Lednar, or Alex in real life, logged into the game. "The person that has been following me since yesterday has left. It seems the EastSeaDrakes are starting." He sent a message. [Harr, The tail is gone. Are they moving in?]
[You would be correct. Why do you ask? You know our plan was to wait until they failed before leaving. Are you ready?]
Lednar sighed as he adjusted the in-game glasses he wore. He didn't need them in game but it felt much more comfortable with them on. [My friends are likely to get caught up in the mess. They said they would be finishing their quest within a few hours but that isn't enough time for them to leave the forest.]
[Please speak clearly so I don't misunderstand.] Harr replied.
[If it is alright, since I know you are in charge, I would like permission to start heading north now so I can potentially help out my friends if they are in danger.]
Harr frowned. [You and your brother are a lot alike you know. Despite being calculating, when it comes to your friends, you two always look for solutions that benefit them without trying to ruin the original mission too much.] The man thought about it for a bit. [Explain your reasoning.]
Lednar seeing the response he continued. [If we were to use our save yourself skills in town, we might get swarmed. This is going to be a crisis and people will do a lot to live.]
The leader sighed. [Heath asked me to keep you safe and you are right it would be counterproductive to use something to alleviate the effects of the mist in town. We would draw too much attention to ourselves. I can't win against you or your brother's logic. Let's go.]
[Thanks Harr.] Alex replied. [If my friends don't have a way to delay the effects of the mist, it will be too late regardless. But, if they do, they may be able to help with this Mistery.]
Harr laughed at the terrible spelling pun. [I'm not doing this for free you know. You owe me five dexterity enhancing potions. I will hear an earful from your brother because I let you boss me around this time. You will owe me ten if your friends fall to the mist because I will hear an even bigger earful.]
[I'll make you ten regardless, you know I make those just for you. You could have just asked. Most ax wielders would prefer to build solely into strength. Why do you invest so heavily into dexterity?]
[Ten it is, don't go back on your word. Those barbaric people who think strength is the only thing you need to fight with an ax only know how to swing wildly and don't take advantage of the other characteristics of the beautiful weapon. If you actually watched how I fight like your brother said to do, you would understand why I invest so much into my dexterity. But enough preaching about the grace an ax has. I'll meet you at the northern gate.]
***
Jericho had been logged on for an hour and a half helping get everything set up and giving the musician satyrs a motivational pep talk in order to help them boost their confidence.
Carn came forward. "We can now perform the ritual, a line dance of true culture, The Endless Dance."
Ken watched from the nearby trees mostly out of sight. He was still leery about being around the satyrs.
Purai and Lillith were in the audience watching.
The satyrs aligned themselves in the correct positions on the Alter of Arglwydd y Ddawns.
The guitars, drums, and beat box filled the stage with intensity. The clacking of hoofs, as the satyrs started dancing on the stone stage, synchronized creating a powerful dominant feeling. The panpipes and fiddles echoed in the surroundings as a male and female satyr sung in harmony. ♪ Our lives won't last forever, so we'll forever dance! This is our grand endeavor, to never leave this trance. ♫
The satyrs rotated and the dance continued.
♫ Our songs will sound forever, the notes already cast. The past will all remember, it will not be the last. ♪
A long bridge played as the guitars rocked out in the fast paced composition.
Princess smiled as she watched the movements she had carefully designed turn out better than she expected.
♪ Hear the sound of our feet, our hearts are brought into sync! This is the pace of our beat, won't ever be brought to the brink! ♫
A few minutes passed. More verses were sung. The performance ended. Jericho and Princess received their quest completion notifications.
[You have completed the quest: A New Ritual. The god Arglwydd y Ddawns is extremely pleased by the result. It was well beyond what he expected from you. You have gained 25,000 Exp. You are now Level 15. All Performance related skills have increased by 1/10 of whatever rank they were previously.]
"Jericho and Princess, Champions of our god, we thank you for the services you have rendered us. Jericho, if you would like, you can keep the instruments you borrowed." Carn gave a bow.
Jericho smiled. "Thank you."
"Of course!" The satyr replied happily. "Dancing Princess, follow me. We can discuss a suitable reward." Carn motioned to take princess a short ways away from the group.
A gong sound reverberated from above the stage as two phantoms shaped like satyr descended. They fell before the two performers. The one was out of sight with Princess while the other appeared near the stage with Jericho. It spoke.
"Jericho the Bard, you have rendered a merit worthy feat of culture. As a representative of Arglwydd y Ddawns I have come to bestow upon a gift or wish of your choosing. Of course, it must be a gift that will help you further the work of spreading music.
Jericho thought back to his conversation with his sister before logging in. "Then, if it is alright, I wish for an object that I can turn into any instrument." He took a breath. "It won't solve all of my problems with only having so many instruments around, but it would be a great help considering the amount of instruments I know how to play."
The phantom closed his eyes. "What you request is indeed something worthy of your prowess, however that is a very powerful artifact. Arglwydd y Ddawns can only give it to you if you are willing to give up something of great value in return."
Jericho thought for a bit. "Does the object of value have to be useful to him?" Jericho asked.
The phantom shook his horned head. "He has more contacts than you do. He can receive any object of value and find the right existence to make a deal with."
Jericho pulled out the Memory Crown. "Is this an acceptable object?"
The phantom laughed and took the crown. "Indeed."
A dark purple light flashed upward as the crown disappeared. A bronze flash fell downward.
Kenneth who was watching from a distance started humming a light bouncy tune as he was reminded of the trading features in other games.
