Author's Note: A short one today, just an update on the Warcraft 3 map. Life of a Dragon Sequel v2.3 is almost complete, reaching the 75% mark of as writing this. The Main Story Route is quite the challenge, but I'm having fun with it along with my testers.
Shirosaki Kizuro: Yeah, I can see how Purple Dragons can remind you of Spyro! However, it's an entirely different lore with different abilities for Purple Dragons of Kayla. Still, Spyro is awesome!
Victor John Foxfire: The irony of the situation is not lost on both you and me apparently, haha. Do not fret though! Louise will be getting some proper character development, it's just that you can't expect her to change in only a week (or two) in the story. Without Saito as a human, Siesta does not meet the same fate as her cannon counterpart of a lust-filled individual, we haven't seen much of her yet, but in the future, we will.
DeathstrokeNorris: Depending on if I need to do a lot of exposition, I might obligate to do single long chapters for a single group of characters instead of multiple groups like usual.
Qinlongfei: As I said to Victor, Louise will get character development. As for the Celdrahil, he too will get his own development. We just haven't seen much of him yet to know his true personality.
Aline1: Yes, the Church, the Pope, and most likely many commoners are relatively loose and free when concerning other religions. However, it's not the Church that's the issue, rather its followers. Countless times in both historical and in the novels it was the followers that caused the near (or total) heretical actions against their fellow man by using religion (or difference of religion) as an excuse or reason.
Enjoy the chapter everyone!
Life of a Zero Dragon
Chapter 27: The Warchief; The Prince
The entrance into the wooden hut billowed from the incoming red-skinned orc, three meters tall, arriving into the large make-shift construct. The building made from wood and stone, collected from both the local resources and some surviving resources gleaned from the destroyed port city of La Rochelle, stood formidably decorated with odd spiked ends in a manner similar to World of Warcraft's Razor Hill. The architectural design would be universally recognizable to any player, no matter the time spent, of the Warcraft universe.
To the Empire, it was just a style made in the designs of their homeworld. A crude, rudimentary building that went for efficiency than a luxury to fight the now gone demons that invaded their world many years ago. A building that replaced their cultural merits destroyed by those very demonic creatures.
In any case, the red orc that entered the glorified hut was none other than the Warchief, the Fel King, himself.
Grom.
Otherwise known as the tenth player within Life of a Dragon Sequel. A human transported into the body of an orc leader.
The player himself sighed in discontent and made his way to the entrance hallway into the large room. There, within its confines, stood possibly the two closest NPCs he could consider friends since becoming the Warchief of the Fel Empire. But, in the middle of the room, slept a small human girl with short-cut hair and amber eyes, quietly breathing while resting in a bed of hides and furs.
Grom looked to the first orc, his pseudo-advisor to all things mana and magic related within the Fel Empire. An orc who himself was a user of the mystical ways, a shaman.
"Tha'Gar," Grom spoke his name, getting the shaman's attention. "Any luck?"
The player motioned his head towards the sleeping young human girl in the room, referring to her.
Tha'Gar shook his head, "Apologies, Warchief, but I could not accomplish the task you assigned to me. The youngling's broken state remains."
The Warchief nodded grimly in acceptance, then glanced towards the second orc, an equally sized orc-like him with a giant two-handed war ax attached to his backside.
This was the very same Fel Veteran that he had met a few days ago.
"Takor," He said. "Since my assigning as the caretaker, for this particular child, has there been any odd occurrences outside of Tha'Gar's spiritual arts?" Grom questioned.
"There was only one, Warchief," Takor answered truthfully.
"As a veteran and warrior, I have seen many great things in my lifetime," Takor began. "In the early days of the Empire, when the demons had just begun their invasion and the Empire's cities stood proudly and its people strong, there were a few orcs who were… Somewhat lacking in self-desire."
"Self-desire?" Grom questioned in confusion. "How is this youngling related to this?"
"It's entirely related, even more so, my Warchief," Takor explained and then pointed his finger at the girl. "The youngling does not carry any within, she wishes nothing for herself and doesn't carry the spark of self like the other survivors we pulled from the ashes."
