“You don’t know me, Commander Raytak, Governor Delling. This is a new character I rerolled not too long ago. My old character was named Vhellia, and I’m here to apologize for the wrongs that I did to you when I oversaw the Chaotic Outcomes guild. I thought I was doing something to further my career, but my actions were an embarrassment to the company I worked for. I realize now that what I was doing in-game wasn’t who I was or who I wanted to be. I quit and disbanded the guild, denying Narbos the real-world cash he used to cause you both so many problems.”
My hand drifted toward my sword as she spoke. This person was the cause of so many of my and Delling’s problems. The guards tensed, and Delling held up his hand, motioning for us to let her finish.
“I was watching a game stream about the zone and heard your backstory, Raytak. I’m sorry if any of my actions caused you harm with your recovery,” Vivienne said. She looked genuinely contrite, but her guild had done some nasty things to us.
“Apology accepted, but it looks like you rerolled and are starting fresh, so why come here now to apologize?” Delling asked.
“It’s the right thing to do, and even then, an apology does not feel like enough. Limitless Lands has been good to me and allowed me to find a future in the real world. Playing this game led me to meet my employer and has given me the opportunity to finish my education. I want to do more than apologize; I want to help you both,” she said.
“I admit we’re in a tight spot, but nothing we can’t fight our way out of. What kind of help are you offering? A level 5 mage wouldn’t last too long on the battlefield,” I added.
“You’re right. I have great gear, but even with that, I’m too low level to make a difference directly in a fight. The reason I have great gear is the reason I can help you. To be blunt . . . I’m wealthy. In-game, that is. When I deleted my character, I sent all the gear and cash she had, as well as my share of the guild’s resources, to my new character. To help you both, I’ve paid some other players to do two tasks for me . . . for you,” Vivienne said.
“And what are those two tasks?” I asked.
“First, I’ve paid some higher-level rangers to scout out the Ikbose and to get a headcount on the forces that Darkfallow brought with him,” she said, handing over a scroll containing their recon report. I couldn’t help but notice the distaste she displayed when mentioning Darkfallow; she was as much of a fan of his as I was, it seemed.
“As for the second task, I’m having Darkfallow killed. I have arranged for his character to be assassinated, which will force him out of the zone and stop his control of the expedition sent to aid the Ikbose. Darkfallow is an idiot, but he is also a gamer. The next time you two meet, he’ll realize how vulnerable you are and take you out quickly,” she added.
“We just sent him running not too long ago. He’s a powerful necromancer but not a huge threat to me. I’m not sure I like the idea of assassinating anyone,” I added. Delling was nodding his agreement.
“Darkfallow knows your weakness, Raytak. Away from your troops you’re no match for another player that’s prepared. The right combo of spells and you’ll be sent back to respawn. Your army’s good, but it’s nowhere near as good without you at its helm,” she told me.
“How can we trust what you’re telling us now? How can we know this isn’t just some new scheme to set back Raytak and I?” Delling asked.
“I really can’t offer any proof other than my words and my previous actions. You must have noticed that Narbos is taking much longer than anticipated to act. I also believe he hasn’t funded any more attacks on you two directly. That’s because I’ve cut him off from the guild’s resources when I disbanded Chaotic Outcomes. You can check the game wiki to see that about the guild and the date it was disbanded,” Vivienne offered. Delling got the glazed look in his eyes that indicated he was checking on something outside the game.
“That checks out. The guild Chaotic Outcomes was disbanded around the time she said, and there were several comments on the boards from players that were upset at her for disbanding the group. There were also comments from players stating they were once in Chaotic Outcomes and were now looking for new guilds,” Delling advised.
It did make sense, and I had a gut feeling that Vivienne was telling us the truth. Killing Darkfallow here would make the coming fight easier. When we fought him earlier at the roadblock, he hadn’t planned for me to be there leading the legion . . . Now he was warned and would be ready.
