Wayward Fates — Nathan Cardwell

Doctor Orval Kwibee is faced with military encroachment upon his governmentally backed virtual flight simulator enhancement project. He devises a plan to salvage his career by using a special presentation to stave off a very insistent Colonel Hereford.

Kwibee offers a briefing that largely escapes the Colonel, owing to the latter's lack of technical prowess, and follows the briefing with a live demonstration. Here, the Colonel comes to realize that one of the many enhancements includes the vast alteration in one's perception of time while inside the virtual modifications. Another point of interest is the program's ability to reshape the memories and identities of the subject or subjects in any way that the program determines, so as to achieve its objectives.

Unfortunately, no one disengages the Infra-subliminal Bio-Optic Translator (IBOT) afterward. As a result, it is inadvertently commanded to initiate the executable for an online game that had previously been loaded by a junior assistant for research purposes. Once IBOT patches into the online gaming server, it quickly reroutes the connections of over a quarter-million players to its own enhanced version of the game, and then melds them with a newly structured role-playing environment of epic proportions. The story switches to this environment.

Not having planned for an extended stay at Port Dwergus, Squire Thistle did not foresee the need for provisions. This would have posed no problem, had he not been obliged by the letter of his own Council's edict to remain at his post until a certain tardy Warrior finally arrives. With no other viable options, Jester is forced to pilfer a few apples from a local bakery. Although this behavior stands in direct opposition to everything he has ever been taught, the threat of starvation triumphs over an irritating morality.

While returning to Arbitos, Corporal Borin Krue finds himself faced with the precariously unavoidable services of the Druid, Squire Jesterwolf Thistle, who continues to land Borin in an almost constant string of ill-fated circumstances. This includes incarceration owing to the theft of the apples, seduction by Jesterwolf's sister, and a most unfortunate introduction to her seven-foot tall Barbarian husband. Aside from those misadventures, his only real problems are that he's not who he thinks he is, and none of this is actually happening.

Intrigue and humor set the pace in this first novel of the Rendering Nirayel series. Corporal Krue becomes unwittingly entangled with a large number of friendly and non-friendly types of Faction, Class, Race, and Magic.