The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

The draugr were breaking into the town of Kruxol, and gaining more powerful units. If the draugr succeeded, Kruxol's reserve force, made up of the people who had spent the longest time in Kruxol over the last few days, would be automatically sent out to defend the town. Since the game was new and Kruxol was a starting town for new players, most players who had been cooped up in Kruxol would be low-level players and drunkards. At that point, Cael supposed that the draugr invasion would turn into a slaughter of players. He was South of Kruxol, and quite indifferent to the town's suffering, but was tense and alert because of the announcement that the draugr would be getting more powerful units.

Standing over the fallen draugr, Cael heard a soft hissing sound emerge from a nearby cabin, as well as a simmering sound that sounded like fire. This must be the draugr Mages. On hearing this, he made a break to the left of the cabins and started to run until he was a safe distance away. Looking carefully back towards the cabins, he saw the silhouette of two [Draugr Mage], wearing dark red robes, and noticed that a few more Mages were slowly spawning to join them. After five minutes, a group of five Mages had gathered and set off towards Kruxol. Cael waited for a few minutes to make sure that the Mage spawn had slowed down, while impatiently pacing around in a small, dark, treeless part of the woods. He nearly tripped over a bundle of rocks, and saw that these were seemingly connected to a small mound of mud and rocks that had been artificially raised in this empty part of the forest.

He guessed that this was the remnants of an old barrow or burial mound. Scraping lightly at the mud, he received a notice, saying:

[Cursed be he who moves my bones.]

He idly wondered if Shakespeare was now a draugr.

Having confirmed that this mound was a barrow of some sort, he surveyed the area around it, in case it held anything which might help with the current undead infestation. He saw a faint glitter hidden within a small bush growing over the old barrow, and reaching into it he found a [Cursed Draugr Sword]. He received a notice in his system messages:

[During the draugr invasion, barrows have been discovered in the area around Kruxol. Weapons found on a draugr's barrow may be helpful in combatting the draugr!]

Cael kept the sword, and started walking slowly back towards the cabins. On the way, he saw another small mound of rocks, which he hadn't paid attention to before, and scavenged around it until he received another [Cursed Draugr Sword], which he stored in his inventory.

As he arrived at the cabins, he was attacked by a draugr which had just spawned. He easily lowered its HP to 1% with [Dark's Tendrils] and [Flare], and then disarmed it with [Spark], falling into a familiar pattern. However, instead of striking the creature dead with the stolen sword, he instead drew one of the [Cursed Draugr Sword] from the barrows, and used that to slash harshly at the draugr. The draugr died, and the [Cursed Draugr Sword] disappeared from his hand. He inspected the [Rusty Cursed Draugr Sword] which he had stolen, and found that it was still in his possession. He heard a faint rustling in the trees nearby, and walked briefly away from the cabins to inspect this, wishing to test his new sword. A level 12 [Giant Rat] emerged from behind a tree, and Cael slashed at it with the [Rusty Cursed Draugr Sword].

While the weapon did little damage, and left the low-level enemy with 95% of its HP remaining, it did inflict the [Infected Wound] status effect. This temporarily paralyses the part of the body which was hit, and causes DoT based on how much damage the initial attack did. Here, the damage over time reduced the rat to 85% HP after 30 seconds. Cael was left slightly underwhelmed by the draugr's weak weapons, but wondered if the weapon would remain strengthened if he used physical attacks on the draugr and then killed them.

