by N H Paxton
My feet touched down in the grass outside of an old Rowanheath, before the great walls were built, before it was a seat of power. I didn’t know how I had that information, but it was there, fresh in my mind. I sat on the grass, my body slowly healing itself. I felt a pang of guilt deep in my heart for Alvinoth, even though I didn’t truly know him. Somehow I felt a deep, powerful connection to him.
I rifled through my newly acquired bag and pulled out the tome I had found in the tunnels. I flipped open the book, and my mind filled with knowledge. The pages turned of their own accord, my mind taking in every single detail, every bit of information they held.
I witnessed history in slow motion as cities around me were built and destroyed, machinery and mechanical beings were constructed and then destroyed their creators. I sat before kings, princes and emperors as they were cast down time and again. I was privy to a million different futures, all of the technological advancement of Eldgard, and the fall thereof. Each time the cycle restarted, I wasn’t present. And then, finally, I saw a future where I sat on the grass, right where I was planted, and leafed through the book.
“What does this mean? This thing, this timeline?” I spoke to the air, and for the first time, it spoke back.
“Vlad,” it whispered. “You are the hingepoint of millennia of devastation.” The wind coalesced into the shape of a young woman, her figure indistinct, yet completely solid.
“Vlad is one man, how is this true?” There was a great weight settling in my chest, something I didn’t want to deal with, but knew I needed to.
“You are the only one who can do these things—you can stop the end of everything.” A gentle breeze blew, and the figure began to disintegrate.
“What is it I must do!? No, do not leave, I know nothing!” I stood quickly, trying to reach the figure, but the wind simply swept it away.
“You will know.” The final words of the wind, before it was carried off, haunted me for a few moments.
I stood, in the field, alone, before I lifted the book again. In the back of the tome sat a key, sewn into the binding. It was curious, misshapen, and very very old. I gently touched the sinew that held the key in place, and it dissolved. The key rose into the air and landed softly in the palm of my hand.
It felt extremely heavy, and an intense draw filled my body. I didn’t know where exactly I needed to travel, but I knew I needed to find out what this key was for. The only thing I knew was that it was tugging at my soul, pulling it north.
Within my head, I heard a voice. It was gentle, but carried with it something that caused a prick of fear. More than hear it, though, I saw the words slowly appearing before my eyes in the air.
“I relinquish unto you this key
The key that ties, the key that binds,
The key that severs, the key that reminds,
The key to which, in your heart you shall know
What it is to feel pain, anon.”
As the words faded, they burned into my memory.
<<<>>>
Item Added
Mysterious Key: This key feels equally familiar and completely alien to you. It pulls your mind and soul north.
<<<>>>
I blinked, and the sounds of battle crashed around me like an ocean. I was back in the room, but in the here and now. I looked down at my hands, and the book was gone. I assumed it was consumed when I opened it, but wasn’t sure. I didn’t really have time to figure it out. I needed to find an item of apparent value so I could maintain my cover as an Alchemist.
I heard Jack gasp and turned my head just in time to see a spatter of blood ripped from his back as he collapsed to the ground, twisted, and slammed his giant hammer into a combatant’s testicles. His opponent grabbed at himself before a bolt of dark purple energy launched from Jack’s outstretched hand, ripping the fighter’s head clean off his shoulders. My eyes went wide as I experienced the carnage, taking in the fight like an analyst instead of a participant.
Cutter was dancing with non-Georgie, their combat fluid and acrobatic, but he was clearly outmatched. Cutter’s body was covered in small injuries, and he was starting to flag a bit.
I twisted around and continued to grab things off the shelves. I had gathered everything from the lower shelves when a bright glowing vial on the top shelf caught my eye. I grabbed it as I happened to see Jack appear out of the corner of my eye. He had either teleported or done that weird thing where he moved extremely quickly through another plane. He threw his hand out, making the motions for the putrid cloud of doom.
I held up the vial, forcing a huge smile onto my face, more for show than anything. When I picked up the vial, my interface was flooded with a new quest.
