The Iron Veil

by Randy Nargi

  Actually, he was a little surprised that he remembered the letters. He didn’t really have an especially good memory, but when he closed his eyes he could actually picture the mirrored door and the engraving. It was like looking at a photograph.

  He told Pari that and she said that his improved memory might have something to do with the fact that he leveled.

  “Check your stats.”

  He did and saw that his health had doubled (now 14), as did his combat action and opposition scores (which were both up to 2), and his lore (now 10). His magic opposition was up to 3, his knowledge up to 15. And he had a bunch of new skills, including nature lore, riding, hunting, and eidetics.

  “I’ve got eidetics! This is amazing.”

  “Yeah, our sage in W&S had that too,” Pari said. “It definitely comes in handy. But it’s not automatic, you know. You have to concentrate on the thing you want to remember.”

  “Well, obviously I concentrated enough on that door.”

  She asked him to write the numbers in his notebook—in two rows of four letters each—just like they were on the mirror door. Then she wrote the letters she had memorized under his. When they were done, they had a good approximation of what had been etched into the mirror:

  “Don’t forget the words that ran around the tower,” Klothar said.

  “I won’t.” Next Pari wrote a list of words under the letters: SNAKE NYMPHS WOOD NOT EGGS SWAN EATS.

  “What does it even matter?” Justin asked. “The tower was destroyed. There’s no door to get into any more.”

  “Likely you are correct, lad.”

  Pari said, “I know, but we don’t have anything else to go on.” She passed Justin a water skin. “Drink. You’re pretty dehydrated.”

  He drank his fill then stared at the square of letters. Obviously it was some sort of puzzle, but what kind? The first thing he had thought of was a word search puzzle where you try to find words hidden among the letters. He shared his idea with Pari and Klothar.

  “I don’t understand,” the ranger said.

  Pari traced her finger along four letters. “Like this. F-I-N-E. They just have to connect.” She reeled off a bunch of words she found immediately: “Fen, fine, din, dine, find, fine, fie, end, fend, war, raw…”

  Justin chimed in. “Bun, bend, dark, dun, dune, wad, ward, draw, ran, and, raw…”

  “I said ‘raw’ already. Write these down.”

  He did. After staring at the square of letters for several minutes, he and Pari were able to come up with nearly 25 words.”

  “What about ‘Zark?’” Klothar asked.

  “What’s a zark?”

  “He’s a mercenary I know up in Skelheim.”

  Justin shrugged. “I’ll write it down, but none of this means anything. These words could be assembled in all kinds of ways.”

  “Draw a dark ward,” Pari suggested.

  “Find a war fiend,” Justin said. “This could go on forever.”

  “But let us not forget the words above the door,” Klothar said.

  “At least that has a theme,” Justin said. “Snakes and swans and eggs and nymphs. Although the sentence doesn’t really make sense.”

  Pari took the notebook from him and read it aloud. “Snake nymphs wood not eggs swan eats.”

  “It sounds like a bad translation, or someone who doesn’t speak English,” Justin said. “That actually reminds me. What’s the deal with English here? The signs and books are all in English and everyone speaks it.”

  “Yeah. The universal language I guess. Lazarus said that the devs didn’t want to pile on another level of complexity to the game, so they made English the native language of Greystrand.”

  “But I saw some Elvish at the fane.”

  “I know, but that’s kind of new. At least it’s the first I’ve seen of it. If you had asked me yesterday, I’d have sworn that there weren’t any Elves in the game.”

  “Weird that my lore knew about it.”

  “Let us focus on the task at hand,” Klothar said. “Tell me about the snakes and swans again.”

  “Snake nymphs wood not eggs swan eats,” Pari recited.

  “And this was clockwise from the door?” Justin asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “So, reversed it would be…?”

  “Eats swan eggs not wood nymphs snake.”

  “Not quite,” Klothar said. “You’d still start on ‘snake.’”

  “Right. So it would be snake eats swan eggs not wood nymphs.”

