The first thing that my awareness caught was a ringing in my head. It was way to loud! Not only that but I felt like I had gone on a week-long bender without breaks with the mother of all hangovers to show for it.

[Compilation of new status screen complete. Please review the results of the changes made.]

Name: Vlad von Carstein

Classes: Death squire (lvl. -9), Necromancer (lvl. -9), Shadowmancer (lvl. -9)

Race: Dökk Álfar

Statistics

Strength: 16 Agility: 32 Vitality 28 Endurance: 12 Intelligence: 26 Perception: 10

Innate abilities:

Dark vision: (black and white up to 30 meters in darkness)

Minor Regeneration: (Capable of healing most normal injuries within 3-4 hours.)

Bone Claws: (Sprout needle-like claws from the user's fingertips.)

The Liches gift: (Currently no item chosen, as such users heart has this designation.)

Defensive Carapace: (Able to cause a carapace to grow around the user's body and limbs. Gives as much armour as a gambeson currently.)

Vampiric Strength: (Each stat point invested in strength gives a second one for free.)

Class abilities:

Death Squire: N/A

Nercomancer: N/A

Shadowmancer: N/A

Skills: Basic > Advanced > Proficient > Expert > Master > [New classification unlocked: Pinnacle]

Basic Unarmed combat lvl. 1, Basic Evasion lvl. 1, Basic Stealth lvl. 1

Unspent stat points: 0 Unspent skill points: 0

Ok? so this is new. Seems that Goddess messed with my normal stat window as well. If I remember correctly a strength of around 20 to 24 was the upper average of normal civilians. So I guess I’m weaker or around the strength of a normal farmer huh?

Damn how I’ve fallen. Well, silver lining I’m faster than most and I don’t have to spend as much on strength to get it up thanks to that vampiric strength ability. Maybe it has some hidden stuff to it I can get to later?

Oh well, what can you do but play the card you’re dealt, then use them for revenge! Cue evil laughter here.

So with that out of the way, I closed my new stat window and what greeted me? Utter blackness. Great. Is this my life now? Moving from one fade to black to the other?

As I was about to begin growling in my head again. A sudden bump caused my head to slam against the ceiling of what I realized was a coffin. For some reason I thought of O’Malley, this seemed something right up that weird ghoul's alley.

So I was waking up to my third life, inside a coffin now… full circle or karmic comedy?

Whatever the reason I had to get out of here but for some reason, I felt I shouldn’t just call out. I mean would I be freaking out some poor gravedigger or something?

Another bump caused my head to crash against the celling of the coffin again and I grew annoyed. It was already uncomfortably tight in this wooden box and the constant bumping and jostling of the thing didn’t help matters much either.

With a light growl in my throat, I knocked hard on the lid. I then strained my new ears and heard what was happening outside.

Growls and howls, the panic of a horse or a pair of them, the frantic ‘hiya’s’ of a coach driver. So ok… that doesn’t sound so good. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Is that going to be how it is? I must have been at the level of Stalin or Hitler in some past life to have such bad luck.

Before I could bemoan my situation further I felt a powerful jolt and then the feeling of weightlessness overcame me. “OH shiiii!” I began to cry as I felt my self fall, the butterflies in my stomach going on overdrive as I fell for almost fifteen seconds straight.

Then as most falls end, I came to a sudden and jarring halt, in the middle of a river. Which at one hand was good as it broke my fall. On the other however it shattered the coffin I was in and I was now stuck in the middle of some vicious rapids. With the back of the coach almost drifting over a stone bridge overhead the last I saw before being engulfed in the water.

A weird thought came through my mind as I struggled against the current. Wasn’t it weird to get used to the feeling of drowning? I mean yeah, I’m struggling to get breath into my lungs and to try and grab at anything that would help me orient myself. Get my head above water and the like but my mind is just so... surprisingly cold at the moment.

As if I’m just going ‘yeah, yeah same old, same old.’ That kinda freaked me out, about as much as the situation I now found myself in.

As I frantically gripped around me I slammed with my back into a boulder. Finally, my head broke the surface of the water and I drew in as much air into me as I possibly could. Which was a little harder than one would expect as the rabid pace of the river was slamming some potent force into my chest.

I struggled to turn around without slipping away from the rock and careening down the river once more. With not only physical but mental effort I activated bone claws and defensive carapace.

