“Hear ye, hear ye. Earlier this morn, the town of Briskwind Bay was raided and ransacked by an unidentified force dressed like devils and demons. The damage to the town was extensive and many lives were lost. The perpetrators remain at large and number at minimum a hundred well armed individuals and their retinue of monstrosities. The naval ship, Pride, a Claw class blockade runner, has been reported hijacked by those very individuals. Any information about the incident should be reported to your local constable or military garrison at once!”
- Town Crier, Marrest City Square, “The Raid of Briskwind”
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If there was one thing she learned from her time at the estate and on her travels, it was that oftentimes, she was the one who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. A scream had shaken her from her fugue and though her mental state teetered on the edge of completely shattering, she reluctantly pushed herself back up. She had chosen this path, chosen this reckless course of action, so it was that she would be the one to see it through.
Her mind was empty and everything seemed to be frozen in place. Her emotions, her horror, her fears, all of it clawed like beasts in the dark recesses of her mind, waiting for the moment to pounce. She felt strangely hollow as she gripped the sword once more, The Lion’s Mane. It was still coated with the reminders of her sins and she hurriedly scrubbed the remnants away with her sleeve, staining the tunic red. She stared at the stained sleeve for a moment, the sickening sight bringing a wave of disgust within her, as if she had stained herself with a marker that told the world she was a killer.
Her eyes darted towards the other side of the cavern and she wondered what she would find. What horrors awaited her and what she would have to do. She still remained doubtful about the investigation but saw no other way forward. Swallowing the last of her guilt, she cleared the small patch around the door to the ruins and finally took off her pack, leaving everything behind besides her blade. Much like the prince’s former blade, she would be a weapon that strived to bring some semblance of order to the chaos here. Yet, she couldn’t completely shut out the doubt that in a similar fashion, she too would meet an untimely end.
With a heavy heart, she pressed forward, taking great care to stick to the walls and remain unseen as best she could. Dreary decayed overhangs shaded her from the light from above, the sound of water and the beating of the drums hid her footsteps. Her breathing gradually steadied as her mind purged itself of all concerns, focusing only on the situation at hand.
A strange sense of wondrous dread washed over her as she traversed the ruined streets. Though it had likely been a millennia since this town existed as an actual place rather than as a rubble strewn heap. The power of Myndiri magic was undeniable. The fact that she could still feel the vestiges of the past even now sent shivers down her spine. Something deep in the recesses of her being stirred unpleasantly, an unfathomable hunger that reacted to her presence in this area. It wasn’t sickness-inducing like her trek through the sublevels of the ruin, but rather a more subtle but unshakable sensation that she couldn't get rid of.
Sophie soldered on, not knowing what to make of the new sensations until a loud bang and rumbling echoed throughout the cavern. She immediately hugged the closet wall she could find and turned her head this way and that to see if it was someone that spotted her. Finding no nearby hostels, she heard the banging again and quickly tried to locate its position. It wasn’t further or closer than where the drum sounds were emanating from and she wondered if this new source of noise heralded the appearance of a potential threat. Searching her surroundings, she found what looked to be a ruined tower section of a greater structure.
Grateful that she only had her blade and its sheathe, she quickly tucked it away and began climbing the structure. Using the sheathed blade to prod ahead at potential handholds, she cautiously moved upwards, taking great pains to avoid creating noise that might alert potential cultists or whatever else lurked in these ruins. With a hefty pull, she yanked herself up to the second story only to find her view still limited by other ruins or the overgrown trees in the area. Looking for a way up to the third story, she calmed herself and climbed once more.
Thankful for broken walls of the tower to act essentially as a little pathway up. She shimmied her way up and into a vine covered room, whatever was left of one anyway. Using the foliage to both hide and steady herself, she tried taking a discreet glance towards the direction of the banging. To her horror, she found two large muscular creatures as large as a small house with tough grayish looking skin, smashing away at something near a steep side pathway that seemed to climb half the height of the cavern. Trolls, she almost gasped. Beside them, what looked to be a comically small figure seemed to be directing them. Unsure of their identity, Sophie squinted and caught the briefest flutter of a robe as the two trolls broke a particularly large rock that sent a gust of dusty air flying by the figure. Damn, a cultist and two trolls… that’ll be a dangerous fight if I get entangled with them. Her face scrunched up into a frown as she tried to judge the distance from their position to hers. Assuming there’s no blockages and a straight path… that’s probably five minutes at most. Damn, that isn’t a lot of time to work with.
