“Reputations in the cities and towns of New Era of Man Online carried a great deal of nuance. The greater the difference in rank between two people the more one could get away with before the guards were called. Physical contact was forbidden unless you were a higher rank. If you were lower rank, even verbal provocations could land you inside the town prisons for a lengthy and unwanted stay.”

  From “How to Behave with your Betters”

  Year 1, Month 1, Day 27: 16:00

  Torgon left Miller’s Crossing to return to Carter’s Bluff. He arranged for other players to sneak into the remaining starting towns to execute his plan. Risk of Injury would break the stranglehold that the Young Master’s Alliance had on players in the other starting zones and it would be the first step towards crushing them permanently. He kept his stealth skill active as he ran the distance between Miller’s Crossing and Carter’s Bluff.

  Nearing the city Torgon slowed. He crept along the sides and between groups to minimize the chances of being noticed. Members of the Young Master’s Alliance checked the gates into town, charging their tolls on people that didn’t belong to the groups. Torgon slipped into a group of returning adventurers and avoided the notice of the guards. Once inside the city he oriented himself towards the marketplace and prepared to put his plan into action.

  Torgon noted the constant overbearing presence of different guild members belonging to the alliance standing around in town. They moved down the streets and expected all others to make way for them. The market was mostly dead, only few players visiting the approved stalls and paying rates that were too expensive. He dropped his stealth to rent a series of stalls on the edge of the market with copious amounts of open space around them.

  The thugs working for the Heirs of Destiny watched him move towards his freshly rented space with malice in their eyes. A bystander waved desperately to him and Torgon stepped to the man. He spoke in rapid hushed tones, “You must be new here. Nobody that isn’t a part of their alliance is allowed to rent any stall space. If you do, they’ll hunt you down outside and they won’t let anyone shop there. Just walk away and pretend it was a mistake or that you didn’t know.”

  Torgon shook his head, “It’s ok. I know exactly what I’m doing. Thank you for the warning and I truly appreciate it. I’m not here to avoid trouble though, I’m here to start trouble.”

  The man gawked, his mouth hanging open in disbelief. He watched Torgon stride arrogantly towards the stalls and rushed off to gather his friends. Whatever happened, he knew that it would be exciting.

  Torgon whistled to himself as he set up various goods at the stalls. Crowds began to gather to watch and see how the new guy would get manhandled by the people that controlled Carter’s Bluff. Hundreds of players watched from spaces nearby, not close enough to be mistaken for shoppers, but near enough to enjoy the drama. A couple of dozen large angry men moved towards Torgon and stood in front of his series of stalls. Their leader moved forward and pointed a finger at Torgon.

  He spoke, “Close this down. You’re not allowed to have a stall here.”

  Torgon stopped, looked around with wide eyes, moving his head in an exaggerated fashion, “I’m not allowed? I don’t see a sign. The NPC over there happily rented it to me. I don’t quite get it.”

  The man growled, his features etched with fury, “Only members of the Young Master’s Alliance can rent stalls and sell goods in this town. You don’t belong to the group and aren’t allowed.”

  Torgon smiled broadly and opened his hands wide to indicate the space, “There has to be some sort of mistake gentlemen. There are plenty of open stalls. Surely you aren’t going to deprive the mayor his rightful revenue and prevent honest traders from opening up in the city.”

  The man stepped forward and jabbed his finger into Torgon’s chest. “Shut your smart mouth before I shut it for you.”

  Torgon clicked his tongue, tsking the man in front of him. “Now you’ve done it.” Torgon changed his openly displayed title to that of Knight Errant of the Order of the Sun and Rose. “Guards! I have been assaulted by this man and these thugs with him. I demand that he be arrested and thrown into the jail.”

  City guards appeared and quickly grabbed the stunned man. “You can’t do this, This is our City!”

  The guard slapped cuffs on the man and looked coldly at him. “You laid hands on a Knight. You are lucky that I don’t just kill and exile you." The city guardsmen dragged the man and his compatriots away none too gently.

  Torgon leapt atop the stall and raised his voice to carry, “Come one, come all! I have the solution to your troubles. My name is Torgon and I am the guild master of Risk of Injury. We reside in Miller’s Crossing. In that city, everyone is free to use the market stalls, free to hunt the lands and gather as they please. No one has to pay a toll to the spoiled offspring of modern robber barons. The town is free and everyone can advance freely.”

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  A heckler yelled, “That’s great you nonce but we’re here and that’s there and nobody can make it there!”

  Torgon brought his index finger to his lips in an exaggerated gesture, “Oh no, you’re right! But wait! What if I told you that there’s a way and an easy way at that to change the starting zone you’re tied to!”

  “That’s bull! If it was easy, why would we stay here,” the man replied.

