A horde is simply defined as a herd of a single type of monster, usually numbered between hundreds and thousands. Although similar to a dungeon/rift break, the horde is different in that it is made up of real monsters, not the copies created by dungeon or rift cores.
Disputed theory on the cause and nature of monster hordes.
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Unrid’s eyes widened as he read the line of text contained in the message, and a moment later, he turned to Synové, ignoring our curious gazes, and said, “The mayor has requested a meeting, and he requires my presence immediately.”
“Do you think it’s about the horde of monsters in the forest?” Fajah, Lutor’s wife, asked, and Unrid shrugged.
“Most likely. It’s the only matter that should require such urgency.”
Unrid shoved another spoonful of porridge into his mouth before standing to his feet and gesturing for Aodhán and Aldric to follow him.
Aldric groaned as he wearily stood to his feet, while Aodhán was just confused as to why his presence in the meeting was required.
“Father, we are not actually needed in this meeting.” Aldric complained as they walked toward the door. “All we’ll do is stand for hours on end watching old people bicker like children.”
“Aldric, the council of awakeneds do not bicker; besides, it’s tradition to attend these sorts of meetings with the awakeneds affiliated with one’s family.”
“This will only give the other council members something to talk about; you know that, right?”
Unrid didn’t respond as they stepped out of the house and began to move towards the village’s center.
It doesn’t take them long to reach the mayor’s house; it was constructed with the same brown stone as the other houses, but it was much larger than any he has seen so far.
The wooden doors at the entrance were covered in glowing enchantments, and a middle-aged man dressed in scholarly robes stood outside them.
The man received them with a bow and soon led them through a long corridor adorned with enchanted bulbs. The corridor twisted and bent, seeming to go on forever, but the scholar soon pointed out a door, completely hidden by shadows; it was unnatural, and Aodhán was sure it was the result of another enchantment.
Unrid moved to open the door by himself, and only after he let out a groan did Aodhán realize just how heavy the door really was.
The meeting room was bare and unadorned, save for a single large table placed at the center of the room and seven stone chairs arranged around it.
The chair at the end of the table was larger than the rest, so Aodhán assumed it belonged to the mayor.
Unrid was the last member of the council to arrive, save for the mayor, and as they entered, the entire room turned to stare at them.
There were 10 other people in the room aside from them; the five council members, two men and three women, sat on the stone chairs while their attendants stood behind them.
These attendants were the awakeneds belonging to or associated with their families.
The members of the awakened council, except Unrid, were strangers to him, but as their gaze landed on him, a look of recognition flashed in their eyes, and Aodhán realized that he was no stranger to them.
When Unrid took his seat, Aodhán and Aldric moved to stand behind him like the other attendants.
They stood out like a rose in a sea of ash, and Aldric sighed in preparation for disaster.
The first member to speak was a bald man with a scar that covered his entire left cheek.
“I see that you’ve finally decided to take your campaign against us seriously, Unrid. Is this your way of threatening us?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Unrid replied curtly, but a woman dressed in a swaddling green robe replied.
“Balor may scare easily, Unrid, but if you intended to threaten me, then you should have come with a bigger weapon.”
“I do not feel threatened, Minerva; I was merely making conversation.”
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“I still have no idea where all this is going.” Unrid said to them, but a man dressed in hunting gear suddenly chuckled and said,
“The Brystion household has certainly grown more powerful in recent weeks; with the return of your first son and your guest, your house has become one of the strongest in the village.” The man paused and gave a sly smile before he continued. “If your second son awakens in a few months, the Brystion house will become the strongest in the village.”
“I only brought my attendants here because it is tradition, Carvahl.”
“Of course it is.” Balor agreed with a sarcastic expression. “It certainly isn’t a show of power at all.”
“You’re right, Balor.” Minerva replied. “It’s not like he has the entire village eating from his palms or something.”
“There is no reason for this, Minerva.” Another woman, Calithen, reproached them. “He’s vying for the position of mayor; just as we are, he has every right to compete as he likes.”
“Not when he constantly insists that he isn’t!” Carvahl argued.
“I do not wish for, nor am I vying for the position of mayor. As I’ve said countless times, I do not want the position." Unrid moved insisted.
“Oh, enough with your lies, Unrid.” Minerva shouted. “We are aware of your every move, of how you’re gathering forces and consolidating your family’s power, or of your veiled tactics of intimidation and subtle threats. I do not fear you, Unrid!”
