A Record of Ash & Ruin: The Grieving Lands

Chapter 35: All the Bases

'The gods give no gifts without exacting a toll,' the ancient maxim rings true today even in this forsaken age. And for the practitioners of magic, the price demanded by the Divines for the loan of their power is steep indeed. As a mage's Control over the arcane arts grows, so too does the Call - that insidious, seductive whisper that beckons them to embrace the very element they seek to master. Some would answer that Call with a pilgrimage to the water's depths, drowning in the embrace of the element they cherished above all others. Consumed by their very passion, some would seek the ultimate heat of the flame, offering themselves up to be consumed in a fiery dance of transcendence. Still others would entomb themselves alive in the very earth they commanded, seeking to become one with its secrets.

However, it is the Anemancers, the Laughing Mad, who truly dare to walk the razor's edge of magic. They leap from great heights, bodies hurtling through the air, finally unable to resist the siren song of the wind. Madness, some call it. But to those who understand the true nature of magic, it is a sacrifice made in pursuit of the ultimate power, for not all who make the leap of faith meet their untimely end. Yet, even those with the strongest wills can not hope to escape the demands of the cosmos forever. For the path of magic is a treacherous and thorny one, and only the most resolute can hope to walk it to its conclusion.

- Master Bertrand of the University of Quas.

Unluckily for us, the moon was high and bright among the veil of stars, and cast a silvery light. The charcoal piles continued to emit their smoke, ghostly now under the moon’s pale ambience and the sleepy watch of their minders. Our group moved from the tree cover of the woods towards the edge of the clearing, and noticed that a solitary man had come towards us. I stiffened still to check for the position of my companions, only to see that Elwin had somehow slipped off. Perhaps the Rogue suddenly caught a case of cold feet? The charcoal burner kept moving towards us, oblivious to our presence. As he came closer something dark, a ghost of a shadow, fell from the trees onto him, without a sound. A glint of metal flashed in the moonlight. With Kidu, I rushed as quickly as possible the few yards toward the man to find Elwin standing over him. Blood emanated from a stab wound from the soon to be corpse’s neck. Hoping that I was not too late, I also stabbed the fallen man with my makeshift weapons to ensure his demise.

You have slain a Human 25 experience gained

Thankfully, I was able to get a hit in while his heart had still been pumping blood. I smirked in the darkness, realizing that this man had been worth even less experience than Gunne. Just as I was about to discuss our next steps with our group, there was an explosion of activity from the opposite treeline, as if the man’s death was some sort of trigger.

Familiar silhouettes bounded across from the giant trees in great leaping strides, calling to one another in their unnatural clicking language, weapon arms raised in deadly threat. The monsters bounded in.

A man shouted a warning to his peers, and the men grouped up hurriedly. The sounds of alarm were repeated across the camp as the rest of the men burst from the cabins, carrying a variety of arms and lethal implements.

A wave of chittering Echo-Stalkers descended upon them from the trees. Soon enough there was a melee of steel against razor-sharp claws and piercing mandibles. The sound of battle and violence filled the previously tranquil night that was once almost surreal in its beauty. Slowly, the sounds turned more to shouts, then screams of panic as the humans fought against a much more numerous and deadly foe.

I looked at the faces of my companions, their worried expressions clear in the moon’s subtle light. The initial plan had gone completely to tatters, fate’s arrow once again striking against us.

The Echo-stalkers were the main threat. Humans on the other hand could be reasoned with. Then there was the matter of Durhit. In a split second, a decision was made. It was amazing what humans did when faced with a common enemy…

“We strike them from behind and kill these Echo-Stalkers once they have all been drawn out and are fully engaged, then we simply keep on fighting. Remember these men... these things were responsible for Durhit, no mercy! Be ready to follow my move!” I ordered as I girded my loins for battle once more. I rushed towards the fight with a lack of hesitation and fear that would have surprised my past self. The air was cool and refreshing as it brushed against my face and in that moment of frozen time, everything seemed so full of clarity, as if my ears could distill each and every individual sound that cried out into the night.

