The skeletons of rotting buildings pushed up through the grass. Vague remnants of streets remained, cracked and pitted. While I knew the interior of the city had been mostly left to rot, I hadn’t realized it was this bad. The buildings along the spiral path always seemed to be in good condition. I wondered why that was. The city housed about a million hobgoblins before half of them left to invade North America. Had they just lived in the buildings along the path, ignoring the deeper parts of the city?
Looking up, I could see that ropes connected the upper levels of many of the taller buildings. It appeared the hobgoblins had only settled on the top levels of the tallest structures. From what I could tell, they didn’t live in the buildings, but on top of them, building their own hovels on the roofs.
And speaking of the hobgoblins, where were they? I hadn’t really thought of it until just now. They’d always said a million of them lived in the city. Half of them marched off to war, and a few thousand more left with Prince Kankan and were now snaking their way back through the spiral. But the rest, the elderly and the young, surely they remained here somewhere. Would they be hostile? Looking at my minimap, I saw no signs of life at all.
“I wonder why the hobgoblins only utilize the top floors,” Gretchen said, looking up at the extensive rope system, mirroring my thoughts. “I guess it’s probably what they did in the jungle, but they wouldn’t need it here.”
“Or maybe they do,” Jonah added. “I keep seeing red dots flashing on the corners of the minimap.”
“I don’t see anything,” I said. I knew hunters Jonah and Gretchen both had better vision than I did, especially when it came to animals. Being a barbarian, I usually never saw such creatures unless they were in my line of sight.
“Whatever it is, they look like they’re afraid of us,” Jonah said.
“Maybe it’s the remaining hobgoblins,” Gretchen said.
“Hey, beaver boy,” I said, turning to look at the squat creature behind me on Alice’s back. He’d been silent the entire ride. He still seemed out of sorts from his encounter with Bingo. “What sort of monsters live out here?”
“Sir, I do take offense to that name,” the creature said. “My name is Chauncey, and I am a coypu.” He flipped up a long, rat-like tail that snaked out of the back of his brown trousers. “Look upon my tail, and you will see I am no beaver. Beavers are filthy, foul-mouthed creatures, and I would never associate with such beasts.”
Whatever the hell a coypu was, he looked like a beaver without the flat tail. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Of course, monsieur. I apologize. Within the city there are not many creatures except for the bugs. Swarms of biting gnats patrol the outer city limits, and the pong flies sometimes come through this main area. This past season has been quite unfortunate for our crops. Many bugs come and devour everything we grow. That’s it, for the most part. There were other, bigger creatures long ago, but the residents, ahh, ate them all.”
“Where are the residents now?” Gretchen asked.
Chauncey shook his head sadly. “Most are dead, I’m afraid. Some remain. The famine hit us particularly hard this last season.”
“Famine?” Gretchen asked.
“It is difficult to feed so many when you can’t leave the city walls. As you may know, the Dominion poisons the Cassagnac, so we cannot fish. We farm what we can, but the bugs eat much of it. Prince Kankan sends out patrols to gather food, but his father and brother often use what he gathers for themselves and their favored soldiers. After Prince Kankan left this last time, and the demons broke free and took over the castle, there has been no food delivered at all. Most of the city died.”
“You look pretty well fed,” I said.
Chauncey looked abashed. “I survive on bugs, monsieur. The young of the hobgoblins also do well on bugs, but as they get older, they need meat to thrive. A diet of bugs and vegetables is a pitiful and shameful existence. The only way to be guaranteed meat is to join the military. But after the Dominion warriors stopped invading the spiral, the supplies of meat stopped as well.”
It took me a moment to realize what he was saying.
“The hobgoblins ate the bodies of those running the spiral?” Jonah asked.
