#but the only thing that comes to mind is that Iskall was experimenting with slimes for iskallium purposes

[acidhermit]

Noticed recently that iskall's "bad" eye is the same shade of blue as Jevin's skin....

[theres-an-impulstor-among-us]

For the writing requests: Zedaph with a fear of heights?

I seriously love getting such open-ended prompts like this because then I can just go wild. Hope you like what I’ve written!

CW: panic attack

…

  There’s a reason Zedaph doesn’t usually fly places. He prefers to travel by nether where possible, but on this occasion, there’s no point going all the way through the nether hub when he can just fly over the mountain to Impulse’s base. It’s a short flight so everything should be okay.

  But the one thing he forgets to check before he sets off is the durability of his elytra.

  As he’s flying over the cliff, he feels a jerk and realises immediately that his elytra has snapped. He starts to drop but, reacting quickly, manages to grab onto the very edge of the cliff, stopping his fall. 

  However, his grip doesn’t last long.

  He lets out a screech as he slips down the mountain face, struggling wildly for a foothold. After a few seconds, he’s able to catch one on on a small stone ledge sticking out from the cliff about a quarter of the way down. He manages to turn himself around but he soon realises that was a BIG mistake.

  Because now he can see the two hundred block drop below him. 

  Already starting to panic, Zedaph shakily takes out his communicator. 

<Zedaph> Help!

<Zedaph> Elytra broke!

<Zedaph> Stuck on a cliff!

<Zedaph> Can’t get down!

  As he’s typing out his coordinates, he gets three messages in a row.

<Tango> Are you okay? Where are you?

<Impulse> Where are you Zed?? 

<Xisuma> Where are you? I can help! 

  Zedaph manages to send his coordinates before panic overwhelms him and he presses himself against the stone cliff face, squeezing his eyes shut. His world sways around him, making him dizzy and threatening to send him pitching forwards to the ground below.

  Xisuma is the first to arrive on the scene. One look up tells him that Zedaph is too low down to be grabbed from above, so he sets about trying to find a way to save his friend from down here.

  “Where is he?!” Tango gasps, landing neatly on the ground next to him. 

  Xisuma points him out. “There. We need a way to either slow or break his fall. I don’t suppose you have any splash potions of slow falling, do you?”

  Tango shakes his head. “N-No, I don’t. What about water?” 

  “Good idea, but too risky. From down here, we can’t tell where he’ll fall and we don’t have time to cover the whole area in enough water to completely break his fall.”

  Up on the cliff, about three minutes have passed since Zedaph first called for help, but it feels like over three hours to the terrified hermit. One glance down tells him that a crowd is forming under him but he can’t force himself to look down long enough to see who’s there. The only thing he could make out in his brief glance down is the bright yellow design he recognises from Impulse’s t-shirt. 

  “Zedaph!” 

  He almost glances down again but the nausea and panic rising in him is causing him to freeze. 

  Tango tries again: “ZED! Do you have anything on you to help get you down?!”

  Zedaph knows he should look in his inventory. Perhaps he has an ender pearl on him? It would be worth the pain of pearling from all the way up here if it meant he could be on the ground in seconds, and avoiding a terrifying fall would certainly be a bonus.

  But he can’t. He can’t move. His hands are gripping the stone indents so tightly that his knuckles are turning white. If he lets go, if he moves, if he tries to check his inventory, if he looks down, if he even opens his eyes…

  ...he’ll fall.   “He can’t get down!” Tango gasps. “What do we do?!”

  “Slime!” comes a voice from above.

  The small crowd looks up to find Iskall swooping overhead. He lands quickly on the ground and starts handing out slime blocks. “This’ll break his fall. Quick!” 

  Tango, Iskall, Impulse, Xisuma, and a few others start to spread the slime blocks all over the ground, creating a bouncy platform that will save Zedaph if he falls. 

  But less than a minute later, a terrifying scream sounds from above them as Zedaph finally loses his grip and slips right off the ledge.

