Plagued Ruins

Jacob's companions looked at him in amusement as he filled the air with cursing before Cathrine rolled her eyes and grabbed his head to make him look at her. "What is the problem? They are just more mindless Undead."

Jacob pointed to the monsters patrolling the local area beyond the Inner Wall, "Those are Wraiths and Reapers. Both are creepy as hell and pains in the ass to kill. Both require either Flame or Holy based attacks, which we lack a lot of because Vampires are also vulnerable to such attacks. No offense Thelgrum and Shigna."

Cathrine studied him, "So you are afraid of such beings?"

"Let's just say early in my career here in this world before I became a Vampire, I had a very bad run-in with both types of Undead. I was killed multiple times by both and it left its mark." Jacob told her as he looked back at the roaving Undead before checking on the progress of the quest for the dungeon.

Quest Updated: Plagued Ruins

Description: You have entered The Plagued Ruins and found mindless undead roaming around, find the cause of their resurgence and destroy both the undead and what is responsible.

Undead Killed: 100/200

Xin Black-Hand Dead: Unknown

Requirement: Bring along Cathrine On'tel-Longstrider, Level 33, Party Size 10

Rewards: 30,000 Experience, Variable

They had made a dent, but their mission was far from over based on the amount of Undead left to kill. The patrols were usually 1 Reaper and two Wraiths at level 31 to 33. "Ok, we are going to clear the streets before checking out any buildings. Buff up and let's move out." Jacob called out as he led the way inside.

20 minutes later they finally cleared out all the random patrols and discovered the first boss, a Reaper with 4 Wraiths

Name: Poth the Vile

Level: 33

Health: 80,000

Abilities: Death Aura, Life Reaping, Unknown

Hopefully, this guy would be easier to kill then he looked.

City of Ineford

Soldiers Street- Broken Vow

Darren looked at the broken bloody figure that the warrior had been. Teeth, nails, fingers, and toes had been removed in the harsh questioning. Darren had stopped anyone from asking any questions, he had simply told the Warrior, "Tell us everything." For over an hour the Warrior held out before he started telling them everything.

Weighted Chance was behind the attack and the mercs had been hired to intercept the spy and kill the one he was meeting. The Rogue was an Immortal that had shadowed Galen from Middlebrough and had hired the Warriors team to help him capture Garen and kill Darren. They had seriously underestimated Darren and his team, good thing he had brought back up, otherwise he would have been screwed.

Finally, when the bartender and Darren were satisfied that the Warrior had told them everything, they slit his throat and his corpse was taken away for disposal. The question now was what to do with the Rogue and what had he figured out. The Rogue had already been turned over to city authorities before the Coller of Submissions time had run out, and Ineford would hold him for 24 hours before fining him and releasing him. He had already sent a message to Dudrik to ask him to maximize the fine so if the Rogue could not pay, they could hold him until someone came to pay the fine. Considering he was an independent without a guild to back him, it would be a while before anyone came. The Underworld would put a bounty on his head and a KoS order would go out, if he showed his face here again after he was released, anyone in the Underworld could kill him without repercussions.

Plagued Ruins

30 minutes later and a harsh learning curve and Poth was sent to the afterlife for good. It had been a tough fight and Poth had an ability to resurrect the Wraiths every time they all died. On top of that Life Reaping ability sucked a flat 10% of everyone's health within 20 feet of him once he hit 25% life. On the other hand, he dropped 400 gold, a necklace, and a sword. Time to check the ruins of the keep and see what lay within.

Groups of Skeletons, Wraiths, and Zombies in groups of 3 to 5 at level 32 to 34 patrolled the ruined keep. After 15 minutes they managed to make it to the basement/wine cellar where they found a large level 34 overgrown Zombie Boss with a pair of Reapers and Wraiths.

Name: Slitherer the Gluttonous

Level: 34

Health: 100,000

Abilities: Pummel, Consume, Unknown

Cathrine's scream stunned and disoriented all but the boss so when Jacob ran by Slitherer immediately started stumbling after him, slamming the chains bound to his wrists against the ground and anything in between him and Jacob. Thelgrum meanwhile activated an ability that caused the other Undead to scream in pain and brought them out of their stunned status and immediately attack him.

