“Master, to the west!” I turned to where Della was pointing, and raised my eyes towards the horizon. I’d been looking for monsters ambushing us at our rest, and hadn’t noticed the red glow in the sky. A fire was burning, and it was coming from the direction of Ullelone Village.
Everyone was awake now, and looking at the red glow. I shook my head. “Break everything down and pack up. We’ll leave at first light. Continue with the watches, but sleep in your armor, with your weapons near to hand. Della, it is almost time for my watch, so you go ahead and get some rest.” It was just fortunate that it was spring, and we hadn’t needed to keep a fire going the whole night through for warmth.
As the others broke down the camp and then found a patch of grass to lie against their pack, or something similar, I held my bow and entered stealth. I did not trust the darkness to hide us from whoever was moving about in the dark.
When dawn came, none of us had slept much, taking what rest we could on the open ground. As soon as it was light enough to see, we had a cold breakfast, and then set off. We needed to get to the village, and see what had happened here. But we could see smoke in the distance.
We advanced cautiously, and it was near midday by the time we crested the final hill, looking down upon the remains of the village. The village had clearly been put to the torch, and what passed for a wall (simply a wooden palisade to keep wild monsters at bay) had been broken in at least one place that we could see. But there was movement below, centered on the one building that remained intact, what looked like a temple made of stone.
Spurring our horses onward, we quickly arrived at the edge of the palisade, but brought the horses up short of entering the gate, as we finally saw what was moving. It wasn’t the elves we were hoping for. Instead, we found scores of shambling undead! They were all still fairly ‘fresh’, from the looks of things, so it probably meant that these were the villagers until the attack last night.
“Dismount! Yukiko, Nithroel, we will try and hold them in the gate, where we can at least have the advantage of restricting their numbers! Severa, you and Athtar hang back with the horses. Use your bows to help how you can, and check to make sure they don’t flank us. Della, focus on healing us, but use your holy magic to take them on if there’s need. This is a long march, not a sprint. Conserve your strength everyone.”
As we arranged our formation, I opened up the guild chat. Fortunately, Lexichan was online.
Zayn: Lexichan! Emergency!
Lexichan: *yawn* I just woke up. What’s the emergency? Yukiko want to try pegging?
Zayn: No. More the ‘possible undead apocalypse’ kind of emergency.
Lexichan: WHAT?!?
Zayn: Here is what I need you to do. Go to the palace, and tell the guards that Sir Darkmore sends an urgent message. Tell them that Ullelone Village was put to the torch last night, and the villagers have risen as feral undead. We will do what we can to contain this, but we have no idea who, or what, caused this, or whether any of the undead escaped. Go now, and warn them!
Lexichan: On my way! What about you guys? Will you be all right?
Zayn: We are using the village palisade to our benefit, but who knows how long that will work. Closing chat. They’re on us!
I closed out the brief chat just in time to catch the first zombie’s attack with my blade, and respond in kind. There was nothing fancy about what we were doing here. It was a simple, brutal battle plan, to kill and keep killing until nothing else remained. At least we had the gate to keep the things from swarming us all at once. If we had to defend on all sides, eventually we would be overrun. Fortunately, the zombies were mindless beings, and funneled themselves into the killing zone.
Even with that, we soon found ourselves being driven back, as our sword arms began to tire, and our strikes prove less true. I’d lost count of the numbers we’d killed as the tide weighed down upon us, our ability to resist aided only by the work of the three behind us taking the pressure off where they could.
“Athtar, on your horse, and see if you can see the end of this! This village wasn’t that large!”
The boy got on his horse, and stood in the saddle to see over our heads, and the news he gave us was quite welcome indeed. “We’re nearing the end! Only a score more and then we’ll be done with this lot!”
I breathed a sigh, and said, “Della! Light them up!” Now that we knew we were coming to an end, we could afford to show less restraint. Della followed my command, and unleashed the strongest area heal she could, not only healing all of our wounds, but doing critical damage to all the undead as a pillar of light burst into being, centered on the horde. After that, it was simply a matter of mopping up the few with a couple HP left.
Breathing heavily, I said, “Everyone take a knee. Severa, Athtar, recover your arrows. We’ll rest for five minutes, and then continue on into the village. We have to find out what happened here.” No one talked during our break. There was nothing to say. The silence of the ruined village hung over us all like a shadow. Checking the combat logs, I saw that, not only had we killed almost one hundred and twenty zombies, but Athtar had grown to level 20. When we got back to Mylenoris, I’d have to see about getting him a subclass.
Athtar Keystina
Elf Male
Level 20 Ranger
Titles: Slave, Broken One, Undead Bane
We had all received the ‘Undead Bane’ title after the battle was over. Honestly, it was pretty awesome, for what it did.
