Jasper awoke a few hours later and was surprised to see the sun still streaming in through the cottage windows. Did I sleep all day, or is the day here longer than normal? Jasper craned his head out the window and saw that the sky had turned a brilliant purple, shot through with great streaks of fiery orange as the burning sun hung low in the sky. Well, it looks like night is coming, he decided. Pulling back from the window, he checked in on Ihra. She was still asleep in her bed, a slight trail of drool dripping from her mouth onto the plush pillow. He closed the door gently and returned to the main room of the cottage. After a moment of indecision, he sat down on the floor to meditate. I am the river…

With a gasp, he popped into the void.

Jasper Welles (25)

Level up available: x17

Exp: 25/1000

Health 500

Stamina 900

Essence 1200

Heritage(s)

Greater Djinn

Class(es)

Acolyte of the Secret Flame

Titles

The Blood Runs True

Betrothed of Kas̆dael

Survivor

Stats

Racial Traits

Class Abilities

Weapon Skills

Strength 15

Born of Flames

Sacred Star II

Improvised Weaponry I

Endurance 20

Uplifted

Purge

Sling V

Vision 15

Locked

Eternal Night II

Glaive IV

Inspiration 35

Locked

Fiery Shackles

Willpower 35

Sin Eater

Charisma 15

Jasper was shocked to see how many levels he had gained. How did I gain so many levels? The answer came to him almost immediately, leaving a bitter taste on his lips. 18 people. I killed 18 people, and l got almost a level for each. And a night hag, whatever she was worth. He allocated the points, the joy of the levels slightly spoiled by the price.

The biggest surprise was the new heritage he’d received. In the hectic days that had followed their escape from Yar-Khennor, and subsequent exile from Hargish, Jasper had all but forgotten his brief encounter with the strange beast, Namrah, in the jungle.

Uplifted

The Great Namrah has taken pity on the mewling cub before her and given him a blessing.

Unlocks your first set of wings, opens the door to the Seraph faction, and grants the racial trait Devouring Breath. Make contact with the Seraphs for further information and advancements.

So that explains the wings, and, probably, whatever I did to those people. He looked for more information on the Devouring Breath, but could find nothing. First set of wings. Does that mean I can fly? He focused his mind, trying to wish wings into existence. A faint itch ran across his back, but no matter how hard he tried, his shoulders remained disappointingly wingless.

Guess I couldn't expect it to be that easy. He turned back to the character screen. He had passed level 40, which meant he had another spell to pick.

Reward Box

Please select one current spell to enhance and one of three new spells:

Seraph Burst - Launch yourself in a fiery explosion towards your enemies, your wings spiraling out in a razor sharp attack. Cost: 200 essence

Voidwalker - Escape from illusions by briefly stepping into the void. Cost: 150 essence

Chrysostom - Temporarily doubles your charisma, and allows you to speak with many beasts. Cost: 200 essence

All the choices seemed decent. Seraph Burst would add a much-needed compliment to his rather small repertoire of offensive spells. He really only had the explosive Sacred Star and the situational Purge to rely on, so another spell could be useful. He could see Seraph Burst and Fiery Shackles working well together in combat.

However, he had been shaken by his encounter with the night hag. Mind magic was scary, and Voidwalker offered at least some measure of protection. Chrysostom was also intriguing. The ability to talk to animals was right out of a fairy tale and tempted him more than he wanted to admit. Jasper also wondered if perhaps the skill, with its doubling of charisma, might have allowed him to smooth things over with the guild at Hargish. Maybe, they wouldn't have had to leave, although as he remembered the luxurious cottage they had been provided, he wasn't so sure that their exile hadn't been a blessing in disguise.

Ultimately, though, Jasper found Chrysostom the easiest to dismiss. Survival was more important than talking to animals. He also reluctantly passed on Voidwalker; as terrifying as the hag was, her nightmare was the only illusion he had encountered thus far. In the end, Seraph Burst seemed the most useful.

The last choice he needed to make was which skill to upgrade. Since Sacred Star and Eternal Night had already been upgraded, he decided to bring Fiery Shackles up to their level.

Fiery Shackles II

Summon four fiery shackles to bind four foes for 40 seconds. Deals moderate fire damage. Cost: 200 essence.

