9 Vorn

"Savage, stop!" Luxy screamed. "We don't know how many there are!"

<Cleave>

Savage leapt into the temple stairwell hacking and slashing wildly at skeevers with her broad sword; skeevers are large rabid rodents with sharp teeth and claws. Usually easy to kill, their numbers, poison, and tenacity make them formidable in tight spaces. The sword skill cleave was better suited to larger, slower targets and without enough room to swing the large sword, Savage was at a massive disadvantage.

"Stay in formation!" Namey shouted. "They're too many!"

The skeevers wasted no time in pouncing on their hot-headed prey. Savage tried to hold them off with her large shield but it was akin to trying to stop a flood with a single piece of plywood. They washed over her in waves, gnawing at her armour and sinking their teeth into her flesh while she gasped for air.

<Volley>

Jon released his nooked arrow. With high accuracy, Jon's volley skill allowed him to duplicate an arrow shot at the cost of power; the more copies he made, the less powerful each one became. Luckily, skeevers had no real armour and very little health so he could make dozens of copies. They dropped like flies leaving tiny grey gems where they were killed.

"Why won't you listen?!" Namey boomed at Savage. "You're supposed to hold and wait for support!"

Savage had been in a bad mood since we set out for the tomb of the dark lord, Hoth. She hadn't said a word yet, she just glared at Namey and Jon. There was obviously something bothering her but she didn't want to talk about it.

"Back off four-eyes!" Savage responded. "Unless you want to end up like those skeevers."

Savage looked visibly enraged but also weakened. The poison from the skeever bites would take some time to recover from but she was too proud to let that stop her from acting threatening.

"That's enough!" Luxy said, stepping into the middle. "Both of you. You're acting like kids!."

From what Jon had seen so far; Savage was the reckless one, Namey was the intelligent but secretive one and Luxy had to be the peacemaker. They all seemed so incongruous like they shouldn't be in the same group.

*******

Earlier that day…

The trip to the western seaside town of Vorn was a tense but pleasant journey. Apart from icy stares from Savage, the air was warm, the birds were singing and the sun's rays touched my face gently. We had come so far west that the iron mountains were barely visible on the horizon behind us. The waters of the river Oryn twinkled as it caught the sun's rays. Walls and green fields stretched out as far as the eye could see.

My grandfather had read me stories of the most well-defended city in the Midlands. Legend has it that a hunter by the name of Oberlin found the largest gold mine anywhere in the world so he built a large castle with iron instead of stones on it and then a city formed around the castle. He used his massive wealth to redirect the river Oryn to flow into the middle of the city and then bought a seat on the council of the gods as the god of wealth.

I don't know how true the story is but the city was truly a magnificent sight. As we got closer, I could see rose fields of every imaginable colour. The scenery was dreamlike and the air was heavy with the scent of flowers. The banners decorating the walls of the city were red roses on a field of green. The twin towers of Vorn rose high into the sky. They were built just as much for beauty as for defence. The city walls were arranged like three curtains; the outer two were made of white stone and the innermost wall was grey iron. Each successive wall was thicker and taller than the last. The white stone outer walls were covered in ivy giving the illusion that the city was here first and the world was made around it. There were hordes of people coming and going. A veritable sea of bodies.

We decided to split up to get different things done. Luxy and Savage would get supplies while Namey and I would get new light armour for me. If I was going to be a member of serenity, I had to be able to play my part in heated battles.

"There's someone you need to meet but you can't tell the others," Namey said as he ushered me deeper and deeper into the city. "They don't need to know."

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Onderon is different from other Altgames. It can maintain itself without outside help," Namey said. "I'm taking you to meet a very important AI program."

We went past the two white walls and into the third grey keep. Beyond the edge of the city, a few miles down and underneath, I could make out the port of Vorn where the river Oryn entered the city.

Inside the lavishly decorated building. We entered an office with expensive tapestries and a golden statue with the label of 'Oberlin'. It seemed like the kind of office that a successful banker with a large ego might have.

"Greetings master," A mysterious man said. "I was wondering when you would arrive".

He had a bald head, several gold necklaces and wore flowing yellow garb. He looked like someone important. That's why I became confused when I realized that he was talking to me. Also, he looked suspiciously similar to the gold statue.

"Jon, this is Oberlin," Namey said. "He is the program you created to mine bitcoin and manage the circulation of gold in the game."

"You mean the founder of Vorn? God of wealth, Oberlin?" I asked.

"Master, it seems that your memories are somewhat damaged," Oberlin said. "No worries. I have everything under control. Every bit of spare computing power is being fully utilised"

"Oberlin, we need some gold," Namey said. "We have some weapons shopping to do."

"If it's weapons you want, I know just the place to go," he said.

***

After the shock of meeting a real god whom I apparently designed, I was disappointed by the selection at the weapons store. Don't get me wrong, they had a good selection of excellent specimens but all they had were large, heavy armour designed for warriors and not enough light leather armour for other classes.

"Jon, take a look at this," Namey called from the back of the store.

There was a beautiful leather armour set with brown and black leather. It also came with gloves, boots, and a cowl.

"This is the ancient shrouded armour of Hoth. He was a legendary assassin. It makes its wearer virtually undetectable to others," the merchant said after materializing out of nowhere. "Unfortunately, no one wants it because it has…..erm… complications."

"What do you mean?" Namey asked.

"It only allows its wearer to equip a bow and it triggers a mission that you must complete within forty-eight hours of wearing it or else it reduces your health by one percent every minute," the merchant responded.

"What's the mission?" Namey asked.

"You have to retrieve Daegon's crown from Hoth's tomb in the Valley of the Dark Lords," the merchant replied again. "I don't mind letting you have the armour for free but in exchange, If you complete the mission, please come back and let me know."

"That's very generous of you," Namey said.

"Yeah, thank you very much," I added

***

A few moments later, outside the store…

"Did you notice that?" I asked.

We had just spent a half-hour in the store but I couldn't remember the face of the man that sold us the armour or what he was wearing. It felt like we had just woken up from a dream.

"Yes. I couldn't sense him until he was standing right behind us," Namey responded.

There was something unusual about the merchant. He moved quickly and quietly with the grace of a skilled dancer. He also had a commanding presence and didn't feel the need to have guards around even though he sold very valuable merchandise.