Aegis Online

The only sounds other than birds and chattering tree-dwelling beast, and the occasional far-off roar of a wyvern, are those of my wings beating the air into submission and keeping me aloft.  Asteria’s to my right and slightly above, and I keep my eyes fixated on the forest below, hunting for any sign of something untoward.

 

There’s an axe, cast aside almost carelessly, as if whoever’d owned it had simply discarded it without a second thought. It’s starting to develop little divots of rust, and the handle is slimy with mildew.

There’s a cast-off helmet there, a short distance away, the metal speckled with more corrosion. “Looks like we’re heading the right way as best I can tell. Sorry for putting our hunting trip on-hold for now…”

Dana’s rich, dry laugh rang out from behind me as I took to the air again, leaving the strewn equipment behind. “Not a problem, cutie. I’m just having fun spending time wi’ my adorable girlfriend. And I didn’t know this quest was a thing. Although, if I know my audience, we’d best keep quiet about this. A fair few would come here just to see if they c’n ruin something for others.”

I shudder. “I’ve never understood that mentality. Why play a game, something for fun and enjoyment, JUST so you can ruin it for other people? It’s so… pointless, and honestly rather pathetic. And we both know someone like that, hmmm?”

We share a long, amused look. We say, simultaneously, ““RODNEY/REUBEN!””

 

The sun moves into the afternoon phase of the day, and the Black Peaks seem to loom a little more, as if the sun’s movement has caused the mountain range to stir in annoyance. Finally, down below, I spot something. A heap of rocks, piled high in a sort of oval dome. Dana gasps when I point it out to her.

 “It’s not just a pile a stones, my love. That’s a cairn. A type of old Celtic grave. Someone’s buried here…”

I swoop slowly down, my smart and beautiful girlfriend in tow, and, upon landing, a howl fills the air from nearby. Staying calm, I lay down my shield and swordspear, and reach into my inventory tab, selecting the wine. Approaching the ancient burial site, I kneel in front of it, as the sounds of branches creaking and footfalls break the recently-shattered silence as a snarl rolls in from up ahead.

Dana makes to draw her blade, and I hold a hand up. “Let’s not start with violence, love. I want to see if we can settle this with a combination of words and alcohol.”

As a pair of gleaming eyes loom through the underbrush, I raise the bottle, and pop the cork with one gauntleted hand. The eyes narrow, then go wide, as I swirl the bottle, the scent of the wine beginning to fill the glade. For Dana and I, we can only get a hint of the aroma. For our mysterious host, however, the scent must be much, much clearer. The snarl turns into a whimper, and, from out of the bushes, lopes a huge, proud wolf, its fur as pale as newly-fallen snow, eyes of stark gold fixed on me. Its tail is hanging low, but it doesn’t seem aggressive any more.

“Where… where did you get that…?” A voice comes, but it’s from not Dana or I. the massive wolf, about the size of a carthorse, pads closer and sit on its haunches, eye fixed on me.

I hold up the bottle, before speaking. “We were hailed by the guards of a community near here. I assume they intruded upon this place and you drove them off, am I right?”

The huge lupine head lowers. “You speak the truth. Those wretches started to cut the trees, and even my warning howls did not deter them long. They returned in greater number, so I bit and clawed until they ran away again.”

I smile. “And yet, you did not kill them, when you very easily could have. Why?”

The head rises again, and an unmistakeable tone of pride fills the voice. “My master was never fond of unnecessary bloodshed. Even now, I still hold the values he bestowed upon me. And you… you have his favourite drink in your hands… why did you bring it here?”

I shrug. “I may have been asked to sort out the problem, but I’d rather solve it peacefully. And, when I asked around from some very wise people, they gave me the information I needed. If I can convince the people to stop logging in this area, will you leave them alone?”

The massive head lowers again. “This place is MINE. They can cut trees wherever else they please. But if they cut here, the next time, I will go for the kill.”

I look up at Dana as she purses her lip, chewing lightly on the bottom one. She’s deep in thought, and I turn back to the wolven entity.

“I will ensure that your territory is undisturbed. But, if I may suggest, could we not… move your master to a safer place, where he could rest in peace forever?”

