When Kamek and Rika returned they found the beginnings of a fight brewing on the beach.
They also found Bowser, jr and jr’s new friend Lana besides a pretty intricate sandy tableau that had been made before the sandcastle building had been interrupted by their schoolgirl friend's incessant need to throwdown had interrupted it. As it turned out that both the kids had a knack for sandcastle building, Lana from having spent many a day at the beach on her tropical island home, while the jr was mostly applying the level building chops he’d learned from his dad in miniature (alongside getting a few pointers from the king as well).
In the end Bowser jr had erected a dread-fortresses of sand, one covered in spikes, traps and koopa troop iconography. The only thing it really lacked when compared to the real thing was lava moats, and he had been banned from trying to fill ditches with ever-burning fire the moment he had mentioned the idea.
Lana meanwhile had made a remarkably intricate depiction of her home island of Akala. Said island was presently depicted as being under assault from armies of crude sand koopas coming from the castle opposite it. They were squaring up against much more impressive sand pokemon sculptures Lana had made to protect her lands.
The mock battle had come to an abrupt end when Sakura had arrived and challenged their host Karin to a real battle, only to instead wind up fighting her bodyguard Birdie instead in a riveting battle of brawn vs blitz fighting techniques.
As the two streetfighters squared up, the two ladies plopped themselves down alongside the group, Rika introducing herself to Lana an marvaling about the kid’s sandcastle craftsmanship, while Kamek attempted to inform Bowser of their new discovery.
”Wonderful news sire, I, or rather we, have discovered a new way to control the fusion process, the ah, Snaktivator!” she announced rather proudly as she presented the king with the funny little device she had gotten from Floofty a few minutes ago.
”Oh ok cool, what’s that do?” the king replied, not really paying attention, before loudly hollering ”GO SAKURA! PUNCH HIS FACE OFF!” at the skirmishing street-fighter.
”Ah well it... It lets you make it so only a specific part of a person is affected by the spirit” she explained. Then waited for a moment, and recognized that her king was much too distracted by the ongoing fight to take interest in this ”Perhaps a demonstration would be of help? One moment, I shall acquire a spirit from some hostile creature. Hmmm. Ah there will do”
She whirled her wand and suddenly vanished, which when it sank in with the rest of the group what she was doing and where she might have gone, caused a moment of alarm and concern. Fortunately that ended a second later when she reappeared and said ”On second thought, perhaps going off into danger on my own is not the best idea… oh wait. We already have some saved. Silly me. One moment” before vanishing again.
She reappeared a few more moments later with a jar holding an assortment of spirits that had been gathered up during their last little trip through the weald and then left in their room at peach’s castle to be used later.
”Oh hey. I forgot you got those… anything good in there?” Jr asked, peering at the jar’s contents.
”Well I got this little number” Kamek replied, picking up the green aquatic lizard known as a tonberry from the little collection, but added that ”Unfortunately I intended to use this one to acquire some of my old proportions back, so it is not suitable for the current demonstration”
She set that aside and then tipped the rest out onto the beach to give them all a look.
”Is this a penguin? Jr asked, picking up the spirit of what did indeed look like a penguin until you noticed the eldrich differences. ”Why did you keep this one around?” he asked mockingly.
”You would be surprised, that thing was leaping all over the place ripping things apart with its beak. I’m rather glad it got overwhelmed before we had to deal with it” Kamek replied, before she picking up the spirit of a Land Dreugh and suggesting ”Here sire, maybe this one will suit you?”
The king peered at it and grimaced and replied ”That ugly thing? Urgh, no thanks. I’m already messed up as it is Kamek”
”Ah, but that is the genius of this device. With it we can control the transformation. Limit it to just a small area” Kamek explained, before adding ”I think” quietly.
”Huh. Neat” Jr said (to which the others nodded in agreement) now looking at the device with interest, before looking over at where his newest pokemon was bathing in the sun and saying ”Dazzle, come over here, I wanna try something”
With that, the science/demonstration began, with the Land_Dreugh being absorbed into Bowser and then the Snaktivator on his right shoulder, the Dire Penguin being used on Popplio and then the device being used more extensively on his arms/flippers and finally Kamek just used the Tonberry on herself without the device (all of these where chest/power absorption).
That round of experimentation left only a set of Ocean Crawlers, a zombie dolphin and a spare Dire penguin or two for any further experiments in targeted mutations. Or just crushing.
Twilight warp: Midna can set down gateways (at her own location) that allow her to fast travel between them by skimming along the boundary of the twilight realm. This hop does not go deep enough to expose the traveler to the mutating energies of the twilight realm, and so it can be used to safely transport light-worlders as well as the princess herself. The creation of each gate requires a charge. She begins with 3, and gains one more each time she gains combat exp.
”No no no get lost” Minda shouted at the chasing Trilids. Sure, these ones chasing her meant they where out of the way of the bomb and the rest of the crew, but that was cold comfort when they where nipping at her heels. Her Vibrava dodged to the side, dragging her with it and out of the way of a charging insect trying to smash its blade-like head into the both of them. She slashed at it clumsily, her wounds from her making it hard to fight as well as before ,meaning she succeeded only in batting it away. Fortunately that was enough, as fire suddenly lanced down from on high, scything through her pursuers one and all.
”Thank the goddesses” she whispered to herself as she slowed, and used her long-sword held in her shadowhand to hack at the stragglers to bits, before correcting herself by shouting up ”Thanks Prim!” at her savior and saluting her with a blade holding hand.
Then a few moments later there was an explosion below as the mega jar hit, followed by a cavalcade of final blows raining down on what was left of Red Eye. Minda held her breath as she watched the strikes hammer down, and then let out a whoop of ”yeah! Get squashed maggot!” as the titan finally breathed its last breath and started to turn to ash.
Then she was left to fight her way down through the air currents, returning just in time to see Joker bind Red Eye’s spirit to his will. At another time she would have been weary of that, she still didn't quite trust the thieves even after all this time but at the moment she could care less.
”Well I’m glad that’s over… so uh. Now what?” she asked, before glancing around and becoming aware of their current predicament ”Ah ” she held the sentence as she prevented herself from swearing and finally finished with ”Joy. Another death march. Well at least it’s warm instead of cold this time”
They were also a bit better equipped to deal with it. Poppie had her ice core which she could blast people with in a rather brute force cooling method. Midna meanwhile had something much more mundane to help them make it.
”Water and salty food. Come and get it!” she announced as she mounted up and prepared to get moving, opening up portals and (after storing her blades) dropping bottles of water and varieties of travel food into her hands and then handing them out to whoever wanted them. Which was likely everyone. Aid granted, she then helped herself to plenty of water and a cereal bar or two while she stuck close to Sectonia to benefit from her passive healing and holding her shadow hand up over her head to act as a parasol.
The team got moving together, though not all of them set off at the same time. The metal jawed warrior stayed behind for a bit, only to come sprinting after them to rejoin them a short while later, letting them know he had stayed back to find something he had dropped.
”I’m surprised you found whatever it was you were looking for” Minda said, remembering how they could not find their friends that had been blown away the last time they crossed, before pulling out another water bottle and tossing it to the cyborg warrior with a ”Drink up, if you can manage that with only one lip”
She looked away after that, intending to just get back to riding across the sands, before going ”Oh! Right” and turning back and saying ”You should be free now?” a glance at his eyes told her that he was ”Mmm. Good. Then I’ll fill you in on the truth of this world. This is not your home realm, it is Galeem’s world and that” she pointed west and skywards at the winged ball of floating ball of light ”Is Galeem”
”Galeem tore reality asunder, ripped every world to shreds and then stitched them back together into this mish mash quilt of a world. Then it filled its hack job of a world with the peoples of the torn up worlds, and muddied their minds so they couldn’t remember how the world used to be,” she said, before pausing her exposition to take a sip of water for her desert dry throat, ”something you should be free from now, going by the fact that your eyes aren't red anymore. People under its influence have red eyes and can't back down from a fight, you see, on top of the whole, not being able to realize Galeem messed up the world deal”
”We don't know how, or why it did that, but we do know it’s protected by 13 guardians, and we need to take them all down before we can take a shot at the gaudy thing. Other free people… Tora and some others… already got 2. This one here that makes three and there's another team working on a 4th, if they haven't got it already. So, a few down, a fair way to go” she explained, laying out the task at hand, before saying ”We could use all the help we could get, so if you want to go home, or get revenge, or just are the kinda guy who sees a cause and signs up because it's the right thing to do, and considering what you just did I assume its the latter, we’d be thankful for more of your help…”
She paused, and then realized something ”Huh. Don’t think I ever got your name. Mine’s Midna, what’s yours?” she asked as they tramped forwards together under the beating sun.
The end of the golden road that cut through the darkness of node 11 was not the end of danger that its southbound travelers hoped it would be. After tracking across the smooth luminous pathway, where every moment was a gamble on if something truly horrifying would come out of the darkness, the wall of trees found at the node 12 end of the road seemed like it might hold safty.
There was none to be found.
Deep within, a mass of muscle under gray fur sat atop a mound of bones. Bones of the wild made up the mass of it, but they were joined by the bones of livestock, the.bones of herders, and freshest and most prized of all, the bones of foolish travelers. Before this throne of bone the wolf king’s subordinates bowed down, each one no less grand and savage, and each and every one filled with the final spite of chaos crackling through their nervous systems and behind eyes too clever for mere beasts.
