A/N: I do not own Warhammer Fantasy, 40k or Sword Art Online, they belong to their respective owners. To my dear readers look up MineworksAimations on youtube for the source of Drestovs song. Well folks here is the first chapter in the new story featuring the dwarfs and greenskins! Enjoy. But please review, review a lot it keeps me interested in the story and that means I'll get more updates out quicker.
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Zhufbar
The Early Hours of January 1st, 2023
The Dwarfen city of Zhufbar, despite it being by all appearances a doughty city full of grim faced dwarfs and water powered machinery, was alive with revelers. A few days ago there was some celebrations when Christmas came, but those few parties were down played because of the lacked of loved ones or even good friends so shortly after the players had been locked in WAO. New Years Eve on the other hand was a hell of a time to be in city.
In addition to their being hope brought about by the new year, which did lift the spirits of the trapped players, there was the fact that the game developers also apparently liked to party and all the alcoholic beverages in the city had their prices slashed in half in the NPC run taverns. The latter effect had turned the players from somewhat unhappy individuals into raging, bearded, party animals. There was mass drinking parties with scores if not hundreds of players crowding around the many pubs that lined the city.
The fact that there was no risk to the player's bodies or long terms effects of drinking the excellent ales, lagers and beers combined with an actual reason to celebrate was just adding more fuel to the fire. There was games developed on the spot for longest toss by the beard, a game where players took a shot of vodka when another player or NPC long beard recited a grudge and disturbingly enough strip axe throwing, the details of which left better to the imagination. There were fights but no actual duels and they were general resolved by the harassment menu which sent the offending party to jail for the night. The tone in the city was a happy one under the twin moons.
Two of the revelers were enjoying themselves in a quieter part of the city in a small pub. Roshi Petal and Desiree were occupying a table in a dark corner of the pub nursing a pair of troll brew filled tankards, while some of their guildmates and a few others occupied themselves with getting plastered. At the bar Klein, a knight-initiate in service to Fredrik Weiss, was attempting to sing a drunken version of Auld Lang Sigh along with a couple of dwarfs. He was here on leave from Bachenbog Fortress, which was situated of the border of dwarf territory and Slyvania. The Silver Seekers and Weiss's Averland refugees, now having changed their faction to Stirlanders to avoid some potential conflicts in the future, cleared out the fortress two weeks ago and had just finished renovations on it. It was part of a deal that both Thordek and Weiss had come up with, in exchange for giving the former Averlanders a home they were pledged to protect the border from PLA, undead and if the dwarfs called on it to war to fight alongside them.
In addition to Weiss's guild, which had grown to over thirty members over the past few months whose members were fellow refugees of Averland, the Silver Seekers had grown larger as well. The current size for the guild was at almost five hundred players and with over a third of the city in their ranks they had become the most dominate political force in the starter city. Other citizens had branched off to found their own specialty guilds or parties.
Besides the revelers was a dwarf sitting in a darken corner, he had a large pile of empty tankards in front of him on a table. He was bear chested and wore only a pair of ragged striped trousers, his hair was dyed bright orange and done up in a Mohawk. He was a slayer, one of the few dwarfen players who couldn't live with being stuck in this world. Some had taken their lives the usual way of jumping to death or by monster while others had taken it upon themselves to become slayers and go out epically by going up against the largest mobs and bosses they could find, after almost two months there were hardly any slayers remaining and the least successful could be counted at just above twenty.
Roshi and Desiree paid little attention to the unfortunate slayer and instead talked to themselves about the business of the day." So she's one of the better black smiths?" Roshi asked her friend, before taking a sip of the expensive beer.
Desiree nodded and replied." Yes, she's as good at smiting as I am with engraving runes. Well as good as the smithy grapevine goes."
As the Silver Seekers expanded in size the roles the two girls had expanded beyond commanders of small strike teams. Roshi had found that she enjoyed the role of a tank in addition to her command of the company of dwarfs under her command. She had become a full fledge thane just the week before when she broke through the level requirement. Now that she was level 16 she had a small force of 16 bots under her direct control and 40 guildmates with a combined total of around 500 heavily armored bots. Roshi had also been able to buy a full steel plate armor set along with a steel shield and a gromil axe, engraved by Desiree. As Roshi gained ranks on the front lines Desiree had gone down a different route, that of a Rune Smith who specialized in engraving and giving passive ability's to equipment. She was in charge of a small group of rune smiths, who were adapt at dispelling mob spells. She had shed her heavier armor as well and adopted a dress of heavy leather marked with runes of stone and magic wards. Though as good as she was with engraving she was not so well suited to the effort of black smiting, though she was grinding her skills in that area slowly.
