The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen

by Brent Roth

  "Good, I'll come with you," I retorted with a grin of my own.

  "Ah… right, then."

  "Yup."

  Roald wasn't a bad man.

  In fact, he was extremely trustworthy when it came to most matters… his problem, herein, was his penchant for flirting with women. He made his rounds, around the village, ensuring that he chatted up each and every single woman in the vicinity. Coupled with his desire to avoid manual labor and the guy was as good as gone when you needed him around.

  Yeah, he was going to be escorted to the ship, less we decide to never leave.

  "Come on, let's go," I said, after letting him get his parting lines out.

  With the trade master in tow, the rest of the crew had already finished the preparations to depart. Eight warriors, plus two sailors, a trader, and myself, ready to sail to the Northeastern Elven territories, aboard a brand new Viking Longship of the Karvi class, or so I was told.

  A smaller boat compared to the other longships, it featured twelve oars and enough space for a crew of around twenty. Tripling as a trade ship, war ship, or a fishing vessel, it was everything I needed all in one nice little package.

  With the singular square sail attached to a single mast located amidships plus the twelve of us rowing, I was expecting travel speeds of at least 10 knots, or roughly 11 miles an hour along the coastline. That was fairly fast traveling in this game, and with an extremely shallow-draft hull, all we needed was a river around three feet deep at the center and we were good to go.

  The Longship was light enough to carry, too.

  Beach landings were a distinct possibility.

  Rivers, coastline, or deep ocean trips in rough waters were all easily doable, and within range of the ships design. The North may have lacked resources and the population might have been less affluent, but technology was on our side.

  I had, in my possession, one of the best naval ships of the time period, if not the very best. And as far as I knew, despite all the random non-time period items and buildings that had been put into the game, the majority of the technology was accurate.

  Weapons were accurate, somewhat.

  Armor, too.

  It was entirely possible, for me to master the trade routes of the North by my lonesome. To turn Dragon's Breach into a true haven, a metropolis of the North. That was my goal, and the progress markers had been reached.

  Now, I only needed to go ahead and take it.

  "Let's set off, then," I said to the men that had taken their seats.

  Sitting down on our wooden boxes that contained our personal items and with an oar in our hands, we were ready to head out. The wind was blowing east, right in the direction that we needed it to be.

  Katherine saw me off, while Selene was nowhere to be seen.

  A slight wave goodbye and we were gone.

  Rowing with complete synchronization, the twelve us put our legs and backs into every pull as the Karvi slowly but steadily gained speed. Heading down the river with the outflow heading north towards the ocean, our speed gradually picked up to a point where we no longer needed to row.

  Guiding the sixty foot boat down the river was of such relative ease that I nearly lost myself to a daydream, only to snap back to attention at the sound of a barking seal. If the thing was any closer, I probably would have clubbed it with my axe.

  The little bastard.

  Passing through the estuary provided us with quite a sight, as the natural habitat was teeming with life forms of all types. Dozens of species of birds flew about or walked along the water's edge, as countless schools of fish swam underneath. The mixed salt and fresh water created a brackish water environment, one that cultivated various types of marine organisms to the point that oysters and clams were easily visible from where I sat. One might pay for these types of views, on some kayak trip through a cove or a shallow reef, yet here, it was free.

  Free for anyone willing to travel.

  Enjoying the sights of marine life going about their day, I turned my attention to the small waves off in the distance. The incoming tidal forces were somewhat weak, as the flow of the river carried all the way out towards the mouth. And with a relatively flat sandy beach, the waves were inconsequential as we began to slightly roll over them.

  Keeping the boat straight was paramount, and to not stop rowing was all that was required to get over the larger waves. I was glad, we weren't in a small boat.

  If this were a twelve-footer, a rubber boat with a crew of six or seven… had we stopped paddling, or hit the surf at an angle, we would all be ditching into the blue.

  That cold, deep, dark blue… it scared me.

  The ocean was a powerful thing, and even if I was a proficient swimmer, more than proficient at it, a mistake or an accident would lead to a world of misfortune out here.

  You had to respect the ocean, for you couldn't beat it.

  To think I was on a boat despite my fear of drowning, well… at least it was a game.

  A splash of water on my face nearly convinced me otherwise, though.

  I didn't want to know how realistic drowning was in this game.

  An hour and some change had passed by the time the wind had fully picked up. Our sail looked as if it had reached max effectiveness, as it filled to the brim without an inch of slack. I worried that the mast might break for a second, but I trusted the shipbuilder.

  He was recruited by me anyhow, so I knew exactly how good he was.

  With a full sail, we were starting to really fly.

  I had no way of judging our knots, but I had read and seen that fifteen knots was considered readily achievable in the right conditions. That was something around seventeen miles per hour, and if those numbers were correct, this nearly two-hundred mile journey would be over and done with in a little less than half a day.

  Twelve hours on a boat.

  Well, at least I wasn't one to get seasick.

  Kicking back and relaxing as our oars sat motionless, the men had engaged in idle chatter as I decided to browse the web. A week had passed since I left the Outcast Dungeon, yet no one else had claimed the fifth floor.

