"Quests in DO are a mystery only those at the top of DO understand fully, the intricate combined need of intention, action and effect is something that only few in DO can accurately predict after much testing and gathering of information."
"Player quests always have the difficulty unknown because they are created and ultimately controlled by the unknown variable that is players. As such, a theory for why an 'unknown' difficulty comes from 2 places. The first is when a player is involved, but due to the proliferation of them throughout the world, thus leads to many quests having this difficulty.
"The second place is from a lack of information, for if you do not know the strengths of an enemy, the number of people they have and whether one is a master or not, then you would not know how your own forces strength matches up to it as such the system will not tell you how difficult such an endeavour will be.
"But one thing is certain one must always be careful with quests, even ones that seem only to have a weak link to their main quest counterpart, as one bad decision could lead to the failure of both and drastic consequences for one's dynasty."
Carter Morris, Friend of Reginald Coulan and head of House Morrindia.
…..
In a tent only slightly smaller than the Otuian command tent, a small orc was preparing himself to enjoy all the debaucherous pleasures of the world. Laying down on his soft makeshift cot Zugbu was enjoying a glass of wine while watching a dance show, trying to decide which of the female dancers would be sharing his bed that night.
Just as he finished his drink and made his decision on a sweet smaller orc who was more his size compared to the others who were far more muscled, as both men and women benefit from the orc's biologically strong muscular frame, a call from a gruff-voiced armoured guard outside the tent was destined to ruin his night.
"The general summons you to the command tent."
The orc said in a cold voice waiting outside of the tent for the small orc captain, who he assumed was having a mini party in his tent, his conduct being overlooked due to the value that Wurgoth put on him, allowing him to indulge in any and all of his vices as long as the small orc was helpful and sober during any meetings that they had.
'For F*cks sake cockblocked again! What does that intelligent lump of muscle want this time? He always calls for me at the worst of times!'
Zugbu complained in his mind, but even as he did, the small orc was still getting dressed and ready for a meeting with his general, coming to slowly respect his general, who, in addition to having excellent fighting skills, also seemed to have a brain on him. For if it were not for the mobility and technological gap between the Otuian and Chavarian armies, then the ambushes that they had set up against the Chavarians would not have backfired so badly in their faces though part of that was due to the unexpected mastery the Chavarians had over magic.
It took the Zugbu a few minutes after the small orc had dismissed the dancers with a heart full of regret for him to get ready and quickly go outside to follow the guard to the Otuian command tent.
While he was heading towards the tent, he vaguely saw the outline of a human and felt a bad premonition for the meeting he was about to enter, but still, he entered the command tent in a relaxed and annoyed manner even if his mind was working overtime wondering what could have happened to make Wurgoth call for him so urgently.
Thanking the orc guard briefly, who opened the flap of the fur-covered command tent, Zugbu entered to see Wurgoth staring at a letter in his hand, reading it for the umpteenth time. The small orc then greeted his general to get his attention.
"You wanted to see me, general?"
Zugbu said, making a lazy and sloppy salute, obviously wanting to be anywhere but the command tent in a place where he could enjoy himself. This frustration was subtly communicated by the casual mannerisms and disrespectful attitude that the small hedonistic orc showed towards his superior.
Ignoring the orc's disrespectful attitude, Wurgoth got straight to the point, offering the letter in his hand that he had received from Gerindin out towards the small orc.
"Look at this."
Wurgoth said seriously, noticing Zugbus's expression change from lazy and annoyed to alert and solemn the small orc quickly took the offered letter and began to read it, his expression getting darker and darker with every sentence read.
Zugbu glanced at his general, who was staring at him, waiting for the orc captain to give his opinion. Instead, he got a question.
"What did Gerindin say?"
Zugbu asked, assuming correctly that Lindorus, the man behind the servant, was the only person with the motivation to give them this kind of information, but like Wurgoth, he sensed something slightly off.
"The alliance between the Chavarians and the Plurians, which would lead to the Plurians defecting to them, is not set in stone. From the letter's contents, we can infer that the Plurians were waiting to see the benevolence and generosity that the Chavarians had to offer before agreeing to betray us and take their side."
"If the Plurians saw this letter and the generosity shown by the Chavarians, then considering that even if we combine our remaining forces together, we will not be able to break the siege and prevent the fall of Nadron…."
