Forge of Eternity: Alpha Testing, page 4
“Our port is too small and streets too narrow for any large cargo shipments,” he shook his head slowly. “Most caravans post up outside the walls and only trade for goods they need to keep going along their routes. Normally fish, sometimes grain. Most just send in a wagon or two to stock up on provisions and keep going the following morning. Occasionally, a merchant will want to trade for some of the ore mined in the mountains nearby, whenever there’s enough to sell.”
“Uh-huh. So, you’re a highway rest stop then?” I asked, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Is there anything worthwhile to do? Any profession guilds or military outposts I can go train at? Or should I head out to…”
“Whiteridge is the closest large town. And yes, you could head there but it’s a busy town that doesn’t exactly make it ideal for greenhorn adventurers. I think you’ll have a tougher time of in the crowds than spending some time out in the frontier.”
“Oh. Yeah, fair enough. So you got a quest for me here then, or know someone who can point me toward one?”
It was the old man’s turn to stare off into space for a couple of seconds, lost in thought. Or maybe he was processing my input to see if there was some quest this world could auto-generate for me. The developers were boasting about an adaptive quest system that hooked into their Artificial Intelligence algorithms to avoid the standard MMO static quest lines. The delay hadn’t been that long though, it was possible the innkeeper was just thinking.
“Actually, come to think of it, I may be able to point you in the direction of some work. That is if you can make it worth my while to do you this favor.”
“That, that may have come out creepier than you intended,” I said, leaning away from him in my chair.
“Bah!” he exclaimed, slapping his hand on the table in time with his short, explosive laugh. “No, I’m just saying I’ll have a bunch of empty rooms soon enough when this lot clears out in the morning. Rent from me for a week and I’ll point you at some work I’m pretty sure you’ll find engaging. It’ll cost you ten silver for the week. I’m sure you’ll make enough to cover that and have some spending money. What do you say?”
“Ten’s too much. Make it seven, that’s a silver a day,” I hedged. I wasn’t quite sure what the value of the currency was, but I felt like my logic was sound.
“Ten was me cutting you a deal, normally it’s 14 silver for a week. I’d also normally need the payment in advance.”
“I’ll give you 14 silver for two weeks then, right here and now.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, the bartender extended his hand. “Deal, 14 silver for two weeks lodging. One meal per day included. Errol Munson, by the way, of the Hook and Anchor. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
After a moment of hesitation, I fished out the silver from my pouch and slid it across the bar. “Deacon Stone, likewise. I’m of, well, nowhere at the moment. I’ll take that meal now, along with the job details.”
“I’ll get you a bowl of stew and some bread,” he said with a chuckle, standing and walking toward a corral-style door at the edge of the room. “I’ll fill you in on the job while you eat.”
A notification bounced in the corner of my vision, just intrusive enough to let me know that I had two pending items that required my attention. I gave it some focus and the message expanded to a transparent overlay window.
You have unlocked the Persuasion skill.
Persuasion is used to influence others, providing you with favorable circumstances, deals, or useful information. The help of others can bring you far in the world.
Your Persuasion skill has increased to level 1.
I was pretty sure the instant level in that was a freebie gain, but it made me glad I hadn’t just accepted the initial offer from the innkeeper. I could foresee haggling in my future, definitely needed to level that one up. I dismissed the notice and pulled up the second one that was in the queue.
New Quest: An Honest Day’s Work
Objective:
Listen to Errol’s job offer 0/1
Take the job 0/1 (Optional)
Reward:
Experience
Additional quests (Optional)
And there was my first quest! Ask and ye shall receive, I guess. It wasn’t much, but it was nice to have a path forward and into the game. I sipped at the mug of surprisingly good ale as I waited for the innkeeper’s return so I could complete these objectives and get the ball rolling.
