A couple of guards were looking uncertain. Another guard was downright shaking. A fourth, the first of the group to have seen us approach, had taken a very well tid bathroom break and hadn't returned. Hopefully, he was just hiding, and hadn't gone to fetch anyone I didn't want to see.
I left Ja'yakril to explain that he was escorting
to the temple while I inspected the row of stakes. Despite Ja'yakril's claim, I wasn't convinced that the priesthood had co out completely on top from the conflict, given that a couple of guards were busy removing them. Perhaps the balance had shifted sowhat after the death of the arch-priestess? Besides, even if the priesthood ca out on top over the warriors, there were still three other castes that hadn't been decapitated. They may well be moving to seize more power, or playing other political gas. The priesthood may have 'won', only to find themselves imdiately involved in a second situation in which they had no hope of prevailing.
The guards removing the grueso display hadn't got very far, and I saw So'layn, Si'janrii and Si'chieen all still up there. I was actually surprised Ja'yakril had survived, given that everyone else I'd t that had tried to do anything to
hadn't. No wonder he was so nervous.
Given how long it took Ja'yakril to convince the guards to let us through, I wasn't sure I really could have got through the gates unaccompanied. He had to explain that we were on our way to fix the shrine, point out that without the barrier their jobs had beco a lot more dangerous, and display the mana crystal that would be used for repairs. Their reaction to the mana crystal was a bit of a surprise. I'd thought Ja'yakril's comnt about it being valuable had just been made on general principles because he didn't want to give it to , but novice empath picked up shock from all three guards, so maybe they were legitimately precious?
"Where do mana crystals co from?" I asked as we walked.
"The corpses of powerful, magic-using monsters," he replied. Then there should be one in the giant centipede... I'd have to go over it with sense mana the next ti I was there. And what about the spider queen? Her body was too small to fit a crystal of that size. Would she give a mini one?
This ti, there were no overheard voices while we travelled. The streets were quieter than my previous visit, but not deserted. It was just that everyone who saw us seed to suddenly decide they had sowhere else to be, turning into shops or down side streets. I saw parents grab children and drag them inside, and a few walkers who outright reversed direction. It was kinda lonely having people react like that, but better than so of the alternatives. At least it ant we made it to the temple without getting accosted by anyone.
The temple itself was not looking good. The structure was now black and devoid of mana, matching the other buildings. The inside was better, still lit up by their white plate lights, but the statue was cracked and crumbling.
New side quest: Make an offering to the weakened shrine
You have encountered a desecrated shrine, whose power is waning due to the defilent. Make an offering to restore its full glory and restore the barriers that protect this land.
Clear conditions: Sacrifice mana crystals worth a minimum of 100 mana to the weakened shrine.
Reward: Gain one class level
Aweso. I got the side quest, and the reward was a class level! I could get my last skill. Probably because the shrine hadn't been damaged for long enough for the bio to degrade.
"You... you ca back?!"
Oh, great... Incoming zealot. I turned to see Do'myrith rushing towards us.
"I'm not staying. I heard so idiot broke your shrine, so I ca to fix it. Then I'll be heading into the catacombs."
She stopped and blanched. "Why down there... That's not a place for..."
I ignored her and took the mana crystal from Ja'yakril, offering it up in the sa way as last ti.
Side quest complete: Make an offering to the weakened shrine
I did appreciate it when my quests were easy... The statue lit up and repaired itself, and I felt the pulse of mana as the barriers reasserted themselves.
"Give Ja'yakril the thanks for the materials, and now, if you don't mind, please show
the way downstairs."
"Won't you please wait for a bit? Our leaders want to et you."
"No. I want nothing more to do with you people, and if the entrance to the catacombs wasn't here, I wouldn't have co back at all. Please, just show
down there, and I'll be on my way."
Given that sense presence was picking up a major signature rapidly approaching, one of those leaders apparently wasn't prepared to wait. Thankfully, Do'myrith didn't quibble, and led
through the back door, down a couple of passages and to a massive, black, tal gate, engraved with so of the most disturbing imagery I'd seen since my drug fuelled artistic episode back on the top floor. A lot of it consisted of one fox-kin committing various unpleasant acts to another, but there were depictions of skeletons and what I assud were various types of undead. Skulls featured quite prominently. Guess that confird the nature of the next floor.
