AbyssalRoadTrip
patreon
Abyssal Road Trip - 227 - My heart has teeth
🕑 Added 2022-08-29 07:11:09 +0000 UTCAmdirlain’s PoV - Culerzic
Gail’s questions took hours and ranged from various types of songs to what ‘good’ meant to Amdirlain in different situations. With each question, Amdirlain could hear her listening to internal music that spun her trails of concepts, from the meanings of unfamiliar words to philosophical viewpoints.
An Anar’s memories are within their Soul. How much did Gideon talk to her about?
When Gail’s eyes finally glazed over, she waved her hands in surrender and leaned against her mother. “My brain’s all full at present. Maybe I might need to listen to the harp found on Cemna; that might jog the memory of Gideon’s tale.”
“Harp?” asked Amdirlain.
Ebusuku wrapped her arms around Gail as the exhausted girl snuggled against her. “In the city Isa and Ilya used for Isa’s initial training, there was an Anar vault with a harp. Erwarth delivered it to Roher years ago now.”
“Little miss luck,” laughed Amdirlain. “I’d like to listen to that harp as well. I’ll speak to Roher about it next time I talk to him.”
Ebusuku nodded and smiled at Amdirlain. “Erwarth is with her parents at present, so I’ve asked her to pass the message along.”
“So you just know everything now?” teased Amdirlain.
Catching her light tone, Ebusuku narrowed her gaze in a mock-huff expression. “Do I look like this Gideon being? I know what is happening with the celestials sworn to your Mantle, but it’s mostly churning away in the background, along with the worshippers’ prayers.”
“I could argue that it’s your Mantle currently,” prodded Amdirlain.
Ebusuku’s glare of outrage came with a sharp retort. “It’s not; I’m merely the custodian.”
Gail’s ready laughter eased Ebusuku’s sternness, but Amdirlain caught a flash of hurt in Ebusuku’s gaze.
“Sorry, but I’ve got no idea what it’s like for you, so I can’t even give advice. I’ve never been a Greater Deity; which, because of my lack of experience, makes it yours,” explained Amdirlain.
The outrage continued to soften from Ebusuku’s gaze as Gail offered her own words. “You wouldn’t have had me if you didn’t have it; I can tell from your music. The Mantle’s refrain, linked to the Domain’s golden notes, let you have me.”
“And while that is a wonderful event from this messy situation, I’ll gladly pass it back to Amdirlain,” retorted Ebusuku.
“You could make the best of it and give me a bunch of other siblings,” suggested Gail gleefully.
“Yours is the only Anar Soul around, Gail,” noted Ebusuku.
“The Domain’s energy isn’t the same as mine,” Gail started.
Amdirlain caught Gail’s comparison of its raw energy to the refined music she recalled from hearing hers and the host of Lómë souls within the Titan’s forge.
“Presently the only Anar Soul. The Titan has considered letting others reincarnate back into his realm,” offered Amdirlain quickly, cutting off Gail’s revelation. “Though given Ki’s nature, who knows if that is all it would allow you to have. Care to play mother to a host of Lómë?”
Wariness flickered across Ebusuku’s expression, in conflict with regret. “And risk them being dragged into Balnérith’s agreement? No thanks; guess more children aren’t in the offering.”
“You’ve zero chance of that occurring,” countered Amdirlain. “If their souls and not just bloodlines bind them through their royalty, the Titan won’t allow any to incarnate in a child from you. But there are plenty of other souls about the place, and there will be Anar ones in time.”
“Exactly why did the Titan let you know he was planning to let the Anar reincarnate back into his realm?” questioned Ebusuku suspiciously.
A wry smile lit across Amdirlain’s lips as she caught a barrage of Gail’s bubbling music. “Oh, he wasn’t planning to let them; I asked that he allow it. I wanted Gail to have a chance of having children in the centuries to come if she wanted. Though your mother giving you a bunch of siblings sounds like a wonderful idea, Gail.”
The disbelief that rang suddenly from Ebusuku had Amdirlain and Gail both immediately in stitches. Gail laughed so hard that Ebusuku lifted her to prevent her from accidentally crossing the circle.
