Forge of Eternity: Alpha Testing, page 44
“Hold on now, I don’t know if this is the best-” Lenny started to say before a large gray talon snatched his crystal from my hand. I was too surprised to act, staring frozen as a massive stone owl landed next to the sphinx. Lenny’s light was pulsing, his orb clutched in the owl’s talon as he screamed helplessly. We all looked at each other, unsure of how to respond.
“Well, I guess we should go then?” Deacon asked, his tone halting and uncertain as he took a slow step.
“Please do,” Zeek breezed past us, brushing against my leg as he went. “I look forward to seeing you all again.”
“We’ll be back as soon as we can, Lenny! Don’t worry!” I yelled, hoping he could hear me over his own protests.
I felt a little guilty leaving Lenny, his screams increasing in pitch as the owl took flight. The mass of stone beasts dispersed into the ruined jungle, the sound of rocks sliding against each other slowly fading into the distance. Deacon looked back at the sphinx walking away behind us, shrugged, and started toward the forest. The marble foliage still parted easily as we pushed through it, snapping back to rigidity when we lost physical contact.
Deacon sent Uri ahead to test for traps, none of us fully trusting the little cat beast’s statement of safe passage. Considering our time limit, and the numerous fallen trees, we decided our previous level of caution was a luxury we couldn’t indulge at the moment. After deliberately attempting to set off a couple of obvious traps we decided to accept that we were safe enough and really get moving. Uri and Phelyya ran ahead, the pair the most likely to avoid traps if tripped, even if Uri had to use his haste magic to compensate for a lack of natural grace.
The healer and tank followed a few paces behind, the distance occasionally stretching when specifically difficult terrain was encountered. Goodwin and I stayed just within sprinting range of the group as we walked, trying to remain quiet and out of easy targeting range if something were to ambush the main group. The caution was unnecessary in the end, the path being completely free of traps or ambushes.
Once we were free of the forest, the tension on the group eased up incrementally. We were now able to be concerned with our current quest’s impending time limit instead of a possible overwhelming attack force of stone creatures. At our current pace, we’d be topside within an hour. Once there, we’d have to find Lorekeeper Coal to complete our faction quest in case the mine blows, then convince Koh to follow us down into a potentially one-way trip to fix the dungeon.
Hopefully, this wasn’t going to be too hard of a sell. In fact, taking a few of the miners with us on the way back might give a chance for a fighting retreat. We did have at least a raid’s worth of NPCs milling about, and based on what we’ve seen so far they’re competent in defense. With luck, there’d be plenty of people to spare while the small defense team manned the traps on the switchbacks. The more I thought through it, the more confident I was things were going to go well.
Amalie - Surfacing
The quiet of the tunnels had started to become familiar from our numerous trips down here over the past few days. I found myself enjoying the silence for a change as we walked. Stumbling into such a world-impacting quest this early in the game was almost as exciting as finding a team of mostly in-game players. Starting out in the sticks was definitely the right call and I couldn’t wait to rub Jane’s nose in it. If we somehow keep this dungeon intact, I’m certain the benefits from controlling it would only increase as the game moved into beta and full release. Considering the rarity of Forges, this was certain to be a hotspot of activity.
A brief tremor shook me out of my daydream as we made our way up the last tunnel, daylight visible off in the distance. Another tremor, this one accompanied by a deep explosive report, echoed along the tunnel. We all stopped briefly, looking at each other in the meager glow given off by our clothing and armor.
“That came from outside,” Gavin stated matter-of-factly, staring straight ahead. “The blast sounded as if it were from a cannon. A medium cannon at a close distance, well within half a kilometer I would wager. I cannot be certain as the echoes are disruptive to my estimations.”
Impressed, I raised my eyebrows as I stared at the cleric. “You’re certain? That’s pretty specific, and I wouldn’t doubt the tremors may have set off some explosive charges or something.”
