[SD:DD] Of Course It's Another Cult - Chapter 12
Added 2025-08-05 02:32:45 +0000 UTCThe Guildmaster stood on their balcony staring down on those below. It was “a bit” chaotic, which meant things were really going wild. Their laws bound the guild in metaphorical chains, keeping order and yet this happens?
They glance at the door. It wasn’t long ago that they had swung open on a returning party for adventurers who are new to the area. Host to a Chainbreaker. One bound to Chaos as they are bound to Law.
They had noticed them arrive originally and should have seen this coming.
A whisper of a frown graces the Guildmasters face. Not long enough for anyone but themselves to notice.
No. They would not fall to that form of hubris. By their nature, one can not simply foresee what will come of a Chaosbound’s actions. For the undead wandering the desert outside to actually be a threat? There was no hint or clue leading to that conclusion.
Though now that this unexpected piece has been revealed? Their actions can once again fight against the chaotic nature of this place. Another almost frown. Again, they nearly fell into the trap.
This news was personally delivered by a Chaoskin. Beings who even more than the regular Chaosbound, cause the natural order to become less so. They shift their eyes to look at one of the guild stewards who snaps to attention.
“High Blue”
Only the steward hears them for it is only for them to hear. And once again the chaos grows within the guild hall. After all, the only high C rank adventurer is the Guildmaster. Next in line are a party which was visiting having just broken through to C. All the other High levels adventurers in the area are at most D and not particularly high. After all, the desert rarely has Green threats, and so there aren’t many chances for people to grow beyond the beginning of D.
Behind the Guildmaster, outside their office a researcher knocks twice and enters the room. They have a sheath of papers that they leave on the otherwise empty desk. Then the researcher leaves and knocks twice after they close the door.
Not that the Guildmaster couldn’t sense them the entire time, but the procedure kept those who visited in the right state of mind. Let them remember that they are always watching.
The Guildmaster holds up the papers that are no longer on their desk and reads through them. A third frown. A record.
The records did have mention of some old cult in the area. Older than recorded history, a bit of an oxymoron as they clearly had a written record of the cult. Though it doesn’t really count as the record is third-hand. The records even mention the same scythe over a sheath of wheat symbol.
Of course, it was an undead-worshipping cult, originally focused on using the bones of the dead to create the equivalent of automated farming equipment.
Horribly inefficient and dangerous. Time and again it has been shown that the undead lead to an end. If you want untiring labor, golems are the way to go and even then, you need to treat them well as the magic tends to introduce a personality given enough time.
Further records of the cult of course lead to the predictable outcome. The fields flourished for generations until the undead blight inherent to their nature built up enough and everything died. There was even the classic end for a desert city, that of being swallowed whole by a sandstorm, never to be seen again. Well, until now, obviously.
The Guildmaster looks back out over the guild, the papers now filed in the appropriate file cabinet.
Ah, file cabinets! While the travellers certainly introduced equal parts chaos and order, some of their inventions made it all worth the upheaval. Such a tidy method of storing papers! A shame that this bit of research has to be filed as an incomplete history report. There is no mention of the cult’s main undead style beyond skeletal.
Not that it can be helped, what with being from before recorded history and all. Though as another thought comes to mind, the Guildmaster maintains control and does not frown.
They are not against the undead. There are uses for them that work. Highly limited. It is only those who align with Good that bother over much about such things. Though the Guildmaster does admit that the undead are the domain of Evil, even if not all undead are themselves Evil. Rather, unworked natural spawns tending towards true neutral.
Even the intelligent undead can stray from Evil. Though it is a constant fight with few records of any remaining neutral until they are put down for the final time. It certainly doesn’t help that they start at neutral, never able to be truly Good.
Though the Guildmaster can appreciate that, they also tend towards Order. Most undead-focused groups, whether those who make use of them or are them, will have very strict laws and codes for conduct. There is simply that Evil tendency that keeps popping up.
The Guildmaster also understands that there is no changing this. If anything, the pull towards Evil outweighs their pull towards Order. A real shame. Golems are much more expensive to make, even if they always start as paragons of order. Only changing from that stance once they’ve developed a personality and most times, not even then.
They look once more towards the food. This would be an interesting challenge. An ancient cult of skeleton worshipers, arising from the sands. They hated it.
Their job thrived on boredom. For “interesting” to be brought up meant Chaos. It meant something had gone wrong and Order was disrupted.
The guild should have some of the best maps of the region and yet this can pop up? Truly that one traveller’s curse was the epitome of curses. “May you live in interesting times” indeed!
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Samuel got out of his FIVR equipment. He didn’t have the newest capsules. Instead, he is stuck with one of the older suit-style models. Annoying to use, but it worked and gave enough fidelity that it didn’t matter to him.
