Quest Accepted, page 5
6
THE CRIMSON VALE
As Audyn prepared to die, yet again, a now familiar tingle coursed through her veins. The shocking orb spell pulsed from inside of her and down through to her hands. When Audyn felt the orb was at its maximum charge, she turned. She heard the release of a bow and felt an arrow graze past her ear, hearing it land with a soft thud as everything went silent.
Still pulsing with energy, Audyn turned slowly to look at what had been charging her a moment before. At her feet lay a massive creature that must have been close to ten feet long.
She inspected the creature:
Swamp Lurker (Dead)
Level 3
0/40 HP
It looked like an ugly giant crocodile. It had ragged, olive-colored, leathery skin that seemed to be incredibly thick. Looking closer at its head she realized the lurker didn’t have any eyes. Its long snout jutted out, housing multiple sharp jagged teeth with an enormous tongue lolling from its maw. Its long tail had fins along each side that were as hard as bone and as sharp as knives.
Audyn turned back and peered in the direction that the arrow had come from. She watched as the trees in front of her started to rustle.
As she focused on the trees, two slender figures appeared before her.
She stepped back, still channeling her essence. “Who are you, and what is that freaking thing?” Audyn blurted out, still rattled by how close she had come to dying again.
The figures moved closer. They looked like they had come right out of a Tolkien novel; they were clearly elves. In addition to being tall, they were stunningly beautiful, with sharp features, and long flowing hair. One had hair of such a deep blue that Audyn initially thought it was black until a streak of torchlight highlighted its unusual color. The other elf had hair so light it appeared white, contrasted with delicate violet highlights. Wow, I need to get the name of their hairdresser.
“You’re trespassing,” the elf with the dark hair stated as a matter of fact. “What’s your business here?” Although her words were harsh, her voice had a musical quality to it.
Irritated both by how great these two looked and the less-than-warm welcome, Audyn retorted. “Look lady, I’m not trying to trespass anywhere. I’m just trying to find my brother. And seriously, it’s not like you have signs posted saying, “private property. How am I supposed to know where I’m “allowed” or “not allowed” to go?! It’s not like I wanted to play this stupid game, I didn’t even want to go to Uncle Karl’s house. I just want to be a normal teenager, back in my room. But no, instead I am stuck in this ridiculous place, trying to find my brother because who knows what he’s going through right now and I just want to get out of here!”
Responding as if Audyn hadn’t said anything, the blue-haired elf added, “Why have you come onto our land without first consulting one of our people? It is grounds for death.”
“Seriously...Seriously?” Audyn responded with exasperation. “Listen, all I did was follow this freaking path, trying not to get freaking killed, but everywhere I go I have some little asshole imp pissed off at me for something, a freaking water nymph that wants to kill me, or someone shooting arrows close to my head like they were showing off some sick carnival trick. So, consulting with your people...sorry, I must have forgot!”
The other elven female stared at Audyn.
“Oh, calm down. We’re messing with you, half-elf. We knew you were coming,” the blue-haired elf shot out with a smile.
“My name is Wyn and this is Ali,” Wyn said while pointing to the elf next to her with the violet streaks in her hair. Ali gave an overly enthusiastic wave, putting Audyn on guard. Audyn noticed that Ali had her pointed ears pierced in multiple places and twinkling studs lined up like constellations on her ears.
“Welcome to the Crimson Vale,” Wyn continued, gesturing to the extensive maze of meandering streams and city behind her.
“What’s your name?” she continued.
Audyn stammered trying to figure out what to tell them, but in the end used her real name, “It..It’s...Audyn.”
Audyn looked at the city and took in the impressive sight in front of her. The city was much more interwoven with nature than she had first imagined. It was like the city was grown, not built.
Each dwelling was designed to incorporate many aspects of the trees and rivers they were surrounded by. Several of the huts spanned the distance of the crisscrossing streams, which must have allowed the inhabitants easy access to fresh water.
A few of the huts near the ground had ladders that connected them with those in the trees. The whole village looked connected, seamlessly integrating nature and everything seemed to work in harmony. It was amazing.
“Wait, you knew I was coming? What? How?” Audyn asked, perplexed more than irritated now.
“We’ve been watching you for a while. Our city ambassador, Bert, notified us that you were headed this way. Come on. Let’s go,” Wyn continued.
Audyn was not sure if she should be mad at the imp or thankful. She decided to stay angry for the moment. Ambassador, really?
“Bert was right, you’re a mess,” Ali finally chimed in. “Do you want to stand there all day and wait for that lurker’s family to come around or are you going to come with us?” she asked, making a half-hearted gesture toward the dead reptile behind Audyn.
Shivering in revulsion, Audyn turned to follow the elves and noticed others were beginning to appear, looking on near the Vale’s limits. Audyn made her way into the city, ignoring the onlookers as they gawked openly.
“Hey A, hang on a second,” Ali called over to Audyn as she swung a small cloth pack off her back and started digging through it.
She reached in, grabbed a few items, and tossed them to Audyn. “You may need these…” she said as she looked at Audyn’s current outfit with obvious disdain.
