The Greystone Chronicles: Book One: Io Online

by Dave Willmarth

  By the time they reached the second floor boss, the group had managed to teach Fibble a bit about strategy. He waited patiently while they discussed how the fight should go, rather than just charging in. The little guy is taking his demon killing very seriously.

  The boss was an unnamed Minor Demon Warrior. Basically the same critter they’d fought in the first demon dungeon, only a much lower level. He carried two swords, and wore a chainmail chestpiece.

  Minor Demon Warrior

  Level 35

  Health 2500/2500

  The group decided to approach this as a straight up no frills fight. Brick would grab aggro, the others would DPS. No fancy plans unless something unexpected arose. Fibble would protect Sasha.

  So Brick strode into the room, stopped about 10 feet from the boss, and hit it with holy smite. He let the angry demon move toward him, building up some momentum. Then the dwarf hit his shield rush ability, rushing forward to bash his shield into the demon’s face. The impact stunned the demon, knocking it down. Alexander hit it with rapid fire magic bolts. Lainey and Max played “who can shoot the demon in the eye first”.

  Sasha was about to heal Brick, but an errant shot from Fibble hit the tank first. To be fair, when the goblin had started the shot, the demon had been in the space Brick now occupied. So we’re going to blame it on the tank.

  Instead, Sasha cast thorns on the demon before it could rise, trapping it on its back. The group all poured on the ranged DPS, and Brick, not needing to block, crushed its head with a two-handed hammer blow backed by holy magic. That was the end of boss #2.

  Max looted the boss, and began to laugh. In addition to dropping his two swords, which were both rares, but not exceptional, the demon dropped a goblin chainmail shirt. “This must be for our new mascot” he said, handing it to Fibble.

  “Me Fibble. Who mascot?” the goblin asked, taking the shirt and then looking around as if Max intended him to pass it on to someone else.

  “My mistake, Fibble. The shirt is for you. Go ahead, put it on.”

  Fibble took a minute to figure out the shirt. He’d never worn anything but the standard goblin loincloth. Finally, Sasha helped him get his arms and head through the proper holes. The armor didn’t automatically adjust to his three-foot frame, so the shirt reached down to his knees, looking more like a nightgown.

  Lainey pulled a leather strip out of her bag, and made him a makeshift belt. “Quite the handsome goblin!” Lydia smiled at Fibble as he spun around admiring himself, then did a little dance of goblin joy.

  Uh, oh. Definitely seeing a pattern here. We’re never getting rid of this goblin, Alexander thought.

  They checked the room for hidden doors, and Fitz actually found one. Upon opening the door, they found a large chest with a small chest on either side. The loot-loving faces of everyone in the group lit up, except Fibble.

  “What big deal? Just shiny stuff. Fibble’s bed is better.” The little goblin walked away, bored.

  Max entered the room and began to check for traps. He disarmed one on each of the smaller chests, and was working on the larger when he made a mistake. There was an audible click, and Max had time to say, “Well, shit,” before an acid cloud burst from the chest. It enveloped everyone in the group, who had all pressed forward to see the loot, and had inhaled in surprise at the explosion, drawing the cloud into their lungs, except for Fibble, who had wandered away.

  As the others began to cough and choke Fibble turned and saw what had happened. Recognizing the trap, he immediately began to shoot his new companions. “Pew! Pew! Pew!” He began with the ladies, who had been much nicer to him than the others.

  The quick heals gave Sasha and Lydia time to cast larger heals on themselves, then on the others. Meanwhile Fibble kept up the rotation, shooting each of them again and again until Sasha told him it was okay to stop. “Thank you Fibble, you saved me again! You saved all of us!” she smiled at the tiny warrior.

  Max looted the chests, which combined produced another 2,000 gold, several gems, a spell scroll, and an epic, scalable, one handed sword.

  “Jackpot!” Brick shouted. Since none of them had a need for it, they could sell it at auction. It would bring maybe 10,000 gold.

  Moving down to the third floor, they once again followed Fibble’s lead. This floor featured fewer imps and more lesser demons as the standard mob, with a few minor demons mixed into some of the rooms. The team burned through them, and within a reasonably short time, reached the boss. This one was a larger, winged demon with a deep crimson hide, ebony ram horns curling back from its forehead, and a spiked tail. It held a two handed sword in one hand as it sat in a massive chair in the middle of the room. Behind the demon was a pitch black vertical disc. The portal the demons had used to enter the goblin’s territory.

  Gortax

  Greater Demon

  Level 40

  Health 4000/4000

  The adventurers had only reached level 19 as they moved through the dungeon killing demons. With the much higher leveled Captain, Fitz, and Lydia in their party, they were receiving less xp than they normally would, so this demon was more than twice their level.

  Not wanting to miss an opportunity, Alexander said, “I want to try an experiment. Captain, Fitz, Lydia, what would happen if you left our party? Would you instantly teleport out?”

  The captain answered. “If this were a real raid dungeon, then yes. It would teleport us back to the entrance. However, this is just a normal dungeon. We’d just stay where we are.” To demonstrate, he left the raid party. When nothing happened, Lydia and Fitz did the same. They could still jump in and help if needed, and now they weren’t lowering the xp gained for the rest of the group.

