Prelude 5: Chewing, Books and Circles

Magnus closed the library doors on the sound clogged town square with relief. Earning his class and new skills took more time than anticipated. After the stop at Van’s store, lunchtime had already arrived.

A quick check of his status menu showed him up only ten hunger and thirst points. Knowing that his hardtack remained in his pack, Magnus looked for a place to eat. While his hunger didn’t need filling, he normally ate lunch and had no intention of quitting anytime soon. On the right, where the checker players sat yesterday, rested a closed door he had missed.

Pushing inside, he found a small room with a single table pushed against the outer wall. Against the middle of the inner wall squatted a stone oven. Next to it water flowed from a faucet in a never ending stream. I wonder where all the water comes from? pondered Magnus. Leaving his thoughts for another time, he sat and pulled up his bag.

One piece of hardtack now in hand, Magnus viewed his lunch with disgust. A swift rapt upon the table showed the hardness of the bread. Giving in to the inevitable, he set his teeth to nibble the edge. Achieving nothing, he clamped his jaw against it more tightly and began twisting. A great effort later, a small chunk had detached and could now be chewed. And chewed. And chewed.

Five minutes of chewing later, Magnus swallowed. So dry as it crawled down his throat, he started choking. Rushing to the tap, he stuck his head under it and gulped as much water as he could. Glowering at the dreaded bread still sitting on the table, he resolved to start working. After filling his canteen he put away the hardtack. Magnus refused to let any of his minuscule resources go to waste, and then left.

Starting toward the library proper, his feet diverted him to the washroom at the librarians glare. Minuscule dirt removed from his hands, he moved past the desk. Although she didn’t appear as monstrous as the day before, he still had no desire to find himself the object of her irritation. Stopping at the catalogue, Magnus flipped to ‘Troll who ate, The’ and found it’s listing in history. A bit surprised at the category, he flipped to the back to find his second book.

With few listed W titles he quickly scanned down the list. But Magnus could not find ‘Why dwarfs are short’. Confused, he ran his finger back through more slowly this time, sure he had just missed it. Still not finding it, he decided to take the next logical step. Ask the librarian.

Hesitant steps leaving him in front of the desk, he queries the librarian. “I’m trying to find the book ‘Why dwarfs are short’ but can’t find it in the catalogue. Do you know where it is?” Not for a second did he think that the library wouldn’t have the book.

The book she had been reading crashed down as she dropped it. Contemplating Magnus, she measured out her words. “Subtitles not listed. Check stacks.” Lifting her book in one hand, she had delivered all the help she would give. How helpful, thought Magnus as the sarcasm dripped down his brain. Choosing to take the easier step first, he goes searching for a troll.

Passing around the desk, Magnus dismissed the new person looking through the low shelving. The four scribes were still working at their customary tables and a new person being there didn’t seem odd to him. He had work to do and moved into the stacks on the history section. Down and down the row he walked, pass the Fs he had been at yesterday. All the way to the last three towering bookcases.

Streaking a bit of caked on dirt off a book with a finger, he grimaced before taking a large breath. Holding it, he shifted his shirt so he could hold the sleeve and swipped as many of the spines as he could reach. Out of breath, he ran back up the row to gasp in clean air. Not quite making it, he began coughing up the dirt he inhaled.

Glad he didn’t have allergies in Grand Planes, he watched as the dust drifted in the sunlight. When enough had settled, he lifted his shirt collar over his nose to breath through. Looking at his work, he felt dismay. While the dust no longer covered them, less than thirty had titles on the spines. What is with people not labeling their books? Not letting it disturb him, he started pulling books down to look through.

As he had noticed yesterday, only every other one was correctly shelved. Mathematics for Warriors, Formation of the Empire, Tales of the Dimspire, UpGrading and You, Eating Bat Wings. All of them he pulled off the case in discomfort over leaving them misshelved. And then he found ‘Table of the Elements, or Why the World Wants to Kill You’. Hum, this must be a subtitled book.

