World of Eternia: The Complete Collection (36 page)

"The operation
will involve a number of phases," Kassender starts to outline
the plan to the group. "First, we're going to use a portal to
travel from here to the Mount Zissley region. From there we will
journey to the mountain and establish a base of operation where we
will leave our mounts and supplies. The prospectors will be split
into two groups to excavate samples. The enchanters from both the
Church and the Magic Guild will evaluate these samples, in order to
locate the most suitable veins to mine the Zisslean ore. Specialized
demonologists from the Church, along with fighters, will accompany
the prospectors while they locate the best veins. Once the veins have
been discovered, we will proceed to mine the ore and leave the region
as quickly as possible. I don't know how long this mission will last.
So if you need to grab a bite or use the bathroom, now is the time to
be away from the keyboard ("afk"). We will leave ten
minutes," she says.

Upon conclusion of her
speech, the majority of the players designate their avatars as "afk"
while they attend to their personal business.

Kassender turns over to
face the expedition leaders standing behind her. Maximus the Stout is
the ranking officer from the Fighter Guild. Deidra is the Chief
Demonologist from the Church of Eternia. Xavier is the ranking member
of the Trade Union. Icy Lotus is a high ranking member of the Water
Guild. And then there is Lucious, attending as an official
representative of the Kingdom.
Too
bad the rest of The Strangers can’t attend this mission.
"I
am concerned about wandering demons," she says.

"The rip into our
dimension is located deep within the mountain," Deidra replies.
"As long as we avoid entering the mountain itself, we shouldn't
be encountering too many demons."

"Indeed,"
Maximus agrees. "I'm sure there are scores of demons that will
fight to defend their portal into our world. If we encounter a random
demon or two, we only need to neutralize them before they call other
demon kind for aid."

"Exactly so,"
Deidra nods. She is impressed by the fighter, as not many players are
aware that demons can call other demons to their location.
He's
fought demons before.
"The call is treated in game as
casting a spell, and the most important thing is to interrupt the
call to prevent its completion."

"Easier said than
done, considering that the casting time for the call is only two
seconds," Lucious notes.

"Then it's a good
thing that I can cast a low level ice arrow in a half second,"
Lotus remarks.

"Half second?"
the fighter asks with skepticism.

"Specialists who
cast spells in their field of magic can reduce the casting time of
their spells, depending on the level of the caster. Ice arrow
normally takes one second to cast. For each level of the specialist,
the game allows a one percent reduction of casting time for spells
from the specialty elemental sphere. Thus, a level fifty specialist
like me can reduce the casting time by the maximum of fifty percent,"
Lotus explains. "And since water magic does double damage
against fire demons, the Magic Guild decided to send a large number
of water specialists on this expedition. Including myself there are
eight water mages joining this expedition."

Maximus nods in
appreciation. He turns to face Kassender. "The only weakness
with this plan is that we're splitting our forces into three groups,
and that means more chances to encounter roaming demons," he
says.

"True, that is a
risk,” the priestess replies slowly. “However, we need the wagons
to carry mining supplies like picks, shovels, wheelbarrows, etc. And
we want to bring back a large quantity of Zisslean ore. I want to
avoid a return trip to that area if at all possible. Horses are
needed to carry the caravan to the site. Once the most suitable vein
is found, we can move the base to the location of the vein and have
the entire force in one location. It is the prospecting phase of the
mission, when we have two prospecting groups along with the base
group, that carries the most risk of encountering demons,"
Kassender replies.

“The risk is
unavoidable,” Xavier agrees. “However, the two prospecting groups
will remain in communication with the base at all times. This way, if
one group encounters demons, the second group or even the base group
can serve as reinforcements to help fight the demons. I will lead one
group, and Clarke, my second in command, will lead the other group.
How many demonologists, water mages, and fighters will accompany the
prospectors?" he asks.

"I don't know
about the others, but I plan to have four water mages plus another
mage to accompany each prospector group. Five mages, including myself
and Evangelina the portal master, will stay on the forward base,"
Lotus replies.

"I would like to
send five fighters to accompany each group," Maximus answers. "I
will stay on base as well."

"I would like to
send three demonologists with each group, along with a diviner who
will check the sample for potency. In addition, a healing specialist
will accompany each group," Kassender replies. "The
demonologists are warriors with limited access to divine magic, but
they are trained in fighting demons. The remaining ten members of the
Church, including myself, will remain on base. The diviners will be
able to maintain contact with one another, including those on base,"
she adds. The priestess turns to look at Lucious. "What do you
plan to do, Lucious? Will you join a prospector group or remain on
base?" she asks.

"I think I'll
accompany the group led by Clarke," Lucious replies. He had
adventured with the young craftsman once in the past, and finds
Clarke to be pleasant company. Besides, staying on campus with the
leadership just isn’t his style, in all honesty.

"Very well,"
the expedition leader nods in acquiesce to his decision.

The villagers and
players watch as Evangelina starts her chant to create a massive
portal for the entire expeditionary force. The portal master
specialist is a rare breed, as the specialty requires a high number
of skill points in all four elemental magic spheres of fire, water,
earth, and air in order obtain the travel spells available. Once the
level sixty cap is reached for player characters, the game allows
players to exchange the additional experience points for skill
points. However, the cost of obtaining each successive skill point is
doubled, and the cost of obtaining enough points to become a portal
master requires the equivalent of level one hundred twenty. Thus, the
specialty is rather exclusive, and there are only two dozen known
portal masters in the World of Eternia, out of tens of thousands of
players around the world. Additionally, since the game has a death
penalty that results in loss of experience points, a portal master
who is killed during a campaign may suffer a devastating loss of her
specialty class. Thus, the player guilds are rather protective of
portal masters, and ensure that there is enough protection for their
portal masters during player campaigns.

