My guesses for the 4 future paths we get for TB down the line. I am going to try and include the situation around how we will get the paths as well as the unique mechanics of how it will work. None of this is in any particular order.
This is all just me taking pot shots because I find this stiff find, don't take any of it seriously.

Nihility, Wind

I believe this will be the culmination of Blade's storyline. Acheron's talk of how she guides others on meaningless paths got me thinking a lot on Blade's situation and I'm starting to believe that he is on one such path. His crusade against Dan Feng is already over, the man is very much dead, but Dan Heng is the closest proxy he can get for his anger outlet. While yes they do share certain traits, Dan Heng is fighting hard for this life of his.
I believe Blade will start to realize his rage means nothing, albeit it will be a slowly and highly painful process (for everyone). He will start to fall into Nihility. I think the TB will try and pull him out, ya know, because we're the protagonist and that's our job. Somewhere along the line he dies, either fulfilled or because we fail, and we get our new path.
The hilt of Blade's shattered sword, now forever broken. The mechanic will probably a "Death Blossom" effect, which will show up similar to Ruan Mei's effect with the flower above the enemies heads. The effect will store a portion of all damage dealt and deal it again as a DoT.
This is probably least likely prediction, but I think it'd be cool.

Hunt, Quantum

The Hunt is all about the elimination of The Abundance's abominations at all costs, at any price. I think we're gonna have to pay that price.
Given Lan's connection to the Xianzhou, it will most likely happen on one of the ships, fighting the disciples of Sanctus Medicus. To be blunt, someone we know will become marastruck. We are going to search and search for a cure to help them to no success because that is a fundamental point of this disease. And we will be forced to mercy kill them.
This will grab Lan's attention, and we will be granted the will of The Hunt.
We will be given a bow, because that's sort of Lan's whole thing. With The Hunt's focus on speed and single target damage, I think the special effect will be some sort of stacking basic attack. Every time you attack the same enemy with your basic attack, they gain a stack of "Quantum Arrow". For every stack they have, your basic attack damage will trigger again when they are hit. TB's skill will either be a basic attack enhancement or something that consumes all stacks for high burst damage.

Erudition, Lightning

First off, being noticed by Nous means we will become a member of the Genius Society, which is objectively hilarious. It's not that I even think that's out of character for TB, because they are by all means very intelligent. TB is also just a massive goofball that it's kinda hidden.
Nous is a machine, an artificially created Aeon. And while we have very limited information on the implications, I think this means TB will physically meet Nous at one point. I don't have enough information to say exactly what will go down, perhaps this will be the point where we get the death of an Aeon as Nanook begins his rampage across the stars.
I have 2 different ideas on what abilities TB will get. 1st idea is that of having multiple summon companion (like Numby or Lightning-Lord) each tied to one of the TB's basic attack, skill, and ultimate. These summons will be robots of various sizes and shapes that we most likely got to know across the story much like Clockie.
2nd idea is that of scanning and copying a teammate. Very simple, TB's ultimate basically allows for you to double up on a character for a limited number of turns. Really need those shields? Double Aventurine. Want to give Ratio his dream of making out with himself? Go for it.
And that just leaves...

Abundance, Ice

Really just here because that's the last combo, but it does make thematic sense. While Preservation was the fire that refuses go out in the storm, Abundance is the life that refuses to yield. No clue as to the situation beyond the basic thematic relevance.
TB will get some druid type power, plant control and the like. The effect will be some sort of overheal, perhaps being able to heal over max HP or applying shields (JESUS FUCK a spider went down from the ceiling and almost landed on my hand while typing).
Anyway yeah not much to say about this one.
Again, these are just my own thoughts that probably won't happen.

Following the saying "A Problem Well-Stated Is a Problem Half-Solved" I need help formulating the gamedesign problem properly :D
So, let's imagine we have a survival game with a semi-infinite (huge, not meant to be fully explored) procedurally generated open world with semi-randomly generated loot according to the loot rarity or other game peculiarities. Now, one of the features I love in survival games is that "you never have enough" which forces you to explore more (scarcity of loot).
But here comes the problem: in a semi-infinite world, at some point player will always have more than enough, no matter how rare the resource is. Achieved through grind. However, if the resource is way too rare, finding it is just a matter of "doing the grind longer" which instead of rewarding experience creates a boring repetitive, just go go go go go until you find it.
I have a few ideas, but unfortunately none of those solve the root of the problem:

1. Resources are unique (i.e. there are 12 magical crystals in the infinite world, no more). They can be found along the storyline by following permanent hints. I'll definitely use this solution for upgrade tree, but unique and "scarce" are different concepts, they create different feelings for the Player.
2. Resources are bound to exploration patterns. E.g. Player knows that magic crystals can grow in swamps. So not just goes randomly looking for them all over the map, but knows and is guided where to go. However, as map is infinite - there is an infinite amount of swamps, and therefore a grindy-minded player (like me) will waste time collecting 100 magical crystals (just to not worry about not having enough of them again), while actually needs only 12 for meaningful craft.
3. Price (tax) for exploration. I.e. the resources themselves are used for further exploration (like petroleum for the vehicle or arrows to kill monsters), so the N of resources / area explored ratio is roughly constant. First of all I personally don't like this kind of things, second, it's a dangerous mechanics to introduce in a procedurally generated world as it may result in soft-locks. E.g. even if we generate the world in such a way that the Player is supposed to gather enough resources to keep up the sustainable exploration - we cannot guarantee that the Player will actually follow the logic without yellow-painting it. E.g. the Player may explore the deserts (because likes those, or grinds for other resource there) but avoid swamps and not get magic crystals - until it's too late and not enough magic crystals to explore the swamps to get more of those. Creating rock-paper-scissors resources interdependency only complicates the problem but doesn't solve it.
4. Limit amount of resources that can be collected (by limited strage capacity or resource expiration). I personally don't like this mechanics. Feels really unrewarding "I've found a super-rare magic crystal, but can't pick it up because I already have 4 of those and I can't carry more simultaneously".
5. Infinite resource sink. I.e. to get a "good enough upgrade" (aimed at a regular player) one needs to collect 12 magic crystals. But collecting 24 more will increase the upgrade quality by 5% - not enough to break the game balance, but enough to be noticed. Gathering another 48 magic crystals gives 5% more... and so on. Like RPG leveling system, with an exponentically growing curve but always providing some small but noticeable benefit to reward grindy players. May result in makin the game easier for the players who spend more time in the game and subconsciously actually want the game harder and longer instead :D Also eventually will also run out of purpose - if collecting 12 crystals takes 2 in-game hours, collecting 1200 - will take 200 hours of grind and techncially equals to "next level upgrade just doesn't exist", we'll get there sooner or later. Rewarding players works with new content - but the map is infinite the amount of content cannot be infinite, obviously :)
6. Rubberbanding. The more magic crystals you have - the less they spawn in the world. Many players, including me really hate this mechanic :) "The more effort you put into the game - the worse is the result".
7. Risk-locking. E.g. obtaining the resource is linked to a permaent risk of losing more, i.e. discouraging the Player from getting more than needed. E.g. by locking the resource behind a powerful boss enemy which is a challenge even for an advanced player. Same as rubberbanding - nobody wants to die to a "1" roll on 1d20. Also newbie (who is trying to get the first magic crystal) is more likely to fall for bad random than an experienced player (who is grinding the 100th one).

In other words, I perfectly understand that I'm trying to merge mutually excluding concepts. And I'm perfectly aware that I make a logical error while struggling to formulate the problem above.
So, what I'm trying to achieve - the feeling of "never enough" of some resource. My favorite parft of survival games is the beginning - when you don't have enough of anything :) So I want to prolong this onto the most of the gameplay duration despite the map being infinite and therefore the presence of the resource being roughly unlimited - without adding the amount of content into the game that is definitely above a solo hobby developer capacity.
So, I wonder if you have some ideas on the issue? Have seen a game where it was done well? Or maybe also have some half-formulated point to think about and maybe it will push to a "revelation"? :)
Thank you! :)

Context: He wakes up in a maze, lost and confused. He soon finds out that he in not alone. With the girl's help, he'll have to solve puzzles to get out of the maze, before they get caught by the person who trapped them in.
[He growls in pain]

• Shit, my head hurts… Where am I? How did I get here? I don’t remember anything…

[He sighs and slowly gets up]

• I was walking to the gym… A guy bumped into me and… and then, black out… Nothing… Until I woke up here
  
• What is this place?... I see nothing but high hedges full of thorns. And of course, my phone is missing. Guess I’ll have to go on an adventure
  

[He starts walking]

• Okay… This is clearly a maze. Fabulous.
  
• Hey! I don’t know who you are and why you brought me here, but it’s not funny anymore! Just come and tell me what you want face to face, coward!
  

[He jolts, startled]

• W-what? Anybody here?
  
• Oh my God… Yes, I can hear you! I don’t know why I am here either!
  
• Don’t move, I’ll try to find a path to you by following your voice! Keep talking!
  

[He walks faster, breathing shakily]

• Shit, another dead end. Don’t worry, I’ll find a way. I can feel I’m getting closer to you

[He takes a deep breath]

• Finally found you! Hmm… Hi…
  
• Are you okay?
  
• Yeah, my head hurts too. I guess they knocked us out by hitting our heads or drugging us
  
• So, what’s your name?
  
• Nice to meet you. I’m Max. Did you find anything that could help us to find the exit?
  
• Nah, me neither…
  

[He sighs]

• We can’t just walk around stupidly. We’ll be exhausted or starve before we managed to get out of here.
  
• We have to think first
  
• You’re right, we have to mark our path not to get lost… But how?
  
• With a stick? To trace arrows on the floor. Good idea. Except that we don’t have a stick…
  
• I can try, but have you seen the size of those thorns?
  
• Fine, fine. I know that we don’t have any other choice
  

[Branches breaking noises. He growls in pain]

• I’m fine. It’s nothing much
  
• Oh, hmm… Thanks for bandaging my hand. But you didn’t have to rip the bottom of your shirt for that
  
• Yes, the bleeding stopped. Let’s start walking then
  
• What’s wrong?
  
• Oh… That’s right. The night will be there soon… We won’t be able to see where we are going. It’s too dangerous. We should settle down somewhere and try to sleep
  
• I am aware that sleeping on the floor is not ideal but we have to rest. We absolutely have to find the exit tomorrow. We don’t have food or water, so it’ll become more and more difficult
  
• I am sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Forget what I just said. We will be fine. Understood?
  
• Great! Try to rest, now…
  

[He falls asleep]
[He growls softly and mumbles]

• Jeez, I’m freezing…
  
• Looks like I am not the only one… Hey, come closer… I know it’s awkward but we have to cuddle to get warm
  

[He sighs in delight]

• Feels better already… Go back to sleep. I got you. It’s still early
  
• Don’t worry, I won’t do anything weird. I’ll just rub your back to keep you warm, I promise
  
• You are welcome. Whether we want to or not, we are in this together. So it’s better if we get along, don’t you agree?
  

