As they entered my range, I began my attack, opening with a Necromantic Bolt into the surprised raider’s left shoulder, spinning him around and knocking off a quarter of his hit points with the sneak attack.
Sneak Attack Successful!
Sneak Attack Damage Multiplier x2!
My minions sprang into action. Rusty and Yuri charged the raider while Tiny and Tom headed towards the warriors.
I grabbed a bone from my satchel and cast Cripple on the raider, grinning as the dark magic took hold.
Tiny reached the first warrior, raising his shield to deflect a crude swing of the orc’s rusty sword. His counterattack skidded along the orc’s ribs, leaving a small cut as the warrior instinctively lunged away.
The second warrior was not so lucky and got a face full of skeletal panther as Tom’s leap carried him forward faster than the orc could react. Tom’s jaws bit into its shoulder while his hind claws raked large furrows down its stomach.
The orc went wild, flailing at the skeletal panther and landing a few lucky punches that sent bone chips flying.
Rusty and Yuri approached their opponent much more cautiously. I ordered Rusty to focus on defense and Yuri as the muscle.
The raider let loose a war cry. Its eyes started to glow red and its muscles doubled in size. It charged forward to meet the advancing undead and utterly destroyed Rusty with a flurry of attacks before turning to Yuri.
I cursed and blasted the raider with a necromantic bolt, taking a chunk out of his bicep and disrupting his attack just enough to allow Yuri to go on the offensive. The human skeleton brought his axe around in a savage blow that cut deep into the orc’s side, dropping its health under fifty percent.
The raider spat out a mouthful of bloody foam with a roar and ignored the wound, laying into Yuri once again with a quick double strike of his axes. The bronze chainmail prevented some of the damage, but the blunt force of the blow carried through the armor and sent Yuri stumbling with a third of his health gone.
Tiny’s health bar blinked out as his opponent smashed through his defense and separated his skull from the rest of his body. That warrior didn’t get a chance to celebrate its victory, as Tom struck it from behind, abandoning the pile of bloody flesh of his first victim.
Seeing the warriors were well in hand – or claw - I focused my attention on the raider, pelting him with bolt after bolt of necromantic energy.
Yuri weathered another flurry of blows, costing him an arm and leaving him with about ten percent of his health bar.
A wild swing of the human skeleton’s axe took another chunk out of the raider’s flesh, and I hit it with another bolt before it could retaliate, finishing it off.
The remaining warrior didn’t last long after that, its life coming to an end when Tom took its head in his jaws and gave a sudden jerk.
You have killed 2x Forest Orc Warrior! You have gained 200xp.
You have killed a Forest Orc Raider! You have gained 150xp.
While Yuri and Tom stood guard I dealt with the fallen orcs.
I looted a handful of silver and a bloodstained leather jerkin from the raider. I was hoping that his axes would be useable, but the system didn’t agree.
The two warriors also had some coin as well as a pair of leather bracers and a pair of leather boots.
When searching the second warrior, the Ringsheath on my tail grew warm and I saw the golden sparkle indicators of my Scavenger skill’s activation appear from under its ruined shirt.
I reached under the shirt and touched the glow, pulling out a sharp looking knife.
I tucked the knife away and activated Dissection on the raider. Bones, meat, skin, and a new option, blood, were available.
The blood option was gray with an asterisk next to it, which upon concentration revealed that due to my current quest, gathering the blood was an auto-success and was guaranteed not to prevent attempts to dissect additional components.
I collected the blood and bones from all three orcs, but all three corpses disappeared after retrieving the bones.
Success! You have obtained a vial of Forest Orc Blood! You have gained 0xp* (*auto-success)!
Success! You have obtained an Orc Skeleton! You have gained 15xp!
Success! You have obtained a vial of Forest Orc Blood! You have gained 0xp* (*auto-success)!
Success! You have obtained an Orc Skeleton! You have gained 15xp!
Success! You have obtained a vial of Forest Orc Blood! You have gained 0xp* (*auto-success)!
Success! You have obtained an Orc Skeleton! You have gained 15xp!
QUEST UPDATE - Forest Orc Blood 3/10
I glanced around the battlefield and sighed. Rusty and Tiny had served me well, but their bones were beyond salvaging.
Their leg bones joined my component stack, and I piled their weapons to the side to equip my next generation of minions.
I examined the new additions to my skeletal collections and was a little confused. In life, the raider had been head and shoulders above the warriors, but after Dissection their skeletons had somehow become uniform.
Game mechanics, I thought with a shrug.
Making sure the area was clear of any other threats, I healed my remaining minions and sent Tom to patrol the surrounding area and started the process of replenishing my mini-legions ranks.
Two Orc Skeletons joined the ranks of my bound horde, standing slightly taller and broader than Yuri, their tusks making their skulls even more fearsome.
Yuri’s battle axe was replaced with a shortsword and shield, that axe and the looted leather armor going to one of the new additions who I named Grunk.
The second orc got Rusty’s old shortsword and shield, and the name Slag.
I held off using Dark Blessing on the newcomers. There was no reason to spend the time and mana when there was a good chance they might not survive the day. There were at least seven more orcs to kill after all.
