NOVEL NEXT Cross Promotion
6/16
Stay a while and listen
Return Deckard Cain safely to New Tristram
Reward: 1000 exp OR potential party member appears
Sponsor: Decard Cain (Skin)
The Cathedral was the most deadly challenge Ursula had faced thus far, so she brought extra troops. Her newly trained witches from Tristram formed a solid backline, flinging fireballs while the more heavily armed guards screened the flanks. The zombies were slow moving and employed very little in the way of strategy, so the level of danger was far less than it initially seemed. As long as the unit moved slowly and cleared each room methodically, they had little to fear from those shambling creatures.
Indeed, when Ursula found a small room that had an intact door and bar, she called for a quick rest and had the team bar the door. Leah had managed to avoid injury for several days, and Ursula wasn’t sure that she’d ever slip up enough to justify a capture for healing. If this Deckard Cain was truly a mystic scholar, he might identify something wrong with the magic circles; best to capture Leah before that.
Everyone cleaned themselves off, drank water, and ate a few rations while Ursula inscribed a circle on the ground. When it was ready, she whispered a few orders and cast a curse of weakness on her bow wielding companion. She was held within the circle, weakly struggling and confused, while Ursula’s ritualists chanted. In twenty minutes… she wasn’t captured.
It took a few moments of analysis for Ursula to diagnose the problem: Leah was too high ranked. She hadn’t displayed any particularly impressive abilities thus far, but apparently she was too strong for the weakest rank of circle. It was a bit of a fiasco, taking a full hour and a half to inscribe and use the stronger circle, meant to capture people of rank 6 or lower. By the end, the hallway outside had already been repopulated with skeletons lying in wait. That certainly made things exciting.
••••••••••
Chadro’thar’s domain was growing steadily. With each day he could send out a new team of heroes, gathering a trickle of resources. Of course, only the first team for each day was free, so he tended to just send one full squad of five. He wasn’t quite ready to start picking any fights, so instead he accumulated skins and heroes from his loot boxes.
He was playing defensively, making as few enemies as possible and trying to not get wrapped up in any other conflicts. He started a journal of all the realms he contacted, and spent a great deal of his time training with minions shrouded in various skins; mostly unarmed martial arts with a pandaren warrior by the name of Chen, just because he lacked the equipment for anything else.
He was… lonely, surrounded by dolls. He could only exhange short messages with his fellow nexus lords, most of whom were potential enemies. Shockingly, even sex got boring when the only available partners were archer minions who had nonexistent personalities, all looked identical to one another, and put out with absolutely no effort on his part. He briefly considered breathing life into Raynor or Azmodan, then putting them into the “Cyberdemon Zarya” skin he’d gotten, but quickly came to his senses. Placing the mind of a man or demon he has no particular interest in into the body of a muscle bound woman shrouded in armor, just for the company? He was truly going mad from the isolation.
He was blessed with good fortune on the ninth day, receiving a third hero at last: a “legendary” hero known as Ana Amari. She was elderly, but he didn’t care. She was a woman, and with any luck she’d be restored to her youth when added to his retinue. If not… ah well. She could command in the field. With shaking hands, he communed with his nexus and shaped the shards into a mind and body that fit her into his realm.
She was… a healer. One who fired bolts that healed her allies from a strange tube. So who would she be here, in his realm? A priestess, likely of Elune? No. A mage who had studied and discovered a way to heal her allies with magic. That would be useful, and far more to his tastes than an uptight priestess. Elderly, but beauty did not demand youth among the elves. Her concealing clothing had no place in a shadow of Xin-Azshari. Her mind was that of a veteran of many wars, so the role of commander fit well.
She would serve well in the field. In the bedroom… well, he decided he wouldn’t order her into bed. He wanted to see how much he needed to do to get her to suggest it herself. To start, he had gotten a lovely bottle of some kind of wine on day six. Perhaps she’d like to share it over dinner.
••••••••••
Once they forced their way out past the far more coordinated and deadly skeletons, substantially depleting their store of healing potions in the process, Ursula’s troops focused on finding a way out. They cleared the upper reaches of the cathedral, mapping the building and accumulating a substantial amount of experience for Ursula.
Looking for a way out was ironically the perfect way to find Cain; he apparently knew the layout of the cathedral quite well, and had a functioning brain. He knew the way out, he just didn’t have the strength of arms necessary to force his way past the skeletons guarding the exits. The old man was shockingly skilled at remaining unseen and using the environment to his advantage; he saw Ursula’s troop long before they saw him.
Nothing about her capture made Leah any less happy to see her Uncle Deckard, and he was equally relieved to see that she was safe. Ursula considered capturing him then and there, but they were too exposed. Better to bring him home safe and sound, just as the mission suggested, and then catch him at night while he slept. He was certainly worth capturing if he could be a mission reward on his own.
The squad exited via the secret passage, using Cain as a guide, and fled the cathedral to the Waypoint in Tristram. They’d lost three people, and another four were badly injured, but at long last Ursula’s first mission was completed. The injured and exhausted men, including Decard Cain, could rest at last. Decard in particular would be given something to help him sleep, and would wake up feeling (and looking) fifty years younger.
