Epilogue - Patch Notes

(A virtual room in NERV HQ)

Morgan Elliot whistled as she leaned back in her chair. The team had just finished watching the edited stream that their favorite Beta tester had just sent them. The first few real-world days’ worth of footage had been OK, but nothing outstanding, minus some kinky sex scenes that left more than a couple people squirming.

The last twenty-four hours in game, though, was a revelation. Morgan looked over to one of the project leads, who had a bowl of constantly refilling virtual popcorn. As she stole a handful, she said, “Was this your doing, Isaac?”

Isaac Hayes, the lead programmer laughed, and said, “I wish! I couldn’t have written a plot better than this if I’d tried. No, everything has been his own doing. I had to go back and review the footage from his ‘training montage’ to catch it, but there were clear signs that he was planning his escape since he got in game, once you knew what to look for.”

“And the ship?”

“Pretty sure that was all completely a crime of opportunity. I don’t know what his plan for getting off the moon was, but it was probably something like conning or seducing his way onto a shady merchant ship, getting some distance so he could plan the next step. That he just ran into an idiot calling himself ‘Lord Kickass’ and robbed him blind was pure luck.”

“Ugh. I can’t believe that he posed that player with the Major’s dead body like that. We’re going to be getting complaints about that, you know.”

“Both players were set to allow adult content.”

“And posing a dead body to frame someone for murder doesn’t bother you?”

“Maybe if it was real life, but looking over Lord Kickass’s logs, he seemed to be a jackass, so waking up having been robbed of everything and framed for murder might do him good. I’ve set a script to monitor him, just in case. Though he might be sitting in jail for a while until the whole succession thing is settled.”

“Yeah, what the hell happened there?”

Isaac shrugged. “I’ll have to look over the logs for specifics, but I think what we have there is good, old-fashioned human politics. The plans were already starting to come together, by the looks of it, it just took players getting involved to set things off. By the way, those players who did the attack on the Palace have formed the first guild. They’re called the Smoker’s Club. I checked, and apparently it is a reference to a group in an old tabletop RPG that was a team of assassins.”

“Tabletop RPG? People still play those?”

“Yeah, before Dreams, you could still find more freedom playing alongside a group around a table than you could in any video games out there. Without VR and the AI, other offerings just couldn’t compare to the level of crazy you could get up to in tabletop. Like that trick with dumping the body and framing another player for it. Genius, and not something you could do in pre-VR MMOs.”

“Huh. What was this RPG called? Maybe we’ll be able to lift some ideas for future patches.”

“It was called Shadowrun, I think. Interesting premise. Cyberpunk, but with magic added, so you had elves and dragons alongside AI and a hackable Matrix.”

Morgan got thoughtful for a second, “Dragons, huh?”

Isaac laughed, “I know that look! Just make sure to give me enough time to program things before going off and throwing craziness into the game. The AI controller might complain otherwise.”

“Like you can talk! Don’t think I’ve forgotten your attempt to put Succubus as a playable race!”

“Aww, c’mon, that was just a joke!”

Morgan simply leveled an ‘I don’t think so’ smirk at him. “Sure it was. So, what do you think our boy will do now that he has a ship and a princess to care for?”

“No clue, but I’ll bet we won’t be bored.”

End of Book 1.

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Chapter 10 - The Girl

With us out of danger, for the moment, I walked into the rec area, to find the girl still clutching the armrests of her chair, looking like she was about to be sick. Sure, I pulled a couple maneuvers during the escape, but nothing so bad as that. She looked up at me when I walked in, her eyes wide, “What did you DO?”

“Oh, that? Just a bit of fancy piloting, and then a microjump to hyperspace. Just enough to get us near Jupiter. Now we’re coasting along on a ballistic course for the Choson Ring, so we’ve got…” I looked at my bracer to confirm the ETA, “two hours and forty-five minutes until I need to be back in the cockpit and talking with the local flight control. So you’ve got that long to tell me what the hell I stepped in by taking you on board.”

Sheila Vaughn Level 20 Human Female Faction: Terran Empire Rank: Imperial Princess of House Vaughn

While the girl looked at me like I was a bloody lunatic, I took a moment to Analyze her. Crap. A princess. This was going to be ‘interesting’. I swear, if I see TIE Fighters…

I cleared those thoughts out of my mind, and got a good look at the Princess. She was pretty, no doubt. Long, raven-colored hair, and curves that were enhanced by her outfit, giving her a ‘Lara Croft’ kind of feel to her looks. In fact, I’m pretty sure one of the designers was playing those old games when they designed her.