It was a simple upgrade, but Jasper was satisfied. He took one last glance at his new stats before leaving the void

Jasper Welles (42)

Level up available: x0

Exp: 25/1000

Health 1000

Stamina 1060

Essence 1520

Heritage(s)

Greater Djinn

Class(es)

Acolyte of the Secret Flame

Titles

The Blood Runs True

Betrothed of Kas̆dael

Survivor

Stats

Racial Traits

Class Abilities

Weapon Skills

Strength 30

Born of Flames

Sacred Star II

Improvised Weaponry I

Endurance 30

Uplifted

Purge

Sling V

Vision 20

Locked

Eternal Night II

Glaive IV

Inspiration 43

Locked

Fiery Shackles II

Willpower 43

Sin Eater

Charisma 20

Seraph Burst

He had finally decided to invest a significant amount of points in strength and endurance, doubling his health. There had been too many close calls in the last few weeks.

He emerged from the void, the phantom pains blossoming in his chest. Ihra sat beside him, her eyes closed in meditation. He threw himself back on the bed, waiting for her to finish. He rolled around in the sheets, luxuriating in the sheer comfort of a real bed after weeks on the road. Bathed in the warm sunbeams streaming through the cottage windows, he had almost drifted off back to sleep when she finally stirred from her meditation. He roused himself up, shaking the drowsiness from his head.

Her face beamed with the pleased look of the cat who caught the canary, and he couldn’t help but return her infectious grin. “Levels or skills?”

“Both. I finally passed level 40, got a new skill, and almost doubled my stats. I also got a new title, ‘Cultists’ Bane.’”

“Me too, but I didn’t get the title.” He frowned. “I wonder why? I killed the cultists with you.”

She rummaged around in her bag and pulled out a fresh shirt. Changing into the shirt, she wrangled her long, blonde hair into a respectable ponytail, before replying. “Probably because you didn’t want to. You’ve been all mopey about having to kill them, so the gods didn’t reward you for it. The skills and titles you receive are driven by your actions and your attitude,” she paused before continuing, “although in your case, it seems like someone has a thumb on the scales.”

Jasper shrugged his shoulders, although a spark of annoyance flickered in his heart. “Oh well. Screw me for not rejoicing at killing humans, I guess.” He walked over to the pressure plate. “You ready to get this meeting over with?”

The meeting with the guild representative went quickly. The guild took their testimony - both of them left out the part of the story where he drained the cultists - and paid each of them a gold for their service. They were offered a position on the crew that would be sent to “handle” the village, but Jasper declined.

The guild representative, however, was primarily interested in Jasper’s skills. Apparently, Purge and other inquisitorial skills were highly sought after, as they were fairly rare. Although the cultists had been almost entirely wiped out in the Desolyton, they had slowly rebuilt in the centuries that followed, and now, with the country consumed in a devastating war and magic on the decline, their dark methods were once again sweeping through the empire. Thus, the guild office at Gis̆-Izum was very eager to acquire a fledgling inquisitor of their own.

Jasper turned down all their offers, but the guild insisted on providing accommodations for them, so soon he and Ihra found themselves led down the main street of the village to a new, larger cottage. When the guild representative finally left, Jasper dropped into his chair with a sigh of relief. “Whew. I thought he’d never leave. You know, it’s kind of funny. The guild at Hargish cast us out, and the guild here is treating us like we’re royalty.”

Ihra curled up on the couch opposite him, admiring the plush, down cushions covered in soft red velvet. “This couch probably costs more money than two of us have put together.” She stretched out on the couch, reveling in its luxurious embrace, like a cat sprawling in a sunbeam. “Now this is the life.”

“So what’s our plan? Should we go look for a quest, or try to find another group to join?”

She sat up, stretching her arms out with a yawn. “Yes. If we don’t keep the guild happy by doing quests, we’ll lose this beautiful place. And, we need more people. We can probably just tag along with another group if we don’t want to start our own crew yet. But first, I want to go see the kids.”

Jasper winced, as a wave of guilt washed through him. Truth be told, he had completely forgotten about them. “Of course, let's go now.”

They used the pressure plate to buzz the guild, asking for directions to the orphanage, before setting off. It was only a short walk away, and as they strolled down the village’s main street, Jasper was surprised at how homey the place felt. The street was wide and paved with a smooth unbroken stone surface, that must have been magical in origin. Rows of cottages lined the street and broke off in numerous small side streets. The cottages were pleasant two-story affairs, with large garden plots in the front, and stately old trees rising up to the sky above. Jasper’s eyes traveled up a particularly large oak tree, before being drawn to the sun setting above the distant mountains.

