The Curse of Hurlig Ridge_World Tree Online_1st Dive

by M. A. Carlson

  The lieutenant snarled and seemed to consider what he’d say next. After a moment of glaring at me, he relented. “I see, very well. Guards, execute the bandits immediately. I will not have such unlawful men running rampant in my province.”

  “Sergeant Butters,” I yelled loudly, seeing him coming down the road, he was wearing full armor which was unusual for the man. For that matter, there was something off about this entire situation.

  “What are you yelling for?” Sergeant Butters asked, coming closer. He took a moment to observe the situation before grinning. “I knew it was a good idea when I recommended it to the mayor, you looking into the bandit issue certainly worked out. I take it the dead men and those in shackles are the ones responsible?”

  “Yes, they are Sergeant Butters. I was just informing Lieutenant Graves here about the quest the mayor set us. He just ordered they all be executed,” I explained.

  “That does not sound right. The procedure is to bind them in the stocks and for a magistrate to be summoned from Root City, so he can issue sentencing. It also gives a runner time to go to all the various districts in Root City, to check all the bounty offices,” said Butters, rubbing his chin.

  “I am in charge of this garrison. I have to say when we do not have sufficient resources to hold so many prisoners,” Graves stated, sounding angrier if that was even possible.

  “It’s eleven men, we can easily manage the so few,” countered Butters easily. I could see he was also getting the feeling was something off.

  “As an officer, if Graves ignores the law, wouldn’t that be considered treason?” asked Olaf.

  “I do believe that is an offense worthy of a court-martial,” added Micaela.

  I felt a shift in the air. Something felt dark and sinister. I looked again at the Lieutenant, his head was lowered, and his eyes shadowed. He looked to be straining physically. “Heh,” he chuckled hollowly. “You insignificant meat sacks. You all would have shared in my immortality, now, I will kill you all, slowly, painfully. Tonight, I shall feast upon your corpses.”

  That deep guttural voice sounded all too familiar, the shadowy figure from the cave.

  I attacked, leaping forward and thrusting my spear toward the man’s throat. Graves didn’t flinch. He simply sidestepped my attack, his clawed hand striking out, rending through my flesh from hip to shoulder, my HP bar plummeted by half from just one attack, while my body was sent flying. When I hit the side of a building another chunk of my HP dropped, and I received a ‘Dazed’ debuff.

  “Stop him!” someone shouted from nearby. I saw Rose, at least I think it was Rose. Anyway, I saw someone run forward and swing a shield, only for the Lieutenant to kick him or her and send him or her sprawling across the dirt.

  My HP was restored a moment later and the stun cleared up a moment after that. It was chaos. The sergeant and his men were trying and failing to fight off the Lieutenant, which was odd, as they were all higher level than him.

  And then there was the lieutenant. Graves had transformed, no longer was he a man but a combination of wolf and man. He had to be at least 10-feet tall now with the way he towered over even Olaf and Micaela. The armor he previously wore on his torso and arms laid broken at his feet. His armor was replaced by thick fur, black as night covering arms and chest, while his snout was filled with razor-sharp teeth. I finally realized what he was, a werewolf and a powerful one it seemed with how he was tossing the men around. Watching even briefly, I saw his HP drop slightly only to refill near instantly. No matter how they hurt him, he continued to regenerate any damage.

  I was quick to rejoin the fight, lighting him up with ‘Lesser Holy Fire’ and charging ahead with my spear enhanced with ‘Lesser Holy Imbuement’ at the ready.

  “Insignificant worms!” Graves shouted angrily, as he sent another guard rolling across the ground.

  I slid past one of his large arcing cleaves, popping up behind the man and attacking with a ‘Hamstring’ hoping to slow him down at least a little. It seemed to work too. Then two-seconds later the debuff fell off with the damage healed. Then Rose died followed by Olaf and Micaela a minute later, they were almost at full health, then they weren’t. Still, I attacked, stabbing and using ‘Hamstring’ as much as I could. This guy was probably going to wipe us all out and we weren’t making a dent on him.

