Chapter 161: The Curse
Aegis reappeared in the game world at the ruined town square of Belmiure with the glowing old tree at its center. Around the tree he and his party had set up a campfire and tents, as well as some makeshift stone block chairs to sit on around the fire. However, as he’d appeared, Rakkan and Lina were in the process of packing up the tents while Snowflake sat watching, Darkwing sitting atop his saddle. All of them were level 130, with the exception of Darkwing sitting at level 115 and Snowflake 125.
“Welcome back.” Lina smiled at him, causing him to smile back briefly before glancing about.
“Where’d Pyri go? She should’ve logged in before me.” Aegis asked.
“She’s invis, said she’s gonna go scout out ahead so we know where to go next.” Rakkan replied.
“She knows I have a map, right?” Aegis rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, but it doesn’t show any dungeons where hidden runes and treasure might be.” Rakkan replied with a hint of excitement in his voice.
“Did you put her up to searching?” Aegis asked with a raised brow, but Rakkan shrugged back innocently. Just as Aegis was looking up to see his viewership numbers climbing back to a respectable number, he spotted Darkshot materializing out of the corner of his eye.
“Yo. Are we ready to go?” Darkshot asked while rubbing his hands together.
“You waited to log in until my stream turned on, so you didn’t have to help them with the cleanup, didn’t you?” Aegis stared back at him.
“Huh? Naaaah.” Darkshot waved this off with an over exaggerated huff of air. “Who else is hyped? The 5 week grind is over. Our skills are beefed up, we’re mean green fighting machines!” Darkshot cheered excitedly, getting a chuckle out of Lina. “Look out, Dark Elves. We’re gonna kick ass and take names. I bet I one shot the first Dark Elf we see.”
“They’re not all bad guys, don’t just shoot them all.” Aegis grinned back at his enthusiasm. Hearing Darkshot brag gave him the urge to check out his own skills though, and he quickly fidgeted with his interface to pull up his own character sheet.
Name: Aegis
Title: Lord of Rene [Land Rank: 4 (Town)]
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Marriage Partner: Lina [+25% Experience While Grouped]
Level: 130
Class: Shattered Healer
Health: 63,751/63,751
Mana: 17,921/17,921
Stamina: 2485/2485
Hunger: 100/100
Armor Rating: 9,408 [27.35% DMG Reduction]
Strength: 94
Agility: 83
Constitution: 175
Intelligence: 200
Spirit: 325
Charisma: 13
Spell Damage Bonus: 231
Casting Speed Bonus: 12.5%
Favor:
Eirene: 42,270
Aphrodite: 4,260
Odin: 3,500
Shiva: 2,500
Equipment
Chest: Royal Basilisk Leather Armor of the Voidreaver [1764 AC][O1: +250FVR(Eirene)][O2: 2.5% M.SP][O3: +57 S.DMG]
Legs: Royal Basilisk Leather Leggings of the Voidreaver [941 AC][O1: +250FVR(Eirene)][O2: 2.5% M.SP][O3: +41 S.DMG]
Feet: Royal Basilisk Leather Boots of the Voidreaver [768 AC][O1: +250FVR(Eirene)][O2: 2.5% M.SP][O3: +33 S.DMG]
Hands: Royal Basilisk Leather Gloves of the Voidreaver [534 AC][O1: +250FVR(Eirene)][O2: 2.5% M.SP][O3: +25 S.DMG]
Back: Vestments of Eirene [1 AC] [O1: +535MP/m]
Accessory[2/3]: Simple Ring, Aegis' Bane[ENCH: MindShell]
Mainhand: Iron Shortsword [51-59DMG][ENCH: +16-20HLYDMG]
Offhand: Royal Iron Shield of the Voidreaver [2527 AC][O1: +250FVR(Eirene)][O2: 2.5% M.SP][O3: +75 S.DMG]
Class Skills [Shattered Healer]
Heal(Intermediate): Level 140 [+24,430HP, 780mp]
Smite(Intermediate): Level 140 [4,133-4,253HLYDMG]
Cleanse(Intermediate): Level 1
Bless(Intermediate): Level 140 [15m, +296-302HLYDMG, 345mp]
Healing Wind(Intermediate): Level 140 [+3,071hp/3s, 39s, 920mp]
Aura of Light(Intermediate): Level 140 [64mp/3s, 14m]
Avatar of Eirene(Intermediate): Level 140 [15m15s, +41.2%AC, 41.2%HE, +20.6%Aura]
Path of the Stars: Passive [Eirene]: Passive [3/3]
->[1/3]Aura of Beauty(Intermediate): Level 140 [15st/5s, 95mp/5s, 8.9m]
->[2/3]Challenging Roar(Intermediate): Level 90 [21,470threat, 256mp, 22.8m]
->[3/3]Varibhadra(Intermediate): Level 140 [74,5%dmg, 2790mp]
Gentle Touch: Passive [Eirene]
Light of Eirene: Passive [Eirene]
Basic Skills