“The pair of you,” grumbled Ebusuku.
“Well, custodian though you may be, you’re still the Goddess of new beginnings and the only deity with a link to that golden music,” teased Amdirlain. “Gail doesn’t seem inclined towards a Monk’s disciple, but the next child might.”
“Oh, then papa won’t be upset that I’m not interested,” exclaimed Gail and partly draped herself across Ebusuku’s shoulder.
“Farhad isn't upset. He’d not push someone towards a way that isn’t theirs,” reassured Ebusuku.
“Upset might have been the wrong word, more woebegone,” teased Gail, and Ebusuku rolled her eyes.
“Where is Farhad?” asked Amdirlain.
“Papa’s talking to the smiths in the main forge about a bunch of weaponry mother had commissioned for you,” replied Gail and waved towards the roof. "Giving us girl time."
“Weaponry for me?” asked Amdirlain. “I hadn’t even spoken to you about what I had planned yet.”
“This plan pre-dates your entrapment, and we didn’t cancel the process just because you were a little trapped,” replied Ebusuku. “The dwarves are recreating a weapon that takes mastering a series of others before you can learn it.”
“Why?” asked Amdirlain and gestured with a hand wrapped in Ki.
“You have your Ki to bypass a foe’s armour, but sometimes a weapon’s enchantments are safer to count on. I had been hoping to get you to sit still for a bit and learn skills. I was sure you needed the rest even once you'd finished with the monastery, but now the end goal is different,” explained Ebusuku, and Amdirlain caught her expectation of rejection.
It was an expectation that had Amdirlain pause and nod instead, and she caught Ebusuku's surprise. “What did you have in mind?”
The question had Ebusuku raise her eyebrows curiously, and she looked between the pair of them. “Nosey Anar. Very well, I’ll take your question in good faith. Learning various weapon skills was more about knowing your opponents better. It would have given you a better awareness of the possibilities in combat, and I’m sure you’d merge them into something frightening with your Silent Storm and Protean.”
A blob with tentacles scything through a demonic horde came through Ebusuku’s song, and Gail wrinkled her nose at the vivid bloodshed. “Gross, mother.”
“Amdirlain makes a mess in fights,” countered Ebusuku. “That might teach you not to always listen to my music.”
“Whatever,” muttered Gail, nipping her mother’s ear playfully. “Are you going to put me down?”
“Don’t cross the circle,” warned Ebusuku and set her down well back from it.
“Yes, mother!” chimed Gail as she got placed on the ground.
“So now that you’ve heard my reason, what will you do?” Ebusuku asked.
“Once Gail’s out of earshot,” suggested Amdirlain.
The innocent expression Gail instantly adopts has Amdirlain rubbing her mouth to hide a smile.
“True, time to go home, Gail,” agreed Ebusuku. “Do I need to speak to Roher to stop you from listening for it in the future, or will you give me your word that you’ll not probe for Amdirlain’s secrets?”
“I promise, Amdirlain’s secrets aren’t mine unless shared directly with me,” Gail replied, putting her hand over her heart.
At her mother’s nod, Gail waved goodbye and skipped from the room as quickly as she’d entered, and Amdirlain caught sight of the Rasha in an Elven form when the door opened. When the door closed, Amdirlain waited for the Plane Shift’s energy to still before she spoke again.
“Rasha only gained a Hound Archon rank?” asked Amdirlain in surprise.
“He said he refused promotion to Angel because it was improper to speed through the ranks of a new tribe,’ replied Ebusuku. “He’s volunteered to help Elleth keep tabs on Gail. Now that we have privacy?”
“Infiltrating the Sisterhood’s operations and destroying Balnérith,” offered Amdirlain at last, and Ebusuku coughed harshly in surprise as she choked off her immediate response.
“Before you swear, did you manage the item I asked about?” interjects Amdirlain.
The answer was immediately in Ebusuku’s song, but Amdirlain didn’t speak as Ebusuku unsecured a storage bag and set a crystal block on the ground. The music of the summoning chamber seemed to inhale sharply, and the forearm-length plinth bloomed to waist height on Ebusuku and changed into a strange sunflower. With each moment, its surface darkened as it drank energy from the Elemental Plane of Earth.