  I was caught by a backhand a moment later from the beast hitting me for -453-HP damage but that didn’t stop me for long. I was back to attacking as hard as I could.

  Suddenly, the Lieutenant froze and sniffed the air, ignoring everyone attacking him. I heard something shatter overhead drawing my gaze. Liquid began showering over everyone. It did nothing to me or any of the guards, but the Lieutenant, he yelped painfully. He immediately barreled through the soldiers, knocking them from his path as he fled fast past the gates and into the forest, quickly vanishing from sight.

  “Werewolves, a bunch of wimps,” said the voice of someone I just wasn’t expecting to see. It was Mary Johnson, the farmer’s wife. She was holding a jar of moonshine in one hand and a pistol in the other while her husband held the open crate just behind her. She put the unopened bottle back in the crate and tucked the pistol into her belt behind her back. “Bye-bye, you and your friends, come meet us in the townhall once you get everything sorted here.”

  Her statement left me completely perplexed, but I couldn’t find a reason to argue with her.

  “What did we miss?” asked Rose running toward us from the direction of the graveyard with Olaf and Micaela right next to her.

  “Rosie,” cried Baby, the little missile crashed into her sister. “I’m so sorry! I tried to get a heal on you, but you just dropped so fast.”

  “It’s fine Sis, no harm, no foul. I’m alive see,” she reassured her sister.

  “But I failed,” protested Baby. “I’m a terrible healer.”

  “Baby, you’re a great healer, that was just an unfair situation. Whatever that event was, it was meant to be unwinnable,” I said, trying to help to reassure the childlike healer. And it probably was. I quickly explained everything to my friends regarding the Johnson’s farm, the moonshine quest series, the murdered guard and how all of it fit together.

  “Talk about a complex quest chain. And so many varied paths all leading to the same conclusion,” said Olaf thoughtfully before exclaiming, “God, I love this game.”

  “No kidding,” said Micaela. “And to think, the forums say nothing about any grand quests, at least none of them we’ve been reading.”

  “And when you turn in these quests you’re going to get a huge dump of experience points too,” said Baby.

  “We all will,” said Rose, sounding a little giddy and excited.

  “Probably. I imagine we’ll also get another quest for each of the chains to stop Lieutenant Graves,” I added.

  “Okay, let’s hurry up and get everything here sorted out,” said Rose.

  It took a while for everything to get settled. Sergeant Butters and his men took the bandits into custody as well as the stolen property while Trinico looked after the injured merchants and guards alike, many of their families had emerged to bring their loved one’s home. Once all the people were sorted and Trinico was busy seeing to the wounded, the sergeant led us to the townhall.

  “What is going on here?” asked Rose first, entering the mayor’s office. The mayor and his wife were there as were Duke and Mary Johnson.

  She was answered by Mary shoving the bottle of moonshine into her hands. “Have a sip. It should calm you down.”

  Rose looked confused then looked at me for some reason. “What?” I asked with a shrug of my shoulders.

  Rose rolled her eyes and took a sip only to cough viciously afterward. She then passed the jar on.

  “I suppose we owe you an explanation,” said the mayor, sounding a little guilty. “This town is cursed.”

  “How do you mean?” I asked. Was he referring to the wolves?

  “Every few generations a werewolf comes to this tow
n, we do not know why but one always comes. He brings chaos and danger to all of us then disappears suddenly and without explanation,” explained Homer solemnly. “When that troll died, rather when the moonshine distillery was burned we suspected one may have returned. It was only confirmed after Guard Davies was killed.”

  “So, you knew he was killed by a werewolf?” I asked, looking at Sergeant Butters.

  “Yes,” the mayor nodded solemnly. “But we didn’t know who. There was no sense in creating a panic.”

  “And the plan, to bring back Guard Davies and question him, was to find out who did it?” I asked.

  “Yes, but we also needed to know why he allowed himself to be killed,” added the sergeant. “Still need to know, as a matter of fact. We also need to find out if he has any other information we can use.”

  “I see, but he fled, does that mean he’s gone for a few generations again?” I asked.

