Opening the supply depot, I could see that it listed upgrades that matched our level and ones that were a step above average. About the only thing good my late predecessor Lieutenant Burnside had done was upgrade the garrison and supply depot to level 3. He had done it solely to unlock luxuries for himself, but now I would use it for the benefit of the troops.
Supply Depot: The following upgrades are available.
Armor Upgrades: Standard armor upgrades are now available. Standard armor will improve as your level increases, negating the need for purchasing frequent upgrades.
Standard Armor: This upgrade will equip your legion forces with lorica segmentata armor and a scutum-style shield. The defense bonus for the armor is 2 per player level and the shield bonus is 2 for every 5 player levels with an additional 50% bonus to shield defense vs. ranged attacks. Cost for standard armor is 75 gold and 100 resources.
Improved Armor: This option equips your troops with higher-quality gear. While it is of the same style as the standard gear, the construction and materials used are stronger. Defense bonus is 2.5 per player level. The shield bonus is 2.5 for every 5 player levels with the same 50% bonus vs. ranged attacks. Cost for improved armor is 125 gold and 150 resources.
Weapon Upgrades: Like the armor upgrades, the weapon upgrades provide your troops with standardized equipment that improves as you level. Standard weapons for the legion are the gladius shortsword, the pilum javelin, and a dagger. Forces under your command with specialized equipment will have their equipment item-level scaled to match the item-level of your other soldiers.
Standard Weapons: This upgrade will have your gear at an item-level of 5 per character level. Cost for standard weapons is 75 gold and 100 resources.
Improved Weapons: This upgrade will have your gear at an item-level of 6 per character level. Cost for improved weapons is 125 gold and 150 resources.
As an additional cost, 10% of all loot/resources received from all sources will be deducted to help pay for the continued upgrades (an additional 2.5% for each improved upgrade selected). Additional upgrade tiers and options will be unlocked as the supply depot levels up.
It appeared that the AI was attempting to standardize things for my troops. Below the standardized upgrades, I could see a list of individual weapons and the costs to upgrade my forces, but I would be a fool to not try and standardize things. The only drawback might be specialized units like Ignominia, which I would be inclined to gear with mission-specific items.
I would be out in the field for protracted periods of time and might not be able to fiddle with the campaign map when I wanted to. This way, as soon as I dinged with a new level, our gear would improve instantly to match, although I wondered how that would work; would the men suddenly discover new gear “forgotten” in the back of the wagons? I selected the improved versions of both armor and weapons, which nearly depleted my coin and resources.
Moving on to my character sheet, I adjusted the settings to only show things that had changed.
Raytak: Commander, Level 11, Captain.
Experience: 21283/25000
Abilities:
Command Presence: Creates an aura in a 110-yard radius surrounding you that inspires troops and allies under your command. They receive +5 to attack, +5 to defense, and +5 to morale saves. Any foes within the radius of effect will suffer a −5 penalty to attack and defense. This ability is always active.
Manaless: You have eschewed learning any schools of magic. As a result, you have hardened your defenses and become resistant to hostile spells and magical abilities. The forces under your command also receive a lesser version of this ability. Magic resistance is 11%, and magic resistance for forces under your command is set to 5%.
Voice of Command: You can make your voice heard when giving orders on the battlefield. Any targeted soldier or group of soldiers within visual range of the commander can be selected.
Order of Battle:
1st Legion of Hayden’s Knoll: The 1st Legion is a proud and steadfast formation. Units in this command receive +1 to defense and a cooldown reduction of 10 seconds on the Shield Bash ability.
Standard Soldiers—2 companies, 1 platoon: 226/550
Advanced Soldiers—1 platoon: 22/50
Elite Soldiers: 1/3
Attached Formations:
Ignominia platoon.
