The Devil In White: An AA Online Novel

Hunter of Shadow Fall paced restlessly on the northern dock of Port Laudable. Her blonde hair framed her pointed ears and she muttered continuously. Her daughter, Elisha, waited patiently watching the water and hoping for fish to jump. She was considering taking up the fishing skill because she had come to like the water. In Australia there was plenty of water, but not where she lived. Not only that but if she did get in the water she was too afraid of sharks in real life. It didn't matter that statistics were on her side and a shark biting her wasn't probable, it was enough to know that it could bite her.

The game was different, however. The idea of vast open quantities of the stuff with THINGS living in it fascinated her. She looked up at her mom again but didn't get perturbed. They played the game together, and she, just 14 years old, was the vice-captain of Shadow Fall, a reputable and famous adventurers guild. Mom would be done with whispering her guildmates when she was done. Technically Elisha should probably be listening in, but the system wasn't well equipped to handle multi-point friend calls if you weren't in a party so she would wait for Hunter instead. She could join the party to listen in but she felt like Hunter would curb some of her language if she did.

Elisha was secretly proud of her mom, though she doubted Hunter would understand. Hunter had taken them into the game and they had both almost immediately felt stifled by the isolationism that lower level players start with. She, they, had wanted a game where they could meet people with similar interests safely and intelligently. All the bigger guilds were uninterested with personal social interaction and cared more about raid progress or skill progression or, Elisha shuddered, crafting.

Elisha and Hunter had just wanted to meet people they could be around in a relaxed friendly environment. Through a variety of pairings and outings, they had eventually developed a network of Transients they could reliably call friends. People who didn't care what they were doing, and didn't care if Hunter and Elisha could further their gaming experience. Slowly, Shadow Fall was formed. A guild consisting of considerate veteran players that took anyone in, as long as they could conform to the very easy style of play that its membership had been founded on. Help people if you're not being taken advantage of, be kind to everyone, and explore! Integrity was the word her mom used to describe the guild's motto, but Elisha had always thought it was more like a family than a guild.

"The King is scrambling to train his army," Hunter said at last. She had been still for a few moments indicating she wasn't talking to anyone but Elisha had given her a minute.

"Of Brack?" Elisha inquired. She herself wasn't too sure how many kings there were. It wasn't within her interest circle.

"Yes. The conference he called was unanimously supported by the City leaders but the guilds that attended excluding ours weren't interested in joint cooperation." Hunter muttered. "That idiot predicted as much."

That idiot was probably the guy who had been a jerk to her mother in front of the King of Brack. Elisha wasn't too understanding of someone who was mean to someone they just met, and in front of an important and influential Resident at that. "What does the King say?"

"He is grateful for our support. Rat and Ridley are clearing some dungeons with parts of the army and if they raise their level sufficiently the Residents that went with them can start escorting the other members of the army." Hunter straightened. "We have time, but I wish…"

"You wish what?" Elisha prompted. She knew a lot about her mom, but not always what she was thinking.

"I wish the other guilds would see the threat I see. If you were there…" Hunter shook her head apologetically. "I shouldn't say that. You get it right Elisha?"

Elisha nodded. She had it explained to her by Hunter. If this new game enemy came into their area all the places she liked and all the Residents who were really nice would be gone. Elisha didn't really get why everyone else wasn't concerned. If anything Elisha had taken the information and expounded on it even further for Hunter, causing her already worried mom to go pale.

Hunter sighed. "We're going to walk along for a while and look through the Resident refugees and see if we can gather information. Remember, they'll look sad and unhappy and you should treat them like that. They just lost their homes. Try to imagine if we lost the ranch." Hunter bit her lip and sighed.

Elisha nodded again, trying to imagine what it would be like to just have to run out of their home and never come back. "I will. What did you mean we have time?"

Hunter shrugged her shoulders. "I don't think the game engine would dump a high-level world affecting quest like this and not give people a chance to get their levels up." Hunter didn't sound convinced though, and it prompted Elisha again.

