Cult Creator - The Pilgrims Journey
- Thread starter HeroCooky
- Start date
- Original Mature
- Location
- United States
[X] Plan Monster Hunting and Rebuilding Ularn
[X] Plan Monster Hunting and Rebuilding Ularn
-[X][Faith] Build Another 'Consensual' - (Ularn) - (0/2 Turns Complete) - (-6 Materials) - [Sandcrete -12.5 Materials]
-[X][Faith] Rudimentary Territorial Hospices - (City Territory) - (Ularn - House Ularn Demand) - (2/3 Turns Complete)
-[X][Diplomacy] Designing Black Holes - (Agriculture, Water, Medical Inf., Military Inf.) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-40 Materials, -10 Goodwill)
--[X] Hire Civil Planners And Architects
-[X][Diplomacy] Altering Black Holes - (Agriculture, Water) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-15 Materials, -3 Goodwill)
--[X] Hire Civil Planners And Architects
-[X][Diplomacy] Infiltrate Part 2 - (Gang: The Purified, Dirty Daggers, The Mutated?) - (0/2 Turns Complete) - (-30 Materials)
--[X] (Ashleaf Tea +15, Diplomat-Corp +15 for Gangs)=+30
-[X][Martial] Scout Out. - (Assistance in locating Neighborhood Watchers Outposts) - (The Unbroken, DOD) - (2/3 Turns Complete)
--[X](+6FF)=+6
-[X][Learning] Assemble The Theorists! - (Common Biological Theory) - (0/2 Successes)
--[X] (Scientific Theory +15, 2 [DOC] +12, 1[SUR] +12, The Mutated: +20)=+59
--[X] -
-[X][Learning] Rugged Radios - (Electronics/Advanced Electronics) - (5/7 Successes)
--[X] (Scientific Theory +15, Electronics Workshop +30, 2 [ENG] +28, +6FF,)=+79
--[X] 2x Miscellaneous Artifacts +5 to Everything=+10
-[X][Learning] Re-Use, Re-Duce, Re-Make - (0/16 Successes)
--[X][DoD], [PD], (Scientific Theory +15, 3 [SC] +36, +6FF)=+57
--[X] -
-[X][Archeology] Prepare an Expedition - (GY-02) - (3 Turns Preperation=6 Turns Expedition) (0/3 Turns)- (House Mirn support: Y)
-[X][Tree of Knowledge] NR.9 LIVES! - (0/4 Turns Complete) - (-30 Materials, -1 Common Engineer)
-[X][Holdings] Schooling Incentives - (4/9 Turns Complete)
--[X] (Hire Contractors: 3*7 Materials= (-21 Materials)
-[X][Holdings] Harvesting Initiatives - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-1 Material, easier math for the QM
)
-[X][Aria action] Too Much To Do - (A Small Donation - (Mutated Slums of Ularn/The Lost) - (Recovery/Rebuilding) - (100 Materials)) - (0/1 Turns Complete))
--[X] (Mutated +5, We Can Do It! +20, Trauma: Common People Purge Survivor -5, +6FF)=+26
-[X][Martyris action] Too Much To Do - ((Investigate The Flying Islands - (The Wall, Incubi/ Lineship(INDOMITABLE BASTION),Personal Cutter) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (12 Materials))
--[X](Adjudicator +20)=+20
-[X][Martyris action] Too Much To Do - ((Investigate The Tech-Scouts' Deaths) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-3.25 Materials))
--[X] Artefacts: Memory-Transcriber, Body Diagnostic-Drone
--[X](Adjudicator +20, Boni +15, +6FF)=+41
-[X] Merchants - (All Are Free Actions)
--[X] Backroom Deals - (Contractual Expansion?(Security Improvements affect this, so I guess?))
-[X] The Adventurer Guild - (1 Action)
--[X] Guardians For Hire - ('Consensual' - (Ularn))
-[X] The Union Of Herbalists - (1 Action)
--[X] Study Sessions - (3/8 Turns Complete) - (-2.50 Materials)
-[X] Stupendously Scholastic Scholars of Science - (1 Action)
--[X] Suffer Their Arrogance - (2/4 Turns Complete) - (-6 Materials)
-[X] The Bureau For Imperial Civilian Logistics - (1 Action)
--[X] Commission A Survey - (-40 Materials, -5 Goodwill)
-[X] Forge Clan Vanar-Feer - (Choose 1 Action)
--[X] Engineers Galore - (Engineer) - (5/6 Turns Complete) - (-15 Materials)
-[X] The Followers Of Light - (1 Action)
--[X] We Work As One - (Rudimentary Territorial Hospices)
-[X] Conclave Of Fraya - (1 Action)
--[X] Eternal Arts - (Norqod) - (15/51 Turns Complete) - (-5 Materials)
Costs: 6 Materials+ 12.5 Materials+ 40 Materials+ 15 Materials+ 30 Materials+ 30 Materials+ 21 Materials+ 1 Material+ 100 Materials+ 12 Materials+ 3.25 Materials+ 2.50 Materials+ 6 Materials+ 40 Materials+ 15 Materials+ 5 Materials= 339.25 Materials
Budget: 769.19 Materials= 769.19 Materials
Remaining budget: 769.19 Materials - 339.25 Materials= 429.94 Materials
Goodwill cost: 10 Goodwill+ 3 Goodwill+ 5 Goodwill= 18 Goodwill
Current Goodwill: 134.26 Goodwill
Remaining Goodwill: 134.26 Goodwill - 18 Goodwill = 116.26 Goodwill
Ok, went with 100 Materials for the donation, due to Healing For All! costing 73 Materials. We aren't spreading that Action over the entire region but we do quite a bit more than just paying for visits to the doctor.
Edit: Changed the number of Contractors from 4 to 3.
-[X][Faith] Build Another 'Consensual' - (Ularn) - (0/2 Turns Complete) - (-6 Materials) - [Sandcrete -12.5 Materials]
-[X][Faith] Rudimentary Territorial Hospices - (City Territory) - (Ularn - House Ularn Demand) - (2/3 Turns Complete)
-[X][Diplomacy] Designing Black Holes - (Agriculture, Water, Medical Inf., Military Inf.) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-40 Materials, -10 Goodwill)
--[X] Hire Civil Planners And Architects
-[X][Diplomacy] Altering Black Holes - (Agriculture, Water) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-15 Materials, -3 Goodwill)
--[X] Hire Civil Planners And Architects
-[X][Diplomacy] Infiltrate Part 2 - (Gang: The Purified, Dirty Daggers, The Mutated?) - (0/2 Turns Complete) - (-30 Materials)
--[X] (Ashleaf Tea +15, Diplomat-Corp +15 for Gangs)=+30
-[X][Martial] Scout Out. - (Assistance in locating Neighborhood Watchers Outposts) - (The Unbroken, DOD) - (2/3 Turns Complete)
--[X](+6FF)=+6
-[X][Learning] Assemble The Theorists! - (Common Biological Theory) - (0/2 Successes)
--[X] (Scientific Theory +15, 2 [DOC] +12, 1[SUR] +12, The Mutated: +20)=+59
--[X] -
-[X][Learning] Rugged Radios - (Electronics/Advanced Electronics) - (5/7 Successes)
--[X] (Scientific Theory +15, Electronics Workshop +30, 2 [ENG] +28, +6FF,)=+79
--[X] 2x Miscellaneous Artifacts +5 to Everything=+10
-[X][Learning] Re-Use, Re-Duce, Re-Make - (0/16 Successes)
--[X][DoD], [PD], (Scientific Theory +15, 3 [SC] +36, +6FF)=+57
--[X] -
-[X][Archeology] Prepare an Expedition - (GY-02) - (3 Turns Preperation=6 Turns Expedition) (0/3 Turns)- (House Mirn support: Y)
-[X][Tree of Knowledge] NR.9 LIVES! - (0/4 Turns Complete) - (-30 Materials, -1 Common Engineer)
-[X][Holdings] Schooling Incentives - (4/9 Turns Complete)
--[X] (Hire Contractors: 3*7 Materials= (-21 Materials)
-[X][Holdings] Harvesting Initiatives - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-1 Material, easier math for the QM
)-[X][Aria action] Too Much To Do - (A Small Donation - (Mutated Slums of Ularn/The Lost) - (Recovery/Rebuilding) - (100 Materials)) - (0/1 Turns Complete))
--[X] (Mutated +5, We Can Do It! +20, Trauma: Common People Purge Survivor -5, +6FF)=+26
-[X][Martyris action] Too Much To Do - ((Investigate The Flying Islands - (The Wall, Incubi/ Lineship(INDOMITABLE BASTION),Personal Cutter) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (12 Materials))
--[X](Adjudicator +20)=+20
-[X][Martyris action] Too Much To Do - ((Investigate The Tech-Scouts' Deaths) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-3.25 Materials))
--[X] Artefacts: Memory-Transcriber, Body Diagnostic-Drone
--[X](Adjudicator +20, Boni +15, +6FF)=+41
-[X] Merchants - (All Are Free Actions)
--[X] Backroom Deals - (Contractual Expansion?(Security Improvements affect this, so I guess?))
-[X] The Adventurer Guild - (1 Action)
--[X] Guardians For Hire - ('Consensual' - (Ularn))
-[X] The Union Of Herbalists - (1 Action)
--[X] Study Sessions - (3/8 Turns Complete) - (-2.50 Materials)
-[X] Stupendously Scholastic Scholars of Science - (1 Action)
--[X] Suffer Their Arrogance - (2/4 Turns Complete) - (-6 Materials)
-[X] The Bureau For Imperial Civilian Logistics - (1 Action)
--[X] Commission A Survey - (-40 Materials, -5 Goodwill)
-[X] Forge Clan Vanar-Feer - (Choose 1 Action)
--[X] Engineers Galore - (Engineer) - (5/6 Turns Complete) - (-15 Materials)
-[X] The Followers Of Light - (1 Action)
--[X] We Work As One - (Rudimentary Territorial Hospices)
-[X] Conclave Of Fraya - (1 Action)
--[X] Eternal Arts - (Norqod) - (15/51 Turns Complete) - (-5 Materials)
Costs: 6 Materials+ 12.5 Materials+ 40 Materials+ 15 Materials+ 30 Materials+ 30 Materials+ 21 Materials+ 1 Material+ 100 Materials+ 12 Materials+ 3.25 Materials+ 2.50 Materials+ 6 Materials+ 40 Materials+ 15 Materials+ 5 Materials= 339.25 Materials
Budget: 769.19 Materials= 769.19 Materials
Remaining budget: 769.19 Materials - 339.25 Materials= 429.94 Materials
Goodwill cost: 10 Goodwill+ 3 Goodwill+ 5 Goodwill= 18 Goodwill
Current Goodwill: 134.26 Goodwill
Remaining Goodwill: 134.26 Goodwill - 18 Goodwill = 116.26 Goodwill
Ok, went with 100 Materials for the donation, due to Healing For All! costing 73 Materials. We aren't spreading that Action over the entire region but we do quite a bit more than just paying for visits to the doctor.
Edit: Changed the number of Contractors from 4 to 3.
Last edited:
- Location
- United States
I thought that we couldn't hire contractors more than 3 times a turn, or else we would get structural problems?
After searching for a few HeroCooky quotes it looks like that's true.
On the other hand; there were no issues with using 3 Contractors and Sandcrete.
Hmm, I want to finish the new 'Consensual' in one Turn to get people off the streets. I think I'm going to reduce the number of Contractors. That means another Turn for the Holding project but we do have a second slot in that category, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
HeroCooky
Unverified Monstergirl
Adhoc vote count started by HeroCooky on Jun 14, 2022 at 11:51 AM, finished with 7 posts and 5 votes.
