Chapter 8 - Into the Fray
Age of the Godlings - Year 0 - Kroonensnoob - Day 5
I was on the Graveyard shift and it went without issues. I rekindled the fire at dawn, and roasted some more Octodile meat on a wooden stick, which had been too problematic to straighten. A good piece of our discarded spear sticks went over my knee then into my mouth and then into my inventory. As Shikman and Kerthax started to wake up I had 2 stacks of 11 stakes in my lootbox.
Shikman got up immediately and in less than a minute was back to cutting Octodilian hide.
Kerthax spent 20 minutes waking up, and sat with a stony face glancing into the fire eating Octodile meatstrips.
I ate as well, and enjoyed the silence.
Then I licked my fingers, and laid down on the ground. “Wake me up in 3 hours, and lets see if we are ready to move by then.”
Kerthax shook me awake after what seemed like a moment. I looked up at him, he was wearing a crude scale armor sort of a sleeveless tunic coming down to above his knees.
And a happy grin as well, maybe him and Shikman got along while I was asleep.
I congratulated him on his new armor, and looked at Shikman expecting to see something similar for me.
But instead there was just a lot of Octodile hide parts. I didn’t get it.
“Well you see, there are limitations to what we can do here, but if you can kneel down, and then I can try the fitting.” I knelt down and Shikman started to heave a big hide piece over my head.
Shikman continued while working “As I said with the current limitations of our tools and materials, I have made Kerthax a leather hauberk which he can use for some time, it is however crude but should hold up for several months use, less of course if in battle, then it will probably be a low lifetime.
But for everyday wear you have your iron infused stinky Peryton cloak, which is hard to compete with, as it is a damn good material for primitive armor.”
I smirked a bit at that, even though he had just called it stinky, but well it was a bit stinky, he had a point, next crafting camp I should make sure to do something about it, clean the insides of it, and the greasy feathers.
“So I made you an armor which is not for everyday use, but for the specific purpose of entering this Antarian hive. So I need to see if all these parts are a reasonable fit, probably adjust some of them, and then when we are ready I will glue the parts together on you, and that's it. Know lie on your back and keep your legs in the air.”
I was a bit slackjawed as he mounted the Stygian Octodile hindmost legsection as a pair of boxer shorts on me, and then proceeded to pull hollowed out leg sections onto my legs, a bit similar to building a trouser leg from sections of semi flexible tube..
Good thing the Octodile had that many legs, as the same procedure was used for my arms and to my amazement, Shikman had managed to stretch them, so one piece went over my head, but there wasn’t any breathing holes or eye holes cut into it.
Shikman spent 2 hours making final adjustments, and also cutting my helmet some holes.
I just had to convince him marking it with charcoal, and not cutting eyeholes while I had it on.
I even got a bit of an Ironman vibe for a moment, with all the armor getting mounted on me.
Well add some weapons and power and this is a stone age Ironman suit.
I could see this working, and I added an idea I had since talking to Kerthax about how I would fit in the anthive tunnels. I explained to the other two that if I had leather hoops at my sides, they could put their improvised spears through these hoops, and then be reasonably sure they wouldn’t stab me, but be able to stab in front of me, and so on, I would just have to call out target to them, and they should have a tactic of better one stab too much aimed at nothing than too few.
GONG!
- World Announcement -
The Godling Myrrus the Shadowwalker is the first to complete a dungeon. He and his chosen people gain the “Gaze of Shadows” talent.
Shikman and I looked at each other, then we both sighed, we could have gotten that if we had not spent so much time in preparation.
I hoped it was worth it.
We broke up camp, I could fit most of the Octodilian onetime armor in my inventory, and Kerthax took the remainder in his.
I went over and picked up the knife I had ruined, and gaped at it, it was no longer half broken at the handle. I had thought to salvage the clawblade, but the knife was as good as when I had started yesterday.
Shikman grinned at me.
“You see now, a Toolhome slowly regenerates tools placed there. But I agree with you, its purpose is also to keep track of the tools as you say.”
“wauw, Ok, does it do anything else ?
“No, not for a while, as with all other spells once I read a skill level of 10 and later multiples of 10, I will be able to choose one out of several different effects which can be used when casting the spell. “
I looked at Shikman in surprise, and he just walked away smiling.
And that's apparently why I should have just spent 5 days submerged in a pond practicing my spells, making some crazy power training scheme.
Every 10 minutes for 14 hours a day, for 5 days… 6, 84, 420 times I would be able to cast it, based on cooldown.