Standing around the gate were a group of priests and priestesses, as well as others in outfits that looked much like Mi'taan's. There were even a smattering of guardsn. I didn't see any wounds, but there were signs of fighting, and all were looking relieved. Through the gate was a staircase leading downwards into darkness.
"Do'myrith!" called one of the priestesses. "The barrier is back! They've retreated. We..." she stopped abruptly as she caught sight of
following behind.
"Yes, I know. Well done everyone for keeping up the defence. Katie here repaired the barrier for us, and she will now be heading into the catacombs."
Novice empath advanced to level 5
Not that I needed the skill to pick up on the confusion most of them were showing. Apprehension and pity from so. Even a spot of glee from a few of the warriors. Still not wanting to deal with fox-kin any more than I needed to, and with the strong presence now inside the temple, I hurried past them and down the stairs. There were plenty of surprised mutterings, but none directed at , so I simply ignored them all.
"Hey, Katie! Wait! Co back! We need to talk to you!"
Okay, that one was directed at . I recognised the voice, too: Mi'taan. He hadn't been with the contingent of mages defending the gate. Did he co with the large presence? Either way, while I wasn't particularly averse to speaking to him, I had no intention of heading back up when there were so many others around, so I kept on walking, pulling out my shield once it got too dark to see.
And then I walked, walked and walked so more.
Seriously, how long was this staircase? I wanted to stop and pick my final skill, but I was really hoping to get sowhere flat first. The air was starting to get stale and dry, leaving an unpleasant taste in my mouth, while the temperature dropped to the point of unpleasantness. I kept a careful watch on my footing in case of sudden patches of ice, but continued downwards.
What I hadn't seen was any sort of enemy. Given that they had apparently been attacking the temple only minutes before I'd arrived, that was strange. Maybe the sudden impulse from being pushed by the barrier had caused them all to fall down the stairs, and once I finally got to the bottom I'd find a big pile of them. I probably should have asked what the enemies were, but I was too busy trying to pretend the fox-kin didn't exist.
A sudden tickle in my throat caused
to cough. The air here was really bad. It wasn't just my throat it was irritating either; even my skin was starting to get itchy. I hadn't had any new resistance levels for it, but I doubted I could 'resist' so tickly dust, or even a lack of oxygen. Poison nullification should at least counter stuff in the air that shouldn't be there, and it wasn't telling
that I was being poisoned right now.
A few more steps and I coughed again, violently, and with alarm I saw a few spots of blood end up on the floor.
Right... New theory. Ja'yakril had rather enigmatically stated that all that was down here was death. From the skill description of disease resistance, I knew undead blight counted as a disease. That skill was capped at level twenty, and hadn't yet evolved, so wouldn't level even if I was hit by so awful disease. I was probably under attack by undead blight.
I activated trigger respawn, because I had no idea if turning into so sort of zombie would count as dying, before continuing on. A burning sensation on my skin was enough to get
to stop and remove my armour, and in the light of my shield I could see my skin was covered in sores, so of the larger ones weeping black fluids. And this was with disease resistance?!
I started another coughing fit, and this ti I couldn't stop. When I saw the amount of blood that was coming up, it was obvious that I wasn't going to survive much longer, so I hurriedly stored my shield, plunging the staircase into complete darkness. There was no trace of light visible anywhere, not even from above.
The coughing fit caused
to lose my footing, and I went tumbling down the stairs. It turned out I had almost reached the bottom, but 'almost' was a relative term, and there was more than enough ti for
to hear the bones smash as my limbs twisted in unnatural directions. Amazingly, I managed to not break my neck during my rapid descent, and even landed in sothing soft. The fact that what I'd landed in was moving was sothing I tried not to think too hard about.
Actually, I didn't need to try. I noticed I was struggling to think hard about anything. Brain damage from the fall? I'd definitely bashed my head more tis than was healthy on the way down. At least I'd finally stopped coughing.
...Actually, now that I paid attention, I'd stopped breathing.
I... What was I even doing down here? I was looking for sothing? Why was thinking so hard? And why was I so hungry? That must have been what I was looking for; food. No, that made no sense; the food was all upstairs, but I'd deliberately co down here. There must be sothing else...
Sothing...
Evolution conditions t: Disease resistance ranks up to disease nullification
Dirty water, contaminated food or infected wounds are all things that an adventurer needs to be wary of, even before considering even worse things like undead blight or magical plagues. You have survived a necrotising virus, a massive parasite infestation and even the dreaded undead blight, feats for which your resistance has been upgraded to nullification. This skill greatly boosts your immune system, helping your body fight off foreign living contaminants and even providing resistance to magical diseases. It will also alert you when your body is under attack by disease.
