Darc had never felt so helpless his entire life. He stood at an average five foot seven inches (167 cm) wearing thoroughly worn, rugged jeans, a pale yellow shirt pockmarked with holes and a brown leather jacket thrown on top. Although he was somewhat thin, his muscles were pronounced and tightly packed, leading to others often first misjudging the strength he had. It had served him well on occasion. He unconsciously wove a hand up through his jet black hair as he narrowed his dark brown eyes at the scene before him.
He was fairly sure that this would be the end to everything. A life spent cowering from one hole to the next, barely scraping by day to day... and for what? Nearly every moment of his life had been laced with fear and loathing, only luck and perseverance had led him unto this day. The day the world would end.
What he saw before him was impossible to overcome. Giant monstrosities of metal, rock and flesh woven together into masses of shimmering spheres measuring kilometers in diameter. They proliferated throughout the sky, the earth, and the ocean before his ragtag group of survivors.
Anything solid or living they attached their tentacles to was devoured, leaving little in their wake and as they ate. And as they ate, they grew both in size and number. Darc and his group had often fought the much smaller sized monstrosities of 2 to 30 feet in diameter, whether by explosives or magic, yet what he saw now required something nuclear. Relics which were long spent and unobtainable. For those monsters to have grown so large and to have what at a glance seemed to be hundreds of thousands only meant one thing: nobody was left on the other side of that ocean.
It had begun 20 years prior as a single sphere the size of a marble was discovered by the famed archaeologist Bradford, and had somehow escalated into... whatever this is. The find had been called the discovery of the century and would later be named the Seed. Scientists, after inundating it in innumerable tests, revealed that although it was a device of unknown purpose, whatever it was meant to do was deemed harmless.
2 years after its discovery they had activated it in a controlled environment, yet despite all precautions, the device brought about a change in Earth... Magic was introduced in what could only be described as a cascade effect brought upon by the Seed. Darc was no intellectual so he only understood it as something to do with the ability to control electromagnetic fields through glands that nanites had built into their brains. The nanites in question had bled from the Seed upon its activation, replicating themselves throughout the world.
However, despite the wonder it had brought, they had also opened Pandora's box. The world soon discovered that they had become a beacon of sorts for what was to come. Six months after the nanites spread from the seed, structures were found around the planet that sent off signals into space. Their only message seemed to be short, perhaps only a single word in whatever language they were using.
Six years later, astrologists spotted a dozen enemy harvesters entering their solar system... and that first contact eventually escalated. Unyielding. Unstoppable. All attempts of communication had been met with silence. Missiles had been launched an hour after they first began attacking and while effective at first, they only proved to be a temporary detterent to the inevitable since two of the harvesters had simply sat on the dark side of the moon. They most likely sat there even now, endlessly replicating reinforcements.
Behind him one of his friends placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's time." Matt intoned with a stoic expression.
Within their cave stood 48 men and women, each of which had faced hardships untold. In their faces Darc saw a glimmer of hope yet some were laced with resolve and a tinge of despair. They had spent five years gathering what they needed, making decisions nobody should have to make along the way, in order to achieve what could only be described as humanity's last efforts of survival. This time, most of them were going to die, Matt and Darc included.
Darc didn't actually want to die and he sure as hell didn't want his friends ... and Lina... he stood there in a daze for a moment, the light leaving his eyes. They had been through so much. Shaking his head, he resolved himself into believing that this was for the best.
This was all the fault of one Bradford Cooper, the same archaeologist whose discovery had started this whole mess. They found him five years ago along with a 2 dozen large security detail of America's finest and five other scientists. They'd been hunkering down in a research facility that Darc's group ran across while looking for supplies.
Bradford had apparently been bequeathed back the Seed he had found so long ago at the behest of the long defunct US government and he had a mission. His last orders and that of his research team were to send any remnants of humanity they could find to a few dozen planets that were likely to support human life.
Bradford was chosen because he was the last known leading edge expert on all things magic related before the government fell. Most of the time when asked about it he simply shrugged with a wave of his hand that said it was no big deal. Other times he would say that his in depth knowledge of many cultures long dead and buried gave him an unfair advantage. He believed that the further you looked back in history, the stronger the proof stood out that magic already existed in the past... once upon a time.
