Stargazer_hfy

91. Mikal Mines pt3

The travel magic kicked us out in a brightly lit white room.  It was very bright.  And very white.  Walls, floors, and ceiling, all white.  There were two features in the room.  The first was a pedestal, which held the dungeon core.  Between my party and the core, however, was a chair, and in that chair was one of the tentacle faced rats, like the ones we had faced in the entrance of the dungeon.

Except, I realized, it wasn’t.  It had th...

90. Mikal Mine pt2

The hallway to the left was filled with the insect things.  They were the size of a large dog, wingless, ugly, and blind.  Their primary weapons were scythes like a preying mantis, and a sonic attack that they could use every ten seconds.  But they were squishy, and we squashed through them quickly.  Fortunately the hallway was blessedly free of traps.

At the end of the hallway was one of the bug creatures that was slightly larger than the rest, but although it had p...

89. Mikal Mine

Despite my repeated protests that it was irrelevant, Joe was quite insistent upon reading up on what information was publicly available about the dungeon and its bosses.  Even though the entire layout of the dungeon had apparently changed due to the trap he had stepped on, and despite the fact that we were encountering a type of monster never before seen in this dungeon, he still seemed to think that the outdated information was relevant.

The original dungeon was a bit of a labyrin...

88. Declaration

My Dusk Guard switched out with my Midnight Guard after we left my father in law’s house.  Luke of London and Peter of Yorkshire maintained their positions as the veterans of the guard, while the remaining four spots were filled with Travelers who lived in Asia, apparently.  I had no issue communicating with them thanks to the system’s robust translation magics, and according to my friends in <Peasant’s Revenge> it was actually a significant relief to offload this partic...

87. Mother pt. 2

“It’s good to see you,” I said.  “I missed you, Mother.”

“I missed you as well,” she said once we had parted.  “And I have been so worried ever since the gruesome events with Nial Kingslayer.  I wanted to return immediately to comfort you, but Valerio has pointed out how dangerous of a move that would have been.  Repeatedly.  Every single time I so much as think of returning home he’s there, cautioning me against the dangers of travel ...

86. Mother

Once I had finished my massive backlog of messages – a task which was only possible by filtering out effectively thousands from Travelers I had never met and mass deleting them – I played with the settings before finding out that I could prevent most people from sending me mail unless they’d actually encountered me in the world by simply clicking an inconveniently placed box.  So I clicked the seven hells out of that box.

Why wasn’t that box clicked by default?

Annoye...

85. Mail

Prowlhaven was not the city I was expecting it to be.  There was nothing wrong with it.  Quite the opposite, it was actually quite beautiful and well built.  But I had often heard it called ‘Zhesa city’s little sibling,’ which had caused me to expect it to look more like home.  It didn’t.

The streets of Zhesa were almost all cobblestone.  Prowlhaven’s were packed earth.  Few buildings in Zhesa city proper were shorter than three stories, and they ...

84. Liecha

After talking so much about how Eolstree was just like Yuikon, I was a little surprised when the protection of the teleportation magic faded and I was standing in a magic circle that was not nearly as elaborate as the one on the Yuikonese side of the journey.  A middle aged avian-man was administrating the receiving platform, not that he had much to do aside from directing the arrivals away from the magic circle before the next travelers arrived.  All of the actual magic was done on...

83. Travel

Dungeon Daughter Core (Epic, Undead)

Level

55-60

Uses

1 / 1

My friends exchanged confused looks when I produced the core, and I realized that they might not actually know what it was.  I hadn’t flashed them around before hand, and only Tarisha and Laurant had actually seen me handling them.

“It’s a dungeon core,” I explained.

“Yeah, we figured that,” Phil said.  “But, well, are you sure it’s a good idea to use one?  Your...

82. Wrap-up

Aside from Daemon, Tarisha, and Phil, I also handed out five more official positions.  Most importantly for my purposes, I appointed Sellamander as North Shire’s auditor, as he was the Traveler with the most experience in finance.  He protested that he wasn’t a forensic accountant, but ‘he did know a guy.’  In general I just gave him broad authority to investigate the debt situation and look for proof of Arkan’s corruption.  I promised Sellamander, and any subcon...

