Harry said “I'll check it out and see if I can figure out if Jehan is in that room with her.” He crept out of the room, and then returned a minute later. “Yes, he's in there. I could hear people in there, it sounded like they were asking him questions, and I could hear him answering. Couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but he's clearly in there.”
If Richard had any doubt about the accuracy of Harry's observations, they vanished a moment later, when a blue box appeared in front of Richard's eyes.
Quest received – Save Jehan. Get Jehan away from his captors and to a place of safety to complete this quest.
No hint in this quest text? No back door, no easy way to do this? I guess that would be too much to ask for.
Last chance to back out. Richard thought. Somehow, they're following me, even though I have less experience at this than any of them. If I say the word, say this is too hard and we should climb back out that window and get the hell out of here, they will, and Jehan will probably die. If I say go forwards, they will, and I might get all five of us killed. He already knew which way he was going to go, though.
“Ok. We know that at least the enchantress is in there with him, there's no way we're going to do this quietly, so let's do it quickly instead. We kick in the door, rush in, and take out whoever is in the room, probably the enchantress and a few guards. Hit the enchantress with everything you have fast, don't give her a chance to open her mouth if you can help it. Remember, Jehan might be charmed, so don't be surprised if he tries to attack us too.”
Richard paused, expecting someone to point out what a weak plan that was, but the only comment was Evelyn reminding him that the enchantress probably had a lot of magical items. He nodded, and they went.
Harry went through the door first, slamming it open with a kick. Richard could hear the sound of wood breaking. Evelyn was the second one in the room, already starting to cast a spell, and Richard came in on her right side.
As soon as Richard came into the room, he saw her, the most beautiful young woman he had ever…
Wait. She looked different the first moment I saw her in the warehouse. Older, not quite as flawless. Something is wrong here.
In a moment, he started to spot the tiny mistakes, like broken pixels on a computer monitor. Spots of light seemed to shine through the enchantress' body in ways they couldn't have. Her shadow on the floor didn't quite line up with where her figure looked like it was.
The illusion broke for him, and Richard got a good look at what Lillian actually looked like when she wasn't weaving an illusion. He saw her as she actually was; maybe 40 or 45 years old, and it looked like some of them had been rough years, with signs of wrinkles already on her face, brown hair with spots starting to go gray. She was still kind of an attractive woman, but with the illusion gone he could tell she was much more normal looking. All the strange jewelry she was wearing was real though; she had several necklaces hanging from her neck, including something around her neck that looked like jade, and a bracelet on her left wrist with several large glass spheres hanging from it.
Without giving himself a chance to think, Richard pulled a throwing knife, and threw it directly at her. Harry had already drawn his bow back and fired an arrow at her at almost the same moment.
Richard's eyes followed the knife through the air, not wanting to see the bloody mess he expected as it hit the unarmored woman but not able to look away either. But that didn't happen. In midair, the knife subtly changed course, as if a strong wind was blowing it to the left, and it completely missed her, sticking into the wooden wall behind her. Harry's arrow also missed, except somehow his arrow had veered as if it was being pushed to the right and missed her on the other side.
Must have been magic. How did that work? I haven't seen her cast anything yet. There must have been a force field maybe, something from one of her items? Is there a way I can beat it?
Harry rapidly fired off a second arrow, and this one also veered away from her. Richard had been hoping that maybe there was a consistent direction of force he could account for and work around with a second knife throw, but it seemed clear that whatever was changing the path of arrows and thrown knifes was simply pushing them sideways in whatever direction was most convenient to make them miss her.
Maybe if we could throw enough things at her at once it would overload the spell or something? Does that work?
A bolt of fire flew from Eveyln's fingers but vanished as it hit Lilian. Is she protected against everything?
“HOLD,” Lilian shouted, while tracing a rune in the air, and suddenly Richard's feet seemed frozen to the floor. He glanced at his companions and could see they were all frozen to the ground as well.
It was a strange sensation; Richard could still move his hands and arms, could still move his back, but his feet felt like solid lead. He strained and couldn't lift them off the ground.