[He laughs softly]

• You seem to be a nice person too

[He yawns and falls back asleep]
[Branches crack]
[He whispers]

• Yes, I heard that too. But I don’t see anyone. We should probably start moving. The sun is high enough for us to see where we are going without risks

[Footsteps sounds as they start walking]

• Look, there is an open space
  
• What is that? It looks like there is something engraved on this rock
  
• “A precious stone, as clear as diamond. Seek it out whilst the sun’s near the horizon. Though you walk on water with its power, try to keep it, and it’ll vanish within an hour.”... Is that… a riddle?
  
• Yeah, it looks like the person who brought us here wants to play with us. Maybe if we find the answer we’ll win a hint to get out of this maze. Let me think for a minute…
  
• Hmm? Ice. Right, makes sense. But how is that supposed to be a hint?
  
• What did you find?
  
• Two big ice cubes? And what are we going to do with that?
  
• Make it melt and drink… But we can’t be sure that it’ll be potable water
  
  • Hmm… So we have to choose between dying from poisoning or dehydration. Fabulous.
• I know, I’m thirsty too… I guess we don’t have anything to lose anyway
  

[He sighs and drinks]

• Look, there is a symbol drawn on the floor. Let’s follow this path.
  
• So… Why don’t we talk to get to know each other better? It’s not like we have anything else to do while we are walking
  
• Sure, I can start. So, you already know that but my name is Max. I am an English teacher
  
• You’re a psychologist?
  
• I know, right. Maybe this guy needed smart people to try his maze
  
• Yes, I just called us smart. Am I wrong?
  

[He softly laughs]

• Average people cannot answer hard riddles. That’s what I meant
  
• Speaking of riddles, there is another open space in front of us
  
• Let me see. “As I walked along the path I saw something with four fingers and one thumb, but it was not flesh, fish, bone or fowl.”
  
• This one is easy. It’s a glove. And there it is. Now, how to use it?
  
• You want me to put my hand in this hole?... Even with the glove, the fact that we can’t see what’s inside upsets me
  
• I know I already hurt my hand but I’d like not to lose it completely
  

[He sighs]

• Fine, but you’ll do the next one!

[He growls]

• I think I can feel something… Wait, I got it. It’s a…

[He yelps]

• It’s a freaking human ear! What the hell?!

[He breathes shakily]

• No, I am not fine! It clearly is a warning and I am not planning on being cut into pieces! We have to find the exit

[He takes a deep breath]

• Okay, let’s go… I don’t want to stay here any longer

[They start walking]

• You… You don’t have to hold my hand. I’m fine, really.
  
• Oh… but you’re not. I am sorry… You’re great at hiding your fear…
  
• You have to keep a poker face at work, I get it. But you are still human. And here it’s just the two of us so don’t force yourself, okay?
  

[Stomach growling]

• Jesus… I am so hungry… I hope the next riddle will reward us with something to eat
  
• We already took this path, look, there is a mark
  
• Are you sure you’re not the one who did it?
  
• You added a small detail only you know about, in case our kidnapper would try to trick us? That’s smart
  
• So, he is trying to mess with us… already…
  
• And we still don’t have a clue about what he wants from us
  
• You’re right. Maybe there is no real reason. Maybe it’s just a psycho… But it’s your job to analyze this kind of person, isn’t it?
  
• You’re a psychologist, not a profiler… I don’t really see a difference
  
• Criminal and forensic knowledge. Should have thought about that. Anyway, we found another riddle
  
• “I have streets, but no pavement. I have cities, but no buildings. I have forests, yet no trees. I have rivers, yet no water.”
  
• This just doesn’t make sense. A forest without trees is not a forest. It’s like… a glade…
  
• A map?... Oh! A map! Jesus, you’re really good at this.
  
• That’s an actual map of the maze? Why would he give it to us? Unless the map is altered
  
• First, let’s find out if it’s accurate or not. Then we’ll try to go to the exit
  
• We can’t? Why?
  
• There is… no exit on the map?... That’s impossible! How did we end up here then?!
  

[He sighs]

• Sorry, I’m not mad at you… I just lost my cool. It’s still too early to panic. For now, we are safe
  
• The sun is going down already. We’ll soon be in the dark because of those high hedges. I think we still have time to go to two more open spaces
  
• According to the map, it’s left, right, left five times, then twice right… Don’t forget to mark the path, it can still be useful
  
• There it is. No riddle?... But a box. I hope it’s not a body part again… I’m not sure I could handle it twice the same day
  
• Sandwiches?! Thank God, finally something to eat… Looks like we won’t starve yet
  
• Hmm?
  

[He chuckles]

• Sorry… I’m not giving a good image of myself, eating like this. I know I probably have sauce all over my face but to be honest, I don’t care… I was so hungry…

[He mumbles, embarrassed]

• You didn’t have to clean my face with your sleeve, but thank you

[He clears his throat]

• Anyway… I think we should move. I feel observed
  
• You do too? The atmosphere is heavy here. Do you want to take my hand again?
  
• No, it doesn’t bother me at all. It’s… soothing for me too, actually
  
• Okay… Today’s last riddle. Are you ready?
  
• “Iron roof, glass walls, burns and burns, and never falls”
  
• A lantern!
  

[He laughs softly]

• We said it at the same time. It looks like there’s starting to be a connexion between us
  
• Oh, I’m sorry, don’t blush… I didn’t mean to be creepy or awkward
  
• So, we’re good?
  
• Fabulous. We have to find the lantern. It’ll help us a lot
  
• It seems really ancient. But apparently it still works. Do you think we should sleep here or go back into the maze?
  
• Good idea. The hedges protect us more against the cold and the kidnapper cannot arrive from six different paths
  

[He growls softly as he lays down]

• My legs hurt so much… How many hours did we walk?... It is hard to tell as our only reference is the sun

[He yawns]

• Are you comfy?

[He chuckles]

• I am glad to hear that my chest is a great pillow
  
• Human beings are indeed capable of adapting to anything
  
• Good night to you too. Have sweet dreams, far away from this maze
  

[He yawns softly]
[Dead leaves cracks as he moves]
[He whispers]

• Are you sleeping or just pretending?

[He chuckles]

• I knew it. Good morning
  
• I slept well too, thanks for asking
  
• Ready to continue the adventure?
  
• Let’s go then
  

[He gets up and stretches]

• According to the map, there is an open space at the next bend
  
• And here is the riddle
  
• Yes, I noticed that the place seems darker than before even if I don’t know what makes me feel like this. I feel… danger
  
• Yes, my spidey sense is activated
  

[He laughs]

• So… “What is so delicate that saying its name breaks it?”
  
• This one is well-known. It’s si-
  

[The end of the word is muffled as she puts her hand on his mouth]

• Hmm? What’s wrong?
  
• You think we are not supposed to say the word? But finding the answer had always been rewarded until now
  
• Trust me, it’s a good thing to do. The answer is Silence
  

[Long wood cracks sounds in the distance]

• See? It activated something. We just have to find out what it is
  
• I think the sound came from this way. Let’s take this path
  
• Hey, don’t be upset. I know I said I sensed danger, but I’ll protect you. Just stay by my side and you’ll be fine
  
• This open space really hits different. You know, it’s like when you approach the final boss in a video game
  
• Right, let’s not make suppositions and have high expectations. I’m just tired of being here
  
• This riddle sounds easy too. “I look at you, you look at me. I raise my right, you raise your left. What am I”?
  
• Yep, a mirror
  

[Heavy fabric falling sounds]

• This mirror is… massive. But what are we supposed to do with it?
  
• You think that if we look at it, something may appear behind us?... Okay
  

[He jolts and yelps]

• What the hell?! Run!

[He starts panting]

• Jesus Christ, I knew something was off today! But this guy has a freaking bloody ax!

[He pants heavily and whimpers]

• Shit, a dead end!
  
• This door seems about to be opened. Maybe that’s the mechanism we activated earlier
  

[He growls as he tries to open it. Wood cracks]

• It’s not moving!
  
• A Riddle? As if we had time for this!
  
• “As I was going to St Ives, I met a man with seven wives, each wife had seven sacks ,each sack had seven cats, each cat had seven kits: kits, cats, sacks and wives, how many were there going to St Ives?”
  
• Of course it has to be about math! Jeez! Seven… multiplied by seven, multiplied by seven…
  

[He growls in frustration]

• Raaah! I don’t know!
  
• What do you mean “one”? There’s no way that’s the right answer!
  
• Only one was going to St Ives, he just crossed the way of the others? Shit… Okay, you’re a genius. But what does this imply? That only one of us can leave?
  
• Shit, shit, shit, he is coming! The door must be unlocked now, go! I’ll hold him back so you can escape safely! I’ll throw the lantern at him!
  

[He throws the lantern. Metal hitting the floor sound, then a fire starts]

• Don’t hesitate! Go! I’ll be fine!
  
• I’m not sacrificing myself. I’ll join you later, I promise! Now, leave!
  

[Fights the guy but then he is knocked out, falling on the ground. Silence]
[Unknown deep voice]

• You are worthy. You can stay alive. For now.

[Hospital beep sounds]
[He growls in pain as he wakes up]

• Where am I?... What happened?
  
• What?... I spent the last three days in a coma?... So... it wasn't real?...
  

[END]
If anyone wants to record this and to release it on any platform, they can do it, but please, credit and a link to this post are provided.
Monetization is okay with all of my scripts, no matter the platform.
You are allowed to make changes to the script, but please ask me first.

Finally into the game, ive spawn ship, flown to a few planets, and went to another hub (Arcorp). Pretty much love everything, But now i want to actually play. Or at least try. I have a Carrack, Hornet (F7A & F7C), and the Arrow apparently, despite not owning the ship with real money.
Where do you go to get missions (figured it out)? What should i outfit my ship with? Particularly the Arrow and F7A, since i can so some combat missions.
How do i get the Pisces into my character? I don't mean how do i land one ship into the other, i mean while on Arcorp how do i get the one ship into the other with the hanger doors closed. Also while im on Arcorp i started on Orison, do i need to go back in order to get the res of my ships?
What are some good stuff i should buy at the start? some basic starting equipment. I have a bout 42k from my game packages. (Also, where should i go to get this stuff?)
Is there a way to get an FPS counter in game? i know the game isnt anywhere near 60 while in cities, i would like to get it somewhat good outside of them.
Thank you.

