Chapter 64
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Quinn took the TAP portal in Exodus directly to Ravenwood. He was greeted by warm sunshine as he stepped into the courtyard. He glanced at the now active fountain where the Gnoll King had perched. "Amazing what a few days can do."
Halfling NPCs walked around tending to their chores, Quinn noticed that there seemed to be a few more of them than before. The sound of a crying baby drew his attentions toward the town hall.
Quinn entered town hall a few moments later, not really caring that he had been the last to arrive. Mojo hadn't told him to hurry, so he detoured to the tattoo parlor to ask Jezebelle something. The sound of a baby crying filled the air.
Mojo, Tal and Leah were huddled around Crow, she was sitting on a chair holding a tiny baby. Quinn peaked over Tal's shoulder. "That a halfling baby?"
Leah noticed his arrival and grabbed his hand, "look closer Quinn!"
Quinn stared at the tiny infant, it was roughly half the size of a human newborn. "What am I looking at?" He slid between Tal and Leah and knelt on one knee. "Holy crap... Micah?"
Leah squeezed his shoulders from behind him. "That's right Quinn, a named NPC halfling."
Crow smiled at her brother and handed him the tiny bundle. He cradled Micah gently in his arms and stood up. "How's that possible? All the NPCs here are generics, even the small village they built is listed that way."
"This baby was born to Ravenwood Blacksmith and Ravenwood Shepherdess, I heard the crying while I was on my way to the river." Leah was leaning against Quinn while she spoke, "Generics just do tasks, they aren't capable of understanding and nurturing."
"Hmm.. In other words, they can't raise a baby." Quinn looked around at the crowd of females, it was obvious that each of them were ready to volunteer.
Mojo's com-chat blinked at her and she quickly opened it to see Lara's smiling face. "Mojo.. We found more named babies in the other houses."
Mojo glanced at the tiny halfling baby that Quinn was holding, "how many more?"
Lara seemed to be counting before she looked back up, "Nine ... Ten if you count Micah."
"Bring them to town hall." Mojo cut comm and held her arms out, Quinn reluctantly handed her the baby.
"I'm gonna want him back!" Quinn found himself pushed toward the wall as the females crowded around the baby. "Oi.. give him some space ... damn.. they took my halfling."
Lara and the Songbirds arrived a few minutes later, each of them were holding at least one baby. Suddenly the Town hall was bustling with activity. Leah's mom showed up right on their heels and started giving directions. As the only NPC mom in Ravenwood, she knew exactly what to do.
System Message: World Event...Broadcasting
World Event: Racial Quest
Mission: Knights of Ravenwood will assume the
role of the Halfling village children. They must
all survive and escape the village.
Reward:Halfling race option for all TAP players.
********
Jangles had arrived at Concert Hall and was discussing staffing issues with Sparrow when he saw the system message. He quickly ran out to the balcony and stared at the sky, there was a halfling boy standing motionless. His features were easily recognizable.
"That's Q!" Sparrow pointed out the obvious, as heroes from all over TAP stared at the phenomenon. Q was quickly joined in the sky by 9 other halflings, each representing a member of the Ravenwood Knights.
*******
Quinn hadn't even accepted the Quest before he found himself in the character generation screen. Most of the options were unavailable.
System Message: Please name your character.
"Quinn." Since his NPC assassins name was Q, he figured he should keep things easy.
System Message: Please choose your natural ability.
Quinn considered the choices. Hunting, Fishing, Gardening, Thievery and Carpentry.
"Hunting." Quinn decided quickly and abruptly found himself in a small bedroom, he could smell smoke in the air.
System Message: Find your friends and escape the village.
Quinn popped out of bed and took a quick look around, there was a slingshot and a pouch filled with small stones on top of the nightstand. He grabbed both and headed toward the door. He heard the sounds of fighting coming from the hallway, there were guttural noises that sounded like beasts. "Shit.. those are gnolls." He abandoned the door idea and ran to the window next to his bed, he opened it and slid easily to the ground.
System Message: Class Abilities discovered.
Quinn
Race:Halfling
Base Class: Hunter
Skills:
Camouflage Level 5
Description: Can stealth while in the woods
or during the hours darkness.
Marksman Level 5
Accurately operate any projectile based
weapon.
Tradeskill: Tanner
Racial Trait: Can see through low level stealths.
Statistics
Strength 10
Endurance 14
Intelligence 30
Agility 30
Luck 25
Charisma 18
His house seemed to be a bit apart from the rest of the village, so Quinn ducked down into the tall grass and made his way toward the other houses.
Quinn has activated *Camouflage.*
The halfling stopped at the edge of the yard, three gnolls were fighting hard against a tall dark haired man wearing black armor. "Holy Shit.. that's me!"
Knight Commander Q has activated *blink*
Quinn ran past the squirmish, not feeling bad at all about fleeing. "I can totally take those guys."
"Quinn?"
A soft voice stopped him in his tracks, a tiny girl with short black hair limped toward him. It was halfling Nanna.
"Nanna?" He grabbed her and pulled her against the side of the house, she was carrying a small shovel that was crusted with blood. "Gardener?"
Nanna nodded at him, "I hurt my leg jumping off the roof, then I got cornered by Gnolls and was rescued by Jaded Ice."
"Get on my back Nanna...you can't run like that." Quinn knelt down in front of her and waiting until she climbed on, he noticed the weight immediately, even though halfling Nanna was tiny. "Crap.. am not very strong."
"I saw my Necro-self fighting Gnolls.. I think we are all NPCs in this instance." Nanna hugged his neck tightly. "Let's go Q-Train.. times wasting."
Quinn ducked between the next two houses and peaked around the corner, two gnolls were trying to climb down into the village well, he carefully sat Anna down. "Must be someone down there Nanna."
Quinn has activated *Camouflage*.
He crept closer trying to hear, one of the gnolls howled in pain and lept backward clutching his paw.
Nanna has cast *Dust Cloud*.
A gnoll invader is confused.
A gnoll invader has resisted Dust Cloud.
The second Gnoll who was still clutching his paw, turned toward them and charged.
Quinn raised the slingshot aiming for an eye.
A gnoll invader has been partially blinded.
