Hawke turned toward the positive aspects of his decision. First, completing the Quest had netted him his biggest XP gain since he had taken care of Necromancer Greg. In the weeks since then, he had mostly been attending meetings, although a few Steward-oriented quests had earned him a few hundred Experience here and there. Secondly, a Temple III produced 300 Mana per day, providing more power for future improvements or in case of emergency. He checked the spells, noticing that he had gotten one of the most devastating spells the Necromancer had been fond of using on his enemies:
Death Cyclone
Time to Cast: 5 seconds. Cooldown: 12 seconds. Cost: 180 Mana. Duration: Instant. Range: 200 feet. Effect: Inflicts 20 points of Death damage per level to any targets in a 15-foot radius.
“That can’t be right,” Hawke said. “This is powerful, yeah, but the Necromancer was hitting me for eight hundred damage per casting. Forty points of damage per level, not twenty.”
“I guess that makes sense,” he said, examining the other two spells.
Song of Sorrow
Time to Cast: 10 seconds. Cooldown: 10 minutes. Cost: 20 Mana. Duration: 5 minutes. Range: 300 feet. Effect: Anyone other than the caster’s Party members is afflicted with overwhelming sadness, as painful and traumatic memories become vivid in the victims’ minds. Targets can resist this effect, with a chance of success of 5% per Willpower point over 10, modified by level differentials and any protections and resistances. Affected targets are cursed for the duration of the spell, and suffer a penalty of 25% plus 1% per caster level to all tasks.
Terror Gaze
Time to Cast: 1 second. Cooldown: 1 minute. Cost: 8 Mana. Duration: 5 seconds. Range: 25 feet. Effect: Inflict a state of panic on a single target. The victim may resist this effect, with a chance of success of 5% per Willpower point over 10, modified by level differentials and any protections and resistances. Affected targets are driven into a panic and will flee the caster’s presence if possible. If cornered, they can fight back but will suffer a -50% penalty to all tasks.
“Okay, an area debuff and a soft control spell. Pretty useful stuff for a Paladin Ninja,” Hawke said while he checked the Epic Quality pauldrons. The shoulder armor pieces that had appeared in his inventory when he completed the quest were jet back with gold trimmings and a skull motif on its surface that was as cliché as it got. When he put them on, it would look like he had mounted two black-and-gold skeletal heads on his shoulders. Not a perfect match for the black and blue Battle-Mage set he was wearing, but it didn’t clash as badly as some stuff he had worn in a bunch of games. And the stats made his eyes bug out:
Pauldrons of Thanatos (Epic Quality (Death Attuned) – Set Item)
Shoulder Armor Pieces
Item Level: 19 (Minimum Level 14).
Damage Absorption: Physical 25/45%; Elemental (All) 20/25%; Forces (All) 15/15%. Agility Penalty: 0. Stealth Penalty: -12% Speed Penalty: -5%. Durability 400/400. Requires Heavy Armor Skill and attunement to the Death Element.
Attribute Bonuses: +4 to Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, Spirit and Willpower.
Fear Aura: All living enemies within a 30-foot radius are afflicted with fear, giving them a -15% penalty to all actions. This effect can be resisted, with bonuses for Willpower and level.
Mana Storage: +150 Mana Capacity
Spell Focus: +20% to Damage to Death spells, -2/-20% to Mana cost, Casting Time, and Cooldowns for all Death spells.
Set bonuses: Two pieces: Double all Spell Focus bonuses. Three pieces: +25% Mana. Four pieces: +15% to Resistance against Elements and Forces (All). Full Set (five or more pieces): +100 Mana; Reduce Casting Time by 1 second or 10%, whichever is better.
He mentally grabbed the pauldrons from his Inventory, accepting the Soul Bind prompt, and the armor pieces magically fastened themselves onto his shoulders. The weight was noticeable; the black metal of the pauldrons was heavier than whatever alloy made the Battle-Mage set. It wasn’t much of a problem, though, not with his superhuman strength. What was more of a problem was the way the world seemed to get a shade darker all around him. The aura of fear the armor created didn’t affect him directly, but he could sense it even with his good old eyeballs. When he turned on his Advanced Mana Sight, he saw that the pauldrons projected a low-power field of pure Death magic around him. He bet that if got more pieces from that armor set, the energy field would become denser and do a lot more than terrify enemies.
The floating nameplate and stats that any Adventurer could see floating over his head currently had the title Lord of Sunset Valley, as well as Earth and Realms Defender Guild (President). He qualified for a different tile as well: Domort, Lord of the Dead. Not exactly what someone who had always liked to play Paladins wanted to be known for. The question was, could he use Death and Darkness to uphold the principles he believed in? At what point did the tools you used made your intentions irrelevant?
“Afraid? Everyone around me lives for the chance to call me a dumbass. But I appreciate you all.”
Hawke nodded grudgingly. In three hours, he could put more work into awakening one of his Chakras, the inner Mana Nodes that governed the flow of energy through his body. He had gained the ability to sense and manipulate Mana very early in his career, and he wanted to develop it; it had already saved his butt several times. And while he did that, he would pump Mana into the Domain’s reserves. With his Mana regeneration, he would add an extra 85 Structural Mana to the mix during those three hours. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.
