Jake, May, 1st 2104.
Jake had eventually forgiven Bubba for using his name to found a guild. They had generally done well in the month or so before he had found out about them and it wasn’t like they would be likely to survive the end of the server-world. So Jake occasionally worked with them as they worked on their 300 chaotic sites to cleanse. The fact that they had a disproportionally large number of Singers, allowed them success in situations that other guilds would have struggled with, but the work was immense. The Gray Heath remained uncleaned, but massively reduced. In the center of the battlefield, where the royalty had briefly resisted the power of the giants, dozens of giants, powerful royal guard skeletons and a profusion of jarls, war leaders and shamans were mixed together. These high level undead could darken the skies with their powers and weaken Singers. They were also much smarter and harder to kite and after two false starts, the guild had declared that they would return with their allies on the 1st of May.
Jake had improved his stats to quite some degree. He had earned a silver skill in the use of bludgeoning weapons and had two titles, which he thought he was justified in being proud about.
Leg Biter, (Steel)
For taking off 10,000 legs, wings and tails in your career, you have earned a +15% odds of taking off a leg with every hit of a melee weapon, assuming other thresholds are met. If the target has more than two legs, this stacks by +8% per extra leg.
Leg Breaker (Steel)
For destroying the mobility of 10,000 legs in battle, you have earned a +20% odds of destroying a limb with every hit of a crushing weapon. If the target has more than six limbs, this stacks by +12% per extra limb.
Despite his plans to make this build a pure swordsman, particularly a two-handed sword specialist, he had ended up diversifying a bit. Fighting constructs and skeletons was just much easier when using his mace or war-hammer and it was not like he was trying to make this character into a duelist. He had rolled up a third character, just for duels and made it into a rapier specialist. The most interesting thing about that character was that nobody knew he had it and so he had started a new social media to show off with it. The general conclusion from the people he had discussed it with it, was that character respawns would be longer than the usual max of 1 week, during the last month and dueling had accordingly languished.
But now, his second character marched with ‘the Sons of Jake’ as they returned to finish off the unknown kingdom’s skeletons. John, Michael, Helen, Travis and a few of the other First Worlders that Jake knew were coming.
Jade was not coming as she was going to a dance with her boyfriend and to Micheal’s amusement her cousin Franco was supervising. Jake was somewhat saddened by the development (the boyfriend, not the supervision), but he could not treat it as a surprise. Still he had not minded bringing in Michael. Michael had been impressed by his beating a streamer on a.livestream and that memory covered for his occasional antics. Also Jake couldn’t be too angry at Jade as he had noticed someone else he preferred. Now… would she notice him?
“Stop walking into trees!” John called out and Jake refocused to guide his character back into the column.
As they neared the center of the field, giant skeletons slowly stood, while the sky darkened.
“Sons of Jake, you see your foe! Let Lawful deeds be done!” Bubba called and the pipes, cymbals and horns began to sound. Into this entered the well-tested battle hymn of the order. As the music began to sweep the field other skeletons stood or readied attacks, while the clouds began to disappear and sky tinted to red.
Jake joined the heavy infantry and stood somewhat in front. The rest used their newly built crossbows and began showering one of the giants with quarrels. Effects painstakingly worked into the quarrels then activated and then chunks of the giants were cleansed where they stood. Inhuman shrieks vied with the songs, as one of the giants fell.
“Ranged attacks are so good,” Jake said as he looked across the battlefield at another giant that melted beneath the shower of bolts. He wished he could afford to do that too, but he had made his choice. His armor and new great sword were expensive enough as it was.
“Steady!” Bubba called out before adding, “Keep targeting single giants. They have big resistances, thick armor and evolved classes. These are not simple farm hands or left over outcasts like most of the giant undead you are used to. [Sword Bearing Psalmists] you will begin the chant.”
The specialist light cavalry closed their helmets with a great amount of precision and then began chanting a psalm as their horses stepped forward. While you could not have two different groups of Singers singing in the same area, without causing a chaotic effect, [Chanter] variants, [Psalm Singer] variants, and [Chronicler] variants were all considered separate. The [Sword Bearing Psalmist] horses, armor and swords all began to blaze with light, and while unseen but more importantly, their characters were guarded against the effects, Fear, Giant’s Fear, Dragons’s Fear and Battle Terror.
