I set a second waypoint due east, where I could link up with the main road. I reached it in minutes, only having to fight through the mobs a couple of times.
It was a wide road, made of cobblestones, with the jungle encroaching on either side, spilling over the stones in places. The canopy on either side of the road arched overhead, connecting the two sides of jungle, blocking out much of the light from the sun. It created an ephemeral effect, lances of light penetrating the canopy. But the road and jungle alike were mostly shrouded in shadow. I briefly wondered if there was a day-night cycle in S&S. Weird that I had never thought of that. I tried to imagine this already eerie place without the sun overhead, and I shuddered. I wouldn’t be caught dead out here at night, and I was glad Jeremy had convinced me to head to the capitol. If the sun had gone down while I was fighting Osgoth and Ysillith, or even when I had been slaughtering mobs, my choices of shelter would have been basically nil.
I started down the road towards the region’s main city. Looking at the map, I was only a couple minutes away, and there was no one around that I could see. Not that that was a huge comfort, given my run in with the stealthed rogues earlier. But it was something.
As I approached the outskirts of the city, my breath caught. Arrayed before me was the aftermath of a massive battle. The city was straight ahead, tall walls encircling it in all directions. The ground was cleared of jungle, extending hundreds of meters from the city. And that cleared area was filled with the hallmarks of a great war.
I immediately thought of the No-man's-land in WW1 movies. There were trenches surrounding the city in concentric circles, and I saw the distant movement of soldiers manning those defenses. The dirt outside those trenches was churned into mud, and massive impact pits dotted the landscape - from magical attacks, or artillery, I couldn’t say. Thousands of dead mobs were piled up across the No-man's-land, their skin and fur scorched, or matted in blood, or just plain dismembered. There were more men dotting the area like scurrying ants, working fast to pile up the dead bodies. A few massive pyres were already lit, and I imagined the dozens of other piles were soon to follow.
I had slowed to a stop when I noticed the scene unfolded before me. But the sun was much lower than I had realized before, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to be out here when it went down.
I started jogging down the road again, heading towards the main gates that were still open. Once I broke through the jungle line and into the No-man's-land, a quick glance to the left and the right made me flinch.
On either side of me, hordes of mobs gathered at the point where the jungle ended and the cleared area began. They were milling about in a frenzy, gnashing teeth, or slapping crude tools against tree trunks, or pounding their chests in anger as they watched the city soldiers round up their dead. But they didn’t move past the tree line, like there was an invisible barrier holding them back. Strangely enough, they also didn’t encroach on the main road, and kept a roughly 50-meter gap between themselves and the cobblestones.
I picked up speed again, wanting to get well out of striking range of the deranged horde of mobs. A flashing in my interface began, and a quest briefly filled my vision before minimizing.
New Quest!
(Local Event)
Man Versus Beast
Ahhh, the immortal struggle of man versus beast. Almost as fascinating as the eternal struggle of man versus man. But unlike the tactical savagery of sentient-on-sentient crime, you’ve stumbled upon a war of almost no strategic competence. The combatants of this daily battle are stubborn, stuck in their ways, and they do the same damn thing every night.
The Scarlet Horde of Ah’kut’imon were once a proud and regal coalition of a wide variety of animal races. They ruled this region, creating monuments, roads, and bureaucracy. But when the humanoid races discovered them, war was inevitable. After years of fighting, the Scarlet Horde found themselves on the verge of extinction due to the technological gap between them and their enemies. In a last - desperate - ploy to annihilate their enemies, Ah’kut’imon made a deal with demonic forces to win the war.
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Unfortunately for him, demons don’t play fair, and these particular demons corrupted the minds of the Scarlet Horde, turning them into ravenous, single-minded beasts. For decades, the civilization formerly known as the Scarlet Horde has been mindlessly throwing themselves against the defenses of humanity. And due to their pact with Otherworldy forces, Ah’kut’imon’s source of meat shields is never ending.
As for the other side of this little tête-à-tête, the forces of humanity find themselves nearing their rope’s end. The tide of beasts never seems to thin, and their only respite is that the beasts only attack during the night. Lend your assistance to the defenders. Hold back the beast horde. And you will find friendship from the stalwart defenders of the city of Hope’s End.
