Attributes

Agility 1

Brawn 5

Health = (6) x (1) +6 hp (Dwarven Toughness) = 12 hit points

Acumen 3

Perception 3

Spirit = (6) x 1 = 6 mana points

The magical silver dwarf statues faded out. What looked to be a general store faded into view. There were four sections of the store but only the one to the far left was illuminated. The other three were heavily shadowed. I realized the spellbook from the previous area was in my hands. I clutched it tight.

At the bottom of my vision a notification blinked. I mentally clicked on it. Weapons skill in clubs (all), crossbow (all), knives and quarterstaves. Racial proficiency in Axes (all) and Hammers (all).

To the right of my vision blinked 25 gold pieces available. Once I looked at it the money amount shortened to 25 gp. Hanging on the wall to the left was a rack of weapons, to the right were manikins each wearing armor and in the center was general equipment.

In the weapons area was a spiked glove, knives of various sizes, spears from a short stabbing spear with a long blade to a two handed beast. There were maces, spiked maces, a wide chopping blade like a machete, a whip, clubs of various sizes and what looked like a whaling harpoon. There were lawn dart looking things, a sling, javelins and what looked like a log. That was in the throwing weapons but I’m not sure what kind of brute throws a log at people.

After that was a short, wickedly curved dagger, a spear with a grip at the end that might actually be a lance. There were a bunch of axes from a tomahawk to one I’m not sure I was strong enough to lift. There were hammers of various sizes from little throwing weapons to something I could picture Swarzenegger in his prime wielding. Then there were various simple looking bows, one short and one about man height.

The armor racks had all sorts of stuff. First was what looked like a quilt, that might just be what you have on under heavier armor. Then there was stiff boiled leather with a cap and thin greaves like soccer shin guards. A heavy ring shirt like something the Vikings would wear covered the next one. Thick hide armor, like maybe made from something like rhino hide was on the next one, then scale mail that looked like a fish. A full suit of splint mail covered the next one. Three sizes of hide shield, from a round one, to a generally triangular hide shield to a rectangular body type shield were leaned against the wall next. The round shield looks nice. I’ll take it.

There were all kinds of things here but most of them looked pretty simple. A bedroll and a few blankets were rolled at the front. A bunch of pieces of chalk in a small pouch, a crowbar, fishhooks in another basket and a piece of fishing net. There was a little hammer with pitons, then some rope neatly coiled. A pick was leaned against the box the climbing gear sat on. Several clay containers of various types, a jug, a tankard and a pitcher. A sack, some soap and a shovel were stacked one beside the other. A pile of torches, some leather bota style water bottles and a whetstone rounded out the selection.

I could barely see into the next area. It looked like there were backpacks, flasks, lamps a tent and things of that nature. All a little higher quality than what was available in the area I could clearly see. The other two nooks were completely invisible.

Looking over the armor I noticed the ring mail cost 30 gp. Ouch. The quilted was only 5 and leather was 10. Trying on the leather, it bound up my movements a little but nothing too terribly bad. It had a hard leather chest piece and another for the back. It made a sort of a lace up clamshell. Additional pieces covered the bicep and forearms, though there were big gaps. A skull cap seemed to be included with the armor. It didn’t cover my face or ears but was better than nothing. It was surprisingly heavy. That might be a factor of my low brawn score but it was something I’d have to watch. I bought the leather armor and small hide round shield for 11 gp.

Moving to weapons, I have proficiency in crossbows but there aren’t any in this area. I tried looking over into the next one but couldn’t see the weapons from where I was standing. Scanning the ranged weapons I didn’t have proficiency with any of them. I don’t know how to use a dart? Come on.

Javelins, no. Sling, no. This is frustrating. I could get the tomahawk and use it as a ranged weapon, but it cost 7 gold. That’s a lot for something you’re going to literally throw away. I looked at the knife. They had all kinds. I picked up one that seemed weighted for hurling. I could use this. Grabbing four of them took 2 more gold pieces leaving me with 12.

