Willem scanned the back of the mission posting, nodding to himself with a smile as we took our updated Adventurer Guild Marks. I glanced down at mine, appreciating the golden sheen, as he continued.

  “Ah yea, I thought so. You also get the reward associated with completing the mission. Thirty gold pieces and a single item from the Gold Rank treasure vault within the Guild.”

  He stood, walking back around the desk with a big smile. “Are you familiar with how the treasure vaults work? I assume not, since ye were but low ranked adventurers before today.”

  We exchanged glances and shook our heads. “Never even heard of them.” I agreed.

  “Come, come. We will walk and talk. They are off of the crafting quarters. Only a few have access. I’ll explain as we go.” He opened the door to his office and gestured for us to follow. “Do close the door behind you.”

  We followed him back through the winding hallways of the guildhall, back toward the lobby. He explained the vaults as we walked. “As you know, the Adventurer’s Guild buys back treasures found on missions, and the pay’s good. Most of what we buy is used by crafters to breakdown or is used to make somethin’. But not always. Some items are placed in storage. Vaults. The stock is rotated regularly with the Guild shop, so it’s not always the same. Items are categorized based on value. Lowest is Iron. Highest is Platinum, but there’s no more than a handful of them items.”

  He pushed open the door to the lobby, gesturing for us to proceed before him. “Iron items ain’t worth the reward usually, but starting with Silver Rank missions, they are. So it’s a common reward. When a patron pays for a contract, they also pay for the reward. Your choice of any item from the designated vault. In this case, Gold.”

  “But it’s only one item?” Katarina asked. “There are three of us.”

  “Aye, just one. You’ll have to decide which item to take for the good of the party. There’s items in there worth a hundred gold, easy. Can take it and sell it, or choose something that will benefit everyone. That’s for you to decide.”

  “Hey!” An elf hurried over to us from the tavern side of the Guild.

  He wore light blue robes with a thick pair of rimless glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. A gnarled, pale gray wand hung from a holster at his waist and a large tome floated over his left shoulder, tethered to his belt by a shimmering rope of white light. His skin was also blue, slightly darker than his robes. He had pointed ears and dark blue, nearly black, wavy hair that hung just above his light green eyes and stuck out of his head from odd angles. His nameplate, the first player nameplate we had seen since Verdantbrook, read Sebastian.

  “Hey! Are you the group that killed the mountain giant?” He had large, innocent eyes and an open expression that reminded me of a child, though he appeared in his twenties. “I’m Sebastian! Nice to meet you!”

  He extended his hand. I happily shook it, glancing down at the notification that appeared with a familiar haptic buzz.

  New Form Obtained! Elf (Aquatic).

  “Nice to meet you.” I replied, smiling. He quickly shook hands with Abernathy and Katarina. He noticed her metal leg and gaped for a moment, stammering.

  “O-o-oh! What happened to your leg? Did you customize yourself to look like that?”

  Katarina laughed. It was a hearty laugh, from deep down in her belly. “No, I absolutely did not… you know what, yeah. Yeah I did. Design choice. For the fashion.”

  She winked at Abe, who snickered. Sebastian looked between them, the shadow of a dark expression flickering across his face for a fraction of a second before being replaced with that open, trusting smile. It happened so fast that I wondered if it was a figment of my imagination.

  “She’s joking,” I cut in, smiling. “It was an accident. Abernathy designed her prosthetic.”

  “Incredible!” He looked between the three of us. “So you are going to the Vault?”

  “Um… yeah, why?” Katarina cocked her head to the side, eyeing him with distrust. He beamed, the picture of innocence. He sent us a message, having added us all to his contacts with the interaction.

  Sebastian: There is a treasure there that we can use to explore the Deadlands! I have been trying to get a party together to complete the mission so we can get it. There has got to be treasure there.

  Willem looked between us and spoke up. “Need some time? I have some work needs doing, Jules can show you to the vaults if ya need some time to chat.”

  I bowed slightly. “That would be good, yes. Thank you, Guild Master.”

  He laughed softly. “Willem’s fine. Will, even. Don’t stand too high on officialities unless the top dogs are visitin’. Was a pleasure to meet you all.”

  He hurried back around the counter, exchanged a quick word with Jules then vanished behind the back door.

  Chanter: We are in a bit of a hurry actually. We need to get to Bornholdt Keep, I’m sorry but I don’t think we have time to explore.