The gnoll stopped for a moment, pain from his wounds making him enrage.
Quinn grabbed another stone and jumped to one side as the gnoll charged him, its clawed feet gripped the ground tossing up a cloud of dust. Quinn fired another stone from one knee.
*Shadow Bow* Sir Daze has struck a Gnoll Guard for 30,200 points
A gnoll invader has been slain.
The lovely ranger wore the black spider armor that Q had given her, she scanned the area as she advanced slowly. She handed Quinn a torch. "Flee down the well, I will cover your retreat."
"Okay ranger.. thank you!" Quinn grinned at her as he started getting into his role. He grabbed Anna's hand and peaked down the well. Two of the loveliest blue eyes he'd ever seen stared up at him.
"Quinn?" Halfling Talia let out a long sigh, she held a bloody hammer in one hand. "Was that Daze's voice I heard?"
Quinn nodded as he helped Nanna climb onto the ladder and then followed them. The well was about forty feet deep and completely dry. "How did you get here Tal?"
Tal gave Nanna a hand down and then helped Quinn. She couldn't help but stare at him, "damn it, I want a picture of you."
Quinn laughed and knelt down for Nanna to climb back on his back. There was only one direction to go, so the three of them headed down the tunnel.
"Onion saved me from my burning house. He slammed right through a wall." Talia's blue eyes were excited.
Anna held the torch as Quinn carried her. "Seems like all ten of us are NPCs here. Did you choose carpentry?"
Talia nodded. "There's a light up ahead." The blonde halfling trotted ahead of them, she arrived at another ladder. Flames were visible from the bottom, a scream of pain from above made her start up the ladder. "Hurry up Quinn!"
Quinn sprinted the last few feet to the ladder and sat Nanna down before following her up.
Lieutenant Fintree has cast *Sunburst*
A gnoll invader has been blinded.
A gnoll invader has been blinded.
Sir Grace has cast *Heaven's Path* All allies are healed for 500 hp.
Talia scampered up the ladder and waited as Quinn climbed out. There were two halflings crouched behind the well, both of them held daggers. Quinn grinned at them as he helped Nanna climb out of the well.
"Took you long enough to find us Quinn!" The darker one gave him a smirk as she waved her dagger around, it could only be one person, halfling Ro-Ro.
"Head to the Western part of the village until you get to the river." A gentle voice spoke to them. The beautiful redhead patted Quinn's head. "Move along now, it's dangerous here."
Quinn stared at Lieutenant Fintree, he didn't want to leave her here to fight gnolls. It was halfling Sammi who drug him away. "Come on Quinn, that's not Leah, plus she's super strong."
Quinn followed along, glancing over his shoulder several times. Talia had taken his other hand and was helping pull him. It took Quinn a few minutes before he snapped out of it. "Sorry.. sorry." He shook their hands loose and moved to the front, "you make a cute halfling Jinn."
The halfling named Sammi nodded. "We are adorable. Ro-Ro and I are both thieves.. What are you guys?"
"Hunter, carpenter and gardener." Nanna whispered in reply, she was no longer limping since Grace had healed her.
"Shitballs!" A gnoll appeared suddenly in front of them, Quinn moved to one side firing a stone that narrowly missed. The gnoll roared and charged the group.
Meri has cast *Tonight's Dinner*
A gnoll invader has been hooked and is temporarily immobilized.
"Leave my friends alone!" A cute halfling with wild red hair that went everywhere, pulled back on her fishing rod. A second halfling with jet black hair covered the stunned gnoll with a bow.
"Damn Em..How come you have a bow while I'm stuck with a slingshot?" Quinn scowled at his sister, Halfling Em had better gear.
"Oh my god.. you are so cute." Em wanted to pinch her little brothers cheeks, but the look on his face told her that it wouldn't be tolerated.
Sir Crow has activated *Cleave*
A gnoll invader has been slain.
Quinn tried to duck out of the way, but the spray of gnoll blood hit him in the face. He looked at Crow in disgust. "Gotta use Cleave on a stunned gnoll?"
Crow glanced at the small group of halflings, "best get going, the path is clear to the river, head north from there."
Quinn waved at the dark knight and then took off at a trot.
Halfling Em ran alongside him, "did Crow seem a bit masculine back there?"
Quinn lied with a straight face, "nope, not at all." Normally he would tell the truth, but his sister had become one of his important people, so he told a small fib.
He felt someone grip his hand on his other side, halfling Meri was skipping alongside of him, her freckled nose wrinkling as she smiled. "Halfling Quinn is so..."
"Don't even say it," Quinn interrupted her. "We are all super adorable, this cursed halfling race!"
The group stopped at the sound of gunfire. Quinn glanced back at Talia.
"It's definitely my rifle Quinn." Talia took the lead as they approached the riverbank.
*Snipe* Sir Tal has hit a gnoll invader for 18,000 damage.
A gnoll invader has been slain.
ALL OF YOUR COOKIES ARE MINE!!!
Sir Onion has stunned a gnoll invader.
The group peaked over the riverbank, there were gnoll bodies everywhere.
"Damn.. those two cleaned up." Quinn hopped into sight once he saw two halflings being shielded by Onion. Halfling Rainbow waved at him when she spotted them. She was holding the hand of a slightly chubby halfling named Uno. Quinn knew they were the hafling versions of Onion and Daze.
Ro-Ro laughed aloud. "Why are you tubby Uno?"
Halfing Rainbow obviously loved it, she was grinning from ear to ear. "He looks great right? A bit of meat on his bones."
Quinn nodded, Onion was rather skinny in real life. "Seen halfling-Grace yet?"
Uno shook his head, "no, we were hiding here when the gnolls found us."
"You have to hurry guys, reinforcements could arrive shortly." Sir Tal approached the halfling group, her metallic foot clicking on the rocky banks of the river. She checked her rifle and then pointed downriver. "You can escape to Talon through the old mining tunnel."
"We are missing one person Tal." Quinn felt a bit strange talking to NPC Tal, he noted to himself that she was stunningly beautiful, even covered in river mud.
"She may be ahead of you, keep to the riverbank and stay out of trouble." Tal motioned for Onion to follow her, and they headed back toward the village at a trot.
