P2: Chapter Four

RotheRed

A small ninja sat on the shoulder of a tall mud golem. RotheRed looked at them, his newest recruits. An odd pair no doubt, but he had seen them fight; they fought like demons. The golem was named MaoMao420, the ninja was FreiMarkt. “Are you guys ready for your first mission?”

“Sure man, but we’re a squad we go together, Ok.” FreiMarkt said.

“That’s fine,” RotheRed was planning to do that already, “MaoMao420 due to your higher level I’m putting you in charge of this mission.”

“No. I speak for him. I’m in charge.” FreiMarkt stood up on the golem’s shoulder and crossed his arms in front of his chest. MaoMao420 nodded.

“Do you speak?” RotheRed was curious he didn’t really care one way or the other if the guy choose to be mute.

“Yep.” MaoMao420’s voice was deep and gravelly.

“And this is good with this?” RotheRed wanted to do his due diligence and to avoid any possible drama down the road.

“Yep.”

“Ok then.” RotheRed shrugged, then pointed to his map. “I want you to retrace the path I took to get here from Ourp. Once there I want you to investigate to find if there is any blue influence in the town. Scope the place out then come back and report back to me, Is that understood?”

“Yessir.” FreiMarkt said, they both threw up sloppy salutes.

“Good, but cut that sir stuff, I want everyone to call me Boss is that clear?”

“Yes, Boss.” They both nodded.

“Good, now get out there and start your mission. On your way out tell BrutAl, I want to know as soon as the delivery is here.”

The door closed on them both and RotheRed was left alone with his thoughts. He zoomed out as far as he could on the map on his desk. It was almost completely blank, two small dots connected by a thin line running across the top left of the map were the only blemishes, That pair was just one of six scouting parties he had sent out, None had returned yet. He felt blind, and patience had never been a strength, right now he couldn’t see any other option, Waiting.  

Fortunately there were other distractions, like running this bar if that’s what it was. It had only been a few minutes before knock he was waiting for came. “Enter.” He barked.

Noise poured in as the door opened, “Boss, that delivery is here.” BrutAl said, only his head sticking through the open door.

“Good,” RotheRed said standing up. His sword was hanging on his chair, “come in and close the door,” he spoke while belting it on. “How is it out there?”

“It’s good, busy. It’s good the delivery is here, we’re set to run out in a couple of hours. Boss, I think you should consider getting a second barrel, principles really like this TonicZ,. I’ve had to hold some back to make it last this long. They’re all calling it TZ now.”

“TZ, that’s good, I like that. That’s a good idea i think I’ll get three.” RotheRed took his shield from where it hung behind his chair. He paused to adjust it on his arm, “when I’m talking to the goblin out there, see if you can get the gorilla talking.”

“Ok Boss, should I talk about anything particular?”

“No, no just keep it general, try to get friendly with him. There is something not right about those guys, I’m just not sure what. Ok, let’s go. Close the door behind you.”

After the quiet of his office, the common room was rockus. RotheRed felt the glow of satisfaction at seeing all the tables full, and every patron represented the color red. Some heads turned as they exited the office, they watched as he walked to the back door. He turned to the room and waved to those watching. There was a resounding cheer of “Red! Red! Red!” With the corners of his mouth threatening to twist up, he opened the door and walked out to the waiting goblin.

“Greetings!” The goblin seemed inappropriately pleased with himself. Behind him the gorilla leaned on its cart. RotheRed was glad to see at least six barrels were loaded in the cart, it didn’t seem that supply was going to be a problem. He focused on the goblin the same way that he would to get any other principle to see their information, there was nothing.

“Hey buddy, principles liked that TonicZ right. Did it sell well? I bet it did. It did! I can see it on your face.”

“You’re right, it was just like you said principles love TonicZ.” As RotheRed talked he also walked giving BrutAl the space he would need to start a conversation with the gorilla. “Yes in fact they like it so much I am interested in ordering more barrels.”

“Oh good!” The goblin rubbed his hands together, his exaggerated good cheer creeped RotheRed out. “We would be happy to increase your order size, we even offer discounts.”

This was good news, “what kind of discount are you talking?”

