by Dean Henegar
“Today they were the Legio Ignominia, not a motley collection of prisoners. Today they fought as soldiers should. Not once did their strength falter this day, not once did a single soldier cower in the presence of horrible foes, and not once did a legionnaire betray their unit. I need men such as these on the frontier, tough men who want a chance to earn back not just their freedom but also their honor. Let them atone for their crimes by protecting the brave and hearty citizens at the edge of the Imperium. Give me these men who fought so bravely today. Give me those soldiers rotting away in prison who wish for a chance at redemption. Give me the Legio Ignominia this day!” I implored, the passion clearly heard in my voice. Trodaxius conferred with his advisors for a moment then waving them off as he addressed me once more.
“You have your new force, Raytak. These men and others like them are yours. Let them bleed and die to protect the Imperium. A most useful fate for their kind, I believe. You have your Ignominia platoon for now, and we shall see if they grow into a true legion, commander. Congratulations, victor. May you continue to serve your Emperor and your Imperium with the dedication and bravery you have shown today.” The crowd cheered, as the emperor along with his whole procession left the area floor.
I looked to the men, our depleted and battered ranks.
“All of you who wish to join me on the trip to Hayden’s Knoll are welcome. If you wish to leave without joining up . . . that is fine as well. You have all earned your freedom this day,” I told the men. I would not force them to continue in the soldier’s life if they didn’t want to.
As one the formation snapped to attention and saluted me.
“Sir! Ignominia Platoon is ready for your orders!” Wrend said. All the remaining soldiers agreed to stay.
“You do me a great honor. I have no money, or I would stand you all for a drink . . . though I think you will have plenty of fans willing to buy your food and drink this day,” I said gesturing to the cheering stands.
“Sergeant Wrend, dismiss the company. Morning formation will be at the main gate leading to the transition point at 0800 hours. Until then enjoy yourselves, you’ve earned it.”
“Platoon . . . Dismissed!” Wrend ordered and men stood there for a moment, not quite sure what to do with their new-found freedom. They soon scattered and went out looking for a good time like soldiers on leave have done in every army throughout time. I hoped they would at least be in some condition to march tomorrow after their celebrations tonight. Quest prompts then began to flow, I took a second to glance at them before leaving to find my friends.
Quest Complete: Retribution. You have proven your innocence through strength of arms and the help of good friends. Rewards: 5000 experience, and various rewards (see the following prompts to discover the additional rewards you have unlocked).
Class change activated. You have been restored to your class of Commander.
Congratulations! You have reached Level 8 of the Commander class. Open your character sheet to review new and upgraded abilities.
Bonus Quest Reward: Retribution. You have skillfully completed the quest and endured the challenge of being a gladiator. Experience received while your class was changed has been added to your total experience.
Congratulations! You have reached Level 9
Congratulations! You have reached Level 10. This is a milestone level that provides a significant boost to a character’s power. Open your character sheet to review changes/options.
Congratulations! You have unlocked the Ignominia Unit. Disgraced and imprisoned soldiers of the Imperium can now be recruited by you into this veteran unit. The unit has unique abilities that differ from other units under your command. Open your character sheet to review changes.
I would check out my new character sheet shortly but for now I left the arena to find my friends. An arena attendant was kind enough to show me a way out used by the gladiators to avoid the crowds as well as providing me with a simple set of civilian clothing. I wanted to celebrate, but with my friends and not the whole city. Not knowing where to start I returned to the small tavern I had met my friends in the day before. Walking into the tavern confirmed my suspicions as a familiar voice rang out.
“Old man Raytak! Over here, we saved you a seat,” Yendys shouted. I saw she was at a large table along with my other friends.
