Matthew Nesheim

Chapter 55: Vevic - Base of Operations

Vevic leaned back in her chair and set her feet on the railing as she watched her minions mill about the courtyard. It was late evening and her day was finished, which meant she had the rest of the evening to conjure a bit of wine and relax on the balcony with one of the many dusty tomes that had been left in the castle library. Tonight’s book was The Annotated History of the Fortress Rumadrane. She had found it sitting on a desk in the captain’s quarters and wrapped in leather. ...

Chapter 54: Vevic - Burdens of Leadership

There was a flash of light, the sound of fire, and a short scream before the charred carcass came tumbling down the steps. Another one, Vevic frowned at the dead goblin as it bounced off the last step and roll to a stop. She turned to the cowering crowd of lackeys behind her. This expedition is becoming expensive.

She was finally taking the time to explore Rumadrane’s catacombs. When she had first taken over this fortress from the lich Ikzurash, she had been too busy...

Chapter 53: Lefty - Loot Boxes

Just as Lefty tabbed out of his character sheet, Feathers waddled up beside him. With a flap of his wings, the duck hopped up, perched itself atop a rock, and began to preen himself.

“So does the duck, like, level up as well? Or no?” Calista asked.

Feathers paused to quack and returned to his preening.

“He says he already did,” Lefty replied.

“Alright then,” Calista rubbed her hands as she examined the dead centipede, “let’s see what kind of loot this t...

Chapter 52: Lefty - Leveling Up

Lefty walked over and kicked one of the centipede’s legs. The limb twitched and spasmed. Somewhere inside this thing its brain synapses are still firing. The thought made him uncomfortable and when his eyes met Grumner’s and he could see the dwarf was thinking the same.

“You think it’s still alive?” Grumner asked.

Lefty looked back down at the leg, “I don’t know.”

The ranger hefted his axe, “Hit it again?”

Lefty nodded, “Hit it again.”<...

Chapter 51: Lefty - The Mountain Fae

Lefty had a notification. A blinking panel in the corner of his vision was informing him he had leveled up. He only needed to access his H.U.D to activate the process. This was probably the most important thing that had happened to him since he had arrived here on Wraath, as wizards were notoriously underpowered at the lower levels and any kind of advancement meant a positive step toward his prospects of survival. However, before he could level up, there was one big obstacle he had to get pas...

Chapter 50: Calista - The Rock Centipede

The moment the fae woman disappeared, the sound of the clicking legs returned. As Calista listened to the monster’s many legs travel over the rocks, she ripped her sword free and turned to face the sound. Beside her, Grumner readied his axe, Cat’s Eye held his short sword, Lefty gripped his staff, and Feathers hopped up onto the mage’s shoulder. The clicks and clacks traveled right to left and then faded. Through the gloom, she thought she spotted the shadow of a hulking carapace pass o...

Chapter 49: Calista - Krakoam Pass

It was mid-day when Lefty pulled up short. Lefty noticed it first and tugged the back of Grumner’s cloak and soon the entire party had stopped and were looking to see what had caused the wizard to halt.

“What was that?” Lefty asked.

“What was what?” Calista asked.

“That sound. Did you hear it?” the wizard asked.

She replied, “No, what did it sound like?”

Lefty spoke quietly. “It sounded like a dozen little hooves walking over the rocks.”

Chapter 48: Calista - The Horde

The next morning they traveled east as the hills became sharper and more rocky. Mountains that had once loomed in the distance now looked down on them with ominous foreboding. Clouds and mist covered their peaks. Once, Calista thought she spotted something winged and dark as it passed between the clouds but when she pointed it out to the others it disappeared into the mist.

Around evening, the small valley they had been following turned to greet the base of a towering foothill. Here, Gr...

Chapter 47: Lefty - The Wolves

The secret passage, Cat’s Eye claimed, was through a hidden door located near the northwest guard tower. From there, they would have access to a number of secret doors that led in and out of the fortress of Rumadrane. This, he said, was the privileged information of a veteran smuggler who had spent most of his life working his way in and out of various secure locations on business.

The rest of the goblin’s information proved to be just as useful. He told them the leader of the gobli...

Chapter 46: Dillard - The Wand

“Is this the weapon you were talking about?”

Himbo held the wand up to the sky as if to inspect it. It was a small, silver thing with a gold inlay along its handle. Dillard didn’t know if the wand did anything. She had only been looking for a bit of leverage in a tight spot and had decided to make due with what was at hand, but now that she could see the thing, she didn’t want Himbo to have it. She had to find a way to take it from him, lest he do something awful, like sell it a...