But my mana would only have sustained a cycle of 6 spells in 5 hours. 15 hours a day, that would have been 18 spells per day, or 90 in 5 days. Nope Terry might have gone for that, but I'm happy I didn’t. Training session time would soon enough come.
It was time to track the anomaly again which shouldn’t be a problem, only one issue with spilling the beans on my visionary power was that there were no shortage of creative suggestions as to how to go to a high vantage point.
The most outlandish suggestion being when Kerthax suggested I could rile up a Skrox bull, which could then fling me up with its crown of horns.
I had to ask what a Skrox actually was, and got some vague description of a big four legged lizard all teeth and horns,and woe to any interlopers on Skrox mud pastures.
I remarked that I hadn’t seen any such animals, and Kerthax explained that It wasn’t really a practical suggestion either as the Skrox rarely ventured into this valley but were on the open swamp plain south east of the area where my Hipponian tribe were waiting at their beautiful waterfall.
Eventually we found a large boulder, which I clumsily climbed, and then activated Electro-Metavision.
The world lit up in a smattering of white, yellow, green and brown hues.
It didn’t take me long to see a darkening of color and a spot that had grown much bigger since last time I had checked it out. I hoped it was just me being closer, and that it was not growing.
I whistled at Scooter, and tried to make him scout out the area.
“This way” I loudly stated and pointed my arm towards the direction, all the while pondering if that black greenish spot didn’t look a bit sinister.
Scooter, somewhat suprisingly, trotted off in the direction, perhaps scouting for enemies, perhaps looking for a nice carrion that he could get first dibs on.
We walked on, Shikman was jogging in order to keep up with our pace.
After half an hour, Scooter ran silent, but urgently back towards us, it came to me with tongue lolling out as usual, but then turned its head and emitted a low growl, almost inaudible, as if threatening something behind us.
“Prepare yourselves, I think he has caught the scent of something”.
Kerthax suddenly had a spear in his hand, Shikman likewise.
Still a far cry from a metal weapon. Shikman and I had spent some time discussing which iron weapons should be made of the antlers, and had come to an agreement, which was satisfactory to both
Even if it varied a bit from history, that was okay, history had shown that there was definitely room for improvement, so some corrections were in order.
A cracking of branches disturbed my train of thoughts, which undisciplined had wandered, I had been out of field operations for decades. Focusing, I nodded to my party mates.
The rustling continued, and didn’t come any closer. I motioned my companions and we inched forward.
Suddenly we could see movement, and we could see 3 insectoid monsters cutting branches off stumpy swamp trees in slow lethargic motions.
Obviously they were the Antarian ant people, they had six limbs, and a chitin exoskeleton body and head with antennae. Upon further inspection they also seemed like there was some lichen growing on them.
The closest one to us, jerkily turned around to face, and stood there watching.
I suddenly caught a strange aroma, vague notes of cinnamon and mustard wafted in my nostrils, and at the same time the other 2 Antarians stopped their torture of the trees, and walked towards, slowly like a pair of geriatric patients.
Scooter growled lowly while baring his fangs at the Antarian pruners.
If that was their speed, that was fine with me. I launched myself at the closest one, Stabbing my spear at it. Damage notifications started queuing up in the corner of my vision.
After the first few hits, the Antarian keeled over and I stomped down on the head.
Weakened Antarian slain 50 Experience points gained.
It hadn’t even come close to hitting me.
Scooter and Kerthax engaged one of the pairs. Shikman looked in all directions, and kept away from the frontline.
I swung my spear in a large arc at the last antmans legs, toppling him over, and then stomping all over his head, while stabbing his chest.
Weakened Antarian slain 50 Experience points gained.
The engagement was quickly over. I activated Electro–Metavision and scrutinized the corpses.
Large gobs of still living green matter grew inside their joints, and on much of their outer surface as well, giving them a bit of a furry look. When I focused on one of the gobs, it gained the usual glassy transparency that I had come to associate with the spell, and I could observe its array of network of filaments. Green, brown and black was the dominant colors.
[You have inspected 86/500 lifeforms with Electro-Metavision]
Ok, lifeform confirmed. I looked at the Antarian, with his squashed-in head. No swirly filaments in this guy, but the filaments I saw looked oddly stunted.
[You have inspected 87/500 lifeforms with Electro-Metavision]
“There is definitely something fishy going on, in an antsy way”
Shikman shook his head, and Kerthax laughed.
