drip, drip, drip..

Darren jolted up. Cold water ran down from his forehead to his neck. what the hell? where am I? Darren looked around , he was in a dark room and cool moisture filled the air. He stood up almost slipping on the moss covered floor, as he fell back he bumped into a stone sarcophagus behind him. On the stone slab that was its cover, was a book.

Darren picked up the book, it was a heavy, leather bound book. He wanted to read the book , oh how Darren loved to read books, but the darkness inside the chamber prohibited him from doing so.

He followed the stone staircase leading outside.

Darren stepped out to a cold gloomy graveyard. small blue flowers grew beside some of the gravestones, and some stones had moss and lichen growing on them as if to signify the age of the area.

Darren examined the book. It had an indiscernible language written in type-writer like letters set into its leather cover, there were plates in its corners of, what looked like bronze. He turned the book over to try to glean more information but all he saw has a seal of a raven a sword and a crown.

Darren heard rustling behind him.

Startled, he dropped the book. He slowly turned toward where the sound came from.

what the hell was that? Darren searched around then he saw it. It was a toad. Or at least Darren thought it was he squinted his eyes to see it. The toad was perfectly camouflaged. three-fourths of its body was the same green and pattern of the ivy behind it and the remaining part was the color of the mud it sat on.

The book flew in front of his face.

Darren staggered back, his heart pounding. Goddamn it how many surprises does this place plan on throwing at me? then it hit him, like remembering a dream, wait that's the book I ordered right? He stepped forward and examined the floating manuscript, it was opened, and displayed information of the toad he was looking at

.

Species: Krakian hiding toad (Juvenile) Lvl: 3 type: beast-amphibian Health: 40/40 Mana: 20/20 Stamina:25/25

STR: 9

CON: 5

INT: 3

WIS 1

AGI: 9

END: 3

CHR: 0

Skills: ??? Resistances:

-5% water The Krakian hiding toad is common in the outer most regions of Lacraea, particulary in the province of Krakia. The damp and cold weather along with the almost constant rain make the region a perfect home for these masters of stealth. They subsist on a diet of mostly insects but will not shy away from fallen berries or the occasional corpse. They have active camouflage which allows them to be nigh undectable in almost any terrain.

"Oh shit,hell yeah" he exclaimed. Darren still had a lot of questions though. How much was it's meat worth? what was it used for? Is it poisonous? what parts can be eaten or sold? these questions were running through his mind.

As if on cue a note fell out. Darren picked it up, and opened it

"Hello Mr. Reed

Please enjoy your stay in Lacraea. As per your request, a book with information has been taken with you through the portal. Though you did not specify whether you wanted in depth information or basic information I took the liberty of choosing the the latter, though information obtained by yourself or by questioning the oh-so-ever-friendly locals will be automatically updated to your book,If the guards of the border cities give you trouble show them the seal behind the book to show you are a Royal courier, this doesnt work in the bigger cities though as they will actually check their records if they have sent anyone of your description. lastly I've added a little surprise at the last part of the book.

We here at the Purgatorium look forward to seeing the exploits of Darren Torres Reed.

Good day Mr. Reed and may survive another one

P.S. As you are unaware of ,we Nephilim can read minds of lower beings. You could've just asked for a mountain to which test the sword upon Mr.Reed and you would've found that it would been split many times over. I have told my comrades of the whole affair. We are all excited and cheering you on!

-Tygrus

As if the universe itself wanted to add insult to injury heavy raindrops started falling from the grey sky.

The veins on Darren's temple and neck throbbed. His jaw clenched. He crumpled the paper and threw it on the toad,

which promptly attacked him.

The toad jumped and hit him on the chest. Darren's breath got knocked out of his lungs.

He fell towards the wet mud. He landed on his ass. Struggling to catch his breath.Darren reached for his pockets. then he realized--

He had nothing. No pockets,no coins, not even a starting weapon was on his person.

He had nothing, nothing to defend himself from the rage of the football sized toad.

The toad croaked and jumped once more.Darren rolled to his side and dodged the attack

why the hell don't I have any starting gear? He got on his feet, I mean this this only has 20 hit points right? Darren put up his fists. The toad readied another attack with its pre-emptive croak, and jumped again towards Darren's groin.Operating on a basic male instinct he covered his balls allowing the toad to hit him in the chin. " what the fuck" he reeled back with his head throbbing. Darren readied himself again taking small steps left and right to avoid the previous situation, as soon as he heard the croak and saw the toad jump he kicked it.

The toad landed on its fist but seemed dazed from the impact. "Alright come here you little puta piece of shit" Darren rushed toward the toad readying his fists. He descended upon the partially stunned toad and punched it again and again and again and again, until green blood and toad slime stained his cloth sack tunic and pants. Panting he leaned against a tomb. fuck you Tygrus "unlike the worlds your dev team have been making for years" he mocked in a snooty british accent. Our games didn't have a killer toad out for blood at the start of the game.

He scanned his surroundings and spotted a small town. it had cobblestone walls and four batlements on its "corners" manned by four guards in chainmail armed with crossbows, two guards in chainmail stood by the gate holding long spears.

Finally a town! warm inns, good food and probably even better beer. He quickly trod on towards the town. mud flying and sticking to his already filthy clothsack trousers.

The guard at his right glared at him. he put his right hand on the sword that hung to his belt.

"Halt!,What is thy business in town? people have not the time to waste on vagabonds"

"uhmmmmmm" Darren looked around and about as he desperately searched for an excuse.

"you have 10 counts!"

Darren was sweating again, the all too familiar itchiness of panic began creeping in.

"9"

He took a deep breath and exhaled then he remembered.Darren looked intensely at the guard and willed his book to come

"8, 7 ,6"

He could hear the rustling of pages he held up his hands behind his back

"5, 4"

goddamn it! why didn't I add a teleporting feature!?

"3, 2"

A shape landed on Darren's hands he quickly showed the back of the book in front of the guard

"Im a royal courier!" he almost shouted

The guard looked at the book the vagabond was holding up, it had the kings official seal. there was naught enough time to send it to the capital to be verified though and he wasn't about to be the guard that got sacked because he delayed a royal official. He gave a last glance at the courier

"look at the state of ye man, what happened? looks like you got a proper beatin' you did"

Darren let out his breath, he tried his best to hide his relief

"Bandits are a lot less likely to attack if they see a wandering vagrant instead of a Courier of the Crown." he said with a wry smile

The guard turned to the gate behind him

"raise the portcullis, with haste! this man is on official courier duty" he shouted and faced Darren once more

"Welcome to Pondcross ser uhhhh.."

"Darren" and with that, tired and dirty he strode into town.