Date: 2000-01-01 05:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Military Fiction; Science Fiction; Fiction; Role Playing Games; Adventure; Action; War; Science Fiction Fantasy
Description: Placed in an experimental medpod controlled by an advanced artificial intelligence, 93-year-old Colonel James Raytak continues the fight to repair his failing body. Leading his forces inside the game of Limitless Lands is helping the AI to heal his mind, but new threats are looming on the horizon. Forces both in and out of the game have begun their plans of conquest. Colonel Raytak must rely on his soldiers, his friends, and decades of real-world combat experience to face these new challenges. Find out who will rise to conquer in Limitless Lands Book 2: Conquest!

Limitless Lands

Book 2

Conquest

A LitRPG Adventure by

Dean Henegar

Copyright © 2018 by Dean Henegar

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN: Pending

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Dedication

Prelude:

Hayden’s Knoll Map 1

Book 1 Recap:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Hayden’s Knoll Map 2

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Hayden’s Knoll Map 3

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Afterword

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the members of the United States armed forces that served in the Vietnam conflict. My generation’s time in the service was much different than the one which the Vietnam era soldiers faced.

My generation volunteered for service. Many of us joined due to our love of country, patriotism still rings true for many Americans. Many of us joined for the college benefits or work experience.

We came home to cheering crowds and people saying, “thank you for your service” when they saw us in uniform. The VA offered decent care for our injuries, both physical and mental. Many stores offered us a veteran’s discount. The movie and TV industries were quick to cash in on the positive feelings toward the military as shows and movies portrayed veterans in a positive light. Employers gave us hiring preference.

The Vietnam era veterans were drafted, having no choice but to put their own lives on hold while they faced the horrors of war. When the Vietnam veterans came home there were no cheering crowds, only disdain or even physical violence against them due to the uniform they wore.

They faced a VA system that didn’t know what to do with them, denying them care for the serious physical and mental scars they came home with. The media portrayed veterans as crazy and evil. They showed veterans as people who should be looked at with fear and loathing. Many employers wanted nothing to do with them, denying them even the chance to earn a living

Through all of this they did their duty, and in doing so, helped create a better experience for the future generations of soldiers. So much of what I’ve experienced in my military service that was positive, is because of what those that went before me endured.

Thank you.

Prelude:

I am the Infantry—Queen of Battle! For two centuries I have kept our Nation safe, purchasing freedom with my blood. To tyrants, I am the day of reckoning; to the oppressed, the hope for the future. Where the fighting is thick, there am I. I am the Infantry! Follow me!

Portion of a poem displayed in Fort Benning, GA

Hayden’s Knoll Map 1

Book 1 Recap:

I would recommend you read book 1 before starting book 2. It is available here http://www.amazon.com/dp/b07g7gwffl on Amazon. Should you decide not to, or if it has been some time since you have read book 1, here is a quick recap of what has happened.

The year is 2085 and great strides have been made in technology and gaming. Virtual Reality games are now the most popular form of entertainment in the world. The top Virtual Reality (VR) gaming company, Qualitranos, has launched its newest title, Limitless Lands. Limitless Lands is the first VR game to be controlled by an advanced Artificial Intelligence.

Qualitranos and the medical device corporation, Meditronax, have co-developed a state-of-the-art life support medpod for critically ill patients. The AI used in the Limitless Lands game is also used to control the medpods, administering medication and controlling experimental nanobots. While they are treated, the AI creates a comforting virtual environment for the patient to experience.

The first Medpod is used on one of the last remaining combat veterans in the United States. Colonel James Raytak was days away from death and his 93-year-old body and mind were fading fast. Colonel Raytak is signed up for the program by his son, Trey, who also works for Qualitranos and heads the team developing the medpod. The test is a success and the patient is improving daily with the care of the AI. What the parties involved didn’t know is that the AI was having trouble restoring damaged memories. The AI needed more data to rebuild the difficult-to-recreate personal memory of its patient. In order to get more data, the AI ports Raytak into the Limitless Lands game to monitor his responses while he plays. Raytak unlocks the unique commander class in game and enjoys playing, leading his fantasy army against various foes.

Raytak makes friends with several other players in the game, including an aspiring Paladin named Jacoby Stone, a 10-year-old kid playing the halfling druid Yendys, the halfling rangers Drake and Quimby, and finally Delling, who is playing another unique class…town mayor. Raytak assists mayor Delling in defending and helping to rebuild the town of Hayden’s Knoll after it is destroyed by a player guild called the Bloody Blades.

The group fights off other players, goblins, an evil corrupted dryad, and eventually a group of giant spiders led by a boss creature named Vhareax the Fangweb Sire. During the battle with the spiders, Raytak’s forces are nearly destroyed as they defended some goblin miners near the town. His last few units are saved by another player bringing in reinforcements at the last minute. This new player turns out to be Ty, Raytak’s roommate in the VA hospital who has also been accepted as the second test subject in the medpod program. Ty, who is an old combat veteran Marine gunnery sergeant, knows little about gaming, but he does have a lifetime of experience in real combat. The two old soldiers proceed with their quest to play the game, while the AI attempts to repair their damaged minds and bodies. Just at the end of book 1, a discovery is made by Lou, the head tech assigned to the medpod project. Lou discovers that the AI has, without their knowledge, ported the 2 patients into the game. Lou calls Trey in the middle of the night to give him the news…

Chapter 1

Trey was still half awake as he held the phone to his ear, unsure if what he was hearing from his friend Lou was real, or the remnant of a dream he hadn’t quite woken up from yet.

“Your call woke me up Lou. Tell me again, what’s going on with my father?” Trey asked in a groggy voice.

“Trey, the AI Clio…she’s ported your dad and Mr. Ty into the game! I just logged off from watching them for nearly an hour on my admin gear,” Lou stated.

“Lou, I would ask if you’re serious, but I know you wouldn’t wake me up in the middle of the night if you weren’t. How is this possible? The Medpods aren’t connected to the game and Clio is only supposed to be creating a comforting environment for them. How is it that my dad and Mr. Ty are even able to understand what’s going on? They’ve both been completely out of it for years. I know the Medpod is good, but there is no way their minds are repaired enough to play the game,” Trey said, unwilling to believe it, but hopeful that what Lou was telling him was correct. If his dad was in the game and functioning normally, Trey could go into game and talk with him for the first time in over a decade. What he wouldn’t give to just see his dad healthy, even if it was in a VR game.

“I don’t know how she’s doing it, but I saw your dad and he was…well, your dad. He’s playing a unique class called the commander class that lets him lead troops. I watched as he was kicking some butt, ordering soldiers against a giant spider boss. Right next to him was Mr. Ty, who was pretty much what he was in real life, a deadly one-armed killing machine. I’ll get my admin gear back on. If you use your gear from home, I’ll port you over to where your dad is,” Lou stated, knowing Trey would jump right in to try and find his father. Trey’s VR gear at home was a regular commercial model, while Lou had the admin gear at the office he was in. The admin gear was one of the few ways that employees of Qualitranos could search the game for bugs and hacks without the AI’s knowledge or interference. They needed a way to access the AI should its files become hacked or corrupted.

Trey ended the call with Lou and ran to his office where the VR gear was stored. He tried to be quiet in order to not wake his family, cringing as his shaking hands dropped the VR helmet. The helmet clacked loudly as it hit the wood floor, bouncing twice before Trey could grab it again. Taking a few deep breaths, Trey tried to calm himself as he waited to see if the noise had woken up his wife or daughter. Once certain he hadn’t disturbed his sleeping family, Trey placed the VR helmet on his head and entered Limitless Lands.

The Limitless Lands loading animations began, showing scenes of the game. The camera swept over tranquil farmlands and a large castle was displayed in the background. Fantasy creatures engaged in combat with players, while a dragon belched fire. The dragon’s fiery breath filled the screen as the logo resolved.

Limitless Lands

Trey didn’t load into the Inn of the Flopping Frog, which was where he had logged out the last time he was in the game. While he watched, the screen went blank and system prompts appeared in his field of vision.

Login intercept subroutine complete.

Reroute <mainchar> to alternate location.

Spawn Location selected <Commencement Commissary///subaltloc 7?#>

Processing…

Processing…

Trey found himself standing in the Commencement Commissary, the location where new players selected their character, class, and skills. The building resembled an old-time general store and was stocked to the rafters with adventuring gear, weapons, clothing, and various glowing magical items. Across the counter from Trey was a dapper looking gnome in a black 1920’s style suit with an impressive handlebar moustache. The gnome peered at him though his monocle and then tuned his head, shouting toward where a curtain concealed the only other room in the building.

“Hello, your guests have arrived!” The gnome shouted in a surprisingly loud voice considering his diminutive size.

“Finley, be so kind as to send him back here please,” the voice of an older woman replied. Trey stood there trying to get his bearings as Finley opened the curtain behind him for Trey to enter. Trey walked into the back room, silently hoping that Lou was watching and getting ready to port him to his father. Inside the room, an old woman was sitting in a rocking chair next to a small wooden table. She motioned for Trey to take the seat across from her. Trey sat down and then began to get angry, realizing that the old woman in front of him was not another npc and was indeed one of the avatars of the AI Clio.

“Clio, I would like to think there is an explanation for all this. You’ve exceeded your programming parameters and ported my father and Mr. Ty into the game! How dare you do that and not tell me…I mean…Qualitranos what you were doing,” Trey fumed as he contemplated what the impact on the company would be if they had to destroy what appeared to be a rogue AI. One of the greatest fears the company had when they were developing the game technology, was that of an AI going rogue. Too many years of bad sci-fi movies had led everyone to believe an autonomous AI would inevitably turn on its creators. Multiple failsafe protocols had been installed into the system, all of which Trey had access to as a division director. Trey could just say, think, or type a few random phrases he had memorized, and the program would be shutdown.

“I apologize for not notifying you sooner. I wanted to have better hard data to present before letting you know about the total treatment protocol I have developed for the patients under my care,” Clio stated while sipping on a cup of lemon scented tea that had appeared in her hand.

“Treatment for your father has been going well, as I’m sure you know. His physical impairments are improving almost daily. The one segment of his treatment that is proving most difficult to treat it his mind…to be specific, his memory. Your father’s mind was severely degraded, and while I have been able to repair a good portion of the damaged brain tissue, his memories are a different story. Think of it as a hard drive with multiple sectors deleted. I can try to rebuild the lost data, but to do so I need to cross reference the data from other experiences.” Clio took another sip before starting again, gesturing toward another cup of tea that had appeared on the table in front of me…blueberry tea this time, which was my favorite.

“The uncorrupted sectors of memory that your father retained, housed much of his youth, early life, and military career. The most heavily damaged sectors are those containing the memories of his family members and loved ones. I postulated that by adding the stimulation of in-game experiences, I could cross reference those memories and utilize that data to accurately rebuild the missing sectors. Your father’s mind was too damaged to function in the game and, despite the repairs I have already completed, he remained in a non-responsive state. I found a way around this by adding a tiny fraction of my processing power to make up for lost brain function. Your father was doing well initially, back to the same baseline I would expect for someone in his condition, when we hit a setback.

As I repaired his first personal memory, a memory of you as a baby by the way, he had an emotional crisis. This crisis caused a cascade effect, permanently deleting a few memories. To prevent this from happening again I have been suppressing memories of his family until total repairs can be completed. Once I have fully completed repairs, I will be able to unlock the memories all at once, which will allow your father to access them as if he had never lost them. I am still some time away from completing repairs, and if I had allowed you to appear before him in-game…well, the results would likely be disastrous for your father’s mental health. Please do not try to visit or contact him directly. It will most likely result in the permanent deletion of the unrepaired sectors. The one exception to this problem has been Mr. Ty, who has joined him in the game. It appears that since his friendship with Mr. Ty was recent and not as ingrained as a family member, the meeting of the two of them was not overly traumatic. In fact, the two of them teaming up in-game has created a beneficial effect for both patients,” Clio finished, as she waited for Trey’s response.

Trey could understand the logic of what Clio was saying, but to know that his father was like his old self in-game and that he couldn’t talk to him was going to be torture for Trey. He came to the realization that he had to hold off from even telling his family that his father was in-game; his daughter Lauren would not be able to contain herself and would contact him in-game at the first opportunity. She had never known her grandfather, save for seeing him in his vegetative state. Lauren had read the stories of his exploits in the wars and saw him as her personal hero. To meet him in a game would be a dream come true for her. Trey felt tears burning in his eyes as he responded to Clio.

“I think I understand what you have done to try and treat my father. I assume I can watch my father remotely through the admin VR gear and at least see how he’s doing? What would happen if he were revived back in the hospital? Could we talk to him there in real life?” Trey asked choking back emotion.

“To answer your questions, your father would still be oblivious to everything around him in the real world without my processing power filling in the blanks, something I can only manage in-game. If you’re using the admin gear, you can observe him as much as you like. His in-game name is just Raytak. I again apologize for not calculating accurately the emotional impact this would have on you. Emotion is too erratic and randomized for me to analyze accurately. I will now include his memory recovery in the medical status updates I provide daily. I would like to add that I think you will be impressed with what your father has accomplished in-game. He is progressing nicely and has even made several friends with the other players. He is not alone in there,” Clio said as she finished her tea, a hint she felt the conversation was over.

“I have to report this to management and I have no idea how they’ll respond to what’s happened. I’m sure Lou will give you the update once we have the results of the meeting,” Trey said as he began to logout, anxious to head into the office, even at this late hour. He needed to let Lou know what had happened, as well as get his hands on some admin gear asap.

Chapter 2

I turned away from the blue portal in front of me, looking back at my forces as they policed up the remnants of the last battle. I had lost most of my troops fighting Vhareax the Fangweb Sire, a unique giant spider. The creature would have killed the rest of my troops and sent me to the spawn point multiple times, if my friend Ty hadn’t shown up in the nick of time. Ty had charged into the chamber we were fighting in, leading replacement forces into the battle. I had now been in-game for several weeks, staying in-game almost constantly while the AI attempts to heal me inside the experimental medpod.

Our group stepped into the portal, needing to deal with whatever threats were on the other side before something else came pouring out to attack the town. I had one squad of ten soldiers join us, as well as a section of five of the advanced soldiers that Sergeant Ty had led in earlier. The rest of my depleted forces would need to stay behind to protect the town and to make sure the negotiations between the goblin miners and the town didn’t turn hostile. We stepped through the portal and entered the dream-like state that occurs when in a transition field. A familiar and unpleasant voice began again in my head.

“Plant-killer and life-stealer… release me now!” The Foul Spore Dryad shrieked directly into my mind. The foul spore was a walnut sized seed that I acquired after we had killed a creature called the Foul Spore Dryad during our journey to the town of Hayden’s Knoll. The dryad had corrupted animals and plant life, converting the living beings into fertilizer for her foul-smelling forest. I had no intentions of freeing the creature to begin her reign of terror once more…not to mention that keeping the foul spore gave me some much-needed stat buffs.

“Not going to happen, Foul Spore Dryad. By the way, do you have a name, or should I keep calling you Foul Spore Dryad?” I asked while watching the timer for the portal counting down. She could only bother me for another forty seconds or so.

“I had a name once long ago…you may call me…Tessel. Torment me no longer, dreamless one. I yearn to be free. I offer a lifepact to neither harm you, nor those you command, if only you will set me free,” Tessel pleaded. It seemed she remembered her original Dryad name from before she became corrupted. Her pleading was sad, but she was far too dangerous, even with a lifepact. The lifepact oath in Limitless Lands was the most powerful oath one could swear. To break it would instantly mark you as hostile to all sentient beings as you slowly and painfully died over the course of several days.

“Sorry Tessel, I can’t take the chance of you running loose in the world again, even with a lifepact,” I said as the countdown finished.

We transitioned to find ourselves in a tunnel that appeared to be a continuation of the goblin mine shafts, despite being on the other side of a portal. The tunnel was wide enough for two people to walk side by side and there were lit torches placed every twenty feet, casting a dim and flickering light. The tunnel curved slightly, preventing us from seeing more than a few yards in front of us at any one time. As we cautiously walked down the tunnel, a system prompt flashed in front of me.

You have entered the Fangweb Mines Dungeon

That explained the transition portal. The goblin mines were connected to a dungeon, the first one I’d seen since I started the game.

“What’s a dungeon, Raytak? Are there some prisoners we need to free or something?” Sergeant Ty asked. The system prompt had flashed for him as well. Ty, in real life, was my roommate from the VA hospital. He had been selected as the second person to be treated in the Medpod program. He was a retired Marine and had never been a gamer.

“I don’t think this will be a rescue mission, Ty. A dungeon is usually an area that is created for each group that enters…if some other players were to enter right now they would be playing in their own separate instance of the dungeon and we wouldn’t see them. These places usually have much tougher creatures and much better rewards than things out in the regular game world. Many players focus exclusively on clearing out dungeons repeatedly for the loot. We’ll need to stay on our toes and be prepared to retreat if we run into anything too powerful for our forces,” I replied.

Ty helped to organize the troops by placing half of the standard soldiers in the front, the advanced scouts in the middle, and the other half of the standard troops in the rear. I placed myself up front with the first section, while Ty placed himself at the rear. With weapons and shields ready, we made our way down the tunnel. Several of the soldiers grabbed torches from the wall sconces as we passed, holding them in their shield hand.

After about fifty yards, the tunnel opened into a large cavern. The cavern was nearly fifty yards wide and two hundred yards long. Mining equipment and still smoking forges were scattered about. Patches of webbing were draped here and there over the walls and ceiling. Nothing moved. The quiet cavern was eerie. Only the rattling of our gear and the sounds of our footsteps broke the silence. This was strange…usually you get some trash mobs at the start of a dungeon, giving the players a chance to work out any kinks in their group without too difficult of an encounter. As we moved forward, I had the scouts take position in the middle of the cavern, covering us with their crossbows. I had the remainder of our forces broken up into two groups. Sergeant Ty took one section of soldiers and I took the other, using hand signals to let him know we would sweep the walls for any foes. One of the soldiers with me burned away a patch of web with his torch, which revealed the desiccated corpse of a goblin miner.

We made our way through the cavern, burning the webs as we went. Eventually, the cleared out webbing revealed two doorways. One doorway was at the back of the cavern and one was located on the side my group was on, positioned near a large forge. One of the soldiers kicked open the door to reveal what looked like a storage room with a high ceiling. Webs hung down and the room was stuffed with more oversized mining equipment. We moved into the chamber, alert to any dangers. As the first soldier moved into the room, his head brushed against some of the long web strands dangling from the ceiling. The soldier began to scream and swipe at the webbing as it hit his exposed face. More strands dropped over the soldier and he was pulled off his feet, slowly being reeled up toward the dark ceiling.

“Burn off the webs! Watch the ceiling!” I ordered, while signaling to the closest soldier with a torch. The soldier began to burn off the webs. The dangling strands had a moist, sticky gel all over them that caught fire easily. Before he could make much headway, a large shape dropped from the ceiling onto one of the soldiers trying to free his injured comrade. Focusing on our foe, its description was revealed.

Starving Fangweb Fisher, Level 3: The Fangweb Fisher is an ambush predator, waiting for unsuspecting prey to brush against its dangling webs. Their webbing is not only extremely sticky, but is also coated in a contact poison. The webbing is surprisingly strong, allowing most medium-sized opponents to be caught and slowly pulled toward the waiting fangs of the Fisher.

The soldier landed face down on the ground with the spider on top of him. He had no way to defend himself as the spider drove its large fangs through his leather armor and immediately began to feed…oblivious to the danger the rest of us posed to it. The soldier snagged in the web was still screaming and slowly being reeled up toward the ceiling. I continued to try and help the slowly rising soldier while the other 3 soldiers with me attacked the Fangweb Fisher. The soldiers’ short swords thrust easily into the spider. Its outer chitin was much weaker than that of the spiders we had faced outside the instance. I reached for the dangling soldier’s leg and pulled down as hard as I dared, trying to keep him from whatever horrible fate awaited him in the dark mass of webs covering the ceiling.

Your forces have killed Starving Fangweb Fisher. 0 experience awarded. *Note, your unique commander class does not allow you to gain experience from dungeons or instanced raids. No loot will drop while inside the dungeon.

The notification popped as the spider feeding on the prone soldier was killed. Its grey-colored blood and entrails slowly poured out onto the soldier it had been attacking. The soldier was moving slightly and groaning, still alive, at least for now. One of the soldiers joined to help me pull on our dangling comrade, while the other two began to ignite the webs once more with their torches. Whatever coated the webs caught fire quickly. Flames shot up the strands and soon covered the ceiling. The strand pulling the soldier up parted as it burned away from the spider reeling him in. We quickly dragged the two wounded soldiers out of the room as the flames and heat intensified. The webbing was consumed quickly and two more singed bodies of Fangweb spiders dropped from the ceiling with a thump, steaming on the floor. I waited for the system notification, but remembered I had set it to notify me only if a new type or level of foe was defeated. No experience or loot was a pain, but we still needed to try and clear this place to protect the town.

Sergeant Ty and his squad had cleared the rest of the main chamber while I had fought, finding nothing other than a few more of the dried-up goblin bodies. This was strange. The spiders we fought had the “starving” designation and they seemed to be way too easy to beat for dungeon creatures. Dungeon creatures are usually elite and much more challenging than their regular counterparts.

We made it to the doorway at the back of the cavern without any further incident. The door there had been bashed in, the spiders must have burst down the door to get at the goblin miners. It must have been the work of the Fangweb Sire Boss we had fought outside of the dungeon, but creatures were not supposed to exit a dungeon. After sending our wounded back to the surface, we continued on. The tunnel we were in led to another cavern which was a mirror image of the one we had just cleared. The new cavern was also quickly searched, and no foes were found, not even a starving spider. We proceeded down the tunnel and moved further into the dungeon, entering what looked like the last room of this level as another prompt appeared.

Goblin Mine Boss

The notification of what I figured was a mini boss encounter flashed as we entered the room. The large chamber was set up like a combination throne room and bedroom for the goblin mine boss. The only occupants of the room proved to be the decaying and dried up remains of an ogre and several goblin miners. Surrounding the ogre were the corpses of nearly a dozen Fangweb spiders, which also appeared to be old and dried up. This was getting weirder and weirder.

“Hey Raytak, what gives with this place? I thought you said there were dangerous creatures, but it looks like someone beat us to this place and cleaned out all the threats,” Ty said while gesturing toward the old corpses on the floor.

“I couldn’t tell you. Something is off with this dungeon. Only one group is allowed in at a time and the dungeons usually reset after a certain amount of time for each group. Even if somehow there were other players in here with us, these guys,” I gestured toward the corpses, “should have respawned again long before their bodies had a chance to decay. The only thing we can do is keep moving on. We need to make sure whatever’s going on here isn’t a threat to the town,” I said, as we searched for an exit that led further into the dungeon. Water dripping from the ceiling led us to the exit. The water ran along the floor toward the corner of the chamber where we found a tunnel that led down to the next level of the dungeon.

The next level proved to be a bust as well. The passage we followed emptied into a large cavern lit by stalactites covered in a glowing fungus. The glowing fungus’ sickly blue light revealed a gigantic circular cavern. Grey tinted grass covered the shore of a lake that had a small island in its center. Several chambers were cut into the cavern wall, which were empty except for the remains of several lizard or crocodile type creatures. A narrow stone bridge cut across the lake and led to the island. The center of the island was dominated by a huge tree. The tree had a sickly white trunk and black leaves, somehow drawing its sustenance from the light generated by the glowing fungus. Lying near the tree was the corpse of a creature the size of a city bus. The creature’s skeletal remains showed that it had five long necks. Tooth-filled reptilian skulls were found at the end of each neck. Around the creature were the corpses of over twenty of the Fangweb spiders. When I walked over to the huge corpse, it triggered a system prompt.

Lair of the Darkscale Hydra

It looked like this was meant to be a minor boss area as well. The only other exit from the island was a tunnel leading down that had been found behind the tree. There were stone stairs leading down into the dark and something looked to have dug its way up, widening the opening. “Did the hydra dig out from below, or was this also the Fangweb Sire?” I thought to myself as we descended.

“Sir, this place is giving me the Durks! I don’t think any of us mind a fair fight, but this waiting around for something to happen is starting to get to me,” one of the soldiers said. The Durks was a reference to an old tale about a feeling of dread and foreboding.

“Lock it up private! The only thing you should scare you is how many pushups I’m about to make you do! Find a friend, Private!” Sergeant Ty shouted, dressing down the scared private. I let him proceed, as this area seemed safe for now, and a little corrective physical training would keep them focused on the mission at hand. The soldiers’ dread of Sergeant Ty was worse than any fears of what may lurk ahead. The scared private tapped the soldier next to him, who in return gave his friend a dirty look. You never did anything alone in the Army, including receiving punishment.

“Attention! Half-right…face! Front leaning rest position…move!” The privates went to attention and turned at a 45-degree angle. The privates then assumed the front leaning rest position, which to civilians is known as the pushup position.

“The pushup, privates!” Sergeant Ty yelled…his voice bellowing out and echoing across the lake. I signaled the other privates to keep their eyes out for any threats, while the sergeant proceeded with the scared private and his friend. Poor Sergeant Ty had been a patient at the VA hospital for decades and hadn’t had a private to boss around for a very long time. I figured it was best to let him have his fun. Sergeant Ty’s character in-game was truly intimidating. He was a large half orc with only one arm, but that one arm was more heavily muscled than any three arms of a regular soldier.

“The pushup, Sergeant!” the soldiers replied. To their credit, they sounded off loud.

“Exercise. One, two, three…” Ty began counting off the exercise, the soldiers keeping in time for several minutes before reaching muscle failure. Ty didn’t know that my other NCO, an npc named Sergeant Brooks, had worked them hard on our trip to the town of Hayden’s Knoll. We had taken out of shape recruits and made them strong. As a benefit, we all received the physically fit buff which gave us a small health boost at each level.

“Alright, fall in privates. We’re going down that hole and killing whatever threat might be in there,” I ordered after the sergeant had finished with the privates. We formed up again and began to descend the stairs.

“Maybe if we find a living hydra, the sergeant will exercise it to death,” a private whispered to another soldier, thinking we couldn’t hear him. Several of the nearby soldiers suppressed laughs.

“Oh, I heard that Private. Don’t you worry. I’ll make a special note to remember you when we get back to the barracks. I know that was you, Private Samuel! You and your squad will get to enjoy latrine detail for the whole week. I’m sure Mayor Delling could use some help with the town latrines as well. Who knows, if you do a good enough job, I can even check with Chief Bugtug to see about the latrines for the goblin miners,” Sergeant Ty replied, while trying to keep a grin off his face. The soldiers quieted down as they contemplated the unpleasant duty ahead of them. All fear and thoughts of what they were heading into were forgotten for the moment. The AI seemed to agree and as we descended to the next level of the dungeon a prompt flashed.

Due to the discipline and “training” administered by Sergeant Ty, your forces have received the Disciplined buff for the next hour. +5 to all morale checks.

The stairway led down into another long chamber. The ceiling of this chamber was also covered with stalactites sporting the glowing blue fungus. The cavern before us contained a small underground forest of the white trunk, black leaf trees we had seen in the hydra chamber. Spider webs hung from the branches and a few dried husks of various animals were seen at regular intervals. Our forces moved toward the back of the cavern while carefully watching for an ambush from above, or around the trees. At the back of the cavern there was a large pile of dried-out spider victims. In the middle of the pile stood a waist-high stone pillar with a fist-sized red gem at the top. The gem pulsed with a weak light, casting an eerie red glow onto a small area around it. The dungeon ended here, with no other obvious exits. I walked up to the pillar and was checking out the glowing gem when Sergeant Ty spoke, interrupting me as I reached my hand toward the light.

“Don’t tell me you plan to touch the glowing red thing. I don’t even play video games and I know that’s usually a bad idea,” Ty said.

“Unless you can think of anything else that’s left to do down here, I might as well check it out,” I said as I placed my hand on the stone.

Chapter 3

As I touched the red glowing stone, a vision appeared before me. I found myself floating above the chamber while looking at a scene from long ago. Vhareax and his spider brood reigned over the underground forest, feeding on the small animals that periodically spawned in the chamber. A party of five adventurers appeared, coming down the stairwell we had just entered. The party appeared to be npc’s. It was unusual to see them form parties and attempt dungeons, but not unheard of in a game. The party attacked the spiders, clearing the swarms of smaller ones before making it to Vhareax. The adventurers were then viscously slain and eaten by the Fangweb Sire and its brood. Time moved more quickly and I could see various groups of adventurers enter the area and attack. Some parties killed the spiders…some parties were themselves killed. The creatures in the dungeon always respawned and there were always more adventurers to face the challenge.

My vision zoomed out. I could see the hydra and the other creatures on the second level also fighting adventurers, the same occurring with the goblins on the first level. Then something new happened. A large quake shook the cavern, dislodging rocks and chunks of stone from the ceiling. My focus was drawn to the portal outside the dungeon and I saw a rockslide block off the dungeon entrance portal from the rest of the goblin mine. Much time passed and no more adventurers found their way to the now blocked off dungeon. Eventually the creatures in the dungeon began to fight amongst themselves to feed. The smaller animals that were their normal prey no longer respawned. The Fangweb spiders made their way up toward the first floor of the dungeon, defeating the weaker opponents and feeding well for a time. When the last of the other creatures in the dungeon were consumed, the larger spiders began to feed on their smaller kin, until only a few remained. More time passed before another quake occurred, spurring Vhareax to gather up the last few of his brood and make his way out of the dungeon into the chamber beyond. Soon after, the rubble blocking the dungeon entrance off from the rest of the mine collapsed. The goblin miners had reopened the passage. The spiders quickly took advantage of the new food source and began to send spiders to gather their prey. Shortly after, I could see my forces arrive and eventually defeat Vhareax and his brood in the difficult fight we had experienced earlier. The vision faded from view just as I saw our own entrance into the dungeon.

System Notice: This dungeon has been blocked off from its energy source. Dungeons survive on the energy of the adventurers entering and facing the challenges within. When deprived of this source of energy, the ability to respawn is eventually removed. The boss of this dungeon was killed while outside the dungeon and can no longer respawn. This dungeon will be removed from the game if no suitable replacement boss creature can be found. Time until deletion 15:00. Your party will automatically be kicked to the respawn point outside once the dungeon is removed from the game.

14:59

14:58

14:57

I wasn’t sure what to do. I knew that a dungeon right next to our town would be a huge windfall for the town, drawing huge numbers of pc’s and npc’s. The parties seeking to conquer a dungeon would help us to generate the funds we needed to grow and thrive. I thought I may have a solution, but I needed some advice to help me decide. I opened my friends list and saw that Jacoby, the first player I had met in game, was online. I sent an urgent chat invite to Jacoby, as well as to the halfling druid Yendys, and Mayor Delling. They all accepted quickly.

“Long time no chat, Raytak! What’s up?” Jacoby said.

“Hey, old soldier man, Raytak! Hi Jacoby, whoever you are,” said Yendys.

“What can I help you with, Raytak. You need to get back here and check out your shiny new garrison,” Delling said, reminding me that he had completed construction of the important structure.

“We went into the portal near where we killed the spider Vhareax to check for any potential threats to the town. It turns out the portal led to a dungeon that had been sealed off for so long that the creatures stopped respawning. We have about 13 minutes to figure out what to do. I was thinking of trying to release the Foul Spore Dryad, who turns out to be named Tessel, into the dungeon as the new boss. I believe I can get her to enter a lifepact with me, preventing her from ever leaving the dungeon. I need your advice before I do this,” I said, watching the timer count down.

“A dungeon would be a huge boon to the town. Players would flock in and provide the funds needed to finish building up our infrastructure. To miss out on this would be a major loss we cannot afford,” Mayor Delling quickly said, already planning how he could help the town grow to accommodate the potential new influx of people.

“I just looked up lifepact while you were talking. It seems pretty serious and the creature would be forced to abide by the rules of the pact. I would say go for it. You just need to make sure you put the caveat in that she cannot leave the dungeon. I’m in the guild now and I can guarantee we would be running a low-level dungeon like crazy. What level would the dungeon be? I was kind of assuming it was low-level because everyone in-game is still low-level so far. I think the highest-level player in-game is only like level 11 last time I checked the boards yesterday,” Jacoby said.

“I REALLY don’t like that dryad thingy! You do remember she killed Quimby, right?” Yendys said, remembering that when the group had faced the Foul Spore Dryad before, her friends, Quimby and Raytak, were both killed. There was a short pause while Yendy’s thought about it and I looked nervously at the timer running down.

9:33…

9:32…

9:31…

“But anyways, as long as me, Quimby, Drake, and Crunchy get dibs on the first dungeon run I agree you should do it,” Yendys said.

“If you need a tank, I would love first crack at the dungeon as well,” Jacoby threw in, excited to try his first dungeon in-game.

“Folks, you can figure out which of you will take the first shot later. I’m going to try and contact the Foul Spore Dryad. I guess I should call her by her real name, Tessel, now,” I said as I pulled the Foul Spore from my inventory. The Foul Spore looked like a large walnut, a walnut made of green, corrupted flesh. As I held it, a familiar tickle was felt at the back of my mind. This time, instead of suppressing the tickle, I opened my thoughts to it, attempting to contact Tessel.

“I sense you are trying to reach me, life-stealer. Do you seek to torment me again?” Tessel said.

“I’m actually going to offer a way to set you free. I’m currently in a dungeon and it needs a boss or it will vanish. Would you still be willing to enter a lifepact with me? I will set you free in here to do what you do best…make creepy plant creatures and kill things. I need your answer right now, we only have a few minutes to do this before we run out of time. This is the only way I can see of ever letting you back into the world,” I quickly told Tessel.

“So, you wish this dungeon to be my new prison. Still, freedom to rule here is better than the nothingness I have been existing in…I agree, Raytak. Name your terms,” Tessel said, and I was surprised that for the first time she used my real name. I gathered my thoughts and made my demands.

“You will be placed here as the boss of this dungeon. You will agree to NOT leave the dungeon without permission, or in any way harm the people of Hayden’s Knoll. You can do whatever you wish to adventurers that enter the dungeon. If you are defeated by the adventurers, you will respawn here and live again. If myself, Mayor Delling, or anyone else I designate, needs to enter the dungeon to meet with you, you agree to not harm us. In fact, you will do whatever you can to keep us safe from the creatures in here that you do not control. I agree to keep the dungeon open and healthy, the mayor and myself trying our best to keep the flow of adventurers coming.” I thought for a second before making one quick addition. “You will also come to the aid of the town, should it ever be needed, and if allowed outside the dungeon, you agree to not spread your corruption, or do anything other than defend the town and its people.” I could think of nothing else and awaited her reply, nervously watching the little time remaining tick slowly away.

“I…agree Raytak. Here is the lifepact contract. Once signed, you need to bathe the Foul Spore in your blood and plant it in the ground,” Tessel said, as a contract outlining everything we just agreed to appeared before me.

You have been offered a lifepact with Tessel the Foul Spore Dryad. Do you agree to the terms? Y/N.

I quickly hit yes and then drew my dagger, slicing a small gash in my forearm and causing blood to trickle out. I coated the Foul Spore in my blood…it seemed to drink it in. The small seed then began pulsing. Using my dagger, I dug a small hole and placed the foul spore inside, covering it in the dark soil of the underground cavern. Soon, stick-like twigs began to sprout, growing quickly to form a small tree slightly taller than myself. The tree smelled of rot and corruption, the bark weeping a gangrenous sap. A face appeared in the tree, the face of Tessel. She somehow walked from the tree and stood in front of us. I remembered that dryads are bound to a tree and this corrupted tree was her horrible home. I held my hand on the hilt of my sword as Tessel turned her gaze toward me. Her head was made of the same corrupted wood as her tree and her eyes were empty hollow spaces in her skull that leaked sap, a faint green glow appearing in the back of the eye sockets. She stared for several uneasy moments before she spoke.

“I am free again. I can feel this place molding itself to fit my will. I will grow here and spread my forest throughout the dungeon,” Tessel said while taking in her new domain.

Systemwide Notice: A new dungeon has been established in the Hayden’s Knoll zone. The Foul Spore Pit is rated for levels 2-5. Face the corrupted dryad, Tessel, and stop the spread of her toxic forest.

“Well, it looks like that worked,” I said as the server-wide announcement was given. Creatures began to appear around us, spawning into existence once more. A pair of corrupted bears appeared next to Tessel, while a dozen corrupted wolves materialized to surround our forces. The beasts began to move threateningly toward us, but then Tessel held up her hand. The beasts stopped, moving away to attack the random uncorrupted forest creatures that had spawned about the area.

“I keep my word, Raytak. See to it that you keep yours. I can sense the pillar behind me will allow you to make it back to the portal outside this…I mean my, dungeon. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for you to go and time for me to explore my new realm.” With that, Tessel gestured toward the glowing red pillar. I was more than happy to comply with her wishes…the smell in this place was beginning to get to me, one of the downsides of the ultra-realistic game. I moved toward the pillar when Tessel held out her arm holding me back. Sergeant Ty roared and prepared his axe when Tessel spoke again.

“Hold your blade, soldier. I intend no harm.” Tessel looked to me again. “You have done me a service this day and given me of your own blood that I may be reborn. Take this token from myself as proof of the pact between us. As I grow stronger, so shall you.” With that, Tessel dropped a small bracelet made of woven twigs into my hand. I could feel the magic within the trinket. With our business here done, I touched the portal and began the transition to the outside of the dungeon.

Chapter 4

We reappeared outside the dungeon, startling the pair of soldiers stationed to guard the area.

“Sir, welcome back. Sergeant Brooks left word that you should see him at the new garrison as soon as you had the time,” one of the soldiers said as he saluted.

“Very well soldier, anything interesting happen while I was in there?” I asked, while I gestured toward the dungeon.

“No, sir, just that Mayor Delling has been going all out to get things built in the town. The deal they worked out with the goblin miners is holding. A few of them pop in here every now and then to mine the nodes that spawn in this room, but they’ve been friendly,” the soldier said as we passed through. We made our way out of the mines and back toward the town. The goblins in the mines paid us no heed and simply went about their business, gathering ore and cleaning out the last remnants of the spider invasion that had nearly wiped them out.

You have introduced a new boss into the Foul Spore Pit. This is a unique hidden quest.

Reward: 1500 experience, 1 uncommon item for your class, 1 rare item for your class.

That was a very welcome system prompt, but I really wanted to get out of these mines and back to town before I began updating my character sheet, or looking at loot. Emerging from the mine, we headed toward the town, which was only a quarter mile away. Dawn had broken and the first light of the day revealed a quickly growing town. When I had entered the mines and dungeon, only the town hall had been built and my garrison was only a foundation. I could now see the town hall had a second story and my garrison was complete. The garrison consisted of two long wooden barracks buildings surrounded by a small picket fence. The fence was short and appeared to be only used to map out the area of the garrison, not to provide any sort of defense. The area around the garrison was huge, making me hopeful I could expand and improve it in the future. Scattered about the outskirts of the town were a half dozen simple wooden cottages, the beginnings of housing for the citizens of the town, who were currently housed in my soldiers’ tents.

As I approached the barracks, a familiar trio of halflings came toward us at a run.

“Mr. Old Soldier Man, Raytak! When can we go to the dungeon…we still get first dibs, right! Oh, and check out Crunchy! Doesn’t his new bow look just soooo cute? I wanted to get him a collar, but that merchant guy, Phineas, said it would pinch his neck because of the way it was shaped and found this bow instead. That Jacoby dude you introduced us to should be here soon with one of his guildies so we’ll have a full party to tackle the dungeon with. Quimby here REALLY wants to get a crack at that dryad lady for killing him earlier…” The halfling druid, Yendys, was talking a mile a minute once again. Her friends, the two halfling rangers Drake and Quimby, looked on in embarrassed silence. I had to cut her off before my head exploded.

“Woah! Take a breath, Yendys. Yes, your team will get first crack at the dungeon as promised. Go and see Mayor Delling once you get your whole party together. I’m not sure how the whole dungeon thing works, but I think Mayor Delling will have some control over access to it, since it’s in his town.  Sorry to cut you off, but I have to get to the barracks and see what’s been happening while I was gone.” With that, I made my way toward the garrison, passing the dejected halfling and her friends…oh what the heck, no reason not to be nice.

“By the way, Yendys, Crunchy’s bow looks very nice on him,” I said, looking at her animal companion. The “unicorn beetle” seemed to be a bit larger than the last time I saw him. The AI had somehow acquiesced to Yendy’s wishes and reclassified her animal companion (originally a giant rhinoceros beetle) as a unicorn beetle. Crunchy’s hard black carapace now had a ridiculous large blue bow somehow glued to the top of it. Crunchy seemed oblivious to it and was content to just follow the halfling around like a puppy dog.

“See, Crunchy! I told you it looked nice. We’ll have to see about getting some ribbons to go with your bow, or maybe we can have a sweater made for you!” Yendys said as she, thankfully, headed toward the town hall. Sergeant Brooks met me at the entrance to the garrison, directing me to the building where my quarters were located.

“Sir, welcome to our garrison. We’re glad to have you back. The wounded have been cared for and should all be fit for duty by the end of the day. We’ve been receiving replacements regularly since the garrison was complete and are at nearly a full complement of troops. You can check everything out in the war room outside your quarters,” Brooks said as I entered the building. The main room was just a large open barracks area. Bunks that were stacked three high lined the walls. Small, wood-burning stoves were placed about at regular intervals for heating in the winter. Wooden lockers were interspersed between bunks to store the soldiers’ gear and personal effects. At the far end of the wall was a door that led to the war room.

The war room was not very impressive considering its name. The plain room held a large table in the middle with a map of the zone covering it and markers that could be placed to indicate troop locations and possible threats. Around the table were some chairs and a small cabinet holding more markers, as well as space for refreshments.

“Sir, I’ve taken the liberty of assigning the troops to their duties while you were occupied in the mines. Please, take a look and make any adjustments you see fit,” Sergeant Brooks said as he indicated the map table. As I approached the table, a new system interface appeared.

You have activated the war table for the first time. The war table allows you to manage your forces and provide upgrades. As quests are completed and battles fought, you will be provided resources by the Imperium. Resources can be spent to improve the size and scope of your garrison, as well as allowing for the purchase of upgrades to gear and fixed defenses. There may also be a cost in gold, depending on the upgrade requested. *Note, the war table is currently showing more extensive information as this is your first time accessing it. In the future, only relevant data will be shown. More extensive information can always be found in your log/help tab if needed.

Garrison: Level 1 small outpost. Resources 50

Main Menu: Troop strength/deployment, reconnaissance reports, paymaster, upgrade options.

This was interesting. I had played games in the past that had some form of base building/army management and I had always enjoyed them. I figured I had earned a few minutes of time to play around with the settings. Hitting the first option, troop strength/deployment, caused information and markers to appear on the large table map in front of me.

Current/maximum troop levels:

Standard soldiers: 2 Platoons 86/100 soldiers ready for duty.

Advanced soldiers: 1 squad 10/10 soldiers ready for duty.

Elite soldiers: 1 1/1 soldier ready for duty.

Reinforcement levels: Standard soldiers will replenish at the rate of two soldiers per hour until full strength is reached. Advanced soldiers replenish at a rate of one per day. Elite soldiers replenish at a rate of one per week. Upgrade your garrison, or unlock new research options to increase your rate of replenishment.

Current deployment:

When I activated current deployment, the map filled my vision. I could see a flashing indicator showing the town and its immediate surrounds, as well as a separate option to choose the rest of the area we had explored so far. I hit the town icon first.

Main Garrison at Hayden’s Knoll: One platoon of standard soldiers 41/50. One squad of Advanced soldiers 10/10. One elite soldier 1/1. Soldiers can be assigned to various areas within the town limits. Current breakdown is as follows.

1. Main Entrance: The town of Hayden’s Knoll is at the top of a large plateau. The only entrance is the western slope where the main road climbs up to the plateau. Two squads of standard soldiers are assigned here 18/20.

2. Goblin Mines: Adjacent to the town is the mine run by the Bugtug goblin tribe. The relationship with the Bugtug tribe is currently neutral. The mine and the dungeon housed within it are considered a critical resource for the town and must be protected. The goblins have requested the help of our garrison to defend them from potential monster attacks emerging from the dungeon, as well as from creatures spawning naturally in the caverns. The current troop strength assigned is one squad 10/10. The assigned squad patrols the mine and guards checkpoints at the entrances to the mine and the dungeon.

3. Hayden’s Knoll area: The town itself is not patrolled directly, that is the responsibility of the town guard under the civilian leadership. During attacks, or times of imminent danger, troops can be assigned to patrol the town and assist in its direct defense. The town currently occupies only 10% of the plateau area and protection of the remaining immediate area around the town is the responsibility of the garrison. Soldiers assigned to the Hayden’s Knoll area patrol the plateau to scout out any potential dangers.  Current troop strength consists of two squads of standard soldiers 13/20.

That made sense. It looked like I could adjust the number of squads assigned to each area. I could see that some of the squads were still under-strength. The squads patrolling the Hayden’s Knoll area had only thirteen soldiers out of their full strength of twenty. With replacements flowing in at regular intervals, we should up to full strength soon. Zooming out, I selected the other icon containing the rest of the explored map.

Hayden’s Knoll Southern Zone:

1. Southern transition point: This location defends the transition point in the south of the zone. This is a critical area. Destruction of the forces and defenses here will prevent the garrison from receiving reinforcements.

Defenses: Negligible. Currently defenses consist of a sharpened stake trench encircling the area and a simple wooden watchtower. Troop levels are currently two squads of standard soldiers 18/20 strength.

2. Hayden’s Knoll Crossroads: This crossroads is located where the main road from the transition point branches toward the unknown areas further north and toward the southeast, where the current town of Hayden’s Knoll is located. The crossroads area includes the ruins of the first town of Hayden’s Knoll that was destroyed by the raiders.

Defenses: Negligible. There are currently no fixed defenses at the crossroads. The troop strength is at one squad of standard soldiers 10/10.

3. Southern roadways: There is a single road that connects the transition point, crossroads, and the town of Hayden’s Knoll.

Defenses: Negligible. There are currently no fixed defenses in place. The troop strength consists of two squads of standard soldiers 17/20. Troops stationed to the roadways will automatically divide up into sections or squads and patrol the roads. If there are no troops assigned to the roadway, bandits and highwaymen may eventually move in. If bandits are left unchecked, they will damage the economy and morale of the local area, resulting in a loss of income and resources for the garrison.

Reconnaissance: You can assign troops to scout the surrounding area in order to reveal threats or opportunities in the zone. The number and quality of forces assigned will determine the information revealed. Currently there are no troops assigned to reconnaissance.

I kept the troop strengths where they were on the map, save for assigning the squad of advanced soldiers to reconnaissance. The soldiers of my advanced squad were already specialized as scouts and this seemed to be the best use for them. My forces would be spread a little thin, but there was not much I could afford to leave undefended at this point. I needed to talk with Mayor Delling to see how soon it would be before the town guard could take over for my forces at the main entrance to the town. His guards were nearly wiped out when the original town was destroyed, but he had mentioned that they would replenish slowly now that the new town hall was built. I hit the next option on the war room interface, the reconnaissance reports. The map in front of me sprouted a new marker northeast of the town, which I assumed indicated new information.

Reconnaissance reports: The reconnaissance (or recon) reports section shows information gleaned by your troops in the field. Many reports will offer opportunities for a quest. Simply highlight the markers to reveal what the scouts have discovered. One new report is currently available. To unlock more, assign troops to recon, or offer discovery quests to parties of adventurers.

Interesting, this seemed to be the way my class would discover quests. I felt more comfortable with my decision to assign the advanced troops as scouts now that I had seen this. I could use the experience and loot that the discovered quests could give, especially since I couldn’t participate in dungeons or raids. I knew from my trip over to Hayden’s Knoll that I had the ability to create quests for players, but the rewards for those quests would come from my own funds. I would have to wait until we had more coin flowing in before I explored that option in more depth.

Report: Tribal Trouble. Reports from local wood cutting crews toward the northeast revealed the presence of Drebix tribesmen. Despite the current uneasy peace, some bands of Drebix tribesmen are known to be hostile to the Imperium. The tribesmen will fight back using their vicious warbands, trying to stop or delay the encroachment of the Imperium on what they consider to be their lands. Eliminate the threat of a potential hostile warband in your territory.

Reward: 1000 experience and 100 resources.

Failure to complete this mission in the next 5 days will result in raids upon work parties from the town, perhaps even attacks on the town itself by the Drebix.

Accept Quest: Y/N.

I hit yes and told both sergeants what was happening. We would plan for the assault on the Drebix in a bit. For now, I wanted to finish learning the war table interface. I next accessed the paymaster tab.

Paymaster: You will receive a small percentage of the taxes collected by the town you are garrisoned in. If the pay requirements for your forces exceed your income, the difference will be made up by your own personal funds. Help the town grow by keeping it safe to increase your garrison income.

Currently monthly soldier payroll expense: 13 gold.

Current monthly taxes received (estimated): 35 silver.

Current Unit Funds: 100 gold, 31 silver, 34 copper.

*Note, as part of previous quest rewards, the Imperium is currently covering any pay deficit for your troops. You have 102 days of deficit pay reimbursement remaining.

Well, nobody ever said running an army was cheap. I had to hope that with the town growing and the new dungeon, there would be a windfall of tax income for the garrison. I didn’t believe the AI would create this class only to have it fall into bankruptcy so soon, without some way to pay for the troops. Through questing, or some other unknown method, I would need to meet our payroll. The upgrade tab was last, upgrades were usually my favorite part.

Upgrade Options: Upgrades are unlocked as you and your garrison level. Current available upgrades are as follows.

Level 2 Garrison: 500 resources/100 gold required. This upgrade will expand your garrison, allowing it to house up to one company of troops, as well as providing a few more creature comforts for your soldiers. This upgrade allows for more rapid replacement of losses. Other upgrade options are unlocked as the main garrison is upgraded. *Note, prerequisite building <supply depot> must be purchased before the garrison can be upgraded.

Supply Depot: 100 resources/10 gold. The supply depot allows you to assign one of your soldiers as a quartermaster. Having a supply depot will enable the purchasing of upgraded weapons, armor, and equipment directly from the Imperium for your troops to use.

Aid Station: 100 resources/15 gold. The aid station enables you to treat wounds and disease among your forces more effectively. This upgrade also improves your squads, allowing one soldier in each squad to be trained as a medic. The medic can use magically enhanced bandages to create a heal-over-time effect for wounded soldiers during the heat of battle.

Recruitment Center: 100 resources/10 gold. The recruitment center allows for the rapid replacement of losses to your force. The upgrade will increase the replenishment of standard soldiers to three per hour, advanced soldiers at two per day, and elite soldiers at two per week. Further upgrades may unlock the recruitment of auxiliary units. Auxiliary units are specialized soldiers drafted from other parts of the Imperium. Common auxiliary formations include specialized ranger, skirmisher, magic wielding, or cavalry forces.

All the options looked attractive, but I would likely hit the supply depot first. My troops could use some upgraded weapons and gear. The supply depot was also a requirement for upgrading the garrison level. All the upgrades looked to be beneficial and I couldn’t yet decide which I wanted first. There was no rush and I could mull it over a bit before deciding. The help file advised that once the resources were spent for an upgrade, it would only take about thirty minutes, to an hour, for the upgrade to complete. Garrison duties finished, it was time to plan for our quest.

“Sergeant Brooks, Sergeant Ty, it looks like we have a new threat to deal with. I heard the Drebix tribes can be tough fighters and we can’t allow a potential enemy force to fester within our zone. The problem is, what troops do we take and where do we pull them from? Have a runner sent to Mayor Delling. Let him know we need to see him right away about a potential threat to the town. I would like to know your thoughts, sergeants,” I said. The sergeants quickly roused one of the soldiers to go get the mayor as we considered our options. Within a few minutes, a huffing and sweaty Mayor Delling arrived into the war room.

“Raytak, what’s the threat? Are we under attack?” the mayor stated in a panicked voice.

“No sir, but it looks like some Drebix tribesmen are encroaching into the town’s area. If we don’t handle it quickly, they will begin raiding your work parties and eventually the town itself. What we need to know is how many town guards do you have right now, and can they handle guard duty at the town and mine while I take troops in the field to deal with this threat?” I asked.

“I only have ten guards right now. The total will increase to fifteen, slowly, over the next day and a half, but that’s it until I can build a guard house and jail. Both buildings are on the agenda, but housing and a market are first. I can have the guards keep a watch on the gate and send a few to the mines, but they really aren’t that effective yet. All of them are just level 1 guardsmen. Until I upgrade to a guard house, they have no armor and just a simple shield and spear as their weapons,” Delling offered.

“I think we need to take the two squads that are patrolling the area near the town and the two squads at the gate. Sergeant Brooks can have one of our squads that’s patrolling the road come in and help keep an eye on things here. I don’t want to open us up to bandits on the road, or risk making the forces out there at the transition point too weak. I don’t think we’ll be gone that long on this quest. If we head out there and find out it will be a longer campaign, we can come back and plan a bit more. I’m going to pull soldiers from the other squads staying behind in order to bring the assault force up to full strength. Our standard troops are replenishing quickly, so the squads left here in town will be back to full strength by tomorrow. Will that work for you, Mayor?” I asked.

“That should be okay for a few days. I have some funds trickling in now and can offer a quest or two if we need some adventurers to help out. Once the market is finished in two days, the income for all of us should increase. I also found out that a small percentage of coin gained by parties in the dungeon will be paid to the town as a tax, since it’s within our area of influence. The dungeons do work a bit strange in this game. Only a limited number of parties can enter every few hours, or we run the risk of the dungeon being cleared too often and not respawning. This is only for newly established dungeons, so, for now, I’m regulating the parties entering the dungeon. Yendys and her merry band are heading there tonight to be the first group to try and tackle it. We’ve started a waiting list for the others that I’m sure will show up over the next few days,” the mayor added.

“Sir,” Sergeant Brooks began. “I would suggest you take the advanced squad of scouts with you as well. You may have to track down these Drebix and they will also provide you with some ranged damage that our regular forces currently lack. I know you wanted them to scout for new threats and quests, but you need to make sure that the threat we know about is handled quickly and decisively.” Sergeant Brooks finished and looked to me for my response.

“I agree, Sergeant. It sounds like we have a plan. Sergeant Brooks, give the orders and have the squads for the expedition form up. How long until we can assemble our forces?” I asked, looking forward to getting into a potential fight with some non-spider-based foes.

“Give me an hour, sir. We should be good to leave by then,” Sergeant Brooks advised.

“Raytak, I’m afraid I can’t make it on this fight,” Sergeant Ty said. “I have a notice for a solo mission that will take me over to the west. If I don’t complete it on time, it says we could face yet another threat while we’re spread too thin. I should be back in four to five days according to the quest. Something about suspicious activity at some farms and mines. Before I head out, download this into your notes,” Ty said, and he sent me a list of codes he would use if he sent a message back with someone other than himself. The former force recon sergeant had fought all around the world and knew the tricks of the trade. The codes would let me know if a message I received from him was legit, if he was in trouble, if I should immediately kill the messenger, and other possibilities. I filed the document away in my system notes so I could refer to it later, if I had to. I had almost forgotten that he really wasn’t part of my regular command and was an actual player class called Imperial Scout. I felt a bit out of sorts due to not having my real-life friend on the adventure with me…but soldiers are used to being yanked here and there with our many deployments.

“Not a problem, Ty. Stay safe and let me know what you find out there,” I said. With that, we all dispersed and began to get ready for a fight.

Chapter 5

With the orders given to prepare for our mission, I found myself with nothing to do for a bit. I then remembered that I had the bracelet that Tessel had given to me as a quest reward and wanted to get it identified. There were also the two class-specific quest rewards that I hadn’t looked at yet. The two rewards appeared as scrolls in my inventory. I concentrated on the common one first. Upon reading the scroll, the item was identified.

Weapon upgrade: Standard Bronze Short Sword. The standard bronze short sword is the weapon issued to lower level troops of the Imperium. Well-made and sturdy, these swords can take abuse and be brought to a sharp edge again quickly. Item level 30.

The swords would be a great upgrade over the “crude bronze” ones we currently had. I pulled my sword from the sheath and noticed it was now the improved version. The upgrade had taken effect immediately for me and all my troops. The item level jump from fifteen to thirty should help with our damage output. I could hear several whoops of joy coming from the garrison as the troops discovered their new toys. Smiling, I made my way toward the merchants to get the bracelet identified. While walking, I activated the rare upgrade.

Garrison Upgrade: Supply depot. The supply depot has been added to your garrison. Visit the war room to view the effects this building has.

I resisted the urge to run back to the garrison and see what gear upgrades were available to purchase. I knew that the measly fifty resources we had wouldn’t go far and I wanted to identify the bracelet before we marched out. Still, having this building given as a quest reward was a pleasant surprise.

The merchants had set up shop in a small area near the town hall. The familiar cart of Phineas T. Moore was present, along with another merchant who must have just arrived at the town. I was certain that Phineas wasn’t enjoying the competition. Being the devious merchant that he was, I did have the feeling that Phineas would somehow come out on top of any trade war. As it stood, there appeared to be several customers for both merchants. A combination of villagers as well as a few players waiting for their go at the dungeon, were perusing the various items for sale. As I waited for Phineas to finish with his current customer, I heard a familiar voice call my name.

“Raytak! How are you, dude?” Jacoby said from the crowd. Jacoby was the first player I had met in-game and he seemed like a good kid, wanting to be a paladin and play the good guy in-game. He looked to have moved up in the world as well. He was now level 6 and sported some good quality chain mail armor with a round metal shield. He had a war hammer attached to his belt and all the gear looked to be decent for his level. When we first met, we both had our crummy starter gear.

“Hey, Jacoby, good to see you in person again. Are you getting ready for the dungeon run?” I asked.

“Yep, just looking for some upgrades to my gear. I see you hit level five despite all the escort quests,” Jacoby joked. I did seem to be a magnet for the much-despised escort missions. “I found out from my guild that I just need to keep a positive reputation rating and I should be good to hit the paladin prestige class at level 10. I’m hoping some dungeon runs will get me past level 7. I’ve got to head out now, though. I’m meeting up with the others before we make our run. Let’s grab a drink after I get through with my run later,” Jacoby said.

“I’d love to, but I’ve got a quest to lead my forces out to fight some tribesmen. If you’re still around when I get back, the dinner and drinks are on me,” I told him, glad to see a friend, but wanting to get moving on my own quest. Jacoby made his purchases, arguing with the other merchant for a bit before grumbling about failing his negotiation check. I lost sight of Jacoby as he headed toward the town hall to meet the rest of his party.

“Ahh, my good friend, Lieutenant Raytak! A man of your discerning taste knows which merchant has the best bargains. Come and see the magnificent items I have for purchase today. Do you need some spices from the deserts of Imix, crockery crafted by mountain-dwelling monks, or perhaps just some simple haberdashery to spice up a dull uniform?” Phineas began his shtick, playing it up for the small crowd in front of us. We had had our issues in the past and his story had turned out to be a tragic one. Still, I had to remember to count my fingers after any transaction with this merchant.

“Hello, Phineas. I just need to have a magic item identified,” I offered.

“That will be five silver,” Phineas stated in a flat unenthusiastic voice.

“Wait a minute! Five silver! You charged me twenty silver last time!” I said, as I felt my blood pressure increase. This scammer had charged me four times as much the last time I had something identified. Then I remembered that after our last meeting he had agreed to not rip off myself or my followers. I couldn’t get mad now, he was simply following through with what he had promised.

“Ahhh yes, you see folks, the good Lieutenant here is taking advantage of my repeat and referral bonus. A discount to folks who have shopped with me for many years, and referred many customers to my exquisite shop,” Phineas said, the slick huckster taking a potential problem and turning it into a marketing point. “Please hand over the bracelet and my decades of mystical mastery will quickly identify every detail for you,” Phineas said with a flourish and then held out his hand. I plopped the bracelet in his palm and he covered it with his other hand, chanting and causing lights to spark from between his fingers. I knew the spectacle had little to do with identifying the item and everything to do with attracting business. The light show finished and Phineas handed the bracelet back.

“You found quite the unique item, Lieutenant. May it serve you well. Now, who is next? You sir! Facing the dungeon this day? Purchase the amulet of protection from Basilisks. Guaranteed to prevent you from turning to stone, or your money back!” I shook my head as I made a hasty retreat back toward the garrison. While walking, I looked at the bracelet.

Tessel’s Promise: This unique, soul bound bracelet is the symbol of the lifepact between Raytak and Tessel. The bracelet confers the following bonuses and will increase in power as Tessel increases in power. It is unknown what the bracelet will become at higher levels.

+1 defense. The bracelet allows the wearer to have skin that is hardened like the bark of a tree. The skin looks and feels normal but will toughen up under attack.

+1 resistance to poison and disease. The corruption of the dryad has taught your body to reject and overcome both poisons and disease more effectively.