It was a thin book, half as thick as his pinky and stuffed between two heavy books. The other books were normal and made of paper. But just by opening to the title page he found this book had pages of metal. Hammered into a thin sheets, the painted and engraved words were art. In the library, he had yet to see anything that could match it. Curious, he flipped it open.

A large table sat in the middle of the folded out page. Drawn with machine like precision, Magnus stroked his fingers over the page. He could easily feel the slight indents where the arrows connected the orbs. Turning to the next page, Magnus received a surprise. Every book before now he had been able to read, but this one came to him as only squiggles. Unable to read it, he could only assume a different race had written it.

It was an interesting mystery, but not what he had gone to the library looking for. Putting it down on his stack of misshelved books, he returned to his search. It remained hiding on all the first case. And the second case.

Three sets of books teetered behind him, but Magnus could only smile. On the bottom shelf of the final case, he had found his troll book. Now he just had to decide what to do with the rest. Not wanting to leave them on the floor, he gathered his courage. His trudging footsteps echoed as he walked down the row. As he neared the end, a high pitched scream of terror rang out.

Reaching the row's end, Magnus came to a screeching halt. The librarian had lifted the new person to his tippy toes with one arm. Her hand gripped under his shoulder as she dragged him away from the tables, musical score spilling where he sat. “I tell them and I tell them and they just don’t listen,” she muttered at a low rumble.

Reaching her desk, she grabbed his belt with her other hand. A three sixty spin, his unheld arm extended way out, and release. Still screaming, he flew over her desk and covered the twenty feet to the doors in the blink of an eye. Arm covering his head, he bashed through the doors briefly letting in the noise from the square. “And stay out!”

Putting his book on top of the others, he felt a great deal of fear but continued anyway. After reaching her desk, a cleared throat grabbed her attention, turning her toward him. Voice cracking in nervousness he asked as quickly as he could. “Didyouhaveacarttoreshelvebooks?”

Still glowering she replied, “Not paying.” Her intimidating gaze remained focused upon him.

“Thats okay, it’s just bugging me.” This time he managed to calm down a bit.

An eyebrow raised, she flipped open a cabinet door on her desk. Reaching in she pulled out the heavy wooden cart and shoved to toward him. “Return before leaving.”

Rushing away as fast as the cart would allow, he pulled it all the way down the history aisle before collapsing. Leaning his back against the cart, he breathed in and out through his mouth, trying to lower his heartbeat.

DING!

A new Primary Stat has been generated!

Courage

Even in the face of overwhelming power, you stand tall.

Effect of Debuffs reduced.

Wah!?!? The stat was not something normally gained in a library. Most people earn it by repeatedly fighting higher level monsters after they impose a fear status. But the system had detected his great fear and determined he met the qualifications. Unsure if he should be pleased or insulted, he ignored both possibilities and started loading the cart. He wanted to do his scribe work today, but wouldn't fail to keep his word and reshelve the books. Especially when her displeasure could get him tossed out of the library.

Not wanting to spend forever at this task, he sorted the books into what he thought were their different categories. Looking closely, the cart could just fit down the aisle. In a few places he had even bumped against extruding books and knocked them to the ground. Climbing over the cart, he picked them back up from where they had fallen. At this point he didn’t even care what the titles were and just wanted them out of his way.

Going back for the cart, he placed a third of the books in the history section as he pulled it along. No longer powered by adrenaline, the cart had become a cumbersome mass to pull. Straining and tugging and swearing under his breath, he at last got it out of the row. Shoving on the side, he got it twisted and aimed for the next row. Learning from his mistake, he no longer pulled but pushed. His legs quivering as he rested his back against the cart, he shoved again and again.

After putting two thirds of the books away, Magnus received an unexpected reward.

Ping!

