It had been five days since heading away from Breckley, west wards. Looking at the map Ulther had gotten there was a large mine located in the Salrin Mountains. There was also a mountain trail throuogh the mountains to the city of Balkor, which was the main trading hub between the free cities in the wild lands out west and the Five Nations around the Sea of Salmir.
The plan was simple enough. We would sell the fish at the mine and then journey through the mountains to Balkor with iron and steel to sell off there. The bad news was that not many people made the journey and the larger trade caravans only took a tag along for a hefty fee in exchange for protection.
The idea was that once we got out of Breckley we could train up in magic and levels for round two. Round one was kind of a win, but it wasn't a knock out. Also with the bounty shooting up, players from all over were heading towards Breckley for a chance to kill me. I was now worth more than my weight in gold. There was even a betting site that had started taking bets on when I would be killed.
Unfortunately things had become complicated. We were on a ridge overlooking a large mining pit and I could see hundreds of players had been rounded up and were down there slaving away. Well not all of them might have been players, but it was an issue just the same. I considered saving them, but that created more headaches. There were about five hundred soldiers and they had levels in the low forties for the couple I checked. A bit tougher than the regular soldier and more experienced.
I really wanted to liberate all the people, since they would cause untold chaos in Breckley making my second round that much easier. "Ulther we are going in. How many spare swords do we have?"
"Four, not counting your two and mine." Ulther said.
"Any ideas on freeing the people?"
"Not really. While we can smuggle the weapons in, there are just too many soldiers. There is no way we can kill that many. Even if the prisoners revolt they are probably half starved."
"What about poisoning the fish?"
"Maybe, but it would have to be fairly slow and we used up all the Luna Moth poison."
"What about burning the barracks the soldiers sleep in?"
"They have walls and guard in place." There was a long stretch of silence. "That place is a death trap if we try anything."
"A lack of a solution is because we are not thinking outside the box enough. Look at where they have diverted the river. We could blow up the dam and leave a couple of spare swords for a revolt. Let's head down into camp. I will be your blind grandfather and you can do most of the talking. They will probably let us stay the night and then I will set things up for the morning. Maybe trade the fish for iron or steel bars, since you said that is what they want in the wilds out west. When things go to hell we will move on the steel and iron depot and loot it. From there we escape up into the mountains."
"I am not questioning you, but that is insane. There are so many things that can go wrong and we can't escape quickly. The wagon moves slowly, more so up in the mountains."
"Chaos is our friend. If the dam goes and the prisoners revolt they won't be able to follow us. The biggest challenge is loading up the wagon and getting out. I should be able to hold off the soldiers."
"Well you got through Breckley somehow. Still don't understand how that all worked out."
"I plan and prepare and then I cause chaos and use that to my advantage. How do I look? Like an old blind man?"
"Yes." We rode down towards the mining slash prison camp. The main area where the prisoners were was enclosed by a large stone and wood wall with soldiers patrolling it. The wall stood about ten feet tall. The buildings inside appeared to be refineries, sleeping quarters, and mine entrances. Around the outside of the gate there was another wall with barracks, an inn, and a small town.
Water was diverted by aqueduct into the prison portion and the town and the aqueduct ran along the north wall. By the dried up stream bed there was a path leading up into the mountains, barely wide enough for a single cart.
We made our way to the wooden gate that led into the town portion of the prison camp. Four soldiers stood guard and were eyeing us as we made our way down the hill. Ulther brought the horses to a stop right in front of the gate. "Hello, may the Eight bless all of you." He said. NPC knowledge was priceless for these types of situations.
"Indeed, Eight bless you as well. What are you doing up here?"
"Breckley got a bit rough for a while, and my grandfather the worrier that he is talked my dad into lending us his wagon to make a trading run up in these parts. We almost went towards Salrin, but my grandfather used to serve back in the day and would talk about how no one would ever come all the way out to these towns." I gave a sage nod, but kept my straw hat lowered.
"What do you have?"
"Salted fish, four barrels, plus a couple coppers for any fees." I had Ulther add that last part. Bribes make the world go round. Ulther passed over a small money pouch filled with twenty copper. Not that much, but enough for a couple of guards and believable for part time merchants.
