I grabbed the knife from my backpack, set the pack down on the lower branches, and made my way to the top of the tree. Hopefully, the view would give me an indication about which direction to pick and maybe a general lay of the land. It didn’t take long to get to the top but it did sway more than I had hoped it would. Most of the trees had a similar height so it wasn’t great as a vantage point. I flipped the knife over to get me in the northward direction. Having a good idea of where north was I began the task of creating a mental map of the terrain.
This so-called zone turned out to be a lot larger than I expected. I found myself close to the southwest edge with the ocean visible to the left of and behind me and seemed to stretch out infinitely. A large mountain could be seen in the northwest as well as in the east. I was never that great with guessing distances but I estimated them both to be roughly ninety to a hundred miles from my current location. If I went by the average of three miles per hour it would take a day to get to either mountain. The forest spanned for as far as I could see.
The canopy and my elevation didn’t provide too much information about significant details about the forest around me. As I gave my surroundings one final look before descending the tree something to the right of me caught my eye. Something barely peeked out of the canopy. I risked going a bit higher up the tree to see if I could see what it was. Only about four feet higher the tree started leaning dangerously to the side and I could hear the groaning of the wood. I marked the thing on my mental map and quickly made my way down before the top would break off. I grabbed my pack on the way down and set off to the east and the mystery that it hid.
Since I didn’t spot any source of water from my vantage point in the tree, the mystery thing was my best option. Walking around the area in hopes of finding water was just as high as walking towards something. Hopefully, It was some kind of structure. If someone lived there they would need a source of water. That was if this place wasn’t sculpted just for the tournament and it was just a random map feature.
I had walked for about an hour before a slight commotion up ahead drew my attention. I crouched down low and slowly made my way forward. Hidden behind a set of ferns I spotted another goblin patrol. They were going towards the south which made me wonder if there was some kind of goblin encampment somewhere over there since that was also the direction I fought the others. This patrol had six members instead of four. The higher number made me wonder how that would work on the battlefield. Was one of them a ranged fighter? Would they spawn in as a reinforcement? Maybe even some kind of the backline replacing the front line if the front line died. More food for thought. I’d have to find an enemy with three health before I could test it out or take a hit to play two of my creatures with one attack.
I stalked the goblin patrol for a few minutes to see if I could catch them split up but they stayed grouped. Picking up a rock from the ground I threw it off to the side hoping to draw a few of them away but they stayed in their loose formation as a group. I just remained in my position and let them walk out of range after that. I still had a mystery to find and this patrol wouldn’t get me any decent results. I took this opportunity to take a minor break and five minutes later I was on the move again.
Another thirty minutes later I found myself in another tree. I had just found mystery number two. I had found a hole in the ground under the roots of a fallen tree. And it was not a small hole either. It was at least twice my size wide and close to seven feet high. I chose to back away from the hole and set up a little observation post while taking another lunch break. Going into the hole without a source of light would be stupid and suicidal. My observation was to see if any creatures would roam out or into the hole. Knowing is half the battle and I’d prefer to know what I would be facing in that dark pit. I sat there for maybe fifteen minutes without anything showing up so I called it quits. I ascended the tree to see if I was still heading in the right direction. I had gone slightly more north than my destination but not by much. It also became clear that it was some kind of stone structure. It could be either a tower or part of a bigger structure but the lower part was too obscured by the canopy.
An hours later It became clear that I had found some kind of dilapidated keep. I had found the outer wall. Most of the masonry lay around broken inside and outside of the keep. Trees had uprooted the foundation and knocked parts of it over. Vines clung to most of the remaining wall that was still standing. The sun was past its zenith a while ago and the wall was casting a shadow. And there in the shadow was another group of goblins. I had almost missed them in the quasi-dark but their chatter had given them away. It seems they caught one of those rabbits and were tearing it apart between the three of them.
They were too bunched up to retry the same tactic as with the previous group. I already knew terrain had an effect on the battlefield but what would happen if part of the field would be blocked by the crumbling wall? I dropped my backpack in the brush and made my way towards the wall and sate my desire to learn all the battlefield nuances.
With the goblins barely visible behind the rubble but making sure it would be on their side of the field I called out “Initiate duel”.
Combat initiated with advantage (all opponents unaware).
You’ll receive one bonus crystal for the first round of combat.
Battlefield modifiers are in effect.
Lane one is disabled for both sides.
Lane two opponents' vanguard position disabled.
Auto-matching creatures to vanguard position. If all vanguard slots are filled any remaining creatures will enter as reinforcements.
Three creatures places, no reinforcements.
The wall perfectly touched the second lane’s border. The disabled vanguard field was filled with a high stack of rubble. The mention of only the vanguard being disabled meant the, I assumed, rearguard could still be filled. This also meant that melee creatures could not function in the rearguard.