+1 Willpower

Invigorated by his reward, he continued with cheer. Willpower is one of the most important stats to a mage. It’s value determines how much mana a person can use without damage. While Magnus did not have this exact reasoning in mind, he did know the value of achieved stats. Even if you die, achieved stats won’t diminish. Their utility is only offset by the difficulty and pain in earning more of them.

Grunting and shoving he kept going through sheer stubbornness. Of the sixteen aisles, Magnus needed to go down ten. He did not leave the cart at the end of a row and take just the books down the row. Instead, he pushed it all the way down to the end and back around the aisle. The elation from his previous achieved stat had yet to wear off and he hoped for a stamina gain.

Repeatedly, he had to stop to catch his breath for several minutes. With only ten stamina he ran out of steam quickly. And without stamina regeneration he required rest. Even then, his muscles ached until several minutes passed and he could stand again. Magnus felt disappointment when he finished and no more increases had chimed in.

Ready at last, he parked the much lighter cart next to the table where he set ‘The Troll Who Ate’ down. The two books from yesterday still sat on the end, even the distorted light was the same. Pulling his new book in front of him, he examined it carefully. A tad larger than a standard 8x11 sheet of paper and more than an inch and a half thick, he could feel the heft of the book. Individual pages were of higher quality than the three copper sheets, but only just.

Flipping through, Magnus saw that pictures covered half the pages. It’s a children’s book. Not willing to do a bad job, he read it through paying careful attention to the pictures along with the words. Beginning with, ‘A long time ago in the far reaches of the frozen north...’ the book told of, Shearmer, a knight in shining armor. At the bidding of King Johanson he had traveled from town to town slaying monsters. Especially any strong monsters forced from their collapsed dungeons.

When Shearmer reached the village in the farthest reaches of Efrhar, instead of a welcome he found only shattered remains. Searching the rubble, he found the lone survivor, Crale, laying on deaths door. With little power in healing, he could only push back the man’s pain long enough to get his story.

Days before, a dungeon that had gone undiscovered had collapsed and released powerful monsters. As the closest population, the monsters immediately attacked. Several waves of ice wolves and ice troll dealt massive damage to their defenses. But the villagers pushed back against them. Until it showed up.

Trosidole, a boss ice troll approached only after minions exhausted the defenders. Thinking they had won, the village had started to celebrate. Then Trosidole’s powerful roar left them all afraid, from the mightiest warrior to the least, all felt fear. Still they fought. But a troll greatest weapon is not it’s strength, it’s regeneration. Unable to deal enough damage to kill it, the defenders collapsed from despair. Crale had been unconscious for the end, but what Shearmer saw made him realize that had been a mercy.

Crale had been a captain of the guard, but when hit into a nearby building it fell upon him. That wouldn’t have stopped him normally, but the ice trolls blood had splashed him. In a potion, troll blood is helpful. Splashed over a surface it causes it to freeze. The troll's blood had affected his legs and when he crashed into the wall they shattered like glass.

Having heard of the famous knight, the guard begged Shearmer to kill the monster with his dying breath. Honor demanded acceptance, but as he tracked it he found two more towns in ruins. Finally catching up at the third town, the now haggard knight immediately jumped into battle. After a long battle, Trosidole understood it’s danger and fled.

How it killed earned it the nickname of Troll who Ate. Anton, fire mage of the village is the last known person to talk to Shearmer. He headed north to defeat the monster but wanted his king to know what had happened immediately. With the town destroyed, a rider would need to go to the next closest town and send word. He however, was going after the troll. And was never heard from again.

DING!

A new skill has been created!

Reading (Passive)GradeBasicCost1 staminaLevelBasic 1Experience0/10Rank735,533,972,113Effect10 minutesCooldown0 secReading shows your new thoughts aren’t as new as you thought. At current level, all books of Basic Grade are readable. Only languages that are known can be read.

As the window faded, Magnus felt disappointment. He had anticipated getting the skill, he just hoped for one without cost. While needing stamina would slow him, it was nothing compared to the cost of a warrior skill. The description though, that caused him to think of the metal book. The title was in human, so maybe it’s just a higher grade book. His curiosity satisfied, he returned to the book.

