King Azurous relaxed on his portable throne, enjoying the late morning sun on his face. He sat on an elevated wooden platform several feet off the ground, giving him an unobstructed view of the parade before him. Ringing the front of the stage stood half a dozen armed guards with shields and spears. Beside him sat his beautiful wife, though, with a scowl on her face, she looked anything but.
“You had to bring your whores to my people’s celebration,” she said, leaning over as if to whisper but speaking loud enough for anyone within 20 feet to hear.
“Some of them are your maidservants,” he replied. Six women sat on the tiered stage one foot lower than the royal couple on significantly smaller chairs. The two Chi women sat to the queen’s right, with another woman completing the triplet, while three other women graced the king’s left, including Esther and the youngest of the women. Nalia was practically a child, and the king hadn’t been with her yet, but he knew his son fancied the woman, so he kept her around. The royal children had begged not to sit on the stage with their parents, and with an entourage of guards accompanying them, Azurous had let them roam free through the festivities.
“I feel beauty enhances any experience,” the king continued. “You prefer flowers; I prefer people.”
The queen grumbled. Several potted plants with vibrant orange, yellow, and red flowers sat at the front of the stage, right behind the guards, mostly hiding the men at arms. “And was your experience enhanced last night?” she asked.
“I beg your pardon?” the king said, distracted as a cart disguised as a dragon rolled before their location. A mage hid inside the fake monster and released a jet of flame through its open mouth.
“The new woman you were with last night. The one with the breasts and legs. Was she good?”
“They all have breasts and legs, my dear,” the king said, his eyes forward as he waved a greeting toward a group of children that passed dressed as baby dragons hatching out of their eggs.
“Not like her, they don’t,” the queen argued.
Azurous pulled his eyes away from the parade to look at Esther, seated only a few feet away, just below him. He enjoyed the angle as she wore another low-cut red bodice with a sheer skirt made from overlapping panels of orange and red chiffon. As the morning breeze caught the fabric, the skirt fluttered like flames, tantalizingly revealing her legs.
No, they don’t, the king agreed in his head. Out loud, he said, “You worry too much. Almost as if you think your position is in danger.”
Vashti didn’t take the bait and turned from her husband to look back at the parade. “Whomever you decide to make queen, one woman will never be enough for you.”
The king clutched his chest. “Oh, my dear, your words are like an arrow through my heart. How could you sully this fabulous celebration with such venom? I would rather you poison me and get it over with.”
Again, the queen fought the temptation to look at her husband and reveal her thoughts. Instead, she idly played with a ruby-red ring on her left hand that the king had never seen before. “Just enjoy the fire show, my king.”
Azurous laughed. “I will.”
After a few boring floats went by, depicting paper mache serpents that looked more like snakes than dragons, he turned to look down at his new favorite harem girl. “Esther, my dear,” he said. The woman responded and looked up at him, her braided black hair flipping over her left shoulder.
“Yes, my king?”
Azurous lost his train of thought for a moment at the gorgeous image before him. “Um, uh, you said your man has a demonstration he would like to share. I think now would be a good time.”
“As you wish,” she said and turned to Psycho, who stood behind her on the ground with the rest of the eunuchs.
The king’s eyes went to the muscular elf and followed his movement as he walked around to the front of the stage, where the lower levels allowed access from the ground. He wore the typical eunuch attire, but instead of a bare chest beneath the leather vest, he displayed a fabulous breastplate.
“Ooh, dragon-scale armor,” the queen said, appreciating far more than his attire as the muscular elf moved to the middle of the stage. “How appropriate. What will he do?”
“Why don’t you shut up and watch?” the king said.
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Psycho ignored the couple’s antics and focused on the crowd before him. Shedding his vest and securing a quiver to his back, Pyscho pulled out his dragon wing bow. He didn’t like to reveal its existence in public like this, but he understood from Jace that none of these characters were players and wouldn’t be talking to anyone important. Besides, the dragon aspect of the bow fit the theme of the celebration.
Gromphy had made explosive arrows for him, and he pulled one now and aimed up at the sky. While Psycho was one of the most aware NPCs in the game, the mechanics that ran his existence still mainly stayed hidden as he operated in the realms. Now, however, they came into play. He found he couldn’t just aim at nothing to fire. He could shoot a high arching shot that landed on the far side of the street, but families stood there, and he didn’t want to endanger them. Instead, he aimed at the branches of trees that lined the near side of the street. The targets were only a few dozen feet away, and at such close range, the long-distance bow suffered many penalties. As a result, when he fired, he missed the branches badly, and the arrow lazily lofted out over the street with no intended target. After the miss, the projectile exploded into a dazzling array of sparks and fire.
