《Class: Space Marine》 Prologue: Earth It was Friday night and time for another session of Dungeons and Dragons. We had gathered in the basement of Matt¡¯s house to get started on our campaign. By using the Class Construction Engine from Shadowcraft Studios I had managed to make a Space Marine class, the Warhammer 40k type. I now had to get Matt, our Dungeon Master (DM), to agree to it. (Me) ¡°Please? I just want to see if I can make it work.¡± (Matt) ¡°Fine, just be glad this is a one-off campaign. Just use whatever your character would have at 6th level¡± (Me) ¡°Thank you! Now let¡¯s kill some things!¡± (Other) ¡°You know that there is more to campaigns than killing things, right?¡± (Me) ¡°Yes but you know I don¡¯t roleplay well, I mostly just sit in a dark corner or loom behind people.¡± That was Jim, playing a stereotypical Elvin Ranger. The other members of our party included David playing a Halfling Rogue, George playing a Dwarven Cleric, Ian playing a Half-Orc Barbarian, and Steven playing a Half-Elf Sorcerer. As a Space Marine I would be the other heavy hitter in our merry little band.
We started our adventure in the port city of Safeld. Apparently Matt had put some effort into designing the world so we could be seeing it in later campaigns. After getting off the ship Matt started to describe what we were seeing. ¡°The smell of salt lingers in the air and the cries of gulls surround you. To the north, you can see a great forest stretching to the horizon and to the east off in the distance you see a line of mountains. Stepping off the ship onto the wooden wharf you are greeted by the sight of a well-ordered port. Dozens of masts rise from anchored ships, and on nearby wharfs you can see other ships being loaded with trade goods. Walking down the wharf to dry land you are greeted by a customs officer. He asks you if you have anything to declare. How do you respond?¡± ¡°I CLEAVE HIM IN TWAIN!¡± shouts Ian. Steven smacks Ian on the back of his head. ¡°No, he doesn¡¯t!¡± he says. ¡°We tell him that we are adventurers, have nothing to declare, and would like directions to the Adventure¡¯s Guild.¡± ¡°The customs officer is writing on his clipboard, but looks up at you when you ask for directions.¡± He asks you, ¡°Have you never been to our city of Safeld before? ¡°How do you respond?¡± George pipes up saying, ¡°We are travelers from across the Sea of Tears. We have come to this new land to explore and to seek our fortune.¡± ¡°The customs officer looks at you before sighing.¡± ¡°Look,¡± he says, ¡°I don¡¯t know or care where you came from, but things here are probably more organized than what you are used to. You can¡¯t just go galivanting off into the countryside, as adventurers you need to register at The Guild Hall which is up the main street a few blocks. Don¡¯t cause problems, and you will get along fine with the guards in town.¡± ¡°He waves you through and starts to check people behind you. Now what do you do?¡± ¡°Well, lets head to the Guild Hall and see what it takes the become adventurer here¡± I say.
¡°Just to speed this along you guys successfully register at the Guild Hall and can now take quests.¡± says Matt, ¡°And because this is a one off you can go North, South, East, or West from here. To the North is the Great Forest which you saw from the ship. There has been strange noises reported from the woods and someone needs to investigate. To the East mines near Thrmam¡¯s Hold have been reporting infestations of monsters that are making mining more hazardous than normal. To the South a sage has gone missing on one of the may islands scattered through the sea and the local wizards are wondering if something has happened to him. To the West lies the remains of a Dungeon Tower¡­¡± (George) ¡°Hold up Dungeon Tower? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Ok. So, dungeons in this game come in a few varieties,¡± explains Matt. ¡°There are the portal kind which exist in their own pocket dimension joined to this plane with portals obviously, but there are also vertical dungeons. These can stretch up and down with almost no limit. The towers stretch into the sky impossibly high and the others are more like what you would think; they extend deep underground. There are also forest, cave, and underwater dungeons which we won¡¯t use for this campaign.¡± (Steven) ¡°What kind of enemies can we expect to be facing for each of the quests?¡± (Matt) ¡°North would be more woodland type, East would be mountainous and subterranean, South would be more aquatic but would be more roleplaying than fighting, and West would be more random due to the magical energies of the Tower.¡± ¡°I vote for the Tower or the mines,¡± I say, ¡°so I can hit things.¡± Matt adds in more information about the quests telling the group that the Tower is a dungeon crawl whereas the mines involve a bit more roleplaying such as talking to miners and other people in the area. After some discussion amongst ourselves we head to the mines.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
¡°Now,¡± says Matt, ¡°the next question is how you want to get there. You can strike out on your own by foot or by horse staying at various inns and waystations, go with a trading caravan, or take an airship. For future reference that list is in order of danger and cost; there are also other modes of transportation that I have in mind for later. For this instance, you can choose whichever method without paying for it.¡± To get the quest area faster we decided to use the airship. From what Matt said about in game time, the trip took several days. When we arrived at Thrmam¡¯s Hold we still had a several day trek on foot to get to the mines. Fortunately, we encountered no wandering monster to impede our progress. ¡°Arriving at the mines you are greeted with the sigh of a poor but well maintained town,¡± describes Matt, ¡°They have nothing fancy or outlandish but what they do have is well taken care of. However, you notice some new construction near the mine entrance. It appears to be a set of hastily constructed fortifications facing the mine entrance. You need to find the mayor of the town to start your quest; how do you go about doing so?¡± (Jim) ¡°I ask the nearest townsperson to point us in the right direction¡± (Matt) ¡°The townsperson says that, at this moment, the mayor is taking his turn at the barricade¡± ¡°After heading to the barricade, you find the mayor standing behind it with a spear. After explaining that the Guild Hall has sent you to clear the mine of monster, he is overjoyed, he even gives you a map of what to expect in the mine¡±
