The world turned into a blur. Yolani was vaguely aware of others talking and moving around her, but their voices were distant echoes in her ears. Her gaze remained fixed on the skeletal remains; her father’s pouch clutched in its bony fingers.
Her father’s pouch, magically protected from the acid that had dissolved everything else. After an agonizingly long hesitation, she reached down an...
2023-10-13 06:14:18 +0000 UTC View Post
The tension was palpable as they trudged down the final corridor to where the map claimed there was a treasure chamber. Those were relatively rare—and also contained the most dangerous enemies—and nothing prevented the summoned inhabitants from migrating into the corridors.
Everyone was weary. The [Rockbear] had just been the start. They’d had to fight a horde of skeleton...
2023-10-13 00:06:52 +0000 UTC View Post
Yolani held her wand up in the air, the bright glow lighting up the large space opening up before the group. Henri stood beside her, leaning a bit too close for her comfort to the edge to peer down into the abyss.
His armor was stained with ichor and dirt. They’d spent the last three days fighting and delving into the dungeon’s depths. The density of their opponents had been far higher th...
2023-10-12 11:43:38 +0000 UTC View Post
Unfortunately, whatever Joren was up to didn’t take long enough, and he immediately began to bug her just as she was dozing off. “You’ll frighten Taniel if he wakes up with you hovering over him.”
What was the problem with that?
A sudden icky smell wrinkled her nose, and she realized it was the scent of fear coming off the three novices. They each were peeking out from their chamb...
2023-10-12 07:17:42 +0000 UTC View Post
Elania sat on a boulder outside the waystation entrance, humming a half-remembered tune from one of her favorite fantasy music channels back home. One of the novices had been in and out a few times to fetch water, and each time gave her a funny expression.
Maybe they weren’t used to musical demons? Or maybe she was just bad at humming. She certainly hadn’t earned any music related skill fro...
2023-10-12 01:11:31 +0000 UTC View Post
The energy that cloaked her had died down from an inferno to just turning her into an omni-directional radioactive yellow flashlight.
It had taken an hour of her sitting while attempting to meditate to block out the pain. Slotting out [Throwing] for [Crisis Management] had helped with that considerably, but it was still a terrifying experience. She wasn’t sur...
2023-10-11 09:10:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Lightning began to spark as the glow from the [Alpha Ralfot] intensified. It barreled through the cavern towards them, sending tremors through the cavern floor with each impact of its hooves. Elania’s heart hammered in her chest, but she kept her gaze fixed on the charging beast, studying its movement.
She’d faced Darkwalkers, Razorscales, and Rockbears, but this ...
2023-10-10 20:25:30 +0000 UTC View Post
The waystation was nearly identical to the first. The cavern it was attached to, however, was completely different. Elania looked down at the terrifyingly deep drop as the waterfall near the entryway tumbled into the darkness below. Her [Darkvision] just barely allowed her to make out the body of water at the bottom, large white sprays of foam lashing violently as more water poured...
2023-10-10 07:51:37 +0000 UTC View Post
The waystation was deserted as Elania stepped through the entryway. The shimmering blue field was deactivated, and there were no signs of the monks having been there other than the smothered remains of the campfire.
She’d been gone a while, but it hadn’t felt like it had been that long. It had taken a while to refill her [Power] and craft new javelins, but not that long. ...
2023-10-09 22:51:46 +0000 UTC View Post
The vibrant red hues abruptly transformed on entering the waystation into softer blue and turquoise lighting. It created a pretty purple effect at the entryway. The moment she stepped into the area, she felt a strange pressure squeeze her.
[Demonic Aura has been suppressed and deactivated.]
That was new, but she supposed it made sense that the waystation had some type o...
2023-10-09 03:23:10 +0000 UTC View Post
Elania turned and hurried after the monks without missing a beat. If Marcus didn’t want any help, he wouldn’t get any! She didn’t want to fight that thing herself, anyway! It was a literal raid boss!
She quickly caught up and then outpaced the monks, letting herself go loose enough to leap from rock to rock. While they trudged along on the path, she took the chance to make sure there wasn...
2023-10-08 19:15:22 +0000 UTC View Post
The stew wasn’t bad, but the unfortunate reality that she wanted the raw meat hit her after the first bite. It wasn’t bad, although it did lack the salt and spices she was used to. Everyone else took several bowls of the stuff, but she was done after just one.
Roasted Elnat was far more palatable, and she took one for herself.
“Only like meat, eh?” Marcus commented.
Everyo...
2023-10-08 08:04:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Elania followed behind Marcus and the monks far enough that she was able to study all of them. An itch scratched at her senses, giving her the feeling that somehow they were still monitoring her, despite appearing not to look at her at all. Heck, they probably were, with some skill or spell or something she had no idea existed.
The stone stairs down to the village proper were lined with Mushr...
2023-10-07 21:58:32 +0000 UTC View Post
No one seemed interested in replying to her question, resulting in a staring contest between her and the ranger.
The standoff ended quickly when the Mushroohum servants began to drag back the baskets that had been offered to the party in trade for their supplies.
The humans had brought backpacks full of metal tools, much like the ones she’d seen in the workshop. Suddenly the presence ...
2023-10-07 07:02:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Taniel and the rest of the monks stopped and stared at the massive Darkwalker that the Mushroohums were butchering. The industrial process ended as they spread its remains across the cavern’s small moss fields. It was obviously a demon variant, so maybe they weren’t wrong that its flesh would act as a powerful fertilizer. He just had no idea how they had taken down a lesser demon with their primi...