I picked up the bearded axe. It looked just like the one Vikings would have used when burning villages or raiding monasteries. Good weight, a little heavy, but I knew how to use it. Ten gold though. I picked up the tomahawk. It had a much slimmer head but could cut into armor like its bigger cousin. It only cost 7 gold too. I bought it. 5 gp left.

First things first, I need clothes. They had a traveler’s outfit for two gold. Sturdy boots, heavy clothes with reinforced elbows and knees. Good belt along with a thick water resistant cloak and hood. I bought it. The other interesting looking one was an explorer’s outfit which looked to have a bunch of storage but for 10 gold I couldn’t afford it. 3 gold left. The clothes instantly equipped.

Let’s get a sack to hold my gear. First thing I put my spellbook in it. That took up a fair amount of the space. A good woolen blanket and a bedroll. No idea what the climate will be like but this is a good start. That all cost 7 silver pieces. 2 gold and 3 silver left. Interesting. So silver was worth ten to the gold piece, like dimes. A waterskin is an absolute must for one gold. 1 gold and 3 silver left. I grabbed a roll of twine since you never know when you’ll need that and it only cost a few copper.

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Iron Rations? This looks like preserved food. Each one is a leather wallet with meat and fat in it. There looked to be some dried berries as well, maybe cranberry? Oh, its pemmican! That was a native North American preserved food. The light axe was called a tomahawk as well so there may be some first nations influence on where ever I’m going. Okay, I’ll grab the food. That’s two gold. Whetstone for 2 copper. 2 silver and 5 copper left. I bought a quarter pound of soap for a silver and a roll of cheesecloth bandage for another few copper.

Select Skills

Primary Skills: Bluff, Climb (+5 racial bonus), Concentration, Craft (+3 to a craft skill racial bonus), Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, Jump, Lore, Listen, Perform, Profession (+3 to a profession related to your craft, racial bonus), Ride, Speak Language (Native Deep Dwarven), Spot, Swim (-5 racial penalty), Use Rope

Secondary Skills: Balance, Hide, Move Silently, Rune Scribe, Search, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Summoning, Survival.

Wow, I only get 12 points to start with. That’s… horrible. A minus to acumen? Ugh. If I’m going to play a wizard I’ll need rune scribe and concentration. Two points in the former and only one in the latter. I’ll use my craft on Alchemy, that might help with potions. For my profession, let’s see. Animal Trainer, no. Apothecary, that’s interesting. Blacksmith, no. Craftsman, nah. Engineer, what is that in this game? Farmer, too low on the food chain. Fence, now that’s interesting. Gambler, wow I like this one. Healer could be useful. Herald, no. Hunter, not the plan. Merchant, ugh so boring. Rune Caster.

Let’s read up on Rune Caster. Common skills: Alchemy, Appraise, Concentration, Decipher Script, Gather Information, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Religion), Rune Scribe, Spellcraft and Use Magic Device. The Rune Caster may use one third of Profession (Rune Caster) as a bonus to any three of these skills. That’s interesting. Yeah, I’ll take it. My three skills will be Runescribe, Spellcraft and Concentration.

Eight points left. Spot and Heal for survival purposes. Listen, then Knowledge (Arcana) but one point each in those. Secondary skills take two points to equal one. Uggh. Summoning, because all the best wizards are summoners, and Spellcraft. I guess that’s it.

Primary

Concentration: +2 (+1/Profession)

Craft (Alchemy) +2 (-1/Acumen)

Heal +1 (-1/Perception)

Lore (Arcana) +0 (-1/Acumen)

Listen +0 (-1/Perception)

Profession (Rune Caster) +3

Spot +1 (-1/Perception)

Secondary

Runescribe +1 (-1/Acumen and +1/Profession)

Spellcraft +1 (-1/Acumen and +1/Profession)

Summoning +1

The moment I allocated my last point my vision faded to black.

When my vision faded back in, I was in a stone room. It was around four paces square. Each wall had a single bunk made of brick. That didn’t look overly comfortable. A trunk was pulled up to the foot of each bunk.

