{Here’s what I was able to find,} Gracie said as Jace followed Ivan down the street toward the coast. {Lamashtu is a nasty creature. She has the head of a lion, a humanish body, and the feet and wings of a bird. Wikipedia says she mostly steals children, but I’m guessing that she will steal anyone in the realms. Ishmael mentioned the troglodytes; they are a reptilian people that live on islands or coastlines. They aren’t native to this continent, but if you go on bigger campaigns, you can run into them.}
Jace listened as his operator went into the strengths and weaknesses of the troglodytes while his eyes stayed alert to the environment around them. They walked between villages, moving along a dirt path that cut through farmland before entering a coastal town mainly consisting of warehouses, taverns, and docks.
Ivan didn’t waver from his intended route, walking directly up to a level 22 captain shouting orders to his crew on how to load his ship. The crates were large, eight feet square, and nearly as tall. The ropes and pulleys creaked and groaned as the dock workers maneuvered them through the air, dropping them through an opening in the deck to the hold below. Before calling out to the captain, the sorcerer’s servant looked tentatively over his shoulder at Jace, who had never left the boy’s side. Ivan wouldn’t have a chance to prep the busy man if he wanted to set up a trap for Jace’s crew.
“Captain Potiphar,” Ivan said. “I’ve found a few friends interested in doing business with the troglodytes. They seem like capable adventurers. Do you think you have a spot for them?”
Jace froze at the captain’s name. Potiphar was a prominent character in the Biblical account. Joseph was a slave to the man for a while until his wife tried to seduce him. When Joseph refused, the wife accused him of rape, and he was thrown in prison. Jace processed this information as he kept his ears tuned to the captain.
“Aye, I always have room,” the bearded man responded jovially. His appearance was a cross between a British naval officer and a Caribbean pirate. He wore pressed dark blue pants and coat over a ruffled white shirt with a full beard and large hat. He had no peg, hook, or eye patch but looked like he could shout “Shiver me timbers” at a moment’s notice. Either way, Jace knew from his high level he wasn’t to be underestimated.
“They’ll need to work to earn their passage, but I’m shorthanded, so that shouldn’t be a problem. It’d be nice to have some extra protection from pirates, too.” Potiphar stepped up to Jace and extended his hand. “What’s your name then?”
“Jace Thorne,” the shaman replied and waited for the declaration of recognition he often got. None came.
“Well, get your party on board. My first mate, Lilith, will show you to your quarters. Listen to what she says and keep your hands to yourself if you know what I mean.” He laughed and winked. “We are leaving in a few minutes, so hurry on. It’s a three-day voyage, and I don’t want to delay longer than I need to.”
Jace thanked him and tried to ask a few questions, but Potiphar whisked himself away to continue shouting orders, and the dock was suddenly impassible with barrels and crates in the way. It was heavy-handed scripting by the game that Jace wasn’t used to, making him feel worried.
“Well, go on,” Ivan said when he saw the shaman’s hesitation. “This is what you wanted, right? Captain Potiphar trades with the island where Rachelle and Josephus were taken. They are probably slaves there if they are still alive.”
“Jace,” Draya said, having listened to everything that had happened. “You don’t think it odd that the exact ship we need is leaving the dock the moment we arrive? It is a three-day voyage. Probably a week roundtrip. The coincidence that our schedules would line up like this is astounding. This feels like a trap.”
Psycho laughed at the observation, and Jace grinned as well. The player knew this was a common thing in video games. The ship captain you needed often asked if you wanted to buy anything from a store or stock up on supplies. Then you could leave on three weeks of side quests, and the ship would be sitting there waiting for you when you got back. Jace suspected Potiphar wouldn’t be that generous and didn’t feel like testing him.
“It will be fine,” Jace assured her, “just keep your fire in check. The last time you threw a fireball around a ship, it didn’t go so well.”
“You’ll be weaker, too,” Psycho reminded him. “Not a lot of stone floating on the ocean.”
“Then I guess you will have to save us all,” Jace quipped.
Esther walked closer to the group, dragging Rock behind her, sensing she was missing out on an important conversation. “We are going on that ship,” Jace said, pointing to the large three-masted vessel. “It should take us to the island where Rachelle and Josephus are. It will be a long trip. Does everyone have what they need?”