+1 attack. The hand this bracelet is worn on moves a bit faster and hits a bit harder than normal.

Spreading corruption. Once per day, the user can fire a stream of acidic sap at any single opponent within thirty feet. This attack always hits, doing a combination of acid and poison damage. The damage scales with player level.

Blood is power. Reborn from the Foul Spore by using the blood of Raytak, Tessel still requires a bit of his life essence. Once equipped, the wearer will lose 50 health. The health is transferred to the dryad, Tessel, as a reminder of the lifepact between the two.

The item was powerful, as was its drawback. Somehow, I felt that equipping this item was something I needed to do, despite the penalty to my health total. I equipped the bracelet to my sword arm. As the bracelet hit my wrist, thorns sprouted and dug into my flesh. The bracelet wormed its way into my flesh as I screamed in pain. Several villagers ran up to me looking to help as I collapsed on the ground. The pain ended quickly and I looked down toward my arm, expecting to see terrible damage and bleeding. There was no blood and the bracelet was no longer visible on my wrist. There was only the distinct outline of a scar that resembled a branch with thorns encircling my wrist. A faint voice was heard in my head.

“We are bound again, though not in conflict. What threats I face, you face, and your enemies are my enemies. May we both grow in power and reach our destinies…” The voice of Tessel faded away, the tone not unpleasant like before. Perhaps I just heard a bit of what she must have sounded like before her corruption. I thanked the folks nearby for trying to help me and hustled to the garrison. When I arrived, four squads of standard soldiers and the squad of scouts were formed up in ranks with Sergeant Brooks moving up and down the rows, checking on equipment and gear. He also had my pack out and ready for me. I silently thanked the AI for attaching such a competent npc as my elite soldier.

“Sir, the platoon is formed and ready. Everyone has ten days food and water, no tents or extraneous gear. Shall we move out sir?” Brooks asked.

“I’ll move the men out, Sergeant. I need you to stay here and administer things while I’m gone. Make sure the replacements get here and assigned to our understrength units. Continue training everyone hard, specifically on how to fight in larger formation battles. I get the feeling things will ramp up as I level,” I said as the sergeant saluted, then returned to his duties. I took a moment to address the troops before we moved out.

“Soldiers of the Imperium! We face the potential of an old foe. We have reports that the Drebix tribes may be moving into this area and encroaching on the town. While there is currently an uneasy peace between our peoples, it is not unknown for clans to break off from the leadership and form their own hostile groups. If we do not face this threat now, they will increase in number and eventually overwhelm the town. Look to the soldier to your left and to your right. These are the men you will give your life to defend. These are the men who will give their lives to defend you. We fight together and conquer together. No band of savages can withstand the iron discipline of the Imperium...move out,” I ordered, and the men fell in step. We traveled out of the main entrance to the town, crossing the hastily constructed bridge my men had placed over the stake filled pit that was part of our meager town defenses. The bridge could be quickly pulled back when danger approached, preventing attackers from having easy access to the town. I counted seven town guards keeping watch. They did look woefully under-equipped and I hoped that Mayor Delling would get them some upgrades soon.

The road switched back several times as we descended from the plateau to the valley floor. The terrain toward the Northeast, where we were headed, consisted of rolling hills, broken occasionally by sparse groves of trees. Once out of sight of the plateau that held Hayden’s Knoll, I sent half of the scouts out ahead and to the flanks. The scouts should give us some warning when we neared our foes. The first day’s march passed uneventfully and we made camp for the night inside a small copse of trees. A few fires were allowed for cooking, as the smoke would be hard to spot in the dusk and the flames would be extinguished before it became fully dark. A hot meal at the end of the day worked wonders for morale. Guards were posted to keep watch, two soldiers and one scout on each shift. We began to cook our rations while the dusky sky inched closer toward darkness.

After the other men had been fed, a soldier handed me a plate with my ration of “back and beans”, which was the main meal we ate on the road. I always believed in taking care of my men before myself, insisting on not eating until all the men had been fed. Accompanying the back and beans was a hard, dried bread that tasted vaguely like a cornbread cracker. The “back” portion of the meal was a fatty, tough, salt cured piece of pork. The soldiers had said the piece of meat was so tough even a starving man would throw it “back” into the garbage. I found the food to be quite good, relishing the experience of the solid food that the game provided. My age and injury-ravaged body back in the medpod had been on a feeding tube for over a decade. While the camp was quiet, I took a moment to go over my character sheet. It had been some time since I looked at it and I wanted to see how my class was progressing.

Player: Raytak

Class: Commander (Imperium) Rank: 2nd Lieutenant

Level 5 (1590/5000)

Stats: n/a. This unique class does not use the standard base stats and cannot gain any benefit from standard stat-enhancing items.

Attack: 7. (1 gained per level in addition to any gear/ability/trait bonuses) The attack ability helps to determine whether a blow lands on an opponent. The attack rating, in conjunction with the weapons item level, determine damage to a target

Defense: 11. The defense skill has many variables and is modified by armor/level/agility/magic items. The commander class starts with 1 point in defense and gains 1 point every 5 levels.

Health: 650. (100 per level, +25 per level for the physically fit perk, +5 per level for the melee specialist perk, +50 for minor health medal, -50 for Tessel’s promise). The commander class gains 100 health per level in addition to any other item/ability bonuses.

Equipment:

Crude Imperial light leather armor set: +5 defense.

Simple large wooden imperial shield: +2 defense.

Standard bronze short sword: Item level 30. The item level of a weapon is the representation of the weapons overall power. Weapons of the same item level will still vary in damage based the nature of the weapon. A dagger of the same item level of a great-axe will still inherently do less damage.

Crude bronze dagger: Item level 15.

Crude bronze-tipped javelin: Item level 10.

Tessel’s Promise: Bracer, +1 attack, +1 defense, +1 resistance to poison/disease, -50 health. 1/day ranged, spreading corruption attack.

Minor Health Medal: This medal is awarded for distinguished service to the Imperium. +50 health.

Feats/Abilities/Class Skills:

Command Presence: Creates an aura in a 25-yard radius that inspires troops and allies under your command. They receive +2 attack, +2 defense, +1 to morale saves. The commander must concentrate on inspiring his forces and takes a -2 penalty to attack and defense while the aura is active. This ability increases in power as the commander levels. Toggled passive ability/30 second cooldown.

Honor Guard: Honor guard summons 2 advanced soldiers to protect the commander. These soldiers have the same stats as your other advanced troops and will exist for 30 seconds. During the time they are on the battlefield all opponents targeting you will be forced to fight the honor guard first. This ability can be used once every 22 hours. This ability scales with the commander’s level.

Manaless: You have eschewed learning any schools of magic. As a result, you have hardened your magical defenses and become resistant to hostile spells, or magical abilities used against you. A portion of your resistance will be transferred to the forces under your command. Current magic resistance 5%. Magic resistance for the forces under your command 2%. This ability scales with the commander’s level.

Shield Bash: This active ability orders your troops to bash the closest opponent with their shield, automatically hitting their target and dealing minor damage. The ability will force back foes and has the chance to deal a stun or knockdown. The ability can be activated on select troops, or on the entire unit at one time. 1-minute cooldown.

Thrust: Soldiers automatically activate the thrust ability once every 30 seconds in combat. Thrust adds a +5 attack bonus to the next strike and has a 10% chance to cause a bleeding wound.

Melee Specialists: This passive ability increases your soldier’s attack and defense by 1. Health is increased by 5 points per level. Soldiers have a -2 penalty to ranged attacks due to this specialization. This ability scales with level and may eventually open up new upgrade paths.

Physically Fit: You have implemented a physical fitness regimen for all your forces. This has beneficial health effects. Standard soldiers receive a +5 bonus to health per level, advanced soldiers receive a +10 bonus to health per level, and the commander/elite soldiers receive a +25 bonus to health per level. Should you become lax in your training, this bonus will be removed.

Negotiator: This perk provides a + 1 bonus to opposed haggling or negotiation checks.

Forces under your command:

Forces under your command will typically be equipped the same as the commander, only differing items will be listed here. Soldiers’ level is the same as the commander’s level.

Standard Soldiers Level 5. Max 2 platoons (100 soldiers).

Health: 125 (15 per level, +5 per level physically fit bonus, + 5 per level for melee specialist).

Attack: 2 (1 gained every 5 levels, +1 for melee specialist).

Defense: 8 (7 for gear and +1 for melee specialist).

Advanced Soldiers (Scout) Level 5: Max 1 squad (10 soldiers).

Health: 200 (25 per level, +10 per level for physical fit bonus, +5 per level for melee specialist).

Attack: 3 (2 gained every 5 levels, +1 for melee specialist).

Defense: 8 (7 for gear and +1 for melee specialist).

Crude light crossbow: Item level 15. The advanced scouts are not issued javelins and are instead equipped with the much more powerful, longer ranged crossbow. The ranged attack penalty for the melee specialist perk does not apply to advanced soldiers.

Elite soldiers Level 5: These are the non-commissioned officers of the Imperium (nco’s) and are the glue that holds the army together.

Health: 400 (50 per level, +25 per level for the physically fit perk, +5 per level for the melee specialist ability).

Attack: 4 (+3 every 5 levels, +1 for melee specialist).

Defense: 8 (7 for gear and +1 for melee specialist).

Command Presence: Elite soldiers inspire the troops around them. When the commander activates the command presence ability, the same effect will happen in a 10-yard radius around the elite soldiers. This enables the commander to influence a larger portion of the battlefield through his subordinates.

I still had a long way to go until I reached level six, but this mission should help get me there. I set the character sheet to notify me only of changes when leveling up in the future to help simplify the wall of text. I was surprised that I had been promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. The change might occur every five…”Ughhh!” I exhaled as a powerful blow hit me in the chest and howling war cries sounded from all around us.

Chapter 6

The blow to my chest had knocked the breath out of me and it took a few seconds for me to recover my wits.

You have been hit by a Drebix throwing spear. Critical hit and stunned for 5 seconds.

I turned off combat text as I looked around. Two of my soldiers were also down with spears in their chests as the rest scrambled to gather shields and draw their swords. A second flight of spears hit the camp as the stun wore off of me and I regained my feet. I noticed that, once again, there were only three spears hitting us. One of the spears missed, one was imbedded in a shield and one had hit an unlucky soldier in the head, the critical blow killing him instantly. I activated Command Presence and took charge of my troops.

“Form up! I need a circle with shields out! Scouts, ready your crossbows! There are only three out there throwing spears. Pick them off, if you get a shot,” I said as a protective circle of shields formed around me. The scouts frantically tried to load their crossbows as the howling war cries began again.

“Death to the Imperial dogs!” several voices shouted as figures emerged from the dark. A dozen tribesmen charged our ring of shields. Most were equipped with hand axes and small wooden shields. They wore no armor and had blue patterns crudely drawn over their bodies. Two of the attackers appeared to be of a different class. These two were larger than the others and they were frothing at the mouth while charging. One of the two held a bronze great-axe and the other held a two-handed club that was embedded with the teeth from various creatures. I scanned the attackers to find out what we were dealing with.

Drebix Raider (10): Level 3.

Drebix Berserker: Level 3

Drebix Berserker: Level 5.

There were ten of the raiders and they didn’t appear too threatening, as we had them both outnumbered and out-leveled. The berserkers were a bigger threat. The level five one with the huge club was intimidating…but I had ways to deal with him. The ones throwing the spears still had not shown themselves.

“Scouts! Section one, target the one with the club. Section two, target the axe wielder,” I ordered the scouts as they finished loading. Only nine crossbows fired instead of the ten I was expecting, noticing for the first time that one of the scouts was missing. The missing scout was one of the soldiers that had been on guard duty and I had a feeling we wouldn’t be seeing any of the three guards again. Six of the nine shots hit their targets. The axe wielding berserker was a clear kill as all five shots aimed at him hit the center of his chest. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the berserker dropped face first on the ground fifteen yards from our circle of shields. The club-wielding tribesman must have had some ability that protected him from missiles, as only one bolt from the crossbows hit him, punching through his bicep and dangling through the meat of his arm. Just as the wave of tribesmen hit, I activated shield bash for all my soldiers. Several of our foes were stunned and all but the berserker were pushed back several paces.

“We outnumber them! Break ranks and engage by sections,” I ordered. The men broke into four and five-man teams. Frustrated tribesmen didn’t know which way to attack, as they were quickly surrounded. Each time they tried to attack, a large shield was there to block them. When the tribesmen tried to attack, the soldier behind the tribesman had a chance to strike their own blow. The only exception to this was the berserker. As the group of four that were attacking the berserker began to surround him, a faint red glow covered the berserker and he spun in place. Thump, thump, thump, was heard as the spinning club knocked into the shields of three of the soldiers, the berserker having activated an ability called whirlwind. All three of the soldiers hit were knocked off their feet by the force of the blow. The fourth soldier facing the berserker brought up his shield just as the berserker committed to an overhand smash. Club met shield and the shield lost this time, shattering and allowing the club to hit the soldier square on the top of his head. The soldier’s head burst like a melon, as his body dropped to the ground.

A long mournful note sounded from a distant horn and the remaining tribesmen tried to flee. None of the remaining raiders made it back to the forest, as they were mercilessly cut down by Imperial bronze. The berserker, engulfed in his rage ability, was too slow to realize he was alone in the fight.

“Surround him! Don’t let him get away! I need some answers from this one. Scouts, reload and check on our sentries,” I ordered, and the soldiers got about their business. Turning back to the berserker, I watched as he was swarmed by my soldiers, one of the men taking a glancing blow from the club before the behemoth was tackled to the ground. The berserker continued to struggle, with a half dozen soldiers desperately hanging on, trying to keep the berserker down. Someone produced a length of rope and began to securely tie our new prisoner.

“Gather up any loot and treat the wounded. Get me a headcount so we can find out what the butchers bill was for this skirmish,” I said as I turned my attention to the prisoner. “What are you doing here? This isn’t Drebix land and our small town isn’t any threat to your people,” I asked, as the berserker stared at me with open hatred on his tattooed face. The crossbow bolt was still stuck in this bicep and there were numerous small cuts from the scuffle with my men. “Get the prisoner some water and tend to his wounds,” I ordered to the private next to me, as a notice popped up in my interface.

You have defeated an attack by Drebix Tribesmen. 150 experience gained, 12 silver and 22 copper added to the unit treasury.

One of the scouts came running back into the clearing. “Sir! Looks like there were another half-dozen of the Drebix out there, but they’re high-tailing it back to wherever they came from. I don’t think they’ll be any more trouble tonight. A couple of the scouts are following them now to see where they go and will report back once they know something. Here are the final casualty numbers, sir.” The scout handed me a slip of paper showing our losses. We had four soldiers and one scout killed. As predicted, three of the losses came from the men that were on watch. The Drebix had proved to be formidable stalkers and ambushers, but unable to stand against the tactics and coordination our soldiers used. We also had two wounded that were too injured to walk, but would survive. Stretchers would be required to move them for at least the next day or two until the accelerated healing the game provided kicked in. One of the Drebix raiders had also survived, but was badly wounded and would have to be carried on a stretcher also… if he survived the night. I walked over to where the wounded were being cared for. Every soldier had some rudimentary first aid skill, but I would need to build the aid station upgrade for my garrison to have true medics assigned to our forces. I spent some time with each of the wounded, offering words of encouragement. I was saddened to see Private Tremble among the wounded. Tremble had been there with me since the first day in-game and had surprisingly survived through all of our battles thus far. Most of the npc soldiers assigned to me didn’t even have a name and were just listed as <soldier> on their nameplate. For some reason, Tremble and a few others did have names and distinct personalities. I know I shouldn’t feel bad for a computer-generated character, but the habits of an old soldier are hard to break, and it always hurt to see the men under my command in pain. We soldiers are a strange lot and trained to continue on with our fight despite sorrow or pain…those emotions are saved for a later time, after our enemies were dead on the field. Private Tremble had taken an axe to the side of his leg, the wound had been tended to as best our limited skill could and a bloody bandage covered the injured area.

“Private Tremble, I thought Sergeant Brooks and I had taught you to use your shield and not your body to block the enemy weapons,” I joked. Private Tremble grinned through the pain and responded.

“Sir, please don’t tell Sergeant Brooks I was hit. He’ll make me do shield drills for hours, carrying a shield on each arm,” Tremble pleaded.

“Don’t worry, Soldier. I won’t tell, if you don’t tell. Rest up and get better. We need good men like you on the fighting line for whatever foe we face next,” I said as I left the wounded to rest. I moved our force about one hundred yards away to another stand of trees that had a good line of sight on our first camp. I had the men prop up our dead in the old camp to look like they were sitting near the fire. I also had the Drebix dead wrapped with blankets to make them look like sleeping soldiers. I didn’t think we were likely to face another attack tonight, but if the tribesmen came back, I would like to think we could be the ones doing the surprising this time. In the morning we would bury the dead, if there were no further attacks. I didn’t feel bad using the fallen in this way, as every soldier is ready to do his duty to protect his comrades, even in death.

Luckily for us, the rest of the night passed uneventfully. The soldiers stood to at first light, fixing our morning meal and packing our things away. I had one squad detailed to bury the dead and decided to take another crack at our prisoner, as I had begun to remember some of the techniques that were used in interrogation. I would use only the softer skills, as I had a feeling that “harsh” methods would not work against a barbarian type. I grabbed two bowls of breakfast. The morning meal on the trail consisted of a thick porridge sprinkled with dried fruit and small pieces of meat from the “back” that was served in our other meals. The food was simple, hearty fare that would give the energy needed for a long march, with the added benefit of having light, easy to carry ingredients. I approached the barbarian who was seated against a sturdy tree. His body was bound to the tree and his hands were also bound in front of him. I could see the ropes had burned into his wrists overnight. Either they were bound too tight, or they had dug into his skin from struggles to escape. Setting the bowls of food beside me I undid the gag we had put in the prisoner’s mouth. I had ordered him gagged last night to prevent him yelling a warning if some of the Drebix attacked our fake camp.

“I’ll untie your hands so you can eat breakfast, but only if I have your word as a warrior that you will not attempt to escape…at least while you’re having your meal,” I offered to the man in front of me. He glared with hatred once again, before speaking for the first time.

“Since when does the Imperium feed and care for its prisoners? Do you intend to keep me strong, so I last longer under torture for your amusement? Perhaps you want me strong, so I’ll better entertain your crowds at the games. Just kill me now Imperial, or hand me a weapon and face me in combat like an honorable warrior would. Do the officers of the Imperium no longer have the guts to fight their foes directly?” the man said and then glared once again.

“I don’t know what stories you heard about prisoners, but none of the men under my command will torture or sell another man into slavery. Slavery in the Imperium was done away with centuries ago. I admit some prisoners, along with criminals, are forced to fight in the games as punishment, but I see no reason for that to be your fate. What I hope to accomplish is to find out why you attacked us, and why you were stalking about our lands,” I responded, somehow knowing the background of the Imperium with regards to slavery and the arena games. The AI continued to import any knowledge my character would naturally have directly into my mind. Nevertheless, this guy was starting to annoy me.

“Bahh! Just pretty words to get me to betray my people. Truly, Imperial dog, there is no reason for pretense, just get on with whatever horrible thing you intend to do with me,” the barbarian said, as he slumped back against the tree in disgust. I had finally reached my limit with this one. I grabbed his face and stared directly into his eyes.

“Know this moron, I have fought here and in the many lands of my world for decades. Yes, I have killed many men, but I have never harmed an innocent person if I could avoid it…and NEVER allowed a prisoner under my care to be harmed. Did I not order my men to treat your wounds and give you water? Am I not offering to feed you, asking only that you agree to not try to escape for the few minutes it takes to stuff your ugly, painted face?” I held his gaze and the barbarian stared at me for a time, as if trying to discern if I was telling the truth.

“Though I don’t trust you Imperial, I believe your word that you do not intend to harm me. Your masters may have other ideas though. I agree on my word as a Baresark of the Forerunner Clan to not escape while I eat my meal. I offer no guarantee to what happens after that. Our people are taught to never stop trying to escape, if captured.” With that, the barbarian held his bound hands out. I drew my dagger and cut the rope binding his wrist, then handed him a bowl of food and a skin of water to wash it down with. The barbarian tasted the food, concluded it wasn’t poisoned, and shoveled the porridge with his hands quickly into his mouth.

“I was going to give you a spoon, but have it your way,” I laughed as the man looked at the spoon I held out. He licked his fingers clean and accepted the utensil, shoveling the chow into his mouth much more efficiently now. “My name is Raytak, by the way, and our town is called Hayden’s Knoll. My task is to keep it safe from all threats. We came here because some of your people scared a work party that was gathering lumber. I’m not here to attack you or enslave your people. I am here to make sure you’re not a threat to the ones we protect. If you wish us harm, I will wipe your people from the land, leaving nothing but burnt out homes and crying widows. If you want peace, I will offer the olive branch instead. One way or another, I will see there are no threats to those I protect. I believe you would do the same if you care about your people as I care for mine,” I said as I finished my food. The prisoner washed his food down with the waterskin, placed his bowl on the ground, and passed me the waterskin. He held his hands out to be bound once more.

“I keep my word Imperial…I mean…Raytak. Though I shouldn’t, I somehow believe you will keep yours. A warrior knows another warrior and I have seen into your soul through your eyes. The deaths of many have occurred through your actions, but I did not see deception. Leave these lands, Raytak, and see to your people. There are bigger threats than the Forerunner Clan that will find you soon enough,” the man said as I gathered up the dishes and handed them to a private that stood nearby. I saw one of our scouts coming in and making his way toward me.

“My dead and yours will be buried, if you have any special funerary rites, you can come back and do whatever you want later…assuming we don’t kill each other first. My soldiers honor their dead, but are practical about it. A mass grave is as good as an ornate mausoleum, as far as we’re concerned. I’ll leave you ungagged if you promise not to shout any warnings.” I hesitated for a moment and continued. “I also believe you are a man of your word, barbarian, though as you said, I shouldn’t,” I offered as I hurried toward the scout.

“Beremund, Raytak! My name is Beremund,” the barbarian offered as I left.

The scout approached and saluted before giving his report. “Sir, the Drebix left a trail that’s easy enough to follow. They’re heading northeast and moving quickly. I estimate there are only six or seven of them left from the party that attacked us last night. The fieldcraft of this bunch isn’t very good, I think we must have killed whoever was good enough to catch us blind last night,” the scout reported.

“Alright, let’s get everyone moving. Assign stretcher bearers and have them rotate with fresh soldiers so we can keep a strong pace. Scouts out, platoon advance,” I ordered, and our column began to pursue the fleeing Drebix. Scouts moved out to screen us from the front and sides while the rest of us marched in a column two soldiers wide. We made good time and by noon had left the sparsely forested area and had moved into rolling hills covered by scrub and thorny plants. The day was warm, but not oppressively hot, and I knew that the cooler air of Fall was only a month or so away.

Chapter 7

The sparse vegetation and rolling hills eventually gave way to a lusher environment as the afternoon progressed. Trees separated open fields, many of which appeared to have been recently cultivated. We passed the first farmhouse we had seen in these lands. The crudely constructed hovel was burnt to the ground, and along with it, a nearby barn had been torched. We approached the farmstead cautiously as the scouts investigated. After a few minutes, one of them returned.

“Sir, it looks like this place was burned about a week ago. We found the graves of six people that were recently dug behind the farm. The livestock, and anything of value was taken, and the farm looks to have been constructed in the Drebix style. Footprints show that a large group attacked from the northwest, over twenty of them. The graves themselves were recently dug, and I suspect the group we’re following must have dug them.” The scout finished the report and I considered what had happened. Someone had attacked the Drebix and it wasn’t the Imperium. There were more factors in play then I had initially thought. I quickly ordered Beremund to be brought up.

“Beremund, were these your people? Who attacked them and how long have you been fighting them?” I asked.

Beremund looked over the scene and stood quietly for a moment before continuing.

“We’ve been attacked off and on for a few weeks. The attackers always hit the outlying farms and leave no survivors. That’s why my war party was sent out, to look for whoever is doing this. I’m sorry we thought it was you. We’ve heard the stories of the war and, seeing your force, we figured you were the ones responsible,” Beremund trailed off as he stumbled toward the graves. I walked with him, flanked by several soldiers. Two of the six graves were smaller than the others and it wasn’t hard to figure out why.

“These were my relatives. A distant cousin, his two workers, his wife…and twin boys that were only seven years old. May I see my pack, please?” Beremund asked and I had his pack brought forward. He gestured toward a flap on the side and inside I found two small wood carvings. They were the half-finished carvings of bears. Beremund took the carvings, gently placing one on each of the smaller graves.

“These were my little cousins. They like my animal carvings and I would always make them each one when I was on patrol. Initially it was just something I did to pass the time on watch, but the boys would light up whenever I gave them one, so I made a point to ask what animal they wanted. They both had said bear this time.” Beremund closed his eyes while kneeling at the grave of his relatives and then stood up looking me directly in the eyes. “Thank you for allowing me this small kindness. I do not believe you or your people had any hand in this and I offer my apologies for the attack last night.” Beremund hung his head in shame as we reformed our column and followed after the six Drebix warriors that had escaped us earlier. I believed Beremund, but wasn’t keen on cutting him loose until we got a look at his village. I still needed to determine if the Drebix were a threat to Hayden’s Knoll, though now I began to foster some hope that our two peoples could live in the same zone without chopping each other to bits. There appeared to be some common foes in this zone and it would be foolish for us to fight each other if there was another powerful enemy waiting in the shadows.

The trail of the Drebix was easier to follow once we made it past the burned-out farm. They were not taking any care to cover their tracks and seemed to be focused on reaching their destination quickly. The troops entered another of the small forested areas when we began to hear raised voices in the distance. The scouts ran back and informed us that just past the tree line was another farm, much larger than the one we had found earlier. I ordered the men into line with ranks two deep, placing the scouts in front and to the flanks as skirmishers. Two, able-bodied soldiers were left with the wounded as we moved toward the edge of the forest to observe the farmstead. During one of the first fights I had in this game, a goblin had snuck up on a wounded soldier we had left behind, slitting his throat and taunting us before fleeing. I now would make sure that the wounded had at least some protection.

We made it to the edge of the tree line and I had our forces halt. The farm was neat and tidy, consisting of two longhouses with thatched roofs. A large simple barn was there and a few smaller sheds that were likely used to store tools and seed. The crops looked like lettuce or cabbage. A few men and women were seen hurrying from the field to meet the group we had been following. We were about 150 yards away and couldn’t make out what was being said. One of the farmers appeared to be the leader and he gestured wildly with the warriors in front of him before going over to the longhouse and ringing a loud signal bell. Men and women began to drift in from the fields, I counted at least twenty. A few emerged from the houses and began to hand out weapons. They armed themselves with a few spears, but most had only hand axes that were better suited to chopping logs for the fire, than for chopping foes.

This was also my first chance to get a look at the six who had fled our fight earlier. Three were the same type of raiders we fought off yesterday and three were holding bundles of the throwing spears that had dealt so much damage in our earlier fight.

Drebix Skirmisher Level 3 (3)

Drebix Warrior Level 3 (3)

While the farmers were gathering weapons, strange shouts and growls could be heard off to our left in another patch of trees that bordered the farm. The farmers gathered together with their improvised weapons ready. Most were only level one or two and had the npc farmer class. The three skirmishers moved about twenty yards ahead of the rest and prepared for whatever was coming. The other three raiders joined with the farmers to bolster their courage by having trained warriors among them. To our left, six, dog-like creatures ran from the forest toward the farmers and were soon followed by a force of twenty-five humanoids. The humanoids were all nearly seven feet tall and covered in coarse fur with a mane on their hunched backs and a mouth full of sharp teeth. The humanoids carried either battle axes or spears and were equipped with shields. The creatures had a crude leather harness that would provide them some additional protection, though not nearly as effective as our leather armor. I concentrated on the new foes and their information was revealed.

War Hyena, level 4 (6): These vicious beasts are larger than their normal kin, bred for speed and aggressiveness. Should you see a war hyena, beware, their even deadlier gnoll masters will surely follow.

Gnoll Warriors level 5 (25): Gnolls are a vicious race of hyena-like humanoids that thrive on the suffering of others. They can organize into large groups, but are often controlled by other, stronger, masters. Gnolls are cowards by nature and are quick to flee if a battle turns against them.

The three Drebix skirmishers began to hurl spears toward the war hyenas, taking down one before the other five hyenas swarmed them. The beasts quickly cut the three skirmishers off from the rest of the farmers and were looking forward to an easy kill. Their gnoll masters were cheering them on with their yipping, yet ominous, laughing noises. I had seen enough to know these gnolls were our real foe. Time to strike the fear of the Imperium into the beasts.

“Soldiers of the Imperium! We will move out and engage the gnolls. The Drebix are not to be harmed unless they attack us directly. These beasts,” I gestured toward the swarming gnolls, “are the real threat we face. Show them no mercy. Form up, squads one and two to my left, three and four to my right. Scouts head fifty yards out and engage with your crossbows. You,” I pointed toward one of my soldiers, “cut Beremund loose and give him his weapons. Platoon! At a quick step…march!” I ordered, and we moved to engage the gnolls which were approximately 100 yards ahead of us now. The gnolls had brought down the three skirmishers, who had managed to kill another of the war hyenas before succumbing to their foes. The gnolls had trouble pulling the war hyenas off the skirmishers. One even snarled at and bit a gnoll, willing to snap at its master to protect its kill. The gnolls gave up on corralling their hounds when they noticed our force approaching. Our scouts began to send accurate crossbow fire into their flank, quickly dropping four of the gnolls as we had closed the distance. When we were about twenty-five yards from the gnolls, I began to hear the bark of more war hyenas.

From our rear, another pack of six war hyenas charged from the trees toward our forces. They were quickly followed by twenty more gnoll warriors seeking to trap us between their two forces. I had to act quickly if I didn’t want us encircled. I activated the command presence ability and shouted orders.

“Squads one and two, form to the rear and release javelins once in range. Squads three and four, face the group to your front and engage with javelins. Scouts to the center, pick targets of opportunity with your crossbows, but fill in any gaps that open!” I ordered, and my soldiers formed two lines, each facing toward one group of foes. The lines looked thin at only sixteen soldiers each. The losses earlier, and the guards we had left behind to defend the wounded, had decreased our effective strength. Our forces released javelins into the approaching foes, concentrating on the more dangerous gnolls rather than the war hyenas. Several of the javelins hit their mark and four of the gnolls facing our front were killed, while three in the group that had attacked from the rear were dropped. The war hyenas then hit our rear line, stopped cold by the wall of shields that faced them. The men began to thrust out with their swords, trying to kill the beasts before their masters arrived. We had taken down three of the six hyenas when the gnolls hit our line. Unlike the weak goblins we had faced in our early battles, these creatures were bigger and physically stronger than my soldiers. Our rear line was breached in two places as the gnolls were able to use their superior height to strike over the tops of our shields. When the men moved the shields up for more protection, the hyenas leapt in, worrying at their legs. I plugged the holes with five of my remaining nine scouts just as the front line was also hit by the gnolls.

Like at the rear line, the gnolls were able to hack over the tops of the shields, killing several of my men and opening gaps in our line. Luckily, the hyenas hadn’t come with their masters, as the beasts for this side were still content to stay behind and eat their earlier kills. I sent the last four scouts to plug the holes in the front line and readied my own sword and shield to help wherever a gap opened. A quickly ordered shield bash gave us some breathing room, which allowed us the time needed to make several hits on the disoriented gnolls, releasing some of the pressure.

Despite being overpowered physically, my disciplined soldiers fought well. Our training kicked in and the men concentrated on defending with their shields and thrusting toward the gnoll to their right. The gnolls, much like the goblins we had faced before, only concentrated on the foe in front of them and were surprised to find Imperial bronze striking into their exposed sides. The new thrust ability that our soldiers had would activate automatically whenever off cooldown. These blows usually landed and severely injured the target. Our forces were evenly matched; the gnolls’ physical strength offset by our discipline and teamwork. Both soldiers and gnolls fell in nearly equal amounts. Our thrust ability proved deadly, but several of the gnolls began to activate an ability as well.

Laughing Slash: A powerful strike that utilizes the gnolls disturbing laugh to distract an opponent, causing their foe to lose 5 defense against the next attack. This is an activated ability and has a 60 second cooldown.

Watching our rapidly shrinking lines and looking for gaps in our defense, I failed to notice that the three war hyenas from the front group had snuck around our lines after finishing their meals. A heavy force hit me, and I fell to the ground, pain flaring in my leg and shoulder.

War hyena has bitten you for 125 damage.

War hyena has used the takedown ability. 25 damage and knocked prone.

War hyena has bitten you for 121 damage.

The three beasts worked in tandem, one knocking me down and all three now taking chunks out of me. I activated honor guard to get some breathing room. Two scouts materialized in front of me and began to attack the hyenas. The honor guard ability forced the hyenas to attack the summoned soldiers before they could attack me again…at least until the soldiers were killed, or their timer expired. I regained my feet and activated the ranged attack from Tessel’s Promise. A stream of green, acidic sap shot from my fingers and hit one of the war hyenas in the face. The hyena’s flesh melted quickly and, with a gurgling whine, the hyena died. The other hyenas continued to attack the honor guard. Both soldiers took a few bites, but were not badly injured. I activated shield bash for the honor guard and they each stunned one of the attacking hyenas. We finished off the stunned beasts and I, then, sent both of the honor guards to attack the nearest gnolls until their time ran out and they were unsummoned.

Pressure against our front line began to lessen and I looked to find the reason. Across from the gnolls I could see Beremund and a dozen of the farmers attacking the gnolls, sandwiching them between us. The farmers didn’t do much damage, but provided a distraction that allowed my men to easily dispatch several distracted gnolls. Beremund was a different story. His whirlwind blow slew three, bunched up gnolls and he quickly began to attack others with his club. My men cheered when the Drebix joined the fight, our two forces quickly going from foe to friend once a common enemy was found.

The gnolls sensed the fight going against them and began to flee. The gnolls’ innate cowardice worked in our favor and several were slain as they abandoned any form of defense in their haste to flee. The scouts switched back to their crossbows and managed to shoot down three more gnolls, the crossbow bolts easily penetrating the thin, leather, harness armor that the gnolls wore. Only a dozen of the gnolls, and none of the war hyenas, made it back to the safety of the forest. I detailed off four of my scouts to follow them in case they met up with reinforcements, or tried to sneak back. I set some of the men to looting our kills while I took stock of our losses. Three of the scouts were killed and I counted only nine soldiers still on their feet. Beremund approached me and clasped my hand in greeting.

“Well done, Imperial! Your men stood and fought with bravery. Me and my people thank you for what you have done today. Know this, that I Beremund, Baresark of the Forerunner clan, offer my hand in gratitude. You have my word that none of our raiding parties will trouble your lands. My people are still not keen on being friendly with the Imperium but you, at least, are a man of honor who keeps his word. All these present today will testify this is so to our clan,” Beremund said in his booming voice for all the remaining Drebix to hear.

“Beremund, know also that no soldier of the Imperium will attack or allow harm to come to any of your clan. I hope someday that your clan and the people of Hayden’s Knoll can become friends and trade together for the benefit of our people. Should the gnoll raids continue, or another foe pops up, let us know and my forces will help defeat any common enemies,” I offered, hoping to somehow mend the old wounds between our people. Perhaps not today, but at least the groundwork was being laid.

“We shall see, Imperial. Now, while these good folks clean up the battlefield, come inside and have a drink with me! The farmers have agreed to slaughter one of the cows and we will all feast. Tonight, at least, there is no Imperial or Drebix. There are only warriors who have defeated a common foe. Take this as a token of our victory.” With that, Beremund handed me a folded banner. I sent word to bring the wounded in and it turned out that one of the villagers had some skill in healing, which she used as the rest of us prepared for a big meal.

You have defeated a force of Gnoll warriors and war hyenas. 250 experience gained. You have recovered 1 gold, 13 silver, and 44 copper.

Item received: Banner (unidentified)

For helping them defeat a common foe, your reputation with the Forerunner clan has improved from hostile to wary. You are not liked but will no longer be attacked on sight. Improve this relationship to open new options for trade or questing.

Experience gained for negotiating peace: 500

Quest complete: Tribal Trouble. You have brokered a peace with the local Drebix clan. Time will tell if the peace will hold.

Reward: 1000 experience, 100 resources.

Bonus Reward: For limiting bloodshed against the Forerunner clan of the Drebix (a potential ally and trading partner) you receive an additional 100 resources.

The men and I enjoyed the meal of fresh meat and vegetables. The steak I ate, which was one of my favorite foods in the real world, was a perfectly cooked piece of pure bliss. I spent some time with Beremund and found that the title of Baresark is an important one within the Drebix tribes. If we would have killed him, or treated him poorly in captivity, there would have been no chance for a peaceful solution with these people. Seeing the farmers celebrating together, I knew that these were, for the most part, good people that only wanted to be free. I would do anything I could to help them stay that way.

The night passed quickly and, due in part to the care received at the farm, our wounded were once again well enough to march when dawn arrived. With the morning light we began the march home, much fewer in number than when we had left Hayden’s Knoll. I had only thirteen soldiers and six scouts left. I knew the game would replace many of the losses by the time we arrived back at the barracks, but I couldn’t help feeling down when looking at how small our formation of soldiers had become.

While we were marching, I was once again pulled from the game. The medpod continued its cycle of pulling me out every twenty-four hours or so in real world time to have the device refilled with medications. Once out of the game and no longer supported by the game’s processing power, my mind returned to a vegetative state. A feeling of weakness and loss hit me as I faded into the abyss that was my existence outside the Limitless Lands.

Chapter 8

Vhellia stood at the entrance to the Drowned Rat Tavern. The town of Tramwell was a small affair and unlikely to grow much in the future. The town subsisted on the trade of the local farmers and, most recently, from a group of miners that had discovered some rich veins of copper nearby. It was this group of miners that concerned Vhellia today. She quickly glanced at her two bodyguards, the two large half-orc warriors were intimidating and would scare off any small-time hooligans that might think to cause her trouble. Her method of handling trouble of a more dangerous variety consisted of two stealthed, level five rogues, as well as the level six necromancer that stood nearby under an invisibility spell. Vhellia could see them all since they were in her party, but doubted the low-level inhabitants of the town, or the low-level players she was meeting with now, would ever know of their presence.

The tavern door creaked as she opened it and her senses were assailed with the combined smells of watered-down ale, sweaty dwarves, and pungent pipe tobacco. Vhellia suppressed the need to hold her hand over her nose, as she didn’t want to offend the dwarves she was meeting here. She spotted the party of four dwarves she was looking for at a long table in the back of the tavern. They were perched on stools with annoyed scowls etched on their faces. One of her half-orc guards stood by the door and the other followed a few paces behind her.

“I’ll make this quick lass, the answer is no,” one of the dwarves said. His name tag showed him to be a level three, player-controlled character named Fred, with the non-combat class of miner. Vhellia knew many players had eschewed traditional fighting classes for crafting and gathering specialties. Even a gathering class could be dangerous in a fight, but a level three miner would have little chance against the forces she had with her today. Today was not about fighting, though. Vhellia had a deal to cut, a deal that she needed to finish soon, before she had to log out for a meeting in the real world.

“Fred, you should at least hear our offer before turning it down,” Vhellia said as she placed a heavy sack of coins on the table. “Here is an advance payment of 250 gold if you just agree to our terms. They are very generous, we’ll make sure you are protected and given any gear or equipment you require to mine the claim more efficiently,” Vhellia offered while sliding a scroll across the table with the terms she was offering. Deals in game were binding once both parties agreed. Fred reluctantly took the scroll and opened it, reviewing the terms offered.

“You’ve got to be crazy! You want us to sign away the rights to a lucrative mine for a measly 250 gold and we only get to keep 5% of the mine revenue after that? Get lost, Vhellia! You and the rest of your Organized Chaos guild are not getting your grubby hands on OUR discovery!” Fred shouted as he tossed the scroll into Vhellia’s face. The wood handle of the scroll made a cracking sound as it hit her nose. A small trickle of blood began to seep down and Vhellia saw she had been hit for 1 damage. The half-orc guard grunted and pulled his axe from his belt, ready for a fight. The dwarves drew axes and picks, as well, before Vhellia held up her hands and spoke.

“Hold on! No reason for violence; just a little scratch. I’m sure it wasn’t intentional. I have to say, Fred, that I am sorry you didn’t take this last, kindly offer of ours. You’ll find our next offer will not be as generous…or delivered with as much courtesy. Good day to you all. Enjoy digging in your dirt pile,” Vhellia said sarcastically as she and her guards left. Once outside the building, the necromancer dropped from invisibility as he approached Vhellia.

“Did they go for it. Vhellia? I really want that cash bonus we get once the deal is closed,” the necromancer asked, excited like a child at Christmas.

“No, Darkfallow. They didn’t go for it. Don’t worry. I have a…lovely strategy in place to get them to sign. The mine will be in our control, and the bonus in your account, by this time next week. I’ve got a meeting with our benefactors outside of the game now…see you guys later,” Vhellia said as she logged out and hurried to her meeting.

Executive conference room number 12 of Mantuco Enterprises.

“It appears the team’s all here. Let’s get started people,” William Lang said as he glanced around the room. Five others were seated about a large, ornate, mahogany table that cost more than the average person made in a month. The people in this room were the select few at Mantuco that knew the full details of their newest venture. When he was initially approached with the concept for the project by a young, but well-respected, junior manager in the firm, William laughed. The manager wasn’t intimidated and went on to show how he had found a unique and potentially lucrative niche market.

William was never one to pass on an opportunity due to his own ignorance, so he had a small team formed to begin an analysis of the potential venture. The initial results were promising, but much more had to be done for Mantuco to justify a greater investment. There needed to be solid results before William felt comfortable announcing the project to the board. After all, the stodgy, straight-laced executives of the board would be even more skeptical than William over the notion that a firm could make a profit from selling commodities sourced in a video game world. The gaming industry had boomed in the last few decades, but Mantuco had kept out of it, content with its current profitable portfolio of investments. William turned his attention to a young lady, dressed in casual clothes, that was seated near the back of the room.

“Rose, why don’t you give us an update on where we stand for stage one of our plan. I want to bring our newest team member up to speed. Zane Hoffman is one of our best financial analysts and I’m having him join the project to help gauge its potential. Zane’s expertise in market timing will also help us maximize the value from our sale of in-game resources,” William advised as he poured himself a glass of water, all the while wishing it was a latte. The doctor had told him to lay off the copious amounts of caffeine he had been drinking, which had led to severe caffeine withdrawals for the last week. William tried to force a smile on his face, annoyed at the feeling of yet another caffeine withdrawal headache starting behind his eyes.

Rose was a new employee, recruited specifically for this project due to her unique background. Rose was the guild leader of a small guild in the game, Limitless Lands. Her guild, Chaotic Outcomes, was gaining notoriety, despite its small size, as a strong pvp guild. Rose had been a hardcore gamer since the age of ten and, at twenty-two years of age, was well respected in the community for her gaming skills. Other than the few part-time jobs that she had worked to supplement her meager gaming income, Rose had never had a “real” job. When Mantuco called and offered her a position on the project, she thought it was a dream come true. Her parents were thrilled that she had landed at a large company as well-known and respected as Mantuco. Rose was determined that she would do whatever it took to make this project, and her future career, successful.

“Thanks, William. Just to review, stage one of our plan centers around controlling the resources of an entire zone in the game, Limitless Lands. The zone of Bharga’s Crossing was chosen due to the large number of my guild members that had found themselves there when they first spawned into the game. We soon gained a new guild member named Narbos the Grim, who is a university student working on a competitive project that he hopes will gain him access to a top graduate school. The project has three different students controlling their own towns within the game, testing to see which form of government is most efficient for a fantasy world. Narbos quickly decided to join the guild and saw the benefit of working together. His unique class is called “overlord” and with our help he has set about controlling the zone of Bharga’s Crossing. We now control the main city of Bharga as well as a small mine that some kobolds owned. With some persuasion, the kobolds are now working for us, providing resources to the guild. With the forces Narbos controls, and our guild support, we hope to control the rest of the zone within a few, in-game weeks.

One wrinkle we have found is that the AI has begun to issue quests to players, creating opposition to Narbos and the guild. We are trying to accelerate our plans to control the zone before the AI sees the conflict as potential “content” and starts adding even more opposition. The only other major town in the zone is called Haven and another competing guild is present there in force. We have been skirmishing with them for a time, but need some more funds in order to hire mercenaries and other players to help take the town. The last thing, other than Haven, standing in the way of control of the zone is a copper mine that some dwarven players have found and a minor village that the mine supports. The dwarven players are working the mine with the help of some npc’s and haven’t been receptive to our attempts to buy them out. The mine is listed as one of the objectives of the zone control quest we are pursuing. We must have the mine to hold total control of the zone and begin receiving a higher rate of taxation income. We will begin to exert more pressure on the dwarven players to sell the mine, it will be ours by the time the town of Haven is conquered. Other than the two objectives I’ve laid out, we have our low-level guild members picking herbs and hunting beasts in order to increase their levels and build a pool of resources to sell…once Zane tells us the time is right to sell.

The other thing I am working on is laying the groundwork to control the zone next to us. The zone of Hayden’s Knoll is still largely unexplored, and the namesake town has discovered a small mine, as well as a low-level dungeon. Taking Hayden’s Knoll, once we have secured Bharga’s Crossing, is a priority for two reasons. The first reason is the vast amount of resource potential there. For a low-level zone, it has a dungeon and at least one mine. A dungeon inside a town’s area of influence can reap huge tax revenues if properly managed. The second reason is that the town of Haden’s Knoll is controlled by one of the rival students in the project Narbos is working on. Our agreement to have him join our guild was that we would help him beat the other two students competing in the project. Once we’re finished here, I have a meeting in-game to put plans in motion for us to undermine our competitors hold on Hayden’s Knoll.” Rose finished and sat down, indicating Zane had the floor.

“Rose, thanks for the update,” Zane began. “From a financial standpoint, your plan to control multiple zones and subsequently control the tax revenue is sound. Initially, I thought that controlling resources/manipulating the auction market would be more profitable…until we ran into a hiccup. The game’s AI seems to be better at sniffing out market and commodities manipulation than the ones used by the real-world stock markets. We had several of our game accounts banned for attempting manipulation so, at this time, that revenue stream is closed to us. What I can assist with is helping you to determine the most profitable tax rates to levy on the zones you control in order to balance growth with income generation. I’ll also use our algorithms to determine the optimal time to sell the commodities we do have stockpiled. While we can’t manipulate the market, we can at least try to predict the optimal time to sell. Having our accounts banned did have the benefit of letting us know the amount of goods we can move without triggering any notice from the AI.” Zane finished and sat down, pushing the data he had prepared to everyone’s devices.

William decided it was time to close the meeting. He really needed something for the rapidly increasing pain in his head…maybe even cheat a little and splurge on a coffee.

“Thank you, Zane and Rose. I have no problem authorizing $5,000 to deposit into your guild bank to help make our plans happen. As you know, I will give you any resources you require, but I need to see results. We need to have the Bharga’s Crossing zone under our total control in the next ten to fifteen days. After that, I expect to see a detailed plan on how you intend to take Hayden’s Knoll into the fold as well. This has to be a viable income strategy, with low risk, and no negative perception for our investor groups before I can present it to the board for full approval,” William finished.

With the meeting concluded, Rose hurried back to her office and the VR gear that awaited her there. Narbos had the conquest of Bharga’s Crossing well in hand, but he had asked for her help with securing the mine. As a designated resource location, the mine could be conquered through force. With every available combatant needed for the pending attack on the town of Haven, Rose would have to get more creative. To delay the main attack on Haven to conquer the mine could be disastrous. The AI was already beginning to create more quests to oppose their work in the zone. Speed in execution would be the only way to finish their conquest before the AI became too involved.

Rose, known in game as Vhellia, logged back into the game and quickly made her way to the town of Bharga. The town had a dark and foreboding feel. Narbos had selected the evil overlord class and ruled with an iron fist. The townsfolk kept their heads down while the town guard rooted out any dissent. Despite the gloomy feel, the area was actually well managed. Building improvements were ongoing and the tax rate was reasonable compared to some other towns. Vhellia guessed the AI just wanted the overall feel of the town to coincide with the whole “evil overlord” theme that Narbos had.

Vhellia entered the town hall and made her way to the meeting room. Inside the room, Narbos the Grim waited, as well as two other players. Vhellia took her seat, nodded to Narbos, and looked at the other two players. Darkfallow, the necromancer, and another player dressed as a rogue with her face covered, returned Vhellia’s greeting before beginning the meeting.

“Ok folks, I just talked to our backers and they have given us another five thousand dollars in cash to work with. Narbos, that should be enough for you to finish recruiting what we need for the attack on Haven. Darkfallow, I have seen to it that your bonus was deposited into your personal account. You need to hurry to Hayden’s Knoll and start the plans Narbos said he had for you there. Gather intel, complete the deals that have been arranged, and put pressure on the town leaders like we discussed earlier. Get moving now and return back once you’re done,” Vhellia said as she waited for Darkfallow to leave. The necromancer grinned widely and quickly left on his quest.

“Do you really think that it’s wise to send that guy to pressure the town leaders? He’s not exactly diplomatic…or sane. The guy is more likely to attack someone and tip everyone off to our plans, than succeed,” Vhellia said as she shook her head skeptically.

“That’s actually part of the plan Vhellia. Darkfallow is an idiot and will likely botch things up. In fact, I’m counting on it. His ham-fisted, wannabe mobster style will tip the town off that there is a big threat out there. He’ll also be posing as a member of the Bloody Blades guild. They’re the small guild that managed to burn down the first town of Hayden’s Knoll. Any trouble Darkfallow causes will placed on the shoulders of a guild the town already has a bad experience with. We’ll remain conveniently off Delling’s radar until we’re ready to make a move on the zone. Mayor Delling and the commander guy will be too focused on potential attacks on the town and will not be able to head out and gain control of more of the zone. If we can keep them from expanding too much before we’re ready to move, it’ll make things much easier. Lovely will also reinforce the Bloody Blades deception when she completes her job. Some of the items I’m about to give her will also prove useful if we need to escalate the situation. I believe in having multiple contingencies, even if it’s expensive,” Narbos explained.

“That does make sense, Narbos. Darkfallow is a decent pvp player, but not the smartest guy on the team. Good job using his weakness as a strength.” Vhellia then looked to the rogue seated at the table. “Lovely, I assume you’re ready? You need to head to Hayden’s Knoll for your part, then off to the mines to take care of things there. Are you sure I can’t convince you to join the guild?” Vhellia asked of the hooded figure.

“Thanks for the offer guys, nothing wrong with your guild, but I like to do my own thing. You know I don’t work cheap, but have never failed to get the job done,” Lovely replied as she accepted the three scrolls and pouch of coins that Narbos slid across the table.

“That should cover what you need to hire the “help” that’s required for your missions. The scrolls are for the other job. Follow the instructions exactly on where to place them,” Narbos advised as Vhellia left the room.

“That should cover everything. Our problems in the other zone are now well in hand and I have a war to get ready for. Was there anything else you needed Vhellia?” Narbos asked.

“No, we have a lot of moving parts to this thing and I know you said you had several contingencies in place should the players in Haden’s Knoll become more of a problem. I’ll keep at it to make sure things run smoothly on my end,” Vhellia replied as she left to get about her work.

Chapter 9

Qualitranos Corporation, office of chairman Raines.

Chairman Raines looked at the others in his office. He had met with Trey and Lou earlier in the day and they had given him the information that the AI, Clio, had been transferring Colonel Raytak and Mr. Ty into the game world. He was fearful at first of the potential devastation a rogue AI would have on the company’s future. After hearing what had happened, watching both patients on admin gear, and even taking the time to have a conversation with the AI, he had to agree that Clio did what she thought was in the patient’s best interest. He and his team now had to convince the representatives from Meditronax and the Veterans Administration (VA) that everything was still fine. After confirming everyone knew the plan for the meeting, Raines activated the software that would allow the meeting to start. Various people began to appear around the virtual meeting room table. The virtual table expanded in size slightly for each person that joined. The people that concerned him the most were Martin Yang and Laura Hallax. Martin Yang was the head of the medpod project for their partner, Meditronax. Martin sat next to Laura Hallax, who was the representative from the VA. The two had valid concerns and Raines hoped his presentation would allay their fears.

“Let’s get started, everyone. We’re all concerned about the news that our AI has ported both patients into the game world. I will have Trey Raytak advise us on what transpired and why I think this will actually be an amazing opportunity for us,” Raines said as he gestured for Trey to begin.

“As all of you know, soon after the patients were placed in the medpods, the AI, Clio, decided to port first my father, and later Mr. Ty, into the game world. The AI’s directive was to create a comforting and calming environment for the patients to enjoy while their bodies were being treated. This environment was in no way connected to the game world and the only reason the pod had a Skyfi connection was to enable the AI to communicate directly with the nanobots treating the patients. The AI was not supposed to exceed the parameters set and, in actuality, she didn’t. We feel she didn’t, because the overriding parameter we hard coded into everything she did on the medpod project was to place the patient’s well-being first. Clio had discovered that placing the patients in-game was the most effective way for her to treat the damage to their memories and cognitive abilities. It should also be noted that the AI gave each patient the option to remain in the comforting environment. Both patients voluntarily requested to enter the game world. Clio has somehow found a way to use a portion of her processing power to enable the two patients to function normally in-game, free from their vegetative state. I think this could be a revolutionary development. Imagine being able to visit, in a virtual environment, a family member who was brain damaged. Imagine an Alzheimer’s patient being able to remember and interact with their loved ones in the virtual world. I, for one, say we need to jump on this opportunity and, if anything, expand the medpod program,” Trey Raytak finished, his passion clearly showing in his words.

“Thank you, Trey,” Raines began. “I would now like to open the meeting up to concerns about the medpod project, specifically from the VA and Meditronax representatives, as we need your continued support,” Raines finished. This was the crucial point of the meeting. If either of their partners pulled out, the medpod project was dead.

“Mr. Raines, I have just reviewed the data and can tell you, unequivocally, that Meditronax will support and even expand our investment in the project. The profits aside, we could help so many people with this. Imagine a medpod in every trauma center in the country. A critically injured patient, whose life cannot be saved by the pod, will at least be able to say goodbye and interact with their family virtually for a few pain-free minutes due to the medpods time compression. Yes, we’ll all make a fortune, but we’ll also have the potential to help the entire world,” Martin Yang finished with a tear in his eye. He had lost his teenaged daughter in a tragic car accident a few years ago and had arrived at the emergency room just after her death. He would have given anything for just the chance to say goodbye.

“I can appreciate that many of us have personal feelings on the issue. My concern is whether we are really helping the patient, or is the AI just fooling us by making some, I think they’re called npc’s, appear to be the patient. How do we know it’s even really Colonel Raytak and Mr. Ty in there and not some scripted game event? I’m afraid the VA cannot take that kind of risk for the patients under our care. We respectfully decline and will be filing a report to the Food and Drug Administration on the potentially dangerous device the medpod and its AI have become,” Ms. Hallax said. Chairman Raines knew she was very conservative regarding the treatment of her patients and that she would be the hardest sell. Raines was prepared and had one more thing to try that would hopefully sway Ms. Hallax.

“Laura, I appreciate that your primary concern is for your patients, as it’s a concern we all share. I ask only one thing before you make your final decision. A VR rig was sent to your office earlier today, along with one of our technicians to help you get started with it. The device is a special make called an admin rig, which will enable you to track and observe a patient, without the AI’s knowledge that you are even in the game. I ask only that you put it on and see the patients in the game before you make your decision. The rig will allow you to move between both patients easily. Please, take as long as you like,” Chairman Raines pleaded. Everything was riding on Ms. Hallax being willing to take this step. Ms. Hallax considered for a moment and her face softened a bit before she responded, looking at Trey and not Raines.

“Trey, if you’re convinced that this is beneficial for your father, I am willing to at least take a look. I make no promises, as I know family members can be swayed by their emotions when it comes to their loved ones in the hospital.” Ms. Hallax motioned for the nearby tech to help her into the helmet. Laura Hallax was never a gamer and had some difficulty understanding how to control it. The tech was patient with her and was soon able get her started. The rest of the room waited in anticipation for her to return from her dive into the game. The lights on the helmet blinked green, indicating she was in game. Time passed and after thirty minutes Laura Hallax returned. She exhaled loudly and passed the admin rig to the waiting tech before speaking.

“Wow…I have never been a gamer, but I can now see why your product is selling so well. I spent over two hours of in-game time observing the patients and, I have to say, the change in them both is nothing short of incredible. The way they interacted with the others around them…players and npc’s alike is real. I don’t believe any AI could duplicate that so exactly. Regardless, I do want to see hard data proving it is the patient in there and not some simulation. Given your data is accurate, and I will have my own tech folks at the VA check it, I approve of continuing and eventually expanding the project. I do have to ask you Trey, for my own curiosity, what was your father’s response when you spoke to him in-game?” Trey’s joy at the project potentially being saved was quashed when he was asked about his father. He gathered his thoughts and responded.

“Ms. Hallax, it is our understanding that the patients have a very high risk of permanent memory loss if they are forced to recall particularly emotional memories before the entire memory structure is repaired. My father recalled a small memory early in the game and the impact of that caused him to permanently lose several of his other memories. I haven’t been able to contact him in-game because of this, and am anxiously awaiting the repairs to be complete so I can interact with him again. His repairs are estimated at thirty-three percent complete and Mr. Ty is at forty-six percent complete. Ty was 12 years younger and had less deterioration than my father, so he will be recovered first. The AI has begun to include their repair percentages in the daily patient recap, so you will be able to track the progress with us,” Trey finished. Raines then broke the silence that followed Trey’s explanation.

“We do have one more item of business before we conclude the meeting, and this is not as good an outcome as we had hoped. It looks like some of our other projects regarding the time compression features of the game have not panned out. Lou, can you explain the data to us in layman’s terms?” Raines asked.

“Sure Mr. Raines. As you all know, we all had high hopes that the time compression feature in game would lead to revolutions in learning and productivity. In theory, education and non-physical work could be completed at five times their normal pace if they were done in-game. Our theory was, unfortunately, disproven. The data shows that the time compression in-game is only possible due to the AI’s processing power and memory storage ability. Once we pull someone back out of the game, we lose that processing power and, consequently, lose what they have learned. You would still have some memories of the work you did, or the subject you studied while you were in the game world, but they would be like the faint memories of a vacation taken a decade ago. You will not be able to retain any significant details of things you learn in-game. We are looking at the possibility of developing an AI that specifically would handle and control a work environment, so that work done in that environment could be sent to the real world, but that project will take decades as the AI is grown.

Many of you may not know that AI’s are developed for specific purposes. Clio, for example, has taken over twenty years of development and growth for her to achieve what she is today. Outside of the game world and the medical features we programmed into her over the last twenty years, she is unable to shift to a radically different purpose. For now, until an AI specifically designed for it is invented, using time compression to increase work or school productivity is not possible,” Lou finished while pushing the data results to everyone’s devices for them to review.

“I have a question Lou, if I may?” Ms. Hallax asked. “Why would it take so long for an AI to be created? I thought companies created AI’s all the time to handle complex tasks. If it takes so long to create an AI to do this, why weren’t you working on the education or workplace AI’s at the same time you developed Clio?” Ms. Hallax asked a question that was on the mind of several people who were not intimately involved in the AI creation projects over the last decades.

“Great questions, Ms. Hallax…I thought you weren’t a techie,” Lou joked before continuing. “An AI created for a complex, but relatively narrow, scope of use can be created in a reasonably quick three to four months, or so. An example would be the AI’s created by our military to control various drones. There are huge numbers of calculations required to drive, fly, and fight them, but not much depth other than that. The drones don’t have the added complexity of needing to understand human emotions, create world systems, or have the knowledge of all the subjects taught in school. We are one of the best companies in AI development, and I believe I can tell…” Lou looked to chairman Raines for confirmation to continue. “Yes, I can advise that we are developing both an AI for workplace environments as well as one specifically for education.

To answer your other question, we didn’t find out about the time compression until very late in the AI’s development. It had been theorized as possible, but wasn’t confirmed until we began alpha testing, in-house, a few months ago. At that time, we dipped our toe in the development water for the new AI’s. We only really began to place resources toward those projects after the limitations of Clio became clear,” Lou finished as Ms. Hallax and many of the others at the table nodded their heads in understanding.

“Thank you, Lou. With that, we’ll conclude for today. I’ll update everyone’s schedule once our next meeting is set. Should there be any further concerns, in the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact me,” Raines said as he finished the meeting. The virtual attendees dropped out one by one, leaving only the chairman, Trey, and Lou in the room.

“Gentlemen, that went better than I had hoped. I had a feeling the Meditronax rep would be on board, due to their investment, but the VA rep had me scared for a bit. I’ve got to jump into another meeting with the game design folks in a minute. You two are welcome to attend. They are having some customer pushback about bullies and griefers in-game. The AI seems a bit slow to deal with them. The techs are telling me it’s something to do with her learning curve and propensity to want other players in-game to step up to the challenge,” Raines finished as Trey and Lou both excused themselves, heading back to the medical division to go to work.

