Shamsh'ry

12 minutes before the Cataclysm

In the not-too-distant future, humanity is in decline. Our home planet Earth dies slowly and painfully, bringing with it all the creatures we once called home.

The air that was once breathable was now full of chemicals that poison all who try to breathe without protection, lakes, rivers and oceans were now so toxic that they were capable of dissolving any living being stupid or unlucky to have to enter it.

While the Earth was dying, humanity decided to hide beneath it in extensive hive bunkers connected by tunnels and railway tracks. Even under these conditions, humanity continued to advance, especially for games that imitate reality with great precision with the use of "DeepDive" systems where the players' minds were introduced into the game itself.

There were thousands of games, with hundreds of styles, classes and genres, but without a doubt, fantasy games were the ones preferred by humanity. In these, players could see worlds that not even their ancestors had known.

Spear and Spell was one of those fantasy games. But unlike the others, this was an extremely realistic and cruel game in terms of physics and skills, there were no common "damage sponges" that existed in other games, the inventory systems were the characters themselves instead of external inventories, wounds could become infected and damage was a real threat, and if you died, you had to start from 0 like a child of approximately 15 years old

Not only was it a low fantasy game instead of the commonly seen high fantasy, but it was also a late 18th century media setting with touches of fantasy, plus unlike other games where despite being pg 18 you were limited with content filters, SaS was a (18) game, something that is only usually seen in porn games

You could really do almost anything you wanted, although there were certain limits that couldn't be broken even if the developers wanted to, such as the pain sensations being too high, or players actually suffering the effects that happened in-game out of the game. But apart from that, you could do or see anything, you could see dismembered corpses rotting, have relationships with other people... etc, although in terms of the dark side of the internet, SaS was not very popular because of the low fantasy style, plus there were many other games (18) that allowed such actions more easily.

But the developers were true to their vision of the game, and so were those who played the game. Thanks to this, SaS was able to remain stable.

In the great city of Shamsh'ry, imperial flags were flying proudly in the storm that was ravaging the city. The occasional sound of horses' hooves was audible as was the march of soldiers patrolling the streets.

The empire was simply a nickname for a large clan of players that made up multiple minor and major guilds. They had dominated the Farameck Islands for almost a year, not only militarily and strategically, but commercially as well.

This had been an achievement and record so far, in addition to the fact that the empire had given so much "play" to SaS that even the devs themselves included them in the game's lore.

A small token of appreciation to the community, nothing more

This should be a common afternoon for the city and its citizens. Soldiers dressed in long cloaks with dark cloaks and long hats of shako design patrolled the streets with muskets on their shoulders. On their opposite hand they carried oil lamps that illuminated the streets.

Despite the night and the rain, one could clearly see how these were not always human. Or at least a small number of these, this was due to how difficult it was to maintain most non-human bodies

A demon's race for example provided strength and stamina, but depending on which demon you were you might only be able to eat one thing, and if you couldn't find it, you would die pretty quickly.

It was for these practical reasons that many races were basically unusable unless you had a team capable of feeding you, plus if that were not enough, if you died, your character would have permanent death, so you would have to start from scratch. This was why the "simple" breeds were preferred.

This should have been a common night, the Black Company of the empire rested and resupplied for a fight they were going to have the next day

It was no ordinary night

Suddenly the floors began to break and crack. Cries of players were heard, not only in the capital, but throughout the world of Farameck. Islands collided with islands. Mountains emerged from the depths of the sea and then submerged again moments later.

Moments later, the players realized something. They couldn't exit the game... People were worried, and rightly so, but they assumed it was all a dev bug, that the servers would shut down.

They were never closed

Shamsh'ry

2 Hours after the great cataclysm

- Over here! - A voice shouted loudly over the chaos and screams of the people

Hundreds of people were quickly removing debris, removing victims of the Cataclysm, as they called it, from the depths of the earth. Stones and bricks were removed, and soon one more person was taken alive from his would-be-soon grave.

The soldiers and guards of the empire were in disarray. Not only had multiple buildings and even entire sections of thick walls collapsed, but it seemed that all of Farameck's islands had somehow collided, merged into one incoherent continent.

Screams and despair filled the air deafeningly, flames consumed distant buildings, although fortunately the torrent that was falling extinguished most of the fires and prevented more fires.

A whistle was heard, and everyone stopped and fell silent.

