by Cheek, Jason
Closing her eyes, Jodi forced herself to calm down and think. In her heart, she knew that it was easy to jump to conclusions when you didn’t have the entire story, but this seemed like such an open and shut case that she didn’t see how she could be wrong. On the flip side, Jodi trusted her older brother implicitly. He was one of the most honorable and caring men that she’d ever met. Not only that, he’d spent the majority of his life trying to make the world a better and safer place.
Thomas had affected her so much that it was no surprise that she’d married her husband John who was so very much like her brother. A smile came to her lips at that thought. John had that same inner core of strength and honor that she respected so much. Also, it didn’t hurt that the sexy man was easy on the eyes and great in the sack, she thought, letting out a small laugh.
Ultimately though, Jodi thought, turning serious once again. If Thomas said there was more to the story, she couldn’t automatically dismiss his words without taking them into consideration. Silently weighing everything that she’d read and saw on the forums, Jodi compared it to what she knew of her brother and his veteran friends. No matter what people were saying about them, she knew there had to be something else going on that she wasn’t hearing the truth about. If her older brother said that this guy was a good man, she needed to at least find out the truth for herself, before making a judgement call. Opening her eyes, Jodi let out a heavy sigh, silently promising to try giving this Startum Ironwolf the benefit of the doubt. With mixed feelings, she mentally selected “Yes” as the system message updated before her eyes.
Congratulations! You are now a member of The Revenants guild and the House of Kayden. To see the full list of properties and cities that the guild owns, view the guild tab. For further help with accessing guild chat, resources, or understanding the difference between guilds and house, please use the in-game Wiki.
Picking up her long bow, she called out to Fiona who’d gone back to finishing up her meal. ‘Let’s get moving, I’d rather not waste the entire day with this shit.’ There was a pop of displaced air, as the Blink Lynx appeared at her side.
‘So you decided to accept the invite anyway?’ Fiona asked, with a curious tilt of her head. ‘I thought you said this Startum Ironwolf was a bad man.’
‘Eh, the jury is still out on that,’ Jodi unhappily thought back, as they began making their way into the Delonshire valley. ‘Worst case scenario is that I’ll use this as the link I need to team up with my brother, until the rest of my friends make it in-game.’
‘At least, this doesn’t sound like it’s going to be boring,’ the Blink Lynx mused, as Jodi rolled her eyes. That was the measuring stick that Fiona used to judge everything. Well that or food. It was a pretty close toss-up between the two.
It took the better part of an hour for them to reach the Delonshire city outskirts. During their way through the thick forest, the Blink Lynx teleported ahead to scout the area for players and monsters. While neither of them thought they’d run into much trouble in a newbie zone without Orcs, it was still good practice for when they finally got back into the higher level areas.
As they got closer to the city, they ran across more and more lower-level groups in the level seven to ten range grinding out XP. Instead of seeing groups of relaxed noobs working hard to level up, it seemed like everyone they passed were on guard against PVPers. More than one group fled the field as soon as they saw her passing by with Fiona at her side.
The main monsters that everyone seemed to be hunting were either low-level Goblins or your typical mesh of monsters that were in most MMO games, aka herds of Gore Boars being hunted by packs of Large Gray Wolves. While the monsters of the forest ignored them, the Goblins were much more aggressive than the Orcs they were used to. Any of the green-skinned demi-humans that saw them would instantly attack, unless they were actively involved in fighting another group. Jodi sniffed in disdain at the foolish Goblins. Orcs of the same level were much tougher and wouldn’t have attacked unless they felt like there was a reasonable chance for them to win. Not to mention, there was something innately more visceral about the larger demi-humans with their heavy spiked weapons and raw physical presence.
Jodi kept her eye on the comments being bandied about them in the Delonshire Forest General Chat. While everyone was concerned about her level and the high-level combat pet at her side, there wasn’t anything more nefarious being openly discussed. Even so, they both kept their guard up as they made their way through the zone. Some might think her paranoid, but it was a common practice in the areas around Nren Unarith for lowbie players to scout out juicy targets for their high-level friends to gank.
