Janice. Day 1. Before Freedom and Unity
[Welcome back to Ample, Drifter]
[You have been reborn through a Twinned Soul migration]
[Would you like to be restored to your former power, or take this new beginning]
[Warning! Based on preliminary scans, accepting your former power may cause you to breach the threshold with your current life experience]
[Beyond the Threshold even being sent from Ample will be
=Cache, New=
[Your species is: Phillips Butterfly]
[Your GASMODE HP scan is beginning]
[Guide: Puzzles]
[Arcana: Transcendent level Poison]
[Social: Iconography]
[Mind: Sapient (Ancient)]
[Offense: Dust]
[Defense: Illusion]
[Esoteric: Firstborn Mantle]
[As a returnee you have priority placement for your starter location, choose destination desired]
=Myth, Family, Death. PUZZLE=
[Tutorial already in progress, unable to com] =DEBT!= [ply]
[Tutorial updating to compensate. Merging tutorials]
=Future, Present=
[Enjoy your time on Ample, Janice]
The world shifts around her. Too quickly to comprehend, but not so fast to forget. More puzzles are always good. Especially after being caged for so long. First by that Mantle collapsing upon her while she slept, and then by mere Death of all things! =Absurd=
This new place, the |Sacred Forest| is laid out before her as she finds herself upon a mountain. Hmm, the terrain is off… and shifting still, subtly, to deal with the merger. She suspects that perhaps each of the fledglings were meant to be given a private space, to relive their origin and rewrite their story. Perhaps… perhaps she was too hasty, too impatient after all those years frozen in death.
[Mind: Sapient (Ancient)]
A quick self-Inspection to confirm and yet, to make such a child’s mistake… Ahh, of course. She said to store her former power when she embraced her new life, not to make it her path. The path of her former power wouldn’t have made that mistake. Hmm, does it have to be a mistake? The whole point of the new is that it is different from the old. Still, she will have to maintain vigilance, to ensure she does not truly make mistakes.
It is too easy to get lost in both thoughts and memories of her former self. She isn’t in the |Grand Fields| there aren’t family nearby to assist if things go south. She must rely on herself, her new self, and her new abilities to succeed here and now-
“^FREEDOM!!^”
The wolf is here too? Hmm… complications indeed. Regardless, the first puzzle must be completed. Such a weaker form, with tools insufficient in their breadth, and yet that has never stopped =Those Who Strive= from at least making the attempt.
[Puzzles, Iconography, Sapient (Ancient) linked node: Analyze Acquired! Seek understanding]
=Lesser= Adequate for her purpose, for now. Deeper learning and exploration can come with time. Now, to find them, and ensure that their Song doesn’t touch her when she does. Death is more of a stumbling block now that she’s returned to Ample. However, the lost time and the debt she’s incurred could lose her so much, too much.
[Puzzles, Sapient (Ancient), and Illusion linked node: Observer Acquired! Stay awhile]
[Poison, Dust, and Firstborn Mantle linked node: Anti-Death Field Acquired! Live forever]
Good enough for the moment. Time is passing so quickly in these lower realms, she must get to them before they leave this place or merely tracking will become its own, =Adventure, disgust= Although, there is a hidden benefit of these lesser places for those like herself. Flight isn’t as ubiquitous in these earlier pockets and thus can provide advantages to those who have mastery of it.
[Deaden Presence] of only two parts will have to be enough. Her newborn body and soul aren’t strong enough for the strain of another three-aspect ability. She knows some tricks to circumvent those restrictions, easy ways of manipulating herself in these early years to gain power, but they are unnecessary for the moment. Investigating the child is more important than sovereignty to her, much less the responsibility that comes with it.
The recreation of the forest is quite good, and it seems like the [Tutorial] decided that with the merging, the more important perspective was the original occupant. So whatever supplementary information was acquired from the other ‘guests’ just went into creating a more accurate and life-like version.