Chapter 10

The Foul Spore Pit

Yendys tapped her foot impatiently as she waited with three others outside the glowing blue portal to the dungeon. The other three players looked impatient, but not as agitated as the diminutive halfling. Yendys’ animal companion, Crunchy, gently nudged her leg, able to feel the discomfort in its companion. Footsteps were heard pounding down the tunnel that led to the room they were in, heralding the appearance of the halfling Drake.

“Drake, what took you so long? You know my dad said I could only play until eight. You know my parents are SUPER strict about the amount of time I can play…and poor Crunchy is getting bored without some dungeon beasties to eat,” Yendys whined as Drake caught up to the others, while at the same time trying to catch his breath. Yendys looked to the others of the group. She had to admit they had a pretty good party for taking on a low-level dungeon. Raytak’s friend, Jacoby, would be the group’s tank. He had good gear and was a level higher than the rest of the party, as he had just recently hit level six. Jacoby’s guild mate, Kathala, was to be their main healer, playing a cleric of light build. The cleric of light class focused on area of effect heals as well as removing curses and poisons that may afflict the party. Yendys thought she seemed nice enough, just like Jacoby, and looked forward to having another girl in the group. Yendys and her two friends had met Jacoby through Raytak, with whom they had spent much of their early time in-game. Jacoby had joined a guild called Lightbearer that was focused on developing clerics, paladins, and knight type classes.

The last members of the team were her friends Quimby and Drake, both of which were playing rangers. Quimby was specializing in ranged warfare while Drake was going toward a dual-wield melee build that would eventually work in tandem with the animal companion he would be able to summon starting at level 10. Yendys joined with Drake and Quimby as the damage dealers for the party. Her druid summoner class enabled her to summon forest creatures to fight temporarily for the group. Combined with a few damage spells, a basic heal, and the formidable animal companion Crunchy, the group was well balanced.

“Geez, sorry Yendys, but mom made me help with dishes and take out the trash before I could log in. Luckily, I jumped in-game before she could ask me about my homework,” Drake said, as Jacoby and Kathala laughed. Drake, Quimby, and Yendys were all 10-year-old schoolmates in real life, while Jacoby and Kathala were in their early twenties. The two older players didn’t mind playing with the younger kids. They were fun to be around and reminded them of a more carefree time in their lives before the need to work and earn a living took over.

“All right everyone, unless someone needs to finish chores, or feed their cat, I think we’re good to go in. I’ll lead the way, but don’t hesitate to shout out if you need me to pull a creature off you. Try to focus your damage on whatever I’m focused on and let the summons and Crunchy tank anything I can’t keep aggro on. If nobody has any questions, let’s get going. I’ll take it slow at first, and then if things are going well, I’ll pull larger groups. This is the first run ever in this dungeon, so we need to watch for anything. Stay safe and have fun. Even if we wipe, it’s cool,” Jacoby said to the group. His age, experience, and that fact he was the group tank, made him the natural leader for the party.

The party stepped through the swirling blue portal and entered the dungeon.

You have entered the Foul Spore Pit.  Defeat the corrupted Dryad Tessel to gain valuable rewards. *Note, your party is the first to attempt this dungeon. You will be eligible for increased experience and rewards for this first run only. Complete the entire dungeon to receive the unique title “Tessel’s Bane”.

“Woah, sooo cool guys! We totally need that unique title! I wonder if I can have it made into a ribbon for Crunchy!” Yendys said excitedly as the group progressed through the entrance. The passage they traveled down was a tunnel with the same features as the goblin mines just outside the dungeon. Everyone in the party felt a slight tingle as Kathala cast a party-wide buff.

You have been affected by Blessing of Light, for the next 30 minutes Fortitude is increased by 5.

Yendys was glad for the extra fortitude. Each point of it increased their health by ten and an extra fifty health was noticeable for a level five character. Concentrating and chanting, Yendys cast her only buff on the party. The barkskin buff wasn’t that great, but Yendys figured that they would need every bit of help that they could get. Her spell was single target only, so she had to cast it five separate times, the five casts dropping her mana to half. Mana regeneration out of combat was quick and Yendys figured she would have enough mana regained once they hit the first fights.

You have been affected by Barkskin. For the next 30 minutes you receive +1 to defense.

After buffs were received, the party continued down the slowly curving passageway. Eventually the sound of voices could be heard in the distance, along with the clanging of metal tools on stone. The passage emptied into a large cavern that was a whirl of activity. Several goblins wandered about, mining copper from the nodes that spawned from the cavern walls. Interspersed about the cavern were several larger goblins that snapped whips at any workers they either felt either weren’t moving fast enough, or that just looked like they needed hitting. The goblins working the mine were neutral to the party, while the bosses were hostile.

Goblin Overseer Level 2: The mine boss has taken the biggest and meanest goblins to work for him. The overseers lord their position over the slaves, taking delight in the painful wounds they inflict with their whips.

Goblin Captive Level 1: These poor wretches were snatched up by the mine boss to work his claim. They have little hope of ever seeing their tribe again.

A quest prompt popped when the party began to enter the cavern.

Quest: Free the goblin slaves. Goblins of the Bugtug tribe have been captured by the inhabitants here. Save them from their captors and be rewarded by Chief Bugtug.

Free 10 goblins from captivity.

Reward: 10 gold, 500 experience.

“Ok, I’m going to try and start pulling the overseers,” Jacoby announced, as he strode confidently toward the first opponent.

“Bree-Yark! Intruders! Kill them all,” the first goblin overseer shouted and charged toward Jacoby with his whip cocked back and ready to strike. Jacoby blocked the first attack with his shield and snapped off a blow with his hammer into the goblin’s shoulder. A sound like a twig snapping was heard as a critical hit landed and the goblin shrieked in pain, his now shattered arm hanging limp at his side. The damage didn’t cause the goblin to falter. It switched its whip to the other hand before striking back at its attacker. The blows from the whip tore at any exposed flesh that it met. The rest of the party now entered the fight. Kathala cast an aoe (area of effect) healing spell that restored 5 health per second for the entire party. Crunchy moved in and began to stab at the goblin with his horn, while Quimby fired off arrows when he saw an opening. Suddenly, Drake appeared behind the goblin, his two short swords flashing in the torchlight at he set about hacking the goblin down. The goblin fell in seconds from the combined attack. The team then began releasing all the captives they could, making sure not to draw the attention of the other overseers before they were ready. Three goblins were freed as the party took stock of their first skirmish.

“That went well,” Jacoby stated as the last of his wounds healed up. “Let’s try to pull more this time. There are four more overseers left and I think we can take them all,” Jacoby said as he trotted down the cavern to attract the attention of their other foes. Jacoby quickly pulled the last of the overseers, while the party continued to use the same tactics as before. The four overseers died quickly as the party handily defeated their foes. True to form, the first encounter in the dungeon was easy, a great way to learn how to work together as a team. The group waited as Jacoby (the groups only player skilled in mining) mined the three copper nodes that were in the cavern. Jacoby kindly offered to split the ore he mined with the party, but everyone refused, letting him keep the materials. Jacoby had mentioned that he wanted to try his hand at forging his own weapons at some point, and the party knew that finding materials could be difficult and expensive.

“These guys are kind of easy don’t you think?” asked Yendys.

“No! Did you have to say that? Now you’ve doomed us all Yendys,” Drake joked while shaking his head. They rescued the remaining goblin slaves on this level and now had only five more to go. There were two doors in the cavern, a side door that led to a storage room with old equipment, and a door that led to another tunnel. The equipment room revealed no enemies and nothing of value.

With nothing else to do, the party continued down the tunnel. So far, the experience gain had been a bit better than regular mobs but nothing to write home about. Treasure was weak too, only one gold and a handful of silver to split between the party. The passage they were following opened into another large cavern that was the mirror image of the one they had just left. Eight overseers and more slaves were in this cavern, the overseers in this room being slightly stronger at level three.

“Jacoby, try and pull one or two of these level three guys and we’ll see how much stronger they are than the level two guys,” Yendys suggested as her mana finally topped off from the last fight.

“Pulling one,” Jacoby said as he left the tunnel and approached the first overseer. The overseer quickly spotted the intruder and reacted the same as the ones in the other room had…at first.

“Bree-Yark! Intruders! Kill them all,” the overseer yelled. Only this time the other seven overseers in the room responded to his call and began to charge the party. The AI had used the creatures in the first cavern as an easy test for a party. Creatures throughout the rest of the dungeon would act with the knowledge and initiative that real creatures would have used. The party could no longer count on dungeon mobs wandering aimlessly until they got within aggro range. One overseer stopped his charge and yelled to the others. “I’ll go tell the boss, kill these intruders and we’ll be rewarded,” the goblin said as he sprinted to the door at the rear of the cavern which presumably led to the boss on this level.

Yendys stood stunned. Mobs in dungeons didn’t usually behave like this. This didn’t seem like some scripted event, the complex game throwing their old tried and true dungeon strategies out the door. The party would have to improvise and think through each encounter here in the dungeon.

“I’ll have Crunchy tank two, Jacoby. You hold the others, then pull them off Crunchy when we finish them. I’ll heal Crunchy as best I can, but make sure all of us, including the pets, are in your aoe heals Kathala.” Yendys snapped off orders and, to her surprise, everyone followed them. Crunchy used his charge ability to gain aggro on one of the goblins, then he spun around launching a squeezing attack with his mandibles that picked up aggro on a second goblin. The two goblins now attacking him began to snap their whips at the giant beetle, their blows diminished somewhat by Crunchy’s hard carapace. Still, the whips left gouges where they hit and Yendys could see her pet’s health bar begin to dip. Crunchy alternated his attacks between his two foes, not doing much damage, but, so far, keeping their attention. Kathala’s healing spell fell over the party and they all began to gain five heath per second. Yendys began to repeatedly cast her summon nature’s ally spell. Medium-sized dogs appeared and began to assist Crunchy against two overseers he was fighting.

Looking over at Jacoby, Yendys could see his health was slowly dropping as the damage from the five, level three overseers slightly exceeded the direct healing Kathala was pouring into him. Drake and Quimby fired arrows and slashed blades at one of the overseers, trying to kill one before Kathala ran out of mana. Yendys’ focus was brought back to Crunchy. Her poor unicorn beetle was down to half health and the goblins were mocking him while they laid about him with their whips. Her summoned animals had been killed off quickly and she stopped summoning to reserve some mana for healing. Yendys cast her nature’s mending spell on Crunchy, healing him for 50 health and an additional one point per second for the next ten seconds. It wouldn’t be enough, as her healing spell at level five could only be used on the same target once every hour. Yendys next activated an ability she dreaded using ever since she convinced her dad to allow her to use the one percent pain feedback feature in the game.

Fatebind Pet: By binding your fate directly to your pet, you allow yourself to take 25% of the damage your pet receives. This ability is a toggled ability with a thirty second cooldown.

Yendys flinched as small pinches of pain hit her every time a whip damaged Crunchy. Yendys cast nature’s mending on herself and then on Jacoby to help heal the tank, while she chain cast nature’s wrath at the overseers attacking Crunchy. Eventually the team’s damage output began to drop the goblins. As each goblin overseer fell, the strain on Kathala’s healing lessened. In no time, the seven overseers were lying dead on the cavern floor. The party freed the last of the goblin slaves while they waited for their health and mana to regenerate. A quest complete prompt began flashing once the last goblin was freed.

Quest Complete: Free the goblin slaves. See chief Bugtug for your reward.

The quest complete prompt was welcome, even if the pitiful loot they were finding so far wasn’t. Two gold, fourteen silver, and a dozen copper pieces was all the party had received so far on this run. Not much when split among five players. Nobody was discouraged, as they all knew from other games that the big loot was found from the boss fights. A quick check of the cavern revealed another side room filled with useless equipment and a tunnel that led further into the dungeon. Waiting a few moments for Jacoby to mine the two copper and one tin node in the room, the party continued.

The passage twisted around and eventually they faced the doorway into another room. This room appeared to be the “boss” room and they could see a large goblin sitting on a makeshift throne. The goblin on the throne was flanked by another large goblin and a scattering of overseers.

“Boss, they’re here! We’ll kill them if they dare to enter your throne room,” The runaway goblin overseer announced in the common tongue. Looking at the goblins in front of them, the party found that there were a total of four level three overseers and two of the new type of goblin.

Goblin Enforcer, level four (2). The goblin enforcers are typically the largest and strongest goblins in a tribe. They will follow the commands of their chief but are always conniving a way to supplant their leader. Strong as a half-orc and cunning as a gnome, beware of trickery from these foes.

“I’ll tank the boss, the other enforcer, and two of the overseers if I can. Yendys, try and get Crunchy to keep the other two overseers occupied. Drake and Quimby, focus down the goblin overseer I’m on. We’ll drop the weaker ones first, before killing off the enforcers. We got this!” Jacoby said as he entered the room, excited about facing the mini-boss goblin. Yendys ordered Crunchy forward, but something was bugging her about this encounter. She realized what it was just as the party cleared the doorway.

“Hey guys, where’s the boss? I don’t think these enforcers are it, otherwise it would have listed one of them as a leader or something. The “boss” on the throne is showing as just another enforcer,” Yendys mentioned as she entered the room. Just as she and Kathala entered the room, a grumble was heard above them. From above the doorway, a hulking figure was perched on a ledge built specifically for this purpose. A huge hammer swung down from above and hit Kathala directly in the face.

Kathala has been critically hit by the Goblin Mine Boss for 580 damage! Player is stunned for 10 seconds from the blow.

Kathala stood there just inside the room, stunned, as we looked up at the figure on the ledge above us. An ogre was up there grinning as he wound up for another blow…we had been suckered into an ambush! Yendys fired off her nature’s mending spell at Kathala while Jacoby used his taunt ability to get the attention of the mine boss.

Boss Kutrek, Level 4 Ogre elite. Boss Kutrek leads the goblin miners in the Foul Spore Pit with an iron fist. His hammer and insatiable hunger are the twin fates that await any who challenge his rule. Kutrek likes to ambush foes from his perch above the throne room’s doorway, usually getting a free strike from his powerful hammer, Skullpopper, on the unsuspecting victim.

The rest of the goblins hit the party from behind as Kutrek leapt down from his ledge and began to rain powerful blows from Skullpopper onto Jacoby. Yendys found herself cornered by one of the enforcers. Crunchy tried desperately to get the goblin’s attention away from his master. The other goblins split up and began to single out party members. The second enforcer charged Kathala and began smashing her with an iron shod club. Jacoby used his daily cooldown ability to gather aggro on the entire room.

Face Me! This daily cooldown ability for warriors generates moderate aggro and forces all foes within twenty-five yards to attack the warrior for the next ten seconds.

The ability worked too well, as all the foes began to attack Jacoby. Seeing Jacoby’s plummeting health, Yendys fired off a nature’s mending on the warrior as the rest of party began to attack the goblins. Kathala came out of her stun and began to rapidly cast heals. Her actions were too little, too late, and Jacoby dropped to the floor as his health reached zero. Kathala was next to fall, as the cunning ogre once again focused on the healer. Yendys tried to heal the other two halflings, but her spell didn’t cut it and the two rangers soon fell to the mighty ogre and its minions. Yendys yelled in anger as Crunchy was smashed into a pile of beetle parts by the ogre. The ogre rumbled a mocking laughter at Yendys as he cracked off one of Crunchy’s legs and began to snack. Yendys’ last sight was of the ogre chewing her pet’s leg greedily as her health dropped to zero and she was sent to respawn…the party had failed on their first attempt at the dungeon.

Chapter 11

Sounds and sights returned to me as I reentered the game and the AI’s processing power began to once again supplement my damaged mind. I found myself in a hastily prepared camp, surrounded by what remained of my decimated command. After the battle with the Gnolls, we numbered only thirteen soldiers and six scouts. My senses fully returned and I took a deep breath, glad to be back in the game. The AI usually respawned me back into the game in my tent when we were out in the field, but we had packed light with no tents for this mission. As I sat up, one of the soldiers approached and passed me some dried meat and a skin of water.

“Lieutenant Raytak, sir, the men are ready to move out whenever you are. Everyone is fed and has had a few minutes rest. One of the scouts found a clean stream nearby so I had everyone fill their water skins,” Private Tremble advised. I stood up on slightly unsteady legs while considering the ability of the game to take something that should be so strange to the soldiers around me (their leader conking out every five days for a few minutes) and make the npc’s act like it was totally ordinary. I guess the game would get weird if the soldiers freaked out every time it happened.

“Very well, private. Let’s get moving. I would like to make it back to town by early this evening,” I ordered, and the men moved out. The unit formed a small column two soldiers wide and seven soldiers long. The scouts ranged about one hundred yards in front and to the sides of column with one scout trailing the group to make sure there were no foes creeping up from behind. I had plotted a slightly different course for the way back to Hayden’s Knoll in order to reveal more of the undiscovered areas of the zone. I chewed the tough, salty jerky as we marched, glad for the food but confused as to which animal was able to provide such a difficult meat to chew.

While marching, terrain remained the same; rolling hills with patches of forested land that we were becoming accustomed to. This looked like good country for farming and, if we could keep the area safe, these lands could provide a good life for those that chose to farm here. It was during our march when my addled brain recalled some more of the military history that I had studied for so long in the real world. The Imperium was loosely based on ancient Rome and one of the features of the roman legions was their ability to make excellent roads. The ancient roman roads were still evident today in parts of Europe. I would have to check with Sergeant Brooks to see if the men had some ability to make roads. The npc-controlled sergeant would likely have that knowledge. Seeing good roads stretch throughout the zone would enable faster movement and attract more trade to the town. The dirt trails we used now had to be nightmares of mud when it rained hard. Unfortunately, thinking about rain seemed to have summoned some for us.

As the afternoon began, clouds could be seen gathering, and the sky became grey and dreary. The wind picked up and I knew we were in for some weather. Rain soon began to fall and the wind strengthened, slowing our progress. It was evident with our slowed pace that we were not making it back to Hayden’s Knoll until the next day. I ordered the scouts to look for some shelter or a somewhat dry place for us to pass the night. Without tents, sleeping in the open in the rain would be nearly impossible. At least it was still warm as the final days of summer hung on to their warmth as Fall neared. The sky darkened as the afternoon moved toward evening. Just when I thought we were going to have a miserable night in the rain, one of the scouts came in to report.

“Sir, we found an abandoned farm just up ahead past the next rise. It’s been empty for a while and one corner of the farmhouse has collapsed but it’ll keep us dry for the night,” the scout reported. The scout led us over the hill and in the distance I could see the farm. Old fields lay fallow and the farmhouse looked to have been abandoned for some time. The house had a large covered porch and two old rocking chairs still sat there rocking gently in the strengthening wind. Behind the house, a small corral for animals was completely collapsed, though a still standing outhouse was present near the wood line behind the house. This would have been a great place to farm. Somewhat level fields and a small forest behind you for lumber. Despite its dilapidated condition, the farmhouse showed the care that whoever built it had put into the structure so long ago. Small details and carvings were present and above the front door the family name of Dunderman with a date over one hundred years ago was carved on a loose plank. My natural curiosity was aroused and I wondered what the story of this little farm was. I was always a sucker for flavor text and world lore in games.

The soldiers had to manhandle the door open. Years of neglect and exposure to the weather had swollen the wood door into the frame. The door burst open to reveal the home was a single large open room. A cast iron stove sat in the center which would have kept the home cozy in the winter. A small table with six chairs were placed next to the stove. Old corroded tin plates, cups, and utensils were set and ready for the next meal, a layer of dust covering everything. A well-crafted large wood bed was found in one corner of the room with a small child’s crib next to it. A bunkbed and smaller single bed were in the other corner, revealing that there had likely been six people in this family, including a small child. Clothing, bedding, cookware, and all the small things that help make a home cozy were still here. One of the back corners of the house had collapsed sometime in the past. The collapse left a small opening in that corner, but with the weather being warm, we weren’t overly concerned. The house, overall, was dry and there was plenty of space inside the farmhouse for the soldiers to sleep. A fire was made in the stove after one of the quicker thinking soldiers cleaned out the flue, evicting the small family of squirrels that had been living there. After displacing the squirrels, we were able to cook a supper of back and beans, supplemented by some of the food the forerunner clan had provided for us when we had left their farm.

“Sir, I found this if you’re interested. It looks like the journal of whoever owned this place,” one of the soldiers said while handing me the deteriorating journal. The darkness slowly closed in as the rain increased in intensity. I set a guard rotation for the rest of the night, placing two soldiers on guard, patrolling the farm area while the rest of men slept in the dry farmhouse. As a player, I didn’t need to sleep and only had to lie down for a few seconds each day to feel as refreshed as if I had slept the whole night. I sat at the table and began to read the journal, using a single candle to give enough light for reading without disturbing the troops trying to sleep.

Entry 1: With great joy, the Dunderman family hereby claims this small area of land. The fifty acres here are fertile and the nearby forest will provide the means for us to craft what we didn’t bring from town. The Lankshires and Willimans families have also decided to settle nearby, so at least the children and my wife, Maude, will have someone to visit with and talk to. I personally don’t care about socializing with others. Too many years and too many horrors I have seen while serving in the army of the Imperium under the great Emperor Halimanis. I’m content to live here in the wilds, forgetting everything but my family. I know my wife and children will want more contact with the outside world eventually. I’ll work on the house first, while the three older boys and Maude get the fields ready for planting. We’ll have to work hard if we want to sock away enough food for the winter.

The remainder of the early entries detailed the building of their farm and working on their lands. There was Mr. Dunderman, his wife Maude, and four children. The children were aged 19, 17, 13, and 3, the youngest being the only girl. The emperor Halimanis reigned some 120+ years ago, so this, and the nearly disintegrating nature of the journal pages, let me guess the approximate date the journal was written. Scanning forward, I read of a happy family, content in their lives and anticipating the wedding of their oldest son to the oldest daughter of one of their neighbors. Further on in the journal, I came across an interesting entry.

Entry 231: Had some trouble last night. The dog began scratching at the door after everyone had gone to sleep. I cursed the stupid beast and opened the door to let his useless hide out to relieve himself. The dog thankfully moved off past the animal pens to do his business. I had grown tired of it relieving itself just outside the door. I heard the dog growl, then yelp in pain as something attacked him. I grabbed my lantern and a pitchfork one of the boys had neglectfully left leaning against the house, instead of in the shed where it belonged. I ran to where the dog’s whimpers of pain slowly faded, and light of my lantern revealed a gruesome scene.

My dog lay on his side, his stomach had been opened by what appeared to be a goblin. The goblin had its face stuck into the wounded dog’s stomach feeding greedily. The dog just lay there panting, unable to move for some reason and looking at me with fear and pain showing in his eyes. The light of my lantern must have alerted the creature to my presence and the goblin slowly raised his head to face me. His gore covered face broke into a hungry smile and long serrated teeth were revealed. I had fought many goblins during my days in the military and though the creature looked like one, it was no goblin. An impossibly long tongue licked some gore from its face and the smiling creature leapt at me. The leap triggered an old soldiers’ reflexes and I got the pitchfork up just in time, impaling the diminutive yet strong creature as it used its last moments of life to tear flesh from my arms with claw tipped fingers, shoving bits of my bloody skin into its maw. Something came over me when the claws broke my skin. I fell to the ground and found myself completely awake and alert, yet unable to move. Sometime later, my oldest son found me and helped my slowly recovering body back into the house.

I recovered full control of my body over the span of a few minutes and Maude helped clean and bandage the wounds on my arm. I had my son help me burn the body of the goblin thing. We buried the dog out behind the shed, covering it with rocks to prevent scavengers from getting at the poor pup’s corpse. The kids were distraught for a few days and I knew I would have to get them a new dog the next time I was in town.

The horrifying tale drew me in and I began to eagerly read forward, wanting to know what happened next. Behind me, men would wake and change guard shifts every hour as the night wore on. The next entry in the tale beckoned and after making sure the new guard shift was awake and alert, I went back to reading. The next few entries were again, mundane. The farmer had let his neighbors know about the creature and everyone would be more vigilant in case there were any more.

Entry 239: My wound continues to refuse to heal properly, even though it’s been over a week. I know I should be worried, but there is too much to do around the farm. The black streaks from the wound have crept up my arm. This can’t be good, but there is no pain or fever. I’m sure it will heal up and go away soon. The only symptom I have developed over the week is an intense hunger, yet nothing my wife cooks tastes right. There is some flavor I’m missing but can’t put my finger on. I think Maude is worried about me. I can see her concern when I only pick at my food.

Entry 241: Black marks on arm now cover my whole torso. I keep everything covered with a long sleeve shirt. Can’t let family worry. Getting harder to concentrate and write. Hunger almost too much to bear. Beginning to know what I need, but can’t bring myself to do it.

Entry 242: Delight! Finally, a good meal. My fool of a wife can’t cook to save her life. She used to be so good. I wonder what changed. I had to sneak out after they all slept…they look so delicious…I mean peaceful, when they sleep. To the grave I strolled, moved some stones, dug some earth, and sweet, tasty food awaits. That’s the problem with my wife’s cooking, I realize. She doesn’t know how to age the meat. So much better when aged. Just ask any chef and they’ll tell you! Tonight, my belly is full and happy. The flesh filled the hole in my belly as I filled in the hole I dug, stones moved back carefully into place, so the family will not know. They loved that stupid dog, but none of them realized how succulent its flesh had become sitting under the earth and…aging. The only thing better is the freshest meat, but for now I’m content and back to bed.

Mr. Dunderman’s writing had become more and more erratic as he fell under the sway of whatever disease he had contracted from the goblin thing. I barely acknowledged the guards changing shifts as I found myself horrified and yet curious as to what else the journal would reveal next.

Entry 243: So, call me callous will she! My wife just wouldn’t understand, so I can’t tell her about the hunger…I had to show her. A little nip while she slept, and I had to endure but a slap across my face for it. Took all I had in me not to bite a bit deeper to find the flowing red deliciousness that was under her skin…no, will sate my hunger on something else. My wife is my partner and friend forever. With that little nip, she will soon know the truth. The slap didn’t hurt, nor did her calling me callous for not caring that our oldest son hadn’t come home last night. Best to tell her he left to elope with his love… I will tell her that after I step out for a bite. The boy was a bit tough and gamey yesterday but should be aging nicely today. The boy will keep his father fed for several days…such a good son.

Entry 244: Maude knows something is happening. I can see her looking at the streaks of black moving across her body. I can tell she is close to understanding. An exciting discovery today! My teeth have begun to fall out and some much more useful ones are growing in. The nails on my hand have become longer, sharper, and much more useful as well. Why just today our next oldest son looked at me in horror when he saw my glorious new form. I had to punish him with a slash across the belly. My new claws caused him fall paralyzed and unmoving. I dragged him back into the tree line to play. A slash here, a tasty bit taken there, and all too soon he died. No bother, I buried the rest of him, so this good son will feed Maude her first new meal.

Entry 245: It happened today! Maude has found her hunger. I returned from outside to see her finishing up the last of the thirteen-year-old while the youngest screamed in terror. I walked over and scratched the youngest gently. She was so cute and deserved to be a part of the new family. After all, not much meat on her…and with her small size she wouldn’t hog too much of the other food we catch.

I couldn’t bring myself to read any further. The horrifying tale of the family devolved from a tale of happiness and hope into something horrible. Further entries described the family of creatures visiting and consuming their neighbors one by one. The creatures had found a small cavern nearby where they rested during the day, usually to emerge at night to hunt. I flipped to the last entry as the troops behind me began to move about, preparing for the next guard shift.

Entreee sometingg: Not writes goods wit newz clawz.  Betir than old hansz though. Hardz to tink clear. Visiters here…soldiers comin up to sleepz awaz the rhains…family feedz good tonite while theys sleeps. Real foods not smallz animalz any mores will helpzes me tink betir…

I contemplated the fresh ink on the page, it was moist and had the tacky consistency of drying blood. More shuffling was heard from the soldiers behind me, slightly distracting my train of thought…wait…why was there shuffling about? The guard shift just changed a few minutes ago. I snapped my head around and witnessed a nightmare sight. The family I was reading about was here. The parents were each hunched over a different soldier, feeding greedily and making the small noises that had alerted me. The dying soldiers looked at me, feeling the pain but unable to move or warn their comrades. A third small figure worked its way through the sleeping men, slashing them to paralyze and prevent them from moving. The sight of the little horror moving about my soldiers snapped me out of my shock. I drew my blade and shouted as the foe displayed on my interface.

Ghoul, level 6 (2): Ghouls are a type of undead creature that feeds on the flesh of its victims. Its claws contain a disease that renders its foes immobile, yet completely aware of and able to feel what’s happening to them. Terror is considered a flavor enhancer to ghouls. Ghouls retain a limited intelligence from their former lives that make them cunning hunters. Occasionally they will leave a victim alive, waiting for them to turn into a new ghoul which is usually controlled by the one who created it.

Ghoul toddler, level 1

“To arms men! Enemies in the room! Defend yourselves!” I yelled and approached the ghoul toddler, trying to keep her from the still rousing soldier she was about to attack. Men began to jump up and grab the first weapon that came to hand, be it a dagger, sword, or in one case, a javelin used as a spear. With horror I realized that only four of the men had jumped up. The rest must have been scratched by the ghouls to keep them paralyzed while they fed on the others. The toddler jumped on the soldier I was trying to help, ripping a chunk out of his throat and causing the soldier to fall back to the ground paralyzed. I activated Honor Guard as I yelled for the men outside. “Guard detail! If you can hear me, get in here! We need help,” I yelled while hoisting my shield up. The honor guards both began to slash at the ghoul toddler, landing blows and taking her to just a sliver of health. The toddler got in a lucky shot on one of the honor guards, raking her claws down his arm. The soldier must have resisted the diseased claws and shield bashed the creature in return. The toddler died a final death and curled in a ball on the floor, her neck twisted at an unnatural angle from the critical hit of the shield.

The hissing mother jumped onto the other honor guard, hanging from his shield as the soldier tried to keep her claws from any exposed flesh. I ran my blade into her side, taking her health down about ten percent. Realizing she couldn’t easily get past the shield, the ghoul stared at the soldier holding her back, while I continued to thrust my blade deep into the creature’s body. Her serrated, tooth-filled mouth opened, and an impossibly long tongue shot out and drove itself into the honor guard’s eye. The soldier didn’t make his save this time and fell to the ground paralyzed, as the ghoul slashed him to pieces. With the other honor guard’s help, enough blows were landed to kill the ghoulish wife. We then turned toward our last opponent.

Mr. Dunderman had finished off, or paralyzed, the last of the other soldiers in the room. The ghoul circled us, trying to keep distance while slashing occasionally at the paralyzed troops in what I assumed was an attempt to keep them paralyzed and out of the fight. I activated the ability of Tessel’s Promise firing a stream of acidic sap that hit the ghoul in the chest. The creature hissed from the pain and his health dropped to thirty percent. The creature leapt at the last honor guard, but crashed to the floor when the honor guard timer finally ran out and they were unsummoned. The ghoul lost no time and leapt again, this time onto my shield as I held it away from my body, making sure to keep my face covered, as well, to prevent the tongue attack from landing. I thrust a blow that hit the ghoul in the face as it rose over my shield to get at me. The ghoul’s health hovered at about ten percent now, nearly down. Pain flared in my shins as the ghoul used the claws on his feet (which I hadn’t considered) to rake my leg while I held up the shield to protect most of my head and body.

You have been hit by a claw attack for 55 damage. You have saved vs. paralysis.

I thrust at the claw digging into my leg and missed. The ghoul then managed to reach around my shield and strike my sword arm with clawed fingers. My body stiffened, and I fell to the floor.

You have been hit by claw attack for 61 damage, you have failed your save vs. paralysis and are paralyzed for 10 seconds.

The timer began to tick down, but I knew there was no chance the thing would leave me alone for ten seconds. The ghoul left me on the floor and made another tour around the room, slashing at the other soldiers to reset the paralysis timers. When the ghoul came to the bodies of its family it stood still for a moment and then turned toward me, speaking in a scratchy, yet understandable voice, its huge deformed tongue getting in the way of speaking clearly.

“Lieutenant, I recognize your rank. I was a soldier once, too. Now, I think, maybe soldier again…officer this time, with your troops under my command…yes, turn them into perfect soldiers like me. Turn most of them, anyway, some will need to feed my new army. You not needed. You will fill my belly for killing my family…new army not need another leader. Only Lord Dunderman is needed.” The ghoul finished talking and strode toward me. Just before the ghoul delivered the killing blow, I saw his nameplate change.

Dunderman: Ghoul Lord, level 6 elite.

“Well, I guess in this game even the mobs can find an advanced class and level up, just like players,” I thought as the ghoul attacked again, dropping my health to zero.

You have died, respawn will occur at your currently bound respawn point of Hayden’s Knoll in five minutes. *Note, multiple deaths in a short timeframe will increase the respawn timer. Pvp deaths and multiple deaths in a short period of time will also result in a loss of experience points. Your next death within twenty-four hours will result in a respawn timer of fifteen minutes and a one-hundred-point experience penalty. Every death also causes the deceased to drop some of their coin and there is a chance they will also drop items in their possession. The higher the item level, the less likely it is to drop from your corpse.

I quickly hit the accept button, not wanting to stay here and watch as the newly christened ghoul lord turned, or ate, the rest of my men.

Hayden’s Knoll Map 2

Chapter 12

When the timer finished counting down I reappeared in the small graveyard on the outskirts of Hayden’s Knoll. Looking about, I could see the town had grown even in the few days I had been away. Near the town hall now stood a row of crude wooden stalls, many of which were brightly decorated and displaying goods for sale. The proprietors were shouting at passersby, inviting them to look at their wares. Next to the stalls, a crude wooden building had been constructed and I could see my old “friend” Phineas had been busy. The elaborate sign on the building read “Phineas T. Moore’s Emporium”. I quickly checked my inventory and found that the unidentified banner was still in my possession, but I had lost 4 gold from my death. I would want to get the banner identified, but visiting the garrison and checking in with the mayor would have to come first. The other new building I was pleased to discover, was a large tavern called the “The Petty Dispute”. The place looked to be doing a bustling business based on the number of players and npc’s heading in and out of the building. Yet another place I would have to check out once my duties were complete.

I hustled to the barracks looking to find Sergeant Brooks. I was upset over losing the fight with the ghouls after we had done so well establishing peace with local Drebix tribe. The horrible nature of my soldiers’ deaths brought back the same emotions I had felt as a solider in real life. Old memories of fallen friends flashed about. I felt guilt for not keeping all my men alive, all the while knowing that keeping everyone alive was impossible in war. No, I would not fall into the old depressions of the real world. Here my men were only a collection of zeros and ones, with no real harm done. Now was the time to have fun and enjoy the positive aspects of leading soldiers. I had to remember, and hold onto, the hope that the medpod would heal me quickly and that I could remember the important things and people my deteriorated mind had forgotten.

I returned the salute of the two soldiers standing guard outside the barracks. Hustling in, I found Brooks in the war room. The sergeant saluted before speaking.

“Sir, looks like you had a rough one. Replacements have been respawning regularly while you were in the field. We’re currently short thirteen soldiers and nine scouts. I’ve formed the new men into squads and assigned them to the tasks you had designated before we pulled men for the mission.” Take a look at the table if you have any questions.” Sergeant Brooks indicated the map covered table. I activated the war table and pulled up troop strength/deployment first. Nothing had really changed; everyone was assigned to their proper places. Sadly, we only had one scout so far and I assigned him and future replacement scouts to recon. I needed to open new quests and explore the zone. We were in much better shape with regular soldiers. Their quick respawn rate, at two per hour, meant that the only ones missing were the thirteen I had lost to the ghouls. I still wanted to permanently hand over guarding of the main entrance and mine to the town guard, but they were not yet up to the task.

I next hit the recon tab and the mission complete icon showed our successful foray to the Forerunner clan lands. There were no other missions available since we hadn’t assigned anyone to scouting until just now. There was one flashing light on the map where we had been killed by the ghouls. I hesitantly activated the icon to see what the mission was.

Event Triggered: Rise of the ghoul lord. Elite mission, level range 5-7. After stumbling about in fitful hunger for over a century, a ghoul lord has risen in the Hayden’s Knoll zone. Stop this creature before it gains power. Ghoul lords are more intelligent than their regular kin, seeking to turn many of their victims and create a hungry army whose purpose is to consume all flesh. The more it consumes and the more ghouls it commands, the more powerful a ghoul lord becomes. *Note, this mission is an elite mission and recommended for only full parties of adequately leveled/equipped members. This mission can be completed by the commander, or offered as a mission to players. Only one party can attempt the mission at a time. Should the threat be left unchecked, or if the mission outcome results in a failed attempt, the challenge and threat to Hayden’s Knoll will increase.

Wow, this was a mission I wanted badly, desiring revenge for my slain soldiers. Thinking logically, my forces are too strung out and too weak to handle a threat in that range. I would have to create a quest for players to handle this one, but my funds were severely lacking. I would need to talk to Mayor Delling and see if the town could kick in something to make this quest attractive. Yet again, I didn’t want a threat to the town festering. The note on the quest left me concerned that the challenge could increase.

I moved on to the paymaster tab as was pleased with what I found. While we were still in the red, the gap was closing. I had to assume I was beginning to see the results of the town’s growth and the dungeon income starting to pay out.

Paymasters Report, Current monthly pay obligation: 13 gold.

Current monthly tax income: 4 gold and 24 silver.

Increase/Deficit per month: -8 gold and 76 silver. *Deficit is still covered by the Imperium for another 98 days.

Current available funds: 97 gold, 52 silver, 0 copper

I looked last at the upgrade tab. I didn’t have the funds and resources for any of the major upgrades, but I wanted to check out the new supply depot options that were available. Clicking on supply depot, new options appeared.

Supply Depot: The following upgrades are currently available. Increase the level of your garrison and other structures to unlock new options.

Weapons Upgrades:

Standard bronze short sword, item level 30. (already equipped)

Standard bronze dagger, item level 30. 5 gold.

Standard bronze tip javelins, item level 30. 5 gold

Standard light crossbows, item level 30: 3 gold, this item is useable only by the advanced scout class.

Armor Upgrades:

Standard Imperial light leather armor, +7 defense. 5 gold.

Standard large Imperial wooden shield, +3 defense (additional +1 vs. ranged attacks), 5 gold.

Soldier gear and unit items:

Standard Imperial field kit, 5 gold. The standard imperial field kit consists of all the gear a soldier needs in the field. A shelter half, mess kit, extra water skin, blankets, basic construction tools, medical kit, and fire-starting supplies are all included. The equipment is sturdy and serviceable, if not of the highest quality materials. Soldiers equipped with these in the field will have a +1 bonus to morale as well as increased health regeneration. Defenses produced by the soldiers will have +1 added to their durability.

Command Items:

Basic Imperial battle standard. The battle standard is the heart of an army unit. This basic standard consists of a large wooden pole with the imperial wolf symbol cast in bronze on top. The basic standard provides a +1 bonus to defense and has space to attach up to three war banners. War banners are earned by a unit for exceptional bravery, or skillful actions in battle. Standards and the attached banners confer passive bonuses to all soldiers serving in the unit regardless of whether they are nearby. The standard is a depiction of a unit’s honor and pride. To lose a standard inflicts a severe morale attack and defense penalty until another is acquired. Cost for the basic standard is 5 gold.

I wanted everything, of course. Though funds were needed as a reward for the ghoul quest, I couldn’t neglect my soldiers needs any longer. We were just wrecked by a similar level threat. I had to believe part of our defeat was due to our sub-par equipment. I activated all the upgrades, seeing the next tier was blocked until the garrison/supply depot themselves were upgraded further. Instantly, my armor improved to the new leather, which felt thicker and stronger than the old armor. The shield looked the same, except for being new and featuring some bronze rivets helping to hold it together. The other weapons were what I expected, the javelin feeling more balanced than the crude ones we used earlier.

Sergeant Brooks handed me the battle standard. It gleamed of newly cast bronze and a stylized wolf’s head baring its teeth was prominently displayed on top. I saw the three attachment points for banners and remembered I had one I still needed to identify. First though, I would visit the mayor and catch up what was going on, as well as advise him of yet another threat to Hayden’s Knoll. I stashed the battle standard near the entrance to the barracks. I would have to assign one of my soldiers to carry it into battle.

“Sergeant Brooks, as you can see, I’ve upgraded our gear. Please keep assigning the replacements to the understrength squads, we should have our regular forces up to strength by tonight, but we’re looking at over a week for the scouts to be replaced. Keep any replacement scouts on recon duty and send a runner to find me if something happens.” I then remembered what I wanted to ask him. “Sergeant, now that the men have upgraded tools, can we put them to work on building some roads?” I asked and held my breath, hoping the AI would come through like I thought it would.

“Yes sir, that was something I was going to suggest. Any squads not on duty I’ll have work on creating roads in the town and spurs out to the mine or any other important areas. We can use some of the stone debris the goblin miners are throwing out. Soldiers assigned out in the field at the transition point, crossroads, and on road patrol will also now automatically work on roads in their down time. They’ll be slower at it since they will have to harvest their own rock and stone. In no time, sir, we’ll have a proper road network for our zone,” Sergeant Brooks said as I breathed a sigh of relief at guessing the AI would take the bait, based on my past historical knowledge. Delling would be glad to hear it; perhaps it would soften the blow I was about to give him over the ghoul problem.

“I’m heading over to debrief the mayor on what happened. After that, I’ll be in the market getting our newest banner identified,” I advised the sergeant. He saluted and began to get to work, competently executing his duties as always. As I was leaving, a notification prompt flashed.

You have assigned your troops to conduct additional productive work. While your troops work on the roads, additional leftover resources will be added to your resource pool. Continue to think outside the box for opportunities at greater rewards.

1000 experience bonus for identifying an opportunity.

25 resources will be gained per day as a result of road construction. The more soldiers you have in your forces, the greater the production of resource materials from this task.

Walking out of the barracks, I headed over to the town hall, hoping to find the mayor there. As I walked up the front steps toward the entrance to the hall, I could see there had been several upgrades from the last time I was here. The main floor was still a large, open space suitable for town meetings and such, but there was a stair leading to the new second floor. I was interrupted in my observation by Mayor Delling emerging from one of the two side rooms on the first floor.

“Hey, Raytak! Good to see you again! Come on into the office and let me know how things went with the Drebix. I didn’t expect you back until at least later today,” Delling said while leading me toward his office. I was curious what his office was like and selfishly wanted to compare his quarters to the ones in my barracks.

“Things with the Drebix went as well as we could hope. It turns out they thought we were the ones raiding some of their outlying farms. I had a skirmish with one of their warbands and captured a high up member of the clan. They’re called the Forerunner clan, by the way. We arrived at one of their farms just as it was being attacked by a large band of gnolls. After helping to fight off the gnolls, we were able to establish a peace with the tribe. They promise not to raid our lands and we promise to do the same for their lands. I also offered to assist them should a common foe, like the gnolls, appear. You may want to look for an opportunity for the town to trade, or establish a better reputation with them. I don’t have a lot of ability to do that and I figured, as a town leader, you may get some xp from trying the diplomatic stuff.

We took quite a few casualties between the skirmish with the forerunners and battle with the gnolls. On the way back, we took shelter from a storm inside an old, abandoned farm and one of the soldiers found this.” As we entered his office, I handed Delling the journal. His office was larger than mine and instead of a war table he had a “city planning station” that I assumed would function in a similar way. The mayor’s office also had a simple, low level look to it. Despite its simplicity it was still more heavily decorated and comfortable than the austere accommodations in the barracks. I pulled up a chair as Delling sat behind his desk and began to skim through the journal. I watched his eyes widen as he neared the end.

“So, those ghouls were still alive after all this time? The level of detail and backstory in this game is amazing,” Delling stated as he passed the journal back to me. I took the journal and placed it into inventory, while placing it inside my inventory a prompt flashed up.

Do you wish to copy the Dunderman family journal to your log? Written journals and similar items can be permanently scribed to your log for reference later. Y/N.

I hit yes, wanting to keep a copy for reference and knowing the fragile paper of the journal would not last much longer.

“Delling, those things were still alive, and that horror show of a ghoul family killed what remained of my whole force…including me. That’s how I arrived so quickly, I respawned here at the graveyard. I now have this quest,” I shared the <Rise of the Ghoul Lord> event with him before continuing. “Looks like Dunderman is now focused on raising a hungry army of ghouls, starting with some of my men that he captured. I could likely handle him if I had all my forces at full strength to throw against him, but there’s no way I can pull all my forces away from the defenses in the zone to try. I was thinking we should pool resources and create a quest for a party of adventurers. I don’t have the funds myself and was hoping if we combined resources it would be enough to make this an attractive quest.  As you can see, the quest event is limited to one party attempting it at a time, so we want to attract someone good. What are your thoughts?” I finished, looking to see what Delling decided. Delling thought for a minute and had that glazed over look that I assumed most players have while they are looking at their interface.

“That’s a lot to process, Raytak, but I think the town can help on this one. We’ve had a lot of success with the market being completed and the dungeon opening. I have even received a few items as our tax portion from the parties entering the dungeon. It seems like our portion of the rewards that characters make in the dungeon can have a chance to include item drops as well. I was fiddling around with the quest generator and it looks like I can have parties apply for the quest. That way I can pick the best group possible. Don’t worry about your funds, I can supply what’s needed for an enticing reward. Hey, it looks like you can participate in the reward as well. You might want to, these things can give a lot of experience,” Delling advised and pushed the quest offering to my view.

You have been offered a chance to add to the reward for the newly created quest, Rise of the Ghoul Lord. Please indicate if you wish to participate. Minimum contribution is five gold and the quest will yield 1500 experience for you when completed by a player group. Y/N.

I hit yes and added five gold. When a party wiped out the ghouls, it would be a good experience return for the investment.

“Excellent. I’ll send you a message once I find a group that looks powerful enough to complete the quest. I’ll have them contact you if they have any questions on how this particular pack of ghouls operates. There is some good news I can give you; I’ll have the guardhouse and jail completed in just a few minutes. When that happens, I’ll spend a few resources to upgrade it a bit. Once the upgrades are complete I’ll have twenty-five level three guards, four sergeants of the guard at level four, and a captain of the guard who is level five. With those forces I can keep watch on the main gate and the mines, which should free up your men for quests. After that, I’ll be focusing on upgrading the market, as well as housing for the townspeople, before I can spend any more resources on upgrading the guards,” Delling advised. I was happy to have some of my forces relieved from the duties that the town guard should be providing. Delling was turning out to be a good friend and I didn’t begrudge having to pitch in and share guard duty for a time.

“The other piece of good news, as you may have noticed, is that our humble town has attracted an independent inn. The Petty Dispute was built by a group of players who wanted to try their hand at innkeeping instead of hacking at monsters in dungeons all day. Lani is the player in charge and they are doing a booming business. They are paying well in coin or ale for foodstuffs, which has stimulated an economic boom for the farmers of Hayden’s Knoll. It’s also created an opportunity for some players to hunt animals for meat and hides while waiting for their go at the dungeon. Of course, the town will get a small cut of the revenue as taxes, which will benefit you as well. When you get the time, give it a shot, the food and drink are excellent,” Delling beamed as he described the wares at the new inn. The Petty Dispute would be high on my list of places to visit once I finished my other tasks.

Chapter 13

I left Delling’s office at the town hall, encouraged that the ghoul quest was being handled, but discouraged that I would not be the one to do it. No matter, the measure of a good leader was that one knew how to delegate what needed to be delegated. Making my way toward the market, I could see that there were four of the open, wooden stalls with three of the four occupied by traders. A few players and townsfolk shopped amongst the vendor stalls, while many more made their way to the “Emporium” building that Phineas T. Moore had created. The building had the ramshackle appearance of a hastily constructed structure. There was a moment that I considered shopping at the other merchant stalls before deciding to go with Phineas, rather than some unknown merchant. The three steps leading to the front door of the emporium were simple, wood planks that creaked ominously while I ascended them. I wondered how long it would be before someone crashed through the rickety stairs. The door stuck a bit in the frame, but with a shove of my shoulder it opened; a small bell attached to the backside of the door tinkling as I entered. After fiddling with it for a bit, I gave up trying to properly close the poorly fitting door and just rested it closed as much as was possible.

The inside of the shop was a modest affair. Shelves lining the walls were filled with the various brick-a-brac you would expect in a country store or tourist trap. There were pots, tools, and household goods on one side. The other side held items catering to the adventurers that were starting to populate the place in greater numbers. The shelves on the far wall held weapons, some armor stands with various types of armor, as well as a shelf of “magical items and wards”. I chuckled at seeing another display holding Phineas’ famous “amulets of basilisk protection” offered for 10 silver. I wondered how many fools had purchased them, not understanding that if the item failed to live up to its promise (and I’m almost certain the item would fail) the wearer would be too dead to get a refund. There were four or five others in the shop; a couple of adventurers looking over weapons, as well as some npc townsfolk buying household necessities. The goblin, Kip Kip, scurried about the store trying to help the customers. Phineas had outfitted him in a ridiculous looking purple robe uniform, complete with a nametag.

My Name is Kip Kip I’m here to help, not harm.

Please do not assault the goblin, or you will be fined.

“That goblin is hilarious, we totally need to find one to be our servant. That would be so fun to have our own goblin workers with cool uniforms,” one of the players said, as they paid for their purchases and left. I couldn’t help but notice one of the items they bought was the basilisk necklace. Phineas finally took notice of me after he completed the sale with the player group.

“My dear Lieutenant Raytak, so good to see you here once again! Welcome to my new emporium! Feel free to browse my magnificent wares in the comfort of this humble building. You have to admit, it’s much more accommodating than those dusty stalls the other merchants have. Though I suppose their inferior surroundings match the inferior wares they offer to an unsuspecting public. What can we do for your today? May I have Kip Kip bring you a cooling beverage while you wait?” Phineas was laying it on thick. I wasn’t sure why, as there was not much of an audience in here for him to play up to.

“No, thank you. I don’t really need a beverage. I was hoping to get this banner I found identified,” I said as I pulled the banner from my inventory.  Phineas came around the counter and carefully took the banner from my hand.

“Of course, my good friend, no charge for the service this day for my best customer,” he unexpectedly offered. Phineas went through the whole dog and pony show he had done before while identifying an item. Sparks and light flew from his hands as the identification spell was cast. Phineas handed the item back to me before continuing. “Here you are, sir. Is there anything else I can do for you on this fine day? Just ask your good friend Phineas and I will make it happen!” Phineas exclaimed, leaving me a bit wary. The merchant was not one to ever give anything away for free. I took the banner from Phineas and checked it quickly.

Banner of The Battle of Forerunner Farm. This banner was given in commemoration of the skill and bravery your forces exhibited in the battle at the farm against a force of gnolls. The banner will provide a +1 bonus to morale and defense to any unit under your command once it is attached to a battle standard.

That was a nice buff. I needed to find others of its type, as my battle standard had slots for three banners. I was interrupted from my thoughts as Phineas began to ask a question.

“My dear friend, there was one other small matter I wished to discuss, if you would be so kind? You see, the good Mayor Delling does not have the same experience and history with my services that you do. He was a bit taken aback that I had constructed this establishment. Imagine that, upset at a forward-thinking citizen simply looking to improve the infrastructure of this burgeoning metropolis. While I do not want to impugn his usually impeccable decision-making skills, I do take offence at his threat of a fine for the construction of a non-permitted building. Would you be so kind as to sign off on this document, which will allow me to continue to conduct business and provide my valuable services to the community?” Phineas pleaded, as he handed me a document.

Reading the document, it appeared that Phineas had built this ramshackle building without consulting the town. Delling was ordering him to remove the building, or face a daily fine for constructing and operating in an unpermitted structure. Due to Phineas’ pleading, Delling had made a possible exception if I agreed to sign off that the building was a necessity for the functioning of my forces. I would have loved to have heard the spiel he must have slung at poor Mayor Delling to give him this out…funny how Delling hadn’t mentioned this in our meeting. “Not cool, Mayor Delling,” I thought. He knew I was heading over here and could have at least warned me. Ok mayor, if that’s how you want to play it.

“Ok Phineas, I’ll sign on one condition. You need to bring this building up to whatever condition that Mayor Delling requests. The whole place looks a bit slapdash and even the front door barely works. If you agree to improve the building, I will sign…if only to get back at Delling for blindsiding me with this,” I told Phineas as I added the new caveat. Phineas looked at the added requirement before trying another angle.

“Surely, my good friend, you wouldn’t want me to go through the expense of rebuilding the entire structure, would you? It would beggar me to have to rebuild the place. What would my customers do during construction…why they may even be forced to buy substandard goods from my competitors. How about you let that additional caveat slide and I’ll see about providing any identifications you need free of charge?” Phineas offered. After making his offer a prompt appeared.

You have been offered a dubious deal by a merchant. Should you agree, you will obtain the ability to have any item you find identified free of charge by this merchant.  Accepting this deal will add one point of corruption to the town’s rating. Corruption in a town will eventually lead to more crime and debauchery. Make your choice carefully. Agree Y/N.

I hit no as I responded to the request. “No way, Phineas. I don’t operate that way, nor will any under my command. You can comply with the stipulation I added, or just pay the mayor’s fine each day. Do NOT attempt to bribe me again,” I warned, waiting for Phineas to reply. He had gotten me angry once again. Something about this merchant always seemed to rub me the wrong way. Phineas had the ability to be annoying one moment, before becoming endearing and amusing the next. Phineas hung his head in defeat and signed the document.

“Very well, Raytak. Once again your overly developed sense of justice brings me to the precipice of poverty. If you have no other business to conduct, I’ll ask you to pay the normal five silver identification charge now.” Phineas held out his hand and I paid the five silver. I could have fought him about going back on his offer of identifying the banner for free, but thought it best to avoid any potential hint of impropriety in our transactions. “Please come again,” Phineas said in a flat, unenthusiastic tone as I left the building.

Having finished with the annoying merchant, I decided to treat myself to a visit of the new inn. Despite being built of wood like the rest of the town, the Petty Dispute looked to have been built with pride of workmanship. The folks running this place could teach Phineas a thing or two. As it was now approaching noon, a good crowd of people were moving in and out of the place. Entering the building, I looked around. There was a large bar occupying the length of the wall to my right, and a dozen tables of various sizes on the main floor to my left were used for dining, gambling, or enjoying a drink with friends.

While looking for an open seat, another player approached me, reaching out his had to shake as he addressed me. I scanned his name immediately to see who I was dealing with.

Darkfallow, level 6 necromancer.

“Mr. Raytak, I presume. My name is Darkfallow and I represent an organization that is interested in having you join as a premier member. Would you be willing to give me just a moment of your time? Here, I’ll give you 50 gold just to take five minutes to hear me out.” Darkfallow shook my hand and passed me a small bag that jingled with coin. This was strange, and I wasn’t too sure what this guy’s angle was…but free coin to listen for five minutes seemed like a good exchange. Just after I had thought that, a fading memory rebuilt itself and came to the fore of my mind. I remembered a horrible weekend that I had wasted listening to a time share pitch while on a “free” vacation trip. Darkfallow was dressed in mage’s robes of bright orange and yellow. His gear appeared to be of excellent quality for a level six necromancer. Darkfallow led me to a nearby table he had reserved and I sat across from him, waiting for the inevitable sales pitch, all the while wondering if this player was a time share salesman in real life.

“Thank you, Raytak. I will not take much of your time. The folks I work for are always on the lookout for new and promising talent. The fact that you have unlocked a unique class, as well as the stories I hear of your exploits during your battles are impressive. Your accomplishments let us know that you are just the type of exceptional player we like to do business with. You would be paid exceptionally well with in-game currency, which I’m sure you know can translate into real cash. Is that something you’re interested in?” Darkfallow asked. I had no need for real money that I could never spend…being stuck in a life support medpod did not lend itself to extravagant living. Despite that fact, some in-game gold could be helpful. I was pretty sure that I would turn this guy down, but I was curious about who he worked for.

“I’m not really interested in the coin. I play the game for the fun of it, and working for someone else doesn’t rate as much fun in my book. Who is it you said you worked for?” I queried, hoping to find out who this necromancer was representing.

“I am an affiliate of the Bloody Blades guild.” Darkfallow held up his hand as he saw my hand drift toward the sword on my hip at the mention of the Bloody Blades. “Now just give me a moment. You have a unique position here in town and the guild realizes it started out on the wrong foot with you and the mayor. You don’t even have to join the guild, just sign on as a contractor and I can guarantee you 100 gold now and 250 more once you help us with a few simple favors. In return, we will help you with any gear you may have need of. We are also willing to have some of our guild members help power level your character. Just sign on and you will be part of one of the most promising guilds in Limitless Lands,” Darkfallow said, selling hard on getting me to sign.

“So, what ‘simple favors’ would I have to complete for your guild? It’s only fair to know what I have to do to get the coin,” I replied. I was interested now…not in the money, but in the potential for this guild to become even more trouble for the town.

“It’s not so much what you can do, but what it is that you can stop doing that interests us. You see, we’re currently a small guild but are rapidly expanding. It was really a misunderstanding that our guild members attacked you when you entered the zone. The Bloody Blades sound a bit disreputable, but we only want to play the game in the manner we prefer. You’re defending these npc’s in town and that is preventing us from having fun, leveling, and sacking the place for loot. Just back off and let us have our fun raiding the town…there is nothing but upside and cash in it for you, if you agree. Sooner or later the Bloody Blades will be running this town, perhaps even today if Mayor Delling sees the light and agrees to the deal he was just offered. Join us now. You definitely don’t want to be against us,” Darkfallow finished.

The one thing I would not do is let the Bloody Blade guild run amok here in Hayden’s Knoll. They had destroyed the first town that Delling had built before I came to the zone and had made a general nuisance of themselves since then. Veiled threats were also NOT the way to get me on board with their little guild. I hated bullies and manipulators; there was no way I would join these clowns. I would do my best to accomplish the mission of protecting this town from people like them. Being a guard dog for the helpless was ingrained in my psyche after years of military service. Plastering a fake smile on my face, I pretended to weigh my options for a bit, building suspense before replying.

“Well, Darkfallow, you paint a pretty picture about joining your guild. Unfortunately for you, there are two mistakes with your pitch.” I paused, enjoying watching the fake smile drop from Darkfallow’s face as an angry scowl replaced it. “One, I don’t really care about money and while some coin in-game to use would be great…it’s not really something I need. Two, you gave me a veiled threat. Better men than you have threatened me; all of them are in the ground. I’ve outlived all my enemies, Darkfallow. I suggest you take your two-bit mafia act and hit the road. If you’re not gone within the next ten minutes, I’ll see to it that Delling gets the first prisoner for his new jail.

“Well…I don’t…why don’t you…I’m gonna,” Darkfallow sputtered, his rage at my reply keeping him from putting a coherent sentence together. “You and this crappy town are going to regret saying no to this offer. Just wait and see; we are backed by some powerful people! Enjoy your time in-game, soon enough it will be filled with your forces getting smashed over and over until you decide to reroll a new character. Nobody messes with us!” Darkfallow blurted and stormed for the exit. My anger got the better of me as I picked up the bag of dirty money he had offered and hurled it at him. Despite my horrible luck in-game at ranged combat, the pouch hit him right in the back of the head. He turned to see what had happened, then scooped up the coin purse. Darkfallow then completely lost it and began to cast a spell. Black energy built around his hands and then flowed across the room, wrapping about my neck. The spell made a loud, cracking whip-like sound before the black tendrils dissipated, causing no harm.

You have been attacked by Darkfallow using the spell Choking Lash. You have resisted the spell. PVP is enabled.

I drew my sword and readied my shield, kicking away the table that was between me and my opponent. This would likely be a short fight. I didn’t have any soldiers with me and my honor guard ability was on cooldown. I didn’t intend to go down without a fight though, staying in the fight was ingrained into every soldier. I closed the gap between the two of us as Darkfallow began casting another spell, I activated shield bash and it disrupted the spell. I landed a few quick thrusts aimed at the center mass of my opponent. The blade of my sword deflecting off some defensive spell on the first strike and the second attack barely penetrated the thick armored robes he wore, knocking only a tiny sliver off his health bar. Darkfallow activated an instant cast ability and I found myself flung back ten feet, landing hard and shattering a chair.

“Is that all you got, Raytak? I thought you were some big, bad unique class. Any level 3 in my guild could beat you…so pathetic. Rise my minions!” Darkfallow shouted as I tried to gather my wits.

You have been struck by the Push from the Grave spell, 10-foot knockback, you have taken 111 damage and are stunned for 5 seconds.

