《Hound of War》 Champion of Luris A/N: This is the first chapter of my new work, Hound of War. This is my first attempt LitRPG. I''m not sure if this is the appropriate place for this, so I''ll be posting it to Royal Road as well! I found the genre a few months back thanks to "The Magineer". If you haven''t read it, check it out. I hope you like Hound of War!
Ryan enjoyed walking through the woods. He''d always loved it, since he was a child. His family had often taken camping trips in the Appalachians in the spring and summer. His father would tell him to "go explore" while he set up camp. Running through the backwoods of the mountains were some of his fondest memories. It was the sort of thing that make up personalities, and never left him. That was why Ryan, now 24, set out along the hiking path this memorial day weekend. He was getting his so-called "nature fix". Leaving behind the city for a few days always did him good, and his friends new that enjoyed his solitude in the wild. They had seen him off in their group text, and made him promise to text back when he got off the trail. He had agreed; a competent outdoorsman, he always had a plan, always let someone know where he was going. That was five hours ago, when he set out on this trail. He hiked the Appalachian Trail to the turn-off, when the white blazes met two blue dashes. He turned onto Slippery Rock Trail, a little used local 30 mile loop. He was coming up to the 10 mile mark, and his first camp now, where he planned to relax along the river bank. He brought his fly rod and planned to catch a few small trout as he wiled the afternoon away. He was a half mile away from camp when he saw a 2x4 nailed to a nearby tree. Having hiked this trail before, he stopped to read the new sign.
Waterfall This Way .8 Miles
"Curious," thought Ryan, "a waterfall? I''ve never heard it while hiking here." But the sign pointed at a trail offshoot that looked vaguely familiar. He had no memory of hiking down it before, but Ryan loved to explore. The sign was far too tempting for him to continue on without checking it out. He decided a short detour, and a possible dip in a waterfall pool would be the perfect way to enjoy the day. He began hiking down the new trail. The new trail had blazes of purple on the trees, spaced every thirty feet or so. As he hiked down it, the grade became steeper and steeper while the path thinned. Soon he was walking down a narrow trail that descended along a steep hillside. The trees grew taller and the air cooler as he descended into the little valley. He began to notice more moisture collecting on all the plants and more moss on the rocks. The blazes became harder to see in the dappled sunlight of the hillside. Soon though, he had to focus on his feet to keep from falling down the ever steepening path. That was when Ryan slipped. His focus on staying on the path had him miss the loose soil ahead of him. His heel went out and he landed on his pack, sliding down the cliff face. As he slid, his cast iron pan caught a branch and spun him sideways. He began to roll down the hill, pricking up speed. It seemed to him an impossibly steep hill, and he rolled faster and faster. Then, without warning, Ryan''s head collided with a pine tree along the trail. Everything immediately went pitch black.
Ryan awoke to a world awash in white. Everything was white as far as his eyes could see. The whole place seemed illuminated from the absolute whiteness. "Am I dead?" Ryan thought. Then he laughed, "What a cliched thing to say. But where am I? The last thing I remember is slipping and hitting my head on that trail." A voice spoke out of the whiteness, "You are with me." Ryan looked around, expecting to see someone in the white place with him. There was no one. "Who are you? What do you mean, I am with you?" The voice spoke again, soft, soothing, and feminine, "I am Luris. You are in my waiting chamber." The voice seemed to come from all around Ryan, he could not isolate the source. But the speaker seemed kind and willing to talk, so he decided to ask it more questions. "Who are you, Luris? And what do you mean, I''m in your waiting chamber?" The voice answered his questions patiently, as if talking to a child, "I am Luris. Luris is me. My waiting chamber is where all my champions come when time calls for them." "Champions?" responded Ryan, "What do you mean Champion? And where are you? Can I see you?" "That is a fair request, and one I will grant." The voice seemed to coalesce as it spoke, and in a quick flash of golden light, a body appeared across from Ryan. It was a woman, of indeterminate age, clothed in a brown homespun dress. Her skin was earthy and flecked through with green. Her hair was grey like Spanish moss, but alive. Intertwined within it were many leaves and twigs. Her eyes shown in bright gold, like the color of a good hunting dog''s. She smiled at him, "Hello, Ryan, I am the avatar of Luris." Ryan stood in shock, amazing at this person''s entrance here. He moved to speak but Luris held up her hand to stop him. "I must answer your question before you should ask another, Champion." She gestured with her hand and three tree stumps appeared, one like a table and two like chairs. They sat, and a cardinal fluttered down to alight on her hand as they spoke. Ryan looked around to see that the white space was gone, and that he was in a wooded glen. Sunlight broke through the treetops and dappled the floor. Ferns grew in the shade of mighty conifers that reached out to the sky. There were no flowers, and the hooting and whistling of strange animals rang in the air. Luris smiled, playing with cardinal on her hand, and answered his unspoken question. "Ah, this place. It is one of my favorite times from your planet''s past. I understand your scientists call it theJurrasic," she giggled, "I like the trees the best here. So do they!" She gestured across the clearing. A group of dinosaurs was browsing the ferns in the shadow of the pines. Ryan stared, slack jawed, at the sight. Luris spoke again, " So, to answer your question, a Champion is a creature chosen by a god." Ryan turned to her, "You''re GOD?!" Luris smiled and waved away his question, blushing, "No, no, no. I am not the Creator. He made me as well, and the other gods. We are but pieces of Him given form, to look after his Creation. We are part of him like a cell in a tree." She paused to ensure he understood. Ryan thought about the explanation and accepted it. So God had made gods to make sure his creation was running smoothly. Seemed realistic. Luris continued, "The waiting room is a place where I exercise my power outside of the physical realm. For instance, right now I am using my power to keep your mind from imploding due to shock. The fact that you are accepting this with little protest is due to my influence." This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Now," she straightened, "Why have I brought you to my waiting room? Why have I chosen you to be my champion? What am I going to do with you? These are all the questions running through your mind. So I will answer these as well." She gestured and the table stump grew two small plants. They unfurled to reveal cups, like a pitcher plant. Inside the cop was a dark and hot liquid that smelled of coffee. She smiled, "The coffee cup plant. An experiment of mine gone quite right. Sugar?" Ryan shook his head. He drank his coffee black. So, it seemed, did Luris. She took a sip from the "cup". "I have brought you to my waiting room to make you an offer. You are laying in your world, concussed by a tree. I have watched you for a long time, and I made that trail appear so that I may speak with you. You may turn me down and go back to your life." She set her coffee down, "The offer I am going to make you is this; I will give you outdoor skills like you cannot imagine. I will make you adept at survival and attuned to nature. But, I cannot do that for you on Earth. I have no power there, where humanity was born. That is the sole domain of the Creator. He favors you among his children and forbids our interference. He demands that if we should work with you, it be due to your Free Will." She gestured and a pair of spiders crawled out from one of the many holes in the stump, bringing forth a roll of paper. They rolled it open for her as she spoke. "This contract will transport you to the world of Aurora. Aurora is a special world, a world of challenges and quests. A world made for the amusement of the gods. For when God banished our power from Earth, he banished our favorite pass time. A game we like to callThe Championship." Ryan snorted, and Luris giggled as well. "It is a terrible name, I know. But it is quite fun! You see, we each choose champions. Humans are the only creatures allowed as game pieces as they must choose to play. Non-human champions are events and assists. For instance, you''ve heard of the human Gilgamesh?" Ryan nodded and she continued, "Well Gilgamesh of Akkad was such a champion. The Divine Bull, at that time, was my first monster champion. Ishtar made a move that allowed her to posses him from me, and sent him to Gilgamesh to destroy him. Of course, Gilgamesh killed it." She took a rather long sip of coffee after that, the went on, "Anyhow, things got out of hand. Baal and many others tried to establish religions over the humans to farm champions. We had some wars, there were some disasters. General bad news. After a while, we weren''t allowed to play on Earth anymore. So the Creator made Aurora as our playground." A hawk swooped by a dropped a pen on the table. Luris picked it up. "Aurora is a huge world with many continents. Each continent serves as a game board for a round ofChampionship. I was first out in my last game, and as a result I had to wait 100 years to play again. I would like you to be my Champion!" She smiled brightly at Ryan. "Madam Luris," Ryan began, "How can I be of any use? I don''t have any special skills or traits! I''m a normal guy who likes to be outside. I can hunt, fish, hike, and boat. That''s about it! So, why me?" Luris nodded her head, "I expected this question. Ryan, I watch all humans. We all do. We look for Champions in each of you. Champions that will represent our will the best. I chose you because you represent me. You prepare and you plan. You love the outdoors and all its creatures. You understand the cycles of nature, and you have the capability to be a good champion. Do not sell yourself short!" She crossed and uncrossed her legs, getting more comfortable. "Besides, you''re an Eagle Scout. My last winner, Robert, set the Scouts up for me to help recruit new Champions. A loophole work around if you will." She giggle deviously. Ryan gaped at her, "The BOY SCOUTS ARE A FRONT FOR YOU?!" She nodded, pleased that someone appreciated her machinations. She didn''t tell Ryan, but it had been a long time since she''d won a game, and she hated losing. "So, Ryan, what do you say? Go play a lifetime in Aurora for me, and I''ll return you to your world if win. I promise, it will be the exact time and place of you turning down that trail." "And if I lose?" countered Ryan. "Well, we tally the points after you die, so you''ll be dead anyway!" He would die? Well, it wasn''t like Aurora wasn''t a real place with real dangers. It wasn''t a game, but it was a game. And he was the game piece. If he decided to go. But he needed to know more. "What are the rules," he asked, "how do I win?". Luris clapped excitedly, "Great questions!" She snapped her fingers and the table stump showed a continent shaped game board. There were player pieces already on it. "It''s my turn to place my piece, but I have to choose one first. Some of the other players have placed theirs, as you can see." A red piece, a man holding a sword stood in the north. On an island was a blue piece with a net and trident. Ryan tried to look at other pieces but Luris snapped the map away, "no cheating!" She admonished him. "We win when our champion gathers the most points. You can earn points from any action in the game. Quests, kills, and special skills give the most points. The game master keeps track over the points. I had to be a game master the last 100 years because I couldn''t play. Our current game master is Loki. He lost in the championships to Anubis a few years back and is on his 200 year out right now." She snapped her fingers and a green piece zoomed up, "This is Robert''s piece," another snap and a card appeared by it. "Here are his stats from that game. He won for me, so I''ll show you his stuff." The green piece showed a man atop a horse in cuirass and helm, with a buckler, lance, and carbine. His stats read like one from an role playing game:
Robert Baden Powell Champion of Luris
Class Hussar
Title Champion of Luris, BattleWalker, Hero Slayer, Tree Speaker
Race Human
HP/MP 1,550(+3.2)/440(+1.2)
Level 100
STR 136
AGI 114
END 155
CHAR 98
WIS 88
INT 93
Skills Summon Horse, Lance of Light, Far Sight, Long Shot, Deflect, [...]
