“Guild quests, no matter the difficulty, were overwhelmingly popular. They provided benefits to every member of a guild and carried outsized impacts on advancement. Free experience was hard enough to earn and the possibility of granting it to hundreds or thousands of people at a time could not be ignored.”
From “A Guide to Questing”
Year 1, Month 1, Day 25, 15:00
Torgon made his way into Miller’s Crossing and headed towards the market. Groups of players moved between the stalls, comparing prices and available goods. The opening of the auction house had drawn away many players, but Torgon still had to weave his way through the shoppers. A solid crowd waited in line to shop at the Risk of Injury stalls. He grinned thinking that risky business was going well.
The Silver Heart Trading Company stalls were quiet. Torgon frowned, noticing that they were packing goods up and preparing to leave. He found Markus supervising and spoke, “What’s going on Markus? It looks like you’re getting out of here.”
Markus stopped his work and walked over to Torgon. “Sorry Torg, we’ve gotten orders from up on high. We’re pulling out of Miller’s Crossing and we’re not to conduct business with your guild until the situation with the Young Master’s Alliance is resolved. They’re putting monetary pressure on the parent company.”
“I see.” Torgon stood quietly for a minute before continuing, “Markus, we’re here long term. Risk of Injury is going to still be a force longer after the Young Master’s Alliance dissolves to infighting. You should tell your leadership that they’re making a mistake and that we won’t forget it. The Silver Heart’s do well for the leadership but, Markus, is it worth it for you?”
“That’s none of your business Torgon.” Markus’s eyes showed anger and he crossed his arms. “I have a career and I can’t be high and mighty about it like you are.”
“You could be Markus.” Torgon shook his head, his eyes softening, “Good luck old friend, maybe we’ll get to work together again in the future.” Torgon left the market, not paying attention to the walk at all. It was happening all over again. The wealthy sponsored guilds were closing ranks to shut out the newcomers. Unless you bowed to the money you weren’t allowed to play in the upper echelons. His entire gaming career had been a series of quixotic crusades against the control of the top guilds. His brief and shining success had been crushed by his accident.
“No more,” Torgon quietly promised himself. He sent a note to Eileen asking her to forward a request to have Singularity investigate approaching Markus for a spot on the team. He hoped that the company would find value in him, and he hoped that his friend would find the value in himself to make the switch.
Torgon holed up in the crafting room. He used the next 10 hours to churn out as many of the basic enchanted swords and bows as he could. Torgon added over 40 enchanted bows and 40 enchanted swords to the guild supplies. He marveled at how much faster it was to create the lowest level gear versus the level 10 gear. He had pushed his weapons crafting skill to 12 and his enchanted weapons crafting skill to 4. It was a satisfying night’s work.
The sun began to peak above the horizon and nearly the entire guild filled the base, readying for the upcoming attack. The newest members were a mix of excited and nervous. Ovarrix addressed the assembled defenders, “Despite the enemy numbers this should be an easy defense. We have experienced members ready with the mana cannons and our newest members are all getting to go onto the wall with bows and crossbows. The waves will be left completely to the brand-new players until they cross the halfway point to the base. At that point, the mana cannons will open fire and we’ll sweep them away. The boss in the final wave will be attacked only with individual weapons and towers. This is a chance to get yourself some real combat experience.”
The crowds visibly relaxed with Ovarrix’s confident words. The newest children skipped up the stairs and took their positions on the walls. The first wave of monsters appeared causing the tension among the new players to ratchet up. A few bolts and arrows were fired before the monsters were even in range. Ovarrix spoke calmly, “Hold your fire until they’re close enough then fire as fast as you can. You can target individual monsters or groups, just try to get as many shots off as possible.”
Missile fire from the walls picked up in intensity and the goblins rushing the walls began to drop quickly. When they reached halfway to the walls, powerful bolts of energy sprang forth from the mana cannons. These bolts exploded in the monster ranks, shredding the advance and leaving lone creatures struggling to reach the walls. The new kids focused on the tasks and their aim improved at finding the lone goblins. The entire first wave was eliminated with a few minutes to spare before the second wave arrived.
Everyone held their fire until the monsters were in range during the second wave. The volleys of bolts and arrows showed greater cohesion. The ragged fire tightened up into a rain of pointy sticks, impaling the unprotected foes. The third and fourth waves withered away under the steel hail and explosive power of the cannons. The boss in the fifth wave stunned the defenders briefly with its sheer size, but it only attracted more fire, dying with the appearance of the world’s biggest and ugliest porcupine.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
An announcement from the system greeted everyone.
“You are Victorious! You have defeated all five waves of the Base Siege. Bonuses have been granted for having 100% of your Guild Members still fighting and 100% of your buildings still standing.”
“All members of the guild are awarded 1,000 Free Experience. Additional experience for the combat has been distributed according to your individual participation. The guild has been awarded an Enchanted Waterfall for the guild park. This waterfall will increase the mana density in the guild base by 1%. Obtain victory in additional guild base sieges to upgrade your park. Your guild has been awarded the basic fixed mana shield blueprint. The guild has been granted 5 teleportation passes to the trading city of Deep Harbor.”
