John and Jacob considered themselves exceptionally lucky. Just the day before the worlds crashed into Zen, they had been in the city. From what they had heard, the city was probably crushed by the new world, the one they were now living on. Otherwise, it was trapped in the void without power. Being trapped in a city that was slowly loosing air was not how they wanted to go. Granted, they didn’t really know how they wanted to go, but it probably involved copious amounts of drinks, however it was. The fact that a local small-time crime lord ran them out of town had turned out to be a real blessing to them. In the time since then they had often honoured him with a toast, despite having long forgotten his name.
The brothers strongly resembled each other, to the point of being mistaken for twins, despite there being an age difference. They also got along very well, which seemed to add to the common mistake. They both knew their own strengths, knew also that neither had a single bone in their body willing to put in a hard day's work, and used any advantage they could get to get by. When a white flash of light engulfed the world, and words and coloured bars appeared over their gruff, dishevelled, deep brown hair, they each found themselves with new abilities that they hadn’t possessed before.
John became a bartender and Jacob was a gambler. They knew why they had those classes; it was their roles in their usual scam. John would get the mark too drunk to think straight, and Jacob would fleece them for all they were worth. Naturally they would cheat; they assumed that all games were rigged in the first place and it was only fair that from time to time the games be rigged in their favour. A drunken mark wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between them, and that really made cheating easier.
The pair did their best to avoid hard work, through there were none the less days where they did nothing but run from guards, that left their skin sun-browned and scarred. The weather-worn bodies also gave them an air of reliability to the common people they targeted; 'we weren't wolves, just sheep like the rest of you'.
Another blessing that came from the flash of light was an influx of gullible, strong people. They were strange people that acted oddly and called themselves players. They didn't seem to have any sense of consequences, like they were children discovering the world for the first time. It was truly great luck for them. The brothers were in no way strong looking, and they had disarming smiles. Strong people looked down on them, and the players seemed to think that the “enpeesees”, what they called anyone that wasn't a part of their player gang, wouldn’t trick them.
They quickly discovered that anything could be bet against a gambler. Not just money and items, players would bet strange things, even somewhat abstract things, like strength, health and abilities. It was an unmatchable sensation when he first felt his strength instantly grow. Although his body didn’t change, he found himself suddenly able to lift far more. They were a team, however, so half of what he gained he intentionally lost to his brother. After they first experienced it, they noticed; the players were far stronger than normal people. Not only were they monsters that could shed their bodies and come back from the dead, they were each stronger than a normal person at the same level. The crowning part of the ability was when they started to bet years of life. By the time the light had flashed, they were already old men. Year by year, they slowly won time back from their marks, until they were both strapping young men in their early twenties again. Unlike their first time in that age, they had wisdom and other people's strength.
Beasts and monsters were bad enough, but now the world was being covered with demons. Jacob swallowed that thought, and gave a charming smile to the female beast across the table from him. She was a player. She was a swordswoman, a fighter prestige class that was restricted to women. John had been drinking with her for most of the night, and she was defiantly starting to lose her footing. John, with a light a light tone, spoke around topics until the woman brought up the idea of gambling, as if it were her own idea and not something he was getting her to say. With drinks and flattery, most people could be kept in a conversation long enough to make a fool of themselves.
That was one way they liked to reduce the risk. They were never the one to suggest gambling. When the idea was brought up, they would act apprehensive, like they didn’t think it was a good idea, like they were concerned friends who didn't want to see their new acquaintance harmed. If, once they sobered up, they realised they’d lost everything, there would be witnesses to say that it was their own stupid idea, and the brothers were against it. It didn’t always work, some marks were sharper than others, but there was always running when that failed.
The bartender class was also a useful one. The more they drank, the stronger their abilities got, though they couldn’t survive alcohol poisoning any more than anyone else. Furthermore, John found that he suddenly knew a form of martial arts that he hadn’t previously known. He could also adjust the temperature of any nearby flame to a perfect brewing temperature. Brewing drinks also took unnaturally small amounts of time. Not that he was complaining, the more they had, the more they could sell.
They had renovated a horse drawn cart, which they had won, into a moving tavern with an opening wall with seats that would fold out. The labour on the renovations was also something they won. They travelled between camps and settlements, amassing whatever those places had for themselves or avoiding anything resembling law enforcement. Before long, the brothers were as strong, smart, charismatic and fast as twelve men and possessed a cabinet filled with a variety of weapons and armours, all of which they had a strange understanding of how they were used. Their levels, however, was still only fifteen, as the brothers preferred running over fighting and having a high level might scare away players. They only reached that level through the repeated use of their skills.
Recently, players had started to approach Jacob, entirely sober, and gamble with him. They would say something like, “Hey, look, it’s a gambling mini-game.” He wasn’t sure what they meant, and it was riskier to play against sober players. For some reason, they would almost always buy a drink beforehand if he told them to. He overheard them say, “Oh, a quest requirement, huh? That sounds good, then.” He wasn’t sure what they meant there either, but he was more than willing to assume that it was probably just another pointless thing players did. After all, he wasn’t one to turn down a free lunch, and the people that approached him like that were the plumpest sacks of coins on legs he had ever seen.
John was also happy with the situation, normally he would contribute to Jacob’s business, but now Jacob was adding to his; and business was good. Most players seemed to not care about the quality of the drink, and several times he had watered down the drinks to the point where it was more water than drink, and without being noticed. There were a few that demanded high quality drinks, but those were mostly just trying to look good for the people around them, and would pay a heavy premium for that vanity. One time, there was a particularly vulgar player pulling that act, and John served him the same drink as everyone else. After all his demands and posturing, he hadn’t even noticed. Of course Jacob took everything he had before they left town.
After leaving town, they approached a forest. There was apparently a thriving player camp on the other side, and they were making the decision on whether to go through or around. They weren’t in any rush and they had plenty of ill-gotten supplies, so they wouldn’t have any problems if they did go around. There were also fearsome beasts, and dangerous bandits, in there, so there was a point against going through it.
The only real reason they were considering it was a rumour they overheard. The rumour said the forest had been blessed, that it was being protected by a pair of unmatchable beautiful angels. They had survived a long time by listening to rumours, and there was a chance to profit if there really were angels. From what they knew about angels, they were pure and powerful creatures. If Jacob could use that purity against them, he could take their power. Better still if they could be captured or convinced to come with them. Having beauties around would add to their distraction and increase their earnings.
The decision came down to whether they’d trust the rumours or not. As they were making that decision, a pair of cute women left the forest. One was a tall, pale, blond with soft features, blue eyes and a heavy bag. The other was a short, tanned woman, with long black hair and piercing green eyes. Jacob was a little disappointed by them, as he preferred women with large breasts, though they were well within John’s strike zone. As they walked by, John called out to them.
“Pardon me, ladies, but did you happen to see the angels that are supposed to be living in there?”
The looked at each other and gave a shrug. The blond was the one to reply, with a voice a sweet as honey, “No, we haven’t seen anything like that. We were in there for over a week, also. Are you sure you have the right place, that sounds way too high level for this place?”
John sighed to himself and thanked the pair, passing them a bottle of one of his nicer meads, and then the brothers set off around the forest. If a pair of cute girls couldn’t see the angels after a week in there, there wasn’t a chance that the roguish brothers would bump into them while just passing through.
Somewhat disappointed, the brothers opened a bottle of good ale and passed the time as the made their way to the oddly named Fred’s Discount Swords.