Evangelina raises her
magic staff up in the air, and calls for a delayed lightning strike
at a certain spot that she has marked on the ground at the town
square. Next, the portal master casts a wall of earth at that
location and makes it wide enough for the two wagons to pass through.
Then, she casts inferno on the spot and a fire starts to engulf the
stone wall. She pelts with wall with a low intensity gust of wind,
whipping the flames to burn even hotter. Suddenly the portal master
slams her staff on the ground and yells: “Trilegyomangii!”

The word of power
triggers the powerful bolt of lightning to crash down on the burning
earthen wall in an instant, and the town square shakes from the
impact of the bolt striking the wall. An overwhelming flash of light
temporarily blinds the onlookers. Finally, the flash is gone and a
shimmering portal appears in place of the burning wall of earth.
Across the portal is a black, charred landscape.

Kassender takes control
of the moment. “Let’s go!” she orders and leads her horse
straight into the simmering portal.

The rest of the
expeditionary force follows in an orderly fashion, with Xavier
sitting in the driver’s seat of the lead wagon that is being pulled
by two horses and Clark sitting in the second wagon. The caravan is
surrounded by horse riders, with Maximus taking the lead.

Once the expeditionary
force is through, the portal winks out of existence.

* * *

The area surrounding
the force is full of rocks and stones that litter the land. The rocks
are charred though, as if they have been roasted over an open flame.
As the players walk around, tiny crunchy sounds are made. The air is
covered by a veil of fine dust that makes the sky look gray. The wind
blows intermittently, kicking up more dust into the air.

The players are on high
alert, spread out in a tight circle covering all three hundred sixty
degree angles. Yet, there are no demons appearing before them despite
the opening of the portal to attract the attention of any nearby
inhabitants.

Maximus turns to look
at Kassender. "It doesn't look like any demons are nearby,"
he says.

"Thank the Gods of
Eternia," she replies. The leader dismounts and lands on the
ground lightly. "This place is as good as any to set up the base
camp," Kassender announces. "Xavier and Clark will lead two
separate prospecting groups. The representatives from the Church,
Magic Guild and Fighter Guild will decide how to allocate their
forces among the two groups and also the base camp. As soon as the
prospecting groups are organized, they can proceed. Let's get
started!" She claps her hand, and everyone begins to dismount.

The leader watches
everyone start to form groups. Each wagon is drawing riders from the
three guilds to form tight circles around the wagon. A fighter is
positioned to the left, right, and back of the wagon. She notes that
the fighters each carry a bow and quiver on his back. Two fighters
take up the front.

The three demonologists
from the Church are split similarly, along the left, right, and back.
Each player is wearing chainmail armor, and equipped with a mace,
shield, and sling shot. All equipment carried by the demonologists
had been blessed by church leaders, and are particularly effective
against denizens of extra-planar origins. The healer and diviner,
wearing only robes rather than armor, sit next to the driver of the
caravan.

Three water mages are
also placed along the left, right, and back but wedged between the
fighter and the wagon for further protection. The remaining two mages
in the group ride behind the two lead warriors, but in front of the
carriage.

Maximus nods to the two
fighters leading their respective prospecting groups. Without word,
Wilson Quick Draw takes the left direction and sends his horse
onward. Titus Steelblade takes the lead for the other caravan toward
the right direction.

Kassender turns her
head back toward the diviner in her own party. "Please check to
confirm that communication link is intact," she orders.

"Yes ma'am,"
Willa of the Faith replies. Holding the symbol of the Gods of Eternia
hanging around her neck, she starts to cast the Communicate spell:
"Oh wise Gods of Eternia, May Your Servant be allowed to Talk to
Other Servants and Spread Thy Names. Amen." On the player
screen, Willa chooses Talnia and Lucreia from her contact list; these
two diviners are accompanying the caravans. “Can you hear me?”
she asks into the thin air.

“Yes,” Talnia
replies. The sound appears as a whisper next to her ear. The
Communicate spell allows for communication between two players
located within different instances.

“Present,” Lucreia
answers Willa. Although the two diviners can talk to Willa, they
cannot contact each other without one of them casting the Communicate
spell. And neither is willing to waste her mana to do so right now.

Willa nods at
Kassender.

"Please let me
know when you need an infusion of mana. The remaining Church members
will periodically cast Succor to replenish your mana bar," the
leader says. The Communicate spell draws a set amount of mana per
contact per hour. The reason Kassender decided to keep nine
non-diviners, including Kassender herself, behind at the forward base
is to have them serve as mana batteries for Willa.
Hopefully,
the prospectors will find a suitable vein of Zisslean ore quickly
,
she thinks as she looks at the two caravans already a distance away.

"Hold!"
Xavier calls out suddenly.

Titus hears the order
and pulls the rein on his horse to make her stop. The horse obeys the
fighter’s command and comes to a complete a few seconds later. He
turns around and sees that the caravan trailing him has to come to
complete stop.

The miners start to
pile out of the large wagon, and pull out supplies. Each prospector
is carrying a bulky looking backpack with a pick axe attached on top.
A wheelbarrow is also pulled out of the wagon. The wheelbarrow has a
big wheel at the bottom attached to a big rectangular carriage that
is open ended on top, and two long rods that serve as handles for the
operator to push from the rear. The miners start hacking on the
ground with their pick axes.

"Scan the
perimeter," Titus orders his guild mates.

The four other fighters
take up a compass position with the miners at the center. Their bows
are pulled off their backs as the fighters actively scan their
environment for any sign of the demons, which will surely come to
investigate the noise being made by the miners. Unfortunately, the
air is thick with hazy smoke and dust kicked up from the ground by
slow moving wind, greatly reducing visibility for the guardsmen on
the perimeter.