"Gob, do you trust me?" asked the Orc.
Gob had followed him wordlessly, a stranger, through a pitch black cave system, into an isolated den with a rune enchanted door, eaten his stew and drunk his liquor. It was too late to do anything but trust him now.
Gob nodded.
The White Orc stood up and crossed over to where Gob sat, reached to his shoulder, and pulled off the rag Kylie had tied there. He inspected the blue glowing lump that was the embedded bright magic shard closely.
"This will be causing you a lot of trouble." he growled.
He savagely grabbed the shard, penetrating Gob's tough stonehide with sharp claw-like fingernails of his own, and twisted hard, ripping it right out of Gobs shoulder.
Gob yelped and twisted in shocked surprise, his shoulder was now a searingly painfull mess, with a gaping hole in it that was bleeding profusely. He started to protest, but the Orc cut him off.
"DONT MOVE!" The orcs menacing tone didn't leave the command open to suggestion, and Gob just clamped his other hand over his now mangled shoulder that spurted black blood freely all over the carpet.
The Orc took the blood covered shard, that sputtered and crackled and popped unstably in his large bloodied hand. Leaping up into his workshop level he slammed it down on a large black anvil. He picked up a heavy hammer and mumbled some words over it. Red-gold runes lit up in a spiral around the shaft and hammerhead, as if molten lava was glowing from within the metal. He lifted the hammer above his head, and before Gob could utter any objection, brought the hammer smashing down on the shard, which exploded in a flash of blue and white sparks with a
SHHHKAZZZ, BANG, ZAP, BZZZZZZZZ! Crackle! Crackle! pop! pop! pop! KABAAAAANG!
blinding him for a few moments. The orc brushed the debris from the anvil into the palm of his hand, jumping down from his workshop, striding across to the firepit, and with another mumbled incantation threw them into the fire.
The flames flared up high, now a bright incandescent green. Inside the flame appeared a shape… an image… It was the angry face of Gervais Stormbrow yelling something unheard at them. Although he couldn't hear words, but he could sense the rage, the frustration, he could see the Mages eyes boring into his, reaching, reaching… the fire exploded in a blue gout, then burst out green again, then the image was gone and the fire settled back down to a normal flickering glow.
kylz!? did wite orc kil kylz? Gob suddenly thought, his stomach lurching.
He didn't think so. He didn't feel like that was what had just happened. He didn't think that was the kind of thing The White Orc would do. He tried not think think about that, but he couldn't assemble his thoughts coherently. He still had a throbbing headache and now the searing pain in his shoulder on top of it. He waited for hus regen to kick in.
"Your little færie friend is still alive, don't worry" growled the Orc, more than just a hint of disapproval coming through.
"She was tethered to the shard, and bound to you through it, but she wasn't relying on it to survive. That Mage, Gervais, was tracking you with it, I could sense it as soon as you walked into Goblin Town. I came looking. He would have been able to manipulate your stats and skills… and your Toast of Krunch blessing with it. Probably was already based on what happened at the tavern last night."
Gob looked embarrassed.
"I was watching." the Orc said gruffly.
"Whatever the case, that shard would have been slowing your progression. You aren't bright aligned, and never should be… so something like that thing in your shoulder, in you will be just like a leeching poison. Here… "
The Orc stood and took a rolled, tattered and scrappy looking dried up scroll from a labelled glass cabinet and passed it to Gob.
"…put a drop of your blood on it and wait while it searches you.. it's an ancient spheraxis reader too, but a far more primal, unaligned magic. It also stores treasure and gear. It will be a MUCH better fit for you, and it won't hamper work on your progression like that shard was."
Gob smeared a bloody clawed finger across it and a moment later felt a powerful swirl through his entire body, his mind and his spirit… it was unlike anything he had ever felt before. Something had changed. He looked up at the Orc with a feeling he couldn't describe… he felt… powerful! Enlightened! The White Orc could see it, feel it. He had the same feel about him.
emergent:arcane elightenment
A new sort of a magical glowing box, this time a red one, popped up in the air.
"Now, open your scroll and show me your summary."
Gob did as he said, and as he unrolled the parchment, red shapes appeared all over it.
MUNTIN TROLL LEVEL 1
QUEST: GET TO CRAGTOP.
Time remaining: Gervais has not yet arrived at Cragtop.
XP 551
SPIRIT 150 will 17 stability>instability 8 connection 9 courage 18 determination 17 drive 24 tenacity 15 neuroticism 12 humour 4 ferocity>savageferocity 23 arcane enlightenment 3
MAGIC
etherealblessing(unaligned):TOAST OF KRUNCH!