“A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee…” Jake heard clearly before he the next effect overwhelmed the chanting. The Unified Choir of 70+ Singers had finished their own first verse. Purifying light slashed across the field and the giants covered their eyes, while the smaller figures shrieked.
An undead dragon rose into the air a dozen [Noble] or [Lord] variants riding it gathering power into their own ancient and forgotten modes of attack, but they did not wait further.
Bubba after level capping [Lighthouse of Lawful Aid] easily could use a percentage of his power to cleanse the undead dragon’s wings from existence and disrupt the chaotic energies that aided it in flying. The undead dragon made no noise, but it fell hard and crashed into the ground some distance between both forces. Dragon’s bones were too strong to be broken in such a landing, but the undead [Lord] variants were thrown all over. Some stayed down.
A [Chronicler of the Dead], the only [Chronicler] in the guild, as it was a niche choice, stepped past the shields of the front rank of Fighters and correctly identified the dragon, the nobility and half a dozen giants. Each was then pushed down, as though millstones were bound around their necks and dragging them inexorably downwards.
“Now!” Bubba commanded as he unleashed another cleansing attack to blind the giants, the sorcerers and the lords of the north. At his command the 40 [Sword Bearing Psalmists] gleaming beneath their protections, drew their blades and rode.
A storm of arrows swept across the field as though to blot them out, but the arrows diminished into fog as they broke on armor or simply melted as they struck the horses. The cavalry burst through the front rank and virtually disappeared among the giants and the war beasts.
“All forces advance at a steady walk. Maintain formation. If the plan is followed victory is assured,” Bubba announced as he began walking forward.
The singers finished a verse and a wave of light swept the field. The undead dragon reared back and clawed at its face as the wave passed it, while giants covered their faces, dropping to their feet the boulders they intended to throw. Shrieks of pain and unholy chants continued to fight with the effect, but beneath the effect ‘The Sons of Jake’ advanced a hundred yards without being attacked at all.
A giant wielding a greater staff, then stood and raised his arm. With a great grunt the sky darkened again and with a dark, discordant song, trees turned to snakes and young wyrms that crept towards them. Poisonous breath swept out in cones and the ground behind some of the wyrms melted at the great poisons that leaked from their flanks.
“Archers, continue to fire on the giants. Target the wannabe Moses.”
The archers acknowledged the order, but the sorcerer’s shields and armor were too strong for him to be killed beneath the first wave and with the weird movement of his staff he sank from sight.
The undead royal guards then formed up. Each was the same, a dark parody of order managed by a chaotic and twisted mind. This formation alone was more numerous than the guild and their allies, but the undead moved with only the force of slaves beneath the lash.
“Hold the Line! The encircling force is nearly in position!” Bubba announced over the command chat line and Jake prepared to engage.
By chance he was at the center of the line and he found himself, almost alone against the horde. If he went down now there was a chance he would lose everything, that had accomplished, for a second time. He had no shield to break attacks, while his opponents were a forest of blood-rusted spears and gore-smeared pikes. If he retreated and took shelter he might last longer? Should he fall back?
He stood his ground and began to strike. Spearheads are ordinarily safe from a swordsman’s desperate cutting, but this was no ordinary situation. Jake’s blade, with John’s help and insistence, had been blessed against the undead and giants. Further, the very air trembled in the ancient battle between Law and Chaos. The weapons wooden handles that should have rotted to nothing a hundred times over in this time, beneath the sun, moon and stars, now began to do so. The Law said so and while Chaos had its tricks, it was powerless in the light of judgment.
With his first blow he severed a pike and with his backswing he shattered a spear’s head. A thrust failed against his breastplate and he struck the offender so that the undead spilt where it stood. As the undead fell, it melted into ashes and his armor collapsed into dust.
John called over direct chat line, “We keep pushing. The [Chronicler] is close enough.”
Jake didn’t look, but he could imagine the short figure unrolling the scroll and reading it out. An apparently useless scroll that had been found in the palace dungeon and sold by clueless adventurers on the general market for 1 copper piece. The historian had immediately announced his acquisition and explained its value.
