Deran "Nofang"

Friend of Tarth

XP: 9650 (Level 5)

Health: 40/40

Mana: 12/12

Mental Resistance: 2%

Strength: 4

Agility: 4

Constitution: 8

Intelligence: 6

Wisdom: 4

Charisma: 10 (14)

Luck: 4

Chips(ch): 7

Bits(B): 3

Feathers(f): 2

Swans(S): 5

Pheonix(Ph): 0

Royals®: 0

Shoes: 1 ring, six shoes

Skills:

Bartering: 1 (5)

Block: 8

But words will get you farther: 5 (9)

Haggling: 3 (7)

Leadership: 7(9*)

Mounted Combat: 1

One-handed: 11

Perception: 3

Stealth: 2

Tinkering: 1

Tracking: 3

Woodcarving: 1

Equipment:

Broken hilt of Luck

Broken hilt of Tarth

Chain shirt

Ring of Sustenance (78)

Sharpened Masterwork Steel Longsword

Abilities:

Commanding Presence (pas): You fill those around you with confidence in your abilities. Grants you the ability to have NPC followers in your party.

Chandrals' Persuasion (pas): You are more likely to be listened to by any with a friendly or higher relationship. With higher charisma levels, it can affect those of neutral alignment.

Parry (act) - You can block with shield and sword alike! Lets you redirect a normal attack against you entirely as long as you have a melee weapon in one hand. Cooldown 30 seconds.

Disarming Attack (act) - You know where to strike on a weapon to try and cause its wielder to lose their grip! Chance varies based on the strength of both parties and the size of the weapons used. Cooldown: 5 minutes

Shield Bash (act)- You tend to forget you even have a shield, using it to lash out with tremendous force. Can stagger an enemy and leave an opening for attack. Cooldown: 90 seconds.

Quest List:

Metal ore what? (Repetitive)

Behind the Unopened

Deran watched his leadership tab change with each group of men marched in front of him, all poised to take the pledge to fight for him. Luke had, luckily enough, hit it on the head with his guess about Deran needing a verbal agreement to fill out his squad. The mayor hadn't been lying when he said they'd have a line waiting for them, and Deran was quickly able to fill up the full squad he had access to at the current level. The first six slots were taken by the men who had already fought with him, and the remaining three were not empty long.

He also hated the fact that to increase squad size, he would have to engage in battles, and that meant risking more lives. He wasn't even sure of all the benefits that came with the leadership skill either; no one was any help on the subject. 

"Looks like it had some pre-requisite tied to your unique questline, or it's just an obscure skill. I've never heard of anything that let someone party up with NPC's, and that would probably make some headlines." Luke shrugged, eating an apple off of one of his many knives, "I'd just be grateful and level it up. Might find some answers along the way."

Deran just muttered a response while looking over his new squad. With a leadership skill of 9, that meant he could almost hit his cap of ten people in his team. He still wasn't sure what exactly that meant for the people in it, but they were showing a 'Great' in Morale, so he hoped that meant something good. Nine men didn't seem like a lot, though nothing was stopping him from leading more men into battle. More than that had followed him on the last raid, so he wasn't sure what the difference was. Further probing did show a bonus to their health, compared to the other men who hadn't made the cut.

"Interesting. So how many men do we have in total now?"

"That was the last group to swear in. You have twenty-nine loyal men; that's including Jace, who decided to stick around. He did require a promise to look after and feed his sister, which I already said would be fine with you."

Deran blinked at the number, thinking back on how many groups had come in, "Wow, I didn't even notice. We have enough gear for that many?"

Luke coughed a little, before responding, "Not exactly. We have the basic gear needed for about twenty men. But we can put the rest on building the defenses for now. We need a trench dug and the wall patched up, and that doesn't take anything fancy. They won't like us by the end of the week, but it needs to get done."

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Sounds good to me. I'll lead a squad of 9. Put two squads of five under the charge of Zander and Alex; they have the most experience fighting as recent town guards. Leave Jace as the final odd one out; I don't want him as a fighter. His potential as a spy is too great."