Wow. That’s a picture book but not a children’s book. Moral of the story, everyone dies. Mild disbelief at the morbidity of the story, he still had all that he needed for his task. Shearmer, Johanson, Crale, Trosidole, and Anton. Putting them all to paper he went to check to see if his task had updated.

Status window brought up the pages from before, but nothing about his task. Trying to summon a window, he mumbled to himself, “Quests... Tasks... Show Quests… Tasks Appear…” But nothing seemed to work. Exasperated, he looked to the heavens for answers. Seeing how little time before sunset remained, he started hunting for his missing book the hard way.

Not able to think of anything more productive, he just pushed the cart down one row and started pulling books. This time he went down the fiction section. Few of these books had been pulled recently, and the dust covering them was thick. Only a few of where out of place: American history, Fifty States and Capitals, To Kill a Mockingbird. All from a fictional place without magic.

“Library closes at sundown! Get your stuff and get out!” Her voice loud even as far back as Magnus had walked. He hadn’t gotten more stats, but knew it was only a matter of time. Stopping by his table, he dropped the few mishelved books off. Leaving the cart at her desk gained him only a grunt in reply. His second day at the library done, he planned to go talk with Madeline. He also wanted to explore some, but vividly remembered eating hardtack.

Traveling the crowded streets, Magnus reached the Mage guild to see Madeline waiting at the doorway. “Come in, Come in. We have much to do.” He walked inside as Madeline locked the door by dropping a wooden beam across it. “Follow me and don’t touch anything, we’ll just eat out in the testing area.”

Passing behind the desk, they followed a short cluttered hallway toward the back. Various robes and capes were strune about the hallway with gems glittering upon them. Peering in the different rooms, Magnus saw one filled with scrolls and books. Another was filled with wands and staves, and a third with a kitchenette. As Madeline turned into the kitchenette, she waved him toward the back. “Just go on out and pick a bench to sit on, I’ll be there in a minute.”

Leaving the building, Magnus explored the new area. Next to the door sat two benches, one to the left and one to the right. Next to the benches and against the building, sat two sets of wooden racks. To the left, the rack held many many wooden wands while the right rack held staffs. Dozens and dozens of each.

For the staffs, he could see several embedded pebbles, always of the same color. A section in the middle had leather binding for grip. The top of the staff curved down and over a gem. The top held a slightly larger stone than the wands. A second stone was set a short distance above the grip. He could not see the bottom of the staff that had been placed within the rack.

In the wands, the tip held a single polished stone. A small speckled stone, the biggest no larger than a quarter inch in diameter. Looking at them, you could tell the stones held little value but had been maintained carefully. The main wooden part expanded out from the rock, where it fixed the stone in place. Extending approximately a foot from end to end, the grip had a diameter closer to an inch. No wand had ornamentation, but all had been carefully sanded and oiled to take away any splinters.

Attempting to pick up one of the wands, Magnus pushed against an invisible barrier. Not seeing any glass, he could only conclude that some protective magic blocked him. Continuing his exploration, he moved to the center of the grounds. Kicking his feet against the dirt, he uncovered a carving in the stone beneath. Bending down, he wiped away more of the dirt to be sure of it.

Looking at the ground closely, he found dozens if not hundreds of indentations indicating circles. They weren’t large, but a person could stand in one without trouble. Looking up, he saw walls like those in Gerald’s back yard, but larger. The two side walls held doors, but the back wall had targets. A single large red and white target dominated the middle. Surrounding it at various heights were more targets, each a different set of colors.

Sitting down on a bench, Magnus leaned back against the building and contemplated his next move. He would need to log out for at least a few minutes soon, but time didn’t press upon him too urgently. The forums indicated you could go three or four days in game before you would get booted. Mostly for bathroom breaks.

