You deployed boar spear trap. Critical success! Juvenile tunneling worm takes 400 damage every two seconds until escape. Juvenile tunneling worm is immobilized! Juvenile tunneling worm is impaled!

Juvenile tunneling worm suffers massive internal injuries x4 (max 5). Deals 800 damage per second for 10 seconds.

Juvenile tunneling worm uses [Agonized screech]. You are deafened for 5 seconds.

Due to its struggles, juvenile tunneling worm suffers massive internal injuries x5. Deals 1000 damage per second for 10 seconds.

Juvenile tunneling worm has died.

Congratulations, you have gained 5 levels.

“God I love this trap!” I yelled after checking the damage log. Not only was it doing massive damage, the only way to get off the trap would be to back up. A hard thing to think of when you are impaled by several foot long blades. There was a slight bend in the shafts of the spears from the momentum of the worm, but Dharkiss would be able to fix that. Add in a five times level up and I was ready to head out on Thanatos’ mission.

New Achievement unlocked

Just keep hitting it

You have killed a creature many though unkillable.

+5% total damage

Trap making

Advanced lvl 3

Advanced lvl 6

Traps do 36% more damage, are deployed 18% faster, and are 20% harder to detect

Ambush (Passive)

Intermediate lvl 6

Intermediate lvl 9

Attack damage increased by 29%, Critical hit chance increased by 19%

Loot from Juvenile tunneling worm

Tunneling worm leather (pristine) x60

Tunneling worm leather (low quality) x5

Mineral hardened slab (pristine) x2

Tunneling worm blood (average) x20

Acid cleansed ore (?) x4

While I didn’t get any equipment, the surplus of crafting materials was amazing. I couldn’t wait to see just what the blood could be used for, but would definitely be consulting Djarleen before I did anything with it. Mission completed, I thought about heading back to the city but decided to do a little exploring. The tunnel the worm had come from to eat the goblin days ago went for a while but dead ended in a large, round cavern without anything notable in it. Heading back the other direction, the tunnel gradually straightened. As I walked along, I started to notice that the stone showed signs of being worked. Slight depressions in the stone walkway gave way to full on cobblestones with a wheel channel cut down the middle. The walls had empty recesses for torches, and the malformed heads of demonic creatures formed the keystone for the arches above. Eventually the walls turned into carved bones, and not necessarily humanoid bones. Thick leg bones, bones that ended in bladelike protrusions, and massive tusks were more and more predominant.

The hallway ended in a door easily ten feet high. The archway was formed from two skeletal reapers with wings extended, their scythes defining the top of the door. Their other hands were by their sides, holding chains that extended to a seal at head height. The doors showed reliefs of demonic creatures forcing the light races into different areas. Awed by the detail in the artwork, I didn’t notice my hand reaching forward and touching the door.

You lack the key to enter this instance.

Dear god, that could have been bad. Thankful that I didn’t meet the requirements, I took several deep breaths to try and calm my heart that was thundering in my chest. After taking a few moments to collect myself, I stood up and took one last look at the amazing artwork before heading back to the city to inform Dharkiss about how well his trap worked.

“Khaliss!” I shouted as I entered the barracks. “Khaliss! Where are you at?”

“Quit your shouting, I’m right here. What do you need so badly?” He grumped as he exited his little building.

“I’m proud to report a successful mission. The juvenile tunneling worm has been eliminated.” As I said that, all sounds in the training yard stopped.

“Truly? How?” Khaliss asked, hope on his face. I pulled out the boar spear trap I had used and explained how the encounter had gone, leaving nothing out. I caught several trainees shaking their heads as I talked about how I had to watch the worm come barreling down the tunnel right at me, maw gaping wide. By the end of the telling, everyone was silent for a few seconds, thinking over the story. I pulled out one of the mineral hardened slabs to show just how massive the juvenile worm was. It was a five foot tall triangle with a flattened top, and fully six inches thick.

“This covered one of the jaws of the beast, and it has three jaws.” Several of the trainees kept touching it, and Khaliss was looking at it with a strange intensity. “If you are wanting it Khaliss, I’m most likely going to be selling it to Dharkiss. I’m sure he will be happy to make something out of it for you.”

