By the time Little Knife hurried down from the upper floor of the Outer Keep at Bolas Fortress, the fighting on the stone bridge had temporarily subsided. The five players holding the bridgehead had suffered minor injuries to their hands, but none had died.
Just then, the remaining dozens of players on the other side of the bridge charged in as well, reinforcing Little Knife.
With the planned reinforcements here, Little Knife did not give it much more thought. He raised his sword, pointed across the stone bridge, and led the other players in a charge.
The guards inside Bolas Fortress were being mobilized. The clamor across the stone bridge, the jumble of footsteps, and the firelight constantly flaring behind the windows as soldiers raised their torches all told the players the same thing.
The enemy was assembling and coming their way.
Many of the players had played war games. They knew perfectly well that they absolutely could not let themselves get trapped in a cramped place like the Outer Keep. Otherwise, both sides would be stuck trading shots across the stone bridge, grinding away at each other's lives.
The players were outnumbered, and that kind of attrition would work against them.
They had to strike fast and hard, seize the fortress gate first, and let the players below inside!
"Kill, kill, kill... kill them all! Burn them all!"
Battle cries rose into the sky, firelight illuminated half the heavens, and players raced everywhere, hunting down fleeing soldiers.
Cool Guy had just emerged from a work shed. He and the slave laborers freed behind him stared blankly at it all.
What happened?
Cool Guy's head swam. Holding a bloodstained chopping blade, he stood beside the road and watched the commotion around him.
A Minisian in chain mail came running