by Galen Wolf
Spirit rears up and strikes the giant with his front hooves and I jab straight at the monster.
He’s got a lot of armour, maybe 1750. I’m going to have to do better than that because I reckon Hill Giants have around 1700 health. He hits me again and I'm down to 500/650. I sip one of the Health 120s that Bernard gave me and I'm back up to 620.
I strike him again and I crit for 405. With my 20% crit chance I'm going to get a crit one hit in five. I'll get him, it'll just take time but I'm not sure I have time. Then Jason roars and see he's attacking the boggles round the giant's legs with a farmer's scythe. He must have got it from the brewery. But he has no fighting skills and he's going to get himself killed. I see the boggle easily duck the scythe as it sweeps over their heads and three of them cackle and move on Jason.
I sigh and turn Spirit. The giant's morning star bangs against my armored back. He gets a crit for two hundred and twenty-five. I can't afford too many of those, with my health potion on cool-down too, but I need to get to Jason. One of the boggles jabs him in the guts with its evil black sword and Jason doubles up, blood gushing through his fingers, a surprise flashing across his face. I don't know what he's surprised about. This was bound to happen.
I hack into the back of the boggle getting a crit and killing it instantly, then I thrust down and kill another. The third one suffers a critical morale failure and runs. Jason starts to run after it and I scream at him, "Jason, get safe."
The Hill Giant hits me again and I'm down to a hundred and seventy. I manage to sip my way up to two hundred and ninety before he hits me again and this time, I'm facing him, shield up.
Agile and clever, Spirit takes me towards the giant then feints left, letting me hit him in his side, getting a crit, then as he turns, fate favors me and I slash and critically. He's dead.
I turn and extend my hand to Jason who leaps up, still bleeding and drags himself up on the saddle behind me. We gallop through the smoke along the main roadway and I see the West Gate is open in front of me. There's a piece of blue sky beyond the palisade and I'm aiming for it.
We gallop out under the gate and we've left most of the smoke behind. I turn and the enemy is swarming over Silver Drift. All the buildings are now on fire, even the brewery.
Jason sees the burning of his beloved brewery and mutters, "Pity about all that beer. I hate to think of them drinking it."
"We'll just have to make do."
My heart is lifted by the sight of Armand and two farmers and two militia standing by the tower. At least they got out. Then I re-count them. Five NPCs left is all? I shake my head. I need to get to the tower and dismount. Armand is stony faced, the farmer and his wife are in tears.
"All our work..." she says. Her husband tries to comfort her.
I unlock the tower door. "Get them all in. Get Jason to see Bernard. He'll heal him."
Armand nods. "But Bernard the Alchemist is in the mine, not the tower."
"There's a trapdoor down. I had it built. I need you to go and take everyone into the mine. I'll come later, then we'll block off the door down."
The minions of evil have seen us gathering by the Tower. About half their strength is coming this way. I urge the NPCs on. "Get into the Tower." I give Armand the key. "Lock it behind you. Both the wooden door and the inner metal grille. If they put their mind to it, they'll get through, but it'll take them time."
Armand points up the window some twenty feet above our heads. Smoke is billowing out of it now, dark black, choking smoke. It seems the fire they set before with their fire-arrows has really caught hold. If there wasn't a trapdoor, it would be suicide to enter the tower.
I smile grimly. "You aren't going up, sergeant. You're going down, remember?"
He nods, then salutes. He takes all the NPCs including Jason and then standing at the door he says, "What about you, Sir Gorrow?"
"I just want to make sure you're all safe, then I'll follow."
"I'll take the others below, then return to stand by the door to unlock it when you're ready."
I nod. It's a good plan. He doesn't know why I won't go with him, and to tell the truth, I'm not sure myself. I just can't tear myself away from the sight of the settlement I invested so much in now going up in smoke.
And the tower's going that way too. For the first time, I see the bright flutter of fire coming out the window amidst all the black smoke.
I sigh. Another thing. Spirit can't get through that tower door. Armand slams the door behind me and I hear it lock.
The enemy horde is gathering. They seem to be reforming now most of the settlement is gone. It looks like they're planning to assault the tower.
Now I'm on my own, the owl Blodeuwedd appears and lands on my shoulder.
"Hey, Gorrow, how's it going?"
I point at the enemy troops whose sergeants are barking orders to march in my direction.
She gives an owl nod and says, "You know that player?"
She means the player who was commanding the forces in the assault. He's the guy from the Fangs of Koth guild. I shake my head.
"That's Maligon the Black. He's a death knight."
I knew that the death knights were Satanus's equivalent of the Knights of the Round Table, designed to take us on toe-to-toe.
I see the black armored figure stepping forward from their horde. He's on foot.
"You'd better hope Armand comes back and lets you in before he gets here."
I give the owl a cold stare. "You're not suggesting I might lose, are you?"
I don't want to die here. If I die, I don't know what'll happen to the morale of my NPCs. They'll be locked underground and leaderless. Thinking of that, I glance over to the entrance to the mine and see Thorvald and his miners have shown their skill and now the entrance is covered in a rock-fall. No one's going in that way without a lot of digging, if they even know it's an entrance at all.
