Stace hopped from the hammock and landed lightly on her new paws, the smile still plastered on her face. She felt great and stretched with pleasure. I haven’t felt this good in...? How long has it been? She furrowed her brow trying to remember but drew a blank. Before mom left...
Stace went still with the thought.
“What is it?” Ken asked when he’d turned back to find Stace as still as a statue.
“I just realized that was the best night's sleep I've had in as long as I can remember,” Stace said, turning her frozen smile on him.
“Now you have me worried. After yesterday…” He trailed off, concerned eyes pausing on her smile before meeting hers.
“No. I mean that was bad but surreal, you know? Nothing about this feels real yet. No, it was the first time I…” she stopped, fearful that expressing it would somehow make it more real. Then her stomach dropped as her thoughts turned to Rony, at home alone with… him, and guilt churned in her stomach.
Ken studied her face for a long moment before he gestured. "Come, we have lions to see. Or, hopefully not," he said.
The trip back to the grizzly scene through the glistening dew-covered forest was uneventful, the disquieting silence of the place more pronounced to Stace now that she’d noticed it. The feeling of the forest and Ken’s determined pace occluded any sort of conversation until they were kneeling next to the same tree they’d hidden behind the day before.
“Hurmm,” Ken said, somehow capturing Stace’s feelings with the strange grunt.
“Yeah,” Stace agreed, the sight of the battlefield leaving her feeling a little lost.
The lions had mostly moved on. They’d largely fed on what Ken thought were the slaves the day before. If Stace had to guess this was because they hadn’t needed to dig through armor to get to the flesh below. She kept her gaze away from the few leftover scraps as best she could and turned her look on Ken again instead. I miss my tablet, she thought again. His profile made her itch to draw him. He made a fantastic Dwarf, crouched near the enormous tree.
“I suspected there was something wrong with her yesterday. This is a minor stroke of luck for us though,” Ken said while tugging on his beard and looking at the lioness that had riveted Stace's attention.
The lioness batted at a large bird that was trying to pull the eyes from a nearby corpse. The bird looked like a cross between a macaw and a vulture; only larger. It was a huge vibrant green, yellow, and blue bird with a long neck ending in a disturbing, unfeathered head.
“Why’s that?” Stace took the obligatory opening to ask. She was starting to think Ken liked to show off his knowledge, and she was more than willing to learn. Needed to, in fact, she feared.
“Because she has scared off the other scavengers so far. They’d wait until she dies first unless something big enough or a pack of some sort comes along to kill her,” Ken said, and Stace could detect a modicum of sadness in his tone. “The birds don’t count because they can fly away, well mostly.”
“But we're not gonna wait?” Stace prompted. She was doing her best to keep her mind and gaze focused on the lion. Fearful of the rest becoming real to her. She was unsure if she could manage to take that.
“No.”
As they watched the lioness pulled herself forward with her front two paws and got her jaws around the neck of yet another huge scavenger bird after a deceptively fast blow from a paw. As soon as the scavenger stopped struggling the lioness let it fall limply from her mouth to twitch on the ground, where she batted at it lamely with a paw.
“Her back is broke, poor girl,” Ken observed. “Lord knows how that happened to a cat that large without any sort of other evident injuries.”
“What do we do?” Stace asked, at a loss.
“Kill her,” Ken said simply and took up his bow and restrung it. Stepping into it and grabbing the top of the shaft from over his shoulder, he pulled down, using his body weight to hook the string on the top. Stace was unsure why he’d unstrung it in the first place the night before and not restrung it since.
“Now?” Stace asked, shifting from paw to paw.
“The sooner the better. All she has to look forward to now is a lingering death if something else doesn’t finish her off first,” Ken said, drawing an arrow from the quiver at his waist. “She doesn’t need to suffer like this,” he added in a whisper.
He aimed, not at the cat but off to the side where a pair of the large birds were pulling the eyes from another man's corpse and let fly. He whiffed the shot high; only startling the birds into the sky.