“Oh, yes, monsieur” Chauncey said. “Humans, dwarves, texugo, and pollywogs mostly. The pollywogs are their favorite. They complain that half-ogres taste too sour and aurics have very little meat on them. The emo-tong are completely inedible. Most mounts are good for meat, too.” Chauncey patted Alice’s rump. “This hippocorn here would feed a hobgoblin family for a week. Maybe longer.”
“What the hell did you say?” Alice asked, stopping dead.
“It’s okay,” I said, patting Alice’s head. “Keep going. We’re in a hurry.”
“Chauncey,” Gretchen asked. “Do you know where War Chief Musa is hiding? How about Sandra the Learnt?”
Chauncey paused before answering, his eyes flickering with a data transfer. “Musa fled the castle and disappeared into the city when the demons broke free of the Menagerie. He did not take me with him, and I don’t know where he is. As for the polecat cartographer, she was in the hands of the demons. After they were ejected from the city, she did not reappear. I thought perhaps she left with the Orochi demons. Or she is still on the other side of that portal she opened up. But I do not know.”
Quest update. Missing Maps.
After speaking with the Riot Steward, you have determined that Sandra the Learnt was last seen in the company of Akkorokamui. Capture and interrogate an officer of the demon army to learn her fate.
“Well fuck,” I said. If Sandra was now in Orochi, on the other side of the world, we would never get her back. Even if she still was with the demons on this side of the portal, we were still fucked. I had no illusions as to our chances of defeating that crazy octopus lady. Or even of getting to that last round of the tower defense.
War Party> Fire Trap in C1 triggered.
War Party Admin> Calculating casualties… 254 casualties. 867 invaders remain.
“Are you guys seeing these war party messages?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Jonah said.
“What about the ‘war party admin’ ones?” I asked.
“No,” Jonah said, but that’s what it’s called when I get notifications for the Dominion. It says ‘Dominion Admin.’”
“Hmm,” I said, looking through my War Events submenu. I found a tab called Conscripts, and I clicked through. I was surprised to see well over two thousand names listed. It just went on and on. I scanned the list, finding most of them crossed out. Looking, I realized these were all NPCs, probably all the folks from Quibou. I could sort by name, by level, by class. The crossed-out ones were dead. A three-day countdown timer appeared by the crossed-out ones, but the timer didn’t move and a red, warning triangle with an exclamation appeared by the timer. I think that meant NPCs didn’t regenerate during war events, but I wasn’t sure. I’d have to figure this out. Scrolling through, I found Raj listed on there. I also saw that asshole mage guy, Pritford. They all had a single chevron by their name.
It finally dawned on me what I was looking at. It looked as if almost every NPC in Quibou had been arrowed, and they’d been conscripted in the defense. I could click on them, and I could issue orders to them or send them direct messages.
“I have control over hundreds of people,” I said. “I think it’s all the mercenaries in Quibou that are still alive after that big fight with the hobgoblins just now.”
“That’s good,” Gretchen said. “See if you can get them in here.”
Chauncey directed us to a short, poorly-maintained tunnel that burrowed under a wide street. Shimmering light protected the roadway above, indicating it was part of the spiral, and instead of crossing through, the hobgoblins had devised a method of going under the curling pathway that encompassed the city. The bottom half of the tube that compromised the spiral path was quite large, sinking deep underground, and this tunnel we traveled through sunk deeper
to avoid it. The ground of the tunnel crunched underfoot, like we were walking on seashells. But nothing bad happened, and we quickly came through on the other side and we resumed our way to the castle. I continued to examine the menu.
I figured out how to sort the list by whether one was a player or an NPC. Only three players appeared on the list. Me, Gretchen, and Jonah. I had five stars by my name, but Gretchen and Jonah both had a single chevron. Hovering over Jonah’s chevron, it read Private, First Class.
“I can change people’s ranks,” I said. I clicked on Gretchen’s name. “I think I can get you guys admin privileges.”
War Party Admin> Player Gretchen (Level 26, Hunter, Human) has been promoted to War General and given full access to the War Party menu.