She celebrated with a drink, popping the cork on a bottle of fine wine from the mayor’s house. The coward had fled early on, abandoning any of his possessions that he couldn’t carry on a single horse. Few argued when Ursula declared herself the lady of New Tristram, as her followers cheered too loudly for any naysayers to be heard.
She chose a new party member for the simple reason that experience was easy to get in the field. She was in a good place with her spells; between fire bolts, curse of weakness, the several variants of insect swarm, and her new Acid Cloud spell for large groups, she had her offensive needs met quite adequately. As such, she intended to be more frugal, saving for interesting spells like Summon Succubus, Steal Identity, Charm, and the like.
She would pick up defensive magics if she could, but she either didn’t have any available or they were all obfuscated by strange names and no descriptions. Was “cloak of wasps” a defensive or offensive spell? Who is to say?
Of course, those were considerations for tomorrow morning, during her morning meditations. Tonight, she had a new person to get to know. Someone who stuck out like a sore thumb in her heavy armor and magically pristine white tabard, and came straight to this tavern to meet the woman leading the defenses. Ursula had never considered dating a Paladin, but this one seemed intriguing. Red string confirmed that she played for the same team, at least, and she seemed dangerous enough that Ursula had no intention of trying to force a capture.
“Sit next to me, traveler.” Ursula called to the blonde, “I suspect we will have much to discuss, or at least I hope so.”
“Yes, I understand you are overseeing the town’s defense. I came seeking the fallen star, but I see there is much more to be done.”
“Much to discuss indeed…” Ursula purred. “Sit. Have a drink.”
••••••••••
The next day, Chadro’thar sat on a chair next to the nexus crystal, displaying a live feed of the events. His batch of free heroes that day had been remarkably well balanced, containing a heavily armed dwarven warrior named Muradin, a brown human named Lucio that could heal with his strange music, and a short human sorceress named Orphea with some kind of aggressive bound entity serving her. Sending those three along with this two existing heroes, the fat artillery demon Azmodan and the gun toting warrior Raynor, gave a fairly well rounded team compared to most he’d been forced to field.
Importantly, Lucio’s presence and the cap of five heroes in the field at one time meant that Chadro’thar could justify keeping Ana behind. This was not entirely because he wanted the company. She was a veteran who could observe and coach him in how to guide his troops better, and when she took the field in the future as field commander she would benefit from knowing about his point of view.
Of course, serving as a warmup for blood sports in the colorful realm of Nexomania did not provide much in the way of deep strategic counterplay; the whole battle took place in a flat square arena that was only a hundred paces on each side. Ana could command one of his heroes, however, which allowed him to split his focus just a bit less. With her guiding Raynor, he could pay more attention to the rest.
They were slaughtered, of course. The purpose of their mission was to put on a show, and their opponents could resurrect as many times as they wished. That was irrelevant, as Nexus Lord El Guapo was offering a respectable 15 nexus shards, a portion of goodwill, and (far more valuable) a risk free opportunity to get five more boxes.
The boxes were mostly unremarkable. Mostly. An Illidan skin wearing an opaque white jumpsuit, a metal box which blared a nonmagical variation of Lucio’s music (a few shards made the music box shift to a far more palatable harp solo), a barrel of dwarven mead, a spear bearing minion, and something which radically altered Chadro’thar’s entire situation.
“Legendary!” A booming voice soared over the Shores of Eternity. “Drek’Thar!”
At first Chadro’thar was hopeful, assuming it was another legendary hero. A more consistent roster was very appealing, and having more heroes would never be a bad thing as far as he could tell. Alas, it was not. He had been “gifted” a nexus lord, a far more established one.
The world shuddered as the Shores of Eternity crashed into Alterac Valley, merging with the larger realm. Had he gotten luckier, for example capturing El Guapo, this would have been an unbelievable stroke of luck. Drek’Thar had many soldiers loyal to him, and quite a large store of shards. The invested heroes couldn’t be transferred, but the shards could be steadily funneled into Chad’s account.
Alas, Drek’Thar was not the only Nexus Lord in Alterac Valley. By virtue of taking possession of the elderly orc, Chadro’thar had become a part of one of the many eternal conflicts found in the nexus. Worse, his Villa was altogether more exposed than the Frostwolf stronghold, protected only by simple walls, a single tower, a garrison of brain dead minions (half of which were admittedly wearing the skins of heroes), and his new commander as the only hero he could easily resurrect.
On a positive note, he felt in his gut that his lord would be pleased when he sent the skins he’d been hoarding back to the main timeline. He hadn’t even realized that was what happened, but supposed that it made sense.
With a deep breath, he demanded tribute from Drek’Thar. Apparently 100 shards were the maximum that he could deliberately relinquish in a day, but that was thankfully enough to purchase and incarnate Valla.
A huntress driven by hatred? An enforcer, perhaps. An executioner devoted to his will, enraged by those who stood against him. Ana could be hard to get, that added spice, but he also wanted at least one girl who was devoted to him instead of merely obedient.
