“Familiarize yourself with your skills, then go forth. An ancient enemy has awoken, and all of your abilities will be needed in the days ahead. Investigate this invasion and bring me your report,” he said, and then disappeared.
*** Quest Received: Gathering information. ***
*** You have been tasked with gathering information on the invading force for your patron. Return to him once you have something to report. ***
*** Reward: xp variable depending on report quality. ***
I opened up my skill list and read through the new abilities starting with the new racial skills.
Son of the Sun I
While exposed to direct sunlight, the character’s out of combat regeneration will be doubled and their in combat regeneration will be improved by 5%. Half of this benefit will persist if out of direct sunlight for up to 12 hours, after which time it will be lost.
If the character remains out of sunlight for more than 24 hours, all base regeneration rates will be halved.
The first ability was in line with my great great-great-great-granddaddy Ra. I was now a solar battery and gained some nice buffs to my regeneration in sunlight with a potentially nasty downside.
I’d need a daily sun infusion to keep my powers going and avoid the nasty side of things, which shouldn’t be that difficult unless I decided to go spelunking or on a multi-day dungeon delve, or moved to Seattle.
The second skill was a nice general buff, granting an across the board increase to my physical stats, fitting the descendant of a war god.
Aspect of War I
The player’s physical attributes are enhanced by their divine blood: +1 Strength/Agility/Constitution/Presence.
My rank two skill was even more powerful, which was fitting as you had to be at least tenth level to activate it.
Aspect of Light I
25% resistance to fire and light-based spells and effects.
-25% resistance to ice and darkness-based spells and effects.
10% bonus to all fire and light-based spell damage.
10% additional damage taken from all ice and darkness-based damage.
Once every 24 hours, enchant all weapon attacks with additional holy fire damage.
The sun aspect of my heritage was in play once again. I was now much more in tune with the elements associated with my sun god Pop-Pop: light and fire, and weak to their opposites.
The once per day damage buff could turn the tides when facing undead, who were traditionally weak to both holy and fire energy.
The new race definitely came with some nice benefits, and I could feel others just out of reach in my memory that I knew I'd be able to unlock later on.
My choice of the Unknown Origins boon had paid off big time.
Moving on from my new racial skills I examined my new spell.
Call the Dead (1)
By channeling this spell, the caster opens a portal to the underworld that can allow a spirit passing through the gates of death to respawn at the caster’s location instead of their bind point.
I was a little disappointed at first. I had expected a resurrection or raise dead kind of spell typical of MMOs.
Being able to res your party when someone got killed was a pretty big piece of a typical healer's role in an adventuring party.
After a bit of thought I realized that it wouldn’t make a lot of sense for priests of the god of death and the underworld to be able to bring folks back without them having to go through the whole process.
The Call the Dead spell was a compromise. It wouldn’t cheat Anpu of his due, but it would give my party members the VIP treatment and express pass back to my current location instead of having to do the run of shame.
Combined with the Child of the Underworld - Funeral Rites boon, both the respawn timer and death penalty debuff duration would be cut.
It wasn't as good as strait resurrection, but it was something.
Next, I opened my skills list and read the new aura skill.
Aura of the Underworld (1)
When active, the priest radiates an aura of death, providing all party members within the aura’s effects with resistance to fear based effects and a small bonus to all combat skills when facing undead.
Enemy characters suffer penalties to their fear resistance and combat skills. These effects are doubled against undead enemies. (Passive Skill)
I could turn the aura on and off at will, passively buffing my party and debuffing our enemies at the same time. It was a damn fine skill, and there was no mana or stamina cost associated with it!
It also had some potential out of combat as well, letting me radiate an aura of badassery that might keep people from messing with me.
And finally, I read through my improved Spectral legion skill.
Spectral Legion (2)
(Rank 1) Anpu has granted you the right to call upon his spiritual legion to assist you in your tasks. The rank of this skill governs the number and power of the available allies.
(Rank 2) An additional Legionnaire may be added to the list of available allies to be summoned, OR, your current ally can be enhanced. [Choice Pending]
According to the updated skill I had a choice to make. I could either add another mummy to my party or buff Amenhotep. I focused on the skill to see my available choices.
*** The following legionnaires are available for recruitment: ***
*** Naferi – Offensive Mage ***
*** Seti – Offensive Rogue ***
*** Sanamini – Offensive Warrior. ***
*** Beshtaba– Utility Rogue. ***
Adding another legionnaire did have its appeal, but I wasn’t sure if that was the right path. Being able to summon my own party was definitely tempting but having a beefed-up Amenhotep tank seemed so much better.
I opened the other side of the skill and read through the potential enhancements for Amenhotep.