Grom understood, he likened it to the soldiers back on Earth. In that way, he and the child were similar. His desire for anything and himself had been torn asunder after traumatic experiences such as when he first killed a fellow human being by gunshot, or escaped near death and coming to terms with his actions.
With time, he had recovered and had been honorably discharged.
But the memories, those memories still haunted him now and then, even if they became less frequent, every now and then one would return.
Had the child, this young girl, had her own sense of self-rendered by being the only survivor in the distinct they found her in? It would be quite the horrifying discovery to know you were the only living person to escape and live in what could equivalent to a whole neighborhood.
"I understand, anything else you two?" Grom asked.
The shaman waved a hand, "There was one thing, Warchief, that I discovered while performing a spiritual analysis on the… girl." It took Tha'Gar a second to recall the proper term.
The player laid his hand lazily on the handle of his katana, his form slumping a bit in relaxing from a day's work outside. "What is it?"
"The child has magic, a sort of core of magical energy similar to the noble we had captured a few days prior," The shaman explained. "But... "
"But what, Tha'Gar?" Grom said.
"Wel… It's hard to explain, but the core of energy seems to have shattered inside her body, pieces of it forming into multiple lines that channel mana. It's likely if the girl had ever used the magic of the local's variant, she would never be able to again."
"How so, if it's channeling mana it should be fine?" Grom questioned about this, as he was sure the magical energy was pretty universal. The Warcraft Units and the locals still both used mana, right?
"No entirely, Warchief. The local's variant of magic seems to be… A bit different than mana. Incredibly similar, nearly identical at first glance in fact, but a deep look will reveal the hidden signs between the two." Tha'Gar finished.
"Mmh… What are the odds the child can use mana-based spells then?" Grom said.
"You sure that's wise?" Takor spoke in a comment, "It's likely any clan or family members for this youngling will claim her."
"I'll make the decisions here, and if they do then they are welcomed to. They are her kin, after all. Now, shaman, your thoughts?"
The shaman hummed in thought for a brief moment. "It's is possible the youngling can use mana spells, but a small lesson might be in order to experiment on this claim."
"Recommendations?"
"Depends, the human's choices on which branch of spellcraft are her own. Whether it'll be shamanism, warlock, or possibly your own. Though I doubt the youngling can handle Hero spellcraft."
The orc spoke the term, Hero, with the weight of an entirely different spellcraft altogether, as if it was a higher, more advanced level.
Takor shrugged, "If you make this decision, Warchief, I will support you. There is some low-cost spellcraft that some of your warriors can also do, they are easier than those of which spellcasters dedicate themselves towards."
"I concur, Warchief," Tha'Gar said. "The spellcraft used by our warriors are easier, to begin with, many spellcasters such as myself start off as warriors and branch off from there."
There was a noise that suddenly echoed, it was foreign to everyone but a particular player.
Grom blinked in surprise, "A reveal spell?" He questioned.
He knew the reveal spell to be used by two buildings in Life of a Dragon Sequel. The first being the goblin observatory, a neutral building that would reveal a location for a set gold price. The second, well, that was the arcane towers within the Human Kingdom of Kayla's control.
Either way, he didn't have any clue who exactly had set a reveal spell over them. They show a clear vision of a targeted area for only a few, brief seconds.
"I will take your suggestions into consideration, until then, Tha'Gar I need you to gather a few of our spellcasters of both shaman and warlock and assign each to a band of warriors," Grom commanded. "In the meantime, Takor, I need you to bring together those warriors and assign them into easily defensible locations. Once you have done so, return to me here. I will keep our broken child company."
"Yes, Warchief!"
"Swobu, Warchief!"
The two fel orcs left the building, following their leader's commands.
Grom let out a long, drawn out breath of relief. The Fel King taking a few steps back before slumping restfully into a chair, his weapon, the artifact item, Searing Blade, lying against him. His mind starting to wander before it was suddenly interrupted.