"He's a kid, Deran."

"No." Deran's voice was hard, and surprised even him, "He's a hunter. He grew up fast, and it sucks. But he's here, willing, and needed. Would it be better to put him in the thick of combat? His size and stature lend to blending in more than bashing it out."

Luke shrugged, eyes distant, "You're right, I suppose. It's been lifetimes since I went to war, I prayed I misremembered some of it. It seems it's about as dreary and dreadful as I remembered."

"I'd love to spare him the experience. But it's a little too late for that. If he hadn't grown up before that fight in the woods, he certainly was after." Luke nodded more firmly, tucking his hands behind his belt. "That should be everyone. We can set up patrols around the village."

"What of the guard for the cave? Who are we going to station there?" The worry was hidden in his voice but evident in the sudden appearance of knives in both hands.

"We don't need a guard there. I already sent Gorgath with the barrels of boom powder and a miner from the area. He's going to collapse the mine and seal off the tree from anyone and anything. We'll just include the rubble area in our zone of patrols to keep an eye on it. Hopefully, that's enough for now."

Luke nodded absently, obviously lost in thought, "Perhaps. Once the magic spreads to more people, this is going to get a lot harder. Being in a starter city is probably the only thing keeping you alive right now. That gives this place an innate defense, that should keep the city itself relatively safe. There will be quests generated from attacks, perhaps villagers drawn away or driven off if we fail to keep the place defended, but the city itself has to be a safeish place for new players. That's how they usually do world events, at least."

"Now that you mention it, I was curious why we hadn't seen more of the Twisted Ones, as Gorgath called them. With how many showed up at that farmhouse, I'd figure we would have encountered them by now."

"Thank the Lady for small miracles. Patrols will help keep the bad things to a minimum if you're hell-bent on protecting the place. We also need a source of money; if you're planning on paying these men any sort of decent wage, you're going to need to start making some serious coin. War is one of the most expensive things, my friend. Second only to women, because what woman isn't also a war?" He nodded at the quasi sage words, "I'll try my luck with that one. Gotta spout off wise things once in a while to keep the trope alive."

"That's what you went for to be wise?" Deran snorted, rolling his eyes, "You need to work on that."

"My point stands, you need money. You're already in debt by a fair bit and no real source of more. What's the plan?"

"I'm going to push the mayor for a stipend to pay the men, as they are going to be spending their time, effort, and possibly lives, to protect the city. Least he can do is support that on a more official level, especially after reports of those animals come in. But even if that works, you're right. In order to get the kind of force I need, I'm going to have to find some gold, and quick. Any ideas?"

"Not really. No place around here to make quick and dirty coin and the place is already pretty tapped out. That's the bad side to starter towns. You want to expand; it might be time to start thinking about moving on. Barring that, you need to find something that would interest other players."

"I'm not going to leave them behind. Until the town can keep a guard up themselves, we have the men to do the job. For now, I'll take my squad on a patrol through the immediate area to see just how bad this situation is, and maybe get a few levels. Use Zander's and Alex's crews to man the walls and keep up the work crew. This place needed to be battle-ready yesterday. Do we have anyone in the squads who can teach swordsmanship?"

"Probably not, but I'll ask around. That kind of mastery isn't something easily attained. What are you thinking?"

Deran shrugged, picking at the almost barren plate in front of him, "Arming the populace. If they won't fight with me, they'll be fending for themselves. I'd rather they know what they're doing. A win-win situation."

Luke nodded, flipping a gold coin, "Goes back to cost, though. Where are we going to get the coin?"

"The orc supply lines. They have everything we need in terms of equipment, and the foodstuffs they have will be useful both in use and selling. Food is scarce; it will bring decent coin from the area. Gorgath says we'd still need more men, though."

"Thank the Lady for someone having sense." Luke had long finished eating and just stared at him from across the table. "We'd need at least twice as many men to have an effective slash and burn. You want to capture one? Double that amount. We aren't close."