Covered in microdust, a person wouldn’t get bedsores and would get some exercise. It also controlled his various health functions, and wouldn’t let him come to harm. But despite it’s protections against sweet, microdust is still electronic equipment. And getting it wet, no matter the source, could cause catastrophic failure. The recommended tactic was to log out once every night to take care of business.

The door next to him popped open with a bang, startling Magnus from his thoughts. “Here we go, a meal for the hungry before we begin training.” Although worried about the training comment, he drooled over the smells from the plate.

Rice and dumplings, with something gooey that tasted of a tangy squash. Finishing quickly, he put his plate down next to him and pulled out his canteen. Washing it all down with water, he decided to wait for Madeline to finish. After all, he didn't want to be rude. Ruminating on his day, he kept returning to the difficulty of finding the book and the unhelpfulness of the librarian.

“What’s on your mind now?” Madeline’s question boomed in the silence startling Magnus. “When boys as young as you start brooding it’s either because went wrong, or a girl caught their eye. So tell this old lady about your day and maybe I can help you with the problem.”

Caught off guard, he answered none the less. A bit disjointed in explanation, he spoke of the different things he did since leaving the guild. He finished with, “And I don’t know how I’m going to find that damn book by the end of the week.” Turning to Madeline, his eyes widened in shock. She clutched her side with one hand and had the other covering her mouth.

Tears leaking from closed eyes she could only gasp out. “HeHe… Courage… HeHee… I can’t believe… You’re killing me kid…” Irritated at her laughter, he crossed his arms and grumped while Madeline recovered.

“Oh child, I haven’t laughed like that in forever. Thank you. Courage… Heh.” Standing up, she waved a hand and the plates floated up before gliding down to the ground. Further in they sank as a few brown motes of light floated up from where they dissipated. Disappearing completely into the ground she wiped her hands together and turned to Magnus.

“I keep forgetting how new to the world you are child. Sit up straight now, and I’ll tell you and easier way to find the titles of the books.” With word that she could save him time in the library, he forgot his irritation and riveted his attention upon her. “All people and objects in the world emit a low level of mana. A simple eye skill allows you to see some of this mana, and interpret it through your status card. That’s why most books don’t have a title on their spine. All you need to do to learn this skill is move some mana into your eyes. It might take a few minutes to set in, but you shouldn’t have any trouble learning it.”

Taking her at her word, he bore down and pushed a small amount of mana into his eyes. Looking down into his eyes, Madeline said, “A bit more. A bit more still, you’ll need to use all the mana you can safely control to get it. Don’t go over though, just let it sit until it activates.” More and more he pushed in, feeling the pressure building within his eyes.

Uncomfortable with the sensation, he held on for a minute. Then a second, blinking as his eyes watered. All at once, the pressure vanished.

“Good, it looks like it set in,” Madeline congratulated him. “Do that a few more times and when the skill generates you won’t have as much difficulty.” Looking up at her as she bustled off, Magnus saw her name floating above her head. As she moved just a short distance away it faded out. Happy at having a new skill to play with, he pulled a quill from his bag. Looking at it for a moment caused a new window to pop up.

Feather of a ChickenRarityBasicQualityCommonDurability1A quill made from a chicken feather. This quill has enough ink for one page of written work before greying.

Heh, now I can just look at the books and their titles should pop up. Magnus felt quite happy until the window faded from view. He glared at the quill again but nothing happened so he pushed mana into his eyes again. Holding the mana in place didn’t put as much pressure on his eye this time. That or he just didn’t feel it as much. When it activated, he held up the quill and the window popped up again.

...56...57...58...59...60. And the window vanished. It was indeed the skill he needed, but it only lasted for a minute. If it took him two to three minutes to active and only lasted one, he would need to run down the shelves to just scan them all in time. And he didn’t know how well it would show subtitles without practice. Not have any better skill to use, he moved the mana to eyes once more. And this time succeeded in gaining the skill.

A new skill has been created!

