The Bastion of Lost Souls's goal is laudable, and joining them to help with that if you don't take many drawbacks has the potential for extreme comfiness and easy access to a magic system.
Comfy Necromancy options(3-5 Orbs)
A(3 Orbs):
[q]Bastion of Lost Souls
[q]Exemplar(1 Orb)
[q]Arcadia's Heart(2 Orbs)
B(4 Orbs):
[q]Bastion of Lost Souls
[q]Diamond Perfection(4 Orbs)
[q]Immersive Mode(1 Orb)
C(4 Orbs):
[q]Bastion of Lost Souls
[q]Exemplar(1 Orb)
[q]Arcadia's Heart(2 Orbs)
[q]Satan Shrugged(Mortality)(1 Orb)
[q]Immersive Mode(1 Orb)
D(5 Orbs):
[q]Bastion of Lost Souls
[q]Exemplar(1 Orb)
[q]Arcadia's Heart(2 orbs)
[q]The System(1 Orb)
[q]Hundred Mirror Shattered(1 Orb, Hundred Seeds)
[q]Last Breath of Adonis(1 orb)
[q]Immersive Mode(1 Orb)
Diary of a brooding YA Hero (Part 1): - 1990 words
Day 1:
Some guy who was even more brooding than me, offered me some capital "C" Curses. Because I was currently in a bit of trouble and the love of my life (extra points for being the daughter of the villain – what can I say, my dick is just that big) was dead, I wanted to start a new adventure. Also I had bonus points for tragic backstory that could be explained in a spinoff series. This only works if you are very handsome male though. Rock hard abs, perfect hair, sharp cheekbones, brilliant [insert improbable color here] orbs, roman nose and roguish smirk are the only words that are allowed to describe me. God forbid I am ugly or relatable to normal plebs people.
Day 1-2:
Because I am no simp, I took Tyrant. No authority will ever bind me. Also Indenture, so I will not be tied down. I am a perfect boyfriend material – I will never listen to you, and I will skip town the second I am done with my task. Also if you think I am a cruel jerk when we start dating, I would reveal my tragic backstory (TM). Then you'll realize I'm still a jerk but it's because of my tragic past so it's totally not my fault.
Day 1-3:
I saw a giant robot fighting a giant monster in the distance. I know for a fact that chicks dig giant robots, so I went there with the express purpose of stealing it. While in the town I saw a beautiful woman, who was clearly the intended love interest for this task. I mean she has purple hair, heterochromatic eyes, and purple dress. I like my leading ladies to be tough warriors but only in a sleek, not-too-muscular way, and in an outfit that is both tight-fitting and revealing to show off their slender forms.
Oh. And they should need me to rescue them at least three times. Because nothing says "strong independent woman" than someone who loses all of her wits when it's the time for me to shine.
Gisena helped me defeat the monster which was easy (I am me after all) and I had time to take a bit of a closer look at her. She was definitely not muscular enough to scare away people. She also told me that she would never scar and heals perfectly. Jackpot! It would be embarrassing to have a love interest who is a muscular woman with scars. Also no matter what genre our story takes place within, there are some basic facts that must be true.
Number one: I'll always be taller than my female love interest. That is it.
We both played a game of trying to reveal as little as possible of our backstories, but I knew for a fact that our love will blossom. The best relationships are founded on a solid basis of lies, mistaken identities, and amnesia.
Day 1-4:
The giant robot is operated by a teen named Letrizia. Because I am just a 30 year old, I think a relationship with her would be highly inappropriate. Only if I was 2000 year old vampire, this relationship would have worked. While we were on the subject of age, I quickly asked the purple side bitch (Catherine will always be the main girl) about her name and age. I was relieved to hear that she was younger than me.
No self-respecting brooding hero is lacking in personal transportation.
My female love interests must NEVER be the ones with the cars/carriages/spaceships in our relationships. But I can become some sort of older brother figure for Letrizia and use her until I can steal the robot for myself. I quickly integrated myself as her bodyguard. Not going to lie, she is cute
Day 1-5:
They asked for my name, which was a bit embarrassing because I had forgotten it. I had to improvise. My first instinct was Evil Fallen Angel Darkness Murderalot Daemon, but I think it was too long. Maybe something else. I need a subtle way to show that I'm edgy and dangerous. Perhaps a name that is one letter away from the word "demon"?
My stomach rumbled a bit so I just decided to go with Hunger. It's not like it will bind me conceptually to something I own anyway.
Day 2:
We encountered some pirates. Now I know how those stuff go. I need to fight the main guy who is also a hot brooding guy to establish dominance.
Weirdly enough it was some Sauron wannabe with black armor and some cool ass cloak. I will steal that cloak for extra swag.
I quickly killed him and also managed to get his sweet ass cloak for me. I named it the evening sky for the extra edginess. I made it to be almost as smooth as me. Ladies love smoothness.
Day 2-1:
It was fishing time. I showed Letrizia how I can fish, but it was just an excuse to flex my huge biceps when I fight with a fish that was at least 30 meters long. I knew Gisena was watching me and I was having naughty thoughts. No woman can resist those guns anyway. I need to fix my other arm, so I can do the signature "casually flexing biceps to impress the ladies" pose. I also casually cooked the fish. I was a great cook after all. I did not eat too much, I had to practice my "brooding while gazing at the distance" pose.
Day 2-2:
Letrizia showed me the inside of the giant Robot. When I touched the control panel everything started blinking and some weird sounds came from inside. I quickly liedbulshitted told Letrizia that I am the current owner and me and the robot are linked. Her sparkling eyes full of hope almost made me regret it. Almost. While she was talking about some weird shit called Rank, I was trying to hot-wire the Armament but it was all biological. Fucking hell.
Day 2-3:
We got attacked by some weirdos. Some chick wanted to fight me. Too bad she was a bit ugly so I just killed her. If she was sexy I would have let her live. Letrizia was wounded so I had to save her. She knew a lot of imperial noble ladies which can be casual booty calls while Gisena and I are separated by some misunderstanding. No romantic arc is complete without me "accidentally" cheating on her at least once.
Day 3:
We are going to the Temple of the False Moon. I need to get my strength back, so a quick trip to the incredibly dangerous place would do just the trick. Also I heard that it's a utopia with a dark secret. This was like a magnet to me.
