Marissa

  As they had suspected, everyone had arrived before their agreed upon time. Jasmine, Ashton, and Firo had all shown up an hour early, excited and raring to go. Even Kieran and Evan showed up before the appointed time, but it was by fifteen minutes and ten minutes respectively.

  In the end, it didn’t matter all that much as everyone was just excited to play. The chatter as everyone got logged back in and situated was basically nothing but excitement and speculation on what came next.

  At least until Fiona reappeared, and then the talk immediately turned to chants of “Go, go, go,” as Marissa scrambled to get party invites out to everyone before they started threatening to have her walk the plank or some nonsense.

  “Everybody good?” She asked, seeing everyone’s names in the party list where they should be. With one change from earlier. “Nyx? You’re running Dirge now?”

  “Yup. I figured the DoT damage will be good for us since we already have plenty of burst DPS between the three of you. More sustained damage will be good, I think.” She said.

  “How do you have your Dirge version of Debilitating Pierce set up?” Ash asked.

  “It’s just the default, same as Knife. I do have Nox Venom set up to be a long duration damage reduction though, which should help with prog.”

  “Works for me.” Ash said, convinced. “Do your thing, girl.”

  “Always do.” Nyx said, and Marissa swore the way she responded would have had a little red heart at the end of it if it was a text. Or a kissy face.

  “Any other changes before we continue? No?” Marissa asked, then just barreled on anyway. “Okay, we’re going then.”

  She interacted with [Uathach, Shadow’s Daughter], and saw a familiar prompt come up when she did so.

  [Large Party Gathered]

  [Continue [In Defense of Gorias]?]

  [Begin] [Wait]

  Hitting [Begin] started a cutscene, and Marissa immediately heard the chimes associated with people deafening in the chat so they could pay attention.

  [Uathach] nodded in greeting when Hibiscus approached with the whole party behind her. “I’m glad to see reinforcements. Even if your group is small. I hope you bring at least some good news with you.”

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  Hibiscus went through a typical looped animation that was obviously meant to be her explaining something, even without it being voiced or having text.

  “I see. Hopefully [Lugh] comes to join us sooner rather than later. His assistance here could easily turn the tide. Hm.” [Uathach] appeared to be lost in thought for a moment before she shook her head. “Well, there’s naught to be done about it. Your group don’t have any assigned squad, yes? You will join my riders then.”

  The woman turned around and began walking away from the gate; Hibiscus followed, and the party trailed behind her. “We lost a few of our number when we rode out to rescue you, so you’ll fill in for them. At least you appear more than strong enough to make up the difference.” She sighed. “You’ll also be given mounts to keep up with us.”

  Hibiscus once again said something silently.

  [Uathach] snorted. “I’m not sure what you had expected to be doing at the warfront, but the lot of you have just been drafted into a warband that most could only dream of. At least for now, anyway.”

  As they continued to walk through the interior of the city, the camera panned around, showing soldiers and recruits mulling about, preparing for the coming siege. Bisky looked on, mildly concerned, as children were suited up with misfitting armor and handed bows and spears.

  “It’s not exactly a heartening sight, is it?” [Uathach] said, as they approached a large set of stone stairs that led up to the battlements. “Unfortunately, we’re going to need all the help we can get. The defenders in this city are hugely outnumbered.” She said as they ascended. “Even with solid walls and magical barriers in place, we’re doomed without solid fighters.”

  Once they arrived at the top of the stairs and stood on top of the city’s walls, the camera panned out to show the gathering Fomorian army. They were still moving about, but the mass of brown and black appeared to be slowly forming into battle lines and units.

  “My mother and Cu Chulainn are planning the defense. It’s likely that we should be able to hold for a while against a siege. But it’s equally likely that my unit - and by extension, you all - will be used as a strike force if and when that becomes useful.” [Uathach] walked to the edge of the wall, resting her hands on the bottom of an arrow window, and looked out at the hordes of enemies.

  “This is going to be one hell of a battle.” She sighed, and turned black to Hibiscus with a wan smile. “Welcome to hell for the next few days. Hopefully we all make it out alive, yeah?” She shoved off the wall and moved back toward the stairs, motioning for the party to follow. “Let’s get you all to the stable and set up with horses so you’re ready whenever we’re called in.”

  She suddenly stopped, holding up a finger. “Oh, and while we’re on standby, you’ll be helping guard just inside the southern gate. That’s the secondary one, in case you were unaware. Now, follow me.”

  As she turned to continue down the stairs, Bisky and the party followed behind, and the screen faded to black. It faded back in shortly thereafter, with the whole party standing just outside what appeared to be stables, with [Uathach] standing in front of them as well. She still had the quest marker over her head.

  “Well then,” Evie chuckled as everyone slowly undeafened, “this looks like it’ll be fun.”

  “I’m really curious how this is all going to work, not gonna lie.” Kieran said. “It’s not like we don’t already have mounts in the game. But we don’t have any sort of mounted combat.”

  “They also said we’re going to be defending a gate, but we don’t all have ranged attacks to do anything from the walls.” Nyx said. “You don’t think they’re going to drop us outside the walls, do you?”

  “I doubt it.” Ash said. “I think that would be a little too immersion breaking. But I also suspect we won’t be forced into ranged combat, either.”

