Forge of Eternity: Alpha Testing, page 13
“Your will be done, oh great Fortuna!” Gavin said with more showmanship than was strictly required. I couldn’t see the coin from my angle, leaning to get a better look for the small disk.
“Tails!” Gavin declared, vaulting on top of a shelf with his staff and lifting Deacon’s free hand into the air.
“Hey! You knock that over and it’s going to cost you!” Willow yelled from the front of the store. “You’ll not make a scene in my store if you want to be allowed back!”
Gavin bowed and hopped off the shelf as Phelyya inspected the coin on the ground. I joined her and checked the coin myself. She picked it up, her character looking over both sides before giving the silver back to Gavin.
“Seems like Fortuna has spoken,” I said, patting her shoulder lightly. “We’re looking to take off soon, you two need to prepare before we head out.”
After a few seconds of silence, Phelyya sighed, her avatar making an exaggerated motion like a sulky teenager. “I just need to grab some stuff from my room at the inn. We’ll join your party, but I’d like to try this again after I’ve had a chance to get used to the game.”
I briefly considered teasing Phelyya with her words from the earlier statement about not questioning the party leader but thought better of it. Rather than antagonize her, I thought it would be a good idea for us to get to know each other better as a team first. Taking the high road would be more useful here to build a better rapport.
“I thought challenging the leader causes party wipes and shit?” Deacon responded with a smug look on his face.
So much for the high road.
Amalie - In the Woods
We waited for our newest member just inside the town gates, near a handful of boulders that had been pushed to the side of the road at some point. The wind was mercifully less intense this far from the shoreline, and the sun had started to burn away the chill of the morning, if only slightly. Gavin was smoking his pipe, seated on one of the boulders, while Deacon alternated between starting at the nearby temple and fiddling with his equipment. I swear he moved his sword’s location three times in the quarter-hour we spent waiting. The silence was slowly driving me mad.
“Hey, Gavin. What other questions can you ask your deity? Can we use that trick to help with dungeon puzzles and that sort of thing?” I asked, catching Deacon’s attention as well.
“What? Oh, the coin flip?” Gavin seemed puzzled. “How would a rigged coin flip help us in a dungeon? Do you expect the monsters will agree to games of chance instead of physical force?”
“No, I was thinking more along the lines of asking which path to take in a forked tunnel.”
“I suppose we could flip a coin and trust it will lead us in the correct direction. Fortuna would likely grant me favor for such an action, though we may be better served by making an informed decision whenever possible. Trust in the gods, but lock your doors and all that.”
“Why? Do you think the answer might not always be correct?” I asked. “Or is it a long cooldown between uses or something?”
“No, I can influence the outcome of a coin flip at any time. That is a trick from my former life, not a divine skill.”
“Wait,” Deacon decided to participate in the conversation, “are you saying that wasn’t actually an ability you used back there?”
“No, that was mundane manipulation. My words encouraged Phelyya to choose heads and I ensured the toss would land in your favor. Though I am a cleric in this world of real magic, I was a magician for three decades in the one I left.”
The little man danced a coin between his fingers, caused it to disappear, then stood on the boulder and plucked it from behind my ear. I laughed at that, though Deacon’s jaw tensed and his expression darkened. He looked like he was about to say something, so I cut him off.
“By the face you’re making I’d guess magicians murdered your family. Relax, Deacon. His trick worked better than anything I was trying. Plus, he can do it again if we need it in the future. Right?”
“Of course. And now that I have peeled back the curtain it will be easier. You will know which side to call for if you pay attention, should this matter come up again in the future. I can justify your position as party leader entitles you to call the toss,” Gavin sat back down and smiled around his pipe.
Deacon sighed and let the scowl fall from his face. He pointed in the direction of the town where Phelyya and Uri could barely be seen off in the distance. Now that he pointed it out, I could feel them getting closer gradually through the party awareness. That was going to take some practice to get used to.