  Zedaph screams again as he plummets, his hands wildly grasping at the air in a futile attempt to slow his fall. He knows he will die if he hits the ground, but there’s nothing he can do to stop it from happening. 

  Below him, he hears two distinctive voices scream his name. 

  A second later, he feels himself hit a bouncy surface and ricochet off. Arms flailing, he falls the six or so blocks to the ground, taking only a heart or two of damage as he does. He lies where he fell, gasping for breath through panic and adrenaline. 

  “Everyone get back!” calls Xisuma’s hazy voice. “Give him some room! He needs air!”

  He feels someone drop down next to him. “Zed! Zed, can you hear me?!”

  Zedaph can tell from his voice that Tango is terrified out of his mind right now, but he can’t summon the energy to talk or even nod. He is fully hyperventilating now, his lungs heaving as he tries and fails to gulp in enough oxygen through his sobs. 

  “What do I do?!” cries Tango in distress. “I don’t know what to do! How do I help him?!”

  Then a newcomer arrives. “Stay calm, Tango. Reassure him that you’re there and he’s safe. Keep saying that. And remind him to keep breathing.”

  “O-Okay…!” Tango takes a deep, shaky breath. “Z-Zed, it’s okay, I’m here. You’re safe, I’m here for you. I’m not going anywhere.”

  The knot in Zedaph’s chest loosens slightly. 

  He feels Tango’s hand on his shoulder. “Breathe, Zed. Breathe deeply. In, out. In, out.”

  “Don’t tell him to breathe deeply,” comes the other voice. It sounds familiar but Zedaph can’t quite identify it just yet. “Just breathe. Mimic normal rhythm and it’ll return.”

  “R-Right, right. In. Out. In. Out. Can you do that for me? In. Out. In. Out.”

  Even though Zedaph knows Tango well enough to see through his calm facade, just the presence of his best friend is allowing him to slowly calm down. He mimics the timing of Tango’s breaths, his heartrate slowly but surely returning to normal. 

  At that moment, he hears the voice of his other best friend from somewhere behind him. “-want to see him! I want to see Zed!”

  Zedaph’s eyes are closed but he feels Impulse’s presence immediately. He breathes shakily but deeply out, finally able to stem the tears flowing from his eyes. 

  He rolls onto his back, one hand resting on his aching chest. 

  Someone takes his other hand and clasps it tightly. “It’s okay,” Impulse’s voice whispers. “You’re okay, Zed. You’re safe.” 

  Impulse’s hand in his and Tango’s reassuring hand on his shoulder helps Zedaph relax. His breathing returns to normal and he tilts his head back slightly, his stomach swimming with nausea. 

  He opens his mouth and manages to croak, “T-Tango.”

  “We’re here.” Tango can hardly raise his voice above a raspy whisper. “We’re both here.”

  Finally, Zedaph manages to open his eyes. Sure enough, he finds the pale faces of his best friends gazing worriedly down at him. 

  As he struggles to sit up, Impulse and Tango both immediately place a hand behind his back to help him. “Take it easy,” says Impulse softly. “You gave us a real scare, buddy.” 

  Gripping his best friends’ arms for support, Zedaph lets out a long breath. “I-I gave myself the fright of my life, th-that’s for sure.”

  “Zed…” Tango hesitates. “What happened up there? Why didn’t you open your inventory?”

  “I...um...” Zedaph also hesitates. He trusts his best friends implicitly but this is something he has never shared with anyone before. “I have acrophobia.”

  Tango gives his best friend a concerned frown. “Zed, I’ve known you for years. How have you never told me you’re scared of heights?” 

  Zedaph shrugs helplessly. “I-I don’t know, it just never came up before. It’s not as bad when I fly with an elytra cuz I’ve had years of practise; it’s just extended periods of time where I’m high up and I just freak out completely. I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. And I’m sorry for scaring you guys.”

  Tango quickly shakes his head. “No no, don’t apologise. I’m just so relieved you’re okay.”