I felt my nails grow as they tripled in length and hardened to the same strength as my bones. This helped me get purchase on the rock and I managed to slowly climb it. A strange greenish sort of film had bubbled out of all of my pours and had settled around most of my body.

The film was around half a centimetre thick and I felt how good it was at absorbing physical blows. Much like a gambeson would, just without the heavy cotton or cloth padding that it usually was made off, on the other hand, due to its thin layer I wasn’t all that keen on seeing if edged weapons would help the same way.

With a mighty groan, I plopped down on top of the stone, the water still flowing against me though only below my knees at this point. I continued to gasp and suck in air, occasionally interrupted by a coughing fit as the water that had gotten into my lungs was expelled.

This wasn’t fun. I’d rate this 0 out of 10 on trip advisor, would not go again… Ever.

Once my breathing was under control once more I wiped the water from my face and slowly sat up. Easier said than done given the slippery algae that coated most of the rock. I spat to the side as I saw that from my current position I could barely see the bridge I had supposedly fallen from and cursed a little.

Dam this was some strong water current.

I was situated in a narrow gorge, most likely one cut by the river or rather rapids I suppose the word for it is. The churning and sheer loudness of the water gave me that Idea. “Ok So how do I get out of this.” I muttered to myself as I looked around at the sheer rock faces around me.

Looking at my hands and the claws that now adorned my fingertips I looked from them to the rock face closest to me. Only a meter or two away. I mulled it over and then just thought, fuck it what have I got to lose?

Getting ready I went to my feet a little unsteadily as the darn algae was so slippery. Then with three loud exhales and big inhales I jumped… or tried to at least. My feet slipped from under me and I felt my fingertips scrape along the rock face and the feeling that creeped up my spine was the same one gets when hearing nail’s on a chalkboard, just also in your fingertips.

Cursing rather hard in my mind I fell into the river once more. Frantically I clawed and gripped at the walls to get any kind of purchase on the walls.

Right as I thought I was about to get a grip I felt a hard impact onto my back. Causing my breath to catch and I had a hard time even try to get a breath back to my lungs.

As I managed to grip a root that jutted out of the rock wall, I felt the tug on my arm as the root went taut. With my head barely above water, I began to see it slowly rip, fibre by fibre. With a mental groan, I began to ready myself for more time in the water before I felt a large hand grasp me, pulling me out of the water.

I felt like a Lhasa Apso dog recently pulled out of the bathtub. I was wet, annoyed and shivering like a leaf. Looking up through my long black hair, something I hadn’t notice till now. The hand holding me was huge, easily able to grip my entire upper body, the skin was grey and cracked with four fingers, including the thumb.

The wide crack toothed maw that greeted me after that told me all I needed to know. A giant troll. Great.

“Hello, little green elf.” It said in a friendlier tone than I had thought it would.

“Uh… Hello?” I said a little wary of the troll.

“You ok?” He then asked as he put me down on a soft patch of grass.

“I-I don’t know.” I replied as I shivered dreadfully. I was apparently only wearing a torn-up pair of trousers. Not even a shirt or shoes, great so I got the hardcore start of a survival game this time.

The troll cocked his head to the side as he looked at me. His body was almost six meters tall with the body of a bodybuilder with a forward hunch of his back. Extra-long arms and shorter legs with thick almost elephant-like feet.

A thick-lipped mouth with a jutting jaw, giving him a pronounced underbite where three larger teeth jutted out from his lips. His canines and one flat tooth almost in the middle.

“How you not know?” He asked as he placed one finger to his lips and then sat down, causing me to feel the heavy vibration running through the ground as he did. With his legs splayed in front of me, I was glad for the tattered leather loincloth/kilt he was wearing.

I coughed and slammed one fist against my chest as I almost puked up some more water. “I’m v-very cold, I-I’m wet.” I started before devolving into a light coughing fit before continuing. “And I have no idea where I am.” I said and gave the troll a rather pathetic look.

He simply stared at me for a while before smiling a goofy grin. “I can help!” He almost shouted with such childlike enthusiasm I got a little confused.

“You aren’t going to eat me?” I asked as I had fought quite a few of trolls of his size who had been terrorising villages, eating anything with legs insight.

He simply laughed boisterously and shook his hand in front of him. “Naw, naw! I don’t like elf taste and your elf.” He said with a toothy grin.

