“I heard about what happened at Conall’s last night, and while I don’t exactly approve of violence happening in my city, the fact you refrained when asked does speak to your character. Before we go on though, I would ask for your oath that what we speak of here you will not let anyone else know.”
I tried to remember the words that the Dark Elves said when they took oaths of honor, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember exactly what they were. I never really looked into the entire Dark Elf customs on the boards. Why would I need to role-play?
“Um, I swear by my honor that I won’t talk about what we discuss here in this room?”
The mayor looked at me and put his hand on his head, holding the bridge of his nose in between his thumb and his finger.
“You are definitely a Veil-walker. A normal Dark Elf would know the words from the day they are born. Oh well, that’s fine I guess, as long as I have your word. At least Conall says that you can be trusted at least.”
I looked at him and couldn’t figure out if he was trying to insult me or not, so I decided to wait for whatever he would say next. I didn’t quite trust what would come out of my mouth.
“We have a possible issue outside of the village which is causing me… issues that I really don’t need. To the north of the village is an old cemetery that people typically used for their pets. From what people have been saying though is that someone decided to bury their husband there. I’m not entirely sure why she would bury her husband in a graveyard for pets, and I don’t want to know. What I do know though is that ever since she did that, some of the farmers that live outside of the village has had their livestock gone missing, and in one case, he found a half-eaten carcass.”
I narrowed my eyes as he told me this. I really didn’t want to do this quest.
“Could it just be some large predators in the wild that decided for a free lunch,” I asked, knowing what he was going to say.
“No, not at all. A half-eaten cow wouldn’t be mooing in the morning and attacking it’s owner, would it,” he replied, looking at me with a smirk. He knew that I didn’t want to do this quest even though I was going to do it anyways.
“Well, a zombie-cow can still produce milk, can’t it? I don’t see the problem here,” I asked, still hoping that he would ask me to get some herbs for him instead. The look on his face though was as epic as it was priceless.
“I… I… Okay, whatever. I’ll give you two options then. Take the request, find out what is happening and stop it. Or, I’ll give you 10 gold to find out if a zombie-cow can be milked. Now leave, you’re giving me a headache.”
I stood up and walked out of the library, hearing a feint curse about something dealing with Veil-walkers and smiled as I left the mansion. As I got outside, the quest window appeared before me. The quest was named “Timberdenn’s Cemetery of Pets,” giving a reward of 250XP and 50 silver if I, “put an end to the evil that is plaguing Timberdenn.” It also had a bonus objective to attempt to milk a zombie-cow, with a reward of 10 gold. Seriously?
I hesitated before accepting the quest, reading the bonus reward and objective. It looked like the AI that created quests in the game decided to give me something else that I dreaded based on the conversation between the mayor and myself. If it could be done, it would give me 10 gold which would go a long way with helping me once I got to Kinderfell. Accepting the quest, I walked towards the exit of the village, I apparently had a cow to milk, not too mention saving the town from some zombie plague.
It was mid-afternoon when I got to the exit of the village, my morning wasted by the mayor and his ridiculous quest. If the goblins in the mind made me queasy from their smell, I was not looking forward to what zombies would feel, or smell like. I almost regretted accepting the quest at all, but, needs must and all of that, as the saying goes.
I figured the first place I should investigate would be the cemetery, since this was were everything started. There was an overgrown path that lead north out of the village which I followed, glad that my new cloak was dark green, since stealth wouldn’t be as effective in the brush.
The further I walked from the village, the quieter the forest became, which made the hairs on the back of my neck raise. There should be sounds of wildlife at least, but there wasn’t even that. Since it was too quiet, I crouched down and slowed my steps, keeping an eye out for any movement inside of the deep brush that aligned both sides of the path. However, there was nothing but silence.
After what seemed like hours, the path finally came to an end at a large clearing. There were trees, yes, but they were all old and dead. Why they didn’t fall, or why the forest didn’t overtake this area was a mystery. There were also several mounds of dirt with stone markers laying in front of them. This must be the cemetery that everyone buried their pets at. However, even in the clearing, there was nothing but silence. It was as if the entire area was dead. I could feel that there was something here though, and whatever it was, was not good at all. It felt… evil.
I stood up from my crouch and proceeded into the cemetery, careful not to step on the mounds of dirt. I wasn’t exactly superstitious by any means, but with my luck so far, I would be dragged under the ground and eaten by a zombie. I really didn’t want that to happen.
Getting to the center of the cemetery, I looked around and saw a fresh mound of dirt. I walked over to it, and saw that there was writing on the stone marker which said, “Here lies my pet and husband. He was a horrible necromancer and even worse husband. Good riddance.”