  The crowd kept growing as word spread of the thugs being arrested and Torgon openly defying the de facto player masters of the city. Torgon let his eyes move between the crowds, certain that his message would be spreading like wildfire. “There is a way and it’s quite simple. If you join a guild that has an established guild base in a different city, you can link your house to the guild, and it shifts your tied location to that guild’s starting zone. Even better, you can then leave freely if you don’t wish to stay and voila, you’re now an independent player in a starting zone that isn’t controlled by the reincarnation of a mafia run by Fredo’s!”

  The man scoffed, “And you’re going to offer this to us out of the goodness of your own heart? What’s the catch?”

  Torgon grinned wildly, knowing that he had them now. “It’s not out of the goodness of my heart, nay sir. It is out of the hatred in my heart, the burning desire to punish the Young Master’s Alliance. Anyone that wants out of this hell hole can join Risk of Injury, then leave it and start fresh. You can even stay if you want, we’ll have information on what all you can do in the guild and how we work, but mostly, I want to free you from being slaves in all but name to these asshats.”

  The rush towards the stall surprised Torgon. He thought it would take longer or there would be more skepticism, but he underestimated just how bad things were. In less than 10 minutes, more than 100 players had joined the guild to transfer out of Carter’s Bluff. Crowds pushed forward and formed as he began approving transfers as fast as he could. He quickly paid a few others to man spots in the stalls and accept applications. Hundreds of players flooded into Miller’s Crossing. The floods became a raging torrent as the other agents of the guilds arrived in the remaining starter zones and opened the application process. While the other players weren’t knights, the guild as a whole had standing with the Order of the Sun and Rose, preventing them from being openly harassed by the Young Master’s Alliance.

  Torgon took the time to wave at the glaring representatives of the group that he was stealing unwilling workers from. The initial rush of players abated, and the location was staffed for applicants. He took the time to walk to the heavily armed group waiting for him to leave. He gave them a butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth smile and asked, “Did you need me for something? Perhaps you wanted to take me to talk to your leader?”

  It took a second for the man to reply, something in his brain short-circuiting, “Yes. You have to come talk to the Maiden.” He reached out to grab Torgon but stopped short, remembering how the guards had arrested the others earlier and knowing that he couldn’t be rough.

  Torgon stood straight and said, “I’ll come with you, but you have to say the magic word.”

  A puzzled expression came over the man’s face, “The magic word?” Another man in the group, tugged on his sleeve and then whispered into the man’s ear. A complicated expression of anger, incredulity and sheer awe at Torgon’s attitude crossed the man’s face before he uttered a single word, “Please?”

  Torgon smiled in a more genuine way and said, “Lead on my good man. I am eager to see what the Midnight Maiden would like to say to me.”

  They led him through the streets in a procession of nearly one hundred armed men until they arrived at one of the fancier NPC restaurants. They ushered Torgon inside and he spotted the Midnight Maiden quietly eating at a table in the back. He sauntered to the table, pulled out a chair, spun it around and sat down, leaning his arms over the back of the chair with an insouciant grin on his face.

  She eyed him coldly, taking another carefully cut bite of her steak before speaking, “What am I to do with you? You’re a thorn in the side of my group and you’re pretending to be something you’re not.”

  Torgon’s smile grew broader, “What I am pretending to be Cassie?”

  Her knife clattered to the table in surprise, “John? How are you here? You can’t even play anymore. You’re too, well, old and injured.”

  He shrugged, “Things can change and that’s one of those things that’s no longer a constant if you have the right connections.”

  She swore loudly then glared at him, “You always did make my life a hell of a lot harder than it needed to be. What do you want? What’s it going to take for you to walk away from the Young Master’s Alliance and never darken my doorstep again?”

  Torgon raised his hand to his chest in a gesture of mock hurt, “Times change, but I guess some people don’t. I’m one of those people. There is nothing that the Young Master’s Alliance or any of the little shits you’re working with can offer me. The best thing you could do is to convince them of the error of their ways and make them into something approaching a decent human being and not an utter waste of space. I’m too old to bother trying to play nice anymore. I don’t have to dance on eggshells and even better, I have support. I’m here out of politeness and to pass that message along.”

  The Midnight Maiden glared daggers at Torgon before speaking in icy tones, “Your opinion of yourself was always much higher than the reality. You ran away after your accident, and it won’t take long to make you run away again. I will make sure that they crush you and everyone associated with you underfoot and grind you into dust.”

  He reached over, snagging her glass of wine and tossed it back. “It’s been nice catching up with you Cassie. I’d say I’ve missed you, but we both know my aim is too good to miss you.”

  She stood up and gestured at the door. “go to Hell and get out of my city. We’ll be coming for you John.”

  He rose and casually walked to the exit before pausing, “Goodbye Cassie. It won’t be the first time you’ve thrown in your lot with a dud, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Run while you can.” He ducked out of the door as a glass smashed against the wall near his head. He grinned wildly as he sprinted towards the exit of the city at full speed and immediately dropped into stealth. The best advice from his youth echoed in his head as he deftly avoided the patrols. “Never start a fight and never lose a fight.” Torgon felt the embers of his soul stir into a blazing inferno. He had a clear goal and a clear purpose, and he could let himself be free once more.