Chapter 128

Chapter 128

Gurth’Rok looked back at the reflection in the mirror, and he put his hand against the glass to try and wipe away the disfigured features he saw. The wooden mask to his left had been worn for many years now, a reminder of his failures. The scars he bore and the upper lip that’d been ripped off to give him his ever-present snarl still radiated remnant magics of a long forgotten curse that’d been resistant to his attempts at healing. It’d been a disfigurement he’d finally and grudgingly accepted.

Until now.

Dr. Brass stood behind him at the door leading into the hallway, the previously old man now showing signs of vigor and youth in abundance. His shriveled frame was now slim and athletic, his features turning pristine and refined. Graything, thinning hair had turned into a thicker, silky silver - and all the previous health problems ailing him had disappeared entirely.

Beside Dr. Brass, Allie Thane widely smiled - displaying her fangs excitedly when Gurth’Rok stood up. The large orc turned around, bowed to Allie, and straightened again with a clenched jaw. Two of his other orc elites were there to witness the transformation, and goblets of blood had already been drained from the elves again with bindings prepared.

“Are you ready?” Allie asked curiously, gesturing to the chains and shackles two of her skeletal minions held on either side of where she stood.

The orc chieftain glanced over to one of his childhood friends, now an elite guard of the Yellow Skull Tribe, and firmed his resolve when his friend gave him a reassuring nod. “I am. Bind me.”

The two skeletons stepped forward and started applying the shackles, and Allie’s smile only widened to unnatural proportions when she stepped forward past Dr. Brass and into Gurth’Rok’s personal space. She slid one hand up the orc’s neck, feeling his sinewy musculature retract on reflex to her cold touch, and then she motion for him to lay down. “It may hurt.”

“It’ll definitely hurt.” Dr. Brass affirmed. “But it’s worth it. You’ll feel… different, but in a very good way.”

Gurth’Rok took in a deep, wavering breath. This is what he needed to do in order to not only heal himself, but maintain a place of power in the new order. Becoming one of them would guarantee that he would not be thrown aside when the coven grew in power, and he knew it was only a matter of time. If one could not beat them, join then, and he’d seen little reason to do anything else but obey so far. Joining the Thane Necropolis had supplied his people with security, a new home, and new lands with plentiful animals to hunt - even if they were strangely afflicted with unholy magics or undeath. Even if the animals didn’t supply meat, his warriors were quickly gaining levels and were acquiring Elysium Coins to use at the altar in exchange for food that way - and their situation had change from one of starvation and exclusion to one of inclusion and plenty in mere days.

Joining the Thane Necropolis had been one of the best decisions of his life, and he had little doubt that it’d saved his people from obliteration. It was time to turn the page in the book detailing his life, and he was finally ready to move on to embrace change as the haunted failings of his past were finally being let go.

Gurth’Rok lay back on the floor, chains secured and neck exposed. He nodded, and felt his heartbeat pick up when Allie’s sinister figure took steps forward to loom overhead. “I am ready. Please begin.”

***

The world was changing.

*CRACK*

*BOOM*

And Riven was at the epicenter of at least one large piece of that change.

Riven’s eyes shifted upwards, not being startled at all like the others nearby - but instead being incredibly irritable now that the sudden burst of power ahead of him had been caused by nothing but a rather fancy notification. This one was etched in golden flames, far different from the teal-blue colored notifications he usually got, and he put down the dwarf corpse he was feeding on to evaluate the new set of information.

He squinted, red eyes flickering over the words while Athela started clawing her way over the dead to read it too.

Then his interest began to rise.

[World Quest 2, The Apocalypse Beasts: Chalgathi (Updated x1)

The death of this world approaches. Neckra, the Skeletal Devourer, churns in his sandy tomb amidst a sea of the unliving. Chalgathi, the Plague Dragon, awaits those that would free him from his skyward prison above the clouds. Chubin, the Glass Kraken, seeks an escape from the abyss beneath the ocean. The cults of the end times gather their strength and resources to try and find the lairs of their chosen apocalypse beasts. Should they succeed, your world is doomed.

