《The Traveler's Adventures》


 Travelers Notes: The Dwarves of the Drakuth Mountains 1

    Underneath the great Drakuth Mountains, lies the largest dwarven settlements in the world, with cities taking up entire mountains. Countless dwarves live in these cities and settlements underneath the ground, away from the fierce predators that inhabit the mountain ranges above. Using the plethora of materials and monster parts that they find, the dwarves have become master craftsmen, as well as masons and enchanters. Their longer lives and fierce loyalty brings about mighty clans that rule over the cities and protect the people from the monsters that inhabit the mountain with them.


    The dwarves share the endless space in the mountains with a plethora of monsters that they have fought for millennia and have grown deep grudges for. Goblins, orcs, druegar, dark elves, and many other cave dwellers inhabit the unexplored caves or lost settlements. The dwarves, to combat these monsters and dangers to their kind, have great smithies dedicated to the creation of as many weapons as possible, to fight these beasts.


    These lost caverns and settlements are due to the dwarves losing many wars underneath and being brought to the edge of extinction from the mountain, due to a plethora of reasons including monsters from the Crag, dwarven civil wars, magical plagues and outside interference.


    Many libraries were also lost, and with the dwarves being solitary within their mountains and not letting barely anyone in, have led to their civilizations having to relearn everything when their cities fall and they have to restart their conquest of the mountain range all over again. Some of the times the dwarves have lost are not nearly as bad as others, and most are tales of a settlement or mining expedition being lost to a strong monster, but other tales show of times where huge wars were fought, both against monsters and themselves, and have led to scars in the mountain and dwarven society that last to this day.


    One of the largest scars upon dwarven society in Drakuth, and most dwarven settlements in general, are goblin wars. Goblin wars, or more commonly known as Greenskin tides, are when huge groups of goblins, orcs, and other tribal monsters come together and invade the dwarven tunnels, killing and pillaging everything on their path. One particular time in Drakuth history, the dwarves were led to almost extinction as the Greekskins pushed them back away from both their capital and CragHoldt, and cornered them in a quarter of their old territory. After a great war where hero¡¯s stepped into the spotlight, they pushed the Greenskins out of their capital and retook their lost territory.


    Nowadays, the tunnels have been rather calm and while goblin tribes are found whenever mining expeditions are sent out, they are seen as pests instead of a great threat against the clans. Dwarven smiths now can produce what they want to sell, and wizards tend to become more enchanters and craftsmen instead of the warmages of old. Other dwarves have also become traders with the outside, and many new inventions have been discovered and old tunnels unearthed and explored.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Explorations and mining expeditions are one of the few things that never stop in the larger dwarven mountain ranges. New mineral veins to uncover and old settlements filled with gold and treasure to be found fill the dwarves'' minds, as well as tough monsters to fight for the warriors and combat mages.


    Some of the most notable finds in recent history was one of the old enchanter colleges that was felled during the Green tide, and while most of the buildings were destroyed in the fighting, some of the major buildings helped with the restoration of magical research as they had a plethora of information in secret, magically protected safes. Another place was the Garden of Stone, which was one of the most esoteric places in the mountain range. Filled with many different types of stone, was home to one of the largest mining clans of the past, one which specialized in masonry and while it didn¡¯t have much magical tomes as the college, it helped give knowledge about masonry techniques to the current masons, which was implemented in some of the newer settlements after it¡¯s unearthing.


    As mining expeditions continue to explore the mountain range, they uncover cave systems that can be filled with riches, monsters, or usually both. To be able to safely mine in these areas, dwarves usually send in fighters to clear out these monsters while masons build temporary camps, called mining towns, to be able to properly defend against larger hordes as well as to sleep and to organize the mining and hunter teams. Some mining expeditions are directly ran by the government, which sends out warriors to train against real monsters and to be able to call upon strong enough warriors in the case of emergencies. Other, and truthfully most mining expeditions, are private ventures by the various clans to gain fortune and glory, and while maps of these cave systems are demanded by the various governments that run the dwarves at the time, most of the treasures belong to the dwarves that unearth them.


    Dwarves can be prideful in most cases, and the same is true with the dwarves of Drakuth. The clans and governments that inhabit the cities can be stubborn at times, but the clans, and sometimes cities, have specializations that they focus on, such as mining, masonry, fighting, smithing, etc. It is in these ideas that they are very prideful in, and many times they were true to their word, as their focus can bring many dwarves to strive at their craft for decades until they become masters and beyond.