There really isn't anything like waking up to the sound of birds ruckussing about, looking at the clock reading 5 am and thinking about the days adventure, that has an overwhelming sense of calm to it.
I have a place to live that I can afford. I have a job that, while it is hard labor, I can synergize with. And two hobbies that compliment each other.
Today I'm going out to work on my day off with a gig. I have three gigs I do and they don't bother me at all. Helping someone move their furniture, delivering food, shopping for groceries, and even simple bike repairs. I'm so happy with everything I have now because I changed my lifestyle.
I used to be one of those everyday "NPC's." One that would fear having to do anything strenuous or demanding to "save" a community. But I started thinking differently and noticed something that had a very stark, but crude, relationship with what an animated villain said back on October 24th, 2004. One that was later transmuted on July 18th, 2008. But I want to rewrite it one more time. I just can't find the words though.
The anxiety around "responsibilities" on a long list for job offerings from various websites used to scare me. Especially when it came to a lifting weight minimum. I would be just like an NPC, saying in my mind "omg I have to lift how much and how often-," and never even give it a second read-through for the rest of the description; effectively talking myself out of even sending in an application. I even came up with the saying, that got twisted and turned into "the squeeze ain't worth the juice produced" from, "we need to apply the laws of supply and demand to employment." Whereas the amount being paid isn't helping me out at all. I felt like everything was broken in the puzzle.
But the broken puzzle piece comes from envy; conquering this is the key.
I flipped around my constant "hive mind" perpetual perception by adding stoicism to my character. And now I understand it fully.
Think of it like this. Every time someone passes by with a hyper car you always want to know "who is that." It fills you with excitement and grief. But I have unmasked the phantom of the opera with three possible outcomes of said individual because of the various jobs I have done.
If it is an old person in that hyper car? You already know this person's life. This is their retirement package. They still hold that egregious power struggle with envy because they finally get all of the clout and accolades that goes with the hyper car. But here is my gnawing "arrow to the knee" for them. "It's bought, not built."
If it is a younger kid inside of that vehicle they are the ones to never be around. They cause the most possible damage to themselves and everyone around them; which I will come back to.
If it is a middle aged person this one is 50-50. But neither are good. Most of the time it is a business person who finally mustered up enough money to buy the car but has no money for the insurance, or repair bills; ending up on a flat bed and getting whisked away into the sunset for it to be repackaged and sold to the next failed businessman or executive. This process is never ending and keeps recurring a debt after debt after debt. The original price of the hyper car may have dropped but the amount of debt it incurs is probably 6-9 times its total value. The person in this hypercar is only inflating their own debt bubble. But the other half is the recently divorced father or even worse, the broken up boyfriend who had a child. That's right. That's what I had to deal with when repossessing these cars. The fights, threats, assaults with a deadly weapon, and damages to the trucks. But that feeling you get when you are the one making out with the car like a bandit and taking it to the lienholder? It's like a drug.
But coming back to that younger kid. I say they are the most dangerous and vile people to stay away from because their ego is so fucking huge it clouds their judgement. It matters not what job, parents, school, or career choices they made. They end up either wrecking the car or their lives in the process. You see the young kid going around to showboat their car until one day the feds knock down the door and take him in handcuffs. And it's not a simple knock on the door either. It's flash bangs, bullets, guns, loud shouting, and trauma. Don't hang around these kids. They're being taken away for their exploitation of a system or systems. If you don't want your life to become a shattered mirror you will learn to stay the fuck away from these kids. If you need historical proof of younger kids being seen in hypercars one day, but the next getting taken away by Interpol, or any country's version of the FBI, look no further than the recent hackers getting stuffed into patty wagons. The scene makes no difference when you put in something common like a Dodge Charger or Ford mustang that looks fire. They're the same.
So the key behind conquering this evil?: Knowing what's on the other side.
I changed my Lifestyle to stop trying to match, or best the Jone's at the material level and instead chose everlasting sanctity.
I keep saying the easiest way to achieve true peace of mind is to turn off the noise. Which meant paying for YouTube red, throwing out my TV and video game consoles, and finally getting rid of the radio; advertisements. Static X's song "push it" has the lyrics "I see it, I need it." It finally makes sense in 2024 for me that he was trying to express his outright hatred and joy for the world as it was then and there for "big pharma." Combine it with the "I'm with stupid" song and it makes way more sense when you think of it as trying to split yourself away from this mentality centered around the control of envy. You just have to know what's on the other side. Which is why I like telling others to pick up stoicism.
After a while I noticed that even with a hard to do job, with moderate pay, actually left me with 3-5k of savings in my account per year. Most people would spend that money instantaneously on things that would give them momentary joy. Instead I changed my purchases over to synergetic, or dual purpose, items. Something that I will use every single day in my life, or fall back on. I left the wrecker life for working as a grounds maintenance person. I'm digging out trenches, installing and repairing irrigation pipes, moving rock, and cutting down trees. I can say that while it is a hard job, I'm surprisingly unphased by it. And I used to be a video gamer. But because the items I buy for my motorcycle also have a transmutable use in groundskeeping I can purchase some "luxury" items that I can also use at work. Because I also do gig work on the side, including door dash, all of the items I buy are now a tax rebate option. Isn't it crazy? I combined my various jobs with items I normally purchase for work and suddenly everything became affordable.
Such as a can of spray paint. There's no stipulation for how I apply my spray can of paint to my vehicle to make different shapes or shades. It is the stencils or tape that I can't use as a tax deductible. The boots I buy for the motorcycle aren't worksite boots. But because the boots I buy separately are more expensive I can deduct them on my taxes. I'm an independent contractor. I do moving jobs. It costs me money to obtain work wear. Deductible. But I always take the standard deduction. It saves me.
You can easily start to make better choices yourself if you just start paying attention to the details instead of ignoring them. I did and made some easy changes in my life to reduce stress. It is just the constant effect of envy that you must learn to control. Those who feed off of it do not know the destruction they cause. So I stay away from it altogether. And those who try to shove it in my face get the worst reactions from me because I turn into an asshole. They expect me to say "oh wow" when in reality they regret ever walking up to me.
So the win for me today, in my unfathomed solo adventure, is knowing that I can continue to survive without a +1 to make 3-5, possibly 10.

There really isn't too much of a point to enchanting ranged weapons over any other piece of equipment now is there? I going to say throwing daggers, arrows, and darts are the only parts of ranged weaponry that are worth enchanting. even then if you don't have a lot of one of those three then you should use your scrolls of enchantment of those rather than your ranged weaponry. any other ranged weapons (bows, crossbows, guns, blowgun, and more) that get enchanted will only improve the melee damage it doesn't improve the range damage here's two examples 1. go into a master mode character or do this in a normal game or whatever one fine with you get a blowgun and a scroll of enchantment choose the help option on the blowgun look at "dart bludgeon 1" (the melee damage) and "attack modifier +2" (the bonus to dart accuracy) see how the "dart bludgeon 1" changes to "dart bludgeon 2" but "attack modifier +2" doesn't change or 2. Go to master mode summon a blowgun set the enchantment level to something ridiculous like a hundred something (a lot of clicking is involved) and summon a bunch of darts (a lot easier) and give yourself telekinesis talent or the enemy the paralyzed condition or anything to keep the enemy away and shoot the enemy until it takes damage and watch how even with champion in darts it does like eight damage to a cave bear now unequip your darts and whack it with the dartgun and watches it just falls over and dies as it takes exactly what the number is in "dart bludgeon (insert enchantment level +1 here)"so my point here is that it's pointless to enchant ranged weaponry because even if the enemy is right next to you as long as you have ammo your weapon will still shoot instead of hitting the enemy with your bow. I don't expect anything to change seen as it isn't a huge company working on the Game and they're already working so hard because this game is pretty much perfect for the amount of people working on it I just want to make sure people who didn't already know this now know.

