The din of battle echoes all around and no one can pin point exactly where anything is originating from. From my position on the far right of the first row, I can barely see two people down the line and nothing but the fog on the right. The Arcane Shield is up, more as a safety blanket than anything, and the tonfa wand sits tight in my grip.
Two arrows and a javelin hit the dirt where my torso used to be, turning in time to dodge them and bringing the forward shield for cover. I give a shout and the news travels up the line. Dawn gives the order for a double column and Taymin motions for me to follow him. We reform two lines on either side of the vardo. Since it can't turn on a dime, she gives us the order to cover it and move in the direction the attack originated from as the vardo curves. Her words spark a dim yellow aura around each of us.
[Maneuver Bonus: +10%Agility until you reach Reposition point. +5Dexterity for 5minutes when you reach Reposition point.]
This must be her Reposition Maneuver. Ahead in the fog, a slim, glowing green arrow pointing to a spot on the ground waits as a jolt of energy surges through us. The columns glide through the fog towards our goal, eyes peeled and weapons drawn. Vic makes Elsbeth trade places with Boulder and we form a moving wall of shields. The ground below us becomes slick with an acrid, viscous fluid. Arrows fly at us, but from the paths they take it's easy to see they aren't meant for us. The further the formation moves, the louder the clash becomes. A body hits the ground by my feet, battered, bleeding, and a large tomahawk sticking out of its chest.
"That's an orc weapon," Taymin calls out, "And that poor fellow is a kobold."
I spare the kobold a short glance and it is reminescent of Saurean, but with thicker, rougher scales and longer arms with claws that reach its knees. If it stood up, it would probably be slightly shorter than Dawn, hovering between three to four feet. But for now, the owner of the throwing axe has come to reclaim his weapon.
A grey green, muscular orc wearing poorly stitched together hides and pelts for armor bursts from the fog. His hand grasps the handle of his weapon before it realizes it has guests. Arrows, Aces (the improved iklwas), and bolts of magic obliterate the orc and we wait for another.
[Entered Territory Dispute
[Areas in Effect: 4B, 5B
[Current factions:
[Bannerfell Clan
[Koresk Tribe
[*unnamed]
As we wait, tendrils of black smoke rise from the ground, invading the eyes, ears, and noses of the two fallen creautures before they have a chance to evaporate. Their bodies convulse and their skin bubbles from below the surface, decaying from the inside out. The putrid odor of rot fills the air as the wet tearing of flesh is heard over the battle in the fog. Both creatures strain their new limbs against the dirt, trying to stand, but a white light sparks from within one and then the other.
They explode in a brilliant flash of radiant energy, turning to ash before they can spatter on us, and the battle screeches to a halt. In the distance and all around us, a screeching, wailing cry buffets us with a concussive force, pushing us about like waves of water in many directions.
The fog partially thins, enough where we can see the other creatures. The little lizard people clearly have the short end of this shit stick, using nothing more than crude spears to fend off their foes.
"Kill the orcs. Protect the kobolds," Dawn curiously orders, but we obey. The orcs, who have found much more interesting adversaries to contend with, throw aside their current prey and charge at us. The one leading them is wearing a crown of braided sticks and feathers, a wooden shield, and more leather armor than the rest. His tusks jut from his lower jaw and are dripping spittle and blood as he roars at us.
I roar back, covering all hostiles in a thin layer of grey and all of the party in red. Any remaining kobolds have neither aura, much to my suprise.
[Hellbent Roar increases +10%Weapon Attack Damage, +5%Max HP, Immune to Frightened! Timer 00:02:59]
"Ranged," Dawn commands, Spell and Skill imbued projectiles fly out from behind us. I fire off six of the seven beads in the wand, stow it, cast Arcane Bolt, send two flying, and save a bolt to turn into an arcane Dual Needle. All of that and five massive, greasy warriors including the chieftan, are still barreling towards the line.
We catch them on our shields, draining a 83MP chunk from my pool.
"Reiger, to the front. Ardy, Rachel blink." Dawn casts Sanctuary under the front line's feet and suppliments the assualt with her new Divine Flash. As soon as Reiger takes my place on the line, Rachel and I Assassinate an orc and the chieftan from behind, dividing the aggro. With their attention split and actions stuttering, it's fairly straight forward dispatching the remainder of the orc clan. The system hasn't announced any XP gain yet, and Dawn grumbles out loud about whether we'll be getting some or not. That, and none of their gear is worth looting.
[Territory Obtained
[Area: 4B
[Claimed By: *unnamed]
After the death of the chieftan, the mist dissapates, revealing a scarred battlefield, rising corpses, and bewildered remnants of the orc clan. The fog can still be seen in the distance, like the walls of a storm from within its eye. The sky, too, is a writhing mass of dark clouds. With the area clear of fog, it is easy work clearing the rest of the orcs and subsequent ghouls. To the east, 5B is still fogged over and must belong to the kobolds.
