Name: Mark (Mark) Redding, Race: Human
Ht: 5'10, Wt: 160, Sex: Male, Archetype: Wizard
HP: 5 / 5 Mana: 12 / 39 MCU: 300 / 300
Stats:
Physical: 2, Moxie: 2, Spiritual: 2, Luck: 2,
Agility: 2, Magic: 3, Mental: 3, Energy: 4.
Relevant Skills: Agility - Dodge, Elemental Magic - Fireball, Force Magic - Arcane Wall, Gather Mana, Maximum Mana , Physical - Awareness, Shape Stone
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Mark paused at the entrance of the next room, absently running a hand over the seam he had created when his spell reshaped the doorway. For the fifth time this afternoon, he thanked the gods. Only Todd had lost his armor. The acidic slime in the walls was quite the trap to prevent breaching.
Reggie stood in the center of the room while Jax and Henderson worked at the end of a hallway, trying to breach the next door. It was solid wood wrapped with metal bands. It opened away from them into whatever room was behind it.
“Hey Reggie is there another way out of here?” Mark said. He took several steps forward. “Jax, Henderson, clear the door for a sec.”
Jax threw a big swing with his mace with two hands, a loud crack of it hitting the stone echoed his missed swing. Henderson exited the hallway first, with Jax behind him. Mark gathered mana then stepped to the side to line himself up with the doorway.
Success! Energy Roll 7d10; 7, 2, 7, 10, 3, 8, 9; Five Successes; Skill Gather Mana gained 5 Experience.
50 Mana Gathered, Max Mana is 39. Excess is lost.
Skill Points to the next level, 2,001
Success! Mental Roll 5d10; 2, 10, 8, 8, 5; Three Successes; Skill Elemental Magic - Fireball gained 3 Experience.
Three of Two Successes needed.
Skill Points to the next level, 34
Attack! 8 Damage from Elemental Magic - Fireball.
The ball of fire rushed out from Mark’s hand. Heat washed over him and his friends as it flew through the hallway and into the door.
Boom! The fireball's explosion rocked the stone, and a backwash of flames licked at Jax, who hadn’t moved far enough away, charring his armor and exposed his closing. Several screams filled the air, and Mark saw some green liquid dripping from the roof of the stone hallway. The explosion in the small area had blasted open the door and broken and loosened much of the stonework.
“Fuck,” Mark said as he moved forward to quickly cast a Shape Stone spell. Several other loose stone bricks fell to the floor as the slime pushed them out.
Success! Energy Roll 7d10; 3, 2, 9, 4, 1, 1, 5. One Success; Skill Gather Mana gained 1 Experience.
10 Mana Gathered, Max mana is 39. Excess is lost.
Skill Points to the next level, 2,000
Attribute Maximum Mana has gained 1 Experience. Skill points to the next level, 5,982.
Failure! Magic Roll 5d10;7, 1, 1, 1, 8. Two Successes; Skill Shape Stone failed.
Two of Three successes needed.
“Fuckity,” Mark cursed as he tried again. The acidic liquid dripped more from the ceiling, and more stones fell to the floor, revealing a large green slime-like creature slowly pushing its way down.
Success! Agility Roll 4d10; 7, 6, 8, 10; Two Successes; Skill Agility - Dodge gained 2 Experience. Skill points to the next level, 11.
Attack! 2 Damage from Ranged - Crossbow.
One of the guards lept out from around the corner at the other end of the hallway; he fired a crossbow before leaping back to safety. The bolt caught Mark in a lower rib.
Focusing on his pain with a scream, Mark gathered mana and tried to shape the floor.
Success! Energy Roll 7d10; 4, 9, 1, 6, 6, 1, 8. Two Successes; Skill Gather Mana gained 2 Experience.
20 Mana Gathered, Max mana is 39. Excess is lost.
Skill Points to the next level, 1,998
Attribute Maximum Mana has gained 1 Experience. Skill points to the next level, 5,981.
Success! Magic Roll 5d10; 9, 6, 10, 7, 8. Four Successes; Skill Shape Stone gained 4 Experience.
Four of Three successes needed.
Skill points to the next level, 75.
Kneeling he touched the stone. He pulled the stone from underneath to create a barrier in front of him he could use for cover.
“Fire in the hole,” Mark said. He gathered mana and gave his friends a second to react to his warning.
Success! Energy Roll 7d10; 2, 6, 10, 1, 8, 9, 1; Three Successes; Skill Gather Mana gained 3 Experience.
30 Mana Gathered, Max Mana is 39. Excess is lost.
Skill Points to the next level, 1,995
Jax and Henderson flanked the entrance of the hallway, Henderson held up a shield for extra measure.
Success! Mental Roll 5d10; 9, 10, 3, 10, 9; Four Successes; Skill Elemental Magic - Fireball gained 3 Experience.
Three of Two Successes needed.
Skill Points to the next level, 30
Attack! 8 Damage from Elemental Magic - Fireball.
