I practically ran to the guild hall, the promise of real people driving me forward.

  When I got there, I found it was a member’s only building. Which was fine as I wanted to sign up.

  Joining the guild consisted of paying the annual dues, though if you didn’t have the full amount, which I didn’t, it was 10 gold for a newb and was 20 gold every year after. You could sign an agreement that said you would pay that back, and in the case of your death, the guild would get first right to your coin and gear to make up the amount.

  I had no worries on that front. I had no one I wanted to give my gear to, and anyway, I would be back again.

  I signed the papers hurriedly. I decided to finance my whole membership, which, it turns out, would cost me more in the long run. But I felt it was likely I would die again anyway, and wanted to keep this money now. I wanted to see if there were any players in the guild hall. The guild hall was a gathering place for members. You could take jobs, have a drink, and find party members.

  I had noticed the looks I was getting. Not just from having a ‘dog’ under my arm. My clothes were dirty and damaged. Maybe I should fix that before I go to the guild, as reputation seemed to be a stat in this game.

  What I wanted was new clothes, anyway. Even when clean, this was not an attractive ensemble. What was the best options for fighting and travelling? Maybe something that had a wipeability quotient? Maybe leather? Metal would be good, but that sounded heavy and expensive.

  I saw a display of fabrics in a window and wandered in. There was a young woman trying to shop with a toddler. The shopkeeper was doing their best to display their wares to their client without wincing every time the toddler touched something with their drool-covered fingers. I assume their forbearance was because the young woman was clearly wealthy; she was wearing a terribly elaborate dress with a huge skirt of finely pattered fabric. Only someone very wealthy could afford to be so impractical.

  The woman was very excited by a display of ribbons. I wanted to see about getting a light shift, so I would have something to wear when I washed my other clothes. And to use as a nightgown. Though I feared the fabric here was going to be beyond my meagre purse, it was such a beautiful shop, all the colours and textures a feast for the eyes.

  My eyes were drawn to the bright jewel tones of the ribbons. The display was next to the window, and the late afternoon sunlight streamed in, playing across the various textures, which had to be intentional. Even from here, I could tell the textures; there were shiny satin ones, rich velvet ones, ones with a slubby weave, some with raised stitching, and everything in between.

  The young woman picked one of sunshine and gold. Once the shopkeeper cut it, the young woman immediately tied it around her child's head, a big bow making up for the toddler’s lack of hair. As soon as her mother’s attention wandered, the toddler was back to attempting to scale a stack of fabric bolts.

  I watched this tableau with amusement. It felt so human. And the child was quite adorable. Then I got an idea.

  I walked out of the shop a silver lighter. But my dog now sported a big pink shiny bow. This should make the NPCs hesitate before they tried to harm her. Also, she looked cute, and that might help too.

  Monsters don’t wear bows.

  That shop hadn’t had what I wanted for myself, so I headed away from the richer area of the market. I eventually found a shop and found that I could have a simple shift made for me for a few coppers. I paid the seamstress and was told I could pick it up tomorrow.

  Now for some form of armour. I was thinking, since I was likely going to have to be the tank, maybe I could afford a simple leather breastplate. I still had that one gold.

  The shop I found was wedged between a cobbler and a place advertising “Mystic Consultations.” The man behind the counter looked incredibly shifty. I bet that his business model was selling incense and crystals to the gullible. It looked just like the new age shops I had been to in the real world. I was on the fence with all that stuff. Though who knows, maybe here they were more than just pretty rocks.

  I ducked under a low lintel and found myself face to face with a row of battered mannequins, each modelling a variety of basic armor. Most looked like they’d seen better centuries. The mannequins, the armour they were wearing, looked new if not fancy.

  A wiry man with an eye patch glanced up from behind the counter. After a moment of his eyes widening at my dog, he just asked, “Looking for protection, or just want to look dangerous?” His smile was mostly gums.

  “Bit of both,” I admitted. The pink bow was already working. I put Dekka down. “I need something I can actually afford. And preferably something that isn’t lined with something gross like mould.” I was remembering one game I played where things like ‘rotten armour of the necromancer’

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  He snorted. “We’re fresh out of fungal armour today.” He gestured to a rack of what might generously be called “starter gear.” “First timer?”

  “Something like that.”

  I picked through the options—chain, way too heavy; plate, as if; boiled leather, maybe, but most were for torsos much larger than mine, with a different distribution. I rapped my knuckles on something that almost fit, and it made a satisfying, solid thunk.

  “Can you make alterations?” I asked, looking down at the way it gaped at the sides. Even tightened all the way, it was loose from my breasts down.

  “I suppose I could.” He said, coming over and peering closely at my side.

  “How long would that take?” I asked, shrugging out of it.

  “I reckon I could have it ready by sundown tomorrow.”

  “How much?”

  He named a price. I made a face.