The insect-like Echo-Stalkers had the numbers and savage ferocity, but the charcoal burners had a surprising amount of discipline and skill as they fought back against them. Against this onslaught, the charcoal burners started to regroup after their initial shock as they rallied around their leaders.

The humans, even with their newfound discipline, were getting pushed back as the melee continued. Here, a claw would slash against exposed skin. There, a hand holding an axe or impromptu weapon would be punctured by sharp mandibles. Still, the humans were able to inflict casualties against their multi-limbed foes. For every step taken in retreat, their weapons took a terrible toll on their enemies. Judging that the charcoal burner’s line was weakened enough, I ordered my small group to charge.

Our group crashed into the rear of the Echo-Stalkers, entering the chaotic melee with silent violence that belied our rage. Stabbing with both of my weapons into the hard chitinous back of one of the foul creatures, I found little resistance. Since antiquity, humans had used nature’s own tools against her, and I found great joy in piercing their natural armor with their own weapons. Snarling now like a feral creature, I dodged a barely visible slashing blow meant for my arm. The move was more of an instinctive motion than a conscious decision. A death notification of the creature floated across my vision and I dismissed it, as my full attention was required for dealing with the monster in front of me.

Preparing to mete out some more punishment, I studied one of the creatures who darted this way and that. Its erratic motions were difficult enough to follow, let alone line up an attack. Noticing the antennae on its head were constantly pointed at me, I knew that I was the sole focus of its attention. Keeping myself out of the measure of its slashing talons, I waited for an opening. I would not have to wait long, as the insect monster bunched low before launching itself to strike, the natural blades on its arms blue in the soft moonlight. I lunged into the arc of its blow, coming beneath the creature and stabbing it with my dual blades through its chest with a Power Strike before slicing horizontally with both daggers, the blades still embedded in my opponent's flesh, in opposite directions sides. Such was the force of the finishing blow that I almost bisected the creature.

Somewhere in the grand melee, I could hear the charcoal burners shout out the various names of their weapon skills as they unleashed their skills against the midnight horde. Double Strike, Rolling Chop, and a few others were among the skills that were screamed out desperately against the monster.

Suddenly, I felt a clang against my helm, almost knocking it off my head, before something sharp scraped across my shoulder blades and drew blood. Turning around with one blade outstretched to guard and the other held close ready to stab, I saw a blurry outline that seemed to meld with the night. From its alien chittering, I deduced it to be one of the chameleonic strains of the creatures.

I fell back into a desperate strategy, a whirlwind of blows to overwhelm the monster. Still new to this world, my skill would be no match against such a lithe and lightning-fast creature. Where skill failed, raw savagery would have to prevail. I could barely make its outline in the moonlit night, and each and every one of my strikes felt like a literal stab in the dark. Swinging with wild abandon, I continually missed the creature as it dodged and weaved, like mist in the night. Just as I was gearing up to strike out at the creature again, I was saved from the results of my reckless strategy by Elwin, who appeared, as if by magic, behind the creature, backstabbing it with a precise blow to the base of its neck.

Knowing better than to pause in combat, I swiftly turned on the balls of my feet, engaging a regular drone with my twin weapons against its natural armaments. I was faster, tougher, and stronger than the drone. I roared as I charged, my higher dexterity allowing me to parry both of its falling arm-blades with my daggers.

However, as I ducked under its vicious mandibles, I was met by its other pair of clawed arms. These tore through cloth and left bloody lines across my chest, causing me to lose a chunk of my Health. At the back of my mind, even in the heat of battle, I realized that I was not feeling any pain from the blows I had received. It must be because my Health was still over eighty percent, I thought, remembering the Tree-Laur and the exact threshold when the bleeding damage began to cause me great pain.

I did not have to wait long for my theory to be proven correct, because a sharp pain burst from my left leg as another of the Echo-Stalkers struck from my blind spot. This forced me to keep my left weapon in a hastily made guard position to help fend off further attacks from this new threat.

