by Pavel Kornev
I quickly returned to the oak, took the skull and strode away. I canceled stealth when I’d gone a few hundred feet through the forest, but then a young bear suddenly appeared from somewhere.
I continued on my way, limping with a lacerated leg. It was good that the flamberge easily pierced the thick fur and I managed to cut the bear down before it could tear me to pieces. I still lost a third of my Health! Of course, I could have used my Deathgrip and heal at the expense of some forest creature, but then I’d lose even more Energy, while I had no chance without stealth!
What a predicament!
It was getting darker, but that caused me no inconvenience as I had a night vision bonus. My dead rogue was great at finding his way at dusk, but I still had to soon get out of the forest onto the road. It just became too annoying to keep avoiding the branches and twigs that kept trying to scratch at my face and poke my eyes out. There were a lot more predators by evening and I’d have to fight my way through soon. That wouldn’t be leveling my character, it would be a real battle for survival.
THE ROAD LED ME to a swamp. It ended at a fast flowing river with a swampy field beyond, that was completely overgrown with reeds. The little wooden bridge was burnt and all that remained of it were the tops of the supporting logs which had been dug into the ground.
I could have gotten on to the other side easier without any kind of bridge, but I decided against risking it as I didn’t know what sorts of beasts could be lurking in the water. I walked upstream to try and find a crossing but the river narrowed the further I went and it gradually turned into a normal stream. However, there seemed to be no end to the swamp that stretched out ahead. When I saw a log that had been put across the water, I stopped to think.
A path went into the reeds, which would lead me somewhere. Should I risk it? I carefully looked over the reeds and noticed a dark tree looming in the night. A hint immediately went up: Dead Oak.
This was the decider. If a dry tree stuck in the middle of a swamp was given a name, it was probably connected to some sort of quest or important location. It was worth checking out.
I ran across the log to the other side of the forest and went along the path, with oozing mud immediately starting to squelch under my boots. However, the level of the water didn’t rise and I got to the Dead Oak without even getting my feet wet. The tree turned out to be huge, with a moss covered trunk that would have taken several men to embrace. Its dry branches spread out over a large clearing, with no reeds or grass growing in its dark shadow, only dead black earth.
I stood at the edge of the clearing for a little while, and then the shout of a child came from somewhere up above, all of a sudden.
“Help! Help me!”
I didn’t get the chance to decide whether to help the child. Three squat silhouettes charged at me over the clearing, bow-legged, covered in wild hair and very, very quick.
Swamp Goblins, came the hint.
In an instant, poisoned needles were flying at me, accompanied by the soft pops of blowguns.
Swamp viper venom: Immunity
I charged into the attack and swept my flamberge down at the nearest ugly greenskin so the blade cut it in half. The tip of the sword got stuck in the ground and while I was freeing it I got two additional poisoned needles in my side. With a wide sweep, I took off the head of the second goblin, but the last of the three, which was a shaman’s apprentice, suddenly sprinted towards the Dead Oak. He stopped there, took out a little pipe and started to play a simple melody. Immediately, swamp vipers came from all sides. The snakes couldn’t bite through my tough boots, but started to spit venom at me instead of attacking me.
My immunity to poisoning worked again, but my clothing started to quickly lose Durability.
Damn it! This way, I’d soon be left wearing only boots!
I started to stamp on the vipers and hack at them with the flamberge, but more and more of the serpents crawled out of the swamps to replace them. What upset me the most was that I got no experience at all for them!
I decided to ignore the snakes and rushed towards the shaman’s apprentice, but the cunning creature decided against facing me and hid behind the oak. I ran after him and ran around the oak several times until I understood that I’d never catch the small and quick creature. I stopped abruptly and threw myself in the opposite direction, raising my sword to strike in advance.
When the goblin understood his mistake it was already too late, so he literally ran onto my blade.
A moment and he was done!
The vipers immediately stopped spitting venom and slithered back into the reeds, while I raised my head and shouted, “Come down!”
A rope uncoiled as it fell downwards and a scrawny boy skillfully slid down it.
Oh... A scrawny dead boy.
“Will you walk me home?” he asked, as if nothing had happened.
[Escort the dead boy / Attack]
I chose the first option and asked, “Do you know the way?
“It’s not far! I ‘d get there myself, but there are goblins around here.”
The “dead boy” behaved just like he was alive. At least, he didn’t have the sluggishness associated with zombies.
“Lead on, then.”
The boy coiled the rope, took a huge branch which looked like it must have been cut from the oak and pointed at one of the paths leading from the clearing.
“We need to go there!”
We set off along the swamp and I soon understood that I had no idea at all where I was. The map I called up didn’t help me orient myself as the paths were not marked on it. The question was, where could a dead child take me?
Seriously! Perhaps the Kingdom of the Dead? Or...
But no, the strange boy took me to a completely normal village, surrounded by a tall fence. Even though the hour was late, the gates were wide open, with guards crowding around them.
