Sleeping Gods Quest #50

The Ascetic is dead, you tell the Mentor quietly, you killed him. The body was burned, and the dust scattered to the winds. He was a sorcerer after all – perhaps the last disciple of the forbidden arts. Not, you remark after a moment's thought, that it helped him much in the end.

“There's a lesson there, Ira,” the old man tells you, “Power has a way of seducing a man, of making him vulnerable. All too often, sorcerers only met their end because of their own hubris – when a man grows to rely on such powers, they seal their own fate. When you need them most, such tainted gifts will always abandon you... or they will be chased away. Regardless, it was the only way. I regret that I have to say this, but...”

But he had to die, you finish, and perhaps he's not the only one. The Seer remains, hiding away within distant Pharos. You'll be going there soon – perhaps not as soon as you would have liked, considering Takino's ambitions – to deal with him. In that regard, you had two questions for the Mentor – is the Seer really worth this effort? Chasing him to a distant corner of a dead land, when Tenngaru remains delicate and vulnerable... it seems like a luxury, somehow. Yet, you know that the longer he is allowed to lurk there, the greater the chances of some new catastrophe arising at his hand.

“Pharos... yes, he would return there,” the Mentor thinks to himself, “Safe from all but the sparsest few. It would be the perfect place to lie in wait, to prepare a new plan. Ira, in this matter, I cannot give you an order – you must be the one to decide his fate. Yet, I can offer counsel, as I have always done. As long as the Seer lives, he represents a danger. Not the brash violence of war and bloodshed – as the military and the Ascetic both champion – but the creeping corruption of his rhetoric. His plans spread like poison.”

[1/2]

And what of Pharos itself, you ask, what should you expect from that great tomb?

“Emptiness,” the Mentor replies simply, “It is a hollow thing, home only to dust and ghosts. If you can brave the land itself, Pharos will offer no resistance. With the Seer now in residence, however, I can guarantee nothing. He may lay traps to slow you down, or he could have enslaved whatever beasts he might have found. I can tell you nothing, save that you should be prepared. Perhaps he has no defences at all, and he merely waits for death.”

Is that likely?

“I doubt it,” he sighs, “I fear a powerful spite lives on within him. He would not simply allow himself to die. Not the man I once knew – he would cling onto his vision of the future, no matter what.”

And what about him, you ask the Mentor, what's his vision of the future?

“This land lingers close to the edge of disaster,” the old man decides, “Perhaps it always has – and always will. Yet, it is further from catastrophe than I remember it. Bonds of harmony are being formed that have not been seen in many years. It took the threat of open war to do it, but I think peace is within our reach. Provided, I should add, that there are no... sudden changes.”

Such as those Takino and the Seer might force upon the land.

“Exactly so,” the Mentor nods sadly, “There will always be those who seek more power, even at the risk of losing what they already have.”

That sounds like Takino, alright.

“But the hour grows late,” the Mentor very deliberately fixes you with a measured stare, “And I believe you have a day of travel ahead of you. Garuna, was it not?”

>Do have any duties for me there?
>Under Garuna, maybe
>You're right, I should get some rest
>I wanted to ask you something... (Write in)
>Other

>Under Garuna, maybe
>You're right, I should get some rest

>>Under Garuna, maybe
>>You're right, I should get some rest

>Do have any duties for me there?
>Under Garuna, maybe
>You're right, I should get some rest

>>Under Garuna, maybe
>>You're right, I should get some rest
>>Other
Tell him about Veragi and the possibility of sending apprentices up there for martial training and experience working with a god. We really should get some kind of presence on Dumas like we planned.

Under Garuna maybe, you mutter, you can't see yourself taking in many of the sights that the surface has to offer.

“Excuse me?” the Mentor asks, a faint smile playing around his lips, “You must remember, Ira, that my ears are bad. It sounded like you were planning on setting foot on sacred – or cursed – ground. Such things are taboo, and could be very difficult if you were caught in the act. I must have misheard you, of course.”

Of course, you reply with a faint smile of your own, but if someone was to delve into those forbidden catacombs...

“Then I would be most interested in learning what they found down there,” your teacher chuckles, “Some things remain secret, even to me.”

So, you ask as you gracefully change the subject, does he have any duties for you to keep in mind? Something to keep you busy, perhaps, since you won't be occupied doing anything else, anything... forbidden.

“I ask only that you carry yourself with the dignity and restraint that your position demands,” the Mentor tells you smoothly, “But, if you happen to run into Selene's high priestess, I would merely ask that you assure her of our own bonds of cooperation in the days ahead. I see no harm in strengthening our ties with the temple city.”

No harm at all, you agree. As you're turning to leave, you recall Dumas, and distant Veragi. Turning back to the Mentor, you speak up once more. Far to the north, you begin, in waters considered empty and uncharted you found an island. Upon that rock, you spoke with a god, one born from the legends of the hero Veragi. She's... an interesting sort, and she might be able to help with teaching the apprentices a thing or two about fighting. Of course, it's not an easy place to get to. From a waystation on Dumas, though...

[1/2]

“Such a thing would be possible,” the Mentor agrees, “Dumas... I'm ashamed to say that my efforts there have been lacking of late. I had hoped to create a sanctuary there, a safe retreat should the threat of war become real. Although I was able to move a large number of tomes up there – copies, of course, that Howa had helped to create – I was unable to devote anything more than a token effort. Now that the situation is growing calm, I can focus more of my time on this. You have maps, I presume, and charts for this island?”

