by Jason Cheek
“We need to see if there are any other survivors left from the invasion and get back here as soon as possible. Think you can do that?”
“Follow me,” Ulia said, springing to her feet. Without looking back, she took off down the hall with Keela and me fast on her heels. We stayed low throughout the 25-yard dash. I kept worry that we’d be discovered in this death trap as my mind pictured hordes of Goblins flooding into the corridor from both ends. Thankfully our luck held out, and no yells of alarm were sounded as we entered another curving stairwell heading up.
The stairs had let out into a long foyer. The middle of which was a massive central room. Two massive iron-bound doors hung cockeyed from the entrance. One nearly lying flat on the floor, while the other hung cockeyed against the back wall by a single hinge. Corridors to either side of the room ran back to the keep’s living quarters, which had been ransacked during the invasion. Bloody bedding, clothing, and gear were scattered across the nearest corridor’s floor. To the outside of each corridor, spiral staircases went up to the levels above. We silently made our way across the blood-smeared floor to the entrance of the room, keeping close to the hanging door. Unfortunately, there was no way to seal the room behind us for the coming fight. We’d just have to make sure none of the nasty creatures got away. Coming to a stop, I quickly peeked into the chamber to see what we were up against.
Immediately, bile rose in the back of my throat as I saw the surviving NPCs of House of Kayden chained like animals to the stone floor. There had to be at least 50 prisoners on their hands and knees. From the numerous bloody wounds and sores covering their bodies, all of them had been severely brutalized during their captivity. My eyes were drawn to the horror show happening at the far end of the room where a naked woman hung from the ceiling by chains as one of the Goblin Slavers flayed chunks of skin from her body.
“No more … I beg of -” The woman’s pleading cries turned into a bloodcurdling scream as the crack of a whip from one of the other Goblins echoed throughout the chamber. “Shut ur hole, slut!” The creature’s guttural voice commanded in rough Common speak as its three companions around the room laughed cruelly. The rest of what was said was lost in the woman’s shrieking cries as the first Goblin went back to flaying the poor woman alive.
I wanted to charge into the room and slaughter the Goblins Slavers, but I knew better than to throw all caution to the wind and rush in without a plan. Otherwise, we’d be kneeling right alongside the rest of the prisoners if we didn’t plan this right. My eyes focused on the four Goblin Slavers around the room to see what we were up against. They were all level 28. Three levels higher than my own level, but my boosted stats meant I could easily burn down at least three green bastards before I ran out of Mana. While that was good, it still left us at risk of allowing the last Goblin to get away from us. We had only one chance to get this right. Blocking out the gruesome sounds coming from the doorway, I quickly laid out my plan. Getting a quick nod of agreement from both women, I signaled for Ulia to follow me in.
Ulia’s outline faded with a shimmering outline as she kept in step behind me in Stealth mode. If not for being in the same team, she would have been nothing but an unseen shadow creeping across the chamber behind me. Coming to a stop behind the two Slavers with their backs towards the entrance, I caught Ulia’s eye as I soundlessly mouthed our countdown. Three … two … one … strike!
Dumbfounded, my eyes widened in surprise as my Greatsword of Corruption completely cleaved through the Goblins Slaver in front of me in an explosion of blood that sprayed everyone with gore in a 10-yard radius as Ulia’s target screamed in agony as her blade erupted through its chest. Unbelievably I watched two lines of text pop-up in my damage meter window.
You have killed a Goblin Slaver.
You have Sneaked Attacked Goblin Slaver with Greatsword of Corruption for 3000 points of damage (150 x 10 (Base Sneak Attack I) x 2 (bonus: successful Sneak Attack with a two-handed weapon).