Day 3-1:
Gisena and I talked a bit about life and stuff before the "Incident". She was a maiden and have never been in love. Jackpot! It's very important for a main female love interest to have never been kissed before the book begins.
Everyone knows that if your first kiss isn't from a teenage rock star/incredibly handsome/were-lemur/me than your life is ruined forever. As expected she wanted to hug me after I reveal my tragic backstory (TM).
Day 4:
Killed some ugly worm.
Day 5:
Asked Gisena on a date and we killed some nerd. Poor girl need to work on her stamina, one discharge and she is out. My Ring was blinking red and after a second it was rebooted with new powers over blood. Good, I want edgy powers anyway. They give flavor to my bland personality which I hide behind my abs.
Day 6:
Killed some archers
Day 7:
I met one of my rivals. He was just like me. We would have cross paths and decide our destiny together. I probably should have remembered how powerful my golden-orbed gaze is before locking eyes with my handsome rival. He penetrated me so deeply, I felt it on my soul. Yet, we continued our fight. When I had slain him finally, I decided that I will always give my uttermost in his memory. Farewell Vanreir, may your soul pierce the heaven, as it pierced my heart.
Day 7-1:
My sword started growing again. This is not a euphemism, but it means I would need two hands soon. My eyes are a window to my soul and a convenient way to show what emotion I am feeling right now. Remembering my past was like thunderous thunderclouds that flash dramatically with flashing lightning bolts of emotions.
Honestly, I can't tell if I'm having an emotion or a weather event, to be honest.
I think I need a bit of a break. I decided to go to some nearby spa resort
Day 8:
While we were traveling I was leaning on one of the heads of the Armament. It's a scientific fact that I look at least 160% sexier when I'm leaning against a piece of something. We arrived at the spa and I decided to go get some money for the hotel. I easily defeated some Rotspawn with the power of hate. Letrizia meanwhile was in the school and got some information by exploiting simps. I applauded her for the quick thinking and as a reward I would make her a magician as well. I and Gisena took the role of parents who were giving their daughter a present and it was quite nice. Sadly the good time were not meant to be.
This hotel was cursed. The master bedroom had two beds. TWO! What the fuck is this shit? How can there be awkward scene with the love interests sharing a single bed. Still, it was painful but I endured it.
Day 9:
Letrizia woke me up by screeching like a banshee that she is a wizard. Good kid, but her vocal cords are overdeveloped. We got into a private pool where I casually showed off my healed arm with the bulging muscles. Gisena immediately wanted a massage. Hah, I knew it. One look at Hunger's guns and everyone wants a piece of me.
Day 10:
I met a potential friend. Aobaru – young guy with shining teeth and beautiful hair. I lifted his shirt to see and I was right. Abs were starting to form. That guy could be my wingman. Also I like that he is redhead. The different hair color to make identification easier for the ladies.
There are three rules to being my wingman:
-you must have a different hair color than mine
-you must be handsome and have abs
-you must fall in love with my girlfriend's best friend. No one else.
So far he had 2 of the rules down. But I think I would save Letrizia for the shy girl in the corner. Aeira was her name I think. She and Letrizia would make a cute couple. I will find some princess for Aobaru. Only the best (well second best, best is for me only) for my wingman.
Day 11:
I took Aeira with me to the Temple. The cover story was that I needed her for stealth. In reality I was just shipping her with Letrizia. She is a good kid and deserves happiness. Especially after I steal her Armament. A girlfriend for an ancient eldritch war machine is a good trade in my book. While we were getting back to the Temple, Aeira asked me to fight the Rotbeast, a huge monster that threatened the spa resort. I think it would be similar to David vs Goliath but I have not finished that chapter of the bible manga so I just nodded while watching in the distance.
This was supposed to have us meet the Heathcliffe-like Viscount and the conjurer who has taken his ear, but I wanted to get a little out before the bonus wears out tomorrow. Build at the bottom as usual. Link to three here: 3
- 1750 words Vignette's Vignette 4
**** ****
Risinghurst, in the county of Henger, in the province of Klünt, was an exceptionally quiet place.
Vignette cracked the whip, the horses screamed in the fashion of dying babies, and the solid wheels of the coach rumbled over cobblestones.
They were travelling uphill, always uphill, and in the dark of the night only the moon showed their way forward, in lurid depthless gold. The town was as silent as the grave, without signs of any other living souls. Wind touched Vignette's cheeks, sliding through his visor, as cold as a stranger's hand.
The homes of Risinghurst were all packed tightly together. Each several stories high, with triangular grey-slate roofs, they looked over the roads, making narrow passages feel narrower. Their windows were shuttered with thick, dark wooden slats. There was a woman watching him, from up the hill. Round-faced, heavyset, with a thick frown she slammed her shutters shut as the carriage approached.
There was a little window between the driver's box and the inside of the carriage, with vents that could be opened by means of a little handle. He opened them now. Even in the historic fashions of this time and place, she had to have had enough time to re-dress herself after the excesses of Mrs. Hill.
"Dr. Maudlin, where shall I go? There's no one around."
Her eyes appeared, pressed to the gap. "Keep straight," she said. There was the sound of thick paper being unfolded and smoothed out. "Aim for the market square, there is a guildhall, and the castle on the cliff above, and the cathedral is between them. Our Lady of the Martyred Bride."
Even with the full moon's yellow light, it was an eerie experience, driving into the market square. Vignette hadn't appreciated just how dark night could be in a town where there was no electric lighting. There were lamp-posts around the square, but they were all unlit. The guild-hall was clearly visible, a squat, timber hall that dominated one whole face. The cathedral was recessed, a little further up the slope, a small graveyard separating it from the centre.
The horses pulled to a stop, just beyond the iron gates to the graveyard. A yew tree draped long limbs over the wall and dripped spectral magic through the paving stones into the earth below.
"We're here."
He stepped off and opened the door for her, as her guardsmen had previously, helping her down the steps. She, too, turned to look up at the cathedral. It was all sharp spires, with stony spikes and gargoyles and grotesqueries on the ledges and the gutters that descended from the darker heights. Large stained-glass windows shone with colour from a light within.
Dr. Maudlin opened the gate to a chorus of shrieking metal, and led the way up the path to the front door. Vignette couldn't help but look at the unbroken ground of the graveyard.
