>>1470305

The non-charred places on the tip of your spear glimmer gently in the firelight, but the shaft is nowhere to be seen in your charred surroundings. It was unsurprisingly incinerated. You really ought to invest in a less flammable weapon all things considered. You sigh; how many has that been now? You've lost count. Hopefully once you scavenge this place you'll find a new one. You're optimistic that there will be things to take though. Not only is this play way out of the way, but that crime against nature you just destroyed is also good sign. If anyone else came through here, that thing wouldn't have still been around. Or at least if someone else came through, then that thing was probably them. It's unlikely that anything important has been seriously disturbed.

You toss the speartip into your satchel and take stock of your situation. You're now without a proper weapon. You have no armor, no shield, nor any real understanding of the facility you're exploring. Everything seems to be going pretty well.

>There's nothing in this facility that you can't just reduce to ash and you've got energy to spare. Press onward.

>On second thought, maybe there is something inflammable in here. You should try to get a better idea of what this place is before you push forward.

>Actually that's enough for today. Time to take a rest, preferably somewhere outside with no fleshmonsters.

>Write-in

>>1470306
>There's nothing in this facility that you can't just reduce to ash and you've got energy to spare. Press onward.

my wife left me

>>1470306
>There's nothing in this facility that you can't just reduce to ash and you've got energy to spare. Press onward.

preparation is for retards anyways

>>1470306
>On second thought, maybe there is something inflammable in here. You should try to get a better idea of what this place is before you push forward.
see if we can find a convenient artifact weapon laying around.

>>1470306
>There's nothing in this facility that you can't just reduce to ash and you've got energy to spare. Press onward

>>1470312
>don't charge in like an idiot

>>1470307
>>1470311
>>1470318
>actually do something useful


Writing.

File: FireVatisQuest.jpg (140 KB, 680x402)

140 KB JPG

Hi I'm a big fan of your quest, I made some fanart for you to use as your op image

>>1470334
Nice.

>>1470334
Nice.

File: 1310871050879.png (95 KB, 716x596)

95 KB PNG

>see this in catalog
>it's not BQ
>IT HAPPENED AGAIN

>>1470334
Nice.

>>1470338
Its by Not Soma, its not titled banished quest, are you mentally retarded anon?

>>1470338
I'm very sorry for your confusion. I chose the name Not Soma to make it as clear as possible that I am in fact not Soma, may he rest in peace.

>>1470340
I SKIMMED >VYS NIGNOGGER
FOR ONE QUARTER SECOND I BELIEVED

>>1470344
Soma himself said bq is dead, the only thing he'd post is an epilogue which would be a piece of shit.
I don't remember if he posted his ideas but they were all terrible. Mik settled down to be a political aide to kadir.

File: Facility Hallway.jpg (113 KB, 900x511)

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With your success in defeating the beast, you're quite confident you can take anything this place has to throw at you. Ideally you won't wreak as much destruction in future encounters, but this time it's not like anything valuable was destroyed. Probably. You calmly make your way out of the room.

The room only has one exit that isn't the way out of this place, so you take it. On the other side you find yourself in a wide hallway. It's a bit worse for wear. The walls and ceiling, which even in the past must have been nothing fancy, are now rusted, dented and patchwork. Cables hang loosely from the ceiling, some of them severed. Many of the light fixtures in the place have been knocked to the floor and broken, leaving the hallway dim. Still, your firelight combined with what lanterns remain is enough illumination.

In the shadowed and flickering light, you can make out several paths from which to choose. There are doorways spaced evenly along the hallway. You opt to just take the hall closest to you. Its condition mirrors the main hallway. Clearly that beast, or some others have been having their way with the place. That, and time has just been eating it away. Its seclusion might have protected it from the curious or intrepid such as yourself, but not even the Rhynians could build something that could stand forever.

You reconsider that thought slightly. Maybe they could actually: you've heard the tales of buildings and machines that persist to this day. The lights in this facility, for example, must operate on some inexhaustible fuel to remain lit for so many years. Still, they hadn't built this particular place to stand forever. It makes sense. So far you've seen really nothing of note save for an abomination that you doubt was created intentionally.

The hall you chose seems to just be a living area. Most of the rooms are quarters, empty with decrepit beds and all valuables cleaned out. You poke around a bit, hoping for a journal or just something that might have been passed over, but there's really nothing. Further on, there are a couple recreation rooms; you recognize one as a multi-purpose sphaerista, for ball games. There's no equipment to be found though. Aside from the poor state of things, the place seems rather orderly; intentionally abandoned. Maybe the Rhynians condemned the place when their experiments got out of hand and just left it rather than risk recovering what was within. There was a warning sign on the outer door after all.

>1/3

>>1470347
Leaving the first area, you decided to just skip to the end of this big hallway. No sense wasting your time exploring a bunch of insignificant places. If there was something important, it'd probably be in the back of the facility, maybe. As you reach the end, you're pleased to see that this assumption is likely valid, as the hallway floor transitions to marble rather than metal. The tiles are cracked, and the walls are still damaged, but the area is definitely nicer. More notably, there's a map of the place.

The map itself is illuminated from behind. Certain elements of it are fixed and drawn onto the surface of it, but others seemed to be rendered in light, as though enchanted to reflect what's going on. You recognize the areas you came through. The room you destroyed, reception, has the words "major damage" flickering in red light over it. The other areas of the facility are labeled with varying degrees of damage save for the backmost room labeled "core". There are also a couple shorthands that you don't recognize. Past the closed doors to your right and left where the floors are marble and further into the facility from there, the words or acronyms or whatever "ACP" "ACM" and "AMP" are visible. Each of these acronyms has the first two letters in blue, and the last letter in red. These acronyms wander around the map haphazardly, though they seem confined to their respective rooms. You also note that the room labeled "core" is uniquely labeled with the acronym "AMM", which is not moving.

The Core room is secondarily labeled with the word "Animus", which you recall can mean "mind" or "emotions". Interestingly enough it's not the only room with this marker. There's another room off to the side of the research room that also has "Animus" on it. You wonder if perhaps they're using the word as a shorthand for something, since you don't really know how it could be relevant to rooms in a research facility. Maybe it's some sort of indicator for a counselor? That seems like a poor explanation though; the Rhynians had a minor god devoted specifically to mental health, so it'd make more sense to name the rooms after that god. Additionally, you have no explanation for why a therapist would be in the Core room of the facility. It doesn't matter though, it's not like you need to know everything on the map.

>>1470349
You get the gist of things. You might be missing some information, but the map is still a valuable navigational tool. Its part of the wall so you can't take it, but you commit the important details to memory. Now it's just a question of where you want to go.

That decision has a lot to do with why you sought this facility out in the first place. You didn't come here by chance. You heard rumors about this place's existence and came here seeking:

>Wealth
>Power
>Knowledge
>Write-in

That in mind, you opt to go first to:

>The area labeled Research. There's probably a lot to learn there. Valuable information that could make you stronger or be worth something to the right people. You could check out that smaller Animus room too: see what's happening with the abnormal naming scheme.

>The area labeled Training. If there's any immediately useful equipment, it'll be there. Plus you've heard tales of Rhynian devices that can give a person knowledge directly, which would probably be in this area. The guy who told you them was admittedly drunk and may have just been talking about being immersed in a book, but it's worth checking out.

>The area labeled Core. This has got to be the heart of the facility. You're sure the most valuable and more interesting things will be here, though they might not be easy to get a hold of.

>Write-in

>>1470350
>Power
>The area labeled Core. This has got to be the heart of the facility. You're sure the most valuable and more interesting things will be here, though they might not be easy to get a hold of.

>>1470350
>>Power
>>Knowledge
Knowledge is power, and you usually need power to get knowledge.
>>The area labeled Training. If there's any immediately useful equipment, it'll be there. Plus you've heard tales of Rhynian devices that can give a person knowledge directly, which would probably be in this area. The guy who told you them was admittedly drunk and may have just been talking about being immersed in a book, but it's worth checking out.

>>1470350
>Power

>The area labeled Training. If there's any immediately useful equipment, it'll be there. Plus you've heard tales of Rhynian devices that can give a person knowledge directly, which would probably be in this area. The guy who told you them was admittedly drunk and may have just been talking about being immersed in a book, but it's worth checking out.

File: Knowledge.jpg (32 KB, 500x281)

32 KB JPG

>>1470350
>Knowledge
>The area labeled Training. If there's any immediately useful equipment, it'll be there. Plus you've heard tales of Rhynian devices that can give a person knowledge directly, which would probably be in this area. The guy who told you them was admittedly drunk and may have just been talking about being immersed in a book, but it's worth checking out.

>>1470350
>Power
>The area labeled Training. If there's any immediately useful equipment, it'll be there. Plus you've heard tales of Rhynian devices that can give a person knowledge directly, which would probably be in this area. The guy who told you them was admittedly drunk and may have just been talking about being immersed in a book, but it's worth checking out.

>>1470351
>>1470354
>>1470357
>>1470352
>you want to be better at setting things on fire

>>1470352
>>1470355
>hereinmygarage.mwv


Writing.

>>1470310
I care, anon. Not very much, but that's rough and I hope you hold on until it gets better. Feel sad about it if you want to, but remember to act again.

You decide you want to go to the training room. That's where the practical stuff will be. There might be information to read in the research area, but just sitting and doing nothing isn't how you get stronger. The best way to improve is to go out and actually test yourself. You know from experience. You make your way fearlessly to the left.

You find the door to the training room section closed. There are no visible handles in the solid stone, nor any other way to interact with the door like on the outside of the facility. The only thing out of place is some kind of button beside the door. Lacking any other obvious options, you hit the thing.

In response, a panel on the wall beside you begins projecting light, illuminating the area with a stark blue light. It moves for a moment, then vanishes.

Once it's gone you hear a jingle accompanied by a stilted man's voice speaking archaic Rhynian. "Profile not recognized. Searching... Decimus Vibius, your arrival is one thousand, one hundred, thirty six years, four months, and seven days late. The lateness margin for travel from --error: data corrupted. Reconstructing... Recruit Decimus Vibius, please state your place of birth."