"Robert won by killing the other champions on the field of battle. His chosen class was aHussar, so battle suited him. My next game, I went for a magic build but he died from poisoning. It turns out the winner, Coyote, recruited a baker and trained him to poison food. Tricksy. I''ll automatically lose if you die by the hand of another champion. If you survive to a natural death, or you die from any other cause, we will tally your points. In your eye you''ll see them as experience points. The more experience points you have, more of a chance we''ll have to win." She turned to Ryan expectantly and held out her pen. The spiders rolled out the contract, "So, Ryan? Will you be my champion?" He thought of all his friends back on Earth. They''d miss him, but if he won they''d never know he was gone. He didn''t have a girlfriend or a dog, so it wasn''t like he had to worry about that. His job as a house painter could definitely wait behind. All told, he had nothing to lose and everything to gain. He knew that if his friends somehow knew he was in this situation, they''d encourage him to go for it. Ryan needed something to challenge him, to make him grow and develop. Earth wasn''t cutting it, so being a plaything of the gods was worth a shot. He grabbed the pen, "Lady Luris, I''d be more than happy to," and signed on the dotted line. I activate my trap card! Ryan woke in the middle of yet another forest clearing. After he signed the contract with Luris, he fell asleep "at the table". He surmised, and was correct in his guess, that he was on Aurora. It relieved him that he hadn''t needed to experience brain trauma again to make the trip. He looked around, taking stock in his surroundings. He was in a glade surrounded by oak trees on all sides. It seemed to be about mid day, based on the position of the sun. He could hear birds and the wind through the trees, but no sounds of civilization. He couldn''t hear the running or rumbling of water either, which was unfortunate. He''d need to drink. He got up and walked around the glade a little, to get his bearings and find a source of water or shelter. After walking the entire outer circle of the glen, he found no traces of water, though he did find several bushes that grew berries. He didn''t recognize the blue and purple mottle berries, so he decided to stay away from them unless the situation became dire. He knew that he needed to get through the rule of three to survive in the wilderness with no compass and no map; he needed shelter, water, and food, in that order. Since it was noon, as he''d earlier observed, he had no time to waste. Ryan strode out into the forest, deciding to build his shelter on the edge of the clearing. He was looking for deadfall that he could use as the main frame for a lean-to shelter. He soon came upon a downed pine of appropriate length. He grabbed it by the roots in an attempt to drag it back to his base camp, but found it still had some in the dirt. Looking around for a solution, he noticed a broken branch. It was roughly the length of his shin and had a pointed end. He tested it in his hands and found that it was fresh, and had not dry-rotted through. He took it over to the pine tree and began using it to dig at the roots, to free them from the earth so he could move it. About five minutes later, he was successful. As he took the tree again, and began to drag it back to his base camp, a green box flashed in his field of vision. He stumbled backwards, surprised. Swatting across his vision, the green box disappeared, replaced with an envelope icon. The icon blinked in the corner of his left eye as he caught his breath. "This must be what Luris was showing me. I must have done something to receive a game notification." He swiped at the blinking icon and the green message box reappeared in his field of view.
Greetings Champion! Welcome to the Continent of Amrizanp, on the world of Aurora. The Championship has begun! All around this continent, Champions like yourself are beginning their various quests, but who will win? Determination of winners is contingent on their collection of Experience Points (XP). You''ll all be able to view your XP and status by mentally summoning your status menu. You''ll note each of you has started on Level 1! Your god has rolled your base attributes. You will be able to chose your class at Level 5! Aside from your selection and base stat roll, the rest of the game is up to you! How will you play? Your deity may bless you with many gifts, or may challenge you with many monsters. Only time will tell! Take note, each level, you will experience an increase in all base stats of +1. You may gain more stat boosts by completing quests, challenges, and feats. Good luck out there, and have fun! -Loki, Game Master
Ryan swiped the icon away and finished dragging his tree trunk to base camp. When he arrived, he set up the tree against another tree and began layering it with other sticks and leaves to keep out the wind and rain. Satisfied with his shelter, and night fast approaching, he crawled onto the bed of pine boughs he''d snapped from some saplings and pulled up his status screen.
Ryan Callahan Champion of Luris
Class N/A
Title Champion of Luris
Race Human
HP/MP 180(+.2)/30(+.1)
XP???? 0
Level 1
STR 14
AGI 17
END 18
CHAR 12
WIS 6
INT 7
Skills N/A
Items Digging Stick (Poor)
He sighed. Well, his status was pretty good if he remembered anything from his only time playing DnD. He seemed strong, agile, and could take a punch with those attributes, but his WIS and INT...They sucked. He wanted to be able to do magic well, but it seems Luris had rolled him something else. He didn''t imagine she''d give him a losing hand, so he figured he''d have to make do with what he got. Tomorrow he''d need to find water, and food, if he wasn''t going to let her down. With that thought on his mind, he went to sleep.
Waking up in a glen is a nice experience, but Ryan was feeling trapped in a groundhog day style loop. He''d been in the forest for almost 10 days now, going by the log calendar he hashed each morning. He''d found a small stream on the second day, and there were cattail like plants around a beaver looking pond below it. He''d eaten some of their roots, after testing it on his skin, and had found them "potato-ey". He''d stripped the stalks and reeds and wove them into rope, then set about improving his shelter. The lean-to was bigger now, and incorporated a chimney and a small hearth. He''d used the twine to make a bow-drill fire starter. He''d also made some traps using the twine as a noose. Around the fifth day, he found some rocks and sharpened them on each other to make a hand axe. That led to him lashing a bedframe to get him off the ground, as well as attempting a fish trap. That was what he was going to check this morning. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. He walked down to the beaverpond and pulled the fish trap up to see if anything had floated down the stream. Along the way, he''d checked one of his snares and found a rabbit looking creature. That would be his third one. The fish trap had two panfish looking things in it, so he grabbed them out and put them in his "backpack", really a second fish trap with shoulder straps, and reset the trap. As he reset the trap, a notification appeared:
Skill Earned! Trapping LVL 1. XP +30. Make 3 traps (3/3). Trap 5 small animals (5/5). Every skilled trapper begins somewhere! May your traps bear fruit!
He frowned. So he could earn skils through repetition? But how did he know what to repeat to get the skill? A note flashed in his field of view:
View "Trapping" Skill Tree? Y / N
He selected "Y" and had to sit down as a massive skill tree opened before him. Most of the thing was grey, and he couldn''t see through it. A small section wasn''t and he zoomed in on it. Part of a larger section called "Natural Skills", the unobstructed portion was "Trapping". The Trapping tree seemed to be pretty large, from what he could see in the haze. It got clearer as he approached his unlocked skill and thicker as he scrolled away from it. Looking at Trapping LVL 1, he could also select LVL2, so he did.
