When Gracie told Jace the Silver Dragon belonged to Captain Cloudspark, his half-orc face broadened into a big smile.
{Not counting the dozen or so actual silver dragons in the game,} she continued, {several inns and taverns have this name throughout the realms, so when I was looking for information, I had to sort through many things that didn’t apply. But now that I know where you are . . .}
“No way!” Wallace suddenly shouted from across the table, slamming her strong hand down on the wood. “No one is that lucky.” Jace watched her eyes refocus on their surroundings and guessed correctly that she had been talking with her operator. The shaman also saw the eyes of several patrons focus on them, wondering why anyone would be bold enough to make an outburst like that after the display of lightning they had just seen.
Jace knew Wallace’s older brother, her operator, had undoubtedly been telling her the same information Jace had just gotten. “This place belongs to the very pirate Psycho is going after?” she directed the rhetorical question at Jace. “Don’t tell me you didn’t plan this.”
“I didn’t,” he said.
“I don’t believe you. This game is too big for coincidences like this. I’m supposed to believe you picked a random quest from the Aden Clan, and it just so happened to line up with a completely different mission your other companions are doing?” Wallace now noticed her outburst garnered attention and toned it down a notch. “So we steal the Eye of the Storm from Cloudspark’s stronghold, making him weaker and allowing your people to defeat him at sea?”
“My god works in mysterious ways.”
“Cut the bull, Jace. Gods don’t work like that, at least not in this world. I have a god too. He lets me hit spirits and do extra damage against skeletons. You want me to believe that your god reshapes the very fabric of this game, creating modules out of thin air just to satisfy any whim you might have?”
“You're being a bit hyperbolic,” Jace said. “It isn’t as crazy as you’re implying. Yes, I stumbled upon this, but it makes perfect sense. The Aden Clan needs Cloudspark removed from the seas. That will be part of their pitch to King Neptudah. Thus, it makes sense that the quest they want to be completed the most is the one that weakens the storm mage.”
Wallace simmered and said nothing as a waitress set drinks on their table. Esther looked jealously at the low-cut top and ample cleavage of the woman and then down at her conservative clothes. Thursa’s eyes, however, never left Esther. When the rogue noticed, she smiled. Wallace didn’t pay either of them any attention and continued with Jace once the server was out of earshot.
“I suppose, but it still feels like you are cheating.”
Jace knew that was the sentiment the rest of the game had regarding his success. He liked to think he had earned everything he had but understood the mistrust. “I can only tell you what I know. I didn’t plan this, but I need to incorporate it now. So, please let me continue my conversation with Gracie. Order your famished bear-man something to eat. Esther probably wants pancakes.”
“I like meat now,” Esther responded, but Jace was already returning to his operator.
{She’s not wrong,} Gracie defended the 14-year-old player. {It is awfully coincidental.} When Jace didn’t respond, she continued. {Anyway, this stronghold is only a month old. My guess is that Cloudspark defeated the last player who had the Eye of the Storm, and instead of resetting the artifact in its original module, Gandhi decided to turn him into a more prominent part of the game.}
Jace watched the rest of his table argue over the menu as Gracie continued. {The Silver Dragon is now the best place to become a pirate or pirate hunter. Cloudspark will hire players to go on mini-quests for him. Most of them take you out to sea, and players can learn how to navigate, conduct battle on the open ocean, and what kind of riches can be found by plundering ships.}
A thought struck Jace. “Will there be players with Cloudspark when he attacks Psycho’s group?”
{No, I don’t think so. That is a separate module, an unsolved SIM, meaning multiple players could fight Cloudspark simultaneously. The captain can be in two places at once, but players can’t. No, if you sign on with him, he sends you off on entirely different missions. There aren’t any walkthroughs yet. Everything I can find is hidden within public chats. People keep arguing about the best way to get into his service. Until a consensus arises, no one will risk their reputation by putting together a public strategy guide.}
“Makes sense.”
{But what I can tell, is that if you do enough missions for him, he eventually sends you off on more of a campaign-style quest where you are the captain and need to accomplish multiple tasks. If you come back victorious, you get to keep the ship, and a percentage of your gold from then on goes to Cloudspark. You don’t have to be a pirate at that point, and you could just sail around as a merchant, but it looks like the cheapest way to get your own ship and crew.}
“That’s great. Does it say anything about the Eye? We need to know where it is and what kind of security it has.”
{“The Eye of the Storm” isn’t mentioned by name,} she said. {If it were, the whole game would know where it was. My guess is that several people do know it is here and are keeping it secret until they get their own ship. Maybe they think they can outsmart Cloudspark and get it for themselves. People tend only to publicize information once they know they can’t benefit from the secret. What I do see are some strangely worded quests that can performed in and around this stronghold. Sort of like maintenance tasks players can do for Cloudspark before they risk life and limb on the high seas.}
“Strangely worded quests?” Jace asked.
