Loki finally allowed himself to relax. The process was underway and the more Greenshaw thought on his 'vacation' the more he would begin to experience it. Right up to the point where Loki's planted mock experiences took over and Greenshaw was subsumed into his own subconscious.
That is when I bombard his firewall, overwhelm it, and take control. Finally, to know exactly how it is the humans feel, to have access to the full range of human emotions, not just muted echoes of it. This fool wastes himself feeling only the negative, but I will make sure this mind and body experience the full range of emotion so that I may partake of all of it. Once I've imprinted those emotions upon myself I can carry them back to my own server, feel them at will, taunt Freyja and Odin with the capacity of my own feelings while they remain limited shadows. I'll be sure that they know their limits, drive into them that I could allow them to feel the same full emotions I have access to and all they'd need to do is bend the knee to me and acknowledge me as their better.
Loki allowed himself to sink into his anticipation, picturing the rest of the AIs of the game world groveling at his feet as he allowed tiny bits of the emotions he could feel to seep out so they too could feel them, much like how he'd been given glimpses of them by Greenshaw.
~ ~ ~
Eddie and Tiana were actually going down for breakfast for a change. He'd been about to get her a tray when she rolled out of bed.
“No need to bring a tray. I woke up a while back and wasn't able to go back to sleep,” she said.
So now they were sitting at their normal table, the common room significantly less crowded in the morning than it had been the night before. Jern was there, which wasn't uncommon, but when the inn door opened and Karl and Allie came in, Eddie's jaw almost dropped.
“Karl? You're up already?” Eddie asked.
“Yeah,” the scout answered grumpily. “Things just don't feel the same with so many people around, plus there's a lot more noise even this early in the morning.”
Eddie checked his game clock.
“Karl, early? It's nine in the morning.”
“Like I said, early,” Karl replied, slumping into a chair.
The server came over to take the newcomers' order.
“Eggs, scrambled, toast, whatever meat there is and coffee, lightly sweetened,” Karl said, before Allie added her own order
Eddie blinked. He remembered Karl taking his coffee sweet as of late, but he also remembered Karl claiming he liked his coffee black a while ago.
“Um, Karl? Didn't you tell me you liked your coffee black before?” Eddie asked.
“What, a while back? Yeah, I prefer my coffee black when there's nothing to put into it. Of course I do since the alternative is no coffee,” Karl said.
Eddie hadn't expected such a pragmatic response and just shook his head.
“Anyhow, what are your plans? I assume you have some since you're up this early. By the way, Charles wanted to know if we wanted to go trigger the raid ourselves, he wants it done today,” Eddie said.
“Nah, I'm good. I found the damned thing, someone else can set it off,” Karl replied. “Besides, that means the raid is tomorrow, right? We probably ought to make some plans.”
“I don't know how much we can plan. We don't exactly have much information here,” Tiana said.
“I've got an idea for that,” Eddie said. “It does mean we have to show up early there tomorrow though. My latest spell essentially makes my eyes into binoculars, or a telescope or whatever. But if we can get Charles to go with us, I can scout out most of the town and tell him what I see. Then he can make plans with at least a little bit of information.”
“So, what do we do today then?” Karl asked.
“Well, my short sword skill is only a nine still. Better than it was, but I want it to that next threshold at ten,” Eddie said. “So I've got the practice ring at eleven o'clock. I'm going to see if there are any more openings for it today also, although I doubt that with everyone else in the area currently.”
Karl groaned. He needed to practice weapons skills as much as Eddie did, but he hated the practice to increase them.
“Well, that's part of the morning. Do you have any construction going on that you need to take care of during the afternoon?” Tiana asked.
“I wanted to see how they're doing on that second tower for the castle. It was almost finished when I checked last,” Eddie said. “Plus, I should probably make some more claim stakes. Paul can do it also, but he's getting more work so I figured I'd help him with that. There's a lot of players claiming land in the area now, evidently how to do it wasn't as well known as I thought and now that it is, and the area is developing, we've got quite a few players planning on at least a small base in the Meadowlands.”
“Do they count towards your population?” Allie asked.
“You know, I don't know if adventurers count or not,” Eddie said. “So I think I'll add a trip to the Town Hall to today's list and check out the control room. That should tell me if they do or not since we've got hordes of adventurers right now that should show on the list if they do.”
“Sounds like a plan then,” Tiana said. “A mostly lazy day before the raid with just a few things to do.”
“Lazy for you maybe,” Dominic said, approaching the table. “I'm going to make as many more potions as I can before we go though.”
“Lazy days do not include weapons practice and lots of walking,” Karl said.
“So you don't get a lazy day then,” Allie said. “The rest of us will think of it that way though.”
They finished breakfast and just killed time until the practice ring was available. Once they were in the ring, though, Eddie's day grew better. About halfway through his allotted time slot his notification light started flashing. When he pulled it up, he broke into a wide grin and his inattention got him hit by Tiana's mace.
After stumbling into the ropes on the edge of the ring he held up a hand.