Standard Soldiers—1 platoon, 1 squad: 31/60
Advanced Soldiers—1 squad: 4/10
Elite Soldiers: 1/1
Auxiliary Formations 1/1
My total forces had a nice bump in numbers with the level-up. Even now, I could hear new soldiers spawning in the barracks. The system worked like it had before, instantly spawning the troops that I had gained with my new level while making me wait for the casualties to be replaced over time. Inside the courtyard stood a full platoon of soldiers and the new squad from the Ignominia Platoon. The other two squads arrived from town while I poured over the map, trying to decide on our first destination.
“Hey, old man Raytak, what are you doing?” Yendys asked. The familiar halfling druid and her unicorn beetle animal companion shuffled into my quarters.
“Excuse me, civilians are not allowed in the commander’s quarters without an appointment!” Blevins stated in a stern voice, annoyed at the intrusion.
“It’s all right, Blevins. I know this civilian,” I reassured the orderly. If anything, that seemed to irritate the officious man even more. “Yendys, it’s good to see you. What brings you out to Holdfast?” I asked.
“Just checkin’ up on you. Most of us have been busy with stuff so we haven’t been playing much.” Yendys appeared nervous and was scrutinizing me as if she was looking for something. The kid was always a bit weird, so I chalked it up as sort of normal behavior for her. “I have to head out soon, too, but Jacoby asked that I give you a rundown on what we found when we headed toward the zone next door. Oh, and Crunchy wanted to say he missed you,” Yendys said.
“Thanks, Yendys . . . and Crunchy. So what happened that I should hear about?” I inquired while Crunchy busied himself with nibbling on everything he could reach in the room, much to Blevins’s displeasure.
“Okay . . . so we headed down the road to the eastern transition point to that other zone that’s called Booger Crossing or something. On the way, we ran into some ogres that were being attacked by meanie elves that were shooting at the ogre kids and old people for no reason. We totally beat the mean elves and managed to save the kids. A little while later, the main ogre army guys stopped us, and we delivered the kids back home. The ogres seemed kind of mean, but Nitor thinks they may be the last of some tribe of civilized, smarty-pants ogres. Oh, and there are crazy chicken birds that will jump out of the bushes and try to eat you,” Yendys belted out before stopping to catch her breath.
“Thanks for the update, Yendys. We’ll keep a lookout for the evil elves, probably not evil ogres, and hungry chickens. Anything else I should know?”
“Nope, that covers it. I gotta run and meet up with my grandma now. Catch you later, Raytak,” Yendys said before logging out. It was nice of Jacoby to send the warning; it would help to know a little about what we faced out in the unexplored areas of the zone.
I formed up my troops and headed out, finally. First, I decided to follow Sergeant Wrend and the dwarves to see how they were faring against the remnants of the Gul Dorg.
The trail left by Wrend and the dwarves was easy enough to follow, and it looked like it was heading directly toward the mountain range to the northwest. I sent a squad up in front of the formation as an advance guard and a squad to the rear, but I wasn’t really expecting any trouble since a large friendly force had already come through here.
“Ahhhggghhh!” a soldier yelled from the main column.
I spun around from my spot at the head of the column just in time to see a horrifying sight. A six-foot-tall bird rushed out of the high foliage and sheared off the arm of a soldier with its beak before sprinting back into the undergrowth. The sol
dier leaning down to help his injured and bleeding comrade was hit next as another bird flashed through the brush and took his head clean off. His comrade bled out quickly from the lost arm before any of the medics could make it to him.
“Close up and keep your eyes peeled. There’s no telling how many of these things there are,” I ordered while muttering curses at Yendys; when she mentioned chickens attacking, I pictured regular-sized ones or perhaps a carnivorous version that the AI created, not the six-foot-tall speedy monsters that were tearing my men to pieces. I was able to get the system to give a description as I watched the last bird sprint back into cover.
Terror Birds, Level 7.
We were a higher level than our foes, but we were fighting in a bad position. The foliage was nearly up to our heads, and the path we were following had been stomped down flat by the passage of our fellow soldiers and dwarven allies. This left our flanks completely obscured by the tall brush, giving the advantage of surprise to the birds.