“You are paying fifty gold for a barrel, I can do eighty for two or one-ten for three. Before you ask, remember what I told you on our very first meeting; These prices are not negotiable.” The goblins face went dark and serious as it said this, RotheRed felt as if he was seeing the true identity behind the mask. Quickly that disappeared, the cheerful creepy goblin said, “so how many do you want? Two or three?”

“Uh,” RotheRed was feeling disquieted by the whole interaction, “I guess we’ll take three.” The money exchange was handled quickly, as soon as the money disappeared into the goblins money belt he whistled sharply at the gorilla. “Hey! You! Move!” He snapped his fingers at the gorilla until it gave a snort and looked at him. The goblin held up three fingers, “three! You stupid ape! Three barrells, got it? Three.”

Without any change in it expression the gorilla casually reached into the carted and started to unload the barrels with a single hand. RotheRed signalled to BrutAl, “Go get Chef Bob, tell him he will need help getting the barrels inside.”

“Ok Boss.”

When there were three barrells were on the ground the goblin walked back over to RotheRed. “We would like to set up a regular delivery with you. I can offer a further discount to that end, say three barrels for an even one hundred. every two weeks.”

“Alright, that will work. We pay you at the time of delivery?”  

“No, now that we have a delivery scheduled it will just be that ape over there.” The goblin pointed at the gorilla who was placing the third barrel on top of the other two. “Great it looks like the lug is done, he’ll take your money at the time of delivery, does that work?”

“Sure,” RotheRed said, that feeling of disquiet returning.    

Great! Fantastic! If you want to change the quantity just tell him, On the next delivery I’ll join him to work that out with you” The goblin was already walking away by the time he was finished talking. “Wait!” RotheRed had one last question, “who do you work for!” He shouted to make sure he was heard. “Zed,” the goblin yell over his shoulder.

RotheRed wasn’t sure what he had expected to learn when he had asked, he truthfully hadn’t really expected to get an answer. But he had and the answer had just created more questions. It also struck him as a little sinister. The back door to the Red Room opened behind him and disgorged BrutAl, ChefBobone65, and two principles RotheRed didn’t know. At a quick glance these unknowns were both reping the color red so he took them for soldiers a theory backup by their willingness to take ChefBobone65’s orders. As they set to the task of moving the big barrels into the social room RotheRed beckoned BrutAl over. “Did you get anything from the gorilla?”

“No, nothing. I mean he barely acknowledged I was there. But Boss, he is strong. Did you see how easily he unload those barrels? Look at those two noobs, their struggling to move one together, he did that with one arm!” BrutAl’s gestured to the two soldier who were struggling mightily to follow ChefBobone65 who was handling one himself.

“Don’t forget were all were noobs here. But you’re right he is immensely powerful, did you notice anything else?” RotheRed asked.

“Actually yeah,” BrutAl was looking a little bashful, “I wasn’t going to say anything because I’m not sure that it wasn’t something I did wrong. I couldn't see his name or his level or anything. I tried, I know I did.”    

“You did. The same thing happened to me with the goblin. I think of why they would be able to hide that. I need to know more? Can you follow them without being seen?”

“Yeah I can Boss. I figure out where they are based then I’ll return and report.” BrutAl snapped to order.

“Good. Go.” RotheRed returned the salute, then watched for a few moments as BrutAl stalked east. In the quiet of dusk he turned and entered the noisy hub that was the main social room in the Red Room. He quickly took stock of the room and was pleased that there was a line at the bar and many tables spotted a mug or three. Not wanting to draw attention to himself he quickly ducked into his office.

He was thrilled to see that Chefbobone65 had placed a carafe of TZ, and a glass on his desk. With care he filled the glass and sipped, then sighed. A metallic flavor spread from the back of his mouth, indicating the early stages in the TZ effects. He turned and hung his shield on its spot on the wall, removed his sword belt and hung it on his chair. Each move was distinct, thought through to the nth degree. He pulled out his chair, then sat and unrolled the map, covering his mostly empty desk.