  Zedaph closes his eyes and rests his head on Tango’s shoulder. “Me too.”

  In the ensuing pause, the same voice from before says, “How often do you have panic attacks?”

  Opening his eyes again, Zedaph looks up and finds Grian standing a few blocks away, a concerned look on his face. “Hardly ever. This one just got triggered because of my acrophobia. You?”

  Grian hesitates, glancing from Impulse and Tango to Zedaph. He realises that Zedaph can tell from the way he calmly and efficiently gave his advice that he’s no stranger to panic attacks “Not often. Anymore.”

  “Thanks for helping us out, there,” Tango says gratefully. “I wouldn’t have had any idea what to do if it wasn’t for you.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ve been in both your places before. And let’s just say I know from experience that if there’s anything worse than having a panic attack, it’s having one in the presence of people who don’t know how to help you.” 

  Impulse gives a thin smile. “Well, we’ll definitely know what to do if it happens again in future. Thanks, man.”

  “No worries.” Grian smiles back at him, before glancing down at Zedaph. “And Zedaph, take as much time to recover from this as you need to, without feeling guilty or like you should be over it by now. I don’t know how many attacks you’ve had in the past but take it from me: rushing your recovery will make things worse. Take some time to relax.”

  Zedaph manages a nod. “I will. Thank you.”

  Grian nods back. “Feel better, man. I’ll see you later.” 

  As Grian walks off, Zedaph attempts to rise to his feet, but his legs buckle. Thankfully, Tango and Impulse are right there to steady him and lift him up. 

  “Where do you want to go, Zed?” Tango asks gently. “Anywhere you want.” 

  After a moment, Zedaph glances up at Tango, then at Impulse. “I want to lie on the grass outside Toon Towers with you two and as much cake as I can eat.”

  Tango and Impulse exchange a grin.

  “We can arrange that.” 

[triple-a-enderdragon]

Meet the Locals!

Hermits, in this AU, come in three different flavors; avatars, those who were given magic, and those who have magic of their own. 

Avatars: Hermits who have had the (mis)fortune of being chosen by an Element, beings who represent different aspects of the world (more on these guys later). Avatars can channel the power of their Element and have certain related abilities. This is elaborated in each individual avatar’s infodump.

Given: Hermits who have obtained magic via other superpowered beings other than the Elements. Their powers and abilities vary greatly.

Personally Obtained: Hermits who were either born with their magic or obtained it without the intervention of any superpowered being. Again, their powers and abilities vary greatly.

Hermits! In (kinda) alphabetical order!

Bdubs: Flavor 3; can manipulate space and distance, but in small areas. He can make these changes “permanent”, most prominently in his builds; or temporary. He mainly uses it as a way to travel more quickly and safely between locations. The larger the area, the longer the time held, and the more dramatic the change, the faster he tires out. However, the small area of his builds and the subtlety of the magic used makes these permanently sustainable.

Biffa: Secret flavor 4; but he’s the only one. He has no “real” magic, but his stubbornness to not die is magical on its own. Biffa originally came from an...interesting world. It was a hardcore world, meaning perma-death. This world had a gladiator-style arena that he never left (until he left that world). He was thrown into fights constantly, which led to the almost total (violent) removal and replacement of his fleshy bits. He is about 90% cybernetic and can become a bloodthirsty little monster. That’s why he’s on the Strike Team! Known as the Berserker, he is the frontal assault in most confrontations, drawing the attention away from the flankers, Iskall and Python. His fighting style may seem random and haphazard, but it is well structured and takes full advantage of his metal body. As an ST member, he has special weapons, two axes and a greatsword.

Cub: Flavor 2; Bestowed with Vex magic alongside Scar and is an OP. Cub, besides having handy mechanic-exploiting knowledge, has some control over the elusive magic of the Vexes. He knows not of the true nature of how he and Scar came about it. Cub’s speciality is utility magic and he mostly uses it to test the limits of the world around him. Because the magic can be volatile, he (and Scar) must use a focus or risk great damage to himself. Cub’s focus is a fairly small sphere of translucent quartz that, over time, has grown small cracks of a suspiciously light blue material.