Jake listened closer and as the roll call was read out, “…Ottó Ásmundur, your pay is docked for 506 years of missing your duties in the Ice Palace of the North. Ari Albert, you are reported drunk for five times and this in coordination with your 506 years absent results in the termination of your employment!”
Jake was forced to stop paying attention to the list of names and minor offenses as he felt no difference and he needed to flow through every form he knew just to stay alive, let alone break the skeletons. They were not moving with purpose or excitement, but their maneuvers in combination led to death. It seemed unavoidable.
Things changed though as one of the figures suddenly froze beneath the statements of the historian’s reading and his weapons dissolved and the suddenly weakened skeleton was trampled beneath uncaring heels. Another, deeper in the formation suffered the same fate as the reading continued. Jake smiled at the effect, even as he struggled to make his own kills.
The Singers reached a new song’s high point and light struck the formation. The undead were blinded for a moment and Jake was ruthless with this advantage. He closed past the leading pikes and shortened his sword to strike arms, legs and shoulders with the hilt and pommel of his sword, while a combination of elbow strikes, and simple body weight forced a hole into the line. Their frozen response ended, but the unnatural coordination was broken and the undead royal guards seemed to have lost all direction. Some simply ended themselves. Others fought and when the historian’s announcements fell on them, they burst into white fire which spread to many of their former allies around them.
By the time the next song broke on them, the remaining undead royal guards collapsed and dissolved without extra trouble, granting the song a greater reach. The [Sword-Bearing Psalmists] suddenly appeared. Half of them were missing, but merely the fact that they had successfully ridden down their target and were returning was impressive. Jake looked around and then felt his stomach drop. They had never seen the old undead army’s cavalry, but now they had confirmation. Five ranks deep of armored skeletons mounted on equally skeletal mounts. In front of them rode a high noble, perhaps a [Prince] or [Undead Champion]? Then the undead dark knights came down the hill.
Jake sheathed his sword, the knight’s armor would be too strong for cutting to be very useful, so out came the mace.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Face forward, we are ready for their cavalry.”
Jake nodded and began to march. He did find that the other heavy infantry, those that had survived the fight with the undead royal guards, had formed a ragged line and they marched forward, acting indifferent to the cavalry on their flank, as they targeted the downed undead dragon.
Serpents burst beneath their feet and a groups formed to deal with the poisonous wyrms. Equipment and training made the creature’s poisonous nature’s less threatening, especially by those who were careful. The undead dragon spread its wing bones to threaten and Jake frowned at the de-buff.
The undead knights raised a terrible shout and swept forward, trying to take the heavy infantry in the rear. This was unfortunate as Bubba, consummate strategist that he was, now revealed his hidden ace.
A line of [Legionnaire-Hoplites] and [Pikemen] variants were revealed as the dark knights crashed into their spears. Their weight had no positive effect as the cavalry dashed into the pikes at full speed and shattered. Their numbers could not be brought to bear and instead they crashed into and were trampled their own fellows. Then the the [Legionnaire-Hoplites] hurled javelins that glowed and sank through armor and bones alike. Then as one they stamped their feet and stepped forward, still out-numbered, but fresh for victory.
“Finish the dragon!” Bubba commanded and Jake refocused to the fight in front of him.
The dragon’s decaying mouth snarled at them as the heavily armed and armored infantry came towards him. Then at a rush they engaged. The dragon tried to writhe out of the way, but its ruined wings hampered it and there were on it, maces, war-hammers and great swords chipped away at it, but even if it was undead, it was still a dragon.
“Prepare holy water!”
At the command Jake took his mace into a new hold and hurled it like a bowling pin into the dragon’s flank, before he drew the flask and at the command, threw that too.
The dragon’s scream reached a new high and new low at the same time. Jake muted in game audio and watched as bits and pieces of the monster simply dissolved. There was no hope of souvenirs or treasure from an undead of this age.
This success was not without costs. Half of the force received scratches or hits from the spun tail and a few failed their morale checks. Three were eaten outright. But the undead dragon fell. Jake had the presence of mind to grab his mace from beside corpse as it was purified and he continued to ignore the notifications to keep up with the rest of the heavy infantry.
After their victory over the undead dragon, the heavy infantry turned and marched to the assistance of the [Legionnaire-Hoplites] and other infantry variants.