You can get them, you reply, you know someone with quite a good collection of maps and ancient history. A grumpy sort, perhaps, but not a bad guy once you get to know him...

“I'm sure,” the Mentor chuckles, “Now go and get some rest, Ira.”

Right, you agree, you've got a long day ahead of you.

-

Although Koa, Aya and the others gather to see you off, it is Howa – predictably – that clings onto you the longest. At first, you take her indirect protests as a joke, but then you see a dark and serious light in her eyes. Uncertainty, fearful worry and... something else, something you can't quite read. When she finally lets go of your arm, that look is seared into your mind.

“Come back,” she orders, before turning and very deliberately lurching away from you. Fleeing, almost.

“Girl troubles, chief?” Aya asks, once Howa has limped out of both sight and earshot.

>Nothing I want to read in your gossip columns when I get back
>Keep an eye on her, will you?
>Just keep yourself safe, Aya.
>Other

>Nothing I want to read in your gossip columns when I get back
>Keep an eye on her, will you?
>Stay safe,

>Uncertainty, fearful worry and... something else, something you can't quite read.
She missed her period didn't she?

This, and probably

>Nothing I want to read in your gossip columns when I get back
>Keep an eye on her, will you?
>Keep yourself safe, Aya.

Welp. Even though it was always the plan, now we have to doubly make sure we come back from whatever is thrown at us during this last outing.

Nothing you want to read in her gossip column when you get back, you tell Aya in a voice as cold as a winter's night, get it?

“C'mon chief, what kind of hack writer do you take me for?” Aya winks, “I very specifically don't write that kind of baseless speculation. Well... not about people that have dragged me out of a burning building, at least. I suppose, since you're asking me nicely, I can extend that kind of courtesy to your lady friend as well. See how decent I am, chief?”

Fine, you sigh, decent enough. Just keep an eye on her, you ask Aya, can she handle that?

“I get danger money for that, right?” laughing to herself, Aya adopts an expression of mock fear, “Last time we swapped more than two words, I thought she was gonna rip my head off! But... man, fine, you've got yourself a deal. I'll make sure she doesn't, I don't know, drown herself in wine or anything.”

That's all you can really ask for, you sigh again. But she should keep herself safe as well, you remind Aya, the land is still far from safe.

“C'mon Ira, I've got my dad here, I don't need you giving me lectures on staying safe as well. Frankly, I'm lucky I managed to shake him off and come meet you!” this time, Aya's laugh is a little more hesitant, “Really, I'm not going to be the one putting myself in any danger. You watch yourself, okay? Ah, go on – you're going to miss your carriage!”

True enough, you realise, the convoy is about ready to depart. Waving goodbye to the Nameless Temple once again, you hurry off and take your place in the group. It's only a short ride to Garuna – you won't have to ride for long.

-

When the short journey is over and done with, you disembark and join the group of soldiers that lingers nearby. Waiting for their orders, they have nothing to do but gaze in wonder at the great white needle of Selene's temple and trade threatening looks with the local Garuna militia – a rather less organised group of armed men.

[1/2]

Leaving the soldiers to their posturing, you spot Miura – not at the Emperor's side for once – and move over to speak with her. She looks better, happier to be in the city of her birth, but there is an undeniable air of nervousness about her.

It was an old tradition, Ra mentioned, for a man to bring his bride – potential bride - to her birthplace before proposing. No doubt Miura is just as aware of that tradition. She knows what awaits her here, and even if it isn't such a terrible fate, it's still a great change. Still, feigning ignorance and acting every inch the good bodyguard, you bow your head and greet her.

“Sir Ira,” she replies, the soft curtain of her dark hair dipping as she tilts her head in response, “I'm glad to see that you've followed us this far. Will you be joining us when we travel to the temple?”

Well...

“Perhaps not,” Ishida says, appearing with the light step of a born assassin, “I believe the good Wanderer had some business in the city. There wouldn't be any point, anyway – the high priestess wished for her meeting to be a private one, just the three of you. Even I've been dismissed.”

“I...see,” Miura coughs lightly, glancing down at the ground in front of you, “I... hope they will get along.” Then she says nothing more, an awkward silence falling over you all.

>Good luck, Miura
>Last minute nerves?
>There's been a change of plans. I'll come with you regardless
>Other

>Last minute nerves?
>Other
"I can talk for a minute if you want. No formalities. Just a couple of friends."

>Last minute nerves?
>Good luck, Miura

This. If there is anything she wants to get off her chest or vent/swear like a sailor, Ira would be the one to do it to.

This, yeah. Give her a chance to say what she wants to say.

So, you ask the young priestess, last minute nerves?

“Nerves? What would I be nervous about?” she asks, a shaky smile upon her lips, “I'm sorry, I'm afraid these past few days have been very draining. I'm not quite back to my full strength yet.” Then, as she forces a smile as brittle and delicate as glass, Miura lets out a tiny laugh. “I suppose I should be used to it by now,” she offers, “People fighting, trying to hurt each other... trying to hurt me. I've got plenty of experience in that regard, wouldn't you say?”

Well, you admit, she does have a point there. Still, if there's anything she'd like to talk to you about – even if she just needs to vent or think about other things for a moment – you've got time. Even if you didn't, you could make the time.

“I... thank you, Sir Ira,” Miura bows again, “If it's no trouble, I would talk with you for a moment. Nothing specific, you understand, but I would simply like to speak with you. To... relax. Would you follow me?”