One was standing among them, barking and growling in crude communication.
Two legged prey had come. Packs of them blundered through the forest till they reached seemingly random spots, where they were cutting at the trees, piling sticks and setting down large strange smelling seed things.
Ripe for the pickings, just as all the others, growled some.
Strangeness, requires caution, whined others. Cowered. The voracious nipped at them and they were silenced.
The wolf king of the north was pleased his court agreed with the choice he had already made.
The howl of war ripped through the woods.
“You hear that” one of the woodcutters said, as he paused his work to look fearfully through the thick dark woods “Wolves. Sounded close too”
“All the better reason to keep chopping Jack. Faster we get this done, faster we can get out of here and can get paid” retorted Erin, the leader of their 20-something sized work crew, as she worked to reduce a previously felled tree to splinters which they piled up around the barrel they’d been told to place here, deep in the woods.
Jack did that, but the howl stuck in his mind for a long while before asked “Do you think they know?”
“Know? Ha. They’re animals they don't know jack, Jack” Erin retorted with a well worn joke. The target of it just rolled his eyes, but the familiarity of it put him at ease.
Just how the predators stalking through the underbrush wanted him.
Simple beasts followed the order of their pack-lord as they snuck into position, just as many of their ilk were doing around the other isolated herds of prey. They inched closer and closer, waiting for a signal. They were impatient, hungry, and overconfident. They got closer. Closer still. And then one stepped on a twing.
“Hmmm?” Jack hummed, glancing over his shoulder towards the noise. He squinted, but saw nothing and after a moment got back to work, Erin’s words in his mind's ear.
The beasts relaxed, the stupid prey’s dull senses having not alerted the foolish one among them. Unfortunately for them, the working humans had not entrusted their watch to themselves or even others of their own kind. No, instead that duty had gone to a waist high bundle of colorful feathers which tilted its fang filled mouth and tapped forwards on feet each of which was sporting an oversized claw.
It sniffed, tilted its head to the side.
Then it saw them.
The tamed velociraptor let out a shrill alarm call and at once the woodcutters dropped what they were doing to respond. But they did not drop their axes. Instead they shouted at each other and moved to form up into a defensive posture as their watch dinosaur ran back to them, twittering with alarm.
“Maybe it was-” Jack began to say, right before a howl ripped through the woods and the wolves ripped out of the undergrowth, barrelling towards them as their leader’s howl was picked up across the woods and the attack began before it was ready. It was joined by screams from the human and one more sound. A horn, calling loud and low, was blown by Erin for as long as it could be blown before she had to drop it and heft her ax at an incoming wolf.
She caught the first, but then the second leapt over the skull split corps of its fellow and savaged her before she could recover. Several others fell before a stalemate began, the wolves circling the beleaguered humans (and their feathered pets) darting in to nip at them.
Then their lord stood from its hiding spot and began to lope towards them. A towering beast it was, tall as a man in his prime and several times the mass. It walked towards them with a leisurely pace at first, seemingly drinking in their fear as it stepped into the light of the small clearing the mortals had felled.
Only then did it pick up speed, coming at them at a breakneck pace, enough to simply crash through them. Closer. Closer.
Then a shadow passed across the humans and it was like the sky was falling as a blue mass slammed down in between them and their doom.
Annie, the first demon, a titan of muscle, screamed a wordless battle cry as she slammed a two handed warhammer of silver gray metal forwards and left a creator where the wolf lord had been before it dodged to the side, eyes confused. The wolf lord had not known the two legged prey had those like its own kind among them.
The demon met its look with a sharp toothed smile before she lunged, hammer raised and swinging again in an instant as great blue wings bore her forwards with unexpected speed. Yet still, the woman, who had not been a warrior before her ascension, missed again, cursing as she did so.
The wolf lord lunged at the clumsy titan, jaws snapping, only for its fearsome growls to be turned to yowls as Annie grabbed it by the throat and choke slammed it into a tree. Bones snapped and blood spilled, and the stunned wolf lord could do naught as the demon raised her hammer for a third and final time, and reduced the beast to a red smear.
Silence reigned in the clearing for a moment from human and beast alike, before a shout of rage and victory burst out as the woodcutters charged the remaining wolves who turned to fee, only for several to be pounced by raptors and then brought low by axes.
In a moment it was all over. The surviving wolves lead leaving only the victorious humans and fallen bodies behind. Some of those bodies were groaning in pain, quiet sounds that were nearly drowned out by the call of horns coming from other parts of the woods.
“Stabilize your wounded! I’ll be back to transport the worst to safety once the attack is resolved” Annie ordered, before taking wing once more.
The wolf king growled from atop his throne of bone at his subordinates. Failures, all of them.
They whined about humans with wings and great size.
Another growled that they were liars. Winger prey had been barely larger than the norm. It had slayed that which came for it and, true, fled afterwards when the retreat howls came, but that was the cowardice of others. Not it. Cowardice of the king.
The king growled back, stepping down from its throne to meet this challenger. And then stopped. All stopped. And sniffed the wind.
And smelled smoke.
The unhurt woodcutters had hurried out of the woods, while their wounded comrades had been borne out on leather wings. Now those same leather wings returned bearing torches. They flew over the clearings of kindling and barrels of oil, dropped their flaming loads, and then they too fled as the forest began to burn.
Wolves and their kings alike panicked. Ran. and found only fire.
The spots the prey had been in had not been at random. They had been in a circle. And now they were surrounded by all sides by an inferno. It would be a slow death, hemming them in, suffocating them and scorching them, making them turn on eachother in panic.
The king thought it was an impressive cruelty.
He was wrong. The end was quick.
When the forest fire reached a peak a ritual began at the fire’s edge. A great circle of runes within which hundreds of humans, many of them the same woodcutters who had survived the wolf attacks, stood surrounded by priests, one of whom declared
“You shall be guardians! Protectors of all who travel here, and through the darklands! This you have sworn, and for payment for your labor given in the name of this task, now and in future we gift you ascension!”
The woods raged with fire, incinerating all the remaining fuel in the blink of an eye, be it tree, wolf or beast alike and then it swept forth from the forest, plunging down onto the ritual circle, birthing swaths of demons. Guardians of the road of light, who would found the town of Twilight Rest on the ashes of their ascension.
To the southwest, the plan was the same, to burn a hole before the narrow pass between node 18’s north mountains and the sea. However here the wolves were smarter still. They knew humans better because their king ruled from that same sea all the way up to stone lake, where many human settlements sat, clawing at forest and mountain alike. They did not let the fuel be set, and instead came at the humans as they approached. They fought not just with teeth and claws, but also stolen weapons gripped in strong jaws.
Wolven warriors and mortals promised coin and glory, fought, spilled blood, and burned pyres of ascension.
The stink of it all wafted south, the scent of the blood and rot and ash of god touched mortals and chaos touched beasts drifting over the valley. Tempting the very thing the humans had come to guard against.
In his temple home Xavoir set down the last of his gifts to mortals, and turned to the node to once again eye the potential shimmering there that had given him the wisdom of steel. The connection to a distant land. It called to him. Reports from humans who had seen Monica and the unknown god meet, and seen the hunger of the blighted abomination that had been made, sat discarded on a table.
“Is this a trap Monica? Surely not? Who would be so foolish as to step blindly across the world to the side of one who had declared me her enemy? Who stood by as a monster created an abomination that threatens the people and all we have built here” he asked no one but himself.
“Yet perhaps I have been too paranoid by half? Look at me! I have not even left this node since I claimed it, as if looking away for but a second will cause me to lose it” he shook his head “as if I could not trust them with it for but a moment, even when I say I trust them to manage themselves”
He sighed, and then, after a long moment, reluctantly raised his hand to the node.
“You had better give me straight answers this time”
An expedition led by Annie has burned a hole in the 12th node’s woods (after battling its wolf kings) where they meet the golden road of node 11. They intend to form a city there which will guard travelers from the dangers of the road and the woods. The burnt forest was used to make demons.
An attempt to do the same in the south, however there the wolves are smarter and actually armed due to ongoing conflict with the stone lake settlements. The land is locked in an ongoing war with the humans creating demons haphazardly rather than en-mass. The death of god empowered mortals and chaos empowered beasts might well attract the hunger of the very Cradle the humans wanted to use this burning as a jumping off point to battle.
Finally, Xavior has used Monica and Benea’s node access to raise his people’s tech again, and has used the time to wallow in indecision over whether he should link Monica’s nexus to his own. In the end he decides he should get out more, and does so, intending to travel to her to get answers about her intentions and those of the hostile god who took node 18.
4 nodes (2 monica, 1benea, 1 Xavior) and 3 mp used to raise the 12th realm to the iron age
The temple around the 12th node held the council chambers of Eunomia, the blossoming city that surrounded it. In this room well dressed men and women crowded round a large rectangular table covered in crude maps and reports regarding their city, the 12th realm, and the lands beyond. From here they drafted decrees, proclamations and requests that reached far and wide and were addressed to gods and mortals alike.
It was not these affairs that concerned them today. No it was the empty chair among their mists. It was a stylish chair, but no more so than any of the rest. It's only prominence was its place at the table’s head, and the fact that despite the fact that she was standing in for its owner, the horned priest Annie did not take Xavior’s seat as she argued with several of the council members over her god’s absence.
