Last Horizon: Beta

by Daniel Schinhofen

  Shaking his head he went on to the options for hair, chuckling again as he noted individual sliders for body hair in each area as well. Setting that up to match his real life hairy nature he went on to the hair color. Changing it to a nice fiery red, he then used a secondary slider to sprinkle some gray in. After adding a good thick, robust dwarven beard he started fiddling with the slider for hair and beard styles. Giving the dwarf the hairstyle he himself had been used to for the last twenty years, no hair on top but a close cut ring around the temples and back. The beard was styled into a forked beard gathered by leather cords.

  Moving onto the eyes he made them blue-green, shading slightly more blue then green. Nice bushy eyebrows befitting a dwarf. Making sure the nose was good he moved on to make sure he had the square cut jaw. He started adding small scars across the face and hands, as if the older dwarf had seen many battles. David gave his avatar one prominent scar that went from his right temple down to the jaw, he would think up a story for that one.

  David had the avatar turn about to check that he had the model the way he wanted. Pressing the accept button the avatar was now wearing plain clothes with a box blinking over its head and a keyboard appeared asking for a name. Smirking, he typed in the name his regular gaming friends knew all too well- Dumadin Shieldbreaker.

  Another window popped up when the name was accepted, asking David to pick his starting ability. It had the abilities listed by type that the game considered most useful to a strength build first. Out of curiosity he swiped the scroll icon a few times and watched the counter on the side barely move as the list streamed by quickly. Nodding to himself that there was indeed a long list of abilities he returned the list to the top and quickly looked for the ones he was most interested in.

  Well there were a few abilities that he had to pick from, block was right near the top which required a shield. Also there were damage mitigating abilities, both for magical and physical. Two more abilities suggested themselves as well, a single target taunt and an area of effect (AoE) taunt. Then there were skills like parry, riposte, and dodge- many skills a tank could use. Knowing he had a healer and a damage dealer with him he chose the aoe taunt, which would help them pull more mobs faster. After confirming that was indeed his choice the game asked him to pick a set of starting equipment.

  The sets included one handed weapons, two handed weapons, sets of one handed weapons, and shield and one hand weapon combos. He browsed through the shield set, finally settling on the hammer and shield combo that was offered. Just having the shield would slightly lower the incoming damage. After confirming that choice he was blinded momentarily by a flash of light.

  When the light cleared he looked around at a few dozen people with light blue names hovering above their heads. The names ranged from “typical” gamer names like Death Slayer, Shadow Stalker, or even one called Dancing Angel, to those rare few who had chosen names that seemed more real, like Kristof Runeblade.

  Taking all this in, he started noticing the vague outlines of the interface. His health, stamina, and aether bars were in the upper right of his field of view. There were octagonal slots along the bottom edge one of which was filled with his aoe taunt, and showed an eight second cooldown on it. His eyes tracked a female elf, Dancing Angel, who was dancing provocatively, and her portrait appeared in the upper left of his field of view. Nodding to himself he looked down and a few seconds later the portrait disappeared. Dumadin smiled, glad he had figured out how to acquire a target.

  Glancing around he noted that they all seemed to be in the center of a small town and more people popped into existence every minute or so. Finding a place to sit and keep an eye on the square he waited for his friends to show.

  A minute later a lovely blonde haired elf with the name Kittish above her head appeared in the mix of people. She glanced around at the increasing mass of people, shaking her head at the dancing elf but clearly looking for someone. Her eyes fell upon her lover sitting off to one side examining a shield and hammer. She strolled up to him as he seemed oblivious to all else at the moment.

  “Excuse me sir, might a lady ask you for assistance,” she said softly batting her eyelashes at him when he glanced up.

  “Of course lass, always glad to help out a female in distress,” Dumadin without pausing reached up and pulled her down into his lap and kissed her.

  After letting the kiss linger for a second Kittish giggled and slapped his chest, “Brute, that wasn't what I meant at all. Luckily for you we know each other or I would yell and get the rest of these men to jump you.”

  Laughing, Dumadin eased her to her feet and stood, reclaiming his shield and hammer. He eyed the woman he loved checking over her avatar, glad that she was like him and felt no need to over endow herself. Placing an arm around her waist they watched the mob of people and waited for Will to show.

  Another minute went by then another person popped into existence, a male human with the name Terets above his head. As Terets took in the growing mob in the town square he heard laughter from behind him and turned to find his two friends looking at him.

  “What?” Terets said, “you know I like this name for my rogues; I've used it since WoW.” He watched Dumadin wipe a tear away from his eye and just nod while chuckling. “You're a jackass and short, there stubby. At least she had the sense to pick a tall race with refined dignity.” With that he walked over and gave Kittish a hug on the opposite side from the still chuckling dwarf.

  Taking a moment they looked each other over and examined their gear.