"...but?" Elisha dutifully prompted.

"...but I can't shake the feeling this is different. When this continent was unlocked there was no threat of expansion from the monsters that guarded the border. I was given the impression that these monsters are different and they're explosively aggressive." Hunter said grimly. "You also pointed out that an invading army force might not even be leashed."

Elisha shrugged. She was just now 96, and her mother had been grinding hard after that meeting and was 93. Even if the monsters showed up early with their growth it would be doable but… Elisha froze, hearing the tone that signaled an area alert.

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Ominous Situation.

Alert. Tension perpetuates the air.

A lone ship from the north floats lifelessly into view.

Looking at it causes a feeling of dread.

Ship ID: The Cheery Half

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Elisha looked at Hunter, and Hunter was looking out into the water with shock contorting her face into fear. Elisha followed her gaze and sure enough, in the distance, a large ship with long black sails slid into view. It sure was ominous, just like the alert said.

"A system alert for a single ship…" Elisha heard herself say.

Almost instantly, she heard her mother start talking over the emergency guild channel. Elisha had only heard her use it once, to announce a sudden freak real-world hurricane to all members in case they were in the affected area.

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Attention: Shadow Fall in the vicinity of Port Laudable.

"Report immediately. Priority evacuate Residents, assist local port authority, melee and spellcasters above level 90 report to north docks. A system alert has chimed in Port Laudable. Please everyone if you are not too busy drop what you are doing and get here. If I look stupid later I will apologize to you on my knees." -Hunter.

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Elisha looked up in shock, but there was no time. Hunter was already telling her to head to the Port Magistrate and alert them. She should tell them to send as many soldiers as the city could spare for the evacuations and to send out a quest to the city for Transients over level 80 to aid in city defense. Shadow Fall would cover the reward of 5000 gold coins per person upon successful completion.

"Hunter," Elisha said, assuming her role as vice-captain.

"Yes?" Hunter was already stringing her bow and starting to head toward the end of the pier.

"It's night-time," Elisha suggested.

"Yes?" Hunter turned toward her quizzically.

"Uhm. It's dark here." Elisha suggested again.

Hunter shook her head, still not getting it.

"Well if they're the new bad guys, don't they teleport in the dark?" Elisha wondered aloud. She had seen the video of her mom and the king, and she distinctly remembered something about that. She looked out at the boat and wondered if they could teleport over the water too.

"Go!" Hunter yelled, not answering her question, and so, Elisha ran.

She only turned once, when she started hearing these strange noises. Whumfs in the air. She looked over her shoulder in time to see Hunter being crowded by three large black lizard-like shapes. Elisha turned and ran in earnest, not stopping until she came to the Port Authority building.

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"Captain Raven!" Cried the lookout from above.

"What is it?" Raven shouted back. Aidan, Amelia, and Raven leaned leisurely on the railing in the dark. They had been looking at the stars and were talking about whether they could discern existing constellations in the game's code. Amelia and Aidan had identified several cl.u.s.ters that were similar to the real world, and Raven was having a good time having them explain to her which constellations they were.

"Port Laudable is under siege Captain!" Cried the lookout again, fear in his voice. It was contagious and spread to the crew.

"What? I thought we were just drinking?"

"Under siege? What kind of force would that even take? Don't they have destroyers and cannons on the shore?"

"We should go around."

"Helm!" Raven shouted, "bring us into the port. First-Mate Barny, get us close without sinking!"

Former Captain Barny had been very helpful the last day. He had decided that being the first mate to the sure to be legendary Captain Raven was a step above being a mast ornament. "Oy you up there, lookout, are there any sh.i.p.s in the harbor?"

"One, it's drifting and completely dark… it's opened fire on the pier!" The lookout looked down, apparently afraid he was going to get some sort of punishment for delivering the bad news.

"Mermaids t.i.t.s," Barny muttered before turning to Raven. "Cap'n, one ship firing on the shore. What do you want to do?"