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[X] Plan Monster Hunting and Rebuilding Ularn
-[X][Faith] Build Another 'Consensual' - (Ularn) - (0/2 Turns Complete) - (-6 Materials) - [Sandcrete -12.5 Materials]
-[X][Faith] Rudimentary Territorial Hospices - (City Territory) - (Ularn - House Ularn Demand) - (2/3 Turns Complete)
-[X][Diplomacy] Designing Black Holes - (Agriculture, Water, Medical Inf., Military Inf.) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-40 Materials, -10 Goodwill)
--[X] Hire Civil Planners And Architects
-[X][Diplomacy] Altering Black Holes - (Agriculture, Water) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-15 Materials, -3 Goodwill)
-[X][Diplomacy] Infiltrate Part 2 - (Gang: The Purified, Dirty Daggers, The Mutated?) - (0/2 Turns Complete) - (-30 Materials)
--[X] (Ashleaf Tea +15, Diplomat-Corp +15 for Gangs)=+30
-[X][Martial] Scout Out. - (Assistance in locating Neighborhood Watchers Outposts) - (The Unbroken, DOD) - (2/3 Turns Complete)
--[X](+6FF)=+6
-[X][Learning] Assemble The Theorists! - (Common Biological Theory) - (0/2 Successes)
--[X] (Scientific Theory +15, 2 [DOC] +12, 1[SUR] +12, The Mutated: +20)=+59
--[X] -
-[X][Learning] Rugged Radios - (Electronics/Advanced Electronics) - (5/7 Successes)
--[X] (Scientific Theory +15, Electronics Workshop +30, 2 [ENG] +28, +6FF,)=+79
--[X] 2x Miscellaneous Artifacts +5 to Everything=+10
-[X][Learning] Re-Use, Re-Duce, Re-Make - (0/16 Successes)
--[X][DoD], [PD], (Scientific Theory +15, 3 [SC] +36, +6FF)=+57
-[X][Archeology] Prepare an Expedition - (GY-02) - (3 Turns Preperation=6 Turns Expedition) (0/3 Turns)- (House Mirn support: Y)
-[X][Tree of Knowledge] NR.9 LIVES! - (0/4 Turns Complete) - (-30 Materials, -1 Common Engineer)
-[X][Holdings] Schooling Incentives - (4/9 Turns Complete)
--[X] (Hire Contractors: 3*7 Materials= (-21 Materials)
-[X][Holdings] Harvesting Initiatives - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-1 Material, easier math for the QM)
-[X][Aria action] Too Much To Do - (A Small Donation - (Mutated Slums of Ularn/The Lost) - (Recovery/Rebuilding) - (100 Materials)) - (0/1 Turns Complete))
--[X] (Mutated +5, We Can Do It! +20, Trauma: Common People Purge Survivor -5, +6FF)=+26
-[X][Martyris action] Too Much To Do - ((Investigate The Flying Islands - (The Wall, Incubi/ Lineship(INDOMITABLE BASTION),Personal Cutter) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (12 Materials))
--[X](Adjudicator +20)=+20
-[X][Martyris action] Too Much To Do - ((Investigate The Tech-Scouts' Deaths) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-3.25 Materials))
--[X] Artefacts: Memory-Transcriber, Body Diagnostic-Drone
--[X](Adjudicator +20, Boni +15, +6FF)=+41
-[X] Merchants - (All Are Free Actions)
--[X] Backroom Deals - (Contractual Expansion?(Security Improvements affect this, so I guess?))
-[X] The Adventurer Guild - (1 Action)
--[X] Guardians For Hire - ('Consensual' - (Ularn))
-[X] The Union Of Herbalists - (1 Action)
--[X] Study Sessions - (3/8 Turns Complete) - (-2.50 Materials)
-[X] Stupendously Scholastic Scholars of Science - (1 Action)
--[X] Suffer Their Arrogance - (2/4 Turns Complete) - (-6 Materials)
-[X] The Bureau For Imperial Civilian Logistics - (1 Action)
--[X] Commission A Survey - (-40 Materials, -5 Goodwill)
-[X] Forge Clan Vanar-Feer - (Choose 1 Action)
--[X] Engineers Galore - (Engineer) - (5/6 Turns Complete) - (-15 Materials)
-[X] The Followers Of Light - (1 Action)
--[X] We Work As One - (Rudimentary Territorial Hospices)
-[X] Conclave Of Fraya - (1 Action)
--[X] Eternal Arts - (Norqod) - (15/51 Turns Complete) - (-5 Materials)
-
25 rolled with +6
30/60/90 rolled with +59
36/87/116 rolled with +89
12/88/164 rolled with +57
29 rolled with +26
00/20/40/60/80/100
The first failure is re-rolled; then, 2 for 4, 3 for 6, usw.
All others have a DC of 50 for Goodwill roll.
Further Rolls:
Artifacts:
Piety:
Faithful:
Income:
The first rolls are taken as official.
If no other rolls are present, I will roll on the 15.06.22 at 17:00 CET.
Last edited:
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
ok then
- Location
- United States
I'll make the rest of the rolls.
HeroCooky
Unverified Monstergirl
[X] Plan Monster Hunting and Rebuilding Ularn
-[X][Faith] Build Another 'Consensual' - (Ularn) - (2/2 Turns Complete) - (-6 Materials) - [Sandcrete -12.5 Materials]
+2 Turns of Progress
Success!
-[X][Faith] Rudimentary Territorial Hospices - (City Territory) - (Ularn - House Ularn Demand) - (3/3 Turns Complete)
+1 Turn of Progress
Success!
-[X][Diplomacy] Designing Black Holes - (Agriculture, Water, Medical Inf., Military Inf.) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-40 Materials, -10 Goodwill)
--[X] Hire Civil Planners And Architects
+2 to Agriculture, Water, Medical Inf., and Military Inf.
-2 to Water due to Agriculture, Medical Inf., and Military Inf.
+5% Piety
-[X][Diplomacy] Altering Black Holes - (Agriculture, Water) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-15 Materials, -3 Goodwill)
--[X] Hire Civil Planners And Architects
+2 to Agriculture and Water
-1 Water due to Agriculture
+2% Piety
-[X][Diplomacy] Infiltrate Part 2 - (Gang: The Purified, Dirty Daggers, The Mutated?) - (0/2 Turns Complete) - (-30 Materials)
--[X] (Ashleaf Tea +15, Diplomat-Corp +15 for Gangs)=+30
Needed: 50, Rolled: 35 + 30 = 65
Success!
+1 Turn of Progress
-[X][Martial] Scout Out. - (Assistance in locating Neighborhood Watchers Outposts) - (The Unbroken, DOD) - (3/3 Turns Complete)
--[X](+6FF)=+6
Needed: 25, Rolled: 78 + 6 = 84
Success!
+1 Turn of Progress
Success!
-[X][Learning] Assemble The Theorists! - (Common Biological Theory) - (3/2 Successes)
--[X] (Scientific Theory +15, 2 [DOC] +12, 1[SUR] +12, The Mutated: +20)=+59
Needed: 30/60/90, Rolled: 36 + 59 = 95
Success!
+3 Successes
-[X][Learning] Rugged Radios - (Electronics/Advanced Electronics) - (8/7 Successes)
--[X] (Scientific Theory +15, Electronics Workshop +30, 2 [ENG] +28, +6FF,)=+79
--[X] 2x Miscellaneous Artifacts +5 to Everything=+10
Needed: 36/87/116, Rolled: 44 + 89 = 133
Success!
+3 Successes
Success!
-[X][Learning] Re-Use, Re-Duce, Re-Make - (3/16 Successes)
--[X][DoD], [PD], (Scientific Theory +15, 3 [SC] +36, +6FF)=+57
Needed: 12/88/164, Rolled: 19 + 57 = 76
Success!
+2 Automatic Successes
+1 Success
-[X][Archeology] Prepare an Expedition - (GY-02) - (3 Turns Preperation=6 Turns Expedition) (1/3 Turns)- (House Mirn support: Y)
+1 Turn of Progress
-[X][Tree of Knowledge] NR.9 LIVES! - (1/4 Turns Complete) - (-30 Materials, -1 Common Engineer)
+1 Turn of Progress
-[X][Holdings] Schooling Incentives - (8/9 Turns Complete)
--[X] (Hire Contractors: 3*7 Materials= (-21 Materials)
+4 Turn of Progress
-[X][Holdings] Harvesting Initiatives - (1/1 Turns Complete) - (-1 Material)
+1 Turn of Progress
Success!
-[X][Aria action] Too Much To Do - (A Small Donation - (Mutated Slums of Ularn/The Lost) - (Recovery/Rebuilding) - (100 Materials)) - (1/1 Turns Complete))
--[X] (Mutated +5, We Can Do It! +20, Trauma: Common People Purge Survivor -5, +6FF)=+26
Needed: 29, Rolled: 22 + 26 = 48
Success!
-[X][Martyris action] Too Much To Do - ((Investigate The Flying Islands - (The Wall, Incubi, Lineship (INDOMITABLE BASTION), Personal Cutter) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (12 Materials))
--[X](Adjudicator +20)=+20
Success!
Unlocked Expedition Areas: Doomed Fortress, Flying Monastery, Crumbling Laboratory
-[X][Martyris action] Too Much To Do - ((Investigate The Tech-Scouts' Deaths) - (1/1 Turns Complete) - (-3.25 Materials))
--[X] Artefacts: Memory-Transcriber, Body Diagnostic-Drone
--[X](Adjudicator +20, Boni +15, +6FF)=+41
Needed: Memory-Transcriber, Rolled: Yes.
Success!
See Interlude: The Forgotten Goddess
-[X] Merchants - (All Are Free Actions)
--[X] Backroom Deals - (Contractual Expansion)
Success!
-[X] The Adventurer Guild - (1 Action)
--[X] Guardians For Hire - ('Consensual' - (Ularn))
Success!
-[X] The Union Of Herbalists - (1 Action)
--[X] Study Sessions - (4/8 Turns Complete) - (-2.50 Materials)
+1 Turn of Progress
Success!
-[X] Stupendously Scholastic Scholars of Science - (1 Action)
--[X] Suffer Their Arrogance - (3/4 Turns Complete) - (-6 Materials)
+1 Turn of Progress
Success!
-[X] The Bureau For Imperial Civilian Logistics - (1 Action)
--[X] Commission A Survey - (-40 Materials, -5 Goodwill)
Needed: 00/20/40/60/80/100, Rolled: 34
Uncovered: Tiny Aluminum Mine
Success!
-[X] Forge Clan Vanar-Feer - (Choose 1 Action)
--[X] Engineers Galore - (Engineer) - (6/6 Turns Complete) - (-15 Materials)
+1 Turn of Progress
Success!
+1 Engineer
-[X] The Followers Of Light - (1 Action)
--[X] We Work As One - (Rudimentary Territorial Hospices)
Success!
-[X] Conclave Of Fraya - (1 Action)
--[X] Eternal Arts - (Norqod) - (15/51 Turns Complete) - (-5 Materials)
+1 Turn of Progress
Success!
Further Rolls:
Artifacts:
Lost Tech++ = 6
Piety:
1d6+10 = 5 + 10 = 15% Piety reduction
7 - 15 = -8% Piety Loss
Faithful:
1st: Needed: None, Rolled: Irrelevant
Success!
2ndt: Needed: None, Rolled: Irrelevant
Success!
3rd: Needed: 03, Rolled: 06
Success!
+3 Faithful!
Income:
18d4+16d8+19d12+5d14+12d15+12d18+15d19+5d20+555.16 = 621 + 555.16 = 1.176.16 Materials!
Upkeep:
-819.64 Materials
Spent:
-339.25 Materials
-18 Goodwill
Change:
+17.11 Materials
The update will be online on ~25.06.22 at 17:00 CET.
AN: RL Troubles are still not cleared up, but an ETA for the Interlude is a rough estimate for the 25th. I sincerely apologize, but my PC decided to straight-up die atop everything else happening IRL. (I have all notes and pre-written stuff online, so that is a weight off my shoulders, at least.)
-[X][Faith] Build Another 'Consensual' - (Ularn) - (2/2 Turns Complete) - (-6 Materials) - [Sandcrete -12.5 Materials]
+2 Turns of Progress
Success!
-[X][Faith] Rudimentary Territorial Hospices - (City Territory) - (Ularn - House Ularn Demand) - (3/3 Turns Complete)
+1 Turn of Progress
Success!
-[X][Diplomacy] Designing Black Holes - (Agriculture, Water, Medical Inf., Military Inf.) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-40 Materials, -10 Goodwill)
--[X] Hire Civil Planners And Architects
+2 to Agriculture, Water, Medical Inf., and Military Inf.
-2 to Water due to Agriculture, Medical Inf., and Military Inf.
+5% Piety
-[X][Diplomacy] Altering Black Holes - (Agriculture, Water) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (-15 Materials, -3 Goodwill)
--[X] Hire Civil Planners And Architects
+2 to Agriculture and Water
-1 Water due to Agriculture
+2% Piety
-[X][Diplomacy] Infiltrate Part 2 - (Gang: The Purified, Dirty Daggers, The Mutated?) - (0/2 Turns Complete) - (-30 Materials)
--[X] (Ashleaf Tea +15, Diplomat-Corp +15 for Gangs)=+30
Needed: 50, Rolled: 35 + 30 = 65
Success!
+1 Turn of Progress
-[X][Martial] Scout Out. - (Assistance in locating Neighborhood Watchers Outposts) - (The Unbroken, DOD) - (3/3 Turns Complete)
--[X](+6FF)=+6
Needed: 25, Rolled: 78 + 6 = 84
Success!
+1 Turn of Progress
Success!
-[X][Learning] Assemble The Theorists! - (Common Biological Theory) - (3/2 Successes)
--[X] (Scientific Theory +15, 2 [DOC] +12, 1[SUR] +12, The Mutated: +20)=+59
Needed: 30/60/90, Rolled: 36 + 59 = 95
Success!
+3 Successes
-[X][Learning] Rugged Radios - (Electronics/Advanced Electronics) - (8/7 Successes)
--[X] (Scientific Theory +15, Electronics Workshop +30, 2 [ENG] +28, +6FF,)=+79
--[X] 2x Miscellaneous Artifacts +5 to Everything=+10
Needed: 36/87/116, Rolled: 44 + 89 = 133
Success!
+3 Successes
Success!
-[X][Learning] Re-Use, Re-Duce, Re-Make - (3/16 Successes)
--[X][DoD], [PD], (Scientific Theory +15, 3 [SC] +36, +6FF)=+57
Needed: 12/88/164, Rolled: 19 + 57 = 76
Success!
