Stealth Reconnaissance

John moved around the perimeter of the compound that Shelly had led John and his group to. John prowled around the brush outside the fence, completely unnoticed by the various guards in the towers and, to his surprise, the undead guards outside the fence. Thanks to his quick training with Shelly, John was able to unlock a Rogue Module, complete with stealth and improved stealing skills. Thanks to his new Stealth ability, John was able to become completely invisible to the living dead that guarded the foliage he now moved through. John decided to message his companions and let them know what he had found.

TheGamer: I have scouted the perimeter of their base, it has guard towers at each corner, with 2 to 3 guards and there are a bunch of undead prowling outside the fence
KGI: maasturikanotfigureoothecuntrals
RedHerring: John you do know harpies are illiterate right? Maybe using this chat system was not the best idea
TheGamer: Gali is teaching her how to spell and write. But let me change a setting real quick
RedHerring: kk
TheGamer: Ok Idena just talk now
KGI: As you wish master
RedHerring: Woah! That’s a huge change!
KGI: Master I am speaking and the words are appearing!
TheGamer: Yep I turned on speech to text. Should fix that problem and make it easier for all of us to communicate with each other
KGI: Master you never cease to amaze me
RedHerring: Ugh! Can you not suck his cock all the time you stupid bird?!
KGI: Do you wish me to suck your cock master?

John let out a sigh as Shelly’s insult went right over Idena’s head as the harpy took it as a literal suggestion of what he wanted. He had to quickly get this conversation back on track so they could head back to the kingdom and come up with a plan on how to deal with the threat. He quickly scanned his surroundings in an attempt to make sure none of the ghouls were going to bump into him while he was focused on the party conversation screen. Once he confirmed the coast was clear, he continued his talk with the two girls.

TheGamer: Idena what did you see from the sky?
KDI: There are multiple humans and undead patrolling the base. They range from groups of 3 to 6. I have also noticed those gargoyle creatures are also flying around up here but I have been able to dodge them. They don’t seem to be able to see that far and are rather slow.
TheGamer: Alright we got all the information we need. Let’s head back to the kingdom and we’ll come up with a plan of attacked
KDI: As you wish master
RedHerring: Kay cool. Meet you there. Oh really? It writes out kay cool and not just use kk? That’s stupid!

RedHerring has left the chat

John swiped away the notification as he noticed Shelly had left his group, apparently quite mad at how the speech to text worked for her. Suppose I could mess around and see if there are any settings for adaptive language or based on what the user wants instead of literal transcribing.

John stood at the head of his war table flanked by his various companions. Their eyes were focused on the layout of the compound that John, Shelly, and Idena had deduced thanks to their reconnaissance mission. Each one of the people at the table all pondered how best to deal with this problem they were now aware of.

“I believe this group is also the same one that has been slowly but surely destroying other groups in the Springfield Abyss,” Tanya pointed out to the group. There were murmurs of agreement between all that were there.

“If that is true, then we can expect heavy resistance from them,” Fran pointed out. “And from the looks of this compound, it’s clear they must have either a barrier or underground facilities. Hell, may even have underground barriers. I’ve seen that a few times when I raided compounds like this for the Order,” concluded Fran.

“Yeah, I agree. That makes the most sense based on how many troops we’ve seen,” agreed John. “They have to be keeping all that undead somewhere. And I bet you it’s probably underground. The question is, how did these guys get so many undead? Necromancy is a rare magic and, according to Lady ****, is a corrupted form. The one myself and Tanya use is pure necromancy. And those all looked like undead from a pure necromancy state, not a corrupted one,” John informed his followers. Shelly, however, gave him a confused look.

“Wait, what?” she said out loud. “What do you mean corrupted necromancy? And you met ‘Lady ****?’ Like the literal embodiment of ****?” asked a very skeptical Shelly.

“Yes, I met the literal embodiment of ****. We, a few of them actually. But that’s a story for another time. As for your necromancy question, pure necromancy is granted to people by Lady **** and allows them to raise dead who are completely loyal to you and have some semblance of intelligence. Whereas corrupted necromancy, a brute **** way for mages to gain power over the undead, creates shambling horrors that can only do little more than attack a target,” John explained to the young thief.

“So, all necromancy used by mages is the corrupt version except for you and the ebony amazoness over there cause your powers come from Lady ****. Am I getting that right?” asked Shelly.

“That is correct,” confirmed John.

“Right, ok. Sure. I mean, you have a gorgon and dragongirl who have pet dinosaurs so why can’t you also be friends with **** and have upgraded necromancy powers?” Shelly ranted a little bit. “The fuck I get myself into...”

“Anyways,” John said in an attempt to get the conversation back on track, “I’ve been thinking of the teams we should make,” he said.

“Teams? What do you mean, master?” asked Idena.

“I figured we’re going to need to break into two teams, an infiltration team and a distraction team. So, the infiltration team will always be myself and Shelly so she can show us where to go. We don’t know what kind of condition Shelly’s sister will be in, so Gali I want you with us,” decided John. Gali gave him a nod of confirmation. “Ok, I’ll still need two more members. Fran, I’m going to take Sam with us. She needs some combat experience and I want somebody with paladin moves with us,” John told the group.

“If that’s the case, just take me, John,” Fran interjected. “She’s not ready for field battles yet!”

“No,” John replied curtly. “She’ll need field experience at some point, and if not with you, then with me,” he told her. “Besides, I want your experience and abilities on the distraction team. You’ll do the most good there,” John decided. “Now, as for the final member, I’ll have to make a few calls, but her abilities will come in handy against the hordes of undead. Plus I have a gift to entice her more if she initially refuses,” John told the group. The rest of you will be on distraction duty. Fran, since you have experience leading groups into battle, you’ll be in charge. I expect the rest of you to follow her orders in battle as if they were my own,” John looked around the table to see everyone give a nod to each other and John. Satisfied that everyone knew their jobs, John decided to dismiss the group. “Alright, everyone, go get some rest. We have a big battle tomorrow, one that will most likely lead to war with this group. But they’d come after us at some point anyways, so we might as well start with a surprise attack. Then we will crush them because this town is our town, under our protection, and will be under our control when this is all over,” John finished his little speech which was met with applause from the group before they all separated and went their own ways.