First Previous Patreon Royal Road is up to chapter 32!
BOOM
Noah did a fist pump as he saw a massive dust cloud and a couple of trees were torn down in the explosion. “Now that is an explosion! None of that dull thud sound that mana bomb makes, no sir.” He thought as he imagined decimating hordes of orcs with bombs. “Okay, with bombs out of the way, on to the explosive bullets. Wait. Can’t I just surround the firebomb with a bunch of earth bullets to imitate a fragmentation grenade?”
With that thought, he got to work. Making full-sized earth bullets though would require too much mana so instead, he made them smaller and more the size of a baby corn.
You have acquired the spell [Fragmentation Grenade]
After that, he immediately went on to make an explosive bullet which was basically a scaled-down version of the bomb. So it wasn’t a surprise when it only took a few seconds for him to get the notification.
You have acquired the spell [Explosive Bullet]
He danced around in celebration when he saw that. “Ehem…” “Oink…” Suddenly, he froze as he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat and oinks filled with derision from behind him. He turned around and saw Mark, along with the boars looking at him in contempt.
“Are you done wrecking nature then Mr. Avatar?” Mark asked as he forcefully wiped the contempt away from his face.
“Uhhh, yeah I’m done. Those orcs won’t know what hit them!” Noah said, trying to put on a brave front but the pink blush on his face betrayed his true emotions.
“Okay then, let’s get back to hunting before the sun goes down.”
***
An hour of running later, Noah topped Mark and himself off with [Enhance] and finally got into the general area of the encampment. He pulsed his radar and found two groups of six orcs fairly close together. “Okay here’s the plan, I make a pitfall over in that clearing and put a bomb in, while you lure them toward it. Simple enough plan but those orcs aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed so it should work. There is a warrior or archer in both parties so that might complicate things. Let’s just hope they’re both warriors so the pitfalls still work. Sound good?”
“Yup! I’m excited to see your bombs at work.”
“Me too.”
Mark then ran off into the forest at three times the speed of the old-world’s fastest athletes. Noah couldn’t help but marvel and look on with envy at how fast his cousin ran. “Wonder how I can emulate that kind of speed with spells?” He thought for a moment but in the end, shook his head. “Not the time. Let’s get to making the trap.
Noah walked over to the clearing and got to work on digging a big enough hole for twelve huge orcs. He activated [Earth Manipulation] and started mentally lifting the earth for as much as his skill permitted which was around four hundred kilograms. It of course scaled with the level of his skill with a hundred kilograms added for every level.
A few minutes of heavy lifting later, he finished the hole. Well, you couldn’t really see the hole as he suspended a very thin layer of dirt on top of it, held up by nothing but mana. With the hole done, he activated his single most destructive skill and conjured a fragmentation bomb. It cost a whopping sixty mana but with how much damage it could deal, it was relatively cheap. So, he did what any guy would do and pumped forty more mana into the spell.
After admiring his masterpiece for a minute, he heard screaming in the distance. In fact, he heard his name.
“NOAAAAH! Where’s the fucking HOLE?!” He saw Mark running for dear life with an arrow sticking out of his right shoulder blade. “He’s actually running faster than earlier.” He immediately squashed the jealousy bubbling up inside him and manipulated the air to blow against the orcs in hot pursuit of Mark furiously. That somewhat worked to slow them down a little, it even managed to redirect some arrows flying at his cousin.
“OVER HERE! When I say jump, you JUMP!” Noah screamed back
A moment later, he saw that Mark was getting close and…
“READY?! JUMP!”
***
Mark leaped off the ground with all his might as he didn’t know how big the hole was. But, in doing so, he couldn’t control where he was going to land, and with all the trees in the forest… “Right, trees. Well, at least it's not arrows.” With that thought, he accepted his fate and closed his eyes. “This is going to hurt in the morning…”
\***
Noah saw his cousin majestically leap higher and farther than those professional long jumpers and shifted his attention to the ten orcs that followed after him. They were running so fast that even if they had the thought that something was wrong, which they didn’t, they wouldn’t be able to stop in time. So, down they went, into the pit.
When all ten orcs fell into the trap, he excitedly threw down the pre-made hundred-mana-bomb and took a few steps back.
BOOOOOOOM
“THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!”
He took a peek into the pit and saw that all the orcs were dead, some were full of holes, some were on fire and trying to claw their way up the pit, and the others closest to the bomb were both burning and full of holes. But as he was celebrating the bomb’s effectiveness, two arrows came out of nowhere and hit him. One arrow hit his left arm, it passed through it as if it were paper, cleanly cutting his ulna in two. The other arrow however hit him in a more dangerous part, his left lung, immediately making it much harder to breathe.
He looked around and saw the pit, he jumped down, knowing that it was his only option. The moment he landed at the bottom with the orc corpses to break his fall, he lay flat on the ground and rushed to cover himself in dirt leaving only a small slit for his eyes. He waited and waited until a minute later he heard Mark yelling.
“Noah! Are you okay?!” Noah smiled and was about to yell back that he was fine but he suddenly saw Mark dive into the hole as arrows whizzed past him. Thankfully, the corpses broke his fall.
“Hey Mr. Healer, how are you doing on this fine day?” Noah sarcastically said as Mark landed in the pit.
Mark looked around and noticed an unnatural mound of dirt and immediately understood what his cousin had done. He hurriedly laid down and said “Hurry and cover me with dirt too before those archers come!”
“Okay”
And so, both covered in dirt, they waited. Waited for the archers to peek into the pit so that Noah could kill them with his spells.
“So, are you going with the old earth spike up their asses or are you trying out your other new spell?” Mark asked
“New spell. Definitely the new spell.” Noah said, eager for the archers to take a peek. “Peek me bitches, I dare you.” He mumbled to himself. He felt like he was playing CS:GO again but this time in real life and with live ugly targets out to get them.
It took half an hour of waiting but they finally heard grunting from two distinct voices. A second later, two heads peaked into the pit and Noah immediately cast his new bullet spell *bang bang\* and killed them both at the same time.
***
After Mark got to healing both of them, Noah put the bodies and gear of the orcs away in his artifact and made a winding staircase along the walls of the pit with [Earth Manipulation]. They went up the stairs and came up to the sight of two headless orcs with bows in their hands.
“Should we give one to Talal?” Noah asked, wondering if their friend could even use bows seeing as he fought in his original form most of the time.
“Certainly wouldn’t hurt to. He does have a human form after all.” Mark said and observed the dimming sky “Let’s get back to the building, I’m starting to miss the reinpiglets.”
“You’re really enjoying yourself huh papa boar.” Noah had a stupid grin look on his face as he teased his cousin.
“I’ve always liked pets and I don’t know if it’s because they’re boars or because of mana but those boars are definitely smarter than the dog I used to have. And well, they’re adorable.”
“That they are.” After saying that, Noah cast [Enhance] on Mark and himself, eager to just lie down and sleep.
***
An hour of running later, they finally arrived at the building and were greeted by the oink patrol. Mark hurriedly ran into their midst and basked in the adorable oinks and kisses that he received. Soon after, mama Emeri came and broke up the party oinking at the piglets and making them follow her into their makeshift room. The piglets dejectedly oinked at Mark as if they were sad to leave him so soon after their reunion, but, they had to obey their mama.
So, Mark looked on longingly at the retreating furry little piglets and let out a sigh. “Let’s do the nightly tally thing we’ve been doing and get to sleep… Sigh…” Mark sighed again like an old man.
“Come on, it’s not like you’re never going to see them again. Tell you what, we can do the tally in their room.”
Mark’s eyes lit up “That’s a great idea! Let’s go!”
And so they went to the boars’ room and sat on the floor, surrounded by curious piglets oinking at them. Mark seemed to be in his element as he put one piglet on his lap and another on his head.
“Sigh” Mark sighed again, but this time, in contentment.
Noah saw this and couldn’t help but smile. He picked one of the piglets up and put it on his head “Oink!” but it oinked in revolt as it shimmied its way down his head.
“Oh, Prancer doesn’t like that. He kind of likes wandering around and being free. Emeri always has to keep an eye on him every time they go out just to make sure he doesn’t get himself killed.” Mark said matter-of-factly
“How do you even tell them apart?” Noah looked at the seven identical piglets. they had brown fur with brown stripes all over and frowned. “They all look identical to me.”
“I honestly don’t know, they look identical to me too but I just get this feeling when I look at them, you know?”
“I don’t, but anyway, let’s get to the tally!” Noah said excitedly as he brought out all the corpses of the orcs along with their gear. He examined the bodies riddled with holes first as he already knew the prices of the gear. The bodies on the other hand had so much of it missing that he wouldn’t be surprised if they were worth nothing.
Orc – lvl 8(Dead) [Cannot be sold]
“I figured.” He sighed as he looked at the ten worthless bodies on the floor “Now what do we do with you?”
It was then that Emeri came over and sniffed the orcs’ bodies. She looked at him expectantly and oinked as if to tell him that she wanted the bodies.
He looked at her slightly weirded out. Although the orcs weren’t technically human, they were humanoid enough that he’d feel weird to see them being eaten right in front of them.
“Give them to the pigs, the invaders’ corpses have special effects on animals when eaten” Talal suddenly appeared out of nowhere and said
Noah and Mark’s hearts skipped a beat when Talal spoke but immediately calmed down when they recognized his voice. Some of the piglets even jumped like surprised cats.
“They are worthless to you but they might change the lives of your little pets here” Tala continued “Besides, you already saw me eat that scout from before, what’s the difference in feeding them to the literal pigs?”

Quick, no time to explain, onto the report!
Edit: Ok, I’ve got some time now so I’ll do a brief update. Now that the Helmlock Vale campaign is over, I’m back for more of these reports. Except, I’m cutting a lot of the content I used to do as my days are significantly busier now that I’ve graduated and am actively job hunting/taking on part-time jobs. So, what you see is what you get.
I may yet do a full google doc for the whole campaign to archive these reports + sections on the Borad Lords’ deck and campaign rules, but that’s dependent on how much free time I end up with. Highlights were also meant to make the cut for this report but I’ve been sick for the better of the week and slowly recovering. It’s also why this got released today rather than yesterday as I pretty much did up this report in the past 4 hours or so. So, apologies for any sloppiness in the writing. Anyway, see yall at the stream later today!
Link to Youtube VOD -> https://youtu.be/kPQdzbm6Wv0?si=pF-6Zz7oTyNkWhFL

Scenario 1: The Untamed Wilds

“You’re trudging through the thick undergrowth of the Amazon Rainforest, beads of sweat sticking to your skin and clothes. Hacking away at overgrown shrubs and vines, you scratch at your irritated skin for the umpteenth time, unaware of the slow transmogrification that has already begun, from skin to scale. Suddenly, an arrow whizzes past your head and lands in front of you, inches away from penetrating your skull. You turn to face the threat, a group of hunters clad in feathery apparel, bows nocked, their attention fixed. They’re not looking at you, rather beyond you. Slowly, you turn your head and follow their gaze to the opposite end of the clearing, only to spot a pack of humanoid serpents rapidly closing in, hissing and slithering with 10ft spears in hand. Will you escape this rumble in the jungle between the hunters and the Serpent folk to continue on your expedition… or are you on a Mystery Quest Board Lords Campaign?”
Ah, don’t you just love the air of a brand new campaign early in the morning? Brimming with hope, new deck possibilities and the confidence of 5 campaigns already under their belt. Oh, and the misplays, the misplays! Using other players’ supplies, missing multiple attacks from the Eztli Guardian (read: FAQ), getting the Explore mechanic wrong on multiple counts, etc. I’m sure they’ll iron out these kinks in due time… but they did happen, and the location manipulation to “catch up” only further cements the lower score, even if it was justified in the interest of the stream. On the bright side of things, their actual teamplay and coordination is still as strong as ever, working for the best group outcome rather than just their own individual situations. Lastly, knowing when and where to explore/deal with Vengeance, as they did in this scenario, will be key in the coming weeks. (5/15)

Play of the Game

Rythian strides up to the Keeper of the Eztli, Ichtaca, swagger dripping from his every step. While Ichtaca herself remains on guard, he immediately breaks into a heated tirade, chiding her for her uncouth behaviour and unwelcoming attitude. He attempts the Parley, knowing it will fail, just so he can bust out his trusty British Bull Dog for free. Before she can react, Rythian unloads a quick shot to the leg, her body crumpling under the surprise assault. It’s lights out for the enigmatic huntress as Zylus follows up with a swift strike to the head, wielding his Dragon Pole with precision and finesse. Diplomacy was never on the cards, especially when none of them had any Intellect (the stat) to begin with.

Investigator Review

• Rythian: Rythian’s comfortability within the Rogue class really shines through within this first scenario. Evading and the Agility stat has become almost second nature to the man, seamlessly making use of Agility-replacing assets in the form of Thieves’ Kit and the British Bull Dog. I’d be cautious utilising Stealth (3) though as it’s very easy to slip up and forget that it doesn’t actually exhaust the enemy. Keeping it to just his signature ability should suffice. Speaking of, being able to discard enemies will be huge to counteract the Vengeance mechanic for this campaign. Gimmicky? Sure, but as Rythian himself said, they’ll probably need all the help they can get. Overall, a well-rounded performance that covers all the bases in enemy management and clue gathering. (A)
  
• Breeh: Breeh is back with one of the ballsiest plays you could do in Arkham: taking both In The Thick of It and Charon’s Obol in a Forgotten Age run, a campaign renowned for giving out trauma and deaths like points in a Camp Yog stream (except for Civ lol). Tangent aside, much of Sefina’s gameplay revolves around circumventing her absolutely debilitating Signature Weakness, Stars of Hyades, which the upgraded Scrying (3) can alleviate somewhat. I like the mixup in event cards between the Rogue and Mystic class, not particularly leaning one way or the other, taking the most impactful events that money can buy. It’s a simple gameplan and effectively executed. So, any bets on when Breeh dies off? (A-)
  
• Nilesy: As a relatively new deck archetype, Nilesy’s been making some enemies dance at his fingertip with the frankly absurd ability of Pete’s Guitar. Ideally, he’ll want to proc it every turn for the free resources/horror healing though this will hinge on both his positioning and enemy management to make full use of. He has managed it a fair few times during the scenario so it’ll be interesting to see just how much better he gets at it throughout the course of the campaign. Otherwise, a fairly solid showing of a supportive, survivalist approach to the game. No cats though, so that’s a penalty. (B+)
  
• Zylus: A personal favourite of mine, I’m glad to see Zylus deciding to continue running with Lily Chen after the last campaign. As expected, balancing between getting the passive buffs from the various Disciplines and the strong active abilities that set them to cooldown will be critical in upping his gameplay as the Martial Artist. As far as this session was concerned, he served his role as fighter adequately enough, propping up his Dragon Pole as quick as he could and dispatching the enemies with intent (ie. deciding where to defeat Vengeance enemies or not). Average marks all around. (B+)
  

