I growled at the timing, but waited until Jian and the others had formed a small defensive wall out of the stolen shit in the tunnel, before moving out of the way and leaning against the wall behind some boxes to start pulling them up.
Congratulations! You have killed the following:
1x Drider for a total of 11,000xp
2x Drow soldiers for a total of 1,260xp
As leader, you receive a portion of the experience earned by troops when they fight under your command:
1x Drow Torturer for a total of 2,000xp
6x Drow Soldiers for a total of 9,600xp
2x Drow Spiderkin for a total of 10,400xp
Total party exp earned: 22,000xp
As party leader, you gain 25% of all experience earnt
Progress to level 15 stands at 125,703/140,000
Congratulations!
You have cleared ‘The Smugglers Path’ and have the prerequisite authority and abilities to claim this hidden location, adding it to your territory as an occupied base. As this location holds less than Ten (10) percent of sentients that are actively hostile to your rule, it can be claimed…
Do you wish to annex this territory now?
Yes/No
The last notification had me blinking in surprise, and I pulled up the quest notification…
It’d credited me with the deaths of the last three Drow, but comparing the experience list, I realized that we’d not gotten experience for them.
Congratulations!
You have completed a Quest from your Goddess: ‘Keep your Word’
You have given your word to an ancient Cave Spider Queen. Kill her enemies, grant her and her brood safety and food, and she will consider her Broken Oath to be renewed, binding her and all her brood to your orders and laws. You must kill thirty-five (35) Drow and their leader…
Drow Killed: 35/35
Locations Cleared: 3/3
Drow Leader Killed: 1/1
Reward: Oracle’s Freedom, Sworn Allegiance of One (1) Greater Cave Spider and her Brood, access to Cave Spider Silk, Cave Spider Nest Treasury and 62,500xp
Someone else had killed them, damn fast and noisy, and who or whatever it was, was headed this way.
At the end of the tunnel came a blue light, as a shimmering form stepped into view and started towards us, at the exact moment that Bane shouted down to me.
“I’m in! There’s a load of gear up here, including some potions, and…”
“Just get them and get down here!” I snapped at him, readying myself for another fight. The notifications had said there were less than ten percent actively hostile to me.
Was that a general notice, or a hint about how many were down here? I shook myself and dismissed the prompts without making a choice.
We had a half circle of boxes arranged a few feet back from the tunnel, giving us something to hide behind. I moved out ahead of the boxes to stand between them and the tunnel, with Arrin in the middle behind me, Miren and Stephanos on either side of him, and Lydia and Barrett flanking my right and left directly. Now that we had a chance to fall back behind cover if need be, I felt a little better about things, but judging from the swirling blue-white radiance that was approaching down the tunnel, we were facing at least one magic user…hence us being on this side of the barrier. At least we would be able to rush the fucker if we needed to.
I stood waiting, naginata in hand, breathing deeply as Bane clambered down the wall. Oracle had come to hover just behind my shoulder, and I listened to the quietly ragged breathing of my teammates while we watched the fucker approach.
It took just over a minute for the swirling light to resolve into a mage shield. The length it had been held alone served as a warning to the depths of their manapool, when they stopped, and a calm voice called out.
“We seek a truce!” The words echoed for a second, while I considered. Could this be a trick? A trap?
“Fuck it,” I muttered before raising my voice. “Then drop the shield and let us see you!” I called out.
“Do you give Oath that you do not intend an attack? Do you agree to a truce?” The voice came again, and I blinked, having never thought of this use for the Oaths. I looked to Oracle, who seemed shocked.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her, and she moved up alongside me.
“Ask them to swear their Oath by their name and by the Empire…” She whispered. “Offer yours as Acknowledged Scion of the Imperial Line.”
“I…I ask you to swear by your name…and by the Empire? I am Jax, Scion of the Imperial….”
“Acknowledged!” Oracle hissed and I glared at her, before going on.
“Jax, Acknowledged Scion of the Imperial Line…” There was a long pause, and I could hear muttering behind the shield before a different voice called out.
“I am Yen, Speculatores of the Dravith Cohortes Praetoriae, and I give Oath to a truce of one hour with Jax, who claims Acknowledged Scion of the Imperial Line.
“Say you accept the Oath and offer your own!” Oracle snapped quickly to me.
“I…uh…Accept the Oath given by Yen, and I offer my own, as Jax, Acknowledged Scion of the Imperial Line, to one hour of truce.”
I felt the dregs of my mana ripped from me, and Oracle hissed in pain as some was taken from her as well. I coughed blood up, staggering as pain ripped through me, and I saw my health drop by a third, but as I straightened, wondering what had gone wrong, the shield between us was dropped.
Three people stepped forward, two tall elves dressed all in greys and greens, and a thing that looked like an eagle with legs and leather armor. I stared at it for a long second before Oracle hissed at me, and I straightened up, looking back at them all.
They walked forward into the cavern, stopping and looking at our ready weapons pointedly, until I shook myself and snapped out an order to my team.
“Stand down, people.