The guild had promised some very hefty rewards after some more exploration was done, but money promised means nothing until it hits the bank account. Samuel wakes up his PC and searches for another payday.
There! Someone else was in the same area and is paying actual cash for the information. Samuel was careful to not betray the party’s interests. After all, they still needed to cash out, even if that was in game currency. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to pass on some information. They could go and get themselves killed if they wanted.
More important is that the escrow had the money ready. So, Samuel types up a report on the ruins and sends it off.
Oh! Samuel is surprised, whoever this is? They certainly aren’t stingy. There was hardly enough time to look over the info packet he sent and they’d already released the money.
That was good. Though it did remind him to check his remaining funds.
More than he had expected.
Still not enough though!
At least he is out of debt. His medical troubles as a kid had been quite a financial burden to his family and he was stuck with the bill for many years. Now though, the burden is off his shoulders and his health was perfect.
All that was left? Making sure he had enough money to live however he wanted. That would take a while, and maybe by then he could figure out the specifics.
Well, and to be good enough at SoulDive. Samuel had seen a few groups get rich in the time since the previous game launched. Now? He did take some time to afford the game and equipment, but it wasn’t too late.
So, with that in mind, Samuel dives into browsing the shadier side of the web. Not the dark web or anything, simply the sites where you could post whatever you wanted. Because the Whirlwind Slash skill had proven quite useful.
There had to be more like that! Besides, sword and board is one of the most popular combat styles. Someone should have uploaded other skills which would fit it.
That and guides. Though the best ones tended to require a nominal fee to access. Not like Gem’s guide. Samuel grimaced.
He looked it up, and what a work of art! Race, what to look for in a starting city, skill to grab, gear to purchase, and so much more! They had gone overboard and sussed out so many details to make their build work right from the start.
Which in and of itself is rare! Way too many builds included a bit of a dead zone where you sucked more than everyone else because things weren’t ready. Gem’s guide? Solo in a party, fully equipped or only the starter gear, every skill or some of the trash alternatives. If you follow the guide, you will be able to advance to at least level 30.
If Samuel made a guide like that? He would have made bank! Err, well, eventually. He would have also kept it a secret until he had gone far enough on the path and only then, released some of the guide.
After all, there is always someone more talented. No reason to give them a leg up on you before you’ve lapped them. Now? There are people already at levels 15 to 19 using Gem’s Mage Archer build. And bows aren’t even that popular of a weapon with the user base!
It was so frustrating sometimes.
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A man goes over the newly reported information on the kerfuffle going on in that illusion desert. It was good news as their competitor had gone into the desert’s market and gained a stronghold before his company could fight for a share. A shame though, it was a decent area to raise people from grey to white. The field chaff being more than enough.
The man types up a report of his own and sends it to his supervisor. Then, as he waits for a response, something catches his eye about the report. Nothing which would change the report he had sent, thankfully, but it did represent an opportunity.
All he had to do is confirm a few things. Maybe set up a few more requests related to the area. Admittedly, this felt a little too lucky to the man, but it is a small world. To find such a resource? Well, it could solidify one of their more important relationships in the game!
His company had heavily invested in the sci-fi game and it was still paying dividends. Just think of what they could do if they rolled that into local dominance in SoulDive!
And if it is the result of his own actions? They might make him a partner! Someone had gotten that in the other game, so it isn’t out of the question.
Now he just needed to wait.
-----
A gaggle of admins watch as the ancient seven-sided pyramid settles down again. Though that one group had gone in and stirred things up a little, it wasn’t enough to usher in an undead swarm sweeping out of the sandstorm to consume the rest of the desert.
Though it had been a close thing. So many “ifs” compounded on one another. If the one didn’t heard the sounds of the skeletons early enough. If the other two hadn’t right away pulled the others out of there. If the illusionist hadn’t put up exactly three illusion barriers!
Especially that last one. The strongest skeleton at the front pierced two of the illusions as the four finally got far enough into the sandstorm so as to not be seen. If he had put up one fewer, they’d have been spotted and alerted the entire complex. If he had stayed a little longer to put up a fourth, a stronger skeleton would have gotten there and seen through it all instantly.
Then there was the last encounter! If a more complete skull viewer had been sent out to their location? Just two soul fire skulls looking at the corner would have revealed them. Though at least with this instance, it was logical.
That specific skull viewer was fastest and so was sent directly to the edge of the ruins. The others moved much too slowly, their bodies burdened by more bones to defend them. Still, they managed to stay quiet, figure out a method to stay on course, and escape with the information. All without starting the main event.
The admins watching this unfold, especially Akesi Waso Pali Suli, were on the edge of their seats the entire way through.
