Updated 03/26/2019
These are my friends now
2126 the DMMO-RPG called YGGDRASIL, arrived on store shelves worldwide. A revolutionary RPG in the gaming industry. It was a massive open world exploration game with the main selling point being player freedom. The amount of freedom the players had to customize and play the game was too many to count. Like the name suggest the game was based off the world tree from Norse mythology. There were nine realms to traverse each of them were approximately three times the size of Tokyo. In any world, be it Muspelheim, Vanaheimr or Niflheim things became more dangerous the further one went from the center of the world. From wandering, monsters to the very terrain itself became a hazard.
Grenbera Swamp was a depressing and unforgiving place. A wetland area in Helheim, home to several hamlets of Tuvegs and other poisonous creatures. Toxic fogs filled the deep and dark stretches of the foreboding swampland. The rolling, stale blanket of white carpeted the trees so badly it was impossible to see beyond a few feet. Regarded as one of the most hazardous areas to traverse, very few players ever come to Grenbera Swamp unless they have a very good reason to. A party of four wayward adventures crossed the darkly lit environment with muddy water up to their knees.
Although they weren't an official guild the group was known as the four horsemen. Named after The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from Christian eschatology. A tight-knit unit of Heteromorphs, each a formable player in their own right. They ventured the nine realms selling their talents for the highest bitter.
Occupying the front of the formation was Romulus, a level 83 lycanthrope ranger. Consider the "normal" one of the horsemen, Romulus joined when he crossed paths with the trio in the badlands of Midgard. Originally he joined for questionable reasons, but he came to grow fond of his teammates finding a place where he belonged.
Romulus wore leather armor of form-fitting design with gleaming steel that shielded his vitals. His sleek appearance was broken by the pelt of a white wolf that rested on the pauldron and around his neck. Black shaggy hair sat atop the lycanthropes head. Three pale scars rested on his face like a badge of honor.
Across his back rested Punisher, an ingeniously designed crossbow that can fire in rapid succession without reloading. On his right hip was Damnation, a bayonet with a finger loop at the bottom. The knife itself resemble equal part trench, buck, and kukri, reflecting his need for utility. Both weapons he received in two separate raids he helped orchestrate and took part in.
By far the largest member of the group was Caine, a level 85 vampire warrior. He marched through the dense foliage like a juggernaut. Besides his long Silver hair, pale skin and red eyes he could easily be mistaken for a human. Yet rarely could humanity produce a being of immense and blatant strength. Thick angular plates of iron edged in copper forged into armor large enough to crush a weaker wearer. Draped across his shoulders was a cloak that burned red as the wrath inside him.
Held across his back was a sword as infamous as himself. The leather-wrapped hilt hovered above his left shoulder while the blades point reached his Achilles. Sineater, a powerful blade that he carried on every quest. A reward he won in a public PVP tournament, where he displayed his talent as an exceptional duelist.
The heart of the horsemen. Caine was an avid gamer, who streamed his let's play and walkthroughs for all to see. He usually provided knowledge of Yggdrasil lore to compliments Necross's role-playing knowledge when figuring out how to deal with enemies and give insight to his teammates.
Next was the level 82 fallen angel sorcerer, Mephisto. The face of the horseman who founded the group alongside Necross and Caine. Mephisto cared less about the pursuit of adventure and more on making a profit. As their designated spokesman he's generally the one who decided whether or not they take the quest.
His eyes gleamed bright but framed in black tattooing, were narrowed in contemplation. Skin tanned, paler than Romulus but also far smoother, stood in contrast with bluish-white hair that danced around like a living flame. He wore a high collared leather armor with long black vestments. Beyond these, the only other thing to stand out was the gold trim and piping along his armors edges. Two pitch-black wings rested upon his shoulder blades signifying his angelic origin.
His most prized possession was Admiration, a powerful staff he found in a random loot drop from a roaming event boss. It dramatically boosts his mana regeneration. Allowing him to leech mana from enemies with each attack. Passive bonus includes boost magic damage and additional mana boost on for each kill.
The last of the quartet trailed behind the rest. Necross An level 87 overlord necromancer with a wiry frame. His gaping sockets were eyes of burning emerald glammed unblinking. His hood, black as the night sky hung to his shoulders. Below, it stained and tattered violet streamers of fabric that trailed from the back of his belt. The dark green dragon scales he wore from the waist down and around his arms appeared grimy and unkempt.