Is this another charm spell? Can I break this with rational introspection? But this didn't feel like a charm spell. A charm spell would have made Richard feel like he just didn't want to move, for whatever reason he could rationalize; this was more like his legs just couldn't move.
Maybe this spell did something to my nerves or something? Or maybe my feet are actually stuck to the ground now? I can test this.
Richard reached down and shoved his right leg forward with his arms. It moved quite easily, sliding forward an inch or two just like he expected.
Yeah, the spell is just telling my legs they can't move. What if I got down on all fours and crawled, dragged myself around by my arms, would that work, or would my hands just stop working as well?
“Now, gentlemen, if I were you I would stop firing arrows and throwing knives around. You seem to have terrible aim, and you wouldn't want to strike your friend here, now would you?”
Richard felt the Suggestion settle down on him and noticed how it affected his thoughts. Suddenly the idea of throwing a knife filled him with dread.
This spell I could probably break free of, eventually. I can feel how this one works, inside my mind. It might take a while, but it's not like there's much else I can be doing right now...
Richard noticed something glinting on Lilian's chest. Her jade necklace was starting to sparkle and twinkle and move, like it had some bizarre kind of energy squirming inside it.
A huge blast of fire, much larger than the previous one, flew from Evelyn's hands towards Lilian. This one also disappeared when it struck Lilian, but this time Richard could clearly see the fire somehow narrowing to a narrow beam and being sucked into the jade amulet, and then the Jade amulet started glowing much more brightly.
Richard had a sudden terrible premonition and reached out and shoved Evelyn to the left. A tower of flame tore out of Lilian's chest and went right through the area Evelyn had just been standing in. Richard could feel a warm spot on his arm that was probably a burn.
He winced as he saw Evelyn hit the ground and saw that as soon as her hands touched the ground, she couldn't move them either.
Ok, plan “crawl to safety” is out as well.
The tall man who looked like he was wrapped in shadows and nightmares started putting out the fires by summoning sprays of white icy particles from his hands, and Richard blinked. Wait; had that man standing there the whole time? Richard thought he had been, but somehow hadn't paid any attention. How could he have not noticed someone like that?
Shit. I was so focused on Lilian I somehow didn't even notice someone like that standing in the room, that means I'm still not thinking clearly. Evelyn warned me that I still had pieces of that charm spell on me.
“Anyway, my friends here wouldn't want to hurt me anyway, even if they could, would you my dears?” Lilian said, tracing another rune in the air.
Richard winced as he felt another Suggestion sink into his mind. Richard focused on his thoughts, and since he was aware the exact wording of the two Suggestions, he could see how that affected his thoughts in his own head. The Suggestion wasn't nearly as all-encompassing or powerful as the charm spell he had been hit with before, it only shaped a single thought pattern, but it did that with a terrible precision, and in a way that might have almost seemed plausible if he hadn't known a spell was affecting him.
When Richard thought about throwing a knife at someone, anyone, the enemy guards in the room for example, he was suddenly overwhelmed with a terrible terror and certainty that he would miss and hit and kill someone he cared about if he tried. And when he tried to think about hurting Lillian; well, he just didn't want to.
You should want to. A part of his brain insisted. What she did to you before was terrible. What she's going to do to your friends now if you don't stop her is worse. This isn't natural, it's another mindfuck spell.
Or maybe I just don't...like...hurting people? Another part of his brain hesitantly asked. The image of the guard he had killed a little while ago rose in Richards head, and bile rose in his throat at the memory of the way that man choked on his own blood with Richard's knife in his throat.
Even so, this is not natural, this is the spell. Richard looked at Jehan, sitting just a few feet behind and to the left of Lilian, sound asleep with a leather belt carved with runes wrapped around his forehead, and he could see that Jehan's hands were tied behind his back as well. Richard could feel his mind struggling against the spells that restrained it, trying to find loose threads to pull apart.
I think I can break through these Suggestions eventually, but I don't think it's going to be quick.
“Richard, my pet,” Lilian purred at him.
He looked up at her, his train of thought shattered for a moment.
“Are you still in my thrall?”
She doesn't know I broke her charm spell. She probably has no idea I even could do something like that. If I play along maybe I can take her by surprise.
