Let's focus for a moment, here. How the hell are we going to stop that cave!? If Mantorok is helping you out, why the hell is it about to eat MY prize!Mantorok has been weakened by being sealed in this temple. It will eat any meat it can gather... It's STILL an ancient, don't forget. I... I can't see anything to stop that cage, damn it all! How are we going to save those people!?Looks like I'll have to make do. AGAIN. You're DAMN lucky Sydney knows what to do, you useless sack!Oh my god, please apologize.I most certainly will not!Then just say that I am sorry. I like the man, alright?It's degrading for you to say that! Ah, fine! HEY, MEATSACK! S-sydney says sorry... For whatever reason. Now... Do you have rocks, or something heavy? I'm going to do something we haven't done in over a hundred pages of this forum thread. ...I have a few things, I believe. My pistol, for one. And, uh... Wait.With a quick kick that seems to make Edwin uncomfortable, he knocks over a piece of wall and is able to give you two ancient bricks. Not exactly perfect, but Alexia should have the strength needed to make it work out. Making some thread, she connects the three weights together and connects another piece of silk to the whole thing. You're starting to feel damn hungry from the amount of webbing you've created. When you get back to your world, you're going to eat an entire cow, you figure. Hooves and all. With everything ready, and the people in the cage looking at you expectently, Alexia begins to swing the makeshift bola around, careful not to clip her legs.
You struggled with that in your youth. Earlier youth, you're practically a juvenile in drider-terms.
The hole above Mantorok is far too large to allow for you to reach by climbing on the ceiling, but a bola? Hell, that's a solid way to wrap around the chain. IT's jsut a matter of pulling it in. You hope you got the amount of silk correct, and that it will hold. After an extended spin, Alexia throws the bolas above the cage and...
SNATCH!
You got it!
The weights spin around the chain, being a sight more solid than just throwing it. The stickiness should help a little, but it wouldn't have been enough. Especially considering the physical mutations you usually get from an Alexia moment didn't come in. Looks like Xel'lotath didn't want you turning more powerful. Alexia begins pulling, and for the first time in her life, she REALLY has to strain herself to the max. Without the demon arm and size increase, it would have been impossible to drag the hefty cage filled with people to safety, but as it stands, it might just work.
You hear grunting from behind you, and you already know that Edwin is helping you pull. See? This is why you like the man, helpful to a fault.
You don't know how long it took. You forgot keeping track of time when your muscles started screaming and your legs started shaking. Alexia's not stopping out of pride, you know that much. And the cage is slowly getting closer, the chain is grinding against something, and you honestly don't know what. Maybe there really is a mechanism above. It doesn't matter, though. There was no way to stop it down here.
Just as the cage is pulled over the edge, entering solid ground, the chain gives way entirely. Alexia grabs the cage to make sure it doesn't tip, but it fortunately doesn't. After that, it's just a matter of getting it open.
The people in the cage aren't speaking any language you understand. You don't even hear a single word that you even recognize as "eastern". Well, it doesn't much matter for now. One quick pull from the demon arm fixes the cage situation, and the prisoners inside are quick to move out. If they're saying thank you, you sure don't recognize it. They're moving over to Edwin, mostly, looking at you in fear. Understandable, you don't look like the savior type, despite being unarguably heroic in nature.
Okay, that might be a bit inaccurate, but insanity doesn't count.
Of course, now it's time to scratch Edwin's back, as he's scratched yours. A quick wave of the hand, and putting your mana in the red, and the dessicated corpse that only recently found rest is brought back again.
Oh my... Let the girl rest, please. She's been through thousands of years, trapped in her own body!Oh quit your bitching. It's just my energies that keep the corpse moving. Her soul is already gone, to wherever you go around here. You order the dead husk to pick up the heart and hide it in the remains of her clothing. There's not much to work with, to say the least, but it manages to find a way
I suspect Death is kind in nearly all realities.And yet, I wouldn't want to meet him.It's getting easier to figure out when you're speaking to "yourself". I must say, it's still confusing. Yeah, yeah. Now... How the hell are we going to get back to our world?Then, from the shadows themselves, a by now familiar shape emerges. his voice reverbs in your skull as he steps forward, flanked by two creatures yu don't even recognize.
