Daggat and the ogre lay panting on the other side of the door. That thing, whatever it was, was hammering on the other side. The door was designed to slide closed, but Daggat suspected it wouldn’t last too long against it.
Then, roots began to slither and snake at the bottom of the door. Through cracks in the ancient walls, holes in the floor, and every nook they could find, even more crawled in.
Daggat slashed at what he could, cutting them like an axe to dead wood with his white blade.
He needed to think. There had to be a way through this. He had never seen or heard of these creatures, nor had he read anything about them. Why were they attacking now?
Daggat went through the day's events. They arrived and spent some time poking about before the ground went crazy on them. He talked to the ogre… then there was a fight. Was that it? Had the fight drawn their attention? No… something else happened.
Then he remembered. The sun had fully set. At least, the sunlight no longer touched this place. Were they scared of the light?
Daggat scanned the room with urgency. It was a large enclosed space. Neat piles of massive logs took up one side of the room, peppered with smaller piles of wood in various sizes. In the center were the remnants of an old fire and a ring of stone; someone had been here before. Had used this place as shelter. There was also the pile of loot Klaw had been carrying. Perfect!
Then he noticed the other side of the warehouse. It had two large doors, one of which was open. He cursed.
“Hold here, I have an idea.” He handed the ogre the knife. Then he left the sputtering ogre behind as he raced to the other side of the warehouse. He slammed the door shut. No roots were crawling on that side of the building, but better safe than sorry. There was another thud against the door.
Then he tossed wood, conveniently cut and piled nearby, onto the old fire space. It was there; why not use it? Seconds later, he was rifling through the makeshift bag. He found what he was looking for: a box of matches and a bottle of some strong alcohol.
He took a swig as he splashed a generous portion of the alcohol onto the wood, then set it alight. At first, there was only the faintest hint of flame. Then the smaller bits of wood caught, and soon the fire had begun in earnest.
He glanced over at the ogre, who was panting and slashing with the sword while trying to keep the door closed. Daggat quickly tore a strip from the cloth tarp and created a quick torch. A final splash of alcohol and a quick dip in the fire set it ablaze.
When he reached the ogre, he waved the torch. To his relief, the roots did back away like wolves shying from a hunter's lantern. A moment later, the thudding against the door stopped. Daggat braced a log against the door so it couldn’t be easily slid open.
“Come, by the fire.” The ogre slowly followed his direction and sat heavily by the fire. He was panting, pain evident on his face. Daggat noted that someone had heavily bandaged his bad leg, the one with the limp, and stuffed it in a boot.
Daggat had to catch his own breath. He examined the ogre's features. He had the tusks and eyebrows of an ogre. Thick, shaggy hair like them too. Most ogres had beards that seemed to cling to their entire heads. Daggat could make out the beginnings of such a beard on this boy. But what caught his attention was the eyes. They looked frightened, nearly panicking. A hollow look to them unnerved Daggat. They kept flashing at him with a weary look. This was not good. He needed the ogre to get through this. Probably. He couldn’t use him in this state of mind.
“Hey, hey! Look at me.” He did. “What’s your name?"
“I… I don’t- Hunter. It’s Hunter.”
“Ok, Hunter. I’m Daggat. Now listen to me. We are going to get out of this.” The fire had grown brighter and hotter. Only the bravest roots entered the warehouse, but they stayed far back. Hunter nodded. Daggat needed to distract him from their situation.
“What happened to your leg?” He looked at his leg as if he was surprised to see it there.
“Frostbite.” This wasn’t working. He needed Hunter to be level-headed.
“Tell me about it.”
“Did you hear that scream earlier? I think… I think that was Anath.”
“Anath is probably fine. Focus here. Tell me about the leg.”
“I lost my boot. Then I walked through the snow… A man told me I would lose it.”
“So you keep walking on it?”
“I have no choice.”
“Doesn’t that hurt?” He shrugged.
“Yes. It’s been nothing but pain.” Daggat’s eyebrow twitched. Nothing but pain? This kid didn’t know pain. Not like Daggat did.
“You’re lucky it’s just your foot. You haven’t seen real pain. You can still make it through this.” Hunter’s eyebrows furrowed and his eyes locked onto Daggat’s.
“What do you know about pain?!” he growled. Daggat stopped himself from backing away. This was a kid, but it was still an ogre. He pointed at his chest.