- Here! - Another voice shouted causing several people to join together to save another life

The sound of a horse's hooves was heard, but no one stopped to see the rider, careful not to trample anyone, caught up with a military man dressed in a dark uniform with gold shoulder pads, white pants with high black boots, and a large bicorn hat with a large white feather.

- Lieutenant! - The rider greeted from his mount which was not a mere horse, but a centaur. Both the rider and the centaur were dressed in different uniforms than the soldiers around them. Instead of being dark green uniforms, these were gray colors with tall hats ending in a long white plume.

The centaur, for its part, not only dressed its human torso, but also the equine with a long "skirt" or blanket full of bags or backpacks in addition to the saddle.

- The Warlords are counting numbers, how many forces and people do you have? - The rider asked as he took out a notebook with a pen using the centaur's back as a base to write in. The Warlords were the leaders of each guild that worked in the imperial armies, so they were the military leaders

The officer did not question why the warlords were making decisions without the approval of the senate. Surely martial law had been applied, so leadership had passed into the hands of the warlords

- Here is the Dragon's Breath available with 7 artillery pieces, and at least two hundred civilians of which most are seriously injured. We need surgeons urgently - The man requested. Surely the request would be denied because the doctors would be up to their necks and beyond with work

- Your request will be passed - The rider commented as the centaur turned around

Both the rider and the centaur turned around and began to ride through the crumbling streets until they reached one of the cracks in the wall. These walls were designed to be able to withstand continuous artillery bombardment, so they were quite thick, but not very high. Unfortunately, as the city gate had collapsed, this was the only way out. Fortunately, the crack had dislodged so much debris that the pit that normally further divided the outside from the inside had filled up enough to be able to pass through.

- How are things with you? - The rider asked the centaur

- Okay, I can get there - He said in a broken voice because he was running. The centaur simply had to focus on reaching his destination, the rider was in charge of safety and guiding the other player

Minutes later, they both arrived without problems at a large fortress, a fortress that 5 hours before was on another island at the furthest point on the map, but which was now minutes away from the capital.

The fortress was severely damaged, the towers were down, as were the walls and probably many of the underground tunnels. But activity was still visible, fires danced under the will of the wind, and dozens, or hundreds of players marched back and forth, soldiers dressed in ways extremely different from one another because they belonged to completely different units.

As they approached, the rider grabbed his rifle and an oil lantern. By placing the lantern ring in the section where a bayonet would normally be placed, the rider was able to raise the lantern several times higher than he normally could.

In the distance and at night, its light was quickly detected by the sentinels protecting what remained of the fortress, who used their flashlights to indicate that it could approach. Once they got close enough, they both could see soldiers dressed in different ways protecting the entrances and openings of the fortress either with improvised stations or with adequate defenses. Heavy cannons covered the remaining normal entrances, while lighter cannons had been placed in the accidental entrances temporarily.

The centaur rode at a slower speed through the zigzagging paths of the fortress, easily avoiding soldiers or people carrying equipment or going to other places. Eventually, it reached a small tower with a small elevator in the middle. Entering, the rider finally dismounted from his mount so he could pull a small rope that would activate the elevator.

Moments later, the elevator began to descend multiple levels without a stop in sight, fortunately that was not the case for long, as they finally both reached a large cavern that functioned as the command center. Heavy cannons of all types guarded the only elevator, but when they saw who was coming down, their operators removed the fuses from the powerful weapons loaded with shrapnel.

Once the elevator hit the bottom, the rider had to surrender his weapons in order to pass. You are simply a single action revolver plus a saber.

- Sirs! - The rider entered an adjacent room, inside there were not only Warlords, but also members of the Senate. The senate, unlike the warlords, were selected by the "citizens" of the empire, and were in charge of "leading" it - Message from the lieutenant of the Dragon's Breath. He is the highest confirmed rank I could find - He left the paper in the hand of one of the guards who passed it to the nearest lord, that being Warlord Ardu. Leader of the 2nd Battalion of Valkyries. This was a common human, since the Valkyries, being part of the family of divine beings, cost a lot to maintain.

- I can send a squad of Valkyries if the situation is so severe - She said as she passed the note. His guild had been barely affected thanks to his ability to fly with almost no delay.