Chapter 45: Dillard - The Merchant

“How wonderful to meet such a noble knight out here in the wilderness. You must be so very brave,” Dillard cooed.

The paladin had the gall to look bashful, “Ah, say nothing about it gentle lady. Tell me, what tragedy befell your intrepid caravan?”

Dillard gestured to the bodies lying on the ground, “We were attacked by bandits. My friends and I killed as many of them as we could, but I’m afraid one of them got away.”

“Ah,” Himbo looked off into the distance...

Chapter 44: Dillard - The Paladin

Dillard had briefly considered running after the merchant. Killing him would have been even more fun than killing his guards had been. She would have been able to take her time for one. For another, his terror in her catching up to him and taking him apart bit for bit would have been very, very satisfying. The trouble was, she had chosen rogue as her class and as a rogue, she didn’t have any points in any tracking skills whatsoever and so she had decided to stay and loot the cart. After all...

Chapter 43: Aackzor the Bleak

Aackzor the Bleak wasn’t sure what he was looking at. Dressed in a white shift dress and black knee high boots, the young woman stood before him with the confidence of a conqueror even though she had the stature of a teen aged girl. She was slight, pale with dark hair, had a pretty face, was unarmed, and had two deep, all-black eyes that stared into your being like a demon ready to eat your soul.

Behind him, the members of his horde were mumbling and whispering to one another as they ...

Chapter 42: Lefty - What the Goblin Knows

The goblin’s name was Cat’s Eye and when he finally crawled out from under the bridge and presented himself to the party, Grumner smashed him in the face, knocked him cold, and took his whistle. Calista then offered to slit the little monster’s throat, but the dwarf said it would be better if they interrogated him first. So it was that they bound and gagged Cat’s Eye before Grumner threw the goblin over his shoulder and carried him away.

Together, they crossed the bridge and mar...

Chapter 41: Calista - Desperate Negotiations

Grumner had missed. As the dwarf grumbled and cursed, Calista knocked another arrow and took aim while beside her, Lefty stepped forward and began muttering an incantation. Inhale, exhale slowly, aim, and loose. However, in the time it took her to loose her arrow, the goblin had slipped beneath the bridge and so her arrow landed harmlessly in the grass. Beside her, Lefty cut his spell short.

She nudged Grumner, “Well what do we do now?”

The dwarf had his iron lever out as he w...

Chapter 40: Another Detour Inside the Mind of a Goblin

Cat’s Eye had been a goblin marauder all of three days.

You see, three days ago he had been plying his trade on the roads between Harva and Hilltop when he had been stopped on the road by a gang of bandits. Goblin bandits. Fortunately for him, he was a goblin and not something else and so they had simply robbed him and forced him to join their little band as a slave. In a matter of minutes, he had been stripped of his treasures and forced into servitude.

He hadn’t wanted to jo...

Chapter 39: Calista - The Bridge

At dawn, they returned to the camp where they found the dire bear had thrown a party for himself and used Kevin’s body parts as decoration. Every tent had been ransacked, just as every pack had been raided for their rations. Bits of bread littered the ground. The dried fruit and tack had been consumed. Even one of their water skins was torn. Then there was Lefty’s pack that had been ripped apart, so she and Grumner helped him patch it together with her needle and string. In all, they spen...

Chapter 23: Calista - Battle Along the Docks

Dogmoore’s axe flashed again in the firelight, felling the nearest warrior, while Thalias loosed his arrow into the belly of a goblin bowman. Calista, for her part, stepped over so she was back to back with the dwarf Gumner, who had drawn a long sword with his free hand. Parrying a short sword, she punched her attacker with her free hand and as he stagger back, she rammed her blade into his neck. Two more goblins took his place and she managed to grab the spear of the first, while cutting a...

Chapter 38: Lefty - Night Watch

Lefty awoke to the duck pecking his face. He scrambled against his bedroll as he tried to brush Feathers off him, but before he could cry out a webbed foot covered his mouth. Then he heard it. Something was moving outside. Lefty froze as Feathers gave him a stern look, hopped off his chest, and waddled over to the front of the tent. As the duck leaned his head out, Lefty heard how large the intruder was. It sounded massive. He could hear the heavy breathing and the scrape of paws like cinder ...

Chapter 37: Calista - Camp for the Night

They managed to reach the next hilltop by nightfall. It was not a decision easily made, for while Grumner had observed that a high vantage point would be to their tactical benefit with wolves about, Kevin had protested under the grounds that if forced to summit another hill, he would be too tired to do anything. The argument might have gone on much longer had they not been interrupted by another chorus from the wolves, which had promptly ended the debate in favor of the hilltop.

