Great fields of golden grains washed across many of the rolling plains of the 12th realm, but one of those fertile plots was not the destination of the god who seldom left his home in the city. No Xavior’s destination was one where one within a ring of verdant natural vegetation which then gave way to hardier fare that looked withered even in health and then final raw, baked earth surrounding a glowing pool of lava which bubbled up from the earth.
For as long as any could remember these had been places to be avoided, if not for the heat then for the way the air choked the life out of all but the great scaly salamanders who lounged around its edges. Their presence was mostly lacking around this one however, the beasts having been ousted by humans who really had no business in the area.
Constructs of stone and steel had been erected that could withstand the heat, while the humans themselves were clad from head to airtight toe in form obscuring outfits made a glossy material.and that featured odd beaks over their mouths and noses. The garbs did not look comfortable, but Xavior, who had elected to go in bare rather than risk any of his finely woven clothing, imagined it was better than choking and/or being roasted to death
Had he not known the man responsible for all this, he might have wondered what madness had brought on this little enterprise. However he was entirely aware of who was behind all this and so sought out the demon in question with all due haste.
As expected he found Damian, the three spell wizard turned self declared scientist, at the most dangerous place possible: right next to the pool of lava. Or to be more specific, standing on a small platform raised above the lava, and leaning over to peer into it while his two assistants and a salamander watched on.
One of the assistants managed to rip their gaze from Damian for long enough to see Xavior approaching, and did his level best to inform the demon of the god’s arrival without interrupting his work or startling him enough that he fell in the lava. He succeeded (just, there was a close call and a bit of teetering) and so by the time Xavior had worked his way through the various scaffolding and support staff Damian was coming on down from the steel platform, holding a glowing stone in between a pair of tongs and, the god assumed, looking very pleased behind the beaky breathing mask.
“Ah, my god! So glad you could come and see my latest and greatest discovery” he proclaimed, the muffling of the mask doing little to suppress his loud enthusiasm, before extending the tongs and dropping the still steaming stone into Xavior’s open palm. The god caught it without a fuss and then held it up to get a closer look, squinting as he saw the familiar throbbing of an unstable crystal which now had globs of molten energy bubbling through it which, had he know what one was, he would have compared to a lava lamp.
Xavior’s examination of this discovery was then interrupted by a big long wet thing licking him, much to his vocal disgust.
“Oh don’t mind Bubbles, it’s just how she gets to know people,” Damian informed his god, as said god wiped his face clear of salamander drool and the oversized lizard herself used that same drool to produce more of her namesake frothing around her mouth.
“Ech” the god complained as he shook off a hand, before asking “what do you even have it… Her, around for? If you wanted a pet, you could have gotten you a raptor”
“Oh Bubbles is no mere pet, she is the key to all of this” the demon dramatically cast a sweeping gesture around the lavaside outpost, “to be specific, it is her shed skin, and that of some others we have domesticated, that has allowed us to insulate ourselves against the heat and thus make the discovery of the age”
“Yes this.. Stone. What exactly am I looking at?” Xavior asked, getting back on track
“Well now, this was an unstable crystal, but by filling it with the raw essence of the earth, in this case lava, I have managed to stabilize the energy. Balancing the chaotic energy with the, shall we call it, order energy inherent within land in a stabilized node” Damian explained “and before you ask, it has to be lava because that is the only part of the land that is… mmmm. Alive and energetic in a same way even remotely comparable to chaos energy. You can’t just shove dirt or some other dead matter in there. Believe me, I’ve tried”
“And this has allowed you too…” Xavior coaxed him on
“Why do this of course!” Damian declared, snatching the crystal from Xavior’s hands, juggling it a few times because it was still quite hot even through the protective gloves, and then finally catching it and thrusting it skywards and pulsing a tiny amount of power into it. Rather than begin to explode like the unstable crystals, this one launched a gout of flame straight up into the air for several seconds before it guttered out.
Xavior blinked a few times and then asked “I take it that wasn't something you learned in a ‘borrowed’ spellbook?” rhetorically.
“Not at all! In-fact, that was hardly me at all, and was instead (almost) all the magmatic gem’s stored power” Damian declared proudly, “and that’s not all we can make them do. Actually that's probably one of the simplest things. With proper refining? Oh there is no end to the possibilities.”
“You don't say,” Xavior replied, having seen the notes “I’m impressed, funding you continues to pay dividends it seems”
“I am honored by your patronage. It has allowed me to plumb the depths of this world’s possibilities, and it only cost me an arm and a leg ha ha!” Damian jokes
Xavior nodded and then had a concerned thought which prompted him to ask “Wait… you haven't lost another arm have you?”
“Oh no no no” the demon insisted reassuringly.
“Ah good” the god said with a relieved sigh.
“Now the leg on the other hand-”
Benea -1 to share one of her nodes with Xavior offscreen
9/9 (+4 from “art”)
Raised the 12th realm to a tier five civilisation (4mp)
Unstable crystal refining (3mp): By infusing unstable crystals with the raw earthing energy of magma, they can be rugged into stable gem forms usable for magitech.
Gems can be created that allow the creation of devices that perform/utilize fire and earth elemental magics, collectively referred to as magmatic magics. The gems can also act as batteries for this power which can then be fed into other crystals/machines via crystal wires and importantly, can be recharged using heat.
At their simplest, they can be used as bombs that expode with fire, localised eathquakes, etc. More complexly they can be used to make limited use magic rings for personal defense, gemstone backpack powered flamethrowers, instant earthwork kits, tunneling tools, crystal/gem/rock launchers and more. What can be created scales with tech level (so no gun equivalents or super complex machines till the final age)
Salamanders (2 mp): large lizards who make their homes around the exposed lava pools that can be found dotting the 12th realm. Naturally heat resistant, their shed skin can be used to create heatproof garb. With their large size, boiling hot spit, tough scales and omnivorous diet they also make for good warbeasts/warmounts as long as there are bonfires or other heat sources for them to bask around while at rest.
0/9 mp remaining
Xavior leaves the goddamn house for once to visit a lava pool somewhere in the 12th realm. There he finds the usual inhabitants of some big ol lizards have been cleared out, and in their place a bunch of humans in salamander skin plague doctor outfits have set up shop. Their leader is Damian, the demon who was working with honey, wax, and explosive crystals (and who lost an arm in the process) a few posts ago. He has found a way to take unstable crystals and pump lava into them, which can turn them into stable gems usable for earth and fire elemental magi tech (as described in the mp hider) and has lost a leg in the process, which as not dented his mood in the slightest it seems.
”That… Ok?” was Midna’s confused response to learning about America and Jesse’s apparent subverting of the wills of the dead. She could pick a bone with that, but technically wasn't that exactly what Strikers were? She decided to leave that line of inquiry where it was, at least till later when they weren't being slow cooked in a desert. Though she did keep an ear out for whatever Riden’s response to that might be.
”Well I can’t say no to your company now can I Prim” Midna replied to the offer/shared interest in checking out the mountain again after a bit of down time. If there was anyone who she knew she could trust to handle herself it was the dancer who she’d joined up with this team alongside of.
Minda’s, or rather her wolfo’s, early detection of something weird going on out in the desert was followed up by the superior vision of Poppi, who clarified the weirdness as being incoming danger, namly a whole swarm of monsters coming at them in a unified front for goddesses knew what reason. That said, they had pre-warning of the attack for once, which was better than being ambushed for most.
And for Midna, all the time provided to prepare was a warm welcome.
”A few minutes? Ha, these stupid animals are going to regret giving me time to warm up” Midna declared, before setting about showing them her moves. Her dance moves.
Or well. One dance move really, but when that one move was dragon dance you really didn’t need any other move, because by the time the swarm of spectrobes were upon them Midna was brimming with maximum Draconaion energy, quadrupling her speed and physical damage. Plus a nice little defense boost from Primrose and, on top of all that, a little tail whip from her wolf-dran for even more speed and an attack speed buff.
As the horde approached, the Princess fetched her long knife from the twilight realm and charged it with electricity. Then she cracked her neck, and told the others ”You all get on the ship, I’ll catch up. I’ve got some cacti to cut up” before taking off at speed, brazenly counter charging the incoming herd.
The pint sized imp blasted forth with utterly inhuman speed, kicking up sand in her wake. Before her, a wall of spikes formed by the herd of Sabogar. Above it hovered the strange flower like Piximi and their Florami leader, along with a pair of Saboquill, who’s silhouette set of warning alarms in her mind back to the flygon encounter. That had been a close one, but she was stronger now. Much much stronger.
Still, that didn’t mean she was going to take them lightly, or even take them at all. Really she just needed to act as a distraction long enough that everyone else got onboard, and then she could just shadow hop up to the ship.
Of course, another way of looking at a distraction was just an easy target, and Minda rapidly became one as she raced forth. Through the lens of her mask she saw spines on the Florami’s chest begin to light up with a powerful glow, which was all the warning she got before a barrage of energy blasts lanced out, forcing the princess to hurl herself to the side to avoid being vaporized.
The princess slid on the sand, maglev allowing her to preserve her speed rather than just grind to a halt, which was just as well because the Piximi followed up their evolved leader with a barrage of flash beams blasted from their visor-like faces, which left a sting of patches of glass where they liquidated the sand where Midna had been standing only moments ago.
”That's all you’ve got?!” she shouted, only for the Piximi to lash out with their vines, tossing energy balls, while the Florami performed a grateful spin, firing out an 8-way blast of beams all around its pack.
