Chess is a game known both for its strategy and tactics.
You have shown that beyond determining how to achieve victory, you knew why to develop the tactics you did.
You knew when to act and who was most prepared to act.
To all members of a party you are the leader of, except you:
» +0.5% increase to attribute of choice
Wow. That was a really good trait. If I had gotten it before, I might have even considered picking it as a core. If it increased by half percent each level, I could become a hell of a party leader.
Trait received: Tactician
Chess is a game known both for its strategy and tactics.
You have shown you can successfully create tactical solutions to difficult problems.
You have also learned that killing targets fast is often a good idea.
To all members of a party you are the leader of, except you:
» +0.5% increase damage
Also good. And a little annoying: I didn't get to benefit from two traits I had gone to all the trouble to receive.
Again, the game seemed intent on make my life harder.
"Congratulations on the new traits, sir."
"How do you know about that?"
"I got a status effect icon for Tactician and Strategist, sir. And I was asked to pick an attribute to receive the Strategist's bonus."
"Oh, right."
We got out of the cave and began to walk back to the city.
"By the way, hell of a job, Daggers. You're too good in this game."
"I know, sir."
"Hah. But you still can't make me a sandwich."
She hit me in the stomach, and I bent forward. "You are supposed to act as a humble slave, sir. You are welcome for the help."
I didn't reply.
* * *
Opening the doors to Marbareus' room, I heard yelling.
"-my protection! You should not-" The First Lady stopped as we entered.
"Oops. Knock, knock, I guess."
"We'll talk later, brother." She turned to leave. "Maybe after you properly teach your slaves some manners."
"Actually, my First Lady, I have business with you." I got my backpack.
"What could a slave possibly have to talk to me?" There was true disgust in her face.
"You see, earlier a guard from the fourth plantation came into town talking about your little problem with the gabats and how the Prince was being... Difficult. He mentioned a reward should we take care of it for you." I took the gabat's head out of the backpack. "This is their king's head."
"I have no business with you, slave."
Leave it to Valia to make a man fight for his reward. "Really? So I should spread the word that your soldiers don't act on your orders?"
Her mouth became a fine line. "What do you want?"
"Well, gold. Also, some points in intelligence would be nice."
"Intelligence points? Did you get a quest for it? Without my consent?" Her eyes were little slits full of hatred.
"Seems like it."
"The gods hate me!" She took a purse from her cloak and threw at me, then looked at Marbareus. "If this slave ever comes close to me again, I'll kill him, I swear!" She stormed out of the room.
Quest completed: Help Production Cave 4
Random primary attribute point received:
» +1 agility
Checking the purse, I saw it was the same one Daggers and Eternal had received from Marbareus. Cosmic justice, it seemed. I opened it and was about to count the coins when a small window appeared over it.
Money: 60g 60s 60b
Items:
» 5 icebomb stones
A tooltip. Oh, the quirks the rich get with their items.
"Now..." I turned to Marbareus and threw him the head. "...I think I promised you this."
Verbal quest completed: Bring the King Gabat's Head to Marbareus
Random primary attribute point received:
» +1 perception
Cool. Not only had I discovered verbal quests – which were similar to hidden ones, except I had said I'd do it beforehand –, I now knew that I could receive double the reward for similar quests. That was a power leveling tool I'd love to abuse.
Marbareus caught the head midair and looked at it. "It doesn't look too strong."
"Yeah, I'm sure you can see the item name. King Gabat's Head." It had been something I hadn't thought about when I took the spider queen head: I could discover the monsters' names even if they didn't drop an item. I just had to chop their heads off.
"Yes. Well done, observer." I smiled at his small jab and he turned to me.
"Where is Eternal?"
"Gabat food." I still felt bad about it, but damn me if I'd let Marbareus know.
He looked at me silently for a few seconds, then spoke as if nothing had happened. "Since you have a new vendetta with the city's Captain of the Guard," he emphasized the title, making it clear how stupid I was, "I guess I'll have to move the Resistance's schedule up or risk losing you and upsetting Manhart."
"Afraid of the old lich, huh?"
"I have already tolerated your presence up to this point. Letting all my hard work go to waste would be a shame. Pack your things and meet me here in twenty minutes."
I left, and as I closed the door I saw him rip the Gabat's tongue out and bite into it, chew it, swallow it, and smile to himself.
Creepy guy.
There was no real item packing to be done as all I owned was on me.
"I will sell my loot, sir."
"Ok. I don't think it's safe for me to walk around, what about selling mine, too? Oh, and here is your third from the First Lady's reward."
Giving her my loot – except for the shield –, I also gave her twenty gold coins.
"Get me the best shield you can get using this money, please."
"What size, sir?"
"I only really know small and medium, so I'd guess medium. It might be a larger one if you think it'd not get in the way of my movement."
"Roger. Anything else?"