You're pretty sure that's what it meant, at least. That 'place of birth' statement was a bit twisted for your dialect. It also could have meant military station. Whatever though, from what you've heard of these automated Rhynian systems it doesn't matter what you say.

"aeiou" you respond.

The response takes a few moments to get back to you. Long enough to where you seriously contemplate just trying to blast the door open. A loud, harsh, buzzing noise plays. You start. "location: 'aeiou' not recognized, please state a valid location or restore the database files." The voice replies to you.

Having no idea what this voice means by 'restore the database files', your only option is to state a valid location. Your thoughts are momentarily interrupted by the sharp buzzing noise and the message repeating, causing you to consider even more seriously blasting the door open. You don't want to waste any more vys if you can avoid it though. You need it to blow things up.

If it wants an actual location in Rhynia, you're a bit out of luck. You never were especially for maps or books. You wrack your head for a good location. You're periodically interrupted by the painfully loud error noise the facility keeps blasting through your ears. It's getting to the point where you're hearing pounding.

>>1470393
Ah! You actually do know a Rhynian location: the place you learned magic! There was plenty of talk about Rhynia there, and you're sure the actual original name came up at one point.

You respond with:

>The proper name for Anthus. You did most of your training at that academy, before you decided to leave. There was too little practical application there, and practical application is how you learned to channel fire in the first place. It's also how you're planning to learn now.

>The general name for the foothills on the border of the Lands of the Horsemen and the mountains. You recall from your youth your discovery on an old Rhynian outpost near your town. It had some basic stuff on combat magic, enough to get you where you are today. Of course it didn't have the very basics of elemental magic or vys channeling, but you already knew that stuff.

>The name of the Rhynian fort on the northern plains near the village you were born. You remember your master, the old town mystic, telling you to stay the hell away from it even though nothing's come out of it in hundreds of years. Nothing save the occasional scavenger.

>write-in

After your response, to your great relief, the warning noise stops. The pounding though, only seems to be getting louder. A short pause later and the machine gets back to you. "Location accepted. Recruit Decimus Vibius, please state your daeiaeiaeieaghhzhgghzh--"

A woman's voice cuts in, garbled and panicked "Fool! Stand back from the door! Run! Hide! Don't throw your life away like the res-". The door explodes into pieces. The voice cuts off, whatever magic was projecting it presumably destroyed.

>>1470395
You don't have time to wonder about the owner of the voice shouting warnings at you before another of the flesh monsters is bearing down upon you. Huh, so that's what the pounding actually was; at least you're not going crazy. In the half a moment you have to react, you expand your fingerlight into a flash of flame and dive backwards. The beast reels back on its hind legs. Slamming itself against the ceiling. You hear the crunch of bone as some of its legs and arms are twisted awkardly against the metal above you, pressed into it by the greater whole of the beast. Your horrified to find that those appendages begin twisting themselves back into their unharmed, albiet unnatural state. Even the bleeding wounds of the thing close behind the reshaping bones.

Not only that, but below the extended human legs and mass of writhing flesh you're greeted by the sight of some ethereal blue creature. It has a domelike appearance on top with blue tendrils that extend down and around it, touching the ground and being pulled out like a viscous liquid or thick spiderweb. It floats towards you, through one of the many legs of the beast. As it does, the leg freezes in a literal sense. Ice forms on it and it cracks and flakes off presumably as the thing tries to move it. You notice that the creature's tendrils leave patches of frost along the ground as they trail behind it.

It hurls a bolt of what appears to be blue fire at you, but the fire is off somehow. It leaves a trail of frost and mist in the air as it travels. You instinctively opt to step aside rather than dispel the thing. A regular fireball of that size you could handle, but this thing is an unknown. It doesn't feel like normal fire to you. You feel validated when the air around you cools drastically as the thing passes. Whatever that was, it wasn't regular old burning fire.

The fighting reaches a natural pause for the moment. You have a moment of clarity; you've always handled high stress situations like these fairly well. These creatures have made their opening gambits and you've avoided them. The fractions of seconds you have available to you are ample time to strike back. This is the sort of thing you've spent your whole life being ready for. It's actually part why you're here in the first place. You want to be able to look any enemy in the eye and turn them away personally. These things don't have eyes, per-se, but the concept is the same. Now it's your turn.

Your plan is simple. You going to destroy these things. You're going to:

>set the fleshmonster on fire (1 vys)

>set the icy ghost thing on fire (1 vys)

>set everything on fire (3 vys)

>create an explosion(2 vys + 2 more vys to not explosion yourself)

>write-in

We are now entering combat!

>>1470395
>The proper name for Anthus. You did most of your training at that academy, before you decided to leave. There was too little practical application there, and practical application is how you learned to channel fire in the first place. It's also how you're planning to learn now.
>set everything on fire (3 vys)
Purge the unclean
Suffer not the mutant

>>1470396
>create an explosion(2 vys + 2 more vys to not explosion yourself)

I'm going to pause for tonight because it's understandably dead at this dire hour. Who could have known that starting a quest at 12AM, then taking 2 hours on an update, was a bad idea?

I'll be back tomorrow probably.

>>1470396
>create an explosion(2 vys + 2 more vys to not explosion yourself)

http://www.strawpoll.me/12984836
answer it

>>1470396
>The proper name for Anthus. You did most of your training at that academy, before you decided to leave. There was too little practical application there, and practical application is how you learned to channel fire in the first place. It's also how you're planning to learn now.

>create a controlled explosion (4 vys)

>>1470396
>The proper name for Anthus. You did most of your training at that academy, before you decided to leave. There was too little practical application there, and practical application is how you learned to channel fire in the first place. It's also how you're planning to learn now.

>create a controlled explosion (4 vys)

>>1470399
>everything must burn

>>1470400
>>1470447
>>1470493
>>1470602
>nuke it


>>1470399
>>1470493
>>1470602
>The only option that was a known place in the quest that this quest is ripping off
I guess that should have been obvious


>>1470457
>Will it be shit?
Yes.

Alright.it's time for combat resolution.

Roll for me: 3d10+4 vs. DC 17 (Base 15, +4 from ???, -2 from elemental affinity)

Rolled 2, 10, 10 + 4 = 26 (3d10 + 4)

>>1471395
Rolling

Also dude, why pick some random unknown place when you can just explore it for the first time

But we wont ever get to see those places now will we?

Rolled 10, 6, 6 + 4 = 26 (3d10 + 4)

>>1471395
Let's hope this quest doesn't die.

Rolled 9, 8, 9 + 4 = 30 (3d10 + 4)

>>1471395

>>1471593
>>1471598
>>1471617
26, 26, 30 vs DC 17

All three rolls are above the DC so this is a Great Success.

Writing now.

>>1471617
Nice.

>>1471647
You could almost say that we are on fire. Heh.

You channel vys in its rawest and most primal form. Fire gathers in your hand. You focus on drawing the air around you in, compressing the fire. With the excess of fuel and energy to burn, the ball you've created burns almost burns more like the sun than some bonfire. If only you could really achieve flame that pure. This is the closest approximation you have right now, but it should be enough.

You cut off the vys violently, leveraging the blast metamagic to create a burst of flame much greater than one would expect given the energy you've put it. That's good, because you'll need that energy you saved to deflect this blast away from you. The fire explodes outwards, the blast compounding with the unstable nature of the compressed air and fire you drew together. The flash momentarily blinds you, but the shockwave and rush of fire and air leaves you unscathed as you weave it gently around you.
>vys:12/20

In front of you, the abomination is first blasted into bloody chunks. As those bloody chunks explode outwards, they are incinerated by the wash of fire. Little remains of the creature save fragments of shattered bone and chunks of charred flesh. You doubt whatever healing force animates the thing could recover from this state, and even if it could, the cauterized body would be resistant to further change.
>Enemy defeated: Fleshmonster

The ghostlike entity fairs a little better. Instead of being in an irreversible state of fragmentation, the creature comes back together. However, it looks fainter. You can clearly see the room beyond: some sort of sparring arena, through its ethereal form. Its tendrils are smaller and seem more fragile, a rope that's been frayed away until it was hanging on by a single thread. You feel it gathering vys from the surrounding area, drawing itself inward. A point on the dome that comprises its body glows brightly. The area around you cools, as though the thing is trying to make it more hospitable for itself.

Yuu're moderately concerned. This thing seems the worse for wear, but you're not sure what its doing. The forces of vys emanating from it read to you like fire magic. You know fire magic, but you don't know how the monster using it to create this chill.

>1 enemy remains: Frost Ghost Thing (probably severely injured)
You act quickly:

>Set it on fire. This fight is over. (1 vys)

>Set everything on fire. Take no chances. (3 vys)

>Take cover. Really take no chances.

>Write-in

>>1471816
>>Take cover. Really take no chances.

>>1471816
>try controlling its vys and kill it that way.
>while taking cover of course.

>>1471816
>Set it on fire. This fight is over. (1 vys)
>>1471850
We don't have the vys meta fagola

>>1471816
>Take cover. Really take no chances.

This does provide a good insight into Fire Magic for us, we can maybe branch this into learn better temperature control

>>1471850
>Attempt to learn one of the most ancient and complex metamagics on the fly

>>1471848
>>1471850
>>1471912
>Hide while the enemy charges his attack

>>1471869
>Set it on fire.

Alright. Roll for me 3d10+4 vs DC 23(Base 15, +4 from ???, +2 from elemental affinity, +2 from favorable environment)

Rolled 4, 1, 2 + 4 = 11 (3d10 + 4)

>>1472001

Rolled 6, 3, 10 + 4 = 23 (3d10 + 4)

>>1472001

Rolled 9, 4, 5 + 4 = 22 (3d10 + 4)

>>1472001
Sup N!Soma

Rolled 10, 2, 6 = 18 (3d10)

>>1472001

>>1472001

>>1472005
>>1472032
>>1472048
11, 23, 22 vs DC 23
Regular failure.