One of the little elves, the ones with the webbed fingers, stood across from me. She looked around wide eyed, like I’m sure I did and slowly felt over her body, looking up and down at what she could see.

To my left was a tall felinoid. The cat person had pointed ears with a little tuft of fur on the end and a brown coat with some black markings. She had spiked brass knuckles on her hands and flexed her fingers, breathing hard like she’d been in a race.

To my right was a very big, blonde human. He carried a spiked wooden club and wore the same leather armor the rest of us had purchased. Leaning against his leg was a kite shaped hide shield. He slowly lowered a sack, much like the one I carried, to the top of the trunk beside his bed.

“Is that everyone?” A deep voice rumbled down the hall.

“Yeah, all accounted for.” Said another, more breathy female sounding voice.

“Good. Let’s get started.” The first voice said. There was a deep inhalation of breath, “Out in the hall! Everyone! Now! Now!” it roared.

I’d been in the army ages ago and hearing that tone worked on my nerves. I was heading out into the hallway before I realized I was moving. Once in the hallway I could see there were six open doors on each side, most with a head or two peeking out.

A V shaped human with a smokey the bear style drill sergeant hat on over finely made chain mail was standing in the center yelling. He looked at me and I stood with my back to the wall beside the doorway into my room. He nodded. “Any day now people! Don’t make me come in and get you.” I couldn’t figure out if he was yelling or if he was just incredibly loud. Maybe he had hearing loss or something?

Behind him was another of the little elves, a gold dwarf, one of the snake-like lizard men and another human. All looked fit, standing at attention blocking the hallway.

“Hey, why don’t you shut the hell up?” Came from an open doorway up the hall a bit.

“Ah, our first volunteer!” The drill sergeant exclaimed in a delighted sounding voice. He stalked by, moving like a panther. The big man went into the room and there was the sound of a scuffle. An ogre flew out to crash against the wall, sliding down to the floor, moaning. A human got tossed out and landed on top of the ogre. Another human hit the pile with a groan. A dwarf got dropped on top of all of them. The whole pile exhaled explosively as her weight impacted them. The dwarf rolled off, onto her hands and knees. They all lay there in obvious pain.

The drill sergeant walked out into the hallway and leaned down over them. “When I tell you to Stand To you will BY GOD STAND TO!” He picked each of them up with one hand and leaned them against the wall. One of the human's legs gave out, leaving him on the floor.

While this was going on people were piling out of the other rooms. It looked like there were four in each. It was a wild assortment of fantasy races. Elves, dwarves, lizardmen, felinoids, gnomes, ogres and humans. The entire range of statues I’d seen during character creation.

The drill sergeant turned to pace. “Good morning trainees.” He walked a few more steps and stops, paused and yelled, “I said GOOD MORNING TRAINEES!” A ragged chorus of good mornings answered him.

“I am your senior drill instructor Bidlack.” He said, still speaking at a dull roar.

“Hey man, we didn’t volunteer for this.” A human down the hall said.

Drill Sergeant Bidlack stalked over to him and loomed over the young man with the scraggly beard. “That’s correct.” Then he pecked him on the bridge of the nose with the brim of his hat. “You did not. You can call it being drafted or you can call it being kidnapped. I don’t care. Either way, you’re here now and subject to my tender ministrations.”

One sausage thick finger poked the slim human in the chest with each word. “Do. You. Have. A. Problem. With. That?”

“Ouch man, I guess not.” The brunette said, rubbing his chest.

The drill sergeant caught the hand that was rubbing his chest. He moved it so the thumb met the seam of his pants. Then he moved the other hand to a similar position. Then straightened him up. “This is the position of attention. My demonstrator will show you.” He pointed using knife hand at the gold dwarf. “Demonstrator, post!”

The gold dwarf stalked down the hall and assumed a perfect position of attention. “Note the position of arms, straight back, chin level with the marching surface. THIS IS THE ONLY POSITION YOU WILL ADDRESS AN INSTRUCTOR!”