The map was a mostly blank page. two small drops connected by a thin line were the only marks to mar it perfect blankness. RotheRed touched the map with thumb and forefinger of each hand, then moved his hands pulling away from the shape, a bent barbell, zooming in. He needed to get out of here, this bar or social hall whatever it was. He had created it and now it suffocated him. Even with the TZ coursing through his mind, fueling it to go faster slowing the rest of the world, he didn’t know what to do. He just needed to get out, move.

RotheRed wasn’t aware of how oppressive the quiet in his office had become, until the knock on the door shattered it. The door opened before he could respond. three bodies rushed in. FreiMarkt closely followed by MaoMao420 and David23, RotheRed’s bodygaurd. “I’m sorry Boss, they rushed the door. Do you want me to throw them out?”

“No, but please shut the door.” Once this was done he turned on the other two. “What are you two doing here? You only left, what a half an hour ago. There’s no way you could have made it to Orup and back yet.”

“We’re sorry Boss. We were ambushed and defeated,” FreiMarkt said sheepishly. “We thought we should tell you before heading back out there.”

“So who was it?” RotheRed asked.

“It happened too fast. They got me with an arrow so I didn’t see anything. MaoMao says he was defeated by a woman in blue.” FreiMarkt said.

“Do you think she was in the Blue Army?” RotheRed asked MaoMao420.

“No way of knowing.”

RotheRed’s mind was spinning. This was what he had wanted; Something to do. “David get what you need we’re going with them.”

“Boss, are you sure, I mean we need you here.” David23 was all concern, he saw his role as bodyguard to limit the risk as much as possible.

“No I need to be out there. I must know what is happening.” RotheRed zoomed in on his map, focusing on Norca. “FreiMarkt show me where this happened.” The small ninja was too short to see the top of the desk while standing on the floor. He quickly climbed his friend and then lept to the desk from MaoMao420’s shoulder. He went to one knee and pointed to the road just beyond went in to where it crossed into the forest. “The arrow took me here, right after we entered the tree line.”

“You were attacked by at least two, do think there are more. What the immediate concern is what this the advance of a large attack, should I mobilize the whole army?”

MaoMao420 spoke up, “I don’t think this was a large attack. It seemed like they might have been watching the road, trying to keep us from following it further. There is no way to know till we go back.”

“Then let’s go.” RotheRed took his shield off the wall then turned back to the others. “We are going to split our forces, David and I will take the left side of the road, you take the right. Stay close enough that you can see the road, that way we can support each other.”

Freimarkt jumped from the desk, resuming his position on MaoMao420’s shoulder, “We’re ready Boss, do you want us to head out now and scout ahead?”

RotheRed felt the TonicZ moving in his limbs, the anticipation of action moved in his stomach. He finished belting on his sword, “I’m ready. let’s go.”  

P2: Chapter Three

Ragnar

“It’s time, your shift is done, I got a clue.” MoProbs was impatient, bouncing from one foot to the other.

“Relax, you’re scaring the customers.” Ragnar turned to AsLionsMain, “Are you good?”

“Yeah man,” AsLionsMain waved, “Have a good time out there. Hey good luck with your hunt!”

MoProbs ignored the jibe as he lead the way out into the street. “Ok, we’re heading south. HidYKIlla was kicked out of the Red Room an hour ago! I spoke with Chef Bob, He said they kicked her out of town, She was last seen heading south, If we hurry we can catch her.”

They quickly reached the edge of town, and soon the noise and light it was behind them. They found they were walking in the lonely emptyness of the grass plans. Wind moving through the grass turned it into a softly moving sea silver in the light of the moon.

With no trees, the plan was dotted with small dark clumps which Ragnar thought must be bushes, there seemed no place to hide. “Remember,” MoProbs said suddenly, “HidYKIlla can camouflage herself. I know she is close, I can feel it.”

“And do what!?” The voice came from behind them. Ragnar had his axe in hand by the time he had turned around.

“You!” MoProbs shouted as he pointed his sword, “You Tokened the wrong character, now your running has come to the end.”

“You talk big. I’m not running.” HidYKIlla taunted.

