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Bruh that's fake news

[King Zultan]

Flax probably has some kind of secret power he hasn't told us about yet, and when he reviles it we're gonna be like, "Oh wow that's some kind of hidden power you've got there".

[Yellow Pixel]

Returning to the subject:

The "Superior" part is explainable: Flax, as he said himself, is a military man. Superior in this case probably refers to his captain or commander.

Could this "superior" be his captain or commander? It is not impossible... But after reading the last story part for the second time, the peculiarity of this individual appears all the more evident to me, and I will stand by my words!

Or rather Flax's words:

"I am the soldier. He's the one who understands magic stuff..."

So our blonde companion is a soldier, while his "master" is distinguished from him by his knowledge of magic.

And then he tells us:

"But I fully believe you can help us, with whatever it is he thinks you can. You're an expert..."

This sentence is very explicit on the fact that Flax puts a great trust in the magical expertise of, at once, his superior and us. Furthermore, it is much surprising for a human of the South to know that much about shamans of the North, while contacts between them must be quite rare, if not nonexistent.

[Strik3r]

Returning to the subject:

The "Superior" part is explainable: Flax, as he said himself, is a military man. Superior in this case probably refers to his captain or commander.

Could this "superior" be his captain or commander? It is not impossible... But after reading the last story part for the second time, the peculiarity of this individual appears all the more evident to me, and I will stand by my words!

Or rather Flax's words:

"I am the soldier. He's the one who understands magic stuff..."

So our blonde companion is a soldier, while his "master" is distinguished from him by his knowledge of magic.

And then he tells us:

"But I fully believe you can help us, with whatever it is he thinks you can. You're an expert..."

This sentence is very explicit on the fact that Flax puts a great trust in the magical expertise of, at once, his superior and us. Furthermore, it is much surprising for a human of the South to know that much about shamans of the North, while contacts between them must be quite rare, if not nonexistent.

I'd say, its still explainable.
There's a good chance Flax's superior is of noble blood, well educated in magical arts, and knowledgeable about the world, which would explain his knowledge of the deerman shamans of the north.

The explanation might still be a simpler, more mundane one than you think.
But I'm not discounting your theory that this superior's true nature is not as clear cut as i think.

[Quaksna]

. . .

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"You're dwindling?" you ask. "How? In which way? And the hardships, tell me about them?"



"We're losing kinsmen. Not extremely severely, but enough to the point our line is dying out... " Flax says and clears his throat. "And it's because of other families. They're far more numerous and they know it. They're trying to wipe us out while they can..."

"Families? I thought we're talking nations... You're all related?"



"I am connected to the bloodline. Not everyone is, but we got supporters from outside... Now our leader wants to extend the circle further. We can't rely on our own power anymore."

"I see." you nod slowly. "And the other families, they're based around a family too, then?"

"Yes."

"Who are they?"



"What do you mean by that?" asks Flax, being visibly confused.



"I would want to know who am I supposed to fight against." you grunt.

"Ah, I'm not sure I can tell you..."

You frown.



"You realize that keeping me clueless just drains away any will or ability to help?"

"Well sorry, I don't have that clear instructions on that, okay?"

"Are they humans like you?"

"Well, our greatest rivals are. But they have a lot of different creatures in their ranks, too..."



"See? Wasn't that difficult." you smirk.



Flax nods, but he doesn't look very happy.

"Please do have patience with me, Black, I just... I..."

He covers his face with his gloves.



"This operation went so wrong..."

You remain silent.



Flax exhales and returns to his standard posture.

"You seem have some kind of special equipment with you, right?"

"What do you have on your mind?"

"You seem to have a lot of bottles under your coat."



He laughs.

"Yeah, that... See, that was just in case the operation went wrong... I can't fight against everything with my own strength, so I was given some magic support."

"Makes sense, but..."



Flax suddenly halts you, standing up, his eyes unmovingly set in one direction.



You look where he is looking. It's Sas.



The hunter is jerking in a very strange manner, flinging his body around. Soon, he starts to make noises, cough and spit, and crawl on all four, digging through the snow.



Flax looks at you, distraught.

"What is..."



"He's speaking languages, throwing curses everywhere!" you bark. "Try to hold him down, this is bad!"



Flax leaps towards Sas, and locks him with his arms firmly. You now can see his pale face, and what a horrible sight to behold! He keeps twitching and tries to escape, but is unable to.



You come to the hunter, place you hands onto him, and chant. The man starts moving even more erratically, but soon slows down, to a halt.

"Release."



Flax lets loose, and Sas drops motionless on the ground, unconscious.



"What's going on?" Flax asks.

"Keep an eye on him, I'll try to find out."



You close your eyes and concentrate. It was no doubt a spirit being toying with Sas...



When you do connect to the spirit realm, you don't recognize it. Utter chaos and madness, you've never experienced anything like that before.



You try to navigate the magical mess, but even after few painful tries, you still can't quite comprehend. You did notice on thing, though, the spirits seem to be... Leaving. Like a herd of animals, they're moving in one direction, but disorganized and indistinct, you don't understand the cause.



