724: The Secret of Nanaak Blackeye

Hogg's first encounter with the Direwolf Army quickly gave the Wise Wolf a taste of everything Lord Murphy had once endured.

He was delighted that Lord Murphy had really sent help, but dealing with this group of newbies afterward was exhausting.

The gnoll players didn't have anything like Scarlet Keep's comprehensive tutorial system. The number of players in the Wise Wolf faction was steadily growing with Bobok's help, but only a handful of its members were smart enough to use an Orb of Computation to send out quests.

Hogg was one of them, as was his assistant, Ripper. Crazy, addle-brained Lameclaw was halfway there, and a few of the Plague Venom clan's elite who had come along could also learn this "advanced trick." Bobok was as stupid as any other gnoll, but he was willing to learn, and Hogg was willing to teach him.

Unfortunately, those were the only NPCs who could give the players quests. That wasn't enough to even put the framework of an NPC system in place.

Luckily, the main gameplay for the gnoll faction centered on free exploration, which gave Hogg room to cut corners. The quests he sent to the first twenty-one gnoll players had only a simple main objective. He left the rest to them, telling them to explore freely in search of treasure.

He told Bobok to take the newcomers around the outskirts of the Blackeye clan's territory and have them complete the "Racial Quest: Tame a Direwolf" and "Racial Quest: Learn to Fight" first.

Bobok was more than happy to do that.

Not because he had the patience to teach a bunch of hyperactive kids. The main reason was that, ever since returning from the front lines, his father had stripped him of his command. He still held the title of warlord,