Cover Blown

As they once more contemplated their approach, their discussion was cut short as a sudden commotion arose from the center of the camp. Fearing the worst, the party’s attention lurched in the direction of the bandit crowd. Though the obstruction of tents and other clutter should have made them difficult to spot from where they were, it was very possible that someone managed to catch a glimpse of them. However, despite the sudden uproar, nobody was coming their way, instead, something seemed to be occurring among the crowd itself. Quickly slinking over to get a better view, the group spotted the cause of the commotion.

Being dragged before the band of brigands, arms secured behind their back by rope, was an elf. Her skin was a dusky purple, her hair long, feathered, and loosely tied. Purple flowers and curved, purple leafed branches grew from her head, and she wore a set of dark grey studded leather armor, cropped in places for ease of movement. The woman was dragged out before the steps of the main building and forced to her knees as a man relaxing in a chair atop the steps glared down at her.

The man in question appeared to be a rather gruff looking human, short, messy brown hair, scars, black eye patch, cigar in his mouth and all. He wore a suit of armor that seemed to be made out of a mixture of hides, metal plates, and thick furs. A battle axe and shield rested against his sturdy wooden seat. Beside him was a much more massive figure. A goliath no doubt, clad in a set of half plate mail and chain, his head covered by a chain coif that framed his stony visage. A great battle axe rested on his back, his equipment overall a few grades above the hides and scraps of plate and chain the others had the privilege of wearing.

As for the rest of the camp. It had mostly been humans they dealt with up until this point, but getting a look at the gang proper, their band consisted of a mixture of races. Though still predominantly human, the number of orcs would have to rank second with a smattering of gnomes, halflings, and goliaths among the riffraff. The head honcho in the chair glowered down at the crowd, his eyes fixed on the elf who returned his contempt with a steely gaze of her own.

“Boss Roger sir, we found this rat scurrying around your vault. She was trying to break in by picking the lock. Daft wretch was clunk’n up a storm in there..” said one of the men holding the elf in place.

The leader’s fingers tapped incredulously upon the arm of the chair as his other hand rose up and took hold of his cigar. Taking a puff and blowing aside the smoke, the man continued to sneer down at the elf.

“And what of the sentries. Are you claiming they failed in their duties? Were they off reveling when they should have been manning their posts?” The bandit leader asked, with a naturally gruff and commanding voice.

“Well, it would appear there was a gap left in the wall somewhere for this vermin to squeeze through.” The briggand replied.

“Is that so? In that case I will order an inspection of the wall as soon as we’ve dealt with our little trespasser. Tell me then, are you here of your own volition or by the command of another?” The leader asked.

The party watched intently at the spectacle playing out before them. A mysterious elf being interrogated by the leader of the Black Tooth Bandits. Needless to say, the whole event had taken the party off guard. None of them were expecting a storyline to play out before them. Perhaps this was their reward for taking the stealthy approach to the camp, to get a little extra flavor in their adventure

“Haha, this is kinda cool actually. Whaddya think? We wanna play the hero and rescue them?” Ember asked in a hushed tone.

“Well, we should probably see how it all plays out first.” Moze whispered back.

“I hope we will. That elf’s a player character.” Thordon mentioned.

“W-wait, what?” Ember asked, surprised.

Everyone in the party focused on the people before them, willing themselves to see their names, and indeed, their names appeared. To their surprise, it wasn’t only the blue name of the elf that showed up but the red names of each individual bandit as well. They weren’t just variations of a generic bandit title. Each one had a name like Rigor Vash or Nolan Ferguson. Distracting though this revelation was, eventually their focus would return to the elf named Ruori Nightingale. Her level stood out in stark contrast to most of the bandits around here. She was level eight, as opposed to the levels three through five that made up the common riffraff. The only ones here on par were the two level nine leaders of this place. The gruff man in the chair was called Roger Cornwall while the goliath beside him was named Kregor Mountain Breaker.