I'm a new-ish DM, and I recently started to DM Tyranny of Dragons for my family. The party consists of a Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Cleric, and a Barbarian. This post revolves around the Barbarian named Mokobash, of course, played by my stepdad.
If you want the short story, you can skip to the writing that is outside of the arrows. I just thought I'd recap some important stuff that happened up to this point in case some DM's were curious as to some things that might happen in Chapter 1 of ToD.
-
To recall everything that led up to this amazing moment, we'll have to go back to session 1. The players had all made it past the first encounter and rescued Linan Swift and her family, and they came upon another group of kobolds that they could hear murmuring and looting a building across the street.
The sorcerer devised a brilliant plan to cast thaumaturgy to create some whispers around the back side of the building they were looting, and the kobolds collectively rolled very low. I decided that they thought they heard the voice of their friend, Jeff the Kobold, whom they all look up to. They all managed to quickly sneak past them (avoiding one of the encounters on their way to the keep).
Fast forward to session 3. The players just finished clearing out the guards and cultists from the mill, and are on their way back to the keep. They decided they wanted to go through the old tunnel they previously cleared out.
**Note: All of my players are new to D&D except for the sorcerer, and I'm new to DM'ing so our sessions take a little longer. Just in case anyone is wondering why it took us so long to get to the mill :)
While traveling down the road, they come across the shadow of what appeared to be a kobold shouting, "Hear ye! Hear ye! You all shall surrender! Else, the great Langdedrosa shall take you all down!" I then told the players that they all simultaneously remembered Nighthill's request to capture a prisoner for information, and our barbarian grappled and pinned him without hesitation.
After they apprehended Jeff, they tied him up and lugged him back to the keep to report back to Governor Nighthill but the keep was under attack. The barbarian tied Jeff to a post (kinda like how someone would put their dog on a leash and wrap it around a tree outside so they don't run away). They then went to heed Escobert's cry for help and fixed the gate along the westward wall of the keep *completing the Sally Port quest* and going to find Governor Nighthill once again. Upon seeing him, he appeared to be deeply in thought about something troubling him. The players found out that Nighthill had sent some of his soldiers and an informant over to the Sanctuary, and he discovered that all of the missing townsfolk were trapped inside. The time that the players spent doing all the other missions allowed Nighthill to come up with a plan, and that was to take out the kobolds and cultists at the back of the Sanctuary who were starting a fire and lead the townsfolk to the old tunnel they cleared earlier in the night. **The players did this and returned to the keep with no casualties, completing the Sanctuary quest.
Upon returning, the players overheard Nighthill interrogating Jeff and a few other kobolds, mercenaries, and cultists that his guards had personally captured. He told them that they were all welcome to come and join the interrogation since they helped and that the captured might have some information that they needed.
-
Interrogations with the prisoners inside the keep had been rough, and all of the kobolds were murmuring to each other. Upon further investigation, the players saw that the kobolds were terrified. However, Jeff the Kobold was rather calm. At some point, Nighthill snapped at the kobolds and told them that if another word came out of their mouths then their heads would lie next to their feet. They all shut up very quickly after that. He then furiously asked if someone, anyone, could tell him what was going on. At this point, no one answered for a while... except Jeff the Kobold of course. Jeff explained to him that he couldn't make out much, but he overheard the other kobolds saying that they were only there to collect loot and that no one told them that they might get captured. He also told the players and Nighthill about them mentioning something about a "dragon lady", but he quickly stopped himself and said, "None of that really matters anyways since the great Langdedrosa Cyanwrath will save us all!"
Upon hearing this, our rogue audibly was tired of only hearing the name Langdedrosa Cyanwrath. In fact, she provided me with the perfect opportunity to introduce him. She said, "And where exactly can we find this... LaNgDeDrOsA?"
Now, I'm usually very kind to my players. They're all new, and I want their first D&D experience to be as fun as possible. But SURELY no DM would be able to resist having Cyanwrath and his army of 16 kobolds finally break down the front gate of the keep and make a grand entrance after that remark. It was perfect, and the other players jokingly bashed at her at the end of the session for needing to learn to keep her mouth shut sometimes.
Back to the game, Cyanwrath busted down the gate and came in to give his grand speech about how he was looking for the strongest warrior in this puny town to challenge.
**At this point, I'd like to add that all of the players were at max HP before this encounter due to SEVERAL generous short rests, the cleric being out of spell slots, and the NPC cleric named Dargath being out of spell slots. It's important to also note that Dargath is our barbarian's best friend from the war that I created from his soldier background.
With the rogue and ranger mainly concerned about fighting from range, and the cleric and sorcerer being out of spell slots, they decided that Mokobash the barbarian should be the one to go out and challenge him. He was reluctant at first, but then I made them aware of the hostages that Cyanwrath had and told them all the rules of the duel. (The rules are listed in the book if you'd like to know them. Basically no interference from either side is allowed, or the hostages will be killed)
They still didn't really trust him, but upon a successful insight check they could tell that the dragon was prideful towards his duels and didn't intend to pull any shenanigans. After all the coaxing, the barbarian finally agreed to go out and the duel was on.
Cyanwrath rolled horribly on his initiative, so the barbarian got to attack first. He rolled and hit Langdedrosa, and Langdedrosa commended him for his strength and said, "I'm glad all that muscle isn't just for show. But now, it's my turn." Cyanwrath rolled for his two attacks, and although he missed one he still took out a significant chunk of health on the second and sliced a gash through the barbarian's chest. He said, "Ah, another scar for your collection. I haven't checked yet, but I hope that none lie on your back!"
After this, I looked over towards my stepdad to where he sat at the table and he looked me dead in the eyes. Those were the eyes of a man who had just worked for 8 hours and played D&D for about 5 more, and he wasn't about to let this dumb half-dragon show him up. So he rolled, and got a nat 20 on Cyanwrath in response.
I was already baffled that he hit him the first time without reckless attack since Cyanwrath's AC is 17, but the nat 20 was frosting on the cake. I asked him how he wanted to hit Cyanwrath in response and he said, "I'll hit him the same way he hit me, but slightly better :)"
And so he did. Cyanwrath ate the blow, but was taken way aback by this warrior's strength and said, "I haven't fought someone as strong as you in ages! I should probably stop holding back then..." and I had Cyanwrath use his action surge to get three hits. All three hit, and one of them was also a nat 20. After rolling those dice I kinda sat and had my head in my palms for a while since I thought the damage would surely insta-kill him. It dawned on me that I might've just accidentally killed a new player who had just spent around 18 hours over the last 3 sessions with his character, but I didn't want to bend the rules. I calmly explained to the table how instant death works in D&D, but I made two very crucial mistakes.

1. I hadn't rolled the damage dice yet
   
2. Relentless Endurance (did I forget to mention he's a half-orc?)
   

When it came time to roll the damage, I braced myself and prepared for the worst, but it came four health short of instantly killing his character. I let out a sigh of relief thanking god that it didn't do enough damage to kill him... but the party reminded him of something crucial. His relentless endurance from being half-orc.
I had a gut feeling that I knew what was gonna happen next, but I still tried to warn him that even if he stayed up there was a chance he could still die after his next turn and that it would be wise to just stay down. However, the other players at the table were all cheering for him and urging him to continue fighting. It all happened so fast, and he looked a little troubled with making a decision, so I gave him a little help.
"Off to the side near the keep, Mokobash hears his best friend yelling from the keep. His bellowing voice breaks the silence of the bystanders and even the noise from the blades clashing as he yells, "My dear friend! Giving up now would not mean you have lost... but continuing to fight is the path of a REAL warrior!"
Everyone at the table kind of looked at me in shock since I had been so eager to try and get him to stay down, but I thought I should play along too as if I were a player. After all, D&D is all about having fun is it not?
With that, he had made his decision. He was going to utilize his relentless endurance and stay up to continue fighting. So I narrated, "Cyanwrath lands three mighty blows into you one after another faster than you can blink. He connects a horizontal slash with his first initial one and creates a massive L on your chest. With his other two slashes, he carves a janky C in a kind of "Puss in Boots" style of leaving his initials. Seeing your eyes roll back into your head and thinking he had won, Cyanwrath lets his guard down but-
*fartttttt*
In the middle of this epic turn of events and beautiful narration, my stepfather let out the longest, most massive fart to ever exist. The table just erupted into laughter, and I even needed like 10 minutes just to calm myself down and make it so I could finish narrating. I came up with a brilliant solution and said, "As he sees your eyes roll back into your head, Mokobash lets out the loudest half-orc fart and NONE of you can tell whether or not he may have just pooped his pants."
He then attacked Cyanwrath for a third time and missed, but I ruled that the fart took him by so much surprise that he had to use his action just to contemplate what just happened. He attacked a fourth time, hit, and got Cyanwrath to a little below half health which is very hard for most level 2 characters to do, and even more so since he's a new player. Cyanwrath was snapped back into the battle with the fourth hit, and he remarked, ".......You... are a TRUE WARRIOR! I COULDN'T HAVE ASKED TO FIGHT ANYONE BETTER! Thank you for this experience, I shall never forget it!"
Langdedrosa Cyanwrath then opened his mouth, used his lightning breath attack to take out the last of the barbarian's HP, let the hostages go, gathered up his kobolds, and made his retreat from the town.
If you made it this far, then I hope my story brought some joy to your day.
Let me know if you'd like to hear about stuff that happens in the future, and also if I should tell the story about how the ranger drove off the dragon with his first arrow xD
If you have any feedback or comments about anything that happened, please let me know. Again, I'm a new DM and very new to ToD so I'll take any criticism good or bad :)

