World of Eternia: The Complete Collection (40 page)

First a caravan arrives
at the Town Square, then a motley group of players, some on horseback
and others on foot.

Evangelina hops off the
wagon and turns around to face the portal. As soon as the mage
Loquist and the high priestess Kassender step through the portal, the
circle of protection from fire ceases to exist. The portal master
quickly slams her staff on the ground, and closes the portal before
the horde of demons can pass through. She smiles warily at Kassender,
who returns a mirroring smile. Although the cost was great, the
mission was a success and will enhance the reputation of the Church
itself and may even lead to an increase in membership.

Kassender lifts up her
arms to call everyone’s attention. “The Gods of Eternia have
blessed us and allowed us to meet our objective. The game developers
have granted all participants a new title: ‘Zisslean Miner.’ It
is exclusive to the sixty brave souls who journeyed to the edge of
the Zisslean Mountains, fought against the wandering demonic hordes,
and retrieved invaluable ore for further joint research and
development by the Church and the Magic Guild. Now, I invite you all
back to our Church for a respite. Please join us. The Church is
expecting us.” The High Priestess turns and walks in the direction
of the Church of Eternia. The other members of the clergy follow
behind her.

The miners turn to
Xavier, the ranking member of the Trade Union among the returnees.

“We need to deliver
the two barrels of Zisslean ore to the Church,” he reminds them.

Lucious holds up a
hand. “I need to bring a sample to Vergil of the Magic Guild,” he
requests.

Xavier walks to the
back of the wagon, and grabs a piece of Zisslean rock that had fallen
out of the barrel inside the wagon; the rock is the size of a big
orange. “Here you go,” he tosses it over to the mage.

Despite the sudden toss
of the rock, Lucious manages to catch the sample with both hands,
dropping his magical staff to do so. He puts the precious ore into
his Bag of Holding, and retrieves his staff. He joins the players
from the Magic Guild and walks back to the Tower.

Jakub Strome breaks out
a smile as he breathes a sigh of relief. As the company Vice
President in charge of WoE’s day to day operations, he has a vested
interest in the outcome of the small player expedition. He pulls the
visor off his head and rubs his eyes. Jakub had been watching the
events occur via a birds eye view as an administrator. Richard has
been anxious to have the Oriental Expansion up and running, but
insists on this being accomplished in a creditable manner with links
to the existing player campaign. The CEO is meticulous if nothing
else.

The script called for
players to get the Zisslean ore, and then make an artifact level
magical item to channel divine energy from the Gods of Eternia to a
foreign land. That, in turn, sets up an invasion of the new frontier
for players to explore, adventure, and conquer, though not
necessarily in that order. If the players had failed the first
attempt, then Richard in his capacity as the King would have sent NPC
soldiers to join in the effort on a second attempt. Now, there is no
need for such a drastic measure.

Jakub fires off a quick
text message to Richard’s smart phone: “Success.”

* * *

Vergil reads the
lengthy, detailed email from Jakub Strome outlining the script that
Vergil must follow. While Vergil is a player publicly, he is a secret
employee of Eternia Development & Entertainment, Inc. It wasn’t
the case at first, but shortly after Vergil opened his magic shop
company officials visited and presented him with a choice—either
remove the shop or become a part time EDE employee.

The explanation
provided was that only NPCs were allowed to run shops, and indeed
Vergil is the only player shopkeeper in the game. By becoming an
affiliate of the company, his in-game identity will be adjusted to an
NPC’s and thus his magic shop will become an official part of the
game itself. Whenever he is offline, automated assistants will
perform such basic functions as buying, selling, and identifying
magic items brought into the shop. In return, Vergil’s post will be
utilized by the game masters to introduce new missions and campaigns,
like now.

Vergil opens the email
attachment. An item is immediately added to his avatar’s inventory.
He clicks on the item; it is identified as “Sample Divine Conduit.”
The instructions from Jakub ask Vergil to contact Lucious and show
him the artifact next weekend. Presumably Vergil’s magic research
will take a week. “Am I a player or an actor?” Vergil mutters to
himself.

