The Charismatic Glass Cannon

I squinted and then shielded my eyes from the brightness, feeling warmth on the small amount of exposed skin that my wizard robe didn’t cover. As my eyes adjusted, I realized I was standing in the middle of a town next to a stone well. Closing my eyes, I soaked in the sun my through closed eyelids for the first time in a long.

The weather was warm and humid outside, with palm trees poking out from behind the buildings that made up the town. Rows of buildings lined the gravel and sandy street. The buildings were what you would imagine if you mixed Caribbean and medieval fantasy. Behind me, down the street, loomed a sandstone-colored fortress, while in front of me and to my left was a tall stone mountain. The mountain, or maybe a better description a sheer cliff, jetted straight up.

An assortment of creatures walked by, including a naked lady made entirely of blue fire carrying a box and a large man made of stone. Most of the people looked human, but there were various other creatures sprinkled the crowd.

I stood by the well for a few moments, unnoticed by the townsfolk. Seeing no immediate danger, I accessed my interface and checked my party tab. My heart sank when I saw that Jace’s name was still greyed out. Suddenly, my interface began speaking without prompting.

Welcome to the Port City of Tortewwga. I am shocked you made it to Level 3. Absolutely shocked. And a little pissed off. I had a lot riding on you not making it this far. Alright, moving on, there are a few changes with Level 3. First, renown points can be earned by completing quests, deeds of chivalry, criminal activities, and many other ways. Second, there are now shops and NPCs that you can interact with. Third, yeah, there is some more stuff, but you’ll figure it out. Review the quest tab for additional details. I’m going to go pay up on my bet.

I pulled up my quest tab.

Ught fine, I’ll read a bit more. You have arrived in the port town of Tortewwga. What was once a prominent resting place for pirates but now a city of the queen’s realm. The Tortewwga fortress had been completed three years ago, and the town whas now the base of operations for anti-piracy missions. Long story short, a town that was once a wretched hive of scum and villainy is now a thriving port town.

Story Quest: Gain 100 renown in the Port City of Tortewwga and approach a key town player. Key Players will become visible under the quest tab once met.

First Key Player unlocked! Colonel Ortez at the Tortewwga Fortress Keep. This Key Player may provide you critical information on completing Level 3 and may even provide a ship token for your quest.

There was a box next to the description like one that could have a checkmark next to it. It reminded me of video games where once you checked one off, another quest would appear. Or, in some cases there were multiple quests that needed to be completed, require you to check off each one in order to complete the overall quest. There was a field labeled Parameters which I mentally clicked.

[Level 3 Parameters:]

[Party – Available. Renown and quest completion are shared with all participating party members.]

[Max party size - unlimited until ship assignment, then limited to maximum ship crew capacity.]

[Loot and Environment – Lootable environment, loot boxes generated on death involving user input, loot boxes not visible to NPCs, vending machines available.]

[Progress towards Campaign Completion 2 out of 30 Levels complete.]

I closed my interface and started to walk down the busy street, feeling overwhelmed and trying not to stare at the different races of people walking by. Shit, that guy looked like a tree Ent but with a weird face. Stop staring, Kent, or somebody is going to fuck your shit up. You have 2 HP. You have 2 goddamn HP.

There was a guy jumping around in front of me as I walked down the street. A brightly colored sign jutted out from the building, which read Boutique Curioso. The man was dressed kind of like a jester, minus the hat. A skintight, multicolored and multifabriced outfit left nothing of his thin, lengthy body to the imagination.

The man was jumping and dancing crazily, sometimes going on all fours, and spinning so much that it was starting to make me have sympathy dizziness. As I got closer, I could hear that he was talking too.

“I am Mr. Dicks for hands, and I got lots of dicks for lips. Boots, jackets, and more.”

He suddenly stopped, his back to me. He leaned backward, throwing his head back until his face was upside down towards mine. I wasn’t sure how he didn’t just fall over. He pointed at me.

“You! Would you like to come in and try on some clothes?”

“Um, no. Sorry, I have somewhere I need to be. Maybe next time,” I lied.

The man started dancing again, making no reaction to what I said.

“I am Mr. Dicks for lips, and I have lots of lips for dicks,” he said as I passed.

I quickly picked up my pace, walking to get some distance between us.

I had no idea where the fuck I was.