    One of the largest and oldest clans that have survived the many falls of dwarven civilization is the Broadstone clan. The Broadstone clan is a warrior¡¯s clan that constantly pushes their warriors to the edge, and they don¡¯t officially graduate their warriors until they have 5 decades of training, a staggering amount of time for humans, and twice as long as other warrior clans. Their dedication to their craft has allowed them to be steadfast when the worst of times come upon them.

 Notes: Elven Greatwood

    Contrasting to the great hold of Cragholdt of the dwarves, the elves have several great communities that inhabit grand forests, Each of the main forests contain a main type of tree that naturally grow faster and stronger in the area the forest inhabits, and in each forest¡¯s heart lies a Mother tree. A Mother tree is a huge specimen of the trees that live in the forest, and is known to be why these forests tend to have a uniform tree species, or in special cases several specieses. The reason and ability of these Mother Trees being able to control and create these forests have not been able to be discerned by those not of the elven high councils, the closest confidants of the Mother Trees.


    Each Greatwood, the official term of a forest that sprouted due to a Mother Tree, are inhabited by many magical beasts that seem to evolve into the new environment rapidly, seemingly helped along by the forest¡¯s magic. While a great place to gather and hunt for higher tier resources, the elves that inhabit these areas are fiercely territorial, and only allow nature-attuned or forest folk (although other elves that originate from the Greatwood are free to travel it¡¯s paths) to gather, and have been known to even kill people who don¡¯t follow this universal rule of the Greatwood.


    One of the most known myths, especially on the southern part of the continent, is about the dark elves, or Daeben, that inhabit the barren wasteland south of the Dragon Nest mountains. It was written that before there was a wasteland, a vaste Greatwood of some of the largest trees in the world, in which some of the normal trees can reach heights of up to several hundred feet. The elves that lived there were rather friendly, and had good relations with the dwarves to their north, which every now and then they would send trading caravans to sell off stuff during times of peace. This Greatwood though, attracted the attention of one of the greatest dragons that lived up in the mountains, and with age starting to get to them, he wanted to gain the power of the Greatwood for himself, and went down and with his horde of dragons burnt down the entire Greatwood to ash, and took the power of the Mother Tree for himself. Ever since the Greatwood was burnt down, the elves that used to live their turned twisted, as the only survivors were those who were able to flee to the underground passages. Living underground, away from their Greatwood and living in the dark, turned these upstanding elves into blood thirsty killers that have become casters of dark arts and are willing to use any means. Soon, these Daeben started attacking the dwarves through the deep tunnels, and eventually became a sworn enemy of dwarves. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Anyways, for the most part, Elven Greatwoods are, like the dwarven settlements, closed off from most non-elves except for those who are like them, attuned to nature and the ways of the forest. Each Greatwood is controlled by a Mother Tree that has power of the forest, and grows as the forest expands. The animals that live in the forest are usually magical, as are the plants and sometimes people as well. Each Greatwood are for the most part, different from each other but there are several times where Greatwoods have chosen the same tree species.

 Short Reference: The Triton Kingdoms

    (This will be a rather short passage)


    The Triton Kingdoms, whenever referenced, are usually referring to the three large seas that are contained near the center of the continent. Three long, yet narrow seas are connected to each other and the ocean through countless deep rivers that have been excavated to house buildings, as well as be able to allow passage of larger trading vessels and pack animals to the kingdoms.


    The kingdoms are ruled and populated by Triton, a form of merfolk that have extensive trade networks and rule the inner seas. Having their own unique problems for being a water-based society, they have a complex culture different from land-folk but have been famously known to be excellent traders and have many rules of hospitality for traders as, even during war, traders won¡¯t be attacked. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    The three seas that the Triton inhabit are split between two kingdoms, and a third sea between the two kingdoms contains several small city-states and trading cities. The two kingdoms, Selebrom and Kir, have a rather on and off relationship, being both trading partners and also enemies at war. Although they fight wars with each other, most fights end up being skirmishes as the real fighting are between the trade each kingdom can get, and Triton are fierce merchants and traders.


    While farther away from the seas the less likely it is to meet a Triton trader, the rivers directly connected are almost entirely controlled by Triton, and huge trading ships and pack animals like manatees can be seen moving all the time, sending cargo around as fast as possible. These rivers are also extremely safe, as bandits that try to attack find themselves more so than not obliterated before being able to deal any damage.

 Dwarven History: The Apocalypse of Goblins 1

    This short passage will talk about one of what the Drakuth Dwarves name as the Apocalypses, specifically the Apocalypse of Goblins.