As they neared proximity Michael proudly announced “We held them off! We held them!”
“Good work, now we will end them,” Jake said confidently, as he hammered one of the dark knights down off his mount and then used concussive force to end him.
“Only if they don’t run away,” Michael said with some concern, before adding, “They could still cause a lot of trouble if they tried to attack the archers or the choir from another angle.”
Jake remained silent and swung his weapon. The first target tried to strike him down, but his mace was delayed by the helpful shield of a nearby [Legionnaire-Hoplite] and then Jake made a second strike. With this blow he shattered the shield and the arm behind it, breaking the old leather of the saddle and destroying the mount. Jake had to take a step back as a flail nearly took him down, but he took it on his armor at an angle. He crushed a mount’s leg and then was forced back by the thrusting of lances and glaives, for a few moments before he heard the thundering of hooves and the shouts of another force. In the violence of the battle he did not focus on it, but instead worked his way through the fighting, breaking arms, shields, mounts and pieces of armor. He switched from the usual focus of setting up strikes to finish, but rather making openings for the spearmen beside him and letting them land finishing blows.
An especially heavy blow cracked his own helmet and stunned his character, but close work from his allies was enough and the dark knights could not take advantage of this. He stood back and watched as he waited for the stun to fully leave, not wanting to make a mistake and hit someone with a mistimed strike and he was surprised by the situation as he now saw it. The dark knights had originally out-numbered infantry they had unknowingly charged, but due to that disastrous impact and the disorder that had followed the infantry had almost equalized their numbers. Add to that the [Paladins] and [Knights] that had just attacked the the dark knights in their rear and the formation was on the verge of collapse. They were a pocket and barely responding to the attacks from the rear and flanks.
Then a wave of light emanated out from the choir and dark knights were blinded, weakened and overwhelmed.
Bubba then conducted the army, guiding his choir into position, the giants now being all destroyed by crossbow bolts and the harrying swords of the [Psalmists], so that songs at close range could be delivered. The cavalry and infantry held position and rested while the choirs cycled to a song of healing and recovery. The remaining skeletal variants of [Lords], [Jarls], and [Courtiers] tried to raise a clamor to weaken the effect, but they were largely unsuccessful. The clouds converted to rain and red sky reverted to a bright day at noon.
“Cavalry as one! [Paladin] variants in the front, [Knights] variants in the second rank and all other mounted units behind them. Infantry of all kinds, advance in loose order. The enemy most likely will be throwing fire or ice at us and dodging is better than shields. We almost have this. March!”
They advanced up the hill in the described loose order. When the cavalry neared the halfway mark, their sedate pace, meant for the infantry to keep close, ended. The cavalry then surged ahead, Travis leading his force from the front. They had been issued spare lances from the wagons during the healing song and these fresh lances now lead the entire force. Undead [Courtiers] failed their morale checks, and in silent screams retreated into and through their own force. This fouled the entire defensive line and into this confusion, the lances of light pierced.
By the time the infantry were position for their own charge, the cavalry had ridden through the enemy force twice more and the remaining skeletons and other more intact undead were isolated. Self-organized teams of infantry rushed towards individual targets and overwhelmed them with numbers.
The king and his thirteen advisors threw black, inky, glops of death at any who approached him. The teams of infantry ignored him, until Bubba and his Patters advanced. John was among them. A series of cleansing techniques, fiery palm-strikes, less orthodox kicks and grapples dealt with half of the advisors, but it was not without cost. Bubba and two-thirds of his Patters went down and the remainder had to retreat.
“Well… that is frustrating,” Bubba said.
Senior players gave contradictory orders, but now the undead king hurled his attacks at any that came near. The infantry covered with shields while archers tried to destroy him and that worked to some degree, but a mix of the undead’s movements, artifacts and conjured black spears and whips were effective. Especially, as many of the archers had run out of arrows.
“Eventually, the song should wear him down, but that will take awhile. Just keep up the pressure! All remaining Patters, focus on keeping the air clean of Chaos corruption!”
There was a ragged chorus of assents while the choir kept singing their song, but the undead king and his remaining allies were among the strongest on the field. Worse yet, since the king was not as big as a barn, weight of fire was much harder to land on him, than on the giants.
