The midnight streets of Tonberg’s southern district were unusually busy. But instead of merchants peddling their trade and workers touring the inns, a horde of undead monstrosities had surged onto the main road as if they controlled the entire city.
Sokalar levitated down to street level, observing the battalions of thralls marching slowly towards the city square. In the distance, silhouettes dotted the starry sky.
“Lüngen.” He called.
“What can I do for you, Ignas?” The portly archivist replied.
“There is a strange air tonight. Instruct two Deathguards to patrol the nearby alleyways with their thralls.” He ordered, “I do not want my forces caught unaware in this darkness.”
“Of course.”
There was no need for him to question the Lich’s instinct. ‘A strange air’ was no excuse to divert manpower away from the main force, but Lüngen had grown to trust Sokalar’s gut feeling. The man was like an animal - sensitive to danger even in his most relaxed state.
Soon, two of the Order’s necromancers were sent into the pitch-black alleyways, lighting the way for their thralls with torches in one hand. There were no shortage of nooks and crannies to hide in - a stark change from the open battlefields the Order had grown accustomed to before arriving in Tonberg.
The army progressed through the southern district deliberately, examining every possible ambush route before moving on. Their world was a whimsical one, however, and nobody could be blamed for failing to uncover a pair of girls hidden by the virtues of transmutation magic.
Once the group of undead passed them by, Drayya dispelled her sorcery with a wave of her hand, causing the air around them to shimmer. Lieze shivered as she felt the obscuring magic leaving her body, relieved to see her own two hands were visible again.
“That was close…” Drayya whispered, “Just so you know, that isn’t a cheap spell.”
“You won’t need to use it again.” Lieze replied, peeking out from a corner to see a procession of Gravewalkers with their backs turned, “We were right. My father is going to occupy the city square. At this pace, most of the Deathguards will be there in the next 5 minutes or so…”
“We’d best get you into the sewers, then.” Drayya turned her attention to the ground, “There’s a manhole right there. I can use a transmutation spell to mask the sound of you opening it.”
Lieze nodded, and the two of them emerged from their hidden corner to approach the wrought-iron cover. Lifting it would have normally required great effort (and noise) on Lieze’s part, but thanks to a simple spell cast by Drayya, her movements - and those of the manhole - didn’t make any sound whatsoever. A terrible stench wafted up from the resulting hole in the ground.
“Do you need me to come down with you?” Drayya asked.
“What are you, my mother?”
“Okay… I was just asking.” She held both hands up defensively, “But just to be sure, you’re planning on escaping right after detonating the barrel, aren’t you?”
“I want to take a count of how many Deathguards perish in the blast.”
“Of course you do…” She rolled her eyes, “If Master Sokalar finds you-”
“He won’t.” Lieze assured, “You’ve done everything you need to. Go back to the northern district. I’ll return once I’ve finished up here.”
“You won’t hear any complaints from me… I could do with a good night’s rest.” Drayya took a few steps back, “Good luck.”
With that, Lieze turned herself around and lowered herself down the rusty ladder. The sound of rushing water filled her ears as she descended to the sewer walkways. She waited a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to the darkness before reaching out to grab an unlit torch from its sconce.
Lieze’s MP - 1,390 / 1,440
She lit the torch with a [Fire Bolt], recoiling as embers flew from the iron housing. The decrepit waterway was bathed in a warm glow which only served to accentuate the unhealthy colour of its surface.
Sokalar’s thralls were so numerous in number that she could hear his legions marching from below - a crucial detail that would allow her to time the explosion perfectly. Using the map she’d acquired from Baccharum, Lieze manoeuvred her way through the identical walkways to reach the location of the black powder barrel.
Tactfully, she placed the torch on the ground a few metres away.
“I’m not letting a fire get anywhere near that barrel…” She muttered, “But, it won’t be as simple as firing a [Fire Bolt] at it from a distance… I’ll end up perishing in the blast myself.”
A hoarse squeaking caught her attention. From an open grate on the wall, the bloated form of a rat slinked onto the walkway. Its gluttonous nature allowed Lieze to grab it by the tail before it could skitter away. From her Bag of Holding, she retrieved a dagger she’d picked up as a replacement for her old one while visiting the arcade.
“Yes… this should work.”
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With a clean movement, she slit the rat’s neck and waited for it to die of blood loss.
[Rat] Defeated
1xp Rewarded
“If I use a [Delayed Corpse Explosion], the heat generated from the blast should be enough to ignite the black powder in the barrel…” She theorised, “That will give me 5 seconds to put some distance between myself and the explosion…”
5 seconds wasn’t a lot. Barely enough. But it was far safer than using a [Fire Bolt] from around the corner. With great care, Lieze lifted the barrel lid, revealing a staggering amount of black powder. She was half-worried that some strange reaction in the putrid air would cause it to detonate immediately, but it remained dormant for the time being.
“Alright…” She took in a breath, “Gods, I hope this works…”
She waited for Sokalar’s army to pass overhead, listening to the rhythmic thump of countless feet against the cobblestone roads. When the noise became so loud that she could barely hear her own thoughts, she knew it was time to execute the plan.