Finally, the Princess shook her head. “You’re insane, you know that? But because of that, we’re free, for now. Anyways, my name is Third Princess Sheila Vaughn, daughter of his Imperial Highness, Alexander IX of House Vaughn, Emperor of the Terran Empire. Who might I thank for my timely rescue?”

“For now, you can call me Mirikon. Mirikon Mollen. A simple Nomad, looking for adventure. I’ve got business on the Choson Ring, and then I’ll probably be heading outward, see what’s out there.”

“A Nomad? And you already have a ship of this size? You work fast. Your kind have only been in the Empire for a couple weeks, correct?”

“Yeah, I had an opportunity to relieve a jackass of this beauty, and I took it. So now Raven and I are going to check out everything there is to do in this galaxy.”

“You… talk to your ship?”

“Why not? The Raven’s got an AI, so talking to her and making her feel like part of the team is just good sense. But we’ll get to what ‘normal’ people think about AIs later. Now, what was a Princess doing in a sleazy port, running from Imperial troops who looked ready to shoot her in the back?”

The Princess grimaced, and said, “I’m afraid that there’s been a coup. My brother, Travis, was Second Prince, and fourth in line for the throne, and always resented that Markus was born ahead of him. But Markus was always Father’s favorite, and well-liked by the military’s rank and file, as well, while it was only the more corrupt nobles and business leaders that supported Travis.”

“I was on Luna when it happened. I’m not clear on what happened, but it seems as though my brother used Nomads, knowing they could return after death, to launch suicide strikes on the Palace itself. I still don’t know the full extent of the damage, but I’m told that the explosion was enough that it could be seen from the orbitals. I am afraid that my father and brother, at least, are dead.”

“And you were being chased on Luna, why?”

She brightened up a bit at this, and said, “I was visiting the naval academy. I’d received a request to speak to some of the cadets that were graduating and were set to be going to the Fleet soon. Our House has always been big supporters of the Navy, so I was only too happy to speak to them. After I got on the base, one of the Commanders, Keene, I think, informed me that there was a ‘special project’ that was critical to the future of the Empire that I ought to see.”

Sheila paused, and then sighed, “But before I got the chance to go see it, there was a security breach. One of the Majors involved in the project was found dead outside the base, and they were questioning a Nomad who had apparently killed her during sex, thinking she had cheated him. They were investigating that, so I decided to return to my shuttle and head back to the Palace. The attack came while I was on my way to the docks.”

“The troops who were escorting me cursed about the timing, and opened fire on my personal guards! If they hadn’t sacrificed themselves in order for me to flee, I would have been killed then and there. Thankfully, I was able to find a ship that was set to take off, and get there before the traitors could catch me.”

I chuckled, and said, “Well, Princess, consider yourself lucky. It seems that there are at least a few of your brother’s cronies in the military, or at least his cronies have influence within the military. You were being set up. That top secret project you were going to see? It was a project to make chimeras, to be used as infiltrators and assassins.”

Sheila turned a shocked face to me, clearly not expecting me to know anything about top secret Imperial military projects. “What? That’s illegal! How did you discover this?”

“Well, I’m still low level because I’ve been having regular ‘talks’ with that Major that ended up dead. She was a hardass, but didn’t guard her thoughts too well while she was getting laid. Found out a lot while I was fucking her.”

The princess blinked, and said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I did not know she was your lover.”

“HA! Lover? No, I was a convenient toy for her, and I enjoyed pumping her for information while I pumped her in other ways. But they were about to start the chimera’s first ‘mission’, so I killed her. Framing the former owner of this ship for her death was an afterthought, to cover my trail.”

I laughed as I saw the princess blanche at what I was saying. “Sorry to spoil your thoughts, Princess, but I’m not one of the ‘goodness and light’ types. I didn’t care to watch a pretty lady get shot up by troopers, but that doesn’t mean I’m a nice guy.” I paused, and then looked to a nearby screen. “Raven, can you check on the situation on Earth? If there has been a terrorist attack on the palace, then there’s gotta be some news coverage.”

