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[WonderPsycho]

thanks, also back home, gonna try and do some of my turn tonight with the time I have and such and then just relax the rest of the night

[WonderPsycho]

another day, another time to play my turn and hopefully finish it up, or who knows how this will go, let's see where the adventuring party of mine will wind up now

[WonderPsycho]

Arla's Journal

Hello, my name is Arla, I know I am cutting it quick for introductions because who we are as a traveling party of "animal people" (for you outsiders may know us as) doesn't really matter
in the travels we are going on.. Animal people? this journal seems to be written by a animal person, one could imagine what races of animal people these three were..
but to think of it, you've seen a adventuring party of three animal women before, a Lynx, a Coyote, and a Black Bear, could this old journal be related to that
adventuring party you saw in the past??



but since we're cutting introductions quick I'm Arla as you all know from reading the start of this,







I mean hey I don't like putting effort in some stuff I own and other jargon, but it would be a huge damn shame to waste this journal and huge waste
to do nothing with it, but whatever I am not that much of a good writer anyways..



my other partner here is my long time friend Opra (even if she finds friendship to be a bit of a "burden" whatever that means), she is quite experiened with dealing with some dealing with some threats that may rip us apart
during our travels, so she will mostly help us out on defending against whatever Blighted, hostile wildlife and beasts and etc maybe out there on our travels.







and last and not least my friend from Dwarven civilization "The Walled Dye" I think is what that civilization is called? Solon, a great spearswoman
who is quite put off by family but eh, she is also quite the stubborn intellectual (tho she tends to consider some ideas), though I feel that sort of closed minded stubborness may have come from the fact
she have been living in a dwarven fortress in the icey tundras for quite a while, having to deal with and I quote "a few ignorant dwarves" when it comes to intellectuality
but I ain't no nerd like the wide 'yote she is. the fact "Arla" mentions "'yote" kind of hints at more evidence it maybe that same adventuring party you saw pass by in your hometown in the past,
but the fact you found this old journal randomly out in a overran blighted hamlet makes you think... what happened to these animal adventurers? and how did the traveling party leader lost her journal?







next pages on the journal are some sketch illustrations that seemed to be sketched in a way of them being copied off of a map of Orid Xem,
each of the locations the sketches illustrate what seems to be the homes of the three travelers, since as stated before Arla said that Solon was originally from a dwarven fortress in the tundras and are most likely that
because of what Arla seemed to have written next that you have not read yet.. As seen in these sketches these are our former homes, I put a emphesis on 'former'
as for the travels we are going on...

we are traveling to nomadically leave this area to possibly maybe live somewhere more safer and as faraway from The Omon Blight as possible, even if it maybe dying down but in other places I've heard..
it has not died down, all I know is that the landscapes near the beaches of Orid Xem is a huge mess thanks to the necromancers and The Omon Blight.. we plan to go where the travels take us to gets as far away from the Blighted Zones as possible
maybe settle down as somewhere more safer away from the Blighted Zones and rest and relax there for the rest of our lives, maybe start a little something of our own.. a new civilization for us indigenous animal peoples to live and aspire our own cultures,
make trades with the humans and dwarves, not sure about the elves as much as I feel..

those elves really kind of act like a cult of nature then really even actually caring for the ecosystem, indoctrinating our peoples to join their cult to
slaughter those who "hate nature" but i don't know if any of us should even trust those elves, even tho they maybe much smaller now with their settlements
being mainly in The Blighted Zones, hopefully I will get my dream of a civilization for our united peoples one day in Orid Xem.. or if not atleast I died trying and my beliefs are left out in the open for any to read to try and get this goal accomplished..







As I stand here at the human castle that I guess I have been living at a bit for now for safety away from the blighted, with my companions now here after
having travels for miles to reach me at this castle here... it's now time to travel, and find or make a new home for ourselves that's far away from the undead beasts of The Blighted Zones!





Also should note me and my companions aren't the only ones traveling here, I brought with my cat "Linx" all while Solon brought her two huskies, a female hunting dog named "Id" and a normal non-trained male husky dog companion named "Stodir"



and it seems the human engraver Setduk seems to be moving to check out something or going somewhere I'm not sure, while I may have noticed them moving there, I also realized I originally didn't notice the gem cutter Zulur being next to us..



I'll ask some stuff over to them later, I wanna talk to Setduk first..



so much for considering friendship to be a "burden"



after some chattering between Solon and Opra, Opra then started petting my cat, yeah yeah I know you like my cat Opra but ok



while the other two just well.. chattering around like they are, my cat then head-bumps my feline legs, what is it Linx? what attention do you want..?

