After walking into the offices of Jelart in District 3, Petunia and her team had caused absolute chaos. Jelart hadn’t been present when they had arrived, and Petunia had immediately got down to business, tearing into all those who ran the district’s dealings on Jelart’s behalf. The team comprised of six. Petunia, SJ, an elf named Farrow, a dwarf named Grudgeon, an ent called Roston, and a goblin named Alew.
Each had a specific role to perform. Farrow reviewed housing, Grudgeon the guard, Roston the district policies and guilds, and Alew was responsible for auditing the warehouse district and trade. Petunia checked on anything she wished, and SJ was to oversee the district’s financial audit.
Jelart had arrived mid-morning after being made aware that Petunia had arrived in his offices. He had stormed in flustered and cursing, along with several of his guard force, threatening Roston and Alew, the first two auditors he saw. That was until Petunia had strolled from his office, bellowing that if he didn’t comply with the audit, she would teach him in matters of discipline. His obese form had shaken with rage, but he dared not question Petunia’s authority. Either that or he was terrified of the small gnome.
When he saw SJ sitting in his clerk’s office looking over the district’s financial records, his face had changed to one of panic. SJ had already started going through the books, and it hadn’t taken her long to find anomalies in the entries. On the table in front of her, she had a stack of leather-bound books, each supposedly covering separate areas of the district’s finances.
The issues were easily identifiable by SJ’s keen eye before midday. She had asked for Jelart to explain some details to her. He had tried to palm off the responsibility onto his clerk, but Petunia had reminded him that he was the lieutenant and that he didn’t deserve to hold the post if he didn’t know his district’s finances. He sat opposite SJ under Petunia’s watchful gaze, with his clerk beside him. As SJ asked questions, he sweat profusely, the smell of stale alcohol ever-present. His spindly elf clerk looked absolutely terrified as SJ had quizzed the various entries.
The books didn’t align, and by the late afternoon, SJ had found a significant number of issues that neither of them could explain. In the simplest terms that SJ could describe to Petunia, who wasn’t in any way financially driven, had been to say that their earnings massively outstripped their outgoings. Each district had an account with Otherlisar, which held their funds, and when Petunia had managed to get one of the staff members from Otherlisar to attend, she found out that the money in the account was far lower than it should have been.
Out of all the aspects that had riled SJ, the only time she nearly lost her temper during the questioning was when she reviewed the rent payments the district received. The details were so convoluted and inaccurate. One large payment was received for areas of the district rather than individual accounts. It had come to light that brokers worked within the district on behalf of the office and paid a monthly fee to the district coffers. SJ knew this had to be the money lenders Lurtew and Yawnee had fallen foul to and indirectly linked Jelart to the cage fighting in the city.
As late afternoon became early evening, Petunia ordered the audit team to wrap up for the day. SJ had been in her element, and the time had flown by. She had not felt as relaxed or at home in months since her arrival in Amathera. Even Dave had become interested at various points, as SJ had discovered more underhand working. SJ provided a summary of the district’s financial issues to Petunia and ordered that the team take the books when they left. Petunia had ordered Otherlisar’s clerk to freeze the district account, Jelart, and his team’s personal accounts until the audit was concluded in full.
That comment had caused several in the offices to panic, and a few broke down, but none would question Petunia. The power her diminutive figure held was immense. Between the audit team members, the only areas of the districts working that had got through unscathed were the policies and guilds. The policies had been standard, that the entire city worked to, and there were no guilds in the district, making Roston’s task much easier. It had become apparent that even though the district was supposed to follow the city’s policies and charter, it didn’t.
“I believe you have all earned yourself a nice meal for today’s work,” Petunia said.
None of them had stopped for lunch, and at the mention of food, SJ’s stomach growled hungrily. After eating, Petunia laid unending praise on the team, thanked them, and asked them to file their findings as soon as possible so that she could conclude the audit and provide a summary to the chancellor. From the information gathered today she was more than confident that no further audit time was necessary. SJ had already summarised her findings as she went so she just needed to formalise and file her full report first thing.