“On it!” Raven seemed happy enough to have a task to do, but I made a mental note to have a chat with her and see if there wasn’t anything she might be wanting. Maybe some upgrades to the ship?

“Captain, the situation is still unstable. It seems that the attack was made with a shuttle belonging to Duke Wycome that was reported ‘stolen’, and was crashed into the Palace from orbit, essentially making it a kinetic strike. At the same time, the defense grid was apparently down for maintenance, and the fighters that are supposed to cover the palace during such times were not scrambled. Emperor Alexander and Crown Prince Markus are confirmed dead, and much of the capitol is on fire.”

Sheila sobbed at the news that her father and brother were dead, but I needed more information. “And the rest of the royal family?”

“Princess Vespa, who was second in line for the throne, was killed in an apparent act of treason by members of her own guard, who were then killed by soldiers loyal to one of the nobles. Princess Merida narrowly escaped a similar assassination attempt, thanks to the intervention of a group of Nomads who were passing by. Prince Travis has attempted to seize power, but with Merida still alive, it is likely that, without a civil war, she will be Empress.”

I looked over to Sheila, and said, “When we get to the Choson Ring, I’ll allow you to make a comm call to your sister, so she knows you’re alive. But I won’t be advertising our position until we’re safely docked. Your brother may have friends in a variety of places. And if word that an Imperial Princess is all alone and unguarded on a small freighter gets out, then we’ll have no end of scavengers looking to gobble you up for a ransom, or worse.”

The idea of her brother’s minions or syndicates trying to get hold of her evidently was enough for Sheila to keep from objecting. I considered her outfit, which was basically high-end traveling clothes, but not anything that screamed ‘royalty’ rather than ‘rich’, and nodded, “For now, your disguise is non-Princess-y enough that we can pass it off, especially if we have a cloak of some kind to hide your figure some. Raven! Is there an armory or similar on board?”

“Yes, Sir. Captain Trevellan kept a small armory in the rec area, in a concealed compartment. Captain Kickass never found it, and never thought to ask.”

“Excellent. Where is it, and how do we get in?”

I followed Raven’s instructions and found the compartment just where it was supposed to be, and it opened with the codes she gave me. After that, I had Raven scramble all security codes so that Lord Kickass couldn’t try to get back into her systems. That done, I turned to look at the goodies in the armory. In addition to a basic knife and a coat to match mine for Sheila, I also pulled out a pair of armored vests, a psyber shotgun, and two pairs of goggles.

Toronto Tactical Vest
Type	Armor Vest	Rank	Common
This vest is designed to provide lightweight armor for private security or police officers facing active shooting situations. It can be worn in layers with other clothes, though it is decidedly not subtle, so don’t try walking down the street with this on unless you want a lot of attention. +20 Physical Armor +20 Energy Armor

Shiawase Arms Psyber Monsoon
Type	Shotgun	Rank	Uncommon
Damage	40 – 50	Damage Type	Impact
The first of its kind sold to the civilian market, the Psyber Monsoon is a psyshot shotgun. Select fire allows for either solid psyslug rounds or for psyshot rounds. Psyslugs have increased armor penetration. Psyshot rounds cover an area, and ignore part of the target’s Physical Defense, but do less damage against armored foes. Durability 40/40 10 shot magazine (costs 25 PP to recharge) Psyslug – Ignores 20 Energy Armor. Psyshot – Spreads up to 2m at range of 4m. Reduce target’s physical defense by 20 for defending against this attack. Treat Energy armor as being +20 current value.

Cybersteam Optics Goggles
Type	Eyes	Rank	Common
A stylish pair of goggles suitable for either cyberpunk or steampunk fashions. These googles offer a HUD interface with your bracers, as well as multiple vision enhancers, while at the same time enhancing the wearer’s appearance. HUD Display Thermal Vision – See in Infrared Low-light Vision – See twice as far in low-light conditions +5 CHA

Now that we were both kitted out for something more than running and gunning our way out of port, I nodded. “All right, Princess. That ought to keep anyone from recognizing you too quickly. I’m going back to the cockpit so I can run the docking sequence. When we get on board the station, contact your sister, see if she can arrange a pickup.”

Sheila nodded, and looked over to me. “And what happens then?”

