Enchantment - Novice I

It becomes easier to enchant objects. Enchantment is the direct transfer of organized or disorganized mana into a soulless container. Effect is based on skill level and INT.

Fireball - Novice II

The user creates a ball of fire that can act as a projectile. The greater the amount of mana used, the larger and hotter the fireball created is. The fireball burns until it consumes all the mana used in the spell and any other fuel it is consuming. The range of a fireball projectile is determined by the amount of mana fuel and the velocity at launch. The size and temperature of the fireball is based on skill level and INT.

Mana cost is based on size of fireball, temperature of flames, skill level, and INT.

Arcane Bolt - Novice I

The user creates a ball of arcane energy (Hallow attribute) that can act as a projectile. The greater the amount of mana used, the larger and more energetic the projectile created is. The projectile lasts until it consumes all the mana used in the spell. The size and power of the projectile is based on skill level and INT.

Mana cost is based on size of projectile, power of projectile, skill level, and INT.

Enchant: Hallow - Novice II

The user enchants an object with unorganized unaligned mana (Hallow attribute). The object will evoke unaligned mana when a force is applied to it. The enchantment lasts until all mana is either evoked or dissipated.

The speed of mana transfer and maximum amount transferable into an object is based on skill level, INT, and the target object.

Rate of dissipation is based on target object.

Mana cost is based on mana transferred into object, target object, skill level, and INT.

Mana Manipulation V – Minor Perks

You may select 1 of the following. The selection varies based on the user’s learned skills, abilities, and traits. +1 to INT.

Fine Control

Small amounts of mana are more easily manipulated. The smaller the amount, the greater the increase. (Note: Very small amounts of mana are naturally difficult to manipulate)

Gross Control Large amounts of mana are more easily manipulated. The larger the amount, the greater the increase. (Note: Very large amounts of mana are naturally difficult to manipulate) Tactile Feedback (Skill: Mana Sense) Mana that is being manipulated by the user is more acutely sensed. Directed Destruction (Skill: Evoke) Evoked mana is more easily manipulated. (Note: Evoked mana is naturally difficult to manipulate) Re-Enhancement (Skill: Enchantment) Mana in enchanted objects if more easily manipulated. Sympathetic Blooms (Trait: Creeping Beryl Blooms) Manipulation of mana in Beryl Blooms is subject to no active resistance. (Note: The resistance of Beryl Blooms to external mana manipulation is naturally low barring some exceptional cases)

Roy’s attention snapped away from the perk screen as the sound of tortured metal assaulted his ears. He had arrived at the goblin camp greeted by an entirely different sight than last time. Bit by bit the barricades, walkways, and houses were being taken apart by crews of goblins working with surprising alacrity. They leaped from perch to perch, tools cutting through steel and cement with supernatural ease.

Everything they could pull out from the ground they took and tied down to their makeshift wagons, big lumbering things with oversized wheels and adorned with curious bits of wood work that resembled snarling dragons and soaring angels.

Gwab-Chag had met them at the gate, and after a few brief words the goblin guard had led them to the central tent and deposited them in an empty division with a cluster of plastic folding chairs. Epipollus was out, “counting stuff,” as Chag had put so eloquently.

“You seem rather focused,” Madelyn had taken apart her gun and now all the bits of metal lay on the ground arranged in neat little rows and columns as she meticulous cleaned each piece and then placed then on a white sheet she’d pulled out of her pocket.

“Ah… just looking over the blue screens I got, the perk one in particular,” he was planning on asking Epipollus for advice again.

“Sounds fascinating, give me a glimpse?”

“I thought you had like, a millions skills levels? Haven’t you already seen your share of perks?” one point of DEX at every level five and ten. It sounded as if she were genuinely curious.

“Remember when I gave you the tee-el-de-are? I skipped over one fascinating tid-bit,” she tucked her finished masterpiece into its holster and began to disassemble her second gun.

“As you’re no doubt aware, some combinations of skills, abilities, and traits unlock more options for perks.”

“Un-huh,” as a gamer the necessary conclusion was that if you focused too heavily on grinding a few skills you would lock yourself out of powerful synergies later down the road because you would have already picked your perks, “You didn’t get many options because you only got skills levels for different firearms, right.”

“Precisely, Watson. Thankfully, that was when the Gods decided to grant me a vision!” she flashed him a manic smile and if it were not for the number of times Roy had fallen for her tricks he might have started to worry.

