The MMRPG Apocalypse

Our planning for the forthcoming mission turned to the question of intercepting gnoll supplies. It was possible that all the gnolls’ convoys were sent at the same time. We could only on one of the roads, and in that scenario, rushing the attack and then trying to hurry after the others wouldn’t be safe nor feasible. We had to hope that the convoys set off at different times and move to set up in advantageous ambush locations rather than run along the roads looking for them. I pointed to the map, indicating one of the two central paths, where it entered a forest.

“If we safely dispatch any caravans here, we will be able to dispose of the bodies and evidence and wait to see the gnolls’ reaction. If the hornets’ nest isn’t stirred, we could move to here,” I indicated another path, “and make another attempt. From there we can play it by ear as to whether to try for a third.”

My suggestion was well received and not one made an alternative proposal.

“How long until we leave?” Anna asked.

“Rhugar said around fourteen hours, which I estimate to be one or two in the morning. Everyone should sleep as much as they can during the day. I’ve also requested supplies so hopefully there will be more rations and some MP potions for those who need it.” MP potions were rarer than the other elixirs and it would be a real assistance to us if the city could provide some.

Lazemus came around two hours after our strategy meeting to hear what we planned to do. I gave him the basic rundown, and left out the part where we didn’t plan to rescue Donivan, not first thing at least. “We were hoping to buy consumables and gear, to increase our chance of success,” I told him, “but the shops have all closed.”

“I can have something arranged, but not at such short notice,” Lazemus replied, “when you return with Donivan, the prince will surely reward you handsomely.”

All I could say was, “Sounds good.” It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him, but I felt that as of now we wouldn’t be able to defeat the gnoll tribe leader in his own territory. Something would have to change, and for that we needed further development on our part.

The day crawled along. After meeting Lazemus and Rhugar, there was nothing else for us to do. The entire army was patiently waiting for a gnoll attack that probably wasn’t coming. Besides that, an undertone of unease was slowly seeping through the ranks. Meals were now being rationed for the soldiers. Very soon, when the civilians ran out of food at home, their purchases would need to be rationed too.

“This place might be very different when we return,” I said to everyone. A lot could change in a few days. I secretly feared it might come to bloodshed inside Rigar.

Only after taking to my bunk and reviewing our tactics for the upcoming battles did I start to feel drowsy.

Sleeping during the day actually wasn’t as difficult as I had been expecting. Now that I knew what we needed to do and when, it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I was the last to join the group at the mess around supper time.

Rhugar came and found us while we were eating full portions: the staff had been told to feed us ahead of our mission. “I’ve managed to acquire some rations and a few of the potions you asked for.” He handed over two sacks. One had twenty rations inside of it, the item that we could consume as players for food. The second sack had seven or eight HP potions, and then just three MP potions. The HP potions were distributed one each. Of the MP potions, Thomas took two and Anna took the third.

“Thank you,” said Jessica and I nodded my appreciation. I hadn’t really been expecting much when I asked, and this was definitely useful. The rations were distributed equally in case we got separated at any point. No one would be without the supplies they needed to survive.

It was a humid night; after Rhugar left Jessica and I sat side-by-side on a bench outside the dining hall. The air seemed to sit still and weigh you down. With no wind it was silent, eerily quiet. The moon had already vanished behind the clouds above, and only the twinkling stars occasionally shined through a gap in the clouds.

“Mike?” A whisper came through the door behind us, just barely loud enough to hear. “Orders from Rhugar; I’ve to escort you and your men.” I nudged Jessica awake and put my finger over my lips. She knew to check without my asking and scanned the surroundings with her tracking ability before holding up a single finger. Could never be too careful.

“Coming,” I said, before meeting messenger in the room. He waited for me to gather the others and when everyone was present he took us to into the streets.

“We leave immediately. We need to get as far from their lines as we can before dawn and we can’t use a carriage outside the walls.”

“Can’t we ride at least?” asked Maria.

“Best if we go on foot. A few people in the dark of night shouldn’t have any issues.”

Maria, Richard, and Alan all seemed to have been sleeping like rocks as they rubbed the crust from their eyes. Yawns were constantly going off as if contagious, “I miss caffeine,” Mark groaned.

A carriage was waiting outside the barracks and we jumped in immediately. The entire city was on curfew so besides the sound of the horses’ hooves trotting on cobblestone and the wooden wheels bouncing along there wasn’t a peep of noise. The driver made quick work of the empty path, despite only having a single lit torch; our escort rode alongside us on horseback.

“From here we have to go on foot. I’ll escort you through one of the gaps between gnoll camps as far as the forest, from there you’ll be on your own.”

I didn’t even take ten steps after leaving the carriage and I was already sweating. The humidity was insane and there wasn’t the slightest breeze. If there weren’t other people beside me, I’d think the world had stopped with how unbearably still everything felt. There would be a lot of clothes removed and plenty of complaining before this trip ended.

“Last chance to call it off.” I said to everyone. Although I was sure this was the right way forward, I wanted this to be a group decision. I gave it ten seconds of silence, “Alright, let’s go.” And we walked through the gate and onto the dirt road. Our guide moved in front of us like a shadow, his footsteps made no noise as he jogged, but the rest of us couldn’t be any louder.

“Won’t they hear us?” Lucas asked. We weren’t exactly very stealthy.

“It will be fine; they have camps all around the city but don't stretch themselves by posting lines outside the walls of their stockades. Am I going too fast?” he asked.

“Not at all,” Jessica answered. Even without our stat increases, we were all superhuman now. Our stamina and endurance were better than even someone who trained as an Olympic athlete. “Go as fast as you want. The sooner we can get there the safer we will be.” She was right; there was a considerable amount of risk being here—but gnolls wouldn’t be looking for us on the farmlands near the mountainside, not until we made a move at least. We would be safer there for the time being.