Richard smiled, his face perfectly mimicking the happy feeling he had felt the first time she had charmed him. “Of course.”
“Excellent. I free you from your Hold. Why don't you walk over here to me, protect me from anyone else who might try to hurt me, and tell me everything you know. And then you can help me kill your friends. Except the wild mage of course, the Duke wants to recruit her.”
Richard could feel the Hold spell release his feet, and with a smile on his face, doing his best to act like the mindless pet she thought he was, he started slowly walking over to her. The three guards looked at him, their swords drawn.
She believes it. I'm doing a good job acting the part.
How sure are you that you're acting? Another part of Richard's mind quietly asked. Richard realized with a jolt that he really did have a weird feeling of happiness, and that part of him was glad to follow her orders.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Shit. The charm spell isn't totally gone either. For a moment Richard almost fought her command but realized that that would give the game away.
It's ok. I just have to pretend to be charmed and act like I'm charmed without letting the pretense be a reality. And then when I get over there I can...
Richard's mind went blank. What would he do? Maybe fight the guards or something? But he didn't think he could fight three guards...
Something is wrong with my thoughts.
I don't need to fight the guards. I need to... his mind shied away from the thought, but he pushed through the resistance. I need to...stop...Lilian.
“Very good, Richard. Now stand by me here and protect me from anyone who tries to hurt me.” Lilian said with a smile, before turning to the next possible threat, Bertrand. Bertrand clearly couldn't move, but he still had a sword in each hand, ready to fight anyone who came within his reach, and his face was red with rage.
“You, over on the right. Bertrand, right?” Lilian said, while tracing a rune in the air. “Drop your swords.”
“No.” He said. His voice had a finality to it.
“Very impressive willpower you have there. But there's no point in fighting anymore, you've already lost. DROP YOUR SWORDS.”
Bertrand shook his head again, sweat pouring off his face. The swords in his hands lowered slightly, but he kept his grip on them, his knuckles turning white from the strain. “Do...do you have any idea how much a good pair of swords like this cost? I was taught to treat swords better than that.”
By this point all three guards and Lilian had turned away from Richard and were focused on Bertrand. Her back was to Richard, she clearly had no concern about him at all.
She's standing right there, with her back to me. All I have to do is draw out my sword, and ______. Richard couldn't complete the thought.
All I have to do is pull out my dagger, and then I can _____.
Shit. I still can't even think about hurting Lilian. What can I do?
Richard took a step back away from her, as quietly as he could, and slipped the rune-inscribed leather belt up and off of Jehan's forehead. Jehan woke up suddenly, wide-eyes, but Richard touched his lips, and Jehan nodded and didn't make a sound.
Lilian was now yelling at Bertrand. “Surrender now, or either I will either break your mind or I will just have my guards kill you while you are rooted to the floor!”
Bertrand's eyes were bloodshot now, but he shook his head again. “I could kill your toy soldiers with one arm tied behind my back. And believe me, crazier women than you have tried to break my mind.” The strain was clear in his voice, but he also had a huge grin on his face.
While she was focused on Bertrand, Richard crept up behind Lilian as quietly as he could. When he was just behind her, Richard pulled the magical belt down over her head in one quick motion and cinched it tight around the back of her head so that it was firmly pulled against her forehead.
“Maybe I can't hurt you right now, but I believe a good nap never hurt anyone.” Richard whispered, as Lilian sank to the floor, sound asleep.
Skill earned: Stealth (2)
For defeating a spellcaster by turning their own magic against them, you have earned +15 Cunning points
For making an attempt at saying a pithy one-liner while defeating a major foe, you earn +5 humor points
As soon as Lillian was on the ground and not moving, one of the glass spheres on the bracelet on her wrist suddenly flashed with a blinding blue light and shattered, spraying glass across the floor with a tinkling sound, and suddenly Lilian was gone.
The moment that Lilian was gone, the Hold spell failed as well. Bertrand was the first to react, rushing the soldier in front of him with a battle cry. Kateryn threw herself at the soldier closest to her, swinging her spear in wide, wild swings, and Harry and Evelyn together advanced on the soldier in the middle with their wooden staves.
