At the end of the tribesman’s transformation he let out a loud, croak-like bellow and sprang into the air with speed that belied his size. He landed on a group of three, crushing one and knocking the other two aside. The frog-shifted quasi-human’s tongue shot out of his oversized maw and grabbed the leg of a knocked back man. The frog dragged the man inward slowly and crushed the downed man’s head with a powerful kick from its enormous hind leg. When the monstrosity turned its head toward the other downed man, the last of the three scrambled away at full pace. The frog hopped accurately and crushed the man’s attempt to escape.
The scene was horrifying and the fact that three tribesmen were casually attacking such a large force did nothing to inspire confidence. What was perhaps even more confidence breaking, was the apparent manner by which the frog tribesman could finish men off with only a single attack.
Sift, the over-trained martial artist, and Saden, the yet unknown, from the previous day walked forwards toward the cat and bat duo. Dakkon skirted around the pair toward their flank. Cline readied his bow and fired a shot which the cat nimbly jumped out of the way of.
The releasing of Cline’s arrow marked the start of Sift’s charge forward. The bat flapped its wings and took to the air, locking its sights on Cline, who had loosed the arrow. The bat began to dive just as another 10 or so members of the force loosed their own arrows and ranged magical attacks. The bat tumbled in the air, avoiding the brunt of the attacks.
Though the cat dodged the initial arrow, it landed just as Sift’s body dropped to the ground and he threw his full weight behind a sweep at the creature’s four legs. The cat was taken by surprise and its legs were swept aside dropping it to the forest’s floor, but the creature’s spirit-granted agility allowed it to tumble away before the follow-up axe kick from Sift’s heel had a chance to pulverize it—leaving a hole in the ground, instead. The beast rolled back to its feet. Though Sift pursued the monster, his approaches were no good. Each time, the creature would lunge aside where it could swipe at Sift’s outstretched limbs in relative safety. While this pattern repeated again and again, Sift kept the beast’s attention away from the approaching Dakkon who moved into position behind the beast.
The bat weaved through the air, acting as a distraction for the various ranged attackers of the expeditionary force. If anyone tried to attack the frog, the bat would dive at them. Even if the bat didn’t strike, attacks made by the players would rend their allies in friendly fire. The frog continued to jump onto small groups in the force, picking them off one by one. Its incredible burst mobility plus its thick skin allowed the frog to shrug off most incoming attacks.
Sift feinted a strike at the cat by shifting his weight, causing the cat to lunge, then darted directly into the correct path taken by the elusive cat. Dakkon knew this was an opportunity created for him and dashed forward to strike. Seeing Sift’s aim, the cat’s body arched and leapt at him, brandishing claws to finish off the foolish man who had gotten in its way—but just as it was going to rend the martial artist, the creature’s arms and face slammed into a large, square barrier of white light. The confused creature was punished with an elbow to the side of its head from Sift as Dakkon sliced then plunged his dagger into the manimal’s back.
[You have slashed an aberrant tribesman for 230 damage.]
[You have stabbed an aberrant tribesman in a vulnerable location for 472 damage.]
The cat ripped free of its predicament, knocking Dakkon off his feet. The creature let out an irregular cry which caused the bat and frog to pause then back off. An opportunist saw the creatures’ now uncertain state and rushed forward toward the frog. The creature’s tongue lashed out, coiled around the man, and pulled him into its mouth head first, crushing him until his legs dangled limply as the frog’s cold, tiny eyes watched the others. Then through the application of powerful legs and wings, as quickly as they had come, the three left.
The expeditionary force had lost 17 members. The force’s teamwork and response to the attack had been pitiful. They hadn’t even managed to kill a single attacker, and a chase into the unfamiliar woods as the force was now would only lead to more men being crushed to death or otherwise ambushed.
Saden walked up to Sift and patted the martial artist on his back. “Damn I’m good,” he said. “I knew the barrier would work.”
Sift looked slightly dismayed by the statement. “You were uncertain?”
“Relax, Sift,” said Saden. “I hadn’t done it, but I knew it would work. It’s a spirit barrier. They’re spirit-infused creatures…”
“In bodies of flesh,” said Sift with a sigh. “No matter.” The martial artist turned to Dakkon. “Thank you for your courage.”
Dakkon nodded, then looked around at the carnage that only three enemies had caused. “Our current methods aren’t any good,” said Dakkon. “We need better groups with better tactics.”
Sift lowered his head for a second in agreement.
Cline rushed over to speak. “Dakkon, several of the players have player-killer marks on their cheeks from accidental friendly fire. I don’t have one, right?” Cline appeared to be in a bit of a panic.
“No. Can’t you check that from character info?” asked Dakkon.
“I just wanted to make sure,” replied Cline.
“You loosed the commencing arrow,” Sift said to Cline.
Cline nodded, a bit unsure of whether or not that was a mistake.
“Well done,” said Sift, simply.
“Well, if we aren’t four players who actually did something,” said Saden with a cocky smirk. “Let’s group up and get to know one another.” It wasn’t really a question.
The others agreed. After joining Saden’s group, Dakkon wanted to know what sort of skills the group was working with and what it was they were lacking. “Can you heal, Saden?” he asked.
“No,” the man robed in gray replied. “Exorcists are more about separation than unification. Let’s just say I’m a support and heavy damage dealer when it comes to spirits—which we appear to be fighting.”
Dakkon was sure there must be more to the class. Being strong against one, and only one, type of enemy seemed like an awful path to follow, but Dakkon didn’t want to divulge his secrets either so he let the matter slide.
“Sift is technically a monk, but he’s mastered nearly every discipline he has access to in the martial arts,” Saden said. “So, comparing him to a normal monk is like comparing a lake to a watering hole.” Saden looked thoughtful for a moment before adding, “Seriously. He’s the real deal.”
“Are monks straight-up damage dealers in Chronicle?” Dakkon asked.
“That depends on their disciplines. Monks can master a style then move on and master a different one in the martial arts tree, so if one person trains long enough they can do it all,” said Saden. “And here he is.”
“I’m a heavy damage dealer,” said Dakkon. “I can also trick an enemy to turn around a few times each combat.
Saden nodded. “Seems useful if you want to backstab something. Can you take a hit?”
“Not likely,” Dakkon replied.
“How about you,” asked Saden of Cline. “Standard ranger or something fancy?”
“More or less a standard ranger,” said Cline without any of his usual enthusiasm on the subject.
“I’m not complaining. It seems like the four of us can really dish out the hurt,” Saden said. “We seem to be in need of a healer and a tank, though Sift should be a good stand-in for the tank at least.”
Sift nodded once in agreement.
“I know a shaman here who can heal somewhat,” said Dakkon. “She’s been preoccupied until now, but I’ve got a feeling this mess might change her mind.”