Chapter Three: A Dark Pact

The StarBlood Saga

By Daniel Asbury
Edited by Qwildurn Bluemoon

Chapter Three
A Dark Pact

Rebeca knelt by a stream to fill her water skin, the sounds of a waterfall were hypnotic to her tired ears. It had taken a day and a half to sneak through the cave system to get to this mountain valley. A group of Fire Giants and their Ettin slaves had just finished battling some brave adventures. She could not tell how many as they had been butchered and partly cooked by the giants. “Not a good way to go”, she thought.

The skin was almost full when a large shadow blocked out the sun at her back. She rolled to the right as the head of a giant flail smashed the rocks she was previously perched on. Drawing her Greatsword, a Starfire Blade, she turned to look up at least two feet into her attacker’s face. The raging Ogre charged, spittle flying from its hideous face. It swung trying to take her head from her shoulders, but aimed too high as Rebeca dove. Rebeca’s swing sliced a large gash into the Ogres thigh muscle and dropped it to one knee. Swinging its flail at her legs, she jumped deftly landing lightly. She called the magic from her Starfire Blade, bursting into flame she plunged it deep in to the Ogres chest. She twisted the blade while yanking it free and cleaned it on the Ogres kilt. She heard chanting and turned to see a blue skinned Ogre Shaman finish a spell. Four sickly green arrows flowed from its hand blasting her off her feet and into the ice cold water below.

Rebeca awoke chained to a wall in some dark cave. There were torches in sconces along the opposite wall. The smell of must, mold and mildew burned as she breathed. She shivered and coughed. She was stripped down to her under garments with no sign of her gear. She pulled at the chains and realized there was no chance of escape.

Movement to the left caught her attention. Three figures moving towards her. She breathed a sigh of relief realizing they were too small to be Ogres at least. The center figure walked a powerful stride while the other two shambled along.

As they came into the dim light, she could see the center figure was the goal of her quest. The Lich Lord Alcatraz, more evil looking than she had ever imagined, flanked by two undead warriors stood in front of her. The aura of evil rolled off him causing her to shudder and gag on her own vomit.

“What have he here, I wonder?” His voice was like gravel being dropped down a metal tube. “I smell noble flesh, and from the armor and tabard my thralls found on you, I assume you are Lady Rebeca StarBlood."

“I am! I have been searching for you! I am in need your wisdom, Lord.”

“And what makes you think I would help someone like you?”

“My father was killed by an assassin. An amulet with a guild symbol was found. It is in my pack on a gold chain.”

The Lich waved his hand and the thralls moved to retrieve the amulet. “And this has what to do with me?” crocked the Lich.

“I need you magic skills to find him”, Rebeca pleaded.

“And what do I get out of this bargaining?”

“I will swear allegiance to you and serve you as long as you require. I just want my vengeance!” Her voice went cold.

The Lich grinned. “There is one service I would require of you Lady StarBlood. After, it is completed. Then, we will find this assassin.”

Rebeca bowed her head in submission. “I thank you my Lord.”

The Lich pulled a crystal from his tattered robes and placed it to Rebeca’s forehead and chanted rhythmically. Rebeca screamed as her soul was torn from her body. She felt herself drifting into unconsciousness. The last thing she heard was her Lords voice in her mind. “There is much training ahead of you, rest now.”

The blackness swallowed her whole.

Chapter Two: A Lost Soul

The StarBlood Saga

By Daniel Asbury

Edited by Qwildurn Bluemoon

Chapter Two

A Lost Soul

Rebecca StarBlood had been traveling for over a month to reach the frontier desert town of Dozo. It would have been quicker if she had been accompanied by a company of StarBlood Guards, but she had shunned her responsibilities and left the City of Newport to fend for it’s self. The going was tough; she had heard from the highly skilled adventure, Wiggles the Wizard, that Dozo would be the best place to start her search for her father’s killer.

She had encountered the Mage taking his ease in the Smoke Shack, an out of the way tavern deep in an old forest, three weeks after her journey began. He had said, “The best way to reach Dozo would be to travel through the Shadow Tombs, but be careful.” He looked at her with sympathy having known her father for a short time as he passed through Newport on his way to seek out a Drow High Priestess.

The Shadow Tombs were where the dead from the Desert Wars had been buried. The Humans had pushed the advancing Troglodyte Empire back deep within their mountains.

“Is there anyone who could help me in Dozo?” she asked, not concerned with the dangers she faced ahead.

“There is one that may be able to help you.” He looked as if to say more. “His name is Shorty, a Dwarf of some power and standing. But, like most frontier people, he is greedy, always wanting gold or some treasurer taken from the body of the great beasts from these lands”.