“Just how do you propose to kill him? The rangers you hired for the recon or some other plan?” I asked, curious about how this was going to work. I quickly got over my aversion to using an assassin. The jerk Darkfallow had arranged to have me killed. Time to return the favor.
“Some other plan—me,” a soft voice said from behind me. Before I could react, a cold blade was placed alongside my neck. I couldn’t see my attacker, but she had a second blade pointed directly at Delling’s throat. Both long knives had an eerie glow that indicated some enchantment or special power, which I hoped wasn’t about to be used on me.
“Vhellia, or should I say Vivienne, paid me an exorbitant fee to kill Darkfallow. As soon as we’re done here I’m off to finish the contract.” The knives lowered, and the mysterious assassin stepped into sight.
“Hey, you’re the one that killed us both a while back, aren’t you?” I shouted, causing the guards to charge in. Delling waved them back when they moved toward the assassin . . . whose character info was obscured by some ability or feature of her class.
“I apologize for the theatrics, but Lovely here is the best assassin currently in-game. She will handle Darkfallow for you as soon as possible. You won’t be seeing me again, either. I want to get back to having fun in-game, not plot against other players. I hope this helps make up for the trouble I caused you, Raytak and Delling. I wish you both the best,” Vivienne said before standing abruptly and leaving. Lovely curtsied with the outline of a smile revealed behind her mask before disappearing into thin air. She must have been good at her job since once she left the room, I could no longer recall what she looked like.
“Okay, that was weird but kind of cool,” Delling said.
“Yeah, assassination couldn’t happen to a nicer kid than Darkfallow,” I added.
“As far as the war effort, not much else I can do here except keep growing the town, which will also build up the guard. Resources and coin from the taxes are improving all the time, which should help you as well. If any more apologetic assassins show up to help while you’re out in the field, I’ll send them your way, Raytak.”
“I would appreciate it, Delling. I’ve got to head into town to do some shopping. I’ll send a message when we’re ready to head out. Since we aren’t going to get the support I was hoping for from our allies, I need to get the legion up to full strength before we leave,” I said. Delling offered to buy me dinner over at the Dispute after I was done with my errands and we set a time to meet before I made my way to the market.
I had a pack full of unidentified magical artifacts to be examined, and unfortunately, there was only one man I knew who could do the job.
Chapter 21
The market area was my next target, as I needed to see Phineas about getting the three scrolls I received as a reward identified. The shifty merchant had kind of grown on me; I knew what I was getting when dealing with him. I didn’t particularly like what I was getting at times, but better the devil you know and all that.
Remembering the recon report that Vivienne had given me, I gave it a read while walking toward the market area of town.
Vivienne,
Here is the summary of what my team has found. Send me a message using our usual channels if you need more work done.
Ikbose: The Ikbose elves are some creepy characters. We captured one to interrogate and found that they have a unique mage class called a painweaver. Dudes seem to get power from inflicting pain on others. They told us they were once normal elves but some being showed them the “path of
pain,” causing them to cut down their forest to build their city. They have been fighting the nearby Goreaxe ogres and have been in a stalemate for as long as they remember. (Did not recon the ogres but will gladly do so if you want to shell out the coin. Just message me if you want to extend the contract.)
The stalemate between the two sides changed when the Ikbose began to gain more help from outside the zone. They seem to think it is the newest gift of someone or something they call Zipzisilerpicazant . . . It’s a mouthful. The guy never showed during our observations so I can’t tell you if he’s a player or npc . . . Seems to be an npc, though, based on the way our prisoner talked about him. We eliminated the captured elf before getting a decent rundown of their forces/defenses of their city.
Ikbose Forces:
Warriors: Estimated numbers are 1000. The number is partially an estimate and includes ones we didn’t see but are likely on patrol or individual missions. The number is good plus or minus 100. These guys are their generic soldiers, good at dual-wielding a sword/dagger and decent archers. Health pool is average for a level 12 npc (we tested it on our captive), and they wear light armor.
