War Aeternus 3: The Culling

by Charles Dean

  Game Manual

  The War Aeternus Tutorial:

  Only read before actually playing the game if you absolutely must, as all tutorials to true gamers are considered spoilers, and as such, caution is advised.

  Character Stats:

  Accuracy: Allows one to land projectiles. This stat impacts archery and bow related skills in a multiplicative fashion.

  Charisma: Each point of charisma increases the user’s likability by 1% and reduces market prices when buying or selling by .25% where applicable. Note, shopkeepers will not take a loss when trading no matter how high a user’s Charisma is.

  Concentration: Allows one to better cast spells in combat without being interrupted.

  Coordination: The game designers lack this attribute in real life, but we felt the need to include it because people say it is important for combat.

  Courage: Each point of Courage improves pain tolerance by 1% and reduces the likelihood of being influenced by a fear-based attack by 1%. (Chapter 2)

  Deceit: Deceit improves the likelihood of successfully lying to others.

  Faith: Each point of Faith the user has increases the ability of their deity to affect the world and increases the chance of their deity interfering on their behalf. As the Faith stat increases, physical characteristics and appearance may change. Faith also increases the chance for the user to resist curses.

  Intelligence: So, Intelligence isn’t just for learning skills faster. It seems you can’t even learn or use certain skills without it. (C3)

  Reflex: This is a hidden stat, that allows one to be better at reacting to things. Like ping pong.

  Spirit: This stat’s effects are not allowed to be discussed with users, for fear that we will be unable to create deus-ex-machina mechanics in future game editions.

  Power: Each point of Power increases damage by 1 point.

  Toughness: Each point of Toughness increases hit points by 10. The fact this stat is here is silly, since it’s redundant and hit point alone should be included, but then the status messages in War of Eternity would have to include a separate line from hit points and primary stats, and that is more effort than we, the game designers, wanted to put in. We’re that lazy.

  These Stats can be impacted by status effects. Some of the effects are vague and vary more than others.

  Here are some example effects that could negatively impact one’s character sheet.

  Inebriation (Penalty) - Inebriation causes the player to lose 50% of their intelligence, 30% of their coordination and 30% of their reflex stats.

  Fatigue (Penalty) - Running all day can have its downsides.

  Known Characters:

  Alexander: Masha’s father and a rather mysterious man. He is skilled at many things, but mostly just embarrassing his daughter so much that she has developed the ultimate thick skin against lame dad jokes and awful, cringey comments.

  Arand: Top fighter of house Alastar who went missing before the challenge. Drugged with sleeping agents, kidnapped from his own home and shipped off to a nearby town where he was held for a week before being let go.

  Augustus: The antagonistic old male figure of the game who is supposed to connect with the main character over time, build a budding relationship and assure the main character’s success in karate tournaments even if the main character has to completely cheat to win. Head kicks are disqualifying! However, this particular shapeshifting alcoholic god lost his memo about the caring and connecting part. Instead, he spends most of the book, besides warping Lee to and from different worlds, making bacon, turning into very small animals, and getting drunk. He even showed up to chapter one so drunk that he was unable to properly indoctrinate Lee into the new world, and instead insulted and pranked him.

  Brian the Undead Zombie: The life of Brian was rather long and difficult, but in the end, he was able to look on the bright side. Then he got turned into a zombie and used as a tutorial combat instruction side for the game.

  Brigid: A leading general of The Dragon King’s Empire, she was duped into attack Kirshtein so that Lee could win against the Herald Devin. As punishment for her folly, she was ordered by the king to extinguish the Phouka threat. Undeterred, she accepted the suicide mission as punishment for failures. Staunchly loyal to her troops.

  Connacht: A leader of House of Conchobhair, one of the last remaining Human factions of Kirshtein.

  Dave, The Old Fart-Whistle: Nothing more needs to be said. Dave is an old fart-whistle.

  David: The Chef. Never trust a chef who cannot cook fried chicken. But, this one has an excuse for it.

