“Speak plainly.” Duke Dornan ordered.
The heavily breathing soldier took one deep breath. “We found a new body less than half an hour ago, it was right by the public library. It was just like all the others.”
“No bones?” Dornan asked.
“Yes sir.”
As soon as the guard said by the library Bjorn got a terrible feeling deep in his gut. “What race was the body?” his mind went automatically to the rotund human librarian tuck.
All eyes fell on Bjorn, after a moment the guard looked back at Dornan, who made eye contact and nodded. “She was an orc.” At that proclamation the knot of worry in Bjorn’s stomach came undone.
Dornan gave Bjorn one more sidelong look before going back to his guard. “How was the reaction?”
“The public is worried, but the aristocracy don't care much. I still think the public is in support and trusts you though. So it seems to be stable for the time being.”
Dornan sighed, “That doesn't surprise me, why would the aristocracy care about a few dead peasants. Thank you, you are dismissed.” The guard saluted and left the room nearly as quickly as he entered. He turned towards Bjorn. “When he said it was near the library you looked worried, is there a reason for that?”
Bjorn shook his head. “It is nothing really important, up until a few days ago I didn't have the ability to read. There was a friendly librarian named Tuck who was there and talked to us. When I heard the location I was worried it would be him. But fortunately Tuck is a human, and obviously she was an orc so no chance.”
The duke nodded slowly. “Makes sense.” He then turned towards the tall lanky man. “What do you make of it Nick?”
The lanky human who had been poking and prodding the spider looked at his lord. “Its exoskeleton seems to be made up of bone. Gram if you would come here please?”
Gram walked over to where Nick was standing next to the spider. “If you would be so kind as to try and break this spider's leg.”
The giant of a man took one of the spider's legs in both of his hands and attempted to snap it off, to little success. He tried again, the large muscles in his arms bulged and veins stood out at the strain he was putting in, but still nothing. Next he placed the leg on the end of the cart, he looked at Alaric. “Hey Alaric, would you come here and hold the corpse in place to make sure it doesn't move?” Alaric waddled over and placed his weight on top of the spider. Gram then used all of his weight trying to break the leg with the edge of the cart as a hinge. After a few seconds of pressure there was a snap and the leg broke free right at the edge of the cart.
Nick held out his hand and Gram placed the spider's leg in his hand. Bringing the broken piece of the leg to his eye he inspected it closely. “Ah ha!” He exclaimed and walked over to where Dornan was standing, stooping low he pointed at a point on the leg. “If you see here the structure of this shell is the exact same as how our bones are structured. My working theory is that these spiders inject a venom that liquifies the bones and then it drinks that fluid to fuel itself. It makes sense, seeing how every corpse we have recovered didn't have any bones in its body. At least none that we could find.”
Dornan shuddered. “Gross. Anyways Gram I'm going to pretend that you hadn't just finished telling me that you think that there was only one spider. It is quite obvious that there are multiple. Come to me in an hour in my war room. We shall discuss this further.” He turned towards the group standing there. “I thank you for the part you played in letting us find out what has been going on. If there is anything you'd like as a reward let me know and it shall be yours.”
Meira, Alaric, Tayla, and Bjorn all stood there not knowing what to do.
“Come on, there must be something you wish for a reward.”
“Well.” Born started tentatively. “I am a new mage, and I have access to the schools of earth, light, and water magic.”
“Done, I will find someone to teach you some new spells, if that would work for you?”
Bjorn nodded. “That would do perfectly fine my lord.”
“Please, my duke is fine.” Dornan said as he looked at the other three.
“I have knowledge of the air and water magic.” Meira said.
Dornan raised his eyebrows. “Really? There are two of your group who are spellcasters. That is rather unheard of. Very well I think I'll be able to find someone willing to share spells with you.”
Alaric looked at the diminutive lord and said. “I have a feeling like we will need to fight more of these spiders, I think our part isn't done yet. As your man over there, Nick was his name I think, surmised they had a rather tough exoskeleton. I could do with a new war hammer. Or something of that type.”
Dornan laughed. “I think we can accommodate that, although I don't think you'll be the one to have to fight these spiders. If that is truly your wish though we shall accommodate.”
Alaric nodded his head.
“Very well, i'll arrange a few for you to pick from.” He looked at Tayla who was looking rather uncomfortable. “And what can we do for you my dear?”
