“Edward knows about this portal and is trying to find a way to pry it out of Donivan?” I asked Lazemus.
“Most likely. There’s something else going on too. Something to do with the gnolls. They are attacking again and again at great cost because Edward has something they want. I’ve no idea what though.”
Jessica was frowning. “You’re the one who wanted gnoll shamans.”
“Right, why do you need them?” Lucas asked. This was one of the loose ends we had constantly discussed without having any answers.
“Actually, I only sought out gnoll shamans because I found out that Edward had been collecting them secretly for years. I joined in to muddy the waters, as well as see if I could figure out why he wanted them.”
“You have no idea what Edward needs them for?” Jessica asked. I could tell she was suspicious.
“None. Whatever use are gnoll shamans is his best kept secret.”
“So, all we have to go on is that we need to rescue Donivan?” Lucas asked.
“That would be ideal. Not only would it save my friend from mortal danger but what he’s learned from his captivity might answer our questions.” Lazemus looked around hopefully.
“I see.” I said before anyone jumped in to agree to the mission on the spot, “we’ll talk over whether we accept your quest and have an answer for you tomorrow morning.” It was likely we were going to accept, but Rhugar had given us two-days to consider his request to raid the gnoll camp. No reason to not accept both quests at once.
Lazemus had no time for pleasantries and raced away upon the conclusion of our talk. “What does everyone think?” I asked. “I have a feeling that whether we accept or refuse his mission, we’ll end up facing the dungeon boss: most likely the gnoll tribe’s leader.”
“We have no idea what we’re getting ourselves into,” Lucas said. “I’m not against accepting, but what we’re dealing with right now is a thick fog of war.”
“While true, it isn’t much different than usual,” Jessica pointed out, “we’ve never had good information ahead of our quests.”
“I think that’s by design,” Thomas said rather unhappily.
“Heading into the unknown and depending on Jessica would be nothing out of the ordinary for us,” I said, “I have full confidence in her ability.” No one disagreed with that, to go into the unknown was to be filled with anxiety but we had always found a safe way forward thanks to Jessica’s scouting skills.
“What about our loot? Our professions?” Maria moaned, “that was supposed to be the goal since the beginning! I don’t see a new earring on my or Anna’s ear.” She hmphed.
“I’d like to know the answer to that too,” I said, “we have a lot of gold coming our way, but as of right now it doesn’t seem like shops are open.” I started to question whether shopping for gear upgrades was always the intention of this ‘scenario’. This felt less like a dungeon compared to the first place we had unlocked.
“It seems like we’ll have to resolve this situation before being able to spend any of our gold,” Anna complained, ‘let’s just get it over with. I want some reimbursement from Lazemus though.” I agreed, although there was now a real chance that we wouldn’t get to spend anything in the shops; I didn’t say that out loud.
Instead, I said, “Mark and Glenn will have to come with us. There’s a chance we go to the gnoll camp and have to leave this dungeon for some reason. If that portal is real, it’s possible there won’t be any other time to use it, leaving you two stuck if you’re not with us.”
“Right,” said Mark and Glenn gave me a thumbs up.
“How long till we’re all fully recovered?” I changed the subject. Apparently one day wasn’t enough for everyone to get back to full MP.
“I think I’ll be good by the morning,” Jessica answered. I looked at Thomas who just nodded as if to say he was already good to go. Anna was also okay. Even Alan and Richard were good. It seemed Jessica’s built might have benefited from increased WIS: it was my belief that she had pumped everything into STR, DEX, and AGI.
“So, we’re good to say yes to Rhugar and Lazemus tomorrow then?” I asked. “I think we’ll listen to what Rhugar has planned for us and go that route. I believe the outcome of both should be the same. Lucas, we’ll leave the decision-making on the fly to you.” I then looked at Jessica, “You’ll be the one calling shots as we move, how do you feel about taking the quests?”
Jessica had been very skeptical and suspicious of almost everyone in the city. It was a warranted suspicion, and I respected her intuition. If she didn’t want to take the quests sensing a trap, I’d back her. We hadn’t had much alone time as of late and I hadn’t been able to pick her brain.
“I’m confident we can take this on,” she replied, “I still don’t trust them, though.”
“That’s settled then. Tomorrow morning I’ll inform both Rhugar and Lazemus. We go with Rhugar’s plan, but only if it isn’t complete suicide. In the end, we aren’t going to take on a major risk for anyone in the city,” I reminded everyone, “the people in this room are our priority and no one else.”
