Ch 10
Jon woke with the sun, he spent a few minutes just petting Miracle who had again curled up against him, before putting on his armor again and getting something to eat downstairs, having a large meal of fresh bread, Horker strips, eggs and baked unions, with some watered-down mead to wash it down.
He then went out and through the markets, searching for smiths too which he could sell some of his extra items, and a place where he could buy some things he needed to set up an enchanting table, browsing through the market until he came across the jewelers, he proceeded to sell much of his jewelry, keeping only the pieces with gems in them, this earned him 80 gold.
+80 gold
He then proceeded to scour the market for the items he required, first he found a candle maker purchasing 20 candles for 500 silver, expensive but he had purchased twice what would be required, he then found a troll skull in a oddities stand, it cost him a gold piece put it would be needed, he then went out to search for a glass blower, but could not find one on the market so after a few hours of searching he decided to ask Igor if he knew of one in Helgen.
The walk to the big mans stall was short, but Jon had to wave away several merchants trying to pawn of their wares to him.
"Ah, Jon, wha can a do for ya?" the long mustached man greeted Jon with a cheerful smile, showing his slightly crooked yellow teeth.
"Hello Igor, do you happen to know if there is a glassblower in Helgen?" Jon asked, he had already looked for one but was unable to find it, then again, he had not spent enough time in Helgen to really know where to search.
"Welt thers is old man Merin, down by the north gate, bit loony bu is hearts in the righ place, why do ya nee a glas blowe if I ma ask?" the man arched one of his thick eyebrows.
"I need a glass orb to set up an enchanting table, Ignali gave me a few soul gems so I want to try some enchanting." He answered.
"Ahh I alwa lik a magic tric, now Jon I woul like to invite ya to a little tournament me and tha other merchants ar havin, it will be a melee and ya could win a nice prize, ya wanna join?" Igor asked, raising his voice to draw the attention of others around them, Jon assumed that he was hoping for more spectators.
"Seems like it would be fun, when does it start?"
"Noon tomorro, in tha main market squar."
You have received a new quest!
Win the tournament!
Rewards:
300 Silver
?
?
Punishment for failure or declining
None this one is up to you.
Do you accept
YES/NO
"Il be there." Jon said. He then proceeded to head towards the North gate, finding the small shop that housed the glassblower in only a few minutes and if somebody suggested that he accidently entered a brothel, inn and a baker before it then he would correct them on their wrong assumptions.
Inside were dozens if not hundreds of small glass figures, ranging from simple clear glass deer and horses to knights in decorated full plate made from colored glass, at a desk at the end of the room sat a wizened old man, with wrinkled skin, sunken milky eyes and a friendly smile, smoking a pipe, on a perch behind him sat a truly massive dark dirty brown bird, of a species Jon was unfamiliar with, he noted that where ever the man looked the birds dark purple, near black gaze would follow, as it did when the old man looked at him.
"What can I do for you young man?" The mans voice was raspy, as he took another draw from his pipe.
"I am looking for a glass orb, one of the size used by enchanters, would you happen to have one?" Jon said, slightly unnerved by the bird, he then noted that three small chicks were sitting beneath the bird on its perch, the smallest one, a chick of pure midnight black feathers that seemed to drink in light and bright purple eyes poked its head out from underneath the massive avian, looking at Jon with surprising intelligence turning its head to left in a motion that Jon found simultaneously cute and disturbing.
"I do have one of those, young man." The old mans voice shook Jon out of the unintended staring contest between him and the small avian, drawing his attention to the milky eyed man, whom slowly got up from his seat, heading to a shelf near the rooms roaring fireplace.
Taking one of the few orbs from the shelf he sat it down on his desk, again Jon noted the strange fact that the large bird's eyes kept following the direction of the old man's eyes.
"One of my last remaining pieces." The man said, "It will cost you 800 silvers, but if you buy another piece I will drop the price to 700."
