Iagan and I bid farewell to Roqor’s tower and set the secret path back into the wall sealing and hiding it away once more. The sun was mostly across the sky by now, casting its long golden rays across the clouds that populated it. Iagan yawned as we approached Green’s Peak.
“I can’t wait to sleep tonight.” He said with a stretch.
“You didn’t sleep very long this afternoon.”
“[Adventurer]s get the choice of long rests or short rests, so I chose a short rest so I could actually sleep tonight.”
That was surprising, “Wow, an actual choice like that is awesome.”
People who can just take cutesy little 1-2 hour naps astound me and apparently [Adventurer]s got it included in their class skills. When I take naps it’s a roulette to see if I oversleep, wake up feeling worse, or can’t nap period. The ability to choose how long to sleep for was a skill I wish I could transfer to my real life. As my grandmother would say ‘But alas: life don’t work that way.’
We arrived back at our inn and plopped down at the now free bar in the front of the house. Tarja, the owner of the Sleepy Peaks Inn, served us some late lunch of a bowl full of hearty soup the HUD identified as stew again. Oh good, I didn’t need to take a picture which allowed me to eat my food in peace. Iagan scarfed his down getting out enough coin for two more bowl’s worth.
“You have any ales?” He asked. Tarja produced an ale for him.
“Say ‘cheers’.” I said taking a snapshot of the drink once my HUD failed to identify it.
Iagan held it up with an eager grin, “Cheers!”
Ker-chunk.
Another image of drink successfully added to the ever growing compendium. I flipped through my Floor 1 Album tab, curious to see where I was in terms of completion. I’d taken over 200 pictures and categorized over 133 different things during my documentation so far. Which was a lot and I have to admit even I was impressed with myself. There was no ending number so there was no measurable goal post to aim for which was a relief in itself. So long as I never saw another set of [???]’s through my HUD I’d be happy.
But now I had something else to do.
“Hey, I’m gunna head back to my room for a while until that [Listening Stone] broadcast at Plyne’s later. I need to sort through my notes for one of my class quests.”
“A’ight cool.” Iagan said proceeding to drain the tankard. He ordered two more and brought them along accompanying me. We got set up in my room, I took the table getting ready for a write-a-thon and Iagan took the bed, setting the extra tankards on the small side tables. I clicked through my HUD to examine my ghostwriting class quest.
[::Guidebook Ghostwriter::]
[Optional Class Quest: Create The Trick Tower Guidebook]
[Reward: Your Completed Guidebook will become an in world item available for all players, credited to: MykaReviews]
[Enter Writing Mode?
Y/N?]
That was it. I looked over to my journal tab which held my current running tab of achievements, skill levels and compiled list of everything that I’d discovered so far. I clicked accept on the small box. A new tutorial window opened and the head of Jasper Roqor appeared floating above my wrist display. Still in the visage of the wise old man of his previous pop ups. With great restraint I resisted the urge to -boop- him on the nose. His disembodied head opened it’s deep blue eyes and spoke aloud:
“Welcome to the guidebook tutorial. To begin your guidebook first select your paper you will be using, please note paper must be a standard blank page and in one piece.”
My HUD highlighted the paper on the table, selecting it. Iagan didn’t seem to be reacting to Roqor’s floating head, he must not be able to see my wrist HUD either. The watch beeped impatiently at me, anxious to continue the tutorial.
[Use this paper for your guidebook?
Y/N?]
Click.
Roqor continued: “Once your pages are selected you are free to compile them in your HUD. Images can be added by selecting them from your compendium and positioning them on the page. Pages can be handwritten or they can be typed up through your HUD and Orbwatch devices. Please make sure your pages are in proper order upon descending to the next floor as that is the way they will be printed. You can always access this tutorial again from your Journal.”
Jasper Roqor’s head vanished in a swirl of blue and sparks of gold, the tutorial now complete. Those were the only explanations, guide and rules I had to follow it would seem, everything else would be up to me. But a fantasy slash digital scrapbooking as a class quest? I guess scrapbooking was a [Tourist] adjacent activity, who didn’t want to remember their adventures and vacations? So taking from my journal, my compendium and my notes I got to work piecing the guidebook together.
