Hope Engine Page 14

  ‘Of course. Slavery is wrong, and it is our job to right it, and make sure people are protected. We’re in total agreement. I will talk to Ixly.’

  His darkened hood nodded. ‘And I shall subvert from the inside, yes, good thinking, master.’

  I held up a finger to pause him. ‘Horace, don’t kill anyone.’

  ‘I shall only kill their shackles of oppression! No Player shall ever own an NPC again.’

  I saw Bri sauntering over… well, can a solid trunk of water saunter? Has anyone ever described a geyser that way? Okay, she approached in a way that defied real world physics.

  ‘That sounds like a whole other issue that I clearly am severely uninformed about. Perhaps one day around the inn’s hearth. I need to discuss things with Bri now.’

  Horace bowed and left just as Bri hopped over the fence that quartered the village.

  ‘Your man summoned me. I of course, cannot be summoned, but your request was noted.’

  I hadn’t heard him being called my man before, and I hadn’t heard anyone say it with such imperious derision, either.

  ‘Yes, thank you for coming. Twenty minutes late.’

  She checked her fingernails. ‘It was no trouble.’

  When I first woke up, I had figured the giant hulking dinosaur was going to be the one that gave me grief…

  ‘Anyway, I had some questions, some suggestions, and maybe even some bits of advice.’ She looked rather nonplussed at this. I continued, ‘As you and Ixly are now residents in my village–’

  She quickly held up a finger. ‘To be absolutely clear, I saved your village, and was then offered recompense, which I humbly accepted. I don’t need to be here.’

  ‘Yes, humbly accepted, don’t need to be here, of course. I was wondering if you could answer a few questions?’

  She didn’t say anything, but did allow a glowing dot of water, her eye, to glance my way.

  ‘Well, let’s start with the most pressing matter. Are any of your followers, in any sense, a slave?’

  Her watery features scrunched up. ‘What? No, of course not. My Fawns and spriggans are wild and elemental. I control them only after having won their loyalty. Which wasn’t easy, I’ll have you know. Most Druids don’t get their first spriggan till their thirties, and I have six.’

  ‘Okay, okay. Just making sure, as it turns out that is a bit of a hot topic.’ With the potential for Horace to start insurrection from both my new “friends” gone, I moved onto more pressing matters, that had escaped me in all the “players invading my village” drama. ‘If I were to say “The Eastern Shadow”, what would that mean to you?’

  She started walking along the fence, and after a few paces, I realised she wasn’t trying to get away, I was supposed to follow. It turned out, that elementals were ever so slightly faster than regular humans, and I couldn’t comfortably keep up with her, so I had to skip every third step. Probably something to do with not needing any balance or coordination involving two legs.

  ‘Playing the word association game, are we?’

  ‘Have you heard of them?’

  ‘I have heard of them, yes.’ We passed a luscious bush that was overhanging from her side of the fence onto mine, and she plucked a vibrant yellow and red fruit from its boughs. ‘The real question is, why have you heard of them? You’re not even level… oh. Oh dear.’

  ‘What? What is it?’

  She stopped right as I was in the middle of a skip, so I shot past her. She was tapping the fruit against her chin. ‘We should talk to Ixly. This could be important.’

  ‘Well, hold on. Don’t just stop mid-sentence! What’s wrong?’

  She took a bite from the fruit, and juices dripped down her chin. ‘Fetch Ixly.’

  Part of me wanted to tell her where to go and what to do when she got there, but I controlled my reaction to a scathing grimace in her direction. I could already tell she wouldn’t react well to that kind of treatment. Still, this was my village and I should be the one giving the orders. Instead the power had thoroughly shifted since these two arrived, and it made me long for the days of Horace looking up to me, and Angie guiding, not demanding. And where was Angie anyway?

  ‘Yes. I think that Ixly should be part of this conversation, of course.’ I turned to look for one of my robed followers, but as soon as I did, a small yellow Geeko darted away from us, heading to the marble temple. Another decision taken out of my hands. ‘They are rather sneaky fellows, aren’t they?’