The fireball flew down the hallway right as a guard stepped out to fire a crossbow. Mark ducked behind his cover as it exploded. The room shook and groaned as the heat expanded and then disappeared. Stone chunks fell from the ceiling and the floor and wall of the hallway was littered with little pits in the stone. Burnt slime dripped lifelessly from the ceiling as the fireball boiled away the gelatinous creature.
“Careful, Mark, there are prisoners in the section ahead,” Jax called out.
“Then let’s free them,” Mark said, walking up to the wall and placing his hand against it.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Success! Energy Roll 7d10; 5, 6, 7, 4, 3, 10, 9; Three Successes; Skill Gather Mana gained 3 Experience.
30 Mana Gathered, Max Mana is 39. Excess is lost.
Skill Points to the next level, 1,992
Failure! Magic Roll 5d10; 5, 5, 7, 10, 1. Two Successes; Skill Shape Stone failed.
Mark closed his eye. In his mind he pictured a tunnel opening up in the wall, starting small like three inches high and widening as it grew further away from him. Opening his eyes he sighed at the lack of a hole in the wall and tried again.
Success! Energy Roll 7d10; 3, 8, 5, 7, 7, 6, 8; Four Successes; Skill Gather Mana gained 4 Experience.
30 Mana Gathered, Max Mana is 39. Excess is lost.
Skill Points to the next level, 1,986
Success! Magic Roll 5d10; 8, 1, 9, 5, 7. Three Successes; Skill Shape Stone gained 3 Experience.
Three of Three successes needed.
Skill points to the next level, 72.
The stone opened up in front of him. He used some of the relocated stone to block gaps where slime or some other liquid could hide. Only the left side and a small amount broke through and opened into a room. The rest of the little tunnel went into black.
Mark down the tunnel and couldn’t see anyone. “I can’t tell if there are any prisoners in there,” Mark said. “I need to make the hole bigger.”
“Lets do it the old fashioned way.” Todd’s voice came from behind Mark.
Todd stood behind Mark, holding an old guard’s sword and a small shield. He was also wearing some chainmail that loosely covered his shoulders and chest. With a small salute, he turned and charged down the hallway. When he got to the entryway, he slid to a stop and lept into the room. Jax and Henderson followed behind him.
“I’ll throw up some force walls behind us,” Mark sighed and beckoned Reggie to follow them.
Success! Energy Roll 7d10; 1, 5, 3, 2, 7, 3, 2; One Success; Skill Gather Mana gained 1 Experience.
10 Mana Gathered, Max Mana is 39. Excess is lost.
Skill Points to the next level, 1,985
Failure! Force Magic - Arcane Wall, Not enough mana.
Mark pointed at a space near the doorway but a bit inside. The wall wasn’t big enough to cover the whole room, so he aimed a little to the side to place another wall.
Success! Energy Roll 7d10; 10, 6, 1, 8, 7, 4, 4; Three Successes; Skill Gather Mana gained 3 Experience.
30 Mana Gathered, Max Mana is 39. Excess is lost.
Skill Points to the next level, 1,982
Success! Magic Roll 6d10; 10, 5, 4, 6, 8, 2. Two Successes; Skill Force Magic - Arcane Wall 2 Experience. Two of Two Successes needed.
Skill points to the next level, 8,022
Turning around to join the rest of his friends, Mark felt uneasy with the two attempts. ‘Better double-check,’ he thought, then pulled up the combat log.
Failure! Force Magic - Arcane Wall, Not enough mana.
Once he saw the failure he quickly dropped the log and gathered mana again for another wall.
Success! Energy Roll 7d10; 5, 7, 3, 9, 9, 6, 6; Three Successes; Skill Gather Mana gained 3 Experience.
30 Mana Gathered, Max Mana is 39. Excess is lost.
Skill Points to the next level, 1,979
Success! Magic Roll 6d10; 5, 2, 8, 4, 4, 7. Two Successes; Skill Force Magic - Arcane Wall 2 Experience. Two of Two Successes needed.
Skill points to the next level, 8,020
And another for good measure.
Success! Energy Roll 7d10; 5, 5, 8, 2, 7, 7, 1; Three Successes; Skill Gather Mana gained 3 Experience.
30 Mana Gathered, Max Mana is 39. Excess is lost.
Skill Points to the next level, 1,976
Success! Magic Roll 6d10; 4, 2, 8, 1, 9, 4. Two Successes; Skill Force Magic - Arcane Wall 2 Experience. Two of Two Successes needed.
Skill points to the next level, 8,018
He quickly pulled up his combat log and after verifying the two successes, he swore that he would burn the Skills, Archtypes, and Demons books when he returned home.
Mark hurried to catch up, pausing only to drop another force wall at the hallway entrance he’d blasted earlier.
Success! Energy Roll 7d10; 6, 6, 3, 3, 1, 5, 8; One Success; Skill Gather Mana gained 1 Experience.
10 Mana Gathered, Max Mana is 39. Excess is lost.
Skill Points to the next level, 1,975
Failure! Force Magic - Arcane Wall, Not enough mana.
Mark paused to avoid tripping over any rubble on the floor from his earlier ball of fire spell. In the next room, it was a long hallway line with cells on both sides. At the end of the hallway a blood covered Todd was holding some soldier down. A handful of prisoners stood near the door, one with a hand stretched out as he begged for the keys.