Grumbling to herself, she tried to look at where she assumed the town square and ritual were, finding only the smoke trail rising up from somewhere between the houses. Tch, can’t see much from here. Some tower this is. Extracting herself from the vantage point, she decided to use the vines to get down instead. Almost slipping at a few points, she nonetheless managed to get back to street level and broke out into a brisk walk in hopes that whatever the trolls were doing would take longer.
That passage they were at… judging by that incline, I wonder if it's to the next sublevel or straight up to the surface. Would be pretty handy if that’s the case, I’d personally rather not go through that bottom floor again. Something’s wrong with the air there, and I still haven’t found whatever was lurking the halls. Sophie shivered slightly at the thought that there were still more denizens that dwelled around here besides the cultists. Her brief musings made her jolt from shock as she remembered she had forgotten to keep track of time. Dammit, dammit, dammit! The Academy group might already be here. I gotta wrap this up quick or they’ll get caught up with the cult too.
Under the maddening beats of the ritual drums and trolls, Sophie navigated her way through the overgrown streets and zipped from building to building in a mad dash for the town center. It didn’t take long for her to reach her target as the soft glow of torchlight became the hostile crimson glow of the orbs. She crouched down behind some bushes and gently backed away until she felt comfortable enough to shimmy up another ruin. Sticking herself almost directly to the wall, she poked her head out of a window and tried to blend in to the plants that overtook the building.
The town square was more hexagonal than anything else, built with utility in mind as each of the sides stretched out into different streets. Whatever had once been here was long since gone and all that remained was a little pavilion in the center of the square. Within it stood another pedestal and orb surrounded by a wall of fire. That explains the smoke I saw earlier, is it to protect the orb? But it only goes up to chest high at best, strange. Surrounding that were four of the suspended blood trails that had guarded the previous orbs, but this one was large enough to reach the top of the pavilion. Feeding into those trails were little trenches dyed crimson, and at the end of those trenches were the remaining members of the first expedition, no longer amongst the living. When she squinted closer, she also found more plainly dressed bodies amongst the piles. Those look like village clothes, so the expedition weren’t the only ones to get brought here. Shit. Sophie groaned at the depressing revelation. But who built this? Was this originally Myndiri or did they carve those trenches out themselves?
Interspersed around the square were roughly sixteen cultists of varying sizes. All dressed in the same robes inscribed with ancient lettering similar to those that she had fought earlier. Of the group, she spied nine who seemed to be magic users based on how they were without physical weapons; four active guards armed with maces and shields; while the last two appeared to be the leaders, performing some sort of ceremony directly in front of the pavilion; and the last one playing some oversized drums. Beside the leaders was a small table with what looked to be strange metallic capsules shaped like crystals and a few jagged looking trinkets that likely belonged to the cult. The metal tubes look more Myndiri, their necklaces and symbols though… if I can grab one, then I could give it to the guild or the inquisition.
The cultists all seemed to be in varying stages of dancing and praying towards the burning pavilion and as the drum beat grew to a frantic pace, Sophie could see the fire flicker slightly as wisps of energy shot out from somewhere inside the pavilion. What the…? What are they doing? The lead cultist then gestured towards one of the side streets and held his arm up expectantly into the air.
Heavy rumbling footsteps were the replies he received. Surrounded by a half dozen cultists, another pair of trolls trudged forward, carrying a large elongated cart between them. They each would’ve stood as tall as a house if not for the fact that they were hunched over the cart. Shit, that’s twenty four cultists and two trolls, there ain’t no way I can take them all out. Worried but still committed, she kept her eyes on the strange proceedings. She had to fight from gasping out loud as the trolls roughly yanked open the lid of the cart, revealing parts of a Myndiri crystal within it. That’s…
Giving her no time to process the information, the trolls then lifted the crystal and placed it in front of the pavilion, just on the cusp of the flames. The orange glow reflected off of the crystal and as she watched, the inert crystal slowly began shining the same brilliant blue that she had seen in her nightmares. Too entranced to act, Sophie kept watching as the cultists then pulled out parts of a makeshift altar and then set it up as a receptacle for the crystal. The lead cultist gestured at the object and the trolls obediently placed the crystal on top. Now upright and facing the orb, Sophie’s fascination grew to horror as the brilliant blue glow slowly turned red. They… they’re corrupting it!? Then could the orbs also be Myndiri artifacts? Why?