A new notification appeared:
Ali has offered you the following items:
Novice Robe of the Crimson Vale
Chest Armor
+ 20 armor
Leather wrist guards of the Crimson Vale
Wrist Armor
+10 armor
Leather boots of the Crimson Vale
Foot Armor
+15 armor
Home stone
Ability to set respawn point of your choosing. Note, only one respawn point can be active at any given time.
Would you like to accept?
Audyn wasn’t sure if the items were good or not, but figured they had better armor than the stuff she had on, so she accepted. Holding the new gear in her hands, she pulled up her inventory. The area next to cloak and chest armor were highlighted. As she focused on the highlighted area an alert let her know that she possessed upgraded gear for those slots. Grateful to finally have something good happen she yelled out to Ali, “Thank you!”
Audyn stopped for a moment and ducked behind a large tree as the elves kept walking. When she was sure no one was looking, she quickly slipped on the new gear.
Looking at her body she could tell the armor fit better than the rags she had started with. Glancing at the robe, she thought it looked more like a dress, it was brilliant white and had a brown sash that wrapped around the midsection. Her new boots were more comfortable than her others and offered her additional protection for her shins. After she finished securing her wrist guards, she walked over to the nearest stream to check her reflection.
“That’s more like it,” she said with a toss of her hair and hand on her hip. She could get used to clothes fitting like this on the first try.
Ditching the old gear behind the tree she took a quick look around her. This makeshift changing room seemed as good a spot as any to serve as her current respawn point. She grabbed her home stone and a new notification appeared:
Set current location as your home?
If you die, you will respawn at this spot.
She accepted. It would be better to start over here rather than having to work her way back from where she entered the game if she were to die again. Not to mention it would probably prevent her from having to see that imp again.
She stood alone. In the distance she could see the elves disappearing into a large hut that wrapped around what must have been the largest tree in the entire forest, completely dwarfing all of the others.
Audyn approached the city, which was much busier than it appeared from the road.
Elves scurried in between their huts, selling goods or practicing with weapons. She stopped in her tracks, distracted. “Are those fireflies?” She noticed hundreds of lights high up in the trees, glimmering in every color imaginable. “They’re gorgeous.”
“No, half-blood, no they’re not.” A familiar voice interrupted her peaceful moment from up on a branch. “Those are pixies, not as pretty as Bert,” the imp continued, sticking her proud, crooked nose in the air.
Just who she didn't want to see more of. “Bert, what do you want now?”
Isn’t there some way to mute this creature or something? Audyn thought. A quick search through the “settings” menu yielded no such option. Maybe I should let myself die so that I can ask Karl if he can tweak the code to get rid of this little pest. A grunt pulled her from her thoughts.
Taking a few breaths, Audyn calmed down. “Bert,” Audyn said, forcing herself to speak as politely as possible, almost dreading the answer to her next question, “do you know your way around here?”
The imp shifted, as if taken off guard by the request. “Bert show you around? Ok, under one condition, you help Bert.”
“Huh?” Audyn was surprised by the relatively, non-snarky response and then her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Help you with what?”
“Help Bert retrieve something that was stolen,” the imp continued, turning her face toward the ground.
A new notification arrived:
You’ve been offered a quest:
Bert’s Bounty
Bert has agreed to show you around the Crimson Vale, as long as you are willing to help her recover her stolen item.
Do you accept Bert’s quest?
Reward: Unknown
Difficulty: Unknown
Experience: 1000 XP
She considered declining the quest, but there was something about the way Bert had mentioned her stolen item that led Audyn to accept. I better get something decent if I’m going to do this.
“Why not,” Audyn responded after accepting. “Let’s go.”
Bert flew, or more accurately, slowly free fell off a branch, landing with a dull thud in front of Audyn.
“Let’s go, Bert’s got a hot date.” The imp looked at Audyn with squinted eyes and raised her squat eyebrows up and down in a “hubba hubba” expression.
Audyn rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling at the boisterous imp. She was growing on her, like a fungus.
“Ok, let’s go,” Bert shouted without looking back to Audyn.
“Oh, if you lose track of Bert, use this.” The imp flipped Audyn a small smooth blue gem about the size of a walnut. Audyn caught the gem and slipped it into her pocket. She’d probably toss it in the river after she finished the quest.
Audyn jogged to catch up. They reached the middle of the Vale, multiple bridges led to different parts of the city. Standing alone, on its own island in the middle, was the massive tree. Bert pointed at the tree with an emphatic outstretched arm.
“This is the Heart Tree. Very powerful. Magical. Everything in the village ties back to this place. Nice, right? Here you’ll find almost everything you need. Trainers, crafters, fine elf men…” the imp looked back for a sign of approval, and after receiving no response...“women?”
“Bert, stop getting distracted,” Audyn said as she clapped her hands twice. “Focus.”
“Sorry, sorry. As I was saying, here you’ll find almost anything.”
“Almost anything?”
“Yes, if you want the good stuff, you need to go over there…” Bert pointed her stubby finger to the south.
There were a couple smaller huts in a small circle at the base of a few trees on the city’s outer limits.
