The old lady walked with an unsteady gait through the market of Karyost. She leaned on a thin cane with every step. The noise of the cane against the cobblestone was enough to draw attention from a few players, though most were too busy talking with each other to notice her.

The woman stumbled and fell into one such player, who turned to glare at her. When he saw how old she was he waved her off, and ignored her murmured apologies while he continued his conversation.

The old woman limped away and moved through the crowd of players. A few stepped out of her way, but every so often she would bump into one who was distracted. An apology always followed, and none of the players ever responded violently.

She progressed in that fashion across the market, not once stopping to shop, and pushed through the crowds after a dozen minutes. Her movements grew sharper as she put distance between her and the others, and the old woman ducked into an alley once out of sight.

Once she was bathed in the shadows of the thin passage the old lady reached for her face, and plucked it from her head. The mask tore off readily, the clay material falling apart as her fingers dug into it, and Lira’s face was revealed.

Lira tossed the ruined mask to the ground and walked down the alley. She worked to remove the little clumps that still remained, and by the time she emerged onto the street there were no signs of the disguise.

Lira mentally summoned the inventory screen and studied it, seeking out whatever new acquisitions she’d gained. A few were common items but one of the players had carried a gold statue. A small grin formed at the sight of what would prove a worthwhile theft.

Lira looked at the nearby characters, even as she gripped the hood of her cloak and raised it. With her face partially obscured she headed to the right and toward the docks of Karyost. It wasn’t far off from where the market was so she reached it within the hour.

She paid little attention to the dozens of ships out on the open ocean. Her purpose was to find a specific person, not to sight see, and the useful fellow was the only thing she focused on.

He was seated on a wooden crate, one that overlooked the third pier of the southern docks. He turned to look at her when she approached, even with the barely audible sound of her footsteps, but returned to studying the boats. Rather than any words being spoken he instead dropped a bucket onto the pier.

Lira dumped her new illegally gained goods into the bucket and took a few steps onto the pier, so that her back was to the man. It was an unnerving act, one that required trust she was not happy to give, but it was one of his requirements.

“Good haul this time,” the man said after a few seconds.

Lira gave a non-commital shrug and continued to watch the ocean. The waves came in gently enough, and in turn the ships had no difficulty as they docked. There was an almost serene quality to the sight, one that she rarely bothered with anymore.

A loud hiss came from behind, and the reflection of a red light streaking skyward glittered on the water. Lira turned even as she summoned a knife, noting a trail of smoke that originated from the man.

“No hard feelings, but what they’re offering is worth more than you’ve ever brought,” the man told her.

Lira’s eyes widened and then narrowed at his words. She leaped at him but the fence dove off of the crate into the nearby ocean. It took him only a moment to vanish into the depths of the ocean.

From out of the streets to the east numerous players started to appear. They ran with weapons drawn, and some grinned maliciously as they looked at Lira. A few of the players even shouted joyfully at the sight of her.

Lira glanced at the ocean, but gave up on that escape route immediately. Her inability to swim would only cause her to be caught, and she still had options not yet utilized.

Instead Lira shocked the converging players by running at them, slanting to the right in her dash. When she neared the first player a small pellet was thrown at the ground, and it generated a massive cloud of smoke.

Immediately Lira shifted her angle and instead went to the left. She lowered her stance as far as possible, in an attempt to minimize herself amongst the smoke, and relied on her memory to not trip over anything or anyone.

From all around her shouts of confusion and anger rang, yet Lira ignored them all and continued on. Soon a few shadows loomed within the cloud, but she slipped past them unnoticed and emerged from the smoke.

Two more players stood between Lira and the central road. She continued to run, not faltering in her steps even as she neared them. The players, who’d been about to yell to their friends, instead focused on trying to stop her.

“Distraction,” Lira murmured when she was almost within striking range of the nearest player.

From nearby there was a loud crack of glass as a random window of a house shattered. The players turned to look at the sound, and in that moment Lira increased her speed and surged past them.

A couple shouts of surprise came from behind, but Lira ignored their reactions and ran onto the central road. Ahead of her the central marketplace sprawled open, with numerous players and computer controlled entities milling about.

Though Lira had managed to escape from the group of players she didn’t let up on her speed, and plunged into the crowd without pause. There were a few cries of surprise from the players she slipped past, but she ignored them and hoped they’d help slow down the pursuers.

Lira glanced behind her, barely catching a glimpse of a couple men chasing. That was when she ran straight into a person and fell backward due to the impact. Knocked onto the ground she winced at the pain, and looked up.

The man she’d run into wasn’t altogether tall, nor distinct looking, though the metal staff he carried shone in the midday sun. He wore an odd fur coat, and the leather armor he wore looked different from what she’d seen others wear.

The man reached down one hand to her and smiled. “Come on now, let me help you.”

There was a bit of hesitation, but Lira grasped the hand and stood up. “Thanks,” she muttered, and started to circle around him. While she moved past the man her fingers lightly touched against him.

Lira paused in her move to depart when a few players appeared in front of her, hostile glares leveled at her. “Everyone move aside!” one of the pair shouted as he pointed a sword at Lira.