Richard thought for a second about throwing a knife at one of the soldiers, but because he was behind the soldiers he was afraid he would miss and hit one of his friends
wait is that my thought or the Suggestion, never mind, no time to worry about that right now
so instead Richard drew out his sword and attacked the soldier Kateryn was already fighting.
Neither Richard nor Kateryn were nearly as experienced in melee fighting as the soldier, and it showed. The soldier easily blocked Kateryn's spear thrust and pulled her off balance, before parrying Richard's attack with so much force that Richard almost dropped his sword. But that parry slowed the soldier down enough that Kateryn managed to swing the back end of her spear down at the soldier and struck him in the gut with enough force to make him double over in pain. When he did Kateryn slammed her elbow into his face with all of her strength, and the soldier dropped his sword and went down.
Harry and Evelyn worked together in fighting their soldier as if it was a dance they had long rehearsed. Harry swung his staff high while Evelyn swung hers down at the soldier's knees, Harry blocking the sword with his staff while Evelyn swung her staff around and into the small of man's back, and he went down as well. The third soldier that Bertrand attacked alone was already dead on the ground.
3 human soldiers, 1 human enchanter defeated (partial exp): 1430 Skirmisher EXP granted
Skill earned: Rational Introspection (2)
Level up, Skirmisher level 2. +1 Dex, +1 max HP, +4 max SP. HP, SP, and MP restored.
You have earned +20 High Stakes points and +10 Cunning points
Achievement unlocked: Underdog-Defeat someone at least 10 levels higher then yourself. +1 to all effective skills when fighting higher level opponents.
Richard quickly cut Jehan free from the ropes binding his wrists and helped him up out of his chair. While he was doing that, he asked “what just happened with Lilian, exactly? Why did she vanish like that?”
“Must have been an item set with a “contingency” enchantment, probably designed to teleport her to somewhere safe if she was knocked unconscious or wounded in a fight,” Evelyn explained. “She could be anywhere now. Maybe if we're lucky she'll stay in a safe house somewhere alone and asleep until someone finds here and takes the spell off of her.”
“Come on, we need to get the hell out of here.” Bertrand said, running towards the stairs in the corner of the office. The rest of them followed, Jehan limping slightly after having been tied to a chair for several hours. Richard grabbed his throwing knife out of the wooden wall as he ran past.
As they got to the ground floor, Richard saw Vlithar the corrupted mage and summoner, dressed in black with a disturbing dark cloud around him, still trying to fight the spreading fire by spraying ice and firing bolts of ice at the burning areas. Richard could see that Vlithar had mostly managed to contain the fire, although some small parts were still burning. It looked like a large beam had fallen from the ceiling and crushed a few of the Warped men, but that was the only major damage that had been done. Disturbingly, even the Warped Men who had been standing right next to the ones who were crushed didn't seem to have moved and were still silently standing in place.
There was a door leading to the outside right next to the staircase, and Richard's group fled down the street away from the warehouse as quickly as they could, with Bertrand and Richard putting their arms under Jehan's shoulders so they could support him and help him move more quickly.
Spoiler: Character sheet
Name: Richard
Race: Human (5)
Class:Skirmisher (2)
Age: 26
Strength: 3 (2.4)
Dexterity: 7
Constitution: 11
Endurance: 8
Intelligence: 24 (28.8)
Wisdom: 4 (3.6)
Perception: 7
Charisma: 11 (13.2)
HP: 82 (Max: 82)
SP: 42 (Max 42)
MP: 144 (144)
MP regeneration: 3.6%/hour
Divine Class: Champion of Ikar (1)
Humor: 46
Cunning: 67
High Stakes: 55
Glory: -911
Divine favors:
Gift of Tongues: May speak, understand, read, or write in any mortal language (may only speak languages you have heard and only write in languages you have seen).
Special traits:
Offworld Education (Legendary): +20% to effective intelligence, -10% to effective wisdom. Learns skills 50% more quickly than someone with an equivalent intelligence, gains experience 25% more quickly. More likely to learn unusual skills.
Pampered: Compared to most humans, this person has spent his whole life eating the best food, doing minimal physical labor, and generally living what most would call a life of luxury. -20% to strength, -20% to stamina points, +20% to hit points, +20% to charisma.
