Isabelle choked and coughed as the warforged lead her walking through a door of the palace’s second story. Then, another door. She could tell they were going through doors because she could hear the hinges squeaking, but she couldn’t really tell where she was going thanks to the black fabric covering her head. She felt demeaned and uncomfortable, and worse still having only one point of hp left had her feeling incredibly nauseated and weak.
Isabelle heard the creak and groan of levers and pulleys. Of course, the warforged themself always kind of sounded like that, due to their almost robotic nature, but this was different. It was old, and static, whereas the warforged always sounded well-oiled and somewhat alive, almost like a moderately new car back in Isabelle’s old life.
“Alright,” said the voice of the terrible iguana-lady that was commanding the warforged. “Take her blinder off, Gashgear. I don’t want her to trip and fall down these steps, as funny as it would be. This player will be of little use to us dead.”
Isabelle chuckled. She just couldn’t get over the name Gashgear.
“What’s so funny?” asked Gashgear as he removed the black bag covering Isabelle’s face. “What are you laughing at, player? You realize you’re going to get drained of all your powers til your body and soul are an empty husk, right? I don’t think that’s very funny. I think it’s very serious business.”
“Yes, Gashgear is right, this is serious business,” said the iguana-lady. Isabelle couldn’t even remember her name, she was too busy cracking up over a warforged being named Gashgear.
“Stop laughing!” commanded Gashgear, raising his left arm that was a large, metal claw. “Or I’ll cover you in bruises!”
“Gashgear, you can’t do that! She only has one hp left!” said the iguana-lady.
So, these people knew how much hp Isabelle had? Or, at least the iguana-lady did. That meant she must have a system. Probably the Overlord’s system, Isabelle figured.
Gashgear took Isabelle’s blinder off. She was standing at the edge of a long, dark stone staircase lit only by torches. It led down to god knew where. Looking to the side, Isabelle could see that it was concealed by some form of hidden bookcase.
“Come on, step down the stairs, player,” commanded Gashgear.
Gashgear lightly tugged on Isabelle’s lead. She gingerly stepped down the steps. Her legs wobbled weakly, but Gashgear pulled her down steadily as he too descended. The iguana-lady walked behind them. She pulled some levers, which closed the bookcase behind them. Isabelle felt terribly trapped.
The lower they stepped, the mustier it smelled. It made Isabelle feel clammy and sweaty, two feelings that did not pair well with literally being on the brink of death. Every once and a while, the whole ground and staircase would shake. Isabelle guessed this was because of certain activities Tahsi and the Young Frost Dragon were engaging in, the details of which she did not care to attempt to imagine.
The staircase finally ended, and now there was just a long, torchlit hallway. Isabelle found herself wishing at this moment that she hadn’t already spent up her special ability. Becoming invisible seemed like her only real chance at escaping whatever the hell was about to happen to her. She’d just have to keep following the warforged and hope that she found a way to get the upper hand.
[+3 hp]
Hey, nice. At least she’d recovered a little bit of hp. Isabelle realized then that she could also use the health potions in her inventory to heal herself. Did her two captors even realize that? The iguana-lady had a system, didn’t she? So she must’ve known that. Then again, maybe the iguana-lady’s intelligence was low or something, and it hadn’t occurred to her. Isabelle wondered if she could use a wis+int check to see whether or not the iguana-lady knew she had stuff in her inventory.
[Clarification: Yes, but you will be highly disadvantaged.]
That was a bummer. Still, Isabelle wanted to give it a shot.
[Use wis+int check at disadvantage to see whether ‘Zsutzi’ knows you can access your inventory?]
So that was what the iguana-lady’s name was. Zsutzi. How in the hell did you pronounce that? Isabelle thought yes.
[Performing the check]
[…]
[Your wis+int check succeeded!]
Isabelle gasped. She really hadn’t been expecting to succeed when at a disadvantage.
“What? What’re you gasping at?” asked Gashgear.
