Crimson Sands

by J. Arthur Klein

Amenhotep shifted into full defensive mode, barely parrying the rain of blows from the swordsmen as they took turns testing his defenses. As the stunned effect receded, I drank one of my potions and finished off the last raider with a Sunstrike before it could distract my companion.

  *** Congratulations! You have gained a better understanding of the Sunstrike spell! Rank 4 Achieved! ***

  *** Your party has released the tormented soul of a Deathless Raider! You gain 1 Divine Favor! ***

  I moved around to support my companion on his sword side, using my own shield to guard his flank so he could use his khopesh to attack as well as defend.

  My opening thrust at the swordsman nearest me was intercepted by a quick strike of the knight’s sword and I took a vicious blow across my body from the swordsman’s counterattack.

  As I stumbled backwards, stunned from the blow I heard a flurry of blows striking both metal and mummified flesh as the Deathless turned their full fury on Amenhotep.

  The Guardian's health was dropping rapidly as blow after blow breached his defenses and scattered more of his essence to the wind.

  I realized that I had bitten off more than I could chew. Two encounters into the dungeon and we were getting schooled by one elite and his goons.

  I had to act quick as I had no clue what would happen to my companion if he was cut down, but what could I do.

  I cast a quick Cure Wounds on him, raising his health a bit and saw the nearest swordsmen turn its gaze upon me. “Shit! Aggro,” I said.

  I wracked my brain for a solution and finally it clicked. I called the glyphs for the Beacon of Life spell to my mind and dumped the necessary mana into it, focusing it through my shield for a little extra oomph.

  A warm golden light began to radiate from my shield, extending in a five-foot radius in all directions. The swordsman reached the edge of the light and began to burn.

  I channeled more mana into it, watching my mana start to drain. The swordsmen backed up, and I called for Amenhotep to retreat. The knight and other swordsmen moved to pursue but stopped at the edge of my aura, patiently waiting for my mana to run out.

  Amenhotop's health was deep in the red, and he was barely able to stay on his feet. I turned to him and said, “Well fought, my friend, but this is beyond just to two of us. Return to the underworld and gather your strength, we’ll pay them back soon enough.”

  He glanced at me and I could feel a faint sense of disappointment in my decision as his voice rang in my mind. “To retreat is not in my nature, but I sense your purpose in this so I will obey this time. I will eagerly await your next call.” And with that he dispersed into sand.

  I turned back to the undead, seeing them waiting patiently at the edge of my aura as my mana continued to drain. I backed away and the undead followed.

  The expression on the knight’s face seemed somehow mocking, and I decided that I was going to swallow a bit of my pride and run like a bitch. And so I did.

  Not even bothering to look back I ran all the way to the sewer entrance, through the gate and climbed back onto the docks before my stamina gave out.

  I glanced at my health gauges, expecting to see my pools begin to regen but my health just sat at ten percent, pulsing red. My mana was even worse off, the last of it having gone to keep the undead at bay; and my stamina was at a big, fat one percent.

  Shrugging, I opened up the bug reporting interface and started entering an issue about the weird regeneration bug.

  Focusing on the bug interface, I missed any chance that I might have had to notice the incorporeal form rising out of the docks behind me.

  It drove its icy claws through my back and took hold of my heart and squeezed. I fell to the ground in agony and looked up into the wraith’s glowing green eyes as it pulled the last bit of my life force from my body, leaving me a shriveled, lifeless husk.

  The last thing I saw before my voyage to the underworld was the creature’s info text sinking into the ground.

  *** Wraith, Level 14 (Elite) ***

  *** HP: 110%, MP: 100%, SP:100% ***

  *** Incorporeal ***

  …

  I spent the first five minutes on the crimson dunes of the underworld cursing myself and my own stupidity. I had broken the first rule of MMO play and left my character unguarded in the middle of an unsafe area while I fiddled around with the bug report system.

  Grumbling under my breath, I teleported myself to the Gates of Death and waited for the respawn timer to tick down, replaying the previous fights over and over in my mind, trying to formulate a way to defeat the encounter but each time coming up with the same solution: A bigger party.

  I respawned back at the Goose, took a few moments to clear my head and then went over my ever growing lists of tasks.

  I needed to fix my armor, get my loot identified, talk to Gersha, restock my potions, finish another random quest for the temple, and then hopefully team up with Kjara to clear out the undead in the sewers. It was a lot to do, but manageable in small chunks.

  The first item was easy. I stripped off my armor and got to work, repairing the rips and replacing the broken rings with fresh ones from my repair kit.

  The next item I was unsure of, but speaking to Gersha should be possible if it wasn’t too late.

  I put my armor back on and headed down to the common room. Maeve was in her customary spot behind the bar, but there was no one else present. I headed over to greet her and ask after Gersha. “Good evening, Maeve. Is Gersha still in the kitchen?”

  “Nay, Lad. She headed back to ‘er clan lands for a bit. She’ll be back in a few days,” she said. “She told me to tell ye she’s sorry she did nae get a chance to thank ye before she headed out but thank ye nonetheless.”

