You grab the detached head of the Ralqarth. It mindlessly snaps at you, acidic blood and spittle flying from its jaws. The pain is easily ignored as you focus your Will on dominating the creature. You can feel its presence, its hunger and rage, flickering now but growing stronger with each moment. You try and strain, but the connection between your Will and the beast refuses to form.
In frustration you roar, and plunge your sword into the Ralqarth’s skull. Suddenly you feel your connection to the beast snap into place. It stops trying to bite at, lying still and dormant. You feel a grin spread across your face.
You are greeted with wide eyes and berths as you return to the captured compound, riding atop the Ralqarth. It (she, as it turns out) serves as an extension of will as long as your sword remains stuck in the beast's body. The Ralqarth is an even better hunter than you, and together you take down a Mammoth-Gore, a pack of Tevvin, large cat like creatures with poisonous barbs it can shoot at will, and what the pirates called a Doom-Chicken.
The pirate guides in particular react somewhere between sheer terror and unadulterated greed.
“That. . . beast, the Ralqarth, has a bounty of at least fifty million credits, enough to buy several starships at least!” Yagarb exclaims. Yagarb is rather short and is missing a few digits from his left hand. He was one of the pirate’s “rangers” taking prisoners out into the jungle to harvest what they could before they died.
You lean close to Yagarb. “The beast is mine. You have no say in what I do with it.” Yagarb’s face turns pale. Seeing he got the message, you turn and look at the gathering crowd. You gesture at the heavily laden tank of carcasses, fruit, and other botanical treasures. “Can anyone figure out if any of that is edible?”
Well you have your wealth, a basically unstoppable war-beast, and are pleasantly full of delicious Doom-Chicken. You bid goodnight to Ileia and Susa, who has been asking you many questions and is begging for a baby Ralqarth of her own (You were able to push it off until she was older, before Ileia’s glare melted through your forehead.) A shuttle to Susara, the dominant floating city on Salicore, would arrive in the morning.
You have some time to meditate and reflect on your experiences.
You gain:A. One with the Jungle: Wild creatures and dangerous plants will ignore you or react favorably to you.
B. Eye of the Ralqarth: See and sense living beings a hundred yards around you, even through walls and other obstacles.
C. Wild Speed: Dramatically increase your speed for a time with an expenditure of Will.
Also, do you decide to keep the Ralqarth? Keep in mind you will need to keep your sword inside of it to act as a control rod for the time being.