Their armor was leather reinforced with chain or metal panels in strategic locations. Not very tough but enough to reduce some damage or deflect a glancing blow. Their bows/melee weapons are average, good but nothing exceptional. They didn’t display any special abilities save for a whirlwind-type attack that deals several blows in a manner of seconds. The legion (the opposing force you said we were scouting for) in most aspects are superior to these warriors and I think the higher armor/shields will keep them alive long enough to steamroll an equal force of Ikbose warriors.
Painweaver: Estimate around 20 with this class. These guys are nasty, inflicting damage and crowd control at the same time with their spells. They hit hard but have small mana pools. They will run out quickly in a long fight . . . unless they have a stockpile of mana pots or something along those lines. One painweaver can cripple a crowd of 40 or 50 at once. Squishy like all mages, they need to be at close range to cast their spells so ranged fighters will make their lives miserable in a battle. No weapon usage was observed, but they all seem to have a dagger. Not a threat in melee unless you give them time to cast a spell would be my verdict.
Leadership. The leader of the Ikbose forces is an elf named Nharia. She is a hybrid warrior/painweaver build called the Painblades of Ikbose. She is tagged as an elite. Didn’t see her in action but expect a tough fight. Other than the leader we witnessed, a few of their warriors also tagged as elite. These elite warriors seem to lead groups of around 200 normal warriors. No elite leader-type painweavers were observed, but at least one is likely.
The leader of the entire clan is a mysterious person called the Grand Painmaster. He spends his days in the keep and was never observed directly. It would be wise to assume he is the boss mob of the city and well-protected.
City: The city is called Stonetree and is well-defended. The walls are formed from the petrified trunks of trees, so figure them to be as strong as a stone wall. Walls were 20 feet high and had battlements for the archers to shoot over and towers at each corner. The layout of the city is a giant rectangle with only one wide gate on the long western side of the city. The gate is made of petrified wood panels and remained open most of the day. At dusk the gate is closed to all traffic.
The city itself was not entered; we were tagged hostile to them so I can’t comment on any militia that may be there. The walls are patrolled by warriors, but the gate area is handled by a group tagged as town watch. The watch are equipped with longswords and round wooden shields. Their armor was only a leather jerkin and leather helm. They do not appear as strong as the warriors but will likely fight any opponent threatening the city if they function like other town watches.
The watch’s numbers are hard to estimate. However, based on the fact they were manning the gates and not the walls, we figure they’re more of a police force than anything else. For a city the size of Stonetree (larger than the city of Holdfast in this zone, but smaller than Hayden’s Knoll itself), the watch should number fewer than 200.
Other Defenses: The city didn’t have any siege equipment, at least not mounted on the towers that we observed. The wall is surrounded by a four-foot-deep ditch. The ditch was lined with sharpened stakes, but many of the stakes were at bad angles and blunted/rotting with neglect.
Inside the city we could observe the top of a small keep. No details other than it had walls of a similar height to the city and an old-fashioned moat with a drawbridge combo. The keep wasn’t big enough to house all the Ikbose military, so it is presumed to be a home for the leaders. Perhaps figure some elite version of the town watch will be assigned to defend it, but that is only speculation.
Allies: The Ikbose have somehow enlisted the aid of forces from the next zone over (Bharga’s Crossing). These are human troops and are led by a player named Darkfallow. Darkfallow is a necromancer and was level 13 at the time we spotted him. He had good gear and seemed to have some experience as a gamer. The forces commanded by Darkfallow are as follows.
Reavers: These guys are level 16 but appear to be fodder troops. Low health pools for their level and weapons more suited to level 7 or 8 npc soldiers. There are a ton of these guys (1200 or maybe a bit more), and they have only rudimentary tactics. Little danger to a similar-sized force of legion soldiers, but they do have numbers on their side.