“This is absurd. It has been three days!” Argus, a muscled man who represented lumbering and quarrying settlements around stone lake, was saying “Three days since he last appeared. A period of isolation is understandable, I’m sure, when faced with such a betrayal but it has been long enough! The people are disquieted by the events around Monica’s brief visit and especially the idea that she and he are to be enemies! Now is not a time for uncertainty, or hiding behind closed doors, it is a time for clear communication and action!”
There was a murmur of agreement from around the table. All were concerned by the god’s absence when he had been so integral and engaged in their affairs since they had arrived at the 12th node.
“You want action, yet aren't you all empowered to act in his name? Don’t you have influence and support to enact action yourselves?” Annie retorted, standing firm and with a hand place on the back of Xavior’s chair as she spoke
“We are the voices of the people, and we can speak for and direct them, yes, but this is an issue of the gods”
“Yesterday you directed a missive to Brey, a god, didn’t you?” Annie replied with a smile
“A matter of trade. Not this game of gods. What, exactly, does Monica being our resident devine’s foe mean? Should we expect to be invaded by swarms of her broken realm’s insects? To stand aside as they engage in a duel to the death and then bow to her mad will should she win? If he matches out and a god comes here are we to stand in their way and be slaughtered or stand aside and allow our fates to be dictated by others? We don’t know the rules, or the moves we can and should make, yet we are all parts of the game anyway, blind without his wisdom”
“We have been told all of what Monica said before she departed, so we are just as in the dark as to her true intentions as Xavior is” the disciple replied “As for what we should do should a god come, I’m sure he would say that is all down to us to make our own choices”
“You’re sure are you? Well now, that is the problem isn't it. His silence means we can only assume what he would say, let alone what is even possible. Can we even stand up to a god? Beings who defy chaos and fly though the air faster than any Tonnikala? Without him that is a question we can only answer with a deadly gamble” the hard man replied leaning across the table
“Patience, I am completely sure our god has just shut himself away to think long and hard on the issue facing us. He will return to us with grace and order soon enough” Annie replied calmly in the face of the angry man, keeping control on her urge to just punch him for the sake of her god’s appearance. Then a few moments later the door to the room slammed open and Xavior stamped into the room.
Smoke wafted off of the god, as he tossed the message he had moments ago received from Benea via a glowing mote, which had caused the still fuming rage, onto the central table without comment.
As the counselors shouted questions and read the message (which led to more questions) Xavior ignored them all and instead took a shocked Annie’s hand and asked “My first and most loyal disciple. I have boon and burden both for you, if you will have them”
“I… or course. What is it you need from me?”
“I need you to follow me, and then I need you to burn bright”
The god led his disciple, and more or less the entire council despite having not invited them, out of the temple.
“I have been complacent. If gods are to declare me an enemy, if they are to go mad with power or detain others on false pretenses, if they are willing to so casually toss aside their words regarding our first pack and ask me to do the same, then I cannot sit idle in this land. Yet neither can I trust nor even ask people to use bow and spear and mundane morality against insane gods. So. Power. We need power, and power beyond just what my hands can produce”
He explained as he sent ahead orders. Orders which meant that when they reached their destination (which the humans found it to be the city’s main lumber store, where wood from the wolf woods had been floated downriver and then stashed in the open air to be allowed to dry) they found it had had several hearts of goats herded into it.
“What is power really but energy conveyed over time. We can produce energy, so all we need to do is put it into a mortal” He explained, vaguely, before asking Annie to step forwards into a circle of metal runes he created on the ground at the center of the lumber store with a flick of a finger
“What kind of energy?” she asked even as she complied and stood at the ready.
“In its simplest and purest form” the god replied as he snapped his fingers and formed a single glowing mote on the tip of his index finger “fire”
The lumber store burned, the roar of the flames that could be seen from miles around joined by the screaming of goats as they burned in the inferno. Over this cacophony Argus raged at the eerily calm god within whose eyes a reflection of the flames danced and played “The work from hundreds of people went into all that! Good honest working people. And you're reducing it to ashes!”
“I will pay for every splinter, I assure you, and besides. I’m sure you will agree it is worth it when you see it”
“See what? All I’m seeing is a colossal waste of time and money!”
“This” the god said, as the blaze intensified a thousandfold for a few moments as everything inside burned all at once, producing for just a heartbeat enough power to rival a sun. Yet the energy did not burst outwards and neither light nor heat flashed forth to incinerate the city. Instead it all swirled inwards to a hungering void, a blackhole that devoured the energy and then just as soon as the feeding had begun the flames died and all that was left was ash, and the first of demon kind.
While Xavior grinned Argus gasped as he looked up. And up. At a towering woman twice his height. Amazonian muscles bulged under blue skin as great draconic wings furled out on either side of the giant, who looked down with amber slitted eyes sat beneath a crown of horns.
Annie blinked, her vision returning after it had been scoured by the blinding inferno around her. She looked down at her arms for a moment, examining them and the slight claws that had formed at their ends. Then she flexed and it felt right. She glanced behind herself and found wings and a long slender tail ending in a spade like tip. Grinned. And then with a single flap took to the skies, kicking up a storm of ash in her departure.
The demoness flow higher and higher, soaring up impossibly on her new wings. She swooped, soared, laughing at the freedom and then a few minutes later slammed back down among the ashes before the amazed mortals, a struggling horse sized Tonnikala, those absurd flying fish the god had wrought on a whim, struggling under her arm.
She would be the first in the world to find what one tasted like, and that was only the beginning of the impact Xavior’s reckless innovation would have. As the first demon laughed and invited her god to join her for dinner the council members, voices of the people, first among equals, looked up and saw one of their kind who now was far beyond them.
And it worried them greatly
My Dear Xavior,
The most awful of things have kept me from delivering upon my promise, but don’t fret — as soon as I can, I will be gifting you permissions in Node 6. To quickly recap, things didn't go as planned in Node 11, but I’m sure our sweet Monica can clue you in more than I can.
More urgently, my talks with Tsunya were splendid and she is as close to me as you, however my talks with Anak’thas were less than splendid. You see, an infection has seemed to have tainted his mind. What was once an upstanding fellow of order backing you and I up at the central node has become a bit of an addict of the power of the nodes. He isn’t in his right mind, dear, and so threatened the stability we are trying to build.
Naturally I detained him until I can see him cured of his sudden madness. In the meantime, I think it would be naturally prudent for us to assume that the madness might worsen and so I am taking direct control over node 14 until we can reassign it. Mirroring that, I think you should consider reinforcing Dzallitsunya as she occupies Node 13 or perhaps even think about securing the neutral node 18 just in case. Node 12 is a cradle of our civilization, but I know it is in good hands.
(Delivered a few days after the first demon is made. The document is stamped with a wax seal that emanates with Xavior’s power)
Greetings, wise and divine Brey and the people of the 22th realm
In the name of Xavior, the council of Eunomia wishes to propose a mutually beneficial trade deal. Our divine patron has furnished us with many technologies which we understand that you lack. The delegation bearing this message has brought with them numerous examples of this. Tools made from alloys stronger than common copper, soaps which can be used for cleaning, rope for securing things, as well as the ship and then carts upon which these goods have been furnished to your location.
Should these be of interest, we can supply both more of the goods themselves, and instructors and manuals on how to produce these objects. What we request in exchange is access to your lessons, as well as your libraries and permission to acquire and/or produce copies of the tomes within. We would also be interested, with your permission, to seek the employment and emigration of some of your brighter students to form a second school of magic in our proud city.
Should this be of interest the holder of this document is empowered to negotiate the specifics of the arrangement on our behalf, and on the behalf of our god.
We hope this is the beginning of a fruitful relationship between our two peoples
Yours sincerely
The council of Eunomia
Xavior ends a 3 day isolation caused by his spat with Monica when Benea’s message arrives. With a (self declared) enemy and muddy circumstances in the north Xavior takes a radical and unadvised move and proceeds to burn his city’s lumber stores and several herds of goats in-order to use the fire to empower his fist follower, Annie, into the first demon.
She, a amazonian winged titan, uses her newfound power to catch a flying fish, and then invites Xavior eat it for dinner while the city council worries about how this will affect society™
While he was sulking, said council sent Brey a message offering a trade deal of bronze age tech for magic lessons and books
4/8
4mp - create demonic ascension:
Demons are enhanced humans, empowered by a ritual that uses up an external fuel source, which are stronger, faster and more magical than common mortals.
The fuel for the ritual comes from physical sources of energy which are burned in the process of empowering the mortal. The most basic source of energy is simple burnable objects, such as wood or coal, but other sources of energy will also produce energy. Food, for example, is a source of power that can be used who’s power can outweigh its flammability due to the compatibility with mortal, as can magical artifacts or materials even if they would not normally burn. Living things that are alive at the point of incineration are far better than dead matter (a grove of trees is worth several times more than the pile of logs it would produce, for example), with beings with inherent supernatural energies, such as magical humans, other demons and servants of gods being the best fuel source (though obviously ones that have the obvious ethical consequences/drawbacks).
Xavier and his disciples are, of course, the intended ritual wielders, but any gods or mortals can perform the ritual should they learn it. The main exception is that a person cannot both be the caster and subject of the ritual, requiring a willing patron or loyal servant (or servants) to perform the empowerment.
Not all demons are made equal, or have been raised to equal power. Instead the power of a demon is based on how much power has been pumped into them (a volume that can be added to subsequently by further rituals) and more specifically into which aspect that power has been pumped to.