  We were still the reigning champs there.

  That was pretty neat.

  Another hour had passed as my mind began to wander. There was nothing to do out here, and watching the coastline had grown boring after some time. Then it occurred to me, that I could take a nap.

  Or in other words, log out.

  The men would be fine without me, or at least I hoped they would.

  Yeah, there was little reason for me to sit in this boat for another ten hours staring at the mountain walls along the coast. Two hours was plenty, they didn't look any different after an hour, anyways.

  Yup, time was nigh for me to skedaddle.

  Chapter 58: Establishing a Trade Route

  (Thursday, August 12th Game Day / Tuesday, March 16th Real Day)

  Ten hours had passed since we first set out on our voyage, eight hours of which I spent offline eating and sleeping. This wasn't quite fast-travel, what with it taking so many hours to cover the two-hundred or so miles, but it was automated travel.

  As a consolation prize, that wasn't half bad.

  It sure as hell beat pulling a sled for a week.

  And finally, our destination was in sight.

  The winds that blew east never let up the entire trip, so the men were well rested as we took in the sights along the way. The Elven Northeastern Region was a bit different from the North we called home.

  Sailing southward up a series of small rivers, the climate was considerably warmer than the western side of the continent. We were at the very tip of this continent after all. The western region was our home, with the middle occupied by an undisclosed, undiscovered region, while the eastern edge had been settled by the elves.

  The trees themselves, mostly Oaks of a rather frighteningly large stature, seemed as if they were alive with their branches spreading out and hovering about like tentacles in the air. The green fo
liage of their massive tops created complete dark zones underneath as the sunlight was hard-pressed to sneak through.

  Easily twenty feet across the base and who-knows how tall in height, the trees were exceptionally large. Beautiful, yet scary at the same time. To be lost in these woods in the dead of night was not on my list of things to do.

  There were, however, plenty of creatures.

  As we passed rather quietly up the river, countless deer and elk were spotted grazing along the forest floor. A few uncharacteristic hoots from an owl seemed out of place in the middle of the day, but it kind of fit with the surroundings. Smaller creatures were abound as well, foxes and rabbits a staple, though the appearance of a weasel, a red squirrel, and a couple of beavers added some variety to the scenery.

  This definitely wasn't the North.

  I still disagreed with it being called a wasteland but, there was some truth to the term. We lacked diversity in relation to our animal population, at least compared to the other regions. Though, we also had the most diversity in terms of fish and sea life on the continent, so it all evened out in the end.

  If anything, I was now convinced that fishing very well might be my meal ticket. Fresh seafood, if it was as realistic as the rest of the game, would be a delicacy that players could splurge on. Having some control over that market, maybe even running the export industry… hah, the possibilities were endless.

  "Sigurd, a campsite is within distance," interrupted Eindride.

  "Ah, it is as you say," I replied as I turned my attention to the small village that was probably more aptly termed a campsite. Ellieby's guild site, the land they had laid claim to and were slowly developing for fun. It… wasn't quite as impressive as I was hoping.

  "We'll beach as closely as possible," I instructed as I grabbed an oar and began to aid in the steering. With twelve able-bodies, the ship was easy to control and navigate with as we came upon the campsite.

  Slowing the ship down to barely a crawl, we landed on the beach with hardly a thud.

  Hopping over the side and into the shallow water below, the river didn't even wet my knees. As I stood in maybe a foot of water, a few onlookers from the guild had come over to greet us.

  Only, half of them turned away and walked off once they saw who I was.

  That silly hunter and priest, they weren't too friendly with me.

  "Sigurd, you made it!" yelled out Ellieby as she gingerly waved.

  It was a bit odd, the enthusiastic greeting with the cautious wave, but I figured that had to do with her guild mates being apprehensive with my visit.

  After all, I did just beach a sixty foot boat right up on their camp with a few NPC warriors in tow. If I was a hostile enemy, they would have been dead before they even knew it. I could have raided their little village and been on my way in the time it took to snap my fingers. That gave me some ideas, ones I would keep in the back of mind.

  For future reference, was all.

  Nothing nefarious.

  "Ellieby, good to see you're doing well," I replied, returning the greeting with a light wave of my own. "Upgraded your gear too, I see."

  "Yeah guy, I've been busy!" she said while beaming with pride, hands at her hips and chin held high. Without breaking a sweat, her face quickly changed to a curious expression as she threw her arms out. "So? What do you think? Its great isn't it?"

  "Huh?" I asked, a bit lost.

  "Oh you ass, you know what I'm talking about!"

  "Ah, yes, cute location, great place," I replied with a mocking tone.

  "Ahhh! Don't use my words against me!" she laughed out, not taking my words to heart. She often teased me, so I felt it was fair game to play with my words, too.

  "Soooo… what the hell is this," she asked while pointing at the longship behind me.

  "My little boat," I replied with a blank expression. "I thought I said I would visit with a small boat… did I tell someone else? Ah, my memory is sketchy."

  "Psh, small boat huh, cocky asshole," she retorted with a grin.