Leading the way, Miura slips through the streets of Garuna. With Ishida at your side, you follow her into the shade of a small grassy corner, a great tree offering a pool of shadow to hide within. Standing ramrod straight, Miura looks up at Selene's temple and sighs a little. Despite what she said, she's yet to speak up at all.

[1/2]

“My mother used to tell me a story,” she begins suddenly, her voice soft and uncertain, “When I was a child, I should say. Of course, it was just something to scare me, to keep me from straying too far out of line. Still, it's a story that has stuck with me ever since. Long ago, there was a priestess of Selene who was, in her heart, terribly wicked. She had evil thoughts, and a terrible hunger for power – it was so great that when she looked up at the moon, she wished only to take Selene's power for herself.”

As you listen to Miura's story, you find yourself frowning. This sounds like something more than a simple fable.

“Of course, she was unsuccessful,” Miura tilts her head to the side slightly, “In Selene's light, all falsehood is banished. When the truth of her wicked thoughts was revealed, the priestess was cast down, deep into the bowels of the land, never to see the sun or the moon again. That was the end, as I remember it.”

That's... some story to tell a young child.

“I liked it, actually,” the young priestess sighs, a strangely nostalgic smile touching her lips, “Not the story itself, but the telling of it. She would read it to be when I was in bed. It was one of the only times she could be my... my mother, and not another priestess.” Shaking her head, Miura looks back to the temple. “Thank you, Sir Ira,” she adds, “I feel a lot better now. I'm ready to head to the temple. I'll let you get back to your business as well.”

As Ishida moves to lead Miura away, she locks eyes with you and carefully nods back to the city gates. Mouthing the word “wait”, she turns her back on you.

It'll take her some time to drop of Miura and slip out. You've got a little bit of time to yourself

>Search out Veragi's shrine
>Follow them to Selene's temple
>Wait outside the city gates
>Other

>Search out Veragi's shrine
If we have some time, sure.

>Search out Veragi's shrine

>Search out Veragi's shrine

>>Search out Veragi's shrine
Might be fun to compare it with the island.

You shrug to yourself as you watch the pair of priestesses depart. They don't need you hanging over them constantly, guarding them against a threat that is, in all likelihood, never going to appear. While you've got some time to yourself, you might be able to satisfy some of your curiosity. It would be interesting, you decide, to see if you can track down Veragi's shrine and compare it to your experience with the real god. Maybe you could even find one of the three worshippers and get their take on things.

Of course, that provides a new challenge – finding a single shrine to an almost unknown deity, in a city where every street corner has some kind of devotional altar. Without any clear idea of where you might start, all you can do is roam the streets at random and see what you can find.

It's not like you've got a history of getting lost in the city or anything.

-

Cursing softly to yourself, you stop at what might actually be the right spot. As you expected, the shrine was hardly easy to find, and nobody you asked about it had any idea what you were talking about. Still, this might be a promising spot. A rickety wooden hut – like something used to store gardening equipment, say – with a simple, wordless sign above it. Painted on that sign, in pitch black paint, is a curved dagger.

With nobody about to stop you, you push open the flimsy door and peer inside. Rather than a statue – you doubt this shrine ever had the funds to afford a proper idol – there is a faded painting leaning up against the far wall. It's a surprisingly good likeness of Maia, actually, depicting a young man of particularly feminine aspect.

[1/2]

You wait around for a while, to see if anyone is going to show up, but nobody comes to visit the lonesome shrine. At a loss for what to do now, you settle for saying a few prayers. You thank Veragi for their dagger, and for the mystical gift they gave you. With their blade, you tell the painting, you struck down a great evil. Gods willing, you'll live long enough to do it again – as many times as you need.

With no expectations, you're not disappointed when nothing answers your prayers. Maia has already given you enough, it would be gross arrogance to demand more from them. Offering one last bow to the shrine, you turn and head back to the city gates.

-

It's easy, at least, to find your way back to the city entrance. When you arrive, you can't find Ishida anywhere – she finds you. Emerging from the crowd, a dark cloak shrouding her form, she glances your way and then strides off out of the city. Sighing at her caution – bordering on paranoia, even – you follow her out into the wilderness. In the shadows of the city, she leads you around the perimeter wall to a low ditch. Splashing through the shallow water, she lowers her hood and glares at the tunnel entrance. It's very dark in there, and very bleak looking.

“Oh, I hate this,” she mutters to herself. Finally looking around to greet you, she allows a weak smile to touch her lips. “Good to see you, Furyo,” she greets you, “I sure hope you brought a lantern with you.”

>Never go anywhere without one. Shall we get started?
>You're staying here, Ishida. I can't risk bringing a liability
>That story Miura told us. You think there's any truth to it?
>Other

>Never go anywhere without one. Shall we get started?
>That story Miura told us. You think there's any truth to it?

>Never go anywhere without one. Shall we get started?
>That story Miura told us. You think there's any truth to it?
While we are walking in the cave, so she can keep her mind off the tunnels.

>Never go anywhere without one. Shall we get started?
>That story Miura told us. You think there's any truth to it?

This. Keep calm and keep safe.

Never go anywhere without one, you assure Ishida as you take the little metal device out and fix it to your belt, so how about getting started?