Tried asking Linx how he was doing but he just continues to head bump into me, Linx you silly little feline, I know you want to play but I don't want to play with you right now, I wanna speak to a human resident.



while Solon and Opra are chatting about... whatever they are talking about (something scary or something? I don't know) I greet myself to Setduk beginning my conversation with them..



as soon as I ask Setduk how they were feeling today, they started looking a bit somber I believe in their facial expression and just said to me "I don't understand why they have to be that way.." and started walking away to somewhere else..?
is he even ok? actually I shouldn't be surprised since all of the blighted thrall chaos that has been happening in Omon Obin and some parts or half of The Empire of Peeks (my home civilzation)... I am not done chatting with them tho.. I want some directions and to learn about any troubles that maybe near the area that we may need to watch out for while we travel..

Unfortunately I wasn't able to catch up with him and I sort of lost him as he went to somewhere else into the castle, seems he really did not want to talk at all.

So I decided to ask the cook at this castle if they know anything about the troubles and directions..





according to the cook, in the area they got criminals, bandits, armies on the march, beasts and a missing treasure.. of course things in The Empire have been quite a mess and have been going down the shitter..
so I should be aware of where these things (except for the treasure which is really just a treasure that was stolen from the empire rather then a danger to avoid) maybe so me and my friends could avoid said dangers...



right after telling me about the armies, the cook ran off to somewhere else, by the Gods, it's like no one wants to really talk here and everyone seems to maybe be a bit hugely busy to keep the castle running and safe considering alot of things happening in The Empire, I also heard some commotion of a surgeon
in the castle has gone enraged as well so... I guess we should get to leaving here sooner maybe..





and so I decided to ask for directions for example a necromancer tower like Massiveshoot for us to avoid, we got some details from a random castle resident on where it is, so good to know to avoid and such, but since everyone here seems to be super busy, we should go ahead and get going right now.. or else whatever surgeon that went mad here, starts causing a massive
ruckus and might get us or something







with all of that castle exploring over... we do not know what happened to Solon's other husky Stotir, all we know is that dog have gotten lost in the castle while we were chatting with people, and exploring the castle a bit before we leave, so now we only have my cat Linx and
Solon's hunting husky Id now, quite shame we already lost one of our pets but simply getting them lost at castle we met up at..

anyways right now, we decided to go check into town at The Combat of Matches before we get started into leaving and start heading south to more mountainous lands away from The Blighted Zones.



this place seems quiet... too quiet..



It seems like the town hall of this empire town seems to be abandoned... like maybe the population here decided to evacuate right during when the omon blight chaos was at it's reach and was going crazy all over the place as it crossed over into The Empire of Peeks..
the inside of thise place was dusty and old, we can go and take what we can get in here and just get into heading south anyways, this town has no one who maybe still living here..



checking out what loot maybe here, there is no food or drink, only loot we could find is armor, clothing adn weapons, in that case, some silver armor and silver weapons, I decided to take a silver battleaxe from here cause I though the weapon could come in handy probably, maybe should also get that
other silver battleaxe as well.

looking around here I noticed this place has a little closed hatch on the floor... and me being the smart to know this... I do not want to go down that hatch to see whatever horrors may still lurk down there..
really do not want to end up like one of those horror literature protagonists who decided to check out a dark and creepy dungeon or basement inside a house or abandoned building they are checking out only to get eviserated by whatever lurks down there..



and with that we are now leaving down to the south, to finally get away as far away from the blight as we can, and like I said earlier, I decided to take the silver great axe that I mistook for a another silver battleaxe, with me too, just for safe keeping... now let's leave this weird ghost town..



TO THE SOUTH WE GO!!!









We decided to take a small pit stop at another hamlet's town hall, aptly named "The Lavender Coasts" hopefully this place is still active and in order and doesn't have any blighted roaming the halls there.. and maybe there's some more supplies we can get there if it's abandoned and no one's there
or something like that, or if there are people there..





On other news Opra and Solon sort of got in a bit of a argument, while I was mainly sort of distracted on getting us traveling down to the south, I wanna ask how those two are feeling
right now..











So after chatting with Solon and Opra, Opra feels quite alright as she told me despite feeling quite insulted by the argument she had with Solon, Solon on the other hand,
seems quite glum and sad about it.. thought both have been enjoying the adventure so far, but I hope Solon feels better later, well.. actually I went ahead on wanting to help Solon feel better since she seems a bit upset about the argument she had with Opra



It seems she was already calm, but assumed I seemed stressed myself with my response... aaaghh!! I suck trying to tell stress and wanting to help people! damn my poor understanding!



out of myself on wanting to calm myself down on my low self-esteem I chose to comment on the weather to Opra, but she was too busy petting Linx, and did not reply I did not mean to make this convo more awkward I guess then it was earlier but here we are..



anyways let's hope there's some people in this town hall, though it seems to be be just as quiet as the last hamlet, so I got no high hopes for finding others here, like maybe some others we could probably get to
go along with us on our journey or whatever but whatever, let's hope there maybe some valuables here maybe..