However, I was still within my initial target’s guard, and needing to end this quickly, I used a Power Strike to try and skewer the monster with my right blade. My dagger hit true and the crudely made thing pierced through its armored chest with part of my fist burying itself in its body. I booted it off with a savage kick, uncaring to make sure it was dead, and turned to face my new opponent; the beast that had stabbed my leg. My Health points were falling precipitously due to bleed damage from the number of wounds I had received. I needed something to distract the enemies before me, to let me disengage and heal myself.

Not seeing where Elwin had disappeared to, I shouted, “Kidu! To me!” my voice cutting through the din of combat.

Kidu swiftly disengaged from his opponent by rapidly spinning his spear. The viper-swift blade formed a temporary circle of safety that swept away his opponents and he found his way to my side. The Hunter covered me with his bulk, keeping our enemies at bay. I took this moment of respite to gather my magical energies and cast Heal vocally, prioritizing speed over anything else. The magic of the spell quickly filled my body with familiar soothing energies and raised my Health almost completely. I studied Kidu for a moment and saw that he was not in any need of healing, having only suffered minor cuts along his arms and legs.

Fully invigorated, Kidu and I rejoined the chaos of the fray. Kidu’s spear was like lightning, thrusts mixed in with wide circular motions that kept multiple opponents at bay and relieved a lot of the pressure from the charcoal burners. Regarding the massive Hunter as the principal threat, most of the Echo-Stalkers focused their attacks on him. I took the opportunity to savage their now exposed flanks, slicing and stabbing here and there while they were busy attacking him. Kidu was a storm of violence as he went from sweeping cuts to savage jabs, smoothly mixing offense and defense with his weapon forms.

I glimpsed Elwin there at the edges of the chaos, dancing among the melee between the charcoal burners and the Echo-Stalkers. There he was, stabbing the joints of the Echo-Stalker’s natural armor, at the moments when they were busy fighting a charcoal burner. There he was again, plunging a blade into one of the insect monster’s eyes, before fading back into the night in an impressive display of shadowy stealth and martial skill. Alongside the surviving charcoal burners, we began whittling away at the monsters’ numbers. Gradually we crushed them with our combined might, our enemies reduced to so many still twitching corpses and, as such, they were converted into power-giving experience.

My Stamina was just under half when we finished stabbing the last of the Echo-Stalkers, and I was a little displeased that I had not leveled up after the encounter. Over half of the charcoal burners had perished in the fight, and the remaining few looked tired but grateful to our party. The leader, who was clad in blue, a deel or loose robes I noticed on closer inspection, came up to me offering his hand in gratitude.

With no belt or scabbard on which to hang my blade, I handed one of them to Elwin, who tested its balance as I walked up to meet the man.

Smiling oilily, the leader spoke to us in a voice that was both obsequious, yet condescending, “Thank you, travelers, without your timely help this night I am sure that perhaps we would all have perished. We owe you our lives, and you have rekindled my faith that all men are brothers against the dark things. May I offer you the humble hospitality of our camp?

Even as he was speaking, a whisper in my subconscious suggested to me that he only wished me to let my guard down, before trapping me once again into slavery. A twisted, logical part of my mind understood that this was the only possible way he could recover from the losses of this night.

Before he could finish his traitorous thought, I stabbed him mercilessly in the neck.

You have slain Chagatai Nyamdor 85 experience gained

“You are no brother of mine,” I spat vehemently at his corpse.

We had, after all, planned on killing them all anyway. I didn’t have the energy to answer a slew of questions, I was tired enough as it was. The wildman, on my signal, fell on the exhausted Children of Tides with relish, releasing a battle cry that seemed to stun them. Elwin followed him two heartbeats later with his small flashing blade that stabbed and stabbed into yielding flesh. With utter shock on their faces, and with little resistance, we slaughtered them all, to the man. I welcomed the experience as the last man fell.

Still shaking from the thrill and shock of battle, I had completely ignored my notifications, so I decided to check up on the progress of my character, looking for any notable changes I had missed.

