#lizardman blade

[jisuto]

[soulcalibur-bracket]

Round 1, Match 30 - Lizardman vs Leixia

Note: For the purposes of this poll, all versions of Lizardman and/or Aeon count as the same character.

[betterthantheywerebefore]

Conversion #059 (repost)

Original text: "This was another one of the custom marines my teenage self attempted to bolster my Hawk Lords army with - an Emperor’s Champion. Yup, that’s a Lizardman shield and a chainsword altered to use an Aquila as a blade. It’s a bit odd. But hey, that’s youth. 

The leftover body parts went into producing a very gangly and… Interesting looking fellow model. The rather flat pose reminds me of the metal models from the early 90s, back when they had to be as flat as possible for the purposes of moulding them, and so had a rather flattened stance."

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This is another two-parter, and I'll say, the other model to come out of this Champion is a hell of a lot better lol.

Somewhat goofy already, I let a newly-emigrated Ukrainian coworker pick the colour for his armour, resulting in this rather different shade to what I've been using on the rest of them. She named him Zeke. Zeke says Gay Rights.

[nitrosodiumrapidproto]

Making Enemies

I did most of this on Friday, but I'm posting it now because I couldn't send the image of my notebook to myself at college. These are eight enemy designs I have come up with.

The Hell Bat is a fairly simple creature - two wings, a tail, and a big cyclopean eye in the centre of the skull. Gameplay-wise it would be a 'horde' enemy, low health but high speed, and rushing you in packs. I was inspired by the Cacodemon from Doom, but I wanted to make it clearer that it was flying, so I added the bat inspirations.

The Scorpion is the same school of thought as the Hell Bat, but in insect form. It would fill the same gameplay position as the Bat, but just be a ground variant. It is somewhat redundant, however. I was a little inspired by the Brains from Hero Factory Brain Attack, a staple game of my childhood.

The "Orcoid", or what I would eventually just call an Orc internally, is meant to be the stock enemy type which would be encountered the most frequently. Orcs are a classically evil race in fantasy, so I figured it would make sense - but I also wanted to explore why they are evil. I also gave them a helmet resembling the Roman style, with the mohawk-like crest on top; and a javelin for a weapon to continue the theme. In fantasy settings you often get races being "coded", meaning they are based on real-world cultures, and something I don't see much of is Roman-coded orcs. Consider that the ancient Romans were expansionist, militaristic, and fairly brutal when you get down to it; all traditionally orcish qualities.

The Bone Giant is what I had planned to either be a very large enemy or the boss of the game. The reanimated skeleton of a giant, clad in the rusted remains of centuries-old armour, and holding a blade the size of a tree trunk. Lore-wise I had the idea that the Giants were employed by heaven to construct the Crucible, somewhat like the giants building Valhalla in Norse and Germanic myth. The forces of evil are then bringing their corpses back to life, to serve them. The actual design of a skeleton in rags is akin to the enemies in Sinister, which I didn't actually mean to invoke, but apparently did so anyway.

The "Glutton Orc" was another idea for a heavy yet slow enemy, but this one was decidedly less threatening. A morbidly obese creature dressed in nothing but a loincloth, brandishing a comically oversized femur bone. I was averse to this design for a few reasons, but one was that I already had an Orc enemy in the game, and I was going for variety above all else. The general shape was inspired by the boss Prince Chan from Serious Sam 2, but more orcish.

The Lizardman was going to be what I had called in my notes a "shock trooper" enemy; fast, tanky and damaging all in one. They'd show up infrequently as a sort of mini-boss, forcing the player to prioritise or die. Lore-wise I wanted them to be the captains of the evil army, commanding small squadrons of orcs. To explain their high defence and also hint to their higher rank, I gave them visibly better armour and a shield. Their look was inspired by the Lizardmen from Fear and Hunger, who can notably block attacks with their shields, and will skin you alive upon a game over.

The Rock Elemental was another tank enemy, but I also wanted this one to be a bit of a surprise for the player. Their idle sprite would be a big pile of rocks, the same as would appear inert in other parts of the map. But as soon as you got close, it would rise up as a golem and begin chasing you. My inspiration for this was a very old game called Bionicle: Quest for the Toa. As a kid, I remember going into the Onu-Koro section (caverns) and facing boulder monsters that formed out of rubble mounds.

Finally I designed Dark Dwarves. These would be identical to the dwarf sprite, but dark. The original Norse dwarves, mostly called dvergr (which interestingly also means dark elves) were black like coal, and were associated with maggots and other rotting things. In the Norse creation myth, the gods used various body parts of the titan Ymir to create Earth, and the dwarves were made from the maggots festering in his corpse. My thought is that they'd be either a rival dwarven faction, or the corrupted remains of the original craftsmen.

Because I didn't want to make loads of sprites, and also have redundant enemies in the game, I asked people what designs they thought were best, and what they thought were worst. I wanted them to form opinions very quickly, as that is how players would respond - they would swiftly end the encounter, by killing or being killed, and then they would judge on what they thought of it. Immediately people disliked the Scorpion as it was uninteresting, but very much liked the Lizardman. The other enemies were given middling opinions. Notably, the Bone Giant was derided as a generic enemy, but I think when sized up to a giant stature, it will be more unique. It's just harder to judge from a 2d image. In the end I chose five enemies: the Hell Bat as a rusher (high speed, low health, low damage), the Orc as stock (medium speed, health, damage), the Lizardman as a shock troop (high speed, medium health, high damage), the Rock Elemental as a tank (low speed, high health, high damage), and the Bone Giant as a boss (low speed, super high health, super high damage).

I did not manage to make the Lizardman or Elemental sprites on Friday, and as I do not have PhotoShop at home, I cannot make any more until Wednesday.

[illarian-rambling]

Thanks for the tag @sableglass!

Friday Saturday Night Fight!

Finally! I've already shared my singular kiss, but boy do I have a lot of fights! Here's Avymere beating some bandits >:)

Avymere barely registered this, as they had already broken into a sprint at the sound of a familiar voice shrieking in pain.

Immediately, their lungs seized up, the sudden movement sending their chest into breathless spasming. Avymere ran through this—they could hold their breath. On instinct, they reached for their ancestral blade Moon’s Eye, only to remember it was back in their conquered home.

The first dwarf to spot Avymere raised their crossbow in alarm, yet the elf was too quick. Their boot crunched into the man’s knee, causing him to drop the weapon with a cry. A cry Avymere quickly silenced as they slammed their fist into his teeth.

The brigand dropped to the ground, crying out as chips of tooth fell from between his fingers. A swift kick to the temple and he was out. Avymere barely slowed as they lept over the fallen body.

All around, the caravan was beginning to return fire with muskets of their own. Avymere hissed as they were nearly clipped by a lizardwoman’s wild shot. Some of the dwarven bandits unsheathed long knives as they drew close.

May the gods forgive me for the lives I am to end on this day.

Avymere dodged past a bandit’s whirling slash, dancing out of range before sliding back in with a quick jab to the shoulder. The rough-looking woman scowled and lunged at the Duchon. They made to slip away once more, except, a growing pain in their chest demanded attention. Avymere slipped, spluttering a red-stained cough as the dwarf landed a shallow cut across their forearm.

I can’t breathe! Gods help me, I can’t breathe!

Their vision spun as they tried to drag in a breath, but with their damaged lungs, they only managed a slight croak. The dwarf hacked at them again and Avymere managed to dodge, however, the sudden movement nearly sent them to one knee with the dizziness it produced.

Trying to focus through the needled vice on their chest, Avymere jabbed twice more at the dwarf’s shoulder. There was no power in the strike, yet she blocked with her forearm nonetheless.

It was obscured by the coughed-up blood covering the inside of the mask, but a smile played across Avymere’s lips.

Vision swimming by now, they ducked under another sloppy strike, then drew back to snap a punch once more at the same shoulder. As predicted, the dwarf brought her knife up to deflect before Avymere’s hand even moved.

It was as easy as a song to smash their finger into the bandit’s now-exposed eye. Avymere pulled their hand free as the woman wailed horrifically, already moving towards the wagon from which they’d heard Elsind’s scream. As if rewarding them for their victory, the Duchon’s lungs momentarily stopped seizing for just long enough for them to take a breath.

Resisting the urge to fall to their knees in a coughing fit, they hurried towards the wagon, leaping over a tussle of two dwarves and a lizardman on the way. The bandits didn’t even seem to be going for the goods yet—more likely than not, they wanted the wagons too.

The horses of the fourth wagon pawed the ground nervously, looking as if they were one more rifle crack from bolting. A lizardwoman screamed obscenities from the roof as she returned fire with an antique-looking longbow, blood splattered across her emerald scales. Blood and… and a thinner, lilac liquid.

Elsind was curled in the driver’s bench, huddled down as flat as he could be while desperately clutching his shoulder. Avymere could see an arrow stained with more of the lilac changeling blood sticking into the wood of the bench.

“El— Elsi— Ok?” they managed to get out between gasping for breath.

The changeling glanced down at them, naked terror in his eyes. His dwarven disguise was still on… sort of. The center part of the face had peeled away as his headfins threatened to pull back, the skin on his hands having gone a mottled brown and mauve.

“My shoulder,” he whimpered, pained tears in his eyes. “I— I don’t want to die here. Am I going to bleed out? Oh gods, what’s happening, Avymere? Who are these people?”

Unfortunately, Avymere didn’t have the breath to spare for answers to three questions, so they instead gestured for Elsind to get down from the driver’s bench. If they could get him inside one of the wagons, he’d probably be safe there—not to mention, it’d be a more defensible spot.

Elsind shook his head at their gesture, complexion going pale as he took in their bloody mask and sliced ribs. “I’ll die if I go out there! Please, please, don’t make me go. I— I can’t. I can’t fight! I’ll die!”

Avymere shook their head. Gods beyond, was he going into shock? “Get to—” The paused to cough out another glob of bloody phlegm. “Get inside the wagon. I— I’ll— defend.”

“But….” Suddenly, Elsind’s face peeled back the rest of the way. “Oh gods, look out!”

The Duchon spun, snapping their open hand onto the bandit’s wrist with enough force to knock away his blade just before it carved into the back of their skull. With the dwarf off-balance from the strike, Avymere planted their foot and kicked him hard in the guts.

He doubled over wheezing. Avymere wasted no time in grabbing his ears and breaking his jaw over their knee. Tossing the groaning dwarf to the side, they found the battlefield was clearing—many of the bandits turning tail as they realized this caravan was better armed than they’d expected—but still active. Taking stock of the situation, Avymere made the decision to hop into the driver’s bench with Elsind.

I'll tag @cedar-sunshine @wyked-ao3 @writeblrfantasy @sageswriting @verba-writing and anyone else who wants in :)

[fantasyanthro]

First Theory

[lee-hakhyun]

604, 605

oh my.

i'm realizing now that by doing this, i'm reading every chapter of the side story at least 3 times (mtl, edited mtl, and then proofreading + writing a summary) no wonder lhh is stuck in my head hahah

604. author (5)

right after he thinks it might be yoo joonghyuk, he gets attacked by a weapon flying out from the forest jhw deflects it, and the false author comes out with his ohdokhyup team. with their luck, how did they get there faster than lhh's team?

so the author's name is yeom ilwoo, and his sponsor is the king of gambling. the two with him are outside species characters, the ratman from the plague-calling rat and lizardman from the snake

lhh tries to talk this out, and he's half sincere

there's a difference between killing a reader and a character, no matter what they've done. his next words annoy lhh though lmfao

however, ilwoo still signals to attack, and the ohdokhyup throw more daggers out, lhh remembering killer king's warning: the ohdokhyup are the ones who deserve to die jung heewon strikes down the daggers again, but the daggers were poisoned, melting her sword.

there's another hanja double meaning here which is pretty clever

lhh throws jhw an extra sword, and ilwoo starts to fight too. lhh changes the thought into a shield to deflect his broken faith, and the thought gets the appearance of the item

his broken faith is mass produced, and lhh had thought that the durability had run out until ilwoo reveals he has the dragon jar that kim dokja had used before (see chapter 72) to reuse the broken faith.

the restored blade of faith destroys the thought's old iron shield appearance, and with ilwoo confident of winning they talk while fighting. the king of gambling was the one who had sponsored ilwoo the dragon jar, and that's probably how he got the mass produced broken faith, too

it's a little hard to describe fights...

now that lhh had a weapon to fight with, he comments that the author's fighting sense wasn't very good, even with all the skills he uses. the constellations comment that this is why you shouldn't support incarnations at the beginning, they'll rely on the support and won't learn how to survive

with the author retreating, he yells at the ohdokhyup, who were fighting jung heewon

if [cursed dagger] misses 20 times, the next hit is guaranteed. one of the daggers turns towards jhw, and she is forced to block it with her sword, which melts it. jhw grabs jung jaewoo, who had been hiding, and moves back to lhh. lhh asks jjw if he has any hidden skills, but he doesn't. they're at a disadvantage, and lhh is forced to use a method he didn't want to use

he gives jhw the bamboo stick and incites jung heewon, telling her that her enemies are 'monsters', which is the prerequisite for the judge of demon's judgment time. that is. wow. even the constellations are shocked she absolutely crushes her opponents, and the constellations who increased synchronization with their incarnations were hit with a probability backlash. the rat is forced to leave, while the snake severs its tail to avoid the aftermath jhw throws one of the daggers at the author, and it grazes past and he escapes into the forest

with the battle over, both incite and judgment time ends, and jhw collapses. she's physically fine, but the aftermath has left her unconscious as the price for circumventing judgment time's restrictions

and after that

jung jaewoo has [little luck], and he's survived survived so far with that, but when lhh approaches him

...

lhh goes through medicines that could save him, but he couldn't find a way to save him.

when lhh grabs jaewoo's hand, he can see a transparent soul coming out from his body, and he realizes that if he can get the soul, he can save him-

605. author (6)

oh dear god. the 「I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared.」 hurt.

rep kdj seems sympathetic?

jjw's memories are hazy, and as he sorts through his memories he sees himself on the theater screen, with cheon inho calling out his name. he realizes then that he's dead, and

hm.

after this, a small keypad appears in front of him, and when he sends a message, he chats with the name 'rlaehrwk41'. 37 chats with him before telling him to shut up and watch until he figures out what's going on does him getting the number '41' just a coincidence or does it have something to do with the regression turn?

lhh buries jung jaewoo's body in the rain.

jhw didn't wake up, so lhh continues carrying her on his back while he follows the author's footsteps. he finds the dragon jar on the ground, and if the author has dropped that he assumes that he's probably dying or dead by now. he continues walking, with one thought: 「No one should be lost anymore.」 he aims to escape the movie, but the theater owner says he doesn't want the normal ending. the snake that sever its tail proposes a suggestion, which the theater master accepts, and a 'black moon' appears on the stage, causing the monsters to evolve. lhh quickens his steps, but raptors catch up to him

there's 8 raptors, which are only 8th-grade but with so many, it'll be hard for him to take care of them while protecting jung heewon. he incites himself as yjh to fight them, but he can't think of a plan and gets bit. he uses incite again, inciting himself as a tyrannosaurus rex rex and roars, scaring the raptors away.

but the ground starts to rumble. was it really his roar that made the raptors run? an actual t-rex appears. he's still bleeding, and he can't fight it one on one. this is when he has a thought.

he. he tries to incite himself as the apocalypse dragon. what the fuck, hakhyun incite is pushed to the limit, and in the end, he's not able to do it.

there's a flash of light, and when he opens his eyes,

it seems the first runners were killer king and his sister

the pov shifts to yeom ilwoo, who ran away, and he's pissed. he's severely injured due to the fight and the blow jaewoo left on him, and he dropped his dragon jar. however, due to his sponsor he has really good luck, and is able to get to the research laboratory while avoiding all the monsters, and finds a hidden tunnel that lets him skip to the 5th floor, the rewards room

entering the tunnel, he meets a woman

han sooyoung turns to talk to kim namwoon and lee hyunsung, and then knocks kim namwoon out after he says one sentence

han sooyoung looks at the movie posters torn by yoo joonghyuk, and thinks.