“I mean isn’t it pretty obvious that there must be a connection between the algae coats and the weakened zombie antmen. Like weird algae coats are actually mindcontrolling brain slugs.
Kerthax and Shikman both looked at me.
[New Quest offered : Fungi Antarians]
Investigate the Antarian hive and live to tell the tale.
Completion reward : Secret
“Did you all just get the Antarian hive quest” I asked ?
They both nodded.
“Okay, we are moving a bit back, then Kerthax you stand guard, watch for more Antarians, while Shikman glues me tight like a tiger”.
Both immediately fell in behind me, as we moved back.
I emptied my inventory of all leather armor parts and put my Perythorax hoodie into my inventory.
I didn’t even try donning the segmented suit myself, and just let Shikman help me.
Of course he started blabbering while he worked.
“This is far too much excitement for me, I really don’t know if I can take it. And what if we become lost in the hive, and we get surrounded, I think this is a bad idea”.
“Relax, we are doing this. Just concentrate on getting the armor pieces on, nice overlapping, and plenty of glue”.
Shikman finished up with my leather helmet. I had opted for one big eyeslit on it, I didn’t want it to get pulled to the side in battle and not be able to see. We had painstakingly drilled holes for breathing.
“Now just let the glue harden for 10 minutes before you start moving”
Shikman inspected his work installed on my glorious Hipponian bull frame, and made small adjustments.
“Oh by the way Perun, ehh, since I know you have not used the System before, I can give you another tip we can use, and you may have the honor of receiving the boon.
A considerable part of the system revolves around the Party mechanics, and this allows members of the Party to see each others health, mana and stamina levels. Also the Partyleader skill will usually be unlocked after leading the first party. This skill can become quite powerful if trained by leading parties, and can be developed into affecting an entire army.”
That sounded good, but why is this world so much like some silly earth MMO, what was it Shikman had said, that we may have been culturally seeded with System knowledge through gaming and media.
Anyway after a few tries, I got a Party window open on my inner screen.
Scooter was automatically in the party, and stuff happened when I concentrated on his beasty little hyena icon. The little fella had his own character sheet.
Scooter
Species : Ghostfur Hyena
Level: 3
Sex : Male
Age : 4 years
Renown : 0 (hello Stranger...)
XP: 1365 (2000 to next level)
HP : 71/71
(1.1 HP/hour)
STA : 110
MP : 20/20
(0.2 MP/hour)
Holy energy 50/50
(0.6 HE/hour)
Attributes
Strength 16
Wisdom 3
Charisma 7
N/A
Dexterity 17
Intelligence 2
Luck 13
N/A
Constitution 11
Spirit 6
N/A
N/A
Inventory
Hyena Leather Gorget, Armor :7 Durability 30/30 Quality : Meager
Ok, that was something I could fiddle with later.
I focused on Kerthax, with the assistance of the system I invited him to the party.
After that came Shikman.
We went through the general plan again, then got moving.
We found another geriatric Antarian work team, and that's when I had the satisfactory feeling of Dinging, leveling up !
Congratulations godling your class Stormlord Avatar has increased to level 2.
Your Racial template increases your Strength and Constitution by 1 for each level.
You may choose one of the below boons to finish your levelup.
Choose wisely.
* 2 attribute points which may be freely spent on any attribute.
* Talent : Stake Master
I concentrated on Stake Master, and it expanded. The system apparently understood my intent was to query, not select.
Talent : Stake Master
When fighting with sharpened wooden stakes the Critical Strike chance from the Short Spears skill is doubled.
Ewww, another hard choice. I could see this turning into some people always going for a juicy talent and never developing their other attributes. But right now this would be worthwhile for the upcoming quest, and for the short term future, for the long term, a stake would probably be my preferred sidearm for quite a while.
Even though I knew I was being a bit of a sucker specializing in wooden stakes, and neglecting character growth, I took it anyway, and we went on our way.
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The work teams were easily dispatched, with no real danger to us. Coming up a small hill, and with a lucky view through the dense jungle foliage. We could all see the gigantic Antarian hive looming in the distance.
The hive was brown in color, and rose above the treetops. A tall central spire surrounded by smaller spikes on the giant mound of dried mud. It was hard to judge, but I guessed it to be more than 40 meters high. I almost got a religious vibe from it, with all the spires and sort of arches between.
I was pretty sure Shikman from his low vantage point wouldn’t be able to see the imposing sight, so there was no danger in calling it out.
“Its over there I can see it, we are close”
The frequency of worker teams increased, and we stopped to farm each team. But when we came closer they were in larger groups, and we had to make a decision.