"I think I will take that deal." Jon smiled looking around at the other pieces of impressive glasswork around the room, he quickly found his eyes drawn to two pieces, one a robust looking hairpin made of green glass, in which Jon could just about see the blade of a small knife, more a stabbing needle really and an ornate mounted Knight, made of various colors of glass, carefully picking up both pieces he took them to the desk of the old man.
"Excellent choices young man, gifts I take it?" the old man asked, before taking another drag of his pipe.
"My sisters name-days are approaching, and I think they would like these as gifts." Jon smiled, Arya had always complained about having her name-day within the same week as Sansa's as the feast held would be for them both .
The old man chuckled before beginning to carefully wrap the three pieces of glass in thick cloth.
"If you want them send to then safely, try the courier's guild, they have connections all across the north, and offer insurance in case the items are damaged, fair prices too." Jon nodded and smiled in thanks.
"How much do I owe you?" Jon asked.
"1200 silvers will be fine, young man." The old man answered, the small black bird was once again staring at Jon with its bright violet purple eyes.
Jon nodded and proceeded to hand over the required silver which the old man seemed to weigh in his hands before nodding, and handing Jon the carefully wrapped glass pieces, Jon said a goodbye to the man and turned to leave, but before he took two steps the small black bird landed on his shoulder, surprising Jon.
"Ahh it seems the little one has chosen a master." The old man chuckled, as Jon turned to look at him. "He eats meat, both raw and cooked, he needs at least another month before he can fly freely and will be a very loyal companion, do take care of him."
Jon simply blinked at the man, before the small bird nipped his ear and he nearly recoiled in shock.
"Ahh it seems the little one is hungry now, you should feed him." The old man looked extremely amused for some reason, as if being on the other side of a joke pulled on him once. He then pulled out a book, and handed it to a still completely confused Jon, before ushering him out of his shop with surprising strength.
When Jon recovered from his shock he looked at the book in his hands, the Argentavis Magnificens. He then noted that he had a new popup.
You have received a pet, pets level with you and gain certain stats and perks as they get older dependent of the species.
Argentavis Magnificens
Lvl 21
Hp 150/150
Str - 7
Dex – 25
Vit – 5
Cha – 30
Int – 25
Wis – 5
Luc – 15
This is your Argentavis Magnificens a dark black bird with violet eyes, a loyal and fast friend, gains 5 hp, 2 Dex and 1 Str per levelup, while losing 1 Cha every levelup until Cha is 10.
Name Your new pet?
Yes/No
Pressing yes, Jon thought about names for his new pet, eventually deciding on Aves because the bird gave him a nod like motion when he said the name, deciding to head for the inn to get something to eat and to feed his pets, when he sat down in one of the inns comfy chairs, Miracle at his feet and Aves in his hair, he decided to open the book and give it a read to find out what his new friend actually was.
The Argentavis Magnificens, is the largest bird, not native to Sothoryos, known to man, growing to wingspan of between 5 and 7 meters and weighing up to 100 Kilograms, though a young Magnificens is about the size of a small Pidgeon, they are known to closely bond with humans, doing so by making extended eye contact, they would take about 3 years to grow to full size, being able to fly for long periods of time after the first 3 months, hunting anything from rabbits and other birds when younger, to deer and even full grown bears for larger mature Magnificens, a large Magnificens could even lift a fully armored man into the air with little difficulty.
Surprised at the new bird Jon gave it a few rubs, the animal settling down on his hair after it had received its due attention, Jon decided to finally do what he had set out to do this day, enchanting.
Going up to his room he started to prepare the enchanting table, a long and difficult process, first he had to find the right shape of table, which he then with some difficulty got up into his room, then he used his bone dust to rub the table, giving it a white coloring, he proceeded to make the right symbols with his fingers in the dust, then he placed down his troll skull in the opposite corner of the five sided table, placing 5 candles on each side of it then he placed his glass orb on top of the skull, lastly he lit the candles, as soon as he lit the last one, the white dust turned black, the runes he had made in it lighting up blue, the clear glass orb started turning a murky green and blue, and he knew he had done it right.