  Deigha, Firbolg Goddess of Ice: Based on her personality, she might as well be the official goddess of grudges too. For an ice queen, she has a real problem letting things go.

  Delilah: A combination of sexy, strong and beautiful, this sick sadist collects people like toys and wants her very own Human Herald to lick her boots. Enjoys studded leather collars.

  Devin McGuinness: The Herald of the Goddess of Ice, Deigha. Once had a son.

  Donovan Miller: Justice heavy Firbolg found out he has to pay more on taxes than his boss, even though his boss makes five times as much as him, so now he’s out killing everything in sight in the name of justice. No one has told him what exactly qualifies as justice because of his temper though.

  Geoffrey: The town’s local tailor. Does some suspicious stuff that gets him into trouble?

  Gregory: A pretentious lawyer whose book-smart intellect is often only beaten by his own ego and street-smart stupidity.

  Grimalkin: We thought we were being creative. It’s just a cat.

  Haikai: The greatest baker in all Charles-written multiverses.

  Herald of the God of Books and Stories: This Herald’s gift with words was second to none, not in that he was clever, but that in his words literally manifested themselves as tangible and deadly opponents for whatever victim fell prey.

  Herbert the Green Hat: An unfortunate man who should keep a better eye on his wife.

  Hunter: Previously undefeated champion of House Alastar. Uses war maul as a weapon.

  Kate: Miller’s now-deceased beloved fiancée.

  Jade: The blue-haired herald of Mary, the Goddess of Blood. She is spunky, out-going, and always the main-character in her own drama--unless Lee is around. Obsessed with all things 'anime,' she is out to find her role in Lee's harem, and she won’t let some tsundere stand in her way.

  Jian Fu: The wife of Herbert.

  Lee: Originally, he was nothing more than a Data Engineer, but after being pulled into another world, he can’t even contribute anything. As the main character of the game, he comes equipped with all of one’s token expectations: girls that like him for just being there, bland and over-caring attitude, hypocritical morals that he changes based on circumstance, lack of self-awareness, and that annoying, ever-present power of ‘feelings.’

  Ling: Ying’s Daughter. Because every book or story needs a hot, attractive woman who at first has trouble thinking for herself.

  Maedhbh: The shifting queen of the Phouka. She is out to purge all forms weakness from the world, and she no regrets if that means killing everyone in her path. She’s strangely devoted to Lee for unknown reason and see herself as his future mate.

  Miller: see Donovan Miller

  Mr. Ying: Because Ling wouldn’t be right without her parent.

  Silinus the Slayer: One of the great Leprechaun champions of the arena, known at first for his victories, but later as a cautionary tale against being a braggart. His explosive death at the hands of a lower-level Human was made much of in the bars around Kirshstein after the battle, more than a few scathing tunes arising to commemorate his spectacular defeat. Here is one example:

  There was once a Firbolg they called Silinus,

  And his speeches and boasting were villainous.

  For his talk was some hot air

  And his folly was laid bare

  When that Herald got fired up and bilious.

  Oran: One of the g
uards who oversees Lee’s time in the arena. He secretly converts and becomes a follower of Augustus after witnessing Lee’s magical abilities and receiving consolation for a recent loss in his life.

  Pelham: A Human knight captain, an experienced fighter, and, like Dave, one of the veterans of the colosseum.

  Quaid: A thoroughly-racist jerk who really enjoys hitting Lee.

  Ramon: This is the bartender character. While information dump characters have been nearly made irrelevant by the introduction of game walkthroughs, tutorials, and side books that have to hold the impatient reader’s attention, it’s still helpful to have a good old bartender type character to fill in the player on lore and helpful events. This particular one just so happens to not only be the bartender, but the owner of a very practical bar, with great ale, good food, and beds to crash on so there won’t be any drunk horse riders.

  Ulchabhannadhbh: Look, even we can’t pronounce this name. Sorry.

  William: Top fighter of house Alastar who went missing before the challenge. Drugged with sleeping agents, kidnapped from his own home and shipped off to a nearby town where he was held for a week before being let go.

