In Elder Tales, the island of Yamato – the games half-scale recreation of Japan – has five major cities. Added periodically to the game over the span of 17 years, these cities act as hubs for players to connect with others, buy and trade items, and as a place to rest and relax in between quests. Akihabara, the first city added to the server, is the most popular among the five – and following the Apocalypse, houses over 15,000 players.
Susukino however, the most northern city in Yamato, holds only roughly 2,000 players, making it one of the smallest.
"I seriously doubt you could have taken those Giants by yourself, Liz. I think you're maybe overestimating your skills just a little…"
"I'm so offended right now, OF COURSE I COULD! Did you not see me out there? I was the very personification of grace!"
"Psh… Ok…"
The sky above was ablaze with the amber light of dawn; and the battle with the Giants was now behind the group, revelling in their victory of the past nights exploits - the voices of Liz and Thomas pierced the early morning silence as they jested.
Kicking the snow off of the top of her boots, Kiyoko turned and looked at her fellow party members walking beside her. The four of them – Kiyoko, Jax, Liz, and Thomas – had dealt with so much over the past few years, even before the Apocalypse, and now they were here, in Elder Tales, still together.
At level 48, Kiyoko was the lowest levelled of the group – however, her loyalty to her friends was absolute, giving her an impressive drive to help, from being a shoulder to cry on, to killing giant monstrosities – and to this end, there was nothing she wouldn't do for them. The other three - whose levels varied from 49 to 52 – were equally passionate; they had known each other for over ten years and would probably know each other for many more.
As the four approached the city wall she couldn't help but smile, turning her head back to face ahead, they were a tough unit, and within the world of Elder Tales – they were a formidable force.
"I don't know about you guys, but the first thing I'm doing when we get back to the city is taking a nap for about… 10 years…"
The bodies that players use, that was once their online avatar, while they are considerably stronger than their Earth counterparts, do still suffer from tiredness and fatigue albeit to a lesser degree – and dependent on a persons class, subclass and stats they will have more or less strength and stamina. As a Guardian, Jax's body was better equipped for sustained fighting than anyone else in his group, and as a result everyone in the party was now considerably fatigued from the night.
The group gave a tired chuckle, walking towards Susukino's city gate; the three were not far from their desired rest.
The cities of Yamato were classed as non-aggression zones, PvP known also as PK'ing –which was the act of one player killing another - was not allowed in these zones. As soon as a player attempted to initiate a battle, incredibly powerful magical knights would appear, and kill, or otherwise deter them. As an extension of this theme, monsters were also not found within the 5 major cities, and could not enter – because of this, the cities of Yamato are often considered safe havens for players.
Passing under the enormous portcullis, the four entered their home city of Susukino.
"I still can't believe how quiet it is here… I know it's early but, it really doesn't get much busier than this…"
Thomas shared his concerns with his group, looking down the side streets as they passed, fresh snow from the night before had blanketed everything in sight, dampening the already quiet city, giving the area an eerie quality.
"Every body is afraid to leave the city, if they even get that far, people stay in their homes or the inns because that's where they feel safer…"
A troubled look formed on Jax's face as he replied, clearly bothered by the situation.
"… and Brigandia isn't making it any easier, if those guys would lay off things wouldn't be so bad around here… but I really don't see that happening…"
The four adventurers proceeded down the empty streets, only occasionally passing another person, or a merchant hoping to sell their goods to someone. Feeling sorry for a particular fruit merchant near the centre of town, the four each bought a piece of fruit, albeit for a price far higher than its worth – taking into consideration that unprepared fruit was one of the only foods that had flavour as well. The merchant gave them all a heart-filled thank you – and waved goodbye as they continued on their way.
As they rounded a corner, with their hunger sated and with the Inn in sight, the four gave a collective sigh.
"Oh thank god! Lord have mercy on these thighs…"
The building itself did not stand out in any particular way, one could walk past it very easily and assume it was just another home - only by the simple wooden sign handing above the doorway could you tell what it was – "The Broken Stool Inn" complete with a small stool engraving underneath. The simple grey stone exterior of the Inn matched that of the rest of the city – prominent wooden beams supported the walls and framed many of the buildings within the city – in combination with the near constant cold temperatures, the city of Susukino never came off as particularly cheerful.