“I’m going to take your Token, If you come back, and Token again. I will hunt you down.” MoProbs snarled, flames emerging the from the hilt of his sword. From past experience Ragnar knew that soon the whole blade would be consumed in flame. MoProbs called this his phoenix blade, as the the blade burned it became more powerful, it was also consumed.

HidYKIlla began to draw her wings around her body. “Ohh, fire, not scared. You can’t hunt me, you can’t Token me, you can’t kill me, because you can’t see me.” This was true, by the time she had finished speaking there was only voice.

The flame on MoProbs sword reached the tip of the blade. At that moment the flame flared up, it was no longer a fire it was an inferno. Ragnar, standing a few feet away could feel the heat radiating out. It wasn't just the heat, the blade was now radiating bright, slightly flickering, light. Ragnar heard HidYKIlla hiss, and he could see her. It was her shadow he could see, a black form on the ground. It extended out from two points, here was the body.

MoProbs acted before Ragnar could, with a perfectly executed lunge. The flaming sword struck with a crack as the sword was consumed, a sound that might have been a scream seemed to echo the flash that had resulted in the release of power. Ragnar tried to blink away the spots of light that hovered in his vision, through them he could see MoProbs had ignored the level up statue and was kneeling over the now prostrate body of HidYKIlla, looting it.

Rangar watched as his partner slowly stood up and pulled his Token out of his wallet. Suddenly a light flashed from one of MoProbs’ hands to the other, soon he was surrounded in a small tornado of light. Beams of energy extended out and tore at the body and the level up statue. This only lasted a moment, almost as soon as it had started the vortex of light had retracted back into the hand which held his Token. MoProbs let out a long sigh, looking and fiddling with the face of his Token.

“Wow,” Ragnar said after a moment. “That was intense, what just happened?”

“I did it.” MoProbs said, putting away his Token. “She’s gone, look at the little headstone. I didn’t get the experience for the kill, on the upside I did get her skill, blend. Look here at my sword, It has a notch on it now, that’ s kind of cool. Hey do you want to see my new skill?”

“Of course, do it.”

MoProbs’ outfit had been standard leather armor with a short cape, it was this cap that now changed. In a flicker this cape seemed to disappear, leaving his head floating disembodied a few feet above his legs. Ragnar laughed out loud quickly joined by MoProbs when he looked down at his missing chest. “Whoo!” Ragnar slowly stopped laughing. “So now, mr bounty hunter. Now that we have fulfilled our first bounty should we head back to town to see if we can’t get a new one?”

MoProbs smiled, then looked down the road, south, the direction they had been heading. Ragnar looked too, the land was mostly flat and clear. Far to the west was the faint shadow of mountains, MoProbs turned and looked back towards Norca. “No I think we should keep going, I want to see if this road will take us to those mountains.”

As they walked the light slowly changed and soon they were witness to a stunning display of the world color palette. Ragnar was engrossed in watching the beauty of the sunrise, never had he ever experienced anything like it. Without thinking about he stopped walking and just watched as the black faded to purple, then spreading from the east horizon like fire reds oranges finally yellow. A crescent of bright yellow picked over the world, soon the sun shone sending the last shadows of night back to where it had come.

At night it had felt as though they walked through flat emptiness, a sea of softly waving grass. In the daylight they could see that the land was changing as they got closer to the mountains. The road began to traverse slight changes in elevation, which soon became small hills. As the hills grew in size the ratio of grass to rock changed, The plants around them changed accordingly, becoming more wild, only the most resilient able to maintain a foothold in the rough terrain.

The reached the top of one such hills, both breathing hard from the ascent. Pausing at the crest they saw that the road dipped down into a wide gully where it forked. Ragnar noted with pleasure that one fork head up onto the mountain disappearing around a wrinkle in the slope the other fork continued in the gully running parallel to the mountain as far as they could see. Ragnar started down the into the gully.

“Wait!” MoProbs said as he grabbed Ragnar’s shoulder. “Look, to the right of the fork, what is that? It kind of looks like a door, do you think?” He pointed to a tumble of rocks that leaned against the foot of the mountain.

“I don’t know, I think that is just a trick of the shadow. I mean would there be more here if there was a town, right?”

