“We have confirmed reports of the Emperor’s forces gathering in a valley just north of the forest. Our scouts have estimated a force of approximately thirty thousand damned with more streaming in from the Norx heartlands by the day. Our scholars estimate that there are as many as one hundred thousand of the damned or cooperating citizens still remain in the country. This horde would mark the largest force we have encountered to date.” Commander Lucien began.
“It gets worse from there. Among this horde are a staggering amount of elites, we estimate as many as six hundred mixed in. With a recent ramp up in activity, we anticipate the horde moving against us within the week. There are a staggering amount of beasts mixed in as well, our scouts have been unable to get close enough to see if they are undead or just companions like yours. It appears many of the elites retain their classes and are able to progress in level despite being dead.”
“Our current fighting force numbers three thousand soldiers and we have designated seventy elites. Each elite is over level forty and has experience as a field commander. Every soldier is outfitted with the best armor and weaponry that we can field. Our walls are nearly complete and with a mad scramble we may be able to finish it in time. All of that said, our future survival looks grim. I have sent full reports to Omrock and Nadia this morning. We are calling a full war council at dusk, I would appreciate it if you would join.” The Commander finished.
“Of course. I will. Understand that I speak for myself only.” I replied
Lucien nodded and offered a tour of the current Fort Arda and its defenses. We walked out to the eastern side where a large wall was mostly finished. It stretched south for unseen miles all the way down to the zone defended by Omrock. The wall reached twenty feet high in most places and was between one and five feet thick as it wrapped through and around the difficult terrain of the forest. It guarded the entire eastern side of the forest that faced the Shurin Mountains. It was an impressive feat considering it had only been six months of work.
Turning north and west we moved out towards where I had originally entered Lucien’s territory. The work on the wall was ongoing and his citizens were moving at a frenzied pace. It required the effort of the entire camp to mine, mold and set the massive stones of granite. Various skills and spells were at play as each person used their maximum potential to progress as quickly as possible. The Fort was built to house the ten thousand citizens that had fled Norx under Lucien and the wall would encompass an area of some forty square miles when complete.
“We will be able to fully finish the eastern side of the wall down to Omrock. The northern side is finished and our western edge will be close to the Grove by the time we estimate the attack. Our weak spots will be the gap between our southern border and the northern side of the territory of Nadia. We have some framing laid out for that section but there is no way we will be done in time. That will be fought on the field and we expect Lautree to route the bulk of his forces that way.” Lucien said as we neared the southern side.
There was a gap between the claimed territories that stretched roughly two miles long. Commander Lucien seemed to think the thickest of the fighting would happen in that gap. I had to agree with him, the simple damned were generally unable to climb or assault walls. They mostly functioned as an overbearing mass that suffocated open areas. The elite damned were an entirely different issue, able to retain the ability to use skills and spells. They also retained equal or greater than the intelligence they held in life.
Outside of the undead turned by Allain, there were thousands of soldiers fighting under Lautree that were still among the living. Soldiers and citizens forced into service at the threat of being turned. It was a boon to Lautree that he didn’t have to stretch Allain and his skills on soldiers he could threaten or coerce. We had little intelligence of the situation inside of Etes since the fall, our scouts stood out too easily and were killed or chased off immediately.
“We would like to enlist your help in defending this gap. Your skills with your bombs are one of the most effective ways to deal with the hordes and will create havoc amongst the living forces of Lautree. None of our citizens possess the skill to create them as of now. We have a few different methods we can use but none quite as effective. This would allow you to remain close to the Old Mining Camp as well.” Lucien said to break the silence as we observed the undefended gap.
“I don’t have the materials with me now to make any more. I was actually going to head back to the Old Mining Camp and spend a few days crafting. You are welcome to send as many people as you want to try to learn. There are two people in camp that can already craft the lesser ones. We should use those as the bulwark of our force as they require far less material and time.” I explained to him. Offering to train more people would make less work for me.
He agreed to check with his crafters and pick out ten people to join me at the Old Mining Camp. The alchemy room in the crafting hall would enable a huge output of bombs with thirteen people crafting all at once. The amount of resources needed would be staggering compared to previous sessions. I shared the list of required resources with his lead crafter and he promised to search through their stockpile.
