Conquest

by Dean Henegar

  “Good work, Ty. Let me head back up the hill with you. I want to check out the terrain for myself before I commit to the fight,” I told Ty. We double timed it back up the hill, so I could get the lay of the land. The hill was just large enough for us to deploy the whole force. The village and the circling packs of ghouls were about 300 yards away. Most of this side of the hill was a clear area, but the left flank of the hill was still covered in forest. The Drebix hadn’t gotten around to clearing out the whole slope yet.

  “I like the ground; my only concern is the forest to our flanks and rear. That may provide cover for ghouls slipping in behind us. Any ideas, Ty?” I asked.

  “I think if you can give me some time, Quimby and I can set traps in that area to give us some warning and thin out any attackers that come that way. That flank will also make a good spot to place the other players. They’re our most powerful force and best suited to either hold that flank or charge in and surprise the ghouls once they commit to an attack on your legion,” Ty offered.

  “I agree. I’ll get everyone moving and send Quimby up to give you a hand,” I told Ty as I hustled back to the column. The other players, Beremund, and Sergeant Brooks gathered around as I returned.

  “Looks like the hill in front of us is the best place for our fight. Quimby, head up and give Ty a hand, if you don’t mind. He wants you to set up some surprises for the ghouls,” I told Quimby who had an evil grin on his face as he ran to help Ty.

  “Jacoby, take the rest of the players, except for Nitor, and set up in the forest to our left. Ty is up there and will show you where he wants you. That area may be trouble and I’d like our strongest force there. Stay quiet and hidden for as long as you can. The more time my men have to set up before the ghouls notice us, the better. Nitor, you fall in with my forces. I want you in the center of the line, so your chants and the buffs will cover the soldiers,” I ordered. Jacoby, Kathala, Yendys, Crunchy, and Drake moved off toward the forest. They were a strong party and could handle themselves well in a fight. If they did get into too much trouble, they would be strong enough to stay alive until I could send help.

  “Beremund, this is your land and you can choose where you want to fight. I would like to have you near me as I command my troops, in case we need to contact the village or signal them at some point,” I asked Beremund. He nodded and moved to my side. “Sergeant Brooks, form up the men. I want 1st platoon on the left and 2nd holding the right. Each platoon will present a front two squads wide and two deep, with the fifth squad of each platoon holding the center. That will give us a line that is fifty soldiers wide. The extra two squads will form to the rear, ready to respond to any emergencies or extend the line if needed. Scouts will move forward twenty-five yards from the main force and engage at maximum range only after the ghouls spot us. Once the ghouls close, fall back behind the line and fire at targets of opportunity, while providing cover for the engineers. Engineers, set up your artillery to the rear of the line. The incline of the hill will allow you to fire over us until the ghouls are engaged in melee. Once we’re in melee, try to pick off any targets of opportunity you can. Everyone move quietly and quickly. Once we’re in position, I want you to start building a defensive berm. If they give us the time, I want a complete defensive position with stakes facing our foes in record time. Move out,” I ordered to the men. The legion shook itself out into formation as we marched up the hill. Our force crested the hill and marched about thirty-five yards down the slope before I quietly called a halt.

  “All right men, looks like they haven’t spotted us yet…get to work,” I ordered, and the men began to construct the defenses. Looking toward my left, I could just make out Jacoby and his group just inside the tree line, waiting for the fight to start. Kathala and Yendys were casting buffs and I hoped the light from their magic wouldn’t be seen by the ghouls. The scouts moved forward twenty-five yards in front of our line and took a knee after loading their crossbows. Twenty yards to the rear, engineers were assembling the scorpions. I was curious to see how well the small siege engines would perform. A detail of soldiers gathered the scorpion bolts that men in each squad were carrying and dropped them off in a pile next to the scorpions. With the ones already carried by the crews, we had thirty scorpion bolts to work with.

  Looking down at the village, I could see the fire was beginning to die down, having consumed most of its fuel. A few villagers were seen running up and throwing anything consumable into the fire, trying to keep it going just a bit longer. There looked to be thirty or forty warriors standing ready to protect the villagers. Every adult also carried a weapon and would be willing to fight to protect their people, but I could only count on the thirty or forty warriors to contribute meaningfully to the fight. Beremund approached me, agitated that we hadn’t begun an attack.

