Crota

by Rohan M Vider

  You have been hit by a feral kobold. No damage taken, 10 piercing damage blocked by your fire shield. Remaining shield strength: 169/179 HP.

  You have been hit by a feral kobold. No damage taken, 11 piercing damage blocked by your fire shield. Remaining shield strength: 158/179 HP.

  The kobolds fell back in surprise. Foregoing defence, and mindful that he needed to end this battle quickly, Kyran stepped into the three kobolds, crowding them and nullifying the long reach of their spears. Retaining his two-handed grip on the longsword, he hacked viciously downwards. Left then right. Both blows landed, and two of the kobolds facing him staggered back, blood gushing from their torsos.

  You have hit a feral kobold for 9 slashing damage. Remaining health: 88/100 HP.

  You have hit a feral kobold for 7 slashing damage. Remaining health: 63/100 HP.

  The third struck futilely at him, unable to pierce his fire shield. Ignoring its attacks, Kyran charged the injured kobolds. With a two-handed thrust he pierced the heart of the first. Without pause, he reversed the thrust, stepped forward and with a whirling backhanded cleaved through the neck of the second.

  You have killed a feral kobold with a vital strike (4,830 XP gained: 109,935/200,000 combat XP).

  You have killed a feral kobold with a vital strike (4,830 XP gained: 114,765/200,000 combat XP).

  Lifeless marionettes, both kobolds fell. Gore spattered, Kyran turned towards the remaining kobold. Under his grim gaze, the kobold hesitated momentarily. Then visibly gathering his courage, the warrior charged suicidally forward, spear first. With little effort, Kyran sidestepped the thrust, and using the kobolds own momentum, neatly severed his head. The corpse’s head tumbled free, and silence momentarily descended.

  You have killed a feral kobold with a vital strike (4,830 XP gained: 119,595/200,000 combat XP).

  Beholding the ghastly scene shocked Kyran free from his battle frenzy. In the skirmish with the kobolds, he had reacted instantly and instinctively, without conscious thought or regard for the carnage he wrought. The adrenaline seeped out from his body, leaving him weak and trembling from strung out nerves and worn-out limbs. In horror he surveyed the evidence of his savagery. The butchered corpses of the four slain kobolds surrounded him. He, himself, was liberally spattered and dripping with blood, none of it his own. He convulsed in revulsion and self-loathing. What have I become?

  A feral scream in the distance broken through his self-incriminations. He looked up. In the ice wall, the four kobolds were still frozen, dying slowly from ongoing freeze damage. They were no threat. Beyond the ice field, the root field had dissipated, and charging towards him were the surviving kobolds. During the melee, he had received death messages from the victims of the confusion spell. The two charmed and enraged kobolds were dead, killed by their fellows, but not before they managed to take two others with them. That left six able kobolds, including the shaman. All of whom, were recklessly charging towards him.

  Dispassionately he watched them. He could not comprehend the folly that spurred them on. He had already killed three quarters their numbers, and yet they still pursued him. Why did they not flee? Did they have no sense of self-preservation? He was sick of the killing he had done here already, and yet it seemed he would be forced to do more. Resigned, he recast grasping roots ahead of the charging kobolds.

  Predictably, the kobolds charged straight into it, on a direct path to Kyran, where unsurprisingly they became quickly entangled. The warriors thrashed and hacked once more. The shaman, entangled as well, raised his staff and launched a series of projectiles at Kyran.

  You have been hit by a kobold shaman. No damage taken, 18 earth damage blocked by your fire shield. Remaining shield strength: 169/179 HP.

  Kyran ignored the shaman. Instead, he set the root field on fire.

  Your fire dart spell has ignited your grasping roots, transforming it into a burning root field.

  6 of 6 kobolds are caught in the magical flames, and will sustain 1-3 fire damage/second.

  Even with their fire resistance, the kobolds would still take significant damage over time from the burning roots. His essence pool reserve was still high – high enough to decisively conclude this slaughter. He renewed his fire shield. Then, focusing on the shaman, he returned the shaman’s salvo with one of his own.

