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You completed the Quest: A Skeleton’s Request, and may claim a reward.
Claim now?
You completed a Challenge: Form your first self-made Node, and may claim a reward.
Claim now?
‘Claim,’ Nicolai said, focusing on Maric’s quest, and was given a familiar sight, the stone of the floor rippling. A familiar figure rose. It was one of the People, wearing a rope, with the typical tentacle-beard and third-eye surrounded by tattoos. It held both hands out, boxes resting on its palms.
Reward Shrine (Tier 2)
These shrines appear to grant rewards to Marked who have completed a Quest or Challenge within the game. They come in various types and tiers.
From this Shrine you may claim one reward from two options, and are also granted an additional reward after choosing.
This particular shrine depicts one of the People. The People were native to this planet, a Subject Race serving the Imperial Race of Onos. They strayed from the Rules, summoning a True Demon of the 8th Circle in an attempt to win freedom from the Onos’ yoke. They were punished by Heavenly Crusade and Tribulation.
Following the Tribulation, their home-world was moved into the Great Game and given a new name, Nightmare, to reflect the danger that is imprisoned within it, ready to emerge at the start of each cycle.
Naturally attuned to the Dao's of Death and Rebirth, they were known to focus on necromantic Arts, using armies of the dead to aid in all of their efforts. The People clung to a system of belief and tradition originating from the Outside, one which drove them to their bitter end.
Nicolai considered the description. He’d learned a little more of the People, and the Nightmare. Much of what was written he’d already learned from other sources. The Unwinder, Paxolnaz’s lord, must be the 8th Circle Demon. It should be the danger imprisoned within Nightmare, the reason for the planet’s name. Was this the threat that Great Eye, the Controller, had warned him of, the reason he needed to find the Lizard to stand any chance of surviving? It seemed likely, to Nicolai. Does any of this new information change my current situation? He asked the question of himself, and the Modules, and even the Mask. The four of them regarded each other silently. None saw any reason to change his course.
Of more immediate interest, this was the first Reward Shrine he’d seen with only two options. Did this mean it was a slightly worse one, than those he’d seen previously? It was Tier 2, the third Tier 2 Shrine he’d gained, so it was still better than that the Titan’s quest had given him, a Tier 1. Wondering why, he decided there was likely some sliding scale somewhere that measured the difficulty of a quest and modified the Reward Shrine as a result. Ultimately, the Titan’s quest had been quite easy. He hadn’t even needed to fight anything. Maric’s, on the other hand, had required him to wander quite far afield, and he’d fought the library guardian.
Nicolai turned his attention to the two boxes, examining them. One said it contained one hundred Oma crystals, the other held ten Rejuvenating Orbs. Unusually simple rewards, but Nicolai wouldn’t complain. He picked the Oma crystals because he now had enough Rejuvenating Orbs from trades, and more crystals to pad his stock would always be handy. One hundred was a decent amount, too. He gained a further twenty crystals, and a few thousand points, from the reward for completing a Node.
That done, Nicolai reached into his bag and grasped bone. He pulled out a skull which looked around curiously with eyes of pale blue fire.
‘Hello Maric,’ he said to the skull. It blinked at him, and he saw its blue eyes look to Kleos then back to Nicolai.
‘So, I’m allowed to talk now?’ spoke the skull, its tone acerbic. Its gaze found Kleos, who stared back, eyes widening.
After a moment of staring, Maric shot him a strange look. ‘Is there something going on here? Do you have some kind of obsession regarding undead heads?’
‘Who is this?’ snapped Kleos, sounding far more upset. ‘Why do you have another undead?’
Nicolai peered at the head, surprised by its reaction. Before he could answer, Maric spoke again.
‘Ahh, I know what you are. Interesting. I haven’t seen one who has been punished in that particular manner before. Are you upset the human has another to speak to, traitor?’ asked Maric, sounding quite smug.
Kleos’ eyes narrowed, glaring at the skull who glared right back. ‘Who are you and what do you seek?’
‘They call me Maric. I seek only knowledge… and to have my life restored. You?’
‘Much the same,’ muttered Kleos. ‘But there is not room for two in the Coffin.’ The head’s eyes turned to Nicolai. ‘Have you made a Contract with this creature?’
Nicolai had been observing with interest. ‘No, I have not,’ he said, curious as to where this was going.
‘Hmph.’ Kleos smiled.
‘There could be room for two. I have studied this matter,’ said Maric. ‘It only needs to be given the proper materials. Then, inside, it will form a wall. Similar to when there are twins in a womb. Do you understand?’
