Mark: Katie Brockworth.
Quest Giver: Kieran Mori.
Rank: Bronze.
Category: Assassination.
Reward: 1 gold.
Katie Brockworth is a level 6 Ice Mage, and a member of the Adventurers Guild. See enclosed for information about the mark’s habits and apartment address. Use a distinctive calling card – we want to send a strong message.
- Kieran Mori. Orders for the ‘Silent Assassin’, Tala
Malika grin...
2024-03-30 03:34:06 +0000 UTC View PostWhat do you mean I can’t Fireball that? Watch me!
- Delwin “Boom” Cindershower, Gnomish Pyromancer.
Ali perched on a bony ridge protruding from the wall, simply staring vacantly into space while her Inspiration slowly refilled her mana pool. Behind her, and behind the wall, the storm of magical bone spears raged on unabated, smashing into splinters against the stone floor with a deafening thunder that filled the air and ...
2024-03-30 02:30:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Mato bit down hard on the bone-plated tail and dragged the scorched and cracked Piercer Scorpion corpse off to the side, straining a little against the enormous dead weight of the elemental. He was certain Ali wouldn’t have time to dispose of all of them before he had to start tanking again, and he had grown quite partial to the glowing green of the restoration circle over the course of the battle. Having his spot cluttered with huge bone corpses would severely lim...
2024-03-29 20:43:56 +0000 UTC View PostThe Dungeon Survival Guide, Rule 3: Perception skills.
Do not underestimate the value of perception skills. At the very minimum, you need mana-sight and an advanced form of Identify. Some form of trap detection and real-time magical analysis is essential for unexplored dungeons where boss abilities are unknown.
- The Unexplored Lands, by Lyeneru Silverleaf, Elven Pathfinders Guild.
Ali stared down ...
2024-03-29 19:00:25 +0000 UTC View PostWhen considering your attribute investments, do not ignore perception. Adventurers often find themselves stuck in situations where there is no light, or pitted against enemies that have ways to obscure their presence. Being able to actually see your enemy is a bonus no adventurer can afford to pass up. Preferably, before they see you. Investing in perception will increase your natural awareness of your surroundings, enhance your natural senses, and improve your vigilance. It is also an es...
2024-03-29 18:27:33 +0000 UTC View PostSecuring a good Blacksmith is an investment in life.
- Artur Dragonsworn [The Rule of Law], Human King of Dal’mohra
Ali spent the better part of her morning contending with her Grimoire. Summoning minions was vastly better, now that she knew how to unsummon unwanted classes and weaker minions, but for the Skeletal Wyvern fight, she needed only the very best. She sighed as her Grimoire once again produced a level eleven mage....
2024-03-29 17:49:49 +0000 UTC View Post“Ugh,” Ali said, throwing herself onto the couch in front of the hearth in the guild hall.
“You alright?” Mato asked.
“Just frustrated.”
“I’m going to go see if they have any food left,” Mato said, petting his belly with a weary grin. “Want me to get you something?”
“Maybe some fruit, if they have any?” Ali said.
Mato nodded and walked off to the ...
2024-03-29 05:17:21 +0000 UTC View PostThe Dungeon Survival Guide, Rule 2: Expect the unexpected.
Never trust a dungeon. Just when you think the dungeon is boring and easy, when you finally get complacent and let your guard down, it will produce something so devious and vicious that you will die before even knowing what happened.
- The Unexplored Lands, by Lyeneru Silverleaf, Elven Pathfinders Guild.
“I’ll be back,” Calen said. 2024-03-29 04:47:44 +0000 UTC View Post
Malika peered around the bone-encrusted bookcase, squinting against the darkness beyond. By the light cast by their small, distant campfire, she could easily make out the four Kobolds, and the hulking shape of the Piercer Scorpion standing guard behind them. She had no idea what they were talking about as they hunched over their fire, their voices carrying over to her as muffled yips and quiet chirps.
Instead of impatiently waiting for Calen an...
2024-03-29 04:24:40 +0000 UTC View PostStrength is perhaps the most straightforward of the seven attributes. If you need to hit something harder or pick up something heavy, this is your attribute. As the saying goes, if strength doesn’t solve the problem, you probably don’t have enough.
- Excerpt from The Adventurer’s Guide, Third Edition
“I’ll go first,” Mato said, standing at the threshold. He leaned back a bit to gaze at the giant arched doorway...