As she flies through the trees, staying under their umbrella ablating the hellstorm above, she scatters just a brush of dust upon a fraction of the hellstone. A valuable resource for any weak and connectionless traveler, of which she’ll likely include her future self. The constant vigilance and focus required for the kind of investigation she’s pursuing will be exhaustive without her old power or connections.
The things worth doing are never easy though. The best puzzles are those right upon the cusps of unsolvable. She feels the wash of magic glancing across her defenses, =Song, Not?-death= curiouser and curiouser. Some of the arcana managing to pierce her subtly ineffective shield and yet find no purchase upon her. A better puzzle perhaps, but a startling ominous revelation, as being unable to defend herself from the =Choir of Death= would be… annoying.
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Still, at least it provides a better anchor to properly locate them in this forest. The wisps of connection from her obsession gives vague direction, though even that was confused by this place. Blending the introductions of the other =Myths= the mantle sunk its talons into could have been a true disaster the longer she contemplates it. The past is an entity one must endeavor to learn from.
The reach of the song ends up being far greater than she expected. Getting subtly clearer the closer to the source she gets. From her brief investigation of the various creatures that seem =Infected= by this melody, the shape and style of the singer is brought into focus. For while there are still other creatures, such as herself, untouched by the music, the ones barreling towards the beacon it represents are united in their bloodlust.
Choosing to take more care with her flight, the sounds of rabid battle begin to overpower the audible portion of the choir. Their voices also snarling alongside the yips and growls of hate and pain. The power emanating from the arcana this close puts it on a higher tier than her own and further increases her wariness. The scent of blood, death and now =Rotting Life= has become nauseating as the battle grows to near deafening in noise.
=Rotting Life, Song, Striving, Home= A strange combination, becoming coherent as the waves continue to susurrate throughout the trees. She finds herself hesitating and flitting from tree to tree in this final approach. Perhaps truly afraid for the first time in ages of what she might find in the next clearing.
She takes another moment of pause to sincerely consider her path. Is continuing to dive forth a foolhardy action, driven by the impatience of youth? Would the greater regret be denying that impulse in these moments, taking time to circle back and hope for a better opportunity?
=Actions, Consequences, Wisdom. Puzzle, Striving= Her mind consolidated in this decision, perhaps not having given it quite enough thought. Yet she recalls the images of a dear stranger that she glanced back in her true youth. Images whose strangeness first put her on the path to deciphering puzzles. As well as their intended representation that she was told years later, providing her mirth but not deterring her from the path she had grown immensely from.
=Homogenous, Nudity. Home, Built= And so, with some levity beneath her wings she wove through the remaining trees acting as a final screen for =Choir=. When she finally views them, she is stalled by their appearance. They are covered in brutal, lethal wounds. Chunks of flesh are missing wholesale, and some are noticeable in the dead and dying mouths of the literal mounds of corpses they are having to wade through.
The hydrenaline likely having been pushed near to madness as she can see eight separate heads lashing out at targets, of which only six are still, partially in some cases, attached to their body. Sporting an extra tail alongside a half-length savaged main stem and three extra hind claws, all on the left side. Seeing this legendary scene from one who should be only marginally more powerful than herself as a newly incarnated, she can only focus and hope her [Analyze] can offer better insight.
Despite the bones erupting from portions of their hide, the blood seems sluggish to drain from them. Even their frantic thrashing doesn’t spill as much blood as the far lighter wounds on the various downed opponents. The moments seem to stretch out forever before her more advanced inspect finally triggers.
[Hydra, =Singing Mountain=; Tier 3 base monster; Extreme threat: Currently Berserk; System Adult, Larva status]
[G: Firstborn Mantle, A: Rotting Life, S: Choir, M: Sapient (Senate), O: Consume, D: Reconstitute, E: Innkeeper]
[Active Spells: Call of the Damned, GASE; Graveflesh, AD; Devouring Cycle, AMOD, publication in progress; Will Beyond Death, GAMD, publication in progress]
Awe is a complicated feeling. On one antenna, it’s significant to note that apparently, hydra start as tier 3 creatures, so them having four aspect abilities isn’t impossible. Regardless, for a larva to the system to have already created and be maintaining three full mesh polyps is astounding.