"Let us have a look then. You two, check inside the wagon. Ollen, check underneath." The soldiers began looking over everything, but from what I could hear they weren't making much effort. There was no one crawling under the wagon, or ripping open the barrels.
"Looks like you both are good to go. I recommend staying in the Hard Rock, tell the innkeeper Sargent Hawthorn sent you. Also you can find the quartermaster's office near the prison entrance."
"Will do, thanks." We set off through the open gates and into the town. It was muddy and grimy, but nothing too unpleasant. All these towns reeked of shit and mud. I couldn't wait for someone to begin developing proper baths and showers, and toilets. Lots and lots of toilets to carry the shit away from my presence.
We stopped and Ulther helped me down. While I could see a little bit through the cloth wrappings over my eyes, I was greatly handicapped at the moment. It was times like this that I was grateful for all the effort I had put into molding Ulther pre-Breckley burning and afterwards. He was obedient enough, but lacked that inner spark that would make him great. I once again lamented the fact that one could not have both smart and obedient minions.
I used a wooden stick as my guide as he entered the building and I stood outside the doorway listening in. "What do you want?"
"We are here to sell salted fish and pick up some steel or iron and some money."
"Hmm, for fish I can give you a silver a barrel or five bars of iron."
"A good offer but with how Breckley was just attacked and the chaos by these Travelers times are tough. Five silver for two barrels and twenty iron bars for the other two." Roleplaying constantly on the trip here had paid off. Ulther had been hesitant at first, but I needed him to lie and speak with ease where I could not.
"You are trying to rob us blind. Iron prices are going up as well. Two and a half silver for two barrels and twelve bars for the other two."
"The roads are dangerous even more so. Let's go with thirty five bars of iron for all the barrels of fish. With the extra labor, I am sure you are mining the stuff up by the cart."
"Thirty bars, by the Eight you are a cheeky one."
"Thirty bars and a room at the Hard Rock for the night."
"Eight help me, deal." There was the sound of scribbling. "Take this note to the warehouse on the south side of town. You can load up your goods there and leave the fish there as well. I will send word to the inn and take care of your room for the night. You can pay for housing your cart yourself."
"Thanks, may the Eight bless you."
"Eight bless you, get out of here." Ulther came out and we got back up on the cart and set off. He asked a couple of soldiers patrolling the streets and soon we arrived at a large stone building with iron banded doors set into the rock, five soldiers stood guard at the entrance. Ulther whispered to me the description when no one was standing nearby during our approach.
"Hey, the quartermaster said to hand this to you." Ulther handed over a piece of paper to the soldier that had come over.
"Four barrels of salted fish, thank the Eight something other than bread and jerky. You are loading up thirty bars of iron as well. Move the cart next to the entrance and you can get to unloading and loading."
"My grandfather is blind and I am a bit on the small side. Could you men help us, I have twenty five copper for the effort." That may have been a bit on the high side, but it was better to offer a bit too much than a bit too little.
"Great, come on boys. This lad needs our help and he is paying for our drinks tonight." A cheer went up and the soldiers got to work. The trading wasn't that important, except as a means to an end. I had number of ideas I wanted a blacksmith to cook up and money would go a long way to making them happen. It also gave us an excuse to be traveling around.
I was glad Ulther had gotten a heavy duty cart with massive springs and a reinforced base. Sneaking a peek under my blindfold, I estimated our cart could probably take eighty bars safely. Anything over that would risk the parts wearing out quickly. I noted that there was a quite a large amount of supplies in the warehouse through the open doors.
The soldiers finished and Ulther paid them and got directions to the Hard Rock. Soon enough we were there. It cost twenty copper to put up the horses for the night and another ten for two meals and a pitcher of beer. As we sat there in our room I completed my easy quest and got another one for learning about constellations. Easy quests were simple, pointless things that just gave a person something to do.
Ulther took the dishes back down to the kitchen and we went to sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and slipped down to our wagon. I carefully shifted a wooden panel underneath the wagon and placed my wig, clothes, and hat in a spare satchel. I then took out my swords, four spare swords, rope, striker, and canteen full of sap and tossed them in the satchel as well except for my two swords which I put on hip. All the items I needed I closed the cart back up. I then made my way through the town towards the wall.