  Bri nodded. ‘Yes. They’ve become quite the nuisance in my gardens. Some new boundaries may need to be set.’

  ‘Which, of course, my minions shall preside over.’

  She threw the fruit back over the fence, and within seconds it had dissolved into the grass, several shoots sprouting from the remains. She looked like she was about to argue, but settled for, ‘A third party could be useful. I suppose.’

  ‘So, small talk till Ixly arrives. How’s things? Where you from?’

  Her eyes narrowed at me. ‘Turbulent, to say the least. Just a few days ago I had a beautiful grove all to my own. Now this.’ She gestured at a nearby cultist that had fallen to his knees in supplication of something I should probably know about, and was now chanting in tongues.

  ‘It’s not all bad. It’s just a different aesthetic.’

  My screen flashed black and all I had time to do was wish I was faster at reacting before a heavy stone slammed onto my foot.

  ‘Sorry, master,’ a minion said, and trundled away back towards the woods.

  ‘Ten damage. Ten bloody damage! Ow!’ I hopped around, more in shock than actual pain.

  Bri was trying to hide a laugh behind a tight smile. ‘Yes, well. Who would have thought that standing around in a construction area would be dangerous?’

  I put my foot down, and looked around. ‘A few sticks and stones spread out over a few dozen metres, does not a construction zone make.’

  ‘I can heal that for you.’

  I didn’t think that ten Life lost was really the biggest problem at the moment, but we were still waiting on Ixly, and still had small talk to make. ‘Ooh, yes please, if you wouldn’t mind? So, you’re a healing spec?’

  ‘No.’ Her left hand transformed into a large paw, and the slightly translucent shimmer of water was replaced with matted, brown fur. A claw extended, and she swiped at my foot.

  I felt a sharp pain, and jumped away from her, drawing my hands up ready for a Shadow Bolt.

  She held her hands up, that annoying grin still on her face. ‘Give it a moment.’

  I looked down at my foot to see no scratch from the claw, and no bruising from the stone. Curious. I checked my combat log.

  “Briar of Bark hits Akuma Severo with Healing Swipe.”

  “Akuma Severo takes 5 damage.”

  Then a few seconds later.

  “Akuma Severo heals for 3 Life.”

  Every three seconds, which seemed to be a standard “tick” in this game, I healed for three Life. I kept watching the log until five ticks had passed, then the healing stopped.

  ‘So, deal damage to heal. But, if you’re not a healer, you’re an attacker, so why would you want to be healing what you’re attacking?’

  ‘Don’t be dense.’ Bri didn’t have the same sunny, free-spirited demeanour as Angie had about explanation, it would seem. ‘I attack a target, and then the healing is automatically dealt to whichever ally has the least health in a twenty metre radius.’

  ‘And I was the only one that had taken any damage. Gotcha.’

  She slow clapped at my understanding of the spell, and by the third hit, her hand had reverted to a normal, slightly shimmering – but definitely not bestial – hand.

  ‘Are all druids shifters?’

  ‘We all have the capability, but each form has different strengths and weaknesses. In fact, I hardly ever transform. Things rarely challenge me to that level.’

  Appropriate level of haughtiness, check. I nodded as if I knew which forms were available and
how they increased power. Bri may have, technically, answered my question, but I didn’t exactly feel good about myself for having to ask her something.

  ‘Yes. The forms. The forms for Druids. Of course.’

  I saw the great white form of Ixly, preceded by two honour guard, drag itself out of his swamp. Why have a glaringly white temple if you’re going to slither through thick, gloopy mud? ‘Say, Bri, as this lovely little moment of tension building regarding my future is about to end, what about the road? I mean, it just appeared overnight. Why didn’t I just start with it there but only have it activate at the appropriate time?’

  Bri sighed, and a little bubble popped out of her mouth. ‘Just wait, jeez.’

  Pfft, who said jeez? That’s just silly. Wait, I say jeez. Is she my age, or does jeez span the generations? She hadn’t answered earlier when I asked where she was from. I’d have to make a mental note to probe a bit deeper – you know, even though she wasn’t particularly likeable as of yet, I was totally willing to let her grow on me. Like a fungus.

