Rules-Free VRMMO Life Volume III: Wyrmwood Page 2

  Brecilac: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? I’ve had to deal with Raunaeril all by myself!

  CookieCrisp: Have you been eating well?

  Z.Void: Please, Torgan! There is evil in AAO! We must purge it! Starting with Zayn!

  I_am_Torgan: Yep, I was busy in game. Lots of craziness.

  Clarion: Did you really reincarnate?

  I_am_Torgan: Yes. Though I decided to use a different name this time. I had sixteen years of Torgan, and it was time for something new.

  Brecilac: I’ve got a feeling…

  Lexichan: Oh boy.

  CookieCrisp: Hehe!

  Z.Void: What is it? Can I send you a friend request?

  I_am_Torgan: The name is Zayn Darkmore.

  l33tPally: WHAT?

  Darksider: LOL!

  Light_Makes_Right: HAHAHAHA!

  Z.Void: NO! How could the hero of WoD be that villain in AAO? I won’t believe it! Don’t worry Torgan, we’ll save you!

 

 

  Ocarina: So, you decided to become a villain for this game?

  I_am_Torgan: Yep! Been having a ton of fun, too. And Yes, Cookie, I’ve been eating well. I took a cooking-related Quality as one of my qualities when I reincarnated.

  CookieCrisp: Oooh! What is it?

  I_am_Torgan: How To Serve Women. It gave me the Dolcett Cookbook.

  CookieCrisp: *DIES*

  Raunaeril: Only you…

  Lexichan: Hehe.

  I_am_Torgan: Oh, and Yukiko is with me, too. I’m thinking of putting the band back together. But instead of Gospel, we’re going Metal.

  Brecilac: Oh-hoh! That’s what I’ve been hanging out here to see!

  Lexichan: You’re in the Wyrmwood, right?

  I_am_Torgan: Yeah, gonna hang out here, and build up for a while. If any of you guys can make it to Wyrmwood, shout. We get 12, and I’ll start the guild again.

  CookieCrisp: So, what about the Scions?

  I_am_Torgan: Oh, Z.Void and company have a few things to learn. Level up, gear up, skill up, and then we’ll do them worse than those scrubs in Demonfang!

  I_am_Torgan: Now, I’m out! Spread the word to the other Lords: If they’re going darkside, come to me. If they’re staying lightside, well, no hard feelings when we crush you.

 

  With that, I left the forum part of the site, and began checking the auction houses. I would be grinding skills for a while, and that included trade skills. If I could sell things through the auction house, that would be awesome. After a bit of description, I was pleased to see that the auction house on the site was linked to the one in the game, and covered all realms. Auction houses were located in each capitol city, but the winnings (either in gold or items) came to you directly, minus the auction fees.

  I was also happy to see that they’d decided to leave real-money transfers out of the game, at least for now. Sure, I was OP, but I’d earned that with Torgan. That was sixteen years worth of investment right there! Some prick just starting out but using daddy’s money to buy the equivalent of Zayn really pissed me off.

  Before logging off to go get some food IRL, I grinned, and sent a message to Brecy and the others. If we didn’t meet before then in game, we’d meet in September, at DragonCon. That gave people time to adjust schedules, and to find costumes, if they wanted. I didn’t have talent as a costumer, but thanks to advancements in technology, I was able to send a render of Zayn to a costume shop and they were able to quote me a price on the costume, makeup, and prosthetics. A quick check of the balance said that the streams had been doing really well, so I hit Buy. This was going to be awesome.

  (Elsewhere)

  They gathered in a warehouse in the capitol of Ograin, Duskhorn. There were fifty of them. Some Travelers, some freemen. There were even a couple escaped slaves. In the candlelight, they knelt, side by side, dressed in robes of white. Before them was an altar, behind which was a statue of a man, twice living size. This was the being they called to, they prayed to. The one that would save them, save the world. The one that would purge the darkness that had seeped into every corner like a cancer.

