Rumors spread throughout the northern kingdom of Langley, that the war between the Dwarves and Elves is bleeding beyond the borders of the Wilderland. Langley, believed to be safely insulated from the dangers of the outside world, is now a target for bandits from far away realms.

There is chatter in every village and every inn that the woodlands are no longer safe, and one cannot travel through their own homeland alone without fear of being attacked. In a world where a man could leave his door unlocked through the night, the very idea of such a thing is stated to be suicidal.

“One can never know what creeps in the night,” The elders now say. The spirit of the people slowly dwindles as the years go by and a shadow falls over the land, like a soft veil resting upon the body of one lost to the spirit lands, preparing to be sent down the river to meet their ancestors.

Dehven, a young man from a small village cannot standby any longer as he sees the world he once knew, diminish in happiness and security. Like so many women and men his age, he feels helpless, yet he cannot wait for answers and he refuses to fall victim to a nameless fear.

There are many questions that need to be answered, and he will not find the answer remaining in his quiet little village on the edge of a sparkling lake in the woods. With a heavy heart he must leave the home he loves and venture to the Whitehall Abby to seek answers and most importantly, direction. What can one person in such a big world do to return happiness to his people? Where must he go to learn of what is happening in the world to ensure that his kin are safe?

As Dehven prepares for his journey to the Abby, there was no way that he could know this decision would ultimately change the fate of his life and the entire world.

*****

Dehven stood among the pews in the church surveying his surroundings. He was not sure, but it seemed that something big was happening since there were so many people running through the small hall. The seats were made of polished wood and the walls of a clean white stone. The ceiling was high, with wooden cross-beams and it was all lit by several large candles placed throughout the chamber.

It was an overwhelming scene to say the least. Dehven was not sure what he should be doing. He looked out of the tall windows along the walls and saw that it was twilight outside. All the people running past him were dressed in various distinct clothing. Their were dark red robes, off white cloaks and some wore brown woolen shirts tucked into dark leather pants. His wooden club hung from the slender rope tied around his waist, along with the various small pouches at his sides.

He reached down to one of the pouches, a little red one, when he was distracted by a shout. “Hello there, adventurer. Have you just arrived? What luck, I could use your help, hurry over.” It was a tall black man in a white robe, tied about his waist with a golden rope. He had a bald head and clean shaved face, with bright welcoming eyes. He motioned Dehven to come over. The man was surrounded by several other people, but Dehven made his way through and stood before him.

The man placed a hand upon the large book he was holding and smiled down at Dehven. “Excellent, you are just in time! My name is, Brother Modane, I am the master of this Chapel. Everything in the last few days has been happening so fast it is hard to keep track of it all. I assume you are here for the same reason as everyone else. You are seeking answers to all the things happening around our little realm. I am sorry to disappoint you, but I may not have the answers you seek. However, I am in need of able bodied folk. If you could be a good lad, take this list to Brother Marcellus in the garden. A request for goods was made from the village of, Haylane. They have not received their usual trade goods from the city in a few days, and we believe some devilry is at play. In any case we must do our best to help them. I would take it myself, but as you can see I am kept very busy here greeting all the newcomers from the surrounding villages. Hurry back will you?”

Brother Modane turned away from him to address another person. Dehven walked down the aisle not sure of where he should go. He saw that there was a large double door leading to the outside so he headed that way and stood on the steps looking about.

There had to be hundreds of people running about outside all occupied with different tasks. He had no clue what was going on. He reached down to that red pouch that first get his attention and opened it to find a scroll. When he opened it he saw a sheet with various runes of information. It had his name and a list of attributes below them that did not make much sense to him.

“What is this like my I.D?” Dehven said as he tried to make sense of the sheet.

“Hey, what are you doing?” A voice said and Dehven spun around to find a woman with short black hair, freckles and a bright white smile looking at him. She wore a light blue dress with soft brown slippers. She had one hand on her hip and the other idly swung a crooked little twig at her side.