“So our conversation earlier was cut short, but you never really explained what a sanctum is.”

“Right, you don’t know about them, do you?” Ihra frowned, trying to recall what she knew about sanctums.

“I don’t really know much about history, but they were built all over Corsythia, although mostly in central and south Corsythian regions sometime during the Fey wars. I’m not sure which war it was, though. I want to say....maybe during the reign of Shamshadīn, so the second war?"

She shrugged, her ponytail bobbing. "Anyway, the empire was losing the war badly. Millions of innocent civilians were being killed, so a group of the most powerful mages banded together to come up with a solution: they sacrificed themselves, binding their souls together, to create impenetrable shelters where common folk could live in safety from the Feys' attacks."

"It worked brilliantly. With most of the population secured, the empire's forces were finally able to push the Fey back, out of our territories for good. After the wars finally ended, most people returned to their old homes. There are still a few sanctums that are heavily inhabited, and quite a few have been resettled thanks to the war with the Zalancthians, but most of them are now operated by the guild and barracks in trust, like this one.”

“Huh. So they are kind of like the really big cold war bunkers we built.”

She shrugged, not understanding his reference, as they turned down the alleyway the orphanage was on. “Here we are.”

She rapped on the door sharply, and after a few seconds, a young woman answered. Dark shadows lined her eyes, and her brows creased with unseasonably early wrinkles. “Can I help you?”

“We’re here to see a little boy and girl that were brought here yesterday.”

The lady opened the door and stepped aside. “Come in. They passed their examination, and have been assigned a room.”

She led them into the orphanage, up the stairs, and down a small hall. Jasper noted that the orphanage, while spotlessly clean, was a bit run down. His fears were only confirmed when the woman opened the door to the children’s room. It was a small room, lit by the light of a single, small window high up in the wall. A bunk bed, chair, and desk were the only pieces of furniture in the room, and a small, worn rug covered the wooden floor. In the corner, a shabby rocking horse was the only toy he saw.

The children shrunk back a little when he stepped into the room, but their faces lit up when they saw Ihra behind. The little girl ran over to Ihra, burying her face in her legs, the boy following close behind. And then, to Jasper’s surprise, the little boy awkwardly hugged him. He gently patted the child on the back before standing back up.

He turned to the lady. “The guild attendant said something about sponsoring them. I’d like to make sure they are taken care of.” He pulled out the gold coin the guild had paid him for the cultists. “Here’s a start.”

Ihra added her own coin, and the lady bowed. “Of course. The orphanage doesn’t receive a lot of funding from the guild, because most of the adventurers’ children are sponsored by their former parties. If you can afford to sponsor them, it will greatly help them.”

She took the money and led them downstairs where she retrieved paperwork. “Here’s a sponsorship contract. You agree to provide a certain of money each year, and in return, we will provide you with an account of how the money is spent. For now, the money you provided will go to fixing up their room and buying new clothes. All children in the orphanage are provided with a basic education, and as they got older, an apprenticeship with local crafters or workers. As a sponsor, you are free to make your own arrangements for them, however. And of course, you’re welcome to visit whenever you like.”

Jasper scanned the contract quickly, and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, signed it. He handed back it to the lady with a smile. “Please tell Kefir and Aryah we’ll be back soon.”

They left the orphanage and headed toward the small market center. A few shops were clustered around the square, and a handful of stalls were hawking their wares. Jasper and Ihra searched through them as Jasper explained his goal. “I want to buy a few toys for them to play with and a warm blanket. It gets cold here, and they didn’t have a fireplace in their room.”

The blankets were easy to find, but toys were in short supply. Eventually, Jasper located a trader who had a few toys that he had accepted in trade: a few straw dolls, some carved wooden horses, and a small bag of building blocks. At Ihra’s suggestion, they stopped at a food stall and loaded up on treats and goodies before returning to the orphanage.

Kefir and Aryah were delighted with their new possessions, the girl immediately pouncing on the horses with a squeal of delight while the boy hugged the doll close to his chest. As they left, even the girl shyly hugged him goodbye.

They spent the rest of the day simply relaxing. Jasper was curious to see more of the sanctum, so they took a long ride on their horses into the foothills that bounded the sanctum. The air was crisp and fresh, the world lush and beautiful, devoid of all dangers. It was the first place he had been, since being brought to Corsythia, where there were no dangerous beasts or monsters and no violent criminals, but a calm tranquility, a place where one could truly relax.

This is paradise.