“Then, I turn in my cargo, get paid, and we’ll lay low for a bit until we find out what’s going to happen next. I’ll probably do a bit of shopping, myself. Still need a crew moving forward.”

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Chapter 9 - The Ship

While I rode the tram over to the docks, I took a look at the information nets, now that I was out from under the watchful eye of the military. I needed information in a bad way.

First, I checked the status of my ship. The Harlot’s Ruse was apparently a MT-234 series light freighter. Normal crew of 2 to 6, though it could be run by just a pilot if necessary. The MT-234 was known for being fast, and had a few places that could be converted for smuggling purposes. While the armor wasn’t bad, it wasn’t a military ship, to be sure. If something got through the shields, damage could rack up fast. But other than starfighters, there wasn’t much that could catch a MT-234 if it was in peak form.

Second, I saw that the existence of players had been leaked to the NPCs. We were being called Nomads in the Empire, and the fact that we came back after death, and would sometimes disappear for hours or days when we ‘logged out’ was already known. That would make some things easier. Telling people I was a Nomad would eliminate questions on why I didn’t know certain things, for instance.

Third, I saw a job board, where ship’s captains could arrange for cargo and passengers that were headed along their planned routes. You could also look for crew there, if you wanted. From the patchy records I had, the only current crew of the Ruse was the ship’s AI. I’d need to get a couple more if I wanted to be really effective.

On the other hand, the ship was, apparently, ready to fly and had all the maintenance done, which is why Kickass was in the bar. He’d come to celebrate putting the finishing touches on a ship he’d won in what sounded like an interesting story about him shooting the former owner repeatedly. Since the other person had shot first, it was ruled self-defense. Well, in that case he could hardly complain if I robbed him blind a bit later, right?

Hmm. Better change the ship’s name while I had the chance. After paying a 100 credit fee, the Harlot’s Ruse became the Starlight Raven. Much better name for a ship.

While trolling the job boards, I came across something interesting.

Cargo Haul to the Choson Ring Trader Mavis requires a package delivered to the White Hand Company on the Choson Ring in Jupiter orbit. Package is a set of five stasis tubes containing live cargo.
Difficulty	D
Task	Deliver all 5 stasis pods, still sealed, to the White Hand Company.
Payment	300000 Credits (100000 Credit bonus if delivered within 24 hours)

A bit of checking said that the White Hand Company was rumored to be a front for the local syndicate. And the Choson Ring had a thriving slave market. So probably shipping slaves to the market? But slavery was legal in the Empire. So this probably meant taking some high value slaves someplace they could be moved quietly. Not exactly the kind of thing I wanted to cut my teeth on, but what the hell? 400K would go a long way towards getting me some crew, and upgrading my ship and gear.

I was still considering my options when we got to the docks. Thankfully, Lord Kickass had chosen the shady part of the port to park his ship in, meaning that there weren’t any ID scans to get inside, so long as you had business there. Me owning one of the ships (and having a spare hundred credits lying around) was enough for the guard. Still, I needed some actual ID, at least until my forging skills got up to scratch.

Fortunately, spacers often ‘lose’ their ID, and have to get new ones issued. Especially in seedy ports like this one. This is my shocked face. Really. At any rate, I was able to get IDs for five different personas, at 1000 credits each. A new ID was supposed to cost 200 credits, but a little grease gets the wheels moving, y’know.

Finally, I was able to get to my new ship. She was… not as impressive as I thought she’d be. But then, I built her up in my head. The ship was painted completely black, and I saw turrets on the top and bottom of the hull, sporting some nasty-looking quad-barreled blasters. The black paint scheme told me that whoever the original owner was, they clearly intended this baby to be used for quasi-legal or straight illegal cargo runs. If they kept power emissions low enough, and kept from using gravitic engines, then the detection range for this baby was officially ‘damn short range’.

When I came to the berth for the Raven, a female voice came to me through my bracer. “Halt! Entry is not permitted at this time without permission of the Captain.”

Looking at my bracer, I smiled. “Are you the ship’s AI? I’m afraid the ship has had a change of owners. If you’ll connect to the public datanet, you’ll be able to confirm this.”

There was a pause, and then the voice returned, somewhat sullen sounding, “Yes, it seems that idiot sold me, when I had just gotten fixed up and ready to travel again! So, you’re this ‘Captain Mollen’, then? At least you’ve got a better name for me than ‘Harlot’s Ruse’. Ugh, that was the worst! The other ships’ AIs were always laughing at me for that one!”

