Chapter 30: Meat

Timmy turned with a huge smile. "A Big Boss for a change! We have the video running Joe?"

"Had it going from the time we made plans in the inn. I'll edit the boring shit later and send it off." Joseph bent and tapped Ozzy on the head, tossing him a small healing spell. "Wakey, Wakey, Mr. Butcher. You're safe, and Sir Timothy is going to go smite that monster. Can you fill us in on any details?"

Ozzy shook his head and stood up. "Monster? Something killed the chickens and hit me."

Louie nocked an arrow. "Well, that's about the typical intel we get from the locals. Let’s just go light this thing up."

There was a crash and the sound of breaking wood as something huge broke through a building and onto the street. What looked like a walking pile of meat and bone turned and headed towards the edge of the village where the workers’ huts were.

Ozzy pulled out two cleavers and started jogging after it. Timmy laughed. "Ok, we have some NPC help. It's heading towards the crappy end of town. Be a bit careful Hugh, slums catch fire easily."

Hugh just smiled, "Think of it as me doing my part for urban renewal. They can get rid of the slums and build something better. Maybe a nice apartment building or a mall."

Timmy turned to the group and spoke lower. "Ok, circle it up and group shout for the cameras".

The group formed a rough circle and extended their hands. "For Glory!"

"...For Loot!"

"...For the Light!"

"...For MOMCO!!"

The crew jogged down the street after the monster.

Suzette had just stepped out of the tavern and watched the little chant with amusement until the last word. Her thoughts spun in circles as the blackness of the dream returned. "Momco?Momco! Oh, that little shit with his shiny smile. Damn, damn, damn!" She took a deep breath and began running after them. She had to find Ozzy.

The Charnel Daemon headed quickly for the area with the most people. It had carelessly hit the first prey too hard and lost it, but these next were easy. Several were in each of the pitiful little buildings. No protection at all. It charged through the wall of the first hut. Tendrils of muscle grabbed for the four workers sleeping inside. Roger and Arran never made it out of bed, both pinned and killed before they knew what was going on. Sai was a light sleeper and almost made it to the door before a long bone spike pinned him to the wall. Lyle woke and just screamed twice before a huge knob of bone came down on his head. The Daemon crashed through the front door, dragging bodies behind it.

Outside, several of the workers were up, one with a lantern. They watched in horror as what looked like a creature made of bone and meat stumbled from the ruined hut on several misshapen legs. It was already beginning to absorb the bodies into itself. One massive arm ended with a bone nob, the other in a three-foot-long bone spike. Ropy tendrils sprouted as it crawled forward moving towards the group. The workers scattered, screaming.

Ozzy came up at a sprint and brought both cleavers down, chopping deep into the side of the creature facing him. His efforts got its attention. The huge bony arm swinging at him, and again knocking him away from it. Luckily Hugh was there to soften his landing.

Charnel Daemon critically pummels you for 300 crushing damage. You mitigate some of the blow and take 270 points of damage.

Hugh was less than happy to have Ozzy slam into him. His light frame couldn't take much damage. His total Health was only 225 when healthy. Crushed between Ozzy's flung body and the side of a hut, he took over half his health in one blow.

Timmy barely noticed. These were the moments he lived for. He slammed his mace into the creature using Crushing Blow, breaking bone and making a large dent. The small amount of light magic each of his blows added sizzled as it met a demon.

Finally, a real demon! He hadn't been able to raise his Demon Slayer skill at all because of a lack of demons to kill.

David’s overhand slash with his great sword performed better than the mace, slicing off one of the ropy tendrils. Louis sent an arrow deep into the creature that it didn't even notice.

The Daemon seemed to gather itself, then a huge maw opened up in its center, and it screamed. Its Aura of Fear and Aura of Intimidation washed over the players. Timmy and David laughed; Hugh looked a bit nervous but still readied his firebolt. Louis turned white and dropped his bow and arrow, covering his ears and closing his eyes. The effect on the fleeing workers was hard to notice. The Be Happy buff they were under doing a lot to negate the auras. The deadliness of the Daemon was shown again as Althea ran from her hut, only to be speared by a long shard of bone and dragged closed to the thing. A ropy appendage wrapped around her throat.

