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Fantasy The Path to Power

JayTee

JayTee

Eight Thousand Club
The Wizards of Disandar were not, as a rule, accountable to anyone other than themselves, save perhaps the Emperor. In fairness however, everyone was accountable to the Emperor in one way or another. His iron fist squeezed the lands of his domain tight, but none tighter than those of the Imperial City.

Thus when two wizards began to argue over who would be the one to purchase a particularly interesting bauble, it was no surprise to anyone that the argument quickly escalated in to violence as the two magicians refused to back down, with spellfire being called up and thrown about.

What was a surprise, however, was the fact that neither Wizard seemed to care about the collateral damage. The Emperor had long tolerated these little spats between the assorted magicians of the Imperial City, even encouraged it as a way to keep their power pointed at each other rather than at him. However as a rule, none of them dared do anything that could affect the markets of the Empire. To affect the Emperor's flow of coin was a crime most severe.

Thus what began with two magicians quarreling in front of a crowd of curious onlookers quickly became a lethal duel, with the people and merchants of the markets running and screaming in fear as they were flash fried by gouts of magical fire, or impaled on a storm of blades stolen from the guardsmen and propelled by mystic will.

The carnage wrought on the markets was devastating, as each Wizard brought their full fury against each other. After a few moments, the streets were paved with blood of innocent bystanders. Those who's bodies were not pulverized or turned to ash quickly found themselves participants of the conflict, risen as undead to serve their master in the duel.

Only a beggar-man, huddled in the furthest corner he could find, remained. Terrified out of his mind and trying desperately to go unnoticed by the raging combatants.

Eventually, one of the magicians fell, overrun by a swarm of fire spirits conjured by their rival. Too soon after his demise, the markets fell silent and only the sound of the victorious Wizard could be heard, heaving for breath with a sword through her chest, desperately trying to use the last ounce of her magical ability to keep herself alive long enough to claim her prize.

As she bent down to grasp the item in question, she failed to notice the Beggar-man, who had sensed an opportunity to pull himself out of the squalor he had been living in for the better part of two years. Whatever these Wizards had been fighting over, it had to be worth a fortune if they were going to risk drawing the fury of the Emperor like this.

Beggar-man, Beggar-man, what do you do? What are the methods that you would see through?

Choose your best trait:
>Smart: Twist the sword in her chest. You were always clever, and this way it looks like a mutual kill.

>Subtle: Slit her throat with your knife. You were always quiet, and it's best to get the job done with minimal fuss.

>Strong: Strangle her with your hands. You were always tough, and Wizards are just people without their magic.

>>and above all else, claim her prize for your own.

Name: Vincent
Class: Wizard
Specialization: Spell-blade
Profession: Retainer for Fort Windward.

Traits:
Our hero is Subtle, a clever rogue with nimble hands matched only by a silver tongue.

Out hero a Scholar, a skilled academic with training in the sciences and the mystic arts both.

Ties:
Princess Cassandra - Knight. Came to her aid when she was under attack. Feels indebted to Vincent. Currently overseeing the development of the frontier for her father, the Emperor. Has an ulterior motive, but has declined to speak of it.

Colonel Dustin - Base commander of Fort Windward. Put Vincent on retainer at Cassandra's recommendation, glad to finally have a spell caster on hand.

Fort Windward - Vincent's new home, on the very edge of the frontier. Newly discovered mineral deposits have turned the fortress in to the base of a developing mining town, with new people arriving almost daily.

Tools:
A knife - A sharp blade that's served you well.

Maxwell's Grimoire - A book of magical and alchemical formula that once belonged to Maxwell the Invincible.

Windward Longsword - A blade given as part of his employment at Fort Windward. Made of quality steel.

Windward Leather Armor - A suit of armor given as part of his employment at Fort Windward. Made of quality leather

Techniques:
Tier 1:
Simple and subtle spells that require no focus or extended casting period

Protective Ward - A spell to conjure an unseen, ablative barrier to protect from harm.
Bloodletting Charm - A spell to charm to strike truer and with greater force.
Quickening - A spell accelerate oneself in both body and mind.
???
???
???

Tier 2:
Sophisticated or potent spells that require either a focus or an extended casting period.

Ritual of the Steed - A rural that binds magical energies in to the form of a horse.
Ritual of Earthshaping - A ritual to manipulate the ground in to new forms.
???
???

Tier 3:
Sophisticated, potent spells that require both a focus and an extended casting period.
???

Chapter 1: A new hero, a new beginning.
The Path to Power, post two
The Path to Power, post three
The Path to Power, post four
The Path to Power, post five
The Path to Power, post six
The Path to Power, post seven
The Path to Power, post eight
The Path to Power, post nine
The Path to Power, post ten

Chapter 2
The Path to Power, post one
The Path to Power, post two
The Path to Power, post three
 
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Ahh, this seems very interesting.
>Smart
Got to have brains if you're planning to overthrow the government or whatever you want to do.
 
The problem with Smart is that I imagine the Beggar-man would be brutally splattering this guy's brains across the cobbles with a goddamn stone, while thinking to himself "Damn I'm smart." Now, to be fair, things clearly work differently in this world with the magic and all. Maybe smashing things with stones is actually a good brain exercise around here. But man does that sound like it's going to be bad for the psyche.

Then we've got Subtle. One slice across the neck, and you're out with the prize in less than ten seconds, leaving no traces. If I was the Wizard I would definitely be impressed.
>Subtle
is the way to go my friends.
 