  Your fire dart has hit a kobold shaman for 7 fire damage (6 damage resisted). Remaining health: 88/120 HP.

  Your fire dart has hit a kobold shaman for 5 fire damage (5 damage resisted). Remaining health: 83/120 HP.

  Your fire dart has hit a kobold shaman for 4 fire damage (6 damage resisted). Remaining health: 79/120 HP.

  The shaman snarled in fury. Stuck as he was in the burning root field, and the target of Kyran’s bombardment he took more damage from Kyran than he was dealing, even with his fire resistance. The shaman attempted to rectify this and cast water armour and barkskin over himself. To little avail. The water armour, vulnerable to fire attacks, dissipated quickly, while his barkskin did little to hamper the magical attacks. Kyran did not miss the fact that the kobold spellcaster did not cast fire shield, it appeared that the shaman did not have this spell in his arsenal.

  Remorseless, Kyran continued his bombardment and little by little destroyed his opponent – a death by a thousand cuts. A few minutes later, the battle was over. The shaman and the five kobolds lay dead in the burning field, never managing to escape Kyran’s fire trap. The other four kobolds trapped in the ice wall had also perished.

  Kyran was victorious.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Battle Log (Summary)

  The battle has ended.

  Combat Results

  Creatures bonded: 0.

  Creatures killed: 22 level 10 feral kobold warriors, 1 level 15 kobold shaman, 1 level 12 kobold shaman.

  Combat Gains

  Kyran Seversan:

  XP gained: 116,050 XP.

  Levels gained: 1 level (9 SP, 2 AP). New combat level: Level 9.

  Party Status

  Kyran Seversan:

  Health: 90/90

  Stamina: 120/580

  Will: 90/1020

  Essence: 72/1200

  Combat Level: 9 (183,775/200,000), Civilian Level: 3 (7,600/12,000 XP).

  Ambush

  On the value of wands and staffs – A spell caster’s wand or staff is his most vital piece of equipment. It is often said (and proven to be quite true) that a wizard without his staff is only half as deadly. What often is not understood is the why. It is a myth that a wizard cannot cast spells without his staff. All magical spells draw from a wizard’s internal essence pools and may therefore be cast unaided. The role of the wizard’s staff is to more effectively channel this essence thereby reducing the overall cost of spells. This is quite vital for higher ranked spells. A master rank spell requires 640 essence and a grandmaster rank spell 1280 essence. The average wizard, without a staff would barely manage casting one such spell! On the other hand, with a well-crafted staff the essence cost of a master level spell is reduced to 160 essence! – A Wizard’s Primer, by Archmage Telthamos.

  Kyran wandered the battlefield, scavenging. Distasteful though he found it, the looted gear would improve his odds of survival. He dumped the gear taken from the kobold warriors in one large pile near the lake shore and those taken from the shamans in a smaller adjacent pile.

  Found: Crude feral kobold bone spears x 12.

  Type: Weapon. Weight: 1.8 kg (each). Rank: Common. Damage: 10-15 Piercing or Slashing.

  Condition: Poor. Description: A crude bone spear. You do not have the skill (two-handed weapons) to wield this in combat.

  Found: 10 x Bone spearheads.

  Type: Crafting ingredient. Weight: 0.5 kg. Rank: Common. Description: These spearheads have been crudely shaped from the bones of long dead creatures.

  Found: 20 x Kobold basic travel rations.

  Type: Food. Weight: 0.2 kg. Special properties: None. Description: The basic ration is the staple of every travelling kobold warr
ior. Its composition is a closely guarded secret of kobold shamans and cooks. For most sentients it is edible – barely.

  Found: 4 x basic leather bag.

  Type: Item. Weight: 0.2 kg. Rank: Common. Description: A crude leather bag for holding stuff.

  Found: 15 x rough pieces of copper.

  Type: Item. Weight: 0.1 kg. Description: Bits of valuable metal.

  Doubtfully, he sniffed at the travel rations and then half-heartedly took a bite of one. He chewed mechanically. Paused. Chewed again. It was rock hard, and tasted of dirt and earth, but for all that, was edible. He shrugged and stored it in his inventory. He did likewise with the leather bags, spearheads and copper pieces. The spears he left, being too heavy.