Maligon is closer now.
"Time for you to flee," Blodeuwedd says.
I go to Spirit and stroke his muzzle. "You go boy. Run fast and far. I'll whistle you when I need you again."
As if understanding me, the stallion hesitates then throws up his head, turns and gallops away over the moorland, far away from the palls of smoke that engulf Silver Drift.
Maligon is within hailing distance. He cups a hands to his mouth and yells, "You own this place? Or owned this place..."
"Yes."
"I'm prepared to accept your surrender. Swear fealty to Satanus and you can become one of us."
"You should leave now," Blodeuwedd says.
I tickle her under the chin, which she doesn't like. "See, I'm a Knight of the Round table."
"Yes."
"And that means I abide by the laws of Chivalry."
"So? They don't mean you've got to be dumb and die for nothing. Get into the tower and get safe. Or run."
I shake mid head. "No running. No hiding."
"I don't get it."
"It's about honor."
Blodeuwedd blinks like I'm stupid.
"And it's not just my honor. It's my king's honor. If I run, then I'm dishonoring him. And I can't do that."
"You're going to die."
"Maybe. But death before dishonor. Remember that."
"Whatever." She flutters up into the sky and I'm facing Maligon alone.
He yells again, "Surrender, or accept single combat."
I step forward. I don't need to answer.
He unsheathes his sword. I unsheathe mine. He puts up his shield. It has his arms of a skull in white on a midnight blue background. Mine has red diagonals on a green field.
"Then single combat," he says.
"I accept your challenge," I call back.
"Surrender's easier."
I give a cold laugh.
"What's your name?"
"Sir Gorrow of the Bloody Field."
"Never heard of you. But a real life Knight of the R
ound Table, eh? I'll enjoy killing you."
"Bring it."
He rushes at me and strikes my shield.
This could hurt
I sip a potion and attack in one practiced movement.
Damn, he's got Shieldwork skills. I really need to invest in those.
He swings again and I'm down to 450. I remember the damage boost potion Bernard gave me. I gulp it down, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. The potion adds 100 to my attack. I've not needed it up until this fight.
I get one through and hit him for 150.
He bashes me again and I strike back and get a crit for 450. I see him sipping potion and that gives me the opportunity to lunge. I hit him for a further 150. He goes onto his back foot, and I see and advantage. I'm pressing him but he blocks my next attack then gets his composure and hacks at me again for 200.
Though I'm hurt, I'm focused. I jab and jab and hit him twice, and grab my potion and gulp as the timer comes off cool down. He's actually not as good as me. Sir Mercurius used to tell me a fight's as much about focus as about skills. Maligon hasn't expected me to be this good. He's got lazy killing NPCs and noobs, so I go forward and he goes back.
His army is standing there and I hear an involuntary groan as he stumbles and goes down on one knee, holding his skull shield up to block my attack. He goes for his potion again to heal up but it must be on cool-down still. He pushes up, his swipes more panicky, but he hits me for 200.
I can't heal up yet, but if I can just get a crit on him, he's dead. Then he jabs up and to the side of my shield piercing my armor.
The unpleasantly familiar bleaching out of all color happens again and I'm shimmering about on the battlefield with a grinning Maligon standing over my corpse.
"You Knights of the Round Table aren't much really, are you?"
Then I hit
7
Meeting the Holy Man
I materialize again in Croglin, a small village on the escarpment leading from the valley of the River Idon, up the slopes to the high moorland where Silver Drift is. Was.
Croglin hasn't fared much better at the hands of Satanus's minions. The whole place is a smoking ruin and the NPC peasants I'd spoken to last time I was here are dead and gone.
I now face the prospect of walking up the mountainside to Silver Drift and trying to get entry to our underground settlement. My fight with Maligon told me a couple of things — I need to improve my attack for one thing. Even though I have 1875 damage on my sword when mounted, slightly less on foot, it still isn't going to be enough to cut through some high level enemies. I can either go find some quests that will take me to saints for enhanced blessings to increase damage, but in these times with the enemy crawling all over the north, I doubt I'll find many saints left.
Or I can improve my smithing. I can learn to work with crystal and I can get higher level reinforcing skills from the Smithing skillset.
There is also the Divinity skillset that will allow me to enhance the damage already on my weapons.
Then again, I am seriously considering the Shieldwork skillset, because for those enemies who have enough damage to cut through my armor, Shieldwork is going to help me block some attacks.
I begin to walk up the stony path through the heather up towards the ruins of Silver Drift. Spirit is somewhere up on the moors.
That decides me, I need to put at least some points into Riding. I have 200 to play with, so I commit the twenty points that gets me Whistle Steed.
You have mastered the skill: Whistle Steed. You can now whistle your steed and he will come to you, no matter how far away he is.
So I do. I see Spirit appear from further up the mountain trail. He seems pleased to see me and tosses his head until he comes close and I give him a stroke on his muzzle. He looks unharmed. Steeds can be killed by enemies while they wander the realm away from their masters but Spirit's too smart to get caught. And if he does get caught he'll put up a fight.
