12 Chapter Twelve – Hell and Fire (1/2)

It took me a bunch of deaths to kill that dog. I think the Curse was very smug.

It was an Advanced Hell Hound, ten to twelve Hit Dice, a true monster of the breed, and it looked like a powderpuff poodle the size of a small elephant… and acted like a playful puppy.

I had no real combat Classes I could take until I completed my required series and looped back around. That meant no improvements in offensive or defensive ability to speak of, which basically meant the damn thing was going to kill me repeatedly.

Hiding up high didn't work. It was delighted to set the whole damn room on fire and char me dead with smoke and flames.

So, for five days I basically played a game of hide and seek with it, it chased me around, breathed hellfire on me, nipped at me happily, tossed me up and threw me around, and I could not possibly kill it fast enough to live.

I still tried. Fido didn't seem to mind, it was a big happy game, and I was the entertainment.

So, I died. But… I got to kill those constructs, spiders, and that damn cat over and over again. The Curse obviously was on auto-pilot, why mess up a good thing if it was so successful? If I could have set up the battlefield a bit better, maybe I could have eked out a lucky kill.

I couldn't, although I did last longer by using cover. Alas, it wasn't a video game, where the environment is somehow immune to fires that can melt metal and doesn't go up in smoke. The longer I fought, the more the place was buried in flames, and eventually the smoke would get me, or the floor and walls would be on fire, and I'd just cook, it would bound up and munch on me happily.

Damn dog.

So, on Day Four, I took my Vizard level.

Vizard was the non-magic wizard. It was similar to the Expert, but with a different focus. Where the Expert learned many skills and was probably awesome at one or two with Feats, the Vizard knew fewer skills, but was awesome at more of them.

Main difference, Experts had 8 skill points, Vizards had 4. Vizards got a Skill Feat every level, however. And as a Forsaken, I naturally got another one.

I chose my skill to be 'developing my Null', and picked Mage Slayer and Pierce Magical Concealment. I picked my advance to be Null Mastery/1, increasing my Null by 1. This brought it to 15, which meant the Hound only roasted me 90% of the time. I did manage to save one time out of every four, for all the good it did me…

Mage Slayer meant that a Caster of any kind using magic within reach of me couldn't cast defensively and ignore me. Being a Null extended that to any kind of magic… which included using a breath weapon, among other things. So, it meant I had another source of AoO's.

Pierce Magical Concealment normally required Blind Fighting, but I was a Null, so that was waived. It meant I was unaffected by magical effects that concealed enemies, notably invisibility, illusions, displacements, and spatial tricks, and by using a One Strike, I could actually dispel or eliminate such effects automatically.

Like on that damn cat.

My four skill points went to Spellcraft (3) and Knowledge/Arcane (1). Know thy enemy, and all that.

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I ran the circuit. Being able to clearly sense the Hellcat meant I was more confident in fighting it anywhere, but clearly being able to ambush it and shred it with a sneak attack was far more effective.

This was the time the dog set the whole room on fire to bring me back down. I think the fall killed me before I roasted to death, actually, although it was probably close.

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Day Five. Today I clicked over Minstrel.

Minstrels were different from Bards, as they didn't have the Heartsong, and couldn't wield magic. To affect morale and the like, Minstrels had to be using magical instruments, and could only do so a number of times per day based on their Ranks in those instruments.

It also meant that just singing didn't help out anyone else, since there was no magic to carry the effects to others.

For yourself, however, it worked just fine. You just had to have Song and Dance, and, well, be a Warsinger variant. Guess what my first bonus Feat was? Minstrels got Feats in lieu of Bardic Spellcasting… and naturally I got an extra one.

I could only do a true Wardance once a day with max 3 Ranks, but the +2 Morale bonus Th/Dmg was perfectly useful against Slinky the Hellcat. Foe Hunter or Favored Enemy might overshadow it someday.

Countersong against sonic/musical effects, probably not going to be too useful. +half Minstrel level to Knowledge Checks was fine, I didn't mind being informed, my brain was already full of plenty of information that was currently useless in a pure combat environment.

Spell Feat: Wardancer, doubles bardic music combat effects on self only, based on Song and Dance Ranks.

Bonus Feat: Lingering Music, effects last for one minute after I stop Singing to myself, only have to Dance on the initial round if I cared to.

Skill Points 6, Basically Perform Skills. 3 each to Song and Dance, nimble and now I had my ballet toes, and suddenly I knew a lot of music in my head, from lullabies to epics… and could actually recall a huge chunk of the music I'd heard in my old life, and recreate it.

Mastery, Song Mastery/1.

So, not a total waste.

I still died playing tag with Fido, but I was in much better shape by the time I got to him. This was mainly because I battle-danced my way through a whole lot of spiders with greater speed and killing power. Fatigue actually accrued much slower during the dance, as I was moving more on ki then on pure muscle power.

As for my song? I had my own theme music from the game, and I brought it back with a vengeance.

Tremble, She Comes!

There were stanzas in every language I knew, and multiples in a few of them. I Sang them as part of Intimidation checks against enemies in their own languages, so the song would proliferate and infiltrate their own Akashas to greater effect. I wanted my enemies singing it around their own campfires, knowing that to face me in a fight was to be ready to die!

Tremble, She Comes!

Dual duty, because the Name of my Sword was Tremble. I was only lacking it for now, but I would have my Sword, and they would know to fear when I came!

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Day Six came, and I took my Alchemist level.