As Teuila and I approach the room with the blood-drawn runic circle, and the ever-bleeding vampire Reggie, a series of images play in my mind on repeat. They’re like stills, or maybe a stop-motion cinema scene from a horror film. Feeding the vampire gives it enough strength to free itself, and then it wants more. Its insatiable blood-lust drives it to frenetically attack us, attempting to drain me dry. In one version of the miniature film, I die, and that’s the end of it. In another, I’m forced to slay the vampire, driving Teuila into darkened, saddened despair being forced to watch my death. In yet another, I arise as a vampire after it consumes my blood, and Teuila is forced to slay us both.
I stop outside the massive double door to the room and try to shake loose these images from my mind, but they only play on repeat stronger, in more detail, with higher clarity. Teuila glances at me worriedly, concerned with the dark thoughts stuck in my head. Is this worth the risk? How much blood is safe to give a vampire? Hellspit and fel fires I don’t know enough about this situation to make a safe judgment call. Can the vampire drink from the Sisters? Do they have any blood within their ephemeral ethereal forms? Can it harm them? Even if they don’t, have blood, do they have something that would affect vampire Reggie if it attempted to drink them? Fricklefrack.
Or worse, how is vampirism actually transmitted? Is it a pathogen? Is it salivary? Blood-born? What if it’s mystical in nature instead? What if something simply drinking my blood then had a blood-magic style control over me, and could turn me into a vampire at its leisure? We wouldn’t even be sure that’s not the case even after leaving. I can’t risk either of us becoming psychically enthralled to some maddened vampire version of me. Hells. Bud, do you know anything about vampires? Haha, me too. Yeah, I thought they were myths as well.
I gaze at Teuila questioningly before I ask, “Should we even interfere at all? You heard my thoughts, right? There are so many unknowns and risks. My genre senses are screaming at me to bolt and get the hell out of here.”
Teuila gnaws on her bottom lip as her gaze flits about before she adds, “I think it might be more than just your genre senses. Essie and Icey are getting a vibe, and me too honestly. If we go in there with a goal in mind, something bad happens, one way or another. Crap in a sack. I was really hoping it would be just as easy as feeding vampire you to bring them to their senses, and we could walk out arm in arm. I really do like the idea of two of you, one on each arm.”
I snort a laugh at the idea that I’m some sort of trophy-mate for Teuila, and she grins at me like a lunatic for the thought. I’m beyond enamored of this silly, funny, crazy, wonderful woman. If we ever get back to Can’Z’aas, and I happen to survive a decade or two, theoretically I should be able to grant her her wish. In one timeline in the temple of time, I’d been able to claim myself to my inventory, and then duplicate myself with my space skill. Sure, it would be a weird umbral onyx copy of me, but she wasn’t very specific, and can’t really get to be very picky if she wants multiple of me around. Hah.
Do we just leave? I know a Sister would show up to let us out if we asked. We’re not going to make any further progress here unless I start making use of the bubble room. But I could very well accidentally miss my opportunity to act entirely if I get absorbed in reading. It would be a shame to absorb a bunch of knowledge and spontaneously die without ever getting to use it. I guess we could hope that the Sisters will let us back in if we part on good terms. Then if I ever find a cure, we could come back and partake of that room.
What about it Bud? Teuila? How do you two feel about just saying our polite goodbyes? You still think I should kill the vampire Bud? Well, I, I dunno. Te? Thoughts?
Teuila gnaws on her lips and furrows her brow towards the pouch on my neck that contains Bud, in order to express her annoyance at his insistence about killing a copy of me. Teuila grumbles, “Bud, you’re being a butt. Come on, let’s just get out of here. Hey, Sisters, we’ve got to go get to adventuring and stuff, any idea where our friends went?”
A Sister opens the massive doors and glides our way. Her monstrous grin beneath her many veils is, well, pleasant as always, despite its odd nature. She beckons us to follow her towards the entrance, so that she can let us out. She also comments on Teuila’s question, “The three, Lil, Luni, and Lucky, have made it to the Spine of the World. They are embroiled in a plot to foil an entirely different apocalyptic scenario for Rayileklia. We’ve a few of those to go around. The results of one not yet come to pass are being bled in this room. Your manxome foe is another, and Lil faces their greatest challenge in the third scenario.”