Trapping LVL 2: Build 5 traps (5/5), Trap 15 small animals (5/15), build 1 medium trap (0/1), trap 2 medium animals (0/2)
He closed the skill tree. Interesting. But he didn''t know how to build a medium trap, so how could he complete that part of the requirement? He began his walk back to base camp, considering how he could build a medium trap. While he occupied his mind designing medium traps (large snares? Bigger rock falls?) he kept his hands busy cleaning fish. He would take the guts back to bait his snares and fish trap. Once he completed that task, he skinned the rabbits. He finally had enough rabbit fur to make something, so he stretched the hides on his tanning rack near the fire, to let the sun do its work. When he tied the last piece of rabbit onto the rack, a new notification appeared:
Skill Earned! Tanning LVL 1. XP +30. Clean 5 small animals. Make 1 Tanning Rack. Flesh and tan 3 hides. The Trapper and the Tanner should be friends. Some dabble in both!
Ryan pulled up the tree and saw a new area illuminated near trapping. He looked up tanning LVL 2.
Tanning LVL 2 Clean 15 small animals (5/15). Build 4 tanning racks (1/4). Flesh and Tan 8 hides (3/8).
Well, that wouldn''t be hard at all. He could actually do that if he ran into more rabbits on his trap line. But it was still curious that the only benefit from gaining a skill would be XP. He''d hoped that he would get some sort of deeper knowledge in the area. Like medium trap designs.
View Trapping Knowledge? Y / N
"Ah," thought Ryan, "there it is."
High above the game board, the players play. Loki looks beyond his partition and turns to face Luris, Goddess of Hunters and Scouts. To her left sits Makkedon, God of Nets and Traps. His fishy smell causes her to wrinkle her nose. She never liked the ocean. Across from her is Bevgile, God of Swords, and around the room sit a few others. Bevgile''s skin glistens red, and he sweats in the cool of the game room. She wants to win this game, but it is more important to her to beat Makkedon and Bevgile. They''d been in the room when she last lost, and ribbed her without mercy for it. That''s why she''d shown Ryan their champions, "on accident". Loki clears his throat, "Luris, it''s your turn. Since your last turn your hero has gained 60 XP and two skills: Trapping and Tanning. What will you do?" Makkedon laughs, his deep voice filling the room, "60 XP? What''s with you and poor champions, Luris? Do you want to lose?" Bevgile joins in, his high voice like the sound of a kettle, "Yeah, Luris! Make sure he doesn''t eat any pies hahaha. " She rolls her eyes and looks down at her cards. Makkedon''s champion has already accumulated 130 XP through Fishing and Net Making. Bevgile''s is currently the leader at 280 XP, having managed to apprentice himself. To a swordsmith of all things too! Ryan hasn''t moved from his summoning location. But she planned for that. Ryan is a woodsman. He knows how to survive, and she placed him in the woods so he could be safe in the early game. Her deck doesn''t have the early powerups like the other players. She built a small blessings/big monsters style deck designed to boost her champion during the midgame. But she drew a bad hand. Her starting cards have some less than useful blessings and a few monsters that are beyond Ryan''s current capabilities. She''s stuck without a good move. She places her trembling fingers on a card. She''s unsure how this will play out, but she trusts Ryan. He''s got the stuff. He can do this. +60 XP in these woods in that short amount of time? Focused on trapping? That''s her champion for sure. She plays her card. Loki, Game Master and Reserve Champion *The Championship* player, opens his eyes in surprise, then nods in approval. Luris may have a plan, and it might even work. Here Piggy Piggy A few more days passed as Ryan used his new knowledge of medium traps and tanning to gain XP. He unlocked Tanning LVL 2 in a hurry thanks to his already placed trap line and the abundance of rabbits in the area. He then built a medium trap, a tree-noose trap, and baited it with a whole rabbit. 14 days into living in Aurora, by his tree log calendar, he checked his medium trap for the first time. He''d placed the trap along a game trail that lead to the river. He assumed that the creature, or creatures, who made the path visited at night to drink water. He''d hoped it was a carnivore, since he had little way of enticing a herbivore surrounded by all this greenery. The tree noose was sprung in the night; he''d heard the sapling straighten and the muffled cries of whatever he''d caught as it flailed and broke its neck. Walking to the site now, he felt the fluttering of excitement in his chest. He felt like a kid on Christmas morning! What greeted him was a welcome, but puzzling sight. The creature that he brought out of the trap was unrecognizable. And it looked awfully mean. The creature had the general appearance of a wild boar, but instead of two tusks jutting up and two jutting down, it had three top and three bottom pairs. Its fur was stiff and wiry, and forest green. It grew in such a way to give the scare-pig (that''s what Ryan decided to call it) the appearance of a buffalo hump. It was five or six feet long. Its hooves dangled mere inches off the ground. Its eyes glowed red, though they had the glassy and unfocused look of a strangled creature. It''s tongue and the inside of its mouth were a strange shade of pale purple. The oddest thing about the creature though, was its tongue. It hung out of its mouth below those vicious tusks, and forked like a snake''s. Ryan inspected it with a long stick to see if it still bit after death. It did. He loosed the trap and lowered the creature from the snare. As he laid his hands on it to pick it up and carry it back to his camp for butchering, a message appeared:
Congratulations! You''ve slain Demonic Boar LVL 5! XP + 50.
Feat! You''ve trapped a magic animal using a nonmagical trap! INT +1. Not every trapper dares dabble in the eldritch beasts. Those who do may regret it!
Skill Earned! Enchant Trap LVL 1! XP + 30. Capture 1 magical creature in a normal trap (1/1) Magic traps often backfire. A good trapper only needs three fingers anyway!
Skill Earned! Trapping LVL 2! XP +31. Build 5 traps (5/5), Trap 15 small animals (15/15), build 1 medium trap (1/1), trap 2 medium animals (1/2) **Special Action: Capture a monster!** Even the blind hog finds a nut!
Level Up! You are now a Level 2 Human! All Attributes +1. Skill Points +1!
"Well, " mused Ryan, "that was odd." He''d jumped back upon being overwhelmed by so many status updates, but no more seemed to come. He tied the Demonic Boar''s ankles together and began to drag it back through the woods towards his camp. The thump it made when he cut it loose seemed to indicate that it would be too heavy for him to carry on his shoulders. When he finally got to camp, he''d skinned the animal''s rear limbs. Luckily, Demonic Boars and regular animals had similar bone structures, so he strung a sturdy limb in the gap made by its knee ligaments, and brought out his skinning knife. The knives he had were some of the most difficult things he''d made on Aurora so far. He''d luckily stumbled across a flint deposit in the nearby river, and managed to knap them into sharp pieces. He had lots of liitle flakes that would do for arrowheads, a project he''d delayed to focues on gaining trapping experience. Now that he''d seen the boar...well, project bow and arrow was definitely the next priority. Anyhow, he''d lucky ended up with a pair of good flint knives. One was sharp and thin, like a filet knife almost. He used this as his fleshing knife. The other had a sturdier tip, almost like a rock drop point, so that was his skinning knife. As he worked the animal''s hide of of its body, he comtemplated his updated status. Leveling up as a human was great, and his attributes had gone up. The +1 INT for performing a feat was an unexpected perk. But none of this is what he''d expected. Ryan thought that leveling up would feel different; that there''d be some kind of physical feeling associated with it. Maybe a rush of power? But it seemed the leveling process was incremental, almost like how you never realized how much better you were on Earth until you reflected on how bad you were at first. At a stopping point, he pulled up his status.
Ryan Callahan Champion of Luris
Class N/A
Title Champion of Luris
Race Human
HP/MP 190(+.2) / 35(+.1)
XP 202
SP 1
Level 2
STR 15
AGI 18
END 19
CHAR 13
WIS 7
INT 9
Skills Trapping (Lvl. 2), Enchant Trap (Lvl. 1), Tanning (Lvl 2)
Items Stone Hand Axe (Fair), Stone Skinning Knives (Fair), Bow Drill (Fair), Woven Pack (Poor)
Well, it didn''t really tell him much. What he was curious about was the newest stat "SP", or Skill Point. He''d got it for leveling up, which told him it was valuable, so he selected it. After being prompted to access the Skill Point menu, he saw the entire skill tree again. Certain portions of the skill tree were highlighted. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Skill Point Allocation You may allocate a skill point in any of the following fields to unlock that field for further research. You may spend skill points in unlocked fields to earn new skills. Be warned! Skill point allocation is permanent. Available fields: Combat (1 SP) Magic (1 SP) Stealth (1 SP) Manipulation (1 SP) Already unlocked skill field(s): Survival Crafting
So a field could be unlocked if he learned a skill in it, or it could be unlocked through the allocation of a skill point. Which meant that inside unlocked fields, he could probably allocate skill points to gain new skills, or perhaps to add levels to a skill. Interesting. He pulled up the survival skill menu:
Survival Survival skills are essential to live in the wilds of Aurora. Survival is influenced by the END stat. Available subfields: Trapping (unlocked) Skills unlocked: Trapping (Lvl 2), Enchant Trap (Lvl 1) Hunting Fishing Farming Physique
Ryan skimmed over the other menus. It looked like each field was related to a particular stat. Survival was END focused, Crafting was INT focused, Combat was STR focused, Magic used WIS, Stealth used AGI, and manipulation - the most interesting sounding stat - was based on CHAR. So it made sense so far that Luris gave Ryan such a large END stat and placed him in an unpopulated wilderness. She wanted him to level up by surviving, which he''d been doing. But then, that boar showed up and put him on edge. His next highest stat was AGI, which was the focus of the stealth skill field. He supposed he could invest in stealth and potentially avoid any monsters or trouble that came his way, but he didn''t know what subfields lay within stealth. Since he had not unlocked a skill in the field, he couldn''t see more than a brief description of it. Alternatively, he could invest in the combat skill field and feel more prepared if more monsters came his way. He always found it helpful to keep his hands busy as he thought, so he finished skinning the boar and began fleshing the hide. He''d cut the gut pile out by his old trap and used some of it for bait there, but drug the rest off. He was worried about running into this world''s bear equivalents at one of his gut piles if he left them too close to camp. Which made him think more about his skill selection. If he invested in the combat skill, would he be able to stand up to a bear or a big cat? Probably not. He had no good weapons, he had no formal training. The only thing he truly excelled out was being an outdoorsman. He had some basic survial skills from the Boy Scouts and a family tradition of giving him survival books for Christmas, but beyond that...not much. That decided his mind. He stretched the boar hide over the tanning rack, and pulled up the skill menu:
Are you certain you wish to allocate 1 Skill Point to Stealth? All allocations are permanent. Y / N
Ryan hoped he knew what he was doing, and selected Y.