If I was a normal player, I ‘d think twice before going on ahead, but because I was dead myself, in a way, I had no fear as I approached the gates. The boy slipped inside and then ran as fast as a lightning bolt. The village guards paid him no heed, but targeted me with their crossbows, but looked very unsure doing it and then completely lowered their weapons. The chief guard kept trying to say something and got stuck with his mouth open every time.
The conditions for the quest probably didn’t suppose that the boy’s escort could be dead or there was an issue with the guards themselves. They were just as dead as I was.
A whole village of zombies? Very interesting. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the Kingdom of the Dead at all...
And then another message appeared:
The Escort the Dead Boy quest is complete.
You have received a new quest: Speak to the Elder
Experience: +100
Rogue: You’ve have gained a level!
I improved my Agility and my Dodge skill, checked my stats and snorted with disappointment. I was missing only a point to get my undead to level 12.
Anyway, it was nothing! There was probably a reason that the Elder wanted to speak to me.
THE ELDER TURNED OUT to be a wrinkled old man with a scraggly beard. He was dead, of course. His dark skin was covered with livid spots, but that didn’t surprise me anymore.
“Who are you?” the elder asked as he came outside the gates.
“A traveler,” I answered tersely, without hurrying to take my hood off to reveal my face.
“Thank you for your help!” the old man declared. “You can spend the night in our village and no one will harm you.
Village of the Dead: Neutral
I could only just hold back from grimacing unhappily. Neutrality from undead was something I had from the beginning.
Anyway, that wasn’t all.
“You could help us, traveler,” the Elder continued, “and we would give you all the money we have in our village for your labors”
The offer of the old man made me suspicious, but I graciously nodded.
“Continue.
”
“The vile goblins of the swamps stole a relic from us and hid it in their caves. They only bring it out under the sun exactly at midday, during the day, when we are powerless. Can you help us?”
“What is the relic?”
“A crystal skull.”
I chuckled with interest.
“And what does it do?”
“I will tell you, but later. Do you agree?”
“How will I find it? I don’t know these swamps.”
The old man took out a scroll with a map.
Do you want to accept the Bring the Crystal Skull quest?
[Yes/No]
“I will help you.”
The old man gave me the map and reminded, “Exactly at midday. Have a rest for now.”
He turned around as he was about to leave, but I stepped after him and asked, “What happened here?”
“The plague,” the old man answered simply.
“People die from the plague.”
The old man shrugged.
“Something is changing in this world. Bring the skull and we’ll talk about everything.”
The dead old man set off down the street and I looked around. The houses in the village were single floored, with roofs covered with reeds. There were boats by the walls and nets hung upon pillars, but considering their bedraggled state, no one had used them for a long time now. There were no people in the streets and only the sound of a blacksmith’s hammer broke the silence from somewhere nearby.
I opened the map and discovered that some new marks had appeared inside the fence: the home of the Elder, the guesthouse, the blacksmith, the tailor, the healer and a shop. Various marks had appeared in the swamp as well. They mainly showed the locations of various monster lairs and they immediately put paid to any desire I had to go beyond the gates at night. It looked like the boy had taken me here using the only safe path.
That didn’t matter though. What was the skull the Elder talked about, I wondered? What sort of artifact was it, and how was it connected to what was happening here?
I decided to use my time well and ask the local denizens, but it was as if they had been struck dumb. I almost had to use sign language to communicate with them. Still, I did walk around the village and did a lot of good for myself. The healer sewed up my rib as it was damaged by the bear and restored my Health. I also bought an Energy Restoration Potion that worked on the undead from him. It was incredibly expensive, so all of my savings were only enough for three vials, but there was no point in holding money back — if I successful completed the Elder’s quest, all of the money would be returned to me anyway.
I didn’t find anything interesting at the blacksmith’s. He used to specialize on harpoons and tridents, but made strange looking armor now. His apprentices hammered out arrow bold heads. There were a couple of rather decent daggers on sale, but I didn’t waste my last money on them. I was right to do that, as I’d found a baldric for a double handed sword.
I could finally wear the flamberge behind my back!
Next, I walked around the shop, which was lit by the dim light of a candle and looked at the goods. I turned to the trader, who was a pale and thin middle-aged man. A fly crawled across his bald pate, but he didn’t notice it.
“Have you been in this state for long?”
“No,” he answered curtly.
He still answered though!
I came back to the counter.
“What’s the story with the crystal skull?”
The trader just shook his head.
“I know nothing about that.”
“And who might know?”
The dead man shrugged his shoulders.
“I would have advised you to talk to master Frederick, but he’s disappeared. Talk about this to the Elder.”
“Who is Frederick?” I asked with interest.
“A mage who stopped over here a few days before the plague came,” the trader answered, and it was impossible to get a single word out of him after that.
5
I SPENT THE NIGHT at the guesthouse and moved out into the swamp in the morning before it was even fully light. The night monsters had already hidden in their holes by that time and the goblins hadn’t yet appeared, either.