"Rainbow? God I love that name." Nanna smiled when she said it.
"We should go, " Uno held a garden hoe, it was obvious what he had chosen.
Quinn already knew that Rainbow was a hunter, she was holding a slingshot identical to the one he held. "Yep, we can always circle back if we can't find her."
The group of nine halflings were covered in mud by the time they found Halfling Gaia, she was crouched down behind some tall weeds. She waved a small hammer at them. "There's a Gnoll Captain up ahead. Jinn and Rhapsody went after it."
"Course we did, cuz we are rockstars." Ro-Ro threw an arm around Sammi's shoulders. "Predictably, we saved the day."
Halfling Gaia shot them both a look of gratitude. "Thank you so much.. er.. you know what I mean."
Sammi winked at Quinn, "of course Q is nowhere to be found."
"What? Q was fighting four Captains by himself." Quinn smirked at Ro-Ro before breaking into a run.
"Hey! Get back here." Ro-Ro chased after him. A hundred yards down the river they found the corpse of a Gnoll Captain, a tired looking Jinn was being held up by Rhapsody.
Quinn looked at the Gnoll corpse. "Woah.. impressive taking that elite down. You two okay?"
Rhapsody played with a strand of her green hair. "We are fine, the exit is ahead guys."
Jinn has cast *Lovers Embrace* All allies are healed for 300 hp.
Quinn waved at his two friends and then turned toward the exit. The group was nearly to the tunnel when they heard the howling. Each of them stopped in place, they knew that sound, Gnoll King Brisbane.
Jinn and Rhapsody were standing between the Gnoll King and the halflings. Quinn was staring hard at the two knights. He sighed heavily. "Sorry guys, there's no way I'm leaving Jinn and Rhapsody to fight by themselves."
Meri nodded, "I don't feel right about it either, they are our friends."
"Um.. guys we are right here, those two aren't us." Ro-Ro felt her eyes start to water. "It's okay, we can go."
"No way. I'm not going." Talia waved her hammer in the air and faced back toward the Gnoll King.
"Yep, let's fight." Uno hefted his hoe in one hand while holding Rainbow's hand with the other.
As a group, the halflings turned back toward the Gnoll King, ready to fight. Ro-Ro and Sammi were both crying quietly. These were true friends, so they would fight too.
"Wait guys." Sammi grabbed Quinn's arm, just as Talia and Onion came into view and quietly took their place beside Rhapsody and Jinn.
"Yes! The cavalry has arrived." Meri cheered as Lieutenant Fintree and Grace also joined the group. It took only a minute before nine of the Ravenwood Knights had arrived.
"Of course Q will be the late one." Ro-Ro smirked at Quinn as the Knight Commander finally arrived riding on a red stallion. Scorch raised up on his hind legs and pawed the air. "Shit... legendary entrance though."
"No kidding." Sammi watched the NPC version of her former student slide easily from the saddle. Even the Gnoll King was watching.
Nanna whistled. "We look like heroes."
Quinn smiled and turned back toward the exit. "You guys are awesome, let's wrap this up."
The halfling group walked into the tunnel, they didn't bother to watch the fight. They already knew what had happened.
System Message: Congratulations! You have completed the racial quest and will receive an award from TAP admin.
System Message: Halflings are now a playable race for TAP characters. The starting city for Halflings is Talon.
System Message: The Knights of Ravenwood are now considered Legendary Knights and will receive a +10 to all stats bonus.
System Message: You have received new Faction choices.
System Message: New NPC Assassin abilities discovered.
*********
Jangles and Sparrow continued to watch from the balcony until the 'sky show' had ended. It had started out with 10 different scenes all broadcasting at once. As the halflings found each other, the number of broadcasts decreased. Jangles had cheered with everyone else as the halflings managed to find each other.
"We've been doing this wrong Sparrow." Jangles gripped the railing as he continued to stare into the sky.
His second in command stared at him. "Doing what wrong?"
"Everything... Did you know that most of the territory surrounding Fenway is unexplored?" Jangles faced her as he continued, "every time Fora happens upon something spectacular I've been chalking it up to luck."
Sparrow quickly caught on. "They are making their own luck through diligence."
"Hire some engineers for exploration. Call back our raid teams. " Jangles smiled at the clear sky overhead, "ask Mora Jol if we could have a meeting at Fora HQ."
Sparrow nodded, "right away."
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Quinn took the TAP portal in Exodus directly to Ravenwood. He was greeted by warm sunshine as he stepped into the courtyard. He glanced at the now active fountain where the Gnoll King had perched. "Amazing what a few days can do."
Halfling NPCs walked around tending to their chores, Quinn noticed that there seemed to be a few more of them than before. The sound of a crying baby drew his attentions toward the town hall.
Quinn entered town hall a few moments later, not really caring that he had been the last to arrive. Mojo hadn't told him to hurry, so he detoured to the tattoo parlor to ask Jezebelle something. The sound of a baby crying filled the air.
Mojo, Tal and Leah were huddled around Crow, she was sitting on a chair holding a tiny baby. Quinn peaked over Tal's shoulder. "That a halfling baby?"
Leah noticed his arrival and grabbed his hand, "look closer Quinn!"
Quinn stared at the tiny infant, it was roughly half the size of a human newborn. "What am I looking at?" He slid between Tal and Leah and knelt on one knee. "Holy crap... Micah?"
Leah squeezed his shoulders from behind him. "That's right Quinn, a named NPC halfling."
Crow smiled at her brother and handed him the tiny bundle. He cradled Micah gently in his arms and stood up. "How's that possible? All the NPCs here are generics, even the small village they built is listed that way."
"This baby was born to Ravenwood Blacksmith and Ravenwood Shepherdess, I heard the crying while I was on my way to the river." Leah was leaning against Quinn while she spoke, "Generics just do tasks, they aren't capable of understanding and nurturing."
"Hmm.. In other words, they can't raise a baby." Quinn looked around at the crowd of females, it was obvious that each of them were ready to volunteer.
Mojo's com-chat blinked at her and she quickly opened it to see Lara's smiling face. "Mojo.. We found more named babies in the other houses."
Mojo glanced at the tiny halfling baby that Quinn was holding, "how many more?"