2024-03-29 03:24:47 +0000 UTC View PostIt is common knowledge that wisdom increases one’s mana pool. For most sentient races, each point spent on wisdom grows maximum mana capacity by ten, increasing both the mana available for spells and the absolute amount of mana regenerated over time.
However, to efficiently allocate one’s precious few attribute points among the many and diverse needs of every Class, one should be better educated as to the lesser-known benefits provided by the attribute.
Wisdom is somet...
The ruined streets were desolate and quiet, with not even a single hint of their desperate flight from the Kobold horde yesterday remaining. They encountered only a couple of patrols while retracing their steps – it seemed that the dungeon needed some time to respawn everything, and they must have made enough of a dent in the Kobold population that – at least in this area – there weren’t nearly as many as before.
“It’s clear all t...
2024-03-28 18:06:18 +0000 UTC View PostDefinition: Train (noun/verb, adventurer jargon).
A large group of monsters incited to pursue the same person or target. Typically, the result of a failed pull in a dungeon, the recommended strategy is to use escape skills or artifacts. Without such tools, running away is strongly recommended. While rare, due to the risks involved, there have been known incidents of murder by dragging deliberately created trains of monsters onto the victim.
- Excerpt from The Adve...
The Dungeon Survival Guide, Rule 1: Have an escape plan.
Something will always go wrong, make sure you can get out – or measure yourself for a casket. Your choice.
- The Unexplored Lands, by Lyeneru Silverleaf, Elven Pathfinders Guild.
Hmm… Ali poked thoughtfully at the corpse of the red-scaled Fire Mage. In death, it seemed no different than any other Kobold mage she had killed, c...
2024-03-28 04:46:38 +0000 UTC View PostAli stared down into the yawning darkness of the ventilation shaft, shuddering at the memories, vertigo, and the disturbing sense of the dark void pulling her downward as if calling her to cast herself in. She pulled her eyes away; she knew exactly what falling in there felt like and she had no desire to repeat the experience.
Still visible on the ground were the scratch marks where Mato’s claws had desperately sought purchase on the hard s...
2024-03-28 03:43:13 +0000 UTC View PostJax Hawkhurst: She fucking backstabbed me!
Kieran Mori: Who?
Jax Hawkhurst: Vivian Ross. All that bitch had to do was remain neutral during the Town Council vote, and the lion’s share of the Crown’s defense allocation would have fallen to us.
Kieran Mori: I told you she would do that.
Jax Hawkhurst: That Goblin horde was the opportunity of a lifetime, but no, she had to go and align herself with that stuffy, inflexible prick, Brand, and now all the money w...
The quest board looked decidedly anemic compared to the week before. All the jobs that Ali had been tracking to make money had been tied to the defense of the town and supplying the garrison – all of which had expired now that the threat had been safely dealt with. She sighed. Not even stocking up on arrows? Times must be tough.
“Why don’t we take the Kobold quest?” Mato asked, touching her shoulder in sympathy. “We know wh...
2024-03-28 03:37:37 +0000 UTC View PostCalen led the way unerringly through the eerily quiet, dense forest. He had been here only once, and then under the imminent threat of being discovered by Goblin patrols, but his memory for places had always been excellent, and now with his potent Explorer skill enhancing it, this felt as easy as finding his way to his bedroom at home. He occasionally sighted the large, prowling shape of Mato scouting between the trees in his Wolf Form, but neither of them had sen...
2024-03-28 03:36:26 +0000 UTC View PostWhat is the essence of the Arcane?
For most laypeople, it is the image of an Arcane Mage standing upon high battlements shooting endless streams of glowing purple guided missiles or bolts toward their foes while protected within an impenetrable bubble of magical energy.
While the various missile, bolt, and barrier spells are indeed commonplace in Arcane Mage combat classes, the field of arcane magic – and indeed the affinity itself – has vastly broader application. If ...
When Malika woke, she found herself in an unfamiliar dark room and it took more than a few moments to remember she was still in the guild hall. Ali lay beside her on the couch tucked under a soft moss-green woolen blanket, and by the sound of her soft, steady breathing, she could tell she was fast asleep. Malika sat up carefully, her eyes scanning the room. In the gloom, she could make out the forms of many sleeping adventurers, curled up on couches, chairs, or e...