Deacon - Heading Out
I checked the mini-map at the edge of my vision as I left the dim bar lighting of the Hook and Anchor, stepping into the bright mid-morning sun. The town was a huddled collection of buildings, all seemingly crammed atop each other for support. The thin cobblestone streets were set in a manner that suggested no centralized planning. Most of the building tiles advertised a combination of services representing the bare minimum number of professions required to keep a town going. It seemed like the entire population of the town had business in this area, so navigating my way out of the thick of it was a slow process.
I noted the location of the blacksmith as I passed, conveniently on the edge of the block where I wouldn’t have to squeeze through the streets to get to it. I was also glad to see that the forge was separate from the densely packed wooden structures. Then I did a double-take when I noticed that the blacksmith was also advertising himself as the town’s barber-surgeon. Yeah, I would absolutely trust a guy who hammers hot metal into sharp objects to heal me. Nothing says healing quite like a large man holding a hammer.
The foot traffic died away as I left the town center along the eastbound road. Several larger buildings sat on their own a good distance away from the center of town, all of them connected to the cobblestone paths. The ports to the south held a couple of moderate-sized ships at dock, most of the docks sitting empty. Some vendors had booths set up along the side of small warehouses near the water’s edge, a thin crowd browsing whatever goods had arrived by ship while they waited for the day’s catch to come in. As the wind shifted, I got a solid nose full of fish smell, a level of realism I could’ve done without. Turning north at a fork in the road, I headed for the main gate and passed very close to a temple of intricately woven living trees at the edge of town.
The temple had an odd allure to it, though it seemed the townsfolk avoided it completely. I was tempted to stop in and investigate but figured I should complete whatever this initial quest was before wasting time. While it was a stupid simple pizza delivery style mission, it was guaranteed experience and put me on a path to explore the world so I wasn’t just wandering aimlessly. I opened the quest again and verified I had it selected as my active quest.
Quest: An Honest Day’s Work
Objective:
Listen to Errol’s job offer 1/1
Take the job 1/1
Deliver Errols’ package to Foreman Quickhand 0/1
Reward:
Experience
Additional quests (Optional)
Foreman Quickhand ran the Stathmore mines in the nearby foothills. It was a couple of hours journey on foot, according to the innkeeper, and they were always looking for able bodies who didn’t mind dangerous jobs. The package was a box of assorted gears the foreman was expecting. The delivery fees outside city walls were high enough that it made more sense to pay Errol to hold onto items and send them back with miners or others who were going to be making the trek anyway.
With the quest set as active, I could feel the direction I needed to go, the sensation similar to the awareness of my tremorsense but distinctly different. This was like a weak magnetic pull in a specific direction. Still, I consulted the location on my map again to make sure I was heading along an appropriate path. The rough outline of a road snaked in a northeastern direction, looping by the mine entrance before cutting north to the caravan lanes. The innkeeper advised I stick to the roads, not because they were safe from threats but because you could see problems coming from a reasonable distance.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I said, dismissing the menus and looking up the sad path leaving the town gates. Dense weeds grew to waist height along the edges of the dusty dirt road. The well cared for narrow cobblestone roads of the city ended abruptly at the portcullis where any semblance of order was immediately lost. The town didn’t even bother to clear the grass away from the defensive wooden walls, only trimming it back far enough to allow wagons to load goods and turn around.
“Stick to the road he says,” I muttered. “Like I have any other option.”
With a sigh, I checked to ensure my sword and shield were in easy reach and started up the road. As I walked, I took in the beauty and detail that had gone into the graphics. It was realism on a level I had not expected out of a video game. The grass moved and reacted in much the way I would have expected. Experimentally I swung my sword through the dense grass and weeds, finding a rather satisfying impact as the blade shaved out a wide arc. The cut section of grass fell away, tumbling convincingly into the dense greenery.
