He clicked on the green circle for the next species and perked up on seeing a five-foot-tall karelian warrior in stylish silver and black plate mail, a two-handed sword expertly slicing through the fruit that a querra was tossing toward him. Straight black hair been pulled into a ponytail, revealing pointed ears. Green eyes were intense, intelligent, and intimidating despite the otherwise delicate chin, nose, mouth, and high cheekbones. A pattern of translucent lines swept back from his eyes across his forehead, temples, and cheeks, like some sort of clear war paint. But then they glowed green just before a ghost drifted onscreen, brightening as the spirit tried to attack him. He held up a hand with a small black mirror in it, spoke a few words, and the ghost was sucked right into it.
Species: Karelia.
Summary: One of the seven original species, karelia exhibit the traits of the four Green Sphere benevolent gods who created them: truth, vitality, courage, and intuition. Long-living critical thinkers, and stronger than they look, karelia are brilliant and brave. They need to be to after the Divine Covenant, which gave them skills that have made them respected and feared so that some places don’t welcome them despite their altruistic, lawful nature. They need less of many things: food, water, and rest. They learn spells faster and excel at ranged, melee, and magic attacks; the god of magic created them.
Special: During the Divine Covenant, karelia accepted a role as caretakers of all supernatural and spiritual disturbances. They received innate, advanced sixth sense skills: Disrupt Spell, Spirit Sight, Identify Spirit, Identify Spell, Speak with Undead, 25% Resistance to Necrotic Damage, 10% Detect Illusion, 10% Resist Illusion, 15% Magic Resistance, and Detect the Supernatural, Cursed Items, and Unholy Perversions. Some can even separate their soul and return.
Species Strengths: +1 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +1 Intelligence, +3 Morale.
Species Weaknesses: -2 Charisma, +75% Undead Aggro , -25% Reputation, +25% Fearful Reaction, Obligated to Accept All Quests to Resolve Supernatural, Spiritual, and Undead Disturbances.
Species Bonuses: +50% Mana, +5% Attack Speed, +5% Physical Attack, +15% Magical Attack, 3x Regeneration, +1 Accuracy, +1 Sword Damage, Detect Character, Detect Poison, Heat Vision, 50% Karelian Sleep Reduction, Night Vision, 20% Poison Resistance, Direction Sense, and Weather Sense.
Class Restrictions: Coiryn Rider.
Max mulled this one over. The karelian abilities were amazing and came with awesome bonuses. The 50% mana boost, 3x regeneration rate, and 50% sleep reduction alone made this fantastic. But the weaknesses were considerable drawbacks. It seemed like he’d be feared everywhere he went. But the killer was the 75% chance to cause undead to attack him, and being forced to do all of those quests. If a karelia was big, like a tank, that would be one thing to have all the undead targeting him, because he’d be better at destroying them, but these guys were smaller. Being a karelia meant a steep price. He’d have to be damn good at this game, and have friends playing with him, to risk that one. But it was tempting.
A little regretful, he checked out the additional race, sorelia, who were apparently a corrupted version who used their supernatural talents for evil. They looked the same, allowing sorelia to pass as karelia – except that karelia could identify them at a glance due to their Detect Character ability. Max had a bad feeling he’d run into a sorelia eventually and wasn’t looking forward to it.
He clicked on the blue icon of a hairless, reptilian head and saw an eight-foot-tall humanoid who looked like a descendant of dragons. Scales covers its skin, but as Max watched, the color repeatedly changed to match the forested mountain background as it stalked back and forth. Its black, forked tongue flicked the air as if searching for something to sink its serrated teeth into. Or its wicked-looking talons. A sinuous tail slashed the air behind it, another talon on the tip poised to stab anything approaching from behind. Two cold, blue eyes moved independently like its cat-like ears. It wore little more than a loin-cloth – and a number of scars it seemed to wear proudly.
Species: Jhaikan.
Summary: One of the seven original species, jhaikan exhibit the traits of the four Blue Sphere nefarious gods who created them: wrath, malice, cunning, and domination. Jhaikan are synonymous with evil, brutality, and pain. Masters of the long con, they can never be trusted except to look out for their interests at the expense of others, including their own kind. Unwelcome in all but the largest societies and fond of stalking the innocent and wicked alike in the wilderness, they get more dangerous the more pain they feel. They also eat people. Alive. For the horror it creates. They cannot be wizards, only sorcerers, but excel at melee and ranged attacks. They make superb tanks.
Species Strengths: +2 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Constitution, +1 Intelligence, +2 Morale.
Species Weaknesses: -2 Charisma, -50% Reputation, +50% Fearful Reaction,
Species Bonuses: +1 Spear Bonus, +1 Staff Bonus, +5% Luck, +10% Regeneration, +5% Magic Resistance, +10% Attack Speed, +10% Physical Attack, +10% Bludgeon Damage, +10% Additional Hit Points Per Level, Acute Smell, Stealth, Resist Cold, Resist Heat.
Class Restrictions: Any Heroic Classes (Knight, Paladin, Coiryn Rider, Winged Rider, Warder), Bard, Monk, Wizard.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
One thing was certain – Max did not want to fight one of these things. Since this was a game, he wondered what it would feel like to be eaten alive. Would he feel those teeth ripping his flesh off? Would his body go into shock? He had an awful feeling those questions would be answered one day. As for playing a jhaikan, their sheer power made them attractive, but the class restrictions were pretty strong, and the weaknesses were a problem, especially magic. He really wanted that.