"Ozzy, I am so disappointed! Did you start a fight without me? How often have we had this talk? Not enough, I guess. Wow, you guys are looking rough. I'll heal you up." Rolly had run up next to Ozzy and Hugh. Putting a hand out to help Ozzy up, he used Transfer Life to heal part of their wounds. "Wow, you really took a hit Ozzy, what did he nail you for?"

Ozzy raised his voice to warn everyone. "The damn thing can crit for 300, be careful." Hugh turned pale. That was a one shot kill for him. Dying in the middle of a fight like this would really lose him some pay. He launched his firebolt. Where it touched the meat monster it sizzled and a huge slab of cooked meat peeled off. David sliced through the tentacle holding Althea with his dagger, but she was already dead. Timmy's mace seemed to bounce off the creature, he couldn't seem to land a damaging attack without burning stamina on on Crushing Blow. Worse, the slashes and burns on the Daemon were fading as it quickly regenerated its health.

Suzette was watching. Where Timmy could only sense when magic was around, she could plainly see it and maybe know what it was doing. She saw the steady stream of Dark Mana coming from the road to Gadobhra. The Daemon was absorbing it and using the mana heal itself. Timmy braced as the creature turned towards him. The knobbed bone arm pummeled him even through his shield. One of the severed tendrils wrapped around Timmy's leg and began crushing it.

Charnel Daemon hits you for 150 crushing damage. Your mitigation stops some of the blow and you only take 100.

You take 40 crushing damage as a tendril wraps around your leg.

The daemon went to shoot at Hugh, but the shot from the spear arm went wild as a whip wrapped around the arm and pulled its aim to the side. "Oh, shit this thing is strong." Ben suddenly found himself flying through the air as the creature jerked the arm around, flinging him into a hut.

Suzette sent a Solar Arrow at the creature. She didn't think it had eyes, so she aimed for the maw area. Her sunlight hit inside of the creature’s open mouth, and it shuddered, and then shrieked in pain. It started moving towards her. Continuously shrieking when someone is trying to stab you in the mouth with sunlight probably wasn't a winning strategy for the Daemon. Suzette launched another arrow of sunlight into it. It was a low-level spell, doing only 20 damage normally, but it was highly effective against this creature.

'Lots of NPC help,' thought Timmy. 'Time to form a raid.' He paused his attacks to send raid invites to everyone outside of his group that was fighting, and simultaneously get Louis back in the fight by hitting everyone with a Bravery buff. Louis seemed to shake off the fear, but the raid didn't form.

You may not form raids using Players from rival factions. The following Players were rejected:

Suzette, the lonely Barmaid

Rolly, the Shepherd

Benjamin, the Courier

Ozzy, the Butcher

Timmy was surprised. 'Players? These were all ACME Players! What the hell were they doing posing as NPC's?' Overall, though, this was a bonus. He was getting their dps tossed into the fight, but they wouldn't get the experience, and he didn't have to share. No way could they out dps his crew.

Rolly yelled to Ben. "Hey, Ben! I've got it on good authority that the Dark Magic crap pouring down the road and healing this thing doesn't like Rowan or Holly wood. Hates that nasty Sassafras too. Can you get some of the guys to dam it up? Lots of wood in the piles." Ben ran to find help. He never had figured out how Rolly knew things. But he often did, and was usually spot on. He grabbed Jorges, Chad, and several others that were watching the fight. "We have a job, boys. Don't ask questions - we need to pile a ton of wood across the end of the road and dam things up." They ran off.

The Charnel Daemon closed half the distance to Suzette as she cast a third Solar Arrow cantrip at it. Half the distance was far too close. It's spike arm centered on her and fired, sending the long bone harpoon through her leg. The ropy tendril connecting the harpoon to the creature retracted, knocking her off her feet and dragging her to it. Too far away to help, Rolly and Ozzy could only look on in horror as the bony fist came down on her. Everyone saw the notification.