  Dumadin stood four foot six inches tall, broad of chest and shoulder. In plate armor he would look like a small mobile tank minus the cannon. Red of beard and hair with a sprinkle of gray throughout, small scars adorned his face and hands with a large scar on the right side of his face. He had no armor to speak of at the moment, just his shield. His clothing was not great but at least it covered. The hammer appeared to be very common, but was at least free of rust.

  Kittish was five foot eleven inches tall, narrow of waist and hip and with a modest bust, unlike many of the other female players nearby. Her blonde hair was not bound and flowed freely to her waist. Her clothing matched Dumadin's, modest and simple. Her quarterstaff seemed roughly made but sturdy enough.

  Terets was human, an even six feet tall, narrow of hip and waist with wider shoulders. Almost the perfect swordsman's build. His black hair was cropped short, and his clothing matched that of his friends. Upon his back were two short swords, like Dumadin's hammer they were free of rust but not otherwise notable.

  Terets glanced at Dumadin and asked, “Why the scars?”

  “Well lad, you don't get to be my age fighting and not get beauty marks such as these. This one here,” he motioned at the one down the right side of his face, “got it in a duel to the death. Some knight thought he would try to take my love from me, his grave is shallow and unmarked a long way from here. His horse wasn't worth the meat either.”

  With that Terets started laughing, and slapped his friend on the shoulder. “You are truly nuts. Good thing none of us is exactly sane, right?”

  They all chuckled and nodded at that, then looked around at the growing number of players. By now there were close to one hundred other players milling about.

  “Mayhap we should go see what we can find in the wilds eh?” Dumadin asked his friends who nodded in agreement. Taking a moment he looked over the interface and noticed a small head and shoulder icon hiding near the bottom right side of his field of view, labeled social. Willing it to open brought up a small window in front of him with a few options. There was a button to request a friend or unfriend someone, also a button to join or leave a party.

  A moment later he'd sent friend requests to both Terets, and Kittish along with an invite to a party. A moment later he noticed them listed under the friend heading in the social tab. Then they both joined his party, and small portraits with health and aether bars appeared under his in the upper right of his field of view.

  “W
ait a moment, “Kittish said and reached out slightly to the air in front of her. After a moment she nodded, “Okay good now, wanted to get your bars in better spots on my UI for healing.”

  “Ah that explains the hand movement,” Dumadin said, “didn't know you could do that, I've been trying to do it all with my eyes.”

  “Well hands get things done faster with more satisfaction, take it from a mechanic,” Terets quipped chuckling.

  “That's what he said?” Kittish laughed at Terets’s sudden consternation.

  “Yeah, yeah. Let us go see what trouble we can get into eh?” Dumadin said as he settled his shield on his arm and they started off.

  FIRST QUEST?

  As the friends started to work though the growing crowd, they heard a scream and shout from a few feet ahead of them. It seemed the female elf named appropriately, Dancing Angel, who had been dancing was now being assaulted by another player who wanted the rest of her clothing removed.

  “Let go of me! Someone help me this pervert wants to rape me!” Dancing Angel screamed and tried to remove the hands of the offending human male in front of her.

  At that moment a pop up occurred in front of the players, offering a quest.

  Quest: Save Dancing Angel from the groping hands of the pervert.

  You will not be flagged during this quest.

  Reward: Three hundred experience.

  Do you accept?

  As the surrounding players tried to process what was going on the quest was accepted by Terets and he ran behind the groping male while drawing both short swords. He thrust both blades into the offender's back. The offender screamed and released Dancing Angel who ran for the inn.

  “She said let go jackass, and that means now not later,” Terets backed up and readied himself for a counter attack. Both blades were coated with red, and Terets eyed the cuts in his target's back as the attacker turned towards him.

  “Fuck you noob, me and my friend will teach you to interfere with our fun,” gasped the pervert, the name Blade Master glowing red above him, as he pulled a two handed sword off his back and charged Terets while his assumed friend pulled a two handed axe and started forward as well.

  “Excuse me there lad, best you stay here with me and let them deal with that eh?” Dumadin said amiably to the axe wielder while setting himself in the player's way.

  “Fucking noobs are out in force today dude. I'll deal with shorty then come help ya with the human,” stated the axe wielder.

  At that, Dumadin decided to try his one ability and see if it worked in PvP. Willing the area taunt, Anger Howl to happen, he was surprised when a red pulse washed out from him to a distance of thirty feet.

  Blinking and pausing the axe wielder, named Executioner, looked confused, but then shrugged and started to swing at Dumadin. Surprisingly Blade Master, who had been about to attack Terets found himself turning around to swing at the dwarf as well.

  Never one to let an opportunity pass by, Terets launched another set of attacks at Blade Master as he swung at Dumadin's back. “Duck,” Terets yelled at his friend knowing he was unaware of the sword coming in from behind.

