by Ryan Rimmel
I guess there were those tunnels. I suppose there could be a stash of goblin liquor down there.
We waited all night.
Chapter 64: The Raid at Dawn
SueLeeta and Fenris took turns keeping watch through the night. Badgelor had curled around my feet and quietly snored. Shart was still attached to my shoulder, in a method I was still not considering. I dozed, trusting that our watchful guards would wake me if anything happened.
At the crack of dawn the next morning, after spending 8 precious hours of siege time sleeping, I finally saw our opportunity. The Stone Blood goblins vanished into the mine, to be replaced by more common goblins. I didn’t know why they were all still going down into the mine, but this was our chance.
The Mercenaries were all just waking up, as were my men. They’d taken the night of sleeping outside well enough. Fortunately, it was dry and warm, so conditions weren’t terrible. If they were going to complain about anything, it would be the meal they were going to miss at breakfast time.
The terrible, reeking smell of the goblin’s stew permeated the air. I couldn’t understand how anyone could eat something that smelled like that. It was worse than any smell EstherSasha had ever graced the town with. Goblins weren’t known for their amazing pallets, but holy shit. Even Badgelor had decried it as smelling horrific, and he liked rolling around in offal.
“What’s the plan?” asked Fenris, moving closer to me.
“The pot,” I said, gesturing towards the massive bubbling cauldron.
“None of us is that hungry,” replied Fenris.
“I don’t think it’s food. I haven’t seen anyone eat out of it. Have you?”
Fenris considered for a moment before shaking his head.
I watched the greenish smoke wisping away from the pot before continuing. “That’s the magical implement. It's what they are using to siege Windfall.”
Fenris looked at the cauldron seriously for the first time. “It's out in the open, though. What about guards?”
“There are still hundreds of goblins milling around, but all the bigger, higher leveled ones went into the mine. I’m willing to bet that they are relying on their numbers. They think we won’t attack, because we are highly outnumbered,’ I stated. “They’re wrong. It's now or never.”
Chapter 65: Diligent Goblins
Everyone surrounded me while I was stripped off my armor. The medium armor was metal, a poor choice for a stealth mission. It made for an odd situation, but I didn’t have much time for anything else.
“Here is what we are doing,” I stated, gesturing to a drawing in the dirt. I had scribbled it quickly, for those people who didn’t have my Battle Map. “The cauldron is the key. We need to take it, destroy it, or spill it. Taking it would be ideal but spilling it will still buy us time. I’m going to sneak up and kill their sentries. SueLeeta will be sniping to aid me.”
“Fenris, take the militia and get ready to march out of the barrier and up the road to the mine. That should draw all the goblins’ attention, especially with their sentries dead. Zorlando, take your men and follow behind me toward the mine on the hill’s steep side.” I gestured on the dirt map. The road ran straight from Windfall, going up the hillside to the small buildings at the mine entrance. The steep side was just past the entrance. It was steep enough that you had to be careful of your footing, but not so steep that it would have seriously hampered a person from climbing it.
“That is a brave plan,” stated Zorlando, looking apprehensive. “Are we to hold the entrance of the mine?”
“No, you don’t need to worry about that. Just grab the cauldron and roll it down the main road toward the militia,” I replied. “The cauldron will probably want to roll toward the flooded quarry, based on how the road is slanted.” That was unfortunate, but the road to the mine was on an artificial mound; it had probably built up from the mine’s debris. Between the road and the hill had been a limestone quarry. At one time, the limestone for building the town had been collected there. Now, the quarry was filled with sludge water and mud.
“So, we’ll just jog with it then?” asked Zorlando.
“Yes,” I replied. “Fenris, you will keep your men out of goblin bow range but within our own. Feel free to fire a few volleys until you receive the notification that we are moving to the roll down phase of the plan.”
Fenris nodded, looking somewhat relieved. His unspoken question concerned taking his 40 man unit into the jaws of the enemy force. Realizing now that he and his men were a distraction was good news.