They nodded. Gromphy and his infinite storage chest weren’t with them, but they each carried the maximum number of healing potions the game allowed, five, and were better armed than most.
Jace fell back in line a few spots as they moved across the dock and walked up the gangway. He found himself next to Esther. “What is it, boss?”
“The first mate of this ship,” Jace said, pointing with his eyes at a level 20 redheaded woman running about the deck, calling out orders. “Don’t trust her.” Jace guessed this woman would play the part of Potiphar’s wife and try to seduce a party member. He felt his group should be immune to the efforts, with Esther being the only risk.
As they drew closer, the buxom woman came into clearer focus and moved to the ship's entrance to greet the new passengers. Jace imagined putting Esther’s silhouette in a coloring book and a young girl attacking it with red, brown, green, and light blue crayons. Lilith would be the result. She even had a similar hat to the rogue.
“Welcome aboard, adventurers,” she said as they reached the deck. Psycho was first in line, and she looked him up and down alluringly. “And my, how happy I am that you are here. I can show you to your quarters unless one of you wants to bunk with me for the trip.”
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Psycho glared at her while Draya put her hand over her mouth. Esther giggled. “She sounds fun.”
“Hands off,” Jace said.
“Who said anything about using my hands?” Esther replied and skipped past her stunned leader.
----------------------------------------
Jace, Psycho, and Rock were assigned the same cabin, with Snowy sleeping on the floor. It was still mid-day when the ship pushed away from the dock, and Jace had been topside to watch the spectacle. He had never traveled on a ship like this and cranked his environmental settings high to enjoy the ocean breeze and salty air. The ship buzzed with activity, and since Jace didn’t know which ropes to pull or winches to adjust, he soon found he was in the way. Esther had discovered a new home in the ship's rigging, eagerly climbing the ropes and swinging through the air to tie off a line or unfurl a sail. It was clear the former vampire was enjoying the sun and view the elevated position gave her. And as her skirt blew about in the breeze, many of the burly crew enjoyed the view from below.
Eventually, Jace retreated to his cabin to find Rock Bender pacing nervously. Snowy didn’t like the sun or the heat, so she lay sprawled on the room floor, occasionally cooling the air with a cone of frost spell. She also complained that the ship smelled like snakes. As a winter wolf, Snowy didn’t encounter many cold-blooded animals in her natural habitat and only had her experience with Jace to draw on. The scent was a mystery to her, snakes being the closest thing she could compare it to, and she didn’t want to explore. Jace imagined that the reptilian stench would be hard to remove if they traded with lizard people regularly. A few had probably even been on board.
Psycho wasn’t in the room, preferring the outdoors, and had climbed to the crow's nest, keeping a watch for pirates. Leah and Draya were in their rooms, both suffering from a bit of seasickness.
“Are we just supposed to wait?” Rock asked. “Three days is a long time. I have a life outside the game, you know.”
Lilith had been by to tell them dinner was in three hours, and the new crew was invited to eat with the captain on their first night. Gracie told Jace there should be options to skip ahead in time since they were in their own private MIM, but Jace hadn’t seen any alerts yet. Instead, he chose the opportunity to get to know Rock a bit better.
“Don’t we all,” Jace said.
“Do you?” Rock answered. “Based on your reputation, I would have thought you were a full-time gamer. What does the great Jace Thorne do in the real world?”
“I’m an accountant,” Jace said, sort of telling the truth. “What about you?”
“I run a digital art studio,” he replied.
Jace raised his eyebrows in surprise as if he didn’t already know this. “Aren’t you supposed to play out a fantasy in this game, not live out your real life?”
Rock chuckled. “I’ve merged the two,” he replied. “That’s why I’m so eager to finish Leah’s quest. You have no idea what she will be able to do for me.”
“Humor me,” Jace said.
Rock scooted over to sit closer to Jace and lowered his voice so the bigger man could barely hear him above the creak of the ship and the rush of water outside. “I’ve got a 50-million-dollar contract waiting for me,” he said. “Have you heard of the fantasy novel The Scepter of Amon?”