“Money.” Tayla said plainly with a quiet tone.
“That is a simple request, there already was a cash reward for whoever helped get to the bottom of this. Are you sure you don't want something else?” The duke asked.
Tayla just shook her head. “Very well it shall be done. Jenkins!” The duke called, and a guard entered the room. “Do you mind taking these people to the west wing?”
“Yes my lord.” The guard said, before turning to the four friends. “Come with me if you will.”
Bjorn looked at Gram who just smiled and gave a small nod. Deciding to continue to put his trust into the guard captain he followed after the soldier, with the others not far behind.
The guard led them through the tunnels and to a set of stairs, which they took. The stairs were ornate and stood out as they were made of a white stone instead of the oppressive black that everything else was made out of in Blackrock Bay. They followed the stairs up, as they went the stairs became more ornate, and fancier. The stairs led to a large open courtyard.
It was like they stepped into a new world, the ever present black stone was gone. Even the streets that were made from polished black stone were absent. The courtyard was more of a garden, large bright colorful flowers flooded the beds that dotted the grounds. The stone of the area had been dug up and replaced with dirt and grass. Running through the center of the grounds were multiple elaborated designed and colorful paths. In the grounds there were large odd trees. There were trees that had leaves of all different colors, there were whites, and reds, and blues, oranges and finally greens. There was even one tree that was a rippling rainbow. As a light breeze blew through the courtyard its leaves shifted colors in the wind going through all of the different shades of the rainbow.
“Oh, wow.” Bjorn said simply at the view of the well cultivated and maintained flowers and trees.
The guard who was in the lead looked back at Bjorn, and followed his gaze. A smile crossed the stern man's expression. “Yeah it is quite a sight to behold isn't it?”
Bjorn just nodded dumbly as he could figure out where to look next, causing his eyes to just dart over the scenery. The rest joined Bjorn in taking in the beauty of the courtyard.
“Working here you eventually become ameliorated to the grandeur of this place. Thank you for reminding me.” The guard said. After a few minutes of letting everyone gawk at the view he decided they had delayed long enough. “Alright, let's go, it won't do for us to get caught out here. After all, you aren't quite guests yet, and I can't just let you wander around.”
Jenkins led them through the flowerbeds heading towards the large multi-story building in front of them. This section of the palace was in the shape of an u, and as such technically if they were facing 3 of the cardinal directions the building would be in front of them. Each side of the large u had multiple doors leading into the gardens. They made their way towards the very lowest section of the u.
They made their way to one of the largest sets of doors built into the building, passing many well dressed people and guards making their way through the gardens. The large arching doorway was left wide open, giving them easy access to the interior of the building. Once again they were in large vaulted hallways that felt more like tunnels.
Jenkins led them to the left, then the right, then another right turn, then a left turn. Soon they were all thoroughly lost and had no sense of direction left. Finally Jenkins led them to a spiral staircase going up. Taking them two at a time he led them up. This time as they entered they came out into a large hallway with large windows letting all of the exterior light in. Warm afternoon sun came pouring through the windows, out of the windows they had an amazing view looking down on Blackrock Bay, with the serrated mountains off in the distance, and miles upon miles of well cultivated farmland stretching between the two landmarks.
This time Jenkins didn't stop and led them to a doorway in the hall, opening the door he ushered the friends inside. It was a rather cozy study and sitting parlor mix. There was a desk off to one side of the room with quill, ink, and paper sitting atop it. On the other side of the room there were multiple couches arranged around a short table with decorative flowers set into it. On one wall there was a large bay style window that led to a balcony looking down on a different courtyard.
“I will let them know where you are. It is a good afternoon, I assume you are hungry so I will send someone around with food for you. If you need anything you can flag down one of the servants or guard if you see them in the hall. Please stay put, while everything is arranged for you.” Jenkins gave a small bow before backing out of the room.
Once the door closed Meira turned towards Tayla and smiled. “I must apologize, you by far made the right choice by wanting to stay around. I am sorry for not suggesting it myself. To me this sight, view, and location was worth all the time he had to sit down in the dungeon.”
Tayla gave a small half hearted smile in return before fidgeting uncomfortably and taking a seat on one of the couches.
“I agree, I'm sorry Tayla.” Alaric said.
Bjorn walked around behind her and gave her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulders. Tayla's hand absently traveled to where Bjorn's hands sat. “Thank you, all of you. Your words mean the world to me. I have never truly had friends, and I feared my words would drive you from me. Truly thank you.”