81. Appointments

It wasn’t a complicated quest.  I pushed it to all of my associated quest givers, removed any reputation requirements, and generally made it as simple as possible.  The only requirement was that the Traveler have the [Black Rosary], which was apparently the name of the item low level bandits had gotten for participating in the battleground instead of being marked with [Brand of Sin].  And to complete the quest, they simply turned it in to the Temple of Thedum in Ebbyvale for ...

80. Court

I’m not certain how I would have reacted had Tarisha not warned me in advance that she would be in attendance.  Not very well, probably.  Even forewarned, I was forced to clench my fists during her introduction.  She was the only Traveler in attendance with an aura of red, although it was fainter than I was expecting.  She didn’t have the marks of the [Brand of Sin] on her face, and I don’t think she had been actively completing quests that would have earned her nega...

79. Fallout

The Fast Travel system kicked me out next to the nexus point in Eastmill.  I dropped a few sentences in guild chat to let everyone know that I was alright, that I was tired, and that I was planning to hide and rest for a few hours before dealing with the aftermath of the battleground.  They were, perhaps understandably, still very excited and confused.  Most of them had participated, and a lot of the discussion seemed to be speculation over what the rewards were going to be, sp...

78. Fog of War, pt2

My allies that were trapped inside the manor rallied, and we gave the bandits hell when they tried to retreat outside.  Whether they had realized that I was outside, or they were simply trying to reclaim their spawn points before we shut them all down, I don’t know.

My group of almost twenty managed to claim Bandit Spawn Point 2 after a brief battle against a force of nine bandits, but we lost two.  One of our mages, and a warrior.  Unfortunately, we had only just manag...

77. Fog of War

77. Fog of War

The throne room was not the only spawn point for the Battle of Mooncrest Manor.  There were five other rooms in the manor, and a spot outside, in which my teammates zoned into the battleground, for a total of about three hundred Travelers.  The bandits seemed to have an equal number of travelers and spawn points, although all of them started outside, forcing them to battle their way in.  If my teammates were smart, it shouldn’t have been hard to barrica...

76. Preparation

A small clock in the corner of my vision counted down to the beginning of the battle.  I was back in Zhesa castle.  Or at least the fake version of it that had been created in the lobby for me.  My childhood home which I had accidentally destroyed.  I was returned exactly where I had been when I’d separated from my grandfather’s shade, but the throne room was empty for the moment.

Fifteen minutes.  That was how long I had to prepare.  But r...

75. Event

“I suppose this is where I’ll take my leave then,” Thomas said as we walked through the empty halls of the plundered manor.  “I’m very glad to have had the chance to meet with you under happier circumstances than my previous visits, Hail.”

“Um, sure.  You can stop by any time,” I said, scratching the back of my neck.

“If only I could,” The administrator said, sighing.  “As I said, my coworkers dislike it when I break the fourth wal...

74. Quest Writing

I spent hours playing with the new system, and I was almost giddy with my new options.  I was able to see a full list of everyone who had any Reputation with me, and was almost staggered by how many travelers were on that list.  I recognized less than one percent of the names.  After a bit of investigation, and through my questioning of Thomas, I learned that many of the Travelers who were on that list had never actually interacted with me directly, but had a signi...

73. Objectives

73. Objectives

“I honestly don’t even know where to start,” I said, looking at all of the options which opening my new menu had brought up.  There were just so many of them, and they all looked so promising.

“I suggest you start with [Objectives],” Thomas said.

I quickly found the option and selected it.  A new menu came up.  There was an option to add a new objective, but to my surprise the space under ‘current objectives’ was blank.

“...

72. Throne

72. Throne

The Mooncrest manor was a mile outside of Ebbyvale, and riding Shadow along the path that led to it was pleasant in the evening air.  Tarisha was with me, while the majority of my other friends were busy elsewhere.  After the battle with the constable, a veritable wave of locals had descended upon the players and began issuing local quests.  Everyone was very eager, gobbling up as many as they could.  I encouraged them through guild chat, as most of the ...

