The Dragon's Wrath: Shadows in the Flame by Brent Roth Page B

but then there would be no Relic, no Dragon’s Breach, no Kate and on and on. Sometimes an early sacrifice made for a better future. Yeah, the Northern Triangle was the right place at the right time.
    I had no regrets.
    Enjoying my meal while listening to the conversations of those around me, I couldn’t help but notice a lone female sitting in the corner. A rather large female warrior that seemed out of place in the happy atmosphere with her solemn expression and lack of food or drink on the table.
    A peculiar NPC… or player, it was hard to tell. She looked to be a few inches over six feet in height and had a broad build that was well-developed. The scars on her face and arms told tales of their own as she quietly sat and stared at the wooden post in front of her. An overly seriously NPC sitting at a corner table by herself in a rather carefree town.
    I was intrigued by the oddity.
    If it stood out there was a reason for it. That was one of my mottos in this game and it had served me well so far. Waving over the barkeep that had taken my order, I wanted to ask a few questions before making any moves of my own.
    “What bothers you traveler?” asked the congenial old man.
    “The stone statue over yonder,” I replied with a wink of my left eye and a slight tilt of my head in the same direction. “I’m curious, is she a regular around these parts?”
    Leaning his head in with a quickly changing expression, the old man hesitated for a second before deciding on his reply. “She’s been a regular for about a month now,” he explained with a hushed voice that could barely be heard over the music and multiple conversations going on in the background.
    “Lost her family on the voyage, poor gal.”
    Setting his hands on the table while maintaining his lean, he sighed briefly before putting in his last word.
    “Best leave that one be lad, she’s a troubled soul.”
    “Ah is that so,” I said softly while thinking over my options. “Thank you.”
    An NPC that lost her family on a voyage nearly a month ago in game days while at the same time, kraken-types were roaming the seas and reportedly had been attacking ships that passed through. Maybe it was me, but I smelled a quest chain for a Companion.
    The game was odd like that, with its random system that allowed NPCs to develop organically. Nearly all the NPCs started out with the same base template but with randomized attributes and appearances left to separate them apart. After that they were free to roam the world so long as they weren’t tied down to a specific job. If by chance that NPC died or experienced something in-game that changed its course, the opportunity for it to go on its own path existed.
    Some of the events were slightly scripted but most weren’t. Katherine was supposed to die and become part of a Quest Chain for the Earl of Andal. Selene’s future was undetermined and unknown. Then I got involved, killed the Earl, and changed the fate of the NPCs involved. Now Andal had no earl and was ruled by a loose republic or democracy of sorts. The quest chain never materialized this time around.
    The game state changed.
    It evolved.
    Now an NPC sat off to the side clearly at a loss due to her loss. The plausible story being that a giant squid attacked her ship and her family was lost in the fray. As a survivor she now sat at the table where her family should have been. Waiting and wasting the days away for a scene that will never come. Her situation was not to be envied.
    She was either a normal NPC that wasn’t tied down to a job or village, a free recruit as some have noted on the forums, or she was a Companion with attributes that were far above the standard NPCs. Since there wasn’t a whole lot known about Companions with the game only being a few months old, most of the general ideas were simple speculation.
    There were theories floating about that any regular NPC could be elevated to a Companion if you spent the requisite time developing them. I