Your Heraldry skill tells you the following information:
The Witch King of the Fenlands
Mostly goblin kingdom consisting of two towns or villages.
Treasury - Poor (Between 100 GP and 500 GP)
Produces - Mixed (Wood, Potions)
Army - Tiny (Less than 5 Troops)
Technology - Dumb (Highest Tech: Metalworking)
“Wait, how did your army go from Small to Tiny? Did you only have five troops when I captured your militia?” Chris’s confusion cost him his place in the battle order, but his aura still ticked off like clockwork. Unfortunately, the Goblin Warriors were ready for it this time. They twisted, turned, and tossed themselves out of the way of the expanding wave of burning Light.
Goblin Warrior Troop takes 18 damage from your aura.
The frogre did not appear ready to discuss the disposition of his military at the moment. Instead, it tried to eat Chris.
Leaping over its own troops, the frogre landed behind Chris. The paladin knew he was FLANKED now. He went Full Block for the combat interval.
The frogre bit with its enormous mouth and punched with two great fists. Goblin Warriors attacked from two other sides of Chris, but he felt a reassuring hand on his back. He caught a glimpse of of Brother Aleksandr in armor. The glowing, beautifully wrought metal made the old monk look like an angel. A wave of warmth filled Chris from Aleksandr’s hand.
You go on the defensive. You block 5 incoming attacks.
You take 22 damage. Your armor absorbs 8 damage.
Aleksandr casts Healing on you for 26 Health.
Aleksandr’s Light Armor takes 6 damage.
Goblin Warrior Troop takes 3 reflected Light damage.
Leaping and pulling its legs up to its chest, the frogre surprised Chris with its agility as it avoided the aura’s damaging Light burst. Many of the other goblins managed to avoid it as well, but still, he hit another three of them.
Goblin Warrior Troop takes 18 damage from your aura.
Just as Chris was wondering how much damage the troop could possibly take, the frogre made a grotesque roaring croak. The goblins began to disengage, though the frogre showed no signs of leaving. Instead, the beast made another round of three attacks at Chris.
His shield slammed up into the jaw of the Witch King’s monstrous form. Its bite attack was blocked, but both its fists slammed into either side of Chris. His ribs felt like they were going to crumple like an accordion. He gasped for breath.
While he was recovering, Aleksandr fired off his Light Disc attack. Chris could not tell how effective it was with all of the chaos around him and pain inside of him. By the end of the interval, he managed to take a stab at one of the frogre’s weird, froggy legs.
You take 19 damage. Your armor absorbs 4 damage.
Aleksandr casts Journeyman Ray of Light (disc) for 21 Light damage.
Goblin Warrior Troop takes 42 damage from Ray of Light.
You hit Goblin Warrior Troop for 11 damage.
Goblin Warrior Troop takes 6 damage from your aura.
One of the Goblin Warriors threw something small to the frogre. It grabbed the item out of the air and spiked it right at Chris’s and Aleksandr’s feet. Almost instantly, the two heroes were enveloped in a noxious cloud of thick, greasy smoke that had an odd effect with their glowing armor and aura. Instead of their personal lights enabling them to see, they were actually blinded by banks of illuminated vapors.
Hacking and choking on the fumes, Chris managed to get out, “Ugh, we’re like cars with our high beams on in the fog!”
“I will take your word for it,” coughed the the man who had been a Medieval monk. “I don’t know what cars or high beams are.”
Brother Aleksandr of Fenton Chapel and Lord Christopher of Fish Guts coughed and sputtered their ways clear of the bank of smoke. There were no goblins visible. Chris immediately pulled up his Battle Map.
Brother Aleksandr wiped the tears the smoke had caused out of his eyes. “I’ll fetch our prisoner. We’ll want to get back to your village as quickly as we can.”
Consulting the map, Chris shouted to the Mage of the Light, “They’re headed back toward the fen, but they’ve got the word ‘disorganized’ after their name now instead of ‘seasoned.’”
Aleksandr shouted back, “They’ll have to regroup to fight as a unit again. We must have knocked them below 25% of their starting health.”