    Long ago, during one of the golden ages of the Drakuth dwarves, they were able to expand through most of the entirety of the mountain range, as well as being able to delve deep into the Crag, a deep endless chasm that spits out both treasures and monsters of legend.


    The first signs of the goblins came from the repeated failures and disappearances of the Crag delves, which were famous for being some of the best adventurers and warriors in the mountain range. While it was distressing, it wasn¡¯t rare for entire delves to go missing in a blink of an eye due to some of the insanely strong monsters that can come out of the depths. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    The second sign was that the normal goblin camps and tribes that inhabit the edges of the dwarven territory were starting to get both stronger, as well as pop up more and more. The dwarves at the time believed it to be because they were starting to get into the larger, left alone tribes that haven¡¯t been attacked in a while, but that was of course incorrect. While some dwarves were able to start seeing the pattern, it was too late when they finally pieced it together.


    The third and final sign before the Apocalypse truly began was that only a week before the Apocalypse began, almost no monsters except goblins were found by adventurers and explorers. That being the most severe sign, many dwarves started to panic and while many people and leaders were preparing for something, both the scale and severity was unlike anything they¡¯ve ever seen before.

 Beast-kin: Overview

    The Beast-kin are a peoples of human stature with some sort of beastial changes, which can vary from minor to drastic in some cases. Many different types of beast folk can live together in groups, tending to conform to their race¡¯s special attributes, where Bugbears tend to be warrior/barbarians, while Tabaxis go more rogue archetypes.


    While they have many different races that live together, they mostly live in harmony by supporting each other with their unique characteristics, with the more long living races ending up being elders and chiefs.


    Beast-kin usually live in tribes that can vary in size and racial differences, from being a large group of many different races to small groups of a single race. These tribes are usually peaceful with each other, and for the times where problems escalate, they end up with tribal duels where the strongest of the tribes will duel, instead of a total bloodshed.


    Most tribes have a diverse population, and for minor exceptions where a single species completely inhabits the tribe, there are castes in how the races interact with each other. The chiefs and elders are made up of the longest living of the beast-kin, which usually end up being Tortles, but sometimes the rare Loxodon or even Owlins can be tribal leaders, as they end up being the most learned and knowledgeable. Below the chiefs and elders tend to be the warrior races; Leonids, Bugbears, and the occasional Orc that ends up in the tribe. The rest of the races tend to be equal in standing, but specific races might be slightly above or below according to their usefulness to the tribe in combat, hunting ability, or other unique specialties. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    An important note to specify is that while there are other races that might be of beastial-stature, some tend to have more species centered living, like the Minotaur Kingdom or the Centaur tribes.


    Beast-kin tribes usually inhabit medium to larger forests, where their beastial sides have an advantage over other races. While they can still trade and interact with people outside of their normal area of living, beast-kin tribes usually don¡¯t expand outside of the forests unless of exceptional circumstances.

 The Adventuring Continent: The Land of Treasure and Death

    The Adventuring Guild is a large, global organization of monster hunters, traders, merchants, craftsmen, and many different people that come together to achieve one goal, to explore and adventure.


    To achieve this goal, the guild started as a small group of explorers and monster hunters, with a simple base of operations and a few small groups that helped each other out. Eventually, this group of people grew as more people decided to join, and as more money was pooled to help the newer hunters get trained and fitted with weapons, more people were able to contribute and as they grew, they expanded their organization to include craftsmen, merchants, and many other people with the goal and allowing people who want to explore the world and have an adventure to be able to.


    Nowadays, Adventurer Guilds can be seen on almost every continent, although the amount and their size is affected by the local attitude towards adventurers and their need. On some continents, there are areas that are heavily infested with monsters and adventurers can find ample work, and they are usually more accepted there than other places. On calmer continents, where the majority of the land is colonized and calm, they tend to be looked down upon as mercenaries and usually take the name of monster hunter, which is accepted with open arms by most people.


    The Adventuring Continent is a nickname for a magical continent that is chock full of magical phenomena and beasts, and is most puzzling to many beings in the world as to how it came to be. Anything from freezing deserts to mountain high forests inhabit this warped continent, and the dangers that it contains can outnumber any other continent.


    The only ¡°habitable¡± part of the continent is actually a built-island that the Adventurer¡¯s Guild invested in, several in fact, that allow them to send expeditions into the island to extract rare minerals, monster parts, and herbs. Not all expeditions come back, and even the strongest of the guild don¡¯t dare to try this continent without a heavy set of backup plans and the ability to teleport out of harm''s way, which sometimes isn¡¯t even enough. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    While this continent has been the death of countless souls, the riches that it brings can outnumber any but the rarest of treasures in the world. Herbs that make a potion of revival, metal and can double the effect of any spell or be completely resistant to magic, and claws that can cut through stone with a single swipe. The magical aspect of the continent is a blessing and a curse, and this is what drives the Adventurer¡¯s Guild to keep exploring even with the lethality of it.


