by Dakota Krout
CAL – Certified Altruistic Lexicon, the AI that controls Eternia.
Cel – A fire mage who was captured by Joe during a ritual mishap. This Mage learned too much, and the Mage’s college had found a way to silence him.
Chad – The ranger on Joe’s team, this man–also known as XsnipemasterX–is deadly with a bow.
Dylan – As the team’s tank, Dylan devoted himself to protecting his group, leading him to the rare class ‘Bulwark’.
Guard Captain – Though his name had not yet been brought up in conversation, this man was instrumental in Joe’s success so far.
Guess – An enigmatic… man…? This rogue is sliding down the path of an assassin but offers very little personal information to the group.
Jake – An Alchemist who has set up shop in the city, this man has deranged tastes and a mysterious interest in seeing random acts of violence.
Joey (Joe) Nelson – The main character of our story, Joe is a Ritualist who needs to maintain a facade of being a healer. His power can only grow.
Tatum (Hidden god) – The deity of Hidden and forbidden knowledge, Tatum has only one follower so far, Joe.
Terra – An overly exuberant mage in Joe’s guild that has plans for becoming an enchanter.
Tim – A real-world friend of Joe’s who brought him into the game. His cryptic advice and secret warnings have not yet been explained.
Tiona – The leader of Joe’s party, Tiona is a no-nonsense warrior that beats her subordinates into shape and makes sure that each person is doing the job they should be striving for.
Known Rituals
Gravedigger’s requiem – This ritual targets a single creature and upon activation, emits a sonic field around the victim. This field is attuned to the frequency of earth and stone and will soften the ground in a three foot radius around them. All earth in the affected area will act like quicksand, dragging the victim deep into the ground. Typically, the target will vanish without a trace, making this a preferred ritual for the assassination of important figures.
Little sister’s cleaning service – This is a ritual designed for long term utility. It will clean and organize anything in its range but can be given more specific instructions if needed.
Predator’s territory – Wards against creatures, beasts, and monsters ten levels above the genetic material used in the ritual. Caution! The inherent bloodlust generated by this ritual draws in any creature above the ten level threshold.
Quarantine area – This ritual was designed specifically to drive off unwanted company. The designer didn’t seem to realize that his personality would have worked twice as effectively! The closer anyone gets to the center of the ritual, the greater the effects of nausea and bowel discomfort.
Ritual of containment – This ritual utilizes the target’s stamina to power the ritual and absorbs any mana from the target that is bound into a spellform. If target leaves the containment area, their stamina and mana will be fully drained. Their health will also begin to fall but can never fall past ten points due to the effect of this ritual. Health, mana, and stamina will only regenerate once the target has re-entered the circle. To cast this ritual, the target needs to show ‘willingness’ to be confined. Remaining in the spell circle for a full minute after activation and a donation of their blood can be used to show their ‘willingness’.
Stasis – This ritual makes the target unable to interact with anything, move, or perform any action. The target is still able to see and think. While this ritual is active, the target and anything they have equipped cannot be damaged, moved, or altered in any way. This ritual lasts for five minutes.
Skills at the end of book one
Channeling: Beginner II. Effect: Spray and pray? Fire and forget? Not this mage! At seventy-five percent spell cost per second, you can maintain a connection to a spell that would otherwise use up the mana allotted to it, increasing its effect over time. -.2 cost and +.1% spell damage per second per skill level. +5% spell stability
Cleanse: Beginner 0. Effect: 10% bonus effectiveness against poison and toxins already in the body.
Coalescence: Novice IX. +1% spell efficiency and +1% mana regeneration per skill level. Wisdom +1. Increase your wisdom to coalesce your mana to a higher degree. (Maximum 50% spell efficiency.)
Darkvision: Novice II. Effect: Able to see in total darkness with no penalties. Range of vision is halved. Passive, no cost.
Drawing: Novice V. Effect: Ritualist class exclusive: -50% mana and component cost.
Herbalism: Novice I. Effect: Plant? What plant? All you see is ingredients! Whether they are for dinner or for creating potions is up to you! Effect: Usable raw plants are 1% easier to find, 1% easier to process, and have 1% greater effect per skill level!
Hidden Sense: Novice II. Effect: An innate sense that allows you to find hidden items, people, or knowledge. (Affected by perception) Passive, no cost.
Jump around: Master 0. Effect: Add your jump skill level to anything that can be ‘jumped’. (Current: +62)
Jump: Master 0. Effect: Your ability to jump skillfully and without hurting yourself. As a master jumper, stamina drain from jumping is quartered! You can now jump very accurately, twisting, tumbling, and even attacking while in the air! You now may choose to fall faster or slower, increasing or decreasing your time off the ground by a small amount.
Lay on hands: Novice IV. Effect: Increased healing when touching the target of the spell. Healing done: 10n where n equals skill level. Cost: 5n mana. Cooldown: 3 sec. Will heal dark affinity creatures twice as effectively.
Mana manipulation: Beginner IX. -30% mana. (+1% per skill level). +1n% spell efficiency. (Maximum 25%)
Medic: Novice I. Effect: This skill increased efficiency of bandages, medicines, and potions by .1% per skill level.
