by Galen Wolf
Out of curiosity I quickly check the numbers. It's doing 3000 damage per attack but it doesn't penetrate my armour. Only its special damage gets through at all, and that unholy attack is reduced by 50% due to the vanadium forged into my armor.
It strikes again — it must have Accelerated Attack — but my shield blocks it. I jab through and crit for 1005, but it still doesn't die. It must be close though.
I glance at my leather clad enemy and I see she's summoning four skeletons. They grow out of the ground like bony weeds.
Nosferatu hits me again for 50 and I finish it with a riposte, then I turn my attention to the Necromancer. From behind my visor, I yell, 'Mistress of Evil, begone from this place. Due to your sex, I won't harm you, but I warn you to leave.'
Instead of answering, she fires a necrotic bolt. The sickly green ray shoots from her hand and hits me for 250, and that's after my unholy damage reduction.
I sip a Health 200 and spur Spirit towards the skeletons. Skeletons have blunt damage reduction, meaning my wickedly sharp sword won't do much against them. Spirit bursts through their formation, knocking two to the ground, I slash right decimating the first with a lucky Doublestrike, then I smash my shield into the one standing to my left. I haven't put any bonuses on my shield, but it counts as blunt damage. It isn't powerful though but it sends the skeleton staggering back only to run at me again in mindless rage.
Spirit rears and stomps down on the skeletons lying on the dirt. He grinds and smashes their bones with his hooves. A knight's warhorse increases in level with him, so Spirit is doing good blunt damage. I almost lazily finish the skeleton to my right and fend off the one to my left.
'Lady, leave this place or I will be forced to attack you.'
Spirit and I kill the next skeleton. She's seen how easily I've dealt with her summonings. She must realize she can't win this fight. She hesitates but instead of suing for peace she says, 'You're the so-called Green Knight that's been terrorizing this road? I came looking for you to show you how a real Fang of Koth deals with filth like you.' Then she fires another necrotic bolt. I see the green ray, but I've got no way of dodging in my heavy armor. The only way tanks like me avoid magic damage is by getting up our damage resistance.
I'm 250 down again. I sip health and charge.
Her hands move and a flutter of bats flies up, in my face, trying to blind me. They bite too -- vampire bats. I'm taking 5s and 7s of health damage from them, but the worst danger is they obscure my vision.
Another necrotic bolt, then I strike home with my sword.
She doesn't die. Necromancer is a prestige class so she needs to be at least Level 15 — higher than me.
She rolls away and sips healing potion. As she rolls she fires
a bolt which again strikes me.
She grunts, catching her breath. 'So, behind the Green Knight lurks Sir Gorrow of the Bloody Field. A Knight of the Round Table. What's one of Arthur's scum doing up here?'
I don't speak. She has to die now. She's doing too much damage to me for me to prolong this fight.
I cut down and don't crit or Doublestrike. Still it's another 610.
I push Spirit forward and we roll her over. She stumbles and staggers trying to get to her feet. She's agile though, and manages to fire again as she spins away.
This has to end. We catch her and I cut down. She's on the run. She sips one of her black health potions, but I'm guessing it's on cool down and so wasted. For all her words, I see panic on her face then I jab her and my sword slips easily through her black leather cuirass, the yellow, blue and white flames licking at her stomach. It's the killing blow.
<600xp>
She's higher level than Reza then. I didn't get that much for killing him.
Her ghost shimmers as her body thumps to the ground. And so ends The Morrigan. For now at least. But she knows who I am. Her unspeaking ghost almost seems to be smiling as she disappears back to her bind point.
It takes me a little while to get back to our camp site, but when I arrive, Tye is back.
'I came back early,' he says. 'Need to blow some more stuff up. Where'd you go?'
I shrug. 'Did a bit of raiding.'
He sweeps back his yellowy ginger hair. 'Without me? Awww.'
'Don't worry. We've got plenty of enemies. I didn't manage to kill them all. Then we need to back to the Dungeon. They're starting digging out Level 2.'