Undead Bane
There are those who fight the undead at need, but then there are those who seek them out, to eradicate them. You are one of those brave, or foolhardy, souls.
+10% to all damage against Undead.
-10% damage received from Undead.
+10% resistance to spells and abilities of Undead
+100 Fame
+10 WIS
Five minutes wasn’t much, after the fight we’d just been through, but I felt uneasy just sitting there before the gates of the town without knowing what was going on. We needed answers before we could rest peacefully. So, weapons in hand, we advanced, leading the horses as we went.
Ullelone Village had been comprised mostly of wooden buildings, so when the fire raged through the town, everything burned. The palisade only held together as it did because someone was smart enough to build it well out from the nearest buildings, so the fire did not spread to the walls.
There would be no survivors in the wooden buildings. The last month had been hot and dry, and with the undead about, the fires would have spread unchecked. Still, we would check them, before long. But the best chance for survivors would be the temple.
As we neared the temple, we once more heard the sounds of undead. Carefully, we rounded the corner, and saw that another twenty undead were battering at the wooden doors of the temple. Though they looked as though they had been sturdy at one point, I doubted they would hold much longer. We had to act now, if we wanted answers out of those who lived. Oddly enough, I noticed that there were drow zombies amongst this group.
“Della, light them up. I want this to be over.” Once more, the pillar of light descended, and most of the undead perished in that instant, and the few who remained were crushed as I summoned the dark tentacles to bash them to pieces. I dismissed the tentacles, and moved to check the bodies of the drow. From them, I gained a store of coin, several wicked looking weapons, and eight shirts of mithral rings that I would identify later, as well as some letters that I would read through when I had a chance. Each of them bore the livery of the Spider Queen, Lolth.
Still, it was time to see who lived in the middle of this mess. I walked up to the door, and banged loudly upon it, before shouting in the elven tongue, “Open the doors! The way is clear, for the time being!”
There was a moment of silence, likely the result of the people inside having a brief debate, and then the doors were pushed open. What remained of the villagers (twenty of them, all women and children) had taken shelter here with a pair of pri
ests. But it was not the priests that kept the undead at bay. That ‘honor’ had apparently fallen to the trio in front of me.
Inialos Arasatra
Elf Male
Level 25 Bard / Fighter
Titles: Curious One, Tempter, Defender, Valiant
Ilsevel Yllaric
Elf Female
Level 25 Paladin / Priestess
Titles: Righteous, Disciple, Defender, Valiant
Tolthe Torrona
Dark Elf Male
Level 30 Shadow Sorcerer / Rogue
Titles: Exceptional, Renegade, Exile, Defender, Valiant
Looking the trio over, I said, “I am Zayn Darkmore, a Traveler, and Knight of the Wyrmwood. My companions and I have cleared out the undead outside, though we do not know if any escaped the village before we came.”
Ilsevel sagged in relief. “Wonderful news! We have been under siege since the assault began during the night!”
I nodded. “We saw the light of the flames from our camp, but rushing into a night battle without knowing who or what we would be facing seemed like suicide, so we set off at first light.”
Tolthe spoke up for the first time. “It was well that you delayed. Sunlight drove the remaining drow back underground, leaving you only the undead to deal with. At night, you would have been slaughtered before you even knew they were there.”
I turned to look at him, and aid, “Then it was a raid by the drow that started this whole mess, I take it? Where did they come from? And how did a raid upon a village turn into a horde of undead? We saw drow amongst the zombies outside the doors.”
Tolthe cursed in the language of the Underdark, and said, “Yes, it was the drow. And yes, as you might expect, I was part of the raid, but not by choice. I follow Elistraee, the Dancing Maiden, though that admission would see me killed in the lands of my kin. I had hoped to limit the damage on this raid, but when I found out what was going on, I had to help save as many as I could, even if it meant making myself an open exile.”
“So what changed this from a normal raid?”
“A Traveler that rose to power amongst my people recently. Drunk on her own power, I fear she is not far from madness. Her name is Kali Philen, and she is a necromancer and priestess of Lolth. It was she who discovered a lost tome that gave her the power to conjure the Black Mist.”
Inialos shuddered. “I witnessed the Black Mist. Those who breathed it gagged, as though choking, and fell down, dead. Any corpses touched by the mist rose as undead, and if the undead managed to slay someone, they, too, rose as the undead.”
My eyes narrowed at that nasty bit of news. “What area did the mist cover? And how does this village tend to their dead?”
One of the priests spoke up, since he’d been listening in, and said, “Like many small villages, we dare not risk having many corpses about, so most of the people are cremated, their ashes spread amongst the crops in the next year’s sowing, so that they might always be a part of our village. Those few we keep preserved are interred in catacombs beneath this building, and are protected by sacred wards.”
I sagged in relief. That was one potential nightmare over. “Good. The recent dead were bad enough. I shudder to think what would happen if this mist fell on a cemetery full of generations of villagers.”
