Place: Attica City, Eastern Continent, Western Coastal Region Attica
Time: Present (in terms of storyline), Afternoon, Mid Summer
From the journal of Keru, level 180 Samurai, during the “Defense of Attica”, part of the “Summer Campaign” questline.
Attica, city of a hundred temples. Or at least, that’s what RR calls it. More of a big town really, ten thousand or so inhabitants, almost a thousand players calling Attica “home”. Most of the temples little more than shrines. Still, a regional capital with tall walls, strong gates, a well-trained guard force supported by mages and priests. The greek-style buildings, brick, plaster and tile, had less chance for a huge fire to break out. Resupply possible via the harbor. No surprise then, that when the “Summer Campaign” event started, it was picked as the final bastion for those defending the region. Was meant to be a place where the defenders could hole up and block the advance a week or two until the guilds got their act together and reinforced the region.
The “Summer Campaign”. Doesn’t sound so bad. Except that Attica, all that area really, is mostly inhabited by fey mobs: sprites, some breeds of elf, fairies. Titania, the Summer Queen of the Fey, decided she wanted to push her territory north. Heard it’s cause some bard wrote some song praising Mab, the Winter Queen, and Titania got all pissy. Hence the event, and the questline. I ever get my hands on that bard I’ll kill him slow.
Still, “Summer Campaign” sounds friendly, huh? How bad could some fairies be? Well, sprites, fairies, elves, all have high stealth stats, speed. Trapping abilities. Mental magics and illusions. Tamed or summoned beasts. Poisons. Don’t get me started on the poisons. RR is way too realistic about irritations like itching, especially some places, let’s leave it at that. The first battles, in the forests and plains, were a slaughter. The fey refused open battle, ambushing and picking off soldiers instead. Barely half the defenders made it back, the others forced to respawn in surrounding regions.
To make it worse, high level elves are absurd archers, overpowered really; this is why I spent two days stuck on a wall, hiding behind a borrowed shield, while we got picked off with impunity by their snipers. The undines, a type of water fey we didn’t even know about, sunk the relief ship with 50 mages, 30 priests, and two centuries of Roma legionnaires. Which is why we had to abandon the outer walls when the casualties were too high, retreating to the walls inner city this morning with the two hundred or so survivors.
Leran, guild leader of the Flaming Falcons, the local guild, had the foresight to trap the main city all to hell. Which is what it looked like: smoky, burning, filled with small winged shapes flitting to and fro, larger monsters looming in the smog. At least the elves couldn’t see to shoot at us, though I was almost at the point of killing myself just to escape the smoke. Glad it can’t give me cancer for real.
Of course, that’s when whatever elf-bastard is in charge decided to send in the shock troops. About a hundred player survivors were left, mostly the higher level warriors with good armor and more valuable mages and priests who were kept in the rear. Maybe two hundred more city guardsmen. Against them, a dawn assault of a hundred or so trolls, two dozen hill giants, and a half dozen armored giants led by a clan chief. Can anyone say overkill? I’m above average level for the surviving defenders. A troll is a reasonable fight for me. A hill giant is level 230 and resistant to magic. An armored giant might be 280, and more important, hard to hurt with arrows. A clan chief? We’re talking level 310, maybe higher. And they dish out tons of damage. And are as tall as our walls. And break through thick oak gates like it was painted paper.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Which brings me to now. Sitting here, one arm broken, me out of healing potions, priests out of mana. Thirty odd defenders trying to hold the area just past the exit gate long enough for the non-combatant NPCs to escape. Knowing the next wave will break us, that Attica, our home, where we know the locals, get the best prices and quests, and have the most fun, will fall. At least we made them bleed for it. According to the announcements, we caused 2 casualties for every one we received. Their trolls at least were wiped out, as were many of the giants and whatever elves were caught in the traps.
Hearing the bellow of the clan chief as he orders another charge, I pick up my sword, a nice katana whose wounds almost never heal, and set myself up in a high guard, ready to slash down and do at least some damage before I die, even if I'm weaker with one hand than two. Two guardsmen, either side of me, brace their pikes, hoping to hold whatever giant hits our section of the line long enough for me to get in close and personal. As I see the roaring giant charging, his armor, and more important, the decorations marking it, and realize I’m about to go against the clan chief, I realize I’m fucked. Not that the others will survive the charge of the dozen surviving giants either. So, like a good samurai, tired as hell from days of fighting and smoke and just wanting to die well for a bit of peace, I scream and charge too. I notice my shadow flickering against the wall, the light brightening, the club descending.
And then, just before I get properly and nobly crushed, some cheating bastard in what looks like mecha armor flashes overhead, flames coming out of a jetpack, and smashes his armored boots into the giants shoulders. The jetpack cuts out, and the bastard, towering over us humans at seven feet (~2.1 m) tall, his armor in a camouflage pattern, looking clean and heroic and all sorts of unfair shit, opens up with two machine pistols right into the giants face, pulping it and getting covered in blood. While keeping his footing and riding the falling giant the remaining 15 feet to the floor, the bastard somehow de-equips the guns without accessing a bag, and raises his gauntlets, now glowing with runes. As he lands, he unleashes a storm of lightning and fire which cuts through the remaining giants. The crowd of refugees start cheering him, he jumps and roars off on his jumpjet to finish being a heroic cheating prick, and though I’m grateful I’m alive, and the half dozen level-ups from completing this quest were kept, I can’t help but think that a) this guy should have shown up a couple days earlier, and b) mecha armor and machine pistols- wtf? Is he a hacker? A glitch? The RR AI playing a joke on us? Or just some jackass player who's going to change the balance of the game forever?
As I see the announcement that we succeeded in the defense of Attica portion of the “Summer Campaign”, I decide it’s a good time for a nap. Just as soon as I steal the loot he left on the giants…