I had heard the story recounted so many times that I could play the scene in my mind as if I had been there.
Ord stood, shining blade held gripped in one hand, standing defiant before the black dragon, the Great Evil.
“This world is mine. It hath always been mine. Thou art a pawn in the scheme of lesser creatures. Thou art not whole. Thou art not of flesh. Lay down thy blade and submit!
Ord’s blade never wavered. His face never lost its expression of defiance. The power which had been growing within the Man finally revealed itself to the army behind him. Human, Elf and Dwarf. Kings, Princes and Mages all felt a wave of divine power pass through them, connect them and instill a sense of peace directly into their souls. The veil of fear the Great Evil had laid upon the battlefield was lifted.
“I pity you, creature. So much power. So much potential. What can ever be enough for one such as you? To smite thee, here and now, is to liberate untold generations to come. I now know why I am here. This flesh which binds me also holds a heart. It has taught me what it means to love, to regret and to dream. I sacrifice it all, here and now, to cast thee down!”
Enraged, the Great Evil lunged, managing to snap off one of Ord’s hands with its terrible jaws, but Ord’s blade found the creature’s heart even as his divine blood spilled upon the ground…
This is what is in written in the 6th Gospel of Ord. Did the events of that long ago day happen exactly as it says? Likely not. I couldn’t see a black dragon having a conversation as eloquent as described and it hadn’t just been the Dragon Ord had needed to contend with that day. Goblins, Orcs, Ogres, Drow and hosts of dark aligned creatures had gathered behind the Great Evil’s power. Did all of them take a break from the fighting to witness this confrontation? History is written by the victors, they say, but it is also written by lovers of drama, I believe.
I didn’t feel I was being overly dramatic in my reaction to discovering a relic so sacred to Ord’s Church that under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have been permitted to even look upon such a thing. Ord’s finger bone. It laid upon a red velvet pillow waiting to be picked up.
“I don’t understand. What is going on?” I whispered hoarsely. Could I…touch it? Would I instantly be struck dead for such an affront? My hand was already moving towards it.
No more hesitation…
I grasped the bone relic in my hand and a large soul window opened before me.
Ord has taken notice of you!
You have gained +100 Faction Ord!
Fifth Finger of Ord
Grade: S
Class: Ord Priesthood
Level Restriction: 10+
Slot: Neck
Quality: Legendary
Primaries: +25 Wisdom, +25 Strength
Secondaries: Ord’s Calling
Effect 1: Summon a companion from Ord’s Holy Choir
Effect 2: (Level Insufficient)
Effect 3: (Level Insufficient)
Ord’s Calling: Initiate the Target into Ord’s Priesthood. Grant them a Class from the following list:
Chanter
Halo Cleric
Friar
Sancrist
Illuminator
+Baneseeker
+Silverguard
+Bishop
+Amanuensis Summoner
++ Light Cardinal
++ Divine Pulsar
++ Tempest Chorister
+++ Halo Champion
+++ Hierophant (Unavailable. World Limit Reached)
My eyes stared at the window, drinking in the information about the power which I now held in my hand.
“Incredible…,” I breathed. “Stats aside, I can summon a companion? I can grant Classes!?”
It made no sense. The power to grant classes was the domain of the Gods. It was how I had been made a Prophet, after all. Yet, that power now resided in my own hand. I could make someone a Chanter or even a Bishop! Ord’s Mercy, I could make someone a Halo Champion! Whatever that was.
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“I really need to get this to Port Tyren. If I had known what this was, I may have tried swimming there! Well, perhaps not that, but I would have certainly been more proactive with my priorities.” I stood up, cradling the bone in my hands. It wasn’t fragile, but I wasn’t about to manhandle an 800 year old sacred relic either.
“Until I place this into the hands of Hierophant Johannas, Ord willing, I can make use of it. Surely this is what Sul intended?” By the description it was usable as a neck piece.Looking into the box, I noticed a bit of string beside the pillow that was just the right size to tie about the bone. I did so and slipped it over my neck.
A surge of energy infused my body. I felt rejuvenated and confident. Inspired and hopeful, I opened the Faction Web Terminal and saw that I now had access to Ord’s Tier I web…finally! Eagerly, I saw that Ord’s first three nodes were unlocked.
Minor Sanctified Ward
Cost: 1 Divine Active
Description: Ward a target that transfers 20% of the damage they take back to an enemy in the form of Holy damage.
Duration: 30 Minutes.
Cool down: 30 Minutes.
Hmm, this spell is somewhat similar to Wik’s Lesser Shadow Leech. I wonder if that is a coincidence? I wonder if one might find a synergy between the two? If I had had Minor Sanctified Ward to cast upon Amara, she would have automatically returned a portion of the damage she took. On top of that, the enemies would have taken damage from Lesser Shadow Leech, which would have done even more damage and restored her health! What a powerful combination that would be!
Eagerly, I paid the single Green node to unlock the spell then acquired the next two nodes as well to unlock the entire Tier. Seeing what Ord’s next two Tier I nodes offered was a surprise, but a welcome one.
Ord Node 2: STR +6, Ord Node 3: STR +6
With the acquisition of the relic and unlocking the nodes I had just seen my Strength attribute surge from a 15 to a 52! Just like that, my STR had become my current highest stat.
I wonder what Errol and Alaric’s Strength attributes are? Could I be stronger than the both of them now? Perhaps I’ll start swinging my staff instead of casting spells!