The meditation round didn’t get him anywhere. He was working on his Root Chakra, the one located roughly on his butt. He had awakened the Solar Plexus Node, which regulated raw power, and the Sacral Chakra, which affected sexual energy and had revolutionized his love life, much to the pleasure of all three women involved in it. The Root Chakra was a source of stability and safety. He was learning more about Mana Channeling, with each successful mini-quest providing vital information. For example, he now realized he probably should have started with the Root first, to give him a solid base to develop his growing powers. His improved understanding of Mana showed him how the conflicts between the opposite forces he wielded were being contained there, creating a literal pain in the ass for him. If he opened it up, he might be able to flush the toxic byproducts.
The three hours he gave himself didn’t quite get him there. Every new Chakra seemed to take longer to open, and when he failed, the results were very painful. There were nerve clusters near all the Chakras he had worked on, and the negative flows of energy when he screwed up stimulated them in the same way that having a root canal without anesthesia was ‘stimulating.’ This time, he managed to avoid the worst of it, but he wasn’t going to be plopping down on a chair any time soon.
Oh, well, Hawke thought, getting up from his lotus position. Time to go have a romantic dinner with the ceremonial ruler of the currently-extinct Spider Empire.
Four
Nadia Morganna (Level 11 Elven Sorceress/Paladin) was currently acting as judge and jury, if not executioner, as she stood on her six spiky legs and addressed two dozen fellow Arachnoids in their incomprehensible clicking and buzzing language.
Hawke always found her transformation unnerving. Thanks to the Vestments of the Spider Emperor that she had claimed, she could transform into an Arachnoid, recognizable to him only because of the golden and jeweled crown literally screwed into her skull, the colorful spider-silk cape draped over her sh
oulders, and the golden scepter that she waved in her hand for added emphasis as she spoke. Behind her stood a large Arachnoid Warrior, Gzzatt, an outcast who had become Nadia’s personal bodyguard. The heavily armed and armored figure stood perfectly still except for his head, which kept moving back and forth, looking for signs of danger. The quiet Arachnoid would have made a great Secret Service agent.
Although he couldn’t understand what anybody was saying, everything seemed to revolve around two Murk Arachnoids – male and female; he could tell their sexes apart after spending some time with them – standing before Nadia; the wide gap between them indicated that they weren’t together in any way. From the way they answered her short speech by chittering angrily and talking over each other, they had some sort of dispute. And by the body armor on the male and the fine cloak on the female, neither of them was a common worker or peasant. Class divisions weren’t as steep among the spider people as in other cultures, but they existed. Those two were chieftains or what passed for nobility among the scattered tribes that lived in the miles and miles of tunnels than chambers that honeycombed the entire mountain range.
After hearing both sides, Nadia spoke again, raised her scepter, and brought it down in the direction of the female, who literally bristled in anger, the short spiky hairs covering both halves of her body standing up on end like a porcupine about to attack. Nadia spoke again, and both sides of the dispute abased themselves, lowering their abdomens to the ground while their humanoid upper halves bent forward as far as they could. With that, the show was over; the crowd dispersed, some going back to the homes in the once-small village that had become the unofficial gateway to the Death Spire, the rest beginning the long walk back to their own settlements.
Nadia noticed Hawke standing in the rear of the dispersing crowd and waved at him, calling out in the Arachnoid language before shaking her head and concentrating. With a burst of light, the were-spider body was replaced with Nadia’s shapely Elven form, complete with golden-blonde hair, inhumanly large lavender eyes, and slender physique. She was wearing a modest set of robes under the silk cape, and was smiling at him.
“Lord Hawke,” she said mock-formally.
“Your Webbed-ness,” he replied before taking her in his arms and kissing her deeply.
“Not in front of the Imperial denizens!” she protested. “They will start to gossip.”
“Let them. You can turn back into an Arachnoid and I’ll kiss you again, just to give them something to talk about.”
“You pervert! Trust me, you don’t want to do that. There are some major differences between the species. Nothing fits, and nothing would feel good on either end.”
“If you say so, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider Empress.”
“I take it that it’s time for dinner? Easy to lose track of time when you spend most of your day underground.”
Hawke nodded. “And I’m not even late. Figured it’d be nice to walk you to the tower. I even had a couple of people set up the main dining room on the first floor for the occasion.”
“Fancy.”
“Only the best for Mistress Number One.”
“Mistress of the Lord of the Dead. My parents would be so proud.”
* * *
Necromancer Greg’s tower had a very nice dining hall, with a table that could seat twenty-four and an attached dance floor, orchestra platform and, of course, a huge bronze pipe organ that took over one wall. Hawke had tried playing ‘Chopsticks’ on it, with disturbing results. No idea if the former Lord of the Dead had ever used the hall for entertaining. Hawke rarely got the chance, since people needed to travel for a couple of days to get there.