  “Why do we wait, Raytak? The fire is starting to die and the ghouls will be all over the villagers once they can get through,” Beremund pleaded.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll start the festivities well before the fires die down. The longer we wait, the better prepared for the fight we’ll be,” I said, gesturing to the rapidly forming defensive berm. There was already a two-foot-deep and growing trench to the front and flanks. Soldiers walked up and down the line hammering sharpened wooden stakes into the berm. Sergeant Brooks moved up and down our developing position, helping to make sure everything was being done correctly and quickly. We wouldn’t have defenses to our rear, there just wasn’t enough time for that.

  “Sir, both batteries are assembled and ready to fire at your command,” the engineer in charge of the scorpions advised.

  “Uhhh, Raytak. I think we just got noticed,” Nitor advised. Looking down toward the village I could see one of the ghoul packs sniffing the air and looking our way. A series of unnatural howls were heard as more and more ghouls noticed our position. The creatures began to gather together and move toward our force, abandoning their attempt at the surviving villagers in order to get to easier prey. They became more and more agitated until a figure I knew to be the ghoul lord appeared from a hut that had been left standing outside the ring of fire. Ghoul lord Dunderman held what appeared to be a human arm in his clawed hand, tearing off chunks and chewing greedily as he considered our forces. He let out a disturbing shriek, calling all his forces to him as he moved toward our lines in order to get a better look. It soon became obvious that we had underestimated the total number of ghouls, as more and more were emerging from the abandoned homes.

  “All right lads, nobody told you to stop working,” I heard Sergeant Brooks order, keeping the men on task. They began to dig and hammer spikes at a quicker pace now that the growing number of enemies had noticed them.

  “Batteries one and two, target the ghoul lord. Is he in range?” I inquired of the engineers.

  “Yes, sir; it’s at the edge of effective range when we factor in our greater elevation, but these beauties will make it. Ready to fire at your command, sir,” the chief engineer advised. I noticed that the npc now was showing a name, Corporal Tavers. Named npc’s for my forces were rare, I’d have to keep an eye on this one to see how he works out.

  “Fire at will, Corporal. Keep on the ghoul lord if you think he’s within range. If not, fire at any targets of opportunity. Kill me some ghouls, Tavers. Show me that your scorpions weren’t a waste of resources,” I ordered.

  Thunk.

  Thunk.

  Both weapons fired, and the large bolts could be seen sailing toward our enemy. Both shots landed thirty or forty yards short, missing the slowly advancing ghoul lord and his milling pack. Tavers broke into a stream of curses, berating his crew for their incompetence. The corporal then grabbed one of the scorpions and quickly spun the wheel to pull back the arms of the apparatus. He carefully selected a bolt from the pile in front of him, rejecting the first two he looked at before finding one that suited him. Ripping up a few blades of grass he threw them up in the air, testing the wind. Finally, Tavers settled in behind the scorpion and beg
an to fine tune his aim, making minor adjustments before gently squeezing the release.

  Thunk.

  The bolt sailed toward the ghoul lord who was watching with amusement as his forces gathered around. The overconfident ghoul looked surprised as the heavy bolt slammed into his chest, knocking him off his feet. A cheer rose up from the men as we struck first blood in the conflict. Corporal Tavers grinned as he turned the scorpion back over to its crew.

  “Just needed a bit of fine-tuning, sir. I’m sure the men will put bolts on target now that they have the kinks worked out,” the engineer stated proudly.

  “Good shot, Corporal. Let’s hope your crews can duplicate your feat,” I said, not wanting to let the corporal of the hook too easily. Down in the valley, Dunderman rose to his feet and tore the bolt from his chest. His health bar down by a few percent. The ghoul lord’s hiss of anger and pain was heard all the way back to our lines. Dunderman gestured toward our position and the mass of ghouls charged forward, quickly eating up the distance that separated the two forces.