”Me and my big mouth!” Midna decayed herself as she narrowly avoided being blasted by the octo-beam, and then swatted aside some of the energy balls with a shadow hand while avoiding the rest.
That was about the point the ground pounders were atop her, which should have been disastrous, but Midna just grinned viciously because here was ”Finally something I can hit!”
The wall of spiky deaths bore down on her, the leader of the pack lunging at the puny looking Princess, only for her to bolt right towards it, draw out a massive shadowhand and then to finally bring it down in a massive slap that pulped the triceratops-like beast in one shot. That wasn’t all it did, oh no, because Midna leapt right as the slap struck down, using the limb attached to her head to pole vault up over the two following beasts, who crashed into each other and then got a quartet of down thrusting chilfos dropped on top of them for good measure.
As those two cried out in pain and tried to get the stab proof undead off of them to little avail, Midna performed her killer landing somewhere at the back of the pack, driving a long knife blade into the neck of another Sabogar, right between its horns, the tough flesh being no match for a dragon and gravity assisted stab, the charged blade then hammering it with a flurry of lightning bolts till it popped to ash.
Midna, a touch sore by what she assumed was the mundane recoil of her powerful strikes, reached out and caught the spirit in her free hand before sending it to the twilight realm for storage. While she did this she was blasting sand from that same realm into the eyes of a pivoting Sobogar to buy her enough time to do her loot pickup, which she followed by sicking an overused wolfos on the spiky thing.
Unfortunately, the twilight beast faltered when it tried to work out where in the world it could even attack the spike covered spectrobe safely, and instead primarily acted as bait for an attempted bombardment by some of the fliers. It fled yelping back into the twilight realm a moment before the dragon like Saboquill came swooping down, swinging its dragon fruit shaped tail like a wrecking ball.
The bright red mass bowled through the sand, kicking up a wave of spikes as it went, forcing Midna to flee the only direction she had, which was up.
She jumped, and then summoned her Vibrabva (sized up) and grabbed its tail as it buzzed up and away from the Saboquill which was slowed from giving chase first by its tail being lodged in the sand and then also by a quick blast of dragonbreath from the Vibrava.
Before her arial taxi vanished Midna kicked off of it, tossing herself at one of the hovering Piximi. The primarily ranged attacker flailed at her with it’s vines, but the princess thrust her shadow hand and grabbed it. Rather than crush it or kill it in some other way, the Princess used it as a springboard, tossing herself up and around, away from the pursuing Saboquill and towards the majestic Florami.
It turned from its dule with Sectonia and charged its laser in a desperate attempt to keep her away, but Midna summoned her Mimic minion mid air and kicked off of it right before the laser was fired, sending her and the murderous chest flying to either side of the beam. Then she reached out with a shadow hand, grabbed a petal and pulled herself into the graceful titan’s foliage
”Sorry, can’t have you blasting the ship!” she shouted at it as she climbed up it even as it spun around in a panic, firing wildly. Then she got to its neck and started stabbing it while yelling ”Get pruned!”
Further stabs where unfortunately prevented by the Saboquill she had barely avoided coming heroically to the beleaguered flower’s rescue, forcing Midna to toss herself off of it rather than be plucked from her target’s back.
At least Sectonia was there to pick up her slack, the queen bee re-engaging the floral flier and bringing it down soon after.
That, of course, left Midna the problem of the Saboquill which was relentlessly chasing her even as she fell towards the ground.
”Buzz off!” she demanded, thrusting her knife out and shooting a blast of lightning into it. Yet not only did this not dissuade it, but Midna felt the same pain she had felt after striking down two of the Sobogar, only intensified, as half the harm she did to the dragon reflected right back at her.
”Goddesses! Die!” she cried out in anger and pain, summoning her mimic, sized up, and slammed it upwards into the Saboquill right before she hit the ground. She arrested her fall with levitation, and then watched in horror as the sized up Mimic slammed into the Saboquill, dealing ferocious damage, and then burst into ash, the ambush predator having not evolved to take anything close to what it dished out
Still, in its last moments it had hit like a truck, and it sent the dragon crashing down into the sand close to Midna. After a few pained seconds, both of them pulled themselves up out of the sand and faced each other down, seconds that allowed Midna to understand the problem she was facing.
Midna reeled backa shadow hand, and then hesitated. Her overwhelming power from her dragon dances had just become a curse. Because she, like the mimic (whose spirit was slowly drifting down to the ground as a poignant reminder) was not built to take the amount of damage she could do to this thing with one punch. She had other options of course, but she didn’t know at that moment if she wanted to risk sacrificing more of her beasts to this fight.
The Saboquill had no thoughts to give it pause, just bestial and Galeem fueled bloodlust, and so it roared a (slightly strained) roar and then charged the dilemma stricken princess, whose decision was made for her when a shape hurled over her shoulder and into the dragon’s path.
“Braum is here!” the muscular mustached man declared as he slammed down in the sand before her and raised his icy shield in its path.
”What are you doing here! You need to get on the ship!” the briefly panicked princess demanded to know
“Not to worry, Buam has his ticket already” Bruam told her, holding a badge with two fingers to show her it “So it is you who should be hurrying along to be getting on the ship”
”Not until this thing is dead.” Midna insisted, mostly out of pride and a desire of vengeance, but in par it was because she was also fairly sure this thing was going to chase her to the edge of the world and back if it wasn't dealt with ”Just be careful, it reflects damage”
“Ah like Thornmail… eh sort of” Braum replied as he dashed an icy blast into the Saboquills face as it tried to bite past his shield, causing him to flinch “Oh. Yes, Braum sees” before advising her to “Hit it quick and light”
”Huh?” Midna was confused, but she did as suggested, darting around and slashing it lightly, while summoning her Vibrava and having it buzz around the other side where it delivered a crush to one of its juicy leaf wings. The dragon roared and looked to be about to deliver a mighty swing with its spiny tail when Braum bopped it on the snout, causing it to sudden freeze, literally and figuratively, as four consecutive hits caused Braum’s concussive blows ability to prock, stunning the monster.
”Oh! Now lots more” Midna said as she got it, summoning her wolfos and wolf-dran and having them smack at the dragon alongside the three already doing so, all of them doing light damage individually but getting a lot through together while spreading out the hit reflection.
They got about two second of this before the dragon broke out of its confinement and then swung its spiky tail around, slamming it into Braum’s shield, causing the big guy to stubble back and be right open for a bite or claw attack
”no no no!” Minda cried out, before thrusting her blade forward and sending a stream of lightning blazing into the dragon, even as the recoil burned at her. The Saboquill, already in dire straits, withered under the multi second electric bombardment, stumbling back and then, at last, with a blast of dragonfire from the Vibrava, it fell for good.
And Midna fell with it. Not dead, but slumping under her the pain and the over exertion.
“Bruam has you” Bruam declared, moving swiftly to her side, grabbing her under one arm and then activating the badge, sending him and her warping up to the Virgin Victory, moments before some of the remaining beasts closed ino to try and finish them off.
And leaving the Vibrava behind to fend for itself. It swooped out of the way of a sandworm, snatched up the spirits of both the Saboquill and the fallen Mimic, and then slipped back home to the twilight realm before it was turned into dinner meat by the remains feral beast horde.
Had that been irrepribly stupid and uncessiery, Midna asked herself when she awoke onboard the ship.
The answer was, of course, yes, but, if she couldn't stand up to some random monsters, let alone the titan-like red eye, then what chance did she have against whatever stood in their way next? That was her justification anyway, but it was as likely stubbornness and heat stroke that had made her refuse to pull out of a fight that, at the point which it had turned bad and already cost her, she hadn’t actually needed to fight. Braum having his badge at that point proved it after all.
Still, the jovial man did not disparage her foolhardiness one bit and, in the end, she did have her prizes thanks in no small part to her Vibrava’s actions.
It was an asset, and one she decided to invest in. The Sabogar spirit she infused its heart with might not be a perfect match now, but if she understood how this whole evolution thing worked, then the resulting flygon-saboquill evolved form would be an absolute beast.
Her fallen mimic and Saboquill she used in conjunction with Sectonia’s greed hat for itemization, the previous discussion of gear sticking in her mind. Plus, with Flygon already in her, she did not want to find out if having two dragons in her would tip her over the edge into becoming some kind of lizard woman. No offense to Asbestos meant.
After that was all set, she followed Primrose’s lead in looking for a bath. After being frozen, scorched, sandblasted and thoroughly roughed up, it was definitely something she needed.
”Me, your bodyguard? Hahahahahaha” the king had a right belly laugh at Susie’s suggestion before explaining ”Little miss I am Bowser, the koopa king! The biggest baddest boss that ever was or ever will be. I’ve rioted across the dimensions and conquered galaxies, and I don't play second fiddle to nobody no more” before crossing his arms and nodding to himself matter of factly.
He let that statement hang for a moment, and then spread his arms and graciously informed her that ”Now you couldn't have know that, world being as it is, so I’ll let this slide, long as you know who’s boss” before putting his hands on his hips and saying ”and besides, I could always use more minions with a rap sheet like yours” because it certainly was impressive sounding, even if it didn't quite step up to his storied history in the king’s entirely biased opinion.
Speaking of the past and deeds done in past worlds, the king could certainly relate to Karin’s horror at having lost all of the personal possessions and loyal troops she had amassed over her life to the universal rebuilding process. He also admired the personal loyalty of her servant and generally did not agree with Sakura’s assessment that she was a weirdo.