“Let’s pick up the pace and find out,” Deacon said, urging us forward. “If there was an explosion out there I’d like to make sure everyone’s okay. We need to turn in our current quests and rush back with arcane technical support as fast as is humanly possible.”
“What if we’re not human?” I asked, teasing as we started into a jog. “How fast should we move then?”
“As fast as is Elvenly possible?” Phelyya suggested.
Deacon let out a sarcastic laugh. “You all know what I mean. How about less talking and more running?”
We emerged into the blinding sunlight, blinking rapidly to adjust and get our bearings. My vision corrected itself much faster than I felt it had any right to, and I boggled at the scene before us. A small fire was burning on the corner of one building, a section of the foundry’s roof had collapsed, and there were a number of small melees in the streets between the Stathmore Miners and human-sized fighters in wickedly angled emerald-hued plate armor. The attackers wielded a sort of spear-lance hybrid, the wide base tapering off to a blade comparable to a longsword.
As I watched, one jumped into the air much higher than his stature suggested was possible. At the apex of his jump, he froze for just a moment longer than gravity should allow, his helmed head scanning the field. The miners arrayed against him scattered, looking over their shoulders as they ran. He readied his weapon, aiming down at one of the halflings, only for a bolt the width of a sapling to impact him center mass. The man was carried off the mountainside by the bolt with little fanfare.
Looking back for the source of the projectile, I had trouble processing what I was seeing. Standing eight feet tall was a vaguely humanoid mechanical figure, several of the figure’s pieces matching items I’d seen in the workshop underground. Each limb featured glowing sigils of a different hue, one arm ending in a small ballista that pulsed with vibrant green light. Multiple overlapping layers of metal mesh protected the driver in the chest area and it took a moment before I could make out Koh. His eyes were tracking upwards and I watched a seed slide into a chamber on the ballista, growing into a bolt in a matter of seconds.
“What the hell is going on up here?” Uri asked, squinting as he looked around. “Are the miners getting attacked?”
“Hey, you guys!” a familiar voice called from the group that just watched their attacker fly into the horizon. “Deacon, get up near the path with your group. The foreman and your faction friends are going to need some help soon or we’re going to start having problems.”
“Start having problems?” Deacon asked as Tack jogged over, wearing a badly dented cuirass with similarly worn pauldrons. Thin, shining filigree and other fine details worked into the metal contrasted with the shoddy condition. He pointed off into the distance with his small, backward-looking sword.
“What’s going on near the path?” I asked as we all began running in that direction, led by the halfling. “I mean, obviously fighting. What are we fighting though?”
“A small band of dragoons and a group of unknown fighters,” he replied, eyes scanning the sky as we ran. “More of a fight than we were expecting. Somehow they managed to cause an earthquake during their assault which ruined most of our mechanical traps.”
I winced. “That’s unrelated, we were kinda responsible for that.”
Tack raised his eyebrows at that before shaking his head. “I have questions but they can wait. You can see the foreman over near the cliff edge, meet up with her there. I need to see about putting out a fire.”
Sure enough, Foreman Quickhand stood against a green-clad dragoon twice her height. The halfling wore bright red leather armor and her kukri glowed orange like molten metal along the edge of the blade. A thrust from the dragoon forced Quickhand to pivot, attempting to parry and force an opening, only for the enemy to vault backward and away. The feint forced the halfling off-balance when she met no resistance to her own blade, and the dragoon shot forward with a lunge to her exposed side. The dragoon’s forward momentum was halted abruptly when a chain flew up from the ground at ankle height, wrapping his legs together.
Lorekeeper Coal threw something that looked like an ax head on the end of a chain at the falling dragoon, the blade slicing deep into the eye slot of the helm with incredible precision. The dwarf pulled at the chain in his other hand, spinning and whipping the links around his body in an unexpected display of acrobatics. The blade pulled free of the dead dragoon, snapping back to Coal’s outstretched hand. A female dragoon jumped into view from the switchbacks below, despite being nowhere near the path entrance, and hovered a good ten feet in the air. The path below was at least fifty feet below the cliff. With that kind of power, it was no wonder they were able to mount an assault, able to easily bypass most of the traps.
