Kas’ position on the windrunner meant it would be some time before he could actually disembark, as there was some sort of commotion at the gangplank. So he took a moment to familiarize himself with the UI and his character sheet. The UI was fairly standard, a thought would open up various menus or a GUI he could also navigate with a thought. The neural interface doing all the heavy lifting. He took a few minutes to toggle health bars and created a HUD to display his own mana, stamina, and health.
He then opened his character sheet.
Name:
Kastigan
Race:
Human
Origin:
Pinnoc-Capitol
HP:
50
Mana:
100
Stamina:
75
Level:
1
XP:
0
XP TNL:
100
Attributes
Intelligence
10
Dexterity
10
Strength
10
Wisdom
10
Charisma
10
Constitution
10
Unspent Stat Points: 0
Regen Rates
HP Regen:
1/m
Stamina Regen
6/m
Mana Regen
6/m
Combat HP Regen:
0/h
Combat S Regen
3/m
Combat M Regen
3/m
Elemental Affinities
Fire
--------|--
Water
Light
-----|-----
Dark
Earth
--|--------
Air
Life
---------|-
Death
Nothing too outrageous here, as a human his stats had started balanced. He was currently level one and had a ten in every stat. His health points or HP were at 50, in Livia the number itself was an abstraction that helped him understand how much damage he could take before he died. Livia was a realistic game though, as he incurred injuries he would lose combat effectiveness. Meaning that if someone could cut off his arm he wouldn’t be able to use it to fight anymore. Not to mention that it would hurt. Not as much as in real-life, but the neural interface would ensure that he would experience some pain when injured.
To the pain levels he pulled out the dagger and poked his finger, he felt a dull pressure that eventually grew as he increased pressure on his finger until he drew a drop of blood. He knew that Livia, like most modern VR, only had a 5% pain setting, which made the prick feel about as bad as poking the corner of a lego with your finger. Satisfied with how the pain ‘felt’, he saw that his HP had dropped a single point. But that would regen in a minute so he wasn’t worried about it.
Intelligence and wisdom both affected his total mana pool in a 5:1 ratio, giving him a respectable mana pool of 100 points. Stamina was a little bit harder to compute. Every point of constitution gave him five points of stamina and every two points of strength did the same for a total of 75 stamina.
Regens (how fast all three pools came back) were half as fast in combat for mana and stamina and non-existent in combat for HP. He wasn’t entirely sure how the system determined if you were in combat or not if you were stealthed waiting to ambush something did that mean you were in combat? Was the person you were stalking in combat? He hadn’t really paid much attention to what the beta testers had said about combat when he was doing his research since it wasn’t something that had interested him.
It took him a moment of staring at the Elemental affinities before the numbers appeared over the lines. They were all rated on a scale of 100. So he had 80 water and earth but only 20 fire and air. 50s in both light and dark, while death was at 90 and life--his lowest--was only 10. Unless they had changed the system around since the beta testers created characters, most of his learned spells would be on the fringe of his elemental affinity levels which would mean his death spells would be more potent than any of his others.
Kas’ next goal, as he investigated the interface was to check out his skills. First were his Physical skills. He only had ranks in three of them, Physical Fitness I and two of its children, Endurance I and Running I. Minor affinities gave you five levels in the root and two levels in two of its children. It wasn’t much but gaining the first rank of a skill cost money or a large amount of effort. Every skill also came in five different ranks labeled with Roman numerals from I to V, to upgrade a skill’s rank you had to be level 100 in the earlier rank and use a skill tome.
There was some speculation that a high enough scribe could also create skill tomes, but none of the beta testers had been able to do so. The earlier level skill tomes could be purchased from skill vendors, but the rank fours and fives could only be earned from quests or by getting them as ‘drops’ from using abilities or spells associated with that skill.
Kas’ magical school tree was much more filled out. Nothing surprising there, there hadn’t been changes since the beta test. Although it seemed like you got the extra skills in random sub-skills for these too. He had been hoping for mana circulation I rather than mana projection I, but other than that he had gotten all the ones he needed, and the additional ones he wanted he should be able to learn in town. The same could be said of his other two groups as well, the only other disappointing subskill result was smelting from processing. Since he didn’t have any intention of getting into mining.
Next was the option on the HUD that he was most eager to explore, his abilities list.
Spell Name: Frostbolt
Prerequisites: 80 water affinity, Water Magic I 1, Assault Magic I 1, Chilling I 1
Damage: 9.9-19.8 water damage (average 14.8)
Range: 15m
Cost: 5 mana
Cooldown: 2.5 seconds
Description: Shoots a bolt of frost at the target, dealing 5-10 damage (bonus damage for affinity and high intelligence), and slows the target for 3 seconds.