“Now that is impressive,” the king said. He turned to his wife, who struggled to keep the awe from her face. “Can any of your people do that?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, mages who still walked along the street tried to match the display. But their fireballs all looked the same. They varied in size and height, but they remained simple bursts of yellow flame. After Psycho had fired three more arrows that exploded in green, orange, and blue, he had the crowd’s complete attention.
The archer didn’t focus his attention on the cheering throng, though. Instead, his eyes searched out the buildings across the wide street, over 300 feet away. Specifically, he looked in each window, hoping to spy on potential assassins. When he had stood behind the stage, he had scoped out likely spots for the enemy snipers, picking windows and balconies that he would use if he had to make the shot. Of course, if he were hired to do the job, he would be in the row of buildings even further back, across a parallel street over 500 feet away. Some of those buildings had spires peaking up over the short structures that lined the parade route. He knew that’s where Draya was, but he doubted any local archer could make that shot, and he focused on closer windows.
Most held the faces of women and children, seeking an elevated view of the festivities; others were closed or had pulled drapes. Psycho focused on one that appeared open and empty, a dark room lying beyond, perfect for an archer to hide in before taking a vital shot. Psycho aimed at a tree branch next to the window, missed, and sent a shower of bright yellow sparks against the building’s stone façade. The crowd “oohed” and “aahed,” but the elf was more interested in the man crouching in the shadows, holding a bow, made visible for a moment from the bright flash.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Psycho pulled a special arrow next and used his ranger senses to detect a moth flying over the street, attracted to the bright lights. The skilled archer waited until the insect moved to just the right spot and released his shot, pulling a second arrow as the first left his string. The first shaft arched lazily through the air, missing the moth and blossoming into a sphere of orange flame the size of a melon. It hung in the air for a few seconds, giving Psycho time to spend on his second shot, where he added several abilities to enhance the lethality of the mundane arrow.
Everyone’s eyes were still on the floating orange ball in the sky when Psycho fired again, his second arrow piercing the sphere, and it exploded into rings of concussive fire with a terrific boom. The display was harmless as the flames died out before they ever reached the ground. Less harmless was the second arrow he had fired as it continued through the open window and pierced the hidden archer through the heart, killing him instantly.
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Jace, Kai, and Snowy struggled through the streets. Though the Madrian people didn’t share the love of dragons and fire with the Chi, they enjoyed a holiday and a day off work and filled the streets to overflowing. Jace and Kai had approached numerous city guards to convince them of the danger to the king, but they had flatly refused any aid. Even when Kai cast spells to bluff the guards, they remained unmoving. Jace understood the module required them to access the guards through the proper command structure, and Kai led them through the crowds toward the guard house. They finally arrived at the small wooden structure with several guards standing at the ready. The captain stood above them, up a few stairs to a wooden landing. He wore full armor, surveying the ever-moving crowd before him, his hand resting on the pommel of his sword. Unfortunately, the captain of the city guards was not alone. Haggai stood beside him.
The head of the king’s harem frowned when he saw Kai. “You!” he cried. “I thought you had learned your lesson and stayed away.” His eyes then went to Jace. He recognized him as Esther’s “Uncle.” “If I had known you were involved with this traitorous knight, I would have never allowed your niece into the castle. If she even is your niece. She is probably an assassin.”
“No,” Jace said, pushing past the stationary guards to look up at the two men above him. “She is not. The assassins are out there.” He pointed back over the street to the two- and three-story buildings. “Archers have been hired to shoot at both the king and queen. We must stop them.”
Jace detected a flinch in Haggai’s face. The king had told Esther about this assassination attempt against the queen, but Jace doubted the Azourus would have organized this plan on his own. He would have entrusted that to an adviser. The shaman bet Haggai was behind it.
“Impossible,” the captain of the guards said. “My men have been patrolling the streets, and no one could have entered one of those buildings without our knowledge.”
Jace frowned. It was a stupid comment, and the player expected better dialog from a Ghandi-designed module. Obviously, the streets were overflowing with people, and anyone could slip into any building they wanted. However, maybe the comment was a clue.
Kai seemed to think so, and he turned his attention toward the captain. “You have to believe us,” he pleaded, the blue diamond on his headband pulsing with mana as he used his powers of persuasion. “The king and queen are in danger. We can show you proof if you come with us.
“Maybe they have a point,” the captain said, turning to Haggai. “We can spare a few men to investigate.”
“No,” he replied quickly, frowning at the 180 the weak-willed man had just pulled. “These men are . . .” his voice trailed off as Jace watched his face formulate an alternative plan, “ . . . probably right,” he amended. “We should check out their claims. Only you should go in person. You go with the paladin and take a few guards with you. I will accompany this merchant and take some men as well.”