"Are you kidding?" Raven adjusted her hat and stood up, moving slowly toward the great spinning wheel station. "That must be the first ship from the north. We'll sink the crap out of it, dredge it up, and plunder its hold!"

"ARRRRRRRRR!" Enthusiastic shouts came from the deck and even First-Mate Barnby. They all seemed to like the idea of sneaking up behind the ship and ignoring the port.

"First-Mate Barny!" Raven continued.

"Ar?" Barny arr'd.

"You're now temporary second-mate. First-Mate Aidan will give instructions for battle." Raven pointed at Aidan.

"First-Mate…" Aidan sputtered. He sighed, and peered into the darkness for a moment and then turned. "Prime cannons! Deck swabs get all the lanterns and hang them everywhere. If I can't see the bleedin' deck I'm going to cut you and light your corpse in any spot you missed!" Very pirate-like, Amelia thought.

"ARRR!" Pirate crew rushed to fulfill their duty, and Forsythe finally emerged from the ship's hold demanding to know why everyone was skipping dinner.

"Helm! Get us in range for the long cannons. You have long cannons don't you?" Aidan demanded.

"Two o' the finest and one good shooter." Barny yelled. He was already lighting lanterns and setting them out on the deck. He was really milking the Raven train, or so it seemed to Amelia.

"Then Helm, get us behind the dark ship and ready for a broadside! Move cannons to starboard and we'll swing by and sink those scabrous dogs and…. other piratey things!" Aidan declared, less forcefully near the end. "I don't need to explain we're going to shoot them as we move passed them do I?"

The Scarlet Raven swung wide and then began to move silently through the water. It was impossible that they were hidden since their whole ship was starting to light up like Christmas, but it was almost too quiet. Raven seemed to have the same thought and she began to sing. If the enemy ship didn't focus on them well...

"Yo, ho… we see you there, drifting in the dark…" She sang of silent and dark battle and soon the crew crooned along, not knowing the words she would choose but adding notes through their grunts and dark thoughts on the matter.

"Plunder… Plunder…" Raven sang. "...that's all you are to us… Thunder, thunder… let the cannon roar!!"

On cue, the Scarlet Raven's two long cannons began firing intermittently, as there was only one cannoneer on board. The first shot missed wide by a margin of meters, but the second slammed into the side of the ship and bounced off causing the entire vessel to groan awkwardly and displace water as it was rocked. The third and fourth exploded the mast which then crashed onto the deck, Slowly, as if it were still alive but dying, the enemy dark ship began to turn slightly to bring it's own guns around. Fortunately the guns had been moved to either side so they couldn't bring them all to bear.

"Aidan!" Raven cried.

"[Mass Rain of Fire - Field]." Aidan cast and the night slowly lit up over the enemy dark ship, and also illuminated the shore. A dozen dark shadows crawled and jumped on the shore, being fought by port defenders.

Amelia watched from the side of the helmsman, a place she had deemed safe and out of the way. One of the defenders stood out to her. On top of a small shack that was on fire and loosed shafts into the melee from a longbow. It was Hunter!

"Send Message, Hunter." Amelia commanded. Immediately a chime sounded indicating that line of sight was good. "Friend Hunter."

Friend request accepted.

"Who is Amelia?" Hunter demanded. "Are you someone on that ship? Who are you?"

"I'm the Chronicler that was there before the king." Amelia reminded, feeling a little of her exhilaration fade when she realized Hunter didn't recognize, or more likely, had forgotten about her.

"We are losing the shore." Continued Hunter, not having time to apologize for not remembering. "If you sink that ship that will help but we are being overwhelmed. Only about ten of my guild members showed up in time. These creatures are all over 150 and are beating the snot out of us."

Amelia considered telling Raven that they needed to sink that ship, but the cannons were firing regularly and Raven was already hooting about sinking it. "Are you evacuating the Residents?" She asked instead.