Shield Mastery(Intermediate): Level 140 [+45%]
Abilities: Brace, Shieldwall, Bash[1,296-1,344dmg]
Sword Mastery(Beginner): Level 2
Abilities: Parry
Unarmed Combat(Beginner): Level 30
Leather Armor Proficiency(Intermediate): Level 140 [+55%AC, +8MS]
Shadow Resistance: Level 10 [10% DMG Reduction]
Fire Resistance: Level 30 [30% DMG Reduction]
Nature Resistance: Level 9 [9% DMG Reduction]
Acid Resistance: Level 25 [25% DMG Reduction]
Poison Resistance: Level 25 [25% DMG Reduction]
Void Resistance: Level 4 [4% DMG Reduction]
Cold Resistance: Level 25 [25% DMG Reduction]
Riding(Intermediate): Level 45
Land Vehicle Mastery(Intermediate): Level 30
Leadership(Intermediate): Level 74
Taming(Intermediate): Level 45
Dancing(Beginner): Level 7
Crafting Skills
Mining (Intermediate): Level 36
Proficiencies: [Copper][Iron]
Woodcutting(Intermediate): Level 38
Proficiencies: [Pine][Birch][Ironwood]
Herbalism(Intermediate): Level 61
Creature Harvesting(Intermediate): Level 91
Weaving(Intermediate): Level 51
Sewing(Intermediate): Level 52
Refining(Intermediate): Level 48
Blacksmithing(Intermediate): Level 55
Woodworking(Intermediate): Level 72
Alchemy(Intermediate): Level 32
Tanning(Intermediate): Level 74
Leatherworking(Intermediate): Level 74
Artistry(Intermediate): Level 48
Architecture(Intermediate): Level 88
Scribing(Intermediate): Level 30
Cooking(Intermediate): Level 64
Enchanting(Intermediate): Level 34
Abilities: Enchant Object
Stone Cutting(Intermediate): Level 79
Farming(Intermediate): Level 30
Crafting Mastery(Intermediate): Level 55
“We are pretty strong now, huh?” Aegis smiled.
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“Yup.” Lina replied excitedly. Aegis joined her and Rakkan in packing up their things, stuffing the tents into his inventory alongside the countless stacks of wraith dust, of which he still wasn’t sure what to do with. Just as they were finishing their cleanup, Pyri returned to the group and dropped her invisibility spell.
“So.” She said loudly to get everyone's attention. Her voice startled Darkwing from his slumber atop Snowflake’s saddle and caused him to flutter over onto Darkshot’s shoulder. “As I suspected, the undead creatures are more predominant in the upper section of this city, where we are. There are some in the lower city, but not nearly as many, and fewer of those dreadnaughts. If we sneak around the dreadnaughts up here, we can easily get to the lower city and traverse through it.” Pyri explained.
As she spoke, Aegis pulled out the map he’d gotten from Pakro’Vielle and carefully analyzed it with Pyri’s scouting information in mind.
“The map says we need to go through the lower city to reach the tunnels leading to the Dark Elf city. So, lead the way.” Aegis motioned to Pyri as he rolled the map back up.
“Oh man, it’s surreal. It feels like it’s too good to be true. We’re finally done grinding.” Darkshot whispered with giddy excitement.
“Did you find any interesting ancient runes or anything?” Rakkan asked Pyri, and she shrugged back apologetically. “I’ll just keep my eyes out, then.” He said with determination. From there, after a long and arduous 5 week long grinding session, the party departed from the dimly glowing tree which had kept them company over the past weeks.
Aegis was sure to utilize the time to level up all of his skills, including smite, and unarmed combat as much as he could. Not wanting to be limited to PvE combat ability, though, the group had altered their grinding methods towards the end.
Due to their skills getting high enough that they were able to clear all sections of the undead before the first section respawned, they’d begun using downtime to practice fighting each other in PvP. Aegis had managed to significantly improve his ability to predict and defend himself against Lina, while Lina worked on becoming less predictable. It turned their training into a bit of a cat-and-mouse game.
Rakkan had finally grasped controlling two echoes, but once his skill had reached level 130 he unlocked his third and final echo, and it felt for him like he was starting from the beginning all over again.