"Yeah, that's what he said, though he sprinkled the term "idiot" in quite a few places. I know we need more men; we're between a rock and a hard place, though. We can't grow to the point we need to here, but if we leave, who knows what will happen. This doesn't have the feeling of a typical world event, you've said it yourself. Have they ever had two major world events happening at the same time? One of which almost destroyed the game the first time around?"

Luke cleared his throat meaningfully and glanced around the inn common room. While it was primarily empty, his meaning was clear: who could know who was listening, a player in disguise.  Deran flushed red and vowed to put a couple of points into wisdom as soon as he could to keep things like that from happening. "My point stands. We can't get what we need, but we can't afford to leave. And I'm at a loss; I did not come in prepared for this. There's nowhere to go."

"You'd be surprised. NPC's can rise to levels that normal players just can't. We have a chance at immortality, but we have caps. Skill points, for example. We get three a level, but they get a flat amount based on their ability rank. Which is another thing, you can find an NPC master smith in any major town relatively easily. Do you know how long it takes for a player to reach a master rank? Years, with a bankroll. Unless they PTW, that is. That doesn't include the fact that no player has reached legendary master rank in anything, yet you can find a handful of them scattered around the world. The game world seems to bring out the best in people that it considers native."

At those words, Deran's mind flashed to the suit of armor the smith's apprentice made, "I think I know what you mean. I might have to hire someone, now that I think of it. More costs, fewer solutions. This PTW, that assassin that came after me had some hookup like that. Can we make use of it from inside the game?"

Luke looked uncomfortable, shifting in his seat, "Yeah, we can. It isn't the best idea, though, the people you go through are not the best. Plus, what do we have to sell? Do you have a stash in the real world to make use of or some vault of treasure I didn't know about?"

"I'm broke in real life as well as here. But I do have information. How long would it take spaders to find the connection behind all the unknowns if I told them how I did the first part?"

Luke aptly covered his ears, "Now that is NOT something I want to hear. Sorry, bud, not something I want on my shoulders. Also, a horrible idea, as all that will do is spread the world event faster. Upon opening that cave, they get fast-tracked along to the most developed questline. But their trees won't be blocked."

"More dragons, though! That could be helpful." Deran stood, frustration evident, and tossed a couple of coins on the table. "Let's go gather the men, see if we can find some good information at least. Keep an eye out for something you think we can sell. It's always nice to have a desperate plan for desperate times."

"It's a foolish plan. Keep the lid on that unique, at least for now. We need more of a buffer, so people can find out how bad it is before having access. You'll still have the villain players to deal with, but it would cut down on the innocents, like your friend, from getting caught up in it."

The bitter reminder of Lyselle brought a sour taste to Deran's mouth, "Fine. Anything else we can sell is fair game, though. We need something desperately, or this is going to be over before it starts. Let's get this place as ready as we can and then see what we can about the orc army.

The end of the week had Deran scraping the bottom of his purse. With only copper left to his name, he was pulling at his hair, trying to figure out an income. Meetings with the mayor had gone better than expected when Deran was able to throw the corpse of a Twisted badger they had encountered on patrol. The brief skirmish had gone smoothly, and brought confidence to the team that Deran hoped didn't get shattered. He had secured a bit a day, guaranteeing they'd have basic room and board. It didn't make for happy soldiers, however, and the Moral rating dropped down to Good. 

It wasn't a permanent solution, however, and would only last until the city established their own men. Then there wouldn't be any left to spare, and he'd be forced back to a tough decision. To make matters even worse, the relative peacefulness seemed poised to shatter, "What did they find on patrol?"

"Someone's been to the mine, sir." One of the scouts from Zander's crew stood before him, nervousness making him a little jumpy, "Looks like they got angry when they found it collapsed and blasted a few trees. That's what Jenkins figures, at least.

"Double the guard and be ready for trouble. I don't like the sound of this. Tell the mayor he better have some men ready at least, or these defenses won't hold worth a damn. I want to do a patrol of the walls and see what we have to defend."

