Chapter Two: Gathering Dreams

“Oy Telmin what you got there.” a young man called approaching the old man from one of the smaller houses that looked somewhat like an inn. The entire village seemed rudimentary, built prior to the middle ages. A lack of wood meant that the walls were constructed from beaten earth, packed hard together all were white washed and had thatch roves, shuttered windows, high in their walls and doors secured by large corner stones which acted as hinges.

“Sol, at your service!” Sol declared leaping up and bowing. The young man with the messy brown hair looked to him with a smirk.

“Who’s the half naked idiot, Vanda are you robbing the cradle again?” The man smirked.

“Shut it ya, young punk, or I’ll paddle yer rear like the coddled little babi ya are!” The old mans accent seemed to degenerate as his voice rose in pitch and intensity.

“Again?” Sol questioned, “Is there something between you two old man, really how indecent.” Sol began to mock the old man

“Shut it you half naked bum!” The old man snapped back.

“Donnam, this here block head is a loon I picked up on the side of the road, completely naked, he wouldn’t have survived the night if I left him there, call it a crisis of conscience, and you will call it just that unless you want to be banned from my shop again!”

“Fine old man, I’ll tell the village elder your back. For some reason she’s got it in her head you owe her this years latest crop of tobacco.” Donnam laughed walking away.

“That old hag.” Telmin muttered, “Thinks I’d help her suffocate herself. Smoking is for young men and fools, don’t deal with the trade any more. Old bat just can’t remember I gave it up.” The old man shook his head and the cart rolled forwards once again leaving the young fellow behind, before he could make another utterance.

“So this town was called Lanmere right?” Sol questioned, “What’s it like?”

The old man nodded “Aye that’s the name but its nothing special, it’s near the capital so we usually get people stopping by for the night, good strong business, four seasons. An olive farm to the northeast, It’s a nice enough town everyone knows each other, there are a few trouble makers to keep things interesting, pretty average really.” The old man smiled looking around. Everyone waved to him as he passed. For a town, it was quite large over a thousand people living in the hillside. Sol guessed that the other towns were the same.

“How many towns are there in this country, oh and what is this country called.”

“The country’s called ‘The Zelday Kingdom’, there are eight towns one city and a few dozen hamlets scattered here and there, we’re the smallest country on Brochas.” Sol nodded expecting something similar. In this world he had one advantage that could not be counted out, in depth knowledge of all parallel-world-story tropes, and with this power he would not be stopped by any force. He chuckled at the thought.

Still he seriously hoped that wasn’t his only power. “We’re here.” Telmin declared. He pointed to the largest house Sol had seen so far, the other looked to contain at most four rooms this one actually had a second floor. Opposite it was an even larger but appeared nearly the same except for the inclusion of large wooden polls, in the form of pillars, they seemed to twist and wind around each other holding up the earthen roof. “Ah that’s the town hall, and that over there is the temple.” The Old man pointed out turning Sol’s attention to a slightly smaller building. With a large open courtyard, a dais set just before the building and a lectern placed atop it, it seemed it was designed for preaching or something similar. “So Sol, you first job as my assistant is to bring in all the goods in the cart and place them in storage, that’s at the back of the shop, use the backdoor I don’t want you breaking any of the merchandise trying to use the front.” Telmin ordered jumping from the drivers seat.

Sol looked at all the produce surrounding him; it was an odd assortment of varying items. There were some food products, along with what appeared to be numerous pieces of hide, a large wicker basket full of knives and farming tools, along with a few mediocre weapons and a couple bags of grain in the corner. There also seemed to be a number of what looked to be potions, charms and articles of clothing, though in a much smaller supply. It seemed the plain white kilt thing he was wearing came from the box of clothes. Sol guessed he had to repay the old man.

Scratching his head he started with the heaviest, the basket full of tools. Lugging it up with his meagre ten points of strength he leapt out of the cart nearly shattering his ankles and began to edge towards the back of the building.

As far as the stats went Sol guessed that ten was the baseline for the average person, bar any illnesses or debuffs of course. Not that it really mattered at the moment; he’d have time to learn all the intricacies of the world later. For the time being he focused on lugging the tools into the shop.