  Wolfe: Everyone needs a good and charismatic wingman. The type that tells your most annoying, morally bankrupt architect, or rather software architect, that he’s not the bad guy in the story even as he does incredibly questionable things. Wolfe, is just that guy. He’ll pat you on the back, and tell you that you’re legendary, if you have the weight for it that is. He is by far Lee’s most loyal friend, even if Lee ends up hanging out with the tall guy with a unibrow.

  Races:

  Human: You’re one, so this shouldn’t need explaining, but the average base stats for humans are 10 Power, 10 Toughness, 10 Spirit.

  Firbolg: This race of giant large browed beasts of men comes, more often than not, with orange and red coloring on either skin or head. Their fore-arms are much larger proportionately to their body than with humans. They also have boosts, which vary based on purity of blood, to their power at a cost of their Reflex, Coordination and Accuracy.

  Leprechaun: While not significantly shorter than humans, Leprechaun are noticeably smaller than Firbolgs. They suffer a penalty to power but have boosts to Coordination, Reflex, and Accuracy.

  Aes Sidhe: Not much is yet known about this mysterious race who fled from Kirshtein as Devin took control and the Firbolgs positioned themselves as the ruling class.

  Phouka: The shapeshifting race whose powers originate from the blessing of the earth itself. They believe that they were born weak, but possessing the strength needed to receive their cursed blessing is no small feat.

  Items:

  From Book One:

  Sword of Slight Stabbing: Just another name for the awful starting sword Lee gets. The name changes based on how much he hates it at any given moment.

  Blade of Failure: Just another name for the awful starting sword Lee gets. The name changes based on how much he hates it at any given moment.

  Every Noob’s Starting Sword: Just another name for the awful starting sword Lee gets. The name changes based on how much he hates it at any given moment.

  Adventurer’s Starting Sword: Just another name for the awful starting sword Lee gets. The name changes based on how much he hates it at any given moment.

  Book of Augustus, holy text of the God of Alcohol and Crafts: The magical bible of Augustus. Unlike other bibles, this particular book is more craft and brewing related. If one knows how to ask the right question, the book will always have the right answer, but knowing the right question is much harder than it looks.

  Fine leather boots offer 6 damage reduction over the surface they cover, reduce energy spent on travel by 15%, and increase the effectiveness of sneak by one rank when worn. Chapter 4.

  Leather gloves offer 5 damage reduction over the surface they cover and increase grip strength on weapons. Chapter 4.

  Leather pants offer 5 damage reduction over the surface they cover, reduce energy spent on travel by 15%, and increase the effectiveness of sneak by one rank when worn. Chapter 4.

  Cloth Armor offers 3 damage reduction over the surface it covers and also reduces damage from heat or cold based attacks by 5%. Chapter 4.

  Bronze sword Deals 8 damage. Chapter 4.

  Oak bow Chapter 5.

  Bronze Dagger Chapter 5.

  One box of unwritten letters Chapter 6.

  One silver dagger Chapter 6.

  One tower shield Chapter 6.

  Ling loots a longsword Chapter 6.

  Sturdy Leather Boots Chapter 7.

  Armor Pants Chapter 7.

  Armor Chest Chapter 7.

  Armor Wrist Guards Chapter 7.

  Short Sword Chapter 7.

  Tower Shields Chapter 7.

  Sturdy Leather Armor Helmets. Chapter 7.

  World Stone Shards: These, when connected to form the original world stone, will allow the user to bypass the kill-spree of other heralds and claim victory for his god.