Zsutzi put her hands on her lizardlike hips and squinted at Isabelle with malice.
[Speechcraft attempt: decieve]
“Oh, uh, I was just thinking about how funny Gashgear’s name was and was stifling a laugh,” said Isabelle. “Sorry.”
[Speechcraft succeeded]
“If I could hit you without killing you, I would, player,” said Gashgear.
“Don’t fret, Gashgear,” said Zsutzi. “We’ll be dropping this wretched player in the cauldron right after we get through this hallway. Along with that wretched cat friend of hers.”
Isabelle’s eyes went wide. So these people had grabbed Sir Jingles, too? The Duke must’ve had them ready to yank her party away one by one while they were distracted with all the fighting. Of course the dragon showing up was definitely unplanned, but obviously these two goons were hoping to hold up their end of the bargain regardless.
Gashgear pulled Isabelle forward. “Don’t stop walking now, player!”
Was now the right time to strike? Isabelle didn’t know who was waiting for her beyond this hallway, and it seemed secluded enough. If she was going to try and break away from these two, now seemed like the right time. But what could she do? With only four hp, Isabelle knew she was at risk for being one hitted. That being said, they didn’t really seem to want to kill her. Isabelle realized at that moment that neither of the two enemies had bound her hands. What idiots!
As Isabelle walked forward and listened to Gashgear’s gears propel his own footsteps, the figurative gears in Isabelle’s mind were turning. She could try and equip her paralyzation staff, but it wouldn’t work on Gashgear, and if Isabelle paralyzed Zsutzi she had a feeling that Gashgear might lose his composure and murder her. So that wasn’t an option. Isabelle could try using swords or daggers, but that could get messy. Then again, if she quickly drank a healing potion, equipped her staff of paralyzation and then paralyzed Zsutzi, Isabelle could fight Gashgear without concern of being one hitted. The perfect plan. Isabelle opened her inventory.
Inventory: Isabelle
Carrying capacity: 157/203
Item
Traits
Staff of Paralyzation
+5 mana, +4 carry weight
Potion of Greater Health x3
+20 hp, +0.5 carry weight
Abbreviated list based on prior use. Focus to see more items…
[Potion of Greater Health drunken]
[+20 hp]
[Staff of Paralyzation equipped]
[+5 mana]
“What the fuck?!” said Zsutzi and Gashgear in unison.
Isabelle turned around and hacked as Gashgear tightened the rope around her neck. Then, she raised her staff to Zsutzi and thought ‘Cast Paralyze.’
[Mana 92%]
A beam of green light shot out of the staff and engulfed Zsutzi.
[‘Zsutzi’ is paralyzed]
The iguana-lady fell to the floor like a ragdoll, a shocked expression frozen on her lizardy face. Isabelle turned around right in time to dodge a swing of a spiked club from Gashgear, who’d let go of her lead.
[Stamina 97%]
“I’m gonna fucking kill you now, you lousy player! Fuck what Zsutzi says!” said Gashgear.
Yea, sure, whatever. Isabelle smirked and opened her inventory.
Inventory: Isabelle
Carrying capacity: 156.5/203
Item
Traits
Ruby Studded Pocket Knife
+1 stealth, +3 sneak, +0.5 carry weight
Young Red Dragon Dagger x2
+2 fire damage, +5 damage, +3 stm, +1 dx, +2 carry weight
Young Red Dragon Bow
+3 fire damage, +2 damage, +3 dx, +3 carry weight
Poisoning Dagger x2
+1 poison, +6 damage, +1 sneak level, +1 carry weight
Steel Longsword
+5 str, +5 damage, +8 carry eight
Orcish Longbow
+5 damage, +1 dx, +1.5 carry weight
Abbreviated list based on prior use. Focus to see more items…
Isabelle was really pissed with the low amount of weapons she had. If only she hadn’t broken that rapier! Still, it was more than enough to take out Gashgear. Isabelle focused on both her Young Red Dragon Daggers.
