We planned quickly. The huge battle would take a lot of preparation, about two hours or so. During that time, Vlaine would talk to some of the younger monsters that he thought would be on my side. He said that was a pretty easy step, since I had managed to get a lot of respect through killing so many ratfolk by myself. After that, he himself would go on patrol, using the freedom of being a monster to look for players. He would then lead them to me.
Within an hour, there were six teenagers sitting around me inside a wooded glen. Asking them a few questions, it became quite clear that they hated the nobles, not just the ones from Ulcik's house. They told me themselves that they had heard I had defended the inn despite being a fugitive, none of them realizing that all I did was stop the nobles from having a chance to show off. Thankfully, whether or not they were trustworthy didn't matter, I explained what I wanted them to do. Handing them each a gold piece, I promised them another if things went as planned.
I met up with Vlaine fifteen minutes before the big battle was supposed to start, and he said that everything was ready. He even said that he had gone one step further than we had planned, and managed to convince a particular person to join us. It was the guy who I had been forced to resort to relying on statistical advantage in order to defeat. After that first battle where he had figured out to use the low stance to counter my attacks, I recieved the chance to fight him several more times. He was easily one of the most skilled fighters that was here, and it was only towards the end of that night that I felt like I had grown to be able to fight him purely with skill. Even by then though, I felt that had we both been outfitted with the same weapon, I would have lost each time.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:58
Vlaine then explained that that man was going to be playing a summoned air elemental, a creature that could walk right past a shield wall just by saying that he was flying. This meant that the battle could very quickly turn into the perfect situation for me.
As he ran back to the cave in order to get his costume on, I ran towards the large field where the battle would take place. I moved into the woods that lined the field, preparing a makeshift blind to conceal my position. What I needed to do now was just watch and wait, until the perfect moment presented itself.
The two armies soon gathered at opposite ends of the field. The giants were organized in loose squads, and were clearly out numbered almost two-to-one. However that was only in reality, while in the fantasy world there were more giants than there were players. When a giant would fall, he would go to the edge of the woods, wait a few seconds, and then come back as a new giant.
Typically, they had a set number of times they respawn, depending on how strong of a giant they were, with weaker giants respawning more times than stronger giants. However, this number would likely change as the battle went on, as the old man (the battle coordinator) would see how many mages still could cast spells on the players' side. If there were only a handful of mages left, the coordinator would just tell the monsters to stop respawning, and the battle would soon be over. Everything was geared in the player's favor, and there was absolutely no chance that they would lose.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:00
The players were organized by noble house. Those who were not part of a noble house were conscripted into one for the duration of the battle. Their strategy was simple. The warriors would form a shield wall, with the mages behind them as support. A few of the noble warriors were already in the front lines, with pocket mages already behind them. They would just let the waves of giants crash onto the shield lines, which would undoubtedly hold (the strong warriors would never fall because of their pocket mages, while the weaker warriors would just be replaced as they fell). Everything about the battle seemed to have already been decided.
I spotted Ulcik, safely in the back, with a large entourage. Among them, I spotted Hardule, Lith, and even Selenia and her newly resurrected boyfriend. Knowing that that could turn into a very complicated situation, I hoped that the battle would press the entourage to spread out.
As the battle began, the air quickly filled with shouts. The nobles shouted orders at the other players, while the giants simply shouted. I watched intently, seeing the players shift around, until I saw what I was looking for. Six players, with shields forming a line, were directly in front of Vlaine's squad of giants.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:02
I stood up, and walked out of the forest, behind the players' forces. Vlaine, who had been fighting lazily, spotted me, and with a great shout, lifted his staff into the air with both hands. Responding to this signal, the six players moved out and to the sides, forming a massive gap directly in the center of the shield wall formation. Ignoring those six, Vlaine and his squad marched right past the sheild wall, striking down mage after mage.
It all happened in an instant. The scripted battle, with it's foretold conclusion, turned into absolute chaos. The players tried at first to close the gap, but the other monsters knew an advantage when they saw one. They poured into the gap, striking the almost completely defenseless mages, dropping one after the other. With no healer support, the front line began to crumble and a complete rout seemed likely.
That was, until Ulcik and the other nobles decided to step up.