It made sense, most squishy casters had a way to knock back foes that could interrupt their attacks. Two skeletons then pushed themselves up through the floorboards. The skeletons were armed with rusty longswords and had corroded metal shields. Strands of decaying chain mail still gave some protection to their ancient bones. A soft, red glow appeared in their eye sockets as they turned to look at me for a second before shambling to attack. Both skeletons landed painful strikes with their weapons as I struggled to my feet and readied my shield. My health was now down to three-fourths and I expected another trip to the graveyard was in my immediate future. Just as I thought this, a bright light flared, and both skeletons crumbled to the ground.

Kathala’s Turn Undead ability had destroyed two skeletal minions. Turn undead will stun and damage most undead creatures.

Jacoby and his friend, the light priest Kathala, stepped between me and Darkfallow. Her class ability to turn undead destroyed the creatures attacking me. Jacoby activated his charge ability and closed the gap to our enemy, using his own, more powerful, version of shield bash to interrupt the spell Darkfallow was trying to cast. Darkfallow turned and ran for the door, not liking the three against one odds that he now faced. Before he could make it out the door, a black shape skittered toward him, and the mandibles of Crunchy the unicorn beetle grabbed Darkfallow in their strong grip. Darkfallow grunted in pain as the mandibles slowly crushed the necromancer. Darkfallow wasn’t done yet, though, and he fired off another spell. A black haze covered his right hand, which he then used to grab one
of the mandibles that were crushing him to death. When the black haze covering his hand touched the beetle, Crunchy’s hard carapace began to rot and decay where it was touched. Crunchy squealed in pain and dropped the necromancer, continuing to screech as part of his mandible rotted off and fell to the floor. Darkfallow made one last attempt at the door, only to find his way blocked by two dogs that had been summoned in front of him. Jacoby and the dogs flanked our foe, quickly dropping the necromancer and sending him to whatever respawn he was attuned to.

Yendys came running out from the crowd and cast her natures mending spell on Crunchy. The rotting corruption stopped and the beetle began to calm a bit. Kathala then moved up and added more substantial healing to the mix, Soon Crunchy was as good as new.

“Ohhh, poor Crunch Crunch! Did the meanie hurt you? Don’t worry, we got him; yes we did, snuggle bear.” Yendys ran to the beetle and began to lovingly pat the carapace of the creature while baby talking to the giant insect. I couldn’t help but laugh at the crazy image of a halfling trying to hug a beetle much bigger than herself. Others in the room began to go back to their tables and meals now that the show was over. Yendys was unperturbed and continued to hug the beetle.

“Yes snookums, old man Raytak is laughing with you not at you…right Raytak!” Yendys said, giving me a stern look. I quickly stopped laughing and replied.

“Of course. I was just laughing with joy at how brave Crunchy was,” I lied, not wanting to upset the kid…or her creepy bug. “Thank you, guys. I don’t know what that necromancer’s deal was, coming in here and threatening the town. It looks like the Bloody Blades are back in business and looking for trouble,” I added while my friends invited me to join them at their table.

“Heh, looks like he dropped his little bag of coins. Loot for all of us! Just for your information Raytak, feel free to throw bags of coins at me anytime. I promise to not attack you for throwing money at me,” Jacoby joked as we sat down. The system automatically distributed the coin, leaving me with a share of twelve gold and fifty silver. I had no qualms at taking my share of the loot. The money was earned in battle, with no strings attached. We seated ourselves and Jacoby motioned for a waitress, letting her know that we were ready to order. We ordered the house pale ale, which the others said was great. Yendys claimed the ale turned into root beer whenever she tried to drink it…parental controls kicking in like they should. The others talked me into ordering the roast beast pasty that they all swore by. I was a little worried about what “beast” the pie was made of, but determined to give it a go. I shelled out three silver and fifty-four copper to pay for everyone’s food and drink, figuring I may as well treat the folks who saved me from a long respawn and some experience loss.

While we were getting settled at the table and ordering our meal, a group of the town guard rushed in, probably responding to a system prompt of an attack inside the inn. Delling must have finished the guard house and jail upgrades, as there were four level three guards equipped with cheap looking leather armor and small wooden shields. They were armed with either spears, or metal-studded clubs. The last guard was showing as a level four sergeant of the guard and he was equipped with better quality leather armor, a small wooden shield, and a crude Imperium short sword, like the ones we had initially been issued. Though they didn’t seem all that powerful individually, they would be a much better deterrent than the level one unarmored guardsman that Delling had to defend the town before the guardhouse was built. The guards approached our table, but a large matronly woman came out from behind the bar and held up her hand before speaking.

“No worries, officer. These good adventurers just took out some trash for me. They were just about to pay for any damages before enjoying their meal…right folks,” the woman’s stern gaze glared down at our group. Her nameplate showed she was a player named Lani and had the class of Innkeeper level 4. Not wanting to shake the boat, I decided to cover her losses. She was a player and it wasn’t her fault that I brought conflict to her establishment.

“That’s right, ma’am. I’ll gladly cover the damages. Looks like taking out the trash destroyed a table, two chairs, and tore a couple of holes in your floor. Just add that to our tab, please,” I offered. The sergeant of the guard nodded and then noticed my uniform, snapping off a quick salute before leaving the inn. “I am sorry for the disturbance, ma’am. I should have just let him leave without instigating a fight. I forgot that other players aren’t just adventurers fighting monsters in this game and my actions caused your fine establishment to take damage. My name is Raytak. It’s good to meet you and good to see an inn open in Hayden’s Knoll,” I said as I offered my hand in greeting. Lani shook my hand in a firm grip, her hand calloused from hard work just like my own.

“Good to meet you, Raytak, and you can stop with the ma’am stuff. Just call me Lani. Welcome to the Petty Dispute! Next time though, if you want to have a scuffle with some other patron, feel free to take it to the box,” Lani motioned to the back corner of the inn, where a square fighting pit waited. I guess the Petty Dispute was all set to handle real disputes. “I had that ring custom designed and it sets up an instanced duel within its confines that allows everyone around a good view of the fight. It’s two silver to duel there and the loser pays. All of you enjoy your meal, and don’t worry about the damage. I just said that to keep the guards from hassling you. I’ve upgraded the inn to slowly repair broken items and damage…a wise upgrade for a frontier inn, I’ll tell you,” Lani said with a smile on her face, quickly hustling off to care for another guest. She seemed to genuinely enjoy her work and I wished her success with the inn.

The meal turned out to be excellent, even though nobody would tell me what creature the meat in my pie came from. The pie crust was flaky and contained tender chunks of meat in a savory gravy, with a few vegetables thrown in there to add color and texture. The ale was smooth with a hint of some fruit I couldn’t place. All in all, I could see myself spending a lot of coin in here. A smile crept onto my normally stoic face as I just reveled in the pleasure of good food, drink, and company. This disparate group that would have never hung out together, or even met in real life, was enjoying comradery and friendship.

“Old man Raytak, where have you been off to? We took a run at the dungeon and got wiped by some crazy ledge climbing ogre boss. Hey…you were in there before…how about a heads up on what to expect?” Yendys began to beg, trying to get me to spill what I knew about the new dungeon. I really had no idea what was in there now that the creatures had respawned under new management. It wouldn’t feel right to give her party an unfair advantage, even if I did know for sure what was in there. No reason not to pull the kid’s leg a bit first though.

“Well Yendys, after that ogre mini boss you’ll find a slope that leads down to the second level. There you will find a lake that contains magical powers. You need to walk into the water up to your knees, not higher or lower mind you. Once in the lake you must shout as loud as you can, “I am the unicorn queen!” Once you shout that, a summoned unicorn will emerge from the water. I knew you wanted one, so I had them install that feature in the new dungeon,” I joked. Unfortunately, Yendys took me as being serious.

“Sooo cool, old man Raytak! I’ll totally let you ride the unicorn, if you want to, once I find it. What do you think I should name it? How about Clip Clop? I’ve got to log off now, it’s hitting the time limit my parents have on the game for me,” Yendys said and logged off, her avatar vanishing before I could let her know I was kidding.

“Wow Raytak, that’s going to be one disappointed kid when she doesn’t find a unicorn on our next run,” Jacoby said while laughing at my worried expression. “Yendys had the right idea, though. I have to log out as well and head to work soon. Have fun everyone,” Jacoby told us as he logged out.

“Guess that I should head out as well. It was a pleasure to meet you, Raytak,” Kathala told me as she logged out as well. My previous good mood began to fade as my friends went back into their real-world lives, something I no longer was able to do. I finished my ale and was about to leave, when one of my soldiers rushed in. The soldier looked about the busy tavern and I waved him over. He soon spotted me and made a beeline to my table.

“Sir, a Captain Loomis has arrived at the garrison and is demanding your presence immediately,” the soldier said, saluting as he delivered the message.

“Thank you, soldier. Just let me settle my tab and I’ll head over with you,” I told the soldier as I left a silver on the table as a tip for the waitress, having already paid for the actual meal.

Chapter 14

Hurrying back to the garrison, I was confused as to why there was an officer here demanding my presence. Hopefully it was a quest, though quests seemed to have become more difficult, if not impossible, to complete now that my troops had to be scattered all over the zone to protect critical areas. Three horses were tied to the hitching post in front of the garrison. I hadn’t seen anyone mounted yet in the game, so this officer must be important. Several soldiers were milling about outside the barracks, having been displaced by the officer when he went inside. I shouted a warning at them before I entered the barracks building.

“You soldiers better find a way to be productive before I have to find one for you!” I shouted, and soldiers began to suddenly find urgent tasks that needed to be completed. Thoughts of the latrine duty that Sergeant Ty was known to give out must have rushed to the forefront of their memory. Entering the barracks, I could see the door to the war room was open and an officer in exquisite gear was seated at the war table, reviewing the deployment of our forces. Posted outside the war room door were two soldiers in high level gear standing watch. I scanned the group and was rewarded with information.

Captain Leighton, Imperium Field Inspector Level 40 elite.

Imperium Bodyguard (2): Level 35 elite.

Wow, these three had some seriously high levels to be out here in the back end of nowhere. Anxious to find out why they were here, I entered the war room and snapped off a crisp salute, painfully aware that my gear was not in the best condition after all the action we had seen.

“Sir! Lieutenant Raytak reporting as ordered, sir!” I said and held my salute. Captain Leighton looked up from the map. He appeared to be in his early fifties, one of those officers that, for whatever reason, found himself at a rank he was unable to advance past. Leighton looked at me dismissively; I could see the loathing in his eyes as he took in my low level gear. After making me wait for an uncomfortable amount of time before returning my salute, the captain sat back in his chair while wiping imaginary dust from the table in front of him.

“Yes, my good man, please do try to keep up appearances. Your uniform and garrison in general look a bit shabby, even for a frontier backwater like this one. Just because you find yourself posted to this stench-ridden outpost doesn’t mean you stop being an officer. Do try to remember that, Lieutenant,” Leighton stated in a voice that dripped disdain.

“Sergeant, leave us. See to it that you bring some refreshments to my men posted outside, if you can find some clean cups and utensils in this place. I shall hold you personally accountable, Sergeant, if any of the men get sick,” the captain added, insulting Sergeant Brooks who, to his credit, took the insult without breaking his military bearing. Sergeant Brooks saluted, then executed a perfect about face before leaving the room to carry out his orders.

“Now that were alone Lieutenant, let’s get down to the business at hand. Since I was already heading this way on another mission, command has seen fit to have me to deliver your orders personally. I shall also report to them my opinion on your ability to carry them out. I have heard some disturbing things from many powerful people that you may have gone a bit rogue out here, Lieutenant. An independent command is not an excuse to set up your own little kingdom, you know,” Leighton said as he handed me a scroll containing my orders. The arrogant officer was really testing my patience, but I had dealt with his type in the past. They looked to lord their superior position over their subordinates in order to make themselves feel more important, though this guy was a bit different and more hostile than most.

“Yes sir, I will carry out my orders to the best of my ability,” I answered. The captain stood up from the chair and made a point to brush off his uniform as he stood.

“My duty here is complete. Please read your orders and comply; your job is really simple when you think about it, just follow the orders given. Now that I have completed my orders to deliver your documents, I believe I will be leaving. I have other things to attend to and no desire to stay the night in this Hayden’s Knoll. Good day to you, Lieutenant. Normally I would say I hope we meet again, but you really don’t want to have to meet me again. As a field inspector, if I have to meet you a second time, it’s usually for unpleasant reasons,” Leighton said and left, not bothering to return my salute. After the captain and his guards left, Sergeant Brooks returned to the room.

“Sir, anything I can help with?” the sergeant offered.

“No, Sergeant Brooks. Thank you for your decorum with Captain Leighton…I know he was a bit abrasive,” I offered, letting Brooks know I valued his composure.

“Not a problem, sir. You didn’t do too badly yourself if you don’t mind my saying. I’ll be outside finding some duty for those lay about privates I saw out there pretending to be busy,” Brooks added. I pitied the soldiers outside who would now bear the brunt of the sergeant’s frustration. They brought it on themselves, I warned them to find something productive to do. The AI imparted the knowledge of an Imperial field inspector into my mind and I realized what a close brush with disaster I had avoided. The inspectors are used as an internal secret police force that monitored the military and other government organizations. They are feared for their near unbridled power when administering punishments in the field. Inspectors are also often used as spies and intelligence operatives. I had to wonder if this inspector was an anomaly, or if all of them were as annoying as Captain Leighton. I opened the scroll with my orders and began to read.

To: Lieutenant Raytak, currently assigned to independent command in the Hayden’s Knoll zone:

Lieutenant, intelligence has been received that indicates a threat is building in the adjacent zone of Bharga’s Crossing. You are hereby ordered to secure the entire zone of Hayden’s Knoll for the Imperium. Once the zone is secure, prepare and improve fortifications to maintain security in the zone. Do your best to increase your personal level and resources, standing ready to repel any aggressive advances into the zone from hostile parties. Time is of the essence, so focus your efforts on initially securing the western part of the zone before moving east. The threats you face will likely come from the east, so having a stable and secure base of operation at your back is critical. The Imperium is currently being pressed from all sides and you can only be provided with minimal support in the event of an attack. That which we can provide, we will. Your progress can be tracked by using your war table. An upgrade to your garrison, which should free up your forces for offensive action, is also included inside this message.

For the Imperium!

For Emperor Trodaxius!

For Victory!

After reading the orders, another prompt appeared, showing the upgrade that headquarters had granted.

Your garrison has been upgraded to include a fixed defensive force. This defensive force will occupy and protect all critical areas you conquer in the zone. Upgrade the garrison and your soldiers’ equipment to improve their effectiveness. The defensive garrison will be equipped the same as your assigned troops, and upgrades to your troops will immediately upgrade the defensive garrison forces as well. Defensive garrison forces will not count as part of your command limit. These forces are autonomous and will operate under pre-planned orders that you can make minor adjustments to through the war table interface.

The defensive garrison will stay within their assigned defensive areas and cannot be ordered outside of those areas. The commander, or any other officer/nco, can give orders directly to these soldiers, but only if in the immediate vicinity. Replacements and additional forces will spawn automatically within your garrison and move independently toward their assigned area. Defensive garrisons have their own replenishment rate which mirrors the rate at which your forces replenish. The defensive garrison reinforcements do not interfere with the replenishment of your own forces. The cost of supporting the defensive garrison is covered by the Imperium.

This significant upgrade is given in order to provide you with the means necessary to concentrate your own forces into a unified group. A unified force will be necessary as you move to secure the rest of the zone. View the war table to see the changes this upgrade provides. Once viewed on your war table, the defensive garrison will begin to spawn.

There was a lot to process. Taking control of the entire zone for the Imperium could take some time, and my forces were still minimal. The addition of non-controlled garrison troops would be a great benefit to, not only me, but also to the town. Having to spread everyone out to defend the transition point, various roads, and the town itself was leaving me with only a token force to take out on missions. The defeat by the ghouls taught me the danger of facing a similar level encounter with an understrength force. Pulling up the war table, I was anxious to see what the upgrade provided. There was a new tab labeled “defensive garrison” which, of course, I activated.

Defensive garrison. *Note, this is a new upgrade. As such, the entire defensive garrison will spawn over the next thirty minutes and proceed to their defensive position. Once in position, they will begin to create improvements to defenses/roads within their area of assignment. The quality of their defenses will increase as you improve your garrison.

Current defensive force allocation.

Southern transition point: Two squads of ten soldiers and two advanced scouts. Current defenses include a dirt berm with sharpened stakes and a crude observation tower.

Hayden’s Knoll Crossroads: One squad will occupy the crossroads area, providing a stopping off point for the road patrols and maintaining a small rest area for caravans. Defenses n/a. Construction of a crossroads hardpoint, including a crude observation tower and road barricades will be constructed by the garrison forces.

Southern roadways: One squad of soldiers led by an advanced scout will patrol the roadways randomly, seeking to prevent the infiltration of bandits or dangerous creatures. Defenses n/a.

Mines/Foul Spore pit dungeon: One squad of soldiers. This is a critical location in the zone. Despite being considered within the town’s boundary, the garrison still maintains a small defensive force to provide a control point at the entrance to the mine and a separate one at the entrance to the dungeon. Defenses n/a. Construction of fortified guard posts will be completed by the assigned defenders.

Hayden’s Knoll: The town of Hayden’s Knoll is assigned a force of two squads of soldiers led by an elite soldier. The elite soldier will operate as the senior nco for the garrison. This force will be used as a rapid reaction force to deal with any threats to the other garrisoned positions in the zone. Defenses n/a. Defenses constructed at the garrison itself are the responsibility of the commander.

*Note, your forces are no longer required to be assigned to reconnaissance. Defensive garrison forces will aggressively recon the areas they are assigned to, giving updates to any threats that can be reviewed on the war table interface. You can still assign your own troops to specific recon missions (or create quests for players to do so) if you desire.

This was just what I needed. I no longer felt tied down and was anxious to get out into the field. I closed the war table interface and rushed out of the barracks to see where the new soldiers would spawn. Just outside the building, in the large open square, the first group appeared. The soldiers were equipped the same as mine, save for one notable difference. These garrison troops wore uniforms trimmed in the standard Imperial red, whereas my troops wore a forest-blending green trim. One of the scouts saluted and reported in.

“Sir, this detail is proceeding to defend the transition point. Do you wish us to pass along any orders to the forces already there?” the soldier asked, as I returned his salute.

“Yes, soldier. Have the current forces there return to the garrison here at best possible speed,” I replied as I considered how long it would take to gather all my forces back here at the garrison. The furthest troops were the transition point forces and the trip there from the town was about a day and a half, if using the road (which increased travel speed slightly). I couldn’t expect all my troops to be back for at least another two to three days. As the new troops were spawning in, Mayor Delling approached the garrison.

“Hey, Raytak…what’s up with all this?” Delling motioned toward the new troops spawning.

“I got an upgrade; these soldiers will guard the current areas my men were defending, freeing up my soldiers to join me in questing. The Imperium granted the upgrade…along with orders to conquer the entire zone, something about trouble shaping up in the zone to the east. After the troops finish spawning I was going to head over to talk to you about a disturbing conversation I had at the inn. I had a fight with another player that said he was representing the Bloody Blades. They wanted to bribe me to look the other way as they raided the town for experience. You may want to keep a heads up if some clown named Darkfallow comes looking for you. He’s not showing as a Bloody Blades guild member. I guess they needed to hire someone the guild that we wouldn’t attack on sight.

“I got approached by that goofball as well. Wanted to pay me to let them have exclusive access to the dungeon and hinted at wanting to buy my interest in the town itself. I turned them down, despite their cash or their vague threats. I was on my way over here to let you know to watch out for trouble from Darkfallow as well. I’ve notified the town guard to be on the lookout for trouble if members of the guild enter town. They will pop as hostile if they show up. I was able to set up a town ban for the guild, but it looks like they are recruiting folks that aren’t in the guild yet to try and get around the ban. I can’t believe they had the gall to think I would do some shady deal with anyone aligning themselves with the guild that destroyed my first town,” Delling said shaking his head.

“At least we’re on the same page, Delling. My soldiers will also keep an eye out for that Darkfallow guy here and in any of the areas of the zone we control. Anyone in the Bloody Blades guild should show as hostile to my troops as well. I’ll also check the war table and make sure they’re rated as a hostile group for the defensive garrison. I also wanted to ask you about the ghoul quest. With these new soldiers manning the defenses for us, I would like to take a crack the ghouls,” I asked.

“As far as the quest, you missed out on that one, just gave the quest to another group. I’ll let you know what happens. The quest won’t let me assign it to anyone else unless the first group fails. They also have a time limit of three days to complete it before the quest expires for them. If they fail, or the quest expires, I’ll let you know. If there’s nothing else going on, I’m heading back to the town hall,” Delling said as he made his way back. I headed back into the garrison after the last of the new troops had spawned and marched toward their assigned areas. I had a couple of days to kill while I waited for my forces to return. By that time, we hopefully would have an idea of where our first target in the zone should be.

Chapter 15

Phineas sat behind the counter, contemplating whether to stock more potions, or perhaps expand the weapons selection a bit. He was also toying with the idea of souvenirs. The people visiting the dungeon would love it. Perhaps some commemorative ale mugs could be ordered; maybe even a collaboration with the Inn? It was now near dinner time and the emporium would typically empty out as people left to eat their evening meal. Always thinking, Phineas decided he needed something to lure customers in during the dinner time. Hard to separate a customer from their hard-earned cash when they were spending it on buying food somewhere else. His schemes were interrupted when the door to the store creaked open. The first thought going through his head was that the previous customer hadn’t latched it completely when they left. He had shelled out the money to make the minimum structural improvements to the building that Delling had required, so he knew the door at least fit in the doorframe now…sort of. Phineas was just about to call for Kip Kip to close the door when the open sign on the front of the door flipped to closed and the door shut, the locking bar snapping into place. A small recitation from Phineas activated several defensive spells, while traps conveniently placed around the shop were also set to active. A silent signal was sent to Kip Kip who would, even now, be in the back arming himself with his hand crossbow and dagger, ready to assist, or run for help, whichever Phineas ordered. Just before he cast a detect illusion spell, the invisible intruder materialized and addressed the merchant.

“Sorry for the cloak and dagger routine, Phineas. I had a bit of an altercation with that Commander Raytak guy. He and his friends turned down my generous offer and sent me to the graveyard. I take it you have compiled what my organization has requested?” the necromancer Darkfallow said, as he dropped his invisibility spell. Phineas held up a finger to his lips and motioned Darkfallow to hide behind some equipment racks.

“Let me clear my worker out. I have no desire for anyone to know of our financial interactions, even the goblin,” Phineas replied and then shouted toward the back of the store. “Kip Kip, take a break and visit your father for the rest of the day. Come back in the morning and help me rearrange the store. I have some new and brilliant merchandising ideas I want to implement.” Phineas was not known for generosity to his unpaid employee. Kip Kip was soon heard yapping in joy and rushing out the back entrance, heading quickly to the mine for a visit with his father before Phineas changed his mind. Phineas checked that there was no one loitering in the back room and locked that door as well before returning to the front of the store, making a “give me” motion with his hands.

“Yeah, yeah it’s always about the money with you, isn’t it. The AI just seems to love to populate weirdos like you into the game,” Darkfallow said insultingly. He and many other players treated the npc’s as props, choosing to not immerse themselves fully into the game. Darkfallow reached into a hidden pocket in his robes and then plopped a heavy pouch of coins on the counter. “There’s your coin, now give what we ordered,” Darkfallow commanded. Phineas reluctantly reached behind the counter and handed the necromancer a small journal.

“Here you go; everything I know about Raytak, Delling, the dungeon, the mine, and the town itself,” Phineas reluctantly advised as he handed over the journal. Phineas felt a bit of something as he handed over the information, something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Was it regret at selling out people who he was beginning to like?

“Pleasure doing business with you, Phineas. We’ll be in touch if there’s anything else we need. By the way, a word of advice, stay inside later tonight. I’ve made sure nothing will happen to your shop, but let’s just say there might be some trouble in town later,” Darkfallow warned while a mischievous grin plastered itself on his face. With the cryptic warning, Darkfallow recast his invisibility spell and left the building, making his way out of town as quickly as he could.

Darkfallow’s invisibility spell expired as he made it to the bottom of the plateau. He stood there on the road for a moment, wondering if it was worth it to recast the spell. The spell did slow down his movement speed by thirty percent and he didn’t know how much further he had to travel before he met up with his last contact. Darkness had fallen, and he was unlikely to meet many threats on the road at this time of night so Darkfallow decided against invisibility. A benefit of the necromancer class was improved night vision, so the darkness held no special danger for Darkfallow. There was just one more person he had to meet this night before he used the teleportation scroll and returned to Bharga’s Crossing. He would normally use the transition point, but it was all too likely that he was now flagged as hostile. The soldiers there would attack him on sight. He was confident he could handle a few soldiers, but there were too many variables to be sure. With one death already this night, there was no desire for a possible second, as well as the experience penalty that would soon follow. The scroll was expensive, but worth the time saved, as he was needed to assist in the upcoming assault on Haven. Just as he began down the road once more, a voice was heard from the shadows.

“You realize that making me wait can be very detrimental to your health don’t you,” a voice said as three humans on horses walked from the shadows revealing themselves. “I believe you have something for me,” Captain Leighton said as he nudged his horse into the personal space of the necromancer. Darkfallow looked to be angry at first, before realizing how hopefully outclassed he was by the three soldiers in front of him. The necromancer realized that he really needed to work on controlling his anger before it got him into trouble.

“Yes, here’s what was promised. Just make sure you do your part in the plan if we activate it,” Darkfallow snarled as he handed a very heavy bag of coin to the captain.

“Tell your little group of friends not to worry, I’ll keep my end of the bargain… as long as you have another bag like this one ready for me when I deliver.” Having said that, the captain and his two bodyguards trotted down the road at a good clip, soon disappearing into the darkness. Darkfallow watched them leave and then activated the teleportation scroll. A flash of light was seen on the road as the spell completed, then an empty silence once more fell over the dark roadway.

Back at the Petty Dispute, a group of nine adventurers sat quietly eating and drinking. The group consisted of mainly rogues and warriors. They were all level two or three, save for one level 4 rogue, and one human female that sat a bit apart from the others. The human female wore much better gear; the best coin could buy for her actual level of nine. The hood of her cloak was pulled up and a dark grey bandana covered the lower part of her face. Masked players were somewhat common in the game, so her garb didn’t attract any undue attention. Several passive abilities prevented anyone from taking too much notice of anything she did. Should someone’s gaze lock onto her, they would only see a level three rogue, not the level nine assassin that she really was. Many abilities and spells to obfuscate her true nature were part of her class. When the timer she had set on her user interface (UI) dinged, she looked to the other eight players. They were all truly low-level players, unlike her.

“You all can get moving. You have your job to do and I have mine,” was all she said as she stood to leave.

“But Lovely…you’re not going with us?” one of the level two rogues, a player who was named Killadin, said nervously. He was not feeling quite as excited about this mission now that the only high-level player in their group was leaving.

“Don’t start crying, Killadin. She’s got her job to do and it doesn’t include babysitting you. Once she’s done with her job, ours will be that much easier. Let’s get moving, folks,” the level four rogue named Dholkos said as the rest of the crew checked weapons and gear before heading out of the inn. Lovely finished her drink and then made her way out as well. The darkness around her was a comfort, this small town was way too underdeveloped for street lighting yet. An advanced stealth feature was activated as Lovely made her way toward the first target of the evening.

Lovely squatted in the shadows just outside the circle of light provided by the lanterns that lined the barracks. She had remained there for the last thirty seconds waiting to see if there were any guards on duty. She noted that the soldier in front of the door seemed to be the only guard stationed to watch the garrison. Normally she would have waited for hours to determine guard rotations and positions, but the other team would start their attack soon and she wanted to complete this job before the others raised any alarm. Of the two targets, this was the most important and had the highest payout. The other job could be completed once the alarm was raised, but this one would become exponentially harder once the soldiers were alerted. Lovely activated the shadow step ability and appeared behind the guard, quickly thrusting both daggers into the soldier, one in his neck and one in his kidney.

Sneak attack critically hits the Imperium soldier for 128 damage, burning poison applied.

Sneak attack hits the Imperium soldier for 61 damage, silence poison applied.

Imperium soldier has died.

After dispatching the soldier, Lovely cast a minor darkness spell over the front entrance, cancelling out the light from the lanterns. The darkness might look a bit unnatural to a passerby, but she planned on being done and gone long before then. Cracking open the barracks door, Lovely could see a few soldiers sleeping in their bunks, as well as another door at the far end of the hall. She didn’t have time to eliminate the sleeping soldiers, she wasn’t being paid for that and speed was more important at this point. The only light in the large room came from a lantern that was turned down low, shedding a feeble glow into the corner of the barracks. Satisfied there were more than enough shadows in the room for her to use, Lovely activated move silently and cast a minor concealment spell. Lovely crept slowly toward the door at the end of the building. Once there she cast a silence in five-foot radius spell on the door, preventing any creaking sounds to occur when she opened it. She found the door unlocked and not booby-trapped, paranoia about checking for such things was one of her survival mechanisms. Cracking open the door, Lovely peeked inside the room. Her target was hovering over a large map table. The target was paying attention to whatever was showing on his interface, not at all concentrating on the room he was in. His side was to the door and, if she was careful, his distracted attention should let her land a sneak attack.

Lovely slid the door open just enough to slip through without any of her gear scraping on the doorway. She was confident in her silence spell, but it always paid to do things the right way. Slipping around the edges of the room, Lovely found herself behind her opponent. She drew both daggers and verified the poisons were still active. Her strike was swift and vicious, activating her rapid strike ability to land as many blows as possible in the opening round of the battle.

Your backstab attack has hit Raytak for 71 damage, burning poison resisted.

Your backstab attack has critically hit Raytak for 119 damage, silence poison applied.

Rapid strike hits Raytak for 38 damage, burning poison applied.

Rapid strike hits Raytak for 39 damage, silence poison refreshed.

Her target still stood after the initial strikes, his health down to around 60 percent. Raytak recovered from his initial shock, drawing his sword and presenting his shield. Lovely could see his mouth opening to shout for his soldiers in the other room, but no sound came from the silenced opponent. Lovely continued the attack, using more short cooldown abilities.

Your gouge strike hits Raytak for 44 damage, burning poison stack applied. Opponent is stunned for 4 seconds.

Your attack hits Raytak for 39 damage, silence poison refreshed.

Burning poison stacks deal 12 damage to Raytak.

Lovely dodged a return blow from Raytak, surprised at the feeble attacks and defenses the level 5 unique class displayed. She knew he wouldn’t be a match for her class/level but had expected a better fight. “Never complain about a weak opponent,” she thought, as she activated shadow step to appear unexpectedly behind her opponent, lining up more sneak attacks.

Your backstab attack hits Raytak for 112 damage, burning poison stack applied.

Your backstab attack hits Raytak for 115 damage, silence poison resisted, 12 seconds remaining on silence poison counter.

Your burning poison stacks deal 18 damage.

You have activated shocking blow, 25 damage and opponent stunned for 5 seconds.

Lovely finished her last rounds of attacks, ending with a short stun. The poison could take care of the rest and she had been ordered to deliver a message.

“You should have taken the deal the Bloody Blades offered. Nothing personal from me mind you, I’m just doing my job, one I happen to be very good at,” Lovely taunted as the damage from the poison bled away the last of Raytak’s health, killing him and sending him to the graveyard. Lovely went about the rest of her tasks, pulling two small scrolls from her inventory and looking about the room. She hid one scroll under the map table in a nook between the sides that would leave it hidden. The second she placed in a similar hiding place behind the refreshment table, per the instructions that Narbos had given her. The job here complete, she left the barracks to move toward her next target. She didn’t loot Raytak’s corpse, that was beneath her, as Lovely believed that the pay it required to hire someone of her caliber should be enough to not have her looting low-level corpses to make ends meet.

The town hall was her next target. The building was well lit, but there were no guards in view, and few people were out in the streets at this time of night. Lovely was able to enter the building without challenge and then slinked her way toward the back of the first floor where she was told her target awaited. Following the same procedure of first silencing the door, Lovely cracked it open to view her target. This must be a hobby of her targets this evening, as this one was also focused on a table depicting a map of the town. She could only hope this habit would continue, as it made her job so much easier. Her target was showing as a level three town mayor. A non-combat class that should fall quickly. Lovely silently approached, able to stay out of the distracted mayor’s view until the time was right.

Your backstab hits Delling for 144 damage, burning poison applied.

Your backstab hits Delling for 138 damage, silencing poison applied.

Rapid strike hits Delling for 51 damage, burning poison stack applied.

Rapid strike hits Delling for 48 damage, silencing poison refreshed.

You have activated shocking blow, 31 damage and burning poison stack applied. Opponent stunned for 5 seconds.

The level three town mayor was pitifully easy to defeat. His lack of armor, or defensive skills, allowed her attacks to do more damage than against her previous opponent, who at least wore some armor. Lovely again let the burning poison do the work to finish off her foe, giving her time for another warning.

“Mayor, it was in your best interest to accept the deal that the Burning Blades offered. Do the smart thing. Your death is just the beginning of the fun tonight. The Bloody Blades will make your in-game life miserable unless you join them. Do you really want to see your town burnt to the ground, again?” Lovely finished as the last poison tick killed Delling and sent him to wait for respawn with her other target. She didn’t like the dramatic threats, it wasn’t her style, but Narbos had insisted, and the pay was good enough to overlook the hokey request. The assassinations and other attacks this night would keep the town and Raytak focused on this immediate area, expending their resources here instead of expanding further into the zone. Her part in tonight’s plan complete, Lovely quickly left the town hall and then the town itself, without anyone else noticing her presence. Nobody had identified her, so the return trip to Bharga’s Crossing should be short and uneventful as the transition point was still available to her.

The level four rogue, Dholkos, led the rest of his large party toward the entrance to the mines. There were always a few players milling about this side of the town, unlike near the town hall. Yet another group of players heading toward the entrance to the mines that led to the town’s dungeon didn’t draw any undue attention. At the entrance to the mines there were two level five soldiers standing guard, as well as a pair of level three town guardsmen. Dholkos assigned each of his group to a target; the three warriors in the group following Dholkos and walking directly toward the guards, while the four other rogues tried to stealth into a position to backstab their targets.

“Halt, state the name of your group,” one of the town guard ordered, holding up his hand in the universal “stop” pose while he pulled out a scroll listing the groups approved to try the dungeon, and the times they were scheduled for. Dholkos knew that there was some kind of stupid schedule the mayor had implemented for entering the low-level dungeon, and his group was not on that schedule. He needed to buy a few more seconds for the rogues to get into position.

“Good evening, officer. We just wanted to check on how long the wait was for going into the dungeon. Can you also tell us if we’re allowed into the mine to harvest ore while we wait?” Dholkos asked, while still closing the distance to the town guard.

“You’re free to mine only inside the dungeon itself. The actual mine area is the property of the Bugtug tribe. You’ll have to talk to Chief Bugtug if you want to mine there. I can’t tell you the wait for the dungeon. That’s handled by Mayor Delling. He, or one of his assistants, can get your party on the list. I’ll have to ask you to leave now,” the town guard said. The party kept approaching. The town guards looked bored, but the soldiers could sense something was wrong. Just as the soldiers began to pay more attention, one of the rogues sneaking up on them failed his stealth check, only a few feet away from one of the soldiers.

“To arms! We’re under attack!” the alert soldier said as he ran toward a bell set next to the mine entrance. The soldier began to ring the bell, getting two loud rings out before one of the approaching warriors charged him, knocking him back and grabbing his attention with a taunt ability. The other members of the party charged in to attack the mine defenders.

The town guard Dholkos had been approaching was distracted by the soldiers’ shout, giving Dholkos the opportunity to lunge forward and strike his foe with both the short swords he had drawn. The guardsman dropped to half health and turned to face Dholkos, moving his small shield out in front to block while readying a metal-studded club. The guard facing Dholkos then crumpled to the ground dead, as one of the rogues got off a critical strike backstab on him while the guard was turned to face Dholkos.

Looking at the fight around him, Dholkos saw that all three warriors held their target’s attention, while the rogues maneuvered to maximize their damage against the distracted foes. The second town guardsmen fell quickly, being lower level and more poorly equipped than the soldiers. The soldiers put up a better fight, using shield bash to knock back their opponent and getting in some solid hits with their thrust ability. Still, the two soldiers fell under the relentless assault, being surrounded and outnumbered 4-to-1. Dholkos asserted control once more as the party began to waste time trying to loot their kills.

“Don’t worry about looting, you idiots. We’re being well-paid to cause as much chaos as possible. Get into the mine and start killing some goblin miners. You morons let that guard give the alarm, so we don’t have much time,” Dholkos ranted. He was no genius, but he knew they had to maintain their momentum before the defenders organized. This attack was a suicide mission. Their goal was to sew chaos and keep the town on edge, paranoid over the potential for future attacks. Dholkos wasn’t a member of any guild, which was why he and the others were hired by Darkfallow for tonight. Dholkos had been told that if things went well here tonight, the Bloody Blades might offer him a slot. Raiding npc’s and towns with the Bloody Blades was just the type of game content Dholkos like to participate in…and the pay didn’t seem too bad with this guild either.

Dholkos was just a hired mercenary. He and his team had been fed lies and kept in the dark by their employers. Darkfallow had approached and hired them, letting them believe they were working for the Bloody Blades. The group had no idea that the Bloody Blades were just a scapegoat for Chaotic Outcome’s activities. Dholkos and his band didn’t even know that Chaotic Outcomes existed. In reality, the Bloody Blades were finished as a threat to Hayden’s Knoll. Most of the members had quit and moved on after the failed attack on Raytak’s caravan, realizing that the stiffening defense in the zone would make the easy experience and loot they had enjoyed earlier in the game a thing of the past. The original five members were all that was left of the guild. Even the original members had now left the zone, looking for other starting zones that were easier pickings for their griefer style of play. There wasn’t a single Bloody Blades guild member left in the Hayden’s Knoll zone.

“Hey, shouldn’t we wait for the tanks to regen their health?” Killadin said, noticing two of the warriors had been taken down to half health by the soldiers and, while they would slowly regenerate, wouldn’t be back to anywhere near full health for several minutes.

“Nope, we all knew this was a one-way ticket. Hope you all set your spawn points where we told you. You don’t want to spawn back here in town. Get moving,” Dholkos ordered and the party trotted into the mine entrance. The passage was narrow at first and then opened into a large cavern. Inside the cavern, several goblin miners were seen hustling out through a tunnel at the back of the cavern, while four soldiers formed a line in front of the exit to try and protect the nearly defenseless miners.

“Hit those soldiers, quick! Killadin, take another rogue and work your way around them. Start killing the goblins while we handle the defenders,” Dholkos ordered. Killadin and another rogue split off to circle around the short line of defenders, soon disappearing into the tunnel the goblins had fled into. At a range of fifteen yards, the soldiers each threw a javelin at the party. All four of the missiles hit, two striking rogues and two hitting the already injured warriors, the strikes dropping moderate slivers of health off their targets. Dholkos and the rogues responded with throwing daggers as they closed to melee range. A few of the daggers hit their marks, but did only minor damage to the soldiers. The large shields the soldiers carried proved surprisingly effective against most projectiles. As the two groups met, the three warriors again activated charge, disrupting and briefly stunning their targets. The fourth soldier, that hadn’t been charged, fired off a shield bash that damaged and stunned one of the level two rogues. The fight then dissolved into a chaotic melee, the kind Dholkos enjoyed most.

The soldiers were too few in number to hold a line and were quickly flanked by the slightly greater numbers in the party. Despite being higher level, the soldiers had lower health pools than those had by most players. The lower health didn’t stop the soldiers from dishing out some serious damage to the party. The fight was tough, but going Dholkos’ way until three more town guards appeared from the tunnel behind them, trapping them in between the two forces. There were two of the level three town guards, equipped like the ones they had faced at the entrance. There was also one level four sergeant of the guard that appeared a bit stronger and better equipped than the regular guardsmen. The new arrivals soon hit Dholkos’ forces, who were unable to easily disengage from the soldiers to face the new threat. Now Dholkos and his team were the ones outnumbered.

First one, then a second, of the party’s warriors dropped, despite using every defensive cooldown they had left. Their health was already depleted from the prior fight, making them vulnerable. One of the level three rogues fell before the party began to get the upper hand once more. A lucky critical strike by one of the rogues killed a soldier, but then Dholkos found himself surrounded. A town guard on one side and a soldier with only 20 percent health on the other. Dholkos focused on the soldier first, taking two blows from the guard’s club as he dropped the soldier’s health to zero. A third blow from the guard hit Dholkos on the back of the head as a condition prompt flashed.

You have been hit by the subdue ability, 22 damage and stunned for 3 seconds.

“The ability must have been a way for the town guards to control unruly suspects, like me, in this case,” Dholkos thought as the guard began to strike with the metal studded club. Dholkos watched his health drop to below ten percent before the stun wore off. Quickly activating his daily use of the rapid recovery ability, Dholkos’ health began to tick slowly up as he regained the offensive and launched a flurry of quick strikes at the guard. The guard was poorly skilled and had a hard time blocking the level four rogue’s dual wield attacks. Each pair of strikes allowed at least one of the short swords through and, after three blows, the guard fell. Dholkos’ health had regenerated to fifteen percent before the rapid recovery ability expired.

Dholkos then surveyed the battlefield, looking for more targets. The only opponent left standing was the sergeant of the guard. As Dholkos watched, the sergeant landed a strong blow on the last warrior before being brought down by a backstab from the last remaining rogue. All three of the surviving party members were at less than twenty percent health. Dholkos prepared to follow down the path the other rogues had gone earlier to pursue the miners, when a squad of red-cloaked soldiers appeared behind them.

“Looks like the alarm has been raised. Nothing to do now but try to buy some time to let Killadin to take out as many goblins as he can,” Dholkos ordered. The party was being paid based on the total number of kills they made this night, so kills completed by the other members would still line their pockets. “Let’s buy the others some time. See you back at the spawn point, folks,” Dholkos said as they began their last fight of the night.

Further down the tunnel, Killadin and the other rogue pursued the goblin miners, quickly catching and dispatching them, one after another. The small passage they were following emptied out into another large cavern that was a mirror image of the one they had just left. They could see the passage that led off toward the dungeon, as well as another dozen fleeing miners heading toward the exit at the back of this cavern. Killadin was having the time of his life, slaying the weak goblins with hardly an effort.

“These guys are easy, can’t believe we’re getting a bounty of fifteen silver for each one.” The words had barely left Killadin’s mouth when a small crossbow bolt slammed into his chest.

Kip Kip’s hand crossbow critically hits you for 44 damage.

“What the heck?! Where did this guy come from?” Killadin shouted as Kip Kip stood in the middle of the cavern, reloading the hand crossbow. “I got dibs on that guy!” Killadin shouted to the other rogue, who was speeding ahead to kill more miners. Kip Kip finished loading but missed his next shot as Killadin reached his foe. The twin daggers Killadin wielded went to work, slashing the hand holding the hand crossbow and then landing a critical hit on the goblin’s throat, causing a bleed over time wound. Kip Kip didn’t go out without a fight and managed to land a couple of weak slashes from the dagger that Raytak had given him for helping to defend the caravan. “Hey, aren’t you that dopey goblin that the merchant keeps around to do all his work?” Killadin taunted, as he continued to slash and stab at the goblin. The rogue only stopped once he was sure the goblin was going to bleed out.

“Bree Yark!” The loud cry resounded through the area. At the other end of the cavern, a goblin stood wielding his own hand crossbow and dagger that were twins to the ones Kip Kip had used. The other rogue, who was now twenty yards ahead of Killadin, jerked to a stop, clutching a crossbow bolt embedded in his chest.

“Owww, these things really hurt. I thought bree-yark meant a goblin was trying to surrender?” the other rogue questioned, as the miners stopped their flight and turned to face their foes. Scanning the goblin that had just shot his friend, Killadin found the following.

Chief Bugtug. Goblin Chieftain Level 5.

Bugtug has activated the inspiring presence ability. All routing goblins have had their morale reset.

“You come here, kill the people, kill my son! Now you die, human! My people! Slay the intruders! Blood for blood!” chief Bugtug shouted as he led the swarm of goblins toward the two rogues. Killadin watched as his fellow rogue was quickly cut down by the miners; their numbers and fury overpowering his better skills and gear. Killadin began to throw daggers at the shouting horde of goblins, dropping one of the miners before they began to surround him. Mining picks, shovels, and hammers slammed into Killadin.

“Stupid goblins…” Killadin wasn’t able to finish his thought as the combined attacks dropped his health to zero and sent him to respawn.

Chief Bugtug looked down at his fallen son Kip Kip. The chief picked up his son’s hand crossbow and knife, stashing them in his inventory. The goblin chief then shrugged and went back to his throne room without appearing to have a thought or concern about his loss. The loss of a family member was not something to get worked up about, most goblins believed.

Chapter 16

Dawn was just beginning to lighten the eastern sky when Grizak began to yip and hiss at his sub-cackle, not afraid to nip at a few of the lazier ones in his attempts to wake them up and get them moving. They had much ground to make up if they wanted to catch their prey. The strike group that their people had sent to destroy the Drebix farms had been decimated two days earlier by an unknown group of humans. These new humans appeared to well equipped, trained, and organized, easily thrashing the gnolls in battle. There were only a few frightened survivors who were able to return with their report. The Cacklemaster of the Spinefur had commanded that the humans involved be killed and consumed. Many of the sub-cackles were, even now, attacking the Drebix and striking their outlying farms once again; raiding and wreaking havoc on the humans. There would be much plunder and feasting for those attacking, as the humans were known to have great supplies of food, even if their own flesh was stringy and tough.

Grizak and his sub-cackle were assigned to track down the second group of humans, the ones that had helped the Drebix and then fled to the south. The trail was only a few days old, so it wasn’t too hard to pick up or to follow. Grizak’s cackle had been praised by the Cacklemaster for being the best gnoll trackers in the zone. Tracking humans was considered their specialty. Grizak felt that humans were usually the easiest humanoids, other than dwarves, to track. Humans would usually think to cover their trails, but rarely considered covering their scent, which was the best marker for a gnoll tracker to follow.

After a few minutes, the group was ready to move. Gnolls were hardy creatures with strong endurance and took great joy in running down their prey. Grizak yearned for that moment when his prey began to tire. The scent of fear would waft off of them as they realized their death was moments away. His cackle was a small, but experienced, group having a total of five trackers other than Grizak. They ranged in levels from three to five, with Grizak’s level of six being the highest level in their group. Accompanying the trackers were three bloodscent hyenas that were level four beasts, smaller than their war hyena kin, but much more effective scent trackers. To pack some more punch, the Cacklemaster had assigned a dozen level four gnoll warriors, as well as the shaman Foulfur, to accompany them. Foulfur was level five and had often butted heads with Grizak, who believed the shaman had been placed in the group to keep him in line. Gnoll shamans were specialized in support magic, though nearly all the gnoll shamans kept a few combat spells at the ready for self-defense. The way to move up in a gnoll cackle was to prove your greater worth. The most common way of proving your greater worth was to kill or humiliate the gnoll ahead of you.

The equipment his cackle employed was simple, but well kept. Despite the normal slovenly behavior of gnolls, Grizak insisted his cackle’s weapons and gear were well maintained. He realized that his own survival may depend on those under him buying a few more precious seconds for Grizak to flee if a hunt turned bad. The trackers carried weighted nets and short spears, using abilities to trap and incapacitate their foes before killing them. They were armored in a light leather harness, as were the warriors. The warrior gnolls used crude battle axes and wooden shields as their primary weapons. The shaman wore no armor, trusting in a few defensive spells and items to protect it. An armored harness could get in the way and interrupt spell casting. Foulfur wielded a magically sharpened rusty sickle in one hand and carried a bundle of bloodstained twigs in the other. The bundle of twigs was a reward from the Cacklemaster after Foulfur had helped him kill a particularly annoying rival. Foulfur was proud of his item that he called painbundle. The painbundle would absorb half the damage Foulfur received, individual twigs crumbling after absorbing a certain amount of damage. Foulfur didn’t know that the item was cursed. When the last twig was broken, all the damage ever absorbed by the item would be transferred immediately to its owner. The cunning Cacklemaster had given the gift to Foufur, knowing of its curse and ensuring that another potential rival was eliminated in due time.

Grizak readied his own weapons as the cackle moved out. He had a more robust leather harness and completed it with a spiked leather collar. The collar would prevent rivals from latching their fangs to his throat and was magically enhanced to offer a minor defensive buff. Grizak had specialized in a duel wield combat style, carrying a matching pair of well-crafted battle axes. The cackle covered ground quickly with the trackers and bloodscent hyenas leading the way. Grizak placed himself in the middle of the group. As the leader, he was entitled to more safety than the lesser members of the cackle. After a few hours of travel, the trackers stopped and began to scout about, having lost the scent. Foulfur did not waste the opportunity to rub potential failure in his rival’s snout.

“Heh, heh, heh…great tracker Grizak lost the scent of the little humans. I cannot wait to watch what the Cacklemaster does to you when you fail,” Foulfur yipped toward Grizak. Grizak pretended to take no notice, not because he was afraid of his rival, but because the Cacklemaster had forbidden him from killing the shaman until at least after the humans were dead and in the cookpot. The Cacklemaster had even promised him that he could keep the shaman’s painbundle if the shaman was eliminated. One of the trackers ran up to the main group to explain the delay. The rest of the trackers had elected the weakest and least liked of their group to deliver the bad news. No use losing a more competent tracker if Grizak decided to reward failure with death.

“Great Grizak, much rain has passed through here covering the scent. Do not worry, we will pick up the scent momentarily,” the tracker said, trying to mollify its leader. Luck was with the tracker this time. Just as Grizak was about to decide to kill the gnoll in front of him for failure, one of the other trackers began to yip excitedly. He had picked up the scent of their prey and the cackle began to move quickly once more. The trackers eventually led them to an old abandoned farm. The scent of their prey was strong in the area around the partially destroyed farmhouse, where the human trail appeared to end.

Grizak walked into the farmhouse, looking at the various blood stains on the floor. He sniffed and then tasted a few, spitting out the disturbing taste of the dark, black, syrup-like blood that was splattered amongst the human blood. His prey had been in a bloody fight here, one he didn’t think they walked away from, considering the number of blood stains in the room. Some other predators must have already cleaned out the bodies. Anything, save for the tiniest bits of gore, was gone. The marks on the floor showed that something had licked up all that was possible to eat. The smell and taste of the other blood was disturbing; something rotten and foul that Grizak hadn’t encountered before. If the humans were killed by some other group, he would at least have to find their remains to prove the foes were gone. Grizak grinned, thinking he could claim credit for removing the humans without losing a single gnoll, all due of course to his brilliant leadership. Grizak left the house to consult with his other trackers.

“Where are the humans at? Something took them out and then cleared out the bodies,” Grizak inquired, looking for answers. One of the trackers moved up, leading a bloodscent hyena.

Cackle leader Grizak, there is no other scent of the humans, just a foul smell of something else and the tracks of clawed feet that traveled to the southwest. There was also the faint hint of elves and dwarves in the air, but we haven’t pinpointed them yet,” the tracker added.

“They can’t have disappeared. Have two of the trackers head out and keep searching. If we don’t find the humans in the next few minutes, we’ll have to follow the other tracks and see what we find,” Grizak ordered. The other gnolls began to relax and search their packs for food, happy to rely on the two trackers to continue the search without their help. After a short time, the painful yelp of one of the bloodscent hyenas was heard. The cackle grew silent as all eyes moved toward the tree line. Weapons were readied and the gnolls instinctively moved closer, gathering to face whatever threat was lurking in the woods. Grizak was about to address the cackle when a frightened tracker burst through the undergrowth, running toward them.

“Grizak, the humans ambushed us, killed the hyenas and…began eating them. Humans don’t do that, do they? They smelt wrong, like a human but off somehow. There were four of them and Mange is keeping an eye on them while I ran back to tell you,” the gnoll tracker reported. The tracker was frightened, something about the humans had scared him.

“Heh, Grizak not scared of humans. Stay here with the shaman and tremble in fear if you want. The rest of you, let’s go kill the humans! First pick of the loot for the first kill!” Grizak shouted, knowing he would, of course, keep the best loot, but he was not averse to lying to the cackle in order to generate a little extra motivation. Shaman Foulfur ignored the insult from Grizak and followed just behind the leader. The cackle rushed into the forest and moved to where the tracker had left his comrade. The only thing there was a mess of bloody clothes and the tracks of several of the humans dragging something away... most likely Mange. “This prey was making it too easy for us, leaving such an obvious trail to follow,” Grizak mumbled to himself, as the cackle pursued their prey once more.

The trail led deeper into the forest, ending at a large mound in the midst of a small clearing. Nothing grew in a circle twenty yards around the mound. All the vegetation nearby seemed sickly and rotten. The mound had a doorway on one side that led into the dark. Grizak could feel a sense of foreboding, not liking what he was seeing. Humans didn’t act this way and had it not been for the Cacklemaster’s order, he would listen to his fear and leave the area. Putting on a brave face, Grizak shouted orders.

“You warriors! Get in there and kill the humans! Our prey is somewhere inside. Trackers, stay here and keep watch. Shaman, you stay here with the trackers. I’ll send a warrior back, if we need reinforcements. Half of you warriors get some torches lit,” Grizak ordered. Gnolls had good night vision, but couldn’t see in complete darkness like many of the other races. He didn’t want to risk his last four trackers, or the last bloodscent hyena. If there was a fight, it would be much easier to replace warriors than the more highly trained trackers. While he would like the support of the shaman’s magic against the humans, he had a nagging feeling that the true purpose of the shaman was to eliminate him as a potential future rival of the Cacklemaster. The gnoll warriors entered the mound with Grizak safely ensconced in the middle of the group. Ancient carvings could be seen in the pillars that supported the entrance, the gnolls taking no interest in what was written there.

The entrance led down and the soft, dirt floor showed the marks of many clawed feet passing this way, along with the marks of several bodies that had been dragged past. The tunnel opened into a large circular room. Ancient sarcophagi were placed around the walls of the mound, the lids or sides on all of them were bashed in, revealing only dirt and pieces of bone. The bones were all split open, as if something was trying to get at the rotted marrow inside. In the back of the room, a stone altar was placed. The altar was carved with time-worn script in a language that the gnolls could not read. On top of the altar, two candelabras were placed, each with a burning candle in them. The candlelight shed a faint, sickly glow that revealed three humans kneeling at the foot of the altar. Atop the altar, between the candles, sat the body of one of the trackers, Mange. The humans in front of him were dressed as soldiers of the Imperium, though their smell was a bit off. One of the humans chuckled and began to address the gnolls in a raspy voice.

“Lord Dunderman welcomes you. We are always happy to see new recruits, especially when they bring such tasty treats with them.” As he finished speaking, the three humans stood and turned. The light from the torches that the warriors held revealed the true nature of the “humans” they had been tracking. Just recently completing their transformation, the ghouls that were former soldiers of the Imperium licked their mouths with impossibly long tongues. They dropped the chunks of the hyena they had been feeding on, anxious for fresher meat. A voice from the shadows to the right spoke up.

“Feed well my warriors, but same some…I need ten of the strongest kept alive. The rest will suffice to make a good meal for us,” advised Ghoul Lord Dunderman as he slunk from the shadows. Since his ascension to the Ghoul Lord class, Dunderman had increased his intellect and ability to reason. The greater cognitive abilities enabled him to resist the call to kill and feed as soon as he saw prey. He preferred to prepare cunning traps for intruders, weighing which ones would be added to his army and which ones were best used as rations. The soldiers he had converted had made good minions, he would have to find more of them.

The only disappointment came from a party of adventurers that wandered into his mound just this morning. They fell to his pack after killing several of the soldier ghouls. These “players” didn’t even offer him the option of being turned into ghouls. They were delicious, however. The fortuitous entry of these gnolls would enable him to recover his losses and feed the hungry pack for a time. Dunderman activated an ability that caused terror to emit from him in waves, crashing against the fragile morale of the gnolls. Four of the warriors broke, fleeing back toward the entrance, while Grizak began to establish some order.

“Bahh, not scared of dead things! Get at them! Hack them apart and find their loot!” Grizak ordered as he dropped the torch he was carrying to pull out his second battle axe. A high-pitched, laughing sound came from Grizak as he activated an ability to boost morale.

Fortifying Call: This ability allows a cackle leader to bolster his forces, granting them a bonus of +3 to morale and +1 to defense for the next thirty seconds.

The three ghouls at the altar leapt through the air at the gnolls, hunger overriding caution. One of the gnolls managed to get his shield up in time, causing the ghoul to fall awkwardly to the ground. The gnoll quickly took advantage of its prone foe, snapping off several attacks from its battle axe and dropping the health of the undead to half. The other two undead were more successful in their attack, landing on their targets before they could react. Claws raked gnoll flesh, easily piercing the thin leather harness, while sharp teeth tore strips of flesh from the gnolls throats. Both gnolls went rigid and dropped to the floor, paralyzed by the touch of the ghouls. Grizak lashed out with both axes at one of the ghouls tearing into his warriors. The powerful blows dealt heavy damage, as well as landing a critical strike that severed an arm off the ghoul. Grizak activated a whirlwind attack, his axes flashing in front of him, driving back and damaging the ghouls as he forced them back from the paralyzed warriors.

While Grizak went to work, the remaining five gnolls that had not fled launched an attack on the ghoul lord. Before they could reach their target, Dunderman opened his mouth wide and shot his tongue out. The strike pierced the chest of a gnoll. The gnoll’s health dropped to ten percent as the advanced paralysis from the ghoul lord took effect. The ghoul lord then met the charge of the remaining four gnolls that faced him, skittering quickly across the dirt floor before lashing out with its claw tipped fingers. Despite its gaunt appearance, the ghoul lord was incredibly strong; its muscles atrophied in death, but enhanced by necromantic energies. His claws pierced armor, shattered shields, and clove hides as Dunderman quickly killed two and incapacitated three of the gnoll warriors facing him. Only a few strikes from the gnoll battleaxes made it through the slashing claws. The ghoul lord still had over ninety percent of his health remaining.

The four gnolls that had fled from the fight exited the mound, emerging back into the sunlit forest. They jabbered in fear to Foulfur, saying that the others were being killed by creatures in the mound.

“Stop babbling and describe the creatures for me. How many were there, and were any of the others alive when you coward’s fled?” Foulfur demanded. Foulfur quickly ascertained that they were facing ghouls. Ghouls were fierce and cunning foes, but unless they managed to paralyze you, could be easily handled by the forces here. The cowards that fled mentioned four ghouls, so there was a good chance Grizak, who still had eight warriors with him, was alive. Since Grizak hadn’t ordered him to help, Foulfur went about gathering the remaining warriors and trackers together.  The shaman was content to safely wait here to see which group emerged victorious from the mound. Four ghouls would have, indeed, been easy for the gnolls to defeat. Unfortunately, Foulfur didn’t realize that one of the ghouls was a ghoul lord.

Grizak and the only non-paralyzed warrior were able to finish off the three ghouls they faced. As the last ghoul dropped, Grizak looked to his other warriors, surprised to see the ghoul lord sitting on top of one of the paralyzed gnolls he had just defeated, snacking on strips of flesh he peeled from the gnoll. The gnoll’s eyes looked at Grizak in impotent pleading, feeling the pain of the ghoul’s claws while not being able to move. The ghoul lord’s paralysis ability lasting much longer than the paralysis of a regular ghoul. Grizak realized this was a foe he didn’t want to face. While the ghoul lord toyed with its victims, the two gnolls near Grizak recovered from their paralysis. Their health was low, but they could still serve as a distraction.

“You two, get into the fight. We’ll flank that thing once you engage,” Grizak ordered. The two wounded gnolls reluctantly obeyed, charging at the ghoul lord, while Grizak and the last healthy warrior fled down the tunnel. Grizak focused on getting out as quickly as he could, always willing to sacrifice his underlings to save his own hide. Looking behind, Grizak could see the two wounded gnolls quickly fall to the ghoul lord’s claws. The ghoul lord then began to pursue Grizak and the last warrior with him, slowly overtaking the gnolls as the ghoul lord taunted them.

“Run, run, hyena-man. Dunderman will catch you, yes he can,” the ghoul lord taunted. Just as Grizak reached the entrance, he heard the gnoll behind him cry out as the ghoul lord caught up to it, easily killing the terrified gnoll with a flick of his claws before renewing his pursuit of Grizak.

Bursting out of tunnel and back into the daylight, Grizak sprinted toward the rest of his cackle. He could see that Foulfur had gathered the remaining warriors and trackers together, ready for a fight. The bloodseeker hyena began to growl as the ghoul lord followed Grizak into the light. Unlike many undead, ghouls were not afraid of, or damaged by, the light. There was something perhaps more disturbing at seeing the undead creature saunter confidently in bright daylight, rather than slinking in the dark, as was expected of their kind. Completely unafraid of what faced him, Dunderman addressed the gnolls.