Wurgoth took a deep breath, stunned at the complex politics he had to participate in, even in his first 'introductory Dynasty History Quest'. If he were not a player from the 22nd century or a remarkably intelligent orc like Zugbu or a member of the Otuian orcish council, then it is likely the orc general in charge of the army after being overwhelmed by emotions would already be lashing out at either the Plurians or Chavarians with it most likely be the Plurians to punish them for their betrayal despite being stunned for a moment the orc player quickly regained his composure and continued providing Zugbu with their current situation.
"Gerindin has also said that if we can get him a strong enough poison, he can use it to kill Lucius and take over the army, paralysing the Chavarian army for the night."
"The last thing he said was that because the Chavarians would be on guard and most are loyal to Drusus and Lucius, doing some sort of coordinated attack from inside and out would not work."
Zugbu pondered for a good 5 minutes after hearing all of their information, using the time to meticulously analyse each bit like Wurgoth trying to find any discrepancies in it. The small orc finally gave his opinion with his eyes brimming with intelligence rarely seen in the orcish army.
"The messenger is right. The Chavarians are on guard against us, and while Lindorus will work with us to kill Lucius, a noble as arrogant as he is would want the glory of crushing our army for himself and so would never put the Chavarian army in danger, so he would never work as an agent inside the Chavarian army to defeat it unless he has something to gain from it which in this case he does not."
"For while he is an arrogant human noble, he has had a good enough education not to sabotage an army that he wants to take over to use later to kill the ally he worked with so he can vindicate himself of any responsibility for any scheme or plot that was put together to kill and pull-down Lucius while also gaining any reward given for defeating us."
"So presenting something like what he has is the most that Lindorus would do, and destroying Lucius' plan to work with the Plurians also fits his motives and personality traits."
Zugbu first gave the reasons for Lindorus' actions before moving on to the potential solutions and outcomes the orc army could have for their current lousy predicament.
"The most important thing is to decide whether Bardornus has truly betrayed us, for that will affect our actions going forward. If he has not, we need to continue working with him to defeat the Chavarians, as that is our best shot at winning the battle."
"But if he has…."
"Then we have three viable options available to us."
"First would be an attack on the Chavarain camp to take them out while the Plurians sleep, but that will most likely not work as the Chavarians will be on guard against us and have strong defensive positions and structures to defend themselves. In my opinion, this is by far the worst option available to us as there is a chance to be attacked from behind by the Plurain army."
"The second would be a retreat from the battle, but if they are working together, their cavalry will catch up to us and destroy us, not to mention that to get home, we have to go through the Kingdom of Plurus so we would almost certainly be annihilated not as bad as the first option but still doesn't give us a good chance of survival."
"The last option would be an attack on the Plurian camp, which, because they will think we are oblivious to their plan, will have their guard down, giving us a higher chance of success as we will not only have the element of surprise but most of their remaining cavalry will be dismounted allowing us to bring our superior heavy infantry to bear on them. We will also have a 2-1 numbers advantage over them if we work with Lindorus to paralyse the Chavarians for the night. We can then use their superior weapons to fight against the Chavarians later; there is also an opportunity for us attacking the Chavarains after, as they will be in chaos when Lindorus poisons and potentially kill Lucius."
"The only drawback of the Plurian attack is that if Bardornus had not betrayed us, then our alliance will break down, leading to a Chavarian victory who would attack us after we have killed each other to the point that we would be unable to resist them."
The small orc finished giving his take on the situation laying out all of the options that he could think of the orcs taking.
"At the end of the day, general, the only question you need to answer is this…."
"Do you trust General Bardornus?"
"Would he betray you like this to gain benefits for his nation?"
The orc said cryptically, letting his general now decide their course of action, for he has done his duty, the decision was in Wurgoths hands now, and his decision would determine who wins the battle and by how much.
Wurgoth continued to ponder. Now that he had calmed down and the camp was quiet, he felt that his thoughts got clearer, but with this newfound clarity came suspicion, a seed planted deep inside him by Lucius, who had taken the orc player in with his vicious scheme.
After weighing all of his options, the orc had decided to invite Gerindin inside to hear his answer before the orc player marshalled his sleepy soldiers from their sleep and began to march towards the pivotal fight that would decide the battle.
….
In the Chavarian camp, Lucius sat calm and immovable as a rock on a small stool in his tent, looking once again over the quest he had mistakenly created, remembering his conversation that he had with the Friend system over this unexpected phenomenon not too long ago.
