Guard duty for 'The Family' was boring, but it paid well. This current job required long hours, but the overtime was going to be great next payday. Ten employees of Mama'sBoys LLC were currently assigned to guarding TimmyTheWonderBoy37. A recent memo had reminded them all that referring to the job as 'daycare' would get their pay docked.

Mostly they helped him power level, which at least gave them some excitement. Currently they were scattered around the perimeter of a large orc camp, keeping a look out for encounters and keeping the trash mobs down. Their client and his guest were currently waiting to start their 7th round of events. These popped up every hour or two if you kept control of the camp. Usually it was the Chief, Uftawk, riding in on a warg with a group of orcs to retake the village. But they'd also seen a trio of Shamans, a goblin war party and a Wandering giant.

Good EP, loot, and a chance at a Core Skill point if you were the ones fighting. A bit of entertainment and a chance to bet on how Timmy died next if you weren't. Today was boring. Timmy was paired up with an old guildmate, Darkdeath54. Since he actually knew how to fight pretty well, Timmy hadn't had his head caved in that day. But one could hope.

"So what do you think Timmy? Uftawk again? You want the Chief or the bodyguards?" The two of them seemed to be able to take the whole encounter pretty easily. Both Timmy and Darkdeath54 were back up to Level 4 and working hard on leveling their skills. The first time they beat the encounter with no help from the guards they each scored a Core Skill point, their first ones. That had let them increase their STR cap from 5 to 6 and both immediately increased that stat from banked EP. The next couple of times they'd earned just normal EP and some loot.

"I think it's time for some solo attempts.”

"Solo? You think we're ready for that?"

"Nope, I'm not. My skills don't mesh as well yet for that many mobs. But you're more mobile and harder to pin down. I think if you keep moving, you can do it. I'll stay back with the boys. If it gets really bad, I'll wade in and save you the death. But let’s push it a bit."

"Fine by me. But screw helping. If I die, I die. Just get it all on video. Good footage for the new Bludgeon vidcast. Toss me one by the way. I'm empty."

Timmy was walking back after tossing over a beer to DD54 when he saw a runner come into camp. He saluted Timmy. "Message from the Chairwoman: "Granny says get your skinny butt up to Sedgewick. I need some muscle up there. Take any Family assets with you."

Timmy yelled out: "Family Business DD, sorry. Cya. You got this buddy. I left you the beer." And with that they trotted down the hill towards the nearest town to get horses and head north.

DarkDeath54's only reply was to drag the small chest of beer to the center of the town and have a couple more beers. Might as well get some drinking in and then see what pops up. If it was just Uftawks and a half dozen warriors he thought he could do it.

He was using the sawed-off skull of Chief Uftawks as a drinking mug when a large horde of over fifty orcs came out of the woods and quickly surrounded the village. DD54 remained sitting and drinking.

Well, might as well finish my beer and enjoy the show, no way I can kill this many.

A party of ten entered the village. Six of them looked like bodyguards - big warriors with good armor and weapons. Uftawks had one bodyguard so this was a good couple of tiers above him. The one in the lead was some sort of lackey or herald - fancier hat, but barely four foot tall. The next three were all big piles of buttkicking and nasty. The first was a massive orc, nearly eight foot tall with greying skin. Scars and tattoos decorated his skin denoting a lifetime of successful war and pillaging. Next to him was a tall female orc with light green skin, muscles like a power lifter, and all the other pieces in the right places. DD54 had a bit of trouble tearing his eyes away to look at the rest of the war party. The last orc was younger male. He had different facial tattoos than the old chief or the female. Not a bodyguard though. Too big, too much attitude, and good weapons.

The lackey approached and spoke in broken common. "What is this? Where Uftawk tribe? Why here pinkskin? You are a dead pinkskin! Grovel before big chief."

You don't play through all 19 chapters of "Orcs at the Gates" without picking up the lingo. DD54 spoke fluent Orc. He poured a beer into the skull, then threw it at the lackey, hitting him in the head and fracturing his skull.

If the lackey was hoping someone would avenge him, he was disappointed. All the orcs laughed at the site of him rolling on the ground holding his head. The older orc stepped forward and spoke. His voice was like a river of gravel.

