Chapter One: Awakening

Elias’s eyes were assaulted by the sun. Sitting up he blinked and looked around in confusion. In front of him was miles of grassland. Craning his neck to look behind him revealed a forest a short distance from him. The hot sun bore down on his bare body. The memory of Elias’s death came back to him but felt more like a distant dream than a memory. He scanned his chest and leg but found no scars.

“What!?”

Touching his chest he found no marks even ones from before the attack. Baffled Elias got to his feet and checked his hands which used to be covered in fishing hook scars but there was nothing. His skin seemed flawless and that left him with unease. Looking around his surroundings once more confused Elias again.

Looking at the trees in the forest left him wondering where he was. The trees weren’t anything he was familiar with. They looked like pine trees but the bark was white. “Where am I?”

As if waiting for his question Elias’s vision was obscured.

Message

You have died. But I have saved you from having your soul wiped. I am Therion and you have been picked as one of my champions, REJOICE! I have granted you a second chance, but know there will not be a third. Prove yourself worthy as a champion or you will be disposed of. DON’T DIE, KILL!

New Quest (from Patron): Explore

Explore the forest for opportunities to grow

Reward- Cloths

As soon as he finished reading the message it disappeared. “I… died?” Sitting down on the soft grass Elias got lost in his thoughts.

_________

After a long moment, he got up and looked toward the forest. “I don’t know if this is real, but if it is I don't want to die… again.”

The grass underfoot was soft and rose just past his shin. The sun beat down on his back harshly, and a slight breeze waved the grass and his hair. The trees overtook him, bathing him in the shade. The strange trees left an unease in Elias’s gut, ‘Who knows what creatures could be here.’

As he pressed forward the trees grew denser, and many shrubs sprouted up. Distant bird calls could now be heard but they didn’t sound familiar to Elias, which only grew his unease. Time passed slowly as Elias made each step with caution, trying his best to stay silent.

Ahead of him, Elias saw a gentle slope of a hill and heard faint sounds. It sounded like shouting but the tone was high-pitched. Picking up his pace Elias rushed to the hill, before crawling up it slowly and peaking his head over.

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There was a considerable natural clearing of trees and in the center of it was a large glistening lake. On the other side of the lake, Elias could make out what seemed to be two groups of “... humans?”

The groups were half a mile from Elias’s position and seemed hostile to each other. Both groups seemed rather short to Elias and one seemed to have an appendage hanging behind each member.

More shouting was taking place between the two groups, then silence. A loud shout from the group with tails rang out and the groups ran toward each other. The ones without tails seemed to have swords and some had bows. Arrows launched toward the tailed folks' front line taking a few down. Finally, the two groups met and Elias could hear metal on metal and shouts of pain.

Elias couldn’t make out too much from this distance, but it seemed both sides were roughly evenly matched. Many bodies from both groups were dropping. The side without tails appeared to have a few more people, and as the fight raged on it seemed that the group would win but with heavy losses.

At the start of the skirmish around twenty people were on each side, but now only a few of them were left. It looked to be a fight to the last man as no one fled. The last of the tailed was slain and four of the non-tailed ones were left standing. Elias watched as the remaining four finished off any survivors on the other side before looking for any on their own. In the end, the group picked up two people from their side before leaving into the forest.

Elias waited a while before returning to his feet and making his way to the battlefield. As he was nearing he noticed that the ‘people’ were not human. The ones without tails had a pale green skin tone and their facial features were objectively ugly. “Those look like goblins,” Elias’s eyes then went to a corpse from the other side. These creatures had scales but they had unique colors, from red, green, and a subtle blue. Their faces looked reptilian almost like an alligator, but if it’s snouts were more dog-shaped. “What the fuck is that,” Elias looked at the creatures baffled at what they could be. Suddenly the sound of a chime hit his ears.

Quest Complete: Explore

Reward- Cloths

A brief light enveloped Elias. Looking down, he found clothes that looked like they were made from burlap, adorning his frame along with shoes that were made of hide that seemed poorly made.

New Quest: Finish off the Survivors

Kill the surviving Goblins before they reach their camp

Reward- Information

“Hmmm. That sounds dangerous… I’ll think about it.”

Elias looked to the corpses and saw abandoned weapons. “I need to be able to protect myself from any animals,” His eyes fell to a goblin “...or creatures.”

The closest corpse of a goblin carried what looked like an elongated clever. It had some chips and seemed rather worn but it was better than nothing.

“Aha,” Gleefully Elias spotted a bow. It was crude-looking and was made from wood but it seemed like it would work. The goblin that carried it also had a quiver with no arrows remaining. After scavenging that battleground he found 15 viable arrows, and a leather bag used to carry water. Elias was absolutely parched and drank some water before refilling it in the lake. While he knew he should boil the water he had nothing to boil it with so he crossed his fingers it was clean, it looked rather clean at least.

“I need to find civilization. I could follow the river that feeds the lake, maybe there is a village or something, but that is the way the goblins went.” Elias thought it over, the reward for the quest was information but that was vague. “Vague or not it’s my best bet.”

Elias looked towards where they went, “I hate tracking.’ Steeling his resolve Elias started walking. They had about a two-hour head start.