[Young Red Dragon Dagger x2 equipped]
[+4 fire damage]
[+10 damage]
[+6 stm]
[+2 dx]
Hell yea. Isabelle dashed forward and stabbed Gashgear in the gut four times before he could even react.
[1004 damage dealt]
[804 damage dealt]
[957 damage dealt]
[951 damage dealt]
[202 fire damage dealt]
[198 fire damage dealt]
[204 fire damage dealt]
[197 fire damage dealt]
[Stamina 91%]
Gashgear heaved as hot oil spilled out of his stab wounds and flames engulfed him. Then, he shook his head. The flames died down. Gashgear cackled and his entire torso began spinning around. He held his mace out and thrashed it against Isabelle over and over again like a weaponized spinning top.
[-5 hp]
[-3 hp]
[-4 hp]
Isabelle leapt backward. Shit! As long as Gashgear was spinning like that, she couldn’t get anywhere near him with taking far more damage than she was comfortable with. It was time to open her inventory again.
Inventory: Isabelle
Carrying capacity: 156.5/203
Item
Traits
Young Red Dragon Bow
+3 fire damage, +2 damage, +3 dx, +3 carry weight
Hunter’s Crossbow of Chills (enchanted)
+3 frost damage, +7 damage, +2 dx, +4 carry weight
Arrows of Chills x30 (enchanted)
+2 frost damage, +1 damage
Orcish Longbow
+5 damage, +1 dx, +1.5 carry weight
Abbreviated list based on prior use. Focus to see more items…
It was time to fuck this goofy bastard up with some long-range attacks! Isabelle decided to use her Young Red Dragon Bow with her Arrows of Chills, so that she could do both fire and frost damage to Gashgear.
[Young Red Dragon Bow equipped]
[+3 fire damage]
[+2 damage]
[+3 dx]
[Arrows of Chills x30 (enchanted) equipped]
[+2 frost damage]
[+1 damage]
Isabelle readied an arrow and fired right at Gashgear.
[Arrow deflected]
Isabelle scowled as the arrow ricocheted off Gashgear’s spinning torso and hit the side of the hallway wall. Damn!
[Notice: use stamina for extra battle focus?]
[Y/N]
Isabelle thought yes.
[Stamina 86%]
Isabelle watched Gashgear spin. Now she could see the exact location of his mace from moment to moment. If she aimed just right, surely she could hit him for some good damage. Isabelle readied her arrow and focused, watching as the depth of field of her vision improved and her mind quickly and effortlessly calculated the arrow’s perfect trajectory.
[Stamina 81%]
Isabelle aimed right for one of Gashgear’s stab wounds, having a feeling that they would be extra weak. Then, she fired her arrow.
[Stamina 78%]
Time quickly sped up to normal speed as it flew through the air and shot into Gashgear’s stab wound.
[Critical hit]
[2312 damage dealt]
[506 fire damage dealt]
[458 frost damage dealt]
[Achievement unlocked: do two types of elemental damage to an enemy at once]
Gashgear screamed as ice ran around his metal body and flames engulfed him momentarily. He stopped spinning, looking haggard and weak. Small gears were dripping off him, almost like sweat and blood.
“I fucking hate you, player!” said Gashgear, charging towards Isabelle with his mace held high.
Isabelle then remembered what a little bit of electricity had done to those warforged from earlier. She raised her left hand and thought, ‘Cast Shoot Lightning.’
[Mana 95%]
Lightning crackled out of Isabelle’s hand and zapped Gashgear. His metal skin rattled and quivered as electricity coursed through it.
[Critical hit]
[1287 damage dealt]
[752 electrocution damage dealt]
[‘Gashgear’ is stunned]
Now it was time to take this asshole down for good. Isabelle opened her inventory, with one weapon in mind.
