The odds went from slightly bad to impossible. Even the regular zombies were a match for most of the party’s members. Tava’s next shot hit an Abomination but barely made an impression. The gathered Undead kept getting closer. Hawke tried to cast Consecrated Ground. The spell failed. With a one in five success chance, that wasn’t surprising.
“Kinto,” Patros said from behind the door. “Is that truly you?”
“Not for much longer, unless you open the door!” Kinto shouted.
“Of course. Give me but a moment.”
Hawke heard stuff being moved away from the door as the first Undead came into melee range. A souped-up zombie was first. Tava shot it just as Hawke stabbed it through the heart. The two attacks reduced the critter’s health to thirty-three; Hawke ripped the sword out with a twist while he used his left blade to cut at its neck. That eliminated the zombie just as two Abominations pounced. The monsters grabbed him by his arms and tried to rip them off his shoulders.
They were strong. His left shoulder dislocated with sickening pop and a rush of pain that nearly paralyzed him. His auras were still going; that was the only reason he didn’t lose a limb. The Dwarven warriors cut the monsters down. Hawke staggered back. He was only down forty-three points, but his left arm wouldn’t work.
You have received a disabling injury: Dislocated Shoulder
Left arm has been crippled. -25% penalty to all actions due to continuous pain.
An advanced healing spell is needed to undo the damage, or the joint must be pulled back into its socket.
Hawke slashed at the approaching zombies with his good arm. The move sent another shiver of agony from his messed-up shoulder. Behind him, Egg got his spell off on the second try, bathing every Undead in range with pure Life energy. Against the regular batch of Undead, the spell would have cleared the streets, but the enhanced bunch had too much Health. Several injured zombies went down, along with a couple of Abominations, but the rest still stood. The Dwarves and Desmond took down the last Undead in range as the temple doors finally swung open.
Kinto stood off to the side of the open doorway, shooting at the zombies while the rest of the group piled into the temple. Tava helped Hawke the rest of the way. The pain was making it hard to breathe. His aura was undoing some of the damage but he noted a portion of his Health bar had been grayed out. His minor healing spells couldn’t fix the dislocated limb.
The temple doors swung shut with a loud bang. A couple of Undead tried to push their way in, but white light flared up from the outside of the doors and they all learned what rotting flesh smelled like when cooked to a well-done consistency. Not appetizing at all, as it turned out: sour with a bit of sulfur mixed in. It made Hawke want to throw up, although the pain in his shoulder probably contributed.
“Can you reset it?” he asked Tava.
She nodded, looking pale. Hawke grabbed a support pillar and held on as she gripped his left arm with both hands and pulled. The wave of pain sent him to his knees, but a second later his healing aura numbed the agony and began fixing the damage.
“Thank you,” he said. “I love you.”
“And I love you too, Paladin,” she told him.
A big notification prompt blinked furiously, demanding Hawke’s attention.
For slaying your foes, you have earned 479 Experience
Congratulations! You have reached Level Ten! You have gained 6 Attribute points to distribute (18 unspent points total). (No Level Ten benefits are applicable until you claim your previous levels’ rewards).
You have gained a new Perk. Choose wisely!
You have gained bonuses to your Characteristics: +10 Health, +10 Endurance, +15 Mana
You can select a second Class or Specialty! Your Elite Primary Class gives you access to several Secret and Elite Classes. This choice will affect your Journey along the Path.
You can learn a new Craft, Profession, or Scholarly Pursuit!
You can learn a new Gathering Profession!
You can now Mentor others! Maximum number of Mentees allowed: Charisma/6 (Currently 3).
New Darkness, Life, Light and Twilight spells available.
You can now form a Guild. You need a Charter and the signatures of at least five Adventurers or Arcane Professionals.
Current XP/Next Level: 10,332/12,000
I’m going to have to do all that admin stuff ASAP, Hawke thought. Keeping his levels in reserve had been useful, but the benefits from reaching the tenth level milestone were too important to save for later. But he needed to figure out what was happening first.
Hawke looked around and saw a few townspeople in the temple’s main room, with more coming out from behind the Shining Father statue. One of them was Dorrham. Marko was another, gripping his short halberd in his hands; he still wore a suit of chain mail, but had removed the insignia of the Town Guard. Hawke smiled at them. Marko nodded and Dorrham waved before he turned to his fellow Dwarves.
“Is that a proper pack of Sterns I see?” the innkeeper shouted before running and embracing his relatives, speaking in the harsh-sounding Dwarven language.
Patros looked forlorn at the closed door before turning toward the tired band of Adventurers. “Shining Father forgive me! Most of us are in the basement or in the abandoned sewer tunnel below it. So was I. I came up, and when I heard Kinto’s voice, I… I hesitated before answering him.”
“You’ll answer to me right now,” Kinto said in a deadly tone and grabbed the priest by the folds of his robe. “You coward! You drunken, useless coward!”
“Kinto,” Hawke said. “You are right, but a dead man can’t answer questions. Let’s talk to him first.”
“Don’t be too hard on him,” Dorrham added. “He helped a lot of people who would otherwise be now outside, craving the flesh of the living.”
