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Stitia, Plane of 13 Deaths (RPG Style Saga/My First Saga)
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@EpicBoss99
"So, since I can't exactly fly that fast as a spirit..." Joseph gives the other ring to you. Their sheer power radiates over you...
With these rings, I could... I could...
"Verth!" Perhaps letting you carry these tools of power wasn't the best idea. It takes all of your effort to keep yourself from losing it as you hold the two rings in your hand. You drop them, and regain your focus. "I... didn't think about that. Someone will have to carry these..." Joseph whistles. "Zarven! Jomufa dae azis! Thie oda!"
You hear an excited hooting in the distance. As fast as you've seen him fly, Zarven lands in front of Joseph. You finally notice a small pouch on his back, and Joseph puts the rings inside of it, closing it. "Let’s go, buddy! It’s a long way to Delvad from here.”
You are slightly concerned how this is going to work. Remembering Joseph’s cipher, the phrase he said translated to... ”Zarven! I need a ride!” How is he going to ride his owl? But then, the meaning behind the phrase becomes obvious. Joseph and Zarven interlock their eyes, glowing, and Zarven’s spirit flies out of the owl’s body. Joseph maintains eye contact with the now empty shell of the owl, and his spirit flows into it, taking control of the owl’s body.
“Welp. I never said anything about not having done this before.” Joseph shakes the loose feathers off of Zarven’s body, and makes sure the pouch on his back is secure. “Normally I’m in my house sleeping, not taking a dirt nap!”
“Wait! We aren’t walking?!” Konrad doesn’t like this one bit. “That guy’s a wereraven!”
“And I can trust him! So what are we waiting for?” Konrad hesitantly gets into Uvras’s saddle, and it’s off to Delvad as the spirits of Joseph and Zarven follow you...
“Getting a little nervous at the last second there, sweet T?” The man remarks as you walk out of the door. “Why don’t I calm you down a little...?” With a gentle hand, he tries to put his hand on your shoulder, when it hits you; you decide not to attack him physically, but mentally. As his hand runs across you, you feel every muscle in your body relax, and an air of calm washes over you like a wave. Tough luck for him, as it only allows you to put more focus into your spell...
“Oh, please! Don’t resist me! Don’t- resist- me! AHHHH!”
The man was very apparently not prepared to be facing someone skilled in mind magic. He collapses to the ground, and he too is subjected to torturous thoughts. You dig into his mind. Years of abuse and torment of all forms. He was harassed for his appearance and his actions. Beaten for his aspirations. And then you find that fateful day, when he decided that no one loved him for who he was, and sold his soul to Khantsievth, becoming a recruiter for his cause in exchange for the power to charm anyone...
The man is cold on the ground, still alive, but unconscious, tears streaming down his face. His name is Jack, but he took on the name Jessy. You found out his purpose for coming here; Khantsievth was going to force you into a deal. And that bartender, Patrick, had broken free of his contract, so the man sent you to kill him.
The mental attack had some recoil, leaving your mind temporarily shattered as well. But you’re still conscious, so you’re able to choose what to do with this man.
“So... who are you?” This vampire. He doesn’t seem that dangerous, especially restrained, but you need to keep your eyes on him. You’re already a werebird, so the last thing you need is for Arlin to be a vampire.
“This is Vryx. We’ve been... erm... ‘allies’ for some time.” Arlin does her best to try to dodge any other wording, and you can tell she’s blushing.
“So... you’re out on honeymoon, I guess? Least I got invited.” You’re tempted to close this guy’s mouth. “Anyways I’m Timmy. Resident vampire and necromancer. Since you got Timothy off of my back, I think I owe you guys one. Problem is... with him gone, there’ll be less bloodshed around here. I thrived by getting my blood in peaceful ways. Then, Timothy came in killing everyone and drinking all of their blood in. Now what’ll I do?”
This is an interesting problem. This vampire seems peaceful, but if he cannot get blood, it may not remain that way. Choose what you will do with him.
If they weren't so dangerous, maybe I would take them into my crew and to a safe place, but they have sealed their own fate by signing that contract, the best I can do is have some mercy and end their suffering, but for now I'll just try to find the spirit, (¿Man?) That asked me for revenge, he mentioned something about possessions. I have to get some gold out of all this mess, that bartender too should be thankful with me.
