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Eternyte

Part 11: PC

copyright comidacomida 2021

The Eternal Hall was an amazing place in Eternyte, but the game didn't do it the same kind of justice as seeing it in what amounted to real life-- presuming that was what Will faced. Free camera mode allowed a player to look at the world in all different angles and, since Will preferred to play Eternyte in third person view with the camera behind and above his character it allowed for some amazing panoramic views, but it was nothing compared to actually standing there.

In the game, his Holding was lit by Etherflame, a fiery glow that provided more illumination than traditional torches and maintained the same lighting regardless of the time of day. When he was on the top floor Will could gaze out into the world beyond and, despite his Holding being an 'instance', a separate dungeon from the main world, the lighting effects from outside always mirrored the time in game; once he went to a lower floor the ability to see outside was gone, meaning he had to rely on the in-game time clock at the upper right of his screen to know the active portion of the day. Standing in his private quarters in the Eternal Hall for real, however, Will lacked a screen which meant he also lacked that clock.

That realization wasn't lost to him as he sat at his writing desk, eyes still on the letter he received and the object that looked identical to a thumb drive. Adrift in his sea of thoughts, the young man didn't know what time of night it was, nor did he particularly care. He didn't feel tired and he couldn't bring himself to try and turn off his very busy brain, instead choosing to zone out with his thoughts crowding in around him. It also didn't help that he didn't feel tired; he knew logically that he should get some sleep but, faced with so many illogical happenings around him, Will found it hard to listen to that little voice that warned him that not getting a full night of sleep would have consequences.

Only once that errant thought went through his mind did he actually pause the other thoughts, focusing in on that one alone. Characters in Eternyte didn't need to sleep. In Mytholm the day and night cycle were a combination of artistic presentation coupled with game world difficult shifts but there was no BIOLOGICAL need to sleep... at least, not how he understood it. In fact, most players only bothered going into an inn or Recalling to their Holding because of the bonus statistics and experience gain boosts provided to a well rested character. His mind greedily grabbed hold of that thought and gave him direction for his meandering brain.

He wondered what a Well-Rested bonus felt like or, for that matter, how he'd know if he had one. Back in Cragglecrawl he'd experienced a Well-Fed bonus, but ever since arriving in what felt eerily like Mytholm, Will had never really been without a full night's sleep. Night one he'd gone to bed in the main Kobold tent; for night two he'd slept in his bedroom within the Eternal Hall. What would happen if he stayed up through the entirety of night three?

Time continued to pass as he pondered the mysteries of the world in which he found himself, eyes slowly wandering around the desk in front of him until they were finally drawn to the magical time piece which was separated into the twelve distinct time Tics from the game. Berating himself for not having bothered to pay it any mind before that moment, he also assessed what he saw: the dial was slowly rotating past the line that separated 'Midnight' and 'Predawn'.

Even as he considered the significance, Will felt a sudden change around him, as if his senses were just a little less sharp and the room's lighting just a little more dull. In that moment he reasoned that he'd probably gained an answer to one of his questions; although the strange shift in perception could have been caused by a number of unknown variables, considering the time at which it occurred he was more than willing to presume that he knew what it felt like to lose a Well-Rested bonus.

The timeline of Mytholm's day and night cycle suggested that night would last for only a third as long as day, but that would still be a bit of a wait, however, with the night flowing ever onward into 'Predawn' Will wouldn't have too much longer to wait, which was a good thing, especially since he'd come to the conclusion that being left along with only his thoughts for company was not a healthy thing to experience... not while surrounded by so many unsolved mysteries and pressing questions.

He was in an alien world and limited on what he could do during the night hours. Stuck within his Holding, Will not only had to play it safe, but he was forced to be patient-- the former had always been his go-to, but the latter was not always the easiest thing to do when mysteries were out there to be solved. Even as he focused on his lack of answers, Will realized that 'not knowing' wasn't the only thing that was causing him distress. It had taken awhile to rationalize what he was feeling but, during the long stretch of night which left him sitting at his desk alone, the young man had to face a strange and alien fact about himself: he was feeling alone.

Will had never been the kind of individual who had issues being on his own, which made that sensation all the more disquieting. Even at an early age Will was more comfortable keeping to himself and, as he got older and his family uprooted far-too-often the boy pulled even further away from others. He learned to feel good being alone; it was comforting and orderly and safe. The silence in his bedroom within the Eternal Hall, however, did not feel calming; it felt oppressive.

