Sally eyes were glowing with a greedy look. She looked at me “Buy supplies you have the identify ability we need hard core anti vampire equipment. Tom get the weapons we looted from the graveyard repaired. Thorn find those dog handlers. I will try and find a couple of good mercenaries we can bring on board.”
Thorn grinned “What about those paladin idiots we used to check out the tomb. Once we have Wrath help them gain the undead slayer title we can use them as bait.” Sally nodded “We want cheap reliable troops lets go.”
I set out first to buy a spell of identification for the necklace i had. Then to purchase as much supplies as i would need. The necklace was actually amazing
Amulet of concealment Effect blocks all identification magicEffect hides wearer from all forms of scrying Effect Can give false reading to mid level identification spellsEffect Disrupts all information seeking skills
I put on the amulet and headed to the local church to see what kind of anti vampire weapons they had. A massive scowling paladin was starring at me from the side of the church. I checked out the bullion board and found something interesting.
The church offered you the right to hire priests under what looked like a slave contract but they called it a lay priest contract of service. Surprisingly Jessica was listed at a very low rate. Not surprisingly the four idiots we had sent to test the waters of the vampire hide out were also listed. I checked the numbers Jessica was now level 26 which meant there was no way she should have been this cheap.
I pulled the cards of the various church servants as they were called. Cheap Mercenaries was another word for them. I walked to the priestess in charge of goods and services. I put down the cards and nodded “I want a three month hire of these and a full seven year hire of Jessica Lightstar. I will take the renew option to.”
The priestess looked at me “And is your daddy coming to help you out.” I tossed a purse onto the counter and continued “i am also going to need anti undead spell scrolls blessing scrolls and any form of anti vampire magic scrolls you have. A general guide to killing vampires would be nice as well as any cheat sheets you have on killing undead. Oh any books on how to hunt a necromancer would be welcome. Also could i have a cheat sheet for how priestess and paladins level up” i felt a ping
The gods of good are watching you.They are very unhappy be careful.
The gods of Evil are watching you. they are amused.Be very very careful.
In total I hired six people the four idiot palidins and two priestess Jessica and Amy a lv23 Priestess and alchemist. Amy had the herbalist and Herb Scholar sub classes. She would be able to easily find and identify herbs as we moved out.
I also hired the four idiots we had sent after the Vampire. Because If they were stupid enough to attack a vampire in its own lair. They were smart enough for me to use as human shields James, Joey, Paul and Max were just staring out with ages ranging from 15 to 17. They had some experience just not much.
Jessica was worn looking but picked up when she heard i was hiring her. The four idiots looked grateful. I motioned for them to follow and had then grab the small pile of scrolls and high quality holy water i had purchased.
Amy looked at me “I am a priestess I can create holy water. So can Jessica.” I shrugged “You are going to be lets go we need to pick up ingredients for stamina potions and some garlic.”
I moved out to meet Thorn who looked over the sheets of the four Paladin squires. “There levels are horrible and there only squires. Even Maxs level is only 18” I winked at her “Your forgetting about killing undead rats its a easy way to push them past level 20. Amy can then produce stamina potions for them. It might take six weeks or so but i am confident we can also increase there first class from Paladin squire to Paladin.”
Thorn looked at me “Your sure its possible?” I grinned “i have a theory about class ups i need to test out before you get your next Class.” A squire James spoke up “We do not want to be your test subjects” Max another Squire shouted him down “Shut up idiot you choose your own class. He can not pick for you so if its a bad choice you can refuse. I want to be level 20”
Shelly bought three waggon's for us and we headed out to a field to practise. One Cart was full of garlic and some food. I Got to share a Cart with the four idiots and Tom who farted in his sleep. Given we were trying to eat a lot of garlic so it would lace our blood stream it was not a pleasant journey to where we were going.
We got out and Shelly brought out a dark shrine and pretended that it was a shrine with the spell raise the dead. We had a bunch of skeletons bought most likely from the tombs we had looted and the paladins smashed to pieces every night. The four paladin squires reached level 24 quickly. Amy actually reached level 25 and everyone now had the undead slayer title.
I sat down with Thorn to talk “We have to discuss something. Your next class I think I found a loop hole in the orc classes. Jessica is level 26 when she gets her next class i want to test something on her.” Thorn grinned “So what was your grand theory?”
