The boat rocked gently as we pulled away from the harbor of Oakenlight.

  It was a smaller vessel, but even so, fifty people –adventurers and NPCs alike– comfortably fit on it. The wooden hull creaked constantly.

  I stood at the railing, watching the coastal village shrink into the distance, the sandy beaches and the assembled tournament arenas becoming mere specks against the shoreline.

  The price of the trip was fifty silver coins. Not cheap, but I had money to spare. Besides, it beat the alternative of walking 6 hours to the provincial capital and potentially missing the trigger for my quest tomorrow.

  It was money well spent.

  Stone came up to me.

  “First time on the ocean in Godsrealm?” He asked, joining me at the rail.

  I nodded. “I have been keeping to the landlocked parts, mostly.”

  “Same with me,” he said. “But I had a quest yesterday that made me get into a rowboat and do some naval adventuring.”

  He told me about his personal quest that involved hunting down a group of deserters and saving Baron Saltbeard's daughter.

  Baron Saltbeard was the mayor of Oakenlight, and even though the quest was rather simple, Stone got remarkable rewards for completing it. He had been given a recommendation to Tidmark's Knightly Order, and from what he deducted, it was going to be a great opportunity to train and gain some decent Guardian items and skills.

  “It's as if the game is tailoring itself to everyone's personality individually,” he said. “It's honestly insane.”

  I had to agree with that.

  The water stretched endlessly before us, the deep blue fading to darker shades when we got to open seas. The sunlight painted the surface of the ocean into bronze and gold.

  After a while, we sat down at one of the tables, and after a while, most of our friends had joined us.

  “This game's incredible,” Sylph said from my other side. “The detail work in it… I keep forgetting it's not actually real.”

  “Tell me about it,” Scale agreed. “I still feel my ribs hurting from my last match. Certainly helps the immersion.”

  Stone laughed. “Yeah, the system is really good at recreating long-time body aches. Should fade in an hour or two, but honestly?” He raised an eyebrow. “Last time I even felt some of my injuries after logging out.”

  Our crew had claimed the westernmost section of the main deck, spreading out among the various crates and barrels lashed down for the journey and a table flanked by comfortable benches. Other passengers dotted the boat; maybe sixty people total.

  I spotted several familiar faces scattered among them.

  Kaelith sat with Seraphina and Blue near the bow, his black and white daggers lying across his lap as he methodically spun them. Even in rest, he maintained that coiled readiness.

  Seraphina and Blue were engaged in what looked like an intense conversation. They weren't part of the same party, since the swashbuckler and the rogue were from Shadowreach, while, from what I heard, Blue was one of Athos's teammates, but it looked like they were getting along.

  That sent a chill down my spine.

  Kaelith and Seraphina joining up with the likes of Athos and Blue would be a terrifying combination. When the guild system comes alive…

  I didn't know what I wanted to do when the time came. I knew Ace and Cassie were making a guild in the Ravenbeak region, and the logical choice would be for me to join them.

  However, I wasn't sure I was ready to join another team. Not just because of the past, but because I was still out to sabotage Avalon in the long run. I wasn't sure I wanted to drag anyone down into that rabbit hole with me.

  Athos stood at the opposite rail, staring out at the horizon with that same calm expression he'd worn during our duel. A small group of Oakenlight players surrounded him, clearly fans asking questions about his build and techniques.

  And there, trying very hard to look inconspicuous in the corner was Lorrando with two of his Crimson Court buddies, talking to a lancer I assumed was ProDG from the tournament. Lorrando's gaze started to wander, and our eyes met briefly across the deck. He scowled and looked away.

  “At least he's keeping his distance,” Cyrus muttered next to me, following my gaze, and I shuddered. He should be a rogue if he can just creep up on people like that.

  He laughed at my reaction. “Sorry, did I startle you?” he asked. “Bad habit of mine.”

  “It's okay,” I said. “I was just deep in thought. You were saying?”

  “I said it's good that Lorrando wasn't stirring any trouble.”

  “Well, not at the moment.”

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  He nodded. “Last thing we need is drama in the middle of the ocean, after a day like this.”

  We looked at Scale appearing from below deck, carrying a wooden platter laden with food: bread, cheese, some kind of smoked fish, and what looked like pickled vegetables. “The galley's actually pretty well stocked! They even have beer and wine!” he said for the others, who settled into a loose circle around a table, already passing around food and drink as the boat cut through the waves.

  “Let's celebrate, then,” we heard Stone's voice, rising a mug towards us. “Orion's victory and Cyrus' third place deserves a proper tribute!”

  The mage bowed modestly.

  “By the way,” I said to Cyrus. “Where are the others?”

  “They were only level 15 this morning, so they decided to go to Tidemark on foot,” he answered. “Hit level 16 on the way.”

  “What are your plans for next week?” I continued. “Are you guys planning on forming a guild?”

  “Not sure, yet,” Cyrus said. “I don’t think I want to be Guild leader anymore. This game gave so much of my will for adventure back, I’d much rather do just that.”

  I completely understood what he meant by this. The forests, the villages, the rivers of Tidemark completely overwhelmed my sense of adventure, too. I felt like I was the protagonist of a classic fantasy novel.

  The world was beautiful in a much deeper sense than just saying it was nice to look at. The detail, the people, the lore. It was really hard not to get immersed in it. And who wouldn’t want to in the first place?

  “Still,” he continued. “Joining a Guild is probably going to be the most beneficial thing to do.”

  He looked at Scale who was arguing about something regarding his daggers with Sylph.

