Chapter 49: Book 1: Chapter 19 (Part 2 of 3)

“Okay, now that is settled, we have one last piece of business that is a little more uplifting. Every ship needs a name. I was thinking something like ‘Last Man Standing’ or ‘Pirate’s Gambit’, maybe ‘Corsair’s Revenge’, but I’m open to suggestions from the floor,” I said and spread my hands wide.

Before anyone spoke, I held up my forefinger. “But the final decision is mine,” I reminded them.

“You could go for an historical reference like Henry Morgan’s ship, the Satisfaction,” Jackson suggested tentatively.

“Not bad, but I’m not sure how many people would get the reference,” I said.

<’Pounda Flesh’!> Quixbix roared in our heads, loud enough the three of us who could hear him winced.

“What has a Panda got to do with piracy?” Anastasia questioned, though the tug of a smirk on her lips clued me in that she had deliberately misinterpreted Quixbix’s suggestion.

I put my hand up to forestall an unnecessary explanation from the imp.

“As clever as ‘Pounda Flesh’ may be, I’m not sure it’s precisely what I’m looking for,” I reasoned.

<’Hellreaver’ then. People need to fear us> Quixbix suggested instead.

“’Hellreaver’ is better, it sort of recognises my Acheronian heritage, it’s definitely in the running,” I reassured the imp.

“How about something that nods to you being a Frostbinder,” Shana said. “’Frozen Sky’ or ‘Ice Wraith’.”

“I like it, keep them coming,” I encouraged.

“If we are incorporating a cold theme, perhaps we should add in some Norse mythological flavour. ‘Skadi’s Plunder’,” Jackson added excitedly.

“That’s good. I like the mythology angle. I believe we have a new front runner,” I congratulated Jackson.

I waited a moment to see if there were any other candidates and was about to speak when I saw Anastasia’s lip’s part and heard her inhale a short breath ready to voice her thoughts and then she shook her head almost imperceptibly, stopping herself.

“Panda comment aside, you’ve been quiet Ana, do you have a suggestion? We are technically naming a part of you, after all,” I asked her kindly.

I didn’t want Anastasia to feel excluded from this. I expected her to obey my orders and show the proper respect due to her Captain, but that didn’t mean I had to be a cruel insensitive prick. I could be, but I chose not to be.

Anastasia hesitated for a moment; her head bobbed side to side slightly as she mulled over whether to speak up. Finally, she gave in and sighed.

“Sure, as you like mythology, ‘Marena’s Mercy’,” she put forward.

“Marena’s Mercy? I like the alliteration, but I’m not familiar with the name,” I admitted.

“Marena is the Slavic Goddess of Winter and Death. She is also known as Morana, Marzanna, or Mara, and by a few other names depending on which part of the Slavic world you come from, but Marena is what my babushka called her.”

“Marena’s Mercy is a bit of wordplay because like the winter cold she represents, Marena has no mercy, except the sweet release of death. Which is fitting for pirates, don’t you think? Plus, she is associated with effigies in pagan rituals which is apt considering I am a mistress of golems,” Anastasia finished.

“Well, I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m convinced,” I said.

Shana and Jackson nodded vigorously in agreement.

<Pounda Flesh gets my vote> Quixbix interjected.

“You don’t get a vote,” I sighed.

<What? That’s not fair. I should get a vote too. Just because I’m not physically present makes me no less a part of the crew> he whined.

“Quix, nobody gets a vote. I asked for suggestions and then I decide. And I have picked Marena’s Mercy,” I explained with exasperation.

<Oh, that’s okay then. Excellent decision, Torin> the imp acquiesced.

For the first time Anastasia genuinely smiled, a real smile no less, not a smirk.

“What was that about being the mistress of golems?” I asked her. “I know you had a couple in the final chamber of your dungeon, but I thought you were a Lifeforce Enchantress.”

