Jace finally finished climbing the long, winding mountain pass and looked upon Stormhold. During his trek, he had only caught glimpses of it through narrow sightlines and just above rocky ledges, but now it stood before him in all its glory.
They had transported to the region into Stormview, a large, thriving public city a few miles away in the valley below this massive fortress. The shamans ensured the lighting storms stayed in the mountains, so the citizens of Stormview didn’t suffer from the chaotic weather but got nightly shows of spectacular natural fireworks that put the northern lights to shame. It was late morning now, but dark clouds hung ominously just over the peaks to the east, hiding the sun. Jace knew they could envelop the keep within seconds if the defensive measures were activated.
Jace had brought his entire team with him but had parted ways with Psycho, Esther, and Draya when they reached the city’s edge. The trail toward the mountain pass and the entrance to Stormhold was well marked. Stormview had traded with the old mining operation frequently in the past. The other three had moved through the fields surrounding the town and took a more direct route to the sheer cliffs that rose from the plains. Jace knew they were probably already initiating their ascent and entry into the fortress as they had a much shorter trip than his winding path. He hoped everything was going well and that he would be able to see them again.
Gracie had dropped another bombshell on him while they had been navigating the city that he wasn’t ready for. When NPCs died in someone else’s stronghold, the game handled it differently than if they died in a module or a city. In those more common situations, the NPC would wake up in their PC’s home or wherever they had most recently spent the night and established a respawn point. They would have an hour or two of regeneration sickness that would make them ineffective in battle, and they were prevented from rejoining the module or location where they died, but they would be good as new after a while.
However, if you entered a place like Stormhold or Jace’s home and an NPC died, it was handled differently. If the NPC belonged to the owner of the stronghold, they would respawn about an hour after all the combat modes within the fortress had ended. This prevented them from just cycling back into whatever battle was taking place. But if the NPC belonged to another PC visiting the stronghold and likely attacking it, the location’s owner could hold that killed NPC ransom. They couldn’t claim them as their own or regenerate them under their control, but they had the power to keep them dead for as long as they wanted until the attacking PC agreed to a price or surrender terms. Alternatively, the owner of the stronghold could “Reset” the NPC so they returned to their original module with no memories of what happened. Since the stronghold owner could time this reset, they usually had the upper hand in claiming the NPC as their own by being the first to complete the module required.
Jace had complained to Gracie that this kind of information would have been helpful before he planned the attack, but she hadn’t been sure how Stormhold was situated. It could have been considered part of Stormview, and then the owners wouldn’t have a claim on any NPCs that died since a town was too big for that kind of control. It only applied to isolated castles and fortresses. Once they arrived on location, Gracie confirmed what type of stronghold it was.
Jace realized he wouldn’t have made any different decisions with this information, so he continued. He had told Esther and Draya in the past that if they died, they would wake up in his home, so he did caution them this time to be extra careful. Due to the unique nature in which he acquired them, if either of his female companions were ever “Reset,” he was pretty sure he would never see them again. He was ready to negotiate for the release of the hostages; he just hoped neither Draya nor Esther would be one of them.
With the help of the CIA and FBI, Jace had told the kidnappers he was coming to “Discuss terms for the hostage’s release.” At first, the North Koreans had said there would be no negotiations, only payment. But they changed their tune when they heard it was Jace Thorne visiting them. So Jace knew that even if he hadn’t tripped several proximity wards along his climb, the residents of Stormhold knew he was coming.
Jace took a moment to analyze the structure before him. It was a massive pentagon built on an island plateau with shear drops of at least 500 feet on all sides. On three of the five walls, the cliff face blended smoothly into the walls, leaving barely a few inches of a ledge. On the front, where Jace was, a small landing of stone existed to receive visitors crossing the bridge, and to his right, on the eastern side of the keep, a plot of land roughly the size of a football field was covered in long grass and trees. This allowed the residents to grow food, raise animals, and harvest wood without hauling it all from the city.
If they needed anything more substantial, Jace saw a wooden platform with a mammoth winch and pully system hanging over the far side of the ravine a hundred feet from the end of the bridge. Peering down into the gorge before him, he saw a rough trail leading out of the valley and heading toward town. A wide notch was carved into the far cliff wall, providing a smooth track to raise and lower the elevator. It looked big enough for several crates or even a small wagon. Jace imagined it would be quite impossible to transport large boxes of minerals or equipment over the bridge, and the freight elevator was necessary.
Other than Snowy, Jace was alone and hoped his hosts would let the wolf remain by his side. He already knew they wouldn’t allow him to carry any magical items and would probably make him discard any mundane weapons as well. Snowy was a living weapon, but he hoped they would make an exception. Of course, he first had to convince his familiar to cross the bridge with him.