"Are we at risk, here? I didn't think they'd practice burials in a realm like this."
"Those graves are long since empty." She turned to look at him. Her mask was absent, he noticed. "Take your helmet off inside, and do not smile. Conduct yourself at all times as if in mourning. You have a horrible tendency to the familiar: curb that."
And then they were at the grand door. A smaller door had been cut into its face, more human-sized, and it opened when Maudlin turned the latch.
Vignette was struck by music, which had been dampened outside. He recognised it. The quintessential horror organ music, Toccata and Fugue. The congregation were kneeling, dressed in drab frocks and caps, bowing towards an altar dominated by the large organ behind it, and an image of a woman being burned at the stake that was cast in gold above it.
As one, the faces of fifty people turned to look at Maudlin and Vignette. The organ music cut off.
Dr Maudlin passed her doctor's bag from one hand to the other, plucked at a loose thread in her sleeve, idly.
"I am here."
There was a scuffling of feet, men from each row rushed to them, and in a babble of voices, they were ushered into a cloistered room off from the main church.
The largest and fattest of men, who wore a slim gold chain, introduced each of them in turn. As he progressed their clothes became more and more threadbare, and the men less full-faced.
"I am the Burgomeister, and he the Bishop. Here is the Magistrate, and there the Hayward. He the Bailiff, and he the Agent, there the Reeve, and the Steward and the Aletaster–"
"The Aletaster! And is there also the cooper, the madame and the honeywagon's nightsman?" snapped Maudlin. Her eyebrows were knitted in a frown as she addressed the burger man. "One, I note, is absent. On the first night of the most multitudinous of the Risings, where is your Lord?"
The fat man produced a small coin purse that jingled. "We are deputised to employ you, and have arranged rooms for you, Dr. Maudlin, though we did not expect your knight's man–"
"Dr. Vignette," Vignette interjected, and Maudlin did not allow the larger man to pick up steam again.
"We will visit the Viscount in the small morning, to clarify our terms or else you shall have to deal with the Rising by yourself." She snapped a finger at the Aletaster, near the end of the line. "You, direct the Outlander and I to the Inn." There were raised eyebrows and wide eyes at her announcing him, likely her intention. Still, as dismissive as she was, Maudlin did swipe the purse from the Burger man's hand, and Vignette made a sympathetic face at the audience she'd wrong-footed as he followed her out. Presumably, this was not how business was usually done.
Outside they wended down the flagstone path, and the Aletaster climbed up beside him on the Driver's box. Maudlin got her own door with a very pointed sigh, and climbed in.
It wasn't far, though, with one functioning hand, Vignette made the short trip longer. The Aletaster, who had terrible halitosis, had to take the reins when Vignette was unable to turn the horses into an alley on a sharp corner. The inn was a little further downhill from the market square and, though high up in the town, was arranged like a typical coach inn, with a stair for the coach luggage and stables arrayed opposite the main door. A sign flapped in the wind, declaring the inn 'The Treasonous Man'. A head on a pike was pictured underneath the words, in anatomical detail.
Inside, the gloom was hardly better, though at least there were a few small torches lit. Maudlin made her introductions while he loitered at the door, and gave him a hard look when she was taken upstairs by the inn-keeper's wife. He lingered for a further fifteen minutes, but it became apparent she was not returning when the inn-boy took her luggage up the same stairs.
"Did Dr. Maudlin arrange a room for me?" asked Vignette at the bar.
"No, sir."
Vignette readjusted his weight, and his heel almost slipped from under him as he stood on something hard. He caught himself, looked. A small common copper had found itself under his boot. Was the plate protecting him from destitution, from lack of shelter? Surely Risen meant that he didn't need them anymore, and that they could not be considered a harm. Perhaps he was just lucky.
"Aye, that'll get you a crust and broth, and a bunk till the small morning."
"I'll take that now."
There were small round tables in the middle of the room, and Vignette carefully sat while he waited. One other man was in the common room, at that time in the evening. Vignette gave him a nod, and smile, as he took his helmet off. The man scowled and turned away. Over his shoulder, something caught Vignette's eye.
There was a notice-board. A map of the lands surrounding Risinghurst was spread broadly and then small pins and notes had been placed over little locations. He studied the map. The place where he had landed was called the Mournful Wood, a small woodland, cut off from a larger, darker forest called the Wrathful Wood by a road connecting two villages to Risinghurst. These villages – Slaughter and Lower Slaughter – bordered a marsh, ominously called the Gravelands.
The notes all described bounties and prizes that had been patronised by the richest or most desperate people of Risinghurst. One described an infernal hound that was picking off travellers on the road to slaughter, another detailed a Banshee that had been seen on the cliffs beyond the castle, and claimed many children. The largest note described the general encampments of Risen, undealt with since the Autumnal rising: a bounty of a copper piece was attached to each paired heart and brain brought to the Reeve. There was a tally attached to the bottom right of each briefing, largest for the hound, simply titled RIP.
Victims, or those who had attempted to cash in on the prize?
He ate the watery broth quickly. He wasn't hungry, and it tasted god-awful, but he wanted to see if his digestion and body worked entirely as normal. His bunk was shared with others, in a communal bedroom on the bottom floor of the inn.
Tomorrow, he would meet the mysterious Viscount, and maybe get in some bounty hunting for the Risen around the border of the town. Heart-breaker or Mind-flayer would've been some top-quality titles if he'd had a title system like Seram in his second adventure.
With his good hand, he cupped his hand and ran it through the candle flame, before making his way to dorm. Vignette's mattress oozed when he touched it, like it had accumulated 40 years of sweat and never once been turned in all its years of service. He could almost see the tics.
An elderly gentleman sleeping in the bed opposite him rolled away from the small light he was holding, and let out a horrendous fart.
"Fuck this."
Vignette stomped back out into the night air. He took an empty sack from a hook on the stable wall. The Magenta traced along his veins then spilled out as a luminous cloak, and he ran. He was fast now, faster than a cheetah, and his steps could propel him lightly into the air, a story high with almost no effort. From the slope, he jumped onto the lower rooftops. Sure-footed he reached the outer wall. The Blade of Fell Fen caught the moonlight as he flipped over the ramparts, and the plate slowed his fall as he fell.
