AbyssalRoadTrip
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Abyssal Road Trip - 303 - Something's off
🕑 Added 2023-07-01 06:50:47 +0000 UTCAmdirlain’s PoV - Outlands - Xaos
At first, toying with the harp, Amdirlain only felt a sense of déjà vu until an expected rush of memories showed her Ólneth’s harp instruction from Hirindo. Orhêthurin's recollections of her family were powerful; ironically, they left Amdirlain feeling like she had intruded, despite them overtaking her. After a few hours of struggling with the memories and harp, Amdirlain’s Skill gained a few more levels.
Settling her auras’ concealments, Amdirlain rose and started towards Xaos. In the first steps, she recognised her stride contained a dancer’s gliding steps mixed with Orhêthurin’s combative grace. Aware of the change, Amdirlain glanced at her hands and found the bronze-gold of the Anar had replaced the dusky Wood Elf skin tone.
Protean restored Amdirlain’s usual Wood Elf appearance, but only with a struggle. Afterwards, the sensation that she’d contorted herself into an uncomfortable yoga position lingered.
[Eldritch Dreadnought
Details: This is a category for Elder beings that engage in close combat and seek to consume or twist the reality around beings they encounter. Those within this category of entities range in strength and resilience but always fit between Tier 4 and Tier 6 primordials. This strength and their usual pack tactics allow even the weakest to kill demigods.
Swarms have destroyed pantheons in this and other realms.]
Why did you have that site first on the list?
Having asked her question, Amdirlain crossed her fingers and used Analysis again.
[Primordial Tiers
Details: The exact names of these tiers vary between pantheons and realms of existence. For example, the dwarven pantheons use references to metal and gems, whereas elves use different trees. Despite their disparate names, the strength of tiers generally align.
Tier 1 range in strength between weaker succubi to balors.
Tier 2 match with balors and their ilk through to weak or midrange demon lords.
Once you hit Tier 3, you’ve progressed towards Demi-god strength, resilience, or power.
Tiers 4 and 5 equate with the power ranges of ‘Lesser’ ranked deities.
Tiers 6 and 7 can match the ‘Intermediate’ ranked deities’ strength.
Tiers 8 and beyond can match themselves against the greatest gods of a realm and win.
A Primordial reaching Tier 11 is in the highest-known category and marks those with the strength to create realms unassisted.
Note: Moradin is a Tier 9, being able to create a planetary system solo.
Note: You had a 52% chance of avoiding death from the chamber. Worst case, you’d be Planar Locked and would have to create some crystal gadgets to deliver on the rest of the list. Or, you know, get someone else to do the work? Shock!
Make sure you’re using your time effectively.]
“You’re weird, Gideon. Maybe Orhêthurin didn’t pay you enough attention before creating the realm,” muttered Amdirlain, and she picked up the pace towards Xaos. “Childhood traumas can scar you for life.”
Her stride evened out once she hit the dirt road and, though it was tempting to wander around the forest, she headed for town.
As she passed farmers clearing weeds from the fields, a few of those closest to the road acknowledged Am with a brisk nod before fixing their gaze on their work. On the way through town, several inhabitants gave her a wide berth, and Amdirlain picked out an unsettled air from a few minds. Alerted, she glimpsed a hard, unsmiling face in the thoughts of the next person crossing the road.
Great, at least it’s not an Eldritch Miasma or something worse; I’m just wearing Orhêthurin’s expression.
Forcing a smile felt like a grimace, so Amdirlain teleported directly to her courtyard in Nolmar. The yard Amdirlain had been using was empty, even of training constructs. She could hear dozens of groups training in the complex’s courtyards and buildings; Klipyl and a half dozen celestials were rampaging through the constructs within the tower’s upper levels. Their pace had Amdirlain wondering how much experience she’d accumulated.
“Maybe I can impose upon Laodice or another to make the constructs less predictable,” murmured Amdirlain. “Though it’s fine for now, they’ll need harder challenges.”
Putting it aside, she picked out Goxashru’s theme and headed to a deeper area where trees surrounded a stone henge. There she found him sparring with Rana, and she stopped in the shadows of an archway to watch. Though the two fought with similar weapons, their styles were vastly different. Rana was constantly on the move, an unpredictable leaf dancing about on an unseen breeze. Goxashru, however, repositioned himself in a slow flow of movements or struck with a burst of speed. The surge of motion reminded Amdirlain of a crocodile exploding from the water to take prey from the riverbank.
