The graveyard shift. Give or take, its between the hours of ten p.m. and six a.m., just before the sun is supposed to rise.
The surreal feeling of heading to work when the street lamps are up and the traffic is on the other side of the road is as equally strange as going home at sunrise and sleeping during the day. It's usually a lonely shift where those at work have little to no interaction with other people. Less coworkers, less customers, less talking in general. One could go mad with the least amount of social interaction possible. Talking to one's self in heated discussion. Seeing and hearing things that aren't really there.
Probably the best thing one can do is find a friend to pass the time. Or, in the case of Dez Driftwood, one can make friends. Lots of friends. Under the right circumstances of course. Or, under foot.
He hasn't explored this far east of the city before, but rumors were spreading about a skirmish involving Arcians and Travelers. The Mercenary Guild seemed to lose dozens of their members in one bloody massacre.
It sounded wonderful!
The monsters here were too low in level to bother the halfling out of using his simple wooden staff topped with various bones, firing basic bolts of necrotic energy. It was a weapon that no one knew he owned or wielded with such delight. He happened upon it during his travel to Kes Rentas from his old home. It was part of a set of two and, lucky for him, both items were found right next to each other.
The grimoire is bound in a questionable leather, the off white color of dry bone. Other than that, Dez is dressed in the simple cloth tunic, pants, and leather boots that anyone could be found in. He released the book from its specially crafted side holster and he put his diminutive hand upon it's cover and slowly chanted, "Search… Search… Search…"
A pale purple, ghostly eye shot out of the book, took a moment to assess its surroundings, and flew off further east. He followed it, guided be an arrow invisible to others and whistling a merry tune.
"Where are they...?" he whispered to the two shuffling behind him. Not including the sound of a mace being dragged through rock and dirt, the two skeletons silently and dutifully marched behind him.
"You guys need to liven up,” a weak smile curling his lip.
His guards managed to fend off the noctural creatures that roamed the forest: Giant Bats, Dire Rats, and even a viscious badger creature the size of a bear aptly named a "Badger Bear."
These stronger monsters were often content on attacking their diurnal counter parts, but the snack sized mage was too delicious a meal to pass up. He even came with toothpicks to pick out the clothing that so often gets stuck in their teeth!
With his staff and spellbook, however, the creatures often ended up smeared across the rocks and trees and their bones saved for later use. Monsters very rarely drop bones as loot, but with his special Feat, Butcher, he could gain access to a larger spectrum of dropped items. Granted, it really wasn't meant for that, but Dez believed in Fate. He believed that everything that was given to him came with a purpose.
Much like the ghost eye, Fate would guide him where he needed to be. If he believed hard enough, the Pantheon would provide for him as they always have. He clutched the book harder at the thought before placing it back in its holster.
Standing at the crest of the hill, he looked down at the cave entrance. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he shuddered slighty, a chill dancing up and down his spine. Dez walked over to the large patch of freshly moved dirt the purple eye floated over and withdrew the book again. He leafed through the pages until he found the spell he had bookmarked during the day.
"Conscript the Dead."
The book and a spell circle above the patch of dirt began to glow with a gray light. When the light faded, Dez took a seat by the patch and looked back at the cave.
"What could possibly be in there that's causing me so much dread?"
He motioned the two skeletons to sit next to him, but they merely stood in the places where he directed them.
"Relax guys. There might be a lot of dirt for them to push through. They'll be here soon. I think we got a good haul this time. Wonder where I'm gonna hide you guys…"
Scraping and crunching sounds filled the night air. It sounded as if there was a rockslide. A bony hand shot out of the dirt up to the elbow.
"Yes!"
He immediately high fived the hand, knocking clumps of dirt off, as more shot out nearby. One by one, twenty three full skeletons clawed their way out of the ground.
"Aw. Guess that's my limit for today. Oh well."
The twenty five skeletons stood around Dez as he surveyed their figures. He reached a hand to one of them and it helped him back to his feet.
"Thank you. Come on. There's a scary cave I want to explore." From a messanger style bag he passed out five sets of crossbows and quivers, five pairs of small wooden shields and iron daggers, and five wooden staves.
He shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry guys. I don't have any toys for you. Oh!" He searched through his inventory and fished out eight femurs from his pack.
He led them down the slope, out of the confines of the dense foliage. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, "I hope it's Travelers! They usually put up the best fights!"
*****
[INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!]
There's an ungodly sound blaring in my head. Its the high pitched whining of an air raid siren and the rumble of a lawn mower. I can feel my brain vibrating from the cacophony. My eyes shoot open from the nightmare I thought I was having and I search the room.
