Vraxious- The Forsaken Lands
Vrax looked at the Dreadfeast, really examining it from up close. Thick, smooth, scaled skin; an almost freakishly muscular torso and arms while still being lithe; and the spines running down its back outlined by the bioluminescence he added. The thick bladed tail with a symbol of the cycle placed a handspan from the jagged blades. And finally, the unique, awful, multi-layered maw with three separate sets of jaws within going halfway into its throat, each one housing an overly long, slightly sharp tongue that it used to interact with the world around it.
Vrax tutted at the horror. “You know...it’s probably good you don’t have legs. I bet they would look silly on you….” He walked around it one last time; Vrax didn’t know how much making the Dreadfeast an Apex Guardian would change it, so he wanted to try and commit its old appearance to memory.
The Dreadfeast curiously followed him with its hungry eyes, finally reaching out and actually tugging at his cloak surprisingly, as if it knew something important was about to occur. “Remember, Father, always gut them first, or the meat spoils!” The proud-sounding voice of a child spilled from it.
Vrax raised an eyebrow. “I mean, you aren’t wrong… Anyway, let’s go into the front room for this. I would hate if you got so big that we trapped Torvald in the basement…. I am also not telling him about this; he can have himself a nice heart attack when he wakes up.” Vrax walked to the spacious but barren front room and laid a hand cautiously on the Dreadfeast. Vrax began pouring mana into [Adapt Life], the system reading his intentions.
[Confirm Elevation Of [Dreadfeast Drake Hatchling Tier-1](lvl21) To Apex Guardian]
[This Action Is Irreversible]
How much shit has this bastard been killing that I haven’t noticed, level twenty-one!? I suppose between the mages and the Ungoth, he has nearly soloed a fair number of powerful foes. Yes, ominous message, let's do it. I'm sure this won't have far-reaching consequences...
Adapt life gained a will of its own, wrenching the mana from his control as it poured into the Dreadfeast.
[Name Required For Unique Monster]
Oh, I really hope this is what people see if they can ever identify it. Vrax thought the name.
[Duchess Phobos]
The changes began; Duchess Phobos writhed, claws and tail slashing wildly at the air around her as her body stretched and compressed, bones lengthening and becoming denser. The very floor beneath Duchess creaked at her sudden weight. Vrax slowly backed towards the basement doorway as the changes continued; a look of both fear and joy warred on his features.
Duchess Phobos rose to her new full height in a mist of dark green shadow. Her six intelligent eyes gleamed with a sense of wrongness, like you were staring into the eyes of an old god that would have been better left sleeping in whatever dark corner you had disturbed. Her maw dripped endlessly with a sourceless shadow that smelled of fresh blood and fear, each row of teeth within chomping discordantly. The luminescent lines down her head and spine had multiplied and twisted into eldritch patterns that were impossible to focus upon. Her skin had gained a darkness it had only wished for before, seemingly absorbing the faint moonlight streaming in the open doorway and then oozing back out from her eldritch patterning.
She was in many ways the same but just more. Her claws looked as though they could cut steel, and her tail was now the match for any greatsword, and as she towered over Vrax, her head nearly touching the ceiling as she rose up on her tail, a soft, familiar, distinguished noblewoman's voice climbed past the shadows dripping from her maw. “I love the new dress, darling; shall we go show it to the peasants?”
“Ha. Ha. Yes!” Vrax practically chortled as he ran a quick, excited circle around the newly minted Duchess Phobos. She was solidly the size of a warhorse now when she slinked around on her claws and tail and nearly twice as tall as himself when she rose up to her full height. Well, that evolution was absolutely the right call!
Vrax spent another good hour futzing about with Duchess, taking notes in his long-ignored bestiary and imagining the kind of havoc she would wreak in the Soulrender nest. He still needed to spend the rest of his essence, but before that he wanted to try and see if he could finally view her talents. With a cautiously placed hand and a very specific use of [Adapt Life], he finally managed to see his creature’s abilities.
[Duchess Phobos](lvl21)
Talents
[The Unknown]
Resist all attempts to Identify or magically locate this creature, sufficiently powerful effects can overcome this. Failed attempts cause physical backlash.
[Passive]
[I Taste Your Fear]
This creature experiences euphoria and an increase in all physical attributes proportionate to the severity and amount of fear and terror around it.
Skills
[Flay The Psyche]
This creature may multiply negative emotions related to terror with a touch.