A demon has 3 core aspects that can be improved. Might, agility, and magic.
The simplest enhancement is pure bulk. Demons can be enhanced with stronger, denser muscles. They can also be enhanced with raw size. A demon can be a tightly packed powerhouse, or a hulking ogre who can smash lesser foes aside through sheer size. They may also become more bestial in nature, gaining claws, hooves, sharp fangs, a tail, etc.
Agility comes in the form of tails and wings. Flight is, of course, the pinnacle of what these can achieve, but even smaller, weaker wings can still increase a demon’s speed and maneuverability.
Finally magic, which is all in the horns. The bigger, longer, and more complex a Demon’s horns, the more magical power they can store within them, allowing them to cast more and/or stronger sorcery than an unaugment mortal.
The appearance of a demon depends on their patron (consciously and unconsciously). Xavior’s are, of course, classical demons with red skin, curved horns, bat wings and spade tails. Demons made by Monica, however, might have luminescent skin, angelic wings and halos that function as horns. Vatarr’s could be skull-headed. Tael’s raven winged. Eleanna’s far more bestial. Etc.
A human raised demon would reflect the human’s intent, beliefs, personality, etc. but those who are truly unsigned might appear as paragons of humanity with as little deviation from that as possible, merely heavily muscled with hair as a horn stand in and a cape acting in place of wings.
Demons can reproduce with humans without any issue (other than perhaps, size difference), but their offspring will generally only have superficial demonic aspects: small horns and an unusual skin coloration are the most common.
Minda held a crude barb of metal formed from a ripped apart railing against her chest with both hands and filled it with lightning. Once charged she tossed it up and caught it with her shadowhand before using that mighty mit to hurl the improvised javelin forth at her foe. The wind caught the projectile and blew it back even faster until it stuck home and crumpled uselessly against the massive armored wall that was Red Eye’s head. Then a bolt of lightning hammered down into the improvised spear and blasted the titan with enough power to maybe irritate it a bit. The equivalent of a static shock’s worth perhaps.
Still. At least she was doing something, unlike many of the others. Though that could perhaps be more attributed to the ancient artifact on her head having prevented her brains from being scrambled from the blast than by any kind of lollygagging on behalf of the others.
That didn’t stop her from yelling about it to the others though.
”Please please please tell me you are back in the game and have a plan back there!” she demanded to know as she ripped apart another part of the train for ammo. She was not entirely impressed by what she heard about what their plan was.
”Hollow Heights! Are you out of your mind? What is the plan to lose half the people onboard to the winds again!” Midna demanded to know as she hefted an entire deck-plate into her shadow hand, charged it with yet more power, and then prepared to heft it at the worryingly close worm.
She didn't get the chance to finish her toss however, because she instead had to throw herself flat to avoid being decapitated by the gunbarrel of the train swinging around at lightning speed, leaving the deck-plate to fall behind the train and into the sand below.
”Goddesses. Watch where you're swinging that thing you idiots!” she shouted as she picked herself up, only to be presented with the sight of Red Eye’s gaping maw bearing down on them, mere moments away from turning them into worm-food.
”Oh. Fuck”
It was all out of her hands at that point, though that did not mean she did not try. Lighting scorched the insides of Red Eye’s mouth just as useless as it had the outside, but in the end they were saved twice by dragonfire. First from the heroic sacrifice of Robin, who’s last gift was the knowledge of a final smash and the few moments of time they needed for the second burst of dragonfire to save them, the cannon roaring one final time as it near obliterated the titanic wyrm.
But not quite.
Two sources of dragonfire died, and yet neither where the end of the beast.
Robin turned to light rather than ash, a strangeness they had no time to reflect upon as the bridge holding them above the wind filled chasm fell away from them and sent the train crashing down to its demise along with it.
Yet they did not join it. Instead the heroes were blasted skywards by the winds, and out of consciousness by the g-forces involved.
Up there, Midna shook herself awake, and then slipped a finger beneath her mask to wipe away the mist from her eyes. The mask slipped back in place, and she put aside another death that could be laid at her feet to focus on the present.
They were falling to their doom, and yet despite that the damn worm would not stop trying to kill them. Even blasted to bits and impaled on a dozen beams of steel it still had the energy to vomit up a massive swarm of fliers to try and stop them from putting out of its misery.
To her left, she saw Jesse preparing the mother of all firebombs to end the titan, but that wasn't going to matter if it couldn't get there.
”Alright. Fly swatting time it is” she said to herself as she opened portals and drew out her blades. She held the smallest knife in her shield hand, the larger one in her free hand, and then the longsword in her shadow hand. All three she crossed before her heart and infused with Urbosa’s power as she fell.
Finally, she summoned her Vibrava, had it grip her backpack to act like her own set of wings, and used those wings to dive down towards the swarm ahead of the fire bottle, blades bared.
”Clear the way, coming through!” she shouted as she opened a portal before her and hurled her shadow Mimic down at the swarm, the chest hanging wide open as it devoured a score of Trilid before it had to return home. She followed this up with a cartwheeling wolfos that smashed through the swarm and finally a barrage of Chilfos spears flew down as she charged up one more attack.
And then they were upon her.
Or rather, she was upon them.
Midna spun in the air, avoiding the pack leader and slashing a long knife along its length and stabbed another in the head with her small knife before being surrounded by the swarm. Just as intended. She released the dark energy zone she had created around her just as they were about to overwhelm her. Her Vibrava detached from her back and started scything though the stunned pack with rapid fire disembowelment while the princess fell further and brought her longsword to bear alongside her knives.
She became a whirlwind of blades, hacking and stabbing while screaming at the top of her lungs as the air around her joined in, thunder roaring as each strike of the blade sent lightning arcing through the swarm, frying the bugs that came to kill her like the bug zapper of the goddesses.
And then all to soon the wells of power ran dry and the storm of lighting ceased, while the storm of Trilid kept coming. Still she fought, but without the lighting there was nothing to clear the air between swings. A Trilid clipped Midna on the side, sending her blood swirling into the wind as the princess fell the other way, was rammed by a second and then a third narrowly missed her as her Vibrava swooped down and snatched her up and the two turned to fee the swarm instead if fight it, the beleaguered princess trailing vital fluids and a flock of vengeful Trilid in her wake as she sped to one side of the swarm.
Kamek poked the stone platform that had apparently swallowed Link and forced him to fight a gang of dog eared girls with the end of her broom while standing well away from it. Then she sent a shadow clone to wander over it. After that she braved the circle herself. Peered at it. Poked it some more. Gave it a quick sweep to see if that would uncover any hidden runes or something. Then she shot it with a spell for good measure and finally gave up.
”Well then. This is a bust” the mage admitted, right before Rika leaned over her shoulder and asked “What you doing?” which gave her quite the start, the mage twirling around to face the ship girl in a moment of panic.
”Ah my stars! Rika? You snuck up on me!” she accused the former abyssal who simply cocked her head and insisted she had not “I’m just light-footed on the water” she explained, before reiterating her question
”Well I was investigating… ah it does not matter it's a dead end anyway” she replied and then turned the question around on Rika to change the subject ”What have you been up too? I haven’t seen you in a while”
“Me? Oh I’ve been sailing around. It’s nice to be back on the water and not be in danger while I’m at it” she explained “plus I’ve been checking out all the neat stuff there is in the ocean”
”Oh? Such as?” Kamek asked mostly to make conversation as she remounted her broom.
“Lots of colorful fish, and coral oh and there’s this shipwreck with food walking around in it. I didn’t know that was where food came from. Seems kinda weird to be honest” she said, which raised the mages eyebrow. This she had to see, so soon enough they had scooted along the beach to see the food based bugs who made their home in and around the shipwreck.
“Weird aren't they?” Rika said as the bugs mostly scurried away from her loudness
”Somewhat, yes” Kamek agreed as she landed on the beach next to the shipgirl, before sending a Toadie swooping off to snatch up a kiwi looking one, which came complete with a large spoon for a nose. It struggled in the propeller minion’s grip as the mage poked it with her wand.
”Well it’s certainly a novelty… you can't speak can you?” she asked the bug, and only received some pokemon-like calls of “Kwee Kweeble” from it in response ”Seems not. You can never be too careful, you know.” she explained, before having the minion put it down again, at which point it fled to go hide in a nearby fallen log.
“Wanna see if there's anything else neat around?” Rika asked, to which she got a shrug and a ”Why not, I could do with stretching these old bones for a bit” from the mage.
As the pair began their search, they managed to turn up no shortage of unusual things. Their shared interest in ambulatory food had brought them to quite the interesting section of beach, a little south and around a leftward bend from the Kanzuki Estate. With no manmade structures to be seen other than that rather aesthetic shipwreck resting on the shore, the igneous rocky outcroppings forming natural walls and wealth of different Bugsnax to be found, made the cove seem more like a nature preserve than part of a resort. Kamek and Rika could watch a Snaquiri leap from the water to float using its umbrella, or Crapples fighting over morsels of food that had washed ashore. When they passed by palm trees they could see crowds of Snakpods just hanging there like bagworms. It wasn’t all fun and games, though; channels of lava oozed gently down the beach from within caves in the porous rock, and irksome Grapeskeetos buzzed around the ladies in a feeble but annoying campaign to drain their juices.
