That lasted until he saw a tall figure waiting for him. Shaped like an Elf, it was tall and lanky, and its head swiveled steadily back and forth, examining the perfectly still forms around it until it noticed Anton being brought forward.
It didn’t speak but simply extended a long, pale arm forward. Anton began to struggle as panic swelled inside him. The pain didn’t matter. He could not let that thing touch him. His last words were babbled pleas for mercy. They were ignored as he was dragged forward and he felt the Revenant’s hand fall upon his forehead. As he died, Anton beheld something impossible vast and malevolent that lurked inside all the walking corpses around him. Something that loathed life in all its forms and sought nothing less than its complete eradication. Death was a blessing, but the horrors of what he had seen would continue to haunt him in the afterlife.
The Revenant felt only a cold sense of satisfaction. It had been in the human city for ten days, and its army already numbered in the hundreds, all protected from the anti-Undead wards by the blessing of its Maker. Its allies had awakened and were making further preparations. Soon, they would act. The living would be brought low and join the ranks of the Unfeeling Host.
At that point, a great slaughter would begin, ending only when the Common Realm was bereft of life.
Eleven
“There is trouble afoot in Akila,” Thane Ogorr Stern said. “And your fellow outsiders are at the heart of it!”
As soon as they arrived at Dwarven Hills, Hawke and Korgam had been invited – in Korgam’s case, ordered – to appear in front of the thane in his great hall, a miniature fortress on top of one of the seven hills that gave the Dwarven quarter of the city its name. Sternheim wasn’t the biggest dwelling in the Hills – that honor belonged to the Golden Mountain clan’s castle – but it was in the top five. Leaving the caravan in the capable hands of Helena Setes, Hawke and Korgam had followed the grim-looking messengers through the orderly streets of the small city within the city.
It was his first visit to Dwarven Hills, and it impressed him favorably. The rest of Akila had a sharp class divide: you had the wealthy districts and neighborhoods where everything was clean and tidy, with broad cobblestoned avenues surrounded by buildings clad in marble or fake versions of the material, and then slums, easily distinguishable by their narrow streets, wooden ramshackle structures, and general dirt and misery. The entire Dwarven district seemed to be comprised of brick houses in orderly rows and blocks, all painted white with green or red trimmings in a style that reminded him of pictures he had seen of old German villages. A canal separated the Hills from the rest of the city, with a handful of bridges connecting them.
The streets followed the outlines of the terrain, with one wall of each house and building leaning against the slope of one of the seven main hills that dominated the area. There were no slums in sight, although that might have been because most Dwarves in the town were traders and merchants; they wouldn’t have imported their ‘tired and poor’ to a human city. The dwellers of the Hills were middle class or wealthy and powerful, like the patriarch of Clan Stern.
Armed guards in half-plate armor stood by the gate of the manor. They let them through without a challenge; a servant led them inside. There were plenty of bows, salutes, and posturing when the two of them entered the great hall where the thane awaited, sitting on a throne carved from a single piece of ivory that must have belonged to some insanely big beast. Scenes of a battle between dragon-riding Dwarves and something the size of a mountain were etched into the sides and back of the throne, probably describing the provenance of the chair.
Marble columns lined both sides of the hall, and behind them the walls were decorated with weapons, stuffed animal heads and other trophies, including a raw golden nugget about two feet across, mounted on a pedestal; it must have weighed over a hundred pounds. That rock alone would have paid the Domain’s expenses for a couple decades. The wealth display was impressive; so were the glowing runes that kept the hall lit without the use of torches or candles. Hawke’s Mana Sight had identified dozens of magical wards and other defenses woven into the hall’s structure. This was a place of power, with a ley line running somewhere beneath their feet. He wouldn’t have wanted to storm the Stern Keep.
On the other hand, the Blue Tower that had once housed the Council of the Wise must have been even more heavily protected, and Kaiser’s thugs had brought it down. Hawke had noticed the missing blue tower he had admired during his first visit. The story was still circulating all over the place; he and his fellow travelers had heard a dozen different versions on the way to Akila, each naming a different culprit. He knew that the one blaming the Nerf Herders had to be the right one. So did Thane Stern.
The patriarch was positively ancient, with a white beard that reached all the way to the ground, or would have if it weren’t bound into a series on intricate braids, laced together all around his chest like a sweater, and decorated with colorful beads and glowing jewels that made the thane look like a living Christmas tree. Unlike the innkeeper Dorrham, who had been nearly crippled with age before Hawke fixed him, Ogorr was in perfect health. The clan master was wealthy enough to afford the best magic treatments, after all. He was also of high enough level that his nameplate had a pair of question marks followed by the cap limit of 20.
The rich and powerful thane was angry. More importantly, he was scared, although he was doing a good job hiding it, and that worried the hell out of Hawke.
“I swore an oath to protect the Realms from any Eternal who threatened them,” Hawke said. “That is one of the reasons I am here.”