”Nah I think she’s pretty alright in the head priorities wise” the King commented, probably reinforcing Sakura’s belief in the process, though he did have one point which was that ”this would be a lot easier with all our mooks and superweapons at hand after all. We wouldn't be having to much around in a dinky cargoship if we had my airship fleet for example”
”Yes well, be as it may, the best we can do is try and acquire what we can in this world resource and support wise. Such as putting our new business partner’s skill to use in bartering for gear” Kamek suggested ”But maybe after dinner, as Rika suggested”
Which, as their stomachs suggested at the mention of it, should be something they got going to go and do fairly soon. As such, when Peach suggested it, there was little hesitation among most of the troop to pack up shop and go get some grub.
The only exception was Jr, who hung back to give a somewhat drawn out farewell to Lana, who needed to be getting on home, what with it being close to dinner time and all.
“I’ll see you around some time?” she said, once most of the party had already set off (including the grand magus who Kamek had had no issue inviting along. It meant she could keep an eye on him after all, because there was no desire to play out the Sephiroth situation all over again)
”Yeah… sure I’ll see you when I see you” jr agreed after a few moments of hesitation, knowing that it was unlikely they’d be back any time soon. Still, with Kamek calling for him to ”come along now young master” he bid his final farewells and headed with the others to dinner, knowing in his heart that they’d probably never meet again.
The prince shoved that feeling down into his guts, where it joined his growing hunger and meant that he was positively famished by the time the group set themselves up in the Rum for Ale. The the troop parked itself around Bowser’s heavy duty stool (which he still needed even after shrinking down to his minimum size) and ordered a round of nonalcoholic drinks to start them off: cola for Jr, root beer for Bowser, sparkling apple juice for Kamek, an eclectic fruit juice for Rika and water (in suitably sized pet bowls) for the pokemon.
”Then you’re welcome aboard Riden” Midna said, formally welcoming the warrior into their ranks, before tilting her head and thinking about his comment about feeling controlled before and his prior comment on that topic before they had stopped asked ”So… is ‘America’ some great evil in your world? Got any pointers for how to deal with it if it does show up?”
While they were talking Midna’s ears perked up at overhearing the idea that they might get some gratitude for killing the worm, and then they drooped back down when it became clear that they’d just lost any gratitude and/or clout they’d worked so hard to build up back at Al Mamoon in one fell swoop, and might even be considered enemies of the state.
Her head flopped back onto her wolfos’s back as she bemoaned ”Urh, and I was looking forwards to sniffing around that market with a proper treasury to back me up” the princess just assuming that getting funds was a given, as if there weren't a million and one things that needed funded, let alone the fact that Peach’s money was hers, not the seekers.
Then she though a bit beyond herself and briefly worried that ”I hope the people we help freed don't get scorched by the bridge we just burned” before going right back to herself when she realized, same as Primrose ”argh and no spa too!”
Then she sat up again suddenly, snapping her fingers as she realized that wasn't exactly right ”No. Wait. We’ll have an airship before sunset… and it was up in the clouds… so maybe we can just fly to it? Wherever it is?”
She wasn't the only one thinking about what could be done now that they’d have fast aerial travel at their disposal. The whole desert would open up to them with a flying machine under their command, and so, in lieu of being able to buy better gear, Sectonia suggested they go out and raid some ruins to see if they could scrounge up some ancient artifacts from them. Specifically those that would let them take on red eye without relying on finding a replacement for the railway gun. Failing that, if they could get strong spirits, then combining that with the mimic hat, they could just create their own fancy gear.
However ”I’d join you on your treasure hunt, but I’ve got some unfinished business up the mountainside. Did give that tree trapped guy Gemino a promise, even if its a weird one” she said (referring to the poor man they’d met on their climb’s desire for burning oil) and who knew, maybe she’d get lucky and this monastery she needed to go to would fit the ancient ruin with artifacts in it category, before adding ”But I can get back mountain top side with the warp rock and then just drop back down so I should be good” and then thinking for a moment ”We have two of those right? We should set the other one up on the ship once we get it, lets us, or at least me, jump back to it once we’re done with whatever splitting up we end up doing”
Once she finished talking she leaned back against her furry backrest, only for the wolfos to shift behind her, the beast perking up its ears at first and then turning to peer off into the distance.
”Huh? What is it, mutt?” she asked, before sitting up and squinting off in the direction, her sun adverse eyes only managing to pick up some blurry shapes in the distance ”What are those… and where they there earlier”
As the light show of fusion ended, and while Bowser was still trying to show off his (mostly) old bod to anyone who would take a look a crew rolled in some of whom, unlike his intended target, did take an interest in his new-old form.
One was Rubick of many titles, a mage/scholarly looking type who took an immediate interest in the mechanism of fusion itself.
”Ah…” Kamek said before quietly admitting that ”In hindsight maybe we should not have been doing this in such a public setting without expecting… consequences” there was a pause and then she shrugged ”oh well, too late now”
”I’m Kamek, royal advisor and top magikoopa of Lord Bowser. Please, allow me to explain” she introduced herself, before she picked up the remaining dire penguin spirit and began to do just that ”This is a spirit, the remains of a felled foe. It can be applied to the heart to one of said foe’s powers or the head for some of its skills or knowledge, which results in the fusion you have just witnessed. We also just got a way to localize the effects of the fusion process as well, as can be seen by his flexfulness’ changes now mainly being to the shell where before they warped and contorted his entire body”
”You can also make a pact to instead summon them as temporary support” she flicked a hand to the side and summoned both Quiet and the End to one side. The pair glanced to and fro once or twice just in case there was a threat, before both took the opportunity to sit or lay down and enjoy the beach, with the old man commenting: “Finally some real sunshine. Took you long enough” as he basked in the light for the few moments he’d get.
”I, ah, yes. Entirely intentional” Kamek lied which got laugh and an eye roll from the snipers, before she coughed and got back to the last part of her explanation, saying ”and finally you can crush the spirits to produce useful items,” before demonstrating that by crushing the spirit and producing:
Toy Penguin A bouncy, rubbery penguin that's one foot tall. It's totally resistant to blunt force, making it a handy stress reliever, and it's cute too!
”Uhhh. Ok so it’s a bit arbitrary in what it produces sometimes, one moment” Kamek said after it sunk in what he had produced. She tossed it aside (where it was instantly tackled by Dazzle the Poppilo, demonstrating its toughness as it went bouncing away entirely unharmed no matter how many practice dire leaps it took to the face) and picked up one of the ocean crawler spirits.
There was a brief flash of light, and then the mage was holding a finely crafted silver and blue shield.
”There we go,” Kamek said, a touch relieved that she had not been given a detestably useful nick nack twice in a row, before holding out the shield and offering it to Rubick while saying ”here, see for yourself. Real as can be and quite finely crafted too I must say”
Loch Shield An artisanal shield crafted with blue glass. Originally used to safeguard the leader presiding over a sacred Healing Church ceremony, and later supplied to tomb prospectors, in particular those exploring the labyrinth of Isz. The blue is fashioned after a lake, and the shield is effective against magic damage
While Kamek engaged with her fellow mage, Bowser got the attention of the small pink robot who had been introduced as Susie.
”Yeah you know we are!” Bowser replied to her comment about them being as tough as they said, entirely missing the intent of the wink he had received and just taking things at face value as he gave another flex, arms pumped up on either side of his head, before gloating that ”Honestly, the stories probably don't even do us justice” while doing a downward flex over his chest, causing his shell to ripple as segments rose to reveal cannons, before those fell and allowed other segments to rise and unleashed stabby crackling crab limbs and tentacruel tendrils for a moment before they to where put away.
The king dusted off his hands after that, somewhat done with showing off now and instead directed his attention fully onto the newcomers, specifically challenging Susie with: ”So what makes you think you're tough enough to roll with us, huh little lady?” the question intended to be more of a prompt for her to talk about herself than any kind of derision or preemptive put down. After all, the ever useful Blazermate was right next to her as an example of why you shouldn't underestimate little bots.
While those two old turtles nattered on with the newcomers the kids were left to enjoy the sunshine and say hi to the more familiar late arrivals. Jr invited the hat kid to come build sandcastles with him, Lana and Rika, while the ship girl herself Bazermate and Nadia a wave before getting distracted by the big ship pulling into port. The talk about it being a trade ship reminded her she had a bunch of personal spending money burning a hole in her pocket, and suggested they check that out at some point as a result.
But maybe only after dinner.
While all this was going on there was the somewhat hard to miss street, or rather beach, fight also going on between their fancy host and the rough and tumble Sakura. While the troop were, of course, cheering Sakura on when they went otherwise occupied by chatting, they had to admit that Karin was quite the impressive brawler, something none had really suspected given her high class aesthetics.
It was an impressive bout, of that there was no doubt, and quite the nice piece of entertainment that ended with the hero winning (naturally) and then showing off some cunning by swiftly freeing her opponent from Galeem’s grasp.
”A big ball of light with wings blew every world to bits and then stitched them back together and made everyone forget that it did that” Bowser called over to the confused and embarrassed Karin, giving the most abridged explanation of this whole situation he’d given so far ”So we’re gonna punch its bosses, and then with them outta the way we’re gonna punch its lights out”
The bees were buzzing and the fish were flying in the gardens around node 12’s temple. The first were trying to eat the bees, which were new to the area, but neither the bees nor their keepers would have any of that. As a flying minnow was swarmed and stug rather viciously while a figure in thick black cloths that covered all of his body body expect their eyes (which had red volcanic glass lenses over them instead) huffed and puffed into the bag of oxygen rejuvenating kelp as he ran after a housecat sized Tonnikala with a wooden staff, trying to get it to either die or at least just leave.