He darted out into the warren of the low-town, and set to work.
**** ****
[ ] Resilient [2 Copper]
[ ] One [1 Copper]
[ ] Ten Thousand [1 Jade]
[ ] Stitch in Time [1 Platinum]
[ ] Step Up [1 Platinum]
[ ] Gold [1 Platinum]
[ ] Sigil [5 Copper] (Empower Gold)
[ ] Stain - The Poet [+2 Copper]
[ ] Last Laugh [2 Copper]
First Few Thousand Steps - 2020 Words
The man who would one day be known as Regal glanced around, looking for any trace of the Cursebroker and its pop up shop. None were found.
Instead was just the visage that had predated it, an ash wasteland carved like an charred scar through a greater forest of thickly packed trees wreathed in shadow. Two kinds of horrorshow were fighting for setting dominance. In one way it was helpful, for he had no doubt that there was something spooky and dangerous within the woods he was not quite inside. In another way it was awful, because those glints in the dark that might be eyes were surely watching him from the edges, bereft of cover as he was.
Unable to quite shake off the worry beginning to set in as he recalled the dire proclamations about night, forests, solstices, and how he was in the middle of all three, Regal reached inwards for the reassurances he had purchased with coin and metal.
Soft motes of golden light fuzzed around his fingers and Verses rolled around his tongue unspoken. But first there was something more immediate he had to set up.
One mind, at first toiling along at the speed of human frailty and limitations, found itself empowered to the maximum apex of its focus. This alone would have been priceless to the person before who could only manage such a thing in fleeting instants. And then a second mind flickered on.
One(Hello) Two(Hello)
One(What should we do?) Two(Dunno, lets make sixty or so more minds and then delegate)
And so they did. Two swiftly became four became eight became sixteen and so on and so forth.
One(So, thoughts?) Thirty three(Start walking along, maybe we'll hit shelter) Forty five(In the meantime we're going to start messing around with magic) Forty six(And make more guys, just in case)
The man hadn't even taken a full step before Twelve chimed in with (Don't bother walking, we apparently don't get tired anymore so no reason not to run). One hundred decided to celebrate its first action by helping smooth the transition between walking and running, and rallied One hundred and six to its cause. The end result was, to any hypothetical outside observer, Regal looking like he meant to run the whole time instead of awkwardly changing his mind at the last second.
One hundred and twenty two(I've begun magical research, and as these number names are only going to get more and more unwieldy I propose switching to quicker designations) 148 (Agreed) 156 (Agreed) 157 (Agreed) 164 (Agreed) 189 (Agreed)
24( Collating all information about wilderness survival, I do wish that we watched more of those online videos with the guy who made tools) 44(Eh, we're a long way from being food secure enough to make thatch roof huts anytime soon) 41(We remember enough to start a fire, with some practice, at least) 77(Honestly I'm much more worried about beasts and zombies and whatever. We should be heading towards civilization as much as possible) 78(Magic division, how goes safety? We don't want to fight a zombie bare handed)
As Regal ran at a good clip across the blackened terrain, several dozen instances kept an eye on the sky. The night sky above had no familiar constellations or really anything familiar at all. The moon looked... wrong.
122(Step it up is ready to be cast, though we have to warn ourselves, we don't have an orienteering right now. At best we're going to just get to some random direction faster) 77( Go for it. At best we'll get to there faster and can double back earlier)
After some internal debate instances 244 through 278 were tasked with Step It Up casting, first using individual phrase casts until they got a proper sense of the mechanics involved. Eventually they'd switch to the long version where it could be invoked as a passive, to free up the mouth for whenever the team feeling out Stich in Time got running.
The first proper casting of magic was invoked between footfalls. One moment Regal was sprinting along, and the next he was abruptly lurched a good distance forward with no in-between the second the last word of the phrase left his lips. There was almost too little fanfare for it, this fulfillment of a long buried childhood dream even considering the dire circumstances it was deployed in. A few instances decided to make up for it.
244(Two seventy... nine? You're in charge of celebrating the fact that we have magic) 279(WOOOOOOOOO-) 250(Well that was a rush. Again?) 255(Again) 279(-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-) 261(Man this isn't getting old. Again!) 279(-OOOOOO WE'RE WIZARDS BABY AW YEAH)
The jumps forward in space had the odd effect of making his unending sprint forward appear to be broken up by, of all things, skipping merrily due to how it had to be cast in-between steps. It reflected the mood of a couple dozen celebrating minds at any rate.
1(Okay, we've got flight covered. How are we doing on Fight?) 331(The Stitch in Time team is still working out an efficient testing plan, Step team can retain control over the mouth for now) 319( Most of the applications are still some variant on Flight regardless, so we'll have to rely on Gold for now)
589( Gold research team standing by, just waiting on the next Step it Up cycle) 612(Odds of Sigil based training making us appreciably lucky enough to just pick the right direction to head randomly?) 633(Low, sadly. We'll work under the assumption that the construct generation is the main benefit we're going to reach for now) 666(Why not do both? I'll work under the assumption that we'll get lucky for planning sake and I'll just activate another instance to take up my place in the research team) 667(Fair enough. Cycle ending in three, two, one-)
Timed perfectly with the natural raising of Regal's right arm while running thanks to 106 a hazy golden noodle snapped into existence from the palm of his hand. With the pump of his arms a second one snapped out of his left.
279(WE GOT MACARONI-) 585(More like penne really) 279(WE GOT PENNE CONSTRUCTS MY GUYS WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE) 748(Wait, is it a penne? I'm going to mentally review all forms of pasta that we remember, just in case) 792( Sure, just remember to make more mind instances)
The right construct blinked out of existence before returning, this time with a tapering halfway through-
632( Iterating)
-two thirds-
641( Iterating)
-three quarters down its length.
589( Gold research team is going to split focus, I dub 632 and 701 project leads for left and right constructs) 632(Gonna chase making Right Gold a gripping arm tool, see if we can lean on our natural right-handedness) 701(Gonna chase geometric shapes and whatnot, see if we can make swords or shields)
And so both constructs blinked out again, this time rapidly flickering back on and off.
The right construct morphed and roiled, at first attempting to mimic a human arm and hand before switching tracks and slowly conforming into the shape of a golden claw once the former seemed infeasible at the time.
