by Eric Ugland
BE AWARE: You have received Eona’s The Blessing of the Hunt — You receive +20 skill levels in Archery, +15 skill levels in tracking, +10 skill levels in fletching, +10% harder to detect while moving, +3 Dex, Some might look upon this blessing with joy, others with anger. A side has been chosen.
I looked down at my stomach, and I saw an arrow nestled up against the spear I’d already gotten, both pointing at my heart.
“Montana of Coggeshall,” she said, stepping back and assuming a more formal approach, “I have need of you as a hero. I need you to either eradicate the corrupt ursus or save them. Whatever you might accomplish, there must not be a single one remaining.”
You have been offered a quest by the goddess Eona:
The Cleansing of the Valley
Eradicate the corrupt ursus, either through death or curing.
Reward for success: Unknown
Penalty for failure (or refusal): The end of the known world
Yes/No
“That’s a rather challenging task,” I said. “Mildly genocidal.”
“Do not think these are natural creatures. They are abominations, and they are able to spread their darkness to others. Leaving them alive is opening the entire world to horrible destruction. These were my children — do not think I take their fate lightly. I would certainly prefer to wave my hands and pull the vile darkness from them, but that is not possible. Rather than have them spread their disease across the lands, I task you with saving this world from them.”
“Is it really a world-ending problem?”
“Not as of yet. Should you fail, I have no doubt it would grow to a true threat to the world. Left unchecked, this corruption will spread faster and faster.”
“Okay, let’s just say I’m willing to kill all these Corrupt ursus. How would I know, like really know, that I got them all?”
“I would not send you on a quest such as this unprepared, Montana of Coggeshall.” She plucked a stone from the air, and handed it to me. “This will glow in the direction of the nearest corruption. When you have cleansed the last of the ursus, the glowing will cease.”
It was a simple disc of stone, very natural looking, almost as if it came from a river and would be excellent for skipping. It fit perfectly in my hand, and I was very tempted to actually skip it.
Eona raised an eyebrow. Instead, I tucked the stone into my waistband.
“Does this mean you will accept the quest?” she asked.
“Of course,” I said, accepting the quest and swallowing the host of reservations I had. Or knew that Nikolai would have.
She smiled. Then she plucked a bow out of the air, and presented it to me.
“So you knew you were going to give me the gift of a bow. Why not—” I tried to ask, but she merely held up a hand.
“There are rules I cannot tell you about,” she said. “This will help you in your quest.”
The bow was nice, I mean, as far as bows go. It was very smooth, with an ivory color to it. Tall, maybe six feet in length, and — I mean, I didn’t know much about bows. I’d always preferred guns back on Earth. And, so far at least, I had chosen a more close-up approach to dealing with the nasty motherfuckers on Vuldranni.
“Do I need to take the bow?” I asked. “I haven’t worked with archery at all. I’m probably pretty shit at it compared to other things. Like, maybe we should just rewind this and I’ll take the axe stuff, and you can give me an axe—”
“If I am giving you a bow, perhaps there is a reason for it,” she said.
Eona’s Bone Bow of Cleansing
Item Type: Mythic
Item Class: Two-handed Ranged
Material: Celestial Bone
Damage: 200-600 (Piercing), Double Damage to Corrupted Enemies
Durability: n/a
Weight: 4.8 lbs
Requirements: Str 80
Description: A longbow formed from a bone of Eona herself, the Bone Bow of Cleansing causes any arrow fired to be considered a bane arrow for any creature who has been corrupted. Should a corrupted creature touch the bow, it will cause fire damage until the the creature releases the bow.
“This bow requires a strength of 80?” I asked.
“Are you not strong?” she asked in response, running her hand over the muscles in my arm.
“Is it going to, I mean, what kind of arrows should I use with this?” I asked. It was an odd question to pop out of my mouth, and yet, it made sense. I figured it was the fletching skill acting up.
She touched the bow. There was a slight flash of light, and Eona smiled at me.
I took a peek at the bow’s stats again.
Eona’s Bone Bow of Cleansing
Item Type: Mythic
Item Class: Two-handed Ranged
Material: Celestial Bone
Damage: 400-1000 (Piercing), Double Damage to Corrupted Enemies
Durability: n/a
Weight: 4.8 lbs
Requirements: Str 90
Description: A longbow formed from a bone of Eona herself, the Bone Bow of Cleansing causes any arrow fired to be considered a bane arrow for any creature who has been corrupted. Should a corrupted creature touch the bow, it will cause fire damage until the the creature releases the bow. Arrows fired from the Bone Bow of Cleansing will not break until it has hit a target.
“Okay,” I said, “thank you, but you also upped the strength requirement by ten.”
“I had to balance the additional bonus with an additional penalty,” she said as if I should have known.
“You know this is a really powerful item,” I said.
“I only give it to you for this quest, you must return it to me once you have succeeded.”
“And if I fail?”
“Then a piece of me will be gone forever, and I will likely be too weak to defend against those who wish to take my place in the pantheon.”