Rana stopped after disarming Goxashru and spotted Amdirlain in the corridor. Signalling Goxashru to take a break, Rana walked towards her, a slight frown appearing as he approached.
Goxashru strode ahead of him and bowed low when he came within arm’s reach of Amdirlain. “Elder. Your daughter shared the word that you faced delays.”
“Sorry we’ve not had time to catch up since visiting your Patron’s family,” offered Amdirlain.
Waggling his head, Goxashru tapped his chest. “I am your Talon, ready to serve whenever you have need. Though I admit to believing I’m unworthy of my selection.”
Amdirlain moved forward and clasped his forearm. “I know how that can feel, Goxashru. As long as you’re doing the best you can, that’s all I can ask. How are your lessons going with Rana? I heard you’ve needed the regenerative field.”
“Thank you for the tower to sharpen my skills, Elder,” replied Goxashru, and he dipped his muzzle and continued ruefully. “Though I’ve perhaps tried to push higher through it than has been wise at times; I have, on occasion, needed to surrender.”
“Oh, you’ve not also needed the field to recover from training sessions?”
Goxashru looked taken aback, and Rana laughed. “He’s often used it to recover from strained muscles due to excessive training. I’ve had to remind him I don’t remember Mortal limits, nor have your sense of another’s internals.”
“I’m hardly in the position to scold about overdoing things,” admitted Amdirlain. “I had thought it was more from weapon wounds the way others spoke.”
“There have been minor injuries when fatigue causes a mistake,” explained Goxashru. “The fields let me recover instead of losing days or weeks.”
Aware of the coiled tightness of her muscles, Amdirlain tried her best to avoid seeming curt and gave a gracious nod of acknowledgement.
Rana picked up on Amdirlain’s tension despite her efforts. “You look tense. Has something gone wrong, Am? Livia said you’ve been busy with tasks for the Titan.”
“I spent too much time around Eldritch beings,” admitted Andirlain. “My Protean feels overstressed from the experience, and my body is still tight from the impact of being around them.”
Rana’s gaze flashed shock and fear, and his words came in a whisper. “Outsiders? Are they loose on a world or Plane? What did they do to your Protean?”
The fear had Amdirlain moving close to clasp his arm reassuringly. “They’re contained. Gideon gave me some locations of cages, and I repaired them. However, the fractures had let their presence leak into the chamber. That alone was enough to twist my flesh to obey their alien rules. I didn’t stop going until all the seals were back in place.”
“How many cells did you seal, and what?” enquired Rana in a strained whisper.
“Slightly over four hundred containing eldritch dreadnoughts,” clarified Amdirlain.
The connection between Rana and his Goddess strengthened, and memories of meeting Danu before the realm was forged struck from Amdirlain’s Soul. Riding with them, Protean tried to shift her form, but Amdirlain didn’t let her memories or Power run wild.
“My Lady expresses gratitude for your efforts; such beings have destroyed special places in this realm and others. She asks if there is anything that might assist you with your projects?” enquired Rana, and he tilted his head as if listening further. “She wouldn’t have thought that the Titan would put such a hefty price for aid upon you.”
“Livia gave you the details of what happened?” asked Amdirlain, avoiding the implicit question.
Rana looked at her compassionately. “I grieve for your loss. I spoke with Torm several times in the years since you rescued me. While we had a different outlook overall, we had found common ground in many places.”
“Thank you. I'd be grateful if Danu could ask the Summer Court to persuade the formithians to withdraw from the worlds they haven't created. Especially if she can avoid using my name,” replied Amdirlain.
“They will seize unclaimed territory on any world, regardless of future need,” replied Rana after he’d communed momentarily. “She will bring it up with the Summer Court and also encourage the Winter Court. Though my Lady can’t host you in her Domain, she has allies whose domains in the Outlands might help you renew yourself. With your permission, she’ll approach some of those that might host you.”
“If they’re among those helping Xaos, I’d be open to at least meeting with them,” replied Amdirlain.
Rana greeted her reserved agreement with an understanding smile before he bid them both farewell.
“What time in the ‘day’ is it for you, Goxashru?” asked Amdirlain.
Goxashru shrugged. “I was going to stop for lunch shortly. What do you need me to help with?”
“I need to check on that nest on Votari and then gain access to another world. Why don’t you have food and rest first,” suggested Amdirlain.