“I should hope so. You were pounding them with that Light explosion thing. How long does your armor last like that?”
The former monk was back with the goblin prisoner in tow. “Until I dismiss it, or it takes thirty more points of damage.”
“Wow, how do I get some of that?”
“Be a class that can’t wear armor and has less Health than most. Wizards are the only other class with the skill. Did you level? I received a substantial reward for that encounter.”
Chris finally noticed a flashing prompt on the edge of his vision. “YES!” Catching himself, he calmed down enough to reply, “I mean, yes. Yes, I did.”
***
They tailed the Goblin Warrior Troop until they crossed the long bridge and kept going straight. That meant that these goblins were not headed toward Chris’s village. Yet, as Chris zoomed out, he saw something that frightened him. A green troop was very close to Fish Guts.
“Come on, we’ve got to get there and help them! I don’t know if they can handle an attack. I was supposed to get back before anybody knew I was gone!”
***
Scout let out a long howl of warning that woke up the entire village.
Yawning, Nathaniel stumbled out of a hut.“What is it, boy? Did Chrissy fall down a well?”
Pointing his snout to the north, Scout started barking with a slow rhythm.
“Fine, I guess this means that Chris’s worst fears are realized. We get to have some fun without him. Ku! Get the militia up on the walls.”
Moments later, the villagers were up and had their bows at the ready as the boats full of Goblin Warriors rowed up onto the shore.
Cracking his neck, Nathaniel asked Ku, “I count twelve of them. That what you got?”
“Yes.” In Goblin, he shouted, “Fire on my command only!” In English, he asked Nathaniel, “How much health does our village wall have?”
“Chris was saying it had 200 Health, but that it resists 5 points of damage out of every hit. Well, except fire. It’s weak against fire.”
Nathaniel drew back an arrow, and it began to crackle with Lightning. It sang and sizzled its way toward a Goblin Warrior. Ku followed Nathaniel’s arrow with one of his own that scored an automatic critical hit on the stunned target.
Ku shouted out in Goblin, “Fire at the sparkling one I just shot!” Crit after Crit scored into the stunned target before he was released during the next combat interval.
All of his fellows were behind him by that time, some were even rowing already.
Ku nodded his approval as the troop of Goblin Warriors beat a hasty retreat. “Sharing damage can be bad for them.”
Nathaniel was smiling, but he was not exactly satisfied. “This could be used against us just as easily as we’re using it against them. I wonder if there’s a way to eject a trapped or disabled member from a troop so that they stop being such an easy target...”
Ku was watching the last of the boats disappear into the gap in the sedges on the far side of the open water. “In a fair fight on flat land, it is to hard to pick your target. Most fighters could not see the one you stun. How could they shoot and hit him? No, this, from the top of a wall, is just right for it. It is still a clever way to fight and might be a big help in open battle. The people near the stunned one ganging up could get two or three extra crits. Now, if you left one of your men behind... Ugh, you would deserve the defeat that would come to you.”
Nathaniel hopped down off the wall while he wondered aloud, “Are there prisoners in the Game? Can you surrender to another side?”
Ku waved most of the militia down off the walls now that the threat was gone. He told Nathaniel, “We captured that goblin thief at Fenton, but I don’t know about surrender. I do know that I wouldn’t become a prisoner to a side that might make me frogre food. I got close enough to that earlier today. No repeats for me.”
Chapter 18
Chris was flabbergasted. Sure, he was short of sleep and had just woke up. Maybe he was hallucinating...
“He wants to surrender?” was all the paladin could muster as an answer.
Nathaniel tried to assure Lord Christopher of Fish Guts of the reality of the situation. “That’s what the goblin envoy says. Says that the Witch King knows he’s overmatched and just doesn’t want to end up in the Fiery Place with Worms again any time soon. He’s only got a few troops left, and they’re pretty beat up after last night. Says they’re all yours as soon as you come and sit on his throne.”
“That’s awfully...” Adjectives flew through Chris’s mind. Magnanimous, logical, big, generous, wise, convenient, suspicious, devious. Hmm, he did not like where his brain was going with this. “I’ve got to ask Brother Aleksandr about it.”
