Aegis Online

I giggle at Dana’s freaked-out exclamation.

“I won it. I guess you didn’t watch my stream? It’ll explain all the details!”

“Nuh-uh! Don’t you be hidin’ secrets from me, you villainess! Tell me, noooowwww!”

As Dana demands answers, I giggle again. “Come up here and MAKE me tell you, then!”

She hangs up, and I turn to my streaming orb. “Uh-oh. I think I’m in trouble with Asteria now! I’d better go! Thanks for tuning in and supporting me during the tournament, and I’ll be seeing you… In the skies!”

I end my stream, waiting, leaning against the helm as I play with the ship’s wheel, a huge smirk on my face. A familiar voice comes from the left side, and I turn to see the glowing butterfly wings of Dana’s Faeflight spell, bearing her aloft as she draws level with my ship.

“Permission t’ come aboard, Captain Kettrin, ma’am?”

I grin, as Dana salutes crisply, her military-style uniform as neat as ever.

“Permission granted!”

With a soft ‘clack-click!’, Dana’s boots touch down on the glossy deck, and I descend the stairs from the helm, shaking out my wings.

Dana looks around, staring in fascination. “Sooooo… are you gonna tell me how you ended up with your own personal airship?!”

I smile. “Well, you see, I…”

I give the poor, information-starved girl a rundown of the events that transpired over the last few hours, and her eyes widen, her jaw hanging open as she practically drools at the thought of joining a PvP tourney. “Seriously, the next time something like this happens, let me know! I’d love to take part!”

I smile and give her a hug. “I will, I promise. Anyway, I actually haven’t named this mighty vessel yet, would you like to help me come up with something? I have BIG plans for this, after all!”

Asteria grins. “Ohhh, I’d love to help you come up with the best name ever! But first, fill me in on these ‘big plans’. If I know what you’re thinkin’ of, I might be able to come up with something more fitting than just throwing names out!”

I lean in and start whispering in Dana’s ear, and I feel her start shaking with excitement. “No way, really?! I LOVE that idea! First, we name this ship! Then, we set the next phase of our plan into motion!”

Over the next couple of hours, Dana and I draft name after name, from the sensible, to the bizarre, to the legendarily-stupid, occasionally checking the forums and giggling at how many people are talking about the ‘mysterious airship’ hanging in the skies above Vassim, and who might own it. I can see my name spreading like wildfire as the footage of my tournament bouts circulates, with a lot of players wondering what I’m up to, and why I didn’t pick a weapon or something instead of a ship.

Finally, the perfect name hits, and Dana and I smile. Opening my menu, I tab over to the ship’s settings and select the name bar. Typing in the new name, I hit confirm and feel the airship sway a little as its settings refresh to display it’s new identity, emblazoned in golden scrollwork on each side of the prow: Devil Hunter.

I smile, as the minimap displays the name of my ship, and then set a figurehead from the predetermined options. A demonic-looking snarling bat-beast, wings drawn back in flight, a fanged maw grimacing defiance at the world, an arrow plunged through its heart.

Dana smirks. “A little uncharacteristic for an angel, but I like it. Now, we should think about getting this floaty-boat a crew, some armaments, and the like. Why not try the skydocks, or something?”

I nod and return to the helm, spinning the wheel with a flourish. The Devil Hunter responds exactly as I wish, turning gracefully as I pull a lever, angling the propulsion system. The mechanisms and complex arcane machines keeping this beast aloft funnel magic into a series of crystals embedded in the hull at specific points, stubby, gyroscopic jets, known as Revolfins, directing the magic in whatever way is needed to change direction or speed, allowing me to accelerate, decelerate, even go in reverse, on top of steering left, right, up or down.

With such effortless responsiveness, it takes barely a handful of minutes to bring my Devil Hunter into a berth. Mooring ropes are flung onto the skydock, and Dana helps me lash them into place on the bollards, the magical cradle of arcanite iron taking over the suspension, allowing me to halt the flow of magic from the crystals. They have a great amount of stored energy, but they take time to recharge, like batteries. Wasting their power could be risky.

As soon as the mooring ropes are securely tied, I head towards a sturdy wooden building near the end of the suspended pier. A sign above the door reads “Harbourmaster’s Office”. Pushing on it, I find the door opening easily. Stepping in, I see a long counter with a crew of men and women in business-like attire, all filing paperwork and stamping official-looking documents.

Approaching, I ask, “Hey there, I just docked my ship in one of the arcanite cradles. The one just over there?” I point. “I was wondering how much it costs to rent that berth for a while, I need to sort out some fixtures.”

One of the receptionists gets out of her seat and takes a look.

“Ah, you’re the captain of the Devil Hunter? Looks like one of those new crystal-powered airships… Alright, it’s 20 ducats a day, more if you need an arcanist to refuel it.”

I count out the coin. “Refuel?”

“That’s right. Arcanists can channel their magic more efficiently than almost any other type of mage, so we have a squad on the books for just that purpose.”

I make a note of that. If I’m planning to make frequent use of my new ship, it might be worth hiring an arcanist of my own...

Leaving the Harbourmaster’s Office, I check my map, looking for the Trade District, hunting for a specific building. Finding what I’m searching for, I spread my wings and take flight, diving off the pier, coasting through the air as I home in on my destination. Landing, I push the doors open and head into the structure….

