/******************************************************
Author Note: Finally completed the chapter.
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Authors Note (old one): Thanks all for your support. Never realized that people would still read it after I stopped writing for so long. Just wanted to start, even if it was a bad start cause even that is a start. Its been so long since I have written that it has gotten hard to write. Hope the bad start helps!
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An ordinary ordinary day, the glaring sun pouring down, the serene wind blazing by, a bow rose upon the crest...
Splash!
"MONKEY! DON'T DILLY DALLY! Hurry up and tighten those slack sails!"
"Screech....keeech keech keech!"
"DAMN PARROT! If you dare open your mouth, I am going to shove a monkey down your throat!"
"cackle...*gulp."
And the bow rose upon the serene crest.
CRACCCCCKKKLEEE!! THUNDEEERRRRR!!! WHOOOoooooo~!
Half the sky revolted. Raka sighed.
'Such a unique situation can only occur in this sea!'
Half the sky was deep black like night, thunderclouds moving like waves while the other half, as if trying to fight back, was as bright and calm as day.
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"What separates reality and virtual reality?" A female voice asked as a pair of eyes scanned across the classroom finding many pairs. "Many books and movies and novels have come out with the concept of being trapped in virtual reality. For now, let's assume that this is possible. Then in those books and movies, the main character would be trying to break out of the virtual reality world in search of reality. A common theme and one which is quite popular among people. Who knows maybe in the near or far future it may even become possible! Sounds scary, right? Or maybe some of you actually hope for this to happen.. to live your life in the virtual world? Be heroes, gladiators or powerful women?"
Dr. Rita Talvar, one of the professors at Bangalore University, was taking this week's guest lecture for Swamy's class. Her speciality was Human interaction with Virtual Machines and as per normal schedule, Raka would have encountered her lecture during the third year. But now, she was sharing her thoughts as the guest lecturer today.
"Actually, the reason for research in human - virtual interaction stems a lot from such ideas. Not to entrap but to empower. For example, psychiatrists often use suggestive mechanisms to treat patients. How is it any different from simulating those situations in virtual reality? Or how about robotic control in surgeries via video/audio? Link it to the virtual world, and you can do the procedure like you are there yourself.
And why be limited to just these? How about exploring space? Send a probe out into the depths of space and link it to a virtual world and you can see space like you are actually a space traveller. Wouldn't it be far better than looking at Mars on TV?"
"Um..don't they have space reality games out in the market? Don't those let people feel like they are in Mars or the Moon?" Some one interrupted at this point. Everyone looked over to see the girl who had spoken. She currently had her hand raised as she asked. Maybe she realized, embarrassingly, that raising her hand should have preceded the question, but she slowly lowered her hand.
"You are right." Dr. Talvar answered. "There are several games out there which have such virtual worlds. Most of them have taken map data from these planetary bodies and used them to make the games. But you forget, that they cannot show the reality very much. After all, you don't really have bikes on the Moon neither a couple thousand other players! Haha.." Everyone smiled a little.
"However, to someone who has seen the actual thing, he won't find it real. NASA, ISRO and others, nowadays, do use virtual reality to train new astronauts. However, this program has been changed for the people who have actually travelled to the Moon and Mars. They have reduced the virtual reality training of these astronauts. Can someone guess why?" Dr. Talvar asked.
Swamy shook his head and looked around him to find eyes as confused as his. Today's virtual reality should make it possible to train the astronauts in real-like environments in virtual worlds. Finally someone took a leap and said, "Isn't it because they don't find it real?"
"That's what I said! But why do you think they don't find it real? After all, some of you might have played space related games? How real did it feel? Even if you have not been to the Moon or Mars, did it feel like you were not there?" Dr Talvar said smilingly.
This time more people shook their heads.
"No one? Well, I don't really expect you to understand why just yet. It is easy to say something is not real, but harder to explain why it is not real. Those returning astronauts found themselves in a similar situation without being able to explain why! Which actually became a very good research topic across universities and still is. The true answer for this question is not known, but many schools of thought have said that this might be because of perfection. Powerful devices perfectly capture detailed data down to the nanometre, which is then used in mapping the surface, which is then used to create the virtual worlds. But an astronaut on the Moon will never in his lifetime look or feel this perfection."