“Not enough people. Not nearly enough,” Patros said; he was on the verge of tears. “Do with me what you will. I deserve it.”
The Hunter relented, releasing the Priest and stepping back. “What happened here, Patros?”
“It is the Prefect. Your worst fears and suspicions were true. He has sworn his allegiance to the Necromancer!”
Sixty
The group gathered around the Priest as he told the story. Hawke felt Tava leaning on him and he put his arm around her. That made him feel better; so did having his other hand on the hilt of Saturnyx. Whatever happened next, he wouldn’t face it alone.
“It started two days ago,” Patros began.
“The day after the Area Event,” Korgam said. Hawke checked his calendar app and saw that the Dwarf was right.
“The Prefect had locked himself in his room for days before that, but he had done so before. He is often struck by foul moods ever since the loss of his family. Nobody thought much of it.
“But that day, he came out and had all the guards assemble outside the keep. He demanded that they all swear an oath of absolute loyalty to him, on their lives and souls, with no recourse to break it.”
“That is an improper vow,” Egg said.
“So it was, fellow servant of the gods. Most guards refused, Marko among them. Only a third of the Town Guard, eleven men in total, agreed to do so. The rest turned in their weapons and tabards, and were sent packing. A few left Orom and went off to nearby villages; they were the lucky ones.”
“I knew something was wrong, but I did nothing,” Marko said. “I tried to talk some sense into the lads who agreed to take the oath, but they wouldn’t listen. Felix promised them they would gain power beyond their dreams if they followed him.”
“People knew he wasn’t well,” Dorrham added. “For years, Felix kept telling people to stay on this side of the Auric river, away from Domort’s Stronghold. We thought he was simply scared of the Necromancer, but now it is clear he was his servant, and has been for some time. But do go on, Patros.”
“Thank you. That very night, the guardsmen became something else. Ghouls who purposely went into people’s homes and bit and scratched them
. Those injuries festered in a matter of minutes, killing their victims and turning them into mindless Undead. The Ghouls went on to open the gates to even more monsters, all of whom were welcomed to the town as its new residents.”
Patros shuddered. “I was awakened by frightened people in the dead of night. After hearing their story, I used the temple’s powers to send a call to all good townsfolk, and they came, those who weren’t hunted down in the night. Eight hundred and thirty-two are now huddled in the basement and the old sewer tunnel beneath the temple. Another six, perhaps seven hundred fled into the countryside. The rest are hiding in their homes, being plucked out of them one by one by the Ghouls, and turned into more Undead. Some fought back. Fought back and lost, may the gods bless their souls.
“Since that evil night, we have hidden here. The power of Shining Father keeps them at bay, or destroys them if they try to force their way in. It is far worse at after nightfall; the Ghouls fear the sun, but after it sets, they prowl the streets, hunting the living. Last night, they tried to knock down the Temple’s door, empowered by the Prefect’s Call to Arms. Shining Father prevailed. One of the Ghouls was burned into ashes and the rest retreated. The doors were damaged, however. I do not know how much longer the Temple will stand. And while many townsfolk brought food when they came…”
“All the vittles I and my staff could carry!” Dorrham said proudly. “I even filled my old knapsack of Holding with all it could bear.”
“And blessed we are for it. But with the numbers we have here, we will run out in less than a week. Water is no problem so far, we have a pipe leading to one of the working wells, but once the Prefect or his men remember that, they can block it and doom us to die of thirst.”
“We can’t take out those zombies while that Call to Arms effect is on,” Hawke said. “How long does it last?”
“I do not know,” Patros said. “Only Arcane Officials like Felix do.”
Saturnyx broke in.
Marry me.
“I have the answer,” Hawke told everyone. He shared Saturnyx’s findings and guesses, but kept the source vague. He didn’t really want the world to know about his talking blade. So far, only Tava knew about her. His fiancées wanted to bring Nadia in, eventually, but all that could wait until they averted the zombie apocalypse.
“In less than twelve hours, we’ll have a window of opportunity,” he went on. “The Undead will return to their normal level then, and we can make our move.”
“It will be nighttime by then,” Patros said. “The Ghouls will be out and about.”
“We can handle some Ghouls. Give me a few minutes to level up, learn new spells, and all that jazz. I might pick up something that gives us a leg up.”
“Congratulations on your advancement on the Path,” several people told him.
“And congratulations to you, Toggan and Nadia,” he said to the two group members who had also gained a level from the morning’s adventure. Toggan merely grunted; Nadia blushed and smiled.
“What level?” Gosto asked Hawke. “I know you’ve been saving them.”
“Ten.”
“A Milestone! You are going to kick ass!” The young Druid was starting to use American slang around Hawke, who realized he was turning into a bad influence.
“Claim the Power the Path has bestowed upon you,” Patros said solemnly. “And then lead us, Paladin.”
In other words, level up and start doing more Quests.
