“Hello, Hero! Let me know if I can aid you in rejoining your quest.”

Carthage didn’t even glance at the NPC, her canned response long ago having become part of the background noise. He didn’t even sit up, just lay on the ground as the enormity of how badly they lost settled over him.

Their entire army got wiped? How was that even possible? The sheer magnitude of the potential aftermath of such a catastrophe was staggering. It took several moments before he forced himself to stand.

This could be bad. The raid on Heroes Haven was supposed to be a glory run. Something they could easily overpower with sheer numbers, regaining the player founded city in a barrage of high-Level player carnage and ecstasy. Even Fanghorn’s concerns before the raid weren’t grounded in actually winning, but on what happened next. The game was clearly introducing new content. They just needed to figure out what it meant in light of this recent catastrophe.

Carthage forcefully rubbed the backs of his hands, an old habit from years of massaging arthritis back into manageable levels between key strokes. The action grounded him. Reminded him of the here and now.

The players were going to be pissed.

Worried, he walked out of respawn, catching sight of Karn and Fanghorn talking quietly off to the side.

“What, was that!” Karn hissed as Carthage approached.

Fanghorn rubbed his neck, stretching out phantom muscles. “That was likely the largest party wipe in the history of Interius. Gods I hate the feeling of being decapitated.”

Karn glared at Fang, not amused at his matter-of-fact tone. “That aside, what was up with the Death Cloud thing? I’ve never seen a trap like that. Something the size of the entire town with the power to kill every single player? We didn’t even have the chance to fight anything aside from Cobalt. Speaking of which… what the hell was Cobalt doing at Heroes Haven?”

The exasperation in Karn’s tone was gaining intensity. Cobalt had been an underboss in Castle Midnight since the games founding. The psychotic skeleton was the target of entire guilds of players who spent their extra time hunting him for his rare loot drops. These groups were rarely successful though, thanks to his nasty trick of fleeing rather than dying and dropping loot like a normal monster.

Carthage shook his head, having no more answer for his friend than anyone else might.

His gaze wandered over groups of players emerging from the respawn point near them. Most were angry, or confused, looking around for people they recognized. Though he could barely hear the conversations, he picked up enough. The same topic was being repeated in a few hundred different ways across the Crossroads.

Concern started to creep up Carthage’s spine when several of the conversations became heated. He turned his back to the groups to hide his face.

He nudged Karn and said quietly, “Hey, uh, we might wanna lay low for a bit.”

Surprised, the other two guild leaders took in the state of things, and nodded their agreement.

They slunk into a nearby alley, finding a little privacy behind several large barrels.

“Guys,” Fanghorn said once they were out of sight, “have you checked the forums?”

Karn almost went pale as they each raced to their browsers.

Interius Online Forum - General

phenixrise – WTH! DID ANYONE ELSE SEE THAT?

420timesRule – Am I crazy? Did the whole ARMY just wipe?

milfLuvr – Holy f***! Anyone survive that? Never seen the game trap like that!

SexyKitten69 – Wanna see what I wear while I game? Check out my profile for my private links :heart:

bighangnocap – Dude, seriously! I can’t believe that! Everyone, just completely f***’d!

nightmareNature – I heard there were new mobs outside Glendale Crossroads. Anyone else heard that? Some kind of Skeger Beast?

inGameCoinage – Gold coin for sale! 1000g /$10. PM for details!

phenixrise – @420timesRule @milfLuvr: I was there! Did anyone find a way out of the mist?

PotatoInMyA$$ – Easy XP my ass. Commanders owe us all for the XP loss! Who charges a town without checking for traps?!

theOriginalSteve – @nightmareNature: Skag Beasts. They aren’t new, they are a part of a randomly spawning quest chain. It’s a fun chain if it spawns for ya.

derrickNotderrick – WTH you guys talking about?

“I did check for traps you ungrateful—!” Karn growled, scrolling deeper into the rapidly updating forum.

“Actually, isn’t the potato-guy Nightstride’s forum handle? Wasn’t he the one you sent to look for traps outside of town?” Fanghorn asked.

Karn glared at his HUD. “Little bastard is throwing me under the bus. He knows we wouldn’t have come across that trap since it was inside the gates. He’s getting ahead of anyone blaming him.”

Carthage nodded. It was actually a pretty smart move, even if it was kind of skeezy. It would maintain Nightstride’s standing within the guilds. Maybe even put him in line for a leadership position if things got bad enough for the guilds to restructure.

“Wait, what?” Fanghorn muttered under his breath. Something about the tone behind his friend’s voice made Carthage pause.

Interius Online Forum - General

420timesRule – Has anyone tried to go back and get their gear? Is the mist still there?

420timesRule – @derrickNotderrick: Hero’s Haven run. Went south bad.

bighangnocap – Lost 2 Levels on that stupid idea!

6footsomethin – Where is Karn? I saw Fanghorn go down, anyone see Karn?

