I have no idea how long I laid there and cried. Long enough that my hip and shoulder to develop an ache from the stone floor. I splashed a bit of water on my face to take care of the dried tear streaks, and checked the popup I had received.

Congratulations

You have passed the trial of Bardzuuk. You have mastered the beast that is your rage, it now waits patiently in its cage. Confident that when necessary, it will be freed once again.

Yeah, lovely. God, I hope that none of the other trials are as emotionally draining as that one was. If they are, I’m going to be sending off a complaint to the developers.

You have garnered Divine Attention!

Due to your recent actions, you have come to the attention of Ira, god of rage and patron of barbarians. To learn more, enter one of his temples.

You have garnered Divine Attention!

Due to your recent actions, you have come to the attention of Nemesis, goddess of vengeance. To learn more, enter one of her temples

You have garnered Divine Attention!

Due to your recent actions, you have come to the attention of Maniae, the goddess of madness. To learn more, enter one of her temples

What? Divine attention? Oh no, I am not about to join up with one of those, especially Maniae. What could I have done to get her attention anyway?

Mechanically chewing some rat jerky, I headed out to the next temple. I took time to study the door once again, as they had proven to provide at least a hint towards what to expect, but this one had me confused. Once again it was a battle scene, but each weapon that was piercing a body was also piercing the wielder. Pushing open the door, I was greeted with a black bow covered in red streaks.

Challenge the Curses III

Congratulations on finding the bow of Valentious. Holy guardian of the world tree, the elf Valentious was said to hold all life in such high regard that he felt the pain of each injury he inflicted. Take up this bow, adventurer, and learn how empathy can become a curse.

Conditions

Rewards

Protect the world tree. This may be repeated 5 times

???

Getting really sick of these questionable rewards. I grabbed the bow and opened my eyes as an elf. At my back, an enormous tree, while a small group of goblins were arranged against me. Drawing an arrow, I was mildly surprised when my vision telescoped in to view the five goblins, and that I had a vague idea of where the arrow would hit. Targeting the leader, I fired and took him with a solid gutshot. Staggering back, I felt as if someone had punched me in the stomach. Not only that, but a small portion of my health bar had dropped as well. So, that’s what the double weapons on the door meant. Steeling myself, I took aim and started loosing arrows as the goblins charged. By the time all the goblins had dropped, I was down to a third of my health.

“Are you kidding me?” I shouted at the tree, as I quickly learned I had no inventory here, and no potions on quick slots on my belt. “So every hit drains my life, and I have no way to replace it?” Clinking metallic sounds interrupted my rant at the tree, and I saw three armored hobgoblins with three goblins entering the clearing. “This is going to suck.” I murmured to myself as I launched an arrow again. Five arrows later, and I was back in the temple.

Attempt failed

Four attempts remaining.

Blasted curses and their damned challenges. How the hell are you supposed to beat a level where you can’t heal and every attack causes you damage? I grabbed the bow again, not really having a plan. Once again I was faced with the five goblins. This time, instead of killing them, I tried disabling them. Targeting feet and knees, I missed more often than not, but eventually got them stopped. I stared back at them as they glared at me, hatred apparent in their eyes. This went on for ten minutes or so before I realized that I had to kill them before the next wave would appear. Walking up to the first one, I tried hitting it with my bow in the hopes that only injuries caused by arrows would injure me. When that didn’t work, I took an arrow and stabbed the bastard. Still losing life, I just started firing at all of them. Once the last one was dead, I looked up to see the next wave facing me with only a third of my health.

This time I let the group pass me. They sneered in derision, and started attacking the world tree. I felt every blow, and watched as I started losing health once again. Damnit, how the hell? I fired an arrow into the back of a goblin’s head, fully expecting my death. Instead, I lost no health as the creature fell dead. Seconds later I was cast back into the temple.