[Mana Cost Moderate]
[Why Am I Afraid](Apex Addition)
This creature may cause beings who are not directly looking at it to forget its existence, resisted by mental defenses.
[Mana Cost High]
Well, that's all pretty much what I had expected...the fact fear actually makes it happy though...not comforting, and that new apex skill is not okay; it's going to actually drive some poor fuckers mad with that.
Vrax made his way back to the basement beside the sleeping Torvald and settled in to finish spending his essence. His sanctuary was as he left it except for the newly improved Duchess lording her elevated status over everyone else. The only creatures not shying away at the sight of her were the plants. With a chuckle, Vrax made his way past the waterfall and into the ritual chamber, climbing up the steps to where his armor sat. Alright, let's get ready for another game of tug-of-war with my patron. “Hey Vurune, if you can hear me, no more weird shit, please!” the armor pulsed slightly in response to his words. I don’t know if that was acknowledgment or him telling me to fuck myself…
Vrax braced his mind as the burning tendrils of power roiled from the lake at his call, gathering around the edges of the platform like a moat of emerald fire. Now let's see how far I can twist a skill's intended use with enough essence.
Vrax flooded the armor with essence, utterly inundating it in potential. As he focused on the protective aspect of the armor, he pictured blows that would have torn him asunder instead being blocked and deflected as the armor drained the life from around him. He would weather unimaginable blows, and his surroundings would be reduced to mulch in his stead. Essence Poured by the gallon from the lake behind him as he felt the hungry gaze of something beyond him join him in his mind.
His stigmata would protect him; his stigmata would show the world who he was now...he was the chosen champion of the ancient hungering god of the cycle. Vrax tamped down on the thoughts not his own tainting his crafting of his skill, trying to just focus it back to being a powerful added layer of defense. Vrax felt as his changes took hold, the armor before him changing slightly, but his essence didn’t stop flowing. As more images more thoughts not his own filtered through.
We will rend, we will tear; the world has become soft and stagnant. Woe unto those who would harm us, my champion...think of your family. What will those vile cowards from the Church of Rembrand do to your home if we cannot stop them? The god’s words struck a weak spot within Vrax, using it to force through more changes to the stigmata, crushing Vrax’s attempts at reigning it in.
With a sudden splash, essence fell around Vrax’s feet. The [Stigmata of Wrath] before him had taken on a more savage appearance; a helm depicting crudely carved jagged teeth now perched atop the armor, and the seams that before only pulsed with green light now burned like long untended embers, sharing the same dark green of his essence. Even the angles of the armor were more savage; slight thorny protrusions lined his knuckles, and his right pauldron had split open slightly, the smallest of healthy white branches growing from it in violent contrast to the rest of the armor. The fucking asshole used my family against me. Vrax cautiously examined what the skill now did.
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[Stigmata Wrath Of The Grove](lvl 15)
Woe befall those that would cause harm to those under the sacred canopy of our protection. Life is a struggle. Life is pain. Life is hunger. Life is fear. Let those who threaten our beloved feel naught but the wrath of the grove until they are returned to the cycle.
[Stigmata Garden, twelve slots available]
Entities in the stigmata garden will make copies of themselves. The life drain of the stigmata garden will now affect a larger area and affect essence-bound entities that oppose Vurune’s chosen.
Your Stigmata will drain the life from your surroundings to shield itself.
When clad in your stigmata armor, nothing shy of the mightiest of divining magics will reveal anything other than that you are [The Paladin Of The Forsaken Lands](Chosen Of Vurune).
[Skill Evolution Available]
Oh, okay, wow...that's actually a really fucking useful effect with the crusade looming…And he manages to spread the word of himself too if these rumors keep spiraling.
Vrax quickly selected his skill evolution; the familiar god’s-eye view of the glade with a cloaked man met him. The cloaked man summoned his armor onto a group of armed men beside him with the wave of a hand.
The glade reset.Wait, really? That was it for that one. Share your armor?The cloaked man stood beside a pack of horrors and, one by one, touched them, each disappearing in a green flash just like when Vrax added Sunshine to his garden.That one!Vrax selected itimmediately, afraid he would be swayed from something he desperately needed by the lure of whatever might be next. He read the single line of change it added to his stigmata.
Your garden now contains a menagerie of predation, allowing adapted creatures to be added; only the strong will survive.
Thank all the gods above, no more lugging the box around and hoping for the best.
