[X] Tell Julius about the seemingly magical abilities of the namesake of the township.
[X] Enjoy your meal before going to sleep, you'll do better at this kind of work well rested than half asleep.
[X] Tell Julius about the seemingly magical abilities of the namesake of the township.
[X] Enjoy your meal before going to sleep, you'll do better at this kind of work well rested than half asleep.
[X] Tell Julius about the seemingly magical abilities of the namesake of the township.
[X] Enjoy your meal before going to sleep, you'll do better at this kind of work well rested than half asleep.
[x] Tell Julius it's nothing special really, just the journals of long dead priests.
[x] Enjoy your meal before going to sleep, you'll do better at this kind of work well rested than half asleep.
Not so hidden message that raising skills up to their max levels leads to applied bullshit, and a slightly more hidden message that the power ceiling is higher than it seems at first glance.
Should be "seemingly". Not sure if accidental error by the author or intentional error to show that these were transcribed by John, and that he makes mistakes.
I wonder why? Everything else was okay, but just these sentences were too damaged to transcribe? And not just damaged, but "far too damaged"? Could they have held ancient knowledge not meant for mortal eyes? An invocation for a spell to turn all our enemies to ash? An old priests shopping list? The world may never know!
Also,
[X] Tell Julius about the seemingly magical abilities of the namesake of the township.
[X] Enjoy your meal before going to sleep, you'll do better at this kind of work well rested than half asleep.
[X] Tell Julius about the seemingly magical abilities of the namesake of the township.
[X] Enjoy your meal before going to sleep, you'll do better at this kind of work well rested than half asleep.
"Yes actually, the first scroll I copied was the general of one of the founding clergymen for this Temple, they accompanied the namesake of the Township who apparently also bore the title Great Farmer. According to it the man was capable of tilling a vast area of land with one strike from a hoe and was even appointed to turn this place into a fertile land by the God of War himself if it is all to be believed.
Oddly a large part of the specific passage about witnessing Relgar's power was damaged, a few places in the thing were too worn to copy but nothing of that scale anywhere else. It was quite strange."
In response to your explanation the youthful Julius lets out a laugh as he replies,
"Surely it was an over-exaggeration for the sake of those who would succeed the priest's temple, an attempt to make the origins and power of our God seem even more miraculous, a strange thing really. When I was being taught as an Acolyte in the city Temple I witnessed an Archdeacon rend a training field in half with one his Miracles, as I see it there is nothing more verifying of His strength than witnessing His priests in action.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have afternoon training to attend to and if I'm late again Father Briar might just beat me into a coma. Good day Sir Stitch."
With those words the Neophyte takes his leave, but you are left pondering about his claim that the tale was an attempt at mysticism for there is little reason behind such an act considering the Three Gods are the reasons the Kingdom of Eldast even stands this day. Not to mention that section being so heavily worn is somewhat suspicious when you take into account the condition of the rest of the journal...
Earned 1 Experience for noticing the potential sabotage in the first scroll. (KidFromPallet)
Pushing the thought to the back of your mind for the time being due to the rather fragile nature and irrelevance, you then stand up from your desk and head to take up your food tray from the ledge. A few more steps and you place yourself on the bedding before quickly indulging yourself in the simple meal, the stew surprisingly flavorful for such simple ingredients causing you to silently give thanks to the chef in your mind. By the time you're finished you can feel the exhaustion of the day catching up with you, a moment later the tray is returned to it's ledge and the candle is extinguished as you nestle yourself into the bedding for a good rest.
It's not long before sleep claims you...
---
Huh? What the hell is this?
You glance around, but everything around you is just endless darkness except for a strange multicolored flame burning not far in front of you, your... body you decide to call it for now simply drifting near it weightlessly. You can make out a rather small golden crown of light rapidly flying around the flame, the light it gives off is incredibly dim almost as if it would be extinguished with just a simple push. Yet strangely from that golden light you can feel a sense of dominance, a will to rule all that lies in front of it regardless of their will.
However, even that brilliant royal dignity is overshadowed by the seemingly burning determination coming from that multi-colored flame and it is a familiar one. It's what drives you, what pushes you forward even now as you feel that deep seated need to rise up from nothing to the realm of Hero. You will become one, it doesn't matter how long it takes or what troubles you face that flame seems to say. A Hero cannot be stopped except in death and even then their flame may yet bring even more forth in the name of Heroism...
---
You awake to the sound of knocking and after grudgingly getting up from your bed and straightening yourself up you tell them to come in. The person who brings your food this morning isn't Julius, but a rather sour-faced servant adorned in the simplest red tunic and brown leather pants and a rather faint scowl. They wordlessly sit the tray on the ledge while taking away the old one before producing a candle from their pocket and placing it on the desk. With that they leave as quickly as they came leaving you to enjoy a breakfast of porridge and boiled eggs while thinking about the day's work.
