Sovereign's Choice (The Gods' Game Volume V): A LitRPG novel Read online

  Yiralla enters the Elder Forest. Hamen and his men are ambushed by goblins in the forest.

  Jul-tan, a creature in the Forest Heart, senses a divine presence enter the forest and his interest is piqued.

  Zarr contacts Yddreinth and informs him that he suspects Eld has returned. The dragon vows to search for the god.

  List of Key Places

  Abyss: region in the spirit plane where demons have been imprisoned.

  Aldanna: central Crotana city built by the elves.

  Celne: southern Crotana city.

  Crota: capital of Crotana.

  Crotana: the mountain kingdom.

  Deepholm: capital of Labyrinth Deeps.

  Durn Duruhl: dwarven city.

  Elder Forest: oldest forest in Myelad.

  Eldervale: town in the Elder Forest.

  Forest Heart: centre of the Elder Forest.

  Godshome: gods’ abode in the ether.

  Labyrinth: Crotana underworld.

  Labyrinth Deeps: Kyran’s domain.

  Skarral Mountain: mountain range encircling Crotana to the north, south, and west.

  Swan River: tributary of the Tiger river.

  Tiger River: river in western region of the Elder Forest.

  List of Key Gods & People

  Gods

  Auriel: nature, animals, plants.

  Balkar: law, order, justice.

  Eld: empathic, benign (hunting owl banner).

  Iyra: healing, nurturing.

  Kharmadon: monsters, darkness.

  Lok: trickster, prankster.

  Misteria: magic, sorcery.

  Succera: seduction, decadence.

  Turon: war, battle, courage, vengeance.

  Weeran: knowledge, wisdom.

  Xetil: domination, slavery (six-clawed-talon banner).

  Zarayla: outcasts, fools, loners, orphans, beggars.

  Known Cast of Characters (by faction)

  Auriel

  Euhlan: champion.

  Garnet: Euhlan’s companion.

  Kelios: Euhlan’s vassal.

  Balturra ogres

  Limeira Balturra: Kyran’s vassal, tamer.

  Wynak Balturra: Kyran’s vassal, legionnaire.

  Brotherhood of mortals

  Deegan Jomane: dead.

  Elasien: magister, Brotherhood leader.

  Falsin: dead.

  Crota undead

  Aveyad: vampire lord.

  Tyeliss: death knight.

  Zarr Dwamenkor: lich king.

  Cara: portal master.

  Demons

  Juldviza: archdemon.

  Murgas: demon overlord.

  Durn Duruhl dwarves

  Dhoven: apprentice enchanter.

  Hamen: thane’s son.

  Thoril Steinbear: master enchanter.

  Eldervale:

  Gayla: Gayen’s twin.

  Gayen: Gayla’s twin

  Lera: dowager, elf.

  Lothar: lord protector, elf.

  Lutriel: senior guild mage, elf.

  Lyle: protector, human.

  Mersyl: protector, wood elf.

  Saven: human.

  Sithar: head librarian, elf.

  Talien: ranger commander, elf.

  Tehrilan: guild master mage, elf.

  Iyra’s Imperium

  The First: champion-prime.

  Ruben Calistra: paladin commander.

  Sara Milton: journeyman champion.

  Kyran’s party

  Adra Maeko: vassal, scout.

  Aiken: Companion, jade great bear.

  Gaesin Illineiros: vassal, hydromancer.

  Kyran Seversan: free agent, protagonist.

  Mirien Tolyrandil: basic player, whiesper.

  Misteria’s Islanders

  Vyne: adept champion.

  Lanhalamar: Vyne’s vassal (half-giant).

  Mukara: Vyne’s vassal (ranger).

  Jizal: Vyne’s vassal (priestess).

  Damola: demigod pledged to Misteria.

  Xetil’s Dominion

  Dread Spear: elite company of trolls.

  Morgta: champion.

  Yiralla Sabut: champion-prime.

  (Faction unknown)

  Jul-tan: demon-possessed entity.

  Halyifa Tolyrandil: Mirien’s grandmother.

  Tanithil Tolyrandil: former Warden.

