The dust that kicked up drove his allergies crazy.
By the time they got to the small window, Hal’s eyes were watery and he could hardly catch a breath between the sneezing. When she opened up the window he could finally breathe. The sound of something breaking echoed from the hatch behind.
“We have to hurry,” Elora said. She let go of him, stepped up onto a crate, and slipped out of the round window with ease. She stood on the slick tiled roof as effortlessly as any cat. “They’ll be up any second now, I have to get you out of the Sanctum.”
Hal climbed atop the crate and stuck his head out of the window. A dizzying wave of vertigo nearly made him black out. He hated heights. They were terrifying and the way his pulse kicked up made him feel the coward he had been all his life.
But he didn’t want to be a coward any more.
A metropolis of elegant, towering stone structures dotted the skyline. The city swept far out to the horizon, as large as any modern city.
To his right was a gargantuan tree with autumn leaves. Only this tree was the size of the Empire State Building. Its branches were pale as snow as they spread over a quarter of the sprawling city. Dancing motes of reds and oranges drifted between its mighty boughs the size of subway trains.
This was no backwater medieval town. How could he ever escape?
Elora crouched down, hand extended through the open window, her eyes pleading. Over Hal’s shoulder, the first of the soldiers came into the attic. They got one look at him and shouted, “Halt there! Stay where you are and no harm will come to you.”
Yeah, right. He didn’t believe a word of that but if he stayed where he was, he didn’t have to go out onto that terrifyingly slick rooftop and fall to his death.
“Where’d the girl go?” came another voice from the ladder. Hal glanced over his shoulder then back to the window and came to a realization. He was blocking their view of Elora through the small window.
His heart hammering in his chest, his face red with panic and shame, Hal forced himself to look into the shimmering blue-gray eyes of Elora. He reached out to her.
No, I’m not going to give in to my fears.
Elora pulled him through the narrow window and out into the cool night air.
Nearly slipping, Hal followed Elora around the side of the sloping house. He tried desperately to keep his eyes focused on Elora and not the drop to the cobbled streets below as they went to the edge of the roof. Where another building was within easy reach.
Elora made the jump look easy but Hal had his hands full just staying on his feet with his 1 DEX. He felt a little bit like Bambi on the icy pond.
Hal backed up a few feet to get a running start just as a guard stuck his head out of the small window. “Hey! Get back here!”
That was all the motivation Hal needed. He ran as fast and as hard as his pitiful 2 STR would let him. When he leaped the narrow two-foot gap, he nearly didn’t make it.
Once again, Elora saved him. Her hand shot out and grabbed his forearm. Together, they ran on from rooftop to rooftop, somehow managing to stay ahead of the guards. The city rang with warning bells and shouts of alarm.
“This way,” Elora said, “it’s not too far now. We’ll be out of the Sanctum soon, Hal. Just a few more streets.” She turned and rounded the corner of the gently sloping roof.
Hal followed after her, watching her dive aside to the wet tiles of the roof. Just as an arrow whistled past her lithe form.
And buried itself right in Hal’s thigh.
The [Sanctum Guard] hits you with an arrow for 12 points of damage.
You suffer the effect of Bleed.
Screaming in sudden pain, Hal’s left leg gave out and he went tumbling over the edge of the roof even as Elora tried to grab him. As he fell to the dark alley below, all he could make out was her quickly shrinking shining blue-gray eyes.
A sharp jolt of pain nearly knocked him unconscious when he smacked into the alley two stories below. When his impaled leg hit the cobbles, the agony of the arrow burrowing deeper pulled him completely under.
* * *
Hal woke up with yet another splitting headache. His leg was worse, bandaged roughly and spotted with blood. It nearly made him vomit with pain.
When he reached to feel his brow, wondering how bad that injury was, his hands only came to his chest before they were stopped by the clink of metal chains.
“Are you shirting me? Oh really, I can’t say shirt? Florking shirtballs! What isn’t a curse here?” he grumbled and tugged harder. Metal bit into his wrists painfully and he stopped before he added tetanus to his list of ailments.
He took a moment to take stock. The light was ridiculously dim, he could barely make out his hands. His back was up against a cold and damp stone wall. So that probably meant he was underground.
Well, obviously I’m in a dungeon or something. Not too much of a stretch. At least now I have time to take a look at just what kinds of prompts there are.
Just thinking the word, “Menu” brought it up for him.
Status
Equipment
Spells
Abilities
Traits
Inventory
Quests
Settings
As surreal as it was in this situation, the first thing Hal always did in any new MMO or RPG was adjust his user interface. The UI held all the useful information and being distracted by it was an easy way to wind up dead.
Doubly so now, since it wasn’t on a monitor he could look away from.
No matter where he turned his head, the window followed and stayed central in his vision. He selected “Settings” and went to work.
It took Hal awhile to finish configuring the color and look of the window and its prompts. He went with simplified log prompts over pop-up windows, and chose to have his HP, MP, and SP displayed at all times in the bottom left quadrant of his vision. Typical red, blue, and green color scheme.