With a single spell, Ulcik obliterated Vlaine's entire squadron, stopping the spearhead formation that had managed to create such a large gap. As he continued to throw spells with abandon, the other nobles began activating their special abilities. Some became invincible, others exploded in damage, and one managed to revive ten of the mages who had fallen. The battle quickly turned against the giants, who were pressed back until the shield wall reestablished itself.
I watched all this with anticipation.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:03
No one seemed to notice me, or at least, they didn't seem to care about me. No one except Lith. As soon as he spotted me, he knew my intentions. He moved towards me, away from Ulcik, and confronted me.
There was no point in words. This wasn't a matter that concerned House Ulcik or this game, all that mattered was that this was a rematch, a moment for Lith to restore his lost honor. As he moved towards me, I threw an Ice spell at him, hoping to pin his legs. Without flinching, he simply replied "Minor Immunity" and continued forward.
This was fine by me. Being immune to all low level spells (which were all of my spells) made this into a straight sword fight. The only thing that irked me was that it was most likely Ulcik who had cast it on Lith, but even that meant one less spell Ulcik could cast today.
We were a bit of a distance away from the rest of the battle, and while I desperately needed to pay attention to it, I couldn't afford to. Lith was earnestly trying to kill me, and this time I was ready to respond in kind.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:04
He had not been through what I had been through. His sword was slow in comparison to the daggers I had faced, and his shield seemed to trouble him more than me. My sword sang, slicing through the air and then into his leg, and again into his shoulder. He was shocked when he heard me call out 7 damage, and now he was at best two hits away from dying. He didn't say a word though, and charged forward, slamming me with his shield.
I fell back, not expecting the illegal strike, but complimenting him on his willingness to use it. He wasn't holding anything back, and I was glad he had decided to take this so seriously. As he tried again to slam his shield into me, I used all of my strength to whip my sword into his, disarming him and tossing his sword away. I followed the blow with a light tap to his shoulder, before letting him pick up his sword.
Three times seven was 21, while he only had started with 22 HP. With his single HP left, I decided to remind him of our earlier battle, by telling him to run off to the inn to find a healer.
These might have been some kind of magic words. As soon as I said them, he shouted, threw down his shield, and leapt at me with his sword.
81
u/Vinccool96 Transcriber Oct 15 '18
Image Transcription: Greentext
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:57
We planned quickly. The huge battle would take a lot of preparation, about two hours or so. During that time, Vlaine would talk to some of the younger monsters that he thought would be on my side. He said that was a pretty easy step, since I had managed to get a lot of respect through killing so many ratfolk by myself. After that, he himself would go on patrol, using the freedom of being a monster to look for players. He would then lead them to me.
Within an hour, there were six teenagers sitting around me inside a wooded glen. Asking them a few questions, it became quite clear that they hated the nobles, not just the ones from Ulcik's house. They told me themselves that they had heard I had defended the inn despite being a fugitive, none of them realizing that all I did was stop the nobles from having a chance to show off. Thankfully, whether or not they were trustworthy didn't matter, I explained what I wanted them to do. Handing them each a gold piece, I promised them another if things went as planned.
I met up with Vlaine fifteen minutes before the big battle was supposed to start, and he said that everything was ready. He even said that he had gone one step further than we had planned, and managed to convince a particular person to join us. It was the guy who I had been forced to resort to relying on statistical advantage in order to defeat. After that first battle where he had figured out to use the low stance to counter my attacks, I recieved the chance to fight him several more times. He was easily one of the most skilled fighters that was here, and it was only towards the end of that night that I felt like I had grown to be able to fight him purely with skill. Even by then though, I felt that had we both been outfitted with the same weapon, I would have lost each time.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:58
Vlaine then explained that that man was going to be playing a summoned air elemental, a creature that could walk right past a shield wall just by saying that he was flying. This meant that the battle could very quickly turn into the perfect situation for me.
As he ran back to the cave in order to get his costume on, I ran towards the large field where the battle would take place. I moved into the woods that lined the field, preparing a makeshift blind to conceal my position. What I needed to do now was just watch and wait, until the perfect moment presented itself.
The two armies soon gathered at opposite ends of the field. The giants were organized in loose squads, and were clearly out numbered almost two-to-one. However that was only in reality, while in the fantasy world there were more giants than there were players. When a giant would fall, he would go to the edge of the woods, wait a few seconds, and then come back as a new giant.