A short time later, the forest opened out into cultivated fields; that surrounded a rather large city; were waiting for the spring thaw to be planted. The scene was so pastoral that it came as a shock after spending so much time leveling up in the great fortress of Nren Unarith with its massive stone walls. Glancing at the fields they passed, Jodi saw a mixture of level 1 through 5 players busily slaughtering low-level mobs.
Unlike a regular country town on earth, Delonshire itself looked more like a stockade town that you’d find on the Oregon Trail from America’s past. Well, not quite, Jodi thought, as she studied the odd wooden structure that was four yards high. As they drew closer to the city, she decided that calling it a stockade was giving the defenses too much credit as she downgraded the pitiful defensive wall to that of high barricade.
Coming in sight of the main gate, Jodi was surprised to see a large commotion going on. At first glance, it looked like a bunch of players were harassing the town’s guards, but as they drew nearer she realized that wasn’t the case at all. The actual guards were the Light Elves standing by the main gate wearing matching tabards and armor, while the other group looked to be something like Half-Dark Elves that appeared to be much more rugged and dangerous looking. They also seemed to have their own encampment outside of the city’s walls that was setup with a militaristic-like precision.
By the time she’d gotten within twenty-yards of the group of players before the walls, Jodi realized it was a full-fledge riot in progress. There were nearly eighty players waving their weapons threateningly in the air while screaming and cursing at the smaller group of Half-Elves. A nauseated feeling came over her stomach now that she was close enough to make out what was being shouted. It was obvious that half of the forty NPCs inside the camp were high-level Goblin zombies in the level 38 to 40 range, while the twenty NPC defenders were in-between level 38 to 40. Her Identify labeled them as House of Kayden Ranger Troopers. How did she know they were NPCs and not players? The curses being thrown at them from the players made that fact clear enough.
“You fucking NPCs think you’re so tough, then come out and get us!”
“Wait until we take your heads, you fucking pieces of shit!”
“I’m going to skull fuck your corpse, you hear me, Bialaer? I’m talking to you!”
“We warned you not to show your stinking NPC faces back here last time! Now you’re going to die!”
“Where’s Lord Corpse Fucker at? I can’t believe he sent you morons to your deaths all alone!”
Talk about some bad luck, Jodi uncomfortably thought, as she realized the shitstorm they were walking into. These were more than likely the troopers from her new guild that had been sent to escort her to BrokenFang Hold. She didn’t see how this was going to end well. As the shouts got uglier and louder, a few of the players started yelling out how they were going to slice up the NPCs and mutilate their corpses. While that was going on, she did several casts of Identify to get a decent idea of the players’ levels. Most were a mix of high and low twenties with five that had reached level 30.
That group was in the middle of the raid and consisted of: Lamaraldor Syndicate - a level 30 Fire Mage, Gougeous Syndicate – a level 30 Priest, PunkuGood Syndicate – a level 30 Rogue, Shankolots Syndicate – a level 30 Rogue, and Snufu Sevenfive – a level 30 Warrior. Even if she hadn’t h
ad prior experience with The Syndicate guild in her other games, the players’ names themselves said what type of people they were. While she really didn’t want to get involved with this mess, it looked like she wasn’t going to have any options if she wanted to meet up with her brother.
The sucky part was that Jodi knew there was no way these NPCs could take on such a large group of players like this. Even if they’d outnumbered the players, NPCs didn’t fight smart. They didn’t understand basic team strategy. Simple things like how to focus on the weaker casters and healers instead of hammering at the heavily armored players that were right in the front them. Because of that, a smart team of players would always win over an NPC group. No matter how rough the NPCs looked, they didn’t stand a chance against the angry players shouting for their lives. Maybe if they attacked first, they might have a chance, but as it was, they were simply standing at the ready waiting for either the players to go away or to attack without a concern in the world. Bialaer, who had the title Ranger Assault Leader, was even making jokes with his Sub-Leader as he pointed out certain players in the crowd. It was almost as if they thought they weren’t in any danger.