In the game of Fire Vatis quest, you have the power to spend your vys to change your rolls at a rate of 1 for 1 though. On any single set of 3 rolls of 3d10 you can spend at most up to one fourth of your maximum vys at a rate of 1 for 1 to raise the numbers on the dice.

Right now, you could spend 1 to raise your 22 to a 23 and achieve regular success. You cannot spend enough to raise your 11 to 23 so you cannot achieve great success.

That in mind:
>spend 1 for Regular Success
>don't spend and accept Regular Failure

>>1472093
>spend 1 for Regular Success

>>1472093
>>spend 1 for Regular Success

>>1472093
>spend 1 for Regular Success

>>1472093
>don't spend and accept Regular Failure

might as well get some variety in here

>>1472093
>spend 1 for Regular Success

Is this the first thread?

>>1472128
Yes

>>1472128
yep

>>1472144
>>1472145

Thanks, got confused by some of the comments earlier in the thread

>>1472192
The setting this quest is based in was originally created by another qm for another quest which has since ended.

>>1472199

I played for some of the middle of Banished Quest, the writing was pretty good but once the run times started petering out and the system got bloated I stopped following consistently, great setting though I am glad someone decided to run their own story in it

>being this desperate

Opting to take the safe option, you run back and put a wall between you and the creature. The best way to face the unknown is to give yourself as much time as possible to react to it on the fly. The creature continues to gather vys as you peek over your cover. Its bright spot grows to the point where it extends far past the surface of the creature's body.

You wait several moments, readying yourself for whatever attack it has to throw at you. Eventually you feel a pulse of vys. Or maybe it was just a gust of cold air. The temperature has fallen even farther. If this keeps up your light robes aren't going to be enough to keep you warm. The bright light of coalesced vys reaches a maximum instensity, then vanishes.

A wave of frost extends from the creature. Fog envelopes the area and rime forms on every surface. As the wave reaches you, you cover does absolutely nothing to protect you. The chill penetrates your bones and the brisk wind the wave brings along with it makes your teeth chatter and your back ache. You huddle yourself together but it's not enough. The color is leaving your hands, leaving them a ghastly pale white. You try to redirect the chill around you, but don't have a grasp of the mechanics of it and can't influence it like you might the flames of a torch or stream of fire.

With no other options, you ignite the air in front of you with an effort of vys. The warmth flows into you and you quickly recover from the chill. The area around you is still frosty, but the heat from your fire keeps you safe.
>vys:11/20

The creature's attack ends and you stand to get a look at it. It seems even more disheveled than before, its dome fraying at its top and its body appearing more transparent than ever. Still, it begins collecting vys at a point again and the chill in the air persists. You now know how long this attack takes, so you have time to make your decision, but it wasn't so easy to fend the attack off.

>1 enemy remains: Frost Ghost Thing (definitely severely injured probably)
That in mind, you:

>Set it on fire. Don't give it a chance to create a blast of cold again. (1 vys)

>Set everything on fire. Warm this area up. Destroy the creature. (3 vys)

>Take cover again, maybe farther away. Let the thing exhaust itself to death.

>Write-in

>>1472296
>Set it on fire. Don't give it a chance to create a blast of cold again. (1 vys)

>>1472296
>Set it on fire. Don't give it a chance to create a blast of cold again. (1 vys)

>>1472296
>>Set it on fire. Don't give it a chance to create a blast of cold again. (1 vys)

>>1472341
>>1472351
>>1472364
>Set it on fire

Writing.

It's almost trivial to finish the thing off. You sprint up to the thing and put a stream of fire right into the bright spot where it's probably gathering vys to. All the finesse and technique you have for manipulating fire is pretty much irrelevant. You just force the flame directly through the thing's figurative face. Your fire isn't even paused for a moment as it breaches the things ragged dome.

When the fire penetrates it and connects with the shining point of vys, all of the stored energy in ignites. Well, you suppose that 'ignite' is the wrong word, it's rather that the vys was transmuted into the same sort of primal fire magic you were using to create your flame. Regardless of the semantics, the result is that a wave of fire erupts outward from the creature. Unlike your forceful explosions or the mysterious frosty aura, it's trivial for you to redirect this fire. When it dissipates the only place around it that isn't scorched appears as a shadow cast by your confident form. The ethereal creature fades into nothingness. The growing chill leaves the room as the unnatural influence of the creature dissipates. The fire probably helped too.
>vys: 10/20
>Enemy defeated: Frost Ghost Thing

You survey your surroundings once again. The metal of the doorway is warped inward towards the room you're in now. If the doorway hadn't been destroyed by the friendy inhabitants of this facility then it certainly wouldn't be able close anymore. The floors, wall and ceiling are scorched as expected, though the scorch marks extend outwards conically from the door into the room you're in, marring the bright tile. In the hallway where you actually detonated the explosion, there's a miniature crature where the floor was blown away. The walls are slightly warped, but seemed to have been more resilient. Sparks fly from some of the worst spots in the wall, which strikes you as strange. Its not like the metal is grinding against anything presently. It's not especially concerning though, so you turn your attention to the room you're in.

The place was clearly constructed as a sparring arena at one point, but it has certainly seen better days. The carved stone bleachers have pieces missing and are riddled with cracks. The slightly lowered central area is has pieces missing, large divots carved out of the ground by some destructive force long ago. The stone pulled from there is probably what forms the rubble you see lying all around the place. There additionally seem to be remnants of a mat or other protective flooring that has long since eroded away. What was presumably once pristine white marble has been dirtied by centuries of misuse by the creatures you've just destroyed. You're pretty sure some of the deep looking cracks can be attributed to the rapid cooling that that ghost thing was causing though.

>1/3

File: archeota.png (86 KB, 236x233)

86 KB PNG

At various points around the cylidrical room there are doorways in various states of disrepair. You can make out the various labes on the rooms. Armory, infirmiry (or is that first aid?), baths, observation, "experimental". The only room that actually closed is the experimental one. But you suppose if you really wanted to you could blast the door open. It's just stone. What you see of the other rooms through their cracked doors is that they're abandoned. You're glad to see that, because you're beginning to get a little drained.

You're pretty sure that if there was anything else with access to this area, it would have come out here in response to the noise, so you opt to just proceed forward. Starting with the door closest to you on your left, you enter the infirmiry.

It's a small place with a single raised platform that presumably once held a mat for someone who had been recently injured. It's clear that this isn't really a patient care facility, so maybe the aid translation would be more accurate. You're pretty confident in your ability to parse old-style Rhynian, but it's not perfect. You get to put your basic literacy skills to the test again when you see the various cabinets, drawers and chest in the area. They all have basic descriptions of various things like "for pain", or "adhesive", but they're all empty. They were either cleared out when this facility was abandoned, or they've degraded to nothing over a thousand years. You walk out of the first aid area without anything to really show for it and head over to the armory.

The armory is what you were really looking for. It's still stocked with basic combat implements. There are plenty of training spears and swords, blunted and not ideal for you, but further in there are actual weapons. Several basic spears and swords are mounted on dusty old weapon racks. There are also a few intact shields. You're not especially good with a sword, especially not the Rhynian gladius style of sword, but you know your way around a spear from experience with hunting. A shield never hurts too.
>What regular weapons do you take?
>You can carry up to 4 spears around on your back with not too much effort, along with up to two swords
>Any more than one shield would be slightly encumbering, but you could carry one on your back and keep the other on your arm if you had to.

>2/3

File: Facticius Clericus Aelia.jpg (209 KB, 652x1008)

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You suppose the creatures in this area left this room alone since its fairly undamaged. At the back, in fact, there's a glass case that's entirely unharmed. Upon moving over to examine it, you find an especially interesting view: two strange metal spears with shining engravings all through them. The geometric patterns carved into the metal form a fairly pretty sight. They remind you of the sorts of things the blacksmiths in Anthus carved to facilitate magical channeling. You don't doubt that these spears are magical in nature. Rhynians were fond of their enchanted weaponry. Beside the spears is a metal stand gripping a golden sphere. You don't recognize it's purpose, but it either does something interesting or will be worth something to someone.

You step forward to claim your prize, but you're interrupted by a flash of blue light similar to what you experienced outside the door to the sparring arena. You aren't startled this time, but you do pause.

The woman's voice returns, though this time it lacks emotion. "Oh good. You're actually fine. I'm also reading that the minor corporeal and minor metaphysical threats have been dealt with. Recruit Decimus Vibius, your combat abilities were understated in your file. Even so, please leave this facility. Report to your superiors that this place is condemned. Please construct appropriate official warning signs as you leave. I'll explain the--"

You interrupt her. "Who are you? Do you realize that it's been over a thousand years since this place was abandoned."

You honestly have no idea what's going on here. You've heard of Rhynian facilities speaking with people before, but usually they're dumb and work on some sort of script. The voice over the intercom was strangely without emotion considering its apparent distress at your danger beforehand, but you have no idea who could have lived in here all these years. Would some elf really spend a thousand years in solitude to warn people away from the place if they came by? And she think's you're a recruit? Maybe she's gone insane?

The voice responds promptly, feelings and subtle intonations actually coloring it this time. "Has it really. I-- My sensors indicate that you're a thousand years late, but my self-diagnostic systems are damaged and I assumed that the date was wrong. My understanding of the passage of time is... flawed. Ahem." She makes a noise like someone imitating the act of clearing their voice. "My manners are lacking. I am Artificial Clerk Aelia. This facility is my purview in spite of its condemnation. Given the length of time you are presumably are not Decimus Vibius. In retrospect that should have been obvious to me from the start, Decimus was not":

>A human
>An elf.

"And besides, your outfit is entirely unbefitting a legionnaire. So then, who are you?"


>What is your name?
>Ustrinus
>Acaeus
>Varius
>Write-in

>3/3

>>1472726
Take a gladius, a shield, and an engraved spear
>A human
>Acaeus

>>1472726
>An elf.
>Amadeus

>>1472726
>A human.
>Ustrinus
Take all of the weapons, we will be a killing machine

>>1472726
Take two engraved spears, a shield, and the archeota.

