Crota

by Rohan M Vider

  New Message from the Overseer:

  To Kyran Seversan,

  As a free agent, your quests are not sponsored by any God, but by myself, custodian of the Game. Review your quests, and fulfil them or not as you choose, but beware that while you yourself may be hidden from the sight of the Gods, the completion of quests is announced to all the major players.

  Signed,

  The Overseer.

  He scowled unhappily. This is just great, he thought. If he somehow managed to escape Crota, it would not be the end of his troubles. The gods would be informed, and he would again have a target on his back. As for the fourth quest, it was maddeningly vague, and disturbing in its implications. Wasn’t Eld dead? According to the Overseer’s story, Eld and his champions had been defeated six hundred years ago. Why was he now being asked to find Eld? What game was the Overseer playing at? Vexed as he was, puzzling over the quests would have to wait. Right now, he needed to focus on surviving the upcoming battle.

  He dismissed the quest messages, and sneaked down the corridor. Shortly, he stood at the entrance to the mine guardroom. Like the portal room exit, the entrance to the guardroom had once been secured by a heavy iron gate. This one, was less badly damaged, and though rusted and broken, remained on its hinges.

  He checked that he was still invisible. Then, hesitantly, he peeked into the guardroom. The click-clack of crunching jaws drew his attention to the far-left corner, which his limited truesight vision did not allow him to see. Instead, he used show hostiles and confirmed the presence of five hostiles in that vicinity. Aargh. So there is more than one turtle-roach, he thought, plaintively. He had hoped to find it alone, but it couldn’t be helped. He maintained his surveillance a while longer. They moved about erratically, trudging back and forth over the same ground. Unable to see them, he could not divine whatever activity they were engaged in. He ventured tentatively into the room. The creatures did not react. He crept closer. One of the creatures shuffled into view. Kyran froze. He held his breathe, balanced to flee. It loomed frighteningly before him. He had not truly appreciated its menacing demeanour when he had scryed it earlier. Standing before it, almost within touching distance, he desperately fought his rising panic, and strove not to draw its attention. Incredibly, the creature did not register his presence.

  Safely hidden, he studied it, intently. The creature was elongated, with a torso twice as long as he was tall, yet only knee-high in height. At the edge of his vision, about two metres away, it moved around ponderously, weighed down by its stone shell. Its head and feelers were lowered, and probed the floor in search of... something. Projected onto his vision, slightly ahead of the creature, was a small transparent red cone. He queried it, through the game interface.

  Vision Cones: When a player is hidden from a hostile's sight, a red detection cone will be superimposed on his vision to indicate danger areas in which he will be spotted. As long as the player remains outside the vision cone, he will remain undetected and hidden.

  The creature’s vision cone was small and he was outside of it. Relieved, he maintained his frozen posture and probed the creature with insight.

  Creature: Rock Beetle

  Type: Beast

  Rarity: Common

  Level: 7

  Health: 85 / 85

  Attack: 6-10 (piercing)

  Defences (Physical/ Psi/ Spell): 15 / 6 / 5

  Special Effects:

  Stone creature: Advanced earth magic spell resistance (+84%)

  Rock armour: Advanced piercing and slashing attack resistance (+90%).

  Description:

  Rock beetles are found deep within mountains, caves and tunnels – anywhere where there is an abundance of rocks.

  Beast Bonding Probability:

  You have a 33% probability of forming a beast bond with it (an effective skill level of 2.5 against a rock beetle’s psi defence of 6).

  So, not a turtle-roach then, but still a beast. Kyran was elated. His choices of skills and abilities had been vindicated. Unfortunately, this same sense of elation led him to act recklessly. Without further consideration, he attempted to bond the beetle.

  New ability used!

  Ability: Beast bond I

  Skill: Beast bonding.

  Description: This ability establishes a fleeting beast bond with targeted beast for a limited duration.

  Rank: Novice.

  Cost: 40 Will.

  Execution time: 10 seconds.

  Range: Up to the caster’s direct line of sight.

