9 day remain of contest A, Saturday

I wake and log in. The swamp parts of the mountain have gotten worse, and the fortress has to constantly be on guard from swamp creatures, summoned in the fog, attacking the walls. We spend the day trying to stop the attacking swamp, and eventually with the help of fire potions and mages we make progress in pushing it back.

I am in the control room trying to get information from the spies, but [Art of War] have killed most. I read the chats, and it looks like they consider us as good as dead; the jokes are already being told.

[Art of War] having created a war declaration against can openly attack us anywhere. They camp out near the Port Yarrow portal stone for easy kills as Alliance members portal in. Any alliance members who exit the safe zone in Port Yarrow die by a large group of waiting [Art of War] players. We can still check the marketplace and turn in quests, but travel is restricted.

Under siege and at war we can’t do much but wait. I pace the battlements in anticipation.

I log off late and leave my headset on in sleep mode so I will hear a ping if anything happens.

8 days remain of contest A, Sunday

My headset pings me, it is late in the morning, and I slept until nearly noon. I go to the bathroom. Coming back I step over dirty laundry and a plate and fall into my bed. Then I log back in.

Players are running around the grounds and battlements of the fortress and the portal stone is flashing regularly with incoming players arriving in batches from Port Yarrow and the outposts. I climb the battlements and see that [Art of War] is coming. This time it’s the main force with Josie at the front. They have brought more wagons, that look heavily guarded, which will soon be within bow range. I can see rogues and others stealth-based players with my perception as purple blobs or footprints across the rocks on the mountain. There is a shadowy war happening alongside the visible one.

Bringing up my interface for the fortress, I quickly spend the money for additional defenses: archers and a flaming oil a type of ballista called a Polybolos. It shoots huge arrows from the towers. And, of course, I buy a ton of explosives from the alchemy house that we can attach to the arrows.

I open the fortress interface and request the Stone Giants help, beyond just the two they promised—the new option became available after we did the optional quest to redeem the Rockclaw clan. I don’t see any extra options, like I have for the giants, for the dragon guardian, as he is already the prime guardian. I need to check his options after this fight. I don’t believe the giants will answer the call, as it was pretty clear they would supply only one two. But I may need the help, and based on the interface, since redemption they have added to their numbers significantly. It lists their reputation with as Friends, so it can’t hurt to ask.

I hear Sauce laughing with his friends below and they look like they are all working on something.

“Oh, this is gonna wreck faces,” Roll can barely say between laughs with the other alliance members standing around.

Jumping down, I see what they are working on—it’s one of the large ballista arrows with one of Roll’s small air summons attached to it. The little fay strapped onto the arrow and loaded up with explosive packets looks nervous. I glance at Roll and back at the arrow with raised eyebrows.

“We are gonna shoot this fay over them, and it is going to drop explosives along the way like a bomber. Once it lands, it will launch its ultimate and start attacking. We’ve rigged it up to self-detonate once it gets to 30% health. It’s a new option; the air aspect gives some really cool opportunities with this air-based summon,” Roll explains while trying to keep his cloak from flying around.

I take notice that being in a group since becoming air aspected can be interesting, everyone’s clothes and hair are flying around in wisps of wind. It gives us the effect of always being on a mountaintop. Then with the aspect skills active, multiple players together have a wall of wind around them blowing everything around. Any alliance member can pass through the barrier, but it is strong enough to deflect arrows and damage foes. The wind walls have become an issue in the fortress, and the NP’s have to keep things tied down. [Art of War] is welcome to go head-to-head, we have an advantage.

“Now that looks fun,” I say, looking at the little Fay. “I hope it works.” I examine the summon closer and it appears as if it is made of electric blue glass and wind with runes flowing through it like blood. “You guys ready for this attack?” I ask, changing the topic.

I get nods, and then a loud horn blows once.

“Party time,” Sauce says, springing to his feet and heading toward the stairs up the battlements.