I gathered my minions to me as we moved further into the forest, officially entering the area marked on my map for the quest.
After a short walk the sounds of clashing weapons and a distinctly non-orcish cry of pain from ahead drew my attention. I moved forward cautiously, entering a large clearing where a battle was currently under way.
A human warrior was locked in melee with several orcs, trying not to trip over his fallen companions as he backed away. On the ground were the bloody remains of an elven woman dressed in robes and a dwarf wearing heavier armor.
The human wasn’t long for this world either. His health bar was hovering at thirty percent, and judging by my Perception skill, he was lower level than I was which meant on par with, or weaker than the orcs.
His sword and shield were darting back and forth in an amazing display of defense as he fended off the five remaining orc warriors.
Had the orcs been more intelligent opponents, he would already be dead, but they ended up stepping on each other’s toes in their excitement to get at the human.
There were several orcs on the ground as well, evidence that the group had put up a good fight before something had gone wrong.
I was too late to help the dead, but I could probably save the swordsman. I hadn’t planned on partying up with any other players but making some allies couldn’t hurt.
I ordered my minions to charge and blasted the most injured orc with a Necromantic Bolt.
Sneak Attack Successful!
Sneak Attack Damage Multiplier x2!
The bolt struck the orc in the small of its back and finished it off. A second bolt was already on its way to a second orc when they finally noticed our arrival.
My minions charged in to double team two of the remaining orcs, leaving the human to deal with the last pair.
My bolt struck just as Tom pounced, rolling off to the side in a ball of claws, teeth, and rusted orcish weapons.
With three of the orcs distracted, the human was able to regain his balance and start to make headway against his two re
maining foes.
Yuri and Grunk took turns striking at their target, who fought with a shield that looked like a door the orc had ripped off of a hobbit house or something.
I pulled out a pinch of Bone Dust and cast Rot onto the door wielder before turning my attention to the beleaguered human.
He looked over at me and I waved before casting another bolt at one of the orcs attacking the human.
Cedric Lightstrider has invited you to join his party. Accept? (Yes/No)
“Sure,” I said and accepted.
A new display popped up on the left-hand side of my view, showing the information on the party.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
[4] Cedric Lightstrider [Paladin]
HP13%
MP1%
SP15%
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
[4] Kelikk Ironside [Warrior]
HP0%
MP0%
SP0%
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
[4] Leilani Starshadow [Priestess]
HP0%
MP0%
SP0%
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Cedric’s hit points took another dip as one of the orcs landed a glancing blow to his leg during the brief moment of distraction.
I glanced over at Tom and saw that his initial target was just about finished. Slag should be able to finish the job, so I directed the cat to attack one of the orcs still attacking the human.
“Incoming,” I said, causing the human to give me a confused look as I rushed through the casting of another bolt.
The look of confusion disappeared as the skeletal panther leapt over the human’s shoulder and crashed down onto his target, bearing the orc to the ground before bouncing away just as my bolt struck, knocking it down under a quarter of its health.
The cat leapt back in and dug in with its hind legs, the orc squealing in pain as its entrails spilled onto the forest floor.
Now fighting one on one, Cedric was doing a lot better. He easily blocked the orc’s clumsy blows and struck back, landing a powerful blow across its midsection and finishing it off.
The last orc fell to the ground a second later, my Rot spell and Minions bypassing its door wielding skills to take it down.
Your party has killed 5x Forest Orc Warrior. You have gained 250xp!
ATTENTION: When part of a party, the XP for each monster destroyed will be divided equally between the party members.
Cedric sat down hard, head bowed over his sword as he struggled to catch his breath. By the end of the fight his stamina and health were both in the single digits.
While we waited for him to recover, I gathered my minions and had them drag the orc corpses into the center of the clearing for looting.
I looked through the corpses, piling the loot off to the side in two piles. The first was from the orcs who were dead before I arrived while the second was from the orcs my minions and I had helped to kill.
“You ok over there?” I asked, receiving only a tired gesture in response.
I chuckled and went back to the corpse pile, dissecting the blood and bones from the nine orc dead. I got the hide from another, although I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with orc skin, and Scavenger produced a necklace of bones that hummed with power.
QUEST UPDATE - Forest Orc Blood 12/10
The Dissection messages scrolled by, showing zero XP for the bloods but fifteen a pop for the skeletons and hide. I tucked the bones into my bag as I obtained them, occasionally looking over at the human who still seemed a bit shaken.
“Cedric,” I said hesitantly. “Do you think your friends would care if I got rid of their corpses?”
He shrugged and gave me a thumbs up. I examined the dwarf and elf, wondering if there was anything different about dissecting players than mobs.
Some poking and prodding revealed that the bodies were mostly decorative at this point as they would respawn with all of their gear at their current level. I wasn’t sure why the bodies would be left behind, but I was glad they were.
I rolled the dwarf over and took out my knife, grinning when my Ringsheath grew warm and a spot under the dwarf’s beard lit up. I brushed aside the bushy beard and tapped a glowing necklace, pocketing the scavenged loot before getting down to the messy part.