“Let me get that for you” came a voice, before the fish was suddenly gripped by the air acting under Xavior’s command after which the god flicked his wrist and tossed the wannabe bee eater high into the sky where it belonged.
“There we go. Curious things those, but I’m sure they’ll learn soon enough just as they did with the gardens proper” Xavier said as the beekeeper stopped to catch his breath and offered muffle thanks to the god
“Think nothing of it. Now then. I'm told there has been a breakthrough when it comes to the nature of what Dzallitsunya’s bees produce in the 12th realm?” he asked, and was quickly directed past the rows of artificial hives to a little workshop, and upon entering saw a familiar face working away alongside a pair of assistants, both lesser demons.
“Ah, Damian, good to see you working with something other than the blast crystals” Xavior greeted the long horned demon, who had had quite the turn around on his opinion on the explosive crystals since his first reaction of trying to get rid of them all when they had harmed the god.
“Ah, Xavier, my god, good to see you as well” Damian turned to the god, and presented his new Ambroisen arm to shake (which the god accepted awkwardly) only to inform Xavior that “but in that you are entirely mistaken, for I have been investigating what occurs when you mix ground up crystals with the bee’s produce”
“After already mixing it with everything else under the moon” one of his assistants noted dryly.
“Quiet you. It paid off in the end after all. Its like I have been saying, persistence and experimentation, they get results!” he insisted, before admitting with a side tilt of the head and a sheepish smile “Eventually”
Xavior who, while not entirely pleased with some of the consequences, did see this self sourced innovation to be a beginning to a relieving lightning of his own burden as arch-inventor, moved to tacitly encourage it by insisting that Damian “Go on, tell me what you’ve found”
“Right right yes, my discovery!” the mage-demon said, perking up again before leading the god over to a table which had a yellowy line of wax on it that sparked softly with a rainbow sheen wherever the light caught it “This is a mix of the bees’ wax and crushed crystals” he explained simply, before adding “now watch what happens when I touch it with just a bit of power”
Everyone else stepped back instinctively as the demon reached out his remaining flesh arm and tapped one end of the line of wax laced crystal, but rather than explode the part he touched started to glow. The glow pulsed out in both directions of the contact point, at one end earthing itself harmlessly in a mass of pure wax, while at the other exposed end it sent a shower of red electrical arcs sparking out
“It didn't explode” Xavior noted the obvious in order to invite Damina to explain further.
“Indeed. The wax seems to dull or even nullify the power of the crystals, and unlike other substances we tried, it survives that interaction without degrading or igniting or worse. All the others have been a toss up to whether reaction goes out of control or not, but this? This works near perfectly” he explained, before saying, matter of factly “you can see what this would be useful, yes?”
“You could remotely detonate crystals with a long trail of this” Xavior noted, but it seemed the demon had thought of so much more.
“Well yes, but also you can use it for timers. Using a coil of wax-crystal mix surrounded by more wax and ending in a blast crystal would make far more reliable tossed explosives for example. You could use it to create a weapon as well, that produced that lightning at the end or near the blade of course” he explained “and I am sure there are other uses. My muse is singing of them as we speak. About ways to signal or conduct power with these and a dozen other things, you see, but I can't quite get them to fit right at the moment. But I'll get there, oh yes I'll get there.”
The god nodded, commenting that “that all sounds very interesting” before congratulating the mage “well done Daminan, for figuring out one half of this insectile conundrum. I’m sure this will be infinitely useful.”
“Thank you, thank you” the demon replied, giving a little bow before adding that “Oh and I've done a bit of investigating into the honey as well, but all I can say is that it is very nutritious. An admittedly large sample I had has kept me awake and working for ohhh, two days now?”
“Two… days?” Xavior echoed, before inquiring “And you haven't eaten anything else?” with a concerned tone
“Oh no. I’ve been much too busy. My muse has been just as awake as myself, my mind abuzz with thoughts that I can't quite nail down. But when I do. Oh, when I do! Then you’ll see, they’ll all see” the demon said, before giggling for a second before the laughter ended suddenly and he said “now be off with you. I have more experiments to perform”
Xavior glanced towards the man’s assistants “have you all taken this as well?” to which they both shook their heads
“I… didn't know he’d stayed up after we retired last night. I thought he just went to bed later and got up earlier… Damian this isn't good for you” the one who had snarked earlier said, now showing his true colors
“Nonsense. have never felt more alive, ha ha, alive!” Damian insisted, already moving to start mixing more wax and crystal to optimize his discovery, before pausing and saying “but perhaps I could do with some more honey”
“Absolutely not!” Xavior broke in, before addressing the pair of apprentices “Both of you, make sure Damian gets some actual food to eat. And water. Feed him if you have too and then as soon as this wears off get him to bed” he commanded them, mainly to put official weight behind what he was quite sure they were already going to do now that they were aware of the issue.
As the god and Damian’s apprentices fussed over the demon and tried to convince him to stop working and to go to his room and lay down for a few days, someone who was dealing with the exact opposite called out to him.
“Xavior,” Jermane skulked under an entrance archway, not quite entering the area proper.
The god called out “one moment!” and then after resolving the situation, or more accurately putting it fully in the hands of the apprentices, stepped outside. He raised an eyebrow at who it was who wanted his attention “Jermane, yes?”
“Shield of Benea,” The man stood up straight, giving Xavior a subtle memory of when he first met Frederick.
“Ah yes, her right hand man” Xavior said, his memory properly jolted, before asking “how is she faring today?”
Jermane swallowed, betraying his emotions. “That’s what I wanted to talk with you about.”
The giant man looked past Xavior before gingerly reaching past him and closing the door. He then looked both ways, as if a spy would come tumbling out of the shrubberies of the garden. Putting a fist in front of his mouth he said. “I need your help getting into her room.”
The god raised his eyebrows in surprise, but acknowledged the man’s desire to keep this out of the public eye and walked past him while justuring him to follow him inside. A few moments later they found them inside a private meeting room, where the god finally asked “How bad is her… seclusion?”
“She’s locked the door and refuses to not only leave but answer me,” Jermane all but whispered. “I don’t think she’s eaten or drank anything either.”
“We don’t exactly need to,” Xavior said “but I get your point” before stroking his beard for a few moments and then asking simply “In what way do you think I will have more luck than you?” not unkindly, but instead to gauge the exact intent in this request for help.
“She trusts you more than most, if not me — then you.”
“Hmmm,” Xavior thought for a moment, before agreeing to help the man ”we will combined forces then”
Xavior goes to see Damian the mage-demon, and finds out about the effects and properties of the honey and wax produced by Dzallitsunya’s bees. He learns that the wax can resist the energy build up of unstable crystals, and when mixed with ground up crystals can make fuses or wires that can conduct power through them and then eject it at the end.
He also learns that Damian has dosed himself on raw honey two days ago, and that he had not eaten or slept since due to his mind being filled with hard to nail down inspiration and ideas, which becomes very noticeable when he starts becoming more and more mad scientist as the conversation goes on.
Xavior and Damian’s assistant are in the midst of trying to get the caffinatied demon to go to his room and lay down for a few days when Jermane shows up, wanting to deal with the opposite problem he has with his goddess, who won't get out of bed, let alone her room.
The two talk in private briefly, and Xavior agrees to lend him a hand in this endeavor,
Had Minda been in a position to hear Primrose’s comment about wanting to go back to the spa after this, she would have wholeheartedly agreed. After being frozen on the mountain and now scorched by the desert, she knew her body would thank her for seeking out the pleasantly warm waters of one of the warm bubbling pools up there in the sky.
As it was, it was still thankful for the recuperation it got via the thieves’ healers, getting her half closed wounds properly sealed up by the masked furball. Unfortunately while he could help those who where hurt, the kitty wasn't going to be driving them out of this situation in his van form anytime soon, what with how big the party had grown since they last used that little trick.
Fortunately, after a bit of moogle mail, it turned out that folks back in the south had been busy, busy enough to get their hands on an airship of all things, which was getting sent out to fetch them.
”Thank the Goddesses, let’s find or dig some shelter then and wait out the-” she began to suggest before Sectonia summoned up some of her massive floating crystals to act as a source of shade.
”or that, that works too” she admitted, before getting to work settling herself settled in, which involved summoning her wolfos, and then using its laid down form as a backrest as she sat herself down as comfortably as she could on the sandy ground.
”So yeah, where were we? Right, Galeem and all that” she said once they were settled in, reopening the conversation/exposition that had been interrupted by the change of pace.
”More or less. Well the guy running things back at base prefers calling us mercenaries, and given that a lot of the people in it where big name heroes back home I think it fits a bit better, but use whatever sudo-military designation you want,” Midna replied to Therion describing them as a magical militia before nodding at his off hand agreement to join up ”We sure could, lot of world to cover after all, and a lot of weird stuff out there that needs different kinds of skills to handle”
She had to give a little laugh at his asking about being paid ”Yeah mercenary would definitely fit you better at least” she teased, before actually answering the question by saying that ”Not directly no, but if you want money, there's a princess Peach who’s sort of funding stuff, so if you want gold, you can probably talk her into it…” and then frowning for a moment before realizing that that would probably have been a wise thing to do before they set out. How much better might things have gone if they had been loaded down with the good stuff from Al Mamoon’s markets rather than just what they could scrape together funds for themselves, she wondered.