Following Sauce up, I see Roll head to one of the towers with the ballista, holding his crazy arrow and carrying a bag of explosives. When I reach the top, I see all the defenders have activated Wind Guard, and the combined effect makes them immune to ranged attacks. It also makes my hair and cloak blow everywhere. A flight of arrows arcs in to the battlements, and the air pushes them down into the ground or turns them around and sends them feebly back toward the attackers.

Looking past the wind wall, I see that [Art of War] has cleared the areas we exploded earlier. They have also passed a section which was supposed to have exploded on their flank. The outriders they sent have killed all of our spies and trigger-men on the approach. They have a clear road to our front door and are in arrow range. I see the wagons being pulled by war elephants.

What can war elephants do in battle?

SIEGE START

[Art of War] begins siege of Eagles Crest Fortress

As alliance leader, you have new modes:

- Command mode active.

I switch to command mode and see a megaphone icon which makes my voice heard by any alliance member near the fortress and I direct, “Ballista, fire!”

A moment later I see large arrows carve gashes in the attacker’s front. The fodder line consists of all their hired NPC’s, a mix of scaled fish men, and undead swamp fighters. Then I see a blue light streak from the tower Roll was in, the fay riding an arrow, small twinkles of lights in its wake. After a second, I see sparkling packages being dropped from it. The blue light splits from the arrow in mid-air and I see the arrow hit a player directly in the chest, killing him immediately. The blue light flits down, surrounding a dozen players and spins them like a mixer. Then the explosives go off and the war starts.

As the bombs detonate the NPCs, the noise spooks the war elephants, which charge forward and trample the NPCs and players in front of them. They stampede right to the walls with the wagons, which I assume are full of swamp water. The first of the wagons reaches the wall and the war elephant breaks away from the wagon it was pulling. It then begins to trample around in front of the gate, crashing into the other elephants and knocking their wagons loose as well.

A horn blows twice and the top of the nearest wagon comes off, then tentacles reach over and onto the wall. An octopus the size of a semi-truck begins plucking NPC archers and our alliance players off the wall, suckered limbs crushing them with ease. I see the another wagon open and an octopus explodes out, sloshing water everywhere. They were in wagons of water. Water.

“Hit those octopuses with fire and break those wagons,” I say in command voice.

I jump down from the battlement, leaving my spider summon to go and poison the octopuses, since I am not a front-line fighter by any means. I move into the fortress proper and make my way to the command room where Simon is. I look out the open windows and see my spider has poisoned both of the octopus, but died when the second one got hold of it. I can view the top of the towers above and there Roll is manning a ballista. I see him fire and a bolt punctures both of the wagons. Hopefully, removing the water in the wagons prevents the octopuses from healing. One of the octopus climbs, limbs moving faster than my eye can track, up the tower, and grabs Roll—who is holding a large bag of explosives. I see it stuff Roll into it’s maw, and then after one second it erupts. Pieces of octopus goop spray all over the battlefield as cries go up along the battlements.

The other octopus has smashed the gatehouse, and I see it work the gate mechanism which raises the outer gate and leaves our fortress open. Sauce and Dignity rapidly move backward toward the inner gate, the one with the kill tunnel.

“Form up in the pool room,” I say using command voice. I see the enemy pouring through the front gate. Sauce shoots one final flaming arrow, and the entire front gate explodes into a crater, killing dozens of players and NPCs who had tried to come in. Through the smoke, fire, and octopus guts I can see Josie entering triumphantly into the gate, she has Kian and Briar with her.

“Dammit!” I say, startling Simon, who otherwise seems not to be bothered by any of this.

“I’ve prepared the defenses,” he says and opens the door with a small bow.

I charge down the stairs to the pool room from the tunnel above. Arriving I quickly check the passage to the heart room behind us for spies. In haste, we prepare to defend the kill room, mostly from above, but a few of us are in the basin area. The front gate explodes inward, and right after it a backpack slides into the kill room, all the way down and to the back gate.