->|<-
I spared no expense, revealing all the secrets, finds and gems of knowledge I’d obtained in my short stay here in Trick Tower. I pulled pictures from the compendium where appropriate adding them along the side with small captions underneath them. Writing everything out and planning the pages took a lot longer than I thought it would, and daylight had vanished behind the mountains. Satisfied with the amount of ground I covered for setting it up, I exited the guidebook’s [Writing Mode] and the paper on the table blurred and vanished with a pop, appearing in a tab on the left side of my HUD labeled: Guidebook.
“Hey Iagan, wake up, I’m done.” I called over to him. Iagan had fallen asleep in my bed as I worked, having finished both his ales. He blinked awake slowly.
“Five more minutes.” He groaned turning over on his side to face the wall.
“You’re going to miss the broadcast at Plyne’s tonight.” I said in a sing song voice attempting to tempt him.
“Yeah yeah, I know. Five more minutes and I’ll be there.” Iagan murmured, his words slurring together. Once five minutes were up I tried one more time to wake him but he was fully out again not even responding. When that attempt was unsuccessful I left him to rest and slipped out of the room. He needed it.
The lower level of The Dapper Crate had a few extra people from Green’s Peak waiting for the broadcast. Plyne prepared a small tray of foods to nibble on that was set in the center of the coffee table. Dried meats, cheeses, a small assortment of fruits, an open jar of jam and honey comb lavishly decorated the large wheel of white creamy cheese that was the focus of the spread. Small baskets of sliced breads and crackers sat in the four corners for everyone to reach along with a small bottle full of yellowed oil. An opened bottle of wine sat in a chilled container with a handful of slimmed almost champagne flute style goblets.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
Ker-chunk
I sent the camera away after snagging a quick picture and helped myself to a small plate.
“Hey [Tourist]!” a few seated members greeted me, remembering the picture from yesterday.
“Are you here for the listening party?” Another asked.
“Yeah, I’ve never been to one of these before.” I said taking a seat on one of the couches.
One of the older women with gray hair cracked a smile, “Oh-ho you’re going to like this installment!”
She went on to catch me up on everything I’d missed from part one of Love’s Lost Mysteries. The story followed the apparently true account of the [Detective] Connor Love and the mysterious disappearance of one of the artifacts of a museum on Floor 4 and no leads.
“I’ll bet it’s the museum director working an insurance scam.” One of the people theorized between bites from the charcuterie.
“You’re forgetting the mysterious lady who brought the case to his attention! Maybe she’s the culprit and she’s testing Love’s sleuthing!” The older woman insisted.
I listened to them chatter a bit more as Plyne came down the stairs again carrying what looked like a gramophone attached to a glass box where my HUD outlined and identified the [Listening Stone] with black steaks inside of it. He arranged it on the mantle of the fireplace, the trumpeted end facing out towards the audience.
“Shouldn’t be too much longer.” Plyne said sitting down in his chair at the head of the base of the horseshoe shape we were arranged in. He poured himself a glass and gave a little toast and nod to me as a crackling sound came from the gramophone. My watch ticked over to seven pm on the dot as a simple fluted solo fluttered through the room. The members settled in their seats, eagerly looking toward the sound as it finished. A gong crashed seven times somewhere in the background.
“Welcome back to Rock Audio Expression’s performance tonight of Love’s Lost Mysteries part two.” A magical crescendo of chimes and brass trumpeted behind the deep soothing voice. “As always our productions are brought to you by our sponsors at the Gold Nugget Casino down on Floor 7 and from listeners like you, thank you. And now I take you to the darkened alleyway where we last left our hero: [Detective] Connor Love…”
It finally felt like I was listening to a hard-boiled detective program from the 1940’s.
Another swirling of chimes and brass instruments played into a final gong crash as the scene was set. A new voice popped in as the music faded, a deep gravelly growl. Connor Love having survived an ambush attack in the alleyway set off to find his pursuers. The sound effects team in the background were hitting every mark bringing life to this broadcast. Footsteps, doors opening and closing, creaking even the sound of horseshoes. I’ll admit it: I became engrossed in the narrative. Who doesn’t love a good whodunnit every now and then?