Spell Name: Death Blast
Prerequisites: 90 death affinity, Death Magic I 1, Single Target I 1
Damage: 14.6-31.3 death damage (average 23)
Range: 30m
Cost: 5 mana
Cooldown: 2.5 seconds
Description: Shoots a blast of death magic that deals 7-15 death damage (bonus damage for affinity and high intelligence).
Spell Name: Rock Shard
Prerequisites: 80 earth affinity, Earth Magic I 1, Assault Magic I 1
Damage: 13.8-23.7 earth damage (average 19.3)
Range: 20m
Cost: 5 mana
Cooldown: 2.5 seconds
Description: Creates a sharp shard of rock that shoots towards the target dealing 7-12 (bonus damage for affinity and high intelligence) earth damage.
The first three were just the basic attack spells for their respective elements. Of course, they all got a few upgrades based on how much affinity he had with that element. The frostbolt was the weakest damage wise, but adding chilling to it made it a useful crowd control spell. Death blast was a very high-affinity version of the basic spell with a better range and damage to mana ratio. And did considerably more damage than frostbolt but didn’t have any secondary effects. Rock shard was the odd man out, with a lower range and damage than death blast, aside from otherwise empty rotation slots and trying to level earth magic, he didn’t see himself casting it often.
Spell Name: Earth Shape
Prerequisites: 80 earth affinity, Earth Magic I 10, Bonding Magic I 10
Cost: 10 mana
Cooldown: 1 minute
Description: Manipulate earth in a targeted area with a radius of 3 meters.
Spell Name: Water Spray
Prerequisites: 80 Water affinity, Flowing I 5, Attraction I 5, Area of Effect I 5
Damage: 9.9-29.7 water damage (average 19.8)
Range: 10m
Cost: 10 mana
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Description: Creates a spray of water that targets a spot within the range of the spell and hits a 1m radius around it. Dealing 5-15 (bonus damage for affinity and high intelligence) water damage and soaks the area in water.
Spell Name: Decay
Prerequisites: 90 Death affinity, Decay I 1, Area of Effect I 1
Damage: 6.2-10.4 death damage (average 8.36)
Range: 20m
Cost: 10 mana
Duration: 5 seconds
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Description: Creates a 1.5m radius area of death magic that deals 3-5 (bonus damage for affinity and high intelligence) damage per second to all creatures in the field.
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Spell Name: Enrich Soil
Prerequisites: 80 Earth affinity, Nurturing I 5, Imbue Magic I 5
Range: 20m
Cost: 100 mana
Cooldown: 22 hours
Duration: 30 days.
Description: Blesses 100 square feet of land to have all the nutrients needed to support all common types of plants.
The first two were the reasons he had picked his build. They would allow him to farm the land without having to get tools like a plow or watering can. Especially since livestock were at a premium out here and he didn’t relish the idea of breaking the soil by hand. The last two were the additions from the skills Livia had suggested and were quite frankly amazing. An AoE spell that only targeted creatures meant, aside from the obvious combat applications, he could use it on any bug infestations affecting his crops. Although he wasn’t sure how big of a problem that would actually be out here, while a few of the beta testers had focused on farming none of them had been in Gogland.
Enrich soil was a new spell that he hadn’t seen any of the beta testers possess, and its inclusion on his spell list was a clear benefit of asking Livia for help during character creation. At 100 mana per cast, it would completely drain his level 1 character of all mana, but if it meant he didn’t have to worry about buying and transporting manure he would happily cast it on cooldown. Just the fact that this spell existed would likely cause a ton of speculation on the forums, but Kas didn’t think it would be wise to reveal his secrets, not yet at least. He wasn’t sure how much competition his products were going to have on the global auction house. Of course, from what he could see there wasn’t a lot of cultivated land around Tallrock, so there should be plenty of local purchasers.
Kas glanced out to see how the disembarking was going, there was still a large number of people milling around near the end of the gangplank. He estimated that he still had a few minutes until his section of the Windrunner would move out so he turned his attention back to his skill menu. He only had the seven spells for now, but he hoped he could buy a few more when he got into Tallrock. He had noticed that the supplies Livia had purchased for him had left a few dozen gold in reserve. It wasn’t much but it might be enough for him to hire someone to move heavy objects for a few days and buy some low-level spells. He didn’t really want to be alone in the wild until he had at least some sort of shelter.