Turning around in shock, the remaining two Slavers looked at me with a look of absolute fear as a wave of ice blasted throughout the room freezing the looks of horror on the green bastards’ face. Spinning around, I swung my two-handed blade above my head as Ulia ripped her blade free from her target’s back. The Goblin was frozen in place bent at the waist with a bloody icy froth caught spraying from its lips as my massive blade arched through the air and slashed down on the Slaver’s exposed neck. With a meaty shlick, I cleaved through the second Goblin’s neck as another fountain of black blood sprayed across the remaining frozen Goblins. Planting the Greatsword at my feet, I began blasting the nearest surviving Goblin with Flurry blasts. Within five seconds, the mob exploded in slushy chunks of gore as I turned my focus on the remaining Goblin.
This creature was the Slaver that had been flaying alive the chained woman hanging against the far wall. My timer ticked off for my Frost Nova’s freeze effect as my first Flurry blast hit the Goblin in the face, choking-off its ragged shout of alarm. Purple, glowing stars flashed over my shoulder to explode on the Goblin’s chest plate as Keela released her arcane magic while Ulia charged blade first across the room. The rage in me wanted to make this creature pay for the pain it had inflicted on these people, but we couldn’t take the risk that someone would hear the mob’s screams or the sounds of battle. Shrugging the dark thought aside, I hit the Goblin with two more blasts as Ulia’s blade punched through the mob’s chest a second later for the killing blow.
Before the Goblins had hit the ground dead, I was moving. The woman that had been being tortured by the Goblins was fading away fast. Her Hit Points had already plunged into the double digits as I removed the chains and lowered her carefully to the floor. The poor woman had had most of the flesh peeled from her face; deep gouges ran up and down her naked body, and most of one breast had been nearly sliced completely off her chest. Her mewing cries of pain filled my eyes with unshed tears as I gently laid her out on the hard floor the best I could. Unfortunately, there was nowhere I could touch her that didn’t cause her further agony so I did the only thing I could. I began casting healing spell after healing spell on her abused body.
At first, the woman’s Hit Point bar looked like a yo-yo as her horrendous wounds fought my magic, but slowly I got ahead of the terrible damage as her Hit Points began to get into the triple digits once again. My voice never stopped my healing chant as I watched her skin began regenerating before my very eyes. Still, it was a solid two minutes of casting before her Hit Points stabilized at 25%. As the young woman’s almond-brown eyes looked up at me in disbelief, her name suddenly became visible to me. Giving the beautiful Half-Elf a reassuring smile, I spoke softly while helping her to sit up.
“Brenna Talathiel, your friend Rayne will be very happy to learn that I was able to rescue you while you were still amongst the living.”
“Rayne sent you?” Brenna choked out, looking around the room in shock.
“Yes, she did.” I gently said, draping my ratty Goblin cloak around her bare shoulders as she broken down into sobbing tears clutching at my chest. Looking around the room at the unspeakable evil that had been done to these people, indignant fury lit up my soul as I silently swore that I would do whatever it took to save these people. No one should have to endure horror such as this.
For a long moment, I felt partly conflicted at the horror these NPCs … these people had endured. In every MMORPG style game I’d ever played, there were evil things that happened on a regular basis to the NPCs that made up the game’s world. How could a good player become a hero or an evil player turn into a proper villain if there wasn’t suffering and death for those NPC characters that were part of the story arc? It was just the nature of the beast to any game but, looking at the misery in these peoples’ eyes, I found myself questioning if this were a game at all. Was it my fault these people were suffering through these atrocities or was I the one person that could save them from their ill-fated death given to them by the game’s developers? Was there a difference
between the consciousness of a self-aware person or the consciousness of a self-aware artificial intelligence?
I already found myself relating to these digital personalities as if they were real people. If this game was your reality, did it make you any less of a person? I mentally sighed at my convoluted thoughts. I’d always lived more in the digital realms that made up my life then I’d ever lived my life in the real world, but this game brought that dividing line between real and not to a whole new level. The thought made me silently laugh at the ridiculousness of the question. Whatever this was, I’d do my best to make these peoples’ lives better and at the same time further my own character's growth inside the game. Besides, if I could keep everyone alive by the end of this nightmare quest, I’d have the beginnings of a small army.