¡°As you enter the mine the sun¡¯s warmth fades away leaving you in the cool dark. You are momentarily blinded as you transition from the bright sunlight to the shadowy illumination of the caverns. The illumination comes from candles and phosphorescent bugs and fungus. The walls are hewn from the generations of picks that have carved their way into this mountain and the floor is worn smooth from the generations of footsteps and carts. How do you wish to proceed?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s start with the smaller caverns first,¡± says David. ¡°Our matching order should have Ian and Zane in the front to absorb damage, with me and George next and Steven bringing up the rear. So our first stop should be the cavern that is straight in front of us.¡± ¡°As you start to enter the cavern you notice that it is noticeably dimmer as if something is covering the fungus or eaten the bugs; there is no candle light. Thin gossamer strands gently float across the opening.¡± ¡°It¡¯s spiders isn¡¯t it¡­¡± ¡°As you enter into the wide part of the cavern you see 4 Large Monstrous Spiders in various locations. They all turn to look at you before hissing and charging at you. Roll initiative.¡± The rolls were as follows:
Jim (Ranger): 22 David (Rogue): 12 George (Cleric): 15 Ian (Barbarian): 9 Steven (Sorcerer): 15
Zane (SM): 10 Spider 1: 16 Spider 2: 13 Spider 3: 5 Spider 4: 5
¡°Jim, what do you do?¡± ¡°I shoot the foremost spider with my bow. [Rolls dice] Does 17 break their armor class?¡± ¡°Yes, roll for damage¡± [Rolls dice] ¡°9 damage¡± ¡°Next is one of the spiders. It approaches you Zane and attempts to take a bite out of you. [Rolls dice] Does 19 break your armor class?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Ok Steven, what is your move?¡± ¡°I delay my turn.¡± ¡°Alright then, George what is your move?¡± ¡°For my turn I move to behind Ian and cast Bull¡¯s Strength on him.¡± ¡°Alright, Steven you¡¯re up. What¡¯s your move?¡± ¡°I cast Fireball at the spiders, and judging by how close they are, I can hit the three spiders that haven¡¯t gone yet. [Rolls dice] YES! Each spider takes 6 damage. It¡¯s a DC 17 to half.¡± ¡°Lets see¡­[Rolls dice] nope, yep, and yep. Two of the spiders take 3 damage and the other take full damage. One of the spiders moves and attacks you Zane. [Rolls dice] 23 break you AC? ¡°Nope. Need to do better than that.¡± ¡°Man, what is your AC?¡± ¡°24¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°I¡¯m considering the Space Marine armor to be a step above full plate so I gave the armor a bonus of 10 and since the armor is powered and directly connected to the Space Marines nervous system a Dex modifier of 2. I was thinking about using a Dex modifier of 4, but I thought that would be too overpowered, so I just added a Ring of Protection +2 instead. I also didn¡¯t include any damage reduction in this character build yet.¡± ¡°You know this means I just get to throw harder monsters at you right?¡± ¡°Yep, bring it on¡± ¡°Alright then, lets continue¡­¡± ------------------------------ After several drinks and a quite a few hours of avoiding cave-ins, disarming traps, and fighting spiders, zombies, a Gargantuan Monstrous Centipede, some Gelatinous Cubes, more zombies, some fungus, Duergar, Gricks, and some Derros, we had finally finished clearing the mine. Now, all that was left was to close the tunnel the miners had made into the monster pit. ¡°As you approach the tunnel you see that the celling is supported by roughhewn timbers,¡± described Matt, ¡°in the distance you can hear more monstrous things in the darkness. How do you proceed?¡± ¡°I say we pull the timbers out to start the collapse the tunnel and to help it along set the timbers on fire to speed the collapse and force any monsters to stay away,¡± says Zane. ¡°But,¡± asks Matt, ¡°what about the smoke?¡± ¡°We are under the assumption that there is magic in place to supply fresh air into the mine so that the miners don¡¯t asphyxiate,¡± extrapolated Steven. ¡°Going by that assumption we can assume that there is a positive pressure flow where we are standing and that will blow any smoke into where the monsters are since they are probably relying on less powerful method of air circulation.¡± ¡°You know what, sure. Let go with that,¡± Matt says exasperatedly. ¡°This is a good idea as any to wrap this up. Zane we need to work on your Space Marine some more; it¡¯s just too OP. You have a high constitution modifier due to your biological add-ons, you¡¯re hard to hit, you hit hard, and your weapons are ridiculous. I can understand how, when using the creation kit, you limited your weapons so that you could put the extra points into other areas; but the chainsword, bolter, and grenades are ridiculous. The character is probably going to need some level adjustment for future use.¡± ¡°Alright is 0330 and y¡¯all need to go home so I can get some sleep and be somewhat productive later today,¡± utters Matt tiredly. And so we all tromped out saying our goodbyes and headed to our separate homes. I went back to my dorm to catch some much-needed shuteye. Little did I know it would be my last night on this earth. Chapter 01: ??? Waking up was strange. The headache from drinking and staying up late was present and expected but that was all that was the same. I remembered my room clearly and this wasn¡¯t it. For one, instead of the white popcorn ceiling of which I was used to, there was a vaulted gray stone ceiling. To my left and right there were doors recessed into the walls, versus the normal one bedroom door. In place of the normal incandescent lights that would normally light my room, the vault was lit by softly glowing orbs of white light floating freely in space. My nice soft bed had been replaced by a cold slab of stone, and to top it all off instead of my normal boxers I wear to bed, I seemed to be encased in some sort of armor. As I struggled to understand my predicament I heard voices nearby. ¡°Shit, shit, shit, shit! Run!¡± Someone breathlessly cried. Another voice said, ¡°Hurry, I see a door ahead. Hopefully, we can barricade ourselves in there temporarily.¡± An additional voice devoutly shouted, ¡°Pray to Pelor that it¡¯s not locked¡± The voices were getting closer and I was wondering how many more there were when suddenly the characters the voices belonged to burst through the door on my left. ¡°Quick! Look for something to block the door with.¡± ¡°Hey! It¡¯s got a lock bar.¡± ¡°Drop it into place quickly.¡± A second after the bar had dropped into place the door shuddered as something big hit it, but it held. The group seemed to relax allowing be to study them. There were five members in the group. One was a large and burly man whose skin had a greenish tinge to it. Two of them appeared to be male humans, but on closer inspection one had pointed ears and the other had somewhat pointed ears. The last two shortest male members of the group were vastly different from each other. One looked like a barrel with a head, two arms, and two legs. The other looked like a small, but fully grown, person. So I had what looked like a party of a Halfling, a Dwarf, a Half-Elf, an Elf, and a Half-Orc that had just burst in on me. D¨¦j¨¤ vu from the night before. As I was studying the group, no they were an adventuring party, they were looking around the room. They seemed a little bewildered as to where they found themselves. What was probably a Half-Elf broke the silence saying, ¡°I¡¯ve never felt such a concentration of mana before; what is this place?