Unlike Psycho’s old bridge, this was not a stable arch of stone spanning the distance to the island fortress but a rickety rope bridge with wooden slats. Amazingly, there were no handrails, and you were expected to balance on the structure solely on Dexterity dice rolls with the prospect of a lightning storm whipping up at any moment. Jace would have to roll 20’s to cross this bridge, meaning he would have to take his time and Concentrate. He would never be able to traverse it during combat. He figured Esther, Psycho, and Snowy could easily sprint across the span.
Just because the wolf was dexterous enough to make the crossing didn’t mean she wanted to. It turned out that Snowy was deathly scared of heights, and the jagged rocks 500 feet below them did nothing to alleviate that fear. “I need your help on this one,” Jace said. He knew from experience that he could borrow some of her incredible coordination when he linked senses with the wolf. Only one character could cross the bridge at a time, but the game made an exception since Snowy was his familiar. Most familiars were small creatures like birds or squirrels that players carried on their shoulders or in their inventory. The fact that Jace’s familiar was larger than most players didn’t penalize him.
In orc form, Jace had a solid center of gravity, and he slowly stepped onto the bridge and put his faith in the game mechanics to keep him from falling. As Snowy followed behind him, the shaman kept his eyes across the bridge on the collection of waiting characters. He saw an elf rogue dressed as a merchant and knew this was Ian, the right-hand man for the owner of this stronghold. From what he knew, two people ran this operation, but the game demanded only one owner of the stronghold, and that was a dwarf fighter named Brock. He didn’t know any last names, and they were North Korean, so Brock and Ian weren’t likely close to their real names.
In addition to the elf, two massive mountain trolls stood ten feet apart on either side of the bridge’s exit. They each held stone clubs as big as Snowy, and even with all his equipment, Jace wanted nothing to do with the 12-foot monsters. Behind the trolls, creating a small square in which the elf stood, were two of the storm shamans. They appeared human, wearing voluminous gray robes and shaved heads with lighting tattoos across their scalps. Jace lifted his vision and saw two more of the robed figures standing on the top corners of the front wall, 25 feet high, manning their lightning towers and ready to inflict a sudden attack on anything Ian wanted.
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The elf was only level 13 and would typically be no match for Jace or any of his companions, but with this much firepower at his disposal, he could confidently engage anyone. Jace remembered that he had taken down four 20+ level characters when he had only been at 10, so he wouldn’t make any assumptions here.
The bridge was 300 feet long, just out of effective bow range for most players but just inside of lightning range if the shamans were willing to spend half their mana on distance. Jace noticed numerous scorch marks on the wooden slats he crossed, and he tried not to think about the characters who had unsuccessfully crossed this bridge.
When he finally stepped on solid ground, he let go of a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and was almost knocked over as Snowy scampered past him to get off the bridge. She stopped suddenly as the two trolls snarled at her. They flanked Jace and herded him straight forward to a 10-foot stone arch covered in silver etchings that constantly shimmered with blue and white sparks.
“Remove all magical items from your inventory and person,” Ian said, standing 20 feet beyond the arch. “Then step through the portal. If you forget anything, you will be shocked into a Helpless condition, and my trolls will strip you of everything just to be sure. I don’t think you want that.”
Jace nodded and had no choice but to roll his eyes into his inventory. He emerged a few seconds later, holding a large chest. He set it on the ground and walked confidently under the stone arch with Snowy at his heels. The lightning didn’t strike. Jace carried nothing. Not his healing ring, not the cursed ring, not even his boots of grounding. He had to appear as an orc because he knew his illusion necklace would set off the alarm too.
The elf raised his eyebrows, impressed at the easy submission. Most visitors thought they could smuggle something in with the right spell and were then forced to enter the keep naked after being searched by the not-so-gentle trolls. Now Jace watched as one of the monsters moved over to the trunk he had left behind and tried to lift it. He guessed the creature must have close to 25 Strength, but it couldn’t budge the magical box.
The grunting and groaning of the troll earned the elf’s attention, who then looked back at Jace. “What trickery have you devised, Jace Thorne? I had hoped our ‘negotiations’ could proceed in good faith. I have watched your encounter with Drescher and will not fall for any of your tricks.”
“No trick,” Jace said, holding his hands up in an appeasing gesture. “No one but a party member of mine can transport that chest, and only with the proper combination can it be opened.”
“And you expect us to be foolish enough to open it and have a devastating spell explode in our faces? I have told you we will not fall for your tricks.”
“I can get it open,” Jace assured them. He couldn’t open it himself. The chest was Gromphy’s unique item, and only the goblin could open the box. But since Gromphy would follow his orders, Jace wasn’t lying. “And inside are riches you can’t imagine. More than enough to satisfy your demands for the two Americans you have detained. As you know, my government refuses to negotiate with . . . entrepreneurs like yourself,” Jace said tactfully, “but since you wished to be paid with in-game currency, we might be able to arrive at an alternative solution.”
The elf smiled. “Then we do not need a meeting. Open your chest, show me 2 million gold worth of merchandise, and I will have the two Americans brought up here while we wait.”
Jace smiled at the straightforward nature. “And for the release of the Russian and South Korean?”
