681. Noble Problems IV
“What are those?” Adam asked. He had gone ahead with a few of the mercenaries, and as the sky darkened, they expected to find other visitors. Thebourers screamed and shouted as they rushed towards the heavily armed and armoured warriors, who readied themselves within the small fenced outpost. They were a half day away from town and had begun creating the small outpost needed by the baron to assist in defence of thends.
“Mandogs,” abourer gasped, clutching at their hammer tight against their chest, their eyes wide.
Emerging from the wood all around them were wild dogs. Their fur thick and jagged, a dark grey which melted into the shadows. Adam frowned. Dogs were awkward to fight, since they were man’s best friend. However, these things were…
Their faces were contorted wickedly, but most unnervingly, each wore human faces. Human heads upon a dog’s body.
“They strong?” Adam asked, hearing his party shuffling, readying themselves for the fight.
“What?”
“Are they strong?”
“Yes?”
Adam slowly nodded his head, donning Strong Shield, and raising Wraith ahead of him. “I suppose I’ve got to beat my annoyance into them then.”
<em>Battle Order</em>
<em>D20 + 1 = 5 (4)</em>
<em>Health: 78 -> 70</em>
<em>Strength Save</em>
<em>D20 + 8 = 21 (13)</em>
<em>Pass!</em>
The monstrosities leapt towards thebourers, though found the mercenaries ahead of them. They didn’t seem to mind, however, as the mandogs leapt up to w at their foes, regardless if they wore leather or metal.
Adam pulled up his shield, and though he was forced back by a heavy w, he managed to keep upright from the heavy blow. ‘Alright, they are a little strong!’
<em>Fighting Spirit: 3 -> 2</em>
<em>Health: 70 -> 75</em>
<em>Attack - Wraith</em>
<em>D20 + 10 = 12 (2)</em>
<em>D20 + 10 = 29 (19)</em>
<em>Critical hit!</em>
<em>Mana: 21 -> 20</em>
<em>Ability: Divine Smite</em>
<em>4D6 + 4D6 + 9 = 35 (1, 2, 3, 6)(1, 4, 5, 5)</em>
<em>35 damage!</em>
<em>Attack - Wraith</em>
<em>D20 + 10 = 14 (4)</em>
<em>D20 + 10 = 20 (10)</em>
<em>Hit!</em>
<em>Wraith: 3 -> 2</em>
<em>Mana: 20 -> 19</em>
<em>Ability: Divine Smite</em>
<em>2D6 + 2D6 + 2D6 + 9 = 30 (1, 2)(2, 4)(6, 6)</em>
<em>30 damage!</em>
<em>Onward Soar: 1 -> 0</em>
<em>Attack - Wraith</em>
<em>D20 + 10 = 14 (4)</em>
<em>D20 + 10 = 16 (6)</em>
<em>Hit!</em>
<em>Wraith: 2 -> 1</em>
<em>Mana: 19 -> 18</em>
<em>Ability: Divine Smite</em>
<em>2D6 + 2D6 + 2D6 + 9 = 22 (1, 2)(2, 6)(1, 2)</em>
<em>22 damage!</em>
<em>Attack - Wraith</em>
<em>D20 + 10 = 17 (7)</em>
<em>D20 + 10 = 20 (10)</em>
<em>Hit!</em>
<em>Wraith: 1 -> 0</em>
<em>Mana: 18 -> 17</em>
<em>Ability: Divine Smite</em>
<em>2D6 + 2D6 + 2D6 + 9 = 24 (2, 3)(2, 4)(2, 2)</em>
<em>24 damage!</em>
Adam’s axe bisected the first mandog which had struck him, but he didn’t spend much time thinking about it. Instead, he swiftly moved towards another which had tried to slip around him. His axe shed white hot with divine strength, but the air turned cold as his cool steel ran through another, causing blood to spray out.
If it wasn’t for the fact there were innocents all around him, he wouldn’t have revealed the magic which shed from his axe. His axe cut through a second mandog, before he leapt over its dead body and he cut another, dropping it dead. A fourth tried to snap its maw around abourer nearby, who swung his axe, which crashed against a dead mandog’s face, its guts already spilling across the floor from an axe wound.
Adam turned, watching as Jurot killed another nearby, while Kitool and Jaygak had moved away to support the other mercenaries, killing thest mandog which had mp around a metal leg, trying to drag them away into the dark forest.
<em>Victory!</em>
<em>XP Gained: +200</em>
<em>XP: 11 700 -> 11 900</em>
Thebourers stared at the four, who had so easily cut down almost a mandog with each swing. The other mercenaries had managed to barely kill a couple between themselves, whereas Adam’s group had averaged over two individually.
“I hope we won’t be eating mandog today,” Adam said, ncing towards the cook, who held a butcher’s knife to defend herself.
“No,” she assured, slowly nodding her head towards the young leaf eared Vr.
