Dialog in this story has the speaker's initial in front of it, unless it is bleeding obvious who is talking. NPCs will have some name or descriptor, leaving initials to be used by the player characters.

A: Ashcroft - mage with biased to fire

J: Jorlund - as close to a dwarf as a human can get

M: Maledictive - the party healer

W: Werlkhan - title character, first person naration is from this perspective

We step into the forest and are greeted with the zone announcement

Brambles Forest

sight range reduced 30‰

Jorlund has point, as none of us have good detection skills yet. The shadows deepen, obscuring visibility in the underbrush. This edge of the forest has several young trees and bushes, and we push through them going deeper into the woods and shadows. It does not take long to hear the growls.

Young Wolf - 5

Two walk out from behind the trees in front of us. Another appears in the gloom on our right. The wolves eye us, growling, teeth bared. Wolves often prey on herd animals and their tactic is to get the herd to run and then pick off a straggler. We are not normal prey, having come here for them, and we are not running.

J: Come here poochie, my hammer wants to play.

One of the wolves starts snarling and charges at Jorlund. It comes in low and then jumps for his throat, but he blocks with his shield. His hammer comes around and smacks the wolf off. It stumbles to the side but quickly regains it footing.

| wolf1 -31 |

J: "This one is locked on me, keep your eyes on the others!"

A: "Adustio. Adustio."

Ashcroft held fire in each hand, ready to unleash on the wolves but waiting for a good openning. He seems focused on the wolf to our right having a staring contest. I refresh my Spirit Connection with my moths and send them to stun the two wolves that are waiting for an opening. My moth reaches the wolf that Ashcroft is focused on, swoops down into it's face and flares its wings to stun the wolf. Those daziling blue eyespots on its wood brown wings shimmer as the wolf loses its balance and falls over. Ashcroft fires just as the first wolf is crushed by Jorlund again.

| wolf1 -31 |

| wolf3 -25 -25 |

The remaining wolf tries to get Jorlund from the side while he is engaged with the first one, but my second moth arrives right at that moment. The wolf, mid stride, falls to the ground and lays there stunned. Moths 2 and 3 settle on it for a quick meal. Ashcroft takes full advantage of the short chant for his skill and is throwing fire bullets rapidly.

| wolf1 -31 |

| wolf3 -25 -25 |

| wolf2 -1 -1 |

I flank the wolf that is fixated on Jorlund. He is showing his battle experience, keeping his weight on his toes and holding the hammer high so it can be brought down quickly when his enemy gets in range. Shield out in front, but low so it does not block his line of sight. I pause for timing, and the wolf attacks again. This time the wolf is biting low, aiming for joints to stop Jorlund from moving about. The hammer falls, smashing down onto the wolf and I stab forward with my knife while the wolf is pressed into the ground.

| wolf3 -25 -25 -25 |

| wolf1 -31 -22 |

| wolf2 -1 -1 |

My pack of vermin is swarming past me to get at the wolf that I have wounded. Ashcroft yells "I'm out of mana!" as he runs forward with his wooden quarterstaff. He swings at the wolf he has been peppering with fire, and then retreats in a hurry when he sees it is ineffective.

| wolf3 -0 |

| wolf1 -7 -7 |

| wolf2 -1 -1 |

W: "Mal go finish that wolf, it has to be low and the stun is about to wear off."

Maledictive runs by the retreating Ashcroft and reaches the wolf just as it shakes its head and stands up. The wolf lunges forward just as Maledictive plants his feet and swings his mace in a perfect baseball form. He misses and the wolf bites into his arm, taking them both down with the momentum.

| Maledictive -15 |

| wolf1 -31 |

| wolf2 -1 -1 |

Jorlund continues to dance with his enemy, poise and block and swing, whittling it down. My snakes and rats biting at it when they can. The remaining wolf shakes off its stun and reassesses targets. My third moth stuns it. Maledictive managed to bring the mace around and smashes it into the rib cage of the wolf that is chewing on his arm.