Ember of course wasn’t content with just a name however as he couldn’t help but wonder why this was the only other player not part of his immediate party that had appeared here. Even if this place was instanced to a limited number of random players at once, he still suspected that they’d have encountered more given how many people were still on this part of the map. On a hunch, Ember began another player inspection. Ruori here was apparently an Assassin Rogue and an Elf of the Gloom subrace. When turning over to her stats, he found that she was not only suffering from the Restrained condition, which apparently limited her movements and actions while also increasing her chance of taking a critical hit, but also confirmed what he had suspected since he began inspecting her.

“U-umm… guys? That elf’s a Chosen.” Ember said, his tail flicking stiffly.

“W-what, really?” Lian asked.

“Yep, just looked. Thought it was weird, since we hadn't seen anyone else but her since we got here.” Ember mentioned.

“Interesting. If that’s true then it could suggest that we’re predisposed to end up with instances with them as well.” Moze mused.

“Yea, maybe, and from the looks of things, either she slipped past while we were sneaking ourselves, or she was here before we were.” Ember noted.

“I see. Must’ve been pretty quiet if they managed to avoid alerting the bandits until now… Either way, I don’t think we have much choice now. We’re gonna have to play hero. Lian, if you could, make your way back up the cliff. You should have a decent vantage point up there. Ember, you go take cover to the left near the group, Thordon, take cover to the right and try to keep distance. Maggie, you hang out with me, but try to stay back if you can. I’ll take point and keep their eyes on me while the rest of you focus on taking as many out as you can. Also, don’t move until I strike first, okay?” Moze ordered.

There were no objections to his commands as the others moved out and carefully took position. Meanwhile, as all this occurred, the interrogation between the elf and the bandit leader continued.

“Hee hee, and what’s the prize for answering correctly?” the elf teased, despite her extremely disadvantageous position.

The boss tapped some ashes from his cigar onto the deck. “Your prize will depend on what I hear. We’ll put you to work in the tunnels, make an example of ya, or execute you where you kneel. So c’mon, let’s hear it.”

Ruori smirked. “C’mon, you think your piddly little bandit gang is important enough for Santa Rio to send a scout to come sabotage it? No, I just came and walked right in through the back to take your stuff. You’re just lucky that I got a little careless this time. The risks you take when you challenge yourself to go non-lethal I guess.”

“This time? Did I just hear you out yourself to the fact that you’ve tried doing this before, little missy?” Roger noted.

“Tried, heh, pretty sure I killed you last time.” Ruori told him with a wicked grin.

“Hmm… Now that you mention it, I do think I recall that face. You and a group of others come to think of it. Looks like you didn’t manage to do a good enough job of it. So, where are those friends of yours now?” Roger inquired.

“Oh, they’re around. What, you think I was the only one that busted in here? With all you idiots distracted, my mates managed to slip right in and find a cozy place to hide. If you don’t free me, I promise you, they’ll come in and wipe out every last one of you, so I suggest untying me if you wanna save yourselves another beatdown.” Ruori threatened.

The team was baffled upon hearing this. Did Ruori somehow know about them already? A mixture of emotions washed over the group in hiding for all except for Lian who was no longer in earshot and was looking for a decent angle to shoot from. Ember glared in their general direction, irritated that this girl would just blow their cover like this. Moze and Maggie were baffled that they somehow knew about them, and Thordon just tapped his foot, preparing for the plan to potentially go sideways. In response to the threat however, Roger gazed around the camp.

“Bethor, Grummush, Mak-Uruk, Steltski, take some men and run a sweep of the camp, check the tents, any shady nooks, and inform the sentries. If you’re lying little girl, I’ll lop of that ratty little head of yours myself.” Roger threatened.

With that, the selection of men among the crowd that Roger had commanded immediately got to work, rallying up a small team before splitting up and investigating the camp. The party knew there would be no keeping themselves hidden this time around as two of the groups immediately split off in their direction. All eyes were now on Moze as they waited for him to take action. Seeing the way the winds were blowing, They watched as Moze squared himself up. While the element of surprise was still mostly on their side, Moze sprung into action, rearing back his shield arm before flinging it at the nearest bandit. One of the orcs who had been commanded to search was the unlucky recipient of that thrown plate of bronze. Immediately, they took a hefty chunk of damage, a little over a third given the level discrepancy, and the paladin leaped out, catching the shield on the return trip.