Roshi then pointed to her golden circlet that crowned her black hair." Do you really think she can make more of these?" The 'Acolyte of Valaya's Golden Band' was a boss drop she had received a month ago. With Desiree's skill the golden circlet had been upgraded enough to grant Roshi a twelve HP recovery per second bonus along with an armor and magic resistance bonus's.
"It's worth a try Sugercube, after all if we were able to make more those golden bands will save lives." Desiree said. So far Roshi had was the only known drop for the item which had proven its worth in the field at keeping Roshi going while her HP had been knocked down to almost zero. If the item was able to be mass produced then more lives wouldn't be lost to the hell that was WAO. Desiree then added" She should be here soon…."
Then the door opened to the pub and both girls turned their head to the newcomer. The new comer was shorter than an average male dwarf and her form was slimmer as well, that of a female. They could see that the dwarf was a female dressed in heavy furs and covering a red and white dress. Her face was slightly rounded, her hair was died pink and a pair of reddish eyes found Roshi's and Desiree's own. She smiled lightly and walked pass the bar without a second glance to the red haired knight.
As she neared the table the table she said." You must be Desiree and Rin."
Desiree nodded and said." Howdy Lizbeth. Take a seat." Desiree tapped a stone chair next to her at the table.
Lizbeth took the seat as Desiree went up to the bar to get a tankard for Lizbeth. Roshi asked the young smith." So how was the journey from Everpeak?"
" It was cold and mostly boring." Lizbeth answered rubbing her palms together for warmth as she spoke casually." Besides the mobs our caravan fought along the way the only other time I felt… threaten was when we had to deal with a greenskin toll fort. Seriously I felt like if looked at someone the wrong way an orc boy would use his choppa on me."
Roshi sighed and leaned back." It's because were having some disputes about who gets what mountain." She then took a swig of her brew as Desiree arrived with a full tankard of brew for Lizbeth.
Lizbeth took the tankard and thanked Desiree." Oh I see, gold or silver mine dispute?" Lizbeth asked."
"Gold and silver are easy enough to come by, what us players are having an argument about is Gromil." Roshi answered." The mountains by Karak Varn… Cragmere, the place you passed by to get here, are claimed by the greenskins. But because Zhufbar has been expanding we need weapons to sell to the Empire. But to get an edge over the human- bloody hell there I go again, I mean Empire smiths is to get Gromil to make better weapons than they ever could. Steels good and all." She hit her breast plate with a loud metallic thud." But Gromil can stop a 1 pound cannon ball. So were now trying to negotiate a deal with the greenskins to mine in the old dwarven mines."
Lizbeth nodded in understanding and took a few gulps of her drink." Well it sounds like you northerners have your hands full. Why are you having trouble with the greenskins? I mean it sounds like you two should have a deal going by now."
Desiree smiled sheepishly." Well darlin' it's because back a month ago one of our former guildmates killed a messenger from Cragmere and we had a skirmish with another party a week later."
Lizbeth looked at her with some disbelief." How did that happen? I mean both of them?"
Desiree said to her fellow smith." Well when the messenger was killed our guild was on a raid. After we cleared out the fort an idiot dwarf decided to step into a cave and arggo'ed a boss. Afterwards he tried to tried to pass it off as a goblin player who was hiding in the cave and then killed him. Our guild master knew he was lying and kicked him out right on the stop. The skirmish happened 4 days later when one of our patrols mistook the orcs as a wondering mob patrol… luckily no one was killed then but since we've just barely been keeping the peace. It's a miracle the Zhufbar city council though made a breakthrough and now there's a survey crew in greenie land under their protection."
'And then theres the fact that the Silver Seekers conquered Skarklaz Ungor so we have a fortress closer to their lands now.' Roshi added to herself but kept silent about Grenza Hold.
Lizbeth then decided to change the subject to something that wasn't fast becoming akward." I can't wait to find out more. But can I see the circlet I've been hearing so much about?"
Roshi grinned and took the golden band off her crown." Here you go." Lizbeth took the circlet and started to examine it and checking its stats and its construction.
After a few moments she looked up and said." My skill level is at level 400 for smiting and I should be able to make a golden band just like this. But my rune smithing skill is at 50 so I can't enchant this, it requires someone who is level 300 or more…."
Desiree smirked." I'm at level 350 for Rune Smiting. I'm sure if we work together then we can make more of these acolyte circlets."
Lizbeth thought to herself.' That is possible, she takes over the process at the right moment… but it's risky and the resources needed are not easy or cheap to come by. Wait why did I come all the way out here to say no to these two?' She smiled and said aloud." I'll do it, but my skills don't come easy and I'm not looking to join a guild either."
Desiree smiled." Of course we can work out how much its going to cost tomorrow and you can use our guilds forge."
