His breath came to him suddenly as though he had been drowning within the sea for an eternity. His eyes flashed open and he flung forward, gasping for air as the blanket splayed forward to reveal his almost entirely bare form, save for his shorts.

He gasped when he saw this strange sight, looking at his slender fingers, his powerfully muscular yet lean physique, something more akin to a panther. As he shuffled about, he realised he had not received the grace of a panther, but rather the shambling ability of an elephant. He stood and gazed upon his body, seeing muscles where he had never seen muscles before, his fingers trailing along the crevices and contours of his body as though they were exploring a foreign land.

‘Whoa,’ he couldn’t help but think, ‘this is cool.’

Then his eyes came to the rest of his world as he looked down to the wooden floor which his bare foot tread lightly, the walls were made of wood too, and then the bedside drawer and the bed were made of different wood though were far more well crafted.

NATURE

D20 (11) + SMART (4) = 15

SUCCESS!

Then within his mind flooded knowledge that he had realised he had known all along, for the wood before him was a red oak found near the town Red Oak, which had been so creatively named after it. It was decent enough wood, widely known for being easy to work with for most carpenters and crafters. They could also use certain resins and oils to finish it, making the weapons as powerful as iron.

He pulled back and then reached up to hold onto his head, trying to understand what happened. He looked towards the bedside drawer and reached for it tentatively, but then stopped. Did he not have powers now? Powers that were gifted to him by a god? He had chosen such powers and now he had the chance to use them, alone and in the safety of this room.

He raised a hand and then narrowed his eyes as concentration filled his mind. Nothing appeared forth and he frowned. He inhaled deeply and then closed his eyes to concentrate once more. “Come forth and assist me,” he said quietly and then a gentle tingle filled his hand, flowing from the veins within his wrist and then out to the tips of his fingers as though he had sat on it for some time and then only had just pulled it out.

He gasped as a small spectral hand, not unlike his own, filled the air and then floated over towards the dresser before it opened it for him to reveal a set of clothes, familiar to his eyes and yet he had never seen them before. He stared at the spectral hand which floated over towards him. He raised a hand to meet it, the tips of his fingers touching the tips of it’s fingers. It was cool to the touch and then it dissipated, leaving him alone once more with his thoughts.

‘What the hell that was so cool! What was that?! Was that magic?! It was, wasn’t it? I’m a wizard, I’m a wizard, damn it Adam, you’re a bloody wizard!’

The excitement crashed through his body in such a way that there was a torrent deep within his body as the tingling flowed further about his body.

“Wait, wait, wait…” he whispered to himself. He inhaled deeply, soothing away the crashing torrent before he was as still as a well in winter. He rolled his neck from side to side and then looked down at those new fingers of his.

“Let me see if everything is fine first,” he said as he willed forth his status.

NAME Adam EXPERIENCE 0 CLASS Warrior RACE Half-Elf BACKGROUND Otherworlder SUBCLASS N/A MIGHT 18 [+4] TRAINED BONUS (+2) LEVEL 1 QUICK 8 [-1] SPEED 30' CLASS Wizard TOUGH 14 [+2] LANGUAGES KNOWN Basic, Elven, Dwarven SUBCLASS N/A SMART 18 [+4] TOOLS KNOWN Smithing, Enchanting, Tinkering LEVEL 1 WISE 8 [-1] WEAPONS KNOWN All ATTRACT 10 [+0] ARMOUR KNOWN All TRICKS KNOWN Flame Missile, Message, Mage Hand SKILLS KNOWN Athletics, History, Arcane Lore, Investigation SPELLS KNOWN Alarm, Mage Familiar, Identify, Magic Arrows, Sleep, Shield ABILITIES Dark Sight, Fey Blood, Big Boned, Overdrive, Dueling, Tough Spirit SPELLS AVAILABLE Alarm, Identify, Magic Arrows, Sleep, Shield MAGIC ABILITIES Spellcasting, Magic Vigor MELEE ATTACKS Longsword: +6, 1d8+6 slash