Vrax’s sanctuary still had a fair amount of essence within the lake, a bit less than half; it had calmed, though the fire had faded, and it returned to its normal light shimmer, just opaque enough for him to see the outlines of things swirling within.
Vrax stalked out of the cave, fondly nudging a pack of curious devourers away from the entrance, then walking up to his nearby [Core Statue]. The way the ground around it was now a rotted puddle ringed with tree saplings didn’t make him feel at ease. Phobos playfully clubbed him with its tail as it leapt by, grabbing four devourers in one fell swoop, then clambered up to the top of the waterfall with its hands full. Vrax looked up at the eldritch being currently amusing itself by tossing devourers off a cliff and watching them slowly drift down.
He gathered the remaining essence and made a few more changes to his sanctuary: a bit of toughness, a bit more strength, and of course more mana to sustain his way of fighting. He felt his Sanctuary quiver around him slightly as an unseen line was crossed.
[First Trial Reached]
[Vraxious Tier-1] (lvl 24) (Unique) [Paladin Of The Cycle]
You will safeguard the cycle of life and death. Wield the powers of growth, of change, and of decay to set the world free from those who would hold it stagnant. Stand tall with weapon held high and strike down those who would fetter you. You will adapt the life of the world around you to serve your will; life leads to change, change leads to death, death leads to rot, rot leads to life, and thus the cycle continues.
[Skills]
[Decomposing Smite](lvl2)
Infuse your blows with entropy, corroding your foes and using their essence to heal your wounds. You may shape the path of the entropic energy with your will.
[Mana Cost Variable]
[Adapt Life] (lvl 10)
Change living beings to better suit your needs. Entities changed with this skill will be less hostile towards the paladin, and towards those who wear an adapted mark of the cycle upon themselves. You may view and adapt the [Talents] and [Skills] of adapted entities. Faster changes or changes farther from the base functions of an entity will use exponentially more mana. The more powerful an entity, the more mana required. All adapted entities can be called back to you the willingness of them to return hinges on distance and if they are occupied.
[Mana Cost Massively Variable] [Increased Efficiency]
[Duration Permanent]
[Apex Guardian]
[1/2 Guardians Chosen]
You may designate an adapted creature as your Apex Guardian, This will strengthen the bond you share with it as well as vastly decreasing the mana costs required to adapt it.
[Stigmata Wrath Of The Grove](lvl 15)
Woe befall those that would cause harm to those under the sacred canopy of our protection. Life is a struggle. Life is pain. Life is hunger. Life is fear. Let those who threaten our beloved feel naught but the wrath of the grove until they are returned to the cycle.
[Stigmata Garden, twelve slots available]
Entities in the stigmata garden will make copies of themselves. The life drain of the stigmata garden will now affect a larger area and affect essence-bound entities that oppose Vurune’s chosen. Your garden now contains a menagerie of predation, allowing adapted creatures to be added; only the strong will survive.
Your Stigmata will drain the life from your surroundings to shield itself.
When clad in your stigmata armor, nothing shy of the mightiest of divining magics will reveal anything other than that you are [The Paladin Of The Forsaken Lands](Chosen Of Vurune).
[Talents]
[The Herald Of The Hunt]
Shrines to Vurune in places where the cycle reigns supreme allow the Champion of Vurune to stake a Kings Claim. Maintain supremacy to maintain your claim. Claw and Fang Sword and Staff will answer those who question the resurgence of the god of life, the god of death, and the ever-changing progress he brings. Craft places of savagery and growth that revel in the challenges of the constant struggle between life and death, my champion.
[Forest Strider]
The forest around you will subtly aid your movement based on intent, be that speed or stealth.
[Passive]
[Identify]
Reveal a living being’s name, tier and level if it is an essence infused entity.
[Mana cost insignificant]
[Hunter's Ear]
Your hearing is as sharp the predators of the deep wood, more easily discern slight sounds.
[Passive]
Improved Attributes
Mental Defenses: 1.6
Physical Strength: 1.4
Mana Capacity: 1.6
Physical Defense: 1.2
Total Mana: 163/163
Vrax went to view his trial. But he was interrupted as his body was violently shaken in the real world. His eyes snapped open to see Torvalds's panic-stricken face. “There is something here! It keeps fucking licking me!!!!” Torvald shouted with wide eyes, hammer in hand.