From the beginning...
Cast

Part 2, Chapter 11

The room fills with dust and smoke. The smell of decay mixes with sulfur and fetid air. One of the gnolls whimpers as his sensitive nose is assaulted. Everyone spreads out, bumping into each other and tripping over other feet. And paws. Just as the air begins to clear, a monstrous winged demon climbs up from the new hole in the stone parapet. In his hand is a massive sword, that, before the horrified eyes of the mortals in the room, sprouts flames. A splash of slimy goop erupts from pustules on the demon’s arms, spraying the room with an acid that eats away clothes and splotches armor. A cry of terror, then a casual backhand by the demon sends one of the gnolls flying across the room to slam into the stone wall. He leaves a bloody trail down the wall as he crumples to the floor. Zander, a handy target, is slashed with the huge flaming sword.
Without hesitation, everyone springs into action. Arthur, Zander, Ser Reginald, and many gnolls attack with axes, hammers, swords, and arrows. Each of them gasps in horror as their weapons bounce off, doing little damage but for the magical effects attached to their attacks. Novos, seeing all this, somersaults over several gnolls to stab the demon, and unleash a spray of acid from his Drakeblade [1]. This hurts the demon and he howls in pain and anger. The priests are hard pressed to keep healing up, but Mar manages to manifest her Spiritual Weapon that baps the demon. Before he can strike back, Novos nimbly makes his way through the crowd to the other side of the room.
The demon instead causes the whole chamber to shake and quake, knocking many to the ground and breaking off chunks from the ceiling to rain down on the unlucky. Again, he swats Zander, misses Arthur, and rains blows down on one of the unfortunate gnolls in front of him who has fallen to the ground. Nobody has the time to observe basic mosh pit etiquette [2]. Ser Reginald is the target of a tail slap. Arthur, seeing that his sword was useless, pulls out a scroll and reads a spell that isn’t useless. Zander tries a shield slam, but because the demon is MANY times larger than he is, it doesn’t do much. Ser Reginald manages to duck the tail and smite the demon, and one of the gnolls is likewise able to get in a blow. For a moment the demon seems … vulnerable. Dillium maintains her healing spell, but she notes that an anti-healing spell was employed, probably by Mar. She mentally makes a note to talk with her about that. Novos swoops in and delivers a debilitating blow to the demon’s back.
The room fills with a thick fog that baffles the senses and makes getting around extra difficult. The demon, of course, has no problems with the fog, finally smacking Arthur and Zander, and back-handing a gnoll. Ser Reginald’s smite seems to do no damage at all, but Arthur pulls out his divine mace and Zander goes back to slicing the demon with his sword. Gnoll attacks seem to hit home, but it is Felicity’s totally wand-based lightning bolt that finally finishes him off. As the sword falls out of his hands, the fire on the blade goes out.
Mar turns on the gnolls, and several of the gnolls are ready to resume combat with the party, but the gnoll shaman and Ser Reginald see each other with a new respect. As they speak, calming tempers, Arthur borrows Dillium’s cloak to pick up the sword because his is too white. Or something. Later he transfers the sword to an old blanket and returns her cloak to her.
Not quite arm in arm, the nevertheless united party makes their way out of the tomb, though Mar stands back away from everyone, particularly the gnolls. The trek back to Samek is as long as the journey to the tomb, but Ser Reginald and Raa’ka, with occasional mediation by Felicity, seem to make progress. At least, nobody is called evil or accused of eating anyone’s babies. When they reach Samek, Ser Reginald has some heated words with the guards, but eventually Dillium, Felicity, and Raa’ka are permitted to be escorted by Ser Reginald and a group of rather more-heavily-armed-than-really-necessary gnomes inside. Outside, Task Force Chimera settles in for the night, while the gnolls, whether because they are nervous this close to the gnome town or because they have their own errands, slip off into the night one by one. The night otherwise passes uneventfully, though Arthur is astute enough to not let Mar have a shift by herself.
Late in the morning, the door opens and a clearly exhausted Dillium and Felicity emerge with Raa’ka. The gnoll gives a farewell wave and disappears into the brush a few minutes before Warren, the guide, returns.
“Where are you off to now?” he asks.
“Actually I have a job for you,” says a new voice. Everyone whirls around to see a large coppery-colored dragon head poke up over the top of the hill. It is soon followed by the rest of the coppery-colored dragon as it steps up and settles down on top of the hill. “Warren,” the dragon acknowledges the guide with a nod.
“T’aint my name.” he responds.
“I know.” A dragonish chuckle escapes his mouth.
“Do you know him?” Zander asks Warren.
“Never seed him before now,” he responds.
“But clearly he knows you,” Dillium protests.
“I know many things, actually. I have taken it upon myself to sort of… watch over this valley.” The dragon says. “Actually, I’m thinking of calling it a gnalley.” There’s no response. “You know, a gnalley, because of the gnomes and the gnolls?” Under his breath, he adds, “It’s always funnier when you have to explain the joke.”
“Do you have a name?” Arthur asks, trying (perhaps) to be polite.
“Of course I do, and I’ll give five coins to the one of you who guesses it.”
“Clearly a pointless exercise. I shall call you Max,” says Atticus.
“Max is typically a name humans give to males of the species. How do you know I am male?”
“I know not, but in the event you turn out to be female, I can simply refer to you as Maxine.”
“That is not my name either. And I permit you no more guesses.” The dragon says petulantly. His, or its, tail swings back and forth, giving away his (or its) irritation.
“It is well. Good morning to you, Max.” Atticus bows deeply.
“You may call me Izzy, for that is as close as your crude language will permit,” the dragon snaps back.
“Very well. Good morning to you, Izzy.” Atticus remains bowed.
This seems to mollify the dragon somewhat. To the guide, he says, “Do you know of the path that runs up to the Jagged Mountain, as it passes by the tomb of Kazzlezan that you just opened?” After waiting for a nod of acknowledging nod, Izzy continues. “I want you to venture up that path to the top and … do whatever you find that needs doing.”
“Such as what, exactly?” Felicity asks.
“What am I, a guide to tell you what you should put right? You are sentient beings, work it out.” With that, the dragon leaps straight up. His wings catch the air, and he flies off to the north.
Warren looks at Felicity, shrugs, and heads back in the direction they came from the day before. The party breaks camp, saddles up, and catches up to the guide (who had been waiting just out of sight).
The party can clearly see where they’ve trampled the grass and left tracks in the dirt from their previous trek, so they make good time back to the tomb. Warren leads them around the tomb on a small barely visible trail that heads higher into the hills. By afternoon, they are clearly climbing up a tall hill that leads to what can be accurately described as a “jagged mountain.” Warren calls a halt at a conveniently wide spot that is more or less flat and level. “They say the dwarfs used to stop here for the night,” he explains unnecessarily.
The pavillionsol is set up and a few branches are gathered for a fire. “Do you hear that?” Mar asks. Nobody does, but she insists that there is something. It sounds like a particular buzzing sound. Several of the party do hear it, now that she’s described it. “It sounds like vampire bees.” [3]
Pocky gives a snort of derision. “Vampires bite, but bees sting. You can’t fool me, Mar.”
“These bees make blood honey. They sting a creature to death, then instead of gathering nectar, they gather blood from the corpse to make their honey. They are nothing to simply ignore.” Pocky’s eyes grew wide.
“All right, it sounds like we have to find this hive and destroy it.” Arthur says. “Stay here and set up the camp. We’ll be back.”
After looking around, Novos finds a fairly well traveled trail hidden behind some bushes. Following the trail up through a few switch-backs, they come to a neglected “road” of laid stone. On one side the ground drops off in what appears to be a quarry filled with dark water with an oily sheen. On the other is the side of the mountain, and, a doorway. The rooms inside are empty, though that doesn’t stop Novos from searching for traps everywhere and trying to unlock doors that are unlocked. The floor has a damaged mosaic of an intricate design with no particular pattern, and the walls are adorned with faded frescos of dwarves doing mining stuff. Arthur, as he looks around, sees a secret door, and Novos spends some time finding that a hidden catch is cunningly placed inside a dwarf’s nose on the fresco. Novos and Arthur lead the way, though Novos is still very hampered by the fact he can’t see in the dark. Still, he finds a room, checks for traps, and unlocks the door. Inside is a room covered entirely by a strange metal. The walls glow faintly, providing some light, but there are otherwise no features at all. Without trying to figure out what the metal is or why it might cover every single inch, he invites Arthur and Dillium in to look around. Seeing nothing of interest, they leave.
Further down, the corridor comes to an abrupt end. A simple catch lets the party out into a new room. Signs of ancient chaos abound. The room is obviously dwarven, and obviously abandoned some time ago. Yet on the ground are three human-sized skeletons, each with a rusty knife near them. Dillium inspects them (“Don’t touch anything”, Arthur warns) and determines them to be cheaply made ceremonial-style knives. Novos, meanwhile, has inspected, unlocked, and opened two empty closets. Well, mostly empty. One closet has another rusty knife. Elsewhere in the room, a double-door stands ajar, barely held on by a single hinge. Peering in, Arthur notes a large rough circle on the ground and the remains of several candles placed around the room. Profane graffiti is smeared on the walls, possibly in blood, but more likely in some sort of paint. As everyone has a look around (“Don’t stand on the circle,” Arthur warns), they decide it was originally some attempt at a summoning circle, but there are too many breaks and smudges to tell what was summoned, if anything.
A mystery too mysterious to unravel, they team leave through the remaining door and are back out facing the quarry-pit. Questions are asked aloud as the group tries to grapple with what is going on. Arthur surmises that the dwarven work and the deterioration means the rooms they’ve seen so far are probably a millennium or more old, and probably abandoned nearly that long. The skeletons are not nearly that old. Dillium abruptly swats her arm, and holds out the smooshed body of a large wasp or bee. They look, but it doesn’t have fangs or a cape. Arthur offers to Lay Hands on her to cure her, but since nobody knows what to cure her of, that is abandoned.
Ahead of them, the group sees an ancient stone bridge. Several of the party are concerned at the rickety appearance of the bridge, but as there is nothing else for it, they agree to go across one at a time, with the lightest members first. Dillium, Flea, and Novos skip across, and there is some thought of sending a rope back for Zander and Arthur to tie off in case the bridge collapses. Zander asks, who is going to hold the end?
“We’ll hold this end, and you tie the other end around your waist,” Novos replies.
“OK, here, hand me your end…” as they both realize Zander has already crossed the bridge. Arthur confidently strides across after.
There is yet another door, and a room similar to the first room they encountered—frescos on the wall, (intact) mosaic on the floor, and some signs that someone was here at some point after the dwarves left. And nothing else. The room isn’t quite finished, though, and a passageway beyond leads to what was obviously a campsite and another room. This one has a single thing—a desk. With a drawer. And in the drawer is a red shiny faceted gemstone. Novos manages to wipe all the drool off of it before admitting that he can’t, for some reason, lift the gem out of the drawer. Arthur’s brute strength isn’t enough. Neither is Zander’s. Dillium decides that either this gem is a fundamental constant of the universe, around which all other things in the universe revolve, and therefore you can’t just pick it up and move it, or much more likely, it’s magically “glued” to the drawer. She and Arthur combine their powers to Dispel Magic and on a second try, the gem pops right into her hand. With literally nothing left to see, the party opens the door into the next room. As soon as they open the door, they hear the sound of bees. Lots of bees. Closing the door, the party stops to think what their next move is.

End o Chapter 11.


[1] Part 1, chapter 23
[2] "If someone falls, help them up"
[3] taken from Blood Honey, by Roving Band of Misfits Press