As the evening passed, the rest of the army appeared, the entire group now numbering a hundred, though half werebourers.
“I hope it was…” The baron’s eyes fell across the mandogs which had been piled to one side, and were in the process of being butchered. “Mandogs?”
“That’s right,” Mikael, the mercenary leader, said. “We took care of them.”
“Well done,” the Baron said, his brows raised in surprise. He nced around once more, counting that thebourers that had been sent ahead were all ounted for. “You slew the mandogs without any casualties?”
“One of ours was wounded in the fray.”
“Oh my. Then, to reward you all, you may split the mandogs between yourselves, and we will take none of the spoils.” Baron Kegan Rockcastle shed a charming smile.
“How are we splitting them?” Adam asked, sipping some of the salty soup. His eyes slowly turned to meet Mikael’s eyes.
“Fairly,” Mikael said, feeling the gaze seep into you. “You killed most of them, so you can have most of them.”
Adam, almost stunned that the mercenary wasn’t trying to rip them off, tilted his head slightly. He then turned towards the baron, noting the way he was judging the pair of groups, processing what was happening.
“I don’t really feelfortable with the mandog spoils. If you want, you can buy our share for half price, in coin.”
“We can buy it at half price?”
“Yeah.”
Mikael didn’t really want all the spoils, but he nced to the side, towards the rest of the soldiers, who were ready to step in to ept the deal. “Alright, we’ll pay half for it.”
“Do we want a w from each?” Adam asked, looking towards Jurot.
“Yes,” Jurot said.
“Then we’ll take a w from each too,” Adam said, frowning slightly.
“Alright.” Mikael wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, and once the group gathered the twelve ws, they handed it to Adam’s party. He wasn’t sure if Adam wanted ten, one from each they had in, or twelve, one from all the creatures total, but he decided to repay the young man for his kindness.
“You slew ten of the mandogs?” Baron Kegan asked.
“Yeah.”
“…” Baron Kegan wasn’t sure if a group of his four greatest knights could kill ten of twelve mandogs whilepeting against a mercenary group. Seven, certainly. Eight, perhaps. Ten? It was borderline impossible. ‘Is it luck?’ The baron thought back to what he had seen of the group, who had held back and had still passed his tests with flying colours. ‘No.’
Adam and the group, who had been whispering in Iyrish before the baron had arrived, fell silent for the rest of the evening. Since they had figured a way to do that, Adam felt morefortable with his chances of survival.
“It would be untoward of myself to not pay you appropriately,” the baron said, having caught Adam as he was about to start watch. “Two gold a day is too little, so I will pay you each five gold daily for your services.”
Adam’s brows raised in surprise. ‘What is going on this year?’ “I appreciate your generosity, Lord Kegan.”
“I hope you all continue to do good work.”
“Thank you.”
The baron smiled, wondering if the young man was shirking him on purpose. ‘Do they address one another differently in the othernd?’
Over the next few days, they continued to make their way out, creating a series of outposts in a line, with Adam’s group leading the frontier force, while the baron’s force would arriveter in the evening, or the evening after.
Eventually, they formed arger outpost, more closer to a fort, one which could house arger army more permanently, rather than the small outposts which could house half of them easily, and their full one hundred far more awkwardly. Days passed as they formed thisrger outpost, which was build with several fences within to form walls, but a muchrger wooden wall outside with arger ditch surrounding them.
Adam smiled as he heard the screaming from thebourers all around them, and he donned Strong Shield, and grabbed Wraith. ‘I knew things were going too smoothly.’
The ckness emerged from the forest. The torch’s mes flickered angrily, and then they fell still, barely illuminating the area. The ckness was a sky made of pure ckness, not shadows. It was certainly something greater, something wicked, than what they had faced previously.
<em>Wisdom Save</em>
<em>D20 + 4 = 22 (18)</em>
<em>Pass!</em>
The ckness cast a great shadow across the entire area, and the temperature dropped all about them. A cold sweat ran through the entire group, and even the normally steadfast Kitool, fell still, her heart thundering within her chest.
“Haa!” came a wild, terrified shout, and the mercenaries darted forward, striking towards one of the dark figures. Yet, as their des pierced through the darkness, they found it to be formless, like air. They continued to frantically swing their des, trying to destroy the darkness which had crept into their hearts.
The baron’s knights stepped all around him, ready to defend their liege lord.
‘No!’ Baron Kegan stared at the darkness he had only heard about when he was but a boy. The Encroaching Darkness, which he swore was just a myth to make him behave when he was a boy. A darkness which would consume all within its sight, with weapons of iron, steel, and silver renderedpletely useless against the impeding death.
‘Has the Sun Father abandoned me? Moon Mother, what have I done to earn your wrath? What is this most ill fortune as I finally set out to civilise the darkness to bring safety to my people?’
“I guess we gotta earn our pay,” called a voice through the darkness, cutting the baron’s dark thoughts.
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The baron''s paying well so might as well help out.