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[flame99]

My name is Gil Kingston, and I've recently come across something rather strange. I was taking a walk in a forest to clear my mind and relieve some stress, when I over a root I'm almost certain wasn't there before. Naturally, I'd fallen into a hole nearby. It was a sizable drop, about 10 meters down.
I couldn't climb back up, given that I'm not exactly in amazing shape, and so I decided to press on for a while and see where it lead. Despite it being a cave, there never seemed to be a noticeable drop in light levels. While it certainly did get dim, the cave never got pitch black. I stumbled upon a small pile of things. Namely, a pencil, and a faded leather journal. Upon opening it, I found that the first couple of pages had been written. I wasn't quite sure what it said, but it seemed to be middle English, though heavily faded.
The most I could get out of it was a faded sketch of what appeared to be some kind of god. It sort of reminded me of classical depictions of Zeus, but this person was wearing robes instead of a toga, didn't have the laurels, and was lacking the trademark lightning bolt. It also didn't quite seem finished, with guidelines still present. I took the journal and pencil, putting them into the pockets of my jacket. They fit, although barely.
Going in further, I soon found an exit to the cave. What I found was definitely not what it should have been. I walked out into rolling hills giving way to flat plains. I couldn't have gone that far, maybe 50 feet. I also knew for a fact that we didn't have any plains this flat near where I lived; it was hills and forests for miles.
The strangeness of this place was further reinforced when I saw the man nearby. Or rather, the lizard man nearby. He had forest green scales, and slitted yellow eyes. He was about seven feet tall, and looked pretty bulky. The lizard man approached, and I could hear him muttering something under his breath, though I could make it out. He called out to me in an unnaturally deep voice, like someone who smoke far too often, and almost with a hiss.
"You there. Yess, you, the only other person around for who knowss how far. Who elsse? What'ss your name, what'ss your bussinesss, and do you know how to fight, or am I going to have to bother teaching you sso you don't get eaten alive?"

Spoiler: An OOC note (click to show/hide)

A quick OOC shout-out to the novel this game was loosely inspired from: Brave Story, by Miyuki Miyabe. If you haven't read it yet, I recommend you check it out if you get the chance. There's going to be little in common with this game aside from a few minor thematic things, though, so if you've no idea what the book is, you're fine.
Also, I'm going to be using a first-person journal style. Yes, even when it doesn't make sense. How does that work, you ask? Why, it's simply a matter of HEY LOOK A THREE-LEGGED CLOWN! *Runs away*

[The Froggy Ninja]

ptw

[dawnstar]

I chase the 3 legged clown

[flame99]

I was, for a short time, inexplicably obsessed with three legged clowns. Not that there were any nearby. The lizard man didn't seem to share my preoccupation with them, however, and seemed to lose his patience.
"Let me guesss. You're another mute. Why the hell do sso many pop up here?
Alright, well, I need ssomething to call you. You're name iss Varakish now. I'll make a collar and dog tag for you. Ssay nothing if you're fine with that.
My name'ss Korkalkish. I'll be teaching you a little about the world. After that, you're on your own. Oh, and do me a favor: Don't come back here. I don't ssit here to help you sself-entitled wandererss willingly, and sseeing one of you again doessn't exactly ssound fun. Now, get insside."

[dawnstar]

Wright down our real name in the book and show him

[flame99]

I wrote down my name on the journal, and showed it to Korkalkish.
Ah, sso you're clever even without speech. That'ss good. You might lasst a day or two here. Really, though, get insside.

***

"Firsst, you need a short introduction to combat. It iss, all in all, fairly ssimple. Attack sshowss how sskillful you are with a given weapon, and therefore how well you can aim, while damage sshowss how hard you can hit with that weapon. Evassion iss how fasst you are on your feet, and how well you can dodge. Defensse iss the quality of your armor, and how well you'll deflect attackss that hit. Beware that raissing your defensse will usually lower your evassion, as well. Ssome weaponss have other conssiderationss, and there iss more to it than that, but for now, it will ssuffice.
I'll alsso give you a short lecture on magic. Put ssimply, it draws power from the usser's soul. There are wayss to draw from other people, but they're cruel, evil, and illegal. Not that you'd be the firsst to not be sstoped by thiss. Anywayss, if you casst more magic than your ssoul can handle, it will begin to drain power from your body. Casst too much too fast, and you'll kill yoursself cassting magic. The tricky part iss that you can't tell how much of your ssoul'ss power you've expended. Your ssoul'ss power will come back over time, but it takes agess without some form of aid. The generally accepted ssign to stop cassting sstrong magic iss when you begin to feel woozy.
Well, that'ss everything I'm telling you. Now, take thiss.
He handed me a fairly dull and slightly rusty short blade, and a leatherbound book not unlike the journal I'd found earlier. On it was written "Wizarding: For Dummies". A few seconds later, after digging around in a small pile, he also gave me a sack with a drawstring to put them in.
I thought the title would be quite applicable. Another traveler had ssuggessted it.
There'ss an old sset of ruinss down to the ssouth. And ssincce so many of your fellowss sseem to not know thiss, the ssun rissess in the north, and ssetss in the south. Jusst go through the cavernss down there, and you'll find your way eventually, asssuming you don't die. Oh, and pleasse don't come back. Now, if you have any quesstionss, please voice them now vocally. And ssincce you can't do that, leave. Now.