“Sure,” the priestess grunts, slipping her pack from one shoulder and taking out a lantern of her own – a considerably larger, brighter burning model. As she gets it burning, her hand strays to the polished sword strapped to her hip. A delicate looking thing, it has a sheen like a mirror. More of a ceremonial object, you suspect, than a real weapon. Still, decorative weapon or not, you wouldn't care to taste its bite. “You've got that map, don't you?” Ishida asks, more for the sake of saying something than out of any genuine curiosity.

You've got it, you assure her, right here. Slipping it from your pocket, you shake it open and glare at the vile warren of tunnels. What a mess, you think despairingly. Folding it back up again, you take the first step into those dank tunnels, scowling as the cold water begins to lap up against your boots. Now, you realise bitterly, is a bad time to realise that they've got a hole in them.

“Sooner we get this done, Furyo,” Ishida reminds you, “The sooner we can be out of here. Focus on that, not... not anything else.”

Silence – save for the confusing, overlapping echoes that every footstep seems to cause – falls over the pair of you as you delve into the catacombs. Compared with the devotional tunnels in the Dragon's Head, these tunnels are narrower, with a lower ceiling. As you stop at the first junction to check your map, a distant noise breaks the silence. That noise... it's difficult to put a name to it, a single specific name at least.

A splash, a soft wail and the sound of something dragging across stone – it has aspects of all those things. In the aftermath of that sound there is another, that of Ishida slowly drawing her blade free from its sheath.

[1/2]

That story Miura told, you say in order to distract her, could there be any truth to it?

“Hard to say,” Ishida's voice is tight, hard, but she manages to keep it steady regardless, “There's a lot we don't know about these tunnels. About our own history, even. Maybe it's based off some ancient attempt at overthrowing whoever was high priestess at the time. Stories warp as they get passed down the generations. What we know now might be nothing like the sort of things our ancestors knew.”

Veragi's faces – both male and female – flash across your mind, then, and you hear yourself murmuring an agreement. Still, you can't help but consider a darker possibility – a priestess who sought to steal Selene's own power? That could easily be a sorcerer. That taint might have reached even here. You start to suggest this when that distant cry sounds again. This time, it's much closer.

“Damn it...” Ishida mutters as you draw Veragi's dagger and flatten your body against the wet stone wall. Both of you steel yourselves, taking in deep lungfuls of the stagnant air, and then you turn the corner into a wider tunnel, more hallway than corridor.

Standing there, knee-deep in the dark waters, is a girl – a near duplicate of Miura, save for her faded pallor. Lank, stringy hair covers her face, and her posture is a defeated slump. As you watch her from a distance, she wails once more – a cry of despair and frustration. Then, turning awkwardly, she begins to wade up the tunnel.

>Follow her
>Strike out at her with your dagger
>Avoid her, take an alternative route
>Other

>Follow her
Spooky. We should get to the bottom of this.

>Follow her
Selene fucking with us or something far more sinister? Lets find out.

>Follow her

>>Follow her
Ghosts now?

Pressing a finger to your lips, you urge Ishida to remain silent and follow in your footsteps. She nods, clearly not needing any encouragement to hold her tongue, and tightens her grip on that silver sword of hers. Never straying too far apart, and both casting suspicious looks at every pool of shadow that you pass, you and Ishida slosh through the ancient, filmy water as you follow the ethereal girl.

You've seen something like her before, you realise, a long time ago. It was in the darkest corner of the Nameless Temple's archive, and it had guided you to a book on the bloody history of human sacrifice. Perhaps this shade might also guide you where you need to go.

As you follow her, you sink so deep into thought – rather, a cold and careful trance against fear and distraction – that you nearly fall into the water when something snaps beneath your boot. Ishida catches you, and just barely avoids being dragged down with you. With the distance between you and your spectral guide widening, you reach down into the dark water and find what caught your foot. A long, rotten bone – so softened by the long years spent underwater that it nearly falls apart in your grip.

Bones. The shade of a young priestess. You can put two and two together.

Letting the fragments of bones slip from your grip, you put new haste in your step and close some of the distance between you and the sacrificed girl. As you walk faster, she seems to grow slower and slower, until finally she stops in place. Then, with a hollow sobbing sound, she fades out of sight entirely. Looking down at where she vanished, you spot the pale edge of a skull, more bones clustered nearby.

Looks like this is as far as she's going to lead you.

[1/2]

“We're not far now,” Ishida offers, once the deathly pallor – almost an imitation of the spectre that you followed – has left her cheeks, “A few more turns and it's a straight run to our goal. What... might be our goal.”

You note the moment of uncertainty in her words but decide against saying anything.

“No...” she says to herself a moment later as you're walking, “That noise we heard – it was something moving, something dragging. That... that poor girl, she couldn't have made that noise. She cried out, but did you ever hear her make any other noises?”

No, you realise, she didn't even leave ripples in the water as she moved through it. There's something else down here, something with a corporeal body. As if your thoughts had summoned it, you hear the scrape of some hard material – bone, you're almost certain – grating against stone. You hate that sound, you realise suddenly, every second that it haunts your ears is intolerable. Murmur's song was, in it's own way, terrible, but this is so much more... immediate. If Murmur's song had been a creeping menacing that slowly grinds the mind down, then this... grating noise is a wave that washes away all sense and rationality.

Which is, you mutter aloud, something you've felt before. Somewhere ahead – and not very far ahead, you don't doubt – some false life festers.

And why not? Where better to feed on corruption and decay than a place like this?

“Furyo?” Ishida asks, stepping closer, “Something wrong?”