“So not only is the fate of the world resting on my shoulders, but yours as well. Why don't you just keep the bow? I can—”
“Despite your prodigious strength, you are not a match for the entirety of the corruption, Montana of Coggeshall. Were it one, or even ten, I would not give of myself in this way.”
“Your quest mentioned healing the corrupt. Is there, I mean, do you know of a way to heal them?”
“No. But my ignorance of a cure does not mean cleansing the corruption is impossible. I am also sending you one of my priests. He should be nearing Coggeshall as we speak. I ask of you to keep an eye out for him. He shows promise, but is young. Inexperienced.”
“Uh, we’re under siege at the moment. Do you have a way of getting him in?”
“He is resourceful. He will make it.” There was a bit of a pause before she added, “I think.”
“A Cleric. Got it. Can you—”
“I must cut our visit short — there are others who await their turn to speak to you—”
“What—”
“Succeed where others have failed, Montana. And beware, for the corruption is already among those behind your walls.”
“What? Hey—”
She was gone. I was left struggling in my bedrolls against the walls of Coggeshall.
Chapter Eleven
There was a certain level of confusion trying to transition between realities, and it took me a moment to recenter myself. My armor was in a pile next to me. I had a new pair of EonaPants on, with similar stat bonuses for swimming. The Bow of Cleansing leaned against the wall, glimmering softly. I grabbed it, and put my hand on the string. I gave it a test pull. It was heavy, even for me. I knew better than to let the string go, another Boy Scout lesson paying off. Or maybe it was the bonus levels in archery I got from Eona’s blessing… Either way, I knew that a heavy bow like Eona’s could tear itself to pieces if there wasn’t an arrow to take the energy. It was definitely a cool piece of kit, and something that was vastly overpowered, at least in my estimation. I shuddered. Some serious shit was about to go down.
For now, it was still quiet around Cog
geshall. I saw guards standing above the gate, fires lit, snow falling softly. It was almost beatific. I pulled my blanket/bedroll around myself tighter, then leaned my head against the wall, ready for my next nocturnal visitation, wondering how Eona had known some other entities were waiting to talk to me.
Which, naturally, happened as soon as I drifted to sleep.
I stood, in just my EonaPants, naturally, in an ethereal space. A fire burned brightly in front of me, green flames towering to the sky. Translucent forms barely recognizable as male and female elves came around the fire and stood before me.
A woman, her face alternating between bone and skin so fast it was difficult to keep my eyes on hers, stepped forward so she was almost touching me. She seemed to raise up until she was eye-level with me, but it could just as easily have been me who shrank.
“Montana,” she said, “you have been brought into the House of Coggeshall by our last scion. You are now the remaining scion of Coggeshall. Do you deny it?”
“No,” I said, genuinely confused about what sort of answer she expected in return. “That sounds pretty on par with what I thought happened.”
“You were not born of this world, and yet our scion thought to make you his heir. Do you deny it?”
“Nope.”
“Your actions have brought honor to our house. You have fought to protect the innocent. You have fought to make a new home for House Coggeshall. Your actions have brought you here. Await your judgement.”
I put up my hands, and gave the best smile I could muster, very much wanting to say that I felt they could have done the judging without me if I wasn’t going to have a part in the process.
The figures coalesced into the fire, and, I guess, had a chat. I don’t really know — I couldn’t hear if they were talking, and I really couldn’t discern anything else that might’ve been going on. I tried to look around the rest of the space, but it was just darkness. After a moment or two, the figures swirled out, some disappearing, before the main woman popped into view again right in front of me.
“Montana of Coggeshall, you have defended the new Coggeshall lands at great peril to yourself. You have defended the weak, punished the wicked. You are an honorable member of the House of Coggeshall, and the House of Coggeshall welcomes you as its son and scion.”
There was a bright flash of light, and though it only lasted for the barest of heartbeats, I could see what it illuminated: thousands of figures, men and women, all looking at me. And though I had no reason to know, I knew it was the entirety of House Coggeshall arrayed in front of me to welcome me into the fold. Alternating waves of joy and an aching sadness washed over me, happy to be part of such a big family and torn apart by the realization that ultimately, I was still alone.
In front of me, the figure gestured up and the green fire flared up, illuminating the House Coggeshall Heraldic Achievement. At the top was a banner with the slogan of House Coggeshall: The Rock of the Empire. I liked it, sounded pretty damn good. Below the banner was a small crown. It was a simple steel thing, something between a crown and a helm, really. There was a double-headed bird below that, which I somehow knew was a Northern Roc, and below the bird was a chain with different sized links made of different metals that ultimately wrapped all the way around the achievement. As I squinted, I realized each link had a name on it, and, once again, I innately knew that these links represented Emperors of Glaton, and the chain reached all the way back to the original Emperor. This was called a torse. There was a big helm beneath the torse, silver with a golden visor, and on either side of the helm hung brightly colored banners, red and silver. Below the helm was a golden crown with golden leaves pointing upward. Then came the shield, upon which were four equal sections, two red and two grey. The same bandersnatch was on the center of the shield, looking as fierce as ever. On either side of the shield were the Imperial eagles, talons and wings put so it looked like they were holding the shield. Finally, below the whole thing was a fancy sort of scrollwork with the family motto: For the People. For the Realm. All in all, the thing was badass.