  “I hope so,” said Mary. “If not, I can only hope we have enough moonshine to encourage him to stay away.”

  “Why moonshine?” asked Rose curiously.

  “We do not know the exact reason. All we know, is it works. It hurts him and that is enough for us,” explained Mary, causing me more confusion.

  The way she was acting now, was much different from the kind, matronly woman, I had gotten to know.

  “Okay, second, Lieutenant Graves was acting fishy about the alcohol from the start from what we gathered in town. How did no one put together he might be this werewolf?” asked Olaf, taking a small sip of the moonshine then passing it along.

  “We suspected, but there was no proof. Why do you think I asked you all to look into him once you realized he was missing during the raid on the town?” asked Butters. “Still, you did an excelled job getting him to reveal himself.”

  “So now what?” asked Baby.

  “We still need more information. I am hoping Guard Davies will know more and can share with us. As for Graves, hopefully, he’s gone, but I do not particularly like his parting threat, saying he was going to share his immortality with us,” the mayor answered, worry evident in his voice.

  “It will be another week before Davies can tell us anything,” added Butters. “Nothing to do but wait.”

  “I don’t care for long waits,” growled Rose.

  “Don’t worry too much Rose. I’m sure Bye-bye will find plenty of trouble for us to get into over the next week,” said Micaela, grinning mischievously.

  “Anyway, I am afraid we do not know much more. I am truly sorry we did not warn you of the danger sooner,” said the mayor contritely, his head bowed.

  I frowned, it wasn’t exactly what I suspected, but I definitely felt Graves was involved. “I understand why you didn’t. I don’t think I would have done the same, but I understand.”

  I turned to leave when I was called back by Duke. “Wait a moment, all of you. My wife and I owe you a great debt of gratitude. You found the beast threatening this town, something my wife’s family has always been responsible for. The least we can do is repay you for your help.”

  Quest Alert: Shiny Delivery Service 5-7 (Recommended Level 4-5) - Completed

  Time to widen your search. Questioning the leader of the bandits revealed the presence of a shadowy figure behind everything. Perhaps it is time to speak to the Johnson’s directly and find out what they know.

  Reward: +1,500-Experience

  “And if you would be willing. Can we ask you to find Graves and destroy him once and for all?” requested Duke.

  Quest Alert: Shiny Delivery Service 8 (Recommended Level 5-7)

  Hunt down and stop Graves . . . permanently.

  Reward: Experience, 5-Gold, Hidden

  Do you accept this Quest?

  Yes

  No

  “You bet we will,” said Micaela, happy to accept the quest.

  “Regarding my request,” started Mayor Simper. “I saw you returned with a large amount of the stolen goods. Did you want to submit that as the end of it?”

  “Not yet, we’re going back tomorrow for the rest of it,” answered Olaf.

  “Very well,” said the mayor.

  “It has been a busy day for you, I imagine you want to clean up and get some dinner,” said Margie.

  “Best idea ever,” said Micaela excitedly.

  “I overheard some of the people you rescued say they wanted to speak with you,” added the sergeant.

  “We’ll check in with them now,” I volunteered. It was more quests to be turned in.

  We were actually greeted as soon as we stepped out of the townhall. It was the Taylor family, mother, and son supporting a rather frail-looking man, I assumed was her missing husband. Standing next to them was the old man with the blue eyes and dirty beard, who asked us to rescue them all.

  “Bye-bye,” said Mrs. Taylor, fresh tears in her eyes.

  “Mrs. Taylor, I’m glad to see your husband was one of those we rescued,” I started before focusing on the man. “Will you be alright?”

  “With time and some of the wife’s cooking I will be,” Mr. Taylor replied. “We want to thank you, all of you. Please take these cloaks and use them to protect others and yourselves.”

  Mrs. Taylor then handed each of us a cloak, mine was white, as was Baby’s. Micaela got a pink cloak, matching her hair, while Olaf’s was mottled greens and browns. And finally, Rose’s was blood red, matching her hair.

  Quest Alert: Find the Missing Taylor (Recommended Level 4-6) - Completed

  Mrs. Taylor has requested your help in finding her missing husband.