Personally, Jodi hated shit like this. She’d always done her best to stop players’ abuse of NPCs in the game worlds she was an Admin in. At least, she did as much as her position allowed. Here in The World, the noticeable differences with the NPCs were even more astonishing. Once they were dead, they were dead, unless someone came behind and resurrected them. Also, the NPCs she’d dealt with seemed more like people then programs. So, when she saw dumbshits like these, it really pushed her buttons.
‘Come on, Fiona,’ Jodi mentally said to the Blink Lynx, ‘maybe we can make enough of a difference that we can keep one of them alive. Either way, we need an escort back to our new home.’
‘Then we better hurry if you want in on this fun,’ Fiona excitedly said, as her ears perked up at the prospect of violence. ‘Those idiots aren’t going to last long.’
‘What are you talking about,’ Jodi asked in confusion, ‘the NPCs are outnumbered two to one.’
‘Not quite,’ Fiona said sniffing the air. ‘With all of this smell of death in the air, it’s hard to determine how many zombies there are, but I’d say they’re at least evenly matched number-wise.’ Seeing the disbelieving look on her Light Elf’s face, the Blink Lynx cocked her head at Jodi as if she were dense.
‘Don’t you dare give me that look,’ Jodi warned, as she focused on the group while nocking an arrow in her bow. ‘Let’s focus on the group of level 30 Syndicate players in the rear. Target the Priest first.’
With a flick of her long tail, Fiona excitedly teleported away. First she appeared directly behind the large group, before blinking away again to take up a position at the top of the barricade. The spot gave the Blink Lynx a perfect vantage point to get a solid attack off, while Jodi began buffing herself up. It was honestly confusing to her as to why none of the city guards were coming out to stop this shit. The House of Kayden Troopers were still in a location that would be considered within the Delonshire city’s area. Jodi had nearly finished buffing up, when some asshole in the crowd got worked up enough to send a Pyroblast at the line of zombies.
Before the flaming ball could even connect, five different Multi-Shots slammed into the Fire mage’s chest, killing him instantly. The slaughter didn’t stop there as the entire line of Kayden Troopers targeted the player’s teammates. By the time the Pyroblast had finished washing over the targeted zombie, the entire team had been taken out. It was an impressive response. One that Jodi had never seen from NPCs. As the line of NPCs returned to their defensive stances, a pin drop could have been heard across the field of shocked players.
It was like the pause before a storm as the players incredulously looked at one another in disbelief. Even from where she stood, Jodi could see that none of them could believe that the NPCs had dared to stand up to them. Let alone, that the NPCs would be so effective. That shock turned into outrage a moment later as they charged into the no man’s zone between the two groups to tear the NPCs and zombies apart.
‘Wait for the shot,’ Jodi warned Fiona, as she drew her bow back to target the five level 30 players from The Syndicate that were hanging back. ‘If we can gank these douchebags and keep them out of the fight, maybe we’ll be able to snag one of the NPCs once some of the players have been killed off.
‘You worry too much,’ Fiona said, as her mental laugher echoed in Jodi’s head. ‘If I don’t go in now, we won’t get a chance to have any fun.’
‘Dammit Fiona,’ Jodi swore through their link, ‘stay put until I attack!’
Even as she sent the command, Jodi knew it was too late as the Blink Lynx disappeared from atop the wall. While she usually appreciated their game of who could get first blood, they only played it when the outcome of the battle was a sure thing. Jodi didn’t know what had gotten into her combat pet’s head, but she knew they were now committed to the attack. As she loosed her first Multi-Shot at the Priest, Fiona appeared in the air behind the same target and instantly attacked with her powerful jaws and claws. While none of the attacks drew blood, the Blink Lynx’s strikes caused just enough damage to shatter the woman’s Holy Shield in a golden shower of sparks.
Fiona didn’t wait around for a follow up attack. Before the player could manage to catch her balance from the blows, the Blink Lynx was already teleporting away while Jodi’s Multi-Shot was registering as a Sneak Attack when the three arrows slammed through the woman’s light armored robe and punched into her back. Registering the kill for Gougeous Syndicate with a flick of her eyes at the system window, Jodi was already firing off her next Multi-Shot at the Fire mage in the group.
