Ludere online

Pag sighed, leaning against a massive tree as he slid down to a sitting position. He had been walking for what felt like several hours and everything hurt. Things he didn’t know could hurt much less from walking, hurt. He just had to find a safe area, but he was stuck fighting off well camouflaged snakes, angry birds that came hurtling at him from nowhere and giant centipedes that seemed to believe he was food. Which he most certainly wasn’t. All while wading through foliage in humidity that was thick enough you almost had to chew it to breathe. Then again that may just be all the flying insects that seemed to want to make his mouth their new home. When would they learn, it’s not free real estate? The thought that he should just log off, and try again tomorrow, had passed his mind at least a dozen times but he was determined to at least make it to a town or city to set a new spawn point before calling it quits. He had never been so frustrated with a game from the moment he had booted it up.

He couldn’t believe he had been shunted from the tutorial, purposefully or not, only to be chased out of his starting zone. How was he supposed to get started on his character now? With a rising sense of irritation he slapped at the leaves of the underbrush around him. Things had not gone well for him, even before he logged in. Had he adjusted something wrong or caused a glitch when he was customizing his settings?

The forest around him fell silent after a sudden air-rending shrill sending a chill down his spine. Whatever it was, it likely wasn't good. Should he stay where he was, or hide or run? The moments drug by with no changes, and silence stretched on around him. He slowly stood, his head swiveling to look all around as he did and he felt kind of foolish given he couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of him in any given direction thanks to the plant life. Except there, to his left. It almost looked like a break in the leaves. He waited, straining to hear anything as he held his breath. Still, nothing happened. With a deep breath he slowly took a few steps forward before sprinting towards what looked to be a clearing that was barely visible between the densely packed trees.

A deep rumbling shook the ground beneath his feet, and he stumbled at the sound of a thunderclap that reverberated deep within his chest like the time he had went to watch fireworks out on the lake and had been swimming when the first of them were shot off a floating barge. He landed hard against a tree, his foot having snagged on some detritus when he had looked up through the canopy for a better look at the sky. Odd streamers of darkness had filtered through the deep cerulean of the sky, distorted cracks seeming to follow in their wake. Pag blinked as a brilliant light suddenly exploding across the area. His screen faded to black, and white text floated forwards.

Pag cursed, remembering the warning the angry mob had given him then blinked at the suddenly drastically different environment, panic still rising in the back of his throat. The re-spawn notification had said he would be sent back to his faction's main capital. He had unpleasantly been told that if he went there, they’d kill him on sight until he had died ten times. If he remembered right you lost experience on death, could you drop to negative experience points? He swung his head around the darkened street. This did not look like the city he had started in and he didn’t think that the city could change this drastically from one district to another. Seeing no one, he dove into a narrow alley. “I’ve got to find the fastest route out of here, wherever here is.”

He muttered and gestured to bring up the map. His mind came to a sudden halt as he stared at his location. Somehow he was no longer in the Kingdom of Soohan? Now he was in the Kingdom of Draggor which looked to be on the other side of the continent. He glanced over and saw that he still held the title ‘Enemy of Soohan’. Maybe his spawn point was automatically changed because of the title? A small box popped up to his left and he glanced over.

>Player ProlixalParagon wishes to trade with you, do you accept?<

>Yes

Pag blinked and looked up. Letting out a high pitched shriek as he registered the form squatting eye level with him on a barrel, having seemingly appeared out of thin air.

The other player slowly blinked eyes like molten silver back at him like it was some kind of greeting. Pure white fur with veins of black marbling covered the vulpine form, their ears twitching slightly at the sudden loud noise. They gave him a slight wave and calmly gestured to the dialog box with what he took to be a smile. They couldn’t see it he knew, but as another player, knew where it would populate.

“Oh, uh. I have nothing to trade. Sorry.” Pag muttered sheepishly.

ProlixalParagon rolled their eyes, shaking their head as they tugged at their own leather armor with a leather gloved hand before they pointed at him. Pag glanced down, not sure what he was supposed to be seeing. Then he realized that all he wore was the makeshift underwear his character had from the customization process. Had he even started with basic clothing or had it been destroyed when he died? Heat prickled along his skin, and he was glad for the darkness. He tapped the yes button, and a new window opened. With a few gestures, ProlixalParagon dropped a few items into their window. Then finalized their end, waving at Pag to do the same with a toothy grin.

