by Jason Cheek
“What do you mean,” Tumms asked, thinking she was making a joke as he watched the NPCs professionally go about their business.
Instead of cheering and making a big ruckus about a job well done, the Rogues had already faded back into Stealth and, Jodi assumed, they were getting back into position. Not only that, the Rangers that had been scouting and playing rearguard were already returning to their previous positions, while the non-stealthed NPCs that had been guarding them hurried over to loot and skin the corpses. There was even a group assigned to camp the gravestones. It was as if these NPCs fully understood what they meant for a player’s ability to respawn. That’s not freaky at all, Jodi silently thought, unsure of how she felt about NPCs knowing how to deal with a player’s ability to respawn. Keeping that disconcerting thought to herself, she turned to face Zeppy and Grody head-on.
“Think about it this way,” Jodi said, gesturing towards the NPCs that were forming up into their separate groups, “there are what, a hundred NPCs here? How many players from your own guild have you ever PVP’ed with at one time?”
“I don’t know,” Zeppy said, looking over to his friend Grody for help, “Maybe twenty-five or thirty players when our guild was bigger,” he frowned thinking over the question, “and we would join a combined alliance raid of maybe a hundred fifty to two hundred players max.”
“You know,” Grody said, recognizing that she was a knowledgeable player, “for a typical-sized raid on Stormwind if a lot of the smaller guilds and random players got in on the action.”
“That’s exactly my point,” Jodi said, thinking more and more that she was onto something, “You weren’t a cohesive group of a hundred or a thousand players taking over Stormwind. These guys,” she nodded to the NPCs around them, “are part of Lord Ironwolf’s army and fight that way.”
“What has that got to do with anything?” Zeppy asked, somewhat disgruntled at what he felt was an implied insult.
“Everything,” Jodi said, trying to get them to understand her point, “These Elite Barbed Rippers, while super nasty, didn’t stand a chance against a group of NPCs this large and geared up to face a World Boss.”
“Well damn,” Grody said, as a light bulb went off in his head, “How effective would we have been in a Stormwind raid if we were running a hundred guildmates geared up to take on high-level monsters while working together with military-like discipline?” Seeing Zeppy look at him in confusion, he tried to put it into perspective for his buddy. “Startum is setting up his forces for a serious game of Command and Conquer while everyone else is tackling the game like a bunch of weekend warriors.”
“Well not everyone,” Tumms said, getting the point, “The Chaos Storm Alliance is doing that on an even larger scale.”
“Sounds like the Goon Squad from our last game,” Zeppy groused as Grody grimaced at the comparison. Seeing Jodi’s raised eyebrow, he waved the comment away. “They’re a group of PKers with about ten to fifteen thousand players that liked to enter a game all at once to completely dominate the server with their people.”
“They’d do stuff like block off all the high-level zones, kill-steal open World Bosses, and just troll players outside of PVP zones,” Grody added, shaking his head in disgust.
“Yeah, we ran into those assholes on the Final Fantasy server that we were playing on,” Tumms sourly agreed.
“Well, Startum doesn’t have thousands of players to do that with,” Jodi said, cutting back in. She’d run into the Goon Squad in her last game too, but didn’t see a reason to bring that up now and derail her point. “But what he does seem to have is a bunch of NPCs that he’s setting up with the most skills that he can with player-level tactics.”
“That can all somehow multiclass,” Grody said, meaningfully meeting everyone’s eyes.
“And that currently hate us for being a bunch of dumbasses,” Zeppy reminded everyone with a heavy sigh.
“Form up,” Elandorr’s voice interrupted their little discussion, “We’re moving out in two minutes!”
“How about being just happy that we’re in good company,” Tumms said in his usual glass half-full tone, “and focusing on not trying to piss them off further?”
“A little late for that,” Jodi said, as Zeppy and Grody groaned and started walking back towards the NPC formation. Seeing Tumms’ questioning look, she waved him off. “I still have to collect my arrows.”
Getting a nod back from the Devil Dog, Jodi turned toward the boars just as a pop of displaced air brought her up short. Looking down, she saw Fiona with her arrows gathered up in her mouth. It was one of the things that the Blink Lynx regularly did for her, especially when she was frustrated like she was now. Giving Fiona a mental ‘Thanks’, she accepted the bundle of arrows and was just putting them back in her quiver, when her ears picked up an odd sound. As she continued to listen, she realized it was getting closer.