"...almost complete." Hunter responded, sounding fatigued. "The guards are coming to join us." A pause. "...have to tell them to leave. Too low to help us, getting killed. They're nightmares! Get down from there Heath!"

Aidan had come alongside Amelia, watching but not commenting as the Scarlet Raven continued to circle the dark ship that couldn't seem to turn fast enough to get a bead on them. "Tell her that if she has a chance she needs to light up the port," he advised.

"Aidan says you will have an easier time if you can get rid of all the shadows." Amelia immediately sent.

"...will try." Hunter sounded doubtful. "Can't ask people to run and light lamps."

"How far away is Hunter?" Aidan asked.

"Uhhm. Close enough to friend?" Amelia replied, not sure what he was asking.

"Can you cast stats on her?" Aidan asked.

"Uhm.." Amelia thought about it, and decided it would be easier to try it out than to theorize. "[Aura - Forceful Awakening]."

"What the hell is that? My raid group stats just jumped 80% and no one knows what happened. What did you do?" Hunter demanded. "Whatever. Can you cast it on the other group of players? There are a few of us scattered around. The refugees are almost out of here."

Aidan cast [Mass Rain of Fire - Field] on the enemy ship again, and when he did the shoreline came under its light.

"[Aura - Forceful Awakening]." Amelia continued to cast it on any humanoid shape she could see, not even sure if she was hitting them with the effect. She didn't have time to wonder however because suddenly from the lookout's nest she heard a cry. She looked up in time to see the shape of a man throwing the pirate out of the nest and into the ocean.

"Raven, Forsythe, Visage caster in the nest!" Aidan cried. "Guns! Continue pounding that ship, crewman, maintain jobs and positions!"

At his cry, several of the panicked men that had started to load non-magical blunderbusses stopped what they were doing and went back to adjusting the sails on the ship or carrying powder to the ship's cannons. Several pirates were grimly holding lanterns and standing on the deck in case a lantern should go dark somewhere. The dark figure up above looked coldly down from the sky vantage point and began to speak softly. Amelia couldn't hear him very well but Aidan apparently knew what he was doing because he immediately started casting in response.

"[Icestrike - bolt]!" Aidan cast a thin lance of ice which seemed to go completely through the dark mage at the top. It halted his casting but he looked little more than perturbed and inconvenienced.

"Aidan can you cast that thing?" Raven shouted. She was already halfway up the rigging toward the nest, and Forsythe was actually further up. It was like he was born climbing. His speed was unreal. Amelia actually started to feel a little dazed as she watched him. The speed and direction was fearless. It was like watching a predator move unerringly toward sure prey.

"Not unless you want to get a new ship!" Aidan replied angrily, not realizing that Amelia was spacing out next to him.

"Nooooooooo." Raven denied the possibility in its entirety.

"[Flamestrike - Precise]!" Aidan called again, and this time from above the nest small points of fire formed and then converged on the face of the enemy dark mage. This time when he was struck Amelia clearly heard the enemy. It wasn't words, just a low hiss. Whatever Aidan had done wasn't enough, and it was just serving to piss off the enemy mage. Aidan actually hissed back, causing Amelia to straighten up in fright for a moment at the unexpected malice she heard in that response.

Too soon, Forsythe was there and had drawn his blade. He must have been a mountain-climber in another life to have ascended so swiftly. He ducked and weaved in the darkness to avoid small gouts of lightning that the figure threw at him, stabbing when he was able. Raven appeared soon after and she added her long two-hander to the equation. It was almost comical the way she had sat on the netting, swinging a huge sword in a small space without any sort of handhold. Her balance was incredible. Despite that it was precarious to hold onto the edge or in Raven's case stay up there at all, the two of them caused the dark figure to spend more time trying to avoid their blades than casting making the combat heavy and slow.

"...elia." Hunter got Amelia's attention.

"What?" Amelia demanded. This was all happening a little too fast for her liking.

"...ast that flame thing again." Hunter sounded unhappy and as irked as Amelia felt.