“I...I am not sure,” Dehven said. “I just got here and this guy asked me to take a note to this other dude–”

“Oh you just got here,” She said interrupting him. “You are on the Marcellus quest, ok come on me too, let's do it.” She ran past him and made her way toward the back of the chapel. “Come on, it’s this way.” She called back and Dehven took off after her.

“He is right here,” She said as she ran up to a frantic looking man surrounded by nearly thirty different people. Dehven could relate. If he was surrounded by that many people he would freak out as well.

“Hello you! Help me!” Marcellus shouted at Dehven, sending a jolt of urgency through him. He dashed forward. “Oh thank you for coming, there are Ratmen about and the sniveling little thieves are plundering my stores. Stop them before they take everything! They are in the shed!” Dehven ran forward and looked inside the shed and it was nothing but chaos. People were chasing these little humanoid rat looking things all over the place and clubbing them over their heads then grabbing items off the fallen bodies.

“It’s nuts in there,” The strange woman said to him. “Come on, follow me around this way.”

“But what about helping this guy?” Dehven said confused. “We need to get in the shed or whatever.”

“No way, it’s crazy in there,” She replied. “People don’t know that you can complete the quest out back as well. There are a ton of Ratmen in the garden plundering as well. Come I’ll show you, I’ve done this a thousand times already.”

A thousand times, Dehven thought to himself. That was insane, but he listened and followed because she obviously knew what she was doing. In the back of the shed the little Ratmen were grabbing vegetables out of the garden. They were small and round in body, wearing what looked like dirt little vest, which might have been red at one point. They would have been cut if not for their sniveling and evil beady eyes. They had point tall ears and messy whiskers protruded from their faces.

As Dehven watched, the strange woman raised her hand and started waving her twig around, only it was not a twig but a magical wand and a little purple orb appeared and in a matter of seconds it went flying at the first Ratman standing a few yards in front of them. The orb struck the Ratman in a burst of light and sparks. The ugly little creature yelled and charged at her with claws drawn.

“Don’t just stand there,” The woman said laughing, warming up another strike. “Get in there, lets get’em.”

“Oh ok, yeah going in,” Dehven said and he rushed forward pulling out his club. He stood between the woman and the Ratman as the creature was blasted with another orb of magic. Dehven swung his club and clocked the monster over its head knocking it dead to the ground. The woman ran up and grabbed a carrot from the Ratman and stuffed it in a brown pouch at her waist.

“Come on, loot him and keep going,” she said. “Have you never done this before?”

“No, this is actually my first time,” Dehven said.

“Oh, ok well just kill them and loot them for the vegetables, once we have enough, about ten pieces each we can return to Marcellus.” Dehven nodded and continued, following the woman as she sent magic flying at the Ratmen. He ran in and swung his club, which missed most times, but would connect with a satisfying clunk noise.

“It would go faster if you used smite,” The woman said.

“Smite? What’s that?” He asked confused.

“Smite, your first spell silly check your inventory,” She replied and seeing Dehven fumble around at his belt she rolled her eyes. “It’s the brown pouch.”

“Oh right,” Dehven said and reached inside. He had a carrot, a smooth black stone and a single parchment. He pulled out the paper written with strange runes that he found he could read clearly.

Smite: strike your enemies with a shot of holy power.

10-14 damage. 1.5sec cast. Cost 10 mana.

Dehven held the parchment in his hand and focused on a Ratman. His club glowed in a soft yellow hue, like the soft light of his cell phone screen and he swung the weapon in a small circular motion, causing the club to burn brighter. He pointed his club at the Ratman who was struck with a white light upon its head. The little monster yelped and turned to charge, baring its fangs and claws, but a few more smites and a magical orb quickly took it down.

“There you go, much more damage!” The woman shouted and she looted the Ratman and kept going. Dehven stood next to her shooting off his smite ability. With each of them casting spells they killed the Ratmen in two hits. Before long they were done collecting enough vegetables. They ran back side by side to Marcellus.

“Thanks for helping me out,” Dehven said to the woman.

“No problem, man, my names Nevaeh by the way,” She said. “It’s heaven spelled backwards, I always use that name.”

“What did you mean earlier when you said you done this a 1000 times?” Dehven asked.