Jacob was doing his best to deflect Slitherer chain attacks with his shield while occasionally lashing out with Moonlight while his companions poured the damage on from behind. When Slitherer hit 75% health the chains on his wrists dropped off and wrapped around Jacob, binding and immobilizing him for 10 seconds while Slitherer triggered Pummel, basically slamming his fists into Jacob's face multiple times, each hit draining 10% while leaving his companions alone.

City of Ineford

City Administration Building- Reagents Office

"How much is his fine and what is his name?" Darren asked Dudrik after finally getting into his office.

Dudrik snorted at his blunt question, "We do not give out information like that to just anyone Master Shadowstep."

Darren snorted in contempt, "Please, I could leave here and find that information within the hour for less than 10 gold. I am coming here and asking you because you're our point of contact within the city. I am trying to respect your position, if you are unwilling to divulge the information, I will still get it. I will just have to pay for it instead. So, what is his fine and what is his name?"

Dudrik ground his teeth in frustration at the Immortals arrogance and at the fact he was right, "His name is Mister Stabby and he has a 10,000 gold fine for crimes against Ineford and her peoples. The Immortal will be released in exactly 23 hours if he can pay the fine at that time. If he cannot, he will be held until someone pays his fine or 30 days in jail. He is being held at the High-Security wing at the jail near the Lift. Any other questions Master Shadowstep, or can I get back to work?" Dudrik asked looking up from his paperwork but the Rogue was already gone.

Darren ran from the City Administration Building with the twins hot on his heels, he didn't trust the security measures of Inefords prison, Guards, or the Rogues ability to either circumvent the security or bribe a guard. At level 45, before he had been made a Vampire, Darren had broken out of at least 3 prisons like the one here in Ineford. It was mandatory to be placed in 4 High-Security wings and break out of them. It was all part of the admittance process of getting into the Shadow Daggers.

15 minutes later he was talking to the Warden and giving him a bribe to be allowed to see the prisoner. Stabby was to be bound, collared, and blindfolded before he was brought before Darren. The question was, what did Stabby know. If he knew too much, what could be done about it? He had requested certain things about the interrogation room and how he wanted the Rogue prepared before he started questioning him.

Plagued Ruins

Slitherer was a pain in the ass once he hit 10% health. One he went into a rage state and two, the chains literary exploded off his wrists damaging everyone within 30 feet and stunning anyone within 10 feet of him. While Snaggletooth healed everyone Jacob threw everything he had at the overpowered Zombie. Shieldbash, Power Slash, and Double Strike and Slitherer right arm dropped to the ground severed from his body, but Jacob was down to 30% health. Since Slitherer was already dead, all of Jacob's passive abilities that would normally heal him were doing a total of Jack and Shit.

Suddenly Thelgrum used his Righteous Strike followed by his Banish ability to pull Slitherer's attention away from Jacob long enough for Snaggletooth to pull him from the brink. The whole party was pouring damage into the Zombie trying to bring it down before it killed anyone. 30 seconds later, Slitherer moaned one last time before collapsing onto the floor and the finale Wraith was quickly dispatched with him.

Everyone silently sat down and recovered from the fight, reviewing the logs revealed that the Zombies resistance to physical damage had increased as his health had decreased. No wonder it had taken so long to take him down once he had hit 10%. The only ones doing any real damage at that point had been Shigna, June, and Thelgrum when he used his abilities. The rest of them might have been throwing spit-wads at the Zombie for all the good they did. The corpse yielded 500 Gold, a 2-Handed Hammer, and a Shield. TIme to check the loot they had acquired since everyone wanted to rest for a bit.

Spoiler: Spoiler Name: Cold Sorrow (1-Handed Sword)

Level: Rare

Damage: 60 - 75

Properties: Increases Constitution by 35 and Strength 30

Properties: Deals 20-35 Damage as Cold Damage

Properties: Upon striking a target, you have a 5% chance of freezing the target

Requirement: Level 36, Strength 40, Constitution 45

Durability: 600/700

Description: Cold Sorrow was forged during the Plague Wars by a master Smith of the Hallowed Tomb and infused with a blue diamond to give the blade its cold properties.

