Bastions

by Jeff Sproul

  "Have you been spotting anything with them?" Aaron asked.

  "Uh, not…really, actually," Riley sighed. "In fact, the things that have been stealthed around me haven't even shown up. So they've never come in handy, yet. As far as the stealth part goes. They work great in the dark."

  "Well, I told you that they're not a very powerful stealth-sight," said Aaron. "You need to have that module upgraded. I can take it out and upgrade it, but you'll have to find me the materials first, or decide that you want to pay for them."

  "I know, I know," Riley sighed.

  "I have a schematic for a solar ring," said Aaron. "I could give you a list of the materials for that, and then show you its upgrade paths and requirements."

  Riley sat up in his seat. "Oh! I actually found one of those. It's how I noticed those wallets." He then held up his hand and pointed to the ring on his finger. "This thing."

  "How strong is it?" Aaron asked.

  "Uh, let's see… I checked when I picked it up," he said as he opened up his inventory and checked the stats for it again. He told Aaron what he saw, which just had Aaron staring off and nodding slowly.

  "I see," Aaron murmured. "Sounds like it's just the basic one. Nothing special about it, but I can definitely upgrade it. Which, as I said, requires materials. I'll send you a message about what I can do with it later."

  "Yeah, that might fix some of my charging issues. Well, temporarily. I need to be able to do something that works for me all the time, and this will only work if I'm in the sun. I spend a lot of time not in direct sunlight. Hell, some of those other zones don't even have a sun."

  "I'm pretty sure the ring has an upgrade path that lets it morph into something that pulls power, albeit in a slightly more limited capacity, from the air around it. So instead of being a solar ring, it becomes…well, I forget the name, but that's what it does. Again, a little pricey in materials if I remember correctly."

  "Yeah, definitely let me know what that takes. I might be able to save for it, unless I come across something better."

  "Sure thing. Hmm. Well, I don't think I have much of anything to mention on my end. I've mostly been sitting here doing boring work, as you would say. I was buying and selling items off the remote market. Which is important and interesting to me, but I'm sure you could care less."

  "Wait, what's a remote market?" Riley asked. "What about the market districts?"

  "Well, you can certainly still sell items from a kiosk, but market districts only exist in the really friendly areas of some of the other cities. Things mostly happen through direct trade between players or with a remote market. The remote market is a terminal you can use to see what other people are buying and selling. It's that thing there," he said as he pointed to the side, where there was another terminal set up that had a crate-like compartment behind it. "It's limited in its capacity for what you can buy and sell. So I can't go buying…I dunno, a vehicle, but I could buy the materials for it, or I could buy items that are likely to fit into that box."

  "Huh, I see," said Riley. "So it's just automatic, then?" he asked. "You click 'buy' and it appears there instantly?"

  "There's a delay, actually," said Riley. "There's some micro fees associated with every step of it. There's a tiny fee to list an item on the market, there's a tiny fee to purchase it and there's a tiny fee associated with how quickly you want it to arrive. You can have it instantly, in an hour, or in a day."

  "Interesting," Riley murmured.

  "You really think so?" Aaron questioned with a raised brow.

  "Kinda." Riley shrugged. "That's just different than how it used to be."

  "It definitely makes things a bit pricier to buy immediately, but it's also easier to get things and generally people are competing for prices, so that can sometimes lower the overall price. There's also a distance factor. The basic remote market terminal will reach most of the primary cities. But if you wanted to exist entirely out in the open areas outside the city, you'd either have to be close enough that the range could reach part of a city, or you'd have to caravan your resources over to one of the more neutral areas that aren't in conflict, and use a public terminal. Like I said, there's still some areas around that are somewhat like market-districts. They'll undercut the fees of the market system by selling the items directly."

  "Interesting," Riley murmured.

  Aaron's eyes narrowed again.

  "No, seriously, it's interesting to know that the market changes have also changed how people deal with resources. It's why we hear about so many caravan attacks," said Riley. "It's easier to raid a caravan than attack a well-defended base, after all."

  "Yeah, caravan raids have become such a big point of contention that some guilds exist solely to be hired as caravan escorts."

  Riley nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure they make some nice profit that way."

  "You going to be at the cafe later?" Aaron asked.

  "I gotta head back to Crimson HQ and report in with Sage," said Riley as he slowly stood up. "I should probably get going. But yeah, I'll probably stop by for dinner. I could go for something other than ramen."

  "Well you get a couple discounted meals with your monthly cafe subscription, right?"

  "Yeah, but I tend to use them right away," Riley sighed.

  "You can't be hurting for money that bad, right?"

  "I'm not hurting, but I've tried to be as frugal as I can be. Bastions is still a really new update, which makes it a prime time to get killed. Players are being exceptionally cautious with this update. They'd rather spend resources on throwing a small army around than doing things themselves."

  "Yeah, I've noticed that too. The economy is in a huge state of flux. Lots of money being lost, but also plenty of opportunities to make some. Unfortunately, the smaller player base means that fewer people are putting money into the game. But it's far from dead. Actually, last time I checked, I think the arrival of Bastions had increased population numbers, since players were able to kinda take a hands-off approach to the game. Especially if you're operating out of the wild areas. Plenty of places to hide and gather and build yourself up."