“Oh, damn. That’s messed up. Poor guy,” I thought as I read the marker. However, I had a slight suspicion that I knew what was going on. If he was a necromancer, no matter how bad at it he was, he should still have been able to raise the basic forms of skeletons and zombies. If he was level 20 or higher, he would even be able to raise hordes of both skeletons and zombies. Not too mention, if he was somehow raised from the dead, it might be possible that he was a Lich, and the lowest level Lich that I had ever seen was level 25. They were usually level 30.
“Is this really a quest for someone below level 10,” I wondered to myself, not sure if I wanted to go any further on this quest. I was debating on whether or not to quit the quest or not when I saw a small glimmer of movement from in front of me, just enough to be noticed. I crouched down in front of the marker and immediately activated Stealth.
Looking around the stone marker, I still couldn’t see whatever it was that made the movement that I noticed. Hoping that it was just an animal of some sort, I slowly walked towards the brush that I saw it through when the smell hit me. It was the worse thing that I ever smelled, as if something was dead and decaying. Hoping against hope that it wasn’t a zombie, I made my way through the brush while keeping as silent as possible.
There was another small clearing past the brush, and while the brush was thick, it wasn’t that much. In the clearing, I saw a decayed corpse that was dragging some half eaten animal to what looked like an old crypt that was covered in dead moss and fungus. The door of the crypt was broken, it’s rusted metal door laying next to the entrance.
Dragging it’s food, the zombie went into the dark crypt. After letting a few minutes pass to make sure it didn’t sense me and come back, I followed after it, letting the darkness of the crypt swallow me. I let my eyes get accustomed to the darkness and I could make out the outlines of the walls, but nothing more, which I was glad for.
I slowly made my way deeper into the crypt, keeping my Stealth ability active. Now deeper into the crypt, I could hear noises of rotting teeth tearing and chewing into flesh which made my stomach turn. I pulled out my daggers, knowing that if the zombies caught me, they would be feasting on my flesh instead. I was prepared to not let it come to that and was willing to put one of my daggers into my throat before that happened.
I moved ever so slowly towards the sounds of the zombies feasting when I came into a large room that had several rectangular holes in the walls, presumably where the dead were supposed to slee
p. I could see 8 zombies on the side in the corner, feeding on the corpse of the dead animal that I saw one of them come in with.
On the other side of the room, however, was a being that radiated evil. It was a skeleton with decayed flesh hanging off of it’s bones, sitting on a chair that was made of stone, sleek from the humidity and who knows what else. The smell inside of the room forced me to break my invisibility as I hurled the contents from my stomach, and then some.
The zombies all stopped feeding and raised to their feet, looking at me with unrelenting hunger in their eyes. I raised my dagger to my throat, when I heard a voice call out.
“Halt,” the voice said, hoarse as if it’s throat was raw.
The zombies stopped moving, and I looked at the being that was now standing in front of the chair, looking at me with curious hunger. My hand shook, causing my dagger to draw a small amount of blood from my neck. I was still much more prepared to end my life than become food for these… things.
“Veil-walker, why have you come here? Did Sereinne send you to kill me, yet again?,” the being said, it’s voice reverberating on the walls, grating my ears.
The Lich, which I knew this thing to be, walked slowly towards me while I found my voice.
“I don’t know Sereinne, I came here to investigate what was going on with the farms and to stop it,” I replied, still afraid as to what my fate would become.
It stopped and tilted it’s head, as if it was thinking. “I see. Bring me Sereinne alive, and I will have no need to have my horde search for her. They have failed in their task so far, only bringing corpses of animals and cows and not my ex-wife. If you are able, I will have no more need of these wretched creatures that are incapable of actual thought.”
I could only nod, the cold iron of my dagger cutting further into my neck, enough to start bleeding a bit more heavily.
“Good, now begone with you, before my zombies decide to eat something with a little bit more of a fight to them,” he said, gurgling as if he was trying to laugh.
I rose to my feet, ready to run out of the crypt before thinking about the quest. “Before I go, I need to ask you something Lich. Can a zombie-cow be milked?”
The Lich rose one of it’s decayed eyebrows and had a look of confusion cloud the features it still had, which turned to anger as it pointed towards the exit of the room.
I turned around and started running out of the crypt as fast I could while hearing some mumbling about Veil-walkers and their idiotic thoughts, which I started to agree with. I couldn’t believe the quest actually gave me this stupid bonus objective, not too mention that it wasn’t even a damn kill quest but an escort mission.
Coming into the clearing once again. The smell of the rotting crypt cleared out of my system which I was grateful for. It was now time to find the Lich’s ex-wife and escort her back to the crypt.
I made my way back to the town at a fast jog, not wanting to spend any more time on this quest than I already had. Slowing myself down to a brisk walk, I neared the entrance of the village. The guards were obviously shaken by the stories they had been hearing, since they looked at me grasping their spears more tightly as I walked towards them.
“Excuse me, guards. I am on a quest from Mayor Eacharn to clear the area of the evil that has spawned. I need to know if you know where a woman by the name of Sereinne lives,” I asked the first guard that I neared.
