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[In and Out] The Fifth Key of the Dark Campanile (1.1)
Abbadon, one final strike with your offhand blade finishes off the last of the ettercaps.
You clean your blades and sheathe them, then clear the sticky residue of their webs from your clothes and face. Steeling yourself for the task, you search their disgusting, bloated bodies. You find a scattering of small coins and one talisman in the shape of a spider that looks interesting enough to keep, but otherwise it's just the gross chore you expected it to be.
The haptic response when you search the ettercaps is cool, must be part of the new patch from last week. You can feel a little give when you turn the bodies, like you were actually moving a once-live thing around.
You are on a solo quest for your clan, seeking one of the Six Keys of the Dark Campanile. Ahead of you is the dark mouth of the cave they call the Abattoir.
Through your headset, you hear Jace's voice:Alright, Abby, remember we've
tried this brute force and failed.
Full on stealth mode.
What do you do?
Comments
I wish she'd stop calling me Abby. Abaddon is a demon's name, not something to trifle with. Whatevs.
Yeah. Stealth mode, no probs.
Jace is a 45th level Duelist. She's nowhere near as sneaky as I am, but man, she can lay the harm down. Wish she was here. But I'm soloing.
I head over to the cave, slow and quiet.
You enter the mouth of the cave, and your vision dims. The wind moans through the cave entrance, and the soundtrack changes to a steady drip, drip, drip over this.
There is a certain eerie beauty to the scene. Ahead, you see the glow of what must be lichen, and the tips of stalagmites and stalactites twinkle gemlike with their own light. Three passageways lead from the cave
Spoiler map says right passage. There's a nest of bullywugs, no problem for you, but if you fight them for more than three rounds it wakes up a troll on the next level down. And he's grumpy when his beauty rest is interrupted.
What do you do?
I'll move to the wall, hide in shadows and skulk forward, launching a few macros to keep me stealthy as I go. I'm looking for stalagmites to get me behind them.
Abaddon, you move from shadow to shadow until you're in the next chamber, hidden behind a stalagmite. The glowing lichen illuminates a small clutch of bullywugs. Not a full nest, just a half-dozen of the slimy things.
They haven't seen you, you can certainly get the first licks in.
You'll get one free attack roll with no response from the uglies. The round countdown won't trigger until your next attack.
Before I start whacking, I'm looking for an open path to sneak past them. I'd rather get past and then if things get messed up deeper in, I can run past them.
Why don't you give me a roll to sneak past the bullywugs, Abaddon? I'm sure an expert like you won't have any problems getting past them. Bullywugs are nothing special, so let's call this Average difficulty. That's 11.
(Dex +1, Trait of Adventuring Thief +3)
(Rolled: 2d6+4. Rolls: 3, 3. Total: 10)
So, in truth, that was a huge success, despite what it looks like in that roll post. For reasons that include rules and decisions and things.
You sneak past the bullywugs like... well, like a thief in the night. The next chamber is expansive, a large cavern glittering with pinpricks of bioluminescence and glowing crystalline-tipped chthonian outcroppings which give off a slight hum. It appears empty.
Careful here, Abby. It's a puzzle, but the starting point shifts for each instance. You'll need to focus down and find the crystal that glows blue and hums at 'E' first. Touch that one. It should be pretty easy. After that, it's a pattern. After 'E', it's all blue crystals, still. 'G,' 'B,' 'D,' 'F.' Ha! I just got that. It's 'Every Good Boy Does Fine,' like piano lessons!"
Looks like another roll. I'll take INT or WIS, and those Acute Senses, against a 9.
Sure, it's just channel chatter, but I had no idea Jace could play piano. I like listening to music, but I've never had that knack. In sophomore year of high school, I leaned a little about DJing from Joachim. He is really creative. I could match beats and spin a little, but it was never a passion. Fun, though.
I look for the crystal patterns like Jace described.
(Rolled: 2d6+3. Rolls: 2, 6. Total: 11)
Nah. Just a few years when I was a kid. It was excruciating then, but I wish I'd kept it up, now.
You click in the active version of Abaddon's heightened senses, and a new panel appears in the HUD.
Blue Crystal, humming an "E." Check. "G." Check. "B." Check. "D." Check. "F." Check, and the room erupts in to an elaborate lightshow, eventually coalescing into a glowing ball of light in the center of the cavern.
Your gloves pass on the slightest buzz, a little tingle to pass on the energies coursing through the chamber.
Abaddon, you draw close to the slowly rotating globe, and within is the image of a beautiful Elven woman, dressed in flowing golden robes and wearing a wreath of leaves in all the colors of the autumn. You recognize her as Rosdainwen, the Goddess of Changes.