    The only people that tread the Guild Islands are those who are born there, and adventurers of level 10 and above. To enter an expedition, they usually have to be on average level 13 to even survive the many ways the continent can kill them. The rare occasions where an adventurer has a certain skill set that allows them to be of use is what brings the weaker ones into the fray, which can grant them the ability to grow fast, if they survive that is.


    The common biomes that expeditions tend to travel to are generally nature magic aligned, where instead of being a deadly tundra or scorching desert, it usually is just an upscaled forest that can house many a creature. The unique matter of this continent is the magic, which allows it to house creatures from anywhere in the world, from the rarest to even common goblins, any monster can be found in the depths of any part of the continent.


    There can be several different types of expeditions, the most common run is a gathering expedition. This expedition type is a simple hunt on a known trail, where a group of adventurers follow an established route and hunt for anything valuable, both monster, herb, or exposed mineral. This is common because of the nature of the continent and its likeness to a dungeon. Whenever an area has a lower amount of mana than a certain amount, which has been theorized but doesn¡¯t have enough information on, the mana gathers in such forcefulness that monsters and other magical items spawn from the magical phenomena. The things that spawn from this phenomena can be anything, from simple goblins to even highly evolved draconic monsters.


    To be continued.

 The Seven Ships of the Adventuring Continent

    The Adventurer¡¯s Continent is one of the most dangerous places in the world, but it¡¯s danger has brought many treasure seekers and adventurers, looking for a big score to make it rich. The Adventurer¡¯s Guild, whose goal is to explore the world, made it a goal to make it deep into the continent, and explore its secrets. To accomplish this goal, they must first have a base of operations.


    The very first explorations were very quickly wiped out, or made to retreat back to their ships, because they found even the beaches to be warped by the continent¡¯s unique and dangerous magic. To combat this, they would use ships as their main base, sending ships of adventurers to explore the coastline. As the danger of the continent began to set in, as some of the strongest monsters that have been seen in the world were spotted, the adventurer¡¯s guild doubled down and started to create a true base. If they couldn¡¯t build it on the continent, why not build it just off?


    Thus started the creation of the first continent ship, which in reality was a huge platform ship enhanced by magic and anti-monster fields to keep it safe from any large sea monster. It took a huge amount of resources from the guild, and the magic it needed took a toll on many mages. But with an official base of operations, The guild really started to get expeditions rolling, and coordinated many adventurers to explore.


    The second ship was much like the first, very costly and simple in shape, but it being on the other side of the continent made global help in exploration much more efficient, allowing guilds from all the continents to send resources in this great goal they made for themselves. But not only adventurers started to come, but researchers, craftsmen, and artisans started to come, to look more into this new and dangerous continent.


    The third and fourth ships were different from the first two, as instead of being placed on opposite sides of the continent, they were placed both outside of nature magic ¡°regions¡± as researchers have started to call them. While the first two were placed based off of location, these newer ships were placed to allow expeditions to have an easier time getting deeper, as they¡¯ve found nature magic regions to be easier to traverse than other types, except for elemental races or magically immune races.


    As more expeditions started to get deeper and deeper, the rules and laws of the continent becoming clearer and maps sketched out, routes were getting plotted and the adventurer¡¯s guild were both trying to make sure people don¡¯t die, but also bring in more people, as only the most adventurous lot have taken the delve into this new continent. Researchers have measured the overall level of monsters encountered, divided them into magic regions, and ended up that those at level ten and above would be a viable fighter on the continent, if they were guided and helped by many higher leveled adventurer¡¯s, so level 13-15 would be the advisable level, to make sure they can survive the ambushes and higher level monsters that can spawn. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    At the advice of the guild¡¯s researchers, more ships began to be built to help the coming influx of adventurers, built similarly to the first two to help efficiency and moving supplies and manpower to other ships. Thus the final two of the Cardinal ships were made, and while these ships aren¡¯t in the best position to send expeditions into the easy regions, they are able to help resources and manpower move to the two ¡°Nature¡± ships, as they¡¯ve been called due to their proximity to nature magic reginos.


