by Dean Henegar
“Glad Rollox reached you quickly. The numbers I sent in the letter have changed a bit. Small parties of gnolls have been filtering in over the last few days. We intercepted and wiped out two of the groups, but I figure about 15-20 more have made it to the mines. Just yesterday another player showed up, a level 4 dark cleric something or other. The player arrived with another ten human slavers and they were leading a dozen new prisoners to the mine. The new prisoners were all goblins that looked to be in bad condition. Me and the boys,” Ty gestured to the other three dwarven pathfinders before continuing, “have prepared a few surprises that should thin their numbers a bit, if you approve of the plan I cooked up Raytak,” Ty finished, grinning as he began to explain the devious plan he and the dwarves had come up with. I was thankful that my friend, and his years of special operations experience, was on my side. We slowly and carefully moved our forces closer and into position for the attack.
The entrance to the mine could be seen from where we waited, crouched and concealed in the tall brush. Unlike the mine outside Hayden’s Knoll, this one appeared ancient and much better constructed. The opening in the side of the mountains was an actual entryway where great gates had once stood. Stout, stone columns flanked the opening and heavy wooden gates would have once been there to close off the mine when attacked. A column four men wide would have no trouble marching into the mine. A flat level area outside the entrance was where the slavers were camped. They had a row of a dozen large wagons that they used to load the ore onto. Well-guarded groups of slaves would occasionally exit the mine, pushing carts laden with ore that they would dump into the wagons. About half the wagons were full and I wondered where they planned to go once they were fully loaded. The level ground outside the mine ended after about 100 yards. A steep slope led down fifty yards to the valley floor where we were currently concealed. One small path had been crudely leveled out to provide a gentler slope for the wagons to traverse when they were coming and going from the mine.
Sergeant Ty and the dwarves had used their time well over the days they waited for our forces to arrive. Besides ambushing and killing two small groups of gnoll reinforcement, they had created several vicious traps in and around the area in front of where my troops were hidden. The dwarves, my scouts, and Ty, silently crept forward, their passage through the thick brush appearing as nothing more than the movement of a gentle breeze. They paused briefly before checking that their crossbows were ready for the fight. My men had basic light crossbows, but the dwarves had equipped an interesting piece of technology. Their bows had a double set of limbs and strings enabling them to fire two shots before needing to be reloaded. The weapon was heavier and a bit unwieldy for those untrained in its use. I took note of the jealous glances my scouts shot toward the weapons when the dwarves explained their purpose, I had a feeling some expensive crossbow upgrades for our scouts would be happening in the not too distant future.
My forces were spread out about 100 yards away from the bottom of the slope, ready to attack once the word was given. I would lead 1st platoon up the path carved out for the wagons, while Sergeant Brooks would lead 2nd platoon straight up the slope. While we attacked, the dwarven pathfinders and my scouts would cover us with ranged fire from their crossbows. They were to focus first on any casters, then those with ranged weapons, before finally attacking the melee forces. Nervous energy could be felt from the men; the curious combination of fear mixed with a desire to get on with the battle.
Thankfully, the slavers had taken a lax interpretation of what it meant to keep watch. Only three of the human slavers and three of the gnolls were standing guard on the perimeter of the camp. The guard’s attention was mostly fixed inward, watching for prisoners trying to escape and not suspecting that over a hundred soldiers were hunkered down just yards away. The rest of their forces pattered about the camp focused on eating, sleeping, gambling, drinking, or telling bad stories.
Ty gave the signal and he stood, raising the bulky crossbow easily in his one hand, firing a bolt into the head of one of the gnolls standing watch. The dwarves and scouts followed suit. All of the bolts hit targets, killing five of the six guards. The last guard let out a shout of warning as my scouts ran back toward our hidden lines, following carefully marked paths through the maze of traps. Ty and the dwarves stood ready with their second shot, holding until the slavers took the bait. Soon, a mob of slaver npc’s stood looking down on the five dwarves and the one huge half-orc facing them. The mage soon appeared at the top of the ledge, pointing down at Ty.