*** The following enhancements are available for your allies: ***
*** Aegis of Bone – Your summoned minions gain additional resilience to all damage types, bonus hit points, and bonuses to all defensive abilities. ***
*** Aegis of the Claw – Your summoned minion gains a bonus to all physical damage dealt as well as an increased chance of critical hits. ***
*** Aegis of the Soul – Your summoned minion gains a bonus to all magical damage dealt and an increased mana and stamina pool. ***
*** Aegis of the Mind – Your summoned minion gains a bonus to all general skill ability checks, as well as increased perception and random chance mechanics. ***
*** Note: The number of these effects that can be in play at once is limited to the character’s rank in Spectral Legion. Each Aegis applies to all summoned legionnaires. ***
In time I planned to have them all, but right now the only option that made any sense was the Aegis of Bone. Having an even tank-ier Amenhotep put a giant smile on my face.
That decision made, I locked in my selection and teleported to the gates of death, returning to the land of the living.
...
Chapter 35
I materialized within my room at the Plucky Goose with all of my belongings intact, and thankfully, no death penalty.
The rest of the establishment was dark and deserted and signs of a rapid evacuation were everywhere. Damn, they moved fast, I thought.
I had to track down Kjara and get back to the wall soon. When I opened the clock, I was surprised to find that a lot more time had passed while my brain absorbed the Codex Vitae then I had originally thought.
>>> Me: Hey! Sorry I took so long! Got a book shoved into my brain and apparently my download speed is 14.4 baud. Where should we meet up?
>>>Kjara: Hey welcome back. I’m at the wall near the gates to the dock. Get here fast, we can see the enemy on the horizon, and they are coming fast!
>>>Me: I’m on my way!
I ran through the city as fast as my avatar could take me, breaking every so often to allow my stamina to regenerate.
The endu
rance skill apparently didn’t consider running towards the fight to be “in combat” so didn’t apply its effects.
The bright sunlight overhead activated my new skill and really helped cut the time I needed to rest before being able to continue on.
Kjara was finishing up a conversation with the guard officer we had spoken to before when I arrived on the wall.
Once the guardsmen went on his way, she turned to me and froze, staring at me and gasping, “Kheph! What happened to your eyes?”
“What? What do you mean? What’s wrong with my eyes?” I responded, wishing I had a mirror.
“They’re gold, and I don’t mean like a wolf or something, but like, gold gold,” she answered.
“Shit," I replied. "Probably my new racial stuff."
Seeing the questions on the tip of her tongue I gestured for her to wait and beckoned her to follow me away from prying Saa ears. We headed over to the inner edge of the wall where I felt a little less paranoid that someone would overhear our discussion.
“I finished the quest for my Unknown Origins boon and it ended up changing my race to an ‘Awakened Saa’, which basically means that my great, great, great, great, great, etc.… ancestor got jiggy with the sun god Ra,” I explained. “And while I was in the underworld my patron flipped a switch in that god-DNA and… ta-da!”
Her eyes widened as I continued, “Now I’ve got a Racial rank that goes up for every five normal levels and adds some new racial benefits and detriments, as well as some potential trouble relationship-wise with the rulers of the empire, seeing as they tried to wipe out my ancestors to eliminate any competition to the throne.”
Kjara shook her head slowly and then asked, “Have you thought about becoming a professional gambler, because with your luck you could probably make a pretty good living at it.”
I laughed. “Well it’s not really luck. I chose the boon in character creation. It was just a mystery until I finished the quest. The description did guarantee a great reward pertinent to the character.”
“So, what does becoming a marked man bring in terms of benefits? Phenomenal cosmic powers? Itty bitty living space?” she asked.
I chuckled, “Maybe in a few ranks, but for now I get a bonus to regeneration in and out of combat when in direct sunlight, but the bonus fades if I’m out of the sun for too long and then turns into a penalty if I don’t get enough rays. My physical stats all increased by a point, and I’m now attuned to fire and light, so I take less damage from, and do more damage with them, but in return I’m weaker to darkness and ice. Oh, and once a day I can turn on a buff that adds holy fire damage to my weapons.”
“Well,” she said. “I can’t say I’m not a little jealous, but now I know that if you piss me off, I can just stick an ice cube down your back and you’ll be helpless before me.”
I laughed and reached out, placing a finger under her chin and raising her gaze to my own. “You wouldn’t need the ice,” I said warmly and kissed her forehead.
For a change she was the one to blush and look away. I put my arm around her shoulders, and we gazed out towards the darkness on the horizon heading our way.
I broke the silence first. “So, did you learn anything new while I was away?”
“Just trained my skills up to rank nine. I didn’t have time to learn anything new, but I’ve got my eyes on some interesting archery skills. Anything on your end, other than your new superpowers? Level ten is usually one of those milestones where you get something nice.”
I nodded. “I learned a new, knock off resurrection spell. I was hoping for the full deal, but I am a priest of the god of the underworld, so stopping people from dying would be kind of counter to the whole vibe.”
“How’s it work?” she asked.
