Vivid Stars Online

The map appeared before me, centered on Elendes as the capital of the region. My immediate impression was of a mishmash of information formed from multiple overlapping layers. My confusion wasn’t helped by it being zoomed so far out that the city was only a small titled square.

Looking through the settings helped me get a better idea of what it was trying to tell me. The base layer was a normal enough map, much like any map program you’d see back on earth. The only oddity was that beyond a certain point, it showed the terrain shrouded in darkness, like the fog of war in a strategy game.

I’m going to guess that’s the area that hasn’t been explored, I mused as I took in the implications. Seeing it like this helps me understand why the Explorers Guild is even a thing. They can clearly take scans from orbit to an extent, however, they need people to scout it out on foot to gather all of this other information.

There was a lot of extra information indeed. The next four layers covered minerals, plants, animals, and beasts respectively, with each layer adding hundreds of detailed points of interest. It was clear the Guild got a lot out of the scans we made as we moved around.

The sixth, and final, layer was estimated danger, and it took me a minute to work out the pattern. It started as a light green shading near the capital and the few cities and towns in the region before it began fading to yellow, then orange, and finally red.

The change happened in concentric circles, moving out from the population centers, and getting more dangerous the further away you got. Occasional spikes of color broke the pattern, each tied to a specific entry of the beasts layer.

I wonder what’s causing those rings, I mused as I looked over the map. Some kind of armed patrols, perhaps? Or maybe a kind of beast-repelling tech? It could even just be game logic, though that would be sad to see. Whatever the cause, it was a key piece of information to keep track of.

With my cursory examination of the map’s features complete, it was time to look for potential targets. Unfortunately, that was harder than it sounded as I need to investigate the shrouded areas of the map. While the terrain details were still there, all the useful information I’d just been investigating wasn’t.

The first thing I looked for was the closest area of unexplored land. It turned out that it was to the north. The south had been entirely explored, all the way down to the next region. East and west were better, however, both still had the edge pushed out more than twice as far as the north did.

North it is then, I mused as I began looking into the shrouded area for targets. I found I could zoom the map in to show satellite photos of the terrain. While they were blurry compared to the ones I’d seen on Earth, it was good enough to get an idea of the terrain.

For ninety-odd miles north, it was pretty much solid forest, so dense that I couldn’t see beyond the canopy in the photos. Then it transitioned into a mountain range to the northeast and a massive lake straight to the north. It was the lake that drew my attention, it was the equal of many of the great lakes on Earth and I knew those used to be excellent sources of fish.

I would have to scout it out and make sure that held true here as well, not to mention securing part of the lakeshore for the city to use. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too dangerous, the amount of attention the map placed on danger had me worried.

I think I can see why so much of this planet is still unexplored, I thought with a sigh. If beasts are really that common, then you risk your life on every expedition you go on. Even when you go out, your scanner only does a strip a mile wide as you go. It would take a lot of dangerous trips to explore the entire planet.

I considered trying to charter some kind of vehicle to take me straight out to the lake before eventually discarding the idea. There didn’t seem to be any little pockets of explored land sitting out in the wilderness, so I imagined there was a reason no one else was doing that. I doubted I was smarter than every other explorer out there, even if they were all NPCs.

My guess was that it had to do with the danger. Starting your expedition inside the explored area at least gave you an indication of the starting difficulty, rather than dropping you into the unknown. Trekking my way from the edge all the way out would take longer, however, it would give me a much better chance of surviving the trip, or at least bailing out if it got too dangerous.

I’d have to see what transport options were available. Doing the entire trip in a single expedition might be a bit much for my first try. I needed to find a way to explore part of the way there before returning to the city to rest and resupply.

A quick search of the city’s network showed several places where I could charter a VTOL aircraft to take me out, though the details on how it worked were sparse. I sent off a message to the cheapest provider, asking for a meetup to discuss options.

I focused on finding a route while I waited for a response. The deep forest blocking the shortest path did not give me a good feeling. It would be hard going through such a dense treeline and there would be almost no chance of being pulled out by air. Not to mention that it was probably full of dangerous beasts.

Unfortunately, that cut out the most direct route to the lake. Next, I moved my attention to trying to plot a path around it. The forest traveled so far west before breaking that I discarded going that way immediately. It would more than double the distance of the entire trip.

To the east, the forest started merging into the foothills of the mountain range. While I didn’t particularly feel like hiking through hills either, it looked like there was a sweet spot in the middle. I managed to find a route through sparse, rolling forest that wasn’t too thick or steep. Best of all, there looked to be plenty of clearings where an aircraft could land.

By the time I got a message back from the VTOL pilot, Brian, I’d plotted a path all the way to the lake. One hundred and forty miles of travel in total. Definitely not something I wanted to handle in a single trip, it was time to see what options he had for me.

