We headed south again the next morning, being attacked by an ogre after only an hour. Everyone let me deal with it for the skill boost, with Maria calling helpful hints like "you've got to hit harder than that, this isn't a tickle fight" or "use the mace, not your face" she chanted that a couple times before laughing herself breathless. Dalmar and Bob just laughed with her, but didn't offer any tips. My level 9 ass would have gotten killed a dozen times if I didn't run away and heal periodically. I called the fist five times, then saved the rest for healing. I won, but it was hard fought, and even Bob looked impressed as he said "Half his level. That is super tough"

"I name thee Ogre Bane" Maria said, striking a pose and speaking in a deep voice "Feared by ogre knees throughout these lands"

"Damn right" I said "I'll kneecap the bastards every day and twice on Sunday" I held up my mace and said "All glory to Bruce the Mighty, without whom I would not have even been able to reach the knees"

"Bruce? I thought you were joking about that?" Bob said quietly to Maria

The Dragon Mountains that ran east-west were getting closer, and they were giant, snow capped things that looked very symmetrical in the triangular shapes. The uniformity gave it the appearance of sharp teeth, stretching to the horizon to our right and left. Maria was the first to spot a giant winged shape far in the distance, seeming to be flying around the closest mountain. "Thing must be huge for us to see it from this far away" was Bob's comment.

That afternoon Maria stopped, then looked to the right and yelled "Incoming!" Just as a giant bear came charging at us from out of a cave in the side of a low hill we were moving around. The things head was as high as mine while it was still on all fours

Giant Cave Bear

Level 17

400 health

Maria skipped back behind us as Bob took the initial charge, swinging his large sword in an overhand slice that hit just as the bear ran right over him. I called Fist and hit the thing on its right side, doing a fair amount of damage, while it stopped to deal with Dalmar. They exchanged blows twice before a giant paw sent Dalmar flying backwards. I got in another regular hit before it whirled around to pound me flat into the ground. It might have mauled me if an arrow didn't hit it in the ass, doing serious damage. The bear let out an angry roar, turning to face Maria, only to get Bob's sword thrust into its left side. I sent a heal spell at Bob, putting about half his missing health back, then rolled away until I could get to my feet. The bear had ignored Bob and was chasing a laughing Maria around our group, leading it past Dalmar, who got in a hard hit before getting swatted to the ground again. I sent two heals his way, as he was missing a good chunk of health. I finally did one for myself, replacing part of the 90 points of damage the stupid bear did in one hit. Maria controlled the rest of the fight, leading the bear past each of the rest of us, letting us get a good hit in. The bear would pause to give us a good paw slap, but resume chasing Maria when she hit it with one of her arrows that seemed to do an appreciable amount of hurt.

I was close to running out of mana by the time we finally took the bear down, and Maria had to take a break as she was close to zero endurance. I plopped down next to her and said "That was awesome. You made that thing your bitch, but I have to say, at the beginning I was thinking I might have to put the Clobberin on him to slow him down" Maria grinned as she said "Ranger thing. I can pull aggro on them when I want, and one of my specialty skills let's me do double damage to animals"

"Good thing" Bob said as he walked over to stand by us "That thing ran over me like I wasn't even there"

"Bears have an overpower skill. Let's them knock you down with about any hit if you don't have a shield, and even then it works about half the time" Maria informed us

I got a message then, it appearing as a icon to the right in my vision. I selected it and got:

Jake,

Had a visit from your friends the Blood Boys. Seems they held a grudge and wanted to find out what the potion was that Andulin used to heal himself. Andulin knew they were coming, in the way he does, so I had set Mirabeth and a couple archers up by the cup, then met the boys in the street in front of the inn. Short fight, I killed Conan after Mirabeth softened them up with a fireball. The cup aura kicks ass, and it upped our healing considerably during the fight. The other two didn't last long, with Andulin killing Jack again, and our archers taking out Gandalf. They were never a threat, so no worries on this end. Andulin sends his thanks for the items as they have made his men much stronger.

Keep those experience points coming!

I was happy to hear she could handle three eternals, but the message was so sparse it was hard to tell how well she coordinated everything. Regardless, taking down three mid-high level eternals wasn't easy, and it was done with a town guard force, something the Butt Boys were probably thinking about since it had happened twice now. People like the boys wouldn't accept the defeat, with their natural inclination being to gather a larger force of eternals. Lots to do over the next few months if I wanted to stay ahead of things. Susan had sent the message to Maria too, so she saved me from having to explain things.