    The final ship wouldn¡¯t have been made until much later into the guild¡¯s time on the continent. This final ship¡¯s only purpose is to be a base of operations during a special phenomena called the ¡°Magical Flooding¡± by researchers. This magical phenomena was found by researchers who were looking into losses of ships in a certain area, and after many years of research, they were able to observe the magic flooding out of the continent.


    The first, major thing of note about magical flooding is that the magical regions that are in the way of the flood start to mix, as monsters start to spawn in locations never seen before, like magma monsters in nature regions, and storm monsters in icy regions. Some of the worst mixes are when monster¡¯s start to get dual magical natures, which have been called Amalgamations, are hideous monsters that look like Chimeras but more magically aligned.


    While this phenomena would make the area several times more dangerous than other regions, the sole important note is that monsters begin to fight each other en masse, with huge monster battles happening during the floods as magical natures clash. This has led some of the more roguish and scout expeditions to start sending groups of people through the flooding, to see how deep they can go, and surprisingly the people who came back stated they went twice as far deep as normal deep expeditions go.


    While magical flooding is rare, and happens with varying degrees of severity, the last ship, the Ship of Floods, is a base for the most adventurous and explorative lot of adventurers, a haven for those original explorers of the continent that still live, and a challenge to many strong adventurers.


    Thus the Seven Ships of the Adventurer Continent still continue to send out expeditions to the continent, gathering resources rare and mundane, to be sold or used by the guild as they continue to send expeditions ever deeper.

 Personal Entry: College

    Why do we have to take etiquette classes? It¡¯s not even magic, it¡¯s just knowing what to say to certain people and for the most part I will never see those people, but for some reason it¡¯s part of the required courses. I would¡¯ve spent the extra time studying but no, I have to sit in class and listen as some non-magical spellcaster goes and pander off about how we should always be polite to others above our ¡°standard¡± and to grovel like dogs.


    It¡¯s just a simple waste of time. I understand that to keep my scholarship that I have to pass all my classes, but it¡¯s just a hassle. Master Magnolia never mentioned how much of a pain in the ass this would be. Although I do remember now that he mentioned etiquette classes but only in passing, when we were going over classes I¡¯ll end up taking a while ago.


    It¡¯s been a while since I last saw Master Magnolia but I¡¯m sure he¡¯s exploring, looking for new magic for the college. Since it¡¯s his job, it¡¯s not unreasonable but sadly we never really speak to each other now, since he¡¯s off wandering. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    At the very least I¡¯ve found a new friend. His name is not in Common though, but through one of my newer spells, Comprehend Languages, I¡¯ve been able to get a sense of what his name is. Although I find his nickname, Scribbles, funnier so I use that more often. He¡¯s rather unique, a Warlock instead of a normal wizard, so his spells are often limited yet powerful.


    He¡¯s also not human, nor one of the usual races that inhabit the college. He¡¯s what is called a Teifling, which in broad terms is a human with devil characteristics. He hides everything under a lot of baggy clothes, but after hanging out with him long enough I was able to learn Abyssal, with the help of Comprehend Languages, and grew closer to him, enough for him to show me that he is a tiefling. I heard stories about tieflings but Scribbles didn¡¯t really feel like anything bad, just some kid like myself getting through college.

 The Elven Rangers: Greatwoods Greatest Defenders

    Great Woods have been famous for having some of the strongest rangers in the world, with the elven defenders having both the blessing of the forest, centuries to train, and abilities to find and move through the forest that no one could match. While each Greatwood is different, almost all have some sort of ranger class of defenders that harass any invading party into pincushions.


    Some of the more famous ones are the Great Swamp Rangers and the old Redwood Rangers. The swamp rangers have some of the greatest abilities to maneuver, being able to go through water insanely fast, as well as perfectly quiet, and being able to use both water magic and being able to hit and run, rangers from the Great Swamp have never been pushed back by any invader. Although nothing insanely strong has wanted the swamp forest before, even if it is a Greatwood.


    The Redwood Rangers, like all of the Redwood elves, were giants compared to other elves, towering above most races. With their strong bodies, these rangers were able to use greatbows to great effect, being able to quickly engage even heavily armored targets and take them out, and then be able to retreat back into the huge trees of their home. Sadly, while the rangers were able to take out many dragons during their fall, they were overwhelmed and their stories became myth and legend. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    The ranger class have been researched and taught throughout the world, being one of the greatest hunters, being at home in the wilderness as much as any druid, although to a different extent. Unlike druids who are connected to the forest, rangers are simply another predator, one that knows the ins and outs of the hunt and are able to track down and kill any prey.