'Oh! Bernard will be pleased.'
Bernard logs on just as we're speaking. 'What will I be pleased about?'
I tell him.
'Oh yes. Can we go back now?'
I shake my head. 'A bit more raiding. I think we're succeeding in making them wary of this road. And that's good.'
Bernard says, 'I don't know why they're putting so much effort into Carrionburg. There seems to be a lot of supplies going down to it, and it's a pretty piffling little place.'
'As long as we can disrupt them,' Tye says. 'Burn them especially.'
But Bernard has a point. What is going on down at Carrionburg? They've been sending lots of stuff that way, and guarding it, or trying to.
'Ready to ride out?' Tye's already stood up, brushing down his robe.
'Mana replenished?'
He nods. Bernard rummages in his inventory and pulls out a sparkling potion. 'Here's another Mana 200. Try not to go through them so fast.'
They finally seem to be getting on better.
Tye grins and takes the potion. Then we're good to go. I figure if we hit two or three more supply trains that should hurt them, then we can retreat back to Silver Drift. We get the first one about two miles north of Carrionburg. It's more heavily armed than the previous ones. They've even got Worgs, great evil wolves, running alongside it.
I get my lance ready. Tye is firing off Flaming Rays from long range and cooking the wolves. I see he's killed about four before they even get close. Then at medium range, Bernard's flasks hurtle through the air, landing with unerring accuracy and striking the wolves with acid, fire and frost.
There are a couple of player characters with the NPCs, but even they seem scared of us. There are a couple of their warriors. Not massively high level — maybe 9s or 10s. I see Bernard drawing his alchemical sword and Tye fires off a huge fireball which strikes the hobgoblins on the last wagon. The players run at us but are met with a barrage of alchemical flasks of acid and fire.
'Hey, I just got this new spell when I levelled. Want to see it.'
I've almost got nothing to do so I smile and nod as I sit there on Spirit, waiting for the enemy players to cross the killing ground in front of us.
I look up. There's a boiling in the clouds above and then the clouds go brassy and orange until drops of fire drip from them, falling in a shower of flame like napalm. The fire reaches the ground and scorches everything. Clouds of dirty smoke rise, making me cough.
The enemy players are swathed in fire. It clings to them and burns. They stagger forward trying to get out of the area of effect, but they stumble and fall, burning as they hit the dirt and their ghosts pop from them one after another.
The NPCs on the wagons suffer critical moral failures and as they flee, Tye showers them with fireballs, throwing them like fiery grenades one after another in a stream of deadly baubles. Then they're all slain and the wagons are ablaze, ruining any comms they were carrying.
'You used all that mana potion, didn't you?' Bernard says from the back of Henry.
Tye grins. 'Yep. Thanks Uncle Bernard.'
'You're not my nephew.' Bernard says grumpily. 'But here's another.'
'Great, Uncle Bernard. Hey, I got another level from that fight.'
I check my combat messages and see e
ven I got 1700xp from my part, though I actually did nothing. It's just because I'm in the group with them.
'Next,' says Tye, and we leave the roadway, waiting for our next victims.
But the minions of Satanus must be getting smarter. We watch the road, but nothing moves on it until Tye points way east. 'Wagons crossing the moor.'
I sit forward on my saddle. It looks like they're taking their wagons off road. There must be a minor track further east away from the areas we've operated in. 'Let's get them,' I say.
We catch up with them about a half mile north. They are on what looks like an old drovers track, not the main road, and instead of fighting they try to run. I see the drivers whipping the horses. There's a few players with the cargo wagons but even they don't want to fight. They try to outrun us but they've got no chance. I guess they hoped that by avoiding the main road we'd never know they were there.
They can't outrun us and within ten minutes they're all dead. I get some more xp. I'm now just 805 short of Level 13. I peer over to the smoking tarpaulins that cover the carts. 'What were they hauling?'
Bernard says, 'Dunno, but it looks strange.'