“Hey, you realize we’re going to kill you and your merry band of dwarves now, right? Are you the ones that were killing my gnolls over the last few days?” the mage asked, buying time for the bulk of his forces to get geared up for a fight. While he waited for a reply, the cleric and rogue players appeared as well. “What the heck is an Imperial scout class…some dumb ranger wannabe?” the mage taunted. Ty smiled before responding. He had them where he wanted.
“Well, my dwarven friends, I have a saying I like to use in these types of situations. Always kill the mouthy one first,” Ty bellowed as he and the dwarves fired at the mage. The mage had cast a protective shield prior to seeing what the commotion was about. The shield deflected the first four bolts before shattering. The last two bolts slammed into the mage, causing his small caster class health pool to drop to seventy percent. The rest of the slavers needed no more incentive and began to charge down the incline, a few losing their footing on the treacherous ground and tumbling to the bottom. The cleric stood next to the mage and began to cast healing spells, slowly restoring the mage’s health.
Ty and the dwarves began to slowly jog back to our lines, following the marked pathways. Their zigzagging through the brush looked like someone trying to dodge incoming missile fire. The mob of slavers made it to the bottom of the ledge and charged straight at their foes. A gnoll slaver in the lead suddenly fell, squealing in pain as he stepped into a foot sized pit lined with sharpened stakes. More and more slavers fell, some stumbling into pit traps, some hitting tripwires that caused them to fall directly onto sharpened stakes. All in all, twenty-five slavers were slowed and injured by the traps and eight were killed. The remaining slavers finally made it through the trapped area. The gnolls’ greater speed and stamina pushed them to the front of the mob. The creatures were angry, shouting in the yipping laugh that passed for a gnoll’s taunt. The gnolls were savoring what they thought was easy prey about to be run down and killed by their superior speed and numbers. They didn’t plan on my men suddenly appearing.
“On your feet!” I shouted as I activated the command presence ability. All one hundred of my troops rose from the brush we had been concealed in. The men were formed up with three squads of each platoon in a line and two squads in each platoon behind them to fill in any gaps that would open when a soldier fell. This gave us a front line of sixty men; our front line easily longer than that of the packed mob of slavers approaching us. Each man held his shield in one hand and a javelin in the other.
“Focus on the Gnolls; release!” I ordered, and 102 javelins were hurled at the gnolls who had outdistanced the slower human slavers. The twenty-four gnolls charging our line skidded to a stop at the sight of the soldiers that had suddenly appeared twenty yards in front of them. The gnolls didn’t have a chance to dodge as the javelins began to land amongst them. Many of the javelins missed, but so many were thrown that, despite our poor accuracy, every gnoll was hit at least once. Half the gnolls fell dead, their low, level three health pools no match for the amount of damage they had just taken.
Morale Failure: The force of gnoll slavers have taken many casualties in a short amount of time and have failed their morale save. For the next sixty seconds they will attempt to flee from their opponents. A leader may attempt to inspire them, which will grant a second save attempt.
Faced with overwhelming odds and mounting losses, the gnolls broke and ran. Their instinctual cowardice in the face of a losing fight drove them off the fiel
d. Several ran back toward the mine and, consequently, back through the field full of traps. The gnolls triggered several more of the traps that had not been activated on their first pass through the area. The human slavers shoved their way through the group of fleeing gnolls and straight into our second volley of javelins. A dozen slavers dropped from our second volley and the rest soon joined their fleeing comrades.
“Sergeant Brooks, take 2nd platoon and push them back. Keep after them and keep them running. Don’t give them a chance to regroup. 1st Platoon, up the ramp, follow me!” I ordered. Sergeant Brooks began to lead his five squads forward. Their progress slowed as they wound their way through the safe passages in the trap strewn field. My soldiers made better time. The ramp cut into the incline for wagons had not been trapped. The dwarves and my scouts were not idle during this time. They continued to fire crossbows at any target that presented itself. Many of the attackers were wounded from the traps and had a move speed debuff showing from damage to their feet, making them easier targets for our ranged units.