You revert back to the land of mortals. Sas looks okay, Flax is worried.

"The spirits went mad, all around!" you say. "Confused, or... I don't know... It isn't safe!"

"Should I take a precaution?" your companion asks, sticking his hand under the coat.

You nod.



The warrior takes out a vial, and removes the plug.



Yet before he does anything with it, he's thrown to the ground, with a crash, sending snow around flying.



He then slowly rises from the snow, and you can tell, troubles are on their way.

[Strik3r]

Ah, i see you too have been hit by the "Can't change signature" forum bug.

Anyway, if trouble is on its way, maybe we should do something to prepare, and i think i have just the thing.

Digging back in our memories, we find these pieces of insight from Nami:

...The spirit world is a mirror of your own, in more ways than one...

...Wraiths are the predators. Spirits, lesser or greater, the prey. And your souls the elysian fields upon which we graze and the dens in which we sleep...

...When you summon animal spirits, you wield my power... ...Granted freely for mere safe harbor within your soul...

And going farther back even, from when we could not even distinguish her voice from our own thoughts:

[?]
We know Flax is empowered by some kind of dark and magical energy. It may be possible to empower ourselves or others, but with a different kind of energy. Our power does not have to be dark or permanent.
It may be possible to bind a spirit directly to someone's body... Posession in essence, but without giving up control. And thus, they would gain (at least a part of) a spirit's power, for a time.

The spirits around us are clearly running scared from something, trying to get into safety wherever they can.

I think the course of action we should take is clear.
Lets call for spirits around us to inhabit us, to take harbor within our soul and grant us their power.

They won't be anything like Nami, and we probably can't sustain multiple of them for long. But if the threat is immediate, i think we can handle it.
Maybe some even are capable of talking, if so we could gain valuable insight into what's going on.
If we need to, we might even get enough power temporarily to stand against Flax... I don't like that look on his face, or the fact that his face appears to be smoking.

[Yellow Pixel]

Lets call for spirits around us to inhabit us, to take harbor within our soul and grant us their power.

+1

I think this is an absolutely brilliant idea!

As the spirits are running away from a dreadful force of evil, we must call them, guide them toward us and promise them shelter inside of our soul. We will thus take the role of a mystical herder and in exchange for our protection, we will ask them to bestow their power upon us. Then we will fight with all our might for their sake and ours! And if we manage to summon enough spiritual energy... nothing will stop us!

But above and beyond that, we will also become the shamanic embodiment of the Master of Animals, like the Celtic god Cernunnos on the magnificent Gundestrup cauldron!

The destiny of the Deer Wizard is calling!

[King Zultan]

Lets call for spirits around us to inhabit us, to take harbor within our soul and grant us their power.

+1

I think this is an absolutely brilliant idea!

+1 Sounds like a potentially bad idea, lets do it for science!

[Yellow Pixel]

Science is always more captivating when it involves beautiful streams of colorful lights:   spiraling...  rippling...  flowing...  Just like in the spirit realm.

It's trippy, and it makes you happy.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

If you dismiss the evil things that are threatening behind...

[Quaksna]

. . .

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Flax is aimlessly crawling, wildly flailing his head. Who knows what he's going to do, you don't. Therefore, you have to think fast.



You call the fleeing spirits. With their help, you might attain control over this situation, hopefully...



Yet they don't listen, the crowd is still moving on. You promise them protection, but it does not seem to work.



One single being, you can sense, a single one leaves the queue, and navigates it's way towards your soul.



You can feel your senses grew sharper, the rest of your body weakens, but you're determined. You regain balance, and scout for Flax, while repeating your pleas.



The warrior is now leaping around, making strange grunt noises. Doesn't seem dangerous...



You notice a bunch of spirits around Sas, though, so you drive them off. They seem to have interest in your two companions, but they actively avoid you.


What now?

[Strik3r]

Well, Flax is clearly possessed. But without knowing the cause, we can't address it.
I figure the best we can do right now is try to do with Flax whatever we did with Sas before, when he was possessed.

I still maintain that the spirits are seeking shelter from something, and it looks like Flax and Sas can't handle being inhabited by spirits, or what we're doing is somehow fundamentally different.
If the spirits are avoiding us, it may have something to do with the soul-link to Crackantler. Perhaps he's finally caught up with us and that's why the spirits are running.
Additionally, if our presence now from here on out is going to cause all nearby spirits to run for the hills, it may be a good idea to allow the spirit within us right now to stay with us, unless it wants to leave by itself, So that we'll have some degree of magical power.

Of course, we don't know what the spirit's powers are, if any. It seems to be a green spirit.

[Yellow Pixel]

As I see it, the soul-link with our wraith friend cannot be the main cause for the disturbance of the spirit realm. It's possible that the link has had a negative influence on our attempt to invoke the spirits, but what have engendered the whole turmoil of the ether seems to be rather a strong external force of wicked nature that remains unidentified.  If Crackantler would be the real culprit, I assume we would at least recognize a faint magical signature, not something as alien and powerful as what we sensed in the previous story part:

When you do connect to the spirit realm, you don't recognize it. Utter chaos and madness, you've never experienced anything like that before.

