by GR Cooper
STA: 12
ALI: Neutral
Skills:
Furious roar (1). Gives dog and owner a +10 to hit for 5 + (skill level) seconds. Once per day.
Blissful Belly Rub (1). Gives player real-time increase in Stamina regeneration when rubbing dog's belly. Level equals percentage increase.
"Wow," laughed Wulfgar, "and thanks. I mean that. I don't know what I'd have done if someone took him away from me."
"And now," added RaNay, "he can be rezzed if he dies."
A cold wash fell over Wulfgar, "Before he couldn't?"
She shook her head, "Nope. He was just another NPC. Now if he dies, he'll be in your inventory. A totem. He's kind of like a spirit animal now. You'll be able to rez him at a shrine." She frowned, "That is, assuming any of us can rez now."
Remembering her level, Wulfgar asked, "Have you put any skill points into anything besides taming?"
She shook her head.
"Nope, I've been pretty dedicated to that. I mean, I've got a few wilderness survival skills, but even my healing has been focused on pets." She smirked, "I planned, from the beginning, to be the cat-lady from hell."
"Literally," he laughed. "But what about if they get past your pet? What then?"
"Harsh language and obscene gestures," she shrugged. "I died a lot early on. It's no big," she frowned, "at least it was no big. Now?" She seemed lost in thought for a moment.
"I'm sorry," she said, "What were you asking before? About Clive?"
"When you first came back, when you went into his office and he explained what was going on. What did he say?"
She frowned and shrugged, "Just what kind of world we're in. How it was an RPG world, with RPG rules. How it was a part of the Omegaverse, but a separate part of it. How we couldn't go back out into the Omegaverse ..."
"Until fiftieth level," he interrupted.
She looked into his eyes, "No. He never mentioned anything about that."
He wondered about that. He hadn't received the standard introduction that others had. Lauren had mentioned the fiftieth level restriction on leaving, but he hadn't heard it mentioned by anyone else. Now he started to wonder about Lauren. Was she all that she seemed to be? Who could he trust, now?
"Do you know anyone who's made level fifty?"
"Not even close," she shook her head. "It's taken me years to get to fifteenth, and each level takes longer and longer."
"Years?"
She nodded.
He knew that there was a huge time differential between the outside Omegaverse and this world, but he'd had no idea how great that could be. It hadn't been all that long since he'd rezzed Shannon on the nightmare planet.
He froze.
"Holy shit," he said calculating, thinking. "Years?"
"Yeah," she said, "Clive told me that I was one of the first people brought into this world. That I'd died of a brain aneurysm and you'd brought me back, inside of this world."
"Yeah, and then I took care of a few things on the outside before splitting off and coming in here permanently. But it was only a few days. That doesn't make any sense. Even with a huge difference in the time scales, beyond anything that makes any sense, there's no way that you'd have been one of the first people rezzed."
"Unless," he thought out loud, "Clive brought you back just after you died. He created the situation that we both remember about you coming back. He created a dream for you, for your resurrection. Then, six months outside-time later, he implanted that dream into my subconscious, planning for me to do exactly what I wound up doing."
"That sounds a little paranoid."
He frowned, "Yesterday, I would have agreed with you. Today?" He shook his head, "No. After all of the shit we've been through, it makes perfect sense."
He stood, "Clive resurrected you just after you died, then manipulated me into joining you later." He cracked his knuckles. If he'd been angry before, he was furious now.
Wulfgar left RaNay, seated on the hillock with Bear and Schwartz for company. She needed, she'd said, to think about everything they'd talked about, but she agreed that she wouldn't leave. At least, not without telling Wulfgar first. He asked her to think about whether to tell the others about the conclusions they'd come to. While at first he'd felt that there was no good reason to share the facts as he saw them, the plan that was forming in his mind swayed his opinion and now he was leaning more heavily toward bringing all of the players into it. He'd explained his thinking to RaNay and she'd nodded, but hadn't agreed nor disagreed.