Tryharddiehard – Why the hell didn’t they call a retreat?

derrickNotderrick – oh no! What happened?

qqisu – GONE! The gear is gone! Me and a few others went for a retrieval, and its f***ing gone!!!

phenixrise – Where did our gear go? Did the guilds retrieve?

derrickNotderrick – What? No way! Seriously? Everyone’s or just yours?

420timesRule – Crap. Heading there now.

qqisu – @derrickNotderrick: Everyone’s!!! Not a loot gem in sight.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Silence settled on the trio.

“Are they serious? How can there not be any loot gems? No way anyone made it back to Haven to collect them for the guilds yet,” Karn said, swiping to other forums, his voice quavering slightly.

Fanghorn scowled, shaking his head in disbelief as he read line after line. “I have no idea, man. I don’t even know how that could be possible. But there are a lot of confirmations going around. General forum, guild leader’s private group. Hell, even the crafting forums are blowing up about it. We need to do something about this. If the gear is gone, they’re going to start calling for blood.”

Carthage was only half paying attention at this point, completely engrossed in his guild’s finances and stores.

Fanghorn was right. The players dying and losing XP sucked, but dying was part of the game. There would be some trolling, some gripes, but a day or two and everyone would move on. Likely toward trying to sack the town again, only in vengeance.

Everyone’s gear missing was a different beast. Gear was valuable. Gear could be irreplaceable.

Just the thought of how difficult it was to come by made him think of his armor.

He had spent six months farming the ingredients to build that armor. Six months real world time. The quests he had gone on, the beasts he fought and the torments he went through, they were the sorts of things people wrote books about. But it had been worth it. Divine Beacon’s Plate of Glorious Inspiration was not only a top tier item, it was the highest possible item he could wear in this zone. Since he wasn’t interested in Ascension, it was supposed to be the last piece of armor he would need. It should be impossible to lose.

It was even Blood Bonded! Meaning no one other than him could wear it. It wasn’t technically as strong as a Soul Bond, but the minor differences like traveling to get his gear didn’t bother him. Most troubling, nobody else should have even been able to loot that armor. It was bonded to his blood.

But they had. His armor was gone.

And every other player in their army was dealing with the same thing.

Something like this could topple the guilds. Players weren’t exactly the most restrained individuals in the best of times. A set back like this could result in a sacking of Glendale, just from pure frustration, and that would turn the crown against them.

He forced himself not to think of that possibility.

“If the gear really is missing, we have to get in front of it guys,” Carthage said, still scrolling through his interface.

Karn groaned. “Hard to get in front of a speeding train. They post any faster the damn forums liable to catch fire…”

Interius Online Forum - General

inGameCoinage – In game coins for sale! 1000g /$10. PM for details! – This post has been reported. Does this post break the community standards found here?

derrickNotderrick – Someone had to retrieve right?

420timesRule – He’s right! I didn’t see a single loot gem! Forces are back in the city too, so be careful if you go check for yourself.

cakeOrDeath – I’m late to the party, what happened?

blitzer47 – Holy crap! HH was crazy! Did you see that blue fuggin’ skeleton?

tryharddiehard – The forces are back? I thought that was why we attacked…

Tom – We have been trying to reach you about your car’s limited warranty.

derrickNotderrick – @cakeOrDeath: Hero’s Haven. The attack went bad. Complete Army wipe.

forevernoob – @tryharddiehard: Yea, part of the reason. Didn’t fight anyone inside during the attack though. Makes it super sus.

6footsomethin – The skeleton was Cobalt, high-Level mob usually in Castle Midnight. He ran his sword through my air bubble, the bastard. Would love to get some of his loot drops though. Might be a good enough reason to give it another go.

onePopcantStop – LFG. Thunder Rolls. DPS Midrange. Can off tank with good heals. Phenixrise – We didn’t fight a single enemy, well except Cobalt. Didn’t gain a drop of XP, and lost 2 Levels from the wipe!

inGameCoinage’s post has been deleted for breaking the community standards

420timesRule – Forces are definitely back, and it looks like they upgraded somehow. Tried to get closer, but got wiped again. Not gonna bother giving it another go. Enough XP loss for me for a day.

coolJudah – OMG all my gear!! OMGOMGOMGOMG!!

forevernoob – @420timesRule: Me too. Got wiped the moment I made it to town.

forevernoob – @420timesRule: Traps now active outside the town too.

readerLoveStory – Anyone seen the new A.Bane release? Sooooo good!

derrickNotderrick – Can a few more report inGameCoinage? Posts like that gotta go. :/

inGameCoinage has been muted by the moderator.

420timesRule – NOBODY GO TO HH. Forces are prepped and waiting for you.

winnerchickendinner – I reported him @derrickNotderrick.

tryharddiehard – Has anyone heard from the commanders? Karn, Fanghorn or Carthage?