Soon the brush cleared, and the ground became a stomped mud slush. The hive stood before us. Its imposing structure was covered in a fine web of green tendrils. The fungus I guessed.
Congested lines of geriatric Antarians huddled in and out of the hive, through many openings at its base.
As per plan I charged towards the closest entrance and we ran a straight line, swatting any workers in our way. Soon the mass of workers started to converge on us, slowly but still.
Running in the glued leather armor was hard, as it was quite stiff. But if this didn’t break it in, what would.
We ventured into the hive, the corridors were as expected not entirely my size, and I had to go low through the tunnels.
We cut through the slow Antarians like a knife through butter. After traversing a corridor which led us into the lower spire, we came to an opening into a large chamber. I had expected a big nesting chamber full of food or workers tending larvae, not a Fungi buffet chamber.
The cavern was covered in heaps of organic material, piles reaching all the way to the top of the ceiling. And there were plenty of examples, where it was obvious that the fate of dead Antarians and larvae to be interred in these heaps.
The few workers which were present, were all covered in fungi, like a mossy carpet so complete that they almost resembled some green furry plush ant teddy bear. Their movements were even more lethargic, and they didn’t seem to have noticed us.
“I call pass on this chamber, let's move on” and I led the way deeper into the hive.
Through the sandy and moldy tunnels we went, and the suit was really starting to chafe all sorts of uncomfortable places. I let my frustration out on the walking green carpets we passed by in the corridor.
We passed several more Fungi buffet caverns, which I again called pass on.
As we moved down the corridor, we came to another cavernous room in the hive, also filled with green heaps. Slowly the zombiesque Weakened Antarians came into visual range.
At a whim, I activated Electro-Metavision, all the heaps lighted up, and I could see the extent of the vast room. Pertinent to the situation, close to a hundred weakened Antarians in the hollowed out room had stopped their Heap Management, and had gone full on drooling zombie “brains” moaning hunterseeker mode.
We made our retreat, and backtracked through the corridors, and taking another turn at an intersection and moving down an unexplored corridor..
As I rounded a bend, there was this smell of cinnamon and mustard again.
In front of us the corridor was congested with Antarians who had the same moldy look, their exoskeleton spilling over with fungal growth.
“Ok, its time to bring the pain to these people, get your spears in the hoops, and be ready to stab like crazy”. I took a wide stance facing the advancing Antarians, and filled up most of the corridor.
Kerthax spear came in at a hoop at my right thigh, and Shikman at my left knee, that was how it worked best for our respective heights.
Even though I was encased in hard hide armor, I still warned Kerthax.
“Make sure you don’t get the spear tip up and skewer my arm”.
I armed myself with a pair of clubs, ready to make a drum solo on the zombie horde.
“When I start whacking, it means you can start stabbing, get ready”.
My instincts told me to advance and meet them, but I held my ground. When they came in range I started bashing, and the spears under my armpits started stabbing like a sewing machine running on liquid Schwartz.
We kept this up successfully for several minutes, however my stamina was starting to regenerate slower, and I had a fatigue icon blinking in the corner of my vision. We could not keep this up forever.
Trying to maintain a high movement rate, I strode in a low gait through a corridor, when something from a side tunnel, I had thought empty, moved. I heard a thud, and felt a sharp pain in my side as something lanced through me and my armor.
You have been stabbed by Unknown assailant for 39 damage.
You have been injected with an unknown substance.
Shit, shit ! I grabbed the little something skewering my side. Seeming to form from thin air, a new insectoid creature with long antennae revealed itself.
A cockroach man, or woman wearing a furry green coat. Waggling its mandibles at me I didn’t give it any more time to twiddle its spear, and finished it with a quick series of stake thrusts into it’s thorax and throat area.
Cockaroacharian Terrorherbist kill - 600 Experience points gained.
“Shikman, I got a system message that I was injected with an unknown substance, I want you to take the scalpel and excise the wound.”
Shikman immediately got working and I whimpered, but tried to keep up the cool guy act.
Scooter mangled at the thing's leg.
“Scooter its dead, I already got the XP” But Scooter unconvinced procceded to gnaw a big chunk out of the dead insect terrorist something.
“Aww he is just being hungry I thought.
Scooter was right, this was a good snack, and why didn’t this guy have mushrooms growing all over him. And did he perchance have any goodies to loot ?