We set a good pace, and after thirty minutes we reached the place aimed for by our guide without encountering any gnolls. The escort held up some sort of glowing object and showed us a map. “You’re here. If you pass straight through to the other side of the forest, cross about a mile, you will see a statue of an angel along the road pointing north. That statue is right here,” he pointed again. “From there you can travel east ten minutes and you should see the mountain range.” This was close to the first supply route.

“Thank you,” I whispered, “we can take it from here.” Our escort nodded and then took off without a word or sound.

“Must be one of their spies,” I said. “Surprisingly efficient.”

“Agreed,” Lucas spoke quietly, even though we were a good distance from the nearest gnoll stockade. “Jessica take the front, Alan and Richard shadow her.” He started to give out instructions, “Maria, Thomas, Anna in that order behind them. Maria you watch left, Anna you right. Mark and Glenn you’re in front of me and Mike.” Everyone move promptly into a proper formation.

“I can’t summon my undead at the moment. Keep that in mind everyone.” The sky was so dark and moonless that I didn’t even have a shadow at the moment. Vast Shadows wouldn’t cast even if I tried.

“We avoid fights for now. Stealth is the name of the game—if we alert enemies they will know something is up and our cover will be blown,” Lucas warned. “Let’s go.” And off we went. We stuck close, as everyone but Jessica and I were almost blind. My vision wasn’t obstructed in the slightest at night, and I didn’t see any life signatures ahead of us.

“It shouldn’t be long through the forest. Just a few hours,” Lucas said again. The speed at which we could move was greatly hindered here. The paths that had once been here were overgrown, as random gnoll attacks kept people from venturing in the forest for wood.

It took over an hour of nonstop walking to come out the other side of the trees. Lucas made a rough estimate on my map of where we were, and how much further we needed to go to find the angel statue, “Looking at the distance we traveled from the forest and there, at most we’ll see it in ten minutes.”

I trusted him without complaint. Everyone had gotten good rest during the day, we were good for several more hours—and in the case of emergency, all of us could go more than a day without sleeping if need be.

“Do you all smell that?” Jessica asked from the front. We were downwind, and a terrible stench wafted over us. It was the smell of death and decay at its absolute peek.

“Smells like roadkill baking in the sun.” Richard gagged before covering his nose and mouth. Everyone quickly followed suit as we kept moving. A little stink couldn’t stop us.

“I see the statue ahead.” Jessica said. The sky was still dark, and I estimated it sometime around 4 A.M. No one else could see the angel but her, but we followed her closely until it was only a few feet away, and even in the darkness we could all make it out.

“There’s a road, too.” Jessica said. It was an actual road, and the angel statue was at the cross section, it pointed northward, as we had been told, and we confirmed our position on the map. There were four paths, and we were taking none of them. From here we would cut across farmland and head for the mountains south east. It was still too dark to see the mountain range, but we had a direction to walk at least.

“The smell is getting worse!” Maria groaned from the back. “This is awful.” I could only pinch my nose harder as we entered what looked to be farmland. The cause of the stench became clear as soon as we passed a large hedgerow. Goat, sheep, cow and chicken corpses were strewn about. Most of them had been pointlessly slaughtered it seemed, and some had been half-eaten and left to rot there on the ground.

The air wasn’t so quiet anymore as we moved, flies could be heard buzzing and swarms of gnats occasionally surrounded my face. “Should we check the farmhouses?” Anna asked. The chance there were survivors was very low.

“I think its best we not.” Jessica said. “There’s no one alive in them.” She had already cleared the area, and I wasn’t interested in seeing what the gnolls might do to human bodies—a grim look into our own potential fate.

“Keep it moving, it’s not much further.” Lucas said.

It seemed what Rhugar had said was proving to be true. We hadn’t encountered any gnoll patrols or scouts, and now it was likely we were outside of their main base and operations. None should be appearing here. It was good news, but the plan had only just begun, things would get much more dangerous.

We moved carefully for another ten minutes towards the mountains, eventually leaving the farmland and stink behind us. “According to the map there should be gnoll settlements a few miles further ahead. We need to turn and move towards the roads.” I said. We stayed in formation and spent even more time traveling.

As we moved in a more south-easterly direction, we were coming closer to the area gnolls would potentially be traveling along, maybe not at this time of morning, but campers could be near. While humanoid, they also resembled a hyena, and I wasn’t sure how good their smell was. We were upwind, too.

“Stop, there are tracks here,” Jessica announced. The grass at her feet was patchy and torn asunder; dirt had been scattered awkwardly around the area.

“Looks like a thousand people moved through here, at least.” Alan squatted down to take a better look.

“Like you’d know if it was ten or a thousand.” Maria joked.

“Do we keep going?” Anna asked. Things were getting real now.

“We have to keep going,” I replied. “Or we’ve wasted our time coming in the first place.” I looked at Jessica and gave a nod. Everyone got back into formation and we kept moving.

We made it barely three minutes before Jessica stopped us again, “Enemies. Three of them.” She pointed down the road to where it dipped out of sight, “They aren’t moving,” she added.

“Asleep?” Lucas asked.

“Hopefully. Slow and steady and we’ll be fine."

I still couldn’t pull out my undead squad yet, but only three gnolls were no threat, we just needed to be quiet. Jessica walked in a path towards them that perfectly zigzagged around any debris that could make noise. Somehow or another, even with the gear our tanks were wearing, we moved within a few feet from their camp undetected.

It helped that Jessica could see them move if they woke. Lucas and Jessica were the best candidates for the job once we got close enough, both crept forward until they could use Wind Slash from pointblank range to de-head one, and then two quick arrows to dispatch the other two.