¡± The one who looked like an Elf explained, ¡°Ever since the recent earthquakes these old ruins have seen quite a few changes. One of which being new monsters, from which we have just avoided being eaten by one by escaping through one of the newly opened passages. Perhaps the shifting earth has changed some mana channels in the ground.¡± The Dwarf of the group interjected, ¡°Um¡­have you guys noticed we are not alone in here? Look at the sarcophagus in the center of the lights¡± It was at this point the party focused their attention onto me. The probable Halfling whispered, ¡°Janek can you cast Purify on the sarcophagus to kill any undead near it?¡± Janek, who was the Dwarf replied just as quietly, ¡°Sure. ¡®Purify¡¯¡± After Janek finished casting his spell, a white light enveloped me. My headache from before vanished like the figments of a dream, and the various aches and pains in my body faded away. ¡°Thanks for that. Purify works great on headaches apparently.¡± I said. ¡°AHHH!¡± Screamed Janek, ¡°I thought Purify was supposed to work on undead and this one can talk!¡± ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m not an undead or a construct; the sarcophagus, as you say, is actually me, and if you give me a minute to sort myself out we can have a better conversation,¡± I replied. As the group was stunned into silence, I used the time to try and get up. I had noticed that ever since waking up I had been getting warmer and was now a very comfortable temperature. As I attempted to sit up and swing my legs off the slab of stone the armor made some soft whirring noises and I found myself rising almost effortlessly up. The motion seemed to startle the party into motion. As they scrambled to get into a defensive formation I just watched them. ¡°You do remember that Purify does nothing to ¡®good¡¯ aligned beings right?¡± I asked. ¡°Wait, your right. So¡­you¡¯re good?¡± Questioned Janek. ¡°Yes,¡± I answered. ¡°Now can we put the weapons down and have a conversation?¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. The group looked at each other before coming to a consensus. They nodded and slowly sheathed their weapons. ¡°Now I know one of your names, Janek, but who are the rest of you?¡± The Halfling said, ¡°I¡¯m Garret, the rogue.¡± The Half-Elf proudly said, ¡°I am Galstaff, a sorcerer.¡± The Elf said, ¡°I am known as Elas Eiljor, a ranger¡± The Half-Orc grunted, ¡°I am Grognak the Barbarian.¡± ¡°As for me,¡± I said, ¡°you can call me¡­Miles Naismith.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your class?¡± Garret queried. ¡°Honestly I have no idea. I woke up just before you crashed through the door and have no idea where I am or what is going on.¡± ¡°Trying saying status and see if that does anything,¡± Galstaff explained ¡°Status¡±
Character Name Miles Naismith Player Zane
Class Space Marine Experience (EXP) 0/1000
Level 1 Amor Class (AC) 24
Strength (STR) 18 Hit Points (HP) 15
Dexterity (DEX) 16 Mana Points (MP) 12
Constitution (CON) 16 Weapons Bolter
Intelligence (INT) 14 Chainsword
Wisdom (WIS) 14 Grenade (Frag)
Charisma (CHA) 10 Skills Reload
¡°¡­huh, Space Marine. Well, I guess that explains the armor.¡± Elas asked quizzically, ¡°Space Marine, what¡¯s that?¡± I simplified what a Space Marine was by explaining, ¡°Well let¡¯s just say that I¡¯m the tank in combat¡± Garret said with a relieved tone, ¡°Good, maybe we can still get out of this alive.¡± ¡°Just to clarify, what is ¡®this¡¯?¡± I asked. Garret explained, ¡°Recent earthquakes in the area have changed the layout of this dungeon. We were sent by the Adventurers Guild to map any changes we could find. The job was supposed to be easy, go in with the old maps, note and record any areas with changes, and return a job well done. Instead, we encountered monsters you are only supposed to see much deeper into any dungeons. We lost one of our fighters to a Roper and a warmage to a Fomorian. When we burst in on you, we were running from a Purple Worm.¡± ¡°That sounds bad,¡± I said worriedly, ¡°However I¡¯m not sure how much help I will be considering I¡¯m only level 1.¡± ¡°How are you only a Level 1?¡± Elas incredulously asked. ¡°I have no idea. As I said before I just woke up and I¡¯ve got no idea where I am or what is going on. Perhaps we should concentrate on getting out of here?¡± Elas paused thinking for a moment before replying. ¡°You¡¯re right. We can¡¯t go back the way we came in since the Purple Worm is acting very territorial and I would rather not get eaten. Let¡¯s try the other door to see if we can get out.¡± We headed to the other door and cautiously opened it. Behind the door was a spiral staircase with a section leading deeper underground and the other section leading up. As we headed up the staircase, Garret was in the lead checking for any traps and I was having a question and answer session with Elas and Galstaff. Grognak was watching the rear for any surprises. Amnesia is a convenient excuse. Under the guise of learning what I had ¡®forgotten¡¯, I learned several things, one of which was that the world I had woken to find myself in was called Lumarest. Very earthlike in several ways with the climate being very similar to Earth equivalents, cold at the poles and hot at the equator, marine temperate zones, deserts, forests, and plains. One of the biggest difference for me was the fact that there were three moons, still only one sun. The moons were in the same orbital plane but were at varying distances from Lumarest. The technology was about the Late Middle Ages, there was not as much technological drive due to the inherent magic of the world. The time scale was also the same with 60 seconds to a minute, 60 minutes to an hour, and 24 hours to a day. The year was divided into 12 months, with each month being about 30 days. Every 6 minutes or so of climbing we would stop to take a breather and after about 30 minutes of this I was wondering if we were ever going to get out when we finally reached the top. What greeted our sight was a bricked up doorway, but we could see faint cracks of light coming from around the bricks. After breaking through we found ourselves in a rubble strew courtyard. The doorway was built into the center of a mural depicting what must have been the surrounding area at one point. However instead of the green forests, large meadows, and a nearby tower, all that was left were stands of trees, rubble-strewn fields, and there was no tower in sight. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Elas wearily sighed, ¡°there is a place to camp nearby we can use before returning to Safeld¡± It was getting near dark and after traipsing through the overgrowth we arrived at a flat, cleared section of land. Galstaff took off the backpack he had been wearing and started to take out camping gear. The backpack must have been a bag of holding considering how much he removed. Asking if there was anything I could do to help Galstaff gave me a cauldron and sent me to a nearby stream to gather water for dinner that night. While walking through the woods I realized that I had grown, I used to be 6ft tall, now I appeared to be about 7.5ft. While wondering if my body had changed or it was just the armor I found the stream. In one of the pools on the side, I got my first look at myself. I wasn¡¯t the generic blue of an Ultramarine at least, but I wasn¡¯t painted any of the other chapters I knew of. The armor was mostly battleship gray with Cherenkov radiation blue highlights. My chest plate, helmet, and shoulder pauldrons were free of any chapter markings. On my way back to the campsite I wondered what would become of me in this new world. Chapter 02: Lumarest Back at the campsite, Galstaff had a fire going and was waiting for me to return with the water. He took the cauldron from me and set it above the fire. Once the water was boiling he threw in a packet of dried soup stock and some other ingredients to cook. On some rocks nearby the fire Galstaff had placed a few loaves of bread to heat up. The rest of the group gathered around the campfire, chasing away the chill evening air, while they waited for dinner. To break the silence I asked, ¡°What happened before you found me down there?¡± Elas started the tale. It turns out that several months ago the surrounding area had been stuck by several large earthquakes which caused much consternation among local leaders. Normally earthquakes were few and far between and barely registered. The nearby dwarven city of Thrinain¡¯s Hold had had several casualties due to tunnel collapses, and the local leaders had sent out adventuring parties to see what else had changed. Their party, the Brothers in Arms, had been sent from Safeld to investigate the ruins of the Black Tower. It was at this point I interjected for a geography quick lesson. The Black Tower was once a great tower dungeon stretching miles into the sky. Adventures would come from all over to test their luck and see how far up they could go. People. There was the constant danger of painful death in the tower, but the promise of riches continually brought in more people. That is, until one day when the great dungeon doors would not open. The great black walls slowly started to lose their glossy finish and started to turn a dull gray, as if whatever kept the dungeon alive had died or moved on. It was many years later, after the vibrant town at the tower¡¯s base had turned into a ghost town, that the tower lost the constant battle with gravity. The collapse could be heard from many miles away and the black tower that had scraped the heavens no longer stood. It was fortunate that when the tower fell, it fell towards the sea; had it fallen inland the damage would have been catastrophic, as it was the tidal wave had decimated some low-lying coastal towns on what is now known as the Sea of Tears. Where it impacted the coastline, it changed the local geography. The once smooth coastline is now full of fjords left over from when the land shattered. In the area around the tower¡¯s ruins no human wanted to live, so monsters moved in. While not as rewarding as finding treasure in a dungeon, some monster parts go for a good price and occasionally someone would find an old lost and forgotten treasure trove in the ruins. After my quick lesson, Elas continued with the story at hand, seeing as how the earthquakes had altered some of the surrounding area the Adventure¡¯s Guild in Safeld issued a quest for various adventuring groups to go out and survey the surrounding land. It was supposed to be an easy job. We came, We saw, We left. Nowhere in the job description did it mention new monsters that could wipe a party out. When we got to the old base of the tower we found a set of stairs leading underground. The old dungeon had risen into the sky, what if this one delved into the ground? The first few floors were easy, with just simple vermin, but then the ecosystem quickly evolved. Soon there were goblins, ogres, and gnolls. Deeper in were the undead and then after those floors the aberrations came out to ¡®play¡¯. Elas pauses here and shudders with the memory. Continuing with the story I learned how the group had lost two of their members to aberrations before running into the Purple Worm and deciding to make a break for the surface. While running they had found their way back blocked and were forced to find an alternative route, which lead them to my door. I knew the rest of their tale from there. By the time the tale was through dinner had finished cooking. Which was a good thing since I hadn¡¯t eaten anything since that last meal at the D&D party. It was then I ran into my first problem, I had no idea how to take my helmet off. I knew that it could be done, judging by the different makeup of Space Marine figures, but I had no idea how. After a few minutes of futilely attempting to twist of pull it off by force I stopped to contemplate my options. The next step was to try voice activation. Considering that the armor is an advanced piece of technology it¡¯s possible that I have access to voice commands, but with no manual I have no idea. ¡°Helmet off¡­helmet unlatch¡­helmet detach,¡± I tried. The last one worked, and with a pneumatic hiss the helmet came loose. As I pulled it off I noticed the others in the group looking at me. ¡°What? Is there something on my face?¡± I asked. ¡°No,¡± the normally taciturn Grognak responded, ¡°With your size I expected you to be like me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think the class would work for me if I was anything but human,¡± I mused. ¡°Anyone have a mirror or something to describe what I look like? I¡¯ve only seen myself in armor so far.¡± I explained. Galstaff pulled a mirror from somewhere and I got my first good look at my-self. I had close cropped black hair. A pair of hazel eyes stared steadily back at me from below thick eyebrows. A tall refined nose was situated above full-bodied lips. A strong chin and a sturdy jawline dusted with stubble rounded out my square face. In summary it was a very chiseled appearance.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. After examining my features for a while, I got down to the important business of filling my belly. The soup was nice and hot to drive away the nippy twilight air and had a flowery herbal aroma and a mild sweet taste. It was very good. The bread was similar. After being heated next to the fire the loaves were hot and steaming. The bread was dense and dark brown, probably a rye, it was very good. After dinner Elas, Galstaff, Garret, Grognak, and Janek discussed watch rotations. I was apparently exempt since I had had no prior experience with guard duty. As I reattached my helmet with ¡°Helmet reattach¡±, I laid down and tried to get comfortable. Seeping in power armor is no fun let me tell you. The best I could do was to lie with my arms to my side and on my back. I recalled that a Space Marine could enter a state of suspended animation or rest half of their brain at a time, but I didn¡¯t want to deal with any of that. I wanted to go to sleep and hopefully wake up back in my own bed.