I pulled out a couple of sheets. “A vampire level 21 is equivalent to a human level 41 in terms of added attributes if you discount the addition of undead status. Its like the vampire has another class. I think its a race bonus. I think i found a way to increase you by two classes instead of one next class up.”
Thorns eyes widened “Wow how certain are you?” I pulled out a sheet “When i began to research the details this happened. Theres a list of the gods blessings I got. So i am ninety percent certain.”
I pulled out another sheet. “What my idea is is the bonus stats come from the race not the Classes. We change your race from orc to orc lord. Theres a minimum increase in strength of 2 plus i do not know what else. It opens up new classes for you. Lets test my theory out on the Paladins and Jessica first then we go from there. ”
The next day I pulled out four Commendations from my bag and gave them to the four idiots. Then we headed to a nearby Abbey. The Abbot was a fat jolly man named John who was more than happy to try a Class increase on Tom.
A beaming tom became increased his class from knight Squire to Black knight. Shelly went next and a took Knight class. The Abbot John face was full of joy. The four idiots went next to increase there Class from Paladin Squire to Paladin.
Sweat began to appear on the abbots face. He started to stammer “This is a blessing from the gods a blessing.” Thorn eyes glow and a tear fell down her face.
Jessica starred at me “Whats going on why is Thorn so happy.” I kept silent so as not to give anything away. The four idiots went up for there next class. James and Joey came forward to receive the class of Black knight. Paul took the scout class and Max took the high Sorcerer class.
The abbot John face shook in fury his voice echoed out “Grab this misbegotten son of a goat.” Shelly ran forward “What happened?” Johns face turned red “He must have a status hiding magic item on him. No Paladin can lay claim to that hated Class.”
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
I winced Max had my ring of concealment on. I had brought my amulet of concealment. I swore internally and Shelly grabbed Max by the ear and started to pull him out of the abbey. John turned to the other three idiots “He has betrayed his vows you must as true paladins kills him for his sin.”
The four idiots followed ran after us and we jumped into our Waggon and took off. We were lucky we had only brought one and had strapped two horses to the waggon. Jessica turned on Max “How could you?” Max's eyes glittered “I wanted power and then I found those notes Thorn kept so close. It was not hard Tom was so helpful.”
Jessica starred at Max in horror “The gods have given us our path we must abide by our path.” Max spat at Jessica “So you get to be a healer Mage and I get to be a human shield.” Jessica looked confused. Max started to laugh “It was all in the notes your hear as a experiment.”
Jessica starred at Max her eyes widening “What kind of unholy notes did you find? To make you choose a class like that chaos Paladin.” Max's hand exploded with a bright flame “I am a high Sorcerer. I can take a mage class for my next class.”
Tom stopped the cart and looked at Max “You found something that was not for you boy. That class is dangerous.” I sighed “Let me talk to him with Shelly and Thorn.”
We walked away from the cart and Thorn winked at Max “Good job now we know that the notes might work.” Shelly glared at Max “You could have let Jessica upgrade first.” Max nodded. Shelly sighed “I am going to pretend to yell at you now. When Jessica asks i yelled at you right?” Thorn shook her head “Later the abbot might be summoning help.” We got onto the Waggon and set off.
That night was a strange everyone looked at each other trying to guess what Max's choice would herald for the future. The next day Shelly brought Jessica off to increase her class. When she came back Jessica was dressed in a much better robe and had a staff.
Jessica got down and starred at Max “ok how did you know i would get the chance to become a Healer mage?” Shelly put up her hand “Forget it. We move out at dawn we have located a mercenary band that the vampires have hired to protect themselves. We have to meet up with another group of Mercenaries and eliminate them.”
Report on the massacre of Easttown Village.
Easttown was massacred by vampires. We have located a few survivors from Eastgate and under torture they revealed Eastgate had been trading with the vampires for at least 40 years.
Several important facts have come to light
One the Vampires were trading goods that must have come from a dungeon.
Two originally they were a so called co existence group. They stayed hidden feeding on the creatures spawned in the dungeon. This means we have no idea there true numbers. Three they have at least one high vampire ruling them.
Interestingly the reason the vampires massacred the villagers was in revenge for the villagers killing several vampires. Someone set fire to a vampire trading post. The escape routes prepared by the vampires were sealed with a sanctuary spell.
A number of villagers vanished soon after. However the vampires claimed to be innocent. It is my firm belief a peddler named Kempfer was responsible for both the fire and the disappearances.