“They spoke to me through the omni-present blue screen and offered me salvation. Divine grace would be extended to this one for the duration of a single month, after which I would have to undergo their tribulation to determine if I am worthy of further enlightenment,” she had gone from a manic grin to a serene smile. Her eyes were half lidded and her head humbly lowered as she knelt on the ground, weapons of war arrayed in front of her.

“Normal speak please.”

“Sigh,” she said, “Pagans and their lack of faith.”

There was a brief silence and Roy was about to open his mouth when she interjected.

“After I got all my skill notifications another screen popped up. It offered to extend the deadline for distributing my perks for a month, after which we could review my progress and determine if I needed more time to round out my resume,” she gave him a flat stare, “Happy now Mr. Stone?”

“Thanks,” he replied, trying in vain to hide the sarcasm, “Do you want me to like, read out all my perks or something?”

“It would be an honor, but I’m afraid our little heart to heart will need to wait for another time, our most green and gracious host is about to arrive.”

Her announcement had barely ended before the flaps to their little meeting room were pulled aside and Epipollus walked in, clipboard in one hand and ballpoint pen in the other.

“Ah Mr. Stone, welcome, welcome. I’d offer you refreshments if I could, but as you’ve no doubt seen for yourself, the whole place is a right mess,” he took a seat and dusted a smattering of wood shavings off what Roy could only describe as a loose brown vest in silver trim. It was worn over a beige robe embroidered with little lizard like creatures, “And your friend here, Miss?”

“Maes, Madelyn Maes.”

“Pleasure to meet you Miss Meas, please call me Epipollus,” the goblin chief was still as chipper as last they’d met, but under his cheer Roy could hear the fatigue and stress.

“Likewise, Sir Epipollus,” she replied as she slipped one leg behind the other, bent her knees, and tugged at the sides of her oversized coat, metal clicked and clacked with the motion.

Roy stared at her for a moment, unsure what the girl was trying to do. Then it dawned on it, she was performing a curtsy.

“Apologies Miss Maes, but I’m afraid I’m not familiar with that social gesture. If it’s not too much to ask, would you care to explain?”

“I would not mind at all good sir,” she took a seat and flashed Roy a look that sent chills up his spine, “The gesture is called a, ‘curtsy,’ and it is the customary greeting for girls in our society.”

“Interesting, by girls do you mean female children?” Epipollus was sucking it all up, hook, line, and sinker. Roy could only watch in fascinated horror.

“Most astute. Are you familiar with the handshake?”

“Thankfully I was alerted of it in the little time I had to learn your social customs.”

“Most excellent. The handshake is performed when an adult greets an adult or when a boy greets an adult,” she stated matter of fact-ly.

“I see, then might I presume that there is another greeting shared between boys.”

“You would be correct in that presumption. When a boy meets another boy they perform what is called a, ‘fist bump,’” Madelyn formed a fist with her hand and pointed it at Epipollus, “To acknowledge the greeting you must hold your fist level with mine and, ‘bump,’ it against mine. Take care, that you must not bump with too much or too little force,” Epipollus held out his fist, aligned it with Madelyn's and knocked it against hers, “Now we both pull our arms back and perform our desired verbal greeting.”

“How intriguing, in my studies I have never heard of a greeting quite like this one. That there could be such a combination of vigor and dignity in a mundane greeting, it truly amazes,” Epipollus started at his little green hand and rubbed the ridges between his fingers, “Thank you Miss Maes for your enlightening lesson. Now, I suppose you are not here for a social visit?”

Roy took the opportunity to jump into the discussion, “Right, so we’re actually here to talk about the moving south thing you brought up last time.”

“Right, right, have you had any luck then?”

“Well, that’s the thing. The guys at the supermarket didn’t seem like they wanted to leave, and especially not with Meta…” he paused as his mind blanked on the name, ”The earth elemental. I heard you guys were going with them south and, and… I don’t know.”

“I see…” a silence settled over them and Roy was unsure of how to continue.

“Well, the decision is really up to you Mr. Stone. I expect we will be leaving tomorrow morning after joining up with Metapelon. He is quite capable and I do not expect much trouble during our brief journey. Our scouts tell us that we may be rid of the mist in three days at most if we set a leisurely pace for the elderly and the sick.”

Dried mud stuck to his hands like a thin glove and the tips of his fingers were a raw pink. He recalled the argument between Nolan and Owen and wondered if he could have stepped in then with the news of the growing fungi invasion. Was it too late now to change things? Had his lack of decisive action cost them all an easy escape from...