“Why not just shoot her?” Stace asked after he took another shot at another bird. This time blowing a bunch of feathers from its side before it lifted into the air with an outraged squawk.
“I don’t want her to suffer any more than necessary,” Ken explained.
“But the birds don’t count?” Stace observed, placing a paw on her hip.
“It’s not the same,” Ken said defensively. “Fu… Darn scavengers. We need to scare them off anyway if we want to recover anything intact.”
Stace just gave him a look and watched as he took a half-dozen more pot-shots at the birds only hitting the last two cleanly and dropping them where they stood. Stace was impressed.
She kept telling herself that they were feeding on roadkill. As long as she focused on one body it seemed to work for her.
“You’re quite good with that,” Stace observed.
“Not my first rodeo.” He winked at her. “I had to stop about a decade ago after my third rotator cuff surgery. Tore it one too many times and didn’t recover properly,” he explained. “Looks like I got a new one in the Devil's deal though.” He demonstrated this by windmilling his arms before his next shot.
He took a long breath then stepped out from their hiding place. Stace followed a few steps behind. He walked around to the side of the large lioness, walking wide around the odd body, before stopping a good dozen long strides away from her.
She tracked their movements with one huge eye but didn't move.
“Never get near an injured animal if you can help it… isn’t that right girl? You'd kill us if you could, wouldn't you?" he added in soothing tones to the large cat. "That said, you should get close enough to make it quick if you can do so safely,” Ken explained, holding a hand out behind him to stop her where she was before raising the bow and taking aim.
He paused for a long moment simply staring at the lioness.
Stace took an extra step back and to the side, resisting the urge to close her eyes. She felt she needed to watch this.
Ken drew back and released in one smooth motion. The arrow flickered for a brief instant before it was buried to the fletching just behind the enormous cat’s front shoulder.
He didn't take another shot.
The lioness jerked her head in the pair's direction and rose on her front legs for only a moment before slumping again. She blinked at them slowly a few times and Ken crouched and stared right back at her. It took a lot longer than Stace thought it would for her to die.
Stace swore she saw the moment pain and life left the large beast and felt a heavy weight settle on her shoulders with the knowledge.
“Go ahead and touch her. I think at least one cat inheritance will be good for you if it works,” Ken suggested after a few minutes. “She’s gone.”
Hesitantly, Stace stepped forward and did as he’d asked, laying a paw on the giant cat's flank.
Inheritance Received
“Her fur is surprisingly soft,” She observed keeping her paw on the warm flank.
Then Ken strode forwards and lay a hand on its massive head before closing one then the other eye with his fingers. “Thank you for your life sister, your sacrifice will feed us for a time.” Stace barely caught his faint words.
He dug into his belt retrieving a handful of the small pyth bags before returning his hand to the beast's forehead.
He turned, looking back at Stace and she felt a gravity to his words. “Give me your knife, then search the bodies for a few more, the sharper the better. Be sure to choose a wealthy-looking corpse for your last inheritance. That or maybe from the group of soldiers, if you can find an older one with better armor.”
Stace handed her small blade over and Ken knelt next to the large beast, tracing his hand along her flank before looking at the trees above.
Stace hesitated, unwilling to break her self-induced denial of her surroundings.
"Wait," he forestalled her. "Help me shift her first." He put his shoulder into its side, and Stace joined him, and they pushed. First on its front half, then its rear. Shifting it onto its back before Ken stopped them.
“If you can find some rope it will make this even easier,” he added as she very reluctantly walked to the largest cluster of corpses.
Stace felt disquieting woodenness as she looked from young face to young face, in search of a wealthy or older man. They’re all my age, she noticed with detached dismay. Even worse, the birds have removed all of their eyes.
She swallowed hard a few times before she found what she was looking for. A large older man near the outside of the circle in old but well-kept armor. He had a multitude of scars on his face and exposed arms.
Stace hesitated over the body before reluctantly kneeling and laying a hand on his foot.
Inheritance Received
She pulled the three different-sized knives from his belt and returned to Ken. When the window to loot the ubiquitous Pyth from the body appeared, Stace swiped it away for now.