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Before she fully had time to analyse the situation, a vision seized control of her mind. Within it, she was stumbling around a spiralling staircase until she came upon one last door. Throwing it open, she staggered out and remembered the sight ahead of her. The wind whipped at her face as the sky darkened. Melisgrad… they corrupted the crystal there too. Then… then that stupid God of Death or whatever.
Gritting her teeth at the pounding in her head, she gripped the edge of the window with her fingers and looked down. As she suspected, the crystal was indeed slowly changing its colour, the red swirling within it as it expanded its control. Focus, hoo, focus. Snag a trinket, maybe an artifact, touch the crystal, break the orb. She ran over the plan in her mind. Easy enough, easy enough. She paled at the amount of people and creatures that now lingered around the pavilion, all eyes still turned upon it. Fighting’s out of the option, so what do I do? Just run for it and pray? Hope I get everything in time? Fuck me, are there no better approaches here?
Another wave of energy pulsed out from the pavilion and Sophie felt her chest tighten up as the air around her compressed into pure corrupted mana. Unwilling to see the past repeated, she threw a reckless plan into motion. Asking the stars to guide her path, she reared backwards and jumped straight through the window. No one noticed her initial movement until she landed on an errant cultist and made their face scrape against the street stones as she used them to cushion her fall. She rolled off the cultist and sprinted towards the table of trinkets, the confused and somewhat shocked cultists still yet to formulate a proper response to the sudden intrusion.
One shout became two and soon the whole chorus of voices exclaimed their surprise or fury at her presence. The trolls seemed the most surprised, groaning and letting out guttural roars as if they were both angry but cowed at the same time. Ignoring them, she almost reached the table when one of the cultists finally responded, hastily trying to grapple her. With a swift sidestep, she avoided his grapple and shoved another out of her way.
“Stop her!” The lead cultist bellowed out.
Sophie growled and powered through another cultist, throwing them to one side at another who tried to grab at her.
“Shoot her!” Another them yelled.
A frostbolt zipped past her face from behind and she spied the trolls taking action at long last. But too slow, she smirked as she barrelled through the table, scattering trinkets and artifacts as she swept up what she could in one swoop.
“The offerings!” Someone wailed from behind So that’s what they’re for. But offerings for what? The Death God? What use does a God have for trinkets?
With the flames now ahead of her, she took the one option she had on hand to disrupt the orb. Dodging an errant firebolt, she recovered quickly enough and used the fury against the cult within her to guide her throw. She hurled one of the cylindrical artifacts at the orb. It sailed above the crystal and through the flames, smacking hard against the orb and shattering it on impact. Bullseye! She pivoted and quickly changed her path, now, to escape.
“Wait, wait don’t-” Someone started to yell but Sophie didn’t catch the rest of it.
A powerful force connected against her side and she was immediately flung away. She barely had time to process what happened when she slammed face first into the crystal, the trinkets scattering around her alongside the sword which came loose from the blow. Her body exploded with agony and she swore most of her bones were jostled loose from the impact. She slumped limply against the crystal and accomplished her third goal. Grasping weakly at it, she could barely crawl let alone stand up. Pain ruled her consciousness and she fought to remain conscious, every bit of her body throbbing with agonizing pain. Need… to… move… ugh…
She willed herself to function to no avail, the traumatic impact having temporarily frozen her muscles as her mind struggled to comprehend what damage had been done. Come on… need… to move. Her eyes looked up to find some of the cultists arguing amongst themselves, the few with weapons already moving in to surround her. Ahh…shit. Wincing from the pain, she allowed herself a moment to asses the situation only to find that she wasn’t being battered to a pulp by their maces. She groaned and stopped trying to move, giving herself a brief respite as she waited for the inevitable interrogation. It also gave her time to reflect on the key lesson that she had learned, never get punched by a troll. Goddess, it hurts.
“... you idiot! What if it hit her properly?! We would’ve lost everything!” One of the cultists yelled.
“You never said, hold the trolls back. You just told us to stop her, did you not? We could leave if that’d suit you.” Another one, the troll handler, snarled back.
“Perhaps that’d be for the best. Or would you rather our patrons-” The first cultist taunted.
“Enough.” A heavy Caradorian voice silenced the bickering duo, “It wasn’t a direct hit anyways. Besides, it seems our little intruder still remains conscious.” It had sounded so much more sinister than the deranged ramblings from back then that she almost didn’t recognise him. But the moment she looked up and their eyes met, she knew that he remembered her too. The Direktor of the Eichafen Exploration guild. “Move.” He barked and the nearby guards backed off slightly.