“I really can’t thank you all enough for helping me. I know you had to take time out of doing your own quests to help and it is appreciated. If any of you every need help with anything in-game, just ask,” I said, thankful that I had found such good people in a game of all things. If I had failed the quest chain, I would have to change classes or factions which I didn’t really want to do. I’d grown attached to the zone of Hayden’s Knoll and didn’t want to leave it, feeling my work was not finished. Food arrived and I dug into a steaming bowl of stew, savoring the good flavors as the others spoke.
“Don’t worry about it. I think I can say we all had a blast with the quest chain that the AI gave us to help prove your innocence, not to mention the fat loot,” Jacoby said as the rest of the group nodded in agreement. Crunchy nudged my leg and I slipped him some of the hard roll I was using to mop up my bowl of food . . . I could have been mistaken but I thought the beetle was larger than the last time I had seen him. I was about to ask Yendys about it, then decided I didn’t want to be subjected to another barrage from her unique speaking style.
“I assume you’ll join us in heading back to Hayden’s Knoll tomorrow? I can’t wait for you to replace that Lieutenant Burnside guy,” Delling said.
“I’m glad you’re heading back quickly. I still need the unlock the transition point here. Apparently transition points don’t unlock for prisoners when we are transported through them. I will have some troops joining us tomorrow for the trip. I told them to wait at the main gate that leads to the transition point in the morning, if that works for everyone?” I asked as the party nodded their heads. I then told my story to the party, giving a quick rundown of everything that had happened to me as a prisoner and the fights we had in the various arenas. The others had quite the tale themselves; their adventures to help free me were as exciting as the ones I had experienced.
Soon enough the group logged out to join the real world. Ty and I sat in the inn for a long time, sharing stories of our days in the real-world military.
“Well Raytak, I was going to do some shopping for upgrades since were here in the capitol. You want to tag along?” Ty asked.
“I think I’ll stay here and try and finish leveling up. I jumped three levels from all of today’s quest rewards,” I answered, wanting to jump right into the new details of the commander class.
“I understand. Meet you at the main gate in the morning,” Ty said as he left to find new gear.
I ordered a hot cup of tea and some desert to enjoy while I looked at my new character sheet, omitting any unchanged data. I had consumed quite a few drinks with the party earlier and didn’t want to experience what I heard was a brutal representation of intoxication the game allowed.
Raytak: Commander, Level 10, Captain.
Experience: 21283/25000
Equipment:
Tessel’s Promise: Bracer, +3 attack, +3 defense, +5 resistance to poison/disease, -50 health, 2/day ranged spreading corruption attack, Summon Corrupted Wolf 2/day.
Steel Lorica Segmentata Armor: Defense +17.
Imperium Scutum Shield: Defense +4, additional +2 vs. ranged attacks.
Bronze Gladius: Item-level 30.
Bronze Dagger: Item-level 30.
Bronze-tipped Javelin: Item-level 30.
Abilities:
Elite Guard: 1/day for 5 minutes. Summons 4 elite guards to protect you. They will share stats and items similar in quality your other elite npcs. The elite guard ability forces all hostile attackers to target the guard before being able to attack you.
Command Presence: Creates an aura in a 100-yard radius surrounding you that inspires troops and allies under your command. They recei
ve +5 to attack, +5 to defense, and +5 to morale saves. Any foes within the radius of effect will suffer a -5 penalty to attack and defense. This ability is always active.
Manaless: You have eschewed learning any schools of magic. As a result, you have hardened your defenses and become resistant to hostile spells and magical abilities. The forces under your command also receive a lesser version of this ability. Magic resistance 10%, magic resistance for forces under your command 5%.
Negotiator: This perk provides a +2 bonus to opposed haggling or negotiation checks.
Shield Bash: This active ability orders your troops to bash the closest opponent with their shield, automatically hitting their target and dealing minor damage. The ability will force back foes and will stun the target for 1 second. Cooldown 1 minute.
Thrust: Soldiers automatically activate the thrust ability once every 30 seconds in combat. Thrust adds a +10 attack bonus to the next strike and has a 25% chance to cause a bleeding wound.