I wonder what would be of me had I been recruited by Khantsievth... Whatever, I will just get some gold, get the hell out of this place and then look for my friends.
“I think Racrion is fairly clean.” Joseph says. “I’ve taken care of almost every target there. All I need to do is weed out the meek.”
The same would be true for you. Is there really any major threat left in Delvad? Before, it used to house the main lycanthrope population. Now, lycanthropes fear the merest sight of a bird. They cower at your presence...
Those rings... I could rule Delvad with that kind of power! It was tremendous... overwhelming even! You look over at Joseph, controlling the body of Zarven. That little bird is the only thing between me and my destiny... All I have to do is...
You snap out of it, and noticed that you almost struck Joseph. “Verth... I’ve noticed you’ve been acting strangely. Are you okay to keep going?”
“I’m with him!” Konrad is scared. “Maybe we should rest up and continue on foot!”
“If he can fly, we need to get to Uvras ASAP! Even if he’s fast asleep, we wake him up. This is critical information!”
As you continue towards Delvad, you hear a voice. Arne...
”Verth. As fate would have it, it is by the interference of another that your fortune has been changed. However, it has only changed a bit, and it is fast approaching. The werewolf... is now... a hyena.”
The hyena? The bearers of the bronzish rings... you will need to be very careful throughout these coming days. Pray your new allies can help you...
You land at Uvras’s hut and transform back into a human. Konrad leaves to go to the Duskwood Hometree. All of you are tired and exerted. Joseph gives Zarven back his body, and Zarven falls asleep almost immediately, making the removal of the rings and the page on “the ring” easy. Barely able to breath, your heart pounds as Joseph goes with you, bearing the rings. They captivate you. The light from Joseph’s spirit gives them a perfect glow, and the light of the crimson moon, as well as the lantern on Uvras’s hut, make them look dramatic. You knock on the door, trying to look away from the rings. Minutes feel like hours as you resist...
“Verth! You’re back! And... erm...” Uvras is lost in thoughts as Joseph looks at him. “Who are you?”
“Joseph. Lycanthrope hunter. We have an urgent matter to tend to.”
“Those rings! Why is there two of them?! Where did you find the second one?!”
“This is very unfortunate, but your rings can be reverse engineered.” Joseph puts the rings on the table with the paper. You hold back your hand, clenched like a claw, and keep them in your pockets.
“This paper... it’s just gibberish!” He’s right. You can’t make out a thing it says.
“It’s written in a secret language, then translated with a cipher. No one but me would understand it. To put it bluntly, I found out how to replicate the process that gives the mythril its enchantment. The rest was no sweat for a smith like me. Other problem is, someone broke the code, and translated this, making their own ring! One of these was Timothy’s, the other... belonged to the now dead researcher that stole my work.”
“My secret... how? This should have been impossible. But perhaps... it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. We need to find Layre before he figures out this information!”
“About that, there’s some good news... I killed him.”
“How did you-”
“I was alive at that point. As you can see, the rest of me, for better or worse, being a werewolf, didn’t make it along for the ride. I... was going to come here to see if you could give me a ring, but it’s readily apparent I won’t be needing that anymore...”
“Well, that’s a good thing!” Uvras takes the rings and puts them in a safe. “Never will I ever give anyone a single ring ever again! I thought one ring, as an apology for transforming that man into a mongrel, would be fine. He was innocent and pure before that point. But now, because of it, information got leaked. We don’t know who could know it!”
“I can confirm.. no one knows except me.”
“Well that’s a relief! But riddle me this; where is the third ring?”
“Destroyed. I melted it into bits, mixed it with impure metals, then buried the cocktail deep underground.”
“Good thing you know what you’re doing. When the sun comes up, we’ll destroy these rings. But, for now... is Timothy dead?”
“Yeah... but if you’re looking for proof, it’s burning in the bottom of a well in Racrion. Washed down with a bottle of Nasita’s strongest.”
You confirm it. “Great then.” Joseph crumbles up the paper, and your temptation to take it is great. More! I could make more! I would be unstoppable! You slap yourself. You need to end this madness.
Now, it’s your turn to speak. What is the contingency plan? If you would like to do it now, make a card to reflect it. It will not be “judged”.
