[X]Your mother, standing proud on a battlefield, untouchable, unbeatable, and you feel that old desire to rise higher than her. Only now, it is a desire filled with confidence.
"Well Louise?" You blink as you hear her voice, strong and clear as it cuts through and hauls back damaged, broken memories of a woman with a stern expression and cold eyes, a woman possessing the magical power to blast armies away in terrible storms and devastating winds. A woman who raised you, and two others if you could only remember more than just snippets of harsh words and a warm embrace. You look up at the woman, standing on the raging battlefield, arrows and spells landing all around her, none touching her, "Well Louise? Are you going to stand up?"
You have always stood in her shadow, wanting, hungering to move beyond her and into the light. You have always failed, always faltered, always fallen, and then you picked yourself up and tried again, striving to match your mother.
And now, that same hunger, that same desire is welling up in you again. You want to match her...no, you want to
beat her, you want to prove that you are
better than her, that you
deserve to be acknowledged! But where that same hunger was dampened by the sense of internal despair that you had no chance of matching her...
Now, you feel a sense of confidence you've never felt before, the confidence to do
anything and
everything!
You are Louise Valliere, and you vow in the name of God and Founder, that you will leave this Void...
...and become a
Paragon of your nobility.
And with that, you realise that you are no longer standing in your mother's shadow. Now, you stand in front of her, the sun shining down on a peaceful battlefield littered with the ruin of the dead.
You turn, and see that she is gone. And the world is rapidly fading.
The fact that you ran out of tears long ago in that Void doesn't stop a single one from running down your face.
And in that moment of lamentation, you fail to see another crystal wall until the moment you plough through it with another thundering crack.
***
"Uuuu..." It goes without saying that you wake up, but apart from a splitting headache and some scorches on your clothes, you feel fine as you press your hand...to your head.
You have hands! You have a head! You look up at the blue sky with your eyes, breath in the sweet air with your lungs. You are alive!
"Heh...heheh...hehahahahahahahaha!" Your laughter fills the quiet of the grassy field you find yourself lying in as you rise on shaky legs and take a moment to wobblingly take a few unsteady steps before you recover and start dancing around. You don't have a scratch on you, and taking a glance down to see that you somehow made a crater upon arriving only fills you with boundless joy as the aches and pains of your landing tell you that you are alive and whole!
You feel like you could do anything, and as you finally calm down and look around, you take stock of what you have.
You have your clothing, and your wand. Your purse is missing, but then you remember that you left it in your room. Well, the commoner staff back home probably would have spent it by now, but you don't care.
Things have changed, you can feel it inside you, you feel as though you have a new chance at life. You remember your education at the...the Tristain Academy of Magic! In Halkegania! You remember your classes, that cow-breasted bully Kirche, Professor Colbert, Headmaster Osmond, everyone! You remember the study you did into all manner of magical topics, some somewhat more restricted than others, to try and find a solution to your magic, even going as far as to beg permission to research the legendary Void element in restricted tomes in the academy library along with sneaking away copies of the most complete records of the summoning ritual to find out a way you could use that to help you.
"And what it got me was damnation, even if God showed me mercy in the end." You whisper to yourself as you start walking through the grassy fields. Looking up at the sky, you feel your lips quirk in a bemused smile, "And in His mercy, I am given a test."
Up above, in the sky, you see what looks to be the moons of this new world, four in all, along with shining shapes that are too far high to be seen, sky-ships perhaps? Whatever they are, they blink in and out of existence, streaking down towards distant mountains. You have a long walk ahead of you then.
Shrugging, you start walking, feeling a new energy in your step as you march through the long grass, looking around for some signs of human habitation, well, any habitation really. You'd take a goblin hovel if the disgusting creatures could tell you where you are. Even some ruins that you could use to rest in would be nice, God may have placed you in a peaceful field, but you have your pride.
You lower your head, some pride anyway. Your time adrift in that Void has taught you a great deal about humility.
Finally, you spot what looks like a house and your pace quickens through the grass, your excitement propelling you through the long grass and before long you find yourself standing at the sun-bleached and rotted remains of a farmstead's gate, and your expression falls when you see that this farm is abandoned.