I gave him a burst of light laughter, though he gave me a grin as if I was laughing with him. I was laughing at the absurdity of it all. I mean this is supposed to be a savage brute that rightly should be munching on my legs while I scream my head off.

“So I-I don’t s-suppose you have any f-fire or some-something warm?” I asked, shivering like a leaf in a hurricane. Perhaps I should have gone with some undead race… oh yeah, I didn’t get a choice in that matter. Crap.

“OH! Oh! I have fire and warm furs!” He said standing up and almost vibrating in place. He then suddenly grabbed me and started half running into the woods.

“Waiiaiiaiait!” I tried to shout but the bounce caused my voice to rise and fall as I went up and down.

It didn’t take long for the troll to reach his cave and I realized I had been upwind of it this entire time. he smelled like a gym where thirty men had been heavily working out for almost three days without a shower. And they just took off their socks.

I tried not to gag as I didn’t want to insult my… gracious host. I just tried to breathe with my mouth instead. It didn’t really help.

Dropping me at the entrance to his cave, the troll moved in and smiled at me as he gestured for me to follow. I hesitated a little but then figured, hey if he wanted to eat me, he’d have killed me already.

“Here!” He said joyfully as he threw a whole bearskin at me.

I let out all the breath in my lungs as I flew out of the cave, entangled in the skin. “O...ow.” I let out before I stood and wrapped myself up in the skin. It was surprisingly warm and comfy.

Once I made it back inside I saw the troll chuckling with his goofy grin at me. “Yeah, I’m weak.” I chuckled back at him and took a seat close to the fire he had going. Looking around I saw that it was rather nicely sized cave, not too big and not too small. Easily could fit around two extra trolls, I think.

In the middle of the cavern was a small bonfire with a spit roast of some unidentified meat on it’s metal rod. I noticed a small cave painting on the far side. Peering at it I saw a finger painting of what I could only see as three trolls frolicking together.

“So what’s your name?” I asked once I felt warmth finally fill my chilled bones.

“I’m Trolgar.” He said with pride. A little close to the nose I thought but didn’t voice it. He reached over the fire towards me.

“Vlad.” I replied and shook his hand. I smiled a little at this strange troll. “I don’t suppose you know where I am?” I then asked once he pulled his hand back and began to turn the meat to see if it was cooked enough.

Trolgar smiled a little before his face grew to one of very deep thought. There was a heavy silence in the cave for a few long moments. “I don’t know.” He then finally said, looking a little proud at his proclamation. I could only chuckle.

“Do you know if there is any town around here?” I asked as I accepted a small slice of the meat, though I did eye it a little in curiosity.

Trolgar took another few long moments to think and I noticed his face scrunch up a little. “I know one town.” He then said as he pointed in some direction which just made me chuckle a little. “Its called Deepguard. Yeah, Deepguard!” He said proudly.

He then noticed I hadn’t taken a bite of the meat and pointed at it. “Try it, it's good. Horse.” He then said and that endearing goofy smile of his came back on his face.

I had to smile back at him and take a bite. The meat was so soft it seemed to almost melt in my mouth. My eyes went wide and I looked from him and down to the meat, back and forth a few times. “This is… Amazing!” I said as I began devouring the meat he gave me.

A strange look came over Trolgar’s face as he looked at me eat so ravenously. He seemed to struggle with something before he began, a little tentative, more than I’d have thought he would be. “Y-you think so?” He asked and I could have sworn he was blushing.

I chuckled and nodded vigorously as I finished as much as I could get into my mouth at a time. He stared for a moment before his goofy grin came back, even wider than before. “Have more! More!” He said happily, laughing as he ripped a few strips off and gave them to me, I was all too happy to accept.

We talked a little through the night as he told me how he saw and saved me from the rapids. How he had managed to get the horse meat in the first place. How he cooked the horse even. I felt a little bad for the traveller that he took the horse from but when he told me the wolves of the region had gotten him first I simply shrugged internally.

I had to admit Trolgar was not what I expected and as we got down to sleep I thought I realised why he was the way he was. He was lonely. I figured he’d have had two friends before but they either left or something happened to them.

I drifted off to sleep with thoughts of how I wanted to repay him somehow but I just couldn’t think of a way in my current state.