  Secondary note, never use that simile with her in future recountings of this moment.

  Tertiary note, maybe Druids are into that?

  Ixly began talking well before he was close enough for a regular human to be able to project his voice comfortably. ‘Hello, small and squishy friends. How can I help?’

  I had to wait for him to get into normal talking range before I could reply. ‘Is that a Stagodon thing, or a Bard thing?’

  ‘Warshouter, not Bard. And it’s a bit of both.’

  ‘Warshouter, sorry. So, Bri here–’

  ‘Thank you, Severo, I can speak for myself.’

  On the one hand, I was trying to not let these two more powerful players dominate me in my own village, but on the other hand, she was right. Her pointed look didn’t scare me, per se, but I nodded for her to continue.

  ‘Severo asked me about…’ Yes, she actually paused. ‘The Eastern Shadow.’

  ‘Why do you need me… oh.’ His tail swished a bit, and he scratched the back of his head absently.

  ‘There you go,’ Bri said. ‘Not as dumb as you look, are you?’

  Ixly made a series of complex manoeuvres, juggling his armour, weapons, and instruments around until he was sat on the floor. He had his drum by his side, a club to the other side, and a large horn in his lap. Sitting down, he was now a head shorter than me.

  ‘Guys, come on. What’s up?’

  Ixly held up a large finger for silence. I was anxious and getting annoyed, but understood he needed a second to think. I also saw this simple gesture as another piece of fodder for Bri’s love of a power struggle.

  ‘The thing is, Severo, the road should have turned up later. Much later. It normally requires level thirty, and a village with primarily stone buildings.’

  ‘Okay. What does that mean?’

  Ixly’s voice rumbled before Bri could answer. ‘For those that choose the village building path, the road is the primary source of gaining followers and money. But it serves a another purpose as, well, a road.’

  ‘A shocker, but I’m still not sure why this is bad.’

  ‘When someone, player or NPC, is travelling long distances, they can activate a primary road, and for every day they want to travel to their destination, they will stop at a random village.’

  ‘Fast travel system could make them spawn into my village. I’m with you so far.’

  ‘When a village is destroyed, that stop location moves to another village. You would never spawn in at a destroyed village.’ He tapped gently on his drum. ‘There is a chance that a road spawning in your town before you have met the requirements has a grander meaning.’

  ‘Yes,’ Bri jumped in, ‘and I put two and two together after you mentioned The Eastern Shadow.’

  ‘Okay, guys, bored of the guessing game. What’s wrong?!’

  ‘How do you know about them, Severo?’ Ixly asked.

  ‘I just ran my first situation and it was some high level player fighting against them. I killed a slug, it was pretty cool.’

  ‘Another sign,’ Ixly said and dropped his head in thought. ‘Again, we are working in possibilities, not certainties, but if a road is here, then it could mean that so many cities have been destroyed by The Eastern Shadow that there was nowhere else they could have spawned!’

  ‘No way.’ I waved a dismissive hand. ‘Everyone plays this game. You’re telling me the entire world’s population has been decimated?’

  ‘Not everyone plays this game,’ Bri countered.

  ‘Practically everyone, then. It’s a bug, maybe?’

  ‘We can’t know anything for sure,’ Ixly said.

  ‘Fine. But what does this really mean. What do I need to do because of it?’

  ‘It means your town is now visible to roaming NPCs, and to other players. They could attack at any time, and you are still in your tutorial levels.’

  ‘Tutorial levels?’

  ‘Pre level ten, the world goes a little bit easier on you, and your skill-crafting ability is locked. For example, when did you last eat?’

  I thought back to the bubonic buttercup stew, and finally drinking from the village well. ‘It’s been a while, I’ll admit.’

  ‘Stats drain slower in the tutorial levels. Also, there’s a much higher Luck roll at play behind the scenes. Tulgatha likes to ease players into it. So, the first thing we need to do, is get you to level ten.’

  ‘That’s going to take a while. I’m only level four right now.’

  Bri let out a little laugh. ‘Oh don’t worry. We have the basics down and can guide you through it. In fact I bet I can get you to level ten in a single day.’