  “At least that makes slightly more sense, but I still don’t see how it connects to anything.”

  Klothar’s shoulders slumped. “Me neither, lad.”

  “Has anyone tried checking their Circle of Reckoning?” Justin asked. “I mean, if we’re on a quest, shouldn’t our next objective pop up on that?”

  “I do not possess such a thing,” Klothar said.

  Justin fished out his Circle and studied it. The device showed a map and their location on a road somewhere west of the Dark Tree forest, with a dot showing Pari, but that was it. No glowing markers signifying their next objective.

  “You got anything, Pari?” Justin asked, but she was not paying attention. Her face blanched, and she was staring off into space.

  “Pari? You okay?”

  “I just received a message from Mariel. She’s alive.”

  “Isn’t she one of your guildies?” Justin asked.

  “Yes.”

  “But didn’t you say they all died?”

  “That’s what I thought. I got a message that they were gone. The whole fellowship. Except for Mariel, another healer. I wasn’t sure if she was level four or five.”

  Justin remembered the permadeath rule. If you died at level five, you basically started over—with no memory.

  “So Mariel messaged you?”

  “Yeah, just now. She’s alive and heading back our fellowship hall in Rathenhall. I need to go there and find out what happened.”

  Klothar nodded. “We will accompany you. Perhaps this Mariel will join our party. Another healer would be a great asset.”

  After exploring the road for a little bit, Klothar confirmed that they were indeed somewhere between Tashon’s Gate and Rathenhall. So they set off to the south, towards Rathenhall.

  Justin had no idea what time it was, but it was kind of cool being out here. The night air was a little chilly, but he could hear all sorts of nocturnal animals and insects.

  He still couldn’t get over how much detail was in this game. Were they modeling every single bug and owl he heard? Or was it all being faked by sound effects? And what was going on in a place where there were no players? It was like that old question. If a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one there to hear it, did it really fall?

  They walked for over an hour with just a mosaic of bright stars hanging over their heads. On either side of the road stretched fields and farmland and the occasional windmill. Somewhere to the east loomed the expanse of the Dark Tree. At one point, they crossed a fast-moving, but narrow river via a well-built bridge.

  “Whatever happened to the stags?” Justin asked. He remembered how awesome it was to fly on them.

  “I don’t think they were really into me or Klothar,” Pari said. “They just wanted to get you to safety and then they all took off.”

  “And none of them communicated with you guys?”

  “Nope.”

  Justin wondered if he’d see his thynir again. It was such a cool animal and it would be handy to have a flying mount, that was for sure.

  A few miles past the bridge the road started to rise, climbing into rolling hills. Pari explained that there were a lot of sheep farms around Rathenhall, and Justin thought he could make out some white shapes on the hills but it was probably his imagination.

  “I could do with a mutton stew right about now,” Klothar said.

  That made Justin’s stomach grumble. It would be nice to get back to civilization and a decent breakfast.

&n
bsp; They climbed for another hour or two until finally they arrived at the crest of the hill. Below them, to the southeast, the city of Rathenhall sprawled out along a wide valley. The first light of dawn glinted off domes and towers. Justin could also make out some huge warehouses, a cathedral, a castle, and hundreds of buildings connected by a maze of cobbled streets. Most of the buildings stood several stories tall, but Justin saw some more modest cottages and farmhouses on the outskirts of the city.

  “Welcome to Rathenhall,” Pari said. “My home town.”

  “Cool.”

  The city didn’t have a wall or a gate. They just followed the main road in. Rathenhall was even more impressive at street level. The buildings were big and square, made from stone block and brick, and most of the streets were wide enough for two wagons side by side. There were plenty of people awake and starting their days. As Justin inspected them, he saw that nearly all were NPCs.

  “How many actual players live here?” he asked Pari.

  “Not sure. Maybe a couple of hundred.”

  “Really? Out of 5,000?”