>It's nothing. Stick close and prepare to fight
>Stay here. I've got something I need to take care of
>Get out of here, Ishida. Don't look back – just run
>Other

>Stay here. I've got something I need to take care of
This is a great note to end on as i travel to the land of firewall

>Stay here. I've got something I need to take care of
"If I don't make it back, get out as fast as possible."

>>Stay here. I've got something I need to take care of
Alternatively she can make it to Selene if the way is clear.

>>Stay here. I've got something I need to take care of
It'll be easier fighting alone.

Stay here, you tell Ishida, you've got something to take care of up ahead. It'll be easier without needing to keep an eye on her while you're at it.

After all, you've only got the one eye.

For a moment, you expect Ishida to protest, but then she gives you a firm nod. “I'm trusting you with this, Furyo,” she tells you, “So you'd better not let me down and get yourself killed. I won't forgive you if you do, got it?”

Of course, you nod, you wouldn't forgive yourself either. If you don't make it back, though, she needs to run – just focus on seeing the sun again. You tell her this with the ghost of a smile playing across your face, but Ishida's eyes, when they meet yours, are as hard as steel.

“I don't like the idea of running and leaving you to rot down here,” she replies, “If you die, I'm going to drag as many soldiers as I can down here and give you a decent damn burial. We owe you that much, at least. But... I won't need to do that, will I? Because you're going to march back out here after a few moments, and you're going to tell me that everything is clear... right?”

Of course, you repeat, just like that.

“Then stop wasting time here,” waving a frustrated hand at you to chase you away, Ishida just barely covers up a nervous look – the idea of being alone out here hardly appeals to her, after all. Without wasting further words, you turn away form her and march off into the tunnels. According to both your map and your guess, that demonic sound seems to be coming from your likely destination.

Of course.

[1/2]

Turning one last corner, you step out into a wide chamber, the ceiling high and hewn from rough, dripping stone. You barely spare the ceiling a second glance, however, as your eyes are drawn to one very peculiar thing. Falling from a hole in the chamber's ceiling, a great pillar of water is held static, like a column of immobile water, like a waterfall frozen solid.

No, not solid – it's not ice, that pillar. The water held within it slowly twists and churns, but some force – the silver moonlight trapped within, perhaps – holds it within the shape of a single pillar. It's like nothing you've ever seen before, but it's still not enough to cool your rage, or to distract you from the source.

Lying at the base of that pillar of light and water, like a heap of pebbles that has collected over countless years, bones rise up in a great and shuddering pile. You see human skulls in there, mixed with the tiny bones of rats, mice and bats. Sitting atop that macabre throne, gazing with blind eyes towards the sky and the moonlight, a wasted, emaciated human figure stirs. Drawing in one lone breath – it drags the air in, like a thief grasping as many coins as they can, and then falteringly rises. The pile of bones rises up with the figure, flowing over it like a living mire and hiding the creature from view. Then, as formless as water, the pile of bones washes down towards you. Forming and unforming with each passing moment, arms grasp and claw at the air.

It's dead already, you think with a vicious anger, but it's not dead enough.

>Please roll 1D100, aiming to beat 70/80/90. I'll take the highest of the first three!
>Also, name the spell card you wish to use, if any

Rolled 44 (1d100)

Rolled 21 (1d100)

Spooky scary skellies.

Rolled 31 (1d100)

Probably Wrath, but let's see.

Shit rolls famalams. Yeah just use Wrath and get it started early.

Rolled 53 (1d100)

As you draw your sword, you spot an immediate problem. How do you kill something like this, a flowing stream of animated bone? A beast of flesh and blood, you can destroy – you can tear it apart, casting aside limbs and ripping out vitals. But this, this abomination that has no flesh and blood, no vital organs, how would you start?

It has limbs, at least, and that's where you'll start.

As the ragged pile of bones draws near, you cry out Titanos' name and lash out with your sword, swatting aside a bony claw that reaches up to you. The limb flies off with ease, tumbling over and over to clatter in some dark and unseen corner, but the creature barely notices. As you reverse your sword to stab down into the bulk of the thing, the tide rises up high above your legs and bites deep. Just as Rosaria had used her vile leech-children to paralyse you, so too has this undead monster used its own bulk to grapple you.

Fresh anger wells up inside you, every fibre of your being raging against the helplessness of your situation. As the lord of bone prepares to envelop you, you focus all that wrath into a cold, killing precision.

You're not going to die here. You refuse.

>Please roll 1D100, aiming to beat 70/80/90, and this will be at +10. I'll take the highest of the first three
>Also, name a spell card you wish your use, or any particular tactics to fight with
>I'll be rolling for this thing's attack, aiming to beat 60/70/80

Rolled 90 (1d100)

It missed so we can focus on offensive tactics for right now.

Rolled 67 (1d100)

Welp

Probably As the Mountains just to have it on.

Rolled 7 (1d100)

As the Mountains.

Rolled 93 (1d100)

As the creature grows unbalanced, much of its tainted mass flowing down into one hammer fist, you spy a flash of grey amidst the white bone. Grey flesh, belonging to that emaciated corpse shrouded within the creature. It vanishes quickly, once against lost beneath a layer that is both armour and weapon, but the sight of it remains, bright and clear, within your mind.

A vulnerability. A weakness.