“Find someone that looked like they’d suit?” Ken asked as she walked up behind him.
“Yeah," she said, letting out a deep sigh around the bile that had collected in her throat. "He wasn’t wealthy looking. Just old and scarred,” Stace said and half-shrugged. “Felt right, though. The others were all so young,” she added softly.
“Still old enough to fight in a war, even back home,” Ken said bitterly while inspecting the blades. “These are much better than this thing. Rope?” He asked, dropping the first knife to the side and settling for the second of the dead man's.
Stace shook her head, “They were his. I’ll look.”
Stace searched the entire area where the soldiers had fought first, hoping she wouldn’t have to do what she feared most but they appeared to only have their arms and armor. A few fruitless minutes later she turned to the pride's feasting area and swallowed down her persistent gorge with an effort.
She stood and closed her eyes for a moment simply breathing before she shuffled over and knelt near the three relatively intact women that were still tied hand to hand to the ones on either side.
She shivered, her belly tightening as she knelt and used her claws to work the knots free.
“Damn,” Ken swore loudly, followed by some grumbling, as she worked on the knots on the last girl in the line.
“What?” Stace asked while turning to the Dwarf. He’d stood from his task and stared down at the gutted beast. The internal organs were splayed out from a long cut in its belly.
"Don't," he warned. He looked fretful, wringing his hands like a small kid caught doing something he shouldn’t have.
That’s when Stace saw a strange set of similar sacks in the mess at his feet and walked closer. They were all about the size of a house cat.
“What's that?" Stace asked, taking another step forward.
“Cubs, she was pregnant,” Ken said in a stony voice. Stace looked him in the face and found his eyes closed.
“Can we save them?” Stace asked hopefully, reversing her direction and looking in the nearby grass for the blade he'd tossed aside.
“No, they're gone,” Ken said in the same voice. “Even if they weren’t, they're huge dangerous animals when grown, we lack any reasonable source of milk for them. We would need at least two months’ worth. And that’s if they could've survived on it yet, we have no idea when she was due,” Ken gave her the facts in a brutal clipped voice before sighing. “I'm sorry for cursing and drawing you over. You can go back to your task. I'll handle this.”
“But…” Stace protested, tears welling in her eyes. “Are you sure?"
“They are gone. It's been more than a few minutes,” Ken said, keeping his robot-like voice. “Go.”
When she didn’t move he added. “Nature isn’t all sunshine and rainbows like they teach you, kids, these days,” Ken said, bending to retrieve his knife. “Go,” he repeated.
“I never thought it was,” she muttered while looking away, but all she found were more horrors. I hate this place, she decided with vehemence, returning to her task of retrieving rope from slaughtered women.
She felt his eyes on her back as she returned to her grim work.
When she'd finished with her rope and turned back to Ken the cub sacks and most of the guts were missing.
"What did...?" Stace asked, unable or unwilling to finish the question. She decided she didn't want to know anyway.
"Away," was all he would say on the matter. Frankly, Stace was happy not to see the dead kittens. Even the thought of them made her feel lightheaded. More so than all the dead people made her. Maybe because there was nothing I could've done for the people.
"Come on let's get it hoisted, the sooner we get the best cuts from her the sooner we can get them back to our shelter to cook it. I think I can even remember how to scrape and tan her fur," Ken said while taking the rope from her and tying it around the back paws.
"Wait… you expect me to eat a Lion!?" Stace asked incredulously.
He turned to look at her with an inscrutable smile. "Yes, why would I bother with all this otherwise? With your required diet, I'm not sure there is much choice. You're clearly not the same species of cat. It happens in nature all the time. It will be fine for you to eat." He tapped thoughtfully on his chin. "Unless you'd prefer eating one of the men. They’re definitely not a cat."
“All that, and one essential rule you need to know about survival situations—and that is exactly what this is, regardless of all the dead people around...maybe, especially because of them—almost every meat on earth is edible, and only a fraction of the plants are. I don’t imagine it’s much different here. We’ll just avoid eating strange bugs, weird-looking fish, and toads. We already have some berries and organ meats to hold off scurvy,” Ken added.