The left on the other hand moved away from the hand entirely, testing the limits of how far it could stretch and flatten to mixed success. Stretching out into a shield didn't work quite as well as the research collaboration hoped, nor did lengthening it for more coverage. However the flattened oval they did manage caught the attention of the 1098 through 1251 'Hypothetical Magic Synergy Brainstorming Collab' mind instance grouping.
1131( Wait, Step it Up needs to step on something, right?) 261(Yup!) 1131(Can we teleport upwards, and then use the construct as a foothold for a further upwards teleport?) 1132(Well, check to see if it counts as a platform for horizontal motion first of course)
Answering himself with action, Regal landed his next footfall on the helpfully now ground level flattened oval before casting Step. Sure enough he popped forward as if he had cast it on the level ground.
1311(Synergy registered as a potential escape tool, thank you) 33(Wait, I'm part of navigation team. It would be really helpful if we used that to go straight up so we can get our bearings) 42(Yeah, we've still been running in what's basically a random direction all this time)
430( Safety team, how are we going to deal with the landing) 431( And also we glow gold, do we really want to light up as a beacon for every critter in miles?) 452(The information is probably worth it though) 448( We might be able to cover the constructs in dirt or mud to muzzle the light?)
Large swathes of the mind collective shuddered at the idea of getting their Golden pastas-
748(Rigatoni and tortellini respectively now I think)
-besmirched by grime intentionally.
456(For that matter, how would we handle landing? We're good but we're still learning) 478(Would be really dumb if we just died from this of all things)
331( Stitch in Time team might be able to help. We just launch ourselves upwards and then reverse time to undo any imminent fall danger or monstrous attention) 1(Sounds good)
And so after a few quick functionality tests just in case, Regal hurled himself into the air with Step it up, before repeating the process as he pushed off from his Gold.
One(Navigation and Threat Assessment teams?) 33( Points of light that look like a village thataway) 430(And more than one big lumbering shape in the darkness that we can't make out) 432(Three tree shifts, a few glimpses of a quick moving group with no lights among them on our three o'clock, and one bird that looks too large to be a raven and is heading right for us, abort abort!) 331(Rewinding)
Regal blinked, finding himself back on the ground sans any of the panic and danger that had 432 so worried.
332(Experiment success, good job everyone) 279( TIME TRAVEL! WE TIME TRAVELED GUYS! CAN YOU BELIEVE WE NO LIE WENT BACKWARDS IN TIME!?)
1682( We've taken all that information and begun to map out a route that would get us to the village without running into any of the identified threats. For now stay low and head into the forest at a ten o'clock bearing) One(On it. Also I want a team to work on rhymes for greetings and introductions for when we presumably run into someone over there and need to talk)
With all of that business concluded, Regal broke into the tree line with the same ceaseless sprint as he had kept up the entire adventure so far.
One(Oh, and lucky 777. Keep the Last Laugh ready) 777(Would be lame to use it up so early, but sure. Gonna think up rhymes in the meantime.)
And off he went, towards the faint flickering of civilization. Hopefully there would be safety there, protection against the monsters that the Cursebroker had warned about. But if not, well, it wouldn't hurt to be prepared. Better task a few hundred more minds on contingency planning.
Vote Update in ~10-20.
[ ] True Champions: Fisher King + Companions of the King. 37 + 6 Arete, 2 + 1 picks. Elevating all your companions to Rank 9, and improving your Mental and Physical attributes by 50%, will dramatically increase the overall effectiveness of your entire party. Gisena will be able to squeeze out another Major Grace for only 6 additional Arete before you have to return to the external world, allowing you to achieve one of the Amazing Grace builds from last update. Adorie won't benefit much, as she already has greater than 10 effective Rank, but Letrizia should see enormous improvements to her out-of-Armament effectiveness. Should also make Aobaru stop complaining, though he'll have mixed feelings about being simply 'handed' such enormous power...
Orm and Birdsie I'll get to your cyoas... someday. In the mean time I found some letters in my attic from my uncle Abe related to Rihaku's CYOA so I thought I'd transcribe them and post them here.
Everyone knows the stories of the children who walk through wardrobes into royalty or are scooped up by tornadoes and flung to some magical land, but those are the ones who came back and I am never coming back.
So now you know. Perhaps you still wonder where I went to or perhaps you lost hope long ago, but either way here I am. Feel free to close the missing person report. Tell them I'm living in a foreign country now and I like it much better here. If the IRS has any questions, well, fuck them.
I thought I could leave you behind as well but turns out that's not so easy. Little things. Walking strange streets with horses and horseshit like something out of history or through the shadowed steel and glass canyons of a city and I see you in the smiling face of a stranger or smell you in the street food or hear your laugh echoing from somewhere distant. I stand in the garden beside my house watching the fog roll in and moments long forgotten recreate themselves anew not just in my memory but my heart as well, made everlasting through reminiscence. I have torn out all of my history but you remain caught in the thicket of my mind.
You must join me. Or I must find some way to forget about you. That is what this letter and any letters to come are for; I am never coming back, but maybe someday you shall come to me.
We have time. So I will tell you what happened, the absolute truth, and you will make your choice and that will be the end of all this.
...
The passage to the other worlds is in a cave down by the sea.
I love the foggy nights we had there, how they enclose you in your own private world, how the fog turns the world soft and full of angel's halos around every street lamp, how night makes the familiar into the uncanny. That's the first thing you need to find the cave, I think. So late one night I went and walked down the road, a solitary traveler through a faded dream of my own life, down the cliff and across the cold sands. The fog muffled the hiss of water across sand to a gentle susurrus and the thunder of its pounding surf to a distant heartbeat. I walked until my feet began to ache from the cold then I went closer to the ocean where the sand was firm and ran for a while.
I don't know how long things went like that before I found the cave. It was small, just a crack barely exposed by the low tide, but I went in. I figured if the wave came and drowned then at least I wouldn't have to go to work tomorrow so I wasn't worried at all. If it surprises you that I felt that way, well, there's a reason suicide notes are written and not said aloud. Some truths can only be expressed when you're sitting in your room by yourself like I am right now.
The cave went a long way up, and after a while I was pretty sure I was well above the clifftop. I tried turning around and following my footprints back but that only made things worse.