"Why defense?" The voice of a young girl spoke out.
The Warchief blinked before looking down to see the red-haired child, possibly nine or ten years of age, a monotoned expression looking at him.
In fact, ever since he had rescued the young girl, the child had been an oddity. While he expected it to be a similar case to his own experiences after traumatic events like during his days as a soldier on Earth, the emotions of the girl were a bit screwed. Not in a sense that she was emotionless, but that her expressions had little weight.
It was like you took someone's normal emotions, who were normally at 100% volume, and then cranked it down to only 50%.
There were slight peaks, however, when it returned to its normal rate.
The child had a habit of never, ever rejecting anyone. She always helped anyone who made a request of her.
"It's just a precaution, Sarah," He said. "There are dangerous things out there."
There was also that, the girl… Didn't know her name. So he gave her one in an effort to give her a sense of self, which only helped a bit, but it was better than nothing.
Heck, she had no memories.
"Do you remember anything yet?" Grom asked, "I remember someone calling out for their mother and its voice was similar to your own, right before we killed Osgoth."
Sarah looked at him, blinking once or twice, before responding. "No, I don't remember anything. Is that bad?"
"Well… I don't really know if it's bad or not, but I'm sure you will recover."
"Why don't you know everything?" Sarah asked.
Grom rubbed his chin, "Um… You see, not even the wisest, or smartest person in the world can know everything. There is only so much one can see in their lifetime, and too big a world. Even if you were there for one event, somewhere else an equally important event is occurring that you missed out on. This means you don't know what happened over there."
"Okay," The child responded. "I heard Tha'Gar that I can do magic like you."
"We don't know entirely yet, but it's possible…" He trailed off.
"Can you teach me magic, to do magic like you?" Sarah asked.
"Huh?" He responded in slight shock, was she actually wanting something now? It was a nice progress to her recovery, but he doubted that she could learn Hero abilities. "I can try, but… You have to know this very important fact, Sarah."
"What's that?" She questioned.
"To be a spellcaster is to walk side by side with difficulties," He explained, recalling all he knew about mana and spells since arriving, like the dreaded mana exhaustion. "A person who uses mana does so for many things, but for me, it's to help others."
"Okay, I understand."
"I will teach you later, but for now, I need some rest."
"Can I go out around camp and help?"
"Sure, but be back before dusk."
On top the high top towers that stand watch protectively around the large, royal castle, pink-hued banners billowed in the breeze. The Prince of Kayla, Aylmer, walked within the confines of the Capital City, lost in thought as he wandered. His younger sibling, Abigail, was currently not with him at this current moment of time. The Prince had been planning, to the best of his ability, of what he should accomplish next.
There had been no word from Elizabeth, neither had there been any other sightings of players outside of himself and the Mercenary. It took some time for the messenger ravens to fly from city to city, carrying the scrolls of information vital to his management of the Kingdom.
Aylmer sighed, "Man, Empire players have it easy."
After all, the Empire was tiny in comparison to the vast regions that the Kingdom held.
He walked down the city district, his face downcast as his mind was focused.
'I've asked the mages of Arcantis if they can accomplish anything about the time it takes to communicate between cities, and they've said it could take some time to recover such knowledge. They probably are referring to the Old Kingdom in the original Life of a Dragon map.' He began his thought process.
'Gameplay speaking, I should already have easy control over everything. But the Transition has drastically reduced the effectiveness of managing a Kingdom. It's closer to realistic terms, but still has the game's mechanics tied in, making it easier than if it was a medieval age kingdom on Earth.'
He put a thumb to his chin, 'If I hadn't played the Human Kingdom in Life of a Dragon Sequel so many times, both in gameplay and roleplaying, I've probably been screwed. Still, even with such game knowledge, it is proving very difficult. By fortune, the noble speaking terminology seems to have passed onto me by the Hero character I now possess.'
'Technically, I'm still the Prince Hero, I need to reach level fifteen in order to become the King Hero. The Kingdom Hero is the only character outside the Chosen Dragon players that can grow, per say. Though, I don't know what would occur if I did reach the required level, as I'm already old enough already to be a King.'
