As the carriage hits another bump in the road she is shaken awake. Her eyes opened slowly as she took in the interior of the carriage and determined nothing had changed. The other passengers still either looked at their own feet as they tried not to bump into their neighbors or the ones like her, who were lucky enough to get to sit in a corner, tried to escape the bleak and suffocating atmosphere in the carriage by embracing the sweet temptation of sleep.

She had to smile at the thought of referring to her current ride as a carriage. The thing she was currently traveling in was essentially a wooden box on wheels with two hard, uncomfortable benches facing each other inside and only one small window in the door to the outside. No, carriages were decorated with the finest fabrics, the seats as comfortable as the best beds, the windows big to invite light inside and the ride would spent marveling at the landscape, which slowly moved past on the outside. Her smile turned into a bitter smirk at the thought. Carriages were for nobility, barons, dukes and kings, not for someone like her, someone from a small village in the middle of nowhere, someone unimportant, someone who…

The smirk on her face turned into a grimace and she could feel the anger rising within her. Nobility?! Liars! Filthy, greedy liars and murderers all of them! They should be here, not her. She didn’t do anything after all. They framed her and got away with it, because they have the money and power and she is just some village girl. She had been trampled on by them and was unable to do anything. Should she ever get a chance for revenge she would…

And as fast as her anger had risen she dispelled it with a heavy sigh. Her raging ramblings wouldn’t do her any good. They hadn’t helped before the judge and they wouldn’t help her now. The important part already happened after all.

Title: Murderer

You have been judged by [Judge] Kirksend to be guilty of murder. For your crime against King Randolf Pitarsvelen II, his kingdom and his people, you will be branded through this Title as a criminal and murderer.

Others will see you for what you and your crime are.

Lessens the effect of the Charisma attribute on others and self. Charisma -5

This Title and its effects cannot be declined, revoked or hidden.

She had heard of criminal Titles before, but she never expected to hold one herself. Many of her childhood questions had been answered in the worst way possible. To find out how you would recognize a holder of one such title, she just had to look at anyone of her traveling companions and immediately feel tingling sensation in her neck. It was hard to suppress the sudden gagging as she looked too long at one person. Why was that? It couldn’t have been the title, at least not just the Title.

Grateful for any distraction she dived head first into this little conundrum. Why did she have this strong feeling of revulsion when looking at another passenger too long? The answer lied with the Title of a criminal obviously or to be more precise with part concerning the Charisma attribute. She could feel her muscles relax at the memory of her father and his endless explanations of Classes, Titles, Skills, Levels and of course Attributes. Back then she thought they were boring and unnecessary, everybody knows what Levels are after all, but she had listened nonetheless. Something she was incredibly grateful for now that she was older. She went through her memories of her father with a smile on her face as the warmth of the past filled her. After a few moments she found the memory of her father explaining how Charisma works.

As usual he had started of explaining why other people were wrong about the effects of Charisma and why she shouldn’t listen to them. No, Charisma does not make you more beautiful. No, you don’t become better at bartering all of a sudden. No, high Charisma does not allow you to force others to do your bidding. In his opinion you shouldn’t increase your Charisma unless your Class demanded it. “An Attribute for merchants, thieves and braggarts.” he had called it. According to him Charisma only changed how other people would perceive you and only that. Unless you had Skills that would expand its effects, he considered it useless. She had to contain a giggle at this point of her memory just like back then. She had never pointed out that he also said all Attributes were equally important and should be respected. Having found what she was looking for, she returned to the present with a final thought. She was glad he hadn’t lived long enough to see her get her first title.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Having assured herself of the imparted knowledge, she looked at the others again. Letting her eyes slowly drift over each one of them she soon realized not everyone triggered this weird feeling of revulsion, some seemed to be exempt of this occurrence. Picking two viable candidates she quickly used one of her skills for more information.

[Merchant – Level 20]

[Farmer – Level 14]

She got no odd feeling looking at the [Merchant], but just a glimpse at [Farmer] sent her gag reflex working. With these hints she was able to put a working theory together. It had taken her longer than she would like to admit, but she was confident in her answer.

