Chapter 74: A Death in the Family

Chapter 74: A Death in the Family

Brandon knocked aside the charred rubble and opened the door to the tavern. The stout outer door was barely singed and opened easily. No one was inside, and it looked like the bar was emptied. That didn't bother him at all. Enough of these idiots would be drunk soon enough anyway on their own liquor. The upstairs door was locked with a small sign that said 'Private rooms, please keep out.' Fine, what he cared about was in the basement.

A blue flag was hanging in the corner of the tavern. When he moved over and touched it, the flag turned red.

War Update: Momco has taken control point 1: Tavern; Momco controls 1/3 control points.

A minute later he got a second message. The unit assigned to guard the rear must have found that objective.

War Update: Momco has taken control point 3: Gadobhra Gate; Momco controls 2/3 control points.Emerging from the sanctum of Nøv€lß¡n☆, this essence holds secrets untold.

He headed downstairs to get the third. The basement had also been cleared out. Timmy had told him they used it as a brewery. He made a mental note to get the brewers to set that up again and get the tavern running. Good for morale and good for his pocket.

The dungeon was easy to find in the small sub-basement. The flag was at its entrance. He touched it and it turned red.

War Update: Momco has taken control point 2: Dungeon Entrance; Momco controls 3/3 control points.

Well, that should make Timmy happy. The only thing he wanted out of this war was free reign to go into the dungeon whenever he wanted. Which was fine by Brandon. If that kept Timmy and the family happy, he had fewer problems. He could wrap up this little acquisition and move onto the next.

"Get your shiny ass down here, Timmy. The dungeon is all yours. Have fun with it."

Sir Timothy appeared with his regular adventuring crew. "Excellent. I've missed this hole in the ground. The boys and I need to grind out some points. We'll hold off on a big raid until after you mop up the town officially."

"Lock and load boys. Time to go kill some rats."

He went to enter and nothing happened.

You do not have permission to enter The Lair of the Under-Rodent sponsored by Bludgeon Brew.

Suzette the Dungeon Keeper has left this message for you: "Piss off. No one is getting into the dungeon while Momco and ACME are having their stupid little dance."

"Dammit, she can't do that! We won. Joe, go up and ask Suzette to come down here and open the place up." Timmy really hated not getting what he wanted, and right now he wanted to go get more points.

Brandon was amused by the situation. He knew they'd be getting the dungeon; poor little Timmy would just have to be patient. And he was horrible at being patient. "Well, no, technically we haven't won yet. We just wiped out their army and took all the objectives. I'm going to try and get the General to declare us the winners tonight. But the dungeon is tricky. Sammy said Suzette actually owns half the tavern which is how she claimed it for ACME. And she has a contract with them to split the treasure.

"Winning the town gives us ACME's half, but I'm not sure about her half. Don't worry, your old friend Brandon already has deals in the works."

=*=

Ben heard the blows on the door from the first floor and voices. He ran down to find out what was happening. The explosion had blown out all the windows in the tavern and they'd felt the heat and the concussion even through the thick walls. Then it had gotten quiet except for the sounds of injured players.

They ran down to the second floor. Several people were pounding on the door now. Ben yelled down the narrow stairway. "Who's there? These are private rooms. By the rules you need to leave us alone."

A loud voice yelled back. "This town belongs to Momco now; send down Suzette so she can open the dungeon or we'll come drag her down.”

Suzette clenched her fists and let out a small hiss of anger. "Go screw yourself. I don't answer to Momco."

Rolly smiled, "Well, I don't know about you folks, but I've been injured by a Momco acid bath and now they are threatening a friend and breaking into these rooms where I have a very valuable moose hanging on the wall."

Ben nodded. "True. But let’s give them another chance. That sounds like a lot of them." Ben pitched his voice louder, "Let's be reasonable out this guys. Just back off and let things be. The General will be by tonight and Suzette will come down and talk. No need to start a fight."

Mr. Loud shouted back. "Not waiting, asshole. We'll come get her. And where did you hide all the damn beer?!!" The door splintered as an axe bit into to it.

Ben shrugged. "Plan?"

Ozzy looked at Suzette, who was trembling with fury, clenching and unclenching her fists. "I'm at the head of the stairs. I'm going to pincushion the first asshole to come up and use him to block the others. Ben, you have reach with your whip, snipe at open heads. Rolly...well, you and Squirmie do what you do best: kill things. If they push us back, retreat to the third floor. Maybe they'll be satisfied with the beer and alcohol in the rooms."

The stairs were only about five feet wide but the hallway was about eight feet. A low rail separated the stairwell from the wider area next to it. Coming up the stairs two people at a time was possible, but cramped. Advancing against people with weapons was suicidal.

Unless you thought you were only fighting some workers who couldn't fight back. Momco had their own contract workers, and everyone here knew they couldn't fight. The workers often got taunted into trying to throw a punch, and then would get mocked and beaten. It was a favorite pass time in some of the Momco towns. So as the door caved in, and the first fighter charged up the stairs he was very surprised when a red-hot pole weapon of hideous design impaled him and knocked him back into the next man. The Ancient Billhook of Intwined Fates was a heavy weapon that few could learn to use properly. With 15 STR, it danced in Ozzy's hands like a light broomstick sweeping away some cobwebs.