Retracing his way to the cabins, he saw that a level 35 [Draugr Mage] had spawned. He noticed that it had a heavily eroded staff, which seemed to contain a few unused gem slots. While this might be a tough fight, he felt like it was doable due to the draugr's low HP and MP. Using [Minor Illusion], he conjured the vision of a [Rat] enemy and sent it charging towards the [Draugr Mage]. He remembered that the game mentioned the Draugr Mage having low MP, so he was trying to make it waste spells. The draugr obliged, sending a powerful [Blizzard Orb] of swirling ice hurtling at the rat apparition. Cael had the [Rat] hop slightly out of the way, though it was now on the verge of death, and made it retreat slightly to draw the draugr away from the cabins so that no other draugr could spawn near it. The draugr followed the [Rat] vision for a short distance, before unleashing [Seeker Beam], a powerful but costly attack that sent a beam of mana to attack a chosen target. This would leave the draugr with little mana left, but it was enough to dispell Cael's [Minor Illusion].

Cael now walked towards the draugr and used [Magic Missile], sending faint white mana colliding firmly with the draugr until it stumbled and nearly fell over. It still had 60% HP left. Cael took advantage of this by using [Mana Push] to throw the off-balance draugr to the ground. Cael stood over the fallen draugr and used [Spark], then stole the creature's [Black Cursed Draugr Staff]. He assumed from the name that it had a chance of inflicting the [Disease] status effect along with the usual effect of spells, as some higher-level staves in the store also had a chance of inflicting additional effects or healing the user when a spell was cast. He held the staff in his off-hand.

Since the draugr no longer had its staff, he guessed that any spells it could muster with its low MP would be unlikely to kill him quickly. While the draugr did cast [Smoke Orb], forming an orb and releasing it at Cael, this only removed 10% of Cael's HP and repelled him a few steps backwards due to the impact. Regaining his balance, he used [Mana Strike] to send the draugr colliding into a large tree bark nearby, and the impact sent the draugr falling to the ground on 1% HP. Cael drew out his [Iron Sword], and used it to strike repeatedly at the draugr which was lying face-down on the ground. As the draugr, suddenly more lively, started to get up, he kicked its face hard against the tree and then struck at the back of its head with the [Iron Sword]. Placing his foot on the back of the draugr's neck, Cael kept it pinned to the tree with a repeated assault of strikes from his sword.

After about a minute of this, he noticed that the draugr was not getting any stronger. However, a flail with its arms caught Crucis' leg and sent him flying backwards, landing awkwardly on the ground behind the draugr. The draugr was now strong enough that it could kill Cael, especially if he let its MP slowly regenerate to the point where the draugr could use strong spells. Due to this, Cael used a quick sequence of [Spark] to weaken the draugr's resistance, and then [Mana Strike] to send it colliding with the tree again. It fell on the ground, though Cael guessed that with its new strength the draugr would have kept its balance if he had not used [Spark] in advance. Walking up to it, he swiftly caned it with its own staff, which now seemed to radiate vast amounts of magical power and was also much more firm than before. The [Draugr Mage] had its HP reduce to 0, and had been killed. Cael gained enough EXP from this kill to send him to level 32, and was now three-quarters of the way to the next level.

Returning to the cabins, he was set upon by two ordinary level 30 draugr. Using the [Black Cursed Draugr Staff], he used [Magic Missile] and was surprised to see them all falling to the ground and reduced to 1% HP. Although they were still gripping their weapons, he was able to dislodge the [Rusty Cursed Draugr Light Sword] from one of the draugr's hands with a [Mana Push] that was much stronger due to his new staff. Grabbing this, he stabbed the draugr and killed it. Walking over to the other, he used [Spark], and saw it collapse as if it had been deprogrammed. He killed that again with its own [Black Cursed Draugr Sword], and he felt like he was getting used to the process of killing the draugr.

For the next two hours, he hovered around the edge of the cabin area, picking off one or two draugr at a time as they spawned. This took him to level 46. He noticed that there seemed to be four types of weapons that they carried: 'Rusty' weapons could inflict [Infected Wound], 'Black' weapons could inflict [Disease], 'Splintered' weapons could inflict [Bleeding], and 'Blunt' weapons could use blunt weapon skills that were generally confined to maces or clubs. Of those, the 'Rusty' weapons tended to have the weakest hits. Cael found that the [Black Cursed Draugr Staff] was probably the most powerful, since the [Disease] effect could effectively prevent an opponent from attacking or cripple them if they did. Eventually, he noticed that the draugr spawn had dried up, and heard an announcement to all players in the area:

[The Draugr Invasion event is now over.