An hour later, I emerge into the late-evening sun, grinning wildly, clutching a scroll of fine parchment in one hand. I start going through my in-game friends-list, contacting Harvenhaight, Marika and Sionnach, informing them of what I’ve just done. Then, taking off, I power through the air and return to my ship. Dana’s still hanging around, researching things that could help me out with being a captain.

Approaching her, I open the scroll, flattening it out on the gunwale.  “Dana? Would you like to… sign this?”

Leaning in, my girlfriend reads over the words inked on the inside of the scroll. Her eyes gleam, and she snaps her fingers. A quill pen appears in mid-air, and she snatches it, ink beginning to coat the nib as she scribbles on the pale, buttery parchment.

As soon as she finishes, the ink flashes, instantly drying and becoming an enduring, permanent mark.

I smile. “Welcome to the guild, love…”

Dana’s wide smile grows. “Seriously?  You made me Vice-Commander?? And I love the name you picked! The Wings of the Storm!”

I smile. “I feel like it’s thematically appropriate, after all. Lady Voltesse IS my deity, sooo…”

A subtle roll of thunder disturbs the evening, but the sky is clear. I guess she approves.

I roll the document back up. “We’re going to have to recruit a bunch of people. But, I do have a couple of rules. One, they MUST be able to fly, either by magic, or naturally.” I ruffle my feathers a little.

“Two, they’ve got to be good people. They can’t be assholes, jerks, or murdery edgelords. We want chill, cooperative people.”

Dana nods, thoughtfully. “Good job neither of us are streaming right now, or we’d have hundreds of applications already.”

I nod. “Yeah, I don’t really want to have to vet every single person, that’d take forever, and MY audience isn’t as big as yours!”

Asteria giggles. “Yeah, that’s a fact. Speaking of, what d’you wanna do now? We can spend a couple days outfitting this ship, or take it for a spin? There are so many places we could go with this!”

I giggle at my girlfriend’s enthusiasm. “Well, I think we should do a bit of recruiting, get some defences and supplies. I don’t think there’s much food or stuff aboard.”

Dana smiles. “I’ll leave the outfitting and stuff to you, let me handle the supplies! Maybe the Hephaestus Consortium will be able to help?”

I nod. Kissing her, I grin. “I’ll see you in a bit, okay? Don’t spend too much gold on groceries, okay? There’s no point wasting all the food if we don’t use it!”

“Yes, mom!” the Alv giggles, before stepping off the Devil Hunter’s gunwale, her glowing butterfly wings forming from sparkling motes of light. She flitters off, humming, her voice and figure disappearing as she descends. Taking a few deep breaths, I stretch, before getting on with the process of recruitment and refitting my ship.

In an hour, I have a crew of workers, mostly dwarves, attaching mounts and brackets to the deck in precise, neat motions.  Then, the weapons. Since there are no actual cannons, the Hephaestus Consortium crew fit a large harpoon-thrower to each mount, checking the swivel, making sure my guildmates will be able to aim in any direction if the need to repel boarders should ever arise.

The first to arrive of my potential recruits are a pair of humans in rich purple robes, chased with silver embroidery. Each bows. They look like twins, one male and one female. “Greetings, captain. You require an Arcanist in order to keep your vessel airborne? My sister and I are more than ready to begin at your discretion.”

I smile. NPC’s? Well, I wasn’t expecting that. But hey, if they’re ready and willing to work, I don’t see any reason for rejecting them.

“Welcome aboard, then, you two. What are your names, and do you have any other skills we might be able to utilize?”

 “I’m Tirran!” the girl responds.

“Farne. It’s an honour to enter your service.” The boy adds.

I smile. “A pleasure to meet you both. “I’m Kettrin, the, uh… well, I guess the Guildmaster for the Wings of the Storm. You can just call me Kettrin, though.”

While the Arcanists explore the ship, familiarizing themselves with the systems, I approach one of the work-crew leaders, arranging for them to install some bunk space in some of the empty cabins, while giving everyone as much privacy as possible. With the best will in the world, it seems the most people we’d be able to fit would be twenty bunks on each side, while keeping my cabin. Asteria and I can share that, though, so we’ll be able to fit… a total of forty guild-members aboard at any one time.

Once Tirran and Farne have returned to the main deck, I beckon them over. “So, we have one more thing to discuss.  Your pay. Now, as a guild, we’ll be working to earn money from either ferrying trade goods from one place to another, as well as providing support to other guilds. Let’s say they need reinforcements, or an extraction from a dangerous location? We’d help, in return for being rewarded. And, as part of the guild, you’d be paid, too, from whatever we earn. So, I don’t really know how much we’ll earn, so this month, I’ll pay you directly from my pocket. Do you know how much you’d be paid for keeping this ship in the air?”

The twins look at each other, before Farne answers. “Our services come as a pair. If we go with standard monthly wages… for the two of us to act as your Arcanists, it will cost you 730 ducats a month. I can promise, you WILL get your money’s worth. With two of us, you will always have one of us able to charge the crystals as we go, alternating to allow for resting. And, during battle, we can both be wherever needed.”

I pause, chewing my lip thoughtfully. Tirran’s face betrays a hint of nervousness, while her brother’s is impassive. Finally, I smile and toss a coinpurse to him. “Welcome aboard the Devil Hunter, then.”