It was multiple hours before anyone came to check on them. It was a servant who came in and brought them food. “I am sorry for the delay, some new information came to light and the palace has been awash with activity.” The servant looked around before leaning in and speaking in a low voice. “I think it has something to do with the murders.”
“Ah, thank you, do you have any idea how much longer we will have to wait?” Meira asked.
“Hopefully not too long.” The servant said as he finished up, standing there waiting by the door, looking expectantly.
Getting what he was waiting for Bjorn spoke up. “Thank you, that will be all.” The servant bowed and left them in the room alone again. The food was plain but good, it was sandwiches with a surprisingly sweet and savory sauce. They all ate in silence. Over the next few hours they talked about small inconsequential things.
“I'm getting a little tired of waiting.” Alaric said. “I can't say I am pleased with this town, first we get stares, then we get arrested and put into jail, next we get summoned to the palace, and now we are stuck here.”
As Alaric had been complaining loudly Tayla had wandered over to the window that looked down into the courtyard. “Hey guys come and see this.” She said as she made her way to the door and then out onto the balcony.
They joined Tayla on the balcony and got a better look into the courtyard below. Instead of being a garden this one looked to be more of a marshaling yard, it also was smaller than the first one they saw. The marshaling yard was full to the brim with men suited up in armor, most of them carried halberds and spears. There were a few with hammers and swords. Out of the 150 or so guards in the courtyard there were 30 or so of them that had bows or crossbows, to top it off there were 5 that were carrying staffs or wands and wearing robes to top off the magical look of them.
“I wonder what they are getting ready for.” Tayla commented. When she finished with her comment a familiar face walked into the clearing, as he did the entire group of milling guards snapped to attention. Off to one side of the yard there was a small raised dais, something only large enough to fit 3 maybe 4 people if they squeezed. The walking ball of muscle slowly made his way up the stairs to the platform.
Gram stood before the assembled troops. His normal sky blue uniform that signified the city guard had been replaced with a full set of metal armor. He had a chainmail shirt on with a cuirass over it. He had a combination of gauntlet, bracer and paladin on one arm, the other had a gauntlet and bracer. On his legs he wore a set of greaves and then metal plated boots. Strapped to his back he had an absurdly sized sword, it was over 7 feet tall, and the blade itself was nearly 4 to 5 inches wide. The entire ensemble was painted a mix between the sky blue that was the guard’s colors and the same black color as the rock they were living upon.
As he stood there surveilling the troops arrayed before him his eyes briefly drifted upwards. He saw the four friends standing on the balcony looking down on the parade grounds, and smiled.
Gram raised his hands with the palms facing downwards, the low murmur that came from the field of men talking amongst themselves died down. “My fellow guardsmen, I am sure you have heard the talk around town, about the murders. We all live here and we all feel what has happened to our home. I hate what we have become, I hate how everyone here is living in fear, I hate how our town feels dead.”
He paused to let the words sink in. “I am sure you are wondering why you have been gathered here today. I have good news for you, as of a few hours ago we have learned what has caused the murders.”
A low susurrus rippled through the crowd. Gram once again raised his hands, getting the crowd to settle again. “There is a certain species of spider known as snatcher spiders that are attempting to insert themselves into our society and kill us. Thanks to certain members of our community here at Blackrock Bay, we know about them.” As he said that part he gestured to where the 4 friends were standing on the balcony looking down. All 150 pairs of eyes turned around and trained upon the group. Not knowing what to do Bjorn waved briefly, as everyone else stood there stoically.
“Once we knew about them and found out their names our very own Sethrax took the time to dig into the duke’s personal library to find more information about these spiders.” As Gram started speaking again all the eyes returned to the stage. “He was able to dig up a very crucial detail. These spiders are hive creatures, and seeing how we have only come across the smaller spiders, that means that there is a queen somewhere around here in town that we need to hunt down.” When he was talking about the size of the spiders a door opened in the palace and two men came out pulling the cart with the dead spider on it.
Seeing the size of the spiders, multiple of the guards shied away, one brave guard shouted out. “That is a small one?”
“Yes, that is a small one. I promise you that the queen will be much larger than this one. With the infrequency of spiders we have come across, we should still be in the early stages of an infestation. If the description of snatcher spiders can be believed then the queen spider will be well over 15, maybe even 20 feet long.”