A quick look around confirmed Jodi wasn’t the only one hearing the strange noise. It almost sounded like someone screaming. Not waiting for the danger to appear, she nocked an arrow in her bow while listening, realizing that the growing sound was coming from several different directions at once. Deciding to keep her forward position next to the NPCs skinning the lead boar, Jodi drew her bowstring back to her cheek as she pivoted to focus in on exactly where the odd sound was coming from. A harder feat than one might think since anything beyond a hundred yards out was impossible to see with her Darkvision. That, and the thick tree trunks blocked everything further out than thirty to forty-yards in any direction anyway.
‘Something’s not right about this,’ Fiona snarled from where she crouched next to Jodi’s leg.
“Defensive stance,” Elandorr ordered to the raid, as the echoing sound drew closer. It was weird because it kept stopping and starting back up in a slightly different pitch. Not that the Dark Forest helped any of them in determining which direction it was coming from either. Turning to Lilshia, the Rogue angrily snapped, “I thought you said the newfar were farther back?”
“The main groups are,” Lilshia said without hesitation, “of that I swear!”
“Then this is something else,” Elandorr said with a grimace, as he gave the Ranger in charge of the rearguard an apologetic nod. Looking over at the skinners who were still hard at work on the lead boar, he hollered out to the Ranger that was directing the work, “Leave it Birila!”
“Just a second longer,” Birila called back as the two Rangers hurriedly made the last few cuts to get the lead boar’s hide completely shorn away. They didn’t bother trying to fold the hide up, but simply dragged the bloody sheet of skin behind them as they hurried back to the formation with Jodi keeping pace with them.
It was odd. While Elandorr was the leader, at the same time, he seemed to allow his subordinates the flexibility to make their own decisions. At least, he did to a point as long as it was within the expertise of their own positions of authority, Jodi thought, while still trying to get an exact position on the odd sound as her bow swung back and forth.
Coming to a stop as she caught movement between the trees about thirty to forty yards out, Jodi felt the hackles rise on Fiona’s back as they both saw the Light Elf at the same time. It was like a scene from a cheesy horror movie. The man was running at them covered in Fluffy Deaths while crimson blood streamed down his naked body whilst screaming at the top of his lungs. Jodi didn’t know if the screaming was due to pain or if it was some sort psychological warfare tactic. Either way, the sight of the little monsters ripping bloody chunks of flesh free from his body was freaking her the fuck out.
Jodi didn’t bother to shoot her arrow since the Light Elf keeled over dead a second later. What an odd sight, she silently thought, confused at what was going on. He didn’t make it within twenty-five yards of the raid. Jodi was just pivoting towards the next wavering screaming sound, when she saw a female Light Elf pop out of Stealth near the dead body.
Like the male, she was butt-ass naked as the day she’d been born. Unlike the male, she had a bow
with an arrow nocked. Jodi hesitated as she watched the female player in confusion aiming her bow back the way the man had come from. Ignoring the handful of Fluffy Deaths that latched onto her arms and legs, she loosed the arrow before tossing the bow away. Whirling around with a crazed look in her eyes, the female player started screaming at the top of her lungs as she began racing directly toward Jodi.
Maybe it was the shock at the whole wrongness of it all that threw her off, Jodi couldn’t really say, but it wasn’t until she heard the angry bellow from deeper in the woods and the sharp crack of snapping tree trunks that it came to her as to what was going on. “Kill the screamers!” Jodi yelled in raid chat, as she loosed her Multi-Shot at the blood-covered Light Elf.
Loosing arrows as fast as she could, Jodi couldn’t help thinking of the Screaming Bomb Men from the Serious Sam FPS games as she did her best to kill the crazy-woman. Well you know, except for the naked-thing these players had going on and the lack of explosions, but it was near enough that it made her laugh in spite of the weirdness of it all. At the same time, she chastised herself for not picking up on what was going down sooner. Due to gear losing durability on death, it was common practice in most games for players to strip down when they were planning on doing a death run to save on repair costs. That should’ve set off her warning bells right then and there.
