2 - Arrival

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Welcome to The Realm.

This message is the contact form of the system that is the embodiment of The Realm. It will be the method used to deliver updates and is used to keep all things fair and balanced.

As a Champion of the lowest-ranked god in the previous Realm, you are awarded a single divine boon based on your god's Domain.

Your god's Domain- Monsters and the Lost

Your Current Boons

Companions - Like all Champions, you begin with several allies, the quality and quantity of which are influenced by your God's standing.

Please choose one of the following;

Boon of Power - You gain a minor increase to strength or resilience.

Boon of Equipment - You begin your life in The Realm with a slightly better weapon.

Boon of Leadership - The companions you begin with are of either higher quality or quantity.

*

John woke to the odd feeling of information abruptly appearing in his mind, which wasn't exactly the most pleasant experience he'd had, well, as far as he could remember anyway. Shaking off the lingering stinging sensation, he looked around and sighed as he found himself seated inside a grey box once more. Thankfully this time he was in a cave overlooking a peaceful vale with plentiful trees and a winding river, however. An improvement on the Depths, no matter which way you looked at it.

For a moment, he indulged himself in merely looking out over the landscape and drinking in the sights. The box was situated at the mouth of the small cave, within which a statue of a robed figure stood, one hand reaching out benevolently and the other holding a jagged blade. More interestingly, there was a plaque at the base of the statue which read 'Morden' and had a symbol of some sort just above it.

Turning his attention back to the waiting notification in his head, he mentally read over the words once more before choosing the boon of leadership. After all, if there was indeed an invasion coming, his allies would matter more than equipment or strength. Something in the back of his mind whispered that the strength of one was far less than the strength of many acting in unison.

'''Boon of Leadership chosen.

Due to synergy between your choice and your god, Morden, this boon will now be upgraded. It now increases both quality and quantity equally.'''

'Interesting. So it matters how in tune I am with Morden,' John mused to himself, not quite able to call Morden his god right now, their deal felt more like a business transaction than anything. Looking around the grey box in some more detail, he found a backpack under the chair with a sheathed sword and a sword-belt. 'So what now I wonder.'

*

All Champion choices are now complete.

The Realm will begin in 5 minutes. Prepare Yourself Champion.

*

'Okay, let's do this.' John nodded firmly and grabbed the pack, looking inside and sighing in relief at the food and water it contained. Buckling the sword-belt on, he drew the blade and gave it a once over before sheathing it once more, satisfied that it would do the job. There was little else he could do right now, not while trapped in this box anyway, so John sat and waited out the timer impatiently.

*

The Realm will start in 5…4…3…2…1

All Altars are now active.

Good Luck, Champions.

*

'All altars are active,' John muttered under his breath, his gaze resting for a moment on the statue of Morden that was in the cave with him. Shrugging and deciding to give it a go, he walked over and knelt before it. Now at the height of the inscription, John reached out to place a hand on the symbol he'd spotted earlier. As soon as his flesh touched the cold stone, he felt a wave of energy ripple out from the core of his being and flow into the statue.

*

Altar active, summoning companions.

God's Favour is currently at 0, complete more quests to raise your Favour.

Attention- Due to your God's Domain, you are unable to summon additional forces directly. Using System Points (SP), you can instead convert a suitable building to a Dwelling, which will summon additional forces regularly.

Dwelling Types Available - 2

- Goblin Hut - 5SP

- Hobgoblin Camp - 10SP

*

'Damn it,' John cursed, clutching his head at the amount of information that the system was pouring in. Each time he received more information from the system, it built on the already lingering stinging sensation of the last one. Right now, his head felt like a particularly ornery blacksmith was using him like an anvil.

A flash of purple light drew his eyes back to the statue as a tear in space appeared, widening to about a six-foot in diameter opaque circle. Once the portal was fully open, a leather-clad creature walked through from whatever was on the other side, the portal rippling like a liquid at the movement. The creature was shorter than the average human, with red-tinted skin, pointed ears and a bulbous nose that immediately drew the eye. More importantly, however, the creature wore well-made leather armour and had a sheathed sword at its side that it made no move to grasp.

Hobgoblin. The name floated up from somewhere in his psyche, along with some basic knowledge about them.

'Greetings Lord, our Master, sends his regards,' the hobgoblin said with a deep bow, his voice deep and surprisingly controlled in his diction. 'My name is Vral. I am Chief of the Broken Tooth clan and leader of those sent to fight alongside you. May I summon the others?' Vral rose from his bow and stood at ease, waiting for John's response. As the hobgoblin spoke the portal winked out of existence without even a ripple of displaced air.