“No doubt he will. Thank you for clearing that threat for us Angus, the city is safer now because of it. Are you going to explore that tunnel any further? And would you think your trap could hold up to an adult worm?”

“I already explored a bit. The side tunnel leads to an empty chamber, but you might want to send someone to check it out as I have no idea if anything in the walls would be worth mining. The other way leads to some sort of instanced dungeon. I didn’t meet the requirements for entry thankfully, and since it has a sort of mausoleum motif I am going to check in with the high priest of Thanatos before heading back.” He was nodding along with my explanation, I felt a lot more comfortable with the plan I had. “I highly doubt that trap would hold up to an adult worm though. If you look closely at the base of the spears, you can see that they are slightly bent. I think level 35 is the upper end of what this trap can handle, but if we come across one I’m sure Dharkiss and I can figure something out.”

“Very well, hopefully we won’t have to rely on that in the future.” Khaliss said, looking dejected as I explained why I wouldn’t trust the trap against a larger worm. “Was there anything else?”

“Nope. I’m off to see Dharkiss if you need anything?” As Khaliss shook his head, I stored the mineral slab and headed off to the blacksmiths. It was just late enough in the morning that I had to dodge several people, but was in too good of a mood to let it bother me.

“Dharkiss, you in here?” I practically shouted as I walked into the store.

“Angus? That you boy?” He popped up from behind one of the counters where he had been adding new inventory. “I can’t tell by the time, did the trap work? Tell me it worked! C’mon and hurry!”

“Easy there, get your apprentice in here too, I’m sure he’ll love hearing the story.” I gave him half a minute to get the boy out here, before pulling out the trap with some flair and launching into the story. “Dharkiss, the trap worked perfectly.” I said with a smile, and had to wait some more as he let out a victory yell. “The only damage the trap took was a slight bend in the spears near the base.”

“I’ll have that knocked out for you in a few hours boy, don’t you worry about it.” He assured me.

“No need, Dharkiss. I was thinking of keeping it as is, let it be a trophy of sorts.”

“Heh, yeah. I could see that, ok then. So how did you deploy the trap?”

I went through the entire battle, describing how I used the trap and how the massive internal injuries were what killed it. As I told the story, the apprentice’s eyes were gleaming as I assumed he was having daydreams about creating a weapon to kill some legendary monsters.

“So, what all did you get from the corpse? I remember something about a quarter of the haul being mine?” He said while elbowing me in the side at the end of my story.

“Of course, and you get first choice on buying what comes from my share. Let’s head over to the counter there and I’ll set out some of the stuff.” I walked over and placed one of each of the looted items, only leaning the mineral slab against the counter. “So I have two of the mineral slabs of pristine quality, 60 of the pristine leather, 5 of the low quality leather, 20 of the blood all average, and 4 of the acid cleansed ore of unknown quality.”

“I see. That’s quite the haul, though it doesn’t really split well does it?”

“Not really. How about this then. I have no idea what to do with the ore or the slabs, so you take all of them and all the low quality leather. It shorts you in number of items, but I’m willing to bet the cost of one of those slabs is substantially higher than the leather.”

“Hmmm, I can agree to that if you sell me 15 of the pristine leathers. That’ll give me some stuff for my higher quality weapons, and the apprentice can use the low quality stuff to beef up the stats on his gear. Say three gold per leather?”

“Done deal, thanks for being easy to deal with on this.”

“Bah, you don’t deal hard with friends, boy. Now you should take them leathers over to the Lizard’s Leather, see what they can make for you.”

“Will do Dharkiss, thanks for everything.” I said as I waved and headed out the door.

Dealing with the owners of the Lizard’s Leather was fairly straightforward. They would make a leather set to maximize stealth, agility, and dexterity and would pay one gold for each leftover leather. They wanted to take their time, so it would be a few days before I could go back and pick it up. My next stop was the temple of Thanatos, as I knew Djarleen would take up most of my time.

“Good afternoon brother, how is the temple today?” I asked as I entered, and saw the high priest light up with a smile.

“Ah, back again brother? Perhaps with some more bodies for study?”

“No bodies today brother. Turns out there are some things that are too big to fit in my body bag.”