Fortune favored us. Even in our hidden camp, Fenris had laid traps and done his best to ensure that we had some form of defense. The goblins had begun dragging a few wooden barriers into place, but they had been too lazy to carry them up the hill to the mine. The goblins had had all night to fortify, but, since they were expecting to face approximately 20 humans, they simply hadn’t bothered.
As I slipped off the last piece of armor, I signaled for the Battle for the Future of Windfall to start. It was beginning in the most anticlimactic way possible.
Battle Phase 1: Handsome mayor sneaks into position to kill sentries.
There was more to it than that. Each phase of the battle had multiple suborders, from having Fenris quietly getting the militia ready, to Zorlando sneaking around out back to get his Mercenaries into position. Nothing approached the level of interest of an archery volley or a cavalry charge.
“That looks marginally well laid out,” stated Shart, yawning, “Did you figure out that the cauldron was the magical implemented yet?”
“Yes,” I replied. Shart was smart but tended to not pay much attention. It was a trait that was sometimes good and sometimes bad. “We’re going to steal it.”
“Good, good,” stated the demon, looking toward the goblin forces.
“Nothing else? Are you sure I don’t ‘got this’?,” I smiled.
“I believe, if you mention that again, I’ll punish you somehow,” growled the demon.
I turned to Badgelor. “You have your orders,” I said.
“Yep! I’m all over this task.”
“Be safe. Good luck.”
The badger rolled his eyes. “I don’t need luck. I’m Badgelor.” With that, my furry companion disappeared underground.
As a Rogue Adventurer and a Woodsman, I had traversing wild, difficult terrain down to a science. As long as I was lightly armored, it was super easy, barely an inconvenience. I’d soon have to invest in a perk that allowed moving silently while wearing armor. I thought it was something I could choose with my next perk in Adventurer, but fight with what you have, not what you wish you had.
Crossing the tall grass toward the quarry was easy enough. With my Battle Map active, I could sense which targets SueLeeta had spotted. Even if I couldn’t physically see them, I had a very good idea as to where they were. There were 3 on my side now, as I quietly ran past the quarry and started climbing the steep slope to the mine. Luckily, they didn’t see me.
Battle Phase 2: Score stealth kills aplenty.
The first goblin I came across as I quietly climbed the slope to the mine was asleep. One of the great enemies of my people, who was going to slay every human he found, lay in slumber, like a green, bloated baby. I slit his throat and rolled him down the hill. After that was done, I got my first look at the entire goblin camp with my own eyes. Until now, I’d only been able to see the western edge. They had already refilled both buildings with feces, judging by the flies. They were like dogs remarking a park that they had been evicted from.
“The big dog is here now,” I growled lowly.
The second goblin also died silently and in the same manner. I continued moving around the edge of the slope. Due to the incline, I was able to drop down maybe 10 feet and still be totally hidden from the main camp. In theory, the sentries could have spotted me, if not for my Stealth skill and their general stupidity. I managed to off my third one without incident.
SueLeeta was, likewise, picking off the
sentries. This time, she was slightly less quiet about it. She was on the side where the militia were forming ranks, so she could afford to be a little less quiet. Within two minutes, every single goblin sentry was dead, and their force had not been alerted.
I was honestly disappointed at this point. I knew I’d get through my 3 sentries easily enough. That wasn’t bravado, but common sense; I was a skilled Rogue and they were low level goblins. What I didn’t expect was for SueLeeta to get through her 7 additional sentries without anyone noticing anything. Phase 3 required the goblins to form up, so we would know where most of them were.
“Didn’t plan on them being this incompetent?” asked Shart.
I grumbled, “No, and we need them all looking away from here so the Mercenaries can get to the cauldron. Currently, the goblins are still scattered and roaming everywhere. If the Mercenaries approach now, they’ll get swarmed from all sides.” That wasn’t the worst possible outcome, but it would slow us down and I still didn’t know where most of the goblins were.