[myths-of-fantasy]

Year of the Rabbit - Ch7 Jura Forest Alliance

When a woman dies and becomes a warrior bunny, only shenanigans can ensue. Or, that time Rimaru got a rabbit bodyguard that immediately declared war on a demon lord.

Chapter Directory | Previous | Next Chapter | Ao3 Link

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All things considered, that Gabil had managed to hold his own surprisingly well, Rimuru noted from the sky watching as Gobta jumped in, preventing the lizardman from being killed on the spot. The lizardman was as crafty and clever as he was boastful and stupid. And brave he supposes, he did defend the goblins rather than leaving them to die. Admittedly, he’d kind of assumed the cocky bastard was all talk and no action - especially after he’d gotten defeated by Gobta. Watching this though… was Gobta actually just powerful? 

Gabil had dodged the snapping tendrils extending from the orc’s shoulders with strain but he’d done it, despite the strength Rimuru could feel radiating from the general. And still, Gobta had taken him down with one kick to the head.

Does this mean Gobta has talent?  he blinked in confusion. Ugh, the idea rattled him. Best not to think about it too hard.

Especially with Ranga evolving to a Tempest Star Wolf and promptly demonstrating his new unique skill.

“[Great Sage] what is this?!” he shrieked, dodging quickly from the path of the series of massive twisters that descended from the sky, crackling with electricity and began frying and ripping the orcs below to shreds.

[Answer: this is the unique skill [Death Storm] of the individual Ranga.]

Death storm is right, holy crap!

Was he able to use that ability too given he’d [Mimicked] the dire wolf and had actually taken the form of the Tempest Star Wolf first? It was something to test - far, far away from his little village.

Where is he, he slime thought furiously, scanning the hoard of orcs. The reason he hadn’t joined in yet (beyond fulfilling his side of the oath taken between himself and the kijin), was that he only intended to fight the orc lord, as he promised Treyni. And yet, for such a powerful and unique monster, he’d yet to catch sight of the threat to their livelihoods. 

The number of orcs was shrinking rapidly under the liberal fire and violence exhibited by the kijin, at least simplifying the numbers he had to pick through. 

<Rimuru, I found him.>

Hm? 

He was interrupted before he could ask with an explosion away from where the kijin were wreaking havoc erupted making him whip around. It only took him a few seconds to be hovering over the place he’d left Ranga and the lizardmen again, bringing him the slight of an odd majin in a long, flowing coat wearing a plague-doctor mask standing with visible frustration just a little ways away front the startled defenders, Black Bunny standing in-between them wild Wildfire raised defensively.

The rabbit lowered the sword with narrowed eyes.

“I was wondering when you’d come out,” Black Bunny said, her tone completely void of emotion. She was pure business mode from what he could tell, watching Wildfire’s blade light up a blazing orange of menace. She adjusted her grip, pointing the glinting tip in the majin’s direction, “Spying from the bushes… that’s no way for a majin to behave, hm?”

The majin stamped his foot like a petulant child, “Who the hell do you think you are?! Ruining my plans?!”

“Your plans,” she scoffed, not lowering her weapon.

“That- That majin… that's Lord Gelmond,” Gabil said, visibly perking up with relief at the sight of the demon who named him. He started to move towards him and Rimuru abruptly felt really bad for him - he was an idiot sure, but being someone's Namer was a great honor. That was going to be a rough betrayal to recover from.

He stumbled to a stop just as quickly as he’d started moving, the flaming blade of Wildfire held out as a physical barrier.

“That demon is not your ally Ser Envoy,” and Rimuru was surprised by how gentle her voice was. She didn't turn her head to look at him, still fixated on her energy just in case he tried a sneak attack but the rabbit was still trying to break it to him gently. “I haven't fully unraveled his plan, but I know enough to be aware he did not grant you your name in good faith. “

“I- wha,” Gabil blinked. 

The masked individual turned angrily, waving his hand at the massive hulking figure that Black Bunny had likely been calling him to come address. Towering over all of the other orcs with arms as thick and burly as their heads, a large and ornate helmet with a massive jewel directly in the center of it  matching the thick armor covering his upper body.

The Orc Lord.

“A demon lord who would’ve done my bidding was just about to be born an now you’ve ruined everything! I’m not supposed to interfere but the at this rate, he’ll be furious with me!”

A demon lord. That title was being used more and more often lately. 

“Ah, so that was your plan then,” Black Bunny deciphered immediately. When he’d sat down and talked to her once, she had explained that she’d been in this world for a full two-years before they’d even caught word that Rimuru existed. [Great Sage] had immediately puzzled out for them that Black Bunny had thus, been reincarnated three years before Rimuru had died. And it was in that time that she had amassed a lot of knowledge about this world  (Central, he remembers she’d called it), enough knowledge to successfully fool him and anyone else not looking too hard into thinking she was native. And that thirst for knowledge and determination to understand was benefitting him more and more every day. “Go around granting a few monsters names, then letting your orc lord devour them to gain their strength. I suspect you even named this orc lord to give you even further influence over him - you’re sick.”

“What?!” Gabil said, shocked as his own warriors mumbled their dissent and disbelief as the revelation. He moved around Black Bunny’s sword and tried to walk towards the demon lord again, “But- But Lord Gelmond, it was you who granted me my name - aren’t you here to save-”

He was interrupted by the enraged, petty majin launching a powerful circle of flame towards them. 

“Lord Gabil!”

“We’ll protect you!”

“Shit!”

Black Bunny sprung forward. Immediately becoming airborne in the face of the the attack. Wildfire blazed to uproarious life in her paws, a powerful aggressive gale kicking up around her blade.

“[Flame Drill]!” she roared, the tip of her sword piercing the attack and sending up a massive cloud of smoke.

“You little rat! Such a lowly and pathetic monster like yourself daring to stand against me?!” Gelmund raged, giving another immature stomp of his foot as he raised his palm again, this time forming a truly massive ball of malicious energy towards the sky. “I will show you to true power of a greater majin! I will wipe you from this blasted land! [Death-March Dance!]”

<Rimuru- >

<On it!>

He’d gotten so wrapped up in watching the stand-off between the two he’d almost forgotten. He flashed down as quickly as he could, sticking out his hand as he watched the purple lights become a ring of red in the sky, shooting towards the ground with all the menace of blazing storm and activated [Predator]. It only took a minute to devour, he supposed in retrospect it wasn’t all that great.

[Notice: You have acquired the skill Death-March Dance]

Thanks [Great Sage].

“...that was superior?” he said aloud instead, lowering his hand. He put on his most unimpressed expression as he re-absorbed his wings, no longer needing them in this moment. He crossed his arms as Black Bunny sprung up to perch on his shoulder again, like she’d done when they faced off against the ogres. “You can’t kill anyone with that weak sauce move. I was more afraid of Black Bunny using [Firestorm].”

“I-Impossible,” Gelmund said, stepping away.

“That was an accident,” she said, visibly embarrassed. “I didn’t think it would do all that.”

“I was scared for my life,” Gobta laughed.

<For a brief moment, I thought you had gone rouge and intended to kill us all,> Ranga joined in with the teasing.

“It was an accident!” she shrieked again, drawing a paw across her face.

“We know Black Bunny,” Rimuru soothed, patting her head lightly. She would’ve told him if she was actually upset by their remarks, so he figured she was playing along with his idea. It was nice to have someone who caught on so quickly, he mused as he side-eyed Gelmund. “It’s just that your little ‘accident’ was ten-times more intimidating than this supposed ‘greater demon.’”

“You- you stepped in for us?” Gabil said, eyes watery with shock and gratitude.

“You’re not a bad guy, Envoy Gabil,” Black Bunny said kindly. She turned her head to glare at the majin who’d been behind it all apparently, “And no one deserves to be yanked around on puppet-strings like that.”

“Speaking of,” Rimuru hummed as Gelmund launched another attack (this time, directly towards the ground creating a massive wave of smoke) as he tried to escape their wrath. He extended his palm boredly as he watched the fleeing majin, promptly activating [Sticky String] forming a thick, binding cocoon of silk that tied him to the ground. “You didn’t think we’d let you get away that easily did you?”

The majin immediately began trying to struggle free, shouting curses and insults all the while. The moment he was restrained, the kijin seemed to materialize around them, glowering furiously down at the one who had ordered the destruction of their village. “You mentioned a ‘him’ earlier. Who is him? Who is the real mind behind all of this?”

“Save me orc lord!” he practically wailed instead of answering the question, the massive demon staring down at him. “Repay your debt to me, the one who fed you, the one who named you, Geld!”

The beast shifted, raising his head slowly.

It’s responding now, Rimuru thought. He was curious - the orc lord radiated a pretty intense amount of strength, even compared to his own comrades. He was fairly sure that altogether, the kijins could defeat him but it would be a much harder fought battle than anything they’d ever experienced yet. That said… it didn’t seem very bright. In Gelmund’s fits of anger and temper tantrums, he had thrown many insults on the monster’s intelligent and self-awareness - none of which the orc seemingly understood. 

[Confirmed: As the Orc Lord continue to gain different powers and abilities, his consciousness has been slowly corroding.]

Ah. Well that was tragic - if that was true, that meant Gelmund had been manipulating him the way he’d been puppeteering everyone else involved. And sadly, they would still have to kill him. He couldn’t just let him continue on with devouring the entire forest and everyone who crossed his path after all.

“...demon lord,” the orc lord voiced finally, his words slow and sluggish as if he was struggling to string them together. “Who…”

“Ugh! It’s you, you stupid tub of lard!” Gelmund snapped. “Come forth and protect your master who gave you a chance!”

Woah. 

Rimuru went stiff as an utterly threatening aura seemed to engulf the battlefield, pure rage and killing intent trying to strangle him. It felt like a more powerful version of Ranga’s [Coerison], the lizardmen and goblins surrounded by them dropping frightfully to their knees. He turned his head in disbelief to the furious form of Black Bunny, eyes narrowed and her lips peeled back away from her teeth as her tiny claws sank into the fabric of his clothes.

He jumped again, looking up as the orc lord - or rather, Geld - started shuffling forward with a dangerous sway. Gelmund laughed manically as he moved forth with his raised butcher-knife as a weapon, resting the blade in his hand.

“Oh look, the mountain of lard has decided to move,” he cackled, twisting to look at Rimuru and the rest of them. “Oh you’re in for it now… you’ll regret messing with me! Get them Geld, make them rue the day they dared to interfere with my-”

Rimuru jumped as Geld cut him off with one deft swing of his weapon, the majin’s head sliced clean from his shoulders. It landed on the ground with a wet sound, leaking blood as it rolled.

[It appears that Gelmund life signatures have stopped.]

Yeah, I can see that.

Geld moved forward in complete silence, dropping to his knees and began to loudly crunch and devour the carcass.

“Back up!” Black Bunny yelled at the kijin suddenly. “Back up! Back up! Back up-!”

As her fourth warning left her mouth, a deep menacingly dark purple energy seemed to seep right from Geld’s skin, seeming to wrap around him in a more sinister version of the evolutions he’d seen of his underlings.

[Confirmed: The orc lord Geld’s magicules have drastically increased, evolution to demon lord has commenced.]

The kijin seemed suddenly more willing to take Black Bunny’s warning seriously, quickly behind them as a destructive wind of powerful began whirling furiously around Geld’s body. Just as they cleared his range, the power exploded off of him with his menacing roar of announcement. 

Affirmed - Individual Geld is now commencing evolution into demon lord, The Orc Disaster

“Oh that’s not good,” Black  Bunny murmured with apprehension, the others present on the field all beginning to inch nervously away from the being and the ominous smoke that was steadily leaking from his body.

[Great Sage] that wasn’t you, was it?”

Affirmed - that was [The Voice of the World]. 

“Rimuru!” Black Bunny cried out, dragging him back into aware at the same time that [Great Sage] proceeded to ring a warning through his mind.”Watch out for the smoke!”

“Huh?” he blinked as he reflexively leaped up, watching as everyone else thankfully followed Black Bunny’s directive without him having to warn them again. He stared in muted horror as it wafted over the various bodies still strewn untouched on battlefield, eating away at them like some kind of flesh-eating parasite. It only took a few seconds each for the smoke to devour them. “So this is his new ability… applying [Corrosion] to anything it touches…”

“Without a powerful resistance, he will continue to devour you,” Black Bunny agreed seriously, looking up at the looming enemy before them. 

“Our king,” said one of the larger orcs beside the orc lord, dropping down to a knee in fealty. “And father. Hail Demon Lord, Geld.”

“Our Lord Geld,” the orcs intoned reverently, each dropping to kneel in turn. 

So this… is a demon lord. I can’t believe Gelmund called himself one, the power difference is insane!

“Shion!” 

“Right!”

“Huh?” said Rimuru, watching the kijin take off with her sword.

Benimaru placed a hand on his shoulder with a slight incline of his head, “My lord, let us take care of this filthy swine for you.”

“...please lay off on those remarks.”

They each turned their attention to Black Bunny who watched Shion unwaveringly, her paw still gripped tightly around Wildfire’s hilt, “Filthy swine, tub of lard, dirty pig - stop it. Take revenge for your people all you like, but stop belittling them like that.”

“My Lady…” Benimaru trailed off, seeming uncomfortable. 

She peered at the red-kijin from the corner of her dark eyes, a frown fixed on her adorable face, “I let it go before because your people had been slaughtered, I can excuse venting your grief.”

She throws her paw out to the still kneeling orcs, “But all you and anyone else has ever done is talk down to them, insult them - for being orcs. Should I have called you all foolish brutes for just being ogres? They aren’t stupid. This display of loyalty… this is beyond a majin taking advantage of their leader. There is something pushing them onwards - and they will keep marching until we find out what it is.”

Rimuru allowed the silence that followed her words as Shion was furiously repelled, her attacks taken up instead by Hakugou making an attempt to completely sheer his head from his shoulders once more. The orc lord revealed a pretty horrifically intense healing ability though, thick lime green chords of energy reaching out and beginning to reseal his head upon his shoulder. At his declaration that he was still starving, one of the orcs immediately and willing knelt before him, offering up his body and life to serve his king.

She’s right, Rimuru thought to himself grimly watching as Ranga stepped up, howling as he released lightning down upon the orc lord in vain, as the being merely shook it off with a determined roar only matched by his followers. These orcs… whatever their reason for wanting to devour the Jura Forest, they all believed in it as deeply and truly as their leader. 

“Ranga… rest in my shadow,” Rimuru commanded gently. 

<I’m sorry,> the wolf murmured.

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” the slime reassured, turning his attention to the beast before them. 

“It’s my turn,” Black Bunny voiced, hopping down to stand beside him.

“Wait-”

“We can do this together,” she told him firmly even as a gentle golden glow illuminated around her fur. 

[Great Sage]-

[Acknowledgment - the individual Black Bunny appears to be powered up by a skill acting upon her oath to save the lizardmen.]

So that’s why she glowed but didn’t evolve, he realized watching the tiny rabbit go sprinting towards the behemoth like she was David. 

She sprung up electricity crackling across her little body as she raised Wildfire.

“[Thunderbolt]!” she bellowed, impaling the creature’s head with her sword, and a massive column of blue electricity rivaling (or even, beating out) Ranga’s snapped through the air harshly enough that he felt his hair raise from the latent static crackling through the air between them.

The orc lord released a startled cry as it went crashing to the ground as if it had been sucker punched by a giant right in the solar plexus.