I smiled, and said, “Well, I’m glad you like your new name. If you don’t mind, I’ll be calling you Raven from now on. Can you open the cargo ramp so I can get a look around?”

“Oh, certainly, Captain!” The cargo ramp lowered, and I walked up into the ship, looking around. “All right, Raven, can you give me a status report on the ship’s stores? How are we on food supplies, spare parts, and the like?”

“We have ration packs to last for two Terran Months at full crew, so if you intend to crew the ship by yourself for the time being, you will not need to worry about starving, though I am told that the taste leaves something to be desired.” I chuckled at that. No matter where you go, ration packs are going to taste like crap. It is one of those universal constants.

“As far as spare parts, we have duplicates of a couple key components, and a Class III fabricator unit on board, but I am running low on feed stock, having used 87% of the previous supply for repairs and upgrades to the ‘Captain’s Pad’.”

“All right, first off, ‘Captain’s Pad’ will be reclassified as Captain’s quarters, same as everything. Second, give me the information for a reputable supplier so we can get some decent food, and a supply of feedstock. I don’t care for the idea of something breaking in the black and not being able to fix it.”

I heard what could almost be considered a sigh of relief at that. “Yes sir! The information has been sent to your bracer.”

I nodded as I began poking about the ship. It was a simple design, really, as one might expect from a freighter, but at least the ship had style to it. From above, it looked almost like a spear, with a point at the bow, widening out as it approached the stern. Now that I was looking at the specifics of this ship, I saw she was fast, faster even than the ‘unofficial’ factory specs. Seems one of the previous owners put military grade engines in this baby, along with military grade sensors and shields. Sure, they were two to three generations out of date by this point, but still better than anything civilians would be allowed to have.

The Raven had the top and bottom turrets, like I saw, but that wasn’t all. She also had forward-facing particle cannons, and both fore- and aft-facing missile launchers. Combined with the shields, sensors, and stealth ability, the Raven could fly fast, hit hard when she needed to, and get out of dodge in a hurry. Plus, she had good cargo capacity for something this size, mainly by cutting down on non-essentials.

That was the big problem with her. She was real short on entertainment. There was a practice range set up in the cargo bay, but that could get blocked if we had enough cargo loaded, and there was a ship’s canteen and rec area, which had a few viewscreens and a game console, but other than that, you were limited to whatever entertainment you could do in your quarters. There were eight cabins, including mine. Captain’s bunk and five crew quarters, and two passenger quarters. Could fit more on the ship, but it’d be tight.

All this time, I’d been chatting with Raven, getting a feel for her, and letting her get to know me, as we went about ordering supplies (cost me another 10K credits), paying the docking fees (another thousand), and getting jobs lined up, including that one I noticed earlier. They were mostly cargo hauls, but would net me a good amount of credits (nothing like the five stasis pods, but still worth the cost of fuel for an in-system flight).

As we were about to lock up the ship to depart, a woman came running into the docking bay, looking like the hells themselves were chasing her. When she noticed the ramp of my ship was still down, she started tearing off in my direction. She got about halfway before troopers in Imperial military uniforms burst through the door, and started leveling weapons at the woman’s back. “Raven, can you remote target the keel turret?”

“It is within possibility; however, it is illegal for an AI to operate starship weapons while in the gravity well of any inhabited planet or moon while in Imperial space.”

“Noted, and I don’t care. If you see those troopers setting up anything heavier than those rifles, take them out. We’re not going to be sticking around to answer questions.”

“Understood, sir!” She sounded quite happy to shoot things. I was going to have to ask on the general treatment of AIs in the Empire, it seemed.

While I was talking with my AI, I pulled the SMG out of my storage space, and sprayed a few shots over the woman’s head. Didn’t hit a damn thing, since my skill was low, but I wasn’t trying to kill them. Training is training, and pretty much any military is going to teach troopers to evaluate the situation when gunfire starts coming their way. As I hoped, the troopers (looked to be six or eight of them) ducked behind cover. It only lasted until they saw it was spray and pray, but that was all the woman needed to dive onto my ship, and inside its shields.

