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I knew from the moment I laid eyes on him, that I must make him mine at any cost.
I can see what few others can, and in that moment on that bloody field I saw something that made my heart leap.
There’s a shadow just behind him, shrouding every step he takes. It is his past - the collected karma of countless lives spent drenched in the blood of his enemies. I could spend ten thousand years studying that sanguine stained tapestry and never fully grasp the scale of its horrors.
And casting that shade which looks down with disdain upon heaven itself, is the most unlikely of men.
A charming air of detached audacity and wry humor makes you frustrated. There is always a jest which you'll never be privy to. However, when his gaze settles upon you in earnest, the feeling is indescribable. The attention of a being that has slain gods... it sets a tingle in your gut.
Just remembering it makes my skin crawl.
“If it’s all the same to you, I need something from that pile of meat over there if he’s still alive. I don’t mind fighting you to get it either.”
He said that to me! I was so much more powerful than him back then, and even so I felt the first trickle of fear of my very long life.
It’s a high I’ve been chasing ever since.
-From ‘Memoirs of An Overfiend’
by Grand Overfiend X’lyssa
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I flew southeast, past the troll and bug infested marshes and over the jagged peaks of a snow capped mountain range. The terrain transformed drastically below, and soon a sea of dusk lit sand spread endlessly all the way to the horizon. The lights of settlements and just lit campfires dotted the relative dimness, seeming to follow a line. From Raj’s lessons I knew that these were the remaining husks of civilization that once followed a great river much like the Nile back on earth.
I descended a short distance away from the first village, and touched down in a sheltered depression between several sand dunes. When I was sure that no one was nearby, I summoned a Blood Gate.
“That was fast.” Raj’s quiet and raspy voice sounded as the woman appeared. She wore a white hooded robe meant to protect her from both the sun of the day and the chill of the desert night.
“No way!” A second voice followed. This was Laguna, the catfolk warrior. “Tills check it out we’re really back in the desert just like that.”
“Lower your voice.” The tiny mage scolded softly as she appeared beside her. “Remember where you are.”
“Oh, right.” Laguna clapped a big hand over her own mouth, muffling her next word. “Momfters.”
Predictably, the two quiet rangers appeared last. Their round cat ears instantly began twisting and turning like satellite dishes, picking up every nearby sound.
“Thanks for agreeing to let us tag along.” Tili said.
“Thanks for coming.” I replied. “Hopefully having you guys around will make the locals more comfortable around me.”
Our plan was simple. We would travel on foot from town to town and gauge the situation, helping out anyone that needed a hand along the way. That’s right. This was Gray’s Big Open World RPG Adventure-cation 2.0 Featuring Raj and The Claw Patrol! We’ll work on the title.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Our first objective was to track down Raj’s tribe and family, we’ll call that the Main Quest. Beyond that, we would be providing aid in any way necessary to the people here.
The sun had mostly set, and according to Raj most of the activity in the Rakashi desert happened at dawn and dusk. We hiked at a typical traveler’s pace over the final sand dune and looked down on a bright green oasis. Raj sucked in a sharp breath, and I looked over. Her face was contorted in confusion.
“There has never been an Oasis here before.” She answered my inquiring look.
“It is no normal oasis.” Tili’s Appraisal ability was unique to her. I had suspected as much since the time she Appraised me in the tavern the first time we met. She didn’t even need to say a word to activate it, and it also allowed her to determine the characteristics of nearly anything to a degree that I could only envy.
“Neat!” Laguna exclaimed and started toward the oasis at a brisk march.
“Stop.” Tili ordered.
“Huh?” Laguna halted. “We’re not going to check it out?”
The moment Laguna finished her question, a deep tremor shook the area. The entire oasis began to shudder and heave to and fro. Then the whole area started to rise. An impossibly huge form began unearthing itself from the nap it had taken on top of its latest meal of an entire village. The oasis was literally growing from the carapace of a city sized coconut crab. It was facing us directly but didn’t seem bothered by our presence if it had even seen us at all.
With my sharpened senses, I spotted some very unsavory details clinging to the constantly moving and alien looking mouth parts. There was debris from buildings, bits of clothing, fur, blood, and even an arm still clutching the hilt of a sword embedded into a crease of the beast’s shell. What’s more, I now saw dozens of ropes suddenly come soaring down from the high carapace. Humanoid forms scurried down those lowered ropes with practiced ease.
