The Devil In White: An AA Online Novel

"That went alright. I think." Amelia mentioned to Hunter. The projection magic had been de-activated, and many of the Transients in the room had left. While it was an opportunity to speak with the city leaders, and many like Hendrick stuck around to do just that, most of the players found the incredibly powerful world leaders too intimidating to speak to directly and bowed out.

"Yes. I was a little surprised that Gilduirn still has designs on being independent. It can't be easy leveling up in the max level dungeon available. It won't be easy for us when the army gets there. Rat, a guildmate of mine, tells me that the army units she is helping in the Silf lands are approaching levels 95 through diligent coastal mobbing." Hunter sighed and started rubbing her temples. "Now it becomes a question of time. Though not really a question. We don't have it. The time I mean."

"Ah, I had a thought on that," Amelia admitted. "It had occurred to me too when I was out with…" She frowned. It was tedious to say all their names but it didn't feel right to omit them. "...the others."

Hunter grinned. "You know if you all joined Shadow Fall… I could designate your party with a sub-name. We could call you the Improbables."

"I think that would be too kind," Amelia replied warily. "The idea of those lunatics in your guild scares me."

"I don't know. They seem reliable, for all their crazy." Hunter shrugged. "Forsythe especially. If I could eat that man's cooking every day..." She sighed whimsically.

"Well he is single," Amelia joked.

"Mmm," Hunter replied, a serious expression overtaking her face.

"Really?" Amelia said, her face paling.

"Hey. A girl can admire eye candy that can cook now and again. He's good with Elisha too." Hunter smiled lopsidedly at her, and then just as suddenly her demeanor cooled. "You had an idea about post 100 leveling?"

"Oh," Amelia said, her mind still reeling from the idea of stoic Forsythe standing and holding hands with Hunter somewhere. "Yeah. I think there are dungeons under the major castles."

Hunter looked at her carefully. "What makes you think that? I don't doubt you at this point. You seem supremely knowledgeable about the esoterica."

"Thanks," Amelia said, not sure if it was a comment she should be thankful for or not. "I read in Sleipnir about the history of the land. You know of the four great hero races?"

"Uhmmm," Hunter replied, having the foresight to look abashed. "Maybe you can tell me about them."

"Mhmm." Amelia sighed, realizing that she was the only one that ever seemed to read books in this VRMMO. If the NPC's didn't say it, most players didn't bother to think about it. "Well to really, and I mean really, shorten the story there were the original continent and two hidden continents. The first is obviously the Southern Continent. The second can be inferred as the land of Dwarf and Human, so the Northern Continent."

"Right. So there were four great heroes and they were Silf, Human, and Dwarven… and the Northern Continent was referred to as hidden because it hadn't been released to the player base yet?" Hunter prompted, more to let Amelia know she was paying attention than out of any insight as yet.

"Right. Now, all the heroes left after the great battle for the world. It was a battle that pretty much ended the world. Think plagues, demons, monsters, not a good time for everybody. There was an evil deity of the land that was finally defeated by the four great heroes, though it's commonly referred to as the Three Heroes." Amelia was in full lecture mode, relishing her ability to use obscure knowledge from one of the dustier tomes of Sleipnir. "So when the battle was over the Three Heroes returned to their lands and began the Kingdoms that we know today. Well, returned to the Kingdoms anyway. They took with them stones that they sealed beneath their places of power that would slowly bleed into the world and safely be dispersed. Only these stones were part of the great evil deities power. Power to, for instance, summon monsters and take the souls from the virtuous, sorry I'm quoting, and convert them to substance for the purpose of evil."

"Oh. Do you think it stands to reason there are hidden dungeons below the castles then? We should just ask Queen Catherine." Hunter said, looking intrigued. "Since they were 'old' backstory content then it stands to reason that it'll be like a lot of games where they will be uncommonly powerful for the area because they were the 'big bad' back in history."

"Right. Except Queen Catherine is 300 years old in the game, and the story predates her by like a thousand." Amelia said. "We shouldn't expect Queen Catherine to know, but it might be a good idea to ask her…"

"Ask me what?" The Queen of the Silf stood at Amelia's right, nearly scaring all the nerves out of Amelia's right side. Who was she Raven?

"Ah." Amelia said, and then stopped. She wasn't sure if King Elairdrin would be offended or not if she called the Silf Queen, 'my queen.'

Hunter saved her. "Amelia has a theory that there is a sealed area under the Fairy Tree we stand in now, my Queen." Hunter grinned at Amelia, noticing her petrified state.

