Realm Quest - A Fantasy Text Adventure

[Askia]

make a several layer shield to stop the rock and move away as soon as the rock touches the shield

make the water into spikes and try to destroy his hands

[chimericWilder]

Gather all the water. Send it at him in a powerful wave.

[stagnantAntler]

make a several layer shield to stop the rock and move away as soon as the rock touches the shield

make the water into spikes and try to destroy his hands

As a waterwieder, you know a few things about water and you're fairly sure it's not something that can be "layered". You guess you could make a thicker shield, but for that you'd need alot more water than you have now. You can think of a few different ways this would work otherwise, like rotating the water in several places, but you're not skilled enough to pull something like that off yet. As for the spikes, something like that made out of water tends to be pretty harmless, if you were more skilled you'd be able to freeze the water and create icespikes. Although you have been working on heating and freezing water, it's not something you're able to do instantly yet.

There's no time to ponder that now thouh, as you set the shield up again, and barely manages to dodge out of the rocks way. You send a jet of water in Kelts direction just as he moves to send two more rocks in yours. The jet of water hits him hard in the gut and he doubles over, you manage to put up your shield again, but one of the rocks flies through it and hits you on the shin.

You curse to the gods as you get down on one knee. It takes but a second for the pain to subside, but Kelt is up again as well. If you continue like this there's no telling who will win, you need an edge.

show spoiler

hide spoiler

A little info on wielding:
Distance: as I mentioned in the beginning of the adventure you can only wield up until a certain distance away, in Darde's case about 5 meters. This doesn't include projectile based attacks, because as soon as you throw them, you don't need to worry about affecting them anymore and you can just let them ride on the push you gave them to start off with. If you're within 5 meters of the projectile you'll still be able to affect it, you'll be able to change its course and whatnot. (Right now Darde and Kelt are about 7 meters from each other so you won't be able to wield effectively at his position.) The distance at which you wield is something that can be trained so you'll be able to wield at greater range later on.

Concentration: wielding requires a great deal of focus, which means that anything that can distract you during battle is a bad thing. Pain is a common distraction, Darde will drop his guard whenever he is hit and will have to pull himself together again to be able to wield again. Any other distraction works as well and it's a common strategy to taunt, make faces, raising or lowering temperature to make your opponent uncomfortable, scared or angry. So keep this in mind.

[Jetroid]

>Charge 2 meters closer then wield Kelt's stomach acid, causing him to throw up, completely distracting him, allowing you to win.

[stagnantAntler]

>Charge 2 meters closer then wield Kelt's stomach acid, causing him to throw up, completely distracting him, allowing you to win.

oh yeah, that's something else I forgot to mention, although wielding the natural water sources inside people seems like a viable strategy, it's an impossibility. Remember how I mentioned that humans are part divine in my first post? they're not connected to the elements like everything else in the world so no part of them can be wielded. If you were to say thrust a hand or something similar down his throat and make him throw up that way, that would be a okay

[Jetroid]

>Go punch the bastard in the face while riding some waves.

[stagnantAntler]

>Go punch the bastard in the face while riding some waves.

How did you plan on doing that? you have like 2 litres of water here at most. You might be able to draw some out of the air around you, but that would only amount to a good 5 litres at best.

[Askia]

send some water blasts towards him

then aim one of them directly towards his eyes we cant allow him to see anymore

take water from the air if you need to

put up a shield and be ready to dodge like before

[Jetroid]

>Just punch him in the face already and pummel his face into one of the rocks he so favours whilst trying to choke him with your water.

[stagnantAntler]

send some water blasts towards him

then aim one of them directly towards his eyes we cant allow him to see anymore

This seems like a better idea to you, you send no less than 8 small water blasts in his direction and aim two of them for his face, this expends most of your water, but you draw out a good amount of water from the air around you that you use to create a shield against two new incoming rocks. Kelt is obviously surprised by your strategy and tries to dodge as many of the water blasts as possible, one of the blasts still gets to his eyes though and he closes his eyes too late.

The water stings his eyes forcing him to close them for a second. In turn you manage to only be scraped by one of the rocks. You use this oppurtinity to move forward, getting close enough to draw the water from Kelts soaked clothes. You wield the water straight into his nose and try to force it down his wind pipe. He quickly moves his hands up to his nose and mouth in order to shield it from the water.

>Just punch him in the face already and pummel his face into one of the rocks he so favours whilst trying to choke him with your water.

As he opens himself, you jump him, punching him in the face over and over, whenever he tries to move his hands to protect himself you force the water deeper down his throat. In the end all he can do is lie there being pummeled while gasping for air.