None of the team knew they’d lost their Priest as Fiona teleported on top of the Fire mage. The man screamed bloody murder as Fiona slammed into his back and began ripping his Holy Shield to shreds. At the same time, Jodi’s Multi-Shot slammed into his chest while the rest of the group turned around in surprise as they tried to figure out how they were under attack from a new direction. The Fire mage didn’t play around. Taking a deep breath, the man spewed a Fire Breath attack from his open mouth.
That lightning fast reaction was the only thing that saved the man’s life. It also happened to save her combat pet’s life too. As the team’s two Rogues leaped at the Blink Lynx's back, Fiona teleported away from the incoming flames just as they washed over the surprised Rogues’ faces while Jodi’s next Multi-Shot slammed home into the Mage’s cloth covered back. Sadly, even though she’d gotten the Backstab modifier with the attack, it wasn’t enough to take the Mage down as he staggered behind the lone Warrior’s back.
Seeing the Rogues begin sprinting for her, Jodi took off at a run, heading in a perpendicular line to the pair as she began nocking another arrow in her bow. As both players split apart to box her in and cut off her escape, Snufu began charging directly for her in a three-pronged attack. Jodi wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to get out of the trap they were trying to lock her down in, when the fight was turned suddenly on its head.
From out of nowhere, the pair of Rogues were unexpectedly tackled to the ground. In a flash of green skin, claws, and fangs, both players began screaming bloody murder as high-level Goblin zombies began eating them alive. Redirecting her next Multi-Shot towards Snufu, Jodi released the arrow and dove out of the way of the charging Warrior as he rushed through the spot she’d just been standing in a split-second later. Shrugging off the damage, Snufu whirled around to follow-up his attack while Jodi rolled back to her feet. She was already nocking another arrow into her bow, when two female Half-Elves in brown leathers appeared behind the Warrior’s armored back.
As Jodi’s next Multi-Shot punched through Snufu’s breast plate, the women’s blades tore into the Warrior’s back. In the blink of an eye, their complex blade combos joined with Jodi’s ranged assault managing to carve away a large chunk of the player’s health. Staggering under the assault from the three pro
nged attack, Snufu whirled around to confront his new attackers while leaving his backside open. Jodi wasn’t sure if it was a natural reaction to having melee fighters at his back or if he figured they were the greater threat. Either way, she decided to show him the fallacy of that decision as her next Multi-Shot punched through his backplate at point blank range. Though, before she could finish the Warrior off, the two Half-Elves’ follow-up attacks ripped away the rest of the man’s life causing him to collapse into a lifeless heap on the ground.
Jodi had a moment of confusion while both women gave her a jaunty salute, before rushing past her in a super-sprint heading back towards the rest of the battle. Thankfully, she didn’t attack either Half-Elf as she nocked another arrow in her bow and spun around to cast Identify on the women’s retreating backs. Immediately, Jodi’s spell registered both women as House of Kayden Rogue Troopers and which caused green name tags over their heads. Not understanding where the two Rogues had come from, Jodi hurriedly looked back towards the battle while her mouth dropped open in open stunned shock.
Everywhere she looked, Half-Elves and Goblin zombies were slaughtering the remaining players left and right. The most horrific scenes of violence were from the undead Goblins that seemed to be eating the screaming players alive everywhere she looked. Swords, arrows, axes, and magic did little against the feral beasts. If anything, Fire was the worst choice to use against the zombies as it just gave the victims a burning corpse eating their face off. Though, the most terrifying part about the zombies were their insane speed. To say that she was happy they seemed to be leaving her alone was an understatement.
At the same time, intermixed with the voracious undead were the House of Kayden Rogues and Ranger Troopers. They seemed to be everywhere even though the original twenty Rangers that had been guarding the camp were still there. Even now, those defenders were laying down volleys of death as fast as they could release their arrows. The new troopers must have been somehow staged around the clearing in Stealth. It was the only thing that made sense, Jodi thought, as she watched the last handful of players being cut down, when there was a pop of displaced air next to her.