Haggai turned to Jace. “You said there are multiple archers?”
The player nodded cautiously, knowing Haggai was planning something nefarious but couldn’t figure out what. He didn’t fear the man. The game told him the harem supervisor was level twelve, but NPCs like him usually had non-adventure classes like Scholar or Politician. It allowed the game to give them defenses and abilities like Bluff or Detect Lies but didn’t usually give them much in the way of combat skills. Even the two guards he summoned to accompany them wouldn’t pose much trouble for Jace.
“Then we should split up to find them,” Haggai said.
“Excellent idea,” the easily influenced captain agreed. He bounded down the stairs and called to a pair of guards to accompany him.
Haggai moved down the stairs more slowly, keeping his eyes on Jace. “What are you playing at?” Jace dared to ask.
“I am only doing my duty. I am honor-bound to protect the throne.” The official spoke deadpan, and Jace didn’t think that now was the time to stir things up.
In the air above them, they heard explosions, and Jace looked to see Psycho’s fireworks display had started. “My archer will mark the windows where the snipers are hiding,” he said to Kai. “I will take the first one; you take the second. Snowy,” he looked down at his familiar, “go with Kai.” While the guards wouldn’t provide the level 19 orc shaman with a challenge, they might be able to overwhelm the level 10 Inquisitor.
Kai and Snowy nodded, and the two characters led the city guards away from the guardhouse and back toward the street. Jace eyed the location of Psycho’s fireworks and led his group away at a slightly different angle. Once he reached the street, he saw the bright orange ball and stopped short. Haggai and the other guards nearly ran into him.
“What are you . . .” the older man started, but Jace held up his hand for silence. He had a bad angle to trace a line from the royal stage, through the flaming sphere, and onto the buildings beyond as he stood off to the side and much lower. Psycho helped him out, firing a second arrow straight through the firework. While everyone else focused on the exploding fireball, Jace followed the arrow into a darkened window. A second later, a dead archer slumped out of the opening, his head leaning awkwardly against the railing of a tiny balcony.
“There,” Jace cried, pointing up and across the street.
“I see him!” one of the guards said. “The threat is real. Hurry!”
Without prompting, the two guards raced out into the street, halting a procession of acrobats twirling flaming batons. Jace and Haggai followed in their wake, making a direct path toward the first floor of the indicated building.
Previously, Jace and Kai had tried knocking on doors, requesting access to the upper levels of homes with valid sniper locations. They had been denied harshly, and no amount of persuasion from Kai or hacking on the door from Diamond Etcher would grant them entrance. Gracie had informed Jace the game wouldn’t let them in unless they did it the proper way. The “Proper Way” was apparently having a city guard pound on the door and demand entrance in the name of the king. The door in question popped open, and the four men rushed in.
Jace was the last to enter, and just before he did, he heard a familiar concussive blast from above and turned to see Psycho had executed another killing shot, marking the location of the second archer. He paused just long enough to see Kai’s group of guards burst through the line of spectators and out into the street, aimed at a different building a few doors down.
Turning back, Jace followed the pounding of armored steps to locate the stairs and then ascended two flights to arrive at the third floor. He already knew what to expect. The guards had burst open the door to the room on the street side of the building and entered. Haggai stood just inside, looking on and allowing Jace room to enter.
The window overlooking the street was actually a glass door leading out onto a Victorian-style balcony, barely big enough for a man to stand. The man in question wasn’t standing but slumped over, leaning against the balcony's railing with a long bow beside him and an arrow through his chest. With his hooded cloak askew and fallen away from his head, Jace noticed he wasn’t Madrian but had light skin and brown hair.
“Examine him,” Haggai said.
The guards responded and rolled the man away from the window and onto his back, searching his cloak in the process. They produced a tied scroll almost immediately.
“What does it say?”
The guards fumbled the letter between them for a moment, fighting for the privilege to read it, nearly ripping the parchment in two. “It says he is supposed to shoot the queen at ten in the morning,” the successful guard said, “at the precise moment the third bell sounds.”
“But it is nearly ten now,” the other guard said.
On cue, the bell in the massive church behind them rang. All four occupants stood suddenly and turned to the window as the second bell sounded. They looked outside and saw they had a perfect view of the stage below, the royal couple looking on obliviously as Psycho proceeded to use the rest of his arrows to entertain the crowd.
The third bell sounded, and the queen cried out in glee. She jumped from her chair as Psycho fired two arrows at once, connecting mage fireballs with a sparkling rainbow of color. Beside her, King Azurous started to rise as well, but a massive black arrow sprouted from his chest, appearing as if by magic. He futilely gripped the shaft with both hands and fell unmoving to the stage.