There was a twinkle in the old orc’s eyes.

Chief Grunk screamed in rage and started to charge but was held back by the outstretched arm of Great Chief Stonechewer. Stonechewer looked over DarkDeath54 and nodded.

“Oh, this was going to be fun. The shit my mouth gets me into,” thought DD54.

After that there was no time to think as human and orc charged each other and fought - to the delight of their audience.

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Meanwhile, back at the tavern in Sedgewick, Ozzy was sipping slowly on his third beer and deep in thought.

The group needed to level some stuff up this next week. They were starting at the bottom. Every point of stats mattered. A lot depended on their individual skills. He had STR to spare, and needed more CON and DEX to increase his ability to fight. His specialty was pretty one-sided.

Suzette had a great set of skills now. She could level DEX, AGI, and CHR as a barmaid, and said she could also pick up more INT and WIS with her mystery skill. The tertiary skills would be slow after the initial couple of points, but based on how busy this place was, she'd be leveling the fastest of the group.

Ben had a job that was sort of all or nothing. All his skills were wrapped up in successful courier runs. Hopefully he got more of those. He could also work on whip and hand cross-bow now, if they could get in some more mob grinding.

Rolly had some problems. Poor guy was always up beat, but Ozzy could tell something was bothering him. ACME hadn't even bought him a sheep dog to go with his class. It seemed like he was working on trying to tame a couple of the sedgebeasts. The thought of him taking a pet cow into a dungeon didn't seem really practical. Maybe they could earn a bit more, pool their money and get him a big dog to train? Have to work on that.

Ozzy had some ideas to pitch to the group. It would suck, but eating the uncured sedgebeast steaks each day would get them some CON and poison resist. They'd have to start meeting up for lunch. Toolmaking also seemed to be a thing that could give them more DEX if their specialty skills didn't. Looking at his own skills, he pondered throwing cabers. Not something he could really practice with, or could he?

He could see at night now, and he really didn't need to sleep much. He finished his beer, waved to Suzette, and wandered out to the barn. Large pile of logs, large corral full of sedgebeasts. Like shooting fish in a barrel, at least until they got riled up a bit and started moving around. Take it slow maybe? Toss a tree then eat some yummy steak? Deal with the effects of the poisoned meat and do it again. It wasn't a good plan, but it was a plan. He got a small fire going in his firepit and carved off some fresh meat from one of the carcasses in the smokehouse.

Hmm, if Billy or anyone asked what he was doing he'd just claim he was making sure the fires were burning well all night. A little unpaid overtime. Go ACME.

He picked up a tree trunk at least twelve feet in length, balanced it upright, took a couple of steps and flipped it up in the air and towards the corral. The log went end over end farther than he had expected and hit with the familiar sound of a bludgeoned sedgebeast.

You have killed an adult sedgebeast. I'm not even going to calculate the damage. Really? Combining Cabre with Slaughter?

You gain 20 points in Caber Throwing

You gain 22 points in STR.

You gain 2 points in Slaughter.

Ten minutes later, after a small snack, he got another notification.

Congratulations, you aren't Dead!

The poison in your system is not nearly enough to kill you, but it's not going to be fun for the next few minutes.

Damn, are you really going to try this? We were JOKING! about leveling your CON this way............

You have earned 5 EP in the skill Minor Poison Resistance and 5 EP in CON.

OK, so he had the idea for a system. Toss a caber, eat some meat, be sick for a bit, and then fix tools while the cows settled down. Maybe he could break some sledgehammers so he had tools to fix?

====================================================================

"What's step 1 of the plan?" Eddie was going to go over this until these idiots got it right.

"This shit again? What, do you think we are stupid?" MasterTBlaster was annoyed with this prick. He acted like he was some sort of pro and was riding their ass continuously.

"Yes, this shit again. I'm hoping you can all be on the same page and I can start scouting the area."

"Step 1: Watch you pull sneaky crap, wait to burn the hell out of some buildings. We got this."

"Don't be such an asshole, Master. We could have been done with this and getting paid if you didn't have such a chip on your shoulder.”