So ther...

Chapter 36: Lefty - Into the Woods

A downpour met them at the top of the cliff. Though it had been raining steadily before, it now increased suddenly, as though someone had just reached up and turned on the shower. The only member of the party who was pleased about this was Feathers, who took the opportunity to hunt along the creek bed for snails and water bugs before Grumner led them off the path and away into the woods.

While Lefty was uncomfortable about marching into a monster infested forest, this was apparently not...

Chapter 35: Vevic - Cordelia and the Council

Vevic’s heels echoed down the hallway as she walked with the girl Cordelia by her side. Vevic knew that the next hour would go a long way to determining just how the rest of her rule here at Reave would go. Challenges had arisen and needed to be faced. Her goblins had concerns and she needed to address them, one way or another.

One way, of course, would be to simply do as others before her had done. Tell her lackeys to shut up and get in line, or else. Rule with an iron fist. She was,...

Chapter 34: Dillard - A Brave New World

Dillard was confused.

She wasn’t sure what she was doing here. Oh, she had understood the Attendant perfectly well, even if she had wanted to flay the skin off the arrogant little bitch the entire time she had been speaking. This was Wraath. It was real. She was here as a real person acting as a player in a real game world that was full of real people she could do anything she wanted to. Just like a real girl.

The part that confused her was why. Why had she been let through. If ...

Chapter 33: Calista - An Unwilling Participant

They returned to Captain Padral and accepted the quest. Grumner managed to negotiate some additional gear. Grappling hooks, ropes, tents, ponchos, and climbing tools were all in order. Then Lefty squeezed Captain Padral for a heavy crossbow, an pair of extra swords, and a proper map.

Next, they gathered at the gazebo to discuss their plans. There, Grumner distributed the gear and then unfolded the map on the table. Everyone gathered around, including Feathers, who jumped up on the table...

Chapter 32: Lefty - Questions and Answers and Dragonflies

They left the captain at the gazebo and made their way down a slope where a stream ran through the fortress. Here, Grumner, Lefty, and Calista huddled together beneath a tree as Feathers waddled along the shoreline in search of bugs.

Lefty was uncomfortable with the mood of the party. Grumner, who he did not know, seemed to agree with him about ditching the quests for somewhere safer. Calista, however, appeared to have another idea and as he remembered from their previous adventures in ...

Chapter 31: Calista - Captain Padral

A short while later, the captain appeared with two far more mundane guardsmen in tow. He was a fit and trim man somewhere in his late 30’s or early 40’s with dark hair and a five o’clock shadow and the kind of face that might have put him on the cover of a romance novel. As he sat down across from them, he folded his arms and put his feet up on the table as he twirled his thumbs and studied the small party before him.

“Only the three of you?” he asked. “I thought there would...

Chapter 30: Calista - Is This a Party or What?

As the two guardsmen then meandered down the walkway, Calista could hear them trading barbs as they rounded the corner. Watching them go, Lefty’s voice took on a satisfied tone, “Well, I really showed them, didn’t I?”

It was in this moment that a number of unimpressed quacks came from the vicinity of Calista’s feet and she looked down to see the duck standing next to a puddle.

Lefty addressed the duck, “Well I didn’t hear you saying anything of use. So if don’t car...

Chapter 29: Calista - The Mage & the Guardsmen

A shiver of fear ran down Calista’s spine. An Imperial officer looking to speak with adventurers could really only mean one thing: a quest. And given the nature of the environment outside the fort, the quest was likely to be very, very dangerous. She had just started wondering how she might avoid talking to the captain when she spotted a man in blue robes walking past a far window. Two soldiers were escorting him along the walkway outside and it took a moment before Calista’s brain acknow...

Chapter 28: Calista - The Game Master

They laid Thalias with the other corpses. The soldiers had gathered the dead and dying on a platform along the outer wall. Calista and Grumner carried the dead half-elf over there where they set him on an empty blanket. Both Calista and Grumner stayed for a moment as they looked down on their dead friend. They were here now in a game world where, in a past life, they had visited presumably to have fun. Now it was a real world with real consequences.

It really hit her as she entered the ...

Chapter 27: Lefty - Questline Activated

Shortly after they lost view of the village, shock and blood loss carried Lefty into unconsciousness. When he awoke, the night was crisp and cool and everything around him was covered in a layer of thick fog. The spring current was carrying them so swiftly the oarsmen had little to do except steer the raft. Through the fog, Lefty could see the shadow of another boat floating some thirty yards ahead. However, except for the occasional shadow of a tree along the shore, all else was gray. There ...