Soul Bound

1        Soul Bound

1.1      Finding her Feet

1.1.3    An Eventful Journey

1.1.3.5  Obligatory stat point explanation

{We’re done here} sent Wellington {Let’s meet at the gate.}

{Heh, I flipped out to arlife while waiting, and found something fun. I’ll tell you on the journey.} said Bungo, mysteriously.

{Feel free to allocate some stat points, if you need them to handle your gifts, and are sure you know what you’re doing} added Wellington {If you’re not sure, ask. I’d strongly advise that we all put at least 5 points in CON, and 10 for melee combat types, because going all the way back to the Sanctum to pick up just one person who got sniped by an arrow would be really annoying.}

{I plan to put the balance of mine into MAG. That ok?} said Kafana.

{I think INT may help the success rate on creating new recipes and songs, reading spell books and maybe the scope and precision of visualisation. How about putting 1 point into INT for every 3 points you put into MAG, after you’ve kept your CON up to the party minimum? Also, if everyone puts a point in CHA that might help us with quests.}

{Sounds good, I’ll do that. What are you doing?}

Kafana’s Stats (Level 10):

Base Mod Total Stat

1  0   1     CHA (Charisma)

10  0  10     INT (Intelligence)

27  0  27     MAG (Magic)

1  0   1     STR (Strength)

1  0   1     DEX (Dexterity)

10  0  10     CON (Constitution)

You have 0 unspent points available.

{I’m aiming to run a trading company. It is the only way to make a really serious amount of money, and the size of company and your margins on deals depend upon the CHA stat. If I can, I’ll learn taming as well, since that also goes off CHA. Other than that, the party minimum in CON of course, and probably enough INT and MAG to do some occasional rune magic.}

Wellington’s Stats (Level 10):

Base Mod Total Stat

30  0  30    CHA (Charisma)

6   0   6    INT (Intelligence)

7   0   7    MAG (Magic)

1   0   1    STR (Strength)

1   0   1    DEX (Dexterity)

5   0   5    CON (Constitution)

You have 0 unspent points available.

Bungo chimed in: {I’m going to take advantage of my skills “enhanced constitution”, which effectively doubles the points I put into CON and “superior enhanced dexterity” which triples the points I put into DEX. I’ll go heavy in both, initially, with just enough strength to wear the best armour I can get my hands upon. Later I’ll add enough MAG to use my “living illusion” skill, if that even works in this world.}

Bungo’s Stats (Level 10):

Base Mod Total Stat

1  0   1    CHA (Charisma)

2  0   2    INT (Intelligence)

6  0   6    MAG (Magic)

5  0   5    STR (Strength)

18 36  54    DEX (Dexterity)

18 18  36    CON (Constitution)

You have 0 unspent points available.

Alderney: {Wow, nice skills! I can see why you picked them to soul bond. I’m dumping everything in DEX. I’ve a good reason, and I’ll demonstrate it to you later.}

Alderney’s Stats (Level 10):

Base Mod Total Stat

1  0   1    CHA (Charisma)

1  0   1    INT (Intelligence)

1  0   1    MAG (Magic)

1  0   1    STR (Strength)

36  0  36    DEX (Dexterity)

10  0  10    CON (Constitution)

You have 0 unspent points available.

Bungo whined: {Alderney, you’re being mysterious.}

Alderney, smugly: {Why yes. Yes I am.}

Bungo, resignedly: {Just tell me cats are not involved.}

Alderney: {I’m sorry, Bungo, I can’t do that.}

Bungo: {Aaaaaaaaaaagh!}

Tomsk added his stats to the shared party document, without comment.

Tomsk’s Stats (Level 10):

Base Mod Total Stat

1  0  1    CHA (Charisma)

1  0  1    INT (Intelligence)

1  0  1    MAG (Magic)

29  0 29    STR (Strength)

9  0  9    DEX (Dexterity)

9  0  9    CON (Constitution)

You have 0 unspent points available.