[tr][td4]ObserveGradeBasicCost10 manaLevelBasic 1Experience0/10Rank973,224,573,748Initiation30 secRange1 meterEffect60 secCooldown10 secThe most basic of eye magic, this skill allow viewing of basic information. If an item has already been identified, or it has been listed it a shop that information can be displayed. Also shows peoples names if they don’t have a privacy skill active.

Ak, I was afraid of that. The skill window showed his problem, the short effect time. But now that it was a skill, he could level it and hopefully extend the time of effect. Finished now that he had it, he went searching for Madeline. He didn’t have to look far as she had returned with a broom and worked to clear a circle of dirt. Curious, he walked up to her to see what she was doing.

As he neared, she turned and looked at him. “Good, it seems you obtained the skill. I figured I would show you one of the easier spells since you obtained spellpoint. And show you why it was the completely wrong order to get. I don’t think you can learn it now, spells are beginner grade and your class modifier will hinder you. It should still give you something to look forward to.”

Finished cleaning the circle, she nodded to him and walked toward the wands. As she left, Magnus knelt down to study the circle. More complex than he initially thought, it was not just carved into the ground. Oh, a carved groove did cause a circular indent. But the metal that laid within had gone unnoticed before.

Swipping his finger along the metal he could tell it hadn’t been poured in, it felt more like the stone had grown around it. Considering what Madeline had just done with the plates, that was entirely possible. There were also etchings across metal itself, but without any discernible pattern to them.

A cough shot him to his feet. Madeline stood right behind him with a wand in each hand. Blushing at her raised eyebrow, he kept silent and didn’t embarrass himself further. “It’s good you’re curious, but it’s far too soon to need to learn about those permanents.”

Handing him a wand she continued without teasing him further. “Here you go, this is a training wand. At this point in their training, people who want to spellcast learn one or two basic spell, then work on leveling them to an effective point. Your class will keep you from this as the experience needed to earn a skill is also increased. Unless you want to repeat it fifty times or more. I’ll show you how it’s done first, and then you can try. After you play with it once or twice, we’ll get you the basic skill you’ll need.”

Waving him away with her hand, she stepped within the circle. “I don’t need the circle myself, but it helps correctly shape the spell. All I’m going to do is push the mana down the wand into the rock. If it was a good wand it would be an actual gemstone, but it’s just a training wand.” Putting her words to action, she stretched out her arm at the giant target.

“Now I’m going to drop my control a lot so that you can see it. Any time you see someone using a skill that's glowing, it’s just releasing excess mana. They either can’t control as much as the skill requires, or their proficiency with the skill is bad. Someone who has mastered a skill will be able to do it without losing any excess mana.” As she said that the stone on the tip of the rod lightly glowed red.

“After the rock takes the mana, you continue putting mana into it, but drag it upward.” As she did so, a streak of light followed upward from where she put the wand. An orb of red light hovered at the point she started the wand.

Beginning to circle the orb with her wand she spoke. “When you start your circle on this spell it is important to remember the right hand rule. Always cast attacking spells in a counter-clockwise motion and buff spells in a clockwise motion. If you do the opposite, you’ll hit yourself or buff your enemy.” Her wand circled the center, when it reached the top she dropped it down to the point.

“After you finish a spell, you always want to return to the point of origin to close the circle. Not closing it is what you do when you’re casting spells of higher circles. After you bring it to the origin point, you say the name of the spell and withdraw your mana. Fire!”

As she pulled the wand away it no longer glowed, but the circle did. Etched in the air like the longest lasting sparkler, it floated but did nothing. And then the circle streaked like water through paint down into the center orb. Once a red line reached the orb, a bit of flame lep out toward the back wall. As more hit the orb, the jet of flame grew wider, until it tapered off into nothing.

“You don’t need to say the name of the skill, it just helps with intent. If you take the time, you can even get a skill for wordless evocation. You just need the Willpower for it. This is just a first circle spell, and it’s one of the more damaging ones too. That’s why many learn it right away. I’ll give you a try or two to get the feel of it, and then we’ll get you started on learning the basics.”