The Dying Light

An ally of The Light has perished. The Dark grows stronger. Creatures allied to the Dark will now do 20% more damage in your battle.

20% Holy Shit! Timmy yelled at his squire. "Joseph. Get her up! The thing is too strong already. I can't take another 20% on top of what it's dishing out already."

Rolly added cheerfully, "It should be strong. That's a level 7 elite boss; wanna see?" Rolly shared what his identification skill had showed him.

Charnel Daemon

Elite Level 7

Current Health: 1880/2000

Stats:

Resistances:

Weaknesses:

STR

13

Piercing, Crushing

Light Magic

Dex

6

Holy Magic

CON

13

Attacks:

Abilities:

Pummel

Fear Aura (strong)

Bone Spike

Intimidation aura (medium)

Entangle

Daemonic Bargain

"You're all healed up, Ozzy. Keep the burny guy alive. I love the smell of burning Daemon. I'll go help wonderboy over there."

Hugh sneered as he launched another firebolt. "Help how? Call Bo Peep and her lamb?"

Rolly cheerfully answerd him. "Naw, the lamb would be overkill. We can save her for the Big monsters." Rolly stepped forward and stood with his feet in a wide stance. He held his arms out wide, hands flat. "Go, Go, Super-Shepherd Powers! Activate!" He slammed his arms in and crossed them on his chest. Rolly started to glow.

Even the Daemon paused as this happened. Rolly opened his huge red, multifaceted eyes. Black shell-like armor covered most of his body and long sharp blades of chitten erupted from his arms. He ran foward and severed two of the Daemons tentacles with two hits.

Hugh quickly resolved to never make another shepherd joke again, and to buy Rolly a beer later.

He also needed to go find out about theis Super-shepherd stuff. Holy crap, he was doing a lot more damage than Timmy was.

Joeseph used the diversion to drag Suzettes body out of the way and started a revivification spell. He hoped Timmy was right about this. He was dumping a third of his mana on this spell.

The Daemon got back to work. Its spike missed David. It didn't care, time was on its side. The light was weak in the baby Paladin, and the damage any of them dealt was being healed by the wonderful power pouring into it. It brought its pummeling fist down onto Timmy, denting his shield again, and sending a wave of pain into his arm. The chopped off tentacles were still part of it, and under its control It sent them moving like meaty snakes towards any of the little ants staying out of its range. Timmy screamed as the tentacle on his leg constricted again.

You are pummeled for 180 damage. You take 130 after mitigation.

You take 50 constricting damage.

"SHIT! Burn my leg, Hugh! The damn tentacle is about to break it."

Hugh really hoped the audio picked up that order. Anyone watching the video was about to see him launch an attack on his boss. The firebolt hit Timmy in the back of his leg. The tentacle burned and quit moving, falling off of his leg. The metal of his grieves was crushed and dented, and the under armor burned away leaving a bleeding and charred wound.

Ozzy chopped at two tentacles heading for Hugh, turning them into small chunks of meat. Louis wasn't so lucky. Further away, he dodged one tentacle only to have another wrap around his throat. He died two rounds later as he was swarmed by three tentacles.

A member of your party has died! Louis was killed by .

"Get him back up, Joseph!" Timmy didn't like losing party members. It was dramatic, but it really ruined a group photo with their kills at the end of the fight. That was the main reason for bringing a cleric along disguised as a squire. In the easy fights they just relied on the potions in their satchels. Looked better in the video.

Joseph left Suzette’s body. "I'll try, but she has to accept the revivification before I cast it again. Otherwise, I lose the mana for nothing." This is why Joseph hated working with people outside his group. The floozy probably died and then started playing Candycrush before she saw his revivification message. He'd get to Louis, and if she hadn't accepted, he’d cut her loose.