You try to navigate the magical mess, but even after few painful tries, you still can't quite comprehend. You did notice on thing, though, the spirits seem to be... Leaving. Like a herd of animals, they're moving in one direction, but disorganized and indistinct, you don't understand the cause.

Regarding Flax and his undeniable possession, I thought earlier that he was going to assail us, but it doesn't presently appear to be the case and I'm finally inclined to believe that he isn't especially dangerous. My explanation would be that he had on him some kind of dark-spirit-in-a-bottle that he could use to protect himself in case of an attack from a spiritual entity or maybe a sorcerer, but I might very well be mistaken, so we must stay on guard and keep a close watch on him.

Nevertheless, I think like you that the key to solve our actual problems is to use the magical power of the green spirit that has decided to come to our help. But before trying anything on Flax, I think we should turn our consciousness inward, make contact with the spirit that is now inside us, and ask for its knowledge and advice about the situation.

[Strik3r]

turn our consciousness inward, make contact with the spirit that is now inside us, and ask for its knowledge and advice about the situation.

+1

Sure, lets do that.
We're not guaranteed to get anything useful out of it, as i doubt most lesser spirits are going to be cognizant, let alone as intelligent as great spirits such as Nami and her siblings are.
But it doesn't hurt to try.

[King Zultan]

turn our consciousness inward, make contact with the spirit that is now inside us, and ask for its knowledge and advice about the situation.

+1
+1

The best way to deal with a possession is to hit the possessed person with a shovel but since we don't have one we'll have to find another way to deal with the problem.

[Quaksna]

. . .

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Before planning anything, first thing's first, you need at least one listener, so you decide to free Flax.

You approach the crazed man, and try to lay your hands onto him. He seems not concerned at all.



As soon as your fingers touch his head however, the warrior starts screeching, and strikes you with his flailing arms. Feeling the indisputably enhanced strength once again, you're knocked back.



No serious injuries, but not very pleasant feeling either. You try to antagonize the spirit by words, but once again, to no effect.

You grew mad and impatient throughout this night enough already, but this is it. You stand up, grip the man firmly and chant.



You're receiving blows left and right, but you don't loosen, and relentlessly cast the spell. This did affect the spirit.



Flax fell onto the snow like a cone falls from the tree. Despite being awake before, he's unconscious now, just like Sas. But you don't have time for that. You slap him.



You can see he's waking up, so you do the same with Sas, while holding their hands.



"He... Eh?" the warrior mumbles. "What's g... Where am..."



"Spirits. Spirits are rampaging, and you're lucky you're back to senses again!"

"Wh... What?"

"First they got Sas, I fixed him, then you took out some potion..."



"Eh...? I don't reme..."

He spots the vial in the snow.



As it was open, a lot of the potion was spilled out, but a small portion remained at the bottom.

"Surely it couldn't be that bad..." said Flax, slowly bending his back up to sit.



"It was." you say, looking at the vial together with him. "Drink it. I can manage Sas, but I don't want to wrestle with you again..."



Sas regained consciousness, and looks rather confused.



"So what's the spirit deal?" asks Flax. "My head hurts..."



"They're fleeing, for some reason. Bewildered, scared... Don't understand it fully yet..."

"But why are they bothering us?"

"Hold on. I got one right here, I'll try and find out more. If something, however bad it is might happen, you need to keep holding my hand. Understood?"

Both companions nod.







You delve back into the spirit world, to interrogate the spirit. Crackantler is circling your soul, watching you both. The spirit doesn't seem bothered by the wraith.

You speak to it. But it doesn't respond. It clearly reacts to your words, but doesn't seem to be capable of speech.



"This one isn't going to talk." you think. You examine it further, and it starts to click.

"This is a spirit of the land. A consciousness, presence linked to a place, a location. It marks a sacred ground... The land itself must be disturbed... Over there where they're coming from."








You revert back. Sas is scared, Flax maintains his firm look but can't hide worries either.



"How would I explain..." you start. "Those spirits seem to originate from a sacred site, but were driven off... So they're rightfully angry."



"The place seems to be in that direction..." you point, "and..."

"Wait, wait." Flax interrupts you. "You wanna go in there?"

"I didn't say that!" you retort. "That's what we must now decide."



"What drove them off?" asked Sas.

"Can't tell. These spirits can't talk, or don't want to."

"And you know where exactly they could be from?"



"No. I don't know sites in these parts. Can't say how far it is, what kind of a place it is... Nothing, I'm sorry."

A moment of silence, as you're all deep in your thoughts, thinking.





"Well I don't know about shaman lore and whatnot..." says Flax, "But this seems like something unjust is going on, and that's not right. I would like to fix that."

You didn't expect this response from him.



"But then again, what do I know. It's dangerous either way, but... I'll leave this one on you, Black. What should we do?"



Four eyes are looking into yours, and they seek an answer.


What do you want to do?

[King Zultan]

Let us go see what's scaring all the spirit.