Larkin nodded. “I concur. I plan to create many villages in the area surrounding Caspadel. We can use the city and the surrounding lands for future operations. The lands surrounding that city are more fertile than the dusty lands around here.”
“So, you plan to become duke of city and command huge legion of peoples from this area?”
“Of course not. I do plan to become a leader, of sorts, but I’d be a fool to think I could lead these brave warriors myself. I plan to conduct my operations in the same way I have, but I was hoping that another chief, one that is mighty and greatly respected by the people, could serve as the chief of the unified tribes.”
A smile slowly spread across Bigbelly’s face. “You want me to be chief, while you be a power behind throne?”
“That is essentially what I’m after. I want you to be the leader of these glorious peoples, and I will be there to advise and conduct my operations out of the limelight. We would share in power while you accept all the glory and admiration of a grand chief, or dare I say it, king.”
“King Hairy Bigbelly.” A cracked and yellow smile exploded on the ogre’s face. “It has noble ring to it. Like it. Like it lots.”
“I like it a lot too, and I want to make it a reality as soon as possible.”
“What you need me do?”
“Send out some of your people as emissaries to the other tribes. I will send my men out too. We will gather the chiefs together and discuss our plan. In no time, we will be marching on Caspadel so you can take your rightful place as ruler of the city.”
“That sound good. We get started right away, but first, a small celebration.” The ogre looked to one of the attendants in his throne room. “Stub Toe, bring cups of ale for me and friends. We toast to greatness of tribe.”
The ogre attendant nodded and left the room. The Crimson Warriors in the room chatted with the ogres and talked excitedly about the attack. Padwin smiled to himself. Once he helped his master take the city, he was going to go on a quest to hunt down Tatarna and Estelar. He would kill them again and again for betraying him and their powerful leader.
FORTY-ONE
Estelar and Fonwilsia logged in within a few minutes of each other. They spent some time talking, getting to know the “real them” better while trying to decide what to do next.
“You think we should head out of here?” Fonwilsia said. “I don’t really think there’s much more we can do. Unless you think we can rally the mobs in this area and strike out against Larkin.”
Estelar shook his head. “I’m not that charismatic or powerful. I can pass along fake messages to townspeople but leading them takes a skillset I don’t have, at least not yet.”
“How about we go somewhere else and start adventuring? There are some woods in the south I heard a couple of elves talking about in Caspadel. They call it the Wilderwood. There’s supposedly a lot of fey creatures that live there. Maybe we can go on some adventures and meet a few hot elves while we’re in there.”
“That might be fun. We might even come across some Fey that are wilder than you.”
Fonwilsia laughed. “I doubt it. I don’t think the designers would have programmed something like that in the game. Maybe we can put in a request for the next patch.”
Estelar grinned. “I can see it now. Beauties and Bondage, the next exciting expansion in the world of Unexplored. Explore the new, untamed lands, bound only by the limits of your fantasies. Don’t get tied down by the real world. Get lost in the lusty lands of leather. Get your copy today at a Virtuality near you.”
Fonwilisa laughed and clapped. “That was pretty good. Mindsplosion should hire you to write pitches for them.”
“That would be amazing. Anyway, let’s get going. If we stay here too long, we’ll likely get ganked by mobs.”
As they saddled their horse, they heard hooves beating against the ground. Estelar turned and saw a troll on a charger, followed by several mounted monsters. Fonwilsia saw them too and shrieked.
“Guess that’s our cue, let’s skedaddle.”
Estelar was about to turn when he saw a familiar person on one horse. She wasn’t wearing the crimson armor, but he’d seen her nude enough times to make out her form. The elf cupped a hand to his mouth and called out. “Tatarna?”
The figure’s head perked up. “Estelar?”
There was no mistaking it, it was the tiger girl. Memories of their sexual past crept into his mind and his member grew firm. Fonwilsia smiled and pressed against it in the saddle.
“Now is not the time to be thinking about us, stud,” Fonwilsia said.
“Uh, right, sorry,” Estelar said as he turned his horse around.
As the group of monsters got closer he recognized the troll as Stinking Shiva. The elf blanched and turned his horse back around.
“Wait, don’t go,” Tatarna said, “she’s on our side. At least for now.”
The troll waved to him and Estelar stayed put. When the group rode up to the elf and dwarf, the Tiger woman dismounted. The elf did the same and they shared an embrace.
Estelar’s breath got a little short when he felt the tiger woman’s body close to his. He looked back and saw Fonwilsia scowl. He quickly broke the embrace.
“What are you doing here, and with her?” Estelar pointed to the troll.
“Pardon you elf,” Shiva said, “are you insinuating that I’m not good company to keep?”
“I uh -” Estelar said but Tatarna cut him off.
“It’s a long story. We’re on our way to clan Big Club to talk to Bigbelly.”
“Why?”
“I’ll explain on the way.”
Fonwilsia and Estelar rode along with Stinking Shiva’s party while Tatarna filled him in on the events of the previous day. When he heard the effects his messages had, he was stunned.
“I did all that?” Estelar said.
“You did, it was pretty amazing,” Tatarna said.