Lara seemed to be counting before she looked back up, "Nine ... Ten if you count Micah."
"Bring them to town hall." Mojo cut comm and held her arms out, Quinn reluctantly handed her the baby.
"I'm gonna want him back!" Quinn found himself pushed toward the wall as the females crowded around the baby. "Oi.. give him some space ... damn.. they took my halfling."
Lara and the Songbirds arrived a few minutes later, each of them were holding at least one baby. Suddenly the Town hall was bustling with activity. Leah's mom showed up right on their heels and started giving directions. As the only NPC mom in Ravenwood, she knew exactly what to do.
System Message: World Event...Broadcasting
World Event: Racial Quest
Mission: Knights of Ravenwood will assume the
role of the Halfling village children. They must
all survive and escape the village.
Reward:Halfling race option for all TAP players.
********
Jangles had arrived at Concert Hall and was discussing staffing issues with Sparrow when he saw the system message. He quickly ran out to the balcony and stared at the sky, there was a halfling boy standing motionless. His features were easily recognizable.
"That's Q!" Sparrow pointed out the obvious, as heroes from all over TAP stared at the phenomenon. Q was quickly joined in the sky by 9 other halflings, each representing a member of the Ravenwood Knights.
*******
Quinn hadn't even accepted the Quest before he found himself in the character generation screen. Most of the options were unavailable.
System Message: Please name your character.
"Quinn." Since his NPC assassins name was Q, he figured he should keep things easy.
System Message: Please choose your natural ability.
Quinn considered the choices. Hunting, Fishing, Gardening, Thievery and Carpentry.
"Hunting." Quinn decided quickly and abruptly found himself in a small bedroom, he could smell smoke in the air.
System Message: Find your friends and escape the village.
Quinn popped out of bed and took a quick look around, there was a slingshot and a pouch filled with small stones on top of the nightstand. He grabbed both and headed toward the door. He heard the sounds of fighting coming from the hallway, there were guttural noises that sounded like beasts. "Shit.. those are gnolls." He abandoned the door idea and ran to the window next to his bed, he opened it and slid easily to the ground.
System Message: Class Abilities discovered.
Quinn
Race:Halfling
Base Class: Hunter
Skills:
Camouflage Level 5
Description: Can stealth while in the woods
or during the hours darkness.
Marksman Level 5
Accurately operate any projectile based
weapon.
Tradeskill: Tanner
Racial Trait: Can see through low level stealths.
Statistics
Strength 10
Endurance 14
Intelligence 30
Agility 30
Luck 25
Charisma 18
His house seemed to be a bit apart from the rest of the village, so Quinn ducked down into the tall grass and made his way toward the other houses.
Quinn has activated *Camouflage.*
The halfling stopped at the edge of the yard, three gnolls were fighting hard against a tall dark haired man wearing black armor. "Holy Shit.. that's me!"
Knight Commander Q has activated *blink*
Quinn ran past the squirmish, not feeling bad at all about fleeing. "I can totally take those guys."
"Quinn?"
A soft voice stopped him in his tracks, a tiny girl with short black hair limped toward him. It was halfling Nanna.
"Nanna?" He grabbed her and pulled her against the side of the house, she was carrying a small shovel that was crusted with blood. "Gardener?"
Nanna nodded at him, "I hurt my leg jumping off the roof, then I got cornered by Gnolls and was rescued by Jaded Ice."
"Get on my back Nanna...you can't run like that." Quinn knelt down in front of her and waiting until she climbed on, he noticed the weight immediately, even though halfling Nanna was tiny. "Crap.. am not very strong."
"I saw my Necro-self fighting Gnolls.. I think we are all NPCs in this instance." Nanna hugged his neck tightly. "Let's go Q-Train.. times wasting."
Quinn ducked between the next two houses and peaked around the corner, two gnolls were trying to climb down into the village well, he carefully sat Anna down. "Must be someone down there Nanna."
Quinn has activated *Camouflage*.
He crept closer trying to hear, one of the gnolls howled in pain and lept backward clutching his paw.
Nanna has cast *Dust Cloud*.
A gnoll invader is confused.
A gnoll invader has resisted Dust Cloud.
The second Gnoll who was still clutching his paw, turned toward them and charged.
Quinn raised the slingshot aiming for an eye.
A gnoll invader has been partially blinded.
The gnoll stopped for a moment, pain from his wounds making him enrage.
Quinn grabbed another stone and jumped to one side as the gnoll charged him, its clawed feet gripped the ground tossing up a cloud of dust. Quinn fired another stone from one knee.
*Shadow Bow* Sir Daze has struck a Gnoll Guard for 30,200 points
A gnoll invader has been slain.
The lovely ranger wore the black spider armor that Q had given her, she scanned the area as she advanced slowly. She handed Quinn a torch. "Flee down the well, I will cover your retreat."
"Okay ranger.. thank you!" Quinn grinned at her as he started getting into his role. He grabbed Anna's hand and peaked down the well. Two of the loveliest blue eyes he'd ever seen stared up at him.
"Quinn?" Halfling Talia let out a long sigh, she held a bloody hammer in one hand. "Was that Daze's voice I heard?"
Quinn nodded as he helped Nanna climb onto the ladder and then followed them. The well was about forty feet deep and completely dry. "How did you get here Tal?"
Tal gave Nanna a hand down and then helped Quinn. She couldn't help but stare at him, "damn it, I want a picture of you."
Quinn laughed and knelt down for Nanna to climb back on his back. There was only one direction to go, so the three of them headed down the tunnel.
"Onion saved me from my burning house. He slammed right through a wall." Talia's blue eyes were excited.
Anna held the torch as Quinn carried her. "Seems like all ten of us are NPCs here. Did you choose carpentry?"
Talia nodded. "There's a light up ahead." The blonde halfling trotted ahead of them, she arrived at another ladder. Flames were visible from the bottom, a scream of pain from above made her start up the ladder. "Hurry up Quinn!"
Quinn sprinted the last few feet to the ladder and sat Nanna down before following her up.
Lieutenant Fintree has cast *Sunburst*
A gnoll invader has been blinded.
A gnoll invader has been blinded.
Sir Grace has cast *Heaven's Path* All allies are healed for 500 hp.