What do you do today? [] Proceed to transcribe the records, but focus more on getting the work done quickly and efficiently than actually learning anything from them.
[] Proceed to copy the records, but take the time to read each document carefully, your attention will still be split but perhaps you'll retain more this way.
[] Forget about copying them for now, just read them and focus on memorizing anything of use.
[] Write-in.
Do you wish to cut out interludes as much as possible to end this job quickly and get to other work? [] Yes
[] No
Health: Perfect
Experience: 17/100
Titles: They Who Seek the Crown (Level One) - A title earned by gaining the blessing of the God of War in a chance encounter with his will. It is a boon granted to those who seek to become like Lords, towering above the world with every action and word capable of bringing great waves of change. Currently it is weak and only grants you the power of Domination, but if you grow stronger and perform in a way that meshes with this Boon then perhaps its strength can grow.
Guild Rank:Wood G.P.: 60
Skills:
Mathematics (Beginner) - +4 to rolls requiring use of mathematics. Local Administration (Beginner) - +4 to rolls involving administration of businesses and small land holdings. Geography of Relgar Township Region (Beginner) - Capable of recalling information related to areas in the Relgar area that could be of use. Such as the size of a specific forest, important landmarks, etc. Monster Knowledge (Relgar Township, Beginner, 15%) - You've memorized basic information provided on Vicious Rabbits, and Giant Rats. Copying Writing (Unlearned, 55%) - With your past experience and this new work you're slowly becoming accustomed to copying writing in one form or another, you feel you're picking up some tricks here and there to make your work faster. You lack some more experience to truly put it into effect though.
Abilities: Domination (Beginner, 0%) - Allows you to bind creatures/monsters that are one level below you (to a minimum of level 1) to your will permanently. Unless the creature in question has a particularly strong will then the power is bound to succeed. Does not work on humans. [Dominated Beings: 0/2]
Possessions:
Simple Iron Dagger [???]
Iron Hand-Axe [???]
Scholar's Writing Instruments
Plain Scholar's Robes [???]
Canvas Backpack [3/10]
- Flask of Oil [3 Units of Oil Remaining]
- Ten Foot Rope
- Bundle of Clean Rags [10/10]
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-
-
-
-
-
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GM Note: There you have it, I asked that second question just in case you guys were somewhat annoyed at the pacing for this quest. If you say yes then you'll avoid conversations with Julius in place of work and the job will end within an update or two for certain, but if you guys are enjoying that stuff then it'll carry on which will extend the mission by a few updates, but allow more interaction.
Also, KidFromPallet's comment about the strangeness of those sentences being damaged was quite good as it pointed out a secret I left unaddressed, there will possibly frequently be such little things to find. If you guys discover stuff about specific parts of updates that are in fact those unaddressed secrets they can lead to various rewards, after all discussion is important and John without your influence most certainly isn't omniscient.
[X] Proceed to transcribe the records, but focus more on getting the work done quickly and efficiently than actually learning anything from them.
[X] Yes
[X] Proceed to transcribe the records, but focus more on getting the work done quickly and efficiently than actually learning anything from them.
[X] Yes
You glance around, but everything around you is just endless darkness except for a strange multicolored flame burning not far in front of you, your... body you decide to call it for now simply drifting near it weightlessly. You can make out a rather small golden crown of light rapidly flying around the flame, the light it gives off is incredibly dim almost as if it would be extinguished with just a simple push. Yet strangely from that golden light you can feel a sense of dominance, a will to rule all that lies in front of it regardless of their will.
However, even that brilliant royal dignity is overshadowed by the seemingly burning determination coming from that multi-colored flame and it is a familiar one. It's what drives you, what pushes you forward even now as you feel that deep seated need to rise up from nothing to the realm of Hero. You will become one, it doesn't matter how long it takes or what troubles you face that flame seems to say. A Hero cannot be stopped except in death and even then their flame may yet bring even more forth in the name of Heroism...
Huh, this symbolism about our "Heroic Spirit" accompanied by our new blessing of Domination is a bit...sinister isn't it? The only stated property of the Crown is to enslave everyone and everything to its rule, their own wishes and free will be damned. And the Heroic Spirit determines that we will be a "Hero" (without actually defining what that means or entails), no ifs, ands, or buts about it, no matter what the cost. And even if it leads to our death it doesn't care, it'll just spread to other people and draw them into the same crucible until it finds a winner.