‘I understand but I do not care. I have a Contract with the human.’ Once more Kleos looked to Nicolai. ‘A Contract you will abide by?’
Nicolai shrugged. ‘It was a fair deal and you have held up your end of the bargain. I continue to do my best to deliver what you seek.’ Kleos still seemed unaware that this would only last for a short time longer, and then the Contracts would be rendered null and void. The head was lucky he’d decided to try reasonably hard to get it done anyway, in keeping with being a Better Man. While the two heads stared at one another, Nicolai subtly accessed his Mark and checked on the Contracts, the first time he’d done so in a while.
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There he saw the same message as last time, with the countdown.
The Contract system is provided as-is to early participants of the current iteration of the Great Game. It will cease to function after some time, and all Contracts created through this limited system will be rendered null and void.
Countdown (days:hours:minutes:seconds): 24:08:59:54
Standard users are limited to a maximum of three Heaven Authorised Binding Contracts.
1: Kleos
2: Paxolnaz
3: Jo
4*: Beth
*this additional slot has been gained via use of a limited Permit. The moment any Contract is lost for any reason, the user’s default limit of three will be restored.
The last time he’d viewed this portion of the menu, the timer had been at 84 days. It has already been two months, Nicolai realised with some surprise. It had felt like a shorter time. Kleos still seemed unaware of this fact. If Nicolai waited long enough, he would not need to fulfil his side of the bargain.
However, his recent conversation with his Mask was still in his mind, and Nicolai determined that he would do his best to fulfil it. He owed Kleos that much. As to Maric… he looked over at the skull, which had begun speaking to him.
‘You know, human, if you make a Contract with me, I can provide far more help than this zombie. I know a great deal.’
‘But you are already going to provide me help,’ said Nicolai, flashing a sharp smile. ‘I am allowing you your life, in spite of your attempt to trick me. A gift that may be retracted at any time.’
Maric’s blue light seethed. ‘Yes… of course…’ murmured the skull. ‘I am deeply apologetic. But when will you consider me to have repaid the debt? Surely, if I am honest and helpful, then in time, I can be forgiven? And then…’
And then I put you in this “Coffin” with Kleos. Nicolai gave a slow nod to the skull. ‘If you prove yourself… then I am willing to relent. If you are fair with me, I will be fair with you. But you must prove yourself first.’ He saw little to be lost and much to be gained from offering this “opportunity” to Maric. He was a believer that it was always better to give people a way out, or at least the illusion of such. This method was a piece of ancient wisdom that held as true in the present day as ever in the past, to his mind.
Sun Tzu wrote that when surrounding an army, it is best to leave an outlet free; that it was best not to press a desperate foe too hard. This is because if an opponent sees no route for their survival, they will fight with desperate courage; there is nothing for them to lose so they might as well give it their all.
If Nicolai was too domineering, and said something like “Maric, you will do as I demand, and once I have made use of you I will kill you” then the head would be given significant motivation to scheme and search for any way out. But if Nicolai could convince it that he was an individual that could be swayed and convinced—as long as the skull acted in the manner he desired—then he would be able to encourage Maric in a different and more productive direction. His goal was that the undead should become dedicated to furthering Nicolai’s cause, by connecting Nicolai’s cause closely to Maric’s cause.
He had already accomplished this with Kleos by way of the Contract, which was a much more iron-clad version of the same. The limit there was that the Contract required Nicolai to take actual steps towards furthering Kleos’ goal. Though, he wasn’t actually against doing what Kleos had asked, even without the influence of his Mask. Kleos had been a big help to him.
With no Contract he was forced to work to convince the skull, rather than allowing the Contract to do the heavy lifting. But, this also meant that at the end of the day he was under no actual obligation to do as Maric wished.
It might be in time that Maric would demand they form a Contract, once it felt it had ingratiated itself more and that he was beginning to forgive it. This was something that would give the skull more hope, and it was another option Nicolai was leaving on the table. Currently, Maric did not know (so far as Nicolai could see) that Nicolai was over his limit for Contracts, and thus unlikely to have any space free for the skull anytime soon. Nicolai intended to keep things this way as long as possible.
‘Are you serious?’ Kleos was saying, interrupting Nicolai’s thoughts. ‘There’s only space for one in the Coffin, everyone knows that! If you put him in there with me, it will countenance a betrayal of our Contract.’ The head was giving him a solid, angry glare.
