Town Builder - 76 - Incursion

Chapter 76: Incursion

Incursions were a major part of the end game. There were twenty-three completely different planar realms in the game with their own themes; most were much more dangerous than our current one, if the forums were to be believed. In testing, we faced an incursion from the insectoid realm, and one of the cities fell. This was not planned during the test and occurred because some player testers decided to assist the invaders. The programmers took a lot of work to clean up the mess.

The whole objective of the game was to assemble a master artifact to access the highest realm and conquer it. Each piece of the artifact needed to be assembled from pieces in the different realms. Whoever did that would claim the prize. The prize was a portion of all profit from the game put into a publicly viewable account. With the popularity of the game evident, it was going to be in the hundreds of billions, according to forecasters.

Not that I had any aspirations of being in the mix for the prize. It was way all these guilds were investing so much in the game—not for the experience of fun, but chasing the pot of gold. I just wanted enough funds for modern science to rebuild my body, and with my drafting skill, that was all to be certain.

Mad Dog was scrolling through his interface, “Bout time they connected the internet. Why is it so bloody so?”

Blood Crisis snorted, “To filter the information from the game’s AIs. Make sure none of them get out too.”

I was a bit shocked, “Really?”

The minotaur snorted again, “Yeah, safeguards are in place, but the prominent nations are still concerned since the AIs are more advanced than most anything out there.”

“Got it!” Mad Dog said excitedly. “They tried to sneak it in there. The Incursion is dependent on the player and NPC population of the city. How big is Malcum now?”

I checked my interface, “With my outposts, just north of 2,500.”

“You are going to get an incursion portal then, but it should be a small one, levels 1 to 20 for the invaders this round. It should be a good, mate.” Mad Dog said and helped me find the release. Future incursions would scale up the inclusion portal strength, but I had nothing to fear for this first one.

Neral, my red-haired Guild Master, came trotting up to us, “Lord Tallis, I thought to come to find you since we can only talk face to face. One hundred and seven additional quests have appeared to help Malcum prepare for the incursion.”

Mad Dog looked intrigued, “What type of quests?”

“Mostly tier one and two. About half are harvest quests for defensive building materials and weapons. The rest are a mix of training quests to be included in the walls during the attack.” Neral informed us, and I could see Mad Dog getting excited.

“Well, I think we can hard push to level three before the incursion starts, mate. I need to rally the troops and find the best experience quests to maximize our time. Wish we could delve into the scaling dungeon with you, but we need a few levels under our belt. Back in a bit, gonna check the quest offerings.” Mad Dog trotted off toward the Guild Hall. I hadn’t even transferred him back his title as Leader of the Silver Linings Playbook yet.

A masculine red-skinned demonkin arrived. His muscles rippled as he spun, and his toothy smile showed as he noticed me. “Tallis, mate! Whaddya think?” He spun like a fashion model.

I praised him. “Grinder? Damn, you look ready to win a bodybuilding competition.”

“Ya think? Do you have your huntress set to offer quests? I want to start working on my rep with her right away.” I shook my head demonkin. He had become infatuated with my NPC demonkin huntress when he was playtesting the game. I told him he should save his true effort for when he rejoined the game, and he apparently took my advice to heart. In his current avatar, he looked like the ideal mate for her.

I double-checked my interface. “Yes, Grinder. She has a dozen quests she is offering. Some appear to be for preparation for the Incursion Event.” He started running but quickly returned. “She is across the river in the logging camp.” He patted my shoulder and was off again.

Rather than wait, I went into my guild interface and invited the four to Silver Linings Playbook. As soon as Mad Dog accepted, I promoted him to guild leader. Black Beauty looked upset, “Are you not staying in the Guild Tallis?”

“I think I am, but I have enough on my plate, and Mad Dog would do a much better job. The Guild Hall is ready for you all as well. Also I have stacks of novice skill books. You all are free to take what you need to raise your skills.” I told her and Blood Crisis.

Mad Dog sent a message in the Guild chat as he started issuing orders for people to register at the Guild Hall and take certain quests he posted. Blood Crisis blew raspberries with his bovine lips, “Guess we had a few months off. The taskmaster is back!” It wasn’t said in malice, and Black Beauty laughed.

“How is Hope? Can I see her?” She asked after a bit.

“She is with Jaesmin, who is working on the obelisk. Down this street and take a left.” I pointed, and Black Beauty was off.

Two more players arrived. Both sun elves were in starter gear. “Are they with you?” I asked Blood Crisis.