>>1472726
Take a gladius (to sell later), a shield, and two spears
>A human
>Ustrinus

You contemplate whether you want to talk to this "artificial clerk." What does that even mean? Talking seems harmless though so you opt to respond. No reason to antagonize the locals that aren't abominations or hostile magical entities. As you speak, you move to pick up the spoils of this armory.

"I'm Ustrinus. I hail from a city called Anthus." You figure you'll keep it short. If this artificial woman wants more information then she can ask.

In the mean time, you figure you'll take the high quality spears, a sword, and a shield.

Aelia responds after a moment. "Since you are not a Rhynian legionnaire, why are you here? This place is dangerous. In fact, how did you get here? This facility should be unlisted." Her words are very formal. Or maybe its just that she's speaking in a dated form of Rhynian.

You came here to scavenge this place, basically, looking to improve yourself and take anything that might make you more capable. You pause before responding, is it really a good idea to tell the self proclaimed purveyor of the facility that you're planning to loot it? She said it was condemned though, so you suppose there's no reason she would care to stop you.

There's no harm in explaining yourself, so you opt to tell her. You give a short explanation on how you found this place: you came into possession of an ancient Rhynian map that listed the facility as a construction site. It was so secluded, that you figured you'd check it out, operating under the assumption that it wouldn't have been picked over. You also can't say you didn't look forward to the chance to test yourself against whatever monstrosities and constructs this place held. You've heard stories of such things. So far, you conclude, you think you've done a fairly good job.

The woman doesn't respond,(presumably) taking time to consider what you've told her. In the mean time you've geared up, strapping a shield to your back and a sword to your belt. You walk over to the unique spears, making to open the glass case and take them.

The voice comes back "Wait! Let me disengage the lock so you don't set off an alarm."

You pause. Waiting expectantly. A moment later the case pops open of its own accord.

"It should be safe now." She says.

You nod, assuming she can see you, and reach in. You strap both engraved spears to your back. You then reach over and take the golden sphere, placing it in your bag. You move to leave the room.

Unprompted, Aelia's voice comes up again. "Wait. Can you help me?"

That surprises you. It seems a bit out of nowhere. "What do you mean?"

"This facility is overrun." She explains. "You were able to destroy an enchanted entity and a flesh amalgamation while suffering no harm, from what I am able to see. If you could clear this facility, then it would be able to rejoin the Rhynian Empire and continue its research."

Well, you were probably going to do that anyways, so you don't see why you wouldn't help her, but she seems to be operating under some flawed assumptions. "The Rhynian Empire fell centuries ago." You correct her. "There's nothing to rejoin."

"Even so." Her response is immediate. "Fixing this place would give me... peace."

You don't really know what to say to that, so you don't say anything.

"Please." She continues. "My sister lies at the core of this facility. She has become insane. If you help me, I can explain this place and explain how those items you just picked up work."

"You have a sister?" What does it mean for an artificial clerk, or janitor or whatever, to have a sister? The rest of what she has to say interests you, but this first bit just doesn't make any sense. Doesn't artificial mean she was constructed?

"Facticius Scolasticus Aelia. She and I were created for this place. I was intended to maintain it, she was designed as an experiment. Her purpose is to naturally accrue knowledge like a human. Hence her title 'student/scholar'. She became unstable and brought the facility to the state it is in today."

"She's unstable? How does an artificial person become unstable?" Now you're interested. How did some random Rhynian creation bring an entire armed and stationed Rhynian establishment to its knees. Usually when these places collapse it's because of a myriad array of problems all going unsolved for a long period of time, not a single thing getting out of control. Although maybe it got out of control because the place was poorly handled? That's how it works a lot of the time. A single catastrophe isn't prevented and is able to get out of hand because the things in place to stop it don't work anymore.

Aelia continues. "It had to do with her learning. At some point she decided that instead of observing and codifying knowledge, it would be more efficient for her to directly assimilate that knowledge into her core."

"And that was bad." You say, rhetorically requesting explanation.

"Indeed. Her method for doing this was to directly consume the memories and minds of the people who had the knowledge she desired. Additionally, as part of another experiment, she attempted to put what remained of teach victim's 'self' together into an amalgamated whole. When those creatures were healed and restored, the result was the monstrosities of flesh you have encountered today. They ran rampant over the facility and brought my sister more victims. Emergency procedures were enacted, the facility was locked down, and the whole place was evacuated."

"Ok." You acknowledge her explanation. "So your sister went crazy and started eating people." You pause, waiting for her to affirm the statement.

"That is not an inaccurate way of putting it. Yes. She ate their minds."

"And then she put those people's bodies together. Into flesh abominations." You wait for her response again.

"Yes. Those amalgamations were created and are sustained by her."

"And you want me to--"

"Destroy her." Aelia doesn't let you finish. "With fire." She adds as an addendum.

Well, that sounds exactly like the sort of challenge you're looking for. Still, this place seems a bit dangerous. You don't want to get in over your head. Well, too over your head. Being a little bit over your head is how you learn how to swim.

"In exchange I'll let you have run of this facility and assist you in any way I can." Aelia continues as you think."

You respond:
>"I agree"

>"I don't want to commit to anything until I'm sure I won't be taking on more than I can handle"

>With silence. Leave the facility. This place is fucked.

>write-in

>>1472935
>"I agree"
Ours now.

>>1472935
>"What's in it for me? Why should I fight my way through a horde of shambling monstrosities and kill this crazed sister of yours?"

>>1472935
>"I agree"

>>1472941
An entire rhynian facility that was not on an official rhynian maps and an uncorrupted AI assistant you nigger faggot

>>1472943
learn to negotiate you cuck, always try to bargain for extra

>>1472944
Literally everything she has to offer is on the table. She presumably has knowledge of locations to other facilities maybe even other black site facilities, and as a apart of "assist you in any way I can" she would tell us everything

>>1472945
>Literally everything she has to offer is on the table.

>implying there's nothing else the other party is hiding or just hasn't mentioned


Are you this retarded at negotiating in real life?
This is why you're poor anon.

>>1472947
>I will give you full control of my home and I will gargle your asshole
>YEAH BUT WHAT ARE YOU HIDING
pls

>>1472950
>nobody hides anything ever

yes goy, nobody would ever hide something from your or try to deceive you. Now sign your contract here please.

>>1472938
>>1472942
>Yes

>>1472941
>Fuck you give me more shit

Writing. This'll be the last post for tonight.


>>1472945
>>1472947
>>1472950
>>1472952
It feels like I'm home.

"I agree."

"Good. She says. Then you'll want to know what those items you picked up were. The sphere is called an Archeota. It's a recording device, but rather than text, it can record moments in time and project them back exactly."

You take the sphere out of your bag and examine it.

"Press the top to activate it." Aelia preempts you.

You do so. It opens up. "How do I use it?" You ask. You're not really sure what she means by 'moments in time'

Aelia gives you the crash course on the device, instructing you as to which buttons perform which basic functions. You record the scene around you and play it back. When you do, the device projects a miniature, discolored version of the scene around you directly into the air, as though it created a small garbled copy of the space you recorded. You put your hand through it and the difference becomes clearer, however, as you block the light coming from it and cause the image to flicker and distend. You wonder if the device uses some sort of fire magic to function. The image reminds you of a flame, but with greater definition and no heat.

You move on to the ornate spears. "Am I right in assuming that these weapons bear some enchantment?"

"Yes." Aelia affirms. "Precisely. They have all the simple enchantments for durability and magic resistance, but they also form a special pair. When magic is channeled through one of the spears, or actually any energy at all, it is the other spear that reacts. To elaborate. If you were to throw the first spear and impale a foe, then attempt to generate a gout of flame from the second, the gout of flame would instead emanate from the first spear, within the impaled foe."

You now regret ignoring the metamagic technique that allows you to modify spells in order to channel through a weapon. You opted to focus on refining your fire techniques, only learning the blast metamagic to improve the raw power of your spells and the manipulate effect because everyone said you'd have to be an idiot to not know it.

"I can see how that would be useful." You say. "But I lack the knowledge necessary to channel through weapons."

"Hmm." Aelia responds, her noise of consideration seems stilted and forced, as though it's a mannerism she adopted intentionally rather than naturally. "I suppose that does limit the usefulness. Still, heat on the end of one spear instead heats the other, so if nothing else you could use an open flame."

"Sure." You pause to try the weapons out. Pulling both of them off your back, you hold them in front of you. As you do, you feel their balance. In spite of their metal hafts, they're still weighted properly to the tip: good for throwing. Creating a small open flame on the head of the first, you place your hand above the second. You can feel the heat radiating off it. Interesting.

You consider further. You do understand the theory behind weapon channeling, at least as it was explained to you one time. It doesn't seem to hard, you just extend your vys out through the weapon like you would your arm. Just like regular channeling. I mean, they told you that channeling elemental magic was harder than that sort of thing, and fire magic was the first thing you ever did, so how hard could it possibly be? You would be willing to gamble that you could figure it out if you spend a few hours at it.

After you finish, Aelia returns to her explanations. "Now. The facility. The area you're in is fairly safe. The only location of concern is the experimental section. That area is infested with major corporeal threats, that is, abominations of flesh. If you plan to go there, I'd recommend destroying my sister first. They should tear themselves apart and save you a lot of trouble. On the other hand, the baths are still functional if you should desire to relax. The enchantments that sustain them have not degraded."

The baths seem nice. You're running at precisely half your maximum capacity right now, and while it doesn't really impede you, you're beginning to feel a bit tired.

Aelia continues the briefing, content with being the only speaker. "You've already cleared the living and entry areas, so the next wing that is concerning is the research wing. You'll need to go through here to get to the core where my sister resides. As you do, you'll be faced with several minor corporeal and metaphysical threats. You'll need to destroy them as you have the others. Once you do, I'll need you to retrieve my core from my sanctum."

"The room labeled Animus." You guess. That would explain the naming scheme.

"Precisely. My sister cannot directly harm me, but through the damage I have sustained, some of my restrictions have been destroyed. I am capable of acting against my sister. You will need to take me to her. Once we are there, we will invade her sanctum and destroy her from within."