I had noticed that the water going into the town flowed out through a metal grate in the wall surrounded by a stone tunnel. I stepped into the cold water and shivered. A quick check revealed that the bars were solidly placed into the stone and mortar. I made my way to one of the wooden towers lining the wall. I snuck in and then climbed up the ladder.
I saw two soldiers patrolling the top of the wall. I kept my head down as I heard them walk by in silence. I counted to twenty and then checked again, no one nearby. I quickly moved across the wood platform and lowered myself off the far side of the wall. I landed with a small thud and then quickly passed by the ditch and away from the wall. I spent the next hour circling around the town through the dark to the dam redirecting the water into the aqueduct and not flooding the river bed next to the north side of town.
Again, mortared stone formed a solid barrier. I carefully checked it with my fingers until I found a small but long crack. I felt along the length, one foot long. Not great but enough. I carefully began to pour sap into the crack. Once that was done I covered the top with a couple of larger rocks. Satisfied but tired I got a candle out and set it on top of thin trail of sap leading from the tail end of the crack out from under a rock. I broke the candle so just the top remained and then coated the base with sap.
I carefully lit the candle and placed it so that once it got low enough it would burn into the sap and set up the trap I had made. I still had half my sap left in the canteen which was more than enough. I made my way back to the prison wall. The candle was a light, but there should only be about ten minutes before it went off. I put back on my clothes and then made a lasso out of my rope. A quick throw and it looped around on the outside of the prison wall.
I was at the top of the wall in about fifteen seconds and began to pull the rope up. That was when two soldiers saw me. "Escape! Escape!" One shouted and both of them drew their weapons. I flipped the rope down the far side of the wall and quickly repelled down the ten feet from the wall and another six from the trench that lined the inside of the wall.
The soldiers up top had lit up a torch and just finished hacking through the rope by the time I had reached solid ground. I rushed off into the darkness between some of the buildings as more soldiers converged on commotion.
Made my way to what I could only assume was the barracks. I knocked on the door and a tired looking man opened it. "I am here to help get you all out. Wake everyone up and get your four best fighters up here." The man nodded and raced back into the darkness of the building. I stepped in behind him and was hit by the putrid stench of too many people living in close quarters.
In a minute everyone was up and three men along with the first one were standing in front of me. "Listen, in a minute or so the dam is going to blow and the soldiers are going to rush over there to investigate. When that happens, I am going to blow open the door to the town. Here are four swords. Once in the town, it will be up to all of you to escape. Some of you wake up the other prisoners if there are any."
"Who are you?" One of the men whispered.
"Someone who has it in for Breckley." I had considered many options to completing my legendary quest and this was one of the better ones. Freeing criminals and players would destabilize the entire region along with the loss of the mine. Not a great idea, but destroying an entire country was not a simple task. I turned and left for the main entrance. I stopped about thirty feet back behind a small boulder outside the range of the torchlight.
Boom! The dam had exploded. I rushed forward and made it next to the gate undetected. I quickly pushed the sap out of my canteen all over the wooden gate as high up as I could reach along the entire length. I then wedged the canteen between both halves of the gate where the brace on the other side rested. I then grabbed a nearby torch and raced away. Getting far enough away I threw it at the gate. It went up in flames. Prisoners were quickly entering the muddy courtyard and moving towards the gate. I fell back into their ranks and we waited.
The canteen went off and the bottom of the gate exploded open in shower of splinters and flames. Soldiers had seen the prisoners forming up and had formed up on the other side of the gate and the walls. When the gate exploded open the prisoners made a mad dash for freedom. I hung back two rows behind the front line along with the other people wielding swords.
The first row went down to a wave of arrows. The second row went down to a wave of spears. The third row I was in fell on the soldiers. With the flames behind us, the soldiers were squinting and having a hard time staring in our direction. I stabbed one of the soldiers and he went down as the prisoners pushed forward grabbing up fallen weapons and making a break for it. I grabbed the shield off the soldier as I allowed the crowd to surge forward and around myself as I made my way off to the side, attempting to escape the melee.
More arrows began to rain down and I raised the shield above my head. Two arrows sunk into the wooden panels. There were about a thousand prisoners but they were evenly matched against the soldiers holding the gate. Fortunately the press of bodies was enough to break through the soldier's shield wall and then there was chaos.
I pushed forward and was barely able to move to the side in time to avoid a spear thrust. The press of bodies was not good for my fighting style. "To me! To me!" I shouted and stabbed the soldier who had just attempted to skewer me in the neck while pressed up against his shield. I held my shield in front of me and pushed forward. My Strength was enough to make a large enough opening for other prisoners to follow me protecting my back and flanks.
We broke through the line of soldiers and into the archers. It was a slaughter as they tried to retreat or get their swords up in time. More prisoners kept pushing into the large gap I had made killing every soldier they could reach. Hundreds fell into the bloody mud as the light from the burning gate illuminated the battle. I felt a squish as I stepped into the gut of a fallen prisoner who had been sliced open.
By the time there were no more soldiers in front of me, three quarters of my SP was gone and I was coated in blood and guts. I could hear the screams of civilians as the prisoners rushed through the town in the pre-dawn. I made my way over to the inn and found Ulther and cart all ready to go out in front. He handed me a bucket of water I used to quickly douse myself with and then we set off through the town.
Ulther drove the cart while I stood behind him, two swords held up showing I meant business. A couple of prisoners gave us a look and rushed away to do their own looting and pillaging. We made our way to the warehouse on the north side, which was thankfully quite far from the prison entrance which rested between the north and south sides of the town.
There was only one soldier left and I rushed him. Despite looking younger than Ulther he fought well. I slashed out with my right blade at his neck. He brought up his shield and stepped into the attack. He then thrust with his sword. I twisted away and began to strafe him. I repeated the same attack three times and was countered precisely each time.
On the fourth time I slashed out, but didn't commit. He was already bringing his shield up. Rookie mistake, falling into a pattern. I changed my slash to a stab and skewered him in the foot. He let out a yell and then I stabbed around his shield into his eye, killing him instantly. I wiped my swords off on his uniform and sheathed them. Turning to the door I got to work moving the large wooden beam so we could get into the warehouse.
"Two incoming, not soldiers." Ulther said. I let the beam drop and saw two prisoners approaching.
"Team up?" I asked them. I couldn't tell if they were players or not. "We are taking what we can and escaping into the Wild Lands. Even split between us, if others come same deal. We will need as many people as we can to get away."
"Deal, come on." The two set the spears and shields they had in their hands along the wall and helped me move the beam. Once that was out of the way we began to loot the warehouse. There was luckily just enough light from the rising sun to barely see inside. I could still here screams and shouting in the town and the fighting was getting closer.
I focused on the steel bars while the prisoners began grabbing weapons. Three more prisoners showed up and it was easy enough to convince them as well. We loaded down the cart and then set off through the town. The fire looked to be going out as the smoke seemed less than it should have. We reached the main gate and saw a massacre.
There was a single priest wielding a massive hammer like nothing smashing everyone who was attempting to escape. Ten soldiers stood behind him in a circular shield wall allowing the priest to retreat if he got overwhelmed. I counted at least twenty corpses lying in the mud. I heard a couple of the prisoners I was with cursing.
"Use the bows we stole and take out the soldiers I will handle the priest. If we don't break through here we are all dead. Keep the soldiers off of me and I will keep the priest busy. Got it?" I got a chorus of yeses as we moved forward.
The priest was done smashing the last prisoner who had rushed at him and turned to face us. I drew both of my swords and moved forward. "Observe."
Priest Talgarth Morvin
LvL: 76
Strongest Stat: Strength
This one actually knew how to fight and was probably using the longer lasting chants to boost his Strength slightly. I charged in as arrows whistled around me and into the soldiers. The priest swung out in a wide arc. I dropped to me knees and leaned back allowing the attack to pass above me. The priest was already stepping back when I slashed out landing two shallow cuts, one on his leg and another on his stomach.
I stood and we both began to circle the other wearily. I trusted Ulther to give a shout if things were going badly with the soldiers. That was the problem with fighting a superior opponent, I couldn't afford to focus elsewhere, which left me open to being attacked from behind. I moved in slashing, but the priest swung his hammer in narrow arcs in front of himself knocking away my attacks while he kept his distance.
I waited until he bumped into a corpse and then rushed in. Both my blades crossed and I used them to push the hammer back a bit. I then kicked out and struck the priest in the knee. He pushed and I stumbled back. Unfortunately when he tried to step forward to follow through, his knee gave out and he collapsed in the mud. I quickly stabbed him in the neck and arm, twisting my blades as I pulled them out to cause maximum damage.