The morning after I woke with from a rather persistent ray of sunlight shining into my eyes. Groaning I rose and looked around the cave. Trolgar was nowhere to be seen and I got a little worried for him. “Trolgar?” I called out and stood, keeping the bear pelt wrapped around myself as I walked around the cave.

I looked outside and saw a few tree’s having broken but there was no sign of him. “TROLGAR!” I shouted into the woods but there was no answer, no matter how loud or many times I called out for him.

I got worried and left the cave and looked around more. When I had stepped out maybe four or five meters from the cave a rush of sounds came to my ears. I was confused for a bit and then when I took a step back the sounds stopped. “Magic… Damn.” I cursed as I ran forwards and then saw the footprints. I didn’t need to be a tracker to see that Trolgar had been attacked by humans or humanoids. But damn he put up one hell of a fight. I saw a severed arm and a leg in separate places but I didn’t see all that much of a troll’s blue blood. I wondered why that was when I came upon the clearing the brunt of the fighting had happened in.

A few sprung bear traps, chains and even collars or shackles lay scattered about. Slavers. Damn it! I looked up and saw I had slept well past noon. I knew trolls usually didn’t go out right before noon and then left once the sun was beginning to set and today was particularly sunny.

I was too late, much too late. I grit my teeth hard and made my way back into the cave to look for anything useful.

I rummaged through everything in there, throwing bones and pelts around until I found a single rusty sword which I tried to swing only to see it snap. Cursing I threw it as hard as I could at the wall and growled.

Deciding to take nothing other than what Trolgar had given me save some string, I left the cavern. Wrapping the bearskin around me and tying it so that I could move around without it falling off I thought back to the night before. The direction Trolgar had pointed towards Deepguard.

Once I thought I had the direction I made my way to a high tree and climbed it. The bone claws came in handy to climb and I activated the defensive carapace just to be safe. Apparently I had to consciously turn it on but if I lost consciousness it would go away.

Once at the top I looked in the direction Trolgar had pointed and while not the exact way it was in the general direction I saw chimney smoke rising in the distance. Seemed like a rather large settlement or a small town to the north-west of my position.

I tried to hurry as much as I could through the dense forest. The oaks, birches and pine trees made me have to take a few detours around the largest of them. This forest was very old that was for sure. When I had been travelling for around an hour or so I heard them.

Howling in the distance. I warily looked around as I continued to travel and after five minutes I head it again. Closer this time. I began to hurry, trying to get some distance between me and the pack.

It was in vain. After twenty minutes I noticed the black fur of one wolf running through the undergrowth to my left. A flash of white behind me though only from the corner of my eye as I looked to my left.

I began to look for a defensible position as I took to a full sprint.

It hadn’t been thirty or so paces when a growl came from a bush ahead and to the right and a large grey wolf jumped out. Fangs bared and maw snarling at me as it lunged for me.

It was only thanks to my bone claws that I managed to change course fast enough. I dug them into a tree and had my momentum force me to the left, right as the jaws snapped near my ear.

“I guess we can’t really talk this through can we?” I asked, not really hoping for anything from feral and hungry wolves. Hey if trash talking worked for spider-man's nerves, why not mine?

With my defensive carapace already active along with my claws I got ready for a vicious fight. I was just glad I had learned how to fight wolves while adventuring in my previous life, though that was with a team and I was alone now… and without a sword. Great. Frying pan meet fire, again.

I tried to wedge my back between two large oak tree's that had almost grown together, to at least cover my back. Then I snarled right back at the wolves as I counted them.

Four, ok so either this is a smaller than average pack or there are two in hiding. I counted on the two in hiding.

One lunged at me and I just managed to put my arm into its mouth while burying my claws into its throat.

Yipping the wolf shook it’s head vigorously before letting go and backing away. Giving it’s pack mates a go. I, on the other hand, got the first-hand experience of how useless my defensive carapace was against piercing attacks.

A clear intent of the wolfs teeth was in my forearm and bleed rather nastily. “I hope you guys don’t have rabies.” I growled unhappily before I took the bearskin off and flicked it at the wolves to make them back away a little, to buy some time.

Wrapping most of it around my injured arm to make a sort of fur shield I missed the second wolf attacking me. Its claws causing a furrow along the side of my abdomen.

I winced and cried out as I flashed out my claws to get the third wolf to back off before it attacked. This wasn’t looking good at all.