  Duration: 10 minutes x skill.

  He sent forth tendrils of psi energy towards the rock beetle. At the boundary of its mind, he encountered its natural defences, and sought a way in. Finding one, he slipped through, and found the correct hooks onto which to fasten the mental leash of the beast bond – only for it to slip off.

  You have failed to bond a level 7 rock beetle. You have taken hostile action against the rock beetle. It is now aware of your presence. Invisibility lost.

  The rebuffed bond recoiled violently back at Kyran. He reeled from the psionic backlash. The beetle turned and slowly orientated on him, while he stood unseeing, distracted by his inner turmoil. With turtle like slowness it lumbered forward. Sensing the imminent danger, Kyran came to his senses, and staggered back down the corridor, narrowly evading the angered beetle. It chittered furiously as it chased after him. The noise attracted the notice of the remaining beetles, which joined in the pursuit. Trailed by all five beetles, and still half-dazed, Kyran stumbled on, struggling to stay ahead of the beetles. Fortunately for Kyran, the beetles moved laboriously slowly. Even in his stupor, he managed to outpaced them. Halfway down the corridor he received a message.

  You are no longer in the line of sight of hostiles, invisibility from blend re-established.

  He kept running. Panting heavily, he reached the portal room, and paused for breath. The beetles still pursued him. Briefly, he considered running up the corridor to the other guardroom, but quickly discarded the idea – too dangerous. Instead, he ran to the far corner of the room, placed his back against the wall, huddled down and waited. Frantic clacking announced the arrival of the beetles in the room.

  A few seconds later, the beetles stomped in. Kyran could not see them. He listened closely to the chittering and the scrape of their claws on the stone floors. It was alarming loud. He stilled himself and quietened his breathing. The beetles spread out and searched the room. Kyran held his breath, waiting. So far, it appeared that his invisibility was holding. He checked his blend buff, 15 minutes remaining.

  He sat in tense silence for the next five minutes, and listened anxiously as the beetles lumbered around. None entered the range of his vision. Eventually, they lost interest and ambled back up the corridor.

  He held his position, until his blend expired, and only relaxed when all remained quiet thereafter. That had not gone well, he admonished himself.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  In the imperial city of Bein Tor, the great cathedral bells tolled, signalling midday. Across the holy city, soldiers, artisans, scholars, mystics, beggars and nobles alike downed tools and made their way to one of the thousand temples scattered throughout the city to perform their daily devotions. In her tower at the outskirts of the Scholar’s District, Magister Elasien lifted her head at the interruption. She had been deep in thought, deciphering the Pre-Breaking manuscripts. She glanced at the essence clock. She was late – again. She was expected at the palace at half past noon, before which she still had devotions to attend. Despite her position, or because of it, she could not be seen to shirk her citizen’s duties. Hurrying, she gathered the precious manuscripts. Even within the heart of her home, behind triplicate adept wards, the manuscripts were too dangerous to leave lying around.

  In the midst of securing the manuscripts, the dragon’s telepathic sending crashed into her, scattering the priceless manuscripts. Irritably, she bent down and recovered the manuscripts. She rubbed her temples and cursed Yddreinth. His mental project
ions had the force of a hammer, and all the subtlety of one too, she thought, exasperated. How, in all his eons, that fool of a dragon has not learnt greater finesse, is beyond me. She would be plagued by a headache for the rest of the day.

  Still hoping to reach the palace in a reasonable margin of time, she skimmed the message quickly, only to stop in stunned shock, as the sense of its contents penetrated. The manuscripts, forgotten, fell from her numb hands. She pored over the message again. Yddreinth’s tidings changed everything. She sat back down, disregarding both palace meeting and devotions, and urgently penned missives to mobilise a Brotherhood expedition into Crota…

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Try, Try, Try Again

  Amongst champions, it is a well-honed truth that the game mechanics do not govern combat. Indeed, there are never any guarantees in combat, and veteran warriors are fond of cautionary tales of master champions being felled by lowly novices. While such is certainly possible, years of observation has shown that: In the normal course of events (with both opponents possessing the same attributes and defences), a player 10 skill levels lower than his opponent will never successfully strike (0% chance). Likewise, a player 10 skill levels higher, will always land his strikes (100% chance) and a player 20 skill levels higher, will always critically strike.