Audyn wasn’t sure what “good stuff” entailed, but the imp had piqued her interest.
Continuing on their tour of the Vale, they crossed another bridge toward the base of the Heart Tree.
As they crossed a long bridge, Audyn looked into the flowing water below. It was so clear. She watched several glimmering fish nosing the banks for their next meal.
Once they reached the Heart Tree they began to climb sturdy, well-worn wooden stairs. As they worked their way up to the first level, Audyn could smell food cooking. Realizing how incredibly hungry she was, her stomach began to ache. It felt like she had not eaten anything in weeks.
“This is where Bert eats.” Bert swept her stubby arm the length of the first level. They stood at the threshold of a huge carved doorway.
Several elves wandered around the café-style space, some tending to fires, others eating intently. A few watched Audyn and Bert with blank expressions, but the majority didn’t even acknowledge their presence.
“What’s their deal?” Audyn asked.
“They don’t like you, half-blood.”
“Why? What did I do to them?”
“You didn’t do anything, it’s you they don’t like. You’re a stranger. Different. Not to be trusted. They like Bert though. Bert teaches them great power,” Bert taunted, wiggling her stubby fingers near Audyn’s face.
“Sure they do, Bert,” Audyn shot back incredulously, swatting Bert’s hands away from her face.
The imp ignored her. “Hungry?”
“I’m starving!” Audyn replied, her stomach churning once more.
“Too bad,” the imp started her goat laugh thing once more. “Bert jokes, go ahead, ask...” Bert paused and muttered as she looked at the different vendors, before pointing at one. “That one, ask him for food.”
Audyn wasn’t sure if it was a setup. She walked cautiously to the elf seated at a large cauldron that emitted a particularly delightful smell.
The elf was wearing a hooded cloak obscuring most of his face, leaving only his emerald eyes visible.
“Umm...Hi,” Audyn said in a quiet voice. The elf looked at her with a blank stare, the silence quickly growing uncomfortable. “Could I have some of your stew and maybe a little bread? It smells delicious.”
“Ninety silver pieces,” the elf responded without looking at Audyn.
“I only have forty,” Audyn responded, deflated.
“No bread then, only stew,” the elf responded, pouring a bowl of the aromatic stew mixture.
Audyn looked at Bert. “Is that normally how much food is? Seems high.”
“High for you maybe. You should stop wasting your money. They charge Bert two silvers because Bert is awesome.”
Audyn started to protest, but the imp raised a finger to silence her as the elf handed her a bowl of stew.
“Well?” The elf held out his hand for payment. As his eyes met Audyn’s, a peculiar look crept on his face. Clearing his throat, he nodded and handed the stew to her.
Audyn ran a quick inspection on the elf:
Name: Aerin
Race: Elf (Crimson Vale)
Class: Rogue
Level: 4
Audyn reluctantly dug out her forty silver pieces and handed them to the elf. As he sat he glanced up at her and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something. Nothing came out and he looked away.
Audyn took her bowl and sat off to the side of everyone else. She took a deep breath and looked around, still in disbelief that this was happening. Sitting alone, eating her stew. It reminded her all too much of being back at school.
She dipped the spoon in the stew and shoved a large bite in her mouth. A sense of relief washed over her as her hunger immediately dissipated. Aerin was looking at her again, and before she had a chance to wonder why, her throat felt like a chunk was stuck, except no attempt at coughing seemed to move it.
“What the…” she said through harsh gasps, feeling her throat constricting.
Audyn grasped at her throat, she couldn’t breath no matter what she tried. A minute passed, and no one moved to help her. Her eyes lost focus with the lack of oxygen. Something was definitely wrong. After struggling for what seemed an eternity, all went black.
Bad Shrimp? You have died…
Audyn stood in the blackness. “Really!?” she exclaimed.
“What’d you do!?” Karl’s voice rang out into the darkness.
“Damn it, Karl. Why’s everything and everyone trying to kill me!? Get me out of here! I’m done.”
“Hang in there. Try to enjoy yourself. Think of it as a vacation.”
“A vacation? Are you freaking kidding me?! Get me out, now!”
Audyn noticed the now familiar flashing notification in the corner of her vision. Focusing on it, she had her suspicions confirmed.
Combat Log:
You take 20 HP damage (poison)
You take 10 HP damage (poison)
You take 15 HP damage (poison)
You have died...
“That son of a bitch poisoned me!” she shouted.
“Remember, not everything in this game is what it seems. Try not to be too hasty in your judgment.” Karl's voice was dry.
“I saw how that guy looked at me. I know it was him! Karl, this all seems so real. I don’t think I can handle dying again.”
“This will only make you stronger, Audyn. I have no idea how long you are going to be stuck in there, but you have control of how you progress. No one else.” Karl snapped his fingers. “By the way, I think I’ve found something Kros does not want me to know. Once I know for sure I’ll let you and your brother know.”
“Where’s Evan? Is he close?”
“Unfortunately, I have no idea, but I believe he is…
Before he could finish, the respawn timer was up, and Audyn found herself back in the game world.
She opened her eyes and was in her makeshift changing room behind the tree outside of the Vale.
