The Code is Mightier than the Sword

Chapter 33: Captured

{Mining isn't something orcs are good at, so they enslaved the gnomes and forced them to continue excavation of the caverns to free the demon.}

"How does the gnome in the dungeon play into this?"

"Topprican, or Topper as most players call him, tells you that his gnomes have a way to defeat the orc mage. They have been digging out the collapsed tunnels, but they have also been secretly rigging them to collapse again. If you can lure Carrak down into the mines, they will be able to bring them down on the mage and his minions, which also reseals access to the demon.}

"How do I convince him to follow me down?"

{After killing Brett's son, the orcs got smart and realized they would only draw attention to themselves if they kept killing all the humans that came for a look. So instead, Carrak brings them up from the dungeon to the primary audience hall and casts a brainwashing spell on them, so they go back to town and report that all is good. The orc promises you a horrible death if you resist, but you are given the opportunity to fight back before he casts the spell, and you can run down into the caverns. He will chase you, and the gnomes will drop the tunnels on the orcs. You are given a small alcove to stand in while the tunnels fall, so you survive, but all the orcs and gnomes die. Most of the gnomes are killed when you initially resist, but Topper escapes, and he is the one that executes the plan.}

"There is no other way to pass this without killing the gnomes?"

{I knew you would ask that, and I look forward to you figuring out a way, but no. There is a note here about one player who did find another way to solve this, but most people say she is lying. What did she do . . . oh, let's see . . . well, look at that, small world. It was Esther's favorite thief, Gweniffer. It seems like she did this before joining up with Drescher.}

"What did she do?"

{The demon stone is kept on a unique pedestal in the middle of the main hall. It is locked in place like it is part of some museum display. The lock is linked to the orc's magic, so the only way to get at it is to kill the orc. Gwen says that she was able to pump up her lock-picking ability, and she snagged the stone without killing Carrak. Then she ran out of the caverns. The mage chased her, but once the stone got far enough away from the demon, Carrak lost all his game-breaking abilities, and she and her party were able to kill him. When they returned to the caverns, they found all the gnomes dead because Carrak must have given an order to kill them before he left, but they didn't drop the tunnels.}

"What kind of 'Game-Breaking' abilities does the stone give the orc?"

{When he is in range of the stone, and when the stone is in range of the demon, it boosts all of Carrak's abilities to 24. This means he has a +18 base to all his abilities on top of what he gained from level advancement and the few feats he was programmed with. He is obviously a good fighter, but since he is a mage, his magic resistance is also top-notch, so he is impervious to almost every spell anyone has enough mana to cast. He doesn't cast many spells when you fight him, but he can heal himself quickly, and you rarely damage him. He basically keeps the fight going, showing you how hopeless it is and forcing you to flee to the lower levels so Topper can kill him.}

Jace nodded as he took in this information, trying to also concentrate on where he placed his feet as the climb became steeper. Suddenly, a large banner filled his field of vision, and he lost his footing, crashing unceremoniously to the ground. Esther and Snowy reacted instantly, running over to him to see if he was okay, but he could barely see them through the image that consumed his vision:

[Bounty issued.]

[Esther Xerxes, Rogue, Level 10. Last seen in the company of Jace Thorne.]

[Accused of murder, theft, and killing city guards.]