The Greystone Chronicles: Book One: Io Online
Page 45
Alexander noted that the stone doors of the gate were holding against the barrage, but were starting to turn red from the heat. Heated stone would eventually become brittle and break. As he took in the scene, one of the guards on the wall took an arrow to the chest. The bodies of what looked to be one of the human farmers and his sons lay on the ground nearby.
“It has to be PWP!” Alexander shouted. “Fitz! Brick! Let’s make some mud! I’ve got the tanks. You guys get the casters!”
Alexander and Fitz waved their hands toward the group of players, while Brick dropped to one knee and placed a hand on the ground. Within seconds, the earth under all the players softened, and their feet began to sink into quickly liquefying mud. About half were quick enough to jump free, while the others sank to their knees, then their waists. The mud then solidified around them, effectively trapping them in place.
The two kings conferred briefly, then commanded their men to attack. The human guards ran to the right, while the dwarves went left. The kings, with Alexander and his group, along with the stone masons, moved directly toward the rear of the PWP’s. They effectively boxed in the players, cutting off any escape route. Three of the archers who’d been quick enough to escape the mud turned and fired at the approaching kings. Alexander threw up a magic shield that deflected the arrows. Brick cast holy smite on one of them, while Lainey stunned another. Sasha cast an AOE thorn trap on a group that was trying to move away from the trapped players, and Alexander hit three of them with wizard’s fire.
As the burning players screamed, the guards from both kingdoms slammed into the confused players from the flanks. The impact of the heavily armored dwarves and men moving at a full run knocked the players back toward their center, where they tripped and fell over the players stuck in the earth. The guards proceeded to stab and cut at the players, mostly warriors, who remained standing.
“Don’t let your men kill them!” Alexander pleaded with both kings. “We need to capture and question as many as we can!”
War Master Stonehand and Captain Redmond began bellowing at their men to disable the enemy and capture them. A few of the players heard this, and began trying to kill each other rather than be captured. Fitz raised his arms and a cloud began to form over the players. After about 15 seconds, lightning bolts began to strike the players, stunning them. As each one was stunned, the guards would leap onto them, disarming and binding them.
Sasha and Lydia ran past the group of PWP to see if they could save the farmers. Brick chased after them.
When all the PWP players were subdued, Alexander and the kings approached. There were 22 PWP’s captured. Six of them had been killed or managed to kill themselves to escape capture. Two of the human guards had been seriously injured, while three more were slightly wounded. Only two of the dwarves were wounded.
The gate opened, and one of the retired guard sergeants walked out to report to Captain Redmond. Three of the guards on the wall were injured. The one who’d taken the arrow to the chest was killed. One of the dwarven children had taken a stray arrow in the back. The priest was already healing those inside.
Sasha and Lydia came back, the farmer and one son walking with them. The farmer was carrying his youngest son, whom they’d not been able to save.
King Charles began to yell, “PWP murderers! Why would you attack a village of innocent civilians?” In his rage, he kicked one of the trapped mages in the head. Hard. Blood and teeth sprayed some of the players behind. The guards of both races took that as a sign to express their opinions of the adventurer scum in similar manners. None were killed, but it was close in a few cases.
“I place you all under arrest as enemies of the state. I further declare that I place a bounty of 100 gold on the head of any PWP member, not just in my Kingdom, but in every Kingdom on Io! I will do my utmost to have my fellow rulers declare you enemies of their states as well. THERE SHALL BE NO PLACE SAFE FOR YOU!”
Just as enraged, King Thalgrin bellowed, “Aye! I’ll match yer 100 gold for the heads o’ these dogs! And on behalf o’ every dwarven Kingdom on Io, I pronounce ye enemies o’ the dwarves! Any dwarf who comes upon a member of PWP is to kill ‘em on sight, or capture ‘em for questioning! Word will go out that any city or nation what harbors these scum risks war with the dwarves!”
The PWP members were all stripped of their belongings, which were piled up on the road outside the gate. Guards began questioning the players about who sent them, and where their headquarters were.
There was a cry of outrage and sadness from inside the walls. After a moment, a dwarf ran out of the gate, belt knife in hand, and headed straight for the players with murder in his eyes. “Ye killed me boy!”
The dwarven farmer was stopped by Thalgrin’s guards before he could kill anyone, though it took 4 dwarves to hold him back. Thalgrin himself went to embrace the farmer. He barked a command, and three of his guards ran into the gate.
Thalgrin led the farmer over to where Charles stood. They spoke quietly, and the human king looked grim before nodding his head. He motioned for Fitz to step close, and murmured instructions to the wizard. Fitz looked toward Alexander for a moment, then nodded his head to his king. He moved over and instructed the guards to move the prisoners closer together. The players, sensing something was wrong, began to demand to know what was happening.
The three dwarven guards returned pulling a cart. Following them out the gate were a large crowd of villagers, both human and dwarf. The priest walked at the front, carrying the dwarf child who’d been killed. He walked over and handed the child to Thalgrin.