"Nature is by its very nature, imperfect. Rules have exceptions, crossovers have mutations, cells have cancers...skins have blemishes! Now we run into some truly ironical situations. If we wish to simulate a human in the virtual world, or create what you guys call an NPC, by taking a million measurements of the human body, and perfectly inputting everything, you would hope that it would look as real as possible. On the other hand, if we make mistakes along the way or only use a thousand measurements, you would think it should NOT look real? Why? Obviously because we have not perfectly captured the human being and as such there are mistakes you can observe...." Dr. Talvar paused.
"Unfortunately, in the reality index, which is simply how much a person thinks something is real, we will find that both of the NPCs would have close results. Truly ironical isn't it? Haha..." Dr. Talvar laughed. "In 2017, a researcher from Kazakhstan, made a significant discovery. Human beings look at the blemishes for perfection and perfection for the blemishes."
Swamy and everyone else was dumbfounded, including the author. 'What does that even mean?'
Looking at the even more confused gazes, Dr. Talvar laughed and said, "thankfully you won't have to deal with this question till the third year, by which time you would have more understanding of virtual reality. But it is still food for thought. Let me put it this way. There are no perfect things in the world. When we find something beautiful or delicious or smelly, we are actually not looking, smelling, or tasting everything. We are doing what we call putting priorities in the incoming data. So a thinner chin might look beautiful to you but to someone else it won't. There is a reason why we say, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, after all. In fact, it applies to everything. An apple would be an apple anywhere, yet some may say its sweet, or slightly sweet, or slightly sour. Do you see the big picture?" Dr. Talvar stalled.
"When we look at things, smell it, taste it, we actually prioritize some information, and ignore some. And this perception will vary for everyone. When you walk and your feet pass a small depression on the road, so small that ideally you wouldn't even notice it usually, but when its filled up you realize that somehow the bit of road feels different. On the other hand that depression was always there so how come you didn't realize it usually?! It is because you are prioritizing information received in your brain. Giving weight to individual data. Do you realize the hole? If you do, how deep is it? Was the lunch spicy? Even if it was, did it have less or more salt? The problem with making things look real, has actually less to do with how perfectly we gather data or display the world, but rather in how we define reality in the first place. What is real to one will also be real to others BUT the reason it is real would change among everyone of us. Which is why the things in novels, where many players get trapped in virtual reality worlds without recognizing whether the world is real or virtual, is still impossible. Hahaha..."
Dr. Talvar ended her lecture on a lighter note. That said, Swamy could imagine some of the things she said. But as he thought more about it, he felt his brain would burst. It was like an equation with a million variables with indefinite ranges and also could change over time. He sighed and gave up. 'No wonder why situations like those in the movies and novels never happened.'
"Lunch!" Rajan exclaimed as the professor took her leave which removed all the blurriness away from people's minds.
Lunch as usual was a very light affair, often and usually involving various discussions about virtual reality games, in Swamy's case, Long Island. And as usual, people tended to ask him several questions. But unfortunately,
"I don't know. So far I have only been able to trigger two quests, both F rank. I don't know much about dwarves yet, nor have I seen those weapon forges or legendary weapons." Swamy sighed.
"That sucks. It's getting harder to earn money nowadays...wonder what day will I have enough to sail away..AAAH!," Rajan cried.
"Actually that is a bit depressing. We still haven't joined a guild and we don't have money to pay for travel. I am sick of the starter islands already..." Sneha sighed.
"We have it a bit better. Our guild has almost managed enough money to buy a boat. Hopefully we will sail by the end of this month." Himali said.
"AAAhhh!" Rajan cried some more.
And Swamy sat down pondering, not about the game, which he could not do anything about, but rather about the lecture. It was not like he understood nothing of it. While thinking about things, he remembered an old cult classic called the Matrix which came out when his dad was a kid.
'Would such a situation be possible?' A machine manipulating the minds of several humans in order to trap them in the virtual world. 'What did it say? If reality is what you touch or feel, then it is simply the electrical signals interpreted by your brain...'
On initial thoughts, Swamy thought why not. But on further thinking, and based on the previous lecture he got more confused. 'Perception is how the brain interprets these electrical signals right? So it should be possible to fool everyone. But can it be so simple? Is there no difference in the way electrical signals are transmitted to the brain? Are the electrical signals the same for everybody? Then again, isn't playing a virtual reality game the same as many people being linked to the same world like that movie?'