I thought about that. Metal armor might be good, but it might slow me down in case I had to run. On the other hand, I was the tank of the group now.
"Yeah, better armor. Plate." I took my purse.
"That would be a bad idea, sir."
I frowned. "Why?"
"It is too heavy, sir. And you have too little HP, anyway. With leather armor, you can try to dodge and run, at least."
"Daggers, you do realize that we are much stronger in Valia than in Earth, right? I can deal with some armor."
"Sir, the metal in Valia is different."
"Huh?"
"Think of two metal plates weighing a pound each, sir. Separately, they weigh two pounds. But if they somehow become a single item, their weight increases to more than that. Metal armor is really heavy."
"But I-" I stopped myself mid-sentence. I had tried the armor in Ter'nodril, but now I remembered that it gave me twenty points to strength, and I still had been encumbered. And the thick shield I had given her was also proof of such issue. "Oh. Okay. Just get me something cheap and heavy to wear, then, without worrying about how good it is."
"I don't understand your reasoning, sir." She took the money I gave her regardless.
"So I can train in it. When I'm stronger, I'll buy better stuff. But if I break the armor just like I broke my shield, I won't have wasted so much money."
"Good reasoning, sir." She surprised me again by how fast she could accept an opposing viewpoint. "Anything else?" She repeated the question.
"Yeah. Why do you keep the sir? The quest is over."
"You are the party leader, sir. Unless you want to disband while I have your money."
"Keep up the good work, soldier!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Dismissed."
She walked away. Once you got used to it, the role-playing was kinda nice. And since we were in the characters' bodies, there was no reason not to. Daggers was special
in that her dad was military, so she was only half role-playing.
Wait, was I doing the same? Putting a part of me in my character? If so, what was I role-playing as?
The answer came quickly to me: I was obviously role-playing a jackass.
Way to go, champ. Didn't even try to be something different from real life, huh?
I took the chance to put my money in the high-quality purse but left the ring in the common one. After it had nearly wrecked my day twice, I decided to sell it to Manhart next time I saw him; the lich looked like the kind of guy who would would know what to do with a cursed ring that turned people into giant undead spiders.
Sitting on an armchair and looking at the unlit fireplace, I waited for the time to leave.
What was ahead of me? I wondered.
* * *
Five minutes after leaving the city I took off my slave collar and threw it as far as I could.
"Mister Thorn," Tardas said, "I suggest you at least keep your hood on. Sorina has no love lost for runaway slaves, and we are still in guard patrol range."
"Don't worry. You might have some fancy toy to make all these crystals not affect you, but all I have is this cloak."
Copper Kite Shield
» Resistance: 75%
For all my twenty gold coins – or at least that's what she told me – Daggers had bought me a pretty neat shield. It made me realize how good the copper shield I had got in the prison had been. The only downside of it was its color: copper was so not in fashion!
Trash-Quality Pure Iron Armor Set
The results of a failed experiment by a non-gifted apprentice.
» Prevents critical hits to the head
While wearing a complete set, you receive the same defenses to all your body:
» +10 defense
She had also bought me a shitty armor set. The thing was so heavy that I couldn't even wear everything, only the chest armor, and I already received a level eight encumbered status.
"How the hell is it so heavy?"
"It is iron, sir."
"You sound like that explains anything."
"Iron is heavier, sir. Your sword is darksteel, correct? Darksteel is lighter."
"Oh."
It made some sense. Unless there were higher-quality light metals in this world, it would be impossible for people to work with it.
We were walking in a line. Marbareus led, followed by three catrons – cow-sized cats – carrying lots of bags. I was next, followed by Daggers and Tardas.
We walked for another fifteen minutes until we hit a kind of line on the ground. It was thin and black, made of metal and firmly attached.
"This is the limit of Sorina. The City Guard can only leave if they are accompanying the Prince," Marbareus told Daggers when we stopped a few meters ahead.
"Even in wars?" I asked.
"Yes. The Vampire Princes always fight in our wars, but The Guard stays behind; the Princes take the real military with them." He shot a sinister smile at me. "They usually come back with grand tales of massacre and blood. They also bring bodies. We throw a big party as we eat our defeated foes."
"Urgh. Shouldn't you only drink the blood?"
"We could. Blood is all we need to survive, but nothing beats the taste of a good human heart with some elven blood over it. Food can also be a pleasure."
I swallowed. Did vampire players also eat these... Delicacies? Actually, I'd rather not know. "If elves are tasty, what about drow? Do you like eating them?" I threw a look at Daggers.
"Even if the Faithful allowed drow bodies to be eaten without a full-fledged war, no one would want them. They taste like spoiled elf. Or so I'm told."
"Good to know. I'll be sure to tell my friends."
"Do that, as soon as you find yourself some."