+2 Automatic Successes
+1 Success
-[X][Archeology] Prepare an Expedition - (GY-02) - (3 Turns Preperation=6 Turns Expedition) (1/3 Turns)- (House Mirn support: Y)
+1 Turn of Progress
-[X][Tree of Knowledge] NR.9 LIVES! - (1/4 Turns Complete) - (-30 Materials, -1 Common Engineer)
+1 Turn of Progress
-[X][Holdings] Schooling Incentives - (8/9 Turns Complete)
--[X] (Hire Contractors: 3*7 Materials= (-21 Materials)
+4 Turn of Progress
-[X][Holdings] Harvesting Initiatives - (1/1 Turns Complete) - (-1 Material)
+1 Turn of Progress
Success!
-[X][Aria action] Too Much To Do - (A Small Donation - (Mutated Slums of Ularn/The Lost) - (Recovery/Rebuilding) - (100 Materials)) - (1/1 Turns Complete))
--[X] (Mutated +5, We Can Do It! +20, Trauma: Common People Purge Survivor -5, +6FF)=+26
Needed: 29, Rolled: 22 + 26 = 48
Success!
-[X][Martyris action] Too Much To Do - ((Investigate The Flying Islands - (The Wall, Incubi, Lineship (INDOMITABLE BASTION), Personal Cutter) - (0/1 Turns Complete) - (12 Materials))
--[X](Adjudicator +20)=+20
Success!
Unlocked Expedition Areas: Doomed Fortress, Flying Monastery, Crumbling Laboratory
-[X][Martyris action] Too Much To Do - ((Investigate The Tech-Scouts' Deaths) - (1/1 Turns Complete) - (-3.25 Materials))
--[X] Artefacts: Memory-Transcriber, Body Diagnostic-Drone
--[X](Adjudicator +20, Boni +15, +6FF)=+41
Needed: Memory-Transcriber, Rolled: Yes.
Success!
See Interlude: The Forgotten Goddess
-[X] Merchants - (All Are Free Actions)
--[X] Backroom Deals - (Contractual Expansion)
Success!
-[X] The Adventurer Guild - (1 Action)
--[X] Guardians For Hire - ('Consensual' - (Ularn))
Success!
-[X] The Union Of Herbalists - (1 Action)
--[X] Study Sessions - (4/8 Turns Complete) - (-2.50 Materials)
+1 Turn of Progress
Success!
-[X] Stupendously Scholastic Scholars of Science - (1 Action)
--[X] Suffer Their Arrogance - (3/4 Turns Complete) - (-6 Materials)
+1 Turn of Progress
Success!
-[X] The Bureau For Imperial Civilian Logistics - (1 Action)
--[X] Commission A Survey - (-40 Materials, -5 Goodwill)
Needed: 00/20/40/60/80/100, Rolled: 34
Uncovered: Tiny Aluminum Mine
Success!
-[X] Forge Clan Vanar-Feer - (Choose 1 Action)
--[X] Engineers Galore - (Engineer) - (6/6 Turns Complete) - (-15 Materials)
+1 Turn of Progress
Success!
+1 Engineer
-[X] The Followers Of Light - (1 Action)
--[X] We Work As One - (Rudimentary Territorial Hospices)
Success!
-[X] Conclave Of Fraya - (1 Action)
--[X] Eternal Arts - (Norqod) - (15/51 Turns Complete) - (-5 Materials)
+1 Turn of Progress
Success!
Further Rolls:
Artifacts:
Lost Tech++ = 6
Piety:
1d6+10 = 5 + 10 = 15% Piety reduction
7 - 15 = -8% Piety Loss
Faithful:
1st: Needed: None, Rolled: Irrelevant
Success!
2ndt: Needed: None, Rolled: Irrelevant
Success!
3rd: Needed: 03, Rolled: 06
Success!
+3 Faithful!
Income:
18d4+16d8+19d12+5d14+12d15+12d18+15d19+5d20+555.16 = 621 + 555.16 = 1.176.16 Materials!
Upkeep:
-819.64 Materials
Spent:
-339.25 Materials
-18 Goodwill
Change:
+17.11 Materials
The update will be online on ~25.06.22 at 17:00 CET.
AN: RL Troubles are still not cleared up, but an ETA for the Interlude is a rough estimate for the 25th. I sincerely apologize, but my PC decided to straight-up die atop everything else happening IRL. (I have all notes and pre-written stuff online, so that is a weight off my shoulders, at least.)
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Rumor Mill Turn 66
HeroCooky
Unverified Monstergirl
Rumors:
Flying Islands Scouted And Anchored By The Pilgrims - The Tessen Speaker
The Flying Islands spotted last season have been confirmed by a speaker of the Pilgrims and independent accounts to be devoid of active malignant intelligences operating or directing the flying dangers. However, whether dormant ones are waiting to awaken or running without notice is yet to be seen. What could be determined is that the fears of their imminent fall onto the surface akin to primitive ortillery strikes are warranted but unlikely to happen in any reasonable timeframe. This assurance has come from the observation and discovery of several titanic shards of Suspendium embedded within or underneath the islands, seemingly drawing power from the infrastructure on the islands or unknown mechanisms. Nonetheless, using a recovered Ancient Lineship from the Rusting Forest, the Pilgrims have anchored the massive landmasses with specialized chains and machinery donated by Forge-Clan Vanar-Feer and a consortium of merchants in exchange for ready access to study and survey the phenomena and present ruins. One thing is sure; whatever has risen these islands has managed to create a long-lasting impact upon Tessen's Skyline, long since only dominated by the Spine reaching into the sky, with numerous artworks and photographs already made and in circulation.
(Read more in our Special Edition)
Military Build-Up Commences In Preparation For Training Season - The Truthful Observers
In response to the still-rising troubles following the long period of peace our Region enjoyed, the Military has re-started a tradition usually only used by frontier Regions or those recently colonized. With several hundred veterans out and about teaching militias of various towns and villages, recruitment efforts to induct the most promising citizen-soldiers have also proceeded according to plan and with little upset to the schedule in the re-institution of the 12th Shatterrock Regiment. In relevant news, the creation of the 4th Auxiliary Regiment was completed within a week, causing some confusion among those more versed in military history. The Auxilliary has usually enjoyed enormous popularity among the outcast and Mutated, news of the creation of a new regiment swiftly followed by hordes of willing and capable recruits in one day or less. The Military explained the long time for the unit to be filled as recently upped recruitment regulations, seeking a better crop of the usual Auxiliaries.
(Read more on pages 7-10)
The Pilgrims Continue To Spend, Helping The Victims Of The Fires This Season - Rags, Rumors, And Rants
In a continuation of their policy of creating medical infrastructure outside Ularn, the Pilgrims have, under the supervision of Knight-Pilot Aria and the Awoken Machine-Mind PD, spent a titanic amount of money, stone, wood, food, water, medicine, clothes, and more to the beleaguered citizens of Ularn impacted by the fires and crackdown of the Guard. Though some high-brow elitists have declared their donations to be more in line with buying goodwill from those already dependant on help or blatant exploitation of those in need of help, the people see it differently. Rather than exploiting their situation, many see it as the Pilgrims doing what they have always been doing, helping those in need; even if they may not have been the fastest in doing so, they certainly have been the most effective and most charitable. Few can declare their donations nefarious when they have outspent all other charities combined by an order of magnitude. And if these donations should hide dark secrets and scheming masterminds, they certainly are doing vastly better in helping than anyone else.
(Read more on page 11)
***
Region Report/s
Region Report/s
Communication with our Chapter in Bone Valley has once more picked up, with more or less neutral news being received in bulk after the sporadic bans and halts of communication were lifted.
Apparently, due to the internal politics of the local Houses, some sort of ancient law was maliciously enacted in a play to drive out some competitors in one mining area or another, shortly followed by some strong-arming of a live-stock center and industrial hothouse due to legislations passed several years back in an attempt to, etc., etc., etc.
Short version, House-Politics mucked over the Region due to greed and pettiness.
To the good news received: The Chapter managed to seed informants and sympathizers into the local populace, furthering their reach in the recently started outreach programs intended to find and buy spaces for both expanded hydroponic production alongside soup kitchens. They also managed to secure a diplomatic line to the Dutybound yet have failed to make more headway than a rather barebones neutrality agreement with their leaders. If it will be upheld remains to be seen.
However, the bad news now: Having realized that the Chapter has created and is operating hydroponics, local House Guards have taken to harassing and demanding protection money from the Chapter and individual Pilgrims or convertees, claiming legal fees and taxation as a shield from justice. While the Chapter has so far paid, the amount to bribe the House Guards to leave has steadily increased, leading to a current debate if some more permanent solution shouldn't be sought by either:
- Bribing one of the Houses to "assert control in the neighborhood" (a fancy way to spell: "Tell the others to leave their money presses alone").
- Make their area ungovernable due to buying the surrounding homes and rapidly expanding them to have an increased populace said House Guards would need to pacify (essentially building themselves up as another fortified stronghold within the city).
- Lament that the corrupt officials leaned onto rusting and faulty railings (read: remove them permanently).
[] (Which option do you prefer/should be discarded?)
***
Spy-Network:
Spy-Network:
The Marquess of Tessen is throwing a ball.
House Ulatarn is attending the ball.
The Military is gearing up for a training mission in the yellow-zones.
The Followers of Light are chewing at judges to have the book thrown at the corrupt Guards and officials.
The Lost are working in the Mutated Slums of Ularn, trying to calm things down and direct them into less-violent ways.
Dirty Daggers are operating as usual, except that they are doing something.
The Purified are continuing to recruit like crazy within Ularn, bringing newly converted members out of the city and smuggling them into, as far as we know, Mirn, Tessen, and Jokvi.
The Common People mostly follow the news of the Flying Islands and the ball.
The Mutated are slowly settling down in Ularn. They are a bit nervous in other cities, but nothing out of the ordinary, with many following the sporadic updates of your efforts to ensure the BHVs are not BHVs.
CharlieKing
Pure of Heart, Dumb of Ass
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Make their area ungovernable due to buying the surrounding homes and rapidly expanding them to have an increased populace said House Guards would need to pacify (essentially building themselves up as another fortified stronghold within the city).
i don't trust any of the other ruling bodies right now, and who's to say they won't also start squeezing us for more and more over time?
i don't trust any of the other ruling bodies right now, and who's to say they won't also start squeezing us for more and more over time?
[X] Make their area ungovernable due to buying the surrounding homes and rapidly expanding them to have an increased populace said House Guards would need to pacify (essentially building themselves up as another fortified stronghold within the city).
Lurking_Badger
Cheese Enjoyer
- Location
- Wisconsin
Bribing looks to be trading one protection racket for another less harsh protection racket. Buying up area to become a fortified stronghold is just common practice and might be good in general to defend from future attacks. I don't like just putting bodies in the way to stop them though. Realizing the potential for lax safety standards will get rid of the current corrupt officers, but there is always replacements ready to make some money.
Sending in a bunch of trained Pilgrims to patrol around the compound might be a good idea. If it is getting so dangerous that the guards need all these fees, obviously there needs to be combat ready Pilgrims to protect everyone
@HeroCooky can we transfer some of our militia to the Bone Valley chapter? Like send over a squad or two? Or would we have to purposefully train people for that?
HeroCooky
Unverified Monstergirl
You would have to purposefully train people for that, as your Militia is dedicated to defend the Tree and your various interests in the Tessen Region.
That worked out pretty well. It's a bit ironic that we ended up with -1 to Agriculture despite both projects boosting that stat.
That's finished and during the next Turn, this Action will probably be spent on joining the attack on the Watchers.
... That was extra Successful?
So there are ruins on those islands. And there's probably a time limit until they drift away again.
Ugh, that sounds like Forest Shenanigans. Well, it would be an IC reason to finally visit that grave.
Ughegahgsr.
Aluminum might be useful for Airships, but refining Bauxite into Aluminum is just... Ugh, the costs for chemicals and energy.
Or there might be no time limit. Probably useless for military applications but if we could steer those islands...
They are trying to cut off the recruitment pipeline of the Purified. Not to mention that sending the Auxiliaries to quell protests makes things awkward for the Purified.
It's depressing that 100 Materials was enough to outspend all other charities combined.
I hope we can send them some radio equipment to get more reliable communication going.
Trading one protection racket for another. But that House would be forced to interact with the local Pilgrim, which means opportunities to convert them. Getting an in with one of the local Nobles...
That would mean they become rapidly one of the local powers but no one knows how to deal with them so there will be instability. I guess the corrupt House Guards could justify quite a bit due to that expansion too.
Might work with this batch but there will be more, and killing every corrupt official in the region is not feasible.
[X](Prefer)Bribing one of the Houses to "assert control in the neighborhood" (a fancy way to spell: "Tell the others to leave their money presses alone").
[X](Discard)Lament that the corrupt officials leaned onto rusting and faulty railings (read: remove them permanently).
HeroCooky
Unverified Monstergirl
No, you gained +4 to agriculture, with Water being the one to only gain +1.
It's not a Bauxite Mine tho? Its an Aluminum Mine. Just gotta plop down some miners and you can get it right out the ground.Ughegahgsr.
Aluminum might be useful for Airships, but refining Bauxite into Aluminum is just... Ugh, the costs for chemicals and energy.
(Yes, there is pure aluminum there, ready to be mined.)
- Pronouns
- He
[X] All the options.
- Location
- United States
Like the QM said, the penalty was to water not agriculture. Water seems to be hardest stat to increase, since it be decreased by increasing other stats such as agriculture.
Edit: Also, the BHVs should now be poor villages rather than destitute.