He accepted the trade. When Pag looked back up to thank the other player, they had already disappeared again. Odd, but who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth. Sighing a small huff, he opened his inventory to look over what he had. In doing so, he realized that the items had automatically equipped.

After considering it for a moment. He assumed that it was because his character both needed the gear, and lacked the room in his inventory to store them if they weren’t equipped. He looked down at himself, considering the thick woolen robes that now hung from his shoulders. Not too shabby, he almost looked like a low ranked wizard from a royal court. If said wizard had lost his hat, had a penchant for thick fur collars on their robes, and preferred to go sleeveless.

The fabric of the robes looked black, but he was unsure how likely it was due to the current level of darkness or if the fabric was actually that dark. A line of red circled both shoulders where the sleeves should have begun, while another line of red ran down the front of the robes. The boots were supple and hugged his feet. The rough leather gloves were thin enough that they didn’t hinder his movement while still providing warmth even though they only ran from wrist to the first knuckle of each finger. Both gloves had deep red crystals set in a silver metal on the back, just behind the knuckles. The thin red fabric belt that hung heavily around his waist seemed to be clasped together with a third red crystal. As he looked over the outfit he noticed ghostly characters embroidered into the red fabric and floating within the crystals. He pulled his inventory back up to take another look at the information then frowned. All the information for the items was missing, with nothing more than a row of question marks in each field. Though he did note that with the new gear he was now able to carry more than two items, now he could hold a whopping six items. There was another, seperate set of slots that he could only assume were slots for bags. He glanced at the question marks again and frowned. Perhaps he needed a skill or would have to take them to get appraised by some shop to find out any information about them?

A chill ran down his spine as he finally registered the bitter cold that hung over the area taking note of how his breath visibly exhaled in pale clouds, a stark difference to the clinging humidity of Soohan jungles he had died in just moments ago. He dismissed the inventory window again, a problem for future Pag to deal with. He glanced at the HUD to check local and real world time and debated what to do. If he logged out now he wouldn't have completed his first shift and he didn’t know if they would doc him for that. Considering all the hoops he had had to jump through to get an interview and all the testing they had put him through after being hired he didn’t want to risk getting fired. Especially not considering the pay and benefits that they offered from day one.

Pag moved around a bit where he sat to make himself comfortable and sighed. Taking his time to inspect the map as best as he could given the limited information it offered, it appeared there were a lot of things he couldn’t do without skills or items, before finally standing up and heading to a building that was marked as a tavern. As he approached the building it became brighter around him. Street lamps cropped up here and there, more so on the street corners, as houses with windows poured light onto vacant cobbled streets. Raucous laughter and jovial voices echoed out from the building as he approached it. Like any good fantasy game it seemed Ludere Online had taverns. Taverns were the best place to find information, jobs. Occasionally if you were lucky or the cloak and dagger sort you could even find coins. For now he would settle for information, if the events up to now were any indication Pag was not the lucky sort and was in desperate need of information.

Pag stopped, his hand just above the door knob. He considered what the reaction to a person like him would be if he just barged in, and with a sudden sinking dread, he pulled up his inventory to look at his coin count. He sighed, taking a step back from the door. He got the distinct impression just from his surroundings that loiterers would not be welcome and he would have to do a few jobs before he could even consider making a tavern his base. His thoughts were interrupted by the coarse dry wood of the door slamming into his face as it swung open. Stars blossomed across his vision, and he fell backwards. Landing hard on his rear, more pain blossoming at the impact. A line of fire exploded from his nose, and slowly trickled down over his lips to coat his chin.

When the stars cleared from his vision and he looked up, his eyes met with a very confused and obviously drunk man. The drunk man's hand was still glued on the door knob as he blinked blearily down at Pag sprawled on the street and took up most of the door frame, blocking the light from reaching Pag. Pag stared up at him, noting at the same time that the light spilling from inside that tavern seemed to be creating a halo of warm golden light around him. He fought back a wave of irritation as he looked up at the man. It had been his own fault for standing right in front of an outwards opening door.

“Sorry ‘bout that bro. Didn’t know you were there. Are you new to the game or just trying a new set up?” He asked as he stepped out of the door frame. Letting it close behind him and crouching down with a wobble. He held a hand out, and it took Pag a minute to realize he was offering to help him up, before he finally took it, accepting the pull to his feet.

“Ah, I'm new. Just logged in… erm not sure how long ago. It’s been a bit of a trip” Pag chuckled nervously as he gingerly felt at his nose, trying to think of how much time had passed. “I’ve looked at the clocks but it's still a bit confusing. Is there a better way to figure that out?”