2024-03-28 03:31:55 +0000 UTC View PostThe giant, coal-black Timber Wolf stalked across the littered ground, oozing lithe power and malevolence from every pore. It bared yellowed, razor-sharp fangs longer than Ali’s handspan from behind a snarling lip, and the gleaming green eyes roamed the battlefield; a predator sizing up their prey.
Thick, reinforced sheets of scuffed sturdy-looking leather armor protected the wolf’s flanks. Mounted upon its back was the fearsome Hobgoblin....
2024-03-28 03:28:13 +0000 UTC View Post“Let’s go,” Ali commanded in Draconic while stepping down into the dripping tunnel. Her intention of a dramatic exit was somewhat marred by landing knee-deep in a muddy puddle and stumbling before one of her Kobolds caught her.
Ugh, this stinks, she thought, as the reek filled her nostrils and the icy, stagnant water soaked through the bottom half of her pants. Her Kobolds immediately arrayed themselves around her as she splash...
2024-03-28 03:19:51 +0000 UTC View PostMagic may be a tremendous force, but applied blindly it is little better than hitting something with a rock. It is knowledge and imagination that will be your lever and fulcrum, multiplying your power beyond reckoning.
- Thaldorien Stormshaper [The Inscrutable], Elven King of Dal’mohra.
Ali stood on the battlements gazing down from behind the protection of her barrier. There was a chill to the breeze that stirred in the earl...
2024-03-28 03:18:42 +0000 UTC View PostBecause the number of marks shown by Identify is far too coarse a measure for practical concerns, the Adventurers Guild has always used a finer-grain ranking system. This facilitates a more reliable way to pair jobs and quests with people who have the power and skills to survive them.
Unclassed guild members, and non-combat classes, are typically not referred to as adventurers. Instead, most guilds assign them ‘recruit’ or ‘staff’ titles depending on their expected roles. ...
Basil was a quiet and studious person. His parents had been telling him this since before he could remember. Even now, he didn’t have a whole lot of friends, but that was ok. It wasn’t as if he didn’t like people or was difficult to get along with. He just preferred to spend his time tending his plants – and all too often, the entire day would pass him by before he even noticed. Even his teacher, Eliyen, joked that his distraction would land him in a boili...
2024-03-28 03:15:31 +0000 UTC View Post
Ali’s friends did not complain in the slightest when she requested a trip to the laundry. The slightly portly, frazzled-looking Gnomish man who ran the tiny shop, tucked in between a bakery and a small grocery store, had been absolutely horrified with how foul she smelled and had lost no time casting his magic to dispel the muck that clung to her like glue. He had still been spritzing the air in his shop as they left, muttering despairingly about how nice Fae g...
2024-03-28 03:09:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Calen frowned in frustration at his new bow and the quiver of arrows lying on the ground by his feet. He had spent a substantial sum to buy a better bow, following the Guildmaster’s advice to improve his equipment. Not the best time to be buying. On the other hand, Ali’s arrows were great – and free – and if he never had to fire a Goblin arrow again in his life, it would be perfect.
The problem was his skills. Vivian Ross had...
2024-03-28 03:07:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Ali woke after a dreamless sleep, fully rested and feeling amazing. She found herself cocooned somewhere delightfully warm and soft, lying in a dim interior space with a sloping green roof above.
Where… Oh yes, my tent!
Not only was her domain withdrawal completely healed, but she had slept snug and comfy in her new sleeping bag inside her own personal tent. She had experimented with the enchantments last ...
2024-03-28 03:06:07 +0000 UTC View PostIn the ancient whispers of leaves, the Tree reveals the language of mana. As I rest in the embrace of bark and sap, I bear witness to the silent communion between the roots that delve deep into the soil’s embrace and the branches that reach for the heavens.
Mana flows through the very sap of the heartwood, drawing in tales of the world’s creation, echoes and stories, eons of wisdom etching themselves into the rings of my age-old companions. 2024-03-28 03:04:44 +0000 UTC View Post
Ali blinked and then had to squint as she stepped out of the Adventurers Guild into the bright afternoon sunshine. The street out front was not a major thoroughfare, but it was still close enough to the marketplace that there was a constant bustle of busy people flowing past, going about their business, and yet far enough that the pervasive odor of moldering trash and worse that Ali had come to associate with Myrin’s Keep had subsided to only a mild assault o...
2024-03-28 03:02:55 +0000 UTC View Post