The world might have advanced to the artificial intelligence domain, yet fully understanding the most advanced A.I., our brain, was still far far away. There was no answer to his ponderings. 'We still don't know how memories are stored, what can I expect!' Swamy shook his head as he sighed.
"You don't want the ice-cream Swamy? Oh ok then." And just like that he missed out on an ice-cream.
'Like hell not!' Swamy stood up and got himself an ice-cream.
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While the real world was becoming profound and interesting, the virtual world was becoming the opposite, very simple.
Raka was simply bored. He sighed. 'How did this ever happen!'
For a real world week, Raka had been following the same routine. Reading in the library, eating, practicing magic, eating, stepping out to kill some foxes, eating, meeting a few NPCs and finally logging out. Apart from the old lady of the food shop, he could only trigger a quest from the old man at the armored shop. And that too was something of an errand.
%
Fetch water for Old Man Oarsian
Oarsian's shop has a plumbing problem and his shop has ran out of drinking water. Take a bucket to the common tap and supply it.
Difficulty level: F
Reward: Intimacy increases with Old Man Oarsian.
%
And that too was five days ago. Since then, nothing!
Raka sighed again. 'For all my troubles, isn't this too hard? What are my fame points even doing!' Even he realized that at this point, he was simply grumbling. But wonder he may as many times, he could not figure out why this was happening.
'I can only think of two things.' Raka concluded. 'One, maybe it is hard for a human to gain intimacy in dwarf lands. Second, maybe it is because Hya'cinth is a starter village...city.'
If the former were true, he would probably face this problem everywhere he went for there were only four known human islands. He might as well endure his boredom for a couple of weeks like this....which may give fruit. Or be fruitless.
On the other hand, if it was the latter reason, he could only move away from this place. 'In some things, the latter feels more reasonable.' If a human had this much difficulty getting quests in other regions, there would be no point to move away from human lands. On the other hand, it made perfect sense that an experienced player would have trouble getting quests in a starter village.
For a very simple reason. To keep it real.
'After all, Oarsian couldn't give a hundred quests to fetch water, could he? It's not like the plumbing will never get repaired, ever!'
This was the thing which separated Long Island from other virtual reality games. In other games, when players did quests, the game changed. Same thing happened on Long Island. However, even without the players, this game was alive. If no one received a quest to repair plumbing, Oarsian would still get his plumbing fixed! '...or fetch the water...'
'It could be said that unlike other games, quests were not a game feature as such, but rather any request when generated could become a quest if assigned to a player.' Raka nodded as if agreeing with himself. 'On the other hand, if it was not assigned to a player but to another npc, it would simply be a request.'
'Stay...do not stay....stay...do not stay....' A flower withered as such.
'Where to go...I don't know...where to go....Ga'cinth...the capital...' And another flower turned to dust.
Who knew so much damage a single person can cause to the environment. Maybe not much, but to certain many petalled friends, it mattered, as none of them would ever be able to receive praises for their beauty again.
If such decisions could be made easily, he would already have caught a transport and headed out. Raka stared at the blue sky and sighed.
'Give up...let's just focus on what I can do right now.' And he closed his eyes once again entering his colorful world. 'Has the clarity increased a bit...or is it still increasing in range?' Raka could not say. Perception was such a difficult thing. So, while sitting in one of the alleyways where the traffic was low, he stared at the colorful walls of the houses around him and a few large colorful plants, which he had now managed to detect, he finally came to understand something.
'Ah...so that's it!' Perhaps, it was not as profound as an eureka moment but sometimes the simple things amaze us so. 'What you can perceive is supposedly magic, then what you see and detect, everything you see, should be magic.' An obvious statement but with many repercussions. For example, the walls of the houses around him, were built by non-magical, cheap materials. Bricks, mud, some sort of cement, and stone. All of them were cheap and classified as non magical materials in the game.
'But I can perceive them. Why? Isn't it obvious...' Before today, Raka had never ever considered this question. He had thought it was so, without thinking why. And today he just realized that it was because everything in this world was magic. 'Correction, it contained magic.' It was like the air had magic, the water had magic therefore, everything had magic.