“As you wish, Elder. Shall I meet you at your suite?” asked Goxashru, not showing a trace of his previous reluctance to be involved in summoning Amdirlain.
“Can you meet me there in two hours?” replied Amdirlain. “If you need longer, that’s fine. There is more preparation work I can do in advance.”
“That’s more than enough time,” confirmed Goxashru.
“I might need you to stay on the target world with me while the work is in progress. Make sure you pick up some travel supplies for a few days. Just in case I’m busy singing when you get hungry,” instructed Amdirlain.
With that, Amdirlain teleported to the suite’s garden and set to work. Though she already knew where she was moving Votari’s nest, she didn’t count on that planet having enough space for long. Amdirlain created some new orbital surveyors, but not for detailed scans. These she cast into fast, low orbits around a score of Formithian worlds for tracts of vacant land.
I wonder how long it will be before they figure it out? World Step doesn’t leave Mana traces, so I should add some to the song. Let’s make them think it was a cross-world Teleport that occurred.
Deciphering the music of World Step, she found the targeting and transport mechanisms and reconsidered part of her original plan. The Power’s song made it clear even an imposed natural sleep wouldn’t last against it, so a flurry of additional work followed. Not only to design the piece, but to create extra crystals to ensure it affected the whole nest at once and left suitable traces of Mana.
Scrying the nest, she found it had swollen since she’d last checked it. Investigating the depths, she discovered two more sets of breeding formithians. Though one group was significantly smaller, all three were pumping out eggs. Other plans were in play, with stockpiles of material accumulating in surface chambers, and a road being constructed headed south. Touching the guards’ thoughts, she caught their anticipation of the return of far-ranging scouts.
When Amdirlain distributed the stasis crystal through the nest, silence enveloped the formithians’ conscious thoughts. Amdirlain collected the monitoring crystal she left in the sky to determine the scouts' exploration path. Following it, she found a few hundred had dug tunnels into the foothills 180 kilometres south of the nest. Hoping that was all the scouts, Amdirlain teleported them back to the nest. Their arrival deposited them within range of the crystals applying the mental stasis.
With them all gathered in one place, she sent out a pulse to ensure the formithians and their latest crops were tagged. She created a spire to protect the entrance and to serve as a reference and relay for their relocation.
When Goxashru arrived, he found dozens of spires floating around Amdirlain. The low-orbit surveyors delivered streams of memory crystals into her hands. He stood nearby, patiently waiting while she worked, but Amdirlain could feel curiosity weighing on him. Though he’d tried to take the dragons’ reverence in stride, their behaviour and words still had his thoughts in a whirl.
“You’re allowed to ask questions, Goxashru,” Amdirlain said, and she stored the spires in Inventory. “I won’t snap, I promise. How I answer them and how much I share is in my control; unless Bahamut goes interjecting on questions again.”
“Elder, I was not expecting anything like the greeting you received from the town’s patron,” admitted Goxashru.
“A Dragon’s bloodline memories will do you in every time in that respect. If I wanted to stay incognito, I shouldn’t have gone near a Gold Dragon in my old form. Yet, it felt right to do so, which likely comes from old memories I’m not even aware of having,” advised Amdirlain. “I wanted to ensure you don’t regret swearing to my service as a Talon.”
“Bahamut sent me to you. He must have a reason to place us together,” stated Goxashru, and he settled into a relaxed crouch.
Amdirlain smiled. “From what I remember, he enjoys it when hatchlings grow up and learn from each other through shared struggles.”
A clicking noise came from Goxashru, and he swished his tail back and forth in amusement. “I would not consider you a hatchling.”
“Not to you perhaps, but to Bahamut, it’s a whole other story.”
“If you are a clutch mate, what happened to all your scales?” asked Goxashru, his tongue flicking across his front teeth in amusement.
“Guess I scrubbed a little hard,” sighed Amdirlain dramatically, trying her best to play along.
His inner eyelids partly closed, and Goxashru’s nostrils flared. “You need to be more careful when shedding, Elder. You are not supposed to scratch the new scales away as well.”
“I guess no one has trained me properly in moulting techniques,” sighed Amdirlain, and she opened a Gate and listened to the world beyond. “There isn’t anything close by that’s dangerous. I’ll need you to summon me for this next stage.”
“Of course, and I will not tell Livia you used a Gate in town,” said Goxashru.