Timmy was really burning resources now. He'd gone defensive, not using Crushing Blow and saving the stamina to dodge with sidestep. This strategy wasn’t working well. He wasn’t dodging many of its attacks. The demon must have a huge attack chance for it to be cancelling so much of his evasion. His health was way too low. He started burning his mana for heals, hoping Hugh and David could put a dent in the thing.

Suddenly, Timmy felt better. Like the air was clearing. He saw Super-Shepherd (wow, what a horrible name.) put two huge slashes down the daemons side. The wounds didn't heal and continued to leak black ichor. Without its insane regen, this fight would go a lot better.

David got in one last slash. The Charnel Daemon had suddenly lashed out with both arms and a whipping tentacle at him.

A member of your party has died! David was killed by with multiple attacks.

Rolly yelled, "It's going down. Keep at it."

Charnel Daemon Health 1490/2000

Unfortunately, so were the players. Joseph got to Louis. He cut the revive to Suzette, hating to lose the mana. He was downing potions fast as he could from his satchel. Preoccupied with drinking a mana potion so he could revive Louis and head back to David, Joseph forgot about how Hugh had died. He felt the tentacles wrap around him and begin to squeeze as they ambushed him.

Ozzy saw the fight was going badly. The tentacles near Hugh were dead. He waded back into the fight; plenty of room with David down and out. Great swords didn't really play well with others in a tight fight. If it wasn't regenerating, maybe they could cut it into pieces? "Rolly, aim for that arm, I’ll help." Rolly got in two good hits on the spear arm before taking a shot from the pummeling arm that knocked him to his knees.

Timmy was glowing like the sun now. He had downed his emergency Potion of Hefty Mana and was using both of his auras. One provided a bit of healing, but more importantly they were both light-based which was burning the creature. Damage done by light and fire didn't seem to be regenerating at all now.

Charnel Daemon Health 1100/2000

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Ozzy hacked at the wound in the spear arm where Rolly had cut it it. The entire arm fell off as he hacked all the way through the bone. "Ha! Just like butchering a sedgebeast".

Unfortunately, the arm was pissed. It couldn't aim anymore, but the coiled muscles could get off one last shot. It waited until someone moved into its arc of fire and as Timmy stepped forward, shot into him at point blank range. The shot came in at his beltline, just under his chest piece and bypassing his shield.

You have taken a critical hit! You suffer 276 points of piecing damage that has bypassed your armor.

Luckily, your liver was missed.

Luckily, your lungs were not hit.

Sadly, your heart is in no shape to pump blood. In this case, Two out of three really is BAD!

You have died.

As the last remaining party member, Hugh received a message.

A member of your party has died! Sir Timothy was killed by with a critical attack from a bone spike. His heart just wasn't in it after that.

All players in the vicinity saw the following.

The Dying Light

An ally of The Light has perished. The Dark grows stronger. Creatures allied to the Dark will now do 40% more damage in your battle.

Success! All followers of the light in the immediate area are destroyed. Your Daemonic Pact has been fulfilled. The village of Sedgewick is now your domain to rule as the Dark rolls to eventual victory. For fulfilling a major quest, you receive 10 additional Core Skill Points to enhance your power. Create a Charnel Pit for further favors from the Dark.

Hugh was not a happy camper. "Fething Hell! Do you idiots know how much I just lost in bonuses?!!! You can all BURN! " Twin fireballs were launched, one from each of his hands. Hugh really preferred fireball and rarely was he allowed to use it. Even against huge hordes, he wasn't supposed to do better than the star of their little show. Screw that now. He was burning the hell out of the demons and these ACME assholes and then getting the hell out of here.

Even if he could kill the demon, he knew not to. The deathblow had to come from ‘Sir Timothy.’ Rules are rules, and bonuses depended on following the rules. So, a couple of therapeutic fireballs and he was out of here. He'd be out of mana, but he didn't need mana to run. He scampered off between two of the huts, making for the open field beyond.

You have suffered damage from a temporary ally.

You took 80 points from a Fireball

You took 80 points from a Fireball

You are on fire.

You are on fire.