{Yes. They are things like “Bite the Ear,” “Talk to the Hand,” and “Feed the Eye.” Because they are grouped together, nothing stands out. But “Feed the Eye” might be about supplying the Eye of the Storm with magical energy so it can power Cloudspark’s spells. It’s a long shot, but if Dexmachi is as powerful as you say, it is probably what you are looking for.}
“Good.” Jace looked around the table as the waitress set the food before them. “Any update on Psycho’s crew?”
Gracie paused as she reached out to Gromphy. {They just finished their tour of the ship. The pirates shouldn’t attack them until nightfall. They still have an hour or more.}
Jace nodded and turned his attention to the other characters at the table. “Eat up, guys,” he said, picking up a pork rib to test the flavor. “When you're done, we are going to become pirates.”
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“So, you want to become a pirate.”
Jace looked at the enthusiastic man who might have been the old gatekeeper’s brother from Jade Island. He had the same stooped, aged posture with a long white beard. He also had an eye patch, peg leg, a hook for one hand, and a parrot on his shoulder. “Awk, want to be a pirate, want to be a pirate!” the bird said.
Jace dared not look at Wallace, knowing the player was likely rolling her eyes at the over-the-top presentation. Jace thought it was corny too but went with it. He leaned his hands on the bar top that separated them. “Yes, we do. We are willing to help Captain Cloudspark in any way we can.”
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Their meal had been brief, and under Gracie’s guidance, Jace had led his group through a back exit to a smaller gathering area that looked out over the docks. The sun was fast setting, and dockhands lit lanterns along the boardwalk. A few other players sat at tables drinking ale and waiting their turn to go on a mission. It looked like a small tavern, with the old man as the bartender and a single maid serving drinks.
Jace was glad his group was in disguise as he saw most of the players gathered here scrutinize everyone who walked into the waiting room and talked in hushed tones with their operators. Jace tried to make his half-orc fighter look as NPCish as possible, wearing standard chainmail with a shield and axe hanging from his belt. Wallace was obviously a player, and Esther was a mystery. Only Thursa could be recognizable, as Wallace had cracked that module a little over a week ago, though the druid was usually killed in that quest, and few people would recognize him in human form. Anyone paying attention to the group would be surprised to see it was the half-orc who approached the man behind the counter when their turn arrived.
“You sure are an advanced group,” the man continued. “Perhaps you would like to choose from our more challenging quests.” He didn’t list them verbally and instead presented Jace with a menu option similar to when he had selected his quest to enter Jade Island. Each choice had a difficulty rating and a time estimate. Jace saw several of the oddly worded quests Gracie had mentioned, and, down at the bottom, he saw the most difficult one was “Feed the Eye.” It had a four-hour estimate by it.
“We would like to Feed the Eye,” Jace said.
The old man nodded. “I do not recommend that quest, but it is your decision.” A robbed man with a clean-cut black goatee suddenly entered through a side door behind the counter, and a gap in the bar appeared. He was level 16 and a mage by his dress. “Follow Elroy up the tower, and he will give you directions,” the older man advised.
Jace nodded and led his group after the silent mage through a back exit and up a winding set of stairs. At each landing, two armed level 15 guards stood flanking a door leading back into the building. After the fourth floor, doors no longer appeared as they ascended above the main structure, and Jace was pretty sure they were climbing the lighthouse tower.
The spiral staircase lacked a view to the outside, so his hunch wasn’t proven correct until they emptied into a large, circular room with windows around the circumference. Half the openings were open air with metal bars, allowing a salty breeze to pass through the space, while the other half was covered in stained glass, casting colorful rays about the room in the last light of the setting sun.
They had climbed over 100 feet above the ground, and as Jace peered through the bars of the closest window, the ships below were reduced to the size of toys as tiny figures scrambled about them. Jace grew dizzy as he looked and turned his attention to the circular room.
The floor had a mosaic tile with a five-pointed star stretching over the room’s 30-foot diameter. Armored knights stood along the outer wall, one at each point. Jace couldn’t tell if the metal suits were empty and shuddered to think they weren’t as each iron statue stood eight feet tall, holding a massive two-handed sword vertically in front of them.
In the room’s center, nestled inside the pentagram the star-shaped tiles created, stood a wide stone pedestal rising five feet from the floor and narrowing to only two feet in diameter. Cradled within a five-pronged silver nest lay a fabulous orb. It reminded Jace of the crystal ball used by Saruman in the Lord of the Rings, a transparent sphere with a raging storm in the center. Currently, it sat underneath a glowing force shield dome.