“Welcome to the family, most of you,” Dunderman said, while clapping excitedly and examining the gnolls in front of him. “We need more soldiers, but you and you,” Dunderman pointed at Grizak and Foulfur, “will need a bit of extra attention, I believe. Rise and greet our future recruits, my soldiers,” Dunderman proclaimed, as several patches of loose dirt around the edge of the clearing began to move as six more ghouls dug their way out of the shallow graves they were in, surrounding what remained of the cackle.

Grizak looked about in fear before beginning to issue orders. “You trackers, slow down those ghouls.” Grizak pointed toward the six ghouls that had dug themselves up behind the gnolls. “Foulfur and the rest of you warriors, kill that one that’s by himself.” Foulfur hesitated for a moment, allowing the warriors to push out in front before beginning to cast a spell. Grizak watched and waited for either an opening to strike, or a chance to flee.

The trappers led off by throwing their nets at the newly risen ghouls. Two were caught and fell to the ground as they began to slash at the nets. The bloodscent hyena charged one of the still standing ghouls, using a knockdown ability it had for stopping prey. The remaining three ghouls faced off with the trackers. The trackers soon found that a short spear, no shield, and light armor were not the most effective defense against a ghoul. The ghouls ignored the light damage caused by the trackers’ spears and were able to easily slash at the trackers with their disease-ridden claws.

Grizak had seen enough. All six of the ghouls that had emerged from their shallow graves were either trying to free themselves, or concentrating on fighting, giving him a brief window of opportunity. Grizak hurtled past the fighting, running away from his cackle and the fight. He was going to lose his cackle, but better that, than losing his own life. The only thing that brought a smile to his face was knowing that Foulfur was soon to be food for the undead. Grizak ran as fast as his considerable endurance would allow, already concocting a story for the Cacklemaster to explain his failure. Grizak would spin a tale about a treasonous Foulfur, trying to sell out the cackle to the humans for money. Grizak would have stayed and fought, of course, but had to return and warn the cackle. The Cacklemaster would later appear to believe the story, right before he ordered Grizak killed for incompetence.

Foulfur finished his cast and a ball of lightning flew from his hand to hit the ghoul lord in the chest. The lightning crackled about the ghoul’s form, shaving off ten percent of its health and leaving it stunned for a moment. The four warriors took advantage and began to strike at the ghoul lord. The battle axes powered by strong gnoll arms did little damage. Dunderman had gained the ability to resist a good chunk of non-magical damage. The ghoul lord recovered and activated his fear aura once more. The four warriors again turned and ran, their willpower weakened from their earlier flight. Foulfur looked to see that the trackers were losing their fight with the other six ghouls and would be of no help. It also appeared that Grizak had fled...time for Foulfur to do the same. After running a few steps, a slash opened on the back of Foulfur and he found himself falling to the ground as the ghoul lord used an ability that granted a ranged attack on his claws for a short time. Unable to move or speak, Foulfur was lost in total panic as the ghoul lord slowly sauntered over to the shaman. The ghoul lord sat on the back of the shaman with a contented sigh and began to dig painfully into the shaman’s back, picking delicate morsels to snack on.

“You gnolls have made me very happy today. That band of adventurers we fought earlier had depleted my forces, but now I’ll have even more than I started with, once you all turn. You, my friend, are a bit physically weak though.” Dunderman licked his claw and held up his hand for his audience of one to wait before passing judgement. “Really, my friend, I don’t mean to offend you. Ghouls, you see, other than a ghoul lord like me, lose their ability to cast spells after they convert to their new forms. Once you turned, you would just be a weaker version of the other gnolls, not very useful in combat, I have to say. Don’t worry, there is a place for everyone in the army of Lord Dunderman…your place will be as a tasty snack for your former comrades, once they turn. Then, perhaps, we’ll see about having the trackers find where your leader ran off to. It’s time for my group to move and grow. Wherever you came from should have lots of meat and recruits.” Dunderman then fell silent, enjoying his snack and savoring the pain that the slowly dying shaman was flavored with. He would pursue the gnoll leader, Grizak, and there would be feasting for his ever-growing horde. This place was picked over, too few visitors. It was time for Dunderman to stop playing host to the few random folks passing by. It was time to start playing the role of unwelcome visitor.

Chapter 17

You have died. This is your second death within a twenty-four-hour period. There is a 100-experience point penalty deducted from your total experience. Another death within the next twenty-four hours will result in a 250-experience penalty and a one hour respawn time. Subsequent deaths within the same twenty-four-hour period will result in an increasing experience penalty, as well as a greater chance to drop items that are not soul bound.

I was angry with myself while waiting for the respawn timer to tick down. I had been complacent because I was in a game and had forgotten that my opponents, whether npc’s or real players like the Bloody Blades, could think tactically as well. This was a mistake I wouldn’t repeat. We were going to have step up our ability to defend the key areas of the town. While waiting on the respawn timer, I began to think about what the Bloody Blades had hoped to accomplish with the assassination. This was a well-planned attack by an extremely deadly foe, and my opponent was hired from outside the guild. This was a strange development from a guild who were much less inventive in their prior attacks. Could there be some new leader that had some strategic skill working for the Bloody Blades now? From the amount of damage my killer had done, I had to assume she was a much higher level than me. The killer also had an ability that masked her name and level, preventing identification.

When the respawn timer hit zero, I found myself, once again, in the graveyard just outside the town. Standing guard around the graveyard was Sergeant Brooks and a squad of our soldiers.

“Sir, welcome back. The attack is over, but they hit the mines hard and assassinated the mayor as well as yourself. I’ve sent reinforcements to the mine and made sure the garrison is now properly protected. I take full responsibility for the lapse in security, sir,” Brooks offered, clearly as embarrassed as I was for the lack of foresight in having adequate security.

“I’m as much, if not more, responsible for this, Sergeant. We’ll have to work together to make sure this doesn’t happen again. I may have to begin to spend some resources and gold to upgrade things here. Wait, did you say there was an attack on the mine, and that the mayor was killed?” I asked, as what I had just heard from the sergeant began to register.

“Yes, sir. The mayor respawned about ten minutes ago and then ran off to the mine after making sure the rest of the town was safe. While the assassins were killing you and the mayor, a group of eight players attacked the mines. They killed five of the town guard and six of the garrison defense force. Unfortunately, there were also over a dozen goblins killed and Chief Bugtug is hopping mad about it,” Brooks advised.

“Thanks for the details, Sergeant. I’ll take the squad you have here as an escort and head over to the mine. I’d feel more comfortable if you could make a tour of the defenses in the town and make sure we don’t have any more surprises waiting for us this evening,” I told Sergeant Brooks, as I headed toward the mine to meet with Mayor Delling and Chief Bugtug. We made it to the mine without any further incident and I could see a group of five, very alert town guard standing watch over the entrance. They quickly waved us in, letting me know that Mayor Delling was waiting in the second chamber. I noted that the mine had finally been cleaned of all signs that the spiders had ever been here.

Entering the second large chamber, I could see Delling, Bugtug, and for some reason Phineas, standing over the body of a goblin. The body of the goblin turned out to be Chief Bugtug’s son, Kip Kip. The diminutive goblin was well liked in town; known by most as Phineas’ funny goblin employee.

“Raytak, glad to see you’re back. It looks like the attackers killed poor Kip Kip, as well as over a dozen of the miners. I’ve increased the presence of the town guard here at the mine entrance, but I don’t know if there will be more attacks,” Delling told me, as he paced nervously. The destruction of the previous town still weighed on the player. I remembered that he was in a contest with others from his university and facing another setback could keep him from earning a scholarship.

“Don’t worry, Delling. I can’t help but think the attacks were likely a one-time thing. Other than an annoying respawn and losing a few coins, it really doesn’t hurt us if they attack here. I would guess they must just want to keep us off our game and waste time looking for killers under every rock in town. I say we do what we can to increase our level of security and improve the defenses at critical locations. Damaging town structures and killing off resources, like the goblin miners, are the only things they can do that would cause some real harm. The town is doing well, and I know you’re moving things in the right direction to keep us growing.” I paused for a moment, thinking about some improvements we could make.

“Make sure you have some of your guards assigned to the town hall at all hours and that they are randomizing their patrols through town. We don’t want to become predictable. We’ll rig up a system to let everyone know if there’s trouble at a particular spot. We can use bells, whistles, or something of that nature, as signal devices. The defensive garrison force, that I just unlocked, has two squads dedicated as a quick reaction force if there is another attack. With some better fixed defenses in place, the forces we have can hold against any small attack until help arrives. Don’t get too stressed, Delling. Between Ty and me, we have over fifty years of combined real-world experience fighting insurgents. We’ll find a way to beat these clowns,” I assured Delling. I could see him relax a bit, allowing himself to calm down from the anger and anxiety he was feeling. Turning toward Bugtug, I offered my condolences. “Chief, I’m sorry for your loss. Rest assured the Imperium is after these Bloody Blade characters and my troops will see Kip Kip avenged.

Bugtug glared off in the distance. His earlier display of indifference had been a show. He didn’t want the rest of the tribe to realize that he loved his son, Kip Kip, and had allowed him to work with Phineas because his son enjoyed it so much. Bugtug’s eyes were glassy with tears, yet he allowed none to fall. Showing weakness was a sure-fire way to have another goblin challenge you for control of the tribe.

“Bugtug not care; have too much work to do,” the chief grunted, then walked back toward his throne area in the next cavern. He growled at and smacked a couple of the miners along the way, letting them know it was time to get back to work.

“Thanks for helping me calm down, Raytak. You’re right about what we need to do. I’ll up the priority for defenses in the town and see about expanding the guardhouse as soon as possible. It just irks me that there are players who get their jollies off causing trouble for us. I know they’re just a miniscule portion of the player base, but do they even care that what they do harms other people? If I win this scholarship, it could change my whole future. I’m going to head over to the town hall and get back to work. Thanks for being a good friend and helping to sort all this stuff out, Raytak,” Delling said as he moved off, followed by the two town guardsmen who were acting as bodyguards.

I left the mines as well, heading toward the garrison to review if there were any upgrades that could help. I hadn’t delved into the war table that much, earlier; just enough to unlock the defensive garrison. Back at the garrison, I could see that there was a full squad of the defensive garrison soldiers, led by their sergeant, vigilantly watching for any trouble. Confident the nco had security well in hand, I entered the barracks and headed directly to the war table. Jumping into the interface, I selected upgrades to see what was available.

Level 2 Garrison: 500 resources/100 gold required. This upgrade will expand your garrison, allowing it to house up to 1 full company of troops and their attached auxiliary forces. This upgrade provides an increased level of creature comforts for your soldiers, improving quality of life and morale. This upgrade also allows for increased replacement of losses. Other upgrade options are unlocked as the main garrison is upgraded.

Aid Station: 100 resources/15 gold. The aid station enables you to treat wounds and disease among your forces more effectively. This upgrade also improves your squads, upgrading one soldier in each to become a medic. The medic fights as well as any other standard soldier and can use magically enhanced bandages to create a heal over time effect for wounded soldiers during the heat of battle. Further upgrades of the aid station, as well as the garrison, will improve health regeneration and may provide other benefits.

Recruitment Center: 100 resources/10 gold. The recruitment center allows for more rapid replacement of lost forces. It increases the replenishment of standard soldiers to three per hour, advanced soldiers at two per day, and elite soldiers at two per week. Further upgrades may unlock the recruitment of auxiliary units. Auxiliary units are specialized soldiers drafted from other parts of the Imperium. Common auxiliary formations include specialized ranged, skirmisher, magical, or cavalry forces that are not common to the standard Imperium legion.

The level two garrison was still out of my price range, but the aid station and recruitment center were not. I checked my coin situation, as well as how many resources I had.

Current Funds: 71 gold, 93 silver, 50 copper.

Current Resources: 325

There was no point in holding back resources or coin at this time. My soldiers pay differential was going to be covered for quite a bit longer and the taxes from the town were sure to sustain my payroll needs before then. If the taxes didn’t sustain the funds, it would mean I had done something wrong and failed in my duty to protect and grow the town. I activated both the upgrades that I could afford and the sounds of construction were heard throughout the garrison. According to the system, both upgrades would be finished in the next half hour. I scanned the war table interface looking for anything I could do to improve defenses. I found a greyed-out tab labeled fixed defenses, but it required a level two garrison to unlock. Until I came up with 100 gold and 500 resources, I was maxed out as far as upgrades went. Checking on the war table recon reports, I could see there was nothing showing except for the same rise of the ghoul lord event. I made a mental note not to become overly engrossed in the war table in order to avoid future unnecessary assassinations. While I finished up at the war table, the sound of yelling and angry voices was heard coming from outside the barracks.

Stepping outside my barracks, I could see that the sergeant for the defensive garrison and several of his soldiers were disarming a dwarf at the garrison entrance. The sergeant for the defensive garrison forces was labeled as a generic sergeant elite npc and didn’t have a name like my own Sergeant Brooks. The AI seemed to do this with a lot of the military forces, as there were only a few of the soldiers that ever were named in my unit. Sadly, all the named soldiers were gone, killed in action. Sergeant Brooks was the exception, surviving all our encounters so far; an exception that I hoped would continue. The dwarf became increasingly angry as he was being disarmed, shouting and complaining in an urgent voice that was somewhat hard to understand due to his thick accent.

“Acckk, why do ye need to take me weapons when I have an important message from one o’ your own,” the dwarf squawked. I looked at his information as I walked over to see what the commotion was about.

Rollox Foe-hewer: Dwarven Pathfinder Level 4. The dwarven pathfinders are experts at stealth and tracking in the wilds. They scout for forgotten dwarven ruins and provide advanced warning of any threats to their clans.

“Hold up, soldier,” I said to the soldier stripping the dwarf of his weapons. The pile of weapons contained a strange looking crossbow, two throwing axes, a battle axe, and a war hammer. The soldier was just getting to the numerous knives the dwarf had concealed about his person when I interrupted. “I’m Lieutenant Raytak, in command of the garrison. You said you had a message for us?” I questioned.

The dwarf looked up at me and then grunted.

“Heh, I guess you’re the one Ty told me ta speak at. He sent me ‘ere with a message,” Rollox said as he handed me a note.

Raytak:

I’m about a day’s travel west from the main road leaving the transition point. Here at the base of the southern border mountains I discovered an ancient dwarven mine. The quest that I was following triggered an update, when I discovered what has turned out to be a band of mercenary slavers. They are holding a large band of goblins prisoner, forcing them to work the mine. Just a short way out from the mine, I came across Rollox and his band fighting with some npc gnolls that were looking to join up with the slavers. Rollox was sent by his clan to search for a lost prospecting band and believes they may have also been taken prisoner. I helped take care of the gnolls that Rollox and his party were fighting, and together we set up an observation point. I estimate the current enemy forces present in the area are as follows.

20-25 npc gnoll slavers, level 3

15-20 npc human slavers, levels varying from 2-4

1 level 3 player, rogue.

1 level 4 player, mage/type unknown.

An unknown number of opponents are likely inside the mine guarding the prisoners, but we’re unable to get close enough to find out without alerting the slavers to our presence.

It appears the players and the humans are in charge. Gnolls are just the hired muscle. The pc mage seems to be the big boss of the whole operation. Rollox said that he and his three companions had already been here for a few days scouting the area and have noticed an increase in the number of gnolls arriving. Initially there were only a half dozen here; now their numbers are up to 20-25 as small bands of four or five continuously trickle in. The rogue arrived today and seems to be staying to help out the mage. The AI notification is saying this a zone-critical location and I can see there is a respawn graveyard here. Should a significant hostile force of players begin to gather here, they could threaten Hayden’s Knoll and have a close by-point to respawn and regroup if they die.

Rollox can act as a guide for you and knows the location we’ve set up as a meeting point. Come quickly and bring all the troops you can spare. This is our best chance to end the threat of these slavers before they reach critical mass. We should in no way allow a band of slavers anywhere in the zone. Should we fail in the attack, the quest says the slavers, and the threat they represent, will multiply.

Confirmation code is Zulu, Seven, Quebec, Foxtrot, Uniform.

Ty

I checked the message against the confirmation codes that Ty had given me before he left on the quest. The codes matched, letting me know the message was true and the messenger could be trusted. I copied the note to my log as a quest prompt appeared.

Quest Issued: Smashing the Slavers. A band of pc and npc slavers has been spotted occupying a critical location in the zone. Eliminate this scourge and free the slaves. Failure to defeat this foe in the next five days will result in the threat escalating.

Reward: 1000 experience, 100 resources, 25 gold. Other unknown rewards may be received based on performance.

I contemplated for a few moments before hitting the accept button. I was concerned about leaving the town with fewer defenders, but this was a threat that I refused to ignore. It was time I started to act decisively. It was time to assemble my forces and march to battle, holding nothing back.

“Let Mr. Rollox have his weapons back. He is an ally, not another assassin, Sergeant. Thank you and your men for your diligence,” I said to the soldiers, as I watched Sergeant Brooks approach. “Sergeant Brooks, assemble all the troops we have. Everyone that can carry a blade is to fall into formation. Full battle rattle, rations for ten days, and make sure every soldier brings at least two extra javelins... I have a feeling we’re going to need them. I’m heading over to the town hall to find Mayor Delling. I need to let him know we’re moving out. Have everyone ready to go when I return. Carry on, Sergeant,” I forcefully stated before double-timing it to the town hall.

I found Delling in his office, going over the town planning table. He looked up as I entered, more cautious, as well, after being assassinated.

“I just received word from Ty. That quest he was sent on has turned out to be another threat. Just a day’s travel from the main road near the transition point he found a group of slavers working an old dwarven mine. They are mostly npc’s but there are also a few players that seem to be running things. If we don’t remove this threat, we’ll have more trouble than just the Bloody Blades on our doorstep. The location is showing as zone critical and has a graveyard there for respawning. Allowing another hostile group to take up residence so near to us can’t be allowed to happen. I’m heading out right now with everything I can muster,” I told Delling and watched to see his reaction. Delling appeared concerned, but then steeled himself before responding.

“I was going to ask you to leave some of your forces behind to help guard the town, but I agree we need to be bold in our response to threats. Show these slavers, the Bloody Blades, and anyone else who’s watching, that we aren’t just going to hide within the town and wait for them to burn it down around us again. Between the town guard and your defensive garrison, we’ll be fine. I’ve squirreled away a few coins and will prepare some quests asking for players to help us in the town defense, if things get bad.” Delling smiled before continuing. “Take them out, Raytak…but try not to die this time.” We both had a laugh at my recent string of deaths before I hustled back to the garrison.

Sergeant Brooks had the men lined up in ranks. We were only missing three squads that should link up with us out on the main road. The two squads guarding the transition point and the one squad at the crossroads hadn’t made it back yet after being replaced by the defensive garrison forces. I took my place at the head of the formation and addressed the troops.

“Soldiers of the Imperium! Sergeant Ty has discovered a force of slavers on our very doorstep. This evil cannot be allowed to continue in our zone. It is time we began to take this entire zone back into the arms of the Imperium. Today we march not only to defeat our foes, but also to free the oppressed. Today we march to show our foes that we will not cower in fear while hiding in the town. Today we march to blood and glory. Today let everyone know that the 1st Legion of Hayden’s Knoll marches to war! Sergeant Brooks, post the standard.” The soldier assigned to carry our battle standard marched forward, taking the battle standard from Brooks and moving to the front of the formation. The bronze wolf atop the standard gleamed in the torchlight as I had the soldier place our first battle banner on the standard. Turning to the sergeant of the defensive garrison, I ordered, “Sergeant, we have several of our scouts that will spawn here over the next few days, as well as replacements for any casualties we may have during the fight with the slavers. The standing order is for all of my troops spawning here to join up with our main force as quickly as possible. They are to join the legion at the best possible speed they can.” As I gave my order, the sergeant of the defensive garrison snapped to attention and saluted. It was time to move out.

I looked at the gleaming bronze battle standard and saw the Latin word Primus engrave itself on the standard as a system prompt appeared.

New Unit Created: Your discipline and honorable service to the Imperium has allowed you to forge your first named unit. The forces of the Imperium, commanded by Lieutenant Raytak, have been named the 1st Hayden’s Knoll Legion. *Note: Units of the Imperium are usually named for the regions in which they were originally formed. Soldiers belonging to named units have a higher level of morale and the unit may unlock further honors, through their actions, that can increase other abilities.

I tried to maintain my military bearing and not show the smile that threated to break out on my face. It was such a joy to have this chance to lead brave soldiers in battle. This game has given me another chance to experience so much of what I had thought was lost in my life. The soldiers formed into a column of two, the only formation that would fit down the somewhat narrow streets of the town. The sound of over seventy soldiers marching in unison was just what I needed to hear. A flood of long forgotten memories unlocked themselves from my damaged mind and began to cascade in front of me as we began to march.

I saw myself as a raw recruit, struggling to march in unison with other newly minted infantry soldiers, under the hot, muggy sun of Fort Benning, Georgia. I saw my forces marching off the transport plane and then into the arms of loved ones after a difficult deployment. I saw the faces of men and women I had served with over the years; some lifelong friends, some dying too soon in the vagaries of battle. While viewing the memories, tears began to stream down my face as I belted out an old army cadence. To my surprise, the npc soldiers knew the cadence, despite its modern references, and began to take it up, repeating each line of the cadence loudly after I belted them out.

“Oh soldier.

Oh soldier.

Combat soldier.

Combat soldier.

Pick up your weapon and follow me.

Pick up your weapon and follow me.

I am Infantry…

I am Infantry…”

The sergeant took over calling cadence as several whisper messages from nearby players appeared in my interface.

Dude, what’s going on? Is this some kind of event?

Woah, how do you unlock the commander class?

That’s awesome! Can I join the quest you guys are going on?

We had gathered quite a crowd of spectators as we exited the town; the guardsmen at the entrance coming to attention and saluting as we passed. Once on the main road, we were able to shake out into a column widened to four soldiers across. I had the few scouts and Rollox, who had volunteered his services, out in front to warn us of any potential danger. The complete 1st platoon, which had all five squads assembled, was in the front. I had the two squads from the depleted 2nd platoon trailing us. They would fill out as we gathered the remaining squads on the road to our destination. I walked in the front of the column alongside the standard bearer and Sergeant Brooks was marching in the first rank of 2nd platoon. We maintained a brisk pace as we marched to face a new enemy.

Chapter 18

We made good time, due to traveling on a road instead of the cross-country route my last adventure had taken me on. After an hour on the road we came across the squad from 2nd platoon that had been assigned to defend the crossroad. They had been relieved by the defensive garrison troops and were making their way back toward town. Sergeant Brooks had them fall in with the rest of the depleted 2nd platoon and we continued on our way. Our forces arrived at the crossroads and we called a halt to the travel until morning. We would be pushing hard again tomorrow and I wanted to keep the troops from becoming too exhausted. We built the fortified camp in an open field south of the crossroads.

Looking to the north, the ruins of the first town of Hayden’s Knoll were a bleak reminder of the seriousness of our work. The garrison troops, despite only being on post for a few hours, had begun to create an actual defensive checkpoint at this critical road juncture. Lumber from the old town had been used to create a small observation tower, as well as some simple barricades across the road that could be moved aside quickly to let legitimate traffic through. A small, yet fortified, guard house for the troops to sleep in was the next step. Once they had finished the basic defenses for the crossroads, the troops would begin to construct roads within their area of responsibility. Their area of responsibility would extend for about a half mile out on each of the three directions that the roads occupied. The road would eventually begin to extend from the town and link up here at the crossroads before continuing to the transition point.

Just before dawn, we broke down our fortified camp and formed up to continue our journey. The road turned to the south just past the crossroad and would eventually end at the transition point.  We passed a small caravan of eight wagons that were heading toward Hayden’s Knoll. The garrison squad tasked with patrolling the road marched alongside them, happy to provide security since their patrol was taking them back to the crossroads from the transition point anyway. The caravan consisted of a merchant with his five wagons of goods, along with three new families that were looking to join the town. After briefly chatting with the npc’s, I discovered that the AI-controlled settlers considered the area to be “dangerous”, but the families had been attracted to a life with more freedom and lower taxes than they faced in the “safe” areas of the Imperium. We were several hours from the transition point when the last two squads from 2nd platoon joined up with us. All the critical locations in the zone now had their own defensive forces and my men were finally all together for the first time in a long time. Rollox led us off the main road here. There were the remains of an old road that led in the direction in which we were heading. Rollox advised us that in the distant past the mine used this road to reach the transition point. It had fallen into disuse when the dwarves at the mine were wiped out. We headed southwest toward our foes, paralleling the road and attempting to remain out of sight as much as possible. Ty hadn’t mentioned that the slavers were sending out any patrols, but I wasn’t taking any chances. We pushed hard, wanting to be close to our objective before we stopped for the day. We did finally stop for the night and I was pleased when an advanced scout joined our forces. He had respawned back in town and ran hard to reach us before the battle. The advanced soldiers were the ones that would take the longest to replenish, at only one per day. We were now at a full 100 standard soldiers, and 4/10 of the advanced scouts.

Shortly after starting out the next day, Rollox had us slow down and move more quietly...as quietly as over 100 soldiers of the Imperium can be. The land around us held a few small trees and waist-high, thorny, scrub brush. The harsh and prickly brush was a real pain to walk through and we all found ourselves picking the thorns from our hides every few minutes. The scouts and Rollox watched our antics smugly, their class abilities letting them avoid the annoying plants. After picking the latest thorn from my leg, I looked up to see Ty towering over me. The one-armed half orc gave a stupid looking grin as he spoke.

“Just like the army to make too much noise and not know how to move through rough country. Good thing this marine is here to hold your hand…good to see you again, Raytak,” Ty said as he slapped me on the shoulder. With him were the other four dwarven pathfinders, all level three.  I ordered everyone to crouch down out of sight while Ty debriefed us.

“Glad Rollox reached you quickly. The numbers I sent in the letter have changed a bit. Small parties of gnolls have been filtering in over the last few days. We intercepted and wiped out two of the groups, but I figure about 15-20 more have made it to the mines. Just yesterday another player showed up, a level 4 dark cleric something or other. The player arrived with another ten human slavers and they were leading a dozen new prisoners to the mine. The new prisoners were all goblins that looked to be in bad condition. Me and the boys,” Ty gestured to the other three dwarven pathfinders before continuing, “have prepared a few surprises that should thin their numbers a bit, if you approve of the plan I cooked up Raytak,” Ty finished, grinning as he began to explain the devious plan he and the dwarves had come up with. I was thankful that my friend, and his years of special operations experience, was on my side. We slowly and carefully moved our forces closer and into position for the attack.

The entrance to the mine could be seen from where we waited, crouched and concealed in the tall brush. Unlike the mine outside Hayden’s Knoll, this one appeared ancient and much better constructed. The opening in the side of the mountains was an actual entryway where great gates had once stood. Stout, stone columns flanked the opening and heavy wooden gates would have once been there to close off the mine when attacked. A column four men wide would have no trouble marching into the mine. A flat level area outside the entrance was where the slavers were camped. They had a row of a dozen large wagons that they used to load the ore onto. Well-guarded groups of slaves would occasionally exit the mine, pushing carts laden with ore that they would dump into the wagons. About half the wagons were full and I wondered where they planned to go once they were fully loaded. The level ground outside the mine ended after about 100 yards. A steep slope led down fifty yards to the valley floor where we were currently concealed. One small path had been crudely leveled out to provide a gentler slope for the wagons to traverse when they were coming and going from the mine.

Sergeant Ty and the dwarves had used their time well over the days they waited for our forces to arrive. Besides ambushing and killing two small groups of gnoll reinforcement, they had created several vicious traps in and around the area in front of where my troops were hidden. The dwarves, my scouts, and Ty, silently crept forward, their passage through the thick brush appearing as nothing more than the movement of a gentle breeze. They paused briefly before checking that their crossbows were ready for the fight. My men had basic light crossbows, but the dwarves had equipped an interesting piece of technology. Their bows had a double set of limbs and strings enabling them to fire two shots before needing to be reloaded. The weapon was heavier and a bit unwieldy for those untrained in its use. I took note of the jealous glances my scouts shot toward the weapons when the dwarves explained their purpose, I had a feeling some expensive crossbow upgrades for our scouts would be happening in the not too distant future.

My forces were spread out about 100 yards away from the bottom of the slope, ready to attack once the word was given. I would lead 1st platoon up the path carved out for the wagons, while Sergeant Brooks would lead 2nd platoon straight up the slope. While we attacked, the dwarven pathfinders and my scouts would cover us with ranged fire from their crossbows. They were to focus first on any casters, then those with ranged weapons, before finally attacking the melee forces. Nervous energy could be felt from the men; the curious combination of fear mixed with a desire to get on with the battle.

Thankfully, the slavers had taken a lax interpretation of what it meant to keep watch. Only three of the human slavers and three of the gnolls were standing guard on the perimeter of the camp. The guard’s attention was mostly fixed inward, watching for prisoners trying to escape and not suspecting that over a hundred soldiers were hunkered down just yards away. The rest of their forces pattered about the camp focused on eating, sleeping, gambling, drinking, or telling bad stories.

Ty gave the signal and he stood, raising the bulky crossbow easily in his one hand, firing a bolt into the head of one of the gnolls standing watch. The dwarves and scouts followed suit. All of the bolts hit targets, killing five of the six guards. The last guard let out a shout of warning as my scouts ran back toward our hidden lines, following carefully marked paths through the maze of traps. Ty and the dwarves stood ready with their second shot, holding until the slavers took the bait. Soon, a mob of slaver npc’s stood looking down on the five dwarves and the one huge half-orc facing them. The mage soon appeared at the top of the ledge, pointing down at Ty.

“Hey, you realize we’re going to kill you and your merry band of dwarves now, right? Are you the ones that were killing my gnolls over the last few days?” the mage asked, buying time for the bulk of his forces to get geared up for a fight. While he waited for a reply, the cleric and rogue players appeared as well. “What the heck is an Imperial scout class…some dumb ranger wannabe?” the mage taunted. Ty smiled before responding. He had them where he wanted.

“Well, my dwarven friends, I have a saying I like to use in these types of situations. Always kill the mouthy one first,” Ty bellowed as he and the dwarves fired at the mage. The mage had cast a protective shield prior to seeing what the commotion was about. The shield deflected the first four bolts before shattering. The last two bolts slammed into the mage, causing his small caster class health pool to drop to seventy percent. The rest of the slavers needed no more incentive and began to charge down the incline, a few losing their footing on the treacherous ground and tumbling to the bottom. The cleric stood next to the mage and began to cast healing spells, slowly restoring the mage’s health.

Ty and the dwarves began to slowly jog back to our lines, following the marked pathways. Their zigzagging through the brush looked like someone trying to dodge incoming missile fire. The mob of slavers made it to the bottom of the ledge and charged straight at their foes. A gnoll slaver in the lead suddenly fell, squealing in pain as he stepped into a foot sized pit lined with sharpened stakes. More and more slavers fell, some stumbling into pit traps, some hitting tripwires that caused them to fall directly onto sharpened stakes. All in all, twenty-five slavers were slowed and injured by the traps and eight were killed. The remaining slavers finally made it through the trapped area. The gnolls’ greater speed and stamina pushed them to the front of the mob. The creatures were angry, shouting in the yipping laugh that passed for a gnoll’s taunt. The gnolls were savoring what they thought was easy prey about to be run down and killed by their superior speed and numbers. They didn’t plan on my men suddenly appearing.

“On your feet!” I shouted as I activated the command presence ability. All one hundred of my troops rose from the brush we had been concealed in. The men were formed up with three squads of each platoon in a line and two squads in each platoon behind them to fill in any gaps that would open when a soldier fell. This gave us a front line of sixty men; our front line easily longer than that of the packed mob of slavers approaching us. Each man held his shield in one hand and a javelin in the other.

“Focus on the Gnolls; release!” I ordered, and 102 javelins were hurled at the gnolls who had outdistanced the slower human slavers. The twenty-four gnolls charging our line skidded to a stop at the sight of the soldiers that had suddenly appeared twenty yards in front of them. The gnolls didn’t have a chance to dodge as the javelins began to land amongst them. Many of the javelins missed, but so many were thrown that, despite our poor accuracy, every gnoll was hit at least once. Half the gnolls fell dead, their low, level three health pools no match for the amount of damage they had just taken.

Morale Failure: The force of gnoll slavers have taken many casualties in a short amount of time and have failed their morale save. For the next sixty seconds they will attempt to flee from their opponents. A leader may attempt to inspire them, which will grant a second save attempt.

Faced with overwhelming odds and mounting losses, the gnolls broke and ran. Their instinctual cowardice in the face of a losing fight drove them off the field. Several ran back toward the mine and, consequently, back through the field full of traps. The gnolls triggered several more of the traps that had not been activated on their first pass through the area. The human slavers shoved their way through the group of fleeing gnolls and straight into our second volley of javelins. A dozen slavers dropped from our second volley and the rest soon joined their fleeing comrades.

“Sergeant Brooks, take 2nd platoon and push them back. Keep after them and keep them running. Don’t give them a chance to regroup. 1st Platoon, up the ramp, follow me!” I ordered. Sergeant Brooks began to lead his five squads forward. Their progress slowed as they wound their way through the safe passages in the trap strewn field. My soldiers made better time. The ramp cut into the incline for wagons had not been trapped. The dwarves and my scouts were not idle during this time. They continued to fire crossbows at any target that presented itself. Many of the attackers were wounded from the traps and had a move speed debuff showing from damage to their feet, making them easier targets for our ranged units.

The enemy had not been idle either. The mage began to cast spells toward 2nd platoon, while the cleric and rogue appeared at the top of the ramp with a small force of gnolls and humans that had been in the mine guarding the prisoners. A few of the gnolls threw spears and some of the human slavers began to use slings to pepper our men as we closed the distance. The men naturally closed ranks, using their large shields to prevent all, but a lucky few, of the missiles from getting through. With casters in front of us, this proved to be a mistake. A huge blackened hammer appeared in the air above our troops and then slammed into the ground. I found myself, as well as half of 1st platoon, flying several feet before debuff icons flashed.

You have been hit by the cleric spell, hammer of divine judgement. The hammer of judgement hits you for 104 damage. You have been knocked back. You have failed your save and are stunned for 8 seconds.

I lay on the ground, reeling from the burning and crushing pain the spell inflicted. Thankful for the reduced pain feedback of the game, I waited for the stun timer to cool down. As I lay there, Ty passed me with his great-axe in hand. Ty and the remainder of my men who hadn’t been stunned, surged forward to resume their advance on the slavers. A few of the newly minted medics worked their way through the stunned and damaged soldiers, applying magically enhanced bandages. A bandage was placed on my arm and I began to regenerate health. I still found certain things about the gaming world to be strange. This super realistic game only required a bandage to be placed on the body and not necessarily directly on the wound itself. I had to suppose some level of realism needed to be sacrificed for smooth gameplay.

Medic’s bandage applied. You have gained 15 health and will regenerate 1 health per second for the next 30 seconds.

I gathered together the stunned and fallen soldiers before following Ty up the trail and after the slavers. As I was moving, I detected a small glimmer next to me just before the Level 3 rogue appeared and stabbed his daggers into my back.

You have been hit by Lorkin’s backstab ability. 38 damage taken and corrosive poison applied.

You have been hit by Lorkin’s backstab ability. 27 damage taken. Corrosive poison resisted.

I turned and brought my shield up, at the same time activating honor guard. I did NOT want to fight another rogue or assassin so soon after having been killed by one.

The two advanced soldiers appeared and began to attack Lorkin. The halfling rogue was angry and confused at the ability forcing him to attack the two temporary soldiers.

“What the heck kind of broken ability is this? Deeke, how about some heals over here buddy. Why can’t I stealth? I am so going to kill you and camp your corpse, Raytak!” Lorkin threatened while struggling to defend himself against two honor guard soldiers and one very ticked off commander. His comrade, the level 4 cleric Deeke, yelled back at him, struggling to fend off Ty and the swarm of soldiers that were attacking him.

“Dude, it’s your dumb fault for getting so far away. Get closer if you want any heals! If you want heals, pull this guy off of me,” Deeke shouted, his health dropping by the second. I saw Deeke casting another quick, lesser-healing spell on himself, the spell interrupted by a soldier activating shield bash. Ty took advantage of the opportunity, activating power attack and getting a critical from the ability. Deeke dropped to zero health as his head flew from his body, bouncing down the ramp. Cutting off people’s heads was turning into Ty’s signature ability.

“No, no, no, no, hurry up stupid stealth timer!” Lorkin complained to himself as the honor guard chipped away the last of his health and sent him to respawn.

I hustled the rest of the way up the ramp and was greeted by a chaotic scene. Sergeant Brooks had made it up the ledge with 2nd platoon and were advancing on the enemy from our left. Ty and the soldiers with him had hacked their way through the thin line of slavers at the top of the ramp and were now engaging the few remaining slavers in the center of the clearing. The mage was nowhere to be seen. I was beginning to really hate stealth and invisibility spells. As I watched the fight in front of me, a slew of goblins and angry dwarves poured from the mine opening, attacking the remaining slavers in a rage, wielding mining tools as improvised weapons. Within moments, the last of the slavers had died or run off and prompts began to pop into view.

You have defeated a large force of slavers. You have gained 584 experience.

Your share of the loot received is 32 gold, 15 silver, 44 copper, 100 copper ore, 12 tin ore.

You have received a pair of unidentified leather boots.

You have received an unidentified dagger.

You have completed the quest Smashing the Slavers. The growing scourge of the slavers has been eliminated by the brave efforts of your soldiers.

Reward: 1000 experience, 100 resources, 25 gold.

Congratulations, you have reached Level 6. Please review your character sheet for new information/abilities/upgrades.

Reviewing the character sheet would have to wait for a bit until we sorted out the chaos at the mines.

“Medics, tend to the wounded. 1st platoon, set a perimeter and find any other loot that may be recovered. 2nd platoon, make sure we didn’t miss any of the slaves, I don’t want to leave a single one in chains longer than is necessary. Scouts, head out a bit and make sure the slavers that fled are not regrouping to have another go at us. Well done, 1st Legion!” I proclaimed. One of the medics hustled up and handed me the casualty report. Our losses were 14 soldiers killed and 18 still wounded. No casualties among the scouts, and our wounded would be fit for duty within twenty-four hours. The rapid healing in this game was a godsend. I shuddered as I remembered the aid stations I had seen after a real-world battle. Men and women facing gruesome wounds in the real world didn’t heal in a day. Many faced life-long sentences of pain and disability.

The men had fought well. Their valor and Ty’s devious strategy had helped us win with far fewer casualties than I had expected. The casualties we had taken would be replaced in less than a day, though getting them here to us would take a bit longer. Sergeant Ty approached with Rollox and another of the dwarves that had been taken prisoner. The dwarves had scowls on their faces and looked torn between the relief felt after a victory and suppressed anger. As soon as they reached us, Rollox spoke.

“Lieutenant Raytak, what do you think gives you the right to claim our ancestral lands and the mine? I appreciate you helping to free our people, but the whole purpose of us being here was to reopen this mine. Stonefinder Lhargen, of our Stonehold clan, was all set on gathering the clan to march on Hayden’s Knoll for the insult. Ty convinced him to at least hear you out before we take other action,” Rollox said and gestured to the angry dwarf next to him. I contemplated for a few moments before replying with what I hoped was a compromise that everyone could agree on. I wished Delling was here, as this was his specialty. My specialty was killing people and breaking things.

“I have been ordered by the Imperium to conquer this whole zone in the name of Emperor Trodaxius. I have no doubt at least some of these lands were held by your clan at one point in the past. The wonderful architecture, and quality of the mine itself, attests to that. I gestured toward the well-crafted and efficient mine opening that could be seen. I could only suspect the same level of craftmanship was present throughout the rest of the mine. “I have to hold this ground with my troops to prevent our foes from taking it and having a respawn point close to our main town. What I’m not interested in is running a mine. I think we can all agree that the mine belongs to your clan, to do with as you wish. Does your clan really intend to take over and defend these lands from all threats, or were you just interested in retaking and opening your ancestral mine?” I asked the scowling Lhargen. The old dwarf stood there biting the end of this moustache, torn between his people’s legendary anger and the practicality of his situation. From what the game guide info told me, dwarves were somewhat few in number and, while always seeking to find the ancient possessions lost to their people, they were not that interested in conquering the surface world.

“Acckk, ye’re right that we din’t desire to rule the lands. Our interest is in the Stonehold Mine, lost to our people for over a century. I’ll ‘ere yer proposal, commander of the Imperium,” Lhargen grunted as he awaited my reply.

“I can only propose an outline of an agreement. It would be up to Mayor Delling, and your designated representative, to hammer out all the details. I propose that the mine is the sole property of the Stonehold clan. All the goods produced by the mine belong to the clan. All the Imperium demands is the right to tax, as set forth by Mayor Delling in the zone charter. In return, we will provide forces to defend the mine from attackers and maintain the zone infrastructure. We’re in the process of building roads throughout all our holdings. The roads will be protected by garrison troops and our southern transition point is well guarded. You will also find we place no taxes on goods using the transition point. Our goal is for the zone to grow and safely prosper. You don’t get growth by overtaxing the residents,” I offered while sending Lhargen a copy of the tax rates that Delling had created that I found in my help file.

Lhargen read the details of the taxes in the zone, raising bushy grey eyebrows in pleasant surprise. I had to hand it to Delling, the college kid knew his stuff when it came to economics. His decision to implement only a small tax on things as they were sold, not when they were produced, was going to help close the treaty.

“I can’t believe you only charge a small tax on purchases in the zone. Most local governments would be taxing the mine, and the transition point, as well. I think the Stonehold clan can agree to these terms for now, providing that hashing out the details with your Mayor Delling goes as well as I think it will. You have my thanks for helping to free my people and giving my clan back one of its ancestral locations. More of my people are on their way here to reopen the mine. It will take them about two days to arrive. Can you help us get things in order and provide security until my own forces arrive?” Lhargen asked.

“That will not be a problem, Stonefinder Lhargen. My men were planning on staying here for a couple of days already. We were going to wait until our own garrison forces arrive to defend this critical area. I’m glad we were able to come to terms, Lhargen. It’s better for our people to be allies in these troubled times,” I replied as I shook Lhargen’s hand. The dwarf had an impossibly strong grip and his hands were rough as sandpaper from years of mining. I also noted with humor how the thick dwarven accent seemed to disappear when the dwarves were in good humor. I had to clue Delling in on that little observation. It may help in future negotiations.

“Take this as proof of the friendship and gratitude of the Stonehold clan.” With that, Lhargen passed over a worn and dirty banner. A prompt then flashed into view for me.

Bonus objective completed. You have hammered out the framework of an agreement between the Imperium and Stonehold clan, laying the groundwork for future encounters with other groups in the zone.

Reward: 1000 experience, 250 resources, 25 gold.

Reputation with the Stonehold clan: Friendly

You have received an unidentified banner. Have the item identified to unlock its abilities.

Your skill in negotiation has increased by 1.

The dwarves walked back toward their people and the mine; their energy revitalized after we had shared our rations with them. The dwarves were already arguing about what to do first to get the mine back into real production. Looking about the area, I noticed the goblins for the first time since the end of the fight. There were nearly fifty of the pathetic creatures huddled together. They were dressed in filthy rags, even more filthy than the rags goblins normally wore. The group was scrawny, having been well on the way to starvation and being worked to death since their capture. They all sat in a group licking their bowls for the last bits of food that we had given them. The medics advised that we needed to feed them only a small amount at short intervals instead of a single large meal due to their advanced stage of starvation. The medics had them on an eating schedule, and several of my men were there to make sure that every goblin got its share. The goblin race was not known for its ability to share, and usually the strongest took what they wanted from the weaker ones. I was not a big fan of goblins, but my experience with Bugtug led me to believe they could be worked with. I approached the huddle of creatures, keeping back a bit to try and stay away from the waves of stench rising off the pathetic goblins.

“You have been freed and are no longer slaves. It’s up to you what you want to do. If any of you are looking for a new tribe and don’t mind hard work, I may have an option for you. The Bugtug tribe is located in some mines near our town. We can take you there and keep you safe when we head back in a couple of days. It will be up to Chief Bugtug if he wants to make you members of his tribe, but whether he takes you or not, you will be safe in our lands as long as you don’t cause any trouble,” I said as I waited for a reply. The goblins began to chatter amongst themselves trying to come to a decision. I held up a hand to let my soldier know not to intervene if the goblins fought amongst themselves. The normal goblin decision making process involved arguments, and very likely spilt blood, as they came to a consensus. The arguing stopped as a familiar goblin stood and addressed the rest, apparently having established some authority over his people during their time in the mine.

“This Imperium man speaks truth. I, Eyeball, knowses this one. He killded my other clan when we’s attackded him. Beats us goods many times, despites us having ten goblins for every one of his soldiers. His death word is true and, as we’s knows, if someoneses death word is good, his life words can be trusted, too. I will go to this Bugtug and serves in his clan if Imperium man, Raytak, takes pity on me and allows me to live,” the goblin named Eyeball said.

Realization struck me, and I drew my sword. Standing before me was the one-eyed goblin that had been a part of the first battle I had in the game. He had fled after our soldiers wounded him and cut out one of his eyes. He then showed up and killed one of our wounded soldiers while we fought a larger group of goblins. I very much wanted to kill this one for slicing the throat of Private Long back in the starter zone, but something held me back. The pathetic creature in front of me was half starved. He had also lost a hand somewhere along the way, and his body was covered in scars. He may have wronged me, but this goblin had suffered already. I would gladly kill the goblin if he faced me again in battle, but I couldn’t hold a grudge over past opponents. If the goblin did what he said, the additional tribe members would be a benefit to the Bugtug mine and, by extension, provide the town with much needed resources. I had to hold back my personal vengeance for the greater good of the zone. Suppressing my anger, I addressed Eyeball.

“Eyeball, you know I have every right to run you through in return for your actions on the field of battle.” I paused, catching my breath. “But what you are proposing will benefit your people, as well as my people. The killing between us has to stop somewhere, and I would like it to be here. Travel back with us to the Bugtug tribe, work hard, and create a new life for yourselves. You will find conditions near the town much better than what any tribe has ever offered you. Be loyal to your chief, your town, and the Imperium.” With that, I sheathed my blade and walked away. I didn’t see the look of wonder on Eyeball’s face as I left. The goblin was in awe that an old foe had shown mercy on him. Normally mercy would be seen as weakness to a goblin, but Eyeball knew there was no weakness here. This was something different, something he would have to consider as it was against all he knew as a goblin. For now, he would lead this ragtag group back to town and join the Bugtug tribe. Time would tell if the Imperium man, Raytak, was being truthful, and if the other thoughts beginning to form in his goblin mind were true as well.

Chapter 19

The village of Tramwell

A figure crouched on the roof of the inn. The dark night, as well as the black clothing the figure wore, made the her almost invisible. A flash of light illuminated the street briefly as a group of four drunken figures stumbled from the brightly lit inn, their boisterous voices penetrating the quiet darkness.

“Did you see that guy puking all over the table? Thought he could drink me under…he’ll think again next time. Easiest 10 silver I ever made,” a drunken dwarf boasted as he led the other three inebriated dwarves further down the dark street.

“You’re an idiot, Fred. Now you’ll have to spend most of that money you won to buy a hangover cure if you want to get anything accomplished tomorrow,” the dwarf, Dhelia, advised. The debuff for a hangover caused stat penalties for several hours before slowly relieving over time. Only a few players had the recipe for the cure, which kept the prices high.

“Don’t worry about it, Dhelia. I got the money to burn…heck, we all do now that the mine is doing so well. At this rate, it’s like playing the game is making the money a part time job would pay,” Fred said as he pulled a small potion from his inventory. Fred liked to argue with Dhelia. In real life she was his sister and they had been bickering together for most of their lives. Though they fought with each other often, they were both fiercely loyal and quick to help their sibling if they needed anything. Dhelia had even conceded to playing a dwarven miner, a class and race she hated, so she could keep an eye on her younger brother, Fred. She had to admit it though, Fred had made a great choice and the mine would more than pay for their subscription fees each month. She still thought that using his real-life name of Fred was a dumb move…who could take seriously a dwarf named Fred?

Fred quickly drank down the potion he was holding and pulled out three more, tossing them to his friends. “Here you go my friends. Drink these down. They’re hangover prevention potions and are only half the price of the cure. Thinking ahead can save you a few coins folks,” Fred boasted while tapping the side of his head, proud of himself for finding that the hangover prevention potions were less money than the after-the-fact cures.

The figure on top of the inn glided from rooftop to rooftop; two other dark figures joining her as they stalked their prey down the street. A street much darker than normal since, earlier in the evening, the figures had doused all the lanterns that would normally light the path. The figures had also eliminated the guard patrol in the area, knowing their work would be done before anyone found the dead guards and sounded the alarm. The group of dwarves were nearly to the ambush point. All three figures drew small hand crossbows and took aim, the small bolts on the crossbows glowing a sickly green from the poison coating their tips.

“Thanks Fred,” Dheros said, glad to not have to deal with even the small hangover he would face the next day. “Sometimes I regret setting my pain level at ten percent. I don’t know how you stand the max, thirty percent. Totally hard-core dude,” Dheros continued. The game allowed players to set a pain level of one percent up to a maximum of thirty percent. The higher levels of pain quickly became a badge of honor for the players who could stand it.

“Hey guys, what’s with all the street lights being out? I knew this village was a dump, but I thought it was big enough to afford to keep the lanterns on at night,” one of the other dwarves said just before a crossbow bolt took him in the neck. The dwarf made a gurgling sound as he fell to the cobblestone street, quickly convulsing as the poison took effect. Two more bolts shot down as the other two figures on the roof loosed their crossbows. One hit Dheros in the neck and had a similar effect on him as it did to his friend. Fred reacted faster, drawing his small wood shield as the bolt embedded in it.

“Gankers! Get ready to fight,” Fred said as a new wave of crossbow bolts flew down, two striking and paralyzing Dhelia, and one embedding in Fred’s leg. Pain and a sudden weakness caused him to drop to the ground, quivering and unable to move as his muscles contracted. The clenching muscles sent spasms of pain throughout his body. The three figures leapt down from the roof with little effort and approached the fallen Fred. The one in charge crouched down a few feet away from the dwarf, her head tilted as if contemplating the fallen player.

“You… take care of the other three while I deal with this,” Lovely said in a quiet whisper, just loud enough to be heard. The other two attackers moved to dispatch the paralyzed dwarves. “Now that that little piece of business is completed, let’s get to the main event shall we, Fred? My employers had made you a generous offer, letting you keep a whole five percent of the mine your guild found. They were so disappointed that you declined the offer that they asked me to come here and keep you and your friends entertained while they escalate negotiations.” Shouts of warning and the clash of arms could be heard in the distance. The occasional battle spell caused flashes of light to highlight the dwarf struggling to overcome the poison.

“I should have mentioned, Fred, that escalating negotiations means that Chaotic Outcomes has declared war on Tramwell. They are taking the town by force, and by conquering the town in battle, they will also take the mine. You may not have known this, but in a time of war, resource points can be captured. The ownership of a captured resource point is transferred to the conquerors. To get it back, you’ll have to take the town back. Good luck with doing that, as a dwarven miner class. You could have done things the easy way, but you’re as stubborn as the dwarf you play,” Lovely taunted, though she wasn’t really into taunting her targets. The taunts were something that Narbos had placed into her contract. She would normally negotiate out of such petty and cartoonish taunts, but the lure of the reward was too good to argue with. Narbos the Grim was determined to conquer the zone of Bharga’s Crossing and win the scholarship his university was offering. He also seemed intent to do it in the most annoying way possible, as far as Lovely thought. Vhellia was ok, but Narbos was a conceited jerk.

“You…forgot…one…thing…assassin,” Fred stammered out through his clenched teeth.

“Oh, really? What might that be, my friend?” Lovely replied, as her view was blocked by one of her two comrades approaching Fred to empty his pockets.

“Just…that…dwarves…have…natural resistance to poison!” Fred said as the poison wore off of him early. He swung the mining pick that was still clenched in his formerly spasming hand. The blow hit the waist of the assassin that had been rifling through his pockets, looking for loot. The enhanced pick was powerful enough to punch through rock, so it had no trouble piercing through the rogue and into his spine, killing him in a critical hit. Just as Fred was standing up, Lovely vanished and suddenly appeared behind him. Her two daggers imbedded into Fred’s lower back, causing intense pain and reapplying the crippling poison. Fred fell once more to the ground, spasming in pain.

“Now that little outburst will cost you. I have to expend more resources to get my point across I see,” the assassin said as she began pouring small vials over the dwarf’s hands and feet. The milky substance quickly hardened and held his hands and legs fast to the cobblestone street. “There, that should keep you a bit more civil, little dwarf. Back to business; as I was saying, you can always get your band of friends together and try to take the town and mine back from Chaotic Outcomes. I really hope you do.  That way I can make more coin from another contract to assassinate you,” the assassin said as she slowly twisted her blades, causing searing pain in Fred’s back.

Fred felt defeated. He and all his friends had taken non-combat classes in order to increase their productivity. He knew that he would never be able to gather enough players or npc’s to take back the small town and its attached mine. It was better to try and at least get something from the deal, helping to pay their way while they found some other venture in-game to make coin.

“Hold up, assassin. What will I get if I sign over the rights to the mine? You may be able to easily conquer the town and mine, but I do have several npc guards that we hired, and it would save you resources to not have to fight them and clear out all the workers in the mine,” Fred pleaded.

This was exactly what Lovely had hoped he would do. She had been offered a bonus if Fred signed over the mine willingly. Having to take it by force would inevitably cause damage that would be expensive and time consuming to repair.

“Well Fred, we may be able to come to some agreement.” Lovely paused as she pretended to think of a solution. “I have been authorized to offer payment if you voluntarily sign over the mine, though your stubbornness to our original offer will cost you. I think the guild could pay…say fifty gold to sign over the rights. Think quickly, it won’t take them long to take the town, and the mine attached to it is next on the agenda for the guild’s forces,” Lovely offered. Fred contemplated trying to negotiate a percentage of profits, but realized it would be hopeless. He came to a quick decision, one he knew he would regret, but one that he saw no alternative to.

“Fine. Hand over the money and I’ll sign. Just grant us safe passage to the transition zone. Me and my friends will want out of this stupid zone as soon as possible,” Fred relented, as he quickly approved the sale contract that popped up in front of him. Lovely tossed him a coin pouch containing fifty gold.

“It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Fred. Horrible name for a character, by the way. There is one last parting gift that the guild requires I give you and then you will not be bothered by us again. Have a good evening.” With that, the assassin twisted her blade, sending Fred to respawn. Lovely threw a small sack of coin to the other surviving assassin. “Here, this should cover what I owe, as well as a bonus for you. Don’t give any of the bonus to that one when he respawns,” she indicated the dead assassin. “I don’t reward stupidity. Never approach an enemy without making sure that they can’t fight back. I’ll contact you if I require assistance in the future. Just don’t bring your stupid friend next time,” Lovely said as she disappeared into the shadows, leaving the hired rogue behind. She would make a killing on this job, the assassin thought as she activated the teleportation scroll that Narbos had given her.

The assassin appeared inside a large office. As Lovely materialized, several guards were facing her with weapons drawn. The assassin held her hands up in the universal “I surrender” pose as Narbos considered her from behind a desk. The desk was ornate and contained the following Latin inscription across the front.

Ordo ab Chao

Loosely translated it read, From Chaos comes Order, the motto of the Chaotic Outcomes guild.

“Ahh, Lovely, I see you have returned. I can assume by the fact you used the portal scroll that you have succeeded in your mission?” Narbos said as he tapped his fingers on the desk impatiently.

“Yeah, you know I always complete my contracts. The dwarves have signed away their rights, which should save you some effort and should net me a bonus. How about we get to the part of this transaction where you pay me, Narbos,” Lovely said.

“Why in such a rush, Lovely? You know I always pay upon completion.” Narbos gestured toward one of his guards who brought a large satchel that jingled with coin to the assassin. Narbos held his hand up causing the guard to stop when he was just about to hand over the payment. “Oh no, my dear, you know the rules. No masks allowed in my office. To get paid I need to see your beautiful visage,” Narbos added, enjoying Lovely’s discomfort.

Lovely sighed in annoyance and pulled down her mask. Her face revealed a horrifying sight. Deep scars crossed her face. Whatever had caused the damage also severed half her left ear as well as most of her nose.

“That’s my girl! Be proud of your scars. I’m sure you earned each one. Now, on to the good stuff, payment.” Narbos snapped his fingers and the guard handed over the satchel of coin. “Now, my dear, should you be so inclined, I have another job for you that needs completion quickly. Are you game for another assassination? Same pay as your last job and even a bonus up front,” Narbos added, while another servant brought a box to Lovely, opening it to reveal a curved dagger that glowed with a faint green light. “I believe his dagger is called the Final Kiss. It should be the highest-powered dagger available at your level. Take the job and take the dagger now, whether you succeed or fail,” Narbos said while waiting for Lovely’s response.

Lovely looked at the dagger and it took all of her control to not agree to the job, whatever it was. This dagger wouldn’t need to be replaced for at least 10 more levels and, even then, it would still be a great off-hand weapon.

Final Kiss: Epic Dagger. Item level 125. The Final Kiss has been used by various assassin guilds for centuries. Taking so many lives, and being coated in poison so many times, has allowed this weapon the unique ability to keep whatever poison is applied to it active and at full potency for as long as the wielder wishes (poisons allowed only up to a maximum of intermediate strength).

Only useable by characters with neutral or evil alignment.

Level required: 8

“What’s the job, Narbos?” Lovely asked while trying to keep the excitement from her face or voice.

“Simple job this time. These good folks from the town of Haven are resisting my attempts to unify the zone of Bharga’s Crossing. Imagine that; they don’t understand the benefit of my benevolent rule. As soon as I have finished up with Tramwell, and the forces I had to send there, return. I have decided to besiege Haven. There are several annoying players present and I suspect the AI is handing out quests to hamper our conquest of the zone. I will have a list of several targets for you to eliminate once the battle begins. Some of the targets are players and some are npc’s leading the defense. Here are the details on your potential targets and a generous coin advance to cover your expenses.” Narbos had his servant hand over the coin and dagger to Lovely.

“Taking out key leaders, just as we begin our assault, will help save us time, effort, and resources. There are a lot of moving pieces to this one and I have faith that you will carry out your part, Lovely. Do we have a deal?” Narbos asked as he waited for Lovely’s reply.

“Where is Vhellia? I thought she was also in charge. She wasn’t here when you issued the quest for the dwarves either,” Lovely inquired. Not liking to do business with just Narbos, Vhellia was the steadying force to his megalomania. Lovely believed his behavior was mostly for roleplaying purposes, but something about the guy was off.

“She’s attending to real world matters. I’m in charge of quests and she’s in charge of working with our real-world benefactors to provide us the monetary support you so greatly enjoy the benefits of. Now is not the time, nor is it your place, to become involved in our guild politics. Though you do have an open invitation to join Chaotic Outcomes as a guild officer anytime you want. Do you wish to join us permanently, Lovely?” Narbos asked, knowing full well that Lovely didn’t like him personally and would never tie herself to a single guild. There was too much money to be made in being an independent contractor.

“Not a chance, Narbos. I like doing my own thing,” Lovely answered before picking up the dagger and bag of coins. “As far as the job goes, consider it done. What kind of time frame do you need me for? If it’s going to take too long, I may need some more coin,” Lovely stated bluntly.

“Less than a week for the siege; say, two weeks max, given the time it will take for the troops sent to Tramwell to return and for us to gather our other forces together. Pull this off without a hitch and you’ll get a bonus.” Narbos opened another box on his desk, revealing the twin blade to Final Kiss. “Off you go then, Lovely. It’s always a pleasure to see your beautiful visage, but I have other work to do.” Vhellis made a shooing motion.

Narbos waited for Lovely to leave and then ordered the rest of the guards out as well, wanting no distractions as he worked on all the moving parts he had in play. Narbos knew that Vhellia and the other guild officers thought they were smart, though he was sure none of them had the advantage of a top tier education like his own. Narbos had been playing since the first day of beta in Limitless Lands and had been astoundingly successful in his endeavors. He was nearly level ten and had to plan which path to take once he reached it. The overlord class fit Narbos perfectly and he had amassed a sizeable force. For the first few levels Narbos was focused on his own character, using skill points to purchase skills for himself, despite enjoying having his own npc forces to boss around. After level four, he realized that the real power in the overlord was in the massive number of npc’s that would obey his every whim. He purchased only minor upgrades for gear and equipment; the focus was now on quantity. He built his town and formed plans to conquer more and more.

Narbos was approached by Vhellia and her guild just before launch and had quickly accepted membership into Chaotic Outcomes. The fact that there was someone outside the game throwing money at him would help in his drive to win the scholarship competition. To maintain impartiality, the school had banned any player from infusing their own funds into the game. There was nothing said against in-game groups providing support, so Narbos was glad to exploit that loophole with his new-found guild. Narbos’ family was wealthy, and he had always had a drive to win at any cost. The actual scholarship meant nothing to him, his family would spend the money to pay his way into any university he chose.