My heart sinks into the pit of my stomach. We’re on the trail of only one out of three apocalypses? Wasn’t one on Can’Z’aas bad enough!? I drop a weighted sigh as my limbs take on a leaden nature. I’m barely stumbling along next to Teuila and the Sister as my head swims and lolls. We’re apparently making a stop at our suite to pack up so that we can leave. It makes sense.
What’s the right course of action here? The Bright Lord, our manxome foe, stands poised to take over the last few regions of Rayileklia as of yet unconquered. When he does, he has no more use for his soldiers and citizens. I’m sure Milbert’s soul-stealing flame was a test run. Ol’ manxy will steal every last soul on the world, and then burn them away to do who knows what.
The Sister hinted that another rampaging possible apocalypse in the near future ends with me contracting vampirism. Or, at least part of it creates such a scenario. Lil faces their greatest challenge at the Spine of the World? The place where dragons had been driven off to? Somehow, I think Lil’s scenario is the one we should focus on. If anything, we might be able to pick up several of the hearts needed to begin my journey of survival. Huff. I mean, ulterior motive, yeah I want to see my best buddy, and beg their forgiveness, and hug Luni, and roughhouse with our lovable mutt Lucky.
If we’re going to head around up that way towards the triple L squad, we could stop by Autumn Brook. We should ask Harriet to begin sending word to all of Aasimovia to evacuate towards the western edge of the mountain range, west of The Gap. If we’re lucky, we can get ferried across the lake quickly, head up the gap, check on our kobold friends and the Derbrightmine dominion, and then cut northwest through the path towards the Bright Lord cult’s Cathedral of Blood. Around there, we can turn further west, and southwest into the Jaggedfen Bog.
We should be able to take out the serpentine hydra that has been marauding the area for however long now. We could even do it in advance of the bulk of Aasimovia reaching the pass on the west end of the mountain range that leads along the edge of that particular swamp. My eyes flood red with rage as I imagine yet another multi-headed serpent in a swamp terrorizing innocent people. I unintentionally clench my jaw hard enough that it locks up, and twists and pinches muscles up and down the left side of my spine and around my left shoulder.
Teuila’s gaze is firm, resolute. I’ve told her several times that she’s the boss on our Rayileklian journey. It seems like she has settled on a course for us. Good. I trust Teuila as much as or more than anything. I wish her thoughts were more open to me at the moment, but it’s fine. Yeah Bud, I know that your thoughts and mine are basically unable to be silent to each other. Hm? Yeah, more or less. Anyway, sorry we didn’t take your advice back there. Too many unknowns to even make a choice about the situation.
Take stock of things? Yeah, definitely. I’ll start conjuring horses once we’re outside the Sisters of the Mist compound. When we get them hitched up to the carriage, Teuila and I can get them to follow a simple path around the mountain range. I’ll have to recast them a few times, but we’ll-- Hm? Yes, that’s what I was going to say. We’ll be able to both rest in the carriage while we try to read our tomes and other resources. Yeah, I’ll try to figure out Essie’s and Iceflame’s current new abilities too. I’m pretty sure I know what Essie’s ability is, or well, at least one facet of one part of it.
Yeah, that’s my guess too, since she took up her name and her silent song was still a presence in the air. Iceflame though, it sounds like tri elemental absorption or something. I just worry that his power comes with a cost like it did when he was Balchar’s Flame. If he has no associated curse or cost, I’d say Teuila should switch to wearing him, instead of her Valkyrie armor. She leaps high enough to bring down lightning with her in her dive-bombing strikes. It’d be less dangerous, less risk of her dying to an improperly grounded bolt that finds her in the sky while she’s doing that, if Shellcracker’s Iceflame Spark had some sort of lightning, ice, and fire absorption.