I sent a final burst from the SMG down the ramp, yelling, “Button us up and get us out of here, Raven!” I helped the woman up from where she’d dived to the deck, and began rushing towards the cockpit. “We’ll do introductions later. Right now, I need to make sure we get out of here in one piece.” As we passed through the rec area, I said, “Strap in, and don’t touch anything.”

Yes, I was rude. But by the time I’d gotten to the cockpit, we’d only just passed the airshield, despite traffic control’s rather lame protests (we WERE at the sleazy docks, after all), but there were warnings coming up, telling me that we had inbound fighters. And I hadn’t actually flown a ship before, not since a brief spell during the Beta.

I was cursing as I strapped in, and hit the throttle to full. The Raven shot off like a bat out of hell, which was very nice. Especially since it spoiled the locks the fighters had on us. But we had enough of a lead that I could do something really stupid. I pointed us in the general direction of Jupiter, powered up the hyperdrive, and shot us off. It was a quick, five second trip, but hellaciously dangerous since I hadn’t done any calculations beyond getting a simple distance reading to destination. Not to mention that microjumps like this could kill your hyperdrive (gravitic waveform drive if you wanted to be sciency about it).

Still, it worked, and we hadn’t gone crashing headlong into Jupiter, or its moons, or any of the other crap out there! I immediately had Raven take us into stealth mode, and begin sending us towards Choson Ring. It wasn’t until I’d taken a couple breaths that I looked at the messages I’d gotten.

Automatics increased to 3/100. +2 DEX Small Ship Pilot increased to 5/100. +2 DEX, +2 WIS Due to character actions, you gain: +2 INT +2 CHA +4 Luck

You have killed an Imperial Soldier. +250 XP

Your actions in blasting out of Luna Red Spaceport and completing a suicidal unplanned hyperjump have gained you fame! +200 Fame

I chuckled at the fame bonus. And it seems I got a lucky shot in on one of the soldiers in that last burst. Leaning back in the pilot’s chair for a moment, I sighed, and then got up. Time to go find out what fresh new pile of shit I’d thrown myself into. Because if we were going to be taking on moon-sized battle stations, I wanted to know about it ahead of time.

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Chapter 73 - Sharp. Pointy. TEETH!

Not long after we started moving the next dawn, we reached Fort Bilman. Well, it was more of an outpost with a wooden palisade guarding the gate through the pass into the Tribeslands. Still, there was a place for people to be checked over before crossing the border. The soldiers didn’t do anything to keep us from passing, but did offer a warning that we shouldn’t tarry out doors after nightfall, as the monsters were much stronger on the other side.

Fortunately, we’d sent Kamla’s new pet, Braleia, to Lithaes. As a new vampire, she wasn’t able to withstand the sun (and since she’d already had her Ascension, she probably never would be). However, we found that Kamla was able to sense and give commands to any vampire she created so long as they were on the same plane, and not in a warded space. I gave leave for her to make use of a space in the former dungeon below the Castle, provided she protected the Dark Shrine from any attackers.

You know, I seem to be capturing a lot of enemies and sending them to make themselves useful back home. Next thing I know, I’ll be seeing places offering free healing with identical nurses and ten year old brats will start pestering me to fight them so they can get badges and… yeah, stopping there.

At any rate, the walk from Fort Bilman to Cadbury was fairly tame. We stayed along the road, so we didn’t see any of the monsters that the guards were talking about until we were almost to Cadbury. Well, we saw the beastkin first.

Cadbury Farmer Catkin Male Level 40 Farmer / Craftsman Titles: Green Thumb

The catkin, who obviously had zero combat ability, was running towards us along the road. From what I’d heard, classes like Farmer or Craftsman actually gained XP primarily through their associated activities. It allowed someone who wanted to be a full-time crafter to simply do their thing, I guess, though having no combat abilities would mean that they’d be in trouble if they actually needed to fight something.

The catkin was screaming for help as he approached. I was already looking that way, so I barely managed to see the blur that bounded up from the woods, and launched itself at the catkin. The little ball of white fluffy death streaked through the air, and in its wake blood sprayed from where the farmer’s throat formerly was.

Without thinking, I cast Darkbolt at the white missile, and managed to hit it!