Would it have saved lives?
Another regret for the pile.
”Maybe we should all do that.” she said thoughtfully, before joking that ”It’d at least mean Raz could buy some replacement pants without having to worry about pocket change” to try and lift her own spirits that she’d just mentally brought down.
The waves lapped the shore as fish swam through the sky and birds flew through the waters of the sprawling river delta leading out into the ocean where that endless blue met the 12th realm. Ships plied the waves, but despite what might be expected of Xavior’s mercantile people, there were few trade ships plying the waves, for beyond the numerous floating towns dotting the marshy lands, there were few ports to be found on forighn shores.
Thus most of the merchant ships that did make their way down to the ocean were here to bargain with those who did ply the wider salty waters. Fishers, divers (and the odd pirate) ruled the waves, roaming far and wide on their new dusklander made sails across seas mostly uncontested by other nations, and reaping the bounty without much foreign competition.
All this piled into the local markets, where it was either bought by the herders and farmers of the plains on either side of the river delta, or purchased by merchants and shipped upstream to feed the ever growing and ever hungry capital.
One such merchant was Jubilee, a russet woman clad in fashionable yet still practical dark robes and with a wide brimmed hat covering her long curly auburn locks, who had passed up the stalls of micro penguins and regular fish and was instead at that moment examining a little shelled thing with critical amber eyes.
“And what is this then? And how is anyone supposed to eat one?“ she asked the tanned and athletic man who was trying to sell her it
“We call that an oyster ma’am. You gotta pry the shell open first you see, to get to the meat inside” he said, taking out an old bronze knife and offering it to her. She waved him off and drew an immaculate blade of her own, which bore the signature mark of the god of merchants.
“Seems a bit fiddly” she said, as she gave it a go, before finally wedging the blade in there and cracking the shellfish open with an “ah, there we go” before frowning a little at the contents.
“That doesn't look particularly appetizing” she said, before squinting at something else inside. She reached in and picked up the anomalous object and then interrupted the man while was telling her to not knock the shellfish meat before she tried it to ask “what is this?”
“Hmmm? Oooh. Lucky. That’s a Pearl. Pretty rare to fund one of those. Pretty isn’t it?” he said as they both admired the shiny stone.
“Very…” Jubilee replied as she turned it over in her hand, before asking “How much for it?”
“Ah you found it so it's already yours Ma’am” the seller said, to which Jubilee raised her brows and then after a moment pocketed the pearl.
And then she had second thoughts, her mercantile instincts set in and booted short term gain aside.
“No no I can’t. Do you know how much I could sell this for back in the capital?” she asked, and then answered her question when he shook his head with: “Quite the pile of golden godheads, that I assure you. Why I could take all your oysters and even if I fail to sell a single one and have still made a profit, I’m quite sure”
“Oh? For that little thing? You're Joking Ma’am… You are joking, right?” the fish seller replied and then went pale when she told him she was deadly serious.
“Now, how many of these can I buy off of you? The pearls I mean.” she said, before waving an hand an adding ”oh and the oysters too I suppose”
“Well I dunno how many pearls there are, but they are rare, so that might be the only one in the current batch.”
“Oh well, can you get more?” she asked, and then when she found out how small their team was they said that they should just just hire more people and do more dives, something the merchant disagreed with the ease of.
“Oysters are tricky to get, you gotta dive down for them and that’s risky even for me and the lads and lasses who’ve been doing it since we got there, let alone for an amateur. This guy Kenny came with us a week back and nearly drowned, the stupid guy” he explained “Plus, even we have limits. We can't exactly breath under water after all,” he joked “so there’s only so deep we can go for em”
“You know what… tell me about more about this operation of yours, let me in on it so i can work out just how profitable it can be, and maybe, just maybe, we can do something about that little human limits issue” she replied with a smile, as her hand subconsciously caressed the handle of her divinely crafted knife.
*Clink*
*Clink*
*Clink*
*Crack*
The freshly imported steel pick finally broke through the tunnel wall where it had sounded hollow, and the dirty miner had to shield his eyes at the sudden and impossible glare coming in from the newly open hole.
“Oy. Derik! What’s the hold up” came a shout from the shift leader from behind the miner
“It’s…. Its…” Derik stammered as he blinked while his eyes adjusted, and then starred as he saw what he had unveiled, “It’s beautiful”
The miner starred out at the vast underground cavern that he’d found, one impossibly filled with both light and life. Massive fungi towered over mossy floors and cavern walls, through which crisp cool water flowed and pooled into lakes and ponds that reflected light coming from the swaths of massive crystals that sprouted from the floors, walls and ceilings. The glow of the crystals was not static, however. No, instead it ebbed and flowed as raced around inside the crystals, causing the room to pulse, as if it were alive.
It was oppressive and yet at the same time alluring, resulting in the miner and his fellows stumbling into the subterranean world, causing jewel encrusted cave lizards to scatter into hiding in response to their home being invaded by outsiders.
Once they overcame their initial awe they explored further, climbing up fungal roots and avoiding the predation of larger gem beasts, and as they did the older among them were reminded of the long march through the unformed realm and the story of how it had been tamed. Indeed, they stood in the roots of the end of that story, within the roots of the ore filled mountain storms end, which had been used to earth the living lightning predator.
Yet they had dug that ore for an age and it had been mundane.
So it was instead an earlier part of that story they found to be the source, tales of a titanic blast of metal shards used to unsteady the titan of thunder, and it was one of these they found, suspended in the crystal heart of the cavern, out of which the rest of the resplendent shining wonder filling the caves had grown, the lingering essence of the predator once more refusing to die.
The wise might well have seen this, and, having learned of the nature of this place, left the primordial crystal well alone.
The humans, of course, saw it as a treasure trove and soon enough had raised their pics and gotten back to work.
Xavior sat upon his throne, a wooden affair which was decorated with an ever expanding number of intricate carvings that he one of his favorite traded tributes, in a distracted state. Since the mysterious snow god had drifted on by Benea had locked herself in a guest room, insisting that she not be disturbed while she rested. Given what he had learned from Monica about the ‘familiar’ god he almost could not blame her, though he was concerned that only he seemed to have been ignorant among them. He seemed to have missed a revelation at the dawn of his life, and now he worried about what else he did not know, because given what he just had learned, what you didn’t not know very much could kill you..
He had directed scouts to try and track the figure, as well as warnings to his dask land and queendom embassies, but as he knew all too well from failed attempts at messenger sending, having mortals try to catch up or outpace a god was unlikely to succeed. Still, while uncertainty and dangers loomed, the affairs of state must go on.
In this particular moment, that involved the god king was holding court, a time during which supplicants, suitably filtered by his priests performing their oldest of duties, came to barter and beg for his divine support. Those mortals crowded the back of the long throne room in which he had met Fredrick a few days earlier, waiting to be brought forward to make their case.
“Madman Jubilee and company, please step forwards” spoke one of the robed priests, now marked more by their divine seal bearing garb than their no longer unique horns of office, prompting the merchant to step forwards, along with a mix of her ship’s crew and the divers with whom she had set up a joint business venture who all carried several chests between them.
“Xavior, our divine patron,” Jubilee said, giving the god a bow before making her case, saying “I present to you the bounty of the ocean, fetched from its floor by brave and stalwart swimmers who have dared its depths” before her help set down the chests and threw them open, revealing a glittering bounty within.
Xavior leaned forwards and looked closer at the contents of the bulging cheats, which were positively overflowing with colorful corals, radiant seashells, sharks teeth, vials of poisons and toxins and, most precious of all, pearls that had been growing since the seafloor was formed.
“And these aren't the only things we have acquired, but I assumed you would not appreciate the scent of shellfish, so we have left those outside, but can also provide those to your kitchens and storehouses within the hour” she added, “I assure you, the rich meats are quite delectable”
“I think I’ve had some once or twice, but I thought they were quite the rare dish due to the difficulty of acquiring them in any number.” Xavior said mouth slightly watering at the memory, before noting that “You seem to have increased diving operations”
“I have, and it is with regards to that that I have come to bargain with you” she said, before pausing for permission
“go on,“
“As you said, the dives are quite difficult. Taxing. I have helped uncover the worth that can be gained from the ocean floor, and this has brought more people into the diving profession. However, there are limits, of course, to how deep we can go, leaving the greater bounties out of reach. Even those with the strongest wills can only hold their breaths for so long after all” she explained
“And some of the new divers have pushed themselves too far” added one of the treasure bearers.
“There have been some…” she picked her words carefully “Unfortunate incidents yes,”before insisting that “but that is something that my request could prevent!”
“And it is?” Xavior said, eyes narrowing upon finding out that there had been a cost in blood for this treasure.
“The ability to breath under water” she replied, which surprised him and it showed. “Or at least the ability to hold breath much longer. There are beasts who can do both, so I’m sure it's possible?”
“It is, of course, but to change people is a costly endeavor” Xavier replied slowly to ensure she knew the weight of what she was asking.
“But think of the benefits. So much more of our shoreline becomes harvestable, perhaps even farm-able. You can see the benefits to the whole nation, not just myself, yes? I’m sure there are, uh, military applications as well?” she tried, which did set Xavior thinking beyond the scope of her own desire for this boon.
He leaned back in his chair, stroking his beard as he did what he sometimes did, which was to take the request and boil it down to what they really needed rather than what they specifically requested. People did not always know what they wanted after all, plus, it always did to tinker with a request to make it more university applicable in his opinion.