The other player looked him up and down, his eyes widening slightly as the other player inspected Pag’s public status. His voice held obvious mirth and he leaned back against the wall of the tavern. “Just logged in today, and already made an enemy of your original faction? You’re not aiming to join those Group-C players are you? Time here runs a lot faster than out there so it’s understandable, the game will automatically notify you when your shift is up. Or if you have come in on a day you aren't scheduled for you can set an alarm to tell you how much time has gone. You can stay in longer up to a certain point, can't really recall exactly how long to be honest. I don’t really keep track of it, but long story short the system boots you off for safety and health so you don’t really need to track time unless you have a quest bound by time.”

“Good to know. Well. I either complained too loudly for one of the devs about the character creation process then got kicked out before I could figure anything out or there was a serious bug that kicked me out into the capital midway. Then without knowing it. I cast a fire spell that burned down a lot of what I assume were homes and businesses.” Pag grumbled, the last words coming out in a rush. “Good to know about the time thing though.”

The other player nodded in sincere understanding, wobbling a bit more. “Likely it was the complaining. That’ll do it. Sean’s very good at what he does and is very creative but a bit over sensitive to critique no matter how diplomatically it may be phrased. Don’t worry though, even with your race since you have that title you’ll be ok here. Prices may be a bit higher for you initially, but they won't actively hunt you. Do a few social quests and get some rep, it’ll be like you were born here and prices will drop. Draggor’s not a bad faction, just gets a bad rap because of the king and his advisor.” He stopped thinking for a moment then frowned. “I want to emphasize the social part of social quests. The mobs and stuff outside the city are tough for spell casters, tend to travel in literal mobs and can sneak up on you real fast. Unless you can get a team or guild to take you on it would be best to stay in the city until you hit level ten at least. This area isn’t geared as much towards casters like Soohan or the Lunar Empire zones are.”

“Thanks, I really appreciate the heads up. Sorry if I'm keeping you, but if you don’t mind can you tell me more about bases?” Pag asked with a weak smile.

The man nodded and glanced at the tavern before looking back at him. “You don’t want to make this tavern your base though. Too close to the docks. It has decent cheap swill and recreation type stuff like …. gambling. You know that sort of stuff” He coughed scratching his chin before speaking again. “Also the breeze off the water pulls in all the storms, stench and temperature. If it's storm season you will feel like you’re riding out a hurricane in a port-a-potty, if it's hot it’ll be like sleeping in a mobile home with no insulation or AC while surrounded by fish and wrapped in a wet blanket. Plus this is where most rogues get sent on their first quests. I’m no rogue but even I can tell the locks here are trash quality at best so anything you leave here in your room will be at risk.” He said as he pulled his cloak tighter around him. Guarding against exactly one of those no doubt.

Pag blushed furiously and tried to keep his voice steady as he shifted his weight foot to foot. “So where do you recommend setting up my base?”

“Well I’d start with one of the shrines here in town. Ilmas or Senos would be best; they are the most welcoming and least likely to have any prejudices based on race, then once you have enough coins try setting up in the Prancing Stag. A bit expensive with weekly rent, but it has all the amenities and fairly large quarters. Good hot baths too. They had a hot spring that they pump directly into the bathing rooms. Or there’s the Boars Boast, it’s near a butcher. So it's got a rough smell but it’s cheap and you get all you can eat meat for dinner. If you want to own a place here in the city you will need to become a citizen of the faction, get a lot of reputation or a great title. Preferably both if you don't want any limits on what section of the city you can buy in. If you want something that is more than that, say a plot of land, you will still need to have the stuff you’d need here in town but you can go to the foresters office and buy land or if you come across an old abandoned base like an old homestead or fort or something you can do what the squatters did in the gold rush and fix the place up then file the necessary papers to have it transferred to your name.`` He shrugged then smiled.

“Almost forgot, Screen name’s Pizzaboi, but call me Pizza if you want. System is about to boot me but I wanted to make sure I remembered to tell you that. If you need any help just message me. I know it seems silly that you can see screen names and I still introduced myself but now that I've told you my name I should be in your contact list. Can't get that just from inspecting players for their screen names. They gotta tell you, it keeps harassment down and prevents trolls. The shops that sell gear for magic classes are all up towards the castle or in the core. Though with gear like that I think you’ll be fine for a few levels. Unless you intend to go for a darker class build like a Necromancer, AbyssalSummoner, or something like that there aren’t many quest options right this minute. It’ll be dawn soon though, so you’ll be able to start a few social quests or find a class trainer if you want to stay in the city. You can also check the job board and collect some materials for merchants. Try to stick to the nearby fields if you do go out of the main city for the merchants unless you can get on with a full party. I think I already told you but just in case. There are the usual wolves, among other things, out there that hunt in packs. They can take any one below level 10 out no matter how good your gear or skills.”

