Lydia- Awakening

by Grey Arney

  Flying north from the elven settlement, he and his dog followed the river until they found a small human village nestled in the valley beyond a hill. Aurora.

  Every man who learns to morph into an eagle and soar above the skies in effortless freedom eventually confronts the problem of landing and returning to his original form without making a scene. Thankfully, Arcturus spotted a rooftop in a quiet area of the village that was accessible by ladder. He landed there and transformed back into his human form, and then climbed down to the street.

  Calling Lyle to his side, he checked that nobody was watching, and transformed the eagle back into the dog. The animal looked genuinely pleased as he trotted about with a dumb grin on his face. And who wouldn’t be, after receiving the gift of flight?

  This was the first time that Arcturus had entered any real settlement since his awakening, and he didn’t want to bring unwanted attention to himself. His goal was to buy some supplies, learn what he could about the goblin threat, and head back.

  Stepping out onto one of the main streets leading to the center of town, he was assaulted by sounds, smells and sights. Two women, one carrying a bag bulging with a fragrant, red fruit that looked like a kind of apple, were talking nervously. A man with a long red beard walked purposefully, opening the door to a shop and entering in a hurry. People loped by at speeds a little higher than safety ought to permit. The atmosphere here was tense.

  Arcturus hailed an older woman whose stationary pose outside of the shop invited requests for directions, whether she wanted them or not.

  “Hello!” he said, “I’m looking for weapons and armor.”

  “You and everybody else!” she said. “Down that street, to the left. There’s a few shops right next to each other.”

  Thanking her, he continued on. He was surprised to find that the shops were very busy. One of them even had a line snaking out the door.

  He moved to the end of the line, motioning for his dog to wait outside of the store. “Why is this place so busy?” he asked the man ahead of him.

  “You must not be from around here,” came the reply. “Goblins have been attacking anyone traveling too far from town, taking them prisoner. Some people have left. But those of us who are still here are taking up arms.”

  So the town was in a panic, and the villagers here were arming themselves. But it sounded like they didn’t know the worst part yet, that the goblins were eating them. And if they knew that the goblins planned to come take the entire town, they probably would have all left already. He had seen the goblin encampment from the skies. There was no way this little village could stand up against that many, especially without walls. He would have to learn more later, but first it was time to do some shopping.

  He had more than fifty gold left after the raid on the vampire den. He bought tools like hammers, chisels, pickaxes, shovels, trowels, axes, saws; supplies like nails and glue, rope, fishing wire, hooks; tools for Alchemy, Crafting and tanning, many bottles of various chemicals, supplies for construction, and dried goods. He also bought some personal grooming supplies such as a shaving kit. And soap. Lots of soap. His pack was getting full and he hadn’t even looked at weapons and armor yet. Altogether, he had spent 11 gold.

  Arcturus expected that he would not find much in the way of weapons in this town. He already had several that were of satisfactory quality. This was a frontier town where one might find simple goods, not legendary weapons of world-stopping power. But one thing that had bothered him was that he had no armor to protect himself. He walked into a shop offering armor for sale, and found that he couldn’t imagine himself crawling through the forest wearing plate mail or chain mail. He left and found a tailor who specialized in leather goods, where he bought a new pair of boots, a pair of leather leggings, and a leather cuirass.

  You have found: Leather Cuirass (Def +5)

  This chest piece will protect your vital organs during combat. Although not strong, it is lightweight and will limit your movements only slightly.

  You have found: Leather Leggings (Def +3)

  These leather leggings are light enough to be worn as pants, but provide protection against all manner of attacks.

  You have found: Leather Boots (Def +3)

  These boots will protect your feet and ankles.

  The whole set had cost him 7 gold. Satisfied that he had what he needed, Arcturus decided to gather more information about the goblins before returning to the woods.

  Before long, he had located the interim leader of the settlement: a portly man with beady, little eyes. Extra helpings of chin, but little in the way of nose or lips.

  “I’m told you’re the leader here. I’d like to speak with you in private. I have important information about the Mudluck goblin raids,” he said, not wanting to create a panic on the street.

  The rotund man, who had been giving directions to some sort of captain of the guard, froze at these words.

  “Please, come with me. Let’s talk in private.”

  While they walked, the man introduced himself. “I’m William, and I’m the chief here in Aurora,” he said. “Any information you have about the goblin raids would be much appreciated. But tell me—how did you come across this information?”

  “A player from the Mudluck goblins defected and came to me. He is now at my camp in the woods to the south.”

  “Camp? Are you a hunter, then?”

  “No. I am a Druid.”

  The Druid class was quite rare in Lydia, but it was well-known. The man eyed Arcturus for a long moment, and continued, “Yes, I see. You do look the part.”

  It was true that Arcturus hadn’t groomed himself in all of the time he’d been on Lydia. His eyebrows had begun to grow in, and he was sporting a healthy growth of stubble that circled the crown of his head and made its way down to his chin.

  After several minutes, they arrived at a nondescript building and Chief William took out a simple key and opened a door on the side, leading Arcturus up two stories to a humble office that smelled of an antique store. Once he had sat down, with his dog by his side, across from the leader of the settlement, he broke the bad news.