| wolf3 -6 |

44exp

I turn back to look at the other two wolves just as Jorlund delivers a final strike to his.

| wolf1 -31 |

44exp

That only leaves one, and as I look for it I see it is still on the ground, working through a second stun. My pack is heading there now, even the turtle trying to make its way to mindlessly do damage to my enemy. All my moths are sitting on it, and my rats and snakes arrive.

| wolf2 -1 -1 -1 -7 -7 -7 -3 -7 -3 -22 |

I get there and find a clear spot to stab my knife in. The wolf starts flailing before I expect it, and I throw my knee onto it, scrambling to keep my weight on top of the wolf's center of mass. As I can't pull the dagger out for another stab without losing my hold on the wolf, I start twisting it and driving it deeper.

| wolf2 -22 |

! Skill !

| wolf2 -4 bleeding |

A blue exclamation point appeared in the corner of my vision, but I could not open the notice and focus on the wolf. My pack is doing 34 damage a second. Maledictive had regained his feet now and was approaching with his mace.

| wolf2 -4 bleeding -3 -7 -7 -7 -4 -7 |

Maledictive reaches my beastial game of twister and plants his mace firmly in the face of the thrashing wolf. It is still no better than the low level monsters in my pack but I can see it has emotional value. He really is the only one who was chewed on in this encounter and he is working that frustration out on the wolf's head. The bleeding and the mob of animals drain the wolf fast. I am not sure if it tried to submit in defeat or if something like a bleeding status prevents that. One round of all these damage sources took the wolf from above the health threshold where it would admit defeat to dead.

44exp

I had not seen any of the wolves use a skill, so I still only have guesses about what I would learn from taming them, but I think it would be better to have fast beasts like wolves instead of my tanky turtle that I have to carry around.

Maledictive used Mend on himself as Jorlund started looting the bodies. I focused on the blue exclimation point and brought up the notification that occured during the last fight.

New Skill Learned! Open Wounds

Force and twist your bladed weapon in your opponent to cause lasting damage, opening a wound that will continue to bleed until it is treated. Damage based on strength and dexterity.

15 stamina

That is a nice one. Gruesome. I am happy to have it. Jorlund finishes collecting wolf skins, and I walk back to my turtle as my raggedy pack surrounds me.

-~= POV Ashcroft =~-

I open my skill trees again and give them a longing look. The shared experience from the wolves was not enough for me to reach level 6; I'm still a handfull of wolves away. When I chose my skill trees I was informed that the skills can be purchased with skill points. I get 5 skill points per level. This means I can unlock everything in the Fire tree after 20 levels, if I ignore Shadow and whatever skill tree I add at level 10. The fire skills do damage, wide scale damage, damage over time, and some enhancement and other usefull things in there. Beloved classics are scattered throughout, along with a few new choices.

Fire Skill Tree: Fire Mage Skills In My Element 9 Fire Bullet / Heated Weapon 2 Fire Bolt 2 / | / Blazing Echo[3] Fire Lance[4] Heated Seekers[3] Fireball[4] | | / / Superheated[6] Fire Trail[5] Fire Bolas[4] Blazing Pillar[5] Lava Eruption[5] / / | Fire Wall[6] Fire Rune[6] Nova Pulse[7] Meteor[7] / / Immolation[7] Champion Conflagration[7] Burning Soul[8] bold - acquired # - skill point cost [] - locked Element Bullet Condense a mass of your element and hurl it at your target for (15 + Intelligence) damage. In My Element Immunity. Damage of this element is changed into mana for you to absorb, 10 dmg for 1 mana point Fire Bolt Faster, hotter, better. A thick bolt of fire strikes your target for (3 * intelligence) damage Heated Weapon Add elemental damage to a weapon. Duration 1 hour. Blazing Echo A firey afterimage is added to weapons, repeating total damage as elemental damage Heated Seekers Three fire bullets will follow your target, correcting their own paths to stay on target. Fire Lance Piercing flames that sear their way through your target. Fire Ball Classic explosive projectile Fire Bolas A whirling mass of fire that is thrown at an enemy. It wraps around them and continues to burn. Lava Erruption The ground bursts open, throwing molten rock onto nearby targets Blazing Pillar Fire decends from above and surges from bellow, engulfing your taget for (intelligence^2/2) damage Fire Trail Fire follows you as you move, igniting the very ground you walk on. Duration 3 minutes, burning 5 minutes. Superheated The targeted equipment melts, making it unusable as well as burning its user. Meteor A burning mass descends, crushing the targeted area Fire Wall The ground burns, erecting a wall of fire that damages all who touch it. Duration 5 minutes Fire Rune Your ability to condense fire elements outside of yourself has progressed to the level of remote detonation. Leave a mark that explodes when a foe gets too close. Immolation set the whole room on fire, or a radius of 50ft from target spot if not in room Nova Pulse The fire within bursts out, burning and repelling all foes Burning Soul Ignite your very soul, doubling all damage you do but also burning through your mana. Mana burns away at twice regen. Duration: until mana reaches 0 Champion Conflagration Fire takes form as a towering combatant with blazing 2h sword. Duration 15 minutes