  “All right men, fall in, we’ve done all we can to prepare the defenses,” Sergeant Brooks said. The men stowed away their tools and fell in behind the berm, readying their javelins for when the ghouls entered range. The crossbows were in range first and the seven scouts began to fire as rapidly as they could while still maintaining accuracy. Crossbow bolts sought out dead flesh, piercing and damaging their targets. The ghouls were harmed by missile weapons, unlike many other undead creatures; something to do with them still needing an intact digestive system I conjectured.

  Arrows also streaked by from the forest edge as Quimby added his fire to the mix, his longbow never missing against such a mass of targets. The scorpions fired out another volley when the ghouls hit one hundred yards, killing three more of the undead as one of the bolts pierced two creatures at the same time. Unfortunately, the kills we were making were just drops in the bucket considering the size of the horde heading our way. At one hundred yards, Yendys and Drake stepped from the forest edge, already casting spells and activating abilities. Yendys created a patch of her signature piercing vines. Spiked vines tore from the ground and entangled several of the ghouls, damaging them as their thorny strands held the ghouls in place. The ghouls howled in fury, slashing wildly at the vines holding them, often damaging themselves as their long claws sliced their own legs as often as the vines. Yendys’ attack broke up the formation, causing many of the ghouls to swerve around the patch of grasping vines.

  Drake’s ability was even more impressive. Raising his arm, Drake pointed to a spot in the middle of the horde of ghouls. The swirling light of a small portal appeared, and figures could be seen moving inside of it. Out of the portal stepped first one, then five, and finally nearly twenty goblin miners. These creatures were only level 2, but were elite dungeon creatures, ported directly from the foul spore pit. The goblins hefted their picks and shovels, charging the nearest foe they could see. Dozens of ghouls stopped their charge to engage the tasty morsels that had just appeared in front of them.

  The distractions allowed my scouts to pick their way through the spikes we had driven into the ground around our lines, falling back behind the main line to safely support us with more fire. Despite the distractions and losses, there were still hundreds of ghouls approaching the line. At fifty yards, I had the men launch the first wave of javelins.

  A flight of 122 javelins sailed toward the ghouls. Many of the javelins landed short since we were throwing at extreme range. Those that found their mark dropped over two dozen ghouls, half the number dead and the other half losing large chunks of their health pools while being knocked to the ground from the force of the missiles. The barrage did break up their formation, as dying and wounded ghouls fouled the charge of the undead behind them. Chanting could be heard from Nitor as he began to bolster our resistances, now that the enemy was near. Taking Nitor’s example, I activated the command presence ability, stacking even more buffs on my troops. While chanting uninterrupted, Nitor also began to throw daggers into the approaching horde, helping to bring down our foes in any way he could.

  The second volley of javelins fell, dropping and wounding a score more of the ghouls. At ten yards, everyone launched their last javelin. This time, the close ranged attack was devastating. Ghouls toppled over dead or wounded, fouling the movement of the others around them. Instead of an overwhelming wave, the mass of creatures hit our defenses in a disorganized chaos. The ghouls swarmed over the shallow trench, many more of them slowed and damaged by the sharpened spikes. I watched as the jostling ghouls pushed each other into the deadly defenses. The ghouls were concerned only with reaching the tasty flesh that was nearly in their grasp and not caring at all about the damage they were causing their own kind.

  Looking to the left, I could see Yendys and her pet beetle, Crunchy, running back toward the forest. It looked like my hunch was correct and I assumed more ghouls were trying to attack under the cover of the trees. How many of these things were there? Drake was trying to open one more portal to unleash some other creatures from the foul spore pit onto our enemies. The goblins summoned earlier were nearly all dead, the last few fighting a score of ghouls as well as the ghoul lord himself. Even as I watched, one of the scorpions scored another hit on the ghoul lord, eliciting a hiss of anger and frustration. The ghoul lord looked up at the offending crew and raised his hands in the air. The ground beneath the scorpions began to shake and crumble as bony claws tore from earth below. Six battered skeletons of some humanoid creatures emerged and began to claw at the crew.