In his hand was his signature weapon Reaper, an enormous scythe standing taller than its wielder. Its blade was a hideous thing, jagged and shaped like the talon of a great beast, longer than Necross's outstretched arms. Unlike the other horseman, Reaper was handcrafted by him. He Spent countless hours farming for the perfect materials to forge the scythe.
The brains of the team who enchanted all of horsemen gear. Overly analytical, arrogant and sarcastic. Necross usually came off as more cold and distant than he actually was.
They all trek the marsh with a purpose all except for Mephisto whos stride began to gradually decrease to the point he was only two steps ahead of Necross. His action puzzled the necromancer. He couldn't have been poisoned they were wearing greater necklaces of poison immunity.
"Keep moving. It should be up ahead," he said plainly.
"Great. We can't die a slow death while looking for this mysterious dungeon," replied the fallen angel "Whose idea was this anyway?"
The others spoke in unison. "Yours,"
Mephisto conjured his menu and accessed his messages. He opened the anonymous message that was forwarded to all of them.
To Conquest31. Warblade, Famine123, Death4life.
You do not know me but I know you. The four of you stood victorious at giants fall but you have mistaken your belief that you won. You all will come to learn we are a force to be reckoned with. That is why we issue you, horsemen, a challenge Go to the tomb deep in the Grenbera Swamp. If you can best the dungeon all that you find will be yours. To ensure you're cooperation each of you should receive 30 gold coins each as a downpayment. Come to the great tomb, come face your destiny.
"Oh yeah. Now I remember," the fallen angel whispered as he took another step. "I hate this place."
"What's the matter sunshine?" Uttered Necross. "The last dungeon in Svartalfheim was worst than this."
"Yes, fighting dark elves in darkness blows but going through this swamp just to find the tomb is a whole nother level of crap," He explained.
"I'm with him on this one this place sucks," Romulus interjected. "Should've taken the money and ran."
"And stain our honor hell no," Caine countered."These guys calling us out. it's only right that we reply back."
With one final step, they cleared the trees and came out onto a flat surface. Before the four stood the opening of a great tomb. It was a marble sculpted entrance, with pillars of white maintaining the roof of the great mausoleum. Around the vicinity was many gravestones of different shapes size, some broken, and some not.
"Wow," the sorcerer said in awe,
"This must be the place," stated the necromancer.
Romulus took a knee and activated [sky eye], a skill that allowed him to observe a scene from afar within two kilometers. The lycanthrope scanned everything he could see with his eyes for telltale signs of danger. It was his role to act as the eyes and ears within the party. To make sure they don't wander blindly into a trap. Unfortunately for them, this entire quest was a trap from the very beginning.
"Well, boys, I got good news and bad news," said the ranger.
"What's the bad news?" Caine asked.
"Its a trap," he replied.
"And the good news?"
"It most likely won't activate until we reach about halfway there."
Necross analyzed the environment taking in every detail he could. Though it was open, it did its best to ward off invaders, with its eerie solitude. The sunlight barely made it a few meters past the entrance, leaving the rest of the chamber beyond in total darkness. He turned to Caine. "Undead, zombies, and skeletons."
The warrior shook his head in confirmation." Death spirits and vampires?"
"Death spirits yes, vampires unlikely," he answered. "Lich?"
Caine remained silent for a minute before answering. "Elder Lich."
Unable to take any more of this the sorcerer step between the two, interrupting their conversation. " Undead that's what we're going to fight, yes?"
"Yeah," the vampire replied.
"Good, now that we know what we're up against let's go," Mephisto insisted As he impatiently walked towards the tomb.
They watched him for a second before following him one by one. The warrior placed his hand over the hilt of Sin-eater while following close behind the spellcaster. Next was the necromancer who held his weapon close. In the rear, the ranger drew his crossbow and covered their six.
The four horsemen broke through the cover of the wicked forest and through the graveyard. Their movements were yet to be impeded, and there was no sign of enemies or defenses at the moment. But when they were just a few yards away from the entrance they stopped. Then Skeletons rose from beneath the ground, crawling out of the soil. Their ranks consisted of undead warriors armed with rusty weaponry.