  Yddreinth: elder dragon.

  World Map

  Full-sized images of the maps can be found here.

  Prologue

  09 Novo 2603 AB

  Yddreinth heaved himself out of the flows of lava caressing his body. The lich king’s words still played on his mind. Zarr’s news was as unexpected as it was alarming, and he could no longer bear to remain still anymore.

  He did not doubt Zarr. If the lich believed Eld was back in Myelad, Yddreinth was sure he was right. The change in the ether seven days ago, Yddreinth mused. That must have been Eld.

  Yet the dragon worried. As powerful as the disturbance had been, it had been altogether less than a spirit of Eld’s strength should’ve created, nor had it borne the flavour of the god.

  Had Eld been injured?

  Yddreinth walked slow circles through the lava. He had lain dormant for eons in the volcano with only its heat to provide him sustenance, and it would be a while yet before his limbs were rekindled with their true strength.

  While his body revitalised itself, the dragon worked through the implications of Zarr’s message. The lich had not told him everything, he knew that. The friendship that had existed between the pair had been shattered centuries ago when Yddreinth had refused the former champion’s call for aid.

  It saddened the dragon, but he had little hope that Zarr would ever fully trust him again. During their mental commune, the lich had bristled with distrust and had kept the shields around his mind firmly in place.

  Yet Zarr had not been as successful disguising his feelings. Yddreinth had sensed something new beneath the despair that always shrouded the lich: hope. And he didn’t think it was only Eld’s return that had spurred the disillusioned champion’s renewed belief.

  Zarr has found out about the Well.

  It was the only explanation that made sense. As loyal as the lich king was to Eld, Yddreinth knew Zarr would never depend solely on his god to save his people again.

  No, something else must have given Zarr hope. It had to be the Well. Yddreinth had sensed its binding by the free agent weeks ago. Somehow Zarr must have found out about the Well’s existence too. Had the free agent himself told the lich king? Was the elf even now in Crota?

  Yddreinth still could not sense the free agent. Wherever he was, he was under the strongest of shields.

  If he is in Crota, he takes foolish risks.

  The gods were not stupid. They had to be suspicious too, of how events were playing out. Even if they lacked any concrete evidence on which to base their fears, the gods had learned to exercise an abundance of caution on all matters dealing with Eld. Yddreinth did not doubt the gods were keeping a close watch on Crota.

  So. Eld had returned. The Thirteenth Well was bound. And the free agent was perhaps in Crota again. All the pieces were in motion. But were they moving in the right direction?

  Doubtful.

  Things could fall apart at any moment. The gods could not be given cause to act against the mountain kingdom, not yet. It was too soon.

  He had to get the free agent out of Crotana.

  And he had to find Eld.

  ✽✽✽

  Sara waited while her call reverberated through the ether. Again Iyra did not answer, as she had not on Sara’s first and second attempts at contact.

  The war must preoccupy her, Sara thought, momentarily abandoning her efforts to reach the goddess.

  As certain as Sara was that Iyra could never be a party to the atrocity she had witnessed in the dryad glade, the champion was afraid to find out she was wrong.

  There was no reason for Commander Ruben to lie after all.

  Th
ey were marching south again, after breaking camp late last evening in a stretch of woods south of the dryad grove. Sara had refused to stay any longer than necessary in the glade itself.

  Her sleep had not been pleasant last night, haunted by screams of the dying and cries of pleading children. Yet none of the paladins had seemed the least bit distraught by the slaughter they had enacted yesterday, joking and conversing as normal during their evening meal.

  It was not that they were sadists. None had spoken of the dryads’ slaughter, whether to speak disparagingly of the creatures or to take cruel delight in their deaths.

  It had simply been a task, like any other for them, she realised. A job, no more. Nor was it the first slaughter Sara had witnessed the paladins enact. So why had this one affected her so?

  Because, this time there could be no question that the victims were innocent.

  The goblins she’d killed during her training and the Brotherhood soldiers the paladins had eliminated had both arguably been enemy combatants, fairly slain.

  But not the dryads.

  I have to know, she thought. Squeezing together the courage, Sara closed her eyes, and dipped into the ether. “Mother, I have need of you,” she called.

