A level, a lair, and a name

A well-rested, grey-skinned goliath stretched as he awoke in the shallow cave he called home. He felt incredible, despite having fallen asleep on the stone floor and not on his bedding…

His bedding was gone. In fact, the whole cave was bare. I thought I had… wait. In a rush, the events of the previous day came crashing back to him. Winning a fight against two adventurers, making off with the loot, and making it home despite nearly encountering the Great Wyrm himself.

I’ve waited long enough, he thought excitedly. Let’s see what’s in those loot bags. He opened the smaller one first, pulling everything out and placing it on the floor in front of him. There was a book, a stack of 9 candles, another candle that came out of the sack still lit, of all things- He hurriedly put it back in the sack. Fire was precious. To be able to pull a flame out of nothing whenever he wanted - it would be just like having magic. Well, almost. A fire to warm his body and cook his food was a kind of magic all its own.

Back to the loot. A book, ten sheets of loose parchment, a pen, and- ah, the glass jar filled with liquid was actually ink. That elven mage must have been a scholar or something. None of that would be of any value to him, but maybe he could trade them for something.

The larger sack formerly owned by the swordsman had a torch - also lit, it went right back into the sack - the last two loaves of bread, some kind of dried meat, a red crystal, a long piece of rope, and - his eyes glowed - a hammer. A real, non-crude, metal tool. Calico be praised!

Steel hammer, tool. Common.

It was even made of steel, which would mean he could… Wait. He peered closer at the window that popped up when he picked up the hammer. Windows popped up all the time, they always had. But this one was different. This one wasn’t filled with incomprehensible nonsense symbols. No, this one… he could read. He looked at it for a long moment, then set the hammer down. The window disappeared. He picked the hammer up again, gently cradling the tool in his massive palm, and the window returned. He could still read it.

Steel hammer, tool. Common.

He put it down and picked up the rope.

Hempen rope, tool. Common.

He put the rope down and moved to touch the crystal-

Claimant crystal, artifact. Rare.
Use to claim land. Doing so will consume the crystal.

The goliath wasn’t sure what to think about that. Claim land? What, like a… like a boss monster? Like Calico the Demon Lord? Like Lyth, Keeper of the Final Throne? Like…

Like the Great Wrym of Imporne?

He brought the crystal up to his eye. It fit in the palm of his hand, was blood red, and the facets caught the morning light, causing the whole crystal to sparkle.

Would you like to claim this land and create a monster lair?

He had never wanted much in his life. Lives. Simply to be allowed to exist, maybe a few creature comforts that he was happy to work to create. But he’d never been allowed to- not for long. There was always a bloodthirsty adventurer or an aggressive monster tribe that destroyed all his hard work. Work in the form of levels as well as objects.

Creating a lair would come with work he never asked for. Fame he never wanted. Presumably it would come with minions, and he certainly never wanted other people to be responsible for. But if he claimed land, he could protect what was his and build things that couldn’t easily be stolen or destroyed. He would have the chance to grab some small amount of control over his life. And if that control could still be taken away, he would at least have a chance to fight for it. A better chance than he had now.

For that, he would do almost anything.

Claimant Crystal Used
Imporne_Goliath_Cave_71.0_Location_1
Claim land?

Yes, yes, yes!

Land Claimed By
Error: Unnamed_Creature
Process Paused

…What?

Please Name Character

The goliath was learning a lot about himself today. He’d never been able to read, and now he was realizing that he’d never had a name before either. Well… how did one pick a name?

Lyth and Calico were names. So was - what was that adventurer’s name yesterday - Hunter? No, that’s a profession. He must be remembering wrong. Hunter would be a silly name.

Lyth was a nice and simple name. He liked that. How about…

“Mal.” At once he felt the name echo, in a way that was beyond and below sound, sinking into the core of him. The window dissolved and was replaced by:

Land Claimed by Mal, Goliath Brute
Claim type:
Monster Lair
Natural Features Detected:
Water Spring
Resources detected:
15x rough stone
10x rough stone (inventory)
Add resources to stockpile?

What was this about him being a “brute?” That didn’t sound fair. He - Mal - considered himself a thoughtful sort, not a brutal one. Brutish?

Forcing himself back to the matter at hand, he approved the request. An assortment of loose stones in the cave disappeared. Checking his inventory, he saw that his rocks were gone from there as well. Hmm. Oh well, he could replace them easily enough. So… now what? How could he see his… “stockpile”?

As if in response to his thoughts - and really, perhaps it was - a new window appeared.

Mal’s Lair - Stockpile
25x rough stone

Simple enough. Above it, though, were a series of buttons. Buttons named things like “Character,” “Fame,” “Build,” and “Minions,” though the last was greyed out and the second and third each had a sparkly “New!” in the corner. They were all new to him, so he started with Character.