“Get back!” I say as I dive for cover. The gate sides explode and fall in, completely opening the fortress. “Get out of the pool,” I say to a couple of stunned players.

I climb to the upper level and throw the pool switch with two hands. I watch as the upgraded fortress acid begins to flood the floor from below. The explosion damaged part of the pool floor. The acid overflows the kill room area and spills out into the courtyard, where it sizzles and pops on the ground.

They throw more bombs in, and then I see Josie toss a Mahjong piece in the doorway. A large vine grows in the pool room and out the front of the castle. It comically expands like a beanstalk from the children’s tale and several players, including Sauce and Dignity, are caught in it. I can only watch as it lifts them right out of the room, tangled in the growth. In moments it finishes growing, the trunk is enormous and quickly turns brown, the base of a gigantic tree.

I retreat to the Heartroom—it is empty. Only the heartstone, set in a gold base, on a central dais is here. The ceiling has cracked open from the tree growing out of the middle of the fortress in front. I don’t see Frostcracker our epic guardian. Did it fly out of the broken roof? Checking the fortress interface in a panic I see someone disabled our guardian, an admin, one week prior. I view the log and see it was Kian who disabled him. When I try to reenable the the guardian, I am blocked—I cannot while the fortress is less than 80% intact.

What kind of stupid rule is that?

Josie, Kian, and Briar step into the Heartroom with me next to the stone, feeling my doom.

It’s just me now.

***

“Well well, she didn’t reactivate the guardian.” Josie smirks at me, then glances at Kian while nimbly stepping over rubble with her bow in one hand.

“Kian, why?” I ask, and I see him turn his head. Briar is standing slightly behind Kian and Josie. Briar gives a nervous, and pleading, glance to Kian. I can hear crashing outside in the courtyard.

“Let’s just get this done, I just need to hold this room for thirty minutes before midnight tonight.” She says.

“Kian—”

“He sold you out for money. When I take this whole region, he gets a big piece of the pie. Though I don’t really know if I want a traitor around for the whole game, at least he gets this chunk,” she says, while pulling her bow out.

I pull a card from under my robe. If I ever needed to turn into a death dragon, this would be the time. I look down at it. It is an image of a tiny snowbird on a branch in a winter garden. There is a single wand in each corner.

In a flash and whirl of matter, I am in the air. My wings flap wildly as I maintain my altitude and I hear Josie burst out laughing.

“I was expecting you to turn into a huge monster. What happened?” Josie taunts. She pulls back her bow, and without hesitating shoots at me, the arrow narrowly missing my tiny body. “Fly away, little scared bird,” se says as I fly up and farther away from her.

I can see daylight streaming into the chamber from the hole in the roof and I instinctually want to flee, to go out there in the open. I want to be far from friends who have sold me out to my enemies. I make for the exit; my little wings carry me fast and true. I am near the hole in the roof when I hear Josie laugh again while she walks up to the Heartstone.

I think of all the pain and terror Josie has caused me, even in this game, turning my friend from me. Somehow she talked Kian into being a traitor and dragged Briar into it. As much as I would love to just fly away and leave this all behind, I cannot. I am just shaped like a little bird; I can still fly, and hope for an opening to reappear behind her for a backstab.

Swooping down, I buzz over Josie’s head with a chirp and I keep flying circles around her. I gain and lose momentum and height as I dive-bomb her over and over.

“Ginga! You freak, I am going to roast you,” she yells as she wildly shoots arrows at me. I am small—and moving fast—the arrows come close, but not close enough.

Harrassing her, I can hear sounds outside, thumps and booms and screams. Luckily, it doesn’t seem like Josiehears it; she is too focused trying to swat me with her bow between attempts to shoot me.

I see her pull out a blue arrow dripping with magical energy turn, draw and loose the arrow. I can see it coming for me and I try to turn, but I am too late. My small, fragile body is sliced on my left side.

