93 Chapter Ninety-Three – About Them Elves… (1/2)
”So, remember how we talked about Classes and Levels, and what you got from them?” Briggs asked Estemar casually.
The young Paladin nodded quickly. ”Of course. Optimizing your Class Levels is a powerful tool, and I've seen the results.” He held up his hands, and lightning crackled over his gauntlets.
”Right. Well, there's what's called Racial Levels, too. Racial Levels, in fact, dominate the world.”Estemar lifted an eyebrow. ”Yeah. You see, Class Levels are what humanoids have. They are basically an invention of mortals to deal with the insanely overpowered things that Nature gives birth to in a magical world.
”Think about it. Do you need to teach a tiger how to hunt? Deer to gather in herds? Birds to migrate? Bees to tend flowers?” Estemar pursed his lips. ”That's right, most creatures simply inherit what they know. In a magical world, they simply build on what they inherit, and make it greater. Like most Jotuns… they are remarkably good at what they do, even if they don't practice it, or learn it from anyone in particular. Dragons can get skilled at stuff simply by going to sleep for a couple centuries.”
Estemar blinked, and then nodded. ”What does that have to do with elves?” he wondered.
”Well, you probably know that elves are dangerous, right? They are all good with spells and blades and bows and whatnot, they live a long time so they can learn a lot of tricks… they are just extremely gifted in using magic, depending on their subrace,” Briggs went on.
”That is a racial trait, but not the same as a whole class-?” Estemar wondered aloud.
”Every single elf is a near-Warrior/stripped Caster at three-quarters advancement, with no cap on Racial Levels.”
Estemar blinked. ”That… sounds extremely powerful,” he admitted, taking a mental step back. ”Their entire race…?” he went on.
”Yeah. But you know how you get all those neat Paladin powers as you go up in Level, in addition to Casting? Laying on Hands, disease immunity, fear immunity, Sword Spirit, Summon Mount, Smiting? Elves don't get any of them. They get to fight like skilled fighters, cast like skilled Casters… but they don't get any of the tricks and benefits of Class Levels with them.”
Estemar furrowed his brow, thinking about that. ”So… an Elven Wizard is likely someone who has both Class Levels and Racial Levels, and they complement one another?”
”And he can fight like a proficient swordsman and shoot like a decent archer.” Briggs nodded at the army of elves moving out around them. ”So every single Elf here is a spellcaster to some degree or another. If they are Fours, then they are equivalent to a level Three Warrior and a Level Three Caster.
”I don't think I should need to tell you what having hundreds of spellcasters available can do for any people or nation, and why you shouldn't mess with them.”
Estemar took a deep breath. ”All of them are Casters… what an incredible source of strength!”
”And they naturally get stronger and more adept as they get older. Old Elves are powerful, even if they get somewhat frailer.” The silver was all melted now, and he engaged the force filter as he crouched down, directing the slender stream of molten metal onto the carved stone below. The Disk moved around effortlessly at his pressure, his ki giving him a level of control ordinary touch couldn't match.
”As I understand it, the gold elves tend to be neo-Wizards or neo-Clerics. The silver elves tend to be Sorcerers or Favored. The bronze elves tend to be Druidic Casters. Any of them can also be Bardic Casters, and usually end up taking that Class to build on the talent. Other Traditions are pretty rare, and since they don't dovetail with their natural Talents, rarely pursued.”
The silver was almost gone, filling up the carving. He passed his hand over it, his Vajra smoothing out imperfections, bonding the cooling metal to the stone as if polished for hours. He took out a waiting pitcher of cold Lightning Water and poured the sparkling liquid slowly and carefully over the stone, to accelerate the cooling process and making it ready for Investment.
”Here you go, Sparkie.” He hefted the new Trap in one hand, and set it off to the side, and then began to grab the smithing Tools as the Soul Familiar went to work maintaining the Investment. ”Now, consider that most of the elven are going to have access to healing magic, and tell me what the recovery capacity of your average elven force is.”
”Ah.” Estemar blinked. ”Considerable?”
”In their own way, yes. They tend not to have much Soak, and that means from fight to fight during a day, they have less staying power. But from one day to the next, it is generally not much of an issue. They get their spells back, and they have staying power again.” He grunted as he put the first couple ingots into the new flames of Forge, and then lifted the Anvil of Silent Thunder out of its Cabinet and put it on a level spot close by.
”They are a lot like the fey, in that as they grow their Racial Levels and Hit Dice, they magically reinforce their bodies to become tougher. If they earn the right to a Healing Reserve, they can be fixed up to nearly their best condition between fights.”
”I remember that as one of the key Feats you wanted me to learn?” Estemar asked.
”Yes. Basically, it is a source of unlimited Healing power to Health, limited only by time. You have to obtain the acknowledgement of Amana to use it, of course, and She is picky about who earns the right. Also, unless you are one of Her priestesses, you literally do have to earn the right. A Priest of other Good gods can waive the initial requirement, but has to pay it back to advance. A Paladin, Bard, or other type of Healer has to pay first, showing their dedication.”
”What is this price?” Estemar asked, intrigued.
”Five hundred Valences worth of Healing magic Cast on other people.” He glanced at Estemar, who looked a little startled. ”I think every two dice of your Laying on of Hands counts as one Valence. Other forms of healing, like Bardsong, Channeling Life Energy, pure arcane magic, or ki-based healing, don't qualify.
”That just gets you the very basic level. Keep a Valence One Healing spell active in your Matrix, and you can heal two points of Health damage every six seconds on someone, including yourself.”
”That… seems rather slow,” Estemar murmured, brow furrowing.