Most interesting of all, Kamek and Rika realized during their tour of Boiling Bay that they weren’t alone. While tourists and beachgoers seemed to give the place a respectful birth on account of its weird and wonderful creatures, a lone Grumpus traipsed around the cove busily, using a trap to gather Bugsnax one at a time. If lucky enough to catch one, the purple-furred stranger went right back to the shipwreck. A better look at the place revealed the presence of a number of tables laden with hastily-scribbled notes and scientific instruments, as well as cages for the critters and some other bits of furniture. Said better look also led to the bizarre discovery that the stranger’s left lower leg appeared to be composed entirely of strawberries, but if the unusual limb troubled the Grumpus at all, they certainly gave no sign of it.
Kamek took the strawberry leg for a strangely localized fusion and that was enough to pique his interest, though the discovery that she seemed to be a fellow academic also had a part of it. Of course, such types were not normally the ones who liked to be interrupted, which could prove a problem to her information gathering. As such, when she politely rapped on the closest thing she could find to a door on the ship with her wand she had with her the same very unfortunate kweeble. Or rather Rika did, carrying the panicked thing under one arm
”Excuse me for interrupting, but you seemed to be someone in the know about these strange creatures? Would you be able to enlighten me about their nature and what you are studying about them?” she called out with polite interest.
Floofty gave Kamek an irritated glance, although a little respect and the possibility of free Bugsnax as a peace offering meant that they couldn’t be too bothered. “Hmph! I should certainly hope so,” they grouched, slapping shut the door on a freshly-caught Strabby’s cage. The Grumpus reached out a paw to request the Kweeble. “How refreshing it is to meet someone helpful for a change. Here, I’ll take that. Curious about Bugsnax, are we? Keep whatever wits you have about you and don’t touch anything without my say-so, and we’ll get along just famously, I’m sure.” After they stuffed the living kiwi in a birdcage, with its spoon nose poking through the openings, the Grumpus crossed their arms behind their back. “Floofty Fizzlebean, Gastroentomologist. If that’s too many syllables for you, just know that it means yes, I most certainly can ‘enlighten’ you about Bugsnax. I’m studying them to better understand, and control, the process of snakification.”
”Oh I wouldn’t dare” Kamek replied to the insistence she not touch anything, before giving Rika a ‘that goes for you too’ glance after the ship girl had handed over the Bugsnax to the Gastroentomologist. A word both wisely decided not to embarrass themselves failing to pronounce correctly.
”Pleasure to meet you, Floofty. I am Kamek, a humble mage, and this is my companion, Rika” the koopa introduced them to her as they both looked around the rest of the shipwreck of a home.
“Hi” Rika said with a smile and a wave “Nice place you got here. Very… drift woody!”
Kamek gave her a look and then realized Rika was being more or less genuine with her compliment and tried to move past that as best she could ”Yes… well anyway. What was that process you mentioned? Snakification?” she glanced down at the Grumpus’ mismatching limb and then asked ”Is that what occurred to your leg? If that isn’t a sensitive topic”
“Yeah what is up with that? It's like a super localized fusion? We’ve never seen that before, right Kamek?” Rika added, tactlessly crouching down a little to get a closer look at the strawberry leg.
Floofty nodded to Kamek. “Correct. Snakification is the process by which Grumpus biology is overridden by surrogate biological matter following the consumption of Bugsnax. We are what we eat, as they say.” They lifted their leg and moved it, each of the three strawberries bending and flexing just as a normal limb would. “Owing to the difficulty of getting any help from the dim-witted and trepidatious populace hereabouts, I have been experimenting on myself, hence the leg. Snakification occurs one part at a time, and randomly–until now, that is.”
“Until now?” Rika asked curiously, bulldozing over any of the interim questions Kamek had been about to voice about, for example, the how of that situation, or perhaps more importantly the whys of why you would want to have a food based leg in the first place.
A smug look spread over Floofty’s face. “Ah, tickled your fancy with that one, did I?” They adjusted their bow importantly. “Indeed. For I have created an invention capable of directing Snakification’s transformative power into a specific part. Behold…” Floofty moseyed over to a nearby table and picked up a device that seemed to be made from a fishing rod, then presented it to their guests. “The Snaktivator. It’s all very intricate and complicated, so I’ll put it in words I’m sure everyone can understand.” They opened the a cage and pulled the Bugsnak Rika gave them back out. “Feed me Kweeble. Poke Snaktivator in foot. Foot turns into Kweeble.” Flipping the device around in their hand, they almost offered it to Rika, but thought better of it and handed it to Kamek. “Well? What are you waiting for? The trial has begun.” With that, Floofty stood with their mouth open, and an otherwise unamused expression.
”Are you su-” Kamek began to ask before she realized it was a very pointless question. Of course she was sure. So instead the mage took the device before Rika could, and crouched down next to Floofy’s foot.
“Aw” Rika bemoaned not getting the funny device, but that did not prevent her from picking the Kweeble out of the cage and holding the struggling beast out and, sort of, vaguely handing it towards the Grumpus’ very big mouth.
As Rika hoisted the Bugsnak Kamek had to ask ”So. Forgive my ignorance, but what is the benefit of this, specifically?” even as she stood ready to engage in the experiment.
It went without saying that neither of them had any particular qualms about feeding a living creature to this very reckless scientist. Kamek came from a palace where everything had eyes, and Rika saw no reason not to follow her example in this situation. People probably should have not let her fall in with such dastardly influences.
Rather than reply, Floofty went ahead and ate the Kweeble. The creature got chewed up and swallowed in a matter of moments, leaving Floofty smacking their lips. “Hmm. Terribly sweet,” they mumbled as they glanced down at the extremity Kamek was kind enough to prod with the Snaktivator. Sure enough, the left lower leg suddenly turned into a big kiwi fruit with both ends removed. It just sort of popped in, without any build-up or ceremony. Floofty’s knee disappeared straight into the top as if the missing lower leg was embedded within. “Experiment zero-two, successful,” the Grumpus announced.
They cleared her throat and moved on, as if the matter bore no other significance. “As for your other question, the answer is really quite simple, so I daresay its implications won’t be lost on you. As you see, snakifications ‘remember’ the part that came before, as if imprinted. This allows them to mold to a shape similar to the original. And snakification wears off over time.” Floofty paused as if waiting for their new assistants to start applauding their genius right that instant. “...Which means, even if I were, say, missing a limb, a snakified limb would grow in its place, then revert to the original part over time. It is nothing less than regeneration–of limbs, of organs, of bodies. A discovery that will no doubt rock the world of medicine to its very core, even if…certain people…don’t quite grasp that significance.”
Kamek blinked behind her spectacles a few times and then had to admit ”You’re right, that is remarkable”
Rika scratched her head and then pointed out “Can’t you and Blazeramte already do stuff like that with your magic and her heal beam thing though?”
”Well, yes. But not everyone has a mage as experienced as I or a fancy medical robot, on call. If these can be farmed then you could supply an entire civilization with near perfect wound and disease treatment in an edible form. That would be revolutionary on its own. Plus there are limits to what we can do, limb and organ restoration wise. We haven't exactly had to worry about limb loss yet for example, so I do not know if Blazermate can cover that” Kamek pointed out, before asking a somewhat key question in terms of application for their specific needs (i.e. violence) ”How long does the, ah, snakification normally take to wear off?”
Barbed words for Rika had been on the tip of Floofty’s tongue until Kamek gently explained the importance of their work. The Grumpus settled for looking indignant, as if her time was being wasted, until Kamek posed another question. “That depends on one’s natural healing rate, independent of any outside restorative effects, but it’s typically about a week,” they replied.
”I see” she replied. Much too long for combat healing, but an impressive rate for anything other than that. If they could get some of these to smash city it could be useful for treating long term injuries there. If it worked on non grumpus’ that was.
”I take it you do not know if this works on people who are not of your species yet?” she asked, a touch rhetorically, before adding ”or if there are any of these bugsnax that would provide beneficial properties on top of the transformation…. Hmmm maybe we could even induce useful effects via fusion?” as much as a question as her own musings.
The question took Floofty aback, provoking brows furrowed in indignation. “As if! You must not know what a good scientist looks like. Of course I tested on other species whenever I could get them, and they most certainly do experience similar effects. If you simply cannot visualize such a thing, why not prove me right by trying it for yourself?” Floofty tossed the Snaktivator back to Kamek, treating the device almost as flippantly as their guests. “With my vastly superior two-point-two model nearly complete, I have no further need of version two-point-one. Just let me know if anything interesting happens while you’re playing with it, would you? I’ve got much to do, so if you’ve no further intent to aid me in my research, kindly leave me to it.”
”I meant no offense. I simply assumed based on your mention of not being able to get help earlier, and your reliance on self testing, that you would have not had access to other research subjects as of yet. That was my mistake” Kamek apologized to her even as she stashed away the device in her white mage robes.
“That seemed pretty obvious to me” Rika interjected, having not really liked the woman’s tone from the start.
Kamek’s good manners helped to smooth over the perceived wound. “Ah, fret not. In the end it’s only natural, I suppose. All that really matters is progress.” That said, it would seem that Floofty was serious about getting back to their own business for now. The Grumpus returned to their workstation, where they lifted up their new kiwi leg and laid it on the table before taking hold of a hacksaw. Then Floofty paused, and almost as an afterthought glanced the others’ way. “Run along for now, why don’t you? What comes next might not suit you. Later on, however, I might have need of you again, and I may be able to prepare something for your troubles, as well.”