"Hunter wants you to cast rain of fire again." Amelia immediately told Aidan. She looked up at the intense fight that was happening above and wished she could do more than Aura. "You should friend her so you can talk to her directly."

"No…" Aidan muttered. "[Mass Rain of Fire - Field]." Despite his refusal to talk directly to Hunter, he still cast the spell.

Amelia looked over, surprised. "No?"

Aidan smiled. "You're better at this than you realize."

She didn't have time to wonder what he was talking about.

The ship that the Scarlet Raven was punishing was starting to sink into the waters, odd screams and howls of otherworldly creatures permeating the air. The fire that rained down on the ship seemed to finish the job, and after a minute, there was no more enemy ship above the water. Aidan continued to rain fire down on the area, and Amelia realized what Hunter had wanted and what Aidan was doing.

"The light…" She whispered.

"...ushing them back. Keep doing it." Hunter panted through the friend system.

A body fell to the deck, and the crew cheered. The dark mage had finally been slain and had fallen from his perch. Moments later Forsythe had actually leapt down from the nest and slammed into the figure's fallen center with both feet. The combat officially ended because the 'corpse' burst into brilliant colors and dissipated in pixels. Aidan continued to rain fire down on the area where the enemy ship had sunk until he ran out of mana several minutes later.

Amelia and the rest stood on the Scarlet Raven as it pulled slowly to port, she and the rest wielding their weapons and ready to enter the fracas. However when they were within meters of coming toward the long dock a cry came from the shore and a resounding chorus.

"Shadow Fall victory!" Hunter cried.

"Ahhh!" Came a thunderous reply, joined by shouts of exuberance and exhilaration.

"Oh that's good." Raven said aloud. She sounded happy. "Turn the ship around!"

"Captain?" Barny asked doubtfully.

"We need to pick up poor Billy from the drink, and then dredge that ship!" Raven replied. "Or dredge that ship and pick up Billy. Whichever is closer."

"Captain!" Barny replied approvingly.

The crew cried out in unanimous excitement as well. It was a good day. The Captain hadn't forgotten about the pirate who had gone overboard doing his job, and there was going to be loot.

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Hidden Event - Refugee Extermination Clear

The visage, a dangerous enemy from the north has appeared at Port Laudable! Despite it being a scout force, all enemies were cleared with no Refugee casualties. Maximum reward gained.

Experience gain: large

Fame: 50

Reputation: 100

Additional: Personally leading and defending the charge, Guild Leader Hunter of Shadow Fall has declared a bonus bounty of 5000 gold per head to any who survive and reach the successful completion of the event. Upon Completion the Magistrate of Port Laudable has publicly acknowledged they will foot half the bill.

Event status: Complete.

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A second cheer rose from the ship and the shore, and even Amelia cheered along. She was 5000 gold richer and got extra fame and reputation for the surprise encounter.

"Oy, you lot hear that? The girls will be tripping over themselves to hear about the brave crew of the 'mysterious' Raven Scarlet tonight. Don't let it go to waste!" Raven crowed. No one thought to point out she had just gotten the name of her own ship wrong.

Barny and the other pirates cheered, and burst into a raucous song about girls and rum. Amelia felt her mood lighten slightly even as she heard herself say, "truly, the worst."

"She be too good at piratin'," Barny replied, apparently overhearing her. There was a note of fear and respect in his voice to go along with the disgust.

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Port Laudable

A strange excitement is in the air. Liquor and beer prices reduced by 10% for 24 hours, and all warrants for piracy rescinded or forgiven for a week.

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"Ugh." Aidan g.r.o.a.n.e.d.

More cheers from the main deck.

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First Mate Aidan is now relieved from his duty.

Second Mate Barnabil Huntington promoted to First Mate.

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"UGH." Aidan almost yelled this time.

The cheers from the pirates raised in pitch actually catching the attention of the defenders on shore. Not to be outdone a shouting match of excitement between the shoreline and the pirates commenced over the water.