“Thank you for listening to me...” You find the spirit and confirm what had to be done. “See... I was never actually related to that man. I just knew him. I knew he was coming for you. In life, I died because of people like him. I wanted to protect you from him.“ You thank the spirit for his warning. It probably just saved your life.
With your trick, you managed to get the bartender to pay you half of the money he got for accepting the contract to spike your drink. 5000G... that’s a lot of money. Enough to feed you alone for an entire year, even in Teegar’s body. As you head with the spirit to where his “possessions” are, he tells you about his life. He used to be a demon hunter, but got tricked into a deal with Khantsievth. While it did not cost him his soul, when he betrayed Khantsievth to save his wife’s life, he lost his instead.
The man stops at an abandoned hut. “Here is my place. Possessions mean nothing to me, so take everything you want.” You search the house for anything of use. You manage to find some food and water, as well as about 100G strewn around the house.
There is a demon slaying zweihander inside of this man’s living quarters. You could take it, but bearing such a weapon could draw a lot of suspicion from your crew.
I turn to speak to Arlin and I speak quietly enough that Timmy dosn't hear, "What are the chances that there are Bloodwood survivors? Since I have a pretty good plan of killing two birds with one stone."
"So, here's my plan: we start going to Descour with Timmy by us, then as we get close to the Bloodwood territory we let him lose. That way we can start going to the other end of Descour and get Timmy the blood he needs."
“I hope you know I heard your entire conversation,” Timmy cuts in, “and I can say, I think I know what you’re getting at. As long as I’m not killing the innocent, I think that’ll work.”
But having to avoid suspicion is becoming a burden, at some point, if I have to use my forces against a big enemy, I will probably put the ones with a functioning brain in the front line, having to act like this nasty Pirate is getting to me.
So! next stop, time to get some FOOD tokens, baby. And then look for information about my lost friends.
"Okay, we'll head out now. No detours, no stops, and we'll have enough time to get there!"
Note: In case it becomes relevant, here’s what your crew looks like (Anyone intelligent is italicized):
- Teegar
- Three Demons
- Four Devils [One of them is not intelligent] (the fifth died during the raid)
- Three Humans (the other two died during the raid)
- Three Undead Slaves (Human)
- Ten Undead Slaves (Human Werewolf)
You talk around Etsane, looking for the best place in Nutheport to grab something more... palatable. Not that the chicken was bad, but with your newfound egg allergy, you’ll have to lay off the chicken if you want to avoid the risk.
The best place you can find that’s believable for Teegar is a brothel in Eastern Nutheport. While there are more “exclusive attractions”, a red curtain divides the “entertainment” section of the brothel from the restaurant end. You and your crew feast on the best things the house has. 300G out the window, and that’s the evening gone. Tomorrow, you begin the search for your friends, but you’ll have to find a way not to alert your crew...
As you go to the Captain’s Quarters, you notice the Spirit Lantern humming and glowing. Treyble has a task for you. You rub the lantern, and it whispers to you.
There is big game on the horizon. Demons rising in power. Go to Nasita. The Plague has given us a great payoff of powerful demons. You will have to disrupt a sacrifice in order to retrieve the corpses, so make sure you are punctual, and pick the right time to strike. This is no good time to be running in headlong, unless you plan an ambush. The sacrifice is taking place on the roof of a cathedral... you will be surrounded if you interrupt the proceedings directly.
Well, with a happy Treyble maybe I can make more questions and continue the investigation. Khantsievth must have a good reason to be after me, the question is... Is he after Teegar or Teil?
“So. I get to move to Woewedt for a while?” Timmy is drinking deer blood from a small container. “Fine by me. That freaking place down there is getting bad anyways. I’ve got people left, right and sideways that might try to kill me! The few people that aren’t murderous or violent will kill me just because I’m a vampire! Honestly... you’re about the only people who have trusted that I’m not going to kill you the moment you turn your back!”
“You’re in shackles, so we don’t have to worry about it.” Arlin snidely remarks.
“You do realize I can do stuff even with these shackles on, right? Or maybe, perhaps, did you consider that I might be able to break out of them at will?”
“We’ll stop you if you do.”