The beginning of a snarl cuts off as the giant head tilts. “You wish to take my master’s remains… and place them elsewhere? Where would you even take his bones?”

I smile. “I have a good friend, a little ghost named Duchess Dorothea Trevalli. She has an estate in Vassim, and I think she’d be more than happy to accommodate a request like this.”

The wolf rises and begins pacing, its tail swishing as it contemplates. I ask Dana, “Can you get in touch with someone working on Dorothea’s estate? I need to ask her if she would allow us to inter a fallen hero in her family’s cemetery.”

Dana nods and starts using her communication spell to get in touch with someone. I watch our lupine host patrolling as it debates its options. A few minutes later, Dana touches my shoulder and nods. “She says she’d be more than happy to. I heard her yelling about getting a place of honour ready.”

I wait for the wolf to give me its answer. It slowly comes to a halt, turning its head to face me. “I…. accept your offer. I will allow you to unearth my master. But first…”

The wolf’s head lowers, its jaws opening as it draws near. I stay still, holding a hand out to reassure Dana. The massive jaws close around the neck of the bottle of Faithful Hound. Tilting its head back, the wolf drains the large bottle in moments, before letting the empty bottle thump to the ground. Sitting back on its haunches once more, the wolf throws its head back and lets out a howl, even louder than the one we heard upon our arrival here.

With the wolf’s permission, I start pulling the rocks away, revealing the earth beneath, then, with the point of my swordspear, I begin digging, carefully. In the span of about thirty minutes, I’ve managed to excavate a skeleton, remarkably well-preserved thanks to the armour, a suit of chainmail forged from banded rings of copper, the tarnished metal having kept any parasites or the like from really getting a hold on the smooth white bone.

I gently remove one of the wyvern hides from the two I’d hunted, Dana nodding as she hands it to me, and lay the bones of the beastmaster hero on it, rolling it up around the corpse. I ask the wolf, “Do you know how to return to Vassim from here? We have an airship, but I have no idea how we can get you aboard…”

The enormous, carthorse-sized wolf inclines its head. “I remember. My connection to my master’s remains endures. I can find him wherever he rests.”

I nod. Then, we will go and report to the guards that they are allowed to resume, RESPECTFULLY, their work.  Then, we will make our way to the Trevalli estate and inter your master in his new home.”

The wolf rises, taking a final look around, before loping away into the woods, to follow when we depart.

Asteria and I return to the village and explain. The guard’s face blanches as we reveal the reason the woodcutters were being mauled, and practically throws the money to us, as a series of loud footfalls strike the earth behind me. The massive wolf lowers its head, hot breath condensing on the guard’s helm, and growls, “please accept my apologies for the trouble I have caused. The matter is settled. My master and I will depart to a safe place, and you may take timber, without stripping the forest of all life…”

It stalks away, and I smile. “The wolf’s a little grouchy, but I think it means well.”

Without pausing in its lope, the wolf growls, “I heard that, feathered one.”

Giggling, I crouch, flaring my wings, before I leap up, taking off in a swirl of leaves and dust, as Asteria follows, as I bear my burden back to the Devil Hunter, and giving the order to make way back to the capital.

 

As my ship bobs gently above the Trevalli estate, I stride to the gunwale and leap off, using my wings to get to the ground as carefully as I can. Upon landing, I’m immediately telekinetically hugged by an adorable spectre.

“Lady Kettrin! You have arrived, I’m so glad you’re okay! Please, this way, I’ve arranged for a perfect site in my family’s cemetery! Come, come this way!”

I nod to some of the Argonauts around the estate. The place looks amazing now, thanks to the hard work everyone’s put in to restore the mansion and grounds.

Following the glowing, transparent Duchess, I make my way through the neatly-trimmed lawn, through the wrought-iron fence around the Trevalli family plot, the gates standing open. Guided by the spectral noble, I find the open sarcophagus, and, lowering the wyvern-hide-bound remains, I re-inter them, two-handing the lid of the tomb closed. A howl breaks out, and I hear people scrambling.

I bellow, “HOLD! DO NOT HARM THE WOLF!” a couple of Argonauts trip over their feet, stumbling, as the enormous lupine being lopes in through the main gates of the Trevalli estate. Approaching me, the huge beast lowers its head respectfully.