  "Maybe that's what we should do." Riley grinned. "Find a nice resource cache somewhere, build a base on it, defend it, and just sit back and relax. I can protect the base, we can hang out, and you can do your market stuff."

  Aaron lifted a brow. "I kinda doubt it'd work out quite that easily. Besides, I'm sure you'd get bored. You'd constantly want to kill things and probably give away our position," he said with a smirk. "But it's a nice thought. Unfortunately, the resources that the tier-three sphere requires are becoming harder to come by. I don't think the extraction of the resource has decreased, but I think people are keeping it for themselves as they realize what it's for. All the influx of even basic resources means that anyone can test their hand at crafting. So people are figuring it out. If I don't hit permanent tier-three soon, I might not have the means of becoming the Weevil anymore."

  "I didn't realize things had gotten that bad," said Riley. "Is there anything I should be on the lookout for?"

  Aaron shook his head. "Don't worry about it. There's a number of resources that go into it. Five of which are kinda rare. So it's just something I try to keep an eye on with the market. I'll probably have to start going out again and finding safe hunting zones."

  "Well, let me know if you do," said Riley. "I'll join you…well, if Sage and Chrono aren't putting me to work."

  Aaron tilted his head to the side. "You are still enjoying Sigil, right?" he asked. "You don't hate the game now that Sage has taken over, do you?"

  Riley tilted his head from one side to the other, pondering. "Yes, and no. I still love the game. But it’s changing so significantly in many ways. I guess I wish we could've gone out as The Bunker Brawlers into Bastions and made our own way, without being in Sage's shadow. But then again, if I hadn't made that deal I made with him, or hell…even if we'd just been one of the many guilds operating in Gargantuan, without the deal or without having
ever met him, we might've gotten swept away like everyone else. The Crimsons are a large guild. They went on a full-out assault with players and minions. Only Sage had been left at the base to watch over things. So I guess we made it out of that situation mostly unscathed where others lost their characters or were forced to withdraw. A lot of players fled. So, there's pros and cons to the whole situation. I wish we had more freedom, but we're also very protected right now under Sage's guidance. Even if he is a bit of a tyrant sometimes. But I would say that he shares the wealth, as much as he's able. I've spoken to some of the people in the alliance who deal with resources acquisition, as well as what we're making to defend ourselves. And while we're stretched thin from all the fighting, Sage still pushes resources in all our directions to keep us on top of things."

  "If you're still happy with the game, then that's all that matters. I don't want you feeling like you have to keep playing if you're not enjoying it, and if you're not able to make a living. There's other games out there now. All on the Celenion Framework, of course. But Sigil Online isn't your only option."

  "Yeah, I know. There's definitely some interesting new games that have come out, but I'm happy to stick with Sigil for now. It just feels too much like home, you know?"

  Aaron smiled. "Yeah, I get that."

  Riley sighed. "Alright, well, I think I'm off then. I should really take care of some things, but I need to speak to Sage first. So I'll catch you later. I'll send you a message when I know I'm going to head to the cafe."

  "Alright, sounds good," said Aaron. "I'll see you later, one way or another."

  Riley smiled. "See you then."

  Chapter 13: Landfall

  Elsewhere in Sigil Online.

  Waves lapped against the shore. The sea stretched out for miles and miles, with no end in sight. The beach itself was wide, but numerous rock formations created natural walls.

  Just like the water, the sandy shore stretched on for miles as well. There were no high mountains or hills. Just an expansive desert that met a sea.

  The sun was high in the sky, beating down on the surrounding area. There were some palm trees spread around, but beyond that, the vegetation was sparse or nonexistent.

  With a sudden flash of blue light, a figure appeared.

  Encased in silver and gold plated armor, the figure would've fit right into a medieval-fantasy video game.

  The figure removed her helmet and let out her deep sea-blue hair. Her piercing opal eyes observed her surroundings. "Hmm," she murmured to herself. She crouched down and picked up a handful of sand in her gloved hand. She stood and watched as the grains fell through her fingers. She slowly turned before coming to a stop as she looked out to the sea. She stared out at it as her lips slowly curled.

  "Sand and water," she spoke quietly. "This will do."

  Another bright flash appeared beside her. She looked over to see another figure standing near her.

  Whereas she was wearing ornate armor, this person was dressed in robes that bore silver and gold colorations. His hands lifted and pulled back his hood, revealing short brown hair and a runic tattoo of a white lotus upon his forehead.

  "The portal was stable, then?" she asked.

  Gregory lowered his hood. "Yes. It would seem so. Where are the others?" he asked as he glanced around at their surroundings. "We have water. That's good."

  "Indeed," said Melissa. "The others will either arrive in moments, or…if the portal was less stable than we imagined, they could be scattered. Regardless, we should get started. You have enough materials on you, I take it? Or do you require the others?"