Vorpal Bunny (Deceased) Magical Beast Male Level 60 Magical Beast

Aaaand I one-shotted it, with the basic spell I’d been training since my earliest time in game. Looking at the other players in the group, I sighed. “Great. These baddies are going to be a pain. They’re probably a straight DEX build, pumping everything into going as fast as possible. Makes them hard to hit, but they’ve got no defense to speak of, and their HP is trash. So one hit kills, but hitting is going to be trouble. And if the kitty is any indication, their attacks are going to HURT. So defensive formation, Della in the center, Severa and Kamla in stealth. Everyone else, keep your eyes open, and your guard up. Those of us with better defense may be able to tank a hit, but don’t count on it. Assume they are capable of one-shotting us if they crit.”

Everyone nodded, we began advancing down the road. Interestingly enough, the loot from the dead catkin included an Egg. It looked like a chocolate treat wrapped in foil, but the description was surprising, to say the least.

Hare Egg
Type	Material	Rank	Uncommon
A unique feature of the Tardy Hares (the female version of Vorpal Bunnies) found in the Cadbury region is the eggs these creatures lay. No one knows how they lay these eggs, as in most respect they resemble normal rabbits. However, it is known that Vorpal Bunnies and Vorpal Hares hatch from these eggs as full-grown adults. Simply carrying an egg gives one a bonus to their stats, though at the cost of increased threat from Vorpal Bunnies. One can also eat the egg, use it as a crafting material, or shatter it to confer a temporary bonus on an individual. When carried: Gain a bonus to all stats equal to (101-Level)% of the base attribute (+48% to all stats at this level) +300% Threat from Vorpal Bunnies Vorpal Bunnies start at Hatred towards you. When eaten: Permanently increase a random stat by 100% current base stat. Random permanent buff Random permanent debuff Can only be used once per character. When used as crafting material: Adds +100 DEX, +100 Luck to resulting item. Random effect When shattered on an individual’s head: +20 to all stats for 1 hour Invisible to Vorpal Bunnies for 1 hour Unable to attack Vorpal Bunnies for 1 hour (damaging a Vorpal Bunny ends the effect)

I checked, and saw that the counter on my quest had moved to 29/30. Twenty-nine more chances to find eggs, plus wherever these Tardy Hares were. If I could get a breeding pair of these creatures, that would definitey secure the guild some high-quality crafting materials, and would also give our newbies a substantial boost in their levelling.

But first, we needed to finish the quest. I decided to hold on to the egg for now, since I had enough DEX and defense that I could see the bunnies coming, and defend against them well enough. If they all focused on me, that would give the others free shots. Normally, I would have given it to Yukiko, since she was actually a tank, but she had a weakness for cute, fluffy things. Asking her to keep the rabbits from killing her and the others was one thing. Making it so that the cute fluffies actively hated her would just be mean.

The next hour was pretty hairy, as the closer we got to the town, the more often we began encountering the Bunnies. One of them wasn’t a problem, since with our formation, and making sure they were all focused on me, we could more or less spot and intercept the attacking rabbits before they did any damage. But now they were coming two, sometimes three at a time! And a glancing blow from one of those things took off 500 HP. I didn’t want to find out what a clean crit would do.

We had all too clear ideas on what a rabbit’s attack could do, as we came upon villager after villager, all dead, and each with a Cadbury Egg, sometimes more than one. We had almost forty of the things now. Unfortunately, the effect of carrying multiple eggs wasn’t cumulative.

Also, the rabbits sometimes dropped interesting loot. We only had five more to find according to the quest, but we’d already gotten multiples of two interesting items, enough for the whole party to have one.

Vorpal Rabbit’s Foot
Type	Trinket	Rank	Uncommon
Made from the foot of a Vorpal Rabbit, some of the creature’s power remains within this foot. Superstitious sorts aren’t the only ones who carry one of these talismans around! +100 Luck

Vorpal Fur Boot Lining
Type	Item Enhancement	Rank	Uncommon
Made from the fur of a Vorpal Bunny, this item is designed to be added to an already existing pair of boots. Doing this consumes the Lining, but adds a permanent enhancement to the boots. Enhancement: +20 DEX, +25% Move Speed

As we reached the town square, the last five Vorpal Rabbits came from the direction of the largest house. Once again, they were single-minded in their hatred of me, and I used this to my advantage without the slightest regret. A flurry of spells and attacks, and the quest was complete.