Inventory: Isabelle
Carrying capacity: 156.5/203
Item
Traits
Young Red Dragon Glaive
+2 fire damage, +7 damage, +2 str, +6 carry weight
Abbreviated list based on prior use. Focus to see more items…
[Young Red Dragon Glaive equipped]
[+2 fire damage]
[+7 damage]
[+2 str]
Isabelle drew her glaive and walked up to Gashgear. With a smile, she raised her weapon and slashed it across his neck.
[Critical hit]
Gashgear’s head popped off, spinning off and hitting the wall. Gears and oil spilled weakly as his body dropped to the ground.
[3047 damage dealt]
[1005 fire damage dealt]
[‘Thrashgear’ is dead]
Isabelle wanted to loot the bastard right away. She stepped forward, prepared to focus on his dead body.
“Not so fast, player!” cried the voice of Zsutzi.
Shit. Isabelle had forgotten about the iguana-lady altogether! Isabelle turned around to see Zsutzi brandishing two poison-tipped daggers. She quickly unequipped her glaive and raised both her hands. With half a second to spare, Isabelle thought ‘Cast Ice Blast,’ and concentrated on using a fuck ton of mana.
[Mana 19%]
A huge barrage of shards and ice flew from her fingertips and covered Zsutzi, sending the iguana-lady staggering back as more and more ice battered her and surrounded her. Soon, the enemy was completely frozen still.
[3049 damage dealt]
[1002 frost damage dealt]
[‘Zsutzi’ is frozen]
Isabelle had been hoping to freeze this unruly iguana-lady. Now she could loot both her and Gashgear! What a treat. Isabelle focused on the frozen lady.
[Loot ‘Zsutzi’?]
Isabelle thought yes.
Inventory: Zsutzi
Item
Traits
Overlord’s Sending Stone
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
+1 carry weight
Stealth Drainer (enchanted)
+5 stealth, +10 damage, +1 carry weight
Poisoning Dagger x2
+1 poison, +6 damage, +1 sneak level, +1 carry weight
Black Steel Armor (yuan-ti)
+3 str, +2 damage, +1 const, +10 carry weight
Door Key
n/a
Gold (412)
n/a
Hmm. The Overlord’s Sending Stone, huh? That was interesting. Isabelle had no idea what the was, but she wanted it. It sounded important. The Stealth Drainer also sounded quite cool, though Isabelle wasn’t certain what it was either. Isabelle wasn’t sure she needed the poisoning daggers since she already had two, but maybe she could give them to a party member. The black steel armor’s stats were disappointing and were for a yuan-ti, whatever the hell that was. Isabelle figured Zsutzi must’ve been a yuan-ti. Maybe yuan-ti was Beaubintian for ‘iguana-lady,’ Isabelle inwardly joked. Still, she took that too. Maybe Tahsi could squeeze into it. Or she could use it to further encumber Stelas’ head if she ever figured out where his severed head had gone. And, of course, Isabelle took all the gold.
Inventory: Zsutzi
Item
Traits
n/a
n/a
Isabelle walked towards Gashgear. Now it was his turn to get looted.
[Combat mode deactivated]
[Notice: You’re ready to level up]
Well, shit. To loot, or to level? Isabelle decided to level. She’d been way too close to death for comfort, and who the hell knew what was coming next. Isabelle shrugged.
[Notice: You’ve reached level 21!]
[hp restored to 61]
Isabelle felt amazing. It was wonderful to be leveling up, and wonderful to have all her hp back.
[Notice: You have attribute and skill points to spend]
[Would you like to spend your points now?]
[Y/N]
Isabelle thought yes.
Attribute Points to Spend: 14
Hp:
61
H-Regen:
3/30sec
Mana:
52
M-Regen:
2/40sec
Stm:
47
S-Regen:
0.5/sec
With fourteen whole points to spend, Isabelle figured she could use five of them to improve her mana regen a little more. Then, she decided to add three points to her hp, three to her mana, and three to stm.
