Achievement Unlocked! ‘That Was A Close Call.’ You have been revived from having only 1 hit point remaining and lived to tell the tale. Bonus: +2% effectiveness from Health Boosts.
When I told Mudhoof this, he burst out laughing. “Really? You’re only getting that now after all these years with your character? Sheesh. I unlocked that achievement just twenty minutes into my very first play session in.” He laughed some more.
“I’m glad to be a late bloomer,” I said, standing. To the healer I asked, “I have you to thank from bringing be back from the brink of death?”
The little man offered a modest bow. “It is my duty, miss. Shale, the Goddess of Health, will not have any suffering while in her temple. Your friend should be thanked. Had you arrived but a few minutes later I’m afraid Shale would be most displeased right now.”
“Well, I thank you both,” I said and dropped Mudhoof a wink. The minotaur barely noticed, still casting anxious looks about the place.
“Allow me to offer you a gift for Shale’s wonderful services,” I said and placed fifty gold pieces in the healer’s hand.
“Shale is pleased,” he said.
To Mudhoof, I asked, “What’s got you spooked?”
He looked at me like I was nuts. “You kidding? That Pickle-winkle is around here, I know it.”
I gave the main chamber of the Temple a look. Several cots, like the one I’d used, filled the place, but there were no other patients present. Only a roaring fire in the hearth at one end, and various tapestries depicting a flying dove, Shale’s symbol. Few shadows for Perriwinkle to spring from.
Still, Mudhoof was right to be on guard. The would-be assassin jumped in the same river we did, and could have rode it down to Ingot’s Perch.
The healer spoke up. “None can harm another while they are under the pyramid of Shale,” he said.
“True enough,” I said, and patted Mudhoof on his massive arm. “You can ease up a little, my protector. That Shadow would have a tough time catching us off guard again, now we know he’s hunting me.”
Mudhoof snorted in irritation. “Still, it was a cheap shot. Stabbing someone in the back when they’re not looking? How cowardly can you…” his voice trailed off as he realized who he was talking to. He smiled sheepishly. “I’m excluding you, of course, Vee.”
“Of course,” I said with a playful rolling of the eyes. “But Perriwinkle is a symptom of my problem. It is the disease we need to cure once and for all. The sooner the better.”
I turned to the healer. “Where might we find the nearest Locators Guild here in town?”
“You will find one across the main square. They are beside the new clockworks shop. Can’t miss them.”
Thanking him, Mudhoof and I went to the Temple’s entrance. We stood in the wide open doorway and took in the sight of the town.
Typical medieval setting with cobblestone streets and stone-earth buildings wedged up against each other. Beggars begged and barkers barked. Occasionally, a player would pass our view and I tensed up if they looked in my direction.
“No worries, Vee,” Mudhoof said, tightening the grip on his battle axe. “I got your back.”
Any of these players could be a bounty hunter, biding their time for the right opportunity to strike once I left the safety of the Temple.
Casually, we descended the stairs and made our way across the town square. Many people milled about, townsfolk and players, and we did our best to keep some distance from all of them.
“This just underscores what I’ve been saying,” I said, keeping one hand on the pommel of the sword sheathed at my hip.
Mudhoof sneered at a woman carrying a basket of apples who got to close, causing her to give us a wide birth. “What’s that? That I’m awesome and wonderful and you can’t have a proper adventure without me?”
“Well, yes, that is all true, too. But I mean getting rid of this bounty. I’ll never have a moments rest until that happens. Questing is almost entirely out of the question. At least not open world quests.”
Mudhoof said, “You can still do instances with me and Thorm. No worries there.”
“Yes, but I can’t stay in an instance forever. And I’m not logging out and staying away from the game just because of it.”
Mudhoof scoffed. “Now that would be a fate worse than death.”
We reached the other side of the square unmolested, but our guard was still up. I spotted the Locators Guild sign with its stylized symbol of a compass, a few doors down.
As we walked to it Mudhoof stopped in front of the clockworks shop next door. Its wide bay windows were filled with little clockwork robots which teetered around and belched steam. A shopkeeper emerged and placed a small robot on the ground. The machine wobbled about, inner gears grinding loudly.
I was unimpressed. Clockworks was a new feature recently implemented into the game. Players can purchase, and even learn to make, clockwork beings for a myriad of tasks. Many players loved it. Personally, I didn’t care for them. Too steampunk for me, but to each their own.
“Cute, huh?” Mudhoof said as the robot bumped into a flower pot, shot out steam from a suspiciously placed orifice, then teetered off in a new direction. When Mudhoof noticed my expression he added, “Uh, maybe I should just smash it.”
I motioned to the Locators Guild. “Let’s get inside before the shopkeeper brings out bigger versions of that thing.”
Entering a Locators Guild always gave me a little rush. It was crammed with maps. Large tapestry maps hung from the walls, rolled parchment maps were stacked on top of each other within narrow shelves. The smell of inked parchment and stitched wool assailed my nostrils and I turned up my simulation suit’s olfactory settings to take it in like an addict.
Various globes spun on stands, each representing some of the more popular worlds that filled the game.
The service counter was at the back wall, and as we walked toward it I took my time to peruse all the worlds and places I would love to visit. There was so much to see and do within the game; billions of locations and near limitless quests to go on. I had no hope of seeing and doing it all within my lifetime. But I would have fun trying.
I paused at a strange-looking globe, its surface blighted and blackened.
“Looks like it was nuked,” said Mudhoof, looking over my shoulder. “No more loot to be found there.” It appeared that way. Where there once were continents and cities, now smudged outlines remained. Vast oceans had become deep, wide canyons and shattered rock.
I selected the world’s name. Herronia.
“I wonder what happened to it,” I said.
“Destroyed. By the Demon King,” said a man who appeared from behind a towering bookcase.
I tensed for a fight, but immediately relaxed. Like the Temple, the Guild was a safezone.
The man approached carrying a bundle of map rolls under one arm. His name appeared above his head. Yibbet (Locators Guild Cartographer).
The mention of the Demon King, a recent enemy who nearly wiped out my whole party on a previous quest, caught my interest. “Destroyed it how?” I asked.
Yibbet shrugged a skinny frame from within billowy yellow robes. “No one has any facts as to how, exactly. Some have reported a thick white fog encompassed Herronia’s entire surface which preventing anyone from seeing. Then when it dissipated the planet looked like that. But other reports claim asteroids were nudged from their nearby orbits and pummeled the surface.”
Examining the globe closer, I said, “Doesn’t look like there are any impact craters.”
Another shrug. Yibbet said, “Although we at the Locators guild pride ourselves on accuracy, we don’t always go the extra mile to map out utter destruction.” His neutral expression was replaced by a genial smile. “Are you here about a map of Herronia? I can provide one for a modest sum.”