A Slave in the Locked Lands

by Arthur Stone

  “Now you kneel before them. They are no longer meat. They have earned their names. And you are meat to them now. Do what I told you! On your knees!”

  “Quest completed: Miners’ Terror. Quest success: 66,67%. Reward: 1,800,000 XP, +400 to reputation among Locked Lands slaveowners, +275 to reputation among Locked Lands mixed factions, +2 to every primary base stat. You gain a level. You gain a level. You gain a level. Points left until the next level: 526,349. Attention! Miners’ Terror is a potentially heroic quest! You’re a hero! Your reward: +2 to Attack, +2 to Defense. Your party and your clan will receive half the bonus. The reward has been reduced due to incomplete fulfilment.”

  “I dinged again! But why is the reward incomplete?! Hey, Tardath! We have fulfilled everything!”

  “Meat, do not raise your voice at the great Tardath!” Agythric managed to bark this despite his posture of humiliation.

  “Silence! You are meat now, and they have names, including the female!” The “Yoda” shut him up. “You didn’t kill the Worm. Who killed it?”

  Ros shrugged.

  “It may have died of some internal causes. But so what? All three bosses are dead, as agreed.”

  “The Worm couldn’t have just died like that!”

  “It may have been a rockfall. Or the skeletons. Their bones and a few weapons were scattered all over the place.”

  “Skeletons? What are you talking about?” Tardath tensed.

  “We found a passageway that wasn’t marked on your map in the hall of the Worm. It must have been dug recently—or, perhaps, it appeared as a result of a rockfall. That’s where the skeletons were coming from. We dispatched a few groups, and then went in. It led to a long-abandoned ancient mine. We had no time to explore it since we were in a hurry to get back. So, we just let the skeletons kill us as soon as we ran into another group. Saved ourselves time for the journey back.”

  “A mine? An ancient one? Are you sure you’re not lying?”

  “Well, look me in the eyes.”

  “You’re not lying… Agythric! You imbecilic meat! Why do I have to find out about what’s happening in your mine from strangers?!”

  “Forgive me, o Tardath! I didn’t know anything myself! How would I find out? None of the soldiers who went in ever came back.”

  “It would have been better if you went in and never came back. Your filthy ears wouldn’t suffer as much then! You! You three! You’ve done a great job. You found the ancient undead, and I think they have been causing all the trouble in this mine all along. What reward could I give you for your brave deeds?”

  “We’d like to get our stuff back…”

  “You shall have it. But what else do you want? I could give each of you an excellent bag—you’ll be able to carry a lot of loot in it. Just what a brave warrior needs.”

  “I wouldn’t mind a bag,” said Danger Babe.

  “What do you want?” the mob addressed Tangh.

  “I could really do with a good shield. For a tank.”

  “Fine. How about you?”

  Ros pondered for a moment, and then asked:

  “Would you happen to have a Transmogrification Cube?”

  “What do you need one for? You know the art of transmogrifying?”

  “I do.”

  “It is long forgotten in our lands. But the mages of yore have left us many treasures. We’ll find you a cube no one else has. You have asked for your reward. Now you need to fulfil the quest to claim it.”

  “Why’s that?” Ros looked surprised. “I thought the reward was given for the discovery of the undead.”

  “The discovery is what made me gracious enough to offer you this opportunity to receive a reward. That is your task now. I’ll give you a bag, a shield, and a cube, all of them so good and so expensive that the sun itself will go dark with envy. And you’ll be showered with plenty of other rewards. You’ll be very, very happy. But first you must clear out the mine. A terror that was sealed away long ago lurks in that ancient mine. We had thought it sealed forever, but evil has found a way out. We won’t get any ore while it’s there. There will be no good metal. Nothing but great terror and grief over losses. Go deep underground, into the abandoned dungeons, and slay the Bone Sovereign of the Forgotten Tomb.”

  “Great. So, where would we find him?”

  “There is no map of the ancient mine. These were all events from long ago. Now it’s all forgotten and fallen to dust.”

  “Just how much is known, anyway?”

  “It all happened when we revolted against the unrighteous mages. We destroyed them without mercy anywhere we could find them. That was when they sealed us away from the outside world. There was a mage whose name has been cursed and forgotten. It took a long time to kill him. But he fell for a subterfuge and became trapped. As he died, he used his magic for his last curse. The wisest ones understood then that he would rise again, stronger than before. He would serve Death itself, having cast away everything that was before. A tomb was built at the very abysmal bottom of the deepest mine, in the caverns underneath. The body was placed therein. Then a ritual was conducted. Many animals and sentient creatures were slain, so that death itself would seal death. All the exits were buried, and the tomb was sealed. When the mage rose again, he could not tear through the seals. His power must wane over time, sapped by the ritual and the great sacrifice that was made. He would have faded away and turned into forgotten dust if he received no lifeblood from the living. But he did not fade. He revived those slain in sacrifice, making them his servants. Now, it appears, he has found a way through. The beasts from our mine sensed his breath and panicked. They started to kill miners and soldiers, and fear drove them closer to the exit. This is how the mine went idle. The mage kept finding new victims and killing them to replenish his powers. If he kills a certain number of living things, the protection will fall, the ritual seals will crack, and the undead will roam free. You must find him and stop him.”