“You’re right, but those lines look to straight to be natural. I guess we should check it out on our way past. You go first, I’ll watch your back.” MoProb drew his sword as Ragnar started down into the gully.

His first step started a few small stones rattling down the slope. Before the stones had stopped three characters burst from the pile of stones MoProbs had identified as a door. One of the characters spread wings and took to the sky, Ragnar tried to track it but it quickly flew into the glare of the sun forcing him to look away blinking away spots.

“Dudes, chill guys, we’re friendly.” The speaker's face was not yet visible, hidden under the hood of a tie dyed robe.

“If you’re so friendly, what’s with the guy in the sun?” Ragnar was not ready to drop his guard. “Mo, until that guy comes down, keep an eye on the sky. I’ll talk with these guys, ok?”

“Got it.”

“You guys are careful, that’s cool, I dig.” The two characters were closer now, the speaker pulled his hood back revealing the flat head and green grin of a gakko, his tongue came out and licked his eye. He held a twisty wooden staff which he pointed towards the sun. “Up there that’s Evil, don’t worry about Evil. Seriously we are not looking for a fight, Evil just makes sure if you want one, we win it. Look if you put your weapons up, I’ll call Evil down.”

Ragnar focused on the characters in front of him.

LizZard                                                                  Pisces3318

Level 2                                                                 Level 1

Wallet-2AU                                                             Wallet-1AU

LizZard’s robe was tie dyed blues, greens, and yellows overlapping in splashes and swirls. Other than the staff he seemed unarmed. His stooped, friendly demeanor was offset by his companion. Pisces3318 had a stocky humanoid body with the head of a catfish, The eyes looking back at Ragnar were wise and seemed a little sad. He was dressed in rusty plate armor and was holding a trident in one hand. Ragnar felt that LizZard was probably being genuine. If they could get this Evil down, and as long as it wasn’t super powerful, Ragnar felt that if it came to a fight they could win. But they needed to get Evil down. “Ok,” he said and he did, he could hear the scrape of MoProbs’ sword going back into its scabbard. “Call your friend down here and let’s talk.”

LizZard licked his eye again then lifted his staff over his head. “Evil, come down dude, These guys are cool.”

There was a swoosh of air as Evil plummeted from the sky, landing lightly with a large dust billow. When the dust cleared Ragnar focused and saw,

EvilAngel

Level 2

Wallet-2AU

Evil was thin and completely without any gender indications. It had no hair, including brows or lashes. Two small horns graced its pink forehead. It held a bow and it’s wings did the work of cloths. Evil regarded the group then seemed to start to extend its wings. There was a poof, the austir angel had been replaced by a grinning cherub.

“Oh creepy, Evil.” LizZard said.

“Goo!” Cooed Evil, who then bent to place one big toe in his mouth and began to suck.

“No Evil, take that out of your...” LizZard stopped when Evil started to slowly spin, making loud sounds of wet enjoyment. “Nevermind.” He turned towards Ragnar and MoProbs, “I don’t see any red but are you a soldier in the Red Army? What brings you guys to Camp Out?”

“No we’re not in the Red Army. What is Camp Out?” MoProbs said.

“If you’re not a Red soldier, come on and I’ll show you.” LizZard’s smile grew even bigger. He led them to the door in the rock pile. They entered a large well lit cave, the wall behind them was full of scattered holes acting as windows. Three tables and chairs cluttered up the middle of the floor, a fourth table was next to a door in the wall in front. Two prints hung on the other walls, opposite from each other. One showed the sun setting over mountain peaks, the other a sunrise over the ocean. “Welcome to Camp Out!” LizZard cried out, after he had shut the door, his arms flung out in a gesture of welcome. He gestured to a table, then took a seat smiling as he waited for Ragnar and MoProbs to join him.    

“This is incredible,” Ragnar asked, “How did you find this?”

“It was Fish and me.”

“Fish?” MoProbs interrupted.

“It’s what they call me here.” Pisces3318 spoke for the first time, his voice deep and gravely.

“Ok,” MoProb smiled, “did you guys find it like this?”