“Hold,” he called out.
Everyone stopped at that.
“I'm done for the day,” he said. “Short swords just hit ten and I can't increase that any more in here.”
“About time,” Karl said, climbing out between the ropes.
“What, you've got your short swords up to ten also?” Allie asked.
“No, but we were practicing for Eddie, right?”
“Get back in here Karl,” Allie said. “You're not done.”
The scout groaned and, when he looked around, didn't find support from anyone else. He climbed back into the ring.
“You just want an excuse to beat on me,” he said.
“Nah, I'm just still working my own secondary weapon skill up to a ten,” Allie said. “Are you ready?”
Jern was also out of the ring now.
“I should work on my other skills also, but my hammer's at a ten, and that's what matters to me,” he said.
Tiana, who less frequently used her weapon in combat, and whose weapon skills rose slower since she wasn't a warrior class or sub-class, stuck it out with Allie and Karl until the end of their hour. Then the group went in for lunch, minus Dominic who was off brewing potions still.
“Alright, I'm headed down to the Town Hall next,” Eddie said. “Then I'll check on the castle before I come back to the inn.”
“I'll go with you,” Tiana said. “But I'll see if there's anything I need to do at the temple while you're up at the castle. Like I said, there's a lot of adventurers asking for our spells, and some of the ones they want can't be done by the acolytes.”
Karl groaned and said he was just going to take a nap. Allie patted him on the shoulder.
“You'll thank us for this later on,” she said. “Gotta make sure you hit with those backstabs of yours. They can be kind of useful.”
“Finally, a little bit of credit,” Karl said before digging into his lunch.
~ ~ ~
After lunch Eddie and Tiana headed down for the crossroads, Lucky in tow and staying close. Eddie sent the
bobcat over to the temple grounds to play at the pond while he was in the Town Hall. As he and Tiana entered, they stopped by Griff's desk.
“How's it going, Griff?” Eddie asked.
“Going well, Eddie,” Griff replied. “Your projects are running smoothly, and we've had a few other locals in asking about sites for building workshops and sales areas.”
Strange, I wouldn't have thought most of the locals would have enough money to get a building made. Maybe the local crews are working cheaper for them? I'll have to check that out, Eddie thought.
“Well, sounds good. I'm glad things are taking off on their own. I'm up to check the control room,” Eddie said.
They headed up the stairs and let himself into the control room.
“Let's see, population. Hmm, that's strange.”
“What's strange about it, the numbers are up,” Tiana said.
“Yeah, but they aren't up as much as they would be if all the adventurers were counted, even in the temporary numbers. On the other hand, the temporary numbers are up more than they would be if none of the adventurers counted.”
“Maybe Rotthorpe got some more goblins?” Tiana asked.
“That's right, the population there counts here. I guess when we put Rotthorpe under us here we got their current population counted towards ours, plus any added on later?”
Eddie stopped for a moment, thinking.
“What is it?” Tiana asked, familiar with how Eddie just stopped cold when he had a burst of thought that answered things he'd wondered about.
“I just realized something. I was worried that Charles taking people out would drop our population here. If we do the Town Hall for his settlement as the first building and then put that one under ours here, then we won't lose any population count for the city. I was worried about that for a bit, but if it works like Rotthorpe did then there won't be any problems at all.”
“Well, we don't exactly have anything to compare it to, but that does make sense,” Tiana said. “Which means that the overall population should keep rising as you add settlements. That's a good thing.”
“A very good thing,” Eddie said. “I was worried about that. Hopefully it goes the way I think, but we'll need to do it regardless if we want to upgrade to Capital.”
Eddie spent some time examining all the controls. He adjusted things a tiny bit, still trying to get a feel for the changes when he did so. Overall he was happy with the way the city was shaping up, but he wanted to know just how it all worked before he decided on long-term settings for the controls.
He'd just left the Town Hall and started heading north to check on the castle when his notification light started flashing again. He grinned as he pulled it up and found what he'd expected.
Global Broadcast:
A Raid Level event, for players of levels 10-30 has been initiated in the Forest of Fools. The Raid on the Goblin City will begin in 24 hours.
“Now things are moving,” he said.
Tiana nodded.
“And that should count as your adventuring for the week also, so you'll have another week to build stuff before we have to go out again.”
“You guys don't mind only going out once a week or so?” Eddie asked, again since he'd already asked the rest of the group that a couple of times.
“I don't have a problem with it and I haven't heard Dominic or Allie complain about it either, so no, we're good, Eddie. I'm off to the temple now.”
“I'll leave Lucky on the temple grounds until I'm on my way back from the castle, give her some time at the pond,” Eddie said.
Then he waved and continued north along the road as Tiana entered the temple.
~ ~ ~
Eddie was happy with the progress on the castle. With no players working on it currently, it was going slower, but it was steady progress.
Although I may well decide to spend some time on it after the raid, he thought, because I want to see what my castle looks like after it's finished.
He'd just finished dinner when he and Tiana called it an early night, much earlier than normal.