“Well before I pick what class I want to be, I try them all first,” She said. “I think Wizard is the one for me to be honest.” Dehven realized that was the obvious answer to his earlier problem when he was trying to pick which class to play. So far he was happy with his decision to be a priest, it had a nice feel and flow to it. They came to Marcellus and he looked genuinely grateful for receiving the goods from them.

Marcellus clapped his hands together and smiled. “Thank you so much for getting these back! I don’t know what I would have done without your help. Here you can take it back to Brother Modane, and a gift for your troubles!”

Dehven received a pair of soft gloves and upon them in runes written in white ink it said, “Garden Gloves”. He saw that Nevaeh put on her pair, so he threw on the little linen gloves and followed her back toward the front. On the way back they bumped into a woman they did not see before.

She waved Dehven down. “Greetings, you are a new arrival? Did you come from Haylane? I was expecting Brother Sinclaire some days ago but he never showed. He was returning with books from the capital. I pray he is ok, but with all that is going on, one can never be too sure. If I could get any rumor of what has become of him I would be most grateful. Let me know if you hear anything.”

“This one is on the way to the next quest we get from Modane,” Nevaeh said as she went back into the chapel. Dehven noticed that the crowd of people had become a little less and he was happy for it. He assumed they were all off doing some quest like he and Naveah were just doing. Before stepping into the chapel he looked surveyed the area a little closer.

They were surrounded by thick green forest, and a single dirt road led from the front yard of the chapel and disappeared into the darkness of the trees some yards away. The sky was clear and Dehven admired the bright stars shining above, but there was no moon to be seen. Just outside the edge of the woods he spotted a stone wall, but most of it was shrouded by the trees and shadows.

He ran into the chapel and it looked like Modane was expecting his return. “The news regarding the Ratmen is disturbing. We are warded against such beings entering this place. They must have found a breach in the walls. Investigate the outer walls and make sure everything is secure, once done report back to me. Here, take this as a reward for helping the order, we greatly appreciate your service and are proud to name you a priest of the brotherhood.”

Dehven received a robe that was similar in fashion to what Modane was wearing. He put it on over his current shirt and pants, tying the brown belt over his robe, along with his little bags. He looked over and saw that Nevaeh had changed her robe as well. The one she was now wearing was dark purple and sleeveless, revealing a large colorful tattoo on her right arm.

“We just need to check three areas and we will eventually find the missing guy as well,” Nevaeh said. “Come this way.” They ran out of the chapel into the night, heading around to the left past the trees. They came across some more Ratmen and blasted them quickly with their magic spells.

They moved to the second location and met the same resistance, several Ratmen gathering round, looting and hiding. As Dehven began shooting off his smite, he was suddenly overwhelmed and unable to fire his ability. He was completely drained. He went forward and attacked with his club as he felt his energy slowly replenish. With rest he would be able to cast again. He made a note to be mindful not to over do it. He decided a mix of a couple cast and then a strike with his mace would be sufficient to take out the pesky Ratmen.

“We are here,” Nevaeh said, as they came to the third section of wall. There was a hole in the wall and several books were scattered on the ground. “Let’s clear these little rodents out and then go into the breach. The man delivering the books is on the other side.” Dehven went forward and blasted a Ratmen before him with two consecutive smites, burning the squat little creature down. Nevaeh ran past him throwing orbs of magic at the others. When they had cleared the way, they ducked and entered into the hole.

They found themselves on the other side of the wall in the woods. They followed a narrow dirt path that led them to a fallen cart. A man lay upon it breathing softly, blood running down his face. They knelt next to him.

He looked up at Dehven and sighed. “I was ambushed on my way to the chapel. They came out of nowhere. You must warn the others. They are everywhere, the Ratmen are invading our forest! Haylane must be prepared for an attack, now go before its too…” His head slumped and he did not move anymore.

Dehven realized that the stakes were very real for the people in this world. He spent the last few minutes dispatching monsters, but this was the first human he had seen die. He wanted to find some more of the little bastards before they did anymore damage. He assumed Haylane village was their next destination.