"Stop! that's enough!" the officer shouts. You feel the water being drawn out of Kelts mouth by one of the soldiers. You step away from Kelt, speechless, you were pretty close to killing him. You're shaken enough by this that you sit down. The seargant exclaims "don't feel bad, you did good boy. Darde was it?" you nod "I think you're just what we need in Northquarter."

"Now, how about the two others you promised me?" the seargant looks at the officer "oh, right." the officer replies "Iehna! Aldt! you're going with Darde to Northquarter"

You know the two. Iehna is a small girl, not much older than half your age and quite thin and meek, but she knows water wielding at least as well as you did at her age. Aldt surprisingly doesn't know any wielding at all, but he's a few years older than you and at least a head taller than you. He used to work at a smithy and it's shaped him to be very muscular.

The officer starts talking again "I think we'll be going now, I dont think my boys can wait to get back home to the barracks. May the godking strengthen your way" "and yours" the seargant replies.

You exchange a glance with your soldier friend and his expression changes to determination. "Commander!" he turns to the officer "yes private?" "I'd like to stay down here with the seargants battalion untill the end of their shift. I'll report to the barracks when I get back."

"I guess that'd be alright" the officer says. "Our trip is almost done anyhow. See you back at the barracks private" "Yes Sir!" the soldier (you just realised he never told you his name) exclaims.

The group starts moving and Kelt, still couging, casts you a mean look.

The seargant turns to you and your companions "I'm Seargant Calp by the way. I guess you're all tired from the trip, but would you like to sit and talk a little around the fire before you rest?"

[chimericWilder]

"I guess thatd be good."

[Jetroid]

>"I'm exhausted. And Thirsty. Manipulating water sure is dehydrating!"

[stagnantAntler]

"I guess thatd be good."

"Good!" Sergeant Calp bellows "Let's sit down and chat. I imagine you three have many questions, we don't share much of our operations with the villagers. But now that you're going to be a part of our force, you should know some things. Come sit around the fire with my boys, we've been on guard duty for quite a while now, so don't mind if they're a little grumpy."

You, the soldier and the two other kids follow Calp to the fire, where most of his unit is sitting. They look tired, but healthy. "So private, how come you chose to stay down here with us? I'd imagine you'd be anxious to get back home and have a drink after such a long trip. It's not exactly interesting sitting around here.

Your soldier friend hesitates, then explains "I'm looking out for the boy, I want to make sure he's well introduced into Northquarter acedemy."

"hm, oh well that reminds me." the sergeant turns to you and your two companions "Have you heard anything about our schooling system yet? I figure I might as well let you know what you're going to be facing for the next many years. We've all gone through it. Me, my men, private whatshisface here" "It's Herken sir" your soldier friend breaks in "Alright, Herken." Calp rolls his eyes

"As I was saying, rising to the rank of private in our society is actually a great honor and not all will get that far. For some it takes only a short time, others will have to struggle for years to earn the title. Once you're in the city, there's no way out as a novice, that's what we call those that haven't been given the rank of private yet, other than death or rejection. Rejection only occurs if it's considered that you'll never rise to become a private, or to take one of the jobs within the city."

Calp takes a sip of his waterskin and continues "Once you get accepted into the acedemy it's your own job to plan what you want to do with your potential. All will be required to take courses in history and the structure of Kit'Aegan society, so you'll get to know more later on. Other than that training falls into three categories: Strategy, armed combat and wielding. I don't suggest using too much time on strategy unless it becomes apparent you're a really skilled strategist, there are few positions available for officers. I myself have taken very few strategy courses I've only risen to the rank of sergeant because I'm a strong soldier. I could probably take five privates on at once if the situation called for it" Calp laughs

"As for armed combat, no matter how good a wielder you are, my advice is this: learn it! Although wielding is in very high esteem here, a man with a good sword arm is respected just as much. Unless you're attempting to become an officer you're going to have to be an extremely talented wielder to pass as a private. As for wielding, there are obviously different classes to take for each element, but the classes have different ranks as well. You might have heard me and the officer from Southquarter discussing "control levels" this is an estimate of how well you can control an element. Most come here with a control level of 1 or 2 and then we slowly develop that control as far as we can."

"To pass as a private you will have to have a control leve of at least fifteen, but not necessarily in one thing. And armed combat is rated the same way. So if you're estimated to be able to wield say fire at a control level of 10 and you have a skill level of 5 in armed combat you'll be able to pass. When you take the exam your psyche will also be measured however, if you're simply not fit for combat, you'll either fail the exam or get moved to one of our civilian jobs. Only wielders can achieve these and the jobs aren't as respected as those in the military, but it's a decent life."

One of Calps men laughs "Yeah right. I'd die if I couldn't go outside the capitol being cooped up in there is not a life for a man."