“My Lord!” the orcs cried out in despair.

What was…

“That was Black Bunny?” Gobta blurted out, sounding utterly stunned. “But-but-”

“I know…” Rimuru agreed faintly, taking a half-step back as he watched the tiny black figure fall towards the ground. She landed on her paws, doing an additional backflip to expend the inertia of her contact but seemed otherwise unphased.

“...I am so glad Shuna stopped me from making such a big mistake those weeks ago,” Benimaru mumbled to himself, now aware of just how close he’d come to being murdered.

Has she always been this powerful? Rimuru blinked in amazement. How was she hiding her aura so well though? Without a mask like Shizue's… wait a minute, [Plush]! Her unique skill.

<We have a problem,> Black Bunny’s thought communication echoed through his head while he reeled from the revelation of the moment. <He’s got [Flame Resistance] and some form of [Electricity Resistance] I think.>

Rimuru shook his head, pushing aside his disbelief and panic - this wasn’t the time to be so distressed by that. It was time to gt his head in the game.

<I’m coming in.>

Alright [Great Sage], let’s see what you can do!

| | | |

The aftermath of the ‘war’ with the orcs was almost more difficult than the actual battle itself.

It took him a brief moment after everything to well and truly grasp what he’d seen of Geld’s memories… Black Bunny had been right again. There had been more than it seemed to the orc’s march on the Jura Forest. An entire species starving to death, infants dying mere days after birth because their mothers were so hungry they couldn’t produce any milk for them. An entire species, forced to resort to cannibalism, the young eating the old just so they’d have enough to grow stronger, to reach a state of maturity. An entire species on the cusp of being wiped out and yet, not a whisper on the wind of it.

He wanted to really sit down with his head in his hands to think it through, to really consider that the orc people as whole could’ve vanished from the world and no one would’ve known. And many wouldn’t have even cared. 

“Filthy swine, tub of lard, dirty pig - stop it. Take revenge for your people all you like, but stop belittling them like that.”

I want to build a land of peace, where everyone can get along. I’ll pay more attention to how everyone talks about some species… I’ll be more attentive.

The dryad, Treyni had appeared on the tail-end of the battle ready to organize the beginnings of the clean up. She called for a meeting of all the species there, requesting each of them choose representatives to attend for the discussion of the meeting. The lizardmen had elected their chieftain and his daughter, Benimaru and the oni he’d brought to the battle were the representatives of the kijin with a few of the miscellaneous goblins gathered by Gabil to stand in as the goblins’ representatives. Black Bunny had joined the meeting too, stating her presence as the voice of the Field Warren that held a vested interest in the Jura Forest alongside a few of the released Killer Rabbits that had begun to find their place within the village as hunters. 

Rimuru himself had gotten drafted into being the chairman of the meeting. 

From there, he’d been the one forced to start the meeting awkwardly but steadfastly revealing all that he had learned from Geld’s memories that led up to his awful luck in encountering Gelmund and the subsequent slaughter of the ogre village and his eventual attack on the lizardmen. 

“I… see…” the lizardman chief trailed off, seeming to the be considering his work. “A horrible famine slowly wiping out their people… and that manipulative Gelmund.”

“If  you want to make them pay for what they’ve done, you’ll have to find a way that doesn’t involve money,” Black Bunny pointed out. “Quite frankly, everyone around here has always treated orcs poorly. Even before the famine, they had no money - no one sells to orcs.”

Rimuru winced with the rest of the room, letting her words sink in for others as they had for him.

“Luckily we don’t have to use only monetary compensation,” he took over when everyone seemed suitably chastised even though she wasn’t scolding. He straightened up, narrowing his eyes in an attempt to look unflappable. “When I consumed the orc disaster, I agreed to take on his sins - and all the sins that his people bore in his name. So if you have any complaints, then I will hear them gladly.”

Survival of the Fittest rules this land and all of the monsters within it, regardless of if it was fair or kind to those who were weaker. From the moment any monster decides to fight, they accept that a potential outcome of that encounter is death. All of them. So…

“And if you wish to take your anger, I will be more than okay to fight you.”

As expected, the room remained quiet for a long moment as the demons looked among each other. 

“...Our pride as warriors is not more important than our survival,” the lizardman chief decided. “It was Lord Rimuru that won this war and so, we have no objections to your decisions.”

Phew!

Rimuru hadn’t been completely certain that move would work - he’d learned from his experience with the Dire Wolves to be a lot more careful with the phrasing of his words to avoid unintentionally giving them a ‘third choice.’ If the lizardman chief had been a more confrontational person, it would’ve gone much, much worse. He was sure he had the strength to defeat him if he needed to of course, but after everything… sue him for wanting a few days of peace.

“Forgive me Lord Rimuru, but I now have a question,” the lizardman chief continued, pulling his attention back. “If you do not intent to punish the orcs for their sins, do you then intend to welcome the survivors into the Jura Forest?”

“...” although the fighting had greatly decreased the number of orcs they were taking in, 15,000 was still a big number. Small in the scheme of talking about an entire species but for their little forest? He sighed - well, all that was left was a big gambit.

“Why don’t we form an alliance among all the species of the Jura Forest?” he suggested, causing soft murmuring from everyone in the meeting. “If we did that, I would like to spread the orcs out evenly among us.”

“I see,” Black Bunny said, immediately catching on again. “Payment in the form of manual labor. They can fix the places they destroyed and in return, they have food to eat and a place to live.”

“Yep,” Rimuru chirped. “We can leave the technical portion of the building to our various architects but the orcs could supply the manpower needed to make those architects’ plans into reality.”

He wished he could smile in this body, making due with offering a kindly voice to the orcs, “And any of the skills you pick up can be transferred over into building your own village together, rather than apart.”

“I think they could benefit from having perhaps a capital city,” Black Bunny tapped her chin thoughtfully, “I would like a bit of time to perhaps draw up some papers - a general guideline that everyone has to follow about working the orcs. Just because they’re paying back a species-wide debt doesn’t mean they should be treated poorly but otherwise, I - and thus the Field Warren bordering the Jura Forest - have no objections.”

“I’d like to build a country together, where all of us can live in peace and harmony.”

“And- and we could be a part of that?” the lead orc asked tentatively. 

“I’ll work you hard, there will be no slacking allowed,” Rimuru said sternly. “But if you do, there is no reason for you to be excluded.”

The orcs all fell to their knees, seemingly overcome with emotion.

“O-of course,” choked out the lead orc. “No objections.”

“No objections,” the lizardman chief voiced as well, dropping to take a knee before him. His people followed suit, bowing their heads to Rimuru. “We would be honored to cooperate in such an ambitious goal.”

Is this another monster custom I don’t know about, Rimuru wondered, promptly tugging on the Heartlink with Black Bunny for answers.

<A display of fealty. You’ve asserted yourself as the strongest and effectively declared you were taking command of the forest the way Lord Veldora did before you. They’ve all agreed to follow you.>

Oh.

He did his best to bow back in his gelatinous form as Shion placed him on the chairman’s bench, joining the rest of the kijin in bowing before him. The only monster who didn’t was Black Bunny, who merely stood up from her position to his right, drawing her arm across her chest and forming a fist with her mitted white paw - not an expression of deference, but certainly a declaration of loyalty all the same.

Good, I wouldn’t know how to handle Black Bunny bowing to me as well.

“Then it is decided,” Treyni - who had remained silent for the entire meeting - voiced finally. “As the manager and protector of this forest, I Treyni now hereby pledge to recognize the authority of one Rimuru Tempest as the new Lord and Master of the Great Jura Forest - and it is under his name that the Great Jura Alliance has been formed.”

Why does it sound so much more serious when she says it?!

“I- um. Please take good care of me I think,” he stammered out.

“Yes sir!” they all cried in agreement and that was how Rimuru took over and became the leader of the Great Jura Forest.

| | | |

From there, they took a break while Black Bunny produced paper from her inventory and began furiously scribbling terms and conditions for the employment of the orcs under the rule of the other species. She had begun teaching him the written language of Central used in their area but most of it was still completely incomprehensible to him - from Kaijin’s reaction though, the attention she had to detail would be enough to make a lawyer proud. Still kind and non-judgemental of his lack of literacy, she’d politely read her terms aloud to him and allowed [Great Sage] to process them. His skill hadn’t heard anything wrong with her terms and so, Rimuru gave her the greenlight to begin sharing the terms with the other representatives.

With the initial paperwork sorted, he moved onto the most daunting task: naming all 15,000 orcs.

You see, under the effects of [Starving One], the orcs had all gained a power boost that was sustaining them despite their severe malnourishment. With the death of the orc disaster, the effects were slowly but steadily wearing off. Although Black Bunny’s efforts to formulate a community farm were slowly starting to bear fruit, there still wasn’t enough to outright feed all 15,000 orcs and all of the usual forest inhabitants without devastating all of her efforts from over-consumption. And although Treyni and the dryads offered to assist with creating rations, the weakest of the bunch would likely die off almost immediately after the effects ended even with steady food (Black Bunny called it ‘refeeding syndrome.’)

The prevent them from dying off one by one while they’re waiting for food to come in, he would have to distribute his magical essence among them. And he didn’t know any other method to do that than naming them. 

Initially, he was just going to name them all basic number - ‘Mountain, 633M’ and ‘Field, 635F’ for example because there was just so many but Black Bunny had come for his throat when he proposed the plan. She scribbled up a list of names that she remembered had basic meanings like ‘first born,’ ‘twin’ or just talked about hair-color. She figured he could keep using the landscapes as something similar to clan names, ‘Mountain,’ ‘Westriver’ and ‘Field’ would be differentiating enough but he could just keep cycling through.

Lake Anane (fourth born) even taken to following her around after his initial naming, more than a little awed by the powerful bunny.

Rimuru took a bit of a breath and readied himself to name the last batch of orcs - 2,000 of them. Just as he was beginning to speak, the main orc - the one who had acted as the previous lord Geld’s retainer and watcher spoke up.

“My Lord, we have a request,” he began hesitantly, waiting until he received an approving nod before continuing. “We are the last members of the orc-race’s elites - we are warriors and defenders. I and the rest of us agree that we would like to devote our strength to serve you as we served our Lord Geld.”

<That’s a good offer,> Black Bunny communicated immediately. <We’re still getting trickle-in members from across the forest as our reputation expands. With the addition of the elite corps, we could better defend our territory and expand the city.>

“I accept your offer,” Rimuru voiced aloud in acknowledgement. He adjusted the direction of his names - rather than grant them a landmark if they were going to stay in their town, he hadn’t used any default colors yet. “Alright, let’s wrap this up - Yellow Kenzo. Yellow Kenji. Yellow-”

Two thousand felt lot a lot of people when you alone were responsible for naming each and every one of them, even with Black Bunny helpfully informing him when to tag ‘Jr’ or a minor sound modification to keep things straight. He dredged his way through the names, Black Bunny kindly offering him little bits of fruit from her hyperspace to help him push through before finally coming to the least of the orcs.

The aid, he mused. He was the most recurring face I saw from Geld’s memories - he even seemed to be considered a son to him. The power he radiates… it’s comparable to that of the orc lord.

“I would like you to inherit your former leader’s will,” Rimuru decided aloud. This high orc had kept the rest of his people together and alive while Geld ventured off in search of safe lands, cared for him as his mind degraded in his sacrifice to his people. Though he had defeated Geld and taken command of the orcs, they already had a perfect successor for leadership. “The great orc disaster who always thought of his people, even as he suffered, even as he died. His name was Geld and now, so is yours.”

The newly named Geld dropped to a knee, bowing low, “...I will accept that name with utmost gratitude and I will carry his will with honor.”

Phew! Rimuru thought, even as cries of shock erupted from the named orcs while Black Bunny scooped him up. Glad that’s over. Rest easy now Geld, your people are in good hands.

| | | |

As punishment for the coup he enacted and the unlawful imprisonment of his father and sister, Gabil had been exiled from the lizardman tribe and sent away, followed only by his three most loyal followers. When they were discussing where to go, during his break from naming orcs, Rimuru was surprised to watch Black Bunny approach him. She asked if he was alright and what his plans for the future were - when he admitted that he had none, she had promptly asked if he wouldn’t mind sticking around. 

Rimuru had been a little confused but didn’t object to her offer and so, the former envoy had taken the offer eagerly and then offered something he couldn’t possibly refuse.

“...would you mind if I got rid of that pesky reminder?” she asked.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Gabil inquired.

“That name Gelmund gave you,” she explained, making all of the lizardmen jolt with shock. “I can re-name you something else, remove those last ties you have to that manipulative bastard. Oh, and your friends too of course - loyalty like that should be rewarded.”

Huh, that was good information to know - he could overwrite an already named monster's Name to provide them additional power or strength. She had barely finished her sentence when Gabil was eagerly agreeing to her offer.

And so, Gabil became Gabiru.

“Your past still happened after all,” Black Bunny said. “And although you’ll be forging a new path forward, there’s much to be gained from observing your past.”

His friends had been unnamed, so Black Bunny chose a few names that she was more familiar with. In honor of his efforts to defend Gabiru, being the first to jump in front of him when he didn’t know that Black Bunny would step in, willing to sacrifice his life for him, one lizardman was named Alexander. The happiest and most carefree member of Gabiru’s group was subsequently named Acacius while the final, remaining member became Galen. He tuned out a little as he watched her run seemingly magnanimously through the large group of lizardman that had originally accompanied Gabiru - all with those distinct, more western sounding names.

He was less surprised than she was to see the gentle but sharp light of evolution coat the lizardmen, stretching them a bit taller and granting them deeper, richer-scale colors with Gabiru in particular turning a lustrous purple. Gabiru had been incredibly pleased to spread his newly acquired wings and even more delighted that he could blend them back into his back. With their names chosen, Black Bunny led the newly created ‘dragonewts’ to the Sealed Cave and had them begin harvesting the Hipokute grass to replenish their medicinal stores.

“I want to experiment with Hipokute extract for uses other than healing,” she informed the serious faced group. “The Sealed Cave is dark but the wind that cycles through is relatively warm so hopefully though it will be a bit of an adjustment, you can come to see it as another home. That place is Lord Rimuru and I’s training grounds so you’ll be granted plenty of opportunity to grow stronger.”

“Yes ma’am!” Gabiru had declared and marched off.

“Feel free to collect other plants as well!” Black Bunny called after them. “And make yourselves comfortable!”

On the other side of things, Gabiru's sister alongside a handful of lizardmen made clear their intentions to follow Souei after his display of flawless powerful when he rescued them. With the lizardman chief (now called 'Abil') granted a name, he had more than enough power and strength to rule over his people for much longer. Which of course, freed up a few elites to begin pursing their own dreams and ambitions.

Rimuru happily accepted their offer, assigning them beneath Sousei in the stealth and intelligence unit.

In the next three ensuing months, a tentative peace had been established in the town. With the help of the orcs (who evolved into outright high orcs upon being named), the dreams and ideals of Kaijin and the other dwarves unfolded rapidly. The people who had been on the verge of extinction from the famine had taken to their new duties furiously, learning steadily from their dwarven instructors. The newly appointed orc king, Geld even seemed to be overworking himself, often having to have Black Bunny step in and remind him of his contract and how ‘dead workers don’t build houses.’

Rimuru resolved to invite the man to a bar when it was constructed.

Black Bunny set herself back to training, having been granted a set of enchanted footwraps that increased her physical strength and healing factor on her legs. Witnessing her usage of [Lightning Foot] with her new equipment had been a bit terrifying, the tiny bunny successfully using it to kick down a massive tree - by kicking through it, like she was using an axe, not her toes. She was a lot more busy than she used to be though,  now managing her sect of dragonewts alongside the loosed killer rabbits that had requested that she open a courier’s post within their rapidly developing town.