I put my foot in the stirrup and swing up. It feels good to be mounted again. My recent defeat hasn't made me downhearted, it's just made me determined to improve.
The journey up the mountain takes time and I have time to think. In Camelot, you don't need to be near a trainer to allocate skills, unless they are really specialist and restricted, like those that come from specific quests.
I select Shieldwork and begin to add points. After 10, I get:
Shieldwork — you now have 1% chance to block enemy attacks with your shield
I keep putting the points in:
Shieldwork — you now have 2% chance to block enemy attacks with your shield
At 50 points, I have 10% block chance, but I want more. I go almost the whole hog and commit 100 skill points, getting me 20% block chance. That feels decent.
As Spirit trots on up the mountain I put 50 points into Smithing. This allows me to Reinforce my weapons and armor. From double-fold, I got 2x damage and protection, Reinforce gives me 3x. Later on, I can get Enhance which will give me 4x, but that's a way off and a far way above those is the ability to work with Platinum and then with Crystal. 3x isn't bad and there's no way I can get even Platinum for a few levels.
That leaves me 30 points. It's much more satisfying to craft uber weapons, or even whistle your steed from miles away, but I'm going to put my remaining 30 points into Management. Yes, dull as it is, there's a skillset that allows you to reduce the cost of your workers. For 30 points, I get a 5% monthly reduction in my NPC wage bill.
I'm not just a knight. I'm a manager. That makes me laugh as we ride up the steep trail.
Ahead, I see we're gaining on a party. There are about four of them. They don't have that evil red and black livery, so I'm guessing they don't work for Satanus. That doesn't mean their friends though. I have my lance ready, the pennant blowing in the mountain breeze. I click my mouth to Spirit and he picks up the pace and we close on these strangers.
When we get close I see that there are three brown clad friars, and with them a white bearded character in a white robe. I see he's a player.
I decide to put my lance away. No point appearing unfriendly. They turn and see me and the player character hails me, "Well met, Sir Knight. I had thought only to run into servants of the Enemy, but it seems you are a knight of King Arthur's Round Table."
I catch up with them and pull Spirit to a halt. "I am Sir Gorrow of the Bloody Field."
"And what is your business here? Are you hunting the minions of the Evil One?"
"If I come across any, but my main mission is to get to the top of this mountain and onto the moorland. I'm heading to Silver Drift, or what's left of it."
The white bearded man nods. "That too is my destination. But from your tone, I fear I may be too late."
It was beginning to dawn on me who he was. "You're St Fitheach? A friend of Bernard the Alchemist?"
A broad smile breaks across his face. "That I am. I'm going to meet Bernard now. He told me that he has a friend, a great knight, I guess you are he?"
I blush. "I don't know about great. I do what I can."
"Not many knights remain in these parts. I suppose it's too dangerous now Camelot has fallen."
I take a liking to this white bearded stranger. "Let's travel together, St Fitheach."
"But if Silver Drift is destroyed, maybe it's better I take my friars and we go south to find what remains of the King's army."
"Let me tell you about my dungeon, or what I want to be my dungeon..."
We walk on. I dismount Spirit and he follows alongside me. Fitheach apparently knows something about dungeons. He wasn't always a saint it seems.<
br />
"You know you have to change the settlement type to dungeon? The dungeon is a completely different thing from a settlement. You get xp from adventurers for one thing, your NPCs don't level... quite a few differences."
I nod. "I wanted it to be a good dungeon, a twist on the normal place full of vampires and stuff."
"That's a neat idea. And you want me to move in as some kind of mini-boss?" His eyes are twinkling as he says it. 'Bernard told me that.'
I shrug, vaguely embarrassed, but it's true what he says.
He smiles. "I've always fancied a chapel underground. We can use holy magic to defend the place. We can use good specific mobs like paladins and angels."
"Sounds cool."
I'd been downhearted after the loss of Silver Drift and my own death. Fitheach is restoring my enthusiasm for the project.
I look ahead, we still have a mile or so to go. Part of me doesn't want to see the mess they've made of Silver Drift and my tower.
The tower stands like a blackened, broken tooth on its crag. Smoke is still issuing from the top and the fire burned right through the roof so you can see through the walls and to the charred wooden floors and beams within. They've bust the door in too. I just hope they didn't find the trapdoor down.
The old mine entrance looks undisturbed under its rock-fall, so I guess they didn't get in that way.
Fitheach stands with me and surveys the scene. He whistles as he looks at the burned and broken palisade walls. There's just ash and blackened husks where the brewery and farms were.
"Where do we go now? Do you want us to camp in the ruins? There's nothing much for them to come back for, so I guess we'd be moderately safe here."
He's right. I guess Maligon and his friends from Carrionburg think they've got us beaten — that they've wiped out the last village loyal to King Arthur remaining the north.
Then one of Fitheach's monks points. "Hobgoblins."
There are four of them. I can see them through the broken wall picking around in the ruins of one of the farms. Then I realize, miraculously, a cow has survived. Or it did survive until they got it.