Ponderous, moving like a mountain collapsing in slow motion, the hammer raises high above you and begins to drop. Before it hit, you cry out with desperate, ferocious power and sweep your sword through it, splitting the limb into two. As the single arm was thrown aside, so too is this great gathering of bone. As soon as it has been cut from the body, it dissolves into a shower of harmless shards, the clattering sound they make nearly loud enough to drown out your shouts. As you wound the beast, the bones gathered around your legs retract sharply, rushing up to bolster the failing form. Already, the thing looks thinner, frailer.

Just keep cutting it apart, you think, is that it?

Because you can handle that.

>Please roll 1D100, aiming to beat 70/80/90. This will be at +20, and I'll take the highest of the first three!
>Also, name whatever spell card you wish to use, if any.
>I'll be rolling an attack for this thing, aiming to beat 60/70/80 again

Rolled 51 + 20 (1d100 + 20)

>That enemy roll.
Might need to tele.

Rolled 96 (1d100)

Rolled 61 (1d100)

>116

Yeah... just Vespucci Step out of the way of the big hit and hit it really goddamn hard.

Rolled 85 (1d100)

As the beast flails – it should howl, you think absently, the silence it wears like a robe is not even close to natural – its remaining arm stretches out like a long and sinuous whip. As you grip the dagger tightly, you prepare to strike. Yet, you're too late to move out of the way – slashing through the air, the whip coils around your neck and starts to clench tighter.

Before it can become a noose, you call upon Maia's gift and vanish, slipping through the darkness to appear a short distance away. Barely a few paces, really, but that's all it takes. Empty and impotent, the noose that nearly snapped your neck falls, limp, to the ground. Before the mass of bone can reform into something that can strike at your new position, you lunge in with the divine weapon and rip into the thing.

Stabbing into what would be the stomach of a normal man, you tear the dagger up through the vaguely formed mass that could – with a little charity – be described as a torso. It's like tearing through a tunic, causing the cloth to fall away. Revealed, exposed, your eye falls upon the blackened, tainted flesh once more. Lifting the dagger high, holding it in the underhand grip of a brute assassin, you prepare to gut this new target.

Hands like iron lash out and close around your grip, trapping the dagger before it's deadly point can drive home. The emaciated body leers at you, foul breath escaping it in a cloud of graveyard mist. That long rattling exhalation, you realise, was a single word, this inhuman creature's sole desire.

“Survive.”

Not if you've got anything to do with it.

>Please roll 1D100, aiming to beat 70/80/90. This will be at +25, and I'll take the highest of the first three!
>Also, name whatever spell card you wish to use, if any.
>I'll be rolling an attack for this thing, aiming to beat 50/60/70 again

Rolled 93 + 25 (1d100 + 25)

Fuggg we are probably going to have to Porcelain

Rolled 85 (1d100)

Not if you have anything to say about it

Don't even need to roll, but what the hell.

But yeah Porcelain since we have no way to avoid the damage.

We only take half damage and hopefully the redirected damage on top of the another highest tier attack will kill this thing.

Depends if we can kill it before it hits us.

Rolled 74 + 25 (1d100 + 25)

Oops forgot to roll.

Frozen in place, you wrestle with the undead – or just barely alive – thing for control over your dagger. As the blade wavers back and forth, you have the misfortune of looking upon the thing's terrible, sepulture face. Barren, empty eye sockets loom high above the ragged hole where a nose should be. Broken stubs of teeth leer out from behind the tattered remains of lips. That such a thing should still be able to draw breath, to fight back with a strength that equals your own, enrages and disgusts you. Just being in contact with this defiled thing is too much to bear.

And that disgust makes you flinch, just a tiny bit. Just enough.

Tightening its grip with one last burst of terrible strength, the beast presses down on your hands. Pain grips you like an iron glove, and you start to feel the small bones in your hands grinding together, pushed to the brink of destruction. Almost by instinct, you call upon the Doll's blessing, and the skin around your hand hardens into porcelain armour.

Even so, something has to give. The armour breaks first, shattering apart and slicing those loathsome fingers away. Howling with pain, with rage and with defiance, you seize the moment and drive your dagger forwards, plunging it deep into the abomination's chest. If there is a withered heart within that body, your strike would surely pierce it.

>Taken 20 damage, reduced from 50.

Rasping out one dying breath, the ancient corpse falls back to the ground. When it hits the stone floor, the veil of bone shatters away. Gasping out a harsh breath of your own, one weighed down with pain and fatigue, you risk a look at your agonised hand.

It's bad, but not as bad as it could have been. The skin is broken, soaked with blood, and a few small pieces of splintered bone jut out at unnatural angles. The pain is nauseating, but you won't lose the hand.

Small blessings.

[1/2]

Go ahead and Gift of Soil the hand. Bring us back to full HP.

“Her name was Izalith,” an ethereal voice calls out to you, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. Such is the weight of fatigue pressing down on you that you don't bother to marvel at the unseen speaker – you merely accept it as a reality, and move on.

Who, you ask, that thing?

“Its mother,” the voice continues, “When I ordered the sorceress Izalith cast down into this abyss, I never expected her to survive. Yet, she never found a way to escape this maze. She died down here, and her last act was to create a monster out of her own flesh. It's been down here ever since – a bother, really. I'd been meaning to do something about it, but...”

A blinding white light, then, and a figure appears above you, floating on wings of moonlight.

“I find it so hard to focus here,” Selene, mistress of the moon, says regretfully, “In the present, I mean.”

“Ira?” Ishida calls out, her voice echoing around the tunnels and chambers of this bleak place “You said you wouldn't be long, damn it! If you lied to me, I'm going to-” When she storms into the domed chamber, however, she falls silent at the sight of Selene's radiant form.