Docm: Flavor 1; Avatar of Redstone, whether she knows it or not. Frankly, whether he knows it or not, either. ~Once upon a time~, Doc was a regular researcher, doing regular researcher things. Until one day. An explosion rips through the facility, fusing several things together. Two of those things being Doc and a creeper. Also, he lost some body bits as well. This explosion drew the attention of Redstone (an Element!), who had been watching him closer than she normally would (read: at all), took pity on him and replaced his lost body bits with some snazzy redstone bits. Needless to say she didn’t expect that would make him her avatar. She then went back to minding her own business. Or, at least, trying to. Something about Doc is just...captivating. Can’t be this avatar business. Oh no. ANYWAY. Doc can manipulate redstone. Fun! He can also feel the circuits and how they work, allowing him to make incredibly accurate diagnoses of other hermits’ redstone circuits. He also has a weird and exceptional way with a channeling trident...

Evil Xisuma: Flavor 1; Avatar of Void, kind of an accident. EX came into being when Void made a very bad mistake. Void saw all these Elements with their avatars and decided they wanted one. (bad reason, but oh well.) Xisuma just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It would have gone smoothly (if X consented. He probably would have), but someone else didn’t. The world guardian smacked Void back into their place, but not before they took a bit of X with them. The piece of X’s soul that Void stole became EX, kind of an avatar, kinda not. EX lives in the void of the End, between the death layer and Oblivion. He catches (and sometimes collects) whatever falls in. If hermits ask nicely, then he may return some items they have lost, but he rarely does this as most of their things aren’t collection-worthy. His favorite collection is of souls, those that somehow ended up below the death layer.

False: Flavor 3; Has powers over enchantments. False is the champ of PVP; the only other hermits that can hold their own against her is Iskall and Biffa. Her preferred weapon is the bow, in which she is unparalleled. Some time ago, between world 4 and 5, she (and Iskall) were pulled to The UHC to compete. False won (no surprise), but she was forced to stay behind to watch Iskall fight through (and win) the next round. During the upset of his “win”, she slipped away to the 5th world. False hasn’t told him what she saw in that 2nd UHC. Switching gears, False is Commander of the Strike Team, and so that is her alias. While very capable at PVP, she is the only member who can strategize on the fly; such that she takes her super special bow to high ground and controls the field as a chessboard. If things get really dire, she can supercharge the enchantments of one (or all) of the boys and essentially make them unstoppable for a short period of time. She cannot do this for very long and is completely vulnerable the entire time. That’s why Wels is there!

GTWScar: Flavor 2; Bestowed with Vex magic alongside Cub. Scar is the one to bring Vex magic down on him and Cub. He knows it is not a gift, but a pact. In order to gain the protection of the Vex, he had to essentially pledge himself to them. His relation to them is very Avatar-like in nature. Most of the time he can do his own thing, but occasionally the Vex will guide him to do something, as stated in the pact. Where Cub has the less intrusive utility magic, Scar has the more intense evocation magic. 

Grian: Flavor 1; Avatar of Air. Has wings! Now, I know what you’re thinking. ~Evo~, right? Well, I grant you but a taste and nothing else. Grian lived in Evo for a while, went through all that, became a baby watcher and everything, then vanished. A certain something has found the crown jewel to its collection. A trade, it proposed. You can come and join me. No unnecessary restrictions will be upon you. No benchmarks. No goals, other than your own. In return, you will be a blank slate. I will not tolerate a being tainted by Them. I guess it was a bit taken aback by how enthusiastically Grian agreed. He remembers nothing of Evo (except that something happened), or of the deal. He is the brand new avatar of Air, as he had shown exceptional flying skills and no fear of heights. Without the need for rockets to stay airborne and an inherently curious personality, Grian has very quickly become the air equivalent to Iskall’s ground scouting. 