71. Finances.

Author's Note: Sorry that this wasn't out earlier.  I'm trying to get a chance to get a backlog for RR again, but I'm still somewhat distracted IRL.  Right now I'm struggling just to keep up with the scheduled releases.

The Steward, Arkan, took a moment to look surprised at my announcement, and then he quickly schooled his expression into one of calm control.  He set his pen down on the desk, stood from his chair, straightened his suit, and bowed deeply.  He was a ...

70. Citizens’ Arrest.

The party of glorified messengers set out in high spirits at around the same time that Laurant, Phil, and the rest of the gang emerged from the constabulary’s holding cells slash dungeon.  Phil informed me that they had released all but five of the prisoners, keeping only the three men accused of murder and two more who, although they were not accused of anything heinous, would not swear that they would return to answer for the lesser crimes of which they were accused. &nb...

69. Tournament

Authors Note: Sorry about the absence.  I kind of got hooked on a few stories and got behind in my writing.  I'm trying to get back on schedule.

“You’re going down, Ice-Man,” Lyra said, facing her opponent head on, psyching herself up for their final confrontation.

“In your dreams, Harlot,” came the answering taunt.  ‘Ice-man,’ or Gregory, was a burgeoning [Cryomancer], while his opponent was some sort of rogue.  Normally, in a duel, Lyra would ...

TQG 68

68. Investigation

[Battle Cry] is an ability common to [Warriors] and many of their subclasses and advanced classes.  It provides a morale boost to the [Warrior]’s allies, while simultaneously decreasing the morale of the opponents.  It is therefore, technically, an attack.  Using an ability like that inside of a city, town, or village, was therefore somewhat against the law, although the fine would likely only be a few silver.

Still, it should have gotten some ...

TQG 67

67. Arrival

The cry of a wyvern alerted me that Tarisha had finally located me.  She swooped down in my path, and I pulled Shadow to a stop.  Surprisingly, Corinth was riding double with her in the saddle that she had modified to accommodate me.  We dismounted to exchange greetings, and I noticed something upsetting.

“Tarisha, you’ve lost a level,” I said.

She hung her head.  “Were you not told?  I am very sorry, Lord Hail, but I failed the...

TQG 66

66. Irvine

I was pulled out of my post-victory reverie by a sound from the stables.  I turned, ready to grab my sword back out of my inventory, but the stableboy identified himself by way of an unmanly squeak, and I relaxed slightly.

“Come on out.  It’s over, I think,” I said, and the towheaded lad emerged from his hiding place.  He was twelve or thirteen, I judged, and I wondered whether that made him younger or older than me.  After all, although my s...

TQG 65

65. Bathwater

The silent black whirlwind of the nexus appeared in the center of the village as I approached it, and when I finally reached it I received the notification that I had gained a new Recall Point, and that the Fast Travel network was once again available.  I sighed in relief, but I was in no hurry to leave the small village I’d arrived in moments ago.  I had already passed its name on to the guild, and it was here where I would meet up with my protectors once mo...

TQG 64

64. Departure

“The saddle is unworthy of him,” I commented as I finished cinching it in place.  It was simple leather, utilitarian and unappealing to the eye.  “Shadow deserves a mastercrafted saddle.  Black leather adorned with silver, I think.  And inscribed with the seal of his rider.”

The horse nickered as though in agreement with my statement.

“Well, if you don’t like the saddle, then you can damn well buy the replacement yourself,” U...

TQG 63

63. Shadow

I threw the final shovel full of dirt onto the last grave, packing the loose dirt down.  I had been a captive of my great uncle for three days now, and I was not enjoying the experience at all.  I had finally given in and eaten the food that he gave me after his repeated assurances that, although my [Detect Poison] spell lit up when I cast it, the poison in the porridge was too weak to kill anyone over level ten.  That did not make the [Flatulence] or the [St...

TQG 62

62. Auroras

“Rain knew, of course,” Auroras said.  We sat in the small room in the back of the temple where, when this place had been populated, it would have had clergy requiring a place to eat their meals.  He had poured a goblet of wine for both of us, but [Detect Poison] had lit up when I cast it, so of course I hadn’t touched mine.  “He was the first person I told when the mantle came to me.  This was just before he had ascended to the throne himself, ...