"I'll keep that in mind. Or maybe I'll get some slaves to force them to fill this big hole inside me. And I'm not even talking about eating them... Yet. Sound good to you?"
He didn't answer.
Tardas went to the catrons and began unpacking, beginning by setting up a big tent. For the next hour or so we did nothing as he worked.
The camp ended up having three tents, two small and a huge one. The smaller ones had enough space to walk inside and some chairs. One was for Tardas and Eternal and the other one was for Daggers and myself.
Only I needed to sleep in the group and no one knew about this, so there were no beds around.
"Eternal should be here tomorrow, unless he decides to travel to Valia a little later," Marbareus said. "Either way, we will start when he gets here. Do not get more than twenty meters away from the camp." He went into his tent.
Quest updated: A Meeting
[Obey the Resistance – Deception]
F- rank
Wait in the camp.
Waiting time: approximately 22 hours
Conditions:
» Cannot be denied
» Disobeying will lead to unfavorable consequences
"Sir, I will use the time to travel out."
"I was going to invite you for some sparing, but okay."
"Then I will stay a little longer, sir. It will be good for my morale to beat you to your knees before leaving."
Let's just say that if sparring had happened, Daggers would have been able to cut fireballs midair with her daggers, dodge all my attacks and get to my flank faster than I could defend myself.
Thank goodness it never happened.
It especially didn't happen multiple times as we waited for Eternal to appear.
Such fights would have been really, really painful experiences.
In a way that shall not be described.
Ever.
Jack Thorn
Unbound Deathlord
Legendary Spotter, Hedge Wizard, Pioneer, Dark Archmage
Level 13
Hit Points:2 / 320
Mana Points:580 / 620
Stamina:10 / 225
Attributes:
Strength:8
Agility:9
Dexterity:6
Constitution:9
Intelligence:14
Perception:7 + 10 [Items]
Willpower:10
Charisma:8
Traits:
© Adept Controller:21
© Adept Energizer:13
Adept Mage:11 + 10 [Items]
Diviner:2
Gold Digger:2
Scavenger:2
Scout:2
Antimage:1
Athlete:1
Crafter:1
Healer:1
Meditator:1
Mind Seer:1
Negotiator:1
Nitpicker:1
Shadow:1
Strategist:1
Tactician:1
Warrior:1
War
Specter
Underworld – Returned – Undead
It is believed specters can appear anywhere in the world, including on the Surface. Even if this theory was never been proven, powerful returned souls have been known to lay waste to whole towns.
However, it is in the Underworld, more specifically in the Catacombs, where most of them appear.
Theologians state that the gods love the surface and the waters too much. Such love is a significant deterrent to most of the hateful energies that linger after death and lead to the beings appearances.
Light mages, on the other hand, insist it's the darkness, both of heart and in the ambient, which leads to the phenomena.
Dark mages laugh at that, reminding all that darkness cannot generate undead. This would be the domain of the death and life mages.
Death mages don't deny the possibility, while life mages argue that the ghosts aren't really undead, but spontaneous sentient ectoplasm.
Whoever is right, specters are born with an all consuming desire for vengeance and more than a few successful ones have begun their quest in the Catacombs of the Underworld.
Those who find themselves the target of these beings quickly discover there
is no running nor hiding: they will pass through doors and walls and kill their prey without flinching.
Are they indeed returned souls of the dead?
Or are they but memories held together by lingering death magic and ectoplasm?
Only the Mother knows.
-- Excerpt from "Species of Valia", by Amir, a Karr
20. Wall Walker
"I'm always here for you, little penguin."
- Aunt
"You will travel to the Great Maze..." Marbareus said, beginning the reunion.
We were inside his big tent. He had brought his expensive wooden table somehow – probably magic – and was sitting in his chair. All four of us were standing: Daggers, Eternal, Tardas and I.
"Which is?" I asked before he could continue. He looked annoyed at me.
"The great divide between the Inner and Outer Dakar. An immense maze where a trickster god lives, that only earth mages can traverse."
"Why are we going there?" Yet again I asked before he could go on. His red eyes brightened a little.
"Only the earthbound are allowed to guide people through the Maze. It's one of the reasons they rose to the top of Dakar."
"The top?" The glow in his eyes intensified.
"Yes, deathlord. Together with the darkbound, they are the most powerful deathlords in Dakar." He looked at me in silence.
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Well? Aren't you going to explain the plan? Don't let me stop you."
Marbareus closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them again, they were glowing substantially. He opened his mouth.
"What about the vampires' side?" I asked. "Who are the strongest?"
"Stop! This is your first and last warning! I swear by Logan that I will kill you if you interrupt me one more time!"
Divine Vow Witnessed
You have witnessed a vow in the name of Logan, the God of Blood.
If you see the one who made the vow break it, you can call Logan's judgment upon them.
Unbound Deathlord: Challenge Page 36