  ‘I will help too,’ pronounced Ixly. ‘Opening up skill-crafting and getting you geared will help not only you, but the village as well.’

  ‘And us,’ Bri added.

  ‘All right, let’s get me power levelled and geared! Where do we start?’

  Chapter 20: Puzzle

  Before we left, I’d ordered another building to be placed at the entrance to my village – a wares tent to start making some sales – and for a cobbled path to run from the village entrance to the inn. For flamboyance’s sake, I’d also set up some rather fetching looking crooked stick light globes along the path. It would look positively smashing upon my return, I was sure.

  While I’d been in the overseer mode, I’d also noted that I had new resources available to me. Better quality wood, craftable stone, and flexible vines – all originating from Bri and Ixly’s newly terraformed parts of the village. I hadn’t had time to haggle over resource use, but that would have to happen soon.

  Finally, just before I stepped into the portal hut to enter the situation, I saw Horace trying to force a Stagodon into one of his cultist robes. I pushed that to the back of my mind, hoping I wouldn’t come back to absolute chaos from whatever he had planned.

  This time the fog led to a small closet that was far too small for three normal sized people.

  ‘Your tail is in my face,’ I mumbled.

  ‘Sorry.’

  Bri sighed and opened the wooden door. I practically fell out into what was a room with aspirations of opulence, which had clearly hit budget constraints along the way, and taken a detour to “a bit draughty”. Three large windows stood out as the main feature in the stone room, but there was no glass or wood to cover them. A hanging tapestry that looked like it had doubled as a carpet more than once in its life, flapped wildly, making a distracting noise.

  There was a bed in the room, one of those grand affairs, with curtains and ornately carved wooden panels. The curtains had been eaten by moths for the most part, and the wood was untreated, leading me to believe that I’d take damage from touching it and gain the “splinter” debuff.

  There was a man in the bed, his chest slowly rising and falling.

  ‘That’s your situation start,’ Bri said. ‘Hop to it!’

  ‘So, situations always try to start you in an inconspicuous spawn p
oint, and then give you the quest giver out of line of sight?’

  Bri frowned. ‘Let’s hope this isn’t a stealth mission if you think three people bursting out of a closet is inconspicuous.’ She shooed me towards the bed.

  As I approached, the man’s eyes opened. The thin, rasping voice of a dying man squeaked between dried lips. ‘Ahh, you’ve arrived. I had feared you wouldn’t make it in time, but the lord regent made good on his promise.’

  Roleplay time. I took his outstretched hand. ‘We came as fast as the weather would allow.’

  ‘Clearly you are men–’

  ‘And women,’ I heard Bri mutter behind me.

  ‘–of skill if you not only have the lord regent’s favour, but also managed to make it past the army at our walls.’

  ‘Certainly.’ I glanced behind at the coalesced water and the dinosaur that were my party. ‘We are gender neutral beings of skill. What is it that you demand of us?’

  ‘I am not long for this world.’

  I looked over his grey pallor, and his gaunt face, and certainly his words had the ring of truth. Although – and once again I was reminded I really needed to increase my skill in first aid – it was probably the arrow shaft sticking out of his left lung that he was referring too.

  ‘I’m sure you’ll pull through. It’s only a flesh wound.’

  ‘The blood pools in my lungs as we speak.’

  ‘A competent healer can work magic. Literally.’

  ‘I also have pneumonia.’

  ‘Entirely recoverable, and perhaps a move to another room with less draught. No problems.’

  ‘Dementia, too. You’re catching me in one of my lucid spells.’

  I patted his hand gently. ‘At least you’ve lived a full life, surrounded by family.’

  ‘I’ve been a prisoner to my office, and never sired children.’

  I sighed. ‘So, you’re not long for this world?’

  ‘A sad fact. Yet, there is one thing I cherish in this life, and that is my people. Right now, they hide beneath this castle. I need a general to save them. It is my dying wish.’

  I turned back to Bri and Ixly, and shot them a thumbs up. ‘Castle defence in overseer mode. Easy.’ I turned back to the dying man. ‘You have my word, no harm shall come to your people.’