Roshi lifted up her tankard." So we agreed?"
Lizbeth lifted up her tankard." We're agreed."
Desiree lifted her Tankard and clinked it against the other two girls." Bottoms up."
" Cheers."
"Kampei!"
The girls then downed their beers and slammed their tankards down onto the table.
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The Lost Mine of Khazid Aldum
Early Hours of January 1st
The lost mine of Khazid Aldum was no longer lost, in fact it was quite active with players. There were 25 of them in total, 10 stout dwarven miners from Zhufbar, 14 burly orcs from Cragemere who towered over their bearded compatriots and 1 little goblin. Greenskin players had discovered the abandoned mine two weeks earlier and found that their skills at extracting the precious ores were not nearly as good as the dwarven race. The Orcs and Goblins could easily mine and do the forging, but if only if they had players who were above the skill level above 600 for mining and smelting. The dwarfs could get the same skills the Orcs had needed at around skill level 150.
This helped convince the various Orc and Goblin guilds that they needed to work with the dwarfs in the north despite how disrespectful they were towards the greenskins. Back in the fortress of Cragmere and the city of Zhufbar diplomats were discussing trade, taxes and further expeditions, besides partying like mad men at the moment. The prospect of money had greased the wheels of diplomacy.
The party wasn't limited to the cities either, at the entrance of the mine the dwarf players had tapped their kegs and were sharing with their greenskin comrades. The green skins were thankful since the pinnacle of greenskin brewing was rotgut or the trippy goblin brews. The party were gathered at the entrance around a fire and were mostly getting blasted as they talked about stories from the Old World and the Real. There were jokes going back and forth between the players from the players appearance to ones picked up by the NPCs.
Carval, a typical orc player with dark green skin and cosmetic scars across his body and face, made a joke that was able to be heard without any slurring since he haddn't been drinking as much as his fellow players." Al'right I got one. A dwarf, an orc and an elf walk into a bar. There is three barrels of their fav' drinks behind the bar and they make a bet about the last one standing gets fifty gold, but they have to drink the other two beers and not their own. The Elf player went first and poured a wine glass of dwarven ale, he's already tipsy from it now. The dwarf is next and he takes a full tankard of elven wine and he complains its to light. Both of them try the orc rotgut and they nearly spit it out. The orc on the otha' hand downed both barrels of wine and ale and was already drunk. It looks like the dwarf is about to win now eh? Well that's were you is wong, the orc bashes both barrels on da elf and stunties 'ead and they were knocked out and he won the bet."
There were laughs from the still conscious players as they heard the joke. Besides the alcohol making them more receptive to comedy and anger they were also merry from the past two days of mining success from Khazid Aldum. After eliminating mobs and a few mini bosses the dwarf players were able to get enough Gromil to make scores of weapons.
"How about a song! Drestov sing us one!" One of the dwarfen players called out to his halfway sober friend.
Drestov stood up." Sure sure. Right… I got an old one for you mine craft fans." He then started to clear his throat before he sung a song to the tune of the oldie 'Counting Stars'.
"Lately, I've been, I've been mining stone
Looking for some coal to smelt these ores
But baby, I've been, I've been searching hard
Said I won't mine cobblestone
We'll be mining ores, yeah we'll be smelting ores"
Drestov then started to clap his hands to the beat.
"I see zombies everywhere I mine
I won't die with swords, I'm fine
Swinging picks in one straight line
Ores are what I need to find
Oh, but I'm getting old
Stone, the one thing I hold
I don't think the mine is sold
I'm just trying to stay bold"
"Holding my sword I'll fight
Using the wrong pick
I did something so wrong
Using the right pick"
"I wouldn't die, wouldn't die, wouldn't die
Everything that hurts me makes me lose my life"
The other dwarves started to stomp on their feet and slap their hands.
"Lately, I've been, I've been mining stone
Looking for iron to craft better swords
But baby, I've been, I've been searching hard
Said I won't mine cobblestone
We'll be mining ores"
"Lately, I've been, I've been mining stone
Looking for iron to craft better swords
But baby, i've been, i've been searching hard
Said I won't mine cobblestone"
"We'll be, We'll be mining ores"
The orc players then joined in the song as well.
"I see lava and I feel the burn
Down this ravine, never learn
Mine is a four-letter word
I'll do that now, every turn
Oh, but I'm getting old
Stone, the one thing I hold
I don't think the mine is sold
I'm just trying to stay bold
I don't yet want to fight
Using the right pick
I wouldn't die, wouldn't die, wouldn't die
Everything that I find helps me to survive"
"Lately, i've been, i've been mining coal
Making armour to survive the cruel world
But baby, i've been, i've been fighting hard
Said I won't mine cobblestone
We'll be mining ores"
"Lately, i've been, i've been mining coal
Making armour to survive the cruel world
But baby, I've been, I've been fighting hard
Said I won't mine cobblestone
"We'll be, we'll be mining ores"
The players then started to sing drunkenly at first but getting better as the song continued. Save for the goblin who was typing into her menu.