“Be Wary. This is your fourth consecutive victory. The monsters in your next siege will start at level 2 instead of level 1 and a mini boss will appear with each wave. The final wave will have the regular boss and a mini boss. Train hard and grow your skills and equipment to continue prospering.”
Cheering broke out in the base celebrating another siege victory. The shared combat helped the new members feel like they belonged in the guild. Many of them seemed excited from the experience and eager for more. Dirk took charge and directed their enthusiasm towards activities that would help them progress. Soon, brand new players were busy crafting, gathering and exploring Miller’s Crossing for quests.
Torgon gathered with leadership party and led a large contingent onto the road towards the broken hills. Near the border they caught up with the front of the construction effort. Digger and Curious Kate were waiting for them.
“How are the new kids?” Kate asked.
Hyperia answered, “They’re going to be just fine. They took to the base siege quickly. They’re all out trying to catch up to you now.”
“Not going to happen,” Kate scoffed. “It’s been quiet up here. We find a few monsters, mostly animals or humanoids. We scouted across the zone a bit and undead start showing up as soon as you move away from the starting zone. None of us pushed very far. There’s a sickness in the air when you move away from the border that reduces your stats.”
Dusty nodded, “From what I read, the ruins of the capital of the Forgotten Empire lay in the center of the Broken Hills. The undead are the old citizens and those unfortunate enough to succumb to the miasma it releases.”
“Want to help us finish the road and see what happens next?” Digger asked.
Torgon grinned broadly, “I thought you’d never ask. Let’s go grab some more experience for the new guys.”
Allestor, Kate and Steve led scouting teams around the road while Torgon and the others joined Digger in placing stone blocks in the ground. Players would clear trees and then dig the earth down to a depth of nearly a foot on the sides and closer to nine inches in the middle. Stone blocks measuring a foot on all sides were placed into the space making a reasonably smooth stone road about thirty feet across. It was wide enough for two wagons to travel abreast in each direction. More than 1.5 million blocks of stone had gone into the construction of this road. Sneakily, they had purchased blocks from the other zones once the auction house had gone live. The amount of available stone in Miller’s Crossing would begin to rise soon, assuming that they didn’t profit too much from the road building in the other starter zones.
Digger moved to put the final block into place to complete the stretch of road in the Miller’s Crossing zone. When he did, they were all greeted by a system message.
“Congratulations! You have completed the Advanced Guild Quest: All Roads Lead to the Capital 1. Every guild member will receive 1000 Free Experience and 100 Guild Contribution Points.”
“You have received a Quest! Advanced Guild Quest: All Roads Lead to the Capital 2. Requirements: Help construct a guard post on the border of Miller’s Crossing and the Broken Hills zone. Rewards: Every guild member will receive 1000 Free Experience and 100 Guild Contribution Points. The third part of the quest will become available.”
Sir Kelvin and Sir Malik along with the rest of the knights in Miller’s Crossing rode up along the road. They dismounted and addressed the players building, “Excellent Work. Sir Malik and I thank you for your efforts. We will perform a short cleansing ritual to protect the work site from the undead miasma and then you can begin building. Fear not. Once the outpost is completed, we will have a permanent ward against the miasma and anyone who wishes can purchase a charm to protect them from the negative effects for a period of time.”
The knights of the sun and rose formed a seven-pointed star and began pouring magic into a formation a couple hundred yards inside the broken hills. Their small prime ritual brightened the air and pushed back against the foulness seeping from the center of the zone. The energy coalesced into a shining ball of mana that glowed brightly. Seven stone pillar arose and began emitting criss-crossing lines of energy, fueling the working. An area nearly three hundred yards in diameter around the working remained clear of the dark energy. The knights planted small stakes along the road that kept it free as well.
Seeing that the area was now safe, the players moved in to begin construction on the wood and stone buildings. Glowing outlines on the ground showed where they needed to work and the structures rose quickly. A small, fortified settlement took shape with low walls, shops and a tiny central keep. Another announcement greeted all those present.
“Congratulations! You have completed the Advanced Guild Quest: All Roads Lead to the Capital 2. Every guild member will receive 1000 Free Experience and 100 Guild Contribution Points.”
“You have received a Quest! Advanced Guild Quest: All Roads Lead to the Capital 3. Requirements: Push back the undead hordes and expand the road network into the Broken Hills. Rewards: Every guild member will receive 1000 Free Experience and 100 Guild Contribution Points. The fourth part of the quest will become available.”
“You have received a Quest! Advanced Repeatable Quest: Thin Out Their Numbers. Requirements: Slay 500 Undead Creatures in the Broken Hills Zone. Rewards: 1,000 experience, 10 silver coins.”
Allestor rubbed his hands together in glee with the new quest in his journal, “Guys, we just need to slaughter the undead and we can do so much.”
Hyperia looked at Torgon and spoke, “He’s not wrong. We can work on our combat skills and toss the extra experience into other skills to boost them. Hopefully the loot will be good and the fighting won’t be too onerous.”
Torgon sighed and leaned to each side, stretching his muscles before hopping up and down. “Let’s go pick up amulets and see how hard it is to find and kill the undead. It’s time for some reconnaissance in force.”