“Don’t think so. See the blue icon above their head? That means they are under seventeen and locked out of the adult features.” The pair were looking around, amazed, and talking to each other. By their movement, I didn’t think they had full immersion pods. I directed them to the Adventurer’s Hall to start. I was going to have to get used to players moving about Malcum. I had enough high-level guards to deal with them if they got rambunctious.

Another sun elf appeared and looked more awed by his surroundings. Blood Crisis knew him, “Chaotic Heart this is Tallis, the mayor of this dinky little town.” He was grinning while he said it.

The sun elf walked to us and introduced himself, “Name is Henry. I have been the one handling your legal issues. Anytime you want it to happen, just let me know.”

“Pleasure to finally meet you,” I said, shaking his hand.

“No time to doddle; Mad Dog has six quests lined up for us,” Blood Crisis said, pulling the elf away.

The next arrival at the portal stone was not a player but an old man. My archeologist! I was a bit shocked and hoped NPCs couldn’t die of old age because this one looked like he was about to, with thin white hair and more wrinkles on his face than stitches on a baseball. I stepped forward to introduce myself, “Lord Tallis. You must be the Grand Master Archeologist Kuba.”

His gray eyes studied me, and he ignored my offered hand. “What need do you have of an old relic like me?”

I had thought long and hard about how to approach this interaction. I could still lose this NPC if I didn’t meet his expectations. Most likely, there would be a quest to cement his service as well. “We are building a library, and I was recruiting you to administer it.”

His face looked doubtful, and I handed him the library blueprints. His hand seemed to shake a little as he tried to open the document. His eyes slowly widened, and his hands stabilized. He turned the plans in his hands, his slight hunch gone, as he stood a little taller. In the blink of an eye, he went from looking ancient to just really old. Had he been acting?

“When will it be done? What specialty will the library undertake? How many staff will be assigned to maintain the facility and do research?” His voice was steady and confident, and I knew I had hooked him.

“We are not certain when it will be finished. As to your staff, how many do you need?” I replied as I reeled him in.

He tugged at the line, “I don’t have many years left. If this building is not complete within, say, the year, I will find somewhere else to spend my remaining days. As to my staff,” he studied the document. “Fifty researchers, eight guards, and twenty librarians.”

I wasn’t deterred in the least. Gold was not going to be a hindrance for me. “Agreed, but will they be researching?”

He smiled devilishly, looking twenty years younger. “Researchers is such a broad term. Think of them more as procurers of books.”

There was this old movie about a college professor who went around the world on adventurers to procure historical artifacts. Was this what he had in mind? “I support your vision and will prepare special residences for them. You are free to hire anyone you deem fit. Is there an annual wage for yourself and your researchers that you had in mind?”

Maybe I should not have left it open-ended, but I did not see gold as an issue, and locking in his employment was my priority. His broad smile made me reconsider. “For someone of my talents, five hundred gold a year. For my fifty researchers, another five hundred gold for all of them, but I will divide the funds based on individual merit.” He didn’t stop there. “I am assuming you wish me to hire the library guards as well.” He sighed like he wasn’t enjoying this. “One hundred gold each for equipment and an annual wage of six gold each.” Not seeing me flinch, he continued, “Librarians are tricky. Finding the right mix with multi-lingual skills. Ten gold each should do the trick.”

“Okay. You can start immediately.” My response left him flabbergasted as he looked around at the small town not thinking we could support his requests. I would still need to build the library in a year to keep his services but he had just volunteered to recruit seventy-eight skilled NPCs to Malcum. This was a win-win for me. I stopped one of the citizens to give Kuba a tour and show him to the residence we had prepared for him. Once he settled in, I would see about him making skill books for us.

Another player appeared, a dark-skinned elementalkin. He rushed off before I could stop him, but I guessed he was not part of the guild. I sent a message to Mad Dog, telling him I would be at my Lord’s Manor drafting. I left the portal stone as more players began arriving. I was sure I would eventually be introduced to the rest of Silver Linings Playbook. I could already see my guild interface populating with members as Mad Dog added them.

The whole game start felt very tame so far. I was sure the larger cities were a madhouse. I suddenly had lots of options open to me as well. Mad Dog and the others were supposed to help me administer Malcum, so I wouldn’t have to micromanage everything. The NPCs I had placed in roles had done well but a player’s hand was needed.