"Oh. I should think not. There are only the royal tombs below, where my ancestors have taken to the deep slumber. Well, and the Royal Veil." Catherine said, turning her radiant smile on Amelia.

"The Royal Veil?" Amelia and Hunter asked at the same time.

"Yes, it's a place that only the current head or Queen, and those she chooses to accompany her, of Eundrysli can penetrate. It leads to a room called the room of Stone Rumination. There is a beautiful pond that reflects the night sky and a stone creature at the far wall. I have often wondered what kind of creature it is." Catherine was looking wistful, and her eyes stared passed the two Transients.

"How does it reflect the starry sky?" Hunter asked. "Underground I mean?"

"I have often wondered." Queen Catherine admitted. "It is a journey through a tomb though, and beautiful as it is it fills me with disquiet. There is nothing there so I have only been a handful of times. It is not a place one goes to alone for solace."

"Hmmm." Amelia considered. It didn't seem like the sealed area would be there then. The Queen should have some sort of knowledge about it to prompt a quest, shouldn't she? Amelia waited a moment but no trigger occurred, and no quest was offered. She sighed, but before she could apologize Hunter started asking questions, obviously intrigued for other reasons.

"Why of the starry sky though I wonder? Besides the obvious question of how you reflect a sky underground. The Silf, my people…" Hunter said hastily, "...worship the Sun and the Earth. The starry sky is avoided with trees and other beautiful landscape. The sky is lonely, and the Silf shun emptiness."

"You know that is probably why I dislike that place," Catherine said, shock riding through her expression. "It's so empty."

"I should like to see it," Amelia said aloud, thinking about a pond that reflected a view that wasn't in the same room.

"Ah. Shall we go then? I feel emboldened. As if I should prove that I am not easily afraid of emptiness." Catherine said, looking suddenly young and impetuous and irked that one of her own people had called out a Silfen flaw.

"Oh." Amelia was torn. She hadn't really meant that the queen should be bothered to escort her for her own selfishness.

"We would be honored, my Queen." Hunter said grinning.

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Quest Accepted - Level 5 Quest - Escort the Queen of the Silf to the room of Stone Rumination

Conversation on the history of Awakened Aspiration has invoked a sense of curiosity in the leader of the Silf, and she has invited you to come see a hidden chamber beneath the royal crypts.

Requirements: Knowledge of the Three(Four) Heroes / Friendly with the Silf Queen

Reward: ??

Decline Penalty: None.

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"Oh wow," Amelia said. "Be careful Hunter. This is the sort of thing that happened to me when I found…" She frowned, realizing she was talking about something Hunter didn't know about.

"Found what?" Hunter asked quizzically, though she did look pleased with the quest prompt.

"Found the quest that opened the Far North Continent." Amelia compromised.

Hunter's glare fell on her hard then, and her eyes narrowed. Amelia didn't think she would get away with just that, but she was saved by Queen Catherine.

"Oh. That sounds terribly fascinating, whatever you're describing. I should hope someday to have adventures and be up on the language of the Transients." Queen Catherine said gushing.

Amelia and Hunter looked at her, and both smiled despite themselves. Residents never acknowledged quests or levels, and their comments must have seemed quite foreign to the Queen who could never put their words in the proper context.

"Do you want to get your friends?" Hunter asked.

"No, they won't be interested I don't think. Raven is probably singing somewhere, Aidan is being Aidan, and Forsythe is probably looking at all the local restaurants." Amelia answered after a moment. If there was no chance of battle, or anything interesting, she didn't need to bother them. "I'm still partied to them though, and if something comes up I can tell them to find us."

Queen Catherine gestured grandly. "A tour then, as we descend?"

The tour was nice but was a little woodsy for Amelia. The Queen personally led them through the castle, showing them many prominent historical art pieces as they passed and lending her own views on the pieces. It was interesting except for the fact that they were mostly just very well executed wood carvings. Amelia admitted it was her own failure in not knowing how to admire art she couldn't put into context.

Hunter filled in for her, always finding something nice to say about the pieces they saw. The Queen eventually turned all her attention to her as they descended. It was when they started getting into the crypts area that Amelia started to become enthralled. The tombs were all made from stone and segmented in areas with ancient Silf script. She would have loved to come down here with a translator and write down the stories and sagas written on their stone covers.

"That might yet be arranged, Chronicler. You spoke well of our people, and may yet find yourself counted among the great storytellers." Queen Catherine said magnanimously when they were traveling. It really lifted Amelia's spirits that her reputation and fame were starting to show benefits.