Loki sniggers behind the Game Master''s partition. Bevgile plays his skill boost card so that his champion will complete their skill this turn. He''s a rush deck player, and his obvious strategy is to slam his champion through to level 5 and have him class up. Makkedon is following the same strategy, which makes sense since the two dimwits plan together. But Loki is sniggering because he''s checking Luris''s champion. Her deck is far more interesting, balancing small blessings that have low faith cost with monster encounters that will grow her champion. She spent her total accumulated faith points to summon that demonic boar, and only got a level 5 creature. But the boar served its purpose. He''s about to enjoy this update. Bevgile completes his turn and speaks to Luris, "See, that''s how it''s done nature freak! I''ll give a tip: boon cards are the best cards." Makkedon nodded his carplike head in agreement, "Boon them to level 5 and crush the competition! My guy is gonna get yours Bevgile!" Loki sighs, "Luris, it is your third turn. Since you have no faith points, you cannot make a move this turn...That said, your champion has slain the Demonic Boar! Your champion completes a feat, so +1 Faith Point for you!" "What feat?!" Makkedon interrupts, "What feat could he have gotten from slaying a LEVEL 5 creature?!" Loki smiles, "He trapped a magical animal in his nonmagical traps +1 INT, +1 Faith Point, Makkedon. Now, I wasn''t done. He has gained 142 XP and is now a level 2 human. He''s also gone ahead and spent his skill point on Stealth." Bevgile and Makkedon gape at Loki, doing a solid impression of flopping goldfish. Luris smiles politely, thankful. "I elect not to spend my faith point this turn, Game Master." She''s secretly relieved. Not only did Ryan avoid being slaughtered by the Demonic Boar she played last turn, he trapped it, performing a feat. She''d played the card in desperation, hoping a low enough level monster encounter would allow him to gain the level, but she''d underestimated his traps! A pleasant surprise, and that extra faith point would come in handy for her next move, especially since she had to spend an extra one earlier to downgrade that monster to something Ryan could handle. Loki turned to Makkedon to begin his turn, but Luris wasn''t really paying attention. She was more focused on Ryan. Spending a point in Stealth, eh? She''d rolled him with strong END and AGI, hoping he''d take the message, and apparently he did. Looks like her Champion might just make it out of those woods, all things constant. Beside her, Makkedon rolls the dice to determine an encounter between his Champion and a smaller sea monster that''d randomly generated. Across from her, Bevgille eyes his champion, plotting his next move. A move that will slowly, and surely, take him to meet the Champion of Luris. After all, he needs to wipe out the most promising competition while it''s still weak if he''s going to win this game and finally get out of the loser''s bracket. Yes, moving on Luris seems to be the best idea. Curiosity Kills the Cat
Skill Earned! Assasination Level 1! XP +30. Kill 3 Creatures without them detecting you (3/3). Pop! Goes the Weasel.
Ryan grinned as the doe went down, his arrow sticking out of her side. He''d shot her clean through the heart, and she''d died after a few steps. It was a good feeling, killing a doe cleanly. Especailly since he''d done it with his hand made bow and flint tipped arrows. He was worred if they''d be strong enough for deer, but the first deer kill laid his fears to rest. The little bow had the punch needed so long as he aimed at the vitals. It would never break bone, but it was sharp enough to pop lungs and slice hearts. He was proud of his accuracy. It''d grown enormously from those first days missing rabbits...and also after the terrible ordeal of having to track a gutshot buck, almost get gored by its antlers, and then wait for it to bleed out enough to cut its throat. He''d spent the night in a tree over the carcass and woke in the pre-dawn to see a large midnight black cat dragging it off. Not wanting to press his luck, Ryan''d let it go. That still stung. But that was almost a month ago now. He''d been on Aurora for 64 days, and was surviving nicely. His little base camp grew into a more permanent shelter, the lean-to replaced by a more suitable a-frame lodge made of river mud and saplings. The old lean-to now served as his meat drying shed, after he''d dug out the inside to take advantage of the cool earth. Game in the local area was reduced by his predation, which was a little worrisome. His traps were less and less fruitful as the time passed, and he moved them further and further afield. That''d eventually led to the deer hunting. He''d found signs of their bedding upstream and began tracking the deer to find their ranges. He always took solitary deer away from the main body, and the meat served to sustain all the work he''d been doing. He had to kill more deer than he liked, because something was getting into the meat shed but that was life out here. He began to drag the doe back to camp while adjusting the Demonic Boar Skin Cloak. The sky looked like rain was coming soon. He needed to hurry back, quarter this doe and hang it before the rain go too bad. The rain began to fall, and he slipped the hood of his cloak over his head. The snout of the boarskin hung over his head like a baseball cap, and the tusks had found service as knives, awls, and other tools. He''d used as much of the creature as he could. In fact, he''d targeted that gutshot buck for his antler more than his meat. Oddly, the deer here seemed to carry their antlers year round, unlike home. Also, the females had small straight antlers that came out of the back of their heads. Other than that, they were very similar to whitetails back home. Different coloration, with more dapples and spots, and little bit smaller, but essentially the same as a whitetail deer. Which was nice because he knew where the vitals were. The rain continued to fall on Ryan''s head as he trudged along, dragging the doe. He traced a foottrail made by constant use in the woods, walking along his old trap line back to base. His arrows rattled against his side and his bow, strung over his arm, clanked on the other. All around him, ferns and pines shed water. It was pleasantly cool out and a soft wind blew the summer storm along. Everything around him was in constant motion, and the sound of water splashing off leaves filled the air. Which is why he missed the shaking bush ahead of him. A giant black cat exploded out of the ferns along his trial leaping at Ryan and baring its teeth. Startled, Ryan dropped his deer and fell back away from the carcass. He scrambled to get up as the cat circled. As he crawled back wards on his hands and butt, he got his first good look at the cat. It was easily seven or eight feet long, and black as coal. It looked a lot like the cat he''d seen a month ago chasing that gutshot buck, but this one was smaller. A lot smaller. It looked thin in the rib, and the eyes held a certain feral hunger. Its demeanor was not one of hunting Ryan; no, if the cat had been after him, it wouldn''t have been so obvious. It was trying to scare him off his kill and stake its claim for its own. Ryan managed to get his back to a tree and stand against it. The cat yowled at him and showed its weapons. Two large white incisors protruded from the upper jaw, like a sabre toothed tiger. It swiped the air in front of it, showing wicked claws in its dominance display. It false charged Ryan, and stopped over the carcass of the deer, screaming its anger at him. Its tailed was fluffed out and its hackles up as it growled. He gripped the shaft of his largest tusk knife, his only close in weapon, but did not draw it. Instead he began to slowly back away from the cat. It mirrored his movements a few steps off the carcass, then stopped as Ryan kept backing away. The cat continued to growl and stare at him until he was almost out of sight in the dense woods. As he ducked behind a tree to hide, he saw the cat turn towards the head of the carcass. "Looks like I''ve found who''s been stealing from my meat shed," thought Ryan, "Damn, a nuisance animal." That cat, based on how much smaller it was than the once he''d seen a month back, must be a juvenile. It probably was a vagrant looking for a territory when it came upon Ryan''s camp. Cats not being stupid, it realized Ryan hunted and stocked food there, so it stuck around for a week or so and scored some free deer meat. The cat attacked from the direction of the camp, which meant it''d proabbly come from there after checking to see if there was any food in the larder. Which also meant it equated Ryan with food. Which was not what Ryan wanted. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." He cursed out loud, albiet quiety. He had to do something about the Dire Panther yearling that was probably, right now, dragging off his doe meat. He had some jerky left, but not much so not only did he need to kill the cat out of safety, but he needed the food. Besides that, there was the principle of the thing. He was not going to let some damn cat come into his woods and boss him around. He was the Champion of Luris after all, so he might as well act like it. Resolved, he grabbed his bow off his shoulder and knocked an arrow. Taking note of the wind, he circled the clearing. The rain had died down until it was a soft pitter patter on the leaves, masking his scent and sound. With the wind in his face, he began his approach on the cat. He strove to be as silent as possible. The only way this would work would be to get the cat with a few arrows in weak points to drive it off. If it was truly desperate, it would probably lunge at him, but he planned on having enough of a head start to get away. He spotted the creature ahead of him. It had stuck its head inside the disembowled deer and ripped off a long strip of meat, eating with great gusto. About thirty yards out, he paused and took aim.
