System alerts informed me that, because I’m the leader of a Settlement , and the fact our agreement is the first one of its kind in the area, I received various bonuses and multipliers to my experience gain. In fact, I’m over the XP needed for level twenty. Unfortunately, without access to a Village Core I’m stuck in the Basic Tier.
Not that I’m complaining. I’ve got five ability points to spend, two Talents to get, and I have my final Class Ability. Let me tell you: it’s pretty exceptional.
Nature’s Fortitude (Basic Class Ability)
The Druid gains immunity to disease (including age related ones), resistance to poisons, and a 10% increase to passive healing.
I thought something had changed earlier in the day. I’d noticed my eyesight got a bit better, and that my knees didn’t hurt as much as usual after we signed the agreement. Your late thirties are a bitch.
Nature’s Fortitude may not seem like a great Basic Tier Class Ability at first. So what if I get immunity from disease? When you find out there’s System diseases that can melt your insides, cause you to grow flesh until your bones snap under the weight, or any of a hundred other horrifying possibilities, immunity to them all is nice.
Resistance to poison is a good one. Some potions are also poisons, limiting the amount you can take in a time period. As Brian found out at the Grand Carnivale, monsters can have poison attacks, too. Considering Andy’s told me Rogues can further specialize into Poisoners as they increase in Tiers, it’s a triply good thing.
The extra passive healing brings my total up to 20%. Since I plan to be a face tank, the more the merrier.
Now it’s time to talk to Ketrell, and get a few more Talents.
A quick trip down to the Harpoi Emporium, and I’m debating what to get with the Shop owner. Ketrell’s mid-Atlantic accent still cracks me up.
“With the build you’re going for, you want to maximize the Class Abilities you’ll get in the future.” Ketrell brings up a list of Druid’s higher Tiers. “The Elite Tier’s Bear Aspect has a great deal of damage reduction and melee damage output. Focusing on that now will only benefit you in the long run.”
“Yeah, but I want this one now.”
The look on Ketrell’s face is what I imagine is the same one a parent has when a child is being dumb. Which is fair. Because I’m being dumb.
Class builds have always been a thing in any RPG. You want to make your characters as ridiculously awesome as possible, and playing to your strengths is how you do it. Sure, a funny ability or spell makes for good role play, but those few points wasted on fun are missed when you hit higher levels.
Same goes for System classes. Build guides abound for every situation for every class. Do you want to be a Rogue who's the face of a group? What about a Barbarian who paints? Maybe a dragon riding Wizard? They have them all.
Like I’ve said before, my build is going to be the tank variety. It’s easy to do: take as many health increasing and damage mitigating Talents and abilities as you can, and voila! Unfortunately for me, that’s boring now that level twenty gives you access to new Talents.
“You have Animal Form - Small. You can turn into a bird to fly.”
“But with this Talent I don’t have to turn into a bird.”
“I am a simple Shop owner.” Ketrell smiles, and once again gives me the you’re dumb look. “You may spend your Credits as you wish.”
This is the Talent I’m wanting.
Animalistic Trait (Basic Talent)
Prerequisites - Level 20, ability to turn into an animal
Effect - You may pick one natural ability from an animal form you can turn into and use that in your normal form.
I’ve turned into a bird a few times and flown around. I’ve even made the trip all the way to VTR once. But when you’re a bird, you sorta feel like a bird. Since their primary means of locomotion is flight, it doesn’t come off as something all that special. Considering I’ve wanted to be able to fly since I was a kid, that’s quite frustrating. Now that I have the option to fly in my normal human form, I want it. Bad.
Decisions are important in the military. People’s lives depend on it. You have to be confident in the decisions you're making, otherwise you shouldn’t make them. For some reason, I’m not confident at this moment.
ably right, Ketrell.” I let out a heavy sigh. “It’d be really cool, but there’s only so many Talents I can take, and I need to make myself useful. My childish whims can wait.”
