Sneak attack!

Hurriedly, the four of you disappear into the shadows and wait. While you wait, you take the time to equip one of the skeletons with the crossbow that the rogue had dropped earlier.

"Look, I'm telling you we haven't," a second, male voice says sounding annoyed.

"Oh really? Then who killed that zombie?" the female says.

"Damn it! I'm telling you we haven't been through here before," the male argues back, even more annoyed.

It's a male lvl 4 fighter and a female lvl 2 cleric. The fighter is clad in leather armor with a simple iron helm and an oversized battle axe. He could easily take on your skeletons all at once in a fair fight. The claric girl wears a short sleeved hauberk underneath a white tabard, with iron pauldrons and gauntlets. She carris a deadly looking mace but you doubt she could handle more than a single foe at a time.

'Wait for it... wait for it...,' you silently tell yourself.

"So anyway, since I've been showing you the ropes and all, what do you think about doing a little cybering later?" he says.

"Eeew, no! I though you said you just wanted to help a new player out," she says incredulously.

"Hey, there's such a thing as fucking gratitude, noob," he says, stepping into the shadows with you and your skeleton ****.

At once they move. Your crossbow skeleton fires, scoring a successful sneak attack. At the same time the other two strike. He's wounded badly but still manages to strike back, cleaving Bones in half. You immediately raise him again, just in time as the remaining melee skeleton is struck down. Another bolt flies through the darkness, knocking him down.

"Shit! Noob, help me!" he screams just before Bones plunges his sword into his chest and twists it savagely.

"Oh gods! What's going on over there?" the claric girl screams, waiving her mace around as if to ward off the unseen menace. "Detect Evil!"

Suddenly you and your skeletons are bathed in a red glow which negates any further concealment.

"Holy crap! Your that shopkeeper guy from town!" she exclaims.

You open your mouth to speak and as you do, you feel the warmth of another level-up wash over you. Your HP is replenished and you feel stronger than ever. Bolstered by this, you speak confidently.

"I am Vader and in time I will come to rule this world," you say.

"Lofty goals," she retorts nervously.

Flanked by Mr. Bones and your other remaining skeleton, you approach her. She steps back.

"Join me and you will come to know greatness alongside me," you say.

"Follow an NPC? Hah!" she says and turns to run.

"Bones!" you command.

In the same instant that he crumbles to dust, he reforms right behind the cleric. His boney hands catch her in the crook of her arms and pulls them together behind her back. Her mace clatters uselessly to the ground.

"What the?!? Hey, let me go!" she screams.

You're pretty sure that the spell was never intended to be used in such a fashion. All the same, it's an incredibly useful trick you've just learned. You lute the zombie for a couple gold coins and the length of rope holding its pants up. Apparently the game considers it a 'craft component'. You'll have to learn more about that later. But for now...

"Ow! No, that's too tight!" she loudly protests as you secure both her elbows and wrists behind her back.

"Oh stop whining. Just be glad this is all the rope I have," you say and give it a final tug.

With your captive bound and subdued, you take a moment to properly evaluate her. Long, blond hair frames a face of pale skin and classic features, which could be truly beautiful with just a little makeup. Her hips are pleasantly wide with a comparatively thin waist. While her breasts are well covered under her armor, it's obvious that she has a very full set.

"This isn't the way the game is supposed to work," she says, struggling.

"Oh, I've seen how the game is 'supposed to work', girl. You and your ilk trudge around our world, stealing and killing and calling yourselves heroes. And all the while the NPCs are **** to suffer your daily injustices," you say.

"That's not true! We're here to save the world from evil creatures," she argues.

"Really? Do you know how many times I've been killed off-hand? Sometimes because I didn't offer enough for someone's worthless lute. Sometimes because they need just a couple more XP to level up. Hells, sometimes for no reason at all," you rage at her.

"But... you're an NPC... you're not even supposed to care...," she says, weakly.

"You heroes are the ones who don't care," you say, snatching up her dropped mace.

It's a decent enough weapon. You test swing it a few times and then hand it to Mr. Bones who promptly drops his sword. The rusty blade disintegrates upon hitting the ground.

"Hey! That's mine," she protests.

"And now your mine. I give you this one chance to join me willingly," you say.

"As if! Just kill me so I can respawn," she says.

"Oh, I think not. DOMINATE!" you cast.

Just like the skeleton earlier, she shudders for a moment but is otherwise unaffected.

"Fuck you!" she screams.

"DOMINATE!" you cast again.

This time her eyes roll back in her head and she seems to convulse standing up. When she looks back at you again, her eyes have turned from a pleasant hazel to a very light purple.

"What- what have you done to me?" she demands as the tentacles of your will overpower her own.

"I told you, you could join me willingly. This was the other option. Now stand up straight when you address your lord," you say.

Seemingly without even realizing it, she straightens up as if at attention. You like where this is going.