2023-10-07 00:44:03 +0000 UTC View Post
A massive panther hunted her in the dark, but she had lured it into a trap. As she slowly rose from her crouch, she recognized the shape; it was a Darkwalker, not a panther. Water dripped from the cavern’s ceiling into small pools that leaked into a nearby stream.
Just as it was about to pounce on where it thought she was, she threw her javelin. The weapon pierced the predator’s side, right...
2023-10-06 04:00:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Once they were inside the shop, Yolani walked to the back workshop and picked up the map of the dungeon. Her eyes traced the lines her father had drawn, marking his planned route.
“I need to go after him,” she said, not tearing her gaze away from the parchment. “I can follow his steps and see if I can find him.”
“What?” Henri blurted as he followed her into the room. His face ...
2023-10-05 22:23:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Somehow Yolani managed to keep her focus as they extracted themselves from the Mercenary District. Once they made it to the safer side of the city, she surrendered her safety to Henri as he guided them back home. Her mind swirled with the orphan’s words. Each step felt heavy, and more than once she struggled with the reality of her father’s absence.
There was a stupid thread of hope that wh...
2023-10-05 03:40:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Yolani moved through her tasks to clean, re-etch, and re-power a set of auto-gears. Hector’s words echoed in her head, fueling a slow burning anger that settled deep inside her. His thinly veiled admission of having orchestrated her father’s disastrous choices so he could profit from them left a vile, bitter taste in her mouth the Geru beans couldn’t compete with.
She glanced over at Henr...
2023-10-04 22:35:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Yolani had been unable to sleep, so she had spent the night working in her notebook. She’d run through hundreds of equations and algorithms in an attempt to solve her theoretical problems. When the light stones above had flickered above, she realized she’d stayed up the entire night. Across the row, the earliest risers had already begun to go about their business.
That was the start of he...
2023-10-04 05:51:21 +0000 UTC View Post
As Yolani descended from her room, the absence of tinkering in the workshop was noticeable. When she opened the door and looked inside, she was stunned.
Her father had donned a set of armor, and a full set of combat wands was hanging off a combat belt. The armor and a half dozen empowered medallions held runed protection sigils, set to ward off any elemental magic, and his leather travel gear...
2023-10-03 06:56:33 +0000 UTC View Post
Did she want to transform into a predatory beast with much better natural fighting equipment than her human body?
Eying the Darkwalker Demon barreling down towards her, Elania knew the answer.
Yes, she did.
[You have gained the Demonic Transformation perk!]
The heat was suddenly all encompassing; hotter than any overload of [Power] had given...
2023-10-02 21:27:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Elania watched as the Mushroohum warriors came to a sudden halt in front of her. She fell into a squat, balancing on her feet as she licked the blood off the back of her hand. The salty taste that filled her mouth was of her own blood; she’d absorbed everything from the Darkwalkers she had hunted.
Her insides writhed and burned; she could feel the fire inside of her melting her organs while...
2023-10-02 17:02:49 +0000 UTC View Post
Elania took in the two Darkwalkers darting in at her calmly. She considered whether she should turn and run or look for some sort of high-ground that would give her an advantage.
In the half-second she had, she decided on neither.
One [Darkwalker] was closer than the other and she darted for it. It grounded itself firmly, then reached out to slash at her with a razor-sh...
2023-10-02 03:42:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Elania lost track of time as she descended into the routine of a cavern predator.
Hunt. Wash. Sleep. Hunt.
She was vaguely aware that her life had turned into a training montage, but she still didn’t feel she was ready to explore the Mushroohum’s lair.
With [Stealth] at S+, she was able to sneak around nearly unnoticed by predators and prey alike. That allowed her to pick her ba...
2023-10-01 21:18:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Elania was woken up by a massive, wet tongue on her face.
One of the smaller Ralfots had found its way up to her, and was standing overtop of her. Small was a misnomer, because even being one of the younglings, the animal was still massive.
And apparently curious, and not holding a grudge for the earlier hunting. It licked her again, eliciting a giggle. She gently pushed away its snout....
2023-10-01 06:19:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Elania made her way through the labyrinth of caverns, keeping an eye out for any signs of danger. Her senses were on high alert as she picked her way through the quiet buzz of the underground’s flora and fauna. The meat would probably attract predators and she didn’t want to run into another [Darkwalker] so she did her best to hurry while keeping out of sight.
Eventually,...
2023-10-01 06:02:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Elania watched in frozen horror as the Darkwalker descended upon the unsuspecting Mushroohum. The cavern echoed with a guttural roar as the beast completed its pounce, slashing at the hunter’s back with vicious abandon. Reflexively, she tightened the grip on her ready javelin.
A flurry of panicked “Glaa-Glaa!” filled the air as the Mushroohum was thrown to his knees under the brutal ass...
2023-09-30 21:58:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Hunting was not as simple as Elania had thought it would be. Going out and just wandering through the various caverns aimlessly allowed her to build up a mental map of the region, but prey eluded her. She guessed that the Ralfots and Elnats were all hidden away under the protection of the Mushroohums near their village, meaning it was too dangerous to go after them.
She had seen no wild specime...
2023-09-30 04:57:42 +0000 UTC View Post
[Darkvision] didn’t work very well underwater.
The sudden plunge into the underground river took Elania by surprise, sharp rock biting into her skin as she was swallowed by the violent current. The vortex whirled her around without mercy, and her chaotic flailing was useless.
Her lungs screamed for air as they filled with water instead of the much-desired oxygen. A pr...
2023-09-29 21:44:37 +0000 UTC View Post