Teuila’s telepathic avatar snickers across our mental wavelength, and before I can even express my confusion, Te jokes, “It’s not often that it’s the gal getting inside a guy. Nyeh.”
I nearly stumble as I break into quiet incredulous chuckling when Teuila blows a raspberry telepathically. Thankfully we’ve reached the exit of the compound. My limbs are still weary from whatever came over me a few moments ago. I think it was the weight of knowing that once again we’re staring down the barrel of an apocalypse, or well, more than one.
Teuila brazenly flips back the veils on the Sister currently guiding us to our leave as the Sister dismisses the wall which blocks re-entry into the normal phase of Rayileklia’s prime physical plane of reality. I’m a bit stunned, until I realize Teuila is simply leaning in to kiss the Sister goodbye. Hopefully that means we’re on good terms all around. I wonder if we’re about to get a goodbye speech though, one to the effect of something like, “Now that you’ve once been in our compound, and are leaving it, you shall never again be allowed to pass the threshold into its sanctum.” Err, well, something like that anyway.
To satisfy my curiosity on that very topic, I hazard to ask, “Sister, will we ever be allowed to return? Will we ever see any of you again?”
The grey-robed, many-veiled, ethereal, ephemeral, otherworldly being in a featureless-faced humanoid woman’s guise responds, “Perhaps, perhaps not. It’s unlikely you should need to return. Especially so when you have made note of what we’ve left within your carriage. Take care not to lose it, and do not open it until you’ve expended all of your other resources, and you’re certain that you’ve got a lifetime worth of time ahead of you to spare. That is to say, some time after you’ve paid the five and five and six.”
I cock my head to the side as I raise a brow towards the sister in a quizzical expression of my curiosity. She simply adopts her creepy, many-toothed grin and resets her veils to covering her featureless face. Twinges of pain shoot up and down my left shoulder blade, and I’m left attempting to flex my jaw to help unclench the mandibular joint muscles, thereby loosening the pinched muscle along my neck. The Sister shoos us along through the temporarily displaced wall of the compound, back into the in-phased Rayileklia’s reality proper.
There stands our carriage, unmolested, simply wet from the ever-present acid-rain drizzle of Rayileklia. The constant lightning streaking across the darkened clouds that blanket all of Rayileklia’s skies fills the air with its ominous rumblings and loud cracks. One I’d almost forgotten that I had gotten used to in my travels. Thankfully mana-construct conjured horses don’t spook. To be fair, I’m assuming Rayileklian steeds are just used to it as a fact of life by now, since the cloud cover is ever-present.
Teuila hitches up the ghostly horses, whispering our destination to them. She has plotted pretty much the same course I've been thinking about taking. A course that I think was her idea to begin with. When she’s about to hop into the driver’s seat, I shake my head and flick my head towards the cabin of the carriage. I state simply, “No need to sit out there on your lonesome minding magic horses that literally can not stray from the path. Come on Te, if nothing else, we can get some reading done together while cuddling.”
Stolen story; please report.
Teuila’s eyes alight at the prospect of remaining cuddled up in warmth together. Te lashes her massive pack to the top of the carriage, and climbs inside of the cabin, intentionally hogging as much of both sets of seats as she can. I chuckle at her obviousness. Entering, and being immediately snatched up by Teuila’s loving arms, I allow myself a few laughs and brief moment of happiness. I give the ghostly horses the mental, telepathic command to follow along the mountain ranges to our south. It’ll form an eastern lip nearby that will curve back to the west. We’ll keep the mountains on our right at all times as we circle back towards Noirdivinhoz.
Snuggling Teuila, I spy the curious box-like tome the Sisters had left for us. Since the Sister said not to open it until some time after I’ve gained all the necessary dragon hearts, I figure now is as good of a time as any to take stock of our abilities, our magics, and our equipment. I'll put this unknown box in my hyperdimensional haversack until such time as I somehow live long enough to need it.
I begin writing a rather long list:
Current possessions, assets and abilities:
I've got a limit around approximately 675 runes/SP before weakening/feeling exhausted. Approximately 1000 runes before being unable to move any more until rested.