What happened next is unknown as only the villagers who fled at this time survived.
Attempts to track down Kempfer have failed however it should be noted he is a associate of Thorn. Another fact that must be noted is that the villagers who disappeared were all in positions where they would have had access to information about the vampire threat.
It is my belief in light of the facts that Thorn paid Kempfer to gather information on the vampires and if possible sabotage them.
Given the fact Kempfer was so successful. Thorn and her mercenary band should be allowed to attack the vampires. The chances of there success are unknown given probable strength of the vampires. However they will take a toll and may lead to the vampires making a mistake.
We should also attempt to eliminate the Black Wind Mercenary Guild. They have several members in there group who grew up in Eastgate. There is no doubt in my mind they have been hired several times to eliminate threats to the Vampires. We should begin to try and place a spy among there number at once.
The rain was pouring as I followed Shelly threw a dirt track that over looked a Mercenary band. Shelly nodded to me as several dark figures took up position outside the stockade. The constant grinding by killing undead rats had pushed my level to 36 .That was as far as that method of increase would go even with me killing giant undead mutant rats.
Now it was my time to get as many levels as I could. I pulled out a scroll of freeze ray and cast it. A freezing blue beam struck a nearby tower guard turning the guard inside into a icicle.
The dark figures who all had the bandit class took up position. I walked threw the front gate. The main building was a massive old barn. I watched the Mercenaries play cards and cast a scroll of greater cone of freezing.
The men froze in place. Max and the three other idiots started to move from room to room silencing anyone who was around. The Bandits moved ahead to eliminate anybody left alive.
A scream echoed out from a nearby room. The black wind Mercenaries started to run out trying to find the problem. They were still milling around when arrows slammed into several of them.
My hands trembled as i cast my last cone of wind. A massive blast of wind struck several mercenaries and they went flying into a nearby wall. My breath caught as Max screamed a battle cry and ran forward to attack. He cut down a mercenary his sword glowing with blue flames.
A chaos paladin was a force of nature. Max's sword smacked forward and a head fell to the ground. James and Joey joined max quickly slaughtering the unprepared mercenaries.
The mercenaries turned to run but there they found that the main building a converted house had slammed its doors shut. Arrows came from the darkness and finished the men trapped outside off.
A voice came from the well fortified building “Your all fools this building can be held until doomsday. You can not burn us out and the walls are four feet thick. Your not getting in here. So come and die.”
Barrels rolled forward and struck the main building. I reached out with my mind and gave the undead plague rats inside there instructions. They ran toward the grate that was used to allow out the houses sewage and ran into the house. Screams echoed out from the house. Several more barrels hit the house and the screaming stopped.
Max lead a team to batter down the front door. He secured the house. Everyone rushed into the house and we looked at the pitiful few treasures that were scattered around. I decided to find thorn she would know where the good stuff was. When i found her Thorn and the bandit chief were arguing. The chief looked upset “I know that non of mine lost there lives but you did not tell us this was the armoury for the Black wind mercenaries.”
Thorn looked at the bandit chieftain. “You got paid as agreed. We will have more work for you ask for a better cut then. In the mean time only my men will secure the main armoury.”
Shelly walked in “How is your level Thorn?” Thorn grinned” level 30 Now we can go get me my second class and race up. Lets get the best equipment and go for the Mercenary treasury next you with me bandit.” The bandit chief grinned “Sound like a plan but we get a better share.”
Thorn looked at me and gave me a hard stare. “stop looking at me this is a armoury it has weapons and armour. There are no Magic scrolls or anything else like that. But tell you what any magical item you find is yours.”
I ran off to grab the best short sword and bow i could. I found
that Thorn was right all the weapons were the same. All the swords were the same. And all the armours were to big for me. I ran back to the commanders and decided to take a look with identify.
The commander has a couple of very decent rings on him
Ring of vision
Grants darksight trait when worn in a dark place.
Ring of water breathing
Allows the owner to breath under the water
I also found a amulet of elf language
Allows the user to understand
Sun elf Language
Moon elf Language
I took the rings and traded the amulet for a couple of decent short swords
Short sword of flame Quality Superior.
Durability 145/145
Effect Does minor flame damage 2-4
Short sword of flame Quality Superior.
Durability 155/155
Effect Does minor flame damage 3-6