Seeking Out Allies

Ember dashed out of the door. The sun had barely risen over the horizon, but the Imp was fired up. For the time being, only one thing mattered, he needed to track down the others who ended up in this place just as he had. The big question was though, how would he guarantee his odds of finding them? He wandered down the street, glancing down alleys for signs of the people he knew bore the mark, all the while racking his brain thinking of a better way to go about this. In the real world, asking around would at least be feasible, but here, he wasn’t certain how well that would work. He doubted the NPCs could help him locate players and the players themselves likely weren’t bothering to pay attention to anyone but their friends, that is, except for… Ember opened up his Codex. With the popularity of SpaceSamurai, he would likely be able to overhear people talking about him if he turned the global volume up. However, now that he was thinking about it, he froze. Not only could he not find the options tab, but he could hear everyone around him completely normally already. Ember stared at the codex for a moment at nothing in particular as the realization settled. It seemed he had no options to alter such elements anymore.

Ember sighed as his situation continued to feel ever more real. Still, that didn’t change the fact that he could keep his ears out for possible chatter. That did however raise another idea as word of mouth wasn’t the only way to obtain information in this world. Ember thought about the global chat, searching his Codex again and even focusing his mind on it to see if he might get it to manifest in his vision like other hud elements. Try as he might, however, he found nothing. Could that mean that global chat was also out of reach for him? Ember felt a brief wave of dread wash over him but shook it off. He couldn't just give up so soon! He would just need to use those big ol’ ears he gave himself, which seemed to function better than his old ones. Ember then continued on his way, stowing his codex as she eavesdropped on several conversations. Before long however, he picked up on the name SpaceSamurai and immediately turned his attention to the source. Off beside a house, seemingly talking amongst themselves were a female gnome and feliccan.

“So if he’s been online all night, why hasn’t he continued streaming? I thought he wanted to stream everything.” Asked the halfling.

“I don’t know, he’s probably out grinding, just doing the boring stuff that nobody wants to watch.” The feliccan replied.

“Yea, but that doesn’t really explain why he just cut his stream last night. You think he’s doing okay?” The halfling asked.

“Yea, I mean, I think so. He hasn’t been acting differently lately or anything.” The feliccan replied.

With that, Ember toddled his way over to them. Catching sight of his approach, the two turned to him looking confused.

“Hey, heard you talking about SpaceSamurai. I’ve been looking for him. Any idea where he is?” Ember asked, the two responding by looking into their codexes.

“Oh, umm, sorry, I thought we were set to party only chat… Umm, but, yea, we don’t know. Supposedly he’s still online but nobody’s seen him since he went into the wilderness.” The feliccan explained, sounding concerned.

“I see, any idea which wilderness?” Ember asked.

“Umm, out the North Gate I think.” The halfling replied as they looked confused at their codexes.

“Got it, thanks.” Ember said curtly before turning to leave the two to their own devices.

Ember made his way through the North Gate, a pair of lizardfolk hoplites saluting him as he passed by. Unlike the South Gate he and his friends had gone through the day prior, the North Gate seemed to lead out into an expanse of farmland. Fields of green and amber sprawled out along either side of the long, branching earthen pathway. Pens containing horses, cows and sheep could also be seen further along the path where there was plenty of space to roam the fields before they eventually hit the tree line. Players could be seen running and hopping all about while NPCs tended the fields and livestock. Ember even needed to sidestep an oncoming horse drawn carriage filled with produce as it made its way towards the gate. Unfortunately, not all was peaceful among the fields as Ember caught sight of a commotion in the distance. Though not interested in getting side tracked, he couldn’t help but indulge his curiosity to see what was happening over there. Besides, it was right along the way.

As he neared the forest’s edge, he caught sight of spells of all sorts flying through the air and burly warriors digging their weapons into what looked to be oversized monstrous vegetables with toothy maws filled with teeth. Every strike released a gout of plant juice and a puff of dark grey smoke. Still, this was what adventurers were for right? And this group of players seemed keen to take them down. Ember looked up to the handle of his weapon. It was tempting, but he shook his head. He had something he needed to do and told himself that he would only take a look. Watching a giant carrot get sliced in half and a massive, frozen potato get shattered to pieces, Ember hurried away. That crew didn’t need his aid anyway.

Leaving those vegetables to their slaughter Ember looked around as he entered the forest. The obvious path here was just a narrow dirt road. This place didn’t seem particularly popular to the town at the moment, which also suggested that the beasts here have also been left alone. Ember reached back and drew his maul. Fortunately, drawing it out was just about as easy as it had been before, with only a slight amount of effort to get the straps on his bag to release it. The weight meanwhile was something else. This thing was heavy, a lot heavier than the plastic controllers he was swinging around before. Still, at least it seemed like it would be easier to keep his grip on the handle this way, and despite the weight, his strength as a Barbarian gave him all the power he needed to properly wield the thing.

“Moze! Moze, you out here?” Ember shouted amidst the trees.

He was met only with the calls of birds, skittering of insects, and the rustling of the tall canopies. Still, he continued on. He had no reason to believe he would have any luck hunting for Moze out here, but in reality, it was the only lead he had. From the sounds of things it may have been too late to warn him about the mark, but if he could still find him, it could prove to be a solid first step to escaping this place. Meanwhile, the forest ahead was beginning to grow darker and Ember began to slow down his pace. Even if Moze was out trying to avoid attention, would he really go so deep into the forest? Then again, what were dangers like that in a video game? If this game followed the usual rules of MMOs, then he’d probably respawn if something disastrous happened. Then again, it would probably also be in the center of town, the kind of place that he seemed intent to avoid. If that wasn’t the case, then why go radio silent like that on everyone? As Ember tried to reason in his head just where Moze might actually be hiding out, he heard a rustle of leaves and what sounded like the snapping of a large branch.The sound caused Ember to jump as chills were sent down his spine. Immediately, he turned his head only to find himself staring directly into the eyes of the largest creature he had seen thus far in this world. Its appearance immediately brought to mind something he had heard about not long ago and looking at the name above it confirmed it. The beast was a level eight Bramble Bear.