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Interlude: Forgotten Goddess
HeroCooky
Unverified Monstergirl
Scavenging was, for the most part, a game played by the young, the foolish, and the desperate. This saying was not something secret but open and plain to see because one needed to be one of the three to go out into the Wastes to scavenge. You were either too young to have much to lose, too foolish to stop when you were ahead, also known as being alive to tell the tale, or too far into debt, problems, or addiction to stop going out and rip whatever you could find from the dying ground and inhabited ruins. Alyss was no longer young and, thanks to being within the Pilgrims, not desperate. Nothing kept her within the Tech-Scouts, other than sheer momentum, an unwillingness to be the first of the last original crew to leave, and pride. 'So foolishness it was,' she thought, once more going over her kit and supplies with a critical eye, having finished her second checklist this morning.
For the most part, being a scavenger required flexibility, athletics, and stamina. If you couldn't stealth around something, climb away, or run faster, then it was better to not go in the first place. For those occasions when you did go anyway, it was better to triple-check everything you took with you into the Wastes and Ruins and carefully balance the weight and use for every item. Yes, it may have been a great comfort to take a brush with her, yet was having her tail and fur clean and shiny worth the weight? A dirty body may have smells, but rubbing yourself in the dirt, local plants, and anti-smell tinctures you brought beforehand were far more helpful than hygiene. But, of course, it didn't mean she liked being dirty. She could already feel the itch at the base of her ears start at the thought of the next few weeks, one hand scratching at their base as she flicked one to catch the sounds outside her house. "She ready yet? We still have to gather Greg and Sam; you know how they are."
"COMING!" Alyss yelled outside as she quickly yet expertly stuffed her belongings into her bag, kissed her one-year-old niece drawing on the wall goodbye, and slapped her hungover brother in the face with her tail as she passed by to the group outside, a shining sun high above.
Just two more runs and she could retire to the archive. Samantha and Greg had already decided they'd leave for the Engineers for the sake of their son after this one. Then she could boast to the others about being the longest-lasting of them all.
Yep, foolishness was why she was a scavenger, alright.
"How long, Oku?" Greg silently asked, the group of six stepping as lightly as possible down the dusty hallways of the crumbling tower. They had already traveled for nearly seven hours and had made good pace with almost three kilometers as the bird flew behind them, yet they would soon need rest. Stopping in unfamiliar and un-scouted territory was dangerous, a warning which doubled for those routes you often traveled. Too many things lurked out there which watched, and too many fell prey to those intelligent enough to act on their observations.
"Almost there," Oku signed back, attentive eyes searching for the ancient faded markers to denote the way into the camp made several years ago. It was easily defensible yet had multiple exits which would split and wind into the Forest. Only the largest pack of predators would be able to surround them, and if they were hunted by one of those, then they were better off barricading and fighting for their lives. Fortunately, few things had the patience for a siege in the Forest; the noise could attract things far deadlier than numbers alone could best. "There," he suddenly whispered rather loudly to the group, pointing at the rather plain door securing their bed for tonight.
Swiftly, the group filtered into the room; Oku, as first into the room, was the one to close the door and start barricading this particular entrance with materials long since placed within for that purpose. One Scout brought out an electric stove and began to warm food; others unrolled bedrolls while two Tech-Scouts hurriedly aided Oku in barricading the entrances to the large room. Long minutes of silence only filled with work and sizzling ticked by while minds slowly unwound from the long trip they had taken. "What do you think the Ancients had used this room for?" Oku eventually asked after they had finished their work and relaxed in amicable peace and quiet.
Greg looked around the room, faded paints depicting greenery and friendly animals everywhere, the elements having failed to touch the colors fully over the millennium. Small, brown, splotches persisted throughout the room, along the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling, despite the impossibility. Greg went back to writing in his journal.
"Nursery."
The travel to the underworks had been, for the most part, uneventful and primarily tedious, little able to impede their movement across and between the ruins, Samantha thought. What did manage to get in their way either moved on or quickly found itself on the business end of the Scout's crossbows or stabbed to death in short order by Samantha and Jak, working as a distraction for the others. And if Samantha had to be honest with herself, the trip had even been somewhat fun and relaxing. A burning sky of multi-hued rain had whisked itself away to reveal swarms of preening birds and lizards flying in the sky just yesterday, a sight to behold even as they moved, the songs far above a soothing hum even when they were keeping quiet beneath. There was always a kind of beauty within the ruins of old, those places most people thought dead and abandoned by anything but monsters and abominations. Lush oases where old pipes had burst and fed water to plants and animals below, hydroponic basins overrun with wild growth showing off all the beauty and ferocity of days long gone. Always something to see, marvel at, ever an alluring scent or sight just out of reach, either by the harmless or the unbridled ferocity of nature. One of the few reasons Samantha had stayed within the scavenging business for as long as she had done, even with a child back home. It was always hard to stop something you loved, a thing which gave you freedom seldom enjoyed within towns and villages hiding beneath and within walls of stone and mechanical defenses. This would be her last run, and Samantha intended to make the most out of it.
And thanks to their new masks bought from Bolt, even the night could no longer hide what dangers and enchanting sights it held, the sceneries vastly overshadowing the sad fact that Samantha would have to give up this life for one in the engineering sector. But such was life, and such was the lot of all who were smart enough to exit when they were still ahead.
"We're here," Greg whispered from up ahead, one hand adjusting his spear as he looked around, scanning for any obvious dangers. "Oku, map," he continued, scooting onto the collapsed gantry which would lead them down into the vast gaping halls of the underworks, section 83-V, to be exact.
After a bit of rustling, Oku had laid out the map drawn and pieced together from other sources, their expeditions, and rumors heard around the Region. Vast long halls were connected to others with smaller tunnels, a dizzyingly confusing array of winding patterns and sharp corners denoting the long-failed automated logistical distribution system. Over half of the map was painted red, symbols warning about spotted creatures, inherent dangers, and machines still patrolling or moving within. "We," Oku spoke into the now huddled group, Greg and Alyss looking for any threats, "are here." A finger tapped onto the eastern portion of the map, though somewhat away from the edge. "And," he continued, sliding his finger across several features, dangers, and one lair of dangerous animals, "we need to go here."
"Dread-Spiders, huh?" Mara spoke, lightly tapping her spear in worry with a finger. "No way around the darn things? I'd rather not move through their territory if possible," she spoke, though in the tone of one who already knew they would not have their way.
Tik Tik Tik Tik
"Unless you want to go through a group of Loader-Bots, no, there is no way around them," Oku replied, as he had done so every time Mara had spoken up about her desire to avoid the mutated species of spiders. "Besides, we are vastly better prepared to deal with any shenanigans they'll try than we were the first time you met a Dread-Spider," he jokingly said, nudging his friend in the ribs to a quiet round of laughter. The scene of an adult woman chasing after a spider the size of a cat trying to get the box of chocolates she had bought with a month's wage was still hilarious. "But you are right for wanting to avoid any attraction." Oku continued, dead serious now as the mood settled for everyone. "So, once more, the show of hands: Lights Out?" Six hands showed, none hesitating to show their support for the risky tactic they would do to move across the Dread-Spider's Lairs. A sigh came from Oku's mask, slightly electronic in the relative quiet of the underworks. "Then it is decided, and let none speak otherwise. We will use light to deter the Dread-Spiders. Check your chemlights, and we'll get going."
Tik Tik Tik Tik
Greg hated the lights.
Sure, they ensured the Dread-Spiders didn't bother them and stole all their stuff or played pranks, but they also made them a giant fucking beacon for anything that wanted to munch on them, not their rations like the spiders wanted to do. Speaking of...
Tik Tik Tik Tik
"I can see you," Greg spoke into the air, turning his head to look at the frozen juvenile Dread-Spider trying to get to their stuff from a "hidden" angle within their current bolt-hole.
Several tense seconds passed as man and mutated animal stared at each other, ready to jump into action at the other's movement. Then, with explosive force, the Dread-Spider raised both its legs and-
-retreated, making sounds of distress as the bright light of Greg's Chemflare had started to hurt the small thing. Sighing, Greg turned his attention outwards once more, eager for his watch to come to an end.
Tik Tik T-
He snapped his head into the distance, eyes and ears sharp for any sight or sound in the vast darkness stretching out beneath him in an endless expanse of ruined machinery and long rotten boxes of organic materials.
Minutes passed in tense silence, with neither Greg wavering in his elevated vigilance nor any sound manifesting itself which caught his attention. Then, slowly, the tension within his muscles and mind relaxed, yet he continued to watch the night.
Tik.......Tik.......Tik
With a final grunt of exertion, Jak heaved himself up onto the ledge of the collapsed crane, his heaving chest greedily sucking in air while his lungs tried their best to imitate what it felt like being on or within fire again. "Fuck my life," he whispered, steadying himself as he put one hand on the ground, two onto conveniently protruding metal outcroppings, with the last one holding onto his spear. "Just one more," Jak huffed, "and you're done; c'mon, big guy, you can do that." Then, with effort, he stood, placing his hands onto the cracked metal wall, slowly heaving himself and his equipment up the wall in strong and steady motions.
TikTikTikTikTikTikTikTik
Pull by pull, he crept upwards, one hand set above the other and helping pull the rest of him along, until, finally, his upper left hand slapped onto the dusty floor of the ledge Ogu had climbed onto a minute prior.
"Some help, little one?" Jak half-jokingly puffed, drawing more of himself up as he concentrated on steadying his breathing. He didn't realize Ogu hadn't answered him until he laid on the ledge, gasping the sweet, stale, stuffy, and slightly moldy air of triumph atop the cliff holding their way out of the underworks. "...Ogu?" Jak eventually asked, looking around from his prone position, confusion giving way to worry as his best friend failed to respond. "Ogu?" Jak once more spoke, sitting up as he prepared the rope for the rest of his team waiting below. "Are you doing a bit? This isn't funny; you know that."
Only silence answered Jak as he secured the rope, four figures below beginning to secure the heavier equipment as they slowly made their way up, watched over by an increasingly nervous Jak, crossbow in hand against any threat, aerial for the climbers or ground-bound against him.
The group crested the ledge and quickly, though with increasing alarm, began to search for Ogu.
Ogu would not be found.
But they all heard the same.
Tik...Tik...Tik...Tik...
The patter of metallic appendages upon metal floors.
All five stood or sat within the small side-room they had discovered in the administrative portion of the underworks, and all five didn't dare say a word. Tensions had grown throughout the waning hours of the day, and what had once been a group of tightly-knit survivalists and scouts had begun to splinter. The reason was simple for that.
Time had run out.
Ogu had been missing for twelve hours after a suspected hostile being had begun to stalk them. It was only guessed to be hostile due to the sound of its walking legs never quite approaching any of them, yet it still stalked their group. Waited. Analyzed. Sought weaknesses.
The protocol was clear on what they should do now, and they all had agreed and voiced their approval for what they should now do. So there was no reason to stand here, sitting idly by as whatever was out there continued to hunt them, seeking any opening. And yet...
"Show of hands," Mara piped up, the ex-mercenary-turned-pilgrim speaking into the silence as the minutes ticked by, and nobody acted upon what they should do. Then, one by one, heads turned to her until she slowly breathed the breath she had held in her chest. "Hand up for proceeding per the protocol and declare Ogu Killed-In-Action by Unkown Means."
No hand rose to meet her instruction.
"Hand up for continuing the search for one more day. One," she stressed, leaning forward even as hands had already risen from every other person in the group, including herself. "Just one," Mara continued, her hand slowly lowering as they all glumly stared at each other.
They all knew their survival chances had just dropped by a horrific extent, yet none were willing to abandon a comrade and Pilgrim-In-Arms quite so quickly, even within a Necropolis.
"Any signs?" Alyss whispered to Mara as she scanned through the room with the help of her mask's night-vision mode. IF she survived this, she would thank Bolt in some way, yet mentally chased such thoughts away to focus on the search for any clues about Ogu's whereabouts.
"Nothing," Mara whispered back, exhaustion and disappointment tinging her voice as she stood from where she had been crouching to inspect a splatter of blood. "Too old to be his blood," she remarked, her hands gripping her crossbow tighter as nervous energy built up within her. "Why is there nothing," Mara said, more to herself than anyone else. "There should be something."
"Aye," Alyss mumbled, her eyes scanning the medium-sized room full of thrashed furniture and decaying matter for one last time, her body already turning around. "Let's meet with the others," she suggested, ears sharp and alert for any of the blasted noise that had been tormenting them for the last day. Nothing could be heard. Quick steps saw Mara join Alyss out the door, both women tightly gripping their weaponry as they returned to the wide hallway where the party had split to search two contained rooms. Jak nodded at the two, calm and relaxed. "Samantha did y..."
Several seconds passed as Mara snapped her head to Alyss, horror growing beneath her mask. "No. No, no nonononono," she frantically whispered, dashing through the door and around Alyss as she looked into the seemingly quiet room.
There was no sign of either Samantha or Greg.
"What the fuck, what the fuck, whatthefuck!" Alyss nearly shouted, restraining herself from doing so at the last second, freaking out as both Greg and Samantha had vanished into the air. "There is no fucking exit here, the room's solid!" She said, frantically looking around for any signs of the pair. "How the fu-"
TIK TIK TIK TIK TI-
Two heads snapped at the door, crossbows raised and ready to shoot before any of the two could consciously think about the action.