“I do not think you are here on behalf of the Russian. We have not heard from them yet. I fear the half-orc barbarian might be playing without an operator. Very foolish. As for our fourth guest, there is no option to release him.”
“You haven’t seen inside my chest yet,” Jace smiled. “I think you might change your mind.”
Ian smiled back at him. “No, I won’t.”
“And is Brock of the same mind?”
The elf frowned. “I can make decisions for the both of us,” he said boldly but then paused as he realized that probably wasn’t true.
“I would hate for you two to get in a fight because you wouldn’t even listen to my offer,” Jace coaxed.
Brock must have been observing this meeting magically because one of the shamans walked up to the elf from behind and whispered into his ear. The elf frowned and looked toward Snowy. “Is everything in your position up for negotiation?”
Jace had no intention of trading Snowy for anyone, but he would at least listen to offers. “I don’t see why not.”
Reluctantly he nodded his head. “Very well. You will carry the chest, and it will always stay out of your inventory. If either of my trolls sees even the slightest eye twitch from you, they will crush you and your wolf to a pulp.”
Jace nodded. “Understood.” He moved back through the arch and politely asked the troll, who was still trying to lift the chest, to step aside. The orc was five feet shorter but easily lifted the large box. He was smart enough not to walk back through the arch holding the magical item and walked around it instead. Ian gave him a cross look, realizing Jace could have left something on the ground under the box and now could smuggle it passed the arch. The shaman was actually kicking himself for not thinking of something that clever, but he hadn’t known exactly how this scenario would shake out.
Flanked by two trolls, Jace was led into the keep’s main entrance, Snowy close at his side. After a massive entry hall with chandeliers, mirrors, paintings on the wall, and rugs of various colors, they moved into a long series of non-descript hallways. The ceilings were not tall enough for the trolls to stand upright, and they had to follow hunched over, their massive faces only a foot from Jace on either side. Besides strange fire-like carvings on the walls, Jace didn’t see anything of interest.
Eventually, they made it to another large room, where two more trolls stood guard on either side of a doorway closed off with a thick red curtain. Ian led the way through the portal, pulling the fabric aside with a rope so Jace could navigate the large chest and his massive bulk through the cloth barrier. He almost dropped the trunk. This was the treasure room with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and many other gems, along with ingots of gold, silver, and mithril staked high along the walls. The Balrog in the Basement apparently hadn’t prevented the new owners from a little speculative mining. It reminded Jace of Gromphy’s lab, smaller but much better stocked. His host confirmed his assessment.
“Leave the trunk in here,” Ian said. “This is our crafter’s room. She is off in Stormview, gathering supplies at the moment. We won’t be disturbing her. Plus, this room is warded against offensive spells. If you have a trick up your sleeve and the level 50 crystal is inside, ready to zap the first person who opens it, it won’t work here. After we’ve talked with Brock and Lexi and worked out whatever deals you have in mind, we shall return and see what you have to offer. Our crafter will need to review your items before we finalize anything.”
Jace didn’t know who Lexi was but didn’t let his lack of knowledge show. He was fine leaving the box in this room, thinking it was perfect for what he had planned. He set it down along a bare spot on the perimeter and saw several etchings on the walls that must represent the protection wards Ian had referenced. He turned back to the elf. “You have a priest working for you who can do those kinds of spells? I noticed several fire carvings on the walls we walked through. They didn’t look like the normal light wards I’m used to.”
Ian nodded. “We have two priests. We were attacked by a red dragon right after we moved in. He killed several of our shamans and did considerable damage before we knocked him out of the sky. After that, Brock and I weren’t willing to take chances, and we found the best NPC priest money could buy. We already had one, and now they work together, each with his own specialization. The entire complex is warded against dragon fire.”
Jace did a double-take. “How’s that? You mean if a dragon attacks from the outside, his fire can’t hurt you?”
“Outside, inside, from underneath,” Ian smiled at his guest, seeing the distress this news caused him and knowing full well he had a young woman in his group that had cast dragon fire in the Torrintank Keep Module. “If you are here, you are safe from dragon fire. And if an attack like that is detected, alarms will go off all over the place, and we will have plenty of time to react.”
Jace adjusted his shocked expression as quickly as possible, trying to hide his concern. “Good for you. I’ve done my research, and it sounds like these mountains are filled with dragons. Expect more attacks.” He gave the room a final look and followed Ian out of the treasure vault.
After the curtains dropped back to cover the doorway, they required several seconds before they hung still. When a full minute passed with no motion in the room, the lid of the box eased open half an inch, and two gray, spectacled eyes peered out. Seeing nothing, Gromphy opened the top a little further and slinked his tiny body out of the chest.
“If I hadst hath spent one more minute confined that wretched contraption, I bethink I wouldst has’t died,” he whispered.
As he looked around the room at the riches surrounding him, he blinked several times and patted his body down to ensure it wasn’t ethereal. “Has’t I died? This appears liketh unto heaven.”