Talia scampered up the ladder and waited as Quinn climbed out. There were two halflings crouched behind the well, both of them held daggers. Quinn grinned at them as he helped Nanna climb out of the well.
"Took you long enough to find us Quinn!" The darker one gave him a smirk as she waved her dagger around, it could only be one person, halfling Ro-Ro.
"Head to the Western part of the village until you get to the river." A gentle voice spoke to them. The beautiful redhead patted Quinn's head. "Move along now, it's dangerous here."
Quinn stared at Lieutenant Fintree, he didn't want to leave her here to fight gnolls. It was halfling Sammi who drug him away. "Come on Quinn, that's not Leah, plus she's super strong."
Quinn followed along, glancing over his shoulder several times. Talia had taken his other hand and was helping pull him. It took Quinn a few minutes before he snapped out of it. "Sorry.. sorry." He shook their hands loose and moved to the front, "you make a cute halfling Jinn."
The halfling named Sammi nodded. "We are adorable. Ro-Ro and I are both thieves.. What are you guys?"
"Hunter, carpenter and gardener." Nanna whispered in reply, she was no longer limping since Grace had healed her.
"Shitballs!" A gnoll appeared suddenly in front of them, Quinn moved to one side firing a stone that narrowly missed. The gnoll roared and charged the group.
Meri has cast *Tonight's Dinner*
A gnoll invader has been hooked and is temporarily immobilized.
"Leave my friends alone!" A cute halfling with wild red hair that went everywhere, pulled back on her fishing rod. A second halfling with jet black hair covered the stunned gnoll with a bow.
"Damn Em..How come you have a bow while I'm stuck with a slingshot?" Quinn scowled at his sister, Halfling Em had better gear.
"Oh my god.. you are so cute." Em wanted to pinch her little brothers cheeks, but the look on his face told her that it wouldn't be tolerated.
Sir Crow has activated *Cleave*
A gnoll invader has been slain.
Quinn tried to duck out of the way, but the spray of gnoll blood hit him in the face. He looked at Crow in disgust. "Gotta use Cleave on a stunned gnoll?"
Crow glanced at the small group of halflings, "best get going, the path is clear to the river, head north from there."
Quinn waved at the dark knight and then took off at a trot.
Halfling Em ran alongside him, "did Crow seem a bit masculine back there?"
Quinn lied with a straight face, "nope, not at all." Normally he would tell the truth, but his sister had become one of his important people, so he told a small fib.
He felt someone grip his hand on his other side, halfling Meri was skipping alongside of him, her freckled nose wrinkling as she smiled. "Halfling Quinn is so..."
"Don't even say it," Quinn interrupted her. "We are all super adorable, this cursed halfling race!"
The group stopped at the sound of gunfire. Quinn glanced back at Talia.
"It's definitely my rifle Quinn." Talia took the lead as they approached the riverbank.
*Snipe* Sir Tal has hit a gnoll invader for 18,000 damage.
A gnoll invader has been slain.
ALL OF YOUR COOKIES ARE MINE!!!
Sir Onion has stunned a gnoll invader.
The group peaked over the riverbank, there were gnoll bodies everywhere.
"Damn.. those two cleaned up." Quinn hopped into sight once he saw two halflings being shielded by Onion. Halfling Rainbow waved at him when she spotted them. She was holding the hand of a slightly chubby halfling named Uno. Quinn knew they were the hafling versions of Onion and Daze.
Ro-Ro laughed aloud. "Why are you tubby Uno?"
Halfing Rainbow obviously loved it, she was grinning from ear to ear. "He looks great right? A bit of meat on his bones."
Quinn nodded, Onion was rather skinny in real life. "Seen halfling-Grace yet?"
Uno shook his head, "no, we were hiding here when the gnolls found us."
"You have to hurry guys, reinforcements could arrive shortly." Sir Tal approached the halfling group, her metallic foot clicking on the rocky banks of the river. She checked her rifle and then pointed downriver. "You can escape to Talon through the old mining tunnel."
"We are missing one person Tal." Quinn felt a bit strange talking to NPC Tal, he noted to himself that she was stunningly beautiful, even covered in river mud.
"She may be ahead of you, keep to the riverbank and stay out of trouble." Tal motioned for Onion to follow her, and they headed back toward the village at a trot.
"Rainbow? God I love that name." Nanna smiled when she said it.
"We should go, " Uno held a garden hoe, it was obvious what he had chosen.
Quinn already knew that Rainbow was a hunter, she was holding a slingshot identical to the one he held. "Yep, we can always circle back if we can't find her."
The group of nine halflings were covered in mud by the time they found Halfling Gaia, she was crouched down behind some tall weeds. She waved a small hammer at them. "There's a Gnoll Captain up ahead. Jinn and Rhapsody went after it."
"Course we did, cuz we are rockstars." Ro-Ro threw an arm around Sammi's shoulders. "Predictably, we saved the day."
Halfling Gaia shot them both a look of gratitude. "Thank you so much.. er.. you know what I mean."
Sammi winked at Quinn, "of course Q is nowhere to be found."
"What? Q was fighting four Captains by himself." Quinn smirked at Ro-Ro before breaking into a run.
"Hey! Get back here." Ro-Ro chased after him. A hundred yards down the river they found the corpse of a Gnoll Captain, a tired looking Jinn was being held up by Rhapsody.
Quinn looked at the Gnoll corpse. "Woah.. impressive taking that elite down. You two okay?"
Rhapsody played with a strand of her green hair. "We are fine, the exit is ahead guys."
Jinn has cast *Lovers Embrace* All allies are healed for 300 hp.
Quinn waved at his two friends and then turned toward the exit. The group was nearly to the tunnel when they heard the howling. Each of them stopped in place, they knew that sound, Gnoll King Brisbane.
Jinn and Rhapsody were standing between the Gnoll King and the halflings. Quinn was staring hard at the two knights. He sighed heavily. "Sorry guys, there's no way I'm leaving Jinn and Rhapsody to fight by themselves."
Meri nodded, "I don't feel right about it either, they are our friends."
"Um.. guys we are right here, those two aren't us." Ro-Ro felt her eyes start to water. "It's okay, we can go."