We lined the road with our shields up for several minutes, waiting for further attacks. I was about to conclude that the birds were gone when some enterprising soldiers from the Ignominia squad took action. Two of the squad members held out a shield and a third climbed up top. The soldiers lifted up the soldier on the shield so he could scan the terrain.
“Good idea. Get three more up and watch for signs of movement,” I ordered. Three more soldiers were hefted up, and before long, they began to call out.
“I have four trails through the grass and heading toward us on the south side,” one of the soldiers advised.
“Same here on this side. They look like they’re spreading out to come at us from different points,” another soldier added. I waved them back down and quickly arranged the men into two separate shield walls facing the high brush. A half dozen men were held back in the center to prevent any birds from sneaking between our lines.
In a flurry of movement, the brush erupted with charging terror birds. Instead of finding confused and distracted targets, this time the birds were met with a wall of shields and the cold steel of our blades. I ordered a Shield Bash that stunned several of the birds, and with multiple soldiers striking each one, the birds fell quickly.
You have defeated an ambush of Terror Birds. Experience gained 100.
Not a windfall of experience, but I couldn’t expect too much for defeating a foe that was lower-level and numerically inferior to our forces. The part that hurt was the two casualties we took in the initial attack. I should have had the men more actively watching for threats, and I had wrongly assumed the trail we were on was safe.
We made a funny sight as we continued our march, at least two soldiers perched on shields at all times to watch for terror birds. The birds made no more attacks, and eventually the brush and tall grass gave way to rocky soil at the foothills of the mountains.
“Didn’t expect ye to be here, sir. Rollox and yer man Wrend will be wanting to see you. Just follow the footprints and you’ll find your way. Nice thinking with the men hoisted up on the shields; gives ya a way to spot them cursed birds now, doesn’t it?” a dwarf said, emerging from underneath a camouflaged tarp he had been hiding under. The dwarf was one of Rollox’s pathfinders, who were obviously experts on concealing themselves.
“Thank you, and the trick with the man up on the shields is a good one. I just wish it hadn’t cost me two soldiers before we figured it out,” I said to the dwarf as we continued up the trail. The dwarf nodded in understanding. The next time I looked back, he had concealed himself once more, blending perfectly into the environment. It was a good thing the Stonefinder Clan was an ally; I would hate trying to fight them.
The trail led up a short way to the base of the mountain, eventually ending up at the entrance to a cavern. A large, flattened area spread out from the cavern entrance, the remains of a few crumbling statues keeping vigil over these forgotten ruins. The stones around the cavern entrance were carved into pillars, telling me this was not a naturally occurring cavern. Piled up in front of the entrance was a waist-high wall of rocks with several dwarves and legionnaires watching the cave entrance while others worked on the defenses. I spotted Wrend chatting with Rollox behind the short wall.
“Sir, I wasn’t expecting you to visit up here. Is everything okay in town?” Wrend asked.
“Everything’s going well at Holdfast. I wanted to see what the situation was here before we start to explore the rest of the zone,” I said to Wrend while shaking hands with Rollox.
“We got the last of them beasties bottled up in the tunnels, Raytak. I don’t know how many there are, but likely near ta a hundred if the tracks are ta be believed. I’ve got thirty dwarves to hold back the tide as well as your soldiers. Soon as the wall be finished, we shouldn’t ha’ any problem if they decide to sally from the caves,” Rollox advised.
“Will you need our help to go in and clear out the Gul Dorg?” I asked, not relishing the thought of fighting in the cramped quarters the caverns would offer. I thought back to the auxiliary formation I could have chosen, realizing the Stonebreakers would have been a perfect fit for this type of work. Still, I was confident in my choice, believing in a more rounded approach rather than choosing a force that would be good only in limited circumstances.
“Nae, we best just keep ’em bottled up. They’ll either starve out or make a suicide charge to escape at some point. Casualties would be too high to go in there after them. My people are some of the best at fighting in caverns and caves, but taking it slow will keep more of my people alive,” Rollox advised.