In his years of research with his team, he had eventually unlocked something within the Seed. They could, by following a set ritual, open wormholes. The process wasn't easy and involved a hefty price, namely draining around 27 average people of everything they had in order to power the ability. The Seed required mana, yet also... something else that they couldn't pinpoint.
Sometimes they could get away with charging it with less people, however their death was almost a certainty. Darc and his friends would pay the ultimate price for this last trip into the unknown. Hell... he really couldn't really complain though. He'd been with Bradford for five years and in that time he'd helped perform the deed at least a hundred times over. This would be the last time. They'd already sent teams to all the prospective worlds and found one that already had what they assumed to be humans on it. Although their technology sat at around the medieval renaissance era, they also had magic on their world. Amazingly enough, nearly half of the worlds seemed to have some semblance of human life already, though most were all rather primitive.
The last man they had sent to scout their chosen world stood next to Bradford on his right as he stepped onto a small 4 foot wide metal folding table in order to address the rest of them.
"My friends. Colleagues. Please listen to these few words. As we stand here on the precipice of death some of us must go on, setting sail towards the unknown. Our world is dying. We all know this. Though this is the truth of the matter, we will.. must persevere. Our world already lies broken in ruin, it is... beyond saving. You are the seeds that will pave the path forward for us. For our world. For humanity." He paused for a few moments as he centered himself for what he had to say next.
Opening his eyes, he searched the faces of those that stood before him before finally settling on Darc's. "I am sorry my friends. I will not be joining you for this final journey." A slight murmur echoed throughout the cave before he lifted his hand to silence them. "I am old. And I am tired. I've also sacrificed so many-" he stopped as he caught his breath, a grimace painting his face.
"We have sacrificed too much. I sometimes fear that somewhere along the way we've lost our humanity. That is something which you must reclaim as you go forth.". He made a motion towards a woman standing to his left and knelt as he grasped the paper she offered him. He stood, his gaze strong and defiant as he held the paper in front of him and announced, "Stacy, Lindsey, Lina, Matt and Darc, you will accompany our final expedition."
He stood down shortly after and began the final preparations for opening the wormhole. As he did so, Matt, who had been standing next to Darc glanced at him. He looked pale with a lost look hovering over his eyes as he spoke, "... So what, just like that? ... We get to live while the rest-" ... He couldn't finish. Darc had no response. What was there to say? They'd been through this a hundred times already. Their little community of 683 had been reduced over the years to just them. Sure, they had picked up many stragglers and other groups over the years but they were no strangers to sacrificing their own.
Still... Darc had never imagined he would have a chance. In the back of his mind, despite his fear of death, he always thought that he would go down just like the others. That he Deserved to go down like them. There had been better men. Stronger, more intelligent, more knowledgeable, just... more than what he was. He felt a smoldering anger rise up in him. This shouldn't be happening. He.. what right did he have to live? Bradford was taking that away from him, he was running away leaving everyone else to pick up the scraps. He-... Darc took a deep breath, letting his anger leave him. He wasn't going to go down that path. The others, they deserved more from him. He needed to be more. More than Dan. More than Jay. More than Fred and Kyle and Grace and Zoey and so many others, their faces blurring past his mind's eye. He would survive. He would live on. For them.
Half an hour later Darc stood near his friends, holding hands silently with Lina as they waited with bated breath for the others to enter the portal. The portal itself lay upon the floor, nearly 10 feet in diameter, as its surface swirled in a violent whirpool of green and black. It would only be open for another 5 minutes. Each time it would open for 10 minutes. No more, no less.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Behind them lay the bodies of 25 volunteers, their faces stretched out in expressions of pain and agony. It never got any easier listening to the screams. The past five minutes had been spent in a whirl of dizzying activity as the expedition threw all of their hard earned supplies that would serve them well on the other side. A hundred boxes full of ammunition, food, bottled water, books and other necessities gone to another world, waiting for them to reclaim them.
Andrew Hobbs had gone in first. He’d already been there and back. Guess he couldn’t wait to leave this godforsaken rock, Darc mused, just like the rest of us. It was almost their turn, just a few minutes left now. Darc turned one last time to look upon the leader he had followed for the past 5 years. He was laying facedown. There were bloody trails scrawled across the ground in front of him. It looked as if he had torn his fingernails while in a vain attempt to hold onto... Darc blinked.
