Chapter 25: Draugr Olympics (The Draugr Invasion, pt. 2)

Chapter 25: Draugr Olympics (The Draugr Invasion, pt. 2)

The draugr were breaking into the town of Kruxol, and gaining more powerful units. If the draugr succeeded, Kruxol's reserve force, made up of the people who had spent the longest time in Kruxol over the last few days, would be automatically sent out to defend the town. Since the game was new and Kruxol was a starting town for new players, most players who had been cooped up in Kruxol would be low-level players and drunkards. At that point, Cael supposed that the draugr invasion would turn into a slaughter of players. He was South of Kruxol, and quite indifferent to the town's suffering, but was tense and alert because of the announcement that the draugr would be getting more powerful units.

Standing over the fallen draugr, Cael heard a soft hissing sound emerge from a nearby cabin, as well as a simmering sound that sounded like fire. This must be the draugr Mages. On hearing this, he made a break to the left of the cabins and started to run until he was a safe distance away. Looking carefully back towards the cabins, he saw the silhouette of two [Draugr Mage], wearing dark red robes, and noticed that a few more Mages were slowly spawning to join them. After five minutes, a group of five Mages had gathered and set off towards Kruxol. Cael waited for a few minutes to make sure that the Mage spawn had slowed down, while impatiently pacing around in a small, dark, treeless part of the woods. He nearly tripped over a bundle of rocks, and saw that these were seemingly connected to a small mound of mud and rocks that had been artificially raised in this empty part of the forest.

He guessed that this was the remnants of an old barrow or burial mound. Scraping lightly at the mud, he received a notice, saying:

[Cursed be he who moves my bones.]

He idly wondered if Shakespeare was now a draugr.

Having confirmed that this mound was a barrow of some sort, he surveyed the area around it, in case it held anything which might help with the current undead infestation. He saw a faint glitter hidden within a small bush growing over the old barrow, and reaching into it he found a [Cursed Draugr Sword]. He received a notice in his system messages:

[During the draugr invasion, barrows have been discovered in the area around Kruxol. Weapons found on a draugr's barrow may be helpful in combatting the draugr!]

Cael kept the sword, and started walking slowly back towards the cabins. On the way, he saw another small mound of rocks, which he hadn't paid attention to before, and scavenged around it until he received another [Cursed Draugr Sword], which he stored in his inventory.

The forces of Kruxol were defeated by the draugr hordes, and the town was ransacked by the draugr. Although the town called up its reserves, and even attempted to fight after the draugr had entered, it was in vain and great suffering has occurred. You may take this time to mourn your fallen comrades.

Kruxol has been relegated from a level 5 town to a level 3 town, worsening the services and goods available. An increase in crime has led to several stores losing their stock of rare items. Check your map to see which other towns have prospered or suffered from this event.

Since the draugr have won, they will have another chance to attack Kruxol in exactly one hour, and all residents of Kruxol will be forced out into the open where they could be attacked. All residents who do not want to face the invading draugr, please flee the town before this occurs. Draugr will not enter the safe zone of Kruxol before that happens. Some of the strongest draugr, who attained the most kills in this invasion, will be prowling the areas directly South and North of Kruxol in the meantime. Be careful.]

This was a great event for ganking Guilds: they were generally not based in towns and so could avoid or outrun the draugr, but now they could take advantage of players trying to flee the towns. Cael guessed that a few Guilds would try to counteract this by escorting their weaker members, but there was no time for them to organise a group to shelter all players fleeing Kruxol.

As he walked back towards Kruxol, he saw a few burial mounds near the town with draugr hovering around them, having returned from fighting in the invasion. He took care to avoid notice by these powerful creatures. They did not seem keen to walk away from their barrows, however. Curiously, he started to inspect which weapons they were holding. He saw one which was carrying a [Black Cursed Draugr Light Sword], and considered that it would be useful for Crucis. However, he didn't see any good way to dispossess this draugr. He took a short detour towards a small but deep stream running through the woods, flowing out from the famous Southern lake. There, he carefully scanned the draugr nearest the stream, until he saw one near Kruxol who was also carrying the [Black Cursed Draugr Sword]. This draugr was level 30, and looked to be strong but not strengthened that much. Cael guessed that, even though it was not strengthened fully, its faster weapon could have assured it many kills among the weaker, newer players who were still in Kruxol. With the horde supporting it, the speed of its attacks would have overwhelmed many players.

Cael walked up to it carefully, and used [Magic Missile] to knock it back. This dealt 35% of the strengthened draugr's HP. However, the draugr seemed determined to keep its footing, and turned mightily in Cael's direction. However, a brief [Mana Push] was enough to make the draugr fall. Using [Spark], Cael weakened the draugr slightly and kept it on the ground, allowing for the comfortable use of [Dark's Tendrils] which reduced the draugr to 1% HP. This fight could still be difficult, but Cael quickly used [Mana Strike] to shove the draugr into the stream, and then fled to nearby Kruxol when done.

Kruxol was littered with corpses, and Cael could see many players who had died with their names displayed, and may never return. They had probably been enthusiastic to make a name for themselves in the event, and ran out to fight before the announcement cautioning them against it. Cael saw that, as Kruxol had its town status downgraded, many of its buildings now appeared cracked and old. The starting town had also been trashed by the invading horde, and many of its neatly-kept windows and streetlights were bent or broken out of shape. 'The spider built his web in the palace of the noobs.'

Cael, despite fighting the draugr for hours, came to appreciate them as he walked through the alleys strewn with blood and broken glass. He decided that he might as well give them a helping hand on their return to Kruxol, by using the physical attacks of Crucis to strengthen the creatures currently loitering around Kruxol. Since Crucis could easily outrun them, the current status of Kruxol as a safe zone meant that while he couldn't damage most of them, he could at least strengthen them until they were likely to overrun Kruxol easily and cause mass destruction. This would give him an entertaining spectacle to watch later.