Assasination Skill Activated! Do 10% more damage to targets unaware of your presence. Stacks with surpise attack damage (10%). Increased chance of a critical hit.
He held his arrow drawn, his arm beginning to shake from the effort, waiting for the cat to make the wrong move. After a few seconds it obliged, reaching its head into the rear of the gut cavity, revealing a quartering away profile on its vital areas. Seeing the shot was made, Ryan loosed his arrow. The arrow flew away more rapidly than any he''d ever seen before, flying flatter due to his increased speed. It seemed almost semi-transparent as it sped away from the bow, possibly due to the effect of the skill. The change in velocity due to the effect of the assination skill messed up his shot slightly, and the arrow impacted higher in the vital area than Ryan hoped for. The cat screamed in pain and leapt up into the air, the arrow stuck into its side, and its lung pierced and filling with blood. It spun to face its assailant and leapt at Ryan. As he turned to run, the Dire Panther closed the 30 yard gap in mere bounds. It caught him with a paw to the face, but luckily barely connected. His necked snapped from whiplash as the claws scoured deep marks in his cheek, narrowly avoiding his eyes. Ryan drew his tusk knife and sliced the cat''s neck with one motion. A shallow cut opened and began to bleed as he leapt back to create distance. Equally surprised at its assailant''s claws, the cat leapt back as well. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Title Perk Activated! The Champion of Luris, Goddess of Hunters and Scouts, deals greater damage to natural monsters in combat. +10% damage to all strikes when engaged in combat.
The cat huffed and leapt at him as Ryan quickly read his status. He caught the cat''s claws on his back, the demonic boar cloak protecting him as he was thrown into a tree. Staggering up, he turned to see the cat, bleeding from its neck and mouth covered in frothy blood, leap at him. Realizing the cat was lung shot, Ryan dipped to the left and stabbed his tusk knife into the beast''s side, puncturing the opposite lung as well. He turned as the cat charged him, drawing another tusk knife. He spun gracefully away at the last moment, avoiding the deadly claws as he stabbed the smaller knife into its shoulders like a bullfighter in the arenas of Pamplona. The cat staggered from the blow, the knife cutting into its spine. Its lungs were filled with blood and it fell to the ground, unable to rise but still alive. It huffed as it fought for its final breaths, drowning in its own lifeblood. Ryan stood away from it, wary, holding an arrow for a weapon. He''d lost his bow in the violent contest. With a gasp and a rattle, the cat died, its body slumping to the earth as the life left its muscles. Bleeding heavily from his face, concussed, and with a broken nose, Ryan sank to the earth exhausted. In his mind''s eye a notification appeared as he slipped away into a shock induced blackout.
Congratulations! You''ve slain Dire Panther LVL 4! XP +40
Skill Earned! Melee Combat (Knife) LVL 1! XP +30. Kill 1 fellow knife wielder in melee combat (1/1). You now do more damage per knife strike (+2%). No one wins in a knife fight.
Level Up! You are now a level 3 Human! All Attributes +1. SP +1.
Luris slumped back against her chair, the encounter over and her level 3 classless champion still alive. She''d rolled poorly on his assasination skill, and he''d paid dearly for it. The glancing blow from the Dire Panther and getting smashed against the tree had cost Ryan a quarter of his HP and given him a concussion effect. Luckily, she''d had a good roll on his first knife attack and a better one on the second, immobilizing the beast while its lungshot status took its HP down to zero. It was far closer than she wanted for Ryan, and was not planned. All in all, a tough but good random encounter. However, the "random" Dire Panther Encounter was probably less random than it seemed. Bevgille spent some of his Faith Points last turn to make a covert strike against another player, and judging by the dissapointment in his face, it looked like she was the target. His plan backfired though, as that encounter was all she needed to push Ryan to Level 3, as well as unlock a new skill. It was a close thing though. His gear was subpar for the fight, and truly only her rolls determined his fate. She was glad he''d chosen to attempt the assinate skill but worried when he tried to flee and her roll was not high enough for him to escape. Loki looked over to her, smirking, "Everything all right, Luris?" She nodded, "Yes, yes. That was exciting! Ok, so now I can spend my accumulated Faith Points, right?" "Of course, it''s still your turn, Luris." "Ok, I''ll play this monster card then and that''ll be it for my turn." Loki smiled behind his Game Master partition. Looks like Ryan survived another day.
Southwest of the Forest of Silence, Enchandra stalked her prey along the Shimmering Shores. Her cast net flew gracefully out and trapped a school of shining fish beneath. Her trusted trident clanked gently against her back as she pulled the net closed with a swift jerk. She could feel the school of fish wriggling and smiled. She would eat well tonight, and have some to spare for the village as well. As she walked back from the inlet to the village, the sun kissed the horizon behind her. She smiled at the warm sand that caught between her high laced sandals and her toes, and turned along the trail to climb over the dunes and into the little village. As she crested the first dune, a gust of wind kicked up a dust devil. As she watched it momentarily she heard a low voice call out. "Enchandraaaaaaa......" The wind wipped, and she couldn''t tell where the voice came from. "...Enchandraaaaaa...." She looked around for the source of the voice but no one was in sight. The dust devil came closer and she heard her name in the wind again. "Enchandraaaaaaa........" She got closer to the dust devil to confirm her suspicions. It was the source of the sound. It grew smaller and turned faster as she approached. "Hello?" She called out to the dust devil, "Who are you?" It replied to her, in a voice made from the wind and sand, "It is I, Enchandra...I Makkedon, God of Nets. Thy Patron Diety!" She fell onto the sand before the dust devil in a worshipful bow. Her Lord Makkedon deigned speak to her this day? What a blessed day it must be. She called out to him, "My Lord, it is I Enchandra, your humble servant. How may I best serve thee?" The dust devil seemed to bow slightly, as if pleased with her piety and defference. "Enchandra, most loyal of my servants. I have a pledge for thee! Go forth from the Shimmering Shores! Go forth and spread my name amongst these people, for you are my Chosen, my Champion. My Priestess. Let no other gods stand before me, and let no other champion defy my power!" In so saying, the dust devil settled into the form of Makkedon, the God of Nets. His body shone and shimmered with salt spray, and his hand grasped both net and trident. He was mightily built and broad, and his head was like that of the Carp, the wisest of fish who is never caught in the hooks and nets. This great being gestured and Enchandra''s body floated away from the sand and was wrapped in a blinding light. Enchandra felt her body spark with divine power as she was cocooned by her god. His power flowed into her, and she herself become wrapped in his vestements. In her mind''s eye, her status appeared:
Enchandra Patel Champion of Makkedon
Class? Priestess
Title Champion of Makkedon, High Priestess of Makkedon
Race?? Human
HP/MP 200(+.2) / 100(+.1)
XP 940
SP 5
Level 5
STR 21
AGI 14
END 20
CHAR 19
WIS 20
INT 25
Skills Trapping (Lvl. 4), Fishing (Lvl.4), Elvish (Lvl. 2), Netmaking (Lvl. 2), Melee Combat (Trident)(Lvl. 2) , Illusion Magic (Lvl. 1), Holy Magic (Lvl. 1)
Spells Sparkle, Lantern, Poor Illusion, Holy Healing (Weak), Sacrament (Weak), Cleanse (Weak)
Items Trident of the Faith (Fair), Handwoven Net (Good), Shawl of Protection (Fair), Braces of The Holy (Good)
As her body sank towards the sand, and the sun set behind her god, she prostrated herself in devotion. He spoke a final time, "Enchandra, I gave thee the gift of my power. I gave thee the class of Priestess. Now I charge thee; go forth and conquer in my name. Burn the heretics before thee." And so began the First Crusade of Makkedon. Danger Incar(t)nate It was the sound of crickets chirping in the night that woke Ryan. He slowly came to under the branches of an oak tree, dazed. How did he get here? Why wasn''t he in his comfortable bed in his little shack? He rolled his head to the side to get his bearings and came face to face with a dire panther''s snarl. He jumped back, startled, but the cat didn''t move. Then everything came crashing back to his memory. He''d fought and killed this beast yesterday. He''d...he''d actually survived? Relieved, he looked at his feet to begin a scan of his injuries. All told, he looked to be in good shape. He suspected he had a fractured rib or two from the beast''s strikes, and he''d definitely been concussed by the slam against the tree, but he felt strangely fine now. Looking in the puddle beside him, reflective in the light of the two moons, he could see his face had healed unnaturally quickly, leaving four deep scars in his left cheek where the cat''s claws slashed him. They looked older than they should. Interesting. He wondered how long he''d been out. He continued his scan of the clearing. To his right was the body of the Dire Panther, with a pool of lung blood around its midsection and mouth. He couldn''t see the doe carcass, but it was 30 yards away at least. Otherwise, he was in the middle of the woods, at night, with a dead animal. Not exactly the best place to be, when other larger predators roamed. He shifted himself up, groaning a little bit at the effort, and pulled his two knives out of the panther. He wiped them off on its fur, and began his walk to the doe carcass. His body felt stiff and heavy, like he''d been bruised, but he showed no sign of it. Arriving along the trail were the doe carcass once was, he was greeting by the scampering of scavengers. They''d been working on the carcass in his absence, specifically the head and cavity. Lacking the ability to drag the partly ruined carcass any further, lest he be slowed down and targeted by a creature seeking an easy meal, he drew his stone hand axe and removed the two hams, cutting away the shinbones. These he tied into a yoke and slung around his neck. He didn''t waste time to look for his bow but instead, knives in hand, he trudged down the path to his encampment, eager to find a secure place to fall asleep again.