Just as I expected empty like the last one.. welp let's check out some loot.



no loot that we need, there was only more armor, clothing and some weapons again, but i already have enough weapons, I feel like we need some more food drink and healing potions maybe to bring with us on our long travels hopefully, let's check main town.. hopefully we find no blighted there..





As we started heading to the main residence, I started to get a little hungry and thristy so I decided we should stop for a bit before we got into the main residence, and I decided to take some drinks and enjoy some food I have with me
to keep myself sated..



so after drinking some water from my waterskin and eating up a nice prepared giant bluejay spleen meal, we finally walked into the ruined residences.. I hope to find some more supplies for us in here..















After checking and checking... yeah, this place is emptied out of any and all stuff that was there.. I do remember hearing about a thrall outbreak happening here that was so bad many residents here were ripped apart and torn to shreds by the Blighted..
thanks to witness accounts and survivor accounts.. well looking here it seems either all of the supplies the residents had here were taken during evacuation and maybe some remaining supplies here was all
taken by stragglers most likely.. forget this place, let's continue south









As we traveled more it began to get dark in the wilderness, so we decided to camp out, and setup a campfire so we can chat for a bit, and rest and sleep here for the night..







It seems like Solon and Opra are really not getting along very well.. well I feel Opra with her whole attitude of friendship being a "burdon" is really sort of the one starting this kind of so...
I am gonna attempt to try and calm things more again..











I swear to Armok... I just.. can't understand why these two are arguing! I swear this journey is gonna be my death bed if not by the blighted apocalypse!!









I argued a bit with Opra over the values of loyalty and friendship and friendship struck a nerve with her, it was frustrating I'll be honest but ughhh.. moving on to the next topic of the value of cooperation, and then after that I am gonna just be done and chat with Solon
before knocking myself out on bed..







As we cut the arguing and went to chat over about a different subject about a beast out on it's bloodlust on.. one of our civilizations, I expressed how it was sad, but no unexpected.. as we have been living in this mess of a world for a long while,

and as many should know this world is messed up, cause that's just how reality is... may look kind of nice on the surface but things can get very very grim the more deep you look into it, after this chatting about this subject I would then confront Opra about
the value of cooperation, in which FINALLY I found something she and I both agree on...

thankfully she understands that we of course need to cooperate, and with that I remind her that it's best not to put straws between all of us so we can cooperate with each
other in-order to survive the travels hopefully..



I then decide to finally move over to conversating with Solon, and she... still seems to be upset about her constant bickering with Opra, and now seemed
to have falsely assumed I was gonna change her mind as well, even though I was arguing against Opra on the side of her.., this is.. obviously a misunderstanding... but she doesn't realize it... how about some chit-chat with her about the surroundings of the area we are at
to keep her mind off of it? I am curious on what threats maybe roaming around here anyways...



















we talked on and on about what things maybe roaming around in these parts and such, many things really of course from criminal organizations to bandit gangs to skulking vermin and etc, I commented about how it is kind of terrifying knowing some of this stuff, and
Solon was just casual about it, while at it I tried to joke around to help lighten things up for her but she didn't reallu respond to that very well.. not that very big of a fan of jokes I guess



...so I decide to talk about some other things with her to get to know my friend better, while Linx was still head-bumping me





interesting to know Solon was a orphan, kind of sad to hear and I did not want to push more into that as I am sure she probably doesn't like to talk about it, anyways at that moment I felt beyond exhausted and needed to sleep, so then I got myself comfy and got into sleeping next to the campfire along with Opra and Solon..






it was... now the next morning.. awake at dawn.. as we intended, time to go back to traveling down south again!



and by the gods... I am hungry and thirsty for something... time to eat some nice prepared bluejay spleen and drink some water to sate my hunger and thirst before we go!



on the other hand I have appeared to have woken up... stunned..? probably cause of how damn hungry I was when I woke up but damn... let's just.. stretch a bit..



able to stand up, but still feeling these stun cramps all over me aah!, hope it goes away soon, hope I am not poisoned, Opra and Solon are just as confused a bit as I am but whatever this isn't gonna stop me!



off we go on our trail to the south!



hungry and thirsty again? what's gotten into me?