As he thought he looked over the others waiting to meet him, and saw among them a group of miners, and was reminded of reports of the air underground becoming toxic or simply unbreathable and the accidents that had occurred as a result, and had a thought. Breathing water was difficult, but producing breathable air? Well, that was what plants did already. All they needed was a little boost and perhaps…
The god stood then, and walked towards the chests of treasures without a word plucked from the glistening piles of treasure a stray strand of kelp that had been included by mistake while the chests had been packed. The mortals looked embarrassed or shocked that the god seemed to be nitpicking their offering but then all stepped back as he cupped the kelp in his hand and a burst of flame erupted between them, consuming the plant.
Then he opened his palms and revealed a set of seeds. “Take these, plant them and grow them in sea water. Then harvest the fronds. When exposed to breath in an enclosed space, they will rapidly turn that very breath back into breathable air”
“Ex… exposed to breath?”
“Indeed. Fill a bag with the cuttings, and place that bag over the moth and nose. I imagine the dusklander’s wax will help in ensuring the bag and seal is airtight” he explained, before adding that “This should be useful for more than just you, you understand, as those working around smoke, or down the mines, or in other places where breath becomes difficult will also benefit. So I’m sure the state would be interested in entering an arrangement with you to acquire it for those purposes, yes?” handing the woman another business opportunity to add to her sub-aquatic farming and harvesting plans, and tacitly suggesting she enter into an exclusivity agreement with the city’s government when it came to trade of the kelp.
“I… yes, thank you my god” she replied, graciously taking the seeds and cupping them close to her chest as if they were worth more than their weight in gold. Which they, of course, were.
“Good good. Kyle will be able to help facilitate that future trading, and, perhaps, sponsorship of your burgeoning business by myself or the state at large” Xavier added, calling up a priest to handle the fine details “and the transfer of the rest of your tribute, of course”
“Of course… of course... Thank you again, Xavior” she replied. Despite being not given exactly what she had asked for, she had gained something even greater. Her fortunes, and those of her associates, were assured. What were a few chests of treasures when compared to that?
“My pleasure” Xavier, who had just increased the nation's food supply and the safety and efficiency of its mining, forging, burning for demon creation and other operations that put people in contact with dangerous air, replied, before adding “I look forwards to watching your career and your development of this resource with great interest” before returning to his throne.
The merchant and her supporters stepped away along with the priest helping them work out the fine details while their tribute was dragged to sit beside the throne by other priests. Then the next group was called, who turned out to be the very same miners Xavior had noticed earlier and been inspired by, which boded well, he thought, as they were introduced and started to make their own case.
“And that’s where we found these!” Derik, said after explaining the discovery of the hidden subterranean ecosystems, before unveiling a cart filled with large glowing crystals, which caused gasps to echo among the assembled group.
“Remarkable” Xavior said, before flicking a finger and causing one of the smaller hand sized crystals to leap from the cart and into his awaiting hand “and you said these were simply growing down there”
“Yes my god. We cut a line in the rock near one, you see, and in a few days it had gotten ever so slightly bigger. We even tried planting one and it seemed to grow too, though they seem to need to be deep down to do so” Derik explained
“A renewable resource you say? How useful. We could maybe replace torches with these?” Xaviro mused
“We’ve done so aye. Good to not worry about smoke and such, though the pulsing is a bit annoying if I’ll be honest” the man admitted before someone could stop him from devaluing their goods.
“So. Pretty. Somewhat useful. I’d say these were quite valuable, and I’m glad that the lingering chaos within has not produced anything harmful” Xavior said, and was about to ask what they wanted from him before he was interrupted by one of his priests
“Pardon me, but could I see that, Xavior?” The man, who had the red skin of a demon and who’s ascension had resulted in him sporting a pair of towering curved horns and very little in the way of wing or added bulk, stepped up beside the throne to ask.
The god tilted his head slightly before saying “Certainly Damian, here” and handing him the crystal.
The demon, who had had the privilege, and the will and determination, to try and decipher the small and haphazard assortment of spellbooks Xavior’s people had managed to acquire on the black market (and which were of very dubious quality as a result) when the attempt at a deal with Brey fell through, turned the crystal over once in his hand once while muttering about it calling to him. Before Xavior could even turn back to the miners however, the rock suddenly started pulsing faster and faster, the lazy heartbeat of power rapidly quickening from that of a slumbering whale and to that of a frantic mouse.
“Fascinating” the Demon said, even as Xavior’s eyes went wide, the sight of that energy building sending his mind back to when he had faced the node’s thunderous guardian. The god made a grab for the stone, snatching it from Damian’s hand and pushing him away before the god pressed the pulsing crystal (which now had streaks of red lighting arching over it’s surface) to his stomach and curled up around it.
And then he exploded.
Xavior’s immaculately carved throne was reduced to burning splinters and the god himself slammed into the wall of the throne room as the crystal detonated, leaving the god slumped against the back wall, his body slightly scorched, his garb a tattered burnt mess, and his expression dazed.
Several things happened at once in the moments that followed. People panicked and some tried to flee the room, while both the miners and the Damian where sized by other priests (and even a few other supplicants) as accusations of “assassins” and “traitors” echoed throughout the room
“I swear, we didn’t know it was dangerous!” Derik the miner insisted, his hands raised and with a knife at his threat, while as Damian shoved off his own would be arrester with a “get off of me you idiot" and declared that “we must dispose of these crystals before they destroy us all!” which brought everyone’s attention to the massive cart filled with explosives currently sitting in the room they were all in.
There was a pause, and then several rushed to try and do so, only to be halted from a shout from their god.
“No wait” Xavior, who had been stunned more by the shock of being hurt at all than the actual damage of either impact, said as he picked himself up off the floor and pushed past people trying to help him and, with a strange manic look in his eyes and a wide smile on his lips, declared breathlessly “We can use these”
1 mp used to create a special breed of kelp that, when its fronds are cut and exposed to breath, rapidly convert that breath into breathable air. This lets them be used to make rebreathing gear that can be used to avoid drowning, toxic gasses, and other threats to breath. The cuttings don’t work forever, withering visibly and producing a bad smell once they are close to being used up, but they can be revitalized using salt water and sunlight before they perish completely. Present tech will result in horse feed back like masks that can last for a few hours, while further innovation will allow miniaturization and optimization of the tech.
2 mp used to fund research into primordial/unstable crystals produced from crystals tainted by the chaos infected remnants of the projectiles from Xavior’s shotgun attack on node 12’s guardian. The crystals can be farmed due to their non-geological growth speeds, making them a useful renewable resource once the current reserves are stripped from the earth. Present research allows them to be used as bombs when empowered by demonic magics, while future tech advancements will likely find further uses for them.
0/9 mp
We jump to the south west of node one to a river delta where much of the ocean bound shipping is based, and most of that is used for fishing the mostly uncontested waters of the crucible. Within said markets, a merchant woman named Jubilee finds a pearl in a selfish she is thinking about buying. She informs the merchant selling the shellfish of the pearl’s true value, and then offers to start a joint business with the seller and his diver friends looking to acquire first more riches, and then divine aid to surpass human lung capacity.
Then we cut to caves under storm’s fall, a metal fluid mountain also in node 12, where miners discover an underground cavern filled with life all growing under the glow of pulsating crystals that are filled with chaotic energy originating from a splinter of Xavior’s divine shotgun blast against the node guardian back when he was first fighting to claim it.
Finally we cut to Xavior’s throne room, where, while worried about his sisters and the snow god, he still has work to do. Specifically seeing people who want to buy his divine aid.
First comes the merchant Jubilee, who ends up trading chests of seafloor booty for a type of kelp that can be used to make rebreathing gear.
Second come the miners, who’s attempt to use the newly discovered crystals to purchase divine favor is interrupted by a demonic mage (who has learned via poor quality blackmarket acquired magic tomes) who destabilizes the crystal, and causes it to blow up Xavior.
People panic, accuse both miner and mage of being assassins, but mage draws their attention to the cart full of crystals brought by the miners and implores the others to get rid of them before they all explode.
Xavior, only lightly scorched by the explosion, stops them, seeing value in these crystalline bombs, and then implicitly starts the research of them.
A short horned woman in dark robes that bore the symbol of Xavior’s preisthood peered up at the titan of a man that was Frederick, one armed with a titanic blade and wearing the skull and fur of a Wolf King large as any had ever seen, and nervously adjusted her (freshly minted) spectacles.
“His ah, lordship will see you now” she informed the man, who had been offered refreshments while he sat and waited to be seen on the same veranda where Xavior met Dzallitsunya a few days earlier.
“If you would, ah, follow me please?” she added before turning to go.
With a hand the size of a brick, Frederick grabbed the tiny ornate cup he had been given, the vessel hiding behind his knuckles as he walked behind the steward.
The priest led the man through the halls of the temple, some of which had recently been expanded vertically such that they provided even the giant of a man with ample headroom. They passed by a few of the various scholars, pupils here to learn the new arts, bureaucrats and councilors who managed the state’s affairs, who filtered in and out of corridors. The main group they met, however, was a tide of the day’s supplicants who had come to barter or beg for the resident god’s divine aid, all of them flowing out of the temple and back into the streets of the city, a mix of joy and disappointment on their faces.
All made way for the warrior and his priestly guide.