Javelin: +6, 1d6+6 pierce HP 20 RANGED ATTACKS Javelin: 60', +6, 1d4+4 pierce DEFENSE 16/18 MAGIC ATTACKS Flame Missile: 300', +6, 1d6 fire

Magic Arrows: 60', 3x 1d6+1 MANA 2/2 INVENTORY Heavy chain, longsword, shield, 2 javelins, backpack, bedroll, mess kit, tinderbox, 10 torches, 10 days of rations, waterskin, 50' heavy rope, traveler's clothes, tinkering tools, pouch, spell book, wizard's die CURRENCY 20 GP

It appeared in that instant within his mind, the ability to see and understand each and every single part of it had also filled his deep being. He could look at a word and understand what it meant in the context of the world, as well as the various stats he held and how they fared.

He was strong, very strong. His intelligence would be perhaps the highest in the entire town, but he’d need to keep that to himself unless he wanted everyone to hate him.

HISTORY

D20 (11) + SMART (4) + TRAINED (2) = 17

SUCCESS!

Within this particular region, that is to say the Kingdom of King Aragora, half-elves did not face much discrimination. There was once an issue a century ago between the nearby elves and the humans, but the Kingdom has always been home to small groups of minorities here and there, depending on the region of course, though most cities welcomed the various races in order to increase their influence and prosperity. A town like Red Oak was fine with half-elves, though there may be a shadow of suspicion between some of the folk.

So as long as he didn’t act like a smart ass then he’d be fine, which wasn’t hard to do as Adam was generally only a smart ass to his brother and sister, which was of course the average thing to do for a brother.

After peering at his status for a long while to make sure everything was in order, Adam lifted out his clothes and then slipped into them. They were thick and heavy, though of course his great strength and Big Boned ability made it such a trivial affair, though clothing was always trivial to walk around in. His clothes were tan and grey, unassuming and as average as could be. His boots were thick and hearty, made of decent leather, they had cost quite a pretty penny no doubt.

Then at the base of the bed he could see the glorious items all piled up, his chainmail and helmet over his shield, his blade had been laid to rest against the head of his bed for easy access, but he knew the most exciting item lay beneath the armour and within his pack. He peeled the armour off of his pack as quietly as he could and slipped into it, shuffling his arms through the chain links which rattled and the sounds of which bounced off the walls.

Adam cleared his throat once he was done, as if apologising to anyone nearby that had heard such rattling through the near paper thin walls. Then he squat down and peered through the top of the pack, as though he was a squirrel trying to find his stash of acorns before he saw the dark leather. He reached down and then lifted up the book, wiping his hand across it. It was soft and supple like a baby’s bottom, but worth so much more.

He wasn’t entirely sure he liked using that comparison, but he ignored it and then opened the page. The page was silk soft and it gave to his finger as a lover would to his touch. He stared at the simple designs that dotted across the first page, the intricate details that filled within each rune, and then his eyes trailed the flow of them as they danced for him on the page.

“Beautiful,” he whispered as he reached down and then brushed his finger tip along one of the runes, which seemed to stick to his finger with great delight before he pulled his finger away. He was getting lost within the designs, but he forced himself away before he closed the book and then closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of the book. It was the smell of a brisk walk during a spring morning.

He checked the two tabs to see which spells he had prepared for the day and the mana he was able to utilise.

Spells Available

Alarm, Identify, Magic Arrows, Sleep, Shield

Mana Available

2/2

A fine set of spells, he assumed he didn’t need the Familiar spell as he had no idea whether or not he could actually find the items in order to cast the spell, and even if he did find it, he could always cast the spell over time through meditation as long as he had some flames and the required gem dust, as it said within the spell description.

Then he stepped out, pack at hand. His sword was strapped to his side tightly with the leather belt, his shield lay over his pack and covered it entirely. He pulled over the hood of his traveller’s cloak and then crept through the musky hallway and then down the stairs, as quickly as he possibly could.

STEALTH

D20 (6) - QUICK (1) - HEAVY CHAIN (5) = 0

ABSOLUTE FAILURE!

