by C. M. Carney
“Well, that be a mighty irritating sound,” Grimliir said and with a nod Gryph shoved the beard remnants into Krovoor’s mouth, silencing him. Then he stood and Grimliir lifted the broken man to his feet. Several warborn secured him and tied his arms behind his back.
Gryph was about to turn away when a tickle at the back of his mind begged his attention. He focused on it and a notification popped into his vision.
You have defeated the zealot Krovoor and are presented with an Assimilation Opportunity.
Do you wish to use your Divine Perk Assimilation?
YES?/NO?
“Yes,” Gryph said aloud. “This should be fun.” He reached down and grabbed Krovoor’s head none too gently. Gryph knew he didn’t need to be in physical contact to Assimilate a skill, but he had also never had the opportunity to use the Divine Perk on a living foe. Evidentially losing the Judgement of the Long Beards to Gryph counted as a defeat for Krovoor.
“You have lost Krovoor, not only in the eyes of the Long Beards, but by the natural laws of the Realms. As the victor I will now claim my reward.” The words came almost unbidden to Gryph’s lips, suggesting that the Game Mechanics held powerful sway over the peoples of the Realms. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
Krovoor struggled again, but Gryph ignored him and closed his eyes letting the options wash over him. As expected Krovoor had a wide variety of skills, but there was only one that Gryph was truly interested in, a rare skill called Blood Sacrifice. Krovoor was level 31 in the skill which would mean Gryph could Assimilate it at level 10.
You have learned the skill BLOOD SACRIFICE.
Level(s): 1-10 - Tier: - Base - Skill Type: Active
Blood Sacrifice is an ancient and rare skill that allows a warrior to sacrifice Health to provide a temporary increase to the damage done by attacks and resistance to damage inflicted by enemies’ attacks.
• The Base Cost to activate Blood Sacrifice is 100 Health.
• Perks can also be purchased to increase a wide variety of other abilities and skills, each with their own Health cost.
• Each level of Blood Sacrifice allows the user to increase the damage done by martial attacks by 2%.
• Each level of Blood Sacrifice decreases the Health cost by 1% to a maximum of 95%.
• The Blood Sacrifice will last 2 seconds per level of Blood Sacrifice Skill.
• The Health cost will be paid after the Blood Sacrifice ends.
NOTE: Blood Sacrifice is a dangerous skill that can lead to one losing the civilized parts of one’s nature. Use with caution.
Gryph Assimilated the skill Blood Sacrifice and a surge of warmth flowed through him. He felt powerful and unstoppable as pure rage suffused his very being for several seconds. His eyes snapped open, and he stared down upon Krovoor with a mad grin. He wanted nothing more than to bludgeon the zealot into a bloody pulp. Krovoor saw this rage fill Gryph and fear leached into his eyes.
“Easy laddie,” Grimliir said in a calming voice and squeezed Gryph’s shoulder tightly. “Let it flow through ye, but dinnae let it control ye.”
Gryph heard the Thalmiir’s voice through the thunderous bearing of his heart and forced himself to calm. He stared down upon Krovoor as his will took control of the rage and he grinned upon seeing the anger, no the jealousy, in the dwarf’s eyes.
“You cannot control it, can you?” he said in a whisper. Krovoor struggled again, the rage building up inside him. “You are weak, and I pity you.” The anger in Krovoor’s eyes soared, but the warborn holding him had grips like iron and the taciturn dwarf would find no outlet for his anger. Gryph nodded his thanks to Grimliir before turning to the others.
“Blindfold him and ask the elves if they’ll escort him out of the valley by one of the secret paths,” Gryph said, looking up at Urgyyn the warborn leader, who nodded. Krovoor whimpered, recognizing this last, jabbing insult to his pride, but said nothing.
“Excuse me my Lord, may I make a suggestion before you take this traitor away?” came an elderly, yet still powerful female voice from behind him. Gryph turned to find Bruunhilde, the human alchemist, and smiled warmly.