STATUS

CallingGilgamesh Level 10 Paladin of Avaria/Reaver Strength24 Dexterity18 Constitution34 Intelligence18 Wisdom16 Charisma10 Luck15

SKILLS & PROFICIENCIES

Pain Nullification (lvl.2) Power Strike (lvl.2) 10 Endure (lvl.3) Stealth (lvl.2) Rest (lvl.3) Backstab (lvl.2) Dodge (lvl.3) Polearms (lvl.2) Dual Wield (lvl.2) Critical Hit Mastery (lvl.2) Mining (lvl.2) Unarmed Combat (lvl.3) Hammers (lvl.2) Flails (lvl.1) Maces (lvl.1) Shields (lvl.1) Medium Armour (lvl.1) Heavy Armour (lvl.1) Axes (lvl.1) Daggers (lvl.1)

SPELLS & MAGIC

Heal (lvl.5) 5

Rust (lvl.3) 1-2

Identify (lvl.2) 1

Silent Casting (lvl.1)

Mana Regeneration (lvl.2)

Purify (lvl.2) 3

Greater Heal (lvl.1) 10

Holy Aura (lvl.1) 2

Decay (lvl.1)

Drain (lvl.1)

Entropic Aura (lvl.1)

GIFTS

Curse of Entropy: -20% all starting attributes. Mark of the Paladin: 10% resistance to Dark/Holy magic, 5% resistance to Physical. Touch of the Void: 10% reduced resistance to Holy/Fire magic, 20% resistance to Mental Effects, 15% immunity to Mental Effects.

Experience to next level 2417/2583

Health196/230 Stamina15/55 Mana8/13

Progress of my character? What a strange turn of thought, this was my progress and this was in no way a game. I focused more seriously now on my current situation.

A single point to Dexterity and Strength was both welcome and at the same time a little disappointing, since it appeared that the growth rate of my attributes was slowing down, despite the ever more frenetic battles I had been fighting. Even after suffering a multitude of wounds in the heat of combat, my Constitution refused to budge.

Going over my skills, I noticed that my Dual Wield proficiency had increased by a level, thanks to my wild swings with the new weapons. These weapons must have been categorized as daggers by whatever system ruled this world. I knew this to be fact as I had gained a new skill ‘Daggers’ through their use. This skill, like all of my other newly acquired skills from this world, was at level one.

I still had some spells that required testing, which I would leave until we had reached a safe place. My new gifts from my class choices would also need to be examined some other time, as I had more pressing needs before me currently.

“Leave the corpses where they are. Take no trophies, but loot the men. Leave the weapons on them for now. If they have coin, take some of it but not all,” I said, looking hard at our Rogue who looked like he was about to protest. “Please trust me...there is a method to my madness,” I assured him between labored breaths.

Elwin shrugged his shoulders, before he began rifling through the bodies. A few moments later, he was joined by Kidu, who spat on one of the corpses before going about the grisly task.

During the latter part of the fight, several times my notifications displayed the names of the men that I had killed instead of the usual question marks. I briefly wondered if they had any scripted family or friends to mourn them, before swiftly brushing the thought aside. I felt the smallest pinprick of guilt before I rationalized that their deaths, if they were truly alive in the first place, had been nothing more than a necessity for the survival of our group. It was a cliched conviction, but we simply did what we had to do. I did not have the time, nor emotional energy, to cry over each and every defeated foe.

“Okay...I mean alright,” I said as I looked at the corpses that had been killed by spear and knife, “Let’s try and set the scene.”

Moving to the corpses, I started the gruesome task of slashing or stabbing at the wounds that Kidu and Elwin had inflicted, attempting to make them look like they were simply the victims of the Echo-Stalkers. Understanding my intent, Elwin moved to join me, and we quickly finished our macabre work.