She was lovely, but he really needed the assassin part of “beautiful highborne assassin” more than the “beautiful” part right now. Ana was already organizing their defenses, just in case the Stormpikes decided to send a few waves of minions and heroes to test their meager defenses. If the dwarves assumed him to be an enemy, it would be a self fulfilling prophecy. He was perfectly willing to counterattack… tomorrow. When he had his full complement of heroes back.
••••••••••
The first step was to test Lady Johanna’s skill at arms. Untold generations of the dead were rising and congregating around New Tristram, so they had an easy time finding her dance partners that night. She was beautiful in her brutal efficiency, using the sheer weight of her armor and shield to crush her enemies. Ursula, flanked by a few volunteers, never once had to intervene.
This woman could do what Ursula had needed a team of ten to accomplish alone, clearing the path to Old Tristram without sustaining a single notable injury. The roads were somewhat clearer than they had been before Ursula wiped out the zombie mothers, but it was still a damn impressive sight.
She was so sure of herself that they were able to chat during their journey through enemy territory. Ursula gave a concocted story that placed her as the returning scion of old but minor Khanduras nobility, exiled during the days of King Leoric’s maddened downfall. All very tragic and far too painful to discuss with any detail. She was very proud of that, allowing her to build sympathy while deflecting inquiries in a single stroke.
Johanna was a member of an order of holy knights known as the Crusaders. Apparently there had been several rather public scandals involving this world’s version of the Church of the Holy Light, and the stalwart Crusaders had taken it upon themselves to split up, scatter to the four winds, and strike down evil wherever they could find it. It was an interesting strategy to restore the faith, but it had a certain blunt appeal in a world that Ursula was quickly coming to realize had quite a lot of evil in it, just waiting to be struck down.
When they returned to Tristram, Johanna was initially resistant to the idea of resting the night in town. She was full of vim and vigor despite waging a one woman war against the undead, and was all too ready to make her way to the Cathedral alone. It was only by enticing her with a prominent Horadric scholar and potential repairs for her battered armor that they managed to get her to stay.
Once that was managed, Johanna showed fear for the first time when Ursula invited her to share a bed. The poor woman blushed furiously; apparently in some ways she was really quite sheltered from her life on the road, personally trained by a single male father figure. No wonder she was so good at fighting; it was all she knew.
••••••••••
The attack came as expected within a few hours; a pair of heavily armored gnoll mercenaries and twenty minions, all led by a hero wearing similar armor to the minions; likely just a probe. Chad nervously took to the field alongside his soldiers; Ana believed that crushing the enemy with overwhelming force would make them seem more dangerous and deter future assaults. As such, they were all striking together with maximum strength to slap the enemy down as quickly as possible.
Chad was the third “hero” to charge the assault leader, once he was already distracted. To his utter shock, the moment his kick connected with the target, he felt a rush of energy as Varian was captured in an instant. Without their commander, the assault crumbled in moments. All of a sudden, Chadro’thar had a third sentient hero on his roster: Footman Varian Wrynn. Not integrated into his own realm, but undeniably his property.
Vanndar was spooked by that; he’d intended to test defenses, and he somehow managed to permanently lose a hero. Chad played it safe for a few days, presenting himself as a neutral and disinterested party that was a very bad idea to assault, so he didn’t face another attack. That likely wouldn’t last forever, but Chadro’thar was happy for the respite regardless.
He sent out a team of four each day during that time to any realm that wanted him, consisting of his random heroes plus Raynor. Azmodan could launch massive fireballs across tremendous distances, so Ana believed he was the best to keep behind in case Vanndar tried something with massive hordes of minions. Meanwhile, the four sentient members of the retinue each practiced guiding a single warrior on each of their various missions, and then met to discuss how they had done and what to do differently in the future. After their midnight meal, Chadro’thar and Valla would retire to bed while Ana and Varian kept watch on the border.
All in all, it was a fairly comfortable existence.
••••••••••
Initially, Ursula had wanted to rig up climbing equipment and climb down into the crater in stages. Focus on getting to the fallen star directly, attempting to bypass as many of the undead as possible. Fortunately, Cain was able to warn her against that.
The enemy was not a herd of mindless undead; they had their own little miniature Lich King guiding at least the skeletons with his will alone, and slowly reanimating their bones as many times as necessary. If they wanted to get the star, they needed to handle King Leoric, and to do that they needed to force his soul back into his body.
With Johanna leading the charge, they were able to blitz through the hordes at a breakneck speed, hunting down the fallen king’s crown for a ritual cooked up by Cain. All the while Ursula flirted with the crusader at every opportunity. Either the repressed woman would break down and enter into her first romantic relationship in her mid 20s (capture would be inevitable then), or she’d get badly hurt due to her distraction and give the team an excellent opportunity to heal her with a ritual. Either way worked for Ursula.
••••••••••
The Fallen Star
Make contact with the Star that fell upon this land.
Reward: 5000 exp OR potential party member appears
Sponsor: 5 credit rebate on lure or talent Sharing
••••••••••
Endgame budget: 9 company credits
-1 permanent purchase: Lividia
-1 Letter of Recommendation: Child by Lividia, Child by Azshara, Child by Aegwynn, Tony, Nefaria (subject to change)