I got lost there for a while, weeks at least. I drank water that dripped from cracks in the ceiling and scrapped lichen from the walls. I'd have died for sure if it wasn't for that LED flashlight you gave me, I set it to candle mode and it kept going long after I was ready to give up.
I remember there were voices there, some I recognized, some I didn't. One of them had mother's voice. I trusted none of them, and I'll tell you nothing of what they said for some things ought not to be known. They tried to give me directions at first but after I ignored them for a while they stopped pretending and just taunted me.
There were other things there, a pool of water whose reflection showed monsters standing at my back and wrapped around my throat, a cavern full of runes where a soft voice chanted endlessly, and a man chained atop a giant clock who begged me to free him. I didn't though.
There was a treasure room like a cross between Aladdin's cave and that warehouse at the end of Indiana Jones, just piles and piles of coins and scattered between them were swords and armor and little bottles full of pills whose smell alone cured my balding and fruit looking fresh like Eve just plucked it not five minutes ago and mysterious boxes made of lead or chained to the wall or that rustled slightly, and fuck knows what else. I didn't go in. There was a skeleton just outside the door with twelve coins dropped at its feet. I took the coins and it didn't kill me so I guess I made the right choice.
Anyways I got out eventually, though I don't really remember how. I was in pretty bad shape by that point.
There was a man (or something) waiting for me just outside the cave. He called himself the Curse Broker. I didn't trust him at first, not after the voices and the thing with the faces, but he said the only thing he wanted was the coins I took from the dead man. None of the others wanted anything so mundane as coin. Also he wouldn't step into the cave with me, not for anything. So he gave me food and water and he talked to me like a normal person and we got along after a fashion.
It's getting late and my wife is calling for me so I'll stop here. Yeah I'm married now, think of that as a cliffhanger of sorts for a later letter.
Love, Abe
**** ****
Dear Ben,
They say never make a deal with the devil, but the truth is when you have something the devil wants he can be downright congenial. And he really wanted my coin. If you're curious what I bought I attached a list at the bottom of this letter but that's not important, the important thing is the power.
There is more I could say here but either you get it or you don't.
So I gave the broker the coins then he said a word and that word took root and bloomed inside my skull and I knew I'd never have to answer to anyone again in my life (that's not true but that's what I thought back then). Then I split my mind into ten-thousand reflections and gathered ten-thousand winds to raise me up into the sky.
It was night then, and rain dripped on a sodden, mouldering world. Before me was a landscape lumpy like milk gone to rot, with low boggy pits where brown grasses grew from stagnant water and hills where tired trees clustered together, roots digging into the thin rocky soil. Behind me the land rose in steep inclines thick with thorn bushes, then in jagged cliffs of mossy-stone where little rivulets of dark water stained the rock with tear streaks, then finally great granite teeth, jagged and chipped, capped in shining white snow, scrapped the black vault of the sky.
It took a mix of climbing and Step up but I climbed up until I was standing atop a nearby mountain peak and all that was gone. There was another world above the clouds, where a fat and golden moon held court over stars beyond number. That is where it became real to me. Not moving, not breathing, stars and moon burning impossibly sharp and bright in the freedom of the void. I can't explain to you what it mean to me, to ascend from the madness of the cave to that place beyond all mortal concerns, ten-thousand reflections of myself all caught and subsumed in that moment. Maybe I was just going mad from rewiring my brain, but if so it was the good kind of madness.
If you come I can take you there as well. It wouldn't be the same, for I think authentic spiritual experiences must sought not given, but even diminished it would be a wonder beyond anything.
...
There are birds that never come down and I envy them sometimes, for I did come down.
I grow bored easily now. They say it takes ten-thousand hours to become an expert in anything but I can reflect myself and turn a single hour into ten-thousand. I would not say that I can become the expert of anything in an hour but I can get close, so what to another might be an adventure of lifetime would for me be but the dalliance of the night. A thing, once mastered, will always be useful. But the wonder and excitement lives on only in memory.
So I came down. The cave was gone which was just as well. It's fun to imagine going back for a bucket full of jade coins and some of those treasures, but even the broker feared that place. I emerged human, or at least I think I did, but I shudder to imagine what other things might crawl out of that space between the worlds.
I'll skip over the next bit since not much happened. Gathering gold makes me more powerful (check the list of powers I bought if you're not sure what I mean)(I also get stronger with other stuff like platinum and gems but I don't want to keep writing '-and gems and other precious minerals' so I'll just say gold) so I mostly just went around using my power over earth to mine the stuff. I could only control about sixty kilograms of mass but that was the limit on how much I could control at any one time, not how much I could sense. The only limit on sensing was my ability to multi-task, and I was good at that.
(If you're curious: I could scan roughly 80kg of dirt a second for gold per each of my ten thousand selves, meaning 900 tons of earth scanned a second. Each ton of earth would yield up to a gram of gold max, meaning an income of up to a kilogram of gold a second, every single second, for as long as I could keep going. Well under my 80kg control limit. Most of the time it was less than that though.)
This whole world is basically a Hollywood horror movie. It's almost always cold, drizzling rain, and dark. There are zombies everywhere and it felt like every five minutes my mining would disturb the secret burrow of some shadow beast. They weren't really a threat though. The zombies couldn't even reach me since I was flying, and the shadow beasts I fried with blue bolts.
There were a couple times a shadow beast snuck up behind me but I had a couple tricks up my sleeve. First, I was traveling around on a platform piled high with gold that I moved around using golden construct limbs, while my body was basically encased in a solid steel block. I could control the metal directly with my mind so I didn't need joints or anything like that and I could make it as thick as I wanted. At one point I had two meters of solid steel around me. Second, I controlled time. I had the Stitch in Time power that let me go back in time, so what I did was I made the rune for Stitch out of pure golden construct light, but I didn't let the rune complete, I just kept it 99% done with a tiny, tiny break made of void element. Then when something killed me I'd lose control, the golden light would expand and fill the break, the rune would complete and I'd get sent back in time nine seconds knowing something was going to try and kill me.