Approaching the Inn, the weary travellers were ready for rest. Reaching her hand out to let them into the building, Liz was promptly hit in the face by the very door she was going to open. Taken by surprise, the slim Elf was knocked to the ground, grasping her nose, as if to hold it onto her face.
"Ah! Son of b- …"
Rushing from the now open door, a small girl came to stand in front of the group – bowing frantically and shaking her head as she apologised to the Elf on the ground.
"Oh, ImsorryImsorryImsorry! I couldn't see you – please forgive me!"
The apologetic adventurer seemed as though she would cry from having hit someone with the door. At level 19, the young player must have been relatively new to the game before the Apocalypse
happened.
"N-No no, it's fine… really! My parents always said I was too nosey for my own good, I guess I never took it to be literal, hah…"
Liz tried to console the little Druid, still bowing repeatedly.
The girl looked remarkably young to be a player, given the considerable subscription fee to play Elder Scrolls, the average age of the players on the game was higher than most others of its kind – which made seeing a player younger than 18 quite a rarity. Her long auburn hair was tied back in a simple style, exaggerating her youthful features.
"Really? You're ok?"
Pausing to reply to Liz, the player looked up from the ground, clearly very embarrassed.
"Yes, I'm fine, please don't worry – accidents happen!"
Liz gave a reassuring smile to the little Druid, who smiled back evidently thankful she wasn't hurt.
The Elf stood up off of the ground, brushing herself off, casting a brief look to her friends, before looking back to the new player.
"Oh! I'm Liz, and these are my friends – Thomas, Kiyoko, and that gorilla there is Jax"
Liz winked to her teammate, and the little girl giggled as Jax's frustrated face.
"Nice to meet you everyone! I'm Serara! I'm sorry again for rushing through the door – I should have checked…"
"It's a pleasure to meet you too, and please don't apologise, it's really OK…"
The other three party members said their greetings to Serara, clearly smitten with sudden appearance of the little Druid.
"As long as you're sure.. OH! Oh no! I'm supposed to be meeting someone right now – I've got to go! Um. Nice meeting you all!"
Serara bowed again as she said her goodbyes, running across the courtyard with haste, turning to wave back to the group as she turned a corner, smiling one final time, and she was gone. The group paused for a moment, watching as the Druid turned the corner and left, Liz gave a content sigh as she left, looking towards her other party members.
"Sweet girl, I hope she'll be alright…"
"She said she was going to meet someone, probably a friend or something - she'll be fine…"
Considering his reassuring comment, Liz nodded towards Thomas, giving one final glance to the now empty corner, before turning and entering the Inn – leaving the cold morning outside.
The interior of the Inn often surprised those who have never visited before, in contrast to the outside of the building; the interior was actually quite inviting. The layout of the room was centred around a large seating area in the middle, designed for those who want to enjoy food and drink (with no taste) with several sets of tables and chair in the centre of the room, organised around a small wood burner.
With a large fireplace on the far wall, the temperature of the Inn itself also made it very comfortable. Around the outside of the room, several sofas, futons, and armchairs are placed – giving the overall room a relaxed aesthetic. As current occupants of the Inn, the group made their way over to the right of the room – which housed a small wooden counter, used for ordering food, drinks, as well as making room bookings. Ordering their meals and drinks, the four handed gold over the counter to the Inn Steward before taking a seat near the fireplace, pushing two sofas to face one another, and making their own space.
The four placed their weapons within their Magic Bags and relaxed, enjoying the ambiance and warmth of the Inn. An extremely useful item, Magic Bags are used to carry an considerable amount of items, with no weight or capacity limits – the bag is acquired through a level 45 quest "Get The Magic Bag" and was something the group had accomplished shortly before the Apocalypse. Once the items needed to create the bag are gathered, the bag itself can be created in a number of different styles, from backpacks, to messenger bags and satchels.
As the night progressed the group ate, drank, and laughed – enjoying their day alongside the others inside the inn, utilizing Jax's Musician subclass, the inn was filled with music as the day progressed, the sounds of cheering and Jax's Lute was a comforting change of pace for the Adventurers and People of The Land alike.