That is so cool, isn't it, Abaddon? I must have screen-shared through this five times now, and it still gets me. Remember Rosdainwen for later, she's going to be a clue for another puzzle. Take the northwest exit and you'll be at the passageway down in a minute. The troll's in the first chamber.
Elven women are so unearthly in this game. Really breath-taking.
I tell Jace, Some day I'm gonna marry that girl. Some day.
Do I take the orb, or move on?
Don't think you can take it, Abby. Remember what Rosdainwen's wearing, though. What season.
You give it a shot, though, just for the hell of it. No dice.
Abaddon, the northwest exit is draped ominously with tattered scraps of cloth and skin. Passing through you enter a sloping passageway, damp-looking and uneven. As expected, it soon opens out into a wide, round chamber. Sure enough, there in the center snoring like a volcanic eruption, is a gigantic troll, club and sword lying next to it.
Abby, do not wake the troll. Repeat, do not wake the troll. It is a very bad troll. Umm. You do need to snag the sword though. Only one way out of the room, far side. This is the farthest the tanks have gotten, by the way.
You look around the room, judging angles, deciding what the best combination of buffs and approaches is.
Oh shit, my cat just did something so funny!
OOC: Why don't you describe what you're trying to do, up to the point where you reach the sword, and then we'll talk about what happens next.
I ignore the cat thing. She posts pics of her cat with the hashtag #jacepetrocks. It's silly, but whatever. People do much worse. The cat is cute. Never seen pics of her, though. She's probably hideous. Or a housewife. She sure seems to be on all the time.
What did she do, Jace?
I drop down to the cavern floor and crawl along it towards the sword. This reduces my aggro range, and should give me the edge I need to nick that sword.
She was stalking along the back of the sofa and just ploop! fell off. After you don't respond for a second, Well, it was funny to me.
You crawl toward the gigantic creature. The closer you get, the more its snores fill your ears, until finally you are close enough to reach for the sword. You notice that the troll's hand is lying across the blade, you'll have to slide it out without waking him.
Okay, go-time, Abby. You can doo eet!
Let's have a roll, here. I think this is Hard, so your target is a 13.
(Rolled: 2d6+7. Rolls: 5, 1. Total: 13)
You slide the steel out from under the massive hand of the troll, slowly, pausing once as it begins to stir. Once the sword is free, you slide it through the back of your shoulder belt and crawl away until you're far enough to stand and creep silently through the exit in the far wall of the cave.
Woot! Only one toon from WeMar has made it farther than this! I'd give you a kiss if I could!
Trevian, from behind you, you hear Jake's voice. "Dude, are you doing one of your raves?" You know that he knows the right word, he just can't help teasing. "'Cause you might be interested in this."
I joke like I don't remember where she lives. She lives in Lansing.
Jake interrupts, so I key in "afk", and answer, "What is it, Jake? Can it wait?"
"Maybe, but I think you'll want to see this. The woman that made your game just died, and she left a video will or something. They're going to play it in a few minutes."
Just as Jake finishes, there's a flash in your goggles. A message overlays the cave.
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: ALL ACTIVE PLAYERS PLEASE MOVE TO THE COLISSEUM BY CHOOSING THE "COLISSEUM" OPTION FROM THE MAIN GAME MENU. ALL GAME OPERATIONS WILL BE SUSPENDED IN THREE MINUTES.
A countdown clock starts ticking away the seconds.
Well, that's new... wonder what's going on?
Then, to Jake, "Jake, I think they're playing it in game, too.... you wanna split screen and watch it with me?"
Jake agrees, and all three of you are watching when the video starts to play. Eve Holt appears on the screen.
"Hello. If you are watching this, then I am dead." Eve cracks a smile. "I've always wanted to say that. Anyway, it's true. I was diagnosed with a very rare, quickly progressing cancer in March of this year, and my doctors have informed me that I'm likely to have two weeks or less to live at this point. It took a team of talented makeup artists and a very expensive wig to make me look as you've seen me before, but it turns out that when it comes down to it, I'm a little vain."
Oh shit, Abby, uh, Trevian. I'm so going to cry. Shitshitshit.
"When I wrote the first line of code for my first game, twelve years ago, I had no idea how much it would change my life. Since that time, my business partner, Rama Patel, and I have realized our dreams to an extent we never could have imagined. When I die, I will be a billionaire several times over, but the greatest wealth we have accumulated has been the support, even love, of our players and fans."
"My legacy is not the money. It is, of course the games themselves. I know some of you still play that first game, Peace of Ages, although I'm not entirely sure why."
You look through the lenses of your Oculus Rift, to the framed promotional art from PoA hanging on the wall.
