by C. M. Carney
I will find you, Brynn, Finn promised.
A new round of prompts filled his vision.
You have 30 Attribute Points to distribute between your five base attributes. They are…
Strength: Measures the characters physical power. Determines damage bonuses with melee weapons, encumbrance, stamina, and the AC (armor class) bonus for heavy armor.
Dexterity: Measures the characters agility and speed. Determines damage bonuses with ranged weapons, the chance to hit bonuses, speed, and AC bonuses for light armor.
Constitution: Measures the characters endurance. Determines health, stamina, speed, Encumbrance, and the AC bonus for wearing heavy armor.
Intelligence: Measures the characters ability to solve problems and use logic. Determines mana. intelligence also partially determines the pace at which skills are learned and leveled.
Wisdom: Measures the characters common sense, spirituality, and willpower. Determines spirit, and ability to withstand spells and prayers that affect the mind.
“Lex, any thoughts?”
“Based on your personality and existing skill set, I’d suggest you play an agile warrior who augments his abilities with magic,” Lex said. “So far, you have no magic skills, but once we’re in the game, we’ll find some wussbag caster and make them teach us.”
“We’re not mugging people for knowledge.”
“Have it your way,” Lex said with a definite pout. “Anyway, with 30 Attribute Points to spend, you have a lot of flexibility. I’d say up your physical stats until we learn some magic, and then we’ll go from there. But I wouldn’t completely ignore Intelligence since it has tons of less obvious benefits.”
Finn studied the Attribute descriptions again and decided Lex’s theory had merit. He put 10 points into Strength, 7 each into Dexterity and Constitution, 6 into Intelligence. He ignored Wisdom for now.
“It is now time to complete your character and choose a name,” Zeckoth said. “Be warned, once you choose a name it cannot be changed.”
A field popped into his vision with a blinking prompt that reminded Finn of an old word processing program. He knew what name he would choose. “Gryph,” he said, and the name appeared in the spot. It hung there blinking for a few seconds until Finn accepted it. From that moment forth, he was no longer Finn Caldwell. Now he was the high elf warrior mage Gryph.
Gryph’s Character Sheet came up, and he checked it over one last time before continuing.
Gryph - Level 1
High Elf (El’Edryn)
Deity: None
Experience: 0
Next Level: 2,000
Stats
Health: 134
Stamina: 137
Mana: 132
Spirit: 120
Attributes
Strength: 20
Constitution: 17
Dexterity: 17
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 10
Gifts
Health Regeneration: +25%
Mana Regeneration: +25%
Night Vision: 120 Ft.
Master of Tongues
“Lex explain these Stats to me.”
“Stats like Health and Stamina are measurements of your overall wellbeing. Mana measures the amount of magical power you have to cast spells, and Spirit measure the amount of divine energy you can call upon to cast invocations, which are basically spells using the power of your god."
“I’m guessing I have no access to my Spirit because I’ve refused to worship any of the gods?”
“Right. Since Spirit is the energy of belief and you’re a heathen, atheist, unbeliever, you don’t get none.”
"Right," Gryph muttered.
Zeckoth stepped forward again. Gryph had forgotten he was there, as much as you can forget a seven-foot bald god. This time, he walked right up to Gryph and, before he could react, grabbed him by the head. Gryph panicked until Zeckoth spoke up.
“It is time to awaken your magic,” the god intoned.
Tendrils of energy wormed their way into Gryph's brain. It started as one filament, but then branched and split, becoming thirteen distinct strands. He saw as much as felt pops of light explode in the various parts of his mind. Some were large, some so small as to be mere pinpricks in a star filled sky.
There was no pain, but for reasons he could not quantify, Gryph screamed. Time became still, and Gryph lost all sense of place. Then, suddenly, he was back in the cathedral surrounded by the hooded deities.
“There are thirteen spheres of magic,” Zeckoth intoned.
“I got this chum,” Lex said. Then added under his breath. “You’re likely to bore the dude to death.” He continued with his normal snark filled tone. “So, Old Baldy here is right, if dull. Magic is the ability to rewrite the underlying code of the Realms. It manifests itself in thirteen spheres. Each sphere represents one of the primal building blocks of reality.