"Ugh, you're a tool," she said wrinkling her nose and punching the impossible dwarf on the shoulder. “Cat,” she stuck her tongue out in disgust, “Just no!"
"You're gonna need the meat," he said, giving her a look that made her feel like a petulant child.
Stace stopped her antics and looked at the loamy soil between her paws. She had to admit her hunger had been growing in leaps and bounds. The small bits of dried meat and berries hadn't done much to fill her that morning.
She let out a long put-upon sigh. "Fine, I'll try cat. Not the cubs though," Stace said firmly. Her gorge rose again at the thought.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"Of course. I could joke about veal but, I understand. There's more of her than we could eat without them," he agreed, tying one of the sheathed knives to the other end of the rope she’d given him before tossing it over one of the huge branches overhead. He then walked around the base of the tree before beckoning her over to help. Together they managed to get everything but the head and front legs off the ground. He had her hold the end of the line around the base of the tree, taking up the slack and using the tree as a break while he used his weight to raise the lioness in jerks.
"Heavy girl. Strong rope though," Ken said, wiping at his brow after tying the affair off. "What I wouldn't give for a pulley system right now to get her entirely off the ground. But then I’d need a ladder," he shrugged. “Win some, lose some.”
"Now let's get this beautiful fur off her then remove her front legs and head. I've never done a cat before but it can't be too different from a black bear," Ken said, handing her a knife. "Now I want you to cut in around her paws like so…"
There was something primal about the task, and Stace easily fell into Ken's explanation and directions. The focus on the butchery somehow distracted her from the abattoir surrounding them for a time. For which she was grateful.
Ken took a moment every few minutes to take a 360° look at the surrounding forest before returning to the task. When pressed he’d explained he was worried about scavengers and more importantly friends of the people that took part in the fight. He wasn’t keen on meeting either group yet, and she admitted neither was she. She made a point of pausing to listen to the forest after the discussion but kept her gaze on the task and away from the bodies.
After they'd removed the fur in one large piece, Ken started explaining the best cuts before making her search the bodies for usable sacks and other gear like axes, knives, and anything easy to carry.
It took her a painful few minutes to work her way up to the task but she diligently went about emptying any coins and trinkets she found into her purse and bags. Doing her best not to linger on any faces.
Once he was busy filling sacks with cuts of meat she started collecting the mysterious pyth from each of the dead that still had them, starting from the perimeter and working in. Putting all of the small sacks into a larger one. Halfway through, Ken called her back over.
"Let's take this back to where we slept and see about hanging and stretching it. We’ll come back for the other three furs once we have it up and do our best to secure the meat," he suggested, carefully rolling up the fur.
“Aren’t you going to fill out your inheritances?” Stace asked him.
“Thanks, I’d forgotten about that. Got caught up in the work.” He graced her with a grateful smile.
“We're not going to get meat from these other lions?” Stace asked as Ken searched among the bodies for likely candidates. She had no idea upon what he was basing his choices aside from his strange directions. He chose one of the three slave women, the ugliest one with a huge brand on one cheek, after having Stace show him her palms. Then one of the dirty-looking attackers that was excessively scarred, with a hand look again, and finally one of the young soldiers after having her remove his boot.
“No, we don’t know how long it’s been, and it doesn’t take long for meat to spoil in humidity like this. Besides, we have plenty from the lioness,” he explained, frowning down at the young soldier he’d taken his last inheritance from. "So young," he murmured.
He shook his head like he was clearing demons, then gestured at the bags by the gutted lioness, “Let’s get going, the lions or who knows what could be returning soon. We’ve been lucky so far. If it weren’t so silent here, I’d be more worried something could sneak up on us.”