I had a moment to look over the Achievement, and then it slammed into me. It felt like my entire chest was on fire. I spun through the air, except it wasn’t air. It was just space. Or, maybe, it was just the inside of my head. Then I hit the ground, and everything hurt.
Coggeshall Heraldic Achievement (complete) - You are granted permission to use family buildings as you see fit, granted control of family funds, granted permission to use the family name, granted permission to name an heir, granted permission to expand the family, granted permission to bestow aspects of the Coggeshall Heraldic Achievement. You gain ten levels in the skill Shield. You gain the ability Imperial Favor. You gain the ability House Scion.
Chapter Twelve
I sat up slowly — my body hurt, so I didn’t want to push it. The snow had stopped, but given how much was covering my body, the storm had gone on quite a while. I brushed myself off, stood up, and took a deep breath. I did the thing I was slightly regretting having to do, I pulled up my character sheet, and I took a look at the whole kit and caboodle.
Montana - Lvl 24 Burgmann
Traits
Race: Royal Fallen
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 410 lbs
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Blonde
Renown: 375 - Your name is known to some, but they know not why.
Statistics
HP: 429
STAM: n/a
MP: 636
Armor: +0 (none)
Active Effects: Frightful Presence
Attributes
Strength: 101
Agility: 36
Dexterity: 39
Constitution: 68
Wisdom: 24
Intelligence: 20
Charisma: 32
Luck: 34
Unassigned points: 0
Skills
Riding - improvised (Lvl 1)
Falling (Lvl 3)
Animal Handling (Lvl 5)
Harvesting (Lvl 5)
Swords (Lvl 22)
Spears (Lvl 41)
Unarmed Combat (Lvl 11)
Axes (Lvl 22)
Large Weapon Throwing (Lvl 28)
Warhammers (Lvl 25)
Light Armor (Lvl 5)
Heavy Armor (Lvl 8)
Stealth (Lvl 5)
Improvised Weaponry (Lvl 5)
Swimming (Lvl 16)
Fishing (Lvl 5)
Carving (Lvl 6)
Crafting (Lvl 5)
Wooden Weapon-Making (Lvl 1)
Intimidation (Lvl 11)
Detect Traps (Lvl 45)
Lumberjack (Lvl 21)
Tracking (Lvl 24)
Shields (Lvl 38)
Archery (Lvl 20)
Fletching (Lvl 10)
Abilities
Darkvision
The Sword of My Enemy is My Sword
Iron Will
Make An Entrance
Stand Tall
Regal Bearing
Rallying Cry
Art of Movement
Labyrinthine Recall
Detect Mimic
Indomitable
Swift Tracker
Veritasium
Detect Metals and Minerals
Tremorsense
Unbreakable Skeleton
Imperial Favor - Once per day, you may sway the feelings of a loyal Imperial citizen in your favor.
House Scion - You may admit or banish members of your house.
Boons
Powerful Build (Mister Paul)
Regeneration (Mister Paul)
Gift of Gab (Mister Paul)
Monstrous Companion (Typhon)
Indicium
Coggeshall Heraldic Achievement (complete) - You are granted permission to use family buildings as you see fit, granted control of family funds, granted permission to use the family name, granted permission to name an heir, granted permission to expand the family, granted permission to bestow
aspects of the Coggeshall Heraldic Achievement. You gain ten levels in the skill Shield. You gain the ability Imperial Favor. You gain the ability House Scion.
Eona’s Blessing of the Spear - Eona blesses you with +10 spear, +7 swimming, +5 fishing, +10% movement in water, +3 Agility
Indicium of Imperial Prerogative: Magic - You are permitted to perform magic within the Empire of Glaton
Royal - You are identified as being of Royal Blood, and gain the abilities Stand Tall and Regal Bearing
Dungeon of the Ancients Indicium - You gain the following skills and/or abilities: Duelist, Labyrinthine Recall, Detect Mimic 20 ft, Indomitable, Detect Traps +45 levels, Swift Tracker, Veritasium, and Endure Destruction.
Slayer - As a living embodiment of death, know that you cause Frightful Presence. Your enemies now have a chance to be frightened when they are aware of you.
Typhon’s Mark of the Beast - Typhon blesses you with +10 intimidation, tremorsense, labyrinthine recall, and +5 Strength.
Zothys’ Blessing of the Protector. You gain 25 levels in shield and +3 Constitution.
Eona’s The Blessing of the Hunt — You receive +20 skill levels in Archery, +15 skill levels in tracking, +10 skill levels in fletching, +10% harder to detect while moving, +3 Dex.
Titles
Duke of Coggeshall
Duchal heir of Old Lattimoore
Count of Duhamel
Count of Helgand
Count of Dunnismeer
Relationships
Rumib Pass (destroyed) - Liked
Osterstadt - Distrusted
Languages
Goblin
Imperial Common
Mahrduhmese
Dark Goblin
Ursusian
Spells
