Crimson Sands

by J. Arthur Klein

  “Your hit points are also affected by the skills that you learn depending on the skill classification. For example, combat oriented skills will contribute more hit points to your pool than knowledge based skills.”

  The red globe faded and the blue one began to pulse instead as the voice continued, “The blue globe represents your current level of mana. Mana is the energy of magic and is used to power all spellcasting within Sosaku Online. Depending on the source of your spells, this pool may be influenced by different attributes."

  "For example, the mana pool and regeneration rates for Arcane-based spellcasters are based on Intelligence, while Divine casters use the Presence attribute. Magic based skill and spell ranks also contribute to your mana pool.”

  The blue globe faded, and the green one began to glow. “The third and final globe represents your current Stamina. Stamina points serve multiple purposes and are linked to all physical skills."

  "Use of specialized combat maneuvers, physical exertion, and lack of sleep can all have an impact on this pool. Should your stamina reach zero you will enter an exhausted state and be unable to fully function."

  "The Stamina pool total and regeneration rate are governed by a mixture of the three physical attributes: Strength, Constitution, and Agility, and by your character's total knowledge."

  "All skills contribute something to this pool, but those geared towards physical activities, as with your hit points, have more of an impact.”

  The gauge flashed again and then moved to the lower left corner of my vision, fading into the background unless I focused on it.

  The voice continued, “In addition to your hit point, mana, and stamina pools there are other status effects that may come into play."

  A small picture of a cracked patch of dried mud appeared near my health gauge and suddenly I could feel something take hold.

  My throat was dry, my head pounding like the worst hangover I’d ever had, and my skin felt sore and tight.

  I focused on the icon and a description appeared:

  *** Dehydrated: -100% to hit point, mana, and stamina regeneration. 5% maximum hit point loss every hour. (Note – Due to the Child of the Sun racial skill, this is doubled to 10%). Time Until Next Effect: 13 minutes. ***

  “Status effects are those that can have an impact on your character's stats, abilities, or actions. Currently your character is affected by the Dehydration effect, which has a negative impact on your ability to regenerate your resource pools.”

  My health gauge came back into focus and I watched all three globes drain until they were all about twenty percent full.

  Another icon appeared showing a fish skeleton accompanied by a deep pain in my stomach.

  *** Starvation: -100% to hit point, mana, and stamina regeneration. 5% maximum hit point loss every hour (Note – Due to the Child of the Sun racial skill, this is doubled to 10%). Time Until Next Effect: 13 minutes. ***

  “Your character is Starving which is another status effect that impacts your pool regeneration. As with Dehydration, this effect also comes with a damaging component. If you do not eat and drink your body will slowly waste away until you perish.”

  As if that wasn’t bad enough, a third icon appeared, this one showing the outline of a cracked skull. As soon as the icon appeared my head began to throb with a dull ache.

  *** Concussed: increased cost and casting time to all spells. Increased cost for all actions requiring stamina. Time remaining: 1 minute. ***

  “You were recently struck quite powerfully on the head, scrambling your wits and making concentration and focus difficult. This status effect has a set duration. Once the indicated time has elapsed, the effects will disappear as well. Status effects can be removed with the appropriate actions and spells.”

  *** You are no longer concussed. ***

  As the concussion debuff expired, time began to flow once again. The tension drained from my shoulders as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

  Around me I could hear some other people beginning to stir. Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes and glanced at my fellow prisoners.

  A few feet away, a dwarf of some sort sat stoically considering his own chains, his face crusted with blood from a large cut across his forehead. His head was completely shaved and his thick beard was braided in a complex pattern.

  As I examined him, a label appeared above his head.

  *** Unknown ***

  The disembodied voice began speaking once again, and judging by the lack of reactions from those around me I was the only one who could hear it.

  “To gain information on other beings within Sosaku Online, simply focus on them and concentrate on the information that you want to know. The amount of information that you are able to obtain in this way is influenced by your character’s total experiences in the world and any applicable skills. The more you experience and the more you encounter, the more you will be able to discern.”

  *** Unlocking: General Saa Racial knowledge… 25% ***

  I experienced a small dizzy spell and then glanced back at the dwarf, my mind suddenly filling in some of the blanks.

  His shaven head was typical for his people, and the patterns woven into his beard indicated that he was a merchant of some sort. I had no idea how I knew those things, but I did.

  *** Unlocking: First Aid… 25% ***

  Another small wave of dizziness accompanied the new message. I blinked my eyes and glanced at the dwarf again, seeing even more information.

  *** Dwarven Merchant ***

  *** HP: 20%, MP: ??, SP: ?? ***

  *** Dehydrated, Starving, Bleeding. ***

  The game’s voice continued, “Your knowledge of first aid has allowed you to diagnose the overall condition of your cellmate. This knowledge can be used for both defensive and offensive purposes. Knowing your target’s condition will tell you how to help, and also how to do harm. Your fellow captive is bleeding, and likely will not last much longer without healing.”

  *** Unlocking: Divine Magic … 100% ***

  *** Unlocking: Soothing Touch …100% ***

  I blinked rapidly to clear the stars from my vision after another wave of understanding crashed into my brain. My desire to help brought that knowledge to the surface and I felt a pool of power stir deep within me.

  I drew on that energy and shaped it into a series of glyphs within my mind, each one both familiar, yet not consciously understood.

  As the last shape took form, my hand began to glow with a soft golden light and I gently touched it to the dwarf’s wound.

  *** You cast Soothing Touch and heal Unknown Dwarf.***

  *** You channel Soothing Touch and heal Unknown Dwarf. ***

  *** You channel Soothing Touch and heal Unknown Dwarf. ***

  *** Unknown Dwarf is no longer bleeding. ***

  Now that’s interesting, I thought to myself. No numbers. Usually those sorts of messages would include hit point values, calculations and the like, but so far nothing.

  The dwarf’s eyes slowly blinked open to see me standing close to him, hand still softly glowing.

  He shoved me away and looked around quickly. “Are you stupid Saa? Stop that! Are you trying to get both of us killed?” he snapped.

  He reached up and touched the now scabbed over gash on his head and continued, “You let them know you’ve got the eyes of the gods on you and you’re as good as dead."

  The dwarf sat back and shook his head, grumbling, "Can’t imagine what they were thinking putting shackles on a priest. Black luck that is.”

  *** Unlocking: General Saa Racial knowledge… 50% ***

  *** Unlocking: Lore (Saa Religion) … 25% ***

  The dwarf was right. Enslaving a priest was a pretty big strike against you in the afterlife. Another random bit of knowledge that I now had access to. I shook my head and turned to the dwarf.

  *** Unlocking: Unknown Origins Boon …10% ***

  The world paused once again and the wave of dizziness normally accompanying one of these
“unlocking” messages swept me into a flashback.

  I was riding in the back of a wagon, dozing in the midday heat when a commotion arose outside. I stepped out of the wagon and then felt a flash of pain as something hard struck me in the back of the head.

  The flashback ended and I was once again facing the frozen face of the newly healed dwarf, my mind still slightly off-kilter from the vision of the past as the tutorial’s narrator began to speak again.

  “Kabishiyama Holdings' scientists are the pioneers in techno-neural interfaces and have developed a system that allows for the transmission of information directly between our servers and our players' memories. This interface will only be available when logged in through the patented Kabishiyama full emersion hardware. “

  “As new skills are acquired, the knowledge of how to use them will be downloaded into your character’s virtual memory archive and be fully accessible within Sosaku Online.”

  *** Unlocking: General Saa Racial knowledge… 75% ***

  *** Unlocking: Lore (Saa Religion) … 50% ***

  I took several deep breaths trying not to freak out. Memory downloads, skill transmission. Wow…. It was scary and well, awesome. I knew how to cast spells. I knew how to shape mana into magic constructs and heal people. I knew that there were twenty seven bones in the human hand and somehow also that Dwarves only had twenty four, and I knew, for some strange reason, that the punishment for stealing a chicken from a noble house in the Saa Empire was ten lashes and twice the cost of the chicken. The folks at Kabishiyama were nothing if not thorough.

  Time began to flow once again and I turned to the dwarf, trying to compose myself as I responded, “I didn’t have much of a chance to point out their mistake when they attacked. I wasn’t wearing temple regalia. I was on personal business and one of them waylaid me before I even knew what was happening.”

  “Well, lucky you then,” he grunted back. “Now keep your powers to yourself before someone sees and your luck runs out.”

  Another random tidbit of knowledge bubbled up from one of my new memory banks and I chuckled. Apparently, the spiritual consequences of murdering a priest were much less severe than enslaving one. Fancy that.

  The rest of the prisoners began to stir as the sun continued to climb higher in the morning sky, most of whom were sitting and staring off dead-eyed, resigned to their fate.

  I heard some other voices outside of the pen, and soon our captors arrived with just enough food and water to keep us alive. A small crust of bread and a cup full of water were just enough to reset the Dehydration and Starving counters to the full one hour, but not remove the effect. Power gaming NPC’s. Noted.

  I saw a small shimmer out of the corner of my eye and turned my gaze towards it.

  *** Perception check successful. ***

  Across the way, a slight bedjvain woman was poised with her ear against the canvas walls of the enclosure.

  The bedjvain were a type of Trollkin that dwelled on the fringes of the empire, known for their nomadic lifestyle. They were a humanoid race, characterized by their greenish brown skin, dense musculature, and partial external skeleton.

  Hard bone ridges edged their forearms and shins, often sharpened for use as natural weapons.

  She saw my gaze and spat, “Mind your business Saa. Speak out and you doom us all.”

  I raised an eyebrow and was about to answer when a commotion arose outside. The bedjvain grinned as the sound of a dozen high pitched war cries filled the morning air, followed by the screams of dying slavers.

  Immediately outside our enclosure there was a dull thwack, followed by the body of one of our captors slumping against the door of the pen. Behind him appeared a large bedjvain male, standing at least seven feet tall. He reached down and casually tossed the human guard away from the door before ripping it off of its hinges.