And so we have arrived at The Butcher of Stakes.. let's see what we can find here..



huh.. some noise..? is this hamlet not abandoned or overunned? well I hope so.. let's see who's inside here..



well... fuck, yeah nope going here was a bad idea! we either fight and run or die or get infected.. and I ain't risking this tomfoolery!



Jumped as quickly as I could, and drew the two battle axes I have in hand to get ready to defend myself, my companions and our pets



Dodgey fella aren't ye..? well we're gonna chop you up into little undead meat slices!!





ANOTHER DODGE? what is this thing? the undead coward..?! also you tell 'em Solon!



Poor Id was wounded by the undead blighted freak... atleast Solon was able to get a jab by stabbing them through the lower body with her spear and firmly lodging it.. Opra and I should be able to get a chance to bring a end to this blighted one!



HAHA, YEAH LINX!!



NOOO LINX!!, NO ONE EVER HARMS MY LINX LIKE THAT!!



after awhile of use trying to rip this thing to shreds, it hopped ontop of me!, oh you're gonna get cut to shreds cause you're messing with the wrong lady right here you fuck! if you even have ears!



AAGGGHH, AHHH FUCK, YOU'RE NOT KILLING ME!!!



dear Armok!





LINX!!! fucking gods... they killed my LINX, stab that undead beast to death!!!





I am gonna cut your stupid head off-





the writing seems to be now nothing but scribbles and blankness, one must imagine that... Arla here must have gotten ripped apart by a singler blighted thrall... probably a tough one too..



it's a shame that her goal of making a great civilization for her kind and other indigionous kind like herself was never achieved, infact, her and her companions chances of traveling to the south for safety
were twarted by one possibly really strong thrall that ripped them all to shreds....

Save:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HzZORqUwWxEuxefZDe1m_moK_ZkLHkKY/view?usp=sharing

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

OOC:Finished my turn here, it's not much as I feel, I felt like I could've done a bit more and probably made the turn last a bit longer if I didn't just went to check out the townhall full of two Blighted Thralls and let Arla and her companions continue on their journey south, but curiosity killed the cat (literally), and I was sort of eager to get possibly some other companions with Arla, Solon and Opra...

actually thinking I should of asked some of the humans around at the castle and chatted with them a bit more and asked a few of them to come with them, but was too eager to get them traveling right off the bat.. maybe I by next turn I'll try something similar to that, also yes I think I would like to have myself have another turn on the list please

[WonderPsycho]

Yep.. and my turn is done here, just confirming again for those who may have not read the spoiler text in the last reply

[TheFlame52]

an average blight encounter

[kesperan]

A short and tragic tale. Never underestimate the Blight!

Good luck on your turn, Eric.

[Eric Blank]

Im downloading the save now.

[WonderPsycho]

good luck Eric

[Eric Blank]

Spoiler: Four Curses (click to show/hide)

In an abandoned house in the hamlet of Rapidfilled, two cloaked figures meet. One tall and thin, one short and powerful, though crawling on the floor with useless hands and feet. The taller said to the shorter, "I brought the equipment you asked for, but I could only obtain communion wine from the temple."

"Fine," replied the shorter in a low, clearly frustrated tone, "we will not need more. Let me show you how to keep it. Pour it on the ground here." She dug a shallow hole in the sandy floor with her otherwise useless hands

"In- err, why"

"Just follow my instructions."

The young man did, not wanting to anger his benefactor further. The dwarven woman leaned over the pool and whispered a prayer.

"Now fill all of your mugs and skins with it in turn."

The follower did so, and amazingly, each container was filled to the fullest.

"This is a gift from our gods, do not forget it. Now we leave, while the sun is high. Help me pull up my cloak."

"Will we be going straight to your coven?"

"No, Vanod, patience. We must first acquire something to mix with that wine."

The two set off, painstakingly slowly but relentlessly, to the south and then west, taking care to avoid goblin patrols and trenches. The woods were alive with the creatures, but of animals there were mostly ravens and buzzards. After several days they came to the Calm Dunes, and on the southern edge they found a well-hidden camp, now abandoned.

"Take what you can from the bags here, arm yourself."

The man did as instructed, though most of the armor was copper, and only a bronze battleaxe and copper buckler were left for him.

"The kobolds here are long dead, we don't have to fear retribution."

"Kobolds? Really? I thought those were just fairy tales."

"They are but fairy tales now."

Vanod looked back on the streaks of dark-stained clay with apprehension, before following Ingish, who was already crawling tirelessly across the desert sands westwards. The pair stopped at many abandoned hamlets to loot what equipment they could, but they avoided every fort or castle. "Too risky, too well guarded." Ingish said. In the abandoned monastery of Strapscuffled they took books from the temple. "No one will take care of them here, they will all rot, we will make copies of them at our library in the coven." Ingish had explained. Nearby was a statue with a pedestal at its base. The statue depicted Tokda, the goddess of laws, oaths and marriage. On the pedestal was a small icosahedral orthoclase die. "Roll it." Ingish instructed.