No such luck. Upon awakening dawn was breaking on a clear blue sky with one of the moons hanging forlornly above. Janek had taken to whacking me with a stick to try and wake me up (apparently I sleep like the dead which is a bad survival trait). Breakfast was served and the group was ready to hit the trail back to Safeld. Breakfast looked like cream of wheat with some apple chunks thrown in. it was hot and filling. As we were about to leave we ran into a few problems. The Brothers in Arms had arrived on horses, meaning there were two leftover from the members that had died in the dungeon. However since I weight about as much as a large horse there was no way they could carry me, apparently horses can comfortably carry about 20% of their weight. If I was ever going to get a mount I would need a cart, some monstrous animal able to carry my weight, or a way of lightening my load with magic or something. It was decided that the group would be on horseback and I would walk alongside them. As we walked I noticed that the further we got from the ruins the more trees I saw. Elas described that as the previous dungeon town had grown woodcutters had made an ever increasing circle of stumps in the forests as the town demanded more and more wood to grow. Now that there was no more demand for lumber, the trees had started to reclaim what once was theirs. In power armor it appeared I could keep up a brisk jog indefinitely. After trudging along the trail for several hours I was wondering if we were ever going to get anywhere and see anything other than trees for the rest of the day, when we suddenly met up with a road. I stopped to look around. Where there trail met the road there was a sign post with three arrows on it. One pointed back the way we came, one pointed left and the other pointed right. Elas explained that the road ran north and south. To the north was a small hunting and woodcutter town. The town was considered a big deal since it had an inn, a tavern, a lumber mill, and a wall to keep monsters at bay. Adventurers went to the town quite often to forage for herbs that the apothecaries and herbalists needed (and paid well for any rare finds) and to hunt the large beasts that roamed the northern woods, since adventurers walked the road frequently monsters had learned to avoid it or die. We were headed to the south towards Porthaethwy, the large town on the shores of what used to be a lake, but after the tower fell had turned into bay. Porthaethwy, while not as large or prosperous as Safeld, was considered to be ¡®all right¡¯. There was some fishing in the fjouds to the west of the town and when winter fell the bay froze over you could use an ice boat to cross it. Think like a very large skiff with huge runners supporting it on the ice. The Brothers in Arms had planned to return to Safeld by crossing this bay since using this method since it cut almost a month¡¯s worth of travel time compared to the overland route. From this point it was almost 3-4 days of my speed to get there. Fortunately we would not be sleeping under the stars seeing as how there were traveler¡¯s waystations at regular points along the road. As we got underway I managed to increase my pace to a steady run. If I had to guess I was doing about a 5 minute mile (which was nice considering I had never been able to do that before). As the road flashed below my feet I concentrated on breathing and not tripping. Although anything I stepped on was squished flat by my weight¡­I was going to have problems in multistory buildings. We passed few people who were headed north on our journey south. The reactions were hilarious. The peasant almost drove his cart off the road when he saw me, a group of 5 adventurers stopped their horses to stare, and what looked like a pony express rider almost had his horse veer into the woods. Here I was a veritable mountain of armor bearing down on them, and then I was gone thundering down the road. Not a sight you see every day. Pausing for small water breaks I had been keeping the pace up for almost 2 hours and was wondering how long I could keep running for when we stopped for lunch. Lunch was a simple affair of bread, butter, cheese, and vegetables. Then after feeding and watering the horses it was back to running. We reached an inn about an hour before sundown. We noticed as we rode in that the inn was crowded, what looked like a caravan had parked their wagons by the stables and had a few guards posted to keep watch. As the Brothers in Arms stabled their horses I was left to observe the inn. The inn was situated in a circular clearing with the road running through the center of said clearing. The inn was on one side of the road and the stable on the other side. The clearing was about 50 yards in diameter with nothing growing higher than knee high. The inn looked to be of solid construction with thick timbers holding up a gambrel wooden shingled roof. Between the support timbers therewere stones for the wall. It almost looked like a repurposed barn, but the colors were the building materials natural look. A wisp of smoke was rising from the chimney and I took my helmet off to smell the night air better. Something on the air smelled delicious and as the Brothers in Arms rejoined me I replaced my helmet and we headed into the inn to see what was for dinner. Chapter 03: Travel The Brothers in Arms filed through the inn¡¯s door first and I then followed them. The patrons of the inn dismissed the Brothers in Arms at a glance, they were just normal adventurers something you see every day. I caught their attention however. I was just glad the inn had high ceilings as I stood in the doorway observing the inn¡¯s patrons. A counter ran along the back wall behind which was a stout male elf, probably the innkeeper, who had paused in his cleaning of a mug. There were several humans and elves sitting at the counter eating and drinking. A fire crackled in a fireplace against the left wall and against the right wall were several long tables. The rest of the floor space was taken up by circular tables. Some of the tables were empty but most were taken by people. What looked to be the caravan members had taken over the long tables and the round tables were taken up by adventurers. In the silence of my arrival the innkeeper called out, ¡°Galstaff, you said you¡¯d be back in a few days from your quest in the ruins but what exactly did you find there?¡± ¡°This is Miles. He¡¯s a human we found in the ruins after running from a Purple Worm,¡± replied Galstaff. Turning to the rest of the assembled crowd he announced, ¡°On a side note, any of you heading to the ruins to do some hunting be forewarned that it is now much more dangerous than you remember. The earthquakes have caused some upheavals in the earth and more dangerous monsters are now found closer to the surface.¡± Focusing back on the innkeeper Galstaff asked, ¡°Now what is on the menu for dinner, it smells good.¡± ¡°My wife¡¯s got some vegetable stew prepared or roasted hare with curd cheese. If that doesn''t strike your fancy there¡¯s also some roasted mutton and millet biscuits leftover from lunch. You¡¯ve got your choice of cider, mead, or ale,¡± explained the innkeeper, whose name I later found out was Ethon. After ordering a mix of the roasted hare with curd cheese and the roasted mutton and millet biscuits we went to find a table. We chose one of the round ones and seated ourselves around it. After picking the sturdiest chair I could, I gingerly sat down. The chair creaked but didn¡¯t break. Conversation during dinner was minimal. Garret and Galstaff were discussing the next leg of our trip and calculating what time we would need to leave in the morning and what pace we would need to set if we wanted to make it to the next inn. Thinking back to the various games I had played and books I read I wondered if there wasn¡¯t another travel solution. Looking to Garret I asked, ¡°If the caravan is headed south do you think it would be possible to join them with your group as guards and me as a passenger or would that add too much time?¡± Garret and Galstaff paused their conversation and looked thoughtful. ¡°It¡¯s possible. It would be safer and faster than you running.¡± mused Galstaff. ¡°I¡¯ll go ask.¡± Galstaff headed to the nearest table where members of the caravan were seated and started talking to them. Nods and smiles were soon seen and then a handshake was shared. Heading back Galstaff confirmed, ¡°They would like the extra protection a few extra adventurers would offer. Since we are headed in the same direction I offered our services but since we need to use one of their wagons to carry Miles and it is only for the next few days I let them bargain our cost down to about 5 silvers for each of us.¡± ¡°Is that cheap,¡± I asked quizzically. ¡°I know that it takes 100 coppers (CP) to 1 silver (SP) and 100 silver to 1 gold (GP), but how much can that buy?¡± Grognak grunted, ¡°Considering your meal was about 10 CP you can go a fair ways with just a few silvers. Add to the fact that it is a short escort and that we are using a wagon it¡¯s a good deal.¡± After dinner everyone started to turn in for the night. I wasn¡¯t feeling tired so I waved them off and sat in front of the fire thinking about where I now found myself.