  “Daughter,” replied Iyra, sounding harried. “I don’t have much time. What is your need?”

  Now that the moment had arrived, Sara had no idea how to broach the matter. “I wanted to update you as to our progress, Mother,” she said, stalling. “Crota is many days behind us. Just as you said, the undead let us go without trouble. We are in the centre of the Elder Forest now, skirting around the forest Heart’s eastern edge. The free agent still remains south of us.”

  “The Heart…” Iyra murmured. “You have not entered its borders I presume? Commander Ruben has warned you against entering it, I take it?”

  “He has, Mother. But…”

  “What is it, Daughter? I sense something troubles you.”

  “We encountered sentients, Divine. Dryads.”

  “Dryads?” repeated Iyra in surprise. “I had no idea the race still remained.”

  “Mother, Commander Ruben told me he has orders to kill any dryads he encounters.”

  Iyra fell silent. “And this is what troubles you?”

  Sara hesitated. “It is. Did the paladin speak true?” Did you order their deaths?

  “He speaks true, Daughter,” Iyra replied unconcerned. Feeling the emotions raging through Sara, the goddess added, “You must not let it trouble you. The dryads are simple creatures and traitors. Their fate was marked the day they gave Eld their allegiance.”

  “But some were children!” Sara couldn’t stop herself from bursting out.

  “Traitors—all traitors—must be punished,” Iyra said implacably. “There can be no compromise. Do you understand?”

  “I do, Mother,” Sara, replied in a small voice, withdrawing from the link to the goddess. “Thank you for clarifying, Divine.”

  “It is no matter. Now in future,” said Iyra, “refrain from contacting me. The war on the border requires my full attention and I cannot afford unnecessary distractions.”

  “I understand. Goodbye, Divine.”

  “Farewell, Daughter.”

  ✽✽✽

  Hamen ducked, and the goblin’s ill-timed swipe passed harmlessly overhead. Almost lazily, the dwarf moved forward and caved in the luckless creature’s skull.

  No more goblins emerged from the trees to attack him. Turning around, Hamen studied the blood-spattered glade. The attack was over. The goblin he had just killed was the last of the dwarves’ ambushers.

  Hamen’s men had drawn their knives, and with the callous disregard of veterans, were stabbing down into the felled goblins, making sure each was truly dead. The thane’s son grunted approvingly. They could not afford any carelessness now.

  Killing the goblins had been laughably easy for dwarves honed since birth to fight, and used to much tougher opponents in the Skarral mountains.

  Yet Hamen was not fooled, the goblin threat would only get worse.

  This was the second ambush that the dwarves had fended off today and while individually the goblins were no match for his warband—excluding Dhoven of course—Hamen had not missed the fact that the goblins’ numbers seemed to be growing.

  Leaning down, Hamen wiped his bloodied blade on the grass and used the rare moment of quiet to think. Is it time to retreat? he wondered.

  It was becoming increasingly obvious that if they persisted on their current path, they would only encounter more goblin resistance. Continuing north seemed suicide.

  Yet that was the direction their quarry’s trail led. And turning back now didn’t seem any wiser. Yiralla had to be behind them somewhere. How far back she was, he wasn’t certain, but if they turned around, it might only be to run into the much greater threat of the Dread Spear company.

  Staying the course seems—

  The peal of a hunting horn cut through the air.

  Hamen’s head whipped around. Another goblin party was closing in on them. The dwarven leader swallowed bile. The sound had come from the south. The goblins were behind them now as well.

  “Hamen, what do we do?” Benin called.

  His face hardened. “We keep going. We’ll fight every step of the way through this damned forest if we have to, but we’ll continue north and find the elves Yiralla wants.”

  Or die trying.

  Game Data

  As of the end of Book 4.

  Kyran’s Quest Log (Open Quests)

  Quest 3: Be not a pawn.

  Quest 4: Find Eld.

  Quest 5: Free the undead.

  Quest 6: Deliver the lockbox.

  Quest 9: Restore the enchanters.

  Quest 1: The journey to becoming great (3).

  Quest 10: Multitasking.