The enemy had not been idle either. The mage began to cast spells toward 2nd platoon, while the cleric and rogue appeared at the top of the ramp with a small force of gnolls and humans that had been in the mine guarding the prisoners. A few of the gnolls threw spears and some of the human slavers began to use slings to pepper our men as we closed the distance. The men naturally closed ranks, using their large shields to prevent all, but a lucky few, of the missiles from getting through. With casters in front of us, this proved to be a mistake. A huge blackened hammer appeared in the air above our troops and then slammed into the ground. I found myself, as well as half of 1st platoon, flying several feet before debuff icons flashed.
You have been hit by the cleric spell, hammer of divine judgement. The hammer of judgement hits you for 104 damage. You have been knocked back. You have failed your save and are stunned for 8 seconds.
I lay on the ground, reeling from the burning and crushing pain the spell inflicted. Thankful for the reduced pain feedback of the game, I waited for the stun timer to cool down. As I lay there, Ty passed me with his great-axe in hand. Ty and the remainder of my men who hadn’t been stunned, surged forward to resume their advance on the slavers. A few of the newly minted medics worked their way through the stunned and damaged soldiers, applying magically enhanced bandages. A bandage was placed on my arm and I began to regenerate health. I still found certain things about the gaming world to be strange. This super realistic game only required a bandage to be placed on the body and not necessarily directly on the wound itself. I had to suppose some level of realism needed to be sacrificed for smooth gameplay.
Medic’s bandage applied. You have gained 15 health and will regenerate 1 health per second for the next 30 seconds.
I gathered together the stunned and fallen soldiers before following Ty up the trail and after the slavers. As I was moving, I detected a small glimmer next to me just before the Level 3 rogue appeared and stabbed his daggers into my back.
You have been hit by Lorkin’s backstab ability. 38 damage taken and corrosive poison applied.
You have been hit by Lorkin’s backstab ability. 27 damage taken. Corrosive poison resisted.
I turned and brought my shield up, at the same time activating honor guard. I did NOT want to fight another rogue or assassin so soon after having been killed by one.
The two advanced soldiers appeared and began to attack Lorkin. The halfling rogue was angry and confused at the ability forcing him to attack the two temporary soldiers.
“What the heck kind of broken ability is this? Deeke, how about some heals over here buddy. Why can’t I stealth? I am so going to kill you and camp your corpse, Raytak!” Lorkin threatened while struggling to defend himself against two honor guard soldiers and one very ticked off commander. His comrade, the level 4 cleric Deeke, yelled back at him, struggling to fend off Ty and the swarm of soldiers that were attacking him.
“Dude, it’s your dumb fault for getting so far away. Get closer if you want any heals! If you want heals, pull this guy off of me,” Deeke shouted, his health dropping by the second. I saw Deeke casting another quick, lesser-healing spell on himself, the spell interrupted by a soldier activating shield bash. Ty took advantage of the opportunity, activating power attack and getting a critical from the ability. Deeke dropped to zero health as his head flew from his body, bouncing down the ramp. Cutting off people’s heads was turning into Ty’s signature ability.
“No, no, no, no, hurry up stupid stealth timer!” Lorkin complained to himself as the honor guard chipped away the last of his health and sent him to respawn.
I hustled the rest of the way up the ramp and was greeted by a chaotic scene. Sergeant Brooks had made it up the ledge with 2nd platoon and were advancing on the enemy from our left. Ty and the soldiers with him had hacked their way through the thin line of slavers at the top of the ramp and were now engaging the few remaining slavers in the center of the clearing. The mage was nowhere to be seen. I was beginning to really hate stealth and invisibility spells. As I watched the fight in front of me, a slew of goblins and angry dwarves poured from the mine opening, attacking the remaining slavers in a rage, wielding mining tools as improvised weapons. Within moments, the last of the slavers had died or run off and prompts began to pop into view.
You have defeated a large force of slavers. You have gained 584 experience.
Your share of the loot received is 32 gold, 15 silver, 44 copper, 100 copper ore, 12 tin ore.
You have received a pair of unidentified leather boots.
