Jace watched Esther run off with Sylvester and didn’t look away until they disappeared into the shadows.
{She’ll be fine,} Gracie assured him. {Sylvester will almost certainly double-cross you, but I trust Esther will overcome anything he can throw at her. Plus, Sylvester is a businessman; if he screws over the best player in the game, it will not go over well for him. He’s not lying about the goblin, and Esther is more powerful than he or anyone else knows. The message boards that discuss her possible stats are still way off.}
“I hope you’re right,” Jace said but was pulled away as Wallace demanded his attention.
“Jace,” she said, slightly out of breath. She was running in from his left, the opposite direction Esther had gone. “I’ve found the leader for the group going against the water gate.”
Jace had allowed Wallace to absorb most of the information Sylvester had given them back in the tavern. The tracker spoke as if his audience had played this module before and knew all the strategies and techniques. Wallace had played it a few times, as it was a safe way to earn experience since you couldn’t permanently die. Gracie knew about the tower defense games, but since there was no loot or gold you could earn from them, they didn’t attract terrorists or criminals who used the game for profit. She told Jace he should lean on his new paladin companion for most of the information.
Wallace was escorting a dwarven fighter clad head to toe in metal with a shield almost bigger than he was. “This is Bellrock,” she said. “He has made an alliance with the other attack group leaders, so he will be able to give us progress updates.”
The dwarf looked up at the massive orc and extended his hand. “Jace Thorne,” he said in a gruff voice, “it is an honor to meet you. Drescher’s mage killed two of my companions a month ago. I have the image of his body disintegrating in a lightning storm as my desktop background.” Jace smiled and shook his hand. Since he was a PC, he didn’t speak in the stereotypical dwarven accent.
“I will do everything I can to help. How many strong are we?”
“I have four in my group,” Bellrock replied. “With you three, there will be seven.”
Snowy growled.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “Eight.”
The wolf nodded appreciatively. Jace looked at the dwarf’s group and saw characters at levels eight, nine, and ten. At 13, Snowy was likely more powerful than any of them. Wallace was also a nine, and Jace guessed their group was on the low end compared to the average in this game since you could be as high as 15.
“Do you know what guardian they will use?” Wallace asked. “I joined this game a couple of hours ago, so I didn’t get to study the roster.”
The dwarf shrugged. “The hydra or stone giant is usually the best defense, but with our assets,” he glanced up at Jace, “who knows what they will use. We’ll just march in, shields raised, and take whatever they throw at us.” After this last comment, Bellrock looked at how Jace was equipped and cautiously glanced at Wallace. The dwarf wasn’t about to question the legendary player’s strategy, but the paladin understood his concern.
“Jace, do you have another weapon?” she asked. “Etcher’s great, but you will need a free hand for your shield.”
Jace entered his inventory and got the explosive axe and +3 large shield that Drescher had returned to him. The dwarf grimaced and decided to walk away out of respect.
“No,” Wallace chided. “That isn’t going to work. You need a tower shield. They make you immune to arrows. Our route will leave us out in the open. We will be sitting ducks for their archers. That shield might prevent a few criticals, but they will still hit you.
“I don’t have a tower shield,” Jace admitted.
{Sorry about that,} Gracie said. {I should have looked that up.}
“Then it is a good thing I have two,” Wallace said. She entered her inventory, retrieved two of the massive wooden shields, and handed one to Jace. It looked like a door with iron bands across it. Once he held it, he checked its stats and saw it was a level eight item with no enchantments.
“Talk to me about this shield,” Jace said under his breath.
{Tower shields are unique. There are no magical ones that anyone has ever seen. Their level determines how much damage they can take. A level 8 shield is pretty good and can take 400 damage. They are completely immune to piercing, so you can have a thousand arrows sticking out of one like a pin cushion, and it won’t affect it. Depending on how much wood or metal is used in its construction, it has damage reduction against slashing and blunt attacks. However, they always take full magic damage. The more wood it has, the more susceptible to fire. If it has more metal, it takes extra acid damage. The defenders will use arrows enchanted with fire and acid, and when you are close enough, they will have mages cast spells. However, if Gromphy is as good a crafter as Wallace said and is feeding the defenders unlimited level 10 arrows, it will only take a few direct hits to take out each shield, so you guys need to hurry.}
Jace looked to his right along the line as the attacking forces got ready. He understood there were several attack points for the castle. The front door was the most obvious and likely the most defensible. At least 12 attackers would be trying to take that head-on. There was also an underground option different from what Esther was doing. A cave entrance in the middle of the battlefield led to a partially dug tunnel, and with a collection of dwarves and gnomes, you could finish it after 30 rounds and lead a force under the moat and directly into the castle.
A central mound rose before the walls just inside bow range, where attackers could take cover behind large stones and return fire at the archers lining the top of the keep. They would try to pick off the mages casting fireballs and lightning bolts; any arrows they could divert from the flanking forces would be a bonus.
