The Land: Founding (Chaos Seeds, #1)

by Aleron Kong

“Thank you, Xuetrix, I really you owe you,” Richter said, extending his hand. “What?” Xuetrix said, looking confused. “I said I owe you.” “Really?” “Yes,” Richter said

with some exasperation. “Thrice heard and witnessed,” the imp said with a sly smile. A notification popped into Richter’s view You have agreed to do Xuetrix a favor. Failure to do so when asked will cause a decrease in your reputation with all beings, and other unknown consequences. Keep in mind,

The real question facing him now was where to place his unused points. He had no idea what he was going to need in this wide world. The lack of professions was a complete game changer.

goblins did not typically band together in large raids. Apparently, the green skinned humanoids were naturally combative.

Usually, they could not be held together in groups larger than eight or twelve before they fell to infighting. It was true that there were large enclaves of goblins in the swamps and mountains, but Sion said they were typically lawless settlements where murder was a common pastime. It was almost unheard of for large numbers of goblins to

The exact number they still didn’t know. Not for lack of trying or unwillingness of the scout to “cooperate,” but large numbers had simply been beyond the intellect of the goblin. The creature’s counting system had been limited to “one,” “two,” “lots” and then “lots and lots.”

The mystery of the rabid wolves was still just that, a mystery, but the goblin had revealed that there was a magic user that worked closely with the chief. The scout hadn’t been able to describe what type of

magic the mage could employ, but Sion told Richter that goblin mages were often involved with Death or Dark magic.

“Nightshade, Death Flower AND Shadowbane.

how the two of them could kill more than fifty goblins.

Strength – Improves damage with melee weapons or thrown weapons. Each point increases

carrying capacity by 10 kg. Affects anything that requires brawn, i.e. climbing, wrestling, and intimidation. Other unknown effects to be discovered. Agility – Improves accuracy with ranged or thrown weapons. Determines movement speed. Determines dodge. Determines balance. Affects ability to move without being detected. Other

unknown effects to be discovered. Dexterity – Determines attack speed. Improves damage with ranged weapons. Improves reflexes. Improves accuracy of melee weapons. Other unknown effects to be discovered. Constitution – Determi...

resistance to poison, illness, extreme temp, etc. Affects stamina regeneration. Other unknown effects to be discovered. Endurance – Determines stamina. Each point increases Stamina by 10 points. Affects ability to perform physical exertions at peak efficiency ie holding one’s breat...

dehydration, etc. Other unknown effects to be discovered. Intelligence – Determines mana. Each point increases Mana by 10 points. Affects resistance to mental attacks. Affects effectiveness of certain skills. Reasoning improved. Increasing will provide small i...

Wisdom – Determines mana regeneration. Affects magical resistance. Determines perception. Increasing will provide small improvement of mental fortitude. Other unknown effects to be discovered. Charisma – Determines the likelihood others will like you or want to interact with you. A higher score may open certain quests that would

otherwise be locked. Other unknown effects to be discovered. Luck – It will affect you in a million different ways… or not. But as the man said, “I’d rather be lucky than ugly.”

Für 3D6 Rulebook

He invested four points in luck, because… hey, what self-respecting southerner couldn’t win a hand of Texas Hold’em. At that thought, he made a mental note to invent Texas Hold’em. He was sure he could make a fortune cleaning out the medieval rubes that seemed to live around here.

and hating every moment of the decision, he invested six points in Charisma. Choosing ‘Yes’ on the final ‘Are you sure’ prompt, he felt like he had just sacrificed six children!

called ‘subskills.’ Asking the sprite about it, the explanation given was fairly simple. Subskills were dependent on another main skill. As such, increasing the subskill would increase the main skill slightly, but the subskill could never be of

higher level than the main skill. Richter nodded in understanding, and they rode on.

disarm it.” Both he and Sion took a step back, being a bit wary of the remnant’s judgement after their, well, electrocution. The ward began to glow. The outer circle of runes began to turn, followed by the inner circle.

Both changed directions multiple times, reminding Richter of the tumblers on a safe. A few more turns and both circles stopped rotating. There was a final flare of light and the ward floated up into the air until it dissipated like smoke on the wind.

“Ti voe reladii.” Sion had said, ‘my life for my word’ and she had accepted his pledge, ‘your word for your

The woman looked around and addressed all the patrons. They were still on their feet, unsure about the turn of events. “Well ladies and gentlemen, I hope you have enjoyed your mid-dinner entertainment!” A series of chuckles came from all around. “Let’s start the music back! Next round is on the house!” “And the round after that is on me,” Richter said. More

cheers followed his pronouncement. A grudging smile formed on the woman’s face. “Well you sure make an entrance. Call me Rosy, everybody does.”

“The sprite is going to be with you. Apparently he is pretty good with the bow.” Randal looked at Sion with disbelief, “Hey little man, you sure you can handle yourself, urk!” An arrow was suddenly quivering in a crate only an inch from the questioning man. “I didn’t even see him move…,” Randal said in

disbelief. He continued in a respectful voice, “We will count ourselves lucky to have you among our number, sir sprite. Please come with me and we will figure out the best role for you.”

“Terrod, let me try.” Looking at the prisoner, “Look. I know you don’t want us here. We don’t want to be here. There has been blood spilled on both sides. Maybe we are all at fault, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that we work together so that we may all see the sunrise. I could continue to let fire fly between you and my friend here, but I don’t have the time. Please just

show some decency and tell us where the captives are?” Richter’s tone was full of calm and serenity. Looking up at Richter, the thief replied, “You, and everyone you love, are dead. You think you accomplished something here tonight? Ha! These were our rookies. The ones that were only good for making dinner and ensuring the building didn’t burn down. We will refill our ranks, and

when our veterans return, I will enjoy seeing you peeled like a grape!” Richter nodded during this entire response, looking thoughtful and not interrupting. At the end, he firmed his lips, nodded once more, and then drove his dagger into the thief’s eye. The body started spasming, and even as h...

erratically. With a deep sigh, he moved to the next kneeling man. “Look. I know you don’t want us here. We don’t want to be here. There has b-” The man interrupted, “We are both at fault! I agree, please let me help you find your friends!” “Thank you...

walked up to the remaining prisoner. Richter handed a dagger to the helpful thief, “I

am not here to do your dirty work. Do what you must.” Taking the dagger, the man slit his former comrade’s throat without hesitation. Seeing Richter’s outstretched hand, he gave the dagger back.

Your knowledge of the chest for my service of sparing your life. But you still owe me for saving you from him,” indicating Terrod. “He would kill you despite what I agreed to. Now say you owe me for saving your life.” “I owe you, kind sir.” “Say it again.” “I owe you my life, sir!” “And now say it, one more time,” Richter said

enunciating each and every word. The thief clearly knew what this meant, but could say little in rebuttal. After seeing the murder and rage in Terrod’s eyes, there was no denying that he owed his survival to Richter. He bowed his head and spread his arms wide. “I owe you, my lord.” Richter looked the man in the eye and said, “Thrice heard and witnessed.” A

prompt reinforced his words. Nil has agreed to do you a favor. Failure to do so when asked will cause a decrease in his reputation with all beings, and other unknown consequ...

I do not enjoy killing, but as I said, I will not apologize for making the world a better place. Now all three of those men who surrendered were given the chance to make amends. The first was asked twice by you. Then in the most reasonable terms I could manage, I asked him a third time. Now even where I come from, neither god nor man can

ask for more than that. So when a man has been given every chance to make amends for a heinous crime, and yet still decides to stand defiant on the wrong side of the line,” Richter finally turned to look at Terrod, “I will snatch the soul out his body, and smile right after.” Terrod looked back at him, “I think we understand one another.”

They heard the Grand Market well before they saw it. Even this early in the day, a bustle of activity could be heard sounding like the drone of an enormous beehive, and evolving into the shouted voices of hundreds and then

thousands of people. They turned a final corner and were confronted with a sea of tents and stands.

The two friends began walking and melded with the chaos of people squeezing down narrow corridors between the tents. It was an assault on the senses, almost overwhelming.

Richter glad that no one else could access his valuables in his Bag of Holding, because this setting must be a pickpocket’s wet dream. Many sights grabbed Richter’s attention from food, to weapons, to exotic animals in cages. Even the people were varied in their speech, skin color and style of dress.

Two hours passed before they saw the columned building that Terrod had described. It wasn’t just that the Market was large enough to require that amount of time, even though it was massive. Their slow pace had more to do with the press of people and the arrangement of the tents. It was a maze! Several times they had walked into a dead end and

had to backtrack. One time, only a grim glare coupled with the fact that their hands were firmly on their weapons had backed down a pair of men that had clearly meant them harm. They did see occasional pairs of soldiers walking, but they were few and far between. It didn’t escape Richter’s notice that most vendors had at least daggers at their belts, and that the larger tents had burly men looking over anyone that came

finding the moron who had brought disorder to her carefully cultivated universe. Richter could swear he heard the people behind him backing up to show they were not with him, but he didn’t dare look away from the woman before him. “When my hand is out, I expect your reference to be placed in it. I do not work with people I do not know. I have found it to be a waste of my

time. I do not like wasting my time. I do not like people that waste my time. Now you are just standing there looking indecisive. Indecision causes confusion. Confusion causes accidents. Accidents cause death! So before my mental anguish transforms into your physical anguish, why don’t you get out of my line!” Each word of her speech dripped venom, and rose in volume, until she was shouting at the

end. This time Richter was sure everyone had moved away from him. And yes, he meant everyone. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Sion standing a good three feet away. Blushing from the embarrassment of being dressed down like a child, he said, “Terrod sent us. He told us you were the ...

“He said to remember I should never lie to Mama.” Her face twitched again,

and this time the left corner of her mouth turned up right before she broke into a large smile, “And how is Mr. Tall, Dark and Brooding?”