{Only 9 CON?} queried Wellington?

{I don’t plan to get hit. Someone has to deal damage around here. Let them beat on Bungo} said Tomsk, a bit irate.

The party lined up in a row beyond the gate, while Kafana stood on a mounting block. The archway perfectly framed her as she stood tall, back-lit by the rising sun. Her hair spread out behind her in the morning breeze, like waves lazily lapping against a warm sandy beach.

Time to test out her new INT and massive mana pool. She laid out her virtual runes carefully and this time added some visual imagery to iconify the emotional impact she wanted, and added a limiter to ensure that she didn’t go overboard. She wanted to do it well and do it appropriately, rather than do it to excess. No one sobbing on the floor here today.

She launched into a slow bluesy rendition of "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan, using imagery touching upon friendship and parting. Her emotional focus had been “fond memories” because she wanted them to remember her, remember she was a friend, remember back to her visit to the Villa with fondness. A lot more subtle and nuanced than “be sad” or “look at me”. Checking her status bar, she now had 2500 left out of 2700 maximum. Just about the range she’d aimed for.

She looked out at her audience a moment, before hopping down and walking off to join her party. She’d expected a bit more reaction. Oh well. As they turned a bend in the road and passed out of sight of the gate Tomsk, who’d been keeping an all-around watch, spoke up:

“You realise they’re still transfixed, right?”

“What? No, that shouldn’t have happened! Why didn’t any of you tell me. I thought they were just bored and being polite.” Kafana squawked.

Alderney giggled. “I thought you’d done it on purpose. It was funny. They all looked like a dog who knows its favourite chewtoy was being taken away forever, and was desperate to save in its memory every last second, before it got dropped into the bin.”

Wellington added: “Your targeting is getting better. I didn’t feel a thing, just pleasant music.”

What had she forgotten? Surely it wasn’t the INT, that wasn’t meant to boost the strength. What else had changed? “I screwed up. I forgot I was wearing this ring. It is a holy artifact. It must have boosted the effect by much more that I was anticipating.“

Bungo said: “This is almost cheat mode. With your power, you could walk through a city and empty it of children, like the Pied Piper of Hamlyn.”

She replied: “That’s not funny! This much power scares me.”

Tomsk: “Maybe you’re the one who has been given it because the System trusts you not to abuse it?”

Alderney: “Maybe System is just a fan of Kafana’s singing. Kafana - you should sing a ‘thank you’ song to System.”

Bungo: “Talking of fans, you remember I mentioned I’d found something fun when I flipped out? Kafana, you’ve now got a fan base online. Some American chick named Lynnie uploaded an immersive experience of some of your singing from yesterday.”

Kafana: “They liked Emina? That’s nice, it is a firm favourite in my area of Bosnia.”

Bungo: “Oh sure, that one got some nice comments. But no, the one that’s going viral is you dancing around singing ‘a few of my favourite things’ from the Sound of Music, while cooking.”

Kafana, nearly screamed: “Oh no!”

Bungo: “Oh yes. This game is making more advanced use of the emotional feedback technology than anyone else right now. Lynnie was feeling intense innocent joy when she was with you, doing her own happy cooking, thinking happy thoughts, and anyone riding the immersive experience gets to feel exactly the same way Lynnie felt at the time. Comments on the viral clip indicate that some people have watched it 10 or even 20 times in a row. The hit counter is increasing exponentially as word is spreading. Congratulations Madame Kafana - you’re now a meme.”

Kafana: “Lynnie? Mary-Lynn? I retired a respected and serious international singer. And now the only thing I’ll ever be remembered for is singing a silly tune and dancing? Damn it, I’m going to kill her!” she started swearing, describing Mary-Lynn’s ancestry in lurid but improbable detail.

Her mood wasn’t improved when the others cracked up laughing, with Alderney actually rolling around on the dirt track, curled up in a ball clutching herself, her howls of laughter ringing through the trees.