Wiggles reached in to a pouch on his robe and pulled out a vile of what looked like blood. “What is this?” Rebecca asked.

“This is the blood of a great Dragon by the name of Sheelo.” He laughed as if remembering a joke. “I was trying to perfect a teleportation spell that went a little wrong and ended up on a mountain looking at this great Dragon. Well a small battle ensued and I was the victor.” He shrugged as if it was no mean feat.

“What am I to do with this?”, she asked placing the vile into her pack.

“Shorty has been after dragon blood for a while. Trade him this for any information he has on the guild symbol you carry”.

She embraced the old wizard. “Thank you Wiggles. I must be off.”

“Good luck Rebecca.” With that the Wizard vanished.

A week after her encounter with Wiggles she strode into Dozo and compared it to the city she had grown up in. Dozo was a scattering of buildings here and there with an inn dominating the center of town while Newport was neat and tidy with cobbled streets. She was limping badly; a large Zombie Warrior had cut a deep gash into her thigh with a rusty Great Sword. She managed to remove its head which she carried in her pack.

“You! Girl! In need of some healing?”, said an elderly looking Cleric of some Order she did not recognize. “Five gold will have you walking in no time. Without a limp you can run faster.” He smiled and she could see his teeth were black and quit a few missing.

She pulled her coin purse and counted out five gold. “Here.”, she said sitting on the bench he indicated.

“Do you know of a Dwarf named Shorty and where I would find him?”, she asked as he began to pour some liquid into the cut on her leg.

“He’s in the armory, look, there. We are done here now. May the Goddess guide your sword.” With that he turned his back on her.

Rebecca stood and looked around and saw a squat building belching black smoke and guessed that it must be the armory.

As she entered she saw a Dwarf sitting with a mug of ale in hand watching two blacksmiths go about their task. She was taken back at first, then amused. Rebecca had never seen nor heard of Dwarfs, Elves and Half-Orcs getting along before. Yet here they were in one small hut. “Might be strong Charm magic by a powerful Sorceress.”, she thought.

“Are you Shorty?”, she inquired.

“Yes, what do you want Girl.”, he replied, a gruffness to his voice.

She pulled the Assassin’s amulet from her pack and handed it to him. He looked at it and smiled. “There is only one guild that carries this mark, The Royal Assassins. Hard to find unless you know who to look for.”

She placed the amulet back in her pack and pulled the vile of Dragon Blood out to hold up before the dwarfs eyes. “Where?”, she snapped.

“I can’t help with that I’m afraid.” The look on his face of fear and greed was strange.

“Tell me where to find Alcatraz the Lich Lord” she screamed quietly.

“West, but he is guarded well. Here take this map. Now give me the blood.”

She dropped the vile on the table, picked up the map and left.

Chapter One: Assassin’s Blade

The StarBlood Saga

by Daniel Asbury

edited by Qwildurn Bluemoon

Chapter One

Assassin’s Blade

It was a miserable and stormy night, the tail end of a hurricane had blown in from the sea, ships and shops alike had batten down the hatches. A watchman of the StarBlood Guard stood as tight to the castle wall as he could, trying to keep out of the wind and rain. A flicker of movement ahead caught his gaze just as a sharp pain at the base of his skull dropped him into a black void.

The Assassin looked around to make sure this murder had gone unnoticed, retrieved the red cloak off the dead watchman and threw it over his shoulders. He climbed the wall into the marshalling yard of the castle confidant that it would be clear. The Druids he had paid for the weather magic had earned their money. “Shame they won’t get to spend it”, he thought. He had slain them dead the moment the spell was cast.

The Duke of Newport looked out the window at the unusually bad weather. Ammund StarBlood was an old man at 50 years of age. He sat at his desk looking at the painting of his late wife, she had been killed in a riding accident two year previous. He thought of his only child, a daughter, Rebecca StarBlood who was serving as a Knight Captain in the StarBlood Guard. There had been reports of Sea Hags to the south of Newport and she had been sent with a small company to stamp them out.

The Assassin looked at the Duke through the window as he pulled the costly scroll from his pack and read it. A green light surrounded the Assassin and he slipped through the glass of the window to stand behind the Duke. As the lightning flashed the Duke saw the shadow of someone behind him and dove forward receiving a slash across his back where his throat once occupied. He spun around pulling his belt knife searching for his attacker, but no one was there. As he turned to shout for guards, a knife plunged into his chest. As the Duke fell he grabbed for the Assassin snagging his amulet instead.

A loud knocking at the door stopped the Assassin from retrieving his amulet. With two quick steps and a dive, the Assassin was out the window. The guard entered the room to see his Lord on the floor, a pool of blood around him. He shouted for a healer to come at once and for the guards to seal the castle.

