“Humans got shafted again,” Alburet muttered.
Marysue had to agree, “I wonder what the Dwarves and Lunari are like.”
“We’ll find out tomorrow,” Gerald told her. “My plan is to hit the lowest zones for both of them then.”
Guild Achievement: Clear the Vermin from the Underbrush
“Ha, one of our guild groups is out here,” Karen laughed.
“Not surprised,” Alburet told her. “The quest to clear the dungeons and such should have really got them going.”
“I’m happy to see that,” Gerald smiled. “Having goals beyond simply leveling will help give a positive reinforcement to the guild in their minds.”
The main building, which was an odd way to phase it, looked like a very wide, short tree. The archway into it had a guard posted outside of it, who gave them a polite nod. The main room held two desks which grew up from the floor. Behind one sat a man with the proper stripes to be a Sergeant. Behind the other sat a man with a very large book before him, very similar to the Quartermaster’s account book.
Gerald came to a stop before the Gunso, saluting, “Sir, Alpha Company here to help.”
The elf looked up at them before returning the salute. “More Alpha Company? Very good. Two other groups of your compatriots have been through here already today. Nice to see you spreading out to explore other continents besides the one you started on. I take it you want the quests for the area and for the vermin?”
“Yes, sir,” Gerald replied.
“Very well, Alpha Company,” he cleared his throat and recited the quests for them. “Return when you have accomplished them.”
“Thank you, sir,” with another salute the group left the tree-building.
Quest: Kill thirty Vermin
Reward: Increased Reputation with Brightgrove Wardens factions plus ten gold.
Quest: Kill the Vermin Caller
Reward: Increased Reputation with all Brightgrove factions and an item from the Quartermaster
Once they’d made it back out the gate, they looked out into the forest. Trees almost as large around as those making up Brightgrove stretched off as far as they could see. Gerald turned back to the guard on the gateway. “Which way is it to the Underbrush?”
“West of us is where the Vermin are coming from at the moment,” the guard told them.
The group started off to the west, Alburet calling Tiny and Bob to his side as they walked. Tiny was his normal stoic self. Bob was still bouncing along, talking excitedly about his new life to the amusement of everyone but Gerald. He seemed to have forgotten about his grisly death at the hands of the Mutated Death’s Apprentice completely.
Within a few hundred yards, underbrush was growing thickly around each tree. The group slowed as they looked around. Off in the distance they could see a couple of other groups going from tree to tree.
“Well, monkey see, monkey do,” Alburet opined as he motioned towards the nearest undergrowth. “After you, Gerald, Tiny.”
As the two tanks neared the underbrush, two Vermin Ambushers sprang out of the plants. Tiny picked them both up, not as surprised by the mob’s sudden appearance as Gerald had been. Gerald taunted one of the Ambushers to him a second later.
“Rat-people,” Karen shook her head.
“Mostly naked rat-folk,” Alburet commented. “Stacia, see if you can Daze one of them.”
“Aye,” she began to sing, and the Ambusher still attacking Tiny dropped his clawed paws and began to sway in place.
“Good. See if you can Ally it,” he told her as Fluff and Karen advanced on the one Gerald was fighting. Bob’s Fire Blast zipped in ahead of them.
Stacia switched songs. The Vermin Ambusher shook its head as the Daze wore off and ducked around Tiny, going for Stacia. Tiny spun, taunting it so that it turned its attack on him, lashing out with clawed hands and darting forward to bite at him.
Tiny blocked a claw and the bite, but took a small gash from the other claw before the Vermin stopped and swayed for a moment. It turned to face Stacia with a big grin. Stacia pointed at its former ally and it flung itself at the other Ambusher.
The Ambusher let out a surprised squeak when its friend attacked it. That was the signal to the rest of the group to pile in on the Ambusher Gerald was holding. With the combined damage being done to it, it died in only a few seconds.
“I can do me full job,” Stacia told them happily as the remaining Ambusher trotted over to her. “We be movin’ on or we kill this one first?”
“Let’s kill him then move on,” Gerald replied. “They have three melee attacks but I didn’t notice any other abilities.”
“Level seven mobs,” Alburet told him. “Not really surprising, the triple attack is enough for such a low-end mob.”
“The Vermin killing will be easy,” Karen sighed. “Oh well, almost like a half-day this way. Which way to the dungeon you think?” No one knew, so they waited and killed the Vermin.
They killed the Vermin and had just started to move on when one of the Alpha Company groups came into view, headed towards them. Gerald called out to them with a wave. The two groups came together with a lot of handshaking as people were introduced.
“You guys the ones that cleared the dungeon?” Gerald asked.
“Yup,” the California surfer accent was thick in the Paladin’s voice. “It was awesome, dude! Not much of a challenge at our level, but it was still fun. The optional boss has this one attack…”
Gerald held up a hand, cutting him off, “We’ll figure it out. At our level it really won’t be much of a challenge.”
“Right on, dude,” the paladin replied, “we’re off. Got to keep moving if we’re going to make it in the top three. Keep it chill. The dungeon is about a mile that way,” he hooked a thumb back over his shoulder in the direction the group had come from.
“Have a good hunt,” Marysue told the other group, echoed by the others as they parted ways.
“Now we know which way to go,” Gerald told them. “Everyone ready to kill lots of Vermin and hit the dungeon?”
Alburet
Half-Blood Infernal Summoner
Level 23
Strength: 51 (46)
Agility: 51 (46)
Constitution: 30
Intelligence: 106 (76)
Wisdom: 172 (102)
Charisma: 81 (46)
Health: 1450
Mana: 2870
Spells:
Demon Skin-Rank 3
Demonic Retribution- Rank 2
Summon Lesser Imp
Fire Blast- Rank 2
Sap Strength- Rank 2
Demonic Haze- Rank 2
Summon Lesser Destroyer
Demonic Vitality- Rank 2
Fire Burst- Rank 2
Summon Lesser Succubus
Abilities:
Personal Spells
Flame Weapon
Copy
Infernal Upgrade: (Succubus- Ally)
Racial Abilities:
Cast spells without verbal components
Physical damage reduction 25%
Magical damage reduction 10%
Influence emotions
Fire resistance 50%
Reputation gains at half value