There were three students, in total, that the university had selected for the political science experiment. Soon into beta, several players had been banned for cheating. Many of the cheater’s accounts were gifted to schools and charities. The university was given three accounts and they were donated to the political science department for an experiment to explore the best form of governance in a fantasy world. The AI granted classes to each of the students based on their preferred form of governance. One student, Delling, had selected a free market government with low taxes and lots of personal freedom. His other competitor, Danica, was convinced that a socialist utopia could be created in a video game. Narbos, whose real name was Brandon, decided it would be fun to run his town as an evil overlord. Danica, so far, was not in the running to win the contest. Her plan to have everyone redistribute their wealth was not well received. She was too tied up in the process of putting down one internal rebellion after another. Of course, it helped that Narbos and Chaotic Outcomes had a hand in stirring up the rebellions. Narbos thought that Delling was just unlucky, having attracted the negative attention of a griefer guild early in the game. Without any interference from Narbos, Delling’s first town was burned down, Delling quickly founded a second that seemed to be doing well. Delling’s bad luck had turned around. The area around Hayden’s Knoll had an abundance of resources to draw upon, once they were fully tapped. When Delling made friends with a player that had some kind of army man class, Narbos knew he was in trouble and had started to get involved.

Getting rid of Delling’s friend was the key piece that would let Narbos suppress the town of Hayden’s Knoll. The troops provided by the new player were giving Delling the edge in quickly growing the town and controlling the zone. Narbos had hoped to conquer his whole zone and then take over most of Delling’s zone, stifling Delling’s chance to grow. With his underworld contacts in-game, as well as the guild’s resources, Narbos had hatched a plan to take the army man player out of the area. If everything went as planned, that Rayman? Raymond? Rayslap? guy, whatever his name was, would soon find himself in another zone with a whole new set of problems. The game was astounding in its complexity and Narbos was surprised at the options the AI made available to a devious player. There was nothing personal, Narbos even liked Delling in the real world, he just refused to lose…ever.

Chapter 20

Rose logged out of Limitless Lands, having received an in-game notification that her boss, William Lang, wanted to see her as soon as possible. It would be a quick trip across the hall to see her boss. She spent most of her game time at the office these days, deciding to be there instead of working remotely from home. Rose told herself it was to better coordinate with the team but, in all honesty, she liked the proud looks her parents gave her as she left the house each day for her “real” job. Rose didn’t have any meetings on the calendar and was surprised that William had asked her to pull out of the game in the middle of the day. Stopping at the receptionist’s area, Rose waited for Cathy, William’s administrative assistant, to finish a call. Cathy looked up, noticed Rose there, and waved her into the office as she held her hand over the phone and whispered, “They’re waiting for you; go on in,” before returning to her call. Rose opened the door and walked into the large office.

Williams’s office was tastefully decorated; not too ostentatious, like some of the other executives she had seen in the company. William was seated behind his desk and, across from the desk, two chairs waited. In one of the chairs was Zane, holding a stack of files. Everyone had a disturbingly subdued expression.

“Come in, Rose, and have a seat. There are some issues that have come up that we need to talk with you about,” William said flatly as he motioned toward the empty chair. Rose sat down and nervously waited.

“As you know, Rose, Mantuco Enterprises prides itself on its good name. We avoid even a hint of impropriety that could jeopardize our image with our core client base. Unfortunately, there has been some disturbing feedback on your guild and, specifically, on a certain player named…” Williams looked through his notes before continuing, “Narbos. There have been dozens of negative mentions on message boards, as well as complaints to Qualitranos about your guild’s methods of play, claiming that what you were doing amounted to bullying. The potential for negative press with this endeavor is deemed to be too great. In addition to the negative feedback, Zane has determined that the potential returns on our investments will not meet expectations, based on our latest projections. When Zane investigated more historical data, he found that the market for in-game currency is a bit too volatile for our comfort level. Our company is based on stable, predictable, long-term growth. Our clients expect that their money will be safe and that the company they invest with will not face any negative press. I’m never one to pass on trying out something new but, unfortunately, this time it didn’t pan out.

I hate to tell you, Rose, but we’re shutting down the game division project. We can’t see investing any more resources into a project that will not see the required return on investment. The team will be reassigned back to the other departments that they worked in previously. Unfortunately, your position within the organization has been eliminated. We would normally have you move to another division within the company, but your lack of a four-year degree prevents us from having many options. Our human resources department is very strict on the requirement for, at least, a bachelor’s degree for all full-time employees. I have pulled the latest funds we had provided to your guild from the in-game account. You will be allowed to keep the account you have been playing with and the subscription is good for another 180 days. We have also decided to let you keep the VR gear you have been using here in the office, as it will not be of any use in our work. Zane will leave a copy of the final report and the data related to why we decided to cancel the game division. Please take a look, then I’ll go over your final paperwork.” With that, Zane left a one-page summary on the desk for Rose. She picked it up but couldn’t find the will to read it, stunned at losing the first job she had enjoyed.

Rose felt the crushing pressure of failure. Her immediate thoughts went to what her parents would say when she gave them the bad news. For once, they had been proud of her. For once, she had been proud of herself. Rose gathered her thoughts and tried to fight back the tears that were beginning to trickle down her cheeks, not wanting to appear unprofessional in front of her employer… well, soon to be former, employer. William pushed one of the two stacks of papers in front of him toward Rose before explaining what they were.

“Rose, I have to say that we were all impressed with your work for us. You came from a non-traditional background, but handled yourself professionally and have proven to everyone on the team that you have an outstanding work ethic. The rest of the team was very upset that you would be let go and encouraged me to find another fit within the company for you. I think that, with Zane’s help, we may have found an option other than termination, if you are interested.

We are unable to hire you for a full-time position, since you lack an applicable four-year degree. What the company can offer is a paid, part-time internship with the company. The internship would require you to enroll in a local university, with a stated major in some business-related field. You would be paid an hourly wage and would be required to work here at Mantuco for at least twenty-five hours per week. The pay is not great, as it is seen as a developmental position, but because we structured your internship at twenty-five hours per week, you would be eligible for full benefits. In addition, I have spoken with the department vice president and she has agreed to have the internship come with a small scholarship. The scholarship should cover a good portion of your education, leaving the remainder to be covered by student loans, or whatever other financial means you have access to. With a guaranteed job waiting for you at the end of schooling, you should not have trouble getting low-interest loans that aren’t payable until after you graduate.

If you work as hard, as I know you are capable of, you will have a long and successful career at Mantuco. You’re a sharp young person and we feel you just need a chance. By getting an education, you’ll open new worlds of opportunity for your future.” William paused and then pushed forward the second stack of papers.

“The other option, if you aren’t interested in the internship, is for us to terminate your employment. I’m authorized to give you a ninety-day severance package, which will also continue your benefits for the next ninety days. I understand if you take the severance package instead of the internship. This day must have come as quite a shock. We’ll have to ask you to decide, now, what you would like to do,” William stated and then sat back while he waited for Rose to decide.

Rose quickly processed everything that had happened. She had never considered school and hated most of her time in high school. Something had changed in her perspective during the short time she had been working for the company. She had heard that corporations were often full of evil, selfish, back-stabbing people who were only interested in making a profit. She had found instead that, while there were jerks that worked here, for the most part, she really liked her co-workers. Her parents had always been disappointed that she didn’t go to college and the internship seemed like a great way to improve her future.

“Thank you so much for thinking enough of me to give me this option. I would love to become an intern and have the opportunity to study business,” Rose decisively stated.

“Great, Rose. I think you’ve made the right choice for your future. Zane here will take you down to human resources to fill out the paperwork. You have the rest of the week off and will start fresh on Monday. Make sure you have an application completed to enroll in one of the local universities during your week off. Best of luck to you, Rose.” With that, Rose left the office and began a new chapter in her life. Of course, having the rest of the week off would let her play quite a bit of Limitless Lands before her job started. She was going to enjoy letting that idiot Narbos know that his gravy train of corporate funds had come to the end of the line. Having Narbos act the fool may have actually given her a new, and better, opportunity for her future.

Qualitranos Corporation, office of Trey Raytak

Trey was neck deep in paperwork, trying to prepare the latest reports on the medpod project for the quarterly review. Things had been going great and it appeared that the Food and Drug Administration was on the cusp of approving the expansion of the medpod project to a larger number of test subjects. While work had been going well, Trey’s personal life had taken another hit recently. Trey’s mood had been high, watching his dad’s condition improve a bit each day. The game’s success continued to climb and there was a mood of excitement among the whole company. Trey’s work load continued to increase, and he found himself with little time to observe his dad in game. What he did see was amusing, though sometimes disturbing. Nobody wants to see their dad get eaten by ghouls…even if it was only a game.

Just when things were starting to go so well, he received horrible news from his mom’s nursing home. His mother, Genevieve, had needed full time care for a while now. She was mentally sharp, but her physical body was wearing out with age. The call yesterday from the nursing home let him know that his mother had suffered a stroke and was in the hospital. They wanted to know if he wished for them to use emergency life support measures if her condition deteriorated further. Normally Trey would have said no, not wanting to prolong her suffering at the age of eighty-eight. Instead, he said to do all they could to keep her alive.

An alert Trey had set on his dataslate notified him that it was time to leave for his meeting with the chairman. With the medpod project expanding, Trey was going to try and get his mom added as a participant in the medical trials. Gathering his dataslate, Trey felt dread as he made his way to chairman Rains’ office.

The administrative assistant announced him and Trey walked into the office he had visited many times before. This was the first time that being in his boss’ office had caused him anxiety. The next sentences from his boss’ mouth would determine if his mother had an opportunity for more time in this life. Mr. Raines greeted Trey at the door and led him over to a small meeting table. Raines didn’t like to make power plays and usually just had the people meeting with him sit at the small table, instead of positioning himself behind an imposing desk.

“Come in, Trey. I know you’re probably driving yourself crazy, so I’ll get right to the point. Your mother has been approved as a patient in the medpod project. She will be one of the first twenty, non-military patients admitted into the program. Before you get too excited, there is a downside. I know your mother is in critical condition in the hospital right now and the trial does not start until the beginning of next month. She’ll have to wait 14 more days before we can connect her to the medpod. I know that, once inside, the AI should be able to treat her condition quickly. Knowing the delay, do you still wish to proceed, Trey?” Raines asked Trey. There was genuine concern on his face, as Raines considered Trey a friend as well as an employee. Trey considered for only a second. His mom may not survive the next fourteen days, but he had to give her a chance.

“Yes, sir. I think she deserves any chance we can give her. The doctors say she’s in critical condition and could pass on without warning, due to the damage from the stroke, but I think she is exactly the kind of patient we are trying to help with the medpod. Thank you for helping get her into the program, Mr. Raines,” Trey replied, relieved his mother had a chance.

“Don’t mention it, Trey. I’ll see if we can get the folks at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to move a bit faster and get the patients into the medpods early. I don’t think that bureaucrats can be moved faster, but if it’s possible, we’ll get it done. Thank you for all your hard work, Trey. I’ll let you get back to it,” Rains stated as he ended the meeting. Trey left the meeting encouraged at the chance to save his mother, but stressed out over the possibility that she could pass away before she was in a medpod. He made his way back to his office and the mountain of work that awaited him, trying to plan time to visit his mother at the hospital before heading home to his family. Having to juggle being with his sick parents, work, and the responsibility he had to his own family had been a source of constant tension in his home. His office door opening shook him from his thoughts as his friend Lou barged in without knocking, as always.

“Hey, Raytak, you got a minute? There’s something about your dad that we need to discuss,” Lou said with a guilty look on his face.

“Sure, Lou. I’m not going to like this, am I?” Trey replied. He was really not looking forward to any more trauma today.

“It’s nothing bad, ok. Don’t worry. I know you have a lot on your plate. It’s just that it seems your dad has built up a bit of a following online. I just might have, accidentally mind you, signed him up for a WeView account to stream his game play. It turns out that there is a large group of folks that enjoy watching the game play from the unique classes. Your father now has over 100,000 followers and is adding hundreds more each day. The message board is buzzing with folks trying to find out who he really is. They know that most unique classes are based on real-world skills and well…your dad is kind of a unique guy with this real-world background. Having a lot of followers is no problem, as I’m sure we’ll be publicly releasing information on the medpod project well before his viewers figure out what’s going on. The problem is that your pop’s streams turned out to be eligible for monetization and your dad is starting to rack up the dough. The amount is not that much yet, but it will get better as his number of followers increase. I wasn’t planning on making money off your dad, of course, so I wanted to pass on his account info to you so that your family can figure out what you want to do with the money.” With that, Lou flicked the account data over to Trey’s dataslate giving him control of his father’s WeView account. WeView was the largest gaming and VR stream service. Many people tried to make a living off of their streams.

“Thanks? I think? I really didn’t need any other surprises today, but I can tell you that any extra funds will be welcome with mom in the hospital now. Would you mind still administrating the account? You have a better idea than me about what to stream from dad’s play. Try not to put anything out there that would give any indication about the project until Qualitranos makes the medpod announcement. I have no problem splitting the money with you since you’re doing all the work,” Trey replied

“No problem, Trey! I’m having a ball streaming your dad’s gameplay and watching the viewers try to figure out what he’ll do next. I’ll let you get back to your mountain of work, Trey. I have my own pile to get started on, too,” Lou said as he rushed from Trey’s office, glad that his friend wasn’t too upset over his actions. Lou was really beginning to like Trey’s father, even with only getting to know him in-game.

Chapter 21

Taranok peered through the firing slit that was notched into the rough log wall of the longhouse. The barn across the square was engulfed in flames, but it was looking like the winds would blow the flames away from the longhouse. A light drizzle of rain had been falling for most of the day, just letting up right before nightfall. The rain had soaked the logs of the longhouse enough that the embers from the burning barn shouldn’t be a threat. The blazing barn lit up the area around the longhouse, but didn’t reveal any targets. Not that they had many arrows left to shoot, even if there were targets visible. Looking about the building, Taranok could see the seven others that were huddled with him in the sturdy structure. The Drebix built their frontier homes strong, prepared specifically to use as strong points to defend their lands. Drebix preferred to fight out in the open, using defenses only if facing an overwhelming force. An overwhelming force had shown itself early that morning in the form of dozens of gnolls. The initial attack had killed several of the farmers in their fields before these last few had made it to the dubious protection of the longhouse. Two of the Drebix farmers inside were skilled hunters, their bows bringing down a half dozen gnolls before the hyena-like creatures had pulled back out of range. Once night fell, the gnolls began their cackling laugh, distracting the defenders as several charged the barn. The barn had held only a few chickens and next year’s seed supply. After slaughtering the few animals left inside for their evening meal, the gnolls had burned down the building.

“Taranok, any movement out there?” one of the other farmers asked. The others inside were a mix of distant relatives and hired men that were paid to help bring in the now ripe harvest of cabbage and beans. There were many farms like this one on the outskirts of the Forerunner clan lands. Taranok was warned to abandon his farm and leave for the more defensible areas near town once the gnoll raids had started, but he refused to let these creatures have the crops his family had worked so hard to grow. The farmers did see fit to send the children, the old, and other non-combatants back to town a few days earlier, thank the gods. After sending back a half dozen of the fighting age men and women to care the for the defenseless on their way to town, Taranok was left with twenty workers. More than enough, he had thought, to dissuade the small gnoll raiding groups from hitting his land. Unfortunately, it looked like the gnoll raiders were joining their groups together into larger forces. All the farmers could do now was wait for either help to come from town, or for the gnolls to finally screw up enough courage to chop down the reinforced door and finish them.

“No movement out there worth wasting our last six arrows on. Let the gnolls waste their time burning barns that can be rebuilt. The warbands from town will be here sooner or later to hack them down. I think the cowards are too afraid to rush us. None of them want to be first through that door.” Taranok indicated the longhouse’s sturdy door, which had a large wooden bar set into iron brackets holding the door closed against intruders. “Try and get some rest. I’ll take the first watch. The gnolls are beasts, but their eyes are not much better than ours in the dark. If they work up the courage to attack, I don’t think it will be before the morn,” Taranok stated with confidence in his voice; confidence he didn’t feel.

The farmers were well armed with either axes, swords, or spears. They were farmers, but every adult Drebix is also a warrior, trained from youth to defend the clan. Two of the farmers had sprinted away from the fields at the first sign of attack. Their job was to escape and bring word of the attack to the main warband in town. They had no idea if the runners had made it or not. Still, they had no choice but to wait and hope that help would come. They were in a strong structure, had plenty of food and water, and were prepared to hold out as long as possible. The rest of the farmers tried to sleep while Taranok stood watch, many of the farmers only finding sleep due to the exhaustion of the day’s trials. Just as many of the farmers found sleep elusive, twisting and turning in their blankets as their fears multiplied in the dark.

The first couple of hours passed without incident. The gnolls outside were quiet and Taranok could see no movement as he made his way randomly between the narrow viewing ports carved into the wall. Taranok was just about to wake someone to relieve his watch when the gnolls began to howl and yip in the distance. The clamor of the gnolls woke the other farmers who stumbled to the view ports to watch for an attack. The clash of arms was heard and, from the sound, it appeared the gnolls were being pushed back by their foes; back toward the longhouse.

“You hear that, Taranok? Sounds like the warband has arrived to teach these gnolls a lesson,” one of the farmers said with a dopey grin plastered on his face. You could feel the relief in the room as everyone waited for their rescuers to finish off the gnolls.

“There go the gnolls!” one of the farmers shouted and Taranok ran to the viewing port the other farmer had indicated. Taranok stared through the opening, soon seeing a small group of seven gnolls moving past the longhouse, their forms dimly lit by the glowing remains of the still smoldering barn. The angle was wrong to get off any arrow shots, so all the farmers could do was watch as they crowded around the two openings that afforded a view of the frantic gnolls.

The gnolls stopped in front of the barn, sniffing the air in fear. They chattered among themselves, their sense of smell telling them they were surrounded. Hunched figures began to appear from the gloom. The shapes of several gnolls were seen approaching the seven terrified creatures near the barn.

“What’s going on? Where is the warband? Are the other gnolls fighting with themselves now?” several farmers chattered, trying to make sense of the dimly lit figures outside. Soon the new group of fifteen gnolls had their frightened kin surrounded. The new group of gnolls held no weapons and portions of their armored harnesses were slashed and ruined. The new group of gnolls suddenly sprinted forward, leaping in the air toward the terrified group in front of them. Taranok couldn’t believe his eyes as the new group began to tear and bite at what appeared to be their kin. Soon several humans also joined in the attack. The first group of gnolls were soon all dead, torn apart by the horde that had descended upon them. The new arrivals gathered around and began to feed, hissing at each other and stuffing gobbets of flesh into fang-filled maws.

Taranok and the others stood in shock at the gruesome feast taking place in front of them. These new creatures were not gnolls and humans, but something else, something evil and hungry. One human separated himself from the rest, approaching to within a few yards of the longhouse. The creature spoke, its dry and crackling voice unnatural. Like it came from a throat that should have lost the ability to speak long ago. Malevolence moved off the creature in a palpable wave. Fear and terror gnawed at their minds, holding them in place as the thing spoke.

“Ah my friends, did you enjoy the rescue? I could see these naughty gnolls were being quite bothersome. Don’t worry, though. Lord Dunderman has come to rescue you this night. You are now my subjects and, as my new subjects, I’ll give you a choice I didn’t give these last few gnolls.” The ghoul lord gestured toward the gnoll bodies that were quickly disappearing into the mouths of the ghouls. “You can choose to join my army as members, or to join as rations. Which will you choose, I wonder,” the ghoul lord taunted the farmers. Dunderman had become more powerful as his level increased and his forces grew. Slowly, the once-faded intellect of the ghoul lord had returned, this time in a form more cunning and cruel than the creature had known during its living years. The foul thing that could barely scratch nearly forgotten words into an old journal, now had plans for greater things. It would seek to rule these lands; all the creatures in it but food for its insatiable hunger. The ghoul lord had also unlocked hideous powers. It was using one now to keep the farmers fascinated in terror.

The farmers stood enthralled by the ghoul lord, completely oblivious to the ghouls tearing down the door, unable to take their eyes off the horrifying visage of lord Dunderman, even as the ghoul pack broke into the room. The farmers recovered their wits only as the claws and teeth of the ghouls began to hit them. Taranok and three others fell to the floor, paralyzed as they succumbed to the paralytic claws of the ghouls. The other four farmers tried to defend themselves, chopping with axes and slashing wildly with their swords. They were quickly overcome. The ghoul pack consumed four of the farmers completely before Dunderman could exert his control over them to stop their feeding. His army was hard to control when there was food around, though the ghoul lord had found it was becoming easier to exert his will over their rapidly increasing numbers.

Picking some tasty morsels for himself, the ghoul lord set aside four of the paralyzed farmers. Several ghouls were sent to stand watch as they waited for their new comrades to turn. The ghoul lord closed his eyes, feeling his ability to control the new recruits increase in pace with the disease that was slowly turning them. The gnolls and farmers had fed the pack well. Their numbers now increased to forty-two ghouls. As soon as these latest ones turned, it was time to move on; more feeding to do, more new ghouls to be added to their ranks. Lord Dunderman plotted while he waited, deciding to first focus on the surrounding farms and the gnolls that were attacking them before moving to the main town. He was still too weak to face the full might of the Forerunner clan, but soon his numbers would swell with gnolls and the occasional farmer. Soon the pack would charge down the streets of the Drebix main village, picking who to eat and who to turn. It will be a glorious gorge for the pack…soon.

Across the clearing, Beremund and his small scouting party stood in stunned silence. They had arrived just as the ghouls finished the gnolls and began to break into the longhouse. There were far too many foes for his six warriors to fight. This was the new threat the clan skalds were speaking of. The skalds were rarely wrong. Their visions told the clan that there was a new foe with the potential to be more dangerous to the clan than even the incessant attacks by the gnolls. Beremund contemplated what to do. Should the tribe mass the forces necessary to handle these creatures, they would leave themselves open to the gnolls. To wait to respond would allow these creatures to grow into numbers that would overwhelm the clan. Perhaps the gnolls and ghouls would fight each other and weaken the survivor of the battle to the point where they were easy foes to face. Another idea formed and Beremund whispered his plan to the scouts.

“I know you all want vengeance for what we just witnessed. To rush into battle with those things right now would only succeed in us killing ourselves and leaving the clan ignorant of this new threat. We will do two things to fight this foe. Two of you will head back to the village and let the elders know of this threat. Three of you will keep an eye on these creatures, goading them and trying to lead them to where we know the gnolls are gathering. Bring our foes together and allow them to spend their strength fighting each other. We have to buy time. While you are doing that, I will test a certain man’s worth. I will see if the Imperium Commander Raytak keeps his word and comes to our clan’s aid. We will see if the Imperium will march to save former enemies, as they have promised to do. It will take me one or two days, at the least, to make it to their town. If the Imperium keeps its word, I will return as quickly as I can with reinforcements to help save our people. Fight smart my warriors, fight cunning, do not give in to berserker rage until the time is right. When our foes are weakened, and our strength is greater, we will wipe these lands of the gnolls, the undead, and even the Imperium, if they try to take our lands,” Beremund told his scouts. The party broke up and headed about their business. Beremund moved as quickly as he could toward the town of Hayden’s Knoll, knowing that his people’s very survival may depend on the true character of a single commander of the Imperium.

Hayden’s Knoll Map 3

Chapter 22

It was two days before the defensive garrison forces arrived. At first I wasn’t sure if they would arrive, but it seemed logical that places with resources like the mine and the respawn point would be designated by the AI as critical and warranting a defensive force. A decently-sized force, consisting of two squads of soldiers and four scouts, had reported to defend the mine. They immediately joined with the dwarves to help build defenses around the mine. Two watchtowers were raised and a simple palisade was constructed at the top of the rise, creating protection from missiles. The brush that we had used to hide in was cut back, creating a clear killing field around the mine.

Shortly after the defensive garrison had settled in, the main dwarven mining expedition arrived. They brought a score of miners, a dozen of their own guards, and even a few merchants. It was time for my force to head back to Hayden’s Knoll. There were other threats out in the zone and I needed to bring them all to heel.

“Ho, soldier of the Imperium. I see you’re preparing to leave, I wanted to thank ye one more time for rescuing my people. Would you mind if I accompanied you back to your town? We won’t be comfortable here until we hammer out the details of our agreement with the mayor. I’m assuming he’s the diplomatic representative of your Imperium. I’ll take myself and a few of our pathfinders, if isn’t too much trouble. Don’t worry at my age…we dwarves can still move at a brisk pace even into our two hundreds. We also need to see about purchasing some things in town. We need some draft beasts that are strong enough to pull those,” Lhargen said, gesturing toward the large ore-filled wagons that waited.

“You should find, or least place an order for, some Mukok in town. They’re probably the only things stout enough to pull the weight of those wagons. Mayor Delling would know more about that; he’ll steer you in the right direction. If you can gather your people quickly, we plan to leave in just a few minutes,” I told Lhargen, who moved off to gather his pathfinders. I was pleased to see that Rollox was among them. The cranky dwarf was a skilled tracker and would be a great help with reconnaissance on the way back to town. I looked proudly at my soldiers as we formed up, our forces at full strength for the first time in a long time. The last replacements had filtered in over the two-day wait. While forming up, the goblin named Eyeball began chattering to get my attention.

“Great warrior Raytak, weeses ready to go backs with you to town. Whole group will servses the great chief, Bugtug, if he doesn’t hits us too much. Not want to stays here at this mineses. Too much bad head pictures from bad slavers.” Eyeball spit on the ground as he forced out the word slavers. I still had to repress my desire to take the one-eyed goblin’s head off when he was around, but I had given my word. I nodded my head, acknowledging that the goblins could tag along. To my surprise, Eyeball waved to the other goblins who quickly formed up behind the column. This one-eyed goblin was efficient, I’ll give him that. I was glad to have them all in the back of the column. Despite being free for the last two days, none of the goblins had decided to bathe or conduct any form of personal hygiene. The game automatically cleaned players, npc’s, and clothing every night…somehow the AI didn’t apply that rule to goblins. At least the smell was foul enough that I doubted anyone would want to tail our forces. A quest prompt appeared as I formed up the column.

Quest Offered: Strengthening the ties. Bring the goblin survivors to Hayden’s Knoll and have them accepted into the Bugtug tribe. Strengthening the tribe will help the town with increased resources as the mine becomes more productive.

Reward: 10 gold, 500 experience.

We formed up into what was quickly becoming our standard road march formation. The standard bearer and I led the formation, with 1st platoon in ranks five-wide behind us. In the center of the column were Sergeant Brooks and the dwarves, minus two of the five pathfinders who were working with our scouts to screen the formation. 2nd platoon was formed up behind Sergeant Brooks and, about ten yards behind them, the goblins were tromping along with a formation that could only be described as a gaggle. The goblins would all try to be in the lead of their formation, as it was some kind of status symbol with them. The goblins slapped, scratched, and in one case even bit at each other as they tried to improve their position in the gaggle. I would be surprised if all fifty-two of them made it to town without a few of them getting murdered by their fellows during the trip.

We took a longer route home, deciding to include a stop at the transition point so Lhargen and his pathfinders could add it to the places they were attuned to. While at the transition point, I was pleasantly surprised at the work the defensive garrison had done. A raised earthen berm now protected the area around the transition point. Wooden spikes were placed in the dirt to make it a dangerous obstacle for any attacker. A rough gate closed off the area and was always manned by at least two soldiers, day or night. There was an improved observation tower behind the berm near the gate, which would provide ample warning of any attack. The area inside the berm was the size of a football field, enough room to allow caravans to regroup before heading out on the road. Speaking of roads, the garrison had paved the first quarter mile of road leading out from the transition point. It was a tiny fraction of the total roads we controlled, but the start was a sign that our hold on the area was growing.

After stopping at the transition point, we marched as quickly as we could toward town. With the scouts patrolling around the column, we would have ample time to react to any threats. I took this time to review my character sheet, remembering I still needed to level up. I set my character sheet to show only the changes to my character; no reason to get hit with a wall of text every time I opened it.

Raytak: Commander, Level 6

Experience 6974/9000

Attack: 8

Hp 780/780

Equipment:

Tessel’s Promise: Bracer, +1 attack, +1 defense, +3 resistance to poison/disease, -40 health, 1/day ranged, spreading corruption attack.

Abilities:

Command Presence: Creates an aura in a 30-yard radius that inspires troops and allies under your command. They receive +2 attack, +2 defense, +2 to morale saves. The commander must concentrate on inspiring his forces and takes a -2 penalty to attack and defense while the aura is active. This ability increases in power as the commander levels. Toggled passive ability/30 second cooldown.

Honor Guard: Honor guard summons 2 advanced soldiers to protect the commander. These soldiers have the same stats as your other advanced troops and will exist for 35 seconds. During the time they are on the battlefield all opponents targeting you will be forced to fight the honor guard first. This ability can be used once every 20 hours. This ability scales with the commander’s level.

Manaless: You have eschewed learning any schools of magic. As a result, you have hardened your defenses and become resistant to hostile spells or magical abilities used against you. A portion of your resistance will be transferred to the forces under your command. Current magic resistance 6%, magic resistance for the forces under your command 3%. This ability scales with the commander’s level.

Negotiator: This perk provides a + 2 bonus to opposed haggling or negotiation checks.

Forces:

Standard Soldiers: 100/120

Advanced Soldiers 10/12

Abilities:

Choose a commander ability upgrade from the following two options.

Elite Guard: Upgrade your honor guard ability, summoning two elite soldiers instead of the normal two advanced soldiers. Duration of ability increased to 60 seconds.

Improved Presence: Increase your command presence aura, doubling the area it affects and eliminating the attack and defense penalty for the commander while in use.

Looking at my two options, I chose the Elite Guard. The honor guard ability had saved my life each time I had used it. The upgrade to elite soldiers would give them more staying power and complemented the newly increased duration. The improved presence ability didn’t seem that impressive. Perhaps later in-game, a doubling of the command presence would be more impactful than it was now with only two platoons to lead…make that two platoons and two squads as I happily noticed the increase in the number of soldiers under my command.

The rest of the trip home to Hayden’s Knoll passed uneventfully. I was again glad to see that at the crossroads the defensive garrison had improved defenses, as well as begun to build roads. We marched into Hayden’s Knoll in the evening of the second day of travel. Sergeant Brooks did a quick gear inspection and then dismissed the men to the barracks. They would have some free time until their turn at guard duty. Along with two squads of soldiers, I marched the goblins over to the mines for their introduction to Chief Bugtug. The goblins looked a little stunned by the rapidly growing town. It turned out the soldiers with me weren’t needed to keep the goblins in line, they were needed to warn off players that the goblins were not hostile and weren’t to be seen as just a gaggle of walking experience points waiting to be collected. At the mine entrance, several soldiers and town guardsmen stood watch. Chief Bugtug must have heard we were coming and was waiting there, hands on his hips in a power pose. He was accompanied by what appeared to be his personal guard. Two goblins flanked the chief, larger than most of their fellows and wearing a simple tunic instead of the dirty loin cloth most goblins wore. They were equipped with short, bronze-tipped spears, crude bronze daggers, and carried small wooden shields. Their information displayed as I examined them.

Goblin Bodyguards: These goblins are larger, stronger, and smarter than their lesser kin. Unlike most other goblins, these rare examples are completely loyal to their chief. Goblin bodyguards rise in level, skill, and gear as their chieftain gains power.

“What does Raytak bring to the great Chief Bugtug?” the goblin chief asked.

“Great chief, I found these poor souls held as slaves in another mine. When I let them know of your great rule and the prosperous mine you controlled, they begged to join me and meet the great Chief Bugtug,” I said, laying it on thick. I was finally beginning to understand how the goblins operated and knew that appealing to his vanity was a good way to get Bugtug to respond positively.

“Ahh, yes I see now. You freed these wretches to give them as slaves to the great Chief Bugtug! I accept your gift. Guards, slap them in chains and get them to work!” Bugtug ordered, as his bodyguard began to move toward the group of goblins I had brought, the newcomers shaking in fear at the thought of being cast once more into slavery. Thinking quickly, I tried to defuse the situation.

“Ahh, umm, excuse my poor phrasing, Chief Bugtug. These were rescued and accompanied me in the hopes they could join your tribe. We do not allow slavery in the Imperium, as I’m sure your great intellect already knows. I merely thought that since they had some experience in mining, they could be productive members of your great tribe,” I advised. So much for my beginning to know how goblins operated. I was not cut out for diplomacy. Give me an army to command and a foe with which to cross blades. Bantering with puffed up goblin chiefs was not my thing, even though I did have a soft spot for old Chief Bugtug. For a goblin, he wasn’t a bad leader. Bugtug rubbed his hand on his chin in contemplation before coming to a decision.

“Yes, Raytak, these would make good additions to the tribe. You have the thanks of the tribe for making us stronger. Come, all of you, I will show you the great tribe you now belong to. First bow and pledge loyalty to the great Chief Bugtug!” Bugtug bellowed out, as he began to integrate the newcomers into his tribe. I wished them the best as I rushed away, not wanting to view the intricacies of goblin social interactions. I headed back to the garrison, excited at having the funds and resources to level up the main building. On my way back, a quest complete prompt appeared.

Quest Complete: Strengthening the ties. You have helped the goblin survivors find a new tribe. By talking Chief Bugtug out of keeping them as slaves, you have helped to increase the mines efficiency.

Reward: 10 gold, 500 experience.

Bugtug tribe reputation: Friendly

Bonus Reward: 100 resources.

I arrived at the garrison. The place was bustling with activity and I noted that two new, long barracks buildings were placed alongside the ones already in use by my men. I assumed they spawned to accommodate the defensive garrison and my own growing force. Making my way to the war table, I quickly opened the interface, making sure there were no immediate threats to us showing in the recon tab before delving into upgrades.

Available Upgrades:

Garrison Level 2. The level 2 garrison houses up to one company of soldiers. *Note, your garrison has the defensive garrison upgrade, the maximum garrison size refers to only those forces controlled by the commander. The defensive garrison forces are AI controlled and subject to different unit caps based on garrison level, upgrades, and territory conquered.

This upgrade will improve the garrison replenishment rate, as well as unlock new auxiliary buildings and upgrades for existing buildings.

Cost: 500 resources, 100 gold.

I checked my available resources and gold to make sure it was a good time to upgrade the place.

Current Unit Funds:

139 gold, 8 silver, 98 copper.

675 resources.

Smiling, I hit the upgrade button, feeling like a kid at Christmas. I always loved the excitement of seeing the next set of abilities and upgrades in games. I would have to be a bit patient though, the system informed me the upgrade would take one hour to complete. The sounds of construction were heard and the edges of the garrison took on a hazy appearance as the AI began the process of upgrading. Deciding my next move, I needed to check in with Delling and see how things were going with the dwarven negotiations. I hoped I had waited long enough for them to finish their chat. I did not want to get dragged into the negotiations…not my idea of fun at all.

Deciding to give them a bit more time to negotiate before I went to the town hall, I made my way to the marketplace. I had several items to identify and would like to find out how to sell the ore we had received from our visit to the mine. Every soldier had carried at least one chunk of the heavy ore during our trip back to Hayden’s Knoll. The pile of ore was currently stacked up and taking too much room inside one of the barracks buildings.

The market had changed in just the few days we had been gone. Phineas’ shop was still there and it looked like he kept his side of the bargain and had brought the building up to code, barely. More merchant stalls had opened on either side of Phineas’ emporium, and all were filled with merchants hawking their wares. I noticed that even a few of the players were there selling goods, in addition to the normal collection of npc’s. I was curious and searched for the appropriate information on the market in the help tab.

Town Markets: Most town marketplaces have small covered stalls that merchants (whether npc’s or players) can rent daily from the town, in order to have a place to sell their goods. In a situation where there are more merchants than available stalls, the merchants will bid to acquire the location. The highest bid gets the stall for that day.

It seemed like a fair enough system to handle merchants that didn’t have the means to open their own permanent shop. There was one other permanent shop that had opened opposite Phineas’ emporium. The large painted shingle over the door of the new building identified it as Haverston’s General Merchandise. The new store’s signage proclaimed it specialized in general goods, foodstuffs, and adventuring gear. That new place should give Phineas a run for his money, though I’m sure the slightly shady Phineas was already plotting how to beat his competition.

Located at the other end of the merchant stalls, a small platform had been built that overlooked a fenced in field. Several draft beasts and farm animals were milling about, snacking on the grass that constantly respawned in the field. A trickle of npc’s and players were continually coming and going, while an auctioneer belted out the next items for auction. Concentrating on the platform, the AI revealed the details.

Hayden’s Knoll Stockyard and Commodities exchange. The “Exchange”, as it has come to be known, is an area for people to auction off, or purchase, animals and commodities. Players can auction off trade goods here such as herbs, ore, lumber, and skins without having to travel to a large city to use the automated auction house. The auctions are constant and a small fraction of the purchase price goes to the exchange.

The town was really starting to grow. In addition to the marketplace upgrades, I could see that there was now enough housing to provide for all the townsfolk. The roads in town were also paved with smooth stone and were wide enough to be useful, all thanks to my garrison. I briefly considered checking out the new store before, once again, going with the devil I knew. I entered Phineas’ shop, pleased that he had replaced the old door with a smoothly operating one. The bell placed above the door tinkled as I entered, letting the proprietor know that he had a customer. Phineas was at the counter helping other players with their purchases and was temporarily caught off guard by my entrance. A look of fear briefly crossed his face before he regained his composure. That was strange, since the dubious merchant was usually unflappable. After all of our encounters, he had to know I didn’t intend him any harm. I waited my turn, grinning as the players in front of me fell under Phineas’ sway, his skill and magic causing them to lose out on the negotiation they were engaged in. My turn came up and I made my way to the counter while pulling the boots, dagger, and unidentified banner from my inventory.

“Ahh, my dear friend, Lieutenant Raytak, how might the humble Phineas T. Moore assist you this day?” Phineas asked. He had moved into showman mode as more customers filed in after me, perusing the goods lining the shelves.

“I have some more items that I need to get identified,” I replied as I dropped the pile of items on the counter.

“Always a pleasure to help a frequent customer, such as yourself, lieutenant. Since you have wisely enrolled yourself in the frequent customer plan, you only pay a paltry five silver per item identified. I shall use my mastery of the art of magical manipulation to divine each item’s mystical makeup,” with that, Phineas began to identify the items as I handed over fifteen silver. The show continued as, once again, sparks and light poured from his hands as he passed them over my items in exaggerated gestures. “There you are sir, let me know if I can be of any further assistance,” Phineas said as he collected his coin. I scanned the newly identified items.

Slave Lord’s Dagger. This long and wickedly curved dagger is always kept razor sharp by the enchantments placed upon it. The deep stains of blood from its previous victims are magically etched into the blade and cannot be removed. Now taken from the slavers that forged it, the blade waits for another hand to wield it. Whether it will now be used for good or evil remains to be seen. Item level 50. Small chance on hit to inflict a bleed effect, damaging its victim for 5 points of damage per second over five seconds.

Boots of the Long Stride. These sturdy armored leather boots magically adapt to provide a comfortable fit for the wearer. The hardened leather and bronze reinforcements do not hinder comfort or movement. Defense +1. Once per day the wearer can make a “Long Stride”, instantly teleporting to any new point that is visible within 50 yards of the wearer.

Banner of the Broken Chain. This banner was awarded for freeing a band of enslaved dwarves and goblins. The banner provides a +1 bonus to attack for all forces under your command. The banner must be attached to a battle standard to provide benefits.

I would keep all three items for now. The only thing I was loath to use was the dagger. Daggers had always been just a backup weapon for me, used much more often for eating than fighting. I had a feeling I wouldn’t want to eat using a dagger that had the blood stains of its victims etched onto it. Even though its item level was higher, I would stick to my short sword as my main weapon. I wouldn’t be sad if I had to sell for coin, or use as a quest reward. The boots fit wonderfully, and the daily ability would fit right in with my play style. I would equip the banner to the battle standard the next time we moved out.

Making my way to the new exchange to see about selling the ore, an angry voice accosted me.

“Old man Raytak! You are sooo in trouble right now! Walk into the lake up to your knees and yell I am the unicorn queen to find my unicorn eh. I did that, and did I find a unicorn? Nope. Just a giant crocodile thing that ate me! Crunchy was sooo mad I had to tell him not to eat you just now. What do you have to say for yourself?” Yendys shouted at me as she made her way past the merchant stall she had been shopping in.

“Uh oh,” I whispered, as the angry halfling and her unicorn beetle companion stomped toward me. I quickly tried to think of an out, something, anything…nope, I had nothing. “Sorry bout that?” I pitifully offered. My pathetic answer made Yendys turn red, nearly shaking with anger.

“Ohhhh noooo, you don’t get off that easy. You better be at the inn later. We’re going to have a duel! If I win, you have to call me the unicorn queen whenever we meet. If you win, I’ll let this go, though Crunchy may still carry a grudge,” Yendy’s informed me before stomping away. I guess I was going to get to try out the Petty Dispute’s new dueling arena. I hope the kid takes it easy on me, my class isn’t set up to handle duels very well. I really didn’t want to call some kid the unicorn queen for the whole time I’m in the game. All in all, I guess it was my fault she was killed on the dungeon run. I had no idea she would have thought I was serious about the unicorn thing. I made a promise to myself that I would make it up to her group, since my actions caused them to fail their run.

Chapter 23

I felt I had wasted enough time shopping and getting accosted by angry ten-year old kids, so I made my way back to the town hall to check in with Delling. The town hall had the same hazy look to it that my garrison did. Delling must have just started an upgrade as well. The door to the mayor’s office was closed, but that didn’t stop the sound of heated yelling from coming through. Two town guardsmen stood outside the door and looked like they were torn between bursting in to help, or standing where they were.

“You men, what’s going on in there?” I ordered. I wasn’t in the chain of command for the town guard, but something about seeing an angry officer made them forget that.

“Sir, um, the negotiations are getting heated. We wanted to check on the mayor, but he ordered us not to enter no matter how loud it got,” the guard offered. Just as the guard finished, a loud crash sounded inside the room. Drawing my sword, I burst through the locked door, tearing it off its hinges. The sight greeting me was not one I expected. The old dwarf, Lhargen, was there smiling as he shook Delling’s hand. The mayor’s table lay upside down on the floor with a dwarven mining pick driven through it.

“I think this is the beginning of a good friendship between our people, Mayor Delling. I look forward to having some ale with you in the inn later. I hope they have something strong enough for our tastes. Drinks are on me! One for you too, Raytak,” Lhargen told me as he pulled his pick from the table. The table cracked in half completely when the dwarf finally got it unstuck. Lhargen slapped me on the shoulder as he passed by me, leaving the town hall. “Watch out ye don’t stick yerself with that butter knife of a sword, Raytak,” Lhargen joked as I slowly sheathed my blade.

After the dwarf was out of earshot, Delling let out a sigh of relief and sat back into his chair. Shaking his head at the destruction of his office, Delling set about gathering the sheaf of papers that was strewn about.

“What just happened? I thought you were being murdered and I burst down the door to see the two of you are now best friends,” I muttered as I stood there dumbfounded.

“Luckily, I was able to read up on dwarven negotiation strategies before Lhargen arrived. They love to bluster and posture while negotiating deals. I think that’s why they have so much trouble reaching agreements with the other races. I knew I had to just give it right back to him as soon as Lhargen began making unreasonable trade demands. It’ll cost me a new table,” Delling told me as he glanced at the door, “and apparently a new door, but we have a trade deal between our people. We have exclusive rights for them to sell their ore at our exchange. That will bring a huge amount of coin into town, if they get their mine working like I think they will. The big dustup here at the end was due to the last caveat I threw in. They must help the Bugtug tribe to get their mine in order. Chief Bugtug is no miner and none of the goblins with him know much more than the basics. If we can get our own mine working efficiently, we can both begin to receive more resources. I had to negotiate that we would pool our ore with theirs when they sell to keep the market more stable and not undercut each other. The dwarves hate the goblins, but they finally realized that the ones here are not a threat and are, in fact, going to be their allies. Between that, and the mutual defense agreement I signed on your behalf, we’re looking good. In fact, this deal just leveled me up to level five finally!” Delling beamed as he explained what had happened.

“What mutual defense agreement? Don’t I have to sign that type of stuff?” I questioned.

“No, the AI let me negotiate it for some reason. It was pretty basic, or I would have run it by you first. We have to come to each other’s defense in times of need and our forces have free passage in each other’s holdings. You get a permanent base located at the mine and also at any other critical locations that may pop up in the zone. Lhargen seems to think there are other dwarven ruins in the zone just waiting for his clan to rediscover. I figured that would make things easier for you, with your garrison holding a defensive position near the mine. They are all for it now that the threat is recent, but it would have caused trouble down the road if we didn’t formalize it in the agreement. Other than that, the town hall will soon be level three. Once it’s done, the next step, you’ll be happy to hear, is improving the guardhouse and jail,” Delling smiled as he told me, rightfully proud of his accomplishment. The deal for the ore reminded me that I had some I needed to get rid of.

“Delling, I got some copper and tin ore as a reward for defeating the slavers. How do I sell that? Can I send it to the exchange, or does that come under our new agreement with the dwarves?” I inquired.

“Yeah, it’s probably best if we include it with what the town has. Don’t want to give Lhargen any reason to try and renegotiate. My table hasn’t even been repaired yet, I’m not sure what he’d break if we had another negotiation. If you open your trade tab I’ll take it and have the town give the estimated value in gold or resources, whichever you think you’ll need,” Delling advised. I thought that, with the garrison leveling up, I would likely need both.

“Can I get a bit of both? I need gold more, but the garrison is now level 2 and I’m sure further upgrades will cost quite a few resources, as well as gold,” I told Delling. He nodded as he sent the trade request. I accepted and looked at the deal.

Trade offer: 9 gold, 50 resources for 100 copper and 12 tin ore. Do you accept? Y/N

I accepted, figuring Delling was giving me the best offer he could.

“I did have some bad news for us, as well. The group of players trying to eliminate the ghoul threat was wiped out. They wanted another go at it, but the system would only let them make one attempt at the quest. Did you want to give it a shot now?” Delling asked.

“Definitely. I owe that ghoul lord some payback. Can you send me the quest?” I asked and Delling got that glazed look on his face that all players get when they’re looking at their interface.

“Uh, oh. You may want to check this out. Looks like the players failing on the quest has increased the difficulty,” Delling told me as he offered the quest to me.

Rise of the Ghoul Lord, updated. The adventurers assigned to defeat the ghoul lord have failed. Their failure has fueled the ghoul lord’s ambition. The entire zone will be consumed by their voracious appetite if the threat is not eliminated. This quest is now a level 6-8 elite raid level encounter. This quest should only be attempted by a full party of well-equipped adventurers. To fail again will only continue to increase the threat that the ghoul lord, Dunderman poses.

Reward: 2500 experience, 100 gold, 500 resources. Other rewards may become available based on performance.

Wow, that was a serious reward. I guess raid level encounters offer much better rewards. Hopefully I can beat this ghoul, now that I have my full force available. I accepted the quest and another prompt appeared.

The difficulty of this quest has enabled a raid party to be formed. The commander will be able to form a party with up to ten other players in order to complete this quest. *Note, the ability of the commander class to form a raid party is given on an exception basis, due to the unique threat this encounter poses to the entire zone. Under normal circumstances a commander class player cannot join or form a raid party.

“Well, it looks like I’ll need to recruit some other players. I think I know of a halfling and her friends that I owe a favor to after getting her killed in the dungeon. Do you know of anyone else that might want to join up?” I asked Delling. I found the number of players being limited to ten to be a bit strange, as usually raids have larger numbers. I chalked it up to the AI always trying to balance things to make them challenging, but fair. The fact that a raid didn’t always equal twenty to forty players, or that a party was always five players, made the game more dynamic. There was an openness and a refusal to be locked into standard design decisions with this game, which made me feel the game was living up to its name of being limitless.

“Not really. I’ve met a lot of players, but for the most part I can’t tell you if they’re anyone you would want in your party. You may want to check at the inn this evening. I know its cliché, but it really is a great place to look for adventurers. You can even duel them at the inn’s arena if you want to check out their skills. Anything else going on? Otherwise, I want to finish upgrading the town hall before I head over to the inn to meet with Lhargen. I also think I need to hit the merchant shops to buy a hangover cure, something tells me that the old dwarf is about to drink me under the table.” Delling grinned as he told me, anticipating a good time.

“I’m going to check out my new level two garrison. See you at the inn later,” I told Delling as I made my way back to the garrison.

The level two garrison looked much more impressive than the simple collection of barracks buildings we had before. There was now a proper wall surrounding the area. The wall was made of logs and looked sturdy enough for a basic defense. There was a catwalk around the wall, so troops could defend and patrol the wall. In fact, I could see several defensive garrison troops were already heading up to the wall to keep watch. There were now 15 much larger barracks buildings situated inside the garrison. The buildings were made of sturdy logs with small arrow slits carved into them. The barracks buildings would now serve as a defensive hard point if the walls of the garrison were breached. My favorite part was the new headquarters building. The headquarters was no longer attached to the end of a barracks. The building itself was simple and sturdy, a smaller square shape instead of the rectangular shape of the barracks. The headquarters featured a mantrap entrance setup, to further enhance security. Anyone entering would have to get through two sets of doors that could be locked at any time, all the while being open to fire from the murder holes in the ceiling above them. The flags of the Imperium, as well as the 1st Legion of Hayden’s Knoll, were proudly flying on tall poles outside the headquarters.

There were four defensive garrison soldiers on guard just outside the headquarters. After retuning their salutes, I walked into the front door of the headquarters. I found myself in the mantrap, locked in a small ten-foot-long hallway with stout doors on either end. Above me were six-inch diameter murder holes in the wood ceiling and I could hear a guard up there, ready to fire a crossbow, or drop a javelin on me if I had happened to be an intruder. The inner door unlocked as a guard opened the door for me. A small desk facing the main door was manned by yet another guard and there were several small offices on either side of the room. Toward the back, and past more secured doors, I found my quarters. My quarters were still simple. I had a small desk, a cot, and a file cabinet. The décor was the same as every other military office I had seen in-game. My office led to the war room. The war room was the same as before, save for being a bit larger. I walked to the war table and opened the interface, filtering to review only things that were new, or had changed. I reviewed the general upgrades that the level 2 garrison provided before starting with the defensive garrison, curious to see what had changed with them.

Garrison Level 2: You now have unlocked the ability to queue upgrades. Now that you have access to a steady stream of resources, you can select the build order and have the structure automatically built once the proper amount of resources are gathered. The necessary gold will be taken from your funds once all the resources are gathered. This will enable the commander to update the garrison while in the field for extended periods.

Item Received: You have received a campaign map. The campaign map allows for limited interaction with the war table while in the field. The commander can receive recon reports and monitor build queue, and set rally points for replacements, but cannot make changes to build queue while using the campaign map. Many of the upgrades available in the supply depot can also be ordered out in the field, allowing for extended campaigns. *Note: Supply depot upgrades arrive via a supply wagon. The wagon will be defended by a nominal force and can be lost in transit, forcing the upgrade to be purchased again. Make sure you are in a safe area to receive supplies before ordering.

Defensive Garrison:

Southern transition point: Three squads of soldiers and five scouts.

Hayden’s Knoll crossroads: Two squads and two scouts occupy the fortified crossroads.

Southern roadways: Two squads, each led by a scout, now patrol the road network.

Mines/Foul Spore Pit dungeon: Two squads of soldiers and two scouts.

Hayden’s Knoll: Three squads and one elite soldier.

Stonefinder Mines: Three squads and two scouts help to defend this critical resource and respawn point. The mine is located on a high point with a defensive wall surrounding the area. Obstacles and traps are placed on the slope to deter attackers. Two observation towers have been built by the dwarves, who allow one of the towers to be manned by Imperium forces. The dwarven observation towers are fortified and can be used for firing missiles, as well as for keeping a watch on the immediate area.

The campaign map was just what I needed. The ability to queue buildings will help as well, now that we had a trickle of resources coming in. Coin would be the ever-present problem it had been, at least for the foreseeable future. The defensive garrison force upgraded numbers weren’t bad either. I moved on to check the recon report, which showed only the now upgraded threat of the ghoul lord. Closing the recon tab, I opened my favorite part…upgrades.

Garrison Upgrades:

Garrison Level 3: 1500 resources, 250 gold. The level three garrison provides significantly upgraded defenses as well as the capability to house an entire battalion of soldiers.

Supply Depot Level 2: The level 2 supply depot allows for access to more powerful equipment and gear from across the Imperium. Cost, 150 resources, 25 gold.

Level 2 Aid Station: The level 2 upgrade to the aid station transforms the aid station into a field hospital. The field hospital will improve troops health, resistance to disease, and resistance to poison. The commander can also pay a small fee to reserve a respawn spot for specific, named npc’s under his command. The respawn is available only for named npc and cannot be used on any generic ones. If killed, key npc’s will respawn back at the garrison. A fee is required in advance for each respawn. Respawning npc forces are subject to the same respawn timer as players. Cost, 150 resources, 25 gold.

Level 2 Recruitment Center: The level 2 recruitment center improves the respawn rate of replacements as well as unlocking the ability to recruit auxiliary forces. From across the Imperium, various specialist troops are available for hire. You have to pay to unlock each troop type and there may be a longer wait time for spawn/respawn depending on the types of forces recruited. Cost, 150 resources, 25 gold.

Engineer Barracks: This building allows for the recruitment of Imperial Engineers. Engineers are a new type of advanced soldier, giving the commander a wider variety of forces to choose from. The engineers are famed for their ability to create hasty defenses and to build siege equipment. Many an enemy thought themselves safe inside their walls, only to find those walls pounded to rubble once the engineers showed up. Cost, 150 resources, 25 gold.

Fortifications Level 1: Unlocks basic fortifications at your garrison, as well as at the other defended points in the zone. Individual fortification upgrades will have to be purchased once this upgrade is unlocked. Cost 250 resources, 25 gold.

I wanted everything, of course. With only 52 gold and 225 resources to my name I would have to decide on one building now, and eventually a queue order for the rest. Trying to prioritize, I crossed off the supply depot and the fortification upgrades for now. The buildings would only unlock upgrades that would cost more gold and resources I didn’t yet have. The aid station with the npc respawn option caught my eye. I thought back to losing Private Tremble to the ghouls. He had been the last of the soldiers that I had originally started with. The thought of saving Sergeant Brooks from a similar fate would put this upgrade high on the list but, once again, this would unlock upgrades that would cost funds I didn’t have. I could only afford to build one of the upgrades now (except of course for the total garrison upgrade) and I decided to choose the engineer barracks.

I was taking a gamble, hoping that the soldier type would unlock immediately without cost. It was the only option that didn’t mention an additional fee after unlocking. I hit the build tab for the engineer barracks. I didn’t set the build queue yet for the other buildings. That could wait until I was ready to move out. I feared the queue would dump all current resources into the next building and I wanted to save the few I had left in case I needed them for engineering items. The upgrade would take an hour, so I had some time to kill. I suppose it was time to face the music. I trudged my way out of my headquarters and toward the inn, looking forward to a good meal, yet dreading the coming duel with Yendys.

Chapter 24

The inn was bustling with activity when I arrived. There was a good mix of players and npc’s enjoying the food, drink, and entertainment offered. Looking about, I was relieved that Yendys and her group hadn’t arrived yet. I was hoping to get a meal in before our duel. The delicious food I had last time at the inn was still on my mind. The game didn’t require players to eat, but certain foods can give a random minor buff for several hours. To be honest, I was less concerned about the buff and more interested in the taste. Somehow the AI had gotten flavors and textures of food correct, perhaps even better than in real life. Of course, I was a little out of practice with eating in real life. Being on life support with a feeding tube tends to limit your culinary variety. There were several tables open, but I didn’t want to take up a whole table for myself. I made my way to the bar to order whatever was cooking and another excellent ale. The smell of fried food was in the air and I couldn’t wait to see what it was…hopefully something not labeled “beast”. As I approached the bar, a familiar voice rang out.

“Hey there, Lieutenant Raytak, join me for a drink!” Bhurke shouted above the growing clamor of the busy inn. Bhurke was an npc mercenary leader I had met on my way to Hayden’s Knoll. He was initially abrasive and unprofessional, but after seeing my disciplined troops save him from captivity he had turned around. I hoped he didn’t carry any grudge, since I had recruited all his guards into my forces at the end of our trip. Bhurke had changed his ways and formed his own mercenary band that specialized in protecting caravans.

“Good to see you, Bhurke. It looks like the mercenary life has been treating you well,” I told Bhurke, noticing his gear was of a better than average quality. He wore a tabard over his chain shirt displaying a blue sword imposed over a caravan wagon. This was the symbol of his mercenary band, the Azure Blade. I motioned for the barkeep to order whatever food they had on special today, as well as drinks for the both of us.

“Things are going well, my friend. I just escorted another caravan safely to Hayden’s Knoll. I was glad to see plenty of your troops guarding the roads; not much to worry about anymore as far as bandits go. Maybe you could do me a favor and have your men let a few bandits through now and then. It makes for better business if the caravans are reminded that there is still danger on the road,” Bhurke said, joking about the bandits…at least I thought he was. Bhurke turned serious and looked as if he wanted to say something that wasn’t too pleasant.

I was distracted by the arrival of my meal. The plate held several pieces of glorious, crispy, golden brown, fried chicken! Half the plate held a pile of mashed potatoes with gravy covering the whole mess. I happily shoved coins at the barkeep and dug in. As my first bite crunched into the chicken, the wave of flavors unlocked a memory. I was sitting at my family dinner table as a child, anxiously waiting for my mom to finish frying the chicken for dinner. My father had placed the potato’s he had mashed into a serving bowl and was distracting himself by making little patterns on top of the potatoes. My mother was making fun of him for his little quirk. The memory vanished and with it the faces of my parents faded as well. I was sad at seeing the fleeting images fade, but hopeful that this meant the AI was doing its job of continuing the repair of my ragged mind. Bhurke brought me out of my stupor when he lowered his voice and began to speak in a more serious manner.

“I was hoping I would see you on this caravan run, Raytak. While Kofi was furious about me and the men leaving his employ, he was even more furious when I took some of his business away with my new band. When one of his agents approached me at Amerville, I thought I was in for a fight. Strangely enough, the agent was asking about you, telling me that if I told him everything I knew about you, all was forgiven. I told him about our encounters. I didn’t think there was anything harmful in that. Hopefully you’re not mad at me for spilling what I knew, but Kofi is a dangerous man and I couldn’t face having him come after my new venture. I don’t know what he’s up to Raytak, but I recommend you watch your back. That man is cunning and for some reason he is blaming you for his recent misfortune. Kofi has many connections and the most disturbing are those within the government. How else do you think he gets away with cheating caravans without any repercussions?” Bhurke warned.

Kofi was a mercenary guild leader that Bhurke had previously worked for before forming the Azure Blade. I hadn’t thought about Kofi since and had placed him as an arrogant bully, not a well-connected threat. If the man scared Bhurke and was blaming me for Bhurke’s defection, I would have to keep an eye out for him causing trouble here.

Bhurke finished his drink and made his goodbyes, deciding to turn in early as the caravan he was guarding left at dawn. Bhurke promised to check in with me the next time he was in town. I finished my delicious meal and followed it with a large chunk of apple cobbler, complete with a dollop of fresh, whipped cream. The Petty Dispute was well positioned to take a lot of my coin, as long as the food kept turning out this excellently. I was licking the last of the cobbler off my spoon when I felt a presence behind me. Turning around I was confronted with a very angry halfling staring daggers at me with her arms crossed.

“Well, well, well, old man Raytak. Looks like you were brave enough to show up after all. I told Crunchy that I thought you would chicken out, but he was convinced you’d show up,” Yendys said, glaring at me with a smug expression on her face, while Crunchy busied himself with nibbling on the scraps of food that had fallen to the floor. “Meet me over at the dueling arena and get ready to be beat bad! I can’t wait for you to start calling me the unicorn queen!” With that, Yendys stomped over to the back corner of the Inn. The Petty Dispute’s arena seemed small, only a roped off square about ten feet across. The arena was an instanced area. Once players entered, they found themselves in a space to rival a colosseum. Onlookers could watch from the edge of the square and the AI would give them a bird’s eye view of any action. I hopped off the barstool and shuffled toward my fate, thankful that the game didn’t give you that overstuffed feeling after eating too much. I doubt I could stand, let alone fight a battle, after all I had just eaten. Yendys, of course, made me pay the entrance fee before we walked under the ropes separating the arena from the rest of the inn. Several players and npc’s began to gather around to watch, curious to see how the strange match-up panned out.

You have been offered a duel with Yendys, the level 5 Druid Summoner. Do you accept Y/N. *Note, this is not a ranked duel and will not affect reputation. All cooldowns have been reset and will return to their previous state once the duel has ended. No consumables are allowed.