”We’ll, ah, keep that in mind” Kamek replied. If the dismissal had not made her want to leave the prospect of viewing some self amputation most certainly did. ”Come along now Rika, let us leave Floofty to her work” she said, before swiftly stepping out the door with the ship girl in tow.
“Well that was weird?” Rika said while they were still unwisely close to the self mutilating researcher’s driftwood domicile.
”Nonsense it was fascinating” the mage replied with deliberate loudness before saying far more quietly ”She seemed a few coins short of a 1up yes, but no need to let her know that”
“Oh. Ok then” Rika relpield “Sooooooo. What are you going to do with that thingy then? Because I don't think anyone else would want to turn their leg into food. Right?”
”Probably not, unless they were worried about losing it of course. Which in this line of work does not seem too unlikely unfortunately” Kamek replied, before explaining that: ”What I am really interested in is how this interacts with fusions. As a targeted delivery mechanism perhaps? Maybe it even works on fusions on its own”
“Huh. maybe. So how are you gonna find out?” Rika asked as they strolled along the beach
”Well we’ll just have to try it out and find out now won't we?” the mage replied with a smile
And thus began their own bout of highly ill advised experiments.
On some unfortunate fish.
You have acquired: Snaktivator A device created by the sharp-tongue gastroentomologist, Floofty Fizzlebean. It is capable of directing transformative power from an outside source while the process is still in progress. Its intended purpose was to control the randomness of the snakification process induced by eating Bugsnax and direct the new matter to a specific region of the body for restorative purposes; however, this also applies to fusion. In both cases the change conforms to the target area to an extent, preserving or only slightly modifying iconic traits, although given the relative strength of fusion the changes tends to ‘originate’ and be strongest at the target area rather than confine itself solely to it. If possible the change is analogous; IE, if the host targets an arm, the donor’s arm will apply. While this pertains mostly to appearance, allowing a greater degree of control and customization, it can also affect what Powers and Strengths are gained
Several minutes and a few heavily mutated fish later and Kamek had her answer and it was quite the excellent one.
”Fascinating stuff” Kamek concluded as their experiments wound down, before saying ”Thank you for bringing me here Rika. This little gizmo was well worth the effort and rudeness from its creator” to her research assistant.
“No problem” she replied before suggesting “so… wanna head back?”
”Seems like a good plan, we need to share our discovery after all the mage replied. The two set off a few moments later, arriving just in time to meet up with Bowser, Jr and Jr’s new friend Lana as they were all about to join in with the sandcastle building.
Since the time that the little band Monica had met had set off, the 12th realm had changed once again. Short aqueducts and water wheels dotted its rivers to water and grind its crops, while sturdy bronze plows were drawn by horses are large sail finned lizards, carving furrows into the rich earth. Tall sailed ships with many oars plied the waters, bringing stone, wood, ores and more from the edges of the realm to its center, where the capital and (so far) only city of the realm sat upon the southern bank of a grand lake, beneath the shadow of a volcano on the northern shore.
Smoke billowed from new, better, forges while freshly laid roads bearing just as freshly built carts wove haphazardly among the houses. All of it spiraled inwards to, or rather outwards from, the temple that housed the region’s node. The sprawling complex and its large garden were walled off from the rest of the city by sturdy fortifications who’s gates had never been barred, a steady stream of humans moving in and out through them, the flow lightly managed by bronze armored guards armed with blunt staves and obsidian knives.
Monica soared above, across a clear sky, enjoying the view of all that had been created after she had left however long ago, and attempting to ascertain an appropriate location to alight as she dearly did not wish to disrupt the daily lives of the mortals too much by her presence. She considered her circumstances for another moment, before arriving at the conclusion that perhaps a little celebration was in order, so she chose to descend somewhere in the city that was neither vacant, nor crowded, where she could land with ease. She wanted to greet the locals and spend time with them before she would travel to the gates and visit the temple wherein she hoped she could find Xavior. With a demure demeanor, she approached the first among humanity that was the most nearby and introduced herself with polite words and a soft smile.
Everyone, of course, knew who she was, or as close to as such that the babes and recent arrivals could be excluded as exceptions to the rule. Still, it was one thing to have seen a goddess, it was quite another to meet one in the flesh out of the blue. Their reaction was much the same as the travelers she had met, though in this more comfortable and familiar of environments, there was no latent fear or caution to be found at first. Only amazement, awe, excitement. The only thing bringing the mood down was just a touch of set upon awkwardness from those she first met, which rapidly resolved itself as word spread and the moderately occupied street quickly swelled with crowds as people came to see what all the fuss was about. Soon enough a sea of humanity were clogging the streets and clambering on rooftops to catch a glimpse of the goddess.
Noise swelled and it quickly became quite difficult to hear what anyone was saying or asking due to ambient noise alone until a figure, accompanied by a quartet of bronze clad guards, pushed her way through the crowd “Ok people back it up a little, give the goddess a bit of personal space!” the horned woman with brass skin and dark hair clad in a dark peplos insisted as she got the guards to try and push the greater part of crowd back enough that the goddess would have space to breath.
Once she had a bit of space, the priestess gave a short bow and said, “Greetings goddess Monica. I am Annie, and on behalf of the city and our patron, I welcome you to Eunomia” before standing, smiling warmly and explaining “Xavior sent me to bring you to the temple. Once you're ready to go, that is. If you want a tour, or have anywhere else you’d like to go first, I’d be delighted to show you around”
“I thank you for your very hospitable welcome - this city is such a wonderful place, inhabited by wonderful people. Hmm… I look forward to the opportunity of speaking with many of its denizens, but first I must speak with my brother. Please, lead the way.” Monica quietly answered after an awkward moment of silence had lingered for too long wherein she once again considered her circumstances and contemplated the choices she was given. An evident wistfulness seemed to cast a sunken shade over her shimmering sight; her forlorn and withdrawn gaze which passed over the gathered crowd and cityscape, as though its beauty brought forth reserved sorrow instead of delight. It was difficult to discern truthfully whether Monica wished to explore Eunomia, or hastefully flee from it.
Though the guards had needed to push through the throng of people to reach the lone deity, there was no such need for Monica to take her leave, as something subtle and otherworldly touched upon the minds of all the mortals in the vicinity; an awareness of the world around them beyond the ability of the mundane senses they possessed. An understanding. Instilled with this ephemeral and ethereal cosmic clarity, the comprehensive crowd created an easy path for the procession of guards, the priestess, and the goddess to depart. A physical path easy to traverse lay ahead, but as the sacred energy in the air began to disperse, Monica became more bothered by the spiritual path she saw in her mind: the unknown steps and art of alignment. She hid these steps as she gracefully walked forward and gestured for Annie to take her to Xavior.
The priestess assented without comment and led the way back the way she had come, leading the goddess and her unneeded honor guard through the parting crowd, their little procession smothering the burgeoning celebratory mood as it traveled towards the heart of the city. Physically, wherever it passed, and ahead, as word of this mood reached Xavior and he hastily unorganized the hastily organized reception he had prepared for her.
As such when she swept through the gates and into the temple grounds she found Xavior standing alone on one of the winding garden paths, clad in a flowing dark cloak that left the right of his chest exposed to the air, its edges embroidered with silver and purple patterns. Gold ornamentation had been molded around the outer edges of his horns, creating the semblance of a crown or halo.
The god stepped forwards upon seeing her and, after nodding to dismiss her entourage, greeted her warmly.
“It is good to see you again, though from what I have heard you seem… troubled? Come, walk with me and I will lend you my ear should you wish it. I’m sure we have much to speak of either way” he said, sweeping a hand behind him to the gardens “or if you wish to rest, I will see that you are found a place within these halls post haste.”
“Troubled?” She queried as she slowly strode forth to stand beside him before they began to walk along the paths in a leisurely manner. “I apologize for my morose manner… it was never my intention to appear so, but grim have been my encounters of late. I hope to alleviate your cause for concern though.” She said, attempting another faint facsimile of a smile, as her attention split between the conversation and the sight of the pleasant flora all around. It was easy to distract herself from her dour thoughts with the blissful aroma that wafted over her, yet the longer she delayed, the more her dread continued to creep upon her. With intrusive urgency she switched her gaze back to Xavior and fought to articulate the words that lay heavy upon her heart.
“I… I would like to hear how you have been, brother. It feels like a long time has passed since we have spoken, and this would be the first time we have shared words in such peaceful surroundings. You have created a lovely home.” Monica murmured, hiding the disdain for herself and instead embracing the yearning within her to simply immerse herself in a much more serene moment rather than lamenting that which troubled her so visibly.
The god frowned and pursed his lips with concern for a moment before the expression was wiped away and replaced by a smile that was only slightly put upon. “Most kind of you to say so, though I can hardly take all the credit. Much of this was arranged by a man called Galvin who has quite the knack for the artistic” he said regarding the garden, taking a moment to admire it all over again for himself, before continuing “Mortal hands can create such wonders and beauty, so I like to surround myself with their works as much as I can afford”
“Their existence is ever precious, temporarily ablaze with radiant flames before being extinguished, but burning so bright and alive in the brief time they are given. I think I would like to surround myself with such as well, and attempt to understand them in order to better understand my own nature.” Monica replied, as she sensed the vastness of the immaterial world which separated the immortals from mortality. She found herself bemused by the fact that though she was ageless, she did not stand at the edge of that spectrum, and neither did humanity - both stood relatively far apart, but not at opposite ends. The answers she sought seemed to elude her for now, but she would not remain eternally helpless. She would continue to seek the truth.