Then, along the left side of the keep, a large forest stood, and players with good crafting skills could make ladders. That side of the castle wall was easily climbable with the narrowest section of the moat. If the attackers had really good crafters, they could build catapults or trebuchets.
In addition, the keep was given 3-5 guardians depending on the difficulty settings. These were massively powerful NPCs that the outnumbered defenders could strategically place inside or outside the keep to help defend it. This game was set up with 50 attackers and 25 defenders, which was pretty good odds for the defense, so they would likely only get three guardians.
The timer was now below thirty seconds, and Jace ensured Draya was nearby. The effects of her hangover were diminishing, and she was starting to question what they were doing. “So the people we are trying to rescue are in that castle?”
“No,” Jace clarified. “There is someone in there that can help us make the items we need to rescue the hostages.”
“Is that what the rest of these people want?”
Jace shook his head. “They are just here to play a game. We are storming that castle,” he pointed across the rolling plains toward the massive stone walls.
“But why? People are going to get hurt.” The sound of players clanging their weapons and banging their shields grew as the timer dropped below ten seconds. “War is not a game. It . . . it destroys people’s lives.”
{There is a backstory emerging here,} Gracie advised. {No one has had time to really dig into the lich’s sacrifice much to understand their story. But their willingness to drink the holy water and give their life up to kill the lich implies they don’t have much to live for and that they’ve seen others do the same. Her skin tone marks her as a foreigner, and I’m guessing she is a refugee from a war-torn land.}
Great, Jace thought, I’ve got the most powerful offensive weapon at my side, and she is going to be a pacificist. Thanks, Gandhi.
He didn’t have time to think about it further as the timer dropped to zeros, and the hoard ran screaming out into the field. Jace chose to store his borrowed shield in his inventory for now. They were over half a mile from the castle, and if Stephen insisted that an 800-foot arrow shot was impossible, 2,500 feet was out of the question. It would cost him a round to get it again, but he didn’t think it would matter.
Draya certainly had some PTSD to work through, and they let the rest of their small group charge ahead. They were on the far-left side of the battlefield, where an impassable stone cliff rose 100 feet in the air. The ground beside it was uneven and rocky, so they drifted away from the wall a few dozen feet, but Jace saw that put them more out in the open with fewer options for cover.
Once they drew within 1,000 feet, they could start making out details on the top of the wall and saw that the distribution of the archers was pretty even. Using Snowy’s vision, Jace could determine that none of the bowmen were less than level 12, and several were 15. In their group, they had three characters under 10. He only counted 18 archers, with three or four mages sprinkled in the group.
“Most of those are not exclusive archers,” Wallace said, falling back to Jace’s position. “They also need melee fighters for once we break through the wall, and most people aren’t good at everything. But I would guess at least five of those archers are exceptionally skilled rangers.”
“What’s the strategy?” Jace asked, seeing that his group had halted their approach for the most part. Several arrows came flying toward them, but most fell hundreds of feet short. Jace didn’t know if they were giving away their range or purposefully shooting short to bait the attackers closer.
“We are going to try and secure that raised mound,” she pointed toward the rocky hill sitting 350 feet in front of the keep. Jace saw three archers and a priest running and ducking behind rocks and trees as they tried to make it to the cover without getting shot. “If we can draw their fire to that location, it will allow us to rush from the outside.”
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On the far side of the field by the trees, Jace saw another force about the same size as theirs huddled in the forest cover, waiting for their chance to charge. They would need ladders to scale the wall. Jace saw that on this side, the moat widened to a small lake next to the cliff face, and a metal gate stood in the wall on the far side of the pool. That was where the castle got its water, and it was their entry point. Wading across the lake would be slow and keep them out in the open. He understood the need for the tower shields.
Bellrock fell back from his group to update them on the progress. “Seems like we have a bit of a problem,” he said. “On the far side, they can’t find their crafters. A group of six players ran on ahead to build ladders, but no one has seen them yet. They disappeared into the forest and haven’t returned. They were led by a barbarian and a monk. Those aren’t usually the best crafters in the game, so people are worried we’ve been set up.”
“How long can we wait?” Jace asked, wondering if the missing players had anything to do with Esther and Sylvester.
“The game is timed, and if we want any chance of success, we must move in the next minute. But there is another problem. They have Merlin.” The dwarf pointed to a central tower that rose another 100 feet above the keep wall. At the top, Jace saw a shimmering sphere and assumed the mage was inside. “He’s a massively powerful guardian, impervious to arrows and magical attacks. The only way to take him out is to destroy the tower, but if we can’t make ladders, we will never finish the catapults.”
Jace nodded. Giving up wasn’t an option here. “What is his range?”