'Yes, please do, how many are we talking about?' John asked, already feeling slightly more secure with someone else by his side. It helped that Vral exuded an aura of confidence and competence even just standing there.

'We number forty-eight in total, Lord. All members of the Broken Tooth clan to aid in your initial progress. I will ask the altar to bring them through now,' Vral turned to the statue and placed his hand on the symbol, causing a flash of light to come from the statue's hooded face, and a new portal appear next to it.

The first creature to step through the portal was another hobgoblin, this one slightly taller, but much more muscular. The new hobgoblin's bulky physique was straining against the leather armour it wore. Nodding respectfully to first John and then Vral, the bigger hobgoblin stalked forwards towards the edge of the cave, one hand on its sword as it checked for local threats. The way it moved and checked the cave for danger left no doubt in John's mind that it was both a soldier and a good one at that. Four more hobgoblins, each smaller than the first but still powerfully built for their size, followed through in the next few moments, two immediately taking up positions on either side of John, while the other two went to the front of the cave to join the first.

'That is Glorg and his squad, the best fighters in the clan and the reason we lasted as long as we did against the humans,' Vral said softly, his crisp tone ruined by the clear regret that filled his voice.

Before John could ask the immediate question on his mind, the portal flared again, and a small, hunched figure in hooded black robes came through, leaning heavily on a staff that clattered as he moved it, the bone charms hanging from it swirling with each step. The figure pulled the hood back with claw-like hands, revealing itself to have green skin, droopy bat-like ears and needle-shaped teeth that filled its large mouth with a terrifying smile. Black tattoos swirled across its skin and under each eye in a way that drew John's gaze as a new name drifted up to his mind. Goblin.

'I greet the new Lord, who acts in the name of our Master. I am the shaman of the Broken Tooth clan, Gitgak.' The goblin had a nasal, scratchy voice that was so at odds with the deep tone of the hobgoblins.

'A shaman, what power does that give you?' John asked with interest, wondering if this was perhaps the quality aspect of the boon the system had mentioned.

Gitgak began to reply when the rest of the clan came through the portal in quick succession, all of the new arrivals goblins who capered about the cave in excitement, annoying everyone else who was present immediately.

John spent the next ten minutes watching the hobgoblins impose order on their unruly cousins, a task that John didn't envy them in the slightest. Once they were all organised once more, a swift headcount revealed that there were just over forty goblins other than Gitgak. They were a mix between loincloth wearing workers, rusty dagger armed warriors and a strange group of eleven who wore ragged pelts and clutched small spears. One of the pelt wearers introduced himself as Wolfrider Fuzz, a title he seemed genuinely proud of, and stated that he was in charge of the clan's wolves.

'Do you have any wolves?' John asked with a frown, noting that the purple portal had closed once more.

'No we don't,' Vral said in a matter of fact manner that made Fuzz's smile morph into a look of horror.

'No wolfies?' Fuzz said plaintively. His men were whispering among themselves furiously before Fuzz put an end to it by punching one of them in the face, making the whole group devolve into a brawl in just a matter of moments.

'Don't worry about the goblins, they'll sort themselves out,' Vral said in response to the look on John's face as he watched a good portion of his allies against an invasion from another plane beat each other up.

'Sure,' John said with a slight sigh, noting how everyone but the wolfriders and the guards was watching him and waiting for his command.

Glancing at the hooded statue once more, John followed some internal instinct and reached out to grasp the statue's outstretched hand. As soon as he gripped the oddly cold stone, he felt the familiar unpleasant sting of information being injected directly into his brain.

*

Altar of Morden

Available quests - 1

Quest - Establish - Accept?

*

Rubbing his temples once more, John mentally accepted the quest and flinched as yet more information was rammed into this mind.

*

Quest Gained!

Establish

Morden wishes that you fulfil this quest by completing the following.

- Establish a home for the Broken Tooth clan

- Ensure that the clan has access to food and water

- Secure the area against immediate threats

Rewards - 1 God's Favour, 5SP

*

'Okay, okay, okay,' John muttered to himself before taking a deep breath, he'd process all of this later, for now, he needed to get them established. Beckoning to Vral and Gitgak, John walked to the mouth of the cave and surveyed their local area once more.

The valley below them was ripe with opportunities. A river stretched off into the distance while a thick wood dominated the foreground. Plenty of trees meant there was more than enough for lumber, as well as firewood. It was as good a place as any to start a settlement, to his eye anyway.

'What are your orders, Lord?' Vral asked after a moment of silence.

'Gather the clan and follow me, we're going to claim our new home,' John said with as much authority as he could muster, immediately setting off down the steep slope from the cave to the valley below, his two hobgoblin guards in step just behind him.