“Shall we free them?” Mark said. He examined the stone around the cells and figured he could easily open it up.
“No,” Jax said. He rested a hand on the soldier Todd was restraining. “Even if the king may not be just, these people did break the laws.”
“I was framed; they framed me.” A prisoner called out from a nearby cell. Several others joined in the proclamation of innocence.
Mark looked at Jax, then back at the prisoners, and back to Jax. His friend just shook his head.
“Even if we free them, they’d just be fodder or in the way.”
Mark nodded and focused on the way behind them, listening for clues that the magical walls had failed or soldiers were converging onto their position.
Success! Physical roll 5d10; 6, 10, 8, 7, 8, . Three Successes: Skill Physical - Awareness gained 3 Experience.
Skill points to the next level, 9,189.
Faint dings of metal against stone drifted down to Mark’s ears. Todd and Reggie drowned out any more sound questioning the guard they’d captured.
“I don’t know where your friend is; his highness doesn’t bring special prisoners here. They go in either the deep dungeon or he has a special cell for those with magical abilities.” The guard sputtered.
“Where is the dungeon?” Todd said.
“Where is the special cell?” Reggie countered.
“The special cells are near the throne room, I think; I’ve never been there.” The guard said. “The dungeon entrance is at the end of the cells here; just keep going down.”
“Do we trust him?” Todd said.
“We don’t have much of a choice,” Mark said. “We could bring him with us.”
“How do we keep him from being a threat or getting in the way?” Todd said.
“We can’t,” Jax stepped forward and reached a hand down toward the guard. The guard took the hand and stood up. “I’m giving you a choice. I can have Mark create an invisible cell to hold you, or you can give me the keys, and we put you in an empty cell.”
The guard looked wide-eyed toward some of the cells, then back to Mark. He went back and forth several times with no answer.
“Don’t worry, it won’t hurt,” Mark said. He waggled his fingers in the air toward the guard.
“Cell,” the guard said. He pulled out a necklace with a key from under his armor. He handed it to Jax. “The cell, please. Just keep him away from me.” The guard started moving toward one of the nearby empty cells.
Mark and Todd looked back the way they’d come into the room. Todd stretched a hand toward where the front gate would be and Mark pointed to where the middle of the castle should be.
Success! Mental roll 4d10; 3, 7, 4, 4; One Success; Skill Surveying gained 1 Experience.
Skill points to the next level, 3
A couple of cells were in the way, but only a single prisoner was lying down in one.
“You,” Mark said, stepping up to the prisoner and tapping on the bars. “I can either let you out or put you in a different cell so the guards won’t think you are involved.” Mark waited a few seconds but didn’t get a reply or motion from the prisoner indicating they had heard what he said.
Mark went to the door and wiggled it, causing the whole metal frame to screech and ring. The prisoner still did not register anything or move.
“Jax, can I have the keys?” Mark said as he watched the form on the floor.
“Can we just go around them? We don’t have time to deal.” Todd said, stepping up behind Mark. Mark looked back to where Todd had stood previously and tried to conjure up the exact angle he’d worked out.
Success! Energy Roll 7d10; 7, 5, 10, 1, 5, 1, 10; Three Successes; Skill Gather Mana gained 3 Experience.
30 Mana Gathered, Max Mana is 39. Excess is lost.
Skill Points to the next level, 1,972
“Stand back. I’m just going to make a tunnel,” Mark said after he gathered mana. He then reached out and touched some nearby stones to start making a path to Charisse.
Success! Magic Roll 5d10; 7, 8, 54, 8, 3. Three Successes; Skill Shape Stone gained 3 Experience.
Three of Three successes needed.
Skill points to the next level, 69.
The stone walls pulled slightly apart, opening before Mark. Instead of creating a hole he opened one in the shape of a horseshoe of various widths.
“U shape?” Todd said as he stepped up behind Mark.
“Yeah, trying to work out a way to see if there is the slime,” Mark pointed at a wide part of the shape where a little bit of greenish slime was trying to press through.
“Can’t you just do a tunnel?” Todd said.
“Not as efficient. Wanted to see what the surface tension of the slime is.” Mark said as he pointed to a smaller crack where the slime wasn’t able to push through. He gathered more mana and touched the stone again.
Success! Energy Roll 7d10; 4, 5, 1, 9, 4, 7, 8; Three Successes; Skill Gather Mana gained 3 Experience.
30 Mana Gathered, Max Mana is 39. Excess is lost.
Skill Points to the next level, 1,969
Success! Magic Roll 5d10; 8, 3, 3, 8, 8; Three Successes; Skill Shape Stone gained 3 Experience.
Three of Three successes needed.
Skill points to the next level, 66.
A hole appeared in the wall, going about five feet deep, but had some steps on the floor to assist in walking through. On the sides multiple tiny cracks in the wall spaced every four inches. Todd stepped up and looked in the small tunnel.
“Nice, so it can’t get through the cracks, but we can see if something is on the otherside.” Todd nodded as he readied himself to surge forward. “Let’s get moving.
“Let’s go get our friend,” Mark said.