All of the whispering that was going through the crowd stopped at that last statement. Everyone stood there in stunned silence as their minds tried to grasp at the sheer scale of the spider.
Once again Gram put his hand up. “If the described size is accurate there is only one place it could be without us having found it so far. That is down in the sewers. That is our mission today, we will be going into the sewers to see if we can find where the spider queen is at. If we can find her it is our job to kill her as well.”
From where they stood they could see the guard assembled coming to attention. They set their weapons, stood up a little straighter, and were just a little more still. Throughout Gram's speech he could see guards setting their resolve. It happened in ones and twos, but by this point almost everyone was determined to accomplish the mission set out for them.
“In 45 minutes from now we will finish forming up and make our way towards the entrance to the sewers in the palace district. We will have a smaller force of axillary units that follow along behind us and be posted at each tunnel we search as we make our way down. Anything you need to get ready at that time please do so. If you aren't back here and at attention by then you will be considered a deserter. Dismissed.”
Gram made his way down into the crowd which parted for him like wheat parting before the farmer, and he entered the palace through a door below their balcony. Most of the troops stayed where they were and talked amongst themselves. Only a few broke ranks and made their way into the palace as well.
“Well that was unexpected.” Tayla said. “What do we want to do?”
Alaric scoffed. “I want to be rewarded and then be done with this palace. I want my shield to be done and we can leave this damnable rock.” Once he finished he made his way back into the room.
“Well he is awfully grumpy.” Bjorn said. Once Alaric was back inside and the door closed.
“True I don't blame him though.” Meira said. “I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason we have had to wait was because of this excursion. They probably have diverted their resources to preparing instead of taking care of us. Which don't get me wrong, I don't blame them.”
Tayla pushed herself off of where she had been leaning. “It is still frustrating though.” and she made her way inside to join Alaric. Leaving Meira and Bjorn alone.
Meira slowly made her way over to where Bjorn was leaning, looking over the assembled troops. “Is it weird that I kind of wish I was down there helping?” Bjorn asked.
“Not at all, ever since I have met you, you have been in the thick of whatever has happened. You have gotten used to being a part of events happening around us. First with Olvog, then with Lief's Crossing. Now that events are happening and you have no part in what happens, some part of you just feels like it is wrong.”
“I just don't like this feeling of helplessness.”
“Through all of our shared experiences, I have learned one thing, Bjorn. You are a good man, and good men hate to feel like they are unable to help.”
Bjorn gave a heavy sigh. “I guess you're right. There isn't anything I can do, I just wish there was something I could do.”
“The only thing I can think of is you need to get stronger. To the point where everyone knows it. That way when something happens they come to you looking for your help.” Meira gave Bjorn’s hand a reassuring squeeze before she too left Bjorn standing there looking over the gathered crowd.
Getting stronger. How is he supposed to do that? There is only so much he can do. And to top it off Charon screwed him over, this wasn't his first time being angry with the God like being and it certainly wouldn't be his last. For what felt like the millionth time he swore at Charon for giving him the weak disadvantage. He would gladly take the 15 extra stat points he hadn't gotten because of it. Speaking of, Bjorn pulled open his stat points.
Name:Bjorn Ward
Race:Human
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age:19
Hp:243(53)
Stamina:193(23)
Mana:187(17)
Level: 15
Stats from items (*)
Strength:23
Constitution:19
Dexterity:18
Agility:18
Endurance:17
Intelligence:17
Wisdom:15
Charisma:17
Abilities
Increased growth
Skilling Prodigy
WAILA
Disadvantage
Weak
Synergy
Latent potential
Skills
Alchemy: 16: 36%
Archery: 13: 34%
Bowyering: 2: 55%
Beast Master: 2: 3%
Carpentry: 9: 98%
Cooking: 9: 89%
Construction: 13: 81%
Road building: 2: 33%
Hand to hand combat: 9: 71%
Healing: 4: 48%
Herb-Lore: 15: 15%
Horseback Riding: 3: 26%
Leatherworking 3: 36%
Light Armor: 3: 47%
Mining: 20: 90%
Sailing: 1: 12%
Small blades: 5: 56%
Stealth: 5: 70%
Survival: 5: 19%
Swordsmanship: 7: 41%
Trade 10: 11%%
Woodcutting: 3: 86%
Perks:
Alchemy 10: 50% less chance to fail potion creation
Archery: 10: invest stamina into shots to increase their accuracy.