“Sorry we took so long,” Uri shouted when he got close enough. “We thought we found another player at the inn but it turned out to just be a weird NPC.”
“We have plenty of time left in the day,” I said, pointing at the sun hovering just above the horizon. “I’m not really the outdoorsy type, but I’d guess it’s no later than nine.”
“It’s 8:32,” Deacon correct. “We should be able to get to the mine by about 10:30 and be killing bugs before noon.”
That almost sounded like excitement and I was happy to see his grumpy mood starting to fade. We got to walking and I filled the group in on what we’d encountered last time. Deacon filled in some other details and offered clarifications, then sketched out a brief plan on how to approach the fight.
“I don’t think the plan of ‘exactly like last time, but with more people’ is the best approach,” I said, shaking my head. “Last time, we just barreled in swinging and pulled way too much attention.”
“Too much attention for the two of us to handle,” Deacon said, raising two fingers. “There’s five of us now, and we have a healer.”
“Phelyya, any thoughts?” I looked over at the green-tinted elf. Even against a natural backdrop, the green seemed out of place. She looked in my direction with a thoughtful expression. If I didn’t know it was an automated response from the game engine, I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell it wasn’t a genuine human reaction.
“Well, Deacon’s plan isn’t bad,” she nodded in his direction. “I can’t imagine a starter quest like this needing any strategy more advanced than ‘don’t pull too many mobs.’”
“I’m going to have to disagree here, but only a little,” I held up my hands to ward off interruption. “We know more about how the locusts fight now. At long range, they spit fire, then when they close the distance they leap and tackle.”
“True,” Deacon agreed. “The buggers hung on my shield and were too close in for Amalie to get clean shots on them. And when they jump they’re fast.”
We heard a scream in the woods and came to a sudden halt. Well, Deacon kept walking, but I grabbed him by the back of his belt. He begrudgingly stopped after another couple of steps. Turning around, he looked in the direction of the scream and considered for a second.
“We should keep going,” he said, still looking into the woods.
“Alright, let’s go then,” I stepped in the direction of the scream. Then, I thought better of it. “You lead the way.”
“No, sorry. To clarify, I say we ignore it and keep going,” Deacon said, finally turning back to face our original direction. “We’re already on a quest, let’s finish this one first.”
That was a boring response and would not do. “I don’t think the game works like that. We have to handle that quest now if we’re going to handle it ever.”
“I also believe we should look for the source of the noise,” Gavin said, tightening his pack. “It could be interesting.”
“Last time I left the path to follow a scream I almost died,” the large rock-skinned man stared down at the halfling. Another scream echoed through the forest, making Deacon wince.
“That was forever ago, and you made it out fine. Plus,” I beamed at him, “you met me, so it wasn’t all bad.”
“That’s debatable,” he said, looking longingly down the path in the direction of the mine. “Fine, we can check out the screams, but if it seems like it’s going to take too much time to complete we’ll abandon it, or come back to it later.”
That was less arguing than I expected. Deacon began a steady pace through the brush with his sword drawn. The woods looked familiar as we started toward the source of the sounds. Then again, forests all kind of blend together for me in games, which I should probably try to fix at some point. I scanned the trees and bushes as we went, keeping an eye out for any dangerous animals or lurking bandits. It still bothered me a little that I didn’t know why my NPC guide dragged me out here and tried to trap me yesterday. Maybe it was a thing here, luring newcomers into the forest and robbing them.
I drifted to the rear of the group, just in case we ran into a fight before grouping up. Let the tank and melee meat shields sit up front, the back is perfectly fine for me, thank you very much. We all followed Deacon in a roughly single-file line, sticking to the narrow path he was blazing.
The trees started to thin in the distance and Deacon stopped to allow us to group up. Good move, we could enter the clearing as a cohesive unit instead of trickling in one at a time. I opened my mouth to commend him on the choice.
“Alright, I’m thinking we send in one member first to scout the clearing out. Anyone have a worthwhile stealth skill yet?”