  Behind the altar, a woman appeared. Once, she had been lovely, with long red hair, and a face that would make men swoon and women green with envy. Now, her hair had been cut close, leaving her with a boyish looking cut. Her face was marred by scars gained during her time in the whorehouse. If one could see under her white robes, more scars would be crossing her back, and there were garish piercings in both nipples and one between her legs. She could have used the magic of travelers to restore themselves after death to remove most of those problems, but she chose to keep them as a sign of her resolve. If one used observe on her, they would see this:

  Zephara Void

  Human Female

  Level 20 Flame Sorceress

  Titles: Chainbreaker, Former Slave, Broken One

  When she had been freed, her ‘Slave’ title had changed to ‘Former Slave’. During the days of confinement and rape, somewhere around the 100th customer, she had received the Broken One title. She hated to admit, but even now, it felt odd not having something inside her. She knew the feeling would fade in time, but still, she hated it. She especially hated the fact that the title came with a permanent -25% debuff against Charm spells. She would be weak against one of her greatest enemy’s strengths. She would have to persevere. The light needed her.

  Looking over the people, she began speaking. “Listen to me now, people of the light! Through our magics, we have discovered why our lord has not come to join us in cleansing this land of its blight. A portion of his essence has been chained within a Traveler in this world, corrupting him!”

  She paused, and said, “We must find the one who has corrupted the Lord’s essence! If we are to succeed in purging the corruption of this world, we must first purge the corruption of this Traveler. We must free the essence of the Lord and purify it, with light and flame. We must cut down the creatures around him, who have helped in corrupting the Lord’s essence!”

  “The rot has grown deeper. The Enemy of the Light, this one who has blighted our Lord’s essence, has taken refuge in the elven kingdom of the Wyrmwood, and is corrupting their leaders, turning them against the Light. Already, we have received notice that some amongst us are to be slain on sight by the elves. This is a sign, my brothers and sisters! The Enemy knows us, and is afraid! That is why he hides, and gathers his defenses. BUT IT WILL AVAIL HIM NOT!”

  As she spoke, her tone rose, until now she was speaking loudly, almost yelling, and the candlelight shone red in her eyes, or was that some magic at work?

  “WE ARE THE SCIONS OF TORGAN! WE ARE THE BEARERS OF LIGHT! TOGETHER WE SHALL PURGE THIS WORLD OF ALL THAT SULLIES IT, AND A PURE WORLD WILL RISE FROM THE ASHES! FROM THE RUIN OF THIS WORLD OF SIN, WE SHALL BUILD A WORLD WITHOUT SIN! IN THE NAME OF THE LIGHT! IN THE NAME OF TORGAN!”

  “BY THE FIRE BE PURGED!”

  And the crowd answered back, “BY THE FIRE BE PURGED!”

  Sub-Class Unlocked!

  Due to player actions, a Sub-Class has been unlocked, and forcibly chosen.

  Terror Cultist

  You seek to summon a being from beyond this world to purge it of corruption. Through great sacrifice, one might push open those doors, if one has the strength of mind and body to do so.

  Chapter 27 – Down to the Grind

  In every RPG, even back in the dark days of 8-bit graphics, there is one thing that all players know and loathe: grinding. Whether it is fighting the same group of mobs repeatedly, or crafting the same piece of gear until you run out of materials, only to load up and do it again, or fishing for goddamned EVER, you gotta grind if you want to hang at the top levels. This is even more true in games like AAO, where level doesn’t mean as much as skill does. Stab a dragon in the knee, and unless you’re high level or have an awesome weapon, the dragon will laugh, and then eat you. Stab a dragon in the eye, and you’ll have a
blind, pissed off dragon.