We dealt with another ogre before we made camp, and everyone was nice enough to let me handle it again. I went all in with Fist, not worrying about saving mana for health, and managed to take the thing down fairly quickly. The extra dexterity and strength points made enough of a difference that I could tell it in a fight. On a solid hit with Fist active, I might be doing 60-80 points of damage. The armor thing obviously mattered since it still took 8 or 10 hits to finish him, but it worked my way too, with my 60 armor keeping his damage in the 40-50 range. I had to heal a couple times, but was never at risk of running out of mana.

"You know Jake" Dalmar said later "With a strength boost and a couple more good armor pieces, you would make a great tank. That armor boost spell, plus the fist thing makes you almost as tough as Bob. But being able to heal on the fly like that would make you damn hard to take down"

"But he's so much better at keeping my pretty butt safe that he needs to stay in back with me" Maria said

We camped and for once didn't have to fight anything, nor did we the first half of the next day, getting Bob to ask "Ok, what happened to the monsters?"

Maria pointed to the south at a large flying creature that appeared to be headed our way.

"Oh crap" Bob muttered as we all watched it wing closer. No one had ever gotten a close look before so all we had was Dalmar and Maria's gaming notes, that they gave us the night before.

"Obviously big, Jake saw that with the bone dragon" Dalmar had started "but they fly and have a damaging breath attack. Red dragons breath fire, blue ice, black poison, etc. The bone dragon did over a hundred points of damage when it bit Jake, so I imagine that probably matches for all of them. I got clawed for 60 points, and Jake took a tail hit for at least that much. This all means Maria is toast if it hits her, and the rest of us will die if it focuses on us for a couple hits. You have potions, so use them immediately. If any of us go down early it will probably mean we all die"

"Some games have a kind of stun attack that freezes you with fear" Maria said "I'm hoping Jakes blessing thing in the morning might help with that if it exists"

"These are probably some of the top monsters in Tarinath, so plan to go all in. Some of us will probably get killed, but as long as one of us kills it, we'll be the first party to ever meet, much less kill a dragon" he paused for emphasis and said "If I'm in the courtyard, having just lost two levels, I want to get a message that I've just killed a dragon or its all a waste"

"I'm going to spend all of my skill mana on Perfect Shot, for four shots, all special delivery" Maria said "which means I'll be pulling major aggro. He'll kill me after that, so don't let me down"

"I'll use the new rune and use the stored spells next" I said, then grinned and added "while its enjoying the taste of our lovely archer" Maria stuck her tongue out, but laughed as I continued with "Which means I'll probably be next on the dragon snack parade. I'll try to get in a solid hit while its biting me, but I wouldn't count on it"

"And Bob and I will finish his ass" Dalmar had said with an excited grin

Anyway, incoming dragon, and we were all watching it move our way. There wasn't much to say other than "Spread out so it can't get all of us with a breath attack" we formed an elongated diamond formation with Maria at the back point. As it got closer we could tell it was red, but that didn't do the color justice. The dragon rippled with red and gold that seemed to shimmer and ripple across its body as it moved. It matched most renderings I had ever seen, with the long snout full of sharp teeth. Intelligent, malevolent eyes that looked at you knowingly, and a huge body that dwarfed us to the point that hitting it anywhere above a leg joint would be pure luck.

We were all surprised when it landed before reaching us, though still in view, and said

"Eternals! To think I would be the first to taste the flesh of one of the eternals. I, Kalishzactzin will be remembered long by my people for devouring the first emissaries of the damned ones"

Yeah...bit of an ego ole Zac had. When no one said anything, I shrugged and yelled "I'm not sure how eternals taste Zac, but I hear dragons taste like chicken"

No one said anything for a second, then Maria broke into the giggles I had come to treasure, and Zac bellowed

"Fool. You mock one who was your superior a thousand years ago, and will be a thousand years from now. I will roast the flesh from your bones!"

The last part came out in a scream as Zac flapped hard and rose into the air, angling my way as he did so. Maria's first arrow hit just as Zac passed over Dalmar, and the explosion on Zac's right wing sent the dragon tumbling. The second arrow hit just before Zac hit the ground, turning the impact into an uncontrolled roll. The third arrow hit the dragon in the face as it clawed its way upright, drawing a tremendous scream of anger and frustration, that ended with a glut sound when the fourth arrow hit the dragons throat. Zac was more confused and angry than seriously damaged because he had serious health

Kalishzactzin

Red Dragon

Level 30

1200 health

Though the four arrows had hurt it, causing its health to drop to near half, it was not enough to slow it down. It drew a deep breath and a focused column of fire was swept across Maria. She died so quickly I didn't even have time to attempt a healing, and I was surprised at the rage that swept through me at her death.

"Flame on!" I screamed, holding the gem as Telina's flame surged down to hit Zac in the back while he had his wing spread wide, and neck extended to burn Maria. Two more "Flame on" commands followed, stunning the dragon long enough for me to reach it with Bruce and a bellowed "By Telina's beautiful buttocks...Its Clobberin Time!!!"

