Age of Victoria, page 23
To forestall the issue, I tried to distract myself.
“What did you get from the event, Emma?” I asked, even as she kept glancing into the chest.
The wicked grin from Emma was odd to see on her usually kind face.
Venomous Bite
Non-Tradeable
AC: 1
Int: 5
Wis: -1
HP: 25
Mana: 25
Class: Necromancer
Slot: Ring
Worn Effect: Pets gain a venomous bite skill, (excluding pets without mouths).
Excluding pets without mouths? That was a creepy addendum.
“The bite applies a small poison debuff that works with my poison bolt,” Emma said with a smile.
Annie shoved a giant glass ball under my nose before I could ask what her item was.
Orb of Ignition.
Non-Tradeable
Int: 6
Mana: 25
Class: Wizard
Slot: Off-hand
Worn Effect: Fire damage increased by 5%
Triggered Effect: Next fire spell does double damage at triple the mana cost.
“I think it’s nice. I wonder if I can use my scarf at the same time? It’s pretty, at least. Fashionable even. ” Annie said, her face scrunching up with an effort to contain her laughter. Robert and Emma both smirked and looked away to try and hide their amusement.
Sighing, I turned to Robert, one last item to delay looking into the box and seeing how I was being made into a joke.
Robert looked off into the air for a moment until suddenly, a golden colored plate appeared around his chest. Delicate silver piping outlined the golden breastplate, but combined with his riding breeches and sitting above his dinner coat; the ensemble was a sight. Puffing up his chest, Robert looked off into the distance, turning back and forth as if to show off the different sides of his splendor.
Sputtering, I couldn’t contain my laughter and released most of my tension in a loud, braying laugh. Robert smiled at my outburst and returned to his usual unflappable demeanor. Robert couldn’t care in the slightest if he looked silly; he cared far more about practical things. His armor helped him, and if it had been baby blue or striped, he wouldn’t have cared at all.
“Alright, well then, how does it compare to the rest?” I asked.
Robert just smiled again, then sent the description of the item to the party chat.
The Plate of the Indomitable
Non-Tradeable
Wis: 3
Mana: 65
Class: Cleric
Slot: Chest
Triggered Effect: Once every 24 hours, become invulnerable for 10 seconds. The effect ends upon any spell casting.
The bonuses from the chest piece were small, but the triggered effect was priceless. Once every twenty-four hours, Robert could become utterly immune to all damage. Sure, he wouldn’t be able to cast while invulnerable, but the idea of being resistant to anything was an exciting idea.
Seeing the power Robert’s item held, I was now eager to see my class item. Even if it was causing near paroxysms of laughter from the others. With a bit of trepidation, I approached the golden treasure chest. Peeking in, I could see a small collection of ring mail in a little bundle. The armor looked similar to the chest piece I was wearing, but this would cover a far smaller area. Focusing on the metal, I asked the world for the description.
Fallen Champion’s Chainmail Leggings
Non-Tradeable
Armor Type: Chain
AC: 12
HP: 185
Class: Warrior
Slot: Legs
Worn Effect: Kicks provide a chance to apply a lame debuff.
Set Effect (2): Blocks have a chance to cause the next strike to be a double attack.
“No. No. No. No!” I quickly repeated when I realized what it was at the bottom of the chest. Behind my back, the other three burst into laughter at my plight. Pulling the handful of chainmail out of the chest, I stuck it into my inventory before equipping the ‘armor.’ The sudden feel of the breeze on my legs and the renewal of the laughter told me the new armor was just as bad as I thought it would be. Looking down, I stared in confusion. How exactly was this supposed to protect my legs?
The chainmail ended roughly at my mid-thigh, the links strangely full and open, the skin of my legs clearly showing through. The metal loops became smaller and tighter as it reached my womanly region, the light no longer penetrating the rings as it reached the ever more provocative areas. Twisting and looking over my shoulder, I frowned as I realized that my backside was likewise covered. The rings cupped and outlined my rear in a way that metal should not have been able to do. Eventually, the others calmed down, and my frown was removed when Emma promised she would stitch a long tunic for me that would cover the most salacious bits. I would have been more appreciative if she hadn’t said it after she caught Robert glancing at my legs then quickly looking away.
While we walked back to the mansion, we spent some time zig-zagging around the forest, killing the newly appearing wolves. While Emma and Annie committed a slaughter of the new canine population, Robert asked me about how it had felt to level to ten.
“It was odd, level ten feels…good. Different from the other times I’ve leveled up, that’s for sure,” I said as I watched the pyrotechnic fight. The two of them had fallen into an odd running battle where Emma would attack with her creeping slowing spell, then Annie would toss fireballs. Ever since Emma discovered the way to kill the Arena Master, this running fight technique had become her favorite method to kill difficult enemies.
Never taking his eyes off his childhood love, he leaned towards me before asking, “So, what did you get for level ten? I hope it wasn’t another dud.”
Perkin g up in excitement, I opened my log to check.
Level up!