  Dumadin used the shield to try and block the axe which was successful, the axe didn't cut him but the solid hit on the shield sent a shiver throughout his body which ached. He started to go for an attack when he heard Terets's yell and ducked, thankfully the sword passed over where his head had been and the attackers stumbled, off balance.

  “Fuck, damage stings,” Dumadin commented just as a white light washed over him. He felt refreshed and saw his health bar back at full. “Thank you hun, won't be a moment with these two.”

  “Take your time, dear, and spank them properly. They deserve it,” Kittish said as she readied another healing spell.

  “Finish playing with that idiot Terets, then help me with Executioner here,” Dumadin said, moving in at his opponent who didn't yet realize how fucked he was. Stepping in he swung his hammer, barely clipping Executioner as the other player backed off.

  “Fucking healer bitch, stay out of it this is between men,” Executioner yelled.

  Laughing Kittish, taunted him, “Little boys like you shouldn't mess with real men. You'll be sent to your rooms without dinner if you keep this up.” Another wave of white light flowed over Dumadin, seeming to underscore the words.

  Terets turned and charged Blade Master who had just gotten set into a fighting stance. The guy swung wildly and missed, opening himself up for Terets's swords into his gut. That caused him to drop and then pop out of existence. Unfortunately for him, his pants remained where he'd fallen.

  Dumadin just tried to keep Executioner busy as the first attacker died and vanished. An angry cry escaped Executioner as he took another swing which Dumadin deflected with the shield. Dumadin then attacked and hit his opponent's right elbow, causing Executioner to drop his own axe. As the enemy grabbed for his weapon two swords sliced into his back and he also popped out of existence.

  Panting slightly Dumadin and Terets smiled at each other then looked around at the gawking crowd. A surprising amount of blood had splashed across the ground, but disappeared when the attackers died. They sheathed their weapons and looked over at Kittish who picked up the pants.

  “Guess he had bad luck twice tonight, running into you and leaving his pants behind,” Kittish said and tossed the pants into the backpack that all players started the game with. “Now we have a little bit of something to sell if it's worth anything.”

  A pop up informed them that they had completed the quest.

  Quest completed: Save Dancing Angel from the pervert.

  You receive three hundred experience.

  “Right, organic quests,” Kittish started, “A player being assaulted caused the AI to generate a quest. And they're automatically shared in the group. Pretty awesome.”

  The others agreed with her and they resumed discussing what they should do next. Around them several more feminine cries of distress rang out. Dumadin and Terets rolled their eyes, figuring people had seen the first quest and were trying to duplicate it.

  “You take the idiots to the right, I'll take the morons to the left,” Dumadin started, when a shout of rage sounded from the inn and a dwarf with an eye patch came charging out into the square.

  “Stop it the lot of you!” The raging dwarf bellowed in such a commanding voice that everyone was stunned motionless for a moment. “I will not have you lot disgracing my town with this behavior. Either take it out into the woods or I will start thrashing you the way your mothers should have.”

  A few players looked abashed and started to apologize. A cry went up from some anonymous person, “It's the innkeeper, if we kill him we can loot the place! Kill him!” With that ten players surged toward the lone dwarf.

  The three friends looked at each other in disbelief. Another pop up flashed in front of each of them.

  Quest: Defend Bjorn Tankardson.

  You will not be flagged for this quest.

  Reward: Better prices at the Lonely Wood Inn, seven hundred experience, and monetary thanks from Bjorn Tankardson, innkeeper of the Lonely Wood Inn.

  Do you accept?

  Accepting the quest Dumadin and Terets ran to aid the dwarf, just ahead of many other players rushing to the innkeeper's aid as well. Dumadin ran into the group of attacking players and triggered Anger Howl to grab the attention of all ten players, immediately dropping down and trying to use the shield for as much cover as possible. Terets went into a defensive stance behind Dumadin and started trying to parry the blades aimed at his friend's back. Bjorn stepped up next to Terets and began to hack at the people Terets was holding back. Kittish sent heals as quickly as she was able to Dumadin, watching his life bar fluctuate wildly as she tried to offset the damage he was taking. Thirty more players piled into the melee, having apparently also accepted the quest to help Bjorn.

  Dumadin and Terets extricated themselves from the mob after the attackers were dead, and headed over to Kittish. “Hey, I got som
e practice with my Healing Light,” Kittish said, casting the spell once more over Dumadin and Terets in turn to complete healing them up. “Are you two going to do this all night?” She then turned and cast a heal onto Bjorn Tankardson, bringing him back to full health as well.

  “No, just can't stand idiots, you know us,” Terets examined his blades, then sheathed them.

  “Bullies and imbeciles always get my goat hun, you know that,” Dumadin chimed in.

  Quest complete: Defend Bjorn Tankardson.

  Bjorn is thankful for your aid, you will now receive a 10% discount from him in all future dealings, and five silver. You receive seven hundred experience. As the first to aid Bjorn another quest is available, speak with Bjorn to get the details.

  Congratulations you have reached level two.