Then they came to a place where a light sheen of magic covered the passageway beyond. It was a barrier the likes of which neither Hunter nor Amelia had ever seen in the game. It looked diaphanous as if they could just pass through and nothing would happen to them. On investigation, however, they found that the wall was like hard glass. No amount of pushing could get them through it. Allowing their experimentation, the Queen of the Silf chuckled, before touching them briefly and speaking in the language of the Silf. Once they had been granted permission they had no problem passing through the membrane of magic.

"This area looks older," Hunter said, looking over and seeing a very realistic one-foot spider crawling out of a dark corner. It didn't look threatening and crawled back into a dark hole once it decided they weren't the right size to eat.

"It certainly does." Amelia agreed.

"The room is just ahead." The Queen said brusquely.

The room of Stone Rumination was adequately named. It was a giant square room that was perhaps the size of a small basketball gymnasium. There was a pool of water that encompassed half of it on the far side, and as they neared it, Amelia did indeed see the night sky reflected on the surface.

What really got her attention though was the statue on the other side of the pool.

"What is that?" Hunter asked. "Is that really..?"

"A three-headed wolf." Amelia agreed. "Cerberus."

"Oh, it has a name. It looks so gentle though. That name makes it sound ferocious." Queen Catherine made a disappointed face.

Amelia moved to the edge of the pool and stood staring at the statue for a long time. Gentle wasn't a word that described this creature, it must have been a Silf thing. She looked at the pool and began thinking about what she had read. If this was an entrance to a special dungeon underneath the Silf capital, then there would be some sort of requirement to open it. The statue stood at the end of the pool, in front of a huge portion of wall. It must have been 2 meters long, at least, and while the image of a three-headed wolf was intimidating it didn't look menacing at all. Instead, it looked watchful, dutiful, bound, and yes, ferocious.

"You are thinking so loudly it hurts my ears. I just don't know what you're trying to say with thoughts that loud." Hunter said suddenly.

"I was thinking that it's blocking a large portion of the wall," Amelia admitted.

"Do you think we can move it?" Hunter asked doubtfully.

"I can get it to move," Amelia said firmly. "The question is whether that is a good idea or not."

"Examine." Amelia requested.

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Fildmenia (Stone Creature)

A three-headed wolf renowned historically for her protection and loyalty to the Queen of the Silf, Hermania. This wolf, while menacing, was tasked to protect the Silf people. A job that this loyal hound has faithfully fulfilled for centuries. Fildmenia stands at her last task, protecting the room of Stone Rumination - watching silently and vigilantly.

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"What're you thinking?" Hunter asked, interest causing her head to tilt. The Queen was also looking interested.

"I'm thinking I haven't had an opportunity to use this spell very much. I always thought it would irritate the carvers if I brought their creations to life." Amelia shrugged and stretched out a hand. She had to touch the pedestal in Sleipnir for the quest but there was no range on the skills ability. "[Transform Stone]."

As before, nothing happened immediately and Hunter and the Queen both looked crestfallen. Slowly, however, the statue of the three-headed wolf Fildmenia began to lose the l.u.s.trous marble glean. A patina of light started to shine through the surface, and the great statue moved, shaking off great flakes of stone dust. Suddenly broken was the egg-like outer stone covering the three-headed wolf, and just as suddenly it raised three heads and howled. It was a sound that shook the room and caused dust and cobwebs to fall off the walls. Amelia heard a gasp from behind her and belatedly thought that she should have asked Hunter and the Queen to leave the room in case the creature proved hostile. The spell had said nothing about the loyalty or gratefulness of the stone creatures brought to life.

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ATTENTION - LOCAL

Fildmenia has been awakened. The faithful hound of legend gathers strength to spring!

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"Crap," Amelia said. She turned, and was just about to tell them to run and that she would distract it when Fildmenia leaped the entire length of the pond straight at the Queen of the Silf. It toppled her and all three heads went down as it straddled her. A startled girly shriek rent the air, and Hunter and Amelia both started toward the hound grimly. Amelia thought she heard Hunter swearing. Amelia might have just inadvertently killed a city-leader.

They pulled up short though when the shrieks turned to hysterical laughter. As they neared they saw that the giant hound was literally drenching the Queen with drool from three giant tongues as it licked her. The Queen's hair was soaked and hung in clumps, and large wet strands were lifted from her head stuck to the tongues before falling back to her head. Instead of looking disgusted she was laughing with her eyes closed, and her fingers were rubbing the chin of the middle head.