“Thank you for your aid. I cannot offer a reward except for this. Should anything intrude upon this place, I will awake to defend it. And now… I will rest beside my master, once more.”

 With those parting words, the huge wolf climbs up onto the lid of the sarcophagus and… turns to stone. I stare, and then incline my head, placing a hand between the loyal creature’s ears. “Thank you. You are a credit to your master.”

 

I smile and thank Dorothea, trying to hug her as usual, making her giggle. Then, I head up, back to my ship to go get Dana and take her back down so we can have a look around. Wandering through the halls, I smile. There are paintings of the Trevalli family, polished pine-wood flooring laid with gorgeous scarlet carpet, beautifully painted walls and skirting boards, even the staircases are fully refurbished, not a single rotten timber or out-of-place beam in the entire place. The kitchen is immaculate, with shining pans and perfectly-honed knives in blocks and cutting board neatly stored ready for use.

I smile and kiss my girlfriend. “Thank you so much for arranging this… Dorothea deserves a little happiness, and having her home restored to its former glory must mean a lot to her.”

The woman in my arms smiles, and I feel my heart melt a little more than usual.

“It’s absolutely not a problem. I’m more than happy to have instigated this whole thing. Turns out, most people we know in this game are good folks, after all.”

I smile. “Thanks for showing me where the wyvern hunting spot is. I think I can hunt those in my own time. I should also do some exploring, too. I’ve spent most of my time in Vassim, after all! I wanna see more of what this world has to offer!”

Dana grins. “I’ll let you do that on your own, if you like? I have to start streaming in about ten minutes, so I’ll have to dip for now, but I’ll see you later, okay?” she kisses me, before we make our way out to the main lawn. Asteria’s ‘game-face’ takes form as she slips into her streamer persona, and I take off before she can turn on her streaming orb.

Taking the Devil Hunter back to the foothills of the Black Peaks, I start my own stream.

“Hi, guys, it’s been about a week since I last streamed, I’m sorry, but real life got in the way. I’ve been preparing for something, though, when I had time. The new expansion’s dropped, and there are more places to explore! I’m gonna be doing some level-grinding today, as well as making some money! These wyverns are worth a fair amount of both, thanks to my awesome girlfriend Asteria teaching me about this spot!”

I throw my arms wide. “Also, yes, to anyone who guessed the owner of that airship as me. I’m the captain of my very own airborne vessel now! Welcome aboard the Devil Hunter!”

I give a quick tour, making sure not to intrude on Ginger’s quarters, or those of the twin Arcanists, before grinning. “Anyway, I bet you all want to see me get my butt kicked by a wyvern or two, so… let’s go!”

I dive off the side of my ship, plunging down as I flex my wings, as a wyvern circles below. Pulling my swordspear out of hammerspace, I bring it down like an executioner’s blade, aiming for the neck, a few inches below the base of the skull. With a loud thwacking sound, there’s a slight marriage issue as the wyvern’s head divorces its body, the exp. rushing into me as I follow the body down, landing on its back and ‘surfing’ it down, cackling the whole time as Ravi, Mia, and Cassie prowl my chat for troublemakers.

As I descend, I contact Ulged, asking him to send me a skinning knife that can cut through wyvern hide, and a pickaxe too. I also ask him to send me the location of a mineshaft or cave that has ore and gems available. The more valuable loot I can get, the more money I’ll be able to make. The sight of Dorothea’s beautiful home has ignited the start of a burning desire for a place of my own in my heart.

About a minute later, the knife and pickaxe I’d requested appear in my mailbox, and I send over the money I’d made on the sidequest I’d completed for the village guard. Then, a map appears, with a couple of marks on it, neither of which is too far from me. One has ‘Shattered Pass Mine’ under it, with (gold, silver, mythril, Alvenite), and a few other names. They must be the resources I can mine there.

The second mark has a name, too. The ‘Prosperity Hills mineshaft’. In brackets, there’s a short list of names, just like under the Shattered Pass mine’s.

(Sapphire, black sapphire, emerald, ignisite, diamond, bloodstone, champagne temhesite), and a couple of more common ones like quartz and the like. Perfect! I should be able to bring all these resources to Ulged. He might be willing to buy the metals from me, and I could see if Trinity would be interested in the gemstones!