Construction: Knowledge on weak points on buildings.
Herb-lore 10:Can see 2 potential uses upon consuming any herb.
Mining 10: Increased knowledge on where to strike rock.
Magics:
Light Magic: 9: 13%
Earth Magic: 5: 92%
Water Magic: 6: 98%
Dark Magic: 1: 0%
Spells:
Purify Water
Light Rain
Weak Desiccate
Cast stone
Bark Skin
Simple Light
Light Bolt
Strengthening Light
Encroaching Dark
Blind
(Digging back through the story so far Bjorn actually has the points of being level 19. If I ever polish it up and turn it into a book I will correct the stats up to this point. As it stands I can’t be bothered and you have already read to this point, so going forward I will correct it.)
With that taken care of, Bjorn started to give the courtyard more of his attention. By now most of the troops had returned from whatever they were doing and had fallen back in line. With the 45 minutes almost elapsing Bjorn decided to just sit and watch a while longer. The bravery and honor that the guards had was commendable. They all knew they would be risking their lives, and they had a chance to not come back. Yet every single one of them had returned by the time Gram came back into the courtyard.
Mounting the stairs to the raised dais three at a time Gram stopped at the top and looked down at his assembled troops. Seeing everyone in their assigned spots he just smiled out at his troops. For their part they stood there at attention not moving a muscle looking back at Gram, grim determination set on their faces.
“Now is the time. Let us reclaim our city and make it safe for our children once again.” Gram bellowed at the top of his lungs. “FOR OUR FAMILIES, FOR OUR HOMES, FOR ESCAR!” Each proclamation was met by the assembled men hitting the ground with the butts of their weapons. At the end of Escar the troops all filled the open space with the sound of their voices repeating the end of Gram’s statement. “For Escar!” Escaped from each and every one of their throats.
As the call was taken up, Gram leapt down from the dais slamming into the ground in front of his troops and started walking to the far side of the marshaling yard heading towards the gate. The assembled troops marched after him, their metal clad feet slapping into the rough stone under their feet. In practiced order they filed after Gram, marching out of the palace walls.
The sound of shouting brought the rest of the group out, they all stood there watching them march off into the city. “Well that was impressive.” Alaric said in a sarcastic tone, before turning around and heading back inside. Giving each other a look they all followed Alaric back into their gilded cage.
It was night by the time there was a knock on the door. “Come in.” Meira called out. The door swung open revealing 4 people. There was a tiefling, a human, and a dwarf, they all were wearing loose flowing robes of different colors. The last member was one of the servants that could be seen bustling about, he was easy to pick out by the uniform every other servant was wearing. He came in pushing a cart laden with plates piled high with food.
The servant bowed deeply. “My lord duke Dornan wants me to convey his apologies for the wait. We have a good idea of where the spiders are coming from. As such they thought it was best to try and take care of the problem as soon as possible. The palace has been a flurry of activity as everyone got ready for the expedition to wipe the monsters out. On top of bringing you what was promised, I have also bought you dinner. Dornan also asked me to prepare you each a room for the night, he wants me to extend a welcome for you to stay here tonight.”
“Thank you, Convey our gratitude to your lord.” Bjorn said diplomatically, avoiding answering either affirmative or negative to the offer of the rooms for the night.
The elf lady stepped forward and gave a small bow. “My name is Imeral, my lord has informed me on the part you have played in our response to the spider threat. I want to express my gratitude. He also instructed me to teach you up to 4 spells, I can teach both air and light magic.”
The tiefling stepped forward, also giving a small bow. “I was also instructed to do the same. Although Imeral misspoke. We were instructed to teach you both 4 spells between the three of us. I am proficient in dark and fire magic.”
The dwarf was a gruff looking man. While the other two robes were pristine and looked brand new, the dwarf’s robes were smeared with dirt and grim, and his robes had a few holes in them. “They are passable, if you want to learn the real spells I am your man. I know earth, life, and water magic.”
“Excuse you. You are barely a mage at all, I can think of at least 5 other people in this palace I would ask before you for magical instruction. And three of them learned how to cast spells two months ago.” The tiefling said.
“Seconded.” Imeral said.
“Oh please. You are just jealous because I am able to teach three different schools of magic while you are stuck to two.” The dwarf said.