“Where’s the historian? He can probably do something,” Jake asked as he tried to find an opening.
He made an attack, but his sword simply slipped off and he was ignored by the [Corrupted Advisor] who brought a heavy mace down on another attacker and immediately ended them.
“Xavier, you in range?”
“Almost, this character still can’t move faster than a snail, tortoise hybrid.”
“Signal when within range.”
Jake exchanged a dozen cuts and parries with the [Corrupted Advisor] before a dismounted [Sword Bearing Psalmist] cut a deep gash into its back and Jake was able to cut off both its legs. Similar victories had left the undead king truly alone and he unleashed his full title.
[Betraying Kin-Slayer of the North].
The text flickered and beneath it was revealed a second class title, though in a different and flickering text.
[The Willful Usurper.]
“Does he really have two classes? That hardly seems fair,” John said as he watched. His character had been killed by one of the advisors during Bubba’s charge.
“That’s rare,” Travis noted with some interest before saying, “People have been looking for ways to get two classes or some variation of that since the game was invented, but so far there are only like ten characters between the 20 worlds, with more than one class. Six of them are not even player-characters.”
The fight continued for a while. The undead king’s classes seemed to give him a mix of abilities and these in combination with high ranking titles, he seemed a one man army. The players who had lasted to this point were mostly damaged, out of one time consumables and somewhat demoralized by the wait. The [Chronicler] variant arrived and began to state the names of the king’s known ancestors. When this was finished he stated the known transgressions the king had committed in his attempt to climb the Northern throne. When this was stated, the frail looking character then unrolled a new scroll and read out the sins of the king since taking the throne. The choir was having more members falter with strain and other adventurers left. But at the end of the reading of the statements, the protective magics across the undead king were stripped away and in a moment the Law began the collecting of interest.
The undead king was an elevated being. By level, it is would have been able to threaten any thirty or forty players who had hit level cap. Had it been governed by a truly intelligent mind, it could have subdued giants and stood better than even odds of defeating a dragon. It was not destroyed by the mere application of time, but its powers were visibly worn away even as the watchers noticed the change. The area around the undead king was suddenly cleaned by the effects of the song and the things that remained in his bones shattered.
An army wide loot distribution window popped up to all who had been involved in the combat.
“Uh, guys. I think I got something big!” Xavier announced over the group chat, before explaining, “My loot is a method to get two classes!”
Breakdown of the New Method to get TWO(!) Classes in “Universe of Heroes by Decree,” published on a obscure blog.
Quick news! A group of anti-company players and players who are hate the undead just won a major battle over one of the biggest known undead hordes. They discovered a massive secret, which has led to a massive rush of old timers to try and get characters on this sever-world. As the title suggests, we can now get TWO classes on a character. I don’t have access to the full summary or an optimal guide, but here is the basic outline.
At any time, a character may attempt the first step, which is called ‘Ancestral Expression.’ There are factors that make it easier or harder, but current opinion is that it is fundamentally tied to character alignment and being near to a pole of alignment that you are aiming for. As far as gameplay, it is essentially a one-time mini-game. You guide some aspect of yourself back through your character’s ancestry. With the aid of a [Chronicler] variant, you can do this to varying degrees of success. The best known ‘Ancestral Expression’ is known as the [Watcher at the Fiery Gate], which pushes your stats up to at least 18 in all categories, plus at least ten legendary resistances! My own attempt did not get nearly that far and most players probably won’t. There is no way to practice and it takes a deep knowledge of character information (literal genealogical data) to get anything really good. I got [Child of the Ashes] which is not what I was aiming for, but it is an expression of my character’s ancestors who fought this world’s dragon overlords. It gives a push of +2 to Sturdiness and a exceptional resistance to breath weapons.
The next part is called ‘Celestial Adoption.’ Arguably, the easiest of the three parts. You have to go to a temple, altar or equivalent and wait for a patron. This is based on the server-world’s morality system and a record of details such as number of fights you have run away from, and battles won. The [Chronicler] variant who found this, revealed on a live stream he was approached by thirty different patrons, heralds and messengers of greater powers, giving him a bit of bargaining power. I got two. One offered a detailed list of favors that could be exchanged. The other offered a one-time power up. I do not have confirmation with my back-up character yet, but I think this is the general pattern. Though it pains my researching side, I will withhold the agreement of the patron I made. This is because it is not strictly an improvement. At least both deals I got included some downsides baked into them.
