The Butcher of Gadobhra

The pile of smoking debris formerly known as the barn wasn't done burning, but everyone was anxious to see if they could clear down to the loot chest. They had all got the notifications of the Daemon's death, so they weren't too worried about it still being a threat. Still, they were cautious as they started pulling half-burnt logs from the pile.

Logs that could be saved went to one side and got buckets of water thrown over them. The charring on the outer layer would resist rot and they'd be good for foundations. The chunks of burning wood and still glowing coals were shoveled into large pits and covered with dirt under the watchful eye of Jorges. A blacksmith couldn't have too much charcoal. The superheated chunks of wood burned quickly in the open air once exposed but would slowly burn down to charcoal if covered up and no air allowed inside the pile.

Surprisingly, they found whole sedge beast carcasses under the pile of coals. They had expected that the meat would be burnt to cinders, but while the outer layer was a crispy black, the insides were simply well-cooked and quite juicy. Ozzy found this out as he wrestled out a carcass and hauled it to the side. The outer layer cracked open and bubbling fat ran across his gloves and arms burning him and leaving huge blisters. His gloves were soaked in the hot liquid but had protected his protected his hands. But his arms from the elbow to the wrist hurt like hell.

[You have been burnt! While not lethal, such burns are quite painful and can lead to further injury. You have taken 20 points of damage, reduced to 19 points of damage because of your resistance.

You gained 1 experience in Fire Resistance

You gained 1 experience in CON.]

At the same time, a wonderful odor leaked out of the carcass that had many people coming to investigate. Ben poured a bucket of water over Ozzy. "We need to get you some giant-sized tongs or maybe a huge fork if you are going to be doing bar-b-que like this."Rolly came up and sniffed Ozzy's arm before healing his blisters. The Shepherd went over to the cooked sedge beast and sniffed it.

"OK folks, if you were wondering if it was Ozzy or the cow that was putting out that delectable smell, I'm pretty sure it's the cow. Someone give me a hand with it, I'm hungry."

Chad and Rolly each grabbed an end, protecting their hands with layers of burlap sacking. They put it on top of Ozzy's butchering stump. Rolly split the carcass down the middle and a wave of delicious steam came out, exposing the tender slow-cooked barbequed sedge beast. The job of cleaning up the burnt barn paused as everyone sat down to eat an impromptu early lunch.

Ozzy pondered the Fire Resistance ability. As a tertiary ability, he'd have to burn himself in a similar way 49 more times to get to rank 1. Which seemed painfully torturous. Then another 100 times for rank 2, and 200 times for rank 3. It seemed horrible to subject yourself to that many burns just to have fewer burns in the future. He could probably earn more experience if he stood in a fire until he was crispy, but that didn't seem like a wonderful idea either. He wondered what the 'consequences' of adding the skill to his Heritage would be. So far, he'd gotten a little bigger and tougher. Suzette had pointed ears and curlier hair. Didn't seem like a bad thing at all so far. If it was a Primary skill, it would go up 10 times as fast. Still painful, but maybe with the help of Rolly to heal, and the Endure ability he could do it in a couple of months. The word 'active' implied more control, which he liked the idea of.

The other option the message had hinted at was making it an INT-based skill. He pondered that one while he sat and chewed on some sedge beast. The stuff was delicious! The cooked stuff normally tasted like ass and was poisonous. Slow-smoked for a couple of days made it barely edible and tough. But cooking the hell out of it made it into damn fine eating. Maybe he'd have to experiment with some pit cooking and barbeque. This was a lot better than groats.

Other than the obvious point that one version would increase CON and the other INT, he wondered how they differed in use. He hadn't had to do anything except get burnt for the passive ability to work. In the earlier games, CON-based abilities were tied to your physical body, while INT-based skills were either puzzle solving, languages, noticing things, or had something to do with magic. Could this be some sort of magical fire resistance that he controlled like a spell? Based on what he and Suzette had discussed last night, he thought it might be.

