thought it would be slightly odd if our plane was the only one getting it.”
“It would appear that the High Priests of every plane got one.” Luden confirmed. “Even this one.”
“Even this one?” Faelyn asked, raising an eyebrow. “How does that work?”
“It’s manifested a little differently than it has for Players.” Evelyn explained. “Our job here is to assist the Players in their goals, and, once all of the quests have concluded, to disseminate the information learned to the populace of this plane.”
There was another knock at the door, and Luden got up to get it once again. “I see.” Faelyn said. “While I have you here, would you mind answering a couple of questions I have?”
“Of course.” Evelyn said. “That is my duty.”
A large bearkin woman, the party’s go-to rogue, Isadora, sat down next to Faelyn. “I’m Isadora.” She said. “Please, continue.”
“Evelyn, priest for this chapter of the Church of Hearth. Pleasure to meet you.” Evelyn said, holding out her hand for a handshake.
Isadora accepted a moment later, and when Faelyn was satisfied that the two had made their introductions, he turned back to Evelyn. “How did the gods handle telling this plane about all of…you know, this?”
“They sent out messages to the heads of their religions, and told them to prepare the populace.” Evelyn explained. “It was chaotic, as I’m sure you can imagine, but we managed to get things more or less prepared in time.”
Faelyn nodded. “As arrogant as this may sound, I have a rather sizeable following of people playing this ‘game’, and some sway in the community. I was hoping to be able to relay any words you had for the Players to them. Don’t hold back, with criticism, either; I’d like to help make sure the Players are as positive a force as possible for this plane.”
Evelyn gave him a thoughtful look. “I would just ask that you, as Players, treat this world with respect. The gods may have chosen to market this venture as a game to you, but our lives are no less real than your own.”
There was yet another knock at the door, and Faelyn nodded gravely as Luden went to answer it. “I couldn’t agree more.” Faelyn said.
Their tank, a human man named Marley, was the next to join them. “I’m Marley.” He said gruffly, sticking out a hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Evelyn, priest for this chapter of Hearth’s church.” Evelyn said, shaking it. “I was just answering some of Faelyn’s questions before we started.”
“I only have one more, and feel free to not answer this one if you don’t want to.” Faelyn said. “But…do you think anything about this situation is…off?”
Evelyn frowned. “I’m not sure I follow.” She said. “Explain.”
“Well…this whole time, I can’t help but feel that we haven’t been given the whole picture.” Faelyn said. “There are a bunch of little things that don’t add up to me, and this quest is the biggest one. I don’t know how much information you’ve been given about this whole situation, but in the promotional material for World Saviors, Hearth was always portrayed as vehemently opposed to this ‘swarm’ that we’re going to fight.
“Yet, the quest specifically states that she’s unhappy with how the promotional material portrayed her. That can only mean that there’s something we weren’t told, and…well, this whole thing doesn’t feel like how the gods would normally deal with a situation like this. Usually, it would be a matter of summoning Heroes or empowering mortals on the plane itself, not…calling forth billions of people from other planes.”
There was one last knock on the door as Evelyn leaned back, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Now that you mention it, you’re right.” She said. “I’ve been so involved with preparing this town that I haven’t stopped to think about it. And…the churches of a lot of the gods have been mostly silent on the matter.”
“I’m not sure exactly what you’re talking about, but I think I can guess.” The last of their group, a centaur mage by the name of Donovan, said as he walked up to them and stuck out his hand. “I’m Donovan, by the way. Can I assume you’re the priest for this church?”
Evelyn nodded, shaking the hand. “Yes, my name’s Evelyn. I’m curious, though; what do you think we’ve been talking about?”
“How suspicious this whole thing is.” Donovan replied. “I’m going to be totally honest here, I think a not-insignificant number of the gods approve of the swarm. If that wasn’t the case, there wouldn’t be a need for this roundabout ‘game’, they would have just stopped the swarm themselves. If the marketing is right, then it’s a threat that would warrant their intervention.”
There was a short pause, then Evelyn shook her head. “I’ll have to think on this later.” She said. “For now, I’d like to relay my goddess’s task for you.”
“Please do.” Aleister said.
Evelyn reached down into a bag at her side and pulled out a small orb. “For some time, this town has been plagued by a flock of wyverns. They’ve been making a nuisance of themselves, but they’ve yet to kill anyone, so the government refuses to send an extermination squad. This orb will point you to their nest; follow it and slay the wyverns, and it will take you to Hearth’s Trial.”
“That’s it?” Faelyn asked, blinking in surprise.
“I’m not particularly surprised.” Luden mused. “My goddess wants this information released, and this both serves a community and allows relatively easy access to her trial. One of the many reasons I called for you and your friends specifically was in case finding the trial would be more complicated than I had hoped, but I’m happy to see that my judgement was not wrong and it was easy to find.”
“Well, this saves us a not insignificant deal of time, so I’m all for it.” Donovan said. “Let’s go slay some wyverns.”