  “Thank you. This will help us grow faster. I promise you’ll still get your shares of the loot!” he grinned.

  Fibble looked terrified. He hid behind Sasha’s leg and refused to even look at the demon. “What is it, Fibble?” Lainey asked, getting down at his eye level.

  “This nasty demon that shoot Fibble with fire and put him in cage!” the goblin whimpered.

  “Don’t worry, Fibble. We will kill nasty demon. You can help! When we say, you just shoot him fast as you can. Ok?”

  The goblin nodded his head, though he still remained behind Sasha’s leg.

  “Right,” Sasha began. “So this is the last dungeon boss. In addition to the big stabby sword, we now know he can cast fire magic, at the very least. Judging by the size of those wings, he might be able to fly as well. So, same pull as always. As soon as Brick hits him, I’ll trap him. Alexander light him up. Watch for adds. Max, you silence the first cast. Lainey, you interrupt his casts as often as possible. Everybody keep an eye out for adds. If they come in, let Brick pull them in and then we burn them down around the boss. Let’s go!”

  Brick stepped into the room and gave the others a moment to file in behind. Then he walked forward, and started his standard demon pull. He hit the boss with holy smite, and waited for it to charge. When it did, he activated shield rush, and shot forward to nail the boss in the knees with his shield. The boss wasn’t stunned, but it was thrown slightly off balance, making the first swing of its sword miss the tank completely. Sasha hit it with thorn trap, and Alexander cast wizard fire. Lainey and Max each put an arrow in the side of its head.

  Unable to move, the frustrated boss began to chant in the demon language. Max shot it in the head with a silence arrow, interrupting the cast. Brick smashed one of its knees with his hammer, doing physical and holy damage, and causing the boss to favor that leg. The group had time for another round of arrows, magic bolts, and hammer blows before the silence debuff wore off.

  The demon waved its left hand and the group was hit with an instant 50% haste debuff. This slowed both physical movement and magic casting times. The demon swung his sword down at Brick’s head. The dwarf was able to raise his shield in time to block, but just barely. The attack turned out to be a feint. Instead of hitting the tank’s shield, the demon simply let go
of the sword and grabbed onto the shield with both hands. It lifted the shield, taking Brick with it. Then it flung the tank in the direction of the healer. Brick flew over Alexander’s head, bashing into both Lainey and Max, knocking them back into Sasha. All of them took some physical damage from the impact with the plate-covered dwarf.

  As they tried to untangle, the demon bent and lifted its sword. It raised both arms in the air and let out a roar that lasted a solid 5 seconds. Brick was back on his feet, the others still rising, as six lesser demons charged into the room from a staircase behind the boss. Brick, charged forward, scraping his hammer across the face of his shield, his Serpent Screech ability drawing the attention of all the demons in the room. He charged the boss, smashing his shield into its already damaged knee, causing it to drop to one knee. Then he slammed his shield into the stone and made his stand as the other demons slammed into him.

  Sasha cast her AOE thorn trap, rooting them all in place. Alexander hit the boss and four others with wizard fire, the demons screaming in frustration more than pain. Demons, especially demons with fire magic, had a high resistance to fire. The only reason they were taking as much damage as they were, was because this was wizard’s fire, sort of like napalm in the real world.

  Clearly the mobs weren’t going down fast enough. “Brick, take a step back, I have an idea!” he called out. He activated his earth mover, and sunk a pit underneath the pile of demons, lowering the still burning demons down about 10 feet into the stone. He’d gotten this idea from the “oven” he’d built around the PWP players at the cemetery. Heat was more effective in an enclosed space. He motioned the others over. They circled the top of the pit, firing arrows and spells at the boss.

  It began another cast, but Fibble chose that time to start shooting it in the face. “Pew! Pew!” the bolts of healing magic proved an effective interrupt.

  “Re-cast your thorn trap, Lainey,” Alexander said. A new set of thorny vines grasped at all the demons in the pit, shredding their legs. Alexander cast wizard fire again on the boss, and on two more demons before he was nearly out of mana. He used the last that he had to close the top of the pit with a stone lid. The screams of the lesser demons ended quickly, but the howls of the boss could still be heard through the stone. After another 10 seconds or so, they knew it had died.

  Level up! You are now level 20!

  Your wisdom has increased by +1. Your intelligence has increased by +1

  You have 11 free attribute points available

  Level up! You are now level 21!

  Your wisdom has increased by +1. Your intelligence has increased by +1

  You have 11 free attribute points available

  Achievement earned: First Kill!

  You are the first to complete the “Stolen” Dungeon and slay Gortax Goblin-eater

  Fame points awarded: 1,000

  Experience: 11,000

  First Kill Reward: Epic or Legendary level item

  Level up! You are now level 22!

  Your wisdom has increased by +1. Your intelligence has increased by +1

  You have 11 free attribute points available

  Level up! You are now level 23!

