Infinite Potential

[danzilla3 5018]

 

The small town at the base of Mount Tyrin had a name, but Ankou hadn’t bothered to commit it to memory, as he felt no need to remember the name of a soon-to-be-dead place. He and the other Cultists with him had descended onto the town like one of the many icy storms that battered the mountain frequently. However, this storm would not be weathered like those that had come before it. Already the bulk of the town guard were dead, and the citizenry were gathered in the street where they could not cause trouble. Once he had set some of his undead to watching over the captured townsfolk, he turned his attention to his comrades. Fetching a scroll from his satchel, he unfurled it to reveal an ancient symbol that in the common tongue that meant, “mind.”

 

“Search the village for this symbol. Start with the houses. Our first clue is here.”

@Thotification @vielle @King

Edited February 14, 2019 by danzilla3

[vielle 6671]

ephah, of the cult of power

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The small town at the base of Mount Tyrin had a name, and it was Gethin: something she doubted any of her other companions had exerted any effort to remember.

Ephah glanced over her shoulder at the shivering, terrified crowd held at bay by their leader’s minions, her eyebrows furrowed in mild dismay. The grimace on her lips was not unwarranted; she would have preferred a plan that was more—benign, perhaps. However, she was not Ankou, and so she opted to hold her tongue at the sight of children trembling in the arms of their fathers, their mothers, watching the Cult converge upon their homes with nary a hint of remorse.

“I shall report back to you immediately should I find something, Lord Ankou,” she responded to the command, a fist over her heart as she nodded.     

“Pay them no mind. Soon they will suffer no more,” said Ankou.

Her lips thinned into a faint line, but she nodded; there was no room to argue, not with the right hand of the Commander.

Turning on her heel, Ephah strode through the snow, her boots forcing their way across the ivory blanket as she pivoted towards the marketplace, her eyes peeled open and alert for any clues. The faster they found this clue, the better.

 

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[Zashiii 4331]

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KHAKINA KHATUN

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The little girl shrugged at Ankou’s words. She was at most unimpressed with their current task and was just satisfied she can spend some time with her self-proclaimed grandfather. Grandpa Ankou was quite the serious character and this little girl, Khakina, was rather concerned with that nature of his. If the old man is unable to loosen up once in a while then Khakina will never find the chance to get closer to him. That said she really needed to work.

I hunger. Feed me host.

Once more Khaki ignored the screaming voices in her head. That was actually Prty, the eldritch abomination that lived within her body like a parasite. Ever since that thing slithered into Khaki’s insides, she was no longer the same person ever again. Still, monster or not, the scene before her left a bad taste in her mouth. Killing was never a problem for her, but the senseless murder of innocents was something she was rather uncomfortable with. Still she followed Grandpa’s orders and did what was asked of her.

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[danzilla3 5018]

It was obvious to Ankou that Ephah was uncomfortable with his orders, and so he had tried to comfort her, but it seemed it hadn’t worked. He soon realized that she must have thought that he intended to slaughter the captive townspeople when he assured her they would not suffer much longer. Apparently he still needed to work on his communication skills, as that was not what he had meant at all. Mass murder was once his objective, done in order to fulfill his dream of a true necropolis; but that was no longer his goal. Now he worked to help Lilith, leader of the Cult of Power realize her own dreams; and for that, new recruits were needed. Looking out at those huddled before him, he began to speak.

“I see you now, cold, afraid, powerless to stop the fate racing toward you. But what if it didn’t have to be this way? What if I could give you the power to affect your own destiny?”

He was silent for a moment, letting the captives mutter amongst themselves before he continued, outstretching his hand.

“Take my hand, join the Cult of Power, and I promise you will survive this day, and thrive in the days to come. Refuse… and you will die.”

For a moment, the frightened people sat silently, none daring to move in case his promises were all some sadistic ruse. Then, a young man stood up, and with a gentle nod from Ankou, took the Lich’s hand, and became the newest Paragon. Once the process was over, he turned to his people and urged them forward. Now the townspeople began to gather around him, and he allowed himself a small smile. 

So far this was going better than he could have hoped.
 

Edited March 12, 2019 by danzilla3

[vielle 6671]

ephah, of the cult of power

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Everywhere she looked, there was no sign of the symbol Ankou was looking for, and she was starting to doubt they would find it here in Gethin. Ephah peered through the windows of the deserted buildings, examined the ramshackle market stalls half-buried under sifting piles of snow with critical scrutiny.

There was an eerie quality to the forsaken tableau, left behind by the people who had lived here just moments prior to the Cult’s arrival. A small doll made of straw caught her eye, sunken as it was in the wet frost, and dark fingers reached out to pluck it from its shallow grave. Ephah examined it for a moment with an impassive gaze before she walked forward through the houses, the doll going into her pack for when she would come back to the crowd of townspeople, wanting to at least share a bit of comfort with the children there.

She could only hope the others had found something useful while she wasted her time searching fruitlessly here.

 

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[Zashiii 4331]

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KHAKINA KHATUN

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“House. Must find a house.”