“It creates a temporary spawn point at my location that is available while I hold the portal open for members in my party. So, when you make your way through the underworld and reach the gates of death… or whatever elves do, you’ll have the option of spawning at your bind point or through my portal. Doesn’t do anything for the respawn timer or death penalties but cuts out the walk of shame back to where you died.”
Kjara responded, “Ouch. I guess that beats having to wait for everyone to regroup if they were bound far away.”
“I have a different skill that I got at level five and didn’t notice that lets me reduce the respawn time and penalties too,” I added. “Don’t know quite how much they reduce them, as I haven’t had the opportunity to try them out, but if you don’t mind me performing some funeral rites on your digital remains, I can help you get back to the lands of the living that much faster.”
“Permission granted,” she said. “Anything to spend less time in the Deadwood.” She shivered and continued, “Needless to say, I’d rather you remember to heal me.”
I laughed. “I’ll do my best to keep you alive, but if I mess it up, I’ll help you back faster. Although I don’t know… that would just mean I get yelled at faster so maybe not…”
She playfully swatted me and I said, “I’m kidding! Having you back with me as quickly as possible would be worth it.”
She grinned at me warmly and asked, “Any other tricks up your sleeve?”
I filled her in on my new Aura of the Underworld skill, and the buff that I had chosen for Amenhotep. She agreed with me that it was the right choice instead of adding another mummy to our little group.
I turned to Kjara. “Do you think we will need Amenhotep?” I asked, not wanting to use the divine favor but if this invasion was something my patron wanted info on, I thought it would be an appropriate usage.
“Seems like a major fight, so… yes?” She answered.
I began casting the circle onto the tower top and watched as my companion manifested in all his glory. As a part of the spell I selected the Aegis of Bone and was pleased with the result.
Amenhotep seemed a lot more sturdy. His mummified form now looked beefier, as if he had regained some of the mass he’d lost to the mummification process. His eyes glowed brightly as he bowed in greeting to me.
Before I was able to properly welcome the guardian back to the land of the living, the air was shattered with the resounding call of a war horn, answered by thousands of inhumane screams coming from the edge of the docks.
Pale, scaled creatures began climbing out of the water onto the distant docks, too many to count. The creatures looked like some type of aquatic goblinoid with scaled flesh and gaping jaws full of needle-like fangs. And to add to the horror, their bodies were covered in sharp spines.
They dragged themselves onto the wooden docks with their jagged claws and began to gather in huge groups.
On the top of my view, a progress bar appeared.
*** Blood Tide – 0% ***
“Oh shit! Here they come,” I said and quickly toggled on my aura, shoved some food in my mouth, and cast Jackal’s Tooth on our weapons while trying not to choke on the dry biscuits.
Kjara pulled out her bow and laid out several arrows on the parapets in front of her while Amenhotep readied himself for the battle to come.
Up and down the walls the city guard made up the majority of the defenders. Their bronze armor and weaponry glinting in the sun.
Scattered along the walls, mixed in with the NPCs were small groups of players that I could see were readying their own defense.
This is going to be Epic! I thought and then raised my arms to the sky and shouted out a blessing, trying to have it affect as many of the defenders as possible.
“Gods and goddesses of the Saa Empire, I call on you today to aid your people in their defense of this city. May your blessings be upon all those who raise arms, or spells to repel these creatures that would see your city drowned!”
I poured ten of my remaining divine favor into the blessing and hoped for as much aid as possible against this punningly appropriate ‘sea’ of enemies.
*** You have invoked a Blessing of Battle on this regional event! ***
*** Blessin
g of Battle: Allies receive a small bonus to accuracy, damage, and damage resistance. Enemies are afflicted with a small penalty to accuracy, damage, and damage resistance. ***
*** Range: 100 yards, centered on the invoker. Duration: 1 hour. ***
*** Divine Favor expended: 10. ***
I grinned at Kjara and gave her a quick kiss on the side of her head before drawing my Sunspear and raising my hands in challenge to the wave of creatures swarming in from the docks.
She gave me a huge grin and then began shooting at the approaching enemy.
...
Chapter 36
The first wave of the enemy was composed of the pale, goblinoid fish men named skreel and they were almost universally level one. Likely waves of fodder intended to wear down our resources before the big boys came out to play.
They were so numerous we couldn’t ignore them, but at the same time we had to regulate our mana usage or end up helpless when the bigger monstrosities that we could see gathering closer to the water were brought to bear.
Fireballs and other AOE spells filled the air as the city guard’s mages and other players blasted the hordes of skreel into salsa.
The city guard brought their spears and bows to bear, repelling those critters who made it close enough to attempt to scale the wall.
The entire time the Blood Tide status bar slowly crept upwards.
The skreel corpses were already beginning to pile up at the base of the wall, allowing the oncoming swarm a bit of a leg up in their climbing efforts.
I dropped a Flamestrike into a group of the nasty fish goblins but then immediately redirected my attention further away from the wall when I saw the next wave begin its approach.
Crimson Sands Page 48