They are equipped with leather armor, wooden shields, and hand axes. Quality of gear is low, like I mentioned before . . . but they do have a cool, almost Viking warrior–type look. No ranged weapons were observed.
Executioners: Approximately 200. The executioners are the real deal. They have chainmail armor and two-handed axes that are good quality for their level. I only saw them in action once during a raid on an ogre patrol. The ogres were smacking down the reavers and Ikbose warriors with no trouble before the executioners stepped in. They weren’t afraid to go toe to toe with the ogres. They traded one for one with the ogres (only five ogres). Keep in mind that they did fight ogres that were somewhat damaged by the reavers/elves before they engaged.
Other Observations: No other allies or additional forces were observed. No siege equipment was observed, but there could be some stored in the city. I couldn’t get into the city to check on respawns, but I did notice that the forces from Bharga’s Crossing were never replaced (easier to check as the elves made them camp outside the city). The Ikbose forces are skirmishing heavily with the ogres and have begun to encircle their territory. The ogres will have only a few weeks before they are starved out by the forces of the Ikbose.
That’s all I can report. Message me again if you need my help Vivienne.
Kraxo
It was a surprisingly detailed report considering it came from a gamer. I had a better idea of what we faced, and being severely outnumbered was nothing unusual for our legion. The numbers were likely better than what was reported due to the casualties we inflicted on the reavers and elves at the roadblock fights. I was also sure that Wrend would pile them up when they attacked the transition point.
If we could catch the force attacking the transition point, we had a chance to defeat a good chunk of their army before the siege on Stonetree began. But would we be able to? Without the support of our Drebix and Stonefinder allies, would we have the numbers soon enough to take the initiative? And what if we failed? Without my legion, the entire zone was at risk.
We had the qualitative advantage in almost every category except perhaps magic support and ranged weapons. Our shields negated their ranged advantage to some degree and my innate magic resistance should help mitigate the painweavers’ abilities. The one painweaver we faced in taking the transition point was brutal—he had killed or caused the deaths of scores of my men—but I now had a better feel for how they operated.
Thoughts of strategy and tactics were pushed aside as I entered Phineas’s emporium. The place had been reorganized a bit, with the goods pla
ced in a more logical configuration. He had also arranged the mundane items together on one side, which was where most of the npc townspeople congregated to shop. Racks of clothing, canned goods, and bolts of cloth were surrounded by townsfolk, while adventurers waiting their turn to test the Foul Spore Pit looked at weapons, potions, and gear, hunting for the ever-elusive affordable upgrade.
“Ahh, my good friend Raytak. Come in, come in. You grace my humble establishment once more,” Phineas said with a bow as he rushed to greet me.
Uh-oh . . . He wants something , I muttered to myself inside my head.
“What brings you in today? Just a chat and visit with your good friend Phineas? You always had a discerning eye when it comes to good bargains on quality goods,” Phineas said, patting me on the back and guiding me to the main counter. I figured I better get my business conducted quickly before he launched into his pitch for whatever item or scam he was up to today.
“Just need to have these three scrolls identified please,” I said, fishing the three out of my inventory.
“Of course. Hand them here. The identification is free of charge for such a good customer,” Phineas said. Alarm bells began ringing in my head at the word “free.”
“Ohhh no you don’t. I remember last time. I’ll be paying the usual rate. Why don’t you just tell me what you want without the dog and pony show, Phineas?” I asked.
“Fine, I wanted to see if you would sign off on having my emporium be the official and exclusive supplier to your legion,” Phineas said as his entire demeanor deflated. “Of course, you’ll have some completely valid reason why it offends your honor or might be seen as inappropriate or some other random poppycock,” Phineas added as he plopped onto a stool behind the counter. “What is this world coming to when an honest merchant can’t even bribe his way into securing a military contract?” he moaned.
Limitless Lands Book 4: Opposition (A LitRPG Adventure) Page 22