“That was actually more interesting than I was expecting,” Dave said as SJ flew towards the sanctuary. “And Petunia is like a charging ogre. Nothing stops her once she gets going.”
‘I would never want to get on the wrong side of her.’
Larianco let SJ in as soon as she landed at the sanctuary. It was now 1900, and night was drawing in. They were not planning to head to the warehouse until 2200. When SJ had scouted the warehouse, workers were still around until at least 2100. SJ also didn’t expect the chalice robbery attempt to occur until much later.
“Do you have everything you need?” Larianco asked.
“I think so. What do we need to watch out for from Raceillia?” SJ said.
“If she attacks, she has three main offensive spells. Ice shard, ice elemental, and her freezing touch. Defensively, she can call an ice shield and a normal shield of protection. I am unaware of anything else she is capable of.”
“I am not sure how well I will do against a mage. I have had success before, but only when they weren’t expecting me to attack, apart from a very early fight I had. Your shields can be troublesome.”
Larianco smiled, “They can be yes for those unprepared.”
“Is there anything I can do to counteract it?”
“Do you have lightning protection?”
“No. My old boots did, but my new ones don’t.”
“Unfortunately I don't have the components for lightning protection. I do for other enchantments. Have you a free enchantment slot?”
“Yes. I didn’t realise you were an enchanter?”
“It’s a family tradition. All of my siblings are enchanters.”
SJ made a mental note to speak to Fran when she returned to Killic about what she knew. “What enchantments do you have? I have nothing in my equipment currently.”
“Nothing,” Larianco looked shocked.
“No. I have never had any before. I can pay you for them.”
“Umm, let me see what I have the components for. And how many slots do you have?”
SJ checked her display and reviewed her equipment. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t even considered asking Larianco about enchanting before now. There were certain things she really needed to consider more often.
With embarrassment, SJ told Larianco what slots she had. “I have nine free slots. My dress has two, my boots four, and my claws three.”
“Nine already!” Larianco said.
“What about your choker?” Dave said.
“Sorry. Ten, my choker has a slot as well,” SJ said.
“Do you have any resistances from rings or similar? Cold, fire, poison?”
“No. None currently.”
“Ok. I have the following enchantments which I have components for. I have resistance enchantments, which are all lesser: magic, cold, poison and arcane. I have the skills for normal magic and poison, and also higher cold, but I have no components. If I had known I could have got some. I also have a lesser damage and normal armour class enchantment. Then, finally, attribute enchantments: I have all minor and lesser enhancements, apart from Charisma, I have Strength, Intelligence and Wisdom at normal, and finally greater, I have Intelligence and Wisdom.”
‘I have absolutely no idea what any of that means,’ SJ thought.
“Okay. Enchantments 1-0-1 fast track. Lesser gives..” Dave said.
SJ interrupted him. ‘I don’t have time for a full explanation now. What would you suggest?’
“Erm. Okay. Resistances only stack 50% of a value if one enchantment is held, so for resistances, go for all the lessers that will give you a 10% resistance against each. That’s four slots. Lesser damage and armour class enchantments can stack but must be cast on individual items. That gives a +3 or +4, depending on its success. Right then, my advice is: for choker, go with poison resistance; for your dress, go with cold and normal armour class. Then your boots go with arcane, normal armour class, lesser damage and greater Wisdom; and finally, for claws, go with magic, lesser damage and normal Strength.”
“How much will this cost?” SJ asked, concerned at the amount of enchantments she would ask for.
“I can do minors and lessors for no cost, normal, higher or greater. I really need to purchase replacement components for those. I will only charge for components and not the usual skill charge, but it depends on which you wish for?”
SJ recited the list for Larianco. As she did, Larianco scribbled notes on parchment and listed components with prices.