The possible appearance of Garth worried me a little, but it was doubtful that he would dare to go into the swamp without a map and I didn’t plan to spend a long time in the village. I’d complete the Elder’s quest, as him about the Kingdom of the Dead and be on my way.
The path gradually led me to the hills that were surrounded by impenetrable bogs on all sides. I had to go from one landmark to another, and every wrong step threatened me with drowning in black and noisome goo. If I had to run away, it wouldn’t be particularly easy.
There were dark holes on the hillsides which led to the underground dwellings of the goblins, but I decided against going in there. The small creatures could provide me with many unpleasant surprises in the low and narrow passages. I climbed on top of one of them instead, lay down in the yellowing grass and stared at the clearing at the foot of the hill. Not a single blade of grass grew there and a charred pillar was dug into its middle.
The map stated that this was the place that the goblins would bring the crystal skull, but they would only bring it at midday.
The sun rose higher and higher and started to gradually push its heat upon me, thankfully the necromancer’s robe was great at protecting from its fiery rays and my Stamina didn’t burn away. However, my level of Perception noticeably lowered and everything around became fuzzy and lost in the white shining light. This is why I heard the goblins instead of seeing them.
I first heard the distant, ululating sounds of singing and only after that could I see the movement of the high reeds. The swamp goblin shaman that appeared in the clearing was quite short and covered in blue and orange paint from head to toe. He held a spitting torch in his hand and started to use it to burn away any young shoots in the clearing.
The shaman worked slowly and precisely — I got very exasperated and even thought of finding a better position, but decided against hurrying things. I ended up being right — the reeds started to move again and half a dozen goblin spearmen entered the clearing. They made a circle and it was only then that the high shaman with the crystal skull appeared. He was accompanied by two acolytes who were surprisingly strong and wide shouldered for representatives of this swamp people.
The young goblins raised the shaman and he placed the skull at the top of the pillar dug into the middle of the clearing. He then started to move clockwise, without stopping his ululating song for a single moment.
I quietly descended down the hill, slipped into the thick clumps of reeds and changed into stealth mode. Midday was not the best time for stealth, but the swamp goblins were creatures of the night, so they didn’t see particularly well during the day. Definitely no better than the undead...
I left my flamberge in the baldric on my back and armed myself with the knife I’d found at the village, smearing its blade in swamp mud so that the blade wouldn’t glitter in the sun so much.
The crystal skull shone so much that it was blinding, but the guarding goblins never took their eyes off the holy relic. This is what I took advantage of. I came up to the nearest short creature from behind, clamped one hand over its mouth and stabbed my blade into its solar plexus with the other, immediately dragging its limp body into the thick reeds.
Critical hit! The Goblin Warrior has been killed!
Experience: +25 [2524/3000] +25 [2658/3000]
Undead: You have gained a level!
As before, my skills were distributed automatically when I reached a new level. I just raised my Perception to 8. Then I sneaked up on the next guard, but it turned out to be tougher, so I had to stab it with the knife twice. At least my hand had been clamped hard over its maw, so the ugly greenskin couldn’t alert the others with its death screams.
I decided not to take any more risks, went into stealth mode and moved t
owards the skull at the top of the pillar. My plan was as audacious as it was simple. I called it my “grab and run” plan, which was why I needed to clear my path of retreat in advance.
The idea of coming up to the pillar, grabbing the skull and losing myself in the reeds without getting into a fight with the goblins was good, but went to the dogs as soon as I came near the entranced high shaman.
He never saw me, as his eyes remained closed, but used some sort of supernatural sense to feel the presence of an outsider and waved his ritual staff. A gust of hot and humid air stripped away the fog of stealth and the shaman’s apprentices immediately threw themselves into the attack.
I kicked one away and slashed the other in the face with the knife. I didn’t kill either of them, but the time I won was enough to grab the skull and put it into my inventory. Then I was immediately hit in the back by a caustic green blob!
Swamp viper venom: Immunity
The high shaman howled and waved his staff around, conjuring up new enchantments. His wounded acolyte skillfully dived at my legs, grabbed them and sank his teeth into my shin. I stuck my knife into the back of his neck, drew my sword from the baldric and cut down the second acolyte. The guards immediately charged into the attack. My chainmail withstood the attack of three bone points, but the last goblin managed to pierce my left arm with his spear so the flamberge immediately became unbearably heavy and simply impossible to lift.
Crippling hit! Left elbow damaged!
I growled with fury and used my Aura of Fear. The goblins immediately stepped back and even the high shaman shuddered. However, he didn’t stop chanting his spell.
To hell with him! I rushed towards the tall reeds, planning to lose myself in them, but the earth suddenly exploded in damp clumps as a gigantic snake which was as big as an ancient oak burst forth.
A head the size of a small hut flashed above me and a maw full of sharp teeth immediately opened up. I raised my flamberge, trying to protect myself in vain.