We dropped into a crouch, now fairly confident we hadn’t been spotted.
“What in the actual fuck is that?” I couldn’t help myself.
“A beast from Un’Hana’s realm.” Tili answered in a whisper. “Shouldn’t be here. Those people must live on its back and scavenge behind it.”
“Will it sense my appraisal?” I asked.
Tili shook her head. “You won’t like what you see, though.”
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Un’kuthuku
Primal Beast
Level: ?? XP: ??
Life: 1,231,640/1,231,640 Soul Energy 45,406/45,406
Strength: 9,140
Endurance: 307,910
Agility: 1,599
Soul: 22,703
Skills:
Immortality (Beast Aspect): You have no natural lifespan, and will continue to grow indefinitely until destroyed.
Demigod: You are empowered by your worshipers, and may accept sacrifices in your name and allow the use of the following spells in return.
-Healing Touch (Bestowable after receiving any living sacrifice.)
-Healing Rain (Bestowable after receiving an innocent sentient sacrifice.)
Hibernation: May enter a suspended state for any length of time.
??????????:
?????????????? ???????:
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“You’re not wrong. How am I gonna kill that?” I rubbed my chin as I looked up and up.
“You don’t.” Raj said as she shot me a perturbed look. “You go around it and warn as many people as possible. What a ridiculous question, even for you.”
“I mean, I can’t see its number thingies that Tills talks about all the time, but seriously man. You gonna assassinate the moon while we’re at it?” Laguna piled on behind Raj while the two quiet rangers just shook their heads behind her.
“If the loot’s worth it.” I gave her the most dead serious expression I could, but I was cackling internally. Seriously, this lady. A terrified scream from the excavated crater brought me back to reality like a slap in the face.
“I’m going.” I said to my companions. “Stay back for now.” With that I was on the move, in full stealth mode with my active camouflage cloak.
I heard many different voices and the sound of rubble being shifted as I approached the lip of the sandy crater left by the giant crab’s body. A foul smell assaulted me. The sickly sweet scent of carrion, iron, and compost made me want to puke. I quickly scanned below, and found the source of the scream.
A single young beastkin man with half of one long rabbit ear torn away was struggling weakly as two of the mysterious scavengers attempted to pull him from the splintered remains of a destroyed building. He was gaunt from starvation and filthy from surviving in the carnage of the crushed village. The body language of the scavengers made me pause. They were being extremely gentle but forceful. More like firefighters than callous bandits.
He eventually collapsed and one of the scavengers carried him in my direction gently. From a closer perspective I could now see these people were much larger than I initially thought. They all were probably between seven and nine feet tall and fairly broad shouldered. Further details were obscured by layers of light cloth which covered every inch of them including their faces.
I decided to observe a little longer. The crab’s movements were extremely slow for now, and the people below were meticulously recovering anything they could from the flattened remains below.
I focused on their voices and was given a prompt from my Appraisal skill, allowing me to learn
The one carrying the unconscious rabbit man was speaking to herself softly.
“Why must they always ignore us?” She passed close to me as she spoke, perhaps only three meters away.
I watched her grab one of the dangling hemp ropes which was as thick as my wrist before giving it a sharp tug. Without even a grunt of effort, she held fast to both the rope and her rabbit luggage as it smoothly and suddenly hauled her upward at tremendous speed. They’re way stronger than your average human, no need to Appraise to see that.
The evidence was sort of in conflict here. On one hand, they were clearly benefiting from a disaster. On the other hand, it seemed like they weren’t really malicious about it. Could they be attempting to warn people in the crab’s path?
In the end I decided to back off for the moment. The tall people in the crater had extricated three more barely alive survivors and were beginning to bundle up their recovered goods. On an impulse I nicked my thumb and pressed a drop of my blood into one of the dangling ropes. Checkpoint secured, just in case. After that I returned to my allies.
“It seems like it’s going to head further southeast. Let’s get ahead of this and try to get back on track.” No one had any counter arguments for my pitch so we set off to quickly circumvent the walking natural disaster.
This wasn’t exactly the kind of straight forward plot I had in mind for Adventure-cation 2.0, but now I guess we’ll just have Main Quest with a side of Crab God.