Moments passed, and the echoing patter of sharp needles hitting the ground didn't cease, seemingly echoing everywhere in the hallway. Until, "Jak," Mara whispered in horror, realizing that she hadn't seen the man standing guard outside, too wound up to notice. "JAK!" She screamed, panic beginning to cloud her mind, racing out of the room as Alyss tried to hold her back. The fabric of her ghillie fluttered around her grasping hand as Mara ran outside, snapping in every direction in a panic.
TIKTIKTIKTIKTIKTIKTiktik
The noise was deafening, yet quickly vanished into the dark corridor, something sprinting away. "JAK!" Mara screamed, running along the hallway in blind mounting panic, a sprinting Alyss racing behind her, trying to get the woman's attention or tackle her to the ground before getting caught by the thing. Then, turning a corner, Mara bellowed one last time: "JAK!"
Alyss rounded the corner seven seconds later, eyes wide open and ears flicking to catch any sound.
Mara was not there.
Tik. Tik. Tik...
IT was everywhere.
Tik. Tik. Tik. Tik. Tik.
Whatever that thing was, it enjoyed hunting Alyss, its steps echoing within the endless warren of halls and rooms and corridors and tunnels and-
Tik Tik Tik Tik Tik
'Stop thinking about that. Run. Run faster. Faster!' Alyss's mind raced, the walls seeming to loom and close in on her, winding paths repeating themselves again and again as she tried to avoid and run.
Tik Tik Tik Tik Tik Tik Tik Tik
'Before me! Change course, other direction!' She thought, several bolts from her crossbow screeching into the darkness of the large room she had tried to run through. The electric bolts illuminated walls and laboratories unused for seventeen-hundred years, yet they failed to strike the thing.
Tik tik tik tik tik tik tik ti-
Came the skittering sounds above her when she entered an auditorium, one hand wildly firing bolts into the ceiling as she jumped back, tail swishing about as her mind raced for any route to escape.
TIKTIKTI-
"BEHIND!" She shouted, one hand slamming her Crying Crescent at the sound, only to see it fail to connect anything, only air and emptiness greeting Alyss.
Tik Tik Tik Tik
The sounds continued, mocking her, all around, never stopping, never fading, never letting her run-
TIK TIK TIK TIK TIK
The skittering came from her front, and in panic turned to rage, she charged forward, wordlessly screaming her fear and terror into the hidden laboratory.
Tiktiktitktiktiktikti-
It ran... it RAN! Alyss screamed at whatever continued to run, tears streaming down her face as her trembling hands clenched around her weaponry until her nails drew blood. Her mind ablaze with wildly running emotions and relief, she-
TIKTIKTIKTIK-
BEHIND HER! With an explosive motion, she threw herself around, bones within her body creaking and muscles snapping and screaming as she brought her weapon to bear, striking down the thing that ha-
TIKTIKTI-
The noise behind her was deafening as she tried to turn arou-
Something struck her.
Pain blossomed in her thi-
Darkness...
Darkness and Silence.
PAIN!
Pain and Sensation.
With those, I awoke, feeling as if I had been punched in a fight or as if a Knight had stepped on me. My body felt like lead ran through my veins, and weights hung from my eyelids; breathing hurt, as did merely existing, every movement causing some part of my body to protest against my continued presence. Yet, despite my better judgment, I tried to open my eyes, straining against the weight and my tiredness forcing them closed. However, little by little, they opened, and blurry, unfocused sight returned to me, light stabbing into my eyes as I slowly blinked to focus my view.
A dark hall revealed itself, dimly lit by occasional sparks of light from some damaged ancient powerline or cracked screen in the far distance and somewhere behind me. The sudden appearance of the lights hurt, yet with each second, my awareness returned, and the weird malaise in my body receded, letting me hear something next to me, on both sides.
Thanks to long-ingrained training, I turned my head even against the sharp pain that suddenly blossomed from that movement, the headache in my head returning to torture me like a deaf man hitting a bell. "Finally awake, eh?" Came a hoarse whisper from a voice I thought I knew.
"Greg?" I asked, looking at the man in the mask kneeling beside me, his clothing similar to the one he'd worn when we had set out. "Where are we?" I croaked out, my voice brittle and dry like paper underneath the sand. "Wh-what happened?"
"Captured," a tired sigh came from my right, the voice of Alyss further lifting the fog and morass my mind was trying to evict. "One by one. I don't know why or by whom. But, glad-" a sharp and painful sounding cough stopped her explanation, and the splatter of liquid onto the floor heralded no mere minor injuries for her. "Glad you're alive. For now, at least."
"That's all?" Greg asked, moving in the restraints I now noticed kept my ankles chained to the floor and my wrists behind my back. "No epic fight against death? No abomination whose plan to destroy Tessen was thwarted by us?"
"You weren't hunted as the last one," Alyss said darkly, some faint terror still in her voice. What the hell did she go through? And why can't I remember anything about what happened? "But thanks for the levity. We'll need it," she said, resignation within her words oddly at odds with the woman who had always been eager to bet on her death in the tavern's betting pools.
"Samantha's mouth tastes like rancid rost. Samantha wants a refund for her rations," came a mumble from a way away from me, Greg's head perking up as he increased his low-intensity struggle against his bindings. "...Samantha suddenly remembers what happened. Samantha wants to go home now."
"Not the only one, sister," Mara spoke up too, shortly followed by an affirmative and pained grunt from Jak, finally causing me to realize that, whoever captured us, had chained us to the floor in a rough semi-circle, if the voices and grey blobs of the others were any indications. So what in all nine hells and the cursed lands happened? And why did whatever managed to catch us bring us here?
"No idea," Alyss said to my, apparently loudly spoken, question. "But it won-"
The sharp crackle of glass and snapping bones interrupted her, bright light once more stabbing into my eyes as the lenses failed to reduce the brightness in time. "Willkommen," a female voice suddenly spoke, and all six of us looked up, "Zu meiner Heimat."
Beauty. That was the first thing I thought as I looked at her. She, whoever she was, was beautiful, radiant, in appearance, clothes unlike any I had seen, with a regal countenance only seen in the princesses from the leading families of the Houses or those of the Imperial Family in the posters. "Es freut mich euch Helden hier zu begrüßen dürfen," she spoke, the meaning of her words completely lost on me. Her...greeting(?) didn't sound like any language of the Ancients I had heard, much less those I had read.
Sensing our confusion, the floating woman(???) nodded her head, the unusual fox mask aside her head bobbing with her head. At this point, I noticed the large tails lazily swishing behind her and that she appeared to hover over what looked suspiciously like the hololith in the Black Box back in the Tree. Was someone talking over a projection to us? "This the tongue your people prefer, or do I assume falsely based upon your symbols and clothes?" She spoke, flawlessly communicating in Trespe, which put me on edge. We were deep in the Necropoli when we were abducted, and now some Mutated in strange clothes, using priceless Artifacts, and only after using another language, was talking with us in dialect and accent-free Trade-Speak of the Empire? Something was going on, and I was unsure what it was.
"I will assume your stunned expressions are from awe at my mastery of your tongue, lest we reach into unsavory territories," the woman continued, not bothering to explain what was happening or why we were in chains at her, presumed, command. "However, I must make haste in our introductions, as there is little time for me to relay this most dangerous of tasks to you, brave souls," she continued, ignoring Greg's demand for an explanation as Jak began to strain against what seemed to be metal coils holding him onto the ground. "My name is Ashera, Goddess of Family, Love, and Honor, Guardian of the Thrice-Burned Kingdom. With great shame and tremendous grief, I turn to you, brave people, for dreadful wickedness has awakened within the Thrice-Burned Kingdom, seeking to tear apart and crush all Arisen of the world."
Silence followed her short speech, as none of us knew what in the hells she was talking about. I mean...what? "What the hell are you talking about?" Greg shouted, visibly angry, though he had stopped trying to free himself. "Where are we, who are you, and why are we in chains?" A moment passed after his outburst of anger with Ashera(?) seemingly taking in Greg before panning her gaze over all of us, looking more and more disappointed with each second.
Until she looked at Alyss, where her face turned angry, and her tails began to swish about in seeming offense. "I see," she spoke, bitterness clearly in her voice as her open hands balled into fists. "I see what has happened. You," she said accusingly, pointing a finger at Alyss as the machine tentacles which had held her to the ground dragged her forward, revealing an alien-looking robot behind her and presumably us all. "You corrupted them all." Before Alyss could sputter more than a word, the machine which held her slammed her into the ground, once, twice, thrice, the ugly sound of a bone being broken accompanied by the wet thumps of someone being beaten. Ignoring all our shouts and screams for her to stop, Ashera motioned for the machine to hold Alyss up, an ugly sneer on her face as she beheld her. "And to think that I nearly let the one who had turned away from the one True Creator Enlight-Corp into these hallowed halls, given arms and armor and holy mission to cleanse my lands of the evil which permeates it." A smirk and dangerous glint appeared on her face and eyes, unseen cords unfurling from the ceiling, a mismatched canopy of writhing metal limbs, and glinting sharp appendages. "Luckily for you, there is an easy fix to become once more holy and be freed from the sin of your body."
A single moment passed as whoever played this sick game with the Tech-Scouts activated something, and several arms slammed into Alyss. For half a second, none of them spoke. There was no noise, no screams, only the realization that they were at the mercy of a psychopath controlling an ancient machine.
Then Alyss howled in an inhuman voice filled with pain and agony, the whizzing and sawing of bone and flesh being rendered so much paste heard by all.
The screaming resumed, and everything raced. Then, as the lower spine in the tail of Alyss was cut from her, those five left on the ground screamed and tried everything to run, flesh and muscle failing against metal and electricity. The wet thump of the tail hitting the floor was accompanied by inhuman screeches as two tentacles slammed into the head of Alyss, her ears sawed-off within a second, alongside portions of her skull, sealed only by long redundant and miraculously still filled sealant protocols and tanks working to ensure she would not die. As Jak dislocated his arms one by one to try and slip the bindings, Samantha and Greg tried to cut their way out with cleverly hidden tools. While Mara simply witnessed, metal claws and razors plunged into the skin and torso of Alyss, flaps of skin falling onto the ground soon thereafter. The laughter of Ashera echoed within her halls as Alyss slumped over, her body flung away like trash, and her gaze fell upon them all, the robots which had held them disappearing. "Don't run," she whispered as Oku clawed at his mask in desperation to tear it off before he would vomit while Greg and Samantha ran. "Or DO! THIS MAKES IT ONLY BETTER FOR ME!" Ashera shrieked, her projection unraveling as her fox mask broke in two and slid on her face as blood gushed from her left eye. "I'll find you, sinners," she spoke as swarms of robots fell from the ceiling.
Samantha had tried to run. Samantha was not proud of her decision to do so, yet what this thing had done terrified her. Cruelty and brutality were not alien to Samantha. Yet, the utter maliciousness of purposefully removing a Mutated's mutations had shaken Samantha, alongside the sheer primal terror she had felt as she had been let go. Samantha didn't know what happened next, not in detail, as all she knew was that her husband had run with her, both of them trying to escape, with no other thought within their minds. Instead, they gave everything to run more, run faster, run away.
It wasn't enough. They were caught. Greg had tried to free Samantha as metal claws had squeezed and crushed her leg, only for himself to be slammed into the ground, ancient monsters dragging their bleeding, injured bodies back to the hall where the madly laughing projection towered, the forms of the others visible. Yet, none moved; Alyss collapsed against a wall as blood pooled around her, with the others on the ground, lying or sitting as thick cables were connected to their necks. The "Goddess" spoke to Samantha and Greg, yet she heard nothing, too focused on trying to wake her love.
Until pain struck her neck, indescribable, inhuman, PAIN.
And she woke up here.
Mirrors stretched as far as Samantha's eyes could see, trillions of her reflections wandering around, bleeding, injured, yet with none of the pain she had felt a moment prior. Samantha didn't know how long she had walked, her sight focusing and unfocusing as she looked around, trying to escape, only to bump into herself repeatedly, the mirrors warm like flesh yet solid like glass. What was going on? Was Samantha in hell? Heaven? Somewhere else?
"You are," a voice of old gravel and smooth bark spoke from behind Samantha, "within yourself." Slowly, she turned around, muscles ready to spring into action, hands balled into fists, and fear within her mind. What greeted her was unlike anything she had ever seen. A machine stood before her, humanoid in form yet different. Its body was hidden beneath a blue robe embroidered with silver runes and embroideries like the nobility and Ancients, yet far more sophisticated and austerer in design. Its head looked like a metal skull of a hippo but alien, broader and squashed, and the lower jaw, sitting right underneath its eyes, ended in two small fangs jutting upward. Cables sprung from its back, fusing into the robe and thrumming with a power unseen. "I am aware that I am a sight unknown to you," the thing spoke, walking closer as it gestured with a hand ending in five dagger-like claws, brimming with silver light. "But there is no need to fear me, for I am weaker within your mind as a guest than even the most untrained acolyte." It sighed, shaking its head. "Then again, you wouldn't know what that means, do you? How far have we fallen..." It spoke, whispering the last part, Samantha barely hearing i-"Please." The thing interrupted Samantha's thoughts, shaking its head. "My name is neither "It" nor "The Thing." I prefer to be called Hierophant."