Fonwilsia laughed. “And you were worried nothing would come out of it. You got the entire area in an uproar.”
“I don’t think it is so amusing,” Shiva said. “You caused a great deal of unrest in Monster Plain that upset our already delicate structure of alliances.”
The troll’s fierce gaze put ice in Estelar’s stomach.
“However,” Shiva continued, “your ill-conceived plan could be advantageous.”
“Could be?” Tatarna said. “I was with you yesterday. I think your speech convinced all of the representatives that were with us to go against Larkin and Bigbelly.”
The troll shook her head. “Tatarna, you disappoint me. I thought you spending time with me would have wisened you at least a little. Perhaps my expectations of you were too high.”
The tiger woman’s face darkened. “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t expect it all to be that easy, did you? Those monster tribes only settled their squabbling and listened to reason because a more powerful monster, me, told them to. What do you think they’ll do when they are standing in front of someone as strong and cunning as I presume your former master is?”
Estelar’s mouth turned sideways. “They’ll probably fold and do what he tells them.”
“Correct. This war isn’t won, but your side, which coincidentally aligns with mine at this point, is much closer to achieving its goal than it once was,” the troll said.
“How can we win, then?” Fonwilsia said.
“Winning and losing all depends on how you look at it. I’ve already come out ahead in this game. But there’s still a chance that I, and you all, can deliver a blow to Bigbelly and his new wizard buddy, which is what we’re on our way to do now.”
The group arrived at the cave of clan Big Club. When the two ogres standing guard saw them approaching, they stepped in front of the entrance.
“Stop. What you want?” one ogre said.
“We want to speak with Bigbelly. Let us through,” Shiva said.
“You. We not know name. But Bigbelly call you rotten faced b
itch. He not want see you.”
Shiva drew her glowing mace. “You’ll find out how rotten this bitch can be if you don’t let me through.”
“You not scare. Whole tribe come and kill if kill me.”
“Do you value your life so little?”
“No, but Bigbelly do worse to us if we let you through.”
Estelar sat tall on his horse. “Let us through or I will rend you to shreds with my magic.”
Fonwilisa and Tatarna turned to the elf in shock.
The other ogre looked at the elf. “You rainbow elf. Chief tell us about you. Shoot beam that make pretty colors. Better than LSD. But your magic don’t kill.”
Estelar laughed. “Do you honestly think that is all the magic I know? What a fool I would be if I placed all my eggs in one basket. I have magics that would rend you to shreds with a flick of my fingers.”
The first ogre stomped his foot. “You talk shit. Not believe.”
“Then believe this. Say I only know my rainbow spell. I could cast it and have my friends rip you apart before you can do anything. I can cast that spell many times and before you know it, our small band has destroyed your entire clan, starting with you.”
The ogres looked at each other. Worry painted on their face.
Your bluff skill has increased to 2.
Estelar smiled and closed the pop up window.
“What you want with Bigbelly?” One of the ogres finally said.
“We just want to talk to him,” Estelar said.
“You shit out luck. Bigbelly not here.”
“Where is he?” Shiva said.
“He went talk to allies with scary looking shadow guy.”
“Larkin,” Tatarna said.
“What do you think that means?” Tatarna whispered to Shiva and the others.
“It means we need to move our asses and catch them before they salvage this plan of theirs,” Shiva said.
“Which way did they go?” Shiva said.
“They go many ways, but Bigbelly and scary shadow went that way.” The ogres pointed to the east.
Shiva called to the rest of her party and they turned toward that direction.
“Thank you for your cooperation,” Estelar smiled and waved at the ogres.
Your asshole skill has increased to 1.
Nice work, the Dev team ;)
The elf chuckled as they rode away.
FORTY-TWO
Bigbelly and Larkin divided a few ogres and the warriors Larkin brought with him into teams. They decided to inform the chiefs of a meeting that would be held at the cave of clan Big Club in two days time. The group split up into teams, with Larkin, Bigbelly, Padwin, and a few ogres and Crimson Warrios made up one team, while the others were created from a mix of Larkin and Bigbelly’s followers.
Padwin had hoped to be teamed with Durga and Poppy, as he was still frightened about his master’s anger when he told him about his character death. However, Larkin seemed to be in high spirits, and he was honored to ride beside them as they went out on their mission.
The group came upon a small goblin village located near clan Big Club. Two goblins came out to meet them. Larkin motioned to Padwin and he stepped forward to speak.
“Good afternoon, I am Padwin and this is Bigbelly and Larkin. We are here in behalf of the Crimson Warriors, may we speak to your chief?”
The goblins drew short swords.
“Larkin the evil, you’re not welcome here,” said one of the goblins.
“Not welcome here?” Larkin said in his sweetest voice, which sounded like a cheese grater grinding against granite. “My apologies, but why am I not welcome?”
“You know why. You told our wives you’d take them from us and give us beautiful women in return. My wife hasn’t spoken to me for days.”
Larkin released a bout of grating laughter. “I mean no offense, but I don’t wish to take your wives.”
“If we have pretty women, we keep for ourselves,” Bigbelly said.
“Tell our wives that, they won’t listen to us,” the other goblin said.
