Chapter 29: Iscariot

Chapter 29: Iscariot

While Cael was surveying the wreckage around the town, he saw that members of the [Janissary] Guild had stirred earlier than most. Their leader, an Arch-Knight named [Ashken], was walking with a small group of members near the borders of Kruxol. Cael was surprised that Ashken was only level 39, smaller than most of his Guild's powerful players. Still, along with the Guild leaders who are the strongest Guild members, games often had a few Guilds where the powerful players, rather than vying for the leadership, pawned it off to a weaker Guildmate who was seen as agreeable by most members. Ashken still seemed keen to project an aura of authority, wearing a small gold medallion granted only to Guild leaders, and Cael saw that Ashken was handling most of the arrangements for the upcoming Kaxil journey personally.

Cael walked innocuously up to the small group, and asked politely, with a slight accent, "Hello, you are the Guild who is leading the journey to Kaxil? That's an impressive sight."

"Yes," said Ashken, "we are trying to plan it carefully. We do it to help give players hope, after the draugr flood."

This Guild took itself rather seriously.

"That's great. I don't have a Guild, so walking between towns is very dangerous for me. I came with a few friends, but they just got killed by some other Guild who aren't like yours, I forget the name. To help the draugr and fight players, how shameful."

"Oh, that must have been the Hashin. They were reported to be nearby. They are terrible, antithetical to everything we stand for."

"I'm glad that someone is taking a stand. Your Guild sounds like a great thing, do you have any free space?"

"Ah, yes," said Ashken, "but sadly the game doesn't let Guilds recruit new members. Tell you what, sign your name here and we will offer you an invite as soon as possible."

Another player next to Ashken, named [Gre], offered Kruxol a brief form pledging allegiance to the [Janissary] Guild. Cael signed it under the pseudonym 'Iskaret.'

"By the way," started Cael, "I saw a few players with the Hashin tag walking around, could they not attack people who want to join expedition? That would get in the way."

"We are keeping a close look-out for the Hashin. Please report them to us if you see them, if possible I will deal with them personally. Make sure to notice their location and level. They are our Guild's enemies, and therefore I take responsibility for fighting them," replied Ashken.

"Sure thing," said Cael, and smiled.

Walking towards the Weaponry Store, he saw that Vladislav was busy browsing the store's smaller selection. He assumed that the Assassin would step out after checking on the store. Cael used [Minor Illusion] to conjure a small piece of paper on a rack that Vladislav was inspecting, with small written text on the paper saying, "Follow Janissary if you see them nearby."

Cael then walked back slowly to the Janissary Guild group, who were still walking slowly around the border of Kruxol.

"Hi. You said to report Hashin sightings. I just saw level 31 Hashin alone in the alleys next to the Weaponry Store, he seemed to be pursuing another player," said Cael dutifully.This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.

Ashken smiled, taking this as a chance to stamp his authority on the Guild. "I will go and see, if I find the player then they will die by my hands," said the Janissary leader, setting off towards the Weaponry Store and motioning Cael to follow him.

Cael followed dutifully after, and saw Ashken walk carefully into the alleys near the store, followed by Vladislav who had entered the Weaponry Store wall.

"It could be useful, if a Mage needed a strong physical strike at short notice for instance."

"Perhaps, you would know that. For Assassins, it doesn't seem like a good choice."

"It is a strange lottery reward, you wouldn't want to be the person who drew it. But obviously these cards can be gifted, so they won't all be as powerful as they could be. By the way, it sounds like the GMs are trying to astroturf some Guilds to the top, strange."

"Yes. I had my suspicions, so did Drifter. There are only a few GMs here, moderately powerful but we have killed one. I think three remain. GMs were having a meeting when the game bugged out, most of them didn't enter. Besides, GMs don't tend to play games any more, they are mostly just corporate staff. Cheaper than hiring players to do it, nowadays."

"I think that's the way it should be. Janitors are janitors, and gamers are gamers. Very different things to do," said Cael semi-seriously.

"You jest, but that's not false. Anyway, GMs have their names exposed by default, they can die for now. Drifter watched them carefully to figure out what additional features GMs have access to, and while they are powerful it's not something we can't kill. GM in-game powers in immersive games were limited after several high-profile cases of abuse, which gave game companies the excuse to jettison most player GMs in favour of customer support suits. But we should deal with Kruxol Arena first."

"By the way, I've never fought in the Arenas, what's it like?"

"A pain," laughed Vladislav, "it is a much different meta to the normal PvP, most Assassin moves are much less useful or are banned. Plus the fights were usually not to the death, only until one side was reduced to 1/3 HP. Nowadays, since the bug, all fights are without death. Hashin rarely enter, but we can do decently well because we are good at crafting weapons. But if you aren't a Mage who throws out strong attacks to start, or a warrior with a big sword and agility, then you aren't probably getting a top five finish. In real PvP, emphasis is on stun, surprise, and stealth, here since it's not to the death and very little stealth is possible, just powerful attacks are important."

"I see. I'm surprised that they keep it going, since people can feel pain now."

"The banlist of moves grows longer."

"I was thinking, if you use a [Light Sword], then probably less moves are banned than with dagger?"

"Yes. Light Sword is better for Arena."

"I see. I was going to train that. The quest log says to join an Arena, with high EXP rewards, so I might as well try the next Kruxol one."

"I am already entered, but good luck finding a team. Many people are still looking for a team to enter the event. Right now, we are just entering so that we can torment our target and force him to surrender, since as just audience we could only access the Arena stands which are a safe zone."

"Will the Arena move to Kaxil after this?"

"Yes, probably."

"Alright. I guess I'll try this out if I can find a team."

"There's a few other events scheduled at around this time. However, it's really artificial PvP, so don't take it too seriously. You saw how even strong Arena fighters died easily and cluelessly in the draugr event. This is the problem with fair, organised PvP fights: you don't learn how to actually fight battles."