“Wait, what? Calm the fuck down. What is here?” Vrax had an idea exactly what was happening, but he hid his smile for now, faking a morbid expression.
“That’s the thing! I Can’t Remember! It's up there somewhere, just fucking waiting for us! Come down, you coward!” Torvald shouted up the stairs. Duchess peeked down the staircase, locking eyes with Torvald for a moment.
“Wait, that’s what it was…. Your fucking pet—what did you do to it!?” Torvald looked a bit calmer but more mad; he looked back to Vrax, his expression almost instantly turning to confusion and then fear again.
“Vrax...what… What did I just say? There was something on the stairs, wasn’t there?” Torvalds's panicked expression shamed Vrax into action.
“Everything is fine, man. The Dreadfeast just got an upgrade and is, uh, being a dick. Everything is okay!” Vrax patted him on the back to calm him before walking up the stairs; the Dreadfeast was literally shaking in what must have been its approximation of laughter.
“Okay, into the questionable murder terrarium you go, you asshole!” Vrax tapped Duchess lightly, and she disappeared into the garden with a snap of displaced air and a green flash of light.
Torvald stomped up the stairs in a huff, obviously connecting dots about what had just happened. He opened his mouth to tear Vrax a new one but was interrupted by a shout of terror outside.
They both rushed to the door and looked out; there was a portly man in imperial explorer garb with one hefty mustache dominating his features, and two warriors in the near distance were battling a transformed fool's hound and appeared to be solidly winning between the walls of energy penning it in and the savage repeated shield strikes to its split-open skull. But the explorer was face-to-face with not one but three forsaken wolves, and they looked to be rather elder specimens of their species.
Torvald looked towards Vrax with a smug smile. “I’m calling in the favor you owe me. We are going to save the fat man, and you are going to introduce yourself as the paladin in the most dramatic fashion possible, then introduce me as Torvald Bearsbane, Defiler of…” Torvald gave himself an utterly ridiculously long magnanimous title that Vrax was now obligated to repeat and gave a get-to-it gesture.
Explorer Erni-Von Hillbach- The Forsaken Lands
Erni backpedaled from the wolves, his eyepiece showing how screwed he was [Forsaken elder wolf Tier-1] (lvl29). He was not a warrior; one he could probably handle, but three was likely a death sentence, and his guards were a bit preoccupied at the moment. He started saying his final prayers when the words stuck in his throat. Something dark, unfathomably cruel, and deadly oozed from the shadows of a nearby manor, claws cutting into brickwork as it silently clambered behind the wolves. They froze as they suddenly realized they weren’t the most dangerous thing here anymore.
Erni was about to turn and run when he saw him. A figure wrapped in armor that radiated hate, singed and yet at the same time sprouting with life. His helm held soulless, deep glowing slits where there should have been eyes and a stylistic fanged mouth where there should have been vents for the man's breath. He looked more malevolent than any other man Erni had met in his long travels. Fuck me im bout to meet my ancestors, aren’t I.
The nightmare struck so fast Erni felt his cape whisk forward with displaced air. It snatched two of the wolves into its claws, dangling them in the air as they howled in sheer terror, claws slowly digging into them. The final wolf was reeled slowly into its mouth as it tried desperately to scramble away, summoning a field of thorns to anchor itself.
The man simply stepped through the dribbling trail of blood beneath a dangling wolf, and with a gesture, the field rotted away; in its place, a yellow and green being that defied explanation appeared, ripping the wolf out of the nightmare's grasp and roughly consuming it in less time than it took Erni to remember to breathe. The plant monstrosity instantly rounded on him, spattering blood across his face. The man stepped up to the monstrosity, and it simply disappeared in a flash just as it was reaching for Erni.
“I am the Paladin of the Forsaken Lands. Pleasure to meet you.” The man's voice growled out like broken glass. Behind him, his nightmare was slowly inserting an entire forsaken wolf into its mouth, still alive. They stood there for an awkward moment, the paladin's hand outstretched in greeting, silence reigning other than the screams of the wolves and the distant sounds of battle.
Erni almost fell over as a slab of muscle and manliness impacted the cobblestone next to him so hard he left a crater. He rose to his impressive height and gave a rather heroic smile, hefting his hammer over his shoulder. Bones crunched nearby as the nightmare finally chewed on the wolf that had been wriggling in its throat for the last few moments.
The paladin sighed. “And this is my erstwhile companion Torvald Bearsbane….”