“I understand, Leader Jordan.” Ketrell nods his head in understanding. “I spent many experience points, and many more Credits, repairing the aimless class building I did in my youth. Believe me, it isn’t something you want to experience.”
“Fair enough.” I cross my arms and mentally scroll through the expansive list of Talents before me. “Still haven’t decided if I want to go the spell caster route. Seems like a bit of a waste if I’m going pure melee.”
“There are many spells which help increase damage reduction and/or output. You have five ability points to spend, yes?”
I nod.
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“Since mana potions get expensive, mana regeneration is important for dedicated spell casters. A larger mana pool is a must, as are spell slots, so I’d recommend spending three points in the former and two in the latter. But you won’t need to worry about that for a few Tiers.”
“That puts me at seventy mana and six spell slots. Seems a bit on the low side.”
“Just remember, you can survive attacks that will kill a Wizard outright.”
“Every class has limits. Speaking of, what Talents can I get to help even out my spell casting abilities?”
Ketrell sends me a message.
Efficient Casting (Basic Talent)
Prerequisites - Ability to cast spells
Effects - The mana cost of all spells are reduced by 10%.
Innate Spell (Basic Talent)
Prerequisites - Ability to cast spells, know at least one spell
Effects - Pick one Tier X spell. That spell can be cast without spending mana.
“Either of those two would benefit you most.”
“Should I take them both?”
“I would pick one Talent for magic and another to go towards your class build.”
Tough decision. A reduction in cost across all spells is a lot better than a single free, low-Tier spell. Ugh, I still have to figure out what spells to buy.
“You know what, Ketrell? I’m going to sleep on this. The last couple of days have been fraught with tough decisions. I’m taking a break.”
“A wise choice, sir.”
Just to make sure I don’t feel like I’m wasting the orc’s time, I buy a beer. Tipping the bottle towards Ketrell in appreciation, I take a sip as I walk away.
A thought occurs to me and I head back to the Shopkeeper.
“Remember those eggs you gave me as a gift?”
“I do. Find any use for them?”
“First one hatched into a stoat-dragon.”
Ketrell raises a thick eyebrow. “Interesting.”
“Very. Our Cleric took ownership. Hard to say how well that’ll work out.” I shrug. “The second egg is avian, and could be one of several species, including a phoenix. Do you sell any incubation modifiers to better guarantee a rare species? Because having a phoenix sounds awesome.”
The orc pulls out a slim vial. “The highest I sell is a Tier VII version that increases a rare hatching by 5%. It is 3,000 Credits.”
“We’ve got 10,000 to spend. Anything else you can offer to better our chances?”
I watch as the orc rubs his square jaw, deep in thought. Ketrell interacts with his menu for a minute, then nods his head a few times.
“What model of incubator do you have now?”
“Tier IX.”
“That unit gives a 1% rarity chance increase. If you ever make it to Braycott, you can purchase a Tier V incubator from their Shopkeeper, Shirin. That’ll provide you a 5% increase, and can hold four modifiers at once. Tier V rarity modifiers give a 10% increase, so if you stack four of those, you’ll have a 45% chance of a rare spawn. Unfortunately, the incubator is 5,000 Credits, and each Tier V modifier is 8,000.”
“Well, I already have the speed, dexterity, and intelligence modifiers I purchased from you earlier. I can save money by using those.” I tap a finger against my lips. “Then again, I’ll have a reduced chance for a rare spawn. Decisions, decisions.”
“Remember, rare isn’t necessarily better. A rare creature might only have a unique coloring, or be of a less common subspecies. Sure, you could get one with a unique ability or increased stats, but those are another level or rarity altogether.
“There’s much to be said by improving a common species. They’re more consistent in their stats and abilities, and once you have a breeding pair, you can start selective breeding. And then you can add in modifiers to further specialize.”