Both Rolly and Ozzy were knocked flat by the twin blasts. They stayed flat and tried to put out the fires by rolling. The Daemon screamed as it burned and was caught on fire. Hugh moved to the top of its list of who to murder next.

The Charnel Daemon left them and went to hunt the one that was burning him. Hugh didn't like this and started running. He didn't get far.

Ben's fist hit him in the stomach, bending him over. "That is for burning my buddy, Rolly." A left fist hit him in his face, bloodying his nose and knocking him down." And that's for burning my buddy, Ozzy. And this next one is for being a Momco asshole." The kick took Hugh in the stomach, leaving him unable to breathe for a moment. Ben retreated as the Charnel Daemon came to finish him off.

Your party has been wiped out.

Your party has failed the quest: 'Something is Rotten in Sedgewick!'

Your foe has increased in power.

Neither Ozzy nor Rolly was in good shape at this point. Rolly started with 400 health but was down to just 60. Ozzy had a whopping 780 health. His high CON and STR added to the high health that all Contract Workers had and let him take a lot of damage. After the burning though, he was hovering at about 300. Rolly reached out and transferred all of his stamina to Ozzy, healing him to nearly full.

"Dammit Rolly, save some for yourself."

"Naw. I think it's better to have one big dawg rather than two little yappy ones. I'm out of mana and stamina and mostly dead. Might go take a nap." Rolly quit glowing and his 'shepherd powers' faded out. "Besides. You've got a plan. I can tell."

Ozzy was skeptical. It wasn't a great plan. "You’re near dead. Suzette is really dead. Ben only has a whip. And the Daemon hits a hell of a lot harder than I do. Maybe we can lure it into an oven and cook it to death for dinner."

There was a blinding flash of light as Suzette reappeared in a glowing circle of runes. She was wearing different clothes than before, a short white dress, trimmed in gold. There was a glowing golden triangle on her forehead. Her smile was blinding.

She turned to her astounded friends. "See? I knew Ozzy would have a plan. How about I get the thing’s attention while you get the oven ready."

Failure! One of your ‘kills’ has returned. Your Daemonic Pact has been invalidated. The village of Sedgewick is taken from you. You can kiss that extra power goodbye! Dirty Cheater!

Your damage is reduced to normal levels.

Complete your quest, and make sure they stay dead this time, if you want to regain what you have lost.

The Charnel Daemon screamed! This was an unfair turn of events! Not that betrayal was unknown to creatures of the Dark; it was actually common. But it was always unfair when it happened to you!

It had been intending to seek the source of the delicious flow of Dark Mana and heal itself. Its natural regen and what little Dark Mana it could sop up from the remaining puddles just wasn't enough. But now it needed to find where the pox-ridden follower of the light was hiding. Suzette helped out with this.

You have been struck by Solar Arrow for 80 points of damage! Health is reduced to 690/2000

There! It had found the meat that hurt it. Time to hunt. It fired its bone-spear at her, then remember where that arm was. Drat! It would have to chase her down.

The meat was moving back to where it had first spawned. A good spot, still rich with the Dark. It moved to the pit it had spawned in, but it wasn't there. The dirt had been pushed in covering its pit. The little bit of Dark Magic here was barely enough to start regrowing its arm.

You have been struck by Solar Arrow for 80 points of damage! Health is reduced to 670/2000

There! In that large wooden cave. It saw the follower of Light trying to cast another spell. The Daemon rushed into the barn. Wow! There was a lot of meat here! He could use this to heal. It was slower than Dark Magic, but just as good. Searching for the annoying human, the Daemon saw her scamper through a small hole in the back. It went to smash through the wall but the stubborn wood resisted it. Stacks of the hated woods were piled at the back of the barn and it couldn't move through.

"Just you and me now asshole!"

A large human was standing there. The butcher. It knew about butchers. Fearsome things! Why the hell was this one on the side of the Light? And why was it holding that stupid stick?