This made me wonder what the second effect of my deck box would do if I utilized it when all my vanguard slots were filled. It said basic common but did that include something like an archer?
A quick scan of the goblins told me they were all 1/1. I drew four 1/1 skeletons and placed two of them opposite a goblin. While they traded kills the remaining goblin swung his club towards me. Again I braced for impact on reflex but the feeling was dull as my life points ticked down by one. I drew another skeleton and placed it on the fields to end the battle.
VICTORY!
Exp gained: 3
Coins gained: 6
Cards gained: None
Additional rewards: None
Claim
I quickly claimed my rewards and made my way back to my backpack. I stayed put for a few minutes to see if anything came to investigate the battle. When nothing showed up I made my way over the collapsed section of the wall.
The courtyard was a reflection of the outside. Grass, weeds, scrubs, and the occasional tree populated the courtyard. The main entrance was closed with two massive rusted iron doors. Even if it would swing on its hinges the amount of rubble from where the walkway above It had collapsed would make it impossible.
Getting a better look from the inside the outer wall was set in a hexagon. Each point held a reinforced tower base. Two of them still had their upper parts but the others had crumbled. Broken or collapsed structures build up against the wall. Most likely facilities for the keeps day to day activities. I had entered through the second wall to the right of the gate.
The keep stood opposing the massive gate near the back wall. It stood two stories high with the tower I had seen between the trees as five stories high and was amazingly still standing. I still had daylight to spare so I decided to first make a round along the wall before entering the keep itself.
Nothing stirred in the courtyard but I kept a low profile just to be sure. On my left, only a small stone wall stood at the base of what most likely used to be a wooden structure since there was no other stone rubble. Only a few sturdy beams still stood or lay on the floor. The base of a fireplace stood near the far wall. I made my way over mostly out of curiosity. I shifted some rubble and smaller patches of debris with my foot but nothing looked even remotely useable. I left the building for what it was and made my way over toward the building right of the gate.
The first half of the building used to be a stone structure. Most of the walls still stood partially. From the layout, it looked like the front door directly led to the living room. A broken chimney stood on the right wall. The far wall was the outer wall of the wall. On the left, there were another two rooms. The larger one was a bedroom indicated by the shape of the wooden remains in the room resembling a bed. I assumed the other used to be a store room since it lack a bed-shaped pile of old wood. Nothing of interest remained inside the house. My hope of finding water in the small well next to the house was quickly squashed as most of the wall had caved in damping the well.
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The connected building was also mostly wood. It had a stone wall nearest the gate and a chest-high stone wall along the front with wide openings on both sides of it. The still somewhat visible dividers in the long building reminded me of a stable. My suspicion was confirmed by the skeleton of a horse-like creature I found in the last cubicle. While looking the skeletal remains over I wondered what it might have looked like when it was alive when a silvery flash caught my eye. Crouching down next to the bones something was visible between the ribs. I reached inside to grab the silvery object. As soon as my hand grasped the object a frown set on my face. I pulled the object out to inspect it. Why would there be a card inside the skeletal remains of a horse?
Skeletal horse Cost 1
Undead - Horse
Mount – A mount can be played as a creature or can be used as equipment.
If used as equipment its attack and health will be added to the rider.
Attack 1 Health1
My frown turned upside down into a huge smile. Even if it’s an uncommon card this card was massive. Since it’s an uncommon card I could upgrade it twice. This either gave me a 2/2 for the cost of only one crystal or it could buff another card with the same 2/2 bonus stats. I highly doubted I could equip the horse with a piece of equipment and then equip that onto one of my skeletons. Remembering the goblin long spear which got consumed on upgrading the wielder this didn’t have that line. That probably meant I could keep swapping around. Now what would happen if the horse had a special ability? Would that also transfer? Perhaps that question would be answered when I found a rare or higher rarity mount. I quickly went to look over the other stable cubicles but unfortunately, I found no other cards. But what was the better use of my new card? I hadn’t yet reached the maximum deck size so using as a creature was as much a valid option as equipping it. Ultimately I decided to use it as a creature. With thirteen skeletons I could trigger my deck box three times instead of two. And that turned the 1/1 technically into a 2/2. Once my deck would reach its maximum it was the best candidate to swap out and use it as an equipment card instead.
I took a minute to look around the courtyard to see if anything had changed before heading over towards the gate. The tower’s entrance was blocked by a still somewhat complete door. Pushing or pulling the door didn’t move it in the slightest. I gave it a subtle shoulder check to see if it would budge but that only resulted in a throbbing shoulder. Rubbing my slightly sore shoulder I walked over to the tower on the other side. The door on that side was blocked by a pile of rubble that had fallen. I tsked in annoyance but just shook it off and made my way over to the third building.