  Your wisdom has increased by +1. Your intelligence has increased by +1

  You have 11 free attribute points available

  Alexander removed the lid from over the pit, and a blast of scorching air burst up at them. There was no way the boss could be looted until they cooled down some, so Max and Fitz began to search for hidden yummies. Alexander raised the floor of the pit back up, allowing the heat to disburse more quickly. Finally, Fitz got tired of waiting and hit the demon pile with a blast of arctic air. Max looted the corpses.

  All told, the minor demons dropped less than 500 gold, one epic quality two handed sword, one superior quality soul crystal, and a few rare quality weapons and armor bits.

  The boss, on the other hand, had better loot. First Kill loot. Lainey’s prize was first.

  Demon Bone Bow

  Item Level: Unique, Epic

  Stats: +10 Strength, +10 Agility

  Formed from the heat-fused spine of the demon Gortax and strung with its tendons, this bow is more flexible and powerful than wooden bows. For those with the strength to draw it, it will generate demon-bone arrows with +10 damage against all targets, and +20 damage against targets with dark affinity. Class Bonus: Demon-bone arrows infused with Valkyrie Shock spell extend duration of stun effect by 100%.

  Surprisingly, the next item was for Fibble. It was a 3 foot long staff with two horns on top.

  Goblin Staff of Demon Killing

  Item Level: Unique, Epic

  Stats: +10 Intelligence, +10 Wisdom

  This staff will absorb damage from dark or fire magic attacks, and convert them into charges of light magic. Race Bonus: Attacks against targets of dark affinity will do +25% damage. Spells cast on targets of light affinity will do +25% healing.

  Max held out the staff to Fibble, who looked confused. Lainey, realizing the little goblin couldn’t read, said, “That is for you, Fibble. Big important stick. Kills demons better. Big heals for friends, too.”

  Grinning, Fibble grabbed the staff, shouting, “Pew!”, and blasting Max in the face with a healing spell. Everyone, including the goblin, had a good laugh.

  There wasn’t an item for everyone this time, possibly because the dungeon had been low level.

  Fitz pointed out that the throne was the source of magic powering the portal, and Brick wasted no time. Putting away his shield, he took his hammer in both hands, and hit the throne with a massive overhand blow that he combined with his holy smite spell.

  The stone throne cracked, then fell into two halves, revealing a dark orb that had been concealed underneath. Fitz took one look at the orb, and warned everyone to stay back. “Alexander, I need a box. Obsidian. Just big enough to hold this thing.”

  Alexander produced a mana potion and drank it down. He’d drained his mana in the fight. When he had sufficient juice, he reached into the earth with his earth mover and raised a roughly ten-pound chunk of obsidian. Taking over, Brick hollowed it out and smoothed it until it was roughly box-shaped, with a hinged lid. Fitz then cast several spells on the box, explaining that he was infusing it with light magic and protective magic and a time dilation spell that would make time pass inside the box at 1/10o,000th of normal speed. For each second that passed within the box, roughly a day would pass in the normal world.

  Fitz scooped the orb into the box, then closed the lid. He had Brick fuse the lid on all four sides so it could not be opened. Then he slid the box in his inventory, saying he’d explain later. The moment the box was sealed, the portal disappeared with a pop.

  “Why you put overlord’s surprise in box?” Fibble had been peering curiously at the box until Fitz put it away.

  “Overlord’s surprise?” Fitz asked.

  “Dark ball thingy. Was present for overlord. Man in dark hood bring. Overlord out hunting, so man put ball under throne. Said not to tell overlord. Big surprise for later.” Fibble thought about it. “Bad surprise,” he said, sadly.

  “Well, that explains some things,” Fitz said.

  Leaving it for later, they searched the room for treasures and hidden doors, as usual. Finding nothing, they followed Fibble down the stairs to “bottom room”, which turned out to be a sort of office and sleeping quarters for the goblin boss.

  As the group fanned out, Fibble looked up at Sasha. “Humans kill Fibble now? We reach bottom room. No need Fibble.”

  Everybody in the room paused. It hadn’t occurred to any of them that the goblin had still believed all this time that they’d kill him when he’d served his purpose. The little guy stood there, no trembling, just accepting his fate.

  They had a dilemma. They couldn’t exactly take Fibble with them. The villagers had lost so much at the hands of the goblins. He most certainly would be killed on sight.

  Sasha wasn’t able to answer the little goblin, so Fitz saved her. “Fibbl
e, we are not going to kill you. You have earned that at least. But your people killed many humans, and those humans would try to kill you, just like you killed all these demons for eating your friends. Do you understand?”

  The goblin nodded. “Humans always kill goblins. That why we hid in caves. Only sneak out at night to hunt. Caves not safe anymore, still demons we not kill. Leave Fibble some food so he can hide under bed?”

  Shaking his head, the wizard said, “Fibble, how would you like to see a real wizard’s tower?”

  The goblin asked, “This mean wizard? Put Fibble in cage?”

  Doh!

  “Me, Fibble. I’m the wizard. It’s my tower,” Fitz nearly pulled his hair out.

  “Oh! You good wizard. I go. Never come back here?”

  The wizard nodded.

  “Fibble go to his hole and get picture of family, then we go!”