Chris struggled out of the town hall hut and toward another one. All the huts were actually identical except for a placard on the town hall hut that declared its special status. It was only a Level 1 Town Hall according to the info Chris had looked over the previous day. Yet, it still had some amenities. There was a map room with a real copy of Chris’s map of Fish Guts Kingdom. It had little statues of the various troops. There was a treasury with a very small chest in it. A store room held the side’s supply of resources which consisted only of jars of dried fish at the moment. It even had a cell to keep their mute goblin prisoner in. This was good, as it let Brother Aleksandr get some sleep instead of watching over him.
Popping through the door into a dark of a hut, Chris was welcomed by the now familiar snoring of Brother Aleksandr. The paladin started with an apology to his tutor. “Sorry to wake you, Brother. Brother, sorry to...”
“Oh, oh, no, Father Sergei did I miss vespers again? I’m sorry I didn’t get the breakfast fires started, Father. I’ll go without bread as penance again...” Finally, after thrashing about a little, Brother Aleksandr sat up and stretched upward in a long yawn. “I’m sorry, Lord Fish Guts, I am still getting used to waking up again. You never get tired and don’t need to sleep in Heaven.”
“Ugh, I’ve got to get my kingdom’s name changed.”
“The only time you can do that is when you make another settlement your capital.”
“Well then, it is a good thing that I’m going to be going and taking over a couple more towns today. Then, I can be Lord Whatever-Sounds-Best.”
“Confident in your military prowess after last night’s victory and level up?”
“No. Better than that. The Witch King wants to surrender so long as he gets to live and not go back to Hell yet.”
“I had been wondering if this sort of thing might happen. Though, still, you should proceed with the utmost caution. It could be a trap.”
Chris had a momentary vision of Admiral Akbar shouting and started to laugh.
“Confidence is a good thing, but over confidence...”
“I’m not laughing at the suggestion that it’s a trap. It’s just a joke from my time on Earth that popped into my head.”
Chris spent the time it took to walk across the village trying to explain who Admiral Akbar was to a man who had lived his life on Earth in a Russian monastery without indoor plumbing.
Brother Aleksandr was thoroughly confused by the time they were looking down at the goblin envoy from on top of the wall. Chris thought that the green humanoid was a dashing little chap with a feather in his cap and a spear with a white bolt of cloth tied to it. In addition to making a good visual impression, Chris thought the goblin envoy spoke English quite well.
“Hail Lord Christopher of Fish Guts! May your reign be long and benevolent to all your subjects. The Witch King wishes to help you increase the number of those subjects quite quickly. He seeks to surrender his throne and kingdom to your noble person in exchange for free passage and a guarantee of no harm to his person for the duration of your dominion, which he hopes will be very long indeed.”
Chris wanted to answer with the same style, but he knew he could not pull it off. Instead, he went simple. “Sign of goodwill first. I want a copy of the Witch King’s side map. I want to see all his settlements and units.”
“Oh mighty and wise Lord of Fish Guts, your request is wisdom itself. However, I must ask my sovereign if this is agreeable to him.”
The little goblin got a far away look in his eyes for a moment. Then, a scroll of animal skin appeared in the envoy’s hand. “This condition is acceptable to my lord. He wishes most deeply to have done with the responsibilities of running his side.”
Chris waved to a goblin gatekeeper, and they cracked open the gate. Scout ran out and fetched the scroll right out of the envoy’s hand. The giant dog padded back into the village very pleased with himself. Nathaniel took the scroll from the dog and handed it up to Chris. As soon as it touched Chris’s hand, the scroll disappeared, and he got a prompt saying he had new map information. Nothing on the map was surprising. There were two Goblin Warrior Troops and two Militia Troops in the Witch King’s army. He had a village called Robbers’ Rest and his capital, Boiling Cauldron.
Ugh, thought Chris, neither of those names was much better than Fish Guts.