“Please allow us to speak to the people of your village and we will clear up this uh - odd misunderstanding,” Padwin said.
The goblins gathered and after a twenty minute speech, convinced the female goblins they weren’t being taken away. When everything was cleared up, Larkin spoke to the chief and he agreed to meet them.
The next village they came to was openly hostile toward them. A group of ten orcs came toward them with weapons raised. Estelar reached his hand to the sky and unleashed a massive fireball that would have swallowed the orcs if it was pointed toward them. Another speech had to be given to assure everyone that no deal was made to purchase food from their meagre supply.
Two more villages had the people attack them when they announced their names. One was able to be pacified by threats and convinced that their weaker members were not going to be sold as slaves. However, a village of gnolls were not as willing to listen. Their spearmen charged the group.
Balls of fire and bolts of lightning ripped through the village destroying all those that attacked while Bigbelly and Padwin used their melee skills to end any others that managed to get close. The remaining villagers fled, leaving the charred and smouldering remains of the battle.
Larkin turned to Padwin and Bigbelly. “Do you know the reasoning behind all of this?”
Both of them shook their heads. The air around the group grew extremely frigid. Bigbelly and Padwin shivered.
“I’m starting to sense that something is very wrong here. It sounds like someone has been spreading foolishness among these villagers and it’s making my life difficult.”
“If we have this trouble, other groups have it worse,” Bigbelly said.
“Perhaps we should gather everyone together so we can devise another plan. Our people might get killed,” Padwin said.
Larkin shook his head. “If they don’t have the sense to run from overwhelming danger then I have no pity for them. That isn’t my main concern. I want to know who spread these lies.”
The wizard led his group north to the next village, Rustyblade. They were met by five small kobolds who instantly recognized Padwin and drew their weapons.
The kobolds cringed in the presence of the wizard.
“G-go a-away,” a bold kobold female finally spoke, “w-we don’t want you here.”
Larkin opened his hands and balls of flame appeared in his palms.
“Take us to your chief, please.”
More kobolds gathered around Estelar’s party, all frightened when they saw the terror inducing-wizard, but they held their ground.
“N-no, leave,” the kobold female said.
The balls of flame in Larkin’s palms grew larger. Bigbelly reached down to touch the wizard’s shoulder, but a steely glare backed the massive ogre away. Soon the aquamarine kobold that served as their chief came out to see what the commotion was.
He nearly jumped out of his scales when he saw the wizard.
“Good afternoon,” the kobold’s voice was shaky, “welcome to Rustyblade. I am the chief, how can I help you?”
“You are the chief? Last I checked Death-On-Sands was the chief,” Padwin said.
“Some of the peoples of our village came to a disagreement with one of our chief’s policies. So we decided it was a change in leadership.”
Larkin and company saw the heads of several kobolds on pikes and could guess the fate of the former leader.
“Why did this occur?” Larkin said.
The aquamarine kobold described the events that led to Death-On-Sands’s removal from office.
“Who delivered that message to you?” Larkin said.
“It was a blond elf, he said it was from uh -”
“He said it was from whom?” The flames in Larkin’s hands grew hotter, counteracting the cold he radiated.
“A high ranking member of his guild, no names were mentioned,” the kobold spoke quickly, making sure not to name Larkin, who h
e assumed this was, from what he’d heard.
Larkin clenched his fists and the flames dissipated. He turned to Padwin.
“It seems like your spat with your old friend has led to further reaching consequences than I would have guessed.”
The air around Padwin grew colder. He swallowed hard. “Please, my lord. I beg you, I will do anything to make this right.”
“There is nothing you can do to make all of this right. So I’ll have to do what I can. Come. I want to visit as many villages as we can before nightfall.”
The group continued on and had varying success talking to the few villages they visited. Their other parties had less success. Some of the Crimson Warriors and ogres sent out were found dead, while others ran back toward the cave of clan Big Club.
Larkin paid them no mind, and continued onward.
FORTY-THREE
Shiva and her party followed Larkin’s trail for most of the day. Along the way, several bodies of dead Crimson Warriors and ogre PCs were found on the ground. They passed through the gnoll village that was burned down by Larkin, and a wounded gnoll was taken in by their party. The gnoll spoke of the atrocities caused by Larkin. This story made the troll giddy and made the former Crimson Warriors and Fonwilsia a bit uncomfortable.
It was late in the day when Estelar caught the sight of a large figure walking in the distance. He strained his eyes and motioned to the rest of the party.
“I think that’s Bigbelly,” the elf said.
Tatarna shaded her eyes and leaned forward. “That scary looking shadowy thing walking with them is Larkin and I think that’s Padwin.”
Tatarna drew her sword and turned to the troll. “Let’s charge them. I want to stick my blade in Padwin again.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Estelar said. “Larkin will kill you.”
“Yeah, that guy looks scary,” Fonwilsia said.
Shiva held out a hand. “Let’s just follow them. Nothing can come from meeting them here.”
“When should we meet them?” Estelar said.
“I know where they’re headed. When they get there, that’s when we’ll make our next move.”
Unexplored - Rise of the Crimson Kingdom Page 21