Sub-turn 66.04 :
Ulkas the Sorcerous Osyluth of LiesUlkas couldn't help but softly chuckle at the sight.
"Heh, you're damn stubborn, you know?"
Not really expecting an answer, he lifted Astrosa into his arms. She seemed so much frailer now, when her iron will gave in to the tiredness of the body. It was both endearing, a bit exciting and thrilling experience, since now he carried full responsibility for both their lives on his shoulders.
Hold her carefully and levitate to the nearest stone structure. Look out for danger, since I must protect Astrosa.
[6] As you noticed, Astrosa seemed so frail right now. This was the first time you ever saw her sleep since you met her. Despite her broken and charred body, her face was incredibly relaxed.
You eventually arrived near a stone structure nearby, gently laying Astrosa on soft grasses. She slept, and you watched.
Slowly, her wounds closed thanks to the regeneration. Slowly her charred skin recovered its soft and beautiful appearance. With her sleeping like this with a serene face under the shadow of a raised stone, she was a true sleeping beauty.
But as you were fascinated by her captivating beauty, you dropped your watchful guard.
You suddenly heard chuckling behind you. Turning back, you saw a strange white porcelain being with many masks standing on the other side of the rock circle.
"Huhuhuhu~"
You recover 3HP
You recover 10MP
HP: 19/22
MP: 36/36
Caedan the Bloody Impaler"I don't believe she would push you away just because of the monster blood in your veins. Still, trying to heal her using my methods is too risky. A healer is needed. We should be able to find one on the way to Eastarm or in Eastarm itself."
Westwards we go, to the city they call Eastarm (why not Westarm though?). If we find travelers on the way who don't realize our nature, ask them where we can find a healer. Keep an eye on Firande's condition.
"You are a monster. You don't know what humans think about monsters, they are reviled as enemies of humanity : mindless and dangerous creatures at beast, and at worse intelligent and malevolent. Though intelligent monsters only appeared in fairy tales, if anyone ever learnt of your -or my- condition, there would be no solace..."
"Even if she accepted me, the world wouldn't. And she would suffer from it, I don't want that."
[4] That being said, you head Westward, toward Eastarm. You follow a road going through the Inory Hills, the only safe way to join the mainland. On the way, you meet a group of travelers heading West. Judging from their clothes, they are refugees fleeing.
They are from another Village, from Pocel. They fled after the Army ordered a mass evacuation.
Someone recognizes Ramas.
"Ramas Elmart of Doro ? Hey ! It's me, Devon !"
"Devon ? Oh ! You often came to sell your fishes in Doro."
Ramas instantly cuts the formalities, and ask if there is a doctor or a healer here. Thankfully for Firande, there is one.
After hurriedly bringing the girl to a middle aged woman, they begin examining her.
[2] They don't have the necessary equipment here to heal her. Going to Eastarm is a priority. They will only be able to maintain her alive. You may chat along the way, if no action is stated, the trip will continue.
Mana regeneration roll : 1d8 [2]
You recover 2MP
HP: 16/21
MP: 19/25
Snehk the Unseen- Are there any religions here? I think that I used to be a monk in the past, but all my memories are somewhat blurry.
Continue asking questions and talking.
"Religion ? Mmh, this is a bit of a special case, as Fordania doesn't have true religions like a standard country. Lavis, can you explain it to Snehk ?"
He asks this to the captain of the group. A man of good stature, and with a severe look. He answers with a strong voice :
"There is no religion in Fordania. No worship, no prayers, nothing. You may find this weird if you were a monk, but the various Churches of Fordania are more like magic schools closely related to the Army. It's a bit of a long story, but the short story is : during the last century occurred the last Religion War. Afterward, there was a rise of awareness and it was discovered the gods everyone worshiped weren't so godly in some way, and had no grasp on us.
But they could still give us power.
So the "Churches" were repurposed as specialized institutions with the sole goal of harnessing the power of the "Gods" for our own purposes. We also call the churches the "Pact Houses", where people accept to serve a god in exchange of power, sometime at the cost of losing some free will. Those deities are a military asset to us, we need that power and can't really forsake it, especially not now."
The young man finishes :
"So yeah, the main Pact Houses are those of Sard, the God of War and Peace, Tinzakena, the God of Lies and Truth, Omyu Lon, the God of Moon and Magic, Monea, the Goddess of Death and Fire, Damao, the God of the Life and Sun."
They bring you to what seems to be a hospital.
"You will first have to pass a medical examination, it's critical for the well-being of the fort."
HP: 20/20
MP: 14/14
Durst the Rock SeerDurst shrugs and plods lazily after the humans. He's not done talking to Hertomal yet.
The humans hastily pack up their belongings and being heading off. The Captain shouts once more :
"VANESSA ! DO YOU HEAR ME ?"
Having no answer, he spits on the ground.
"Damn I was careless... But we can't wait her anymore. She is smart, she will know where we will be heading."
The captain leaves a note and draw a plan on the ground in a secret code only known by the group. It is saying "Head to the third camp. We will be there."
[5] You follow them as they get away from this place. Without any problem, you all reach another camp in a cave. You can see Hertomal and the Captain -whose name is Gardo- arguing :
"Gardo ! It was a priceless occasion to study the demons ! You realize what you just did ?!"