With our course of action agreed, the group drifted apart and I spent the remainder of the day with Jessica. She had grown quieter the past few days. “What’s on your mind?” I asked her.
“Nothing, I just have an ominous feeling. There’s something not right about this entire situation.” I wasn’t feeling the ill foreboding she was. My Sixth Sense wasn’t giving me anything.
“About our mission? Or this entire dungeon?”
“The dungeon,” she said, “It feels like we’ve made our own choices, but everything we’ve done has almost been scripted since the beginning.”
“I was thinking that about the gold earlier,” I confessed, “it dictated our entire path—meeting Lazemus and being sucked into this feud.”
She laid her head against my shoulder, “It’s exhausting. I don’t think I’ve gotten a good night’s rest since we came here.”
I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her closer, “If all goes well, we should be leaving soon.” These were the only moments of peace I still had in this world.
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The following morning came faster than expected. I started to feel a foreboding as the time to meet Rhugar approached. It wasn’t Sixth Sense, but just a malaise that stemmed from Jessica’s comment. Was I really in control of my own actions?
Fortunately, Inner Calm seemed to kick in and extinguished the slowly burning unease. If I was under control without realizing it, well what was happening was going to happen regardless of if I worried or not.
“You have made up your minds?” Rhugar asked. His anticipation was clear to see across his face.
I said, “We’ll take you up on your offer. Do you have a plan in mind?”
“That’s a relief.” The smile he gave me made it look like he had gained ten years of youth back. “Come over here.” He beckoned towards his desk as he unrolled a map. “This here is where we believe the gnoll tribe’s main camp to be.” He pointed to a small mountain range dotted with crude drawings of huts. There was at least a dozen of them spread over several miles, but the one his finger rested on was most central, and largest. “This should be their main base, and where the gnoll tribe leader should be.”
“He’s not with the army?”
“No. In the past, he only made an appearance towards the end of drawn-out battles. So early in this campaign, I consider it unlikely he will appear, especially given the current situation.”
“The siege?” I asked.
“Right, there have been no further attempts to storm the walls Rigar. However, the gnolls are still out there in full force. We can see the trails of campfire smoke from the forest. Your main problem is that they have scouts along the edge. If we so much as step outside the city they know and will probably attack. Fortunately, that’s where you come in,” he said, “there are two possible solutions to this problem that we see. The first would be the killing the gnoll tribe leader. If that was accomplished their hierarchy would crumble and need restructuring, forcing a retreat.”
“And the second?”
“The second would be cutting off their supply line. There isn’t enough in that forest to feed ten-thousand hungry gnolls. They’re constantly bringing food in. You may not know this, but as barbaric as they are, gnolls can farm. They keep cows and goats, even work the fields for crops. They just aren’t as efficient as us.”
“Do you have any information about the gnoll leader?” I asked. It was likely we would have to face against it regardless, but with the gnoll commanders being level 37, it was hard to imagine what level the boss might be.
“Not detailed enough, no. The few times we’ve seen him he has been an unstoppable force on the field. I saw him rip a man and horse in half at the same time, like breaking twigs,” Rhugar shuddered at the memory.
“It doesn’t sound feasible for us to kill him,” I said. “While our group can set up as a dangerous threat to any gnoll; I’m not going to die trying.” I told Rhugar the truth. This place was not my home. “Do you have a detailed map of their supply routes?” I asked.
He nodded and pointed on the map on his desk. “These are what our scouts have gathered over the years. There may have been more added, and some may not be used currently, but it should be eighty or ninety percent accurate.” He then reached into his desk and pulled an exact replica of the map on his desk and handed it to me.
“As easy as it is to say ‘just go do it’, how are we getting to that point?” I asked. He still hadn’t explained a single step in his plan.
“Tonight, just past midnight you all will escape through the west gate. I’ve been told it’s a cloudy night, and the moon will be barely visible. It will be the darkest night in the coming months. My men will escort you to the forest edge here.” He pointed at the map, “from there you will travel east to the opposite end and about two or three miles out.” He pointed again, “From there, you will be clear of the army in the forest and should be in view of the mountain range here. Once among the foothills, you can travel south through the fields along the cliffs and pick off supply wagons moving through here, here, here and here.” Rhugar pointed at each route as he crossed them with his finger. “They will send most shipments midday, none at night and none early morning.”