As one of the 3 Apocalypse Beasts born for this cycle of ascension, Chalgathi is destined for carnage. It is a creature of nightmarish power, a beast born of hate and malice. 5 years after the beginning of this integration a wave of destruction will spread across all the world on wings of decay. Empires will fall, billions will die, and the very ground you tread upon will rot and wither - for the plague dragon has finally awakened.

However, there is an alternative to this fate: Stop the cultists from raising the plague dragon to his adult form, find Chalgathi’s incubation chamber, and destroy or claim his egg for yourself before the 5 year period is done. You, Riven Thane, are one of his chosen ones. You have acquired one of his artifacts: Chalgathi Cultist Amulet, and have started down the path of saving this doomed world. It falls on you to act.

There were 50 chosen ones to leave Chalgathi’s Trials, all of which have unholy bloodlines of great power. There are now 48 originals remaining, with 2 newly chosen having been assigned upon recent deaths. The chosen ones are divided into 2 categories: Cultists, and those who are not cultists, the significance of which will be revealed upon quest updates; and you are all competing against one another regardless of what category you fall into. Depending on which of the chosen reaches Chalgathi’s lair to successfully claim his egg, each outcome could have drastically different consequences with salvation or damnation of Panu. Each surviving chosen one came out of Chalgathi’s starter quest with 1 piece of a 5 piece set called the Chalgathi’s Inheritance Set. There are a total of 10 complete and identical sets, with set pieces being able to shift form slightly based on the build of their wearer. Chalgathi’s Inheritance includes the following: Chalgathi Cultist Amulet, Chalgathi Cultist Claws, Chalgathi Cultist Mask, Chalgathi Cultist Pauldrons, and Chalgathi Cultist Breastplate.

> You must find and collect one of each of these 5 items to complete the item set, at which point you will gain the locations and access to Chalgathi’s Altars. You will be required to visit all 4 altar sites and activate the shrines before acquiring knowledge of the location of Chalgahti’s Temple where Chalgathi’s incubation chamber has been hidden.

> You must kill or rob other chosen that have necessary pieces to create the full set. You may find them by utilizing a ‘Ping Chalgathi Artifacts’ ability provided to you that tracks others of Chalgathi’s chosen across the planet of Panu. ‘Ping Chalgathi Artifacts’ will do exactly as it says in the name, and gives you a generalized feel for direction for where you can find these other needed pieces.

> Acquiring more than 1 of the same type of artifact will result in banishment of extra same-type artifacts before administering them to a newly picked chosen one; or the system will readminister the duplicate artifacts to chosen ones who are still alive but lost their artifacts. Each time a chosen one dies their spot in the questline will be given to someone within the general populace and be given the skill ‘Ping Chalgathi Artifacts’. There will always be 50 chosen ones with Chalgathi’s subset of ‘The Apocalypse Beast’ quest line. If chosen ones die, they will be replaced with new chosen ones at Chalgathi’s discretion.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

>Only once all set pieces have been fully equipped to a chosen one will Chalgathi’s subquest of ‘The Apocalypse Beasts’ update to the next stage.

Summary:

>There will always be 50 chosen ones with the ability to ping Chalgathi’s artifacts, having replacements fill in for those who died along the way. Those who are not Chalgtahi’s chosen ones may not enter the temple.

> Acquire the amulet, claws, mask, pauldrons and breastplate by any means, but it is very likely you’ll have to kill the other chosen ones to do so.

>Once the item set is completed, you will have a quest update.

