Chapter 13

Varrus shaded his eyes, and took in the mass of Forest Trolls as they made landfall. 

Despite culling nearly half of the Troll fleet, the green tide disembarking from their ships was so numerous, it was astounding. 

The lightning storm from earlier had cut away a mile+ long strip of land, exposing the Elven line to the numerically superior Troll army. 

In response, the commander of the battlefield, and Ranger General, Lor'Themar, was forced to spread the 10,000+ Elven soldiers thin so as to secure their flanks. Elven combat doctrine typically centered around locking the enemy down in place, then pummeling them to death with a never ending torrent of Arcane power. They especially excelled at individual combat, and were effective when spread out so that they could utilize their superior speed and skill, as opposed to Orcs or Humans that benefitted from dense formations or wild charges. 

Ideally, they would be able to force the Trolls to do all their fighting in the water, limiting the enemy's mobility, and eventually force a retreat, or drown them at sea. 

Trolls, no matter how determined (or stupid), were creatures possessing intelligence, and could feel fear. Complete destruction wasn't necessarily the goal for the Elven force, and they would be happy if the Trolls fled, like they had done so many times in the past. 

However, the vast majority of Elves were not front line combatants, and spreading out enough that they could press the Trolls into the sea would be a difficult task. For every 1 warrior or paladin, there were 2 mages, and 4 rangers. 

The bow was considered the favorite weapon of the Elves because it could be practiced to perfection, and required much less mental power than performing a spell. It was all training, and muscle memory. 

While mages held the highest prestige amongst all Highborn, it was a profession that took long hours spent studying dusty tomes. Whereas even the most casual Elf could pick up a bow, and appear as if they were a master. 

It was no exaggeration to say that based on culture and racial traits, amateur Elf archers were as skilled as a Human who had trained all his life in a bow. Then for the Elves that were truly dedicated to that craft, they could apply poison to their bolts, or even learn a few basic spells that turned their arrows into magic missiles. 

Varrus had no doubt that thousands of Trolls would stain the beach with purple blood before they so much as touched an Elf's fair hair. Yet their vast numbers could make up all the difference. 

Furthermore, it wasn't as if the Trolls didn't have bows of their own. Certainly, they didn't have as strong of a culture as the Elves, but they were partially a hunter gatherer society. Their archers were certain to be deadly, especially since, while slower to the draw than their Elf counterparts, the Trolls would be able to rain down enough arrows, they would darken the sky. 

Already an exchange of arrows and magic was underway. Lightning blasted the Elf line, only to be met with the return of a fireball. 

Troll shamans planted totems, providing shields, and healing burnt flesh. 

Elf priests likewise placed shields around the troops, and the line of warriors was soon coated in shimmering translucent golden bubbles.

Pandemonium and chaos ensued as the ranged combatants started firing upon one another. Magic arrows exploded within Troll flesh, and countless poisoned shots took Elves out of commission until they were detoxified. 

During the Trolls landing, Kael'Thas and Jan'alai had begun attacking the totem ship of lightning, freeing Varrus up to focus on the beach. 

Wracking his brain for a solution to this crisis, Varrus double checked his perks one more time, checking to see if there was anything that could help him turn the tables. 

Out of all of them, War of the Elements - You deal 40% more attack damage to targets that are taking damage from the burning ground created by Conflagration, Scorched Earth or Pyromancer Ascension or are being affected by Electroconvulsions or Hypothermia.

Scorched Earth - Fire spells (except concentration spells) burn corpses to cinders, creating a pyre that burns for 30 seconds. The burning ground deals 50 points of damage per second for 5 seconds on contact.

And:

Conflagration - Fire spells ignite the ground underneath their targets for 30 seconds. The burning ground deals 8 points of damage per second for 3 seconds on contact.

Synergized well in this mass battle. 

As he came upon the Expert skill level in Destruction, Varrus had once more increased his repertoire of available spells. 

In a mass AOE battle, one of the spells that interested him most was Bombardment. 

The spell Bombardment was defined as: A steady stream of exploding projectiles that deal 50 points of damage per second. 

Varrus theorized that Bombardment would act much like a never ending chain of cannon fire. As they exploded, they would create a concussion force knocking down, and covering enemies in shrapnel. 

In effect, it was as if an artillery piece was suddenly converted into a machine gun. As Troll regeneration was countered by fire, it was the perfect weapon in Varrus' arsenal for this engagement. 

However, going through his spell list Varrus noticed that there were two vanilla Skyrim spells that could cause havoc. 

First was the Fire Rune. A mere Apprentice level spell, the circular runes could act as the perfect land mine, and ultimate deterrent. 

The Trolls may be blood crazed savages, but they weren't stupid. They valued their lives. If Varrus could mine up an entire side of the wide open, mile+ long beachhead, then he would force the enemy to funnel into the Elves' well reinforced center. 

Combine the runes with the perk Ancient Seals, and any enemy without magic resistance would lose over 100% of their vitality in as short as 10 seconds!

Ancient Seals - Destruction runes no longer deal instant damage, but inflict a stacking 10 second elemental burn that deals 15% damage per second.

As for his second idea, he had thought about it for some time now, and put it into play when the time came. For now, he needed to move, and move fast. The longer he delayed, the sooner the Forest Trolls would have the opportunity to flank their sides. 

As soon as Varrus thought up his plan, he began to act upon it immediately. 

"Lor'Themar, I shall secure the left flank! Concentrate your men in the center and right!" Varrus shouted at the Ranger General, then left, leaving the older Elf with no chance to countermand him. 

"Come Rho'dan, Helios, my Crossguard, to death and glory!" Varrus motioned toward his followers, then ran towards the left side of the beach. 

By the time he got there, he witnessed the dozen or so arcane golems struggling to hold the line. Their massive bodies stomped on Troll skulls, and crushed bones, but it wasn't enough. 

Soon, one by one, the golems were chopped away by enchanted stone tipped axes, and blasted by electric balls produced by shaministic magic. 

Once a golem would fall to its knees, and have its central power crystal exposed, it would take on a bright hue, then explode itself in an arcane explosion. 

Anything standing within a 10ft radius of the golem would be instantly vaporized, and those within 20ft suffered light burns. 

Between their crushing power, and arcane explosions, the golems, despite their small number, eliminated over 200 Trolls before destruction. 

At 16 kills per golem death, the semi-autonomous killing machines covered in Elven metal had acquitted themselves well considering they were outnumbered 1,000 to 1. 

Varrus could only imagine what kind of carnage the golems were capable of when supported by archers, mages and field artillery. Like a tank in WW2, the golem was most effective when it fought in a company of units, as opposed to being strictly a company of tanks. 

One day, Varrus would see about making flying golems like the drones of Earth, but for now, he had to stop, stall, and slay as many of the invading bastards as possible. 

The golems had done their job delaying the Trolls. Now it was his turn. 

Varrus didn't take the time bought by the golems sacrifice needlessly either. 

While the Trolls were being held up in the shallow waters, Varrus was slapping down hundreds of runes. 

Fortunately they didn't disappear after a certain limit was reached. Like the change in summons, runes also underwent a slight alteration. 

So long as the rune had mana in it, it would last until it was triggered. Much like how canonically, the player character in Skyrim could invade a Dragurs hollow, and stumble across a rune that had been there for a thousand years, Varrus' runes likewise could last pretty much forever. 

After he had completely coated nearly every square inch of loose sand with the circular symbols of death, the Trolls began to chant at their minor victory. 

"Zul!"

"Zul!" 

"Zul!" 

Several of the green-blue creatures emerged from the ocean carrying their war drums, and were performing some ceremonial prayer. 

The Troll warriors cried their triumph over the golems, and turned their eyes toward the exposed flank of the Elf line. 

They bared their stone spears, axes, and clubs with an untold malice. Their ferocity and desire for revenge was so palpable, Varrus swore he could feel their aura, despite none of them being inherently magical beings. 

Their howls of madness and battle rage pierced Varrus' ears like an annoyingly loud sports stadium full of rabid fans. 

The sun shined brightly upon Varrus' pale-orange skin, and he felt the heat of its warmth very empower him by 30% thanks to the perk Force of Nature. 

Force of Nature - Elemental spells and effects cost 30% less Magicka to cast and increase spell power in favorable weather: fire spells in sunlight, frost spells during snowfall, shock spells in the rain.

Stretching his shoulders like a cat, Varrus smirked at the oncoming horde. 

He felt his guards tense up next to him, but they never once lost their composure, pleasing Varrus for their loyalty, and their faith in him. 

Helios, the former ranger lieutenant who had been convinced to follow Varrus couldn't take it any more, and began to unleash bolt after enchanted bolt of arrows into the throats of the rushing Trolls. 

Varrus was impressed with Helios. Despite wearing nothing else but standard ranger gear, the depressed lieutenant accounted himself well. Dozens of Trolls met their demise in less than a minute. Considering the man had abandoned his wife and unit to the Undead, perhaps this was his way to seek redemption. 

Whatever the case was, Varrus was interested to see how strong Helios would become with properly enchanted gear. He was lacking in talents-especially in rangers/trackers-and Helios demonstrated his status as an Elite almost on the same tier as Rho'dan. 

If he lived through this fight, Varrus would have to see about making Helios a permanent part of his roster. 

However, for all of Helios' efforts, impressive as they were, they were barely scratching the rampaging Trolls. 

When they finally made it about five steps up the beach and out of the water that was when they finally met true resistance. 

The first Troll to step on a trap instantly caught fire, and tried to run back into the cool waters of the ocean, but the press of bodies was so tight, he was pressed forward, and even became trampled under foot. 

10 seconds later, and that initial Troll turned into a pile of ash. Not only that, but due to the perks Scorched Earth and Conflaguration, he exploded in a burst of flame. Fire cascaded all around him, igniting any who stood within 5ft of him. 

A hundred Trolls experienced this exact same scenario at the exact same time. Their deaths coupled with the closely packed army lead to a chain reaction of 500 Trolls perishing almost at the same time as those Trolls who had run head first into the Runes of Fire. 

Countless deaths triggered his Soul Cloak, bringing his inventory near to the weight limit with innumerable Petty and Lesser Soul Gems. Even a few Common Soul Gems were added to the mix. 

"Unbelievable. I was impressed when you stood up to the wise earlier in the day, yet I thought that like all of House Vandercross, you were full of it. I was prepared to die today, to account for my sins. Yet now I see why your guards are so loyal. Is it true? Can you really return the Sunwell?" Helios said with great emotion. He spoke in both disbelief, and yearning. 

"The Highlord has placed an importance on your ability to naysay, ranger. It is only natural for you to venerate him, but know your place." Rho'dan said sternly, but not unkindly. 

Varrus silently agreed, while he certainly enjoyed praise, and was weak to flattery, he needed someone around to keep him on the level. If all he did was surround himself with yes-men, how would he know when he royally fucked up? But that was neither here nor there, Varrus had to prepare for what came next. 

"Enough, this is but the prelude. Prepare yourselves for what comes next." Varrus waved off their banter as he wasn't out of the woods yet. 

"Aye Highlord." Rho'dan nodded in assent. 

Helios opened his mouth, then closed it. 

"Say what's on your mind, but be swift about it." Varrus said as he scanned the battlefield, awaiting the opportune time to strike. 

The flow of the enemy movement caught his eye, and he was alert for any shaministic movement, or champions making an appearance. The last thing he wanted to do was be late to act. 

"Your rune, while powerful, seems to disappear on contact. What is your plan if a Troll simply threw an axe or spear at one, detonating it prematurely?" Helio said between loosing arrows from his bow. 

"Keen eyes, Helios. It is precisely as you say. The rune is powerful, yet oh so fragile. It is only a matter of time before the Trolls adjust to them." Varrus nodded in appreciation toward the former lieutenant. 

"If these runes are destroyed on contact, have you thought of placing them upon boulders, then catapulting them into the enemy?" Helios queried. 

"Hoh, most impressive Helios. I hadn't considered that. Certainly that would be a cheap, and efficient weapon to stockpile in a future war. For now, pay attention to the front, I will act soon." Varrus narrowed his eyes as he saw the Trolls begin to gather courage and test out the runes' defenses. 

'Yes, good, good, learn that you can overcome this peril. As soon as your confidence returns, I shall crush it into a thousand pieces, and with it, your will.' Varrus thought to himself with an evil grin. 

These Trolls weren't unfeeling Undead, or enemies in a game with a health bar. They were creatures of flesh and blood. And on the battlefield, nothing led to death faster than fear. 

It was time for phase two of his plan. 

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