“See this scar? That is where that sword,” he pointed at the white blade, “stabbed me through. But that only hurt… a lot, but it was only physical. The real pain was watching my brother die in front of my eyes. Seeing my sister's face literally melt off. Until you go through something like that… there is always something worse. We can get through this night.” Something Daggat said clearly hit a nerve. Hunter looked as though he was going to burst. He was shaking with rage. What did he say?!
“MY… I…” His face softened and he relaxed. “That must have been hard. I am sorry you had to go through something like that.” There it was. That clarity. Now he could work with him. Daggat knew he could talk the kid through his troubles.
“We always go forward; that’s the trick. Now, let’s figure out how to get out of this. What can you do?” The ogre thought about it for a moment. Daggat added more wood to the fire.
“Nothing.” Daggat took a deep breath. This was going to be a long night.
“What level are you?”
“Five.” That was something, at least. Calion mentioned that ogres were mortals… which meant he had a class.
“What class? Any useful skills?”
“I haven’t picked a class yet. Or spent skill points.”
“What? Why?” Hunter flinched.
“Well, none of us knew anything about classes. So… we wanted to wait a bit. Try to find someone who could teach us.” That was understandable. His siblings could learn from this ogre.
“Well, then you are in luck. You found me. I know lots.”
“Really?” He looked skeptical.
“Yes. REALLY. I am level seven; I’ll let you know. Been around the forest a few times.”
“Okay! Then, I guess… what do you think is best?”
“Hold that thought. First, I want to get a better idea of our situation. That thing hasn’t hit the door in a while. It might be gone.”
“Right.”
“I'll peek out the door. You stand by, ready to slam it closed. And give me that sword.” Hunter nodded.
They moved into position. Hunter kicked away the log and was ready to push. Daggat slid the door open a few inches.
Immediately, a large root the size of Daggat’s leg punched through the gap. It hit him square in the neck and slammed him to the ground. He would have gasped in shock or pain if he could breathe.
He looked down the root to see the gaping maw of the monster. What would pass for its tongue had Daggat by the throat. Hunter screamed and pushed his full weight against the door.
A cold, intense pain radiated from his neck. It was as though heat was being drawn from him. Not heat… his life. He heard himself scream in agony. No, not himself. His assistant. It could feel pain?
Daggat swung wildly with his sword. The root was cut like twine. Immediately, the cold, draining sensation ended and the root relaxed its grasp. Daggat gasped for air, and Hunter slammed the door shut.
[Feat achieved: Touch of Death. Cause: Perform two of the following: die and return to life, survive an untethered’s life-draining attack, or perform the rite of Mihr. Reward: Death sight. Do you accept? Yes/no]
He blinked in surprise as he rubbed his neck. Hunter put the log back, then hobbled over to him. Daggat waved him off. He knew he had performed no rites of any kind. Whatever that meant. So… had he died? The only possibility was when he was stabbed through the chest. He guessed he had cut that closer than he thought.
At least he learned something else. That thing was untethered. A member of the living dead.
Now he had the option to select death sight. He should get it, right? Why was it giving him the choice? That worried him. But… he literally died for the feat. He selected yes. Nothing happened. Reading the skill, it appeared to allow him to see the untethered. He could see the root monster just fine without it.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” They retreated to the fire. The thing had stopped banging on the door.
“What are we going to do?”
“I refuse to just sit here while my crew is out there. We need to kill it.”
“How? It’s a giant root monster!”
“It’s untethered. I think… I think I have an idea. Give me a moment.”
Daggat retreated to his status void.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Greetings, Master. I see you’ve dabbled in death. Please warn me next time… so I can pay better attention.” Its otherworldly, curved smile loomed over him. Daggat suppressed a shudder.
“Do you know the Divine Will? Get it for me.” The assistant opened his notes, and Daggat pulled the book out.
“Of course I know, I know all you know. But… do you know all I know? Who knows?” He laughed and floated around Daggat. The two of them had combed through the Divine Will. It was half artful history, half instruction manual. He had skipped ahead. The book contained a fanciful overview of the basic classes, the gifts from the angels. Having no need of it yet, Daggat had only skimmed the book.
Daggat left the status void, still holding the illusory book.
“Alright, Hunter. What do you know about classes?”
“Not much. I know my older brother was a warrior.”
