Before I started getting ready for bed, I decided to check the game's socials. Plenty of videos had already been posted online via the help of the ingame capture mechanic, but I was more interested in the official forums.
Game information was heavily regulated in the whole world. Videos uploaded were frequently monitored and gatekept by New World Enterprises. Live streams were not allowed yet, although I've read it that it's a feature that will be unblocked once the first week had passed and the regular capsules go on sale.
Moreover, all available information had to be posted on the game forum. No external site had the rights to share guides, information or have any sort of trading accessible.
RMT (real money trading) was also not allowed for the first week, and anyone who was found dealing with things like this on the black market had a serious chance of getting lifetime banned from Godsrealm. No one who had experienced how incredible this new game was was dumb enough to risk that.
I was browsing through the forums when I stumbled upon the regional trade hub. I navigated myself through the menus until I reached the Silverwing region > Tidemark county > Carpa area subtopic. For the first week, only players could access the forum, and even then they could only see their respective regions' threads, so I had no way to check the bigger, Ravenloft forum just yet.
As there were around 500 players in the vicinity of Carpa, there weren't many posts yet; some players were still online, others have called it a day and went to sleep. There were 11 entries total; five of them were LFG (looking for group) posts, three people were advertising their equipment that were for sale while two posts were from people looking to buy stuff. One of these caught my eye.
It looked like a spanish or mexican group of players were ready to pay the price for good berserker equipment. I might be able to sell them my battleaxe and use the funds to gear up a little.
The last post on the subforum was even more relevant to me.
This was a great opportunity. I couldn't keep mastering crafting and getting ahead in levels at the same time. While crafting did give experience, it was less than farming mobs in the world, and there was of course no dropped loot either. Not to mention, I couldn't continously craft as I needed to gather materials as well.
If there was a group of people solely focusing on crafting, while others provided the materials for it, their crafting efficiency would skyrocket, and they could produce much higher quality equipment. I should get a good amount of gold for my battleaxe that I could use to pay these guys to craft me something.
I was certain they could use the materials I had gathered far more effectively than me. Gold in this game was still scarce, but there wasn't much else I could spend it on this early in the game, so I wanted to take advantage of every penny I got.
With these thoughts in my mind I got ready to sleep. I had no errands to do tomorrow, so I could sleep for quite a while and come morning, I was free to delve into the world of Godsrealm once again.
The first rays of sunlight filtered through the window, painting the walls of my room in warm, golden hues. I stretched, groaning slightly as I shook off the lingering heaviness of sleep.
I shuffled into the kitchen, the faint scent of coffee already lifting my spirits. A fresh pot waited for me on the counter, and I poured myself a steaming cup, the bitter aroma speeding up my ability to get into a funcionable state. Getting that automatic coffee brewer was one of my better ideas in the last couple years.
Breakfast was simple: scrambled eggs, toast, and a handful of fresh fruit. As I ate, I checked my phone, scrolling through posts on the Ravenloft forums. Most were still talking about the festival and the upcoming quests. A grin tugged at the corners of my lips as I finished my meal.
After breakfast, it was time to wake up my body. I rolled out a mat in the corner of my living room, the familiar routine already etched into my muscles. Push-ups, sit-ups, planks, basic but effective. The rhythm of my workout helped me focus, each repetition clearing away the haziness of sleep.
By the time I finished, sweat clung to my skin, but my breathing was steady. A quick shower was next, the cool water refreshing me for the day ahead.
I went to the living room and settled into the capsule. As the interface came to life, the world of Godsrealm unfolded before me, vibrant and full of promise. Another day, another adventure.
The first thing I did as I spawned was dealing with the pack of Duskwolves that aggroed on me just as I logged in. Maybe next time I should find a more peaceful place to go offline, I thought.
At least I had a chance to try my new skills. I let out an involuntary roar as I activated Nature's Howl and got into fighting stance.
Leap Attack must have looked incredible from an outsider's perspective. As one of the wolves charged towards me I backflipped into the air, dodging the attack while simultaniously sending an arrow right through the beast skull. The moment I landed, a second arrow was already nocked and my bow was ready to deal the finishing blow.
