Conquest

by Dean Henegar

  “So, what ‘simple favors’ would I have to complete for your guild? It’s only fair to know what I have to do to get the coin,” I replied. I was interested now…not in the money, but in the potential for this guild to become even more trouble for the town.

  “It’s not so much what you can do, but what it is that you can stop doing that interests us. You see, we’re currently a small guild but are rapidly expanding. It was really a misunderstanding that our guild members attacked you when you entered the zone. The Bloody Blades sound a bit disreputable, but we only want to play the game in the manner we prefer. You’re defending these npc’s in town and that is preventing us from having fun, leveling, and sacking the place for loot. Just back off and let us have our fun raiding the town…there is nothing but upside and cash in it for you, if you agree. Sooner or later the Bloody Blades will be running this town, perhaps even today if Mayor Delling sees the light and agrees to the deal he was just offered. Join us now. You definitely don’t want to be against us,” Darkfallow finished.

  The one thing I would not do is let the Bloody Blade guild run amok here in Hayden’s Knoll. They had destroyed the first town that Delling had built before I came to the zone and had made a general nuisance of themselves since then. Veiled threats were also NOT the way to get me on board with their little guild. I hated bullies and manipulators; there was no way I would join these clowns. I would do my best to accomplish the mission of protecting this town from people like them. Being a guard dog for the helpless was ingrained in my psyche after years of military service. Plastering a fake smile on my face, I pretended to weigh my options for a bit, building suspense before replying.

  “Well, Darkfallow, you paint a pretty picture about joining your guild. Unfortunately for you, there are two mistakes with your pitch.” I paused, enjoying watching the fake smile drop from Darkfallow’s face as an angry scowl replaced it. “One, I don’t really care about money and while some coin in-game to use would be great…it’s not really something I need. Two, you gave me a veiled threat. Better men than you have threatened me; all of them are in the ground. I’ve outlived all my enemies, Darkfallow. I suggest you take your two-bit mafia act and hit the road. If you’re not gone within the next ten minutes, I’ll see to it that Delling gets the first prisoner for his new jail.

  “Well…I don’t…why don’t you…I’m gonna,” Darkfallow sputtered, his rage at my reply keeping him from putting a coherent sentence together. “You and this crappy town are going to regret saying no to this offer. Just wait and see; we are backed by some powerful people! Enjoy your time in-game, soon enough it will be filled with your forces getting smashed over and over until you decide to reroll a new character. Nobody messes with us!” Darkfallow blurted and stormed for the exit. My anger got the better of me as I picked up the bag of dirty money he had offered and hurled it at him. Despite my horrible luck in-game at ranged combat, the pouch hit him right in the back of the head. He turned to see what had happened, then scooped up the coin purse. Darkfallow then completely lost it and began to cast a spell. Black energy built around his hands and then flowed across the room, wrapping about my neck. The spell made a loud, cracking whip-like sound before the black tendrils dissipated, causing no harm.

  You have been attacked by Darkfallow using the spell Choking Lash. You have resisted the spell. PVP is enabled.

  I drew my sword and readied my shield, kicking away the table that was between me and my opponent. This would likely be a short fight. I didn’t have any soldiers with me and my honor guard ability was on cooldown. I didn’t intend to go down without a fight though, staying in the fight was ingrained into every soldier. I closed the gap between the two of us as Darkfallow began casting another spell, I activated shield bash and it disrupted the spell. I landed a few quick thrusts aimed at the center mass of my opponent. The blade of my sword deflecting off some defensive spell on the first strike and the second attack barely penetrated the thick armored robes he wore, knocking only a tiny sliver off his health bar. Darkfallow activated an instant cast ability and I found myself flung back ten feet, landing hard and shattering a chair.

  “Is that all you got, Raytak? I thought you were some big, bad unique class. Any level 3 in my guild could beat you…so pathetic. Rise my minions!” Darkfallow shouted as I tried to gather my wits.

  You have been struck by the Push from the Grave spell, 10-foot knockback, you have taken 111 damage and are stunned for 5 seconds.