Max clicked on the other race of them, rhaikan. He learned that some of the benevolent gods had retaliated against the nefarious deities for corrupting benevolent species into the sorelian, niquerran, and kadean races. So they used jhaikan to create rhaikan, who looked identical but had very different characters, being honest, content, loyal, peaceful, and just. They could even be the heroic classes like knights and were natural tanks. Jhaikan despised and hunted rhaikan with particular zeal. This was a tempting choice, but the distrust factor was something Max wasn’t sure he wanted to deal with all the time. Having people assume he was a jerk all too often admittedly made him want a chance to show his good side with heroic actions, even if only in a game.
He only had two more species to examine. The first was a mandean, a tall humanoid with a solid, muscled build, fish-like skin, and webbed fingers and toes, each topped with talons. Wearing a sling tucked into the loincloth on its slender waist, the mandean stood on broad, flat feet and dripped with water before diving into a pool. He broke the surface with a silver trident, which he hurled into a target that split in two from the force. Short black hair lay wet atop an oval head. The round face, subtle brow, and dark blue eyes seemed pleasant enough until he smiled and revealed serrated teeth, a foot-long tongue snatching a fish from the water and into his mouth in one motion. As night fell in the image, his skin glowed with bioluminescence until he turned it off, seemingly at will.
Species: Mandeans.
Summary: One of the seven original species, mandeans exhibit the traits of the four Indigo Sphere benevolent gods who created them: innocence, passion, expression, and unity. Their underwater settlements are rarely visited but rumored to be beautiful and unified with sea life. Whether oceanic or river mandeans, they can survive on land for days and are welcome in many ports and on sailing vessels as valuable guards. Superior crafters, and inventors of the Mandean Hand finger language, they have excellent ranged and magical attacks. They make for powerful healers.
Species Strengths: +1 Strength, +1 Agility, +1 Wisdom, +1 Charisma.
Species Weaknesses: -2 Agility on Land, -10% Reputation, Light Armor Only
Species Bonuses: +10% Sling/Dart Bonus, +10% Trident Bonus, +5% Magic Resistance, Acute Smell, Acute Taste, Acute Feel, Electro Pulse Attack, Brewing, Befriend Sea Creatures.
Class Restrictions: Knight, Coiryn Rider, Winged Rider.
Max knew this wasn’t a good choice for his intentions. The light armor, lack of melee skills, and poor agility didn’t do it for him. Never mind that it was really meant for the water. If he expected an ocean or sailing quest all the time, that would be one thing, but he didn’t think that would happen. Hopefully Llurien wasn’t some weird water world.
He clicked on the two races out of curiosity. Kadeans were, in effect, the evil version who attacked ships and kidnapped or killed people near shorelines. They were physically identical except demeanor, but the nideans were subterranean and seldom seen. They were smaller, unclothed, and sometimes blind, with semi-translucent bodies.
With a mental click, Max selected the violet-encircled species and saw a three-and-a-half foot tall riven appear. The narrow, bloodshot, heavily-lidded, violet eyes regarded him with a mix of sullenness and muted fury. His face and chin were round but somehow mishappen. He was thin as if malnourished, with small feet and hands and a hunched back. Multiple sores oozed on his skin, which he scratched at. The soiled and torn tunic and trousers he wore fit poorly and didn’t match; they looked stolen from querra. With dirty nails, he scratched at short, unkempt brown hair and pulled away a thin hand covered in lice. In the other hand, he held a handle with a sharp blade protruding from each end. As Max watched, the riven yawned and lay down to sleep.
Species: Riven.
Summary: One of the seven original species, riven exhibit the traits of the four Violet Sphere nefarious gods who created them: haste, hate, cynicism, and sloth. They are a perpetual plague on the land and live near settlements to prey on everyone. They are shunned by all. They don’t respect anyone’s life, including their own. If disturbed from their seemingly perpetual sleep, they can become reckless, frenzied attackers who swarm and slice through everyone before them. When that doesn’t kill, the multitude of diseases they carry will. A riven swam is so formidable in melee that even armored knights just run, townspeople clearing out. They otherwise lack the will, focus, or energy to achieve much; a more determined one can easily amass followers among them.
Species Strengths: +1 Agility, +1 Morale.
Species Weaknesses: -2 Strength, -2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma, -10% Luck, -10% Regeneration.
Species Bonuses: Charge Bonus, Identify Poison, Resist Cold, Resist Heat, +25% Attack Speed, +15% Physical Attack, +50% Followers, +75% Fearful Reaction.
Class Restrictions: Any Heroic Classes (Knight, Paladin, Coiryn Rider, Winged Rider, Warder), Hunter, Bard.
Max wondered why riven were even a player character, but since Llurien Online was based on a book series, this was likely one of the book’s species, just one that no one would want to play unless they really wanted a challenge. You’d have to sneak around and evade combat unless you had help. Or maybe the reaction they caused en masse suggested they could almost walk into anywhere and everyone would just run away. He could just take what supplies he wanted, assuming he could win over enough riven followers. Maybe they’d be easier to play than he thought. It was intriguing but he didn’t want to risk it, not knowing how they’d play out in the setting. Besides, who wanted to walk around looking like that? And the guy was clearly miserable.
Under riven was a race called dariven, who from the description sounded like riven abandoned at birth and rescued by another species, then raised to overcome their faults and live a clean, healthy life. Certainly, the image Max saw was markedly better, reminding him of the phrase “you cleaned up nice.” Dariven lived exclusively in settlements built by other species and tended to not be trusted to behave themselves, even though they usually did. Riven took a special interest in killing them, as if offended by their superior existence.
Max sighed, feeling a little overwhelmed. The only options he liked were human and kryll, which seemed to be the only two species that didn’t have a race here. As he clicked around more, he only now noticed that the “Continue” button in the corner was greyed out unless he selected human.
He swore.