On approaching the backdoor, he attempted to pull it open, then pushing it open. Each time only to have the wooden board resist his advance. Sol looked over the door for a few moments. There was no lock, which left only two possibilities one would be that the old fool left something in front of the door, keeping it from opening and the other was it was a simple latch. Deciding it was most likely the later Sol reached into the basket and drew a small knife, holding it in the air. Before jamming it between the door and its frame pushing upwards. He could feel latch on the other side move, but it was an odd feeling unlike a simple latch, Sol guessed it was a bar of some kind. With a sigh he laid down the basket of tools and used both arms to push the knife up. There was a dull thud from the other side as the bar crashed to the ground with a grin Sol entered.

The storage room also seemed to double as a form of living room, dining room and kitchen. There was a table and set of three chairs to the back, while to the right corner was a stove and the left an old rocking chair. Every other inch of the room was filled with shelves and crates containing all manner of oddities from pickled fruits he’d never before seen to the preserved bodies of bizarre beasts. Hides, armours, weapons, potions everything was contained within. And it was all arranged like an old mans collection of knickknacks and memorabilia.

“Darling your back.” a gentle voice called from above. “Yup, had a little encounter on the road, I’ll tell you about it later, I’ve decided to postpone the trip to Almor. Oh and I’ve hired a new assistant.”

“Really?” The woman’s voice questioned.

“Yup, It’s quite simple really, found a dunce on the side of the road, but naked I might add, offered him a job and some clothes now here we are, I’ll show him the ropes before we go to Almor.” Old Man Vanda sighed. “Huh, I think I forgot to remove the bar, I’ll go let him in before he does something stupid.”

Sol got the sense the old man was treating him like a lost dog.

The old man began to climb down the stairs, and to his chagrin Sol was standing there with a stupid grin on his face.

“Oy kid, don’t laze around, get back to work, afore I show you what for!” The old man yelled before marching over grabbing the tools and pushing them to one corner with a strength his aged form belay.

Sol laughed walking out of the house with a grin.

Claire Newton

What would her name be?

She questioned herself on the possibilities, her appearance would be chosen entirely at random, though it was said that everyone in the game looked average or above unless they were part of some plot line even the players, If you became an important character your appearance could even change. Claire shrugged.

She didn’t really know what she wanted in a name so she decided to select the random option.

Lillan

It seemed like a nice enough name she accepted.

As she accepted, the white void surrounding her faded away colours, spreading like watercolour paints on a blank canvass. Then sensation began to bloom and fade, the feeling like she was floating in an endless sea. Then gravity struck her dragging her to her feet. Her body jerked slightly as she was pulled into a sitting position.

Buildings surrounded her; dozens of them, most a single story a few reaching two. It was far different from the oppressive skyscrapers of the city. She could actually see small swathes of cloud passing in the crystal clear sky above the taint of pollution gone. She laughed looking about her at the myriad of people. She rose to her feet chortling to herself. Behind her a small fountain bubbled. Spinning around she turned to see her reflection, She was short with dark-red hair and pallid skin, her eyes a soft brown. Looking around her she could see many similar people; they had skin of varying shades and hair of all the colours of the rainbow, cementing the feel of a fantasy world. Looking down at her feet clad in sandals, she took a shaky step forward. It had been so long since she could walk, ever since the accident, she took another step forwards, and another, as if re-learning how to walk. Soon her footsteps grew faster, and faster she pushed herself and ran. Tears streaming down her face, she and ran, forwards to the edge of the little village. Laughing she threw her arms wide falling to her knees. She was free, free of the bindings that had once constricted her, free to be who she was.

Lying down amid a field of vibrant green grass she sighed. It just left the question who was she? She asked the sky above, but received no answer, it was unheeding. With a smile she thought about the world she was now living in. It was supposed to be based on Ancient Greece that meant it was severely under-developed; perhaps she could use her intellect and study to introduce new sciences. They weren’t allowed to create any huge revolutions but maybe by just introducing something like crop rotation she could become famous. As she thought on this a chime rang in her ear.

Intelligence + 1

It seemed it was indeed a good idea. Then she remembered the interview she had seen. The world wasn’t based on Ancient Greece but its Myths that’s why the game world was called Olympus. That meant there would be monster, demons, and all manner of beasts out there in the great wide world. Hero. That’s what she’d become, she’d become a Hero like in all of the old stories, she’d be a real hero fighting dragons and monsters, so she laughed standing up.