<<<>>>
Quest Alert: The Forgotten Alchemy
You have found an unusual, glowing potion in a very elegant vial. There is a woman, Reann, who runs the Boiling Cauldron alchemy shop in town. Perhaps she can impart some her of knowledge to you in exchange for this exceedingly rare item?
Quest Class: Rare, Unique
Quest Difficulty: Moderate
Success: Bring the vial of unknown liquid to Reann.
Failure: Discard, lose, or destroy the potion.
Reward: 1,000 XP; Knowledge of Herblore; Knowledge of Alchemy.
Accept: Yes/No?
<<<>>>
This would work out better than I expected—now I could give truth to the lie.
“Is here,” I shouted, over the calamity of battle.
Jack nodded to me as he rushed to aid Cutter. He shouted something about staying out of the way, but everything was drowned in a sudden and explosive display of power.
I was blind for the briefest of moments. When my sight returned, I noticed that the cultists all lay dead on the floor, blood puddling around them in a halo. It looked like they had committed suicide. The ritual circle was a whirling miasma of terrifying power. It collapsed in on itself, warping space around it. I had hoped that maybe it would just vanish, but that was clearly too much to hope for.
An atrociously hideous arm, then a second, slapped at the ground around the hole, dragging a disgusting beast from the depths of some kind of hell. It had deep blue scale-like skin and hair that glowed an iridescent yellow. Its skull was evidently that of a gargantuan ape with deformed and misaligned jaws. It pulled itself completely out of the tear in reality and howled viciously. The entire room vibrated, and my chest thrummed as though I were standing nearby during a bomb test. I just happened to catch a name on it as it surveyed the room: [Demonic Snow Yeti].
Obviously we hadn’t been unlucky enough.
The beast fixed its gaze on Jack and took off, charging across the room like a gorilla, loping along, shattering stone under its steps. Jack expertly dodged the creature’s attacks. His ability to move in combat was a sight to behold, especially since I was a clumsy oaf. I thought maybe Jack would have the advantage at a distance but was proven wrong as he narrowly defended against a volley of enormous ice shards fired from the big ape’s palm.
I felt like a total waste of space as I hunkered down behind a torture table, watching the fight unfold. Cutter was in terrible shape, and now we had a gigantic demon ape to contend with.
I didn’t know what I expected, but I certainly didn’t expect things to get considerably worse. Jack yelled something about hiding, which I was already doing, when another rent in space appeared. Out stepped an exaggeratedly large dragon made of inky black and purple. I had a moment of concern when the creature turned on Jack, but the Yeti smacked it in the side instead. The dragon rounded on the Yeti, shredding its hide with intensely sharp talons. The dragon eviscerated the Yeti with efficiency that rivaled even our most advanced antipersonnel weaponry on Earth.
I managed to rip my eyes away from the devastation of violent purple fire breath and stinking sulfuric blood just in time to watch Jack pop into existence right behind Georgie, smacking him in the face with his oversized hammer. Cutter leapt at the opportunity and drove both of his daggers i
nto Georgie’s eyes.
The sound of crunching bone and cracking stone filled the room for a moment as a terrible ripping sound echoed the removal of one of the dragon’s wings. The dragon had coiled around the Yeti and was slowly chewing through its throat. The Yeti did everything it could to try to dislodge the great winged beast, but it was failing quickly. The Yeti’s attacks slowed and then stopped entirely. The dragon disappeared in a puff of smoke as I stuck my head up from behind the table I was under.
“Is over?” I wasn’t sure what else could happen, but I had seen the situation go from worse to worst in a matter of seconds, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to see it again.
“Yeah,” Jack replied as he collapsed onto his back. He breathed heavily as he raked his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, it’s over.” It sounded as though he was laughing, which seemed like an unusual thing to do in a situation such as this. “Alright, let’s loot this place for all it’s worth, find a way to set these prisoners free, then get the hell out of this dump.”
Cutter and Jack went to work on freeing the prisoners while I kind of stood around, looking like a fool. I assisted some with the looting process, passing on most of the gear and equipment until Jack found an amazing robe, the Robes of Azure Alchemy.