“Hoh? What did you manage to kill that was that large?”

“Juvenile tunneling worm.”

“I wish to call you a liar, but your aura never flickered. In fact, it seems much stronger than the last time I saw you. Have you…”

“Yep! I passed level 20 when I killed the worm and came to learn of the quest for Lord Thanatos.”

“Excellent! Head over to the altar, while I grab a few essentials.”

I went over as directed, and made a bow in respect for Thanatos. The high priest stepped up with a bowl and a bunch of dried herbs. He lit the herbs and dropped them into the bowl, then took a deep inhale of the resulting smoke. When he looked at me again, his eyes were glowing green.

“You have met the minimum standards I set, and are now able to hear about the quests I will set before you. Through the years, mortals have always feared death, for I come for one and all eventually. However, there are some that have managed to defy the order of this world. Four of the most egregious ones have broken several taboos, and I am tasking you with retrieving them. Deep in a forgotten mausoleum the first has hidden. She has broken her vows as a spirit caller, and uses her power to enslave souls that have lost their way through the cycle. Stealing from their energy, countless souls have been drained unto oblivion to keep her alive. Hidden in the Underdark, the Citadel of Bones hides a necromancer. Somehow he has found a way to corrupt the bones and bodies of fallen heroes, creating abominations that must be destroyed. Once a mortal mage long ago, his soul bound to a phylactery. Ages have passed as the lich’s foulness crept into the land. He now fuses both body and soul of creatures, threatening the cycle. A master vampire that history has forgotten, hiding in a place that has never seen the light of the sun. Enslaving priests of all the gods, forces his thralls to summon angels for him to feast upon. You are tasked with bringing them their final deaths. Should you be able to, use this dagger for the final blow. Each of the crystals embedded within have been treated to bind the soul of the targets.” As Thanatos finished speaking through the priest, he handed me an ornate dagger. The blade had a double curve, and was incredibly sharp. The crossguard was a black and silver design of a reaper with its cloak opened, that continued down the hilt. The blade of the scythe held by the reaper formed a D guard for my fingers, and there were four crystals embedded in the body of the reaper.

Divine Quest

Death comes for all I

Thanatos has given you the task of bringing death to those who would cheat him and break taboos. The first is a spirit caller who drains the power of spirits to fuel her immortality. Slay her before the balance of the worlds is sundered.

Quest

Success

Failure

Slay the spirit caller, bonus if the final blow is struck with the Dagger of Thanatos

Increased standing within the church, experience, unique item, next quest in the series

Decreased standing within the church, loss of the quest chain

Dagger of Thanatos

This stylized dagger has been specially prepared to steal the souls of four individuals. The lower the health of the victim, the higher the likelihood of success. Victim must have health in the red zone to be effective.

Damage: 1

Durability: Indestructible

Souls contained: 0/4

I immediately accepted. How often are you handed a divine chain quest? Before I could celebrate too much, Thanatos continued talking through the high priest.

“A word of caution before you go. The first of your targets utilizes spirits as her weapon. You will need some way to both see and combat them.” With those final words, the green glow faded, and the high priest slumped in exhaustion.

“Woah, easy there.” I said as I reflexively darted forward to catch him.

“Thanks brother.” He said while panting. “Channeling our lord like that can really take it out of you.”

“I’m sure it does. Speaking of Lord Thanatos, he suggested that I find a way to see and combat spirits. Do you have any way to do that?”

“No.” He said with a sigh. “At least, not without using the power of our Lord. I’m sure if he wanted you to do it that way he would have offered though.”

“I’m sure you’re right. Well, unless you need anything brother I’m off to find a way to combat spirits.”

“I will be fine brother, good luck on your quest.”

“Thanks.” I said before heading out. Once I was outside, I stopped to think about how I would go about hurting spirits. The easiest way would be with magic, but my only magic attacks had rather long cooldowns. Keen edge required 30 seconds between uses, which in a fight is an eternity. Mana shockwave would probably be devastating, but it required charging that wasn’t always feasible in battle. If I remember right, pure physical attacks only did something like 5% damage. Yet another losing proposition. I started walking, mumbling and rejecting odder and odder scenarios in my mind. Eventually I found myself at Djarleen’s shop, so I headed in.