Dawn broke far to early for Ryan''s liking. His body, still a little stiff, felt strangely better. He''d made it to camp last night and hung the hams in his drying shed before passing out on his bed. His clothes, what were left of them, were covered in the blood from his wounds yesterday. His cloak, however, seemed good as new. He rolled off of the low frame and onto the packed earth floor of his shack, and checked his status. With the dawn''s light upon him, he remember he''d been rewarded for his challenges yesterday.
Ryan Callahan Champion of Luris
Class N/A
Title Champion of Luris
Race Human
HP/MP 200(+.2)/40(+.1)
XP 448
SP 1
LVL 3
STR 16
AGI 19
END 20
CHAR 14
WIS 8
INT 10
Skills Trapping (Lvl. 3), Tanning (Lvl. 3), Enchant Trap (Lvl. 1), Gathering (Lvl. 1), Leatherwork (Lvl. 1), Assaination (Lvl. 1), Melee Combat(Knife) (Lvl.1)
Items Tusk Dagger (2) (Fair), Demonic Boar Skin Cloak (Fair), Flint Arrows (6) (Fair), Leather Quiver (Poor), Stone Hand Axe (Fair), Woven Pack (Poor), Woven Cord (Fair), Stone Skinning Knife (Fair)
It appeared that he''d leveled up and gained a new skill point. It also seemed like the unnaturally fast healing was a result of the recovery statistic of his HP. Though his body still felt the effects of the fight and was tired, all his wounds were healed. This was all good news. He was only two levels away from being able to class up, which would probably be very useful, and he''d gained a useful skill out of the encounter. Melee Combat (Knife) allowed him to deal more damage with each knife strike, which was fantastic news in case he ever had to get into a knife fight again, which would hopefully be never. He''d stick with the bow, thank you very much. Speaking of which, he''d lost his in the tussle yesterday, which meant it was probably with the remains of the cat. Since he''d also been screwed out of a fair amount of deer meat by said cat, he was going to go back and drag it back for crafting materials, and possibly food. He wouldn''t eat the livers, heart, and tongues like he did with the deer, but he''d probably cook the hams and backstrap to sample the flavor. He''d have to cook it really well and pray the equivalent of trichonosis on this planet wasn''t hardier than the variant on Earth. Also, he needed to replace his clothes, and for that he needed a hide and some brains. He had to brain tan a few things to gain Tanning Lvl. 4, and he needed to make a few more things out of leather to gain his Leatherwork Lvl. 2 skill, so he had a busy day ahead. As he set off to recover the two carcasses, Ryan reflected on the nature of skills. Since he''d arrived in Aurora 64...no make that 65...days ago, he''d added quite a few. However, Assasinate seemed to be the first one that granted an actionable bonus, like one would expect in a videogame or tabletop RPG. Since he knew The Championship was essentially a board game for Luris, he figured it would incorporate a few similar mechanics. That said, his other skills weren''t useless, and in fact gave two distinct bonuses; knowledge and passive skills. Trapping, Tanning, Gathering, Enchant Trap, and Leatherwork all gave him access to some sort of mental library. In that mental library was knowledge of new designs, methods, and techniques that took his skills to the next level. Gathering, for instance, told him that the mottled berries around his campsite were safe to eat. He''d gained it by harvesting and using three different types of wild plants. However, each skill also gave him some sort of passive bonus. He''d first noticed it with leatherworking. Aside from some moccasins he''d tried to make at 13, he''d never been much for leatherwork. However, he''d perservered and gained the Leatherwork skill. He noticed that as he practiced the skill, his technique improved rapidly and the quality of his items rose from (awful) to (poor). Gathering, on the other hand, allowed him to somehow fit more things in his pack and identify potentially poisonous plants easier using his nose. He noticed if he smelled a plant and felt a small gag reflex, even if it smelled quite good, it would probably be poisonous. After he "gathered" it and checked his library, he''d find out that he was right. Assasinate was completely different. His assasinate skill activated when he took the shot on the dire panther. He''d been so focused on killing it in one strike that it triggered. However, he could now feel the ability to trigger the skill in his mind for use, and he somehow intrinsically knew that the use would cost him 10 MP. He decided to investigate the Assasinate skill further.
Assasinate Add 10% damage to an attack where the opponent does not detect you. Stacks with suprise damage (10%). *Assasinate effects vary based on weapon used. Cost: 10 MP
So, the assasinate skill would essentially allow him to add 20% damage to an undetected attack. Surprise damage was a variable that could add up to 10% damage, but the assasinate skill automatically added another 10%. Would it stack with his Melee Combat(Knife) passive that added 2% to all knife attacks? He doubted he''d be able to sneak up close enought to any animals in these woods to find out, and if he did and didn''t kill them outright, he''d be in a lot of trouble. Best not to test that until the conditions warranted. Finished with his investigation, he arrived at the panther carcass. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. The carcass looked intact and undisturbed. Luckily it was cool out, so he hoped the guts didn''t spoil the meat by sitting inside the carcass all night. First things first though, he needed to find the bow. Casting around the fight scene, he noticed the claw marks and turned earth. Honestly, he was surprised he hadn''t met some other creature scavenging when he arrived. But no matter, he''d have plenty of time to skin and quarter it out after he found the...ah, there it was. He bent down and picked up his bow, inspecting it. It was a simply made switch of hickory with a braided twine string. It wasn''t too large, and therefore lacked range and power, but made up for it in portability. According to his item scanning, it was a (Poor) level item. Since he''d resolved never to get caught in a knife fight again, if he could help it, he needed to upgrade that to a (Fair) at least. He turned and walked over to the panther carcass, pulling out his skinning knife. As he rolled the carcass over to get to the belly, a notifaction appeared in his mind''s eye.
To the victor go the spoils! You claim a random monster encounter''s loot drop! Ryan Callahan claims Dire Panther Carcass (Lvl. 4)! Looted Items: Dire Panther Hide, Dire Panther Tusk (2), Dire Panther Hams (2), Cat Gut (crafting material), Dire Panther Femur (2) (Crafting Material)
In a short glimmer of light, the panther dissapeared and in its place stood a neat pile of items, matching what was listed on the notification. The fur lay at the bottom, and on top of it was two large teeth, two hams wrapped in ferns, a pile of intestine also wrapped in ferns, and two yellowed femur bones. Ryan looked on in shock. He''d planned to spend most of the day cutting up that cat to get what was now laid out nicely in front of him. Random monster encounter? Loot drop? And if he got a loot drop from a random monster encounter, did that mean the Demonic Boar wasn''t a random monster? Or did trapping it not count as defeating it to get the loot drop? Putting the questions out of his head, Ryan gathered up the items in his arms and placed the intestine in his pack. He strung the hams over his shoulders in yoke fashion and began his walk back to camp. He''d come back later to skin the deer and collect its brain, but right now he needed to hang the meat and figure out what to do with these intestines....and spend the skill point.
