Chapter 99: War's End
Regional Alert: The War for Sedgewick is over. ACME is victorious over Momco.
Momco. Score: 0 objectives, 0 remaining fighters, large and numerous penalties.
ACME Score: 2 objectives, just enough remaining fighters, suspected of many penalties but not caught....
ACME retains control of the village of Sedgewick and Momco. cedes to ACME the Copper Mine known to the locals as 'The Door to Hell'.
Residents of the town are advised to take their time coming home and enjoy an extended vacation at Rowan Keep.
Quest Alert: Stop the Evil Invaders has been successfully completed!
All players who were hired by, and fought for Baron Billy receive the following:
-3 Gold
-An additional 46 Gold as a share of the loot taken from fallen Momco. troops.
-2500 EP That may be applied to any skills. An equal amount of EP applied to the stats governed by those skills.
- The Title: Corporate War Veteran. This title confers the bonus of +1 CHA and a free ale at any bar, once a week, when you tell lies about your time in the war.
-No fees for one year charged when venturing into the dungeon: Lair of the Under Rodent sponsored by Bludgeon Dark.
Residents and Workers of Sedgewick who fought against the evil invaders receive the following:
-The Title: Veteran of the Resistance. This title confers +1 to a stat conferred by their Heritage. (As with all Heritage rewards, actions have consequences. Choose your Heritage wisely.)
-A magical item selected for you by Fearless Leader from his personal collection.
-2500 EP That may be applied to any skills. An equal amount of EP applied to the stats governed by those skills.
UBERTASTIC!
Your raid has slain the Ubermaus, a Monstrous Level 18 raid boss! Not only that, you destroyed a rat-kin army and thwarted Overlord Mad Klaw's plan to turn you into his minions and take over the town.
-A Tier 4 Treasure Chest will appear at dawn of the next day as a reward for those taking part in the battle.
-Workers and Players of Tier 1 receive 20 CSP and 1150 EP that may be applied to any skills. An equal amount of EP applied to the stats governed by those skills.
-Workers and Players of Tier 2 receive 18 CSP and 1000 EP that may be applied to any skills. An equal amount of EP applied to the stats governed by those skills.
-Themis gets 5 CSP and 500 EP that may be applied to any skills. An equal amount of EP applied to the stats governed by those skills.
-Residents of nearby areas receive the special award: "I helped!" and will get appropriate gifts.
The Legion wasn't far behind the paladins, arriving just as a massive fireball erupted from inside the barracks and noxious gasses spilled across the town. The rat-kin army was is disarray after the death of its leaders and the destruction of so many of their units. As rats are known to do, they took off in all directions, scattering into the country side and looking for holes to hide in.
Few rat-kin survived. Pursued by the Legion, harried by goblins and bandits, and eaten by sedge beasts, only a few survived to lurk in the forests.
The Verminator was put into a wagon and sent to the capital for study by the School of Engineering and Warfare. They were quite surprised and delighted when they hooked up power to the head and an assortment of squeaking and profanity emerged.
The corpse of Ubermaus remained, unlike most monsters. After some discussion, Ozzy and some of the workers picked up the massive corpse and hauled it off. It was skinned and then butchered. Joh and Cham claimed the skull as a trophy for their bar. The hide was turned into a massive rug. Ozzy cut up the meat and turned it into sausages. A lot of sausages. The bones were put in a pile to be ground up into fertilizer, but surprisingly, disappeared one night.
It was as Ozzy was finishing up the carcass that he received a notification.
You are a terrible monster!
When rat-kin mothers tell stories to their broods at night, they terrify them with stories about you. "Never leave the dungeon, my little rats, or the Butcher will get you! He'll light you on fire, cut you up, and turn you into sausage!"
When sentries fall asleep at their posts, sergeants slap them awake and say, "And what if I had been the Butcher! You'd be dead and your corpse would be hanging in his smokehouse!"
Any rat-kin that slays you will receive double EP, and extra cheese with their dinner for a year!
Bennie the Necrobunny kept his troops near the meadow of the fat rabbits and killed any of the rat-kin that ran that way. He had no desire to fight paladins or the Legion. As the war ended, he took his troops into the Bunny Burrow and easily overwhelmed the guards at the entrance. Fat rabbits died by the dozens. Mayor Burpicus deployed his big-boned rabbits, and his stout rabbits, but they were outnumbered five to one. And every rabbit that fell rose again as a zombie under Bennie's control.
Eventually it was just the Mayor and Bennie. Burpicus demanded single combat between them. Bennied just laughed and sent his bodyguard to kill the mayor. Evil Necromancers didn't give their enemies a sporting chance. He had a reputation to build. After he had consolidated his conquest, he left his troops and traveled alone deep into the burrow until it led to an entrance to Under Rodent's Lair.
No one knows what happened after the Necrobunny approached her throne. She demanded all but Bennie leave. The two talked long into the night. At the end, Bennie kneeled and groveled and she was pleased with his obedience. He returned to the burrow, now officially his own realm. The residents of Sedgewick and the Hollywood were surprised when a notification was given to all of them.
Young and in-experienced Adventurers are invited to brave the depths of the Bunny Barrow, a Tier 1 dungeon!
Are you brave enough to match wits with the Necrobunny and his undead hordes? EP, treasure, and embarrassing death await those who enter!
Seek the hidden entrance near the village of Sedgewick. The undead are looking forward to your visit.
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