“Just let me know how many soldiers you’ll need to help out with watching for the Gul Dorg. Anything else of interest you found out here?” I asked.
“Sir, I did find this, which is why I think the Gul Dorg were interested in this place to begin with. This place looks ta have held some significance in the past for the beasties,” Wrend said before leading past the defenses to an oddly shaped stone pillar. The pillar showed no sign of decay despite its obvious age. As I approached, a system prompt filled my view.
You have discovered a zone-critical location: the Ruins of the Gul Dorg. These ancient ruins still house a spawn point that can be used by whoever controls it. Do you wish to claim the Ruins of the Gul Dorg on behalf of the Imperium: y/n?
Before hitting yes, I wanted to confirm something.
“Rollox, do these ruins mean anything to your people? I was about to claim them, but I wanted to make sure they didn’t hold any significance to the Stonehold Clan,” I stated, not wanting to start an incident with our friends.
“Nae, these mean nothing to us, save for being a thorn in our side since they’re full of Gul Dorg drones,” Rollox advised. I thought I might have a potential solution to the infestation, but for now I hit yes and claimed the area.
You have claimed the Ruins of the Gul Dorg for the Imperium. This critical location and spawn point will be protected by defensive garrison forces. The nearest location for garrison troops is the town of Holdfast. The garrison force here will consist of 2 squads of Regulars and a pair of Scouts. The forces will spawn in Holdfast and make their way to this location. Once here, the garrison force will construct basic defenses. Level up your garrison to improve the number of defenders and the quality of their defenses.
Quest Updated: Unite the Zone.
You have gained control of the critical location, Ruins of the Gul Dorg. Continue to claim the zone to receive more rewards.
Rewards: 25 gold, 100 resources, 250 experience.
Walking back, I signaled Rollox over.
“Rollox, we’ll have some defensive garrison forces arriving by the morning to defend this area. Do you need any additional forces? If not, I’d like to take Wrend and my other soldiers to help explore the zone.”
“Nae, we’ll be fine. May even send some of me boys back home once your forces build extra defenses. I’ll make sure we get some runes for your lads so they can check for Gul Dorg infection. These drones aren’t able to re
produce, but I’d rather be overly cautious when it comes ta mind-eatin’ parasites,” Rollox said.
“I have another idea that may make our lives easier as well. I’ll send notice to Mayor Delling and see if he can offer some rewards for adventurers to try and clear the place out,” I offered, making a note to send a messenger from the garrison at Holdfast as soon as we got back.
That night, the soldiers and dwarves enjoyed a fine meal of roasted terror bird meat. It reminded me of a Thanksgiving turkey. The delicious meal even had a few of my men trying to devise ways to fight more of the tasty birds.
My memory might have been faulty, but there were so many instances in my career of privates doing stupid things that a rotting mind couldn’t destroy them all. I listened while shaking my head at their plans, wishing I could have spent one more day in the service, just enjoying the company of my brothers in arms. I was lost in my thoughts as the men went to sleep or took their turns on watch, content to just be there in the midst of an army in the field.
Chapter 4
The night passed uneventfully and Sergeant Wrend had the men up just before dawn. We conducted our morning PT and went about striking camp. Rollox and my men finished the wall around the cave opening by late morning. The wall now stood a modest seven feet high and had fighting steps on our side to help in the event of an attack.
Shortly after the wall was finished, the defensive garrison forces arrived and they set about building the outpost that would help guard this location. The defenses would consist of a small wooden observation tower with a simple spike-lined pit around it. The dwarves left a dozen of their warriors there along with a couple of pathfinders and a runesmith. Between them and my own forces, I believed we had the threat contained. I had high hopes that Delling could get some players interested in clearing the place; it wasn’t a dungeon, but it would be a unique experience to fight a foe that they would likely never see again.
Limitless Lands Book 4: Opposition (A LitRPG Adventure) Page 4