My thoughts were interrupted by a particularly nasty pain as Shikman dug in with one of the Peryton Scalpels. I took a few breaths to recover.
“Kerthax, carefully hand me that things spear, and strip the insect of his coat and other belongings”.
You have received Terrorherbist Injector with residue of an unknown substance.
Not very helpful. The spear was like ours, a pointy wooden stick. But it had deep grooves just after the tip, which still had a slimy residue inside, and a whole lot of my blood.
I dug out one of the disgusting cubes of liver from my inventory, and started to chew through it, gagging a bit.
[Your HP regeneration has increased to +4 HP/hour for 4 hours.]
Well, a lot could happen in an hour.
“Shikman, whats the story of my insides ?”
“Well i’m really no expert, but” Shikman paused and held up a small slimy something between his fingers.
“My component vision identifies this as a ruined eggsac, it has properties which can enhance the growth of larvae, and could also be used for cooking”.
“Uh if I have something growing inside me, it will be able to eat at me from the inside, maybe even start a colony inside me, until they eat me faster than I can regenerate”
I started to feel panic at the thought, and the dank packed dirt corridors of the Antarian hive seemed to close in on me. I took a couple of deep breaths.
“If you feel anything beneath your skin, I can excise again, but perhaps we should wait for when we are back outside, the low light levels do not make this task easier, and I could end up doing more damage than good. “
“I haven't had much previous experience with anyones insides before, so if I have to do this, I will, as with all other paths in life, strive to do it with my utmost excellence.”
Scooter yapped at Shikman, I don’t know if the beast was laughing or telling him to shut up, either way I could have high fived him.
“I think we should flee this hive now, the monster who stabbed you, had a stealth skill or talent, and there might be more of them. Its too many unknowns” Shikman complained.
“Well we can’t stay here, lets get going”. We had to keep going, and go with purpose.
I marched down the corridor, the pain from the wound exacerbated by the knowledge that something might also be growing inside me.
We walked for a while in silence, and after a while came to another intersection. Scooter looked at one of the paths leading away, his ears flaring, and tongue lolling. He looked like he had picked up the scent of something he liked.
“Alright, we are taking this path, don't stand still, keep moving at all times, don’t give these Terrorherbists the luxury of a stationary target, I expect Scooter is going for the grand buffet.”
We walked down the corridor, and I had Scooter stalking in the front, sniffing and drooling.
I could see that the tunnel widened up and there would probably come another fungus cave.
Scooter being the sometimes disobedient but watchful little doggie that he is, then froze, one paw in mid-air, then snarled. I quickly went into motion coming to Scooter’s side and then fanning out in a random direction. I sensed Kerthax track my closely staying at my six.
Thats when all hell broke loose. A Terrorherbist Injector spear came stabbing at me from an unknown assailant, but I was ready for them, and went into a roll, grunting with pain from my existing wound, and knocking one of the terrorherb dudes over.
Three figures faded into view, two were rushing me and the one I had knocked over.
I quickly stabbed the squirming mass beneath me with a stake, and then moved out of the way as the stabby injectors from the two rushers lashed out. A hissing gurgle scream coming from where I had just sat, indicated that they might have had a small friendly fire incident.
I drew new stakes from my inventory, but then Scooter and Kerthax charged, and even Shikman rammed a spear into one of the cockroachman legs.
Flickers of movement quickly passed by me.
“Behind you” I screamed, but it was too late.
Another group of 3 Terrorherbists was at my friend's backs, and laying into them with their dripping injectors.
I ran to help them, but instinct made me jump and twist, so I spun around and lashed out in a mad roundhouse attack with my stake at something I was only half sure was there.
[Excessive force Talent Activated - Magnitude of Action is doubled]
The stake entered the body, and then the point exited the body, my powerful strike coming to a soft stop as the stake nailed a Terrorherbist to the soft earth walls.
Damage notifications queued up in a line in the bottom of my vision, while 2 more Terrorherbists appeared. Just how many of these Ninja dudes were there ?
I needed to finish this decisively and quickly or we might all die, or get herbally infused with all sorts of insects up our asses and whatever these guys were into.
With a loud growl I moved to the side, lining up the two other Terrorherbists, so only one could strike me. I parried his spear thrust with my trusty little stake. [Stun]. And then I moved to the last of the 3, as my stunned victim recovered from the effects of the stun, but not of a stake through the throat.
The cockaroachian was a bit nervous, as he just had a front seat view of 2 of his terrorherbist besties being staked to death within the span of a few seconds.