“Now long ago in the primal blah, blah, blah of creation, the spheres came into being during a massive battle between aether and thought. Life and death came into the Realms for the first time. These four spheres became known as the four primal magics.”
“Okay, that sounds...logical,” Gryph said.
“Next came the four elemental spheres of fire, air, earth, and water. These are all self-explanatory. Fire mages will blast enemies with fireballs. Kaboom, kuuurrshhh, burn, burn, oh no, I’m scarred for life. No maiden will wanna bed me again. The children will run in fear.”
“Lex, just the facts,” Gryph said, and he saw what may have been the hint of a smile cross Zeckoth’s face.
“Jeez, tough crowd,” Lex whined. “Anyway, air guys can make shields, knock people on their asses with big gusts of wind, and hurl bolts of lightning. So, zap, singe, singe, oh no, where’d my eyebrows go. Earth folks are usually stodgy grumps who talk way too slow. Water wizz-ards,” he paused for effect. Gryph refused to take the bait. “Um, well they can breathe underwater, create ice, and control water. They’re essential first picks if you ever get into a snowball fight.”
Gryph sighed and almost asked Zeckoth if he could get a new banner.
“Yo, pay attention,” Lex muttered in annoyance. “This is some good shit.”
Gryph rolled his eyes and made the ’get on with it‘ hand motion.
“Fine, jeez. I hope everyone else in the game ain’t as grumpy as you. Anyway, then we have the so called higher magics. These spheres are empyrean, beloved of people who believe in angels and celestial trees and crystals and junk. The chthonics, now they’re more fun in my book. Demon summoners who love wearing dark robes and talking in funny voices they think are intimidating. Life and death magic are self-explanatory. Healers and killers.”
Lex stopped his rambling, and while Gryph found the silence welcome, he had only counted twelve spheres of magic. “And the thirteenth?”
“Soul Magic. Can’t say I know nuthin’ about that one. Affinity for that one is ultra-rare.”
“Affinity?”
“Everyone in the Realms has an affinity and an antipathy for every sphere of magic. An affinity of 100% means that you can learn that magic up to level 100, the maximum measurement of proficiency in the Realms. 50% means a max of level 50, etc., blah, blah.
“Affinities and antipathies are connected. If you have 100% affinity in life magic for example, not only will you be some kinda boring do-gooder, but you’ll also have a 100% antipathy, or 0% affinity, for death magic. It’s an oil and water kinda thing.”
Gryph nodded. Despite his childish methods, Lex was a fountain of information. He supposed he was lucky to have the annoying banner with him.
“So, when Chuckles here laid hands on you, he opened your affinity and your antipathy. Open your Skill Sheet and you’ll see what’s what.”
Gryph did as bidden.
Magic Skills: Level (Affinity) (Tier)
Fire: 0 (25%) (Base)
Air: 0 (75%) (Base)
Water: 0 (75%) (Base)
Earth: 0 (25%) (Base)
Empyrean: 0 (100%) (Base)
Chaos: 0 (75%) (Base)
Order: 0 (25%) (Base)
Life: 0 (75%) (Base)
Death: 0 (25%) (Base)
Thought: 0 (75%) (Base)
Aether: 0 (25%) (Base)
Soul: 0 (50%) (Base)
Martial Skills: Level (Tier)
Unarmed: 5 (Base)
Small Blades: 5 (Base)
Staves/Spears: 5 (Base)
Thrown Weapons: 5 (Base)
Stealth: 5 (Base)
Light Armor: 5 (Base)
Dodge: 5 (Base)
Knowledge Skills (Tier)
Alchemy: 5 (Base)
Perception: 5 (Base)
Lock-picking: 5 (Base)
Traps: 5 (Base)
Perk Points: 0
Divine Perk Points: 0
Gryph closed out his Skill Sheet and nodded in appreciation. He was eager to try out magic. Chortles of laughter broke his reverie.
