Excerpt
Terran awoke on hard ground with a splitting headache and a searing pain in his neck where he had been stabbed by the dagger. His entire body hurt. The instructors had warned them about death in Kingmaker Online, but he didn't feel like their descriptions did justice to the actual pain. Terran kept his eyes closed and took slow, deep breaths before rolling over to evaluate if he had lost any experience. To his surprise, instead of the dry desert aroma his nose was filled with the heavy scent of pine and rotting leaves. Come to think of it, he heard birds twittering all around him.
His eyes flew open to find he was surrounded by tall pine sentinels standing watch over him. His hand squished into damp earth as he pushed himself into a sitting position, trying to get his bearings. A trickle of panic entered his thoughts as he pulled open his world map to try to find out how far away this respawn point was from where he had died.
Nothing on the map was recognizable, leaving his heart thundering in his chest. They had been in the Winding Canyons fighting the hag when he died, but his map indicated he was now on the continent of Belavar in the Rockpine Forest.
His heart labored in his chest. He was on a completely different continent than his friends. The severity of the situation was only made worse when he zoomed out on the map and scrolled around looking for a reference point, but the only part of the map he found exposed was a small circle around his current location. Everything else was unexplored and therefore blacked out.
The quick idea that he might purposely die again, and get sent back to the starting settlement, ended when he read the text right beneath his death notification.
You are now bound to your location.
[Moving to a new continent provides instant rebinding]
The logic of it made sense. It would be tragic to make it to a new place, only to die upon arrival and have to repeat the journey, but in this case, the rule had just stranded him alone in a place that was likely higher level than him.
At the sound of a twig breaking, Terran jumped to his feet to spy what had made the noise. He let out a breath when a small rodent the size of a squirrel but striped like a racoon ran in front of him clutching some kind of nut in its mouth. He continued scanning the forest, looking for signs of his friends. He wasn't even sure if they had died, but he thought it was likely they would have fought the witch in retribution for his death. So it was possible they would be nearby if she had defeated them.
A slight breeze rustled the leaves, bringing a stronger pine scent with it. Terran really did prefer the forest to the high desert, but seeing no signs of his friends worried him. Maybe if he could get a better view of the land, he could find a way to get back to them. Terran picked up his bow, dusted off his tattered linen clothes, and wiped his hands on his now grimy pants. He would have to find a tree to climb and hope he could see more from up high.
After about a hundred yards Terran spotted a suitable tree to climb. Its bottom limbs were only about five feet off the ground, and it looked sturdy enough to hold his slight frame. He reached up to grab hold of a limb that was at neck height. The rough bark scraped his hands, but the sticky sap helped a little with his grip. He tried to jump and pull himself up onto the branch, but his low Strength score made it impossible to heft even his small frame.
He didn't like playing the strong tank type, but right now he wished he had Zara's beefy arms. He imagined her doubled over with laughter watching him continue to fail to get into the tree. Finally, with quivering arms, he collapsed to the ground and leaned against the thick trunk. Being a newb sucked sometimes.
Terran sat in frustration, missing his friends. They had been waiting so long to finally be old enough to play Kingmaker Online together. This was so unfair. He hoped his friends had made that hag pay with her life for separating them. Terran felt some satisfaction imagining Zara smashing the green-skinned woman in the face with her warhammer while Newt managed to pull his nose out of a book long enough to crisp her with a fire bolt.
The thought of his friends brought renewed dedication. Terran found rocks large enough to stack, which he used to create a stepping stool.
[You have gained the skill Improvisation]
Skill: Improvisation 1 (INT)
Maybe you aren't dumber than a pile of rocks.
Terran tested the strength of his improvised stool by easing his right foot onto the rocks. When only a tiny amount of shifting occurred, Terran grabbed the branch at his neck and stood completely on the pile of rocks. He pulled himself up onto the strong limb and watched as the rocks tumbled away when his weight was removed.