Naturally enough he flinched. And I grabbed his Injector, easily wresting it from him, tossing it to the side, I then grabbed his shoulder and pulled him down and towards me, while the other arm performed an uppercut motion with a sharpened stake, which cracked the exoskeleton, and left him screaming on the ground. Mandible clacking open and closed at a frantic rate.
I immediately ran to relieve my partymembers. They had been put on the defensive, and all had spear wounds. Slowly they were being pushed back into a corner.
Kerthax’s range was on par with the Terrorherbists, and Shikman and Scooter went for anyone trying to come closer. But they were only defensive, they would never win this, only prolong their own death.
Luckily the stakes now changed. And my side arm stakes could be held in my inventory in stacks of 5. Otherwise I would have been out of stake juice now.
I barged into the rear of the Terrorherbist line, grabbing one of them around the head from behind, and then pushing a stake through the neck with a firm shove, before it had time to recover.
Not wanting to lose the initiative, I grabbed the closest Terrorherbist, who was stepping back to make room for his spear, can’t have that though.
This guy actually felt lighter than the other Terrorherbists I had handled, I lifted him above my head, raised my knee, and bought the Cockaroachiaran hard down on my knee, a wet crack ensured, and the Terrorherbist started spasming, and I threw the body to the side.
Being a big ass Hipponian is certainly helpful.
And then a spear stabbed into my arm. I screamed as it found a weak spot between the segments of my armor.
You have been stabbed by Unknown assailant for 12 damage.
You have been injected with an unknown substance.
My scream of pain turned into rage, as I thought about whatever shit was on that fucking stick, and what I would have to go through later.
I pulled the spear out and tried to hit the foul person with it. It succeeded in distracting him, and then I came in for the staking. It could be argued that I cheated a bit. I definitely had the strength advantage, and I would use one hand to grapple my opponent, and hold them somewhat stationary. This gave my body a great sense of where their body was, and allowed me to again use my high strength with the other hand, and ram through their bodies with wooden stakes.
Apparently the System considered this a legitimate way of fighting, and I made critical hits half the time.
This Terrorherbist had it no different, he ducked the spear, I grabbed his shoulder, and while pulling hard, I rammed a stake through the most bulbous part of his torso with my other hand.
That was the last of it, between the surprise of my attack and the ferocious quickly dispatchment of three out of five enemies, my party had killed the last two, who were paying more attention to me, than what was good for their health
My vision was swimming in battle notifications.
[Cockaroacharian Terrorherbist kill - 600 Experience points gained.] x 5 = 3000
[Cockaroacharian Terrorherbist assist kill - 516 Experience points gained.]
[Cockaroacharian Terrorherbist assist kill - 178 Experience points gained.]
Congratulations, your pet Scooter has gained a new level.
Congratulations godling your class Stormlord Avatar has increased to level 3.
Your Racial template increases your Strength and Constitution by 1 for each level.
You may choose one of the below boons to finish your levelup.
Choose wisely.
* 2 attribute points which may be freely spent on any attribute.
* Talent : Executioner I : +10% chance of inflicting a mortal wound when inflicting a critical strike
You have learned new spells :
* Perunian Clerical Magic (@) : Minor Heal
* Beast Shamanism (¤) : Beastial Rage
* Electro Metamagic (#) : Summon Lightning Wisp
* Lightning Magic (/) : Lightning Armor
I minimized them immediately.
Then looked back, and checked out my healing spell !
[Minor Heal]
I immediately healed Shikman who looked like he was the worst off.
Then I inspected the new spell.
Minor Healing
Heals a creature of minor injuries
HE Cost 20 HE Casting Time Fast Cooldown 15 minutes Range Touch Components Verbal Duration 10 seconds Magic School Holy Magic Type Holy
3-24+0,2 *Perunian Clerical Magic level hit points healed over 10
Scooter sensing them had given us a surprise in their surprise attack.
“We eat the regen chunks now, and we excise our wounds when we get out in daylight” I called to the others. They looked pale, but did what I told them.
I went over to one of the corpses, and started looting.
You have received Terreoherbist fungi coat
I looked at the item, it was too small for me, but why would they wear fungi coats down here.
Unless, it couldn’t be that simple.
“Uh, do you think these coats makes the Fungus Antarians think that whoever is wearing them is also an Fungus Antarian ? and specifically not a hostile”
Kerthax and Shikman looked at me.
Then both of them took a coat on.
I looked back at the corpse, and finished off the looting.