"That seems like a reasonable plan." You consider how to proceed. You could probably just walk right in to the research room now. A couple of explosions is enough to handle any threat like the one's you've faced so far, you're pretty sure. On the other hand, you could take a moment to rest and collect yourself. You could refill your pool of available vys, maybe take a bath while you're at it.

"Time is not of the essence." Aelia says, intercepting your question before you can even ask it. She seems pretty astute, that's the second time now.

With that in mind, you decide to:
>Just go in. This is about how much vys you had when you first started using magic, and it was enough then to get the job vs foes significantly stronger than you as a small child.

>Take some time to rest. Meditate to gather vys. Maybe you could even learn something from all the stuff you've been doing recently.

>Bail. You got your weapons and artifacts explained. Sure you won't get to test yourself or get stronger or whatever, but you can always do that some other day.

>write-in

Anyways that's it for me for tonight. When I get back I'll tally the votes and either start writing, or host the runoff vote for what we decide to meditate on.

>>1472981
>Take some time to rest. Meditate to gather vys. Maybe you could even learn something from all the stuff you've been doing recently.

>>1472981
>Take some time to rest. Meditate to gather vys. Maybe you could even learn something from all the stuff you've been doing recently.

>>1472981

>Take some time to rest. Meditate to gather vys. Maybe you could even learn something from all the stuff you've been doing recently.

>>1472981
>Take some time to rest. Meditate to gather vys. Maybe you could even learn something from all the stuff you've been doing recently.
time to learn weapon channeling from scratch.

>>1472981
>>Just go in. This is about how much vys you had when you first started using magic, and it was enough then to get the job vs foes significantly stronger than you as a small child.

>>1472981
>>Take some time to rest. Meditate to gather vys. Maybe you could even learn something from all the stuff you've been doing recently.

>>1472981
>Just go in. This is about how much vys you had when you first started using magic, and it was enough then to get the job vs foes significantly stronger than you as a small child.

meditation = bad

do not let meditation take over the quest

File: soma twitter pic with X.png (348 KB, 500x500)

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Sorry about not running today. I've created a Twitter account to update you all on when I will or won't be doing a thread. Rest assured my updates will happen occasionally or something.

https://twitter.com/NonQuidamAsinus

I'll be back tomorrow at some point to run probably.

In the mean time, here's the next vote. No session so feel free to take twelve or maybe more hours to reply.


This is the first time we've meditated in this quest, so it's time for the explanation. When you meditate, Ustrinus does two things: first, he gathers ambient vys from the surroundings, refilling his own pool of vys. Second, he can choose to spend time experimenting on some subject, usually elemental magic or some sub-effect of magic in order to improve himself.

This is the primary means of magical improvement in this setting. The way this works is as follows: you will choose a topic to meditate on and attempt to pass a pass-fail roll. Should you succeed, you will gain the ability to utilize whatever skill you were meditating on and your maximum vys can increase. If you fail, you get a bonus to subsequent attempts to learn the same topic. Certain meditations may be dangerous however, and failure may have consequences.

To understand the magic system better, consult the following pastebin:https://pastebin.com/aYPzn0aU

You can find relevant information about your character on your (presently incomplete) character sheet: https://pastebin.com/pwzeEpH8
And in your spellbook: https://pastebin.com/A9UQuWwt

With that in mind, what do you want to meditate on?

>You already know the theory and it'd be useful for your new spears. Try to figure out Weapon Channeling.

>You have an idea based on how you can compress air for explosions. What if you use fire magic to create gusts of wind in any direction? Try to figure out air manipulation.

>You're sure the heat draining and inverted fire created by the ghost thing was fire magic. Try to figure out cold fire.

>You're interested in how that archeota device was creating images. Maybe you could try to use fire magic without heat to create light. Try to figure out light projection.

>Write-in

>>1475539
>You already know the theory and it'd be useful for your new spears. Try to figure out Weapon Channeling.

>>1475539
>You have an idea based on how you can compress air for explosions. What if you use fire magic to create gusts of wind in any direction? Try to figure out air manipulation

>>1475539
>You already know the theory and it'd be useful for your new spears. Try to figure out Weapon Channeling.

>>1475539
>You already know the theory and it'd be useful for your new spears. Try to figure out Weapon Channeling.

>>1475539
>You already know the theory and it'd be useful for your new spears. Try to figure out Weapon Channeling.

>>1475539
>You already know the theory and it'd be useful for your new spears. Try to figure out Weapon Channeling.
Sup N!Soma

>>1475539
>>You have an idea based on how you can compress air for explosions. What if you use fire magic to create gusts of wind in any direction? Try to figure out air manipulation.

>>1475539
>You already know the theory and it'd be useful for your new spears. Try to figure out Weapon Channeling.

Do we have to meditate while sitting in the cross legged position, or can we assume either stellar or physically straining poses, or both, to get Fit while meditating?

>>1475550
>>1475583
>>1475756
>>1475860
>>1475865
>>1476230
>airbending

>>1475554
>>1475879
>"your weapon must be an extension of your body"

Alright. Weapon Channeling is a basic, casual tier metamagic, so it's only DC 20.

Roll for me 3d10+2 vs DC 20 (Base 20) pass fail to see if you can figure out weapon channeling.

Rolled 8, 1, 10 + 2 = 21 (3d10 + 2)

>>1476582
Pani bless my roll.

Rolled 8, 7, 9 + 2 = 26 (3d10 + 2)

>>1476582

Rolled 2, 10, 6 + 2 = 20 (3d10 + 2)

>>1476582

>>1476584
>>1476589
>>1476610
21, 26, 20 vs DC 20
You would have a great success, but pass fail rolls don't distinguish between regular and great success. Regardless, you've successfully figured out weapon channeling.

Writing.

You decide you'll take some time to relax. You're not in a hurry, so there's no harm in taking some time. Specifically, some time to advance your understanding of the world and achieve greater power.

You thank Aelia for her input, then make your way through the doorway to the baths. You pass through a small sort of staging area. Its an unassuming place, with cubbies and benches for people to use. It, like much of the rest of the facility has its share of damage, but it's negligible compared to the cracks outside.

You select the sword as your preferred implement for meditation. You'd rather not get a poor sense of it by being thrown off by the strange magic within the Rhynian spears. Aside from that, though, you abandon all your clothes and equipment. With no layers, you find that the facility is shockingly cold. You ignite a fire to keep you warm as you make your way to the actual bathing area. When you pass through the threshold, you're pleased to discover that the area on the other side is warm and humid. Though it strikes you as strange that the warm air wouldn't have flowed into the previous section. Some sort of fire magic? Maybe you'll try to investigate it at some point.

In front of you, you can see the bath illuminated by a couple of lanterns. It rests inlaid into the ground surrounded by plain columns. Across from you are a few alcoves where inhabitants of this place could relax outside the warm water. The water itself burbles like a small creek, gently flowing into the bath.

You're mildy puzzled as to how the bath 'knew' it should be filled. You call out. "Aelia, did you activate the water?"

The response is quick. "No. The baths in this facility are configured to automatically fill when a bather's presence is detected."

You suppose that makes sense, though it seems like a lot of effort to go through when you could just have a person trigger it themselves. It does make your life easier though. You step into the water and take a seat, letting your mind drift as it will.

The details of the room around you flicker in and out of your head. The gush of water from the pipes at your feet. The simple geometic pattern on the wall. The warm light of the lanterns illuminating the pillars, casting shadows against the soft light at the edges of the room. The subtle hum that permeates the facility. The still water, steam drifting off it into the air.

You reflect on your surroundings. You acknowledge each thought as it comes, acknowledging it, then letting it go. Your mind wanders until eventually, you aren't thinking about anything at all. With your trance you can see the world around you as it really is. You can feel the ambient vys in the air. The water you're in is strangely bereft of vys, whereas the lanterns actually actively absorb it. You draw the energy in the air into you, replenishing your strength.
>vys: 20/20

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With your focus dispersed and your vitality restored, you now shift your attention to the greater purpose of your meditation: improvement. The weapon channeling metamagic is something you never bothered learning, as most of your attacks end up destroying your favored weapons anyways. Now that you've come into possession of a Rhynian artifact, magically enhanced for exactly your purposes, it's time to learn the technique.

Your understanding of the methodology is that it's an extension of basic channeling of vys through one's own body. The vatis simply needs to expand his sense of self to include the implement he wields. You've heard of masters of various weaponry describing their tool as an extension of their being, and this strikes you as similar.

You're already confident with the casting spells at range. Doing so involves creating a channel of vys extending out from you to your spell. You decide that that's a good starting point. Taking hold of the sword beside you, you attempt to construct a simple ranged channel of vys between your hand at the hilt and the tip of the sword. You ignite a point of fire, but it's clear to you that this isn't what you're looking for. The vys snakes through channels in the air as well as through the weapon. It seems to only pay heed to the item in your hand when its flow is impeded by some quality of the thing.

You opt for a slightly different tactic. Instead of just creating a spell at the end of your ranged channel, you try to draw the extended vys back into you. Much like a novice learning to manage the flow of energy through your own body, you allow the vys to naturally travel in and around the weapon. Immediately you're met with resistance, as the ranged metamagic is unable to facilitate such free motion. You persist for only a moment and the channel yields; your vys 'snaps' into the sword like a rope going taut. You swear you can hear a little pop, though you doubt such a thing actually occured.

With the vys suffusing the weapon, your work is complete. Moving the vys through the weapon feels less efficient, almost sluggish, but you can tell that that's simply because the medium is less conducive to the natural flow of magical energy than your body. It's still a simple matter for you to extend your vys out of any place on the sword. You can create a flame on its tip almost as easily as on the tip of your finger.
>Metamagic Learned: Weapon Channeling
>vys: 22/22
>You may now spend up to 6 vys on a roll

>Roughly 3 hours have passed. An extremely short time due to your experience with similar topics and high rolling.

You allow yourself to relax for a short while before ending your trance. The visual and auditory details of the world fade back into existence. Nothing around you has changed. You ponder as to what you'd like to do next.