A single star replaced the arrow over her head.
I clicked over to do the same to Jonah, but I paused, my eyes catching an option at the bottom of the list: Honorable Discharge and Dishonorable Discharge.
“Jonah, I think I can un-arrow you,” I said.
Gretchen’s eyes went glossy as she explored the new-found menu. “I see that. We can make it so you can leave.”
Jonah opened his mouth as if it say something then decided against it. “I have to stay with you guys. I need to get back to Harmony, but I can’t do it alone.” He grinned. “Besides, this tower thing sounds fun as shit.”
“Jonah,” Gretchen said. “Waldo told you he won’t be able to save you again if you die.”
“Yeah, but kicking him out ain’t gonna do him any good,” I said. “Not without someone to cast Portal.”
I looked back at Nale, who jogged alongside Tiatha.
“Hey, Nale,” I asked. “Can you cast Portal?”
“No,” the auric said. “Get me a scroll, and I can read it, though. It has a good chance of working. Like 50%. Maybe 40%.”
“Uh, what does that mean?” Jonah asked.
Gretchen looked grim. “It means there’s a 60% chance you’ll end up at the wrong portal. Or worse, your insides will become your outsides. He’s an arcanist. Popper should never have hired him. Their spells are not very reliable.”
“Hey, he’s a good guy,” I said. “I hire based on personality.”
“Uh-huh,” Gretchen said.
“Let’s worry about this later,” I said. “We can kick Jonah out if it’s starting to look like we’re about to die.” I scrolled over and changed his rank.
War Party Admin> Player His Royal Majesty, King Jonah of the Dominion Empire (Level 35, Hunter, Human) has been promoted to War General and given full access to the War Party menu.
I scrolled through and gave Bingo the rank of colonel, the highest rank it would allow me to give an NPC. According to the menu, he would now have the ability to change the rank of others below him and direct the defenses of up to 10,000 troops at a time. His insignia turned to an eagle.
“Bingo,” I said, “Give appropriate ranks to the rest of the party and dole out suitable responsibilities.”
He nodded. I immediately got a notification that Granger and Winston were promoted to major.
Looking through the possible ranks, my eyes caught an interesting subrank off corporal. I clicked on Raj’s name.
War Party Admin> NPC Raj (Level 5, Commoner, Polecat) has been promoted to Scout First Class.
NPC Raj (Level 5, Scout, Polecat) has changed class from commoner to scout.
Raj: I am a scout! I can see what is happening! Raj is now like a real man! I can make myself invisible now!
Poppy: You just stay safe, buddy.
“Oh, wow,” Gretchen said. “I’ve never seen that before.”
“What about me?” Alice asked. “I want a rank!”
I scrolled through, but she wasn’t listed at all. As a pet, it looked like she was just a part of me and not listed in the system.
I patted her on the head. “Your official title is ‘Five Star Death Mount Supreme.’”
I braced myself for her to throw a fit. Instead, she gasped with joy and hopped up and down a few times. Chauncey almost went flying. “Supreme? Really?”
“Really,” I said.
“If she gets a rank, I gets a rank!” Bruce Bruce growled.
“Oh for crying out loud,” Gretchen said. Jonah laughed.
“Your rank is Smelly Fat Forest Bitch,” Alice said.
Bruce Bruce growled. Alice growled.
I sighed. I liked it better when we only had one talking animal. “Your rank is Strong Mount the Powerful.”
“Yes,” Bruce Bruce said, nodding his fuzzy head. “Yes, this is good. I am strong. I am powerful.”
“He’s not supreme, though,” Alice muttered.
“That’s right,” I whispered. “Only you.”
War Party> Landmine Trap in C3 triggered. Cage Trap in C3 triggered. Cage trap misfire! No creatures present.
War Party Admin> Calculating casualties… 4 casualties. 863 invaders remain.