Melee Specialists: This passive ability increases your soldiers’ melee attack and defense by 2. Health is increased by 5 points per level.
Physically Fit: You have implemented a physical fitness regimen for all your forces. This has beneficial health effects. Standard soldiers receive a +5 bonus to health per level, advanced soldiers receive a +10 bonus to health per level, and the commander/elite soldiers receive a +25 bonus to health per level. Should you become lax in your training, this bonus will be removed.
Order of Battle:
1st Legion of Hayden’s Knoll: The 1st Legion is a proud and steadfast formation. They are the rock that other armies break upon. Units in this command receive +1 to defense and a cooldown reduction of ten seconds on the Shield Bash ability.
Standard Soldiers, 2 Companies: 0/500
Advanced Soldiers, 1 Platoon: 0/50
Elite Soldiers: 0/3
Attached Formations:
Ignominia Platoon: You have been granted command of a unit of condemned soldiers. They will fight hard to earn their honor back and are immune to morale failure. Soldiers in this platoon will have a +1 bonus to attack and an additional +5% chance of causing a bleeding wound when using the thrust ability.
Standard Soldiers, 1 Platoon: 50/50
Advanced Soldiers, 1 Squad: 10/10
Elite Soldiers: 1/1
Melee specialist upgrade available: Choose one of the following two paths, both of which will scale with level.
1. Assault Team Path: This path focuses on assaulting your foes by breaking their lines, taking an aggressive stance, and seizing initiative. The assault team path will give your troops a +2 bonus to attack and the Charge ability. The Charge ability allows troops to close the last ten feet toward their enemy nearly instantaneously, granting an additional +5 to their next attack and causing a confusion effect on their target for 1 second. Troops will be able to automatically generate one scaling ladder for each squad once per day.
2. Defensive Battle Path: This path focusses on holding the line and allowing your foes to destroy themselves against your impenetrable defenses. Troops are granted a +2 to defense and an additional +1 to ranged defense. This path allows your troops to construct defenses in half the normal time required while also improving the quality of those defenses. Additional ammunition is generated for troops fighting from inside fortifications.
New Commander class ability unlocked:
Last Stand: The 1st Legion of Hayden’s Knoll doesn’t know when to quit. When receiving a lethal blow, the soldier will launch one last attack at the nearest foe with a +10 attack bonus before succumbing to their wounds. This ability scales with level.
You have survived your ordeal as the Disgraced Commander, select one of the following abilities from your old class.
Goon Squad (altered to fit the commander class): Summon forth some of the despicable prison dregs. Goon squad will summon 6-15 angry prisoner goons 2/day to fight on your side for the next 5 minutes. The goons are summoned randomly in a 25-foot radius from the commander and attack the nearest foe. Goon squad forces are unarmored and equipped only with a makeshift dagger whose item-level matches the average item-level of your troops’ weapons. The goons do not respond to commands and act independently. This ability scales with level.
Bloody Brutes: Your men become particularly vicious in combat. Once every thirty seconds your soldiers will inflict a bleeding wound if their next attack hits. The victim will bleed for 10 damage per second for 10 seconds. This ability scales with level.
Unconventional Tactics: You and your men are proficient in all weapon types found in the arena, including the strange and exotic. You can change the loadout of your soldiers’ weapons and create new formations to fit those tactics. Depending on your weapon/gear loadout, additional abilities in combat will be unlocked. Soldiers in the arena fighting with mixed weapons loadouts will all have a +5 bonus to attack. *Note: this ability is only applicable in the arena, please consider carefully before choosing.
I grinned at my new rank; captain sounded so much better than lieutenant to my ears. With the new number of troops, it was quite the power jump from my old commander level of seven. As far as the troop upgrade path I believed the defensive path fit better with my own style of fighting. The formations and hasty defenses created against the ghoul lord had been a deciding factor in that battle. Typically, we would only be assaulting armies that had already been whittled down from our defenses.