He handed them to me, and I squinted a bit. I regarded the whole situation for just a moment, considering whether or not I should take them. I was skeptical, because this seemed very much like the help from Mother Russia when Ina fell sick. I was being handed a great gift, and in Russia, amazing things came with strings attached.
He shook the clothing in his hands with a very “Take this now” kind of motion. I finally gave in and took them. They were a considerable grade higher than anything I had ever seen, and I equipped them immediately.
<<<>>>
Robes of Azure Alchemy
Armor Type: Light; Enchanted Cloth
Class: Rare
Base Defense: 24
Primary Effects:
+2 to Alchemy
+4 to Intelligence
+1 to Constitution
+15% resistance to all elemental and arcane-based damage
Secondary Effects:
+1 to level of all alchemical recipes produced
<<<>>>
x7 Level Up!
You have (35) undistributed attribute points!
You have (7) undistributed proficiency points!
<<<>>>
Jack found a crown made of yellowed bone and broken bits of gems, while Cutter took only the elegant, golden rapier that Gentleman Georgie had used. I finally had a chance to look at my inventory and found that the small pouch I had been using to carry items and gear had changed to the pouch I’d received in the timeline shift from the grimoire.
Thinking of that, I looked in the corner of my vision and saw I had a notification. I opened it with excitement, looking forward to seeing my new job class.
<<<>>>
Quest Alert: Weaponizing the Alchemical
You have retrieved the Arch-Alchemist’s Engineering Grimoire, once belonging to Alvinoth the Last Alchemic Weaponeer. As a result, you have been granted the Job Class Specialization Alchemic Weaponeer! You have also been granted Alvinoth’s final creation: The Everdark Autobow! Congratulations on this tremendous accomplishment!
<<<>>>
Lore
The art of Alchemic Weaponeering was lost to the ages when the Plague Tunnels were overrun by the Broken. The Last Alchemic Weaponeer, Alvinoth, emblazoned a fragment of his soul into the Arch-Alchemist’s Engineering Grimoire in order to prevent the power of Alchemic Weaponeering from being lost forever.
Gameplay
The class kit of Alchemic Weaponeer is highly specialized, featuring the unique and powerful ability to modify previously created shematics. The Alchemy of the class provides the power to manipulate the energies and magics of Eldgard and combine it with the engineering knowledge of a Weaponeer, creating unbelievable and fantastical items. There is literally no limitation to what an Alchemic Weaponeer can create, if given enough time, knowledge, resources, and space.
<<<>>>
Alchemic Weaponeer Specialization
Though all Engineers and Alchemists have the ability to manipulate the space around them in Eldgard, Alchemic Weaponeers combine the two forms into a single, elegant dance that folds space and time into a single creation, often shattering the very walls that prevent Science and Magic from meeting. With time and focus, an Alchemic Weaponeer is ultimately capable of perfectly duplicating recipes, creating entire spaces, and transcending the generalities of Weaponeer to become a true Alchemic Engineer.
Advantages:
+15% reduced build time (1% base +1% per character level)
+15% increased stats of created items (1% +1% per character level)
+10% bonus to engineered weapon damage (1% per character level)
Access to Alchemic Weaponeer restricted skills
May wield two-handed engineered weapons in a single hand with 30% reduction in damage output
Intelligence and Spirit increased by 0.5 x character level for each piece of Light Armor worn
Disadvantages:
Class restricted (Alchemist, Engineer)
True “Neutral” Alignment
Can use all weapons; can only specialize in Engineered, Ranged, and Bladed weapons
Cannot wear Medium or Heavy Armor
Typical Skill Allotment:
Intelligence: Attack Strength is calculated as a “Wizard” class
Dexterity: Improves build times and reload speed of engineered weapons
Spirit: Enhances statistics of constructed equipment and items
<<<>>>
Everdark Autobow
Weapon Type: Engineered; Autobow
Class: Unique, Legendary
Base Damage: 38
Primary Effects:
+6 Intelligence
+4 Dexterity
+5% bonus to engineered weapon damage
Secondary Effects:
Can be loaded with (5) bolts at a time in a small magazine that fits at the base of the Autobow
<<<>>>
I clenched my fists, thinking about the amazing things I was going to be able to do now that I was an Alchemic Weaponeer. I looked up from my newfound capabilities just in time to see Cutter and Jack exchanging words, talking about a dagger. I happened to catch a glimpse of the blade, and everything about it made my skin crawl. It was pitch-black metal, but I couldn’t make out the details aside from one major thing: the face of Serth-Rog was on the pommel.