The servant's eyes got a hollow look. It didn’t look like this was his first time listening to the mages bicker. “Please, restrain yourselves. You are here to provide a service.” The servant begged.
“That is right, unlike the other two of my peers, I am here to do a job, and I won’t fall into your petty squabbles. Now your name is Bjorn, isn't it?” The dwarf said, shamelessly blaming the other two for the fight he started.
“That is right.”
“My lord Dornan told me that you are one of those who can cast magic here.” Bjorn nodded affirmatively. “Would you be willing to share what types of magic you know so that way we can find what we are able to teach you?”
Bjorn filled them in on his schools of magic he can cast, and he also told them his skill level with each school of magic. To avoid them having to ask the same question of Meira she also gave the relevant information.
“Ha, I see you are a man of culture, knowing two of the best classes of magic. I think I can help you with your earth and water magic. I know one spell that you would be able to learn from me for each. If that works for you.”
Bjorn nodded and the dwarf stepped forward, placing one hand on Bjorn’s forehead, and one on his chest right above Bjorn’s heart. Bjorn had to tilt his head down so the dwarf didn’t have to stand on his tiptoes to accomplish the feat. He then spoke a single word. “Awaken.”
The eyes of the dwarf began to glow, one a rich green color, the other a vibrant blue. The color started as a glow that originated at his irises and soon the color began to leech into the cornea of his eye, soon the dwarf had two solid orbs of color in his eyes. The glow intensified and shot out of his eyes and the beams of color met Bjorn’s eyes, sinking into him.
Bjorn’s mind went blank for a heartbeat before all of a sudden he knew!
Spell: Bark Skin
Cast time: 2 second
Components: Verbal, Somatic
Range:5 feet
Duration: 10 minutes
Mana Cost: 15 mana
Cooldown: 7.5 minutes
Level: 5
Effect: Toughens your skin, granting you +5 to your natural armor. This effect can stack with any other armor you wear. Provides you with a 5% movement speed debuff on top of the increased natural armor.
Spell: pitiful Desiccate
Cast time: 4 second
Components: Verbal, Somatic
Range:150 feet
Duration: Channel
Mana Cost: 10 per second
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Level: 6
Effect: As long as you are channeling this spell you will slowly remove any water on or inside of a body. Highly affected by resistances. Once the channel has started you have to maintain your concentration.
The short man just stood there grinning like an idiot up at Bjorn. “That wasn’t so bad was it?” When Bjorn’s only response was a shake of his head the dwarf’s grin grew. “I knew you could handle it.”
Imeral stepped forward. “You fool, you didn’t know that his mind could handle taking two spells at once. What would you have said to Dornan if you made him braindead because of your little experiment?”
“Wait, that was a chance?” Meira asked as she settled a glare on the dwarf.
“There was a real chance at that.” Imeral said. “If your friend didn’t have a high enough intelligence stat then the two spells would overload Bjorn’s mind and basically turn it into a paste, making him little more than a shell of a person. There isn’t any life magic that I know of that can repair that kind of damage to the brain. Kronk made a gamble with your friend’s life.”
“What? It turned out alright. Look at him, he is fine.”
All eyes turned to where Bjorn was kneeling, sometime during Imeral’s explanation Bjorn dropped down to his knees and no one noticed. “I will be fine.” Bjorn said, pushing himself up to his feet. Everyone gave Bjorn a weary glance. “I promise. I will be fine.”
“Alright, I will trust you. Let’s do one or two of my spells next.” Meira said.
Imeral gave Kronk a withering stare. “I got this one, step back your ass.” Meira and Imeral stepped up to each other and Imeral did the exact same thing as the dwarf did. Placing one hand on Meira’s chest and the second on her forehead. “Look into my eyes.”
Meira met her eyes and they stared into each other's eyes for a long moment before Imeral spoke. “Let the powers within me kindle your spark.” As she finished her almost ritual sounding sentence the same thing happened to Meira that happened to Bjorn.
From where he stood Bjorn watched Imeral’s eyes take on a pale yellow glow that started with her irises, soon dominating her entire eye. As the glow grew it also grew in strength. Soon there were two beams of light pouring out of Imeral’s eyes and into Meira’s eyes. As the beams held steady pouring into Meira’s eyes two small orbs of condensed pale yellow light left Imeral’s eyes and shot into Meira’s eyes.