There was a sultry woman’s voice that spoke every now and then and all the men sat forward to pay better attention. The [Detective] set a trap for the artifact thief by challenging them in the papers to a game of wits and when the thief arrived, Connor Love stepped out of the shadows to confront them once and for all. More musical chimes sounded followed by eight gongs and the tense scene ended on a cliffhanger. Everyone groaned as the deep narrative voice bid everyone a good night the flute solo fading into the background as the stone cut off.
My compendium updated.
[Listening Stone- Station: Rock Audio Expression, Thursdays 7pm-8pm. Previously played- Love’s Lost Mysteries pt 2.]
“What did you think [Tourist]?” The older woman who’d caught me up asked me enthusiastically, her cheeks flush from having several thin glasses worth of the chilled wine.
“Oh this was great. They really get into it!” I smiled with a nod.
“Nemmirra has the best voice of the group.” One of the men, smiled dreamily.
“I find myself partial to Landrik, the narrator.” The old woman said with a sly wink to me. “If only I was five years younger—”
“More like fifty,” One of the other men ribbed playfully as laughter rippled through the group. Soon the group and I parted our separate ways, I hung back to talk to Plyne.
“I’m glad you were able to make it Mica.” He said taking the box down from it’s perch, “I would have thought Mr.BigwIggy would have joined you.”
“He wanted to but he fell asleep while I was working on my guidebook quest.”
“Ah, a long rest.” Plyne nodded in understanding, “And how’s the guidebook coming along?”
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to make with it but it’s started at least.” I said.
“Taking it floor by floor is a good way to go. Maps with labeled landmarks for each floor are helpful if it’s going out for publication upon completion.” He suggested. I wrote that down in my notepad. Thankfully for right now I could still fiddle with the page order so I could squeeze a page with a map wherever I needed to.
Here came the hard part: goodbyes. It was past time to go, I’d lingered in this quaint little town for too long and there was nothing left for me to find. “We’re heading out for Seamyst first thing after breakfast at Sleepy Peaks. So we might pop in to say bye.”
“Tutorials never last for long.” Plyne said sadly with a smile. “Meeting you has been incredibly refreshing and I’m glad you came by Green’s Peak first.”
“It’s been real Plyne, thank you for all of your help.” I said holding my hand out. Plyne clasped it tight and gave a steady squeeze when I saw the briefest change of emotion flash across his face: pain.
“Yes. It has been real, hasn’t it?” He said with a grimace of a smile, he clasped a hand over my watch. “Please don’t panic, I’m going to cast something called: Admin Override.”
The words left his lips and a black outline of a circle engulfed the ground under us, forming a swirling gray bubble of silent TV static. An almost electric hum filled the space sending all the hairs on my neck standing straight up. Plyne hadn’t let go of my hand, and he hadn’t lost eye contact.
“Plyne what—?”
“There is a quest I am allowed to give you and only you on orders from Roqor himself.” Plyne explained releasing my wrist finally. “Giving it to you in this zone means that it will not transfer to your party members and will be bound to only you. I warn you that I cannot say anything further about this event once it is done. It is your choice to accept it or not.”
He stared at me intensely, his dark brown eyes boring into mine.
He tapped my watch’s interface, overriding it with a command he typed in too quickly for me to see. A black bordered text box popped up in my HUD with a pixelated icon of a letter. I clicked it open and a real parchment letter materialized into my hands, sealed with a wax imprint in the same the same seal from the stamp I took from the tower. Roqor Studios’ symbol: an eight point star burst. I looked to Plyne who seemed apologetic enough for what he had done, backing off and giving me space while staying within the boundary of the static bubble. I broke the seal and the HUD scanned the letter, adding it to my journal.
“Dear Mica,
Out of all the members of the Beta Test Team I believe you are the only person in this Tower who will ever truly see it for all it’s worth. Therefore I leave this challenge to you: what is the [Secret] of Trick Tower? [::Solve Trick Tower::] I’ll be awaiting your answer on Floor 9.
-M. [Wizard] Jasper Roqor, the Immortal”
[New Personal Quest Discovered ::Solve Trick Tower::]
[Reward: ?????]