  Sebastian: That’s perfect, though! The Deadlands sit right in the middle of here and the Keep! You’ll trim days off of your travel!

  Abernathy: What are the Deadlands? And what is the item?

  Katarina: And why are you so keen on exploring these Deadlands?

  “And why are we talking in chat?” Katarina added.

  “Sorry, it’s been days since I saw other players. I got so excited, I love the text feature!” Sebastian was giddy with energy, speaking in a rush of words. “I came here with a group, but they decided they would be able to stack curse resistance potions and headed into the Deadlands despite all the locals and me warning them it wouldn’t work. They… got too far from me and I was removed from the group. They haven’t responded to my messages for several days now. We had a Gold Rank leader, big strong guy with a huge shield and pike. I wish they would have just agreed to go hunt that giant.”

  He looked around. Jules was watching our conversation with a curious gaze, which frequently flickered to Abernathy. I smiled at him, nodding towards her. He groaned softly in the back of his throat, unable to look. Sebastian continued talking, unaware of anything but the story he was telling.

  “We actually came from Bornholdt Keep. There is a big reward they offer any adventurers who return an artifact rumored to be deep in the Deadlands. But they don’t have any way of exploring. No one does. They are called the Deadlands for a reason. There is something out there that makes anyone who ventures too close for too long very sick, then they die. It sounds like its from radiation poisoning!”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Radiation poisoning” Katarina asked. “Why do you say that.”

  “One of the people in my other party was a big Chernobyl buff. Knew all kinds of stuff about it. I don’t remember exactly what they said, but it makes sense. I think the radiation is mixing with the ambient magic. The things out there that survived have mutated into abominations that can’t survive outside of the Deadlands. So it’s not just sickness.”

  “And you want to go in there?” Abernathy squeaked.

  “Yes! Bornholdt Keep is offering two treasures from their Platinum Treasure Vault if you recover the artifact.”

  “What is the artifact?” I asked.

  “It’s a relic. Want to group up and I can share the quest? You guys should get that treasure here that protects us from the radiation. Even if we take a day scouring the Deadlands for the relic, which we won’t because the quest tracker will lead us right to it, you’ll still be trimming at least two days from the trip since you won’t have to take the long way around.”

  I glanced to Abernathy, who looked to Katarina. I followed his look and Katarina shrugged and nodded. “Sounds good to me. Two birds with one stone. Hella convenient if you ask me. Get to the Keep quicker, and do a mission. Plus new friends are always great!”

  “But how did you know about this item in the gold vault?” Katarina asked. “If the rewards are so high, why aren’t more people trying to get in?”

  “A lot of people did try getting in. Dozens died to the sickness. I managed to convince my party to try exploring around the area to find a way in, but they didn’t want to wait for me to look into it here more… So they left. Kicked me out. But I kept looking, and found out about the Pearl! It’s exactly what we need to get into the Deadlands!”

  Katarina leaned her head forward in acknowledgement. “Sorry your group ditched you here. Works for me.”

  I looked back to Abe, who nodded. I sent a party invitation to Sebastian, who accepted immediately and fist pumped the air. “Yes! Finally! Woohoo!! I can finally get out of this desert town!”

  “Welcome to the group!” I laughed.

  “Good to have you with us.” Encore chimed in. Sebastian jumped a little.

  “Oh! It talks?! What is that, your familiar?!”

  “My name is Encore and I am Chanter’s companion. I am he, not it, and I am no familiar. It is nice to make your acquaintance.”

  Sebastian blinked a few times. “Oh. Wow, you are well spoken for a… companion?” He beamed a wide smile at Encore. “That is so cool. You’re awesome!”

  Encore nodded his head sagely. “Thank you.”

  “So what are we looking for?” I asked.

  “Oh, right. Let me share the quest with you. It will show you which item. You’ll see.”

  New Quest! Obtain the Sunshard Relic. The Wastelands have been around for thousands of years. The Deadlands, a smaller area of deadly land within this already hostile and inhospitable environment, is a newer addition. ‘The Day of Death’ occurred 100 years ago. It is unclear if the event brought the dust storm, or the dust storm brought the event, but the storm has raged across the Wastelands without end since that day. An oasis town located at the center of the Wastelands was destroyed. No survivors walked away from the destruction, and no one knows what caused the destruction. Anyone who approaches the Deadlands succumbs to a sickness or the mutated beasts that roam the area. Within the Ruined Oasis, deep beyond the deadly borders of the Deadlands, an ancient relic lies. The Sunshard is a manastone of incredible power. To obtain it, you must first find a way to survive the Deadlands. A treasure lies within the Gold Vault of the Arid Spur Adventurer’s Guild. Obtain it, by any means, and venture into the Deadlands. Survive. Retrieve the Relic.