"Sonny! What's going on?" I see that Victoria is already dressed for battle, accessing her bracelet, and picking out a weapon. I slap on my gear as fast as I can, hopping out after her as I finish putting on my boots. I activate my sniffer and my ears and ask Sonny how the traps are faring.
[Not good, Ardy. They've blown past the first cavern and will be here within thirty minutes at this rate.]
"Shit."
The soldiers are already mobilized, waiting for orders. They salute Victoria as she strides toward them with purpose, "Sergeant, execute Evactuation Plan A. Use the vardo. Only the barest essentials for now. Then move them out the back."
Like a chorus they yell together as they run in different directions, "Yes, Lieutenant!" Some head back to the Town Hall and the rest toward the houses. The others finally join us, geared for battle but looking tired and confused.
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[There is a Lvl 16 Halfling present and 25 Lvl 12 minions. Undead. He has a large AOE ability that can destroy the traps in a single cast. DM functions will be disabled while he is present in the dungeon. I am sorry.]
"That's okay, Sonny," I say, leading everyone toward the Tria cavern, "At least we have an idea of what we're up against."
"Undead?" Dawn runs to the front of us, twisting her new ring on her finger, "Guess that'll be me."
I stop Serenity, "Wait. I want you to go with the soldiers in case they need magical back up, okay?" She's wringing her hands, looking at the others who nod their heads. She looks back at me. I can see a little steel form in her eye as she nods once, turns on her new heel, and runs towards the Command Center.
The sound of an explosion grabs our attention. They all grip their weapons tighter as I form our war party and send out requests.
"Shit…" I moan under my breath, thinking of the gear we dumped in storage, too tired to deal with them at the moment.
Kona, on her broom, throws a hand in the air, barely deflecting a crossbow bolt with her Arcane Shield. Dawn and Victoria shield the others while I slash my bolt out of the air. I watch the pieces hit the floor and finally notice the gray light lines racing to connect beneath us, "Magic Circle!"
We all manage to avoid the epicenter, but couldn't clear the edges of the blast.
[Unknown Halfling deals 53 necrotic damage]
"Shit," I say through gritted teeth, "I got it, Dawn."
I cast Healing Breeze twice and bring us up 36HP, and me down 40MP.
"Save your MP to attack."
This time, we spread out, running past the buildings and finding and army of skeletons, armed with knives, bone clubs, and shields. There are six figures in the back row at the mouth of the tunnel that leads into the living quarters but they're continuously firing bolts at us. The skeletons are running around sporadically, so AoE spells would be wasted by killing only one or two at a time.
Dawn is using Smite over and over, but I can see she's getting frustrated. "Their Willpower is strong! For some reason they're not that affected by radiance!"
I'm using my Great Bite bracers, even though the skeletons don't have blood. The system classifies the armor as a bludeoning type weapon and it helps me deal more damage than trying to slash them up.
Kona is trying to hurt them with magic, but she notices the same thing Dawn shouted earlier, "Something is boosting their resistance! I think its that short mage!"
She shoots two Arcane Bolts over at the line of boney archers and they splashed harmlessy off a large magic dome shield. She gets beset by multiple wooden bolts as punishment for her efforts; blocking one, dodging some, and taking a grazing shot on her arm.
Ramona shouts for help, running out of SP after using Roundhouse Kick multiple times when she learned that her katanas did less damage than she hoped.
Elsbeth is closest to her, but her regular arrows are having little effect. I direct her towards the archers and tell her to target the halfling if she can. "Try to get on top of a building and stay safe."
I'm starting to get swarmed by several of them as I glance over at everyone else who are receiving the same treatment. The only ones making any progress are Dawn with her hammer, and Victoria with her shield and the blunt side of a handaxe.
If I leave my position, Richter and Rachel will have to pick up the skeletons I leave behind and they're already taking on more than they can handle.
I don't know what to do.
Moments ago I was asleep, with no ideas or plans for a life or death battle. My thoughts almost slip out of the moment, but a loud hissing cry snaps me back.
I shout towards the pair, "Rachel and Richter!"
"Go, bro!" He shouts back, dual wielding two large bones.
"Help her!" Rachel vanishes and reappears back to back with Richter.
I do the same, using Assassinate to teleport above the Saurion laying on the ground. Wishing I had Serenity's wand at this point, I cast Healing Breeze on our spot. I knew that the healing would at least get Ramona back on her feet, but I hoped it would have an adverse effect on the undead being a healing type spell.
Unfortunately, it seemed to recover their HP as well, probably because it is Arcane based and not Faith.
Ramona hasn't gotten up yet, and I'm taking lots of damage from shallow cuts and hard blows. I can see magic lines forming on the ground again and I brace myself for impact as I continue to fend off the skeletons. My HP is around forty percent and nothing I can do at this point will save me or Ramona from the same attack as before.