East of Ryan in the Forest of Silence, a pair of yellowed eyes appeared, floating in midair. Soon, the rest of the body they belonged to followed. It was a vaguely man shaped creature who finally appeared, though it stood a little shorter than Ryan. Its forked tongue darted out to sample the air in this new place. It was newly born, and hungry. Stepping out of the mottled shadows of the tree and onto the King''s Road, its purple skin was exposed to daylight for the first time. It hissed. It did not like that at all. So instead, it retreated deeper into the shadows. Its long ears, positioned atop its head, pivoted at the sound of horse hooves clopping in the distance. Tasting the air again, it could smell the horse''s sweat in the noontime heat. A delicious smell. It crept closer to the King''s Road, careful not to overly expose itself to the sunlight. Down the King''s Road came a caravan of traders, bound for the Shimmering Shores. Rumor had it that a new cult, to the God of Nets of all things, sprung up there recently. If there was anything Pan McTavish knew about cults, it was that they often needed three things; building materials, knives, and lots and lots of rope. So she''d gathered her men, filled her two carts with the required materials, and set off for the Shimmering Shores post haste. If there was anything that she knew about being a trader, it was that speed was of essence. Which is why, at level 5 and under her father''s tutelage, she''d classed up as a Caravaneer. Now, her own little two cart caravan was clopping along happily down the King''s Road to bring Pan her fortune, and to show the rest of Clan McTavish that she truly was a merchant to be trusted! The beast in the shadows waited anxiously as the caravan approached. The horses of the caravan were far bigger than it first smelled them to be. Too big for it to snatch, as it hoped. But, as the noisy and gawdy scene drew closer, it noticed there were smaller things in the big boxes on wheels. Small, bipedal things that looked like it but with fair skin and green hair. Their ears were on the side of their heads as well, not on top, and did not appear to rotate like its did. Of course, it was a wonder they could hear anything how those wheel-boxes clanked, painted gawdy colors and covered with bells. It hissed uncertainly. It was hungry, and the two-legs smelled...delicious. It had to do something. One of the two legs looked in its direction at the hiss, and it felt tremendous pressure to hide, right now. Unknowingly, it turned invisible and the two leg''s gaze swept through it. Its body feeling weird, like it was dipped in ice, it looked down on itself. Not being able to see itself, but knowing its body was there, the beast quickly deduced its power. Naturally a monster born for invisibility is not surprised upon becoming invisble, and the Wendigo was such a creature. In the caravan, Pan''s guardsman caught a glimpse of some creature in the bush and heard a hiss. Looking closely, he saw nothing besides the bush itself. He was an older gentlemen, and rather distinguished mustachios drooped from his face to frame his chin, as was Clan McTavish''s tradition. He''d been assigned to Pan''s crew by her father''s brother, the Chieftan. The King''s Road was a safe trip, and the Shimmering Shores were civilized parts as well, so he was the only guard. He turned his gaze forward, reassured he''d merely seen a snake or some other small monster, driven off by their lightly enchanted bells. He was so close to retirement. In fact, he was thinking about putting in for it after this very trip with Pan. Then he heard a shout. The Wendigo coiled up and launched itself onto the driver of the rear caravan, shedding its invisibility upon contact with its victim. Its clawed fingers and element of surprise did the trick as it gouged the eyes of the driver, penetrating their sockets into the fleshy brain material behind it. The driver was instantly killed, but the footman at the rear of the column, riding the spare mule train, saw the whole thing. Before the Wendigo could gather himself for another leap, he shouted. It would be the last thing he uttered, as the terrifying purple creature flew through the air and ripped his windpipe from his throat with a fearsome grab. Not content with halving the manpower of the convoy, the Wendigo pivoted to leap again, this time to the front cart. However, the old Guardsman stood in his seat sighting down the barrel of a blunderbuss at the creature. In that moment, the two mules realized the fearsome creature that was on their backs and bucked hard to disloge it. The horses, blindered and startled by the sounds and smell of carnage, decided to bolt. The Wendigo lurched violently in the air as the Blunderbuss cracked, a peice of shot catching its leg, but otherwise avoiding it entirely. It wailed with pain and rage, and landed awkwardy. Its wounded leg made a sickening crunch as it snapped under the impact. But the Wendigo would not be denied, and it gathered itself for another leap at the guardsman, who was busy reloading the blunderbuss with powder, wad, and shot. The old guardsman was no Musketeer, however, and his fate was sealed. Though he''d managed to score a lucky hit on the Wendigo, thanks in part to his secret LCK attribute, he had never classed and was no match for the creature. It landed heavily atop him, knocking him to the ground, and screamed in victory as it disembowled him with its sharp claws. Pan McTavish, seated in the cart next to the guard, froze in shock. The creature, complete with its killing, looked up at her and smiled. The Wendigo could taste the fear of this two-leg, and it tasted...good. Its eyes lit with feral greed as it willed itself slowly invisble, leaving only its teeth visible until they too vanished like some sort of horrific cheshire cat. The Wendigo began to stalk forward along the ground towards the cart, tongue darting out to taste the delicious fear. However, the blindered horses of Pan''s cart had no intention of letting that thing near them and Holly, the right mare, lashed out with a hoof. The hoof impacted the thing with a crack and flung it into a tree, rendering it visible. The attack, and the skittishness of the horses, brought Pan to her senses and she grabbed her whip and reigns. Cracking the whip over the backs of the team, she shouted, "Molly, Dolly, HUP HUP!" The command rang through the clear air, imbued with some of her mana and the two horses sped along down the path, away from the scene of carnage, assisted by Pan''s skill. Behind them, the Wendigo shook itself and crawled to the body of the old guard. Though it hurt, it knew something that would make it feel better.
Getaway Immediately get the attention(s) of your mount(s). Speed of mount increased 10% for 30s. +5s per level of skill. Cost: 10 MP/Mount
Bow Down Ryan stared at the assorted pieces in front of him. He''d laid them all out on a convenient tree stump that served as a workbench. First, there was the sinew from the Dire Panther''s hams. beside it were the two femurs and a yew branch he''d found, as well as a custom made leather grip. Inside his mind danced a schematic for something he''d heard of, but never dreamed of making; a bone recurve bow. Next to the materials sat a wedge, a nicer handaxe, an awl, some bone needles, some leather binding, and his trusty flint knives. According to the recipe, this was everything he needed to craft a bow. Now to do it. He''d returned from the panther carcass a few days ago, and went back for the deer. After making an tanning a few items with the leather and brains, he''d settled down to spend his skill point. Looking ahead to future battles and recognizing his patron''s intent for him to be a survivor above all else, he decided to invest in bowcraft. He''d unlocked the woodwork skill building frames, traps, and his huts, and it was an option he could spend his skill point on (along with coopery, carpentry, wheelwrighting, and a few others). He''d since made two selfbows out of a stand of young "yew" tree to practice, and fulfilled the requirements for Bowcraft Lvl. 2. That''s when the schematic for a recurve appeared in his library. Looking around at his ingredients, he realized he had the required regents to craft a bone recurve. He knew that at some point he''d have to leave this forest. It was a given that he would not be able to win the game if he stayed here. He could probably survive until the end, but the region simply did not have the resources for him to turn into the gear he needed to grow as a champion. There was also the question of how long he could keep surviving in the forest. It seemed to be late summer, but it was still relatively cool. He felt that would mean the area had a harsh winter. As much as he loved his shack and camp, he was unsure he''d be able to survive for very long in an extreme blizzard or whiteout. At the very least, he''d emerge to the spring emaciated and frostbitten. He''d made up his mind, while he was busy advancing his skills, to begin the process of leaving the forest and finding a town. Which meant that he needed to be prepared when he walked out. If he nearly died after encountering a Level 4 Dire Panther, what would happen when he encountered something worse, and was too far from his camp to double back for safety? He''d die, simple as that. So, the bow was a neccessary step towards walking out of these woods alive. Sighing nervously, Ryan began crafting the bow. He followed the diagrams as the schematic floated in his mind''s eye. Each step was clearly delineated for him to follow, and he did his best to follow them to the letter. Of course, his fingers would slip, or his tool wouldn''t be sharp enough, and he''d make some small mistakes. But he''d go back and fix them to the best of his abilities before advancing again. While he worked, he could feel the bow forming in his hand. Unlike the selfbows, which revealed themselves from a single piece of wood, the recurve bow seemed to grow in his hand as he formed and laminated it. He continued working, and while doing so began to hum a small song. Heedless of his own humming, his hands sped on faster and faster, and the bow formed surely and quickly, seeming to pulse with a life of its own. Finally, Ryan was finished, and he sealed the laminate bow in the special frame he''d built for it. It would dry for the next few days in his meat shed, and cure into the final springy form that he''d given it. Exhausted, he carried it there before returning to his own shack and collapsing at the bed.