  Reward: Platinum Vault Selection x2 (once per party, not split amongst members), Gold Coins x100, Platinum Relic Hunter Chest.

  I read through the description several times. It didn’t say what treasure we should be looking for. I was about to mention it when I noticed a blinking indicator on my mini-map within the Guildhall.

  “Oh, okay. So I guess it will show us which item.” I said, looking around at my party members. They nodded in agreement. “You should go let Jules know we are ready to see the vault, Abe.”

  Abernathy blanched. “Oh. Um, okay.”

  Katarina patted him on the shoulder as he turned. “You got this big guy.” She turned and winked at me. I held back a laugh, smiling.

  Abernathy hopped over to Jules, who straightened and began running fingers through her hair. “We’re ready to go to the Gold Vault, please.”

  “Oh. Okay.” She sounded disappointed, but walked around the counter. “Follow me please. You are all welcome to come back, but only one may enter the vault at a time.”

  “How do we split the treasure then?” Katarina asked.

  “There are item manifests outside of each vault. Parties usually decide what they will get and send one person in to retrieve them.”

  “Interesting.” Abe replied, hopping just behind Jules. We followed.

  Katarina: You should chat her up, Abe. She likes you.

  Abernathy: She’s an NPC. I would feel like a creep. I don’t want to date a robot.

  Katarina: She doesn’t act like a robot. She acts like a nervous young lady with a thirst for Quokka.

  I laughed softly as we crossed the doorway into the crafting area. Four doors lined the walls to our left and right. Most were closed, but the furthest door on the right was open. A muscular polecat beastkin stood in front of a forge, methodically pounding a hammer into a flat metal panel that glowed with heat.

  “I would love to spend some time here.” Abernathy said longingly, looking around the crafting rooms. Jules paused, looking over her shoulder, a blush showing through the pale fur on her cheeks.

  “That would be nice. I get off in an hour if you want to… grab a drink or maybe dinner?” She spoke with shy, halting words, unsure of herself and absolutely misunderstanding what Abernathy had meant.

  Katarina: You better not turn her down, Abe. I can tell you’re interested.

  Abernathy struggled to talk. “I… oh, um… that would be… but we are in a bit of a hurry, I’m afraid.”

  Jules’ eyes fell, her shoulders slumping.

  “No, no. It’s too late in the day for us to set out into the desert. We will be staying the night here in town. You have time, Abe! don’t worry!” Katarina slapped Abe on the back with a wolfish grin.

  Jules’ lit up, bouncing on her toes. “Oh great! Really?”

  “Oh. Okay. Yeah, that would be nice then.” Abernathy spun a cog between his fingers, the skin around his eyes a deep red.

  “Yay! I can’t wait! Oh, right. The Vaults are through this door. Remember, only one person can come with me into the specific Vault, but everyone is welcome in the hub.”

  We followed her through a door at the far end of the crafting space, down a set of stairs and into a smaller room guarded by two armored dwarves in shining plate armor with immaculately maintained halberds.

  I realized a moment later that they weren’t dwarves, but sets of animated dwarven armor. Their nameplates read Animech Sentinel.

  “Animech Sentinel? Are they alive?” I asked.

  “Not… technically, I guess,” Jules replied, walking over to a door plated with gold. “They belong to the Guildmaster. He has them across the Guild and the town, with pre-programmed instructions. They will react… violently… if more than one person enters the vault with me. I wouldn’t recommend it.”

  She giggled nervously, looking at Abe. “Anyways. Here we are. Want to look through the catalogue? It’s here.”

  She pointed to a small tome sitting on a ledge next to the door.

  “Oh, no thanks. Can you show me in, please?” Abernathy managed to speak the sentence in one breath.

  “Of course, right this way.” She beamed as she placed her hand on a small square of white that protruded from the golden door. It depressed under her hand and the door slid up, revealing a small room lined with shelves.

  They stepped through the door, which closed immediately after they were past the threshold. I caught a glimpse of numerous different items and artifacts ranging from swords, bows, helmets, to a few scrolls, before the door closed.