“I sense that perhaps you feel you are in a bit of a bind, obligation warring with the desire for safety,” Epipollus commented as he scratched at his chin with thin nails colored light ochre, “Leaving is by my estimation the better choice, but things are perhaps not as dire as I first envisioned.”

He shifted forwards in his seat and his eyes stared into Roy’s, two bright yellow orbs in a misty sea, “The Gods are watching Mr. Stone, they have taken an interest in this particular town and so I presume that all will be well in the end, one way or another.”

“The gods?” it seemed so absurd to speak tangibly about gods, he had never been religious himself, another shortcoming his father would often berate him for.

“Indeed, I do not know if your Gods are simply disinterested in temporal affairs or absent altogether, but I assure you that ours are not and they are… an interesting bunch to say the least,” his mouth curled into a smile and his two fangs showed like the buck teeth of an overeager toddler, “Irregardless of that, I have caught the rare glimpse of their works over the past few days and it has been a most relieving sight for the clansmen and I.”

“Uhh… I’ll just take your word for it I guess,” he wasn’t sure what to feel having just heard that god-like beings were taking an interest in their not-so-daily lives. If video games had taught him anything, it was that gods were either not present, or plotting the end of the world.

“Well then, as much as I would love to discuss and compare our two worlds, I sense that you have more pressing questions for me?”

He felt kind of obvious as he reviewed his mental list of things to ask the goblin chief, “Yes, please. Umm… First, I just reached novice five in mana manipulation so I’m wondering if you have any advice for what perk I should take…”

With a thought, he pulled out the perk screen for mana manipulation and rattled off the options to Epipollus.

“Generally speaking, craftsmen will take either acute or obtuse manipulation depending of their craft, tactile manipulation, and the perk associated with the specialization needed in their trade - evocation, enchantment, and so on and so forth. For example, a mason will generally take obtuse manipulation and the alteration perk to better shape the staggering masses of stone and earth they work with.”

“Most will reach their fourth minor perk much later in life and by then they would have an acute sense of their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as a particular specialty within the trade.” Epipollus paused when he noticed Roy’s disinterested stare.

“I’m thinking more… You know, magic for fighting and stuff.”

“So you’ve made up your mind then. I suppose then that picking what is best for our current situation as we did for Heat Affinity and Mana Sense will no longer suffice,” Epipollus took a breath and Roy could see the lines of focus in his features, nose scrunched, brow furrowed, ears sharp at attention, “Haa, mana manipulation for combat mages, an interesting case and a question as old as time.”

The goblin sighed as he drummed his fingers against the side of his chair, “Well, in that regard I simply cannot give you an adequate suggestion. The diversity of combat magic is near unfathomable and traditionally, prospective students of the Imperial Academies are told to keep their mana manipulation below novice five until such time that they have perused the local Academy’s archives. Most combat mages have a repertoire of spells that synergize to an extraordinary degree and often follow one of the array of spell casting traditions found in the Empire and elsewhere. The process of establishing this repertoire is often the entirety of the preparatory process and is often guided by an experienced mentor.”

“Needless to say, perks with a more narrow and focused effect are chosen to support that repertoire and tradition of spell casting. A mage that chooses to take the craftsmen’s toolkit will find themselves at a disadvantage to those who have applied great effort to developing a strategy based on past tradition, modern theory, and personal aptitude,” Roy blinked, this was like one of those hardcore guides Lawrence used to send his way. They’d stopped playing together in DTDW after one too many failed raids.

“What I mean to say is that, it’s complicated and I do not know. My focus was always on Imperial culture and society and the domestic and martial schools, while in name under the same local Academy, were often in practice located in entirely separate locations and had little in common.”

“So then, what do I do?” he was expecting something clear cut, like it had been for Heat Affinity and Mana Sense, complicated things made him nervous.

“Well, nothing much but to pick and hope for the best. Minor perks are still minor perks. Though now ought to be the time to inform you of the two other skills you ought to pay attention to, Mana Affinity, and Align Mana. The three form what most refer to as the Fundamental Triad and they are key in the spell casting process,” he wriggled the three fingers he held up for emphasis.

Just as his mind was about to stray towards further questions on magic, he pulled himself back. He had more urgent and pressing questions, “Thanks. There are some other things I’ve been meaning to ask too.”

”Go ahead, I’m all ears,” his two knife like ears wriggled and he cracked a smile.