You have received Terrorherbist satchel
Nice little waist pouchie, only one of the weirdos had one, as far as I could tell.
I stuffed it in my inventory for later. Now onwards.
We looked deeper inside the cave, and to our surprise it was not filled with fungus, a lone form was in the middle.
Suspecting another ambush, I quickly moved in and around the chamber, with the other party struggling to keep up with me.
A larger Antarian was in the middle of the room, it too had a greenish fur on it.
As I approached it, it stirred and weakly looked up at me, then to my surprise it croaked and spoke.
“Stranger, have you killed the vile Terrorherbists”
“I am Perun, and me and my companions have killed 10 of the Terrorherbists”.
The ant spoke in a raspy voice. “I am Queen Skarsliqt of the Llorqen Hive. I’m in your debt, there are still more foul cockroaches, but just the fact that you killed some of those who have infected the whole colony, I am grateful for that. But I would ask another great boon of you.”
The ant brushed against me with an antennae, in a weak but surprisingly gentle movement.
“I do not know your kind, and you seem to be, well, entombed within the carcass of another creature. But my instincts tell me that you are one of the gods promised to this land, and even if I am not your chosen people, I can still pledge the descendants of the Llorqen Hive to you.
Inside me are eggs which have not yet been infected by fungus. I will instruct you in their caretaking, you will save our tribe now, but my children will stand with you, as long as you treat us fairly. Swear this.”
I looked at the Antarian, like it was crazy, and I suppose it was, it was conscious in a way I hadn’t seen the other Antarian creatures, and it was very much aware of its predicament.
I called Kerthax over and explained the situation, and that I was in need of my chief diplomat, and gave him some pointers for what I wanted out of this deal.
While my impression of the Antarian people wasn’t terribly good, they were maybe more peopleish and less antsy, when they weren’t fungi infected. But the promise of an allied tribe, and the legendary productivity of ants, decided it for me.
Kerthax rubbed his hands together smiling.
“Settlement”
[Antarian Vassalage - Diplomatic proposal between Stormlord Perun and Queen Skarskliqt of Llorqen Hive
* Stormlord Perun will see to the safe passage of Llorqen Hive eggs
* Stormlord Perun will assign caretakers and instruct them in handling the eggs and any hatched ants.
* If the Llorqen Hive eggs are purposely harmed by Stormlord Perun or his cohorts, and no judgement is passed, the agreement is void.
* Ants descended from the Llorqen Hive have access to the same basic freedoms and opportunities as Hipponians.
* Future Antarian hives and their population are given a high degree of self-governance in exchange for military and engineering services.
* The Authority of the government appointed by the Stormlord Perun is second only to Stormlord Perun.
We regarded each other, as we read the agreement.
Some Antarians would possibly not fit inside the mold, and try to live different lives. But most would probably stay with the Antarian hive. Little islands of true workers paradise, all ready to mobilise their six limbs in service of the state.
What could possibly go wrong.
I accepted the proposal, Queen Skarsliqt did likewise.
[Antarian Vassalage - Settlement accepted by both parties, and is now in effect.]
[Your skill in “Diplomacy” is now 2.30]
Kerthax was no longer smiling but grinning ear to ear. His diplomacy just getting another bump.
I was quite unprepared for the next series of events.
“Now you must kill me and retrieve the eggs. Keep them safe and away from the fungi and the vile cockroach people, avenge my hive”
“Uh” well technically she was in pain and was probably a few miles down the road of a slow and painful death, so I took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. After a moment of understanding. I placed a hand at her neck, took a breath and then rammed a stake through her eye and into her brain, making a quick end of it.
[You have slain Weakened Antarian Queen - 250 XP]
I took out one of the scalpels and got to work, while instructing Shikman to fill the eggs in the satchel I had looted.
We didn’t chitchat, but quickly got the bag strapped to Kerthax’s back, and then donned Terrorherbist coats. I also put one on Scooter. They were way too small for me, even more so when I was wearing my one-piece Octodilian full leather plate armor, so Shikman tied a cut up coat around me like a satchel.
We slowly passed through the hive, and with the Terrorherbist coats, no Antarians made slow zombie moves towards us. Even better, no more Terrorherbist to ninja ambush us.
The hive was not the easiest to navigate, but we usually went for corridors that sloped upwards
Finally we saw starlight and emerged into the night.