“Thanks,” drawled Amdirlain.
Goxashru looked across the brown grassed hillside under an orange sun and wrinkled his nose. “This world’s sun looks sullen and cold.”
“It just looks colder, but it is bigger in the sky. It’s an orange dwarf star that lasts longer than the one your home world orbits. The temperature is about the same as in the Outlands.”
Readying his sword and the summoning crystal Goxashru stepped through. As soon he was clear of the Gate, Amdirlain felt the summoning call and let the Gate close. The rush of the passage between planes was the same as before, and when she appeared in the circle, Amdirlain took in its song. Despite the runes being set in the harder ground, the same flaws were present in the music, though its barrier was flawless Mana.
Before Goxashru could break the circle, Amdirlain motioned for him to step back. Resonance gave her a precise perspective of the terrain, with no sense of obstruction from the circle’s barrier. Tracking down some discordant notes idling through it, she filled her hand with Ki and struck hard. Though the blow didn’t impact the barrier, she heard the pitch of the notes shift.
“Breaking out that way seems possible, but let me quickly try something else,” said Amdirlain.
The note was sharp, a chisel blade aimed at the inner circle’s mithril. Days of struggle against the Eldritch distortion lent it a precision she’d previously lacked. The impact cut a hair-thin line through the metal without touching the ground below, and the barrier collapsed.
“It would seem no one will contain you again,” chuffed Goxashru happily.
“I’ll need to run more tests before I feel comfortable with that statement,” cautioned Amdirlain, and she motioned him to hand over the crystal. “This circle had intentional flaws; I’ll have to see how I go against a perfect containment. The summons caused minimal wear on the crystal, but I’ll set an enchantment to create a better circle to test later. Let me do that while I get some bearings for a suitable spot.”
After sending one surveyor straight up for a wide area view, Amdirlain enchanted a second summoning option within the same crystal.
When she returned the crystal to Goxashru, he immediately stored it away. “What sort of spot are you after?”
Amdirlain absorbed the remains of the circle and considered her explanation.
“They’ve got their nest positioned on a flat plain at present, and I plan to duplicate its song,” explained Amdirlain, and she motioned to the surrounding hills. “I could adjust it, but it’s easier if I’ve got a flat spot to do a straight duplication.”
“Do you think they will understand that they are plainly not welcome?” enquired Goxashru.
Amdirlain groaned and felt a slight smile twitch her lips, though it felt strangely uncomfortable. “I’m getting the feeling that I know why Bahamut sent you my way.”
“To provide you an education in proper scale care?” quipped Goxashru.
“More like we both have an odd sense of humour,” countered Amdirlain.
Her statement received a huffed protest.
Pulling the surveyor back, Amdirlain checked the images it had collected. “These hills are a spur from the end of mountains to the west, with plains in all other directions. There’s water to the east and no nest in sight, so that’s where we’ll go.”
Teleport carried them out of the foothills.
Amdirlain considered the nest’s song and compared it to the layers of soil and bedrock beneath her. With the differences in the bedrock and soil composition, she rapidly adjusted it to keep their tunnels and chambers intact. Starting the song from the literal top, the ground trembled while tunnels formed, and Amdirlain’s theme applied the formithians’ sealants.
Despite the size of the nest, it was an alteration of mundane matter on a minuscule scale compared to the adjustments she’d made for volcanoes. Within half an hour, she’d completed the tunnel complex.
Amdirlain started transporting the formithians from Votari, straining her limits with thousands of songs. As the work progressed, she began to hear growing hunger in the latest arrivals and pushed the pace.
[Achievement: Have song, will travel
Details: Earned for moving a species from one habitable planet to another.
Reward: 200,000,000 experience points
Note: Normally, the experience reward would get shared between choirs. Greedy guts!
Note: While it's not on your list, it was good to have it resolved. We’ve had to make additional worlds because of all those they’ve occupied.]
Amdirlain sighed in relief at the note, aware she’d taken too much time from her work.
[Achievement: Incursion Blocker (Intruder: minor)
Details: Have brought a species’ incursion on a planet to a halt.
Whether this halt is permanent or temporary remains to be seen.
Reward: 300,000,000 experience points
Note: That experience is based on the current incursion range (3+ million) and potential impact. They were preparing to create another nest and would have made a third shortly after. You could have earned a few trillion if you’d left them for a century.
