World of Warcraft's weather system could be annoying at times. Rain mixed with heavy fog would send visibility plummeting, and if you were in a dangerous area, it was easy to aggro a pack of mobs and get beaten down.
"Leader, five Horde just showed up outside. They're about thirty yards from the cave entrance, but they don't dare come in."
DeathScum was a reliable scout. Even in heavy rain and thick fog, he could still keep track of the surrounding area.
Five Horde players weren't enough to worry about. If they didn't dare come in, they were either intimidated by Gabryell's numbers or waiting for reinforcements.
"Are those five Horde from PleasureWorld?" Gabryell asked.
DeathScum said, "No. They're from Hall of Fame."
Hall of Fame, the top Horde guild on the server. Sure enough, they had gotten involved. In the first real conflict between Alliance and Horde, a major guild couldn't possibly stay out of it.
"The big fish are here."
Gabryell said, "The terrain inside the Yeti Cave is bad. If they block us in here, this place turns into a deathtrap. We'll pull out of the cave first and fight them outside with guerrilla tactics. Once their numbers grow, we fall back to Southshore."
"Leader, what do we do with this guy?" David hopped around Darkshiv, who had been turned into a little sheep.
To kill the man and break his spirit, Gabryell pulled out his staff. "All melee, step back. Casters, get up here. Club him down with your staves."
Gabryell took the lead and started smacking Darkshiv with his staff. The other Mages and Warlocks followed, and the sound of countless staff strikes rang out. Damage numbers in the teens floated over Darkshiv's head.
Darkshiv tried to fight back, but he was locked down by all kinds of crowd control. Whoever he attacked was immediately covered by the healers. After being tortured for two full minutes, Darkshiv was beaten to death by a group of casters with staves, becoming the most humiliated Rogue in the game.
"Total gibberish. Every single word was probably a curse."
Before he died, Darkshiv unleashed every curse word under the sun. Unfortunately, he was Horde, and Alliance players couldn't understand his language. No matter how much he cursed, to Gabryell and the others, it was just unreadable gibberish.
"Trash."
David danced on Darkshiv's corpse, still not satisfied. "Next time I see you, I'll kill you on sight."
"DeathScum, circle around behind that Horde group outside. When we come out, see if we can catch them." Gabryell didn't mind sending that Horde group on their way too.
DeathScum stealthed behind the Horde group outside the Yeti Cave. "Leader, I'm on their Shaman now. I can move anytime."
Gabryell said, "Not yet. Lunatori, Mushy, you two stealth out together. When DeathScum makes his move, shift back to human form and keep his health up. Don't let him get bursted down."
Lunatori and MushroomHunter shifted into cat form, entered stealth, and left the Yeti Cave.
With two Druids there, Gabryell believed DeathScum wouldn't be instantly killed by the Horde's focus fire. As long as he could Sap the Shaman and Gouge someone else, that Horde group probably wouldn't abandon their teammates and run.
"Mages, Blink in with me and Frost Nova them so they can't get away. Hunters, pop Aspect of the Cheetah and keep up. Everyone else, use your own judgment."
Gabryell waited until Lunatori and MushroomHunter were in position before walking to the entrance of the Yeti Cave.
"DeathScum, go."
The heavy rain and thick fog made the ambush even easier.
DeathScum slipped behind the Shaman and used Sap, stunning him for thirty-five seconds. Before the Horde group could react, he turned and Gouged the Undead Mage beside him to stop him from Blinking away.
"Fuck, there's a Rogue."
The Sapped Shaman quickly shouted in party chat, "Kill him!"
His teammates were an Undead Rogue, an Orc Warrior, and a Troll Hunter. They were too close, so the Hunter could only attack in melee and wasn't much of a threat. The Warrior was using a shield in Defensive Stance, so his damage wasn't high either. Only the Rogue could deal serious damage to DeathScum.
Lunatori and MushroomHunter appeared, shifted back into human form, and healed DeathScum, keeping his health safely above the danger line.
"They're coming out!"
Since Hall of Fame had chosen this Horde group as scouts, they couldn't be weak. Otherwise, they wouldn't have reached level 28.
"You guys go. Don't worry about me."
The Shaman, NotPikachu, decided to sacrifice himself so his teammates could escape.
"Hall of Fame doesn't run."
The Mage BrokeMage, who had recovered, put on a defiant front. "We're not like those PleasureWorld cowards who only know how to win with numbers. Even if we die, we're taking one or two of them with us."
BrokeMage hit DeathScum with Frost Nova and Cone of Cold, then followed with Fire Blast, trying to take someone down with him before he died.
Gabryell wouldn't let him succeed. He brought Intriguing, OliveDrab, and Coldhands to DeathScum's side. The four Mages cast Frost Nova and Arcane Explosion together, dealing massive AoE damage to the five Horde players.
Never underestimate a Mage's Arcane Explosion. If five Mages rushed in and spammed Arcane Explosion together, they could wipe out a group of unprepared enemies in seconds. The classic example was at the entrance to Molten Core, where five Mages could run out together, spam Arcane Explosion, kill seventy to eighty percent of an enemy raid at the entrance, then jump into the lava and zone in safely.
With Gabryell's four Mages, the damage from Arcane Explosion was more than enough. After two or three blasts, the five Horde players were already low HP.
"If you wanna kill my boy, you gotta get through Grada first."
Igor hit DeathScum with Lay on Hands, topping him back to full.
"The Light's got your ass covered."
Hugo, OneShotCrit, and Smooch stepped up and fired Multi-Shot, instantly deleting the five low-HP Horde players.
"So brutal. I love it," Smooch said excitedly.
"These five Horde were trash. They dropped so fast I didn't even get a chance to attack. What a buzzkill."
Nightlord, who hadn't managed to touch an enemy, felt bored out of his mind.
"Mages are way too violent. That was only four of them. If forty went in together, they'd probably blow the whole place sky-high."
Carlos was stunned by the four Mages' display. It was the first time he had seen four Mages charge in together with Frost Nova and Arcane Explosion. The destruction they caused was even scarier than ten melee players.
"Warlocks are jealous as hell," DesertWanderer said, voicing the feelings of every Warlock. They envied Mages for having Blink, teleportation, and conjured food and water.
FirstDate added, "+1," silently shedding tears over his short legs.
David sighed. "Everyone's so strong, and Warriors are the most useless. I strongly demand that Warriors learn how to heal."
Susie traded him another bandage.
"Should we camp their corpses?" Oldguard asked.
Gabryell said, "Hall of Fame is the top Horde guild on our server. They got our server's first clears in Ragefire Chasm, Wailing Caverns, and Shadowfang Keep. Their numbers are far beyond anything PleasureWorld can compare to. Since we killed their people, they definitely won't let it go. This place is close to Horde territory. If we really corpse-camp them, we won't have the numbers advantage."
"Should we go back to Southshore?" Carlos was naturally cautious and worried that they would suffer badly if Hall of Fame's main force arrived.
Gabryell shook his head. "No need to go back to Southshore yet. We'll use the rain and fog to roam. If we run into Horde players or small groups, we kill them. If we can win, we fight. If we can't, we use guerrilla tactics. Only when we're truly outnumbered do we return to Southshore and regroup."
Rain and fog were perfect for roaming and ambushes. Gabryell wouldn't miss this chance to build Fearless's reputation, killing Horde until the mere mention of their name made them nervous.