As soon as he did, his HP came into focus and he winced. He was hovering around 5 HP. At least he wasn’t bleeding any more. Though one look at the gray bandage wrapped around the arrow wound in his thigh made him wonder if this world had antibiotics, because it was surely going to get infected.
Hal made a last-second adjustment to his UI, opting for succinct stats. As he brought up his stats again and focused on the individual stats, a series of succinct prompts flashed across his screen.
Level
Your cumulative Levels in each Class. Levels are gained by earning Experience Points through Quests, defeating enemies, training, or consuming certain items. Each Level awards 5 Attribute Points to freely dedicate to any chosen stat.
Next Level
The amount of Experience you currently possess and the amount of Experience needed to progress to the next level. Only applicable for Novices and Focused Classes.
Classes
Lists all acquired Classes and their Level.
Novice
The basic starting Class that every person has. Novice Level 10 is required to unlock additional Classes and does not count toward the Class Limit of 3 Classes.
Health Points(HP)
Your physical sturdiness. Once you hit 0 HP you pass out and risk death. Increased by VIT and Level.
Stamina Points(SP)
The amount of physical exertion you can withstand before needing to recover. Increased by AGI and Level.
Mana Points(MP)
Your magical reserves, MP dictates how many and which spells you may utilize and cast at a given moment. Increased by MND and Level.
Strength(STR)
Physical damage, and the ability to jump, lift, drag, or push items.
Vitality(VIT)
Physical fortitude, increases HP, and resistance to physical ailments, (Bleeding, Poison, Paralysis, etc.).
Dexterity(DEX)
Capacity for fine motor control and the ability to exploit weaknesses in an enemy’s defenses to issue Critical Hits. Heavily influences finesse based weapon
damage.
Agility(AGI)
Quickness and balance. Influences Stamina.
Intelligence(INT)
General ability to perceive and understand the world around you. Amplifies magical damage and dictates the ability to utilize certain spells.
Mind(MND)
Magical fortitude, influences MP and resistance to mental ailments (Confusion, Charm, Amnesia, etc.).
Charisma(CHR)
Willpower, the force of your personality and social awareness.
Regeneration
The rate at which your HP, SP, and MP recovers over the course of an hour. Increased by VIT, AGI, MND, and Level respectively.
Resistances
Elemental resistances reduce incoming elemental damage of that type by a flat percentage.
Defense(DEF)
Decreases physical damage taken.
Magic Defense(MDEF)
Decreases magical damage taken.
Insulation
Reduces environmental afflictions from both hot and cold effects.
Class Affinity
Your current list of Classes that you possess a natural affinity toward. By performing actions that are in line with certain archetypes, you begin to attune yourself to that Class. Once one of your Class Affinities hits 100%, and any other necessary requirements are fulfilled, you can unlock that class.
Some Classes are hidden and require specific requirements or faction support to unlock. Classes can only be unlocked once you have reached Level 10 Novice or higher.
Skills
Skills are the product of your mastery over a given weapon, school of magic, or ability. Each skill has a Level associated, and each Level grants improvements based on the skill in question. Every Level represents a higher proficiency with that skill beyond the bonuses shown upon each increase in Level.
He wasn’t sure why it didn’t trigger before, but he was glad for the explanation. Maybe he would need to explicitly focus on specific things from now on to force the system to provide some context.
It quickly became obvious that each of the stats except for one were in constant opposition. STR and VIT. DEX and AGI. INT and MND. All but CHR had something to oppose. Then again, that was just a hunch.
I wonder what other Classes there are. Since I’m Level 1 Novice, I’m basically a child aren’t I? Yep, that tracks. Only 9 more Level Ups until I can be something other than a Novice.
Hal paused a moment, hearing a pair of heavy footfalls and the jingling of metal growing louder.
The door to his cell squealed as the key turned in the lock and let out a banshee screech when the door opened on unoiled hinges. Hal tried to raise his hands to cover his ears and the chains went painfully taught again. The manacles cut into his skin.
You suffer 1 point of damage.
“Awesome,” he muttered.
It took a surprising amount of willpower to keep his hands on the damp, rough stone floor when the torch was thrust into the room. After what he assumed were hours of darkness, the torchlight was agonizingly blinding in its brilliance.
Hal’s eyes watered and he had to shut them tight to stop the pain.
His hands twitched once or twice on the ground. The large brute he had expected was instead a svelte young woman, not much older than himself.
She had silver hair and a pair of thick ivory horns that came out from under the tousled hair and angled sharply up to a dull point. They were adorned with silver filigree near the base and partially hidden by her hair that flowed around them.
Horns, huh? Doesn’t look like devil horns.
Her perfect alabaster skin made her look like a doll but it was her eyes that truly drew him in. She had thick dark lashes despite her silver hair and the saddest eyes he had ever seen. He couldn’t tell what shade of green they were in the flickering torchlight.