Even without armor and clothing, it still took a number of Multi-Shots to take down one nearly full-health runner. Thankfully, Fiona wasn’t being a slacker either, especially after she caught the flash of what Jodi thought was going down. There was a pop of displaced air as the Blink Lynx appeared behind the female player’s back and struck with everything she had even as a few of the Level 45 Fluffy Deaths targeted her. Throughout the raid, the players began joining in on attacking the screamers as more and more of them appeared around the clearing.
“By the Dark,” Jodi heard Elandorr grunt to his fellow Assault Leaders at the gruesome scene going on around them, “what is wrong with these newfar?” She wasn’t sure which “newfar” the NPC was referring to but hoped it was only for their shared enemy.
“Elandorr, get your people out of here!” Jodi shouted in raid chat, unsure of what was going on behind her as she continuously targeted the closing screamers. Even though she knew it was already too late for what was coming next, she was going to try and give the NPCs as much of a head start as she could. Who knew, if they ran now, they might even live through all of this. “They’re sacrificing themselves to drag as many herds of Elite Barbed Rippers that they can on top of our raid.”
Hearing her words, Zeppy and his guildmates simply stepped forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her out in front of the NPCs. They understood, like Jodi did, that their sacrifice might save the rest of the raid. That, and even as ridiculous as it might sound, maybe they might even earn back a little of their honor and respect in the process.
As Tumms, Sunny, and a few of the other healers started casting Light’s Blessing and Holy Shield on everyone, Jodi was finally able to take down the naked female player with Zeppy and Grody’s help. Even so, the situation was quickly turning into a mess. As Zeppy and Grody turned to the next screamer, Jodi focused on clearing the Elite Fluffy Deaths from Fiona who was fighting for her life against three of the Level 45 little monsters. The Blink Lynx couldn’t Blink if she was in physical contact with any other creature. Jodi managed to get the last furry savage fucker a few seconds later, before it completely finished Fiona off.
Unfortunately, saving the Blink Lynx’s life only ensured that the Elite Barbed Rippers aggroed against them. Fuck it, Jodi sourly thought, as she bent her bow towards the massive Lead Boar blasting through the surrounding tree trunks as it charged towards their defensive line. There was no guarantee that Fiona’s death would’ve kept them safe. Not with so many of the PKers training monsters on them. Besides, she’d known as soon as she saw the screamer that it was too late for any of them to get through this unscathed. Even if Jodi couldn’t help the Blink Lynx further, she could at least stop her from being eaten alive by those nasty little monsters.
Not seeing any Enhanced Shadow Bolts or large volleys of arrows flying past her head, Jodi took that as a sign the NPCs had withdrawn from the battlefield. A part of her took comfort in knowing that they’d taken her advice. It really wasn’t worth having them be killed off to defend them against Startum’s enemies. Nonetheless, as the charging Elite Barbed Rippers burst through the large trees at the edge of the semi-clearing they were standing in, Jodi guts clenched up in spite of her resolve as she saw the mountain of barbed flesh come into view.
Even as Warduke and ChopU Ginsu stepped out in front of her for whatever protection they could offer against such massive beasts, Jodi couldn't help but wish that it was Ara and her NPC Warriors there instead. While the fifty percent pain threshold hadn’t really been a problem so far during her game play, she had a feeling that was about to change during this fight as the adrenaline began pumping through her veins. Aiming for the Lead Boar’s glowing-red eye, Jodi released her first Multi-shot at the monstrous rearing head.
Jodi didn’t bother following the arrow’s flight as it split into four separate arrows. Instead, her hand was already reaching for the next arrow in her quiver as she smoothly drew and loosed again for the same eye. It was a second and a half before the next four arrows were sent flying towards her target. While that might sound impressive, Jodi knew it was next to nothing in comparison to the monster’s hit points as her fingers snagged the next arrow from her quiver. But killing the massive beast wasn’t Jodi’s goal as a second and third high-level sow became visible charging alongside of the Lead Boar.
With an outward calm that she didn’t feel in her heart, Jodi ignored the enormous wall of flesh and muscle approaching her at too high of a speed while she lined up her next shot. Blocking out the thunderous hooves and the sharp cracks of snapping wood, she stood before the coming storm of instant death and loosed her third Multi-Shot just as her first arrows shattered off of the heavy barbs around the boar’s eye.
