Chapter 3-70: Just a Little Karma... (1/2)

Getting admitted wasn’t difficult, although the guards gawked up at Commander Briggs, even though his name was on the list. His team kind of gathered around me and obstructed views, and I was barely noticed.

Master Fred wasn’t noticed at all. He Rode the Light past the checkpoint and just waited up ahead for us, as if he had already been admitted.

The design of the Wall was very similar to Long Island: hexagonal columns of concrete laid down and stacked up, any imperfections filled in with magic patiently and over time, and stairs and railings and the carvings necessary for the containment effect added later.

I had learned that sometimes true assholes tried to sneak in and make off with the gold in the carvings, convincing themselves that the government would fix it, so why not steal the gold and make use of it?

Sections of the Wall not being up could result in a great number of men dying, so people trying to steal that gold were basically shot, kept alive until dusk, and then got to scream and have their souls sucked out to join the horde of wraiths there, while their corpse was retained and destroyed.

It had been a while since anyone had tried that.

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Twilight Renewal washed past once again...

Ding! Ding!

I could only sigh, and pull up my Assay as the first whorls of darkness were spinning up and growing into larger things not far away. Unlike Long Island, this Wall cut right through an area that had been inhabited fairly heavily at one point, and a lot of people had died not far from it. Naturally they re-materialized there, or came floating up out of the ground, basements, silently yawning buildings, homes, and businesses fairly quickly.

The vast majority of these were wraiths, not shadows, with the spectres fairly obvious for their more human translucence, and ghosts and their chains totally so. I noted that whole units were drawn up in swordwraith formations, which I was informed indicated that they had once served in the military, retired or otherwise.

While there was motion in the distance, the local soldiers told us that the units from Arlington rarely showed up on the Wall, unless something major magical had happened somewhere and they were agitated for some reason. There was no news to that effect, so it should be a fairly uneventful night.

Like Long Island, a colorful bunch of folks showed up to do ghostly target practice, either with Weapons that could hurt them or magic for the same. Since they’d just return the next dusk, improvement was slow but steady, and mostly risk-free. It was just a way to get target practice on a dangerous enemy, when you didn’t have anything better to spend your ammunition or magic on.

Briggs got a lot of looks, as he basically stood heads and shoulders above everyone, and weighed as much as two men put together. Master Fred got startled looks for his frightening scars and nonesuch eyes, and people got out of his way even quicker than they did Briggs... although they saw Briggs first.

I was definitely getting the looks, but hardly for professional assessment. Briggs kindly staked out a section of the Wall that was attracting some of the spirits, and deployed his men on both sides with us in the middle, keeping the gawkers at bay.

I glanced over the Assay.

Minstrel/1.

... Alrighty. Charisma-based spontaneous Caster. Yay, it gave me a bonus Spell Slot with my mighty Valence I’s. I also got four more Cantrips, and two more Valence I Spells Known.

Bardic Performances: Counter Song, Counter Illusion, Fascinate, and Heartsong (Inspire Courage at +1). 8 uses/cycles of use per day.

Now, I did need Bardsong to hit the Sublime Chords and Music of the Spheres Mastery trees. But I really would have preferred to GET TO THREE OR FOUR FIRST.

Rassum frassum...

The six skill points...were all invested in Oration. Naturally...

+1/2 Minstrel level to all Charisma checks and skills. Bards, the Druidic side of the Heartsong, were thematically creatures of lore, messengers, travelers, tellers of tales and preservers of history. Minstrels were straight performers and artistes, and while they could do many similar things to Bards, they had a completely different style and approach to things.

Or to put it another way, Minstrels were city folk, and Bards were country folk, in the minds of many. Minstrel was the preferred Class of actors, musicians, singers, acrobats, and anybody else who made their living entertaining others... and it was popular among politicians, con artists, and rabble-rousers, too.

Heartsong was another tool in the arsenal, something to expend for effects I wanted.

Had it chosen my Spells Known? Of course it had; there they were, waving at me.

Dancing Lights, Lullaby, Mending, Summon Instrument for the Cantrips, and Charm Person and Disguise Self for the spells.

I was no more a big believer in charm magic than I was in necromancy, but it wasn’t my choice, it seemed, and there might be a use for it at some point. I hated using mind-control shit like that, but there were corner cases where it could be useful.

Master Fred caught my expression of looking at something inside my eyeballs, noted the time and the spectral undead all materializing and coming our way, and asked, SIDEWAYS?

“Minstrel. So bloody annoying.” I brought up my Darts as I looked at my Feat.

Strong Soul: Even a sliver of your Soul shows remarkable strength and tempering. You gain +1 to Fortitude and Will saves, increasing to +3 against attacks involving negative energy, the undead, or necromancy.