Rolly had used his ability to heal his burns, draining his stamina. It was a reminder that while the world was dangerous, they were getting more powerful. With that thought he concentrated on the option for Heritage and a message appeared.

Ozzy clicked yes on both options and immediately felt a small change. Looking at the hand holding his lunch, he saw his skin had darkened from his normal tan to a deeper red brown.

He walked over to the pit and put his hand over some glowing coals. There was an odd feeling in his head. He could sense the heat two ways. His hand felt the heat like you would expect, but he also got a sense of the heat in some other way.

It was like he knew the fire was reaching out to burn him and he could force it back. He grabbed a small coal and felt it trying to char his skin. He had to actively think about his hand not burning. After a few seconds the coal he'd picked up turned black and cooled.

[You may move Fire Resistance (CON) into your Heritage. Fire Resistance (CON) will become a Primary skill. If this option is taken you may change Fire Resistance (CON) to Fire Resistance (INT). This will make the skill an active resistance that will drain your mana.

Change Fire Resistance (CON) to a Primary Skill? Y/N

Change Fire Resistance (CON) to Fire Resistance (INT)? Y/N]

Something clicked in his head and he became more aware of the huge bonfire near him. It almost felt like he could push away the flames. He walked up to the fire, then kicked a burning coal away from the flames, and picked it up. It sat in the palm of his hand, hot, but not burning him.

[You have gained the skill: Fire Resistance (INT). This is an active skill requiring an effort of will. You may pit your will against fire, heat, and flames that try to burn you. This skill drains stamina equal to the amount of damage you negate with the skill. The maximum damage per attack that can be negated by this skill is 50 plus 50 additional per rank of the skill. If you exhaust yourself, you may substitute mana instead of stamina.

You have taken 10 damage from fire. You have reduced this to 0 damage.

You have used 10 stamina.

You have gained 1 experience in Fire Resistance (INT).

You have gained 1 experience in INT.]

On the whole, this was a much better skill. Sure, the old skill was always on, and this new one had to be actively concentrated on, but like most people, his first reaction to the pain of burning was an innate reaction to avoid fire and heat. There were some big advantages to this version. If he leveled it up to rank 5, it could theoretically absorb 300 points of damage. The next asshole who tossed a fireball at him was getting a surprise. And he was getting INT experience instead of CON. All in all, he was happy with it.

Ozzy wondered how high he could level the skill today working to clear this mess. There was only one way to find out. "Rolly, keep an eye on me, would you? Experimenting with a new ability. Drag me out if I fall over or start screaming."

"Sure thing. I watched you run into a burning inferno last night, I can do it again."

He moved into the charred pit, shoveling out piles of coals near the spot where he thought the Daemon had died, tossing the burn logs out by hand. It was slow and he had to keep up his concentration or he started taking damage. The rest of the workers just shook their heads and worked to keep up with him.

Two hours later he had gained 100 experience in the skill, and burnt through most of his stamina. At the bottom of the pile he finally uncovered the Loot Chest. It was still red hot with heat rolling off of it. "Rolly, back me up here a bit, this might hurt some." He put his hands on the chest and tried to concentrate on not burning.

[You have taken 125 points of damage. You negate 100 points for the cost of 100 stamina. You gain 10 experience.]

Damn, it was still pretty hot. He grabbed the handles and heaved it out of the pit, the weight not bothering him but his health was going down and he was burning, unable to negate all the damage.

[You have taken 125 points of damage. You negate 100 points for the cost of 100 stamina. You gain 10 experience.]

He checked his stamina and saw he had a little over 700 points left.

[You have taken 125 points of damage. You negate 100 points for the cost of 100 stamina. You gain 10 experience.]