I brought up the Battle Map. While the goblins weren’t standing close to the cauldron, there were goblins further away, on the road to Windfall. If the Mercenaries just ran up and grabbed the pot, we’d have to push through over 50 goblins to get the pot to the militia. I was positive we would be noticed quickly then. That would lead to a fierce fight. Such a fight would take long enough to alert all the other goblins, and we would end up fighting the entire force. Fighting the entire force would be straight forward and probably suicidal. If we’d wanted to do that, I could just have Fenris march forward.
I could push the cauldron down the steep slope near me, but that just pushed it into the shallow pool of muck water below. We’d have to dig it out and it would be too obvious. As we dug it out, the goblins would be nearby. They would also be in an elevated position, so they could shoot arrows at us.
The battle plan was locked in, but, for a price, I could change it.
Your War Leader bonus will be reduced by 25%, if you change your battle plan. Would you like to proceed with the change? (Yes/No)
I paused. Giving up 25% of my bonus was a significant hit. I checked the War Leader menu again. There had to be a way to signal SueLeeta. I needed to get her to act outside the plan. Then, it hit me. I had a way to make her act outside of orders that didn’t use the War Leader skill at all.
Standing up so that she could see me but, hopefully, the goblins couldn’t, I waved my arms. She frowned as her glorious leader proceeded to pantomime shooting other goblins with a bow. At least, I thought I did. I truly believed I had gotten my point across until a moment later, when one of her arrows streaked toward me at a high rate of speed.
“I don’t think she understood that you wanted her to shoot at the goblins,” stated Shart, as I groaned. At that distance, however, Dodging a halfhearted shot by any archer would have been trivial. I activated the Dodge skill, realizing that I had a unique opportunity. As my body sped up for the Dodge, I placed my hand around the arrow and snatched it out of the air.
You have learned the skill, Deflect Arrow (Unarmed). You can now catch or deflect arrows with your unarmed skill. This is a sub skill of unarmed combat. You are unskilled.
I took my dagger and carved ‘shoot the goblins until they notice you on the arrow. Then, I shot it into the tree next to SueLeeta, who appeared momentarily startled. Of course, the shaft cracked as it hit, but SueLeeta had seen me carving on it. After another long moment where she deciphered the splintered arrow, she gave me a thumbs up.
Finally, she started shooting at the goblins, intent to fire until they noticed the attack.
They had yet to notice 37 goblins later. Zorlando was the only Mercenary I could see. He kept gesturing at me about the next phase starting. I kept gesturing back, fervently hoping that Zorlando would be better at interpreting my signals than SueLeeta had been. By the third minute in, Zorlando had walked over to the slope. By the fifth, all his men were at the base of the incline.
“Boss, when is the next phase of the battle?” he asked me, as SueLeeta dropped 4 more goblins in quick succession.
“SueLeeta has nearly cleared out the entire front of their formation. I don’t know if we even need a battle plan at this point. I didn’t think these guys would be this bad,” I stated. I’d fought goblins before, but this was just terrible. It was like playing Warcraft and getting a unit into the enemies’ peons without them noticing. You’d win, but it wasn’t a true victory because anyone would win with that scenario.
Zorlando suddenly got deathly quiet and slapped me on the shoulder. I followed his gaze to the mine entrance, which was a good 100 yards from our spot. My heart froze. Stepping out of the mine were 25 goblins, their shadows twisting around themselves.
“Get the cauldron.”
Chapter 66: Melee at the Mine
Jim
HP 330/330
Stamina 325/325
Mana 80/80
Everything went into the crapper the moment those 25 Shadow Goblins came out of the mine. They saw the dead goblins instantly. They broke into 5 man groups, parties I realized, and started surging forward. Three entire groups headed for the cauldron.
We weren’t idle, though. I activated the next stage of the battle.