Necross walked forward until he stood between the horsemen and skeleton horde. He quickly glanced to his comrades. "I got this," he proclaimed. As he lifted his hand into the air. [Control undead]. Nothing happened. An awkward silence filled the air.
"Did it work?" the ranger inquired. Just then the skeletons charged the horsemen branding their degraded weapons.
"Well, here we go," Caine drew Sin-eater, the blade hit the ground with an audible sound. He charged the oncoming force as he dragged the sword on the floor. Romulus aimed his crossbow and Mephisto's body radiated holy energy. Then the two sides clashed. With his dark arts possible unless against them Necross began to dispatch the undead with Reaper. Each slice from the weapon finished the skeletons with little to no effort. After what seemed like a minute the graveyard became quiet again. Not a single undead warrior was left standing as all their bones and flesh were left scattered over the floor.
Before they could claim victory reinforcements arrived this time they were accompanied by Death Knights covering their sides. Death knights were level 35 undead summons who stood at 2 meters tall with a crooked body. their armor had sharp thorns everywhere, resembling an incarnation of violence. Two demonic horns protruded from their helmet, with their face being visible underneath. It was a disgusting, rotten face whose empty eye sockets were filled with hate and killing intent, glowing with a flashing red light. In their left hand was a massive Tower Shield that covers three-fourths of their body. Whereas in their right hand, was a serrated sword. The sword was nearly one hundred and thirty centimeters long and coated with waves of terrifying red and black fog, agitating observers from nearby surrounding like a constant heartbeat.
"We got company," said the lycanthrope as he opened fire. He was providing long-range support to his comrades. Everything was going as expected until he notices a large shadow behind him. He turned around to see A death knight lifted its sword and attempted to attack him. With ease, he jumped out of the way. Then another death knight appeared, they moved in on the ranger at once and swung their swords at him. He deftly moved out of the way of the Death Knights. Their attacks barely miss him each time.
As he retreated, the horseman lost his balance and tripped over a damaged gravestone. Before he could gather himself both death knights lifted their swords high in the air.
[Force field] the death knights slammed their blade down but stopped in mid-air. The attack was stopped by a translucent barrier of energy. Romulus looked over to see Mephisto holding his staff upright.
"Dam bro, they caught you slacking huh?" joked the sorcerer.
The Knights continued to beat down the barrier until it cracked but it gave the ranger time to fall back and maintain his distance. He readied Punisher and fired a volley of arrows that dispatched the two death knights.
"That's why I keep you guys around," he acknowledged in a joking manner.
Caine and Necross stood side by side as another horde of undead approaching. The Necromancer faced his vampire friend.
"Okay, here's the-" before he could finish his sentence the hulking warrior ran off to meet the enemies head-on.
"No need for a plan here bro," said Caine.[Pyro wall] He leaped into the air and plunged his blade into the earth. A wave of fire emerged, scorching the horde of skeletons.
The overlord let out a brief sigh before clutching his scythe tight. He swung and slashed the nearby zombie into pieces. Then he ducked under a slash from a death knight, with Reaper he impaled the death knight in the chest.
From the corner of his eye, he spotted an orange light radiating in the sky. He looked up and saw a huge fireball was incoming.
"Incoming!" he yelled for the others to hear.
The horsemen quickly split up. Each of them jumped and took cover behind whatever they could find. The ball of fire hit a few feet away from them. Necross looked up to see where it came from. There he saw an Elder lich adored in an old and luxurious robe that covered its body of rotting skins and bones. It wields a twisted staff adorned with gems on its end. Beneath its rotting exterior lied a pair of evil eyes brimming with intelligence. It was shrouded in an aura of negative energy that covered its body like a thin fog, giving off a menacing atmosphere. He looked over at the team's resident marksman, who took cover behind a statue.
"Elder Lich"
Without saying a single word Romulus nods as he sticks an arm out and catches one of the zombies in the chest with Damnation. He then runs, jump and dives and gets another in the throat. He rolls stands without stopping, he drew two silver daggers and throws them at two separate zombies. The lycanthrope equipped Punisher and fired at the incoming undead. He jumps and scaled a marble pillar. As he reached the top he scanned the field for his target.
"Gotcha," he whispered. He loaded a silver arrow into his crossbow. Locked and loaded the ranger lined up his shot. "Now smile for me." He pulled the trigger and the arrow flew high in the air before it landed in the face of the Elder lich.