6footsomethin – Suspiciously quiet on the commander front.

“What the hell do they want from us? Do they think we knew about this? That we have some special insight? This isn’t our fault!” Karn groaned.

“It doesn’t matter,” Carthage quipped, closing his HUD. He tapped his friend’s shoulders and waited impatiently for them to exit their interfaces.

“Look,” he started when he had their full attention. “We’re going to get the blame here. There is no way we can avoid it. We can try to fight it, and get the blame with a whole bunch of trolling, disdain and who knows what else, or we can get in front of it.” He paused as he checked to make sure the other leaders were following him. “We take the blame. Literally say the fault is ours. Ask for their patience as we try to make it right. Maybe garner support and some forgiveness.”

Karn shuffled back and forth, his gaze focused solely on his feet. After several moments he let loose a deep sigh and seemed to deflate. “It isn’t our fault. We couldn’t have known.”

“Honestly, it doesn’t seem to matter, does it?” Fanghorn asked.

Karn took another moment before finally nodding, defeated. “Sounds like you have a plan?”

“We need to outfit the players that were there with what we can from the guild stores.”

Fanghorn and Karn started at Carthage, stunned.

“Do you know how much gear it’s going to take to get something acceptable to everyone who was there?” Fanghorn asked, his willingness to go along with the PR stunt shriveling.

“I know.” Carthage waved for them to hold on. “But if we don’t, we may as well throw a match into that powder keg ourselves. You both know how the players are going to get if it turns out their gear really is gone. And if it’s not, well, we look very noble for being ready to be so giving. I’ve already checked OLN’s stores, we’re going to do this. But I need your help, what we have doesn’t come anywhere near what we are going to need.”

Fanghorn and Karn passed extremely reluctant looks between them.

Fanghorn was the first to relent with a tight nod, wiping his face with his hand.

Karn was still shuffling back and forth, holding out against agreeing.

Fanghorn smacked Karn on the shoulder. “Any time now, dude.”

Karn grabbed his shoulder, rubbing it petulantly. “Just doesn’t make any sense. It’s like the game didn’t want us to win.”

“We can work that out later, Karn,” Carthage insisted.

Karn stalled for another moment before finally giving in. With his two friends standing beside him, they returned their focus to the forum.

Interius Online Forum - General

karnicopia – Hey, everyone. I want to formally apologize. Tonight’s disaster was entirely my fault. I was confident from the intel we received that the monsters who took Hero’s Haven were in retreat from our forces outside their walls. I really thought we had that attack. Sorry everyone. I’m gonna turn off messages for a few days, take a little time away from the game. Again, my apologies.

fpsFTW – Honestly this sounds like bull. I wasn’t there, but I have been playing for 60+ in-game years. Nothing like this has ever happened. I’m calling hoax.

forevernoob – Don’t beat yourself up Karn! We believe in you!

grandpahugs – is this working?

qqisu – F*** off Karn! You got us all killed!

420timesRule – It happens, Karn. No biggie.

phenixrise – @karnicopia: You gonna pay me back for the lost gear??

arcanamontana – LFM – Buckaneer’s Revenge - Need tank.

fanghornisI – I gave support for the attack. The responsibility is shared across the 3 guilds who were involved. The Hobos, Unbuffed and OLN will be donating gear to those who lost their gear in the raid. Contact sylvanSavage to work out the details if you are in need. Again, the blame for this is shared.

6footsomethin – Man F this guild. 12 inches my ass. I’m dropping.

phenixrise – F*** the feel good s***. Karn’s blunder cost everyone 2 Levels and bound gear! How is that even possible??

milfLuvr – Karns blunder! bwahahahah.

qqisu – Karn’s blunder lol. That’s gonna stick.

bighangnocap – Vote to call it Karn’s Blunder forever!

phenixrise – Seconded.

PotatoInMyA$$ – Passed by majority

Karn backed out of the forum, head in his hands. “Karn’s Blunder… un-freaking-believable.”

“Hey, it could be worse,” Fanghorn said.

“How can it be any worse? I have two-hundred players jumping down my throat demanding I replace their lost gear and who knows what else.”

“They could be marching to our guild halls with torches,” Carthage replied.

Everyone paused as they realized the truth in that statement.

“We should probably lay low for a few days gents,” Fanhorn replied. “I’ll hit you up in chat.”

“Agreed,” Karn said, his attention already focused elsewhere. “We got planning to do. They may have gotten the upper hand this time, but we’ll be taking back the Haven. Count on it.”

Carthage turned and walked away from his friends, his mind a tornado of thoughts and plans. But one was standing out in his mind.

He needed to see if the gear really was gone.

Sometimes a smaller party could enter undetected and succeed, where an army would fail. That was the whole premise of his favorite book series. Flashes of tiny people with hairy feet flitted through his mind and he smiled.

“It turns out I might have just the dwarf for something like this.”