‘Look. What I’m trying to say is... you’re too naive. What if it wasn’t me? What if I did have it out for you? You’re lucky I just want to sit and drink blood in peace, and maybe try not to die while I’m at it. Any other vampire would of sucked you dry by now, even if you shackled their teeth!”
Three days have passed since you left Racrion. You arrive at the Descour-Woewedt border, and make sure Timmy knows that he never saw you, and that you had nothing to do with any of this. He agrees, and prepares his sword, scouting for signs of enemies. Sure enough... a Bloodwood charge is going on in the distance, and he swiftly moves to intercept. “Don’t worry about me! I’ll be fine! Just go!”
Is there some kind of gathering going on? You pass by two devils on nightmares being pursued by an angel. Nearby is that strange old man Joseph assaulted, walking across the desert. You take a better look, and the angel is the same one that you saw in the Dawnwood Hometree. Do you plan to investigate, or will you mind your own business?
I mind my own business, but I will have a talk with that angel later about being in my hunting grounds
Verth didn't let a second go by before warning his friend about what has transpired. "Uvras, it's time. We need to put the contingency plan into action before it's too late. I've already begun to lose control over my mind. If we wait any longer, we'll be back at square one...or worse." Verth informed Uvras. Verth's ravenous need for material wealth and power was eating at his mind throughout the entire trip back to Delvad. Uvras knew what to do. Should Verth's plan work out as he and Uvras intended, the magic of Verth's ring would be absorbed directly into his soul, allowing him to innately control his transformations without the use of magic, thereby giving him complete control over his humanity and his lycanthropy. As the wizard displayed his mastery over artificer magic, all Verth could do was hope that he didn't execute his plan too late.
You celebrate with Uvras, and Joseph cheers. It was brilliant! No longer did you have to worry about losing the ring, or it being taken. No one could copy it as Joseph had; the power was tied to your soul.
Relieved, the group rests for the night. Tomorrow, you would be free from the burden of Layre. The burden of losing the ring. The burden of insanity...
But at what cost?
5:32 AM
You hear the door crack open, and Konrad walks into the hut.
“You summoned me here, master?”
“Yes, Konrad. I’m sorry to interrupt your bittersweet reunion with the Duskwood after being dead for 13 years, but I need my body back.”
Master? What’s going on? Your eyes snap open, and you watch in astonishment. Joseph goes into Konrad’s body, ejecting Konrad’s spirit, and you witness as he transforms into Joseph, a smile cracked across his face.
“Verth... I’m sorry I couldn’t of warned you while I had the chance, but you made a terrible mistake.” As Joseph walks up to you, you rush to stand, but it’s too late. He grabs your shoulder, and stares you straight into the eyes. Agonized, you feel weak, and fall back down. An ephemeral light flows from you to Joseph, as he begins to take a familiar form. Brown feathers... red eyes... the person staring back... is you.
“Call me a master musician, because I played you like a damn fiddle! Thank you, Uvras, and Verth, for making my job a hell of a lot easier!” Joseph throws off the gleaming ring on his hand, and transforms back into his human form.
You were sneak attacked by Joseph, taking 3 damage. Your HP is now 7.
Uvras awakens, and he is shocked. “You’re- You’re-“
“Timothy? That’s just an alias I used to conceal my identity, so let me be blunt... I’m your worst ******* nightmare.” Joseph grabs Uvras. You try to stop him, but you’re too weak to stand back up. Joseph absorbs Uvras’s essence, but he isn’t as forgiving with Uvras as he was with you. As he pulls and pulls, Uvras grows pale, and collapses. “I’m everything, and everyone. The beginning, and the end.” Joseph laughs maniacally. “I... am unstoppable!”
Joseph pries open the safe with his bare hands, ripping the door completely off of it. “So... that was a nice spell you pulled last night.” Joseph grabs the bronzish rings. You’re barely moving, and fall trying to stand. “Say... does it work on these too?” Joseph glows with the same light as you did before him, and absorbs the rings into his soul. He cackles. “Does this work with everything?! Maybe perhaps... but that’s a test for later. Verth! I don’t know how I can repay you for this, but I have some ideas! How about showing you a tiny glimpse of my power?! The power of the one who will rule this damned world, as I was meant to!”