Skill Points to Spend: 14
Str:
37
Int:
34
Dx:
34
Wis:
35
Const:
30
Char:
27
Hmm. Isabelle added six to her dx, six to her str, and two to const.
[Congratulations, you’ve finished leveling up!]
Character Status
Name:
Isabelle
Gender:
Female
Level:
21
Class:
Undefined
Race:
Human
Alignment:
Neutral-Neutral
Attributes
Hp:
64
H-Regen:
3/30sec
Mana:
55
M-Regen:
2/30sec
Stm:
50
S-Regen:
0.5/sec
Skill Points
Str:
43
Int:
34
Dx:
40
Wis:
31
Const:
32
Char:
27
Magic Ability Levels
Enchant:
0
Summon:
2
Heal:
0
Destroy:
8
Transmute:
2
Confuse:
1
Normal Ability Levels
Crafting:
7
Sneak:
6
Archery:
8
Lockpick:
1
Armed Combat:
11
Melee Combat:
4
Speechcraft:
7
Sleight Of Hand:
6
Isabelle smiled. Now she could loot Gashgear. What a goofily-named warforged.
[Loot ‘Thrashgear’?]
Wait a second. Thrashgear? Had Isabelle just misheard his name earlier?
[Clarification: Yes.]
Shit. All that laughter for nothing. Well, Trashgear would always be Gashgear to her, Isabelle figured.
[Loot ‘Thrashgear’?]
Isabelle thought yes.
Inventory: Thrashgear
Item
Traits
Ropes of Binding (enchanted)
+1 carry weight
Steel Mace
+10 damage, +1 str, +4 carry weight
Gold (25)
n/a
Hmm. Ropes of Binding? Those seemed interesting enough. Isabelle was disappointed at the stats of the steel mace, but she took it anyway.
Inventory: Thrashgear
Item
Traits
n/a
n/a
Before she did anything else, Isabelle wanted to learn about some of her new loot. Unfortunately enough, a blood curdling scream echoed from the far end of the hallway, which was fairly distracting.
“Oh gods, oh gods why?” It was Sir Jingles’ voice.
Isabelle sighed. She’d have to wait till later to learn more about her new loot. However, she wanted to stay undetected if possible. Whatever was making Sir Jingles scream would surely not be friendly to her. Isabelle crouched.
[Current visibility: 0/300]
Isabelle crept down the hallway, eventually coming across a hard steel door. She could hear Sir Jingles screaming behind it. Isabelle focused on the door.
[Door - Locked]
Maybe Zsutzi’s door key could help her with this. Isabelle focused on the door and thought ‘Open.’
[Door - Open]
[Current visibility: 295/300]
“Oh. Looks like they’ve finally arrived,” said a familiar voice.
Shit. Isabelle had been hoping to remain undetected. Clearly, she shouldn’t have kept all her fighting armor equipped. She stood up and walked into the room. It was large, dark, and circular, almost like a dungeon cavern. In the middle was a raised stone platform with a winding staircase around it. This must’ve been what they’d been referring to as the cauldron. It was enormous. Hot, green liquid was bubbling loudly from the platform, and dangling from a long chain only a few heads away from the boiling liquid’s surface was a bound Sir Jingles, who looked absolutely terrified.
“Well, hello, hello, hello. Looks like you’ve come to free your friend, eh?” asked the Prince of Sharithlond. He was wearing Stelas’ armor and holding his poisoned scimitar in one hand. In the other hand he held the burlap sack that contained Stelas’ severed head. “Good luck with that, player.”
“Yes, good luck with that!” said Stelas’ muffled voice from inside the burlap sack. “Soon, your party member’s powers will be drained and fed to the Overlord, just as your own will be! And, after the prince renders you useless, I will once again don my beloved body, to be a severed head no longer. Vengeance is ours now, and shall be ours for all eternity!!”
The prince and Stelas cackled in unison.
[Combat mode activated]
Isabelle cracked her knuckles. It was time to make these chumps pay.