“This is not cheap: two normal armour classes, one normal strength and a greater Wisdom. All the others are minor or lesser. Armour class will cost eight gold each, Strength eleven gold and the greater Wisdom seventy-six gold. In total, it would be one hundred and three gold.”
SJ checked her inventory, after the money from Malaki, Mya, the cage fight and what she had brought. Even after spending everything she had, she still had over one platinum. She was ridiculously rich compared to a huge number of the population. SJ removed one platinum and ten gold from her inventory and placed it on the table. That only left her with twenty gold, but since she arrived with just less than thirty and had spent nearly four hundred gold, she wouldn’t complain. Twenty gold was still a fortune for many. Malaki had paid for nearly all of her upgrades.
“I honestly thought you were not going to go with the Wisdom enchantment when I stated the cost,” Larianco said.
“I would have gone with the higher resistance enchantments if you had the components.”
“There is nowhere I can get them at this late an hour without being charged an astronomical price. I do have specialist enchantments as well, if you are interested?” Larianco’s eyes had lit up at the coin SJ had already spent.
“What are those?”
“Mend and Mana Regeneration. You won’t need Mana Regeneration, and I am a little confused as to why you even wish for the Wisdom boost. Mend will repair wear and tear damage to items over time, retaining their durability. It can’t repair all damage or keep things clean like I assume your dress does.”
SJ hadn’t even mentioned her dress’s ability to Larianco.
“Oh. Don’t worry. It is obvious to me that the dress is something special. I don’t quite know how special, but there is something about it,” Larianco said.
“How much is mend?”
“Mend would be six gold, but you would be required to swap it for one of the enchantments you have stated.”
Dave spoke. “I wouldn’t worry. The only item you would need it for are your boots, which have perfect durability and will last a long time. It is something you could consider later.”
“I won’t worry for now. Are the enchantments guaranteed to succeed?”
“The ones I have mentioned are. My skills are sufficient to virtually guarantee them. The only one which has a less chance of taking is the greater Wisdom.”
“Does the grade of an item affect the chance?”
“It plays a part.”
“My boots are mythic so...”
“It should be fine then,” Larianco smiled.
“How long will it take?”
“Not long once I get started.”
And so the enchanting began. Just over two hours later, as SJ’s display showed, it was just after 2114 hrs Larianco cast the final enchantment on her equipment. SJ looked over her equipment and character sheet once everything was finished. With the addition of enchantments, her character sheet had been adjusted, breaking down each component that made up the scores. There was also a new entry for base damage details. It was broken down into enchantment bonus, attribute bonus, and skill damage bonus.
Legionnaire 25007077
Name: SJ
Age: 27
Race: Fae
Class: Assassin
Alignment: Neutral Good
↻ Level: 19
Experience: 11109 of 9000
Hit Points: 125 of 125 (131)
Mana Points: 72
Armour Class: 58 (37)(21)
Damage: 72-74 (18-20) (13)(21)(20)
Attributes:
Strength: 17 (5)(12)
Dexterity: 31
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 22 (9)(13)
Constitution: 21
Charisma: 19 (4)(15)
Resistances:
Arcane Resistance 10%
Cold Resistance 10%
Magic Resistance 10%
Poison Resistance 10%
Skills
Racial:
Night Vision – you have improved vision in poor light conditions.
Flight – when in miniature fae form, you can learn to fly. Flying is not available in humanoid form.
Shapeshift – the ability to switch between fae forms.
Class:
Martial Arts –
Kata Level 10
Unarmed combat - Incapacitation Level 3 / Elimination Level 2
Armed combat - Melee Claws Level 3 / Ranged Darts Level 2
Clawed Avenger Level 4
Subterfuge –
Identification Level 10
Advanced Identification Level 1
Shroud Level 5
Profession:
Tailor Skilled Level 2
Perks - Sure Stitch
Symbiosis:
Dragon Sense – your senses, touch, hearing, smell, and sight are heightened.