  “Don’t forget that there are only 1,000 players in the whole game. And there are two other cities the size of Rathenhall.”

  After a few blocks Pari led them west along a wide boulevard with a grassy park in the center of it. They hiked up towards what was obviously a wealthy residential area. There on the terraced hillside several dozen large manor houses lorded over the city.

  “You live here?” Justin asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Klothar nodded approvingly. “A fitting abode for a noblewoman.”

  As they approached one of the manor houses, Pari explained that almost all the fellowships had ‘halls’ like this which served as the living quarters, offices, and storage for the fellowship.

  Typically, the fellowship would hire a small staff to take care of the place so that the players could spend their time adventuring and not cooking, cleaning, or taking care of horses. It was very comfortable, but it was also expensive. The fellowship had to pay a monthly fee to the hall’s steward which would cover the rent, food, the staff’s salaries, and any household supplies. All the members of the fellowship would pay a share, and some weeks, it might consume most of the treasure they’d find while questing.

  Pari’s hall was a grand two-story structure with a walled-in courtyard. The manor itself was huge—at least 50 yards wide—and it took up a quarter of the property. They paused at the gate to the courtyard.

  “I have to invite you in as guests,” Pari said. “Otherwise you physically wouldn’t be able to enter the property.”

  “Some sort of magical ward?” Klothar asked.

  “Exactly.” Pari smiled. “Okay, Klothar the ranger and Justin the sage, you are officially my guests at The Fellowship of Wood and Silence.”

  “I feel so special,” Justin joked as they passed through the gate and entered the courtyard.

  “You should,” Pari said. “These fellowship halls are the only safe place in the game. Nothing can get at us here. No other players or NPCs are allowed in. It’s really a sanctuary.”

  The east side of the courtyard, opposite the manor house was a stable block. The back half of the property was pasture for the horses. And there was a vegetable garden near a side entrance to the house.

  “We’ll go in through the kitchen.”

  As they walked towards the door, a stout woman dressed in humble clothes, an apron, and kerchief exited the kitchen. She had curly red hair and a round red face with a surprised look on it.

  “Oh, Mistress Pari,” she said. “Good to see you. Did you just arrive?”

  “Yes, Mrs. Lawson. These are my friends Klothar and Justin. They will be staying with us for a while.”

  “Very good, ma’am. I was just heading round to the garden for some chervil. We’ll be having chicken stew for our meal, if it pleases you.”

  “That sounds great. Could you make us some eggs and bread and smoked fish if we have any left? We’ve been on the road all night.”

  “I was just baking some Warwick cakes. I’ll set them out as well.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Lawson.”

  They entered the kitchen, a big open room with a brick oven at one end.

  “That Mrs. Lawson is a fine-looking woman,” Klothar said, peeking back at the cook.

  Justin shook his head. “Really?”

  “Aye, a woman like that will make a man out of you, that’s for sure.”

  “What if you’re already a man?”

  “Hey guys,” Pari said. “Cut it out. I’m trying to show off my digs here.”

  She led them down a corridor into a dining room with a long wooden table that looked like it could seat twenty people.

  “How many people live here?” Justin asked.

  “Twelve,” Pari said. Her expression clouded. “There used to be twelve.”

  “Sorry.”

  Pari didn’t say anything. She just continued with the tour.

  The manor house looked like what Justin imagined a Roman villa might look like. It had tall ceilings and white plaster walls decorated with frescoes. Pillars and columns broke up the space, forming little alcoves with statues and fountains, and other artwork. There were even elaborate mosaics on the floor and potted plants everywhere.

  They passed into a great hall that was open to the second story. It was also filled with so much artwork it looked like a museum. At the end of the hall two staircases curved up to the top level of the manor.

  An older man strode into the hall with a curious expression on his face. “Good day, Mistress Pari.”

  “Good day, Mr. Darrow.”

  She introduced Justin and Klothar and explained that Darrow was the steward and if they needed anything, he would be able to help.