He actually had more skills than he assumed he would get, his mage heavy build supplemented by Livia’s self-reliance recommendations. He had some with fairly obvious uses like skinning, butchering, herb picking, drying, smelting, stitching, tanning, mixing, crushing and weeding. The other ones were a little less self-explanatory.
Skill: Sowing
Prerequisites: Planting I 1
Cost: 5 stamina
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Description: The process of putting seeds into previously prepared soil.
Skill: Plant Sense
Prerequisites: Herb Location I 1
Cost: None
Cooldown: 5 seconds
Description: Toggle herb locating, while on this skill will mark the location of any gatherable herbs on your minimap. Only two sense skills can be active at a time.
Skill: Crystalize
Prerequisites: Crystallizing I 1
Cost: 50 mana
Cooldown: 1 hour
Description: Condense mana into an inferior mana crystal that can be used to power enchantments, engravings or magitech.
Skill: Layering
Prerequisites: Layering I 1
Cost: 100 mana
Cooldown: 22 hours.
Description: Using your own elemental affinities you implant an elemental affinity onto a mana crystal giving it the properties of the assigned element. Only personal affinities of 80 or higher can be used.
Skill: Meditation
Prerequisites: Meditation I 1
Cost: None
Cooldown: 30 minutes
Description: Enter a meditative trance which increases mana regen considerably. While in a trance, you will be oblivious to the world around you.
Immediately, he used crystalize, since it would eat up a good portion of his mana, and he didn’t anticipate having to use any in the near future. Holding out his hand palm out he focused on the skill. Immediately a mini-game appeared in front of him, it was a simple matter of connecting blinking dots while avoiding others. It took him about five seconds after he figured out what the game was asking him to do. The minigame accomplished, he watched as a small rainbow colored crystal appeared in his hand. The crystal had a dim internal luminosity and cast a slight rainbow-colored light across his hand. He willed the system to analyze the item and pulled up its stats.
Item Name: Inferior Mana Crystal (Untyped)
Item Level: 1
Item Quality: Poor
Item Properties: A crafting material, provides 25 mana.
Sell Value: 2 silver.
Created by: Kastigan
Well, he could easily create another one of these every hour with his current mana regeneration. At 2 silver a piece he wasn’t going to get rich off of them, but it's nice to have a safety net. Especially since he didn’t currently have any use for mana crystals. The 50% efficiency on the mana conversion was a little rough, but he assumed that would get better as his skills increased.
Having looked at all his skills and spells, he took a quick glance at the system inventory. It pulled up a list of items that he possessed as well as the location of the item. The backpack he was carrying was clearly magical because even as heavy as it was, there was no way he would actually be able to carry all the things it contained. Inside of it were: two 50’ lengths of hemp rope, climbing gear, ten torches, five days worth of trail rations, a sleeping bag, twelve packages of seeds split evenly between corn, potatoes, and cauliflower. And a leatherworking kit, skinning knife, butcher’s blade, smelting kit, drying racks, hammers, nails, an alembic, mortar and pestle and a number of glass vials.
If his research was correct the seeds Livia had bought for him meant it was probably early spring in Gogland. Seasons in Livia were strange, as the planet was an Alderson disk there was no season mandated by the rotation of the world around the sun, instead, the seasons rotated around the disk in a counterclockwise manner. No one had discovered yet how that worked, or even if there was an in-game reason for it. Seasons lasted just under 90 days, or a month and a half in-game months, each month being fifty days long and divided up into five ten-day segments called Quints. Each in-game year was 350 days long, as there were seven months a year each one named after one of the seven gods of Pinnoc.
Kas hadn’t looked into the religions of Livia much, he knew that there were a number of different in-game religions and that the deities were capable of giving their followers power. But he didn’t really want to get involved in any religious wars. He did know that you stayed away from the Ardents though. They were a fanatical sect that had been the cause of Pinnoc’s original schism four hundred years ago when the king of the time tried to make it the state religion. They had a tendency to burn anyone they considered a heretic, and he had a feeling Livia’s recommendation of death magic would qualify him.
Pushing the Ardents from his mind as a problem for another day. He realized that it’s just about his turn to leave the Windrunner. Waiting for the last few people in front of him to finish getting their stuff together and begin walking off the gangplank to the airship docking area he got his first real look at Tallrock itself.