“A doughty fighter, powerful mage, and faithful follower of the Triune Goddesses, he is,” Korgam added. “As well as Lord of the Sunset Valley.”
The powerful Adventurer looked downright timid in the presence of the clan elder. Hawke couldn’t blame him.
“I can see that, youngster,” Ogorr said. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Hawke. “I can also see there is far more to you, Lord Hawke, than you let on. There are mysteries and riddles wrapped around you like the coils of a great snake, some of which you may not be aware of. The Powers of the Realms have marked you, and for that, you have my sympathies.”
Unsure of what to say, Hawke merely nodded and waited for the thane to continue. Korgam bowed again.
“You neither boast nor engage in pointless blather,” the thane said after a few seconds of silence. “That is perhaps wise. Let me tell you what has transpired in this city since your fellow Eternals’ arrival.
“At first, they attracted little attention, for they were but a handful of neophytes with little skill or power. Their numbers grew, however, as did their reputation as capable mercenaries, undertaking missions and quests and succeeding more often than not. They were fearless, as death was but an inconvenience to them. And as soon as they had enough coin, they began to purchase access to the local Dungeons and, later, to Akila’s Labyrinth. They advanced on the path rapidly. As their power grew, so did their ambition and pride.”
Hawke nodded as the thane listed the Nerf Herder’s many crimes. Trying to forcibly recruit a couple of Dwarven Eternals who had taken refuge in the Hills was just one of them. Hawke had briefly met one of them, a fifteenth level High Paladin of Gaon called Grumpy Oakenshield. The former player had been at the keep’s courtyard, and waved at Hawke before asking to speak to him later. He had agreed, of course; it would be great to hear from another Earthling.
There were plenty of other messes Ogorr placed at the feet of the Herders: casual brutality against anyone lacking the power or connections to protect them, especially women; the theft of several powerful items; spying on rival guilds, merchants, and other organization; and even a number of mysterious deaths that had afflicted enemies of the Eternals’ guild. Hawke was sure that Girl-Has No-Name had a hand in some of those.
“They also keep going to the Proving Grounds and bringing back enough gold to harm the economy,” Ogorr added. “It has come to the point that beggars wi
ll sneer at a handful of copper dinars, and a loaf of bread costs the better part of a silver one. The Herders spend their coin with wild abandon, driving up prices everywhere.”
Kaiser has invented inflation, Hawke thought, trying not to smile.
Yeah, but if you die enough times, you lose yourself, and then you die for good.
That was true enough, Hawke had to admit. After reaching level fifteen, his spells and gear made him pretty hard to kill. He had made it through several levels without suffering an untimely end. It was worth it to risk one’s life to get to that point, even if you died a couple of times along the way.
Ogorr’s tale turned to the Council of the Wise. The wizard organization wasn’t exactly a beloved institution – the thane’s description made them sound like little more than a protection racket – but the destruction of their headquarters and the murder of most of its leadership had shaken the city to its core. Smaller magical societies had tried to fill the power vacuum, resulting in a few assassinations and, worse, a couple of public wizard duels. Nothing disturbed the peace like having a bunch of elementals and other summoned critters running around fighting each other in the streets until enough elite guards showed up to put them down.
“The Prefect accused the Green Coven of the attack.” The thane slammed a fist on the throne’s arm rest. “Laughable drivel! A gaggle of witches out in the swamp, few of them high on the Path, and we are to believe they were able to overcome the defenses of the Council’s Tower?”
“How did the Nerf Herders do it? That place must have been impregnable,” Hawke said.
“A good question, with no clear answer. Proving Grounds are a source of powerful devices and artifacts. The Eternals in question must have been hoarding them to use against the Council. Or perhaps Kaiser Wrecker made a pact with a darker power. Do you know that he numbers no active Priests or Paladins among his band? Those who started on that Path abjured their gods and became something else, forsaking their deities’ gifts.”
“I didn’t know that.”
Girl’s report hadn’t mentioned that factoid, but looking back at the list of Nerf Herders on ‘active duty,’ Hawke realized that none of them were servants of any pantheon. That made some sort of weird sense, Hawke figured. Kaiser didn’t like divided loyalties; his people were either all-in or they ended up dead or enslaved. The Herders were an… atheist gang? No, more like anti-theist. You couldn’t refuse to believe in gods in a world where their existence was evident. Still, that should have made the Herders’ position extremely precarious. If the gods wanted to mess with you, you were screwed. Hawke had been extremely lucky to have earned the protection of four goddesses in a short time. He would have been perma-dead otherwise. Kaiser must have gotten his own protector.
“The followers of the Pantheons are concerned,” Ogorr said. “It’s been said that the Hierophant of Vitara knows that two Eternals affiliated to the goddess of Life, one a Priest the other a Paladin, went into the Nerf Herders’ compound – and died there. He has not formally accused the Nerf Herders of murder, but any members of that Guild will find a cold welcome at the Temple District.”
“And what has Kaiser done to the Temples?” Hawke asked.
“What makes you think he has done anything?” the thane asked him.