A bronze statuette and a clear orb landed in the ghost's hands. He passed them over to Jericho. "He hopes you like the extra gift. He said that the G.O.D.s gave him instructions to be generous if you were willing to give up the temptation of the crown. He said to tell you that the crown holds immense power to change the world and he is grateful you were willing to give it up."
Jericho smiled. "What temptation? That crown is something I was looking to get rid of. It may be world changing to some, but not to me. This is world changing." He lifted the items and looked over the details of both of them.
[Omni-instrument: This bronze statue artifact is worthless in the hands of anyone who is not a grand-master in at least one instrument. Only someone who possesses the talents of a Tier 5 musician can unleash its power. A worthy wielder of this item can direct it to become any instrument, instrument tool, instrument part, or instrument set (Playable by one individual) they know of. However it can only become one musical tool at a time. The instrument or equipment produced will not possess any magical traits and will be treated as a Tier 2 High quality non-magical item.]
[Transmutation-orb (Instrument): The holder of this orb can select an instrument or instrument part they would like to have. After this selection, the owner of the orb must use the orb's skill (Devour item). Once sufficient material has been obtained, the orb will create the new instrument. Left over materials will remain in the orb to be used when a suitable instrument is selected. A new instrument can be created in this manner once every day at most. The quality of instruments will drop if the orb is in frequent use. The instrument's quality will be determined by the quality and level of items used in the making of the instrument. It is recommended to avoid using trash grade items unless you want a trashy instrument. The orb will not absorb materials, only completed items.]
Jericho's smile got bigger as he thought about how pots and pans made great trashy instruments. "Thank you. I love them."
"I am pleased to hear that. I bid you farewell Jericho. May our paths cross again." The phantom returned to the sky.
Away from the group, Princess, who had received similar notifications to Jericho was gifted a few dance costumes and tools the satyrs had made from the creatures they hunted in the past.
The gong sound was heard and a phantom satyr appeared before her.
"Dancing Princess, you have rendered a merit worthy feat of culture. As a representative of Arglwydd y Ddawns I have come to bestow upon a gift or wish of your choosing. Of course, it must be a gift that will help you further the work of spreading the art of dance."
The girl was silent for a bit as she contemplated. "I think the thing I would need most is something that would help me dance for longer without tiring out but I don't know if that is acceptable."
The ghostly figure, in front of her, nodded. "Something like this?" He pulled out a small charm.
Princess took the music box charm and looked at the information.
[Arglwydd y Ddawns' Music Box: (Tier 4 Trinket): While equipped Performance related skills (Music, Theater, Dance, etc.) cost half as much stamina and magic to execute. +5% Charisma while performing. A performance skill line must be Rank 4 or higher to experience the full benefits of this trinket. If you open the music box, a song dedicated to Arglwydd y Ddawns will play.]
The girl's eyes lit up. "This is perfect! Thank you!" She equipped the music box.
"I am pleased to hear that. I bid you farewell Dancing Princess. May our paths cross again." The phantom returned to the sky.
She opened the music box to hear it play the melody they had just performed.
Kenneth, Lux, Purai, Lillith, Jericho, and Princess met at the edge of the satyr village. "Are you ready?" Ken asked.
***
At a respawn point in a random starting town, a white haired man appeared.
"What in the world just happened?" Talon exclaimed loudly. "Why did my party start attacking me like that?"
He looked around confused. "Wait, this isn't Pren. Where am I?"
A warrior wearing dark heavy armor and a familiar looking wizard wearing a dark red-brown robe came over. "This is Zhery Village. You are quite a ways from Pren." The wizard replied caressing his amber colored staff.
The man sighed. "I see. My name is Talon. What are yours?"
The knight waved his gauntlet with tiger claws jutting out from the back of them. "Greeting Talon of the EastSeaDrakes, I'm DarkLord this is Emerald Carnage of the recently created Royal Bardians Guild. We were just on our way out of this starting village when we heard your shouting."
"Royal Bardians? That is a terrible guild name. If you were the Royal Guardians that would have sounded cooler you know." Talon spat. "So, tell me about this new guild of yours. Considering the fact that you know who I am and show no fear mentioning your guild name to me means you are either stupid or secretly strong."
Emerald Carnage smiled happily. If Jericho saw him, he would recognize him as the former player Emerald Flame he had briefly befriended. "We are a guild dedicated to our King Jericho and his beloved younger sister, our lovely Dancing Princess. It is more apt to call us a fandom then a true guild. Care to leave your guild and join us?"
A look of realization was plastered onto Talon's face. "Wait, DarkLord… You are the masterminds behind the manipulation of all of those random players against the Vextor guild a bit ago."
Emerald shook his head. "Oh, you must be referring to the assassination attempts on Jericho and his sister. You are only half wrong. Manipulation or not, we fans would have moved against the Vextor guild. We aren't people you can mess with."
Talon laughed. "I should be wary of you? You obviously haven't seen the strength of a powerful guild."
DarkLord lifted his face-guard to speak more clearly. "Actually, we have. Speaking of the power of large guilds, does your arrival here mean that your guild has failed their quest and Pren is now gone?"
Talon glared. "No the quest hasn't failed and we will succeed. We will show the world that we are the best."
As if to confirm the dark knight's inquiry a mass announcement was made by the game's notification system.
[Warning: Due to the actions of players; the starting town of Pren and surrounding settlements have fallen to a mysterious mist. New threats have emerged and the world has become more dangerous. The southern countries are wary of the dangers and are more apprehensive. Players, in or around Pren, that have or soon will fall prey to these new threats have been shuffled off to random starting towns.]
© J Eranoth