It’s difficult to say from where he was near the spinward side of the mesa, but there appeared to be a straight drop of several hundred feet on all sides. The top portion was remarkably flat, although it does have a slight downward slant on the coreward side, probably only a couple of degrees at most. The green, black and white Pinnocian flag was visible everywhere, next to each of flag was usually the pennant of the resident Legion. A black gryphon wearing a harness carrying a broken spear on a yellow background.
The game identified it as the banner of the 76th legion when he tried to identify it the system gave a bit of flavor text about the 76th.
Two years ago, High King Tasdal sent two full legions the 76th and the 137th over the Spines of Aktrosha to the spinward side of Tallrock. The Windrunners carrying the legion never returned and the more than 12,000 soldiers and crew aboard were assumed dead. However, nine months later, less than 900 bedraggled survivors returned on foot through the mountain pass. The tale these men told began with powerful artillery destroying all 22 of their windrunners in a single volley.
Those soldiers that survived the ensuing crashes were met with a horror story of survival, as they tried to make their way back to Fort Tallrock. The never seen “Dwellers of the Mountain” harried them for months. They spoke of mists that came swiftly and suddenly, and when they cleared the men standing next to you had disappeared without a sound. Frostbite, starvation, and fear ate away at their numbers and sanity until they reached the foothills of the Spine. Free, finally, from the Dweller’s wrath, they returned broken to the Fort.
All of the remaining soldiers were then rolled into a single legion and put under the command of Colonel Holzer, the highest surviving officer. Reinforcements have been slow coming from the mainland, rumor has it that the King has written the 76th off as a lost cause. The pall over the men of the 76th who have seen too much combined with Holzer’s incompetence has turned the former quickly expanding frontier town into a dreary place.
“Great,” Kas said to himself. The game had placed him in a dying backwater with few resources, and a dangerous enemy lurking somewhere in the mountains. Which now seemed to tower menacingly over the mesa on the spinward side.
Moving down the scaffolding Kas paused considering what to do next, a large number of people seemed to be gathered around a short stage near the edge of the mesa. He began making his way over to get a look at what was causing the commotion, only to realize that several soldiers were actually herding all of the immigrants in that direction. On the stage, seated at a desk was a tall blond haired man wearing a military uniform, a colonel’s stripes and the badge of the 76th on his sleeve, Colonel Holzer in the flesh.
Across from the colonel was a man Kas recognized as being one of the first off the ship. To his surprise, it was actually a player, the username appearing over his head as he got closer. The man was bound hand and foot with shackles, and a cloth gag was tied around his mouth, preventing him from speaking. The player was looking about nervously and looked like he would run but his hand irons were held above him and tied to a taut rope that was rigged to a crane. Holzer appeared to be reading some sort of documentation but would look up every now and again as if to ascertain how many people had gathered around him. After a few minutes, it seemed to have reached an agreeable size and he stood up and turned to the crowd.
“Greetings, and welcome to Fort Tallrock. I am Colonel Holzer, the commanding officer of the 76th Legion and as such, it is my responsibility to ensure that peace and order are maintained throughout this region.” Holzer paused for a moment glancing around, “You have traveled for half a year to get here, the journey is trying and I understand many of you are eager to begin your new lives. However, as there is a significant number of you that have been sent here in lieu other punishments in Pinnoc it seems I must give you an object lesson of Frontier Justice. For you this is a new start, a chance at a new life, free of all the entanglements of your former lives, so long as you stay on the right side of the law it will remain a land of opportunity.”
Holzer paused again. Looking around at the crowd, “This man, however, thought that he was above the laws of my fort, and almost as soon as he stepped off the windrunner he returned to his thieving ways. He even had the gall to steal in plain sight of several legionaries.” Holzer turned back to the player, whose name was Jared420. “For his crimes, he will soon be hung. Let this be a warning to you all, here on the frontier we have no prison, no place we can store those who do not abide by the Law. It is a harsh and unforgiving place and our justice is swift.” Holzer signaled, to a soldier standing near the crane’s controls and it began to extend. Lifting the now struggling Jared420 off the stage.
It then swung out and over, Kas realized that it was going to extend over the four hundred foot drop to the forest floor below. Jared420 tried to scream but no sound escaped the gag, terror clear in his eyes, as he vainly kicked with his legs, his hands grasping the rope in a vain attempt to climb it back to safety. The crane settled into position with a jolt, sending Jared420 wriggling as he lost grip on the rope with one hand, his own weight pulling him down, one arm visibly dislocating from the sudden pressure on it.