  “The goblins plan on coming here in the middle of the night and eating every last one of you.” According to his memories from his previous life, Arcturus was never one to sugar coat things.

  The man across from him glistened with sweat. He was in way over his head.

  “The truth is, we are not prepared for a goblin attack. Since the raids have gotten worse, we’ve raised up a militia, but there’s no way we could stand against so many. Some say we should stand our ground and face them, but I think we should pack our things and leave.”

  “When did the problem with the goblins begin?” pressed Arcturus.

  “Just recently. We never had trouble with them before. But three weeks ago, a hunting party was out on the plains and they were taken by goblin raiders. Only one escaped, on horseback. If he hadn’t made it back, we might not know what had become of them.”

  “Those hunters were probably eaten, you know,” said Arcturus, with all the tactfulness of a hermit who lives in the woods, consorting with faeries and vampires.

  “I had already feared the worst,” said William.

  “Do you have any allies that could come to your defense?” asked Arcturus.

  “This settlement is under the protection of Eastport,” said William, “But the journey is far. We’ve sent word about this, but I doubt they’ll be mobilizing an army to put the goblin threat down for us. We’ve also tried to contact the elves to the south. We have friendly relations with them. They’re much closer and their help would mean all of the difference. But they’ve insisted that they are neutral. If we could change their minds, we wouldn’t have to worry about a goblin invasion. Elven archers are unmatched.”

  Arcturus remembered watching two elves take down a whole slew of goblins, and found himself in agreement. But if the desiccated elf head in his bag was any indication, the elves would not be bystanders
in this conflict for much longer.

  What he did next was a surprise, even to himself. He felt a responsibility as a Druid, as the arbiter between all forces of nature. It was a heavy burden, but just wielding it gave him the power to bear it. He looked the chief in the eye, and said, “I will have spies watch the goblin camp daily. I will tell you if a war party leaves the camp or approaches Aurora. I will also keep watch over this town. And if there’s any way I can help, I will.”

  The chief had no reason to believe this stranger could offer him much assistance. But he was still grateful to have another ally on his side.

  “Thank you, sir, thank you so much,” he said, mopping sweat from his brow with his sleeve. “Having some advance notice could save all of our lives. Is there anything I can do to help you?” he asked.

  “Actually, there is one thing I need right now.”

  ***

  He had barely made it outside when he decided to transition back into an eagle. A part of him rationalized it as a necessity; after all, there was much to be done to avoid the bloodbath the goblins were planning. But in truth, he was also happy to make a small show of his power, now that he had gotten what he needed and he was on his way out. First, he turned Lyle into a Golden Eagle. Then he cast the spell on Jerek, David, and Jonas, the three men from Aurora who had volunteered to go back with him. Finally, he became a Golden Eagle as well. All five soared into the air and made haste towards the campsite in the forest, while a handful of awed villagers, including the chief himself, marveled at the rare sight of men turning into birds and flying away.

  CHAPTER 8

  Back at the campsite, Arcturus introduced the three men to Fish.

  “Fish, this is Jerek, David, and Jonas and they are here to help us. The chief of Aurora sent them.”

  Arcturus had asked for the chief to send three men with various skills such as carpentry to help him fortify his position. In return, Arcturus would have his birds keep watch on the Mudluck goblins. It would easily take a full day to get a war party from there to Aurora, so the village would have notice of an impending raid. In addition, Jerek was to speak with Fish and confirm the story.

  Arcturus unloaded the tools and supplies he had bought in town and put the men and the goblin to work. He instructed them to build a large, round structure in the center of the clearing that could fit at least fifty people.

  According to Jerek, who was the most experienced in construction, the job would take a week under ideal circumstances. He set out with the goblin to prepare the site.

  Having put the players to work, he dispatched three of his undead Golden Eagles to go the Mudluck camp and watch together. He instructed them to send one back if there was nothing to report, and two if there was a war party forming or exiting the encampment. He told them all to come back at once if more than one hundred goblins were seen leaving the place together. He also sent three black ravens to Aurora, with similar instructions. Finally, he created a patrol to fly around the perimeter of the woodlands, from the lake in the east, to the plains in the north, to the river to the west, and back along the cliff wall. Satisfied that his instructions were clear, he gave instructions to the campers, so all would know what to do if approached by a bird, whether it summoned them to follow by landing at their feet, or warned them of danger, by flapping around their head.

  With more mouths to feed, he’d have to find a way to produce more food, but for now, there was enough to go around.

  Arcturus had noticed that his Shapeshifting skill had improved by leaps and bounds. He could now make the transformations much more quickly, and with higher resulting stats. He hadn’t tried his other skills, especially Earth Magic, since he became a Druid. He left the camp and walked around in a circle, putting his hand on each tree and funneling mana into it. The improvement in growth was only marginal.

  Based on this, it seemed that he would never be able to grow the wall of living trees he had envisioned. Even at level 100, it was doubtful that Earth Magic would get the job done. He rested a hand again on three trees braided together. And instead of shouting his mana down the tree trunk, he listened instead. He found that if he concentrated, he could hear the whispering hum of mana down inside of the tree. Not only the mana he had powered it with, but its own mana, too. He sensed that trees were powerful reservoirs, drawing mana from the earth itself, serving as big mana batteries.