 She dutifully ran around their city with a paper and a brush, taking inventory of their food stores, the money slowly accumulating from the monsters that elected to hand it over, building a census of everyone around. It made his head spin to see how easily she stepped into the role of a bureaucrat.

“My step-mother hated dealing with finances and the like back on Earth,” she’d explained when he asked, watching her manually bind and label the various sets of information. “I paid taxes, managed the household budget and did my best to wrap my head around investments until I moved out. I even took a few financial literacy and business management classes to help. I feel like I’m a kid again - and this time, you even thank me for my efforts.”

Sometimes, he gets the feeling that she is understating what her childhood had been like but even these little snippets painted a picture that made him uncomfortable asking directly. While that happened, the last of the goblin people had finally begun showing up in waves requesting names and insisting that they work there. It kept him busy while the finishing touches on the land came together.

Plumbing for every single house like back on Earth was just unwieldy and a bit implausible at the moment but he’d worked around it by having a series of public wells being established all around the city. The toilets had to be manually flushed but they worked all the same. He’d felt slightly awkward asking Black Bunny to do even more work, but she’d agreed easily enough to adding the formation of a city-map drawn up to her list of ‘things to do.’

“We were going to need an update map anyway if we’re going to be open to tourists,” she’d remarked casually. “I am going to see about finding a way to duplicate documents though… I don’t want to rewrite all of these documents again and again like before…”

He let that comment slide and moved swiftly on.

If I don’t think about it, it can’t hurt me.

He'd just begun to close his eyes and enjoy the peaceful energy in the air, a [Thought Communication] echoed loudly through his mind.

<Rimuru-sama, there's a severe emergency.>

<What is it Sousei?>

<A group of armed fliers numbered around 500 hundred have been spotted in the north sky. They're approaching us quickly.>

"Shion," he voiced aloud, drawing attention from the purple themed kijin. "Order Rigurd to begin the process of evacuation."

"Yes!"

He hurried off immediately, knowing the emotions of concern he was giving off would alert Black Bunny to begin tracking him down. He bounced as fast as his little slime body could manage, not wanting to take his human form and draw any additional attention from the army soaring above them. He was intercepted only mid-way to the location Souei projected into his head, Black Bunny wordlessly scooping him up into her paws and began bounding towards the location at his direction.

"There!" Rimuru called out, tilting his body to look up toward the sky. He was startled to see what appeared to be a fleet of winged horses, dressed and armored like they intended to enter directly into war. He wondered if those coverings had magic imbued within them as well.

Several more presences began to appear in the peripheral of his vision as the kijin all rapidly came running over to join him, all prepared to fight the army above. One presence, a non-combatant stood out to him though.

"Kaijin-san, what do you think you're doing?" he demanded. "You should be evacuating with the others!"

"I don't think he needs to Lord Rimuru," Black Bunny remarked, still watching the pegasus as they began descending towards them. "Master Kaijin may be the best dwarf for this conversation."

"Eh?"

"I heard from a general at a bar once about a special military division under direct command of the King," the dwarf said, straightening up almost completely. "The Pegasus Knights."

The muffled thump of cloven hooves landing on grassy meadow patches drew his attention to the foremost pegasus as the imposing aura of Hero King Gazel easily dismounted. Kaijin immediately dropped to a knee, bowing his head with a fist on the ground and Rimuru thinks he felt the harsh and heavy aura of the king lighten in their direction.

"It has been a while my king," Kaijin said.

"It has," responded the king. "You still kneel to me?"

"I do my king," Kajin responded swiftly. "My sentence was lenient and though I serve my Lord Rimuru now, I will not forget your kindness."

That is the loyalty of a true ruler, Rimuru noted. Now that he was wearily, the leader of the Jura Forest Alliance, he would have to keep the dwarf-king’s tactics in mind. Though Kaijin hadn’t done anything wrong in Rimuru’s eyes, the dwarven Lord had been capable of wrangling a way to give Kaijin a light-sentence despite the possible outrage of the other nobles. 

"It has been a while since I have seen you as well, slime."

"Oh," said Rimuru, a little surprised. "You remember me?

“I would never be foolish enough to forget such a powerful slime,” the king said. “That is why I am here - I came not as the king of Dwargon, but as an individual.”

Rimuru blinked - as an individual? A sense of wariness crossed him - why would the Hero King come to speak to him on a personal level? His eyes slid over to the kijin, watching them with wary expressions themselves. They were all tense, ready to spring into action at the slightest provocation - that wasn’t good, he’d learned rather quickly that even a perceived insult to himself would send them into a furious rage. It was a good thing Gazel had phrased his remark in the way he did. Well, he supposed this wasn’t a trial so he couldn’t be penalized for speaking for himself instead of letting Black Bunny speak for him.

He wiggled in her arms, doing his best to convey the intent of wanting to be put down and was obligingly, allowed to spring from her arms. He quickly transformed, taking on his human form and touching his feet lightly to the ground. He allowed Shizue’s mask to hang lightly from his head, the strange magic that kept it attached in battle allowing it remain perched delicately in view.

“Then it would be only polite to speak to you in my new form,” he said, extending a hand to the king. “I am the new master of the Great Jura Forest and leader of the Great Jura Forest Alliance.”

One of the soldiers behind him went to grab his sword, only to be stopped by the Hero King accepting his hand and gave him a firm shake. Rimuru did his best not to wince - the combination of thick gauntlets with the Hero King’s large hand made for a slightly painful grip.

“If you have a human form, then words are unneeded,” the larger man noted, his gaze sharpening with something Rimuru couldn’t decipher. “One strike will be enough. You have taken good care of Kaijin and Black Bunny’s continued presence at your side is indicative of your integrity as a person. Draw your sword.”

“Huh?” Rimuru said, taking a slight step back in disbelief. The looming presence of the kijin increased dramatically, bearing down on them with a sense of weight upon their shoulders. 

Black Bunny for her part was the only one who didn’t seem shocked or even offended. Much to Rimuru’s surprise, she gave a little giggle and shook her head with amusement, “Swordsmen. Can you at least move this outside of the village? Master Kaijin and the others might react badly if he ruined the buildings again.”

Before Rimuru could fully process what was happening here, the wind and grass stirred at the ground before them. A moment later, Treyni appeared in front of them, a look of slight annoyance clear in her features. 

“I will not tolerate any arrogance towards our master of the forest,” she said seriously.

“Treyni-san,” he greeted brightly, ignoring the surprised murmuring of Gazel’s calvary. The dryad offered a kindly smile towards him - no one had seen her since the meeting when the Jura Forest Alliance had been formed. Even the deliveries of food to supplement them had arrived with the assistance of the dryad’s creatures, ferrying them into the village for storage purposes. It was nice to see her again and confirm that she was well.

“Ahahah!” Rimuru jumped in surprise from the surprisingly hearty laughter from Gazel, shaking his head in satisfaction before lowing his gloved hand. “If the manager of the forest says so, then I must apologize for any rudeness I’ve conveyed. However, I’d still like to confirm for myself - draw your sword.”

“If you continue to spout insults-” Treyni began bristling.

“Hey!” Black Bunny interjected sharply, her tone a lot harsher than he was used to. Her dark eyes were narrowed at the manager of the forest as she bounded in between Treyni and Gazel. “He has every right to test Lord Rimuru, who is founding a city right next door to him. It is what any good king would do.”

“Thank you for your word of confidence Black Bunny,” Gazel noted, tilting his head to her lightly.

"You are a good man, Hero-King Gazel and I pride myself on maintaining an honorable stance and avoiding hypocrisy," she levies the kijin and Treyni with a sharp look that made Rimuru feel like she was two seconds from sending them to stand in the corner. "I will not allow my comrades to compromise those morals for something as silly and small as personal pride and ego."

"...I apologize for my own rudeness," Treyni said, the dryad appearing suitably chastised.

"You all need to get better at handling diverse personalities and cultures," The rabbit scolded. "You could've provoked a feeling of genuine distaste from the Hero-King with your behavior that seems to insist that a lack of deference to Rimuru is a form of disrespect."

He wonders if her decision to use his name, rather than the title she called him aloud was intentional on her behalf.

He cleared his throat, relieved for a brief moment that she couldn’t read minds and quickly drew his own sword. Best to take any possible negative energy away from himself and Gazel.

“I accept your offer of a spar,” Rimuru said, relaxing a little bit when the king didn’t deny his declaration that this would be a spar. That… that made him feel a lot better about all of this. Despite how highly the kijin and the goblins thought of him, he wasn’t overconfident. He remembered the presence Gazel had back in Dwargon (some of it even lingered with him now) and he knew, as he was now, he didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of defeating him in a true fight.

But a spar?

A spar he could handle. 

“Very well then,” Treyni coughed, drawing the attention back to herself once more. “Then I will serve as the judge.”

Though Gazel didn’t smirk or even grin, Rimuru could practically feel his satisfaction with the situation.

“Begin!”

[gear-project]

Brother and Sister Fighting Styles

Something I've been meaning to point out in terms of Fighting Game features and mechanics is the concept of Sibling Fighting Styles.

While it's not made immediately apparent, it is most prominent in Soul Calibur as a series:

Each fighting style establishes itself with a great deal of techniques and tactics, but just as each method is established, there are always alternate methods of execution.

This isn't limited to Special moves, but normal attacks as well... just as Samurai Shodown utilized Shura and Rasetsu (Slash and Bust) fighting styles, akin to EX Mode in Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R.

But, just to give you a clear idea of what I mean by Sibling styles, I'll just list the ones I know of:

Mitsurugi > Yoshimitsu (Many high speed attacks, also evasive and good at cornering opponents, the main style is offensive based, while Yoshimitsu's style is more evasive and tricky.)

Hwang > Xianghua (You wouldn't notice the similarities in their styles in initial glance, but there is heavy emphasis on a mix of kicks and tricky swordplay, the styles also employ methods to counter attacks through parries or simply absorbing the attacks.)

Rock > Astaroth (Most people won't fully recall the difference between Rock and Astaroth's styles, but with Astaroth the main style puts emphasis on grabbing and smashing opponents, while Rock's style puts more sheer strength in his attacks, and he takes advantage of the range of his weapon aside from its large size.)

Siegfried > Nightmare (A more famous pair in the series by far: the main difference is that Siegfried uses both his hands to wield the massive blade, while Nightmare shifts to a one-handed style due to his massive claw arm. Both styles have very oppressive force, but can still suffer from lack of mobility. Sieg's style puts emphasis on Defense, Parries, and Reversal strikes, while Nightmare absorbs hits offensively and puts emphasis on ease of use for players.)

Kilik > Seong Mi-na (Both styles utilize impressive range, though in Kilik's case, many of his complex moves are focused primarily on countering the opponent's attacks defensively while using tricky mixups. Seong's style puts emphasis on strong break attack strikes (forceful hits) and takes even more advantage of flexibility in favor of range and zoning as a style... both styles are semi technical, but Seong's is the easier of the two to use.)

Sophitia > Cassandra (Aeon Calcos/Lizardman) (Sophitia's style is very misleading in that the goal is to defensively parry her foe's attacks while confounding them with strike-throws and mixups. Many of her attacks are very unnatural, until you realize her style is based on using divine powers that aren't normally used in that weapon style. Meanwhile, Cassandra's style is the more "natural" and organic way to wield a Sword and Shield, though it seems very rough and forceful, including melee throws and parries, it is still very effective. Lizardman's style is essentially an even rougher version of Cassandra's style, putting more emphasis on kicks and biting.)

Raphael > Amy (The Sorel House style is not to be underestimated, and puts a great deal of emphasis on reading the intent of the opponent and using natural counters to oppress them. Raphael's style is very offensive, yet also very evasive, though the focus is primarily on Defending attacks despite how strong the style is offensively. Amy's style puts more emphasis on evasion and acrobatic maneuvering to express counters, though her Rose system overemphasizes the idea that she has exposed her opponent's vulnerabilities.)

Cervantes > Grøh (Utilizing two swords in a fighting style has a great many variations, obviously, but for Cervantes his style is very oppressive and crude, taking advantage of his inhuman speed as well as the firearm built in one of his blades. For Groh's case, the style is more natural and flows equally as naturally AT FIRST... once a player gains the advantage of a Soul Charge, Groh can separate his swords and move just as quickly as Cervantes does to really harass his opponents. Despite the inhuman nature of these styles, they are still very balanced in terms of range, reach, speed, and defense... all-rounder styles that can deal with many situations without reprisal.)

These are the main styles found in Soul Calibur, though there are many other styles that could potentially have alternating methods of combat.

Comparing Voldo with Raven: Both styles are very flexible, while Voldo uses the variability of his limbs to strike opponents while evading them at the same time, his style has very few counters to begin with. Raven's style is very similar in that his limbs are VERY flexible, though he makes full use of his Immortal Regeneration to absorb the attacks of his opponents as well as the range of his Needle weapons.

Comparing Zasalamel with Testament: Both styles use the full range of the Scythe, though Zasalamel uses the pulling reach of the scythe to full effect. Testament uses Magic to expand the reach of the scythe as well as the Curse system to increase mobility and range. Zasalamel's style also uses a Curse technique inside its kit of abilities, but puts more emphasis on them when Soul Gauge (Meter) is used, unlike Testament's use of Overdrives and Tension.

Comparing Hilde with Faust: Unlike Kilik and Mina, these two use a powerful Spear-like weapon that can alternately be used like a Glaive (even if in Faust's case it's technically a giant scalpel). Hildegard von Krone's style puts on a show of using a shortblade along with the spear and mixes the two along with minor kicks in the style. Faust on the other hand would either use the sweeping range of his Scalpel (similar to how Mina uses her Zanbatou) or simply use his own flexibility and long limbs to take advantage of his range.

Comparing Taki with Chipp: Taki puts emphasis on the strength of her legs via kicks in combat, but also uses her drawing speed to take full advantage of her Ninja Swords. While Chipp doesn't have swords to draw, he does use his Ninja Armblade along with his supernatural speed to take the fight to his opponents. Whereas Taki puts more emphasis on kicks, Chipp puts more emphasis on punches. Though it seems Taki takes more advantage of her evasive abilities than Chipp currently employs (as of Strive, that is). Assuming Chipp took advantage of his Ten'i Teleport dashes, the playing field between the two styles would be largely even.

Comparing Earthquake with Axl Low: For a change of pace, I'll discuss the interesting use differences between Earthquake (of Samurai Shodown) with Axl Low (of Guilty Gear): Earthquake uses a rather LARGE Kusarigama chain, so his style puts more emphasis on the weight of the chain when he throws it around (not unlike Goldlewis Dickinson's means of throwing his Coffin around). Earthquake also uses some very "unique" Ninja techniques involving throwing his physical weight around as well as Flame Breath... he also likes to distract his opponent and speed in to them with a "spinning teleport slash" technique (though it's unclear how someone as large as himself can move that fast). Contrast with Axl Low who employs the true full range of a Kusarigama Chainscythe with his Sparrow-Hawk stance, as well as his "Wild Hair" Instant Kill technique which can overwhelm his opponents with the chains in his arsenal. Axl also likes to use explosive Flame magic techniques and spin the sickles of his weapons and generate gales from the force of the spin, which can either create a projectile for his opponent to deal with, or use the force of the spin to draw them inwards like a vacuum (similar to May's original Mist Finer from the first GG game).

Comparing Johnny with Setsuka: Both use a great many similar Battoujutsu techniques (drawing styles), though Johnny puts more emphasis on range, while Setsuka uses speed and close-range techniques to stun her opponent and keep them guessing how she'll approach next. Setsuka's style is unique in that it utilizes concepts centered around the nature of Counter Attacks: Early Counters, Late Counters, and Read Counters. Early Counters are attacks that occur before the opponent considers to strike. Late Counters are attacks performed after an opponent strikes. Read Counters take full timing in to consideration and will fully counter attacks just as they are being used. Utilizing the full discipline of this enhances Setsuka's special move repertoire to a dazzling degree. You could argue Johnny uses a similar technique with Joker Trick and Treasure Hunt, however, how he uses those techniques is not currently AS potent as the style Setsuka currently uses.