The third building had a heavy stone outer wall without a visible door. Peeking inside I stopped a rusting anvil. A long extinguished stone forge stood behind it. The chimney had collapsed as well as a part of the roof. Apart from the viny plants clinging to the wall the inside floor was fairly clean from greenery. The collapsed roof let in enough light to let me scout the place out. Again the left side wall stood a workbench without any visible tools. The right side wall had two decaying wooden weapon racks, also empty.
I decided to search the workbench first. A quick examination showed no drawers or anything else of value. The decaying weapon racks also held no hidden treasure. Upon closer inspection, the collapsed roof had fallen onto an additional two weapon racks. The rack closest to me was utterly smashed and if anything was underneath the rubble I had no way of getting it. With the thought of no stone unturned I climbed over the rubble to the other side. The rack on this side was only partly smashed. A large rabbit-sized hole separated the rubble from the wall. I pulled out my knife and reflected the sunlight of the blade into the hole as a makeshift flashlight. It was hard to see but the light reflected off something underneath. I stuck my arm inside and I could feel my fingertips touching something. It took a few minutes to fold myself into the available space to get more of my arm into the hole but my effort was rewarded. I pulled away with two cards in hand.
Flimsy short sword
Equipment – non Beast
A creature equipped with this item gains +1 attack.
Flimsy shield
Equipment – non Beast
A creature equipped with this item gains +1 health.
Two common equipment cards were a fine haul. With twenty-four cards needing equipment any bit helped. The ease of attaching and removing equipment from my creatures made it a net gain. I equipped one of my human skeletons with the sword and another one with the shield.
Attached to the smithy similar to the stable was a small house. A quick search provided nothing of interest. Exiting the house, I noticed that searching the fourth building wasn’t possible. The entire thing was blown apart along with the outer wall. Something very big had demolished or broken through it. The keep’s wall was marred with chipped stones where the debris had hit it. With nothing left to explore outside, I made my way over to the keep itself.
The main doors into the keep stood slightly ajar due to the doorway being partially broken. Upon closer inspection, it seemed part of the hinges got knocked from the wall. A clear sign that someone from the outside wanted to get inside. The fact that something had sort of closed it might be a concern. It took me a few minutes of pushing, pulling, and wiggling to get inside. I had propped the backpack up to the door and some wiggling later I pulled it inside.
The inside was dark. This was a keep designed for war. Light trickled in from the small vertical slits carved into the wall. I knew those were for archers to shoot out of the keep without giving enemies a way inside. I put my left hand on the wall and followed it around the room. Sconces were placed along the wall but the first few were empty. I hit the corner and kept following along the wall. The next sconce still held some kind of torch. A carefully touched the head to see if there was anything flammable left. I touched some dry cloth and made my way back to the door and the major light source in the room.
I pulled out the fire starter from my backpack. It was one of those iron sticks that would create sparks. It took me a while to get the torch lit. They made it seem a lot easier on TV compared to a novice like me starting a fire. The torch cast it warm glow around the room. It was a slightly rectangular room maybe fifty feet long by sixty feet wide. A stone staircase sat in the middle at the back. The left wall at one point held two single doors both at a third off the wall. The right wall had a single double door in the middle. The back wall had a door on either side of the stairs.
I went back to the left side along the wall I initially followed. The door let me into a barracks. The remnants of bunkbeds were still visible. The second door also gave entry into the same barracks. The barracks had enough room to house at least two dozen soldiers. A quick loop around the room showed nothing of interest was left behind. At the top of the room was another door. It took a bit of pulling to get the door open. Inside were what I assumed to be the captain's quarters. Empty bookshelves and two desks along with two beds. I’d come back later to give it a thorough inspection. Exiting the second door, I checked the door next to the stairs. It only took a glance to determine it was some type of giant bathroom. Logical to place it directly next to the barracks.
With only two rooms left to explore on the ground floor, I made my way over to the double doors. What I kind of assumed to be another barracks turned out to be a mess hall. Broken tables and benches littered the floor. At the far end, a door went to the left going into the same room as the final door in the first hall. A room next to the mess hall could only mean one thing, the kitchen. The kitchen had a few fireplaces most likely for preparing soup-like dishes. It also had two firepits probably to grill larger animals. The last feature of the room made me feel a spark of hope. In the far corner stood the wall of an internal well.
I quickly made my way over. The closer I got the more defined the smell of a damp well became. Some mushroom colonies sprouted along the edge of the well and I could only hope the water would be in a decent state. I could faintly hear the sound of running water. I gave the wall a few pushes to see if the structure was stable enough to hold my weight. It didn’t give and I leaned on over the side. I held out the torch into the well as far as my arm would reach. Using my other hand to shield my eyes from the flame I saw the outline of moving water.