"Shadowdeep City is just ahead! I can see the tower spires! Damn, why is that tower on fire? It looks like a torch. Are we too late?"
The vampire players flying swiftly toward Shadowdeep City with their wings spread exchanged information. They were among the most loyal players in the Blood Eagle Clan, and when they saw the tower atop the towering stalagmite pillars where the shadow elves had built their city ablaze, their first thought was that Lord Murphy was in danger.
In truth, that assumption was a little ridiculous—and reeked of sycophancy.
With Lord Murphy's extensive connections, if he were really in danger, things wouldn't be this calm. Look at Shadowdeep City: it was under attack by the swarm, but not a single astral demigod had shown up, had they?
Even Murphy's partner, the Snake King, hadn't appeared, let alone those legendary Steel Sisters from the Order.
So clearly, everything was under control. So far, nothing had happened that could leave Murphy scrambling. But the little players were all born actors, and they knew very well that when the moment came, they had to make a show of being proactive and earn some of the precious goodwill of the main-story NPCs.
So the vampires sped up again in the sky, changing into their combat gear as they flew.
As they swept over the chaotic walls of Shadowdeep City, the players transformed into "vampire air cavalry" and treated the shadow elves below to a demonstration of the foreigners' "traditional arts."
They circled the towering stalagmites, then approached the walls in successive waves, arranged in a stepped bombing formation. They plunged at high speed over the swarm, then dropped the bombs on their backs amid a chorus of weird cries.
Anyone selected for the Gray Expeditionary Army was a true