Morning dawned cold and damp with dew covering the field around the inn. Breakfast was again a simple affair, some oatmeal with fruit and then we were on our way. I want to say that traveling in a caravan was an exciting activity with new things to see and monsters to fight around every bend. It wasn¡¯t. The whole trip was dreadfully boring. Glossing over a few details (OK so QUITE a few) we made it to Porthaethwy in 3 days. We left the caravan and headed directly to the docks to find a ship headed across the bay. Finding a ship was easy, there was a boat crossing the bay almost every 3 hours. Crossing the bay was no big hassle but once across I found out that there was almost a week of travel time from Porthaethwy South to Safeld. Checking in at the local Adventurer¡¯s Guild Galstaff found a merchant headed to Safled in need of an escort.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The merchant¡¯s name was Wilnan Wolfswift. He was a man of a medium, solid build with squinty hazel-green eyes staring out at the world over a broken nose and known for getting his merchandise quickly and safely to its next destination, he was our best bet to get to Safeld quickly and with a minimum of problems. We were about halfway to Safeld when we ran into bandits. Grognak was riding point and had just gone around a bend in the track when he suddenly reappeared riding quickly back to the group. In answer to our questioning looks he said, ¡°Tree across the track, bandits.¡± The other members of Brothers in Arms sighed and got down off their horses and started to walk towards the probable ambush. Looking at them I asked, ¡°What should I do?¡± Looking back Elas replied, ¡°You might as well come along and get some experience fighting. Bandits are generally not that well trained and rely on numbers and ambushes to attack caravans. Since they¡¯ve lost the element of surprise we should be OK.¡± As I got off the cart to follow them I wondered how my first combat experience would be. Back on Earth I had taken some martial arts classes so I knew how to punch, kick, and throw; but I wasn¡¯t sure how much help that would be in the upcoming fight. The only weapons I had were my chainsword and bolter. I also had grenades, but like the bolter I wasn¡¯t sure if I would be able to find more ammunition for them. As we rounded the bend in the road Galstaff called out to the surrounding woods, ¡°You might as well come out and face us, we know you¡¯re out there. The tree was a dead giveaway.¡± A ragtag group of 12 people walked out of the forest around us. They looked poor, wearing simple leather jerkins and threadbare pants. The only bit of the motley crew that looked well taken care of were their weapons shinning in the sun. ¡°You know the laws concerning banditry,¡± Galstaff said. ¡°You have two options here; surrender and let the courts decide your fate or die here and now.¡± The one bandit with slightly better apparel sneered at us. ¡°We got you outnumbered two to one, we¡¯ll take our chances.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t try to end this peacefully,¡± sighed Galstaff dejectedly. In an instant Elas had drawn and shot his bow at the bandits closest to him. One went down without a sound with an arrow to the throat, while another slowly collapsed with an arrow in his chest weakly clutching at the shaft in a feeble effort to remove the object of his demise. Garret had pulled out a small hand crossbow and was harrying the bandits near him. The bandits were supporting a collection of bolts in their arms and legs, nothing fatal yet but enough to cause some serious pain. Grognak ran with an earth shattering roar toward the bandit who had spoken who looked shocked at the sudden reduction in his fighting force. As Grognak neared him, his sudden impending doom brought light to his dazed eyes. The bandit interposed his sword between himself and the charging Grognak. As their weapons meet in a clash of steel the bandit was driven back. Galstaff and Janek had retreated to the center of our little formation. With me in the back and Garret and Grognak dealing the most damage most of the bandits ignored them, which was a mistake as both started to cast spells. Galstaff shouted an incantation and three rays of fire hurtled from his outstretched hands to strike three bandits who promptly had their pants set on fire. Janek also shouted an incantation and with a gesture a light streak left his hands a streaked toward a bandit. The bandit flinched as the light hit him and as the light faded a dim glow still surrounded the bandit. While this was happening two bandits charged at me with loud shouts. I had had little experience with swords but knew that the bit on the end was pointy and I definitely didn¡¯t want to test my armor¡¯s durability. I grabbed the sword hanging at my waist and drew it. As my hand tightened on the hilt it ground into life. The bandits charging me paused a moment at the sight of a sword in motion. Their delay gave me enough time to swing the sword at the leftmost one in a left to right slash. The bandit attempted to interpose his sword between himself and a now howling chaos of a chainsword to protect himself. I say attempted because as my chainsword meet the bandit¡¯s sword the weapon¡¯s tone changed from an angry buzzing to a high pitched scream as sparks flew as the chainsword paused to chew through his sword and then continue its deadly arc. The bandit screamed as the chainsword started to chew through him. I had caught him about mid-chest, and as the blood sprayed from the chainsword and the wound covering anything and everything in the vicinity. As the chainsword continued to carve through his torso the bandit¡¯s screams slowly burbled out as his lungs filled with blood. At the end of the swing I still had two bandits in front of me, but now one had had his torso separated from his legs and the other did not look too keen on attacking me. With my chainsword dripping blood I lunged at the second bandit. My lunge brought my chainsword into contact with his chest. The leather jerkin was never meant to stop something like this, I¡¯m not sure if there is anything in this world that can. The force behind my lunge punched the weapon clean through him. The bandit¡¯s eyes were wide open in shock and as I watched they slowly glazed over in death. Grabbing the now dead bandit by the throat with my left hand I pulled him and the chainsword apart. In another explosion of blood my chainsword was now free and I had a projectile weapon. Looking around I threw the corpse at the nearest group of bandits. The entire display had taken under 5 seconds. Now facing us out of the original 12 bandits, 4 were dead, 3 were on fire, 1 was slightly glowing, and the leader was engaged in heavy combat with Grognak. The small break in combat allowed me to read the blue box that floated in the corner of my vision.
Kill(s) Bandit (*2)
Experience Deferred
¡°Experience deferred? Now, what the hell does that mean?" I wondered as I turned to face the remaining bandits. Chapter 04: Porthaethwy The remaining bandits were now less eager to fight than they had been just a minute ago. With over half of their initial force taken out of action, the remaining bandits were now looking to escape rather than be cut down. It was too late however as their fate had been sealed. As Garret used his crossbow to shoot the glowing bandit the light seemed to draw the bolts in as the thudded into the chest of the bandit. The bandit looked down in shock as he slowly slumped to the ground. The 3 bandits on fire were writhing on the ground as I stomped over to them. I delivered a coup de grace with quick stomp to each one to put them out of their misery. After the kills a blue box that floated in the corner of my vision again.
