Chapter 9.12

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Chapter 9.12
Void goat.jpg
Void Goat by brack
Published
August 30, 2022
Word Count
29,195
Link
Chapter 9.12
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Chapter 9.12 is the 17th chapter of Volume 9.

tl;dr[edit | edit source]

  • Adventurers and armies stop the monster horde at Orefell.
  • Antinium and Rags join the battle. Rags says she is going to the inn and the [Crusaders] uncharacteristically break the rules by participating in the first place.

Synopsis[edit | edit source]

Niers shows the world through Wistram News Network how Baleros deals with crises, namely the Dyed Lands. They are largely organized behind the Great Companies though infighting is still rampant. Regardless, he is seen taking down a powerful monster that had emerged from the Dyed Lands recently. This is in stark contrast to the threat facing Izril which is the main focus of the chapter. Wistram News Network is recording the procession of monsters coming from the High Passes as the full extent of the threat becomes more apparent. It is not at the same level as Baleros, but it is enough to wipe out towns in minutes and it consists of thousands of Eater Goats and hundreds of Gargoyles. Despite the severity, Izril is not united enough to send a true force to stop the horde. The Five Families made declarations that they would not let Celum be attacked, and local nobility were not heroic enough to be the only ones to send their militias out to be slaughtered, but there were other cities in the monsters' path before Celum, like Orefell.

Orefell was the first actual city that would be attacked by the monsters, but it did not have any large standing force to defend it. Instead, it had to rely on help from nearby cities and a few teams of adventurers. Those that initially joined the defense included Gershal from Vaunt who arrived with 400 soldiers and the gold-rank adventuring teams The Horns of Hammerad, Halfseekers, Spoken Vow, and A Pact of Flame and Sword. They were also joined by a few lower ranked teams including The Pride of Kelia. The adventurers were helped slightly by Erin and Lyonette using their boon skills to buff Pisces and Moore respectively. With them all together it was abundantly clear that the defending forces were horribly outnumbered and would have to perform a retreating defense. As the battle got closer, more forces joined the defense starting with The Silver Swords who rushed over, and unexpected military additions such as a coalition of armies from local cities led by Forount of Wales who led 4,000 troops and a group of dwarves representing Deríthal-Vel that numbered 200. These final forces arrived just as the monsters were starting the attack and were split off from the predominantly human armies. A proportionate force moved off from the monsters to attack the dwarves and the rest went towards the human defenders. The fighting lasted for eight minutes before a retreat was called and the adventurers managed to fight their way over to the dwarves. All of the defending parties were hurt, but they managed to turn the fight into a longer skirmish instead of a direct confrontation. It was not sustainable though especially once they got to the fleeing cityfolk. The adventurers started considering when to flee when Ceria's [Dangersense] went off for the first time.

The sound she heard was bells ringing which ended up being from a different source. [Crusaders] from Liscor realized the glory of the battle and called a crusade against the monster horde. They requisitioned armor from the hive, inducted new [Crusaders], and went forth using the antinium's secret tunnels heading north. They arrived in time to attack the monsters and show the world high-level antinium [Crusaders] that used faith based combat. The new antinium were able to staunch the bleeding but not completely turn the tides against the monsters. Artur did have another trick up his sleeve though, he saved Gershal and used his most recent skill to summon 100 of the strongest forces in the Liscorian Army including Squad 5. They quickly joined the fighting and soon after the Beriad of the Antinium were teleported to the battle as well. Before they could go, Peki quickly enlisted in Liscor's army and joined them to get experience leading an army of antinium. These new armies and their tactics did start to turn the battle around. Squad 5 had artifacts that they'd taken from Az’muzarre Tribe and some of the [Crusaders] had preserved Erin's glory flame and used it to coat their weapons and bodies. The monsters had an ace as well though. As the battle started turning, the bossels released the Void Eater Goat.

It started out attacking the adventurers but they could do nothing to pin it down as it ate matter, magic, and even skills. The void goat turned away as the adventurers ran, and the goat started attacking monsters and the other defenders next. It shredded through everything it met including over a hundred antinium. The first thing that gave it pause was the [Templar] it came across. It could consume the [Templar] but it could not eat the faith magic. The solution the goat found was to eat as many antinium as possible to make up for this. Just as the goat started towards the antinium again, Goblins came flying in to join the battle. The Flooded Waters Tribe had experience with these kinds of monsters and wanted the reward from Erin's quest, so they attacked the Void Goat knowing that they should use area of effect attacks. The eater goats started to retreat in the face of a known threat leaving just the Void Goat. Rags knew that it could only continue its void attack for 48 seconds and so when that time was up, they managed to damage the goat, but afterwards it reversed the void sending all of the mass it had absorbed out in an explosion with the power of a tier 5-6 spell. The Void Goat fled in the chaos it caused, and the defenders won the battle.

In the aftermath, Rags came down from her Frost Wyvern and mentioned that she would be visiting Erin and letting her have her best chef. They also got the reward that had been building up from Erin's quest. A mountain of gold came showering down at least some of which was fake. Some got lucky though. Gershal received a magical sword, there was a magical wand that came down, and others got gems that were interspersed in the raining down of the reward.

Characters[edit | edit source]

( * = First Appearance)

Locations[edit | edit source]

Undead[edit | edit source]

  • Undead horses
  • Frostmarrow Behemoth (Destroyed)

Creatures[edit | edit source]

Items[edit | edit source]

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