Shadow Gambit (2 page)

CHAPTER TWO

Heading back to base camp was another dangerous ordeal entirely.

I picked my way down the sloping side of the volcano, avoiding steaming crevices and vents which belched hot ash. All the while I kept an eye on the cloudy sky.

Only on one occasion did I feel the need to hide behind a huge rock as a loud screeching echoed from every direction. Phlixx shivered dramatically as he clutched at my shoulder. But when a vengeful dragon did not making a fiery appearance, I continued on.

At the furthest edge of the volcano the terrain opened to a series of hills covered with the remnants of a forest. Blackened trees smoldered and what little vegetation existed was buried under mounds of ash.

Now I grew more cautious. The relative open area of the volcano gave me a clear view of anyone approaching. But here in the burned out forest things got to be close quarters. I was in a player versus player area. A PvP zone. Another player could come along and attack me with impunity. If I died, they would have access to all the items in my inventory; weapons, gold, the contents of my backpack and the golden egg. I'd worked hard for the egg and had no intention of giving it up to anyone without a fight.

A path led the way through the blackened trees toward the base camp. As the main artery to the quest area of the volcano, it was from the camp's direction I was likely to run into other players. So I walked to one side, through the trees while keeping the path in view, Phlixx skipping along by my side.

But by the time I reached the base camp I'd encountered no other players heading in either direction. As I passed over the edge of the camp's perimeter a message 'Safe Zone' appeared at the top of my vision, then faded away. Here, no one could hurt or kill me. Even casting helpful spells on someone, like healing, could not be done unless specifically permitted by the receiving player. I relaxed.

The base camp wasn't much to look at. It was in an open area cleared of trees with a large bonfire at its center. To one side hunched an old crone with various wares and goods splayed over a mat on the ground.
 

I wandered too close, and she keyed in on me. “Hello, weary traveler! Would you like to look at my wares?”
 

“
No, thanks,” I said, mostly out of habit as something I would say to her in the real world. But here, the old crone was a simple construct of the game, one with a single task, to sell me goods.
 

“
Are you certain?” She continued hopefully as I passed by. “Salve for your wounds? Ale for your aching mind?”
 

I ignored her and walked past, but she caught Phlixx's interest. With the old crone's attention on me the ferret crept behind her and lifted the back of her robe. He peered underneath then shrieked in dismay.
 

The crone whirled on him, waving her hands. “Begone, rat! Or I'll throw you in a cooking pot!”
 

Phlixx had pinwheeled away, wide-eyed and aghast. He collapsed to the ground and made a show of retching up air. “I've seen your wares, lady, and they cannot be unseen!” he wailed.
 

I walked around the bonfire and stood before the clearing's only other feature.
 

A
travel gate.
 

The gate was a huge circle which stood on its edge, mounted on a base with a short series of stairs leading up to it. Its edge was marked with various ruins of an ancient language my avatar did not understand, and these emitted a soft yellow glow. The middle surface diameter of the circle was silver and shimmered like a pond. My avatar's reflection played across its strange surface.
 

I'd arrived through
this gate to search for the golden egg.
 

Not yet ready to change areas I turned away and sat on a fallen log next to the bonfire. Phlixx bounded over to sit at my side. “Can I see the pretty egg, again? Please?” He begged.
 

I glanced around. Other than the old crone who still stared at me expectantly, there was no one else. “Why not?” I said, wanting a better look at it, too.
 

I fished the egg out of my backpack and cradled it in my hands. Its surface had the bumpy texture of a real egg, emphasizing the power of the game's detail, and glinted with the light of the fire.
 

“
Looks like an egg,” I said. “But is it worth anything?” The goal of the special quest was to get the dragon's egg but nothing specified what happened after. Usually the reward was gold and experience points for my avatar.
 

“
Maybe we can cook it?” Phlixx said, drooling with his tongue hanging out.
 

“
Now there's a thought.” Perhaps something was inside? I shook the egg close to my ear but nothing rattled. Holding the egg at an angle I examined it closer with the light of the fire. A thin groove circled around its middle. “Looks as if we don't need to crack it open.” I gripped the egg at both ends and twisted.
 

The egg unscrewed into two halves. It was hollow within save for a rolled up parchment. A quest scroll.
 

“
Oh, crud,” I said. No gold, or gems, or magical items this time. What I needed was something to sell at the auction house.
 

“
Huh? What is it?” Phlixx said peering at the scroll. “Can we eat it?”
 

“
Nope,” I said, removing the scroll from the egg casing. “Just means we're not done, yet. This silly quest is far from over.”
 

Phlixx frowned and so did I. I wasn't keen on following an extended chain of quests. But if I wanted a reward completing them would be necessary.
 

The rolled scroll had no markings on it other than a red wax seal. Pressed into the wax was the symbol of what looked to be a sword, one I could not identify.
 

“
Let's see what we've got,” I said and broke the seal to unfurl the scroll. A simple map was drawn across the parchment's surface. Examining it closer I recognized it as an area somewhere in the Southern Kingdoms. A red 'X' marked a spot at the end of a valley in a mountain range. With the help of my avatar's map reading skill names of landmarks and towns appeared.
 