Joseph transforms, in a fashion similar to yours, and revealed is an abomination. An amalgamation of gluttonous desire and greed. The enemy you were looking for this entire time was right in front of you, and there’s nothing you can do about it now...
You are forced to watch in horror as he feasts upon the body of Uvras until there is nothing left, not even bones. Then, with a single swipe from his paw, he breaks the front wall, forming a hole where the door used to be. Transforming into your wereraven form, he takes his leave...
Will you pursue Joseph now, or later?
Each of your entries, including cards for my actions, will be scored from 0-15, and the average of your score will be used to determine effectiveness. If you beat my score, or I beat yours, the losing player will take damage equal to the difference between your score and mine. Your HP is 7, and Joseph’s HP is 10. Joseph can heal if you were to flee.
Criteria:
• 5 points for overall effect and balancing.
• 4 points for realism, following color pie, and proper rarity. You may lose a point if the effect of the card is unclear.
• 3 points for fitting the colors and themes of your character. (Villains are exempt to this rule; it will always be equal to your color score)
• 2 points for proper grammar and syntax
• 1 point for flavor (text not required; mainly checking if overall fell of the card fits its art, name, etc.)
(Okay, since he killed Uvras, Timothy is D E A D in this encounter. To ensure this, I will just be posting my response without the cards tonight. I'll eventually edit this post to add all three of my cards later.)
For the first time in his relatively short life, Verth's calculating mind had broken at what just conspired. He had killed tragedy. Nothing wrong was ever supposed to happen again. But as he stared at what little remained of his only friend Uvras, the betrayal of Joseph, or his true identity, Timothy, almost relinquished his will to fight on. This is the thanks Verth got for his impossibly hard work. For doing the right thing, by bringing people together to fight against a cause. Why didn't he listen? Uvras made it clear the night of the Crimson Moon that they were in this fight together. So why did he let the prospect of friendship and camaraderie plague his mind? It was then that Verth realized his fatal flaw: it wasn't the lycanthropy that warped his mentality. It was his fantasies of heroism and unity. Stitia was a dark plane of horrors, where even your closest friends could stab you in the back. Verth couldn't live in some fantasy world where good and evil are never-changing. Today he learned that the hard way.
Streams of tears silently rolled down Verth's face. The red drops of blood pouring onto the floor from his wounds were only more tears, a testament to his final mistake. Even though his suspicions were justified, Verth refused to give up hope, which cost him the life of his most dearest friend. Every bone in Verth's body was shaking as he watched Timothy attempt to escape. That's when it hit him. Who's next? My family? The Duskwood? Arne? This was ending TONIGHT.
A mumble turned into a giggle. A giggle turned into a chuckle. Suddenly, a horribly grim laughter pierced the air as Verth effortlessly transformed into his wereraven form. "Your worst nightmare?! That's the funniest joke I've heard in a long time, Timothy," Verth sneered with an ugly caw. "You think you're SO smart, taking advantage of my kindness. You haven't done anything! You're nothing more than a WANNABE! And if you think a wannabe is scary," Verth paused, stretching his talons in anticipation.
"You haven't seen anything yet."
(That's true. The main reason why I ask is because I am SO NERVOUS about how this battle's gonna go down. I really don't want Timothy to escape, because I feel like you've got some more tricks up your sleeve, ESPECIALLY since you could potentially pose as Verth. On the other hand, I really don't want this to be the final battle for Verth. I've had a lot of fun building his character arc and I want to explore how the death of Uvras can grow him as well.)
Everyone that has not interacted with either of us directly will be pinged. Everyone who wants to judge cards entered for showdowns between me and other players, PM me and @EpicBoss99. Please make sure you are confident in your ability to analyze cards. Once it’s time, I’ll pick three volunteers, chosen at random using a first to three pick on RANDOM.ORG. I’ll use the same RANDOM.ORG process to pick a pair of two supplemental judges to break ties, or backup in case a judge takes too long.
Anyways... PING!
@Pepperoni @ThatOneCat @sanjaya666 / @Fallen_Lord_Vulganos @DrakeGladis
@TezzeretofCarmot21 @EnvyReaper @BudGetTheCam @EmolgAn
@Derain2 @MonkeyPirate2002 @ASubtleGhost @ElMagici