There was no way my gaming rig at home would be able to render something so lifelike without stuttering. Seems like original me is going to miss out or go into even more debt to play back in the real world. I’d seen some impressive technical demonstrations in the past but this was an entirely different level. Was it something about being here, actually physically interacting with the game world that made it look more real? Was this just a trick of the mind? I shook away the thoughts, down that path lies madness and there’s a game to be played. Well, it was supposed to be a game anyway, but it was starting to feel more like a walking simulator. I’d been wandering for most of an hour without seeing another soul, the road taking me from the hilly grasslands into a moderately dense forest.
As I rounded a particularly sharp turn in the road, I heard a high-pitched scream off to the side, a good distance into the thick foliage. That sounded like a quest if I’ve ever heard one. At the very least it was something that wasn’t just walking along a path. Not being one for hesitation, I took off directly toward the noise. Trying to find a balance between safe footing and speed, I stumbled several times but managed to keep my feet under me.
My lungs didn’t burn quite as bad as I was used to at the exertion, and I mentally patted myself at the back for my choice of a high constitution build. My stamina drained slowly, even refilling back to full as I slowed to navigate denser foliage. After a couple of minutes of stumbling through the forest, I figured I may have missed the source of the noise. Disappointed, I was turning to head back when a scraping sound caught my attention some distance to my left. I veered toward it, picking up speed as I went. It didn’t take long for the forest to part into a clearing, where I skidded to a halt as I took in a strange tableaux.
A young elven girl dangled from a tree branch, caught in a rope by the ankles with light brown hair spilling about her face and obscuring her vision. Directly underneath her, a bear was feasting on what appeared to be a man’s corpse. The bear’s brown fur showed signs of a recent fight, damp red gashes about its large shoulders bled freely. The beast pulled a chunk of meat out of the man beneath it, peeling a large flap out of the leather armor the man had worn to get to the softer bits inside.
The girl’s blue robes draped about her awkwardly, obscuring her vision and keeping her from easily reaching the knot that held her by the feet. She wasn’t screaming, and she didn’t appear to be injured, but despite the grace in her movements there was clear desperation to her struggle for freedom. I focused on the bear and a tag appeared above it.
Identified: Stathmore Bear, Level 3.
My heads-up display recognized this as my target and helpfully displayed its current health, 12%, in my peripheral vision. So I get percentages, that’s nice, but numbers would have been nicer. As the thought went through my mind, the display shifted, adding in 13/108 HP under the percentage. Convenient, that looked like a doable number with my Iron Longsword giving me 2 to 4 damage per attack. Then again, without having tested combat yet, I could be in for some trouble. Bears were normally timid creatures, maybe I could just frighten it off now that it had a meal. Or maybe I should run. Or sneak away before it notices me. Right, sneak away after charging into the clearing at a sprint.
The bear turned in my direction and let out a roar so loud and full of rage I recoiled out of both shock and physical impact. The noise pierced painfully into both my hearing and my mind as the sound rebounded on whatever part of my awareness interpreted tremorsense. I shook my head, trying to get my bearings. I chuckled nervously at the unintended pun. My laughter was cut short when my mind cleared and I recognized that the beast was charging in my direction, its maw dripping blood from dagger-like teeth.
Maybe this wasn’t so doable.
I rolled to my left, slamming my shield into the ground and pressing off of it to bring myself back into a standing position. I swung my arm out in a blind cut, hoping for a bit of dumb luck and a glancing blow.
You attack a Stathmore Bear for 2 physical damage
Hooray for dumb luck! I marveled at the execution, happy to see that the game was going to give me a little assistance. Back in the real world, my physical aptitude was average at best, but 21st-century average wasn’t going to cut it in any sort of encounter like this. The bear turned around much faster than I had anticipated and raked against my chest with its claws, slamming me hard against the ground.
A Stathmore Bear critically attacks you for 10 physical damage.
My vision spun as I lay on the ground, a memory forcing itself into my mind. I’d once seen a video of a man wearing a purportedly bear-proof suit get hit with the end a 40-foot log swung from a significant height. At the time, I assumed that was overkill on behalf of the crazy man in the bear-proof suit showing that it would protect against some kind of mutant super bear. After having felt the swipe of an angry bear paw against my chest, protected by nothing but a leather jerkin, I figured the impact was about equivalent to that swinging log. The crazy bear suit man was completely justified, bears were stronger than any animal had a right to be. This was not going to work out well for me.