Following his plan, we would literally be behind enemy lines. It seemed there would be four or five routes ahead of us before we were in line with the main encampment. “How long of a walk do you think that would take us on foot?” I asked, my finger tracing the five routes and pointing a path to the main encampment of the gnolls.
“You wouldn’t reach it till night fall of next day. That is if you want to be quiet about it and not have a thousand gnolls on yer ass. This area should be low traffic, and I’d suspect you’ll make it to the mountains with very little action.”
“And how can you be sure they won’t travel at night and early morning?” I asked.
“The gnolls aren’t exactly the disciplined type. You can hear them off the walls all through the night, partying or fighting or who knows what—in turn, they sleep in quite late. That doesn’t mean they won’t wake up on a dime if being attacked though, but it should be to your advantage.”
“Understood. What time are we leaving exactly?”
Rhugar looked out the window and at the sun high in the sky, “Fourteen hours or so. My men will come and get you, just be reasonably ready. There’s a little wiggle room.”
“Can you supply us at all?” I asked. “MP potions, HP potions?” I asked, without being quite sure if he even knew what they were.
“You can take the map. Other than that, I’ll find out what we can get for you,” he replied, “there should be some of what you call ‘rations’ but I’m not sure about the potions you want.”
“I’ll inform the others.” I said before leaving.
My friends were still waiting on breakfast when I returned and I gave them a quick rundown on the very rough plan, holding down the corners of the map on the table with cutlery. “I’ll consider this a success if we can somehow rescue Donivan,” I said, “defeating the gnoll tribe leader might be the work of another day. According to Rhugar, we can reach the encampment by tomorrow night, which might allow us to go on a night-time raid.”
“We’ll be able to make it there unscathed?” Lucas seemed skeptical.
“Rhugar thinks we can make it here without much trouble,” I pointed, “most of the battle took place here, and the army should be situated mostly here.” I then pointed out the encampments, supply routes, and where Rhugar believed we would find the gnoll tribe leader, as well as the likely place Donivan would be.
“How likely do you think we’ll be able to interrupt these three supply routes undetected?” I pointed to the middle of the map and looked at Lucas for his opinion. It was the region I thought would best serve both requests best.
“I think its possible, but only depending on how organized they are,” Lucas was thoughtful, “if they are on high alert, we may end up only making it to those hills before encountering heavy resistance in the form of reinforcements. If that happens, we would probably have to retreat.”
“So don’t get caught is the rule?” Jessica asked. “We should be able to avoid any trouble, I’m confident in my ability to do that.”
“That won’t be enough unfortunately.” Lucas said. “We don’t have very many places to hide, and allowing ourselves to be surrounded could be the end.” The scenario Lucas was describing reminded me of what happened on the way into this dungeon. “We could probably take out three of the five routes before the first route realizes their supplies are late, but going further than that would be putting our head on the chopping block. If we decided to skip the interruption of supplies and go straight for the gnoll headquarters it would be another story.”
“Well, is disrupting the war or rescuing Donivan the most pertinent to ending this war and getting our reward?” Mark asked, “it doesn’t seem like doing both at the same time is possible with our current strength.”
“What about avoiding the supplies and just killing the leader and rescuing Donivan?” Anna made the suggestion.
“While it might be possible, we don’t know anything about the boss. Not only that, if it’s a situation we can’t run from, we would be doomed,” Lucas said.
“Rhugar claims the gnoll boss is quite formidable,” I said, “considering he’s seen what we have to offer in a fight, I don’t think we could accomplish it easily on enemy territory at night.”
Lucas had another thought, “Ending the war would allow the shops to reopen, which would probably give us a big boost of power ahead of a boss encounter. If we can disrupt their supplies even for a single day, that might prove to be enough to see results.”
“Hungry gnolls will probably be angry gnolls, and I could see them taking it out on each other,” Thomas added.
“Okay, that sounds like a solid plan then. We’ll move tonight with Rhugar’s escort. By sunrise we should be through the forest and under cliff on the edge of these farm fields, here,” I pointed to the map, “from there we’ll move between these two supply routes and intercept all traffic on them. Mark and Glenn you two will be responsible for keeping an eye on the roads here and here. You’ll keep an eye for incoming traffic and move back to us here with any information.”