[dawnstar]

Write down:
Do you have some kind of training dummy that I could practice on? I have never fought before.

[Okenshel1]

Removed

[Okenshel1]

Question the lizard man about the many races that live in the plains. Through the book.

[dawnstar]

Question the lizard man about the many races that live in the plains. From the book.

Let's not. We can learn that easily and we really need to learn how to fight

[~Neri]

Ask for the lizard guy to make good on that offer of a collar.

[flame99]

Via the book, I asked him if he had a training dummy I could practice on, and if I could get the collar he mentioned. He let out what I think was supposed to be a laugh, but sounded more like him coughing his lungs up.
"There's a dummy out back. Feel free to take a few swings at it. As for the collar, give me a minute. Arlakish's old collar and dog tag should still be around here somewhere, and it shouldn't be terribly hard to change what it says."
Walking out back, I gave the short sword a few practice swings. At the time, what he said about attack, damage, evasion, and defense just confused me, but now, it made sense. It was weird, but somehow, I knew the different "stats" all of a sudden. I noticed that the short sword had a special ability: Tetanus. I made a mental note to never accidentally cut myself with it.
I wasn't great with the weapon. I managed to miss some shots against the still dummy, and I couldn't put much force behind the swings. Still, I bet that dummy would be wishing it had some tetanus shots! Er, at least, if it were alive.
A few minutes later, Korkalkish came out, holding the promised collar and dog tag. I put it on.

Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

Weapon: Rusty, dull short sword
Attack: -1
Damage: 1d4-1
Armor: T-Shirt, Jacket, Jeans.
Evasion: +1
Defense: 0

Inventory:
Sack (Worn)
>Wizarding: For Dummies (Spellbook, unread)
Jacket pockets (Worn)
>Odd book
>Pencil
Rusty, dull short sword
Short sword scabbard (Worn)
Collar w/ dog tag (Worn)

[dawnstar]

Read the spell book
Also: ask Korkalkish who Arlakish is via book

[~Neri]

Read the spell book
Also: ask Korkalkish who Arlakish is via book

+1

[flame99]

((Sorry for the delay in posting, I've been fleshing out some creature stats. Also, I got a touch distracted by Kevak's game, "Who are you?" Check it out if you get the chance; it's really good.))


I read through the spellbook I'd been supplied with. The book seemed to be written specifically for people new to the world. It wasn't terribly long, and the basis of it were as follows:

-Soul power can be numbered. Most natives of this plane have around 15 without training. Non-natives have closer to 10 on average. Maximum soul charge can be increased with use of magic.
-The amount of soul power a spell takes up is written in the spellbook it's found in. If someone teaches you a spell and doesn't give a soul cost, you won't know how much it costs.
-Once you run out of soul power, spells start drawing from your physical body. Two health gives pays for one soul cost, which will kill you white quickly. Don't over cast!
-According to legend, there are some powerful spells that don't require any soul charge. None of them have been discovered yet, though.
-On Rae occasions, a spell will be miscast. This causes some kind of negative effect on the caster, depending on the spell. In general, stronger spells have worse miscast effects. Some spells, mainly weaker ones, never miscast.

Additionally, it contained three spells.
-Burning Hand: Gives your next unarmed attack +1d6 damage. Soul cost 2, never miscasts.
-Force Palm: Causes your unarmed attack to have a chance to stun enemies for a short time.
-Flee: Teleports the caster to a nearby area with no other living creatures in the immediate vicinity. Soul cost 10.

I also asked Korkalkish who Arlakish was.

"He was my old dog. I ended up outliving him."