  “I wonder how we might do it. After all, even death didn’t stop him.”

  “The curse only works once. He will not resurrect again. He spent a lot of time in his tomb and lost a lot of his power. He’s weak now. Go and kill him before he becomes stronger.”

  “If it’s as easy as you say, why don’t you deal with him yourselves?”

  “The wall has fallen, and the wild hordes burst out. We have no wish of causing a great evil to the world outside. They will take offense and desire revenge, so the horde needs to be stopped. Every soldier is needed—there is no one to send. Show me what you can do, and I will reward you handsomely. Will you do it, or should I look for somebody else who’s brave enough?”

  “Will we receive any assistance?”

  “What kind of assistance do you need?”

  “Elixirs, paper, and ink for scrolls.”

  “Agythric will provide you with what you need, but you’ll pay in ore. We value fairness here, and we do not give anything for free to anyone.”

  “I see.”

  “Will you do it?”

  Ros turned towards Danger Babe and Tangh. Both nodded.

  “All right. We’ll do it.”

  “You receive a quest: Terror of the Forgotten Tomb. Quest type: Impossible, Heroic. Kill the Bone Sovereign of the Forgotten Tomb (boss; undead ancient mage). Quest duration: 10 days. Reward: as agreed, with variable bonuses. Attention! You cannot have any other players join your party for the duration of the quest. Attention! The current party members’ level is insufficient for the successful completion of the quest. The quest type changes to Insane.”

  “Insane, is it?” Tangh sighed.

  “Just like everything else we’ve been up to lately,” Ros chuckled.

  “Shall we go right away?” Danger Babe asked.

  “We need to leave the others some meat!” Tangh became agitated.

  “They’ve been waiting for us, as you can see,” Ros pointed towards the resurrection circle.

  There were three players standing near its edge, shif
ting their feet. One of them had the well-familiar coat of arms of the Jeeps next to his name.

  He remembered the cage, and his spirits plummeted.

  It was odd, since no new slaves were brought here, and Ros hadn’t noticed any players from this guild before—and that wasn’t something he could have missed.

  Where could he have come from?

  Chapter 27

  “I’ve been told to give you the following message verbatim: ‘We are sorry about what has transpired. It was an independent initiative by some of our players who have already been reprimanded. The leadership of the clan would like to convey to you our sincerest apologies for their actions. We propose to restart from a clean slate. If our apologies are insufficient, please suggest a reasonable compensation, and you will receive it at the first opportunity. You will keep it even if our further negotiations lead nowhere. We would like to be on friendly terms—neither party would benefit from hostility. We realize that you are in a precarious gaming situation right now. Unfortunately, we cannot provide any help. We would like to offer you a meeting IRL to discuss the prospects of our future relations in more detail. A telephone conversation, an online chat, or any other form of contact you deem appropriate will be acceptable. In case of acceptance, inform our player or leave a private message with the clan’s leadership, whose names can be found in the clans section of the forum.”

  “Did it take you long to memorize that?” asked Ros.

  “I copied it into a private chat window.”

  “Private chats don’t work here.”

  “They do, if you communicate with the locals. I copied the text into your private message window, but read it aloud instead of sending it. So, there was nothing to memorize.”

  “I see. I don’t remember seeing you before. Or any other Jeep, for that matter.”

  “There weren’t any. They found me on the forum—in the thread where Tangh distributes the meat. They offered me clan membership if I got in touch with you. I am recording our conversation right now to prove that I have passed the information on. No hard feelings, I hope?”

  “Why would there be any? You need proof, after all.”

  “Ros, I won’t be adding anything myself. I’m just passing along what I’ve been told.”

  “So, how do you feel now? Are the Jeeps worth it?”

  “I’m a level 84 noob. Someone like me has no chance of joining a top clan without a considerable fee. Thus, I got lucky because of you. So, what do you say? Will you pass any message through me, or will you contact them yourself?”

  “Have you seen the players that approached me before you?”

  “I did. Their clans are also pretty powerful. I assume, they offered you something similar?”

  “You’re absolutely right. And I gave them all the same reply, more or less, ‘I’m sick to my guts of your clans, and all the other clans to boot. Just leave me alone, I don’t want to associate with anyone. I absolutely loathe the very idea. I am my own master, and will remain this way.’ You can pass the same on to your clan.”