It's okay, you tell her, everything is clear – just like you said it would be.

“I...” falling silent, Ishida plants the tip of her sword in the water and drops to one knee, averting her eyes from Selene's silver form.

“Few mortals come down to these catacombs,” Selene purrs, “And nobody reaches this far, reaching this place. So tell me... what brought you here, Ira?”

>You have a lens. I need it
>I want to know my future – the truth this time
>I had something I needed to ask you... (Write in)
>Other

>You have a lens. I need it
>I want to know my future – the truth this time
>I had something I needed to ask you... (What is you game with Sho, with Seer, with Tenn in general?

Not sure I like asking about Ira's future. Prophecies fuck things up.

>You have a lens. I need it
>I had something I needed to ask you... (Write in)
"You gave Sho and Seer their prophecies knowing full well what would happen didn't you? Was it intentional, driving them down their paths to reach this outcome? It's either that, or you ironically lack a lot of foresight."

"And going to Pharos. Did you lie to me about my death? It's dangerous for sure, but every future Selene? I don't buy it, specially since my path seems to be taking me there anyways."

"How could you and your brothers prevented Makai's death and why did you not do it."

>You have a lens. I need it
>I had something I needed to ask you... (Write in)
Pretty much
these.

As you watch, Selene gracefully drops from the sky to sit perched on the largest pile of bones. She regards you with eyes that are little more than dark slits, a cool intelligence dancing within them. The way she sits reminds you, in some terrible way, of a carrion bird, one that waits for a wounded beast to die so it can feed.

With as much casual, unforced ease as you can scrape together, you call upon Mandragora's healing magic and restore your damaged hand. Wincing slightly at the sensation of broken bones sliding back into place, you draw in a shuddering breath. She has a lens, you begin, one that she holds very sacred indeed. You want it.

“You seek dead Pharos,” Selene declares, in the note of an accusation, “Is it knowledge that you seek, or revenge against the man who hides there?”

Really, you ask coldly, does that matter?

“An interesting question, human,” the goddess laughs delicately, “Does intent change the deed? Two men walk the same path, one with a heart filled with peace and the other with war – do they arrive at the same destination?”

She's dodging the issue. Could it be that she really can't lie, instead relying on misdirection and distraction? Frowning hard, you press on with your next question. Her prophecy about the Emperor, the visions she sent to the Seer – they all led up to some goal, didn't they? She laid out her pieces, and sent them moving down their “paths”, all to this moment, this outcome... right?

Selene takes a long time to answer, considering your words carefully as she looks for any loopholes she might exploit. Then, sighing, she gives her first answer. “I did not send your... Seer any visions. What he say, he stole from me. Oh, he buried it under layers of ritual and ceremony, but it was an act of the vilest theft nonetheless. He wished for a vision of the future, and it was given to him... against my wishes.”

[1/?]

“And the Emperor, your wretched boy ruler... I gave that prophecy knowing full well what the consequences would be. It would destroy him... or it would make him a worthy leader. By my best reasoning, it was an even chance – the toss of a coin, in other words. Did I drive him to the brink of destruction? Yes, yes I did... but I also steered him towards salvation. Isn't that the same choice that all men face, when we cast aside all pretence?”

Then this fragile peace that is slowly taking shape...

“Was all part of my plan,” Selene nods, “Of course, there were... risks. With every choice made, every branch in the path, there were irregularities, possibilities that defied all logical chance. Yet, would you not say that the risk has paid off?”

Pharos, you growl, she tried to ward you away from the place. She threatened you with certain death if you dared find it – was that a lie?

“Yes, it was,” Selene shrugs slightly, “It was the lie that you needed to hear at that particular moment. Going to Pharos, at that specific point in time, would not have helped either you or the land. Now, however, I fear that your path will inevitably lead you there. These sorcerers... they are very difficult to predict. Deliberately so, I believe. So yes, I will tell no lies – I wished for you to stay away from Pharos, for my own selfish reasons.”

The truth about what happened to Makai, you shoot back, she didn't want you to learn that. Nodens was a lot more talkative – she could have prevented what happened to Makai, her and her brothers, but she chose not to. Why, and how?

This time, Selene's silence is a lot longer, drawn out and painful. Without telling a lie, the easiest way to avoid the issue is to remain silent. Say nothing, and nothing she says can be used against her.

[2/3]

you know, as I look at the trio, I am noticing a trend; Nodens has ties to the past. titanos is very much set in the present and Selene is set into the future. Though due to their natures, it has caused them a lot of trouble. Nodens could have used more foresight, Titanos some hindsight, and Selene needs to see her actions are nothing more than throwing dice and hoping for the best while acting haughty about it.

Pretty much yeah.

After a moment, Selene plunges her hand into that pile of bone and pulls a sliver of polished glass free, tossing it to you with an almost careless throw. “The lens,” she says simply, “Take it. It's yours now. Do what you like with it.”

As you take the lens and drop it into your pocket, you return your eye to her. That, you tell her coldly, doesn't answer your questions.

“It will,” Selene meets your gaze, her own inhuman eyes colder than those of any predator, “But let me say this – wise Nodens told you that we did nothing, that we could have stopped Makai's death and did nothing to prevent it. I tell you this, human – to prevent Makai's death, we should have done nothing. Think on that, if you will.” Finally breaking her gaze away from you, Selene looks like she's about to take flight once more.