So why were they classified as magical and non magical in this virtual world. 'Because of relativity.' Raka nodded in his head. It was like atmospheric pressure. We, as humans, live under enormous pressure. Ofcourse, we don't realize it as such and only when we dive deep or fly up high do we feel the change in pressure. But someone coming from space would probably be crushed under such pressure.
'Similarly, everything has magic in this world. The only difference is whether it is at a level where one can perceive it as magic, or not. Guess this is how the NPCs of this world regard magic. What can be detected as magic was magic and everything else was simply stone...' As such, it was classified as magical and non magical materials.
'Hmm...that explains why I cannot simply see past the walls when I perceive magic. It also means that only magic has the capability to stop magic perception. Though, considering that everything has magic, it probably is meaningless to say this at this point. Still I can add these in my reports to the college,' Raka thought.
'And now what should I do..?' Raka sighed. Grinding was an aspect of the game which was necessary and yet many people would find it frustrating. On the other hand, purposeless grinding was even more frustrating.
Unfortunately, neither worked in this game. Practicing magic for hours did not really increase his magic ability. Similarly Peeking for hours did not really increase his peeking ability. What remained was something called irony.
'Seriously why can't they sleep with the lights on?' Raka sighed. Filled up with so much hot air when Raka had made a grand plan to combine communication and peek mirrors, he eventually found another name for dark sadistic irony.
Raka did not really Peek in the day time. There was no point to it. No one would be in their homes. In the night, however, contrary to his many expectations, he found that there was no point to Peeking either. Why? 'Simply because I can't see in the dark.' Oh, he could use magic and light up the other side, but wasn't that just putting the cart before the horse and alarming the other party. 'Kinda defeats the point of Peeking!'
Only two ladies had actually kept their mirrors in the bedroom and both of them liked to sleep with the lights off. Peeking might be many things, but it did not grant the ability to see in the dark. 'Sheesh, atleast light up a lamp, would ya!' Raka sighed.
'Will praying help in such a situation? O Dear Goddess..' Just then something fell from the sky right on Raka's face. Something really gooey and smelly. "What the f**!"
If that was not enough of a clue, there came a cackling voice accompanied by fluttering wings, "Ohhh Captain~ Rakaaa~!"
It takes a moment when the brain is startled to finally connect and understand that 2 and 2 is 4. But eventually, Raka got there. Not to mention the tell tale signs were already there...
%
You have been stunned. Effect lasts 5 seconds.
%
"Shit! I will make bird stew, no roast you alive in boiling water, no feed you to the piranhas, no....."
Sometimes, in deep frustration, you run out of good ways to torture someone and become speechless.
"Captain Raka, there you are, I have a message for you," said the parrot, while Raka was still musing over what else was humanely possible.
"Message, what message?! And what was so urgent that you had come flying in the middle of the night....and what the heck did you eat that smells so much?" Raka cringed.
"Worms! Delicious! Ah...their taste...can recite a thousand lines~"
"Stop! Freeze!" Raka could not help waving his hands hurriedly, whether he was trying to wave-off disaster or finding a neck to wrangle, one couldn't be sure.
"Tell me the message..."
"Ah yes, a dwarf came up to the boat when I was sleeping and gave me, hmm....ah a piece of something, ah yes, here it is." Said the parrot while getting a slightly wrinkled piece of paper from God-knows-where in its body.
Raka suspiciously looked at the paper and gingerly picked it up using only the tips of his fingers.
'Eugh! Do they have any virtual soap!' In any case, he had to see the message. 'Carefully now, don't breathe...'
Opening the paper, in neat and clear writing, unlike its looks, was written,
'Raka,
This is Kilthan. The ferrying to Metalman city for the Metalman festival is starting now. You may want to join to earn some, if possible, or simply to travel.
If you like, I could set you up with some of the cheaper fares.
Come meet me at the Red Rabb-Eye inn near the docks tomorrow morning, if interested. '
Reading this, a quest prompt opened up.
%
An Opportunity to Travel to Metalman City
An opportunity has arisen to travel to Metalman city and earn some money on the way. Meet Kilthan to learn more about this opportunity.