Name: Explosive Rage (2-Handed War Hammer)

Level: Rare

Damage: 80 - 95

Properties: Increases Strength by 35 and Constitution by 25

Properties: When wielder drops below 25% health, the wielder will enter an enraged state dealing 25% more damage and ignoring all incoming damage for 30 seconds (Cooldown 24 Hours).

Properties: Upon striking the target, you have a 3% chance of triggering an explosion dealing 50-100 damage

Requirement: Level 35, Strength 45, Constitution 35

Durability: 550/700

Description: This war hammer was forged by Dwarven smiths long ago and lost to time and war. It was later found by servants of the Plague Lords and employed in their army.

Name: Grove Masters Guardian

Level: Rare

Properties: Increase Intelligence and Wisdom by 35

Properties: Increases spell damage and healing by 5%

Properties: Ability Unlocked: Summon Tree Warden (Your level +5) to fight by your side (Cooldown 24 Hours)

Requirement: Druid, Level 38, Intelligence 40, Wisdom 40

Durability: 600/700

Description: Druids of the Moonlight Forest wore these before the Vampire expansion into their region. The Grove Masters instead of surrendering to Vampire's expansion erected a barrier to keep their forest and people safe, but also imprisoning them as well.

Note* Summon Tree Warden: Summon an Warrior Treant to fight by your side for 5 minutes (Cost 500 Mana, Cooldown 24 Hours)

Name: Plagued Stalwart Guardian

Level: Epic

Properties: Armor Rating 140

Properties: Increases Constitution by 35 and Strength by 30

Properties: Upon being struck, the wielder has a 5% chance of negating 50% of the damage

Properties: Upon being struck, the Shield has a 3% chance at releasing a magical plague that infects all living sentients within 10 feet, dealing increasing damage as time goes by. The plague can pass to other sentients once the subject reaches 50% health and when the subject dies the body will rise again as mindless Undead.

Requirement: Level 38, Constitution 45, Strength 35

Durability: 750/1000

Description: This shield was the result of the Plague Lords mad experiments and their drive to conquer the living. BEWARE USING THIS SHIELD AROUND ANY LIVING SUBJECTS.

Jacob whistled at the haul, not too bad at all considering this was the only a new dungeon. The shield had to be destroyed or buried somewhere no living thing could ever encounter such an object. Jacob waved Cathrine over to take a look at the shield and her cursing filled the air of the wine cellar. "If I give this to your people, I will see it destroyed before it leaves my sight," Jacob told her before putting it into his inventory. Cathrine nodded in response before removing a flagon of water from her inventory and started drinking deeply from it.

City of Ineford

Prison- High Security Wing

Darren looked at the other Immortal bound to the chair with the Submission Collar around his neck. Darren had roughly 45 minutes before the guards would be back to take him back to his cell. The question was, what could he do to him. He could not torture the man, the Devs would pull him out immediately and Darren would be imprisoned in his stead with a fine on top of it. So all he could do was ask questions, such as 'what do you know' or 'what did you see'. Neither question elicited a response from the silent Rogue.

So Darren moved to other questions, such as why he was down here instead to the north and east in the more established and developed areas. Based on the facial twitches, it was a sensitive subject. Meaning he had been blacklisted by a powerful guild or had become wanted by a powerful nation. 10 minutes later, he got Mister Stabby's intel from his contacts among the Shadow Daggers.

"Darian Jones AKA Mister Stabby, a level 45 Rogue Thief Spec. Lives in the greater Chicago Conglomerate. Has been playing Fate since release and this is your second avatar. You lost your first when you got blacklisted by 5 of the top 10 guilds by screwing up a raid and wiping. It was later found out you were paid to screw up by another guild and your actions caused a guild war. Your second Avatar you applied and were accepted within the guild, Harriets' Grace. A mid-tier guild that is a farmer guild for one of the top 10. They kept an eye on you and when you sold Harriet's Grace out, your actions made you wanted in 6 countries and you were blacklisted by over a dozen guilds and two of the current top 10 guilds. Did I miss any highlights, Darian?" Darren asked the frozen Rogue. "Now why don't you tell me what you know or what you think you know Darian before I throw your ass through a portal that will dump you in the northern kingdoms that you are trying so hard to hide from."