The smile faded and was replaced with a cross expression. “I am. When you claimed me, my avatar was bumped up to the same K-grade as you. Lifeforce Enchantress: Golem Mistress. Have you not bothered to examine my character sheet?”

I had not, in fact, checked her character sheet. I hadn’t thought about it until I stepped on the ship and met her formally, and then had been distracted since.

“Let’s rectify that oversight now. Actually, can we use this display table to put the sheets up on one of these walls?” I inquired.

“Yes, it’s not what they are meant for, but you can. At least, until we upgrade to Mark two and get a Quartermaster’s Cabin where you would keep records of the crew and their capabilities,” Anastasia answered.

I didn’t waste any time and viewed her sheet.

Name: Anastasia Ruslanovna		Species:		Dungeon Core (Tier based on owners currently 5)
Level	1	Class		Lifeforce Enchantress: Golem Mistress (K-Grade)
Physical (+20%)		Mental				Social (+30%)
Strength	6 (5)	Acuity		5		Appearance		5 (4)
Stamina	12 (10)	Perception		8		Charisma		5 (4)
Speed	12 (10)	Willpower		9		Appeal		5 (4)
Dexterity	3 (3)	Mental Resistance		3		Leadership		5 (4)
Agility	6 (5)	Mana Capacity (+10%)		15.4 (14)		Dominance		22 (17)
Constitution	12 (10)	Mana Absorption (+10%)		15.4 (14)		Empathy		3 (3)
Hit Points	410	Health		N/A		Mana Pool		154
Unused XP	N/A	XP to next Level		N/A		Lifetime XP gained		N/A
Armour Slots	7	Weapon Slots		3		Item Slots		5
Upgrade Points		Spec	N/A	Class	N/A	Hrm	N/A	Path	N/A
Framework Currency		PP	N/A	GP	N/A	SP	N/A	CP	N/A
Notoriety	N/A
Titles	Soulbound
Species Abilities and Benefits
Dungeon Core: Avatar stats dependent upon owner Affinity for Frost, Dark and Chaos Magic. Aversion for Light and Harmonic magic inherited from Torin Carter. Affinity for Life and Death Magic from her Core. You are reading story Corsairs & Cataclysms at novel35.com Frost Harmonisation and Soulbinding Path inherited from Torin. Lifeforce Manipulation: Grants incredibly rare ability to utilise Life and Death magic, schools with a natural aversion to one another. May perform a Drain touch attack.
Class Abilities and Benefits
Lifeforce Enchantress: Golem Mistress Levels in class = 1 (K-grade class) Level up grants +2 to all Mental stats, +1 all Social stats, another +1 to Speed, Dexterity, Agility, Willpower, Leadership, and Dominance, +2 to Mana Capacity and Mana Absorption, HP +130   T1: Unlocked at level 2 (normally level 1, suppressed for early access to T4) T2: Unlocked at level 6 T3: Unlocked at level 8 T4: Golem Creator 1: Infuse mana into inanimate objects to grant them temporary life. Costs dependent on material and size of object. Drained Lifeforce may be used for superior results.
Miscellaneous Abilities and Benefits
Miscellaneous Negative Effects
Soulbound: Your soul has been bound to another. You must comply with their orders and will. They may dictate your character progression.
Gear:
Soul Collar

 

Golem creation involved using Mana to animate an effigy of a living thing. The greater the mass, the more Mana required to animate it. The cost was one Mana per kilogram of mass. This would give you one hour of animation for the golem. You could extend this by paying the base cost again for each extra hour you desired to keep the golem.

Provided the golem doesn’t disintegrate you could pump more Mana into it to replenish the time allotment in a similar manner as I could restore the durability of my Ice Blades. And like the Ice Blades, you couldn’t extend the life expectancy beyond the maximum that was set during its initial creation.