  The Jeep nodded.

  “I see. In that case, I have another question. They told me to ask you if you gave this response—it’s like they knew. Do you really have no intention of joining any other clan? In the foreseeable future, at the very least. They would like to know whether anyone may have recruited you already.”

  “None whatsoever. And stop making such a fuss over me already. The clan bonuses from having me as member aren’t all that amazing.”

  “Sure, I’ll let them know. Listen… I have a personal request. You’re doing all right for ore, aren’t you? I’d love to buy three hundred pieces to complete this damn quest. They might give me a decent reward. I’d hate to waste time, too. I’ll pay IRL—I could transfer it to any bank account, not necessarily the Second World one. Just give me the account number.”

  Ros shook his head.

  “We no longer mine anything. Just small amounts for personal usage. We’re also fulfilling the local quests, and they’re all timed, so we need to be snappy about it.”

  “What a pity… Any chance of joining you on the quest? I’m willing to pay.”

  “Also a no-go. It’s a long chain, and one of the conditions is that we can accept no other players. It’s just the three of us.”

  “Owww… In that case, good luck to you, Ros.”

  “Same to you.”

  “Can I approach you if they give me any further messages?”

  “Sure.”

  The Jeep barely managed to walk two paces before Danger Babe started to pester Ros.

  “What did he want?”

  “What do you think? He offered me to join the clan and hinted at all sorts of perks.”

  “The Jeeps?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Cool, they’re the strongest ones around.”

  “I think they’d accept you, too. And Tangh. They collect heroes, as far as I know.”

  “No, Ros, I’d prefer to stay with you. And the same goes for Tangh. Right?”

  The norder nodded, but also added:

  “Their clan bonuses would affect us as well. And that would be handy, especially considering the kind of quest we’ve taken on. It started as Impossible, and now it’s altogether Insane.”

  “It is legendary, though. Do you realize what the rewards are for such quests?”

  Ros butted in.

  “I don’t. Tell me.”

  “Well… Such quests are unique. You fulfil it once, and no one else gets a chance. The reward can be unique, too. I reckon I’ll get an extremely cool bag, while this cube of whatever that you asked for will also have some trick to it. And Tangh’s shield will probably make him a supertank.”

  The norder sighed.

  “I was too hasty. They’ll give me a shield for my level, and I’ll outgrow it eventually. I should have chosen a bag like you did. It’s an item you can use forever—there’s no point replacing it if it’s good enough.”

  “Oh, come on. You’ll sell it when you outgrow it. They should also give you something else besides the shield. I heard about a kid who received a full set for a legendary quest.”

  “False rumors,” said Tangh dismissively.

  “Perhaps not. How would you know?”

  “You won’t believe how many stories I heard about full sets. If you believe them all, everyone should have at least three. In reality, even a single full set is something you hardly ever see.”

  “Well, are we going or what?”

  “They’ll waste us…”

  “You keep saying that, but look at us.”

  “That’s because someone’s managed to snuff the Worm before we got there. And it was supposed to be the strongest boss of them all. Chew on this: it was killed by the very guys we’re about to face. We don’t even know their boss did it. It may have been the work of his minions. The skeletons we saw would not have pulled it off, which means there are some truly dangerous creatures down there. The Bone Sovereign of the Forgotten Tomb is known to be an undead ancient mage. Do you know what a magical boss is? It’s every tank’s worst nightmare. We are much better protected from physical attacks than from magic.”

  “You’ve got your equipment back, didn’t you?”

  “Danger Babe, I’m hardly equipped any better than you. Ros is all but naked. I have a feeling it’s really going to hurt down there…”

  Ros raised his hand.

  “I’ll be the tank.”

  “Are you insane?”

  “Not quite… Right now, I have 1209 primary stat points.”

  “How many?!” Danger Babe gulped in surprise.

  “You heard me. I’ll be able to redistribute them all tomorrow. Let’s say I’ll dump three or four hundred into Resilience, and around as much into Stamina and Defense. On our way, I’ll craft items and try to choose those with fitting bonuses. I also have various bonuses to resistance and protection from different schools of magic. Do you reckon I might pass for a tank capable of resisting mag
ic?”

  “Quite so,” the norder agreed. “Your offer sure has merits. I have a lot fewer points, so I won’t manage anything of the sort. But remember that you’ll have less Intellect, which means your control abilities will miss a lot more often, and that could have disastrous consequences.”

  “I’ll equip myself with all sorts of items with bonuses and enchant them to the max, so I may not lose that much. We just need to dispatch as many mobs as we can on our way. Something other than skeletons and the undead, for they don’t drop any Soul Crystals.”