“Ha, ha, ha. Of course, you’re an empyrean. Bet you’ll get your halo any day now,” Lex said, continuing his fake laugh several seconds too long.
“You done?”
“Not quite yet,” Lex started his fake laughter again.
“Well, be done,” Gryph said. Lex stopped, but even though his banner was still a disembodied voice, Gryph could sense his pouting. “Why don’t I have any magic skills?”
“Did you know any magic on Earth?” Lex said in an irritated tone.
“Um, no. But I have an affinity in several”
“Affinity is potential not actual. Affinity means you have the potential to master a sphere of magic, but you still have to learn it.”
“And how do I do that?” Gryph said through gritted teeth.
“A master of any sphere can teach you, if they wish. They’ll lay hands on you like Lean Mr. Clean here did to awaken your affinities. Or you can use a spell stone to learn a spell along with the requisite magic skill needed to cast the spell.”
“If I have an affinity for that sphere of magic?”
“Hey, using that brain for smart making. Good on ya, pal. As long as you don’t have an affinity of 0%, you can learn a sphere of magic. But your advancement is limited by the affinity. In your case, you will not be able to rise above level 25 in Order Magic.”
Zeckoth stepped forward again with a blessedly welcome interruption.
“Our time together has ended,” the tall god said. With a flourish of his arm, another slice in reality opened. “It is now time for you to visit the armory where you will receive your starter equipment.”
“Oooh, swag,” Lex said. “Love me some swag.”
“In addition, Crusader,” Zeckoth continued, “now that your character is complete, your banner will take physical form as your personal banner NPC. Your NPC’s race, skill set, affinities, and physical form will be auto-generated. This will help balance any of your deficiencies.”
Gryph wasn’t sure he would enjoy a flesh and blood Lex being his constant companion. He was irritating enough as a disembodied voice. What would he be like in real life?
“You better not screw me, dude.” Lex said with trepidation.
11
Gryph passed through another slice in reality and emerged onto a massive shelf carved into the side of a tall mountain. A range of smaller mountains split the sky as far as he could see. Sweat pooled on his body and an intense glow came from behind him. He turned to see a huge forge fed by red-hot magma. With a jump of panic he realized he was standing inside the cone of an active volcano. The sound of clanging metal rang in his ears, jarring his nerves.
He turned and saw a lithe red-haired woman banging away on an anvil. The large hammer she wielded seemed far too heavy for someone her size to lift, much less swing with such ease.
Her rhythmic work sung to Gryph. Her timing was perfection, and Gryph hesitated to interrupt her. He waited and after a few more moments the woman laid her hammer down and turned towards Gryph.
Tanned by fire and forge and covered in sweat, she was still stunning. She smiled at Gryph. He felt his heart jump. She walked up to him and held her hand out.
“Welcome, Crusader. I am Heleracon, Goddess of Artifice and the Forge. Blah, blah, blah.”
Gryph stared.
“Well, don’t leave me hanging cute thing,” Heleracon said with a smirk.
Her manner was so different from the other gods he’d met so far that he didn’t know how to respond.
“Lex?” Gryph said, his eyes squinting down in suspicion.
“No, sweetie, I told you, Heleracon, the Goddess of Artifice and the Forge. Try to keep up. I make cool stuff for the other gods, and sometimes for you mere mortals. If you make it worth my while.”
She walked around Gryph, analyzing him like he was a prized breeding stallion. Gryph was starting to become uncomfortable when Heleracon smacked his ass and bit her lower lip.
“Um, do you greet every player this way?” Gryph asked.
“Of course not. Do you think I’m some kinda floozy?”
“Ah, well?”
“Just kidding, handsome. Relax. To answer your question, yes, I greet every player this way. This aspect of me is programmed to be a tad spicier than those other fellas.” She did a dance that was far more appealing than it should have been. “Market research shows that players, even the female ones, like saucy minxes. I do so enjoy the role.”
“Um,” Gryph said.
“You’re the first high elf I’ve seen come through here. And I gotta say, rowwwr. How d'you manage that one? Buddies with Aluran?”