Mend: Beginner VII. Effect: Select a target to heal restoring 5n health where ‘n’ equals skill level. Unlike the lower tier skill ‘heal’, Mend is able to heal broken bones. Congratulations! Mend has reached the beginner ranks, and dark affinity is automatically added to the spell and will heal dark affinity creatures twice as effectively.
Query: (Was Pray) Novice I. Effect: Spend a full minute praying asking for help or guidance. Results may vary. Less likely to succeed if deity is occupied. No cost. Cooldown: one day.
Reading. Novice VII. Effect: While others run around and get injured, you only strain your eyes! +2% reading speed per skill level!
Resurrection (Novice I): This is a spell granted only to the champion of a deity, and only one follower may have this spell at a time. Increase your skill with this spell to increase its effects. Effect: Restore a fallen person to life with (24+1n)% health, mana, and stamina and returns (19+1n)% of lost experience where ‘n’ equals skill level. Can be used once every 24 hours. Target must be a lower or the same level as the user. Target must be resurrected within one hour after death. Cannot be used on self.
Ritual Lore: Beginner 0. Effect: Allows you to fine tune rituals that you find or create. Can increase potency of rituals and/or decrease cost of rituals.
Ritual Magic: Student IX: Effect: Ability to create, maintain, and change rituals much more efficiently than usual. -.5% mana and component cost per skill level.
Shadow spike: Novice II. Effect: Create a spike from any shadow that impales target. Damage: 10n where ‘n’ is skill level. (Dark-aligned magic) Cost: 10n mana.
Speech: Novice I. Effect: Talk your way out of things, talk your way in! This skill adds a bonus equivalent to your skill level onto your charisma when attempting to convince another person or group of people to do something they normally would not. Only activates via talking. Chance for new or unique access to quests has increased!
Staff mastery: Novice I. Effect: You have stepped on the path of hitting your opponents with blunt objects and hoping against hope they stay away from you. You are doing great! Effect: 1% extra damage per level when using a staff. 2% accuracy with staves per level.
Titles
Anti-mage.
Effect: You have killed the highest ranked mage in the Kingdom. By doing so, you have proven that you have what it takes to kill any of them. +10% spell resist. +50% intimidation against mage-based classes.
Baldy. Effect: Your head is permanently bald. You cannot change this fact; this title is mandatory. Wigs will burst into flame if placed on your head. Wearing a hat will give you a temporary -1 to charisma. Your head reflects light, -20% ability to hide when in sunlight.
...I choose to be... Effect: This title grants a 10% boost to any title it is combined with.
I’m a healer! I swear! Effect: Gain 10% bonus experience when you heal at least 50% of the damage done during combat.
Immovable object. Effect: You have withstood spells that could shatter buildings and weapons that can pierce steel. You did so stoically, without flinching or dodging. +80% knockback resistance.
...in darkest night. Effect: 50% resistance to dark-aligned magic
The Chosen of Tatum. Effect: You are the chosen of a deity and have his blessing. When your class would show as ‘cleric’, it will now show as ‘Arch Cleric’. You have gained access to a new spell.
Try me with trials! Effect: Charisma is 10% more effective against non-player characters.
Reputation Chart
Population Centers
Ardania (Human capital): 430 Rank: Neutral
Groups
Human Guards: 4201 Rank: Ally
Mages College: 6000 Rank: Extended Family
Scholars: 1001 Rank: Reluctantly Friendly
Races
Dwarves: 0 Rank: Neutral
Elves: 0 Rank: Neutral
Gnomes: 0 Rank: Reluctantly Friendly
Goblin: 0 Rank: Neutral
Humans: 0 Rank: Neutral
Wolfmen: 0 Rank: Neutral
Gods
Hidden (Tatum): 2634.5 Rank: Friendly
Known Monsters
Animals
Fox: A small creature in Eternia, foxes are intelligent and fast. Ranging in level from 2-4, these creatures are usually loners, preferring to attack rabbits instead of humans.
Horned Rabbits: These are some of the weakest creatures in Eternia. Rabbits can range from level 1-3, and are typically only dangerous in large groups.
Wolf: Aggressive canines that hunt in packs, these creatures range in level from 4-5.
Alpha Wolf: An aggressive canine that leads the pack, these creatures range in level from 4-6.
Silver Dire Wolf: The champion of wolves in the area around Ardania, this beast ranges in level from 5-7. The silver wolf hunts alone, ambushing parties that have been attacking other wolves.
Zombits: The result of leaving a large amount of rabbit corpses to rot in the open, Zombits are Zombified Rabbits. Typically, they will ignore other targets in favor of assaulting their original race.
Magically Altered
Tenebris: A leech-like creature that attacks sleeping people, removing limbs and allowing their prey to bleed to death. Physically weak, but deadly to unprepared people.
Zombie Bunny-Bear: A zombified creature impacted by a magical ritual, the Zombie Bunny-Bear hunts down any humans that are unprotected by the walls of the city. While not terribly strong, these creatures hunt in darkness, making it difficult to avoid their attacks.