With Pyri’s help, however, he quickly mastered control over the three. He still had a lot of room for improvement with his spell control, but he made it easier on himself by delegating one of the three echoes to simple Crossbow duty, providing himself with ranged damage support. In his own way, he had managed to make use of all of his intermediate weapon skills without having become a battlemaster.
“You know…” Aegis said to the group as he took point, the others following closely behind him in formation. “After all that training, not once did that free-loader help us once.” He briefly glanced back at the group and motioned to Darkwing, who cooed curiously from Darkshot’s shoulder. “You made it seem like you finally got a skill for him.”
“Well, I did. And it’s an awesome one.” Darkshot replied proudly.
“Why haven’t you used it yet, then?” Rakkan asked curiously.
“Because we haven’t needed it.” Darkshot shrugged.
“Oh. So it’s situational?” Lina asked.
“You could say that.”
“What is it?” Pyri asked.
“You’ll just have to wait to see.”
“If it’s situational, don’t you think it’s best if the group knows what situations it's for?” Aegis turned to give him a raised brow.
“Nah. Just know, when you are in trouble, that Darkwing will be there to save the day. From the darkness.” Darkshot replied as dramatically as he could,
“Whatever.” Aegis waved it off with a chuckle. The party, led by Aegis and given guidance by Pyri, were able to traverse the decrepit, obsidian block streets of the Ruins of Belmiure without disturbing any of the nearby enemies that lurked about.
They could hear the slinking of chains being dragged along the cracked paved streets nearby, but never saw the actual Dreadnaught enemies doing the dragging, despite Pyri lighting up the surrounding area with a now grand total of 6 cinderbolts, thanks to her multicasting going up in level. The cinderbolts themselves were all now much larger as well, thanks to their skill levels reaching 140 just as Aegis’ skills had.
The streets occasionally transitioned into bridges over large gaps in the city, and ramps leading to the lower sections. All around them remained the destroyed structures, despite them walking on for a good long while. It was only through traveling through the city that they were able to truly grasp just how massive it was.
Even after walking for 30 minutes, they still saw plenty of the glowing trees far off in the distance of the large cavern, well off from where they stood. Utilizing the glowing trees was their only method of navigating the giant cavern, and provided them with a sense of scale for its size.
“I wish there was some way to light this entire cavern up. It’d be much easier to find points of interest.” Rakkan sighed after straining his eyes to scan the nearby structures for anything interesting for a long while, and coming up short.
“Maybe Aegis could get out his pickaxe out and dig up the ceiling until he reaches the surface?” Darkshot suggested with a smirk.
“This game would need to let me craft T.N.T. before I’d ever try something like that.” Aegis shook his head. As they spoke they arrived at the base of another dimly glowing old gnarled tree sat in the middle of an intersection and paused.
“Which way is it from here?” Pyri asked Aegis expectantly.
“Hm.” Aegis pulled out the map again and tried analyzing it. Only then realizing, he had no landmarks to go off of. “You mind giving me a hand?” He motioned Darkshot forward.
“Yeah, of course. I am the master of tracking, after all.” Darkshot spoke proudly as he stepped forward to look at the map over Aegis’ shoulder. He went from looking at the various glowing trees off in the distance, to looking at the map. It didn’t take long for Darkshot and Aegis to begin squabbling over where they were currently and which direction they needed to go.
In that time, Snowflake took a seat and began preening, while Rakkan started investigating a nearby structure that was somewhat still in-tact, stepping through the doorway. Pyri and Lina gave each other brief glances and shook their heads at the squabbling before taking to keeping an eye on their surroundings.
It was only when Lina really focused on the ruined buildings nearby, illuminated in the red glow of Pyri’s cinderbolts, that she noticed something off.
“Shh.” Lina said loudly to Darkshot and Aegis, causing them to both stop their discussion and look to Lina. She’d also gotten the attention of Pyri and Rakkan who stopped what they were doing. Snowflake, too, stopped preening and looked around alert, sniffing the air. After his first sniff, he lowered his head and pulled in his wings.
“He smells something.” Aegis whispered to the others, noticing Snowflake’s behavior.
“What is it?” Darkshot whispered, but got no response from the others. It took Lina another second of looking around them at the ruined buildings surrounding the intersection to understand.
“We’re surrounded.” Lina declared. Hearing this, the tension thickened in the air around them. “I don’t know if it’s players or NPCs, but they aren’t attacking us yet.” Lina continued.
“We come in peace.” Aegis called out to the surrounding buildings, but got no response.