"Just get back to your game Entl, I'm trying to tell these kids something." Calp snarls "fine, it seems like a waste of time to me though, they're gonna find out soon enough" Entl exclaims and turns to grab a card from the pile on the ground "I pass," he says as the soldiers continue playing their game.

Calp continues "Hm, forgot where I was going with this. Oh well, like he said you'll find out soon enough. Feel free to ask anything you like."

[Jetroid]

>Can you teach us a few tricks now?

[stagnantAntler]

>Can you teach us a few tricks now?

"As far as I know two of you are water wielders and one is a non-wielder. I only know metal and earth wielding. I guess I could do some sword sparring with you or something, is that what you meant?" Calp asks.

"In my opinion you should probably rest up for now, it's not something you'll have the opportunity to do once you start your training."

Iehna yawns "I think I'd like to go to bed now Aldt" (Aldt kind of took Iehna under his wing on the way through Aegar, the fact that the officer of your group let the two stay together rather than splitting them up speaks of a kindness you hadn't realised he had). Aldt turns to Calp "Iehna and I are going to go rest now if that's okay with you." Calp nods and points them to a tent.

"So?" Calp turns to you again "would you like to spar or are you tired as well? I'd also be happy to ask any more questions you might have."

[Jetroid]

>Spar to try to wean yourself into the training routine a little easier.

[Askia]

> spar a bit

[chimericWilder]

You should probably get some rest - he implied you wont have too much of that once you get to the academy. Ask some general questions about the city instead, and also if you are even permitted outside the academy once your training starts.

[stagnantAntler]

> spar a bit
>Spar to try to wean yourself into the training routine a little easier.

You ponder for a momen "I'd like to spar with you if only for a bit, but I have few questions first."

Ask some general questions about the city instead, and also if you are even permitted outside the academy once your training starts.

"I'd like to know a few things about the city. What is northquarter like."
Calp starts talking and you try to listen as intentently as possible despite your fatigue

"You're probably going to figure this out when you get there anyhow, but I guess I can tell you something about it. Tearing Skies, is a large city, a VERY large city. In fact I don't think you'll get just HOW big it is before you actually see it. The city is contained within a huge outer wall that goes all around the city. Beyond the wall is the main city. The entrance will lead you in between North and West quarter. You'll be surprised at the sheer mass of buildings in there, most of them are soldiers quarters, but there are also smithies, carpenters etc. The city forms a relatively thin ring around the inner plains, with a wall seperating them. The inner plains mainly contains the large fields that feed the entire capitol as well as the farmers that work on them and the stables.

In the middle of the inner plains, is a third and final wall, and beyond that, the tower inhabited by Garn and his most trusted followers. About the acedemy, you are allowed to leave the premises, but you're highly encouraged not to do so very often. I remember going out into the city sometimes to get a fresh perspective, I even visited the plains a few times. It's pretty refreshing actually, nothing but fields as far as the eye can see. In many places the plants rize higher than two men my size. Did I mention that the fields are almost entirely run by wielders? They really know a thing or two about plants. In the end though, being a novice is not a nice life. Rations are limited and boring, you never get to leave the city and you're required to work hard every day for your training. Like I said, what you decide to do is up to yourself, but when you decide on a course you have to stick with it and the instructors have a tendency to be very strict with misfits."

"But enough about the city. You want to know what the training is going to be like? here!" Calp throws you a piece of wood from a pile of firewood and grabs one for himself. "Let's see how well you fight without your water. I'll let you strike first." Calp strikes a very casual pose as you grip the piece of wood with both hands. How do you proceed?

[chimericWilder]

Try to take him by surprise, perhaps by an angle he might not anticipate.

[stagnantAntler]

Try to take him by surprise, perhaps by an angle he might not anticipate.

Try as you might you simply can't imagine an angle that would take a seasoned veteran by surprise. Angles aren't something you can be impossibly creative with, there's only so many to choose from.

[Jetroid]

>Dart in one direction, but feint in the other, but actually go the direction you are feinting.
IE:
Pretend to jump left, then go to jump right but actually jump left.
>Then strike.

>As Calp gets his strikes on, simply do not react. Do not try and duck or dodge. This will confuse him, allowing you to get some strikes in.

[stagnantAntler]

>Dart in one direction, but feint in the other, but actually go the direction you are feinting.

You attempt this complicated feinting manouver, but realise too late that you don't know the first thing about feinting OR swordfighting. Calp strikes your shoulder hard, throwing you off balance, then puts his stick up against your throat. "Dead" he exclaims "Don't try any fance manouvers until you actually know what you're doing. Get up, we'll try this again."

[Jetroid]

>Use water based powers to make the ground beneath his feet really muddy, then run around him faster than his bogged-down feet can turn him, hitting him repeatedly.

[Askia]

no water powers he said...

just try to actually make a decent swing and keep up a defense