Last Horizon: Beta

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “Yup. It's why we get along so well, glad you decided to join us,” Kittish replied as Terets chuckled and poked at Dumadin.

  “Yeah, yeah. Everyone pick on the short redhead, har har,” Dumadin grumbled but smiled slightly, glad to see Amythyst starting to feel more at ease.

  “You were asked early to curtail your humor, so it's your own fault,” Kittish reminded him.

  Dumadin shrugged and stopped grumbling and smirked, “True enough.”

  After a bit longer Kittish asked Amythyst to stop and dismounted to go gather some woodsage. “Since we're to find flowers again I'm going to walk, hun, but thanks for the lift.”

  “You're welcome. If you're back on foot I might as well be also,” Amythyst dismounted and had Roan turn back into a figurine which she put into her bag.

  Starting off again the group kept their eyes sharp while Kittish was looking for flowers. “You know last time we were doing this a wolf came out of nowhere at attacked me. I mean that was.....” Suddenly a spider the size a dachshund dropped down from a tree and landed on Terets, attacking him. “Gah, get it off!”

  Dumadin grabbed at the spider with his right hand, which got covered with sticky webbing as the spider shot a web out of its backside at him. “Gah. Webs.”

  Amythyst hit the spider with an Icebolt as Kittish cast Weaken on it.

  The spider sank its fangs into Terets's shoulder as he grabbed at it and flung it off him. He glanced at his shoulder to see a dark fluid bubble from the punctures. “It poisoned me I think,” Terets drew both swords and lunged at it. As he plunged a blade into the first spider three more dropped down and landed on his back driving him into the ground. “Fucking hell, little help here.”

  Dumadin used Anger Howl to get the living spiders off Terets as he tried to clear the webbing off his hand he could get his axe. Unfortunately for Dumadin the Anger Howl also taunted another five spiders out of the trees and they dropped down and scuttled at him as well.

  Kittish cast Healing Light on Terets, and stopped herself from casting more offensive magic, conserving her aether for healing now that they faced so many enemies.

  Amythyst swung her staff like a golf club and knocked one of the ones that had dropped onto Terets up and away. It sailed away with its legs flailing until it hit a tree with a splat and dropped dead at the base. She began casting Icebolts one after the other, changing her target each time, trying to slow the scuttling spiders.

  Terets climbed to his feet, shaking his head. He noticed noticing a debuff flashing on his UI. Spider Venom, which would deplete his aether until he was fully healed. “Kittish, this poison drains aether until the poisoned person is healed to full.” He lunged at one of the others that had climbed off him and skewered it clear through.

  Dumadin backed up, trying to get all of the spiders in front of him, but three of them moved around to attack him from behind. Knowing he was going to get bitten eventually, he focused on the ones in front of him. He finally cleared the webbing from his weapon hand, allowing him to draw his axe. “Right, you eight legged freaks, let's do this.”

  The three in front surged forward and he brought the shield down. Two of the spiders bounced off it as the third missed the lunge to his left. “Ha!” Then the other three hit him from behind, sinking fangs into his legs. “Gods damn it, that hurts!”

  The spiders started pumping venom into him, as Kittish cast Healing Light on Terets, with the necklace echoing the spell on Dumadin. Amythyst killed one of the ones in the front of Dumadin with her Icebolts. Terets picked off another one.

  “Frickin' debuff stacks, I'm out of aether,” Dumadin yelled as the three that had bitten him scurried towards Kittish. “You got aggro and I can't taunt.”

  Amythyst shifted her aim to the spiders going for Kittish, slowing them with her Icebolts as Terets turned and sprinted at them. Dumadin swung on the last one near him, cutting it clean in half, and started towards his lover.

  Kittish stood her ground, trying to heal Dumadin and get the debuff off him. Terets lunged and caught the one nearest to her and quickly sliced it up. Amythyst hit the next one with another Icebolt, which was enough to kill it, then stepped forward and clubbed another one into a tree trunk. It slid to the ground, leaving a trail of ichor down the trunk.

  The last one lunged at Kittish and was caught by the end of her staff, flattening it in front of her. The group looked at each other then up then around.

  “I really hate spiders,” Dumadin finally said as put his axe away and began cleaning stray bits of webbing from his beard.

  “So maybe not wolves, but spiders,” Terets began, “but, why do they attack me first?”

  “You're plumper than an elf and not as chewy as a dwarf? That's all I can figure,” Kittish said and shrugged. She checked that all of them were fully healed and not affected by the Spider Venom with her UI.

  Terets looked over the spiders and noted that they could be cut open, but not like regular skinning. He sliced the first one carefully with his skinning knife, and got a web sac and a poison gland. The web sac was listed as a leatherworking ingredient while the poison gland was listed as an alchemy ingredient.

  “Here you go, Kittish, these say alchemy ingredient so they're all yours.” Terets handed over two poison glands. “The others had ruptured glands and I wasn't able to collect them. These web sacs are for leatherworking, I'll look into what I can make with them later. Let's keep an eye above us now too, yeah?”

  The group nodded and they started off again, with frequent looks up into the trees.