Kill(s) Bandit (*3)
Experience Deferred
¡°Still with the ¡®Experience deferred¡¯. I wonder if it is because of my class?¡± I mused as I studied my handiwork with a detached air. My first kills in this new world and I couldn¡¯t feel anything, it was as if I was watching a movie play out in front of me. The remaining 3 undamaged bandits had drawn together into some semblance of a formation; it didn¡¯t do them much good as Galstaff shouted a different incantation. The remaining bandits were caught in the middle of a fireball and immolated almost immediately. While Grognak was fighting the bandit leader the rest of us had finished off all of the other members of the bandit group. The lack of fighting noises momentarily distracted the bandit leader; it was the last distraction of his life. Grognak batted aside the bandit leader¡¯s sword and swiftly ended his life. Silence descended upon the forest as the last bandit slumped to the ground. Wolfswift slowly brought his cart through the carnage we had wrought. Looking around he remarked, ¡°Apparently you are slightly overqualified to deal with the simple bandits around these parts. Where did you say you all were from?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t.¡± Replied Garret as he walked over to the bodies. ¡°We¡¯re from Safeld and are headed back there to finish a quest from there.¡± As Garret knelt down next to the corpse of a bandit the rest of the group spread out to the other bandits. Watching them loot the corpses I had to ask, ¡°What is the procedure when dealing with corpses?¡± Galstaff explained, ¡°With bandits, highwaymen, and the like the head or brain is destroyed and the remains burned or scattered to prevent resurrection by necromancy or anything like that. Most of the time criminals don¡¯t get a proper burial on consecrated ground. Anything burred has the chance to rise again. Any money, equipment, and what have you is fair game for those who want to salvage it. Most of the time they will have very little on them but occasionally you could find a map to a hideout or something.¡± While Galstaff had been explaining the rest of the group had finished searching the corpses and had piled them off to the side of the road. They rejoined us shaking their head. The report was nothing good. Some cheap swords, no armor to speak of, a few coppers, and two silver pieces taken off the leader. As I returned to the wagon Galstaff went to the pile of corpses. When next to it the muttered a few words and threw something onto the pile. The pile burst into flame and the corpses started to break down. As we waited for the bodies to finish breaking down I started to come back to myself. The realization that I had just killed some people started to hie me. Perhaps it was because I was so detached during the act it allowed me to rationalize what I had done. They were bandits, criminals of this world, and had been given a choice of surrendering or dying. They chose to die. Their deaths had been quick and relatively painless. The group had looked somewhat well off so it wasn¡¯t a group who had turned to banditry as a last resort to feed themselves; this was a group that had chosen to do this. Galstaff rejoined the group as the pyre died out. A quick breeze scattered the remains deeper into the forest. We all mounted up and continued on our way. During the next few days of travel I quizzed The Brothers in Arms about the policies of the world I now found myself. Humans were the most widely dispersed over the planet and had the most varied methods of governments. There were several Monarchies, some Aristocracies, and few Republics. There were some other small kingdoms that weren''t worth mentioning. As a general rule of thumb don¡¯t piss off any nobles unless you have the backing of another family or the power to protect yourself from any and all threats.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The various elven and dwarven kingdoms were mostly all Monarchies with some of the current rulers having been on the throne for the past few hundred years. Other races had their own kingdoms as well, but most inhabited lands controlled by others. The current kingdom we were traveling through was one of the better off human kingdoms. The general population all had some education, the basics of reading, writing, and simple arithmetic, with more advanced schooling available for those who could pay or past tests. The idea behind the education system was to ensure that merchants couldn¡¯t swindle farmers or customers out of their hard earned money, but with education it meant that no one could use the excuse of not knowing the correct amount to give to the tax collectors. At last the forest was thinning out and the trees were getting smaller. Eventually there was more grassland than forest, then the grassland turned to fields. The gently rolling hills stretched off into the distance and on the horizon was a low haze was centered on two tall spires. ¡°Finally,¡± Mutters Wolfswift. He continued in a louder tone, ¡°Glad to be out of the forest and have Porthaethwy in sight.¡± Looking over at Galstaff I asked, ¡°How much further and what are those two towers?¡± ¡°It should take us until tomorrow or the day after. Those towers are quite a bit bigger than you would think. They¡¯re both semi-famous local icons. One is the clock tower and one is the observation tower for the local magic school. The city started building the clock tower first and when the magic school started to build their tower it sort of turned into a competition of who could build theirs the highest. As to keep the competition friendly neither building used magic in construction. Magic was used afterward for strengthening and durability, that¡¯s why they survived the earthquakes. The clocktower ended up being only slightly taller because the builders put a really tall lightning rod on the roof. The clock tower''s claim it that it is the tallest, but the magic tower lets more people up to the observation deck. The local garrison uses it to watch the surrounding countryside. You should use the observation deck at least once in your life.¡± As we approached the town''s fortifications the towers kept getting bigger and bigger. They were truly an impressive sight. Not to long afterward we rolled to a stop outside the gates of the city and joined the line of carts waiting outside the gates. The line advanced slowly, but it was eventually our turn. I noticed a problem however. Elas, Galstaff, Garret, Janek, and Wolfswift were all prepared with some sort of card for the guards whereas I didn¡¯t have any sort of card. Nudging Galstaff I pointed at his card and asked, ¡°Is it going to be a problem if I don¡¯t have one of those?¡± Galstaff looked nonplussed for a moment before recovering. ¡°Of course you wouldn¡¯t have a guild card yet. We haven¡¯t been to a large enough town for you to register yet. Don¡¯t worry we¡¯ll vouch for you and pay the entrance fee. First thing we need to do once we get in, however, is head straight to the guild hall and get you registered.¡± ¡°What does getting yourself registered gain you?¡± I asked. ¡°Your guild fees allow you to enter almost every city without paying the entrance fee and having a license makes border crossings much smoother. Within the guild and you can accept quests and have access to guild facilities and resources.