  The banter continued on for a little while, as we poked fun at each other while my crew unloaded the ship. After nearly thirty minutes, four massive piles of white rabbit, fox, wolf, and bear furs had formed roughly ten feet from the shoreline.

  "Uhm, that's a lot, you know," said Ellieby with some hesitation in her voice.

  "I think my exact words were-" I started to reply while trailing off a bit, trying to recall exactly what was said. "I'll be bringing a lot of goods, yeah, that was it."

  "Whatever, that's got to be at least… how many are there?"

  "Twenty-one bear furs, one-hundred and thirty-nine wolves, two-hundred and eleven foxes, and eight-hundred and two, rabbits," I listed off with nonchalance.

  "Uh, I'm not that rich," she immediately shot back. "Are you crazy?"

  "That's what bartering is for my dear," I replied with a wink. "I'm not expecting a straight cash sale here. There are goods in this area that I can't get on the other side."

  She started waving her hands in the air, no doubt using the in-game calculator to run the numbers. Going by our pre-established rate, there was a minimum of fifty-four copper per wolf pelt, eight copper per fox, and three copper per rabbit.

  That was around, at least eleven-thousand and six-hundred copper coins, or one-hundred and sixteen silvers, or if one wanted to get fancy, one gold coin and sixteen silvers. I'm not sure if anyone had actually seen a gold coin yet, so silver was the largest denominator in terms of currency at the moment.

  Of course, I didn't factor in the price of the bear skins, since I didn't have an established value for those, yet. Either way, I was going to be a rich man once all of these goods were sold.

  "I, don't even have enough in value if I traded you everything I own… how did you farm so much, and a personal boat? NPCs that follow you? Are those Companions?" she rambled off as she shook her head, completely confused by the situation at hand.

  "No, never mind, I don't even, yeah," she continued to ramble nonsensically.

  "If it would ease your mind, this doesn't all belong to me," I answered somewhat seriously as I gave her some time and space to let everything sink in. "We're a collective, a large part of the proceeds here will go back to the NPCs' pockets, as they did the work, they deserve their rightful pay."

  Stopping short of explaining everything, I looked over the small village and realized that it was in somewhat poor condition. They weren't a big guild at all, fairly casual really. They had a few shacks set up and they were working on some cabins, but even so, the state of their village was quite, unappealing.

  Ellieby was a small time trader.

  Perhaps, I made a mistake.

  "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can even take a quarter of this," she finally stated apologetically as her face gave off the look of a downtrodden individual.

  Those were not the words that I wanted to hear.

  Panic nearly struck my mind as I realized our deal could fall through at any moment. To travel this far out, all for naught, that… couldn't happen.

  "Theoretically speaking here, how long would it take you to sell these, if they were in your possession?" I asked honestly, wanting to find a middle ground that could rectify the situation. She was always playful in her messages and probably thought I was kidding around half the time, when I was only masking the seriousness with humor.

  She was a nice girl, and I felt she was a trustworthy individual since the first time we met in town, when she stopped me by standing in front of me, while waving a hand in my face. When she bought every pelt I had, I was under the impression that she was a fairly successful trader.

  That was my mistake.

  "Um, honestly, I think it would take me a few weeks, real time," she answered.

  The gears in my mind were starting to move, even if they were rusty and chipped, the cogs still worked. It was slow and not always accurate, but my mind did work.

  I could plan with the best of them.

  Yeah, strat
egy, business savvy, that was an inherent gift.

  "Alright, humor me if you will; is this a campsite or a named village?" I asked.

  "It's still a campsite… why?"

  "Well, that's troublesome," I said while rubbing my chin. "Okay, here's my proposal, if you're interested. I'm going to leave these pelts with you, and give you a list of items I need if you happen to come across them… and in another month real-time, I'll come back with another shipment.

  "At that point, you can pay me for the first shipment, assuming you've sold enough to cover the basic cost, and if you're interested in continuing we can work out the second one. We can discuss that as time goes on though, but I believe you can probably sell these without too much difficultly in the larger cities."

  Having laid out my tentative plan for her, the next part was the tricky one.

  I brought the trade master along because he would earn experience from conducting trades. If they had a trade master as well, then we could even enter into formal contracts between villages. Establishing a trade route was one of my main goals for this trip, and at the least I was hoping to sell off these furs and pick up a few items.

  As of right now, I had struck out in every category.

  Ellieby's face contorted a bit as she struggled to make up her mind, which wasn't of much relief to me, having already traveled here and expended the time and resources to make it all happen.

  It was a little disappointing, but the onus was on me.

  I should have clarified everything beforehand.

  A beginner mistake and I wasn't a beginner… stupid of me.

  "Ahhh but, okay, that does work for me, but," she replied with broken thoughts as she continued to struggle with the heavy proposal. "Are you really willing to risk, leaving this much stuff, here in my hands with nothing but a verbal agreement?"

  "It wouldn't bother me that much, no," I answered honestly.

  "Oh man, guy, why are you doing this to me," she let out with a laugh and a sigh. "Well look, I don't really feel comfortable just taking everything for nothing… that's a heavy burden. I can't promise you that I'll even be able to sell it all."