 

Chat is currently chanting “One hit kill! One hit kill! One hit kill!” at my single-stroke dispatch of the smallish wyvern. I drop to one knee and draw my new skinning blade, beginning the messy process of skinning the body, then gripping each fang and claw with my fingers. My enhanced strength allows me to simply twist them free without the need for pliers, and I stash the hide, claws and fangs in my inventory, spotting the next wyvern incoming, wings out. I snatch up my swordspear and draw my arm back, pitching it at the centre of its chest. It swerves to avoid it, but I use Recall and the blade rotates in midair, catapulting itself back towards me and striking the back of its shoulder region, sending it careening down gracelessly as the left wing goes limp. I vault on to its back as it flounders, grabbing the haft of my weapon and twisting it free, wrenching it out in a gout of dark ichor, stabbing and slashing at the already-made wound, trying to avoid damaging the wyvern’s body too much. As it flails, it does manage to clout my several times over my head, my invisible-helm taking the brunt of the assault, although one tail-slap succeeds in connecting with my elbow, the bone creaking as I feel my arm go limp.

“Ah, fuck! Yep, that’s broken. Ow. Okay, take this!” I drive the point of my swordspear deep, and the big winged lizard goes limp, thrashing weakly for a few moments, and then lying still. As I drop my greatshield, my left arm broken, I activate Strength of the Ancients, letting the regeneration effect start knitting my injured arm back into shape.

Once my arm’s fixed, I begin the process of skinning the second wyvern and defang- and declawing it, squirrelling the second bundle of dragonoid parts away in my inventory, then taking off again before I get ambushed a second time.

 Now that I have three hides and four wyverns-worth of claws and fangs, I decide to head for the Shattered Pass mine, following the map as I enter the cleft in the indicated rockface, storing away my spear and drawing that battered holy mace from my inventory. It seems quite damaged, and I wince. Shit, I should’ve gotten it fixed. Hopefully I won’t run into anything too dangerous in the relatively narrow passages of the mineshaft…

 

I push deeper, letting my wings light up as I activate Radiant Glow, the shadows retreating as the warm golden glow washes over the walls of the mineshaft, a few rats skittering away from my intrusion into the mines. The main shaft is wide enough that I don’t need to put my shield away, and more shafts split off from the mainline one. I have no idea where I should start with, and I draw a cheap dagger from my inventory, scratching a clear and recognizable mark into the wall every few paces.

 

There’s no sign of any mineral deposits here, since this is an active mine, but I move deeper, following paths almost at random, scratching the same symbol over and over into the mineshaft wall, before pausing. There’s a glimmering sheen running along part of the wall here, peeking through cracks in the solid stone. Drawing the pickaxe I’d purchased from Ulged, I begin cautiously striking the stone around the glimmering seam of metal, removing some of the cracked stone around it, a smile starting to grow across my face.

With care and time, I manage to expose enough of the metal that I can start mining it out of the wall, starting as high as I can get in order to bring out as much as I can, finding out upon collecting a few chunks that what I’ve been mining is silver. I don’t take the whole seam, just somewhere in the estimate of about a quarter of the surface metal, before shoving my pickaxe back into my inventory, moving on with a dozen hunks of silver ore.

More scratched symbols, more passages, and more rats. I do find a second silver seam, and mine a portion of it as well.

Deeper and deeper, I push onward, and then stop. Even with the golden glow from my wings, I can tell THIS seam of ore is a different colour, with a strange lustre to it. I clear away the surrounding rock and get to work, prying chunks of gleaming ore from the stone, gathering it up and smiling. “Yesss, it’s not just more silver!”

This is a vein of Alvenite, and I take a little more from this seam than I did from the silver veins, since this is the first time I’ve found this stuff. Stockpiling the quantity of metal, I hunt around a little longer, but don’t find much more than a few small chunks of gold. Deciding not to push my luck, I make a final mark on the wall and turn round to head back, exiting the mine into the late-afternoon sunlight, letting the Radiant Glow fade and shaking my wings, trying to shake off all the dust and stone chips.

“Pththtb! Fwegh! Yuck, so dusty in there, guys!”