King Charles called out to the villagers, “Someone take the children back inside, and close the gates. This is not for them.” Millicent's daughters and a few others quickly rounded up the children and took them inside.
When the gates were closed, Thalgrin stepped forward, still holding the dead child. With a voice scratchy and thick with grief, he spoke. “Dwarves live hard lives. We live fer honor, and fer battle!” The dwarves around him shouted once and slammed weapons to shields. “We live long, but have few children, and that makes each child more precious to us than any treasure!” Another burst of sound from the dwarves. This time the human soldiers joined in. “Ye filth ha’ come here today to this peaceful place with murder in yer black hearts! Ye’ve taken from us one of our most precious gifts from Durin his self!” The noise from the soldiers was accompanied by thunder in the sky.
King Charles nodded at Fitz, and the ground beneath the prisoners sank slowly, until they were in a pit roughly ten feet deep. As they sank, the dwarves removed kegs from the cart they’d brought out. They broke open the kegs and began pouring spirits into the pit, soaking the still bound players, who began to shout and scream, “You can’t do this!”
Alexander stepped forward to the edge of the pit. He waited until the players grew mostly quiet. Then he asked, “Who’s the leader here?”
One of the warriors jumped up on his feet, hands still bound behind his back. “I am! You’re going to pay for this. You can’t torture us! I’ll have you banned!” The other players shouted agreement.
“No, you won’t,” Alexander replied calmly. “You assholes picked on the wrong citizens. They are doing this on their own, as retribution for your despicable acts. I won’t be lifting a finger to hurt you.” He turned to look at the two kings, who both nodded at him.
“You have one chance. Tell me who sent you, and where your guild headquarters are.” The dwarves continued to empty spirits into the pit, which now had a pool nearly an inch deep at the bottom. Others, including villagers, were tossing scraps of wood and some of the player’s own clothing into the pit.
“Screw you, noob!” the warrior shouted. The Dark One will protect us! When you kill us here, we’ll return to his shrine, and be back here in two days to finish the job!”
“Are you really that stupid?” Alexander laughed loudly, to make a point. “You’ve been arrested by the king himself. On his lands. You are now bound here. For a
year. Have you not paid ANY attention at ALL?”
“Antalia!” one of the archers cried out. “Our guild house is in Antalia. Please, let me out of here! I don’t want this! I answered your question! Free me!”
“It’s not in my power to free you. You’ve murdered citizens in front of the kings of two kingdoms. One of them a child. For all we know, it was your arrow that killed that boy. You morons just never learn.” Alexander stepped back from the pit.
King Thalgrin began a song of mourning. His voice low and gravelly, the sound of the earth itself. The other dwarves took up the song, the sound swelling until it resonated in the land around them. They beat their fists against their shields in rhythm. After a moment, the human soldiers joined in.
The king handed the murdered boy to his father. One of his guards handed him a lit torch. He stepped toward the pit.
“Ye will never know the pain ye’ve caused today. But ye WILL know pain of yer own!”
The priest stepped toward the edge of the pit and began to pray over the adventurers. Brick stepped forward and laid a hand on his shoulder. Shaking his head, he guided the reluctant priest away.
King Thalgrin raised the torch in the air, preparing to toss it into the pit. But before he could, a bolt of lightning shot from the sky, into the pit. There was a crack of thunder, followed by a softer
Level up! You are now level 29!
Your wisdom has increased by +1. Your intelligence has increased by +1
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Level up! You are now level 30!
Your wisdom has increased by +1. Your intelligence has increased by +1
You have 21 free attribute points available
Alexander looked to the kings, who were both still gazing into the pit. Then he looked to Captain Redmond, who just nodded. “No mercy,” the captain said quietly.
“No mercy!” Alexander replied.
“No mercy!” his friends took up the chant.
The kings looked to each other. “No mercy” they said in unison.
When the fire had burned out, Fitz closed the earth over the crisped bodies of the players. The kings directed their soldiers to gather logs and stone for funeral pyres, then headed into the village to console the families of those where were lost.
Within an hour, the pyre was built, right on top of where the pit had been. The villagers and guests all gathered in the chapel, where the bodies of the guard, and the two farmers’ boys, were laid out under white sheets. The priest gave a short but heartfelt funeral service, and the bodies were gently moved outside onto the pyre. Once all had said their goodbyes, Fitz and Alexander cast wizard’s fire, and the pyres began to burn. The only sound was the crying of the lost ones’ families, and of some of the villagers who had now lost friends to violent attacks twice in as many weeks.
The feast that had been prepared for a night’s celebration became a wake. Folks talked quietly as they ate. Mothers hugged their children and kept them close. The kings spoke with the mayor, pledging an additional dozen guards each to help protect the village. Fitz handed out freshly made teleport scrolls. He gave two to each King that would teleport squads of soldiers from their cities to the village. He gave several to the mayor; single teleports that could be used by guards to instantly call for help in the event of an attack, and mass teleports that would evacuate groups of 20 villagers each directly to the main square in Stormforge.