Lieze’s MP - 1,384 / 1,440
She touched a finger to the rat’s bloated body before flinging it into the barrel, nearly tripping over her own feet breaking into a sprint afterwards. She disappeared around a nearby corner, but didn’t stop there. The seconds ticked down in her head as she placed as much distance between herself and the barrel as possible.
5…
4…
3…
2…
1…
A brilliant flash flooded the sewers with light, followed by a shockwave that knocked Lieze off her feet. For the briefest instant, she was blinded and deafened to the world around her, recovering just in time to dodge a chunk of rubble dislodged from the ceiling.
Quest ‘Boom’ Complete! Reward - 2,000xp
The entire square and its surrounding streets were collapsing into the labyrinthine passageways. Lieze could spot Gravewalkers and Horrors dropping into the sewers from above and being crushed by the avalanche of marble and granite. She didn’t stick around to suffer a similar fate, sprinting a safe distance away as the roads continued to buckle under their own weight. She scurried up a ladder and escaped to the surface, pushing aside the manhole before leaping over the top and making a beeline for the nearest alleyway.
The destruction she’d managed to cause was simply delightful. The black powder had blown a hole wide enough to swallow the square’s enormous fountain - and a number of low-level Deathguards with it. Unfortunately, those of exemplary strength had been levitating at the time of the explosion, but the collapsing streets had easily taken the lives of well over 100 thralls.
Naturally, chaos ensued in the aftermath. Lieze was forced to hold her position as the Order’s necromancers made a reactive retreat to the south, certain that Alistair had laid some kind of devious ambush for them to walk into. Just as she was about to make a retreat of her own in the opposite direction, she heard a familiar voice creeping into the alleyway.
“There’s no mistaking Dwarven black powder! I have to admit, those little men are quite the ingenious bunch!” Lüngen adjusted his collar, “I suppose we should have expected something like this… Alistair understood the strategic value of the square.”
“Send four of our Deathguards to the northern district.” Sokalar’s voice was filled with malice.
“The… the northern district?” He repeated.
“Drayya and her followers are absent. This was not Alistair’s plot - it was their retribution for killing Lieze.” The Lich explained, “They have betrayed us, and they will pay the price for such insubordination. The northern district is occupied but lacks presence. They have most likely based themselves there. Send a few necromancers over to eliminate them from the equation.”
“Drayya has betrayed us?” Lüngen lowered his head, “Come now, Ignas. You didn’t give her much warning, so perhaps she’s still preparing to join us?”
“Do not allow emotions to cloud your judgement.” Sokalar warned, “Lieze has planted the seeds of ambition in her mind, and her death has acted as a catalyst to fan the fires of retribution. She is an errant factor that must be eliminated. Ignoring this has already cost us too much. I will not debate you on this matter.”
“Dear oh dear… what strange times we live in.” Lüngen muttered, “Very well. I’ll see to it personally.”
“No. You will not.” Sokalar said, “I know you, Lüngen. You do not have the willpower to put Drayya down. She will take advantage of that weakness, or even worse, convince you to join her cause.”
“Hm… if you’re unsure of my allegiances, why not kill me where I stand?” Lüngen asked, “Am I worth more to you than the limitless potential of your own daughter? If I may be so bold as to say, this would never have happened if you had allowed Lieze the independence she so craved.”
“What you would call ‘independence’, I would call ‘treason’.” Sokalar replied, “Do not bring up this matter again. Have Drayya and her associates killed by dawn, or I will not hesitate to end you, Lüngen.”
“...Of course.”
Poor old Lüngen. He was too pure-hearted of a man to be a necromancer.
Lieze’s eavesdropping had earned her a crucial piece of information: the arcade would be attacked before the light of morning. Her father didn’t want to deal with a nuisance while attempting to take the city, but he had vastly underestimated what Lieze’s cult was capable of, especially considering she was very much alive and well.
“I need to get back to the arcade…”
----------------------------------------
Circling the castle was a risky proposition with the amount of Artificial Scions flying around its perimeter, but their attention was entirely focused on the horde of undead in the former city square, allowing Lieze to circle around the east back towards the arcade.
“Did you hear that!?” A voice echoed from the curved ceiling, “There’s no chance she survived that explosion! I’ll be surprised if the southern district hasn’t been wiped from existence!”
Drayya was being her useful self - loud and inflammatory. She and Marché were twiddling their thumbs in the gutted restaurant, the former leaping from her chair when Lieze came strolling through the entrance.
“She’s alive!” Drayya exclaimed.
“Of course she is.” Marché didn’t seem surprised in the least, “I take it from the ruckus that your plan was a success?
“Yes. Quite a few Deathguards perished in the blast.” Lieze nodded, “But we have another problem.”
“Hah… I struggle to recall a time when we didn’t have ‘another’ problem.” Drayya sighed, “What is it?”
“Sokalar knows we’ve betrayed him. I overheard that he’s planning to send a few Deathguards over.” She said, “We need to prepare. They’ll be here before daybreak.”