Precognition – foreknowledge due to increased perception will allow you to evade a killing blow. (24hr cooldown)
Divine lightning – your blood is combined with that of a blue dragon, increasing healing speed while out of combat.
Malware: Waiver (Sandboxed)
Inventory: 84 slots (8 x 10 Bags of Holding) (2) (+2 strength) (10 special)
Followers: 3
Haber’s Dress of the Tailor – Level 12
Grade – Astral
Quality – Perfection
Durability - Infinite
Enchantment Slots – Two
Cold Resistance 10%
Armour Class +6
Armour Class – 16 (10)
Attributes – +4 Charisma
The God Haber himself made this dress. It is unmatched by any other and provides the wearer with unique skills that are available as levels are gained.
Self-repair
Transmogrification – the dress appearance can be changed as your tailoring level increases – current available choices – colour, design
Boots of the Unhindered
Grade - Mythic
Quality - Perfection
Durability - Perfection
Enchantment Slots - Four
Arcane Resistance 10%
Armour Class +7
Damage +3
Wisdom +9
Armour Class - 21 (14)
Attributes - Sure Step terrain doesn’t hamper your movement.
Paws of the Nightwalker +6
Level Requirement - Above 15
Quality - Mythic
Damage - 18 - 20 +10
Enchantment Slots - Three
Magic Resistance 10%
Damage +4
Strength +5
Special:
Blade break: These claws may catch a foe’s blade and, in doing so, have a 3% chance to snap the blade with a wrist twist.
Absorption: Nightwalkers are known for performing sneak attacks. These blades absorb light and sound.
Choker of the Earth Stone
Grade - Uncommon
Quality - Flawless
Durability - Excellent
Enchantment Slots - One
Poison Resistance 10%
Hidden - Alignment fae (1 of 5)
After reviewing her equipment, SJ couldn’t quite fathom her leap since arriving in Asterfal. The adjustments to her boots and claws had made substantial differences, then adding in the enchantments, her basic damage was now insane. She knew that damage wasn’t always guaranteed because of the mechanics of combat and the calculations Dave had mentioned, but still, her minimum damage and armour class were so high. If she performed a sneak attack on a target with a critical hit, her initial damage could kill many in a single hit.
She stood in awe of her status. Now that everything was in place.
“Are you ok?” Larianco said, looking concerned.
“Erm. Yes. Absolutely,” SJ said after a moment. “I’m just trying to fathom the changes those enchantments have made.”
“SJ?” Dave said.
‘Yes?’
“We have forgotten something. There were items you claimed from Mya that you aren’t using.”
‘Which ones? I can’t remember. Especially Mya. I wasn’t really myself after I killed her.’
“She had a Bracelet of Agility +4 and a Ring of Intelligence +2.”
SJ had left all the items in her room at the house. ‘I am not going to worry about them now.’
“You have time. You also haven’t got your darts with you.”
“Grr,” SJ said. “I need to go and pick something up real quick. I will be straight back.”
Larianco gave SJ a confused look. “What do you need?”
“My darts, they are still in my room. I also have a ring that may help you if we fight. I will be as fast as I can.”
With her adjusted dress, SJ flew as fast as she could over the city back to the house. Landing and glancing around, she entered, going straight to her table where all her purchases and the items she had gained were placed. Picking the darts up, she began to tuck them into the belt she wore around her dress. She knew she could carry darts and equip her claws, as they were not a primary weapon. She had practiced throwing darts while wearing gloves and the blades didn’t restrict her ability with them. As she stretched the belt, it snapped.
She cursed as she removed the belt she had had since she had first arrived in Amathera. It had served her well. ‘Damn it.’
“Didn’t you get given a belt when you purchased your bags of holding?” Dave said.
SJ searched through the items until she found the small bag that Bogging had placed it in. She almost collapsed when she took hold of it.