iJevin: Flavor 3; Has various slimy powers. Slime has alchemical properties. Jevin is a slime. Full stop. Okay, not full stop. But he is a slime, just a really weird, blue, potentially one-of-a-kind one. He wasn’t created in a lab, but he was found and dumped in one to “be studied”. Unfortunately for the researchers, Jevin was also very sentient. And sentient slimes don’t like to be “researched”. So he left. He managed to (very poorly) disguise himself as human and waltz out the door. Whilst exploring worlds, he discovered some very interesting properties of his slime. When used in potion-making, it can enhance the properties of the potions significantly. To the annoyance of the other hermits, he prefers to make poisons and other negative-effect potions. They have to coerce him to make more beneficial ones. The other hermits don’t know their drinking Jevin-juice. Shh, don’t tell them.

Impulse: Flavor 2 & 3; Is an OP and has mob wrangling powers. More useful than it sounds. Impulse seems to just have a way with mobs. Unlike Ren or Cleo, he can’t control or talk to them; which makes this even more mysterious. Mobs just...behave differently around him. There’s a reason he always has a trading hall within days of getting to a new world.

Iskall: Flavor 1; Avatar of Diamond. A bit unhappy about it. (jus’ a bit). Iskall’s early days hail from hardcore worlds, where he had to hone his PVP and tracking skills to survive. Between worlds 4 and 5, he (along with False) were pulled into The UHC. He and False had two very different experiences. Long story short, in a battle against another skilled PVPer, Iskall lost his left eye. Upon winning, he became MIA for several hours before following a trail, left by False, to the hermits’ fifth world, now sporting a shiny new eye. This shiny new eye gives him control over all things diamond. If it’s gear he made, full control. If it’s gear someone else made, partial control. He can detect other people if they’re wearing diamond gear. He can also detect diamond ore in a 5 chunk radius around himself, 16 if he’s concentrating. All these cool abilities come with a downside; if his eye is removed, he will not survive long without it. Iskall is a member of the Strike team, dubbed the Hunter, due to his unmatched tracking skills. Along with Python, he is a flanker. Iskall’s preferred weapon is the glave, because polearms are awesome. Also, how can he thrive in such cold biomes? This man’s a walking furnace I tell ya. The downside is that he can’t stay in the Nether too long or he’ll start to overheat.

Joe: Flavor 3; Can cast Suggestion at will and always succeeds. Basically, Joe can subtly influence peoples’ emotions, always in the interest of safety and diplomacy. Okay, that’s not entirely true; he also does it to confuse and befuddle. He’s very good at that. Another thing he’s good at is healing. Joe is the resident medic. While other hermits, (Iskall and Wels), have rudimentary medical knowledge, it’s mostly field dressing. Joe has a more extensive knowledge of long-term treatments. He is the one wrangling Jevin to produce beneficial potions.

Keralis: Flavor 3; Hypnosis. Look into my eyes. Nothing but my eyes. Keralis can captivate one person at a time with his gaze, but once captured, he cannot look away without breaking his hold.

Mumbo: Flavor 3; Can alter reality, but doesn’t know it. Whatever he believes will happen (or not), will happen. Mumbo may possibly be the most powerful hermit; he can unknowingly alter the outcome of whatever he’s thinking about just by believing in his new reality. The catch? He can’t do it at will. Thus, he can never know about it. The only person who knows about it is Xisuma, and only after some intense investigation over several worlds. Aside from that Mumbo is well-versed in redstone, and is better at it than he thinks. His problem? What he thinks becomes reality.

Python: Flavor 3; If he doesn’t want to be seen, he won’t. No matter what. Not invisibility, I swear. Camouflage!! Python was apart of someone’s attempt to make attack creepers; an unsuccessful venture. You’d think he’d be more chameleon or something with how well he can blend in with his surroundings, but no. Python is a member of the Strike Team. While he’s not as good as Iskall at tracking, Python is (predictably) better in the stealth department, earning him the alias Assassin. He moves much like a viper, striking with his twin daggers before his target has time to react. He works exceedingly well with his fellow flanker, Iskall, to take down all sorts of enemies.