I did see some local humans after a while, but they took one look at me and ran like hell itself was hot on their heels. See, all the people here are stunted, malnourished, and extremely pale. Then there's me; six feet tall and darker skinned, not that you'd notice when I'm zooming around at sixty miles an hour on a giant platform of solid gold with a thousand golden legs while casually tossing around azure bolts at zombies like a blue-themed Zeus. I did rescue a besieged town at one point and they were pretty grateful but they didn't know anything useful and they sure as hell couldn't give me anything I wanted. I did learn everyone here speaks English with an American accent though, which remains the weirdest thing I've ever encountered in this place.
So like I said, things were pretty quiet. At least until I decided to steal a castle and by pure coincidence rescued the princess captured inside.
But I think that's enough for one letter.
Love, Abe
Resilient [2 Copper]
Green [2 Copper]
Last Laugh [2 Copper]
Bolt From the Blue [4 Copper]
Step Up [8 Copper or 1 Platinum] (sigil)
Stitch in Time [1 Platinum]
Sigil [5 Copper or 1 Platinum]
Ten Thousand [10,000 Copper or 1 Jade]
Gold [1 Platinum]
Seven [7 Copper or 1 Platinum]
Stain The Captain +2 Copper
Tarnish - The Hunted +2 Platinum
**** ****
Dear Ben,
The first hint the vampire had that I'd stolen her castle was when I made her castle grow legs and walk away.
It all started because I wanted to, as they say, 'pimp my ride'. So I snuck into the castle during the day when the vampire was sleeping then used my power over earth to renovate the place. You know that castle at Disney world? Imagine that, but with walls of gold-plated carbon steel and turrets with platinum roofs capped in perfectly cut gemstones that shine bright in the moonlight, where countless titanium cannons peek out of golden apertures, cannon balls of uranium or pure magic at the ready. And all about there stand guardsman of golden light, every one of them sexy as hell in their shining gold armor and looking ready to fuck you up in both senses of the term.
Now imagine that this shining golden castle grows a hundred giant chicken-legs made of golden construct light then stands up and walks away. Like a bling-obsessed Baba Yaga upgraded from her shack to a castle and went on a rampage. Imagine you're some human huddling in a hole in the ground when you feel the ground shake and you see avalanches happening high on the mountains above and you see leaves tumbling down from the trees above you, then you see this shining fairy-land golden castle with magic chicken legs run past a couple hundred miles an hour.
I hadn't been able to find the vampire before but she sure as hell appeared then, tumbling gracefully out of the empty air like I'd knocked over her astral bed or something.
She was exactly what you would imagine her to be. She wore a black negligee, the thin cloth twisting about her breasts and clinging jealously to her hips, falling at last in soft folds down to her bare feet. When she stood and when she moved it was like she owned every bit of dark and light in that place (understandable given this really had been her room just a few hours ago). Light gathered in adoration of the beauty of her face, warm and soft on her high, rosy cheekbones and the red flush of her lips, while kohl-dark shadows limned her eyes and puddled in the soft folds of her gown and obscured and hinted at what greater visions could be seen if only I brought her into my embrace.
She knelt. "Master," she said, and I'll confess that just her saying that word revealed whole new vistas of experiences I had yet to explore. "I am yours, all of me given to you for the taking. How best may I serve your glory?"
The two of us were standing amidst the main hall, atop the polished golden floor. Construct solders with eyes of ruby and emerald and flesh of pearl, mirror-bright golden armor and obsidian blades edged with diamond, stood at perfect attention. Black and silver and gold, that was the theme in the main hall; golden floor and obsidian mirrors all edged in platinum filigree of astounding complexity, etched with superhuman skill across every inch. I stood at the head of this, atop a throne of pure grey uranium, wearing armor of chrome and mother-of-pearl, a ruby blade in my hand. The castle was moving pretty fast at that point and the front and back of the hall were open to the air so I stood there, my blood-red cape stretched out behind me like a banner in the wind, outlined by the last rays of the dying sun.
Not a very practical setup I know but it was meant to be ornamental. This body was a fake, a corpse that I animated with constructs and spoke from using air elementalism. My real body was well protected.
"I seek power," I told her. "What magics can you grant me?"
"I can give you the power of vampirism, which commands darkness, the stirrings of flesh and blood, and death. Simply embrace with me and do what comes naturally and this shall be yours. But if that is not to your liking, I can teach you both lunar and nether sorcery."
"Is that all? Do you truly have nothing else?"
She gave up trying to mind-control my corpse-puppet then and started killing. She was fast; my puppet and half my constructs were turned to a pulp instantly. Then every remaining solder in the hall turned towards her, golden light making dense thickets of the schizophrenic glossia they call the Higher Tongue, runes forming about them as quick as thought, completing to become Bolts from the Blue. She turned to mist, then an instant later was speared through her heart and skull with a thousand beams of purest azure. She died instantly. I rewound time and tried again but she really didn't have anything useful so that was that.
But the real treasure there was Eudoxia. She was held prisoner down below, chained in deplorable conditions with her tongue cut off and all her fingers broken so that she could form no mudras. Naturally I set her free, along with all the other miserable wretches.
"You are a conjurer, are you not?" I asked her later that evening, once she was a bit more composed and presentable.
'Of the lunar school' she wrote. It was a slow process but I'd gotten her a box of sand she could write in using her toes.
"I would like to hire you to teach me that art. In return, I shall bend the whole of my power to finding a healer to restore you."
'A bad bargain. Any conjurer could restore me.'
I admired her courage. We were sitting within one of the castle's rotundas upon cushions of finest black silk and golden filigree, the world we were racing over visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows far below. I had offered to clothe her however she pleased and she'd demanded the finest of the vampire's outfits. She'd picked an elegant suit of pale summer-blues with shining brass buttons and a coat that swallowed her in furs, and while I'm not sure I'd describe the outfit as the best the vampire had to offer it was certainly a great deal warmer and more practical than the other offerings.
She looked rather imperious there; too imperious, in my opinion, for a helpless woman trapped on a magical golden castle. But I liked that about her.
"What do you want then?"
'What everyone wants. Power. Never again.'
"I could teach you the True Tongue, but it would take a lifetime. And I can offer you whatever magics I find in my search."
'Find magics how?'
So I told her my grand plan. "I have the power of Gold, which in addition to its constructs grants me tremendous fortune. This castle travels day and night in the direction of greatest fortune, which for me is synonymous with power. But why should I include you in my plans?"