Amidst the terror and despair of the mewling and whimpering townspeople, Khaki was humming and muttering to herself while going on about her task. She was mostly bored since there are only three people in their group. One was grandpa Ankou, the other was this random stranger danger cult member that Khaki barely knew anything about. Lastly there’s Khakina, the adorable and pretty Paragon and clearly the best girl within the group. Oh, how she missed the Mistress and Lilith.

I can feel it, host. A strain of power. Weak and barely noticeable. I hunger for it.

The little girl’s eyes lit up at that mental message. Sometimes the freeloading parasite infesting her lithe and nubile body can be quite helpful. Keyword there is sometimes since the blasted thing was wont to sleep the whole time unless it smells something interesting or tasty. Following the general direction the parasite has pointed out, Khaki moves towards the farthest house from her position, the one almost at the end of the village.

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[danzilla3 5018]

Ankou converted the villagers one after the other, setting the new Paragons to help create more. Soon he had made Paragons out of just over half of the assembled men and women with no sign of resistance from any of them. This pleased him, as he found it vastly irritating when people threw their lives away in futile protest against one who would have forgotten their sacrifice almost as soon as he killed them. Of course, if he did have to kill them, then they would have simply served him as one of his undead horde; making resistance truly meaningless. Besides, he was granting them power they never could have attained by themselves. They should be grateful that the Cult had come to free them from the shackles of mundanity that would have bound them forever to a normal life.

Now that he had enough Paragons to convert the remaining villagers in mere minutes, he sent the newly converted to help Khaki and Ephah.
 

Edited March 12, 2019 by danzilla3

[Zashiii 4331]

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 KHAKINA KHATUN

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I hunger. I crave. I thirst. Feed me host. Must feed. Must feed. Must feed. Must feed. Must feed. Must feed. Must feed. Must feed. Must feed. Must feed. Must feed. Must feed.

Feed me host. I hunger. Corpses. Smell so fresh. A tasty treat. The angel stirs within us. Seeking escape. Need more strength to contain it.

It was a sudden thing but something black and gooey forced its way out of Khaki’s throat. The poor little girl could not help but gag and choke over the rather perverse action. At the end of Khaki’s plight, the black slime slithered out of her body and into the ground. It moved then, sometimes like a snake, sometimes like a moving water, searching for the desired meal.

Corpses!

It mentally screamed. Without warning the unknown creature lunged at the corpses, devouring it whole until the black goo was as large as the combined mass of all the corpses. Now full, it slithered back towards its owner, its unnecessarily large bulk gradually decreasing with each meter covered until it's now back to its black gooey puddle form where it would once more combine with Khakina.

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[vielle 6671]

 

ephah, of the cult of power

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She stepped back from the entryway of the latest house she had been examining when the summons came through, brushed against the edges of her mind.

“I’m sending help.”

Not quite jolting to attention at the sudden voice, Ephah hummed, mind racing to wonder whether Ankou had meant his own undead or—sirens blared in her head—the townspeople coerced into helping their captors. She stayed her ground, sent a thought in his direction; she did not have powers over the mind, but perhaps he could hear her even from this distance. “Noted. Will await aforementioned help in the southern quarter.”

Minutes later a group of young men and women, fear wiped from their expressions arrived and bowed to Ephah. The leader, a brawny young man, spoke up first. “How can we help, miss?”

She raised an eyebrow incredulously, before her gaze caught upon the lunar marks forged onto their skin. Ah, so this was what Ankou had meant.

“Well, erm, perhaps you could look into those places over there,” Ephah muttered, pointing towards a row of houses in the distance. It felt peculiar to command the townspeople to rummage through their own belongings, but it would ultimately serve its purpose: they would find the symbol much quicker than before.

 

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[danzilla3 5018]

Many hands make light work as the saying went, and with the townspeople turned to their cause, they found the suspicious house in no time. The dwelling wasn’t conspicuous because of how it stood out however, but because of how it blended in. It had taken the villagers a while to remember that the dwelling even existed, and even then it had taken a good fifteen minutes to locate it. As soon as Ankou laid eyes on it, he could tell that this was a magical defense. When looked upon the eyes seemed to slide over it of their own accord; and once one ceased to look at it, their thoughts seemed to turn elsewhere with great speed. A clever defense, but now that it had been revealed, he knew that he could get past it.

He summoned a burst of arcane energy to the red crystal ring worn on his right hand, and a moment later he let loose a bolt of lightning that slammed into the front door. The wood and stone were blown apart in a violent explosion, and the psychic defense vanished as debris rained down over the group. Ankou turned to the assembled and spoke.

“Me, Ephah, and Khaki shall search the residence. The rest of you should travel through this portal to await further instructions.”

Once finished speaking, he waved a hand, and a portal that would take the townspeople to a Cult stronghold opened. As the citizens began to leave, Ankou stepped into the house. The interior looked like any other house of its type, but he could feel a strong magic from somewhere inside the house. He silently nodded to his companions, and they went about their search.
 