As he approached the bottom step, it creaked with such a passion that he thought he had stepped on a dying beaver with the way it squeaked. He looked up as his heart pounded, not one for attention, but it appeared that only the innkeeper had looked over his way.

The innkeeper was a devilish looking fellow, and by that, he seemed to be someone with devil blood running through his body. His skin was inferno red, his horns crawled all the way back around the top of his head like a tiara that shaped the sides of his head, and his smile was as pretty as roses plucked at their zenith. He was older, perhaps in his early forties or so, and wore a beard the same way he wore a smile, easily and well.

“Come on knife-ears,” he said with a voice that was low and playful, “we won’t be biting you.”

A patron that had been sitting on a stool stopped chewing on his bread to smile and then continued with his cheeks filled to the brim as though he were a chipmunk.

Adam nodded and then strolled his way to the stool and then sat down. Adam threw a glance towards the soup bowl that the patron was eating from and it seemed as though it wouldn’t poison him so he gathered that the inn was decent enough.

“Good morning,” Adam said, “how are you doing?”

“I’m doing well since you paid your keep before you left, not like some of these bums.”

The patron beside Adam stopped chewing to frown and then continued with his cheeks less filled to the brim, no longer chipmunk chipper.

“What can I do you for? We’ve got porridge, eggs, bananas, apples, and-” he leaned back and shouted out, “Amira! Do we have Rayleigh’s pears?”

“No papa, no pears,” replied a young woman’s voice as sweet as honey, “but we have apples and tomatoes.”

“No pears, but we’ve got tomatoes,” the innkeeper said.

“I’ll take some scrambled eggs and a roasted tomato, if that’s fine.”

“It’s more than fine, boy, you want another fruit with that as well, or two tomatoes?”

“Just the one tomato and a banana, thank you.”

The innkeeper nodded and then shouted that back to Amira before Adam heard the sounds of shuffling and scuttling about around the back, the clanging and clobbering not filling him with much confidence about the food. Again he glanced to the soup bowl, which was quite murky though he wasn’t sure if that was because of the broth or something else.

“No soup anymore, boy,” the innkeeper said, “usually goes out with the cheapskates.”

The patron beside Adam then placed down a few copper pieces. “I’ll get you the rest tonight,” the meek voice called, barely a whisper, though Adam was right beside him and so that did not matter.

“Right you will, right you will, or I’ll string you in front of ol’ Bertha and let her watch as I toss my tomatoes at you.”

The patron nodded and then looked over to Adam with a short look, “careful with the devil man, boy, he likes his silver.”

“I like my gold more and don’t you forget it,” the devil man roared with laughter, slamming the side of his fist against the counter, which didn’t even flinch at the thumping. When he was done with his laughter he turned to Adam and eyed him up with a keen look. “Don’t get your kind about here, what brings a half-breed around Red Oak?”

“Probably the same reason why you’re here, mister devil man,” replied Adam, “to make some gold.”

“To make some gold, huh? Well I took your coin last night and seemed like you had a bit of gold to spare, are you a big spender?”

“I have things I buy as any other,” Adam tried to reply as cool as a cucumber, but he sounded more like a man who didn’t want to be found out with a certain magazine in his bag. “My goal is to be an adventurer of sorts.”

“An adventurer of sorts? What sort of adventurer of sorts?”

“The kind that adventures and makes gold coins whilst doing it,” Adam replied back confidently.

“Ah, that kind of adventurer,” the devil man laughed. “That’s the kind of adventurer I like most, more money to spend around the inn.”

Adam nodded at the sentiment as he glanced around quickly about the inn. There were close to a dozen or so patrons, some even in groups. They were all muttering and murmuring amongst one another as people often did when in such groups.

“So what kind of skills do you have?” the devil man asked.

“I have skills,” Adam said as he tried to figure out how he wanted to word it exactly. “The kind where I can swing a sword well and even a little more.”

“You don’t seem to be the sneaky type, what with your armour and such,” the devil man teased.

“I’m strong,” Adam said proudly, trying to ignore the fact that he had let the entire tavern know he had arrived on the scene.