>Take a nap. You're not especially tired and because you've just meditated you don't actually need to sleep, but doing so is never unhealthy. You've been told stories of vatis that tried to supplant sleep entirely with meditation, and how doing so frayed their minds until they actually got some proper rest.

>Meditate again! Learning something new immediately after a successful meditation is always a bit harder (-2 penalty to rolls, doubling with each immediate meditation after that), but it's still doable.

>Push forward. No sense waiting any longer. It's time to tackle the research area of this facility.

>>1476922
>>Push forward. No sense waiting any longer. It's time to tackle the research area of this facility.

>>1476922
>Push forward. No sense waiting any longer. It's time to tackle the research area of this facility.

>>1476922
>Push forward. No sense waiting any longer. It's time to tackle the research area of this facility.

>>1476922
>Push forward. No sense waiting any longer. It's time to tackle the research area of this facility.

>>1476922
Push! Also, nice work with the writing. This has been a fun read.

>>1476922
>Take a nap. You're not especially tired and because you've just meditated you don't actually need to sleep, but doing so is never unhealthy. You've been told stories of vatis that tried to supplant sleep entirely with meditation, and how doing so frayed their minds until they actually got some proper rest.

sleep is important. We're not a samjan, we can't stay awake for weeks straight while subsisting on mediation. Might as well take a nap in this cozy bath, Aelia will wake us up if something terrible is coming our way (assuming its not loud enough to wake us up on its own)

>>1477771
I want to be insane you fag

You decide not to waste any more time. You pull yourself up out of the water, igniting several flames to dry yourself off. Compared to the somewhat drained state you were in a few hours ago, you're feeling positively invincible. You confidently stride out into the bathroom entry area which is.

Your confidence falls along with the temperature as you cross the threshold. The temperature may not have fallen, but it feels a whole lot colder now. Not only that, but this room is also incredibly dry, contrast to the pleasant mugginess of the bathing room you just left. So dry, in fact, that your tunic crackles with static as you slide it back onto your body. You're mildly annoyed when, as you brush your hand against one of the metal spears in passing, you receive a small shock. You pull back reflexively in response to the sensation and popping noise, though there's not really any pain. Interestingly enough, its the other spear that lights up after the discharge. That makes you think. That mild shock: could you replicate such a thing with fire magic? If nothing else it would be a fun trick to startle someone while shaking their hand. You might try working on it later.

You continue dressing. Your red robe rustles as you slide it back over your body. It bears burn scars from various experiments, hanging ragged over your tunic and pants before you belt it down. You're actually quite pleased with its damaged appearance though. You think it really gives the right impression to new acquaintances. Aelia, for example, was sure you'd be able to handle the creatures in this facility. The durable material also serves you just fine even with the various holes and minor tears.

Having gathered all of your equipment, you're once again prepared to face the dangers ahead of you. Honestly, you're not especially concerned. You backtrack to the map of the facility. Now its artificial custodian is on your side, that information you didn't understand before might actually be some use.

You call out. "Hey Aelia. Can you explain this map to me? What's this symbol mean?" You point out a red shape.

When your finger makes contact with the map, it actually penetrates the surface and touches the metal wall behind. The area around your finger flickers, making a buzzing noise like some strange insect might, as it tries to reconstitute its image. This is just like that archeota thing. Its an interesting sort of magic, especially to have lasted so many years without a person to supply it with vys. The Rhynians knew what they were doing.

Aelia explains. "The symbol you are indicating is the general symbol for major corporeal hazard. In this specific instance, it refers to the temperature in the research area, which is too low to be suitable for human life."

You start to ask about the abbreviates. "And what about--"

"Those are initialisms indicating corporeal and metaphysical threats. In the research area is a major corporeal threat accompanied by two minor metaphysical threats." The relevant symbols become highlighted as Aelia describes them. It seems she can control the map, at least to an extent.

Her explanation is interesting. You remember seeing multiple 'minor corporeal threats' in the room you cleared out. You suppose that flesh creature was considered to be several of them? You wonder what a major corporeal threat is. Fortunately, you don't have to live in ignorance.

"What is the major corporeal threat in the next room?" You gesture needlessly to the research area to your right. It's not like there's any other place.

"The entire room has been with incorporated with the discarded bodies of assimilated people. That is to say, the room itself is flesh and bone. You will need to scour the whole thing to ash."

"Well then." That doesn't strike you as a pretty image. "And the two minor metaphysical things?"

"Enchanted entities. Identical to the one you faced in the training area."

"Got it." You walk up to the doorway. "Is there a safe way to activate this?"

"Due to the emergency procedures in the facility, I am actually unable to access door controls. You could try going through standard opening procedures again, but it is likely the system will reach a similar failure state." Aelia's response is tinged with exasperation. You can imagine it would be frustrating to be stuck only halfway in control of the place you're ostensibly the caretaker of.

You're not looking to sit through that alarm sound or nonsense interview again. You'd also rather not waste vys blowing the door open again. So far, it's seemed like the entities that inhabit this facility always know when you're coming for one reason or another, so you're fine with dropping some of the element of surprise. You just make a bunch of noise. Hopefully, you'll piss of the flesh room enough to cause it to break the door open for you.

You slam the butt of one of your spears against the door. You yell. You press the buttons on the wall. You're rewarded with sound of shifting ice in the room beyond. Like the beginnings of an avalanche. Its like a loud pronounced creaking noise, followed by snapping and thumping. Blows begin pounding against the door. The noises change to a rhythmic slamming. You step back, readying yourself.

The door begins to buckle, the stone unable to withstand the creature beyond. It shatters into fragments. Beyond the door is a person sized arm resting on a carpet of flash. The thing is blackened from frostbite, but otherwise whole. You can see open wounds from where it was pounding already knitting themselves back together. That arm is flanked by an additional two arms, which writhe angrily, reaching outwards towards you. The whole room beyond looks not like a Rhynian research area, but instead like the belly of some enormous beast. There's no sign or rhynian construction, only whole flesh. The room pulsates, some unseen heart pumping blood through it. You can hear the rhythmic beating.

Two frost ghosts reside within, freezing the ground over which they float. It cracks and bleeds sickeningly, but is quick to heal. The arms continue to flail but are unable to reach you. They grasp impotently. You're no stranger to gore and horror, so the sight strikes you not as terrible, but as amusing. Its made only funnier by the slapping sound the arms make as they bang uselessly against the doorframe.

It becomes decidedly less funny when the room itself begins oozing out the doorway. The carpet of flesh bears the middle arm forward like some sort of strange mockery of nobility. The slurping noise of the advancing room and hands bearing down on you force you to take this a bit more seriously. When the monsters one sees become actual dangers, it tends to alter one's perception of the situation. For you, that means it's time to fight. You need to 'scour these things to ash': arms, frost ghosts and room alike.
>Combat!
>Enemies remaining: Giant Arm x3, Frost Ghost thing x2, Research Room

You've got plenty of space to back up, and the room isn't making outward progress very quickly, so you probably want to focus on those frost ghosts. Then again, massive explosions don't discriminate, so you could just blow everything up or maybe just set everything on fire. You've also got some fancy new spears you can try out. If you throw one in, you can blow things up a via the other spear with no danger to yourself. You could also just start a regular conflagration. You wouldn't be able to aim it like you could via direct ranged magic, unfortunately.


You opt to:
>address the frost ghosts first: snipe one with a fireball (2 vys)
>address the frost ghosts first: throw a spear at one and create a stream of fire to destroy is (1 vys)

>attack indiscriminately: throw a spear in and detonate the explosion. (2 vys) It'll hit the frost ghosts anyways as well as the room.
>attack indiscriminately: set everything on fire (3 vys)

>address the front: create a stream of fire to destroy the arms and oozing flesh in front of you (1 vys)

>>1480095
>attack indiscriminately: throw a spear in and detonate the explosion. (2 vys) It'll hit the frost ghosts anyways as well as the room.

>>1480095
>attack indiscriminately: throw a spear in and detonate the explosion. (2 vys) It'll hit the frost ghosts anyways as well as the room.

>>1480095
>attack indiscriminately: throw a spear in and detonate the explosion. (2 vys) It'll hit the frost ghosts anyways as well as the room.
Explosions never go wrong

>>1480083
>only 24 hours between updates

wew lad, faster than soma

>>1480129
>>1480193
>>1480216
>remote detonated spear

Roll for me: 3d10+4 vs. DC 19 (Base 15, +4 from ???, -2 from elemental affinity, +2 from unfavorable environment)

Rolled 3, 9, 1 + 4 = 17 (3d10 + 4)

>>1480417

Rolled 9, 9, 1 + 4 = 23 (3d10 + 4)

>>1480417

Rolled 9, 6, 7 + 4 = 26 (3d10 + 4)

>>1480417

>>1480429
>>1480654
>>1480678
17, 23, 26 vs DC 19
Regular success.

Your vys pool will be at 20/22 after this attack.
Spend 2 extra vys for great success?

>spend
>don't spend

>>1480694
>spend

>>1480694
>spend

You back up even further, as far as the fork in the hall, to give yourself a running start. Hoisting the spear overhand, you begin sprinting. Near the end of your run you huck the thing towards the frost ghosts near the center of the room. Before your spear can even land, you've begun channeling.

An explosion detonates in the air. All you see is a blinding flash of light. The shockwave and fire push out the door and rush past you, bringing with them scattered chunks of flesh. You put your arm over your face. Maybe you should invest in some protective eyeware?
>vys: 20/22

You take a look at the outcome of your spell. The devastation is clear. Directly at ground zero the ground is exposed: pristine white marble, surprisingly unmarred by the explosion. The layers of creature lie around the exposed tile, forming a macabre crater. The blood from the wound flows slowly from its edges onto the floor. The rest of the room is in a better state, though not much better. Its a grisly sight that even your resilient gut has a hard time sitting still at.