As soon as we're sure that we're relatively safe and that they are more scared of us than us of them, we turn our attention back to our commander who is already having a discussion with Victoria. Vic has a thumb to her lips in thought, watching Dawn gesture her hands to the kobolds.
The kobolds all have the same general appearence as the first one we ran into, but they differ in color: deep red, sandy yellow, and forest green. Other than that, they all have large, yellow eyes with thin, verticle pupils like a gecko that dart from person to person. One of the yellow ones is wearing a necklace with what looks to be some kind of pale green quartz and a simple, gold ring on one of his claws.
"Does this look like a group of blood thirsty killers to you?" Dawn asks, stomping closer over to them and waving her arms dramatically at them. Her actions send them scurrying closer in a huddle. She looks through the mass of shivering lizards and pokes at the one with necklace.
It lets out a gravely squeal, popping its head out of the pile. It jumps up, repositioning itself between the other kobolds and Dawn.
"No hurt them, mighty warrior," it pleads and quivers, hugging a spear in its arms, "Eat Dola if hungry. But not tribe."
Dawn strikes her pose again, emphasizing with her hands, eyes, and scowl. Victoria huffs and rolls her eyes, moving in closer to her, "Well, if you're not going to eat them, what are you planning on doing?" Her tone is stern and more curious than sarcastic.
"Dola? I take it you are the tribe's leader? I have a proposition for you," Dawn says with a grin, hand outstretched in goodwill. From behind hunched shoulders, Dola peers up at her and smiles meekly.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
An hour later, *unknown has two territories under its control. With both, our field of vision and influence nearly tripled in size, due to the uneven allotment of space the area was divided into. According to Dola, the fog is a recent event, probably beginning a week or so a go. It's hard to tell when there's no night and day. The orcs, with a far smaller space and even more limited resources, figured the closest territory would be worth invading for a chance to some food and water. Both of which, he regretted to inform us, are unsafe to consume in regular amounts. Even taking sips and small bites to stave off the Debuff effects of Starvation or Dehydration is a roll of the dice.
Fortunately for him, his tribe, and the rest of us, the entire population of Linqs is capable of purifying both tainted water and spoiled meat with hardly any effort. Purified containers filled from their nearby pool of water, edible blue elk, and our recent rescue were used by Dawn as bargaining chips and Dola eagerly traded with us for control of the area.
They even pledge their loyalty to the Infernus and we have to hide our giggling as the sixteen remaining kobolds kneel before her and swear an oath to serve her. It actually works out in our favor since they have been living in this area for a while and are a little too excited to be of service to her.
The orcs were the first to attempt to invade 5B and, according to the map, the tall, skinny piece of the puzzle goes up through where one would assume row C would be, if one would use the map and the size of 4B and 5B as a guide. Once our growing convoy reaches the top of our second territory, we discover two more factions fighting. A dozen gnolls and a handful of monster rabbits, the lupalions, stumbled their rumble right into our backyard.
It's interesting to observe that, even though some of them aren't too far away from each other, they look past one another and grope the air as if still in a fog. It's probably how the orcs kept coming at us, even though we weren't exactly broadcasting our positions.
[Your territory is being invaded by:
[Rotfang Clan
[Lupalion Herd #2]
Hesitant to use the frail creatures in combat, but still apprehensive enough to not offer them a ride, Dawn surrounds the vardo with the kobolds in a parentheses formation. We come to a halt within bolt range and they still can't see us, so we use it to our advantage.
With no ranged units to return fire, we wipe out both parties with impunity. "Like shooting fish in a barrel," remarks Richter as he waits for his MP to refill. Even with the unremarkable Splinters, or plain wooden arrows, his bow is capable of turning them into a magical force to be reckoned with. The only drawback is the MP use, but with our methodical process through the fog, our MP and SP regenerates before we reach the next skirmish.
This method of travel actually allows the entire team the opportunity to unleash our strongest Abilities often and early in what has come to be known as Operation Icebreaker, like the ships that slowly power through ice and create a path for other boats.
After the Gnolls and lupalions, we encounter a warren of goblins in one territory and a swarm of shades in another. We may have obtained more territories from those encounters, but the biggest take was the lesson on magical weapons and elemental affinities.
The shades are to the wraith, as an actual praying mantis is to the stalker, and they're a good introduction to what we should expect in the upcoming fight. Black, billowing smoke in the shape of a legless, robed and hooded figure, detached claw like hands made from the same smoke and floating at its side, and an aura that dropped the ambient temperature several degrees made up the presence of each one of nearly three dozen shades.
All normal, physical attacks harmlessly slide through them, dealing zero damage. The elemental stuff we throw at them; Spells, Skills, and weapon attacks, deal half of what they should, except for two of us and anything radiant. Even after I imbue my claws with lightning or water does little to harm them. The radiant attacks from Dawn and Kona, who is able to cycle through the Arcane, Radiant, and Shadow elementals at will, deal normal damage instead of half or double like we predicted.