“Eyes on me bandits! You’re all in for a heck of a brawl!” He shouted.

Despite her confident claim to having backup, the wide eyes and slack jaw on Ruori’s face suggested that she was every bit as surprised as the bandits at Moze’s sudden bombastic entrance. Regardless, the fight was on as all eyes did indeed turn to Moze. Ember meanwhile was closest to the crowd and he had every intention of getting in there right away. At the sudden sound of an imp driving itself into a blind fury, a number of bandits drew their attention back away from Moze, just in time to see the small red figure of Ember charging wildly at them. Before the first one could properly prepare their weapon, Ember had come down on their skull with a massively powerful charge swing of his maul, taking their hit points down below half immediately thanks to the damage boost on top of a solid weak point hit.

Further away, their first evidence of Thordon’s presence was the sudden flash of light from behind one of the tents near the end of the line. Stepping out, as soon as he acquired a line of sight on his opponents, Thordon began to carve a symbol into the dirt with the tip of his ice coated blade. The moment it was completed, a light began to shine from it and Thordon immediately plunged his sword into the center of it. Selecting a target with his gaze, he quickly yanked it back out. The moment that blade left the ground, the bandit nearest to him was sent skyward, impaled upon the tip of a pointed spire of ice that stood at least eight feet tall. The obstruction dealt heavy damage to his target, the bandit dropping to the ground with a thud as the tip snapped. The rest of it meanwhile proceeded to knock several others to the ground with its wide, sloping base. For those who managed to evade the obstruction, they attempted to spread out, though not before a wide wave of acidic dragon breath completely coated them, ticking down their hit points as it lingered on them.

As this occurred, Roger stared over his gang with a fierce gaze in his eyes. It would appear this rogue wasn’t full of it after all. Dropping his cigar to the floor, he stood up and stepped on it before reaching to the side of his chair and taking hold of the axe and shield there. He then looked to the two men who were still keeping Ruori restrained, and using the edge of his shield, he motioned a slice across his neck. Picking up on the message, one of the men proceeded to slam Ruori to the ground before the other raised an axe above his head, ready to bring it down on the neck of the troublemaker. Before he could complete his swing however, an arrow found its place buried in his skull, shimmering with a lucky crit that downed him instantly. The bandit currently in the process of pinning Ruori down looked on to his fallen companion in astonishment, his grip loosening in the process. Feeling this slip-up, Ruori pushed herself out from beneath his pin, rolling onto her back before delivering a swift kick to his jaw. Spinning to her feet, she shot Roger one final glare and a cocky grin before she suddenly vanished.

“Looks like we’ve got work to do, Kregor.” He said before making his way down the steps, his giant bodyguard right behind him.

Up on the ledge, Lian wiped the sweat from her brow, satisfied that she managed to pull off that shot just in time. Still, there were more where that came from, plenty more. An arrow whizzed past her causing her to duck low behind the stump she had positioned herself behind. It would appear that the archers in the towers had an angle on her. Part of her was glad their arrows were on her instead of her friends down below, but that of course meant she was going to have to deal with them herself. It looked like it was gonna be two archers fully aware of where she was and where she would be aiming. No more sneak attacks for her at the moment. Meanwhile, Koumei remained steadfast at her side, hackles raised and ready for anyone to dare approach his companion. Despite that, most of the fighting was happening below, and as far as Lian could tell, nobody was attempting to make their way to her yet. She looked to Koumei hesitantly. Though he would be incredible protection should they manage to close in, right now, he was useless up here with her. Against her better judgement, she leaned towards him.

“Koumei, I should be fine up here, but the others are going to need you down there. Can you run down and help them out?” Lain asked.