“Then… I will encourage mortals to continue creating such beauty in order to bring salvation to the Crucible.” Monica proclaimed, clinging onto the conviction that quietly resonated in her voice. The lingering traces of shade over her eyes vanished, and was replaced with a renewed strength shining similarly to the stars in the night sky. She had been uncertain when she was first born in this world without direction, but now she felt closer to discovering her will, her vision, her purpose. She shut her eyes and walked slowly in silence, no longer adrift as she aimed herself through her hearing and tapping into Sylphrena’s power. Without warning, she walked into Xavior, and mumbled another soft-spoken apology.
“I never meant to disappoint all of you; forgive me for my sins and let me atone. Let me protect this precious world and its people.” She whispered with hope and regret battling for dominance within her. Remnants of her realm; painful memories and a cruel cold manifested around her, as she let her knowledge of Maelite out and offered it to Xavior.
Surprise flashed across the god’s face for half a second, then he shivered and and gasped as the knowledge flowed into him unbidden. He knew desolation and darkness, knew what inhospitable dread the gods could forge through an accident. Of the swarms of hostile alien beings even now skittering across the 12th realm’s north western border.
None of what he learned stopped him from wrapping his arms around her in a comforting hug. and reassured her that “Dear sister, know that you are already forgiven, and that your return is all the repayment I could ever ask for.”
Monica kept her eyes closed as she spoke, barely audible above the whispering wind. “Your mercy and compassion simultaneously both brings comfort and sorrow upon me. I am primarily… pleased to be reunited with you and the rest of the world, however envious thoughts taint me now. I feel fractured still; such divided feelings pulled apart by emotion, lost and afraid. I want your generosity and I want your ostracization. Why would I want to be banished by you, I wonder…” Though she kept her eyes shut while embraced, more manifested upon the pinions of her wide wings, dark and detailed depictions of numerous pairs of unnatural eyes keenly watching both deities as though they were windows for unseen spectators hungry for something strange and sinister to happen to view through.
“I would never” Xavior replied, before reassuring her that “You will always have a home here, trust me in this” despite his clear confusion and discomfort at being the subject of those eyes.
“However, I can understand the weight a debt can have, and you do have one. An obligation to the world and its people to set right what went wrong” it told her, loosening his embrace so that he could look down at her as he said “It would do you as much good as it will the world to repay it, I think.”
“What would you have me do?” She asked, and the eyes upon her wings vanished as her own opened and peered upwards at Xavior. He could not see his own reflection in her silver orbs, rather he was greeted by the sight of Monica herself, fractal and infinite, becoming smaller in scale with every increased amount of repeated iterations. The endless number of her began to drift away, becoming distant until the familiar shape of the map provided by the first node came into view. “Where would you have me go?” She asked, as the silvery map was consumed by prismatic flames and its ashes scattered before being replaced with fathomless shadow and dancing darkness. The echoes of Maelite and its malice reverberated in the haunting void that was her sight, the gruesome cry of vicious conflict coming from within the depths of the goddess. “When will you have me too?” She asked, as she slowly ascended and her abyssal gaze came nearer and nearer, languidly yawning open like the maw of a monster about to feast.
The god was wide eyed for a few long moments as he beheld this, almost transfixed as the hungering void came closer and closer till it was a breath away. Only then did he gently but firmly pushed her back via a firm hand on her shoulder as told her that all he needed was for her to “For you to decide that for yourself”
“I am constrained by choice… yet freed from fate. A shame I cannot linger here for too long. Where there is light, I bring darkness. Where there are shadows, I shall provide illumination. Xavior, forgive me. We are aligned, but I have become your foe. I intend to return to the first node, to find more in need of stabilization afterward. I will provide you with command of one, and open a nexus… should you open a nexus here. Even though there is hatred in my heart for you, there is love as well, and I hope to live long enough to see the beautiful world you and the others create, so will you continue to walk beside me as I continue to walk alongside you?” Monica questioned with obsidian tears trailing down from her glittering eyes that seemed on the verge of shattering, the faint sound of cracks and crevices forming upon her face.
The god started and took a step back, his expression a war of sorrow, anger and betrayal as he asked “You would break your word so easily? You, the only one who really gave it? Sister, please, I beg you to reconsider, or at least say why would you ask me to stand by as this treachery unfolds!”
“If you desire my death, then you know what must be done. I will uphold peace by becoming its foundation, the substance beneath it, the shadow of war. I cannot be healed of my hatred, but I find meaning in setting the path for my own demise. In the end, it is something. Know that I cannot harm you, brother - I would never wish for such, so I must flee from your presence. Will you open a nexus, or will you seek my death so soon?” Monica continued, as wind gathered and lifted her up until she hovered beyond his reach. She was neither resolute, nor uncertain, though it was evident she lamented having to leave as she outstretched her hand and attempted to grasp at something that was not there. She shook her head, ridding herself of the black tears before she inhaled a breath of the fresh air found in this pleasant garden. Back and forth, she shook her head to rid herself of both the fond memories and sorrow she had found here, before she became still and waited for an answer from the horned god.
He looked upon her distraught as his garments fluttered around him in the wind. He covered his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, then finally tossed aside his own tears and stood firm as he declared “Whatever madness has gripped you since you formed those misbegotten lands, whatever has driven you to this treachery, know I will have no part in it. I do not know what occurred to you there, but I do know this self destruction is not a solution to it. So I shall not play a part in that either. If what you wanted was my hate, my enmity, know that you do not have it. Only my disappointment and sorrow for the loss of what could have been.”
“If one day should your senses return, I will welcome you back with open arms.” his stern anger softened for just a moment to say, before his expression hardened once more as he finished by saying “For now, however, please get out of my sight. I have a sister to mourn”
“Farewell.” She said, then Monica let the wind carry her away, soaring skyward before beginning her flight south and out of sight. The god watched her go for the longest time, ignoring the questions of the mortals who approached as he watched her go.
The god’s three day seclusion following the betrayal of his sister ended when a green mote arrived and drove the god livid with fury.
In the realm of the 12th Node, civilization continues to peacefully progress as Monica arrives in the capital city and is greeted by a gathering of its denizens. A priestess of Xavior approaches her and leads her to a garden wherein Monica meets with Xavior and they have a conversation. Monica is melancholic and anxious, but Xavior offers to listen to what she has to say. Monica seeks to atone, and Xavior forgives her, but then she explains that they have become enemies and that she will seek out more nodes to claim after returning to the 18th node. She asks that they continue to work together, but her distressing behavior leads him to decline, yet saying he would welcome her return should she cease being strange and confrontational; acting against the pact of peace that they had promised to adhere to. She departs from the city, traveling south to the 18th node.
Xavier + 3 from quiz 4/8 0 expenditure of Might from Monica. She has +3 (quiz) Might remaining.
”come on … come on” Midna prayed as the bomb drew closer and closer, weathering fire as it came, only to cheer loudly when Raiden, aided by Queen Sectonia’s magics, leapt up and sliced the thing into a dozen pieces like a ninja going to town on an over ripe durian.
She was joined in her cheering by her current ride: Braum, who loudly called out “Ha ha! Well done my friend! That was quite some swordplay!” to the cyborg before raising his shield and blocking one of the few fliers that had survived Primrose’s fire burst. The kite-like trilobite and the shield master bounced back from each other from the impact, but before the monster could take back to the skies Midna splatted a shadow-hand down on top of it.
”Got you, you pest!” Midna taunted the thing’s broken form, before curling up a shadow-finger and flicking it off of the train and down into the desert, where it tumbled once, twice, and then burst into ash on the third rough landing.
Then the cannon went off and deafened them both. It of course did worse to Red eye, tearing off a massive chunk of its body with a single strike. It screamed in pain. Probably. Midna’s ears were still ringing even as it shifted round to get behind them again, wisely presenting its armored front rather than its heavily wounded sides to them. It also kept its damn mouth shut when the inevitable hail of fire roared down on its front from the train’s plethora of smaller guns.
Worse than this stubbornness to not expose a convenient weak spot to them was that it was getting closer. Fast.
Braum and Midna had two very different reactions to this. The princess moved to slip off the big man’s shoulder and head down to get some shells before it was too late, only to be grabbed under the arm by Braum who made the very correct call that there was no time for that. He ran along the top the wagon and then leapt into the air just as the titanic worm burst forwards and rammed the armory car. Held backwards under Braum’s non-sheild arm, Midna could only watch in horror as the entirety of their spare ammo disconnected from the train and tumbled backwards into the titan, detonating in a furious explosion.
”Goddesses damn it!” she swore as Braum used his ability to zip to an ally's side to bring them to the, relative, safety of the cannon car ”If only I’d gone down there faster we wouldn't… gaaah!” she wordlessly cursed herself.
The northern warrior set down the seething princess and told her “Ah well. What is done is done. Better to be alive to fight another day than be blown to bits, yes?" along with a reassuring clap on the back.
The princess sighed exasperatedly, nodded, and then added ”Well, guess you don’t owe me a ride anymore at least. Thanks for the rescue,” a touch begrudgingly due to her wounded pride.