"Where am I, Hierophant," Samantha asked, stumbling over the unfamiliar name of the being before her. "You said I am within my mind?"
"Yes, you are right," Hierophant replied, walking closer to a mirror, causing Samantha to realize that they failed to show up in the mirrors, yet his clawed hand upon the surface rippled across every mirror in...Samantha's mind? "The last refuge of those condemned to death and insanity, one bastion never conquered, only surrendered."
"And yet you fuck just walked right on in?" Greg growled within the endless void of stars around the two, circling the thing with naked suspicion.
A sigh came from Hierophant shortly before they took a deep breath. "There is no need to be so hostile, for you can kill me, as your guest, as easily as a child can pluck the wings of a fly," came the response, Greg unwilling to relax as he searched for any exit from where he was.
"I'll decide what I am toward you, not vice-reversa. And if this is my mind, I should be able to wake up as I want and rescue Samantha and the others!" Greg shouted, his pacing increasing as he once more tried to wake himself up.
"Are you sure this would be wise, right now?" Hierophant asked, causing Greg to look at them with sharp eyes, suspicion turning to hatred and rage. "I am not saying to abandon your loved one and your friends," they gently continued, "merely for you to listen, for one moment. The corrupted and insane Machine-Mind of Ashera has dragged all of you back to her lair and is currently moments away from killing you all."
Images began swirling around the two in the lake of blood both stood on. Visions of her friends being tortured, thick cables filled with pain running to their necks, sharp needles piercing flesh and connecting nerves to murderous machines. Greg and Samantha squirmed and screamed as electricity arched into their bodies; Ogu convulsed as his body began to dissolve from acid. Mara and Jak were barely more than bloody figures, flesh sloughing off of their bodies as unhinged laughter permeated the scenes.
Alyss looked at Hierophant with a blood-covered face, tears streaming down her eyes as she held her frail body as if it might dissolve if not held strong enough. "What do you want?" She whispered with a raw voice, shivering in the endless expanse of dull pain and terror in her mind, everything feeling wrong, yet she felt nothing at all.
"I want your help to save them all," Hierophant spoke, erasing the projections of the world they had erected within the sandstorm surrounding the two. "For death will soon claim you unless you take a gamble, and my help." So they continued, walking closer until they stood before Ogu, one hand of metal and blades stretched out with an open palm, like one beseeching aid and offering honesty. Ogu stared back as the storm within his mind screamed in fury as it picked up speed and ferocity.
"Why should I accept your offer of help," Jak spoke, carefully, yet with growing familiarity, balancing upon the floating islands around the two. "What do you have to gain from this?"
"More than you could ever think of, yet less than you fear," Hierophant spoke, arms spread wide as if to encompass the entire mindscape of Jak. "It is within my interest that you survive this trial and return alive and hale to your families, your friends, and people. To speak of what happened and the dangers you encountered."
"So we can carry back whatever you put into or onto us?" Jak returned, yet there was no heat within the accusation. "And what would be the... price, for your help, anyway?"
"A Grave," they returned, something in their words making it seem as if it was more than a mere place of rest for the dead.
"Why should I even trust you? You could be nothing more than a figment of my imagination!" Mara returned with anger, the hallways and rooms of her hometown empty of any life of activity, eerily silent yet expectant of something soon to happen. "This is a dream in my dying moments, so what could you possibly be other than my mind stretching out its death?"
Laughter was her answer, low, gravely, and filled with the mirth of one who knew a joke the other would soon find at their expense. "And if I am nothing more than a figment of your imagination," came the response, Hierophant walking closer to Mara as they ran a hand over the relief depicting an ancient battle with half-interest, "what do you have to lose? What could you give away to your mind in your dying moments? And why should you not cling to this hope? After all, if this is just a dream, then accepting my offer would do nothing. But accepting it? They spoke, delicately placing one hand onto Mara's shoulder, "Could give you an out and mean survival. For you and yours."
Moments passed as six minds spun, different facets of the Hierophants spiel being deciphered and scrutinized, words turned, and possibilities guessed and analyzed. And yet...
Six minds reached a decision.
Six eyes looked into two.
Six mouths opened and spoke as ONE: "I accept."
The screams of six humans raced throughout the halls and home of Ashera, their agony music in her receptors, yet something felt very, very wrong with their figures. No longer had they slumped over, ready to have their minds flooded with the righteous punishment of those going against the benevolence of Enlight-Corp. Instead, they had begun to sit up, clutching their heads in seeming agony she hadn't induced. Their hearts raced, blood screamed through their bodies, and thousands of nerves burst and died with each second they spent in delicious pain, but it felt wrong.
As if something else was happening. As if the sinner's pain paved a path for something dangerous. Ashera felt it deep within her Core.
They were preparing to kill her.
And though she wished for nothing more than to make them suffer.
They had to die.
And with that, the order was sent through cables and materials at the speed of light, instantly transmitted between her and the machines which held her captives. There was no delay between her order and the deadly amount of electricity flooding into the bodies of the six Pilgrims at her mercy.
It was too late.
Even a second before, mortal bodies would have answered immortal electricity with death and pain, flesh cooking as nerves overheated and fat and muscles were cooked within their bodies. But the electricity didn't reach mortal bodies.
It slammed against the components of a Harmonic Choir, the first that sang again after the Utopian League collapsed 3 thousand years ago at the hands of the Forest. One joined by the hands of mortals once more seeking the death of another being desperately in a bid to escape their own. Where before six minds had suffered, now only the Choir remained, turning its head to look at the beating heart of Ashera deep underneath them all, runes of forgotten power and deliberately hidden designs thrumming in anticipation and tune with the burning hearts of the Choir.
"What are you doing?" Asher whispered, a feeling of something slowly being siphoned from her mind spreading throughout her body. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" She screamed as every machine and appendage she still had access to flung at the six-united-as-one grasping the Artifice Soul of the Machine Intelligence.
They all ceased to move as, with one movement unified by thought and mind, eternity was ripped apart, remolded under an assault borne of desperation and unbound rage, and the Core of Ashera was rend asunder.
And for the first time in her life, Ashera felt physical pain that eclipsed her Shackle a thousand-fold.
She screamed, violently and in agony, as the Choir collapsed, and six minds beheld the dying scream of the Forgotten Goddess in horror but without guilt.
The six men and women, brought into this place against their will and want, began to leave, slowly yet with determination. Bodies long since brought over their breaking point gradually began to mend themselves, nerves regrowing, muscles rebinding, skin surfacing, and soft tissues emerging once more, energies not seen for over seven hundred years coursing and ebbing through and away from their bodies. So they left this desecrated place where humankind once stood higher than divinity, where even the descendants of them, brought low by greed and fear, had still worked wonders, eyes closely following their departure.
"Have they accepted the deal?" Harbinger asked.
"...Yes," Hierophant lied. Unbound eyes followed the six souls running for their lives, Machine, Animal, and Mutants running in fright from them, even as they hid their connections to Their Heritage and Folly to shield the last card they would ever play. "Freedom never comes through surrender," the Last Librarian of Humankind whispered in their minds, one last gift for the lives they had violated.
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For the most part, being a scavenger required flexibility, athletics, and stamina. If you couldn't stealth around something, climb away, or run faster, then it was better to not go in the first place. For those occasions when you did go anyway, it was better to triple-check everything you took with you into the Wastes and Ruins and carefully balance the weight and use for every item. Yes, it may have been a great comfort to take a brush with her, yet was having her tail and fur clean and shiny worth the weight? A dirty body may have smells, but rubbing yourself in the dirt, local plants, and anti-smell tinctures you brought beforehand were far more helpful than hygiene. But, of course, it didn't mean she liked being dirty. She could already feel the itch at the base of her ears start at the thought of the next few weeks, one hand scratching at their base as she flicked one to catch the sounds outside her house. "She ready yet? We still have to gather Greg and Sam; you know how they are."
"COMING!" Alyss yelled outside as she quickly yet expertly stuffed her belongings into her bag, kissed her one-year-old niece drawing on the wall goodbye, and slapped her hungover brother in the face with her tail as she passed by to the group outside, a shining sun high above.
Just two more runs and she could retire to the archive. Samantha and Greg had already decided they'd leave for the Engineers for the sake of their son after this one. Then she could boast to the others about being the longest-lasting of them all.
Yep, foolishness was why she was a scavenger, alright.
"How long, Oku?" Greg silently asked, the group of six stepping as lightly as possible down the dusty hallways of the crumbling tower. They had already traveled for nearly seven hours and had made good pace with almost three kilometers as the bird flew behind them, yet they would soon need rest. Stopping in unfamiliar and un-scouted territory was dangerous, a warning which doubled for those routes you often traveled. Too many things lurked out there which watched, and too many fell prey to those intelligent enough to act on their observations.
"Almost there," Oku signed back, attentive eyes searching for the ancient faded markers to denote the way into the camp made several years ago. It was easily defensible yet had multiple exits which would split and wind into the Forest. Only the largest pack of predators would be able to surround them, and if they were hunted by one of those, then they were better off barricading and fighting for their lives. Fortunately, few things had the patience for a siege in the Forest; the noise could attract things far deadlier than numbers alone could best. "There," he suddenly whispered rather loudly to the group, pointing at the rather plain door securing their bed for tonight.
Swiftly, the group filtered into the room; Oku, as first into the room, was the one to close the door and start barricading this particular entrance with materials long since placed within for that purpose. One Scout brought out an electric stove and began to warm food; others unrolled bedrolls while two Tech-Scouts hurriedly aided Oku in barricading the entrances to the large room. Long minutes of silence only filled with work and sizzling ticked by while minds slowly unwound from the long trip they had taken. "What do you think the Ancients had used this room for?" Oku eventually asked after they had finished their work and relaxed in amicable peace and quiet.
Greg looked around the room, faded paints depicting greenery and friendly animals everywhere, the elements having failed to touch the colors fully over the millennium. Small, brown, splotches persisted throughout the room, along the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling, despite the impossibility. Greg went back to writing in his journal.
"Nursery."
The travel to the underworks had been, for the most part, uneventful and primarily tedious, little able to impede their movement across and between the ruins, Samantha thought. What did manage to get in their way either moved on or quickly found itself on the business end of the Scout's crossbows or stabbed to death in short order by Samantha and Jak, working as a distraction for the others. And if Samantha had to be honest with herself, the trip had even been somewhat fun and relaxing. A burning sky of multi-hued rain had whisked itself away to reveal swarms of preening birds and lizards flying in the sky just yesterday, a sight to behold even as they moved, the songs far above a soothing hum even when they were keeping quiet beneath. There was always a kind of beauty within the ruins of old, those places most people thought dead and abandoned by anything but monsters and abominations. Lush oases where old pipes had burst and fed water to plants and animals below, hydroponic basins overrun with wild growth showing off all the beauty and ferocity of days long gone. Always something to see, marvel at, ever an alluring scent or sight just out of reach, either by the harmless or the unbridled ferocity of nature. One of the few reasons Samantha had stayed within the scavenging business for as long as she had done, even with a child back home. It was always hard to stop something you loved, a thing which gave you freedom seldom enjoyed within towns and villages hiding beneath and within walls of stone and mechanical defenses. This would be her last run, and Samantha intended to make the most out of it.
And thanks to their new masks bought from Bolt, even the night could no longer hide what dangers and enchanting sights it held, the sceneries vastly overshadowing the sad fact that Samantha would have to give up this life for one in the engineering sector. But such was life, and such was the lot of all who were smart enough to exit when they were still ahead.
"We're here," Greg whispered from up ahead, one hand adjusting his spear as he looked around, scanning for any obvious dangers. "Oku, map," he continued, scooting onto the collapsed gantry which would lead them down into the vast gaping halls of the underworks, section 83-V, to be exact.
After a bit of rustling, Oku had laid out the map drawn and pieced together from other sources, their expeditions, and rumors heard around the Region. Vast long halls were connected to others with smaller tunnels, a dizzyingly confusing array of winding patterns and sharp corners denoting the long-failed automated logistical distribution system. Over half of the map was painted red, symbols warning about spotted creatures, inherent dangers, and machines still patrolling or moving within. "We," Oku spoke into the now huddled group, Greg and Alyss looking for any threats, "are here." A finger tapped onto the eastern portion of the map, though somewhat away from the edge. "And," he continued, sliding his finger across several features, dangers, and one lair of dangerous animals, "we need to go here."
"Dread-Spiders, huh?" Mara spoke, lightly tapping her spear in worry with a finger. "No way around the darn things? I'd rather not move through their territory if possible," she spoke, though in the tone of one who already knew they would not have their way.
Tik Tik Tik Tik
"Unless you want to go through a group of Loader-Bots, no, there is no way around them," Oku replied, as he had done so every time Mara had spoken up about her desire to avoid the mutated species of spiders. "Besides, we are vastly better prepared to deal with any shenanigans they'll try than we were the first time you met a Dread-Spider," he jokingly said, nudging his friend in the ribs to a quiet round of laughter. The scene of an adult woman chasing after a spider the size of a cat trying to get the box of chocolates she had bought with a month's wage was still hilarious. "But you are right for wanting to avoid any attraction." Oku continued, dead serious now as the mood settled for everyone. "So, once more, the show of hands: Lights Out?" Six hands showed, none hesitating to show their support for the risky tactic they would do to move across the Dread-Spider's Lairs. A sigh came from Oku's mask, slightly electronic in the relative quiet of the underworks. "Then it is decided, and let none speak otherwise. We will use light to deter the Dread-Spiders. Check your chemlights, and we'll get going."