I checked on Danny, and she was still working on her quest, but dozens of players had arrived in the dwarven city. There were no preset starting locations, so you could be at level one and start in a level one hundred region. Not sure how much success you would have, though. I heard Black Beauty playing with Joy in the manor and went to my drafting office. My building plans were my biggest asset, and I was about to flood the markets with all my lesser plans before slowly releasing my rarer plans. Maybe I should wait just before the incursion to sow a little confusion among the guilds.

The library guards were easy to draft a building for. I just removed the commander rooms on my recent guard house and tweaked the watchman rooms a bit. I removed the spawning effect since Kuba was going to recruit the guards. That would give them better AIs since spawned guards lacked a dedicated AI.

Rare Stone Library Barracks (8), Requires Masonry 43, Masonry: Foundations 43 (Bonus: Promotes NPCs stationed here to Watchmen) (Structure Regenerates 1% health every 24 hours (stacks with similar effects)

It was a very simple structure and easy to build in a single day. I placed it in the build queue within the grounds of the future library. The librarians were fairly easy to accommodate as the library already had space for them. The researchers, however, might see something more specific. Maybe something along the lines of my Rogues Gallery. If I was correct in my assumption, the researchers would be proactively obtaining texts—and maybe artifacts.

My interface was constantly pinging now with players trying to gain an audience with the town’s lord. They probably didn’t realize I was a player and not an NPC. It was easy to deny them and cancel all future requests. Let there be mystery in Malcum for a little while on who ruled. Mad Dog and company were trying to level as quickly as possible for the incursion.

The Silver Linings Playbook had settled into their guild hall and consumed over 300 novice skill books among them. It was not a lot, as every player could learn up to 23 skills without penalty. I was sure players had already mapped out their skill trees before entering the game.

I focused on the plans for the researchers. It was going to be a mix of a training center and a resort. I figured that after a hard fetch quest from Kuba, they would want some rest. I took one of my large warehouses and divided it in half. On one side, I had fifty rooms and all the modern amenities of a hotel. On the other side, I replicated the training apparatus from the Rogues Gallery.

Not my best work, but I would mix in the warehouse with the others.

Rare Acquisition Specialist Warehouse, Requires Masonry 43, Blacksmithing 23, Woodcraft 43, Ritual Magic 23 (Bonus: NPC Specialists can gain 4% level advancement per day training here) (Skill growth while training is 50% faster) Max Capacity: 50 NPCs Profession Effect: Structure Regenerates 1% health every 24 hours (stacks with similar effects)

The system had named the plans, not me. I was sure Kuba would be drooling over the structure once it was complete. I slotted it into my construction queue. I had less than a day now before the incursion so I guessed it was time to see how Malcum had prepared in my absence.

I already knew I had 89 players in Malcum, 12 of whom belonged to the Silver Linings Playbook. I don’t know if I should have been surprised by the number after just a day and half. Players were running the streets like they needed to be somewhere right now, probably on a quest.

I overheard two players plotting how to raise three gold a piece of leather armor in the shops. Another player was talking openly with another player in another city, trying to convince them to travel to Malcum to start their game here. The Adventurer’s Hall was extremely busy, and Neral waved happily at me. Simba was at one of the tables playing cards. On seeing me, he put the cards down and slinked out the back.

I sat at a table, and Galana sat across from me. “Finally came out of your hibernation, Tallis?” I noted she hadn’t used my lord title, which I appreciated.

“Yes. I am ready to join the fray. What news of the players?” I asked the guard captain.

“Most are doing well. A few troublemakers, but the Watchmen are keeping an eye on them. I think they are starting to get annoyed that they can’t get away with anything.” She smiled evilly.

“I like it. They are going to be even more upset once the Watch Tower Obelisk is completed. That should keep the peace until the players reach around level 80.” I returned in confidence.

“And the preparations for the Incursion?” I asked.

Galana rolled her eyes at me, “We have thousands of quill arrows. That harvest quest was repeatable, and some players took advantage. Everything else looks ready. Tanguin has his infantry and calvary ready to ride out and confront the rift opening.”

“How about my guild?” I asked. I should be asking Mad Dog, but he was just—level 3. Wow, he was cooking. The rest of the members of the guild had only reached level two.

“They are working harder than most. They have the advantage of their guild hall,” she smirked.

I sent Mad Dog a message asking for an update, as he wasn’t in Malcum at the moment. He replied quickly. ‘We are doing well. Those skill books gave us a great head start. We should all be level three by the time the Incursion starts.’ I could tell that he was focused and busy, and I just gave him a thumbs-up symbol.