Stace and Ken each shouldered one of the two packs she’d found in her search. Now filled to the brim with odds and ends and other useful gear, including a chain shirt, an extra thick-padded jacket like he now wore under a bigger chain shirt, an extensive collection of small blades, and all the full waterskins they could find. He’d also made her wear one of the stuffy jackets and a chain shirt and take a long thin sword from a scruffy man to replace her stub. Then they each gathered as many of the heavy sacks as they could manage, using a pair each, of the polearms from the dead soldiers to balance them across their shoulders, at Ken’s suggestion, before taking off back towards their shelter.
Stace was more than a little shocked to find she could carry just as much as the dwarf across her shoulders. He’d even given her a look of reevaluation, at the casual show of strength. That said, her legs burned from the walk.
When they got back to their shelter, Ken had her dump her load a few feet in front of the entrance. Where he once again tied a sheathed knife to the rope and tossed it over the lowest branch overhead. Then together they tied all but one of the meat sacks to it and hoisted it into the air.
Once they’d finished Ken dusted off his hands. “There it should be safe from scavengers for a time," he said turning to Stace.
"Now to get a fire started. Mind finding as much dry wood as you can manage? I want as little smoke as possible to start.” He bent to collect a few tiny sticks and dug in one of the pouches he’d gotten from the dead woman the day before, bringing out the kindling, a stone, and a bar of metal before looking at her with a ‘well?’ look.
Stace nodded and set about looking for wood. She spent the next hour as Ken started three small fires in the clear space around the large tree that housed their shelter before using the chainmail as a makeshift grill.
“Come girl, you can stop for a moment and eat something. You’ve gathered more than enough for now,” Ken said, gesturing her over with a sizzling skewer of meat. The growing smell of charring meat had been driving her to distraction as she worked. So, she smiled at him and joined the dwarf beside the fire.
“You can help me cook all of this, the quicker we can get through it the sooner we can put out these fires. It’s necessary, but I’m still nervous about attracting attention, I’d prefer to find civilization before we deal with people,” Ken reasoned.
“Why?” Stace asked.
“Did you see the collars those half-naked women wore?” Ken asked.
“Yeah,” Stace said slowly.
“My guess is slave collars, and if we can find civilization, I’d like to do as much watching as we can manage before we try to make contact,” Ken said.
“That seems more than a little paranoid,” Stace argued.
“My other worry is that every single person aside from maybe that large soldier you took your inheritance from looked fully human. Humans tend to discriminate. To be tribal,” Ken explained.
“Oh,” Stace said then grew thoughtful, looking down at her new form with a frown. Shit.
“Let's start with a treat,” Ken offered her the full skewer and took another from his makeshift grill.
“Eh, cats eat other cats right?” Stace temporized as she hesitated to eat the first bite despite her stomach gurgling at the rich smell.
“Yes, even their own young at times,” Ken matched her tone and gave her a side-eye then slowly raised a single bushy eyebrow.
“Too soon, you fucking ass, too soon. How can you joke with all the dead people we...” Stace trailed off and punched the stupid dwarf in his mailed shoulder again. “To think I once thought you were nice and decent,” Stace grumbled darkly.
“I am nice,” Ken objected. “You just seem to lack a proper sense of humor. But seriously, if you can't joke about these things or find some other way to distance yourself, they'll weigh on you worse and for far longer. Trust me. I know it's crass but," he shrugged. "It works."
“You're still an ass,” Stace repeated with a firm nod after a long thoughtful pause. Then she turned to wiggle her butt in his face.
“It’s not bad if I disregard the fur,” Ken observed dryly.
“Dick,” Stace said, looking back at the dwarf and only half suppressing a chuckle. He was stroking his beard thoughtfully.
“Have one of those already,” Ken smiled.
“You’re impossible. I thought men were supposed to grow up when they got old like you,” Stace harrumphed.
“Nah, we just get better at hiding it. At least the ‘nice’ ones do. It doesn’t help to be considered a creepy old man. I guess the real me is slipping out a bit after the day we’ve had so far,” Ken countered, leaning into the sudden levity.
“Well, now you can be a creepy old dwarf,” Stace said and took a big bite of the dripping meat.
“You wound me,” Ken said, laying a hand on his breast.