“Guys, check it out,” Jonah said, pointing to a massive fountain that appeared to be spurting blood. Behind it stretched a long, green field. The street we were on would pass right through it. A shimmering light indicated the field and fountain were part of the spiral.
“Pardon me, but we must take a side street,” Chauncey said, indicating the field. “Normally we can go right through the garden, but the spiral is currently activated, and it is much too dangerous to traverse while the gargoyles are awake. They’re not supposed to attack us, but they’re a bit…touchy.” He pointed to a street that headed north. “Just in case, we should go around.”
“That’s one of the last major parts of the spiral,” Gretchen said. “The Garden. It’s filled with statues, and they come to life and attack.” She pointed at a row of three towers along the route. “All the while those things shoot fire at you. The fire doesn’t hurt the statues. We got through it by just running. I got burned to hell, but I used healing potions to get through. There’s this one centaur statue that trampled like a hundred people in a matter of seconds.”
“That’s the Tuileries Garden, and that big building past it is the Louvre museum,” Jonah said. “This garden has a rich history.”
“That museum is the last defensive castle. You don’t have to go in there to win the spiral. They say it’s filled with magical gear, and getting in is its own quest. There’s a couple guild halls in there. You have to be level 80 or above just to even think about it,” Gretchen said. “When I got this far, a group of us broke off to try to get in. I don’t know if they ever made it or not.”
We turned left, going deeper into the overgrown city. We turned right down a well-worn path. On my minimap, multiple pink, red, and even a few white dots appeared and disappeared as we traveled. Nothing accosted us.
We turned right again, and after another intersection, Castle Riot spread before us.
Popper Note 11
This was the back side of the castle, an angle from which I’d never seen it. Hell, I was pretty sure nobody had ever seen it from this side.
“Holy shit,” Jonah said, looking back and forth at the massive structure. “That thing is huge!”
Gretchen reached over and smacked me on the head before I could open my mouth. “Don’t say it.”
“What?” I asked.
“Okay, so I had it backward,” Jonah said, indicating the sprawling palace. “I should have known. The castle is standing where the old prison and justice buildings were. That church on the other side of the island is Notre-Dame.”
I didn’t really care. Jonah was always super interested in how things here matched up with their real-world counterparts. But those things were all gone now. And even if they weren’t, they were so very far away. It made my head hurt to think about it. It made me think of Molly and Juliette and Sam, and of everyone else I left behind.
We rushed up to a wide but unadorned bridge, coming onto the island from the north side. Jonah muttered something about the water being wrong, and I reminded him that Chauncey had said it was poison
ed. The fact it was still poisoned made me believe there was a charm stone out there somewhere, turning the water foul.
“Weapons out,” Gretchen called as we rushed onto the island. “We don’t know if any of the prior residents are hanging around.”
I felt an odd tinge of sadness as we rushed onto the island. My friend Monobrow Sam had wanted so badly to complete the Riot quest, to make it to this island. We’d tried dozens of times, but we never made it. Sam died while I was in prison. When I got out that first time, my first instinct was to make sure I won the spiral in his honor. But I could never bring myself to even attempt it. Playing was never the same without my best friend.
My axe had been destroyed by Akkorokamui, so all I had left was my knife, Dolly Trauma. The damage-enhanced knife was a decent weapon, but I only had a skill level of four with it. I’d need to find something better soon.
The main square appeared abandoned. A battle had occurred here. The skeletal remains of several dozen hobgoblins littered the streets, along with the remains of a few kappas and some other strange monsters I’d never seen before, including a pair of devil-like ogre creatures with the wispy remains of long, black hair on the skeletons. Each were armed with massive, spiked clubs.
Once again, this was something we were meant to see. All dead bodies more than a few days old were always set up for something.
“Hey, look,” Jonah said, pointing to the giant, blue church. “It’s a church, but it’s not a church of Tharon!”
The Hobgoblin Riot: Dominion of Blades Book 2: A LitRPG Adventure Page 19