Number of chosen ones holding 5 artifacts: 0

Number of chosen ones holding 4 artifacts: 0

Number of chosen ones holding 3 artifacts: 1

Number of chosen ones holding 2 artifacts: 0

Number of chosen ones holding 1 artifacts: 47

Number of chosen ones holding 0 artifacts: 2]

[You have been gifted the unique ability: ‘Ping Chalgathi Artifacts’. This ability pings the locations of other Chalgathi Inheritance Set artifacts - only identifying pieces you do not already have after the very first utilization of this ability (the very first activation will set sights on all artifacts), and may be used at any time without any mana requirement. This ability only locates artifacts that you are missing from the set.]

He’d need to talk to Allie about this, and soon.

Riven’s eyes slowly drifted down to the medallion around his neck that’d been tucked into his shirt. Suddenly, he felt like a very real need to get this thing identified fast. Up until now he’d not been able to find an identifier, but now that he had identifiers at the trading communes at his altar it was very likely he’d be able to swing an easy deal.

That would have to be a very high priority for him, starting now.

He pulled up his status page moments later, noting the level up he’d acquired but also seeing the new ability he’d been gifted - and he started to apply points. He must not have noticed the notifications proclaiming his level ups while being so encompassed with feeding on the dwarf, but he’d certainly not scoff at another level.

[Riven Thane’s Status Page:

Level 45

Pillar Orientations:] Unholy Foundation, Blood Specialty, Infernal, Shadow

Core of Original Sin - Gluttony:] (Under Construction)(???)

Traits:] Race: Pureblooded Vampire (Extreme Darkness Regeneration)(Sunlight Decay)(Extreme Weakness to Silver weapons, Sun pillar, and Light pillar attacks), Class: Warlock Adept, Adrenaline Junky (Blood)(+15% to Agility), Accomplishment Title: Bloodthirsty 1 (+5% increased blood mana from corpses, +1% dmg for blood magic)

Abilities:] Blessing of the Crow (Unholy), Wretched Snare (Unholy), Silvertongue (Unholy), Bloody Razors (Blood), Crimson Ice (Blood), Blood Lance (Blood)(Tier 2), Blood Nova (Blood)(Tier 3), Hell’s Armor (Infernal), Riftwalk (Shadow), Ping Chalgathi Artifacts (Unique)

Stats:] 75 Strength, 173 Sturdiness, 420 Intelligence, 198 Agility, 10 Luck, -383 Charisma, 189 Vampiric Perception, 126 Willpower, 9 Faith

Free Stat Points: 7

Minions:] Athela, Level 37 Arshakai [36 Willpower Requirement]. Azmoth, Level 40 Hellscape Brutalisk (Infernal Crusader Initiate) [49 Willpower Requirement]. Fay, Level 27 Succubus [29 Willpower Required]

Equipped Items:] Basic Cloak (1 def), Vampire’s Escort (104 dmg, 102% mana regen, shadow and blood dmg +22%, Black Lightning, Scorpion’s Sting), Chalgathi Cultist Amulet (???), Leather Boots (1 def), Witch’s Ring of Grand Casting (+26 Intelligence), Breath of Valgeshia (48 def, +13 dmg & +9% mana output dmg for blood dmg, 6% mana regen), Satin Bag of Holding]

Normally Riven placed most of his free stat points into Intelligence, some into sturdiness, and some into Willpower. But now with Fay added to the list and Azmoth’s recent evolutions, he was cutting it close for Willpower requirements and didn’t want to hold his demons up if they ever needed more for new powerups. So he placed all 7 points into Willpower, bringing it from 126 to 133.

Then, activating his new ability - he found that he got approximate locations via direction and a vague feeling of distance from 46 other people. It was more of a sixth sense than anything else. One of these other ‘chosen ones’ was no doubt Allie, who was rather close, with the other closest figure only being a little over 80 miles away. All others were much, much further than that… Meaning that although this new turn of events was concerning - it wasn’t likely an immediate concern.

However, having other people track him based on his item was something he’d have to consider. Perhaps keeping it in a guarded location rather than wearing it himself would be wise, as that painted a target on his back.