Attempt failed

Three attempts remaining

I may have lost, but I know your secret this time, you bastards. I took a swig of water before grabbing the bow one more time. Once in the clearing again, I crossed half the distance to the goblins before taking aim. On a whim, I tried using an archer skill. “[Snipe shot]” I murmured while aiming at the lead goblin’s heart. The arrow streaked out of my hands, bursting straight through the chest of the goblin and narrowly missing the one behind it. The goblins froze in terror, and I smiled as I had lost no life. I would still have to manage my mana, but this fight just got a lot easier. Putting my emotions aside, I started mechanically targeting vital points on the goblins. Eyes, forehead, and hearts. Five shots, five deaths. The goblins with the next wave fared no better, but I couldn’t get one shot kills on the hobgoblins. However, I noticed that a critical hit took away the same amount of health as a normal hit. The third wave came, and I was hovering at 85% health. This time it was a heavily armored orc, two hobgoblins and two goblins. A [Snipe shot] took the ork in the face, ending it and giving me a slight health boost. Noting that a one shot kill would refill a portion of health, I started gaining confidence on this trial. The goblins fell next, and I took damage from the hobgoblins. It seemed the health restore was based on the initial health of the creature, as the orc gave more in return than both goblins combined.

Wave four was three orcs and four hobgoblin archers. This was the first time I had to move around, and I took out the orcs first as they were rapidly approaching me and the tree. Taking out one of the archers helped immensely, as they didn’t have the discipline to volley. The last fell before long, and I was down to about half health and two thirds mana. Arrayed before me were three orcs with tower shields, an orc on each edge with recurve bows, and two orcs behind the shields with halberds. The first orc bowman managed to hit me in the hip, dropping my health to a quarter. I had no choice, I started firing [Snipe shots] as fast as I could and still be accurate. The archers died first, taking my health back up to an acceptable level. The center of the shield wall was the next target, and after he fell I started picking shots of convenience. I lost the last of my mana with one shield bearer and one halberdier left, and started taking a good bit of damage. When the last one fell, I was a little worse for wear and had a paltry 10% of my health left.

Congratulations!

You have learned the error of Valentious, how caring can weigh you down and destroy you.

It seems the fifth wave was the last, thank my lucky stars. As I read my notification, a green glow arose from the bow and gently moved into my chest. I headed out through the back of the temple, and went up once again to the next temple in line. This door’s battle scene was another odd one. Each weapon seemed to be either moving at an insane speed, or had several mirages surrounding it. Opening the door revealed a massive hammer of silver etched with golden runes.

Challenge the Curses IV

Behold the legendary hammer of Durkhan. Though a dwarf, Durkhan was born with a constitution that rivaled goblins. Though others mocked him, Durkhan wasn’t dismayed. Day and night, he worked on his strength until he far surpassed any challenger. He became known as the Glass Dragon in the arena, as he either smashed his opposition in one blow or was defeated swiftly. Come then, adventurer, and know the epitome of strength.

Challenge

Rewards

Survival challenge. Waves of enemies shall challenge you until you are defeated. How long will you stand at the peak?

???

Oh, this should be fun. I grabbed the hammer on the altar, and breathed in the clean air of the arena. A goblin with a spear was my first opponent. He charged, and dodged my overhand swing. “GYAAAAH!” I cried in agony as his spear struck a solid blow to my side, knocking off almost half of my life in one blow. Thinking he had won, I used the distraction to strike a backhanded blow with my hammer, catapaulting the goblin to the other side of the arena and his death. It shattered into sparks, that coalesced into a wolf. Snarling, it leapt across the sands towards me. I let it come charging, and slammed the hammer into its side as it leapt at me. The body flew away again, shattering and reforming into a kobold.

Smiling, I beckoned it to come at me with its sword. It didn’t bother charging me this time, taking its time trying to figure out how to get at me in the safest manner possible. I kept adjusting the hammer, so the head was on whatever side the sword was. Getting frustrated with the lack of action, I feinted a lunge, and whipped the hammer in an arc over my head at the kobold’s off side. Though it fell for the feint and slashed at where I should have been, it was still spry enough to dodge under my hammer blow and drive the blade into my side, killing me.

Congratulations!

You have seen through the eyes of Durkhan how swiftly death can come when everything is given over to damaging your opponent.