Letting out a sigh, he stood from his chair, grabbing the thumb drive and sticking it into his pocket. "I just need a distraction..."

As a dyed-in-the-wool introvert, Will had no problems being alone and, in fact, he preferred it. Even when he was at his most social he had remained reserved. During the most active years playing Eternyte Will had dozens and dozens of people on his contact list; he joined them on dungeon runs and even assaults, playing the game to advance his character and experience the story line, and yet those adventures had never been about them-- those activities had always ended up being about him, his connection to the game world, and his Followers.

His brain used that as a springboard to jump to yet another thought as the young man made his way up the stairs, walking slowly and purposefully up to the ground floor of the Eternal Hall. Proudmane had told him that the Etherborn, the players of Eternyte were known to the people of Mytholm as NPCs. It was an eerie juxtaposition since players always thought of THEM as the NPCs, while being Player Characterts themselves. Will had always been a Player Character, a PC, but his followers had always seen him as an NPC... had he coincidentally been treating other PCS like NPCs as well?

Even when he updated his character journal he spent far more time writing about what he did and what his followers did; the other players always took a back seat in his narrative. Will enjoyed playing alone. He was used to it, especially as his contacts began to log off permanently, one after another. Even when he was feeling social and willing to get into groups with other Player Characters, Will had always enjoyed playing with NPCs more than other PCs. He had no illusions as to that was why he ultimately settled on Adept class-- a class that did't work particularly well with other players, but could gain access to a small army of followers. Followers who, for some reason, had suddenly become real to Will.

PCs were other people-- real people. They were players playing Eternyte right alongside Will. They were from the real world, joining him in the electronic, fantasy world of Mytholm and interacting with the characters therein, the NPCs who had specific, set roles. NPCs were people of whom Will could make sense and the PCs were the ones that were difficult to understand. NPCs worked in the capacity for which they were assigned; they worked well in groups and roles with the were easy to understand. A lot of PCs didn't know how to work well in a group. They were messy, and some were downright antagonistic. Why would Will want to interact with people like that? Why was it so hard for them to understand that NPCs just made more sense.

The longer he wandered the halls the less he could find himself arguing with what his mind was staring to suggest, and the thoughts even made it to his lips as he murmured "Maybe they have it right... maybe the players ARE the NPCs."

The Predawn hours in Mytholm were indistinguishable from Midnight except for the final portion which gave way to dawn so, when he ascended to the ground floor and finally got a glimpse of the night's sky through one of the windows he was not surprised to see near blackness. In the real world he would hardly have called it "pre-dawn", which should have been identified by a slight lightening to the sky and maybe the sound of the earliest of birds, but the actual brightening of the world took place in the Eternyte game over the course of five minutes and fifty nine seconds-- he had indeed timed it... more than once.

Still restless, Will was more than ready for the day to get started and, despite having an idea of what he was facing as far as the timeline went, he honestly didn't know just how long it would take the sun to begin lighting up the world-- if everything happened on the same time table as a fraction of real-world time then he presumed dawn would take about as long as it did outside of the computer game-- five minutes in real life for a night-time Tic was approximately one hour, so six minutes would be pretty close to the normal 70 minute dawn time from most places on Earth.

He came to a stop as he thought about the word 'Earth'. In Mytholm they referred to the ground as 'earth', but was that the same as the planet? No-- the Eternyte game took place in Mytholm, so obviously that wasn't Earth. There weren't planets or a solar system in Eternyte so why would that even be a consideration? Sighing, Will began to wonder if the loss of his Well Rested bonus had slowed his thinking, or at the very least left him even more scatterbrained than the experience of being in another world already did.

Walking through the Eternal Hall so very early in the morning was an eerie experience; everywhere the magical lights provided him ample illumination so he could see clearly and, despite the silence, the sound his boots made on the marble tile of the floor created a booming chorus, helping to illustrate the sheer majesty of the enormous space. The emptiness of it all should have, by all rights, made him feel even more lonely but, for some inexplicable reason, it actually helped; whether the physical movement or the sheer uniqueness of the experience, Will was affected less by the lack of company.

