Trove: Book One

The Infection

A fog rolled in as I entered the Vale. Skeletons shambled to and from behind trees. They mostly ignored me, save for the few that tried to take a bite out of me.

An old stone structure loomed out from the fog. It had a crumbling wall that I broke through easily. The inside was dark, lit by only  a few torches. Bones clacked and hungry moans could be heard from below.

Stepping into the darkness, a figure came around a corner. My sword was out and cut through it lightning quick. Hurrying forward, I cut down two or three more skeletons. Something was off about them though. Strange black goo dripped from their mouths.

I went down a flight of steps, which opened into a very large room. A large skeletal viking stumbled around, dragging a huge axe behind it. Specters floated about around the viking. One saw me and let out a bone-chilling shriek. It alerted the others and the viking.

The specters reached my first. I threw my sword at one and it crumpled to the ground, becoming nothing more than an empty cloak. Pulling a boomerang from my belt, I stunned the oncoming viking warrior. After retrieving my sword I spun around and got the remaining specters.

The viking regained composure and attacked. I side-stepped the first swing and sent one of my own at his legs. With one leg now gone, the viking lunged forward and fell on it's face. I plunged my sword down and killed it.

A chest materialized in the center of the room. It wouldn't budge when I tried to open it with my hands, but I was able to smash it open with my sword. The only thing in the chest was a few glims and shapestone.

A portal had also appeared after killing the viking. I used it to return to the entrance of the dungeon.

This went on for a while. I repeated the process of finding and completing dungeons until I was too tired to keep going. I found a peaceful hills zone and froze. A village was in the middle of the field, and it was surrounded by the undead.

I rushed over and dealt with most of them. Some of the men in the village joined me and we drove off the creatures.

"Thank you, thank you! We don't know what we would have done without you! The infection has been getting worse and-"

I held up a hand.

"Hold up. What infection?"

The man 's face turned grim.

"The skeletons started producing a black goo in their mouths. If it get's in any part of your body you die and reanimate. You get to a certain point of decay and then just stop. We have no idea how it started."

I looked back at the Vale. The skeletons had never tried to eat people. They only attacked if you entered the Vale. Now they were deliberately attacking.

"They might have someone organizing them." I said.

The man contemplated this before replying.

"You may be right. But who would be able to control skeletons?"

I couldn't think of anything right then, so I told the man to stay safe and I claimed a cornerstone. Taking my gear off, I laid down on the floor and went to sleep.