Vanod picked up the die, read from the pedestal the prayer of Tokda, and rolled the die across it. The face showed a four-pointed star. Vanod felt a soothing sensation cross his body, and every little cut and bruise from his journey had disappeared in an instant.

Stunned, Ingish exclaimed, "Let me try it."

Vanod held her up to the pedestal, and she scooped the die into her limp hands and said the prayer, and released it. It landed on the four pointed star! Ingish could feel the numbness of her limbs recede and her scarred face flush with fresh feeling, and strength returned to her fingers once more as she clenched her fists. "Blessings!" she shouted cheerfully, "Put me down, let me walk!" Vanod did so, and after stumbling for a time she gained her footing, and could walk again. They spoke another prayer to the goddess, left the die on her pedestal, and continued their journey around the mountains of the Bearded Horn.

Not far to the south-west was a necromancers' tower, abandoned and looted. But some of the pyramids and towers surrounding it still contained equipment. The duo searched through these, and Vanod came out of it with a full suit of bronze armor, and Ingish with a sword and shield. Further south still was the necromancer tower of Farmpuzzling, which they found with most of its tomes intact. They took those, too. Late the following night they came to their first destination; Boltspumpkin.

In the courtyard they met a Warrior of Udir, Zefon, who asked them about the purpose of their visit. "We brought books to donate." Ingish explained, "We found them in the monastery of Strapscuffled, to the north, by the hamlet of Viperpigs. The monastery has been abandoned, but its shrine still contains a die. The goddess offers blessings of healing."

"Well, write all that down, and find a place in the keep to leave your donations." the warrior responded. "The monk will sort it out."



Inside, they found everyone asleep. Ingish instructed Vanod to choose several of the books they had found and leave them on a pedestal in the next room. He selected several tomes he had memorized; Ices, A Meditation On The Monastery, and the Book Of The Village. Meanwhile, Ingish surreptitiously acquired what they had come for, and met him by the door. "I found the reagents. Let's go." Ingish led the way back through the courtyard, and out into the woodland beyond. Then, she turned north, and led the way to a smattering of tomes and artifacts seemingly abandoned outside. "This is the cursed horde. The artifacts here must be returned, but we need a tome of necromancy. Find something with an ominous title including death or the end."

"How about 'Mortality?'" Vanod replied.

"That will do. Don't read it. Here, take this one too." Ingish handed him another tome entitled 'The End Might Help.' "We shouldn't need more, we really only need one. We should find a die, though."

Soon enough, Ingish found one; Ochreswords, a native gold icosahedral die. She rolled it, and suddenly transformed into a giant echidna. Frustrated, she growled and pushed her backpack towards Vanod. "Uhm, Ill handle it," he stuttered, trying not to laugh. He folded up Ingish's clotihng and put her equipment into her backpack. "Where to now? Just lead the way, I guess." Ingish began plodding slowly, awkwardly in her new bestial form, and Vanod trailed along behind her, carrying both their sacks. "Never seen a giant echidna before," he muttered. "should have known theyd exist too, I guess." Ingish only huffed and stamped her feet as she moved. Dawn was breaking in the east, and she was now walking towards it.

After a week of crossing forests and hills and finally tundras, of Ingish slaughtering any small animals that got in her way, the curse reverted on the tundra of heroes and Ingish dressed herself, and by evening they had arrived at their destination; Icefury. The fortress lay in ruins, the once-strong population slaughtered without mercy save for a few survivors and some necromancers. None dared interfere with their mission, under the watchful eyes of the captain of the guard. Here, the leader of the coven instructed Vanod to roll the die, but it had gone missing. Somewhere between the museum and the tundra, the artifact had vanished. "Then find another die, from another shrine." The high priestess instructed. "It matters not from what god. Find it, profane their temple, and then read the books of death. If the gods are with us, you will become a werebeast, and you can then help carry out our revenge. Eternal life and ultimate power will then be yours, and ours. We won't be caught off-guard again."

The duo left the temple, exited the fortress, and travelled south towards the Realm of Silver, where the nearest shrines were to be found. Soon they found one intact, and Vanod performed the prayer of the god. Once. Twice. And with only minor hesitation, thrice. A voice boomed in his head, "Your fate is sealed." Along with it came images of a hideous feline beast, ripping out his throat. When he regained his composure, he met Ingish's gaze. "I-I've been cursed. I think I'm a were-beast. A... Cat?"