"No way. I'm not going." Talia waved her hammer in the air and faced back toward the Gnoll King.
"Yep, let's fight." Uno hefted his hoe in one hand while holding Rainbow's hand with the other.
As a group, the halflings turned back toward the Gnoll King, ready to fight. Ro-Ro and Sammi were both crying quietly. These were true friends, so they would fight too.
"Wait guys." Sammi grabbed Quinn's arm, just as Talia and Onion came into view and quietly took their place beside Rhapsody and Jinn.
"Yes! The cavalry has arrived." Meri cheered as Lieutenant Fintree and Grace also joined the group. It took only a minute before nine of the Ravenwood Knights had arrived.
"Of course Q will be the late one." Ro-Ro smirked at Quinn as the Knight Commander finally arrived riding on a red stallion. Scorch raised up on his hind legs and pawed the air. "Shit... legendary entrance though."
"No kidding." Sammi watched the NPC version of her former student slide easily from the saddle. Even the Gnoll King was watching.
Nanna whistled. "We look like heroes."
Quinn smiled and turned back toward the exit. "You guys are awesome, let's wrap this up."
The halfling group walked into the tunnel, they didn't bother to watch the fight. They already knew what had happened.
System Message: Congratulations! You have completed the racial quest and will receive an award from TAP admin.
System Message: Halflings are now a playable race for TAP characters. The starting city for Halflings is Talon.
System Message: The Knights of Ravenwood are now considered Legendary Knights and will receive a +10 to all stats bonus.
System Message: You have received new Faction choices.
System Message: New NPC Assassin abilities discovered.
*********
Jangles and Sparrow continued to watch from the balcony until the 'sky show' had ended. It had started out with 10 different scenes all broadcasting at once. As the halflings found each other, the number of broadcasts decreased. Jangles had cheered with everyone else as the halflings managed to find each other.
"We've been doing this wrong Sparrow." Jangles gripped the railing as he continued to stare into the sky.
His second in command stared at him. "Doing what wrong?"
"Everything... Did you know that most of the territory surrounding Fenway is unexplored?" Jangles faced her as he continued, "every time Fora happens upon something spectacular I've been chalking it up to luck."
Sparrow quickly caught on. "They are making their own luck through diligence."
"Hire some engineers for exploration. Call back our raid teams. " Jangles smiled at the clear sky overhead, "ask Mora Jol if we could have a meeting at Fora HQ."
Sparrow nodded, "right away."
Quinn took the TAP portal in Exodus directly to Ravenwood. He was greeted by warm sunshine as he stepped into the courtyard. He glanced at the now active fountain where the Gnoll King had perched. "Amazing what a few days can do."Halfling NPCs walked around tending to their chores, Quinn noticed that there seemed to be a few more of them than before. The sound of a crying baby drew his attentions toward the town hall.Quinn entered town hall a few moments later, not really caring that he had been the last to arrive. Mojo hadn't told him to hurry, so he detoured to the tattoo parlor to ask Jezebelle something. The sound of a baby crying filled the air.Mojo, Tal and Leah were huddled around Crow, she was sitting on a chair holding a tiny baby. Quinn peaked over Tal's shoulder. "That a halfling baby?"Leah noticed his arrival and grabbed his hand, "look closer Quinn!"Quinn stared at the tiny infant, it was roughly half the size of a human newborn. "What am I looking at?" He slid between Tal and Leah and knelt on one knee. "Holy crap... Micah?"Leah squeezed his shoulders from behind him. "That's right Quinn, a named NPC halfling."Crow smiled at her brother and handed him the tiny bundle. He cradled Micah gently in his arms and stood up. "How's that possible? All the NPCs here are generics, even the small village they built is listed that way.""This baby was born to Ravenwood Blacksmith and Ravenwood Shepherdess, I heard the crying while I was on my way to the river." Leah was leaning against Quinn while she spoke, "Generics just do tasks, they aren't capable of understanding and nurturing.""Hmm.. In other words, they can't raise a baby." Quinn looked around at the crowd of females, it was obvious that each of them were ready to volunteer.Mojo's com-chat blinked at her and she quickly opened it to see Lara's smiling face. "Mojo.. We found more named babies in the other houses."Mojo glanced at the tiny halfling baby that Quinn was holding, "how many more?"Lara seemed to be counting before she looked back up, "Nine ... Ten if you count Micah.""Bring them to town hall." Mojo cut comm and held her arms out, Quinn reluctantly handed her the baby."I'm gonna want him back!" Quinn found himself pushed toward the wall as the females crowded around the baby. "Oi.. give him some space ... damn.. they took my halfling."Lara and the Songbirds arrived a few minutes later, each of them were holding at least one baby. Suddenly the Town hall was bustling with activity. Leah's mom showed up right on their heels and started giving directions. As the only NPC mom in Ravenwood, she knew exactly what to do.System Message: World Event...BroadcastingWorld Event: Racial QuestMission: Knights of Ravenwood will assume therole of the Halfling village children. They mustall survive and escape the village.Reward:Halfling race option for all TAP players.********Jangles had arrived at Concert Hall and was discussing staffing issues with Sparrow when he saw the system message. He quickly ran out to the balcony and stared at the sky, there was a halfling boy standing motionless. His features were easily recognizable."That's Q!" Sparrow pointed out the obvious, as heroes from all over TAP stared at the phenomenon. Q was quickly joined in the sky by 9 other halflings, each representing a member of the Ravenwood Knights.