The people, which suffered from this weird side effect, all possessed Classes that didn’t rely on Charisma and as such probably had hit zero with their Charisma Attribute after receiving the Titles for their crimes. The holders of Classes like the [Merchant], who relied on Charisma a great deal, were mostly unaffected thanks to this reliance. She was also mostly unaffected because, despite her fathers advice, she had every now and then invested a little bit I her Charisma, a decision that helped her now avoid the same fate as the [Farmer]. Despite the loss of 5 points, due to her Title, she still had 5 Charisma, not much for a [Merchant], but for her Level and Class still better than most.

Having solved this little mystery she let her eyes drift to the small window in the back of the wagon. Red light shone through the dirty glass, meaning the sun was already touching the horizon. When she had entered the wagon this morning a guard said they would reach their destination by nightfall. Soon. At the thought her left hand went for her right wrist and was greeted with something cold. She looked the bracelet that surrounded her wrist. Dark metal, that having been worn all day was still cold as ice, engraved with runes she couldn’t even begin to understand. All passengers of this transport wore such bracelets. There was no need for shackles as the bracelets fulfilled the same tasks much more effective. She shivered thinking about wearing this thing for the next 50 years of her sentence. If she were going to a normal prison these cursed artifacts wouldn’t be necessary, but her destination was worse than any prison.

Fort Iron, the first fort to be built in the Vyver Mountain range, the first line of defense against the horrors of the Es’Land Wilds to the west, the best place to get some final use out of criminals before they die. The fort was located in western most part of a valley separating the Vyver Mountain range into north and south, this valley constituted the only save way through the mountains into the Es’Land Wilds. After the city Viveria was built in the center of this valley, the fort started be neglected and fall into disrepair. One of the past kings had the glorious idea to transform the fort into a prison for the most wretched of criminals instead of letting it fall apart completely. The king after that took this idea even further, not willing to let these prisoners just rot he ordered them to collect valuable resources of the Wilds in exchange for a chance to maybe have their sentences reduced. Over the years this system had been refined and adjusted as the current rulers saw fit until it achieved its current.

Now almost all criminals were being sent there as long as their crime was more than petty theft. They would be forced to go out in to the Wilds to gather rare herbs, minerals and parts of beasts for years to repent for the committed crimes. To prevent the criminals from fleeing or rioting they were fitted with enchanted bracelets that would kill them should they try anything. Should they survive the Wilds long enough to see the end of their sentence they would be awarded no money or goods only their freedom and had to make their way back to civilization on their own.

At the thought of Es’land Wilds her hands started shaking. The Wilds were home to all kinds of monsters, goblins, kobolds, evil spirits, rabid animals, wild beasts, flesh-eating plants, all over level 50. Her heart started to beat faster. Level 50 was the lowest you would find in the Wilds or so she had been told. This level was far way for someone like her. But maybe…

“Get up, you lazy bastards!” she was torn out of her musing by a yell from outside as the wagon started to slow down. “And get the captain out here! I’ve got delivery of fresh meat for him.” More yelling from different directions, the sound of running people and the wagon coming to a complete stand still told her the fort was finally reached.

She looked a last time at her status to reassure herself of her readiness as she started to stand up. Level 50. Her lips curled up and her heart started to pick up speed again as the door of the wagon flew open.

Maya Hunter

Titles: Murderer

Age: 17

Personal Level: 16

Vitality: 17

Endurance: 15

Constitution: 17

Agility: 33

Strength: 33

Dexterity: 17

Charisma: 10 (-5)

Mind: 25

Wisdom: 17

Attribute Points: 0

Personal Skills (5): Basic Cooking / Level 15

Basic Crafting / Level 13

Basic Herbalism / Level 9

Basic Mana Manipulation / Level 9

Basic Rest / Level 10

Classes: 1st Class: Woodland Hunter / Level 16

Class Skills: 1st Class (4): Bow Proficiency / Level 16

Hunters Eye / Level 16

Powerful Arrow / Level 14

Stealth / Level 15