[X] Proceed to transcribe the records, but focus more on getting the work done quickly and efficiently than actually learning anything from them.
[X] Yes
I'll say that I enjoy the world building aspects of the interludes inherent to the scrolls we're reading, that stuff about Relgar was rather interesting. But if you're just asking about the conversation with Julius then I'm fine without it. As friendly as he is, he seems like a typical teenage boy under the tutelage of a respectable authority, i.e. a bit of an irresponsible knucklehead, so unless he's got some hidden potential I don't see us interacting with him much after this quest is done.
[X] Proceed to copy the records, but take the time to read each document carefully, your attention will still be split but perhaps you'll retain more this way.
[X] Yes
Considering we learned that the records actually had useful information, that we're already working at 2-3 times the pace of our predecessor theres no reason to go for speed.
Lets see what else are in these. Maybe the vandal missed a chunk
[X] Proceed to copy the records, but take the time to read each document carefully, your attention will still be split but perhaps you'll retain more this way.
[X] Proceed to copy the records, but take the time to read each document carefully, your attention will still be split but perhaps you'll retain more this way.
[X] Proceed to copy the records, but take the time to read each document carefully, your attention will still be split but perhaps you'll retain more this way.
[X] Yes
[X] Proceed to copy the records, but take the time to read each document carefully, your attention will still be split but perhaps you'll retain more this way.
[X] Proceed to copy the records, but take the time to read each document carefully, your attention will still be split but perhaps you'll retain more this way.
[X] No
Because we already found something cool in the scrolls, and I want to try and keep doing that. Also, we're already going through them at a prodigious speed, no real need to blitz through 'em. Plus, taking notes while studying something is a great way to learn it, so...
And I voted no because I'm honestly fine with the update speed, and want to give the QM a chance to put in as much stuff as he wants for this job. It's nice interaction and world building. Like, just this update we found out that the priests trained for combat, and are apparently quite good at it from Julius' remarks. (Rending a training field in half)
[X] Proceed to copy the records, but take the time to read each document carefully, your attention will still be split but perhaps you'll retain more this way.
[X] Proceed to copy the records, but take the time to read each document carefully, your attention will still be split but perhaps you'll retain more this way.
[X] No
[X] Proceed to transcribe the records, but focus more on getting the work done quickly and efficiently than actually learning anything from them.
[X] Yes
[X] Proceed to copy the records, but take the time to read each document carefully, your attention will still be split but perhaps you'll retain more this way.
[X] Proceed to copy the records, but take the time to read each document carefully, your attention will still be split but perhaps you'll retain more this way.
[X] Yes
After finishing your meal you decide to fully throw yourself into the task at hand, conversations are good but you feel you can gather more knowledge from the scrolls themselves than chats with Julius whenever he appears. Besides, the quicker you end this then the more swiftly you can receive your reward and move on to new work. Of course with such thoughts in mind you're rather displeased to find your copying of the first manuscript to go exceedingly poorly, your first try is riddled with errors causing you to scrap the entire thing and start over again consuming more time than you had expected from such a short piece.
On top of that the scroll turns out to be little more than a detailed judgement of the servants and clergymen of the three Temples when the town was being founded, something of utterly no use to your current time from all you've seen. While the next is just as boring you find you've gotten back into the swing of things and manage to create a rather pristine copy rapidly, placing it next to the other copied works before carrying on. From there the work seems to blend together as you spend the next few days highly invested in your work, rather easily handling the act of copying itself while finding rather little of value to you hidden among the scrolls. Of course, little does not mean nothing and you manage to find two rather interesting sections among the remaining scrolls...
---
Word from the Great Bastions has come again, but this time it is absolutely wonderful news. During the eight years we've spent changing this wasteland into a supporting pillar of the Kingdom the God of Knowledge has succeeded in completing the work our God envisioned, with the support of thousands of mages and the last Rocksmiths of the Dwarven race. Where once the Bastions were fortresses built spread out on open plains facing the hellscape of the Demon lands there now stands a vast mountain range, the fortresses integrated into them to form an impenetrable barricade against our greatest foes.
Magic, and Divine Will perfectly combined to flow endlessly through them, causing the chaotic Mana of the Kingdom to slowly settle and reinforcing the defensive line so that even the Demon lords and our God himself cannot destroy them. With this there is yet hope for a revival of the Last Races rather than a slow, glorious death...