I shut my mouth and shook my head. My attempts to remain unnoticed by the locusts yesterday when we approached them were apparently insufficient to unlock that skill. Phelyya raised her hand.
“I unlocked the stealth skill yesterday, but I’ve only used it while hiding in ambush so I don’t know if it’ll be useful.”
“Feel comfortable sneaking up close without getting seen so we can see what’s going on up ahead?” Deacon asked, looking in the direction of the clearing.
“Not really, I have a single rank in the skill. I’d probably be spotted well before I could see anything worthwhile.”
“Fair enough,” Deacon tapped the pommel of his sword while he thought. “If we can’t do reliable scouting we should go in all at once. Probably should have asked earlier, but who else is specced for front line fighting?”
“Phel and I both fight in melee,” Uri said, but he seemed a little uneasy. “We haven’t really done a ton of fighting yet though, to be honest.”
“Gavin, I know you’ve hit me in the face with that staff before. Do you have any offensive capability beyond that or are you just healing?” Deacon turned to the halfling.
Gavin twirled his staff with a flourish and bowed. “I can harm as well as I heal. In fact, my presence in the thick of the fighting is a necessity.”
“Looks like I’m the only ranged damage on the team,” I said, drawing my wand. “I’ll hang out in the back, Deacon leads, with Uri and Phelyya just behind, and Gavin in the middle?”
Deacon nodded. “Yeah, healer in the middle, Gavin only attack if you need to or nobody is injured.”
The little cleric gave an exaggerated pout with his lower lip, then sighed and nodded anyway. We continued forward with everyone falling into position behind Deacon. I stayed a few more steps back from the group and a couple of steps off to the side so they weren’t blocking line of sight as much. We heard another scream, closer than before and significantly more intense. It was impressive, like a well-done scream in a horror movie. We increased the pace, rushing the rest of the way into the clearing.
Breaking out of the trees into the clearing confirmed this was the same trap I’d been suck in yesterday. The center of the clearing had a single tree, exactly like the one I was caught in. A rope hung from the lowest branch, cinched tightly around the waist of a thin humanoid figure. They hung, unmoving and limp, face obscured with long black hair. I felt a flash of anger at the memory of being caught in the same trap, but it bled away quickly as I took in the other creature in the clearing.
Standing just below the woman was the strangest looking creature I’d encountered thus far in the game. My first thought was that it was an ogre, standing eight feet tall with a pronounced brow ridge and broad nose. Then my assessment changed as I noticed his skin didn’t appear to be tough hide and was a standard pale flesh tone, with very human teeth showing in his wide smile. There were way more teeth than I would have expected to see in a single mouth, but they weren’t pointed, serrated, or otherwise worn like I’d expect of an animal. The armor he wore looked like the traditional full plate of knights on horseback but made of wood. The outer texture had the appearance of untreated bark, despite being molded into perfectly jointed armor on his massive frame. He wore no helmet on his head, showing medium-length hair that was deliberately cut and styled.
I will admit that it caught me off guard, and I stopped short to gawk. That had to be either a player or an NPC, this was no simple creature. Deacon didn’t slow in his approach, with the other melee fighters fanning out to either side. Gavin stood off just to the side so he could see between Deacon and Uri.
“Excuse me, but I’m going to have to ask you to let that woman go,” Deacon said, sounding a bit like a comic book character. I guess he was trying to sound authoritative or commanding but it just came out campy and cliché. It did help me get my head back in the moment, reminding me to move forward a little closer to the group.
“No. This is Bruce’s catch,” the large man lifted an oversized wooden greatsword onto his shoulder. “You catch your own sacrifice.”
Without another word, Deacon closed the distance and swung at the giant. Not exactly how I would have responded, there was definitely still room for diplomacy, but the approach did have a simple charm to it. I took aim and focused on Bruce, readying a Firebolt in my mind with an effort of will. I waited for a clear shot and tried to see what details the game would give me about our enemy right away.
