"WROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHRRRRRR!!!"
A classic set-up: glistening gold in
plain sight; staggering scaled sentry blocking the way; a duo of daring heroes
backed against stone walls. A searing stream flows from the dragon’s maw.
The archer bounds skyward off the stones
away from the flames, his tattered brown cowl and cloud grey leather a blur,
blazingly drawing his bow to wedge arrows in the dragon’s wings.
Taking advantage of the beast’s grounded
state, she makes her move: raging red locks fly atop a warrior clad in
fur-lined leather, rampaging at the dragon with axe held high, firmly driving
it into the dragon’s skull with finality.
The dragon’s writhing and wailing echoed
until it dropped dead, leaving its slayers to silence…
<<VICTORY!>>
EXP:
250’000 <<Level Up!>>
GOLD:
50’000
“Hell yeah!
That’s how we roll!”
Whooping and
hollering erupted from the bedroom of a teenage girl clad in a tank top and jean
shorts, a shaggy mop of brown hair atop her head as she shouted celebration over
her computer's keyboard.
Such was part of
the Blair Mallory’s everyday routine; she was different from other high school
girls: rowdy, active, and energetic due to growing up with an ex-heavyweight
boxer for a father. Unfortunately, this made her a magnet for ill gossip and
isolation, making her somewhat confrontational and crass. Temper loose and
prone to trouble, Blair needed an outlet not inclining to punching someone.
That’s where
Pendragon Online came in. With high fidelity audio and visuals, as well as
visceral and high-octane fantasy gameplay, brandishing the axe alongside her
partner as Faris Bloodworth became the perfect release.
Starting out
three months ago, Blair had no grasp of the intricate character class system
and forging mechanics, until she met an archer known by the username “Skyler
Pierce.” He taught her from the ground up. The two developed a firm
camaraderie. The two remain in a party to this day, taking quests and taking
names.
“Man… Well, I’d
better get to school.” Blair sighed, clacking on the keyboard to chat with her
partner. “But first…”
[Faris
Bloodworth: Got class. Comin’ out for PendraCon?]
[Skyler
Pierce: You bet! See you there?]
[Faris
Bloodworth: Yeah! 3 p.m. at Spearpoint Fountain!]
[Skyler
Pierce: 4:00 p.m.; registration, remember?]
[Faris
Bloodworth: I forgot lol. See ya then!]
The two knew
each other lived in the same county, but this was the perfect opportunity to
finally meet since PendraCon’s venue was close by this year. Excitedly
energized, the tomboyish gamer logged out, snatched her bag and hoodie, and
bolted out the door to school.
Classes came and
went like airborne arrows. They all blurred together for Blair – partly due to
her excitement and as classes tend to do naturally – eventually bells let out
for lunch, along with her favorite person to pester…
“Heeeeyyyy,
Greggy!”
“Oh, God…”
“Got yer head in
those algor-whatzits again?”
“Algorithms.”
“What? Do ya
think I’m stupid or somethin’?”
“… Talking with
you is pointless…”
Garbed in a
dress shirt and jeans, Greg Tyson sat his brunette-topped, slim frame at the
same spot every day to eat lunch. Face aloof with black-rimmed glasses,
fiddling with his laptop. Not the ‘fun parts’ of it, as Blair eloquently put
it. Every day.
Both didn’t know
why they bothered; they ended up hating each other by the end of their
“conversations” anyway.
“Wimpy asshole…”
“Annoyingly loud…”
“Know-it-all techie…!”
“Blindly raging…!”
“Prick!”
“Nuisance!”
Thankfully, the
bell always brings out a ring before their mental berating becomes physical.
Blair couldn’t
remember what happened next; before she could care, the 2:20 p.m. bell chimed
and she was joyously jaunting out the door to the civic center where PendraCon
would take place for the weekend’s duration.
After the rigor
of registration, she received her con badge and shyly set off for Spearpoint
Fountain. All badges displayed the attendant’s character and username per the
registration process, but that did nothing to lessen her anticipation.
Come 4:00 p.m., two people arrived.
“What are you doing here?!” Both Blair and Greg
exclaimed.
The answer
arrived instantaneously. Both glanced at the badges around their necks, and
shock overtook the two.
“Skyler?!” “Faris?!”