Arrogant man... Did you really think that binding would hold back the will of Xel-lotath? Oh COME ON!Before you can even react, the hostages you came to rescue are pulled through the air like ragdolls, forced behind the lich and into the chamber. If you hadn't ordered that zombie to pick up the strange artifact...
Mantorok's protection may be present on you, but these people and that... thing. They are not of this world. They are but RAGDOLLS to me. Were it not for Chattur'gha controlling you as a puppet, i would have snapped your neck. But you know what? The best solution... is usually the easiest. Leave. This is not your world, not your fight. You may take the hostages as you desire. Leaving that lich alone with Edwin...A small price to pay, don't you think so, Sydney? What?
Xel'lotath already entered your mind, did you think I would not? You are against Mantorok, countering one of its few remaining sources of strength. In your world, you would need the weakened echoes of the ancients to defeat it. So, go. A wave of his hand opens up a strange, green portal. You can peer into the far end, and see the basement you started from. The hooks are gone, but the contraption that held them remains.
I... Where's Edwin?Looking around, you see that Edwin has already started absconding when the lich arrived. Your zombie is doing its best to keep up for now.
Do not think for even a moment I won't stop him. Take your leave. This fight is not yours.Then, a purple energy explodes out of the mass of meat. It goes through you, and shakes you to your core, screaming in agony as your arms seems to break and twist, entering impossible angles as a blackened blood spills forth. The lich is hit just as hard, giving his first real scream of pain. He leans on his staff, dazed, and starts limping back.
T-the darkness... Shall prevail! he whispers out, before rings appear below him and teleport him out of the room.
The portal remains, but there's another energy wave starting up in Mantorok. It must be trying to stop you from leaving!
INTO THE PORTAL, NOW! Alexia screams, pointing at the glowing hole in reality. Despite the language barrier, shouting and pointing seems to be universal enough for the people to limp through. Just as you hear the wave behind you unleash itself, you leap through the portal.
You don't know when your arm turned gray, but it is twisting itself back into a functional state. You feel dazed as you fall in the space between spaces. Briefly, you see a small city, seemingly made out of paper, but it's gone before you can fully grasp it.
Then you arrive in the basement, the final energies of the other world leaving you. You think you hear a mocking laugh, however.
You're back in control, at least. Although... You can't feel your demon arm.
Sydney? Are you... We're paralysed, I can only feel the arm.Her voice, sounding ever so similar to yours, but just a bit deeper, a tad hoarser. Coming from your arm itself. You look to it, as your breathing slows. There she is, a small circle of green before a twisted reflection of your face appears. Like meat reshaped into yourself, it looks... horrible.
O-Oh fuck....I can see you. I can see US. What is... Oh...Your arm is now permanently under control of Alexia. Xel'lotath is having the last laugh. Damn that Mantorok! And the ancient left behind a face for her to speak, too!? Gods, if you weren't a freak before...
But... You need to focus. Taking a look around, you see that the entrance to the basement is ajar.
Limping a bit, still groggy from Mantorok's attack, you stumble through. To your surprise, you find your companions here. Sucy, Francine and Yunikki, sleeping soundly on the floor. They didn't post a guard?
Actually, looking at Francine's way of sleeping, she was likely the guard. She fell asleep.
WAKE UP! Alexia yells, and your companions comply by way of jumping up. In case of Yunikki, she arms herself as she looks aorund in a daze. She looks relieved when she sees it's you, though.
Sydney! Thought you were dead!Yeah, not quite. What are you doing down here?Mmmh... We were tricked. Almost the second you left, an outbreak of the plague was unleashed. We hid in the basement, considering this passageway is secret in and of itself. It's hell out there... Also, there was food down here. Francine says, half-slurred.
The suits protected us well enough. As long as there's no direct contact, we'll be fine. I guess we should have spread these things around when we found them......That BASTARD! IT PROMISED NOT TO DO THIS IF I SUCCEEDED!Turns out it lied. Who would have expected that thing to welsh on the deal?A voice comes from behind you. One of the hostages, an older woman.
Pardon me, did you say the plague has struck? Yup. Quite an interesting show, watching them all mutate. It really does seem random, though the social standing seems to affect it somewhat.Oh no... My husband! I... Oh no!The rest of the hostages start panicking, slowly. You also start realizing that they weren't speaking a language you didn't know, back in the other world, but...
Well, YOU were speaking "English". NOW, you are back to speaking "common". Weird little jump.