Pausing by one of the many pillars stretching to the vaulted ceiling overhead, Will pressed his hands against the small of his back, leaning backwards and stretching. Letting out a yawn, the young man pressed a shoulder to one of the large columns and half-reclined against it, taking in the sights in a metaphorical moment of stopping to smell the roses. He smiled the moment his eyes settled onto a large tapestry across the way from him depicting a brown half-circle crowned by several green triangles overlayed atop one another with a yellow circle behind them on a deep blue field; it was the Wildcrest Banner he'd been awarded when the fifth expansion had been released.

If he hadn't already been confused by the strange bleed-over from expansions and the fact that the Mytholm in which he found himself seemed to be the original game before any add-ons, Will might have paused to consider it. As it was, he simply acknowledged the tapestry for what it was and didn't think too deeply on it; he'd have plenty more opportunities to discover what else didn't make sense compared to the Eternyte game. Instead, Will rotated slightly, noticing the tapestry one column down: it was a yellow background with orange, white and silver symbols-- the Goldentide Banner for the fourth expansion.

Glancing up and down the passage, Will realized that there numerous tapestries and also the large banner over the grand entrance to the Eternal Hall, which was the award identifying him as having joined Eternyte before the first expansion. From the entrance, starting on the north wall from closest to the entrance all the way to the central summoning dais were the first five banners from expansions: "Moonbane", "The Northern Expanse", "Goldentide", and "Wildcrest". Smiling to himself, the young man stepped away from the pillar so he could glance at the south wall and admire the several hanging there.

As expected, he saw them from all of the other expansions, once again from the entrance to the heart of the Eternal Hall starting with the sixth expansion, "Murmurs of Discontent" and moving on to seven, eight, and nine-- "Dark Tidings", "Astral Calling" and "Nether Horde" respectively, but, after looking at the ninth banner he was taken aback to find a tenth, which was dramatically out of place; there were only nine expansions. A little itching reminder in the back of his mind pointed out that he had been going to beta test the tenth expansion, but that was completely unrelated to the situation in which he'd found himself... or was it?

The tenth tapestry hung from the pillar just as the other nine, proudly displayed for all visitors to the Eternal hall to see. The tapestry had a field of two colors: gray and white, split at the diagonal from top right to bottom left by a thin yellow line. At the center of the tapestry was a single gray icon which, to Will's eyes, looked eerily similar to the thumb drive he'd received in the strange message from what was apparently a god. His brain, which had just started to mellow out, was immediately engulfed in another chaotic burst of activity as he tried to reason his way through all of it... and failed.

He was still stuck in an endless loop of attempting to make sense of his situation, the oddity of the unaccounted for tapestry, receiving an in-game piece of mail when he was either so in-game that he was in the world or-- "My Lord?"

The call finally knocked Will out of his endless loop of questions. Looking in the direction of the voice, Will saw two glowing green eyes peering out of the dark shadows gathered near the double doors leading out of the Eternal Hall. Proudmane took a step into the light, a warm smile on his muzzle. Shaking the last of the cobwebs from his brain, Will moved to join his follower. "Good morning, Proudmane."

The Lion offered a warm smile. "Although I am surprised to see you walking about so early, it is not an unpleasant one."

The candid statement immediately made Will's face flush as much as any compliment but he powered through it, coming to a stop two arm lengths from the Savanite. "Are you still on watch, Proudmane? Have you been up all night?"

The Warden waved away Will's concern. "Guard duty suits me, my Lord. I find comfort in providing protection to you and your holdings. It invigorates me as well as any amount of sleep I might find."

Knowing that no amount of guard duty would provide a Well Rested bonus, Will did not even think to stop the words from escaping him. "I highly doubt that."

It was Proudmane's turn to blush. Ears lilting slightly, the Lion offered up a sheepish smile. "Be that as it may, I am the only Follower here and I would not shirk my duties; your holdings must be protected and I cannot leave them undefended."

Follower traits of 'Loyal' and 'Devoted' were each plenty powerful separately but, coupled together, they were an overpowered hack for meta-gamers... or, at least they would have been in Eternyte when it came to any player who didn't want to lose the benefit of their followers. In practice, however, most players opted for more super charged bonuses like extra damage or supplemental abilities. Will, personally liked the idea of friends who would never leave, betray, or abandon him.

In that moment, however, the young man was actively worried that Proudmane's health would suffer if he didn't learn to relax. "You're going to relax once everyone gets back. I don't like the idea of any of my followers getting overworked and you need time to rest too."