I couldn’t help but laugh at my thoughts of world domination. It’s not like a bunch of NPCs could stand up against a concerted attack from a group of hardcore players. No matter how well the NPCs fought, in the end, the players would ultimately win the day simply because they could respawn continuously and attack again. My introspection about the future was suddenly interrupted as two quest windows popped open before my eyes.
New Quest! Rescuing the House of Kayden NPCs that have been captured by the northern invaders (Secret-Quest Part 1)!
Monster tribes of the north have taken a number of House of Kayden prisoners during the invasion of BrokenFang Hold. Rescue the House of Kayden NPCs that have been taken prisoner.
Warning! This quest is timed! 2 hour remaining! This quest will fail if all the prisoners die!
60/60 Prisoners Alive.
Objective: Rescue the prisoners and get them back safely to Requiem.
Difficulty: Nightmare.
Reward: Experience and Reputation with House of Kayden and unknown!
Accept: Yes / No
Quest Update! Rescuing Brenna Talathiel of House of Kayden from the invaders of BrokenFang Hold or recovering her body.
Rayne Nessima has asked you to find her childhood friend Brenna Talathiel and to rescue her from the invaders of BrokenFang Hold. The last she saw of her best friend was that she was fighting the invaders with her mother, Aleia Talathiel before they were cut off from escape. She has asked that you save her friend from the invaders or recover her body.
Objective: You have found Brenna Talathiel for Rayne Nessima and saved her from a horrible death. Now you must bring her back safely to Requiem.
Difficulty: Nightmare
Reward: Experience, Reputation with House of Kayden. Companionship of Rayne Nessima. Additional unknown rewards.
Without a second thought, I selected ‘Yes’ to the first quest, dismissed the second quest’s update and got to work. For now, I’d focus on saving everyone that I could, regardless of what the future held. I saw that Ulia had already found the guards’ keys and was busy freeing the rest of the prisoners as Keela kept watch at the entrance to the chamber. Giving Brenna a reassuring pat, I moved to the next prisoner and got to work on healing the worst of their injuries. I’d have to get food and water into them before they’d be a 100% but at least this was a start.
Surprisingly enough, everyone got organized quickly. The bottleneck was the casting speed of my healing spells and the size of my Mana pool, which I did my best to improve as I distributed the last of my remaining attribute points. While it was tempting to dump everything I had into intelligence, especially since my spells hit like a wrecking ball, I had to be more than just a caster. I needed to be stronger, faster and able to take more damage than any other class. I needed to be a Red Mage. Pulling up my character sheet, I quickly began distributing my points: 29 into intelligence brought my stats up to a nice round 150, 14 did the same for stamina, 7 points brought my strength up into the three digits and my last 6 … I mentally paused as my eye bounced between spirit and agility. Both would be useful. But, if the fight in the Great Hall went the way I expected, I’d need as much dodge capability as possible. Coming to a decision, I dumped my last 6 points into agility and hit apply.
Startum Ironwolf – Level 26
Basic Class (Nightmare)
Half-Elf (House of Kayden)
Titles:
First Settler
First Village
Hero of Delonshire Mine
0 Unassigned Attribute Points.
Statistics:
Hit Points: 1,659
Mana: 1,580
Endurance: 1,580
Attributes:
Strength: 100 (+28)
Intelligence: 150 (+11)
Spirit: 84 (+5)
Agility: 118 (+14)
Stamina: 150 (+8)
Charisma: 78
Racial Ability:
Military Conditioning (Passive) – All defenses increased by 5% and total hit points are increased by 10%.
Darkvision (Passive) - Grants ability to see in day-light conditions up to 100 feet in reduced lighting and the ability to see in dim light conditions up to 60 feet in natural darkness.
Ambitious (Passive) - Receive 5% experience bonus when gaining experience.
Racial Modifiers - +2 to two stats of choice per level.