  “Ten bucks says the enemy breaks through almost immediately somehow and we have to defend inside the walls somehow.” Evan said. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  “I’m not so sure. It could really go any way from here, but I want to find out.” Marissa said, and interacted with [Uathach] again.

  There was no cutscene this time, but unvoiced dialogue came up in a textbox. “Pick your mounts. They’re all trained warhorses, so just decide however you like.” And then she kicked the door open to the stables, displaying four rows of stalls with the mounts.

  “Oh, damn.” Nyx laughed. “And we get to pick?”

  She darted down one of the aisles, as everyone fanned out. The animals were intimidating, even through the screen. [Uathach] may have called them collectively warhorses, but they weren’t all horses to Marissa’s eyes.

  Plenty of them did look like some variation of horses. They were the expected colors, with glossy manes and the expected body shape - just huge and muscular, with thick tree trunks for legs and large, dangerous looking hooves.

  But there were also plenty of non-horses. Or at least non-traditional horses. Some were unnatural colors, with elemental flare. A mane made of fire, or hair that floated as if in water. One even looked vaguely ghost-like, with the edges of its model appearing partially transparent.

  There were a few that were distinctly less horse-like, but looked like they were designed based on the game’s playable races. A few sported various feathery coats to match the Corvus, and a few looked more like massive battle cats, presumably to match the Cait-Sidhe.

  Marissa’s attention was immediately drawn by the horses that must have been designed to match the Fae characters. They were by far the most strange and varied. Some were smattered with beautiful colors that seemed to change as if pearlescent in the light. One looked pale and almost emaciated, but somehow still strong and dangerous despite it.

  “Aleister, I found yours.” Marissa joked, pointing it out to Jazz as she passed. Aleister jogged over and Jazz squealed when she saw it, picking it immediately.

  “Oh, Bisky, you just get me.” Jazz laughed.

  And then Marissa walked into a group of three horses that matched Hibiscus’ vibe perfectly. They were clearly designed to be nature themed, and Marissa wasn’t sure which to pick. One of them looked like a fairly normal loam brown horse, but he had moss growing over him instead of a mane. His entire back was covered in it, and even his tail looked like it was made of mossy brush.

  The second one looked a bit more floral. There were vines and plants running over her entire body, with flowers here and there along the vines. Unlike the others, this one even had a built in saddle completely made of woven vines and plant material, complete with reigns made of vines. The overall effect was very gorgeous.

  The third appeared almost tree-like, with much of its body covered in thick bark. Marissa almost dismissed it at first for being less green than the others, but upon further inspection before making her decision, doubled back to it. There were clumps of green moss in various spots, really adding to the overall effect of a living tree. And even better, its tail and mane were made of branches and leaves.

  After taking a quick jog around the rest of the stable to see what else was available, she came back to the three nature focused ones. The others that stuck out to her appeared to be more Path focused designs, made to match the various magic types and some of the class fantasies. In fact, there had been a few horses that she assumed were meant to be the [Arrow] ones, but they didn’t catch her fancy the way the nature ones did.

  In the end, Marissa settled on the third horse covered in bark. It may not have been the prettiest option, but it certainly looked like the most powerful, and it fit her aesthetic for Hibiscus perfectly. It looked simply badass.

  Once she had chosen and confirmed her choice, she wandered back out of the stables to talk with [Uathach] again. Everyone else except for Evan and Evie had apparently already settled on their picks as well. Evan was flopping between a few different options while Evie was trying to make up her mind between two.

  When they had finally confirmed their choices and returned to [Uathach], Marissa received the prompt to continue the quest.

  “Is everyone ready?” She asked, her cursor hovering over the button to continue.

  “Yup.”

  “Let’s go!”

  “Hit it.”

  Marissa nodded at the affirmatives, and hit the button. Another cutscene began, showing the party leaving the stables, while stablehands walked out behind them with their chosen mounts in tow. [Uathach] nodded, satisfied, as she watched the mounts be walked to her unit’s stables.

  “Very well. With that taken care of, you all should be mostly squared away. For now, get what you need from the shops and quartermaster in the city before things begin. And get to your posts by the southern gate. We’ll send a runner for you if our troop is deployed. Otherwise, good luck. Don’t die.”

  With her piece said, [Uathach] turned to walk off, waving with her back turned. As she turned the corner, the cutscene ended, leaving the party in the middle of the city.

  A city that appeared to now have other players running around.

  “Oh. I guess this is the new staging area.” Firo said.

  “Take a look at your maps.” Nyx said. “There’s shops and things all around.”

  “And it looks like the next quest is over by the southern gate.” Marissa said, opening her own map. “Get your prep done, guys. And then we head for the next fight.”

  “Does anyone actually need any vendor stuff?” Evie asked.

  “Just a repair.” Kieran said. “And I guess we should refresh buffs and things before we get in there again.”

  “Alright, let’s go find a quiet alley somewhere and set up our crafting stations and get to it.” Ash said.

  “Why an alleyway?” Jazz asked.

  “To get out of everyone’s way?” Ash offered, confused at the question.

  “I’m all for it.” Evan said. “The last time I popped up my crafting station in a city, I had requests coming in for repairs and shit constantly. It was a huge headache.”

  “Fun.” Marissa said dryly. “Yeah, let’s get away from here and then prep.”

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