We turned to square off against this new attacker, only for an arrow to catch her in the neck after glancing off her gorget. She stubbornly maintained a grip on her spear as she dove toward us, clearly intending to trade her life for one of ours. A jet of fire engulfed her, knocking her attack wide with the force of the flames’ impact. When she hit the ground, it was as a limp, smoldering heap of metal and burnt flesh.
“Didn’t Tack say they needed our help?” Deacon asked, looking at the efficiently administered violence on display.
“You!” the foreman turned toward our tank upon hearing his voice. “You all had better give this rock molesting rumor mill enough data to give me a fair price on this mine.”
“You’re welcome for the assistance in protecting your life,” the dwarf bowed low in mock deference.
Deacon stepped between the two NPCs to look over the edge of the cliff. An arrow nicked the top of his head, deflected by the thick rocky skin of his forehead. He stepped back quickly, tapping at his forehead with a hand and looking for blood.
“Lorekeeper, can we turn in our quest mid-battle?” Deacon asked, keeping an eye out for new enemies.
“Aye, that would be best for us all I think,” the dwarf said, reaching out with a fist and tapping Deacon’s hand. The tank’s Meritum signet ring glowed brightly for a moment, then the light moved to Coal’s. The dwarf sat down, unhooked the leather scroll tube from his belt. “Edralin, cover me while I give this a once over?”
“Are you seriously going to sit down in the middle of a battle?” Phelyya asked. “I assume you think we’re going to keep you alive while you read, or whatever?”
“I do believe that keeping me alive would be in your best interest,” he said, fiddling with the engraved runes and sigils on the scroll tube. With a press of his thumb, the tube flashed once and a quill began moving along a fresh scroll of its own accord. The process was slower than the contract creation I’d seen earlier, but I only had a couple of seconds to watch before I was distracted. The ax head lifted from the Lorekeeper and began an orbit of steadily increasing speed, the chain unwinding and trailing in the blade’s wake. Goodwin kicked a rock in his direction, then stepped aside when the barrier deflected it right back at him.
“Did you all actually need our help here?” Deacon asked, looking around at the battle. “I see a couple buildings on fire, but you all seem to have everything in hand. Weren’t you all just a bunch of miners? The traps made sense, but I’m pretty sure I saw some sort of magic battle mech back there.”
“I’m sure Lindy will explain later,” the elf said, eyes scanning the battle while Coal was occupied. “This isn’t really the time or the place if she hasn’t filled you in yet.”
“Can we get the quick version?” I asked, making eye contact with the elf and motioning toward the seated dwarf. “If he can stop in the middle of a fight for magical study time you can give us at least a few words.”
“We are the unluckiest former mercenary band on the continent,” the red-clad halfling replied. “Now I need you to stop asking irrelevant questions and take care of the party coming up the switchbacks.”
“No offense, but aren’t you better equipped to handle that than we are?” I asked, pointing at the corpse of the dragoon she and Coal had killed earlier.
Quickhand waved at the battle raging back in the settlement proper. “My people are good, but they don’t come back when they die. I don’t intend to lose anyone today, so you all hold the gate while I help my people.”
“Fair enough,” Deacon adjusted his grip on the hammer held at his side. “Edralin, can you keep Coal safe on your own or do you need our help?”
The elf shook his head and knocked an arrow, motioning us away with his chin. Deacon nodded and started toward the path entrance, the rest of us following in our normal order. A dragoon landed in our path and Deacon refused to slow down for the obstruction. The force of his shield bash knocked the stunned attacker backward off the cliff. Considering the dragoons were specialized in using augmented jumping and height in attacks I didn’t hold my breath on that enemy being out of the fight completely. A loud crashed and surprised grunt ran counter to my assumptions a moment later.
“What the hell! I thought you jumpy frog people were good at this. Did you fall on me on purpose?” a deep voice yelled from below.