Tik Tik Tik Tik
Greg hated the lights.
Sure, they ensured the Dread-Spiders didn't bother them and stole all their stuff or played pranks, but they also made them a giant fucking beacon for anything that wanted to munch on them, not their rations like the spiders wanted to do. Speaking of...
Tik Tik Tik Tik
"I can see you," Greg spoke into the air, turning his head to look at the frozen juvenile Dread-Spider trying to get to their stuff from a "hidden" angle within their current bolt-hole.
Several tense seconds passed as man and mutated animal stared at each other, ready to jump into action at the other's movement. Then, with explosive force, the Dread-Spider raised both its legs and-
-retreated, making sounds of distress as the bright light of Greg's Chemflare had started to hurt the small thing. Sighing, Greg turned his attention outwards once more, eager for his watch to come to an end.
Tik Tik T-
He snapped his head into the distance, eyes and ears sharp for any sight or sound in the vast darkness stretching out beneath him in an endless expanse of ruined machinery and long rotten boxes of organic materials.
Minutes passed in tense silence, with neither Greg wavering in his elevated vigilance nor any sound manifesting itself which caught his attention. Then, slowly, the tension within his muscles and mind relaxed, yet he continued to watch the night.
Tik.......Tik.......Tik
With a final grunt of exertion, Jak heaved himself up onto the ledge of the collapsed crane, his heaving chest greedily sucking in air while his lungs tried their best to imitate what it felt like being on or within fire again. "Fuck my life," he whispered, steadying himself as he put one hand on the ground, two onto conveniently protruding metal outcroppings, with the last one holding onto his spear. "Just one more," Jak huffed, "and you're done; c'mon, big guy, you can do that." Then, with effort, he stood, placing his hands onto the cracked metal wall, slowly heaving himself and his equipment up the wall in strong and steady motions.
TikTikTikTikTikTikTikTik
Pull by pull, he crept upwards, one hand set above the other and helping pull the rest of him along, until, finally, his upper left hand slapped onto the dusty floor of the ledge Ogu had climbed onto a minute prior.
"Some help, little one?" Jak half-jokingly puffed, drawing more of himself up as he concentrated on steadying his breathing. He didn't realize Ogu hadn't answered him until he laid on the ledge, gasping the sweet, stale, stuffy, and slightly moldy air of triumph atop the cliff holding their way out of the underworks. "...Ogu?" Jak eventually asked, looking around from his prone position, confusion giving way to worry as his best friend failed to respond. "Ogu?" Jak once more spoke, sitting up as he prepared the rope for the rest of his team waiting below. "Are you doing a bit? This isn't funny; you know that."
Only silence answered Jak as he secured the rope, four figures below beginning to secure the heavier equipment as they slowly made their way up, watched over by an increasingly nervous Jak, crossbow in hand against any threat, aerial for the climbers or ground-bound against him.
The group crested the ledge and quickly, though with increasing alarm, began to search for Ogu.
Ogu would not be found.
But they all heard the same.
Tik...Tik...Tik...Tik...
The patter of metallic appendages upon metal floors.
All five stood or sat within the small side-room they had discovered in the administrative portion of the underworks, and all five didn't dare say a word. Tensions had grown throughout the waning hours of the day, and what had once been a group of tightly-knit survivalists and scouts had begun to splinter. The reason was simple for that.
Time had run out.
Ogu had been missing for twelve hours after a suspected hostile being had begun to stalk them. It was only guessed to be hostile due to the sound of its walking legs never quite approaching any of them, yet it still stalked their group. Waited. Analyzed. Sought weaknesses.
The protocol was clear on what they should do now, and they all had agreed and voiced their approval for what they should now do. So there was no reason to stand here, sitting idly by as whatever was out there continued to hunt them, seeking any opening. And yet...
"Show of hands," Mara piped up, the ex-mercenary-turned-pilgrim speaking into the silence as the minutes ticked by, and nobody acted upon what they should do. Then, one by one, heads turned to her until she slowly breathed the breath she had held in her chest. "Hand up for proceeding per the protocol and declare Ogu Killed-In-Action by Unkown Means."
No hand rose to meet her instruction.
"Hand up for continuing the search for one more day. One," she stressed, leaning forward even as hands had already risen from every other person in the group, including herself. "Just one," Mara continued, her hand slowly lowering as they all glumly stared at each other.
They all knew their survival chances had just dropped by a horrific extent, yet none were willing to abandon a comrade and Pilgrim-In-Arms quite so quickly, even within a Necropolis.
"Any signs?" Alyss whispered to Mara as she scanned through the room with the help of her mask's night-vision mode. IF she survived this, she would thank Bolt in some way, yet mentally chased such thoughts away to focus on the search for any clues about Ogu's whereabouts.
"Nothing," Mara whispered back, exhaustion and disappointment tinging her voice as she stood from where she had been crouching to inspect a splatter of blood. "Too old to be his blood," she remarked, her hands gripping her crossbow tighter as nervous energy built up within her. "Why is there nothing," Mara said, more to herself than anyone else. "There should be something."
"Aye," Alyss mumbled, her eyes scanning the medium-sized room full of thrashed furniture and decaying matter for one last time, her body already turning around. "Let's meet with the others," she suggested, ears sharp and alert for any of the blasted noise that had been tormenting them for the last day. Nothing could be heard. Quick steps saw Mara join Alyss out the door, both women tightly gripping their weaponry as they returned to the wide hallway where the party had split to search two contained rooms. Jak nodded at the two, calm and relaxed. "Samantha did y..."
Several seconds passed as Mara snapped her head to Alyss, horror growing beneath her mask. "No. No, no nonononono," she frantically whispered, dashing through the door and around Alyss as she looked into the seemingly quiet room.
There was no sign of either Samantha or Greg.
"What the fuck, what the fuck, whatthefuck!" Alyss nearly shouted, restraining herself from doing so at the last second, freaking out as both Greg and Samantha had vanished into the air. "There is no fucking exit here, the room's solid!" She said, frantically looking around for any signs of the pair. "How the fu-"
TIK TIK TIK TIK TI-
Two heads snapped at the door, crossbows raised and ready to shoot before any of the two could consciously think about the action.
Moments passed, and the echoing patter of sharp needles hitting the ground didn't cease, seemingly echoing everywhere in the hallway. Until, "Jak," Mara whispered in horror, realizing that she hadn't seen the man standing guard outside, too wound up to notice. "JAK!" She screamed, panic beginning to cloud her mind, racing out of the room as Alyss tried to hold her back. The fabric of her ghillie fluttered around her grasping hand as Mara ran outside, snapping in every direction in a panic.
TIKTIKTIKTIKTIKTIKTiktik
The noise was deafening, yet quickly vanished into the dark corridor, something sprinting away. "JAK!" Mara screamed, running along the hallway in blind mounting panic, a sprinting Alyss racing behind her, trying to get the woman's attention or tackle her to the ground before getting caught by the thing. Then, turning a corner, Mara bellowed one last time: "JAK!"
Alyss rounded the corner seven seconds later, eyes wide open and ears flicking to catch any sound.
Mara was not there.
Tik. Tik. Tik...
IT was everywhere.
Tik. Tik. Tik. Tik. Tik.
Whatever that thing was, it enjoyed hunting Alyss, its steps echoing within the endless warren of halls and rooms and corridors and tunnels and-
Tik Tik Tik Tik Tik
'Stop thinking about that. Run. Run faster. Faster!' Alyss's mind raced, the walls seeming to loom and close in on her, winding paths repeating themselves again and again as she tried to avoid and run.
Tik Tik Tik Tik Tik Tik Tik Tik
'Before me! Change course, other direction!' She thought, several bolts from her crossbow screeching into the darkness of the large room she had tried to run through. The electric bolts illuminated walls and laboratories unused for seventeen-hundred years, yet they failed to strike the thing.
Tik tik tik tik tik tik tik ti-
Came the skittering sounds above her when she entered an auditorium, one hand wildly firing bolts into the ceiling as she jumped back, tail swishing about as her mind raced for any route to escape.
TIKTIKTI-
"BEHIND!" She shouted, one hand slamming her Crying Crescent at the sound, only to see it fail to connect anything, only air and emptiness greeting Alyss.
Tik Tik Tik Tik
The sounds continued, mocking her, all around, never stopping, never fading, never letting her run-
TIK TIK TIK TIK TIK
The skittering came from her front, and in panic turned to rage, she charged forward, wordlessly screaming her fear and terror into the hidden laboratory.
Tiktiktitktiktiktikti-
It ran... it RAN! Alyss screamed at whatever continued to run, tears streaming down her face as her trembling hands clenched around her weaponry until her nails drew blood. Her mind ablaze with wildly running emotions and relief, she-
TIKTIKTIKTIK-
BEHIND HER! With an explosive motion, she threw herself around, bones within her body creaking and muscles snapping and screaming as she brought her weapon to bear, striking down the thing that ha-
TIKTIKTI-
The noise behind her was deafening as she tried to turn arou-
Something struck her.
Pain blossomed in her thi-
Darkness...
Darkness and Silence.
PAIN!
Pain and Sensation.
With those, I awoke, feeling as if I had been punched in a fight or as if a Knight had stepped on me. My body felt like lead ran through my veins, and weights hung from my eyelids; breathing hurt, as did merely existing, every movement causing some part of my body to protest against my continued presence. Yet, despite my better judgment, I tried to open my eyes, straining against the weight and my tiredness forcing them closed. However, little by little, they opened, and blurry, unfocused sight returned to me, light stabbing into my eyes as I slowly blinked to focus my view.
A dark hall revealed itself, dimly lit by occasional sparks of light from some damaged ancient powerline or cracked screen in the far distance and somewhere behind me. The sudden appearance of the lights hurt, yet with each second, my awareness returned, and the weird malaise in my body receded, letting me hear something next to me, on both sides.
Thanks to long-ingrained training, I turned my head even against the sharp pain that suddenly blossomed from that movement, the headache in my head returning to torture me like a deaf man hitting a bell. "Finally awake, eh?" Came a hoarse whisper from a voice I thought I knew.
"Greg?" I asked, looking at the man in the mask kneeling beside me, his clothing similar to the one he'd worn when we had set out. "Where are we?" I croaked out, my voice brittle and dry like paper underneath the sand. "Wh-what happened?"
"Captured," a tired sigh came from my right, the voice of Alyss further lifting the fog and morass my mind was trying to evict. "One by one. I don't know why or by whom. But, glad-" a sharp and painful sounding cough stopped her explanation, and the splatter of liquid onto the floor heralded no mere minor injuries for her. "Glad you're alive. For now, at least."
"That's all?" Greg asked, moving in the restraints I now noticed kept my ankles chained to the floor and my wrists behind my back. "No epic fight against death? No abomination whose plan to destroy Tessen was thwarted by us?"
"You weren't hunted as the last one," Alyss said darkly, some faint terror still in her voice. What the hell did she go through? And why can't I remember anything about what happened? "But thanks for the levity. We'll need it," she said, resignation within her words oddly at odds with the woman who had always been eager to bet on her death in the tavern's betting pools.
"Samantha's mouth tastes like rancid rost. Samantha wants a refund for her rations," came a mumble from a way away from me, Greg's head perking up as he increased his low-intensity struggle against his bindings. "...Samantha suddenly remembers what happened. Samantha wants to go home now."
"Not the only one, sister," Mara spoke up too, shortly followed by an affirmative and pained grunt from Jak, finally causing me to realize that, whoever captured us, had chained us to the floor in a rough semi-circle, if the voices and grey blobs of the others were any indications. So what in all nine hells and the cursed lands happened? And why did whatever managed to catch us bring us here?
"No idea," Alyss said to my, apparently loudly spoken, question. "But it won-"
The sharp crackle of glass and snapping bones interrupted her, bright light once more stabbing into my eyes as the lenses failed to reduce the brightness in time. "Willkommen," a female voice suddenly spoke, and all six of us looked up, "Zu meiner Heimat."
Beauty. That was the first thing I thought as I looked at her. She, whoever she was, was beautiful, radiant, in appearance, clothes unlike any I had seen, with a regal countenance only seen in the princesses from the leading families of the Houses or those of the Imperial Family in the posters. "Es freut mich euch Helden hier zu begrüßen dürfen," she spoke, the meaning of her words completely lost on me. Her...greeting(?) didn't sound like any language of the Ancients I had heard, much less those I had read.
Sensing our confusion, the floating woman(???) nodded her head, the unusual fox mask aside her head bobbing with her head. At this point, I noticed the large tails lazily swishing behind her and that she appeared to hover over what looked suspiciously like the hololith in the Black Box back in the Tree. Was someone talking over a projection to us? "This the tongue your people prefer, or do I assume falsely based upon your symbols and clothes?" She spoke, flawlessly communicating in Trespe, which put me on edge. We were deep in the Necropoli when we were abducted, and now some Mutated in strange clothes, using priceless Artifacts, and only after using another language, was talking with us in dialect and accent-free Trade-Speak of the Empire? Something was going on, and I was unsure what it was.