My eyes snapped open back in my respawn cave. Well then... That was an interesting experience. Didn't even get as far as fighting my first enemy. And that bit at the end... A few minutes more, and I'd probably have been hankering after brains. Still, I was pretty sure I died before trigger respawn kicked in, so at least there didn't seem to be any danger of getting stuck as a zombie forever. That was...
Sense presence advanced to level 7
I froze as I spotted a giant centipede sized presence nearby. It was in my pet murder tree's room. It wasn't paying
attention, and wasn't moving, but even so, what was that and where had it co from? Had the spider queen returned? I really needed to learn how to tell presences apart, or at least gauge their strength accurately enough to use that as an identifier. Hopefully, a skill evolution would give
that.
The safest way to find out if it was the spider queen would be to visit the spider queen's new ho and see if she was still there, but my bed and stuff was in the tree's room, not to ntion my artwork. It was embarrassing. While I was debating whether I wanted to risk poking my head in, I checked out my available new skills.
Faster respawn: Cut respawn ti by 95%.
Magic focus: Gain magic skills much more easily, and level them significantly faster. Counts as an achievent for the purpose of evolving all tier 1 magic skills.
Combat focus: Gain combat skills much more easily, and level them significantly faster. Counts as an achievent for the purpose of evolving all tier 1 combat skills.
Scouting focus: Gain scouting skills much more easily, and level them significantly faster. Counts as an achievent for the purpose of evolving all tier 1 scouting skills.
Crafting focus: Gain crafting skills much more easily, and level them significantly faster. Counts as an achievent for the purpose of evolving all tier 1 crafting skills.
Healing rest: A couple of hours' rest completely restores health, stamina and mana.
Register spawn location: Mark up to two additional locations as alternate respawn points. A custom respawn point can be reset once a day.
Stable equipnt: Damage to equipnt is dispersed across the whole and repairs can be conducted by rger with construction materials. Material required for repair is less than the material required for construction. Equipnt is indestructible.
Fast travel: You can move instantly between spawn points.
Stable body: Your body is significantly harder to wound, but health damage remains unaltered. Reaching zero health forces a respawn.
Another RPG staple! I got fast travel! That would be nice, but was it functionally better than picking faster respawn and suiciding my way between respawn points? It would leave less ss, at least. And it would have got
out of the arch-priestess's stupid sanctuary spell.
The final addition was a version of stable equipnt for my own body. That made sense too; in a typical RPG, each character had a one-dinsional health bar and didn't need to worry about things like broken bones and wounds. That would have tempted
more if it had a better defined effect than 'significantly harder'.
Register spawn location now looked even more tempting with the addition of an extra location, but again, all the skills had upgrades. Stable equipnt would now save materials, healing rest was down to a couple of hours, focus skills would give an even bigger levelling improvent, and faster respawn had halved the ti lag since the previous level.
In the end, I picked fast travel. I was likely to find more shrines in the future, and being able to hop back and fore between an arbitrary shrine and my ho base would be handy. Really, though, I wanted all of them. It was a pity that the lack of any further locked skill slots in my status suggested that wasn't going to happen.
Na: Katie
Primary class: Princess of undying laughter (level 5)
- Class skills -
Trigger respawn
Item box
Mapping
Appraisal
Resistance focus
Fast travel
- Combat skills -
Unard dabbler: Level 5
Novice dodger: Level 10
Spear proficiency: Level 15
Proficient blocker: Level 12
Dagger proficiency: Level 15
Sword dabbler: Level 10
- Resistance skills -
Friend of fear
Pain nullification: Level 20
Poison nullification: Level 20
Corrosion resistance: Level 12
Disease nullification: Level 20
Mind magic resistance: Level 11
Heat tolerance: Level 4
Light tolerance: Level 1
- Crafting skills -
Improvisational artisan: Level 11
Artistry: Level 4
- Scouting skills -
Novice stealth: Level 7
Sense presence: Level 7
Novice empath: Level 5
- Magic skills -
Sense mana: Level 5
Bend mana: Level 1
With the disease nullification evolution, I wanted to take another stab at the catacombs, but first I was going to poke my head in to see who was bothering my favourite tree.
Reviews
All reviews (0)