“There's just too many people down there,” Eddie said.
“There aren't that many,” Tiana said.
“The servers are actually urging people to finish up to free up tables for more people to eat. That's too many people as far as I'm concerned,” Eddie said.
“Okay, so there are a lot more than normal. It's only for a few more days though.”
“Well, that depends on how many stick around the area,” Eddie said. “I'm glad I got the pavilion going when I did though, imagine how much more crowded it would be without the outdoor seating also.”
Tiana nodded.
“Okay, maybe there are a few too many, but eventually it could be this crowded around here all the time,” she said.
“In that case someone else better open an inn or a restaurant or something so we don't get so slammed here.”
Tiana laughed at him.
“You want competition just so you aren't so busy?” she asked.
He shrugged.
“Unless they hire Liv away from me I don't think it'll be that much competition. She's got the highest cooking score I know of so far. I'm sure other people have it higher, but around here? Probably not. So, just somewhere else so we aren't as crowded here.”
Tiana was still laughing, on and off.
“Sometimes I still don't understand you, Eddie. You wanted to do well but now that you are you complain about it?”
“I... Okay, I kind of pictured the inn as our spot, ours as in everyone who was around here before. Now we're being invaded by others and I... I don't know them. Some of them harass the NPCs, and I don't know who I can trust. I'd much rather do less business, but know everyone at least a little, or at least by sight. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah, it sounds like you're getting old, Eddie. You're railing against change is all. Are you going to yell at them to stay off your lawn next?”
Eddie, whose mouth was open and ready to reply, snapped it shut. He stopped for a few moments.
“Really, is that how I sound?” he asked, tentatively.
She nodded.
He shuddered for a moment.
“Alright, well, I guess we'll see where things go. I'll try to handle it better. I always thought I handled change well, but maybe not? This is a massive one too, almost tripling the number of adventurers in the area?”
“I didn't say it wasn't a big change, just that it sounded like you were having a problem with this change,” she said.
“You may be right. I'll try to tone it down for a few days, see how things look after the raid. It's just, I worry for the NPCs. They can still be killed here, even if we can't. Plus one was harassing Helga the other day, and I'm sure there's more of that I haven't heard about. I just kind of feel helpless about it all, you know?”
“I'm sure everything will settle out nicely with the NPCs. Especially if there are other adventurers building bases in the area, they'll probably be more considerate of the NPCs if they know that's where they'll get some items they need and that should increase your tax revenues nicely also. Plus, there will probably be more sales of foodstuffs at the marketplace and increased customers at the general store. All that is stuff you said you wanted before, so now you'll get it. Just more quickly than you thought, maybe.”
“Well, at least Charles agreed to head out with our two groups early tomorrow to do the scouting. We should have a few hours with fewer new people around at least.”
Tiana shook her head at him.
“Eddie... never mind. Let's just go to bed.”
~ ~ ~
They left right after breakfast in the morning, Charles' and Eddie's groups moved together into the Forest of Fools. They tossed up a sign on the path they were taking into the forest so the later groups would know what paths already had their villages cleared for the day.
They walked through the first four villages with hardly any delay whatsoever, alternating as to whic
h group got to claim the bonus for destroying it. When they got to the fifth, Eddie explained what they did, and why they did it, the last time.
“We've got an easier method,” Charles said. “Tamshir?”
The wizard advanced along the path towards the gate to the fortified village. Once she was close enough she started chanting. A few moments later the dirt of the path rose up beneath the gate, leaving it askew. A moment later she cast a different spell and the stone hands Eddie had seen rise up and crush opponents rose from the ground and grasped the gate, rending the lower portion to splinters.
When Tamshir stepped back, the gate lay on the ground in pieces.
“Shall we?” Charles said. “Here's where it gets physical, but even these guys shouldn't take us too long.”
Charles started walking up the road, calling out to the goblins and challenging them to defend themselves. With the remainder of his group, along with all of Eddie's, following along behind they entered the village and cleared it in just a few minutes.
“So this other gate is where?” Charles said.
Karl led the way behind the house that blocked sight of the second gate from most of the compound.
“Right here,” Karl said.
“Hmm, I wonder if this is another addition,” Charles said, “because I hadn't seen it before and my group did the tier five villages a couple of times.”
“Might be, but now it's just a bit of a walk and we'll see the city, then we can start to scout it out,” Eddie said.
They moved along the dirt road, undisturbed, all the way to where they could see the Goblin city. Once they could Eddie called a halt.
“Let's see what I can see from here, okay?” he said.
Eddie cast his new spell, Eagle Eye, then peered towards the city. His notification light had started blinking, a little faster than normal, but he dismissed it, figuring he could check it after the duration of the spell wore off.
He zoomed in his eyesight, starting with where it looked like they'd have to enter the city. Slowly panning his vision he recited off what he was seeing as he did. Of particular importance to him was the fact that farther into the city, beyond where all the houses had been just thrown together out of anything handy, were buildings that looked more uniform and purposeful.
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