“Well, there are two broad categories of classes. Base and advanced. Base classes are what we need to look at. Don’t worry about advanced classes until later. What options do you have?”
“Artist, berserker, brawler, craftsman… There is a lot.”
“All of them. I need to know if there are any missing or any surprises.” Hunter sighed.
“Duelist, gambler, herald, listener, merchant, mystic, rogue, scholar, scavenger, stormwatcher, tiller, torchbearer, traveler, warrior, and warden. Oh, and I have two ogre classes,” Ogre classes? Your genebloom gave you classes? “Feral hunter and kind father.” Hunter was eyeing Daggat confusingly as he used a finger to follow a list and to turn imaginary pages.
“Hmm… Doesn’t sound like you have any special ones.” He hopped into his status void. “Assistant, do any of those have anything to do with the untethered.”
“If you recall, there are a few special base classes: Paladin and hearth tender.” Daggat read through them both. Paladin required an oath given before an angel. No luck with that.
Hearth tender, though… that might be possible.
“Ok, Hunter. Keep in mind that this is totally your choice and you have free will in this. Also, keep in mind if you don’t do as I suggest, we both might die and leave our friends to the same fate. Understand?” Hunter looked mortified but nodded. “So, there is a class called torchbearer. It is the light in the night. The guide for the weary. All that nonsense.”
“So I should select that one? I don’t know… I think Elyndris would be mad if I didn’t pick something more… fighty.”
“Just… listen. Don’t pick torchbearer. There is a special alteration to torchbearer called hearth tender. What I know is vague, and full of flowery language, but from what I can gather, it allows you to ward off the untethered. That is what we are fighting.”
“That isn’t on my list.”
“Yes, I know. The thing is… I don’t exactly know the requirements. I can guess, though. ‘Those who tend the hearth, the heart of a society and a member of the many.’”
“Is everyone this smart? Elyndris is like this, too.”
“No. Now focus. I think that means you have to be in a party. It just so happens that I am a party leader.” Hunter nodded along. “So. Here is an experiment. I will add you to my party, then we will see if it is there. Got it?” Hunter gave him an annoyed look.
“I’m not stupid, you know. I got it.” Daggat added him to the party. If this didn’t work, he would kick the kid out. No need to give him experience if he didn’t have to.
[Hunter has joined party: The Crew.]
“I have three new ones: Heath tender, but also pack hunter and shield bearer.” Daggat grinned. He was beginning to see the patterns of the system.
“This is a decision you have to make yourself. It will help us survive tonight, but you're stuck with it.”
“Hearth tender. The soul of your people…” Hunter sniffed back a tear. “Keeper of the home. Yes… I think I want this.” He selected the class.
“Oh! My attributes went up. And I have two new skills… and a lot more to pick from.”
“What changed?”
“Will went up four, then one in strength and constitution. Now I have the skill, Invoke Torch, and Hearth Fire." With a flash of light, a torch simply appeared in his hand. Its flame was steady and pure. The handle was made of pale wood and soft leather. "Whoa!" He dropped the torch and it faded away, as though drifting beneath deep water. Then he summoned another torch.
“Interesting. What does Hearth Fire do?”
“It says it enhances the warming, calming, and healing effect of any flame I am tending.”
“Well… here is a flame. Tend it.” Hunter experimentally probed it. The flame suddenly changed. It wasn’t a visible change, nor was it physically warmer. It felt like the fire changed from just a source of heat to a warm campfire after a long, dark journey. Daggat felt warmth from it. A warmth in the soul. He relaxed, and a smile crept on his face. Hunter was beaming.
“That’s nice. But now we need to weaponize you. Any growth points or biotraits to work with?”
“Two growth points. Looking at these skills, I see that my will enhances many of them. I think I want to put them in there.” Daggat nodded, and he did so. This was much easier than working with Klaw or Zuss.
“Now, what new skills do you have?”
“There’s like, ten of them in the class. And a few from increasing wisdom to ten. I have seven skill points.”
“Good job, kid. Looking ahead. Now is the time to spend them. But, something I’ve been thinking about. Once you hit level fifteen, you are going to have a new class with new skills. That essentially limits you to fifteen points in this class, if you said your prayers. You prayed, right?” He nodded. “Good. So, if you spread out too far, you won’t be able to level them up fully.”
“Makes sense to me. So, I should only pick a few skills I like. Then focus on leveling them up?”