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A great benefit of the exploded population in the Eternal Forest was the harvesting of resources. Each faction had large numbers of classes that specialized in the harvesting and processing of resources. Many were far superior to my own harvesting level and it allowed for a higher yield every time one was harvested. The eastern edge of the forest near Fort Arda was overflowing with plants, roots and flowers that could be used in potion and bomb making.
Commander Lucien was requested to a meeting of his architects and made his leave, promising to continue the discussion during the war council. I wandered around the Fort for a few minutes just taking in the bustle of activity. I had spent so long in isolation following the death of my mother that it was almost overwhelming to see so much activity. It seemed like every single former citizen of Norx was working on the wall, training or preparing for battle. A people united against one enemy with one purpose.
A large sparring field was set up near the northern edge of the Fort. I approached it and found the sentries from earlier were sparring with spears. Spears were a preferred weapon for wall fighting due to the long reach and relative replaceability of the weapon. Spears were easy to mass produce as evidenced by the hundreds sticking out of barrels around the training field and spread along the wall base.
“Sylar! Care to spar? I’m sure we could all learn a lot from watching you fight.” Officer Jaxe called out as he noticed me walking up.
“My strength in weapons fighting is based around my superior attributes, my friend. My technical skill is certainly lacking compared to lifetime soldiers.” I chuckled back to the friendly sentry.
“Hah! Even better! We can learn from each other.” He responded, not giving in.
I knew it would do good for the morale of the troops to see me sparring the common soldiers. Levels had become an odd reflection point in the post-framework world. Where before someone like me would have had to spend decades training to earn the respect of career soldiers. Now my place on the leaderboard demanded a level of respect that I didn’t necessarily feel I deserved.
I dropped my pack and my speciality spear and grabbed a training spear as I climbed over the paddock leading to the sparring grounds. Officer Jaxe grinned and stepped up to set himself against me. The training spears had blunted edges and the weight was a bit off compared to what I was used to. We circled each other a few times trading probing blows. It was clear that Jaxe was skilled with the spear and had high attributes himself. I caught him off quick with a quick swipe followed by a stab and tagged him on the side of his thigh.
“First to three hits?” Jaxe called out.
“Sure.” I responded.
A small crowd had gathered to watch and were cheering each time someone got close. It felt good to be back in a crowd, back with my fellow survivors. The fire inside of me that had raged at Lautree and his depredations was slowly kindling back to life. I dialed up the intensity and landed another blow against Jaxe’s back as he turned to defend a feint. Fully utilizing my attributes provided a massive advantage that the officers' higher skill could not compensate for.
Jaxe went on an all out offensive trying any combination of moves to score a hit. I played defensively, content to let him wear himself out. I danced around the perimeter of the sparring arena, dirt kicking up into the crowd of increasingly rowdy observers. I was so use to fighting the damned, of whom only the elites fought with any tactics, it was helpful to be reminded of what it was like against the living. Jaxe backed away to catch his breath and I started to walk towards him in the middle of the arena. A small pressure built up against my mind and a crooked smile crept across my face.
“Why don’t we make this more fair?” I taunted with a laugh “two of you against me?”
“Oh, getting cocky are we?” Jaxe answered with his own laugh and waved his comrade over.
The truth was that Marci had just entered my range. My agility was about to get a huge boost based off of her. I advanced and began a furious offensive with the practice spear. Quickly scoring a hit on the newcomer, whose name I didn’t know. The closer she got, the higher I felt my agility increase and I turned up the pace against the two soldiers. Jaxe finally got caught on his backfoot and I lightly tapped him on his forehead before scoring two quick hits against the other.
A loud shriek echoed through the forest as Marci landed on my shoulder and flared her wings for dramatic effect. She knew from my emotions that it wasn’t a real fight, she was just showing off. I walked over to help Jaxe back to his feet and we chatted for a few minutes about the session. He offered me use of their archery range to practice but I declined, my skill in archery was as good as it was going to get thanks to Marci.
The last few hours of sunlight flitted away as I amicably chatted with the soldiers of Fort Arda. Eventually the day turned to dusk and we made our way towards the living quarters that also housed the council chamber. Lucien had called for a full war council so every soldier of rank Captain or above would join. An ominous silence descended on the camp as the reality of the situation crept in, Lucien wouldn’t be calling a full council unless fighting was soon. The reprieve of the last few weeks was over, it was war once more.