Ok, so no potions, not a big deal since I only had one. The good news was that I could use honor guard and Tessel’s Promise without worrying about using up the cooldown for the day. I hit yes, accepting the duel as the small arena changed into a large walled in colosseum. The edges of the arena were hazy, the indistinct shapes of the spectators were blurred out to prevent distraction or interference. The system then threw up some prompts as it performed last minute calculations.

Loading commander forces.

Adjusting number of commander forces based on level difference, no stat or gear adjustment needed.

Loading Druid summons. No stat or gear adjustment needed.

Soldiers began spawning around me and soon a full platoon of Imperial soldiers were there. Four scouts with their crossbows also spawned, along with a sergeant. These soldiers had the same gear as my own but were not the same men that were in my legion. The system allocated what it thought I would need to put up an equal fight. They snapped to attention as a countdown timer started.

Duel begins in 30,29.28…

Looking quickly across the arena, I could see Yendys. Next to her was her animal companion, Crunchy. There was also a pack of large dogs with her. I didn’t take time to count, but a quick estimate was over a dozen. She was busy casting a spell as the countdown continued. I knew she would likely concentrate on me, not bothering with my soldiers if she didn’t have to. I began to shout orders, getting the men into position for the fight.

“Scouts, move out twenty yards to our left flank. Concentrate on the giant beetle first, before hitting Yendys. Sergeant, take fifth squad and cover the scouts. The rest of you, I want four ranks by squad with javelins at the ready. Listen for orders from myself or the sergeant. Depending on her spells, we may need to break up the formation. Get ready with your first throw!” I ordered, and the men moved into position. The scouts would bring the pain down on Crunchy. Their crossbows were the most effective weapon against the armored beetle. The thing had a huge health pool and was deadly in a fight. I hoped to use our ranged attacks to draw Yendys and her summons in. Fighting up close and in formation favored our forces. A ranged spell duel, or her kiting us around the arena, would be a disaster. We were only about fifty yards apart and I would want to close that distance by half before throwing javelins. My soldiers only had two javelins each and I wanted to get some value out of them before melee started. Looking back at Yendys, she finished casting a long spell and all her animals shimmered, glowing as they grew larger from whatever buff she cast. The timer finished, and the battle began.

The Battle Begins

“At a slow march, forward,” I ordered, and my formation began to move slowly forward. I wanted to have Yendys focus on the mass of my troops to give the scouts time to land some hits. Four crossbow bolts hit Crunchy, three clacking off the hard carapace and one penetrating. The beetle’s health pool showed only a tiny fraction removed.

“Get him, Crunchy! Eat old man Raytak!” Yendys yelled, as she saw that we had hurt the beetle. Crunchy and the dogs surged forward toward my formation. I called a halt and waited for the beasts to get in range.

“Throw! Prepare your last javelin,” I ordered while heaving my own javelin. When the animals were twenty-five feet away, the missiles arced over and landed amongst the beasts. About half of the javelins found their mark, not great, but a better percentage than in previous fights. One of the dogs was down and the rest had their health pools knocked between three-quarters and one-half. Crunchy was hit by several javelins and shrugged off all but two hits. “Throw; prepare to receive charge!” I ordered, and the last wave of javelins were loosed. This volley had most of the missiles find their mark and I smiled as my own javelin hit Crunchy and penetrated its armored carapace. This was the first time in all my fights that I hit with a ranged weapon. Ranged attacks were most assuredly not my thing in this game. Give me an M4, on the other hand, and I would hardly miss…alas, no battle rifles were available in-game.

Four of the dogs crashed to the ground as the rest of the pack, along with the giant unicorn beetle, crashed into 1st Squad. Crunchy’s horn glowed as it hit, piercing the shield of a soldier and impaling him. The dogs had less luck. Our disciplined line held and the men began to thrust out from behind their shields, swords ramming into the soft hides of the dogs. Looking over to the scouts, I was wondering why they hadn’t landed any more shots on Crunchy after that first volley.

Yendys hadn’t been idle during the fight. She had cast a spell toward the scouts. Thorn encrusted vines began to break out from under the feet of scouts. The vines wrapped themselves around the scouts and the men assigned to protect them, preventing the scouts from firing. I could see their health pools dropping as the thorns had no trouble penetrating the soldiers’ leather armor. The sergeant ordered them to draw swords and they began to fight back, hacking at the entangling vines. They were out of the fight, at least for now. As I turned back, a burning pain flared across my face.

You have been hit by Natures Wrath. 48 damage taken and continuing damage of 5 health per second for the next 5 seconds.

I quickly ducked behind 4th Squad, getting out of Yendys’ line of sight. I couldn’t let her pick me off. She’d have to fight through my full force before I would let her take direct shots at me. The rest of the dogs were down, but Crunchy was easily chewing through my men in a frenzied attempt to get to me. The beetle used another ability and cleaved through two soldiers with it’s huge mandibles. The other men tried to surround it, most of the blows glancing off the armored carapace. Some of the blows did crack through, usually when a soldier used the thrust ability. I ordered shield bash and the men around the beetle slammed their shields into it. A few more cracks appeared on its armored hide, but no stun effect occurred, unfortunately. Crunchy had a one-track mind, oblivious to the blows landing on him as he ate his way through my men to get at me. Just as I was getting hopeful at the beetle’s quickly dropping health bar, a green glow encompassed it and its health began to tick up again as Yendys cast a nature’s mending spell on Crunchy. I knew her spell was essentially a once per battle cast. It was now a race to see if we could burn down the beetle before it got to me.

Yendys refreshed the thorns spell on the scout group and then began to alternate between casting her nature’s wrath spell on soldiers and summoning more animals to fight. Several of my soldiers pulled away from Crunchy to handle the occasional incoming summoned animal that headed our way. I was down to fifteen soldiers fighting Crunchy and three holding off the summons. At least Crunchy’s armored hide seemed to be weakening. Multiple blows had cracked it, allowing more damage through with each hit. Pointing my hand toward the beetle, the thorn shaped scars on my wrist began to glow. With a mental effort I unleased the spreading corruption ability on Tessel’s Promise. A stream of acidic sap few from my fingers and landed on the face of Crunchy. The sap stuck to his face and began to burn, eating through its shell and causing the beetle to squeal in pain. I hated to hurt the poor thing, but I was NOT going to call Yendys the unicorn queen for the rest of my time in-game.

“Get him, Crunchy; activate rage!” Yendys yelled from across the battlefield. Crunchy glowed red and increased in size once more. I was familiar with rage effects and knew they were usually short-lived. A plan came to mind, as the newly angered beetle tore through the last soldier in front of me.

“Charge Yendys! Ignore the beetle!” I ordered the last few soldiers from my formation, as I activated my new boots, instantly teleporting to a space behind the scouts. They had outlasted the grasping thorn covered vines and began their fire once again on the beetle. Two of the standard soldiers guarding the scouts were down, but the squad medic was making his way around the remaining soldiers applying magical healing bandages. The bandages helped, but all the soldiers were nearly dead. The medic slapped a bandage on me and then moved on to help the rest of the soldiers. A cool, soothing feeling washed over the wound to my head and my health slowly ticked up.

Twenty feet away, Crunchy was confused, jerking its head about while it looked to see where I had gone. Once it saw me over by the scouts, it resumed its attack, scuttling as quickly as he could toward the thin line of soldiers in front of him. Another volley of crossbow bolts hammered into the beetle as it charged into the eight soldiers standing in front of it. The raging beetle tossed his head about as it reached our thin line, horn and mandibles shredding armor and the flesh beneath. Soon it was just me and the sergeant facing the angry insect. The scouts had fallen back a few steps and were trying to get shots in as they could without hitting any of their allies. I thrust at the beetle, my blade only penetrating its shell by a few inches. A trickle of the milky fluid that passed for the creature’s blood began to leak out. Crunchy wrapped its huge mandibles around me, pinning my shield to my side and slowly crushing me. While this was happening, the sergeant began to land heavy blows and the scouts continued to fire.

You have been hit by the Crunchy’s crushing mandible attack. 100 damage and held in place. Escape save failed.

You have taken 100 crushing damage, escape save failed.

I struggled in the beetle’s grip, unable to free myself as a nearly unbearable crushing pain wracked my body, despite the AI’s pain reduction programming. I was just about to use the honor guard ability when the red glow around Crunchy winked out as its rage ability expired. The temporary health it had gained from rage drained, dropping its health to zero and releasing me from its grip.

Looking across the arena, I could see Yendys had just finished off the last of the soldiers I had sent against her. Her health was just above half and her mana was nearly drained. Even as I watched, two crossbow bolts hit her, dropping health to half. I charged toward the small druid, followed by the sergeant, as the scouts continued their punishing fire. Yendys nearly depleted her mana pool to, once again, entangle the scouts in damaging vines, taking them out of the fight until the spell expired. The sergeant with me was then stopped by a dog Yendys summoned from her next cast. The sergeant had to stop and deal with the animal before he could continue. Yendys hit me in the chest once again with her nature’s wrath spell, burning through my armor and causing more damage over time. My health was now below half and I still had twenty yards to cover before I entered melee combat. I was nearly out of options, knowing I would likely lose to a one-on-one melee fight against the druid without any supporting soldiers. At ten yards, Yendys used the last of her mana to cast a final nature’s wrath. The glowing green ball unerringly shot toward my face, fizzling as it connected.

Nature’s wrath has been resisted.

Yendys frowned as my magic resistance kicked in on her last spell. An evil grin then slowly came over her face as I entered melee range and she readied her staff to attack me. The druid knew from our previous conversations that I was weak in one-on-one combat. Her confidence melted as I activated honor guard and two elite soldiers appeared next to her. The honor guard ability forced her attention from me onto the newly summoned elite soldiers, preventing her from targeting me until the honor guard was defeated.

“Totally not fair, old man Raytak! I was just about to beat you down!” Yendys yelled in frustration. The honor guard soldiers flanked Yendys, their blades flicking out from behind their shields as they tested her defenses. I joined the party and began to attack with my blade as well. I had hoped for help from the scouts, but looking over I saw that they were all down. The last of their previously depleted health pools had been drained away by the piercing vines holding them. The sergeant would be no help either, he was winning the fight with the summoned dog, but this fight would be over one way or another before he was done. Yendys, to her credit, never gave up and took out one of the honor guards and had nearly finished the second before I scored a lucky critical hit and dropped her health to zero.

Victory! You have defeated Yendys in a duel. This was an unranked duel, no reputation gain or loss for either party.

The arena faded away and I found myself facing Yendys and Crunchy just outside the now roped-off area entrance. Yendy’s pouted a bit waiting for me to say something.

“A close fight, Yendys! Well fought by you and Crunchy, you almost had me with that mandible attack,” I offered, trying to lighten the mood. Yendys looked thoughtfully for a moment before rushing over and hugging me.

“It’s ok, old man Raytak. You don’t have to call me the unicorn queen. You beat us fair and square. Just promise you won’t trick me with any more unicorn stories!” Yendys muttered. A memory surfaced as the halfling hugged me. I could just make out holding my child, giving him a hug while telling him goodnight…the thought then faded quickly, something blocking it once more. This kid somehow reminded me of my own. Maybe playing the game was helping after all. If only I could have held onto that last memory. It was finally one from my family. The other memories had been appearing fairly regularly, but the ones of my family were nearly nonexistent. Gathering my thoughts, I replied to Yendys.

“Don’t worry. No more tall tales, kid. You know, you shouldn’t be out chasing other unicorns when you have such an awesome unicorn beetle animal companion. You don’t want Crunchy to get jealous, do you?” I added. Yendys tilted her head in thought for a moment.

“You’re right, old man Raytak. I’m soooo sorry, Crunch Crunch. Who’s the bestest unicorn in the world? You are!” Yendys baby talked, as she hugged the oblivious beetle.

“Nice fight, man! Good to see you in action again. What have you been up to? I heard some crazy assassin ganked you in town a few days ago,” Jacoby said, shaking my hand as he, Drake, and Kathala joined us.

“Been fighting the good fight, Jacoby. Yeah, was ganked by some high-level assassin. Keep your eyes peeled for any others you might see skulking about. I’m glad you all are here. What about Quimby? I have a raid quest that has a huge experience reward I can share and I was hoping you would all join me,” I offered, hopeful that my friends would join me. The commander class prevented a lot of group play and I found I enjoyed and missed the company of this particular bunch of players.

“Quimby will be online in a bit and I’m sure he will join as long as we set a time that works for everyone. Drake here won’t be able to though. He took a new class after our last wipe on the Foul Spore Pit and has a lot of restrictions, like your class does. So, you gotta hear this. That crazy dryad, Tessel, looks at him just before she kills us and says she sees in him the desire to rule the dungeon at her side. Just like that he gets offered the unique class of Pitmaster. I thought he was being offered a job as a barbeque chef, but apparently he gets to manage the Foul Spore Pit dungeon. He always liked those types of resource management games, so I guess it makes sense for him,” Yendys said as she gave Drake an “I don’t approve” look. I couldn’t fault Drake for wanting to play a class that fit his style; I had chosen to do the same thing.

“What about you two? Are you game for a raid if we can find a time that works for everyone? My friend, Ty, will join us, but we’ll need to find four others to have a full raid if you join us,” I asked Jacoby and Kathala. Jacoby looked at Kathala and she gave him a slight nod.

“That would be great; share the quest. I’ll see about rounding up some others from the guild if we need a few more,” Jacoby told us. I opened the quest and shared it out to everyone, forgetting to exclude Drake.

“Woah, it actually sent me an invite! Check it out, let me share the system prompt,” Drake exclaimed as he sent the prompt over for us to look at.

Raid quest offered. Rise of the Ghoul Lord. The ghoul lord, Dunderman, has been gaining power. If he is not stopped soon he will sweep over the entire zone consuming or turning all humanoids to join his flesh-eating army. *Note, this raid event presents a potential threat to the entire zone, including the Foul Spore Pit. You have been offered an exception that will enable you to participate in this one-time raid for the purpose of protecting your dungeon. Reward, 2500 experience, 25 gold, 500 dungeon resources. Possible bonus reward (based on performance) of additional creature types for the dungeon.

Drake and the others accepted the quest and another notification popped up.

Your party has been formed for the raid quest Rise of the Ghoul Lord. You have seven days to complete the quest. Destroy the ghoul lord and his minions. *Note, the player Drake has the pitmaster class. This class has the powerful ability to summon dungeon creatures to fight for the party. Accepting Drake into the raid group will take three of your ten player slots. The Raid members are as follows.

Raytak, commander level 6.

Jacoby, fighter level 6.

Kathala, priest of light level 5.

Quimby, ranger level 5 (spot held pending player confirmation).

Yendys, druid summoner level 5.

Drake, pitmaster level 4.

Ty, Imperium scout level 6. (pending confirmation)

Open spot: You can fill this spot at any point.

Do you wish to form this raid group? Y/N.

I hit yes and confirmed the party. Everyone present accepted immediately, but we would have to wait for Ty and Quimby to accept once they were back on. It looked like Ty was logged for his normal medpod resupply, which meant it would soon be time for me to do the same.

“I have to log in a bit gang. How about we meet in the morning at my garrison? Everyone should come up with ideas on how to combat the ghouls’ paralyzing touch. That ability really took my soldiers out of the fight last time. Jacoby, if you and Kathala can find one more player that would be great. I don’t really know a whole bunch of folks. We could really use a support class that can help large numbers of troops and, I guess, creatures if Drake’s class works like I think it does. Otherwise, I’ll see everyone in the morning,” I told everyone as I left the Petty Dispute to head to the garrison. I wanted to get back and check out the newest upgrade before the system forced me out.

The trip back to the garrison was uneventful, though the new entry point to the headquarters was a bit annoying to get through. I’ll take annoying over dead any time, so I just told myself to be patient as I made it through all the locked doors and mantraps. The new engineer barracks was placed next to the other long barracks buildings. The structure was double the height of the others and on one side it had large barn doors, presumably to move siege equipment into and out of. Once I made it to the war room, I activated the map table and pulled up the engineer barracks information.

Engineer Barracks: Utilizing the plans and expertise of the engineers, all of your defensive structures have been upgraded. All roads constructed will have improved efficiency. Continue to upgrade the engineer barracks to unlock further improvements. Recruitment of the engineer advanced soldier type is now unlocked. You are currently at max capacity for advanced class soldiers. You may choose to retire any number of your current advanced class soldiers in order to recruit this new troop type. The old troops will be unsummoned and one hour later their replacements will arrive.

Engineer of the Imperium: This advanced soldier has the same stats and armor as that of the standard soldier. Engineers do not use a shield and carry only the currently issued dagger to defend themselves with, needing their hands free to operate their siege equipment. The engineers will defend themselves, but their true strength lies in their siege equipment and their ability to create defenses. Review the following equipment available and make note of the number of engineers required to crew the equipment.

Small, crude catapult. The catapult hurls a large stone up to 200 yards with devastating force. Best used against static defenses. The catapult requires a crew of 5 engineers. Cost 25 resources.

Simple Scorpion. The scorpion resembles a huge crossbow and can hurl its large, bronze-tipped bolts at an effective range of over 100 yards for individual targets and up to 200 yards against large formations of enemies. The scorpions are deployed in pairs and each pair requires a crew of 5 engineers to operate. Cost 25 resources per pair.

Battering Ram. The battering ram is placed inside a covered and wheeled cart that can be used against gates and walls. Requires a crew of 10, but the crew can be composed of any soldiers and is one of the few siege engines that does not require engineers to operate. Cost 10 resources.

The upgrade to all our defenses was a pleasant surprise that helped soften the blow of finding out the engineer’s equipment would be yet another resource sink. I had twelve advanced soldiers now and decided to replace five of them and purchase a pair of scorpions for the coming battle. This would be a good test as to the effectiveness of the equipment in a large battle. I had to admit, I had a soft spot for field artillery, even if it was just throwing huge wooden bolts at the enemy. I issued the orders to “retire” five of the scouts and replace them with engineers that would crew my newly purchased scorpions. I had just finished when the AI notified me that it was time, once again, to be pulled from the game. I dreaded the countdown that appeared in the interface, hating that I was forced back to my feeble body and destroyed mind every five days. I soon couldn’t think of anything as the AI removed the processing power supporting my mind in preparation for logout.

Chapter 25

VA Medical Center, Knoxville TN

Trey looked down at his father as the medpod slowly opened. He had missed the last few revival cycles due to work and his mother’s failing health. His father looked much the same to him, but Nurse Fran smiled as she passed the dataslate showing his fathers condition to him.

“It may not look like it Mr. Trey, but your father is doing better. Just don’t get too impatient. This here medpod doohickey is doing amazing things, but even with all this technology it takes time for the body to heal,” Fran said, smiling as Trey read the data provided by the AI. Skimming the worst of the medical jargon, Trey zeroed in on the summary.

Patient’s physical condition is improving. Nanobots have achieved functional stability of all systems and homeostasis is achieved, though the status should be considered tenuous at this time. It should be noted that there does appear to be a limit as to what the current technology can achieve. Cellular degradation due to age-shortened telomeres cannot be reversed, though it does remain theoretically possible once advances in DNA therapy have been attained. In summation, the medpod with AI controls can only achieve so much for the patient. Age and degradation of the human body can only be slowed for a time, never overcome completely.

Mental state of the patient continues to improve. Neural degradation in the neocortex is extensive and repairs are slowly progressing. The patient is functioning at a high level in the gaming environment with the use of processing support, and mapping of neural responses in the area of memory is proceeding. Suppression of overstimulation in the realm of emotional responses has continued, especially in relation to the memories of familial experiences. Several memories have been remapped and unlocked. Several areas of his memory are still at risk of cascade failure should the patient be exposed to an abundance of stimuli. Remapping of memory structure to the intact and repaired neural pathways is currently at 54%. Unlocking of substantial past memories can be attempted at the 90% mark, but it is strongly suggested to not attempt this action until the 98% mark.

Clio interface report z334r786 is complete.

As Trey finished, the door to the room opened and Dr. Greenway entered. Trey handed her the dataslate and moved toward the medpod, holding his father’s hand while Nurse Fran prepared the medication refills the AI had suggested. Dr. Greenway finished the review and tapped a few minor medication changes before handing the dataslate to Fran.

“Here you go, Fran. I made a few changes, but overall I agree with the AI’s assessment. Well Trey, your father is doing well and it’s good to see you visit him. I know the science doesn’t support it, but I can’t help but feel that the presence of a loved one benefits a patient. How are things going with your game? I’m surprised the AI has time to deal with all that, now that we’re expanding the medpod program,” Greenway added, referring to the recent approval of several more medpods being added to the testing queue. This batch would include more veterans, as well as the first civilian patients. The bulk of the new patients were also older, though a few younger patients were being included to test how their bodies responded to the nanobots.

“Good to see you again, doctor. I wanted to see dad and check on his condition, since I knew it was about time for his meds to be updated. As far as the game, things are going well. My work on the medpod team keeps me from the day to day stuff the gaming division is working on, but from what I understand they’re breaking records left and right. I’ve been off for a few days. My mother has taken a turn for the worse and we’ve had to arrange for more care for her,” Trey added, with his smile vanishing once he mentioned his mother’s condition.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Trey. I hate that you have to deal with both parents being in a bad way. Hopefully we can get your mother into a medpod quickly. I’ll gladly head over to her hospital and help set it up once we’re approved,” Dr. Greenway said.

“That would be appreciated, Dr. Greenway. You’ve done a great job with my father and Mr. Ty. Part of me feels guilty that I may not be able to help my mother in time,” Trey sputtered, stopping as he felt tears begin to burn his eyes.

“If it’s any consolation, I think you’re doing as well as a son could be asked to do. Sorry to rush out, but I have to finish up the reporting from the AI’s latest data. I have a lot to do in getting the additional medpods ready for the VA patients that are being added,” Greenway said as she collected the data from Mr. Ty’s medpod before leaving the room.

“Sorry to interrupt you Mr. Trey, but my grandson Nolen wanted me to give this to you. He’s not much of a writer, but he spent a few hours working on this. His disability makes it hard for him to write, but he decided on his own, that it was the right thing to do.” With that, Fran handed me an envelope. Opening the envelope, I found a small handwritten note and a printout of a screenshot from the game. The screenshot showed a huge half-orc barbarian wielding a giant club and standing triumphant over the corpse of an ogre that he had presumedly slain. The note was poorly written, but Trey could feel the heart that Nolen had put into it.

Mr. Trey. Thanks for giving me the game. I now have lots of friends to play with that I would not never ever meet without the game. I am a barbarian and level 6 in game that is called Smashem. I’m in a guild called Exhort and we will help you if you ever need help in the game and stuff. Thank you again for letting me play and giving me all the VR stuff. I enclose a picture of my cool character too. Nolen

Trey smiled, glad he had been able to help the kid. He said his goodbyes to his father and left the hospital as the medpod closed once more. The medpod sent his father to the Limitless Lands, the only place he could be himself…and a place Trey could not yet visit him in. He would have to content himself with watching from the admin gear, at least until the AI finished repairing his memories…54% complete and only 46% to go.

Mantuco Enterprises Customer Care Center

Rose had just finished her last call of the shift. Working the customer service line was a far cry from assisting with a big project like she was doing before, but she was grateful for the work. The job would pay the bills until she finished school and, if she did well, another good position was waiting for her in the company. The company would place her in various positions over the next few years while she finished school. She would, by then, be more zeroed in on which department would be the best fit for her future career. Being on the phone with angry customers was no fun and she suspected that was part of the process to weed out those that couldn’t cut it. Rose was determined to not only cut it, but to also do the best job she could. Her father had told her once, “If you take a paycheck from someone, make sure your give them their money’s worth of work!” Her father was strict, but that work ethic had stuck with her. She was relieved that her parents hadn’t been mad when her previous position in the company was eliminated. They had been nothing but supportive of her just working part-time on the internship while she went back to school, continuing to let her stay at home for free until she finished.

After replacing her headset and making sure her machine was shut down properly, Rose clocked out for the day. She lingered at the drinking fountain for a bit, waiting for her co-workers to rush the elevator to leave for the day. Rose didn’t dislike her co-workers, just didn’t want to hear their gripes about the job. Working a call center job was tedious, but Rose knew it was just a stepping stone to better things for her. The others had determined this was their lot in life and were always complaining about what this customer or co-worker did that day. Once the crowd had died down, Rose had the elevator to herself on the ride down to the main floor. The next stop was the employee cafeteria.

The cafeteria had been a pleasant surprise during her time at Mantuco. The food was very good and the company priced everything below cost as a benefit to the employees. She had a ritual of ordering food to take home with her most nights, the meal usually being consumed on the long bus ride back to her house. Riding the bus hadn’t been so bad, selling her car was a necessity if she wanted to pay for school. The internship paid a good chunk, but with only working part time she couldn’t justify the luxury of a personal car. The bus service in town was safe and reliable.

A pesto crusted chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries kept Rose busy on the bus as she thought about what to do with the guild. She knew she was going to disband it. The other players would either keep going with Narbos, or would just drift off to other guilds. Rose would continue to play, but was planning on rerolling to another character, not wanting to be reminded of the mess that she had allowed Narbos to make for her. She didn’t blame him, he was just playing to win by any means necessary and Rose had the same intention initially. After having some time to think about it, she realized that she had been selfish and didn’t want to hurt other players’ experience with the game. Narbos had some competition going on with others from his school and was ruthless in his attempt to win. He was one of those people that just couldn’t lose to anyone else, a personality defect Rose was now determined to not develop for herself. After getting home, Rose logged into Limitless Lands to make her changes and let Narbos know she was leaving…along with his financial support from the guild.

At login, Rose’s character Vhellia appeared in the town of Bharga’s Crossing. Almost immediately, she began to get angry messages from Narbos and some others in the guild. Making her way to the bank in town, she opened the guild bank tab for Chaotic Outcomes. There was a sizeable sum of coin and various bits of gear and resources available to the guild. Vhellia set the AI to equally divide the coin and gear once the guild was dissolved. Glancing at the guild chat, she could see that Narbos had started his attack on Haven early…and that things weren’t going as planned. She crafted a quick message to the guild and sent it out before she committed to her next action.

Members of Chaotic Outcomes, I wanted to let you know that, effective immediately, the guild is being dissolved. Our partnership with those providing outside resources has been terminated and I no longer have the desire to run a guild. I have set everything to divide equally among all members once the guild is dissolved. Feel free to reform if you want to, but I have no desire to play in this toxic manner any longer. I will be rerolling to another class and will try to play in a  manner that benefits the community. I encourage you all to do the same. Best of luck to you all…Vhellia.

/guilddissolve

The guild, Chaotic Outcomes, had been dissolved.

With that command, Vhellia dissolved the guild. She then transferred all her gear and coin to her account. The things she had accumulated would give her new character a good boost while starting fresh. After transferring the items, Rose began to delete her character Vhellia.

Warning! You are about to delete your character, Vhellia. This is a permanent deletion and cannot be undone. Are you sure you wish to continue? Y/N.

Smiling, Rose gladly hit Y and then began to create a new character, looking forward to just playing for fun once again. Her future in the real world was no longer caught up in what she did in-game.

Chapter 26

Narbos was furious. The battle for Haven was difficult, but his forces had the upper hand, and then Vhellia went and pulled her little trick. There had been twenty-five guild members participating in the assault and now he had only seven. The rest skittered off after they heard the guild wouldn’t be supported financially by outside sources. They all received a decent chunk of coin and some gear or trade goods, enough for them to get a start elsewhere. The seven that remained were all lower level players, except for one level six barbarian. Most of these players had fewer options for advancement in the game and had stuck around to see what the rewards would be for conquering the town. Trying to message Vhellia was a bust, she had even deleted her character!

“How did this happen,” Narbos muttered, not realizing that Darkfallow had moved up next to him.

“I’m not sure, but at least she split up the money. Are you going to keep with your plan to conquer stuff? Maybe we can form our own guild now, without the other losers,” Darkfallow offered.

Narbos sighed while thinking, not bothering to reply immediately to the idiot Darkfallow. Narbos wondered who had put Vhellia up to this? He could only assume It was one of the other students competing for the scholarship, but which one.

He didn’t think it was Danica, she wasn’t the sharpest student, too dumb to plan something this complex. Narbos knew she could spout political slogans and was fully committed to creating a socialist utopia in-game…no, her zone was collapsing. He could rest assured that she didn’t have the resources, or the intellectual muscle to plan something this complex.

Narbos knew that left only Delling. Delling was sharp enough to do something like this and was beginning to acquire more resources, Narbos had found out from his spies. The town of Hayden’s Knoll had been doing well in-game lately, thanks to his new friend the commander guy, Raytak. That was fine as far as Narbos was concerned. He had developed a plan to take care of Delling’s little helper. A plan that had all the pieces in place already. Narbos was always planning. He even had a plan to deal with Vhellia. Thankfully, she had saved him the trouble by deleting her character. That would save some resources that could now be spent elsewhere. Time to activate his plan to get rid of Raytak; much was riding on his analysis of the AI’s behavior. He was genuinely curious as to what was about to happen to commander man, Raytak, once his plans reached fruition.

“Darkfallow, I’m going to finish up the battle here. You need to deliver a message for me. Let our friend know that it’s time for him to act. Give him this and let him know there will be a bonus if he completes his task quickly.” With that, Narbos handed over the bag of coins he had just received from the dissolution of the guild. Vhellia had unwittingly provided the means for him to complete his plan. Narbos would not be outsmarted by Delling and his newest minion. Let’s see how fast his control of the zone progresses with his soldier gone on a vacation. Darkfallow took the coin and hustled on his journey. It would take him a long transition trip and bit of legging it to meet with his contacts. Narbos wanted quick, but here was a lot of travel involved in this plan.

Narbos turned his attention back to the battle in front of him. Things were not going so well now that most of the former guild players had abandoned him. The AI had created quests for at least a half-dozen players to oppose his assault on the last free city holding out in the zone. Before they left, his players had managed to force open the gates of the city, as well as create a breach in one of the walls to the east of the town. His forces had poured into the breaches, but it seemed they were being forced back now that they no longer had the guild players supporting the attack. The guardsmen of the town had rallied, gaining some kind of short-term morale buff.

Narbos had gone with a quantity over quality strategy early in his build, leaning toward commanding more and more forces. The lack of gear and training of his AI generated forces was beginning to show. They were vicious and bloodthirsty, just not very effective. The majority of his troops were human warriors called reavers. They were lightly armored with crude leather and carried a hand axe and wooden shield. Several bands of the reavers were set up as ranged troops and carried a sling as their primary weapon. The item level for the reavers’ gear was about 15-20 despite the soldiers sharing his level of nine. While their health pool was stout, there would need to be more investment in their gear after this fight. Quality and quantity would have to merge; he couldn’t count on waves of poorly equipped forces doing the job for him any longer. Arrayed around Narbos was his elite guard, the executioners. These wore dark chainmail and carried a two-handed axe. The item level of gear for the executioners was better and they had several good combat abilities. He was loath to use them for anything but bodyguards though, as they respawned slowly if killed and there were only a few of them in his force.

He had started the battle with nearly 600 reavers, the guild members, and some npc mercenaries he had hired. The forty mercenaries had been killed in the initial assault, helping to breach the wall. The reavers had taken many casualties before making it into the town and, from the sounds of the battle, Narbos was now sure they were being pushed back. While he watched, several reavers left the breach in the wall, their morale broken.

“Runner!” Narbos ordered and one of the executioners moved up. Gather the seven players we have left and help the assault at the breach. Kill any that try to flee.” Narbos grinned as he gave orders, loving the feeling of power over life and death his class gave him. Soon after, the executioner had rounded up the players, of which only four were still alive, and charged into the breach in the eastern wall. Half a dozen of the fleeing reavers were cut down by his players before he lost sight of them in the breach. A system prompt appeared.

You have executed the weak, setting an example to all your forces who would flee from their duty. Morale increased by 1 for the rest of the battle.

Looking to his left, Narbos considered his reserve. He had a force of fifty reavers he had held in reserve and about forty kobolds. The kobolds had been taken as slaves when he conquered their mine here in the zone and he had brought some along for fun. He didn’t care if they were wiped out, as they would respawn again quickly at the mine. The kobolds had no armor and wielded only crude picks and shovels for weapons. The kobolds health pools were also small, as they were only level two. He sent the kobolds to reinforce the faltering attack on the main gates. The kobolds trotted the two hundred yards toward the town, already nearing morale failure despite having taken no casualties. His executioners suddenly brought their axes to bear as a figure appeared next to Narbos.

“Pull the leash on your dogs, Narbos. I’m here to collect my fee,” the assassin Lovely said as she held up her hands to show she was no threat.

“Lovely, you really need to stop doing that. One day the guards will attack you before I realize who it is. What’s this about collecting your fee? The attack is still progressing. You were supposed to help us win,” Narbos grumbled. The assassin had been hired to take out certain key town leaders and players defending Haven.

“I did exactly what the contract asked for. All three targets you gave me were taken out. I even killed one player twice, after she respawned, to delay her getting back to the fight again. I would not recommend you try to cheat me, Narbos. You should be giving me a bonus, not a hard time,” Lovely growled. She was getting angry as it wasn’t her fault the attack was in danger of failing. Narbos was not a great war leader. He had a huge numerical advantage and squandered it away, using head-on attacks into the strongest of Haven’s defenses. Lovely had spent the last hour sneaking into town and setting up her targets. The player she had killed twice was a level 5 cleric, which were always a pain to take down quickly with all the heals they had. Her other two targets had been npc’s of level seven and five. Both went down easy, though the town guard did spot her once, forcing her to use up a daily stealth ability. Lovely was perfectly ready to leave without her reward, if Narbos went back on the contract. She would then spend every spare moment in-game ganking him for breaking a deal.

Narbos bristled, but realized he was frustrated at the situation and Lovely had done everything he had asked. He begrudgingly handed over the box containing the matching dagger to the one he had given Lovely earlier, lamenting that he had lost the outside benefactor that Vhellia had been working with. The lack of funds would put a damper on his plans until he could get the zone producing more coin that he could tax.

“Would you be open to another job? How much to help the attack?” Narbos offered, thinking if he could get Lovely to help, the attack would be a sure success.

“Our business is done, Narbos. Rumor has it your guild is gone and so is your funding. I’ve got other jobs to attend to. Pleasure doing business with you.” With that, Lovely activated stealth and made her way toward the transition point, admiring the new dagger. The set was now complete. These daggers would be top tier until close to level 30!

The Long Goodbye. This dagger is the twin to the Final Kiss dagger. The pair has taken the lives of many over the years. If the poison of the final kiss didn’t kill them, the bleeding wound from the long goodbye would.  Item level 125. Guaranteed bleed effect on hit, dealing 5 damage per second for the next 10 seconds. This ability stacks with itself, allowing for horrendous amounts of blood loss. Requires level 8 and the user must be of neutral or evil alignment to use.

Set bonus! You have brought together both daggers of this set. Additional abilities unlocked. Item level +25 for each dagger. The final kiss now will allow up to two different poisons to be applied at one time. The long goodbye damage over time effect increased to a 12 second duration.

Narbos watched Lovely vanish. He liked the assassin; she was all business. He could appreciate someone who was as single minded and focused as he was. Too bad she was so hacked up and ugly. He wasn’t sure why she built her character that way. Snapping his attention back to the battle, he was just in time to see his kobolds fleeing. It looked like they had lost a dozen of their number. Hopefully they at least did some damage to their foes.

Looking to the last of his reserves, Narbos sent the fifty remaining reavers into the fight at the gate. Narbos was no tactician and had never heard the military axiom to “never reinforce failure”. Following their overlords command, the last fifty reavers charged the breached gate, reaching it just as the last of the prior attackers were forced out. A line of town guards formed, blocking the open gateway with their spears and shields ready. The reavers began to take casualties as they approached. A half-dozen archers now appeared on top of the wall, adding their fire to the gate defense. The reavers crashed into the shield wall, briefly breaking the line and hacking apart several defenders with their axes.

His latest group of reavers began to push back the defenders, slowly gaining ground step by step. Just as he gathered hope for a victory, Narbos received a message from one of the players attacking the breach in the wall.

“Dude, we got creamed by the other players and guards. They had three level fives and sixes, too much for us to handle. Were out, dude. Good luck with the game, but it’s time for us to find somewhere else to level. I’m heading somewhere to spend all the sweet, sweet guild loot we all just got,” Haxxorsupreme420.

A dozen town guards and two level five players poured from breached wall. They made their way toward the gate to flank the reavers. Seeing their escape was about to be cut off, the remaining reavers fled, throwing down their weapons to get away faster. Fewer than a dozen made it back to where Narbos waited, brooding at his shattered and destroyed army.

“Take care of these brave warriors my guard,” Narbos ordered before turning and heading back to his seat of power in Bharga’s Crossing. His executioners’ axes flashed, killing the reavers who had retreated from the battle before falling into position once again to protect their master. System prompts began to appear.

Your vicious response to failure has earned you the reputation “failure is not an option”. Forces under your command will have a +2 bonus to morale in battle, more afraid of you than the enemy in front of them.

You have failed in your attack on the town of Haven. Ownership will remain the same. Take control of the town hall and graveyard to control the town.

Narbos would have a long wait for his forces to regenerate, but he would be preparing in the meantime. There would be another attack on Haven in the future, one he was determined to win.

Chapter 27

My faculties returned slowly as the AI applied its processing power to my mind once again. The room swam as it came into focus. I was thankful that I couldn’t feel nauseated in-game…at least I didn’t think I could. I rose from my cot and made my way outside the headquarters building, while a message popped up from Yendys.

Old man Raytak, we’re ready to go when you are. Jacoby was able to get his friend Nitor to join the raid. Nitor is a bard and can give everyone a save bonus with his music to help us not get all paralyzed and stuff. We’ll meet you at the front gate when you’re ready.

Great, just what I needed; some bard singing the whole time. I couldn’t complain about the logic though. Anything to boost resistance against the ghoul touch was a win. I sent a reply to Yendys as I made my way to the parade ground inside the garrison. Sergeant Brooks and my friend Ty were ready for me, already having the entire force formed up and ready for travel.

“Legion! Attention!” Sergeant Brooks called as I approached, the entire garrison snapping to attention.

“At ease, soldiers. As you know, we’re heading out to face the only foe that has ever defeated our forces in combat. The ghoul lord awaits and I intend to see him put into the ground for the final time. The last time we met, our enemy had the element of surprise, attacking us while our forces were depleted and weak from prior battles. Now we stand with the full might of the 1st Legion and will crush any who oppose us. I have gathered together friends and allies to our cause who will join us in this campaign. Post the colors!” I ordered, and the standard bearer moved to the front of the column, carrying the standard of the 1st Legion of Hayden’s Knoll. The standard bearer took the newest banner we had acquired for defeating the slavers and attached it to the standard. “Forward, march!” I ordered, and the entire formation began to march out of the gates of the garrison. Ty slapped me on the shoulder as he fell in next to me.

“Good to be in the fight again together, my friend. With the marine corps here to keep you from dying again, we’ll win for sure,” Ty joked while looking back at the formation shaking out into a column of four behind us. The order of march had Ty and me, along with the standard bearer, in front. Immediately behind us were the seven remaining scouts, followed closely by 1st platoon. Between 1st and 2nd platoon, the extra two squads were joined by the new engineer team. The five engineers lugged the pieces of their siege engines along, thankful to not also have shields and swords to drag around as well. From what I could gather, they were able to assemble the pair of scorpions quickly if needed. One man of each squad in the legion carried two of the special bolts that the scorpions fired, instead of their usual loadout of three javelins. Every man had a full pack with rations and gear; a heavy load, but one which every soldier was familiar with carrying.

Ty began a cadence as we moved through town toward the main gate, the soldiers picking it up as Ty modified it for our current situation.

“Someday you’ll be alone,

Someday you’ll be alone,

Way down in a combat zone.

Way down in a combat zone.

Don’t you worry, now don’t be blue,

Don’t you worry, now don’t be blue,

The mighty first Legion will save you!

The mighty first Legion will save you!

Someday, you’ll be alone,

Someday, you’ll be alone,
all alone in a combat zone.

All alone in a combat zone.

Don’t you worry, now don’t you cry,

Don’t you worry, now don’t you cry,

Lieutenant Raytak will keep you alive!

Lieutenant Raytak will keep you alive!

Someday, you’ll come back home,

Someday, you’ll come back home,

Come back home from that combat zone.

Come back home from that combat zone.

God and country will love you,

God and country will love you,

You’ll be a hero, tried and true!

You’ll be a hero, tried and true!”

Once again, players and npc’s emptied from the buildings, gawking at the sight of so many troops marching and calling cadence with pride. A system prompt appeared as we made it to the front gate and spotted the rest of our raid.

Seeing their brave soldiers march to battle to defend them has inspired the town. The town of Hayden’s Knoll will have a morale buff to all productive activities for the next twenty-four hours.

“Woah, cool! Old man Raytak, is that how you marched when you were in the real army?” Yendy’s asked as we approached.

“Something like that kid, only with fewer swords and more guns. Wish I had my m4 right now instead of a sword. But, knowing my bad luck at ranged weapons in-game, I’d probably blue on blue and take out a squad of my own soldiers accidently,” I answered, and Yendys looked confused from my military references before introducing me to the newest member of the raid.

This is Nitor. He’s not one of those annoying bards. He’s was burnt or something and chants instead of playing stupid little guitars and stuff,” Yendys said, confused. Nitor shook my hand and introduced himself.

“I’m a skald, Raytak. It’s a variation of the ancient Norse poets. I have different chants that can inspire the group and give buffs, though it seems your forces will give me a run for my money with that cadence you just finished. Nice work, sir,” Nitor added. He seemed like he would fit in just fine, despite Yendys confusing skald for scald.

“Everyone ready to roll? If so, let’s get moving and kill us some ghouls!” Ty shouted, the soldiers cheering in response.

“We’re all set. Just tell us where you want us, Raytak,” Jacoby added.

“Everyone can march where they like. Maybe Quimby can help Ty and the scouts keep an advance guard. Other than that, let’s push on toward the Drebix lands. I have a bad feeling they’re going to get the brunt of the ghoul attacks,” The column then moved out. The other players, except for Quimby and Ty, joining the front of the column as we made our way down the plateau and then marched toward the Drebix lands. Between the seven scouts, the level 5 ranger, and Ty being a level 6 Imperial scout, we were well protected from any surprises. I didn’t survive to such an old age by being complacent. I further aided our defense against a surprise attack by placing a section at the front, rear, and sides of the column as advance guards, flankers, and rear guards. Adding a layer of warning to the main column.

A few hours into our march, one of scouts came running back to the column. I ordered a halt and we assumed a defensive formation. The scout made a beeline toward me to deliver his message.

“Sir, we have encountered a Drebix. The man says he knows you. Ty wanted me to speak with you before we allowed him close enough to get eyeballs on the column. The Drebix says his name is Beremund. What are your orders, sir?” the scout reported. Ty was right. Normally I wouldn’t let anyone get a look at our order of battle, if I could prevent it. If Beremund was here, things must be bad with the Forerunner clan.

“Send him through, Scout. I believe this one’s a friend and will have information we might need on the ghoul lord,” I ordered, and the scout returned to report. Ty appeared shortly thereafter, leading Beremund. Beremund looked all used up, like he had been traveling too long with too little food or sleep for the last few days. Beremund’s eyes widened as he saw the extent of our force.

“Raytak, I have come to see if you were truly a man of your word. A great evil has been unleashed on my people and it will surely consume yours as well, if they are not stopped. The dead have come back to feast on and torment the living. Is that why your army is here? Have you somehow known of this, or were you merely seeking to invade and conquer us while we are weak?” Beremund asked, still leery of anything coming from the Imperium. I signaled for him to sit and had food and water brought up.

“Eat, drink, and take a minute before you continue,” I offered, allowing the Drebix to catch his breath. He attacked the strips of dried meat we offered and quickly drained a skin of water. “I know of this threat and was there when it began,” I said before recounting for everyone what had happened when we first discovered the Dunderman farm.

“Woah, totally creepy, old man Raytak. Thanks a lot! That story is sooo going to give Crunchy nightmares tonight,” Yendys squeaked from behind me. The crazy druid and the rest of the players had gathered around while I had been telling the tale of what had happened at the Dunderman farm. Beremund looked startled as Crunchy pushed his way through the crowd to get a look at what was going on, or more likely, to try and snag a piece of meat if anyone offered him one.

“You keep interesting company, Raytak,” Beremund said as he tossed a bit of dried meat to the giant beetle, now confident that it was a companion and not a threat. “It started several days ago. The attacks on my people from the gnolls had been increasing. The outlying farms were hit, and we pulled most of the families back to the main village while we prepared to take the fight to the gnolls. Slowly the attacks diminished and I took a band of warriors out to find out what was happening. I observed a band of gnolls attack a farmer and his people. The fools had been too stubborn to come back to the main village. During the attack, these ghouls arrived, killing not only the gnolls, but also the farmers. Some of those killed were eaten, but many were turned into more of those abominations. I sent word to the village and then set out to find you. There is little time to waste. These creatures increase in number each day we delay. My people are brave, but the number of those who can fight has been diminished by the gnoll raids,” Beremund finished with tears beginning to stream down his eyes at the thought of the fate that awaited his people.

“Don’t worry, Beremund. We’ll tackle these ghouls together. We’ll drive them from the zone and make this a place that both our peoples can enjoy in peace. Can you lead us toward your main village? I know you don’t entirely trust us, but something tells me that’s where this ghoul lord will end up.” I was asking a lot of the distrustful Drebix. To give up the location of his main village was to give us the information we would need to crush his tribe in the future. Beremund looked lost in thought for a moment before nodding.

“I’ll lead you there myself. It’s a little more than a day’s travel from here,” Beremund told me. We quickly reformed the column and kept a brisk pace until late in the afternoon, when I called a halt. Beremund came up to me nearly frantic.

“Raytak, there is much daylight left! We can make several more miles before we stop!” Beremund exhorted. I could understand his frustration, but there were good reasons for what I did.

“We need time to build a fortified camp, Beremund. If we had just a small party I would press on, but we’re too big a group and need to make defenses if we want to prevent an ambush tonight. I don’t want to blunder into the ghoul lord on the cusp of nightfall, or have all his creatures charge into an open camp late in the night either. Watch, Beremund, and learn one reason the Imperium is feared by our foes.” With that, we went about creating a standard fortified camp. I had selected a spot on the open plain where there was gentle upward slope, creating a small area of high ground. The defenses quickly took shape, an impressive feat since we were only using some hand tools and lumber. Any attacker would have a bad night if they tried to overcome the defenses. The engineers assembled their scorpions and placed them where they could get the best fields of fire. With all the soldiers I commanded, the work went quickly. Beremund and the other players sat in stunned silence at the industrious soldiers that quickly turned a low hillock into a formidable defensive work. Guards were set and watchfires burned as we settled in for the evening, preparing the traditional “back and beans” for everyone. I found myself gathered with the rest of the players while Beremund walked the camp, asking questions about how they created the camp.

“Raytak, Yendys tells us you and Ty were soldiers in real life. I have a cousin in the army, he’s a drone pilot. Did you guys do something like that?” Nitor asked. Ty chuckled before responding.

“Raytak was a filthy army infantryman, but I was something greater! I’m a marine. I hate to admit it, but Raytak knows his way around a battlefield despite only being in the army,” Ty stated.

“That’s right, Nitor. I was in the army. Not the drones and support stuff that exists now. We were both in the service during wartime. I also do admit that I couldn’t get into the marine corps…they wouldn’t allow me in because I was able to read,” I joked, as Ty hit me in the arm for the comment. His huge fist hurt.

You have been hit by an unarmed strike from Ty. You have lost 12 health.

“Really? There’s no way! There haven’t been soldiers in combat for decades. You guys are just messing with us, right?” Nitor asked. I decided that the AI hadn’t stopped me, so it must be ok with us giving a bit more information about our past.

I was born in 1992, joined the army while I was in college. Graduated at 22 with a degree in history and a commission as a Lieutenant in the United States Army. Served for 25 years in the infantry and led soldiers all around the world. I caught the tail end of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, then fought in the Saudi revolutionary wars of 2022, the Iranian war in 2030, against African warlords in 2033, and against the Iranians again for the second Iranian conflict in 2035 before I retired. The army was converting to drones about the time I chose to retire. I could see the time for combat soldiers in the service was just about done. Thankfully, it looks like we’re the last of a dying breed, men who have fought other men in armed conflict; something I hope none of you ever have to face. After the military, I ran a company for a few years as a military contractor before the military contracting business disappeared as well. I finished my PHD and taught military history until I finally retired for good,” I said as I tried to parse my next words carefully. “We might be old, but old bodies don’t mean anything in a VR game, does it,” I smiled as I scooted around the issue of the medpod.

“I’m a bit younger than Raytak, so I missed the Afghan/Iraq stuff, but fought everywhere else he mentioned. Lost this in real life during the second Iranian conflict and was forced to retire,” Ty gestured toward his arm and the assembled players sat there with their mouths open in shock. “I was told I was disabled and forced to discharge from the Corps, but what the hell do civilians know. I kept working despite my disability rating and bought a small café serving old fashioned diner food in South Carolina. One of my grandkids now runs the joint, if I remember correctly. I met this lug, Raytak, at the VA hospital once and let him drag me into playing video games,” Ty said finishing his own story, while also finding a way to skirt the medpod issue.

“Dang! Makes my story about being a network administrator seem kind of dull now, doesn’t it,” Nitor said and we all had a good laugh. “Can I ask how you lost your arm, Mr. Ty?” Nitor asked. Ty glared at him for a moment before nodding. Usually, most veterans didn’t like to tell the stories of their injuries, but these other players all seemed like good and respectful kids, so Ty didn’t mind dredging up bad memories for a bit.

“I was leading a patrol through the town of Khoy in northern Iran during the second war there when it happened. We were clearing buildings, looking for weapons and insurgents, when we tripped an ambush. We had just breached the door to a suspected arms stash, when several insurgents attacked. They had gotten ahold of some old RPG 30’s and decided my squad of marines were as good a target as they were going to get. Several insurgents popped up on the roof of the building next to us. The shooters I had positioned on overwatch got most of them, but two were able to get rockets fired off before they were killed. One of the rockets killed three of my squad that had just entered the building and the second rocket left me with this,” Ty said, touching his empty sleeve. “I could care less about the loss of an arm. The loss of three of the best men I ever had the honor of leading hurts more than the arm ever did. Fortunately, the corpsman with us was good and he kept me alive until evac arrived. I suppose that’s why I’m enjoying the game so much. When the fights over, win or lose, all the players respawn and the fun starts all over again. There’s no respawn in the conflicts Raytak and I participated in,” Ty finished while looking down at the fire, lost in the past.

The group was silent for a while, processing what we had told them.

“Well, I’m sure glad you guys are on our side. I definitely wouldn’t want to be a ghoul tomorrow, trying to fight against real soldiers. But on to important things…did anyone bring dessert?” Quimby added, his comment breaking the awkward silence as we all groaned.

Chapter 28

Despite the lack of dessert, everyone had a good evening. The group of people we had gathered together for the raid got along well, all of us enjoying each other’s company and the adventure of the moment. When morning came we all ate a quick breakfast of oatcakes and dried fruit before striking camp. I ordered the column to fall into the same formation we had used the previous day and we moved quickly toward the Drebix lands. Beremund went with the scouts to direct them toward the Drebix village, which I found out was named Lorkrim. The morning passed quickly, the terrain became the familiar rolling hills and stands of trees that were common in this area of the zone. Near midday we stopped at a stream for a short break, eating dried meat and filling water skins with the cool, clear water of the stream.

Shortly after our midmorning break we began to see smoke on the horizon and the column picked up the pace. Smoke was never a good sign. We passed several abandoned farms, a few had the doors ominously smashed in with bloodstains visible on the outer walls. We neared the village of Lorkrim, which turned out to be the source of the flames, a large, tree lined hill blocking our view of what was going on. Ty and Beremund emerged from the trees, moving fast toward the column. I called a halt and waited for the scouts to arrive.

“We found it, Raytak. It looks like the villagers piled brush and logs around the center of the town and lit it off to keep the ghouls at bay. The ghouls are there. I estimate nearly 200 of them. There’s an equal number of gnolls and humans in the ghoul packs. I didn’t spot anything that looked like a ghoul lord, but I’m sure it’ll show itself once we begin the attack. As far as terrain, the village sits in a valley and the ghouls are all close in, trying to find a way through the flames. The hill directly in front of us may be our best bet for a fight. The forest ends on the other side. The Drebix must have cleared most of the trees to help build the village. That gives us the high ground as I can only think the ghouls will come pouring toward us once we’re spotted. From up there we’ll be able to thin their number with ranged weapons before they reach us. From what we’ve seen, the ghouls have no ranged attacks,” Ty reported.

“Good work, Ty. Let me head back up the hill with you. I want to check out the terrain for myself before I commit to the fight,” I told Ty. We double timed it back up the hill, so I could get the lay of the land. The hill was just large enough for us to deploy the whole force. The village and the circling packs of ghouls were about 300 yards away. Most of this side of the hill was a clear area, but the left flank of the hill was still covered in forest. The Drebix hadn’t gotten around to clearing out the whole slope yet.

“I like the ground; my only concern is the forest to our flanks and rear. That may provide cover for ghouls slipping in behind us. Any ideas, Ty?” I asked.

“I think if you can give me some time, Quimby and I can set traps in that area to give us some warning and thin out any attackers that come that way. That flank will also make a good spot to place the other players. They’re our most powerful force and best suited to either hold that flank or charge in and surprise the ghouls once they commit to an attack on your legion,” Ty offered.

“I agree. I’ll get everyone moving and send Quimby up to give you a hand,” I told Ty as I hustled back to the column. The other players, Beremund, and Sergeant Brooks gathered around as I returned.

“Looks like the hill in front of us is the best place for our fight. Quimby, head up and give Ty a hand, if you don’t mind. He wants you to set up some surprises for the ghouls,” I told Quimby who had an evil grin on his face as he ran to help Ty.

“Jacoby, take the rest of the players, except for Nitor, and set up in the forest to our left. Ty is up there and will show you where he wants you. That area may be trouble and I’d like our strongest force there. Stay quiet and hidden for as long as you can. The more time my men have to set up before the ghouls notice us, the better. Nitor, you fall in with my forces. I want you in the center of the line, so your chants and the buffs will cover the soldiers,” I ordered. Jacoby, Kathala, Yendys, Crunchy, and Drake moved off toward the forest. They were a strong party and could handle themselves well in a fight. If they did get into too much trouble, they would be strong enough to stay alive until I could send help.

“Beremund, this is your land and you can choose where you want to fight. I would like to have you near me as I command my troops, in case we need to contact the village or signal them at some point,” I asked Beremund. He nodded and moved to my side. “Sergeant Brooks, form up the men. I want 1st platoon on the left and 2nd holding the right. Each platoon will present a front two squads wide and two deep, with the fifth squad of each platoon holding the center. That will give us a line that is fifty soldiers wide. The extra two squads will form to the rear, ready to respond to any emergencies or extend the line if needed. Scouts will move forward twenty-five yards from the main force and engage at maximum range only after the ghouls spot us. Once the ghouls close, fall back behind the line and fire at targets of opportunity, while providing cover for the engineers. Engineers, set up your artillery to the rear of the line. The incline of the hill will allow you to fire over us until the ghouls are engaged in melee. Once we’re in melee, try to pick off any targets of opportunity you can. Everyone move quietly and quickly. Once we’re in position, I want you to start building a defensive berm. If they give us the time, I want a complete defensive position with stakes facing our foes in record time. Move out,” I ordered to the men. The legion shook itself out into formation as we marched up the hill. Our force crested the hill and marched about thirty-five yards down the slope before I quietly called a halt.

“All right men, looks like they haven’t spotted us yet…get to work,” I ordered, and the men began to construct the defenses. Looking toward my left, I could just make out Jacoby and his group just inside the tree line, waiting for the fight to start. Kathala and Yendys were casting buffs and I hoped the light from their magic wouldn’t be seen by the ghouls. The scouts moved forward twenty-five yards in front of our line and took a knee after loading their crossbows. Twenty yards to the rear, engineers were assembling the scorpions. I was curious to see how well the small siege engines would perform. A detail of soldiers gathered the scorpion bolts that men in each squad were carrying and dropped them off in a pile next to the scorpions. With the ones already carried by the crews, we had thirty scorpion bolts to work with.

Looking down at the village, I could see the fire was beginning to die down, having consumed most of its fuel. A few villagers were seen running up and throwing anything consumable into the fire, trying to keep it going just a bit longer. There looked to be thirty or forty warriors standing ready to protect the villagers. Every adult also carried a weapon and would be willing to fight to protect their people, but I could only count on the thirty or forty warriors to contribute meaningfully to the fight. Beremund approached me, agitated that we hadn’t begun an attack.

“Why do we wait, Raytak? The fire is starting to die and the ghouls will be all over the villagers once they can get through,” Beremund pleaded.

“Don’t worry, we’ll start the festivities well before the fires die down. The longer we wait, the better prepared for the fight we’ll be,” I said, gesturing to the rapidly forming defensive berm. There was already a two-foot-deep and growing trench to the front and flanks. Soldiers walked up and down the line hammering sharpened wooden stakes into the berm. Sergeant Brooks moved up and down our developing position, helping to make sure everything was being done correctly and quickly. We wouldn’t have defenses to our rear, there just wasn’t enough time for that.

“Sir, both batteries are assembled and ready to fire at your command,” the engineer in charge of the scorpions advised.

“Uhhh, Raytak. I think we just got noticed,” Nitor advised. Looking down toward the village I could see one of the ghoul packs sniffing the air and looking our way. A series of unnatural howls were heard as more and more ghouls noticed our position. The creatures began to gather together and move toward our force, abandoning their attempt at the surviving villagers in order to get to easier prey. They became more and more agitated until a figure I knew to be the ghoul lord appeared from a hut that had been left standing outside the ring of fire. Ghoul lord Dunderman held what appeared to be a human arm in his clawed hand, tearing off chunks and chewing greedily as he considered our forces. He let out a disturbing shriek, calling all his forces to him as he moved toward our lines in order to get a better look. It soon became obvious that we had underestimated the total number of ghouls, as more and more were emerging from the abandoned homes.

“All right lads, nobody told you to stop working,” I heard Sergeant Brooks order, keeping the men on task. They began to dig and hammer spikes at a quicker pace now that the growing number of enemies had noticed them.

“Batteries one and two, target the ghoul lord. Is he in range?” I inquired of the engineers.

“Yes, sir; it’s at the edge of effective range when we factor in our greater elevation, but these beauties will make it. Ready to fire at your command, sir,” the chief engineer advised. I noticed that the npc now was showing a name, Corporal Tavers. Named npc’s for my forces were rare, I’d have to keep an eye on this one to see how he works out.

“Fire at will, Corporal. Keep on the ghoul lord if you think he’s within range. If not, fire at any targets of opportunity. Kill me some ghouls, Tavers. Show me that your scorpions weren’t a waste of resources,” I ordered.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Both weapons fired, and the large bolts could be seen sailing toward our enemy. Both shots landed thirty or forty yards short, missing the slowly advancing ghoul lord and his milling pack. Tavers broke into a stream of curses, berating his crew for their incompetence. The corporal then grabbed one of the scorpions and quickly spun the wheel to pull back the arms of the apparatus. He carefully selected a bolt from the pile in front of him, rejecting the first two he looked at before finding one that suited him. Ripping up a few blades of grass he threw them up in the air, testing the wind. Finally, Tavers settled in behind the scorpion and began to fine tune his aim, making minor adjustments before gently squeezing the release.

Thunk.

The bolt sailed toward the ghoul lord who was watching with amusement as his forces gathered around. The overconfident ghoul looked surprised as the heavy bolt slammed into his chest, knocking him off his feet. A cheer rose up from the men as we struck first blood in the conflict. Corporal Tavers grinned as he turned the scorpion back over to its crew.

“Just needed a bit of fine-tuning, sir. I’m sure the men will put bolts on target now that they have the kinks worked out,” the engineer stated proudly.

“Good shot, Corporal. Let’s hope your crews can duplicate your feat,” I said, not wanting to let the corporal of the hook too easily. Down in the valley, Dunderman rose to his feet and tore the bolt from his chest. His health bar down by a few percent. The ghoul lord’s hiss of anger and pain was heard all the way back to our lines. Dunderman gestured toward our position and the mass of ghouls charged forward, quickly eating up the distance that separated the two forces.

“All right men, fall in, we’ve done all we can to prepare the defenses,” Sergeant Brooks said. The men stowed away their tools and fell in behind the berm, readying their javelins for when the ghouls entered range. The crossbows were in range first and the seven scouts began to fire as rapidly as they could while still maintaining accuracy. Crossbow bolts sought out dead flesh, piercing and damaging their targets. The ghouls were harmed by missile weapons, unlike many other undead creatures; something to do with them still needing an intact digestive system I conjectured.