"Watch your Hygieian Meter, especially around here. Things can get... strange... if it gets too low. Sure karma, and piety are important and all three lock or unlock some classes or quests but you really dont want to let the Hygieian meter drop too much." PizzaBoi stopped for a moment, swallowing back a belch with a grimace. “Oh, don’t forget to eat, it’ll affect your stats and eventually the way your character looks. Going too long without eating not only do you lose stuff like constitution and strength but you start to get gaunt, you’d end up looking like a dried up string bean. At the same time you don’t want to eat random junk, that can be almost just as bad as not eating and still affects your appearance. Ah, you know what. Here, take these coppers, Keep the pouch it adds to inventory size and can carry more than money. Go grab a bite before you start questing. Maybe catch a bit of sleep too if you can.” He said to Pag, giggling.

Pizza tossed Pag a small pouch as he stood straighter stretching. “I gotta head out, my shift is over and the system is incessantly warning me that I’m about to be booted so I’m going to log out and get my blood moving, get some real food and drink. See you ‘round kid.”

“I appreciate it, thanks for all the tips and information.” Pag said smiling.

With a slight wave Pizzaboi’s figure faded and disappeared in the wake of a small chime. Pag glanced down at the bag, opening it to check the contents. He frowned with a gulp before shoving it into a pocket in his robe. Good to know in game alcohol affected you the same as real alcohol, there was no way he had meant to give that much coin away. Right, he reminded himself, gift horses and all that. He looked around before pulling up the map, finding one of the temples. It seemed most of the temples for the known deities were clustered together.

Pag took a deep breath before starting to trudge in the direction of the temples, his footsteps and the quiet murmuring of his new robes unnervingly loud in the dark silence that hung over the city. His eyes roved over the buildings as he walked, noting how they became more uniform and their condition improved as he made his way down the road into a different district. Glancing up at the first shop sign to have words rather than just a pictograph he saw the beginnings of dawn. He groaned, doubting that they would allow him to sleep even after he arrived, it looked like he would be setting his base and then hunting down quests. Hopefully he’d get there in time for some free breakfast.

He picked up his pace, lightly jogging the rest of the way to the temple district as the first ray of dawn hit their spires and bounced off in radiant beams. Pag stopped to catch his breath and watch the play of light for a moment before looking over the temples and blushing furiously immediately gave a hell no to the temple of Ilmas. If the statues and stained glass were any indication that was not a place he wanted to be. Instead he pointed himself in the direction of the temple of Senos and padded up to its doors which had already begun to open.

Simply dressed men and women began to stream from within the temple, each carrying empty baskets or jugs and each with broad smiles as they talked softly among themselves. Pags footsteps faltered when the first of them noticed him, the man stared at him for a moment then gave him a small bob of the head and Pag blinked. Was it because of his title? Pag mentally shrugged and nodded back with a small smile as he closed on the temple. Others gave him small nods or waves that he returned in kind as they passed him.

The heady aroma of bread with the subtle hint of something else wafted out the doors as he climbed the short flight of worn stairs and crossed the threshold taking a deep breath in. He closed his eyes, savoring the smell then blinked when his stomach growled loudly.

“Good morn’ son. How may I be of assistance?” a rasping voice asked.

Pag turned to the voice with a sheepish grin as his eyes settled on a man that may have once been brawny from time spent working hard outdoors but now looked stumped and weathered like old leather. “Well, I came to request to make this temple a temporary base until I am able to get established elsewhere and perhaps see if there is anything I could do to help you; however, it seems my stomach is making demands of me.”

The man chuckled softly. “Is that so? Please feel free to do so but do know that if you intend to sleep in a bed rather than on a pallet or if you want further meals you will either have to donate three coppers a week or work to earn your stay. I think we may have a leftover spiced rolls and some pottage to spare from breakfast if you don’t mind helping me with a few things.”

“That sounds agreeable, what can I do for you?” Pag asked.

The old man gestured with his thumb behind him. “First let’s get you something to eat, we can discuss that while you do.”