With the caster down the other three rushed out of cover to engage the undead horde. Caine swung Sin-eater like a lunatic as he racked up an impressive body count. It was as if they were lining up to be slaughtered.
The angel and the overlord stood back to back as they were surrounded on all sides. A skeleton rush towards them. It goes to thrust its blade into Mephisto but he knocked it across the face with Admiration. Then he struck it with a downward strike. As two more rush him the sorcerer placed his hand on the undead's chest.
[Infestation], Mephisto magically injected the skeleton warrior with bugs and maggots that continued to inflict damage on the host. Then pushed the undead away from him. Then it exploded killing the closest ones but knocking the other ones down.
The overlord noticed the display and wasn't impressed. He slashed an undead in the abdomen, then decapitated it. He stood ready full of confidence. An undead tried to strike, but he dodges and countered.
The sorcerer looked and chuckled. "Come on you can do better than that."
Necross took the comment in stride but apart of it register on an emotional level. He raised his skeletal hand and his scythe into the air. [Murder] Necross summoned an enormous flock of crows that swarmed all the remaining enemies on the field. The murder swept through the graveyard devouring the undead. When it was all said and done he stood victorious. Then as a group, everyone gathered around the necromancer.
"No, kill like overkill huh," Romulus jested.
"Is that it?" The black-clad sorcerer asked.
Then in the distance, the four heard a horn blown, followed by a fierce roar. They all took a battle stance as they waited for their next opponent. Caine looked up to see a Skeletal dragon inbound but on closer inspection, he noticed it was different.
"Elder Skeletal dragon coming through," he yelled.
A more powerful version of the undead being that also mimicked the shape of a dragon. Composed of countless human bones with an overall height up to three meters tall. Formed from bones with a rib cage devoid of organs nor flesh. Its head contains four hollow eye sockets, each with a crimson glow. The jaw of the skull was alined with sharp teeth along with a pair of bat-like wings attached to its shoulders and four limbs.
"Yessss," Necross hissed with excitement.
"Remember bros this thing nullifies any magic up to tier 6," said the vampire. As he reminisced on their last encounter with one. "And no negative spells this thing can heal itself with those."
"I heard ya," the sorcerer replied.
"The same maneuver as last time?" the lycanthrope asked.
"Yup," the Overlord said.
Without any more words to exchange the horsemen split up to their designated positions. Romulus found a spot on another pillar where he could provide overwatch. Necross found his spot on the far right of the field. Mephisto took up a position in the rear were he began charging his spell. Lastly, Caine just stood there as the dragon landed in front of him.
"Bring it," he taunted.
The undead dragon replied with a lunge but Caine spun to the side and delivered a downward strike. Although it negates any damage from piercing weapons Sin-eater wasn't an ordinary weapon. Thanks to Necross the blade was enchanted with fire runes, allowing it to deal fire damage. Which in this circumstance was beneficial due to undead's taking double damage by fire. Which he couldn't help but chuckle at the irony.
As the vampire warrior provides agro for the party, Romulus once again sought through his vast inventory. Once he found what he was looking for he equipped the item. In his possession were a bunch of flaskes. At first glance, these flasks appear to be empty. However, upon closer inspection, a few drops of blessed water was at the bottom. Said to be the tears of the twelve saints, making them an excellent weapon against creatures of the night. Oh, the irony he thought to himself.
The lycanthrope tossed the flasks at the wings of the skeletal creature. The bottles explode with holy flame upon impact causing devastating damage to its HP. With its tail, the Elder Skeleton dragon swat the top of the pillar, luckily he saw this early and jump off just as it happened. With it distracted Caine ran towards the dragon, jumped and plunged Sin-eater into the creature's body. As he fell to the ground on his feet, the dragon roared.
It was Mephisto turn to strike as his 7th tier spell was near completion but then the dragon saw him. Just as it lunged towards him he unleashed the spell. [Storm of the ages] a blast of Fire, ice, and lightning flew down the dragon's throat and burst out of its hollow body. Its boney wings were too damage for it to take flight, keeping it grounded. Too weak to fight back, it fell to the floor.
As the skeleton dragon lied on the floor helpless Necross walked towards the head and looked at it. He lifted Reaper above his head. Then he drove the scythe into the skull of the beast. Then energy ran up the weapon, and into his body, adding its soul into his collection.