Damn, I should have done better than level three. I’m going to blame it on the weapon, as hammers are just unwieldy. Give me a good dagger any day and I’ll slice ‘em apart. A pale orange glow exited the weapon and the doors opened. Before I left, I tried to grab the legendary hammer of Durkhan. As I approached, a small lightning bolt blasted my palm. Taking the hint, I left the temple and the hammer behind me.

Wondering how many temples there were, I looked at the door of the next temple in line. This showed an army being laid waste to by an army of elementals. Though I didn’t always play mages, this could be a fun little challenge. I opened the door and saw a bone white staff with four stones in the top. Emerald, topaz, sapphire and ruby. It looks like this was definitely an elemental staff, let’s check out the challenge.

Challenge the Curses V

Gul’veth was a drow elementalist whose name struck fear in the hearts of those who serve the light. He is one of the few who may claim to surviving through drow society by pure strength, instead of subtlety and guile used by most servants of Lloth. Unhappy with mere mastery of the elements, he created his ultimate weapon: a staff carved from the thigh of an elemental mithril drake, inset with precious stones of the highest clarity. Armed with his greatest weapon and the ability to see the elemental weaknesses of his foes, he moved beyond a simple battlefield terror into the realm of legendary horror. In the end, it took the combined armies of several human kingdoms, elves, dwarves, and gnomes to finish him, though the majority of those armies still lie beneath the sands of the Duskaven Dessert

Challenge

Rewards

Take up the staff of Gul’veth and unleash the wrath of the elements upon waves of enemies. You will have endless mana, and the waves won’t stop until you die.

???

Endless mana and a staff of a master elementalist? Dear lord, Phoebe will kill me just because I have this chance instead of her. I activated a remote recording for Phoebe, grabbed the staff and welcomed the chaos to come.

I found myself on a castle rampart, looking out over a flat plain leading up to the castle walls. The first thing to start appearing were groups of elementals of all kinds. I smiled, as the air elementals took the first flight to try and assault my position. Pointing with the staff, I calmly said, “[Sandstorm]” and watched as a massive cone of sand burst forth and shredded the elementals. The water elementals were slightly in front of the flame ones, so I cast [Thunderstorm] followed quickly by [Deluge]. The slow earth elementals eventually got into range, and I unleashed one of my all-time favorites, [Firestorm].

Eventually I started wearing down, I think around round 60 or so. They had progressed from basic elementals, to rare ones like ice, magical creatures, and finally all the races of light. My downfall was an elven sniper mounted on a griffin. I came back into the temple laughing at the challenge.

Congratulations!

You have seen how elemental weaknesses can change the flow of battle thanks to Gul’veth.

This time it was a multicolored light that left the weapon and entered me. Once again the temple opened up, only this time there were no other temples to enter. Simply a staircase heading over the lip of the cliff. I ate one more ration of my lovely jerky with some water, and decided to use my tent at the base of the stairs.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Rolling up my tent, I prepared for the end of this quest. I wanted to get back to Home Cave and see the kids again just to see how far they had progressed. Walking up over the cliff edge, I saw a slight depression with five miniature versions of the temples arranged in a pentagram. In the center of all this was a grayish altar with green veins running through it, and a swirling orb of multiple colors on it. I started walking towards everything, mindful of my surroundings but seeing nothing.

Upon closer inspection, the orb was floating a few inches above the altar. The lines forming the pentagram were made of some red stone, and there was a circle inscribed inside the intersecting lines. Inadvertently I walked around the altar widdershins (counterclockwise) as I studied it. Once I had completed a circuit, I got a series of popups.

Quest complete!

Shaman Norikk has given you the task of figuring out what was blocking his sight in the eastern caves. Your explorations have turned up a Necrotic Evolution Altar. Return to the shaman with your findings.

Level up!

You have reached the maximum level of this species. Please find a suitable evolution material and evolve as soon as possible, you will not earn any experience until you do.

Evolution material found!

You have come across a Necrotic Evolution Altar. This altar will allow for several possible evolutions of your current existence.

Evolution Option

Description

Hobgoblin

The most common evolution of goblin, hobgoblins are larger, stronger versions of goblins.

