Layolia Qarist

UP : Vesper Cemetery (Sonoma)

    What may have possibly been the strangest thing many adventurers had ever seen, happened in the Vesper Cemetery two nights ago. 'Twas a monster attack, and this land has certainly seen many recently, but 'twas a monster attack unlike most others seen in Britannia.

    As usual, the town criers got word of the coming attack and raised a call to arms to organize a party of brave souls to defend Vesper against the onslaught. It was a large number of dire wolves that had gathered in the graveyard to attack passing citizens of Britannia, but it was the way in which they gathered that was most surprising of all.

    The wolves appeared to be standing in some type of formation, as they were lined up in small groups of four. However, possibly the strangest sight of all was that they appeared to be commanded by a lich lord, and the wolves would not attack until the lich lord commanded them to strike. They appeared to obey him, in fact, waiting and growling at the virtuous souls, but not attacking them until the lich lord released them from their formation.

    Some of the first fighters to arrive at the cemetery couldn't believe their eyes. "Aye, I got to the boneyard as quickly as I could after I heard the town criers," said Martoyn the warrior, "a little too early, in fact, as there were only three humans and what must have been two dozen dire wolves. I was just getting ready to hide and wait for reinforcements, when I realized that they were not attacking me. And the lich lord appeared to be engaged in taunting some soul standing right by the front gate."

    Said Martoyn, "I was too amazed and frightened to do anything. You usually only hear that bone chilling cry from the liches as they pound into you with both great strength and magic. 'Twas the first time mine ears had heard understandable words coming from those ugly lich beasts. That lich continued to laugh at us, and when we finally ventured into the cemetery, he began to unleash the wolves... but only one wave at a time. I have never seen such a display. It was almost as if they had been trained in fighting tactics somehow."

    In the end, there were just too many brave fighters for the wolves, and the citizens of Britannia claimed victory over the wolves. However, the lich lord somehow could not be attacked, as he appeared to be invulnerable to all who tried to attack him.

    The defeat did not even seem to bother the evil beast, as he merely opened a red moongate and disappeared into it. However, before he left, that lich lord advised adventurers to be watching their backs.

    The Town Cryer knows not what all this can mean. Have monsters learned to fight like humans? It seems that most oft they fight in a random and haphazard way, throwing out organization in favor of a crushing rush at their prey. But can they be taught discipline an battle tactics? The members of the Town Cryer staff certainly hope not, and will be following this story with interest.

From the Town Cryer - The Journal of Ultima Online, Tuesday, April 14th 1998