Unbothered by its appearance, Amdirlain listened to the woven harmonies within the orchestra of its construction and gave a grim smile. “That’s going to take some work to duplicate.”
“It took some work to get the Domain to make it until I focused on needing it for you—then this immediately popped out of the ground. I’ll pass this along to Erwarth to bring to you. I noticed you hadn’t mentioned your Sisterhood plan to her when you requested training.”
“I figured it would be rude to go behind your back. If you don’t want me trying it, say so,” replied Amdirlain.
“I hope this isn’t because you once promised to help free my grandmother,” probed Ebusuku.
Amdirlain gave a relaxed smile that quickly turned predatory. “I remember that promise, and potentially that might happen, but my motivation is a bit more base. What it boils down to is the bitch hurt me, tried to own me, so I'm going to crush her.”
“Be careful you don’t slide into trouble,” warned Ebusuku.
“I’m sure she has hurt a lot more innocents than me, but I will not torture her. I’m just going to end her, once and for all,” reassured Amdirlain, earning a satisfied nod from Ebusuku.
“Exactly how do you plan to make more of these?”
“Studying its song will take time, and I’ll talk to Roher,” offered Amdirlain.
That way, Roher and Isa can make active defences for the Lómë. I'll need to get Multi-voice unlocked to have a chance on my own.
Ebusuku nodded and tapped the closest petal of the sunflower, which immediately collapsed back into the block state. The energy it had drawn slowly exhaled back into the chamber’s stone.
“How can your Domain make True Song crystal?” enquired Ebusuku, collecting the block from the ground only after it faded to clear crystal again.
“Anar and Lome aren’t as powerful as a divine being unless they work together,” replied Amdirlain, carefully keeping a straight face.
“You were a pseudo-power when hundreds of these towers popped up, and we had a Domain full of crystal buildings,” observed Ebusuku. "Why are you being sly about this?"
“After I’m free of this plane, then I’ll let you and Torm know,” replied Amdirlain. “Until then, I’m not speaking dangerous secrets where, among other dangers, the Abyss can hear. I’m sure Sarah already remembers.”
“The Abyss isn’t aware,” scoffed Ebusuku.
“It is,” argued Amdirlain. “It took the concept of demons from the abyssal primordials’ experiments and spawned billions of them, along with ways for them to progress. The filth and corruption it collected over aeons turned into a force that drove the older inhabitants to the brink of extinction.”
“Time of legends.”
“I remember some of those times, and the corruption accumulating in the Abyss unnerved Orhêthurin. She felt as if it had watched her whenever she descended into it, and when she sang in the Abyss, it listened and copied her creations,” countered Amdirlain. “The Blood Plains of the Dretch started as a punishment she created for a group of powerful, monstrous souls that she didn’t dare let fall into the Abyss whole. It was a few kilometres across when she created it. Now, how far does it extend?”
Ebusuku gave a sharp nod. “Alright, you said you’d train, and I’ll hold you to that. Best start work on crafting a concealment circle for Erwarth. I don’t want you trained to the Sisterhood standard; I want you to be better than them all.”
When Ebusuku closed the Gate, Amdirlain didn’t immediately move. Though a part of the conversation with Gail echoed Amdirlain’s conversation delivering the bad news to the Titan, there was no doubt she was a bright, happy child, outgoing where Andre had always been so quiet.
“Gail’s not Andre, and I’m not Orhêthurin,” Amdirlain said when she finally turned to meet Torm’s concerned gaze.
“Does not being Orhêthurin change what you’re planning to do?”
“Overall, no, not one bit; but I’ll take the measured approach I decided on, though I’m open to suggestions towards the goal,” replied Amdirlain.
“Orhêthurin created the plains,” Torm offered hesitantly, but Amdirlain didn’t force him to voice his concerns.
“She saw the genocide of a dozen peaceful species because of the hatred that originated within the twisted souls of a warped creation. Then following the rules forced her to wait while more died and the Anar court debated what to do,” explained Amdirlain. “I remember her assessment that she didn’t dare risk more than fragments of the Gold Elf souls forming demons; they were too strong and twisted. She also wasn’t in a good place herself; the vines were making themselves at home.”