“I was going to tell you there is no need to call me my Lord, but Grimliir has insisted that I must keep up the lordly pretenses.”
“They do help build your authority … my Lord,” she returned with a grin and then whispered low, “but try not to get all high and mighty.”
“Cuz my shite will still stink, as Grimliir has frequently told me?”
“That wasn’t what I was aiming at my Lord, though I do have a tincture that can help with that,” she said with a grin. “I am more concerned about this one talking.” She nodded her head at Krovoor without looking at him. “I would not bet a copper bit that he will accept his banishment. His honor is as thin as his beard, and he will seek his vengeance. There are also many in this realm who would pay well for what he knows.”
“I will not kill him. My first act as the new Stone Lord cannot be to betray eons of dwarven tradition. It would go a long way to proving him right.”
“I am not suggesting bloodletting of any kind, but there are other ways. Back in my shop, there is a potion that will prevent him from ever betraying us again.”
“I see the wisdom of your words Mistress Bruunhilde, but I do not want him to forget what he has done. I want him to suffer with this knowledge, and someday, perhaps, he will earn the wisdom to understand his crimes.
A conspiratorial smirk crossed Bruunhilde’s face. “You misunderstand me my Lord. The potion in question will not rob him of the memories, it will simply make it impossible for him to speak about it to anyone, and if a thought mage attempts to extract the information forcibly they will get nothing but static and jumbled images. It will probably convince them he is insane.”
Gryph turned and stared into Krovoor’s eyes. A sinister smile crossed Gryph’s face, and he spoke. “I very much like this idea.” He looked up at the warborn leader Urgyyn. “Please escort him to Mistress Bruunhilde’s shop and then to the elves.”
“If you will allow me my Lord I would like to tend to this personally?” Gartheniel, the Steward of Sylvan Aenor asked.
“As you wish, Steward.”
Krovoor struggled against his warborn captors, but it was a futile gesture. Without another word Gryph turned away from the disgraced dwarf, grinning as Urgyyn led him away.
Grimliir walked up and clapped Gryph hard on the back. “Good job laddie … err sorry, Yer Lordship.”
Gryph laughed a bit louder than he intended and then spoke in a low voice. “That felt a lot better than it should.”
“Enjoy the small pleasures of ruling. They can be few and far between,” Barrendiel said, a slight smile on his face. “Just try not to enjoy them too much.” He then turned to the ten other dwarves still held firm by Reynglain’s coils of stone. “What of this lot?”
Gryph eyed the trapped dwarves, seeing a combination of fear, despair and desperation on their faces. “I think it is time to reopen the mines of Dar Thoriim. Have them questioned by a qualified thought mage. If they show true repentance, then I will allow them a chance to earn their freedom. After a few years hard labor for the benefit of the people of course. If they do not, then their fate is the same as Krovoor’s.”
“I will make the arrangements personally,” Grimliir said.
“Thank you,” Gryph said.
Grimliir nodded and motioned to several warborn and dwarf guards who led the criminals away to be interrogated.
“Well there’s just one thing left tae dae,” Grimliir said holding the Seal of the Dwarven King out to Gryph.
With a sigh Gryph took the ancient artifact and walked up to the Nexus control dais. He held the seal over a recessed slot in the stone table and paused. He looked around at the odd group of companions that surrounded him and breathed in heavily. I hope I’m doing the right thing Brynn.
He set the seal into the groove and then pushed down. The metal disk settled into the slot with a
gentle snap and rivulets of multi colored magical energy moved through grooves in the seal and around Gryph’s hand before pulsing through the dais, illuminating previously hidden runic panels.
You have Claimed the City of Dar Thoriim.
Congratulations, you are now the Stone Lord of Dar Thoriim.
You now have access to all city functions and interfaces. A new icon will appear in the corner of your interface that will enable you to access all city functions.
There is much to be done, but you need not do it all alone. Access the city’s Appointments interface to assign qualified people to the various jobs and offices of your city. Assign a Steward to help you with the task of running your city.