Ozzy considered that this may have been a poor idea, but Rolly was near him and healing the damage, and at this point, he was pretty sure he'd be leaving a big chunk of his palms on the chest if he pulled away too fast. Better to keep going and get it over with. The messages continued, Rolly kept healing him, and just as his stamina was getting close to zero, the chest became cool, and his hands slid off.

[You have earned a total of 150 experience in Fire Resistance (INT). Your skill has increased to Level 2. What a great plan! Burn more now to burn less later. A bold move, but looks like it paid off.]

Breathing a sigh of relief he opened the loot chest and pulled out a snow globe, a cheap necklace, and an ornate pole weapon with a huge curved blade, a thrusting point, and four horizontal spikes on an eight-foot-long haft. The weapon was well made with not a bit of rust on the heavy head. The shaft was smooth with a lacquered black finish. A metal butt spike on the other end acted as a counterweight.

[Congratulations on opening a Tier 2 Loot chest. You receive the following:

-A necklace with some cheap red clay ornaments on it. Obviously, it's just junk. No need to take a closer look

- The Ancient Billhook of Entwined Fates, created in the faraway land of Fermo

-The Fathoming Orb of the Nine Hells.]

"Shit Rolly, you have any idea how this thing is used? I've used a basic pole axe, but what's a billhook?"

Rolly looked at it and shrugged. "Who cares? You needed something to pull barbeque out of the pit and that looks perfect for it! But I can see a little bit about it with Identify. It's a magical Italian Billhook. Fermo was famous for its metalworking. I think it counts as a Wizard Staff so you can cast spells through it. Do we know any wizards that use polearms? Seems like an odd combination."

Ozzy shrugged and showed him the other two items.

"Ooooh, and you got a snow globe?”

The last object did indeed look like a snow globe. It was a round ball of glass about 3" in diameter. It was cold, and nearly uncomfortable to hold, and showed a bleak scene of a frozen ship and swirling snow. Rolly looked at it. "Creepy, I think it only works if you go to Hell. It tells you what level you are on and lets you speak infernal languages."

Ozzy rolled his eyes. "So, a weird paperweight. Ok, your turn."

"Boy oh boy, I love loot chests!" Rolly cracked open the chest, looked inside, and was pelted with several small sacks of silver and copper, a large leather bag that smelled of pepper and garlic, and an ivory wand with a green dragon head on one end.

"Jackpot! Cash, a bag of spices, and a wand that shoots Acid."

Jorges, Chad, and the other folk who had gotten points from slaying the Daemon lined up. They all received varying amounts of copper and silver in small bags along with an assortment of odd magical rings, shoes, and a hairbrush. The town was going to see an influx of shoppers tomorrow. Ben and Suzette went last.

Ben had a huge book appear in his hands, along with a hefty bag of twelve hundred copper and a purple wand. Rolly identified the book as a "Tome of Clear Thought". It had a locked clasp with a key. Rolly couldn't tell much about it beyond the name.

Rolly identified the wand as the Wand of Berries. Creates 10d10 fresh berries of a random variety 6 times a day.

"That's a damn nice item," Ben said. "That's enough food to keep a couple of people alive and hydrated if you got stuck somewhere without any supplies. And I know a donkey that will love it."

Suzette went last. A small silk sack fell into her outstretched hand. She dumped it out to find two silver rings and 9 gold pieces. Rolly looked the rings over. "I think you point the Ring of the Ram at people you don't like, and the Feather Falling Ring will be handy if you fall off of cliffs."

The chest abruptly disappeared. Everyone decided to take a few minutes to stash their loot and then get back to work. Ozzy gave Suzette the necklace and snow globe to look over or experiment with. He kept ahold of the billhook. It did look sort of useful if you were doing a big pit barbeque and gave him something to lean on. God, was he tired. He wanted a bath, food, and a lot of ale.

He wasn't going to get it any time soon. Moving up towards them were three Legion supply wagons along with two officers on horses. "Good day, citizens! I see that we arrived just in time for lunch. What smells so good?"