  And that’s when his journey as an Earth mage truly began. Hearing the mana humming in the soil, he realized that he had been growing trees the hard way, by squeezing out tiny droplets of mana from his own fingertips and pushing that into the trees. But underneath him was an endless ocean of power. He tried calling it up from deep within the earth, pulling it through the roots of the tree, through the trunk, along the branches, and finally pushing it out into the unfurling leaves.

  The ground trembled with the might of a lesser earthquake, but he held fast. The group of trees pushed out of the soil until they grew taller than the tree line of the forest, towering over the others. When they were finally ten or fifteen feet higher than every other tree in the forest, he stopped.

  You have learned a new skill: Draw Magic (Passive)

  You may now call upon the mana from deep within the ground, giving you almost limitless mana, for use only with Earth Magic.

  You have improved Earth Magic (Level 31)

  Your Earth Magic is now stronger.

  The entire effort had cost him 0 mana. This was incredible! Arcturus walked in a circle around his camp, creating more miniature earthquakes, and growing the trees until they all stood far above the rest. Now the trunks were so thick that they formed an impenetrable wall of living wood surrounding his entire campsite, with only two tiny exits hidden among the lowest boughs. The trees were so broad now that even the light of a campfire wouldn’t be able to squeeze through the cracks, although its smoke would be visible from afar. He had built a fortress of living wood. He left two points of entry, one on the northern side and another on the western side, which could only be accessed by squeezing carefully through the tree trunks.

  You have improved Earth Magic (Level 32)

  Your Earth Magic is now stronger.

  Of course, the awesome achievement shrank his camp a bit, as the trees had grown in all dimensions. And the vine barrier was completely wrecked, but rebuilding that was easy. He simply walked around the perimeter, swathing the huge trees in the vine while he pulled the limitless mana from the ground. All it took was one turn around the campsite, and the wall of vines was more splendid than ever, and now stood fifteen feet tall. With the entrances concealed in this way, he finally began to feel safe.

  When he returned to the inside of the camp, the three men and the goblin were staring at him in awe. Arcturus had discovered a secret of Earth Magic that allowed him to perform feats that were well beyond his level. No Earth mage had uncovered the secret of Draw Magic for hundreds of years. An Original walked on the land once more.

  “Fish, I’d like you to come with me on a hunt,” he said.

  “What for? I’m not much of a hunter.”

  “I’d like to see what your abilities are. And I am planning on searching for some dangerous animals. I’d appreciate the extra protection,” he said.

  Arcturus summoned Lyle and the entire pack of wolves and all went out on the hunt once more. Together they found more small creatures, but this time, he decided to try and use his Charm Animal ability. He wanted to learn what its limits were. And it would be nice to have living animals as servants rather than decaying ones.

  To test this out, he added to his entourage a number of mice and rabbits, as well as small birds. Each of these was instructed to tend to its own needs unless ordered to carry out a task. It seemed that he could command any number of these creatures without limitation. It was sort of like an all-you-can-eat buffet. In theory, the reward was endless. In practice, it had its limits. Unless he gave one of these creatures clear commands, he wouldn’t be able to find them again, and they wou
ld go back to being wild beasts. But it meant that if he needed something done, he could ask any of the creatures of the forest to do it. He also took the chance to learn the shapes of the smaller creatures, as there was now no limit to the shapes he could learn.

  Do you wish to learn the shape of the Field Mouse (Level 5)?

  You may learn unlimited shapes. The creature will not be harmed. (Yes/No)

  Do you wish to learn the shape of the Jack Rabbit (Level 5)?

  You may learn unlimited shapes. The creature will not be harmed. (Yes/No)

  Mice and rabbits were not going to be of much use in the coming struggle against the goblins. He raised his arm, calling to his birds. Dozens of birds of every type appeared from the trees and gathered around him. There were sparrows and ravens, bluejays and red robins, and a great big buzzard. He instructed them to find the biggest and most dangerous creature in the forest. Then, as he waited, he called Lyle near. Because his Druid class bonuses allowed him to learn shapes without harming the animal, he could finally learn the shape of the wolf.

  Do you wish to learn the shape of the Wolf Dog (Level 20)?

  You may learn unlimited shapes. The creature will not be harmed. (Yes/No)

  Unlike other transitions, which took several uncomfortable moments, this one was instantaneous. In a puff, he took on the lupine form of his companion, complete with a glowing mane of silver fur.

  Congratulations, Druid! You have found the shape of your soul: Wolf

  The body is temporary, but souls are eternal. All souls have a shape or pattern that is most familiar to them.

  Due to your soul’s shape of the wolf, you have achieved the trait Wolf Soul:

  - Shapeshifting to wolf form is now unlimited, instantaneous, and costs no mana.

  - You may shift directly to or from other unlimited shapes.

  - You may retain some aspects of the wolf even in human form.

  - Use Wolf Howl: send out a call to nearby wolves; any within 6 miles will respond and come to your side if needed

  - Limited communication with other wolves while wolf form.