Smirking, the man knelt down in front of her and studied her. There was a malevolence behind his beady looking eyes and Sophie couldn’t help but try to shiver uncomfortably under his gaze. He rubbed his stubble and sighed, nodding at Sophie as the other cultists watched in silence.
In spite of the situation, Sophie managed to grin back. Perhaps her mind had been overloaded from the troll’s blow, or perhaps it was the memory of humiliation at being held at Marcus’s mercy, stricken down and unable to speak. But if she was to suffer, she’d at least have some fun.
“What?” She groaned, hacking out a heavy cough as she struggled to breath now that she was aware of it, “See something you like?”
The Direktor raised an eyebrow but didn’t frown. He slowly stood back up and patted down his robes before performing a small curtsy.
“We’ve seen each other so often but I believe we have not been properly introduced yet.” He smiled without emotion, “You may call me, a defender of mankind. Or, if you’d prefer, Direktor Gerhardt Wallen of the Exploration Guild, at your service.”
A few hushed whispers broke out amongst the cultists but he silenced them all with a look. Turning back to her he just stared expectantly and Sophie sighed internally.
“Sophie. Tis my name.” She rasped, “Don’t recommend getting hit but trolls.” She joked, trying to maintain her straight face without letting the pain show.
The man let out a single puff of air from his breath and blinked in disappointment before resuming his feigned cheerful expression.
“That out of the way…” He spoke calmly before delivering a heavy kick against her gut.
Caught off guard again, Sophie barely had time to grunt before she crumpled in on herself, her mind growing fuzzy from the pain. She let out a few ragged breaths as she whimpered in place. Goddess help me, that hurt.
“The goal now is very, very simple. Talk or that.” Direktor Wallen gestured at the corpse piles.
Sophie managed a little snicker and flinched when he seemed to go on the offensive again, only for the Direktor to shake his head, “Don’t look so smug. Look at the starstone, I somehow don’t think you got what you wanted.” He grinned. Huh? Starstone? So that's the crystal?
Sophie inched her head backwards and paled. Like always, her hand and most of her body was touching the stone. Usually, it would either explode or regain its protective blue colour. This time however, not only was it red, the glow seemed to grow more menacing with each passing second, churning with wispy motes of crimson and swirls of darkness. But I… I am… I feel it. So how… why…
Her dumbfounded expression must’ve brought the Direktor great joy as for the first time, she saw a smile filled with emotion on his face. “Continue with the ritual.” He shouted at his subordinates who were all just gawking at the two of them. The cultists hurriedly ran back into place. He then turned to the man who argued with the troll handler and pointed at the pavilion, “Tell our allies that we have something interesting for them.”
“But the amount we need to maintain a stable connection…” The first cultist hesitantly questioned.
“Bah, we’ll have enough. Besides, our new little acquaintance here can add a pint or two if she’s… uncooperative.” The Direktor looked back at her.
“Very well.” The first cultist acknowledged.
“As for you.” He knelt in front of her once more, “You seem a little less… confident than before. Are you willing to talk? I’ll even tell you a secret for free.” He leaned uncomfortably close, “You certainly surprised us with whatever you did to bring that monster into our world. But our Lord Arantos drove the beast back. Unfortunately for you, he is a God, so whatever your,” He waved absently at the crystal, “... machinations are. He knows how to counter them.” The Direktor smirked, “So, ready to talk? I’m quite hoping for a… pleasant… chat. We could go for the interrogation route too. See, I used to lead the exploration guild back home. That means I sometimes have to deal with people who are… less than upstanding and less than… deserving of proper justice. Your choice.” He finished with a tone that Sophie could only determine as shudder inducing.
Same choice, she wanted to scoff, but instead took one last mournful look at the red crystal. Well shit, what now? I need another plan, damn. This is… I need more time, think Sophie, think. Nursing her aching gut, she finally looked back up to the Direktor and shrugged. “Ask away.”
Judging by the sounds of the ritual and the twinkle that lit up in the Direktor’s eyes at her compliance. She guessed that she had around ten minutes to figure something out before she’s either sacrificed or just killed. Fantastic, now I just need to work on the not dying part. Her eyes were drawn back to the troll that had almost completely disabled her in one hit, a partial one at that. Easier said than done, she sighed. “So? What do you want to know?” I just hope I don't regret this.