"I think Goblin Glade is the best bet too." You say after a moment. While you are pretty eager to level up, you haven't even cast a single spell yet.
Anshelm looks a bit put out, but Seraphine seems relieved. "I guess that's fine." He grumbles. The four of you set out then, since its going be a little bit of trip according to Maya, only an hours march, but still. You idly listen in on the conversation that springs up between Maya And Seraphine as you walk.
"…Um… why do you wear something like that Miss Maya? I've seen a few other hunters around, and the starting armor isn't… that. Aren't you embarrassed?" The other elementalist asks your apparent party leader.
"Oh? Yes, it is a little too revealing, but the stealth bonus is pretty nice for me. A lot of the equipment for women is like this though." She frowns, glancing down at herself. "It's really kind of annoying."
You catch Anshelm looking at the same thing she is and blushing, he catches you watching and jerks his eyes away. You end up laughing under your breath… until it really processes that one day you might have to choose between your dignity and stats, ugh. Stupid pervy gods.
Seraphine seems downright distraught, "Ah… isn't there any way to change how it looks?"
Maya pats her comfortingly on the shoulder. "Sure, the disguise skill is surprisingly popular for that. Of course that also means that it's expensive, unless you can loot the skill crystal, and I'm not sure where to find one." She pauses, "I'm sure you could pull any of the equipment off though Sera. " Which leaves the other girl stumbling over an assurance that she doesn't want to pull anything off.
That does make you consider something, mostly that you don't know any of your companion's skills. "Hey, now that I think about it, we haven't told each other about our skills. Shouldn't we do that before we head into the dungeon?"
"That does seem like a good idea." Anshelm cuts in, perhaps too quickly, you think he just wants to change the current subject, "I get a bonus to defense for each enemy in striking range, and a free shot at any of them who try to leave it from Spears. Shield makes me harder to push around and lets me draw enemy attention."
You shrug, whatever his intention, it gets things on the track you wanted… and away from bad thoughts. "I Can do a blast of ice damage in an arc, or a chill aura to get anything near me. Staves just gives me more power and range."
Maya shrugs and goes along with it. "I already know most of the starting skills, but sure. Twin Knives removes the penalty for using two weapons and lets me do double damage to opponents who can't see me. Stealth does what you would think, and lets me make a single enemy lose interest for some SP. I also picked up Appraise, so I can tell the value of lower tier items just by looking."
Seraphine fidgets a bit and responds a little slower. "I have Staves like Mister Al. Fire magic lets me target two enemies with burning rays or do a burst of fire that knocks close enemies away."
You nod, seems like a pretty good mix, you kind wish your chill aura had a knock back effect. "So what about your personal skills? Mine are an all around magic booster and a bonus to searches and extra encounter rates."
"My, trying to steal all of a ladies secrets on the first day Al? You just get bolder and bolder. Personal skills are kind of private you know?" Maya responds after a moment. "Still, an extra encounter boost? That's pretty useful, they have the best drops of all, even if they are harder enemies."
Anshelm shrugs, but speaks up. "It's no big deal. I get stronger the less health I have, and get an experience multiplier when I party with higher level people." Hmph, is he trying to upstage you?
Maya hesitates a moment, and then shrugs, returning to smiling cheerfully. "Mine is an increase to all charisma based actions." She admits. "The other is an all around stat boost, but the trigger is…" She pauses, and you lean in anticipating the response, "…A secret!"
Ugh, your eyebrow twitches. That's annoying, and cliché, but mostly annoying. Seraphine is blushing heavily you notice, but she does manage to squeak out a response, "Um… mine makes me harder for enemies to notice, and the second increases the effect of any skill that deals fire damage."
Wow, no wonder she chose fire elementalist. Threat reduction and a boost to her element, that's pretty decent. Not as good as yours of course. She looks like she needs reassuring though. "Those are pretty good ones Seraphine, you shouldn't be embarrassed about it." You respond seriously… then immediately scowl at Maya as she starts doing that weird laugh again.