Sticking to her personal plan, Jodi dodged to the left of the trio of Elite Barbed Rippers in a classic kiting move even as her throat clenched in fear. As she reached for the next arrow, her booted feet were digging into the frozen ground as she sprinted away as fast as she physically could. At the same time, Warduke clanged his oversized axe head against his Iron-Reinforced shield as he triggered his Provoking Shout to aggro the monsters, while ChopU Ginsu shot forward in his own charge as her second Multi-Shot connected.
Jodi couldn’t see the damage that she’d managed to inflict even as the enormous head swung around to follow her. Praying that she’d guessed right, she targeted the Lead Boar’s front knee and let loose as her legs pumped faster and faster. Before the arrow could connect, Jodi had the next shot airborne and was drawing her next arrow, when her last Multi-Shot connected.
“Yes!” Jodi cried out at the enraged bellow of pain that came from the Lead Boar as its head protectively jerked to the side.
Releasing her next Piercing Shot at the massive knobby knee, Jodi triumphantly watched the massive boar pitch into the two high-level sows on its other side. Before the Lead Boar could right itself, she saw ChopU Ginsu shoot forward in a blur of movement. Whatever he used, the Warrior Monk had timed the move perfectly. Leaping into the air at an oblique angle to the monstrous head, he drove his closed fist into the monster’s remaining glowing-red eye as Warduke’s Shield Bash connected a split-second later.
It was a spectacular combo. Their combined assault sent the trio of Elite Barbed Rippers reeling away from the middle of their defensive line. The only problem was the monster’s barbs defensively flared out like a porcupine, catching both Zeppy’s Heroes players at point blank range with multiple six-yard-long spiked-barbs as thick around as Jodi’s arm. There was that shared split-second of shocked horror between them, before the combination of mass and velocity took its predictable effect as the men’s bodies were ripped apa
rt in an explosion of flesh and blood.
Somehow, Julie managed to get her next Piercing Shot off, targeting the same front knee as the Elite Barbed Ripper sows roughly shoved the Lead Boar back to its hooves. She could only grimace as the enormous monsters trampled over the far edge of the raid. As Zeppy’s Heroes were sent to the nearest graveyard from sudden death, the Lead Boar’s front leg gave away again sending the beast into the ground.
There were warning shouts of “Incoming!” in raid chat as another three herds of Elite Barbed Rippers came charging into the small clearing. Some were only four monstrous beasts while others had six. Regardless of numbers coming in at them, Jodi simply picked the next nearest Lead Boar and began targeting its eye with Multi-Shots, while running for the far edge of the clearing. She was nearly to the edge of the treeline and on her third Multi-Shot, when she heard Zeppy’s shrill warning in raid chat.
“Everyone hit the deck,” Jodi’s eyes swept back towards the far side of the raid where she saw the downed boar’s barbs vibrating like crazy, “he’s going to blow!”
Diving for the ground as she twisted in midair to land on her shoulder, Jodi managed to get one last Multi-Shot off at the Lead Boar’s eye, when an explosion of barbs shot out from the downed boar across the clearing. It was like being too close to an enormous fragmentation grenade going off, Jodi thought, as she was sent tumbling to the ground in a heap because her body was pierced by multiple barbs.
Coming to a flopping stop at the base of a tree, Jodi pushed her upper body up to painfully look around. The entire clearing was a mess of shatter branches, leaves, and shredded bodies. All that was left of the raid was a clump of gravestones and a handful of bleeding individuals struggling to crawl back to their feet. A quick glance at the handful of barbless boars that were whirling around after trampling through the center of their raid and she figured that Barbed Storm Strike had come from more than just one monster.
Hacking out a lungful of blood, Jodi numbly looked down at her own broken body. She was surprised to see a gaping hole through her abdomen and that her right leg was missing from mid-thigh down. That came as somewhat of a surprise since she didn’t feel any terrible pain from the devastating wounds. A glance at her HUD showed that she’d taken a thousand points of damage, and that the two-hundred and fifty-seven points of health that she had left were quickly being draining away by two severe bleed-debuffs.