* * *

Head Priest Jakub
stands in front of the window in the small chapel. The main church
building is in the center of Starter Town, and frequented by players
seeking divine healing, guidance, curse removal, resurrection, and
other services provided by the Church of Eternia. However, the small
chapel at the very back of the church grounds, overlooking the small
cemetery, is Jakub’s preferred meeting place with players from his
Church.

“You asked to see me
Head Priest?” Kassender asks, dispelling the brief silence Jakub
had been enjoying.

The official leader of
the Church of Eternia turns away from the window to face High
Priestess Kassender. The man, in his late fifties, has a receding
hair line and a thin build. However, a light aura shimmers around
this man, similar to the one surrounding King Richard. The aura
provides a layer of protection for this important character, as there
had been attempts by the Assassin’s Guild to kill Jakub, as well as
Richard, for nothing more than simply bragging rights. Jakub offers a
warm smile to Kassender, a young woman in her late twenties.

Jakub holds out his
hand. “Are you ready to turn in the lodestone and officially
complete your holy quest?”

“Yes, Head Priest,”
the woman replies as she quickly pulls a piece of Zisslean ore out of
her bag, and gives him the precious item.

Jakub smiles at the
physical exchange. “The Gods of Eternia confer their blessings on
you, Blessed of Eternia. This unique, new title entitles you to
additional bonuses in the use of divine magic, a fifty percent
increase in the divine spell’s strength or duration. You may call
upon this blessing thrice per day. Please use it wisely.”

“Thank you, Most Holy
One,” Kassender replies. She can see how useful the blessing will
be already during an adventure.

“I will pray for
instructions on what is needed to complete the Divine Conduit
artifact. When I receive an answer from the Gods of Eternia, we will
talk again. In the meantime, please ensure that the Zisslean ores are
stored properly and securely,” he says. “You may leave,” he
dismisses her.

Kassender bows deeply
and leaves the small chapel.

Bbbzzzzzz. Bzzzzz. The
executive is annoyed by the interruption, but picks up the phone
anyway. “Hello, this is Charles Winter,” he says in a polite,
professional tone. Answering the phone is the most irritating aspect
of his job as the chief executive. Since his small company receives
venture capital funding, Charles has to be available to his backers
and be ready to answer any question from them no matter how
ridiculous and superfluous the investor may be. He leans back into
his leather seat as he awaits the caller to identify himself.

“Hello, young man,”
the gruff voice replies on the line.

“Good afternoon,
Lewis. How can I help you today?” the CEO straightens up. The
elderly investor and chairman of the board don’t like to make small
talk with Charles over the phone. So this is an important call.

“I’m afraid I have
some bad news, Charles,” the chairman replies. “I’ve gone
around to some friends who I think may be interested in investing in
a new mmorpg product. Unfortunately, none of them seem inclined to
invest in your new product, because they don’t see anyone able to
take on World of Warcraft. I’m sorry I don’t have better news for
you on this front.”

“I thank you for your
effort on our behalf,” Charles replies, keeping the sting of
disappointment out of his voice.

“There are other
means of raising capital if you decide that you really need it to
accelerate the development of the product,” the chairman reminds
him.

“I know,” Charles
replies. “I’ll consider the options and get back to you.”

“I’ll hold you to
that promise,” Lewis responds.

“Count on it,”
Charles says. “Thank you for your call. Bye-bye,” he hangs up.
With his hand still on the handset of the telephone, he raises his
hand above his head, and slams the phone on his desk. SLAM! The
receiver portion of the handset snaps off, breaking the phone. The
jagged edge of the handset presses into the angry man’s palm and
pierces his skin. Blood starts to trickle out.

Charles stares at his
bleeding palm, his anger not soothed one iota by this impulsive act
of violence.
I’ve been too
careful, too hesitant
, he thinks as his blood drips onto
his desk.
I need to act more
decisively and swiftly
, he concludes. His mind suddenly
flickers to his rival’s World of Eternia game.
And
I know how
. He balls his fist, squeezing more blood onto
his desk.