Tye is standing by a wagon he didn't manage to burn. Four others lie in smoking ruins, their cargo tipped in untidy heaps onto the boggy ground. 'What is this stuff?' he says.
I dismount and go over. So does Bernard. Tye is holding a smoky black crystal the size of an artillery shell. It's got the smooth faces and angles of a piece of quartz, but it's heavy. And it also buzzes.
Tye puts his ear to the crystal. He looks bemused. 'Crazy.'
I've never seen anything like it. I turn to Bernard. 'What is it?'
He shrugs, bemused.
I wink. 'You're the alchemist.'
He rubs his chin, then taps the crystal, listens to it, feels it for warmth or cold then says, 'I don't know.'
I stare back the way the wagons have come. 'My guess is they're mining it in Carrionburg. That's why they're putting so much effort into supplying the settlement. This stuff is important to them.'
'You really don't know what it is?' Tye asks.
Bernard looks annoyed. 'No. But if we take it back to Silver Drift, I can test it in my lab and do some research.'
Tye glances round at the wagons with their spilled cargo. The one nearest to us is serviceable, though its mules are gone. 'I bet these crystals are valuable. Should we take them back with us?'
I ponder. Eventually, I say, 'Okay, yes. Hitch Bessie and Henry up to this wagon and lets cart it back to Silver Drift.' I had hoped to hit one more cargo train maybe, but it's getting near time to go home and see what's happening with the dungeon.
Henry protests. Bessie doesn't, then Henry changes his tune. I think he figures it will impress her if he shows her how strong he is pulling a cart. And he is strong, you can't take that away from the dumb argumentative mule.
The first part of the journey is hard because we're not on the road and the mules have to heave and struggle to drag the wagon across the soft ground. I dismount. 'Sorry, boy,' I say to Spirit. But if I'm worried about his dignity, he gives no sign that he is. I hitch Spirit and the three animals together get the wagon onto the road.
Bernard points back the way we came. 'Our trail's pretty obvious.'
I shrug. There's nothing much to do about that. With a bit more effort we get the wagon off the main road and onto the trail that leads to Silver Drift.
We haul the cargo for about a half hour. We're just below where the road crests up. From the top we will get a sight of where the dungeon entrance is. We sweat and struggle and we get up the hill. All three of us are dismounted of course.
We get to the top and see the crags of the hills beginning. Under them is the entrance to our dungeon and just over them is the Secret Valley. The road here runs between two high banks, the way is cut as if by centuries of traffic and travelers. I'm really pleased we're nearly home when I hear movement from the undergrowth around us.
I've let my guard down. My hand goes to my sword. Enemies emerge behind and in front and on both sides. They're mainly NPCs, some trolls, giants, hobgoblins and Dwemmers, standing with arrows on their bow strings. But there are also players. I recognize the dark armored form of Reza the Cruel.
Beside him stands the necromancer I killed before, Morrigan. I might have guessed those two would be friends. And in front of them both is Maligon, Baron of Carrionburg. 'Well if it isn't Sir Gorrow of the Bloody Field. I thought I'd scared you off, but looks like you decided to steal my stuff. I can't really allow that. I'm sure you'll understand.'
I see the malice in his eyes. All three of them tense ready to attack us.
Tye turns to me questioningly. 'Is this an ambush?'
I nod. 'I think so.'
24
FIREFIGHT
Tye nods, a wicked smile playing across his face. He raises his hands, mutters syllables under his breath and I glance up to see the clouds turn brassy orange. I know what's coming.
Morrigan sees me looking. She cries, 'Look out — spell!'
But it's too late, a rain of napalm falls from the sky. It hits everyone around Tye within a radius of ten yards. The player characters aren't severely damaged by it, they've either got resistance or potions, but the NPCs catch fire and screaming try to put out the flames that cling to their bodies.
I fight better mounted, so I jump and put my foot in the stirrup to swing up on Spirit and cut the harness that binds him to the cart. In an instant, I sip the Damage 200 potion. My sword is in my hand, the whispering of its flames joining with the conflagration that engulfs our enemies.