  “Our group had received many invitations this past week. Just now, in Oakenlight, I talked with Blue after our match, and by the looks of it, Athos is planning to aim for Guild Leader.”

  It made sense. Athos was one of the strongest players in Tidemark, with a big following and strong allies.

  According to the forums, players could join any Guild within their Kingdom, but they had to change their home region if they wanted to move to another one, so forming alliances will definitely be a region-first thing. Of course, guilds like Crimson Court were not only flooding all of the Silverwing forums, but were planning to advertise in the Kingdom-wide forum once it opens.

  Tidemark had a solid concentration of powerful adventurers. If Athos could gather the strongest players in the province, that would be an incredibly powerful core, and it would surely help him expand further into Silverwing.

  “You thinking about joining?" I asked the mage.

  “There are currently five Guilds on the forum that are strong candidates to become top guilds of the Silverwing region,” he said. “These are King’s Glade, Crimson Court, Midnight Sun, Stormfall and Oathkeepers.”

  I had seen all of their recruitment posts. Out of these five, King’s Glade and Crimson Court had way more followers than the other three.

  King’s Glade’s leader was a Swordsman called Phantom, currently in the province of the regional capital, Silverwing. Being so close to the capital was already a natural advantage, and from what I had seen, he was well respected and powerful.

  Crimson Court was led by a Berserker called Skull, and he was not too far from Tidemark, in the province of Salt Throne. Crimson Court already had hundreds of members prior to the game, so they had a head start in that regard. What was more worrying was that even in another province like Tidemark, Crimson Court had strong enough players, too.

  I remembered how the lancer ProDG fought against Athos; he was not half bad, from what I’ve seen. Crimson Court getting him would be a problem later on.

  “What are you guys talking about?” Stone stepped next to us with a mug of ale in his hand.

  “Guilds, mostly,” Cyrus said.

  “That’s exactly why I wanted to talk to you,” Stone replied. “Orion had already refused me once, but don’t get me wrong, the offer still stands for both of you.” He looked me in the eyes.

  “I would like both of you to join our Guild,” he said. “Our leader had already given me approval to invite whomever I find trustworthy. And with the two of you, there probably wouldn’t be any other guilds strong enough to challenge us.”

  “Really?” I was somewhat surprised. “What’s the name of your guild?”

  “King’s Glade,” he smiled. “Sure you saw us on the forums.”

  I was flabbergasted. “You’re in Phantom’s Guild?”

  “Sylph and I both,” he confirmed. “Phantom has been our Guild leader for over 10 years at this point.”

  “Wow.”

  I knew first hand how good Stone and Sylph were; definitely some of the more talented players I have met over the week. Still, for some reason I didn’t expect them to be so… up the food chain.

  “Thanks for the invitation,” Cyrus said. “I will talk about it with the party once we get to Tidemark.”

  “That’s all I’m asking,” Stone nodded. “And Orion,” he turned to me. “Just think about it, will you?”

  Why was I hesitating? I’m getting an invite from one of the strongest future Guilds in the whole Kingdom of Ravenloft, most likely. A Guild was a place for players to nurture their talent, get into raid groups, gather powerful equipment and grow stronger.

  And yet, as of this moment, I felt like that was not what my path was looking like.

  “I will,” I nodded.

  After a while, the three of us returned to our table, where the others were still talking about their experiences so far.

  “So,” Scale said, tearing off a piece of bread. “Everyone share their craziest moment from the first week. I’ll start: getting completely demolished by Kaelith in about two minutes during the tournament.”

  “That’s not crazy,” someone said, and I realized that others had joined our little crew as well. It was Rebecca, the rogue I had last seen at the Woe raid. “That’s just sad.”

  At first I thought it was meant to be an insult, but then the girl sat next to Scale and they bumped their mugs of ale together, and I realized she was just teasing him. It looks like they got to know each other during the couple minutes I had been at the edge of the boat.

  “Your turn then!” Scale laughed.

  She thought for a moment. “Probably when I went down to the Dryhollow mines for the first time. It was shortly after we killed the Woe of Riverhear. I was wandering for about two hours when I bumped into a huge corpse of a cave troll or something. It was definitely an elite.”

  “What’s crazy about that?” Sylph asked. “There are quite a few cave trolls in those mines; they are level 17-20 Elites. Some parties started hunting them yesterday.”

  “What’s crazy,” she said. “Was that the player who killed it was just leaving. And he was alone.”

  “It’s not that far-fetched to kill a level 17 Elite alone,” I said. “I did kill the level 18 Broodmother in the caves of Dusk Peak.”

  “You killed that?” Scale got pale. “We fought it yesterday. It felt like a nightmare. And kinda hard without Cyrus.”

  “Guys,” Rebecca chimed in once again. “This was right after we finished the Woe raid.”

  I suddenly understood what she meant by "crazy." “You mean to tell us someone had soloed a level 17+ Elite… when the biggest players were around level 11?”

  “Exactly.”

  ?? The Fall Of The Sea ??

  by JollyUmbrella

  On a small boat in the middle of unknown waters, a boy awakens with no memory of who he is or why he is at sea.

  What To Expect:

  - Complex character dynamics

  - Emotional backstories and arcs

  - Thoughtfully crafted world with rich culture and history

  - Powerful characters

  - Slight hints and possible romances

  - Awesome fight scenes

  - Long, plot-driven story with narrative twists

  Upload Schedule:

  Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday. UTC-5

  [SPECIAL] November 2025: Daily

  Accolades:

  [Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]