Difficulty level: E
Reward: Intimacy increases with Kilthan, Access to Metalman city
%
Raka read the quest information again and a single thought came to his mind. 'Is it coincidental?'
Just now, he was about to pray for help, and a quest comes. Almost like the prayer was heard and answered by the Goddess.
'Was this how the help system works in the game?' Raka couldn't help wondering. 'But this message must have been passed early-on, before I even thought of praying. But then, why now?'
After all, if the quest to travel could come up today, it could have come up anytime in past two weeks.
'Or is it just a mechanism to move experienced players out of the starting city? Oh well...' Unsure of what the actual reason was, Raka could only choose to believe that somehow, the game AI, the Goddess, was helping him move away from the starting city.
'Guess I have some time before the morning comes in-game. And if I have to travel, then...' Thinking that Raka logged off and went to sleep. Without a crew, he needed to be able to game for a long time in order to travel, especially in unknown waters.
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Some time later, Raka woke up, still drowsy, and washed his face. 'Ugh, I am still sleepy.'
He quickly fetched something to eat from the fridge and checked the latest game news.
Instantly, he got caught on the top headline along with a photo showing a group of people waving from a ship.
'Fighting Star guild heading to sea! The first guild to head out to sea turns out to be none other than the Fighting Star , who have named their ship as the Fighting Star I. How exciting to be the first guild to set sail, in a game where 99% players are still unable to get off the starting islands. Only a few players, and I can count them on my fingers have been able to head off to the sea. Most famous of whom is Raka, no doubt. Though, by no means belittling his great personal achievement, a guild heading out to sea has a different meaning altogether.
A guild of many people, all of whom can now be part of the crew and even, transport other players off the island, can definitely make a mark on the competition, if not able change the economy of an island altogether...'
Then, there were follow-up articles interviewing the lead figures and thousands and thousands of comments; congratulating, complaining, requesting, begging, or simply being pure jealous.
'This was bound to happen sooner or later, though why did they have to put me in there. Being compared to a player was all fine, but why would you compare a player with a guild? The scale is all different!' Raka rued.
All he could do now was go back to gaming.
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Morning in the game, Raka walked back to the dock.
"Excuse me, where is the Red Rabb-Eye inn?" He stopped a dwarf who seemed to be hauling a bunch of dark-looking metal to someplace.
"Right by the edge of water, away from the ships." The dwarf grunted and moved on. Raka could hear him muttering, "Hmph...Let me pick your axe next time, and I will make sure to grind you on it as well..."
Raka wasn't sure what he meant, though he wasn't inclined to find out at this moment.
Close to where Raka moored his boat, right by the water, he finally found the Red Rabb-Eye inn. Or rather the inn found him. Who would have known that a building that looked like a maintenance office was an inn or that it would be painted grey, yet named red!
He was even more confused when he saw that most dwarves coming out of the inn were dusty, grey, or black, depending on what level of grime they were dealing with while on the ships. Though he even found some one with shades of green. 'What does he do.. paint?'
"Hey Raka, over here." Raka heard someone call out as soon as he entered the inn.
"Hey Kilthan!" He walked over to a table sitting four people in an area which seemed to be somewhat of a dining area. 'Well, I can see food on some tables..' though how people ate was another issue. 'No hygiene standards!'
"Here, have a seat." Kilthan pulled a chair from another table and offered.
"Alright, so now that everyone is here, let me introduce you to Raka, a human I have met recently, who also owns a decent boat. Raka, these are my friends Radyl, Moronis, and the lady is Palmyris." The other dwarves nodded, as Kilthan continued.
"Ok, so you guys already know that Metalman festival is beginning shortly. There would lots of people requiring services. I intend to make some money doing charters. Radyl, Moronis, and Palmyris have already worked with me before so they know what to do. However, often times people who would like to travel to Metalman city do not have enough money to pay for a seat on a chartered ship." Kilthan looked towards Raka who nodded to say he was following.
"Well, for these people, I wanted you to transport them on your boat. Your boat is small; I think you can only take about two-three passengers. Don't worry each person would still pay atleast 25 golds, if not a fifty, unless you wanted compensation in form of goods or favors. Couple of rounds, and you should have made a decent amount while also able to join the Metalman festival. So what do you say?"
Raka pondered for a bit. "Before I agree, can I ask when is the Metalman festival happening, also how far is Metalman city from here?"