“Grab a book,” Nevaeh instructed. “We need to return evidence to the woman and then talk to Modane.” Dehven nodded and picked up a leather bound book laying in the man's lap. He nodded farewell to the man and returned to the chapel.

They approached the woman and gave her the news of her friend. “Oh no! What a terrible tragedy, he never hurt anyone! We must do something about these filthy little creatures, I pray you can help. Please take this, I made it for him, but he would want someone brave like yourself to have it.”

Dehven received a small brown cloak and the inside had magical rune words that glowed in green ink.

Traveler's Cloak

5 armor

+1 spirit

“May the light guide you, where ever you go.”

Dehven put on the cloak, holding and flaring it out around him. It was his first magical item and he felt a great feeling of accomplishment for having it. Naveah stood next to him with a similar cloak. She reached into her red pouch and pulled out a small book and began reading.

Dehven looked down at his own pouch and also found a little book with runes inside that he could read. He found spirit was listed and reviewed the information before him. Spirit increased the potency of healing spells for priest and witch-doctors, and it helped with mana regeneration. Interesting he thought, as he read through the book.

There was another statistic referring to Intellect. This particular power increased the damage of magical abilities and critical chance of all spells. Evidently these magical properties were good for priest and he made a note to look a little further into it when he had a chance. Navaeh put her book away and continued on to Modane.

When Dehven approached Brother Modane he had a grave look on his face. “This is disturbing news indeed. Ratmen invading our lands, who would think such a thing possible. The creatures have always been devious little rascals, but they have never been organized in such a fashion. I suspect there is more to this that we do not know. We cannot keep this information to ourselves, Haylane must be warned immediately. If they are caught unprepared the results could be devastating! Hurry to Haylane and report to Marshall Thiar, he will know what to do. I suspect trying times are ahead and you might be needed more than ever. Take this tome and spell, I am confident it will come into use in the following days.”

Mordane handed Dehven a white tome, about the size of a small diary. Dehven opened it and found that only one page out of the many inside had any runes upon it. He read the first page.

Healing Touch: The priest uses holy power to heal allies for 50-75.

2sec cast. Cost 20 mana.

“Oh I got my first off-hand item,” Navaeh exclaimed. She held up a small purple gem about the size of a fist in her hand. It glowed with an inner light and had sharp edges like it was just plucked out of the ground and uncut by a professional.

“Me too, but it's a book,” Dehven replied. “I can heal people now.”

“Very cool, try it on me,” Navaeh said. Dehven faced her and held the book open to the heal spell. He held his club forward and as he felt the runes on the page coming to life through him, he raised the club directly into the air and a quick burst of yellow light went over Navaeh.

“Very nice,” she said. “No better person to party with than a priest!”

“Does your gem come with a new spell?” Dehven asked.

“Oh does it? Come on, check this out,” Navaeh said and she ran out of the chapel down the dirt path leading to the front gate. They ran outside and not too far down the road, they came across several small wolves stalking in the dark.

“Run in and tag those three wolves out there,” She said to Dehven. He turned and looked at the pack of wolves stalking in the shadows. The beast had scraggly black coats and red eyes. They did not look like the kind of beast he wanted to mess with, especially three at a time.

“Not sure that’s such a good idea,” Dehven said.

“It will be fine, you can heal now remember!” She said excitedly and raised her wand sending a white bolt at one of the wolves. The animal yelped and charged, she proceeded to strike each of the other beast. Dehven saw the monsters running at her and he warmed up his smite attack. As he shot at the first wolf his spell failed in a flash of orange light and the wolf began biting him. Nevaeh ran around him, leading the other two into the first.

“Ok watch this!” she shouted and pointed her wand at the first wolf. A blue light, like a laser pointer connected to the wolf and its fur began glow. A few seconds later the wolf began erupting in small bursts of magic, hitting the other two wolves next to it. They all turned and charged Navaeh as she continued channeling the laser into them.

They bit and snapped at her, knocking her back, but she kept up her spell. “Quick heal me!” she shouted.

“Oh right!” Dehven reached out and cast his heal spell. The red bruises all over Navaeh instantly vanished and she stood refreshed as she continued to cast into the wolves. The three beast all cried out as they fell dead at her feet. She reached down and took items off of each of them and put it into her bag.