Ren: Flavor 1; Avatar of Life. Can speak with animals and can turn into a massive grey wolf. ‘S pretty cool. Ren came to be an avatar out of desperation, and Life was the only one who could help him. It’s not quite what he expected, but it’s pretty cool all the same. He can communicate with animals and can even, at the right moment, become one. His favorite shape to take it that of a grey wolf. 

Stress: Flavor 1 & 3; Lucky girl! Or is she? Avatar of Water and a certain magenta surprise later on. Stress became Water’s avatar almost as a second thought. There’s a reason she’s known as the Ice Queen and not the Water Queen; Water neglected to give Stress full access to her powers, as the Element is much like Redstone; keeping to herself. Not that this hinders Stress in anyway, she is still a force to be reckoned with. She doesn’t feel the cold and experiences no ill effects from prolonged exposure.

Tango: Flavor 1; Avatar of Fire. He ain’t too happy about it either. Tango became and avatar in a similar fashion to Ren, except he turned down Fire’s proposition, saying he’d rather die. To which Fire replied, “You are in the Nether. You die here, you are mine irregardless.” Needless to say Tango’s still a bit salty about that whole ordeal. At least he can spend more time in his favorite dimension, the Nether! Impulse and Zedaph often find him taking a dip in lava or sleeping in a bed of his own flames. On the heat scale, if Iskall is a furnace, then Tango is a miniature sun.

TFC: Flavor 1; Avatar of Earth; but at this point, they’ve pretty much become one. Tfc is the wrangler of the other Elements as Earth is the oldest one around. At this point TFC and Earth have bonded to the point where they are almost indistinguishable from each other. Of course, hermits can still tell if it’s TFC or Earth talking. Usually it’s TFC; Earth only comes out when absolutely necessary. Since they are bonded together so completely, TFC can bring out the pure, raw power that Earth has to offer, something that no other avatar can claim.

Wels: Flavor 2; Made a pact with an entity eons ago. He can never be defeated as long as he is protecting someone. Well, not so much a pact as a promise. Wels gave his word to this entity that he would always protect those who need it most, and in return the entity’s power would shield him from death for as long as he protects someone. Even with this protection, he has to be careful; once the conditions have passed, he will succumb to any fatal wounds he sustained over the fight. To counter this, Wels has gotten incredibly skilled at defensive battle. He may not be an attacker like the rest of the Strike Team, but his sword and board tactics have come in handy more times than one can count, earning him the alias Bastion. False owes him her life several times, when he protected her as she unleashed her magic.

Xisuma: Flavor 2; Admin! Admin powers are granted as host of each world’s resident guardian. Xisuma handles all of the behind the scenes, keeping an eye out for anomalies, sending Iskall to investigate “visitors”, generally making sure everything is running as smoothly as possible. A while ago, X had a runin with Void. Long story short, EX came into existence and left X missing a piece of himself. Because of this, he often finds himself forgetting simple things, like conversations or bits of projects. He has also had to enhance his helmet to help his breathing, as he now finds the overworld and Nether atmospheres to be too oppressive.

Zedaph: Flavor 3; No magic can affect him. That’s it. Even Mumbos’ reality-changing ability can’t touch him. Zed is the much-needed keystone in the midst of all the magic running around this world. Even he doesn’t know the full extent of his magic-negating ability, except that it hasn’t truly been tested yet.

ZCleo: Flavor 3; Due to a glitch years ago, Cleo is now a zombie. She can talk sense into undead mobs. Cleo was once a normal person. Well, as normal as she gets. What I’m saying is she wasn’t a zombie yet. But a glitch happened years ago at the exact moment when she (and other people in different worlds) died and respawned, trapping her between life and undeath. She took this very well, immediately trolling any hermit she could find. Cleo has expressed a preference to being undead, as the only mobs she has to worry about now are creepers and spiders. Occasionally a limb will fall off, but she takes it in stride.