"If this were a PR shoot, Rama would be giving me a 'get to the point gesture' right now, but he's crying in the corner instead, so I'm going to continue rambling. So, money. As many of you know, I have no children, no spouse, truthfully, no-one to be responsible to after I'm gone. So, I'm going to play one last game with you."
"When the servers come back up, my last patch will be active in the game. I wrote every line of the code personally, and it's obfuscated five ways. What I've implemented is a new solo quest I'm calling 'The Mad Dragon's Crown.'"
"After legacy gifts to a number of charities, and the costs of probate and what-have-you, my personal wealth will be somewhere in the vicinity of 1.4 billion dollars when I die." She grins. "Unless the market crashes in the next few weeks, that is. This will immediately go into a conditional trust. The first person to complete my last quest will inherit the full sum."
Holy shit!
"Holy shit!"
"As you hear this, Twilight Solstice has stopped accepting new players, and certain points of our Terms of Service which have been rather loosely enforced up until now will be looked at more carefully. It is my hope that they player that wins will find love of the game to be his or her decisive asset, and gold-farming coalitions and other economically-driven modes of play frankly make me sad."
"Good luck! Have fun! And, oh, this may take some research and flights of fancy, but I hope you'll enjoy it. Play nice together, children."
And the video goes dark, the image of the Colisseum reappearing in your vision.
HOLY SHIT
That phrase, or variations of it, passes the lips of tens of millions across the world. Living rooms, bedrooms, internet cafes, bars, student centers, libraries, all resound with the chorus.
GAME OPERATIONS WILL RESUME IN TEN MINUTES. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.
Again, a countdown clock appears.
Patience is not a virtue being exhibited in many of those rooms right now. Non-players are trying (and failing) to sign up for accounts, players are looking into screens or goggles or what-have-you, saying "Hurry up, hurry up hurry up!"
Financial markets fluctuate in the real world, and Twilight Solstice gold soars in all the major virtual marketplaces to the point where regulators halt trading for a time.
And that is after only two minutes have passed. Eight minutes to go.
Jace, you think the clan will work together on this? Or is it every player for themselves? We could team up. A billion goes a long way.
We have to work together, right? What the hell's the good of a clan if we don't? I wonder what she meant by "research and flights of fancy?" I'm good at research, not so much flights of fancy.
From the next room, you hear Tandy. "Holy shit! Trev, did you see that?" She comes running into the room.
"Is my account still active?"
BrokeNL: Clan meeting at zero-hundred Zulu, guys.
There's a lot going on, right now, yes? But that's what you do. You're a multitasking machine. And shit, BrokeNL just said the meeting was Midnight, GMT. Eight PM here. You'll be mid-shift at the Little Dipper then.
What do you do?
I listen to BrokeN and curse, Shit, Jace. I've got a shift then. I can't make the meet. I'm not off till midnight. Listen, I've got a couple hours. What if we try to knock out what we can know, log some recon on the new quest?
"Ooh! I wish I could, but I'm due at the boutique and I need to put gas in the scooter. Later, though? I'm sure I can help somehow. This is so cool!" Tandy turns, and her short skirt flares out a bit, giving you an unintentional flash of thigh which you carefully ignore.
Jake says, "Dude, even I'm tempted, but I'm no good at these things in general, and puzzles and shit just piss me off. I assume you're jumping back in? I've got a commission to finish. Some dude wants a picture of his half-cybernetic former space marine and her girlfriend." He grins. "Character commissions are fun."
Absolutely I'm in, Abby. Soon as that countdown timer hits zero zero zero. Damn sure it's gonna be a Dragon that solves this quest, and it might as well be us, right? She's making that assumption, Trevian, that you and she are for sure in this together, with or without the clan. How do you feel about that?
Oh, and why did you choose to Ascend on the Path of the Dragon?
I feel good when Jace agrees to partner up. She's a great tactician, and we work well together. Plus, she's funny, and she's on as much as I am. She's probably one of my best online friends. Not to mention, she can kick my ass at Streetfighter fourteen like nobody's business, which is a rare and special thing.
The Dragon? Well, there's more PVP, easier rules on soloing, and their default gear is blacks and reds instead of whites and golds. Yeah, mostly superficial stuff. I dig the lore of both Ascensions, don't get me wrong. But it takes a special raid or mission for me to "drop in", to really mentally commit to the experience. Emotionally invest in it, you know?
Jace gets to me sometimes, when she does. It's how we ended up together in Red District. It's fun with her, pretending, being someone else, forgetting the macros and the game above the world, you know?
Tandy and Jake head off to do their own things as the clock ticks down toward zero. Just you and Jace, staring at the countdown. 700-some miles away, but as close as your headphone.
---END SCENE---