You have received an unidentified dagger.
You have completed the quest Smashing the Slavers. The growing scourge of the slavers has been eliminated by the brave efforts of your soldiers.
Reward: 1000 experience, 100 resources, 25 gold.
Congratulations, you have reached Level 6. Please review your character sheet for new information/abilities/upgrades.
Reviewing the character sheet would have to wait for a bit until we sorted out the chaos at the mines.
“Medics, tend to the wounded. 1st platoon, set a perimeter and find any other loot that may be recovered. 2nd platoon, make sure we didn’t miss any of the slaves, I don’t want to leave a single one in chains longer than is necessary. Scouts, head out a bit and make sure the slavers that fled are not regrouping to have another go at us. Well done, 1st Legion!” I proclaimed. One of the medics hustled up and handed me the casualty report. Our losses were 14 soldiers killed and 18 still wounded. No casualties among the scouts, and our wounded would be fit for duty within twenty-four hours. The rapid healing in this game was a godsend. I shuddered as I remembered the aid stations I had seen after a real-world battle. Men and women facing gruesome wounds in the real world didn’t heal in a day. Many faced life-long sentences of pain and disability.
The men had fought well. Their valor and Ty’s devious strategy had helped us win with far fewer casualties than I had expected. The casualties we had taken would be replaced in less than a day, though getting them here to us would take a bit longer. Sergeant Ty approached with Rollox and another of the dwarves that had been taken prisoner. The dwarves had scowls on their faces and looked torn between the relief felt after a victory and suppressed anger. As soon as they reached us, Rollox spoke.
“Lieutenant Raytak, what do you think gives you the right to claim our ancestral lands and the mine? I appreciate you helping to free our people, but the whole purpose of us being here was to reopen this mine. Stonefinder Lhargen, of our Stonehold clan, was all set on gathering the clan to march on Hayden’s Knoll for the insult. Ty convinced him to at least hear you out before we take other action,” Rollox said and gestured to the angry dwarf next to him. I contemplated for a few moments before replying with what I hoped was a compromise that everyone could agree on. I wished Delling was here, as this was his specialty. My specialty was killing people and breaking things.
“I have been ordered by the Imperium to conquer this
whole zone in the name of Emperor Trodaxius. I have no doubt at least some of these lands were held by your clan at one point in the past. The wonderful architecture, and quality of the mine itself, attests to that. I gestured toward the well-crafted and efficient mine opening that could be seen. I could only suspect the same level of craftmanship was present throughout the rest of the mine. “I have to hold this ground with my troops to prevent our foes from taking it and having a respawn point close to our main town. What I’m not interested in is running a mine. I think we can all agree that the mine belongs to your clan, to do with as you wish. Does your clan really intend to take over and defend these lands from all threats, or were you just interested in retaking and opening your ancestral mine?” I asked the scowling Lhargen. The old dwarf stood there biting the end of this moustache, torn between his people’s legendary anger and the practicality of his situation. From what the game guide info told me, dwarves were somewhat few in number and, while always seeking to find the ancient possessions lost to their people, they were not that interested in conquering the surface world.
“Acckk, ye’re right that we din’t desire to rule the lands. Our interest is in the Stonehold Mine, lost to our people for over a century. I’ll ‘ere yer proposal, commander of the Imperium,” Lhargen grunted as he awaited my reply.
“I can only propose an outline of an agreement. It would be up to Mayor Delling, and your designated representative, to hammer out all the details. I propose that the mine is the sole property of the Stonehold clan. All the goods produced by the mine belong to the clan. All the Imperium demands is the right to tax, as set forth by Mayor Delling in the zone charter. In return, we will provide forces to defend the mine from attackers and maintain the zone infrastructure. We’re in the process of building roads throughout all our holdings. The roads will be protected by garrison troops and our southern transition point is well guarded. You will also find we place no taxes on goods using the transition point. Our goal is for the zone to grow and safely prosper. You don’t get growth by overtaxing the residents,” I offered while sending Lhargen a copy of the tax rates that Delling had created that I found in my help file.