Motivation and Boredom

********************************************************************************************************A giant of a man with stone-grey skin and a braided orange beard ducked through the hide flap that covered the entrance, his crimson leather armor catching the light from outside for just a moment.

The room was dark, with a dirt floor packed hard by hundreds of boots. Rows upon rows of wooden long tables, heavy with food and mugs of beer, stood side by side, creating lengthy aisles crammed full of people. The noise stopped suddenly as they all turned to regard the newcomer.

"Yo!"

"Hey there!"

"Well, look at who just came in!"

The man waved away the greetings, quieting them, "Is Eladon in the back?" he asked instead.

"Came in just a bit 'fore you did." A tall knight with a lizard-like tail pointed toward another flap in the back.

The man nodded, stomping through the busy hall as the other people continued to greet him. He paid them no mind, an unerring missile on a mission, but that didn't stop them from saying hello either.

They were used to their Guildmaster's gruff, direct manner.

There was a slight shimmer as he reached the back door. A confirmation of identity. The guild hall system would only allow members of a certain rank in the guild access to rooms within. As Guildmaster, the man certainly qualified in this regard.

"About damn time." A thin elf with striking yellow eyes remarked when the Guildmaster entered one such room. The elf was seated at a large round table with several empty chairs, his feet propped up and a look of extreme boredom carefully crafted upon his shallow face.

"Feh, cut the shit, Eladon. I know you jus' got here."

The men just stared at each other, an impromptu contest of willpower between two immovable objects. One a heavily armored mountain of a man with flaming red hair, the other a thin willow draped in magical robes with shimmering streaks of power undulating along its surface.

Polar opposites in every sense.

But as quickly as it began, simultaneous grins erupted between the pair.

"Fuck, I've missed you, you shithead."

"Same, you elfy bastard."

Both the gruff demeanor of the Guildmaster and Eladon's apathetic body language disappeared in that moment. One would get the sense that this was a frequent dynamic between the two obvious friends. Now free, they chatted for a bit, catching up for several long minutes before the elf finally let the front legs of his chair hit the ground as he leaned forward.

"So what's this about, Sol?" he asked, now suddenly all business.

Sol scowled at Eladon from behind the braided bush that was his beard. "Haven't you been paying attention to the forums?"

"No, not while on vacation. Meg would have my head if not my balls if I took time out of our second honeymoon to go on a video game forum."

Sol conceded the point with a nod,"Fair enough. Go check out the General forums then. I'll wait."

Now curious, Eladon did just that. His eyes glowing blue as he pulled up his HUD and opened a browser to the official Nevergarden General forums. Scrolling the list of topics, armed with knowledge of the Guildmaster's habits and things that would interest him, it didn't take Eladon long to find something that fit the bill. It was at the top and despite being created yesterday, it had almost a hundred pages of replies.

He skimmed the thread, reading it with intense interest. This went on for a few minutes. Finally, he closed the browser and leaned back, his eyes now their custom sharp yellow. Eladon whistled lowly, digesting the information. It was only then that he spoke, "So," he said slowly, as if chewing the words, "Do you actually think they're back?"

Sol could only shrug, "This is the first I've heard of anythin' of significance from them in years. If they are back, this is their style. Announcin' it to the server by stealin' a boss kill right out from under < Divinity>."

Eladon considered Sol's words. He wasn't a new player by any stretch of the imagination, but compared to Sol, who had been playing since the beginning, he was a child. By the time Eladon had stepped into Nevergarden, he had known of <Pandora Epidemic> by reputation only.

"So, is this important enough to call me here to talk about it in person? You could have PM'd me, or opened up a personal chat. I fail to see how this affects us."

The Guildmaster gave a wry chuckle, showing Eladon that he saw through the man's obvious bait. Sol, as did a lot of old school players, preferred meeting in person to conduct business. Voice party mental chat was something that was only added in the past year or so, and old habits die hard.

There was comfort in seeing the person you were talking to.

Both of them knew that face-to-face meetings were reserved for important guild matters, and the fact that it was only the two of them, Guildmaster and assistant Guildmaster, hammered the importance in. Whatever was about to be discussed would be just between the two of them. Sol wouldn't ask Eladon here on a whim, that much the mage knew and trusted.

"It might not affect us now," Sol explained, dragging a chair over and straddling it, leaning against the back with crossed forearms, "But it will. You weren't here durin' their heyday, but they were unlike any guild we have now."

The mage nodded. He had heard such things before, but always figured it was embellishment of nostalgia and memory.

But Sol continued, heedless of his friend's thoughts. "They held us hostage." The Guildmaster admitted, quietly, "Look at the dungeon records. Even now, after all these years and patches, a lot of their members are on the top. Though you wouldn't recognize them as being <Pandora Epidemic>, since they are under the banner of a PvE guild usually. Imagine bein' <Divinity> and claimin' you were a top PvE guild, yet havin' to beg another guild to allow you to take a dungeon or raid record."

Sol sighed, revealing concern that Eladon could tell went deeper than the burly monk wanted to let on. "They would ask payment to "give" the records to PvE guilds. Gold, rare items, etc. Then they'd drop their guild, join the payin' guild, and give them the record. then drop the guild again and rejoin <Pandora Epidemic>. That way when people would check the records, they'd see a certain guild on top. So they had the top PvE guilds scramblin' for their favor, desperately trying to purchase their services while hidin' it from the normal players. They were mercenaries, and if they didn't get what they wanted, they'd make fools of you. They held reputations hostage."