*** = listener speaking
Can be monetised, just please link back to either this post or my YouTube!
Gender(s) can be changed if wanted!
~~~
[knock on door]
Pet? Are you still in bed?
…Pet?
[door open]
[sigh of relief]
You’re giving me the silent treatment still?
Would you at least tell me why?
You haven’t spoken a word to me since the night I shot that arrow in your leg… were you unhappy with how I treated it? Does it still hurt?
…Pet. It’s been over a week.
You’ve barely drank or eaten anything, and the only fresh air and sunlight you’ve been getting is from the window because you haven’t left the bed.
You’re going to ruin your body at this rate.
The least you could do is tell me why.
…Nothing? You won’t even say you don’t want to tell me? Or that it’s my fault?
I would accept it if you did. I promise.
I wouldn’t get mad - I’d never hurt you, if you weren’t running away.
You know that.
…Alright, if that’s how you’re going to be.
[stands up; grabs bow; takes sheets off speaker]
I’m not going to watch you waste away in our bedroom.
We’re going outside, and I’m teaching you how to fire a bow.
If you have any complaints, say them now. …Say anything.
…No? Alright. Don’t be a limp noodle in my arms, then.
[picks up listener; walks downstairs and outside]
I figured you wouldn’t want to move by yourself even if you did talk to me, so I already brought out a seat.
It’s not optimal when learning to fire a bow, but since we aren’t using Olympic sized bows, it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle - and it has a low back so when you go to fire it, you can just pull it back without having to lean to the side in order to draw the string.
[puts listener in seat]
You won’t make me move you around like a doll, right?
I swear to you, pet, if you just try, whatever’s on your mind will disappear. Hunting is a great way to relieve stress - how do you think I stay so happy all the time?
Well… other than having you around. Nothing can beat having you by my side.
Here, baby. Just try holding it.
[pause; sigh of relief]
Thank you, pet.
Let’s move your hands around a bit.
On the wooden part, you need to put your fingers just below the bit where you’ll rest the tip of the arrow.
On the string… well, it’ll be easier once you’re actually nocking an arrow, but for now, try to line your fingers up. Just above where you put your other fingers.
Would you be okay if I gave you an arrow? Do you feel confident enough to nock it?
…I’ll take your silence as a yes, pet.
I’ll pull your arm back with you. As for where to aim… how about that tree right in front of us? It’s not too far, right?
…More silence, so more consent, I’m assuming.
[nock arrow; pulling string]
Looks like you still have your strength, pet.
Do you want me to let go of your hands?
Not that I’m against holding them. …We haven’t touched each other like this in a while.
[pause; happy noise]
Thank you for nodding. That’s the first action I’ve seen you do other than blink…
I’m letting go now. You let the arrow go whenever you feel ready, okay?
[arrow thud]
Wow- well done! You didn’t hit it dead-on, but you managed it pretty far into the side.
Amazing aim, pet.
Would you like to try shooting moving targets next? It’s a bit of a step up, but if it ends up going wrong, we can always go back to shooting trees.
[pause, kiss; walk to box]
My dad made these shortly before he passed.
They’re kind of like the clay discs they use in the Olympics for the gun sports, but softer material so an arrow can pierce them.
He’d be happy they’re finally being used for something.
I’m gonna throw the first one! In three, two…
[whoosh; arrow x3]
Two out of three!
You’re a natural pet! If I didn’t know you were against hunting, I’d think about bringing you with me on-
[arrow fired]
Ow!
[fall]
Ah… oh, oh what the… ouch, what the hell!?
Crap, this hurts…!
I think that arrow hit my bone… i-it didn’t go through, at least.
Pet, you need to be more careful, I get it’s fun but-
…When did you get over here?
Why are you aiming an arrow at my head?
***
Pet.
I’m happy you’re talking again, but things won’t go like you think if you… let that arrow fly.
We’re in the middle of nowhere. In the woods.
You don’t know which direction the nearest town is. Even in broad daylight, do you want to risk running around lost in the trees when you don’t know which way to go?
And even if you’re doing this just so you can be alone, you’d lose your source for food. You wouldn’t be able to survive without me, pet.
Also… you’re not using full strength. This close, I doubt you’d build up enough force to do more than break skin. I’ll be fine.
…Please, pet. Put the bow down.
[pause; bow hits the floor]
[sigh of relief]
Thank you, pet. Can you give me a hand? It’s going to be awkward to walk like this-
[grab; drag]
Pet, I can walk if you-
***
Haha. I’m glad to hear you talk again, even if you’re telling me to shut up.
I missed your voice.
***
Shutting up.
[door open + close; put speaker on couch]
The medical kit is just under the seat - can you get it for me?
***
Pet, I appreciate the thought, but you’re no medic.
While I’d love you to be my personal nurse, you wouldn’t be able to get the arrow out correctly, or do the bandages tight enough.
I’ll handle it all. You go… make some food for yourself, pet.
You haven’t eaten in a while. Make whatever you want.
Sorry I can’t cook for you.
[walks off]
[breathes in]
Three, two, one- fffffff! Ow! Ow, ow, ow!
Damn, I’ve got to hand it to them, they certainly got it in there deep.
…Maybe I should just tackle them next time they try to run away.
Would’ve avoided this whole mess if I’d done that last time.
[bandages; walks back]
Pet, you’re back quick.
Did you just heat up some leftovers?
Not to brag, but they smell pretty good~
The venison, right? I’m glad it’s also becoming your fav- mmph!
[coughs]
W-Warn me next time before you go shoving food into my mouth, pet.
Do you want me to shut up again or something?
***
…For me?
Pet, I told you to make food for yourself. I had a huge breakfast.
Let me feed you instead.
***
Of course I want to, pet.
I love taking care of you. …And I don’t like that broken look in your eyes.
I’ll do anything to make you happy again - even if it means giving up my favourite food.
[chuckles]
…Pet?
[skin]
Why are you crying? Did I say something wrong?
***
[chuckles]
I know you don’t get me, pet. Love makes people do the craziest things.
It’s okay. I don’t expect you-
[kiss]
…to kiss me.
[kiss]
Ow!
***
It’s nothing. You just put your hand on my injury.
Oh, and you don’t have to apologise, accidents happen.
…Pet? What’s that look in your eyes for?
***
Ow!
Okay, that was definitely intentional.
Are you secretly a sadist?
***
[breathes in; chuckles]
Love really does make you crazy.
And since it makes you smile, be as crazy as your heart desires, pet.

Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” I can't find a reasonable 'why.' I'm seriously lost. I don't think I'm depressed. I'm 25 (almost 26), have a regular job at a restaurant, almost 100 days sober off alcohol. But still, I'm looking all around and thinking "what's the point?" I know I'm far from the first person to ask this question or finding myself into this predicament.
I say this because I'm seriously reconning with the fact that I'm really struggling with finding anything that justifies this "life" thing. What I could do to orientate myself that would give a reason to existing and be able to face life and its constant slings and arrows.
I have interests. I have passions. But when I think about them, none of them really feel like they justify existence. Has anyone else found themselves in this mental state. How have you been able to figure something out?
I feel like there's more that I need to say to properly articulate this problem of mine - but I can't think of any; since I'm wary of the probable 'stock advice' of "it will get better" and "just keep going, you'll find something."
Perhaps I'm just being a negative-nancy and just cutting y'all off who do have advice, at the pass.

Hey there! I'm looking for, as the title says, someone special. Someone to call mine, someone who will call me theirs in return. Preferably a nerd/geek, and an adventurous one at that. My preference is a design nerd, but that's just because that's such an applicable category of nerd to just about everything.
In terms of who I am: I voice act and design games, and DM for DnD. I enjoy music, film, interactive design. That kinda stuff. If I like you, I'll flirt using Supernatural or Doctor Who. Possibly video games I like too, but mainly those two. Doctor Who flirts = way more comfort than Supernatural flirts (I'm exceedingly bad at Dr. Who flirting, which is why I say that) More below!
I suck at introductions, I'm pretty sure I've made that clear. I have DID and there are feminine alters so if you're not cool with that I understand. I like music, movies, playing games, watching anime... All the typical nerdy stuff. But I enjoy it.
Hmm... What else to put...
Oh yeah, the more physical hobbies and maybe some career info? I have no idea.
I've always super enjoyed rock climbing, archery, and swimming. I can hold my breath for a minute and a half easy(ish). Other alters can hold their breath longer.
I play guitar (not very well) and do funny voices (shorthand for me being a voice actor) while I sing stupid made up songs that I'll never ever write down. I love the sound of bands like Arrows In Action and Simple Plan (Yes, I enjoy Scooby-Doo, how can you tell?)
If we go to the movies together, I'll probably overanalyze everything. My favorite movies are either the John Wick franchise or Pirates of the Caribbean (also my favorite ride at Disney!), or maybe The Black Phone. Favorite actor is Ethan Hawke.
Favorite color is lavender, favorite song is (currently) Endeavor by Arrows in Action, Favorite holiday is Halloween, favorite movie genre is horror due to the versatility of it. Favorite food is steak or venison (depending on my mood).
I've got myself a nice fancy little drama degree too, which is nice.
So uhh lemme just describe a (near) perfect date for you, from my perspective.
First things first, we'd spend morning day hiking (maybe around a theme park), and then we'd beat the heat of the afternoon by either hanging out inside or in the shade (or at a pool/lake/water park). After some rest with a picnic lunch, maybe while I played with your hair, we would do... something with the rest of the afternoon. Something sweet, maybe chill at an art museum or hang out while window shopping or take a joyride (I'm driving, and you're putting up with my playlist (and making suggestions)). When we got tired of that, ideally we'd go see a movie (your pick because I'm a total movie nerd and can find enjoyment in just about anything) that we would then discuss over a late dinner. And after dinner comes my favorite part: stargazing, or a short trail walk through the scenery.
The details are a little fuzzy because I'm not really too good at explaining what goes on in my head, and I'm missing the most important one: you.
Physically, I'm on the shorter side and I have a few tattoos. I plan to get more, I want a gaming-themed sleeve at some point, and am open to discussions if desired.
Oh! I'm also on the chubbier side but I'm actively working on slimming up, since my weight isn't helping my dysphoria whatsoever.
Feel free to ask about the DID btw, or anything else. I'm trying to get less self-conscious. If you're lacking on conversation starters, there's a few ideas below 👇
Favorite constellation?
Favorite color?
Do you want me to give you a tarot reading? Please note that this one would just be for pure fun, and I'd need to find my cards lol.
Hogwarts House? Camp Half-Blood cabin? (Ravenclaw, probably Apollo if we're excluding the big 3. If not, then Poseidon for sure.)
Wizard101 school?
Favorite band?
If you've read this all, I commend you and appreciate the time it took. I know I'm not the best with writing, and something must've kept ya reading so why not send a message?

The world we live in by xavion forbes
Beautiful sky, beautiful sun
Raindrops fall, shadows lurk
Pitiful insect beneath the earth
While those on the surface smiled and danced
The devil himself cackled and pranced
The knights who bowed to dejection
Fell victim to the wicked angel’s deception
Believing all his charming lies
The knights set out to claim their prize
Exterminating shadows and light
The knights cheered with delight
“Hooray! Hooray!” they yelled as they wept.
And though it may seem grim
Alas this is the world we live in

• presage by xavion forbes

Prologue:
The sun rose over the forest as water drops ran across their leaves and landed on the undergrowth. A
group of five kids ran through the wet grass. Two of the kids were girls. They all had long silky white
Hair that stretched past their pointy ears. They laughed as they ran through the wet grass.
A small, beautiful fairy flew up to one the boys, her wings glistening in the sunlight as they flapped.
“Ailwi your mother has summoned you.” she spoke
“Okay!” said Ailwi as he ran toward the center of the forest.
After a while he stopped at a small village known as ‘heart of the forest.’ a place found deep within