  Next, he inspected the gear taken off the shamans.

  Found: 2 x Shaman’s earth staff.

  Type: Weapon.

  Weight: 1.5 kg.

  Rank: Common.

  Damage: 5-8 Crushing or Magical damage based on spell.

  Condition: Good.

  Description: The shaman staff is a common magical staff attuned to earth magic. Magical staffs assist the caster in channelling spells, effectively reducing their essence cost. This staff reduces the essence cost of earth spells by 1% x wands & staffs skill level and all other spells by 0.5% x skills level. The staff can also be used also be used as a melee weapon. When channelling spells through it, the staff may be wielded one-handed. To use it as a melee weapon the staff must be gripped with both hands.

  You need a skill of at least one in the wands & staffs skill to wield this in combat.

  Found: 1 x Shaman’s headdress.

  Type: Garment. Weight: 0.2 kg. Rank: Common. Spell Armour: 1 armour. Condition: Good. Description: A feathered, decorative headdress commonly worn by hedge shamans. You need a skill of at least one in mystical garments to equip this.

  Found: 1 x Tattered cloak.

  Type: Item. Weight: 0.3 kg. Rank: Common. Special Properties: None. Condition: Poor. Description: A simple cloak, providing minimal protection against the elements.

  Found: 1 x Shaman’s bone necklace.

  Type: Item.

  Weight: 0 kg.

  Rank: Uncommon.

  Special Properties: +2% Earth magic skill.

  Condition: Good.

  Description: A bone necklace made from the consecrated remains of ancient kobold shamans and imbued with a portion of their magical skills.

  The bone necklace was interesting. It was the first item he had encountered that boosted a skill. Curious he equipped it.

  You have equipped a Shaman’s bone necklace. Your effective earth magic skill has increased by 2% from 17.9 to 18.

  The necklace fit snuggly around his neck. Concentrating carefully, he sensed a faint aura around it as it interacted with his internal essence pathways, slightly widening the ones he used to channel earth spells.

  He looked over the shamans’ staffs carefully. He had quickly learnt that effective essence and will expenditure was critical. This staff appeared very useful in that regard. It was a pity that he had not invested in the wands & staffs skill yet. Along with the rest of the shamans’ gear, he stowed it away for now. It would come in useful later. He dumped the less useful items in his inventory to fit in the new loot, and even then, his inventory was nearly filled to capacity.

  Inventory

  Storage Capacity: 186.4/200 kg.

  General Items (152.8 kg):

  Precious gems (2 x diamond, 3 x sapphire, 1 x emerald, 2 x ruby) (0 kg).

  Rock beetle shells x 2 (150 kg).

  Basic leather bag x 5(1 kg).

  Rough pieces of copper x 15 (1.5 kg).

  Tattered cloak (0.3 kg).

  Crafting Items (8 kg):

  Bone spearheads x 10 (5 kg).

  Spider silk (3 kg).

  Armour (7.7 kg):

  Chitin helm (0.5 kg).

  Rusted darksteel chainmail vest (7 kg).

  Shaman’s headdress (0.2 kg).

  Weapons 4.9 kg):

  Steel shortsword (0.8 kg).

  Rusted steel knife (0.3 kg)

  Crude feral kobold bone spear (1.8 kg).

  Shaman’s earth staff x 2 (3.0 kg).

  Food (13 kg):

  Cave fungi x 30 (3 kg)

  Cooked rock beetle meat (6 kg).

  Kobold basic travel rations x 20 (4 kg).

  Done, he travelled back to the cave to rest his battle-weary body.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Kyran could not sleep. He lay on the floor of his hideout and turned over the events of the day's battle in his mind. He pictured again the scenes of butchery that he had orchestrated. It had been less a battle and more a slaughter. He had slain twenty-four sentients, mercilessly. Was this what it meant to be a player? Constant battles and killings? Did he want to continue on this path? But what choice did he have? He had tried befriending the kobolds, only to be rebuffed. Should he have tried harder? Was there some other course he could have taken?