The fourth wolf came charging at me, snarling as it snapped it’s jaws at me. Just managing to toss my body to the side I saw it crash into the tree trunk to my side. Taking advantage, as it was pretty much the only thing I could do, I kicked hard into the wolfs side and raked my claws along its face. The pained yip it gave of made me feel bad for it.

No, NO! Don’t feel sympathy for the enemy Vlad! That’s how you’ll get yourself killed!

As if to prove my inner voices point the one I had wounded first came charging at me. This time I had a furry shield to protect myself as I put my forearm in front of its open maw. As if learning from the last time the wolf began raking its claws against my chest as I stabbed my own into its neck again and again.

When the wolf finally went limp my torso was like someone decided to play tick tack toe on my chest with a knife. Only they had been bad at it and started over and over again, sufficed to say it was a bloody mess.

I was really regretting that lowered strength score as I barely managed to throw the dead wolf at the fourth who was charging at me. Only to have the second come in and bite hard into my calf. “Mother!” I began before I hit as hard as I could with my fist into the wolfs eye to get it off me. It worked but the bastard shook his head when letting go and tore into my flesh.

Growling I kicked the beast with my good leg as hard as I could. Only to have the third jump at my back and try to snap its jaws into my neck but only managing to bite hard into my shoulder.

With a snarl, I jammed my claws into its eyes and held fast as I whipped it over my shoulder into the ground. I stomped on its head four times before the second tackled me hard.

Throwing me into the tree at my right and then it bit into my shoulder from the side and clawed at my torso and back at the same time.

I screamed as I slammed my fur armoured hand into its face. Right between the eyes and once it let go I just managed to shoulder slam it to get just a tad more distance from it than before.

I realized now as I stared at the last two wolves standing that this pack was small. Their gaunt bodies also told of their starvation. Seems this was a battle to the death for all involved.

My breath came quick and ragged as my bloody form stared the wolves down. I glanced to the sides quickly and to my right was a rather large stick.

The wolves caught my eye movement and both charged at me at the same time.

I just managed to jump and grab the stick and bring it swinging around to break upon the head of the second wolf only for the third to bite into my thigh. This one was a vicious bastard as it immediately began to shake its head and tug at my leg at the same time, driving me down to my knees.

Using the broken stick I jammed it into the wolfs eye.

When the wolf had stopped thrashing I looked to my left only to get the second black-furred wolf charge me down. With my left arm at its neck, I tried to jam my claws into its neck while it snapped and snarled at my face.

With one of its paws, it managed to rip down a cut at my right cheek. Right as I managed to jam my claws deep into its throat. I stabbed multiple times, not stopping until I realized in my fight fugue subsided as it simply lay limp on top of me.

Groaning I pushed the wolf off me and then lay there panting heavily. “Huff… And… Huff… let that… huff… be a… huff… lesson to you!” I managed to croak out as I gulped in breath after breath.

Not exactly the grand adventure of vengeance I had envisioned for myself. Nope, not in the least!

I didn’t know how long I lay there panting and trying to get some strength back into my limbs but I silently thanked Sutekh for his minor regeneration skill as I felt my body slowly begin to knit itself back together.

Slowly I got up, wincing with almost every movement as I did. Looking over the four wolves I had somehow managed to beat, I felt a bit of pride swell in my chest but then I kicked the black wolf into the stomach out of spite. They had wounded me rather heavily after all.

Searching for a suitable stick to lean on I began to make my way to the town once more. I was on a small hill which gave me a line of sight at the town. If I had managed to run for another twenty minutes I’d have made it there.

God, nature can be mean. With a light curse on my lips I began limping towards the town.

It was maybe large enough for around five-six hundred people and surrounded by a large and thick wooden wall. It reminded me a little of some frontier town deep in the untamed wilderness. Some of the wooden buildings were built on a small foundation of stone, here and there.

The smell of cooking, people and livestock came to my nostrils as I approached the town. My stomach gurgling and my body screaming for a break.

The town had a large wooden gate which had three guards with bows walking along the parapet of the wall and looking over towards the forest. At the gate itself where two men standing with shields and spears at the open gate.

One inspecting a cart that was coming into town. Most likely a travelling merchant or something, given the large carriage with a white tent over it and drawn by what seemed like four stout workhorses.

Civilization at last. I just hope they aren’t elf haters. That's just about the last thing I need.