Ghastly goblin

A rare evolutionary branch of goblins, the ghastly goblin has been infused with necrotic energy. Similar to a ghoul, these creatures are immune to poisons but take massive damage from light attacks.

Bugbear

The largest of the goblinoid creatures, bugbears are hairy and heavily muscled creatures. Many an adventurer has underestimated their ability to move stealthily, to their own doom.

Orc

Orcs are the mainstay of a dark lord’s army. Strong and fearless, they make excellent shock troops when properly outfitted.

Oh? Lucky me, I’m going to be the first to evolve! Hmm, now what to choose? I enjoyed stalking through the shadows, the only drawback to the goblin monster so far has been its lack of height. Obviously the only choice to me would be the bugbear. I tapped my choice and confirmed it, then was cast out of my body. I had a free roaming view of my goblin as he grew from three feet in height to seven and gained muscles to make a gym bro jealous. My green skin turned a dusty brown, and coarse black hair covered almost my entire body. The only things left hairless were my palms and face. I was drawn back into my new body, and smiled as I was now looking down on the altar that was at eye level earlier.

Quest completed!

You have completed the Challenge the Curses questline. Having defeated all of the challenges arrayed before you, you are eligible for the highest rewards. You now have the option to change class and use these curses in battle!

Cursed swordsman

The cursed swordsman infuses his blades with necrotic energy and curses his enemies as he draws their blood. Beware as their dual blades give them the ability to inflict two curses on opponents at the same time

Witch doctor

Witch doctors are the necrotic version of shamans. Instead of blessing groups of allies in battle, witch doctors unleash devastating curses upon their enemies.

Well well well! Isn’t this a fantastic turn of events! I take back my earlier words about question mark rewards system, I will definitely be taking this! Since I enjoy my daggers and have no intentions of going PvP, I think I’ll upgrade to witch doctor. Once I chose my upgrade, I got another popup that had me smiling.

Welcome witch doctor!

Your progress through the curses challenge has given you your first battle ready curses!

Curse Name

Level

Description

Duration

Fear

Advanced lvl 1

Creatures up to your level +5 have a chance to flee battle. While fleeing, they suffer a -50% defense and +25% chance to receive critical hits

15 second duration, 30 second cooldown. Creatures affected by fear gain +10% resistance to secondary casts for 30 minutes

Rage

Advanced lvl 1

Creatures up to your level +5 will enter a battle rage, attacking anything within range. Affected creatures gain +300% attack, -150% defense

30 second duration, 1 minute cooldown. Creatures affected by rage gain a +15% resistance to secondary casts for 30 minutes

Mirrored damage

Advanced lvl 1

Creatures up to your level +5 will receive 30% of their base damage in return for every attack that lands, excluding death blows.

1 minute duration, 30 second cooldown. Creatures affected by mirrored damage gain +50% resistance to secondary casts for 1 hour

Glass defense

Beginner level 5

Creatures up to your level -5 will receive +50% damage from attacks

30 second duration, 1 minute cooldown. Creatures affected by glass defense gain +25% resistance to secondary casts for 30 minutes

Weaken resist

Expert level 1

Creatures up to your level +10 will have their magical resistances lowered by 80%

30 second duration, 1 minute cooldown. Creatures affected by weaken resist gain +35% resistance to secondary casts for 30 minutes

As a tier 2 monster, your effective level will be calculated as Current Level + 20 goblin levels.

Descriptions correspond to the level that will be affected by a curse with a 95% confidence. Actual results will vary based on multiple factors.

First evolution obtained!

Congratulations to character JohnnyBGood on being the first to obtain the evolution of a monster character. While there are still some issues that need to be addressed, Arctic Storm Entertainment is proud to announce that the option of choosing a monster race is now open for everyone. Since the first slots were only opened to selected testers, we have prepared a limited time offer for those who were excluded. For the next ten days or until reaching level 15, you can keep your light character in stasis in order to see what the monster race entails. Keep in mind, once the limit has been reached one of the characters must be deleted in accordance with game rules.

Would you like to teleport back to Home Cave now?

Yes. Yes I would.