Killum had his share of fighting talismans, too. His crimson hood and mantle were enchanted, giving him enhanced hearing and vision. His steel cuirass was the finest Dwarven craftsmanship, enchanted by their wizards to repel steel and bronze. His arms were protected by chain mail, while his lower body was covered with leather. His Power Sword rode his left hip, with two curved swords strapped across his back. Enchanted gemstones decorated his swords, daggers, and armor, giving him enhanced protection and striking power.
Tiana followed him, doing her best to blend in like a good thief. She pulled her hood up to cover her bright red hair, and it was enchanted with a spell of stealth. Since the battle-mage could still see her without difficulty, she hadn't activated it yet. Her only weapon was a long dagger, but in stealth mode she was a fiend in battle.
Rand scowled at everyone and everything, trying a little too hard to look dangerous. He liked to walk through the city with his battle-axe held in both hands. And immediately after leaving the pub, he pulled his round shield out of his enchanted weapon satchel, which had a dozen slots with things like bows, spears, short sword, and at least three spare battle-axes.
Fergus brought up the rear, looking cool and collected. Really, he almost looked bored. He was as tall as Killum, but slim and not armored. The elven ranger carried two curved elven swords across his back, several knives and daggers, and his fancy elven bow. A quiver of twenty arrows rode his left hip.
"Killy!" a beautiful drow called. She was a tall and lithe drow warrior, with almost-black skin and snow-white hair to her knees. Her armor was quite stylized, black with silver decorations, and her pants were tight and shiny black. She looked Killum up and down with a lusty look. "I'm fighting Callis Bobtail again in the arena in about an hour. Come watch me put that arrogant chump in his place. Since the odds-makers say he'll win 5 to 1, we can make a killing when I kill his stinking ass."
Killum concentrated on her a second, and then her info appeared above her head:
Zeta. Drow Warrior (Lvl 11). PK: 3. -3 Dark.
So she'd leveled up from 9 to 11 since last time he'd seen her, but Callis was a Level 23 Centaur Warrior. There was no way she was going to win that fight, but he admired her tenacity.
"Come on, Zeta, give it up," he replied, shaking his head with a grin. "You've fought him five times, and he's killed you five times. Come with us instead. You can level up some more, and then maybe next time you fight Callis you can finally win."
"What? You don't think I can win?"
"I've lost a fortune betting on you," Killum said. He patted his nearly empty purse. She frowned at it, than palmed her own empty looking purse. "Now I'm broke, and apparently you are, too."
"How about you, Asha? You always have lots of treasure. I'll fight, you wager on me, and we'll split the winnings 50-50," Zeta said. "Easy money."
Asha gave her a condescending look. "Actually, I don't play with the minions of Darkness. Find another patsy."
"Oooh, you learned a new word," Zeta said, giving the high elf sorceress a dirty look. "Who taught you 'patsy'? Killy? Tiana?"
Asha muttered something as her eyes narrowed. The fingers of her right hand curled clawlike as blue light began to glow. Zeta pulled her sword, and the crowd quickly began forming a circle around them. Killum threw his arm out, putting himself between the two women as some spectators began making bets on the outcome.
"Now, now, ladies. It's a beautiful day to kill mobs, not each other," Killum said. "Good luck, Zeta. We're going now."
"Of course. Asha wouldn't want to get her outfit dirty," Zeta said. Then mimicking Asha's voice, "Actually, I like being a pretty little Princess of Light. Ain't that right, cousin?"
"There it is," Rand whispered. "They're going to fight now."
Killum groaned. Why did Zeta have to mock her speech? And calling her "cousin" was uncalled for. But then, he never really understood why simply calling each other cousin pissed off the elves and the drow so much. Everyone knew they were just different ethnic groups within the Elven Race. Just don't remind them of it.
Asha moved into a fighting stance, ready to throw her spell at the drow. Zeta was ready with her drow sword in hand, and a wild look in her eyes. The two women continued to glare at each other.
"Asha. Don't waste all of your resources on her. You'll need them later," Killum said. Asha was the more rational of the two, though both women were hotheads. "We're going to need our sorceress at full strength. Please."
"Here comes the City Watch," Tiana warned. Leave it to the thief to spot the cops first.
The sorceress's brown eyes cut toward Killum, and then Tiana, and finally she sighed and relaxed. The conjured light in her hand slowly faded away. The drow relaxed and sheathed her sword.
"I might be Dark," Zeta said, eyes locked with Asha's. "But your Royal Lightness has three times more player kills than me."
With that, the drow warrior spun on a heel and vanished into the disappointed crowd. Killum glanced at Asha, who was flushed and cutting her eyes back and forth. The sorceress didn't like to kill other players, but she had a badass reputation so newbs sometimes challenged her. Since she was a level 40 elven sorceress, she easily killed them, much to her chagrin.
"Don't ask her to fight with us again," Asha said.
"I agree with Asha," Fergus said. "The drow are all Dark, and will stab you in the back."
Killum wondered if the Game somehow influenced all elven characters to hate the drow, and vice versa, or if they chose their character's race based on their prejudices. He'd never met an elf or drow who liked anyone in the other group.
The elfmaid turned and pushed into the grumbling crowd before the Watch was close enough to identity them. Killum shrugged at Tiana, Rand, and Fergus, before following her. He was glad to get out of there without getting into trouble with the city. They were already banned from two other cities for brawling too much. Specifically, Asha and Rand.
Asha turned on the Street of Charms to buy some healing herbs from a street vendor. Killum and Tiana also bought some of the herbs, but Fergus and Rand never would pay for them.
Uhrs had the largest shantytown outside of its walls of any city Killum knew. There were more players and mobs there than inside the city proper. Of course, every structure looked to be on the verge of collapse. He still didn't know why it didn't burn down once a week, other than the Game didn't want it to burn down.
"Okay, Rand, lead the way to this secret dungeon," Killum said.
Rand gave a quick nod, and took off toward the swamp. The city was atop a hill, with thick forests on three sides. Deadman's Swamp bordered the river and stretched out west of the city. Few players entered the swamp, mainly because it wasn't fun being all wet and hindered by knee deep water while fighting monsters. Killum agreed, but it would be worth the effort if Rand was right about this dungeon.
It took an hour to reach the swamp. While the city and forest were all cloudless blue skies, Deadman's Swamp was always dark and cloudy. As they approached, Killum noticed it was drizzling over the swamp. The biggest problem with playing the full immersion VRMMORPG version of Realm of Battle was having to suffer the cold wet misery before them.