But not by choice. The bones of long-dead creatures litter the ground, along with the broken skeletons of humans and other beings. Bandits. Pushing aside the gate, you head for the farm house, ignoring the dry snap of bones as you reach the door. Your hand hovers over a long-dried bloodstain and you shake your head sadly.
You have seen death before. Mother...you shake your head. Now is not the time. You step inside.
The inside of the house is a ruin. Whatever fight happened here long ago, it was brutal and the inhabitants of the ruined farm made the foe pay dearly from the bodies arrayed around the building. You begin searching for anything you can use for your journey to find a village, or most preferably a town or city.
Still, the place hasn't been completely ransacked and you begin searching.
Perception Test: (5d10.takeHighest(3)=23)
Exploding Dice: (1d10=2)
Final Result: 25, Two Raises
You get lucky in your searching and find a hidden cache! One of the farm occupants must have hidden it before the bandits and their beasts got inside. You grab the heavy box and start lifting, pulling it out with some effort before bringing it to the centre of the main room, kicking bones out of the way before you try to open the rusted strong box.
Strength Test: (3d10=16)
With a heave that you put all of your strength into, you manage to force open the strong box and immediately start coughing from the dust inside.
Apart from some long-rotted clothing, you do manage to find some intact items.
Common Quality Hunter's Armour (Body, Arms, Legs) [AP: 3]: This looks likes a set of deep-woods clothing with heavy leather padding sewn into sections of the clothing. Somewhat bulky, but comfortable, clearly made for long days in the woods. It's in pristine condition despite the years. How?
Hunter's Pack: Fitted with straps and deep pockets for carrying just about anything. Should carry about a good 100 kilograms by your reckoning. This pack is spotless, how is that possible?
Common Quality Hunter's Sword [Damage: 3k2R]: A short sword, good for stabbing and cutting. The blade is still sharp, but it's obviously been here for years.
You find some gold coins marked with an unknown ruler's face, and a map of the area. While it may not be the most recent, it should at least give you the lay of the land. But then you see
it poking out from under some cloth, the butt of some kind of musket or pistol. You draw aside some black cloth, and stare in wonder at the weapon in front of you.
Faithful Hunter (Rare Hand Cannon)
A large pistol, massive really, but you hold it easily and it feels as light as your wand. It is inscribed with some kind of scripture or poem along the barrel. There is a small, strange telescope attached to the top.
Damage: 6k4I
Pen: 5
ROF: S/-
Range: 90m
Clip: 10
Reload: Half
Special:
-Light as feathers: No Recoil Penalties to fire one-handed.
-Slay Always: Damage Dice explode on 8+
-Hunter's Eye: The weapon has a scope with Preysense, Red-Dot Sight.
-Hunter's Reflexes: Aim as a Reaction in combat.
-Hunter's Draw: Readying the weapon is a Free Action.
You gently lift out the weapon and the belt it was placed with, unable to resist stroking it's polished-silver barrel before you place it down on the wooden floor and focus your attention on the rest of the acquired equipment and begin putting it on.
Thankfully, you find that the armour is made to go over your clothing and the foot-sections are made to be strapped over your boots and legs. By some miracle, the armour fits your perfectly, and you proudly sheath your sword and the strange, beautiful weapon you found in the strong box.
Unfortunately, you don't find any supplies to use, and it's a sure bet that if there was anything in the larder, it would have rotted a long time ago.
So, you leave the farmhouse, hoping to meet someone on the road that could give you some assistance.
But the broken roads, thick forest and unfamiliar terrain soon take a strain on your body, and the lack of food and water begins to slowly weaken you.
But as you stumble down a forest path, hoping to find a stream, some wild fruit, or even an animal you can hunt, you meet someone on the road...
[]...a passing
Scholar finds you and gives you some water and trail rations. You get to talking and finding you have a talent for academia, offers to have travel with him.
[]...a
Peasant woman, looking for wild mushrooms, finds you and brings you home. Your sense of noble obligation urges you to repay the debt by helping around her home.
[]...a young man, on his way to a nearby town, finds you and decides to help you in exchange for aiding him in being a
Ratcatcher.
[]...a woman marked with some religious insignia, takes you to her church, where the offer is made to become an
Initiate in their faith.
[]...a
Mercenary finds you and after noticing your weapons, decides to train you so you don't help the enemy by hurting yourself.