Jace nodded.
“The publishers contacted me looking to do an animated movie of the whole series. They wanted to steer away from 3D rendering in favor of something that looked old-fashioned but with a high level of detail. They gave me the storyboards, and before Leah decided she hated me, I had her animate two minutes' worth of footage.”
Rock leaned back and rolled his eyes. “It was amazing. I gave her instructions, left her alone, logged off, and she was done when I checked back 20 hours later. She drew the most exquisitely detailed scenery and characters I’ve ever seen. Each frame was ultra-high definition with vibrant colors. Old-fashioned animators often cheat by drawing a background that doesn’t change and then focus on animating the characters in the foreground. Or, if there is motion in the background, like a windmill or waves, they draw a loop and run it continually. With Leah, she drew each leaf in each tree and animated its movement perfectly. There is a scene of a woman’s hair blowing in the wind, and it looks like she tracked each strand with perfect detail. I showed the publishers, and they nearly died. It was hard to convince them I hadn’t sent it to Pixar. I got the contract and have three months to produce the first 20 minutes of the film.”
Jace was impressed with the ingenuity.
“The best part is,” Rock continued, “she leveled up her artist occupation twice just doing the sample. If she illustrates an entire movie, she could reach level 50 and become even faster. I’m sitting on a gold mine here. I can do comic books, movies, graphic novels, anything. Of course, she won’t even draw a smiley face for me now.”
Jace chuckled at the dilemma. He felt sorry for him. If everything went according to plan, the CIA would bust him for laundering money for terrorists, when in actuality, Jace wanted to see what kind of movie Leah could illustrate. Maybe he could arrange to give Derrick Benson access to ROI while he was in prison so he could continue his legitimate endeavors.
“Do you think this will work?” Rock asked. “I mean, I don’t doubt your ability to pass this quest. You’ve already gotten way further than I did, but will Leah ever work with me again? She hates me so much.”
Jace shrugged. “She hates you because her quest isn’t solved. Once that happens, the reason why she hates you will be gone. She won’t have any reason for liking you, but if she truly wants to be an artist, and you give her that opportunity, I don’t see why you can’t make it work.”
Jace paused in thought. “There will be combat when we reach the island. We will likely have to free the slaves and possibly fight a demon. Leah doesn’t have much weapon proficiency, and while she is good at disabling enemies with her hexes and curses, all our foes will be at a higher level than her, and she will need protection. Stand guard before her and make sure she doesn’t die. That should earn you some brownie points when we swap NPCs back.”
Rock nodded at the sound advice but also looked a little worried. The enemies would be much higher in level than him, too. The average level of their group was 15.3. Because Snowy wasn’t factored in that calculation, the game would likely round up to 16.
Rock flopped back on his flimsy cot. “I hope so.” He closed his eyes to think and then sat bolt upright. “Hey, I got a prompt. We can skip ahead if we want to.”
Jace looked confused but then laid on his bed and closed his eyes.
[Rest until Dinner: 3 Hours?]
[Rest for the whole voyage: 3 days?]
“Which one should we pick?” Jace asked.
“You’re the expert here,” Rock replied. “I’m just along to see it through.”
{I assume you were also talking to me,} Gracie said. {I don’t see much danger in choosing the second option. If something quest-critical is supposed to happen at dinner, the game wouldn’t let you skip it.}
“Will the game just have us lying in bed for the whole trip?” Jace asked.
“How should I . . .”
Jace ignored him and waited for Gracie’s more informed response.
{How should I know,} she echoed. {I’ve never played this module before. No one has. Who knows how long dinner will take? Do you want to spend two hours watching Lilith and Esther flirt with each other? If the game lets you skip the whole voyage, I say we go for it.}
Jace used his eyes to select the second option.
[All players must rest at the same time.]
That made sense.
“Rock,” Jace said. “I think it is safe to skip the voyage. If we go to dinner, who knows how long that will take, and then we will probably have the same options when we come back here.”
“Yes,” Rock said. “My operator thinks the same thing.”
Jace was still in his settings when Rock made his selection. All prompts disappeared, and his vision faded to black.