*******Quinn hadn't even accepted the Quest before he found himself in the character generation screen. Most of the options were unavailable.System Message: Please name your character."Quinn." Since his NPC assassins name was Q, he figured he should keep things easy.System Message: Please choose your natural ability.Quinn considered the choices. Hunting, Fishing, Gardening, Thievery and Carpentry."Hunting." Quinn decided quickly and abruptly found himself in a small bedroom, he could smell smoke in the air.System Message: Find your friends and escape the village.Quinn popped out of bed and took a quick look around, there was a slingshot and a pouch filled with small stones on top of the nightstand. He grabbed both and headed toward the door. He heard the sounds of fighting coming from the hallway, there were guttural noises that sounded like beasts. "Shit.. those are gnolls." He abandoned the door idea and ran to the window next to his bed, he opened it and slid easily to the ground.System Message: Class Abilities discovered.QuinnRace:HalflingBase Class: HunterSkills:Camouflage Level 5Description: Can stealth while in the woodsor during the hours darkness.Marksman Level 5Accurately operate any projectile basedweapon.Tradeskill: TannerRacial Trait: Can see through low level stealths.StatisticsStrength 10Endurance 14Intelligence 30Agility 30Luck 25Charisma 18His house seemed to be a bit apart from the rest of the village, so Quinn ducked down into the tall grass and made his way toward the other houses.Quinn has activated *Camouflage.*The halfling stopped at the edge of the yard, three gnolls were fighting hard against a tall dark haired man wearing black armor. "Holy Shit.. that's me!"Knight Commander Q has activated *blink*Quinn ran past the squirmish, not feeling bad at all about fleeing. "I can totally take those guys.""Quinn?"A soft voice stopped him in his tracks, a tiny girl with short black hair limped toward him. It was halfling Nanna."Nanna?" He grabbed her and pulled her against the side of the house, she was carrying a small shovel that was crusted with blood. "Gardener?"Nanna nodded at him, "I hurt my leg jumping off the roof, then I got cornered by Gnolls and was rescued by Jaded Ice.""Get on my back Nanna...you can't run like that." Quinn knelt down in front of her and waiting until she climbed on, he noticed the weight immediately, even though halfling Nanna was tiny. "Crap.. am not very strong.""I saw my Necro-self fighting Gnolls.. I think we are all NPCs in this instance." Nanna hugged his neck tightly. "Let's go Q-Train.. times wasting."Quinn ducked between the next two houses and peaked around the corner, two gnolls were trying to climb down into the village well, he carefully sat Anna down. "Must be someone down there Nanna."Quinn has activated *Camouflage*.He crept closer trying to hear, one of the gnolls howled in pain and lept backward clutching his paw.Nanna has cast *Dust Cloud*.A gnoll invader is confused.A gnoll invader has resisted Dust Cloud.The second Gnoll who was still clutching his paw, turned toward them and charged.Quinn raised the slingshot aiming for an eye.A gnoll invader has been partially blinded.The gnoll stopped for a moment, pain from his wounds making him enrage.Quinn grabbed another stone and jumped to one side as the gnoll charged him, its clawed feet gripped the ground tossing up a cloud of dust. Quinn fired another stone from one knee.*Shadow Bow* Sir Daze has struck a Gnoll Guard for 30,200 pointsA gnoll invader has been slain.The lovely ranger wore the black spider armor that Q had given her, she scanned the area as she advanced slowly. She handed Quinn a torch. "Flee down the well, I will cover your retreat.""Okay ranger.. thank you!" Quinn grinned at her as he started getting into his role. He grabbed Anna's hand and peaked down the well. Two of the loveliest blue eyes he'd ever seen stared up at him."Quinn?" Halfling Talia let out a long sigh, she held a bloody hammer in one hand. "Was that Daze's voice I heard?"Quinn nodded as he helped Nanna climb onto the ladder and then followed them. The well was about forty feet deep and completely dry. "How did you get here Tal?"Tal gave Nanna a hand down and then helped Quinn. She couldn't help but stare at him, "damn it, I want a picture of you."Quinn laughed and knelt down for Nanna to climb back on his back. There was only one direction to go, so the three of them headed down the tunnel."Onion saved me from my burning house. He slammed right through a wall." Talia's blue eyes were excited.Anna held the torch as Quinn carried her. "Seems like all ten of us are NPCs here. Did you choose carpentry?"Talia nodded. "There's a light up ahead." The blonde halfling trotted ahead of them, she arrived at another ladder. Flames were visible from the bottom, a scream of pain from above made her start up the ladder. "Hurry up Quinn!"Quinn sprinted the last few feet to the ladder and sat Nanna down before following her up.Lieutenant Fintree has cast *Sunburst*A gnoll invader has been blinded.A gnoll invader has been blinded.Sir Grace has cast *Heaven's Path* All allies are healed for 500 hp.Talia scampered up the ladder and waited as Quinn climbed out. There were two halflings crouched behind the well, both of them held daggers. Quinn grinned at them as he helped Nanna climb out of the well."Took you long enough to find us Quinn!" The darker one gave him a smirk as she waved her dagger around, it could only be one person, halfling Ro-Ro."Head to the Western part of the village until you get to the river." A gentle voice spoke to them. The beautiful redhead patted Quinn's head. "Move along now, it's dangerous here."Quinn stared at Lieutenant Fintree, he didn't want to leave her here to fight gnolls. It was halfling Sammi who drug him away. "Come on Quinn, that's not Leah, plus she's super strong."Quinn followed along, glancing over his shoulder several times. Talia had taken his other hand and was helping pull him. It took Quinn a few minutes before he snapped out of it. "Sorry.. sorry." He shook their hands loose and moved to the front, "you make a cute halfling Jinn."The halfling named Sammi nodded. "We are adorable. Ro-Ro and I are both thieves.. What are you guys?""Hunter, carpenter and gardener." Nanna whispered in reply, she was no longer limping since Grace had healed her."Shitballs!" A gnoll appeared suddenly in front of them, Quinn moved to one side firing a stone that narrowly missed. The gnoll roared and charged the group.Meri has cast *Tonight's Dinner*A gnoll invader has been hooked and is temporarily immobilized."Leave my friends alone!" A cute halfling with wild red hair that went everywhere, pulled back on her fishing rod. A second halfling with jet black hair covered the stunned gnoll with a bow."Damn Em..How come you have a bow while I'm stuck with a slingshot?" Quinn scowled at his sister, Halfling Em had better gear."Oh my god.. you are so cute." Em wanted to pinch her little brothers cheeks, but the look on his face told her that it wouldn't be tolerated.Sir Crow has activated *Cleave*A gnoll invader has been slain.Quinn tried to duck out of the way, but the spray of gnoll blood hit him in the face. He looked at Crow in disgust. "Gotta use Cleave on a stunned gnoll?"Crow glanced at the small group of halflings, "best get going, the path is clear to the river, head north from there."Quinn waved at the dark knight and then took off at a trot.Halfling Em ran alongside him, "did Crow seem a bit masculine back there?"Quinn lied with a straight face, "nope, not at all." Normally he would tell the truth, but his sister had become one of his important people, so he told a small fib.He felt someone grip his hand on his other side, halfling Meri was skipping alongside of him, her freckled nose wrinkling as she smiled. "Halfling Quinn is so...""Don't even say it," Quinn interrupted her. "We are all super adorable, this cursed halfling race!"The group stopped at the sound of gunfire. Quinn glanced back at Talia."It's definitely my rifle Quinn." Talia took the lead as they approached the riverbank.