"Take that diamond
Make it last
Into the ravine
Go and mine it fast"
"Take that diamond
Make it last
Into the ravine
Go and mine it fast"
"Take that diamond Make it last
Into the ravine"
"Go and mine it fast"
"Take that diamond
Make it last
Into the ravine
Go and mine it fast"
"Everything that hurts me... makes me lose my life"
"Lately, I've been, I've been mining gold
Crafting wooden bows to shoot arrows
But baby, i've been, i've been mining hard
Said I won't mine cobblestone
We'll be mining ores"
"Lately, I've been, I've been mining gold
Crafting wooden bows to shoot arrows
But baby, I've been, I've been mining
Said I won't mine cobblestone
We'll be, we'll be mining ores"
The players were mostly in sync with each other now that they neared the end of the song.
"Take that diamond
Make it last
Into the ravine
Go and mine it fast"
"Take that diamond
Make it last
Into the ravine
Go and mine it fast"
"Take that diamond
Make it last
Into the ravine
Go and mine it fast"
"Take that diamond
Make it last
Into the ravine
Go and mine it fast"
When the song ended the players laughed and slapped each other's back. After the main part of the celebrations had died down the goblin crackled with her high pitched laugh, technically she was a boy now but in the real world she was a girl by the name of Ashely." That was good but not my favorite song."
Drestov chuckled." What is it then? I can sing it for you if I know it?"
Ashely smirked, her lips reveiling pointed goblin teeth." Your screams of death." Drestov looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but before he could respond to her awkward answer she tapped a button on her menu and she ran off. As Drestov opened his mouth to ask what she was doing an arrow storm came down from the mountainside and started to hit the players. Drestov's throat was punched through by an arrow and felt blood filing up his lungs. The arrows landed amongst the greenskins as well and hit them.
But what really started to kill the players were the unprecidented arrival of 5 orc players who started to kill the players with their axes. One hit Drestov with the broadside of his axe before he could see the friendly greenskins get killed. Drestov was knocked over the edge of the mountain and rolled down its side.
The players were not defenless though, they still outnumbered the new greenskins and the still concious ones had their weapons. But they were not of their right minds nor did they know who were their real enemies and there was a mass melee amongst the players with the dwarfs fighting both sides of greenskins and one side of green skins fighting each other all the while arrows were raining in from the shadows. The fighting was bloody amongst the flames, bodies were split open as players died or pin cushioned by the arrows.
Heads rolled, limbs were chopped off and internal organs crushed as players died in glittering light. As soon as the ambush had come it ended when the last friendly orc was beheaded by the last ambusher. He was armored in heavy, if not rough armor, and panted as he rested.
After a moment to catch his breath he roared out." Juro, where are you son of a bitch I want my payment!" He breathed heavily as he awaited his answer. He got it when he felt the dagger enter under his right arm pit. He then grunted and tried to punch at the dagger man but missed. Ashely then leaped to his left side and stab under his other arm. His health started to drop from the poisoned blade.
"Sneaky Git! I'll fuck you up when I get my hands on you!" He turned and faced her. She then jumped backwards and activated her menu, causing another storm of arrows to hit and reduce the orc players health even more. Juro then jumped at him and used her dagger to slice open the players neck. The players face was that of surprise and shock. He gripped at his throat to stop his blood from flowing as his HP dropped to zero.
The orc player then died in a shower of sparkles.
Ashely smiled to her self at the death and destruction she had brought. When she had the opportunity to join the expedition, due to her previous 'experiences' with dwarfs she was estactic. At last she could get some revenge against the murderers of her friend. She had hired the orc mercenaries and had kept her goblins hidden from the main expedition. When the party had began she had decided that now was the perfect time to spring her trap. Though her friends murderer was not among the dead dwarfs, at least more of his people were instead. So what if twenty orcs died to get her revenge? They died for a purpose, her purpose. She then gathered the mercenaries remains and their equipment. She then left the mine heading towards Cragmere, she would tell her superiors that the dwarfs had gotten drunk and an argument had broken out about the ore. Dwarfs were supposed to be greedy hairy bastards anyway so they would listen, they would have to since she was the only one alive to tell her story. If she played her cards right there would be more conflicts and more opportunities to kill dwarfs.
What she didn't see when she left was a single dwarf crawling away at the base of the mountain. Drestov felt the need to survive and tell his boss that the greenskins had betrayed the dwarfs.
The blood of treachery had watered the seeds of war.