Max had sorted through the loot stripped from the PWP’s and piled on the road. There was more than 4,000 gold, as well as an assortment of weapons, armor, potions, scrolls, and general supplies. All were given to the mayor, to be passed on to the families of those who were killed. Max kept the player’s empty bags of holding for the guild vault.
As the evening wound to a close, and families began to drift off to their homes, Fitz teleported the two kings, the Redmonds, Thea, the two Masters, and the Greystone members back to the Greystone compound. Both kings left their guards at the village to serve until replacements could be sent.
The two kings said their goodbyes, and Fitz opened a portal to Broken Mountain. He accompanied the king and his people through the portal, saying he wanted to visit old friends in the mountain, and work with Master Tomebinder to see what information they could find regarding the “Dark One” that PWP kept referring to.
King Charles set off toward the palace with the Redmonds, vowing to ask his own archivist, Master Gando, to look into the Dark One as well. At the mention of Master Gando, Alexander remember that he’d left a key with the archivist for research. He thought he had a good idea what the keys were for now, so he accompanied the king back to the palace, and retrieved his key. Master Gando questioned him briefly on exactly what the various PWP members said regarding the “Dark One”. Alexander, in turn, requested that the archivist research any information available on the fate of the Dire Baron.
With that taken care of, Alexander returned to the compound. The others were gathered in the lounge.
Lainey looked at Alexander, and quietly asked, “Is this our fault? Did that little boy die because we took on PWP?” Tears began to form in her eyes.
“NO!” Sasha stood up, fists balled. “Don’t even think like that, Lainey. Those assholes were killing NPC’s before we found them, and they’d have kept on doing it. They serve this ‘Dark One’ who claims to be a god, and is sending them out to murder and steal. What we’ve done is slow them down.”
“Aye, lass,” Brick added. “This be none of our doing, but we’re in it now. We need to find this asshole who pretends to be a god, and kill him good! And all his minions. Me king will help.”
Alexander decided it was time to catch the team up on what he had learned.
“Everybody sit. I’ve learned a few things you should all hear.” He took a seat next to Sasha. “First, Fitz, both kings, Captain Redmond, and apparently most of the rulers on Io know that adventurers are players from another world, and that we respawn when killed.” He waited for the instant barrage of questions to die down, holding his hands up. “I’m not sure why, but they’ve been at least partially excluded from the block we put on all NPC’s when we coded the game. I’m betting Odin has something to do with it, as Fitz mentioned that they’re old friends. I’ll find out when we get to Olympus in the morning.”
He looked around. “I’m telling you this, because you need to know that the kings knew exactly what would happen when they burned those PWP’s. They knew those bastards would respawn at the prison. The burning was partly to teach them a lesson, and partly for the benefit of the villagers.” He paused to let that sink in. “The king left his guards at the village for protection, but he could have had Fitz port in a new group. He wanted time to have the prisoners locked in a deep dark hole before anyone made the connection between the ones that burned and the ones that appeared at the prison. The NPC block should manage to keep the secret from there, preventing the jailers from discussing the new arrivals with the guards who fought them.”
Seeing them all nod their heads, he continued. “Henry said the Dark One was the god of thieves. That’s not right. Hermes is the god of thieves in Io, and also the god of travelers. He is not a ‘dark’ god, and would not have his thieves murder and steal from travelers. So either Odin has allowed the creation of a new god, or this is somebody pretending to be one. Again, we’ll find out tomorrow.”
“Next. My conversations with the dwarves and with Fitz have led me to believe that we need to go to Dire Keep, the ruins by the waterfalls near the demon dungeon. The keys we got from the dungeon bear the sigil of the Dire Baron, a real asshole who ran that keep, kept slaves to work his mines, practiced necromancy, and nearly started a war with the dwarves before Fitz got moody and knocked the whole thing down almost 200 years ago.” He smiled as Brick chuckled at the
visual. “We also need to go to Antalia, and see about the PWP guild headquarters.”
Lainey raised her head. “Where’s Antalia?”.
Max opened his map and shared it with her. “It’s about a two day ride from Stormforge. It’s the name of both the city and the kingdom, just like Stormforge, though the city’s not as big. Last I heard, they are allies of Stormforge so they should honor the king’s request to arrest any PWPs found there. Though I doubt they’ll risk attacking the guild headquarters outright.”
“No, I think that’s meant to be our job,” Alexander said, “but Antalia’s a higher level zone. The mobs in the area are mostly level 30-40. And we don’t know for sure that the locals will honor the king’s request. So we need to prepare for the possibility that we’ll have to fight our way in and then out again, which means we’ll need to level up. Same with Dire Keep. The dire wolves were easy kills for us before, but that was on our old toons, when we were all in our 70’s. We need to be at least level 35 before we head out there. Probably higher.”