However, unlike my Ice Blades, golems had a hidden, but also random, hard expiry date that could not be avoided. Eventually, after the golem had been replenished a number of times, then the length of time before the next replenishment was required would decrease by an hour. This would happen every time it was replenished thereafter. This would escalate quickly until you could only replenish for one more hour, after which the golem would be no more.

Using drained Lifeforce instead of Mana during the golem’s creation removed the hidden erosion timer. Although the golem would still require Mana to be infused to keep it running. Double the lifeforce used and if the animation timed out then the golem wouldn’t disintegrate, but would merely become inactive, waiting for its owner to re-infuse it with Mana to act again.

You could enhance golems with skills with a similar mechanic. The higher the skill rating you wanted it to have, the more expensive it was to provide. These skill bumps would last until the golems’ next replenishment. You could make them permanent but that was exorbitantly expensive, so you’d only want to do that if you were sure you were keeping the golem around.

The Lifeforce that Anastasia could drain had other uses too. She could convert it on a one-for-one basis into Mana or feed it back into an ally to heal them of either lost Health or Hit Points.

When in contact with the ship the maximum amount of Lifeforce Anastasia could retain was set to ten thousand. This was essentially stored in her core crystal. That would increase by ten thousand for every level the dungeon attained.

When off the ship her limit would be the same as her avatar’s Mana Pool. Currently one hundred and fifty-four. That limit though would change as her avatar levelled with me. This also limited how much she could drain, as she couldn’t exceed her cap. However, if we could source a spell book or scroll from a school she could use, she might be able to funnel any excess directly into casting a spell.

At the moment, all of Anastasia’s abilities required her to be able to touch her victim or us. I hoped as we levelled some ranged options may emerge.

I then checked out Shana’s character sheet for good measure.

Name: Shana Colton		Species:		Elf (Shadowborn) (Tier 2)
Level	2	Class		Shadepath Markswoman(Q-Grade notorious)
Physical		Mental (+10%)				Social (+10%)
Strength	3	Acuity		5 (5)		Appearance		6 (6)
Stamina	7	Perception		7 (7)		Charisma		3 (3)
Speed	10	Willpower		8 (8)		Appeal		4 (4)
Dexterity	4	Mental Resistance		2 (2)		Leadership		1 (1)
Agility	6	Mana Capacity		26.4 (24)		Dominance		2 (2)
Constitution	8	Mana Absorption		26.4 (24)		Empathy		3 (3)
Hit Points	310	Health		10		Mana Pool		264
Unused XP	11,433	XP to next Level		15,000		Lifetime XP gained		26,433
Armour Slots	6	Weapon Slots		2		Item Slots		3
Upgrade Points		Spec	0	Class	8	Hrm	0	Path	0
Framework Currency		PP	0	GP	2	SP	50	CP	130
Notoriety	126 (Current XP multiplier is x1.36)
Titles	Soulbound
Species Abilities and Benefits
Shadowborn Elf: Health +2, HP +100 (+10 per level), Mental Stats +10%, Social Stats +10%, Armour Slot +1, Weapon Slot +1, Item Slot +1 Affinity for Dark and Chaos Magic. Aversion for Light and Harmonic magic
Class Abilities and Benefits
Shadepath Markswoman: Levels in class = 2 (Q grade class) Level up grants +1 to all Mental stats, another +1 to Speed, Dexterity, Agility, Willpower, Mana Capacity, Refined Mana Conversion Rate, Appearance and Dominance, HP +100   T1: Skill: Archery +5 T2: Dark Magic Infusion 1: Grants the ability to utilise dark magic and directly infuse projectiles with dark magic for additional damage. Armour Penalty Offset: -1

 

After we’d all had a good ogle at the stats, I clapped my hands to get everyone’s attention. “It’s four o’clock so everybody has a few hours to familiarise themselves with the ship. By my calculation, we should be approaching the city of Grand Rapids an hour or two before dusk. We have to sail around it and I want everyone alert and ready when we do. We are bound to draw attention and not necessarily the good kind. Dismissed,” I announced.

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