“No,” LizZard said, “no, there was nothing here when we first got here. We were looking for a place to hang out that wasn’t Norca. We thought this little valley might be a good spot. I was moving a stone to be a table and I found a scroll, the scroll directed us to draw this space. We did, and then it was here. When more characters came we were able to expand using the same scroll.”

“Did you also pick the decor?” Asked Ragnar gesturing to the paintings.

“No,you see it as we found it. It’s super cool right?”

“It is that.” MoProbs said, “You said more characters came, how many stay here?”

“We are a pretty small, loose community of maybe twenty. The only thing we really have in common is that we were tired of Norca,” LizZard said. “Is that why you came? Because you’re tired of Norca?”

“No, not really,” Ragnar replied.

“We’re bounty hunters,” MoProbs interjected.

“Bounty hunters, you’re not here for any of us are you?” LizZard looked amused.

“No, nothing like that,” Ragnar said. “We were just exploring after completing our last bounty when we found this place.”

“You’re saying that characters will put out bounties on other characters?” LizZard sounded sceptical, “and they’ll pay you for this?”

“Do you know about Tokening?” MoProbs asked.

Pisces3318 looked even sadder, “Yeah, I’m very familiar with that hideous act.”

“Did it happen to you?” Ragnar asked. Pisces3318 just nodded.

“I’m sorry, me too,” MoProbs said sympathetically. “That is what we do. We take bounties on the characters who took Tokens. The characters who place the bounty are usually weak and don’t want to wait till they are strong enough to get their revenge.”

“How much is a bounty?” Pisces3318 asked.

“We are starting at twenty gold. That will probably change as we get a better idea of the market.” MoProb said.

“I’ll pay you thirty to get the bastard who Tokened BigBass13110.”

“Wait Fishy, why?”

“He’s right, LizZard, I don’t want to have anything more to do with that jerk. I definitely don’t want to waste any more time thinking about him. But I will happily pay someone else to do it.” Pisces3318 was already sitting up straighter.

“Fish, can I call you that?” MoProbs spoke up quickly not wanting the sale to slip away, “thanks, we can start now if you would like.”

“Yeah, do I pay you now or what?”

“Once the bounty is complete you pay. Fish do you know anyone else, who hangs out here and is like you?” MoProbs said.

Pisces3318 nodded, “yeah, I was talking with four or five others last night.”

MoProbs turned to LizZard, “Do you think I could stay here for a little bit, maybe set up a little office. Put out a shingle, if you will?”

LizZard seemed to think for a moment then shrugged, “I don’t see why not. If you want I’ll show you the scroll and you can add whatever you’re looking for.”

“That would be great.” MoProbs started to get up.

“Hey! What about me?” Pisces said.

“Fish, The Band of The Golden Hand is on the job, Ragnar will take some import information from you then get started on the investigation.” With that he walked away following LizZard, Pisces3318 turned his sad eyes to Ragnar.   

P2: Chapter two

1¢op

“I think we should put our arm bands back on before we head into camp.” 1¢op said to SHEgamI, who nodded in agreement. That done they were once again visibly ranked members of the Blue Army. That done 1¢op spoke the pass phrase. Nothing happened. She tried again louder this time, with the same result. She started to turn towards SHEgamI, to ask if she had any ideas. A sound from above startled her and she quickly dropped into her ready stance, and swiveled to try and identify the source of the sound.

It was a ladder, she gestured to SHEgamI as its bottom rung stopped moving about two feet off the ground. Anrkey with an arrow still strung on her bow said, “I should stay down here, keep an eye out while you you check out what’s up there.”

“No need, this area is completely secure, one hundred percent Blue Army!” This declaration was followed by many hoots and cheers of “Blue is better!”

“I guess a lot has changed,”  1¢op said.

SHEgamI shrugged, then unstrung the arrow and replaced it in her quiver, 1¢op started to climb. Soon she could feel the ladder sway slightly as SHEgamI started climbing. Soon a platform came into view. Upon reaching the opening, entrance, of the platform she was greeted by hands. With the help of those hands 1¢op and SHEgamI were standing side by side on the platform, The hole from which they had just emerged at their backs. 1¢op saw that the platform that they stood on was a small part of a sprawling tree structure, seeming a natural part  part of the leafy canopy; a single bridge woven of branches, rope, and planks connected it to another platform.