Piercing Shot!
The arrow roared through the air, and feeling the power behind the shot truly made me feel like I was the main character in my own story. It was a good shot, hitting all the wolves. The first one collapsed and the other two were also critically hurt. A well placed Flaming Arrow finished off both.
After skinning the three bodies I made my way back to Carpa.
The road wasn't too busy, with players running errands here and there and a couple of villagers going on about their daily lives. As I was getting closer to the village, I started hearing the noises of the festival; music, chit-chat and the various sounds of crafts being done.
For a brief moment I felt like someone was watching me. I stopped and instinctively reached for my bow, but as I was waiting, nothing happened. I kept scanning my surroundings carefully, but I couldn't spot anything unusual.
I was certain someone was tailing me, but I didn't pay much attention to them. They will reveal themselves once they want to, I thought. Until then, there's not much I can do.
After a while I reached Carpa. The first rays of sunlight painted the village in golden hues, and I had to stop to admire the view.
The realism was still something I couldn't wrap my head around. The streets glistened faintly, still damp with morning dew, like I had seen so many times in Scotland, whenever I woke up early. A gentle mist clung to the edges of the forest. Even the air carried the fresh scent of oak from the woods, mixed with the faint aroma of bread baking in the ovens of the village bakery and the delicacies of the festival.
This could have been an IRL morning in a little english village.
In the heart of the village, the marketplace stirred to life. Vendors stretched and yawned as they pulled back the canvas coverings from their stalls. They were asleep, just like me.
They started revealing displays of fruits, vegetables, and trinkets for sale.
I said hi to Sheila as she was setting out trays of fresh loaves and golden erdberry cakes, the warm aroma drawing early risers from their homes and barely spawned in adventurers alike.
Farmers from the surrounding countryside began to arrive, their carts laden with produce and goods for trade. The sound of the horses and carts broke the quiet, joined by the voices of villagers and players greeting one another.
A few adventurers lingered near the edge of the river, their fishing lines cast into the flowing water.
The Village hall, located near the center of Carpa, was already bustling with activity.
A line of players, both new and ones who had already done the same thing yesterday, formed outside the heavy wooden doors. Some held completed quest scrolls, eager to claim their rewards, while others scanned the job board for their next challenge.
Inside, conversation filled the air as association officials readied rewards and updated the quests.
"Hello!" I said to one of the officials behind the desk when the line ahead of me disappeared. "I'm here to turn in two quests!"
"Excellent!" the lady said, checking the scrolls I handed to her. After a while, the system notifications appeared.
Beasts of the Lake: 1,000 exp points, 20 silver coins, adventurer's XP: 1
A delicious meal: 1000 exp points, 20 silver coins, adventurer's XP: 1
The reward was quite good, although the amount of experience I needed to level up had increased dramatically from the last level. I once again had over 1 gold, which reminded me of the players I needed to contact in order to sell my battleaxe. But first, let's check the new quests.
The room was already crowded with adventurers turning in quests and taking on new ones, so it took a good 20 minutes to get to the questing board.
Once again, two quests were available to copper rank adventurers, and one of them was a timed quest, which meant that if I completed them, I could most likely advance to Iron rank. I took all of them and checked the details in my quest journal.
Both of the quests were straightforward, although the timed quest required me to travel to another village in 24 hours. I quickly checked my map and from what it looked like, Riverhear was about a two hour journey from Carpa. Not short by any means, but not terrible either.
First things first, I need to make some money and update gear.
I shot a message to this El Verdugo fellow, and to my delight, he was already online. We decided to meet at the marketplace, around the den that hosted the chicken catching game I saw yesterday.
El Verdugo was hard to miss. He was a towering berserker clad in mismatched leather and iron armor, his shoulders broad and his expression intimidating. All of his equipment was rather high quality despite this being only the second day of Godsrealm. His dark hair was slicked back, and a thick beard framed his grinning face.
Behind him trailed his crew: Los Asesinos, I persumed.