“Not exactly,” Gryph began.
“Yeah, I don’t really care. Just making conversation. Something you should work on. I like conversation. I also like not talking, if you catch my drift? If you ever find yourself near the real Source Forge, look me up. I’m a girl who works hard and likes to play harder.” The goddess' eyes lit with an internal flame as she ogled Gryph up and down.
Gryph just stared in bewilderment.
“OK, you’re a bit slow, but I can work with that. Anyway, guess we should get to it. I bet you’re excited to meet your banner NPC in the flesh?”
“I’d say anxious,” Gryph said.
“Oh, he’s one of them types. I get it. Well, good luck, honey, because once your new buddy is made there ain’t no refund.”
“Great,” Gryph muttered and turned with Heleracon towards a large set of gilded doors.
“Drum roll please,” Heleracon said in a loud announcer voice, and the sound of deep bass drums emanated from nowhere and everywhere. “Lexicon, banner NPC of Gryph of the Tasty Glutes, come on down.”
Gryph sent a sideways glance at the fiery goddess, but a loud clang of metal brought his attention back to the gilded entrance. A red light split them in two, and the massive doors opened.
Illuminated from behind was a powerful figure of muscle and brawn. Shadows masked Lex’s features, but the NPC strode forward with purpose. The new Lex seemed impressive. He was a broad-shouldered man dressed in flowing robes and carrying a large metal hammer. A long beard swung side to side as he approached.
As the space between them diminished, Gryph realized that the distance had not been as large as it first seemed. As Lex got close, he could see his NPC’s swagger diminish. Lex strode up with a scowl and smashed his hammer on the floor of the forge. His head barely came up to Gryph’s chest.
“You have gotta be fricking kidding me,” Lex said with a growl. “What the hell is this?”
Gryph shrugged and tried to keep the grin from his face.
“Hey, short stuff,” Heleracon said. “How’s the weather down there?”
Lex raised his hammer, ready to crush her pretty red skull. Gryph stepped in and put a hand on Lex’s shoulder. He bent down to get eye level with his NPC. Lex noticed.
“Uh, buddy,” Gryph said in the soothing tone one uses on a drunken friend. "I wouldn't do that. Goddess.” Lex relaxed, lowering his hammer wi
th a low grumble. “So, you look…good. What are you, a hill dwarf?”
“I’m an effing Ordonian.”
“Wait aren’t those the Viking dudes. Tallest race on Korynn?”
“Yes!” Lex howled in a rage.
“Well, that’s an average,” Heleracon said. “You may be on the lower end…height wise.”
“Lower, I’m only five-foot two,” Lex raged.
“I’d say more like five one and three quarters.”
Lex glared up at Heleracon, his face as red as her hair.
“Hey, love muffin, don’t blame me, I just build stuff. I’m not responsible for whatever this is.”
Lex bellowed and hefted his hammer over his head. He swung it down several times, smashing a crate of coal, a barrel of water, and a table covered in metal ingots. Gryph sent a nervous glance at Heleracon, but she seemed more amused than annoyed.
“I see you like the hammer, though,” she said. “I did make that for you.” She held her hand palm up and a golden apple appeared in a flash of light. A paring knife appeared in the other hand.
Lex eyed her a moment before turning his gaze on the hammer. “Yeah, it's pretty good.”
Gryph walked up and put his arm around his NPC’s shoulder. The sad look in Lex’s eyes was hard to take. The banner had been his constant companion for over a year, and for the first time, Gryph thought of him as human, with actual feelings. He made a promise to himself to treat the little guy with more respect.
“Wanna go get drunk?” Lex said.
May have to rethink that respect thing, Gryph thought. “Let’s have a look at you,” Gryph said.
Lex’s eyes blanked as he turned his gaze inwards analyzing his Character Sheet. “Hrrmmmm,” Lex grunted in a tone that didn't sound thrilled.
“What is it?”
“It looks like I’m some kinda priest. My main affinity is for thought magic, and I worship some dude named Cerrunian, whoever that is.”