'You are an outlander. I know this land. I have been to the courts of the spirits, and seen the Parliament of stars. I know their signs and sigals. Fortune is useless if you lack the knowledge to exploit it. But if your power of fortune is so great, then you already know this. You know that finding me was an act of great fortune.'
And she was right.
So that was how I met Eudoxia, the Black Sun Princess, of whom I shall speak more of in time. And I will tell you of the sky pirate that came to steal my gold and take her back.
But I think that would be best saved for another letter.
Gisena will be able to squeeze out another Major Grace for only 6 additional Arete before you have to return to the external world, allowing you to achieve one of the Amazing Grace builds from last update.
Damn, that's really nice. Temporal Auspice + Grace of the Glaze would substantially empower Gisena and would also massively accelerate her research speed outside the Realm of Evening. If she can achieve a Major Grace with 3 weeks of effort by default, this pushing that down to 2 days at minimum, perhaps lower if the Glaze empowers Temporal Auspice even further. That would make her much, much closer to achieving her Grace Singularity.
I have to say, writing what was effectively a ton of iterations of myself in consensus was kind of fun. My only regret is that by the time I finished it two more CYOAs came about and everyone moved past.
I have to say, writing what was effectively a ton of iterations of myself in consensus was kind of fun. My only regret is that by the time I finished it two more CYOAs came about and everyone moved past.
Ten Thousand is a hard one to wrap your head around, for sure. It's why I'd probably avoid it for anything I wanted to actually write, despite how powerful it is
Getting the Companions powered up makes OverLady much more attractive. Quite the Force to multiply.
The only question I have is whether the build gives enough short term power that we can go the Long Term Gisena research build to quickly gather up Graces, or if we need a more combat capable Gisena to survive with this build.
Uh, I guess for the glory of Page gang I can make this post.
@Birdsie would Arcadia mind giving a human her heart? Because when I try and write it it turns out like this:
1.1.0
He wants to frown, a small furrow already reflected in the three smooth silver orbs in his hands. "The Drifter's Curse, if I take it he will find a way free, right?"
"Hehe, he sure will. But don't you think you're taking him a bit too lightly? If he can get free doesn't that make him pretty strong? You don't think you'll be that capable, right? Cause that's a little sad."
"I feel obligated to free him, if I can."
The silver masked woman looks up, arms raised to the domed ceiling above, almost reaching up to her reflection above. "You saw it right? I gave it a go, but these thick headed humans don't appreciate my delicate advice."
She points at him, a gloved finger stabbing forward. "And don't you dissemble before me, I can see clear through you! But fine, fine, he'll get to go free and chop you into itty bitty pieces. What'd you want to pick up so bad, anyway."
He has the thought, for a moment, of saying something suave and cool. Or at least cheesily endearing. Your Heart, if you'll give it. Something like that, at least.
But the momentary whimsy runs too ground like a lightning bolt hitting a weathervane.
1.1.1
"Arcadia's Heart, if I may."
She pauses, one arm still outstretched the other reaching up to her reflection. "Hmm, being valued by a human... What kind of feeling is this? Hrm, I'm not sure, but- Ah! Right, right, it's disgust!"
The words hit like a sucker punch, for all their spoken with a breezy lightness. He doesn't move, doesn't think, stands still and breathless.
"Buying my heart with the silver orbs I've given you and the cheapest curse you could take. Take a knife to my heart, why don't you!"
For a moment the grey-white of her suit no longer gleams with artful melody, but glares with a wrathful intensity that reframes the goddess before him. This is the hostess of a game that leaves the losers destitute, who hands out power and curses with equal measure, who sets the stage for God's and stranger things.
"But that's alright, I'm used to selling my heart! Don't think you're the first to buy me!" Now, give me the orb. I'll buy myself a nice dinner and a bubble bath, the zenith of your accomplishments." Her pointing fingers is joined by the rest, a waiting, finger wiggling hand outstretched even as the rest of her turns away.
With care, heart still pumping frightful ice, he steps forward and places one of his three orbs onto the palm of her glove.
It dissolves in a glitter of ephemera, her hand snaps up and grips around his wrist like bands of centimeter thick metal. "I've got you now. Your life is in my hands you know?"
She turns toward him, the sweeping movements of before cast away as quicksilver. "Trusting in my heart, how foolish when your kind has made me stab and debase myself in honor of your victory. Humanity rules, humanity rules, humanity rules and the Goddess of Pride must make sure no one forgets."
Her mask is impassive, it and the room reflect no more than than his pallid face. "What else do you want, speak."
His plan slips away, embryonic though it was. Buy the assistance of the Goddess, then ask that she give him The System before the Eight Divisions. With the System on his side optimizing his profit from the Archmastered Division would work better, maybe she'd even let him use it to plan the rest of his build.
The ideas die in his throat, any daring crushed by fear. Every word he pries forth with a crowbar. "The System, please, Eight Divisions and the Silvered world-"
"Enough." She pushes him back and as if he'd always been there he stumbles against a door wrought of silver filigree. It swings open at his touch, a warm golden light streaming in behind him.
He becomes aware how, under the unshaped light, the dome feels barren. Instead of a clear and clean aesthetic it looks empty, like an Amphitheater with its stands removed, a gutted opera made to imprison a single singer.
A pulsing fleshy warmth drops in his hands and he recoils a single step.
The silver door flows closed before his eyes and in those fleeting moments he sees Arcadia. A ragged wound gushes silver liquid from her chest, divine ichor spilling onto clothes and the floor like a new coat of paint, uniform and natural, a new layer on top of the old.
It feels weirdly cruel that the Goddess of Pride has to constantly mention that humanity rules. But maybe that just me reading weird things into it!
Clarion Grace and Mental Apex might be better than the above though, if only because I'm not sure Gisena is going to have tons of free time to research until the next Realm of Evening proc, considering everything with the Human Sphere and such.
I have to say, writing what was effectively a ton of iterations of myself in consensus was kind of fun. My only regret is that by the time I finished it two more CYOAs came about and everyone moved past.
My only regret with the Rihaku CYOA is that while it paints a vivid nightmare fairytale realm, its hard to picture what civilization looks like inside of it. Presumably there is some, but I can only wildly speculate with a seed to start from.