“I wish all my disciples paid attention like you. Any that helps against untethered?”
“Just one. Sacred hearth. It says it weakens any demons or untethered in the vicinity of the fire.” Daggat smiled. He was forming an idea.
Over the next few minutes, the two of them went through the skills. This is what they settled on: Sacred hearth, encompassing warmth, and brilliant bash. The others sounded useful, but not compared to these three. Sacred hearth will weaken unnatural creatures. It also adds warmth, making fire more effective and increasing its reach. Brilliant bash allowed him to more effectively use the torch as a club.
The skills from will, bursts of wisdom, seeking, and mental strength didn't seem needed right now. Seek did intrigue Daggat, though. It allowed the user to seek out a quest. The Divine Will touched on quests. From what Daggat could gather, they were special missions granted by divine messengers that resulted in rewards. But that was a line of inquiry for another day.
Hunter then leveled Brilliant Bash and Sacred Hearth. Leveling the skill granted a choice of a perk. For Brilliant Bash, the perks were Blinding Light, Mighty Blow, or Hearth Flame.
There was some debate on that. Daggat’s immediate suggestion was mighty blow. But, hearth flame was Hunter's decision. It allowed his torch to count as a flame he tended. Daggat gave in. This meant unnatural monsters would be weaker wherever he went.
As for sacred flame, the perks were Debilitating Warmth, Unwanted Guests, and Shared Will. They chose debilitating warmth, as it would weaken the enemy even further. Unwanted Guests increased the effect to all enemies of the user, which could come in handy. Shared Will allowed party members near a tended flame to use the user's will instead of their own to resist fear and the like.
Once he learned the sacred flame skill, the roots at the fire's edge quickly pulled back as if they were burned. When he chose encompassing warmth, the entire warehouse lit with a soft glow. It wasn’t like the fire got any brighter, but rather the light seemed to reach further somehow.
At the end of it all, the boy was looking pleased. He was gazing into his torch with a smile on his face. Daggat kicked him from the party.
“Hey, what was that for?”
“Experiment worked. Didn’t it? You gotta earn a place in the crew. If we make it through tonight, we can talk about it.” His eyebrows drooped, but he shrugged in acceptance. “Now… it’s go time. Are you ready?”
“I think so. What’s the plan?”
“It’s risky, but I think it will work. You tended this flame, so it should be weak in here. We throw open the door. If luck is on our side, it should charge in. Then I cut it to pieces!”
“Alright. And then we go look for Anath and Elyndris.”
“Or Klaw and Zuss. Whichever comes up first.” Hunter looked toward the door, doubt evident in his eyes. “Hey, are you ready for this?”
“How do you do it? Keep up with this… know what to do?”
“Practice, I guess. This isn’t my first time trapped in a room with an unbeatable enemy on the other side of the door. Remind me to tell you about the time I fought an army off practically by myself.”
Hunter took a deep breath, and they moved into position.
When the door flung open, the monster reacted just as Daggat hoped. It dove right in, its tentacle-root-tongue things darting forward.
Daggat did a double take. Atop the creature was a… man? It was translucent. As though it both existed and was imaginary at the same time. But this man was twisted, broken, and elongated. Its face was like a mass of flesh-colored mud smashed and then twisted. Strings connected the hands of this abomination to the root monster. Like it was a puppet.
Death sight. It had to be. That was its true form. The spirit was just controlling the roots. As the monster moved into the light, it shook as though in pain. The spirit shrank, as though being crushed by a great weight. The root’s movements became slow and sluggish.
Daggat wasted no time after his initial double take. He cut at the base of the root. His sword cut halfway through the thicker root. He tried to pull out the blade for a second chop when it suddenly twisted like a mad snake.
The sword snapped.
“You, fucker!” Daggat yelled as he dove away from its bite.
Then Hunter yelled, charging forward despite his wounded leg. He lifted his torch high and brought it down upon the untethered monstrosity.
Bright, white light flashed in Daggat’s night-vision eyes. He screamed in pain, and all he saw was white.
Something caught his ankle, and he hit the floor, and then he was dragged. He could feel the life drain starting to take effect.
Just as Daggat’s eyes began to clear up again, a second blinding flash illuminated the warehouse. Daggat thought he might never see again after that second flash. He stopped moving, and the root let go of his leg.
Immediately, he was crawling away. He felt himself crawl through the fire, but he hardly noticed.
"Whoa, careful! It’s dead.” A deep, guttural voice said. Who was that?! Daggat blinked his eyes until, slowly, the world came into focus.
There was a full-sized, if not still baby-faced, ogre in front of him. He gawked. The ogre was wearing the same clothing, but sized up, and favored one leg. A massive torch in one hand. Hunter? He was at least three feet taller and wider as well.
“What… Hunter?!” The ogre gave him a bashful smile.
“I leveled up. When ogres hit level six… they get big. Among other things…”
“What other things?” the ogre looked troubled.
“The ogre curse. I… I’m susceptible to it now. But, hey! I got stronger! And I got a feat. Slayer. Got it from killing an unnatural creature with a sacred attack.” Sacred attack? He didn’t have one, so how did he get the feat? Daggat put it together. Hearth flame imbued his torch with the sacred flame. How serendipitous.
“Good for you. Did you catch what it was called? That monster, I mean.”
“Level twelve greater death root. Are you okay? Are you burned?”
“I’m fine.” He said, standing. “Well. How’s the leg?”
“Still hurts… but not as much. It’s dead, stiff. But not falling apart. I think I can walk on it a bit better. Still, will need a surgeon, though.”
“Great. Then let’s get going.” Daggat cursed at himself internally. He assumed he would kill the thing. If Hunter was still in the party, then he might have gotten some of that experience. “Say, what do you think about a… trial run for the Crew?"
Hunter smiled at him with a huge, friendly smile.
Daggat
True Name: Daggat
Soul: Monster
Genseed: gremlin [ 3 Str, 4 Dex, 3 Con, 2 Int, 3 Wil, 3 Cha; Regenerating Teeth, Rot Resistance; Tiny Size]
Genbloom: goblin [ +2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con, +1 Int, +1 Wil; Scavanger; Small Size]
Monster Level: 7
Attributes (0/6):
Strength: 11
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 11
Intelligence: 20
Will: 10
Charm: 12
Feats:
Encounter: True Angel
Ability: Mighty Intellect
Act: Fledgling Alchemist
Knowledge: System Knowledge
Act: Devotion [Layered feats]
Act: Usurper
Act: Touch of Death
Skills(0/3):
Alchemy: 1
System Aptitude: 1
System Assistant: 1
Mind Codex: 1 [Synergy: Mental notes + Copy Tome]
Party Leader: 1 [Source: Usurper]
Notable Natural Skills:
Literacy: Apprentice
Biotraits (2/6):
Base size: Small [Source: Goblin]
Regenerating Teeth [Source: Gremlin]
Enhanced Night Vision [Source: Gremlin]
Disease Resistance [Mutations: Rot Resistance; Source: Gremlin]
Hypnotic Gaze [Mutations: Dominating Gaze]
Temperature Resistant Skin [Synergy: Fire Resistant Skin + Cold Resistant Skin]
Scavanger [Source: goblin]
Death Sight [Source: Touch of Death]
Transformations:
Drakeheart Form:
+2 strength
+2 charm
Extreme Temperature Resistant Scales [Synergy: Fireproof scales + Temperature resistant Skin]
Fire breath
Other:
Variant: +10 Intelligence
Notable Gear:
Strange pure-white sword
Hunter
True Name: Hunter
Soul: Mortal
Genseed: Ogre [ 8 Str, 2 Dex, 6 Con, 2 Int, 3 Wil, 3 Cha; Ogre's curse; Large Size]
Hearth Tender Level: 6 [+1 Str, +1 Con, +4 Wil; Invoke Torch, Hearth Fire]
Attributes (1/5):
Strength: 13
Dexterity: 6
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 8
Will: 13
Charm: 7
Feats:
Knowledge: System Knowledge
Act: Vile Concoction
Act: Devotion [layered feats]
Act: Slayer
Skills (1/7):
System Aptitude: 1
Invoke Torch: 1
Hearth Fire: 1
Sacred Flame: 2 [Perks: Debilitating Warmth]
Encompassing Warmth: 1
Brilliant Bash: 2 [Perks: Hearth Flame]
Bounty Hunter: 1 [Source: Slayer]
Biotraits (0/1):
Base Size: Large
Disease Resistance [Mutations: Rot Resistance]
Other:
Curse: Ogre Curse