No, no, no, you don't understand. The process of smashing someone's head in is how you become smart. Since the person's brain will be pulverised, it means that your ranking on the Leaderboard of Smartest Brains will have increased by one. It's one less opponent between you with your low-ranked brain and you with the smartest brain in the world!
 
> Subtle

Sneakiness always pays off - except when it doesn't, of course.
 
IctoraPost said:
No, no, no, you don't understand. The process of smashing someone's head in is how you become smart. Since the person's brain will be pulverised, it means that your ranking on the Leaderboard of Smartest Brains will have increased by one. It's one less opponent between you with your low-ranked brain and you with the smartest brain in the world!
Click to expand...
This made me laugh, haha.

I admit, the "Smart" option was somewhat counterintuitive as it was meant to reflect the resourcefulness of the character over everything else. That said, I've modified the option to make it more "intelligent", so if you want to change your vote, feel free to edit your post. :xFsmile:
 
So I think I'm going to set the deadline for vote casting to be Mondays, and quest updates to be Tuesdays. I'll probably shift the update day to be later in the week, as the quest continues, so it's on one of my days off.
 
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Well darn. I was leaning towards Subtle before but I like the updated Smart.
> Smart
 
>You are Subtle. A clever rogue with nimble hands matched only by a silver tongue.

The Wizard, for all her power, all her majesty, all her skill, was ultimately still mortal. Though her powers enabled her to endure a blade through the chest, it took all of her focus and concentration to channel her mystic abilities in to her life force in order to stave off death.

Such concentration was ultimately undone, however, when a hand clamped over her mouth and a blade drew itself across her throat. What force of will she had been able to scrap together in a bit do maintain her life vanished like a candle being snuffed out, and she fell to the ground, little more than a pile of meat and bones.

The Beggar-Man waisted little time reveling in his victory, it was only a matter of moments until the guardsmen automata arrived on the scene to quell any dissent. Against their stone skin and eyes that shot fire, his knife would be little better than a toy.

Snatching up the item that so many had died for today and wrapping it in his haggard outfit, the Beggar-man ran as fast as he could away from the scene of the battle. Rounding corners and ducking inside alleyways, he finally made his way back to his tiny, abandoned shack. Here was his home for the past two years, with little more than walls and a blanket to shield him from the cold.

Settling inside and closing the door, the Beggar-man unwrapped the cloth and took a look at what he had taken.

What did you find?

>A sword. Practical and deadly, the blade sings with magic.

>A book. Learning and knowledge, all a page away.

>A ring. Symbolic power, yet influential among the right circles.
 
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A ring. Easier to conceal than the sword by far, and can the beggar even read?
 
A book. Knowledge is power, after all. Hopefully he's literate, otherwise it would just be a useless stack of dead tree.
 
A book - if we're illiterate, we'd be better off changing that right now. We gotta write our memoirs at some point, after all...
 
Going to update this on Wednesday as part of the steady transition over to Thursday being the normal update day. Feel free to get any last minute votes in, or show the Quest to a friend you think might be interested so they can vote as well.
 
>A book.

The Beggar-man leafed through the pages of the book he had stolen, carefully going over it's contents. He could read, a little, enough to make out the basics of what the book as saying.

It was a grimoire.

That in and of itself was not surprising, Wizards quarreling over a book of magic was perfectly understandable. No, what made this so special, what made this particular grimoire worth killing over was who the the grimoire used to belong to.

If the Beggar-man was reading correctly, this grimoire used to belong to Maxwell the Invincible.

Twenty years ago, Maxwell had waged a one man war against the Empire, almost succeeding in bringing it to it's knees. It was only the combined efforts of a dozen Wizards, a full legion of Imperial troops, and the Emperor personally leading the charge, that had finally succeeded in putting Maxwell to down for good.

No one had been completely certain of the secrets to Maxwells unprecedented success in his bloody war against the Emperor, but whatever secrets they were, they were now in the Beggar-man's hands.

What the Beggar-man found strange though, was the fact that this book contained not a single spell within it. Instead it contained lengthy articles on magical theory, Maxwell's notes on the structure of the soul, and various alchemical formula. Whatever secrets it held, they would take time to unlock, as much of it was impossible for the Beggar-man to understand.

The only thing he could use as a starting point was a diagram of a circle of power. When etched in to a surface and dressed with blood, the ritual circle was said to grant a level of enlightenment, or madness, depending on the strength of mind of it's user.

Temptation welled up inside the Beggar-man. Here was a chance for power and mystic strength beyond anything he could imagine, but he didn't understand anything about how the circle worked or what it could do to him if he failed. He could do it, right? Just draw the circle, offer his blood and brace himself for whatever came. It couldn't be that hard, could it? Maxwell had done it, obviously so there wasn't any reason he couldn't.

Right?


Attempt the Ritual?
>Yes, he who dares, wins.
>No, better safe than sorry.
 
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Based on the kind of city this is, I doubt anyone successful got to where they were by saying "Nah, fuck that. It's too risky."

If the aim is to understand the secrets within this grimoire, the only reasonable option in front of us is to attempt the Ritual.
 
Well, it's either risking the chance of madness or risking the chance of getting killed by some other random beggar guy. I knew we should have chosen the option to be smarter. Hopefully our plot armor will save us.
 
We shall attempt the ritual - I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
 
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