The woman spoke in a stilted language to somebody outside the door and it shut behind her. She lifted the torch high in her hand, the dull orange light cast shattered reflections of light across her slim-fitted armor.
Hal watched her carefully step forward, her greaves making nearly no sound as she stepped lightly on the stone floor. When she got within five feet of Hal she stopped and looked down at him with pity.
“Hello.” Her voice was breathy but far from sultry, more like a sigh. “My name is Ashera. I will be your Keeper.”
“What’s a Keeper?” Hal asked, squinting against the light. Ashera did him the kindness of walking to the side and dipping the flame into something high above.
Flames raced across the walls near the dark stone ceiling, illuminating the room in a warm glow. With a surprisingly strong puff from her pursed lips, Ashera blew out the roaring flame of the torch and tossed it aside.
Huh, medieval recessed lighting, Hal thought, looking at the flickering lines of flames set high into the walls.
It showed him how depressingly small his chamber was. Maybe ten feet across with a single bed of thin straw near him and two buckets in the center of the room.
Despite the disgusting look of them, he hoped they had food. His stomach spasmed painfully at the thought.
Ashera gave him a quizzical look. “Do they not have them where you come from? Are you one of the Broken, then?” Though she seemed wary of him, the silver-haired woman inched closer to get a better look. “No, you are not.” Her eyes widened when she saw the darks of his.
Why do they always look so surprised to see boring brown eyes?
“I don’t even know what that is,” Hal said. “I don’t even know what I did wrong.” Not quite a lie, but running from the guards definitely couldn’t have looked good.
If it was possible, the sadness in her pale green eyes deepened. “It does not matter.”
“Why not?”
“Because you will be put to death at first light. As a Keeper, it is my duty to hear your sins and bear your memory in my heart so you may not be forgotten.” Her lips twitched into a semblance of a smile. “Nobody deserves to die unknown or to be forgotten. That is what a Keeper does. Your secrets are safe with me.”
5
Hal’s heart dropped into his stomach. He was going to be killed? Questions raced through his mind at the same time he was desperately trying to deny that it was going to happen.
Clearly, they mixed something up.
A clerical error. Something like that. There was no way he was going to be put to death for simply being in the wrong place or having a weird tattoo. He’d done nothing wrong. Not really. He didn’t ask to come to this alien world.
“So, you’re a priest?” Hal asked, trying to keep his voice calm. Maybe he should have been a coward and stayed behind. He pushed the thought aside roughly.
No, I did the right thing in following Elora. I doubt they would have let me go anyway, not after what Elora told me.
The woman shook her head. “I am not so lucky, no. My powers lie elsewhere, untethered and unclaimed by any deity.” She shrugged one shoulder. “So far.” The ghost of a smile graced her pouty lips.
“And I’m going to be killed.” Saying the words caused him a physical pain deep within his chest.
“Tomorrow,” Ashera agreed. “Which means we have several hours yet. More than enough time, I think.”
“And you’re okay with that? I’m being sentenced to death without a trial for what, being sick, and having somebody drag my nearly lifeless body into your city? How is that fair?”
“The world is often unfair. We all have our parts to play in it, however brief.”
“Oh, don’t give me that bullshit!” Hal spat at her. “If I’m going to be killed tomorrow the least you can do is stop with the platitudes and give me something real.”
She looked hurt by the outburst, her eyes slid to the floor and away. When she looked back something in them had changed. They looked hardened with resolve. “Very well. You wish for something real?”
Ashera tilted her neck back, showing a thin band of twisted ivory so much like her pale skin that
Hal had missed it at first. When she looked at him, the blush on her cheeks stood out bright and rosy but her eyes were hard bits of sea glass with a flickering fire behind.
On some subconscious level, he understood it to be a collar. And not a merely decorative one. Perhaps it was his higher INT, but he felt certain that it emanating a slight magical essence.
Hal lifted his chains gently, rattling them a little. “So you’re just as trapped as me,” he said softly.
Her eyes softened midway back to the sadness that seemed to weigh her down. “So you are not as blind as I thought. Tell me, what do you see?” Ashera thrust out her wrists.
Her form-fitted armor ended at her shoulders which left her arms bare except, now that he was looking for it, a faint tracery of lines crisscrossed from her middle and ring fingers all the way to her shoulders.
Unlocked Perception (Level 0).
As a measure of your general awareness, Perception allows you to pick out details of your environment that most others might miss. Higher Levels of Perception will highlight useful items or those of special significance.
Your Perception has risen to Level 1.
+2% Perception highlight chance (+2%).
+5% Awareness of magical items (+5%).
“Lines, tattoos?” He looked up for some hint but her eyes were unreadable, her face an expressionless mask for once. Hal lifted his hand and cursed when the manacle jerked his wrist when he tried to point. “They go up from your middle fingers and twist all the way up to your shoulders I’m guessing.”
Beastborne- Mark of the Founder Page 6