You reach the city gates after that and begin your trek out to this dungeon. You've never actually been outside the city before. You know the area close by is relatively safe, bu the further out you travel the thicker the monsters become. Save for the Great Road connecting Alkhot to Morrlyn, and that takes constant effort from branded to keep clear.
The land is odd and patchwork. A forest might cut off suddenly and segue into a swamp, or flat plains suddenly become jagged spires of rock… it makes navigation a little difficult, but since Maya knows her way, you don't have to worry about getting lost.
The trip is quiet, none of you really know each other well, Maya makes an effort to get you all talking though… with some mixed success. Either way you reach the dungeon pretty quickly, Goblin Glade is only perhaps an hours walk outside the city, and you don't have to traverse anything weirder than a freakishly hot stretch of sand to get there.
You can see as you approach a floating pane of mystic script in front of a small woodland glade… and the distortion in the air around it that indicates the presence of a dungeon.
Goblin Glade
Level Cap: 3
Ranks Unlocked: E
Condition: Defeat the Goblin Boss
To Enter Select your Rank
"Here we are!" Maya calls, you might have lagged behind a little, it's not your fault that desert was so hot! Stupid chaotic climate. "The first room is pretty easy, its just a bunch of goblins, the numbers vary sometimes, and a few of their warg pets. Anshelm, you should concentrate on getting them to fight you. Seraphine, you and I will target the wargs. Al, help Anshelm out with the group of goblins."
Anshelm grunts an agreement and Seraphine nods, you nod confidently as well. "Got it, these things won't know what hit 'em!"
Maya smiles cheerfully and reaches out pressing her finger to the boldly lettered E on the dungeon map.
Oh gods, why is everything turning inside out and upside down. It feels like you're falling in an empty void for a moment as the world melts away around you. It only lasts a few seconds though before you find yourself in a pleasant woodland clearing. The sun appears high in the sky, despite the fact that it is early morning outside.
As you regain your bearing Maya gestures for you all to be quiet, and gestures forward toward where you can hear the grunts of savage creatures arguing… and just sort of fades out of sight. You can kinda still see a shimmering outline, but glancing at your companions its clear that they cannot see her at all. Go Perception!
Anshelm sets his shoulders and walks forward with you and Seraphine trailing behind. Your fingers tighten around your staff, and you can't help but feel a little nervous, this is your first combat after all.
The enemies when you see them are almost comical. Short green skinned creatures with long noses and pot bellies, armed with spears that are little better than sharpened sticks. There are only three of them…. But each sits astride a big black furred wolf creature with glowing eyes and oversized teeth.
They spy you roughly the same time Anshelm clashes his spear and against his shield and yells, "Come get some!"
It isn't just bravado though, You watch a sliver of his SP drain as all the enemies turn toward him and attack, voicing vicious war cries and beastly snarls. You blink away your surprise and raise your staff willing your spell to emerge. A spray of icy frost erupts around Anshelm and his enemies as they engage him, wooden spears clinking off of his armor, even as one of the Wargs worries at his spear. Cold washes over them and frost spreads across skin and hide, drawing yelps of pain from the combatants and leaving Anshelm unharmed. That was sweet!
For his part, he bashes the warg occupying his spear in the face with his shield, knocking teeth loose and sending the creature reeling back, how many points did he put into strength? The warg continues to have a bad day as a searing bolt of red fire strikes the Warg lighting its fur on fire and drawing another pitiful canine yelp.
You glance over and see Seraphine holding her staff out as well… she's smiling too, and you don't really want to consider just how happy she looks while the warg burns.
Then Maya simply appears from thin air among the group, two silver daggers driving into the base of a wargs throat and drawing a spurt of blood as the beast spasms and dies, dropping its rider atop its corpse… for the moment it takes for said corpse to waver and shatter into black smoke. She vanishes again almost immediately afterword.
The fight goes pretty fast after that. They can barely scratch Anshelm, and you notice that even when they do, teeth and weapons leave only fading streaks of red light in their wake along with minor damage dealt to his Health bar. You and Seraphine each expend another spell… and like that its over.