Half an hour the
two players sat on opposite sides of a fountainside bench, awkwardly averting
eyes, utterly beside themselves with uncertainty, tongue-tied for a response.
Bloodworth’s
player broke silence first. “I…didn’t know ya played Pendragon…”
“Yeah…” Pierce’s
player responded. “About six months, now. No one else in school liked…the
‘boring parts’ of computers, so I thought… Maybe just…let that stress out a
bit.”
Like bearing the
strike of her own axe, Blair’s head heaved guiltily. The steel-cold sting
catapulted Blair to her feet to turn at Greg.
“I’m sorry!”
Like taking an
arrow to his blind spot, Greg gaped gobsmacked at Blair. “Huh?”
“I-I mean…! Me
too! I’m…so angry all the time…! So, I…needed a stress-reliever without cavin’
someone’s skull in.” Blair stammered. “It worked… Even made a friend… And…
And I acted so dickish to him! I’m
sorry! I-”
“Whoa! Whoa!
Hey… Calm down…” Skyler’s player exclaimed.
Bloodworth’s
player froze in place.
“I think…” Greg
chuckled shyly. “We both kind of
acted like idiots.”
Blair soon
echoed his chuckle. “Yeah… I guess we kinda did…”
The two absorbed
the strangeness of the situation for about ten more minutes.
“So, what now…?”
Greg asked.
“I-I dunno… I’m
kinda wiped, honestly.” Blair muttered.
“You? Wiped?
That’s a first.” Greg snickered.
Blair smirked
back. “Oh, bite me. We both had a long day.”
“I don’t know…”
Greg trailed teasingly. “I think I still have energy to make that Dread
Sorcerer quest before-“
“Oh, hell no!” Blair shouted. “Yer crazy doin’ that without a partner!”
“Then I’m
counting on you to not drop your axe on me in your sleep, Bloodworth.”
“Then you better
hope a stray arrow doesn’t hit me in the shoulder, Pierce.”
The dynamic duo of adventurers smiled
satisfied over the triumph of battle. This is what they lived for: the glory of
combat, riches beyond comprehension, and friendship forged stronger than any
armor.
Author's Note
It's "Ah-ha!" ideas like these that make me realize I really love writing. Most
of what I've been writing lately has felt like that, but this was the first idea where I feel like I'm realizing that fact.
The journey of Britomart is littered with situations laden with the theme of mistaken identities, such as the climactic duel between Britomart and Artegall, where both reconcile their flaws and accept their love for each other despite the seemingly deceitful nature of their disguises. The tales are also littered with the typical Celtic fantasy that's so famous.
Mistaken identities reminded me of the potential of such misunderstandings in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, and those reminded me that many have Celtic fantasy influence, and so the idea flowed: our Britomart and Artegall, Blair Mallory and Greg Tyson, are socially-awkward teenagers who make themselves and their friendship little stronger after such a misunderstanding. The angle in the original story was love, but I noticed a lot of romantic elements in my previous stories, and so decided to mix it up by baring it down to friendship instead.
These two characters were constructed to be opposites and also parallels. Blair and Greg's names contain meanings with positions to mimic their characters. "Blair" from "battlefield" and "Mallory" from "unlucky" for Blair's up-front public persona and unfortunate social status. "Greg" from "watchful" and "Tyson" from "firebrand" for Greg's detail-oriented and apprehensive nature, but with an inner resilience.
The game aspects of this write-up were some of my favorite additions, due to being able to get creative with fonts and symbols. Even our protagonists' character classes were created to reflect them as people: Faris Bloodworth is a warrior, and Skyler Pierce is an archer; a warrior does optimal damage up in the enemy's face, while archers would prefer to tackle a conflict from a distance; both complementary to their roles, yet total opposites of each other; and both often bear paltry defensive stats, which perfectly reflects their insecurities.
For loving the idea in the first place, the plot is what drove me mad: there were a few directions I wondered about taking these characters, but many either wouldn't fit with the ACCURSED CHARACTER LIMIT or just seemed unnatural to me. In the end, this seemed like the best direction under the pressing businesses I'm under at the moment, but I still can't help but feel like this could've been even more... Hopefully you guys like something about it.
Bibliography
Mythology & Folklore Faerie Queen - Britomart Unit, stories taken from Stories from the Faerie Queene by Mary Macleod
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