The orc makes some very good points. I toss around the idea of starting a farm, though the only thing worth raising right now are chickens. Then again…
“Ketrell, do you sell eggs for monsters that are good for farming? Besides chickens, that is. They’re reproducing quite prolifically.”
“I do. There is a monster variant of the Cornish hen called, well, I’m not actually sure how you pronounce it.” The Shopkeeper thinks to himself for a moment. “Whoever named it obviously didn’t speak any kind of Earth language. My best guess is meat bird.”
I give the orc a sideways look. “Really?”
“More or less. From what I understand, the meat bird grows at such a prolific rate that it’s unable to walk less than a week after hatching.”
“Then how does it propagate? I can’t imagine they’re able to breed all that easily. Or at all.”
“System, as you know, doesn’t necessarily follow the laws of physics. Meat birds are born pregnant and lay their eggs two days after hatching. Incubation times are eight hours, after which the clutch starts the process all over again.”
“Fucking hell. I thought the chickens reproduce quickly.”
“As you can imagine, meat birds eat a prolific amount of food. So much, in fact, their species is categorized as a plague. Most farmers need elaborate harvesting schedules to stop the meat birds expanding at an exponential rate.”
“Yeah, let’s not do that quite yet.”
“A wise choice, sir.” The orc gives me a questioning eyebrow raise. “Are you wanting to purchase the incubator or modifiers?”
“I think I’ll wait to talk to Braycott’s Shopkeeper. No offense.”
“None taken.”
I buy another beer to thank the orc for his time, then take some time to walk around VTR. It’s a combination of decompression and to get some time in the open air. Spending three days in a room pouring over contract language sucks. It doesn’t help that as a Druid I have a general desire to spend time outdoors and in the wilderness.
VTR, like Carcosa, has a Control Zone ¼ mile from the Core. That’s a lot of space until you fill it with people and structures. Many of the original buildings have either degraded from System mechanics, or been torn down. In their place are medieval counterparts. They have a granary like we do, though theirs is the small version, along with the standard complement of workshops and housing.
Towards the end of my trip, I find myself on the northern ramparts.
The northern part of the CZ dips into Springfield’s downtown area. The Spring Street bridge, once a major artery connecting north to south, like many other things, is in ruin. Scorch marks and massive, deep claw rends in the concrete make me wonder what kind of monster caused them.
My Druidically enhanced sight lets me see the shapes of people standing guard on top of St Raphael Church across the bridge. The religious doom and gloom Settlement, as it’s known, refuses to let anyone visit, nor do they themselves leave. VTR’s scouts report there being just enough people to keep it in Settlement status, though no one knows where they get their food from.
Gazing out over the city, the sightlines are almost entirely unblocked. Springfield’s tallest buildings, which no one would dare describe as skyscrapers, have collapsed: the One E Main building, once an all-black monolith, looks to have been exploded; the Heritage Center, a long, narrow museum resembling a church, is missing the entire top half; last but not least, Clark State University’s downtown branch, where I once took classes for IT, is a pile of rubble.
It’s a sad sight. Springfield was once The City at the End of the Road. Interstate 40, way back in the day, literally stopped here. People from the east coast settled down and set up massive and profitable businesses. High street was once millionaire row. Over the decades, as the big, low skill businesses left, the poverty rate went through the roof. Springfield even won Most Depressing City in the Country. Twice.
They’d tried to revitalize the city by building a new hospital, adding condos downtown, and enticing businesses to return with lucrative tax breaks, but in the end, nothing was making a noticeable change. Even if the apocalypse hadn't happened, it was doubtful Springfield would have gotten much better.
I let out a long breath. This is the city and world I live in now, so I might as well make the most of it. Having magical powers helps to keep me from being too existentially crushed by the horror of it all.
Next stop is bed. The south high’s third floor wing houses the visitor's rooms. I pick a relatively decent looking one, strip down, and crash out. It’s not that my body feels tired, my Endurance Talent prevents that, but my brain sure does. Three days of negotiations really puts your noodle to work.