Most troubling though is that they are maintaining the =Call= despite their berserk status. Keeping a Mind-less ability active during combat, without it having some offense or defense aspect is nearly impossible under such a debilitating mental effect like berserk. =How/Why=
[System message intercepted by Observer, Analyze]
In the wake of that message the deafening screams overpower the chaos of the massacre in progress. Eight voices shouting to the heavens their defiance, all independent in their message but united in spirit:
“MAKE ME!!”
“try… me…”
“FUCK YOU!!”
“CLAIM THEM!!”
“never… again…”
“WON’T STOP!!”
“BREAK YOU!!”
“^RAGE!!^ SERENITY!!”
That final piece of the notification stuns her, =Choir? Perfect Portrait…= They are already in progress for their final [Quest]? The same quest for which her Matriarch sent her forth to explore the rest of the cosmos? Seeking for inspiration and perspective to travel beyond the Ample fields. This child, not even into their second millennium, is already further along the path than she…
[System Communication Link Established]
=A worthy puzzle indeed, young one. Upon discovery of a potential player The Mosaic has chosen to pay the cost of your Invocation. Though I believe it unnecessary, you are hereby officially being tasked with Observation of this “Singing Mountain”. Pursue your dreams and perhaps find your own Complete Self. I look forward to your reports, Janice.=
[System Communication Link Terminated]
Never mind everything else, focus on the puzzle. What is the missing piece, there must be something she can see to help her understand this situation. Review the data once more. Berserk hydra, mounds of corpses, continuous use of a call, wounds beyond lethality, defiance of even the system itself. What else is there?
Wait. Mounds of corpses? If this is a berserk for absolute carnage, why haven’t they sought out more. As disfigured as their body is, they can obviously still move, they’re lunging around with all their limbs and heads constantly, causing as much damage as possible. As much damage as possible? No… their attacks aren’t indiscriminate, nor are they all equally as savage.
Terror binds her to her lookout more securely than any arcana being thrown in these woods. The clashing of hostile arcana of fire, smog, bindings, sickness, and mutation against the insanity of the rotting life’s seemingly unassailable bulwark is far beyond what creatures of these low levels should be aware of, much less participating. The missing piece, the need-to-know proves the stronger once more, though keeping her distance is an easy concession to make.
Wrapping herself especially tightly in her [Observer] and [Deaden Presence] she softly floats. Gentle flaps of her wings take her slowly, carefully around the still expanding melee beneath her. Finding a better vantage point to witness the fulcrum upon which her myth sibling seems to be pivoting. A quick inspection reveals nothing of significance, so she calms herself once more for a deeper analysis.
[Serene Honeybee Hive; tier 0 mundane insect dwelling; Hellstone corruption in progress… Call of the Damned arcana interference detected… Resolving conflict…]
=Bees?= They go to such lengths for mere insects? Mundane, tutorial… This piece solves the previous puzzle quite adeptly but creates a somehow far stranger one to replace it. She cannot wrap her mind around how such a thing could be a linchpin for a [Perfect Portrait]. Even if not the inciting change, how does this tie into the Singing Mountain’s Symphony of Self?
[Conflict Resolved. Serene Honeybee Hive has been metamorphized into Serene Zombee Apiary; current owner: Singing Mountain; current occupants: undergoing transmogrifying monster evolution, time to complete… unknown]
And as quick as her analysis pinged the transformation, there is silence. Only for a moment, notably the sounds of war soon resume, but they have changed now. Less charging of blind violence and more the whimpering of dying and the various noises of retreat. Whatever strange bloodlust overcame them seems to have been sapped out alongside the changes that befell the hive.
The hydra’s previous song having ended, there is a coughing and hacking of death and suffocation before there is a final outpouring of arcana. Her senses having never let Singing Mountain out of focus, even when pulling up other information, she can only hold herself still in amazement. =Beautiful, Terrifying, Blooming Death. Kind=