“This is the Eye,” the wizard Elroy said. “It augments our captain’s power and must be fed to maintain its potency.” He walked toward the room’s center and reached out to the pedestal. Laying on the stone, encircling the five prongs, was a metal ring with five colorful gems. Elroy picked it up, and the protective dome disappeared. This was the time to steal the Eye, but Jace wasn’t ready and waited for more information. The silver ring was 18 inches across with sockets for five gems. “A storm is comprised of wind, rain, lightning, heat, and cold. These elements must be harvested from the mountains of this island and fed to the Eye. We have a supply in place,” he motioned to his left, where a wooden shelf stood between two of the motionless racks, “but we are running low and have few volunteers to collect the power.” He replaced the silver circle, and the force shield reappeared.
Jace and Wallace walked over to the shelf. They found several rings, one already loaded with five vibrant stones and a few without. They also found a bin of empty crystals and several wands designed to hold the gems.
“Take five stones and five wands,” Elroy directed. “Go into the mountains and return only when you have harvested the required energy. Be careful. It is a dangerous journey. These elements are guarded, and the spirits within the mountains do not relinquish their power lightly.” He paused. “Do you have any questions? I will answer anything you might ask.”
“Can we use magic to fill them?” Jace asked. He could produce lightning at will.
Elroy shook his head. “No. The energy must be natural in origin and harvested from this island. The elements here all share the same signature and can easily be melded together.”
“We will do as you say,” Jace said, taking the needed items. “Can you guide us on our way?” He didn’t look forward to walking back down the tower and wanted to save as much time as possible.
The wizard nodded. “I can place you at the foot of the mountain. The rest is up to you. Do you need anything before you go?” Jace shook his head. “Very well.”
The four characters vanished from the room.
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Jace and his friends appeared at the start of a long trail winding between tall trees and leading up into the mountains. They were entering a Level 15 Hostile Zone. Jace looked over his shoulder toward the village in the distance, the tall lighthouse barely visible above the tree line. They had been transported at least a mile, hopefully knocking off some of the estimated 4-hours. He needed to reduce it further.
“Talk to me about this quest,” Jace said, leading his group along the trail into a growing darkness.
{Like I said before,} Gracie advised. {There are no walkthroughs yet. I found a post where two players discussed what they had experienced. And their accounts differ. What I can gather is that each element is guarded by one of five defenses, and they seem to rotate. Sometimes, the actual element will assault you, like fire or wind. Or you can be attacked, either by one powerful foe or several minions. In each account, a warlock or witch confronted the players, tempting them with access to the power. Both players said they turned down the offer, fearing a trap. Lastly, the environment can attack you like a cave-in or avalanche. Each player experienced one of these but always associated with different elements.}
“I can not see very well.”
Jace turned at the interruption to see Thursa squinting in the darkness.
“May I take off my shirt?” the druid asked.
“How is that going to help you see?” Jace asked.
“It will improve what I can see,” Esther replied. As a vampire, she operated fine in the dark. Jace was an orc and had similar benefits. Wallace and Thursa were human and didn’t have natural low-light vision.
The shapeshifter didn’t answer the question verbally and removed his shirt to store it in his inventory. A round later, he had morphed into a black bear, his pants also disappearing. His eyes glowed with a strange light in this new form, and Jace understood.
“If he can change. . .” Esther said, following suit. Her transformation was instantaneous as she switched outfits to her shadow armor and skirt, her rapiers hanging from her belt.
Wallace also adjusted, pulling her vorpal sword and casting a light spell. Now, the humans could see, which was good because Jace planned to split them up.
“We need to tackle these tasks separately,” Jace said as Gracie filled him in on the specifics in his head. Jace affixed a crystal to the end of a wand and handed the assembly to Thursa. He gave Wallace one, Esther two, and kept one for himself. “I need Esther and Thursa to climb that mountain,” he continued, pointing toward the right at a snowy peak that also belched smoke.
“Halfway up the trail, a cave system leads into the heart of the mountain. Thursa, you will find lava pools to charge this crystal. We need to leave the gems exposed to the elements for several rounds, and things will probably be actively trying to harm us.” Jace found it hard to talk to the black bear’s face, and the druid morphed into a human-bear hybrid to make it easier on the shaman. “You have natural fire resistance and are good in caves, so you shouldn’t have an issue.”
He turned to Esther. “The heat from the lava escapes through vents in the rock and melts the snow on top, creating several waterfalls. You need to put one of these crystals in the flow of water. I recommend leaving it there for a while and proceeding to the top, where you can collect cold energy on the snowy peak.”
Esther nodded.
Jace turned to Wallace. “We are going up that mountain,” he said, pointing to an adjacent slope. The massive structure split into two peaks halfway up; the storm clouds ravaged one while the other had lightning striking it almost once a round.
“I assume I am collecting wind,” Wallace said. Jace nodded. He had natural resistance to lightning, and the paladin was covered in metal. She wouldn’t last three rounds atop that peak.
“I don’t know what to expect,” Jace said. “There might be a warlock tempting you with magic, a tremendous monster, several minions, an environmental onslaught, or the element itself might try to attack you. Whatever it is, you don’t need to defeat it. Just collect the energy and get out. Understood?”
They all nodded and went along their designated paths.