Comparing Sol with Ky: As a bonus, we'll talk about another famous rivalry. Ky's style puts more emphasis on range and the potency of his projectiles, though he will use his Vapor Thrusts as physical counters to his opponent's attacks. Sol puts heavy emphasis on the physical power of his attacks, gambling on the timing of their potential range. While his range isn't as safe or as great as Ky's, he can potentially overcome this with the sheer force and randomness of his Strike-throw game. While Volcanic Viper is just as strong a counter as Ky's Vapor Thrust... the range and force it has gives it more utilitarian use and is less situation specific, even lending it use during combos. Compare or Contrast with their EX Fighting style variants from Accent Core: EX Ky put strong emphasis on crossing his opponent up with Grand Vapor Thrust (similar to Sol's Ground Viper Night Raid Vortex/Gunblaze variants), and used his acrobatic flexibility (Crescent Slash) to maintain his offensive. EX Sol on the other hand took inspiration from Ky's normal projectile style and put more heavy emphasis on even STRONGER Gunflames (Gunflame Charge Forcebreaks/Aerial Gunflame) and even had a followup Sidewinder technique after using Volcanic Viper, which could land Clean Hits, setting up his opponent for many types of combos! Sol even had a Forcebreak version of Ground Viper, which is quite literally the most button-mash heavy version of Ground Viper he's ever had (it does a great number of hits depending on how good you are at button mashing!). Last but not least, EX Ky and EX Sol essentially swapped the overall effective range of their own Overdrives. Whereas Sol's Tyrant Rave Beta version has limited range in front of him, and Ky's Ride the Lightning allowed him to overcome his opponent's projectiles via an energy shield of Lightning... Ky's EX R.T.L. expands in a huge orb of Lightning in front of Ky... and Ky can even do the move in mid-air! EX Sol's Tyrant Rave version GAMMA is the "flame" version of Ride the Lighting... or in this case, RIDE THE FIRE. Of course, Sol's version of this move can ALSO be done in mid-air... much like the infamous "GG Anime" version of Sol's Mid-air Ground Viper (which uses the same animation frames as Ground Viper, only in mid-air).

Essentially what I'm driving at here is... there's a great many combat styles out there... and some can easily be swapped out, or even simply change styles mid-combat!

Fighting is a very fluid thing, it is not rigid (despite what Fighting Games might express in a limited capacity)... and although many fans appreciate certain aspects of these styles... consider the reality of them, and their true potential!

[beantothemax]

Looking at him now, that was not the man Olberic once loved. Erhardt's will to fight, will to see another day had all but dissappeared. He fought only to protect a desert town, half hoping to die in combat.

The Erhardt that Olberic knew and cherished fought to see a new dawn. He spoke of a bright future with stars in his eyes.

Perhaps that's what revenge did to him. The anger never abandoning him, only finding a man person to fall upon and destroy, even if it was himself.

"Draw your weapon, Erhardt! For warriors like us, there is no other way!"

Without a word, Erhardt followed the command. He held his sword high, staring at the man he still once loved.

It was strange how time changed you. He once wanted to abandon his quest for revenge to live with this man. Olberic was still his only chance to feel at peace, but now his definition of peace was different.

"Of course, let us fight!" he said.

The duel was short lived. Erhardt's grip on his blade loosened till the fifth time their swords clashed. It clattered to the ground and Olberic struck him in the chest.

As he fell the ground, he could only smile, satisfied that his life would be ended by the only man who had the right. He couldn't fall to a lizardman or mercenary, they did not matter. Only Olberic, the man he had hurt beyond repair, could end his life. Only Olberic deserved such satisfaction.

"So? Was it everything you wanted?" Erhardt smirked.

Olberic sat beside him and pushed the hair from his face. He caressed his cheek as tears welled up in his eyes.

"I wish things were different, I wish we could've spent our lives together," he cried.

"That'd be nice, we could have a house on the countryside and keep a farm. Just the two of us, no politics or war to seperate us," Erhardt agreed.

Blood stained his lips when he coughed. Olberic held him as tight as he could while he sobbed.

Why couldn't thing have been different? Why did they have to suffer when worse people still lived and thrived?

Erhardt coughed again before muttering, "when I said I dreamt of dying in your arms, I thought it'd be different."

Olberic could only cry as Erhardt laughed at his own unpleasant joke.

"I-I know."

"I'll see you soon, my love," Erhardt smiled.

My love. How wonderful it felt to be called that again.

The life left the traitor and his lover laid him on the ground. The color drained from his eyes as his body grew cold. And yet, Olberic couldn't let go of his hand. Not yet. He didn't want to.

But he did. The tears poured like a waterfall as he muttered endless messy apologies.

Through his tears, he spotted his sword on the ground. It still bore Erhardt's blood.

Soon, it would have his too.

a small collection of lines from this fic that make me want to crawl into a hole and scream

PIE I AM SHAKING YOU RAPIDLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!! GGGGGAAAHHHHH!!!!

I saw that it was an olberic fic and thought ‘hey how bad could it be?’ and then you plunge a dagger directly into my chest

olberic about how erhardt has lost all purpose in his life and how he half hopes that he dies protecting wellspring… the fact that erhardt fell so quickly, and how he’s happy that his life was ended by the sole man who had the right… their whole talk after the fight where..! where they talk about the peaceful life they could’ve had!!!!! pie I want to cry!!!!!!!!!!!!

OLBERIC SAYKNG AG THE END THT ERHARDT’S SWORD WILL SOON HAVE HIS BLOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE JUST WANTS TO BE WITH THE ONE MAN HE LOVES!!!!!! EVEN IF IT MEANS HE HAS TO DIE HE’LL DO ANYTHING TO BE WITH HIM!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAA

[selfdiagnosedeyemotif]

Chapter Three (Praem):

The two arrive, slightly tenser, in a small town in the northern part of the Goldlands

It’s called Millheart, it is positively FULL of windmills, and it’s surrounded by large hills

A few caves rim the town, just because it’s getting a little close to the Stonelands

Some asking around the town is required to find out about what the seer was talking about

It seems that the general consensus is that there’s something amiss in the cave north of town, so it’s safe to say that that’s where The Thing might be

However, the townsfolk are all being like. Real cagey about it. Hard to say why

Eventually the two reach the cave in question, which by all accounts looks like a perfectly ordinary cave

However, as they approach, a villager in armour stops them, saying that they can’t go in and that “they’re not going to lose any more people to that thing”

Praem insists that they are going to enter that cave whether this guy likes it or not

Blades are drawn, and there’s a mandatory Challenge section (because I had to incorporate one somehow and there’s no way I’ll be able to fit one in chapters 4 or 5, trust me)

The two clean the guy up a bit and put him in a safe place but then swiftly move on into…

The Third Dungeon: Infested Cavern

Hey just heads up this is gonna be tagged with bug and spider content warnings in the post form but if you are tumblr user beantothemax reading this from your askbox. Be warned. There are a lot of creepy-crawlies ahead.

Anyway it is extremely obvious what the boss is going to be as soon as you enter the dungeon

Cobwebs are EVERYWHERE and they are BIG

A few sections of it are fully just spider webs suspended over open chasms that you have to painstakingly walk over

The enemies? You guessed it: spiders.

I don’t think there’ll be any puzzle-type sections in this one, though

So it’s mostly just exploration through this creepy cavern

Eventually Praem comes to a large cavity in the cave, at the centre of which lies a bigass spider web

Like this is clearly the head honcho right here

Troublingly enough, however, the wall BEHIND the spider web has some carving on it that’s difficult to make out with the web in the way

Praem and Ekaterina get to work clearing the web

Ekaterina needs to borrow a sword for this because she’s a fencer, so Praem ends up using the dagger that the seer gave her

LOTS of thoughts in her brain about that one

Her ability has never steered her wrong before

In fact, it’s been incredibly accurate about most everything

There’s no way to escape the fact that it’s right

She has seen what’s going to happen

She can’t escape it and

These thoughts are so rudely interrupted by (no points for guessing what comes next) a vision! Just a quick one this time like what happens during battle tho

There’s something overhead. She needs to push Ekaterina out of the way because it’s about to get both of them

She quickly sheaths the dagger and dives into her ally, getting both of them out of the way to look up and see…

The Third Boss: The Great Web-Spinner

This one’s just a real big spider

I think it’s a bit of a shame that the warriors truly get a non-human boss to fight (Olberic fights the Lizardman Chief, yes, but also fights Erhardt in the same chapter), so I’m being the change I wish to see in this world

Enters the fray with one Arachnid Lieutenant, which in turn is able to hold its own decently well, but the main event is the big ‘un

The main gimmick of the fight is effects that progress as time goes on

As its first action, the GWS always uses an attack that lowers the party’s speed

The next party member to take a hit from an attack will be afflicted with some kind of custom debuff

The custom status gradually reduces attack and speed by small increments, and when it reaches a certain turn count (5-10), the afflicted member will lose mobility altogether

It can be removed, but only if no other debuffs/afflictions are present on the ally

So if the speed debuff is still there, you can’t get rid of it, but if you run down the clock on that, you can

Other than that, the Great Web-Spinner is gonna try and poison the party members one at a time, and the Arachnid Lieutenant is going to try and inflict blindness

This boss is mostly here because Praem’s final boss was originally going to be a giant spider and I wanted that idea to live on somehow, so here we are

The fight closes, and the two are able to resume work on clearly the web

Before they start, Ekaterina cuts off the spider’s head and stashes it in her bag, saying that they’ll be able to show the townsfolk to let them know that the cave is a little safer now

Cut to a montage of the two getting rid of the webs

Eventually, the full thing is uncovered, revealing a few things

One: an enormous crevasse, splitting in a Y shape

Two, a waterfall surrounded by stalagmites, with something just visible behind it

Three, a stone efface in a similar shape to the thing behind the waterfall, marked with a symbol of an eye

The same symbol of an eye as the dagger

And that’s the same waterfall as the…

Cut back to Praem’s vision for the second time (forgot to mention but it cuts back to the vision when she gets the dagger) as a flashback, this time to the footsteps on wet stone, and the waterfall

She’s going there

They are going there

She is leading Ekaterina to the place where she will kill her

Praem is again somehow able to maintain her composure but she is shaken by this in her internal monologue

Ekaterina seems to ignore this, and points out where this place might be

It features very prominently on the game’s world map, and is located in the northeastern part of the Stonelands

The two leave the cave, are able to present the spider head to the townsfolk, and then it’s time to head for the cave where it will happen.

[skxrbrand]

Prev / Concurrent

“A pact?”

Kha’xanzyr stared at Khazaan, his blue eyes hard and serious. And disappointed. The Tippler stood his ground though, ignoring the struggling creature in his claws until her squeaking got too fierce. Then he applied the slightest bit of pressure with his thumb. The squirming stopped. He looked back at his brother.

“ A blood pact.”

“With a wizard? Worse, a rat wizard?!”

Khazaan rose a lip, “ A rat wizard who wrested my prison from Skarbrand’s talons.” He felt compelled to vouch for her, if only to protect his own ego. Kha’xanzyr’s gaze dropped from his brothers to the white-furred thing in his talons, stinking of fear. There was doubt in his heart, but he never knew Khazaan to be a liar (or very good at it when he did try). Around the she-rats next was a bronze collar, cancelling her magic-signature and nullifying her abilities. As long as that thing was tight around her throat, she had no sorcerous power. Just how long during the journey had Khazaan been hiding his pet?

The Architect glared, “ Skarbrand will punish you went he finds out.”

“ If he finds out.” Khazaan corrects, “ He wants entry into the Realm of Ruin. Maybe she knows a spell to give him just that.”

Kha’xanzyr moved to sneer and call him a fool, but he stopped. He was not very learned in the Vermin God’s lore...but he knew Grey Seers could summon Verminlords. Portals that led to the Ruinous Realm. Question was, how could they rip a portal open big enough to fit three armies through? A detail they could figure out later.

“ Keep the Vermin. Ensure she does not die, at least not this day.”

Kha'xanzyr walked off to ponder and think about this new development. Khazaan opened his palm to grin down at the shivering Grey Seer within. He eyed her hand especially, carved off by the Blood Queen around a year ago. It had been a pathetic fight and her magic nor her lizard-toy had helped one whit. Rinki was long dead and Khazaan took the liberty of snapping her staff. Two of her Mechs were nothing but bone and scrap. Only the Lizardman and the third mech had been allowed to live and guard her, though they weren’t in the greatest shapes either.

“ Worry not, little ratty.” He pets her with his thumb, laughing at how she grimaces. “ You do not need a staff. You have a blade and a remaining arm. And you will learn to use both. I do not suffer weakness in my company.”

Khazaan laughed again, hearing the she-rat gulp audibly.

[blujello]

1. I've told this story before but essentially my older sister let me play SC3 when i was like 6-ish bc she had it and i loved it but Siegfried scared the piss outta tiny me lmao

2. I've played all except Broken Destiny and Legends (tho i have every game including those two, i plan on playing them too)

3. Honestly a toss up between 1, 2 and 3 as i love all three (i like all the games obviously but those three are probably highest on the list)

4. Siegfried (i thought he was a girl)

5. Siegfried bc i love the range and just in general how he controls is fun to play (i love Kilik too tho)

6. Siegfried (specifically his SC3 design, bro looks beautiful and the armor looks great), Kilik again bc he looks great too (they both have face scars and look good), Aeon/Lizardman (I'm a furry/scalie so yknow this was natural)

7. Link and Ezio (Geralt was good too as far as theme but he was boring af personality-wise sorry *i haven't played as 2B yet but i like her so maybe her too but idk yet*)

8. Valeria for reasons, and Chester bc i love his design

9. Olcadan dammit bring him back i love him, he's silly and stupid

10. Honestly don't have one but Night Terror looks fuckn cool

11. Either Weapon Master or Mission Mode (Chronicles of the Sword too but idk if that counts)

12. Siegfried's story is mainly what got me so attached to his character, especially since while he's a good person, he's not necessarily a NICE person (as I've said he's a cocky little bitch and i love him for it), plus I'm a major sucker for redemption stories where a character genuinely struggles and bro struggles ALOT in his story but never gives up even when he fucks up royal

13. Soul Calibur, Double Crescent Blades and Jingu Staff from SC2, and as stupid as it looks Soul Calibur from SC4 is kinda cool and i sorta like it lmao (and Requiem from the games it's in It's simple but badass)

14. The stages with "Confrontation" as the theme song in 2 and 3, Ostreinsburg Chapel from SC2 (also bc of theme lmao), and Lost Cathedral from 3 (it's absolutely beautiful)

15. Sieg's theme in Soul Edge/Blade, Like i said in the last one "Confrontation" and "Raise Thy Sword", the Lost Cathedral theme in 3, and Ezio's theme in 5 (5 wasn't a great game but it had an absolute banger soundtrack)

16. "Sinners need no mercy...or sympathy" (the delivery is so good omg) (and a few others i just don't feel like listing them all lmao)

17. I love Zasalamel's SC4 ending bc it implies he's kinda watching over humanity with his reincarnation/immortal power and i like that it's kinda like a bittersweet peace for him

18. Neither bc i suck at both

19. Aside from Soul Edge/Blade (there's no contest there), i actually love SC5's opening with pre-time skip Siegfried fighting Nightmare, it looks fuckn awesome (just wish the rest of the game was good)

20. Some other dual wielder please we need more of them it's cool

21. For a realistic answer • honestly anyone from one of the medieval-esque Final Fantasy games (tho Bartz or Faris from FF5 would make me so happy, it wouldn't happen), for a pipe dream answer • either some kinda Pokemon (i.e Mewtwo, Lucario, Zoroark, Gardevoir, etc.), a Monster Hunter character, or a Fire Emblem character

22. The option to make female lizardmen please i just wanna make my ocs in peace

23. I love character creation, usually i just make ocs or alternative outfits for the cast

24. I wanna play online but I'm a weenie and i suck at these games even though i love them

25. Probably an anime or a mini series (i think it'd need more than just a movie's runtime to properly do the story unless they were just doing one game adaptation ig)

26. Ehhhh it's fine ig i like it, i think it's hilarious they made Siegfried such an emo weenie pretty boy (no hate to his VA tho Kirk Thornton did a great job imo)

27. Raphael being a vampire is certainly a choice, ig I'm so used to it since he's been that way since 3 so it doesn't bother me all too much but it's uhhhh yknow just kinda there

28. Bro wouldn't be able to move in that crystal armor, like it's pretty but damn impractical

29. They're.....there ig, Soul Calibur looks better than Soul Edge imo but they both just look like the SC1 versions

30. Honestly i never really use him but i like Aeon with all of them (SC1 Aeon is pretty good honestly even with not very good reach)

[hraabepex]

Soloing the Dungeon

Characters: Aulina; half orc paladin, Mid; Human sorcer, Bladinya; human rogue.