Slaughter Them All Vorpal Bunnies have been harassing farmers in Cadbury. Kill them all!
Rank	C
Success	Kill the Vorpal Bunnies. 0/30 remaining.
Failure	Let the bunnies live.
Rewards	Gold Mysterious Box
Consequences	Cadbury farmers will hate you.

With the threat removed (for now), the surviving villagers emerged from the house. There were only six remaining, a wolfkin male and five female beastkin of different types. I moved to the wolfkin, since he looked to be in charge, and said, “So what happened here? The request said you were being ‘harrassed’ not ‘slaughtered like sheep’. No offense,” I said as an aside to a sheepkin woman nearby.

The man didn’t seem to appreciate that, but decided not to dig himself deeper. “The Vorpal Bunnies are a nuisance, since they interfere with our farms, but they’ve never done more than just raid the fields. The attacks only started a couple days ago, after everyone started finding eggs in their possessions.”

I held up my egg. “You mean like this?”

The man nodded, and said, “Yes, every villager has one by now. We would have all been slaughtered if it weren’t for you!” And with that, he handed me a sack full of gold (my share was 600 GP), and a box. The man tried to stop me, but I decided to open the Mysterious Box in front of everyone. What I found was pretty much what I expected.

Idol of the Eystr’e Hare
Type	Tool	Rank	Unique
This golden idol is shaped in honor of a little known deity sacred to Rabbitkin. Celebrations of the Eystr’e Hare involve hiding colored eggs for people to find. This idol contains a portion of the Rabbit God’s power. While at a shrine dedicated to the Rabbit God, Eystr’e Hare, summons 10 Vorpal Bunny Shrine Guardians and 10 Tardy Hare Shrine Maidens to defend the shrine. The 20 summoned rabbits survive from the idol’s mana, but their offspring require sustenance, as normal. When stolen from a shrine dedicated to the Rabbit God, curses the thief and their settlement. Hare Eggs are randomly distributed to 20 individuals in the settlement each day, and cannot be thrown away. 30 Vorpal Hares twenty levels higher than the thief are summoned to attack egg bearers each day while the idol remains within the settlement or the thief lives. 1/day, a person touching the Idol may summon a Vorpal Bunny to perform one task.

This was a nasty curse, as most divine curses were, but not as damning as Moradin’s curse. But this Eystr’e Hare was a lower-tier diety, so it was probably not able to do the truly nasty shit. Still, there was more than enough written there that I knew what had happened.

With a wicked grin, I held up the idol, and summoned the Vorpal Bunny. “Kill the thief who stole the idol from the shrine.” The wolfkin barely had time to yell before the bunny became a blur, ending his life just as the catkin had died earlier.

For avenging the insult to Eystr’e Hare’s shrine, you are awarded experience. You are now Level 53! You have 5 points to distribute. You have gained the Jeweled Egg of Eystr’e. You have received a quest.

Eystr’e’s Shrine The old shrine of the Eystr’e Hare, God of Rabbitkind, was disturbed and desecrated by those who proved unworthy. Cadbury’s demise is your opportunity, however.
Rank	F
Success	Create a shrine to the Eystr’e Hare in your territory, and place the Idol there.
Failure	Sell, trade, or discard the Idol, or make your intention to not create a shrine known to others.
Reward	Blessing of the Rabbits (small game becomes more plentiful around your territory) Unlocks Wererabbit race. Vorpal Bunnies and Tardy Hares available as tamable pets in your land.
Consequence	Unlocks Wererabbit race. You, your followers, and your guild all become wererabbits.

Jeweled Egg of Eystr’e
Type	Material	Rank	Unique
Just as the Hare’s Egg bestows power upon one who consumes it, so too does the Jeweled Egg of Eystr’e. The power contained in the Jeweled Egg is greater, but so are the potential side effects of taking in that power. Permanently increase 2 random stats by 200% current base stat. Random permanent buff Random permanent debuff Eystr’e’s Mark – All Rabbitkind is forbidden from attacking you unless you first attack that individual. Eystr’e’s Missive – All stats reduced by 50% while fighting a member of Rabbitkind.

Wow. That was pretty damn awesome, but the random stat boost and the random buff/debuff were worrisome. I didn’t like not knowing what I was getting into. And it looked like, if I wanted to, I could also eat one of the ‘normal’ Eggs, too, and get their benefit as well. But was it worth it to have the potential of two random debuffs?

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