MIND 580 perception 14 memory 13 awareness 11 intelligence 23 literacy 8 introspection 10 (x5)initiative(4) 20 strategy 4 conversation 8 pun 3 negotiation 3 insistence 3 skill:spelunker 4 skill:loothoarder 5 skill:darksite 6
BODY 202 heart 6 form 13 gut 10 brain 21 size 3 hunger 6 coordination 7 constitution 8 toughness 8 strength 5 dexterity 5 agility 5 speed 3 endurance 8 skill:run!!! 3 skill:bodifrow 6 skill:miteybitey 5 skill:tooclors 8 skill:clorlima 5 skill:multifita 4 trait:trollhide>stonehide 12 trait:regeneration 18 trait:trolclors>pigironclors 10 trait:teef 5 trait:neurogenesis 18
feeling 7 fate 24 purpose 25 luck 24 trait:crapstatz! 4 trait:sucker! 6
They went through his stats line by line, and as they did, Gob retold the story, as best he could, of everything that had happened to him since the attack on the troll den, and how they had ended up here, looking for him, at Goblin Town.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"That's a fascinating story indeed." said the White Orc quietly when Gob was finished. He looked thoughtful for a few moments.
"I'd like to begin by better understanding this ethereal blessing that the voice gave you. Open up the blessing description and let's read it. All you have to do is unroll the scroll while you're thinking about it.
Gob unrolled the scroll and thought about it. The following words scrawled across the page as he did.
TOAST OF KRUNCH! Before any battle, raise a flask to the biggest troll of all. Everyone will have to wait for you to have your drink. Then they'll see who's not big! [500% (x5)initiative. Use move to Toast to Krunch, +size(swigs booze). Dispel. Temporary.]
Let's try it out, this time somewhere more appropriate." He gestured for Gob to follow him. "Come with me."
The Orc led him to the back of the cave where an opening in the rock formed a natural doorway through to to another space. This space was of a similar size, but where the 'living' cave had been full of furniture and clutter, this one was sparse and clear of bits-and-pieces, with the exception of a very large and heavy looking punching bag dangling from the ceiling by a chain, and a range of warhammers and other weapons stacked against one wall.
"This is my gym." he gestured around the room proudly, "it will be a much better place to properly see what your blessing can really do now that you don't have a magical handbrake. So here's what I think. I think the initiative boost is specifically so that you can, if you want to, drink a Toast to Krunch before anyone else can attack you. The only stat boost specifically described is to size, but the size stat is the most basic stat to emerge out of form, and I suspect it will have a knock on effect to a lot of your other stats too… so I think you will get bigger, but also stronger and tougher. You may also lose some agility or dexterity. It will be interesting to see. We can discuss stat formulas another day. I'm also interested to see what the dispel note means. I mean, I know what it means but it just isn't giving us much indication of how to use it. We'll try some basic magic against you and see what happens."
Gob took it all in.
"i git big now?" he asked.
"Ok, if you're ready, go for it!" said the Orc with a grin. It was the first time Gob had ever seen him do anything except scowl.
"I think take three good swigs and this time, RAISE YOUR FLASK TO KRUNCH!"
"TO KRUNCH!" said Gob, lifting the flask high before taking three deep swigs.
This time there was a sharp throb in his head, very different to before. The throb pulsed down his whole body, it was like a stretching throb, a swelling throb. This time he didn't feel woozy or sick from the booze.. He felt… he felt… like he was getting BIG!
+1si#e
Gob grew!
He looked down at himself in wonder as his body swelled and swelled…
+1si#e +1si#e
He was as big as Hik&Baz in moments!
+1si#e +1si#e
He was more than twice his normal size!
He now stood there, the same size as the Orc, who stared at him with a wide triumphant smile.
+1si#e
Now he was taller than the Orc by a head.
"I IZ BIG!" said Gob excitedly, and went to take another swig of the strong booze.
"Stop." growled the White Orc, holding up a hand and looking upwards to the cave ceiling, then over to the doorway.
"Hold off drinking any more for now."
"wy stop?" Gob asked lowering the flask.
The orc waved at the entry to the cave, "It's not a very big door…"
Gob thought about that. He looked at the doorway, then down at himself again.
"rite" he said. He didn't want to be so big he got stuck here.
"…and I suspect the more you drink the more the comedown might hurt. But we'll worry about that in a while. For now, go and hit that punching bag. Hit it as hard as you can. It's full of rocks OK? So you're unlikely to break it. Don't hold back, give it everything you've got"
Gob lumbered over to the bag. He did feel a bit slower, but he covered the distance faster as his steps were so huge. He felt like he made the ground shake when he lumbered! This was amazing!
STCHAKKKKK!
He hit the punching bag with a powerful swing of his claws.
It exploded in a shower of broken rock and smashed chain.
"wow!" exclaimed Gob happily "i brak it!
"five...six...seven…" the Orc counted, oddly, "...indeed you did…"
"wate… wy yoo countin ork?" Gob looked at him questioningly.
"…eleven...twelve… don't worry about that, just wait there, I'm going to try something…"
The Orc started drawing a large circle in the air with his left arm, and as he moved it faster and faster, a darkness seemed to appear in the centre. The darkness spread wider and wider, spinning in a similar way to the Orcs arm as it swirled bigger and darker forming a whirling vortex around a pitch black core. The Orcs arm stopped moving, but the vortex continued to spin, now positioned around his forearm like a shield.