When the second orb finished sinking into Meira’s eyes the light quickly faded, and she staggered back a few steps before she steadied herself and stood at her full height. “That feeling isn’t the most pleasant. I see why Bjorn had issues with it.”
The tiefling smiled. “That is exactly what I have heard, I fortunately have never been on the receiving end. From what we can tell the negative effects of the spell transfer are significantly diminished with an increased intelligence stat. I am guessing that your intelligence is a lot higher than Bjorn’s is. The spells that were transferred to you were higher level, and as such they have a worse impact on the receiving party.”
Tayla frowned. “So does that mean that you just gambled with Meira’s life as well? You had no idea what her intelligence stat was, she could have easily had as strong or worse of a reaction, just like what Bjorn did.”
“Not at all.” Imeral cut in. “When we connected I could feel her large mana pool. On top of that the higher your skill level in the school you are learning from, the less you are affected. As such with her skill level of 32 and with her large mana pool there was no risk to her life. Those two factors were more than enough for me to understand that I could pass two spells alone instead of the one I was planning on initially.”
“I was a little dizzy at first, but now I feel perfectly fine.” Meira said. “Kronk get over here and teach me two spells. Bjorn doesn’t look like he has fully recovered.”
Hearing his name and the vehemence in Meira’s voice the dwarf snapped to attention and quickly came over to where Meira was standing. He stood before her with a sheepish look on his face, and for her part Meira was glaring down at the dwarf. He cleared his throat. “Um, well I need you to lower your head or kneel down so I can accomplish that task.”
Meira stood there unchanging glaring down at him. Sighing she got down on her knees so that her head was almost level with the top of the dwarfs head. Kronk reached out and placed his hands the same as he did with Bjorn. “Awaken.”
The same thing happened once again, vibrant blue light came pouring out of the dwarves' eyes. As the light intensified a grin crossed his face and one of the eyes quickly changed from a vibrant blue to a rich golden light. Once again two orbs left Kronk's eyes and made their way into Meira’s eyes.
When the light faded Meira didn’t seem to be affected by the transfer this time like she did previously. Instead of smiling like Bjorn thought she would, Meira had a frown on her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say a word a fist came rocketing out from behind her and connected with the dwarves face. Kronk went flying and Alaric followed the falling body.
Standing over the now unconscious body Alaric had his hands clenched into tight fists. Startled exclamations came out of everyone except for Alaric. Ignoring the questions Alaric grabbed the unconscious Kronk and hefted the rotund man, walking over to the door he shoved it open with his foot and the door swung outward. In a move that Bjorn saw Alaric do once before, his friend threw the limp body out into the hall the exact same way he had to Olvog’s minion.
Turning back around he saw everyone standing there watching him slack jawed. “What? I didn’t like how he kept doing little experiments without asking. If I understand what just happened he taught Meira life magic without her consent. I won’t put up with that shit.”
They all still stood there in stunned silence. “Fair enough.” The tiefling said. “He deserved it, I am just sorry it wasn’t me who taught him a lesson.” She stepped forward and held out her hand helping first Meira to her feet, and then to Bjorn. “I feel like I haven’t been able to do anything this entire time. I understand that you know earth, light, and water magic. So my fire and dark magic doesn’t do much good. But if you want to I will gladly teach you either dark or fire magic. I know it will be your fourth magic class, but between you and Meira you will now have access to all but fire and death magic.”
Bjorn thought about her words. “That is a well structured argument. I have actually given it a little thought for the last few months, and I think I like the thought of dark magic. If you want, I will take you up on that offer and learn dark magic from you.”
The tiefling smiled. “Of course, this won’t take long.” In a ritual that was becoming very familiar by this time she placed her hands and spoke her words. “Today I awaken your dark magic. Arise my student.” A sinister lack of color came out of the tiefling’s eyes. Instead of a glow it looked like a void of color and light came pouring out her eyes and long thin black tendrils came out of her face and latched onto Bjorn’s.
Spell: Encroaching Dark
Cast time: 1 second
Components: Verbal, Somatic
Range:10 feet
Duration: 5 seconds
Mana Cost: 9 mana
Cooldown: 1 minute
Level: 1
Effect: Summon a small cone in front of you devoid of light for the duration
Spell: Blind
Cast time: 1 second
Components: Verbal, Somatic
Range:20 feet
Duration: 15 minutes
Mana Cost: 12 mana
Cooldown: 10 minutes
Level: 1
Effect: Affected target is affected by the blindness debuff for 15 seconds.