Reggie’s Runic Costs/SP Costs when quickening casts:
* Double the rune/point cost of spells up to 33 runes in length/SP to cast them in 1-10 seconds time. Triple the cost of spells up to 66, quadruple the cost of spells up to 99
* Casting in 10-30 seconds, double up to 66 SP, triple up to 132, quadruple up to 198
* Casting in 30-50 seconds, double up to 99 SP, triple up to 198, quadruple up to 297
* Casting in 50-70 seconds, double up to 132 SP, triple up to 264, quadruple up to 396
* Cast in 70-90 seconds, double up to 165 SP, triple up to 330, quadruple up to 495
* Cast in 90-110 seconds, double up to 198 SP, triple up to 396
* Cast in 110-130 seconds, double up to 231 SP, triple up to 462
* Cast in 130-150 seconds, double up to 264, triple up to 528
* Cast in 150-170 seconds, double up to 297, triple up to 594
* Cast in 170-190 seconds, double up to 330, triple up to 660
* Cast in 190-210 seconds, double up to 363, triple up to 726
Examples: in just over three minutes(190 seconds), Reggie could cast a 360 Rune/SP spell for 720 SP/runic cost. Closer to 3.5 minutes (210 seconds) Reggie could, err, I could, if I had the SP available, cast a 720 Rune/SP spell for 2160 SP/runic cost. Reggie won’t be able to, err, I won’t be able to safely do either for a very long time, if ever. Why am I talking about myself in the third person while I scribble these assets down?
Reggie’s Spells mastered/currently studying:
* 05/05 runes mastered: Frost Ray,
* 05/05 runes mastered: Prestidigitative Legerdemain,
* 02/05 runes mastered: Light,
* 02/05 runes mastered: Mending,
* 00/05 runes mastered: Splatter of Acid
* 12/12 runes mastered: (Theorized, but not listed in any of the spellbooks, unknown, I presume 12/12) Conjure Monstrous Mana Construct (I surmise small animals, odd creatures))
* 12/18 runes mastered: (Theorized, but not listed in any of the spellbooks, unknown, I presume 12/18) Conjure Monstrous Mana Construct 2 (I surmise small small animals, odd creatures))
* 18/18 runes mastered: Scrying,
* 18/18 runes mastered: Ghostly Steeds,
* 12/24 runes mastered: Conjure Monstrous Mana Construct III can conjure Celestial Dire Badgers, Celestial Fel Hounds, small Elemenals
* 00/24 runes mastered: Summon Swarm. Can conjure a swarm of bats
* 24/24 runes mastered: Telepathic Bond,
* 08/24 runes mastered: Blast Frost, a Dragon’s Breath cone-shaped cold blast
* 00/33 runes: Greatest Shadowy Conjuration, somewhere between an illusion, and a conjured manifestation of shadow given physical form.
* 29/33 runes mastered: Conjure Monstrous Mana Construct V can construct Celestial Griffons, Hounds of Shadow, Dire Wolverines, medium Elementals
* 00/33 runes: Steel Body, hardens my body for a short period to the point that I should be able to weather otherwise deadly blows.
* 00/33 runes: Greatest Shadowy Evocation, somewhere between an illusion, and a conjured manifestation of shadow given elemental or energy form.
* 48/48 runes mastered: Permanency-enhancement
* 29/64 runes mastered: Conjure Monstrous Mana Construct VI large Elementals
* 29/99 runes mastered: Conjure Monstrous Mana Construct VII Angels known as Altivivorals, huge Elementals, whales, elephants, gargantuan or monstrously huge birds, pests, and other small animals
* 29/180 rune smastered: Conjure Monstrous Mana Construct VIII can conjure Naga Angels known as Liltivilends, greater Elementals, bigger whales, plesiosaurs, tyrannosaurus, monstrously gargantuan insects, birds, pests, and other animals
* 00/360: Theoretically a Conjure Monstrous Mana Construct IX should exist I’ve no idea if it would use any of the runes I’ve learned so far. 0/360 due to its theoretical nature, I hypothesize it could conjure constructs of elder Elementals, celestial Rocs, monstrously colossal insects, birds, pests, and other small animals, and perhaps other angelic creatures.