The platinum blonde
woman looks over her shoulder. She is reluctant to proceed with this
crazy stunt. But she sees the look of fierce determination in his
eyes as he nods for her to continue. Reluctantly, she turns back to
the computer screen and uses the mouse to click the "Post"
icon.

Charles exhales the
breath that he had unconsciously been holding back.
What
will you do now, Richard?

* * *

Bbbbzzz! Jakub checks
his smart phone and sees a text message from Brian Remlinger, the
Game Master currently in charge of activities inside the World of
Eternia: "Check the forums ASAP." A frown appears on
Jakub's face as he follows up on his employee's tip and checks the
forums. He quickly sees a thread titled, "Gauntlet," which
has already garnered a thousand posts, and reads the post, which
states:

"Hear ye! Hear ye!
Charles Winter, the CEO and owner with controlling interest in
Virtuous Gaming Co. ("VG"), Hereby Challenges his former
friend and bitter rival Richard T. Gibson, the CEO and owner with
controlling interest in Eternia Development & Entertainment Inc.
("EDE") in the manner as follows:

A Tower Defense Match
pitting players from VG's online network of casual games, VIrtuous
Gaming Online, as raiders against the Starter Town in World of
Eternia with EDE's players acting as defenders. If VG raiders
successfully take control of Starter Town, both the player and
non-player sections, then Charles Winter will be declared the winner.
In such an event, he will obtain ALL ownership interest in EDE
currently held by Richard T. Gibson, to be executed in a lawfully
binding transfer immediately after the said Tower Defense Match is
over.

If EDE players
successfully defend against the raid, as defined by not one single VG
raider remaining in the World of Eternia, then Richard T. Gibson will
be declared the winner. In such an event, he will obtain ALL
ownership interest in VG currently held by Charles Winter, to be
executed in a lawfully binding transfer immediately after the said
Tower Defense Match is over.

The Tower Defense Match
event will be held within thirty days after acceptance of this
Gauntlet, and the event will be open to all players with registered
accounts with either VG or EDE. In the event that a player has an
account with both companies, the player may choose to fight for
either side in this event. However, once the registration period for
this unique online event has expired, the player may NOT switch
affiliation to fight for the opposing side.

The event will be
streamed online and broadcasted live, and participants agree to have
their player characters recorded on video capture and such images of
their in-game activities may be broadcasted and streamed without
compensation. Participants in this event may receive whatever prizes
the respective game developer decides, along with the appropriate
awards and bonuses for the winning side.

Should this Gauntlet be
accepted, the two companies will jointly confirm the details of the
event, including but not limited to the renting of additional
facilities to accommodate participants, the appointment of a game
judge to decide issues arising during this event, and the
contribution of the resources necessary to ensure the smooth
operation of this live event.”

"Sir, Mister
Dresner is on the line," the intercom interrupts.

"Thank you, Angie.
Please put him through," Charles tells his office secretary in a
pleasant tone of voice. The mother of a kindergarten son, Angelina
Miller recently re-entered the workforce and is just feeling her way
around the company. Charles sits up straight in his chair as he
mentally prepares himself to take the call from Gregory Dresner, the
Vice Chairman of the company’s board of directors, and a minority
investor in the private company.
The
call is probably related to the public gauntlet I threw down,
he smirks. Dresner talks to Charles only when the chairman is too
angry to talk directly.

The CEO takes a sip of
coffee from the mug on his desk as Angie patches the call through.
"Good morning, Mister Dresner."

"Not at all, I'm
afraid," Gregory replies. "Why wasn't the board of
directors informed of your planned publicity stunt?" the
director asks, his anger clearly seeping through the intercom.

There
goes civility
, Charles thinks wryly. "I respectfully
disagree with the term 'publicity stunt,'" he chides mildly.
"This is merely a civilized method of settling a dispute between
two old college friends."