Defensive Battle Path selected. Upgrades are now in effect for all forces under your command.
For the ability choice from the disgraced commander class, I could remove Unconventional Tactics from the list as I had no further plans to fight in the arena. I was kind of surprised that the ability was even given as an option and wasn’t changed somehow to be more relevant. Bloody Brutes was nice for the damage potential, but there was too much overlap with the thrust ability my troops already possessed. Goon Squad was just too much fun; it was hilarious to watch the swarm of prisoners trying to stab enemies with their improvised blades. The disruptive effect of the new increased number of goons and having two charges per day could be decisive if used to blunt the force of an attacking enemy.
Goon Squad selected and is available for use in your interface.
When I concentrated on my interface, I could see the Goon Squad icon back where it was before. With leveling completed, I made my way through the capitol, admiring the impressive architecture and Roman style of the city. It felt like I was in ancient Rome itself, if you could discount the displays of magic or the myriad of strange races seen. When the sun rose, I hustled to the main gate, finding Wrend and the now full strength Ignominia Platoon formed up just outside the city. I had wondered about the troop totals when I leveled. Since they showed the platoon at full strength, I assumed the Emperor had replaced our loses with other soldier prisoners who agreed to join.
“Sergeant Wrend, status of the platoon?” I asked.
“All present and accounted for. We have fifty soldiers, four infiltrators, and six sagittarii, sir. The commander in charge of the prisons asked that I give you this, sir,” Wrend replied, handing me a note. When I opened the note, a system message appeared explaining how the attached force would work.
The Ignominia force is an attached unit to your command and does not take up valuable slots used by the troops under your normal command. Your garrison has been upgraded automatically with a stockade. In addition to having the ability to house prisoners, it will be the barracks and spawn point for this unit. Replacements spawn at the rate of one standard soldier per hour and one advanced soldier per day. The types of advanced soldiers that will spawn are randomly selected. Elite replacements are replaced once per week. The replacement rate will increase as the garrison level increases and the unit numbers will increase with your own level.
“Thank you, sergeant. It looks like our ride is here. I just wish I had thought to pay Septimus a little visit last night to let him know we were aware of his treachery. The slippery snake nev
er did turn up after our victory,” I said as the caravan we were joining exited the gates. I was too busy and hadn’t thought about Septimus and his treachery again till just now. There really wasn’t anything I could do to him; can’t go around murdering lanista’s of a gladiatorial school without consequences, and I didn’t want to spend another batch of time leveling my way out of prison.
“Not to worry, sir. A little bird told me he met with an unfortunate accident last night and is no longer among the living,” Wrend said while flashing the same wicked grin he had back when he had killed me the first night.
“I don’t want to know, sergeant. That way I can claim ignorance if investigators come calling,” I told the sergeant with a conspiratorial grin.
“Good idea, sir. It’s a dangerous world out there and I’m sure Septimus realized that accidents happen . . . and that they can be arranged sometimes as well,” Wrend finished.
As the caravan approached, I spotted the welcome sight of Daegan the caravan owner I had rode with on my first trip to Hayden’s Knoll back when I started the game.
“Raytak! Good to see you. That was quite the performance in the arena yesterday,” Daegan greeted.
“Thanks, Daegan. It’s good to see you as well. Do you have room on the wagons for my men or should I just have them march alongside while looking out for wretched goblin hordes,” I joked, reminded of the foes we faced back on our original journey.
“There should be enough room if you don’t mind splitting them up a bit. You shouldn’t have to fight off any goblins, though. Our caravan is well protected this time,” Daegan said, gesturing to the Azure Blade mercenaries placed at regular intervals throughout the caravan. The guards were attentive and well equipped for their level of seven; their commander Bhurke had done well with his second chance. I was also pleasantly surprised to find Galba wearing the Azure Blade colors and working for Bhurke. Galba gave a salute which I returned as he saw me looking his way.