"Ah, sorry, I forgot, you're not from here. Hold on, let me get a map." Saying this, Kilthan went to the reception or bar counter, one couldn't be sure which, and spoke for a bit. Raka couldn't hear what was said, but Kilthan soon came with a leather roll and opened it on top of the table.
'This is a map of the dwarven island!' Raka was impressed. 'Much better than the ones humans make, or atleast, the fishermen make.'
"Look, we are here." Kilthan pointed at a mark near the south-west. "This here is the capital..." Kilthan pointed at a mark close to the center of the map. "And then here is Metalman city."
Kilthan pointed out a mark to the north-west, close to the coast but, still inland. "A little far from the coast, ain't it?" Raka couldn't help asking. "Why wouldn't people go by land?"
"There are only two routes, or well-maintained I should add, to Metalman city. From here, one goes via Ga'cinth, to the capital, to Metalman city. The total trip takes around two months." Kilthan said.
"Wait, 2 months!! Even if you travel on those steam vehicles?" Raka pointed outwards.
"Well, they haven't been built too far from the capital yet. We have it, as we are port city, but a lot of places in between still lack those. And even those that have cost the mine and miners put together. Plus they are slow, even though they can carry lots of freight. Overall, not something people can easily use for travelling to Metalman city. Most just ride, if they are close to the capital. And from the capital, catch a steam machine there, if they can afford it." Kilthan explained.
"No, for us, we travel a different route via the sea," said Kilthan as he pointed at a mark at the north-west shore close to Metalman city. "We go via ship to here, Double Point village. And then people can just ride, or walk to the city. It takes around a week to sail to this village, and then from here, about a week more to reach Metalman city. Cuts short the time by a lot! Heh!" Kilthan smiled.
Raka stared at the map for a bit longer. "Man, you must make a lot of money through your chartered services!"
"Not so much, after all, a lot of it goes to the ship owners. The larger ships cost more as well. Not to mention the crew," Kilthan said. "My friends are all owners of small fleets similar to mine. It takes much to sail and maintain a ship, this I can tell by experience." And the other dwarves shook their heads to that. "So far, we had been ignoring the people who could pay little, but I thought you might be a good option to offer. After all, little still means that they would pay for a week's travel."
"Sounds good. However, sailing for a week continuously is impossible for me. Are there places in between where I can stop the ship? Wouldn't that inconvenience the passengers?" Raka asked.
Kilthan stared at Raka but then realized. "Ah, you are one of the Goddess's children, I forgot. Hmm...let me see, yes there are stops in between. I usually use those as emergency stops, when you know the seas go rough or when there are dark clouds brewing. Makes no sense to put passengers in to a storm." After that, Kilthan started pointing some places in the map. "Here, here, and here are good places to beach although there are no villages here. You will have to manage the food and water and make camp."
Raka looked at the map and thought of all the things he would have to prepare for about three passengers max. The two pets were not counted. Also, he couldn't manage rain as there was no cover on his boat.
"Alright, sounds doable. I will join. Tell me when do we start...ah just remembered when does the festival start?" Raka asked.
"The festival starts in 3 months; however, most people would start travelling now if they wish to reach there on time or find places to stay. It gets real busy! So, we will also start taking passengers from tomorrow. I have already got a few regular groups lined up. But you need to wait for a bit. Once the heavy rush passes, I can find a few to keep on your boat," Kilthan said.
"Hmm, alright, well, let me know then. I will be in town the next few days. I can start as soon as you find passengers." Raka nodded.
"Wait, what do you mean you will spend the next few days in town?" Kilthan looked confused. Seeing that even Raka got confused. "What else could it mean?"
Kilthan looked to his friends and sighed. All the dwarves on the table sniggered. Even the lady, who looked more uninterested than others, couldn't help sniggering.
"Hey Raka, not to assume your business, but have you looked at your boat. I mean if you wish to travel on the tub, its fine but if you want people to board it, it requires maintenance, man! Heck, you should maintain your boat every week, if its on water. When did you last oil it?" Kilthan spoke.
Raka was stumped. "Was my boat in a bad condition? Oh, are there repair yards around? I will ask them to inspect and repair!"