"Talk about poetry in motion," said the fallen angel. "That thing didn't stand a dam chance, we straight up murdered it."
"Word, that felt unfair as hell," the lycanthrope added.
"It stood its ground and fought valiantly," Caine interjected. The towering figure walked up to the dragon's corpse and placed his hand on it. "Earning a warriors death."
The trio watched him show respect to their defeated foe. Out of all of them, Caine was the most honorable of the four. He dislikes winning through underhanded or dishonorable means. The vampire despised using stealthy means to achieve victory, preferring open conflict to deception or subtlety and especially the idea of assassination.
Necross broke the silence. " How about we get ready before entering the dungeon this time," he said with a dry wit.
"You never going to let that go huh," Mephisto fired back.
"Excuse me, I'm not the one who forgot to bring the revives."
"In my defense, I was distracted," he replied with his hand up. "She sent me a message I had to reply."
"Oh, so that's your excuse huh," the necromancer took a step forward. "But when I make a mistake you all gang up on me."
"Woah, zero!" said Romulus. Caine and himself stepped between the two horsemen. "This is getting out of hand, let's calm down before this escalates any further."
"Listen we all messed up before, we're all human here," the vampire warrior said in a calming voice. "We all bros here man, we can't let this stuff come between us."
"True, but I not apologizing to him and I wouldn't accept one in return, either." the angel quipped.
The towering warrior threw his arms out in disbelief."Mephisto, your one of us why are..."
"Yeah it was inexcusable I agree and its gonna make what I have to say all the more absurd but I'm gonna say it anyway," The black-robed sorcerer took a position in front of the other three. "We're not just a team nor are we a guild were more than that. We are a brotherhood, and I think its time we start acting like one..."
The lycanthrope interrupted "Whoa, whoa wait is this related to RL?"
"Yes, it's about RL. We've clocked in hours in this game. Doing quests and what not, I spend more time around you guys than my own family but we barely know anything about each other outside of this."
"Where are you going with this?" Necross whispered.
"The point is we need to share our RL with one another," The angel clarified.
"Goddammit," Romulus grunted.
"I'll go first, my name is Vincent Davidson and I'm a graphic designer." Mephisto proclaimed proudly.
Caine took came forward. "My name is Alexander Garcia, and I stream video games mainly Yggdrasil."
The last two looked at each other, neither one wanted to open up. After a few seconds, Romulus shook his head and took a stand. "I'm Sergeant Richard Stevens of the United States Marine Corps." He said reluctantly.
The vampire leaned forward "Wait, you're in the military?"
"Yup, and no I don't want to talk about it," he said dismissively. He shifted his attention to the last horseman. "Well, any time now."
The skeletal figure finally stepped forward with the rest of them. He remained silent and unmoving. Then he started to pace around them, unable to stand still. Romulus raised an eyebrow at what he was seeing. He glanced at the other two to see if they were just as lost as he was but they weren't. This action wasn't new to Mephisto and Caine they've seen him do this in times when he felt uncomfortable. Just then he halted his movement and faced them.
"My name is Hudson Jonas, I'm currently a cab driver, there I said it" He crossed his arms. "Let's just get this over with."
"Sure thing Hudson," Joked the vampire warrior.
"No problem, Alexander," He replied. They all burst into laughter as they were now on a first name basis.
After checking their equipment one last time, the four horsemen were ready to face the tomb. They would take on its challenges, earn some exp and retrieve some loot.
"Caine? Any inspirational words before we enter the tomb?" asked the ranger.
"Though I walk, through the valley of the shadow of death..."
"Okay, I didn't expect you to get all Biblical on us,"
"Are we not the four horsemen, agents of the apocalypse?" he remarked.
"Yeah but..." he paused as he let the comment sink in. "Screw it lets just go with that, amen"
The four quickly hurried into the entrance, positioning in the rear was Necross to cover their flank. Caine placed himself in front of the necromancer the brunt of any attack. While Mephisto took a position in the middle, as Romulus scouts ahead. In this way, they passed through darkened chambers and passageways. Judging by the downward slope and the stairs they had to pass, they were going deeper underground. Just how far did this tomb reach.
A/N: Here are our four mains everybody. What lies within this mysterious tomb? find out in the next chapter.