Roy rolled up his left sleeve and showed the goblin the pale blue mosaic that decorated his skin, the blooms glowing and highlighting the veins and blood vessels that crisscrossed his arm, “I got infected with Creeping Beryl Blooms a few days ago and it’s been spreading, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

Epipollus leaned forwards as his eyes scrutinized Roy’s arm, “Creeping Beryl Blooms, an exotic species of Beryl Blooms which in very rare circumstances can invade the human body.”

“You’ve gained a trait correct?”

“Yeah, it was anemic just earlier, but now it’s at… Level five and it’s just Creeping Beryl Blooms.”

“Minus one CON every level before five, minus two CON every level between five and ten, and minus three CON every level after ten. With a maximum level of fifteen,” the goblin muttered, “Pardon me, but what is your current CON stat?”

“Sixteen after the penalty, I’ve been putting everything into CON.”

“Everything? Yet you want to be a mage, though I suppose mages often raise their CON to around forty or fifty…” his voice trailed off for a second before he continued more steadly, “Remember, fully developed Creeping Beryl Blooms reduce CON by thirty and most humans ought to keep CON above seven or eight at all times.”

“Oh, is it curable?” it was good to hear that they had a limit, but he wasn’t sure if the benefits of the Beryl Blooms outweighed the penalties.

“Of course, quite easily in fact under the ministrations of a skilled healer or even mage. Whether you want to remove it though, is another matter entirely. Some mages purposely infect themselves with Creeping Beryl Blooms as it synergizes well with certain schools of magic, so if you wish to become a combat mage I recommend you take this information into consideration.”

Roy fixed his sleeves, the act making him conscious of the dim blue light poking out from beneath his shirt. Would he start to glow all over once the fungi further matured? It was another cost he had to keep in mind.

“Anything else?”

“Just one last thing, umm. Yesterday we met Metapelon and he said something about making sure the Empyrean Fragment…” Roy mind flashed to the transparent blue cube stored in his little cubicle in their temporary shelter, he hadn’t been carrying it the day they had met Metapelon and he wondered what the elemental would have said had it sensed it on him. It was a strange object, and apparently unfathomably powerful if the words of the elemental were anything to go by.

“Doesn’t fall in the hands of, ‘The One Who Calls Forth the Thorned Abominations,’” Madelyn piped in, Roy jolted, he had almost forgotten that she was there, the silence was uncharacteristic, “Shape-shifting, green robes, horns. Remind you of anything?”

A complicated expression drew over the expression of Epipollus as he considered their words, an admixture of, surprise, worry, and confusion that was just familiar enough on the alien features of the goblin.

“I am unsure of quite how to answer that Mr. Stone,” the goblin tought for a moment and then continued, “There are some figures I have heard talked of who share most or all of those features Miss Maes most helpfully provided, but it would be remiss of me to give you a name only to send you on a fool’s errand.”

His next words were more ominous as he willed caution into them, “If that is perchance not enough disincentive to dissuade, then remember this Mr. Stone. Metapelon and elementals such as he have power and resources far beyond individuals such as you and I. Any task of considerable difficulty to him would be near impossible for us.”

“And the fragment?” Roy asked, dread churning in his stomach.

“As for the Empyrean Fragment, it is a divine artifact. I know little of it except that the use of it by any but the most powerful individuals would result in nothing less than certain death. For those strong enough to harness its benefits, it is used as a… catalyst to achieve Ascension, in other words, Godhood,” a chorus of sharp yells and the snapping of metal from outside cut in, and when the voices died down Epipollus continued.

“It is but another reason why I believe pursuing Metapelon’s task is nothing but folly.”

“Then… what should I do?” could he hand the fragment over the earth elemental? Wouldn’t that just paint a blinking target on him and by extension those travelling with him? That was of course, if the earth elemental didn’t decide to change his mind and stay, “What if we find the fragment, should we give it to Metapelon?”

“I would not recommend it, elementals represent order and law, but their mindset is almost alien to ours. We could not possibly predict how he may react, perhaps he will place protecting the fragment above protecting the survivors and journey off to some unknown destination. If you value the protection he offers to your friends, I would recommend you not change his priorities. If you find the fragment ignore it, do not make yourself a target, if you see our mysterious enemy, run. There is no honor in a fool’s errand,” he took a breath and his face scrunched as he considered his next words.

“If there is truly something grave afoot, perhaps that is the reason for the God’s vigilance here, and if that is so, I would leave this in there most capable hands.”