Maya fades back into view, nodding in satisfaction, "Good job. That was an odd arrangement, I've never seen them riding the wargs before in this room. Usually there are more Goblins though."
"Hah, if that's all there is to this I could have done this myself." Anshelm boasts, he's taken a very small amount of damage, but nothing to worry about yet.
As he speaks a new pane of light shimmers on the opposite side of the clearing, baring a simple arrow in bright red pointing the way onward…. Wow these early dungeons are really idiot proof huh?
You glance around… isn't there supposed to be treasure? "Hey what about the loot, did these things just not drop any?"
Maya shakes her head, "We don't know yet, Treasure is given after dungeon completion, at least in these ones. I've heard higher level dungeons are divided by 'checkpoints' though. Where treasure and experience is compiled before the end. Anyway, the next couple rooms are close to the same…"
You listen as Maya as she points things out. You absolutely want to be in able to make the decisions for your party one day, but for now you'll watch, learn, and make sure you learn your role well. Your job right now is to make sure Anshelm doesn't get swamped by enemy groups by slowing them down and keeping their mobility low.
The next couple of rooms, are as Maya said similar, they contain a lot more goblins though, and starting with the next one, the goblins are lead by a bigger one wearing a patchwork set of armor and wielding a real spear. The room after that even has a spellcasting Goblin. You actually have to duck under a flung firebolt before Maya puts it down.
The third room contains the ruins of a merchants wagon and a few chewed on human skeletons… which makes the three of you… that is the level ones a little green. Maya explains that its only a bit of scenery manifested by the dungeon though, normal people can't get in here and even branded just kind of… fade away when they die.
That's a little sobering. The next room is a huge clearing containing only Wargs and is easily the hardest room yet. Two of the six wargs are half again the size of the smaller ones, and you have to admit, it's a little bit impressive and absurd that a tiny guy like Anshelm can stand his ground against their charge and push them back. It still goes pretty well, Anshelm gets a little hurt and you have to dive to the side to avoid a Wargs teeth when your damage drives the beast to attack you, taking a minor scrape in the process.
As the last warg falls though, a gigantic sign in the Mystic script appears in midair, the lettering bright red.
Bonus Encounter Triggered
The Warg Alpha Comes
Maya screams, "Look out!" and that is all you have time to hear as an ear splitting howl sounds over the clearing and a white warg the size of a horse lunges as if from mid air, nearly bowling Anshelm over. Its teeth clench around his shield arm and his Health immediately drops noticeably.
"Don't hold back! This one is too strong for that, hit it with everything!" Maya appears on the wolfs back as she speaks, driving her daggers into its spine and drawing a vicious snarl from the creature. Anshelm true to form stabs it in the belly even as it locks his shield down, and you and Seraphine blast away with fire and ice. Alternately searing it with cold and lighting it aflame.
To his credit Anshelm keeps its attention even when his health drops down first into yellow, and then into red. Finally the creature falls, his spear jammed into its mouth as you all finally drain the last of its Health.
Anshelm gasps for breath now that its over, a potion matierializing in his hand as he gulps down the healing liquid.
Seraphine and you both need an amrita as well, you blew most of your SP on that.
"What the hell was that? This isn't the boss room yet." Anshelm asks after he gets his health back into the yellow.
"I never imagined that would happen." Maya sighs, "I've never even seen a bonus encounter before. That skill of yours is scary Al."
You rub your hand through you hair sheepishly, "Um… at least it probably means more treasure too?"
"Maybe so… bonus encounters are harder than the normal Dungeon boss usually, so at least there shouldn't be any problems there." Maya responds after a moment. Anshelm has taken another potion, putting his health comfortably in the green.
Seraphine looks a little scared after that though and you offer a reassuring smile, which she returns… a little, "Don't worry, like she said, we already took down a guy harder than the boss, the rest will be easy!"