Thrusting the wand into Magnus’ hands, she pushed him into the circle. “I’ll set up some lights, so put what I showed you into practice.” With this said, she began walking around behind him, a different wand out. A she made her circles, they were not cast directly in front of her. Instead, she angled her arm straight up over her head and motioned counter-clockwise circle. “Light,” she said under her breath.

As the center pulled the white glow of her circle inward, a slight pop sounded before a glowing orb of light emerged. Floating eight feet above the ground, the orb illuminated much of the training grounds well. Moving from the left corner of wall and building, she went to the right side and repeated the process. While she proceeded, she watched as Magnus attempted his first fire spell.

Standing inside the circle, Magnus had been reviewing what needed to be done. Satisfied that he wouldn’t set himself on fire, he began. The mana easily flowed out and into the wand, it traveled down into the stone and pooled. Still feeling it’s link, he pushed more and more into the stone. Just as he began to fear he would fail, the mana in the stone changed.

Still connected, but no longer residing in the stone. The mana had formed it’s own skin and a thin line connected to the stone in the wand. Pulling the wand upward, he could see a spell point hovering. Near disbelief at the ease of creating it, Magnus stopped inputting mana for a moment. The connection between the wand and the point thinned until it became nearly invisible.

Catching his mistake, he immediately pushed more mana down the wand. The surge thickened the connection to the point and he began moving the wand. Facing more difficulty than expected, he continued circling with the wand. Mana output varying as he wobbled along, the circle thinned and thickened throughout his motion. In parts, he had thrust the wand too far forward and in others too far back. But he had made it.

Dropping the wand down to the spell point, he called out. “Fire!” and jerked the wand back toward his chest. His spell complete, he worried as the circle of red sparked far more than Madeline’s example. But at last, the glow began to drip toward the middle. When it hit the spell point, flames began to spray out. Much wider and not as concentrated as before, the flames only reached halfway to the target.

As more and more drops hit the spell point, Magnus couldn’t help but notice that much fewer fell. As they hit, they did not build upon the previous one. Instead, they spread out at slightly different angles and only overlapped near his spell. Not nearly as precise a strike as Madeline’s, flame had gone everywhere and vented the spells power where he wasn’t aiming.

“Not bad for a first try,” Madeline called from behind. “You can get much better with practice and that will help in future spell casting. But now it’s time to start on basic magic.” Disappointed he only got one shot today, he walked slowly to Madeline to find out what he needed to do next.

Back to Main Page

Magnus’ Journal: Death

Spoiler : In Grand Planes, death is to be avoided. It seems like it should be self explanatory, but magic complicates it.

When you die, you enter a state of incapacitation. Your soul floats above your body and can watch what happens a short distance around you. A free floating soul can even communicate with other nearby souls, especially the recently deceased. If battle still goes on around, this time period can be extensive.

But once battle ends, the connection between the soul and the body begins to dissolve. And once all connections are gone, the soul leaves the body and the body greys. If however, someone with a skill to reattach the soul to the body is close by, the person won’t be true dead.

But that first death is when experience is lost. 1%, or more accurately lvl/100 rounded up to the next whole number. So a lvl 0 can’t lose levels, but everyone up to lvl 100 loses 1 lvl. If a person is revived and killed, and this is done again and again(ie. in the middle of a giant long lasting battle) then massive lvl lose can occur. Not all the way to lvl 0, it seems to cap a 20% of your initial lvl.

And you also lose skill experience. On death, all experience that has been obtained for the current level is lost. If you die again without gaining anymore exp, a whole skill level is lost. Again, this won’t go on forever. When you hit the lowest level of the current lvl grade you can't lose any more. ie: a beginner lvl skill can’t lower into the basic levels and a novice lvl can’t lower into the beginner lvls. A rumor, no proof positive, is that a skill at lvl 10 that hasn’t upgraded in lvl also can’t be lowered below lvl 10.