There was also a lumber camp labeled on the map to the west on the edge of the fenlands where the forest came down. It was not a full settlement, just a group of structures dedicated to resource collection. The hunting lodge Chris and Nathaniel had visited on the second day was the same class of building. But, that was all there was to the Witch King’s lands.
Chris looked out at the envoy and asked, “Ok. How do we do this?”
The envoy swept his feathered cap off and bowed low, then sprung up and tossed the cap in the air. “HUZZA! HUZZA! The King will be most pleased! I will lead you back to Boiling Cauldron, the capital of the Witch King’s side. There, you will sign the pact with him granting free passage and no harm, and he will hand you his scepter and allow you to sit upon his throne.”
Chris asked Brother Aleksandr over his shoulder, “Does all that sound kosher to you?”
“I heard no mention of bacon or blood.”
Chris turned toward the old man and realized he was serious. The young ruler tried to clarify, “I’m sorry, that wasn’t what I meant. Kosher is a figure of speech where I come from. I meant, does that sound like how this sort of thing should go? Is that the right order? Are there binding contracts in the Game? Why don’t I have a throne?”
Brother Aleksandr stroked his beard. “I have never done this before to be honest. Perhaps the throne is like your banner? It is like a symbol of control of his side or kingdom? If your banner is captured and you are slain at the same time, your side is defeated. All of the units go over to whoever is in possession of the banner, and you have to start over. If all of the sides in your alliance are defeated at the same time, the Game will end.”
“And, so will the lives of a bunch of people in the cafeteria back on Earth.” Chris took a long, deep breath and thought for a few moments.
Determination came into his voice as he announced, “All right. I don’t think this is a trap, but I’m not certain. I’m willing to take the risk that it might be, but I want to hedge my bets. I’m going to leave Nathaniel, Scout, and Ku guarding this village. I’d rather they stay safe here anyway. Would you come with me to Boiling Cauldron, Brother Aleksandr?”
***
The boats with the envoy, Chris, and Brother Aleksandr pulled into a big circle of open water next to the Witch King’s capital. A hundred yards away across the open water, a taller humanoid in a green cloak and feathered mask looked on from a goblin boat. Surrounding him were two other boats full of militia. The envoy waved at them.
Gi
ving Christopher a confident, engaging smile, the goblin envoy explained, “Lord Fish Guts, I will go and fetch the scrolls that my momentary king wishes for you to sign guaranteeing his safety and freedom. I am sure that my king has sent all his other troops away from the capital if you wish to verify on your map. He will remove himself and his last Militia Troop as soon as he has the signed agreements. Though, as you know, the Militia Troop cannot move too far from its home settlement.”
Chris had actually thought that militia units could not leave their home settlements at all. So, as he waited for the envoy and his rowers to meet the man in the mask, he scanned the rules about Militia Troops. Ah! Here it was. Militia were limited based on the size of their home settlement. Chris looked over at the town that had been the Witch King’s capital. Boiling Cauldron was much larger than Chris’s village of Fish Guts, though that did not exactly make it impressive. There were only three structures made of wood. But, it was large enough to allow its Militia Troops to move up to a mile away.
The envoy was making his way back, and Chris still had a little time. He checked the identities of the three wooden structures on the map that the Witch King had given him. A War Lodge that trained goblin warriors, a granary that functioned as food storage, and an upgraded Town Hall. The rest of the buildings were just grass huts like his village. Chris sighed. At least it was better than a single village named Fish Guts. He would not miss the chance to rename this one when the time came.
The envoy brought back a scroll case from the man. All the other boats and their occupants sat still in the calm open water. The plucky little goblin presented his burden to Chris. “Here, my future lord. My past lord is eager to be on his way. He has assured me that there is a quill and vile of ink within.”
Chris took the package with suspicion. “I’m going to read this with Brother Aleksandr before I do any signing.”
The two men unrolled the contents of the scroll case and were happy to find a rather brief statement.
“I here by promise safe passage through all my dominion to the one formerly known as the Witch King of the Fenlands. I here by also promise no harm will come to him by my hand or the hand of any of my followers or troops.”
Openings Page 28