*Snipe* Sir Tal has hit a gnoll invader for 18,000 damage.A gnoll invader has been slain.ALL OF YOUR COOKIES ARE MINE!!!Sir Onion has stunned a gnoll invader.The group peaked over the riverbank, there were gnoll bodies everywhere."Damn.. those two cleaned up." Quinn hopped into sight once he saw two halflings being shielded by Onion. Halfling Rainbow waved at him when she spotted them. She was holding the hand of a slightly chubby halfling named Uno. Quinn knew they were the hafling versions of Onion and Daze.Ro-Ro laughed aloud. "Why are you tubby Uno?"Halfing Rainbow obviously loved it, she was grinning from ear to ear. "He looks great right? A bit of meat on his bones."Quinn nodded, Onion was rather skinny in real life. "Seen halfling-Grace yet?"Uno shook his head, "no, we were hiding here when the gnolls found us.""You have to hurry guys, reinforcements could arrive shortly." Sir Tal approached the halfling group, her metallic foot clicking on the rocky banks of the river. She checked her rifle and then pointed downriver. "You can escape to Talon through the old mining tunnel.""We are missing one person Tal." Quinn felt a bit strange talking to NPC Tal, he noted to himself that she was stunningly beautiful, even covered in river mud."She may be ahead of you, keep to the riverbank and stay out of trouble." Tal motioned for Onion to follow her, and they headed back toward the village at a trot."Rainbow? God I love that name." Nanna smiled when she said it."We should go, " Uno held a garden hoe, it was obvious what he had chosen.Quinn already knew that Rainbow was a hunter, she was holding a slingshot identical to the one he held. "Yep, we can always circle back if we can't find her."The group of nine halflings were covered in mud by the time they found Halfling Gaia, she was crouched down behind some tall weeds. She waved a small hammer at them. "There's a Gnoll Captain up ahead. Jinn and Rhapsody went after it.""Course we did, cuz we are rockstars." Ro-Ro threw an arm around Sammi's shoulders. "Predictably, we saved the day."Halfling Gaia shot them both a look of gratitude. "Thank you so much.. er.. you know what I mean."Sammi winked at Quinn, "of course Q is nowhere to be found.""What? Q was fighting four Captains by himself." Quinn smirked at Ro-Ro before breaking into a run."Hey! Get back here." Ro-Ro chased after him. A hundred yards down the river they found the corpse of a Gnoll Captain, a tired looking Jinn was being held up by Rhapsody.Quinn looked at the Gnoll corpse. "Woah.. impressive taking that elite down. You two okay?"Rhapsody played with a strand of her green hair. "We are fine, the exit is ahead guys."Jinn has cast *Lovers Embrace* All allies are healed for 300 hp.Quinn waved at his two friends and then turned toward the exit. The group was nearly to the tunnel when they heard the howling. Each of them stopped in place, they knew that sound, Gnoll King Brisbane.Jinn and Rhapsody were standing between the Gnoll King and the halflings. Quinn was staring hard at the two knights. He sighed heavily. "Sorry guys, there's no way I'm leaving Jinn and Rhapsody to fight by themselves."Meri nodded, "I don't feel right about it either, they are our friends.""Um.. guys we are right here, those two aren't us." Ro-Ro felt her eyes start to water. "It's okay, we can go.""No way. I'm not going." Talia waved her hammer in the air and faced back toward the Gnoll King."Yep, let's fight." Uno hefted his hoe in one hand while holding Rainbow's hand with the other.As a group, the halflings turned back toward the Gnoll King, ready to fight. Ro-Ro and Sammi were both crying quietly. These were true friends, so they would fight too."Wait guys." Sammi grabbed Quinn's arm, just as Talia and Onion came into view and quietly took their place beside Rhapsody and Jinn."Yes! The cavalry has arrived." Meri cheered as Lieutenant Fintree and Grace also joined the group. It took only a minute before nine of the Ravenwood Knights had arrived."Of course Q will be the late one." Ro-Ro smirked at Quinn as the Knight Commander finally arrived riding on a red stallion. Scorch raised up on his hind legs and pawed the air. "Shit... legendary entrance though.""No kidding." Sammi watched the NPC version of her former student slide easily from the saddle. Even the Gnoll King was watching.Nanna whistled. "We look like heroes."Quinn smiled and turned back toward the exit. "You guys are awesome, let's wrap this up."The halfling group walked into the tunnel, they didn't bother to watch the fight. They already knew what had happened.System Message: Congratulations! You have completed the racial quest and will receive an award from TAP admin.System Message: Halflings are now a playable race for TAP characters. The starting city for Halflings is Talon.System Message: The Knights of Ravenwood are now considered Legendary Knights and will receive a +10 to all stats bonus.System Message: You have received new Faction choices.System Message: New NPC Assassin abilities discovered.*********Jangles and Sparrow continued to watch from the balcony until the 'sky show' had ended. It had started out with 10 different scenes all broadcasting at once. As the halflings found each other, the number of broadcasts decreased. Jangles had cheered with everyone else as the halflings managed to find each other."We've been doing this wrong Sparrow." Jangles gripped the railing as he continued to stare into the sky.His second in command stared at him. "Doing what wrong?""Everything... Did you know that most of the territory surrounding Fenway is unexplored?" Jangles faced her as he continued, "every time Fora happens upon something spectacular I've been chalking it up to luck."Sparrow quickly caught on. "They are making their own luck through diligence.""Hire some engineers for exploration. Call back our raid teams. " Jangles smiled at the clear sky overhead, "ask Mora Jol if we could have a meeting at Fora HQ."Sparrow nodded, "right away."