[vielle 6671]

ephah, of the cult of power

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Ephah strode forward into the entryway, trailing just slightly behind Ankou. The magic in the air felt like a heavy blanket around her shoulders, a discernible pressure against her skin. She moved towards the living room, wordlessly establishing it as her area to appraise. It did not take long for her to search through the modest furnishings with systematic focus, flipping cushions over and rummaging through trivial belongings kept in worn wooden boxes.

“You’d think this would be easy, just looking for some bloody symbol, wherever,” she muttered to herself, nudging the chairs aside with a boot.

Khaki shrugged at her. “Eh, you’ll never know. To be honest with you. I’m pretty confident we’ll see it quickly. You may not know this, but I’m a veteran artifact hunter. My experience tells me that the symbol would be easily found.”

“Well, let’s see if you’re right later on,” Ephah grimaced, taking one last sweeping look around the room. Perhaps—

Ah, but she was an idiot, she grumbled under her breath, pivoting on her heel to check the stone fireplace she had managed to miss in her inspection. Bending down to carefully sift through the ashes and burnt remnants of wood, she stopped in her tracks, eyes passing over the deep grooves of something etched onto the stone underneath.

“Lord Ankou,” she said aloud for everyone to hear, “I’ve found your symbol.”

 

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[danzilla3 5018]

Stepping inside the house was like trying to step into an oven in terms of the overwhelming magic that was emanating from inside. Trying to find one specific source of arcane energy inside was like trying to find a single snowflake in a blizzard. Resigning himself to a manual search, he had decided that he would search the bedroom. Like the rest of the house, it was achingly normal. A simple bed, a nightstand, and a wardrobe were the only furnishings in the room, but he noticed there was a framed photograph on the nightstand. Picking it up, he saw the photo was of a middle aged man standing beside a younger woman in a wheelchair. The owner perhaps?

Before he could contemplate it further, Ephah called out to inform him that she had found it, and he moved to join her. Indeed, the symbol was there, etched into the stone of the fireplace. On a hunch, he snapped his fingers and lit the wood in the fireplace. A few seconds later, the fireplace opened up, to reveal a door. He moved to open it when he was interrupted by a voice from behind.

“What are you doing in my home?!”

The necromancer turned to find the middle aged man from the photo standing in the ruined entrance of his home. But now, unlike the simple clothes he wore in the photo, he wore a kind of flowing robe that seemed to move of its own accord. 

“We are here for the stone. Relinquish it of your own volition, and we may spare your life.”

In response, the other man hissed out some arcane words, and suddenly Ankou felt control of the undead he had wrenched away from him. Now the home was surrounded by just shy of two dozen undead.

Ankou summoned energy to his ring, and said, “Prepare to fight.”
 

[Zashiii 4331]

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KHAKINA KHATUN

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“Finally, a fight!” Khaki squealed in excitement. She’s been itching for a good fight ever since she got in this random settlement. Now is the time to give her rusty skills some practice.

Now that the eldritch abomination within her is now full of newly devoured flesh and life force, Khaki can feel her body filling to the brim with power. She was prepared to react to the enemy at hand. Soon there are already glpyhs appearing all around her, magical symbols she did not expect to use again. This would be the last time she’ll make use of such a complex system of magic. Unfortunately for their enemy, this is her bread and butter ability. She doesn’t even have to think to make this work.

While glyphs were multiplying around her, some of the glyphs flew and swirled into her upraised hand. First there there was the faint manifestation of a spear, then the thing began to slowly turn less corporeal by the second, so Khaki would be holding a swirling mass of shadows and red lightning in the form of a makeshift spear. This is the true weapon of the black spear cartel and Khaki was more than ready to let the weapon loose.

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[vielle 6671]

ephah, of the cult of power

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The call to battle was upon her, the beat of war drums echoing loud and urgent through her chest. Ephah turned towards the undead the stranger had wrestled control of from Ankou’s grasp, her gaze calculating as she bit her lip and reached for her magic.

All at once, the world narrowed to the bloodstreams twisting and turning through the reanimated bodies shuffling forward in hostility. She could feel every inch of lifeblood in those undead limbs, those mindless vessels void of the capacity for higher thinking. There was no need for vicious assault; it was only a matter of controlling them from the inside out.

The undead were beginning to advance, soon to engage them in combat. Ephah shifted her stance, eyes as dark as crimson blood, and waited.

 

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[danzilla3 5018]

While necromancy was his prefered tool when in combat, Ankou hadn’t lived as long as he had by being a one trick pony. Calling up another bolt of lightning, he loosed the attack at the owner only to see one of his undead leap in and take the attack in his place. The bolt incinerated the thing to ashes, but failed to do anything to its new master. Now the reanimated corpses were getting close, and he knew he had to thin the herd before he could attack the owner again.

 

An effort of will materialized his Lunar Scythe in his outstretched hand, and he whipped it in an horizontal arc that sliced into the first row of dead in front of him. Most would have thought that the weapon would be almost useless against the undead, seeing as how its greatest ability was to create a magical pathogen of the wielders choosing, but they would be wrong. The flesh eating virus he had just infected them with cared not whether the flesh it consumed was living or dead. So fast acting was the virus that it looked as though the corpses were liquifying, until all that remained was a pile of bones.