[::SOLVE TRICK TOWER::
TRACK NEW QUEST?
Y/N?]
Click.
An actual personally addressed challenge from Jasper Roqor. A quest specifically for me and only me, not just a class I would enjoy but a full real challenge. Iagan would never get this quest, and there was something tantalizing about knowing I was named specifically. Recognition through the NPCS was one thing, but personalized quests was another entirely.
The quest zoomed away to the right side of my HUD joining the rest of them as it sat sequestered in a thin singular black box at the top. The letter had concluded itself and evaporated into mists. Plyne breathed out a slow breath and shakily poured himself another glass of wine. He held it out to me and I declined, my heart beating wildly in my chest with anticipation.
“Plyne what the hell was that? Why did he address it to me? What is the [Secret] of Trick Tower?”
“The ultimate question.” He said draining the glass. “With that quest active no one in the Tower will be able to give you the answer you seek. You’ll have to figure it out on your own.”
“So you know what it is?”
“I’m one of it’s residents, of course I know what it is.” Plyne gritted as he strained, almost as though something was preventing him from explaining. “I really cannot tell you anything further than that.”
I clamped my mouth shut with a frown amidst the slew of questions that lined up in my mind. I set to work typing them into my notepad that had other similarly odd questions and notations written down in it. As my mind raced, Plyne poured another shaky glass.
Notes:
-Iagan spawned in Wizard Tower not Sink Room
-Tower didn’t reset
-Why did Roqor address the letter to just me?
-No other Betas can share this quest
-What is the [Secret] of Trick Tower?
-Roqor is waiting on Floor 9 for the answer
- Called ‘The Ultimate Question’
-Cannot be directly told the answer
I pulled it up again on my Journal and reread the words over and over searching for something I was missing. Here I was thinking I was swimming in a nice pool of video game when I got dumped into the middle of a raging ocean of mystery and I wasn’t even the [Detective] class. I shuddered inwardly at the thought of the roiling waves.
“I know you’re going to tell Mr.BigwIggy about it, so do so. He won’t be eligible to receive it, but outsiders can still offer their [Insight] on what the ultimate answer could be.” He continued to clear his throat and set down his glass. After everything Plyne was still skating the razor thin edge of what he could tell me.
“Why me?” I asked. “I barely have enough of a following to warrant an invitation to Trick Tower to begin with, so why me? Why did he leave this for me? Would you have still given this to me if Iagan was here?”
“Yes, I would have still given it to you if Mr.BigwIggy was here. Although the same principal would have kept him from receiving it so it is probably for the better that he stayed home tonight. As for Roqor’s reasons, I don’t claim to know the man well, only in orders received. He imparted that he had great faith in your abilities and that if I deemed you worthy enough, that I should give the letter to you.”
“How did you deem me worthy enough?” I asked. Plyne smiled the same sad smile from our prior goodbyes and drained his glass again.
“Because you’re a good person Mica. I have faith you’ll find the answer you’re looking for if you pay attention.” Plyne started coughing, the last of his words nearly choking him as his jaw tightened, preventing him from speaking further.
“Are you okay?” I rushed over to him overwhelmed by helplessness as all I could do was watch him suffer. He’d gone to such great lengths to help me the whole time I was here in Green’s Peak and I could do nothing in return. He nodded after a while, regaining himself enough to answer.
“Yes.” Croaked the shop keeper, his breath steadying as he massaged his jaw and neck. “Now I’m afraid I am in need of rest, those two words took a lot out of me.”
He locked eyes with me as he always did when imparting knowledge worth notating.
[Skill Increase: Insight level 2]
I took a brief pause to write down everything he’d just finished saying in my notepad. There was something there and I would get no further assistance. I stared at him carefully eyeing him as his face slowly returned to it’s proper shade and he took slow deep breaths.
“Iggy and I’ll swing back by in the morning before we head out to check on you.” I said. Plyne nodded, saying nothing more.
He saw me to the door and locked it after I left, the light in the curtainless rounded window dampened. I sat on the steps of The Dapper Crate and took a moment to process everything that happened in such a short whirlwind of time.
Oh man, I had so much to catch Iagan up on…