"I saved our lives ! Our group is not ready to fight demons in their own territory ! Remember our mission is to find and study a rumored Essence Nexus ! Monsters are not a priority !"
You are still standing there, outside the cave. It is strange. You feel like since you left Coridem, your memory has been getting hazy.
[6] You ask the mana around. "What is happening to me ?"
From what you hear, the mana of the outside world is vastly different from the one in Coridem. And something in the mana, or the air around you itself, is impacting your mind. It feels like being a crystal of salt dissolving in water.
HP: 12/15
MP: 11/12
T946 the Security BotOkay, I can follow you
Follow the scavengers
"[Thanks]-fast snapping-"
[4] You follow them through the desert. The pack of crustaceans are skimming along the sand graciously, leaving only a small trail behind.
Eventually you arrive to an entrance in the sand. The bigger scavengers turns toward you :
"[Follow] -claw waving-"
You do so, and follow him inside. It is dark and cool, and you notice the walls are reinforced with iron bars.
After exiting the entrance tunnel, you arrive to a large room with many entrances. There is a plan too.
It seems this place was some sort of human underground complex.
HP: 13/15
MP: 12/12
Dahak the Fear Lord((:v! never a dull moment))
THINGS ARE HAPPENING. Dahak has to think fast. Delinde is on the ground, though still fine it seems, Nihil has entered the "HELLO HELLO I AM USELESS LOL" mode he's been in every conflict so far, while Dahak is the only one capable of real action.
NYEH, I KNEW SOMETHING WAS UP
Dahak now focuses on the situation. Whatever this thing is, it is somehow tied to Nihil and so must also be tied to the corruptor dimension, which means Dahak is actualy right where he wanted to go. This isn't the ideal approach to it, he admits, BUT HEY, you can't have everything.
I KNEW YOU'D BE USEFUL SNOTBRAIN, EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE MOSTLY BEEN VERY USELESS SO FAR
Dahak stares down at the odd being. A very odd bicoloured mass of what appears to be white chitin and black jelly. Definetely seems more complex then the other things he's seen so far. Probably a more evolved corruptor, or maybe something more akin to its native form, since this circle seems like some sort of link between dimensions.
Dahak then has a moment of clarity. Whatever this thing is, it seems to lack knowledge of what happened out in the field with the huge corruptor mass, so it has no idea of how Nihil and Delinde changed, and it prob doesnt know how you've evolved since then. This may be just the edge Dahak needs.
Use your weaponized aura to manifest some weapon, THEN BASH THE HELL OUT OF THE THING WITH IT
[6] You immediately activate your Feral Otherworldly Aura, and it instantly gets out of hand. Probably because of the Corrupted presence.
You lose 5HP
You lose 10MP
Corruptor Core Expansion increased by 10.
It feels like something is being ripped out of your core, it hurts and is far from comfortable. A large shifting and unstable black and red mass of something appears around you, eventually forming some horribly twisted skeletal face with unnaturally sharp teeth.
The Head immediately tries to bite at the white and black large thingy.
[5] With an eldritch snapping sound, the Head gobbles all the mass that struck Delinde. Then it opens its jaw and emits an extrely loud NYEHEHEHE
You recover 6HP
You recover 6MP
You gain 2 Essence
Cloaked Corruptor roll : [1]
"Uuurgraaaargh !.."
Having had a huge piece of itself eaten away, the cloaked figure screams and flails around. The tendrils are retracting from the stones, and Nihil can move again.
Delinde roll : [4]
Delinde gets up, and rush at the Corruptor to cleave it in two with the Fog Scythe. The being is separated in two screaming halves. One pure black and the other black with the white carapace. They are both screaming in pain.
Nihil roll : [3]
Nihil feels particularly hurt by the truth of your statement.
"That stings."
Then he focuses on its aggressor, and channel his powers. You feel an unknown power at work around him, you know this is something not of this world. Space is distorting around him, and it is as if you could see black tendrils appearing mid-air for a second.
Space distorts slowly behind the white-black being, and Nihil slowly appears there.
HP: 21/21
MP: 25/25
Corruptor Core Expansion : 73%
Stormslayer the Aradian Mirage Beetle Mystic "I could still use them, give them a chain of commands to follow. I cannot ensure they will remember or follow it out fully, but perhaps a test is in order."
he would call the puppet-soldier over, and give them instructions to move away until they could no longer hear him clearly. He gives orders to, at that point, jump, then spin, and finally sit down and wait.
[4] Doing so, it seems if you give it a clear succession of order, it will execute them flawlessly like an automaton. It can receive orders through the Hive-link, but the effectiveness decrease once it goes beyond 150 meter. It should be more, but it is probably because the Ashbloom is still young.
HP: 24/24
MP: 19/19
ZoomochScoomtarto the Four-Eyed BeholderOk?
I Obey... whatever is 'speaking' to me?
"Good. You. Fool. Negative. Eat. Negative."
More words flow into your mind :
"Me. Glarfursnargreluchoomoliglerd. Mind Devourer. Travel. Lost."
It appears its name is Glarfursnargreluchoomoliglerd. Glar to be short. It is a Mind Devourer, and it seems lost.
HP: 15/17
MP: 2/17