* * *
Hawke settled down on a corner of the temple and started doing some bookkeeping. He assigned his stats and picked new spells from levels eight and nine, and then started considering the important choices: his new Class and perk. The way new classes worked for Eternals, once selected they would gain all the benefits of that class at their current level; he would be level ten in both classes. He would only gain five spells or abilities from the new class, but from then on would be able to pick two new ones from any of his available choices every time he went up a level.
There were literally dozens of options to choose from. Hawke focused on the Elite classes he was eligible to take. They were much better than the regular versions, the sort of overpowered stuff that made people ragequit games because some classes were over-powered. In the Realms, of course, you couldn’t quit even if you didn’t like that Elves were better than humans in just about every way, or that your class didn’t have as many bennies as someone else’s. The game was your life, and the Arbiters were harsh but fair, or so they kept telling everybody.
“Let’s see… Shadow Assassin is redundant when I’m already a Ninja Paladin. Shadowmancer would be interesting. Shield-Bearer is cool; Korgam is one and he is a super tank, but I don’t have a shield right now and the Saturnyx Twins are too good to abandon.”
“Noted. How about a pet-controlling class? In less than two months, my Seed of the Fae is going to hatch. Let’s see: Eldritch Summoner works only on demons, no thanks, Strategist applies to armies… Monster Handler! Holy pokeballs!”
He read the class description before he got his hopes up too much.
Monster Handler (Elite Caster Class)
Why slay a great beast when you can turn it into an ally? Either through extensive study of the ways of monsters, or the blessings of the Goddess Vitara, you are to monsters what Rangers are to ordinary beasts: their master. This class gives you access to a number of special abilities:
Magic: You gain access to Life Magic, and learn five Life Spells automatically.
Analyze Monster: By spending 5 Mana and carefully studying a creature for a minimum of 1 second per every four levels of the creature in question, you can learn its Attributes, special abilities, and vulnerabilities. Beasts (Normal, Dire and Monstrous), Elementals, Lesser Dragonkin and non-sapient Fae can be affected by this ability.
Stop Monster: You can connect to the mind of a Beast or Monster and cause it to freeze in place by sheer force of will. Chance of Success: 10%, +5% for every Willpower level over ten, modified by your level and the creature’s level. If successful, the creature will not attack or flee for five seconds per level. Note: If you, a Party member, or anyone you call friend or ally attacks the creature while this ability is in effect, you will suffer a permanent -40% penalty to all abilities related to this class.
Tame Monster: You can try to place a creature under your control by spending 10 Mana per creature level and retaining mental contact with it for one second per creature level. Most monsters will react violently to such attempts, unless you use Stop Monster on them first. Chance of Success: 5%,+5% for every Willpower level over ten, +10% for every level you are above the creature in question (becomes a negative modifier if the monster’s level is higher than yours). Beasts (Normal, Dire and Monstrous), Elementals, Lesser Dragonkin and non-sapient Fae can be affected by this ability. If successful, the monster will follow your mental commands to the best of its ability for up to one hour per level. On a failure, you cannot try to tame the same monster, or members of its species, for twenty-four hours, and the creature will react violently, breaking free from Stop Monster if under its control and attacking or fleeing.
Tame Monster (Permanent): if you maintain control over a monster for (10 + creature level) hours, you can attempt to make that link permanent by sacrificing 1 Mana point per level of the creature. This Mana is permanently removed from your pool and does not r
eturn even if the creature is destroyed or the link is broken. The beast’s level becomes the same as yours and goes up as you gain levels. The maximum number of beasts you can permanently tame at any given time is 1 per 10 levels. Current slots open: 1.
Summon Monster: Once per day, you can summon a creature of any species you have previously Analyzed to come to your aid. This costs 10 Mana per creature level (this cannot exceed your own level) and lasts for up to one minute per level. The summoned creature is automatically Tamed. It cannot be granted abilities or Evolved, but if you Analyze an Evolved creature, you can summon a member of that subspecies.
Evolve Monster: Every time you go up a level, you can bestow a new ability to a permanently tamed monster. Every five levels, you can cause the beast to evolve, becoming a more powerful subspecies of its kind. Current Evolutions Available: Two
Greater Bond: You can forge a powerful psychic bond with not only a beast under your control, but with any being who agrees to place that trust on you, including sapient species. The bond allows for mental communication at great distances, sharing of knowledge and even Skills and Mana. The effects vary by the level and innate abilities of both parties undergoing the bond. Forging a bond is a voluntary process that costs 1 permanent Mana sacrifice times both participant’s combined levels.
Warning: Pets who are mistreated (not properly fed and cared for, sent on suicidal errands, or abandoned in battle) will have a cumulative chance of breaking their bond with their Handler.
“Looks good,” Hawke said. “Gives me a monster summon and lets me tame a permanent pet, plus it gives me more Life spells. And I can create a Bond with the critter that hatches from the Fae Seed. Having another friend would be nice.”
I’m not into bestiality, so I think we’re safe there.
“Can’t have them all,” he said, casting a glance at Nadia, who was looking particularly cute, curled up under a blanket and getting some well-deserved rest. Or maybe he could.
Twilight Templar (The Eternal Journey Book 1) Page 36