“Yes, I’ve heard the name before. She lives outside of town on a small plot of land with her sheep,” he replied while summoning the glowing fairy, giving me directions to her place. I thanked the guard and followed the fairy to Sereinne’s place, which only took me five minutes to get to.
I neared the sheep farm, wondering if the zombies have been looking for her at cow farms instead, and how they could have mixed up the two. There was a large house that looked extravagant, telling everyone that past it that the residents were very well off.
I knocked on the door, wondering what I would find, when a woman answered. Her fiery red eyes looked at me in contempt as she asked me who I was and what I was doing here. I didn’t even think to make a plan to try to convince her to come with me, so I had to think of something on the spot.
“Good afternoon miss. My name is, um, Rayne, and I’ve been tasked with asking you about your ex-husband’s treasure chest that he had hidden in the cemetery,” I replied, wondering if she would buy my story or not.
“You don’t look like an accountant, you look like a Rogue. Why should I believe you,” she asked, obviously not believing my story.
“Yes, you are correct, I am a Rogue. I was hired by the accountant to investigate the claim, which I found to be legitimate. The reason he, um, hired me was because I have skills in Lockpicking and Stealth, of course.”
“Congratulations, you have leveled Negotiation to level 2,” the system message rang in my ears. Sweet.
“I see. Well, what do I need to do then? You obviously didn’t bring the treasure with you,” she replied, now believing my story, sort of.
“Yes, well, you see, there is an enchantment on the chest. I was able to unlock it, but the enchantment only allows you to open it.”
“Well, hurry up and show me where it is then. Maybe my failure of a pet… I mean, husband, actually did something worthwhile,” she said as she stepped out of the door, closing it behind her.
“Yes, of course. Please, follow me. Since he was a Necromancer, you must understand that he had it stored inside of a crypt, yes?” I asked, now getting into my portrayed character.
“That’s fine. It’s not like I haven’t been to one before,” she snapped, obviously looking forward to her supposed riches.
I escorted Sereinne to the cemetery where she buried her husband and began to think that this was going pretty well. I still had to try to milk a damn zombie-cow though, but overall, it was as easy as getting some herbs.
We arrived at the crypt, and Sereinne looked into the murky darkness skeptically. “You said my treasure is down here, yes?” she asked.
I nodded that it was and offered to lead her down, which she scoffed at. I didn’t know how her husband put up with her, so I eagerly followed her down to her awaiting doom. I heard a noise behind me and looked around, seeing a zombie slowly walking towards us.
I quickly excused myself, now that I finished my part and escorted her to the crypt and ran back the way we came. I passed the zombie, and thankfully, it didn’t seem interested in me. As I got outside of the crypt, the entrance started to break apart, it’s broken stones covering the it.
The quest window appeared in my view again letting me know that I discovered the cause of the undead plague and put an end to it by escorting an innocent woman to her undeserved imprisonment by a Lich. The window also so elegantly informed me that I was a terrible Dark Elf and that I should let the mayor know that the quest was completed to get my reward.
Reading this last part with disbelief, I had to wonder if this was actually the same game? The quests always seemed a bit more dry and not as dynamic, or sarcastic as this one seemed. It almost made me wonder if they had an intern design this quest, which was unlike any of the others that I had done. No use thinking about it though since I had a zombie-cow to milk.
I went back to Sereinne’s sheep farm since a cow farm was sure to be close by, and after walking a few minutes down the road, it was sure enough there with a herd of cows grazing inside of a wooden fence. I walked up the path to the house and knocked on the door and was greeted by an elderly gentleman that was wearing green robes.
“Good evening sir, I was wondering if you were the owner of this farm,” I asked as innocently as I possibly could.
“I am the proprietor of this land, yes, but it is my on that runs it. Let me get him,” the old man said, before politely shutting the door in my face. He couldn’t even ask me to come inside, and the dung smell from the farm was starting to get to me.
A few minutes had gone by and I was growing more and more irritable by the second whe
n the door opened again with a disheveled, young Dark Elf was standing inside.
“I’m sorry that you had to wait, my name is K’leth, how can I help you today,” he asked me while looking me up and down. Typical.
“I was ordered by the mayor to investigate the undead plague, and I had heard that there was a cow that was attacked but not killed, turning into a zombie. I’m wondering if you’ve heard of where this cow might be located currently?”
K’leth let out a sigh as he stepped out, closing the door behind him.
“Yes, that beast was attacked in the night. When I came out for the morning milk, I thought it was dead, but when I got closer, it started growling and snapping at me before chasing me into the barn. It’s still there if you’ve come to finally but that ravage thing out of it’s misery,” he said with weary eyes, walking past me towards a path that led to the back of the house.
I followed him until we came to a large barn. It was eerily quite, especially for being on a farm. He pointed towards the barn and let me know that the cow was inside before wishing me luck and leaving me to my own devices.
Raven- The Beginning Page 10