Taking out one of his Silver emerald necklaces and beginning to write the complex runes.
….
It took Jon hours to finish his first rune set, a simple stamina enchantment, he then placed the silver emerald necklace into the circle of runes along with a common soul gem, focusing on the runes he began to speak in the ancient language of the ideal masters, the candles seemed to drown out all of the other light in the room, glowing a dark purple there was a chanting in the back of his mind, words in a tongue forgotten to all but a few, then there was a bright flash.
Enchantment: Increase stamina: base power 20, 10% bonus from 10 Wis + 20% bonus from Enchanting skill, 20 + 30% = 26 + 25% from Common soul gem = 33 rounded up
When the light faded, a ring of softly glowing green runes was now emblazoned on the silver necklace surrounding the now glowing emerald, Jon used his observe.
Necklace of minor Stamina Grade B +33 stamina
Do you wish to name this item?
Yes/Not now
The enchantment was fairly powerful, but Jon could not think of a name for it for now, so he pressed, Not now, he then put the necklace on next to his Stark sigil amulet, noticing its invigorating feeling, he took a look outside, noting that the sun had set, so he decided to get some food for him and his pets, descending down the stairs of the Inn.
In the main room he found a now familiar scene, several men and woman drinking at the bar, people eating around the small tables, and a few men beating the ever-living shit out of each other in the corner, he got himself some baked potatoes and a large chunk of venison, before he spotted Heather and the redhaired twins he remembered were guarding Igor's tent sitting at one of the corner tables, Heather saw him and quickly waved him over.
"Hey Jon, how are you doing?" she asked when he had taken a seat next to her, he had already dug into his potatoes, so he swallowed his bite before answering.
"Pretty good, very hungry though."
She chuckled at him, a warm sound that gave him tingles, before introducing the redheads with her.
"These are Mori and Gori, they don't really speak a lot." She shrugged her armored shoulders, "But they are good enough guys, and easy to drink under the table."
She smirked at the twins, as both sent her an amused and annoyed look, the four of them spent the rest of the evening and night drinking and bonding, the twins said little but held their drink well enough, soon everything went black.
….
When he woke up at sunrise the next morning, he found himself on the roof of the Inn, still fully dressed, Miracle on his chest purring softly, Aves perched on the nearby chimney, he was surprised, as you can probably understand, but chose to be happy that he did not wake up like he did the last time he got drunk, and was instead curled up in several furs, still wearing his armor, he decided to watch the sun rise before getting something to eat down in the Inn.
He had to get ready for the melee at noon as well, he would probably read something until it was time.
Jon ate a hearty breakfast of fresh bread, bacon strips and eggs, before heading out to the market visiting a merchant selling books, he bought several interesting ones, such as the battle of Kvatch, the Origins of The Dragon Age Verse I, and the Journey of the Warden Verse I.
This cost him a total of 100 gold, but he found that it would be worth it as the bonus stats he could gain from them would be doubled, he had sought out story book specifically as Jon had found that story books gained him stats while, informative books didn't.
So, he sat down near the square where the melee would take place, and chose the book he would read now, so he chose to read the Journey of the Warden Verse I, as soon as he opened the book he was gone.
….
Jon was somewhere ells, no he was not Jon anymore, he was Tiberius Livor, Warden under the service of Hervis Daubeny, a warlord in the land of Ashford, they had taken this castle only a few weeks ago and now the castle he was under siege, he had to defend the east wall, the Blackstone legion was attacking, they were being led by a Lawbringer Holden Cross.
He rushed down the stairs, his armored feet beating down on the yellow stone, passing a few crossbow-men shooting through the arrow loops, when he got to the bottom he found that two knights had already climbed a ladder up to the wall, both were using longswords, he quickly dropped into a combat stance, somehow he knew just how to stand and how to move as if he had been doing it for decades.