  He mistook my look of doing math in my head for disapproval and shaved off a silver and threw in a pair of arm guards for free, “because you look like someone who’s going to need them.”

  “I’ll be back tomorrow to pick it up,” I said, after counting out the coins, trying to keep my face steady.

  He nodded. “I’ll fit it to you then. Try not to get yourself killed before you’ve had a chance to wear it.”

  I’ll do my best, I said, picked up Dekka and left.

  I went back to the guild for the evening to see if I could find a party.

  Looking over the guild quests, there was one for the local dungeon. That sounded interesting. It was billed as a level 5 local dungeon. I wasn’t level 5, but if I was a member of a party, maybe I would be ok. The rest of the quests on the board were gathering quests, and I wanted no part of those for a while.

  There were other people standing around reading the board, but it wasn’t as if they were picking things. NPCs waiting to be asked to a party?

  “Hey, have any of you done the dungeon before?”

  “Oh aye,” said one. A grizzled-looking mage. “I’ve been down many a time.”

  “What’s it like?”

  “’Tis full of monsters.” He replied. The others around nodded.

  Well, that wasn’t helpful. I had figured that.

  “How dangerous is it? If you have a full party, that is.”

  “Och, it’s not too bad. Some make it out, and with plenty of coin to show for it.”

  Again, the nodding.

  “If I want to go down, would I be better off joining a party or forming my own?”

  This time, the voice that answered was much lower to the ground than I expected. “I don’t know of any parties planning to go down at the moment. But if you do decide to form a party, I would be interested in being your rogue. I am a quick hand at a lock or a trap.” A halfling said, flipping a coin around on the backs of his thick fingers in an obvious demonstration of the dexterity of said digits.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, looking around at the others, waiting to see if anyone else would volunteer. No one did. Dekka was getting heavy, so I put her down. The big pink bow bounced as she trotted away to see if food had been dropped under the tables. It really seemed to make a difference. She got stares, but no one was hostile.

  “How many members can a party have?” Could I have a small army at my back?

  “Oh, well, that depends.” The old mage said unhelpfully. I was just about to prod him when he continued. “For regular dungeons, you can have a maximum of five party members. But for larger events, like provincial or world events, you can combine many parties. Once I did a world event.” His eyes got misty as if he was remembering his glory days. I found that interesting; someone had programmed him to have a back story, complete with memories of being a hero.

  “Ok, lets see if I can find three more members,” I said to the rogue. “And maybe we can try the dungeon tomorrow.”

  He game me a wide smile. “Sounds good, the name’s Rory.”

  “Pleased to meet you Rory, I am Elizabeth. Any chance you have any friends or people you can recommend?”

  “Well you look like a strong lass, and with that club on your hip I’m thinking you will be our tank.”

  I nodded.

  “Well then we need a healer, and a mage or someone who can help you hit things.”

  I looked pointedly at the old mage.

  “Oh naw, not him. He’s a fine mage but way to slow if we need to run.” He needled the spellcaster, but the mage just inclined his head as if it was but fact.

  “I haven’t put a party together before.” I said, thinking I hadn’t even ever had to worry about it in a game before. I just joined other people’s and my friends were the ones who made sure we had all the skills we needed represented in the party.

  “I’ll help put the word out for ya.” Rory made the motion to pull up his HUD. Then I got a notification.

  YOU HAVE AN NPC WANTING TO JOIN YOUR PARTY

  You don’t have a party - would you like to create one Y/N

  I hastily clicked Y

  NAME OF PARTY:

  Oh well shit. I was crap at naming things.

  Everyone stood patiently whilst I thought.

  NPC [Rory] WANTS TO JOIN [Cleverly Named] PARTY Y/N

  Hey it was the best I could do on the spot. I let him in.

  “I’ll put the word out.” With that, he wandered off.

  So I now had a party with a single member, well, two if I counted myself. I opened my HUD. I had a new box: PARTY [Cleverly Named], and it had a chat function. I bet that would come in so handy.

  By the end of the night I had a party, of sorts, I was one healer short of a decent crew. Rory, the Rogue, was a good find. Seemed he was a known person around the guild. Good DPS as well as sneaky. There had been a good number of tank types, I had been a bit reluctant, thinking it was redundant even if it was a role I didn’t want.

  But it turned out they were better specked for pulling aggro and taking damage than I was. So Bram the swordsman joined us. I had found a low-level battle mage, Kevin. He could sling spells from a distance, the lucky bastard. And while we were a member short, we did have Dekka. I didn’t tell anyone what she could do; people were just starting to get used to her in the guildhall.

  I started to get desperate to round out the party. However, the system, as I found out when trying to add another swordsman, would only let one role per party member. Bram was in the Tank slot while I was in the Melee DPS one.

  I went to bed that night one crucial party member short, no healer. I guess the worst thing I could do tomorrow is let us all die. Right?