by Charles Dean
Chapter 2 This was actually the first chapter in which, despite Lee’s great efforts and previously-wonderful luck, mathematically he should have died. There were several reworks to the chapter’s fight to make sure this wasn’t the case. The War Aeternus universe is in fact a fully fleshed out game with in-depth damage mechanics, and Lee simply didn’t survive the first round of damage against him. There was even a point in writing this fight, the first death, where I laughed with my good friend Ramon and asked him, “What do you think the readers would do if I just left Lee dead and wrote the book from a new MC’s perspective?” Feel free to leave your response to this question in comments about the book.
Chapter 3 The economics of beer and board: this is going to be an explanation of why the cost of beer is what it is. This was a big part of the War Aeternus universe debate that I had with editors, D&D experts and even a historian or two. The prices I settled on were chosen by contrasting both existing medieval history and modern economics. I tried to get to the basics of what the price would be in two ways: 1.) I tried to reason it out from a modern perspective backward, and 2.) I looked for historical examples of these costs.
For the first method, I noted that many rural locations across the world have a 6-to-1 ratio for the price of rent and beers (discovered mostly by asking my friends who live in rural areas about the price of rent at a cheap motel and the price of a beer at a bar), letting the average person buy roughly 6 beers at a bar for the price of 1 room for the night. However, this is with modern conveniences weighing in on the price of the room. There are many frills today that didn’t exist back then that now create certain upkeep and furnishing standards for rooms and inflate the price of rent. Back in medieval times, they wouldn’t have to worry about televisions, showers and bathroom necessities, air conditioners, phones and other small appliances that we expect today. All they would theoretically need is a room, a bed and a bedpan. Innkeepers also would likely not have borrowed money to buy the property or had many fixed land taxes, so once the inn was erected and set up, aside from re-thatching a roof now and then, the room would be entirely a sunk cost, not creating many if any additional expenditures. I reasoned this would drop the price of the room relative to the beer. Then I also reckoned the price of beer would actually go up. While modern innovations have increased the cost of merely living in a room, they have also reduced the cost of materials for beer. Innovations have continuously increased the efficacy of both farming ingredients and transporting it from one location to another, causing the price of food to be vastly cheaper today than it might have been five or six hundred years ago. With this fact and the easier purchase of distilling and brewing equipment, it goes to say that the price of beer and food would actually be much higher relative to other cost of living expenses back then. This was how I came up with the price ratio between these two for the towns of Kirshtein and Satterfield. I know this point seems minor, especially given how fast the book’s main character earns money but given that Lee’s church is basically an inn flowing with good beer, the cost of booze and rent matters on both the consumer and producer/proprietor ends.
For the second method, there were several sources I found, each with differences that were likely influenced by the region’s availability of grain and resources. However, I ended up going with one that reflected assumptions based on the first method. The ratio I finally settled on also reflected the cost of food with an assumption that goods would be easier to tax, especially when being moved into or out of a city with the purpose of trade, than lodgings or labor. I also tried to make sure the ratios I picked were close to both the figures from the first method and from regions with similar environments. Cheers!
Chapter 6 There were nearly a dozen different names and power descriptions for Spirit Smithing, and at one point the skill overlapped with Glass Smithing. This was one of the first time’s I’ve gone through so many iterations for a skill name and description, mainly because it was something I wanted to be functional, but not overpowered.
Quests
Cattywampus Catch
Cattywampus Catch part 2
Monsters, Mobs, and Enemies:
Bandits: If there weren’t bandits, it wouldn’t be a game in a fantasy setting. Honestly, how are there always so many?
Bandit Leader: Because if a bandit is going to break every rule in town, he needs to find order somewhere in life. Having a good leader can give the bandit that much needed structure and discipline.
Corrupted Sloth: The name kind of explains what it is… but sure. Type it into a search engine and guess for yourself. The programmers, and the lore book writers, were both too lazy to put a real answer here.
Cragaboom: No one is entirely sure how these giant stone monstrosities were made or where they came from, but there is one thing that is clear: they like to eat people. Due to this causing a great dislike for them in anyone who isn’t one of their cultists, their origin has often been twisted into the most insulting things the local townsfolk can imagine. The most commonly-shared origin myth is that Cragabooms are animate turds, a final reminder from towering magical mountain beings that used to walk the lands that one should be careful where he poops and what he eats.
Cultists: In a world where there are actual magic-performing Heralds and gods interfering with people’s lives on a daily basis, some individuals still insist on sticking to good old random-monster worshipping. On the bright side, these cults often come with great dental plans.
Devilkin: These fire-bellied imps mimic the dragons of European lore with their ability to spit out infernal balls of destruction at will. They also tend to pop.
Dire Wolves: Larger than the original wolf, more ferocious than the ravenous wolf, these are creatures to be admired, but not domesticated. Attempting friendly relations with the Dire Wolf has led many a fan to his death.
Drill Mites: This is what happens when mosquitoes become even uglier, deadlier, and more heinous and then decide to adopt the social habits of wasps. Avoid at all costs . . . much like I’m avoiding the obvious mosquito pun here.
Gan Ceann King: This type of wicked and fierce fighter can quickly take your head just as fast as he lost his own. Be careful when crossing them, and never play poker with them. This is generally advised with anyone whose eyes and face you cannot see though.
Glubinsa: Because the words ‘slime,’ ‘blob’ and ‘acid monster’ just felt gross or lame, ‘Glubinsa’ will have to work in their place.
Krobken: The Krobken are called the ancient guardians of the Worldstone Shards, installed by the programmer at the same time as almost every other NPC. In this case, the word ancient doesn't feel right, but the lore book says so, so the game guide must adhere.
Ravenous Wolves: Because regular wolves are far too cute and cuddly to attack anyone.
Sceilewolf: A wingless sand whelp that uses every part of its body, especially while spinning, to slice up its enemies.
Spiddlendra: Insects were scary and disgusting enough, but now they’re spitting spikes and adhesive goo that leaves the spikes permanently embedded in whatever surface they strike
Gaming Terms:
Aggro: The proclivity of a monster or NPC to attack a player or another creature. Often used within the phrase ‘draw aggro,’ which basically means to get a monster’s attention or force it to attack a certain target.
AOE: Area of Effect. This term refers to skills that affect multiple targets simultaneously, whether friendly or not. Typically, the particular skill being used determines the range of affected targets.
Buff: To increase or augment the abilities of another player or character in a game. When someone “buffs” another person, they’re making them better at their job.
Drive: (as in VR drive) The device used to access a virtual reality world.
EXP: Experience. Gained from killing monsters, completing quests and assisting other players. Necessary for increasing one’s level within the game.
LOS: Line of sight. You can’t attack wha
t you can’t see.
Nerf: A dreaded term for many avid gamers, this is the word used to describe when a game manufacturer makes a class less potent in its field.
NPC: Non-Playable Character. Characters within games that are controlled by the computer (artificial intelligence).
PK (RPK): This term can be used interchangeably as either a noun or a verb. Thanks, 1337 sp34k. As a noun, it refers to a player killer, someone who participates in actively killing other players. As a verb, it means ‘to have been killed by another player.’
RPG: Role Playing Game. Often used as MMORPG.
VR: Virtual Reality.
MMO: Massive Multiplayer Online (game).
About the Author
Charles Dean has an English Degree and an MBA. He's worked in multiple service and sales level jobs.
He spent most of his childhood playing every story based RPG and reading every fantasy book he could get his hands on. When he finally ran out, as the price of books and games was rather costly, he tried writing his own. The first LitRPG he produced was a simple Diablo 2 fanfic, involving the president becoming a Paladin in an epic quest to save the world from a treacherous demon's nefarious plot. Unfortunately, this book was part of a creative writing assignment for a school project and the teacher deemed it 'too violent.' It would be over a decade later until he finally had free time to begin his next attempt at a LitRPG with his original series The Bathrobe Knight.
Special Thanks
A special thanks to the amazing efforts of those who sampled the earlier, less-than-edited version of this book. We thrive on the feedback of our readers, and these proud souls stepped forward and deserve special recognition. The fearless, the brave, the beta readers:
Other Books by Charles Dean
The Bathrobe Knight:
Darwin, a video game addict, was sitting in his bathrobe and slippers playing his favorite MMO on a Christmas night when an uninvited guest breaks into his house to steal his belongings. After the scuffle is over he finds himself transported into one of the sword and magic RPG-style MMOs that he has always loved to play, albeit one he has never heard of, where he has to overcome trials and tribulations at every turn as he fights for his life alongside new companions.
Available on Amazon
The Bathrobe Knight Volume II:
Having gone from a simple video game addict to the leader of a band of refugees, Darwin continues to cut his way across the world of Tiqpa searching for a home. Be it his home in real life, or one for his people in the game, the sleepless warrior presses forward. Unfortunately for him, each step he makes changes the fate of Tiqpa, a fact that is not welcomed by those who inhabit the lands.
Available on Amazon
The Bathrobe Knight Volume III:
Our hero carries on down the path that has been laid out before him. He must wrestle with the task of leading a new race of Demons and grapple with a madness that threatens to completely consume him–all while working with a bounty on his head and thousands seeking to kill him.
Available on Amazon
The Merchant of Tiqpa
Tiqpa, the first VRMMO to hit the markets, has become a world in and of itself with its own burgeoning political structure and growing strife between kingdoms and players. This unknown terrain, ripe with opportunities, becomes a new frontier which Locke, a blacksmith, tries to use to pay off real-world debts. But when he is betrayed by one of his business partners, he finds himself caught between his growing lust for revenge and his very real need for capital.
Available on Amazon
The Merchant of Tiqpa 2
When a diplomatic mission goes off the rails, Locke quickly finds himself between a rock and a hard place as old urges and new desires clash to shape the life and death decisions that he is forced to make. He soon realized that a mysterious new organization is pulling everyone’s strings and calling the shots from the shadows, and it seems to have the uncanny ability to anticipate his every move. Ultimately, he must choose between saving a friend’s life or a kingdom from the brink of corruption
Available on Amazon
War Aeternus
Lee is a quiet and unassuming office worker who leads a life of solitude, comfort, and routine. Day in and day out, he shuts off his brain, keeps his head down, and goes about doing his job and minding his own business. That is, he does until a drunken god shows up randomly one day and whisks him off into another world, demanding that Lee serve as his pawn in a game between the gods. Now, trapped in a completely different world full of danger, magic, and creatures he's never imagined outside of fairy tales and video games, Lee has to figure out how to stay alive long enough to make it back home.
Available on Amazon
Books by Richard Haygood
Death Flag
Madison spends his days lugging around boxes in a warehouse while dreaming of adventure and longing to see the world. He keeps his head down, goes to work, and does his job to earn a living, but he can't help but feel that his life is passing him by with nothing that he can do to change it. Then, on the way home from work one day, he is confronted by a beautiful but vengeful woman who accuses him of crimes he doesn't remember committing and banishes him to another world as punishment.
Now, trapped in a mysterious world he didn't think existed outside of fairy tales, pursued by angry slavers and vengeful pirates, and in the company of killers and assassins, he has to figure out how to survive long enough to get revenge and make it home. The only problem is that he might not be as innocent as he thinks he is, and everyone else seems to know more about his past than he does.
Available on Amazon
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