'Even if that was the case, the NPCs already treat me as their king regardless if I'm still a prince. They possibly can't differentiate between the two as there is no lore basis behind the growth, it was a mechanic made only for roleplaying reasons.'
"My liege!" A voice familiar to Aylmer brought the player out his thoughts.
Aylmer turned to face the origin of the voice, and waved his hand once at the incoming advisor to his court, "Afternoon, Marthan," Already the speaking pattern of his character twisted the player's words. "Is there any news of importance that would warrant you to leave my younger sibling in the castle by her lonesome?"
The Prince's voice had a tone of discontent within it, he wanted to keep Abigail safe from the dangers that riddled Kayla, and any that came from Halkeginia.
"Do not fret, my King," Marthan replied. "The princess is guarded by the 10th Legionaries, they will protect her zealously."
Aylmer nodded, he knew of the 10th Legionaries.
10th Legionaries, their namesakes were references to the RPG game title, Dungeon Siege. They were powerful, unique units that the Human Kingdom could create out of the Legionnaire Chapterhouse. They had the damage and durability of Heroes and could kill many creeps in Kayla in one on one battles, especially if the Human Kingdom had upgraded its weaponry and armor at the Tech Center.
However, they were expensive, took a long while to train, and took considerable food resource to keep their upkeep. But they weren't dubbed the 'anti-hero unit' for no reason, for enough of the 10th Legionaries could kill off Young Adult Chosen Dragon players with relative ease.
If he recalled, the Map Maker mentioned that the Empire had gotten its own equivalent of the 10th Legionaries called Fel Veterans.
"Then?" The player responded questionably.
"Do you recall when you alerted Arcantis of possible advances in communication by the use of magic?" Marthan said.
"Yes, has there been any fortune in the matter?"
Marthan shook his head, "Nothing of that sort, but while experimenting with the arcane towers, they decided to use each of the three towers' reveal spell on random points in Halkeginia."
Aylmer blinked, that was actually quite a smart idea, he had forgotten about the arcane towers' special ability altogether. Then again not many Kingdom players, including himself, barely use the reveal spell on the map.
"Did they discover something of considerable notice?" He asked.
"The mages had tried using a map, brought from one of the traveling merchants, as a guide to where they could use the spell. The first two towers didn't bring any luck, as the reveal spell has proven a bit faulty in the Transition it seems. However, the third tower, in its inaccuracy, discovered a large encampment of red-skinned orcs, eerily similar to the exiled orcs that revealed themselves a few years prior."
The King of the Kayla Kingdom nodded in acknowledgment, 'So, the Fel Empire has also transitioned.'
"It seems these red-skinned orcs had destroyed a major Halkeginia city, but we aren't entirely certain by such a brief glance."
"Ah, alright then…" Aylmer trailed off. "Wait, destroyed a city!?"
Current Status:
Chosen Dragon Player 1: Saito Hiraga - Alive - Purple Dragonet (Agility) Level 11
Chosen Dragon Player 2: Alex Storm - Alive - Bronze Dragonet (Strength) Level 8
Chosen Dragon Player 3: Asuna Godiva - Alive - Nether Dragonet (Strength) Level 10
Chosen Dragon Player 4: Artos Archway - Alive - Green Dragonet (Agility) Level 8
Chosen Dragon Player 5: Cora Rune - Alive - Blue Dragonet (Intelligence) Level 10
Dragon Slayer Player 6: Celdrahil - Alive - Slayer Level 8
Dragon Catcher Player 7: Rosina - Alive - Catcher Level 12
The Human Kingdom Player 8: Aylmer and Abigail - Alive - King Level 4, Princess Level [Error]
The Fel Empire Player 9: Grom - Alive - King of Fel Empire Level 8
Mercenary Player 10: Elizabeth Loyal - Alive - Sorceress Level 7
Observer Map Maker: Map Maker - Alive - The World Editor