The last part is the ‘Blessing of Expansion.’ That is the hardest part. You need to have a title at least at the Steel level or higher. The title is then presented to a religious character (either player or non-player works) and they bless it. It then leaves the general progression and becomes an ability. I had a pretty boring title, which I feel like everyone playing this game must have earned; “Two Left Feet.” To give an idea of the stats, I have copied out its progression.
Two Left Feet (Copper.)
Your character has stepped on 100 feet, legs or equivalents in 1 dance, battle, campaign, raid or adventure. In the future, when this is done intentionally (or not), you will deal 0.001 true damage.
Two Left Feet (Bronze.)
Your character has stepped on 1,000 feet since being born/rolled up (while in battle, social situation or an equivalent). In the future, when this is done intentionally (or not), you will deal 0.01 true damage. This also has +1% chance of causing the target to trip.
(It is worth noting that the first step cannot be skipped, if you will pardon the pun. That is, even if you step on many thousands of feet, provided you do not get 100 in a single event, it is not going to activate.)
Two Left Feet (Iron.)
Your character has stepped on 2,000 feet since being born/rolled up (while in battle, social situation or an equivalent). In the future, when this is done intentionally (or not), you will deal 0.05 true damage. This also has +2% chance of causing the target to trip.
Two Left Feet (Steel.)
Your character has stepped on 5,000 feet since being born/rolled up (while in battle, social situation or an equivalent). In the future, when this is done intentionally (or not), you will deal 0.1 true damage. This also has +5% chance of causing the target to trip.
Two Left Feet (Orichalcum.)
Your character has stepped on 10,000 feet since being born/rolled up (while in battle, social situation or an equivalent). In the future, when this is done intentionally (or not), you will deal 1 true damage. This also has +10% chance of causing the target to trip.
(This is when it actually started being useful.)
Two Left Feet (White Iron.)
Your character has stepped on 50,000 feet since being born/rolled up (while in battle, social situation, or training a foot squishing student or enthusiast or an equivalent). In the future, when this is done intentionally (or not), you will deal 3 true damage. This also has +20% chance of causing the target to trip.
Two Left Feet (Adamantine.)
Your character has stepped on 100 000 feet and is now permanently barred from any dance floor and learning in the arts of dance. Dance instructor’s will treat you as though you are from a rival profession or worse. In the future, when feet are stepped on, you have a 50% chance of causing the target to suffer a 40% loss of mobility and a minor loss of social standing. (Get it, social standing!!! Well, we think we are funny!). You will also deal 6 true damage. This also has +50% chance of causing the target to trip.
I was somewhat hesitant to give this to the priest for the blessing, but I needed to write this article quickly, so here is what I have got.
Two Left Feet (Lawful Titan Ore.)
Your character’s advancement of his title has been recognized and expanded. When you walk, you are a calamity and when you stumble, the ground unnaturally quakes. Dancers and their disciples hate you. In the future, when feet or any other body part is stepped on, (by you or an ally) you have a 55% chance of causing the target to suffer a 60% loss of mobility and a major loss of social standing. You will also deal 7 true damage. This also has +50% chance of causing the target to trip. Next with each foot stepped on will give you an instance of [Stolen Grace]. Before a social instance these may be used on your character to improve other character’s opinion of them. Further, when you step on the foot of a character with a lower Voice attribute than your character, you cause them to have percentile chance of suffering an instance of [Painful Shriek] which has 50% chance of causing their song to fail. Finally, each time you step on the foot of a character with a higher Discipline attribute, you may gain an instance of [Stolen Understanding.]. At the end of that battle you may choose a title and upgrade it directly with instances of [Stolen Understanding] at a rate of 1 for 1.
The ‘Ancestral Expression,’ ‘Celestial Adoption’ and ‘Blessing of Expansion,’ then unite into a unique, secondary class. Mine is [The Explorer of Burned Places]. It gives me a direct percentile damage against dragons, dragon cultists, unknown species, categories that it only gives me weird symbols for and I get huge bonuses to first time dungeon clears.