Abilities:
Frost Magic – Level 26
Light Magic – Level 26
fire Magic – Level 7
Unarmed Combat – Level 16
One-hand edge – Level 26
Two-hand edge – Level 10
Shield Block - Level 26
Shield Bash – Level 26
Riposte – Level 24
Lung – Level 26
Parry – Level 26
Dodge – Level 26
Archery – Level 9
War Leader:
Level II – Strategist:
-Plus 2% Increase to melee damage for team or raid.
-Plus 1% Increase to melee defense for team or raid.
Spells:
Frost:
Frost Blast (30 Mana) – 2 sec cast – Launches Blast of frost at the enemy. Damage is 200% of Spell Power. Slows target by 50% for 15 seconds. Range 60 yards.
Frost Nova (50 Mana) – Instant cast - Blasts enemies within 10 yards of the caster for 100% Frost damage and freezes them in place for up to 8 sec. Damage caused may interrupt the effect. 30 second cooldown. Requires frost magic skill level 5.
Ice Lance (40 Mana) – Instant cast - Deals 400% Frost damage to an enemy target. Ice Lance damage is doubled against frozen targets. Slows target by 50% for 15 seconds. Requires frost magic skill level 10. Range 40 yards.
Flurry (60 Mana) – Instant cast – Hurls a flurry of ice shards at a target that strikes enemy three times for a total of ((400% of spell power) * 3). Each shard slows target by 50% for 5 sec. Requires frost magic skill level 15. Range 40 yards.
Ice Barrier (30 Mana) – Instant cast – Shields caster for 1 minute, absorbing 1400% ranged spell damage. Melee attacks against caster reduces the attacker’s movement speed by 50% for 5 seconds. Armor Class is not increased. Requires frost magic skill level 20. 10 seconds cooldown. Expires automatically after a half an hour.
Light:
Heal (50 Mana) – 10 sec cast – Ray of golden light that heals the target for 500% Spell Power. Range 60 yards.
Quick Heal (30 Mana) – 5 sec cast – A pulse of golden light that quickly heals the target for 300% Spell Power. Requires healing magic skill level 5. Range 60 yards.
Restore (40 Mana) – 3 sec cast – A flash of golden light that instantly heals the target for (50% of Spell power) and then (300% of Spell power) over 15 sec. Requires healing magic skill level 10. Range 40 yards.
Minor Healing (60 Mana) – 5 sec cast – A ray of golden light that instantly heals the target for 800% Spell Power. Requires healing magic skill level 15. Range 60 yards.
Minor Mend Bones (80 Mana) – 10 sec cast – A healing energy that heals target of minor debilitating debuffs 200% Spell Power. Requires healing magic skill level 15. Range 60 yards.
Minor Dispell (60 Mana) – 5 sec cast – Remo
ves one beneficial magical effect on enemy target, or removes one negative magical effect on friendly target. Requires healing magic skill level 15. Range 60 yards.
Holy Shield (80 Mana) – 3 sec cast – Absorbs 350 points of damage. Requires healing magic skill level 20. Can only be cast on one target at a time. 10 second cooldown. Expires automatically after a half an hour. Range 60 yards.
Resurrection (1000 Mana) – 20 sec cast - Brings a dead player back to life with 25% health and mana. Cannot be cast when in combat. Range 40 yards.
fire:
Flame Blast (40 Mana) – 2 sec cast – Launches Blast of fire at the enemy. Fire damage is 200% of Spell Power. Burns target for an additional 20 seconds for 5 points of damage every 5 seconds. Range 60 yards.
Skills:
Stealth I
Sneak Attack I
Backstab I
Concentration I
Quick Shot I
Overpower I
Kick Back I
Knockdown I
Gouge I
Dual Wield I
Power Attack I
Execute I
Crafting:
Skinning Level 14
Jury-Rigging Level 2
Lumberjack Level 13
Wood Working Level 7
Construction Level 13
Architecture Level 4
Mining Level 16 (+2 when Pickaxe of Earth is equipped)
Herbalism Level 5
Enchanting Level 1
Smithing Level 54
Alchemy Level 47
Cartography Level 1
Beast Companion: