I headed back towards the pod room, seeing Bill already focused on his PC tap, tap, tapping away.
A few minutes later, I slid into the pod and flipped the switch initiating the startup sequence, my body and sight fading to black as the lining rose up around me and the nanite systems engaged.
*** Connecting in 5...4…3…2…1... ***
*** Connection Established. ***
*** Loading… ***
*** Reinitializing Neural – Avatar Interface… Complete! ***
*** Decompressing Character Skill Database… Complete! ***
*** Welcome back to Sosaku Online, Kheph Sa’tep. Game time is currently 09:04:11. ***
My consciousness settled once again into my avatar as I slowly flexed the muscles in my arms and legs. I got up from my small bed, and performed some stretches, getting used to my more robust body.
Remembering what Bill had said about people staying in past their allotted time, I focused on the game interface and concentrated on setting a timer.
*** Would you like to set a timer? (Y/N) ***
I selected yes, and an alarm clock interfaced popped up in my view. I set the alarm for 11PM, wanting a good two hour buffer so I wouldn’t get involved in anything too intensive too close to the end of my play time. I saved the timer and saw a little alarm clock icon in the periphery of my vision.
*** NOTE: In the future, you may set up to 5 separate alarms or timers via direct Telemetrics. ***
Good to know, I thought, and tested it out, thinking, Set alarm for midnight tomorrow.
*** Alarm set for 00:00:00 on Tuesday April 27th. ***
I grabbed my backpack and headed out to the common room, waving in greeting to Saleem behind the bar.
There were no other patrons around at this hour, so I wouldn’t have to worry too much about another scene. Most of the normal crowd were probably out doing whatever it was NPCs did in the game during the day. I headed to a table near one of the inn’s stone walls and rested my spear and shield against it and sat down.
Mareej emerged from the kitchen, a steaming plate in one hand and a full tankard of something in the other.
Nimbly balancing the plates, she brought the food over to where I was sitting. I smiled and thanked her, and she headed back to the kitchen without saying a word.
Even though the game said my reputation had passed beyond the suspicious stage, she still seemed unsure of me.
After finishing my meal, I sat back and began to lay out a plan of action. After my encounter in the hidden temple, getting to Sehkem had become doubly important.
Unfortunately, I was pretty certain that the coins in my pocket were going to be insufficient to book passage with one of the caravans, and with my current skillset, getting hired on as a guard was probably unlikely. I would have to check out the cost while at the caravansary today after my other quests were complete and see.
I called out to Saleem behind the bar, “Saleem, have you seen Kjara this morning?”
“The moon elf?” he asked, and I nodded. “Yes, she left about an hour ago, said something about playing catch up, whatever that means.”
I laughed and said, “Hah, don’t worry about it, it’s an inside joke.”
Grabbing my spear and slinging my shield onto my back I headed out of the inn towards the caravansary, keeping an eye out for potential attackers.
Reaching my destination without any further issues, I headed over to a gathering of locals to ask where to find caravans travelling to Sehkem. My initial questions came up empty but eventually I found someone who directed me to a small building near the northern edge of the courtyard where a small dwarf with a pure white beard sat behind a counter.
He was currently involved in a heated conversation with a large, Saa man who seemed to be upset about something.
After a minute of pointless argument, the Saa took out a pouch of coins and slammed it on the desk in front of the dwarf who just looked at him with a flat expression before gathering up the coins and handing him a small slip.
As the Saa stormed off, I approached and greeted the dwarf. He looked up at me, a look of distaste crossing his features as he sighed and opened his ledger.
“Destination?” he said flatly.
“I’d like to know the price of passage to Sehkem, or know if anyone is looking for guards for the journey,” I answered.
He opened a giant leather book and started scanning through its pages, reading out the entries that he found.
“I don’t involve myself with the hiring of guards. But as for passage…. let’s see… Jacob Frell’s caravan bound for Sehkem via Khem’et, leaves tomorrow at dawn. One hundred gold pieces a head."
"Bjorvi Settrson’s leaves the day after, traveling north to the coast and then east to the city, probably not a good bet for you Saa, even at twenty five gold. Hmmm….”
He continued to scan down the page and came to the last entry and laughed. “Hah, yes, that’s not going to happen.”
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“The last caravan is dwarven. The odds of them letting you book passage is about the same as the odds of me shaving my beard. Especially the Tel’vaar. Pretty sure they have had enough of your people to last a decade,” he laughed.
I grinned, recognizing the clan name. “How much is the passage and when does it leave?”
The dwarf looked down at his book and said, “Fifty gold pieces, leaving tomorrow after the midday heat, but I wouldn’t waste my time if I were you. They are headed north to the coast as well, but no worry about being sold to the north men there.”
“Are you a gambler?” I asked.
“What’re ye looking to bet on Saa?” He said with interest in his eyes.
“How about this. Arrange a meeting between me and the Tel’vaar caravan master tomorrow an hour or so before they are going to leave. If they agree to take me, you agree to pay my passage. If they refuse, I will pay you twenty five gold.”
*** Presence check... successful! ***
“You’re a fool to make that bet Saa, but I’m not one to turn down free money,” he laughed.
We shook hands, sealing the deal and I was surprised to see a quest prompt.
*** Quest accepted: A Fool’s Wager. ***
*** You have made a bet with Raeg Svetson of the Val’deen Dwarves. Acquire passage with the Tel’vaar caravan to Sehkem and Raeg agrees to pay the fee, fail and you agree to pay him 25g. ***
Reading through the quest text, I hoped my instincts had been correct. From what I could “recall”, the Tel’vaar were from the eastern side of the continent, so the odds of there being another one of their clan here on the west of the Saa’eth river was unlikely, so the chances of Haegir being a part of this caravan were pretty good. I was almost certain Haegir would put in a good word for me. Almost.
I might even be able to turn it to both of our advantages. The wager didn’t specify the amount of the fee Raeg had agreed to pay, only that he would pay it.
A potential hole in the system. I drafted a preliminary bug report about the open-ended nature of quests allowed but didn’t send it yet, since it was possible that the devs had something in place already.
As I reached the jobs board, I heard Kjara’s voice filtering through the crowd. I headed that way and as I got closer, I could see that she was engaged in an argument with a male sun elf.
Their info text popped up briefly as I approached.
*** Kjara Mistwalker, Level 3 Warrior ***
*** HP: 100%, SP: 100% ***
*** Unknown Sun Elf, Level 3 Mage ***
*** HP: 100%, MP: 100%, SP: 100% ***
The sun elf had gone all out in the character creation. Golden hair flowed in ringlets down his back, held back from his face by a braid that somehow looked like the rays of a sun centered on their face. Max height and as many muscles hey could select without the requisite stats. Someone wanted to be Elf-Fabio.
“I don’t really care if you were the one who landed the killing blow Fael
lwyndyr, we agreed that we’d split the loot evenly. That sword is a real upgrade for me, and you can’t even use it” Kjara stated coldly.
The sun elf, Faellwyndyr, what a mouthful that name was, just grinned and shrugged. “My kill, my loot. And if you don’t like it then, well, you can take your barbaric self back to the vale and water the trees with your tears.”
“Wow, what an asshole,” I said as I walked into range. Kjara gave me a brief smile before turning her anger back on goldilocks.
The elf turned his golden eyes to me - yes, he had even given himself golden eyes - and said, “Mind your business, newb.”
Kjara continued, “Just give me the sword, man. I gave you the spell scroll that the wizard dropped, it’s only fair that I get my share as well.”
“Don’t think I will,” he stated and walked away. “Goodbye, newbs.”
Kjara was fuming, and I saw her hands slowly inching towards her swords. I could understand the sentiment but was pretty sure that open violence in the middle of the caravansary was not a good plan.
I moved closer to her and whispered, “There has to be some sort of legal system in the game. While murdering Fae-bio would likely be very satisfying, I’d hate to see you thrown in jail.”
As her eyes turned to me, I continued, “If that’s the way he wants to play the game, then he’ll reap his rewards eventually. Penalty number one is going to be his face plastered on my stream, warning people that he’s a loot thief, so at least that small piece of the player base will know to look out for Fae-bio.”
She still seemed a bit on edge, so I dropped my normal flippant approach to things and approached, “Seriously, are you alright?”
Her shoulders lost a little of their tension as she took a deep, measured breath before responding. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. Just brings back some unpleasant memories of out of game people I’d rather forget. I guess folks can be just as bad digitally as they are in the flesh.”
“Yeeeaaah…” I replied, wincing, “Gamers can be some of the worst. What made you team up with Goldilocks anyhow?” I asked, “His look just screams ‘Toolbag’ from a mile away.”
She grumbled something under her breath and I asked, “What was that?”
Louder this time she replied, “He could read, okay? And he was the only other player around. I try not to judge a book by its cover, even if that cover does read ‘The life and times of Douchy MacDouchenstien’.”
I laughed and said, “I read that one! One Star, the main character was completely unrelatable. Plus, the author used English spelling. So many extra U's. Would not recommend.”
After another shared laugh, I continued, “Well, we have an herbalist to find. What do you say?”
“Let’s go!” she replied, and then turned serious for a second. “Kheph, thanks for caring, and for the laughs.”
*** Party formed! ***
I acknowledged her thanks with a small smile and a nod and responded, “Let’s stop by the jobs board on the way, see if there are any quests to the east of the camp so we can make the most of the walk. Plus, I have an idea for the golden boy.”, leading the way back towards the jobs board.
I read through the postings and found a few quests that we could probably handle.
The first was perfect. A delivery quest to the same bedjvain camp where we were headed anyway. It just included a pit stop on the way at a potter’s shop in the market square.
The second was another hunting quest. A salt mine to the southeast has been overrun with gibs, small goblin-ish creatures. I grabbed them off the board and we both accepted.
*** Quest Received: Special Delivery. ***
*** Velka, cook of the Stormbreak tribe has ordered a set of pottery from the Glazed Urn in the Tael’va market square. Present this notice to the shopkeeper and deliver Velka’s pots to her in the Stormbreak encampment east of Tael’va. ***
*** Rewards: 10sp, xp, improved reputation with the Stormbreak Tribe and Free People of Tael’va. ***
*** Quest Received: Salty Infestation. ***
*** The owners of the Derrington Salt mines were recently driven out of their mine by an infestation of Gibs. Enter the mine and clean out the infestation. ***
*** Rewards: 10g, xp, improved reputation with Free People of Tael’va. ***
I looked around for a blank sheet of paper and found some shoved into a small alcove on the side of the board with some charcoal sticks.
I grabbed one and quickly wrote a quick message and tacked it dead center on the board, laughing as my joke somehow morphed into a new quest that would even grant xp.
*** Quest Offered: Poetic Justice (Repeatable, Daily). ***
*** Beware all, the Sun Elf Faellwyndyr, aka Goldilocks, aka Fae-bio is a loot thief and class A douche. Perhaps a kick to the junk would do him some good.
Success Criteria: Use Fae-bio’s dangly bits as a kickball.
*** Reward: xp, the warm feeling you get from making the world a better place. ***
I read it again and laughed, “I wish you could read Kjara, this is some gold right here.”
*** Error: You may not accept quests of your own creation. ***
I asked Kjara to wait for a second as I took a screenshot of the entire thing and then posted a bug report about the player created quest giving xp. I wasn't sure that it was supposed to be a thing, and had some potential for exploitation that I explained in the report.
I read the quest text to Kjara and she didn’t stop laughing until we reached the pottery shop pit stop, the Glazed Urn.
...
Chapter 10
We handed over the quest slip to the proprietor of the Glazed Urn and she handed us each a large crate. Each crate wasn’t too heavy, but it was going to be a long walk across the city.
By the time we were halfway there we were both covered in sweat and had drained a full waterskin each, and by the time we reached the edge of the city we had to put down the crates and rest while our endurance regenerated.
I groaned and drank again from my waterskin as my body let me know just how unhappy it was.
“So much for an ‘Easy delivery quest’,” I grumbled, “I think the devs must be having a good laugh every time someone takes this quest and experiences this level of hell.”
Finishing a long drink of her own, Kjara replied, “Sadists. There’s no other explanation.”
“Well, let’s not keep the dev’s from their torture porn,” I said, and hoisted the crate again, slowly walking towards the Stormbreak camp.
*** System Alert: A player has completed your quest Poetic Justice! You receive 5xp! ***
*** NOTE: As the author of a quest, you will receive a minor xp reward whenever your quest is completed by a player! This reward will scale with the difficulty of the quest as well as with any monetary cost that you incurred to provide it.
NOTE: Player made quests are currently in the beta stage and may or may not remain available as the game progresses. Please report any issues experienced with the system via the bug report interface.
Thank you, the Sosaku Online development team. ***
*** Achievement Awarded: Content Creator 1! You have successfully contributed to the game as a whole! ***
*** You gain 100xp! ***
“Hah!” I laughed, “Hey Kjara, I just got a pop up that someone completed my quest! And I got five xp for it. Guess Fae-bio is going to need a codpiece full of ice.”
“Serves that Asshole right. I was so excited when that sword dropped and then that loser pulled that crap. I hope your quest hits number one," she replied, her taste for vengeance only partially sated.
We finished our slog and approached the entrance to the Stormbreak camp. The entire setup was encircled by a wall of canvas stretched between thick wooden posts driven deeply into the ground.
A single opening marked the entrance to the camp, where two large bedjvain with falchions that looked taller than I was stood flanking the opening.
“State your business with the Stormbreak,” said
the guard on the left.
Kjara took the lead and responded, “Delivery for Velka from the Glazed Urn.”
The guard grunted and pointed to the ground in front of him. “Put the crates here and open them.”
We did as we were instructed, and the guards looked through the collection of pots, checking for contraband or something.
When they were finished, they called back through the gateway and another bedjvain came out. The guards spoke to the newcomer in their native tongue and then turned back to us.
“This is Jabis, he will guide you to Velka. I expect to see you leaving before noontime.”
“Good morning, Jabis” I said, and was promptly ignored.
One of the guards answered for him. “Don’t take it personally Saa, Jabis does not speak your language.”
I nodded, and we motioned for Jabis to proceed. He led us through row upon row of large yurt-like tents, eventually coming to a wide pavilion.
Dried meats and bundles of herbs hung from the supporting posts, and a large cauldron sat upon a pile of smoldering embers in the center.
An elderly bedjvain female sat hunched over a small table, skillfully transforming a large potato-like vegetable into bite sized cubes with a wicked looking steel knife.
Jabis motioned for us to wait and approached the woman, waiting until she was done chopping before speaking with her in their language.
She turned to us and scowled, “It’s about time! I placed that order eons ago. Quick, quick now, come in.”
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