You have failed to resist a curse. Your body is weakened.

You have been struck in the chest by a butcher for 200 points of damage.

You have been hit by a whip. You mitigate some of the damage but take 40 points of radiant damage.

Ozzy first thrust his victim down the stairs, then pulled back to free his weapon. As he did that, Ben flicked his whip down the stairs, and hit the same man with Flaming Brand. With eight points of radiance supercharging the spell, and his DEX of ten, the whip cut deeply through armor and into muscle.

"My tavern, asshole, my tavern. You control it for your silly war, but you don't own it," Suzette had her fists balled, nails biting into her palms.

Brandon smiled at her. "Yes, let’s talk about this silly war. It's over. We hold all three points of control, and outnumber ACME 20 to 1. They have only six people hiding in the woods. It's over."

Ozzy put his hands on Suzette’s shoulders to calm her, and addressed the general. "It's my understanding this event lasts for ten days. That's nine days and twenty-three hours from now."

The General was pleased to see that someone understood how to use a clock. "That is correct. While I may agree with Brandon that, from a military point of view, ACME has lost, we have some rules to follow. ACME's military commander does not concede defeat. He had a lot more to say that I won't repeat."

Brandon took a step towards the General. "Well and good of him. But by this time tomorrow ACME will have surrendered. I anticipated this outcome and made an arrangement with Vernon Brockmeyer of ACME just before the war started. He's busy with other matters and conceded that they had little chance of winning."

He turned to Suzette. "Since you'll be working for me as of tomorrow, I'd see it as a personal favor if you would let Sir Timothy make use of our dungeon tonight."

Suzette started giggling. Then she laughed at Brandon. Then she flipped him off. "Go to hell. If Vern gives you the town, I'll just walk away and Billy can put me to work somewhere else. You can figure out how to get into the dungeon. Not my problem."

Brandon waited until she was done. "Oh, but it is your problem. There are some nice contracts associated with Sedgewick that Momco is willing to pay quite a bit of gold for. Vernon needs that gold for new projects. We'll be taking over their half of the tavern, and their contract with you for sharing the dungeon. Also, the contract with Bludgeon Brew and with the Legion."

"And we are buying up the contracts for a few of the workers; namely you, the butcher, and Betty the cook. As of this time tomorrow Momco owns you. I look forward to working with you. You can do it as a barmaid, or we can change your class to something like sewer worker or strumpet. It's up to you. Welcome to Momco"

Suzette staggered away from Ozzy and went to her knees. "No...not again."

Ozzy looked at General Themis. "This isn't right! They can't buy and sell us like slaves."

Brandon smirked. "You mean like contract workers. Read your contract."

Themis looked very unhappy, but said to Ozzy. "I'm only here to oversee the war, not dispute corporate contracts. I don't like it. But if Brandon is telling the truth, then tomorrow morning Momco will be declared the winner."

Suzette looked up, tears rolling down her face and screamed, "NO!"

Timmy looked away, uncomfortable. Brandon leered at her and said "Oh, yes."

Suzette crumpled to the floor and her body disappeared.

Ozzy, Ben and Rolly were all yelling.

Brandon looked pleased. "I never saw someone actually cry themself to death; that's a first."

SYSTEM MESSAGE: The player known as Suzette has suffered a terminal medical event. Her account has closed.

The dungeon at this location is no longer claimed.

Momco may select a new Dungeon Keeper.

The 50% of the ownership of the tavern reverts to ACME as Suzette must default on their contract.

The entirety of the tavern will pass to Momco assuming they are victorious in the current war.

Ben and Rolly were stunned. Ozzy wasn't. He was too angry.

There was something deep inside that raced to the surface. He was across the room instantly. He backhanded Brandon, slapping his face so hard that he shattered his jaw and teeth sprayed across the room. Timmy tried to draw his sword. Ozzy reached out a huge left fist and grabbed Timmy by the bicep, squeezing and breaking his arm. He pulled back with his other fist for a punch, but Themis caught him by the arm and stopped him.

"Stand Down! She's gone! This isn't how you solve it!"

Ozzy just growled and swung Timmy up by the arm he held, then slammed him into the ground, placed a foot on his chest, and pulled. Timmy's arm ripped off at the shoulder!

Themis had seen a lot, but this made her hesitate and Ozzy used that moment to slam her into the wall.

SYSTEM MESSAGE: Player named Ozzy is listed as next of kin. Your presence is requested to make decisions regarding disposal of the body of the deceased and other matters.

One moment Ozzy was walking towards Themis with the intention of beating her to death with Timmy's arm. The next he was gone.

A moment passed and Ben raced to Timmy and stopped his bleeding. Themis looked at him. "Didn't peg you for a Paladin - lots of secrets here in Sedgewick. Can you reattach the arm?"

"I can Lay hands and do some minor healing. I'm damn sure not appealing to my goddess for this spoiled brat."

Themis nodded. "Fair enough. I can't either. He can deal with learning to fight left-handed."

Rolly said, "I'll help Brandon!" his smile wasn't nice.