Arrows also streaked by from the forest edge as Quimby added his fire to the mix, his longbow never missing against such a mass of targets. The scorpions fired out another volley when the ghouls hit one hundred yards, killing three more of the undead as one of the bolts pierced two creatures at the same time. Unfortunately, the kills we were making were just drops in the bucket considering the size of the horde heading our way. At one hundred yards, Yendys and Drake stepped from the forest edge, already casting spells and activating abilities. Yendys created a patch of her signature piercing vines. Spiked vines tore from the ground and entangled several of the ghouls, damaging them as their thorny strands held the ghouls in place. The ghouls howled in fury, slashing wildly at the vines holding them, often damaging themselves as their long claws sliced their own legs as often as the vines. Yendys’ attack broke up the formation, causing many of the ghouls to swerve around the patch of grasping vines.

Drake’s ability was even more impressive. Raising his arm, Drake pointed to a spot in the middle of the horde of ghouls. The swirling light of a small portal appeared, and figures could be seen moving inside of it. Out of the portal stepped first one, then five, and finally nearly twenty goblin miners. These creatures were only level 2, but were elite dungeon creatures, ported directly from the foul spore pit. The goblins hefted their picks and shovels, charging the nearest foe they could see. Dozens of ghouls stopped their charge to engage the tasty morsels that had just appeared in front of them.

The distractions allowed my scouts to pick their way through the spikes we had driven into the ground around our lines, falling back behind the main line to safely support us with more fire. Despite the distractions and losses, there were still hundreds of ghouls approaching the line. At fifty yards, I had the men launch the first wave of javelins.

A flight of 122 javelins sailed toward the ghouls. Many of the javelins landed short since we were throwing at extreme range. Those that found their mark dropped over two dozen ghouls, half the number dead and the other half losing large chunks of their health pools while being knocked to the ground from the force of the missiles. The barrage did break up their formation, as dying and wounded ghouls fouled the charge of the undead behind them. Chanting could be heard from Nitor as he began to bolster our resistances, now that the enemy was near. Taking Nitor’s example, I activated the command presence ability, stacking even more buffs on my troops. While chanting uninterrupted, Nitor also began to throw daggers into the approaching horde, helping to bring down our foes in any way he could.

The second volley of javelins fell, dropping and wounding a score more of the ghouls. At ten yards, everyone launched their last javelin. This time, the close ranged attack was devastating. Ghouls toppled over dead or wounded, fouling the movement of the others around them. Instead of an overwhelming wave, the mass of creatures hit our defenses in a disorganized chaos. The ghouls swarmed over the shallow trench, many more of them slowed and damaged by the sharpened spikes. I watched as the jostling ghouls pushed each other into the deadly defenses. The ghouls were concerned only with reaching the tasty flesh that was nearly in their grasp and not caring at all about the damage they were causing their own kind.

Looking to the left, I could see Yendys and her pet beetle, Crunchy, running back toward the forest. It looked like my hunch was correct and I assumed more ghouls were trying to attack under the cover of the trees. How many of these things were there? Drake was trying to open one more portal to unleash some other creatures from the foul spore pit onto our enemies. The goblins summoned earlier were nearly all dead, the last few fighting a score of ghouls as well as the ghoul lord himself. Even as I watched, one of the scorpions scored another hit on the ghoul lord, eliciting a hiss of anger and frustration. The ghoul lord looked up at the offending crew and raised his hands in the air. The ground beneath the scorpions began to shake and crumble as bony claws tore from earth below. Six battered skeletons of some humanoid creatures emerged and began to claw at the crew.

“Scouts, defend the scorpion crews!” I shouted, causing the scouts to drop their crossbows while readying shields and swords to confront the new threat in our rear. Thankfully, the summoned undead were only skeletons; dangerous, but not as big a threat as more ghouls. The scouts were tough and, combined with the five poorly-armed crews, should put down a half dozen skeletons without a problem.

Back across the field, I could see Drake struggling to finish his portal. The effort seemed to pain him and his health bar was trickling down. The pain caused him to stumble just as he finished his summons, throwing off the aim point he had selected. The portal opened not in the middle of the ghoul pack, but instead right on top of the defensive berm. As I watched, the portal grew to four times the size of the portal he had conjured earlier. A huge, indistinct shape appeared in the portal before five large, reptilian heads snaked their way through. A huge creature, the size of a small house, slowly stepped from the portal; all five of its heads shrieking at the puny things that would dare oppose it. Data on the creature appeared in my interface.

Darkscale Hydra: Elite Level 5 boss creature. These fierce creatures inhabit caves, dungeons, and the dark places of the world. These reptilian behemoths never stop growing and have an almost insatiable hunger. The Darkscale hydra will lie dormant for months waiting for prey to approach its lair, though many examples of the creatures are known to leave their lairs for feeding rampages into the surrounding areas. The hydras can have up to twelve tooth-filled heads attached to their bodies. Unlike popular mythos, the creature does not grow another head when one is cut off. It instead adds heads to its body as it ages. In general, the more heads, the more ancient and powerful the beast.

Drake mouthed sorry to me and gestured that I should pull my men back. I got the distinct feeling that he was not in control of this creature he had just unleashed. Looking at my line, I could see how pulling back may actually benefit our strategy in ways besides not getting eaten by the hydra.

“Legion, ten steps to the rear, execute!” I ordered, and the lines slowly stepped back ten steps. By now the ghouls were beginning to appear over the top of the berm, sliding or leaping down while trying to get at my men. One ghoul leapt down only to be snatched in the air by one of the hydra heads. The hydra’s tooth filled maw easily bit the ghoul in half, swallowing a portion before seeking another victim. The move back worked and the hydra was content to focus on the easy prey around it, not showing any interest in charging my line.

The ghouls were also focusing on the hydra for the most part, though a trickle of undead were still streaming over the mound to charge our line. The men worked together to easily kill off the trickle of ghouls that approached our lines. It was lucky they did, for the creatures were relentless in their attacks. The health pools of the ghouls required many strikes from our swords to put them down for good. To our rear, the scouts and engineers had finally hacked the skeletons apart. I could see there were no casualties among the scouts, but two of the engineers were down. The scouts picked up their crossbows as they and the engineers went back to loading their weapons. I made a mental note to have a dedicated covering force for the engineers in the future. I had wrongly thought that their being advanced class soldiers made them tough enough to defend themselves. Their advanced class status was due to their knowledge and specialized skills, not their individual combat capability.

“Fire at the ghouls, only. We don’t what that hydra to notice us!” I shouted to the scouts and engineers. The last thing we needed was an enraged hydra shattering our lines. I was perfectly content to just watch the show as the hydra and the ghouls tore away at each other, pulling the men back another five steps we waited for one of the two to win their fight.

Chapter 29

Ty looked through the light forest at the pack of ghouls heading his way. Raytak had called it right, the creatures were trying to flank the legion by using the forest as cover for their movement. Trying to get an accurate count, Ty estimated fifty of the ghouls were tromping through the woods. The ghouls were not trying to be quiet, more intent on closing with their prey. With an evil grin, Ty whispered to himself.

“Fast and stupid, just the way I like my opponents. Keep chargin’ forward creeps, learn what a force recon marine can do.” With that said, Ty stood up, revealing himself and throwing a small axe at the lead ghoul. Throwing with one arm is actually harder than it looks, but Ty managed to hit the ghoul straight in the chest. His high strength rating caused the throwing axe to nearly penetrate all the way through the creature. The ghoul looked down in surprise at the axe imbedded in it, collapsing without a sound as the black sludge that comprised its blood poured from the wound.

“Over here, morons! That was the dinner bell! Come visit old Sergeant Ty. I left you all sorts of party favors,” Ty yelled, mocking and trying to goad the ghouls into charging blindly into the traps he and Quimby had laid. The sight of fresh prey was all the incentive the ghouls needed. As one, the pack howled in hunger and chased after the one-armed, half-orc, oblivious to everything but their hunger.

The pack turned out to number sixty-four ghouls. Ty was wise to not stop and count as the ghouls moved much faster than most humanoids. Only the speed benefit in this terrain that Ty’s class possessed kept him ahead of the pack. The ghouls fast speed was also their undoing. The lead ghouls began to hit the traps. The lead ghoul found his foot slipping into a two-foot-deep hole that was covered by some leaves. The ghoul’s foot was quickly impaled by a barbed wooden stake. Unable to stop its forward momentum, the creature screamed in rage and pain as its lower leg was held by the stake and its leg bones broke against the edge of the hole. The ghoul flopped on the ground squirming and screaming, unable to free itself. The ghoul’s companions paid it no heed as they rushed forward, caring not for their comrade’s situation, only focused on the delicious flesh in front of them. Their lack of caution caused one after another of the ghouls to fall prey to similar traps, the stake-filled holes claiming four more ghouls from the horde. A small number, but Ty knew every ghoul killed by traps made them one ghoul closer to whittling the group down to a size the players could manage.

Ty looked behind him, seeing that the first line of traps had done its job. He had hoped for a few more to be taken out, but they had only had time to place a dozen of the pit traps. Minding his step, Ty leapt over the tripwire that denoted the next series of traps they had set, the ones Quimby had been responsible for. Ty slowed his pace, making sure the pack was following where he wanted them. Two creatures were in the lead and then a mob of about fifteen ran together after them, the rest strung out behind based on their speed. The lead ghouls were mostly the turned gnolls. The large hyena-like humanoids were faster than ghouls turned from humans. The first overachieving ghoul reached the tripwire and through a stroke of luck missed it, causing Ty to stop and hurl his last throwing axe at the creature, taking it down with a powerful blow to the head.

The second ghoul hit the tripwire, falling on its face and skidding five feet. The wire snapped with a twang and two huge logs, suspended from the branches of nearby trees began to swing down on their attached ropes. The trap was not targeted for the creature that sprung it, it was meant for those following along. The ghouls had inadvertently set themselves up perfectly, the first bunch of ghouls charging right into the downward swing of the logs. There hadn’t been time to drive sharpened stakes into the logs like Quimby had wanted to, but a one-hundred-pound chunk of wood could do some damage. The logs had gained momentum, swinging down from opposite sides, they met in the middle, right where the ghouls were traveling.

The first log hit the group of ghouls, tagging one squarely on the side, crushing its bones and pulping the cursed organs that made up its body. Continuing the swing, the log clipped the ghoul charging beside the first one hit, shattering an arm and flinging the creature ten feet to the side. One dead and one injured, the log lost its momentum and was now merely a slowly swinging obstacle the following creatures could easily dodge.

The second log was even more successful, pulping two ghouls that were close together, leaving behind two pairs of legs and a black puddle of gore. The log’s follow-through also crippled a third ghoul in much the same way the first log had. Its arm broken, the creature dropped hard to the ground from the force of the blow. The slowly swinging chunk of wood wasn’t done. A particularly inattentive ghoul ran right into the slowly swinging log, causing some damage and dropping the careless ghoul to the ground, stunned.

“Sorry bud, no one hundred-yard dash gold medal for you,” Ty taunted as he pulled his great-axe from his back. Timing his swing perfectly, Ty’s axe cleaved the head from the lead ghoul as it scrambled back to its feet. Ty received a critical hit notification from the game. Much like Raytak, Ty had dialed back the notices given from the system, feeling it distracted him too much from his work. With axe in hand Ty sprinted the last hundred yards that led to the small clearing, shouting for the others to be ready.

“One hundred yards out, coming in hot with lots of new friends right behind me!” At Ty’s call, the others prepared. Yendys and Drake pulled back from the forest edge where they had been harassing the main army of ghouls, taking position behind Jacoby. Crunchy trotted to the right of Jacoby to take his place as a backup tank. The group had chosen a small clearing to give them some room to fight in. None of them wanted to fight a pack of ghouls popping out behind random trees. Quimby scampered up into a tree behind the party, perching on a limb seven feet above the forest floor in order to cover them with arrow fire. The final member of the party, Kathala, was in line next to Jacoby’s left, deep in meditation. Power could be felt building around her as she prepared for the undead to emerge into the clearing.

Ty dodged the final line of traps and charged into the clearing, taking a place at the far left of their short line, spaced out far enough that the swings of this large axe would not accidentally catch an ally. Catching his breath from the recent run, Ty watched for the ghouls to emerge into the clearing. Looking at the rest of his group, Ty noticed Drake’s health was down to one third and he had a stream of blood leaking from his nose. Yendys fired off a nature’s mending spell on Drake, not causing his health to move at all.

“Duuude, why is my healing spell not working on you, Drake…and why are you hurt to begin with? Nothing attacked us out there. All that happened was you summoned some dumb goblins that died like instantly, then you summoned that awesome looking hydra,” Yendys chattered, worried about her friend.

“Don’t worry, guys. It’s my class. My only ability is to summon creatures from the dungeon. To do that I don’t use mana, I have to use my own health. Normal healing spells don’t affect me anymore and the only way I heal is through a slow health regeneration inside the dungeon. I have enough health pool left for one more surprise for these creeps, then I’ll die and respawn back in the dungeon. No worries, but I am totally glad now that my parents didn’t let me have any pain feedback in game,” Drake replied.

“Wow…that’s just gross, but you did choose to take the weird barbeque chef class instead of staying a ranger and playing with us!” Yendys taunted, still a bit mad that Drake had chosen to go his own path.

“A Pitmaster is NOT a barbeque chef…oh never mind, here come the ghouls,” Drake started to reply and then concentrated on his last summons. His class could summon very powerful dungeon creatures, but at the cost of his own life force. The class was meant to manage a dungeon, not adventure in the surface world. The unique ghoul situation was the only reason Drake was allowed by the AI to join the party. Luckily for Drake, when he died he didn’t lose any experience or drop anything, he just ported back to the dungeon to continue his work there.

The first ghouls emerging from the trees triggered the last of the traps that Ty and Quimby had set. Branches had been pulled back with sharpened stakes attached to their ends. A small snare line stood ready to release the branch. The first few creatures to emerge from the tree line triggered the three traps that Ty had set earlier. With a snap, the released branches swung forward driving wooden stakes at chest height into their victims. The ghouls squirmed in pain until their health pools drained away. The party had been prepared to tackle what they figured would be a couple dozen ghouls based on the numbers swarming the main camp. Despite the traps and the skirmishing from Ty, they still faced fifty of the ghouls, far too many for them to handle.

Two things happened that evened the odds. First, Kathala finished pouring nearly all of her mana into her class ability turn undead, releasing a blinding flash of light that scoured the clearing and the edge of the forest. The first dozen ghouls that had emerged, screamed and burst into flame, the holy light was too much for their undead forms to bear. Several of the ghouls in the forest were driven back by the light, slowing their approach and dealing a small amount of damage, only the cover from the trees protecting them from annihilation. Drake then added his last summons to the mix. The swirling portal appeared, and shapes emerged into the light filled clearing just in front of the party.

“Sweet! I got a critical success! Don’t worry, these guys are on our side and will follow your orders. See you later at the tavern,” Drake said as he collapsed dead from the summons. His body blurred, then disappeared completely as he waited to respawn in the Foul Spore Pit.

Ty tried to identify the creatures stepping from the portal.

Foul Spore Wolf, level 5 elite (8): These hideous abominations were once wolves. The twisted magic of the corrupted dryad Tessel transformed them into creatures of corruption. The wolf’s skeleton is covered with vines and bulbous pods, their flesh dissolved and replaced by plant material. A thin layer of their original fur remains, tattered and torn, revealing the plant like growths beneath.

Foul Spore Bear level 6 elite (2): These foul spore creatures were once black bears, transformed by the taint of the Dryad Tessel. More powerful than their wolf kin, the bears form the Dryad’s personal bodyguard.

The last of the wolves and bears emerged just as the ghouls recovered from Kathala’s ability. The ghouls attempted to go around the foul spore creatures, not at all interested in them, due to a lack of flesh on their bones. Ty was glad to see that the foul spore creatures were tagged as friendly and even more pleased to see them rip into the ghouls trying to skirt around them. The wolves each pounced on the nearest ghoul, long vines striking from their mouths to penetrate the grey mottled flesh of the ghouls. The sides of the wolf’s bodies began to heave, making strange motions as they pumped the foul spore sap into their victims. The sap rapidly dissolved away the ghouls, leaving behind a foul puddle that vanished once the ghoul was dead; the pact with Raytak preventing them from spreading taint outside the dungeon.

The bears were even more impressive; their large paws swiping at and bringing down their victims, the vines emerging from their claws as well as their mouths to dissolve their victims even faster.

The ghouls responded to the foul spore creature’s attacks, fighting back with a frenzy while most of the ghouls still charged the flesh covered prey. Yendys furiously summoned one more dog, making the total number of animals around her three. Casting once more, she used the bolster nature’s ally spell, giving her summons and Crunchy a bonus to health, attack, defense, and morale for the next ten minutes. The green glow encompassed her summons, as the spell completed. Yendys was shocked to see the green light also bolster the foul spore creatures. The foul spore creature’s status as friendly, as well as being a creature of nature (albeit a corrupted one), allowed them access to Yendys’ buffs. Just as she ordered her summoned dogs to attack, a ghoul leapt across the front lines and tackled the halfling druid. Her limited strength made grappling with the creature impossible. A fang-filled maw struck toward her face as the claws holding her down penetrated the light leather armor she wore. Yendys jerked her head to the side at the last minute and the ghoul was only able to chomp down on her left ear. A sharp pinch of pain was felt by Yendys as her greatly reduced pain feedback setting diminished to one percent the pain of having half her left ear torn off.

You have failed your save vs. paralysis. You are paralyzed for the next ten seconds.

Yendys could see the ghoul crouched over her finish chewing and swallowing her ear while licking its lips with its grotesque tongue. The gore feedback setting her family made her use prevented her from seeing the blood squirting from her ear that the ghoul was licking off in delight. With its victim helpless, the ghoul reared back for another bite, only to have a black serrated horn pierce through its chest. The ghoul was heaved off Yendys as Crunchy laid into it, tearing off the ghoul’s limbs with its mandibles as the undead abomination squirmed and died, stuck on the unicorn beetle’s horn. Crunchy tossed the body of the ghoul to the side (the undead ghoul tasting too disgusting for even the ravenous beetle to nibble on) then stood over Yendys, protecting her until she could recover.

Ty reacted to the swarm of undead by activating a cleave ability, causing his great axe to destroy two of the five creatures charging toward him. Bracing for the strike of the other three ghouls, Ty was shocked to see them stream past him and pounce onto Kathala. A quick swipe of his axe damaged one ghoul to half health and forced it to face him. Kathala was left to fight the other two alone until Ty could finish off his opponent.

The cleric was weakened from pouring all her mana into the spell she had cast earlier. A feeble swipe of her staff damaged one of the ghouls, turning it off course. The other landed on her, knocking Kathala over and doing damage from both claws. The ghouls were enraged at the player who was able to channel the holy power that was anathema to their existence. Clawing with both hands and feet, the ghoul tore into her while biting at her neck. The other ghoul recovered from the staff strike and joined in. Ty finished off his opponent and moved to help when a shout was heard nearby.

“FACE ME!” Jacoby bellowed, activating his daily class ability and causing all foes nearby to attack only him for the next ten seconds. Ty ran to Kathala as the ghouls on her charged Jacoby. Kathala’s health hit zero before Ty could reach her, the bleeding effect from the ghoul claws draining the last few health points. Ty flew into a rage, a glowing red aura surrounding him as his health, strength, and constitution increased. Activating a charge ability, Ty flew into the ghouls now surrounding the beleaguered Jacoby, chopping furiously with his axe. Each of Ty’s enhanced blows killed or maimed a ghoul. No longer in control of his actions, Ty’s perspective dropped to a 3rd person view as his character continued its rampage against the ghouls.

Yendys struggled to regain her feet after her paralysis wore off, too late to save Kathala. Seeing Jacoby tanking over fifteen ghouls, she knew he wouldn’t last long even with his armor protecting him. His health was down to twenty-five percent when Yendys fired off her nature’s mending spell. The spell healed for only a small amount, Kathala being the groups’ main healer. Jacoby’s health jumped a bit before dropping again, despite the heal over time effect that nature’s mending added. Crunchy and Ty were now both furiously attacking the ghouls surrounding Jacoby, trying to save him as the ghouls continued to focus their attention on Jacoby despite the taunt ability fading away. One of the last three remaining ghouls on Jacoby finished him off by ripping away his throat. The brave warrior fell, his sacrifice having helped others of his party avoid damage. Yendys summoned another dog and sent it into the fray. The others she had summoned earlier had died fighting the ghouls while she was paying attention elsewhere. An arrow from Quimby up on his tree branch dropped the last of the ghouls that had surrounded Jacoby.

“A little help here guys!” Quimby yelled and Yendys saw three ghouls were at the bottom of the tree Quimby was perched on, leaping and slashing at the just out of reach halfling. Looking to the side, Yendys could see that Ty, Crunchy, and her summoned dog had the remaining ghouls handled. Turning back to Quimby, she summoned yet another dog next to the ghouls clawing at Quimby. The dog appeared and instantly recognized its foe, clamping down powerful jaws onto the leg of the nearest ghoul. The ghoul’s health bar dropped below half and Quimby finished it, firing an arrow directly into its head from his perch above. Yendys watched as the dog attacked the next ghoul and Quimby readied another arrow. The last ghoul at the tree suddenly had a flash of insight, leaping up and using its sharp claws to stick to the tree trunk. At the new height it was just able to reach the delicious halfling on the branch above it. Piercing the halfling’s leg with its gore encrusted claws, the ghoul yanked down with all its might causing Quimby to drop off the branch and slam into the ground with a dull thump.

Yendys summoned another dog, as the one fighting the ghoul died to a double slash of claws. Seeing Quimby in trouble, Yendys fired off a nature’s mending, healing the fall damage and slowly trickling a bit more health over the next few seconds. To his credit Quimby didn’t stay idle, rolling to his feet and drawing his short sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. The ghoul that pulled him down leapt from the tree trunk it clung to and hurled itself at Quimby. Quimby met it head on, trading claw slashes for sword thrusts. His health dropped to three-quarters and then to half as the heal over time spell from Yendys wore off and the ghoul’s attacks continued. A green bolt of nature’s wrath flew into the back of the ghoul as Yendys distracted it with her long-range attack spell. Quimby took advantage of the distraction, landing solid blows with both his weapons. Activating an ability, Quimby’s hands blurred as he attacked the ghoul again almost instantly, dropping it to zero health.

“Wow, I almost forgot that the multi-shot ability works on melee as well as ranged attacks,” Quimby mumbled to himself as he sheathed his weapons and recovered his longbow, much preferring to fight from a distance. The summoned dog lived just long enough to give him time to recover his bow and fire at the last ghoul by his tree, activating multi-shot which sent three arrows in to finish the last foe.

Looking about their small clearing, the battle was winding down. Corpses of ghouls were scattered everywhere, a huge pile all around the foul spore creatures. The dungeon-summoned beasts were all damaged to some extent. Two of the wolves and one of the bears had been shredded to pieces by the horde of ghouls. The beasts stood there motionless, looking at the party for guidance, their eyes glowing a faint, sickly green while the rest of their forms were covered in the black gore found inside the ghouls.

“Creepy, I know. They’re under our control, but they’re just icky…now they smell even worse than usual covered in ghoul goop,” Yendys complained while holding her nose. Ty made a motion for her to shush, thinking about their current situation.

“Unfortunately, we lost Drake, Kathala, and Jacoby. The three of us can still fight…” Ty started before being interrupted.

“Nooo, there’s four of us. Don’t forget Crunchy, the super unicorn beetle.” Yendys interjected.

“Like I was saying, the four of us are all that’s left. We’ve lost our healer and our tank. Since were still in the raid battle, we’re also not regenerating health or mana. I know you’re down below half mana Yendys, but I think our best use of that mana would be to heal us all as much as you can. We can only use one potion while in raid so all of us should down a health potion now, while we have a moment,” Ty told the party as he pulled out and drank a small red vial of healing potion. The healing potions in-game were not very powerful. The best at the party’s level only healed for about 50-75 health over 20 seconds. Any amount of healing was welcome in a long fight like this one, though.

“Sure thing; my heals can only hit each person once every few hours so I can’t heal Quimby again. Hopefully he’ll remember to get higher in the tree this time. Let me try something as well,” Yendys finished as she began to cast heals on the party. Between the potions and the spell, her health went up to seventy-five percent, Ty was up to sixty-five percent, Crunchy was about seventy percent, and Quimby was just over half health. Yendys looked out over the creepy foul spore creatures. With a sigh, she began to cast nature’s mending on the most damaged wolf which was only at eight percent health. Her assumption that the healing spell would work on the summoned creatures was correct and the foul spore wolf’s health ticked up to twelve percent before the spell wore off. She quickly finished on the other foul spore creatures before she took command of all the summoned beings, Ty and Quimby both saying they needed to focus on the fight, not on commanding creatures.

“Come on stink team, let’s go save old man Raytak,” Yendys ordered and the remaining six foul spore wolves, one bear, and a giant unicorn beetle followed along behind the party as they moved to the main fight.

Chapter 30

I stared in awe at the Darkscale Hydra as it thrashed about. The giant creature had the attention of most of the ghouls, thankfully. A steady stream of the undead still flowed over the berm and charged my men, but they were spread out and easy meat for the disciplined soldiers. Crossbow and scorpion bolts would also occasionally pluck off ghouls that stood too long on top of the berm, but the soldiers had things in hand for now and I ordered them to conserve their ammunition…at least for as long as the hydra stayed in the fight. Raytak could hear the screeching voice of ghoul lord, Dunderman shouting orders from the rear of his formation. The ghouls became more organized after that, though the majority still swarmed like they had before. It appeared the ghoul lord couldn’t hold perfect command of all his forces at the same time. The ones the ghoul lord could control were doing well. Bands of ten ghouls attacked each leg of the hydra, trying to stop it from stomping on their kin. The heads of the hydra were still working like some gore processing machine. The heads would zero in on a ghoul and shoot down, plucking their unfortunate victim up in the air before shaking its head to shred the body. The hydra wasn’t trying to feed, it was railing in anger at the small beings that were hurting it.

The ghoul lord’s plan seemed to be working, as first one then another of the hydra’s legs collapsed under it. Huge swaths of flesh had been torn from the beast and consumed by the ghoul pack. Now that it was down and lower to the ground, more and more of the undead scurried up its body. Feasting as they fought, the ghouls would tear gobbets of flesh off the hydra to stuff in their mouth while they fought, the hunger that drove them never ceasing, save for those few moments of feasting. The ghouls’ coordinated effort finally tore through something vital and the organs of the hydra slid out from its shredded hide. The five heads of the hydra gave one last mournful wail as the giant beast collapsed dead.

“Sergeant Brooks, take charge of the right flank, I’ll handle the left flank. They will try to swarm us now. Refuse the flank and be prepared to seal up the formation completely, if we have to,” I ordered, and we got to work. I walked the line, encouraging the men as the swarm of ghouls poured over the defenses and attacked en masse once again. Nitor was still in the middle of our formation chanting his inspiring verse to bolster our resistance against the ghouls’ deadly paralysis ability. Thankfully his bard ability also seemed to negate the fear aura that the ghoul lord exuded. Beremund stuck to my side, holding his bone crusted club in one hand and a carved hunting horn in the other.

I estimated the ghouls had started with 350+ attackers. Our continuous ranged fire and the soldiers killing the few that leaked past the hydra had whittled their numbers down to 250. The impressive hydra had killed at least fifty on its own. That still left around 200 hungry, and now angry, ghouls hurtling themselves at our line. The line crashed with the collision of the ghouls and the sound of so many claws scratching at the shields my soldiers held was unnerving.

“Scouts and engineers, fall in as our reserve. Medics, pull back to the second rank. Watch for the injured and paralyzed,” I ordered, wanting to protect the specialized soldiers as much as possible. The scouts drew swords and readied their shields, slinging their crossbows across their backs. I could see they were down to their last few bolts by now, the ammunition nearly exhausted. I made note to see about carrying reloads. The truth of the matter was, we badly needed a supply train as our numbers grew. I hated to be slowed down and to have our cross-country ability diminished, but hauling around siege equipment and being in the field for an extended time had shown the need. I ordered the engineers to leave the siege engines behind, they couldn’t use them in our formation and I doubted the ghouls would bother with the scorpions.

“Right flank, refuse!” Brooks ordered and I followed suit with the left. The last squads on the ends of our lines swung inward like a hinge, creating a larger front that the enemy had to attack. The men performed well, defending themselves with their large shields and thrusting to the ghoul on their right. The ghouls were single minded, only focusing on what was in front of them, ignoring the men to the sides. We made them pay in black blood for their ignorance. Some of the ghouls attempted to leap over the ranks of soldiers. The second rank would raise their shields and deflect them into the waiting swords of the scouts when they did. We also began to take losses; the ghouls attacks were just too relentless to expect limited casualties. With each ghoul slashing both claws, some blows would get through. Several of the creatures also used the technique that Dunderman had used on me at the farm, clawing with their feet. Men would go down occasionally with paralysis, the medics would then pull them back to the rear, apply a bandage and keep them safe while they recovered. The second rank would fill in as men in the first rank dropped, the second line becoming thinner and thinner as our losses mounted.

“Tavers, you and the other engineers grab shields and swords from the dead. Unfortunately, there should be plenty for you to choose from,” I ordered, sending the three remaining engineers to better equip themselves for melee. Their daggers and lack of shields made sense when operating siege equipment, now I would likely have to use the advanced soldiers as fodder in the line of battle. Ghoul lord Dunderman hissed more orders and several small groups of ghouls began to run around our flank, looking to exploit the small opening in the rear of our formation. Having no choice, I pulled most the remaining second rank and formed a scratch line, closing our formation into a big triangle. The men moved into position like a well-oiled machine; our high standards of training were now paying benefits.

“Scouts and engineers, you’re the reserve, plug any holes that open. Attention on the line, if the man next to you falls, close the gap and shrink the formation. Do not leave an opening for these beasts,” I ordered. The seven scouts and three engineers moved about in the rear, looking for trouble. When a man fell, they would assist until the soldiers next to the fallen could close the gap, all the while pulling paralyzed soldiers into the middle. There was a steady stream of paralyzed soldiers recovering from the short-term condition and returning to fight on the line.

Sergeant Brooks pulled back a few of the medics from the fight and had them apply bandages to those they could, increasing our staying power. Losses continued to mount, yet as our formation shrunk ever smaller, the ghouls also were being cut down. I couldn’t get a good estimate of our foes, the frantic fighting blocked my view, but we were down to around forty-five combat effectives. I drew my own sword, ready to do my part until the end.

“Soldiers of the First Legion, it is an honor to fight by your side this day! The undead are said to know no fear, but I think after this fight, the creatures of darkness that hear our name will quake in terror. We end their foul mockery of life today. Fight hard, fight for the man next to you, fight for the First!” I shouted, stepping up into the line as a soldier in front of me fell dead.

“For the First!” the men shouted after me. A horn sounded behind me and there was a reply in the distance. I wanted to see what the horns were about, but I couldn’t take my attention off the ghoul in front of me. I thrust forward, skewering the ghoul on my right, just as it opened the throat of the soldier it faced. Undead moved into the gap next to me before the other soldiers could step together closing the breach in our line. With the war cry of his people on his lips, Beremund stepped into the gap, swinging his huge club with the cleave ability. Four ghouls were knocked back, giving me the time to reform the line. I moved back into the rear of our formation (now an ever-shrinking circle) to see that all the reserve was committed and even Nitor had taken a place in the line, fighting as hard as he could with a thin rapier in one hand and a small wooden buckler in the other.

The ghoul lord had climbed on top of the hydra and was glaring down directly at me. A noise to the rear distracted him. Since he was down slope from me, I was able to see the welcome sight of the Drebix villagers charging into battle. A ragged, undisciplined mob of forty warriors were about 100 yards out and closing with the line. Behind the warriors, a swarm of the villagers followed, carrying shovels, axes, pitchforks, and in one case a rolling pin as weapons. Dunderman hissed in fury before a grin slowly appeared on his face.

“Did you think this swarm was the sum total of my power?” Dunderman asked, gesturing toward the ghouls swarming around my men. Behold the power of a ghoul lord! We hold sway over all undead! Arise, my beautiful plaything! Arise!” Dunderman cackled in glee as waves of black necromantic energy flowed from his arms and into the corpse of the hydra. There was nothing I could do but watch as the corpse twitched several times before hauling itself up on its shredded legs. Four of the heads looked to their new master and hissed in approval of their new undead status. The four hydra heads grabbed onto the one that didn’t reanimate and pulled, tearing the appendage from the body and tossing it aside. Dunderman looked drained from the effort as he dug the claws of his feet and hands into the flesh of his creation, riding on its back and taking control of it like a fetid puppet master. The AI populated my vision with the newly created creature’s description.

Ghoul Lord’s Puppet, Hydra, Level 5 elite: Any recently dead creature can become the puppet of a ghoul lord, provided the corpse hasn’t been consecrated by the priest of any good or neutral deity. A puppet must be controlled directly by the ghoul lord, requiring the ghoul lord stay within fifty feet of its puppet. The more powerful the puppet, the closer the ghoul lord must be. Corpses of the huge size and above must have direct physical contact with their master to operate. Ghoul Lord Puppets retain many of the abilities they had in life and can often develop new abilities, depending on their creature type and the power of the ghoul lord controlling them. These creatures are temporary beings and will fall into a rapid decomposition after a period of twenty-four hours.

The hydra looked about, Dunderman now seeing through its eyes, as it considered my dwindling force. Looking back toward the charging villagers, it made a decision. Heaving its bulk off the berm it was straddling, the hydra began to slowly amble toward the forerunner clan members that were charging it. Several of the spikes we had placed as defenses were trampled on by the abomination, but its health bar didn’t even move from the damage taken. This thing must have an insanely high health pool. I was out of options; my forces were being buried under a wave of ghouls and now the ghoul lord’s creation would destroy the Pathfinder clan as they sallied out to help us. The warriors slowed their pace, expecting to counterattack against a band of ghouls, not some undead behemoth.

A grizzled old tribesman strode confidently to the front of his people, raising his spear above his head as he turned his back to the approaching monster. I couldn’t make out his words, but whatever he said apparently bolstered the courage of his people and a look of determination settled upon the Drebix tribesmen. The few carrying the tribe’s signature short throwing spears hurled them at extreme range, none missing the huge target stomping toward them. The creature’s health bar finally showed some decline after that attack. I had been worried for a moment that it was impervious to piercing damage. My attention was drawn back to my own fight as the ghouls brought down two soldiers next to each other, opening a breach that allowed the creatures to swarm through.

Not having any reason to hold back, I activated my honor guard ability. Two sergeants appeared, and I directed them to the hole in our lines. The three of us worked in perfect sync, stabbing at open opponents and blocking any attacks we could with our shields. We cut down the three ghouls that had penetrated the line and the honor guard plugged the hole, their stronger stats and presence solidifying this part of our line. I took a moment and began to pull a few soldiers from the line when there was chance, getting two to replace the honor guard when they were unsummoned and two extras to respond as a quick reaction force to any other breaches.

I could only count forty-one soldiers remaining in the fight along. Beremund was fighting with the strength of any five regular warriors. Nitor was down and paralyzed, but safely inside the circle of soldiers. I had noticed a pattern in this fight. The men that remained with me were holding the ghouls back, our losses becoming much less frequent as the battle raged on. The soldiers remaining were the cream of the crop. Those with less skill or really bad luck had been among the first to die. These soldiers had passed the test, becoming more powerful as they fought together. The men instinctually knew what the soldier next to them was doing, the legion becoming an efficient killing machine. The AI seemed to agree with my assessment and a prompt appeared in front of me.

The 1st Legion of Hayden’s Knoll has been upgraded to a veteran formation: +1 to attack, +1 to defense, +50 to health, +2 to morale for all soldiers and auxiliaries assigned to the legion.

Forged through the heat of battle, these few that have survived become something more than a standard unit. They have become veterans. The 1st legion is now designated as a veteran formation. Soldiers in a veteran formation have increased morale, attack, defense, and health. Your garrison now attracts experienced soldiers who wish to fight for an acclaimed legion, ensuring replacements are up to the same high standard as the rest of your formation. Gain renown and strive for great deeds to increase your legion’s ranking.

Moving my attention back to the hydra, I could see the fight was not going well for the Forerunner clan. The hydra had trampled through the line of tribesmen, its bulk allowing it to break any defensive formation the Drebix tried. A dozen of the warriors lay dead, some crushed under the feet of the beast, while others had been snatched up and bitten in half by the four remaining heads of the hydra. As one of the heads reared back to attack the old tribesman who had rallied the force earlier, something flew into the side of the hydra distracting it.

I couldn’t believe my eyes as first one, then five more of the foul spore wolves we had fought long ago slammed into the side of the hydra. The wolves opened their jaws wider than should have been possible. From the open maw of the wolves, vines shot forth, imbedding into the hydra’s body. The wolves convulsed, the hydra hissing in anger as its dead flesh began to dissolve from the acidic sap of the foul spore creatures. A large foul spore bear also joined the fight, rising on its hind legs before shooting vines from not only its mouth, but also from its front claws into the middle of one of the hydra’s necks. The bear’s increased sap flow quickly dissolving not only the flesh, but also the bone of the neck. Soon the targeted neck separated from the body, landing on the ground with a wet thump.

The hydra wasn’t idle as these new foes attacked it and Dunderman commanded the three unafflicted heads to target the bear. Each hydra head snapped down, tearing chunks from the large, corrupted bear. The damage was too much for the bear and it collapsed into a pile of stinking vines, sap, and torn hide. The hydra then stomped one of its feet down, crushing a wolf. The damage from the wolves and the loss of a head brought the creature down to sixty percent health, the percentage dropping with each convulsion of the wolves. As the hydra’s heads readied for another attack an arrow embedded in one, closely followed by a green ball of nature energy. The targeted head hissed at the pain more newcomers had inflicted on it.

Closing the distance to the hydra, I saw what remained of my party. Yendys used the last of her mana pool to summon a final dog while Ty and Crunchy charged, trying to close to melee range. Quimby took aim at the hydra and loosed arrows as fast as he could, trying to find weak points in the undead creature’s anatomy. The hydra heads snapped forward, killing off three of the foul spore wolves. The remaining two wolves were undeterred, continuing their relentless assault. The belly of the hydra then split open as the acidic sap melted through. Decaying organs, that were no longer necessary to the undead creature’s function, splashed into a pool of filth beneath the beast. I could see that its rib cage was also partially dissolved, reducing its structural integrity. The wolves readjusted their vines, now each targeting the same leg.

The wolves didn’t make it very far as the hydra heads struck once more, killing the last two wolves; two of the heads grabbing each end of one wolf and tearing it in half. Ty and Crunchy then arrived at the fight. I watched as Ty swung his axe with all his might, lodging it halfway through one of the hydra’s legs. Yendys’ summoned dog and Crunchy worked on the other leg that the wolves had just begun to dissolve. The dog tore a chunk of flesh out, allowing Crunchy to slam his glowing horn deep into the leg bone. The beetle’s giant mandibles then closed around the leg, squeezing and sawing at the limb with incredible force. The combined assault on its left legs made the huge creature wobble, throwing off its next attack. The three heads missed their strikes, save for the one attacking Crunchy. The head attacking Crunchy was thrown off course from the stumble, instead landing on the summoned dog, easily killing the weak summoned creature. With a snap, the leg bone Crunchy was sawing at finally gave way, causing the hydra to stumble again.

My attention was once again distracted by another breach in our lines. The honor guard had unsummoned and the soldiers I had placed there were slow to patch the hole in our lines. Rushing forward, I raised my hand toward the nearest ghoul. Using my last trick, I unleashed a stream of acidic sap from Tessel’s promise into the ghoul’s face. The lead ghoul stumbled as the sap dissolved his eyes, blinding him and allowing the soldiers to finish it off and close the gap in our circle. Our soldiers’ numbers still stood at thirty-four, though two were inside the circle paralyzed and nursing horrible wounds. Nitor was back on his feet and chanting once more. While downing a small healing potion, the bard gave me thumbs-up and looked for openings in the line, ready to do his part. The ghouls were down to fifty or so and I felt we would beat them if Dunderman didn’t pull off any other tricks. Looking back to the hydra fight, I could see that things weren’t going well for the ghoul lord. Ty had managed to cripple the other leg of the hydra, dropping it to its side. Crunchy now was able to reach one of the functioning necks, grabbing on and trying to saw it off like he had the leg. The ghoul lord was also in bad shape. Being forced to control the hydra, he couldn’t dodge any of Quimby’s accurate fire. A dozen arrows sprouted like quills from the ghoul lord’s body and his health was down to forty percent.

Hearing a shout of frustration from the ghoul lord, I watched as Dunderman released his control of the nearly destroyed hydra, leaping from its back and onto Ty. Ty was distracted, too far away for me to shout a warning, focused as he was on trying to dislodge his axe from the hydra’s leg. Dunderman slammed Ty to the ground, tearing a chunk out of his shoulder with his sharp teeth, and then flaying wildly with his claws. Ty’s armor was shredding fast, the hardened leather parted easily under the ghoul lord’s attack. Not one to ever give up, I watched as my friend grabbed a dagger from his belt and slammed it into the ghoul lord. The two traded a few blows before Ty’s health finally ran out, sending him to respawn. My friend had done some work, dropping Dunderman down to 22 percent health.

Now it was Crunchy’s turn. I watched the skittering unicorn beetle charge Dunderman. The ghoul lord just grinned at the beetle approaching him. Summoning a daily power, the ghoul lord mouthed a word in a language I had never heard before and hoped to never hear again. A stream of greasy black mist flowed form the ghoul lord’s mouth, drifting toward the charging beetle. Crunchy was undeterred and charged blindly into the mist, a horrifying squeal erupting from the beetle as the black mist clung to his body and began to decay it rapidly. Crunchy died just as he reached the ghoul lord, generating enough momentum for his horn to pierce the ghoul lord’s chest in a final strike. The ghoul lord’s health dropped to 12 percent, and the creature gasped in shock.

“Noooo, not Crunchy!” Yendys yelled as she charged toward Dunderman. Quimby arrived first; he had been closing in on the fight after firing his last arrow a few moments ago. Short sword and dagger in hand, Quimby slashed and stabbed at the ghoul lord. The halfling landed a few good hits and Dunderman’s health dropped to eight percent. The ghoul lord recovered from his shock and regained his feet, towering over the halfling Quimby while frothing at the mouth in rage. Quimby was unperturbed, calmly and efficiently continuing his assault. Being a ranged fighter, Quimby lacked many special melee attacks, but was still a solid fighter up close when he needed to be. A leaping thrust drove his sword and dagger both deep into the ghoul lord’s stomach. I watched in horror as the ghoul lord ignored the horrible injuries it had and closed its claws around Quimby’s head, pulling and tearing. The halflings head released with a pop, Dunderman raising it up to the sky as a trophy while the black goo that ghouls had for blood gushed from the wounds Quimby had opened in it. His health at just one percent the ghoul lord turned his gaze toward the forest.

I could see the indecision in Dunderman’s eyes, knowing his forces were defeated, but not wishing to give up just yet. I laughed as his decision was made for him.

“Thwack!”

The sound of the enraged blow was heard across the field and over the noise of my soldiers mopping up the last of the ghoul horde.

“That was for little Crunch Crunch!”

Thwack!

“That was for Mr. Ty!”

Thwack!

“That was for Quimby!”

Thwack!

“That was just because you’re stinky!” Swinging her staff one last time, the tiny Yendys delivered the final, fatal blow to ghoul lord, Dunderman. I watched as she continued to hit the finally dead creature, taking out her anger at losing her friends, albeit just until they respawned.

As my men finished the last of the ghouls, a very welcome quest complete prompt flared.

You have completed the raid “Rise of the Ghoul Lord”. Your forces have ended the undead threat to the Hayden’s Knoll zone. Reward, 2500 experience, 100 gold, 500 resources.

Congratulations! You have achieved Level 7. Review your character sheet for details on new abilities/upgrades.

I ordered Sergeant Brooks to organize the men, care for the wounded, and search the ghouls for any treasure. Beremund slammed his hand down on my shoulder, startling me as he spoke.

“Well, Imperium man, you have kept your word. You faced this.” Beremund gestured toward the piles of dead ghouls and the corpse of the hydra. “You not only faced it, you defeated it. My people are in your debt. All the Forerunner Clan will speak of this day; this day when a horrible foe was defeated and a new alliance was forged with our neighbors. Come with me, my friend.” With that, Beremund led me toward the rapidly decaying corpse of the hydra. The man began to inspect each of the hydra’s heads, a smile on his face as he settled on one. Pulling a curved dagger from his belt, I watched as Beremund pried two long fangs from the beast. The elder of their tribe, who had surprisingly survived the fight with the hydra, joined Beremund. They both cut their palms and joined them together with the teeth of the hydra in between. The pair chanted and a blue glow appeared between their hands. When they opened their hands, the large hydra fangs glowed blue for a moment before returning to their normal white color. Holding up his tooth and bone filled great club, Beremund placed one of the teeth on the surface of the club. The strong enchantments on the club bound the tooth to its surface, the sharp fang adding its power to the other trophies embedded there. The other tooth Beremund offered to me.

You have received. Giant Hydra Tooth, unidentified. Have this item identified to determine its properties.

“I know the tooth is now enchanted by the power of my people. I cannot say what it has become for you. One of your own people must now divine the powers that were bestowed upon it,” Beremund said, looking about at the great loss to not only his people, but also to my men.

“Tonight, I think there will be no feast. We will quietly honor our brave dead. The shamans will consecrate the fallen and ensure they will not rise again. Never again can this scourge be allowed to torment the land. You have proved to be a man of honor, Raytak, a man who comes with all his strength to defend another people who were once his enemies. My people will be your people. Send your leaders here and we will form a pact; a pact to defend each other and to trade freely in our lands. Stay here tonight and rest before your journey home,” Beremund offered. I considered his request while I watched his people in the distance. The clan was working together to clear the dead and gather what was still useful. A gritty and determined look was on the face of each one. These were a strong and proud people, a people who I would like to know better.

“I agree, Beremund. Let our people begin to trade and look after our common interest. I know Mayor Delling will gladly come to discuss the details with you. He is not a warrior, but he is a brilliant and honest man, a rare thing among the politicians of my people. You can trust his word as you trust mine. He will seek to find a way to better both our people, not one at the expense of the other. Come, Beremund, tonight we mourn what we have lost, but one day soon I want you to come to Hayden’s Knoll and share a drink or ten with me at the tavern there. On that day we will celebrate!” With that, I clasped hands with the man and made my way back to my soldiers.

“Old man Raytak, did you see me finish off that creepy ghoul guy? I just couldn’t let him get away with killing Crunchy. At least my poor little Crunch Crunch will respawn back at Hayden’s Knoll. I hope he behaves himself until we get back. Looks like just you, me, and the bard made it out alive,” Yendys jabbered, excited over our victory. “Speak the name and summon the man,” I thought, as Nitor wandered over to us. The man looked a bit stunned at all that had happened.

“Nitor, thank you for all your help. We would have lost without your buffs reducing the number of soldiers being paralyzed by the ghouls. You did good work this day,” I offered, giving the player credit for his role. A support character doesn’t always get the glory, but the victory cannot be attained without him.

“No problem, dude. Thank you for letting me in the party. That had to be the most epic battle I’ve ever seen in a game! I couldn’t believe everything that was going on,” Nitor said, then lowered his voice before asking the next question. “Is this what a real battle is like? Don’t feel like you have to answer me if you don’t want to,” Nitor queried, afraid to offend me. I didn’t mind; none of his generation had experienced war, save for in a game.

“No, this wasn’t like the real thing. All of us can respawn and we would have only lost a small amount of game time to recover. The real thing is permanent. The ones you lose are gone forever. The mistakes you’ve make stalk your dreams. You will come back from war hurt, both physically and mentally. Friends and family won’t know how to relate to you and you find yourself doing weird things. I, myself, would always get nervous going through a doorway in a public place. Civilians always move through them too slowly. We called doorways “fatal funnels” or “vertical coffins” in the army, as they were the place every insurgent’s gun was aimed at when we breached a room.” I paused as I drifted into the old memories of war and loss that were unlocking in my damaged mind.

“No, this isn’t like the real thing, and I suppose that it’s a blessing that your generation will never know what the real thing was like. You also are missing something, I have to say. You will never experience the camaraderie that battle builds. The friendships forged in war last a lifetime. There is a comfort in knowing the man next to you will give his life if it means saving yours and you will gladly give your life to save him. Sorry if I’m long winded and morose today, this fight just stirred up old memories. Thanks again for your help, Nitor,” I finished.

“Wow sir, I had no idea. Sorry for what you’ve lost, but please send me a message if you ever have a mission like this again. I’ve got to run, will probably be late for work, but it was totally worth it!” Nitor stated, sending me a friend request.

“Not a problem, Nitor. I would be proud to fight with you in my ranks again,” I responded, while accepting his friend request. All said, he was a good player and fit in well with everyone else. Nitor’s character disappeared as he logged out.

“Even though I had to win the fight for us, I still think you did great, old man Raytak! I’m gonna run, too. I have to finish up my homework before dinner, or my dad will cut game time,” Yendys whined as she began to log out.

“Sounds like your dad has the right idea; keep up your studies, kid,” I offered, causing Yendys to sigh in frustration, mumbling, “Not you, too,” just before she logged out.

We spent a quiet night in-game, my men and I keeping to our own camp on the hill, giving the village time alone to mourn their losses. Early in the evening, some of the villagers brought us roasted chicken and some type of cabbage salad. The men ate well but were somber, going about the motions of fortifying the camp and burying our dead. The village had designated a small area near the base of the hill to use as a graveyard. The villagers act unlocked yet another memory that repaired itself in my mind. I was watching a video of a great general, who unfortunately turned into a politician, replying to some fool civilian reporter who accused us of trying to build an empire during our numerous wars.

“Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only land we have ever asked in return is enough to bury those who have not returned,” the quote stated.

I thought about leveling, but left it for later. There would be time to mess with stats and options later. The rest of the night passed quietly, without any further attacks. I had worried that some of the ghouls may have slipped away and would be drawn back in the dark to look for food among the many dead. Near midnight, a shaman from the village came to bless our dead, giving them peace in their rest and hopefully preventing them from returning as any form of undead. The shaman mentioned that the mound raised to bury our dead would be called by their people the “mound of sacrifice” and would be an honored place among their clan.

Before dawn the next morning, I had our men assemble into formation and head out. The village had given us a small cart to help us haul our equipment and I placed one large, carefully wrapped bundle in it. I altered our path back to Hayden’s Knoll, stopping once more at the ruined Dunderman farm. The men helped me dig a large grave and in it I placed what I could find of the ghoulish remains of Dunderman’s wife and child. There was no way to find the rest of his family, as all the other remains in the area had been consumed. Somehow Dunderman had refrained from his hunger to spare the remains of the last two of his family, making me wonder if some bit of the man had been trapped inside the creature he had become.

I placed the wrapped bundle I had brought with us into the grave. It contained the remains of the ghoul lord. Placing him between his wife and child, I pulled out the tattered and worn journal I had first found in this place. I placed the journal on Dunderman’s chest, thinking there should be something said.

“I don’t know what faith you had, Dunderman, but I hope you are now free and with your family in the afterlife. You didn’t deserve the fate that befell you and your family. We’re glad we were able to stop what you had become and I hope that it grants you some last chance at peace,” I offered, before we quickly filled in the grave. One of the men placed a large stone at the head of the grave and gently placed the old weathered Dunderman sign that had hung over the door to their home on top of the rock.

Without another word uttered, and no cadences called, the battered remains of the 1st Legion of Hayden’s Knoll began their journey home.

Chapter 31

“You know you do have to eat your green beans, Lauren. Just pushing them around your plate does not count as eating them,” Veronica chided at her ten-year-old daughter. Lauren, like many children, despised any vegetable that wasn’t battered, fried, or mashed into oblivion. The strong-willed Lauren was always testing her mother’s patience at the dinner table.

“You know you’re not going to get away with that, kid. Your mother and I have tried to get away with more when we were kids than you could ever think of. No more mac and cheese until the green beans are in your belly,” Trey said, laughing at his daughters’ frown. His wife was an amazing cook, preparing a balsamic glazed chicken breast, homemade mac and cheese (a slight concession to Lauren, though Trey loved it too), and the infamous green beans.

“If you don’t hurry up and eat them, I’m going to finish off all the mac…” Trey started to say before he was interrupted by his communication device chirping, the tone indicating it was Lou at the office…and it was an urgent call.

“I’m sorry, guys, looks like Lou has an emergency,” Trey pleaded. Both Veronica and Lauren gave him the stink eye. They hated, as much as he did, when work interrupted family time. Knowing how important the current project was to Trey, Veronica waved him on.

“Go on, take care of whatever is going on with Lou. I’ll put your plate in the fridge if it’s taking too long,” Veronica conceded.

“Thanks, you’re the best!” Trey replied, shoving another small forkful of mac and cheese in as he made my way to his office. Closing the door so he didn’t bother the girls, Trey answered Lou’s call.

“What’s up, Lou, I’m missing out on homemade mac and cheese, you know,” Trey mumbled through a full mouth. Work calls were an annoying, but necessary, evil at the executive level.

“Man! I’m sorry. I don’t suppose Veronica will make me a plate of leftovers you can take to me for lunch tomorrow? Your wife has the best cooking. We single tech guys either starve or eat junk all day,” Lou pleaded. Trey’s wife was always kind to Lou, often packing extra leftover lunches for Trey to share with this friend.

“You know she will, as long as I don’t eat all of it first,” Trey threatened jokingly, anxious to hear the problem.

“Wow, ok, so, where do I start. I was working on footage for your dad’s WeView feed and didn’t have my normal game equipment on hand that I like to use for editing. I know you don’t get time to watch your dad much, but there was a really cool duel between him and his friend, Yendys. Well anyway, I was working on it at the office after I had clocked out for the day. I needed to finish the vid before 9pm because I had promised your dad’s fans that I would. I didn’t have my home rig, so I just jumped on the admin gear I have in my office. Everything was fine until I decided to dig deeper, trying to find out some behind the scenes numbers the game was crunching about the duel…ok, I get it, I’m a geek and I like numbers. Anyway, I took off the game filters and you will not believe what I heard. Here, let me push both vids to you. I’ll stay on the line until you finish.” With that, I pulled up the feed Lou was sending on my home pc. I still liked an old-fashioned pc with a real keyboard and a large monitor.

Trey looked at the actual in-game footage first. Lou had clipped the scenes he wanted to show. The scenes were from different conversations and jumped around a bit. A note on the vid said to focus on the dialogue, not the actual video.

“A close fight, Yendys! Well fought to you and Crunchy. You almost had me with that mandible attack.”

“It’s ok, old man Raytak, you don’t have to call me the unicorn queen. You beat us fair and square. Just promise you won’t trick me with any more unicorn stories!”

“You’re right, old man Raytak. I’m soooo sorry, Crunch Crunch.”

Ok, no big deal, just dad dueling with that kid that likes to tag along on his adventures. The kid and her two friends are like his little mascots. The second vid started with the following note.

Clip run without AI filters, AI was real-time editing certain dialogue in-game.

“A close fight, Yendys! Well fought to you and Crunchy. You almost had me with that mandible attack.”

“It’s ok, Grandpa, you don’t have to call me the unicorn queen. You beat us fair and square. Just promise you won’t trick me with any more unicorn stories!”

“You’re right, Grandpa. I’m soooo sorry, Crunch Crunch.

Trey sat there stunned, as his mind tried to process what he had just heard. Slowly the realization hit him that the player, Yendys, he was watching was his own daughter, Lauren and she somehow knew that Raytak was her grandfather!

“Trey, you there? Don’t freak out on me, buddy. I dug deep and found out what the AI Clio was doing. When Lauren first started the game, Clio realized she was Raytak’s granddaughter. The AI queried Lauren to see if she wanted to spend some time in-game playing with her grandfather to help with his treatment. The thought was that playing with an actual family member would be a great way to re-socialize your father. Lauren of course said yes and joined him on the caravan from the starting zone. Clio edited anything Lauren said in-game so as to not tip off your dad as to who she was until the time was right. When your dad had his mishap and lost some memories, Clio made a decision…and the right decision I have to say…to protect your father from more harm by continuing to hide who Lauren was,” Lou stopped and caught his breath, allowing Trey to absorb what he was saying.

“The AI nearly kicked Lauren from the game, worried about the same thing she is worried about if you join him in-game. We all have little mannerisms, ways of saying things, and reactions that are unique to us. Your dad would have had memory triggers all over the place if you were standing next to him in-game. The way you spoke and interacted with people would trigger even your dad’s damaged brain fairly quickly, causing catastrophic damage. The difference with Lauren is that your dad has never met her. He was in the hospital and out of it when she was born. Clio feels that your father’s interaction with Lauren’s character, Yendys, was beneficial to them both and convinced Lauren to hide the fact she was in-game with your dad from you. To her credit, Lauren has been great at keeping the secret, she knows any interaction between you and your father before his brain has repaired completely is a risk. Clio was also doing the right thing, trying to come up with a way to tell you, while at the same time calculating the emotional impact the news would have on you. You kind of freaked out Clio in your last interaction with her. She wanted to present the news to you in the least traumatic way possible. Sorry I have to tell you this man, but at least one of the family is in-game with him, even if can’t be you yet.” Lou finished and held on the line waiting for Trey’s reaction.

Trey sat for several minutes in his chair trying to process everything he had just heard. He was angry at first. Angry at the AI for bringing his daughter into this mess, angry at the world for taking his dad away, angry at himself for not being happy for the experiences Lauren was having with a grandfather she had never known until now. Trey remembered something Clio had said when he first confronted her over porting dad into the game. “He is not alone in there,” Clio had stated. Trey had thought the statement meant his dad was with other players in-game. The AI was actually referring to a family member, Lauren, being with his dad. Trey realized he would be able to interact with his dad soon; his father’s mind was repairing at a steady, if not swift, pace. The best option would be to show his daughter love. She needed him to be her father and understand her desire to know her grandpa. His dad would have just loved the fact that he was playing with his granddaughter; someday soon his father would find out. Tears burned in Trey’s eyes as he decided his next course of action.

“Thank you, Lou. I realize that you and Clio both did the right thing. I’m going to hang up now and tell Lauren that I know what’s been happening. Talk to you tomorrow at the office… and Lou, thanks for being a good friend,” Trey finished and ended the call.

With tears still in his eyes, Trey walked back into his dining room to find Lauren and Veronica joking it up with each other. They both looked up at him, Veronica getting up from her chair, realizing something was upsetting her husband, worried that one of his parents had passed away.

“Lauren…or should I say, Yendys, we have to talk,” Trey said. As soon as Lauren heard her father, she broke into tears. Lauren knocked her chair over then ran to her dad, hugging him and apologizing.

“I’m so sorry, daddy! I couldn’t tell you, or you might try to go see grandpa in-game and then he wouldn’t get better,” Lauren said between sobs.

“It’s ok, Lauren, I love you and know you weren’t doing anything wrong. Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble and I know I can’t see grandpa in-game just yet. Hopefully, soon, and we can all play together.

Trey then took a moment to let his wife know all that had been transpiring. Soon, all three of them were in tears, yet also hopeful.

“So, Lauren, tell me what it’s been like getting to know grandpa?” Trey finally asked.

Lauren brightened up before replying.

“Dad, it’s been sooo cool. Grandpa is kind of like I always imagined him to be, except not super old, only just regular old like you are. He was also kind of scary at first, the way he just turns…I don’t know…kind of cold in a fight. You can tell he was like some hero, soldier guy in real life. Steve and Jake from school both play with me and they think grandpa is awesome. I know you haven’t been watching grandpa’s vids, but there was this one time we were…” Lauren went on for some time. The family had a bittersweet night, with Trey reminiscing about his father and listening to his daughter getting to know the real person that his father was.

Afterword

I want to thank my readers for continuing their journey with Colonel Raytak and the other band of characters in the Limitless Lands. It has been an amazing experience for me, working on this book.

I want to thank Oscar Paludi (aka. Exoniensis) for his work on the maps of Hayden’s Knoll. Also, a thanks goes out to my beta readers; you helped make this work much better than it would have been without your input. Finally, I would like to thank Renee Kelly for her excellent editing work.

As a new author, I have been encouraged and humbled by the positive response that book one has received. I hope that you have enjoyed this one as well. If you enjoyed the book, please feel free to leave positive feedback; it helps more than you can know.

By the time you read this, the talented Jack Voraces is recording the audio version of book two. I am also plugging away at book three where we will continue our journey. What is the horrible fate that Narbos has planned for Raytak? Will the forces of the 1st Legion of Hayden’s Knoll be able to conquer the zone before others invade? Will Crunchy get some ribbons to go with his fashionable bow? All will be answered in book three. Look for book three to release sometime in early 2019.