I left the Academy and returned to Elmvale, my home village. Dog, my horse, seemed eager to be on the road. My parents only wanted to know if I had figured out how the amulet worked. I told them that I hadn't and they didn't pursue it any further, but they did blame my failure to graduate as the reason for not unlocking its powers. Hermann had traveled with me to my home village from the Academy. I was grateful for her companionship.
I had a lot to think about, now that my life as a student was over. The next logical step for any wizard was to find traveling companions and set out on an adventure. I stayed a few weeks in my village, but I knew that this was no longer my home. I tearfully said goodbye to everyone, explaining that I needed some time alone to find my place in the world. I promised that I would send word as soon as I could. I mounted Dog and left my village. My destiny awaited.
I spent some time looking for a suitable adventuring party, which was more difficult than I had thought. I think that being a troll was making things even more difficult. I knew that I'd need a fighter, a thief and a cleric. A strong fighter would keep the enemies away while I cast my magic, a dexterous thief would open locks and find traps, and a wise cleric would heal us all when trouble occurred. Even though I could do a little of each job, I knew that it was important to have specialists so that I could concentrate on my magic. After nearly a year of searching, I came upon the solution: I would form the party myself. I rented a room at the Full Cup Inn in Tornassa and began to accept applicants. Hermann moved in with me and the innkeeper was nice enough to let us stay for free, provided that I promised to help with security or any other troubles that routinely cropped up.
***
I'm just going to "break character" to explain this next part. Basically, we have to hire three people for our party, out of our former friends and love interests and/or whoever happens to apply. They have different power levels for their role in the party based on what race they are and how you met them. Because we didn't meet many people, flunked wizard school (which unlocks better options for people to hire), and didn't try to build a golem, we didn't have a lot of choices. For the fighter and thief positions, I just chose the people that applied, both of whom were pretty bad (our fighter is a human named Stuart with a power level of two, and our thief is a human named Maris with a power level of one). I did that because that leaves us the opportunity to put Hermann on our team as the cleric, and she has a power level of three, because she has magical experience.
***
My party was complete. The four of us had a good long talk about the kinds of missions we'd like to do and how we would go about doing them. I soon learned that my partners were terrible with money: The fighter drank it away, the cleric offered it all to charity, and the thief lost it through gambling as fast as it was made. The result was that I was left to outfitting the party.
***
Breaking character again: then we get to the equipping the party interface, which will show up occasionally throughout the game. First off, because of our high Fighting and Healing skills, we can train Stewart and Hermann (+2 power for Stewart, +3 power for Hermann). Then we buy everyone basic weapons (+1 power for everyone, -32 gold for us), and give Stewart our Ring of Courage (+1 power for him). That leaves us with a rather lopsided party: Stewart's power is 6, Maris's is 2, and Hermann's is 7. Also, there are certain items we can buy if we have enough gold or craft if we have certain skills in the future.
For Stewart:
An enchanted sword. (Needs 2000 Gold or 50 Smithing and 50 Transmutation)
The Sword of Death. (Needs 50 Smithing, 25 Transmutation, and 65 Necromancy)
The Gauntlets of Strength. (Needs 25 Healing, 25 Transmutation, and 10 Gold)
The Helm of Battle Insight. (Needs 50 Divination, 25 Transmutation, and 15 Gold)
For Maris:
An enchanted dagger. (Needs 1500 Gold or 25 Smithing and 50 Transmutation)
The Dagger of Sharpness. (Needs 50 Smithing and 60 Transmutation)
The Boots of Silence. (Needs 25 Illusion, 25 Transmutation, and 8 Gold)
The Cloak of Shadows. (Needs 45 Illusion, 25 Transmutation, and 15 Gold)
The Collection of Poisons. (Needs 45 Alchemy and 50 Nature)
For Hermann:
An enchanted mace. (Needs 2000 Gold or 35 Smithing, 35 Transmutation, and 35 Alchemy)
The Holy Mace. (Needs 35 Smithing, 35 Transmutation, and 50 Religion)
The Elixir of Wisdom. (Needs 50 Alchemy and 25 Divination)
The Ancient Holy Symbol. (Needs 30 Geography, 50 History, and 35 Religion)
The Healer's Kit. (Needs 30 Alchemy, 30 Nature, and 30 Healing)
Now for our actual choice...
***
We packed up our belongings and left the tavern.
Our first job came to us where first jobs usually did. We were sitting around the Full Cup Inn and drinking. We were also discussing tactics, but often the useful conversation gave way to the useless after as the night wore on. A caravan guard from a nearby town came into our tavern complaining that he had been robbed. He said that a group of kobold bandits were charging people a toll for using a kingdom road. It was a small band, so the royal guards hadn't been sent. This was our chance to begin our new careers. We left immediately.
Dog, my horse, was very impatient at our slow progress. I knew that we would have to get mounts for everyone eventually if we wanted to take jobs that were further away. We hadn't gone far down the forest road when five kobolds stepped in front of us.
"Give us your money!" they exclaimed upon our arrival.
I cast several fire bolts at them. (Needs 20 Conjuration)1) I told them that they didn't have the legal right to collect a toll on that road. (Needs 20 Geography)
2) I told Stewart to attack. (Needs Fighter Power 4)
3) I didn't think we were ready, so I did as they requested.Gorl Rockeater, a troll wizard.
Age: 20
Good: 58%
Evil: 42%
Body: 33%
Personality: 12%
Willpower: 34%
Fame: 2%
MAGIC:
Alchemy: 9%
Conjuration: 4%
Divination: 18%
Enchantment: 18%
Healing: 90%
Illusion: 4%
Necromancy: 20%
Summoning: 18%
Transmutation: 4%
KNOWLEDGE:
Arcana: 50%
Agriculture: 5%
Diplomacy: 55%
Economics: 10%
Fighting: 50%
Geography: 20%
History: 30%
Nature: 7%
Religion: 20%
Smithing: 12%
Thievery: 0%
Warcraft: 30%
FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS:
Familiar: Cat the dog
My horse named Dog.
- My mean parents.
MY PARTY:
Fighter: a human named Stewart of power: 6, wielding his sword
Thief: a human named Maris of power: 2, wielding her dagger
Cleric: My girlfriend, a human named Hermann of power: 7, wielding her mace
FACTIONS:
Kingdom Citizens: 20
Royal Family: 0
Elves: -50
Dwarves: 0
Orcs: -30
Thieves Guild: 0
Mage Guild: 50
Fighters Guild: 0
Gold: 233
INVENTORY:
A magical amulet that my grandfather used to own.