* Could a Conjure Monstrous Mana Construct X exist? How long would its runostructure be? What sort of conjurations could it muster up?
Reggie’s Permanent Buffs:
* Aura sensing(Detection of magic, souls, and runes)
* Telepathic Bond (Currently with Teuila only, bound sentient artifacts can come along for the ride, will try to add Luni, Lil, and maybe even Lucky if we ever catch up with the triple L squad.)
* Comprehension of all Languages
* Quickening of runotypical spells metamagic available
Reggie’s Current Equipment:
* 1x Danger Wraps: Wristwraps that warn me and provide silent sonar
* 1x Billowy Cloak: Can’t be much more descriptive. It’s a cloak, it billows on command
* 1x Hyperdimensional Haversack: Sack that’s bigger on the inside
* 1x Enchanted scrollcase: As durable as me to survive a close-range explosion)
* 1x Archsorc Staff after having used it on Rayileklia enough, I’m getting a feeling for how to interpret its limitations. It is similar to me in that it can purify and store enough mana to perform 500 runic uses or sorc points or charges, it recharges up to approximately 250 per day, most spells take about 70’ish charges due to the staff’s quick casting nature. It resides in my secreted enchanted double-ended “drop-sheath”. It can be dropped into hand with the flick of a bottom-lid.
* 1x Griffon Figurine: expands into an animated statue similar to a mana construct. Goes by the name Apheliotes Zephyrus
* 1x Cap of Disguising Illusions: Pretty much what it says on the tin. Can project fairly strong illusions over the wearer in order to appear a number of ways.
* 1x Portable Hole (in my enchanted Scrollcase from Berinon)
* 2x Scrolls of Protection from Elementals (in my Scrollcase)
* 2x Earth Elemental summoning stones (in my Scrollcase)
* 1x Air Elemental Summoning stone (in my Scrollcase)
* 1x Blessed anti-vampire, silvered stake (in my Scrollcase)
* 1x Holy Halefire wrist-mounted double-barreled crossbow
* 1x Full Valkyrie armor set + dagger and buckler
* 1x Pied Pipes of Rodent summoning
* 1x Neckchain of the Ever-Breathing. No matter the atmosphere, or lack thereof, as long as this is about my neck, or anyone’s, that individual can breathe without damaging their insides at all. It projects basically a magical self contained breathing apparatus that either filters, or straight up conjures and creates air for breathing.
* 1x Starmetal Luckrock. I’m going to give this to Lil some day, if we ever reunite. I want it to be a gift that hopefully lets them think of their scalemate tongue-tie-er Dehlia fondly.
* 1x healing potion
* 6x Minor Water Walking Potions. Single Step salvation in a bottle. Literal lifesavers when falling a tremendous distance if over water. Full kinetic dispersal.
* undisclosed/unidentified minor equipment from Milbert, as well as several unidentified potions from Can’Z’aas that Reggie, uh, I withdrew upon arriving on Rayileklia.
* 2x mysterious energy cells Eventually I’ll figure out what these are so that they’re understood, I swear.
* 1x Always-smoking bottle
* 1x Enchanted pouch holding Lullaby shrunken down, and the egg from the phoenix and roc couple.
* 1x Partially broken thunderstick of elemental lightning
* 1x Box-like book left by the Sisters of the Mist within our Carriage. In haversack. Do not open until having collected 16 evil elder dragon hearts to consume their dragonforce. If I even live that long.
Reggie’s Current Sentient Artifact Attunement:
* Lullaby, Requiem of the Windless Wilds. Powers include almost anything that can conceivably make travel at least slightly easier for his wielder, and their companions. Mostly involves vibrating stray stones off the path, burying roots to present a flattened footpath, loosing apples from nearby trees to roll towards the party, hidden berry bushes extending a branch towards the path, and so on. Most powerful in a Fae forest, specifically the Hidden Heart.