  Gregory looked around some more before nodding. "I can get us started. This game, whatever it is, has to be on the Celenion Framework. So we should have some means of construction and resource extraction. Either our own, or theirs. Let's see which it is."

  "I'll leave the base construction to you," said Melissa as she walked further up the shore, while Gregory stepped closer to the water.

  Gregory gestured to bring up an inventory screen. It was much the same as what any screen might look like in Sigil Online, except that the borders of the window were more elegant and well-designed in patterns.

  With a rapid set of taps, Gregory checked his resources, making sure that everything was as it needed to be. Then, he checked his status screen, noting some of the key differences. "Hmm, interesting. I'll use these as a reference point for determining where we've ended up," he mused to himself as he then dispersed the screen. "Time to build."

  With that, he brought his hands up and placed them together. Then, with a rapid series of movements with his hands and fingers working in intricate patterns, his hands glowed. He was focused on the task at hand and what he was planning on willing into existence.

  He clapped his palms together.

  From his feet, a streak of burning fire ripped out from him in a spiral pattern. The flames raced and wove into patterns beneath him until they formed a square. He reached out with his right hand and the burning lines blazed brighter.

  A green and yellow crystal materialized in the air, roughly ten feet above where the water was washing in across the sand. In a flash of light, too bright to see through, segments of golden glass appeared, each attached to the crystal by an arc of magical green and yellow energy. The segments were roughly five feet by five feet in height and width and roughly half a foot thick.

  With movements of his hands and gestures from his fingers, he directed the panels around, slowly laying a foundation, one panel at a time. There was plenty of space to build.

  Nearby, another flash came, and then another.

  Two more figures, encased in similar regalia to Melissa.

  Gregory was too distracted with his work to notice, but Melissa had been keeping an eye on her surroundings and spotted them at once.

  "Barclay. Simone," said Melissa. "Glad you could make it. I need you to head out and search the area. Report back with anything you see. But don't wander too far out of sight. It looks to be mostly sand and sea, but if there are any monsters in the area, we'll want to clear them out to give us some breathing room while we establish a foothold."

  "Yes, ma'am," said Simone, as she and Barclay headed off as a pair.

  Less than a minute later, another flash came.

  Another robed figure appeared, much like Gregory. The only key difference was that when the new arrival removed his hood, he had longer blond hair but still possessed the same white lotus tattoo on his forehead.

  "Pendel, you have the extractor, yes?" Melissa asked, remaining nearby to direct all the new arrivals.

  Pendel glanced around, then set his sights on Melissa. "Yes," he answered, before looking around some more and watching as Gregory continued to build a short ways away. "I'll set it up immediately," he said, without needing further orders. He rushed off toward Gregory, exchanged a few words and then headed over about fifty feet away.

  Pendel moved in a similar fashion to Gregory. His hands whipped around and soon enough, in a brilliant display of fire and a flash, he created another crystal similar to the first. With it, he brought forth in a sudden flash of materialized matter a curious object that looked like a larger, more intricate crystal contraption with gold trim and a gold foundation holding it roughly five feet from the ground that it rested on.

  He stepped away from it as the green-yellow 'construction' crystal disappeared, but left the larger one intact.

  Gregory was quick to send golden glass panels over to lay a foundation around it. As he did, Pendel went over to where Gregory was working with the still-active construction crystal. He drew new segments out of it on his own and started placing walls on the ocean side.

  Over the next several minutes, more flashes of light spawned mages from another game world. Each knew their intended task and were quickly set to it, whether it was construction or defense or exploration.

  Melissa stood as overlord of the scene. Only occasionally did she need to direct the soldiers and crafters around her.
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  As more minutes passed, the foundation of the structure was fully laid, as were several entry points and the first wall, which gradually sloped upward. The foundation was massive. The sand beneath their feet gradually disappeared as more panels were made. The panels themselves were so thickly golden that they were opaque.

  Eventually, new mages were arriving within the confines of the first floor of the structure.

  Several of the robe-wearing mages stood at the crystalline extractor. They brought up interfaces of their own, interacting with the extractor and using it to determine what was beneath them.

  Another floor was constructed above them. At the center of the floor was a green ray of light. Beside it was a yellow one. Anyone who stepped into the green ray would float upwards. Anyone who stepped into the yellow ray would float downwards.

  Pendel was still working on panels, while several others had made similar crystals. One on the outside, one underground. The underground crafter was pushing sand and hard ground in order to make room for an equally sizable basement.

  Layer by layer, a pyramid formed on the top, while another formed upside-down into the underground. Combined, they created a diamond shape, but the underground was hidden from view by anyone on the surface.

  Within an hour, over a hundred players had arrived via bright flashes of light. Some were standing guard with staff or spear in hand. Roughly seventy percent of the arrivals were in armor, while the rest were in robes of one sort or another.

  As the diamond-shaped structure was completed, Melissa headed to a golden glass throne that had been constructed back toward the side that was out toward the water. There was another sectioned-off extractor positioned above the seaside, just as there was one over the side of the shore.