"You think an attack will come this soon, nofang?" Gorgath's rumble was both welcome and irritating at the same time.

"I can't begin to understand what's happening, but that tree is important, and we blocked access. I feel to think there won't be some kind of repercussions would be foolish. That, and it's better to be safe than sorry. If there isn't an attack, we get to see how well the men do when they expect one. Give me a watch somewhere towards the end; I'll just stay up after. Did the messenger ever return from Borinheim, can we expect more men to show up?"

"There's been no response since he left. He should have returned by now; I doubt help will be on the way. What would you have us do?"

"Man the defenses as well as you can. We'll hold here, but keep track of a back way out. We have enough rope ladders for evacuation; we just have to be ready to jump when needed. I'm going to take my men out for a few days on patrol to gather some more information. I don't know what size force to expect, but it's been long enough to fear the worst. With the tree blocked off, however, the source is finite. The longer we hold, the more likely we win. "

"You hope." 

"I know."

The result of the week and a half of work was less than Deran had hoped. The nine men that hadn't been armed had been helped by all the outfitted soldiers during downtime between patrols and training. Luke had stressed that all the men in the squad should be fighting daily, even if they didn't gain experience the same way as players.

Even with their help, they wouldn't have come close. If it wasn't for the smith and his apprentice leading a workforce, they wouldn't have come close. With the added help, they had managed to dig a 5 foot deep, 10-foot wide trench around the town; an impressive feat but one fueled by desperation. The smith's boy had come up with the idea to move the dug up dirt and form a secondary wall with it about twenty feet away from the trench.  "Do you think animals will be smart enough to make use of it? We checked to see, the men on the walls can see over it, but just barely. Just gives a little bit of wiggle room for when things get hairy."

A couple of the men chuckled at the unintended pun, though it was grim. By now, all of the soldiers had seen the Twisted ones in action, and none were relishing the thought of a group of them attacking in force. There are few things more fierce than a wild, savage animal. These Twisted ones were ten times worse.

"Keep it up. The wall is a fantastic idea; I just hope it enough gets put up in time. We don't have any idea when the attack is going to happen, so only work in broad daylight, with double sentries. Always be on the lookout and ready to dip."

If his men were confused by his slip into slang from his old life, they hid it well. With weary salutes, they turned back to work.

"Double sentries and daylight hours are going to cut down our speed by a good bit. We'll be less likely to be done in time." Gorgath rumbled, "Though I am all for the lower work hours. My hands are killing me, and I feel I've eaten more dirt in the past few days than food."

"Gorgath, I was looking for you! Glad to see you've made yourself useful, but some ale should clear the dirt away well enough!" Deran clapped the orc on the back softly and winced at how much dust came off, "All right, maybe it will take a couple of them."

"Aye, that it will. I won't be forgetting it either." Gorgath eyed him sternly before turning back to look at the forest, "Why is there never enough time?"

Deran shrugged and glanced back to town, "We make it with the time we have. There's no other choice. The wall will be excellent, but I'd rather everyone safe behind one wall during an attack than have folks caught off guard at an incomplete defense."

"There's never a complete defense in war. And war is certainly coming."

Luke chimed in, his eyes more distant than ever, "War is already here. Welcome to the party, boys."

"On to the important parts. You gave no details of your patrol, other than the fact that you ran into slightly more Twisted ones than expected. I saw you had no casualties, though, so it was all in hand?" Luke trailed off his line of questioning as Deran began to turn red, and Gorgath started laughing, deep and loud.

"It's true! I thought it a tale, but it's true!"

Deran flushed even redder, "Shut up! You tell anyone that if I hear of this nonsense, it'll be latrine duty for the rest of time. I won't speak on it again!" His outburst just made Gorgath start laughing harder, the bard holding his sides and straining to find breath.

Gorgath made wide eyes at Luke and finally rasped out, "Warrior squirrels," before collapsing to the ground in a fit of laughter.