I groan, “And now I’m gonna be heading back into another mine, so… yay, more dust and stone for me…”

 Taking off, I head back to my airship to deposit the wyvern bits in the cargo hold, storing the claws in a box, the fangs in another, and setting the trio of hides on a shelf. Then, I offload the gold, silver, and Alvenite into a series of small casks. Looking around, I spot a small over-the-shoulder satchel hanging from a hook on the wall, and take it.

“I’ll return this once I’m done in the second mine!”

I exit the cargo hold, sitting on the gunwale, swinging my legs over the edge, and then tipping forward, tumbling down towards the forest, and spreading my wings, flying towards the Prosperity Hills mine, hoping that my luck with the jewels will be better.

This mine is more of a conical pit, spiralling down into the earth, with small dark holes in the walls, entrances into different shafts. I start somewhere down the midpoint, lighting my wings up once again, and finding that the earth is only a surface layer. A few metres into the tunnel, it turns to stone, and I follow the gently-sloping shaft. It terminates in a MASSIVE open subterranean chamber, winking pinpoints of light sparkling all over the walls and ceiling.

“Ooooooh, this could be profitable in the extreme, if even half of these are actually gems and not just boring-ass quartz.”

I make my way towards the nearest of the sparklies, producing the pickaxe and gripping it right below the head, tapping carefully around the sparkling thing, managing to free it from the confines of the rock around it. Prising the small, shiny, glittering thing free, I stick it into my inventory, and then gasp.

“Whoa… I just mined a diamond! Gonna look for more shinies!”

I take the gem out and slip it into the small satchel that I brought specifically for my gem collection, before flitting over to the next sparkly, tap-tap-tapping until the second gemstone falls into my palm. I stash it and move on. “I could check my inventory every time, but I feel like it’s faster to collect a bunch and store it away and check them all out once I’m done!”

I natter idly with my chat, my three mods working, and I remember to inform them that their pay is being sent automatically, thanking them for running my chat, mining and collecting several handfuls of gemstones. When I check, I find that, out of the thirty-nine minerals I’d gathered, not including the diamond, I’ve collected, I have four sapphires, three emeralds, three black sapphires,  15 quartz crystals, five ignisite, four champagne temhesite, three bloodstone, and two more diamonds!

I giggle, holding up my miniature satchel, listening to the uncut gemstones clinking and clacking softly against each other.  Deciding not to push my luck, I jog back out of the mineshaft, taking off the moment I’m out in the daylight. I don’t particularly feel like getting stream-sniped. The second I take off, I hear swearing and look down to see a few arrows sailing harmlessly past beneath me.

A group of players look up at me furiously. I wave mockingly down at them and start powering upwards, faster than they can get a lock on me. A bolt of lightning sparks past, and I giggle as it tickles lightly. Once I’m well out of range, I fly at top speed towards the Devil Hunter, boarding and rushing towards the cargo hold and placing the satchel full of gems safely in one of the empty boxes. Then, I head for the wheel, giving the command to depart, and turning us about in order to make full speed for Vassim.

 

 

By the time I get my ship back to the dock, I check the time. It’s evening in both the real world AND the game. Ulged and Trinity are still online, but my stream’s been going for about four hours, not counting the transit back to the city. I turn to my streaming orb, and announce, “Okay, guys, that’s going to be a wrap for tonight, but I’ll be on again in a couple days! Now, I’ll see you all… In the skies!”

I do a mock take-off as I cut the stream, before heading down and clearing out all the materials I’d gathered, from metal to gems to wyvern parts, stashing the whole lot in my inventory, and  fly down towards Bloodbath & Beyond, knocking on the door, and pushing it open as I step inside at a hollered greeting.

“Hi, Ulged, hey Charcoal!” I greet the gnoll and his massive furry crocodilian, before turning to the jeweller’s workstation, looking for Trinity. The nyan-binary catperson is putting the finishing touches to a piece of jewellery, their tail swishing slowly, and I wait for them to finish up with their work. “So, people, I’d like to see if you’d be interested in buying some materials off me. I have some metals, hides and bones, and a quantity of assorted gems!”

Ulged smiles. “Ah, some spoils o’ war! Ah guess ye checked oot th’ mines Ah told ye aboot?”