Stick really didn't do the timber justice. It was the largest piece of sassafras they could find in the short time they had. Eighteen foot long and a foot wide and thick; it weighed just under 600 lbs. One end had been crudely pointed with an axe. Ozzy hefted it like a twig. He ran at the Daemon, skewering it and pinning it to the back wall.

Ben yelled at the few workers they'd been able to find. "Pile it on fast, I'm lighting it up." Jorges, Aman, and a half dozen others ran forward and hefted more wood on top of the pinned daemon. Rolly and Ben threw torches into the pools of oil they poured on the floor. They'd used every bit of cooking or lamp oil they could find, and all the hard alcohol from the tavern.

The Daemon screamed and the fire roared. Suzette hit it again and again with her cantrip until she was out of mana. Ben handed some bottles to Rolly. "How's your pitching arm? I have a whole satchel of very expensive healing potions donated by a dead cleric." They began to throw healing potions at Ozzy's back, breaking the bottles and splashing him with the contents. His health was still dropping but not nearly as rapidly as it would have. The Daemon tried to use the hanging meat to heal, but too quickly it turned to cooked meat and was useless. Try as it might, it couldn't budge the stick the human was pinning it with. How was a human so damn strong! It inspected Ozzy.

Ozzy

Butcher

Contract Worker

Level 2

Current Health: 120/780

Stats:

Resistances: None

STR

15

Dex

2

CON

4

Attacks:

Abilities:

Hack Meat

Hack Bone

Push Onward

You may burn 1 health and gain 5 stamina.

You may increase STR by 1, for 1 minute, at the cost of 50 Stamina.

Caber

Ozzy had a Monstrous amount of Stamina; 300 from being level 2, another 190 from his STR+CON, and all of it tripled because of one the benefits from being a contract worker. He had enough stamina to work around the clock, and extra to increase his STR temporarily. Ozzy had burned 900 of his nearly 1600 stamina to increase his STR to 15 and pin the Daemon in place for as long as he could.

It wasn't normally a good idea. His bones and ligaments couldn't take the strain, as he didn't have the CON to sustain that STR. Of course, fighting Daemons inside a raging inferno wasn't smart either - especially when the fire finally reached that small barrel of Dwarven Whiskey that Derrek had hidden under the bar.

The barrel exploded and a small sun ignited inside the barn. Being right on top of it, the Daemon died immediately. Ozzy lasted a half second longer. They'd talked about ways he could retreat, but there was nothing that could hold the Daemon in place except him. It wasn't his first death, but burning as you broke your own bones was certainly a painful one. The roof of the barn levitated upward briefly, then crashed down, followed by the rest of the walls. Jorges and anyone who could lift a timber ran foward and fed the fire. They were taking no chances with a Tier 2 elite.

Ozzy resurrected at dawn with a crushing weight of the Death penalty on his soul. But at least he got to sit and drink a tall, foamy Blud Dark by the light of his own funeral pyre.

Billy appeared around 7am with Vern. Eyeing the destruction of one side of the town, they made their way to what used to be the barn, smokehouse, and corrals. They were greeted by a smiling, and drunk, Suzette. "Blud Dark, drink up, you're many beers behind." Billy noticed that the few of his Contract Workers he could see were drunk and partying, along with most of the town.

Vern took a sip of his beer. "Damn fine beer. When did Blud learn how to make a good dark beer?"

Billy was upset. "Why do I always miss the good parties?"

Ozzy was sitting nearby on a large tree stump, a bottle of whiskey in one hand, and a beer next to him. "You work too hard Billy. You should stick around more, go Daemon hunting with us."

Billy took a seat on the stump. "Daemons? Right. Sounds fun."

Ozzy gave him a significant look. "And Momco was in the center of it somehow. One of their high-level parties got in the middle of it and got dead."

That got Billy's attention. Momco? Oh, this was getting better and better. "Well, let’s hear the story then. Have a seat Vern, time for some high-level brainstorming. "

Vern considered. "I'm liking this beer. Anymore of it?" Ozzy yelled out. "Another keg of Blud Dark please, Suzette."

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