  “Scouts, defend the scorpion crews!” I shouted, causing the scouts to drop their crossbows while readying shields and swords to confront the new threat in our rear. Thankfully, the summoned undead were only skeletons; dangerous, but not as big a threat as more ghouls. The scouts were tough and, combined with the five poorly-armed crews, should put down a half dozen skeletons without a problem.

  Back across the field, I could see Drake struggling to finish his portal. The effort seemed to pain him and his health bar was trickling down. The pain caused him to stumble just as he finished his summons, throwing off the aim point he had selected. The portal opened not in the middle of the ghoul pack, but instead right on top of the defensive berm. As I watched, the portal grew to four times the size of the portal he had conjured earlier. A huge, indistinct shape appeared in the portal before five large, reptilian heads snaked their way through. A huge creature, the size of a small house, slowly stepped from the portal; all five of its heads shrieking at the puny things that would dare oppose it. Data on the creature appeared in my interface.

  Darkscale Hydra: Elite Level 5 boss creature. These fierce creatures inhabit caves, dungeons, and the dark places of the world. These reptilian behemoths never stop growing and have an almost insatiable hunger. The Darkscale hydra will lie dormant for months waiting for prey to approach its lair, though many examples of the creatures are known to leave their lairs for feeding rampages into the surrounding areas. The hydras can have up to twelve tooth-filled heads attached to their bodies. Unlike popular mythos, the creature does not grow another head when one is cut off. It instead adds heads to its body as it ages. In general, the more heads, the more ancient and powerful the beast.

  Drake mouthed sorry to me and gestured that I should pull my men back. I got the distinct feeling that he was not in control of this creature he had just unleashed. Looking at my line, I could see how pulling back may actually benefit our strategy in ways besides not getting eaten by the hydra.

  “Legion, ten steps to the rear, execute!” I ordered, and the lines slowly stepped back ten steps. By now the ghouls were beginning to appear over the top of the berm, sliding or leaping down while trying to get at my men. One ghoul leapt down only to be snatched in the air by one of the hydra heads. The hydra’s tooth filled maw easily bit the ghoul in half, swallowing a portion before seeking another victim. The move back worked and the hydra was content to focus on the easy prey aroun
d it, not showing any interest in charging my line.

  The ghouls were also focusing on the hydra for the most part, though a trickle of undead were still streaming over the mound to charge our line. The men worked together to easily kill off the trickle of ghouls that approached our lines. It was lucky they did, for the creatures were relentless in their attacks. The health pools of the ghouls required many strikes from our swords to put them down for good. To our rear, the scouts and engineers had finally hacked the skeletons apart. I could see there were no casualties among the scouts, but two of the engineers were down. The scouts picked up their crossbows as they and the engineers went back to loading their weapons. I made a mental note to have a dedicated covering force for the engineers in the future. I had wrongly thought that their being advanced class soldiers made them tough enough to defend themselves. Their advanced class status was due to their knowledge and specialized skills, not their individual combat capability.

  “Fire at the ghouls, only. We don’t what that hydra to notice us!” I shouted to the scouts and engineers. The last thing we needed was an enraged hydra shattering our lines. I was perfectly content to just watch the show as the hydra and the ghouls tore away at each other, pulling the men back another five steps we waited for one of the two to win their fight.

  Chapter 29

  Ty looked through the light forest at the pack of ghouls heading his way. Raytak had called it right, the creatures were trying to flank the legion by using the forest as cover for their movement. Trying to get an accurate count, Ty estimated fifty of the ghouls were tromping through the woods. The ghouls were not trying to be quiet, more intent on closing with their prey. With an evil grin, Ty whispered to himself.

  “Fast and stupid, just the way I like my opponents. Keep chargin’ forward creeps, learn what a force recon marine can do.” With that said, Ty stood up, revealing himself and throwing a small axe at the lead ghoul. Throwing with one arm is actually harder than it looks, but Ty managed to hit the ghoul straight in the chest. His high strength rating caused the throwing axe to nearly penetrate all the way through the creature. The ghoul looked down in surprise at the axe imbedded in it, collapsing without a sound as the black sludge that comprised its blood poured from the wound.