"Good." Ingish looked behind her at the thin sliver of the moon. "We have about two weeks or so until the moon is full again. Until then, we spread the other blessing. And don't worry, we know how to cure you. I'll show you how to mix the ingredients."

After mixing the wine, the pair made for town, and started to work. In times of great uncertainty and fear and desperation, oaths that otherwise would go unspoken become commonplace, and people from all walks of life drink deeply of any snake oil brought before them. A few copper a cup, or a pocket knife in trade and the mirracle cure and prevention for the blight was made available to anyone willing to try it. They did not, of course, disclose the side-effects. Nor did those who realized what they had done, too afraid then of the repercussions. After two weeks walking door to door, the full moon came, and Ingish awaited in the woods away from Vanod during his transformation.

The pain was unbearable at first as his bones cracked and grew, and tendons torn, and skin disfigured. The beast came over him like a torrent of emotion and agony, and when it was finished, it hungered. Vanod found their appettite easy to satiate, exactly as they pleased, as their wills were of the same mind in this.



Like a shadow the dark figure crept into each village, glowing orange eyes all that betrayed its presense. They struck house after house, killed and ate and bit. When others came to the defence of the victims, it leapt with unmatched grace around, through, and out of the crowds and hovels. Its murder spree completed, it fled into the hills and woods. But its terror did not end there. Those victims who died, and sometimes others, shuddered and began to move just as it passed. Death and the blight descended on the villages as once-dead thralls arose again and renewed their hunger for the living. But those who drank the cure were spared. The blight ignored them. The beasts their less faithful neighbors became, did not. Those undead who were unafflicted by any of these curses, cared not but to slaughter those left in mortal forms who dared travel the wildernesses they now claimed. Four curses brought forth the apocalypse, four armies became the bringers of the end times, and mortal men at last knew true terror.

So, uh, I've been having some fun. We're only just beginning, however.

[kesperan]

Oh my…. Ala save us!

[Eric Blank]

Spoiler: Four Curses, Part II (click to show/hide)

Vanod transformed every month, and every month spread the werecurse and raised the dead. Ingish peddled the cure and carried the wealth accumulated. It was easy in hamlets stricken by the blight. Desperate peasants wanted protection from their neighbors. Dwarven hillocks, where they were inhabited at all, were seemingly universally spared from the blight, while typically being populated by human refugees. They weren't as desperate, and were more suspicious, but ultimately a few would be greedy or paranoid enough.

(found these two fighting in a dwarven hillock. No idea what they were fighting over.)

Many hamlets in the greater valley of the Perfect Horns were still completely abandoned, some held only goblins claiming lordly titles, reminiscing about simpler times.



The region surrounding the museum was rife with blight and fear, but also fearless adventurers who had been unsuccessfully battling the blight for centuries now. One such was the witch hunter Kothvir, lord of his own hamlet. Though he lorded over corpses.



After meeting back up with Ingish, Vanod explained his encounter to her. "What should we do?"

"We leave him. He's too powerful for us, too skilled. No armor will stop the blade he's said to carry but adamantine." Ingish looked worriedly over her shoulder. "He would hunt 'witches' like us. What exactly did you tell him?"

"That I was an adventurer seeking fortunes for the museum and hunting the blighted. I didn't mention the cure."

"Well, lets hope we're long gone before somebody else does."

The Pair continued their rounds northwards, and encountered more blight, more corpses, and more terrified peasants in every hamlet. In Shootegg, Vanod had just sold a mug of the cure to one such inhabitant when through the door behind them a blighted thrall shambled in, and stood unmoving in the center of the room between them, seemingly staring at nothing. "See?" Vanod said, "Nothing to fear." He then lopped off the thrall's head before turning back to the other man, who had been attacked by this very thrall. "You murderer! You killed her!" the man exclaimed.



"You do realize that it just got back from murdering your other friend, don't you? That it would kill anyone else it saw besides those who drank the same cure? 'She' was gone, the thralls are just ghouls searching for mortal flesh."

"That doesn't make it right! You said this was a cure, that they could be cured!"

"I did not. 'Cure' is the word used for these sorts of things, yes. But it's more like 'prevention.' The blighted are still doomed, they can't be cured." Before leaving, Vanod paused again. "If you don't have the stomach for putting down your neighbors, then you should develop the nerve to feed them the cure too. Feed them your blood, mixed into their alcohol if you have to. Protect the married couples and children, until they're old enough or have had enough children. Don't prey on them, use livestock. It's easy. My companion does it all the time. You're a vampire now. You don't need to fear the blight, so you must protect those who do. This is how we will save the world." As he left the man sitting on the floor in shock, Vanod passed the corpse of the man "Togi" had just torn apart. His right arm and leg were missing, his brain pulped. Only a few more hamlets stood between them and the gulf of the Peaceful Waters, and these were passed through without incident.