Stace caught the glint in his eye then snorted which was followed by a groan of pleasure as the savory taste in her mouth hit her like an electric jolt. “Oh my god, this is so good. What part is it?”
“Liver,” Ken said, giving her a Cheshire grin.
Stace stopped cold. “You’re kidding,” she said, looking at the skewer like it had betrayed her.
“Nope, but it’s likely to taste different to a carnivore like you are now. So, don’t discard it. There's a reason the alpha wolf eats the liver first,” he said sagely. “There’re a lot of nutrients in the liver.”
“But, I hate liver...” she said then stopped. It did taste really good though, she reasoned then took another cube from the skewer with a shrug. She swore she could feel the energy filling her with each bite. “It's good but you’re still an ass, old man.”
“Old dwarf,” Ken corrected between bites. “Once you’ve your fill of that, I seared the heart on the other fire,” he added with a glint in his eye.
Stace rolled her eyes, partly in pleasure and partly at him as she ate the liver of a lion. It hasn’t even been a day yet, she thought, thinking about the incredulity of their situation.
Then the situation took on a truly surrealistic turn when her vision filled with windows.
Congratulations!
Welcome to your Awakening Day!
The ability to reproduce is both an exciting and stressful time in every young person's life.
It is a time of choice and uncertainty but also, of excitement for life and the responsibilities of adulthood.
Your gains to date.
Name: Stacey Ann Haes
Age: 20
Race: Cat-kin: Subrace: Canada Lynx (Unique)
Sex: Female
Level: 1
Exp: 0/10,000
Class: N/A
Subclass: N/A
Unspent Stats points: 1
Unspent Skill points: 0
Profession 1 Artist: Low Journeyman
Profession 2 Merchant: Mid Apprentice
Pyth, Cores, and Gems: 0/4 Free slots filled. 0/4 Heritage slots filled.
Loki’s Blessing of the Wolf. +2 Str, +4 Agi, +2 Perc. +2 Willpower when fighting in a group
Stats
Strength
19 (4)
Dexterity
14 (2)
Agility
20 (5)
Constitution
14 (2)
Willpower
15 (2)
Mind
12 (1)
Charisma
13 (1)
Perception
17 (3)
Faith
7 (-2)
Luck
10(N/A)
Skills
Running
16
Sculpting
19
Painting
28
Knitting/Weaving
8
Drawing
34
First-aid
17
Language: Brastian
18
Language: English
25
Cosmetics
24
Performing
16
Acting
21
Hairdressing
10
Dodge
8
Swimming
16
Singing
6
Dance
14
Spying
14
Writing
9
Drafting
21
Survival
6
Tinkering
7
Massage
8
Chemistry
16
Math
21
Stealth
18
Mercantile
19
Hand to hand
6
Language: common Cat-kin
9
Cooking
14
Accounting
10
Trading
11
Silent Movement
12
Calculating Heirloom Pyth, Cores, and Gems to help determine Class Selection.
Summon Calligraphy Tools Pyth: Uncommon: Rank 3 (From Dave Joy)
Summon an extensive case of Calligraphy tools Rank times a day that lasts 5 x Rank x Per (Mod) Minutes. [Current 45 minutes] You still need to supply your own ink and surface.
Passive: Decrease the chance of unintentional ink blotching and otherwise similarly ruined work by Rank x Dex (Mod)%. Max 100%. [Current 6%]
Soft Step Pyth: Uncommon: Rank 5 (From Rawwru)
Passive 1: Decreases the sound produced by your unshod paws when walking on all fours by Rank x Agi (Mod), Max 100%. [Current 25%]. Or: Decreases the sound produced by your unshod paws when walking on two legs by Rank x Dex (Mod), Max 100%. [Current 10%]
Passive 2: Decreases the sound produced by your body by Rank x Agi (Mod), Max 80% [Current 25%]
Heartwood Core: Epic: Rank 3 (From Hyunissani)
Active: Tree Stride: Portal from the heart of one tree to another that the Caster is familiar with within Rank Miles. Can be used Rank times a Day. The tree has to be large enough to encapsulate the caster.