[You have entered a Level 2 Sanctuary!
[-6Regen wait times, +2Regen points, Undead -65%All Resistances]
All of my points skyrocket as I spam Roundhouse kick, dealing incredible amounts of damage and sending any surviving skeletons flying. After the last one nearby me is knocked away, I take a quick glance at Ramona who still hasn't even opened her eyes.
Is it a debuff? Is she unconcious?
"Wake up, Ramona!" I shake her violently as I take quick glances at the advancing undead. "Wake up!"
There's an explosion not too far away from me and it knocks me over.
[Unknown Halfling deals 28 force damage]
After mentally recovering, I relax and open my wincing eyes, ears still ringing from my second, close-proximity explosion.
I'm staring directly at the Saurion's face. She looks peaceful, asleep even. Not a care in the world. A mental picture of her curling up on the rock near the mouth of the cave flashes through my mind. A deep thunk of bone against metal shattered the vision and the pain from my ribs takes my breath away.
I roll on top of Ramona's body, shielding her from the pummeling I'm expecting. I grit my teeth and brace myself for the next hit.
Instead, I feel and then hear another explosion and I get showered by bits of bone. My eyes shoot open and the sight before me sends a surge of hope through me.
Mika is loading a strange looking bolt in her ornate crossbow, "Get up, boy. That one doesn't need your help right now…"
Her tone is somber and her face is grave as she walks past me.
I'm looking at Ramona. Really looking at her this time. There are massive craters of shattered scales and weeping wounds all across her body. Her HP bar is empty, not even the slightest pixel of red in the bar.
"When did…"
The room grows cold enough for me to see my breath and a deep crackling rocky noise draws itself out for several seconds.
"Nooooooooo!!" Victoria follows up her proclamation with a primal yell that pulls me to my feet. The tunnel is closing from a growing wall of ice and she is striking it with fury.
Mika's special exploding arrows blow apart the skeletons, dealing concussive damage that is similar to bludgeoning. Elsbeth fires a Fire Arrow at the wall and the flames barely cause the ice to drip.
Within a moment, I am shredding at the wall with my claws, the halfling laughing at me from the other side.
"I underestimated you, Travelers! Just like the first ones." He shakes his head and smiles, "Gonna have to come back with more skellies. Oh, maybe even some ghouls! Wont that be fun?"
With a satisfied grin, he jerks his head to motion the five archer skeletons to walk with him.
His callous attitude bewilders me. With a quick Analyze I see that he's an NPC named Dez Driftwood. I shout at him in frustration, "Why did you attack us, Dez? Who do you work for?"
I try to stall him, hopefully my MP and SP will recharge in time for me to use Assassinate once more.
My use of his name stops him. He was just about to walk away after all this battle? There are still a few of his minions getting turned to dust!
He gives me a sideways look, "I eternally serve Nyctos, the God of Night and Shadows. Here, a parting gift for the good time we've shared."
He pulls out the holstered book, flips through the pages, and finds the spell he wants. A magic circle appears below the feet of everyone chipping away at the ice wall. The mana from it evaporates, the sign of an interrupted spell. I look back up and Dez starts laughing manically after he appraises his shoulder.
On the ground next to him is the spell book and his right arm, forming a small puddle of blood. Just past him, a Dual Needle sticks out of the ground. I look over at a disheveled and hate filled Victoria. Her face twists to horror and I look back over at Dez.
He grabs one of the skeleton's arms and jams it into the still bleeding wound. He uses the staff and casts a spell. The stick and the arm glow with a gray light and black strands shoot out from the wound, binding to the bones. When the spell finishes, our mouths are agape as Dez waves the black and white bony arm at us, "Let this place be your mausoleum.”
He disappears into the tunnels.
The enemy is running from the battle, but it is our loss. The last skeleton left behind is destroyed and we feel hollow. Our eyes scan each other, witnessing all of the damage that had been wrought in an instant. Lastly, we all gaze at the body on the floor, still a glimmer of hope that she might move. But it is a fool's hope.
Kona is the first to fall to her knees beside her friend. Her tears and cries unbearable. Victoria too, takes a knee next to the Faunus, tears streaming down, but the rest she bottles up. Elsbeth is crying into my shoulder, eyes pinched and mouth open, but not a sound comes out. She's beating a tight fist into my chest. Its not sign, but I know what she's trying to say. Each weak strike has a different meaning to it, a different question she asks herself.
How could this happen?
Why did I leave?
Why wasn't I there?
Why am I so useless?
Why?
Why?
WHY?
We as players can't cry in game. We can feel sadness and despair, but we cannot express ourselves with tears. Richter and Rachel stand next to me. Dawn kneels next to Kona who immediately throws herself onto the Infernus, wailing and sobbing uncontrollably.