At the city of Incenseorder, a mix of goblins, dwarves and humans could be found, many among them warriors, and many willing to trade for any cure to the blight. However, in castle, they were greeted with immediate suspicion. The wolf lord of the keep immediately recognized their ploy. "I recognize that smell." the wolf man announced before they could even speak. "That's the blood of the beast, from the museum you're carrying. Why are you here?"

"We come bringing a tonic to help prevent the spread of the blight, and protect the uninfected from it." Ingish explained. The wolf man only reached for his weapon.

"By turning people into vampires? Unacceptable. You will leave at once, and you are banished from my lands henceforth."

Not wanting to start a fight here, Ingish motioned to Vanod to leave. The wolf's steady gaze followed them as they closed the door, and one of his strongmen escorted them out of the castle and beyond the walls. They had accomplished something, at least. After leaving Incenseorder, Ingish retired to Icefury with most of their accumulated wealth. Vanod took on the task of converting the north of the world alone, albeit not unarmed. Killing thralls and peasants had given him some great skill in combat. His first task was to head north-west, towards the dwarven settlements around Blueoceans. But before that, he encountered a unique obstacle. A series of wooden palisades had been erected across part of the land, and behind it two abandoned forts.

The palisades were far from complete, with large gaps between sections. Only a scarce few dwarves inhabited it. Several agreed to buy the drink off of him, at the least. Just behind the palisades' apparently intended entrance gates lay a smattering of workshops, accompanied by trade depots and once even what looked like living quarters. Beyond, in one of the fortresses, surrounded by a moat of lava with burning coal on its edges, was a temple complex, with one structure surrounded by cages, containing live dwarves, apparently trapped as youths and raised without names or language. These tortured souls could not be released. There were no signs of their captors, so Vanod moved on.

There were seven hillocks in all south of Blueoceans, and the humans living there told vanod the "fort" itself was abandoned now. The people here were untroubled, unafraid of the turmoil of the rest of the world, and almost none were gullible enough to be tricked into taking the drink. However, Vanod did encounter one interesting stranger; another wolf person, female this time, in the civic mound of one of the hillocks. Before Vanod had even spoken to anyone, she elbowed the side of one of the men present and pointed at Vanod. Again, it seemed, he had been fingered for a spy by someone's sense of smell. Neither figure made any move to approach him, however, so after briefly chatting with one of the locals about the fortress and trade, he made his way out, and was not followed.

On the way back, Vanod took a quick detour suggested by one of the locals, to the fortress of Ancientknowledge the Library of Secrets, isolated on its island. This meant, of course, that he had to swim, and pack a waterproof keg for the blood wine. The swim was uneventful, at least, the waters calm and placid, and Vanod, untiring, made the journey at full pace in under two hours. The fort itself was harder to find. The forest was alive with beasts, giant and average in size, mostly ocean-dwellers crawling inland looking for food. The jungles grew thicker and darker as he approached. High atop a hill lay a wagon, untouched as sometimes was the case with dwarven settlements cut down early. But this fort was said to have been quite the metropolis, deep underground. It took a few hours to finally spot an entrance at the base of the cliffs. A dark, overgrown tunnel lead to a trade depot still packed with goods, and inside lay another labyrinth of tunnels sprawling out from a central staircase. After several minutes wandering down the stairs, Vanod finally came upon a figure in the dark. The figure introduced themself as he dungeon master of the fortress, and guided him to their famed library halls, where almost a dozen others stood around a gold statue garden discussing books and the meaning and secrets of life and death. All of those that yet lived here were necromancers. All others, apparently, had perished or migrated to other sites. The scholars took only passing interest in his plight to save the world from the blight, and only two took the concoction, apparently not for personal consumption. They offered nothing in return, but this was little trouble for the man overburdened by too many sacks of coins. He fingered this as a place not to bother with when the moon came that month. The hillocks offered plenty of victims.

When the full moon came, it came with it, and Vanod guided it to each hillock in turn. They entered many dwellings, attacked the inhabitant nearest the door, often ripping out their throat, and then baited the defenders out. They then took refuge on the slope above the doorway, and as defenders came out they attacked them in turn, again aiming to rip out as many throats as possible, and where not possible, to injure their legs, leaving them crippled. The cat-like nature of the beast made this vertical battle and evading retaliation trivial. The dead Vanod then raised, and they turned on their former neighbors before fleeing the site. After the moon had waned, surviving werebeasts would be exiled or killed. The army of rabid defenders grew.

