Episode 16: The Seventh Circle
Nexii nearly tripped over what seemed to be a pair of Iksars corpses on the way to the Middle City. Looking closer, she could see that they had been stitched and seared together like a human centipede, but by some powerful magic.
"Eww..." Nexii fake-gagged by holding her throat. "The only thing more gross than one Iksar is two. Or maybe it's just one now, I don't know."
"Two-boxer." Sirken explained briefly. "Anyways, the Middle City awaits us."
The pair made their way to the Middle City gate, where Llandris and Braknar stood guard.
"Welcome, what is your name Miss?" Llandris asked Nexii. The cleric recognized him, though the reverse didn't seem to be the case.
"Uhhh... ummm... I'd rather not say? I like my name as it is, I'd prefer to keep it that way?" Nexii said indignantly.
"It's Nexii Vanadis." Braknar said, getting right to it. "Sirken, you still haven't told her have you? You know it only gets worse from here on out."
"We're finishing this date. Even if you two were Jesus and Santa themselves, I'd tell her when I'm ready. This gate is going to open."
"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you." Braknar said, then releasing the seal that held the gate shut. The pair went inside, and Llandris re-sealed the gate behind them.
--
"Those two! So anyways, this part of the Red City has become more populated since the Great Renaming. It seems some players took advantage of the loophole created. I'll definitely have Unbrella look into closing it." Sirken started.
"So what then is worse than breaking server rules?" Nexii asked. She'd seen so many sins so far, and yet she couldn't seem to guess what the last ones could possibly be.
"Breaking social ones. Here we house players who have committed the sin of Fraud."
"Ooo, like corruption? I bet I could corrupt you..." Nexii teased.
"That, and thieves as well. Those that would steal from their own kind. Fraud is a much greater crime than a simple death setback. We're talking about stealing hours, even days, of other players efforts."
"I see. I can't say I've ever stolen anything. Well...nothing I wasn't told to take." Nexii crossed her fingers after saying it.
"My heart..." Sirken said to her, but was cut off with a finger put over his lips.
"I said already...I don't do romance." Nexii interrupted. "Now, let's just take a look around. We don't need to spoil this place by getting all l-l-l...listless at such weak emotions." She took the lead, and onwards they toured the Middle City. Nexii could see firstly officers of loot council guilds: <Bregan D`Aerth>, <Paradigm Shift>, <Rampage>. "You just know they skimmed a ton of items and platinum. PS would get so many more applicants if not for their loot policy. They could have been <Rustle> 2.0," Sirken just nodded at her comment, not wanting to re-open that old wound. Feeling her distraction, he took the opportunity to sneak a hand hold as she explored further.
"Caiu..." she whispered, seeing an Iksar yank a plethora of expensive items owned by <Aftermath> and <Awakened> off a pair of vendor NPCs.
"CAIU!" a powerful voice boomed, echoing so loud she had to hold her ears. The most successful thief P99 has known flopped over dead.
"I know that voice! It's Getsome. Funny though, Caiu never stole from us. I guess it works though. For a moment there I thought he was replying to me," She shrugged, knowing that soon the Iksar would respawn and the cycle would repeat.
Lastly she came to see the greatest fraudster near the entrance to the Inner City. It was Hyjal, a player who had duped an entire guild. Some would call it a collection of guilds even. His false prophesies led players into believing they could compete against the twin evil empires. "Lordbobunism. A failed economic experiment. We all know that nothing can compete against the free market of Retoxx bucks and whatever currency it is use over in <Tempest>." She knew this one was beyond hope. Despite the absolute failure and waste of efforts that <Lord BoB> had been, a babble of 'successes' such as "We saw Sevalak" was uttered in reply.
"Deluded...I suppose he defrauded himself, too." Nexii said, with only a fleeting twinge of pity.
"So what did you think?" Sirken asked, as they approached the final gate.
"Mmm, seeing all these players get justice is pretty hot. I kinda wish we were back in Neriak already. This place isn't really the best to...you know..." Nexii said, playing the coy game out.
"We're almost done. You won't be disappointed." Sirken promised, pointing to the final gate where a single arbiter stood.