Before Bellrock could answer, a tiny ball of fire shot out from Merlin’s location, screamed across the open plains, and exploded into the central mound. The four players who had just made it there flattened themselves on the ground and watched several of the stone defenses crumble before them. Arrows flew in right after, and two of the players took non-fatal hits in the legs. They had to curl up into balls to find any cover and had no chance to return fire. Another fireball shot in and exploded against the mound.
Beside Jace, Draya cried out in horror. “What are they doing? We shouldn’t be attacking. What is the purpose here?”
Bellrock looked confused at this reaction and returned to the front with his people. Jace turned to her and held her upper arms in his massive hands to look her in the eyes. He knew those players likely had their pain settings turned down and wouldn’t feel much if they died, but NPCs didn’t have that luxury. “Draya, we are going to move forward. We need to draw the fire away from those people. I will need you to throw a fireball at that wall.” He pointed to their side of the keep, where four archers were currently angling their shots toward the center.
“But it will kill them!” she cried. “I don’t think I can do that.”
Jace knew she would if he ordered her to, but he also knew that would strain their relationship. He had to prove to her that this was a game. Unfortunately, he could only think of one way. “Come with me,” he said. “We need to keep moving.” She obeyed, and they caught up with the rest of their force, slowly pushing forward.
Once they got within 500 feet, the arrows began to find their mark. In order to shoot that far, they had to sacrifice most of their accuracy, and only lucky rolls hit them, and those found raised shields. Jace still hadn’t pulled his shield from his inventory. The arrows were enchanted with fire or acid and did 50 magical damage at level ten. When they missed, they ricocheted off rocks in spectacular explosions. Some of the fighters who weren’t expert bowmen had no chance of hitting anyone, and they missed on purpose, but their arrows exploded with a spread of damage, licking flames or splashing acid on a collection of raised shields. These did less damage, as it was spread out, but it all added up.
“Jace,” Wallace said from the front line, “if you’ve got a plan, now would be a good time. Our shields can’t take much more damage.”
“You all have more than one, right?” Jace figured if they were that valuable and cheap, why not carry half a dozen of them into battle.
“Not everyone is an orc with 22 Strength,” Wallace shouted back, reminding Jace that she had looked at his character sheet. “Most players have pathetic Carry skill.”
“I thought you said that skill was useless,” Jace said to Gracie.
{I guess it serves a purpose if you want to carry around an armory with you. Now stop arguing and do something.}
Jace stood up and boldly walked in front of the shield wall, drawing a few confusing stairs from his group. He saw several arrows in the air and prayed to his god for an acid one. His prayer was answered as a flaming red arrow flew just passed his head, but two glowing green shafts struck him in the chest. The archer got no ciritcals at this distance, and the arrow damage didn’t rise above his Damage Reduction. Also, his impressive resist score helped him to save against the acid, and he only took half, with no recurring harm the next round.
Draya watched in amazement when she saw her leader take the shots like that and flinched on his behalf, but Jace’s calm expression never changed. Even when he turned around to walk back and took a flaming arrow in the back that did extra damage, he didn’t even wince. He did hurry back behind the shield wall, however.
“What did you do that for?” she cried at him. “You could have been killed.”
“Draya,” he said firmly. “This is a game. It may look like people are getting injured and dying, but it’s just magical pretend. It was real down in the lich’s catacombs, but not here. Not only is this a game, but it is a game we need to win. And we need your help to win it, do you understand?”
Draya was still staring at the arrows sticking out of his chest, dripping acid. She couldn’t wrap her mind around it quite yet, but she eventually nodded. “I will help.”
“Good,” Jace replied and pulled the arrows free. He turned back to the wall. “Okay,” he shouted. “I need everyone to run forward as fast as you can 100 feet to that rocky ledge. Once you get there, raise your shields and hold on tight.”
The group responded to his call, trusting the legendary player had a plan. The new location would put them just inside 400 feet, and in preparation for this game, Jace had asked Draya to memorize a fireball that would travel that far.
The next volley mostly flew over their heads as the archers were still firing on the old position, and the small troupe was able to get to the new location, only taking three additional hits on three different players, one of which was Wallace. They couldn’t raise their shields while they ran. Draya saw again how none of the players cried out in pain or gave any indication that the attacks hurt more than an annoyance. She wasn’t quite ready to take an arrow herself, but she had enough evidence now to understand this wasn’t the reality she was used to.
“Okay, Draya,” Jace shouted. “Now we need you.”
Wallace heard the call and turned to see what would happen as her shield took another few hits and was almost gone. Draya summoned her Dragon Spirit ability, boosting all her Spirit skills by thirteen. Her eyes glowed with power, and her red hair shined with fiery magic. “Where?” she asked, her voice deep and mighty.