“Oh, that so?” the devil man chuckled before he leaned back. “Amira! Fetch me a pan!” the devil man called.

A clattering of items filled the air before a metal pan flew out towards the devil man, who caught it by the handle as casually as one would swat a fly, before then motioning it to Adam.

Adam took it with a suspicious look in his eyes, raising a brow questioningly towards the devil man.

“Go ahead, bend it.”

“Bend it?” Adam asked.

The devil man nodded and then leaned forward, crossing his arms over the edge of the counter as he watched with an intense gaze.

ATHLETICS

D20 (18) + MIGHT (4) + TRAINED (2) = 24

SUCCESS!

Adam braced himself as his arms then began to flex, his heavy chain armour shuddered slightly and jingled as he clutched at the handle and the edge of the pan. A moment passed before the pan began to give, slowly arching until the pan handle touched the edge of the pan bottom, as though a gentle kiss. Adam’s arms were burning with effort by the end of it all.

The devil man’s face dropped into astonishment and then surprise before finally falling on a wild grin. “You weren’t kidding were you, boy?”

“I don’t kid,” Adam said with a straight face, “I am a man.”

“That you are! What is your name, little elf man?”

“I’m Adam,” he said. He had kept the name, for he couldn’t bear the thought of losing the name he had been given by his parents. He could no longer see them, but at the very least he could be reminded of them with his name. “What’s your name, big devil man?”

“Khan,” he reached over with a hand to shake Adam’s.

“A pleasure to meet you, Khan.”

“You as well, Adam. What rank are you?”

“Rank?”

“Ay,” Khan nodded, “your adventuring rank.”

“I’m unranked,” Adam said as he paused to think. He was fairly certain he was unranked at the moment.

“Unranked? Well what are you doing here? Go on and head to the guild to get yourself assessed, you can’t be walking around unranked when you’re such a strong one.”

Adam flushed a gentle peach as the embarrassment washed over his body. His lips quivered as he tried to not smile. “Where is the guild?”

“It’s not too far, follow the main road out and then when you get to the centre of town you’ll see it up on a higher road, just take a path straight over to it, it’s easy enough.”

“Thank you kindly,” Adam said as then a young woman appeared, a tray in hand, with a large portion of scrambled eggs, a roasted tomato that had been cut in half and was charred so beautifully over the front and sides, and a banana that had been cut into disks which then circled around the tomato halves.

The devil woman was stunning, her hair was long but done up in a braided tail that bounced with each step. Her form was that of a dancer’s, and she was as graceful as one too as she walked over to place down the tray ahead of the half-elf. She turned instantly after to return to the kitchen, though Adam’s eyes followed her form on the way back before Khan swung his head around to stare into the half-elf’s eyes.

Adam pulled back suddenly as his eyes widened. Khan placed down a wooden fork made of red oak and then crossed his arms.

“Thank you kindly,” Adam muttered meekly, becoming a little chipmunk himself as he began to shovel the food down his gullet.

“Don’t go choking on me,” Khan said as he then threw a look over his shoulder to the doorway. “Amira, some milk!”

Adam continued to eat before the milk arrived, which Khan slid over. Adam looked up at Khan with a raised brow as Khan returned back to doing what innkeepers do best, wiping a mug down with a cloth as he kept an eye out on the others.

Adam drank the milk slowly. It was sweet and fatty, the best kind of milk known to man. He gulped it down with eagerness, placing down the mug firmly before wiping the white film off of his upper lip.

“Thank you,” he said as politely as he could whilst trying to not choke on some food before continuing to eat until he was finally done with the buttery eggs, the squishy tomatoes, and the firm bananas. The banana tasted a little weird after eating a tomato, but it was delicious either way.

“You head straight to the guild now, you hear?” Khan said as he motioned his head to the door.

“I will, thank you,” Adam said as he hopped off his stool and then did a cursory look over his items before hoisting over his pack. “I’ll be seeing you,” and with that he was off to the heavy doors and to adventure.

“I’ll be seeing you and your gold too,” Khan laughed as Adam left, accompanied by the sound of his humour.