  It made sense, most squishy casters had a way to knock back foes that could interrupt their attacks. Two skeletons then pushed themselves up through the floorboards. The skeletons were armed with rusty longswords and had corroded metal shields. Strands of decaying chain mail still gave some protection to their ancient bones. A soft, red glow appeared in their eye sockets as they turned to look at me for a second before shambling to attack. Both skeletons landed painful strikes with their weapons as I struggled to my feet and readied my shield. My health was now down to three-fourths and I expected another trip to the graveyard was in my immediate future. Just as I thought this, a bright light flared, and both skeletons crumbled to the ground.

  Kathala’s Turn Undead ability had destroyed two skeletal minions. Turn undead will stun and damage most undead creatures.

  Jacoby and his friend, the light priest Kathala, stepped between me and Darkfallow. Her class ability to turn undead destroyed the creatures attacking me. Jacoby activated his charge ability and closed the gap to our enemy, using his own, more powerful, version of shield bash to interrupt the spell Darkfallow was trying to cast. Darkfallow turned and ran for the door, not liking the three against one odds that he now faced. Before he could make it out the door, a black shape skittered toward him, and the mandibles of Crunchy the unicorn beetle grabbed Darkfallow in their strong grip. Darkfallow grunted in pain as the mandibles slowly crushed the necromancer. Darkfallow wasn’t done yet, though, and he fired off another spell. A black haze covered his right hand, which he then used to grab one

  of the mandibles that were crushing him to death. When the black haze covering his hand touched the beetle, Crunchy’s hard carapace began to rot and decay where it was touched. Crunchy squealed in pain and dropped the necromancer, continuing to screech as part of his mandible rotted off and fell to the floor. Darkfallow made one last attempt at the door, only to find his way blocked by two dogs that had been summoned in front of him. Jacoby and the dogs flanked our foe, quickly dropping the necromancer and sending him to whatever respawn he was attuned to.

  Yendys came running out from the crowd and cast her natures mending spell on Crunchy. The rotting corruption stopped and the beetle began to calm a bit. Kathala then moved up and added more substantial healing to the mix, Soon Crunchy was as good as new.

  “Ohhh, poor Crunch Crunch! Did the meanie hurt you? Don’t worry, we got him; yes we did, snuggle bear.” Yendys ran to the beetle and began to lovingly pat the carapace of the creature while baby talking to the giant insect. I couldn’t help but laugh at the crazy image of a halfling trying to hug a beetle much bigger than herself. Others in the room began to go back to their tables and meals now that the show was over. Yendys was unperturbed and continued to hug the beetle.

  “Yes snookums, old man Raytak is laughing with you not at you…right Raytak!” Yendys said, giving me a stern look. I quickly stopped laughing and replied.

  “Of course. I was just laughing with joy at how brave Crunchy was,” I lied, not wanting to upset the kid…or her creepy bug. “Thank you, guys. I don’t know what that necromancer’s deal was, coming in here and threatening the town. It looks like the Bloody Blades are back in business and looking for trouble,” I added while my friends invited me to join them at their table.

  “Heh, looks like he dropped his little bag of coins. Loot for all of us! Just for your information Raytak, feel free to throw bags of coins at me anytime. I promise to not attack you for throwing money at me,” Jacoby joked as we sat down. The system automatically distribu
ted the coin, leaving me with a share of twelve gold and fifty silver. I had no qualms at taking my share of the loot. The money was earned in battle, with no strings attached. We seated ourselves and Jacoby motioned for a waitress, letting her know that we were ready to order. We ordered the house pale ale, which the others said was great. Yendys claimed the ale turned into root beer whenever she tried to drink it…parental controls kicking in like they should. The others talked me into ordering the roast beast pasty that they all swore by. I was a little worried about what “beast” the pie was made of, but determined to give it a go. I shelled out three silver and fifty-four copper to pay for everyone’s food and drink, figuring I may as well treat the folks who saved me from a long respawn and some experience loss.