---
Learned the true nature of the Bastion Mountain Range which safeguards the Kingdom, Earned 25 Experience
---
I write this with a great sense of sadness despite knowing that this day would come, the first of our Three Saviors has departed from this world and to his Divine Domain after fighting for so long to... *a damaged portion ends the sentence early* It seems the time remaining for our God and even He Who Denied Death is limited, before they depart for their Divine Domains we must make ready the Church. Our purpose is War, never forget that brothers and sisters, for only in battling the great enemy and casting aside the myriad darkness that attempt to consume the kingdom do we live according to His Will. I will soon depart myself for the Bastion Mountain Range, I can feel the end of my life drawing near, His power was not meant...
*A damaged portion seems to cover the remainder of this scroll, oddly at the end of it you find a seal of a flaming sword beside which is written "Author - Archbishop Julian Vandamule, Classified Record of the Church, sealed by order of the Cult of the Burning Sword.*
---
Most worrying about the classified scroll was that the moment you noticed it for what it truly is a strange sensation seemed to come over you, a horrifyingly cold sense of death seemed to bear down upon you. It was when you were absolutely certain that your life was about to come to an end that the multicolored light began to burn from your chest followed rapidly by a searing pain on your forehead that seemed to die your vision gold. By the time your vision returns to normal that threat of death had entirely vanished leaving the room unchanged aside from the deep-seated fear still running rampantly through your head.
Learned a fragment of the Forbidden Knowledge regarding the departure of the Gods of your Kingdom from the mortal realm, You attracted the attention of ... something, Earned 75 Experience
You take the time to hastily hide that particular scroll in a rather hidden part of the room where it would look like it had fallen off one of the shelves before being glad that you hadn't started copying it. It was followed by a short fit of panic before you manage to fully calm yourself, your entire body drenched in cold sweat from the experience, but determined to pretend as if nothing had happened. Considering your rather severe familiarity with the Cult of the Burning Sword you understand that even mentioning that you had seen a scroll sealed by that order will lead to your death, those things the Church's Inquisition have their hand in are certainly not topics you dare to poke your head into.
All of your work is complete here, but you were allowed to rest here for the night with dinner already having been delivered. However, you find yourself unable to taste it, forcing yourself to swallow it all to ensure not even a hint of your inner turmoil might show. You are left with one thought before you depart tomorrow...
What do you do with the sealed scroll? [] Leave it where you hid it.
[] Burn it immediately to kill off even the most minuscule chance of discovery.
[] Write-in.
---
Learned Copy Writing (Beginner), Gained 5 Experience
Title: They Who Seek the Crown gained 5 Experience from your earlier brush with death.
Health: Perfect
Experience: 112/100(!)
Titles: They Who Seek the Crown (Level One, 5/25) - A title earned by gaining the blessing of the God of War in a chance encounter with his will. It is a boon granted to those who seek to become like Lords, towering above the world with every action and word capable of bringing great waves of change. Currently it is weak and only grants you the power of Domination, but if you grow stronger and perform in a way that meshes with this Boon then perhaps its strength can grow.
Guild Rank:Wood G.P.: 60
Skills:
Mathematics (Beginner) - +4 to rolls requiring use of mathematics. Local Administration (Beginner) - +4 to rolls involving administration of businesses and small land holdings. Geography of Relgar Township Region (Beginner) - Capable of recalling information related to areas in the Relgar area that could be of use. Such as the size of a specific forest, important landmarks, etc. Monster Knowledge (Relgar Township, Beginner, 15%) - You've memorized basic information provided on Vicious Rabbits, and Giant Rats. Copying Writing (Beginner, 25%) - With your past experience and this new work you're slowly becoming accustomed to copying writing in one form or another, you feel you're picking up some tricks here and there to make your work faster. You lack some more experience to truly put it into effect though.
Abilities: Domination (Beginner, 0%) - Allows you to bind creatures/monsters that are one level below you (to a minimum of level 1) to your will permanently. Unless the creature in question has a particularly strong will then the power is bound to succeed. Does not work on humans. [Dominated Beings: 0/2]
Possessions:
Simple Iron Dagger [???]
Iron Hand-Axe [???]
Scholar's Writing Instruments
Plain Scholar's Robes [???]
Canvas Backpack [3/10]
- Flask of Oil [3 Units of Oil Remaining]
- Ten Foot Rope
- Bundle of Clean Rags [10/10]
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-
-
-
-
-
-
GM Note: ... Well, as you can see your luck was either really good or very bad depending on how you want to look at it. Thanks to a 99 you've discovered a classified journal entry that would have the entire militant arm of the Church of War wanting to cut off your head. On the upside you've learned a pretty large secret and managed to gain a rather massive amount of experience, so... hurray?
(!): You've gained enough experience at this point to qualify for a level-up. I'll be making a separate post for that later that will explain about gaining experience, what happens when leveling up, and the options you obtaining your first level has provided.