  No. He had done his best. He had been pushed into a corner, both by the gods, and then the kobolds. He had been given no choice but to fight, live or die. And as much as he despised the killings, his will to live was greater.

  He realised then, that he was willing to kill to live.

  His right to life was as great as that of his aggressors, and if attacked, he would kill in his defence, without remorse. A sad testament to the human condition, he thought forlornly, but life was too precious to surrender. With these morose thoughts, oblivion eventually claimed him and he fell into a troubled sleep.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  In a cold sweat, Kyran was shocked awake by the premonition of danger.

  You have slept 5 hours. Will, essence and stamina completely restored. The date is 05 Jul 2603 AB, and the time 04:08.

  He shook his head to clear it of the befuddlement of sleep and clinging nightmares. He took stock of his surroundings. He was in the cave and as far as his sight revealed, he remained its only occupant. Good. He activated show hostiles – and froze.

  Encamped around the cave entrance in a half circle, was a sea of red dots. There were far too many to count.... hundreds. Was it the kobolds? How had they found him so soon? There was no mistaking the focus of his adversaries outside, the cave was dead centre of the encircling forces. The seconds ticked by and the enemy remained motionless. Why are they just standing there? he wondered. Perplexed, he observed the enemy on his player’s map awhile longer. They remained unmoving. Waiting. Eventually, Kyran realised battle was not imminent and his foes outside appeared content to wait. Why, and for what, he did not understand.

  Since they had not already done so, he could only assume that his enemies outside were not able to scale the cliff to reach his cave. Were they just going to wait for him to come out? In that case, he could launch a pre-emptive strike, which with surprise on his side, would be devastating. However, attacking was beyond foolish, the enemy numbers were simply too great. He was unlikely to thin their ranks sufficiently to make survival anything more than an impossibility - and that was assuming they were kobolds and not some other more dangerous foe.

  He realised he needed better intelligence. His foes inactivity was to his advantage, it gave him time to better assess what he faced. He closed his eyes and sent his consciousness forth, to the base of the cliff. Only to be jarred out of his scrying as his mind collided with a magical ward.

  Your attempted scrying has been detected. Your basic scrying has been blocked by a scrying barrier. You failed to scry the area.

  Kyran's eyes snapped open in shock. How? he wondered, astonished. This was not good, not good at all. Unable to contain his nerves, he got up and paced fretfully back and forth within the confines of the cave. Not only had he failed to obtain any information on his foes, but he had also revealed himself. It could not be the kobolds. In their previous engagements the kobolds had displayed limited magical capabilities and a distinct lack of subtlety. Whoever his foes outside were, he greatly feared that he was outmatche
d. He had only one option left - escape.

  He rechecked the enemy's disposition on his map. They were still stationary. Their continued lack of reaction bemused him, his scrying had been detected and blocked, so why did they not react? But he didn’t allow the enemy's puzzling behaviour to sway him from his chosen course of action.

  He settled his mind and prepared to travel. He chose a spot at the limit of his reach. In a gully that would hopefully keep him hidden from the sea of red dots outside the cave. From there, with his blend active, he should be able to sneak his way out of the lake cavern. His enemies, whoever they were, had blundered by waiting. He would exploit this and escape before they sprang whatever trap they had in mind.

  The travel spell progressed smoothly and neared completion. But just as he began the delicate process to recoalesce his presence in the gully, his equilibrium was nearly shattered by another game message.

  Your travel(self) spell has been detected.

  Kyran silently screamed in frustration. Again, he had been outmanoeuvred. He was in the final stages of casting the travel spell, and could not abort now, not without risking a flawed reconstruction. He had to complete the spell.

  You have cast travel (self) and teleported 207m (100 XP gained: 7,700/12,000 Civilian XP). Execution time: 5 minutes.

  His body reformed in the gully without mishap. His eyes snapped open, his body primed and ready to flee. Only to be caught off guard – again.

  He was surrounded. Somehow, his foes had known his teleportation target and had ambushed him perfectly. And it was not the kobolds. Encircling him, in a double line, were sixty skeletal warriors, and behind them two cloaked figures. All stood poised, waiting for his next move.