As he reentered the village, he thought more about what he wanted to do. He wanted to send Clive an unmistakable message. He just needed a way. Something that the other players had said about this village the night before left him with an idea. As he mulled his thoughts, he approached the tailor's shop; a small, thin, man leaned out of the large front window, open to the early afternoon air.
Wulfgar nodded, "Good day, sir."
The man returned his greeting with a grunt and a slightly concealed sneer.
Great. More Highlander hate.
"I was wondering," Wulfgar continued ignoring the slight, "if you could do some work for me." He swept the Baen Si's cloak from off of his back and draped it over the small counter that framed the bottom of the large window. He read the description as he did.
Baen Si's Cloak: Provides wearer +10% magic resistance. Once per day, has 25% chance of completely negating one (1) magical attack. Uncommon.
He smiled back up at the man, "What's your name?"
"Tailor. John Tailor."
Clever. Original. I wonder if the blacksmith's shop next door is owned by Joe Smith.
"Well, Mister Tailor, what I was hoping is that you could use this cloak as the inner liner for a fur cover? I was hoping to have one that matched this," Wulfgar said, pointing to the Cowl of the Wolf on his head.
John Tailor looked above Wulfgar's eyes, appraising the cowl. He nodded, "Werewolf fur, right?"
Wulfgar nodded.
The tailor shrugged, "I don't have any werewolf fur, buuut," he said looking into his shop, then speaking over his shoulder, "I do have some furs that could work." He stepped away from the window and back into the shop.
Wulfgar looked up as Lauren joined him.
"Whachoo doin'?" he asked.
"Nuttin', whachoo doin'?"
"Nuttin'," he smiled. "Actually," he said, "I'm here asking for mister Tailor's help in adding to my cloak," he pointed to the black, silken cape.
They both looked up as the tailor returned.
"Good day to you, ma'am!" he smiled at Lauren.
Wulfgar frowned.
"Hiya!" beamed Lauren happily.
The tailor folded three different furs over the window sill. They looked, to Wulfgar, exactly the same.
"Take your pick," said the tailor levelly, frowning again as he looked from Lauren to the highlander.
"Little help?" whispered Wulfgar, giving Lauren a slight elbow to the ribs.
She leaned forward and began examining them. She held up the first.
"They're all wolf pelts," she began, "this one is pretty standard. A bump in armor class. Nothing special, really."
"Five silver," said the tailor.
"This one," she continued, "is a bit nicer. It's named. The Pack Alpha. It provides a plus five to-hit for the wearer's group."
"Five gold," said the tailor.
"And this one," said Lauren, a little awe creeping into her voice, "probably should be named, but it isn't. Plus one intelligence." She looked up at Wulfgar, "If you don't buy this one, I sure as hell will."
"Twenty gold," said the tailor.
"Ouch," grunted Lauren. "That's a bit steep."
Wulfgar shrugged. It's only money.
"OK," he said to the tailor, "do it. That one," he pointed to the intelligence boost pelt. "Twenty gold, and," he said looked down his nose, "that had better include the cost of attaching the cloak to the pelt."
"It does," said the tailor, pulling the pelts a
nd cape off of the sill and retreating into the shop.
"When will it be finished?" asked Wulfgar to the retreating craftsman.
"Tomorrow. Morning."
Wulfgar nodded happily and turned to Lauren. He saw the look she was giving him.
"What?" he asked.
"Do you even have twenty gold?" she whispered, looking into the window to make sure that the NPC was out of earshot.
Wulfgar just smiled. "Nope. But I can get it."
"By tomorrow?"
"Probably within five minutes," he chuckled. "C'mon," he said, pulling her after him toward the tavern.
Wulfgar and Lauren crossed the square, passed the gurgling fountain arm-in-arm. He felt weirdly happy, even knowing what he now knew - or at least suspected - about how the world was being manipulated. He took a deep breath. The fresh, slightly cool mountain air filled his lungs. It felt like an early fall day. He looked to the mountains ringing the alpine valley. The nearer mountains, just to the east behind the keep that flanked that side of the village, were ringed on their lower slopes by tall evergreens. They looked like Douglas firs. Beautiful, majestic, but giving no clue as to the passage of the seasons.