"Friend System, how did I create a quest?"
Lucius sighed slightly as he calmly asked the friend system for answers once the momentary surprise wared off. After the rollercoaster experience that was the past few days, apart from being startled for a moment, there was little that Lucius could not accept or adapt to, whether it was the giant orc who died to Archtorius' arrows or the humanlike AI whom each seemed to have their own personality instead of being more drone-like all these experiences and fighting in such a bloody war had started to desensitise the Chavaraian player from surprises like this.
"First off, we need to go over what makes a quest in DO. As you have unlocked the knowledge of player-created quests, you will also get this as a sort of bonus."
The Friend System began in his head.
"A quest can come from several places. It could be from an event, a faction, a kingdom, a lord, even a lumberjack, and these quests normally come with some reward for completing them."
"Then there are quests like the one you created where specific actions done by players during a quest lead to the creation of a branch or an offshoot quest linked to their current one, which will typically have a significant effect on the outcome of the quest even to the point of success and failure.
However, player-created quests can also come from a player's desires. For example, a person who wants to make a kingdom will create a series of quests for himself that can lead him towards his goal. Of course, for this to happen, the player would have already had or be taking steps towards that goal, such as trying to gain money or military power to start a coup.
In your case, it is the actions that you have taken over the last 3 days planting the seed of suspicion in the heart of the orc player that has triggered this quest, whether it was deliberately giving the enemies information to set up a reputable spy in the eyes of your enemy or in your subordinate Leon allowing Bardornus to escape when injured further inciting his allies suspicion. Even the fake treaty you had Gerindin deliver to Wurgoth was involved in the creation of this side quest.
The Friend System said, giving Lucius the main reasons for quest creation while also explaining how he created his current quest.
While Lucius was in deep thought, he sharpened his trusty steel sword with a stone, waiting for Wurgoths decision standing in the tent was Leon just in front, looking vigilantly for any danger that could threaten his friend and lord, but it was a person entered the command tent and began talking to Lucius that took the Chavarain general out of his reflective stupor.
"This better work, or my father, the Duke of Medrith, will make you pay."
Lindorus said, trying to intimidate Lucius with his background under almost any other circumstance that would have worked, but Lucius was stoic and did not even react to the provocation given by Lindorus but just calmly continued to sharpen his blade as if the young man was invisible, seemingly unaffected by the tense atmosphere that suffocated everyone else even Leon Lucius' steadfast guard who could face down 10,000 men alone without it affecting him.
"You will give me the credit I deserve if it works, right?"
The nobleman said after 10 seconds after not getting the reaction he wanted, knowing that the man in front of him was hard to move against being decent at politics. No one has been able to get the slightest thing on him in his entire career, and he has the support of the minister of war, the king and Drusus making him untouchable to the nobility when combined with his good political sense.
No one has been able to threaten, bribe, or use any other underhanded tricks against him. One noble even tried to falsify a report he sent, but who knew he would send another one with that master-level fighter friend of his to make sure the court got the true one? Lindorus shivered when he remembered the hanging corpses of the nobleman and his family that swayed in the wind from the capital gates until they had decayed. Only when their white-boned skeletons remained hanging were they finally buried, sending fear shooting down the spines of all the nobles at court as it was rumoured that Lucius watched each one, in turn, suffocate at the gallows before having their corpses strung at the capitals gates for all to see his benevolence and care men under his command only being one of his faces the other being dark, ruthless and merciless.
"As long as your servant has done his job properly, it will work, and you will get your credit."
Lucius said, a scheming smile appearing on his lips before a scout rushed into the tent, prompting a reflex from Leon, who put a sword at the neck of the intruding scout stopping him in his tracks.
"General, the orcs have left their camp and have headed in the direction of the Plurian camp a few miles away from them!"
A scout reported nervously, his clothes soaked in sweat as he rushed to give the report as soon as he could, still feeling the steel of Leon's sword on his neck.
Hearing this, Lucius yawned slightly and motioned for Leon, his overprotective vice general bodyguard and friend, to stand down before getting up, clasping his crimson cloak emblazoned with the golden pelican of his house to his shoulders, then sheathed his newly sharpened sword, commenting in a lively manner before leaving.
"Time to reel in the nets, boys!"
"If my prediction is correct, we should have a bountiful haul tonight!"