Mal’s eyes sparkled as he drank in the information. This chart… defined him. His abilities, his characteristics. He could learn so much from this. For example - some of his attributes and skills had gone up, and he had “free points” which he assumed meant he could add more. He hovered his finger over “Thrown Weapons” and a + and - symbol appeared on either side of his level “1.” He moved his finger away before he accidentally made a decision he couldn’t undo.

I must have leveled yesterday after the fight. I thought I heard the noise, but with everything going on… I’ve leveled up before. Plenty of times. I never once spent “free points” though. Did they get automatically assigned somehow, or did they just sit there useless because I didn’t know any better? How many times did I die when I might have lived if I’d known about this "Character" screen and been able to read it? He growled. Never again. Not if I can help it. I’m going to learn everything.

He systematically worked his way through his Character sheet, quickly discovering that he could focus on terms like “Strength” and “Hit Points” and receive a short description. When he requested more information on “Goliath Brute” he got:

Goliath. Race. A humanoid with giant ancestry. Strong and durable, goliaths are capable fighters but also surprisingly apt crafters, who substitute patience for manual dexterity to work their crafts. Level Up gains: 1 Str, 1 Con, 1 free attribute point. 1 Weapon, 1 free skill point.

Not bad. Mal had always been proud of his ancestry, and the bonuses from his race seemed worth his pride. His class, on the other hand…

Brute. Class. Some people don’t respect anything but strength. Brutes are those people. A simple class for a simple creature. Level Up gains: 2 Str. 1 Intimidation.

Yup. “Brute” was exactly as terrible and insulting as it sounded. Changing that class was high on his list of priorities - preferably before he gained another level. Every level he gained with this terrible class was a waste, even if it weren’t deeply offensive.

I should become a poet. That’ll show them. Whoever “they” are.

The six attributes more or less made sense, although there were a few surprises.

Strength: If you need to lift an object, carry a load, break down a door, or hurt someone with brute ****, you’re probably using Strength. Affects melee weapon and thrown weapon damage, lift and carry capacity, and sprinting speed, as well as some Craft skills.
Dexterity: Dexterity measures both bodily agility and hand-eye coordination. If you want to hit a target or thread a needle, you’re using Dexterity. Affects your chance to hit with weapons and the damage dealt by missile weapons. Also affects dodge chance, keeping your balance, Stealth, and most Craft skills.
Constitution: The fortitude of your body. Affects your HP and Stamina pools and their regeneration. Also affects your ability to hold your breath.
Intelligence: If you’re not too obtuse to deduce, you have Intelligence to thank. Affects your mana pool and regeneration. Also affects your chance to learn from skillbooks and spellbooks, most Knowledge skills, and your ability to see through illusions. 10 Intelligence is required for literacy.
Wisdom: Some call it insight, some call it spiritual connection, some call it common sense. Affects physical and magical perception, as well as mana regeneration. Also involved in resisting many mind-altering effects.
Charisma: Convince, dissuade, cajole, threaten, or seduce. If you’re trying to change someone else’s behavior with words, you’d better choose the right ones. However, having a high Charisma helps too. Affects spell power as well as the success of most Diplomacy skills.

At the bottom of the Character sheet was a button labeled “Features.” Upon pressing it:

Throw Anything - Racial feature (Giant). You can treat any object you can lift as a thrown weapon, and you use Strength for accuracy as well as damage.
Patient Worker - Racial feature (Goliath). Dexterity penalties are ignored when calculating crafting success. Dexterity effects are doubled when calculating craft speed.
Fast Learner - Racial feature (Human). You gain an additional 1 Skill Point per level.
Wisdom of the Ages (Special) – With age comes wisdom, and you are very old indeed. Gain a passive buff to your Intelligence based on the time since your last ****.

Mal considered his "features." Throw Anything wasn’t much of a surprise, though he hadn’t considered how strange it was that he could throw rocks at things and have it be an effective weapon.

Patient Worker certainly matched with the description of the Goliath race as well as Mal’s own experiences. His fingers were neither slender nor deft, and his Dexterity score was only a 9, which seemed, if anything, generous. But none of that stopped him from making tools, butchering his kills, and doing what he had to do. No matter how long it took.

Fast Learner explained why there he had two free skill points instead of just the one from being a Goliath. Wisdom of the Ages… that was strange. He was old, sure. At least, he’d lived (and died) long enough for a lot of it to blur together in his mind, so he couldn’t say with any certainty how old he actually was. But to be so old to get a “Special” Feature? However, for being special, it was certainly underwhelming. A single point - for now, sure - but who knew how high it would realistically grow until he inevitably died again and reset the timer. Also, it was a bonus to an attribute that was almost exclusively useful for mages, which he most certainly was not.

However, now that he had gleaned everything he could from his Character sheet, Mal had thoughts on what to do next. It was time - finally - to spend some points.