Anyway. Now what?
Start thinking of a way to get out of the city.Right, let's keep a cool head and just get out of here. If at all possible, these former prisoners should be taken with you. If need be, maybe they can be the first soldiers in your army. An army needs people to perform upkeep, if nothing else.Start thinking on how to purge the city and reclaim it for humanity.Why not start big, eh?Start scouting first, see what opportunities arise.You'll make a decision based on what you see. Of course, that brings its own risks. Plague victims tend to be aggressive. +Rest first.You are beaten to hell. Maybe it would be best to take a break and heal up for a moment.OtherLEVEL UP!With the bad roll of the dice, you ended up with an Alexia-hand. I'll need to reconsider a couple of perks and I don't have the time for that. Next update will allow you to pick your new mutation. Basic Stats
Level: 13
Health: 10/65
Poison stings: 0/0
Restraint 3/3
Mana: 00/50
Children (Where are they? They should be close, so why aren't they HERE!?)
Adam 11/11
Alice 12/12
Cactus 13/13
Items and equipment
Items:
410 gold coins
Magic Cookbook.
5 rations
Equipment:
Ram Dao
Scimitar
D-VA armor
Skills and spells
Magic:
Resurrect vermin: Allows you to resurrect very small creatures such as rats(invests 2 of your max mana) (no mana cost)
Resurrect average beast: Allows you to resurrect creatures such as dogs, cats and other similar-sized creatures.(invests 7 mana) (no mana cost)
Resurrect Humanoid: Allows you to resurrect humanoid creatures. (Invests 10 mana) (Costs 14 mana)
Reshape minion plus!: Allows you to majorly change the appearance of your resurrected minions.
Control Undead: Allows you to attempt to control an undead that doesn't belong to you. (mana cost of 2 per second, unmastered)
Minion Vision: Allows you to see what a minion sees. The minion must have eyes.
Disintegrate undead: Delete a corpse you currently control.
Animate Piece: Allows you to animate just a piece of dead tissue. It requires your constant attention, and cannot act independently. (Drains 0 mana)
Graft: Allows you to use dead tissue as a replacement limb. Requires a lot of mana. (1 per second) (average limb takes around 20 seconds to properly graft)
Gather Soul: Allows you to make a soul visible. You could try putting it in a flame of some sort to keep it around. (9 mana)
Soul battery: Allows you to use a soul-infused flame as a small mana-boost. This snuffs it out, however
Undead flashbang: Allows you to blow up a minion for a flash-bang effect. (9 mana)
Stitch: allows you to close a wound and stop bleeding as fast as you can stitch. Costs zero mana, but requires something to stitch with.
Siphoning Cloud: Breathe out a cloud that drains the life from victims and gives it to you. Adds a LOT to intimidation (4 mana)
Smoke Cloud: Breathe out harmless but thick smoke. (1 mana)
Deathbolt: A bolt that hurts the body's connection with it's soul. Causes minor wounds to appear over the body as it attempts to compensate (1 mana)
Doombolt: A more powerful version of the above (4 Mana)
Pinworks: You can apply spells into a bone spike, relative to the size of the victim. You can also make traps if you use an offensive spell. Allows creation of free zombies.
Skills:
Claws: Your arm has been replaced with a powerful claw. This is BOUND to you, and cannot be removed. Also, Alexia, your insane alter ego, lives in it now. She can decide where her face appears, at least, signified with a green ring.
Pride: You have a mind-controlling leech in your arm. This is so mindblowingly unethical/illegal it would put you in "kill on sight" status with a lot of organisations/people.
Broodmother: Once per day, you can sting something to create spiderlings, which are large, clever spiders that adore you by default. Your instincts cause you to be VERY protective of them. (not possible right now)
Crossbow usage: Novice
Adaptation: You regenerate mana faster than most
Gun usage: Novice
Oral Fixation: Can cast spells spells from the mouth.
Draining: Can drain blood using fangs.
Incredible experience in blocking and swordplay.
Climber
Crafty: Bolas
Cooking skill: Excellent
Corpse Cutting: Quite Decent.
Animal handling: inexperienced.
Necromantic knowledge
Soul Sniffer
Xel'lotath was always going to get in a final "screw you", but you guys rolled real bad. This one's kind of a gamechanger, I think.