  I nodded and pulled out the gold to cover the room for the night, but she waved it away. “Ye did more than enough for us that the least we can do is give ye a place to rest.”

  “I would prefer to pay for the room, I helped because it was the right thing to do, not for any reward.”

  As she shook her head I dropped the two gold coins on the bar and continued, “If you won’t take it for rent, think of it as a donation to help out Puc, or any of the girls who might need something in the future.”

  “Fine,” she said, her gaze saying that the conversation might be finished for now, but it was definitely not over. “Now if yer done with yer foolishness, is there anything else ye need?”

  I nodded, and then moved on to the next item on my list. “Could you tell me where I might be able to get something that is enchanted identified?”

  “O’ course. There be a couple o’ places that could help ye with that. The mages guild, the mercs guild, the temple, and pretty much any pawn shop worth its salt could do it fer ye too, although the price’ll be a lot more there. Yer best bet is the mercs guild. Their prices are normally more than the mages, but the mages tend to be a bit more of a pain in the ass and don’t care much for divine magic wielders.”

  I got directions to the local mercs guild, but it was on the far end of the city so I’d have to put the trip off til next time. I thanked Maeve and then headed back up to my room for the night.

  A short while later, I logged out.

  *** Congratulations! You have completed another session of Sosaku Online! ***

  *** Session Duration: 16:15:45. ***

  I hopped out of the pod and let the owners know I was done for the day and headed out of the arcade. I barely made the last bus heading towards my apartment. When I opened my tablet to check for any updates on my stream a notification popped up.

  *** Reminder – Event Tomorrow – April 30th 10:00AM – May 1st 3:00PM. ***

  “Oh shit!” I cursed, earning a glare from an elderly woman nearby. I had forgotten about the convention and still had a metric fuck-ton of work left to do before I could hit the sack, and now that included preparing for a trip into the city.

  When I got home, I rushed to my room and powered up my laptop to get to work. I quickly cut together a small
video showing my missteps vs the trogs and my later return, taking care to point out the OP ability and my bug report.

  Next, I added a shortened version of my adventures in armor crafting, putting all the different minigames together in a nice montage with a description of the process.

  And lastly, I added a video of my first foray into the undead sewers complete with my untimely demise. I figured it could be a lesson in biting off more than you can chew and in situational awareness.

  I posted everything up, hit the shower, and set my alarm for the morning. The trip to the city was a bit longer than that to the arcade, so I’d be getting up a little earlier than I was used to.

  I popped off an email to Bill at the arcade, letting him know my pod would be free for all of Saturday, then hit the sack.

  ...

  Chapter 30

  I woke up in the morning to the blinking of my phone, minutes before my alarm was set to go off.

  I sighed, knowing that those final few minutes I had just been cheated of would have been the most restful sleep of the night.

  Peeling myself out of bed, I turned off the alarm and grabbed my phone to see what messages were waiting for me.

  The first was a notification that I had an in-game message waiting for me. I read through the entire email and saw there was a link to view the message.

  ==To: Kheph

  ==From: Kjara

  ==Subject: Sorry!

  ==Sorry about yesterday! The family business I thought would only take a few hours ended up eating my entire day! On the bright side, I will definitely be at the con this weekend! You’ll be able to tell it’s me by the skull beads I’ll have woven into my beard and black leather jacket… just kidding. Just look for the same braid I use on my toon, sans pointy ears. Oh, and a blue streak. See you there!

  -Kjara

  I clicked on the reply button and wrote up a quick response.

  ==To: Kjara

  ==From: Kheph

  ==Subject: How dare you!

  ==Just kidding! No worries about not making it. You were missed but real-life trumps game life anytime. Glad to hear you’ll be there today. I’ll keep my eyes out for you. I look like my toon would if he grew out a full head of hair and skipped the gym for a couple years. I’ll be wearing a baby yoda t-shirt, blue jeans, and black duster. I just realized I described the online gamer uniform, so I’ll add in a bright red scarf. I’ll try and find you at the keynote! See you there!

  -Kheph

  I grabbed my clothes and got dressed in my favorite convention outfit. The Baby Yoda shirt never failed to produce a good nostalgic reaction from my fellow gamers. I dug through my closet to find my bin of old winter gear and grabbed my red scarf, draping it over my shoulder like my priestly stole in the game and headed out.

  The quickest route to the train station took me past my favorite breakfast spot, so I picked up a sandwich and a large coffee, quickly unwrapping the sandwich and digging in.

  The taste of Taylor ham, egg, and cheese melded perfectly with their bagel conveyance to produce the perfect New Jersey breakfast experience.

  By the time I reached the station at Journal Square and hopped on the train the sandwich was history.

  My daily review of my stream site revealed some mixed reviews. My initial death to the trogs resulted in some colorful commentary, ranging from sympathy to mockery of my plight, in true internet fashion.

  The second video showing my return and vengeance garnered similar attention, yet those comments were more focused on the OP nature of my new item.

  Half of the comments wanted to know where they could get one, and the others were wondering if I had somehow hacked the game.

  Only the fact that I’d included my reporting of the effect as a bug saved me from a slew of cancelled subs.

  My regulars loved the crafting video, and of course my failed delve into the undead sewers brought out the trolls once again. I was a newb, I should have done X, Y, and Z.

  Luckily for them they paid their subscription fees just like everyone else, so I’d deal with their unwanted advice as long as the credits kept flowing.

  I exited the train at the port authority and then walked the rest of the way to the Javits Center where the con was taking place.

  The event had sold out within twenty four hours of tickets going on sale, but still there were people gathered all around the center, having their own con outside of the con.

  People cosplaying their characters were all over the place, chatting with each other and just having an overall good time.

  As with most games there were elves everywhere, followed closely in number by dwarves and even a few kreks.

  I took in the scenery as I made my way to the ticket holders line, my own enthusiasm mirrored by everyone around.

  Next to the entrance a group of techs was setting up a large projection screen on the outside wall of the convention center.

  Asking a few of the other ticketholders, I found out that once the Kabishiyama folks saw the number of people gathered outside, they decided to put up screens so that everyone who had come out would be able to see the keynote and all of the main stage events live. Good going Kabishiyama holdings, that was some solid customer support.

  The line moved forward at a slow and steady pace, so I used the time to appreciate the atmosphere.

  To my right I saw a group of people all wearing a tabard with the same design, twin swords crossed with a crown above them. I had no clue what it meant, but they seemed to be getting a lot of attention from the crowd.

  I’d kept myself isolated for the most part from the forums and other streams except for very specific game mechanic searches, so my knowledge of the guilds, other players, etc. was virtually nothing.

  The tabard wearers seemed to have a good mix of races, so they were likely based in Karillia or one of the other major cities.

  Further down the line I saw a small group of people all dressed up as kreks, complete with prosthetic tusks. They were having a blast enacting some sort of dance around a giant prop totem.

  I reached the box office, now converted into the check-in desk, and showed them my digital ticket. They scanned it and handed over my badge and a swag bag. I examined my badge.

  The black logo of the Sosaku Online game was stamped onto a red background with my name and character name. There would be no anonymity here. I hung the badge around my neck and headed into the convention, ready for a different type of adventure.

  The hall was full of people, both in and out of costume chatting in small groups and taking in the sights. There were sculptures and posters everywhere. There were even booths with memorabilia and people selling costumes and the like.

  My eyes scanned the crowd I noticed that there were other colors of badges. The majority were a forest green with the same black logo, but I also spotted a smaller number of people with ice blue as well as some with red to match my own.

  I found an empty seat near one of the windows and claimed it as my own, sitting down to see what kind of loot was in my swag bag.

  Coupons, advertisements, and the other typical filler was packed into the bag.

  There was also a code to redeem for an in-game loot chest that would contain some nice cosmetic items, and a chance at another giveaway for some VIP passes to the next con they had already scheduled for next year.

  I tossed the junk into the trash bin and started reading through the program to get a loose idea of what I wanted to do with my day.

  The first page explained the badge color scheme. Red was for characters starting on the eastern continent of Orva; green for those on the western continent, Kor; and blue were for folks from the Njor islands.

  With that explanation the ratios I'd seen made sense. The majority of players seemed to be based on Kor which was a more typical medieval fantasy setting, with the more frontier wasteland continent of Orva the next most popular and the Njor islands coming in a distant third.

  Judging by the cosplayers, both Kor and Orva s
eemed to have elves and dwarves and the like, and I guessed their own versions of the demi human and other mythical races. There were a few dwarves sporting the ice blue badges as well.

  Checking the clock, I saw that there were fifteen minutes or so before the opening ceremonies were supposed to start in the main hall, so I abandoned my seat and headed in that direction, reading the program as I went.

  Panels, developer chats, and even a cosplay contest were scheduled throughout the day. There were so many things I wanted to do but many of them conflicted with each other, making for some tough choices.

  I planned out a short schedule for myself, and then started looking around for Kjara’s characteristic braid.

  …

  I had no luck on the walk to the central hall, but my message had said I’d look for her at the keynote, which was a part of opening ceremonies.

  I took up a position on the outskirts of the crowd, finding a place where I had a good view of the stage and could keep my eyes on the audience as well.

  Things began to settle as folks found their places around the room and the lights began to dim. Once it was completely dark, or at least as dark as they were allowed to make it due to safety concerns, a series of spotlights flipped on, illuminating an older Japanese man in a formal business suit standing at the podium.

  “Welcome, everyone to the launch celebration for Sosaku Online!” he said with a very slight accent. “I am Toshiro Kabishiyama, President and CEO of Kabishiyama Holdings. Today we have assembled quite a collection of activities for you all.”

  The crowd began to cheer, and the CEO let them continue for a bit before gesturing for quiet and continuing his speech.

  “I won’t bore you with the details since they are all in your program, but I am pretty sure you would have a hard time doing nothing while you are here. In the interest of not wasting your time, I will now turn the stage over to the man who has made most of this possible. So, without further ado, I present to you the lead developer of Sosaku Online, Ichiro Takezu!”