Still dazed, I pulled myself out of my head and gasped for breath, making it to my knees. I had just enough time to see the follow-up strike barreling my way. I brought my shield to intercept it, the flimsy wicker doing little to blunt the impact. I could have sworn I felt a bone in my arm shift out of place as the beast sent me stumbling into a nearby tree. I was a bit more prepared for the impact this time, though my equilibrium still felt off. A giant log wasn’t quite accurate, this was like getting hit by a car. If the car for some reason possessed an inherent aura of malice. And had claws.
A Stathmore Bear attacks you for 5 physical damage.
That five damage seemed like a disproportionate amount of pain until I realized it was about a tenth of my health. Pain or not, if I didn’t start swinging the pointy end of the metal stick at the loud furry thing I was going to find myself getting a crash course in Forge of Eternity’s death mechanics. My brain was having trouble putting together a coherent image of the world around me, visual or otherwise, and the bear didn’t seem to be willing to let up in its assault.
Well, serves me right for fighting above my level as my first ever introduction to combat in the game. I banished the thought from my mind. The bear was doing a fine enough job beating me up on its own, I didn’t need to make it any easier by beating myself up.
Reacting more on instinct than on any rational thought, I put my back against the thick tree and rolled to the side, placing it between me and the bear. A huge paw slammed into the spot I’d just vacated, shaking the tree violently. I leaned to one side and made a feeble effort to stab the beast before ducking back to the relative safety I’d found. The bear lunged to the side and I rolled in the opposite direction, with my back facing the dead man and dangling elf. The bear managed a glancing blow and knocked me another couple steps back, removing my ability to use the tree as effective cover.
My health had dipped to just about 50% and I had still only landed a single blind hit on the bear. I don’t know what I expected combat to feel like when I was living inside the video game, but this was more frantic and painful than I’d bargained for. I took a couple steps back, cursing that I’d bothered to investigate the scream that brought me here, and tripped over the corpse, falling flat on my ass.
Well, that’s it, I’m dead. It’s been fun, next time I’ll stay on the damn road.
“Hey big guy, get the damn spear,” I heard from above as I made eye contact with the trapped elven girl. She pointed behind me and I didn’t bother to look before reaching. I scrambled to my feet using the spear to steady myself. The bear had not been waiting for me to stand up and was only a second or so from impact when I noticed it. I dug in my heels, engaging Weight of the Mountain to root myself in place, and braced the butt of the spear against the ground. The bear was focused on my form and didn’t register the spear as a problem until it pierced its chest, causing the animal to pitch to the side instead of slamming into me head-on. A good thing too, because the glancing impact I did experience left me reeling again, the spear painfully wrenched from my grip. I staggered to the side and found the tree for support, leaning my head against it out of exhaustion.
“What the fuck are you doing? Kill it now!” the elven girl yelled. I glanced up and saw her arms waving in a blur of frantic gestures aimed at me in the general direction the bear had gone. I turned to see the beast struggling to an upright position, somehow still alive. I checked the combat log and cursed my luck.
You critically attack a Stathmore Bear for 10 physical damage.
A Stathmore Bear attacks you for 10 physical damage.
Of course it’s still alive, because why not? It’s not like I stabbed it through the chest with the weight of its own charge. I guess with a single hit point left it’s not going to just lay down and die because it’s easier for me. With a groan I picked up my sword and ran forward in a headlong charge, abandoning any concept of defense. I still had 23 HP left, and two can play at the game of being technically alive. To my utter surprise, as I got within striking distance of the bear it pulled back with a speed I didn’t imagine possible and came down on top of me forcing my swing to go wide. So now I was under a bear, my weapon trapped under me, and everything felt like it was on fire.