A day later Rebecca StarBlood rushed through the halls of her family’s castle, heading to her fathers office. As she opened the door, her heart sank. Behind the desk sat her father’s Sword Master, Amir Coldstone.

“Rebecca, you are back. Thank the Gods. The city is in an uproar. The other Nobles have locked themselves away for fear they will be next.”

“Who has done this? Where is he?”

The anger in her voice was startling. Amir stood and came around the desk to hug her. “No one has been apprehended as yet. There is no clear way of how they got in and out. All we have is this.” He held out a gold amulet with a guild symbol on it, a knife and wand crossed over each other.

“Do we know which guild claims this herald?”, Rebecca asked, the venom thick in her voice.

“No.”, said Amir flatly. “No one has claimed responsibility for this murder. Your father and his before him have kept this city and the surroundings quite for over seventy years.”

“There is one who can help me find this killer.” She looked at Amir and he saw something in her eyes change for the worse. Gone was the grief for her father. Now there was only hate. Hate for the killer. “I go to seek Alcatraz the Lich Lord.” With that she pulled the StarBlood emblem from her armor and left her life behind her and went to find revenge on her father's killer.

The Buffing Stone

I'm working on a new update that includes a Buffing Stone. The stone is functioning well and has been installed into the current game module for testing. It is available only in the Beta Room (black crate) and may given away as gifts for now. I have not yet decided if I will sell them in a store or have them as a Boss Drop.

What this is and how it works:

• There are two Buffing Stones, one for "self" and one for "others".
• Both work the same except for who you may buff.
• You may own and use as many of each as you wish.
• To load the stone: Open your inventory and cast your spells into the stone one at a time.
• To clear the stone of spells: Use the stone on it's self.
• To buff with the stone: Rest, then use the stone to buff your self and/or others.
• This will NOT give you extra spells nor allow you access to spells or meta magic you don't already have.
• If you cast an extended spell into the stone, an extended spell will be cast out of it later.
• This is to be used as an extension of your Quick Bar, freeing it up for more useful combat stuff and things.
• You can not charge the stone with hostile spell.
• Charging the "others" stone with "personal only" spells will result in you being buffed.
• If you don't have the spell in memory, that one spell will be ignored.
• There is no limit to how many spells can be stored in a Buffing Stone.
• The stones may be "charged" and given away, but, if the user does not have a spell in their spell book AND in memory, that one spell will be ignored.
• If the Buffing Stone was charged with a Meat Magic Spell (extended spell...) and you no longer have that Meta Feat, that spell will be cast as a normal spell.
• THIS IS NOT A SEQUENCER
• Ultimately, it is you who is casting each spell.
• The Buffing Stone is loading your actions list with the spells to cast.
• Trying to do another action before the spells are finished will usually break the buffing cycle.

In the above picture, Wiggles the Wizard has used the Buffing Stone to buff self with all the spells you see. Roughly 30, or three full Quick Bars worth.

---

On a side note: I have recently changed how a few buffing spells target and probably did not document that change. So, read on . . .

• Weapon buffing spells will now seek out the next equipped weapon.
• That means you no longer need to switch weapons in order to dual wield and buff up.
• You can now target self and/or others twice with the same spell to buff the second weapon.
• Melee spells include: Magic Weapon, Greater Magic Weapon, Flame Blade, Darkfire, Bless Weapon, Holy Avenger.... hmm and a few others.
• I think I changed every weapon buffing spell actually.
• * This can also buff Creature Weapons such as claws and beaks.
• * If you are testing one of the Player Monsters, you can buff your claws.
• * If you are in party with a Shifter, you can buff their claws after they shift.
• * This works by testing each weapon for the spell being cast, and buffing or moving on to the next weapon.
• ** The order is: Right Sword, Left Sword, Right Claw, Left Claw and finally Teeth.
• **** Note to all: A Player Monster gets ONLY three (3) main attacks even if he has five (5) weapons. As near as I can tell, the order of importance is: Right Sword, Left Sword, Left Claw.
• Arrows and other ranged weapons can now be buffed as well.
• To buff ranged ammo, first equip the weapon (bow...) then target self.
• All ammo (arrows...) of that type in the the targets possession will be buffed.
• Ranged spells include: Flame Blade, Darkfire, Bless Weapon.... hmm and a few more.
• I excluded Magic Weapon, Greater Magic Weapon and a few others.

So, this means that if you dual wield and can buff self, you can load your Buffing Stone with all the Weapon Buffing spells that you would normally cast on your self, and then buff up with a single click.

As always, play with it and let me know what you find. I want to hear the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Qwildurn Bluemoon