Any part of the room that is still whole is definitely not hale. Outer flesh is stretched or bruised, revealing the existence of deeper internal injuries caused by the shockwave that reverberated through the room. Then there are the parts of the abomination that were blown away. One of the side arms that faced you is entirely gone, rendered into gore by the destructive force inflicted on it. All over the room are patches of exposed innards. Horrifyingly, it seems that the creature is composed entirely of an assortment of organs and bones, distributed throughout it without pattern or reason. You're disturbed to find that the rhymic heartbeat was not one large heart, but rather tens of smaller hearts beating perfectly in time. Their pounding is now accompanied by the sound of the flow of blood.
>Enemy defeated: Giant Arm

One of the ghostlike frost creatures reels in its own strange way at the force of your explosion. Or maybe it was just the wave of fire? Its form flickers, wavering like the flow of water from a faucet that someone is covering and uncovering. When it stabilizes, its in a ragged and uncertain shape. The other creature, however, is unharmed. It throws a bolt of cold fire at you, which writhes unnaturally the air. There's no sound of crackling flames as it flies over your shoulder, only the feeling of cold and the after-image of fire burning somehow in reverse.

The initiative is still yours, though, and you notice your spear has embedded itself in some frosty chunk of flesh near the ragged ice ghost. You're not satisfied with the destruction that your one explosion tendered. Only one patch of floor exposed? Only one foe defeated? Not enough.

You raise your spear and point it outwards like some kind of teacher. You channel your will, the magic flowing from your spear bearing your instruction for monstrosities before you.

Die.

An explosion flashes again. In its aftermath, only one ghost creature remains. Where it was unharmed before, it now bears damage similar to that of its vanished compatriot. Its tendrils hang loosely. The room itself is in similarly poor shape. Another crater sits where there was once a body of flesh. More bruises and blasted open cavities riddle the thing. The array of hearts beats faster, more desperately.
>Enemy defeated: Ice Ghost thing

Your spear lies now on the clear stone below, surrounded by struggling flesh. You can see that the room is trying to heal, but its progress is slower than before. Where previously it was shown to heal light wounds in an instant, now its an arduous process that takes several seconds. That's not to mention the enormous wounds you've inflicted. Some were cauterized by flame, but others were simply too large or not in the right place to be charred shut, and bleed freely. Would the room even survive if you walked away now? You might get away with just letting it bleed out.

The slow advancement of flesh out the door and towards you has halted. The two remaining grasping hands hang like the arms of student who spent too long studying and not enough time sleeping.

>Enemies remain: Ice Ghost thing (severely injured), Giant Arms, Giant Arm (lightly wounded), Research Room (severely injured, bleeding)

Your next move is clear:
>Explosion
>Fire
>Write-in

>>1480977
Manipulate the spear in the room to start stabbing the hearts and use controlled bursts of flame through the other spear to destroy them one by one

>>1481023
On second thought we should finish off that elemental first, then target the hearts

>>1480977
>explosion
just keep channeling power through our spear and keep blowing the room up.

>>1481023
The manipulate effect is too vys intensive for you to really fling something around like that. You'd want the ability to control metal a la metal magic or maybe refined wind manipulation to do something along those lines.

>>1480977

Ice ghost. Fire. Always geek the mage.

>>1480977
>Explosion
Big boom

What should we do once we clear out the facility? We have a lot of time to plan considering the time between posts

What is a fire vatis?

>>1481970
a fire wizard in magical shitposting land

>>1481970
A vatis is this settings word for a person trained in the use of magic.
A fire vatis would be a vatis specializing in the use of fire magic.

The room and its allies are on their last legs, so to speak. You opt to send them out with a bang. Channeling vys through your new spears, you step back slightly in anticipation of the explosive results of your spell. The blast sounds. The air becomes strong with the scent of iron, carried by the shockwave from the damaged metal walls and the room's blood. When you open your eyes, only gore remains. No ghost creature, no arms, only mounds of flesh in need of destruction.
>vys: 16/22 (down from 18, forgot to subtract for the second explosion in the last post)
>All enemies defeated.

Where you've cleared the room, the floor is undamaged and unmarked. The pure white tile resilient even where your released spear lies on the ground. The walls of the space on the other hand are in a sorry state. They buckle, spark and creak. If you didn't have so much faith in ancient Rhynian construction, you'd leave before this place collapsed. You note that the blood draining from some remaining chunk of room finds its way to a drain, revealed by your scouring blasts.

You enter the room to clean up the mess. You are not discomforted by the horrible scene, and the smell one might expect from ruptured internal organs is absent, either filtered away by the facility's excellent ventilation, or simply never present due to some supernatural quality of the monster you destroyed. It's easy to enter and begin burning the last vestiges of flesh away.

When you reach one particularly large mound of flesh, you examine it closely to figure out the most efficient way to incinerate it. It takes a fair bit of cleverness to destroy everything while only spending fractions of vys. There's a technique to starting fires that will sustain themselves even of wet flesh. Having found a spot that's particularly dry and well exposed to the facility's dry air, you begin to channel a stream of fire.

The flesh responds. Several arms pull themselves out of the creature, lunging with ill intent. Even the ravaged mass itself shifts towards you, leaving pieces of itself behind in some final effort to destroy its foe.

You're surprised only for a moment. Though you didn't expect such tenacity from the creature, you did expect the unexpected; you aren't so foolish to let your guard down in a place like this. Warding the assault with a flash of fire, you hop backwards. Not wanting to waste energy unduly, you don't simply blow it to pieces. The thing is slow and mindless, but it moves on its own. You leverage its stupid persistence and lure it over to an already burning remnant. It dries and catches, melting away at first, then truly igniting.

With that minor foe defeated, the rest of your work is relatively short. When you are done, you are left with a large, empty room of white tile interspersed with regular patches of technological debris embedded into the ground. Presumably Rhynian devices existed once at those locations, though they've long since been consumed and destroyed.

File: animus.jpg (137 KB, 680x381)

137 KB JPG

Aside, you notice stone wording above a door. It seems chipped and worn away, but its still legible. You can't really be sure if the damage is just your imagination. Regardless, you can make out the text as 'Animus': the label for Aelia's core. The facility core is a fair ways further inside, so this must be the friendly neighborhood Aelia who's been helping you out a bit.

She seems to notice your awareness of the room. "The room you see is where I reside. In order to face my sister, you'll need to retrieve me. Once you have, I won't be able to communicate with you until we reach the Core. Please, enter."

The door before you slides open of its own accord. Beyond is a large chamber that seems way out of place compared to the other rooms you've seen in the facility. Rather than being ordered and impersonal, the place seems more like an altar to the Rhynian gods. It bears images in their likeness and illustrations of various legends. You recognize the golden dome above you as a record of a story that was part of a Rhynian tale for how man came to possess magic. Its conflated somehow with a story you don't recognize. Several scenes depict sacrifice, but also bear symbolism that connotes ascension and creation. Upon consideration, it seems likely that this place is some sort of religious explanation, or maybe justification, for the existence of an artificial person.

On the wall beyond lies a false image of some other world. A forest in autumn. A single tree that stands away from the forest. It is hunched over and its leaves bear the colors of its season, but its markings mirror the central tree in this chamber. The cetral tree, on the other hand, has no right being this far underground. It looks as though it could use some sun. Its leaves hang weakly. Its canopy extends melds into the religious tale above it.

Within its trunk lies a shining gem. When you ask Aelia what's up with this place, she explains. "This tree mirrors my internal reality. You can see within it my core: me. While you carry me, so long as you move slowly and do not act to make yourself known, my sister should remain unaware of your existence. That means that any foes we come accross will not attack you or impede you. Keep your distance and remain vigilant, but do not fear."

"So basically," You query. "I'll be invisible so long as I hold you."

"No." Aelia corrects. "Everything around you will be fully aware that something is there, but will register that thing: ie you, as part of me. My sister, and by proxy the things she controls, cannot harm me, so they will not harm you."

File: Clericus Aelia world tree.jpg (327 KB, 1366x768)

327 KB JPG

"And what if they figure out I'm there?" You're pretty sure you know the answer: fire. Really, the answer to several questions. Almost every single one you can think of off the top of your head in fact.

"Then you will need to destroy them or enter the core. Once we are there, we can act against my sister directly. When she is gone, any foes that remain will fade, no longer sustained by her magic."

"Got it."

You approach Aelia's tree. Branches and leaves around it shift away as you approach, as though opening the tree up. You retrieve the core from the center of the trunk. For an instant, your perception flickers. You're not standing in front of some underground tree, but rather at the foot of the hunched over tree that was in the scene projected in the room. Beside you is a Rhynian woman cloaked in the light of Autumn. It surrounds her like a warm fire. You're entranced by the vision. Maybe its the woman, maybe it's the fire. Then, you're not standing anywhere at all. Your perception is instead abstract. All you have is an arbitrary understanding of the facility and its situation. You're frustrated that so much of it is cut off from you.

You snap back into yourself for a moment and step backwards. The world as it is reenters your focus and your thoughts clear. Now, maybe, you understand why the Rhynians inscribed prayers or whatever to their gods all around this sanctum. They feared the wrath of their deities for their trespasses on creation. You can feel the enormous amount of vys stored in this gem, in Aelia. You notice that the sphere is not perfect. It bears a deep crack. The crystalline material glitters. All along the crack, the reflections seem brighter than the illumination in the room around you, as though the gem is emitting more than its taking in. Perhaps, though, it's just a trick of the light.

Now you need to make your way to the core.

>Go quietly and carefully. Walk to attract no attention to yourself as Aelia said.

>Go loud. You don't want whatever enemies are beyond to suddenly attack you while you're surrounded and unprepared. You'd rather just take them head on. You have faith in your abilities.

>Don't even go through the facility at all. You saw that map and you felt the facility as a whole, even if for only a moment. Your memory is excellent, your skill with fire even more so. You're pretty sure you could get to the core by blasting a hole through a couple walls. Why not just circumvent all those potentially dangerous creatures? (6 vys)

>>1488700
>Go quietly and carefully. Walk to attract no attention to yourself as Aelia said.

>>1488700
>Go quietly and carefully. Walk to attract no attention to yourself as Aelia said.
Better be white knuckling a spear the whole time though.