Brian’s message told me to meet him at a bar a couple of train stops away, one of the few that still seemed to be open. I was a little surprised that he’d responded so quickly but glad nonetheless. Grabbing my pack, I left the building and headed toward the station to meet him.

The Feral Ferret was almost empty when I arrived, hosting only half a dozen patrons and the bartender. I found that surprising at first before I saw the updated pricing. No one but a hard-core alcoholic would pay that much per drink.

A quick back and forth by message told me which of the patrons I was after, allowing me to slide into the seat opposite him. He was huge, with dark red hair and a full, bushy beard that fell to his rounded stomach. While he had a fair amount of weight on him, his frame held an equal amount of muscle and I’d be shocked to find out he was under six foot eight.

"You the client? “he asked in a bleary Scottish brogue as I sat down. He looked a little tipsy, but not drunk enough that I felt uncomfortable doing business with him.

“Yes,“ I responded with a nod. “I’m on a mission from the Explorers Guild that needs to be started from the edge of what we've explored so far. I'll also need to be picked up further out later,“ I finished, trying to get my requirements through clearly.

“Dropping you on the border is no issue,“ he said with a wave of his hand before taking a pull of the oversized drink in front of him. “Picking you again, well, that’s another issue,” he continued with a loud belch. “I can do it, but only if you can find me a clear area and send me a scan, showing there aren’t any beasts in the area.”

That was pretty much what I’d already figured. There was no way someone was going to risk their livelihood unless they were sure it was safe. It was also nice to know he knew where the border was, I’d been worried that was something the Guild kept to itself.

That left one important thing to clear up. “Could you drop me back out at the same location later? I have a destination I want to reach in a series of trips” If he couldn’t, I’d have to rethink things and probably do the whole hundred-and-forty-mile trek in a single trip.

He took several more gulps of his drink, lost in thought. Eventually, he replied,“ Usually I wouldn’t do it until your Guilds correlated all the data and published the danger levels. You’d have to provide me with sufficient data to prove that it’s safe for me to return there. Do that and I'll drop you off, though it will cost you.”

It all comes back to credits, doesn’t it, I thought with a sigh. Still, that was better than nothing. “What would it take to convince you,“ I asked, hoping it wouldn’t be too unreasonable.

He drank again, a habit I was beginning to see was a cover for when he was thinking. This time he responded after only a few seconds, however. “I guess if you’ve observed the area for a full twenty-four hours, that’d be enough. That’s what we had the scouts do back when I flew for the army.”

“That seems fair,“ I said, nodding in agreement. While it would shorten how far I could go each trip, it seemed like a reasonable precaution. It was very similar to the requirement for my quest, in fact, though I had to do two days for that. “I can work with that,“ I finished with a smile.

“Right then,“ he said with his own grin. “When do you want to go? My baby’s all fueled and ready for takeoff.”

Is he suggesting we go now? I thought in surprise. I supposed it wasn’t the worst idea. By this point, I’d been playing for a little over five hours, leaving me with eleven before I’d maxed out my play time for the day. With the local planet time just after twelve, I should also have a good amount of daylight to start my trek.

Best of all, it would save me from having to find, and pay for, some kind of lodging in the city. “Now works,“ I replied a little shakily, still thrown by the sudden turn of events. “Got all my gear here,“ I continued, patting the pack next to me.

Brian downed the rest of his drink with startling speed before leaping to his feet. I really hoped he was safe to fly after that. “Alrighty then,“ he said in a hearty voice, “Let’s be going.”

He’d parked his aircraft out on the edges of the city, a short ten-minute trip by train from the bar. It was larger than I’d expected, about twice the size of a standard helicopter, and held eight passengers if you included the pilot and co-pilot. Brian hustled me into the co-pilot's seat before rushing through an abbreviated take-off checklist.

I got the feeling he was eager to be in the air, and I had to wonder why. I’d have thought aircraft would be in even more demand than usual, given the current crises. Whatever the cause, we were airborne in minutes, speeding through the air at over six hundred miles an hour if his holographic dashboard could be believed.

“Mind if I take a nap on the way,“ I asked, using the out I’d thought of earlier to cover a logoff. Given the realism of the game, I was pretty sure my body wouldn’t just vanish as I left the game, it was far more likely I’d slump in a place like I was unconscious.

“Suit yourself,“ he responded with a shrug, though I thought I heard a hit of irritation in his tone. “You're paying after all.”

I hoped I hadn’t annoyed him too much, but there was nothing for it now either way. If I took an hour out in the real world now, I could save an hour of playtime for later. Taking care of my physical body’s needs would also set me up for a marathon play session this afternoon.

With a nod to Brian, I lay back, closed my eyes, and focused on logging off, forcing myself past a surge of fear as I did so. I really was not looking forward to waking back up in that high-tech coffin.