Holzer spoke again, and Kas tore his eyes off of Jared420 to look at the colonel. “Fire as you will.” Turning back Kas realized that six archers were standing off to one side of the crowd, a number of other legionnaires standing near them and there seemed to be a fierce exchange of coin between the soldiers. With a sense of horror, Kas realized that they were betting on this man’s demise. Then the archers began shooting in order, all the arrows passing harmlessly through the air above Jared420.
Jeers came from the soldiers behind the archers. The objective becoming clear as more shots were fired, they weren’t trying to hit Jared420. The player continued to struggle to climb the rope despite his dislocated shoulder. One of the immigrants shouted at him “Stop squirming, you’re just making it last longer!” Kas realized that the archers were trying to shoot the rope holding the condemned man up. And he turned away from the scene, unable to stomach the cruelty any longer. His eyes raking across the stage and stopping on Holzer.
Kas stopped because Holzer was staring at him, his cold blue eyes watching Kas like he was some sort of bug under a magnifying glass. Ducking back into the crowd, he moved to position a drak between Holzer and himself, the drak’s large blue form effectively blocking the colonel from his sight. Shuddering, there had been something in those eyes, something malign and hungry that was somehow even more terrifying than the execution of the other player. With a soft shudder, Kaz navigated through his HUD until he found the logout button, but it was greyed out. The generic excuse the game gave him that he wasn’t in a safe space.
The sound of loud jeering and laughter come from the soldiers and drew Kas’ attention back to Jared420. It appeared one of the archers had either missed or gotten frustrated by not hitting the rope and had put an arrow in his previously uninjured shoulder. With both shoulders injured the player had stopped moving, the rise and fall of his chest the only sign that he was still alive.
Kas was the only other player in the crowd, and he suddenly felt very alone. He felt something heavy land on his shoulder and he looked up. The drak he had been hiding behind had put its hand on his shoulder and then leaning down so that it could speak without roaring. Tears formed in the corners of Kas’ eyes and he looked down, surreptitiously trying to wipe them away.
“It is okay little one, this thing will make you stronger. My people, they are always treated thus. It lightens my heart to see a human cry for one of us. What is your name?”
“Ma…Kas, Kastigan.” He answered, stopping himself from saying his real-life name rather than his in-game one. It was only at this point that he realized that Jared420 was a Dragon Tribesman, his tusks having been hidden by the gag.
“Well met Maa’Kas Kastigan. I am called Shura Blueblessed.” The tall drak said with a slight bow of its head.
“It’s…just Kastigan or Kas, not Maa’Kas.” Kastigan said automatically.
The drak nodded its head as another cheer went up from the soldiers and some of the immigrants. The rope having finally been severed, leaving Jared420’s body to fall to his death below. Death for an Unbound wasn’t permanent. Although he imagined the player would probably recreate after this experience, Kastigan couldn’t imagine respawning in a place where you had already been executed.
With the entertainment over, the soldiers allowed the crowd to disperse, Kastigan assumed that they figured the lesson had been learned. He turned to the drak next to him and smiled, “Thanks for distracting me Shura.”
“It is a pleasure. Come, sit down with me, we shall talk.” The blue drak led him away from the majority of the buildings to a small green space that had been grown as a park. There were no benches but Shura’s massive form probably wouldn’t have fit on them anyway, the tall drak sat down on the grass and then gestured for him to do likewise. Sitting down as requested he glanced over at Shura. Who seemed oblivious to his presence, staring up at the sky. He took a moment to look the massive drak over as a means of regathering his wits. All drak are big, usually standing at least ten feet tall, but Shura would tower over even most drak, Kas guess it to be at least thirteen feet from toe claws to frill. Small dark blue scales covered its back and head, but the neck and inner chest were a lighter sky blue.
After several heartbeats, Shura spoke again, “You are not like most of us on the windrunner. We who were offered no choice but death in a slave pit or forced immigration. You are also unbound. Which means you are special. I wonder what path do the gods place your feet to bring you here to this forsaken country?”
“Uh, I’m not sure about the gods, but I am unbound. I came here to farm.” He responded warily. Wondering why the large drak would show such an interest in him. From his readings he knew that the species was relatively rare, they were created during the War of Dragons, special Dragon Tribesmen elevated to positions of power over their brethren and blessed by the Dragons themselves to take a portion of their form. Since then their lines had bred true although he had no idea how they reproduced as there was no way distinguishing gender to the unclothed Shura or any of the drak he had seen in the artwork.
His response seemed to amuse the drak and it laughed, “Truly? Well, mayhaps the gods have put us on a path together. Tell me Kastigan, would you be agreeable to forming a business contract?”