He could have sworn he saw the slight hint of a movement in the man’s hands. Suddenly, in a violent burst of motion Bradford grasped once more with his outstretched hands, the blood oozing out more profusely as he fought for his very soul and took in a sudden intake of air. Darc and his friends were by his side, lifting him, dragging him towards the portal as he once again screamed in agony. Without much time to think, they held him tight as they dove in.
Then he too was screaming. He held tightly onto Bradford as they were stretched, every ligament, muscle, bone and organ also screaming in tune with his agony. The others were nowhere to be seen in the flashes of green and black swirls stretched around him. It seemed as if the swirls were splitting before him, leading towards infinite possibilities, yet all he could do was hold on for dear life as eternity yawned before him. He had no idea how long the pain went on. It could have been hours, days for all he knew. Then, just as suddenly as it began the pain disappeared as a bright light encompassed him.
Blinking his eyes as they slowly adjusted he saw a forest stretched beneath him. The wind was buffeting his body and increasing in strength as it began to whip against him furiously. Eyes wide open in panic he fell, powerless against the force of gravity. Bradford was still beneath him audibly groaning. Whether it was in pain or at the situation, Darc couldn’t tell. Whatever, Darc thought as he gently pulled Bradford to the left of him. If they were to both somehow survive, they probably shouldn’t be stacked atop one another.
Bradford widened his eyes and glanced over as he noticed Darc moving him into position. His visage turned into a teary-eyed grin. Darc tried for a wan smile as the wind whipped across him. They probably only had 5 more seconds to live. He closed his eyes as the trees rushed up to greet them, Darc couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to the others. Were they still alive? Were they safe? Why had they been separated? Was it because- Something is wrong, he thought as he opened his eyes. The wind had sighed into a gentle breeze and now they were both simply floating near the top of the treeline.
"What?” he looked askance of Bradford.
“It’s … magic!” Bradford exclaimed while wriggling his fingers at Darc.
Ah, I should’ve known. I’m sure I’ve seen some of the others cast something similar before.
“So… how do we get down?” Darc asked of his new old leader.
“I suppose we’ll have to catch and release. I can probably only do it a few more times though.” Bradford shrugged back as he added, “It’ll have to be enough, we can’t afford to be careful.”
Darc took a good look at Bradford and noticed he seemed to be putting on a mask of confidence. His face was pale and his eyes were bloodshot. Had he been crying tears of blood? He shivered a little, looking at the smears left across Bradford’s cheeks. Darc nodded at Bradford and they proceeded towards the ground. It turned out they only needed to catch themselves two more times in order to find some stable branches and carefully shimmy down the trunk.
On the way down Darc had taken careful note of his surroundings. It seemed to be around midday and there was nothing in the vicinity that seemed threatening. There were birds chirping nearby however and he spotted a few small critters that looked similar to squirrels. Reaching down towards his boot Darc drew one of his daggers and with a flick of his wrist sent it flying towards one of the squirrel like things. With a thud, it sunk deep into its skull, instantly killing it. Walking over, Darc picked up his kill and stuffed it into a satchel he kept slung over his shoulder like a half-sized backpack. As he returned, he saw Bradford sitting down, leaning his back against the tree that had saved them.
Darc took a seat next to him as he started, “Brad… what happened? Portals always went to the same place before... right?"
Bradford sighed and gave a small shrug in return, “I can’t say for certain... If I had to guess, it might have something to do with ... this?” He dug into a pocket in his button-up shirt and held up the Seed as Darc's eyes widened, “You know... I was supposed to die back there. You shouldn’t have brought-, Shouldn’t have brought this thing here. It’s entirely possible that you’ve forced me to end two worlds.” He was silent after that, leaning his head back with his eyes sealed shut.
… Darc jumbled his words together as his brain turned to mush, “I’m.. sorry. I didn’t thin- you see, there was no time. We uh.. we saw you back there and you know we couldn’t… I couldn't just...leave another one of us behind. Not like that.”