  SISTER TALK

  Four hours later the group stopped in a small clearing. They had been set upon by spiders twice more but nothing nearly as bad as the first group. The spiders attacked en masse, but otherwise they weren't a challenge. They were level five, but had almost no hit points to speak of. As long as the group didn't get ambushed again the spiders weren't a problem.

  “Time for a break,” Kittish said with a smile. “See you two again in say, four hours?”

  Both Terets and Amythyst agreed, as soon as they had Dumadin and Kittish logged out.

  “See you soon,” Terets said and nodded at Amythyst.

  “Wait..,” Amythyst paused and her cheeks colored slightly. “I was wondering if we could exchange information. This way you can get hold of me if you all jump on and I'm not here.” She didn't meet his eyes while saying this but looked at the forest floor.

  Terets raised one brow slightly and chuckled softly, “That is fine Amythyst. I am curious, what's your RL name?”

  “My name is Lavender Tiacoma, as you know Jasmine is my sister.” They exchanged phone numbers and email.

  “Just so you're aware, I'm a little anti-social and not really a phone or email guy, but I'll let you know if we get a wild hair and jump in and you're not on. See you in four hours, Amythyst.” Smiling into her eyes Terets logged out.

  The moment he disappeared, a burst of white light appeared in front of Amythyst and an elf with gossamer wings appeared.

  “Heya sis, how're you doing?” Jazzy asked as the light faded.

  “Doing well so far, things are working out. You've gotten my messages about the issues I've run across, right?” Amythyst asked.

  “Yes, and several from each of that group as well. They've been the most diligent group in beta so far. Dumadin practically tells me every little thing they've done and suggests things that might tweak the game. Bit of an obsessive compulsive issue I think. Kittish's emails are short and direct about any issues they encounter or potential bugs. Terets's messages are very short and point out anything that might be even remotely off.” Jazzy said smiling, and hugged her sister.

  “Yeah, sounds like them alright. Hey, when beta ends I was thinking of making the trip to New York. We can have dinner and discuss how successful the game has been.” Amythyst said, watching her sister's face.

  Jazzy's smile was slightly strained, “I'm sure we can work something out. Might be better to wait a month or two after
live launches though, going to be really busy until things settle down.”

  Amythyst planted hands on her hips, “What is wrong, sis? You've been avoiding my calls. I have only been getting emails from you and seeing you here. It's almost like you're in the game 18 hours a day, and you told me how bad that is for a person.”

  Jazzy laughed and grabbed her sister swinging her around slightly. “Now now Lav, I'm getting the sleep I need, and everything is fine. I just want this game to succeed so badly. I mean look at you dancing, running, and laughing again. I had hoped so much for this.”

  Amythyst smiled and hugged her sister tight, “Thanks, Jas. Really thanks. I know it was hard and terrifying trying to get here. And life is so much better with this game. I've even begun to make friends again.” She blushed very slightly and Jazzy chuckled.

  “Friends, huh? Any benefits to this friendship?” Jazzy poked at her sister.

  “Oh stop it, you know I'm not like that. Terets is a gentleman, he has been kind and generous and hasn't even tried to kiss me. Yet.” Amythyst started to turn red.

  “If he's good for you then I'm happy. Maybe I should call my friends and have him looked at, though, for your sake. Especially given what happened and the years afterwards. ”

  “NO! I mean, no thank you, sis. I don't want to scare him. He's at least interested in me as a friend and if given time and room he might be more. But do NOT, under any circumstance, start anything that will scare him off.”

  Holding her hands up in surrender, Jazzy nodded, “Okay you win, just be careful okay? We don't know who he is for real or what he might do.”

  Giving her sister one more hug Jazzy stepped back, “Be safe and enjoy yourself, sister. I worked my butt off to make this real, for both of us.” The light flared and she was gone.

  FARMER'S ISSUE

  Four hours later the group logged back in to continue their adventure together. The old friends stood there laughing and joking when Amythyst popped into existence.

  “We're all here. Let's start moving,” Dumadin said leading off.

  “How was your break, Amythyst?” Kittish asked as they followed the dwarf.

  “It was fine. I grabbed a quick bite and made sure I was good to go. Did a quick bit of work for a friend and by the time I was done it was time to get back on,” Amythyst finished with a glance at Terets. “What about you, Terets?”

  “Met up with those two and grabbed some food at a local place, then took care of some stuff at home. Sent an email off to your sister, and logged back in.” Terets smiled as he glanced back at Amythyst. “It was a good time, you should think about joining us for dinner or such one of these days. We routinely get together for dinner at various places, we even make the trip into Vegas sometimes.”

  Amythyst started to blush slightly, “I, um, I don't know. I wouldn't want to impose and, um, I'm not really a social person and, um...”

  Kittish reached over and gave Amythyst a half hug with one arm, “Sh, it'll be fine, next time we hit Vegas you should come. It's always good to meet your online friends in the flesh. Hell, we have friends in Texas that we met in WoW way back in the day. You being so close makes it way easy, and I'm sure you'll find us as friendly in person as we are here.”