“Ahhh, think nothing of it my little royal friend” he reassured her, as they both more or less got out of the way of the people who knew how the cannon worked.
Instead they moved to the back of the train where Braum pelted red eye with frost blasts while Midna cannibalized one of the railings to create crude metal spears which she charged with lightning and then hurled at the beast in a frankly futile attempt to slow it down.
At least they might get an eye or two in the process.
Sweat and cinders on red skin. The heat of the forge. Gifted (and repaid) wisdom drawn from a good woman’s black mark on the world.
In a cluttered workshop surrounding the 12th node, Xavior drew knowledge from the unearthly monolith and forged it into reality with his own two hands. Tool, weapons, armor and more forged from new alloys littered the room, as did other inventions, notably several contraptions with wheels, a set of kites, an umbrella, several types of rope and a bucket full of scented soaps which the god was very much looking forward to using after this hot and sweaty work.
While to the mortals outside would marvel at the innovations that had been piled up over mere hours of divine labor, it was the last and seeming smallest of innovations that Xavior was most proud of.
A small unassuming disk of metal cooling on a stone anvil as the god watched. He waited for just the right moment, before he grabbed it, flicked it up in the air and then caught it on his palm, before lifting a divine seal and stamping the metal with an image of a stylized bust of the god, then flipping it again and stamping the other side and emblazoning it with a rearing goat.
Xavier set down the stamp, and raised his handiwork to the light to examine it
It was a small thing, a simple bronze disk, marked with iconography and empowered with the tiniest mote of his divine essence to prove its authenticity.
It was a simple bronze coin.
And it would change the world.
Money. It didn’t make the world go around, but it did grease its (newly invented) wheels. One of the problems Xavior and his council had been having was that promises and prepayment were all well and good for local commerce, but it was tricky to get people to go out and do things they needed done when most of the wealth and resources of their burgeoning city state was consolidated in, well, the city.
Getting people to go out to do things for the city long term was tricky, and if they did it was hard to keep track of what they were owed for their time. And they needed long term outsiders who were still bound to the city. At a basic resource level they needed stone and metals to be mined, they needed wood to be cut, and they needed the wolves that threatened those operations hunted. It needed to trade with the only loosely affiliated nomads wandering the planes with their goats, for fur and meat, and with villages for their crops.
And that was just what was needed to keep them going, to expand at home. Already eyes were turning further afield and worrying about what they could not see beyond the wolf woods. Everyone at this point knew the rules of the game of gods, but none knew the present state of the board, or that much about the players other than those they had traveled in the company of.
Who knew what they were up to out there?
Both Xavior and his council wanted information out of a mix of healthy paranoia and curiosity. So they wanted to send out scouts. Which had had the same problem as their logistical one, at least until now.
Money. It was easy to ship out, the ability to hold it in your hand was more reliable than mere words, even those of a god, and it was more flexible than barter. Make a deal for money and you could then use it to buy what you wanted when you wanted it, rather than rely on whatever your employer gave you or being paid in goods that rapidly lost their value due to technological advancement.
It could pay miners, warriors, woodcutters and it could also pay people to take part in expeditions beyond the 12th realm. Forward camps could be set up, goods and money could be shipped there and then distributed to pay scouts to go out into the world, find out what was there, and bring the word of Xavior and the 12th realm with them via signed and stamped decrees that made assurances that that was who they represented. They found routes and paths, sniffed out resources, documented flora and fauna, made crude maps, met with people in-order to gossip with them to try and find out what was going on with their local gods Then they came back to camps and got paid for their efforts.
They learned the state of the world and sent a steady trickle of it back to the city. They also unintentionally sent a trickle of people back too, some were lured by stories of plentiful food, others coveted the more advanced belongings of the explorers and yet more simply thought their luck might be better someplace new. They drifted into the realm via the growing settlement on the shore of stone lake, and so the 12th realm grew even as it learned.
Xavior works away in a workshop around the 12th node, making all sorts of bronze age stuff, but the main one is he invents money. Specifically money that has just a touch of his divine spark in it that makes it uncoutnerfittable.
He and his city council then use that to expand their influence beyond the citystate formed around node 12. They start paying people to get them resources, and more impactful for the outside world, they start sending out scouts to work out what the heck everyone else is up to. This also spurs a small immigration movement, gradually boosting the size of the local population.
1 mp used to give monica access to node 12 2 mp used to raise the people of the 12th realm to the bronze age 1 mp used to create a divine seal that infuses any stamp it creates with a touch of Xavior’s essence, guaranteeing the authenticity and legitimacy of any wax seal, coin, etc. on an instinctual level. 1/5 might remaining
”Dazzle, use Icy wind!” Jr commanded his new mon in practice bout vs Lana. The circus seal looking creature, glanced over its shoulder as if to question the validity of this tactic, and then did it anyway, rapidly inflating a bubble of air from its nose, and then once it formed it bouncing it once on its nose and finally rolling over to give it a tail slap to the back, bursting it and sending the icy air inside rushing at the opposing shellder.
It didn’t do too much when it hit.
”Wow. That was kinda weak after that cool set up huh” was Jr’s response to his mon’s move.
“He certainly has a bit of showmanship in him doesn’t he? But yeah, ice don’t do much to water” Lana told him “same as how water is bad against itself” she explained, something Jr had been reminded of a few moments ago, before adding“but if he’s quick enough it’ll give you something to threaten grass types with”
”How about that, do you think you’re quick enough for that Dazzle? Wanna prove it?” jr asked with a grin before commanding ”Then dodge the next shot and then use Disarming Voice”
The mon, who’d been looking a touch judgingly at Mimi (once again sat on Jr’s shoulder) while their trainer got reminded of some of the basics he hadn't had to use till now, suddenly perked up at the opportunity to show off, flipping his gaze round to the shellder. When the next attack came he used his tail to toss himself to the side, doing an overhead tumble of a dodge roll before launching himself into the air with a flick of his tailfin, before puffing up a water bubble from his nose while airborne, which he then landed on.
It acted a bit like a trampoline before bursting, tossing him even higher into the air and at an unpredictable angle, letting him dodge a follow up attack. While he soared, he took a singer’s pose, placing one flipper to his chest while the other was outstretched to his side, and belted out a beam of heart shaped sound waves which hammered into the shellder, making it teary eyed before it swooned from the emotional damage.
He did so while upside down, before inflating another water bubble and using it to cushion his landing, bouncing one more time off of it and the plopping down on the sand, at which point Lana and Mimi gave him a little round of applause while Jr didn't know whether to be amazed at the feat of acrobatics or appalled that his mon had such a cutsie attack.
Rather than being able to make up his mind he was interrupted by unwanted attention.
“Well hey, looks like you caught yourself one more pokemon for your team” came the taunting words of the same ace trainer who’d wiped the floor with Mimi only half an hour ago, who sauntered over and asked “Fancy a rematch?”
”Sure thing” Jr replied with an overconfident grin, which got Dazzle looking slightly nervous, and even more so when the ace sent out a hulking yettie with a “go, abomasnow!”
“So, which one of yours is going first?” the ace asked cockily, to which Jr smirked and then cupped his hands around his mouth and called out ”Daaaaaad!”
A little way away the king was awoken from his food coma daydreaming about peach’s cake by the call. He shook his head and then arose inorder to stomp over in a hurry, getting a quick lay of the situation as he arrived.
”This the jerk that was bothering you earlier” he asked, and got him a nod from his son. Then he turned back to look at the ace trainer, ”All right, you wanna fight my kid's monsters?” a wicked thought grin on his lips as he curled a claw and dark power surged into him, enlarging the beach fun sized Bowser into the hulking King of fatherly vengeance ”THEN BRING IT!”
“What?” the ace stunned replied, right before Bowser socked his equally bewildered abomasnow in the face.
One sweep that resulted in a pile of fainted hulking mon and a thoroughly humiliated ace trainer later, Bowser strolled away from his victory while dusting off his hands, the two kids ht on his heels.
”Way to go dad. You showed him good” jr cheered on his dad while an relieved and impressed Dazzle shimmied after him through the sand.
“That was amazing! How’d you get so good at fighting” Lana had to ask.
”All natural talent kid” Bowser insisted cockily, before adding ”But that’s enough fighting for me for one day. This is supposed to be a vacation after all. That goes for you two too”
”Awwww. But I need to practice if I’m gonna get as strong as you tho dad!” Jr griped
”and I’m proud of your efforts, but you can pace yourself yeah?” Bowser replied, giving the boy’s hair a ruffle as they walked, and then before the boy got a bit dejected suggested ”Hey so I saw something that you might think is a way down the beach, how about we check it out?”
A little bit of cajoling later and the king was proven right as the kids waded into the foam dance party along with their pokemon where energetic music played and collectively danced their tushies and tails off. If Dazzle had been a touch dubious about his new trainer before, then not having to fight the ace plus this bubbly fun definitely warmed him to the notion more than any pokeball could, the Popplio frolicking through the bubbles, adding his own to the mix and laying down some sweet moves while he was at, and generally having a riot of a time.
As for Bowser, he joined in for one specific jam but for the most part he hung back and just kept an eye on the pair. He really was all out of fighting today, and with any luck this bit of fun would wear his kid out enough that he’d not have to worry about him getting into any more trouble.
Fetzen
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teenangstlife
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Shadowheart