  Anyways, now that we didn’t have princesses to escort home, I set about finding a way to grind our noncombat skills. Yukiko had a long way to go to get her blacksmithing back where it used to be. The other girls also needed work to do, too. Della would focus on her Herbalist, Medicine, and Alchemy, and I’d have Severa pick up the Skinning and Leatherworking skills. Yukiko needed Mining and Blacksmithing. I decided I’d do Tailoring and Enchanting.

  The problem, of course, was getting the materials for all this. After asking around in the marketplace, I found that, while one could buy materials in bulk, that was really not very efficient if you also wanted to be able to get your own materials in the future. Herbs and skins could be acquired in the forest. Cloth and ores could be found in the mines (well, the cloth came from the goblins infesting them, but details). Looking things over, we really needed to split into two groups.

  Naturally, this caused an issue, since Severa and Della needed to go to the forest, but neither one of them could tank, and Yukiko and I needed to go to the mines, but neither of us could heal. The solution, of course, would be to get a couple extra people. A PUG (Pick-up group) wouldn’t be a bad idea, but you don’t usually find PUGs that are willing to just sit around gathering materials. And I’d made a few enemies, so trusting newcomers out of my sight with my girls wasn’t really an option.

  Of course, we weren’t sitting around idly while I considered this. We had a decent store of materials we had ‘liberated’ from various sources since I’d started, so we had started grinding skills, conversing through party chat. Which is why I was in a tailor’s shop, altering the robes I’d taken from Zephara, and other gear to sell. Altering the clothes gave me skill XP, and could help me change the stats if I got good at it.

  The clothes were decent quality for low level gear. Of course, they were just clothes, and not armor, so they didn’t provide much, if anything, in the way of defense, but once I was done with them, they were pretty badass. Of course, the robes were the best. I’d taken their red and orange style, and used the ‘dyeing’ function of the Tailor skill to change them to black and gold.

  Heartbreaker’s White Shirt

  Type

  Shirt

  Rank

  Common

  A simple white shirt, that can be found anywhere. This one has been altered by a tailor to conform to the wearer’s body better, and enchanted to make them appear more desireable.

  +5% to Seduction

  Enchanted: +5 CHA

  Charmer’s Charmed Pants

  Type

  Pants

  Rank

  Common

  A simple pair of pants, the like of which can be found anywhere. This pair has been altered to better show off the goods, and enchanted to resist others’ charms.

  +5% to Seduction

  Enchanted: +5% Charm Resistance

  Robes of Dark Flame

  Type

  Pants

  Rank

  Common

  A robe worn by a Flame Sorceress, but taken from her after her defeat. This robe has been altered by a Tailor to better fit one on the darker paths of magic.

  Requires Level 10

  Requires Evil Alignment

  Durability 60/60

  +15% Light Resistance

  +15% to Dark Spells

  +15% to Fire Spells

  Enchanted: +10 INT

  I chuckled at the stats once I’d equipped one of the shirts and pair of pants, and turned my attention back to the matter of where to go for grinding. Honestly, the simplest solution would be to find the local slave market and grab a couple slaves. It had worked for me so far, but I didn’t want to simply just throw slaves at every problem. That kind of thinking keeps you from looking at all the options, which can be fatal.

  But still, I couldn’t see any better option. I’d pick up randoms for a dungeon or other thing where we’d all be in a group, but for splitting up in unfamiliar territory, when I know there’s people after us? No. None of the former Lords were close enough, either. Those that were in the game had sent me friend requests now that I’ve announced who I am on the forums, even those that are staying lightside. The lightsiders agreed that we could stay out of eachother’s way as much as possible, and if we did end up on opposite sides, no hard feelings, and we’d find a virtpub outside the game afterwards to share a drink at. There’s a reason I loved gaming with those guys.

  Which reminded me, I hadn’t gone to the Dark Shrine in the city yet. The Elves were mostly lightside, so darker classes like Warlocks weren’t common, but we weren’t outlawed outright. So I had to go find the shrine and see if there were goodies for me. I also had to study the Black Bible more. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a healing spell in there, somewhere.