"Do the seasons change?"
"Mmmmhmmm," she mumbled, leaning into him, "nothing drastic though. The summers aren't too hot, the winters not too cold. It's stumbling into autumn now."
"Don't you mean stumbling into fall?"
"The pun wasn't intended," she laughed.
They approached the door to the tavern. The windows facing the square were open and they saw their friends sitting in the same table at which they'd spent the previous evening. Wulfgar pulled open the door, held it as Lauren sidled through, then entered the inn. He left the door to close slowly on its own as Lauren turned to the right and waved to the players at the table before joining them.
Wulfgar turned left and stepped to Tim, still standing motionless in the corner of the great-room where Wulfgar had left him the night before. The trolls eyes moved to the human as the player reached up and patted him on the left shoulder.
"Hey, old buddy, old pal," he said warmly, "I was wondering if maybe I could borrow the gold you have in your little bag. Pretty please? I promise to pay it back." He smiled up.
The troll's countenance didn't change, but the eyes never left Wulfgar as the troll reached to its belt and pulled the pouch before dropping it into the space between them. Wulfgar snatched the bag out of the air and nodded to the troll before turning back to the interior of the room.
"Best. Familiar. Ever," he chuckled happily. He rounded the table and pulled up a chair across from Corwin. The man leaned back, nodded to Wulfgar, and went back to what he'd been doing before Wulfgar sat. He methodically cycled through shuffling and cutting a deck of cards in his hands.
"Magic?" asked Wulfgar.
Corwin shook his head, holding the deck up to show a six of diamonds on the bottom, "Nope, standard fifty-two card playing deck. Nothing special. You can get them in most outfitters." He went back to shuffling.
Wulfgar smiled, "I assumed it was some kind of tarot deck."
A smile flitted across Corwin's face before disappearing. He didn't speak, just continued shuffling.
"Want to play?" asked Wulfgar.
Corwin shrugged, "Sure."
"Texas hold 'em? Head's up?"
"What stakes?" Corwin asked, looking pointedly at the bag that Wulfgar had placed on the table.
"No. Not that," he said taking out his own purse and spreading a handful of coppers and a few silvers in front of himself. "Table stakes."
Corwin nodded, pulling his own purse open and spreading a like pile in front of himself. He dropped his still full bag to the side, then took a pull on the pint glass next to it. He passed the deck to Wulfgar who began cutting and shuffling. They all looked up as RaNay entered the inn and moved to the table, sitting next to Corwin.
Wulfgar looked up at her, raised one eye brow in question.
She nodded. He returned it.
"There's something I want to bring up with you guys," he began, looking around the table to ensure that all of the players were there. He and Corwin were on either side of one end of the table. RaNay was next to Corwin, and Catcher was looking at him from next to the latest arrival. Lauren, Snorri and Rydra completed this side of the table, and Connor took up the space at the far end. Everyone was there. Even Bear and Schwartz were curled against the wall. Tim remained unmoving in the corner.
Wulfgar pushed one copper forward into the center of the table - the small blind - and Corwin added two of his own to create a stack.
"I've been talking to RaNay," he began while dealing out two cards to himself and Corwin, "and it turns out that we knew each other before."
"You mean, before this town?" asked Catcher spreading her arms, encompassing the inn.
"Or before the Omegaverse?" asked Lauren.
"The latter," said RaNay. "We were friends when we were alive."
"Still are," smiled Wulfgar checking his cards. Nine of hearts and ten of clubs. He tossed one copper into the middle of the table, calling Corwin's big blind. "Still are friends, that is." He smiled at RaNay, "I hope."
She smiled quickly back. Then shrugged playfully.
"We'll see."
"Anyway," said Wulfgar looking up to Corwin who knocked the table, indicating that he wasn't prepared to raise the bet. "Anyway, yeah, we knew each other outside and have been comparing notes."
He frowned, pulled a dead card off of the top of the deck, and then dealt the three up-right cards called 'the flop' into the center of the table. Eight of hearts, jack of clubs and two of hearts. A possible straight for Wulfgar. In heads-up hold-em, the dealer bets first before the flop, and second for the rest of the hand. He looked up at Corwin who knocked the table, checking his bet. Wulfgar tossed another copper onto the pile. Corwin frowned for a moment, then tossed a matching coin.