Victoria [Warrior lvl 10] - Congratulations, you are no longer a zone-locked NPC.
New Skills!
Gained Skill - War Cry - Aggression.
Gained Skill - Area Taunt.
Gained Skill - Double Attack.
Gained Skill - Tricky Blow.
Grabbing on to Robert’s arm, I started to chant and hop, “I’ve got four new skills! Four new skills! Four new skills!”
My excitement and chanting drew the other two over until they joined into hopping in a circle around Robert.
“Yes! Yes, alright! What are these skills though Vick!” Robert shouted over our giggling trio.
Glancing through my skills, I quickly summed up my new abilities.
“I have a new War Cry which makes things hate me more, an area taunt which works on groups of enemies,” I started while ticking things off on my hand. Stuffing my sword into my armpit, I continued the count on my now free hand.
“Double attack, which says I will hit twice where normally someone would hit once, that one looks like it’s an innate skill, it just happens some times? Finally, Tricky Blow which can cause new attack openings, which is also an innate skill, which means it can trigger automatically while fighting,” I said while smiling at my party.
I was ecstatic with my new gains. With everyone else gaining new spells and abilities I had felt like I was being left behind. With my new skills, I would be right there helping everyone.
Awkwardly, I shifted my sword around until it was back in my grip, and then I charged the next wolf. We had time, but we still needed everyone to be level ten. My actions had nothing to do with being able to try out my new skills. Nothing at all! My new aggressive war cry was impressive. It was as much a growl as it was a scream. I wasn’t worried about not having the stamina regeneration from the previous war cry, it might become a worry in more massive fights, but for single wolves, it was overkill.
We only found a few more wolves before we reached a part of the forest where the level of the wolves dropped below the point of giving us experience. We marched around at the edge of that zone and hunted the higher level beasts. It was slow, but every five minutes or so, a new wolf would appear and continue along one of the well-traveled paths. Eventually, we killed the last beast needed for everyone to level to ten. Watching my family level up through the unique level ten experience was educational. Everyone had broad smiles and a vacant expression, their gaze cast into the distance as they let the experience roll over them.
Of course, the moment everyone recovered, they returned to gazing into the distance, this time to check their new spells. I smiled as I watched them act in synchronicity, but my smile faded when Robert’s face shifted to one of horror.
“Robert?” I asked, drawing everyone’s attention.
Shaking his head, Robert looked to Emma with a haunted look as he linked one of his newest spells to chat.
Spell: Resurrection I
Cleric Spell: Level 10
Target: Other - Corpse
Mana: 205 mana
Effect: Returns a non-monster corpse to life. Returns 10% of lost experience and the resurrected will suffer from resurrection sickness for ten minutes.
The Clerics of the Fade were among those who perfected the Resurrection series of spells. In battle, the legions of the Fade were able to drag their most stalwart paladins to their clerics and return them to life. Every fight with the Fade became a battle of attrition. - Lore of the Faithful, by Ruth de Bloom.
Chapter 35
Emma was as hopeful and as horrified with the resurrection spell as any of the rest of us. The religious question of what such a spell meant was the first thing I considered, but I’m sure all of us were thinking about what it meant for us personally. Emma’s mother was dead, our mother was dead, could such a spell be able to raise our family from the dead? If it could, should we?
That Robert could return one of us to life was a godsend, possibly literally, but we then had to ask the nature of this spell. Was this God offering providence, or was this something that came with hooks into our immortal souls? As Robert had once done for Emma, she now calmed Robert’s upset.
“You should use it,” Emma said, her skeleton standing behind her while the eye sockets stared us down to disagree.
“This world has changed, we need to survive and use what we can. But…” at this Emma looked down before continuing, “could we stop at Highgate Cemetery before we head to the continent?”
Father had paid for Sophia’s burial in our family plot. Father had paid for multiple burial plots and reserved many for those who had served the household the longest. In part, it had been a trend to demonstrate wealth and prestige, partly it had been to retain workers -something Rebecca had ruined- and in part because of Fathers grief in the loss of our mother. When I was a child, I had enjoyed the stone statues and architecture of Highgate. The solemn atmosphere and dour mood of father after each visit had been upsetting, but the white marble, angels, and stone arches had been magical. It had only been after Sophia had died and been entombed that the sadness of the place had seeped into me. Emma had only recently stopped wearing her black mourning dress, and now she was suggesting we try to return her mother from the dead. It was morbid, but I understood her desire for her mother.
Annie brought us out of our considerations and back to the needs of the moment.
“Let’s wait until we return to London before we decide on what we should do. First, we need to return to the mansion and plan for the trip. I can’t imagine the roads have gotten any safer.”
This was a good point. There had been sporadic brigands on the roads from time to time, and with the ‘cleansing’ event wreaking havoc, things could only be more unsettled.