DangerRanger cut in, “Sorry sir."

"Step 1: Don't do anything stupid. Stay where we are. Don't over react. Stay in cover.

Step 2: On your signal move up along the pre-planned pathway.

Step 3: Once we are in position, you'll say 'Hit Them' and we unload with magic and fire arrows on the targets.

Step 4: Once stuff is confirmed burning, we retreat, circle wide around the town and meet up with the other teams near the Keep."

DangerRanger was regretting teaming with MasterTBlaster again - the guy just could not get along unless he was in charge and his plans amounted to shit. It was great working with Eddie; the guy was a pro. Maybe he had room in his crew? Leave these losers behind.

"Thank you, Ranger. You're in charge of these two. I'm going to change and move up."

Edward BriarThorn had wanted a stealthy scout build for his character. He bypassed rogue as too many of the skills were combat oriented vs. reconnaissance. After rebuilding his character twice he'd chosen Druid. The shape changing ability was weak for combat, but ideal for infiltration. Spells allowed him to pass through areas with no hindrance, and leave no tracks. He was practically invisible in heavily forested areas, and could hide inside trees and large bushes. After carefully keeping any recon and shape changing abilities, he dropped most of the combat skills and spells for the perks ‘Quick change,’ ‘Just one of the pack,’ and ‘Sense Predator.’ He was currently level 5 and working hard to move to Tier 2.

He moved slowly up to one of the sleeping cattle, touched it lightly, then used ‘Shape Change.’ It took him only 30 seconds to change into a similar looking beast. He moved carefully and slowly, just moving among the sleeping cattle and marking a clear path on his map for the others to follow. Only a few of the cattle were out this way, most were jam packed in the large corral by the barn. The barn and its out buildings were the target. Some info had been sent down the line that there were a lot of goods ready for shipment. Difficult to steal, but easy to destroy and give ACME a setback in this area. He had just made it up to the back of the corral when his Sense Predator skill sounded the alarm. There was a guard or something up by the barn. The skill was really going off. This psychopath must have hundreds of kills. No wonder scouts in this area kept respawning.

It's understandable that with such a strong adversary taking up his attention he missed the stealthy movements of the large sedgebull coming up behind him.

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Ferdinand was taking his time. He didn't want to spook this little cutie. He didn't know where she had come from, but he'd smelled her from two pastures away. Luckily it was late enough that Betty was asleep. Damn she was jealous! Didn't she understand he was the 'Big Bull in the Herd?’ It was his responsibility to leave his mark on each of the cows and build up the herd with new calves.

He wasn't ready to set Betty aside just yet. She was one hell of a breeder. Their calves were really improving the heard. But he couldn't neglect his duties. Case in point, this delicate flower in front of him. He was going to claim her as his before one of the other bulls took notice of her. She had a fresh, untainted smell to her you just didn't find in most of the herd! Wasn't she going to be surprised to find out she'd been picked by none other than Ferdinand, Big Bull of the Herd?

=======================================================================

It had been a long night for Ozzy. He'd repeatedly killed cows with a caber, broken a sledgehammer, eaten tainted meat, been sick, and recovered while fixing sledgehammers. He figured dawn was about an hour away. He'd toss one more log and call it a night. He'd get a couple hours of sleep and then drag in the carcasses to slaughter them.

Being tired made Ozzy sloppy. He saw the sedgebeasts were mostly around the back of the corral. The front had a number of dead ones on the ground. But he didn't pay attention to the cow watching him from behind the corral. Nor did he notice a sneaky Ferdinand coming up behind that cow. But somewhere around the start of his throw, he did hear the sound of someone screaming.

Ferdinand reared up and moved into position on top of his new lover and prepared to give her a big surprise. Eddie finally noticed the bull as it got on top of him, pinning him in a bad position. A couple of seconds later all confusion about what was going on was obliterated.

Welcome to Ferdinand's Herd!

You've caught the eye of the herds pre-eminant lover boy and he's got a present for you.

Hopefully the kids look like you.

You have gained the skill: Breeder

You have been marked as belonging to Ferdinand.

