Greenhorn POV

Its over, it's finally over. While he was a monster watching...that...happen was still taxing. Those gurgles which could have only been screams, and the attempted twitches while some of those sandtraps held his legs down.

Letting out a horrified shudder and shaking my head, I'd stand back up, having doubled over to vomit earlier.

"That...okay...yeah...that...horror show...I'll tell 'em, right as rain I'll tell 'em" (Greenhorn)

-Oh, but the show's only half done!-

"Wha-"

My eyes go wide as I see the....husk of skin that was once Terris start to twitch and rise, moving jerkily as it slowly starts to rise up. I can SEE the long, cordlike lumps of the sandtrap ferrets under that, now ashen, skin, moving as they manipulate what bones are still in there to move it like a mannequin. I can feel something in my mind break as that jerky, awkward motion reminds me of a toddler, and despite the, mostly skeletal, look of his face, two small sandtraps peeking out from those now empty sockets, I find myself suppressing a laugh. Eventually giving up on this, it's only right to just let it out, right?

"HahahahahahahAHAHAHAHA, Terris the terrible, now just a sock puppet. Yet I'm the one that lives. The one that sees how it haahahahahahappened. What a terrible thing to be, Terris the skinsuit. Yet, it's a fate that truly fits the right hand of the ol' boss. Once a terrible puppet, always a terrible puppet! Ya acted like my luck was the worst, but from where I stand, it's better than yours! I get to live, I was chosen to live....I...I was chosen!" (Greenhorn)

Curator PoV

Hmmm...so, having some one watch that level of punishment, and what comes after to try and sneak my wiggly boyos into the slaver camp in a creative way seems to have....broken...the 'greenhorn' if that cackling and such is anything to go off of. Okay, very much so broken if that prostration toward the Poppit...doll...and Vahlu is anything to go on.

>System Notification: You have unlocked the trait 'Object of worship'. Mana will be granted based on number of worshipers and some actions they take.<

Well...that's new, and hello again screen person. Thanks for the heads up on that, but, not sure how I feel on that. While, it could be a good source of mana, if they turn into crazy cultists trying to sacrifice people in my name, it'll result in some bad juju comin' my way I bet.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Okay then. So....person....I get you are really, really touched by being allowed to live and try to be a better person. Remember though, I don't mindlessly kill or the like, instead, only the irredeemable receive a punishment fitting the evils they've done. If you're gonna get all worshipy or whatever, then, you need to keep that in mind. Help people onto the right path, don't take the punishment of evil as your goal. After all, I kept you alive to try and get the others in your camp to offer themselves up to my judgement, not to destroy them, and from there, it'd be on you to guide them back to a town for you all to start over on the right path. Treat people how you wanna be treated, help people that need help, that sort of thing. No sacrifices, no vigilantism, none of that crud. Understood?" (Curator)

"I understand, and I obey, all powerful one. Your will is my command." (Greenhorn)

Blegh...that's not comfortable feeling, but...it could be worse, and, if I have a tiny Poppit hide with them, it'll let me keep an eye on them, and if they step out of line...well...I've plenty of ways to make people disappear at this point. God, that's dark. Okay, okay, pull out of the dark thoughts, more positive...let's see....ah, let's check on Babe while Poppit learns to walk his cannibal suit around, at least well enough to be less...janky and uncanny.

Pulling my focus from the atrocity being enacted by my command I return my focus to my domain properly. With the sun still high in the sky, it seems my archivist is settled in for a nap in the ceiling of my core chamber. That's fine, soon enough I might have paper and such for them to start working with. Casually looking over things, all seems to be in pretty good order still. Looking at the camp, I can see Vaslo moving about, answering questions and ensuring everything is in order. He seems...anxious about something.

"Hey Vaslo, you doin' okay buddy, ya seem on edge about something." (Curator)

Watching with a mix of amusement and concern as he almost jumps out of his skin, it seems I was right on the money.

"Oh, uh...hello Curator. I apologize if I've done something wrong. Don't be angry at us, we are doing our best. Archivist Babe said there was nothing to worry about, but...with the rage pouring off your core earlier I just...I wanted to be sure." (Vaslo)

Hmm....okay, so, watch my temper cause others can feel it. Good to know. Maybe it's a proximity to core type thing with how they feel it? We'll need to look into that later I guess.

"Nono, nothing you did. Vahlu found some....very very bad people that wanted to do bad things to you guys, and did do bad things to a group called...mudscales I think? I was angry that they wanted to hurt you guys and that one of them was...irredeemable and so needed to be met with a fitting punishment. I do intend to rescue the mudscales from these bad people, as well as any one else they may have captured, and offering them sanctuary here." (Curator)

"Oh that's.....that's a relief. Although, depending on how many people join, how will we handle food, it's still limited to not completely destroy the one plant for that we currently have. The mudscales will be a great help there as they know about working plants in the mud, and other things, but, depending on how many new mouths, that could put a strain on our food. Water we are fine as long as no one does stupid things with the oasis, it's mostly full now by the way, so we might have random wildlife starting to wander in to get a drink." (Vaslo)

"Thanks for the update on the oasis, and good to know the mudscales know some form of agriculture. We should have a good bit of food to bring back, along with supplies, from the bad people's camp so that should ease the stress a good amount. Hopefully they brought dried food stuffs like dried fruits and grains, so we can try and grow those, which would further help with the food situation." (Curator)

Vaslo would give a soft nod before responding. "Yes, that would help, more types of food, and, more food in general, isn't a bad thing. We'd have to do something about storing it to keep it safe but that's a problem for later."

"Exactly, but I've already got ideas for that. That said, I'm gonna go back to dealing with those bad people, I just wanted to check up on yall, make sure things were still okay over here too! (Curator)