“Welcome to Bluetopia of the Trees. My name is Toadanaga, I oversee this Gate.” The speaker was a maybe four and a half feet tall toad wearing a kimono carrying a katana in its left hand. “I check in all new arrivals,” Toadanaga said. “I am also charged with debriefing all returning missions. Are you returning from a mission?”

“Yes we are, we have been gone for a while can you please point me towards LeBlu?” 1¢op’s orders had been clear.

Toadanaga blinked then spoke, slowly as if speaking to a child. “Of course, just as soon as I take your report to my supervisor, she will talk with the commander. If he then desires, you can see him. Let us start simple with your name and rank.”

Tired of being talked down to by this piss ant bureaucrat 1¢op snapped, “Sargent, I order you to direct me to LeBlu.”

Eyes bulging Toadanaga turned and yelled, “AnrKEY! There is a Lieutenant here demanding to see the commander.”

The hut was perfectly hidden among leaves, 1¢op had missed it completely. AnrKEY a dark elf, with spiky pink hair, black saggy pants, a worn leather jacket completed the outfit. When AnrKEY stepped clear of the hut, 1¢op saw that her face was heavily scarred, it looked like a circle around what might have been an A. She wore a perpetual smirk, and her voice reflected that. “Then you better tell her where he is. Nevermind. Come on,” this to 1¢op, “I was going there later anyways, I’ll take you.”

“Thanks, I’m Penny, this is SHEgamI.” 1¢op said.

They shook hand all around.  “Let’s go,” AnrKEY said, leading them across a bridge which terminated at another landing. From this landing they took a flight of stairs. “You know? I know your name. Yeah crazy, a little while back I was told to keep an eye out for you.” AnrKEY laughed. “Its coming back now, you are supposed to have important information. LeBlu will be so happy to see you.”

The top of the stairs was a little market lane through the treetops. The lane lead to a three story building which was built into a majestic, almost unbelievably big trunk at the point where many of its huge branches separated. When it was clear that this was their destination, 1¢op asked the question that had been bothering her. “AnrKEY can I ask you a question, I don’t want to be rude?”
“Sure go ahead, I don’t offend easy.”

“Ok, great. How did someone with your name end up a lieutenant in an army?”

AnrKEY scoffed then said “I guess I like irony more than an ideology.” She opened the door then gestured them in. She lead them through a mostly empty social space with a few tables set up. On the far side of this room there was a short flight of stairs. At the top of the stair was the door of LeBlu’s office.

He looked up from his desk when the door opened. 1¢op thought he looked frustrated, but when he recognized her, the lines fell away and his face visibly brightened. “Penny! Welcome back! SHEgamI Welcome. Your timing couldn’t be better. I want to begin implementation of Operation Blue Grass. I have finally gathered the right people, The information you bring me is the final piece. Please sit down. You too AnrKEY, you have a place in this council too, that right, here on Penny’s right.”

Once seated Penny could see that what she had taken as a tablecloth was actually a map of AntruA, or at least a small portion of AntruA. LeBlu spoke again when they were all seated, sitting across the map covered desk from him. “First sync your maps with this one. This is the map that I'm using as the Blue Army’s master map. Once you’ve done that, please begin your debrief.”

It was cool to watch the information flow onto the map, it looked like someone blew the fog away revealing the land beneath. “As you can see we followed this road west a pretty good distance.”  1¢op started. “We crossed those two bridges. After the second bridge the road turned south, It was near here we saw the first soldiers in the Red army. It was a squad of three, They weren’t expecting us, so we got the drop on them. The road leads to the town of Norca, This is where the Red Army was. They seem to be very aggressive in recruiting. They control the all business in the town, but other than that we got no sense of any organization. We talked with many recruits, they all told us the same thing; they were paid. Fifty gold. It was hard to get a head count but We estimated about fifty to sixty Soldier displaying their colors, for the most part they were gathered in one spot, a tavern call Red Room.

“We spoke with many of the Red recruits, but were unable to gain any more useful information. We tried to get them to talk about any missions or if any of them had gone further west. No one knew anything. They all talked about this Tokening. Have you heard anything about this?”

