[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/cgnJUVN.png[/img][/center]
[@Kumbaris] [@Dead Cruiser] [@Riffus Maximus] [@Emeth] [@The Muse] [@Teyao] [@Mendicant Bias]

Valentin stood among a dead forest, killed by reckless use of mana. Like most places along the face of Ysten, this area was ruined, blighted by war and monstrosities. And yet Valentin felt a calm here, standing among the dead. Perhaps it was his youth spent talking to ghosts that made him prefer those things that have passed. Valentin glanced over at the spirit of Sir Adolis, his ancestor and companion. The deceased knight was humming some kind of war hymn, one no longer remembered among the current situation.

Valentin himself was standing next to a massive, dead oak tree, easily the biggest in the forest. Adolis and him had been waiting here for several hours now, as Edgar the Raven had told them that Lord Abyssius wanted to meet them there. The magical raven had flown off somewhere else as the tow Deng men waited. Valentin was quickly becoming restless, not helped by the fact that he could faintly hear the moans of zombies in the distance.

It was quickly becoming night and Valentin was growing hungry. While he didn’t have the overwhelming taste for blood that a full vampire would have, he did still like his meat very raw. Unfortunately he had no meat right now, as very few animals still dotted the landscape of the wastes. The only reliable place to get meat was from the massive farms built into the moving cities.

As all the food he had was plants, Valentin was considering going for a quick hunt, as perhaps there was still a hare or even a squirrel hiding among the dead wood. But before he could even leave, Edgar soared down next to him, landing on a branch of the oak tree.

[color=#EDED79]“My apologies for making you wait,”[/color] Edgar said in the language of the dead, [color=#EDED79]“My lord Abyssius had another matter to attend to.”[/color]

Sir Adolis stopped humming and asked, [color=#3DE369]“And so what? He’s blowing us off?”[/color]

A deep chuckle swept through the forest, seemingly coming everywhere at once. Valentin recognized the chuckle, having first heard it after fleeing the moving city. And like that time, a thick fog then rolled in, enveloping the gathered trio. From within the fog, Valentin could hear a staff hitting the ground, and the shaking of bone pieces.

The fog then suddenly disappeared, leaving a hunched man standing in front of Valentin. He wore a thick, gray cloak, with various animal bones stitched in. In his hand was a staff made of petrified wood, from which they say he houses souls to bring them to the afterlife. And open his face was  a white mask, with one half smiling, and the other half frowning. There was no doubt that this was Abyssius.

[color=#BFDBCC]“Well met my champion,”[/color] said Abyssius with a bellowing voice, before turning to Adolis, [color=#BFDBCC]“As well as noted spirit.”[/color]

Valentin bowed his head, [color=#9F3DB3]“How may I serve my lord of death?”[/color]

[color=#BFDBCC]“By fulfilling the promise of a gods’ champion,”[/color] stated Abyssius, [color=#BFDBCC]“To do what a god themselves could not.”[/color]

Valentin wondered what was beyond the capability of Abyssius. He was one of the oldest gods of Ysten, having survived the war in the heavens. He had walked the realm since before man kept history, and Valentin thought that he would do so until the world finally died.

[color=#9F3DB3]“What task do you have for me?”[/color] asked Valentin as he raised his head.

“[color=#BFDBCC]You have heard that there are other worlds, such as the one those damned Constructs came from?”[/color] When Valentin nodded, Abyssius continued, [color=#BFDBCC]“Well in several such worlds there is a corruption that affects the gods. As such we need appointed mortals do deal with it. So there formed an alliance of gods who wished to fight the corruption. While I am loathe to associate with any other god, I do realize that if I were corrupted, Ysten would surely be destroyed.”[/color]

[color=#9F3DB3]“So, I am to meet with these other gods and champions?”[/color] Valentin questioned, his mind ablaze with thoughts of other worlds.

[color=#BFDBCC]“Well you were, but I was busy. A familiar of mine had told me that they have just departed the realm between,”[/color] responded Abyssius, [color=#BFDBCC]“Which means that I’m throwing you into the thick of it. That damned Amaterasu had shared with me the location of the first world you will be intervening in.”[/color]

[color=#9F3DB3]“First world?”[/color]

[color=#BFDBCC]“Ah, I guess I didn’t mention that. There are four key worlds that support the corruption. If you are able to set things in those worlds, the corruption should abate.”[/color]

Valentin swallowed audibly. Going off to one world for a potential suicide mission was one thing, but four worlds? But Valentin pushed that thought down. Even if he died, he would become a ghost, and Sir Adolis seemed to like being a ghost.

Then Adolis finally spoke, [color=#3DE369]“We are at your command, O God.”[/color]

[color=#BFDBCC]“Then I shall send you three directly to the other champions,”[/color] stated Abyssius as a new fog rolled in, [color=#BFDBCC]“Enter the mist and emerge in a new world.”[/color]

Valentin didn’t move immediately, a pang of fear seizing his legs. The glowing green form of Sir Adolis then stepped next to him, placing his hand on his descendant’s shoulder.

[color=#3DE369]“Come now, this is the adventure we had been waiting for.”[/color]

With the support of his ancestor, Valentin did move, stepping forward into the fog. The gray mist would quickly envelop the trio, ripping them away from Ysten.

[color=#BFDBCC]“I hope to see you again,”[/color] muttered Abyssius, before turning away and walking deeper into the dead wood.

[hr]

It was just as the other champions were emerging from Amaterasu’s portal that a fog appeared out of nowhere. From said fog emerged a man clad in purple armor, alongside a squawking raven.

[color=#9F3DB3]“Can you see anything Sir Adolis?”[/color] asked Valentin, seemingly talking to no one.

But before he could answer, the fog abated, revealing them to be in some sort of facility, with many machines around that Valentin couldn’t identify. Perhaps the Constructs had visited this world as well, or more likely in his mind, Ysten was just primitive compared to other worlds.

Standing on the other side of the room was a group of various looking strangers. From what Abyssius had said, they too were champions to a god or goddess. Some of them were armed, with blades and staffs, but Valentin didn’t feel threatened.

[color=#9F3DB3]“Well met, champions,”[/color] said Valentin loudly, [color=#9F3DB3]“I am Valentin, champion of Lord Abyssius.”[/color]

[color=#3DE369]“And I’m Sir Adolis!”[/color] announced the ghost knight.

Valentin turned to the apparition, [color=#9F3DB3]“Remember, they can’t see or hear you.”[/color]

[color=#3DE369]“Sorry,”[/color] said Adolis sheepishly, [color=#3DE369]“I had forgotten after our long period of exile that others do not have the sight.[/color]

Valentin knew that it must look odd to the other champions that he was apparently talking to air, but a lifetime of speaking to spirits had made Valentin shrug off the awkwardness generated by it. Instead, Valentin approached the group.

[color=#9F3DB3]“I am afraid my addition seems to be last minute,”[/color] said Valentin, [color=#9F3DB3]“Perhaps one of you could inform me of what our goal in this world is to stop the corruption.”[/color]

[color=#EDED79]“I would like to know that as well,”[/color] said Edgar, though it just sounded like a squawk to the others.

The raven then landed on Valentin’s shoulder while he awaited a response. In the meantime, Sir Adolis began examining the room, hoping to make sure that they weren’t in any danger.