He gestured to Gob to come towards him.
"I want you to hit me as hard as you hit that punching bag! …sixteen…seventeen…" he called, setting his body into a stable fighting stance and pointing the vortex towards Gob.
Gob shrugged and lurched towards him, drew back and
STCHACK!
The vortex burst into black wisps of darkness that fluttered around the room, and the White Orc flew backwards, crashing hard into the stone wall with a painful
Crunch!
"sory ork" called Gob after him.
"…eighteen…nineteen…" the Orc groaned, getting up painfully from the floor and massaging his lower back.
"Ouch. I wasn't expecting that... twenty…twenty one…"
"wy yoo keep countin ork?" Gob asked again.
"Last test, just hold still…" said the Orc, pulling out his Runehammer, the molten orange runes spiralling around it again. Quicker than Gob could react, he flung the hammer at Gobs leg, the runic head flew fast and true before a
Crack!
That Gob realised was his own bone breaking.
YYYYYEEEEOEOOOOOOOWWWWWRRRRRRROOOAAARRRRRRRR!
He bellowed as he stumbled to the floor clutching at it in pain and shock.
"GOB, BE READY!" the Orc was yelling now to be heard over his pained bellow, "I THINK THE EFFECTS OF THAT LIKKER I GAVE YOU… TWENTY FIVE, TWENTY SIX…" he indicated the flask that Gob still had in one of his hands, "THE BOOZE, WILL START TO WEAR OFF… TWENTY SEVEN, TWENTY EIGHT… I THINK WHEN IT DOES YOU WILL PROBABLY…"
Over the pain of his broken leg, Gob felt a contraction, a shrinking. Like the opposite of the stretching and swelling of his growth.
-1si#e -1si#e
"NO!" he cried out, "no! no! no! no dis, i no bi liddl agin!"
-1si#e -1si#e -1si#e -1si#e
"THIRTY! GOB! LOOK AT ME!" growled the orc. "Don't panic. This is all part of working out how to use your power."
Gob looked at the Orc. He trusted him, but he couldn't even begin to describe how distraught he felt. Being big had felt awesome, now he was just going to be liddl Gob again. All of a sudden his head started pounding, but powerfully this time, like it had in the alleyway. His broken leg hurt all the more as his body shrank.
"Four... five... Three swigs, equalled six points of size, ...six... seven...and lasted thirty counts... eight... nine... significant maybe even exponential strength gain... ten... eleven... devastating magic resistance, basically ignored my best shield...twelve...thirteen...now timing recovery... fourteen... fifteen..." The White Orcs voice droned on vaguely in Gobs ears through the throbbing of his head.
The gruff growly voice was the last thing he remembered before he blacked out.
----------------------------------------
GERVAIS.
Gervais Stormbrow cursed angrily into the flames.
To see him lose his temper like this was unusual, almost unheard of from the well respected Mage; he was renowned for his level head, his cool in battle and his massive personal sphere with a wide repertoire of blessings and feats from multiple alignments.
But he was furious now, and literal stormclouds gathered in a freakish spiral up in the ceiling of his round tower above the heads of Joss and her unit leaders, flashing with sheet lightening and rumbling in answer to his angry outburst.
Joss flinched, and she didn't flinch easily. She, with her team were in Gervais' tower, sat around a large stone table. They had been finalising the plans for the attack on the Jârvik Cavern and had been about to set out. They were supposed to have left at first light this morning. The unit was mounted and ready and probably getting impatient downstairs.
"HOW COULD THAT BE POSSIBLE?!" Shouted the old mage, his purple and gold cloak streaming out behind him as he placed the room, the thunder rumbled and cracked. The question was to himself. Joss took a long deep steadying breath. Her unit leaders wore faces that ranged from stoicly pale to downright terrified.
Well, she thought, at least he's showing them why it's not a good idea to be on his bad side.
He spun around to face them suddenly. His face seemed to radiate electricity and the air crackled around them, dense and threatening. Joss knew the power and she knew the man behind it.
She knew only something significant could have happened, but she also knew that losing your temper in battle was losing control, and losing control meant losing the battle.
She had good men here and she needed to get this situation under control. She took another deep breath and stood bravely, though keeping two hands clenched to the table, knuckles white with the strain of her grip.
"BREATHE, Mage… WE need you to be steady."
Gervais looked on the verge of exploding, before closing his eyes and taking a long, deep breath as ordered. The density left the air around them, the crackling calmed and the storm clouds overhead dissipated.
"Thank you Joss."
He slumped into his chair at the head of the table, suddenly looking weary.
"Are we ready to leave?"
"YESSIR!" came the reply from all the unit leaders together.
"Then let's get there a fast as we can. I've lost my ability to track the target, so we're going to be going in blind."
"We're never blind while you've got our backs Mage" said Joss.
He stood, giving her a look.
"Come on, let's go raid a dungeon."