Passive 1: Increases longevity and slows aging by Rank x Con (Mod) x Char (Mod)%. [Current 6%]
Passive 2: Increases resistance to soul and mind damage by Rank x Will (Mod)%. Max 50% [Current 6%]
Penetration Pyth: Common: Rank 6 (From Herman Hilkan)
Passive 1: All attacks or attempts to penetrate anything with a sharp object encounters a reduced puncture resistance in attacked or punctured items. If a non-magical material is encountered it is reduced by Rank x Dex(Mod)% of its natural resistance. [Current 12%] Magical materials’ puncture resistance is reduced by (Rank x Dex(Mod))/2%. [Current 6%]
Passive 2: Increases manual control of piercing objects by Rank x Dex(Mod)%. Max 100%. [Current 12%]
+1 status point received for filling 4/4 heritage slots for the first time.
Now that you have Bonded your Heirloom Gems, Cores, and Pyth you have a choice of the following classes. Choose carefully, your decision stays with you for life.
Ladies-Maid
Synergy with Common (Un), Repair (Co), Tailoring (Co), and Household (Ra) Pyth, Cores, and Gems
+Cooking, cleaning, hide, skill growth
Barmaid
Synergy with Household (Co), Service (Un), and Free-movement (Un) Pyth, Cores, and Gems.
+Cleaning, serving, Perform skill growth
Escort
Synergy with Sex (Ra), Pleasure (Un), and Social (Un) Pyth, Cores, and Gems.
+Perform, Dance, Music skill growth
Peasant
Synergy with Harvest (Un), Plant (Co), and Animal (Co) Pyth Cores, and Gems.
+Animal handling and agriculture skill growth
Clerk
Synergy with Math (Co), Mercantile (Co), and Social (Un) Pyth, Cores, and Gems.
+Social, Serving, Cleaning, skill growth.
Chef
Synergy with all Cooking (Ra), Butchering, (Un), Small blades (Co), and Truck Gardening (Co) Pyth, Cores, and Gems
+Cooking, Food Gathering, Knife, and Butchery skill growth
Scribe
Synergy with Speed (Co), Sorting (Un), Ink (Ra), and Trade tools (Un) Pyth, Cores, and Gems.
+ All language and research skill growth
Foot Soldier
Synergy with Common martial weapons (Co), Archery (Co), Shield (Un), and movement (Un) Pyth, Cores, and Gems
+Weapon, Archery, Movement, and Shield, skill growth.
Merchant
Synergy with Math (Un), Mercantile (Ra), Social (Un), and Assisted Travel (Un) Pyth, Cores, and Gems.
+Social, Math, Accounting, and Trading Skill Growth.
Steadfast Defender
Synergy with Shield (Ra), All martial weapons (Un), Stand your Ground (Ra), and Damage Redirection (Unique) Pyth, Cores, and Gems.
+Weapon, Armor, Shield, and Dodge skill growth.
Wildland-Scout
Synergy with all Stealth (Un), Perception (Ra), Small blades (Un), Wilderness Travel (Ld), and Light Armor Pyth, Cores, and Gems.
+Light weapon, Light Armor, Dodge, Survival, Archery, Hunting/gathering, Stealth, Silent movement, Swimming, and Spying skill growth.
Avatar of the Trickster
Synergy with Stealth (Un), Disguise (Un), Form Shifting (Ra), Sex (Un), Traps (Co), Predigitation (Un), Faith (Co), and Trickery (Ld) Pyth, Cores, and Gems.
+Dodge, silent movement, social manipulation, spying, mana manipulation, trapmaking, claw, bite, disguise, sexual, and illusion skill growth.
Runic Artist
Synergy with all Artistic (materials and tools included)(Ld), Perception (Un), Enchanting (Ra), Crafting (Ra) Pyth, Cores, and Gems.
+Drawing, Painting, Tattooing, Sculpting, Calligraphy, Writing, Mana Manipulation, Mana Sense, and Tinkering skill growth.
“What the hell!?” Stace exclaimed.