Typically, they had a set number of times they respawn, depending on how strong of a giant they were, with weaker giants respawning more times than stronger giants. However, this number would likely change as the battle went on, as the old man (the battle coordinator) would see how many mages still could cast spells on the players' side. If there were only a handful of mages left, the coordinator would just tell the monsters to stop respawning, and the battle would soon be over. Everything was geared in the player's favor, and there was absolutely no chance that they would lose.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:00
The players were organized by noble house. Those who were not part of a noble house were conscripted into one for the duration of the battle. Their strategy was simple. The warriors would form a shield wall, with the mages behind them as support. A few of the noble warriors were already in the front lines, with pocket mages already behind them. They would just let the waves of giants crash onto the shield lines, which would undoubtedly hold (the strong warriors would never fall because of their pocket mages, while the weaker warriors would just be replaced as they fell). Everything about the battle seemed to have already been decided.
I spotted Ulcik, safely in the back, with a large entourage. Among them, I spotted Hardule, Lith, and even Selenia and her newly resurrected boyfriend. Knowing that that could turn into a very complicated situation, I hoped that the battle would press the entourage to spread out.
As the battle began, the air quickly filled with shouts. The nobles shouted orders at the other players, while the giants simply shouted. I watched intently, seeing the players shift around, until I saw what I was looking for. Six players, with shields forming a line, were directly in front of Vlaine's squad of giants.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:02
I stood up, and walked out of the forest, behind the players' forces. Vlaine, who had been fighting lazily, spotted me, and with a great shout, lifted his staff into the air with both hands. Responding to this signal, the six players moved out and to the sides, forming a massive gap directly in the center of the shield wall formation. Ignoring those six, Vlaine and his squad marched right past the sheild wall, striking down mage after mage.
It all happened in an instant. The scripted battle, with it's foretold conclusion, turned into absolute chaos. The players tried at first to close the gap, but the other monsters knew an advantage when they saw one. They poured into the gap, striking the almost completely defenseless mages, dropping one after the other. With no healer support, the front line began to crumble and a complete rout seemed likely.
That was, until Ulcik and the other nobles decided to step up.
With a single spell, Ulcik obliterated Vlaine's entire squadron, stopping the spearhead formation that had managed to create such a large gap. As he continued to throw spells with abandon, the other nobles began activating their special abilities. Some became invincible, others exploded in damage, and one managed to revive ten of the mages who had fallen. The battle quickly turned against the giants, who were pressed back until the shield wall reestablished itself.
I watched all this with anticipation.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:03
No one seemed to notice me, or at least, they didn't seem to care about me. No one except Lith. As soon as he spotted me, he knew my intentions. He moved towards me, away from Ulcik, and confronted me.
There was no point in words. This wasn't a matter that concerned House Ulcik or this game, all that mattered was that this was a rematch, a moment for Lith to restore his lost honor. As he moved towards me, I threw an Ice spell at him, hoping to pin his legs. Without flinching, he simply replied "Minor Immunity" and continued forward.
This was fine by me. Being immune to all low level spells (which were all of my spells) made this into a straight sword fight. The only thing that irked me was that it was most likely Ulcik who had cast it on Lith, but even that meant one less spell Ulcik could cast today.
We were a bit of a distance away from the rest of the battle, and while I desperately needed to pay attention to it, I couldn't afford to. Lith was earnestly trying to kill me, and this time I was ready to respond in kind.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:04
He had not been through what I had been through. His sword was slow in comparison to the daggers I had faced, and his shield seemed to trouble him more than me. My sword sang, slicing through the air and then into his leg, and again into his shoulder. He was shocked when he heard me call out 7 damage, and now he was at best two hits away from dying. He didn't say a word though, and charged forward, slamming me with his shield.
I fell back, not expecting the illegal strike, but complimenting him on his willingness to use it. He wasn't holding anything back, and I was glad he had decided to take this so seriously. As he tried again to slam his shield into me, I used all of my strength to whip my sword into his, disarming him and tossing his sword away. I followed the blow with a light tap to his shoulder, before letting him pick up his sword.
Three times seven was 21, while he only had started with 22 HP. With his single HP left, I decided to remind him of our earlier battle, by telling him to run off to the inn to find a healer.
These might have been some kind of magic words. As soon as I said them, he shouted, threw down his shield, and leapt at me with his sword.
Leaving his front leg exposed.
I'm a human volunteer content transcriber for Reddit and you could be too! If you'd like more information on what we do and why we do it, click here!