[You have completed the quest : Fungi ants and have gained 1500 XP and a Skill Rarity Upgrader Orb]
[For successfully leading a party into the depths of the Llorqen hive you have gained the skill Partyleader]
[You have accumulated 37 Partyleader points which may used to buy party leader Perks, to upgrade parties you lead]
As always rewards were awesome, but we had to get the hell out of dodge, we didn’t need any Terrorherbist freaks stalking our trail and inject us with their unknown bullshit at our next campsite, where we would need calm and quiet to excise our bodies of whatever eggs where in there. If it was just a bit like Alien, then we would be done for.
We ran into the swamp jungle, and kept pressing for a couple of minutes. We had agreed beforehand, we would return from the path we came, then circle around and head for the northern exit of the valley, our original destination.
I stopped, panting, the fatique icon blinking at me.
“Ok, get me out of this suit, speed and endurance is more important than armor now”.
Shikman quickly got to work cutting it open, while Kerthax kept lookout.
Scooter looked at the sack of eggs, and made a very big smile.
“No Scooter” I said firmly, then “Oww” as Shikman accidentally nicked me on the knee while cutting away.
Well, I might as well look at that sweet loot while they were busy.
Skill Rarity Upgrader Orb - Upgrades a random skill to an increased rarity.
Weird, maybe my Short spears or Small blades would evolve into some martial arts skill instead, that could be pretty awesome, but it miffed me that I could not select which skill it would be. Well I guess I will just use it before I pick up all sorts of random skills along the way.
Besides, I needed every little bit and tricks up my sleeve. Keeping things for later could cost me my life and ultimately my existence if it resulted in me dallying too much with my main quest.
I focused on the orb.
Do you wish to consume Skill Rarity Upgrader Orb ?
Yes/No
I thought “Yes”, and my mind filled with visualisations of magical symbols appearing faster and faster and with with increasing complexity.
I started feeling this might have been a bad idea, as I numbly felt myself keel over and lay unmoving with my tongue lolling out of its mouth.
The symbols came so fast now that they made an incomprehensible animation.
I could feel each symbol imparting some deeper knowledge within me, and it wore me out in seconds.
If I had been awake I would have seen the message on my internal UI.
Your Luck stat has processed and have have given you an additional tier of rarity to your skill.
Rolling for skill…
Your skill Wood Gnawing has been upgraded to Rune Gnawing.
Avatar of Perun (8)
Species : Hipponian
Level: 3
Sex : Male
Age : 32 years
Renown : 1 (Your name kinda rings a bell...)
XP: 7.585 (11.000 to next level)
HP : 123/143
(2,2 HP/hour)
STA : 210
MP : 155/160
(+6 MP/hour)
Holy energy 160/160
(+6 HE/hour)
Attributes
Strength 22
Wisdom 16
Charisma 16
Dexterity 13
Intelligence 16
Luck 20
N/A
Constitution 22
Spirit 16
N/A
N/A
Classes :
Stormlord Avatar - Lvl 2
Combat Skills
Clubs 1.02
Short Spears 1.27
Unarmed 1.34
Small blades 1.04
General Skills
Alchemy 1.07
Rune Gnawing 2.11
Diplomacy 2.3
Woodworking 1.16
Leatherworking 1.21
Partyleader 2.30 (12 points)
Skinning 1.09
Magical Skills
Electro Metamagic 5.51 (#)
Lightning Magic 1.20 (/)
Holy Skills
Perunian Clerical Magic 1.00 (@)
Beast Shamanism 1.32(¤)
Talents
Excessive Force
Semi-Aquatic
Militaristic
Sweet Luck
Ironblood
Stake Master
Abilities
# Electro Metavision 8.79
/ Stun 1.16
@ Consecration 1.00
¤ Soothe the Beast 1.23
Inventory
Perythorax : Armor: 7 Durability : 14/14 Quality : Exceedingly low
Peryton antlers : Durability 49/64 Quality : High
Peryton Scalpel : Durability 11/11 Quality : Exceedingly low
3 x Peryton knife : Durability 18/18 Quality : Meager
2 Clubs
2 Stakes
The Lightning Masters left Sandal : Mana regeneration x1.09 Arrmor 2: Durability 40/40 Quality : Wellmade - Part of a set : Lightning Masters Tropical Vestments
Beastmasters furry undies : +2% to interacting with Beasts, Armor 4, Durability 90/90, Quality : Wellmade, Part of a set, Beastmasters Alpine Garb
Hyena Leather Gorget, Armor :7 Durability 30/30 Quality : Meager
5x Cubes of Skulkweed preserved Stygian Octodile Liver
4 small doses of weak Regenerative Glue