  Reward: +200-Experience, All-Weather Cloak

  Not much experience but the cloak was the real prize for this quest.

  All-Weather Cloak (White) – A cloak designed to protect from the elements. Provides warmth in cold climates. Provides cooling in hot climates. Provides dryness in wet climates.

  No armor but it didn’t need it. This was actually a very useful item. While I haven’t experienced any inclement weather of concern yet, I knew I would. The World Tree was far too big not to experience it at some point.

  “Thank you, it’s very generous of you,” I said. My thanks were quickly echoed by the others.

  They departed right after, eager to get Mr. Taylor home to rest and recover.

  “Now then, I also want to thank you for your help. Name’s Barnum, I own the ‘Leather Emporium’ across from the butchers,” he pointed down the street. I couldn’t help but notice it was in the direction of the closed leatherworker’s shop. “Come by tomorrow and I’ll make you each something special.”

  “We’ll be sure to stop by,” I replied.

  “Definitely,” added Micaela grinning.

  “See you then. For now, I have a razor and a hot bath calling my name,” he said, giving us a nod of acknowledgment before going.

  “Okay, so that’s one more quest turn in. What else have we got?” asked Olaf.

  “We still have ‘Missing in Action 3’, but it can’t be done for another week. That’s the quest Sergeant Butters mentioned. ‘Breaking the Curse of the Wolves 1’, I haven’t even started yet, but I’m sure is related to all of this. I need to read through the town history. ‘Bandit Round-up’, we’ll turn in after we finish clearing out those caves tomorrow. And ‘The investigation of Lieutenant Graves 1’, which I thought we would have completed after tonight’s events. We still need to do some more digging, I guess we still need to break into his home,” I listed off the pending quests.

  “Plus, all the training we can do, it’s going to be a busy week,” said Rose thoughtfully.

  “Okay, so Mic and I are with you. I know I said I wanted to try to mine every other day, but this quest chain is just too good to pass up. So, let’s get through this week. We can mine all of next week after this chain is resolved,” Olaf added.

  “Rose and I are in too,” said Baby, taking a nervous glance at her sister. She looked to be checking if Rose would agree. Rose nodded subtly, causing Baby’s shoulders to sag in
relief.

  “So, dinner then reading. I have to finish one of those books tonight,” I said.

  “Hey Baby, I thought fairies could only wear a dress. How come you got a cloak?” asked Micaela, shifting the conversation.

  “That’s the only armor I can wear. Cloaks aren’t armor, they are considered an accessory. I can wear accessories and charms, no problem. It would be too cruel, if a lady couldn’t accessorize, to her heart’s content. Just no armor, except for the dress, which doesn’t offer much armor, to be honest. Not that I need it since I can fly and my magic shielding gets to be powerful too,” Baby explained.

  “How come you never cast any shields on me then?” asked Rose, looking indignantly at her sister.

  Baby blushed then mumbled. “I haven’t learned one yet.”

  “Why not?” asked Rose.

  “I get my first one at level 10,” Baby replied sheepishly.

  “How do you know that?” Rose asked.

  “It’s what the forums said,” Baby replied.

  “And you believed them?” asked Rose. “If you hadn’t noticed, they lie a lot.”

  “Ask Trini tomorrow,” I interrupted before things could escalate. Apparently, it was my turn to play peacekeeper.

  “I will,” said Baby, immediately agreeing and trying to avoid an argument with her sister. I was starting to get the impression, Rose got a kick out of arguing, regardless of the reason.

  Dogson welcomed us back with a pint and a healthy plate of food, much to our enjoyment. Dinner was quiet, but now that all the adrenaline had worn off, and we had time to think about the day, we just didn’t feel up to talking much.

  “I’m going to go get my shower and call it an early night,” I said, excusing myself first.

  “Night, Bye-bye, see you tomorrow, mate,” said Olaf.

  “Don’t drown,” said Rose, earning a strange look from our friends.

  “You do care,” said Baby teasingly.

  Rose blushed and protested. “Not even.”

  I could only roll my eyes. “See you all tomorrow.”