  Quest 12: Protect the eggs.

  Kyran’s Profile (Class Data)

  Name: Kyran Seversan. Race: Elf.

  Player type: Advanced player, free agent.

  Combat level: 35. Civilian level: 32. Health: 350.

  Stamina: 500. Will: 1020. Essence: 1200.

  Attacks: 44.2 (slash), 71.4 (psi wave), 89.3 (shock bolt).

  Defences: Physical (48.4), psi (35), spell (35).

  Resistances*: 25.5% divine.

  Class: Jade wild druid (rank II, apprentice).

  The wild druid is a psionic-magic hybrid with class abilities shaped towards beast mastery.

  Class traits

  Incompetent summoner (-1 summoned creatures): Current limit = 0.

  Wild tamer (+1 tamed creatures per rank): Current limit = 7.

  Class skills

  Beast bonding (91.7), body control (71.4), light armour (42), psionics (71.4), telepathy (71.4), air magic (89.3), earth magic (89.3), supportive magic (89.3), spellcasting (68.9), water magic (51), nature lore (33.6).

  Class abilities

  Wild shift: Druids can shift into a beastform.

  Beastform: Druids can learn the beastform of a befriended creature. Known beastforms: 1 / 4.

  Other skills (0 combat and 0 civilian SP available)

  Fire magic (43.4), longsword (10.4), telekinesis (26.5).

  Commander (16.0), governor (14.4), mage lord (48.0), scrying (14.4), travelling (14.4), feudal lord (14.4).

  Vassals: 9 of 169.

  Allied sovereigns: 1.

  Combat abilities (13 AP available)

  Body control, rank II: Boxer’s strength, dancer’s grace.

  Beast bond, rank II: Beast befriend, beast bless.

  Air magic, rank II: Shock wall, mirrored selves, shock bolt.

  Earth magic, rank II: Oil slick.

  Telepathy, rank II: Psi wave, Mass sleep.

  Supportive magic, rank II: Cure wounds, magic shield.

  Spellcasting, rank II: Delayed casting.

  Beast bond, rank I: Calm beast, beast bond, extend bond, enrage beast.

  Body control, rank I: Mind-over-matter, boost speed.

  Telepathy
, rank I: Mind shock, confusion.

  Telekinesis, rank I: Teleport (self), hold, teleport (object).

  Air magic, rank I: Blend, truesight, shocking hands.

  Fire magic, rank I: Flaming hands, fire dart, fire shield.

  Water magic, rank I: Water armour, slippery ice, ice wall, freezing hands.

  Earth magic, rank I: Barkskin, grasping roots, earth tremor, poison ward.

  Supportive magic, rank I: Restore health (self), restore health (others).

  Civilian abilities (4 AP available)

  Nature lore, rank II: Woodsman, reveal beasts.

  Travelling, rank II: Teleport rings.

  Mage lord, rank II: Magister’s gift.

  Commander, rank II: Invigorating aura, commander’s gift.

  Scrying, rank II: Improved scrying.

  Travelling, rank I: Show portals, travel (self).

  Scrying, rank I: Show hostiles, basic scrying, detect scrying.

  Nature lore, rank I: Show plants, gather plants.

  Commander, rank I: Inspiring, shared sight.

  Governor, rank I: Detect truth.

  Mage lord, rank I: Channel essence, channel novice spells.

  Equipped items

  Heir’s mithril scale armour (32 armour, +8% commander).

  Elven mageblade (35-40 slash damage, +8% longsword).

  Bone shaman necklace (+2% earth magic).

  Tamer's bracelet (+8% beast bonding).

  Cilantria’s Wrath (+16.5% divine magic resistance).

  Ring of free movement (immune to slippery ice).

  Bracelet of simple mental protection (immune to confusion, terrify, sleep, charm).

  Ring of advanced divine protection (+8% divine resistance).

  Kyran’s Vassals & Party members

  Party members:

  Adra: level 33 scout (vassal).

  Gaesin: level 32 hydromancer (vassal).

  Aiken: level 34 jade great bear (companion).

  Mirien: level 37 whiesper (ally).

  Others: