The watchtowers near the gate were primitive ones made of wood with a single bandit on top overlooking the plains for monsters or players. It wasn't like the stone ones near the Blackrock town which could have multiple personnel working in it. These were the first things that he saw before he saw the stockade around the lake
With a little care he could easily take care of both of them. But killing one of them would probably alert the other. If there was an option to kill them instantly and soundlessly, he would have. Sadly, this wasn't that kind of a game. Even though he was an assassin, he couldn't kill a bandit with a higher level than him without allowing the bandit to make a sound.
Humanoid targets like these bandits were extremely different from the beasts. Like the NPCs they were also metacognizant in sense they had a purpose, could understand and be aware of the things happening around them.
These bandits were covered in rags and wore weapons and equipment just like the player and NPCs. The guards held spears and the lookouts wore lenses with a crossbow in their hands.
These qualities made them a lot trickier to handle than the usual monsters. They tend to have strong safeguards, communication and management techniques which would enable them to know if any player has targeted any member of the group. These group dynamics made assassins a very vital commodity in handling such groups.
Assassins could use stealth enabling them to sneak in and note down their movements habits and how they are communicating. It is important to know whether the opponent has any leverage against us in battle and knowing their communication systems and chain of command. With these two things known one can make plans to cripple the strongest of the fortresses in the world.
The same applied for the game and assassins were the usual spies. Later, in the game assassins would even have the specialization of scouting/spy-craft which gave them better skills for the same.
Balthazar had learnt these things even in real life as a colonel to safeguard against any intrusions into his citadel. Although he had failed horribly in his past life in this regard, that made him more careful and observant. Moreover, staking out a place was the first part of any of his jobs in his two years as an assassin.
He also understood the typical behavior of the guards and lookouts. Although, the game made these characters' behavior as close as possible to real-life, they had some idiosyncrasies which he could always use. Even if, he couldn't be discovered in stealth by these guards, the lookouts stationed at these places tend to have higher perception sometimes.
{Bandit] (Elite monster)
Level 10;
HP: 4500/4500;
[Bandit Lookout] (Elite monster)
Level 10;
HP: 4500/4500;
Shadow knew that there was nothing like being too careful. He intended to use his shadow clone skill to confuse the guards. The only problem was that he couldn't have the guards see his clone disappear in a poof or they might realize it was a clone and continue to search for the real body.
Luckily, there were tall grass nearby. The stockade and the gate were around the lake and there was tall grass all around. The bandits cleared the grass up to a region about 10 metres distance from the stockade. They obviously couldn't clear all the plains.
He stuck in the grass as he came closer to the gate, created the shadow clone and had it move towards one of the watchtower ladders in stealth. As expected, the other lookout could see though the stealth, noticed the clone and started firing arrows at the clone when it was climbing up. The clone immediately jumped down and began to run away
The guards immediately ran towards the clone to attack it. Shadow made sure his clone wasn't hit by the guards as he had it evade and run into grass as quickly as possible. The guards at the gate followed the clone and the lookouts on the watchtower began firing at the clone.
After the clone get into the grass, all Shadow's clone needed to do was crouch and let it go into stealth and later disappear. The guards were quickly after the clone into the grass. The lookouts on the watchtower also were focused on the clone and a few more bandits came running hearing the shouts of the lookouts.
As soon as the guards started after the clone, it was the best time for Shadow to get into the bandit camp. He made his way into the interior of the camp in stealth. There were quite a few cabins inside the encampment.
For Shadow, it looked like a buffet. There are bound to be treasure chests in such camps. He felt sad that he couldn't deposit some of the resources he collected from the plains in the bank, so as to get more space in his bag.
The cabins closest to the gate were empty because their inhabitants ran out behind the guards in search for his clone. This was the best time for him to search these three cabins. Shadow quickly went into one of the cabins to search for anything he could find. It was best that he took whatever he could as fast as possible. Time was of the essence as he didn't want the bandits to come back while he was in.
There would probably items and tools in every cabin in the open. Most of them everyday items. A few coins lay around a board game and dice at the centre of the room. These were of no use to Shadow. But he still pocketed a few coins and began opening the cabinets in the room. Luckily, none of them were locked and he could browse them quite quickly
Most had food supplies and other things. He went to the other two cabins and the results were the same. He couldn't find anything valuable in any of them other than a crossbow. He immediately put it into his inventory and got out.
[Bandit Crossbow] (BlackIron Crossbow)
Level 10;
Requirement: Strength: 35; Perception: 20;
Attack Power +15;
Can shoot at a rate of 10 bolts per 20 seconds.
Durability 20/20;
The crossbow was a very useful secondary weapon that could be used by many professions. Especially close combat professions would use it a lot. It had a higher firing rate than the bows of rangers. The only disadvantage was that it had smaller range than the actual bows and the magazine had limited arrows before they needed reload another magazine.
Though it was a level 10 crossbow and he couldn't equip it anytime soon, he couldn't wait till he could use it. He couldn't wait to level up and use it. Sadly, he was at level 8 and the bandits all around him were level 10. It would be suicide to try and level up by killing them.
The things he found inside were very disappointing with the exception of the crossbow. There were no treasure chests or weapons available inside. These bandits usually kept them close in the cabins.
As he moved towards the lake inside the camp, he saw a couple of warehouses a little distance away from the cabins he searched. These were large warehouses which could house a lot of weapons and other resources and spoils. That suggested why he couldn't find any weapons or loot at the cabins.
There was a fishing deck by the lake and also diving gear and harpoons pointed from the cabin towards the lake. Though the bandits managed to set up a decent camp, it looked like bandits still didn't manage to take control of the lake and something was hindering their plans.
He decided to make a circuit of the entire camp before and check other cabins in the camp. As he was going around the camp, he saw a small prison containing a merman He had a large blue colored body with a yellow dot above him. He was severely injured and leaning on the bars of the prison while looking towards the lake. Luckily for Shadow, there were no bandits patrolling around.
"Finally, I catch a decent break. I bet I can get something from this prisoner," thought as he approached the merman. There were different kinds of sea races in vita-nova like nagas, murlocks and mermen. Among these races, the mermen were designed by the developers to have a frame most close to humans. If not for their scaly skin, they were exactly like human.
Once, he reached the merman, he got out of stealth and the merman immediately turned towards him. "You! Help me. I will make it your worth," said the merman pointing towards him.
"That was awfully trusting of a man in prison to call out for me as soon as he find me," thought Shadow. All NPCs are supposed to have higher intelligence. So, the merman's behavior felt more like a trap to him than anything else.
"Why do you trust me to help you?" asked Shadow while maintaining his distance from the merman. He could still run and get into stealth to escape if it was a trap. With his enhanced perception bandits at level 10 couldn't hide much from him.
"Because you are the first human that I have seen in days and these bandits are all Quingols. Moreover, you seem to be able to escape the eyes of these bandits. It is a rare skill for someone of your strength," replied the NPC. "These bandits have attacked me and my convoy. Although the relationship between mermen and humans isn't the best. I will surely make it worth your effort," he continued.
The Quingols were a race of humanoids with the head of a rat. They were considered a scourge by both light faction and neutral races alike. Their entire culture is evolved around banditry. They don't have any other occupation than that. Even the head of their race is called bandit king.
"Who are you? Wait let me unlock your cage," said Shadow as he came toward the merman as he heard about the Quingols. With Quingols as enemy, he was positive that he could get a few valuables from the quest.
"No! it is best I stay here. Can't let them be alerted," said the merman stopping him. "I am Erdunol, one of the princes of the Garlisk merman tribe. I need a gem that is in the lake," continued the merman at a very fast pace.
[Erdunol - Merman prince]
Level 10;
HP: 1320/6000;
Though he was surprised for an instant to see that a prince was captured. But then realized that in races like the mermen being a prince wasn't something that is very popular. There are hundreds of princes beneath a king. "Ah! If it is royalty, couldn't you at least make it a princess," thought Shadow cursing at the system. "But a merman princess would probably be as repulsive as the prince for me," he continued in his thoughts as he was disrupted from the thoughts by the merman.
"Take this token and it will guide you to a location in the lake. You can take anything available in the lake. Just get me back the blue obsidian gem in the shape of a shark which the token would lead to," said the merman prince. As he said those words, the scales on his back opened up revealing a small red colored token.
"Why can't you come with me? It would surely easier with two of us", asked Shadow. He was still not convinced of the merman's words. He doubted that if he could get into the lake so could the merman. With the bandits searching the lake, he doubted he would be any more adept in the lake than the merman.
"Can you protect me while fighting them or at least even fight on par with me and the bandits?" asked the prince. His question immediately shut Shadow up. The prince took Shadows silence to be agreement and continued, "Make no mistake. I am only asking you of this because you somehow have the skill to get past these bandits. This token will make you able to breathe underwater. With the gem, I will be able to escape from these bandits."
"You still never explained how you ended up here?" asked Shadow. The prince glared at him. The NPC was a prince and an injured one who has a regal status at his home.
"My convoy was travelling through this place and got ambushed. My head guard who held the gem was killed while he was trying to escape. The gem is an emergency device which could create a portal back to my home. He wove a spell around it and let it sink. He couldn't have the bandits get the portal. It could be a way inside the castle for offensive forces," answered the prince.
"While he did something that was expected of him as a guard of the merman race. I became their prisoner due to it. I can't get back to my home without it. Only this token blessed with my aura can track the gem. The aura would also stop the natives of the lake from being aggressive towards you," said the prince handing out the token.
"Aren't you afraid that I might make away with the gem?"
"Unless you are a merman royalty and a druid, you can't use it. It can't be sold that easily either. If you sell it, the merman race would surely notice it and hunt you. And the human officials wouldn't want you to offend merman for this. The Quingol bandits would also know and be offended. So, I guess you wouldn't run away with it unless you are a bit suicidal," sneered the prince.
This time Shadow didn't doubt it and took the token. "It looked like this NPC thought a lot about this. The developers really put sum effort into this. Huh, if nothing, the token would allow me to move through the lake unhindered and loot. I can stealth to the lake and disguise myself as a bandit in the water to travel as I wish," thought Balthazar.
New quest: [Save the merman prince] (Difficulty: Moderate)
Description: Help the merman prince Erdunol to get back to his homeland.
Progress: Find the obsidian gem.
Quest Item Received: Token of merman prince Erdunol.
Failure to complete the quest would make you an enemy to merman and Quingol races.