I nodded my permission to Elwin, who proceeded to pocket a fine steel dagger. The weapon was crafted beautifully, its blade a beautiful damask pattern that drew the eye with wavy lines etched into the smoked steel. I hoped that it was of a common enough design in these parts to avoid drawing attention. Seeing that I could do with a better weapon, he removed the leader’s shortsword from his belt and passed it to me for my perusal. Rooting around the corpses, he soon found a long dagger to replace it with.

Drawing it from its plain unpatterned leather sheath, I examined the shortsword under the large moon’s argentine light. The lightly fullered blade was a little longer than my crude scythe dagger. It was perhaps around forty-five centimeters in length and ended in a triangular tip. A plain bronze cruciform guard protected the hands, and the handle of the weapon was made of dark-stained wood with a heavy iron or lead pommel. Testing its balance, I concluded that it would make a simple, if not particularly aesthetically pleasing, weapon.

Assessing its heft, I rolled it around my wrists as I had seen actors do before in film. Finding it comfortable, I sheathed the blade back in its scabbard. Seeing that I was having some difficulty fitting the cloth sword belt around my waist, the intricate knots alien to me, Elwin assisted with a wry grin.

“Right bunch of trouble you are, feel like mother helping out with her child’s first mass-murder,” he said jokingly in a paternal tone, though his eyes spoke a different story.

Kidu merely snorted at the attempted joke before commenting, “Gil is no child, Elwin. He is wise enough to know that a wolf does mourn a death of the herd, only of the pack. Besides, we had saved their lives from the monsters. As they said, they owed to us their very lives. They belonged to us to spend as we pleased,” he stated simply with a satisfied sparkle in his eyes. I couldn’t help but note that the calculus of the North was a cold one indeed.

“Search the cabins for valuables and supplies. Try not to disturb the place too much, and remember to leave a few things. I want this to look like nothing more than just a monster attack,” I instructed the pair, looking at them each in turn.

After seeing them nod their understanding, I led them into the cabins. We were greeted by the sight of a few overturned chairs and half-eaten food, now growing cold at their tables, the signs of hastily made exits. The insides of the dwellings were all sparsely furnished, with utilitarian furniture of simple wood or iron. The walls were uniformly unadorned, and a small fire burnt merrily in each of the cabins in simple stone hearths. We eagerly searched the dressers and tables, going through the knick-knacks and small things of the previous occupants. The Rogue, by dint of his larcenous skills or instincts, uncovered a coin purse hidden under a loose floorboard. In this manner, we passed through each of the buildings eagerly searching for items useful to us.

During this time I was greeted by yet another mysterious notification.

I paused as I rifled through a dead man’s nightstand, looking for hidden valuables, surprised once more by how gamified this world was. This smallholding must have been the property of the man in blue garments, Chagatai Nyamdor. Scoffing at the notification, I of course chose ‘No’ and the message disappeared out of sight. The last thing I needed was something linking us to the massacre that we had perpetrated. I remembered the games I had played in my past where you had to build up your settlement, pandering to an endless list of needs from helpless NPCs and micromanaging their pathetic daily lives for minor, pointless rewards. No thank you, I thought with finality as I continued my pillage. Responsibility for a place that would tie me down was most certainly not my cup of tea.

The work was tedious but worthwhile. Our haul consisted of several bags filled mostly with copper and bronze coins and a purse filled with several silver pieces and four gold coins that Elwin had found under the loose floorboard. The Rogue replaced his iron dagger with another simple steel dagger of slightly higher quality, which he discovered in one of the cupboards. We also attained a good supply of food and general supplies, taking what we could easily carry in large leather bags that we also pillaged. Most importantly, we were able to find new clothes, even for Kidu’s massive bulk, all cut in the local fashion with wide silken sashes. We were even lucky enough to find some leather boots that were roughly our size, a huge upgrade over our simple sandals.

After changing, we burnt our slave linens in the fire of one of the hearths. The whole process was solemn, like a funeral, or a pagan rite of passage. We had come so far, and we were now closer to achieving true freedom as we watched our old garments being consumed by the hungry flames. My modern sensibilities now thoroughly put aside, I knew then that I would fight with everything I had to survive in this cruel and callous world.