At first, we all thought it was a dream.
We were wrong.
Home was the dream.
And…
“This world SUCKS!” I shouted, leaning back into my chair.
More than a dozen angry replies of “shut up” or “stop complaining” followed me. However they all came from the natives of this world, and not a word was spoken from the others like myself.
From them all there was, was empty glances and quiet nods. They understood what it was like. We all thought at first that this was some kind game or maybe a dream. In someways we were right.
The way we interact with this world is similar to a video game, with a menu, skill lists, levels and an optional display hub. But this world is a harsher than any game world. The natives only give out a certain number of quests and the rewards are meager. Killing monsters is hard and gruesome, and there is no menu function to automatically collect loot from the corpses, or what ever remains. We must do that by our own bloody hands. So definitely not a game.
Home was the dream. The longer we’re here the more we began to believe that, until we sleep. The moment our eyes close we return home and here becomes the dream. That is when the rules begin to play themselves out. When we are here we do not talk about home, and when we are home we do not talk about here. We do not die, but we must work to survive in both worlds. We feel pain and when we wake the wounds we gain are present on our bodies. We feel hunger and exhaustion. Thus this is not a dream.
The command word teleported us to different place, each determined by Race. For myself, I found myself floating in the temple pond at Kensmen’s Mount along with the other Kens species along with the dwarves race. The priests to the Saphirri rushed to us, pulling us out of their Sacred Pools.
At first we were praised and heralded by the priests, but treated with suspicion by the other citizens of the mount. Eventually as we went on even the priests, while still kind turned back their praises and welcomes. Now we all fight for our dinners, in one form or another.
I rose from my chair and looked around at the raised eyes. “I’m going dungeoning.” I explained to nods and well-wishes from my own kind along with glares and snide remarks from the normal residence. I only nodded in return, before checking that my thin, almost katana-like sword was still sheathed at my side and heading towards the exit, my staff coming to my hand with a simple gesture.
I winced as I left the darkness of the tavern and into the mid-day light of Kensman’s Town. I quickly flipped my hood up as my flesh began to smoke, the glow from my staff making vision bearable until I passed into the side of the mountain itself and into the heart of the town.
Built from the inside of the mountain out, Kensman’s Town sat half way up the western slope. Named after the Three kindred races that were born at there. It also had a large population of dwarves, Nephilim and Elves. the center of town boasted the shopping district which was lit by bright glowing crystals, who’s light was kind on both the Shadow and Lightsken. Further in led to the town hall and the residential districts as well as entrance to the coliseum and Kensmen’s Mount proper. On the mountain’s face was the agricultural flats and one of the few entrances in and out of the town.
That is where we were herded into living. And it meant that, unless we wished to leave Kensman’s Town for the forest or the valley that surround the mountain, we would have to travel straight through the town in order to get to our jobs.
Jobs. Though we’ve discovered that we can gain skills in basic and advanced crafting skills, including skills such as forestry, carpentry and construction, we’ve found it difficult to gain any kind of living through them. Instead we’ve been forced to making livings as gladiators in the coliseum or explorers and monster hunters in the wilds, especially deeper into the mountain where goblins, kobolds and other cave dwelling monsters.
Personally I prefer life exploring deeper into the mountain and striking down the threats with in it. After a while the killing and fighting has even started to not feel wrong, though looting the dead still makes my skin crawl. Still it was a living and I had even earned enough from it to buy myself a map of the area just outside of town and my sword a long with some basic cartography equipment.
Although, it would still be a while before my cartography skills and skill level would be enough to make any kind of living off of.
I stopped and looked at the gaping maw of stone that lead into Kensmen’s Mount. “Time to get to work.” I said before stepping into the next cavern.