Setting. In an infinitely descending dungeon full of countless monsters the party just finished a fight against a lizardman and his kobald underlings. They continue to walk through the dungeon, checking doors as they go.

Bladinya "I'm telling you, I'm the best in the group. I did the most damage in that fight. I could probably soloed the fight. You two hardly did anything."

Aulina "You may have done most of the damage but you couldn't have soloed that fight. I took all the attacks and Mid kept them from swarming us with AOE attacks."

Mid "Besides, you are as squishy as me, one good attack and you will drop. How could you solo a fight if you can't take a hit."

Bladinya "You two are just jealous that I do so much more damage than you that I can kill the enemies before they even have a chance to hit me. I bet I could solo the next room without a sweat."

Aulina and Mid share a look, "bet" and gesture to the next door, where there is sounds of movement coming from the other side.

Bladinya confidently kicks open the door and sees a 25 by 25 foot room filled with 25 large angry crabs. Bladinya nervously looks at the others, they confidently gesture to the room, "all yours."

Bladinya shakes off the nervousness, "How hard could it be, they are just crabs."

She leaps into the room, slicing two crabs clean in half before landing to regain her balance. The crabs swarm, even though only a few can reach at once, they all lung with claws, leaving almost a dozen small cuts all over Bladinya's body. She winces and swings her twin short swords, two more crabs cleaved. The rest of the crabs surge forward again, another wave of cutting claws.

Bladinya is breathing heavy, blood pours from countless small cuts, she is feeling faint, but pride and arrogance push her forward. Another set of slashes, another crab falls, but the second blade falls short. The crabs surge like oceanic waves, Bladinya falters, the blood-loss becoming dangerous. She turns to her teammates, "I'm sorry ok, please help, I don't want to die to crabs!"

The two in the doorway share a smile. Aulina reaches and heaves Bladinya from the room, handing her a healing potion. Mid stretches out a hand releasing a burst of flames, reducing the room of crabs to ash.

They both look at Bladinya, covered in faint cuts and soaked in blood. "I've learned my lesson ok, can we just move on."

A small laugh is shared as they continue through the dungeon.

[adventures-of-the-creeping-bam]

NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY: THE ADVENTURES OF THE CREEPING BAM,  BOOK THREE: WARMER - CHAPTER 22

If you’re new to the story, please go check out Book 1 first …

Book 3 Chapter 1 is here …

MPORTANT:  Please note this story includes content that may be considered mature, such as moderate battle violence, some strong language and occasional mild sexual scenes.

If you want to support my writing, feel free to swing by my Patreon or Ko-fi.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:  ART

“Kesla, come on, you need to think about this!”  Krakka’s really having to trot along to keep up with her, she’s just walking but her powerful, long-legged strides are so big, and she’s so determined right now, I’m having to scramble to keep up with her too.  “You’re not thinking straight, you can’t make major decisions like this while you’re angry!”

“I’m not angry, Krakka.”  Her voice is scary level, about as flat as it’s capable of getting, and that’s never a good sign.  She can be the Queen of Calm most o’ the time, but there’s always some emotion in there, even when she’s chill.  It’s when she becomes truly monotone that you gotta worry.  “I’m actually extremely calm.  I’m just concerned.  Extremely concerned that two of our friends are really messed up, one of ‘em might be about to die, which is becoming a frustratingly regular occurrence for me, while another one is just gone.  Gael is gone, Krakka.  They got ‘em, you said as much yourself.  Believe me, I am very concerned.”

“Yes, I understand that.  I am as well, very concerned indeed.  But I also know that flying off the handle like this is not going to help anyone.”

“Except that I can actually do something about at least one o’ those problems right now, can’t I?”  Kesla shoves her way through the door and into the narrow, lamp-lit corridor beyond, seeming to know exactly where she’s going.  My head’s still reeling from that ridiculously huge library, that was way bigger than it had any right to be, but in truth only a small part o’ my brain’s really thinking about that right now, I’m mostly too distracted to think straight right now anyway.

Gael is gone.  When Krakka finished doing what he could fixing my shoulder on the spot he filled me in on the situation, and the panic set in.  Whoever the fuck that was who attacked us has my friend.  They were sent to kill us, and they had some monstrous fucker of a lizardman with ‘em, I saw that thing in action and he was fucking scary, I’m scared to death for my friend now.  In my head I’m climbing the fucking walls.  It’s even enough to distract me from the lingering ache in my shoulder …

To make it worse, both the dwarves are in the infirmary.  Dumoli’s apparently already recovering, his wound was bad and if he’d bled much more it might have been a lot worse, but once they got him back to the healers here they were quickly able to turn things round for him.  But he’s still gonna be laid up for a little while yet.

He wouldn’t let Krakka near him when we finally arrived, anyway, he made him go straight to Thel.  When we got to her we saw why.  Fuck … that was a mess.  Kesla’d done what she could for her using her heard-earned and experience-sharpened field medicine training, but she was already at death’s door, all the bandages in the world would only have delayed things a little.  That kinda wound … it was miracle enough she hadn’t died already.  Then Krakka learned who’d done it …

Apparently it was the blade of a cleric of Corvina … yeah, the whole group got real quiet over that revelation.  It’s a bit of a paradox – she was a cleric, they’re healers and protectors of the helpless, but they’re also warriors o’ their faith, fighting for an ideal, and this one’s cause is death.  That blade might as well have been poisoned.

It took everything Krakka had just to keep her from slipping away on the spot.  In the end all he could do was pull her back from the brink itself, anything more than that was beyond him and his beloved patron.  Then Lady Naru just took hold of both the dwarves at once and ported right outta there, heading straight for the temple of Minerva while Tulen sent a message ahead to Shul to let her know what was coming in order to get everybody ready.  That just left Brung behind with the rest of us, and he wouldn’t respond to any of us.  He just sat there, staring into space, looking like hell himself even though, so far as I could tell, he just got battered about a bit.

Tulen ported the rest of us back in groups, but in the end Lady Naru insisted on going back herself for Big Man, since she knew if Tulen did it she’d be out of it for the next day afterwards.  Apparently she damn near passed out herself, porting the golem to the Heaths, that’s almost two miles from the temple, I’m amazed it didn’t floor her on the spot.  Doing it twice certainly took a lot out of her as it was, last I saw of her she was stretched out on one o’ the couches in the lounge sucking down her third cup of wine to battle one hell of a headache.  I heard Big Man had to carry her in from the entrance hall himself, she was so out of it.

Not that we could really avoid it.  Big Man volunteered to just walk back, but after everything else that’s happened tonight Kesla nixed that idea the moment it was out there, and I don’t blame her.  Instead we had to take the chance of messing up one of our remaining mages.

Now we’re just … licking our wounds.  Those of us who ain’t mending are more’n a little frazzled round the edges, I know I ain’t the only one who’s scared to death for Gael.  It’s clear enough these people are working for Jammund, or Hontiresk if that is who Jammund’s working for, which means that, near as makes no difference, our young half-elf’s prob’ly in Vandryss’ hands now.  That thought alone makes my skin crawl and my heart scream.

Kesla’s worst off though, clearly.  Shay at least is trying focus herself on the task at hand, so last I saw of her she was settling down to clean and tend to her gear, armour and weapons included, to be ready for what’s sure to come next.  Kesla … she’s just untethered right now.  Which I know makes her dangerous.

Krakka turns my way now as we scurry along behind her, while Darwyn’s trailing along behind us, mostly just looking rattled, about as unsure as I ever seen her now.  The cleric gives me a pleading side-eye, and I wince seeing it.  He’s begging for help, but I can’t offer it up.  Part o’ me’s already onboard for whatever Kesla’s about to do, long as there’s a sliver of hope it might help us get Gael back.

“Damn it.”  he mutters under his breath, which just makes me cringe a little more, feeling like I betrayed him.  Which I kinda have, under the circumstances.

Kesla shoves her way through the door at the other end o’ the corridor a little more forcefully than she perhaps needs to, and I just duck straight through after her while Krakka sucks a particularly disapproving breath in response before following me.  I don’t even bother to check if Darwyn’s still coming.  Truth is right now I don’t particularly care.

Beyond the door is a large, high ceilinged antechamber, with several doors lining the walls, each unmarked but more’n one with temple staff stood outside.  As we enter one of ‘em snaps to attention, shuffling forward with a somewhat uncertain expression on his face.  He’s dressed in the Order’s livery same as the rest, sword at his side marking him as a guard rather than an attendant, but otherwise he’s surprisingly unassuming.  He raises a hand and starts to speak, but when he gets a look at our faces he falters before he can get it out.

“Oh, um … forgive, me, Mistress Shoon … um … do you have business –”

“Back off.”  She says it level as everything else she has on the way here, and the very flatness is a razor’s edge, enough even for someone who don’t know her to pick up on.  “I gotta talk to ‘im.”

“Perhaps you should wait.  I fear you may be out of sorts –”

“I wouldn’t, mate.”  I sigh, already feeling bad for this guy.  “Trust me.”

Again, he opens his mouth, then looks up at Kesla’s unnervingly blank stare and shuts it.  His eyes flicker to me, than to Krakka, and he visibly deflates.  Given he’s barely two inches shorter than Kesla and about as heavy, it’s a little unnerving to see.  Finally he steps aside, indicating the door.  “Please, help yourself.”  he sighs, sounding as unbelievably tired as the rest of us feel.

Giving him a long look, Kesla takes a breath and steps past him, reaching for the doorknob.  There’s a moment when she twists it that it resists, like it’s locked tight, but then the door springs inwards and she shoves it open, stepping through almost more as a reflex, but she must’ve been expecting it since her expression don’t slip.  Again I follow quick as I can, trusting the others to make up their own minds.

The room inside is, at best, a cell.  Calling it minimalist would be over-generous – there’s literally just a low cot with a thin mattress clearly bolted to the wall, and a small metal commode in the corner, no seat on it, not even any paper for wiping.  The walls are white and startlingly smooth, and there’s light coming from somewhere above, I can’t really tell what it is looking up, it’s just there.  The room itself is startlingly tall, but otherwise somewhat cramped, can’t be more’n ten feet across and twelve long.  And there’s only one occupant.

So this is the famous Vik.  He don’t look like much, given what I heard – he’s older than I thought he’d be, and a little smaller too, even as he stands up Kesla seems significantly larger than him.  Or maybe it’s just got something to do with her purpose, he looks strangely diminished compared to her.  Apparently when he came in he was wearing an impressive set of leathers, but now he’s dressed in simple slacks and an oversized grey linen smock, bare of foot and arm.  His left wrist significantly unmarked, I note.

He's also wearing a collar, wide and surprisingly thick, made of gleaming metal like a manacle with subtly glowing sigils engraved around the edges.  Two more bands are fastened at both wrists.  As we bundle up inside the doorway, he steps towards us, holding both hands out as if to display ‘em to us.  “What the fuck is this shit?  This some kinda freaky magic shit?  Every time I try to get within two feet o’ the door I damn near pass out.”

Kesla don’t stop walking with the rest of us, instead just stepping right up to him as he approaches.  He doesn’t clock the threat ‘til it’s right in his face, and by then it’s too late.

Her first punch knocks him straight down.  Thankfully the bed was directly behind him so he just ends up sitting down on that, but he still drops hard.

“What the fuck –”  Her second punch knocks him back hard enough his head bounces off the wall, but thankfully not hard enough to brain himself or worse, it just rattles him.  “Fuck!”  he yells, raising his hands now to fend her off, his mouth already bloody while his nose starts to gush.  “What the hell is –"

She hits him again, just as hard, and this time he loses a couple teeth and squawks in shock.  “Who are they?!”  she screams in his face, grabbing a fistful of the front of his smock now to drag him out of his slump before punching him again.  “Who THE FUCK are they?!”

“What … who?!”  Vik tries to brush her off again but he’s clearly getting dizzy from the hits now, his coordination can’t manage shit now.

“The sellswords!”  she screams in his face, punching him one more time before letting go so he slumps back against the wall, head lolling some as his nose keeps spurting and he spits a few more teeth.  “The fucking sellswords who just tried to murder us all!  Who the fuck are they?!”

“I don’t …”  He coughs, spluttering a little as he spits out two more teeth … no, this time they’re just pieces of teeth, looks like.  Ouch.  “Fuck … you crazy bitch!”

Kesla grabs another handful of material to drag him back up, cocking her fist with a particularly savage look on her face now.  “If you don’t answer me right now –”

“I don’t fucking know!”  Vik splutters, eyes wide, clearly terrified now.  “I swear I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about!”

Taking a big step back as she lets go again, Kesla draws herself up to her full height and raises both hands, brushing them back through her hair and yanks hard on what’s between her fingers.  A little harder and she might even start tearing chunks out, looks like.  She sucks a deep breath in through her teeth, and turns back to us, looking genuinely lost now.

Krakka just glares up at her, arms folded tight across his barrel chest, looking thoroughly done with her shit now.  “Satisfied?  You did all that for precisely nothing.”

Narrowing her eyes, Kesla glares right back, her lips drawn thin now.  “You think?  I don’t need a fucking lecture right now.”  Without waiting for a reply, she just shoves right past him and me and Darwyn barely have time to scramble aside to let her through after.

Vik just coughs as he tries to sit up and fails miserably, pawing at his mangled face, already starting to darken and swell.  “Crazy fucking bitch …”

“You wanna have a crack at fixing that?”  I offer up to the tengu cleric with heavy sarcasm, who immediately gives me an even dirtier side-eye.  Shrugging, I just turn back to head out.

Finding Tulen stood in the open doorway stops me short, more so the way she’s just looking at Vik sprawled on the bed, visibly shocked by his condition.  For  moment her mouth works on its own, like she’s trying to find words but none are forthcoming.  Finally she spits out:  “What … what just …”

“Don’t ask.”  I lay a very gentle hand in the small of her back and press subtly in order to guide her back outside along with me.  “Believe me, it won’t help.”

“Yeslee.”  she mutters, mostly under her breath, as she allows herself to be directed back into the larger room beyond.

“What?”  Kesla rounds on her.  “What’d you say?”

“I talked to Yeslee.”  She blinks a few times, and finally seems to come back to herself.