  The bedjvain woman called out to him in their native tongue “Ba’eckel a’voi to’ettee a vano’ila Saa, D’ev eth va til.”

  *** Skill Check Failed – Bedjvain Language Unknown. ***

  The man responded, glaring at myself and the dwarf “Vano’ila Saa? D’ev eth va til. Saa eth til nay.”

  She looked at me and said “I said you may be useful; he doesn’t think so. Why should we free you, Saa?”

  I decided to take a calculated risk, thinking even the NPC’s must value a healer. I raised my hands and formed the glyphs for Soothing Touch in my mind once again, smiling as my mana flowed into my hand causing it to glow faintly as I replied with as much bravado as I could muster, “I am chosen of the gods, Bedjvain’i, why wouldn’t you free me?”

  I wasn’t quite sure where that title had come from, “Bedjvain’i”, but it definitely had an impact.

  ***Lore (Saa Religion) check successful. ***

  Her eyes widened a little and she spoke again to our rescuer, waving to me “Saa eth va til A’kate’te’pe’t’u.”

  His eyes widened as well, and he reached behind himself and raised a large stone maul over his head.

  I flinched back and closed my eyes, fearing my gamble had failed horribly and hoping my next experience wasn’t going to be as a prop in a Gallagher show.

  Instead the feeling of my skull being caved in, I felt a sudden jerk on my wrists as his maul shattered the chains connecting my shackles to the rest of the chain gang.

  My expression must have been amusing at least, as the sound of the shattering chains was quickly followed by the sound of both the dwarf's and bedjvain’s laughter.

  We filed out of the enclosure and our rescuer used a long metal spike to break apart the chains connecting our wrists and ankles together, finally restoring our full range of movement.

  The bedjvain woman clasped wrists with her kin and shared a few quiet words in their own tongue before turning back towards me. “This is Dvelgaan, war leader of my tribe. He has said that you are to follow me,” she said in a very serious tone. “It would be wise to listen.”

  Dvelgaan looked between his kin, the dwarf, and me and spoke in a thick accent, “You D’ev and A’kate’te…Priest, follow Kejaa,” gesturing towards her before stalking off towards the sounds of combat.

  Kejaa smiled and gestured, “Let’s go. We need to get out of here before more guards come.”

  *** Quest received: Escape! ***

  *** Survive your liberation! ***

  *** Rewards: xp. ***

  “What about the rest of the prisoners?” I replied, “We can’t just leave them here.”

  She spat on the ground and gestured back into the slave pen at the rest of the prisoners who were still sitting there, staring at nothing.

  “They are meat now. Broken things. Only you and the D'ur have a spark left in you. They sit there now even with the chain broken. They are already dead.”

  She stalked to the edge of the nearest tent and looked back to us and beckoned again. “Come.”

  I glanced back at the huddle of bodies in the slave pen and shook my head. This was definitely not a game for kids. I searched for the remains of our former host and spotted the corpse crumpled on the ground nearby. I motioned to Kejaa to wait and slid over to the guard, trying to figure out how to loot.

  Someone hit the pause button once again on the game world. Queue the narrator.

  “Congratulations you have discovered your first loot-able enemy! The looting system of Sosaku Online consists of two phases. First, the assessment phase: This phase represents your character physically searching through all the pockets and pouches of your loot target."

  "Our original design had players actually perform these actions, but it quickly became evident that rooting through the bloody remains of one’s enemies with the level of detail supported in our game was a bit much, even for a game aiming for realism."

  "The time required for the assessment phase is based upon the target. For example, a human target wearing standard clothing and a backpack is much easier to search than a demon from the pits of Hades."

  "Practice looting different typ
es of enemies, certain attribute bonuses, and specific skills can shorten this time. The system shows that you have chosen one such skill, unlocking now.”

  *** Unlocking: Discerning eye….100% ***

  Again, I took a deep breath to steady myself against the influx of information. Once the dizziness had passed, I reached down and touched the corpse with “Looting” on my mind. A small progress bar appeared above the corpse with its name and filled over the course of fifteen seconds.

  *** Corpse of Slaver Guard ***

  *** Looting… ***

  When the bar was full, a small interface window appeared over the corpse, showing small icons for all of the lootable items.

  [Slaver Guard]

  Canvas Satchel:

  Key Ring : Black Iron Key, Grey Shackle Key.

  Water Skin (3 Liters) – 40% full.

  Trail rations: 8.

  Coin Pouch: 3 Gold, 8 Silver, 13 Copper.

  Bronze Dagger.

  Ruined Light Leather Jerkin (useless).

  Blood Soaked Rags (useless).

  “The loot interface is closely related to the inventory interface,” the guide continued. A small “I” icon appeared briefly at the bottom of my view and then expanded to show a paper doll view of my character along with my current equipment, or lack thereof.

  “You may examine your current equipped items and inventory by focusing on doing so. Currently your character is equipped with the bare minimum clothing which has no pockets, pouches, or any other means of carrying items. Thus, you have no inventory space."