    For Elves, rangers have always been one of the most popular classes in the Great Woods, just below druids and classical mage builds. Being a part of their home forest and training their skill in the bow is something elves excel at, especially with their longer lifespans where they can learn every nook and cranny of their home.

 The Arena of Khag Turm

    In the dwarven mountain range east of famous Drakuth, lies one of the largest Arena¡¯s on the continent, the Arena of Khag Turm. Held in the dwarven city of  , it lies in one of the lower mountains to allow fighters from both the plains to the south, and the human war-filled lands to the north. In one of the best locations for fighters to come together and try their might.


    The Arena is run by the Turm clan, one of the most ferocious fighting clans in their mountain range as well as being great trainers and fighting coaches. They watch fighting styles from the Centaur charges to human shield walls, and every combat type in between. Even Minotaurs come to test their might, wielding huge weapons capable of rending steel apart with a simple swing.


    The City of Khag Turm has several pathways leading to valleys, connecting the north and south, allowing combatants as well as traders to come. With many fighters, inns and taverns have grown to staggering amounts, and the amount of food, weapons, as well as healing supplies are staggering, which has led to huge amounts of trading caravans going through to sell their wares as well as transport for warriors.


    The Arena is split up into many smaller rings, to allow many fights to happen at all times. Warriors of all calibers, from level 5 and above can be found testing their might against both sentient and monster alike. The fights are split up again into free fights and tournament fights, which both happen all the time. Free fights can range from simple duels and training fights, to duels to the death, challenging tough monsters, or even a prisoner attempting to lessen his sentence by fighting tough opponents. Free fights are free because they don¡¯t have the constraints Tournament fights do. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Tournament fights are set up well ahead of time, and ordered into brackets to see who can win. There are several different tournament types, from simple duels, monster fights, to large scale battles. Rules and level constraints are used to make sure a level 15 doesn¡¯t kill a level 5 for nothing but to go ahead of the tournament. Monster fights are rarer though, because the ability to capture and bring all these monsters to the arena is much harder than other fighters.


    While the Arena costs insane amounts of money to keep operating, bets are one of the greatest money makers, as well as prisoner fights and the trade having a hugely populated city brings. Bets are a normal thing in fights, and arenas around the world use it to sustain themselves. Prisoner fights are a specific form of normal bets, where people who break the law can set themselves against a great enemy to fight to the death, usually monsters but other prisoners have been used in the past.


    One of the last but still hefty money makers are the trainers and coaches that live in Khag Turm, as they train many fighters and both get paid by their trainee and get a small portion of their winnings. The Turm Clan keeps tight reins on the trainers, making sure nothing short of full commitment is put forth. Some of even the Turm clan also trains fighters, usually those above level 10 but they have absurd amounts of funds to get.

 On the Road with Professor Micheal

    While heading towards a village named Erdcreek, I was busy reading on basic spell semantics for elemental type magics. Compared to the basic myth and folk tales that I had at the village with Mom and Dad, this was about true magic, and was written to help people like me learn, which I have my professor to learn.


    Professor Michael is my magical teacher, which he accepted after I showed him my commitment to magic back at my village that he was passing through, (and convinced my parents to go with him). He agreed to teach me the basics of magic and then take me to his magic college, to learn to be a proper wizard. While he told me that not everyone was cut out to be a wizard, and that it takes an endless amount of studying and practice to gain even the simplest of tier 1 spells, I was willing to give it my all.


    Now after many stops at different places to look at both small and large magical phenomena, we were currently heading towards a small village that had some sort of storm magic that affected their well during a particularly bad tempest. I didn¡¯t think much of the places we went to, since I was busy reading and practicing my new magic (and practicing magic was soooooo much better than looking at it). My first spell I was able to learn, with the help of Professor Micheal, was the Message cantrip. While it¡¯s not anything fancy, it was still amazing to learn how to, and it seems to be a common spell to teach since being able to be on the receiving end helps novices find how to form it.


    Currently my spell list is only message, my next spell to learn was mage hand, a favorite cantrip of Professor Michael. After learning Message though, Micheal made me focus on learning basic magical theory while learning basic math, history, literature, and many other things. I guess that while he is a mage, Professor Micheal is still a teacher after all, so I ended up learning lots of different material, and also about his previous adventures in his path to find new magical phenomena.


    Whenever we would end up talking together on certain topics, I would find a way to ask about his previous travels, and he would tell me amazing stories. Magical caves filled with mana crystals, infected plants that were cursed with blood magic, turning them carnivorous, and many other stories. My favorite one that he has told me was of the time he attempted to get into a Greatwood not far from here, which was called XXXXX.