  Hence, when contemplating combat, all champions should bear in mind that the combat odds change by 5% for every skill level difference. This is only a general rule and does not account for the impact of surprise attacks, vital strikes, items, defences, weakness or the number of opponents faced. Champions are cautioned, in their use of this general rule, and to, never to underestimate their opponent – Mechanics of the Game by legendary scholar and champion of Weeran, Jostfyler Graldvir.

  Failure breeds success. This was a mantra, Kyran believed in, and so, he was onto attempt two. He had analysed his previous encounter with the beetles (it did not warrant being called a battle), and in hindsight, his mistakes were glaringly obvious. He had been reckless. He had not considered the odds, (that the game so graciously reported), nor the consequences of failure. He had not had any contingency plans ready, when the bonding attempt failed, nor any planned routes of retreat. Ultimately, he had been lucky, to escape that first ill-conceived venture, without even a scratch. This time he would be more careful. He would improve his beast bonding odds (33%, while not great, was still workable). He would plan for failure and secure an avenue of retreat.

  Kyran returned to the mine guardroom. The rock beetles were back in their original position at the far side of the room. They had resumed their industrious grinding. He crept closer, until he reached the first beetle. Then taking pains not to fall within detection range, he patiently circled and observed them.

  There were five beetles. Two were busy building a nest by piling and stacking rocks. The other three, scavenged the room. In fascination, Kyran watched the scavenging beetles break down bricks and flagstones into smaller pieces, which they then proceeded to eat and... regurgitate into the smooth rocks used for the nest building. This was the source of the grinding he had heard.

  Kyran remained undetected. He stepped away and silently explored the rest of the room. Most of the guardroom’s contents had long since vanished, having succumbed to the ravages of time. Only a few metal structures persisted, the rusted weapons rack mounted on the north wall (empty of any weapons), and the two metal gates, one on either end of the room. The other furnishings had crumbed into the dust and debris. Amongst the wreckage littered about the room, Kyran spotted the remnants of chairs, tables and wooden chests.

  Stifling sneezes, he searched amongst them for a safe spot. Somewhere from which he could bond the rock beetles while remaining protected from their attacks. Or some manner in which he could lure away one of the beetles without attracting the attention of the rest. Nothing. He looked about again. The entrance gate caught his attention. If he could lure one of the beetles into the corridor leading to the portal room, and close the gate behind it... He tread carefully to the gate and gently tried to pull it closed – to no effect. He pulled harder still, but the gate did not budge. Sighing, he threw all his weight behind the gate, to no avail. It was wedged fast. Well, so much for that idea.

  He scanned the room for a second time. Thoughtfully, Kyran looked up at the gate again. Despite its rusted condition and obvious age, the metal gate still appeared sturdy. It will probably bear my weight, he thought. The inkling of an idea took shape in his mind.

  Kyran renewed his blend, and while taking pains not to disturb the beetles, snuck about the room, collecting the scattered wooden debris. When he was done, a respectable pile of wood stood in the centre of the room. Sadly, not enough to burn the beetles, but sufficient for his intended purposes.

  Phase one done, Kyran commenced phase two. He knelt before the gathered wood and took a deep calming breath. This was the riskiest part of the plan. If the beetles detected him now, he would be caught flat-footed and exposed again. Summoning his essence, he activated flaming hands.

  New ability used!

  Ability: Flaming hands

  Skill: Fire magic.

  Description: Causes the caster’s hands to burst into magical flames that inflict fire damage. For the duration of this spell the caster’s hands are immune to fire damage.

  Rank: Base.

  Cost: 80 Essence per hour.

  Execution time: Instantaneous.

  Range: Caster’s touch.

  Damage: Inflicts a maximum of 1 x skill of fire damage per second to the target touched.