"I guess you're right… Still I was really scared at the end, when Anshelm's health got low." She answers, and you can tell by her white knuckled grip on her staff she still is.
The rest of the dungeon does as predicted go pretty easily, the next room is a mix of all of the goblin types you faced before, and while multiple casters are a little problem, they die fast enough to not be much issue.
The boss room is a crude encampment of wood and thatch huts, and its occupant is a small army of goblins lead by a comically fat member of their breed… until the thing pulls out a cleaver the size of your arm anyway. The boss has a couple of interesting attacks, like an ability to release a cloud of stinking gas that briefly stuns Anshelm… you refuse to call it a fart, that is just gross, goblins are gross, why does this whole place smell like an outhouse?
Anyway, after the warg Alpha and with Maya along the fight goes pretty quickly, yout spells really cut down the regular goblins ability to move and attack, and very few of them ever break away from Anshelm successfully, you do take a couple of spear pokes though, the sheer number of them ensures that.
When the last Goblin falls, a weird congratulatory bit of music plays, and pane listing your rewards pops up.
You Have earned the following [Al]
50 Experience
8 Job points
57 Gilder
The party has Looted the following
6 [Potion] Heals twenty five Health on consumption. Value ? ?
2 [Amrita] Restores Fifteen SP on Consumption. Value ? ?
Goblin Chainmail: Patchwork Chainmail scaveneged from Savages, Provides a small Health Bonus when Equipped. Value ? ? Cannot Equip
Goblin Spear: Shoddily Made, the jagged tip can cause further wounds though. Value ? ? Cannot Equip
Warg Cloak: Fluffy and warm, stylish too. Adds to Defense Value ? ?
White Warg Cloak: The Hide of a great white warg. Resists fire and adds to defense. Value ? ?
Warg Spine: A staff carved from the Spine of a giant Warg: provides a bonus to SP and a boost to spell damage. The user is more threatening though. Value ? ?
Warg Teeth: Fine daggers carved from the two largest teeth of of a giant warg. They thirst for blood increasing the chance of critical hits. value ? ? Cannot Equip
Goblin Spell Pouch: Provides three extra inventory slots when equipped to the [Bag] Slot
Goblin Staff: A goblin Shaman's staff, carved with sorcerous runes... probably, it might just be Graffiti. Increases Spell range. value ? ?
Mogo's Helm: Might just be a modified cooking pot. Adds to defense and threat generated. Value ? ? Cannot Equip
As you finish reading over it, the others do the same as your loot shimmers into existence in front of you. maya seems pretty surprised, she glances your way and smiles, "You really are good luck Al, I've never seen this dungeon pay out so well. I would like the daggers obviously, and I wouldn't mind the either of the cloaks."
Anshelm shurgs, "Lots of stuff I can use. Spear, Chainmail and the helmet, I won't ask for anything else since thats already plenty. I could use the potions though, I had to use up four."
Seraphine glances at you nervously. "I... um don't really want the Warg staff, I like not being noticed. So you can have it if you like mister Al. I would really like the Pouch though, I don't have very many inventory slots. If you don't mind, we could split the Amritas since we both used one."
You consider your options.... what do you want to try and claim?
[]Write in
Once you have split the Loot you exit the dungeon through the pane Helpfully marked 'Exit' You receive another message congatulating you for unlocking the Goblin Glade Rank D, and a popup telling you how long you have before you can enter again.. Now outside you can see that it seems to be around high noon, going by the sun.... what do you want to do?
[]Go to another Dungeon
-[]Which one? (Wailing cavern/Crystal lake/Look for a new one)
[]Return to Town
You used 1 Amrita during the Dungeon
Party UI
Al Lv1
Ice Elementalist E
Health 40/50
SP 35/50
Maya Lv3
Dual Blade Hunter E
Health 48/53
Sp 24/30
Seraphine Lv2
Fire Elementalist E
Health 36/44
Sp 42/55
Anshelm Lv1
Spear Warrior E
Health 80/110
SP 16/25