- In Uldeer we had several priests. It's not far from here, can your Valkyries transport them to Shamsh'ry? - This time the one who spoke was none other than Prior Eleonore, she was not a warlord, but the temporary leader of the HoldenC guild. They were the third largest priest guild in all of SaS, although unlike the top two, HoldenC belonged to the empire. Unfortunately the guild leader, Abbot Greeter, was currently missing, so until he was found, she was in charge.

The magic of SaS was very different from most games. To begin with, there was no "buffing" system as such, nor were there automatic magic or constant defenses, it was not even called "magic", but rather "blessings". Priests for example were able to generate healing blessings in areas around them while reciting multiple prayers, these healing areas were not very powerful, they simply slightly increased the speed of natural healing in addition to being able to prevent deaths. Generally if you were injured, it was very likely that you would die, which is why "protection blessings" always took priority, as preventing wounds is far easier than healing them.

There was also no mana system or classes. The way the blessings worked was based on prayers to different patrons. These prayers had to be performed perfectly and without getting stuck, because if they did, the effects would dissipate instantly, though if you used spells for a long time or focused a lot in them, your character could faint, though no one knew why exactly, sometimes you spent 10 minutes casting a blessing before fainting, the next it only took 5, and the next 30.

To increase the power of spells, one did not have to gain levels (Because, there was no XP), but rather you had to complete certain parameters, for example some spells required being kneeling, or touching a symbol of the religion from which the said spell came, or saying everything by memory without reading it.

More powerful spells also had other more important requirements, such as needing more people doing everything at once, having buildings dedicated to the deity... etc.

- It's quite far away, I don't know if my Valkyries are going to be able to fly with a person - The Valkyries are extremely versatile and agile, unfortunately they were incapable of carrying much weight and still being able to fly for long distances, and they were easy targets for rifle units firing volleys in case they needed to attack ground targets due to lack of banners, which is why they usually use heavy cavalry armor in addition to their weapons.

Two to four one-shot pistols, metal flechettes that can be thrown from containers carried in their hips, and long naginata-like polearms, plus the ammo, watches to coordinate, compasses…. All of this weight was necessary to survive in the skies and be effective in combat, so if you added the weight of a person and their equipment, it made them almost impossible to move for long distances without quickly tiring.

- I can lend a dragon, it's a quick trip - The one who spoke was Pirwoon, another Warlord and captain of the "Capullos Voladores" guild.

If the Valkyries were similar to light cavalry, specialized in patrolling, guarding, reconnaissance, and aerial combat, dragons were like heavy cavalry, specialized in air-to-ground attacks and capable of carrying much more weight and taking much more damage, although they were considerably slower.

In fact they were so capable of carrying weight that each dragon was capable of carrying banners by themselves.

Banners were the way the devs used to incite "realistic" combat. These could be used by the standard bearer, or ensign, to perform mass blessings. For example, these could generate "anti-magic shields" to detonate magical artillery before they arrive, or cause enemy projectiles to "miraculously" miss their companions.

Unfortunately only one type of blessing could be used at the same time in an area, the higher the "symbol" or flag was, the larger the area, and in case there were multiple banners or identical symbols, these functioned as repetition towers with priority on the oldest "prayer".

It was for these reasons that the battlefields were filled with banners for each unit and guild, something that not only added to the visual spectacle, but actually helped the fighters to guide themselves in the smoky battlefields. It also made the use of a standard important and encouraged the capture of enemy standards.

- I would greatly appreciate it. If you can send a dragon, I will only send a Valkyrie - Mrs. Ardu commented. In addition to being light aerial units, Valkyries and all divine races increased the potency of sacred blessings with their mere presence, these upgrades could not be stacked if there were Valkyries, so just one would be enough

- Are you tired? - The war senator asked the courier, his profile name was Anchor, but he preferred to be called Glarem. Unlike most senators and warlords who chose the human race for its friendly appearance, he was a Wendingo because he preferred combat. As a war senator, he was the step between the citizen-elected senators and the warlords who held their positions thanks to his influence.

- No sir - The rider responded as he looked up to see the glowing eyes of the skull that Glarem had for a head. Wendigos were tall, the second tallest playable race in fact, covered from skin to head in thick black or white fur with feet ending in hooves, hands in claws, and a head in a skull that looked like a mix of a wolf and a deer with long antlers.

