Conquest

by Dean Henegar

  “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 lig
ht 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.