* Requiem, the Silent Song (Shared with Teuila)
* Shellcracker’s Iceflame Spark (Shared with Teuila)
Teuila’s Permanent Buffs/Abilities:
* Can’Z’aasian Aura sensing: Detects soul auras on Can’Z’aas, wonky on Rayileklia
* Telepathic Bond: Currently w/ Reggie, bound sentient artifacts can come along for the ride
* Platinum baby-dragon breath 5 per rest/meal (6 upon reaching level 17)
* Missile Deflection/Redirection: advanced billiards math/rebounding prediction with mild reflex-guidance that is more dominant than the danger sensory reflexes.
* Cleave-sight: When surrounded, if an opportunity presents itself, sensation similar to thermal imaging will point out an angle of attack that can cut through multiple foes
* Weapon specialization: Spear/polearm. Spears/polearms just feel even more “right” in Teuila’s hands
* Ability to conjure “Foreimage” rather than after-image, an illusion that includes a nearly magnetic attraction to the location she projects to. Seems to be fueled by some sort of inner spiritual energy rather than mana, a chi source.
Teuila’s Current Buff-book studying:
* Greater Cleaving-sight: The runes indicate that it would enable more accuracy, more frequent, better prediction through more targets:
* Many-Shot: The runes basically enchant her fingers to be able to easily knock and fire three arrows at once. To be able to have multiple arrows between fingers all follow the same, or separate paths depending on need.
* Improved Precision Enchantment: From what I gather, it would be something like a mindspace/mental HUD red-dot-sight.
* Whirlwind of Blades: The runes indicate something about inner ear/balance correction, able to maintain balance effortlessly while acting as a whirling dervish, attacking all around
* Greater Weapon Specialty: Spears/Polearms. Somehow, strikes by Teuila would never dull the blades nor points of her weapons, some kind of minor mana or chi-to-weapon adjustment to protect its edge.
* Spiritful Leap: Seems to be a leaping enhancement based on spiritual energy, chi instead of mana, as if Teuila needs more jumping power.
Teuila’s Current Equipment:
* 1x Danger Spear: Quarterstaff of Warning with double-pronged end, one vampiric boss fang, and one toxic hydra fang
* 1x Ring of Magic Reflection: I know my magical senses bounce off of it. I’m pretty certain that most hostile magics directed at its bearer are reflected.
* 1x Ring of Leaping: As if Teuila needed any help rocketing around the place, but this basically triples her horizontal leap distance in the same time it would have taken her to perform her normal leap, basically tripling her speed.
* 1x Precious paperclip: No idea what else to call it, it hides jewelry worn by the wielder.
* 1x: greater healing potion, Potion of resistant nature: Radiance resistance, Potion of resistant nature: Lightning resistance, potion of resistant nature: Acid resistance, shrinking potion, potion of fire breath, potion of resistant nature: All, 6 doses of Salvation Ointment
* 2x: Potion of resistant nature: Poison resistance
* Several unidentified potions from Can’Z’aas that Teuila withdrew upon arriving in The Brook when I was unconscious.
* 1x full Valkyrie armor/weapon set, including dagger, shield, shortsword, collapsible compound-longbow, quivers, sheaths, full works.
* Iron flask containing an unknown creature
* Orbital Stones (hiding in/tangled in hair) of Uncapped Strength, and Masterful Strength
* Compass Orb, similarly in a pouch around Teuila’s neck.
* Several secret sheaths and small leather odds and ends from Berinon
* Illusory fashion cloak
* Dress of secret pockets
* Hidden-revealing lantern
* Winterland Enchanted Boots
* Endless Spice Pouch
* Concealable Sword Cane
Teuila’s Current Sentient Artifact Attunement:
* Lullaby, Requiem of the Windless Wilds (only over Reggie’s Telepathic Bond)
* Requiem, the Silent Song (Shared with Reggie)
* Shellcracker’s Iceflame Spark (Shared with Reggie)