The Savenite's gauntleted paw struck his chest plate in a salute. "If that is what you wish, I will do as you decree."

Will nodded. "It is."

Proudmane offered a nod of his head but, before turning away, the Lion also winked at him. "I will add that to the list, right after not dying... my Lord."

Despite how dry it was, Will could not help but laugh at the obvious playful banter from his companion. Every time the young man had written about his Warden he always pointed out that Proudmane had a refined and witty sense of humor, but Will himself lacked the imagination or wit to come up with anything; he was overjoyed to actually experience it firsthand. Even as he stood there, watching his Follower take several steps away to once again stand guard at the doors, Will saw the faintest hint of light beyond.

Dawn in Mytholm had always been defined by a general lighting of the world. Granted, the sky lit in the west first and he was looking east, but when the programmers designed the lighting effects they used a general illumination and, for whatever reason, the world in which Will found himself seemed to hold true to that rule. That realization helped the young man to realize that night time would not be around much longer. It also gave him an idea. "Proudmane?"

"Yes, my Liege?"

Will spoke his order without an explanation. "Follow me."

Proudmane, of course, needed none. "Of course, my Lord."

It took several minutes to walk from the western hall to the eastern one and, as they did, Will noticed the world beyon the Eternal Hall continue to brighten. By the time he stepped out of the doors and into the open air, the young man could already see the sun starting to rise beyond the mountain peaks. Only then did he reveal his plan to his companion. "We are going to watch the sun rise together."

Proudmane's voice came out as a rumble, the words given texture by his purr. "It would be my honor and my pleasure, my Lord."

Swallowing against the embarrassment threatening to constrict his throat, Will glanced to the Savenite. "You know... can call me Will... if you like."

Proudmane smiled radiantly, golden eyes fixed on him and him alone. "Okay... Will."

There was a barely restrained warmth in the Lion's voice and, for a moment, Will was convinced that there were two suns. Blinking against the effect of the early rays striking his Warden's chest plate, the young man realized that what he saw was just the reflection of the dawn... until he did a double-take; although he didn't know how, Proudmane had changed. There was something different about his companion. The Lion had once again gone back to looking to the horizon, his mane flowing regally in the early morning breeze; a new and distinct aura surrounded the Warden, identifying him as Heroic.

Heroic characters in Eternyte were special NPCs, usually powerful monsters or specially named event characters who were far more powerful than their run-of-the-mill equivalents. Most PCs could handle three or four regular monsters at once without too much trouble but fighting a Heroic enemy of equivalent level was more of a one-on-one event, and even then they were a challenge for less experienced players or weaker soloing classes. Proudmane had been a Heroic character when Will had gained him, but followers didn't keep that modifier and it had cleared when the Savanite had been recruited... or had it?

"Proudmane... did--?"

Will's question got caught in his throat as a faint shimmer filled his vision, coalescing some ten or fifteen feet away from the bottom of the steps leading down from the entry to the Eternal Hall and rapidly flashing around the structure as far as he could see in a dome-shape. As quickly as it had appeared it faded into nothingness, and only then did the young man realize what he'd just seen.

His Warden filled in the blanks, answering his unspoken question. "The Celestial's protection has come to an end. May we give them praise for their support through the darkness and make our actions during the daylight our offering for their aegis."

It was as poetic as anything he'd expect from the Savenite and yet it still caught his attention, but also his curiosity. "Proudmane... have you ever seen a Celestial?"

Golden eyes settling on Will, Proudmane slowly shook his head. "I have not... have you seen one?"

Will didn't feel so uncertain about being honest at that point. "I haven't either, no... but, I mean... they aren't exactly from the Ether... are they?"

He'd gone out on a limb with that question but he was mildly confident that he knew the answer. If Celestials were supposedly from the Ether that meant that they had to have been from Earth-- presuming that the two were interchangeable according to the words from his followers in Mytholm. Even after he said the words, waiting for the Lion's answer, Will came to be more confident in his presumption; there were many things in Mytholm he hadn't encountered as a player in Eternyte and it was far more likely that the Celestials were part of it and not Earth-- despite how much he HADN'T seen in his own world he was fairly confident that something like an all-powerful being capable of protecting a city from roving monsters would be pretty obvious.