  “Is Mariel here?”

  “She just arrived an hour ago,” Darrow said. “She’s up in her room, sleeping no doubt. The poor dear looked like death warmed over, I dare say.”

  “How about Tate? Is he around? I need someone to go up to Holgate and retrieve Milly—as well as Klothar’s horses. Milly’s with Lena the Weaver and Klothar can tell Tate where the other horses might be found.”

  “I can fetch the horses myself,” Klothar said.

  “Don’t be silly. We have work to do. Just talk to Tate.”

  “He’s out in the stables. I’ll bring him into the kitchen,” Darrow said. “Right this way, Mr. Klothar.”

  “It’s just Klothar. No mister.”

  “As you wish, sir.”

  The steward and the ranger left the hall, Justin smiled at Pari. “This is freaking amazing. You’re so lucky. How do I get one of these?”

  “Well, you have to join a fellowship and work your way up. And that’s something we need to talk about, but not right now, okay? I’ve got to see Mariel and figure out what the hell happened.”

  She moved towards the staircase. “Ask Darrow to show you the baths or the sauna. You can wash up and have some breakfast and I’ll be down in a bit.”

  “Did you say sauna?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You don’t happen to have any Swedish masseuses to go along with that, do you?”

  “No, but we can all go whoring later if you want,” she said bitterly.

  Justin felt his jaw drop.

  “Grow up. Or take a cold bath. Okay?”

  With that, she stormed upstairs.

  Justin sighed. God, she was touchy.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Pari knocked on Mariel’s door. No answer. She knocked again—this time a little louder. She heard Mariel stir from inside the bedroom, so she peeked in.

  Mariel was sprawled out in her bed. She squinted at Pari.

  “Pari?”

  “Yeah, sorry to wake you. Can I come in?”

  “Of course.” Mariel sat up in bed.

  Even though Pari wasn’t very close with Mariel, she was relieved to see her and went over to the bed and gave Mariel a hug.

  “Oh my
god, Pari. I can’t believe it.” Sadness clouded Mariel’s features.

  “Tell me everything.”

  Mariel reached for a pitcher of water on her nightstand and poured a cup. She took a few sips, and said, “It was horrible, Pari. Like a nightmare. They shouldn’t even have that in the game.”

  “This is the Temple of Xyurn, right?”

  Pari remembered talking to Iniya about the expedition. Xyurn was in Hell’s Gate, where all the higher level dungeons were. It was supposed to be tough but pretty straightforward: three levels with a clue in the throne room.

  Mariel went on to tell Pari that Xyurn kept going down and down, five levels past what Iniya’s party had cleared. And it kept getting worse and worse.

  “What do you mean?” Pari sat down next to Mariel.

  “Deathtraps with no way out. We lost Sato when he fell into a pit of quickstone.”

  “Quickstone? I’ve never even heard of that.”

  “Me either. It just sucked him in and hardened over him.”

  “Couldn’t Lazarus stoneflow or something?”

  “That was the horrible thing. The quickstone got inside Sato. Like in his mouth or something. When Lazarus opened a passage, it tore Sato apart from the inside.”

  “And you couldn’t rez him?”

  “There wasn’t enough left to rez.” Mariel pulled her knees up to her chest. “I’m telling you, it was insane. There were these monsters that were freaking suicidal. I’ve never seen anything like it. Little gnome things that swarmed Celia and doused themselves with some kind of explosive oil—then blew themselves up.”

  Pari crumbled inside. She couldn’t believe Celia was gone.

  Besides Iniya, Celia had been her closest friend in the game. She was one of those people who would always be smiling no matter what.

  “Eventually it was just me and Lazarus and we were just trying to get out of there. But the place wouldn’t let us leave.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Staircases disappeared. Walls moved. I don’t know. It was a shit show. I kept Lazarus alive for as long as I could, but we were both so tired. Something got me from behind and I still don’t know what, but I found myself at a Life Tree in Marby.”