>>1488700
>Go quietly and carefully. Walk to attract no attention to yourself as Aelia said.

>>1488700
>Go quietly and carefully. Walk to attract no attention to yourself as Aelia said.

>>1488700
>>Go quietly and carefully. Walk to attract no attention to yourself as Aelia said.

You'll listen to Aelia. While you're quite confident you can take any threat this place has to throw at you, there's no sense wasting energy confronting every obstacle directly. This sentiment applies even moreso to your idea for blasting a direct path to the core. So far as you can tell, all you need to do is walk casually to the center of the facility.

You step back into the cleared room you came from, observing again the strange dissonance between the pristine tiling and ceiling and the blasted walls and remnants of technology. Its like someone tried to fix everything but got distracted halfway through. It occurs to you that, by the same logic, the damage indicates that about the construction of the facility. Why would the Rhynians take the time to make their floor and ceiling perfect, but then skimp out on the walls and important stuff? There must be something you're not really getting here. It's not important though.

You find that the door to the hall you need to go through is already open. This would be concerning, but you assume Aelia must have opened it prior to ejecting from her tree. Beyond the threshold of the room you can see hints of monsters similar to the one that resided here. Tendrils of flesh snake along the wall like roots of some abominable tree. You'd like to burn them away like one might an invasive weed, but you hold back. Aelia said not to do anything to attract attention to yourself. You probably shoulding even channel magic.

You proceed into the hallway beyond. Its arrayed with the same supernaturally resilient tile of the room before. The clear white, however, is interrupted by pockets of formless flesh. The walls bear similar creations, though the metal that forms them is rusted. They are marked by the wear of time as well as whatever damage the facility has inflicted. Panels are missing. Metal curls from centuries of heating and cooling. Scars and dents from passing beasts also mar the ancient construction.

The shape of the hallway remains sturdy. It bears none of the buckling or signs of danger that old underground mines might. The facility is far too ordered to have been built on an existing cave system, so it seems that the Rhynians made sure the structural elements of the place would last even if cosmetic pieces of it wouldn't.

Though the path you are taking itself poses no danger, it is not safe. You can see along the hallway several creatures like the ones you've fought thus far. You know you need to ignore them, but you're still mildly concerned. Still, you proceed anyways. As you do, the creatures you pass take note of your presence. Though they lack faces, the way they track your passing makes it feel like you're being stared at. Some of the creatures begin following you, though they make no aggressive moves. Are you being examined? Is the facility suspicious? Perhaps it already knows you're a fake and is moving to disadvantage you: leave you with no available paths, surrounded by hostile creatures. You grip the spear you carry a little bit tighter, but otherwise continue. You assure yourself; you could take them even if they did attack suddenly. You just need to remain vigilant.

You pass by several rooms bearing remnants of the Rhynian technology that existed here. Some of it seems surprisingly intact. There's one metal box with various buttons and wires extending from it that seems to be entirely undamaged. Your curiosity is piqued, but you choose not to examine closely. Many of the rooms you are passing have only one entrance or exit. You wouldn't want to be boxed in by your entourage of shifting horrors.

The horrors shuffle their feet as they walk beside and behind you. Their footsteps patter irregularly on the clean tile. You pay no heed to your grim escorts, but you do pick up the pace just a little bit. When you reach the end of the hallway, your breath catches for a moment when you find that a cave-in blocks one of the paths, but after a moment of thought you recall the area beyond isn't necessary to get to the core. Its a more direct path, but you can take a detour through an experimental area to get around the fallen rubble.

The material of the cave-in is uniquely interesting for collapse debris, however. Most of it seems to be the marble of the floor, broken into pieces. That material should have been magically reinforced. You shudder to think of the sort of power needed to render it into gravel. It resisted even your explosion magic. Its really a good thing you're going around. You wouldn't want to encounter whatever monstrosity did that. On the other hand, it might not have been a monstrosity at all. You note a lot of technological material whose purpose is entirely unknown to you. Recalling that Aelia's sister provides the magic of the facility with the necessary energy, you wonder if perhaps whatever conduit allowed her to do that became disconnected or damaged. In that scenario, the ceiling would have reverted to its state as mundane stone and failed under the weathers of time.

Although you'd like to investigate, you again walk away. The sounds of arryhthmatic heartbeats coming from the creatures around you forcing you to focus.

When you walk through the experimental detour area, you're surprised to find the area entirely uninfested by the stretched flesh you've come to expect from the research section of the facility. Instead, the area is populated by those ghost things. Unexpectedly, some of the ghosts are reddish orange: the colors of flame. They predictably emit heat like a fire. Its interesting to you that the facility would have counterparts to the heat absorbing frost ghosts. You have no idea what sort of magic animates them or why they would have been created in the first place. You'd guess, though, that this place is their source. If that is indeed the case, you're probably most likely to find the answer to that question in whatever records are in this area. Maybe, though, you could just ask Aelia.

You don't pause to try and figure things out, a trend you've been keeping with since you grabbed Aelia. She sits in your hand like a cool reminder that you can't mess around with this stuff. You're also worried that those fire ghosts would be able to resist your flame. You don't let it shake your confidence that you could still face all the creatures around you. Really you need that confidence in order to not panic.

Each room you pass through becomes more crowded with disturbing entities. They trail behind you as some sort of unnatural legion. Their calm state and synchronized motion is actually more unsettling than when they're coming at you with hostile intent. When you're in a fight you can just let your skill take over. Your goals are clear and your methods are simple. The same is true now: go to the core, walk there calmly, but when you look back at the shambling motion of the masses of flesh and the etheal drift of the ghost creatures, you're less confident in your methods on an instinctive level. On a higher level though, you know that what has been working should continue working. You change nothing.

You're happy to pass out of the ghost entity area. You didn't realize how strange it felt to be constantly moving between high heat and freezing cold until you left them behind. The currents of wind that accompanied those varied zones also fades as you reach this more controlled portion of the facility.

Continuing onward, you are given note of how your ranks of followers are behaving. You're nearly at the end, but with every step you take they become more agitated. The unsynchronized march becomes a cacophony of stepping and twisting. Pounding noises reverberate off the walls. The scent of rusted iron enters the air as some old panel is beaten by the stomping and flailing of the limbs of the monsters. Should you speed up? Should you stop and wait for it to calm down? You don't know.

What you do know, is that if you can defeat Aelia's sister, it should all go away. You need to make it to the core. You can see the entrance now. Several doors are open, revealing the cavern beyond. You want to run there, but you don't pick up the pace. Calmly and carefully. Attract no attention.

As you apprach the core, its details become clear. Similar to Clericus Aelia's room, Scolasticus Aelia's sanctum is constructed as an altar. Unlike Aelia's, it is not bathed in warm light. It bears no scene of some quiet forest. It is dark. Cool light from above illuminates the unnatural scene.

Monolithic slabs of stone float, bobbing as though their weight is nothing. A massive reddish gem, more than twice your height, is suspended at their center. The core. The stones orbit it unnaturally. Unlike the friendly Aelia, this core is not a pure color, though it does not bear her deep crack. Instead it is clouded and opaque, absorbing more light than it refracts. It is not uniform. It exudes a malevolent presence.

Beyond the core, the sanctum is shrouded. You can't see into every corner. What you can see, in the back, is a flowing waterfall. The sound of rushing water eclipses the agitated pattering of flesh on tile coming from behind you. You cannot see the source of water coming from above.

This is the place. Your instinct is to go no further. There is an obvious metaphysical force coming from the orb of gemstone that is Aelia's sister. You don't need to be a nature vatis to be able to feel it. Still, you enter.

The beasts behind you erupt into noise. Screeching and gurgling explodes outwards from them. They pound and scream towards you. You have a fight on your hands.

Rather, you would, except when you enter the sanctum your perception warps. The pressure that you felt directs itself at you, personally. Your vision flickers between scenes of the sanctum, and two separate forests, one in Autumn, quiet and full of young trees. The other populated by a legion of towering pines, one of which stands far taller than any of the others. It is visible even over the anormous canopy formed the subservient flora. Scolasticus Aelia's tree, however, unlike Clericus Aelia's has a tumorous growth of twisted wood that extends off its side. It hunches to bear the weight of the malignant trunk, a gnarled tree growing horizontally over the woods.

You look back when you perception finds itself in the sanctum and see a tide of monsters rushing towards you. The noise they make distorts and twists as they slow to a stop, frozen somehow in time. Every time your perception flickers away and back to reality though, they are a step closer.

File: core.jpg (114 KB, 1280x575)

114 KB JPG

Aelia's human form stands beside you in all three worlds. She places a hand on your shoulder. Her voice sounds, but instead of at a gentle volume, it pounds into your head like a spike forcing its way into your mind. It snaps you out of your reverie and your perception stabilizes itself in reality. "Ustrinus. We need to invade my sister's reality. Channel vys into my core and I will take you there."

You act immediately.

>Fuck that. There's a veritable army at your feet. You need to face that threat before you can do anything else. Blow those monsters into oblivion.

>No invasion necessary. Aelia said if you destroy her sister then the power sustaining the creatures will fade and they'll die. That's how you're going to destroy that army. Blow up the massive gemstone

>Aelia hasn't lead you astray. Channel vys into her and fight her sister in her world.

>>1496052
>Aelia hasn't lead you astray. Channel vys into her and fight her sister in her world.
While I would rather blow up her stone, that's a few thousand vys which I'm not sure we can block.

>>1496052
>Aelia hasn't lead you astray. Channel vys into her and fight her sister in her world.

>>1496052
>Aelia hasn't lead you astray. Channel vys into her and fight her sister in her world.
If only the qm posted multiple updates a day

>>1496052
>>Aelia hasn't lead you astray. Channel vys into her and fight her sister in her world.

>>1496052
>Aelia hasn't lead you astray. Channel vys into her and fight her sister in her world.

>>1496552
I mean if you look at it now he posts at about the same rate as soma.

>>1496791
Soma posted multiple times a day.

>>1496795
Soma disappears for weeks or months so it balances out.