One by one, the members of the group began to quieten and fall asleep, one by one losing their battles to fatigue – and after being jolted awake by Kiyoko, the four decided to return to their rooms, and to try and get some rest. With the ladies in one room, and the men in the other, the four said their goodnights to one another, before heading into their rooms and getting ready for sleep.
Both laid in their beds, Thomas and Jax lay awake, disturbed by the sunlight leaking through the curtain and into their room, looking through his personal UI – Jax scans through his current stats, experience, HP, and so on, soaking in all the information about himself - flicking his finger through the air, and pressing the menus only visible to him.
"Hey Jax… Do you remember earlier, the guy in the bright green robe that wouldn't shut up about how good you were on that Lute?"
"Yeah, I remember, he has great taste – what about him?"
Looking over to his friend, Thomas pauses.
"I was speaking with him at the bar… and he said that Akihabara… well, apparently everything's not so bad over there… I mean there's no dictatorship guild looming over it for starters…"
"Good for them, what's your point?"
"Well… I think we should go… we should go to Akihabara, the guys said his friends been speaking with him through Telepathy, and things have really picked up over there, and with all the people that are in the city – it's not surprising if you think about it."
Jax sits up in his bed, his brown hair pressed into an unusual style where his goggles usually rested on his head, looking across to his friend in the opposite bed.
"Thomas, you do know it would take us like… almost two weeks to get from here to Akihabara right? We might as well swim over to the China Server for how long it would take…"
Clearly not on board with the idea, Jax's tone is serious.
"I realise, but if were stuck in this world we might as well try, I can't live here forever… and besides, we can use our Horse Whistles, and I could summon a couple of Unicorns – we can travel for like 8 hours a day… it really wouldn't take that long…"
"You can do that? I thought you can only have one summon at a time?"
"Well, yeah, usually, but if it's the same thing – I can summon multiple, as long as I can keep my MP topped up we're good to go…"
Considering the new information, Jax's face reflected the calculation he was performing in his head, pros and cons, risks, benefits, all for a journey to Akihabara. Rubbing the back of his head, Jax's mouth crept into a small grin, raising his eyebrows to Thomas – he had been convinced.
"Alright then… If we are stuck here it might as well be somewhere nice, I don't want to stick around here either if things with the Brigandia Guild don't improve… We can ask the girls in the morning, and if they say yes… well…"
"…We'll have to do some serious shopping, with the Intercity Travel Gates down… I don't think anyone has done a journey this large before, there was no need…"
Pulling his Magic Bag up from under his bed, Thomas looks through what's inside, rummaging around the magical interior. The sound of glass clinking together, parchment moving, and wooden items knocking together rise from the depths of the bag – finally finding what he wanted. Thomas places a rolled parchment on the bed, before placing the bag back underneath.
Sitting up on his bed, feet hanging over the edge, he unrolls the scroll – revealing a fairly detailed map of Yamato – showing the locations of the 5 major cities, and a few other key locations on the island. Moving his finger along the map, the Summoner traces the path between Susukino and Akihabara – significantly further south. The Scribe that created this map also created a magical aspect to the scroll, a compass, drawn in the top right corner of the map, which worked like it's physical counterpart.
With the combination of certain parchments and inks, a qualified Scribe can apply any number of magical qualities to documents, making them that much more dynamic and useful to their owners – this particular scroll had cost a significant amount gold to buy – but was very much worth it for travel.
"I was thought this would come in handy eventually… and I was right!"
Craning his head to see the parchment Jax takes a look at the scroll, before lying back down on the bed – smiling again at the sudden formulation of this plan.
"I'll admit… I'm kinda excited to do this, I can't imagine the girls will say no, definitely not Liz at any rate…"
"Damn right they won't, I would go ask now but I they're probably asleep by now…"
"You're probably right… better not risk it… anyway, speaking of sleep, I think I'm going to give it another shot… I REALLY need it….'
Rolling over to face the wall, Jax gives off a single yawn, pulling the blanket up over himself as he gets ready for sleep.
"Goodnight man…"
"Sleep tight!"
With the goodnights over, Thomas gives another glance to the map in his hands, thinking about the journey ahead, excited like a child on Christmas Eve. Smiling to himself, he rolls up the scroll, places it on the bedside table and lies back down, rubbing his eyes and closing them – thoughts of Akihabara dancing just behind his eyes – however, it isn't long at all until they're both fast asleep.