"Oh God! Kill it! Kill it quick! Burn the damn thing! Shoot it full of holes! Please, oh please!"

The crew sitting bored a hundred feet away in the bushes was only too happy to comply. They saw the large shadowy beast rear up and heard Eddie screaming.

"Time to Burn! Twin Fireball!"

"Activating triple shot! Activating Rain of Death! Special Flaming Ammo!

"Bolts of Blasting launched. Bringing a Bolt of Conflagration online."

The group sucked at stealth and following orders, but they were experts at 'yell loud and burn things.'

Ozzie finished his three steps and launched the Caber about the time the first explosion went off. The surprise may have added a bit to how hard he threw the log. It sailed up into the air, flew entirely over the corral and came down on top the Ferdinand's paramour. His shoulder exploded in pain from an off target burning arrow and a notification popped up

You have been attacked by a Player. You take 100 piercing damage and 10 fire damage.

You have killed the player: Edward Briarthorn, level 5 Druid.

You have each earned 500 points of EP that will be applied to your Tier 2 Progression Quest. Kill more players to earn more EP.

A barrage of fire balls, fire arrows, and assorted incendiary spells erupted around Ferdinand as the trio of players quickly emptied their mana and stamina pools. They killed a good dozen sedgebeasts in the corral, and destroyed a large section of fence. But they didn't manage to kill Ferdinand.

Sedgebeasts have a large amount of hit points. Angry Sedgebulls had triple the normal amount. And their blood red hides were resistant to fire. Ferdinand made a normal Angry Sedgebull look like a calf in comparison. He sported a dozen arrow wounds and he was smoking as he roared out of the crater made by the unleashing of abilities. And he was very, very angry. His new lover had been slain! He'd been attacked in the middle of a tryst! And the perpetrators were very close.

DangerRanger was the first to run. Sniperdiperdoo and MasterTBlaster tried to finish off the angry bull charging them, but they'd already used their big attacks. Normal arrows just stung and fire cantrips were useless. They were hiding behind two small trees. Ferdinand didn't care about trees, he just lowered his head and charged. Trees snapped, bones broke, and the two players were knocked backwards ten feet and stunned. Ferdinand hooked and gored their prone bodies and flipped them over his head. Both landed in the meadow with a bit of remaining health, bleeding heavily. Ferdinand kept going, chasing after the ranger who probably would have gotten away if Betty hadn't come to see what all the fuss was about. She impaled him with her center horn as he ran up.

Ozzy came upon the two broken bodies in the meadow. He'd seen the end of the fight and cautiously moved up to where MasterTBlaster and Sniperdiperdoo lay unconscious. He recognized them from the fight at the bunny meadow. He kicked their weapons away from them, undid their armor, and took their pouches and backpacks. Neither protested much. One punch for each finished them off. He just stacked up their gear next to their headstones when he saw Ferdinand and Betty coming.

Betty was looking furious and ready to kill most anything. Ranger still dangled from her horn, barely alive. She used a headstone to scrape him off her horn. Ferdinand was a mess of small burns and arrow wounds. His eyes were flaming and he stared hard at Ozzy and then at Betty, finally deciding to not risk her ire.

Ferdinand, Big Bull in the Meadow, Lover of a thousand cows, and Lord of the Herd has decided he doesn't like you. You have slaughtered many of his former lovers and today interupted him at a delicate moment. Normally your death would be quick an horrible.

The Lord of the Herd offers you a deal: "What happens at the corral stays at the corral."

Ozzy nodded his head in assent but was horribly confused. Not dying was good though. He watched the two huge sedgebeasts wander slowly back to the other meadow. He'd have to ask Rolly about maybe moving them further out.

He gathered up the gear after stripping DangerRanger of his gear and giving him a coup de grace. He piled the gear up on a table in the courtyard, then laid on the ground and took a nap.

Summary:

You have killed several Players:

Edward Briarthorn, level 5 Druid.

MasterTBlaster, Level 3

Sniperdiperdoo, Level 3

DangerRanger, Level 4

You have each earned 1500 points of EP that will be applied to your Tier 2 Progression Quest. Kill more players or complete more quests to earn more EP.