There was a bit of a slowness to the response of others, as the nearby players stared in confusion at the pair. It was only when a giant axe was brandished that they dispersed, none seemingly interested in fighting the angry men.

A hand clamped down on Lira’s shoulder, but it was a gentle touch as though to reassure her. The man she’d bumped into stepped past her and faced the pair, his staff hefted up to rest against his shoulder.

“Mind if I ask what you’re up to?” the stranger asked.

“Who the fuck are you?” the swordsman asked.

“Galmi Marion,” the man replied, “and it seems you want to kill this girl. Maybe we can not do that today?”

The pair glanced at each other, and then both glared at Galmi with such intense anger that Lira flinched. Yet Galmi seemed unperturbed by their hostility, and instead kept grinned in response.

The swordsman didn’t bother with any more conversation as he instead ran at Galmi, yet before the fight could happen a red blur streaked in from the side. The swordsman was thrown to the ground with a large and furry creature on him, the beast biting his throat.

“What the hell!” the axeman shouted as he stared at the creature.

Galmi watched the animal as it gnawed on the swordsman, and even shrugged as he spoke, “That’s Scarlet.”

The axeman hesitated as he watched the wolf gnawing on his friend, his gaze bouncing between Galmi and the animal. After a short moment of thought he gripped his axe tightly and stepped forward. “Sorry buddy, but that ain’t about to stop me and all the others coming for her.”

At those words Lira was reminded of the pursuers behind her, and so turned to look. A crowd of five were pushing their way through the marketplace. She summoned another pellet from her inventory and prepared to use it, though she tried to find a good place to run to first.

“Run while I distract him,” Galmi whispered to her.

Before she could reply the odd man leapt at the axe user, his metal staff brought down in an overhead slam. Lira ran as soon as the fight began, not a hint of guilt lingering on her conscience over abandoning the stranger.

Her flight from the players took her eastward and soon the gates of the city loomed into view. There were none waiting for her there, and so she managed to slip through the congested exit in short order.

Once she was outside and in the forests of Karyost she paused to look back. For a moment there was a hint of regret, over how she would be losing her easy source of income, but that thought then led to the next.

Lira opened up her inventory and checked to see what item she’d picked up off of Galmi. What she saw only made her stare in confusion.

Unique Item

Heart of Wyrmfang

A still beating heart that belonged to Wyrmfang, one of many that helped to drive the body of the Dread Serpent. It holds some great secret that requires doing something that no sane person would ever do.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Gorn looked out over the field of geysers, a warm tin of tea held in one hand. Dancing amongst the sprays of acid were members of Serenity, players who he’d brought to the Brimstone Gateways to help build a permanent base.

What he’d run afoul of was an ineptitude at survival. Most of the players lacked the ability to figure out patterns Gorn found simple, and so he was forced to babysit them while they struggled through the challenge.

In truth he wanted to fight a few more griffons, but so close to the acid fields they were a rarity. No monster, save for the ones that lurked in the dead geysers, cared to venture there.

A small beep alerted Gorn to an incoming request to talk, and so he activated the system. “Yes?” he half-asked, not bothering to check the text alert attached to the call.

“What’s the progress?” Lizzi asked.

“Slow, you gave me some of the dumbest people in the guild,” Gorn growled, his voice as deep and gravely as ever, “I can’t believe anyone is this dull witted.”

“Says the man who solves his problems via punching,” Lizzi said with an amused tone, “did the gem arrive yet?”

“Trix brought it last night, he headed back to Ghandahar saying something about checking on some sins?”

There was a pause, and then Lizzi said, “He most likely meant the Seven Sins, that new guild. We’re locating their bases before we do anything.”

“Maybe when I get this done and the gem installed I can pop over and help.”

Lizzi laughed at that. “Wulfram would enjoy that. By the way...are you alright?”

Gorn clicked his tongue at the question. “Liz, you know I can take a beating. I’m fine. It’ll take a couple weeks before the fracture heals though.”

“Only a couple of weeks?”

“Fine.” Gorn sighed. “Two months before I’m cleared for the next fight.”

“Patrick and I...let’s just say that I couldn’t stand seeing you on the cast when you broke it, that was awful.”

The thought of Gorn’s recent injury only caused a phantom throb of pain in his left hand. “I’ll be fine. My trainer said I need to work on my kicks. Relying too much on boxing.”

Off in the distance a few of the members of Serenity fell over as they were bathed in a spray of acid. Gorn sighed as he threw aside his tea tin, and apologetically said, “Sorry Liz, I need to go help the kids.”

“Take care, let me know when the gem is active.”

Gorn smiled but didn’t respond, and instead hung up the call.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Help Files

Classes: Pickpocket

Outlaw Subclass

Non-Combatant

Pros:

Able to acquire items normally outside of their physical means, by stealing from other entities in the game.

Able to utilize unique class skills Distraction and Quick Pocket.

Minor innate bonuses to stealth skills.

Granted access to the special Black Market areas in the major cities.

Cons:

Randomized acquisition of items via Quick Pocket. Targets of this skill can only have this used once on them per day.

No unique combat skills or bonuses.

If class is discovered the player will be treated with hostility and distrust by law abiding citizens.