“Wait!” Ishida cries, rising up and finally daring to look upon her god, “I... I need to know something!”

“Faithful warrior,” Selene croons, “Speak.”

“I...” the bodyguard – the spy, the priestess, the soldier – hesitates for a moment, “...Will she be happy?”

“Happy enough,” the goddess answers, her voice turning... strangely kind, “She will not regret the decisions she has made, or those that she will come to make.”

“That's all I need to know,” Ishida whispers, her voice reaching you despite it's hushed tone. With her question delivered, and the answer received, she sinks back down to one knee.

“Tell me, Wanderer,” Selene asks, “Do you loathe me? Despise me for the games I have played, the risks I put your kind through?”

>Your goals were noble, even if your methods were not
>I cannot forgive you for what you've done to us
>I don't hate you. I don't care about you
>Come on Ishida, we're leaving
>Other

>Other.
Noticing a trend Where noble intentions and goals are mired with unneeded sacrifice. Either by the hands of man, sorcerer, or god. This is just another one.

"A lot of people died cause you decided to flip a coin. Could have Sho's father been strong enough a ruler to prevent Seer's attack had you not destroyed that family? Or maybe would his rule be to the detriment to you gods and you got rid of him? I don't know and I think that's a good thing. As a man I make the best decisions I can with what I know and that has served me well thus far."

"I don't loathe you Selene. I am disappointed in you and maybe a little bit sorry for you. Having foresight as your nature seems like a hard thing to bear, it could be considered a curse. I know human and gods see things in different ways, but I'd hoped that after being around us for so long you wouldn't play with our lives for some greater good that may or may not happen."

>Why do you care?
>You threw the dice more times than I cared to count, you even admitted you could have doomed us all with what you did. Even though things turned out for the best, what would have happened if you were wrong? I don't hate you, but I think that for all your supposed intellect, grace and understanding coupled with your visions of the future, you are as much a fool as Sho is. At least he has the excuse of being young, untried, and forsaken by fate, what's yours?

just toss a damn coin and see for yourself. And pull a Raziel and Kain

>Other
"Sadly this is about what I expected when I came here. For someone who has such foresight you need to learn so damn perspective just like the 'wretched boy ruler' has been. He also played with people's lives like toys yet in maturing he is learning to responsible for his actions."

>"If you flip a coin enough times, one day it'll land on it's edge."

Love that story.

>And should the coin land on it's edge? What then?

You've noticed something, you tell Selene with a kind of weary frustration, a trend running throughout this path of hers. Whenever someone with a noble goal rises up, they become mired in senseless violence and needless sacrifice. Be they man, god or sorcerer, everyone who has walked down this path has had to step over countless corpses every step of the way. So many people have died, and it all came down to the toss of a coin – a toss that could have led the land to ruin if it had gone the wrong way. A toss that she decided to take, without consulting those who would have to live with the results.

Without her actions, Sho's father could have been a fine man, a strong and just leader... but maybe he would have opposed her, her and the rest of the gods. That wasn't something she was prepared to accept, so she eliminated the possibility. That's all it ever was, you snap, a possibility. She sees so many of them that they've blinded her to the real world. You can't know the things she knows, but that's never done you wrong. For all her glimpses into the future, can she really say that she's done right by the land?

No, you don't loathe her. You're disappointed in her, and you pity her... but you're not surprised by her. She sees into the future, but she does it with less perspective than the foolish boy she scorns. The difference between the two of them? Sho is learning, improving himself as he travels the land. What, you ask, is she doing?

Hiding here, rolling dice and pretending to guide mankind towards a better future?

Selene stares at you for a long moment, the barely human canvass of her features twisting into something that might be... bitterness and regret? Hate and fury? Maybe even acceptance, the slightest hint of a kindly smile.

Then, with a clap of thunder, she is gone.

Maybe, you think aloud, she should have seen that coming.

>I'll have to stop there for tonight. Next thread on Sunday, and I'll stick around to answer any questions.

Thanks for running Moloch.

Is Ishida sitting there with her mouth agape at us talking to her god like that?

What did she think of Selene.

That was some sick burn, how Titanos and Nodens are reacting at the talk down she just got, and how salty is she?

Ira "Tellin' it like it is" Furyo strikes again

If he even ascends to god hood, Ira will simply be the god of 'Getting Shit Done'.

AKA God of Wanderers

Ishida was pretty stunned, yes! I've got to say, I can't really blame her.
Her opinion of Selene was... conflicted. In one regard, she's glad that Selene had a higher purpose in mind. Ishida, overall, is the sort of person who is happy being a cog in a machine. On the other hand, she was very unnerved at how many risks Selene took.

I kinda imagine that Nodens and Titanos enjoyed it - the three don't always like each other! Selene herself... I wonder. Surely, she must have been aware of what Ira's response might have been. I like to imagine that she had accepted it, but hearing it in person was harsher than expected.

So would a rule with Sho's father be really bad or something?

I like to think of it like a child getting spanked after knowing she had it coming. She did a bad thing, she knows she is going to get punished, but the sudden act and tone took her by surprise more than the pain of it.

After all, Ira did do everything to get the good end while she just manipulated everyone. She has gained no praise or worship and it might even weaken her compared to the other two who have been strengthened by Ira.

>Maybe, you think aloud, she should have seen that coming.
Damn, that sort of thing needs a reaction image. I don't think I have anything remotely appropriate, so here's the closest thing.

Well she gained a hard lesson. Hopefully that amounts to something.