Chapter 159: Dwarven Thunder

Chapter 159: Dwarven Thunder

Saved from sudden death at the claws of some rat monster, TheBlueBIishop got to his feet and dusted himself off. Behind him was a crater with the bodies of three of his compatriots. All were beyond healing, and he wasn't going to waste his mana resurrecting anyone unless Branigan asked him to. He wondered what spell had been cast, and why it was suddenly so quiet. He had a headache. The garishly clad bishop had just lost most of his hearing, so he could be excused from not hearing the screams of injured players asking for his help. His perception of 0 had something to do with that as well. Every player had a few dump stats and BB hadn't worried about anything except healing and magical smites.

He saw that at the back of the raid, reinforcements had arrived. He hadn't known Branigan had found a dwarven artillery company to join the raid! This was outstanding! They had a little brass cannon that they were reloading, and a big green guy was setting down kegs of beer. He waved to them and gave a thumbs-up! That's the type of people he wanted to raid with. Absentmindedly, he glanced at the deafened, disoriented, and concussion debuffs on his screen.

Barracuda was loading the next shell so Narwhale could blow up some more humans when she noticed one in a blue costume waving at them and giving them a sign of approval. "He likes your shooting, Nar."

"Yep, and my opinion on humans just went up. Anyone who can appreciate fine artillery like my shiny cannon while I'm shooting at them is OK in my book." She waved back. "Load up some napalm, 'Cuda. I want to make them do the burney dance."

Sledgemonkey and Two-Screws shared a look, and got ready to begin shooting. They'd agreed to give Narwhale the first shots, but if she was using napalm shells, there might not be much left to shoot at soon. Sledgemonkey pointed to a spot on the left of them. "Let's walk ove that way, get a better angle for some enfilading fire. That way the rivets don't have a chance of hitting our new allies."

Two-Screws liked the idea. "When you're giving the gift of high velocity death, it's always nice to send it along a couple of different angles."

"Fire in the Hole!" An explosive missile shot from the cannon and screamed across the short distance, hitting the ground in the middle of the raid. Any player in the area of effect took a small bit of concussion damage and was set on fire. The two fire mages took advantage of the heat and flames to supercharge the Bouncing Betty Fireballs they were lobbing into the middle of the ratkin army. Every other mage and the healers screamed as their health started plummeting. Philomea, a nature mage, tried to summon a Rain Cloud but the area was suffused with so much Death and Storm mana that what showed up was an Angry Thunderhead that immediately started raining down lightening bolts on both sides of the conflict. The initial posting of this chapter occurred via Ñøv€l-B!n.

Two-Screws and Sledgemonkey started strafing the raid with high velocity rivets. They began with the Narwhales friendly human who was currently running in circles while he burned merrily. Two-Screws shot low then moved higher, peppering the cleric with shots. Sledgemonkey was shooting an archer ten feet away.

Two-Screws smiled. "I can't help but noticing your sights might be off. Looks like your shooting high and to the right."

Brutus waved again and smiled. "Nice day, isn't it. Would be better if we had some Batacos, but still a nice day. We'll have batacos tomorrow. Lots of smoke up in the top of the cave. The whelps can pick them up off the ground later, easy peasy."

"Welcome to Limburger Hollow."

Seffy had talked with Brutus before and visited the Hollow twice to look around and spy things out. "Yes. It is a nice day. We have many wounded from that battle. The Master Merchant requests aid and that you allow us to move inside the Hollow. There are dangerous humans and dwarves in the outer caves, and we could be attacked again at any moment."

Brutus smiled. "Sorry, that's just a wee bit above my pay grade. I just guard the tunnel. You have a nice day now."

"May I enter the Hollow?"

"Nope. I'm Brutus, the guard. Guards keep people out."

"I insist you let me pass!"

Brutus looked confused for a second, his eyes glazing over. He started to move aside and then his back stiffened and he stood his ground. "No can-do little fella. You aren't the boss of me. I'm not letting you in unless the boss says so!"

Seffy had seen this type of behavior before, of course. It was how all of Wurchwitz Hollow's minions behaved. The Slavecheese was having an effect already, but not enough. The new Cheese Master needed to give large guards extra cheese! The guard wasn't responding to his Commanding Voice skill. He skulked back to inform General Gangrene of the problem. Brutus waved happily to him as he went. "You have a nice day now. And come back tomorrow for batacos!"