“Yes, some,” LeBlu said, “please tell me what you learned.”

“Ok,” SHEgamI took over the debrief, “it seems that if your Token is looted, you no longer exist in AntruA. Your character is deleted. No one knew that the character got from this but the consensus was they got something. It seems to have them all pretty scared, some are leaving their Tokens in town when they go exploring. It is having the effect of limiting their growth, we didn’t see a single level three. We thought that maybe people were staying at level one because you can’t be Tokened if you don’t have one.”

“That matches what we’ve also found.” LeBlu said, “We have learned what the Tokener gets. Taking a Token will give you some of the Token’s power it also leaves you with some kind of trophy, generally a grizzly one. I recently spoke with the Leader of the Red Army, we both agreed that this brought a level of darkness to AntruA that we didn’t like. Any soldier, from either Army that takes a Token is to be returned to their Army where they will be Tokened. Do you guys have any objection? Good. This Intel is just what I needed. I have only one follow up question. What was the furthest spot that you saw any Red soldiers?”

“Here,” 1¢op answered, “it was that squad of three we ambushed where the road turned south. Those were the only soldiers we saw outside of Norca. I assume they are focusing their attention south. We should send another mission that way to find out what’s there.”

“I agree,” LeBlu said, nodding, he pointed to the map. “I have sent missions south from here and east to Sha. I will send whichever squad comes back first. I need you to start Operation Blue Grass. I am dubbing the road you followed the Crescent Road.” As he spoke the words they appeared on the map. “The first phase of Op BG is to establish new Blue Army outposts at strategic positions. The first one will be here in the delta between those two bridges, its mission will be to monitor and tax the traffic. If we can control both bridges we can control all traffic between Orup and Norca. Hopefully this will have the added benefit of keeping the Red army bottled up. I’m also hoping that this outpost will grow in the same way that Blutopia has.

“AnrKEY I’m promoting you to major. You’re going to be in command of this base. You will pick four soldiers to join you. A key component of your mission is to recruit new soldiers. It is up to you to build a forces that can hold those  bridges. How you do that is really up to you.” He turned to 1¢op and SHEgamI, “I have another important task for your team. I want you to patrol the woods between Norca and the river, do everything you can to keep the Red Army in the dark about the new outpost. Let’s call it The delta.”

“No,” AnrKEY said, “if I’m in command it's Gilman.”

“Perfect. You are both working towards the same goal. To see Gilman grow into a self sustaining fortress. AnrKEY you have overall command to this end. 1¢op, you work independently when you’re in the field. I want you to report back to AnrKEY every few days at first until you have a feel for the delta. Once we have a shop set up there you’ll be able to resupply on unlimited Blue Army credit. Ok take a few minutes to go over the map and cordiant your first moves.”

“I’ll take this lower road to Ourp,” AnrKEY said, “I would like to pick up a recruit or three along the way.”

“We can move fast along the upper road, we’ll bypass Ourp, then scout the road to the first bridge.”  1¢op said, “we’ll back track and meet you in Ourp, we can plan our next move based on whether we find the bridge clear or not.”

“It’s a good plan,” AnrKEY acknowledged, “I’m going to go pick my troops, I’ll see you in Ourp.” She left the office.

“Shall we SHEgamI?” 1¢op asked.

“Yes, let us.” SHEgamI said, with a smile.

1¢op nodded to LeBlu, he smiled and waved, “Good luck, have fun storming the castle.”

SHEgamI was quite as they left Bluetopia. When they had reached the road she started to laugh, soon 1¢op was laughing with her. “It’s all so ridiculous. I mean can they really be this serious.”

“I don’t know,” 1¢op was still laughing a little, “either way I’m having fun with it.”

“Yeah, you’re right, me too. What do you say should we go for it?”

“When I was going through some work training, they taught us to help with our improve skills, like our ability to think on our feet. They taught us to accept the gift, to just say yes.”

“Accept the gift? Say yes? You mean just go with it, right?”

“Exactly, I think we should go for it.”

“Ok.” with trees for witness SHEgamI saluted.

1¢op grinned and saluted back,