"Woah my eyes!"
"Damn that flashbang!"
"Where are we?"
Distressed shouts came from all sides. Dream Avenue had to reorient themselves after the sudden teleport. Slowly they took in their surroundings.
The guild was spread out on a broad street which circled a tall pine tree. At least that was what it appeared to be at first glance. Looking closer it was obviously a man-made structure, a tower in the form of a pine tree with a flat tip.
The tower was barely kept in shape. Plants overgrew along its colorful stone walls causing cracks to appear. And yet the tower looked well taken care of compared to the rest of the town they were in.
In this town of perhaps twenty thousand people there was no house which didn't show damage caused by the corrosion of time. The few people who were out on the streets wore coarse clothing and it was evident from their bodies that they barely had enough food to eat.
A nauseating smell of decay wafted through the air, causing many players to frown heavily. They looked around for the source and noticed a faint grey mist spreading silently along the ground. It came from a mountain range not far away which was covered in mist. The treetops sticking out were grey and unhealthy.
By now many players were familiar with the general geography of the game. They smartly figured out that they had appeared in the north of the Central Plains close to Infihd, which was also called the Cursed Mountain.
This place was known as the forbidden place in the history of the dwarves, where their greatest tragedy took place.
Dwarves were known to make every mountain of Crunaboul their home, searching for the riches hiding in the earth.
But here at the Cursed Mountain the dwarves were doomed due to greed. Their mines hollowed the depth of the mountain, eventually unearthing something which should have remained locked away forever.
That day the grey mist appeared, engulfing the entire mountain range, not sparing any living beings. But the mist didn't kill the dwarves, turning them into beings with forms shifting between fog and flesh, creating the race of Mist Dwarves.
Mist dwarves had a tendency to increase the numbers of their race by dragging others into the mist and were thus counted among the chaos faction. However, they only seldom left their mist, instead trying to cause it to spread, now targeting this region around Greypine Tower.
While some of Dream Avenue's members could figure out the background by themselves, others listened to the conversation between Hotpot and an old man who had come out of the large tower.
The man had only a few strands of white hair left. He used a staff as a crutch, his body appearing quite frail. Large eye bags and deep wrinkles told of the stress the man had endured for a long time. When the guild suddenly appeared, he was almost ready to fall to his knees, sobbing while he exclaimed:
"Finally! Finally, someone shows compassion for our poor lives! Adventurers, I know why you came! If you can defend our city, I will gladly name you the lord of this territory!"
Cyclone curiously looked around as she questioned the old man:
"Can you tell us who you are? And what happened here?"
"Of course. My name is Sephran Greypine. I am the adopted son and disciple of the great mage Caolah Greypine. A long time ago my mother left her home and came here with the goal of researching the mist.
My mother was already immensely powerful and had many followers who stuck with her and built this town. With my mother's protection the town was safe. We could mine in the mountains and had ample food, both meat and grain.
But one day… my mother suddenly left. Even I don't know where she went. From that day on the situation in Greypine Town quickly deteriorated. Soon, those damned mist dwarves realized that the town had weakened greatly without my mother and started to attack the mines.
We soon had to give them up. But the mist dwarves weren't content with just that. As you can see, they have started a creeping invasion. If we don't push them back the entire town's population will most likely be kidnapped into the mountains by them."
Everyone nodded thoughtfully. Finally, the old man finished his story and Liam quickly took over:
"Ok, guys. If we want to defend the town successfully, we need to hurry up and prepare!"
"You are right, young man.", agreed Sephran Greypine. "Come in, let me show you the current situation. The town will be under your command from now on!"
Saying this, Sephran turned around and led the players into the mage tower. The guild's core members followed him. The lowest floor of the tower has seemingly been repurposed as a command center. There was a large table in the middle of the room showing the current situation.
Multiple NPCs stood around the room. There were the guilds allies, Fonor, Lekraxc, a blacksmith an alchemist and a store clerk, Scholar Feng, and an old, burly warrior in golden plate armor. The warrior was called Dannen and was a retired royal guard of the Rising Basilisk Empire. Although he was once a glorious warrior, his prime had passed, and his potential was only rated as B.
Apart from them there were also two NPCs belonging to the town, who were Greypine's right hand, who managed the few resources the town still had left, and the town's general who commanded about four thousand troops although not all of them were trained soldiers.
The players nodded at the NPCs and stepped up to the table. They studied the map, already familiar with the setup since most guild wars featured something similar.
The map was easy to understand. It mainly showed the town and the mines, from which the attack would come. A timer was counting down in a corner, reminding the players that their preparation time was limited to three hours.
There was a rudimentary barricade constructed in a half-circle around the mines, which could delay the invading mist for a short time. At the edge of the map was a column showing the available resources, namely 2000 tons of wood, 100 pieces of stone, and a stockpile of various rare materials as well as food.
Although everyone was intrigued by what suddenly appeared like a strategy game, they unfortunately only had a single attempt in the territory war. Thus, they turned towards Liam listening to his arrangements.
"For starters we will invest all our resources into upgrading the barrier, turning it into a solid wall. We need to stop the invasion right at the mines. If we let the mist dwarves reach the town, we don't have enough people to defend such a large area. The war counts as lost if at least fifty enemies reach the tower, which we would never be able to prevent if the town's wall were to be breached.
Another important point is this pond here."
As Liam spoke, he pointed out a certain body of water on the map. At first it appeared inconspicuous. But quickly his friends noticed a peculiarity. Despite the pond being within the range of the mist, the map didn't indicate it as enemy territory.
Liam looked towards Silver Blade. Even before the veteran spoke Silver Blade had a guess what he wanted to say considering their preparation over the last two days, which was to receive a certain item.
"You will form a small five-man team and bring the Pearl of the naga prince to the water spirit living in this pond. This will rejuvenate the spirit and purify the pond. During the war later we can create a revitalizing potion from the pond water which regenerates HP and mana over a long period of time."
Silver Blade nodded, accepting the assignment. Seeing that she didn't have any more questions Liam addressed Bloody Edge. The thief had gone on a quest together with Radiant Shield and Silent Acacia. After the tournament hey helped a certain assassin organization and received a scroll with the ability to summon three powerful assassins.
"Edge, your task will be quite difficult. You need to sneak into the mines. You have to find the place where the mist dwarves are gathering. Next, summon the assassins and direct them to kill the enemy commander. They should be able to do so. This will buy us one hour and take down one strong enemy in advance."
Bloody Edge inhaled sharply. He understood that the danger of infiltrating the enemy ranks was certainly filled with risks. Listening to the encouragement coming from his friends ne nodded with determined eyes.
Liam patted the thief's shoulder and explained the route through the mines before sending him away. The friends wished Bloody Edge good luck as he left the tower.
Now Liam could focus on planning the defense. He discussed with Cyclone and Balm on how to most efficiently use their resources. The game gave the players a lot of freedom. Depending on how sturdy and tall they wanted the defensive structures to be, the cost in wood and stone would vary.