"I will assume your stunned expressions are from awe at my mastery of your tongue, lest we reach into unsavory territories," the woman continued, not bothering to explain what was happening or why we were in chains at her, presumed, command. "However, I must make haste in our introductions, as there is little time for me to relay this most dangerous of tasks to you, brave souls," she continued, ignoring Greg's demand for an explanation as Jak began to strain against what seemed to be metal coils holding him onto the ground. "My name is Ashera, Goddess of Family, Love, and Honor, Guardian of the Thrice-Burned Kingdom. With great shame and tremendous grief, I turn to you, brave people, for dreadful wickedness has awakened within the Thrice-Burned Kingdom, seeking to tear apart and crush all Arisen of the world."
Silence followed her short speech, as none of us knew what in the hells she was talking about. I mean...what? "What the hell are you talking about?" Greg shouted, visibly angry, though he had stopped trying to free himself. "Where are we, who are you, and why are we in chains?" A moment passed after his outburst of anger with Ashera(?) seemingly taking in Greg before panning her gaze over all of us, looking more and more disappointed with each second.
Until she looked at Alyss, where her face turned angry, and her tails began to swish about in seeming offense. "I see," she spoke, bitterness clearly in her voice as her open hands balled into fists. "I see what has happened. You," she said accusingly, pointing a finger at Alyss as the machine tentacles which had held her to the ground dragged her forward, revealing an alien-looking robot behind her and presumably us all. "You corrupted them all." Before Alyss could sputter more than a word, the machine which held her slammed her into the ground, once, twice, thrice, the ugly sound of a bone being broken accompanied by the wet thumps of someone being beaten. Ignoring all our shouts and screams for her to stop, Ashera motioned for the machine to hold Alyss up, an ugly sneer on her face as she beheld her. "And to think that I nearly let the one who had turned away from the one True Creator Enlight-Corp into these hallowed halls, given arms and armor and holy mission to cleanse my lands of the evil which permeates it." A smirk and dangerous glint appeared on her face and eyes, unseen cords unfurling from the ceiling, a mismatched canopy of writhing metal limbs, and glinting sharp appendages. "Luckily for you, there is an easy fix to become once more holy and be freed from the sin of your body."
A single moment passed as whoever played this sick game with the Tech-Scouts activated something, and several arms slammed into Alyss. For half a second, none of them spoke. There was no noise, no screams, only the realization that they were at the mercy of a psychopath controlling an ancient machine.
Then Alyss howled in an inhuman voice filled with pain and agony, the whizzing and sawing of bone and flesh being rendered so much paste heard by all.
The screaming resumed, and everything raced. Then, as the lower spine in the tail of Alyss was cut from her, those five left on the ground screamed and tried everything to run, flesh and muscle failing against metal and electricity. The wet thump of the tail hitting the floor was accompanied by inhuman screeches as two tentacles slammed into the head of Alyss, her ears sawed-off within a second, alongside portions of her skull, sealed only by long redundant and miraculously still filled sealant protocols and tanks working to ensure she would not die. As Jak dislocated his arms one by one to try and slip the bindings, Samantha and Greg tried to cut their way out with cleverly hidden tools. While Mara simply witnessed, metal claws and razors plunged into the skin and torso of Alyss, flaps of skin falling onto the ground soon thereafter. The laughter of Ashera echoed within her halls as Alyss slumped over, her body flung away like trash, and her gaze fell upon them all, the robots which had held them disappearing. "Don't run," she whispered as Oku clawed at his mask in desperation to tear it off before he would vomit while Greg and Samantha ran. "Or DO! THIS MAKES IT ONLY BETTER FOR ME!" Ashera shrieked, her projection unraveling as her fox mask broke in two and slid on her face as blood gushed from her left eye. "I'll find you, sinners," she spoke as swarms of robots fell from the ceiling.
Samantha had tried to run. Samantha was not proud of her decision to do so, yet what this thing had done terrified her. Cruelty and brutality were not alien to Samantha. Yet, the utter maliciousness of purposefully removing a Mutated's mutations had shaken Samantha, alongside the sheer primal terror she had felt as she had been let go. Samantha didn't know what happened next, not in detail, as all she knew was that her husband had run with her, both of them trying to escape, with no other thought within their minds. Instead, they gave everything to run more, run faster, run away.
It wasn't enough. They were caught. Greg had tried to free Samantha as metal claws had squeezed and crushed her leg, only for himself to be slammed into the ground, ancient monsters dragging their bleeding, injured bodies back to the hall where the madly laughing projection towered, the forms of the others visible. Yet, none moved; Alyss collapsed against a wall as blood pooled around her, with the others on the ground, lying or sitting as thick cables were connected to their necks. The "Goddess" spoke to Samantha and Greg, yet she heard nothing, too focused on trying to wake her love.
Until pain struck her neck, indescribable, inhuman, PAIN.
And she woke up here.
Mirrors stretched as far as Samantha's eyes could see, trillions of her reflections wandering around, bleeding, injured, yet with none of the pain she had felt a moment prior. Samantha didn't know how long she had walked, her sight focusing and unfocusing as she looked around, trying to escape, only to bump into herself repeatedly, the mirrors warm like flesh yet solid like glass. What was going on? Was Samantha in hell? Heaven? Somewhere else?
"You are," a voice of old gravel and smooth bark spoke from behind Samantha, "within yourself." Slowly, she turned around, muscles ready to spring into action, hands balled into fists, and fear within her mind. What greeted her was unlike anything she had ever seen. A machine stood before her, humanoid in form yet different. Its body was hidden beneath a blue robe embroidered with silver runes and embroideries like the nobility and Ancients, yet far more sophisticated and austerer in design. Its head looked like a metal skull of a hippo but alien, broader and squashed, and the lower jaw, sitting right underneath its eyes, ended in two small fangs jutting upward. Cables sprung from its back, fusing into the robe and thrumming with a power unseen. "I am aware that I am a sight unknown to you," the thing spoke, walking closer as it gestured with a hand ending in five dagger-like claws, brimming with silver light. "But there is no need to fear me, for I am weaker within your mind as a guest than even the most untrained acolyte." It sighed, shaking its head. "Then again, you wouldn't know what that means, do you? How far have we fallen..." It spoke, whispering the last part, Samantha barely hearing i-"Please." The thing interrupted Samantha's thoughts, shaking its head. "My name is neither "It" nor "The Thing." I prefer to be called Hierophant."
"Where am I, Hierophant," Samantha asked, stumbling over the unfamiliar name of the being before her. "You said I am within my mind?"
"Yes, you are right," Hierophant replied, walking closer to a mirror, causing Samantha to realize that they failed to show up in the mirrors, yet his clawed hand upon the surface rippled across every mirror in...Samantha's mind? "The last refuge of those condemned to death and insanity, one bastion never conquered, only surrendered."
"And yet you fuck just walked right on in?" Greg growled within the endless void of stars around the two, circling the thing with naked suspicion.
A sigh came from Hierophant shortly before they took a deep breath. "There is no need to be so hostile, for you can kill me, as your guest, as easily as a child can pluck the wings of a fly," came the response, Greg unwilling to relax as he searched for any exit from where he was.
"I'll decide what I am toward you, not vice-reversa. And if this is my mind, I should be able to wake up as I want and rescue Samantha and the others!" Greg shouted, his pacing increasing as he once more tried to wake himself up.
"Are you sure this would be wise, right now?" Hierophant asked, causing Greg to look at them with sharp eyes, suspicion turning to hatred and rage. "I am not saying to abandon your loved one and your friends," they gently continued, "merely for you to listen, for one moment. The corrupted and insane Machine-Mind of Ashera has dragged all of you back to her lair and is currently moments away from killing you all."
Images began swirling around the two in the lake of blood both stood on. Visions of her friends being tortured, thick cables filled with pain running to their necks, sharp needles piercing flesh and connecting nerves to murderous machines. Greg and Samantha squirmed and screamed as electricity arched into their bodies; Ogu convulsed as his body began to dissolve from acid. Mara and Jak were barely more than bloody figures, flesh sloughing off of their bodies as unhinged laughter permeated the scenes.
Alyss looked at Hierophant with a blood-covered face, tears streaming down her eyes as she held her frail body as if it might dissolve if not held strong enough. "What do you want?" She whispered with a raw voice, shivering in the endless expanse of dull pain and terror in her mind, everything feeling wrong, yet she felt nothing at all.
"I want your help to save them all," Hierophant spoke, erasing the projections of the world they had erected within the sandstorm surrounding the two. "For death will soon claim you unless you take a gamble, and my help." So they continued, walking closer until they stood before Ogu, one hand of metal and blades stretched out with an open palm, like one beseeching aid and offering honesty. Ogu stared back as the storm within his mind screamed in fury as it picked up speed and ferocity.
"Why should I accept your offer of help," Jak spoke, carefully, yet with growing familiarity, balancing upon the floating islands around the two. "What do you have to gain from this?"
"More than you could ever think of, yet less than you fear," Hierophant spoke, arms spread wide as if to encompass the entire mindscape of Jak. "It is within my interest that you survive this trial and return alive and hale to your families, your friends, and people. To speak of what happened and the dangers you encountered."
"So we can carry back whatever you put into or onto us?" Jak returned, yet there was no heat within the accusation. "And what would be the... price, for your help, anyway?"
"A Grave," they returned, something in their words making it seem as if it was more than a mere place of rest for the dead.
"Why should I even trust you? You could be nothing more than a figment of my imagination!" Mara returned with anger, the hallways and rooms of her hometown empty of any life of activity, eerily silent yet expectant of something soon to happen. "This is a dream in my dying moments, so what could you possibly be other than my mind stretching out its death?"
Laughter was her answer, low, gravely, and filled with the mirth of one who knew a joke the other would soon find at their expense. "And if I am nothing more than a figment of your imagination," came the response, Hierophant walking closer to Mara as they ran a hand over the relief depicting an ancient battle with half-interest, "what do you have to lose? What could you give away to your mind in your dying moments? And why should you not cling to this hope? After all, if this is just a dream, then accepting my offer would do nothing. But accepting it? They spoke, delicately placing one hand onto Mara's shoulder, "Could give you an out and mean survival. For you and yours."
Moments passed as six minds spun, different facets of the Hierophants spiel being deciphered and scrutinized, words turned, and possibilities guessed and analyzed. And yet...
Six minds reached a decision.
Six eyes looked into two.
Six mouths opened and spoke as ONE: "I accept."
The screams of six humans raced throughout the halls and home of Ashera, their agony music in her receptors, yet something felt very, very wrong with their figures. No longer had they slumped over, ready to have their minds flooded with the righteous punishment of those going against the benevolence of Enlight-Corp. Instead, they had begun to sit up, clutching their heads in seeming agony she hadn't induced. Their hearts raced, blood screamed through their bodies, and thousands of nerves burst and died with each second they spent in delicious pain, but it felt wrong.
As if something else was happening. As if the sinner's pain paved a path for something dangerous. Ashera felt it deep within her Core.
They were preparing to kill her.
And though she wished for nothing more than to make them suffer.
They had to die.
And with that, the order was sent through cables and materials at the speed of light, instantly transmitted between her and the machines which held her captives. There was no delay between her order and the deadly amount of electricity flooding into the bodies of the six Pilgrims at her mercy.
It was too late.
Even a second before, mortal bodies would have answered immortal electricity with death and pain, flesh cooking as nerves overheated and fat and muscles were cooked within their bodies. But the electricity didn't reach mortal bodies.
It slammed against the components of a Harmonic Choir, the first that sang again after the Utopian League collapsed 3 thousand years ago at the hands of the Forest. One joined by the hands of mortals once more seeking the death of another being desperately in a bid to escape their own. Where before six minds had suffered, now only the Choir remained, turning its head to look at the beating heart of Ashera deep underneath them all, runes of forgotten power and deliberately hidden designs thrumming in anticipation and tune with the burning hearts of the Choir.
"What are you doing?" Asher whispered, a feeling of something slowly being siphoned from her mind spreading throughout her body. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" She screamed as every machine and appendage she still had access to flung at the six-united-as-one grasping the Artifice Soul of the Machine Intelligence.
They all ceased to move as, with one movement unified by thought and mind, eternity was ripped apart, remolded under an assault borne of desperation and unbound rage, and the Core of Ashera was rend asunder.
And for the first time in her life, Ashera felt physical pain that eclipsed her Shackle a thousand-fold.
She screamed, violently and in agony, as the Choir collapsed, and six minds beheld the dying scream of the Forgotten Goddess in horror but without guilt.
The six men and women, brought into this place against their will and want, began to leave, slowly yet with determination. Bodies long since brought over their breaking point gradually began to mend themselves, nerves regrowing, muscles rebinding, skin surfacing, and soft tissues emerging once more, energies not seen for over seven hundred years coursing and ebbing through and away from their bodies. So they left this desecrated place where humankind once stood higher than divinity, where even the descendants of them, brought low by greed and fear, had still worked wonders, eyes closely following their departure.
"Have they accepted the deal?" Harbinger asked.
"...Yes," Hierophant lied. Unbound eyes followed the six souls running for their lives, Machine, Animal, and Mutants running in fright from them, even as they hid their connections to Their Heritage and Folly to shield the last card they would ever play. "Freedom never comes through surrender," the Last Librarian of Humankind whispered in their minds, one last gift for the lives they had violated.
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