  While we were getting settled at the table and ordering our meal, a group of the town guard rushed in, probably responding to a system prompt of an attack inside the inn. Delling must have finished the guard house and jail upgrades, as there were four level three guards equipped with cheap looking leather armor and small wooden shields. They were armed with either spears, or metal-studded clubs. The last guard was showing as a level four sergeant of the guard and he was equipped with better quality leather armor, a small wooden shield, and a crude Imperium short sword, like the ones we had initially been issued. Though they didn’t seem all that powerful individually, they would be a much better deterrent than the level one unarmored guardsman that Delling had to defend the town before the guardhouse was built. The guards approached our table, but a large matronly woman came out from behind the bar and held up her hand before speaking.

  “No worries, officer. These good adventurers just took out some trash for me. They were just about to pay for any damages before enjoying their meal…right folks,” the woman’s stern gaze glared down at our group. Her nameplate showed she was a player named Lani and had the class of Innkeeper level 4. Not wanting to shake the boat, I decided to cover her losses. She was a player and it wasn’t her fault that I brought conflict to her establishment.

  “That’s right, ma’am. I’ll gladly cover the damages. Looks like taking out the trash destroyed a table, two chairs, and tore a couple of holes in your floor. Just add that to our tab, please,” I offered. The sergeant of the guard nodded and then noticed my uniform, snapping off a quick salute before leaving the inn. “I am sorry for the disturbance, ma’am. I should have just let him leave without instigating a fight. I forgot that other players aren’t just adventurers fighting monsters in this game and my actions caused your fine establishment to take damage. My name is Raytak. It’s good to meet you and good to see an inn open in Hayden’s Knoll,” I said as I offered my hand in greeting. Lani shook my hand in a firm grip, her hand calloused from hard work just like my own.

  “Good to meet you, Raytak, and you can stop with the ma’am stuff. Just call me Lani. Welcome to the Petty Dispute! Next time though, if you want to have a scuffle with some other patron, feel free to take it to the box,” Lani motioned to the back corner of the inn, where a square fighting pit waited. I guess the Petty Dispute was all set to handle real disputes. “I had that ring custom designed and it sets up an instanced duel within its confines that allows everyone around a good view of the fight. It’s two silver to duel there and the loser pays. All of you enjoy your meal, and don’t worry about the damage. I just said that to keep the guards from hassling you. I’ve upgraded the inn to slowly repair broken items and damage…a wise upgrade for a frontier inn, I’ll tell you,” Lani said with a smile on her face, quickly hustling off to care for another guest. She seemed to genuinely enjoy her work and I wished her success with the inn.

  The meal turned out to be excellent, even though nobody would tell me what creature the meat in my pie came from. The pie crust was flaky and contained tender chunks of meat in a savory gravy, with a few vegetables thrown in there to add color and texture. The ale was smooth with a hint of some fruit I couldn’t place. All in all, I could see myself spending a lot of coin in here. A smile crept onto my normally stoic face as I just reveled in the pleasure of good food, drink, and company. This disparate group that would have never hung out together, or even met in real life, was enjoying comradery and friendship.

  “Old man Raytak, where have you been off to? We took a run at the dungeon and got wiped by some crazy ledge climbing ogre boss. Hey…you were in there before…how about a heads up on what to expect?” Yendys began to beg, trying to get me to spill what I knew about the new dungeon. I really had no idea what was in there now that the creatures had respawned under new management. It wouldn’t feel right to give her party an unfair advantage, even if I did know for sure what was in there. No reason not to pull the kid’s leg a bit first though.

  “Well Yendys, after that ogre mini boss you’ll find a slope that leads down to the second level. There you will find a lake that contains magical powers. You need to walk into the water up to your knees, not higher or lower mind you. Once in the lake you must shout as loud as you can, “I am the unicorn queen!” Once you shout that, a summoned unicorn will emerge from the water. I knew you wanted one, so I had them install that feature in the new dungeon,” I joked. Unfortunately, Yendys took me as being serious.

  “Sooo cool, old man Raytak! I’ll totally let you ride the unicorn, if you want to, once I find it. What do you think I should name it? How about Clip Clop? I’ve got to log off now, it’s hitting the time limit my parents have on the game for me,” Yendys said and logged off, her avatar vanishing before I could let her know I was kidding.