I learned three things immediately, each fact more concerning than the last. First, Bruce had 300 HP, which wasn’t all that bad for a five against one fight. Secondly, he was level five, putting him two levels above Deacon and I, and three levels ahead of the others. Worst of all though, Bruce was very clearly a player with the game labeling him as Unknown Player (Bruce) in the logs as they flashed across my screen.
“Guys, that’s not a monster, it’s another player!” I yelled, which actually caused a brief opening in my line of sight as Uri paused to look my way. I took the opportunity, aiming a Firebolt for center mass on the huge target.
You deal 27 Fire damage to Unknown Player (Bruce) with Minor Firebolt.
The attack impacted with a bright flash near his face, but the fire didn’t spread to the wooden armor as I had hoped. I guess that would have been too convenient. On the plus side, it did allow Deacon to score a solid hit while Bruce recoiled from the flash of the fire. Phelyya rushed in just as Bruce stepped back, dealing a couple well placed strikes with quick alternating slashes. Bruce recovered faster than expected, retaliating with a brutal sweep of his wooden greatsword and slamming Phelyya into Deacon with the attack. Deacon couldn’t get clear fast enough and staggered back a step as the smaller elf was hammered into him.
“Stop hitting yourself,” Bruce said, laughing as his health started to creep back up. “Puny newbies, you can’t hurt Bruce!”
Looking at the party’s health bars caused me to wince more than the impact I’d seen, realizing just how much damage it’d done. That single strike took out almost half of Phelyya’s health and dropped Deacon down by a quarter. As I watched, Gavin rushed over to heal Phelyya but stepped into the follow-through of Deacon’s attack, taking a cut of his own. He stepped back to his original spot and tried a different technique. Gavin slammed his staff in the ground, illuminating Phelyya, Deacon, and himself in a soft white glow. Green numbers starting ticking up above them in my overlay as they began healing over time.
Everyone rejoined combat, playing a bit more defensively. Being at range in this fight was proving to be frustrating. Everyone had decided to crowd the huge player, so I had no real opportunity to get a spell in without hitting anyone else despite his size. Next time I got an ability I’d have to check and see if there was some auto-targeting or other option to reduce friendly fire. As it stood, I was just hanging around at the outside edge of the battle, waiting to be useful.
A flash of pain at the back of my head caused me to lurch forward a step. My head swam from an unexpected impact and I found myself unable to move.
Unknown Player strikes you with a targeted sneak attack for 25 points of damage.
Stunned (Debuff) - You are stunned. 10 seconds remaining…
Personally, I thought I had done a thorough job checking for other threats when we approached. The current paralysis debuff and throbbing in my skull indicated that was a lie. I opened my mouth to call for help, but only managed to make a quiet hiss.
A man in a thick, green cloak stepped in front of me. The hood of his cloak hid most of his features, but the clean-shaven boyish features had a certain punchable quality. He brandished a simple dagger and offered up a cocky smirk. The expression made the face infinitely more punchable. I felt like the need for that face to have a fist in it should have broken my stun debuff. He slowly lined the dagger up with my throat.
I rolled my eyes at the theatrics. There was no need to drag things out like this, it was going to be a critical hit no matter what. There were still four more seconds on my debuff, I couldn’t move, and he could just stab me all he wanted. Maybe he needed to line up the strike for some ability to guarantee a kill. I was not looking forward to going to respawn.
The man in the cloak lunged forward with the blade just as the debuff timer ticked down to the final second. Shame, I was hoping it would give me a small window to respond before being killed. That would only be fair.
The blade stopped less than an inch from my throat at the same second my stunned debuff ran out. I had prepared for any opportunity to act, ready to capitalize on this immediately. I stepped to the side, calling the Stone Strike spell to mind, and stabbed the rogue in the face with my wand. I was aiming for an eye but couldn’t tell where exactly I hit as he recoiled.