Sonny's Radiant Meteora and the weapons created by my Boltsmith Feat are considered magic weapons and, because of this, we deal Elemental Weakness damage. Still, with just the two of us, we mow the shades down like weeds. Everyone who is capable of using an elemental attack, like fire, arcane, or radiant, keeps the swarm in check while Sonny and I compete to see who can get the highest kill count. Dawn grumbles something about our stock of weapon charms and how they're of no use to us while currently in storage.
A short while later, we get the notice for our sixth and latest territory. Sonny wins the match with twenty four kills, her Sonnivarias and Meteora giving her an almost four to one advantage. For a moment, I picture Sonny happily skipping through a field in slow motion with her violin in hand. She does a twirl as flower petals and Meteora whirls around her. A horde of goblins pounces upon her, but the giant, flying blade and musical instrument cut them down before they can present even the smallest hint of danger. Her eyes are still closed in ignorant bliss as she leaps like a ballerina over the gore.
"Ardy?" Her voice tugs me out of the daydream and I look her way. Everyone is preparing to move out and Sonny is standing before me, open hand outstretched and hoping for something, "Come on, Ardy. You promised me a prize if I won."
I open my Pocket Dimension and playfully roll my eyes, "Right, right."
I withdraw my old Amulet of Dragon's Breath and, upon seeing it with a gasping smile, Sonny turns around. The amulet sits proudly on her chest as she shows it off to Conner and I stare at the pair. When I see the two of them together, thoughts of their future, of Linqs's future, floods what little faculties remain in my brain. How can anyone worry about the infinite track of the future when
the present is hard enough to deal with and the past is always clawing from behind.
Time is like being surrounded by a hoard of different speeds of zombie. The future is the fast kind, the kind that you watch sprinting down a corridor at you with eyes full of bloodlust. The past is the slow kind, and if you ever take your eyes off of it for a second, it blindsides you. The present is the zombie already wrapping you in its embrace, trying to reach past your guard and tear your throat. How can one person handle such an oppressive force? How can anyone survive?
"Let's go, tire fire." Dawn's call is playful and snaps me back once again to reality. I jog back to my place in line, "There's something on the map we have to check out. It looks like a plot of land covered in rubble on the map, but Richter and I think it might be ruins."
7D, the last territory claimed by *unnamed, is also the location of the remains of a small city. Rectangular in shape, it looks like another one to three territories lie above us. We park the vardo where the gates of the settlement used to be and the soldiers and reserves stay behind to guard the vehicle, allowing the air to swap out and anyone with Forager to do their thing under tight supervision. No one seems the least bit hesitant to meet the kobolds and go so far as to bring food out for them. Afraid to partake, Dawn orders them with a smile, "Relax, guys. Welcome to the family. Stay here and keep an eye on things, okay?"
Aside from the grass and stormy sky, the ruins are reminiscent of the cavern in the Rentas Dungeon where a colony of Elves once lived, wiped out by a ritual gone horribly wrong. This place, however, is in relatively better condition considering the weather and history of conflict in the area. The remnants of structures lay about like sun bleached bones, nature reclaiming its stolen resources. We stalk through overgrown streets and crumbled archways. There are more full, standing buildings than we expected there to be, waiting for their owners or customers to, once again, cross their thresholds and walk their floors. Richter and I use our visions and Elsbeth uses her expertise to search everywhere for traps or hidden creatures, but we are happy to report the lack of either anywhere near our vicinity.
After summoning Blue for added support, I catch a whiff of something interesting. I report the discovery of a thin, green scent trail, leading deeper into the ancient settlement to Dawn. She asks what it means and after a brief explenation of my Feat, we believe it to mean a dungeon or event of some kind. Passed the jagged shells of buildings we travel to find the source of the trail. Once in a while, Richter's Forager class would lead him to a spot to dig up a plant or something and he would dart off like an excited puppy. With Blue and Rachel as our backup, Richter and I explore a two story building, its roof caved in long ago and one of the walls partially collapsed onto the ground below. Under the rubble, a loot bag waits to be found. Someone was probably standing there when the walls gave way and no one bothered to search for survivors. I have to slash my way through, unable to help but wonder if anything interesting will be inside.
I ignore the Simple Clothes, tossing the handful of Minor Health Potions, old coins, and ring into storage. It's unfortunate the loot sack had nothing to do with the Minor Quest "Bury Me With My Name." With the whole continent of Regalus as the searching ground, it was never supposed to be that easy. Richter is already inside and I join him. From the second floor, he's staring out of the window, casting his gaze at the horizon. A portion of the skyline has grown dark and stormy and is growing at a steady pace. He mentions rain, but I barely hear anything else he says. There's something strange about the rainstorm…
I smack Richter on the arm, "It's not growing..."
"It's getting closer." The hostile scent trail, which usually ranges from a feint pink to a deep crimson, is as black as the form quickly approaching us.