¡± We had reached the gate by this point and the guards were sizing me up; trying to figure out how much of a threat I could be and if they could handle it. The odds weren¡¯t in their favor and hands moved to grip weapons more securely. Fortunately there were no problems and after Galstaff paid the entrance fee we entered the town proper. The town reminded me of a Bavarian-styled village with Alpine-style buildings facing wide cobbled streets. The main road we were on lead straight down to the waterfront and was lined with inns and shops. We agreed to meet Wolfswift at the ¡®Wander on In Inn¡¯ after I had registered with the Adventurers¡¯ Guild. The Adventurers¡¯ Guild was located on the main road down near the docks. The crowds parted before our small group with people stopping to stare as we walked by. Walking into the Guild elicited the same response from the inn the other night. Silence and stares. As we walked up to the counter I decided to let Galstaff handle the talking. ¡°Hello. What can I help you with today?¡± the human receptionist behind the counter asked. ¡°I¡¯m here to report that the Black Tower is more dangerous than was estimated and to ask that the rank for it be raised. The earthquakes disturbed something deep.¡± Galstaff somberly replied. ¡°We¡¯re on our way back to Salfeld to give our full report and stopped here to give you a warning before you let more adventurers that way. On a lighter note I have a new member to add to the guild. He just needs to be registered as we will have the full examination at the main branch in Salfeld. I¡¯ll be paying the registration for this one. Come up here Miles.¡± As I stepped forward the receptionist eyed me warily. As I took off my helmet he seemed to relax upon seeing a human face. ¡°The registration is fairly simple. A drop of fresh blood on a guild card and it will be yours. Yearly guild fees are due within a year from today¡¯s date. Your card has the date of issue on it. Don¡¯t forget to pay, as the late fees are atrocious. Will that be all?¡± ¡°No. Let¡¯s get this over with.¡± I replied. A simple twist and off came one of my gauntlets and I was ready. The receptionist pulled a pin from somewhere, stuck me, and the deed was done. Well almost. The pin didn¡¯t do anything. It went in with a bit of effort but when it was withdrawn nothing happened. It eventually escalated to the point where the receptionist slashed my finger with a knife to draw blood. Guild card in hand we left to go find the Wander on In Inn. After walking back in the direction of the forest brought us to the doors of the Inn. The sign hanging above the door had the image of a traveler walking into an inn. Dinner was a quiet affair with everyone happy not to be eating trail rations again. The fried fish was one of the inn¡¯s specialties and was well worth the price. After dinner we headed to our sleeping quarters. I went to sleep pondering what tomorrow would bring. Chapter 05: That Night I woke up to yet another strange ceiling. This one appeared to be made of white marble with a diffuse light spread through it. Unlike last time however I was not on a slab of stone but a soft mattress and wearing an undershirt and shorts. ¡°Oh gods, NOW where the hell am I?¡± I exclaimed frustratedly. ¡°Oh good, you¡¯re awake. Relax you¡¯re not in Hell, just where the gods meet,¡± an old voice replied. ¡°I asked ¡®Where the hell am I?¡¯ Not ¡®Am I in Hell?¡¯ although with the way my life is going I wouldn¡¯t be surprised. Now my next few questions are: WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU, WHERE THE FUCK AM I, AND WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY IS GOING ON!!!¡± My voice seemed to echo around in the room I was in as the old man seated next to me uncovered his ears after the echoes of my tirade had faded away. ¡°No need to swear and shout. I am¡­let¡¯s say a caretaker of sorts for the realm you have somehow fallen into. Before you ask I have no idea how you got here and therefore have no idea how to send you back. For future reference you might not want to call on a higher power when swearing since names have power here. Now you are a special case; since your race says ¡®Human¡¯ there is no problem there, but I¡¯ve never heard of a ¡®Space Marine¡¯ class before. Interesting design if a little overpowered.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what my DM said when I was playtesting it,¡± I replied while getting up from the bed. ¡°For future reference, since you appear to be managing things around here, I need a name to call you by when I¡¯m complaining about life. I¡¯m not just going to call you some random old dude since you gods can probably change your features at will. You said you were a sort of caretaker right? How about I call you Q? You kind of remind me of him, and since you are the ¡®caretaker¡¯ you probably have power over normal notions of time, space, the laws of physics, and even reality itself right?¡± The being now named Q mused, ¡°Technically since I¡¯m the ¡®caretaker¡¯ as you put it I¡¯m not supposed to directly interfere, but yes I do have that power.¡± ¡°So why have I been stuck in this world for a few days and not brought here sooner?¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Well,¡± Q admits ashamedly, ¡°You sort of slipped through the cracks of the word. We had no idea you existed until you started to get experience.¡± ¡°By ¡®We¡¯,¡± I asked, ¡°do you mean the royal We or this world¡¯s pantheon?¡± ¡°The pantheon¡± Q replied. ¡°Each being of this world is supposed to have some sort of higher power that they can look up to. It is a very crowded pantheon with Major Gods for each of the races, Gods for classes, Minor Gods of activities, and many others. You however don¡¯t. That¡¯s how you slipped through. No one knew you were there until you started to get experience through the system, at which point you became my problem.¡± ¡°So what now,¡± I inquired. ¡°Well since you don¡¯t have a God so how about you pray to me?¡± Q said with a cheerful air. The glare I gave him could have melted a titanium bulkhead. ¡°...I take it that¡¯s a no then. I still am going to be your contact up here until you get back to your world or choose a God of your own. Perhaps your very own God Emperor?¡± Thinking about it Q was probably my best point of contact. I didn¡¯t know or understand anything about how deities worked in this realm. They could be some sort of anthropomorphic personifications or actual beings who somehow came into godly amounts of power. Best the devil you know then the devil you don¡¯t. Thinking about my situation in Lumarest and its fantasy setting I asked a very pertinent question. ¡°Do you have anything to make me less conspicuous?¡± I asked hopefully, ¡°The armor is great and all but rather noticeable in this fantasy setting, not to mention weighing a ton.¡± ¡°Keep in mind with your new body some of that weight is yours. I can¡¯t do much for your size or weight, you¡¯ll always stand out due to those but here take this. It¡¯s a Ring of Arming. It allows you to switch between two sets of armor and weapons. I¡¯d recommend seeing what is offered at the blacksmith for a more period appropriate apparel.¡± Taking the ring I examined it. It appeared to be a perfectly smooth ring bearing a massive turquoise stone carved in the shape of a heavily armored knight. ¡°Well put it on. When you wake up it will be on your finger and all you have to do is think about swapping the armor and it should work. I¡¯d recommend having something to change into so you¡¯re not standing there in the buff. Maybe if you ask your traveling companions nicely they¡¯ll get you some new clothes.¡± ¡°Wait...should?¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s all for now. See you if something else pops up. Bye now.¡± ¡°Should!?!¡± The last thing I saw as the room faded around me was Q jauntily waving goodbye.