With her mind set on her task she looked over all of her possessions: A small grey knife, a plain white Toga that fell to her knees, Leather sandals on her feet and a small pouch on her hip inside of which bounced three silver coins.

With a smile she rushed back into the town and began to look for the biggest building, She quickly found what she was looking for. A group of old men stood outside talking quietly. The building was constructed with two stories and the walls were made from wood rather than beaten earth, it seemed to be a kind of status symbol. Walking up to the oldest man she called out.

“Hey!”

“Huh, what do you want little missy?” The man questioned glaring at her

“Is there someone here who can teach me how to fight?” She questioned approaching them. They all shared a look of irritation.

“Another, and this time a girl too.” One of them complained they shook their heads in disappointment. “No girl, no one around here is a fighter, we’re just a little village, no more than thirty people, we don’t have a shop or an inn, we’re farmers. I think the store might sell spear heads but that’s it, if you want to learn to fight you’ll need to go to Sangeil city, that’s where the army is, though I advise against joining that bunch of bastards.” The trio turned back to their conversation.

Slightly put out Claire strengthened her resolve. “Where is the store?” she questioned. “Over there.” He gestured to a stall set on the side street, there seemed to be a small number of stands and carts selling everything from freshly caught fish to live chickens and clothes. Approaching one of the more prosperous stands Lillan reached out examining the goods, a series of boar spears made from cast iron. It seemed they didn’t have the method of making steel. She looked it over before turning to the merchant.

“How much?” she questioned.

“One silver, fifty coppers.” he grunted. For a moment she wondered whether or not to haggle, she only had three silver coins and she would need money for provisions as well.

“Seventy-five coppers.” she countered dropping the price to what she assumed was half.

“Ha, you must be joking, little girl, these are the finest spears around, because you’ve made me laugh let’s say one silver.”

“Throw in the bag and you’ve got a deal.” she gestured to a brown leather bag.

“Huh… Add another ten coppers and we’re agreed then.”

“Sure hope you have change for two silvers.” She responded handing out two of the silver coins. They were fairly simple except it had the roman numerals for two on one side and a picture of a boar on the other. The old man handed her ninety copper coins confirming her suspicions on the currency of Olympus, being the standard one that most RPGs used. With a smile she began her bartering spree.

Soon she was clad in a thin brown dress and a wide brimmed straw hat tilted backwards. She had her hair tied up with a bow and was carrying a spear in one hand her bag on her back enough supplies to last her a week if she were sparing with them. Laughing she marched forwards.

That evening she realised she’d made the terrible miscalculation of not asking in which direction Sangeil was.

Rey Standon

He was sitting in his bedroom sipping a soft drink from a mug while staring at the screen in front of him. “Hey Alpha?” he called to into the other room, within the little apartment. The computer screen before him immediately turned pitch black and was replaced by an image of a white smiley face.

“Hey what is it?” The AI questioned its smile turning into a frown.

“What do you think about the deal?” he questioned patting a series of paper documents before him. The camera atop the computer swivelled to look at them. “You mean about the television show.”

“Yeah, I’m hesitant after all they’ll be invading peoples private lives plus they’ll be bugging everyone who gets caught on cameras once for permission to publicly show them.” Rey shook his head.

“Oh about that, I worked something into the user agreement contract in just such an instance. We can use any images for promotional purposes, and the television show is promotional, no, and since they’re not peoples real faces the law is kind of fuzzy on it, I think you’ll need permission from main characters but not passers by.”

“Ha what did I expect from you.” Rey laughed.

“You know you should play the game as well, and by play I mean do more than spend all day fishing at some random lake high in the mountains.”

“Hey it relaxes me, I’m old. Besides my knowledge of the game is unfair, maybe when people start unlocking crafting, magic and other systems.”

“Yeah… perhaps I’ll play myself, some time soon, not as a human though, maybe I’ll be a dragon!” Alpha laughed.

“Just don’t put the heat on me.” Rey laughed at his own pun.

“No, just no.” The AI admonished, its emoticon showing distaste

“So have you noticed anyone who’d fit the criteria for the show?” Rey questioned.

“No, not really. But people have started to get interesting, give it some time for the excitement to ware down and they’ll get serious. It seems like all the eccentric people have gathered and I bet it’ll be interesting.”