You have killed 13 sedgebeasts with a caber

You have earned 260 EP in STR. STR is now at Level 5/7

You have earned 60 EP in Toolmaking. Toolmaking is now at level 1/5

You have earned 60 EP in DEX. DEX is now at level 1/5

You have earned 60 EP in Lesser Poison Resistance. This skill is at 1/5.

You have earned 60 EP in CON. CON is at 1/5

Billy logged into the game. He needed to get to work FAST! Llayla would be at Rowan Keep soon, but he had told her not to walk the bandit infested road, he'd send a courier for her. That would buy him a few hours. Next, he had to find those scouts he'd hired and get them moving. He needed something, anything - even if it was a big pile of rocks or ruins, he could put his people to work digging a damned dungeon and try to hold Vern off a few days. If you can't produce, delay.

He walked into the courtyard and was met with a curious sight. Most of the workers were up and eating their muffins or groatmeal. One table was piled with adventuring gear and weapons. Ozzy was on the ground, face up and snoring. A broken arrow shaft stuck out of his left shoulder and his beard was singed.

"He was like that when we woke up Mr. Billy. Might have got hurt when the corral blew up." Lyle had taken a good look around the area he usually worked at and decided he'd wait a bit to get started.

"The corral blew up? WTF went on here? I was just gone a couple of hours."

"Well sir, there's a big crater where the back of the fence was, dead cows all over the place. There were also four headstones out in the meadow. Looks like Ozzy killed them all."

Many pairs of eyes looked at the sleeping Ozzy. He was, if anything, bigger than when Billy had seen him a day or two ago. His hands were large and calloused. Neither the hard packed ground nor the arrow wound seemed to bother him. With a snort he quit snoring and sat up, causing most people to move away quickly.

"Morning Ozzy. Hard night?"

"Oh, you know how it goes Mr. Billy. I was sleeping in the barn when I heard some commotion in the meadow and caught some Players screwing around with the cows. They tried to kill Ferdinand and messed up my corral. Don't worry, we'll get it all put back together. After the cows finished playing with them, I sort of walked around and knocked their heads in and brought back all their stuff. Guess I'll go have Rolly pull this arrow out of me so I can get to work. Oh, is it ok if I sell all the gear to buy some tool handles? I keep swinging too hard and breaking them. That ok, Mr. Billy?"

"That's...yeah, that's just fine Ozzy. Sounds like a good way to go about it. You get some muffins and get taken care of." Billy knew there had to more to the story, but dammit, the man had killed a merc squad with his bare hands, brought in their gear, and wasn't even asking for a bonus.

Ben and Rolly came around the corner from the direction of the tavern. Rolly was walking with a huge grin on his face. He grabbed an entire basket of muffins and started pushing them into his mouth. "So good, so hungry."

Ben was sporting a fashionable new hat in the style of a musketeer. "I swear I miss everything. I hear Suzette was dancing on the tables at 5am and now I see you had some fun of your own last night. Rolly! Let’s go get this wound taken care of and healed up."

"Sure, lets head to the tavern. I need something to eat. Do they have steak for breakfast here? We can pull out that arrow and get him sewed up."

Billy made a note to tell the tech boys the 'feel good' buffs were working great. That group in particular seemed happy and doing good work. If only the rest of his crew would get it together. He organized the rest into 4- and 5-man parties and sent them off into the wilds to start looking over the areas he hadn't assigned to his scouts.

Said scouts were just wandering up after an early breakfast at the tavern and morning beers. "Where the hell you three been? I need reports on anything you've found, especially old ruins or caves."

Monger laughed. Greenburg pulled out a journal with a hand drawn deer on the front and opened it to a page showing a map of the area. One circular spot was suspiciously blank and surrounded by noted and marked points.

Manwar spoke in a low drawl. "Well now, Billy, I don't know about caves, but how about a hidden city about a mile across and sealed by magical runestones. Would that interest you a bit?"

Greenburg pointed to a line of copied runes. "I don't have the skill to decipher of much of this. But one word is repeated over and over:"

Gadobhra