SilverBtch critically hits You for 124 (88 +44 water) damage

*Transformation cancelled; damage exceeds transformed creature health.

SilverBtch applies bleed 18-22 to you

I fall and hit the ground with a sickening crunch. I am near the Heartstone and my side is open and bleeding. I can’t move, the damage and shock freezes me in place, my breath ragged and labored. Laying here, I can’t help but watch a lone feather floating down, slowly drifting back and forth and then landing on my stomach. My wind is gone, and the air aspect begins to leave me.

“Esme, you are stupid and weak. You really thought that you could beat everyone in this game, and you thought you could beat me? You could only attack me from behind back in Kesmai.” She laughs while standing in place, then looks around the room with distaste. “What kind of name is Kesmai, anyway?”

I laugh thinking about how the original players of The Island of Kesmai would react to this scene playing out. The laugh causes me to start coughing blood up. This game has these death scenes down. At least there is that.

Bleed -19 hit points (SilverBtch)

Josie begins to pull another arrow out of her quiver as Kian looks away. I see that Briar is fooling with something, then a red magical gash opens in the air and slashes Josie across her chest. A region notification flashes that Briar has used a knife of reconciliation against SilverBtch, and she screams. Kian spins as Briar raises his knives and hits Josie for three incredible backstabs. I watch numbly while she falls to the floor, spraying blood up into the air all over Briar and Kian. In a fog, I see Briar spin in the red shower of her blood and slash Kian with a flanking hit.

“You idiot!” Briar yells, leaving a huge cut in Kian’s side.

Bleed -22 hit points (SilverBtch)

Kian, falling back against the wall, looks at Josie. She is dead, her body turning to wisps of black. He turns and runs back out of the door as I see him grabbed and smashed against the wall, exploding into smoke. The huge hand, the hand of a stone giant.

Briar sheaths his knife and backs up to near me, raising his hands to show he means no harm. I see a request to join [Nightfallers] from his character Thorn, and I accept it. The air aspect overtakes Briar with puffs of wind and his hair starts flowing in an unseen wind. The stone giants who enter the room take a second look at Briar, then quickly nod when they see the room is secure.

Beryllighter, the Rockclaw chief, enters and walks over to the Heartstone. He pats it gently.

“Aww, little girl, let’s get you right,” he says. His brows furrows as he bends over and picks me up, and a light green glow seems to surround him. I grab the little feather on my chest as my vision gets a little fuzzy. Then, the whole interface flickers like static.

Bleed -20 hit points (SilverBtch)

Beryllighter heals you for 80 hit points, bleed removed.

My player interface is grey from being stunned; I can’t see any status updates as I am carried out of the Heartroom back to the courtyard.

Rising music starts and my vision blurs. I am suddenly outside of my character body and floating above, watching the giant carry me. The narrator softly says, “Surviving the attack, the regent of Eagles Crest fortress is cared for by her guardians. Her arch foe is vanquished, and she has survived the trials of war.” The camera passes over Briar and the giants. “She regains a lost companion and bonds with her allies. Our hero has prevailed the darkness and come out victorious. Having survived the attack, the allies’ fortress is changed and given a new name.”

A system notification passes in the lower right of my vision.

Region notification: Eagles Crest Fortress is renamed Ashvattha air fortress.

The sun is setting as Beryllighter enters the wrecked courtyard carrying me. I see there are twenty stone giants as well as all the alliance defenders of the fortress, who are resurrected. The game has them standing at attention, all watching the cutscene with me. The music hits a high point and there are fireworks as Frostcracker lands hundreds of feet above us in the massive tree growing out of the center of the air fortress. The guardian roars cinematically while the camera follows my familiar Morrigan; she lazily glides down and lands on the tombstone on my back. The music fades and I am back in control of my character and standing in front of my army.

I clench the tiny feather and look over the courtyard. Then I raise my weak and bloody fist and—loud enough that all present can hear me clearly—say, “It’s time to take the war to them!”