The priest died and I retreated back a bit to survey the fight. It looked like the prisoners had gotten four of the soldiers with arrows and then the soldiers had charged them. Two of the prisoners had fallen, but another four had joined up putting the numbers at six to seven. Ulther was staying on the wagon keeping an eye on things and staying out of the melee.
I wiped off both my swords and sheathed them. I then picked up the priest's body and moved towards the soldiers. Seeing me they began to panic and I threw the corpse at them. It struck one of the soldiers shields and he stumbled a bit. The prisoners pushed in and I returned to pick up the hammer and put it in the cart.
The soldiers were killed off but managed to take out another three prisoners lowering their number to four, but by then a number of the survivors from the town had begun grouping with us. I looked at the wounded on the ground didn't matter that one had only lost an arm, we left him to bleed out. No honor amongst felons. We got to work on the door and managed to move the massive beam keeping it shut. With that gone we quickly made our way out onto the road and along the path up into the mountains.
Unfortunately I had planned poorly. When the dam exploded thirty soldiers were dispatched. They were set up on top of the ruined dam, killing anyone who was attempting to escape into the mountains or over the wall in their direction. I had fourteen, tired men with me, and I also was just about out of SP. We wouldn't last long in a fight. Thankfully soldiers looked at us from up on the dam but weren't willing to come down and fight. They had a strong position and were outnumbered. Also they would be able to see the carnage in the village. The fact they weren't coming down to face us meant things were going poorly for their comrades most likely.
"Listen up we are going to rest here for a bit. There is food and drink in the wagon. You and you start handing it out. No pushing or fighting. Rest up. We will wait here a bit and hopefully some more people join us. Once we have enough we will kill those soldiers and head through the mountains. Anyone is welcome to come with us, equal split of all the loot once we reach Balkar and we can go our separate ways." I got a bunch of nods.
"Hey aren't you that guy, um, Kenji Something?" One of them asked. A couple looked up from where they were munching away.
"Yes, I am Kenji Shadown. Anyone have a problem with that?" One of the prisoners stepped forward.
"Yeah, you are an asshole and ruined everything for-" I stabbed him in the neck. I then ripped my sword out the side creating an arterial spray of blood over the ground.
"Anyone else have a problem?" There was a round of nos. We waited and more prisoners slowly joined us. One time one looked about to speak up at me but a couple others quickly shushed him. After an hour there were forty three prisoners. I had thought about negotiating with the soldiers to let us through, but I wanted to kill off as many of these losers as I could.
"Alright, those with shields and spears up front. Everyone else grab a bow and arrow. You four and you four, right side and left side. Try and get behind the soldiers. You three with swords you stay near the archers. If the soldiers break through the shields, stop them. Don't start shooting until I say. Let them waste their arrows. Questions?" There were none and everyone began dividing up.
"Ulther keep your eyes open in case they try anything."
"Got it."
We advanced towards the line of soldiers. The shield wall advanced into arrow range and the soldiers loosed a volley. Only one prisoner went down as they cowered under their shields. After three more volleys and two more hit prisoners the soldiers stopped. Their quivers carried ten arrows each, so I figured they had about probably another four rounds left.
Our front lines stood about fifty feet apart, but they had fifteen feet in elevation. I ordered the flankers to begin moving around and the shield wall to advance another ten feet. Another volley of arrows came down on them and then the soldiers split a volley at the flankers. Two in the shield wall went down and three flankers. I then ordered the archers to move up behind the shield wall and shoot with everything they had. I also ordered the rest of the melee forward to support the shield wall.
The key thing in a battle is to keep things simple. These men weren't trained, and the concept of flanking and staying in place was about all I could hope for. I moved up with the rest of the melee as our archers began pelting the soldiers. I ordered the shield wall and melee to advance and yelled at the archers to arc their shots.
One of the prisoners was shot from behind in the head and went down. The archer paled and began over shooting the soldiers. I let out a small sigh. The flankers were already slightly behind the cluster of soldiers. I had told them they were to stand behind the soldiers and not attack. Keeping men to watch them and as a visible threat was far more useful than having them rush in. Thankfully they obeyed as the soldiers were shouting and waving as we advanced.