    He started the story off by stating that Great Woods were inherently magical, due to the nature of how they grew, and how each Greatwood had a Mother Tree that helped the forest grow. Wanting to look at the unique magical creatures and plants, he attempted to gain access to the forest but was rebuffed by the elves that guard it several times, even getting shot at once after attempting to sneak in. I laughed at that, having read that elven rangers are some of the best in the world, especially in the Great Woods and imagining my Professor trying to sneak by them makes me smirk anytime I remember that story.


    Our current destination should be much safer than trying to get into a Great Wood, as it was inside a village. Although safer, Professor Micheal always stressed that anything magical can always backfire or overload, making even some of the simplest tools dangerous if used improperly. I have only been able to use the simplest of magical devices, such as mage lights and a mage hand substitute, which has been my way of learning how to create a mage hand.


    ___________________________


    After traveling for several more days, which included mostly reading interspersed with spontaneous lectures and magical training, We finally reached the village of Erdcreek. Although just arriving, from several hours away we were able to see a rather intense storm that doesn¡¯t rain? That was confusing but the Professor said that some types of magically induced storms don¡¯t produce much rain, and are mainly just a tempest that rolls around through the air.


    Getting closer to the village, a pillar-like vortex seems to come out of the well that connects to the storm clouds above, which made me guess that was both the reason for the clouds and for us coming here. I asked the Professor what was the reason for it, and he said it was rather some sort of magical artifact or a condensation of storm magic, although a well is an odd place for it.


    Driving into the village proper in the wagon, we stopped near the entrance and waited for someone to come up to us, which didn¡¯t take long since a pair of strangers with a wagon is, while not rare, uncommon enough to cause a little stir. The first person to come to us was an older woman who asked us what we were doing in the village. Stating that he was a mage looking at their magical well, he also asked if he could ask a couple of questions to some of the villagers about how the well came to be.


    Hearing my professor state that he was looking into the well mater, she stated that she could take him to the village chief, to both have them talk to the chief and to put their stuff there for the time being. Following the woman in the cart, we came to the largest building in the village and parked the wagon to the side and went inside.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Meeting with the chief, we were able to learn that during a huge storm that came across the village a few months ago, something happened to the well where this huge gust of wind suddenly came out of the well and started to sustain the storm above the village, at least the visual aspect. Rain seemed to still be somewhat normal, although they almost exclusively get huge amounts of rain all at once, instead of steady drizzles now.


    Professor Micheal went to take a closer look at the well now, and both me and the chief followed. While there were some onlookers, most people in the village were busy with their day to day things. The most numerous of people that were looking at us were children, since they didn¡¯t have as many chores or jobs like the adults or older children do.


    As we reached the well, the magic it displayed awed me even more, as the vortex of wind seemed to never end, and reached high into the sky. Although amazing to look at, it also didn¡¯t allow us to look into the well and investigate the source, so we didn¡¯t have much to go off of except for Professor¡¯s magical knowledge.


    I say that, although it seems that Professor has more than just mundane sight to look at, as he suddenly casts a spell I don¡¯t recognize {which is most spells sadly :(. } and jots down some notes into his tome. He continues to cast spells on writing notes without speaking, and I don¡¯t ask him questions since he¡¯s working.


    Knowing that this will take a while, since Professor is a meticulous note taker, I go back to the cart to grab my current study material and continue to work on some harder problems I¡¯ve been stuck with.


    ___________________


    Several hours went by and the sun was closing into the horizon when Professor finally left the well, with what I suspect an entire journal of notes. What is in those notes are a lot of things I don¡¯t know yet but I hope to understand someday. Coming back to the cart, the professor puts his tome away and we both find the chief in his house.


    The Professor came to the conclusion that the well had some sort of storm affinity before the storm came, and after getting a condensed shot of storm mana from that one night, was what gave it that final push and sent it spiraling out of control. There wasn''t much that Professor could do to fix it, as the core of the well was deep below the ground and the only way to get to it was through the strong updraft that came out of it. While the Professor did say that there wasn¡¯t much could be done right now, and that the ways to get rid of the storm was rather expensive, any magical phenomena could be used as a source of wealth and this strong updraft could probably be used as a source of power for a mill of sorts, and the perpetual storm could be used to reliably gather some magical herbs.


    The chief gave his thanks, and in the end that was for the best because the village has already started work on another well due to not having access for several months now. Some additional wealth and some magical exports might make this village a rather rich place.