Nicolai made a see-saw gesture with his hand. ‘Is it known? I have never heard of this Coffin except from you two. You are my only sources of information on it. Maric says one thing, and you say another. How about this: if Maric can convince both of us that what he says is true, that two can indeed fit into the Coffin and be restored to a living form, both whole, hearty and separate, then it can be considered. If Maric cannot convince us, then it will have to find another route. I would not risk the restoration of yourself. As you say, it is a part of our binding Contract. But if Maric is telling the truth and both of you may be restored without risk, then I see no problem. And I suspect the Contract will not see a problem, either.’
Kleos frowned, then looked to Maric.
‘It simply requires a few extra resources,’ spoke the skull immediately, excitedly. I have read much on this matter. The typical transformation needs few resources, and mostly makes use of the Coffin’s own power. But the Coffin can be turned to numerous different purposes; it is a machine with many uses. The Castle Cores’ need them to be able to fulfil numerous different roles, and I am sure you have seen the many varieties of beings they can fashion from the Coffins.’
‘What are the resources needed for the typical purpose?’ asked Nicolai, seeing a reason to take interest in this discussion. Presumably he was the one who would need to find these resources, and he hoped it wouldn’t be too expensive.
‘The typical resources are only a number of Oma crystals, and enough fresh corpses to fill the Coffin at least a quarter full with mass,’ murmured Kleos. ‘It is not expensive,’ added the head, seeming to have correctly identified Nicolai’s reason for asking. ‘But these additions might be,’ it said, eyeing Maric.
‘How big is this Coffin?’ asked Nicolai, frowning, wondering just how many corpses he’d need to provide.
‘A little smaller than this room,’ put in Maric.
Nicolai raised an eyebrow. That would be quite a lot of corpses. ‘What kind of corpses?’
‘Depends on what you want the being to look like,’ said Maric.
‘Human corpses,’ said Kleos, in a firm tone of voice. ‘I don’t want to be some creature.’
‘You want to be one of them?’ asked Maric, chuckling.
‘Why not? They are well enough shaped,’ said Kleos.
Maric’s blue light flickered. ‘I suppose they are. I just thought our friend might take issue with killing his own kind for this purpose.’
Nicolai waved a hand. ‘It is no problem. I have enough enemies to fill this room and more.’
‘I suppose I should have known, from what I witnessed in the library,’ murmured Maric.
‘What additional resources would be required?’ asked Nicolai of the skull.
‘More fresh corpses, enough the fill the Coffin at least halfway. Then, the more tricky part. It will require a pair of Symbiotes. The requirements to create these should be in the Memory Tome on Symbiotes which you seized from the Library.’
‘I’ve yet to craft any Symbiotes,’ said Nicolai, frowning. He had the impression it wasn’t an easy matter. This was seeming like quite a big ask.
‘Their creation should be relatively simple,’ Maric was quick to argue. ‘The Dual Fetus Symbiote. Your people all have Soul Seeds, do they not?’
‘They do.’
‘You simply need two of those and some Oma crystals. It would be a big boon to both of us, beyond simply allowing me and Kleos to both be reborn. If you could create one of those, and add it into the mix in the Coffin, both myself and Kleos would return to life with a basic Cultivation system. It would be very helpful—‘
‘Truly?’ asked Kleos, eyes wide. ‘That would be… that would be well worthwhile.’
Nicolai smiled at the pair, though he viewed Maric with some wariness, internally. Maric was clearly quite determined and knew what it wanted. This was good in a way as it gave Nicolai more hooks with which to control the undead. During this conversation he had been monitoring the skull closely with his Soul Sense; very closely. So far he had seen no sign of untruths, but after his recent experience where Maric had succesfully lied to him, he decided to perform some checks to make sure.
‘Tell me Maric: are you lying to me?’
The skull’s blue-flame eyes flickered, perhaps a look of surprise. ‘No, of course not. I would never.’
Nicolai’s Soul Sense clustered tight around the skull. He felt confusion and worry.
‘Prove it,’ he said, and the flickering intensified, growing with the worry, alongside a kind of desperation and desire to prove itself.
‘I… how can I? I guess you can check in the book, it should have the Symbiotes I mentioned and descriptions of their function. Other than that… all I can do is swear upon Heaven that I am being honest.’ Hope and fear.
Nicolai looked to Kleos. ‘Is such a swear a binding thing, one that ties one to their word?’
Kleos snorted. ‘No. It is just a saying. Like “I swear on the life of my Patriarch,” it means little.’
Nicolai nodded. From his observation of Maric, he saw no signs of lies. Before it had only successfully lied to him because he had misinterpreted what he felt from it, but after cross examining it alongside keeping watch throughout the conversation, he was satisfied that he had an accurate grasp of Maric’s emotions and what they represented.
This then, meant it was time to broach a more serious subject.
‘What do you two know,’ began Nicolai, ‘of Demons?’