But he’d make that decision after he actually knew what the fuck this stupid thing did. Perhaps leaving it on was a great boon, and he’d just not had the time or resources to figure it out until now.

***

Athela and Riven exchanged hushed words before activities resumed.

Mesha and Snagger watched in somber silence as Riven and Azmoth went back to gorging themselves on the bodies of the fallen dwarves - with both rat-kin giving each other questioning looks when the golden notification winked out. It’d been too far for either of them to read it, and they’d been tending their wounds while not wanting to intrude. They’d been patched up by Athela’s meager ability to stitch injuries with her threads, though they were still hurt. They just weren’t bleeding out anymore.

Athela on the other hand was going through the inventory of their defeated enemies, occasionally putting a ring, pouch or trinket into a purple and gold spacial sack similar to the one Riven had taken from the dungeon; an item she’d found on one of the dwarf mages. The spacial sack itself was the greatest prize, an item that could hold items far beyond what a normal bag of its size should be able to do. It had a storage system in it that could keep items in an alternate pocket dimension linked directly to the bag, and she’d already found a bunch of good stuff in there even before she’d started looting the others. There’d been potions, two books, three rings, some clothes, a bunch of money, some assortments of ores which she didn’t know the value of, seven dark elf ears that’d apparently been taken as sick trophies of some sort, and food stuffs. That list was only adding up as she went, and she still had another dozen bodies to check over.

Mesha absentmindedly pawed at her white fur, grimacing when she moved in the wrong way to adjust her sitting position against the boulder they leaned back on. She leaned over to whisper to her brother. “Your friend-allies are strong-mighty.”

Snagger didn’t bother replying, rather he lowered his eyes and let out a mournful squeak. Cheshish and Bort had been his friends for years, and losing them to a dwarven patrol this far from the battle grounds hadn’t been something he’d ever expected. The dwarves had been encroaching on the nest’s territory since the integration, and the brood was becoming desperate. If something wasn’t done about the dwarves and their genocidal slaughter of Snagger’s people, the ratmen may just very well have to pack up and leave. The problem was that the underdark was a very dangerous place, and finding a new safe haven would be very hard to do and doubtless a big risk in itself. Then there was the question of whether or not a location would have access to enough resources to support the remaining brood, or if it’d mean they’d all starve. The nest had put decades of time and effort into cultivating their underground farms, and if they left - they’d be abandoning those farms for the dwarves to take hold of. That alone would mean many thousands more of his people would die, because they wouldn’t be able to keep feeding themselves in the short term should they leave.

That was why Snagger and groups like his were constantly being sent out by the queen, searching for potential allies to fight alongside them against the dwarves. Peace talks and envoys had all fallen short, their diplomats’ heads being put on pikes in the major tunnels where traffic led towards the nest, and crude messages or threats being written in the blood of Snagger’s people as a response. It was very clear to everyone involved that the dwarves wanted nothing more than to route the entire rat-kin population and claim this area for their own kingdom, and thus far - the dwarves were winning the war.

“Do you think-imagine the vampire glowing-eyes has more-many of his people to help us?” Mesha eventually pushed again after getting no response from the open-ended statement she’d made earlier. “The queen-mother will reward the bright-eyes greatly-much if he has-does.”

Snagger grunted, and placed a clawed rat hand on his wounded armpit, still not entirely able to move that particular side even now. It was likely that tendons and ligaments had been torn right through, but Snagger was just lucky he’d kept the arm at all. Wounds like this would eventually heal or he could get a healer back in the nest to seal it over and repair the injury. If he’d lost the arm entirely, that may or may not be the case. “He did not tell-show me-me. I was to ask-inquire of this now-here, when we invite him-him to the nest-city. He may-might be alone, but can show-tell of valuable information-facts even if he is one-alone and does not have many-lots of blood-eater vampire-kin with him. We-we do not know-see of the world-planet yet. Nest-kin must know-see of Panu now that world-planets have merged.”