The forces of Kruxol were defeated by the draugr hordes, and the town was ransacked by the draugr. Although the town called up its reserves, and even attempted to fight after the draugr had entered, it was in vain and great suffering has occurred. You may take this time to mourn your fallen comrades.

Kruxol has been relegated from a level 5 town to a level 3 town, worsening the services and goods available. An increase in crime has led to several stores losing their stock of rare items. Check your map to see which other towns have prospered or suffered from this event.

Since the draugr have won, they will have another chance to attack Kruxol in exactly one hour, and all residents of Kruxol will be forced out into the open where they could be attacked. All residents who do not want to face the invading draugr, please flee the town before this occurs. Draugr will not enter the safe zone of Kruxol before that happens. Some of the strongest draugr, who attained the most kills in this invasion, will be prowling the areas directly South and North of Kruxol in the meantime. Be careful.]

This was a great event for ganking Guilds: they were generally not based in towns and so could avoid or outrun the draugr, but now they could take advantage of players trying to flee the towns. Cael guessed that a few Guilds would try to counteract this by escorting their weaker members, but there was no time for them to organise a group to shelter all players fleeing Kruxol.

As he walked back towards Kruxol, he saw a few burial mounds near the town with draugr hovering around them, having returned from fighting in the invasion. He took care to avoid notice by these powerful creatures. They did not seem keen to walk away from their barrows, however. Curiously, he started to inspect which weapons they were holding. He saw one which was carrying a [Black Cursed Draugr Light Sword], and considered that it would be useful for Crucis. However, he didn't see any good way to dispossess this draugr. He took a short detour towards a small but deep stream running through the woods, flowing out from the famous Southern lake. There, he carefully scanned the draugr nearest the stream, until he saw one near Kruxol who was also carrying the [Black Cursed Draugr Sword]. This draugr was level 30, and looked to be strong but not strengthened that much. Cael guessed that, even though it was not strengthened fully, its faster weapon could have assured it many kills among the weaker, newer players who were still in Kruxol. With the horde supporting it, the speed of its attacks would have overwhelmed many players.

Cael walked up to it carefully, and used [Magic Missile] to knock it back. This dealt 35% of the strengthened draugr's HP. However, the draugr seemed determined to keep its footing, and turned mightily in Cael's direction. However, a brief [Mana Push] was enough to make the draugr fall. Using [Spark], Cael weakened the draugr slightly and kept it on the ground, allowing for the comfortable use of [Dark's Tendrils] which reduced the draugr to 1% HP. This fight could still be difficult, but Cael quickly used [Mana Strike] to shove the draugr into the stream, and then fled to nearby Kruxol when done.

Kruxol was littered with corpses, and Cael could see many players who had died with their names displayed, and may never return. They had probably been enthusiastic to make a name for themselves in the event, and ran out to fight before the announcement cautioning them against it. Cael saw that, as Kruxol had its town status downgraded, many of its buildings now appeared cracked and old. The starting town had also been trashed by the invading horde, and many of its neatly-kept windows and streetlights were bent or broken out of shape. 'The spider built his web in the palace of the noobs.'

Cael, despite fighting the draugr for hours, came to appreciate them as he walked through the alleys strewn with blood and broken glass. He decided that he might as well give them a helping hand on their return to Kruxol, by using the physical attacks of Crucis to strengthen the creatures currently loitering around Kruxol. Since Crucis could easily outrun them, the current status of Kruxol as a safe zone meant that while he couldn't damage most of them, he could at least strengthen them until they were likely to overrun Kruxol easily and cause mass destruction. This would give him an entertaining spectacle to watch later.