It was still a marvel to Lian that her sun lion companion had the ability to comprehend language despite being unable to speak himself, but with a trusting nod, he obliged. He proceeded to dash away from Lian and make his way down the ramp. Seeing this, Lian was quick to realize that he would be fully exposed on that ramp should the archers see fit to take a shot at him. Quickly, she nocked an arrow and raised herself above her cover, drawing her bow back and taking a shot at the archer who indeed was already in the process of trying to shoot Koumei. The shot was ever so slightly wide, but it was enough to throw off the archer’s aim just enough to cause his own shot to go wide as well. The second archer however, remained unopposed, and with Lian unable to prepare a shot in time, they managed to get their shot off directly at the lion. Fortunately, Koumei seemed aware of this and managed to dodge out of the way just in time to suffer only a few clipped hairs off of the end of their tail puff. Unwilling to give them an excuse to take another shot at her companion, she made it a point to keep the pressure on, firing shots to keep the archers occupied. Unfortunately, this entailed keeping herself exposed, enough so that a searing pain suddenly shot through her arm. Ducking down, she soon realized she had taken a hit to the brachium of her arm. Still, despite the pain, she at least found she could continue to move it, and was even safely able to pull the arrow back out.

Down below, the rest of the party continued to fight. Moze and Ember found themselves in the thick of it while Thordon managed to fight while keeping his distance. Closing in on the dragon soul was made particularly difficult as he continued to fall back. He moved back behind the tents while blasting his opponents with acid breath whenever it was off cooldown. Even his sword had no need to be within melee range to do its job. By holding out his glowing hand, he could telekinetically manipulate it to a safe fifteen feet away, making slashing motions while his sword followed his actions. As one bandit attempted to swat it out of the air with his shield, Thordon simply moved it away, towards himself before thrusting it back forward with a stab, sticking it into his opponent’s chest.

Unfortunately using this technique cost him a steady trickle of mana every second, and before long, there was no more mana remaining to sustain it, causing the weapon to fly back into his hand as just a normal blade. Even the ice that had been enshrouding it was now gone as well. Though he had only managed to defeat one or two bandits with it, the amount of damage that had been dealt to the rest of his pursuers was nothing to sneeze at. Still, so long as any of them had a single hit point remaining, they were still a very capable threat. Thordon weighed his options, flicking his frost tome open before tracing a symbol on its page. Moments later, his entire body began to glow as his mana and stamina suddenly began to regenerate at a faster rate. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough as a bandit slipped through a gap between the tents and jabbed their spear into his side. He was fortunate that he couldn’t feel the pain of that stab like the others, but he made it a point to twist himself around and break into a short sprint as he waited for his mana to regenerate.

Ember meanwhile swung his maul like a madman, striking one bandit in the side before driving his maul into the gut of another to shove them off and give him some distance. Unfortunately, he was practically surrounded, and there was very little ground to be gained. A sword found its way across his back, the searing pain coursing through him but hardly registering in his enraged state. He responded by spinning himself around and throwing everything he had into crashing that maul down on top of them, finishing them off. Still, his health was now at half and was gradually being chipped down by all the hits coming his way. Before he could really register the trouble he was in however, he suddenly felt reinvigorated as his body began to glow. With that previous foe defeated, he had given Maggie enough of an opening to send a ranged healing spell his way.

Unfortunately, Ember wasn’t the only one who noticed how handy Maggie was as several bandits suddenly turned their attention to her. It would appear they hadn’t appreciated so much of their efforts being completely undone by her. Seeing this, Ember turned around before spitting a glob of napalm onto one of them in an effort to keep them off of the girl. With a scream, they staggered forward slowly, but unfortunately, it couldn’t stop the other three from converging on her. Raising his weapon, Ember readied a charge but ended up sustaining another slash from an axe in the back of the head. Ignoring the pain, Ember spun back around and clobbered them with an aggressive strike. Realizing that he was now the only thing between Maggie and the rest of these bandits, he could only hope she could handle herself as he shoved another bandit back, blocked one, and took a swing at another.

Maggie meanwhile had immediately begun to run away seeing Thordon doing the same, but in her direction. Though the majority of the fighting force seemed to still be on Moze and Ember, the rest were currently about to surround Maggie and Thordon. As she ran, Maggiie felt herself stumble before falling to the ground. Her small body was easy enough to pick up again, but it also gave her pursuers an opportunity to make up the distance. Before they could reach her however, a bright yellow flash shot in front of her as Koumei pounced on a bandit, causing them to stagger while they tore into them with teeth and claws. Thordon meanwhile popped his frost tome back open and initiated another ice enchantment for his sword. It looked like theirs was about to become a close quarters fight as well.