Unless it was a programmer, he reminded himself; after all, Eternyte was a computer game, and Celestials could just as easily have been a bit of code and that was CERTAINLY from Earth. And yet, if he followed THAt logic then technically all of the NPCs in Eterntyte were also from Earth because they were just as much code as what he proposed the Celestials to be. Thoughts thoroughly jumbled, Will only managed to quiet them by reminding himself that he no longer had his Well Rested bonus and was probably paying for it. That thought also left him when Proudmane snapped him out of his mental hiccup by sliding am arm around his shoulder and pulling the Human close.

The gesture surprised Will on many levels, but the only question he could muster was his follower's name. "Proudmane?"

The Savenite's eyes had been focused on the horizon, his face illuminated by the auric morning rays of the sunrise, further accentuating his golden fur. At the mention of his name, the Warden turned to regard Will, a large smile on his leonine muzzle. Proudmane's eyes closed as he leaned forward and the Human's heart very nearly stopped when the Savenite's thin, black lips approached, and then at the last minute, veered off to the side and he found himself getting a face full of mane as his follower began rubbing his head against Will's cheek like some kind of big cat. Proudmane rumbled happily "I am glad you are here with us, William Becker."

Pulse up, face flushed, Will quickly disengaged, trying not to look like a flustered fool as he offered what he hoped was a composed smile, quickly retreating into the Eternal Hall. "You've been awake all night, Proudmane... I-- I'm gonna-- let me-- I'll go... summon... everyone... from Vartyn. We-- we can all be here together!"

The Warden remained calm, eyes tracking the young man, but Will could not fight the feeling that Proudmane was barely restraining a bemused expression from giving away some kind of inner glee at seeing the famed Will Etherborn 'out of sorts'. No, Will reminded himself, Proudmane was a Loyal and Devote follower; there was no way he'd delight at the suffering of his leader. Even as Will turned to go he heard the Savenite's paw strike his chest plate in a salute. "I shall remain here until relieved by the next sentry."

Will quickly made his way back into the Hall, hand to his chest as he tracked the beating of his heart. It was hard to say why, exactly; he'd spent countless hours with all of his followers, Proudmane included, and none of them, not even Hunny Sugar had ever left him feeling so unbalanced and vulnerable. Was it because he was interacting with them in such a new manner? Perhaps because it was the first time he'd been able to exchange words with them without being the one to give them their voice? Sighing, he headed toward the center of the Eternal Hall, realizing that he'd have to devote his time to figuring it out later: he had summons to complete.

Lok, Gral, Luna, and Vladamere were still in Vartyn, left where he'd been when he'd last logged out of Eternyte, apparently. If the world in which he found himself was essentially the same as the Mytholm from his game there would be no great trouble in bringing them back, save that he'd be adding four additional bodies to the Hall when he already had so many followers to track. It had never been a problem when he'd been sitting at his computer screen but, then again, that was a far cry from actually interacting with them. Will was not good with people and it was only a matter of time until he messed up big time-- the time required would doubtlessly decrease the more individuals he added to the equation.

Or, he reasoned, perhaps not. He'd handled most of his followers just fine and, by all accounts, they seemed more inclined to look over his little gaffes and social mistakes, focusing instead on what he did well. Was that a side benefit of them being loyal and devoted? He didn't know, but the one thing he DID know was that he still had four followers not at the Eternal Hall and, from a gaming point of view, that was inefficient and wasteful. With that thought in mind, Will approached the summoning area, figuring out who to summon and in what order. Lok first, he decided, since he could assign the Boarman Paladin to guard duty so Proudmane could finally get some rest.

Reaching for the scroll he knew would appear at his beckoning, Will was surprised when it did not manifest; a moment later all of the cool hued lighting within his Holding turned crimson. There was only one reason the set lighting ever changed in the Eternal Halls of Eternyte, and that was when a raid was happening. He tossed that idea aside. "No way... we were JUST raided? This world can't be THAT different from Eternyte, can it?"

Stepping up to the summoning circle, Will reached for Lok's scroll again but, once more, nothing happened. He reached for Luna's, then Gral's, and, finally, Vlad's, but, one after another they failed to adhere to his intent. In Eternyte, players coul summon their companions during nether raids or even story-focused ones. The only raid in which players COULDN'T summon was-- his breath caught in his lungs. Even as he came to the conclusion himself, Proudmane's voice boomed through the halls. "My Lord! An Etherborn attacks!"

In that moment, Will felt true fear: his Holding was under attack... by another 'player'.