"Oooh. She's just a big puppy!" She declared. The Queen slowly stood up, despite the hound that dwarfed her size by two or three times trying to give her a desperate tongue bath. Still laughing she hugged the giant area behind the three necks and began rubbing the tufts of fur there.

Amelia and Hunter both relaxed.

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DING

Level up: [Transform Stone] Beginner Level 2 - 64%

Longer Duration: Objects(not creatures) that Transform Stone is used on will last an hour longer. Creatures transformed from the stone will now retain 60% of their original statistics if they have been in stone form for longer than two weeks. Creatures transformed from stone that habr been encased in stone form for less than two weeks will retain original statistics.

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Tomb of Stone Rumination - SILF Tomb of the Hero Hermania Available.

Area Level: 115-200 (250)

Special: For the first three weeks experience gains will be raised by 25%. Creatures, Monsters, and Treasure drop chance will be increased in rarity by 15%.

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"How about that?" Hunter wondered aloud, seeing the opening of the dungeon in the local information window pop up. "You think there is another one of these under the Kingdom of Brack?"

Amelia didn't get a chance to respond, as a global announcement filled her field of vision.

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Global Announcement - Invasion of the Far North Continent - Super Level 1 Quest

The enemy to the Far North stirs and turns his attention to the Northern Continent. They begin to plan full-scale invasion. The opening and discovery of the Tomb of the Hero Queen Hermania weakens seals and escalates the enemy plan. The Visage begin amassing at a point in the Far North Continent, former port city Blutonsi.

To combat this impending threat a pre-emptive invasion to the Far North is devised by City Leaders of the Dwarven, Silf, and Human Kingdoms. The expeditionary force must reach port city Blutonsi to deal with the invasion force and stop departure invasion at all costs.

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Reward: -Opening of port city Blutonsi upon annihilation of enemy Visage

-Experience Gains in Far North Country increased by 25% for 3 weeks

-Release of Far North Crafting and Trade recipes

-Release of Far North Full Armor Vendors

-Release of Far North Spell Academy

Failure Condition: City Leader dies. Blutonsi is lost or overrun Allied Expeditionary Force is wiped out

Failure: -The Visage invades the Northern Continent.

Completion must occur within 4 weeks.

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"Hmm." Amelia looked around for a long moment but didn't see any way to accept the quest. She supposed since it wasn't an individual quest, there was no need to accept it. It either happened or it didn't. There wasn't any decline information either.

"A Super. Level 1. Quest." Hunter said breathlessly.

The Queen looked up, frowning at them. "I'm sorry I don't understand. You look as excited as I feel," she patted Fildmenia, "but for another reason perhaps?"

"Well," Amelia said after a moment, shrugging at the Queen. "We have 3 weeks to prepare your army, King Elairdrin's army, and Prince Orekin's army. Now, we have a way to do that." She gestured behind her to a wide opening that had been sealed by a large portion of Fildmenia's statue.

"I think Fildmenia is happy to help. Yes she is." Catherine started scratching as many ears as she could reach as fast as she could, and two of the heads lowered to allow easier reach while the one in the middle panted happily with its tongue out. No matter how you looked at it that was a terrifying creature.

"Why is it loyal to you?" Amelia wanted to know.

"Ooh. Fildmenia is a special wolf, yes she is." The Queen's bubbly enthusiasm reminded Amelia of a supermodel who had just gotten a purse dog. "The Silf Wolf god Fenrial blesses the Silf with loyalty, compassion, companionship, and faith." She punctuated each attribute with a scratch to an ear, and the huge form of the hulking three-headed wolf slowly lowered, and then rolled, exposing her belly. The Queen didn't look very regal, hair matted by slobber, while she laid down on the wolf's stomach and started scratching with both hands.

"Dog lover," Hunter said, and Amelia realized she must have been having the same thoughts.

"Ah. I should go to the other Kingdoms and see if there are guardians below in their castles. We could really get started right away. 3 weeks isn't a lot of time, it will take a week to get to the Far North Continent if you have one of the Refugee's navigating." Amelia said.

"How do you know how long it will take by boat?" Hunter was growing ever more baffled with the things that Amelia just seemed to know. Amelia just shrugged. How could she explain that she read books everyone didn't and didn't mind talking to residents for hours at a time?

It was a short amount of time to get a lot done. The travel to the other castle's alone would take the better part of a day if she rented city transportation horses. The really expensive ones. Amelia grimaced.