Kilthan sighed again. "Too late. All the ships that are travelling out in the next few days have been queued up there. Your best bet is the fishing village, a lil'bit north of here, about an hour by sea. They are not a repair yard, but yours is not a full ship either. They should be able to handle your boat. Though, you will have to sail there first." Kilthan pointed to another mark on the map.
"Alright, I will make my way there," Raka sighed. 'Who knew that standing ships require repair as well. Its not like a storm has passed through.'
"Yeah, you do that. Give it about a week or ten days tops, I should have passengers for you. Oh and say that I sent you. They might make it a bit cheaper. I have a few favors there as well." Kilthan concluded.
Raka nodded and thought of when he should start. "Wait a minute, how much does it cost usually?" 'Oops, almost missed this.'
"About two hundred to five for general work. Depending on work though. If something needs repairing, that might come extra."
'Wow! A few hundred golds! No wonder! The most expense in the game is to keep sailing. The rest is cheap.' Raka nodded. "Alright thanks. I will prepare then. How do I find you later?"
"Just pass the word to the keeper here. He will let me know," Kilthan replied.
Raka nodded.
"Ok, now that's settled, lets discuss the details." And then, Kilthan turned towards his other friends and started talking about all sorts of stuff.
And so went the morning, discussing things such as oiling costs, sail repair costs, mud-painting costs, passenger manifests, group size, supply points, ship loads, and a myriad of other things while Raka mostly listened. 'Well, I don't have a ship big enough to worry about these things.'
And then they dispersed. And Raka made his way to the market for some food and drink for his new-to-begin journey. 'But first the maintenance.'
A couple of hours later, while the sun was still high, Raka boarded his boat once again. "Hey, dumb parrot! Why is the boat so dirty!" Raka couldn't help exclaim. Well, if you don't clean for a couple of weeks, even your room would be dirty, not to mention something on the open sea.
Raka could not help but go out and buy a mop and pail to atleast get some cleaning done. He borrowed water from the sea and splashed it all across the deck and started mopping. After that he looked at the places, which might need some repair. Like a fighter pilot, he needed to make sure that he would not take in water before even going to water. I guess the sea is the only place where not having enough water and taking in water were both bad things. Was having too much water bad also?
Some time later... "Hey, are you leaving now?" A dwarf appeared. Raka nodded wondering what it was about.
"Did you pay your rent?" The dwarf waved. "If not, kindly, go and settle it before leaving."
Raka suddenly remembered. 'Ah, more money out of my pocket. Now, how many days have I already paid?!'
Some time later....finally, he took out the oar and started rowing to the deep sea.
As the ship reached deep water, he maneuvered the ship to the wind and shouted, "Monkey, unfurl the sails! Let's GO!" He shouting in joy although the ones to hear it were only a monkey and a parrot.
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After an hour, "We should be close, I think." Raka kept close to the coastline as he looked for village buildings or dock markings. The dwarven maps, even though amazingly detailed, did not have anything like a legend. So, it was hard to say how close or far something was. However, Kilthan did say that it was about an hour. So, Raka was hopeful. 'Wait! Was he measuring an hour by his ship or my boat?!'
And then the journey north went south!
Black-as the blackest-black clouds appeared on the horizon. Raka stared as it quickly travelled to land. And then the wind picked up, and then the rain came down! How could the sea remain calm after that. Amazingly, the sun was still shining over land!
"What is this!! A spot shower!" Raka fought against the wind and shouted to the monkey, "GET the SAILS DOWN!" As the sails were coming down, he took out the oar and started rowing again. All the while the waves went up and down like there were holes in the bottom of the sea.
And then came the lightning!
'DAMN!' Raka shut up. He did not have spare energy to speak, nor was there a need to. All he wanted was to somehow make it to shore. Somehow, find a beaching spot. It was just his luck that this area had rocks, visible to the eye, around the coast, seemingly making it a very difficult spot to beach. After all, boats can take water. Can't take rocks!
And then came the battering of the sea! Raka watched as a rogue wave, just high enough, flooded the deck. Monkey ran up the sailing post. And parrot was a bird anyway, although Raka did wish that it would drown. So, only he was the one who had to hang on, while hanging on to the oars at the same time. Wait, will the repair costs go up!
'GAZZILLION DAMN!'