I felt a wave of homesickness pass through me and I said a prayer that I would see my family again soon. Ord was with me. All the Gods were with me. I could do this. There was more to unlock first. I had the option of unlocking Tier III spells in Sul’s tree alone. Using the Gold node within his web had cost me Faction with Wik and the entire Light Pantheon. So be it. With three dungeons to run, waiting for opportunities to regain the Faction points was a fool’s errand. I would act in the moment and enter the Green portal as prepared as I could be.
I had 15 Green Nodes, 3 Blue Nodes and 1 Red node to spend. I had already unlocked Fade, a Tier II spell in Sul’s web. I could now unlock a new spell in his Tier III. However, when I looked over Sul’s Tier III web I could feel my anxiety spike. Things were becoming expensive.
Sul Node 7: +10% Stealth, Sul Node 8: +10% Stealth Physical Damage, Sul Node 9: +10% Stealth Magical Damage.
Now instead of three Green Nodes to unlock each Green Node space as it had been in Tier II, the cost had ballooned to five for each Green space in Tier III. It would cost every Green node he had to unlock each necessary Sul Node to reach the Tier III spell. As he had made note of earlier, there were only two Tier III choices.
False Face
Cost: 3 Divine Active
Description: Temporarily remake your physical appearance completely, skin and bone. Not an illusion effect. May cause physical discomfort during the changing process.
Cool down: 24 hours
Vow of Contagion
Cost: 3 Divine Active
Description: Touch any Living target to infect them with a contagious disease. Results may vary from Rotting, Desiccation, Blindness or in rare cases Mana Core fallout. Lower chance of success against target’s greater than Level 35.
Cool down: 10 minutes
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but I certainly hadn’t been expecting spells like this! Well, False Face was perhaps a bit in line with something the God of Thieves would grant his Priests. Perhaps this was one of the reasons his Priests were so hard to find? They could adopt new identities! My mind raced with ideas over what I could do with such a spell, but I quickly dismissed them all. I had my eye upon Vow of Contagion.
By touching an enemy I could inflict a debilitating effect upon even a powerful enemy I might not otherwise have a chance against. This would be my equalizer in the Dungeons, I prayed. The increases to my Stealth, Physical Damage while in Stealth and inflicted Magical Damage while in Stealth would also come in handy, I prayed, despite the fact that I was not a sneaky individual. Yet, if I were to consider the possibilities they offered in conjunction with Fade…
Regardless, I couldn’t expand the Web any further without acquiring more Green nodes first. I felt I was close to leveling, but I wasn’t there yet. I would also have to reconfigure my Active Spell list once more. Vow of Contagion would require 3 slots to use and I was once again bumping up against the ceiling of what I could handle for Active slots. Shrugging, I paid the 15 Green and the single Red to Sul’s web to acquire what I needed. I watched all but my 3 remaining Blue nodes disappear and opened my Active spell list.
Active Spells Slots (19 of 21)
Minor Heal
Greater Heal (2)
Healing Spark (2)
Harvest Moon (2)
Innervation
Minor Cube of Confusion
Minor Mana Tap
Lesser Barrier of Light
Lesser Shadow Leech
Caretaker’s Guidance
Mantle of Intellect (2)
Fade (2)
Congruency Darts (2)
I was just one slot shy of having enough to add Vow of Contagion. I also wanted to add Minor Sanctified Ward, as I wanted to try the spell combination I had thought up. Would it therefore make the most sense to remove two of the single slot spells or one of my Tier II slotted spells? I was hesitant to remove Minor Heal. It had been my go-to heal since the beginning, but thanks to the synergy between Mantle of Intellect and Greater Heal along with Minor Mana Tap I felt confident about maintaining my Mana reserves. Also, Minor Cube of Confusion had already saved me too many times to let go of and Lesser Barrier of Light had also been a lifesaver. Caretaker’s Guidance was one of my only two current buffs and Innervation was a burst of energy when my Constitution was still lacking.
What do I not need right now and can I know for certain? I can’t and that’s the rub. I have a very diverse build and have to be prepared for anything.
I had not yet been given the opportunity to test Healing Spark or Harvest Moon. One was a healing/damage combination and the other was protection against Mental attacks. Both, I felt, were too valuable to remove from my list. Congruency Darts was my only ranged attack and had proven itself. With a sigh of resignation, I placed Minor Heal and Innervation into my Inactive list. It all came down to common sense. I had enough healing and the cool down on Innervation made it not as important as my instincts signaled Minor Sanctified Ward could be.
Active Spells Slots (21 of 21)
Minor Sanctified Ward
Greater Heal (2)
Healing Spark (2)
Harvest Moon (2)
Minor Cube of Confusion
Minor Mana Tap
Lesser Barrier of Light
Lesser Shadow Leech
Caretaker’s Guidance
Mantle of Intellect (2)
Fade (2)
Congruency Darts (2)
Vow of Contagion (3)
With my spell load out settled, there was one final task I could complete before entering the Green portal. My shaking hands betrayed my nervousness and despite standing in the middle of the Abbey graveyard next to a Red Portal, I felt a sense of peace settle over me as I gently clasped the finger-bone.
“Great Ord, let the gates of Heaven open and send forth one of your servants to aid me in my time of need.”
A pillar of light appeared between myself and the Red Portal connecting land and sky. My eyes widened as I saw an angelic figure appear within the pillar and slowly the form of a baby-faced Cherub solidified. The light faded and slowly the toga wearing Cherub opened his bright blue eyes and beheld me. The Cherub blinked and his face scrunched up in confusion.
“Who are you? You don’t look like a Hierophant to me? Where…” The Cherub, floating upon wings of gold, whirled around in a circle taking in the graveyard and the Red Portal and in a high, squeaky voice started to yell.
“Where by all the Heavenly Hosts am I, you bumbling mortal? Master, this is not what was discussed!”