“If the priestly orders oppose his guild, he will do something about it. It’s how he operates.”
“Yes, of course. There have been no overt acts, but someone is stirring the populace against the priesthoods. Pamphlets and paid criers have started appearing around the city, accusing the priests of squandering the alms of the pious to improve their lives instead of their deities’ cause. It is an accusation not entirely without merit, mind you. Too many servants of the gods look out for their own needs, at the expense of their duties, and as long as their peculation does not reach unseemly levels, the gods ignore it.”
A little payola and bribery get tolerated, Hawke translated. That’s kind of sad, but I guess even the gods accept that it’s part of human nature.
Saturnyx replied.
“He angers the gods, but avoids his just deserts,” the thane said. “What does that suggest to you, Paladin?”
“That he has a patron to protect him from the gods. A god of his own, maybe? Or an Arbiter. Maybe even a Maker.”
“Few can gain the favor of the Demiurges, and fewer still do so safely and without regret.”
Yeah, tell me about, Hawke thought but kept to himself. By my last count, I’ve crossed paths with three of them. Why not Kaiser, too?
“Kaiser Wrecker is said to wield a powerful sword, with a blade made of pure darkness that my sages believe may be a Soul-Drinker.”
Oh, great, Kaiser’s gotten freaking Stormbringer?
I guess I can’t be the only guy who got a super-duper sword, but did it have to be that rat bastard?
Out loud, he said: “Is he a servant of the Maker of Undeath, then?”
Ogorr shuddered. “It is good you did not use his name, but even referring to him who raises the dead is known to bring bad luck to all within hearing. It is possible, although he has not shown signs of it.”
“When did he find the sword? He didn’t have it when I met him.”
And kicked his ass, he thought, a bit smugly. Well, almost kicked his ass. Time to do it for real this time.
“My agents tell me that he brought it back from his last trip into the Malleum Mallum Labyrinth. He descended into one to the Lower Passages, reaching the nineteenth level on the Path and returning with a Legendary Artifact.”
Hawke grimaced. The name of the Labyrinth loosely translated to ‘the Crushing Evil’ but it could also mean ‘the Evil Grind.’ It was a level-grinder, which you could visit over and over, fighting deadly monsters for great rewards. Kaiser must have beaten a level boss or something even tougher, and come back with a cursed weapon. A gift from his patron, maybe? Somebody had been protecting the bastard before that. Vazalak Zombi was the likely culprit, but why? Kaiser wasn’t a necromancer, just a power-hungry psychopath.
Then again, I snoozed through a lot of history classes, but even I know that whenever a power-hungry psychopath gained power on Earth back in the twentieth century, people died by the millions.
“Whoever his master is, Kaiser needs to go,” Hawke said.
Ogorr nodded. “And the Realms will thank you for it.”
Quest Accepted: Defeat Kaiser Wrecker
The President of the Nerf Herders threatens the city of Akila and perhaps the entirety of the Realms. You must not only stop his Guild, as prescribed by your vow to the Triune Goddesses, you must also bring the Final Death upon Kaiser himself.
Quest Objective: Kill Kaiser Wrecker permanently.
Quest Rewards: 15,000 Experience, +200 to Global Renown, 2 Soul Shar
ds, +100 Reputation with Triune Goddesses, a Legendary Artifact appropriate to your Class(es) and Level.
Failure Penalties: If the quest has not been fulfilled in a year or is Abandoned before then, you will have broken your oath: -200 to Global Renown, -5,000 XP.
Soul Shards? The only time he had encountered those had been at Necromancer Greg’s Stronghold; he had made them by murdering Eternals over and over again. He had about a hundred and change of the things, although he had no idea what to do with them.
Ten thousand gold each? Hot damn, that would make me a millionaire.
And prices to match, I bet.
None of that mattered; Hawke had resolved to use those Soul Shards in a way that would help undo the evil that had created them. Buying himself stuff wasn’t exactly the thing to do. But the Shards he earned from offing Kaiser would be his, fair and square.
Of course, he had to kill the bastard first. He didn’t think that was going to be easy.
Twelve
“I don’t like it,” Grognard said.
Hawke leaned back on his chair and pretended to relax. “No harm in talking. I’m not expecting a peace treaty or anything, just a chance to learn more about the enemy. Keep your eyes open.”
“Yessir.”
After Hawke and Korgam finished their meeting with the thane, a messenger from the Nerf Herders had arrived at the Stern Keep, where Ogorr had invited Hawke and his friends to stay, even the caravan’s drivers and guards, although the latter got to spend the night in an empty barracks rather than the luxury rooms reserved for VIPs. Still, it was better and more secure than a random inn; there was even enough space for all the wagons in the mini-fortress, and zero chance that something would go missing from them. The only problem was, it had been pretty obvious that they were all spending the night there, so the messenger – not a Nerf Herder himself, since the guild wasn’t welcome in the Hills – had little trouble finding them.
Guilds at War: The LitRPG Saga Continues Page 9