Eladon had never heard it put such a way before. All accounts he had read or heard, painted the guild as an agent of chaos, doing things seemingly at random, but being very good at whatever path they chose. Most of the anecdotes were ridiculous, humorous, or unbelievable. Now that he thought about it seriously, perhaps that was the view of a normal player, but it became evident by Sol's agitation that the Guildmaster thought a bit worse of <Pandora Epidemic>.

"Well, good thing we're not PvErs." Eladon said finally, trying to cheer up his friend.

Most of the time guilds would choose an area of the game to focus on. <War Brigade> was a heavily world PvP focused guild. They preferred to kill other players on the chaotic, ever shifting world fields.

"Feh," Sol shrugged away his attempt, "That was just an example. They were just as bad to PvP guilds. I'm sure you've read or heard about some of their bullshittery and thought it was hilarious. But I doubt you've ever considered it from the perspective of guild leadership."

The elven mage thought for a moment. He recalled one such story. <Pandora Epidemic> once had a bunch of Ghosts take a well-known guild leader hostage with the Possess ability, all of them repeatedly cycling through the cooldown of the skill to keep the player permanently under their control and having him do crazy and embarrassing antics outside Arendall while everyone laughed at him.

People still chuckled at the memory on the forums. If something like that happened to one of the four Great guilds nowadays…well, it'd be disastrous. It was important to have the respect of your members.

If something like that happened to <War Brigade>, Eladon knew they'd bleed out members rapidly.

Eladon's face became grim. "Alright, I can see your point. I'm assuming you have a plan?"

"Did you read the original post?" Sol asked.

"Yeah." Eladon affirmed.

The first post of the thread had been by a <Divinity> member, detailing the attack during the zone boss attempt before condemning the actions of <Pandora Epidemic>. It ended with a general warning for all to beware of Bast and all those affiliated with him .

"Bast seems to have taken interest in a new player." Sol mentioned offhandedly, and Eladon could only stare questionably at his Guildmaster. What did that have to do with a plan of action?

His disbelief must have shown on his face, so Sol continued, "<Pandora Epidemic> was inactive until this new player showed up. It was this noobie that allowed them to steal the boss from <Divinity>."

"So he's important?" Eladon said doubtfully. You couldn't have alternative accounts in Nevergarden. This assured that lowbie players were actually new, so the value of anyone not max level was usually little to nonexistent.

"Maybe, maybe not." Sol shrugged, "But if Bast has taken an interest, it's important that we do as well. Maybe he's training him up? The bastard must see something in the noob. By all accounts the lowbie had an important hand in the boss steal."

Eladon wondered at this revelation, that any one guild, or person, could hold such a sway over the Great guilds. Was there a flicker of fear in Sol's actions Eladon wondered. This was the first time he had seen his Guildmaster act like this. Sol was normally a headstrong man of action. Politicking behind the scenes wasn't something Eladon normally associated with the gruff man. Usually Sol left such things to Eladon to accomplish.

It had to be important indeed for the Guildmaster to bring it to his attention.

"If you say so." Eladon couldn't keep the doubt from his voice.

"You think I'm makin' a big deal out of nothing, huh?" Sol stated more than asked.

"I just can't believe any guild or person can be that big of a deal to the four great guilds."

"Truth be told, a part of me is glad they came back." Sol said in a voice so low that Eladon had to lean forward to hear it clearly.

"If they came back." Eladon couldn't help but to correct the man.

"If they came back." Sol agreed before looking Eladon straight in the eye, confusion evident on his face, "Is it weird that I'm excited about butting heads with them again?"

Eladon considered the question. Players at the higher echelons of guild hierarchy like himself and Sol had stopped playing the actual video game long ago. The two of them instead played the game within the game; a chess match of people, and drama, and feints within feints.

But the status of Nevergarden had hit a sort of equilibrium, and if Eladon was being honest, it had gotten slightly stale as a result. Four guilds, nicknamed the 'Four Great Guilds', had taken control of the politics of the server and have solidified themselves as the dominant powers. <War Brigade>, <Divinity>, <Paradigm of Requiem>, and <Resolution>. Two PvE guilds and two PvP. Each one kept the other in check. Each guild worked tirelessly to one-up or foil their counterpart.

A delicate balancing act. A powder keg waiting for someone to light the fuse.

But the arrival of the yearly SIN tournament had led to an uneasy truce. For some odd reason, everyone was really motivated this year. The developers had hinted at something extremely special for this year, making it of greater importance than it had been in the past. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie.

Even the PvE guilds desired the prestige of their members placing well in the competition. So they each focused inwardly, ignoring their typical rivalry. Instead of ganking and shit talking and forum drama, they were busy in the duel arena. The PvE guilds used the preoccupation of their PvP counterparts to take zone bosses unmolested.

The intrigue had given way to paperwork for those on the higher-end of things. It had become a cold war.

Before he had left on his second honeymoon, Eladon recalled Sol being particularly restless as of late.

Eladon shook his head, "No, I can see it. They'll shake things up…if they're back."

Sol grinned, "Yeah, that they will. I guess the trick is to enjoy it while it lasts and to somehow wind up on top."

The elf agreed.

"So," Eladon repeated, "Why'd you call me here then? Do you have a plan of action?"

"I'm leaving this new player to you."

"Oh?"

"Get a few guildies you trust to keep an eye on him. Maybe befriend him. Maybe get him to join us instead. I don't care. I just want to be ready to act, depending on what Bast does. I want to know everything he plans to do." Sol's smile was vicious. "This time, if they are back, things'll be different."

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