Objective: Hold back the attacking horde for two hours during any nighttime hours.
Reward: Friendship with the city of Hope’s End, and all that entails.
Bonus Objective: Personally kill 0/1000 beasts within this time frame.
Bonus Reward: ?
Oh, hell no! As epic as I’m sure a horde-type quest would be, I wasn’t getting anywhere near this quest. I just wasn’t equipped for this type of thing - for all the same reasons I wasn’t equipped to fight enemy players. I didn’t have level-appropriate gear, I didn’t have a well-rounded skill set, and I was alone. Two hours of fighting a never-ending horde sounded like the kind of event that required healing potions and spells, a balanced party with a tank and healer, and a plethora of other things I probably didn’t even know I didn’t know.
No thanks. I was gonna run right through this fucking event and get to the portal system as soon as possible. I’d have opportunity to get proper gear and figure out my skills in the capitol. Then, if I wanted, I could come back and look into tackling this quest.
I started sprinting down the road. I was into the No-man's-land now, and the beasts near the fringe of the jungle line had noticed me. A few of them peeled off, racing through the battle-torn field towards me.
Holy shit! I thought. They were moving really freakin’ fast. There were only about 20 of them coming for me, but they looked bigger and meaner than the simple mobs I had been massacring earlier today. I looked to the city walls, gauging the distance.
Oh, fuck, oh, fuck! I wasn’t going to make it!
I glanced back, and the vanguard of the pack was only 10 meters behind. I ran for a few more seconds, then turned and braced for impact. My poleaxe was held out in front of me, and I prayed these beasts were dumb and would just skewer themselves on my weapon. I mentally prepared to trigger [Freezing Wave].
The lead beast was ten feet out, and I was about to cast the skill, when a series of feathers sprouted from its neck. It tripped over its own feet and collapsed in a heap. I just stared dumbfounded as the rest of the pack went down in similar fashion within moments. The feathers were actually the fletching of arrows, I realized. The entire pack lay dead mere feet away, and I risked a glance behind me. Lining the trenches were over a hundred men, shadow cats, and other humanoid races wielding bows in ready position. One of them waved me on, and they didn’t have to ask twice. I turned tail and ran for the city defenses as hard as I could.
It was only another hundred meters, and I cleared it in seconds. The archers made a path for me, and I finally relaxed as I entered the main encampment setup just outside the city walls.
I was bent over, hands on knees, when a male shadow cat in resplendent plate armor walked over to me. There was a translucent spinning star over his head, and I guessed the significance of that had something to do with the quest, or his status as commander of the army. His nameplate read:
Name: General Aldara
Class: Bulwark
Race: Shadow Cat (M)
Level: 50
Faction: Hope’s End
Looking up as he approached, I noticed his eyes had an awareness in them that indicated he was possessed by an actor. Definitely an important NPC then, if my presence had triggered an actor to take over the NPC.
“Greetings, traveler. That was certainly a close call,” the shadow cat said.
“No…kidding,” I said between heaving breaths. “Thanks…for the…assist.”
“No thanks required. The gall of those beasts to come within sight of our walls during daylight.” He shook his head in annoyance. “I am General Aldara, commander of the defense of our great city. May I ask your name, adventurer.” His eyes were tight, a brief look of confusion on his face, quickly masked. No doubt he was just as confused about my class as the other actor-NPCs had been.
“You can call me Ray,” I replied.
“Well met, Sir Ray. You have the look of a seasoned adventurer and slayer of beasts,” he said, looking me up and down. It sounded like a canned line, but then I realized I was covered in the blood and gore of my earlier mob massacre. “We are always in need of strong arms to aid our defense, if you would be-”
I held up my hand. “Let me stop you right there, Aldara. I’m just passing through. In and out. I wish I had the time, but if you could just point me towards the capitol portal, I’ll be on my way.”
He shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry, Sir Ray. But the portal requires tremendous amounts of energy, and is reserved only for those that have contributed greatly to the defense of Hope’s End.”
I groaned. Of-fucking-course it was.