Without Glory: This person is extremely lacking in Glory, one of the 3 virtues of Toran, and as such may be instinctively distrusted or even hated by followers of Toran. -10 to reaction from followers of Toran.
Explorer (Human racial trait): Humans are known for wanting to explore the world, and for wanting to discover what's over the next hill. Gains a small amount of experience gained for discovering and exploring new locations.
Curious (Human racial trait): Some humans have a high degree of curiosity, and a desire to learn many new things and try many different possible paths. Many consider this curiosity to be one of the great assets of the species, even if it frequently gets them into trouble. Learns skills and spells 10% more quickly (scales with human level). Experience bonus for more than 3 classes (currently 0% bonus). Can earn human experience for making discoveries.
Accuracy (Skirmisher class trait): +2 to hit with any thrown or ranged weapons. Scales with skirmisher level.
Running throw (Skirmisher class trait): +60% to damage and +30% to range when a weapon is thrown while charging at full speed. Scales with skirmisher level.
Rapid retreat (Skirmisher class trait): +30% speed when running away from an enemy or hazard, but at a cost of +10% SP consumption. Scales with skirmisher level.
Skills (General):
Pratfall (2): You have the ability to fall in a hilarious fashion. Likely to make people laugh if executed well. All falling damage reduced by 20%.
Mathematics (14): You are extremely skilled at mathematics. +140% to calculation speed and accuracy. +70% to learning speed of other skills with a mathematical component. Small bonus to other math related skills and spells.
Pathfinder (forest) (3): You have an intermediate level of skill at moving through a forest quickly. You have learned the basics of how to travel through a forest, can see where to step and where to avoid, and can identify good paths to take while traveling. +30% to movement speed through a forest. -30% to SP cost for moving through forest. Increased chance to see and avoid natural hazards.
Stealth (2): You have a basic level of skill at moving quietly and in a stealthy manner. Decreased chance of being detected while trying to move quietly and stealthily.
Climbing (1): You have a basic level of skill at climbing.
Writing (5): You know how to write clearly. Higher levels of this skill improve writing speed and accuracy.
Taunt (1): You have a basic level of skill at taunting an enemy to cause them to attack you. Most effective on enemies with low wisdom scores.
Acrobatics (1): You have a basic level ability at acrobatics. Improves jumping, tumbling, rolling, and balance.
Melee weapon (sword) (general) (1): You have a basic level of skill at sword fighting. +1 to-hit bonus with any sword, +1 damage with any sword.
Rational Introspection (2): You have begun to develop the rare skill of being able to rationally inspect your own thoughts for errors and inconsistencies. Can be used to notice and break free of some types of mental magic and illusion spells. Allows you to use your intelligence to slightly increase your resistance to some types of spells.
Surprise attack (1): When attacking someone by surprise or from stealth, +1 to damage and +5% to Critical hit chance
Skills (Skirmisher):
Jogging (3): An unusual running practice, primarily designed to improve the health and endurance of the human or for recreation rather than for practical gain. -30% SP cost while running slowly on roads or even ground, -15% SP cost for other running. +15% endurance and constitution training gains while running.
Thrown weapon (rocks) (2): You have a basic level of skill at throwing rocks. +2 to-hit bonus with thrown rocks, +2 damage. 5% chance for a thrown rock to stun an opponent.
Thrown weapon (daggers and knives) (3): You have a basic level of skill at throwing daggers and knives. +3 to-hit bonus with thrown daggers and knives, +3 damage. 5% increased chance for a thrown dagger or knife to inflict the bleed status on an opponent.
Parting shot (3): You have a moderate level of skill at using thrown or ranged weapons while moving. -45% to ranged penalty for using ranged weapons while running or riding.
Spells:
Insight (1)
Quest: Try Not to Die. To succeed at this quest, merely live through your first two weeks in the world without getting killed. Shouldn't be too hard...right?
Save Jehan. Get Jehan away from his captors and to a place of safety to complete this quest.
Achievements: Bounty Hunter(intermediate): +2 DEX One Shot: +5% CRIT
Underdog: +1 Skill lvl when fighting higher level opponents