  “Wow Raytak, that’s going to be one disappointed kid when she doesn’t find a unicorn on our next run,” Jacoby said while laughing at my worried expression. “Yendys had the right idea, though. I have to log out as well and head to work soon. Have fun everyone,” Jacoby told us as he logged out.

  “Guess that I should head out as well. It was a pleasure to meet you, Raytak,” Kathala told me as she logged out as well. My previous good mood began to fade as my friends went back into their real-world lives, something I no longer was able to do. I finished my ale and was about to leave, when one of my soldiers rushed in. The soldier looked about the busy tavern and I waved him over. He soon spotted me and made a beeline to my table.

  “Sir, a Captain Loomis has arrived at the garrison and is demanding your presence immediately,” the soldier said, saluting as he delivered the message.

  “Thank you, soldier. Just let me settle my tab and I’ll head over with you,” I told the soldier as I left a silver on the table as a tip for the waitress, having already paid for the actual meal.

  Chapter 14

  Hurrying back to the garrison, I was confused as to why there was an officer here demanding my presence. Hopefully it was a quest, though quests seemed to have become more difficult, if not impossible, to complete now that my troops had to be scattered all over the zone to protect critical areas. Three horses were tied to the hitching post in front of the garrison. I hadn’t seen anyone mounted yet in the game, so this officer must be important. Several soldiers were milling about outside the barracks, having been displaced by the officer when he went inside. I shouted a warning at them before I entered the barracks building.

  “You soldiers better find a way to be productive before I have to find one for you!” I shouted, and soldiers began to suddenly find urgent tasks that needed to be completed. Thoughts of the latrine duty that Sergeant Ty was known to give out must have rushed to the forefront of their memory. Entering the barracks, I could see the door to the war room was open and an officer in exquisite gear was seated at the war table, reviewing the deployment of our forces. Posted outside the war room door were two soldiers in high level gear standing watch. I scanned the group and was rewarded with information.

  Captain Leighton, Imperium Field Inspector Level 40 elite.

  Imperium Bodyguard (2): Level 35 elite.

  Wow, these three had some seriously high levels to be out here in the back end of nowhere. Anxious to find out why they were he
re, I entered the war room and snapped off a crisp salute, painfully aware that my gear was not in the best condition after all the action we had seen.

  “Sir! Lieutenant Raytak reporting as ordered, sir!” I said and held my salute. Captain Leighton looked up from the map. He appeared to be in his early fifties, one of those officers that, for whatever reason, found himself at a rank he was unable to advance past. Leighton looked at me dismissively; I could see the loathing in his eyes as he took in my low level gear. After making me wait for an uncomfortable amount of time before returning my salute, the captain sat back in his chair while wiping imaginary dust from the table in front of him.

  “Yes, my good man, please do try to keep up appearances. Your uniform and garrison in general look a bit shabby, even for a frontier backwater like this one. Just because you find yourself posted to this stench-ridden outpost doesn’t mean you stop being an officer. Do try to remember that, Lieutenant,” Leighton stated in a voice that dripped disdain.

  “Sergeant, leave us. See to it that you bring some refreshments to my men posted outside, if you can find some clean cups and utensils in this place. I shall hold you personally accountable, Sergeant, if any of the men get sick,” the captain added, insulting Sergeant Brooks who, to his credit, took the insult without breaking his military bearing. Sergeant Brooks saluted, then executed a perfect about face before leaving the room to carry out his orders.

  “Now that were alone Lieutenant, let’s get down to the business at hand. Since I was already heading this way on another mission, command has seen fit to have me to deliver your orders personally. I shall also report to them my opinion on your ability to carry them out. I have heard some disturbing things from many powerful people that you may have gone a bit rogue out here, Lieutenant. An independent command is not an excuse to set up your own little kingdom, you know,” Leighton said as he handed me a scroll containing my orders. The arrogant officer was really testing my patience, but I had dealt with his type in the past. They looked to lord their superior position over their subordinates in order to make themselves feel more important, though this guy was a bit different and more hostile than most.