Chapter 10 - A Stairwell and a Flashback

There was the usual snap of light as she changed back into Calista, but as her eyes adjusted she was no longer in the room with the bar and the imp. Instead, she was standing on a stony floor half covered in moss with vines hanging from the walls. Thin beams of light shot down from the ceiling as they shone off the bits of mildew hanging in the air. Water dripped off the walls and into tiny puddles. She looked up. The room was tall, three or four stories tall by her guess, and there was a pillar of uncut stone in the center that reached up to the top. The light itself was falling from cracks in the stone ceiling and she could just barely see the open sky above that.

Well this is different. She remembered what the imp had told her only minutes ago, '…The owner can change his morphic dungeon at any time …' 

She looked up at the light shining down through the ceiling. At least I'm logged in and alive. Looking up at the sky through the cracks, she tried to tell what time of day it was, but Wraath's sun was not visible. She tried to remember what the in-game time had been when she had logged in, but she couldn't remember.

She pondered for a moment why this Severin character would shift things around so that she was here instead of where she had left off at, but then she decided that the answer would only reveal itself if she had a look around. So that's what she did.

The first thing she found was the doors. Three of them. The first was a locked door on the ground floor with banded iron re-enforcing its thick wooden planks. She spotted the second up on the wall where it sat atop a ledge. The third, and perhaps most surprising door, was located on the wall opposite the first and was open with steps leading up.

Why does this place feel familiar? She thought for a moment as she took another tour around the room and then it hit her. I'm back at the beginning. This is the first room, but it's been changed to look different. It wasn't quite the same, but it was close like the designer had been in a rush and just moved a few things around before giving it a different skin. Before the walls had been smooth, as though carved by expert dwarven craftsmen, and the doors had been square. Now, the walls were still round, but rough as though carved by amateurs and the tops of the doors were rounded. That's why there are three doors. The stairwell that led me here, the treasure room where I found the Emberblade, and then the third led to the hallway where I first encountered the dragon. She looked up at the door with the ledge. It was about a meter and a half above her. Well, I don't see any reason to go that way again. She turned around and took the steps.

There were no torches, so as she rounded the first bend the light faded and a darkness fell. Up and up the stairs wound until finally the light returned. Ahead, she could hear birds and wind against the leaves. Then, for whatever reason, something in the back of her mind decided she should check her inventory and as she did so, she froze in surprise. The Emberblade she had taken was gone.

There was only one possible answer and that was that someone had taken it. She checked her inventory to see if anything else was missing. There wasn't. She looked down at the darkness and then back up toward the light. Player versus player thievery was not uncommon but this was brazenly odd. Had the owner of the dungeon gone through all the trouble to alter the dungeon around her just so she would leave and he could steal his sword back?

She thought back to what had brought her here in the first place. She had logged in to find a note pinned to the door of her house back in Yandmouth. 'If you still think you're the best Delver in all of Wraath, then meet me at the Hanging Dragon in Hilltop in two days.' The note had been unsigned and while she was loathe to take on quests for mysterious strangers, she decided to show up anyway if only for the satisfaction of giving the player their dagger back.

Two days later, she had walked into the Hanging Dragon to find only two NPCs, a barmaid and the town drunk. She had ordered an ale and sat down near a window in the back. Seconds later, the sun was swallowed by dark clouds that, with a flash of lightning, enveloped the town in a sudden downpour. Calista had sipped her digital ale and watched the town's NPCs disappear indoors. Then a flicker of movement had caught her eye. There, stepping from the shadows was a man dressed in a cloak made of animal hide covered in leaves. He set his staff against the wall as he sat down across from Calista. His face was hidden beneath his hood but she could see the bulging muscles beneath his clothing. This is a high level player, she had thought, perhaps even higher than I am.

"Calista Strickhaven." The hooded man's voice rumbled in unison with the thunder outside.

"I am," she answered.

He continued. "I have a quest for you. One that will lead you to great clarity in all things."

She took a tasteless sip of her ale. "And just what kind of quest would that be?"

"Just south of here is a dungeon with a secret inside, a secret I need you to find. This dungeon is not only hidden, it is dangerous. I heard about it only because the other delvers who left to go find it have not returned. So that is why I am sending you."

She narrowed her eyes at this man. "And you expect me to go alone? Just how dangerous is this place if you expect me to walk in and walk out alone?"

The hooded man replied. "I am asking you to go alone because the secrets held in this dungeon are not for everyone."

"So they are secrets you'd rather kept between you and I?" She asked.

"Yes. That is exactly why. Once you find them, you will understand."

"So how do I get in?" She asked. "Am I supposed to just walk in the front door?"

The hooded man continued, "By luck, I have found a back door. One that only the owner of the dungeon may know about."

"I see," she said, "and just what am I looking for?"

"The first thing is a sword. You will find it right away in the first room. I know this because I have been there, but no further as I am not a delver and dared not go any further into the dungeon by myself. The second and only other thing is a ring that the master of the dungeon keeps in his quarters. That ring will be the hardest part."

She considered this for a moment. "Sure, just so long as the reward is worth the trouble."

She saw a smile appear beneath the hood. "Fifty thousand gold and you can keep both the sword and the ring. I ask only that I may examine them when you return."

"How will I find you?" She asked.

"You won't," the hooded figure replied, "I will find you."

She remembered being suspicious, but she had taken the job. The last three patches had seen an uptick in player-versus-player action. This was obviously some kind of personal thing, perhaps between guildmates. Her guess was that the owner of this dungeon had done something to whoever she had met at Hilltop and now it was her job to meet out a bit of revenge. The only thing she regretted now is that she had left the tavern without asking the mysterious man his name.

She thought of what Inujack, the imp bartender had told her. This dungeon was controlled by a player who had developer-like power over the place. That was odd. And she had been led here by a mysterious man who wanted her to steal things for him that she would get to keep. That was odder still.

Now she was here, standing in the stairwell and thinking about what the hooded man had said. The sword and ring were secrets he needed her to find. He did not want them for himself, but only to examine them. They were secrets.

And secrets just happen to be one of my specialties.