Before they could engage in combat however, a boulder from one of the Blackstone catapults slammed into the wall, sending all near it to the ground, he was forced to block several strikes from the knights, before a crossbow bolt hit one of them in the helmet, allowing him, Tiberius to counter the other knight, knocking the man to his knees, he then switched his grip to the blade of his longsword, before smacking the man on the head so hard that his helmet caved in.
He moved on quickly there where more men coming up the wall ahead of him, he dashed across the broken down wall, coming to a outcropping, already a knight was busy cutting down the last of the soldiers on the wall, as soon as he saw Tiberius the knight dashed at him, he did not get far.
As soon as he was within reach, Tiberius swung his longsword, instantly knocking the man down into the edge of the wall, causing him to tumble between the crenels, he hit the ground with a wet squish a second later.
Next up the ladder where another two knights, he cut the head of the first before he got to the top of the ladder, his falling corpse knocking another few men of the ladder, the other knight was cut at the legs, the combat style of the Warden being superior to their self-thought ones.
He charged down the stairs onto a large wall, cutting apart more soldiers and knights as he went staying close to the now identified Daubeny's side, as the two of them pushed the Blackstone advance of off the walls.
He was forced to the courtyard to force back a breach in through the tower, as he jumped down he cut apart a knight standing below him, before charging towards the breach cutting through foot soldiers.
Then came the archers, he and a few other knights had the breech basically contained, then archers started raining down arrows on them, he was forced to charge up a ladder, when he got to the top he encountered a few soldiers and a Blackstone Knight, he had far more trophies on his armor then the ones Tiberius had killed before, the soldiers stood to the side, knowing that they are basically useless right now, it was Warden versus Knight.
He was forced on the back foot by the knights raw aggression, he was strong and quick, but his moves became sloppy after a minute, so Tiberius managed to get a hit in to his leg, and then another to his arm, and another to his helmet, before he took the knights head, the soldiers fell soon after then, all fell before his blade, the style of the Warden was terrifyingly efficient, every move the same strength, every move the right speed and every move a hit or kill.
A group of Daubeny knights and foot-soldiers came up to him helping him deal with the next wave of Blackstone troops, then there was a massive crash, he looked behind him, the Blackstone's had breached one of the towers and were flowing in.
He sprinted to the edge of the wall, jumping down he landed on top of one of the Blackstone knights, crushing the mans helmet under his boot, before he moved towards the breech, he cut down several dozen foot soldiers, they were just peasants pressed into the Blackstone legion and not trained much beyond simple drills.
He continued further into the courtyard fighting and killing every Blackstone in his way, that was, until of course, the giant ram bashed in the gate, and Blackstone soldiers flooded the courtyard, led by a giant in armor wielding a massive halberd, he cut down three Duabeny knights and half a dozen soldiers, before coming to a stand still.
"STOP!" the man shouted his voice loud enough to stop the last few men fighting,
"DAUBENY! DAUBENY SHOW YOURSELF!" the man's shout drew Daubeny forth from behind the last few of his remaining troops the lords golden armor clinking loudly with each step on the dirt and cobbles.
"These warriors don't have to die." The black giant said leaning forward in a move of aggression. "Trail by combat! Right now!"
Duabeny looked shaken at his words, taking a step forward coming nearly helmet to helmet with the black giant, before responding.
"What! Fight you?!" he said ridiculously. "That's not a trail that's and execution."
"Then fight my second." The black giant said, as he stepped closer to Daubeny, the golden armored man looking nervous even in his though armor. A knight standing near the black giant took his sword in hand, Tiberius noted that the man held himself vaguely as a Warden would, and that he wielded his longsword with familiarity that spoke of many battles with it.
Daubeny turned his head towards Tiberius, nodding.
"You!" he shouted. "You will be my second."
Tiberius would not be able to refuse, he would fight not for Daubeny but for the men he had shared his days with, those still alive anyway, they are at the mercy of the Blackstone's, he would fight for them.
He dropped into the now familiar stance, after a small prayer, noting that the other Warden made no prayer and dropped into an aggressive bastardization of the normal Warden stance.