“Are you sure we’re surrounded? I don’t see anyone.” Darkshot whispered after a moment of silence.
“Try taking out your weapon, see how they react.” Rakkan replied jokingly, but Darkshot took him seriously and reached for his longbow on his back.
“No, idiot-” Aegis tried to stop him, but it was too late. The sound of arrows whistling through the air reached their ears on all sides. Thankfully, through Aegis’ hours and hours of training with Lina, he was able to predict what they’d be aiming for, and from which directions. “Guard!” Aegis shouted, projecting a shield on one side of Darkshot while raising his shield up to block another.
You take 3321 Piercing damage.
You take 3556 Piercing damage.
You take 3482 Piercing damage.
The arrows bounced off of his shield and his projected shield, none making it through to Darkshot.
“Bless, Aura of Beauty.” Aegis quickly cast, erupting in his bright aura while Rakkan summoned his echoes and armed them, and Lina shadowstepped to a nearby building. As she did, a group of three Dark Elves charged at them, coming out from the shadows of the surrounding structures.
[Dark Elf Seeker - Level 120] sat above their heads, levels varying somewhat. They wore an aquamarine colored leather armor with no symbolism etched into it. Their armor, rather, looked tattered and worn down, as did the scimitars they wielded and swung at Aegis and his companions.
“Challenging Roar!” Aegis shouted to get their attention all on him, which worked easily enough. All of the three charging Dark Elves changed their paths to move in his direction and prepared to swing their swords out at him.
“Over here, one of the rangers!” Lina called out to Pyri after shadowstepping atop the nearby ruined buildings and finding one. The moment Lina had called it out, Pyri moved two cinderbolts over to help Lina see her enemy better. In that time, Darkshot nocked an arrow and prepared to shoot the three charging at Aegis, while Rakkan and Snowflake were readying themselves to charge at them as well.
The three damaged scimitars swung down on Aegis from various directions. One in front, and one on each side, but he was able to do a wide sweeping swing of his shield to block all three, and with the final block, thrust his shield forward to bash the Dark Elf and get some damage in.
You deal 1102 Bludgeoning damage.
You lose 100 Favor with Eirene.
“Shit, wait!” Aegis jumped back once he saw the message, getting distance between himself and the three Dark Elves. “Wait Lina, don’t attack!” He called out to her as she stood a few meters away now, atop one of the ruined building roofs that surrounded the intersection. She had her daggers out already and was milimeters from plunging them into the unsuspecting Dark Elf NPC on the roof wielding a longbow. He, too, was called a Dark Elf Seeker.
“Wait? What do you mean wait? They’re trying to kill us.” Darkshot exclaimed.
“I know, but I lost favor for hitting him. That means Eirene doesn’t want us to fight these guys.” Aegis explained.
“Well, tell them that.” Darkshot shook his head in disbelief.
“Seriously. Come on.” Aegis groaned at Darkshot.
“Okay, okay, fine. They’re still shooting at you and swinging swords at you though.” Darkshot sighed as he lowered his bow, and Rakkan halted his charge.
“End this fight without hurting them. Subdue them somehow. That’s possible, right?” Aegis suggested.
“I got it!” Lina replied excitedly as she began pulling out rope from her inventory. The attention of the non-elite Dark Elves were still on Aegis, making it easy for her to do what she was doing. Aegis continued to block and dodge their attacks, without retaliating, and began healing through the damage. Based on the arrows fired and the scimitar wielders in front of him, he counted there were 6 enemies in total.
One by one, Lina used shadowstep to dance around each of them and bound them tightly with her ridiculously lengthy rope that she’d brought from Rene, compliments of Tullan.
It took awhile, and multiple attempts on some of them, to completely bind them in rope and prevent them from attacking the group further. Once they were bound, Rakkan stepped forward and disarmed them, then he and Aegis managed to round them up under the glowing tree.
“Man, we finally see new enemies to fight, and we’re not even allowed to fight them.” Darkshot grumbled. “I bet I coulda one shot these guys.”
“Probably. Look at their gear, it’s worn out.” Pyri nodded in agreement. Aegis and his party positioned themselves in front of the captured Dark Elves as Aegis stepped forward and eyed them curiously.
“None of them are elite, but they seemed pretty organized..." He pondered, taking one more look around at the surrounding buildings shrouded in darkness. "If Eirene gets mad at us for fighting Dark Elves, that’s going to make this entire quest a lot more complicated.” Aegis spoke as if the Dark Elves couldn’t hear him.