I hit Zac in the side, the explosion and blow knocking it onto its side, surprising the hell out of me, but couldn't dodge the flame he sent my way, nor the bite that came before the flame even left. I'd love to say I broke his teeth loose and crawled out to kick his ass, but that would be a lie. The burns and bite were so painful I couldn't even focus enough to do a healing, just screaming in pain as he lifted me high in his mouth, and died when he threw me to the ground.

So, back in the courtyard. With a message

You have died

Death incurs a ten percent loss of level

You have been reset to the beginning of level 9

Well shit, that's not too bad, though it wiped out pretty much all my experience from the Forbidden Lands and the Lich. I checked the archway, but I couldn't use it, so just settled down in the sand to wait.

About two minutes later I got

Kalishzactzin has been killed by your party

As the first players to kill a dragon you will now carry the name Dragonsbane!

Level up. You have reached level 10

Hot damn! They killed the dragon!

As a level 10 Healer priest, you are now allowed to create portals. These portals can connect two points, allowing instantaneous travel between those points,

Requirements:

One end of a portal must be within the aura of a shrine to Telina

The end situated close to the shrine must be defined by a carved, circular archway of 12 feet diameter.

The other end must be defined by an entryway. A cave entrance, room doorway, or something similiar.

To prepare the portal. After placing the circular stone archway, it must first receive Telina's blessing. the other end must be chosen, and a blessing placed on the entryway. The blessing must be repeated once a day for four days. Within 21 days after the fourth blessing, the circular archway must receive another blessing to bind the portal.

When completed, the portal may be used by anyone who has received Telina's blessing.

WTF? The portal thing sounded neat, but a stone archway? Where the hell do you get something like that? And four days of blessings, Jesus, who wants to sit around for half a week?

I placed my last full attribute point and moved on. Portal! Would a holy lightning bolt spell be to much to ask?

Level 10

Healer Priest (Dragonsbane)

Level 10 (0%)

STR 10 (11)

DEX 10 (11)

STA 20

INT 10

WIS 15 (16)

Health: 300

Mana: 180

Endurance: 200

Armor (+30%): 42

Defender of the Faith

Priest focuses on aiding those in need and protecting the oppressed. Spells will focus on group and individual protection and aid, while the priest's personal aura will become a healing channel for your goddess's will.

Blessing spells now apply to all allied creatures within ten feet of priest

Healing spells cost half mana

+10 points health/level

Armor 30% stronger

Priest's aura does following for allies within 10 feet of player::

+5% stat boost to party members (+5%/level after level 8)

10% damage reflected back on attacker

+25% mana restore rate

Spells:

Telina's Gaze (100%)

Applies 65 points (+20%) of healing to the user or any creature selected

10 Mana/use

Telina's Fist(+75% activate)

Applies 65(-15%) points of damage when activated and a successful hit is made

20 Mana/use (effective hit)

Cure Disease

Cures disease (Level+10) of any creature touched

40 Mana/use

Telina's Holy Blessing

On creature: 65% increase in base stats

70% increase in healing rate

Duration: 6 hours

(+5%/level to level 10)

On flora: 75% increase in growth rate

80% crop amount

(+5%/level to level 10)

40 Mana/Use

(Does not stack)

Create Potions

Healing potion:

Vial of water with Telina's Blessing + Telina's Gaze

Healing= Telina's Gaze + Telina's Blessing + 2(Faith)

Cure Disease potion:

Vial of water with Telina's Blessing + Cure Disease

Cures any disease Level 75 and below

(Cool down 12 hours)

Telina's Flame

Holy fire strikes to cause 120 points damage to creature chosen

Splash damage: 25% damage to enemy creatures within 10 ft

Double damage to undead

(+5/level to 120 damage)

75 Mana/use

Dispel Magic

Dispel Level+5 magic on creature or area chosen

-Does not dispel enchanted objects or potions

-Does not dispel own castings

(Cool down 4 hours)

75 Mana/use

Create Rune

Ability to learn and place runes of power

Player determines activation requirements

(Cool down 3 days)

Rune of Flame:

When activated by user will do 100 points +5/level of fire damage

100 Mana when placed

Rune of Retention

Placed on an item, it will allow the priest to store prepared spells for later use.