This time instead of the light pouring into Bjorn in quick succession, the two were connected for over 5 minutes by the light coming off the tiefling. When it faded Bjorn stood there.
“That wasn’t too bad, why didn’t it affect me like it did with Kronk?”
“That is because Kronk transferred all of the information magically as fast as he could, the way that he did it overloaded your brain briefly, I took my time transferring you the spells. We were connected for over 5 minutes.”
“5 minutes? It felt like 5 seconds, if that.”
She smiled. “That is because your mind was preoccupied absorbing all of the relevant information on how to cast the spells. You didn’t divert the brainpower necessary to sense the passing of time.”
The servant who stood off to the side of the room the entire time trying to avoid being noticed made his presence known. He stepped forward and bowed to the two remaining mages. “Thank you, you have fulfilled what you promised to Duke Dornan. If you will excuse us, we have other matters to attend to.”
Not missing the polite dismissal, the tiefling and Imeral started towards the door. About halfway to the door Imeral stopped, it looked like she was deliberating for a few seconds. Coming to a decision she turned back around and walked up to Bjorn, quickly placing her hands in the normal positions she spoke her words and soon Bjorn learned another new spell.
Spell: Strengthening light
Cast time: 6 second
Components: Verbal, Somatic
Range:200 feet
Duration: 15 minutes
Mana Cost: 36 mana
Cooldown: 30 minutes
Level: 8
Effect: The light is able to be manipulated at the will of the caster while in contact with the caster. The ball of light will hover 3 inches over whatever object it is attached to, by default it is attached to the caster. The spell can travel up to 200 feet once it is detached from the caster. If the ball of light collides with any surface while it is traveling it will adhere to that surface for the duration of the spell. During the duration of the spell the effect of the strength attribute is increased by 3%
Smiling, she turned on her heels and walked out of the room. Before the door fully closed they could hear her voice ring out through the hall. “You, come here and take this idiot back to his rooms. He has a lot…” Her voice was cut short as the door swung closed.
“Sorry about them, they are a bit eccentric. But I do promise they are some of the most knowledgeable mages we have here, excluding my lord of course. Now on to the next part.” The servant put a hand under his shirt and quickly retrieved 4 small sacks. Taking them from his hand one at a time he handed them over to each of them. Tayla got a sack that was larger and heavier than the ones Bjorn Meira and Alaric got.
“This is the cash reward for services rendered. Tayla you also have extra in your bag to fit with your request. With that settled there is only one thing left to do. Alaric you were promised a war hammer. I have instructions to take you and only you down to the armory after your meal and let you pick one within reason. Unfortunately your choices are less than they would have been a day ago with the expedition, but I am sure we can find something that you are happy with. So if you wish I can show you all to your rooms for the night before taking Alaric down to the armory.”
Bjorn looked at Alaric, seeing how he was the only one who vocalized his not wanting to stay in the palace. Alaric shrugged. “That would work nicely, thank you.”
“Very good sir. Don’t let me stand between you and your dinner any longer. Please eat your fill, I will be waiting just outside the door. When you are finished, open the door and I will show you to your rooms.” The servant bowed deeply before backing out of the room.
They ate their dinner quickly and then met the servant outside. He started leading them through the lower sections of the west wing until they came upon another elegant staircase leading upwards. He led them through the halls to a large double door. Pushing the door open it led to a large open room with four doors leading off of it. The center room had multiple couches, two different types of tables and multiple bookshelves filled with books. There were multiple busts, and other oddities sitting on the small table in the middle of the couches.
“There you go. Each of these doors leads to a separate bedroom. Fill free to take whichever one you want for the night. In the morning we will bring you food. Alaric if you would follow me, I shall lead you to the armory. Sleep well, I will see you in the morning.” He bowed to the remaining three and then ushered Alaric out of the room.
Exploring around they were in a room that still overlooked the marshaling yard, but it was now higher up in the massive building. In the common room there was a balcony overlooking the yard. After some exploration and small talk they all started to head to bed. Tayla went first, when Bjorn insisted on waiting for Alaric to come back Meira talked him into going as well.
Inside the room there was a large spacious bed filled with some sort of down. Laying down in the bed felt like he was being hugged by a cloud. It didn’t take him long to drift off to sleep.