Wendigos are also the strongest and fastest race physically competing for that title with the insectoids, but they are extremely expensive to maintain as they require high amounts of meat, meat from intelligent beings such as humans. They are also completely incapable of casting any kind of spell or magic. As if that were not enough, there was the fact that due to their size, they were unable to enter many buildings outside the empire that had a "standardized" building protocol, and were an easy target to hit with arrows, bullets and spells, so all those points combined meant that wendigos were not used much beyond pure war, policing or porn videos.

- Well, make this message reach the 2nd Battalion of Valkyries - The wendigo took a sheet of paper and a huge pen to accommodate its size, after carefully writing the message to avoid too many ink spills, the wendigo sealed the message in a leather tube to send messages

- This will be done - The rider nodded before leaving.

Once alone again, almost everyone present collapsed on nearby chairs or couches while clutching their heads in anguish and stress. They were the ringleaders that everyone was looking at for answers, they couldn't panic, and if they did, at least do it out of sight of everyone else, which was why they had taken refuge in one of the bunkers of the fortress.

In total there were 5 senators and 7 warlords who were present, this was horrible, at least four fifths of the members of the senate were missing, either because they had been swallowed by the earth during the cataclysm, or because they were not connected, the rest of the senators who had been found were either on their way to the fortress, or too injured to move.

The case of warlords was even worse. Senators could be replaced with relative ease, warlords? They were the beloved leaders of guilds that made up the armed forces of the empire. It's true that some could be replaced, especially those from minor guilds or normal forces like infantry, but for larger or "important" units, there was a real risk that they would leave if they didn't take control, so they were trying to rally units or establish a new temporary central command base.

They already had multiple units in the fortress that had been temporarily merged with other units to maintain control.

- We need a new map, this one is useless - Colonel Rogier of the 34th Cavalry Regiment spoke while looking at a map that hung on the wall, a map that was now useless because the world had completely changed.

His uniform and armor was reminiscent of the French cuirassier cavalry of the mid-19th century with red colors instead of blue. And like most warlords, this one was a human, although he was someone young with the body of a 19-year-old man due to a recent death he suffered not long ago. In SaS it was not unusual to see children as officers or soldiers, hell, you could not give two steps in major cities without seeing a "child"

In case of death while serving, the empire payed the player with food until his character reached the age of 17 where they would join the army again unless they had joined before

- You can't take yours. We need the cavalry in case someone thinks something funny - A new calm voice spoke. This was the "emperor", the most important warlord of the entire empire with multiple guilds directly under his command or under oaths.

Emperor Nami, as he called himself, looked completely opposite to what one would expect with the title "Emperor" and the stories where he massacred his opposition. Nami was short and thin in an androgynous way, dressed only in a long white one-piece dress decorated with golden threads, his hair was so blonde that it seemed to be gold, it was long and collected in extensive braids that decorated the gold crown that he had around his head, finally his blue eyes looked with elven intelligence at those present.

He was sitting in a chair at the head of the rectangular table with his guard behind him, an insectoid who had the upper area of his torso covered by a crimson red jacket. uniform that contrasted vehemently with the guards opposing the emperor on the other side of the table

- I agree with Sir Nami - The voice and appearance of its owner were the opposite of Nami, this was Sir Wellington, elected leader of the senate. His appearance was that of an older man with silver hair from age, somewhat surprising considering how easy it was to die in this game, if not from steel, then from disease, especially the last one. His uniform was a more normal one with a blue jacket with a white shirt, a red scarf around his neck, and gold shoulder pads. White riding pants, long black boots, and a red belt around his waist. Unlike Nami whose appearance was solely for visual reasons, Wellington was someone more practical, as was his guard who were two men dressed in blue cavalry uniforms with gleaming silver armor.

- So what do we do? - Colonel Rogier questioned, to which Sir Wellington responded. Both leaders had been in a meeting with the war senator previously

- We can only wait until we can gather all the available senators and warlords - They had all already tried to exit the game, but nothing worked. In fact, something they had quickly realized was that all limits had been deactivated.

Exhibitionism, for example, was relatively common in 18 video games, but there were "censorship" options that made you see models with clothes for example, or that the corpses did not look rotting... etc., although others would see it differently. SaS was a game (18) so you could even have "real" sexual relations

But now it seemed that the censorship methods had been deactivated, the pain was at its maximum... etc.

The problem had not been resolved in the last three hours, so the empire and its forces were trying to help as much as they could because the pain that the victims suffered was quite high.

Due to stress, no one said anything when, reflecting real life, multiple players started smoking.