With a nod of acceptance, she saw him push his concern aside. “What’s your immediate plan?”
Amdirlain spun with her arms outstretched and finally halted, facing Torm. “Right now, I need even an ugly sky. I’ve just spent yet more days underground, so let’s gather materials that won’t go funky, then I’ll work on a barrier circle to keep a Celestial’s energy from being a signal flare.”
“Going funky, is that a technical term?” asked Torm dryly, not objecting to the change of subject.
“Hilarious you are,” huffed Amdirlain. “Plus, while Munais doesn’t need the coin, having materials to sell might help her disguise why she has the funds.”
Giving her response a reluctant nod, Torm took a moment to reply. “There are some Drake species we could hunt; they’re useful for scales, claws, and various organs.”
“Any reason to suggest those?”
“Among other places, they inhabit a mountain range far away from population centres,” explained Torm. “You can work out some frustrations before more practice carving circles with Erwarth supervising.”
“I’m sure it’s a wonderland compared to the blank walls here,” replied Amdirlain.
“We could just add artwork or something to liven them up if that’s all it would take for you to stay and practice,” teased Torm.
“Onwards,” commanded Amdirlain and jabbed a finger towards the ceiling.
She had barely lowered her hand when they reappeared on a mountain ledge. Perching high on a sheer cliff face provided a view of a jagged mountain range. Its sharp peaks and brutal angles leant the impression of teeth biting towards the blazing sky. The exposed stone was a moulted patchwork expanse of black, grey, and umber hues appearing to melt into the churning flames overhead.
“The winged drakes nest all along the ridgelines above the plains, and there are species that shelter within the various caves that line the mountain range,” stated Torm, but Amdirlain’s focus was on the booming song below the mountain.
“There is also an ancient Dragon that lairs inside the mountain we’re on,” murmured Amdirlain. “Let’s move closer to the plain.”
Torm didn’t question but shifted them again. The grey stone of the ridgeline ahead of them twisted and turned like a heat-warped razor.
“I’m trying to keep you away from trouble and instead landed us on a Dragon’s doorstep,” grumbled Torm, and Amdirlain snickered.
“It was a bass drum of power thrumming through the rock face behind us. I said ancient, but I’ve no accurate comparison to judge its strength; it’s not trifling, that’s for sure.”
“What was it doing?” asked Torm.
“Sleeping; let's hope it stays that way,” replied Amdirlain.
“Is hunting along the lower slopes enough?”
“The air is fresher than the chambers’ closed-in scent,” replied Amdirlain. “I’ll focus on detecting nearby creatures, and after we’ve found a few drakes, I might have luck tuning in on them alone.”
An hour later Amdirlain spotted the first massive Drake feeding gleefully. Its jaws snipping with deliberate delicateness at the bloated thorax of a hairy spider larger than a moving van. The spider scratched away ineffectually, trying to get purchase to pull itself free using the legs only on one side; the other side comprised stumps that showed the brutal removal of its legs with sadist deliberateness.
Patches of black ice over a half-kilometre stretch of the steep slope showed the fight's progress. With each leg frozen in place by its clawed end, the drake had pulverised chitin and rock to squash it from the spider’s body. As the spider’s attempt to flee had increasingly slowed, the removal of legs had progressed; the last two removed barely fifty metres apart.
The hulking form of the muted grey Drake overshadowed the spider it had slain. The Drake had a long angular muzzle with a ridged scale that continued along the line of the beast’s form. From its serpentine neck, solid body, and long tail, the outline was very similar to a western Dragon’s form. Though instead of a spear or bladed tail, its particular elongated tail doubled the body length and ended in a boulder-sized bulb. The cracked mess of stone around the spider’s leg testifying to the weight the mass provided the Drake’s tail slams.
[Species: Frost Ridge Drake (Old)
Level: 2
Health: 22,472
Defence: 3,180 (Hardened)
Melee Attack Power: 4,240
Ranged Attack Power: 1,060 (Breath Weapon)
Combat Skills: Bite [M] (52), Claw [M] (12), Tail Slam [M] (72) - Breath Weapon [M] (90)
Details: These creatures favour mountain terrain, but variations exist in deserts and arid mesa. Though distant cousins to dragons, the drakes lack their relatives’ intelligence and magical capabilities. However, they possess a breath weapon composed of a sprayed liquid that freezes on contact.]