You have completed the quest Reclaim the Dwarven City.
You have earned 1,000,000 XP.
You have protected the world from a great evil and reclaimed the once proud city of Dar Thoriim. Rule well and be rewarded.
Gryph was both terrified and ecstatic. Terrified at the prospects of ruling over a city and ecstatic at how quickly he’d worked off his XP deficit. The next prompt filled him with the warm and fuzzies.
You have Reached Level(s) 12 - 17.
You have regained Levels 12 - 17. As you have previously reached levels 12 - 17 and received both Attribute Points and Perk Points for these levels, you will not be awarded them now.
Congratulations. Your Prime Godhead has evolved to Tier III.
You have completed a Legendary Act by completing the quest Reclaim the Dwarven City AND claiming a kingdom of your own. The mote of creation inside you has increased in power.
You are awarded +75 to Health, +75 to Stamina, +75 to Mana and +75 to Spirit.
You are also granted +5 to all attributes.
All skills (including those learned in the next 24 hours) are increased by 3 levels.
+1 Divine Perk Points.
With the three bonus levels to all skills came a surge of power that flowed through his nerves like a shot of adrenaline. This time felt different as he imagined he could see threads of information twinning through his mind. Perhaps it was his increased connection to the Sea of Knowledge that transformed the onslaught of information into identifiable packets. Amidst the maelstrom were four motes of information that made him grin.
You have reached Apprentice Tier in Air Magic.
With this tier boost, the skill has gained the Apprentice Tier Ability Swift as the Wind.
Once per day a user can activate this perk and increase their movement speed by +100% for 1sec/level of Air Magic mastery.
Each additional Tier of Air Magic mastery increase uses per day by 1 and increase movement speed by an additional 100%.
A rush of cool air flowed around Gryph's legs, up his body and then down his arms to the ends of his fingers. He was energized and humming with potential.
You have reached Apprentice Tier in Analyze.
With that tier boost, the skill has gained the Tier Ability Know Strength(s).
Upon a successful Analyze, you will know the Strength(s) of those Analyzed. A Strength is defined as the main power of a person or creature.
Example: A Baalgrath’s strength is Regeneration.
Gryph’s tactical mind drooled at the possibilities of Know Strengths. Knowing what an enemy was best at would help him plan for better defense.
You have reached Apprentice Tier in Perception.
With that tier boost, the skill has gained the Apprentice Tier Ability Acute Hearing.
You can now hear better than the average mortal. With focus and training you are now able to perform amazing feats involving hearing. You are more likely to detect Stealthed opponents, avoid Back Stab attempts, detect approaching creatures, overhear whispered conversations, tell whether someone is lying due to an increase in their heart rate, etc. The benefits are wide ranging and must be learned over time.
You are 20% more susceptible to attacks that do Sonic damage.
Each additional Tier of Perception increases the sensitivity and usefulness of this Tier Ability, while reducing susceptibility by 5%.
He grunted in pain as his ears adjusted to the sharp increase in the volume of the ambient sounds in the room, but soon his brain adjusted and the pain faded. He grinned at the newfound subtleties to the sounds around him. He could hear the pounding heartbeats and the whispering voices around him.
Your Sub-Perk ESP has earned a Tier Bonus.
All three of the parent skills have reached Apprentice Tier resulting in the acquisition of the Sub-Perk Tier Bonus Sense Paths.
Sense Paths enables a user to “see” what people or creatures have recently been in the area and enables you to see where they came from and where they went. The ability can see back one minute per level of the lowest leveled parent skill of the Sub-Perk. Each additional Tier reached in this sub-perk will expand the time scale to hours, days, months and finally years. Cost: 100 Spirit.
Damn that could be invaluable down the road, he thought. Then the onslaught of prompts ended, and he nodded at Grimliir who turned to the others and spoke in a loud, clear voice.
“Rejoice all and everyone, there is a new Stone Lord in Dar Thoriim. Gryph the first of his name."