  Amythyst lowered her head and mumbled, “Okay.”

  Terets frowned slightly at the soft mumble, “Is something wrong Amythyst? You don't have to come of course, but we would love to meet you. We don't bite unless asked,” he tried to joke.

  Amythyst's lush deepened, “I'm sure it will be fine. Having dinner with you all sounds fun.”

  Dumadin opened his mouth at the front to make a quip about her wanting to be bit, then closed his mouth and shook his head slightly. Reminding himself that he needed to try and curtail himself for Amythyst's sake. She was just like a rabbit, timid and ready to run at any moment.

  “Hey, there's a farm ahead,” Dumadin informed the group a minute later as they cleared some trees. “Wonder what they're doing so far from town.” He blinked at the figure he could see in the field. “Is he wearing a blanket toga?”

  They rest of the group stared as well, sure enough the farmer had a blanket draped around himself as a makeshift toga while working the field.

  “Well, now I might have seen everything. Let's go talk with him and find out why the toga,” Kittish said.

  A few more minutes of walking brought them to the edge of the field, which had pumpkins growing in it. As they reached the field the farmer looked up and blinked at them.

  “You're not goblins, thank goodness. Are you adventurers?” The farmer inquired and leaned on the hoe he'd been using.

  Terets nodded, “Yes we are. Farmer, we're quite curious as to why you're wearing a blanket toga.”

  The farmer grimaced, “It's Farmer Pumpkinseed, you can call me Johnny. As for why the makeshift toga, the goblins is why. They snuck onto the farm the other night when we had out laundry out to dry and stole it all. All me and misses have at this point is a few underthings, and one shirt. Would you be willing to help us by getting us our clothes back?”

  Quest: Clothe the Pumpkinseeds.

  Reward: One thousand experience and some pumpkins.

  “We're going that way, we might as well help them,” Amythyst said, but didn't accept the quest for the group.

  Kittish nodded and accepted the quest, “We would be glad to help you and your wife.” She thought for a moment, then pulled out two pairs of pants from her bag. “Will these help for the moment? Until we can get your clothes back. These should make it a bit easier for you and your wife to get the work done.”

  “My thanks be with you all, you have no idea how difficult it's been trying to work with this blanket on.” Johnny accepted the pants and donned one set under the toga.

  Quest completed: Clothe the Pumpkinseeds.

  You receive one thousand experience.

  Speak with Johnny Pumpkinseed for your pumpkins.

  “I just hit level six,” Amythyst murmured.

  “Oh nice, grats Amythyst,” Terets said.

  “This is very kind of you all, here, let me pay you as best I can,” Johnny picked up two ripe pumpkins and handed them to Kittish. “Here you go, sorry it isn't much. We don't have a lot of coin or we would have just bought some new pants.”

  “This is fine Johnny. We're glad we can help you out. We're on our way out to clean out those goblins in any case. If we find your clothing we'll bring it back to you.” Kittish said, putting the pumpkins into her bag.

  “I'll be happy to give you some more pumpkins if you do that. Though, be careful. The goblins found themselves a cave to set up in.”

  Dumadin nodded, “We know. Thanks for the warning. Until we meet again, be well and we hope those pants help.”

  Johnny walked with them until they got to the far edge of his fields. Unwinding the blanket, he walked shirtless toward his house with the other pair of pants draped over his shoulder.

  The group continued their journey to the goblin cave, laughing and conversing.

  GOBLIN SCOUTS

  The group walked for close to six hours, then called it a night. They agreed to meet back up in eight hours, figuring they should be close to the cave by now.

  Dumadin, Kittish and Terets all logged back in a few minutes before the agreed on time. Sitting down to wait for Amythyst, Terets and Kittish began crafting what they could with ingredients they had.

  “So, what do you guys think of Amythyst so far?” Terets asked casually while eyeing the web sac and his UI.

  “I have no problem with her. She's painfully shy and reserved as far as I can tell. She's been helpful in combat and wants to chip in the best she can. She's also painfully interested in you, scrub,” Dumadin offered as his opinion.

  “Dear, be nice. Amythyst is a nice girl with pain in her past. During the shopping she mentioned an accident and the fact she was dancing at launch because she wanted to move again. Makes me think she might have lost one or both legs or be partially paralyz
ed. She is very interested in you Terets, she's just very awkward and shy. I get the feeling she's been in at least one relationship that ended poorly. She's a good person to have along, and her Icebolt has been handy. I have no issues with her staying with us.” Kittish finished speaking and took out the spider poison glands and checked her UI to see what she could make of them.

  “Okay. Right, while I am not against the idea of the thought of a relationship, she is younger than us and until I can pin down how much younger I'm not moving. Dumadin, you said you have another doctor’s appointment in Vegas soon. How soon?”

  “Twelve days, they want to run another round of blood work.” Shaking his head he sighed, “They keep looking but haven't figured out what's wrong yet. They said if they can't figure it out after this go around they're going to send me off to some specialists and have them check me over. I can't begin to tell you how much that excites me.” Dumadin said the last with his face utterly deadpan and sighed again.