I activated Dissection and tried not to laugh at the options presented: Skeleton, Beard, Fat, Hide, and Meat.
I had no desire to work with any dwarf gibbly bits, but the bones… the bones I wanted pretty badly. I selected the skeleton option and watched the progress bar complete and the dwarf corpse dissolve into a set of bones. I clapped my hands and gathered my prize.
Success! You have obtained a Dwarven Skeleton! You have gained 0xp* (Party Member)
I heard a gasp and looked over to see Cedric had finally decided to surface from his reverie and was watching me. “You took his skeleton?” he said.
I shrugged and gestured to my minions who were standing around the clearing. “Yes? Need to keep my legion strong, after all?”
He looked a little alarmed, but then started cracking up. “Oh, that is priceless. I can’t wait to see his face when he finds out. Can you make them dance?”
Dance, I commanded Yuri mentally and smiled as he began to do the monster mash. “Hah, apparently so.”
I moved over to the elven body and dissected her as well, taking her bones and leaving the ears, skin, and hair alone.
Critical Success! You have obtained a Moon Elf Skeleton! You have scavenged Moon Elf Essence x2! You have gained 0xp* (Party Member)
I pocketed the bones and essence and headed over to the loot piles, gesturing for Cedric to follow.
I pointed at the first pile. There was a pair of rusty bronze daggers, an iron buckler, and a pretty grimy suit of broken chainmail on top of twelve silver and twenty-three copper. “That’s the loot from the orcs you and your friends killed before I got here.”
Pointing to the second I said, “That’s from the five we took out together.”
The second pile included a large wooden tower shield, a stone battle axe, a pair of studded leather gloves, and about twenty-four silver in mixed coin.
As he opened his mouth to speak, the other players’ bars in the party window lit back up and messages started scrolling.
[P] Leilani: Sorry guys! That orc disrupted my spell! Hey, who’s Kababala?
[P] Kelikk: Ouch, how did they get these pain sensors past the FCC. How long did you last Ced? Hey new guy!
[P] Cedric: Oh, I survived. Kababala here saved me with his spooky friends.
[P] Leilani: Spooky friends… Oh a Necromancer! Haven’t seen many of those around.
[P] Me: Hello all, nice to meet you. You guys coming back to get your loot or should we meet you back towards town?
[P] Kelikk: $$v$$ LOOT! Anything Good Ced?
[P] Cedric: Mostly vender trash, but I’ll let you be the judge.
[P] Kelikk: Cool. Meet you guys at the tavern?
Cedric looked over at me. “Wanna get a drink with my friends? We can split the loot there.”
I glanced briefly at my character stats and saw I was a hair away from leveling. “Care to kill one more orc while we’re here? I’m about a sneeze away from leveling.”
The human shrugged, “Sure. We can find something on the way out. There are orcs all over the place.”
[P] Cedric: Going to kill one more goon then we’ll meet you back at the Silver Fish.
[P] Leilani: KK
[P] Kelikk: Roger Roger.
We loaded the shared loot into one of my old bags while he tucked his party’s goods into his own bag, and we were off.
I recast Dark Shield on myself as we walked and arranged my minions around us.
Cedric seemed hyper focused on the surrounding woods, and I couldn’t blame him. At level four even the smaller orcs would be a tough solo fight for him, and he didn’t have pets to take the aggro or pile on the damage.
I spotted an Orc Raider
moving through the trees off to the side. I nudged Cedric and pointed it out. “Ready?”
He nodded as I continued at a whisper, “These guys can rage, so be on your guard.”
He drew his blade and raised his shield as I cast Cripple on the Raider, snapping the leg bone to crippling the enemy’s movement while Tom rushed forward to pounce.
The raider was ready and knocked the cat to the side, taking a minor wound as it hulked out.
I followed up with Rot, using another dose of Bone Dust to make sure it stuck as the rest of the group charged in.
As Cedric got close, he called out some sort of spell and slapped his sword against his shield, generating a blinding ring of light that stung my sensitive eyes as it washed over the clearing.
The effect on the raider was pretty spectacular. It immediately turned away from Tom and made a beeline straight at the human paladin. Ah, it must be a taunt ability.
My minions cut into the raider as it rushed towards its target, dropping its health to ten percent.
Cedric lashed out with his sword, scoring a glancing blow as well. The raider was still standing, and angry, and Cedric felt the full fury of that anger in the form of a collection of deep wounds that dropped his health by a third.
But the lone raider had little chance to do more than that, as the combined damage from Rot and five beings dedicated to turning it into paste finished it off.
Your party has killed a Forest Orc Raider! You have gained 75xp
CONGRATULATIONS! You have reached Level 9!
You have gained 2 Intelligence!
You have gained 3 Attribute points and 11 Skill points!
Your Hit Points, Mana, And Endurance pools have increased!
My body filled with the rush of leveling up and the light pulsed through the woods.
“Congrats!” Cedric said, followed closely by Kelikk and Leilani adding in their accolades in party chat.
He headed over to the Raider and rifled through its pockets, coming up with three silver and a small bone ring. We added the loot to the shared bag and continued on.
Extra Credit Page 18