"We're concerned about some of the things that have been happening, and we think that the system is being manipulated. And it's being manipulated because of us."
"Us?" asked Snorri.
"Me and RaNay," agreed Wulfgar. He burned another card off of the top of the deck, dropping it onto the top of the one dropped before the flop deal, then dealt another face-up card. The turn. Five of diamonds. No help. He checked. He felt Corwin's stare as he continued speaking.
"There's a lot going on that seems to weirdly track with our situation," he began, "like the quest situation."
Corwin tossed two coppers onto the stack. Wulfgar looked to the face-up cards. Five of diamonds, eight of hearts, jack of clubs and two of hearts. He couldn't really smell a monster hand coming out of that. He frowned. Corwin was trying to buy the pot. Wulfgar tossed two more coppers, calling the hand.
"We both got this quest at the same time, from two different corners of the world. As if to bring us together." He burned another card and dropped the final card of the hand - the river - face-up next to the rest. Queen of hearts. Lady love. He tried to hide his smile. He'd drawn into a queen-high straight.
Corwin knocked. Checking his bet.
Without looking up at the other player, Wulfgar dropped a silver coin onto the stack, "I also need to let you guys know that I'm kind of a weird case, as far as the Omegaverse goes. I didn't die before entering. I was sort of enticed into entering - I'll explain all of that later - by stories that Sh..., er, RaNay was here and in trouble. In need of my help. When, in fact," he shrugged, "she's lived here quite happily for years with no notion of being anything different up until she received the quest to come here a month ago."
He looked back up at Corwin, who was frowning at him. Wulfgar smiled back benignly. Corwin's frowned deepened before he dropped two silvers onto the table, adding one to Wulfgar's bet. His smile disappeared and he re-checked his cards.
Yeah. It really is a straight.
He shrugged, then dropped another silver onto the pile. Then turned over his cards.
"Queen-high straight
," he smiled.
His smile drained as his mouth dropped when Corwin turned over his hole cards. Wulfgar didn't even see what the numbers were - all he saw were the two hearts that burned into his brain.
A flush.
He'd lost half of his stakes on one hand.
Shit.
He continued speaking as if nothing had happened, handing the deck back to Corwin who began shuffling. Wulfgar dropped his big blind into the middle, two coppers.
As he waited for the hand, Wulfgar brought the rest of the table up to speed on the highlights of his back-story. About how his dreams had been manipulated and how they'd been matched up with Shannon's experience.
"Who did all of this?" interrupted Rydra as Corwin dealt the first cards. Wulfgar checked them. Pocket aces. Both as black as the coffee he wished he had in front of him.
"Clive," said Wulfgar, waiting for Corwin's bet. The other player dropped a copper onto the stack, calling the bet. With as much nonchalance as he could muster, Wulfgar dropped another pair of coppers on the stack.
"King Clive?" asked Rydra.
"The same. See, he was my AI assistant in the outer Omegaverse. He took advantage of the time-shift to be able to monitor me while still being king here. It probably only took a small part of his time." Wulfgar shrugged, "I don't know. I know it sounds weird ..."
"It sounds a little insane," agreed Corwin as he called Wulfgar's bet. "Paranoid."
"I know, I know," said Wulfgar, trying to keep his voice level as he saw the flop - three kings. He had a full house. Aces and Kings. He looked up into Corwin's eyes, trying to feign a deep interest; as if trying to delve into the other player's brain to read his mind; to see what kind of hand the player hand. He carelessly knocked on the table, trying to drag Corwin into his trap.
Corwin pushed the rest of his stack into the middle.
Without hesitation, Wulfgar did the same.
That's that. No more money. All-in.
"Deal," he smiled.
"Wait," said Rydra, "You say that you and RaNay both got this same quest, to bring you together here to meet?"
Wulfgar nodded, knocking on the table as Corwin dealt the turn. A seven of clubs.