“I have done no such thing!” Unrid shouted in anger. “I have gathered no forces, nor have I ever threatened anyone in this room. I have grown weary of repeating myself! I am not competing for the position; I do not want it.”
Before anyone could reply, the door opened, and Aodhán breathed a sigh of relief as the mayor walked in.
He was dressed in a fancy silver robe, embroidered with black, but he looked tired; bags hung under his eyes, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
He walked to the seat at the head of the table, with the scholar following behind him, and when he sat down, he went straight to the point.
“As we predicted, the soldiers have refused to help us; they’ve concluded that the horde is a problem they cannot be bothered with.”
“Those military dogs!” Balor spat, “They are nothing but a parasite to the village. They care not if we all perish, yet they occupy our lands, eat our foods, and bed our women.’
“It is decided then; we are on our own.” The last member of the awakened council, a woman with dyed blue hair, remarked, and with a sigh, the mayor continued.
“I gathered you all here so we can find a solution to this problem.”
“Do we have any idea how large this horde is?” Calithen asked, and the scholar behind the mayor replied.
“After the horde was reported, a troop of scouts were sent to investigate; sadly, only two of them returned, and their reports are lacking at best.”
“So we have no information to work with?” Carvahl asked.
“We know that what we are facing isn’t actually a horde, as it contains too many types of creatures to be called one. We also know that there are hundreds of these creatures.” The scholar replied.
“What about the average level of these monsters?” Balor asked, but instead of replying, the scholar gave a clueless shrug and turned to Unrid.
“I was hoping you would provide us an answer to that, Unrid.” The mayor stated, and he let out a heavy breath before replying.
“We only encountered low-level monsters, nothing above Tier 2, until we were attacked by the Rithclaw; my guest Aodhán might have a better idea.”
Aodhán stiffened as the attention of the entire room fell on him, but after a moment, he spoke.
“The Rithclaw we fought was at the 6th tier, but it was a juvenile; it is possible that it has siblings, a mother, or even a father with a higher tier of advancement.” After a pause, he continued. “I also came across a Tier 7 Burmehein, which I barely escaped from, so it is reasonable to assume that the average monster is now at the 4th or 5th tier of advancement.”
“Surely, it cannot be that bad.” Minerva muttered, but Aodhán shook his head and replied.
“You don’t understand. A week ago, the average monster was at the third tier, but in the past week, the monsters would have fought and killed each other to occupy territories in the forest. Any monster still alive would have grown stronger.”
“If what the boy says is true, then we should expect the worst and assume the average tier of monsters to be the fifth tier.” Balor remarked in the silence that followed Aodhán’s statement, and the woman with blue hair concurred.
“This also means that we might come across monsters at the 9th or even 10th tier of advancement.” Her eyes shifted to Aldric before she continued. “The mayor and, I suspect, Aldric, are the strongest among us, but I doubt that they are powerful enough to take down such a monster alone.”
Aldric smiled widely as the attention of the room fell on him, trying to gauge and measure his abilities, but to no avail.
Even the mayor stiffened slightly before he turned to the scholar and asked. “How many combat-oriented awakeneds do we have in the village?”
The scholar took a moment before he replied and said, “37, which is not nearly enough to face hundreds of monsters.”
“That is, if we take the fight to them.” Unrid replied a moment later, as a thought formed in his mind. “What if we make the monsters come to us?”
“That’ll risk putting the villagers in danger!” Minerva shouted, her expression a carefully constructed mask of disgust and false outrage.
“I would never think to do that.” Unrid countered with a glare. “What I meant is that we could set up a base in the forest and make the monsters come to us instead.”
“That way, we can choose a location that greatly hinders the monsters but is also easy to defend.” Carvahl finished with a smile that sent a pulse of bloodlust spreading through the room.
“Then we need to get the fur of silver rizzels; that’ll draw all the monsters to us almost instantly.” Calithen added.
“Silver rizzels are expensive; for an expedition this size, the cost of getting them will put a serious dent in our coffers!” The mayor stated, disagreeing with Calithen, but Minerva shook her head and said.
“A dent in our coffers is better than the death of our children. This is the only way to attract every single monster in the forest. With the harvest festival in less than a month, we cannot afford to make mistakes.”
“How much are we talking about, Darwyn?” The mayor asked the scholar behind him, and after a moment of intense scribbling, the scholar replied.
“Considering the size of the forest, we’ll need at least 10 silver rizzels, and each one is priced at a single gold coin, which totals to 10 gold coins.”