Battle Phase Three: Militia peacocks and Mercenaries smash and grab
Fenris began yelling out the commands to get the militia into position. They could see SueLeeta shooting the entire time and were content to let their best archer pick off more goblins. Apparently, they had been betting on SueLeeta’s kill numbers. One lucky former farmer had earned 20 silver.
Zorlando was good to his word, mainly because his force was already in position. They briskly started up the slope toward the cauldron. My focus went between the Mercenaries and the Shadow Goblins. The Shadow Goblins were going to just barely beat the Mercenaries to the cauldron. Retreating from the mine was going to be rough.
I strove to increase their odds. I designated SueLeeta, in the War Leader menu, to attack one of the Shadow Goblin parties. I selected another group to attack. Hopefully, the Mercenaries could hold off 5 of the blighters long enough to get into range of Fenris’ troops. The two other groups were just missing, which I couldn’t do anything about now.
Standing and drawing my bow, I took aim at the lead Shadow Goblin. I began charging a Power Shot. It felt good to be able to use my bow properly again. The Shadow Goblins had noticed the Mercenaries and were now moving to intercept them. They hadn’t noticed me.
My arrow pierced the chest of my target. The Shadow Goblin didn’t even have a chance to register what happened, before the arrow exploded out of his back. I heard another goblin scream hysterically.
“That’s a bit excessive,” I thought to Shart.
Your target has suffered 61 (19 base - 4 defense + 9 (Power Shot 2) X 2 (Sneak Attack) X 37.5% (War Leader)) points of Damage from an arrow. Shadow Goblin has been killed. Target has failed his Knockback resistance check. Cost 9 Stamina.
“Dude. You killed their Party Leader,” Shart said, as the screaming turned to angry growling.
I raised my eyebrows, so he continued. “Dum Dum, Party Leaders grant a wide variety of bonuses to their entire party. When a Party Leader is killed, all bonuses cease. You just wiped out all their combat bonuses with one arrow.”
SueLeeta began to show her targets what a Multi Shot enhanced by a War Party could do. Two of the Shadow Goblins managed to use their shadow vanish trick, but it seemed to have a range. They appeared only a few feet away from where they had been. They were the lucky ones, however. Two of the other Shadow Goblins each took an arrow. Their Health plummeted as the damage became apparent.
Her follow up arrow was less successful. The Shadow Goblins had not known where we were, so it was impossible to activate their better defenses. Now that they were aware of our positions, our follow up strikes were far less impressive but only three of the deadly goblins remained after the third volley.
Angered by the
strike, the party SueLeeta had attacked raced off into the woods; they headed directly toward her. She had had ample time to prepare, though. I expected their attack to end poorly for them. SueLeeta could lay a mean trap and had been bored waiting on me.
My party, the four that remained, headed toward me. They all possessed a savage look of murder in their eyes. All of them turned into Shadow at the same second. Before fighting in the forest formerly known as Fecking Puma Forest, I would have been terrified at this prospect. I had been terrified when I had faced only one of these higher level goblins. That had been before the pumas, too. Now, I was mentally going through my checklist as I readied my Longsword and Shortsword.
I started to Lunge and activated Unavoidable Attack. It was my most expensive attack, requiring 22 points of Stamina. It also used my only Force point. I didn’t know how long it took to recovery Force points, but I didn’t expect to use the attack again in this battle.
Surging forward at the lead Shadow Goblin, I knew the strike would hit him. I couldn’t see exactly where he was in his mass of shadows, but I could sense him. I was certain that my strike was headed straight for his heart. The Shadow Goblin activated his Shadow Dodge skill. He disappeared, only to appear behind me. My blade whipped around faster than I thought possible and the razor sharp weapon still found him. The shocked expression on his face as he jumped was a look that I’ll treasure forever. It was also his last expression, as my longsword tore through his chest. The tip exploded out of his back, the goblin’s heart skewered onto it.