Korenthis was not happy with Luris. On the other hand, Makkedon and Bevgile were thrilled. It all began when Luris played her monster card the last turn. She summoned a Wendigo to the Forest of Silence, where her hero was based. She''d placed it far away enough that it wouldn''t attack her hero outright, but instead would come and stalk him, eventually forcing him from his encampment. That was the plan anyway. But, like all creatures on the game board, the Wendigo had a mind of its own. Instead of following a clearly inviting path that would lead it to a nice cave, and eventually to cross paths with her Champion, it''d been distracted by the King''s Road. Which was a problem, because at that moment a caravan was happily rolling down it. A caravan that had asked, and recieved, the blessing of Korenthis, God of Caravans. "You stupid CUNT!" He roared, "How could you be so blind as to place a sentient hunter like a Wendigo by the fucking road? The only fucking road in the fucking forest!" "Korenthis, I''m sorry! I didn''t..." Bevgile and Makkedon snicker loudly at the blunder of Luris. Korenthis cared little for winning or losing, she just legitimately liked caravans. Her champions were always Caraveneers, Traders, Merchants, Muleteers, or Cameleers. For the most part, she stayed out of the end game and used her Champion as piece to foster trade and caravans along its routes. Eventually, the Champion would die, typically on route, or be killed by another Champion. She''d won once or twice with that strategy and seemed to stick to it. However, affect a blessed caravan and she would come after you with a vengence. So Luri was well, and truly, screwing the pooch on this one. "YOU DIDN''T WHAT?! PAY ATTENTION TO MY LAST TURN AND REALIZE I''D BLESSED A CARAVAN TO GAIN A FAITH POINT?!" "....well....yeah?" At this point, Loki decided to intervene, "Ladies, ladies! We need to continue our game here. It is the good Bevgile''s turn, after all!" Korenthis simmered down at the admonishment, shooting daggers at Luris with her eyes. Luris, on the other hand, looked sheepish and sunk lower into her chair. Bevgile smirked as he recieved his Champion''s update and played a boon card. Not as powerful as the masterful one played by Makkedon last turn, but enough to push his champion to level 5 and intiate a class up next turn. He''d honestly been surprised at Makkedon''s last turn. Not many gods carried the Crusade Card in their decks anymore. Not only was it hard old, it was hard to get. In order to earn a Crusade Card, your champion needs to die at the hands of a declared enemy faith. Bevgile couldn''t remember if Makkedon had ever orchestrated that, but he must have in his last few games, when they''d played seperate. It was a hell of boon anyway, automatically granting a hero the neccessary XP to reach a class up and unlocking the path for the Crusader class advancement later in the game. The negative, of course, being that Makkedon essentially declared war on all other gods. But he''d built a Champion with a focus on strength and fighting and it was still the early game so there was a chance it would pay off. Especially if the crusade was allowed to pick up steam. He''d have to pivot to take out Makkedon after he was done with Luris''s champion, that was for sure. While Bevgile plots in the corner, Loki turns to Luris. "Luris, it is your turn. Since your last turn, your hero has earned 156 XP by gaining various crafting skills. He''s spent his skill point on Bowcraft, and is currently building a recurve bow from the bones of the Dire Panther. Would you like a full recap or have you reviewed his stats?" "I''ve reviewed his stats, thank you, Loki." Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "Very well, additionally your Wendigo attacked a caravan on the road. It was able to slay three elves and has consumed their flesh, growing stronger. It is now a Level 2 Wendigo and continues to stalk the King''s Road. It has earned the Perk Blessing Breaker, due to defeating a caravan that was blessed by Korenthis. As such, it has gained a 10% immunity to damage delt by the followers of Korenthis. How would you like to proceed?" Luris wipes her brow. She''s quite upset about the Wendigo''s actions on the King''s Road and nervous that it will continue to effect free trade in the area. If someone other than Ryan kills it, it would be a waste of Faith Points. She''s unsure of how to force the beast to encounter Ryan and leave the road. But she has an idea, and enough faith points, to work a solution. If everything goes to plan, of course. "Loki, I''d like to play ''Aspect Blessing'' on Ryan''s Bone Recurve. Then I''ll drain my Faith Pool by playing ''Dream Vision''." Loki, ever amused behind his game board, smiles. "Alright Luris, and what would you like the dream vision to convey?"
Ryan spent the three days it took for the bow to dry working on his traps. Advancing to Trapping Lvl. 4 would be difficult. He needed to build and capture one medium monster in his traps. Since the Dire Panther technically counted as a medium monster, that would be a significant challenge. Of course, he had the bonus of being able to enchant the trap as well. But to trap a medium monster, you needed to find one. So he began scouting around for sign and tracks of something that would go bump in the night, right into his Tiger Pit Trap. It was slow going, and getting hot, so he decided to cool off in the stream. There was a nice deep pool formed by an eddy after a light rapid. He''d tried fishing there before, but couldn''t get anything to bite. Which meant it was probably safe to swim. To be honest, he didn''t really care. He was so hot that a quick dunk would suffice. He carefully removed his boarskin cloak, bucksin pants and bracers, as well as his pantherskin tunic. He laid his weapons neatly on top of the pile with his buckskin rucksack and dove into the pool, naked as a jaybird. It was a very refreshing swim, and he lay face down in the water, enjoying a brief moment of relaxation. The past 72 days were filled with constant tension, and he just realized how much he missed relaxing. The water was nice and cool against his skin as he floated peacefully for a few moments. Relaxation over, he opened his eyes to swim back to shore. Which, of course, is when he saw the giant turtle. It was easily 6 feet across and stared up at him curiously. It looked a lot like a snapping turtle from home, except for the gigantic size. It even riggled it''s tongue at him like a snapper would, but instead of looking like a worm this one looked like a silvery fish. "Ah, so that''s why there''s no fish in this pool," though Ryan. Then he slowly, and surely, paddled away from the turtle. He figured that if he swam frantically he might trigger some sort of prey drive in the thing and end up a turtle snack, which was not his plans. Once he arrived safely on shore, he suited back up and headed home, devising a means of capturing the turtle the whole way. That had been a day ago, and he''d still not developed a good enough trap to do the trick, even though he consulted his library. But he put those thoughts aside as he stalked into his meat shed and gingerly withdrew the bow from its frame. It gleamed in the light, a whiteness he''d not expected. It was very light for its size and seemed resilient, though he was afraid that it would be too brittle. His fear of shattering the bow with an arrow would soon be tested, as he stung it with the ligament of the Dire Panther and headed to his impromptu archery range. Nervously, he withdrew an arrow from his quiver. He nocked it on the bow and drew it up to eye level, the arrow resting on the bone arrow rest he''d built specially into the handle. 30 yards away his target stood, a cluster of red berries that was roughly the size of the Dire Panther''s vitals attached to the tree by wooden stakes. Taking a deep breath, he pulled the bow''s string to full draw and held it there as long as he could. Ten seconds passed excuciatingly slowly and his arm tired quickly. The arrowhead began to dance in figure eights over the target and he relaxed his grip, allowing the bow to fall to his side. Then, taking aim, he quickly drew the bow and snapped off a shot at the mark. The arrow flew straight and true at a much faster speed and flatter trajectory than he''d expected. It thunked into the hardwood tree, buried to the hilt. Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. The bow held! And it was magnificent. The way the arrow had flow, the accuracy of it....the power. It was intoxicating. He finally had a weapon that was respectable! He pumped his fist to celecrate, howling his triumph in the sky. At that moment, a notification appeared in his field of view.
Feat! You''ve created an item imbued with the spirit of a Monster. +30 XP Bone Recurve Bow (Fair) becomes Pantherbone Recurve (Good) Holding the Pantherbone Recurve Grants +1 AGI Arrows fired from Pantherbone Recurve have +1% Penetration and incur +1% Bleed Damage Beware the Dire Panther, lest he stalk you by the dark of the moon.
In his hands, the Bone Recurve turned a midnight black to match the fur of the Dire Panther he''d slain, and a wild feeling eminated from it. Ryan looked at it with surprise before jumping and yelling again. Today was a good day.
Spoiler: Ryan''s Character Sheet
Ryan Callahan Champion of Luris
Class N/A
Title Champion of Luris
Race Human
HP/MP 200 (+.2) / 40 (+.1)
XP 633
SP 0
Level 3
STR 16
AGI 19 (+1)
END 20
CHAR 14
WIS 8
INT 10
Skills Trapping (Lvl. 3), Tanning (Lvl. 4), Enchant Trap (Lvl. 1), Gathering (Lvl. 1), Leatherwork (Lvl. 2), Assasination (Lvl. 1), Melee Combat(Knife) (Lvl.1), Woodworking (Lvl. 1), Bowcraft (Lvl. 2)
Items Tusk Dagger (2) (Fair), Demonic Boar Skin Cloak (Fair), Flint Arrows (6) (Fair), Leather Quiver (Poor), Stone Hand Axe (Fair), Buckskin Pack (Fair), Woven Cord (Fair), Stone Skinning Knife (Fair), Buckskin Pants (Fair), Buckskin Bracers (Fair), Dire Panther Fur Tunic (Fair), Pantherbone Recurve (Good)
Spoiler: Pan McTavish''s Skill Sheet
Name Pandermallion Ornaitha McTavish
Class Caravaneer
Title N/A
Race Elf (Wood)
HP/MP 130 (+.4) / 90 (+5) (+.2/s)
XP 955
SP 0
Level 5
STR 9
AGI 15
END 13
CHAR 20
WIS 18 (+1)
INT 7
Skills Getaway (Lvl. 1), Lighten the Load (Lvl. 1), Animal Friendship (Lvl. 3), Logistics (Lvl. 1), Bookkeeping (Lvl. 2), Accounting (Lvl. 1), Melee Comabt (Whip) (Lvl. 1), Metalworking (Lvl. 1), Farrier (Lvl. 2)
Items Common Whip (Fair), Monocle of Appraisal (Good), Sturdy Leather Boots (Fair), Caravaneer''s Jacket (Fair), Tartan o'' Clan McTavish (Good), False Mustache (Poor)
"Men" and Monster
Trapped in a Dream
The problem with a nice tree branch on a sunny day was that it was a great place for a nap. Even for a veteran of many deer stands, he couldn''t resist the lowering of his eyelids and the gentle lull of sleep. The turtle would make a sound if it moved.