Jace pointed at the nearest section of the wall where three archers were firing as fast as they could and prayed none of them were NPCs who would cry out in pain from the attack. Draya unleashed her fireball, and the massive attack dwarfed everything Merlin had produced. It flew toward the tower like a guided missile but slow enough for the players to dive for cover. On their narrow ledge atop the wall, they could only move side to side unless they wanted to jump 50 feet to the ground, which might have been the better option as the fireball exploded against the top of the wall, sending bodies and chunks of stone flying in every direction.
[Dragon Fire detected.]
As Jace got the report that someone in his party had just killed three enemy players, the rest of his group turned back in awe. Bellrock’s jaw was on the ground. “I would have never guessed,” he said.
“Don’t just look at her,” Jace cried. “We need to charge the lake before they regroup.”
“You heard the orc!” Bellrock shouted, collecting himself. “Everyone move!”
The last of the arrows that had been in flight when the fireball exploded had already clattered against their nearly spent shields, and when they looked at the smoking remains of the wall and realized no more arrows would be coming, they rose in a cheer. They charged forward, some even taking the time to stow their damaged shields.
“Wallace!” Jace cried, and the paladin held up and turned. “Wait,” he said more quietly and motioned toward the center of the keep.
She turned and saw the sphere of energy that held Merlin turn its attention to them and release its own massive magical attack. It paled compared to Draya’s, but it was still deadly and exploded as a lightning storm against the charging force. The two players under level ten fell instantly, and sparks cascaded through the rest, eventually taking down a level 10 player, leaving only Bellrock standing.
Wallace turned her attention to Draya, who had dropped a pillar of dragon fire at her feet and let the flames refresh her mana enough for her to throw another attack. Jace pointed out a large window halfway up the wizard’s tower, twenty feet below where Merlin stood, and the young mage launched another attack. It flew unerringly through the opening and exploded against the spiral staircase in the middle. Jace wondered what would happen when a fireball that was supposed to expand to 50 feet was contained inside a cylindrical tower only 25 feet in diameter. He wasn’t disappointed by the answer.
Huge chunks of stone exploded out in a ring as a ten-foot-high section of the tower disintegrated. The upper half fell straight down, violently smashing into the bottom. The shortened pillar thought about balancing briefly before toppling backward into the keep. A massive dust cloud rose above the wall, and Jace got another notification that Draya had killed a guardian.
“You sacrificed them,” Wallace said evenly.
Jace looked toward the dead players on the ground as Bellrock cast a healing spell to save the level 10 player who still had a few HP left. He returned to the stern face of the 14-year-old player. “Yes, I did. I needed Merlin to attack them while Draya refreshed her mana. If the guardian had attacked us, Draya would not have survived. Do you think it was the wrong decision?”
“No,” Wallace said. “I just didn’t think you were capable of it.”
“That was awesome,” Draya said, running up to them. “I’ve never done anything like that before. What’s next?”
Jace looked about the battlefield and saw that the fight had turned drastically in their favor. With Merlin out of the picture, the players were ready to storm the central entrance and could now move out of their cover position and walk slowly with shields raised. One of the archers in the central mound had died, but the other two could now offer cover fire. The group on the far side had given up on ever getting ladders and were racing to the middle of the keep to help with the main assault.
The drawbridge door was raised, and Jace didn’t see a good way to cross the moat to open it. He turned to Draya, who should still have a few rounds of Dragon Spirit in her. “Wallace, please give Draya some cover and run over there to blast that door open.”
As he watched the pair race toward the center of the battlefield to get the mage in range, Jace talked to Gracie. “How’s Esther doing?”
{Let me check,} Gracie said. She took a moment to change her perspective. {Why that rotten bastard! She’s being ambushed. Looks like the monk and barbarian who are supposed to be building ladders. She’s in trouble. She might not . . . no . . . wait . . .WOW . . . okay, never mind. She’s fine.}
Jace smiled, happy his companion could take care of herself. He watched Draya and Wallace get within range and launch the third fireball in 10 rounds. This one hit the wooden draw bridge hard, ripping apart the anchor points at the top that kept it closed, and the enormous plank crashed down over the water. The attacking force had a mage with them, and after a burst of frost put out the fire, the fighters raced across the bridge into the castle.
Wallace and Draya returned a few seconds later, the young woman looking flushed and tired now that her spell had ended. “Let’s go,” Jace said. Snowy had escaped significant injury so far and looked like she had only taken a few splashes of acid on her fur. The group ran up to Bellrock, who was helping his lone companion to his feet. “Are you okay?”
The two dead players had already disappeared, their bodies whisked back to the staging area where they would wait until the end of the battle. If Bellrock had determined that Jace had sacrificed them as a distraction, he didn’t say anything. Or maybe he also agreed it was the right decision once he saw what Draya had been able to do to Merlin. “We are good. Let’s go.”
The group only had a few hundred feet to go to the lake’s edge but pulled up short when they were still fifty feet away. Another guardian stood before them.