Requirements:

Item that has not already been enchanted through standard means

A Mage may imbue the item with the spell by casting it upon the item, but

Blessing by a priest after a spell is placed is required to retain it

Others may activate item if specifically identified by priest when placing the first blessing

Command word spoken when placed, then to release the prepared spell while holding the item

If more than one charge of the same spell is placed, the same command word is used, releasing a single instance of the spell each time

More than one type of spell may be placed, to a maximum of three spells

Spells can not mix Mage and Priest types

Item may receive a replacement spell after use of one, but must be the same spell

Usable once every seven days, though after placement of rune, item may receive spells at any time

Telina's Protective Aura

Player receives 10+level armor bonus for 2 hours (+30%)

(Does not stack)

40 Mana/use

Resurrection

Cast on self or other player

Allows player to return with no loss of level after next death at the location the player died

Or

Allows player to choose new spawn point

(Cool down 7 days)

Group Heal

Heals completely all allies within 100 feet

Once a day

140 mana

Create Portal

Connect two points via an archway

Requirements:

One end of a portal must be within the aura of a shrine to Telina

The end situated close to the shrine must be defined by a carved, circular archway of 12 feet diameter.

The other end must be defined by an entryway. A cave entrance, room doorway, or something similiar.

To prepare the portal. After placing the circular stone archway, it must first receive Telina's blessing. Within 21 days, the other end must be chosen, and a blessing placed on the entryway. The blessing must be repeated once a day for four days. Within 21 days, the circular archway must receive another blessing to bind the portal.

When completed, the portal may be used by anyone who has received Telina's blessing.

+20% Healing Spell

-15% Spell Damage

+ 1.2% hand to hand

+ 92% light armor

+ 78% Blunt Weapon

+ 79% Concentration

+ 60% Faith

+ 87% Cooking

81% Repair

Ring of Serizon

+1 Strength

+1 Dexterity

+2 Armor

Ring of Wisdom

+1 to player's Wisdom attribute

Leather Armor of Holy (Telina's) Light

25 Armor

15% Magic resistance

+4 to dodge

Once a day player may send out a blast of holy light that blinds opponents within 50 feet for 10 seconds

Sitting in a small room for hours is extremely tedious, but after what I guess was 6-8 hours, Telina stepped out of the archway and stopped, pushing her hair back before putting her hands on her hips and giving me a grin before saying "Bouncy bosom?"

I was sitting against the wall, so I stood up and said "Hey, I'm not much of a poet, but figured you deserve some recognition"

"I'm sure you did" she said with a laugh. She kind of shimmied a little, looking down at herself as she said "Are they bouncy?"

"In the best way possible" I said with a smile

She laughed and grinned to show she was teasing before waving me to a seat and sitting down beside me. She kept the smile but her tone got more serious as she said "The portal magic was one of many things the overmasters removed from our control, and to see it appear again leads me to suspect that they have left our world completely. I hope this is true as their meddling is a force for chaos upon Tarinath" she waved a hand as if shooing a fly away and said "but that is not an issue you need worry over. I wish you to consider carefully the use of the portal magic. The overmasters feared that having two portals whose...tunnels crossed, would be unsupportable within the...physics of our world. Use this magic, but consider the importance of each portal"

"I don't see a driving need for one at the moment, though I'll probably see about getting a couple archways made for when I do" I told her "slow travel is a good thing at this point"

"Your two male partners survived and are returning to your town. I will see if I can ease their trip some by guiding some of the creatures from their path, but this may not be possible if any of my sisters take an interest" she looked over to add "The one called BigBob has acquitted himself well and could be offered a chance to choose what path he will follow at level 8"

I shrugged and said "I think he would serve you well, and it will carry a message that forgiveness is available. But it'll piss Maria off"

Telina stood up, wiping the sand from her bottom, doing it slowly and giving me a mischievous grin as she did so.

"I enjoy your friend Maria and she has my favor Loser" Dang it, I hadn't missed that name at all. She didn't comment on my flinch, just said "She craves power, but wants it to feel safe, and to protect others like herself. I would have you prepare her and my paladin so they might seek their vengeance, and perhaps find others like them who strive for peace"

"I'm on it" I said "it will take close to a month to restock everything they need, but I want to get them moving as quickly as possible" I held up a hand to stop her for a moment and said "That cup thing, are there more like it?"

She sort of froze and her face lost all expression as she said nothing and did nothing as we stared at each other. After a moment I decided she probably couldn't, but she also wasn't telling me no. I nodded to myself and said "Let's say the goddesses can't talk about holy cups and stuff, maybe because it gives them some kind of advantage. But let's say I'm not looking for holy doodads and I happened to stumble upon something that looks like one, even though it really isn't. Do you think I should throw it away?"

She kind of looked off to the side for a minute, then turned back to say "As a priest of Telina you should not be wasteful of any item as it may have value to those in need"

I'd take that as a sort of answer and said "Of course, waste not want not"

"Then I will only say that I am pleased with your efforts my priest" she said as she stepped into the archway and disappeared.