I had seen enough of this place, so I walked over to the area we had fallen into, leaned against the wall, and lit my pipe as the pair of them continued to talk. The tobacco helped to calm my fraying nerves, and I felt almost at peace.
But Wait, Is More...
THERE WERE A LOT OF things that happened on our way back to the Storme Marshes that didn’t concern me, and I was happy to ignore them entirely. I recall having stopped to speak to someone regarding some smugglers, arrangements were made for a raid into Rowanheath, and Cutter was animated about most of the situation. There was one thing that struck me as Cutter walked away with a smuggler and a member of the unofficial Thieves’ Guild.
“Wonder what that was all about,” Jack said, almost without intention.
“Who can say?” I responded, taking a step to be beside Jack, my hands resting on my hips. It had been a long day. “This is strange world, friend—seems like everything is one quest, then another. No doubt, Gentleman’s sword triggered event. This friend, Cutter, is NPC or real person?” I still had a hard time with the idea of an NPC, and the letters came out thick and irritating, like hard molasses.
“NPC,” Jack replied, almost whispering. “But I don’t think you should use that term. From what I’ve been able to find out, they might actually be aware. Not necessarily of the outside world, but maybe aware of themselves and this world. Best to avoid insulting them.”
I nodded as Jack
finished his statement, lacing my fingers behind my head with a sigh. My mind turned to Ina, and how “alive” she was, despite being code inside an algorithm, built within a machine, an infinite cosmos created inside a minute space.
“Of course,” I replied. “Am weapons designer, have used advanced technology for decades. Smart missiles. Fuzzy control systems for hacking. Advanced Bayesian networks for intelligence analysis and mapping. What has been done, it is amazing and frightful. Hard to see line between what is, and what is not, you understand?”
“I know how you feel.” Jack sighed. “Okay,” he said, turning to me and giving me a no-nonsense look. “We’re sort of on a time crunch, and we need to get back to Yunnam ASAP, so where do you need to go to complete your class quest?”
“Is not far from here,” I said, checking my map of the city. I’d gotten lucky when I collected that vial. It gave me just the thing I needed to complete the huge story I had created. “Need to bring ingredients to local apothecary. Woman is named Reann, runs Boiling Cauldron. Shouldn’t take but moment.” My broken English was really starting to get on my nerves, especially when I was trying to explain something important.
Jack looked around for a moment, then turned his head back to me. He seemed distracted.
“I know you are in great rush, but would greatly appreciate you to accompany Vlad.” I gave him my best smile, hoping that my bottomless charm, which was nonexistent, would win him over. “This Yunnam of yours is long way in Storme Marshes. Will take great deal of walking to get there on foot. Much easier to teleport, I think.”
I rolled my shoulders, thinking about what a long journey it would be as I expanded my map view. Yeah, Storme Marshes was a very long way from Rowanheath.
“Don’t worry, we’re not going to leave you behind.” Jack shot me a grin.
I knew he needed me, and I needed him. There was no way he was going to leave me to travel on my own.
Cutter came back and explained that his portion of the deal was set in stone. The smugglers would take care of their end of the bargain, and the Thieves’ Guild would do what they had offered. I still didn’t fully understand any of the situation, aside from some banter regarding taking Rowanheath from the Imperials. It seemed like an intense and lost cause. The place was crawling with Imperial-aligned Travelers and NPCs alike.