Mhmm.
Before I could let my mind wander any further I was interrupted by her, "Ahem, so, after hearing what he had in store for me and realizing that the 'bandits' were most likely his men, I decided to immediately escape.
"I knew Selene had headed in this general direction so I set off to find her before the Earl would notice I was gone. I figured she would have followed the river… but after traveling for three days I still haven't seen a trace of her."
Ah so that's how it is.
Time to interject!
"I haven't seen any hunters around these parts as of yesterday, but I just returned from the top of the mountain. It's possible she may have passed by and continued on. Do you think she may have returned to the village already?"
At this her eyes were wide in terror, "Oh Gods! I hope not! She could be punished or even worse for my refusal of the Earl! My liege, would you grant me one more favor and find Selene before the Earl does? You're the only one I can ask!"
Wait.
Wait.
Hold on a minute, who is she calling her liege?
"Um, my liege, you say?"
She steadfastly replies, "I owe you my life, for I would have most certainly perished if it were not for your kindness, as I have no way to repay you, all I can offer is my services. If you agree to find Selene, I will swear fealty to you and serve you until you see fit! Please, you must find Selene before the Earl does!"
After hearing this I start to scratch the side of my chin, seems my beard got itchy all of a sudden, now my cheeks itchy too ai-yah-yah.
A second later a system message appeared:
[Available Quest: Find Selene!]
[Do you wish to accept?]
[Yes / No]
I selected [Yes], whelp… looks like I'll have to get my exploring on.
Although I have no reason to disbelieve everything I've been told, I'm a little reluctant to believe everything either.
Searching the forest in the winter for a hunter with a trail that's nearly a week cold is asking for the near impossible. Without any more information I think the best course of action would be to venture towards the Northern Triangle and gather some intelligence.
But first I have to do something about my new loyal companion… ah, that's right.
I haven't introduced myself.
Where are my manners, "You know, I forgot to introduce myself… my name is Roth Sigurd, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Extending a hand out I find she is quite receptive as she takes my hand and lightly bows, "The pleasure is all mine, and my name is Katherine, Priestess Katherine."
Chapter 17: The Earl and Selene
(Saturday, March 6th Game Day / Friday, January 22nd Real Day)
The village of Andal is roughly 60 miles away based off a vague memory if I follow the river, though since I hadn't charted it yet it was just a best guess.
The furthest of the Northern Triangle's villages was roughly ten miles west of my location, with the southern point of the Triangle being another ten miles out. From there, it would be a roughly thirty five mile journey to Andal… not the worst of journeys but certainly a waste of time if I don't find anything.
Leaving Katherine at the cabin with the majority of my supplies, I headed out on my journey. Roughly an hour later I ended up at the northern-most village and it was now mid-day.
Without any time to lose, I started asking the townsfolk if any of them had dealt with the Earl in Andal before and was informed there was one family that had previously lived under his rule, but out of discontent with the Earl's treatment the man moved his family north about four months ago.
A disgruntled ex-villager would be perfect for gathering information, things were going quite smoothly. With a plan to simply ask the man for some details and continue on my way, I headed out and asked the other village folk where I could find the family.
I was disappointed in very short order; it turned out the family had disappeared two months ago after a few men from the Earl visited, though all of their belongings were still in their house.
Sounds like the Earl has a hard time letting go, I guess this is why Katherine said I would be an enemy of the Earl if I helped her… sigh. I look to the sky and see that the sun is starting to set. It seems I have less than two hours before nightfall, I better hurry.
I make it to the outskirts of the southernmost Triangle Village just as the sun finally sets and make my way to the inn; as I was able to catch a few more rabbits and a fox while traveling, I traded them all for a few copper a piece and a place to stay for the night. This was the key to success in-game, never paying straight for services but trading for what was necessary and turning a profit if possible.
Bartering often proved much more valuable than straight trade.
The inn here was quite a bit larger than the other village and the population seemed to be at least double at over fifty people. Of course, those were NPC numbers as there was not a single player. But despite the lack of users, it wasn't a bad place to do trade.
Settling into my small bed inside the inn room, I decided to log out for a short break. Though one can travel at night, it's dangerous and easy to get lost out in the woods without markers but thanks to the speed of the game you'll only be in the dark for four hours before the sun rises again.
It wasn't too bad, these planned breaks. There were certain benefits to playing aggressively for a few hours then relaxing for a bit. I'm sure that was all a part of the developer's decisions.
The next journey was a thirty-five mile trek that would take me through a narrow path through opposing forests. There wasn't anything too special about it except for the fact that it would take at least three and a half hours to complete.
Could really use a mount right now… but I would just have to make due with an extended marathon.
Seeing as players were capable of running at incredible speeds if their Agility stat was high enough, late game travel wouldn't be a big deal. Especially if one coupled their high Agility with a high Endurance stat, a person could run for hours at incredible speeds.
Unfortunately my Agility wasn't much better than an average athlete so the fastest I could run at was a pace of about a mile in seven minutes. The upside was that I actually had relatively high Endurance so I could maintain that pace for a few hours… 8.6-MPH wasn't a half bad marathon pace.
After logging back in it was still dark out but my character had rested for two hours which was equivalent to a quarter-day in-game, so I was essentially well rested and good to go. I grabbed my gear and started my run south, with hopes of being able to find some hunting on the way.
I hadn't had breakfast in-game after all!
Roughly four grueling hours later I had finally arrived at Andal.
On the way I killed three foxes and seventeen rabbits, filling my small bag to the brim. But the biggest discovery was of a small bear sleeping in a tree! Unfortunately the bear looked to be well over level 50 and would pose a serious threat, too dangerous to hunt solo so I had to leave it be. At that time a thought crossed my mind, "Ah, maybe I should have brought Katherine with me…."
As I made my way into the village I was quickly greeted by a guard standing post at the northern entrance, the village was barricaded with wood and had four entrances respectively.
Walking through the village I made my way around the stalls, browsing for goods that might be useful. The village had at least two hundred people and a standing militia of around twenty. It was a small force but a deadly one this far north, if they mobilized against the smaller Triangle Villages… I'm afraid they wouldn't last very long.
There weren't any active players here either; the North really was a vacant wasteland.
It didn't take long for me to realize that the village people were of poor spirits compared to the lively warriors who were indulging themselves in ale in what was essentially mid-day.