  Duration: Infinite (activated ability).

  A magical circuit formed between his hands and spirit, from which essence flowed and gloved each in a fine skein of fire. His hands assumed the soft glow of a gently banked flame. Amazingly, his hands remained unaffected, with no part of the skein in actual contact with his body.

  Gingerly, he touched his hands to the gathered wood. The wood pile smouldered and a small flame ignited within. Warily, Kyran glanced at the beetles. They remained unaware. Relieved, he deactivated flaming hands and retreated. When he reached the gate, he nimbly scaled it. It was sufficiently broad for him to perch on, even if, somewhat precariously. He waited.

  Eventually, the wood pile ignited fully, and bathed the room in a gentle red glow, and more importantly illuminated the beetles in the far corner of the room. He could see them clearly now.

  Light conditions have changed. Your skill is insufficient to maintain your invisibility in these conditions. Invisibility lost.

  Kyran tensed in anticipation but the beetles still did not react, even though he was no longer hidden. Perhaps, they are blind, he thought, after all, they do live in complete darkness. He shrugged off further speculation. What mattered, was that his plan was working. He had successfully extended his line of sight, allowing him to initiate the beast bond from much further away, and safely out of the beetles’ melee range. His elevated position on the gate also added another layer of safety. The beetles were built low to the ground (about half his height), and did not appear to be built for climbing. Nonetheless, he did not intend on relying on the dubious safety of the gate.

  He began the next phase of his plan. He reached out to the nearest beetle and cast beast bond, but this time failed even before finding a way through the beetle’s mental defences.

  You have failed to bond a level 7 rock beetle.

  Forewarned by his first failure, he rode the backlash of the second better and managed to resist being dazed.

  In response to his attack, the beetles stilled, and probed the air with their feelers. Somehow, they sensed where the threat emanated from, and en masse, charged the gate. Kyran was unfazed (at least that was what he told himself). He had planned for this. He cast calm beasts.

  New ability used!

  Ability: Calm beast

  Skill: Beast bonding.

  Description: This ability calms beasts within the targeted area for a limited duration. The success of this ability is heavily infl
uenced by the level of animosity the targeted creatures bear the caster (or its allies). The greater the damage previously inflicted on the creatures, by the caster (directly or indirectly), the greater the creatures’ animosity, and the lower the probability for success.

  Rank: Base.

  Cost: 40 Will.

  Execution time: Instantaneous.

  Area of effect: Radius of 1m x skill around target.

  Range: Up to the caster’s direct line of sight.

  Duration: 10 minutes x skill.

  In an arc, his gathered will shot forward into the charging beetles, and saturated their minds with serene and tranquil thoughts.

  You have cast calm beast. At an effective skill of 2.5, the field of effect applies to all hostile beasts in a radius of 2.5m around the target.

  3 of 3 Rock beetles within area of effect calmed (88% chance of success = 33% (skill of 2.5 vs psi defence of 5) + 50% (from 0 damage previously inflicted on targeted beasts)).

  Remaining duration 25 minutes.

  The beetles were separated in two groups, the first of which, ground to a halt, calmed. The second, outside the calm beast spell’s area of effect, continued their ponderous charge. He focused on them and cast calm beast again.

  You have cast calm beast. At an effective skill of 2.5, the field of effect applies to all hostile beasts in a radius of 2.5m around the target.

  1 of 2 Rock beetles resisted.

  1 of 2 Rock beetles calmed.

  Defying the odds, one beetle managed to resist the spell’s effects. Fighting down panic, he recast calm beasts.

  You have cast calm beast. At an effective skill of 2.5, the field of effect applies to all hostile beasts in a radius of 2.5m around the target.

  1 of 1 Rock beetles calmed.

  A few feet from the gate, the last beetle crashed to a halt, all interest in Kyran forgotten. He wiped dripping sweat off his face and repeated to himself, unfazed, I am unfazed. Thankfully, his theory about the beetles climbing skills had not been put to the test.