“Good afternoon Djarleen, how is my favorite alchemy teacher?”

“Angus, unless you are cheating on me, I am your only alchemy teacher. You wouldn’t be cheating, would you?” She asked, eyes narrowing.

“Ha, no I would never do that Djarleen. I’m just in a good mood, I happened upon a new reagent, and wanted to see what you could teach me about it.”

“Oh really? Let’s see what you got then.” I pulled out a vial of the blood and handed it to her.

“TUNNELING WORM BLOOD!” She shrieked. “Where? How? How much?” She rapid fired questions at me.

“Easy. I simply killed a juvenile one. Dharkiss made a fantastic trap, and I got 20 vials of blood as loot. So, do you know what I can make with this?”

“Angus.” She said, taking a breath to calm herself down. “You, are the most infuriating apprentice I have ever come across, and I did some crazy shit myself. In nearly a month you have created a new potion, ruined your chances with making healing potions, found a copycat recipe, and now you show up with a reagent that is so hard to get they keep the recipes under lock and key. In fact, that reagent is so rare it falls under a rarity clause. If you come across the reagent, you are highly encouraged to turn it over to the guild for future study.”

“Just highly encouraged? Well, they will keep. I’ll take a day to think on what to do about it, how does that sound?”

“That’s fine.” She said, shoulders slumping. “Just don’t go experimenting with it without me, okay?”

“For sure. Now, I also need to pick your brain on something a little less controversial.”

“Something tells me not to believe you.” She said with a small smile.

“Uh huh, well unless needing a way to see and kill spirits is controversial I’m not lying.”

“You’re going to have to be more specific on spirits. Are we talking elemental spirits, disembodied souls, or extra-planar entities?” She asked, suddenly all serious.

“I would guess disembodied souls and possibly extra-planar entities? All I know for sure is that I’m eventually going to have to fight a spirit caller that has been using spirits to extend her own life.”

“Ok. I can work with this, and you’re right. For once your request isn’t anything controversial. We have two main routes we can go. The first, and most expensive, is potions. You would need potions of mystic vision, which lets you see the magical spectrum. They run about 5 gold apiece, and last an hour each. For attacking, do you have any magic attacks?” When I shook my head no she continued, “Damn, that hurts. Ok, we can do potions of ethereal flame and combine it with an ethereal shift potion, each costing 50 silver.”

“What do those last two potions do?”

“Ethereal flame reacts with any spectral entities. Coating your weapon in it will add 100 fire damage per attack for 15 attacks or 1 hour, whichever runs out first. The ethereal shift potion temporarily makes your weapon partially ethereal. You will do 50% weapon damage to spectral entities, and 50% damage to physical entities. It only has the hour time limit.”

“Damn. That’s going to get really expensive really quickly. Is there any way I could make the potions and just buy the reagents from you?”

“The price I quoted is with you making the potions. The reagents aren’t ubiquitous. So, the other option depends on your knowledge. What do you know of variants?”

When I revealed my negligible knowledge, Djarleen set out on a lecture to educate me. The normal way would be constant exposure to certain things. Her example was a burrowing vole monster. They often end up eating large amounts of ores in their burrowing. Eating enough over a long period of time can lead to their claws and teeth being slowly replaced with that metal. Of course, only around 5% to 10% actually survive the transformation. The other way was faster, guaranteed to work, but also incredibly painful. The Alchemists Guild had a larger transmutation array. The outer part of the array would be the parts that need to be changed. For the vole, ten metal claws with the vole in the center would change just one of its claws to that metal. It would also seal the mana of the transmuter and the transmutee for a day. The other limitation to variants was that they could only enhance one aspect, so I couldn’t get a way to see into the magic spectrum and have mithril claws for myself.

“Ok, I think we should do a compromise between the two. I’ll make the potions for ethereal shift and flame. How do we make me a variant that can see in the magical spectrum?”

“Well the easiest way is to gain a mana sensing organ, and luckily for you there are plenty of those around. The question is, how much work are you willing to put into this?”

“If I only get one shot at this, then I want the best there is.”

Smiling sadistically, she answered, “I had a feeling you would say that. Have you ever heard of a lovely creature called the Crayclaw?”