“They don’t have any symbols on their armor, maybe they’re not a part of the Tyrant’s faction?” Rakkan suggested. Aegis considered this while scratching his chin, remembering that Luryala had escaped the Dark Elf city with her tribe and traveled through these ruins.
“You guys, are you working with the Tyrant?” Aegis asked them, glancing between their angry glares as they looked back up at him, bound in rope as if they were all spindles. He got no response and sighed in annoyance. “Look, we’re not going to hurt you. We’re going to let you go whether you co-operate or not, but it’d be really nice if you just co-operated.” Aegis spoke as kindly as he could, but still got no response. “Okay, got it. Not a talkative bunch. If we let you go, are you going to attack us?”
“Who are you people?” A deep voice spoke from the darkness of a nearby building, causing everyone to look up in its direction. Stepping out of the shadows came a 7th Dark Elf, with [Iuomak(Elite) - Level 125] above his head. Darkshot quickly nocked an arrow while Lina reached for her sheathed dagger hilts, but Aegis put his hand up to stop them.
“Figured there was an elite in charge, ambush tactic was a bit fishy.” Aegis whispered to his party. “We’re here from the surface of Kalmoore, on the behest of one named Luryala.”
“Luryala?” Iuomak’s eyes went wide with disbelief. “She and her traveling companions survived? They made it to the surface?”
“Just her, unfortunately. You are a friend of hers?” Aegis asked.
“You could say that.” He replied, and just as quickly as excitement entered his face, it disappeared. “Are you friends of hers?”
“You could say that.” Aegis shrugged. “She asked us to come down here, defeat the Warlord and free the rest of her tribe.” Aegis added.
“And that is why you have come so deep below the surface into these cursed ruins?” Iuomak asked.
“Yeah.” Aegis nodded. “Got a problem with that?”
“I can’t say that we do. Perhaps we can help each other. But the Warlord is clever and creative in his methods of quelling rebellions and those who stand against him. I cannot be sure you are not his agents.”
“How can we prove to you that we’re not?”
“The cursed dreadnaughts that patrol these streets, they make it difficult for refugees from the Tyrant to hide out in these ruins peacefully. The Warlord allows the curse to live on for this reason, despite having the strength himself to break it. You cannot kill the dreadnaughts, they are immortal, and the people they kill have their souls trapped and chained, becoming servants of the dreadnaughts, adding to their strength.”
“So if we break the curse for you, that’d help you and the refugees in these ruins stay safe, and prove we’re not working with the Warlord?” Aegis replied.
“Precisely.” Iuomak nodded. “You would provide us with a safe refuge, and free the souls of many of our enslaved kin.”
“How do we break the curse?” Aegis asked him.
“It originates from the Cursed King’s tomb. Betrayed by his queen, in death his anger ravaged this once great city.”
“Right, and that would be…” Aegis motioned around the various streets leading out of the intersection.
“I will lead you to it, should you accept the task.”
“And what do we get out of it?” Darkshot butted in.
“If you assist us, I can help you accomplish your task of taking down the Warlord. I can get you into the City of the White Tree.”
“City of the White Tree?” Rakkan whispered curiously.
“It is the name of our great city, where the Warlord and most of our people reside. It is incredibly difficult to enter, particularly for those who are not Dark Elves like myself.”
“But you’ll be able to get us in?” Aegis confirmed.
“It’s possible.” Iuonok nodded back.
“Okay.” Aegis shrugged. “See? Eirene’s got the right idea. Killing everything is not always the best way to go.” Aegis smirked at Darkshot as he stared back and pulled his lips to the side. “We’ll get rid of the curse. Lead the way.” Aegis replied confidently.
Quest: Break the curse of Belmiure so that the Dreadnaughts haunting its ruined streets lose their immortality, and the captured souls of the fallen Dark Elves may be released from their endless torment.
Objective: 0/1 Curse of Belmiure Broken
Quest Giver: Iuomak, Belmiure
Reward: 2,500,000 Experience, Neutrality with the Dark Elf Seeker faction
Difficulty: Extreme
Aegis hit accept quickly and looked at his companions to see that they too had all received the quest and were accepting it.
“Extreme?” Pyri commented with a hint of excitement.
“A tomb sounds like a dungeon.” Lina added.
“A dungeon with some ancient runes, I bet.” Rakkan rubbed his hands together excitedly.
“Please, free my companions first. Then I shall take you on the safest route to the tomb.” Iuonak motioned to his bound companions, who were still glaring grumpily up at Aegis with rope wrapped around them.
“Oh, right, yeah. Sorry, I forgot about these guys.” Aegis quickly got to work on untying them with Lina’s help.