I nod. “I did, yes. Anyway, shall we head to the back for a minute so I can lay out everything and you can both pick the things you like and make offers?”

Aye, sounds guid!”

“Yeah, I’ll take a look!” Trinity adds, and they follow Ulged and me into the back room of the store. There’s a large table covered in thick sheet metal. I start at one end.

“First, three wyvern hides, and four wyverns-worth of fangs and claws.”

I lay out the hides, neatly rolled, and pile the claws and fangs in rows next to the hides.

“Next, silver ore.” The chunks of unrefined silver metal are lined up with a gap between the nuggets and the wyvern bits.

“Now the Alvenite.” The hunks of greenish metal, the same one that Asteria’s sword was made from, are arrayed next to the silver.

“Gold.” A handful of butter-yellow chunks of ore.

“And gemstones. Rough and uncut.”

I lay out the gems in small clusters, each one a different type. The pile of quartz is the largest of the group.

Trinity’s ears perk up and their tail lashes eagerly as they approach, pulling a jeweller’s loupe from their belt, picking up each of the gems in turn and examining them closely.

 

 “Now, these are some excellent jewels. And quite the variety, too! I can see a lot I can use! The black sapphires alone are worth 10,000 ducats each! The quartz, I’ll pay 1,500 ducats for the lot. The emeralds… 2,000 each. The ignisite, 5,000 each. The temhesite, 500 ducats each. The bloodstone, 1,500 apiece. And the sapphires, 2,500 ducats each. The diamonds… those are 6,000 each.”

 

I run a tally through my head. The hoard of gems would earn me…

 

97,000 gold coins?! That’s… a lot! While I try to wrap my head around the massive amount, Ulged is performing his own examination for the wyvern materials as Trinity scribbles the valuations of the gemstones down on a scrap of parchment.

Finally, the huge gnoll raises his head. “Ah’ll gie ye 5,000 for each hide, and an extra 5,000 fer th’ claws and fangs, sound guid?”

An additional 20,000? That means… I’ll net a full total of 117,000 gold!

I stare. “I’ll take it! Both the gems and the wyvern materials are now sold. Is the metal of any interest?”

Ulged places a paw down on the Alvenite. “Ah’ll lay claim t’ this li’l stash. ‘Tis a great metal fer mekkin’ weapons and armour. This amount will go fer… 10,000.”

And Trinity smiles, adding their feedback. “I’ll take the silver and gold, too! That’ll bump my final offer up by… 8,000 for the silver and, since there isn’t a lot of gold, I’ll only be able to throw in 2,000 more for it.”

 

I let out a strangled noise. 137,000?!?! I’m… LOADED!

“Sold! For the whole lot, I’ll take the total of 137,000 ducats. That’s… way more than I was expecting, and I’m super happy with it! I’ll make sure to bring any other crafting resources to you both! Thank you so much for such a good deal!”

Ulged and Trinity place down bags of coin until the requisite totals have been met, and I transfer it all into my inventory. I’m going to want to get a strongbox, or safe, especially if I’m going to save up as much as I can.

Taking my leave and now laden with coin, I head outside, searching the nearby shops until I find a store that sells exactly what I want. I procure, for the commendable sum of 7,000 gold, a large safe, stashing it in my inventory and head back to my airship, entering the captain’s cabin and placing the safe in a corner of the room. Opening it up, I take the 130,000 gold I made in the last hour or so, and then empty the gold out into the safe, stacking the coins in neat pillars and shovelling them into the depths of the solid metal strongbox.

Once every coin is stored away, I can see that I still have space in the bottom compartment for more coin, and the upper shelf is empty. I could fit a fair number of jewels or small-but-valuable items, like rings, necklaces, bracelets and the like, made of precious metals and gems.

Smiling at the vast sum of glinting, buttery-smooth coins, stacked in gleaming towers, I shut the safe and lock it, storing the key in my personal effects tab in my inventory. That will prevent it from being stolen or dropped should another player kill me. That way, they won’t even have the chance of knowing that I have a safe filled with a lord’s ransom aboard my airship.

 

 I smile, activating the passive effect to temporarily hide my wings and make myself look human, and then climb into bed, laying back and closing my eyes. Time to log out and prepare for the next week of school…