“I am going to go cause some of my own mischief, Galana. I will be back before the Incursion.” I stood, and as I was leaving, a player came rushing up to her with a bundle of quills.

I headed for the portal and went to Crystalhelm, far to the south. I was shocked by how packed the streets were with players. It was like pedestrian rush hour. The auction house where I was headed also had heavy traffic. I settled into my private booth and opened a bunch of screens. I wanted to watch the forums as I started posting building plans. I was setting all the expiration timers to be just three hours after the Incursion started.

I started small with a paper mill. It took a minute before a discussion thread formed on the plans. The bidding was almost instantly at 1,000 gold, and I smiled. Next, I added the wood crafter building for furniture. All my plans gave bonuses, which was unique in the game right now. Expectantly, I got a message from Deific Savior.

I confirmed it was me posting the plans, and he offered to buy them at a premium. He just wanted to prevent others from getting them. I told him I was in the mood for a little chaos today and he understood and left me to it. Every five minutes I posted another building plan, each plan getting better and having better utility for a guild. The discussion thread was scrolling faster and faster, and players were rushing to get in range of the auction house so they could bid.

This was the most fun I have had in the game to date. I ended up posting twenty plans, some of them the same. The gems of the bunch were the tannery, blacksmith, and the old guardhouse. All structures I planned to improve with my ritual magic skill in the future as I was dumping these plans. The final plan I dropped before heading back to Malcum might get Divine Deviants a little upset, so I sent Savior a message saying they could purchase the same plans from me at whatever the final bid was.

Rare Stone Round Wall Tower, 250,000 Health, Requires Masonry Foundations 23, Masonry Structures 43, Ritual Magic 23. Spawns one Elite Commander Archer Level 50 (respawn 72 hours) Generates two epic ballista bolts daily, Special Effect: Structure recovers 1% health/day

It was my failed attempt at a tower, but a free-level elite level 50 NPC was too good for the powerful guilds to pass one. The epic ballista bolts seemed like a huge boon, but the fine print noted that they would lose their epic status if they were moved from the tower. The frenzy was fun to watch, and Deific Savior confirmed they would purchase a copy from me.

Eventually, I tore my eyes away and returned to Malcum. There were thousands of players in Crystalhelm, and I was dressed like a noob. When I returned to Malcum, I headed to the walls. The Incursion was about to start. I stood atop the southern gates, a number of players lined the walls with various ranged weapons. My guild mates were somewhere among them.

The tear in space opened a half mile from the gates. An expanding black abyss that seemed ominous. The first soldiers exited in slightly rusty plate armor in perfect ten-by-ten block formation. Tanguin, my general, was in the tower with me. “Level ten zombies, Lord Tallis.” I guess he hadn’t gotten the memo about not calling me lord in public.

More and more blocks exited the rift and moved like an ancient army about to begin an assault. More soldiers, mounted on horses emitting wisps of black smoke, came out next. “Level fifteen elite undead knights, Lord Tallis. Riding level fifteen dark steeds.”

The final exit was a hovering skeletal man in ragged blue robes. “A Lesser Lich, level twenty-five, Lord Tallis. That should be the commander. He is a boss creature.” I nodded, which meant his difficulty was equal to eight players of equal to his level.

The final count was one thousand zombies, one hundred elite mounted knights, and one lesser lich. It looked ominous on the field, but I had three hundred warriors twice their level and numerous high-level NPCs. That didn’t include eighty-four players level one to four who could respawn quickly.

Bella, the bunny girl, was in the tower with me. “They are in my range. Do you want me to attack?” She asked innocently.

“If you can reach them, yes,” Tanguin ordered.

Soon, dark clouds formed overhead. Bella had gotten her spells and power transferred from one of the game’s deities. She was a level 108 air mage but all her spells had started at level one. I wondered how much she had leveled them. I guess we were about to find out.

A thick lightning bolt flashed down from the darkening sky. It struck the lesser lich, its defenses disintegrating, and he exploded. Bolt after bolt came down, targeting the riders first, but as confusion rained down, some hit the zombies, blowing about their neat blocks. Rolling waves of thunder washed over us as the bunny girl focused.

When almost two-thirds of the force was decimated, she stumbled. “Sorry, Lord Tallis. I am out of magic.”

It was not just me who was stunned. My NPCs around me and the players along the wall to my right and left were flabbergasted. I heard one player ask, “So, we don’t get to do any fighting?”

All that was left on the field were injured zombies and a handful of mounted knights.

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