I was about to say more, when the guild chat buzzed at me. I held up a hand, to signal that I was conversing with someone, and answered the chat.
Chapter 41 – Forebodings of War
Lexichan: Zayn, I managed to convince the people in the palace that the threat was real. They need a safe place to set up a portal so they can send through reinforcements. What’s the situation?
Zayn: I think we killed all the zombies. But we don’t know whether any escaped town. They all have to be destroyed. They’re the ‘if the zombie kills you, you’re a zombie’ type. So let them know that reinforcements should include rangers for hunting down stragglers.
Lexichan: Will do. Have you found any survivors?
Zayn: We recovered some survivors in the Temple. Twenty-five total: 20 civilians (women and children), 2 priests of the temple, 3 adventurers. It is possible that others survived in the other buildings, but I doubt it. Tell whoever is leading the reinforcements that one of the survivors is a Drow that went renegade to help save as many villagers as he could. He is not a prisoner, but a defector.
Lexichan: Understood. Do you have a site for the portal?
Zayn: Yes. We’ve cleared out the square in front of the temple. You can use that as the target area. Passing coordinates now.
Lexichan: Expect reinforcements in 30.
Zayn: Roger.
Looking up at the survivors, I said, “I have passed word about what happened here to Mylenoris, and we should have reinforcements within the hour. They know that there are survivors.” I paused, and looked to Tolthe, and said, “And I told them that there was a drow defector amongst the survivors. I can’t promise that anyone will be happy to see you, but they won’t kill you on sight. If you can provide information, especially about this Traveler that unleashed the Black Mist, then you would do much to prove yourself in their eyes.”
Tolthe sighed, and said, “Well, that was better than I hoped for.” Switching sides was always risky, especially when horrible crap was raining down. Made people jumpy. So really, I could understand why he wouldn’t be expecting the hero’s welcome.
A couple minutes before the expected reinforcements were due to arrive, I had my group together standing in front of the temple, with the trio waiting at the temple doors, while the priests and the survivors waited inside. It wasn’t like I was expecting an attack, but I didn’t feel good letting defenseless civilians out roaming about until we knew more. And especially not when there may be undead still in town, trapped by debris.
At the promised time, a portal opened up in the square, and out marched two platoons of soldiers, and a squad of rangers. Following them were several Aria members, led by Lexichan. I nodded to her, but went to address the leader of the soldiers.
Ayluin Tralar
Elf Male
Level 40 Sentinel (Fighter) / Marshall
Rank: Lieutenant
Titles: Defender, Ambitious, Righteous
Seeing me approach, the man turned to look at me, sizing me up. “Are you Sir Darkmore?” When I nodded to him, he said, “Good, then you can tell me what we’re dealing with, yes? We were given an emergency callout, with less than an hour to prepare. What happened here?”
“It seems a drow raiding party decided to attack the village in the night. What would have been a massacre turned into something far worse when one of the drow spellcasters apparently decided to test out a new spell. From the descriptions we have, the spell conjured a black mist that killed those who breathed it, and turned any bodies it touched into undead. And some sort of curse must have been left upon them, as those slain by the undead rose as well.”
“You saw this?”
“No, we arrived about an hour ago. Once we saw the undead at the village gate, I sent the alert. But there were survivors, including two adventurers and a renegade drow who helped save as many of the villagers as they could.”
“That would be the drow standing in the shade of the temple?”
“Indeed. He is a follower of Elistraee, and the adventurers and priests confirm that he helped rescue the civilians. We were able to clear out the undead at the gate and in front of the temple. We killed one hundred and fifty-seven zombies, some of them drow who fell in the initial attack. There were another twenty or so survivors.”
That brought a curse from one of the soldiers behind Tralar. When we both looked at him, he said, “I’m from this village, and there should have been about two hundred people here, this time of year.”
I winced, and said, “And that is why I called for your rangers, Lieutenant. We came in a straight line along the road, so we will need your trackers to try and find any undead that may have escaped. The loss of the village is bad enough, but this cann
ot be allowed to spread. As for the men, the buildings need to be searched, both for more undead, and for any survivors that managed to make it through the fire.”
The lieutenant nodded. “It will be done. And the survivors?”
I offered a shrug, and said, “See to your men, Lieutenant, and begin the search. I’ll check in with my guildsmen, and then we’ll see what we can do for them.”
Lieutenant Tralar nodded, and turned to begin ordering his troops. I walked over to Lexichan and the other members of Aria, and said, “Well, when you said reinforcements were coming, I wasn’t expecting to see you lot come too.”
Lexichan laughed, and said, “You thought we’d let you have all the fun, did you? Sounds like you’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest, boss.”
Rules-Free VRMMO Life: Volume IV: To the Deeps Page 3