"Long may he reign!” came the cheer from all assembled, be they dwarf or elf, human or warborn. A small, warm hand rested on his forearm and Gryph looked down to find Tifala smiling up at him. He smiled back and then looked up as Ovrym, standing firm and proud behind the slight gnome woman, nodded warmly. The camaraderie filled his heart with joy and loss. Then a most unexpected voice crashed the moment.
“Holy crap dude, you own a city?”
Gryph’s eyes snapped up to a short, bearded Ordonian, who could almost have passed as a dwarf he was so short standing under the watchful gaze of a cadre of warborn.
“Lex?” Gryph said in shock and joy.
18
Gryph rushed to Lex trying to control his excitement. He was a bit surprised, almost embarrassed, by his reaction. It seemed a bit too much like a teenage girl OMG-ing her BFF after a long absence for Gryph’s liking.
It heartened him to see the same expression on Lex’s face as his banner NPC struggled in the iron grip of the warborn. Gryph gave the warborn a reassuring nod that anyone else would have read as permission to release Lex, but the warborn were still new to, well everything, and the grip remained firm.
“You can let me go now you big bald Frankenstein. Can’t you see we’re buddies?” Lex said, struggling in the automaton’s fierce grip. The warborn ignored him and Lex gave Gryph a ‘what the hell’ look.
“It’s okay, you can release him.”
The warborn did and Lex lurched forward almost falling onto his face. Gryph caught the NPC before he could face plant on the floor.
“Thanks,” Lex said with an abashed grin and smoothed out his priestly robes.
“About time you showed up.”
“Dude, gimme a break. You have no clue the shit I’ve been through.”
“You?” Gryph chortled. “I’ve died … twice.”
“Twice? How quaint,” Lex said and looked over his shoulder at his roguish half-elf companion. “Hey Vonn, he’s died twice.”
“That’s two more times than me,” the man called Vonn said in a voice so calm that Gryph wondered if the man understood he was in the clutches of an automaton built for war.
“You’re no damn help man,” Lex said and then saw the warborn was still holding Vonn. "Yo, Eraserhead,” Lex said with a scowl. “He’s with me, you can let him go.”
If the insults fazed the warborn he did not show it and stared straight ahead. Gryph nodded again, and the warborn released Vonn. The thin man rubbed at his wrists, but otherwise seemed unperturbed.
Gryph extended a hand to the man in greeting. “I’m Gryph.”
“Oh, I know. This one never stopped talking about you. ‘I must protect Gryph’ blah, blah, blah.,” he said in a voice that was a surprisingly accurate impersonation of Lex. “I’m Vonn, well met.”
&
nbsp; “What?” Gryph said and snickered.
“Dude, that is so uncool man. You know I can’t help it,” Lex said glaring at Vonn.
“Okay, all stupidity aside. Where the hell have you been?” Gryph asked.
“I’ve been in Harlan’s Watch, for like 1,000 days.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Gryph said.
“And then another three leaning against the door to this city,” Vonn chimed in. “Don’t forget about those.”
“Yeah, wouldn’t wanna forget about those. I’m wet, smelly and I may have fleas,” Lex said itching at himself. “At least I hope they’re fleas.” Everyone standing near Lex all took a step back.
“Did you see Brynn?” Gryph asked and the urgency in his voice cut through Lex’s foolishness.
“No,” Lex said in genuine regret. “But I had a real nice dinner with Aluran.”
“What?” Gryph said, fear tinging his voice.
“We got a lot to talk about buddy.”
“Call the Round Table together,” Gryph said over his shoulder to the nearest warborn.
“And bring food,” Lex said. “I’m starving.”
A half hour later the council gathered around the Round Table and Lex finished his tale, around and through bites of food. “Whatever weird energy His High Douchiness zapped me with got me stuck in some kinda time loop. I spent day after day after day killing and dying and grinding, my skills not the ladies, though I think I had a chance with Seraphine, right Vonn?”