The Gods have suffered a major upheaval and many minor deities have perished in the turmoil. All Paladins and Priests will be prompted upon logging in to select a new deity to follow. All previous reputation with the old churches will be carried over to the new church.
Due to the many changes in the game world taking place, the world will have advanced two weeks into the future when the game goes live again. Any time sensitive quests have been removed from your logs with no penalties for failing them. Players will have the option to reacquire most time sensitive quests from the original quest source.
Seamus looked up from the papers as he finished reading, a sense of failure washing over him. He had promised Stacia he would be back shortly and to her it would seem like half a month. Victoria watched his face pale.
“Is something the matter, Seamus?”
“Stacia thinks I will be back tomorrow, I promised her I would hurry back. But these patch notes say it will be half a month to her.”
“Ah, yes I see. Would you like to send her a message to let her know it is going to be longer then you anticipated?”
Head tilting slightly, he looked at Victoria with a puzzled expression, “How would that even work?”
A faint smile came to her lips as she replied, “I can get a letter to her. Would you like to do that?”
“Yes, please, if it’s not an inconvenience.”
Victoria pulled a sheet of paper from the desk she sat behind, along with a pen, “Once you’re done just hand it to me.”
“Thanks, Vicky,” Seamus said, and began to write.
Stacia,
It seems the portal between worlds is going to be down for two weeks. There is nothing I can do to get back to you before that. I was able to get this letter to you, so you’d be aware that I will be unable to make it back to you before that. Please understand, as soon as I can I will be back there. I’m sorry that there is going to be an extended period of absence. It is not what I wanted. Please have faith in me when I say I will be back as quickly as I can.
Your master,
Alburet.
He folded the paper then slid it across the desk to Vicky, who took it with a smile. She placed the folded sheet of paper on her hand, where it shimmered into a blue bird. The bird hopped a few times before meeting Vicky’s gaze. With a chirp, the bird took to the air before it also vanished.
“There. It will be with her before a single day has passed for her. Does that help?”
Seamus nodded, “It does. Thanks, Vicky. How much longer is it until the game goes back up?”
“Still over twenty hours. Would you like to play a game or two to pass the time?”
Chuckling, Seamus shook his head, “Only if you promise not to cheat.”
Victoria laughed, “As you wish. How about a game or two of chess to start with?”
“Might as well start out with me losing,” Seamus replied as a chess board appeared between them.
Seamus just shook his head at how fast Victoria annihilated him in the first game, ten moves and it was over. The second game he mostly played randomly, only taking a few of her pieces here or there before he lost again, but at least this time the game lasted a few minutes. “I see I shall probably never beat you in chess, Vicky.”
“Don’t feel bad, no one at Mindblown has either. Is there a game you would prefer to play?”
“Poker again, if you don’t cheat like last time. Hmm, could you make up a handful of other people to play with as well?”
Victoria smiled broadly and the room vanished, replaced by a western saloon. He sat at the table in appropriate attire while Victoria sat next to him in a beautiful floral dress. Around the table were six other men all dressed for the scene. The last person at the table was a professional dealer who was shuffling the cards.
“The game is Texas Hold’em. Small blinds are a buck, big blinds are two,” the dealer said as he finished shuffling, “You, sir, are the big blind,” he nodded to Seamus.
Seamus smiled and tossed in the two chips he needed to. Once the small blind was added the dealer began the game. The next six hours were fun, as each of the other players all had different personalities. Eventually it came down to Victoria and Seamus left at the table with the chips roughly evenly split between them.
“That was fun, Vicky. I think we should move on though.”
Pouting, Victoria paused, “Are you sure, Seamus? We could do one more hand. Winner takes all.”
Seamus chuckled, “You like to win don’t you, Vicky?”
She just smiled as she pushed her stack of chips into the middle, “Maybe.”
Shaking his head, Seamus matched her, “Okay, winner takes all. How about we toss another wager on top? I’m sure you have connections outside Mindblown, if I win you get me an update on Kaylee.”
Victoria’s face went blank as she eyed him, “I would require something similar from you if I win, Seamus. Say, having you walk through a memory you would rather not?”
His eyes narrowed as he considered her, “You promise that this will be straight up?” She nodded, to which Seamus sighed then took a deep breath, “Fine. I agree.”
The dealer dealt the hand face up as there was no reason to hold back the hole cards. In the end Seamus ended up with a pair of aces, but Victoria had kings and twos. The saloon faded back to the library they had started in as Seamus acknowledged his defeat. He sat there a little bleakly as he wondered what Victoria would make him see this time.
“I am sorry, Seamus. I will see what I can do to get you the news you want but it will take some time. Currently, you owe me a memory. Are you ready?”
Seamus closed his eyes as he nodded his head, “Hit me.
Seamus found himself abruptly bodiless, looking down onto a scene he recognized instantly. He was suspended near the ceiling of the court hallway, as if he was the camera on the wall of the place where he’d committed his crime. A second later he saw himself plus the criminal walking in from the jail side door, the inmate taking small steps due to the ankle shackles. Seamus felt his heartbeat increase as he watched the duo walk towards him, knowing what was coming.
A few steps later he watched his double’s foot step deliberately onto the shackles holding the inmate’s legs, causing the inmate to fall to his knees. The double leaned down with a firm hand on the inmate’s shoulder, keeping the man in place on his knees. He watched the side arm being drawn as his double leaned in to speak into the inmate’s ear. He knew the words he had said, so he heard them clearly. He had known the camera in the hall hadn’t been equipped with audio pickups.
“You took away her innocence as well as harming her to the point of never being able to walk again, you miserable little shit. You thought you were going to see the judge but that isn’t going to happen today. Today, I mete out the justice that you really deserve and when we meet again in hell, I will hound you for all of eternity. This is for Kaylee.” His double put the gun against the back of the inmate’s head and pulled the trigger twice. A split second of panic showed on the man’s face before the two hollow points ripped his brain and head apart, covering the hallway with his brain and blood. Seamus’s agency didn’t use hollow points in their side arms, but he had come prepared for just this moment.
Stepping away from the body, the double set the gun down then lay face down on the floor and cuffed his hands behind him. He could hear the yells and screams from those nearby along with frantic radio traffic about shots fired. He remembered feeling nothing but calm acceptance as the court bailiffs came running out and found him. A few minutes later he was surrounded by his once fellow officers who took in the scene, aghast at what they saw. Many turned away from him in silence while a few cussed him for what was about to befall the agency, when the feds showed up to investigate. Only one person looked on with a sad face.