“I recognize that voice,” I said, looking over at Goodwin who nodded in return. “Looks like we’re about to see some familiar faces, aren’t we?”
Goodwin sighed. “That was definitely Bruce. This is not going to be a fun fight.”
Deacon - Rematch
“Any tips or tricks you want to share before the fighting starts?” I asked, looking back toward Goodwin.
“Lottie’s the healer and main support, not a lot of direct damage. Bruce is the muscle. They make themselves the center of attention so Ericson can take out the backline. Dean would create chaos and I’d jump into melee and keep people off Lottie.”
“That tracks with what we’ve seen from our past fights,” Amalie said, nodding along. “Any good strategies or insider tips?”
“Look, I’m good at hitting things. I don’t really do much PVP planning. Kill the healers, then ranged, then the rest is as advanced as I get.”
Phelyya: Maybe we can switch to party chat in case any of them are close enough to hear us.
Deacon: Fair point. Amalie, pretend to be focused on Lottie but stay alert. Goodwin, look distracted but keep an eye out for the rogue.
Uri: Do we focus on Bruce?
Deacon: I’ll keep Bruce busy, focus on Lottie or Dean. Phelyya, kill any big spells from Lottie.
Phelyya: She’s my target right?
Deacon: Absolutely.
“Oh, lookie here,” Bruce said as he rounded the corner, his massive form casually strolling up the path in thick wooden armor. “Bruce was hoping to get another chance after our last fight ended so explosively.”
“I am glad we had a good excuse to come after you,” Lottie said, sauntering up the incline behind her group’s tank. “A lady doesn’t appreciate having her advances rejected so rudely.”
“I didn’t know the human sacrifice types had such thin skin,” I replied, shifting some of my focus to the ground as they neared the edges of my tremorsense. “I also didn’t think you all would be dumb enough to fight us again if you didn’t have a full party.”
“I’d say the squads of Dragoons on loan from the capital are sufficient to make up for one missing member for now. Also, don’t play dumb,” she said, pointedly looking over toward Goodwin. “Didn’t he mention we had reinforcements coming?”
They finally passed into my standard tremorsense range, allowing me to track them with minimal effort. Another set of footsteps came into range far to the left near the sheer edge of the path, it taking an effort of will not to glance that direction. Bruce stopped and slammed his oversized wooden greatsword into the ground once he got within about ten feet of my position. He stretched expansively with a loud yawn, wooden plates clattering against each other with his motions. Lottie began channeling a spell of some sort, magic illuminating the ground all the way to where I was standing and making herself a bit of a spectacle.
Deacon: Lottie is actually about five feet back and to the right of her current position. Someone is sneaking into our left flank, they just passed where I’m standing.
Phelyya: Want me to steal whatever buff this is?
Deacon: No, wait for something that looks more dangerous.
“It’s rude to whisper,” Lottie said. “I can’t hear what you’re saying, but I can tell you’re talking to each other. Bruce, can you be a dear and help me teach them some manners?”
The glow left the ground and flowed into Bruce’s armor, leaving behind brown dusty grass. Bruce’s armor sprouted a tangle of dagger-length thorns across the smooth surfaces as Lottie’s spell took effect.
“Bruce loves helping you teach people things!” the large man said with a huge smile, clapping his gauntleted hands together with a sharp report.
Deciding that I was done letting them get in position, I charged forward with my hammer trailing behind me. Bruce wasted no time in responding, gripping the hilt of his sword and kicking the flat of the massive wooden blade. I cursed as a shower of thin dirt and dead grass hit me full in the face, forcing my eyes closed
Diving just to the left of where he stood, I rolled to get my shield over as much of my body as I could manage. Bruce stomped forward and clipped my shoulder with a thorn-sharpened boot. My armor held, but it still stung like hell. The pain caused me to flinch away, which saved me from a follow-up stab of his sword.
Bruce’s surprise attack inflicts blindness.
Blindness (Debuff) - You cannot see properly. 5 seconds remaining…