  But for now, we needed to grind, so I was about to call the girls so we could go to the slave market, when all of a sudden the door opened, and an elf girl ran into the tailor’s shop, looked around quickly, and ducked down behind the counter where I was working. Looking up at me, she whispered, “Please, hide me!” So of course I used Observe.

  Lierin Syldi

  Elf Female

  Level 16 Flame Sorceress

  Guild: Scions of Torgan

  Titles: Marked for Death

  HA! I looked down at her, and said, “Suck me off, and make it good, and I’ll send whoever’s chasing you on their way.” She looked disgusted at the thought, and positively frightened when I pulled my cock out, but she went to work. People will do a lot of things when they’re desperate to live. This girl wasn’t a Traveler, so she only had one life to live.

  Moments after she had her mouth around my cock, the door opened again, and two sleazy types entered. The shopkeeper had come out by this point, and didn’t like the look of them at all. Observe told me why.

  Kharis Gregwyn

  Elf Male

  Level 23 Fighter

  Titles: Thug

  Glorandal Jofir

  Elf Male

  Level 23 Rogue

  Titles: Thug

  Just what did you have to do to actually get ‘Thug’ as your title? Geez. Anyways, I saw the shopkeeper move forward, so I just stayed at my counter, enjoying Lierin’s attentions, and watching the situation unfold. OK, so I wasn’t just watching. While they were distracted by the shopkeeper warning them to get out (while holding a sword, no less), I took the opportunity to cast Cupid’s Arrow on each of them. And I designated the other thug as the target.

  Clearly, the thugs hadn’t bothered investing in any kind of charm resistance, because they both fell under my spell instantly. Idiots. Once I was sure they were under, I said, “You two look bothered. Why don’t you go back to your rooms instead of bothering this guy? If the guards come… well, who knows what might happen?” Looking confused for a moment, they turned and looked at eachother with a tenderness I bet neither had shown another person in their lives, and left, hand in hand. They were going to have some very awkward conversations tomorrow, I was sure.

  The shopkeeper turned to look at me once they were gone, and said, “So, what was that magic you cast earlier?”

  “Ah, you noticed that, hmm? Well, it was just a simple charm spell. Made them fall in love with eachother. It will wear off by this time tomorrow, though.”

  The man chuckled, and said, “And the girl under my counter?”

  “Running from those two, it seems. When I’m finished, I’ll take care of her.” This satisfied the man, and he turned and headed back to where he had been before. I looked down at Lierin, who looked like she was choking, and said, “You’re doing really poorly, you know. Here, let me help.” And I grabbed her head and forced her all the way down on my cock. Naturally, she was DEFINITELY choking by this point, and completely unable to do the whole ‘breathing’ thing. But it was really good.

  It wasn’t long before her struggles got weaker, and stopped altogether. About the time I came down her throat, I saw a message pop up, informing me that she was d
ead. I smiled at the experience, and a healthy 30 gold that was on her adventurer’s card, and cleaned myself with her hair and got myself ‘presentable’ before looting the body. Some basic clothes, another set of mage robes (more basic than the ones I got from Zephara), a couple weapons, some basic gear, and so on. Nothing worth talking about, or that would give clues as to where the Scions were based in the city, or whether she was just the remains of whatever organization was present before the kill on sight edict came down. Well, I’d have to take the next one alive, I guess. It was a shame, because I could have used a flame sorceress.

  I chuckled as I saw that a ‘corpse’ object could be stored in my inventory. Even better, items stored in the Inventory didn’t decay, unless they had a specific timer on them! This allowed people to cook a meal, and still have it be tasty when they took it out in a dungeon, same as in WoD. Convenient, right? Into the inventory the late Lierin went, and with that, I decided to call it a day at the shop. I needed to find someone reliable to fill the voids in my party, at least temporarily. As I wandered in the direction of the slave market, I almost stumbled as a group of players just materialized as they logged in not ten feet from me.