With a snarl, Reza swings at me. His black sword clangs off my shield.
I see Morrigan going for Bernard who snatches his alchemical sword from his belt. I see the runes glittering on its blade as he strikes sideways at the Morrigan. Some kind of rune triggers and she falls back holding her eyes. She's underestimated my Mysterious Alchemist.
There's a huge explosion as a fireball shoots from Tye's outstretched hands and smashes into Maligon, knocking him back. It's a good first move but Tye is completely outclassed by this high level Death Knight.
I spur Spirit forward to intercept Maligon before he can cut Tye in half. Now I've got two of them on me — Maligon and Reza. Reza's coming from behind, swinging that damned sword, but I hack at Maligon. No Doublestrike. No crit. My sword bounces off his armor. Only holy damage gets through.
This will be a long fight. Enraged, Maligon jabs his black sword at me.
His sword's base damage doesn't pierce my overpowered armor. Thank God for all the points I put into smithing. His unholy damage does though, and I'm down to 200. He's got less unholy damage on his sword than Reza for some reason, but I'm not complaining.
I sip Health 200 and I'm up to 400. This is all going very fast. Out the corner of my eye, I see Reza's sword but then a blinding yellow Scorching Ray jets from Tye's hands and catches him in the side. The stink of burned leather and flesh fills the air. He turns to Tye, ignoring me for an instant.
'You little freak, I'm gonna slice you up.'
'Try it, ugly.'
I shield bash Maligon for little damage, but it pushes him away and I turn back to save Tye again. Reza has his back to me. I lift my sword high and hack it down into his shoulder, cutting where his armor joins his helmet. I don't think this increases damage, but it feels right.
I know he's higher level than me, but he was already wounded by Tye and he doesn't have that much health.
<500xp>
'Good job, commander!' Tye shouts.
'Run!' I yell at Tye. I sip health again and I'm at 600.
Tye points to the wagon. 'And leave the crystals?' He's got a point but before I can think it
through, Maligon lunges. Only his unholy damage gets past my armor and then my damage reduction cuts it down, but it's still for 200.
I twist round and block his next blow.
Over the way, Bernard is getting the better of Morrigan. I see blood streaming from her, and she's clutching her eyes as if blind. This must be the work of his rune sword. But I've no time to think about this as Maligon jabs again. He gets me for a further 200. My potion's on cool-down. I don't think I can beat him. He must be Level 20 anyway.
Over the way, Morrigan summons a Nosferatu vampires that leaps and claws at Bernard. I see him tell back, stumbling over a tree root and landing on the floor. The things on him, clawing at him with its ragged fingernails.
I jab Maligon, block, jab, block. I'm lucky with my ShieldBlock but it won't last. Then my potion's off cool-down and I'm back at 400.
Bernard's struggling to get rid of the Nosferatu and Morrigan summons skeletons that lurch to the attack. I can't get to him. Then a massive orange fireball explodes into the skeletons, killing two and blasting the others away. Tye rushes over to Bernard. He must be nearly out of mana now. This isn't looking good.
I'm doing 150 damage each successful attack I get through to Maligon, and he's doing 200 each time he hits me. I have 800 health, he must have at least 1000, probably more with talismans and things.
It's just math.
My heart sinks as I defend myself, always looking for chinks in his defenses.
I get a Doublestrike, but it doesn't crit either time.
I block a downward strike and slice left and down, above his shield.
I need to get to Bernard. Tye's stopped firing magic and he has his pathetic knife out. He must be out of mana. Morrigan advances on them, a wicked kukri in hand. She mutters and a ghast appears, screeching and dragging its diseased form towards Bernard and Tye. Tye backs off, knife trembling in his grasp, but he faces up to the ghast and it lunges at him.
With a desperate push, I smash my shield into Maligon and guide Spirit across towards my allies. The wagon with its crystals is just behind me. Henry and Bessie are still hitched to it. Unhurt so far because the fight's been concentrated on us, but I see desperation in Henry's mule eyes.