Once past that river of humanity they reached the chamber they had come from. It was a grand chamber, at the end of which sat an artfully made throne, made of a fine wood and covered in intricate carvings depicting events and achievements of the god and the state, upon a dais. Its owner, clad in fine robes with a purple cloak that covered one arm and which was secured with a golden brooch on the other, was not however found upon the throne at that moment.
Instead he was in the midst of putting the finishing touches to a mechanical arm made from Ambroisen Fibres to a scared caravan guard, while the Merchant who had acquired the fibers at great expense and whose life had been saved by that same guard looked on with nervous energy. As Frederick entered the god stepped back front he warrior, who was flexing the arm experimentally, and then glanced towards the new arrival
“Ah, I see my next appointment is here, so I am afraid this will be all the time I can spare for now” Xavier said to the grateful pair before adding “thank you for the opportunity to try working with this new material. Given her conduct at our genesis, I am amazed and hartnened that Eleanna has turned out to be the kind of person to make something like this. I hope she lives up to the good sign that this is” before the pair bade their farewells and made their way out of the room. The priestess dismissed herself as well, leaving only Xavior and Frederick in the room… for all of a few moments before a titan of a woman with blue skin and who sported grand horns and wings stepped in behind him, carrying with her a table and two chairs.
“Ah excellent, thank you Annie” the god said to her as she set up the seating in the throne room, before saying to Frederick “Thank you for waiting, Frederick. Please. Do take a seat” while gesturing at an appropriately large chair before moving to do so himself in the smaller one opposite him.
Annie, notably, did not leave the room, and instead leaned against one of the walls of the throne room, her arms crossed and her eyes never going far from their guest’s massive blade. Frederick only spared her a quick look before sitting in his assigned seat. The legs of the chair creaked dangerously as he laid his weight into it.
“Thank you for agreeing to see me, your majesty,” Frederick started.
“It is my pleasure. I always have time for someone who has done so much to rid my lands of those blight-some beasts” the god replied, nodding at Frederick’s grizzly trophies, before continuing “especially when he comes bearing word from our dear sister.” The ‘dear’ was a little strained, though the god found he meant it more than he would have in the days after she and he went their separate ways. Absence truly did make the heart grow fonder it seemed.
Frederick shook his head. “My achievements here were less than selfless, but rather a show of force. I am a single paladin, and I alone have done all you heard of. To speak plainly, the paladins wish for official endorsement from you to operate in the 12th node. As it stands, we do collect recruits from this area, but have no official quarters or staff. With the growing turbulence the crucible is hosting and the encroachment of doom, I implore you to consider such a proposal post-haste.”
“That- hmmm. Straight to the point I see” Xavior said, sounding not entirely pleased but getting over his initial reaction relatively quickly as he leaned back in his chair, stroked his beard, and considered the ramifications that would have.
One the one hand, with the threat of the cradle in the south and the wolves growing ever more bold/desperate, they sorely needed professional warriors.
On the other, letting them operate in the 12th realm would all but cement his position as on Benea’s side of the war. Plus did they really want forighn troops camped in and around the city? One man alone was bad enough, but a legion of them? That would rankle both him and the people to say the least.
“I’ll have to put this before the council to get a final stamp of approval, but let’s iron out some of the details for when I bring you’re proposal before them” he explained, fairly convinced that he could get them onboarded with whatever was agreed here, before moving swiftly along to those details “Your martial prowess would be of great help, of that I am certain. However” he paused for a moment to decide how best to phrase his concern before deciding on, simply: “It would be good if you could clarify how you intend to operate in the area.”
“We will use funding from direct donation as well as from logistics from the northern Queendom. Recruitment will be both passive and active, with volunteers joining the ranks of the Paladins to successfully support their local area as well as, ultimately, the crucible as a whole.” Frederick gave his speech as if he had rehearsed it before falling into a different tone. “I am more than willing to prove the effectiveness of the training by besting each and every doubting council member in hand to hand combat. Just show me who you would like me to perform against first.”
Annie shifted slightly at her position on the wall, but Xavior kept a calm face “I’m sure that won’t be necessary” he assured the warrior. Had it been anyone else, the god might have put money on the muscled Argus taking such a challenger by surprise, but Frederick certainly made a strong point in that regard.
“Believe me, I do not doubt the effectiveness of your people’s martial prowess. It is mainly the” he waved a hand vaguely as he said “logistical and political aspects that might prove troublesome”
He tapped his fingers on the side of the table a few times thoughtfully and then decided that avoiding beating around the bush any more would work best with this man when he said “I’ll get right to the point. How willing would you and your organization be to operate under the patronage and guidance of the Eunomian state instead of the Queendom’s, at least when it comes to operating within our borders?”
“Would you like the simple answer or do you wish for an honest explanation, your majesty?” Frederick sat up, somehow making sitting down look more exhausting than standing up. His chair protested.
Even as Annie stirred, the god looked up at the towering human from where he sat and said simply “By all means, be honest with me.”
“While myself and some of the other original paladins haven’t forgotten the time we walked beside you as you claimed node 12, the younger generations and recent recruits only know you as the god who never showed up during the battles in the east. I know you had your reasons, but it cost a lot of lives. Now as the quarantine builds, we are still doing it alone with our Queen, whose life was nearly forfeit. As it stands, the organization will not find you a suitable patron, but hopes that this can change through continued official contact in node 12.” Frederick’s brow dropped. “This is for the good of the original alliance, especially as doom taints the crucible so freely now. I hope you can see from my own words that the paladins as a whole wear our faces on our faces and not under the table. As for political concerns, frankly, we are in good standing with every healthy god in the north — unless you are hinting at a friendship with Anak’thas, of course.”
“Yet it is the people of the 12th realm you will be working among and recruiting from. To them you are an alien force who are known for your proficiency at killing other humans. If you want to operate here you need official endorsement, and to be at least partially integrated with our own military. This… false narrative of my lack of involvement in the north will not sit well with people who as we speak fight and die to keep the land safe from inhuman monstrosities”
Frederick blinked. “Excuse me, your majesty, but first I would like to remind you that you had asked for my honest report on the feelings prevalent among the ranks. Secondly, I would like to remind you that the good people of node 12 have been in constant contact and in healthy trade with the Queendom since the opening of the road of light to merchants and regularly interact with the paladins who escort the traders along the way. Lasty, I would like to report that the Commander of the Pristine Palace has authorized me to mobilize over five-hundred paladins to secure your southern border should you agree to your official endorsement of the recruitment process. The stories of your merchants have met our ears well, sire.”
The god raised an eyebrow and glanced at Annie, who nodded.
“My apologies, I was unaware that you had also begun patrolling the northern road” He admitted
“It’s where I learned the best way to decapitate a being with a hard carapace,” Frederick chimed, which got a grin from the so far stoic Annie, who noted that “I find blunt force is best for cracking those things open, but that’s mighty impressive”
“I’m sure” Xavior said, before sighing and leaning back in his chair “However it is one thing to be protected by forighn soldiers in neutral lands, it is quite another to have them setting up residence around your own home. It is something that needs to be handled delicately. Your reinforcements, for example, would be welcome, because you are sorely needed.”
“but if an unchecked force as strong as yours, funded by forighn powers, sets up camp inside the city or near a town and starts operating mainly in the interests of itself and said power? There is a potential for there being unfortunate parallels to your actions in the north. Justified actions in that case, of course, but still” Xavior explained “I’d like to have some level of influence within your local chapters such that those kinds of fears and concerns need not arise. Influence that will also allow us to better support you in your worthy and welcome endeavor of making the lands safer for all humankind of course.”
Frederick blinked, as if he didn’t quite understand some of Xavior’s words. Shaking his head he added. “As the King of this realm you will be given the responsibility of approving specific locations for our buildings as well as setting the occupancy maximum. In short, you decide where we officially set up and how many Paladins can be present in your realm at a time.”
“Excellent, I knew I could bring you around. Now” Xavier said in a blatantly self declared win before he snapped his fingers and caused a scroll sitting among other documents near his throne to wisk its way over.
It clattered down onto the table and unfurled, revealing itself to be a map even as conjured tokens and playing pieces plonked down onto it to mark out cities, armies and foes.
“Let me give you an outline of where those places will be. First off the simplest of these is here,” he pointed a finger and a figure with a sword held in two hands with the blade planted in the ground appeared in the north at Twilight’s rest, the settlement on the other end of the road that wormed through Monica’s realm “Based on what you said earlier, I take it there is already something of an ad hoc presence in the area. Paladins resting before going home and so on?”
He glanced at Annie, who nodded, and then continued that “we might as well make it official, and add a permanent wing to the local barracks. I should ask if you would be willing to do the same on your side for our local forces, so as to at least make an attempt at integrating them into one patrolling force with an overall commander at each posting? One of yours and one of ours, naturally”
“Sure.” Frederick leaned forward, causing the blade on his back to violently rub against the wooden chair he was in. He plopped an elbow on the table and held his chin. “So you agree with the official endorsement, then?”
“If you keep to the place and numbers we set, as you said, and also agree to keep to our laws, I don’t imagine there will be much trouble getting an endorsement” Xavior said while still ruminating over the map.
“I don’t see why not,” Frederick agreed. “A minimum operational number will have to be devised regarding the troop maximum to prevent the structure from caving in should the number be rolled too low, but I feel that can be hashed out between the logistics corps and your own.”
“I’m sure I’m sure. Speaking of which, how centralized is your structure? I ask primarily to know how feasible it would be to have you set up an emissary that could properly facilitate relations between our government and your order” Xavior asked while setting down another paladin piece
“Easily done. Benea had the wisdom of creating a precursor to a proper embassy structure after her last visit with Queen Dzallitsunya. I can relay your desire to the Pristine Palace.”