“That was pretty amazing, but what are you doing to them?” Dehven asked, disgusted at the sight of her grabbing small pieces of the bodies.

“Some of this stuff is valuable, we can sell it in Haylane,” She replied. “Thanks for the heal by the way, they almost had me. That will come in handy.”

“So will that laser thing,” Dehven said genuinely impressed. “Were you attacking all of them at once?”

“Yeah I was,” She replied. “It’s called arcane strike! I channel the ability into an enemy and it does area damage to all enemies within range, pretty neat right?”

“Yeah it is,” Dehven replied.

“It will be good for AoE grinding later on I think, unless I get something stronger,” Dehven had idea what she was talking about, but he simply agreed. There were many things he needed to catch up on and he was already thinking of doing some more research into his priest powers and the world at large.

“Ok so we are off to Haylane,” Navaeh said. “What do you think so far?”

“I like it so far,” Dehven said. “I really like this cloak, looks pretty cool on me, and these spells are cool too. I want to see what else I can do.”

Navaeh laughed and jumped up. “Great! So let’s keep going then toward Haylane. We can kill some stuff on the way their to get more combat experience. That's how you get stronger and gain access to new skills. Come on you’ll see.” They continued through the dark forest, with sounds of insects and night birds echoing through the night.

Navaeh lead them off the path into the forest and they did battle with some more wolves. With Navaeh’s new skills they were making quick work of the beast. Dehven would run in and gather them all up, and Navaeh would burn them down with her arcane strike ability. Dehven picked up what he could from the bodies. He mainly collected scraps of singed fur, tales, paws, and sharp fangs. As they were cleaning up another set of wolves, Dehven reached down and picked up a twisted twig. As he inspected it, he saw green runes flash on the side.

Imp finger

Arcane damage wand (7-12 dmg)

1.50 attack speed.

“What's that?” Navaeh asked.

“It’s called Imp finger, a wand,” Dehven said as he showed it to her.

“Oh man, that is pretty good,” She exclaimed. “I bet you can get a lot of money for that in town.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Dehven said as he looked at the weapon. He remembered that wizards use wands, and turned to Navaeh. “Hey, you want this? Can you use it?”

“Oh man really, are you sure?” She asked excitedly.

“Of course, go for it,” Dehven handed the wand over and Navaeh tossed her old one into her pouch.

“Come on, let's find a wolf, I want to try this out,” She said as she continued on. Dehven followed behind her and they quickly found two wolves. Navaeh attacked with her wand, and a purple ball of light floated swiftly toward the creature and blasted it with a small puff of dazzling magic. The wolves snarled and attacked.

“Oh that did good damage,” Navaeh said and continued to finish off the wolves. Dehven felt really good giving her the wand, it was something that she could use and she seemed extremely happy about it. He began to think of what other possible things he could do in this world for others, besides giving items and healing them. Both of those seemed pretty good, but as a priest he had to strive to do more for people. He suddenly felt awkward thinking in those terms, but he resisted that feeling and decided to enjoy the immersion he was experiencing.

The world was truly large and inspiring. He was tramping through the woods in the middle of the night battling wild wolves and collecting weird little items that he was going to sell in a new village he was about to discover. He wondered about this village, Haylane and what he would find there. He could not remember when he had felt this curious about anything.

They left the forest and went back to the road. As they were walking they came across two guards in plate armor, carrying round shields and swords in their belts. Dehven felt reluctant at first, coming upon these intimidating warriors in the dark of the woods, but Navaeh simply ran past them waving. As Dehven walked past they hailed him.

“Evening priest, the Blackwood Inn is just down the road,” the female guard said with a smile as he walked by. Dehven nodded and kept going. She had referred to him as a priest. That felt good, he was a real priest in Dominion. He could heal and smite enemies, and he carried a club with a magical cape. He smiled to himself, satisfied with his journey so far.

They came around a bend and saw a stone bridge with torches burning brightly over the road. Dehven saw several buildings with lights and people walking about. They had arrived outside of the village of Haylane.