Vanod then crossed the gulf to the central peninsula, and began the task again. Most of the sites were abandoned, but those that weren't were often blight-stricken, and desperation was high. When the moon came again, Vanod had returned to his own home, and there he found the people who had exiled him years ago for his heresy, in the middle of a festival at the mead hall. Vanod struck, and bit many of them, while backpedaling out and around the building, attacking each fresh opponent while his victims lay on the ground, legs bleeding or mangled. Dozens fell, and then the beast vanished into the hills. Just when the worst seemed to have passed, again those who had died of their wounds arose and transformed into beasts, and the terror began again, tenfold.

After a few months of this, Vanod finally conceded that he knew of no more places to visit in the north, and his task complete, he began the trek south at last. On the return trip, he visited several more sites, including forts staffed by mercenaries and bandits. These made Especially good killing fields, as the warriors knew how to defend themselves. With each fight Vanod grew ever stronger, and the armies of the undead and cursed grew. When he finally returned to Icefury, he met Ingish in the tavern, and then they proceeded to the temple to meet with the priestess again. Once Vanod had explained his adventures and produced the books he had looted from mead halls and keeps across the land, the priestess gave them their last assignment. "A new sanctuary for our order has been founded to the north. Go there and bring with you all of our artifacts and texts. The new fortress there has been ordered to construct a library for their archival. We will meet you there, when our own tasks have been completed."

Their final task at hand after more than a year, the two packed their equipment, retrieved the map to the location, and began their trek. Overnight they stayed in a castle keep just beyond the tundra. The keep was deserted save a pair of undead thralls they had resurrected months prior, making it their new home. While talking over their plans, suddenly one of their hosts shrieked and burst into a puff of smoke, vanishing entirely. The other did the same moments later. Suddenly Ingish was overcome with a sense of intense dread and doom, and before she could even speak, she too burst into smoke, leaving her equipment on the floor. In an instant of panic, Vanod drew his axe and looked around for the assailant, but found nothing. Suddenly, his world went black, he felt his head hit the floor, and the next thing he knew, he was in an eerie glowing abyss surrounded by jagged black stone, fire, the smell of brimstone, the sound of screams, and countless demonic figures. The monsters descended on him, and tore him apart.

When many months had passed without word, the priestess sent an expedition to look for them. After many months, only Vanod's corpse could be found, their packs abandoned on the cold stone floor, and their pack animals, like Vanod, seemingly struck dead without cause. This news was brought forth to the priestess at her new throne, along with their treasures.

I'm done with my adventuring, once I get this pile of junk to the new fortress site. I had to put down Vanod and Ingish, and those other two that were in the castle first, and start a new courier adventurer, because anytime they were in LOS to any other creatures, the game would slow to a crawl to the point of being unplayable. Can't tell you how unbearably painful it was just to march into that castle and put everything on a pedestal, but once there was only Ingish left (She had most of the bags) the FPS was actually playable enough I could do it. Also, apparently undead disappear in a puff of smoke when you use the exterminate command. Canonically, they got smote by an angry god.

Ive confirmed whatever issue with FPS I was getting was exclusively related to those two after my adventures. Any other adventurer, including new or unretired ones, in the present save or the one I downloaded, are unaffected, and it doesn't seem to be affecting the save in any other visible way. I burned Vanod's body just to prevent him from being resurrected and causing the issue further. I still have no idea the actual source of the issue, my assumption is the game was trying to make too many relationship/"friend or foe" checks, maybe related to the shear number of people they had spoken to, interacted with and fought with. It was much worse with Ingish around, which is why, actually, she got left behind way before I was done in the Realms of Silver Region. She then disappeared from where I asked her to wait outside Icefury so I had to retire/unretire to find her again.

Killing lots of people and spreading mayhem was loads of fun, but the game was getting so slow I basically HAD to stop. Couldn't be in line of sight to more than 8-10 people before it slowed to less than one turn per second

[kesperan]

Sounds like you’ve made the world a very interesting place… scores of new vampires, thralls and were-cats?

Should make it more fun for the next lot of adventurers!

[WonderPsycho]

nice work Eric, now the world is not only filled with undead infectious thralls, but filled with werecats and vampires as well

nice story

[Eric Blank]

Dont worry, the vampires at least will only pester you in fort mode.

I'll upload the file in the morning.

[Eric Blank]

Ok here's the save

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W7Pc5D4LpNkFu78VZlyIhTinL0KNjyCr/view?usp=drive_link

I could have uploaded it to DFFD if i uploaded it as a 7zip file, but I figure not as many people use 7zip.