Silence ran on for a few more moments before Bradford opened his eyes and answered in a slightly bitter tone, “Suppose it's the price for my life, to have to carry this burden with me. You know... before the ritual I thought I was ready. Turns out I'm weak. Some fearless leader, huh?" His bitterness took on a frown, "In that moment I would've-” He shook his head as he rose to his feet, dusting himself off, “Anyway, enough moping around, talking about it won't do us any good." He clapped his hands to his cheeks, shaking off the melancholy.
"We should look for shelter. Signs of civilization." He looked up into the sky, shading over his eyes with one hand. "Daylight's burning. There’s no way to know what happened to the others. No way to know if we’re even on the same planet.”
Darc stood as well not knowing how to respond except for a nod of acknowledgement.
After climbing the tallest tree they could find to get a better look at their surroundings they decided to head south towards a river. It wasn’t clear if it was really south, being on a different world and all, however the sun had moved in the right direction for it to be south in their minds. As he took in his surroundings Darc couldn’t help but feel a tinge of excitement beating in his heart. The trees were close to what he was used to, yet different all the same. Their leaves all curled inwards from the sides as if to catch raindrops falling from the sky when it rained… well, if it rained at all, he still wasn’t sure about anything really. He also took a closer look at the “squirrel” from earlier, noticing that it actually had sharpened teeth and elongated canines hidden in its mouth. Worrysome.
As they trekked further south they stopped to rest once in a small grove for an hour. Darc was worried about Bradford’s health. While he put on a strong show, he could tell that the old man was barely hanging on.
We need to find somewhere safe and fast. Their rest concluded in silence as they ventured forth once more. After two more hours of heading “south”, they broke through the treeline coming upon the river. As the river raced towards their ”west”, Darc spotted leaping fish doing backflips out of the frothy white, bubbling river. More important, however, was the dirt road, well-worn with use that was lying between them and the river. Looking first left, then right, they looked left again. Shrugging towards one other, they went “east” with the overarching sun glaring its rays upon their backs.
Spoiler: Spoiler
Characters Darc Glass Proficiencies Bradford Cooper Proficiencies External Health 43\53 Knife 1 15\50 Archaeologist 4 Internal Health 15\25 Pistol 1 2\22 Pistol 1 Stamina 66 Rifle 1 66 Leadership 1 Exertion 5 Throw 1 4 Speech 1 Mana 23 Traps 1 22\50 Insight 1 Strength 15 First Aid 1 11 Driving 2 Dexterity 12 11 Agility 10 11 Constitution 11 10 Intelligence 12 18 Wisdom 17 12 Perception 11 10 Magic Slots 4 6 Skill Points 6 9 Feat Points 0 0 Current Spells Strike Bolt, Float, Blast, Stream
A few things:
Exterior Health – muscles, skeleton, skin, when 0 cannot move
Internal Health – organs, nervous system, blood & marrow, when 0 unconscious or dead at -20
Stamina – determines how exhausted physically or mentally you can become, when 0 just out of breath (move / act with penalties).
Exertion – feats of prowess, restores at rate of 1 per long rest, comes from wisdom/3, expend to use an active feat.
Mana – returns while resting, faster while eating (counts as short rest) or sleeping, spell costs not dependent on level
Fate – when it reaches 0 you somehow die. Restores over time (1 per day).
Strength – Determines carry, physical melee damage, adds to exterior health (muscles), adds to speed.
Dexterity – Determines fine motor movement (instruments) and crafting. Also accuracy.
Agility – Determines flexibility, also ability to dodge and change of momentum / movement
Constitution – Adds to both exterior and internal health, also to stamina
Intelligence – Faster thought process, adds to mana, determines magic storage slots, start with int/3 spellslots, also int/2 starting proficiency points
Wisdom – Adds to willpower, control of the mind, increased stamina, determines Exertion
Perception – losing an eye or ear decreases perception by 4 to minimum of 1. Together with dexterity determines accuracy. Spacial awareness (judging distances) and awareness of surroundings.
Luck – increases fate
Each stat point gives 1d4 to corresponding health / stamina / mana pool.
Luck and fate are hidden, some feats connected to fate, all feats available to everybody, earth specific proficiencies only available for people from earth.
Character rolling: do 12x 3d6, take best 8