Sentient
Racial Traitors: These are humans that have forsaken their heritage, choosing to ally with the Wolfmen. They work against Humanity, hoping that their Wolfmen overlords will be benevolent.
Wolfman: Their level varies, as a sentient race they are required to gain levels in a similar way to humans. This means that they can be weaker than their human equivalent, or far stronger.
Wolfman Scout: The basic, weakest class of Wolfman, the Scouts use bows and javelins to poison their foes.
Wolfman Shaman: The intellectually powerful class of Wolfman, the Shaman use spells to reduce their targets to cinders.
Wolfman Warrior: The physically strong class of Wolfman, the Warriors use melee weapons or just their teeth and claws to tear into their enemies.
Wolfman Elite Warrior: The strongest known Wolfmen, these warriors are experienced and deadly. Graceful on the battlefield, they are usually more than enough to send a party of standard players to respawn.
~ Sneak Peek ~
Joe flinched as someone knocked on the door to his warehouse. It had been just under a week since his… altercation with the Mage’s College, and so far no one had anything negative to say about it. Deep down though, he knew that when someone is raised as a fanatic and another person shatters their worldview… well… history doesn’t show that person living a long or happy life. In short, Joe was sure that someone was eventually going to come after him. Until he had a person to face off against, he was expecting an assassin to appear when he was unprepared. Hence, he was a little jumpy.
“Come in!” Joe called out, putting his ink-stained hands under the table. If someone was entering with less than honorable intentions, he wouldn’t hesitate to send thirty points of damage in the form of a shadow spike into their legs.
“Can… can you come out instead?” The voice that drifted into the room sounded a bit sickly. Ah yes. His ‘Quarantine area’ ritual would make anyone that got too close to the building super nauseous. “I have a delivery from the College, as well as a personal message from…” there was a bit of rustling as the man looked at his delivery notes, Journeyman fire mage Cel?”
“I’ll be right there!” Joe called, already working on unlocking the door. He really wasn’t an overly paranoid person, it just so happened that he was diving deep into study and experimentation. If he were interrupted while trying a new ritual, an assassin wouldn’t even need to fight him; the mana feedback could pop him like a balloon as it rebounded on him. “I’m Joe, what do you have for me?”
“Two packages, and a letter that I’m supposed to read aloud.” The mailman cleared his throat. “This is a quote, it isn’t my own words, understand? Good. Cel says: ‘if you want to learn these spells properly, stop faffing around in your creepy room that makes people sick, take a shower, and learn from a mage at the college. Book learning can only take you so far!’ Now back to my own personal words, I do agree with the shower comment.”
Joe glared at the mailman and subtly sniffed under his arms. A shower would not be a terrible idea. Maybe that was why dinner had cost almost half as much more than usual last night. “Just give me the books.”
“Here ya go, delivered safe, sound, and on time!” The mailman looked at Joe expectantly, but he just glared, maintained eye contact, and slowly shut the door. A message appeared in Joe’s vision that made him snort.
Relationship change: -10 with courier #73. You are slightly less likely to gain help or quests from this person.
Bah. With his ‘stinky’ debuff at… he checked the active effects tab on his character sheet… the fourth rank, even tipping the man a full silver would have only maintained a neutral alignment to their relationship. Joe had been hiding out and delving deeper into the secrets of his class ever since the fiasco with the Mages, and it was possible that he was a little too intent on his work. With no party to pull him along on quests, and an abundance of new material, data, and spell components that everyone had needed a ‘license’ to purchase before the death of the Archmage… well, it was easy to miss a meal or two. Maybe he was a little less likely to shower, or change his underwe-
Joe cut off that line of thinking before scratching at his crusty clothing. It might be time to go do other things for a while. On the other hand… he looked at the two thin books that he was holding. There were a few ways to learn a spell. The first - and easiest - was to have someone teach it to you. Normally, this is the route that Joe would have taken, but he had noticed that some people could use the same spell and get different results. This was because the person teaching the spell would teach it in the way that they knew it. The teacher would incorporate superstition, unnecessary gestures, and other such fluff. Using a fireball as an exampl
e, while some of these gestures might add a bit of power, maybe heat, or perhaps change the color, it would also lengthen the casting time and increase mana consumption.
The second option was to learn or be granted the spell via a level up or natural ability. Joe had gained most of his magical abilities this way. It was difficult to do, and there was no guarantee that a better way to work the same magic didn’t already exist. Also, gaining spells and abilities in this manner might lead you in different directions than you intended to go. A fireball spell wouldn’t be super practical for him, for example, because he had high affinity with dark and water magics.
The third option, and the least practical for most people, was to find a spell book. Specifically, a grimoire. This was a detailed accounting of a spell, typically written as accurately as possible by a mage. It had all the issues of the first option, the superstitions, assumptions, and sometimes tricks thrown in to confuse someone that may have stolen the tome. There was also not a person guiding you, so your spellform would not be carefully inspected and critiqued. This made an already difficult study nearly impossible, making books the last options for anyone but enchanters and those who relied on precise lines or drawings.