  Three blank pages from the Book of Endless Dreams Chapter 12

  From Book Two

  Eye of the Cragaboom Chapter 1

  Full Plate Iron Chest Piece Chapter 2

  Fine Steel Sword Chapter 2

  3x Devilkin Skins Chapter 4

  5x Sceilewolf Scales Chapter 4

  Spiddlendra Carapace Chapter 5

  Bowl of the Ice Queen’s Pudding Chapter 12

  From Book Three

  1 crumpled letter Chapter 1

  1 tower shield Chapter 1

  1 obsidian dagger Chapter 2

  1 fine silver pendant Chapter 3

  The Seal of House Tigernach Chapter 3

  The Deed to Tigernach manor Chapter 3

  1 yew bow Chapter 4

  1 feather Chapter 8

  The Eye of Changing Fates Chapter 10

  Skills

  Appreciative Drunk reduces the inebriation stat penalties by 1% flat, such that with level 1 appreciative drunk the player will only suffer 49% Intelligence, 29% coordination, and 29% reflex penalties. It also will add other stats depending on the user’s accomplishments or properties. These Combat skills are changed while Drunk as well:

  Unarmed Combat changes to Drunk Fu.

  Swordplay changes to Tipsy Blade.

  Sneak changes to No Squeaky Floorboards Please.

  Blood Shield: It is often said that the best defense is a good offense and that a shield is one of the best offensive tools a soldier can use. Through unorthodox use of the shield, one’s skills with the tool will improve, and one’s reflexes will improve when both blocking and assaulting enemies with the shield. Makes a bloody mess.

  Carpentry: [this answer is being left blank to prevent the temptation to make a dirty innuendo.]

  Cooking: This skill improves one’s ability to manage time and ingredients in the kitchen.

  Delegation: In a world full of text messages, it's hard to understand or appreciate the importance of instant communication. Let no one forget that empires are built on communication networks and the sharing information.

  Faith Healing: This skill allows one to use one’s own spirit to heal and patch up the wounds of himself, or others.

  Glass Smithing: This skill improves one’s ability to create and shape glass structures using sand. Perfect for making vases, goblets and statuary.

  Golem Sculpting: Allows the user to create a living creature out of an inanimate material, like clay. The higher the level, the larger and fiercer the creature will become. The golem will be telepathically linked with the user, and this does include sight, so we recommend new players read the ethics handguide before using this skill.

  Ignis Veritas: It's like my good friend Dakota always says: The best fires are the ones you start yourself. Even if it’s on accident.

  Knife Combat: Knife fighting is not for those who are just quick or dexterous, but also for those who know how and when to take a blow. It requires one to have both a strong constitution and a tolerance for pain, as ra
rely does either party in a knife fight walk away unharmed. Improving one’s skill in Knife Combat also improves one’s street cred.

  Masonry: Mixing and matching is for more than the hyper-conscious well-dressed this days, and it’s rarely more important than when making cement. One wrong ratio, and the foundations of an entire empire might come crumbling down around you.

  Nectar of the Gods: For the zymurgist on the go, alcohol can be made anywhere and everywhere with this amazing talent. Why bother waiting for the distilleries and breweries to make a beverage? They say liquor is quicker, but now it is practically instant and on tap anywhere!

  Sewing: A good suit makes the man, and a good suit is sewn well. Despite what they say, sewing makes the man.

  Sleight of Hand: This skill improves one’s ability to hold, manipulate and use small objects deftly without onlookers noticing. Increasing the skill’s level allows for better unseen manipulation of small objects. Great if you want to make a killing in Vegas.

  Sneak: Improves one’s ability to stay hidden, move silently, and act undetected.

  Harder to Notice if People Aren’t Paying Attention: Being hard to notice is always easier when you are uninteresting or at least not as interesting as anything else in the room. Make it work for you, you sneaky devil, you.

  Sneaky Old Space Wizard: If you use this ventriloquism bonus to the Sneak skill to start a comedy act with a puppet, then you are so very unworthy--unless you are that one guy with the turban-wearing skeleton. He’s awesome.

  Statesman, The: The idealistic a leader to most, this is a courageous hero who challenges the world's flaws and leads by example and inspiration. To the rest of us, he’s a pompous windbag who never gets tired of hearing his own voice.

  Spirit Builder: The dream of every lazy college student and whimsical dictator is to have their work done for them the very moment they decide to do something and without ever having to lift a finger. Wouldn’t it be nice to just spend some mana and build an entire town without ever having to leave the couch?