The Warden came at him with fury, starting with a massive overhead chop, that Tiberius sidestepped, Tiberius then swung a quick swipe to prod the Wardens defenses, the attack hit but failed to do any damage thanks to the armor.
He blocked a sweeping slash from the right, and slammed his shoulder into the Warden forcing him to step back, as he did so, Tiberius swung a mighty overhead chop, hitting the Wardens Helmet, rattling it.
The man quickly recovered as Tiberius took a step back, the Warden charged, but Tiberius managed to sidestep, but was unable to dodge the swipe for his legs, taking the hit he struck with a series of quick swipes, hitting the warden multiple times in the chest, legs and arms, before dodging a sweeping strike.
Tiberius dashed to the back of the Warden, taking his sword in a half-sword grip he swung with all his strength, straight into the Wardens helmet sending the man tumbling into the dirt, Tiberius planted a foot on the mans back, forcing him down before he could get back up, before stomping once, twice, thrice, four times on the mans helmet, caving it in.
Then he became aware of the black-giant approaching him again, his steps large and menacing.
"It will not do for a knight of the black stone to be defeated by a mere Warden." And Tiberius felt dread, not at his own death, but at that of the men with families and friends that had fought with him.
"Kneel." Tiberius kneeled slowly planting his sword in the ground beside him, the blade blunted and cracked at the edge. He saw the black-giant hand his massive halberd to one of his foot-soldiers, before walking towards Daubeny, ripping the man's golden sword from his grip, the blade was one to be admired, decorated with images of battle and great hunts.
The black-giant walked back to him and Tiberius lowered his head, waiting for his death, until he felt the blade on his shoulder.
"For Valor in Battle, For Honor in Service." Tiberius was stunned, not sure how he felt, "I Holden Cross raise you, Rise Knight of the Blackstone legion."
With that Tiberius was pulled to his feet and handed Daubeny's sword, as the black-giant took his old sword from the ground throwing it to Daubeny's feet, then they left Jon by their side as the vision faded.
….
You have gained:
+ 5 two handed
+ 5 heavy armor
Your perk book-smart doubles your bonuses!
You have gained a total of:
+ 10 two handed
+ 10 heavy armor
Your heavy armor skill has passed 25 you have gained a new perk option!
Thick skin: reduce all physical damage by 10%
Iron fist: when wearing heavy armor increase all unarmed damage by 50%
Bark armor: for every hit taken, reduce all physical damage by 1% for one day
Jon felt that the reward given for this book was amazing, and was interested in what would happen next, before he realized that the merchants had nearly finished setting up, he decided to take a good look at his choices.
Bark armor was not that useful for him as Jon liked to avoid getting hit, iron fist could be useful, but by far the best option would be thick skin, reducing damage done to him was an amazing powerup, as soon as he selected it another popup appeared.
You two-handed skill has passed 25. You have gained a new perk option!
Head-splitter: gain 100% armor piercing when hitting an enemy in the head!
Sweep: activatable: deal 2x damage with two-handed weapon in a massive sweeping attack, costs 40 stamina!
Warden-form: the iconic and powerful combat style of the Warden will be yours!
All options were incredibly powerful, but Jon pressed Warden-form, after his experience in the book a few minutes ago, the information filled him, stances, techniques, moves, combos and strikes he spent several minutes attempting to organize his mind before a voice broke his focus.
"So Ser Snow." Jon's head swiveled to Heather as she and the twins approached, "Are you up for a good fight?"
Her grin was one of excitement, as she hefted a massive blunted axe in her left arm, and a tourney sword roughly the size of his in her right which she promptly threw at him, he caught it in his right, before standing up, and taking a few practice swings to get used to the balance of the blade.
"You ready Jon, I have been wanting to fight you for a while, I was hoping for a match in the finale, but it looks like we are in the same bracket." Her grin didn't diminish and her green eyes shone and twinkled with excitement.
….