“Where … how … she took off, I thought …”  Kesla frowns at me, seeming a little lost in the conversation along with me.  From what I remember, she snuck off not long after we ported into that mess, but clearly with a purpose.  Honestly I just thought she’d gone to look for Thel and her friends.

“She said she followed some of them.”  She turns to me, looking a little uncertain now  “The two you and Shay first encountered?  I don’t really understand what she meant –”

“The halfling and the imori.”  I say to Kesla as her frown deepens.  I don’t think she encountered them herself, the impression I get is she ran into some different members of this mysterious group.  I shrug.  “They … I dunno.  They both took some pretty nasty hits, the lizardman ‘specially.  I’m amazed Krakka didn’t kill ‘im.”

“My swing might have been a little sub-par after he hit me.”  he growls, still looking significantly pissed.  “It rather threw me off my game.”

“Okay.”  Kesla practically snarls, eyes closed now and teeth gritted as she shoves her hands back through her hair again.  “Okay.  Back to the subject in question?”

Blinking, Tulen looks round at us all, then seems to catch her meaning.  “Oh … yes.  Sorry.  Um … yes, anyway, when I contacted her, Yeslee said they left.  The imori was … not in good shape, it seems.  But the halfling had mostly shaken it off, she said.  They, um … it seems they had a plan, apparently.  An escape plan?”

Cocking a brow, Kesla looks my way, and I just shrug in response.  “Yeah, reckon that makes sense.”

“Course it does.”  She turns to Tulen again.  “What was it?”

“A boat?  She said they had one waiting, on the canal, outside the Drumhalt.  She followed them using the rooftops, they took it all the way to the river, then down to the docks.  She said they went to a warehouse down there, on the wharves.”

That just makes me frown, so I turn to Kesla again, but she’s just looking down at Krakka, who’s simply cocking a brow back at her.  “Well shit … guess that makes sense, too.”

“What d’you mean?”  I really don’t have time for this shit, I’m too bloody anxious right now.  “C’mon boss, what the hell?”

“A warehouse, on the wharves.”  She turns to Tulen.  “Hardward, up on First Point, right?”

She blinks again.  “How did you –”

Kesla grins, which takes me by surprise, and reaches out to give her shoulder a good squeeze.  “Luck.  Sheer fucking luck.  Reckon we’re gonna be all right.  Now we just gotta get on it.”

As she starts walking gain, heading back the way we came, the rest of us all scramble to catch up.  As we head into the corridor again, Krakka’s still frowning.  “We’re sure about that though?  That it’s not just a coincidence?”

“It’s a bit too specific, ain’t it?”

“Yeah, but still –”

“We got a next step.  Means we can go after Gael.  So it’s time to shake the others up, get ready to head out again.  Just one more detail to take care of in the meantime.”

“What detail?”  Krakka stop where he is throwing up his arms in clear frustration.  He’s usually so stoic, it’s disconcerting to see him this worked up.  “Kesla –”

“Something that’s been bothering me since before we got back, that I gotta deal with.”  She stops and spins round, and next thing I know she’s lunged right past me, grabbing hold of Darwyn before she can even react and swinging her up off her feet.

“Hey, what the fuck are you –”  The halfling’s cut off with a gasp, instantly winded when Kesla slams her into the wall, pinning her seven feet off the floor with her fingers digging into her arms like claws.  “Wait, what –”

“Shut up!”  Kesla leans in close, really snarling her words, and her face is enough to silence her all on its own.  “I’m talking right now, when I want you to do it, I will say so.  So just nod if you understand me.”

Darwyn’s eyes are very wide indeed, she looks damn near scared to death.  She knows full well that she ain’t got a hope in this fight.  Finally she nods.

Letting up a little bit, Kesla lowers her just enough to lean even closer, ‘til their noses are almost touching.  “Good.  I am not going to let you dodge this anymore, Darwyn.  We’re gonna have this out right now.  What the fuck were you doing in the Drumhalt?”

For a long beat she doesn’t answer, her eyes flickering down to me, and they’re beseeching again.  “Art, please, I –”

“Fucking answer her, Dar.”  I growl back, not even trying to go easy on her.  Right now I couldn’t if I tried, half o’ me’s fucking anxious and the other’s just starting to get pissed off again.  “Now.  She won’t ask again, an’ you ain’t got a friend here right now.”

“No.”  Darwyn cranes her neck forward far as she can, since she clearly can’t lean in right now, and fixes Kesla with that same stubborn glare I know so well.  “No, I’m not gonna do that.  Fuck you both.”

“You don’t have a bloody choice in this, you silly little bitch.”  Kesla’s voice is growing soft again, which is a bad sign.  “Just tell me.”

“I already told you, go fuck yourself.  I ain’t saying it.  Not to him.  Not now.”  She tips her head back, breathing a heavy sigh.  “Fuck … I’ll show you.”  She looks back at Kesla again, resolute now.  “But then that’s the end of it.  I want your word.”

“All right.  You got it.”  Kesla shrugs, and then lets go, and Darwyn has to catch herself, a little clumsy in her landing she’s so taken by surprise.  She gives Kesla a pretty dirty look as she gathers her composure, taking a somewhat rattled breath.

“Let’s go, then.”  Turning to crane up at Tulen, she offers up a hand, reaching out to Kesla too.  “You can home in on where I wanna go, right?  I heard that’s something you lot can do.”

Blinking again, Tulen looks at Kesla as she steps up and reaches down to grip the offered hand.  “Um … yeah, kind of.  It’s a little trickier than that, but –”

“Fine.  Do that.”

Tulen frowns and gives Kesla a pointed look, but my friend just rolls her eyes and shrugs.  Then she reaches out to me, and Darwyn frowns, her face darkening considerably.

“No, wait … I told you, no way I’m letting him come too.  That’s a deal breaker.”

“Then break it.”  Kesla gazes down at her, stalwart as ever, and I already know which one’s gonna break first in this staring contest.  “He’s coming, or you can go in one o’ those cells and that’s that.  I can’t trust you.”

Pouting, Darwyn genuinely looks to be considering the options, and I honestly don’t know which way she’ll go.  I genuinely wouldn’t put it past her to pick the cell just to spite her, and me along with her.  Then she breathes out a frustrated hiss and focuses on the floor as she growls:  “Fuck … fine.  You win.”

“You’re sure about this?”  Krakka sighs, looking deeply uncertain now.

“It’s either this or I lock ‘er up on principle, and we need the bodies.”  Kesla shrugs again, looking tired now.  “When we’re gone, let Shay know what the plan is.  Find out if Lady Naru’s feeling well enough to join us, tell her we might find Darion too if we hit it quick.  And try and shake some sense into Brung too.  We’re definitely gonna need him.”

Nodding, Krakka steps back and leans into the wall.  “Just be careful.”

“I’ll try my best.”  she sighs, turning to Tulen again.  “You good?”

Looking down at Darwyn, then at me, she sighs as well, finally shrugging.  “I’ll have to be.  Just prepare yourself.  This might be rough.”  She looks at Darwyn again.  “Concentrate on where you want to go.  If it works, I’ll get a better read on where we’re heading that way.”

As Darwyn nods, I close my eyes and take a deep breath, going through the drill even as I lament the fact I’m getting a little sick of all this porting.  Then Tulen says that strange sense-word and everything turns upside down around us, and through us, while Kesla squeezes my hand a little tighter and I return the favour purely by reflex.

When we settle it’s on pretty level ground, and there’s something quite familiar about these cobblestones, so while my head’s spinning a little from the transit and I still feel a touch queasy from the jump, somehow it don’t make me quite so anxious this time.  I let the breath go and slowly open my eyes … and I know this place, I been through here a fair few times in the past, it’s really familiar territory.  We’re in the Drumhalt all right, not far at all from where we just were actually, and the thought o’ that sets my shoulder aching some again, but then it don’t surprise me.  Krakka ain’t had the chance to fix the wound entirely yet, so …

“Oh …”  Darwyn’s doubled over, looking pretty miserable as she rests her hands on her knees like she’s ready to empty her stomach, breathing heavy now.  “I hate that.”

“Yeah, it ain’t fun.”  Kesla clears her throat, and it’s a rough sound, clearly she ain’t too comfortable herself as she looks round the narrow, shady street we’re in, pretty quiet now, but then it’s that time o’ night an this clearly ain’t a thoroughfare.  We seem to be alone.  “Okay … so are we there, then?”  She turns back to the halfling.  “Where we need to be?”

Gulping in a big swallow of air, Darwyn raises her head and gives it a little twitch, flipping her hair out her eyes to look round.  “Um … yeah, this is it.  Just through there.”

She’s pointing into a cul-de-sac a little way down on the left, a short flight o’ worn steps cutting between two buildings dropping into it.  I can sort of make it out from this oblique angle, essentially a roughly circular courtyard surrounded by three storey townhouses, a few o’ the windows lamplit but most dark.  I suspect it ain’t too late that a fair few residents are still in the pubs drinking after their shifts, or those who work nights have set out to start their own.  It’s like pretty much any other place to grow up in the Drumhalt – cold, battered, worn stone and rusty iron, with no real nature to speak of besides moss and rats and other vermin.  Honestly, it feels homely to me.

“Good.”  Kesla checks her gear over and steps a little closer, giving it a good hard look over.  “All right then.  After you.”

Darwyn frowns now, giving her a look.  “You still don’t trust me?”

“Reckon that oughtta be clear by now.”  She shrugs, gesturing for her to go on.  “Consider it a chance to earn some back.”

Narrowing her eyes, Darwyn tightens her jaw, and for a moment I think she might snap something at her, but she holds her tongue.  Finally she gives me a good glare and takes a step forward, then stops and turns back to Kesla again.  “Just so we’re clear, he is only here on sufferance.  He ain’t welcome where we’re going.”

As she starts for the stairs, Kesla frowns a little too, looking across at me now.  “Just keep an eye out.”  Now to Tulen, who’s just stood by looking particularly uncomfortable as she observes her surroundings.  “You especially.  You’re the closest thing we got to a magic sensor right now.  I want you sharp.”

“Oh … um … of course.”  Tulen grasps the hilt of her sword now, while her other hand reaches into her robe to check her wand, tucked snug in its holster.  Then she takes a tentative step forward as well.

I just flex my claws and start walking, brushing past the two of ‘em gently as I can so I can get behind Darwyn.  Ain’t that I really don’t trust her right now, it’s just that … well, after what just happened, reckon maybe I don’t.  Or maybe it’s just that I cannot stop working my nerves about Gael.  What they done to ‘em, where they are, if they’re hurt, or worse.  Might be it’s got me projecting right now, but … I know I ain’t in a good place in my head right now.

Nothing jumps out on us when we reach the bottom of the steps and step out into the courtyard proper.  I can’t smell anything beyond the normal detritus of human existence, regular trash and worn scent-trails of regular passage over days, months, years.  Kids play here too, I can tell, partly from their comparatively cleaner, more vital smell but mostly just the crudely drawn iconography of games on the broken, haphazardly laid flagstones and cobbles making up the yard floor.  Simple grids for hopscotch, and ball games, and other makeshift diversions.  Clearly this is a lively place during the day, at least.

Darwyn leads us in a direct straight line right across the courtyard, and from the trail I can smell as I follow her it’s clear this is a route she takes on a regular basis.  Well that’s interesting … I turn to give Kesla a look, and when she sees my expression she cocks a brow down at me, quizzical, but don’t ask anything.  I just shrug in response, but offer up a tentative smile too.  Maybe this is something else to what we think it is.

Finally she steps up the narrow, somewhat misshapen three-step stoop to the corresponding door at the end of this unseen path, then pauses for a moment before reaching into one of her pockets and fishing for a moment.  Finally she produces a bunch of keys and sorts through for a beat before selecting one and unlocking the door with it, then ducks through leaving it open in obvious invitation.  Not bothering to wait for Kesla’s permission, I step in after.

It's somewhat gloomy inside, but there’s light coming through a small, dirty window at the far end of the narrow, crooked corridor, and I can see perfectly well anyway.  The place is a whole riotous mix of different scents, I couldn’t sort through ‘em if I tried, but there’s nothing untoward, and one or two traces even seem vaguely familiar, even if I can’t place ‘em.  Huh … well that’s strange … after a beat I realise I can smell Cobb in the mix as well as Darwyn.  That’s real interesting.

“You comin’ or what?”  Darwyn hisses at me a little further down, and I realise she’s waiting by the stairs, leading up.  I bite off the retort that wants to come and just set my jaw again, continuing after her as she starts climbing.

After reaching the first floor she steps off into another corridor and heads a little way down before stopping at a door on the right.  Now she looks real reluctant, and after a moment I realise she’s actually shaking, but it ain’t fear, more … hell, I dunno what this emotion is, actually.  When she looks up at me her eyes are wide, and she opens her mouth like she wants to speak but don’t follow through, instead just frowning again and letting out a heavy sigh.  “Fuck … all right.  Just …”  She turns back and glares at me now, but her words now are barely a hissing whisper.  “Do not say a fucking word, clear?”

“Um … yeah.  Sure.”  I nod, a little more enthusiastic than I should, perhaps, but I don’t think she really notices now.  She seems all kinds of nervous, I see.  It should put me on edge again, but … I dunno, somehow it feels perfectly safe right now.  I can’t explain it.

She doesn’t fish her keys out again this time, instead she just takes a deep breath as if to steel herself, and reaches up to knock three times on the door.  Then she shifts on her feet, a couple times, and smooths her clothes down, proper fidgeting in fact.  Eyes locked on the door as she waits.

After a few more moments I hear someone approaching on the other side, casual sounding footfalls on creaky floorboards, and maybe that same someone speaking to somebody else as they approach.  I can’t make out what’s said, but the tone is clear enough, they seem relaxed.  Happy, even.  Another good sign, then.

When they stop just on the other side there’s a short pause before whoever it is calls through the door:  “Hello?  Who is it, please?”  The voice, albeit a little muffled still, sounds … gods, I think I know that voice.  Is that …

“Toyah, it’s me.  Can you let us in?”  Darwyn turns again and gives all of us a pointed look now.  Seems that warning’s been extended to the group as a whole, now.

“Us?  You got Cobb with you?”  The woman on the other side almost sounds like she’s laughing the words a little, and now I’m sure I recognise the voice.

“No, it ain’t …”  She lets another heavy sigh go, frustrated now, I reckon.  “Look, it’s all right, everything’s fine, I promise.  Just open up.”

For a long moment nothing happens, and I wonder if maybe the woman on the other side might not open the door after all, maybe they’re just too suspicious now after what she said or how she said it … then I hear chains shifting and locks turning inside, before a bolt is finally pulled and the door opens with a great crack and slow, slightly juddery creak.  It opens a foot, then stops on a length of security chain, and a face appears about halfway up the gap.

I knew I knew that voice.  On the other side is a dwarf woman, but very different from Thel.  This one’s definitely not a muscular type, ‘least nowhere near so much as the young warrior, much more cuddly, all soft and round and devoid of corners, and very pretty too.  She’s a good deal paler too, her chubby cheeks rosy under her fine, downy golden blonde fluff of a beard, but her full, bowed lips are rosier still.  She’s grown her hair in since I saw her last, I see, now bound into a thick, loosely woven plait that hangs over her shoulder while curly errant locks hang around her face, and as she looks us over her striking pale green eyes dance with a somewhat mischievous light.  She’s dressed in simple yet colourful day-to-day Untermer clothes, a jovial-looking dress of wool and linen and a light, ruffled blouse that shows off a lot less cleavage than I remember from when she was younger.  Well, younger than she is now, anyway.

When she looks us over, she’s wary at first, especially when she sees Kesla, her eyes going a little wide at the six-foot-plus warrior woman in half-plate stood outside her door, but then she sees me, and she goes very still indeed.  For a moment she seems genuinely shocked, but then a tentative smile starts to form, and that sparkle returns to her eyes.  “Well I’ll be … oh my gods, it’s … hello there, stranger.”