Note: They were approaching 6.5 million in the nest, a regular metropolis.]
Unleashing a song to let the mental stasis fade, Amdirlain took them back to the Outlands. “Hold on.”
Leading the way through another Gate back to Votari, Amdirlain quickly transported them to the Outlands Gate Moradin’s celestials had found. In rapid succession, she severed it from the Outlands and changed the planet’s name. The confusion in Goxashru’s gaze earned him a grin. “Had to make sure they couldn’t come back. I broke their route from the Outlands and changed the planet’s name so they can’t just open a Gate.”
“If egg thieves have snuck through tunnels once, it is best to seal them off,” agreed Goxashru.
“You should head back to Xaos and get some rest,” instructed Amdirlain. “If you can, let Livia know that I’ll be taking care of other things on Gideon’s list, not raiding nests.”
Resting in the sunlight far from Xaos, Amdirlain started scrying each location Gideon had included with the risker tasks. The sites repeatedly contained only a single entity, some shackled while others inside full enclosures. Analysis of the remaining lifespan of the True Song Crystal holding them in place let her prioritise the list.
Amdirlain opened the scrying window to the fifty-seventh site when the sight of open shackles and a dome-like helmet stopped her cold. Within the shackles’ song of containment, a spiral device caught her attention. Laying near the discarded restraints, it contained an activation melody that matched a tune lingering on the shackles. She could hear fading spatial energy within the chamber, but the Eldritch miasma had degraded it.
How did someone have a key?
[True Song Crystal - Shackles and muzzle for an Eldritch Whisperer
Creator: Orhêthurin
Lifespan: 19,720,503,123 remaining of 40,000,000,000+ years.]
[Eldritch Whisperer
Details: These Tier 2 entities feed off mental anguish and confusion emitted by tormented beings—Mortal or otherwise. They seek tormented beings to infect and provoke them into acts that will inflict mental torment on others and thus infect them. Each being infected, directly or indirectly, links them to the Whisperer. This connection of horror allows it to project thoughts to manipulate their actions. At first, such an influence is subtle, but eventually, madness makes such subtly unnecessary.
They build influence over newly infected individuals until it can propel them into acts of mindless destruction. Whether that destruction is inflicted on themselves or others is beside the point.
Their goal for any infected individual is to manipulate them into events that will ‘touch’ the most and spread the infection.]
Great, a psychic Typhoid Mary is on the loose, and who knows where it’s gone?
Amdirlain shifted to the discarded shackles and found herself battered by hunger and frustrated desire. It was the first time anything from the Eldritch beings had made sense. She might never know how its nature fed off these particular energies, however, the long-term imprisonment had caused the target of its appetite to seep into the rock. Beyond that stain, Amdirlain could hear the chords of an abyssal melody.
Storing the shackles and key into the ring of storage she’d constructed, Amdirlain hopped back to the Outlands, cleaning herself up as she went. Once there, she continued scrying through Gideon’s list and found the locations scattered across different planes within the Abyss. Though she didn't find another site containing empty shackles, not knowing the full list, it felt more like a matter of not yet, than never.
Trying to design a containment field and clean-up approach to deal with the Eldritch distortion pushed beyond what Amdirlain had learnt.
[Activation Crystal
Details: This tool was created to engage or disable shackles and muzzle for the Eldritch Whisperer that you found it discarded beside.]
I didn’t see any keys in the first chamber, so where did it come from?
Using Analysis on the key again only got her the same information. Still, Amdirlain persisted and altered the intention for every attempt.
[Eldritch Containment Key Storage:
Details: A single chamber holds all the Activation crystals related to the Eldritch beings secured within the Abyss. Access to them is restricted to authorised individuals.]
Below the details, a string of planar coordinates in True Song notation froze Amdirlain. The reference in the coordinates made it clear the location was somewhere high on the Titan’s Spire in the Outlands.
Comments
Glenn Wright
They did get permission to use tools.
Kasper Lynderup Jensen
My guess is that it is one of the three that Destruction wanted freed.
Gopard
Thanks for the chapter! A "betrayal"? Did one of the Titan's servants release a being for whatever reason? Or maybe they came in contact with a soul infested by an eldritch being and through that were convinced that letting "just one go" might be some kind of "training opportunity" or something? Alternatively Gideon might have goaded someone into releasing this being to challenge amdirlain more... But I don't think so, that would be a direct action "against" the rules right? Hmmm.