Our return to the mansion was mostly uneventful, though Annie and Emma’s demonstration of their respective new levitation spells was an exciting sight. Annie’s spell was simple and offered her the ability to hover over the ground by a foot or so, and to fall slowly from any height higher than that, while Emma’s was the same except for one distinct difference. While Annie’s spell simply caused her to rise and gently bob along as if she were adrift in a river, Emma’s caused her body and eyes to turn ghost white and her hair to float as if in the wind. This was purely a cosmetic difference, the rigor like pallor and eye change had no effect on her vision or movements, but her changed visage was horrifying.
At the back door of the mansion was the Colonel waiting for our arrival. Emma had correctly deduced that her spell would be disconcerting while approaching the mansion and removed the buff, but Annie was enjoying the sensation of floating too much to follow suit. Markus eyed her as we approached but decided to remain silent about her change in movement.
While Markus and Robert discussed the event and its conclusion, I watched the interplay between the two men. Robert stood tall and stoic while he debriefed the Colonel. Markus leaned on his cane, his knuckles white from the effort of holding his balance and hiding his discomfort. While Robert stood upright without effort, Markus obviously struggled, which made his success all the more impressive. To me, my father was a mountain of a man, every memory I had as a little girl was looking up and imagining the world from his height, both figuratively and literally. While I never looked up to the Colonel to the same degree, if my father was a mountain, then the Colonel was an only slightly lower peak. But now I saw him clearly. He was a man. Flawed like any other, greater than many, lesser than some, and strained by the extreme conditions we found ourselves in.
My introspection was broken by an outburst by Robert. Suddenly focused on the discussion, I waited to discover what I had missed.
“You will follow orders, Robert! This is a matter of life and death. The mansion needs to be reinforced,” the Colonel said.
Stepping backward slightly, Robert reached back and took Emma’s hand. When the Colonel saw this, he pressed his lips together.
Holding my hands to my side, I tried to redirect the Colonel’s focus.
“Colonel,” I said as I approached.
I could understand his position, but we would not be staying here, we would help to fortify, but we would not remain.
“…Colonel, we aren’t staying. We’re going to check on the estates in London and eventually make way to my father. None of us will remain here indefinitely.”
I could see the Colonel deflate as I explained the plan. He had to have known we were leveling to be free of this area and wouldn’t remain, but I think this was his last attempt to keep control over what he could. Since the end of his military career, he had spent his time shepherding the Collingwood’s fortune and Robert specifically. The family may no longer exist, what was left of the wealth was certainly gone, and Robert had grown into a man who while polite and non-confrontational, would stand up for what he wanted.
Running his hand over his face, the Colonel turned to me with a gentle smile, “I guess I knew that. Still, we need help, and your strength will come in handy. A basic palisade around the mansion would be enough.”
“Colonel…” I wanted to tell him that the monsters walked paths and it was likely the goblins would never recover, but I didn’t know this for certain. He could be right. Another goblin event could happen at any time, and a basic barricade would help. In the end, it would only take a day or two of effort for us to chop down enough trees and move them, my strength was more than enough to move the moderately sized logs of the forests and Annie could quickly destroy their trunks. In fact, the hardest part would be to put out the fires she would set while ‘chopping’ them down.
“Very well. We will stay, only for two days, and collect as much lumber as we can. With Mr. Nye here, you two should be able to build the fortifications after we harvest the wood,” I said while staring Markus down.
“Agreed,” he said as he looked me in the eye. If one good thing had come from this, the Colonel now at least saw me as a fighter and someone to respect for that reason.
So that was how we spent the next two days. Mr. Nye provided a wood ax for chopping firewood, and I put it to use decimating the edge of the forest. True to form, Annie spent her time trying to use lightning and fireballs to bring down slightly more distant trees. While Robert and Emma watched over us to protect from random animal attacks. Mr. Nye had initially thought to suggest he and Robert would do the foresting while perfunctorily suggesting the ladies could provide lunch, but his suggestion had been rejected outright. After watching my sister and I destroy a hundred trees in less than an hour, he had avoided looking us in the eyes. The most challenging part of the process was the hauling of the trees back to the mansion.
While we worked, the others stayed inside, with only Rufus peeking at us from the upper windows. Rebecca avoided us as well, hiding within her room. Only the Colonel and Owen seemed willing to interact with us beyond the work. For the Colonel, it was a matter of respect, for Owen, it sadly appeared that he was unaware that anything had changed. The gentleman who could remain straight-faced while smiling with only a twinkle of the eye, the man who snuck me treats when the weather stormed, that man was fading away before my eyes. I was becoming maudlin thinking about the people we would be leaving behind and all the things that had offered me a happy, if not free, life.
When we finished hauling trees, the stack almost reaching waist high and so broad as to take up a large portion of the back garden, we organized to head to London. We had hauled trees for an entire day and night, the lack of sleep no more hampering to us than it had been in the dungeon. We left at first light on four of our horses, we no longer had need of the carriage seeing as we had our inventories. We started down the front walk to the main road. The world sat before us, possibilities abounded, and the whole of it waited for us. London was merely the first stop.
Special Thanks
To those in my life who helped me during a trying time.