But the shadow tree has essential mage aides; crowd control, minion, evasion, detection. Although it would take a minimum of 29 points, 6 levels, to unlock the Shadow Step, such a skill could easily save my life.

Shadow Skill Tree: Shadow Mage Skills In My Element 9 Shadow Bullet | | Shadow Cloak 2 Shadow Spike 2 | | Muffle[3] Shadow Perferation[4] | | | | Fear[4] Detect Concealment[4] Foreshadowing[5] Shadow Bind[3] | | | Shadow Deception[6] Enshroud[5] Shadow Grapple[5] | | | | Shadow Domain[7] Shadow Clone[6] Shadow Tribuli[6] Sticky Shadow Web[6] | / | Shadow Step[7] Transference[8] Night Child[7] bold - acquired # - skill point cost [] - locked

So many choices to make.

Shadow cloak A covering made of shadows so you can hide among them Shadow Spike Stiffened shadow surges up from the ground, impaling your target Muffle Encase your feet in shadows, preventing sound as you move Shadow Bind Solidify shadows to grasp your target and hold it in place Detect Concealment Darkness seeks those hidden in darkness. Find things around you that are not meant to be found. Shadow Perferate Launch (intelligence / 4) small shadow spikes, can have multiple targets Enshroud Wrap your self or target in solidified shadow, forming claws and armor Foreshadowing Your shadow stretches before you, and all who are in it receive increased damage Shadow Grapple Take hold with solidified shadow and drag target closer Shadow Tribuli Fill an area with spiky shadow constructions. Cost is based on size, which is determined by caster Sticky Shadow Web Globs of shadow spread and fly, ensaring foes that are hit or touch it afterwards. Duration 5 minutes. Shadow Deception Every shadow becomes a target for your enemies Night Child The shadows come to life and take form. Unleash a small and fast denizen of darkness upon your foes. Shadow Clone Solidify shadow into your clone, with your stats, whom you control as well. Shadow Domain Fill the room with your shadows so you can move undetected, hiding your presence while causing fear status effect in all targets. Shadow Step Step into one shadow and out of another. Must have line of sight between the shadows. Transference Damage done to target’s shadow is done to target, but the shadow cannot defend itself. Fear Demoralize and weaken your target Werlkhan: Stats Name: Werlkhan Animalist0.1 pack: Level 6 (64%) exp to level 816 2 Rats +1.4 vit Vitality 12.9 Health 273 3 Dreameater Moths +3 cha Strength 12.2 Mana 75 4 Plains Snakes +3.2 str Dexterity 8 Stamina 140 1 Ivory Spike Turtle +1.5 vit Intelligence 4 H regen 2.4 (113s) Wisdom 5 M regen 1.5 (50s) Charisma 6 Armor 0 unspent 0 Carry limit 134 Money 2s 57c