“A touch roundabout… we would welcome representatives from the queendom itself of course, but will you have a… regional commander, say, who could send representatives, or have an office in the capital?” another piece went down
Frederick perked up. “Oh! Yes, I misunderstood your question. A regional commander will be introduced to the area to oversee and represent the Paladins of Node 12 in all matters. Of course this means you will have a direct connection to the infrastructure whenever you need it.”
“Good good. We can get them something down by the lakeside, perhaps, maybe make something of a diplomatic district” Xavior said as he popped down the final paladin. Joining the one in the north were two at the passes leading into node 18, one by Stone Lake and a final bastion on the far side of Lake Bulwark, close to but not in the capital city.
“There we go. We’ll need to bring this before the council, of course, and there's the issues of numbers, local funding, military collaboration and so on and so forth to hash out, but I think this will make for a good basis for the proposal” Xavier said, while Annie noted that each and every paladin garrison was in a place it could be checked by local forces in terms of influence. “If you agree?”
“Looks good to me.”.
“Marvelous,” Xavier said, dismissing the tokens and picking up the map as he stood “then let's get this all sorted out and onto paper then, shall we? I’ll set up a council meeting as soon as I can, and then you or a messenger can be on their way with a formal invitation to the Paladins… within the day let’s say?”
Frederick stood up as well, casting his shadow over both the table and the god. “It shall be done, your majesty.”
“Good good. Annie will show you somewhere to wait for the meeting” The god replied, and then with a “I’ll see you there” he made his way out of the room while the demoness stepped forwards, casting her own shadow over the human and table. She grinned a fang filled grin and then asked “So, want to show me how you decapitate a being with a hard carapace?”
Frederick, the big man paladin of Benea has come to Xavior town and he is here to install some of his buddies. Xavier, perhaps a touch intimidated by this wolf and bandit slaughtering man, holds a meeting with him in his throne room with Annie the Demoness present as a bodyguard.
Things start off a bit roughly, with Fredric offering to beat up the council to prove the effectiveness of his order, and relaying some of the younger paladin’s disdain towards Xavior that they feel as a result of him not being in the north.
Xavior meanwhile is not comfortable having a bunch of paladins, an order known for occupying other gods' territory, simply setting up camp with oversight.
Things clear up once Fredric offers Xavior full control of both how many paladins can be in the region and also where they can operate, which resolves most of his concerns. Xaviro then maps it out so that there are 5 groups (Twilight’s rest, Stone lake, east and west passes into node 18 and finally one at the capital) all of which can be checked by local forces if necessary. They also agree to get an embassy from Benea’s people into the city, as well as one from the paladins, namly their soon to be regional commander.
With all this agreed with words, Xavier moves to get it in writing by holding a council meeting, which will invite the Paladins into the 12th realm and initiate more detailed talks about numbers, logistics and military cooperation and so on.
”Why thank you Geralt,” the now much less human Kamek (a state of being she was quite happy with) replied to the witcher’s praise for finding the device, before adding ”But I can’t take all the credit, Rika was the one who lead me to the general area. One which had living food that turned parts of people into themselves when eaten. One can only wonder what they gain from having such an ability”
She paused there, leaving space for thought about what trickery might lie beneath the bugsnack’s cutesy exterior, before she went on ”And of course Miss Floofty, for inventing it” as if that had pause had never happened.
She listened quietly as Geralt spoke about the power he felt lurking within him, just beneath the surface.
”Oh yes, the changes can be quite… insidious in their depths, the personality ones most of all” she said, probably not helping matters in terms of the level of worry about the changes, before adding more optimistically that ”I can only praise your self reflective abilities that you have noticed what has occurred on your own”
”Ah you’re both over-complicating things. Look. see. Weird new limb goes zap” Bowser, who was most certainly not a master of self reflection, insisted as he showed off his new lopsided limb, by flicking it forwards and delivering a shock to the ground, sending a little burst of sand out from the impact point.
Dazzle meanwhile was finding their new limbs quite annoying, being lingering, feather covers flippers even less suited for land walking in the way his old sea-lion limbs had been, and he was not opposed to letting his new trainer know via seal-clown sounds.
”Yeah I know they are kinda inconvenient. But at least it's more like just a jacket instead of going full penguin. Plus you should have a new power of. Um. flapping about?” Jr retorted, floundering a bit at the last hurdle.
Dazzle gave Jr an eye roll, everyone knew piplups flew like iron bars, but gave it a go regardless, inflating one of his water balloons and using it as a trampoline to launch himself. And then splashed down pretty far out into the water, much to his and everyone else's surprise. Just not quite as surprised as various gunship pilots had (very briefly) been when faced with a deadly bird strike by a flock of genetically enhanced penguins.
No for the troop that level of surprise came when Dazzle sped through the waves and launched himself back out of the water like a rocket.
”...uh, see?” Jr managed as the awe wore off, before saying more loudly ”See! Seal missile! Told you it was worth it” which Dazzle had to somewhat agree, even if it was still annoying to be on land.
"It's to see that everyone's enjoying themselves...in their own ways," observed Peach, having given the brawling streetfighters a wide berth as she made her way to where the Koopa Troop looked on. She couldn't keep her eyes off Bowser as she approached, although not in a good way. "Have you been fusing again!?"
”You know it princess. Look. Weird zappy arm. Pretty cool huh?” Bowser said, gesturing to his new asymmetrical addition, and deflating a fair bit when a brief look of disgust flashed over her royal features.
"Well...at least you're not like that all over, I suppose?" she allowed, trying to see the bright side. Then she took a deep breath and spoke her mind. "I have to say though, doesn't it all seem a bit much? All those spirits have made a mess out of you. I can barely even recognize what you've become."
”Well I mean. Yeah. Sure. But I’m stronger, so what does it matter what I look like!” the koopa bit back with a growl ”I’m doing everything that I can to make sure we win this, what’s so bad about that, huh?”
Kamek tried to mediate between the two by pointing out ”Well at least with this we can spread out the changes now. Keep them separate and avoid any more, ah, dramatic transformations”
“Or just shove it all into the same shoulder?” Rika suggested from where she had been getting a crash course in sandcastle building from Lana. The fast learner had already added her own little neutral fort onto the battlefield and she was very proud of the misshapen mass even as she tinkered away at improving it.
”Yes… or that…” Kamek said, furrowing her brow while glancing between the messily morphed Bowser and the spirit extracting Peach. The princess’ face looked just as contemplative before both she and Kamek snapped their fingers at the same time with a shared “Ah ha!”
A few moments later, and Bowser was (briefly) his old self again thanks to Peach pulling out all of his spirits, and then Bowser reabsorbed them all while Kamek helped the Snaktivator to his shell, focusing all of the changes in the place where all the useful mutations had occurred anyway.
The host's shell has turned Blastoise brown, with a knobby outer texture, and divided into seven plates sections, with a hexagon in the middle and trapezoids all around. The rim, both of the shell and of the spikes, is purple-blue and flared outward in a wave pattern like the edge of Tentacruel's body. At every corner of the shell plates there is a cerise Tentacruel orb. The whole outer layer of the shell is actually metal, with the seams gilded and a golden fleur-de-lis on the middle one, and it's biomechanical beneath. All six of the outward plates can raise up and extend a pair of thick cannon barrels each. in the direction their facing. Only the upper right and upper left ones can swivel forward to fire straight while Bowser is standing. The middle section of the shell can be raised to allow four large Land Dreugh limbs to extend outward to the sides like giant spider legs, while a nest of tentacruel tentacles can be stretched out of the top.
Purplish-blue scales extend outward for a short ways across Bowser's body, with his shell as the origin point, and his hair is Trendo lavender. His suit jacket, which the shell sets atop, is now much longer and styled like Trento's coat, although the epaulet tassels are now Tentacruel tentacles. The host's personality is sweeter and more caring, but also more mindlessly aggressive when angered.
These spirits confer the Powers Torrent, which allows his cannons to fire water blasts that get stronger in a pinch, Liquid Ooze, which allow his cannons to spray low-pressure jets of toxin, Shell Generation, which allows Bowser to internally manufacture his own explosive ammo for his cannons (as well as regrow his spikes) from his food, and Shocking Touch, allowing Bowser to electrify a Land Dreugh limb that then spends the charge on whatever it hits next, zapping it. These spirits also confer the Weaknesses Psychic Bane, causing mental attacks to deal double damage to the host and increasing mental susceptibility, Electric Bane, causing electric attacks to deal double damage to the host, Soft Machine, increasing the host's stamina consumption and fall damage by way of increased weight, and Can’t Swim, which means that when in water, the host can only sink to the bottom
Peach's eyebrows rose as a smile dawned on her face. "Oh, well then. There's the Bowser we know and...well, the Bowser we know."
”Yeah! The king is back” Bowser announced loudly while flexing his back to normal arms, enjoying having his proportions back rather than being all gangly due to the human touch.
Then he paused mid flex and somewhat bashfully scratched his lavender hair before saying ”And, uh, sorry about arguing with you before. This is waaay better. So, uh, thanks?” to the princess.
”Well, almost back” Kamek said ruefully as Jr ran up to give his far more normal looking dad a hug.
Drifting Pollen
Rezod92
Izurich
Lexisheeps
xxjessicaxx
Timemaster
Eviledd1984
pkken
VitaVitaAR