I sighed. Nothing else showed what the quest was or what the reward for completing it would be. Typical. As an adventurer you were more or less expected to show up at a quest location and figure things out from there.
 

“
Not sure if this is worth our while,” I said to Phlixx who had already lost interest and cartwheeled around. “I'll save it for another time or trade it.”
 

I was about to slip the scroll into my inventory when a chat request popped up in my vision. At first I thought it was Mudhoof bugging me again, but dollar signs appended the request label.
 

Spammer? Couldn't be. My filters were good at keeping unwanted solicitations from gold farmers and other pests from trying to sell me their crap. If it was a spammer, I'd report them to the game's administrators. Let management deal with him.
 

I initiated the chat and a large view window appeared in front of me. Within the window was the face of a large gray owl. Beneath him was the name Ogden Trite. “Greetings!” said the owl, ruffling his feathers as he spoke. “Thank you for accepting my chat request. I am most eager to speak with you. You are Vivian Valesh, the Shadow quester, yes?”
 

Waving a hand I said, “Yeah. But I'm not interested in what you're selling, pal. In fact, how the heck did you manage to get may chat identification if you're not on my friends list?” My list of in-game friends was short but distinguished. Or so I kept telling myself. In reality I didn't have many friends, in-game or otherwise. I am a solo player at heart.
 

The owl's eyes widened to comical proportions. “Oh, I am not selling anything at all. In fact, it is you I wish to buy from, if you are interested.”
 

That's a switch, I thought. “What could I possibly have that you want?” Currently, I had little up on the auction house for sale. What items I got from questing sold within minutes of my listing them.
 

Ogden chuckled, and his owl avatar's feathers bristled with the motion. “I'm interested in the quest scroll you recently obtained moments ago. Would you be keen on selling it?”

Shocked, I said, “How did you know I had this?” I looked around the base camp again, but other than the old crone, no one else was nearby. “I haven't even listed it anywhere.”

Ogden said, “I pay an exorbitant monthly fee to a Locators Guild each month for them to tell when a new quest becomes available. And they just now informed me of your quest scroll.”
 

“
There are quest scrolls appearing all the time,” I said. “The Locators Guild must charge you a bundle.” There were billions of quests throughout the game's universe. The vast majority of them carefully logged on various internet sites and wikis. And thousands more were added daily. With billions of players the game needed to generate new content all the time.
 

“
Well, that's true,” said Ogden. “But I don't pay for a daily list of everything. My interests are far more specific. I am only interested in one kind of quest.” He paused.
 

Making an effort to not roll my eyes at him, and wanting to end this conversation, I took the bait. “And what kind is that?”
 

“
Legendary Quests,” he said.
 

“
Legendary Quests?” I said, surprised. “Do they even make those anymore?” Every quest had a rarity degree assigned to it depending on what the end quest item reward was. From common items that had no real value, to ultra-rare items that fetched huge sums on the auction house.
 

Then there were the fabled Legendary Quests. So rare that out of the billions of available quests, the Legendaries numbered only a few dozen. And completing these quests gave the player a unique one of a kind item unlike any other in the game. Most other quests could be repeated by players and finishing them gave you the same reward. Not Legendaries. They were a one time quest.  Once completed for the first time, the reward item changed to something more mundane.
 

“
Yes,” Ogden said. “But, as you are well aware, not often. Hence their namesake.” He grinned in anticipation at me.
 

I frowned. If Ogden was after Legendary quests, and he was now talking to me...
 

My eyes went to the scroll in my hand. I unfurled it and scanned it again. This time I saw it. There, at the bottom of the parchment were the words 'Legendary Quest'.
 

“
Oh, wow,” I said.
 

Ogden said, “Do you intend on selling the scroll? I'll pay you a handsome sum.”
 

I blinked several times, gathering my thoughts. “I dunno. This just kinda of hit me. I didn't know what I had until now.” A Legendary Quest. Here in my hands. No one would believe me!
 

“
Well,” Ogden said, “I will buy it from you at top dollar. Did you have an amount in mind?”
 

Amount? How much could this be worth? Quest scrolls were not sold on the auction house as a game rule. They had to be sold off-market.
 

“
I dunno, I've never been on a Legendary Quest before,” I said. How exciting would that be? A Legendary Quest! But all major quests above uber required groups of four just to activate them. I would need help to do it.
 

“
If you intend to take the quest, then I will pay you three times the market listing cap for the reward item,” Ogden said. When first introduced into the game, Legendary items which appeared on the auction house sold for incredible amounts of money. So much that it negatively effected the game economy. Cap limits on Legendary items were created and you couldn't bid a copper higher for them.
 

This led to off-market sales at even higher prices than the market listings cap.
 

“
Three times the listing cap?” I asked, not sure I heard him right.
 

“
Yes. Once the item is obtained, the game will generate the cap. I will triple it, paid in full upon transfer of the item to my account.” Ogden arched a brow which looked odd on an owl. “And I know what you're thinking. Why not just hold onto the item for a higher bidder?”
 

“
Yeah, that crossed my mind.”
 

“
Well, to ensure I am the only person in the running I will pay you an upfront deposit immediately upon signing the contract. Five hundred thousand gold. And even if you don't get the item you keep the deposit.”