A couple of servants had cleaned the place up. While Nadia freshened up in the new bathroom he’d had built in an adjacent room, Hawke placed a tablecloth over one short segment of the massive table, lit up a set of candles and set up a nice roasted venison and potato salad dinner that Tava had made for them, along with a bottle of wine and glasses from the Copper Kettle’s finer vintages. All of that stuff came from his inventory, as warm or chilled as it had been going in. The magical items of ‘holding’ made takeout and delivery easy and convenient. Eat your heart out, Grubhub.
Nadia came in, wearing a summer dress that she must have had tailored to order, since the style would be considered scandalously sheer in Orom. She looked almost like someone from Earth, except for her noticeable Elven features. The sight reminded Hawke of the world he would likely never see again. It also reminded him that he wasn’t the only person stranded in this world, which made him feel a bit better about the situation. Not because misery loved company, but because company helped ease everyone’s misery.
Gzzatt followed her in. After steadfastly refusing to join them for dinner, the bodyguard walked off to the dining hall’s entrance and stood at attention. Hawke nodded approvingly. At first, Nadia had been insistent in keeping her retainer away when she wanted privacy. That had almost gotten her and Tava killed when the Necromancer had briefly taken over Hawke’s body. Gzzatt had been standing watch in the villa’s courtyard; if anything had happened, he would have been too late to do anything except avenge the dead. Not anymore.
“Smells nice,” she said, sitting down while he opened the bottle and poured. “Good stuff.”
“I know I could have just as easily taken us back to Orom, but we both have work to do here, so I figured we might as well spend the night.”
“And your new bedroom in the tower is ready for action.”
“Thanks to you and Tava. I would have just thrown a mattress on the floor and called it a day. Instead, I’ve got a king-sized four-poster, actual bed sheets and blankets, curtains, and throw pillows. You ladies keep me civilized.”
“It doesn’t take much to make a home, rather than some place you happen to sleep in, you know.”
“I know. I just don’t think about it as much, that’s all. But it does feel a lot nicer.”
They ate in silence for a bit, knowing they needed to get at least some business done over dinner but unwilling to be the one to start it. Finally, Nadia spoke first:
“I spoke to Korgam after your meeting with him. He came over to visit from his new base camp.”
The Stern Company of Miners and Adventurers had set up an encampment in the ruins of an ancient Arachnoid city, about one day’s travel from the Stronghold. Three of the four Sterns were spending their days there, exploring the surrounding tunnels. The fourth, Crommen the Battle-Bard, was running a smaller mining camp south of town. The small band was stretched thin.
“Korgam wanted to hire some Arachnoids, didn’t he?” Hawke asked. “The Company is short-handed as hell.”
“He did, and asked me to try to help him. We went to ask the local chiefs. It was a no-go, unfortunately.”
“The spider people don’t seem to like mining,” Hawke commented.
“They have their reasons. I’ve been learning a lot about them, their history and culture, since I became sort of like their good luck charm.”
“And Judge Judy.”
She chuckled. “More like an arbitrator. Since I don’t have ties to any of the tribes, they figure I can be impartial.”
“So, about the mining.”
“Right. Turns out that they all know how to mine. It’s an ingrained skill, magically hardwired into their heads.”
“But they don’t like to use it?”
“The Fae created them by taking a species of near-sapient spiders and fusing them with humanoid bodies bred from humans and Elves. They also programmed them to mine. As slaves. Their entire species was genetically-engineered as a servitor race.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah. They aren’t nice at all, our fairy cousins. They see all of us, Elves and Orcs and half-breeds, let alone mere humans and other non-Fae species, all of us, as little more than playing pieces. Legos to reassemble any way they want.”
“Worse than that. I liked my Legos. I get the feeling that the best we can get from them is contem
pt.”
Nadia nodded and drank half of her glass of wine. “Pretty much. And we’re going to have to deal with them as we level up.”
“Awesome,” Hawke side. “But anyway, what you are saying is that the Arachnoids won’t mine for anybody. Is that the bottom line?”
“Not exactly,” Nadia said. “A few chieftains offered to raid tribes farther off, ones that haven’t signed the treaties with us, and bring back slaves for us to use. That’s how they handle what little mining they do. Convicted criminals, mostly, but they aren’t averse to the idea of making slaves of outsiders, either, and by outsiders, they mean other Arachnoids as well as different species.”
“Crap.”
Sometimes it was hard to forget that every species was capable of evil things. Every culture. That didn’t make them irredeemable, but you had to watch your assumptions, or you’d make an ass of yourself.
“I put a stop to that idea right away, of course,” Nadia went on. “Korgam himself was appalled. The Dwarves consider mining to be an esteemed, nearly holy vocation. To force people to do it goes against everything they believe in.”
“Okay, no Arachnoids in mining, I guess.”
“At least for now,” Nadia agreed. “I’ve explained to them that Korgam would hire people for wages, and treat them fairly. A few of them are mulling it over. With peace spreading out, a lot of adults could use the work. Less need for warriors means more idle hands that can cause trouble. Giving them a valuable trade might be best for everyone. Let’s give them some time.”
Labyrinth to Tartarus: A LitRPG Saga (The Eternal Journey Book 3) Page 3