“Hey, Toyah.  Long time no see.”

Her brows twitch up at that, and she starts to laugh.  “Is that … that’s it after five bloody years, you daft bastard?”  She quickly frees the chain drags the door the rest of the way open and stalks out, her big bare feet thumping across the boards as she marches right up to me.  I don’t stand a chance as she drags me into a big, tight hug and all I can do is let her.

I’m a whole foot taller than her, but she still crushes me, like she always does.  She may be soft and plush, more fat than muscle, but she’s still a dwarf, so she’s still powerful, and as she gives my trunk a good tight squeeze I still feel my ribs compress.  I gasp and I wheeze and I love every second of it as I return the tightest one I can manage, but can’t even try to match her strength.  Finally I pat her on the back to let her know I want out and she relents, and I gasp again as I’m able to start breathing again.  “Oh … gods, that’s still intense … oh, but it’s good to see you too.  I’ve really missed you.”

“Yeah, I bet you have, you incorrigible little lothario.”  She reaches up and gives my cheek a good pinch, her smile becoming rueful now.  “I bet you’ve left a trail o’ heartbroke living wreckage across half o’ Rundao since you been gone.  Or am I wrong?”  She looks past me, likely regarding Kesla and Tulen again.  “One o’ these intriguing young ladies made you honest, maybe?”

When I turn round I find Kesla’s really having to work hard to control her laughter, and ultimately failing.  “Oh … oh fuck, no!  Freya no.  He is really not my type.  Like, at all.”

Tulen, meanwhile, is blushing up a storm, I realise, her cheeks about as dark as I seen ’em get since I met her, and she licks her lips in deep discomfort, although she don’t really seem actually put off by the idea, which might give me hope.  Under different circumstances, or at a different time, maybe.  “Nor me.  Um … I’m sorry, I mean … I am somewhat spoken for already, in a manner of speaking.  Um …”

“I see.”  Toyah rolls her eyes a little as she turns back to me, grinning now.  “Same old Art, then.  You never change.”  She takes a step back and gestures for us to follow as she pushes the door open that last foot so there’s room for everyone to come through as she steps back across her threshold.  “Come in, all o’ you.  I got some stew on the stove if anybody’s hungry, should be about ready now.  Plenty to go round, I always cook enough for a few days’ leftovers.”

“That sounds … lovely, actually.”  Kesla’s got her laughter under control now, but she’s still grinning with clear mirth now as she shoves right past me.  “It’s been a long day, an’ I’m starved.”

“Perfect!”  Toyah strides off across the main room of the apartment, then pauses and turns back, cocking her head with a more quizzical look on her face as she looks at the rest of us.  “Ah, yes.  Anyone else?”

“Yes!”  Tulen smiles now, a little sheepish but an improvement all the same.  “Please.  Stew sounds lovely.  Whatever’s in it.”

“Veggies, an’ meat, o’ course.”  Toyah chuckles  “That’s how stew usually works.  Dar?  Art?  You hungry?”

“Not right now, I’m sorry.  Maybe later.”  Darwyn’s casting about the room now, her nerves clearly still working at her.

When she turns to me I kinda blank for a moment, then I remember myself, and at the same time everything else.  That’s right, we’re here on specific business, but I wasn’t expecting this.  But this can’t be the reason Dar didn’t want me to come, she knows I’d be thrilled to see Toyah again.   Something else is up.

And then I remember what else is going on again and … yeah, soon as Gael pops back into my head again I know I couldn’t keep anything down right now, it’s too much stress the way I’m all wound up.  So I shake my head but try to keep my best face on all the same.  “I’ll bow out too, to be honest.  But maybe later, like she said.”

For a moment Toyah’s light-hearted mood seems to shift as she looks us both over, but she recovers quick.  “Fair enough.  It’ll keep, if you change your minds just let me know.”  She gives Kesla and Tulen a fond wink and continues on the route she was previously taking, moving with a jovial spring in her step that I recognise with great fondness.

“She seems nice.”  Kesla’s watching me now when I turn back, and while she’s smiling there’s an edge to it, partly curiosity, mostly expectant.

“Toyahlin Strongfall.”  I chance a quick glance at Darwyn, who’s still stood by the now closed door, arms folded tight across her chest, looking at the floor.  “She was our best friend when we were growing up, outside o’ the Guild kids.  She’s a hedge wizard, works freelance for Cobb on occasion.  Guess Dar was telling the truth about having somebody to come to to get through to ‘im.”

“Ah.”  Kesla nods, shuffling her feet now as she starts to look round.  “Okay, then.”

It’s a nice place, if small and somewhat poky like most places in the poorer quarters of Untermer, but here in the Drumhalt in particular, where folk are packed in like sardines.  But clearly Toyah’s made a real effort to make this a pleasant, comfy, cosy place to live in, which don’t surprise me at all, she was always a real practical homebody, it was always something I really admired about her.

The walls are painted in warm colours, and surprisingly striking actually, patterned in swirling spirals and waves, while there are tiny handprints dotted around in various places in darker colours, along with a few much larger ones which are clearly Toyah’s own.  As I look round the room, which has been furnished mostly with big woollen cushions and bundled blankets rather than seating, save for a small table and two similarly squat wooden chairs in the corner, I see other interesting signs too.  There are toys scattered about on the floor, mostly makeshift plush animals sewn from frayed cotton and worn corduroy, but there are colourful building bricks and little carved wooden figures too.  Most striking, though, are the colourful and simplistic daubed paintings pasted in various spots on the walls with a haphazard sense of pride.  Clearly a child lives here too.

“Toyah’s a ma?”  I venture after a moment, turning back to Darwyn now.  Her reluctance to have us just show up like this is making a bit more sense to me now.

She stares at me for a long moment, eyes narrow and her face still so dark, and I don’t know what that’s about at all, it just don’t feel like the old hostility this time, it’s so much more complicated.  I don’t understand it at all.  “No.  No, she’s not her daughter.”

That has me frowning too, genuinely confused now, and when I look at Kesla and Tulen I realise they’re listening closely too.  Tulen seems as thrown as I am, but Kesla’s expression is a whole lot more complex, like she’s already working things out.  “I … I don’t get it, then what are you –”

“Mama!  Mama, you’re back!”  The aforementioned child emerges through the doorway in a great explosion of effervescent energy and pounds directly to Darwyn at a full run, jumping on her even as the halfling’s still readying herself.  She just manages to steady herself and open her arms as she’s enveloped, and it’s a strange sight to witness, really.  And fucking sobering for me …

Five years … that’d make her a little over four years old, cuz when I left Dar weren’t showing yet.  Oh gods … I wish she’d just told me.  My head’s spinning like crazy now, and I couldn’t speak if I tried.

She’s already tall as her mother, but then bakaneko grow up fast, by the time I was eight I’d already reached my full height and was well on the way to physical maturity, I’d finished growing entirely by my tenth birthday.  After that it was largely just having to finish growing up in my head, and gods know that took a lot longer.  So when she hugs her mother with such enthusiasm Darwyn really has to brace herself so she ain’t just knocked down, and they wobble about for a moment cuz our little girl clearly has so much energy.

Of course.  I thought those little handprints looked a bit odd, I realise it’s cuz there were only four chubby little fingerprints to each.  More like extra-dextrous feline pawprints than tiny dwarf hands.  Maybe that should’ve been my first warning.

I’m already dropping to my knees, I can’t help it.  I wanna be at the right height when I meet my daughter.

“You said you weren’t gonna be back tonight!  You’re early!  Are you okay?”

“Well enough, luv, I promise.”  Darwyn places both hands on either one of her cheeks as they break their hug, giving her child the fondest look I ever seen from her, she never looked at me so sweet when we were together, it’s a little jarring.  “It’s just … something came up, and then … well, I had a reason to come back.  Um … Vanna, look … I have to … I want to … um …”  She’s faltering now, her gaze flickering to me as her words fail her, and she almost looks confused now, she don’t know what to do now the moment’s come.

Vanna turns now, sensing her mother’s disquiet and following her gaze, and she looks right at me now, so I get my first proper look at my daughter and … Freya, she’s beautiful.

In the end she looks more like me than her ma, so much cat is showing through, from her thick patches of fine, fluffy soft silvery grey fur striped with black, to her big, broad dark ears, proper standing to attention right now.  She even has a slight muzzle to her face, as well as big oversized paws she’ll take at least another five years to really grow into if my own childhood is an indicator.  She even has a tail, just as long and unruly as mine the way it just whips about with a clear mind of its own.  Most striking, though, are her eyes, big and bright green like my own, although there’s more whites to ‘em, and her pupils are rounder.

But there’s still a lot o’ her mother in the mix too.  There’s still enough of a halfling in her face she obviously ain’t pure bakaneko, with true, soft lips and bare patches of skin which the fur almost seems to line rather than cover.  So while she has the same dark, rough pad on the tip o’ her nose, she also has sideburns but otherwise her features are bare, and there’s a broad line of clean skin from her chin leading down under her collar.  Most of all, though, instead o’ just thicker, shaggier patches of unkempt fur forming a rough mane like I got, she has a full head of actual auburn locks, cut in a jaw-length bob that’s a good deal more unruly than her ma’s.  In the end it’s a very striking appearance indeed, and while it’s deeply unusual I know when she grows up my little girl’s gonna break some hearts.

She’s dressed in a simple Untermer style orange linen smock and a small pair of loose, baggy wool britches, her pawed feet bare on the scattered, haphazard open-weave wool rugs.  As she catches sight o’ me she becomes very still, her eyes widening a little more, and they were already big to begin with, so it’s a very intense regard.  Her smile fades, but it’s replaced by a cautious curiosity.  “Oh … hello.  Hi.  I’m Vanna.”

For a long moment I’m lost, trying to find something to reply with, my throat feels so thick right now I ain’t sure I could get any words out right now.  Finally I just clear it and manage to slip out with:  “Hello there … Vanna, I’m Art.  Art of Shadows.  It’s so wonderful to meet you.”

After a long, pregnant beat she takes a step towards me, and her smile starts to return, but very tentatively.  “Are you from the Guild?  You dress like one o’ the folk mama works with.  Like Uncle Cobb.  You’re a …”  She starts to frown, turning back to her mother.  “Um … mama, he’s … he’s like me.  He’s a … y’know, what you called it, a bakaneko?”

Darwyn’s lip’s wobbling, and I see now how wet her eyes are.  She reaches up, but don’t quite cover her mouth, stopping just short as she tries to find the words.  “Yeah … he is.  Um … Vanna, sweetheart … this is … this is your father.  Art.  He’s your da.”

Vanna turns back to me now, and her frown deepens as she looks me over, her eyes sharper, more questing as they search my face.  Then she takes a few more hesitant steps towards me, pauses, still seeming unsure, before finally taking those last two steps and reaching up.  I start to reach out too but she shies a little, and I stop dead, trying not to wince as I do it but I ain’t quite sure I succeed.  My heart’s in my mouth now, I don’t wanna spook her, I need this connection so badly.  So I just keep very still, my own hands still up, and just wait for her to make the first move.

After another painful long moment’s pause, she starts to reach out again, and very slowly pressed her paws to mine, and I just let my fingers slowly open so she can do the same.  She looks from one to the other over and over again, just comparing her paws to mine, and her eyes are widening again, her frown evaporating.  Ever so slowly her tongue starts to poke out, a very feline thing I know I do myself on occasion without meaning to, and after a long beat her eyes turn back up to look at my face.  Into my eyes and she starts to smile again.  Tentative still, but it’s warmer than before.

“Hi.”  she finally says, and I realise now that she’s purring, noticing in the same moment that her pupils are starting to dilate now.

My throat just gets thicker, and I can feel my eyes getting hot, tears threatening to come now, so I barely manage to choke out a response.  “Hi.  Hi there.  Hello.  Oh my … hello Vanna.  I’m … I’m sorry I been gone so long –”

She springs on me as quick and sudden as she did her mother, just jumping between my arms and wrapping her own round my neck as she starts to crush me the best she can, and while I freeze for a charged moment I start to melt almost immediately after.  I wrap her up in my own arms and crush her tight as I dare, nowhere near sure yet how strong she actually is even as I feel her hugging me with all her might.

I’m weeping now, I can’t help it, but when I look up at Darwyn I see that she’s doing the same, hands fully over her mouth now, but I can still see that her eyes are smiling too, even though they look so sad too.  I’m starting to think maybe she doesn’t regret this final decision to tell me after all.

When I look at my friends I see Tulen’s smiling, but with her lip wobbling badly, and she has tears streaming down her cheeks too as she hugs her arms tight across her chest, mostly just as a self-protective gesture now.  ‘Least Kesla’s got enough control of herself not to cry too, but she’s smiling all the same, stepping up to the dragonhalf’s side so she can wrap her arm round her shoulders and give her a good, firm squeeze.

I just tighten my own hug a little more, still careful but willing to bet my daughter’s probably a little tougher than she looks, and tilt my head to rest against hers.  I close my eyes and let myself go, just enjoying the moment now.  A chance for a little relief in the midst of all this worrying chaos, now I got a little hope to hold onto …

TO BE CONTINUED ...

[heliinx]

Despite herself, Heliinx couldn't help but be intrigued by the Skryre machines. Just a baseline curiousity any beast would have about something it had never seen before, even if the she-rat kept it mostly contained and hid the rest under a moue of distaste.

The noise of the capsules causes her to instinctively step away. Whatever a tinker-rat might crow about himself, there was one thing the denizens of the under-empire knew for sure and that was that Skryre technology had a bad habit of exploding randomly.

The she-rat dabbled in machinery herself...by which she meant she bullied Tikrik into helping her with a project or two in the past and maybe picked up some basic tricks of the trade for herself. But the beings before her were not the work of some novice, clearly. They Killer-Cullers were, altogether, much more intimidating than even a Mutated Rat Ogre. Heliinx found herself wondering what a Lizardman based subject would look like....

She had thought she was recieved literal blades, but actual beasts were more than welcome. A grin split her face. Suddenly she didn't quite miss those warptokens.

"Pleasure-pleasure doing business with your master, robot-thing."

She had date with a certain Warpstone Mine located in the Badlands.

“Transaction complete, activating Culler-Units C-1, C-2, and C-3. Please take the supplied Control Cog. As they are prototypes, due make note of things they need improvement in and send to Gizwat representatives.” The thing crackled, taking the warp tokens into its claw and then depositing them into a port on its chassis.

Meanwhile, the three drill capsules would hiss as they opened, steam flowing out as their glass casings would slide apart. A silence would fall across the area, until it was pierced by what sounded like gears turning and engines revving. Then, three hideous abominations would slowly exit from the capsules, these stiffly moving Skryre creations unfolding their long limbs with a slowly growing smooth grace.

Once they came into full view, their metal claws digging into the earth as they shambled from their containers, it became abundantly clear that these were the butchered corpses of starved rat ogres, limbs, organs, and other assorted body parts being replaced with metal and wires, humming engines shuddering on their wiry backs.

Speaking of their limbs, they were Blader weapons that seemed able to rend flesh and bone quite easily, but capable of more delicate manipulation of tools and objects that would be normally impossible for creatures of their size.

Their faces each were covered in clobbered together masks, blotted into the flesh in order to secure a mass of wires and mechanisms shoved into the craniums of each beast. Their artificial eyes held an uncanny resemblance to Xeenq’s own as they stared at Heliinx, their moments now resembling stealthy predators more so than shoddy machines, padding ever closer to inspect their new operator.

Xeenq’s small drone would approach Hellinx with a device, multiple buttons on it labeled with simple phrases along with Xeenq’s icon.

“Do enjoy your new assets, the Lord-Master will be interested in any suggestions or complaints you have.”