    Of course, that has nothing to do with us, but the chief was rather happy with that statement from the Professor, and started discussing with the other villagers about what will happen with the well. We weren¡¯t going to stick around much longer, now that we¡¯ve done as much research as we can but a sudden storm, an actual storm, not this magical one, made us have to stay the night instead of heading out.


    __________________


    As we waited out the storm, Professor Micheal decided that this would be a good opportunity to watch how the well reacted with another storm, and stayed up most of the night. I stayed awake, if only because I couldn¡¯t sleep with how thunderous this storm was, probably due to the well.


    As the Professor and I were watching the well, the vortex increased in strength, speed, and with added lightning just like the chief said, something else was spotted by the Professor in the storm. I couldn¡¯t see too well, but suddenly there was a huge shadow that seemed to dip down into the well, as a huge lightning bolt seemingly shook the ground.


    The vortex went into climax, making strong enough winds to make the nearby buildings shake and even some trees were starting to lose entire branches. Lightning started to zap the ground around the well, making the smell of ozone spread through the entire village. The Professor was jotting down notes during all of this, although he was tense as well, almost like he was getting ready to fight. Nervous, I also started to get a bad feeling when the shadow from before seemingly left the well, and with a flash of lightning it went back into the storm, followed by a thunderous cry that announced the end of the storm.


    The rain let up soon after that, and while the well¡¯s storm still persisted it was the same dry storm that only blocked the sun. Taking the rest of the night to sleep, we awoke and grabbed our stuff, putting everything plus a few gifts from the villagers into the wagon. Food, clothes, and simple trinkets were kind gifts that we accepted, and soon we were off.


    Snacking on a jerky that we were gifted, I watched the village slowly disappear into the horizon, with a book in one hand that was explaining the intricacies of mage hand, and how it could help you read while doing something else with your hands. Funnily enough, that was what Professor Micheal was doing, using mage hand to hold the reins as he continued to peruse his notes and compare what he saw to similar encounters.


    The sun was high in clear, blue sky and a nice breeze made it a good day to rest and relax as we headed towards the next interesting place, that would show us new and exciting magic.

 Hammers of Dawn

    The Hammers of Dawn are a collection of powerful artifacts made from a long lost civilization who praised the sun, the same civilization that created the Sun Arches. The Hammers of Dawn were some of their fiercest weapons, used to take down the strongest of invaders and monsters, capable of bringing dragons and worse down with a single burst.


    The weapon works by harnessing the power of the sun, through a mix of high level magical ingredients, Solstice Rituals, and overwhelming amounts of mana. The weapon¡¯s main attack is allowing the wielder to call down a beam of light and plasma, strong enough to melt stone in less than a second.


    Luckily, these weapons have not been used very much, as they are dangerous to the environment, friendlies and even the wielder themself if they aren¡¯t careful. The blast radius of the attack is a staggering 25 foot radius, and can move around quickly according to the weapon¡¯s wielder. The attack can last up to a minute, making it able to completely destroy entire cities with ease.


    The most famous use of the Hammers of Dawn is the Sveiran Desert, which is now inhabited by the sand elves and a few other races. The desert was created when several Hammers of Dawn were used together to glass a huge Greatwood that only wanted to expand across the world, leaving only the strong to survive in its forests. Now the elves that survive adapted to the harsh desert and unique weather that plagues the area. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    As the sun-worshiping civilization began to crumble and fall to time, all but a few of the Hammers were destroyed, by both enemies and their holders alike. The surviving few that survived, while working, are unable to bring such mythical destruction as the stories tell, making many to believe them to be a hoax and made up legends. While unable to bring destruction, the weapons were used as a great research project for the greatest of magical colleges, allowing them to learn about the creation and the ingredients of these legendary weapons.


    Some proto-types were made using the originals as a base, but sadly none were able to be on par with even the weakened Hammers. The biggest contribution that the research of these weapons made, was the hint that the Solstices, and other magical or natural phenomena could increase or boost the power of certain rituals and spells. While this knowledge was already somewhat known, such as a full-moon and eclipses, it wasn¡¯t to the extent that it could create weapons such as the Hammers.


    Currently, most of the Hammers are kept in secret locations guarded by the magical colleges, but one of them is also a key religious artifact of the Empire of the Sun, an ambitious empire that has taken a large portion of their continent, mainly due to their lack of dangerous monsters or magical plagues that can wipe out swathes of cities in a week.


    The Hammers are just one of the magical artifacts that have survived through the eons, as most artifacts are simply lost or hidden, waiting for someone to find and pick them up.a