[Hardened
This defence category is incredibly resistant to injuries from piercing, cutting, or slashing weapons. It provides no additional protection from blunt or smashing type weapons.]
Level two, advancing an age category reset the Drake’s levels the same way it does dragons or demons.
A touch against the Drake’s mind kept it from noting their approach and allowed Amdirlain to study its music and mind closely. The sadistic glee it took in its prey’s continued struggles was clear in its mind and, though five times the spider’s size, the drake deliberately drew the killing out. Within the beast, its notes resounded with cruel delight, every twitch of pained desperation from the spider met with more enjoyment. Though the spider was no better, its malicious hunger to consume had simply met a bigger predator.
Within them existed similar strains and themes from the abyssal landscape. They bore only a slight resemblance to the natural inclinations of the predator spirits within the Maze, a tendency that the Abyss had twisted into a perverse state of desiring cruel dominance.
Amdirlain teleported beside the Drake’s head with an axe kick already in progress. The Drake instinctively began to rear up, and it's very movement did it a disservice, speeding the contact with Amdirlain kick. When the heel cleaved through the stone crest between its eyes and drove downwards into its brain, the breaking scales sounded like a quarry explosion. The Drake's death was no reprieve for the spider but hastened its end. The weight of Drake collapsing on it squashed the life from it in an explosion of brown blood from its stumps and maw.
[Combat Summary:
Frost Ridge Drake x1
Basalt Wolf Spider x1 (25%)
Total experience gained: 30,064
Ostimë: +15,032
Ostimë Level Up! x 4
Ontãlin: +15,032
Ontãlin Level Up! x 4]
I wish I knew if jumping those classes fast was the right thing to do. While the early levels give me power gains, they don't help to progress skills and powers.
The grey bristles that covered the spider were as rock-like in texture as the Drake’s scales. Amdirlain listened to the materials’ subtle music with its cruel edges and sharp hooked notes, a natural camouflage for blending into the jagged terrain about them. With her focus on the empty landscape, similar music made itself apparent.
Besides other spiders, many beasts blended in with the landscape as they sought food and shelter from the inhospitable environment of the Abyss.
Torm appeared nearby and looked over the fallen pair before he turned his attention to Amdirlain. “I didn’t feel any energy rush from their deaths. Were you showing off for me?”
His teasing tone gained a raised eyebrow before Amdirlain fixed him with a smug smile. “My apologies for being greedy; it seems I’m too used to fighting alone. You said I could vent my frustrations.”
“This is a large specimen; we’re going to have more than enough materials,” offered Torm.
“Mission accomplished already?” enquired Amdirlain.
“Just an overachiever, aren’t you?”
“I’m just that good, results, and more results,” Amdirlain retorted before pretending to fan herself.
“It’s been a while since I’d seen you fight anything serious, and despite its size, I’m not sure that counted,” commented Torm, giving her a wry smile. “Erwarth would scold you for going for the brute force kill.”
“Yes, and no. I deliberately struck to drive its crest back down through its skull,” replied Amdirlain. “Shall we get started?”
Between Amdirlain’s Inventory and Torm’s experience, they quickly dismembered both the Drake and the spider’s remains. They placed various organs from both beasts in containers of preserving fluid that Torm returned to storage devices he had on him. He scraped rolls of skin clean of excess flesh and fat before giving them a quick preserving treatment and storing them.
“Do you want to hunt more of these, or is one old Drake enough?”
“Munais knows spells to preserve the materials if we harvest too much. Depends on how much time you want to spend outside,” replied Torm.
“Longer still, but let’s explore; I want to see what I can learn simply by listening.”
Comments
luda305
Ooh
Glenn Wright
It's a song title by deadmau5 - though the lyrics are more directed to Balnérith. Though also perhaps in how the Domain that originated with her is more than happy to create portable weaponry for her.
luda305
Teeth?