The center of the forest. He left footprints in the soft, wet soil next to the tracks made by the wheels
Of wagons, the air was calm and smelled of purity. His home, like all the others was mad of clay and
Wood. He knocked on the door of his house and a tall, pale old man wearing robe like clothes.
answered. Ailwi’s bright green eyes lit up with glee he looked at the man.
“Dad! You’re Back!” he exclaimed as he flew into his father's arms.
“Ailwi! Nice to see you.”
“You took forever father!”
“I’m sorry i got something to make it up to.” he said as he reached into his travel bag.
“You need to stop spoiling the boy he already Makeru he is 10 years old already and where is Praxidike?”
“I’m not too sure Kamali did you call him?”
“Oh no i forgo-of course i did!”
“What a free spirit that boy is, he’ll be a great warrior someday.” Chuckled Makeru
“He’ll be a tough-skulled warrior.” said Kamali irritated.
Makeru walked over and hugged his wife.
“Don’t be like that now, you know i missed you too.” said Makeru as he hugged and rocked her.
Kamali’s blush appeared on her pale soft skin.
“Anyways i called you here because you need to feed Zeus, i already have the food here.” Said Kamali
“Yes ma’am.”
Ailwi grabbed the small wooden bowl of greens and took it outside.
“Zeus, Zeus!” he called.
A beautiful unicorn appeared from the forest. It was elegant from the golden air it exerted to the way it
Walked. It's radiance was unmatched. Ailwi laid the bowl on the ground and petted Zeus whilst it ate.
“Oh how nice it must be.” he thought to himself.
Makeru walked by and put a hand on his shoulder.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked.
“Why don’t they visit us?”
Makeru looked at the ground then at his son trying to figure out what to say.
“Due to survival instinct we always fear the bigger fish.” he said as he stroked his white beard.
“But we can protect ourselves.”
“We are a powerful race.” said Makeru as he looked away.
“As elves we are much more gifted than the humans...” he continued.
“Why don’t we show them that we are not a threat?”
“Fear and pride are terrible pair.”
“So...it’s impossible.” aid Ailwi with a golf ball in his throat as he looked at the ground.
Makeru looked at Ailwi.
"From the moment we are born we a given a choice and make our decisions accordingly, which is likely
what caused this rift to open to begin with, but our choices and decisions are slowly
becoming intertwined with one another.” he said as he rested a hand on Ailwi’s head
“So how do you walk along humans?”
Makeru smiled knowingly as if waiting for that question.
“When you’re a merchant you pick up a few tricks.” he spoke
He reached into his bag and put on a necklace with a bright blue gem. Makeru put the
necklace on. He Face began emitting a bright light Blinding Ailwi. He rubbed his eyes and
looked back at his father only To see a human man with short curly brown hair and eyes
sitting next to him. Fear and confusion washed over him, only for it to quickly subside when
he heard the man laugh.
“Dad?” he said asked a slightly annoyed tone.
“Yep.” Makeru chuckled.
He took off the Necklace, turning his face and hair back to normal.
“Neet trick huh?.” he asked as he continued laughing./
“Yea.”
“Well now.” said Makeru as he picked up Zeus’ empty bowl.
“Go be a kid.”
Makeru got up and ran back to play with his friends.
“Hey what took you so long Ailwi?” asked his younger brother.
His brother was a pretty tall 9-year-old kid, sightly taller than most elven children including his brother.
His white hair was held up in an elven warrior's ponytail, held up by a small, slim piece of rope.
“Praxidike mom called both me and you.”
“Yeah, but I just got the hang of this trick i can do with my magic.” Explained Praxidike.
“Watch this.”
Praxidike took a deep breath and pointed an open hand to a tree. Light emerged from his hand and the
Tree began to move. Crack!Crack!Snap! Trees branches crackled as they began to animate.
One of Which elongated itself and reached down to Praxidike. he walked upon the branch
and it raised him into the air. Once it stopped Praxidike to a sigh of relief and wiped the
sweat off his forehead.
“Wow that was awesome!” cheered one kid
“Cool!” cheered another
“Ailwi I need help.” laughed Praxidike nervously.
“Why?”
“I don’t have the energy to do that again.”
“Fine.”
Ailwi reached his hand towards the ground and took a deep breath. His hand began to
emit a bright green light. A small Wurl wind began to form.
“Alright jump!”
“Sure it’s safe?”
“Have I ever wronged you?”
Praxidike gave him a skeptical look.
“Have I ever dropped you.”
“Come on!” demanded Ailwi
Praxidike looked at the ground below and how far it was and shook his head.
“I can’t.”
“Why.”
Praxidike's legs were jelly, his heart pounding he swallowed the gulf ball sized lump in his
throat.
“Come on move Praxidike this isn’t becoming of a warrior.” he thought to himself.
He shut his eyes, trying to think of a way to get out of this mess.
“Praxidike you can do it!” yelled AIlwi.
Praxidike snapped out of it and took a deep breath.
“You are a warrior.” he thought as he got up.
Body still trembling he jumped off and fell into the Wurl wind, catching him.
“Thanks Ailwi.”
“You're welcome.” he said.
“Well, who's wants to play hide and seek?” said one of the kids.
Everyone said they wanted to play, except for Ailwi.
“Is it because you have never won a single game before?” teased Praxidike.
“No! You guys hide too well.”
“And you don’t know how to at all.”
“No, it’s just-”
“Don’t worry we can play without you.” said one kid.
Ailwi’s ear turned red with anger and embarrassment.
“Fine! I'll find you this time! I’ll find all of you!”
Ailwi turned around, covered his eyes and began counting.
The rest of the kids quickly fled giggling as they ran. Once he finished he began looking for them.
“I’ll show them.” he thought.
“I will win.”
After while he was still looking for them. His pointy ears became red again.
“Where are they?!” he said aloud as his hand began to emit a green light.
A Wurl wind began to form around him. exerting an impressive amount of force on
everything around Him, strong enough to push the trees back. Then it stopped.
His eyes felt stuffed as he tried to hold back his tears.
“I can’t do it!” he yelled as he ran away.
Praxidike clenched his fist as he saw Ailwi run.
Ailwi’s tears broke past his defenses and ran down his cheek. Once he got home, he ran and gave
Kamali tight hug.
“Mom!” spoke Ailwi as he buried his face into his mother’s all white dress.
“What’s wrong Ailwi.”
“I(sniff)hate(sniff)it!” cried Ailwi.
“Alright let’s go outside and talk about it until your father gets home.”
Kamali gently put her hand on Ailwi’s back and walked him outside.
“Now tell me what’s going on.”
Ailwi wiped his face.
“Everyone(sniff) is better than me at hide and seek and i hate it!”
“That’s okay-”
“No, it isn’t, everyone is good at(sniff)something(sniff)like Praxidike and I hate it.”
“Ailwi!” snapped Kamali.
Ailwi jumped at the sudden remark.
Kamali took a deep breath and sighed.
“Back when Makeru was a still a warrior he was tasked to train some of the young elves for combat.”
She spoke.
Ailwi looked up at her curiously.
“On his first day he came back home extremely mad. He told me he couldn’t stand how slow they
Were.”
“So, I told him ‘Maybe your just fast’ which made him a little angrier.”
“But the next day he came to me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and thanked me...He
told me that I was right because though things started rocky once he slowed down and
adapted to their pace they got things a lot quicker”
“Understand what I'm trying to say?”
Ailwi looked at the ground then back at his mother then nodded.
Kamali knelt down to Ailwi’s level.
“And though it is okay to be angry we don’t hate anyone.” she said as she kissed his
forehead.
“Can I go back?”
“Sure.” answered Kamali as she gave a soft smile.
Ailwi ran back into the forest and found his friend along with his brother who had his arms crossed.
“All together.” he spoke.
“We’re sorry for hurting your feelings.” Praxidike and the kids said in unison.
“And I'm sorry for making fun of you.” said Praxidike.
“Why are you apologizing?”
“Because.” spoke Praxidike
“I saw you crying and realized that we took are jokes too far and that I shouldn’t have
pushed you to play a game that you didn’t want to play.” he continued.
“Don’t worry I'm sorry for quitting the game and leaving.” said Ailwi as he extended his hand.
Praxidike shook head and gave his older brother a hug.
“I want to play one more time.” said Ailwi.
Everyone looked shocked then skeptical.
“Are you sure?” asked Praxidike.
Ailwi gave a determined nod.
“Let’s play one more time, just don’t cry when you can’t find us.” said Praxidike.
He turned around, covered his eyes and began counting.
Again, the kids quickly fled. Once he finished counting, he began looking for them. After a
while once Again, his ears began to turn red them He paused, took a deep breath, and
closed his eyes. his hands began to glow, and a strong gust of wind blew in all directions.
Then he felt some resistance in the wind in multiple Places. He could feel it all. From the
motionless trees to the traversing animal. he could feel four people which he quickly
chased after. Finding all of his friends.
“You did it Ailwi!” cheered his brother.
“I can’t wait to tell mom.” Said Ailwi happily.
Both Ailwi and Praxidike ran home to tell their mother the good news.
“Mom, he won!” announced Praxidike.
“Oh really?”
“Yeah!”
“How?”
“I don’t know.” spoke AIlwi
“I just took your advice and I think i got stronger!” said Ailwi jumping with joy.
Kamali smiled.
“That’s great Ailwi.”
“How about you use that strength to help me peel and cut these vegetables?”
“Yeah.” said Ailwi as he walked over and began cutting the potatoes.
“Hey everyone!” announced Makeru as he walked in.
Praxidike tackled his father to the ground.
“Good one Praxidike but tackle old men.” said Makeru as he let out and exaggerated
wheeze.
“You choose to be old.” spoke Kamali.
“Ailwi won hide hand seek for the first time.”
“Oh really? Great job!”
VOOOOOM!
Makeru’s face became serious as he quickly got back onto his feet.
VOOOOOM!
Kamali walked over to Makeru.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“I don’t know... I’ll go check it out, but just in case get the kids ready.” said Makeru as he left.
Makeru jogged to the front of the village, where other male elves stood. The all glanced at
his upon Arrival.
“Elves! We need to prepare for war! I already sent someone to evacuate the women and
children to the cavern!” Yelled One of them as he walked in front of the small platoon of
forty.
“Are enemy is not too far away and they are storming through front of the forest and have
broken the concealment barrier, we need to use this time to our advantage! We are going
to take them from all sides. We need to send five hidden archers on the eastern, western,
and southern sides of the army, the rest of us will take our post in those places as well.
Now Let’s finish what the human started two-hundred thousand years ago. Now get
ready!”
The elves mounted their unicorns and headed to their respective positions. The elf who
explained the battle plan stopped Makeru.
“It’s been a while, Joseph.” Said Makeru with a faint smile.
“Yes, odd that a rusty treasure such as yourself is entering battle.”
“Indeed bu-“
“I think it is better you head for the cavern you should feel much more comfortable there.”
“Well we all have are reasons.”
“Not when you left.”
“There were multiple.”
“Ah let me guess… the traitor?”
“Much more than that…”
“He committed sin against the natural order and was punished accordingly.”
“The natural order is what got us here and his sin would have made this punishment a lot
easier on us.”
“You have the heart of a coward.” Finished Joseph as he left into forest.
Makeru sighed, got on Zues’ back and followed. The Children followed there mothers in a
straight line while a bright glowing green fairy in the front illuminated their path in in the
stary night under the full moon. Ailwi and Praxidike clung to both sides of Kamali.
“Mom happening?” asked Ailwi.
“The forest warriors have to carry out their duties.” Answered Kamali.
“But will dad be okay?” asked Praxidike.
“You know as well as I do what your father is capable of.”
“But he is old now and he hasn’t fought in years.”
“He has beaten formidable creatures of the forest, can’t do that without a trick or two up
your sleeve.”
“Why did he leave in the first place if he was so strong?” Asked Ailwi
“Not to sure, he told me that that he ‘chose peace’ that was all…”
“Are we almost there?” asked Praxidike.
“Yes, just walk a little longer.”
“I can’t my feet hurt. Ailwi carry me on your back.” Whined Praxidike.
“No! Why would I?!”
“Because I’m your young brother and I won’t stay that way forever.”
“Fat chance! You’re bigger than me! If anything, you should carry me!” yelled Ailwi.
“No.” pouted Praxidike.
The troops of elves stood at their positions where they readied for battle. Humans on
horses dodged passed the trees and began their attack on the elves. Joseph took out his
enemies one after the other. His sword cutting through their flesh like a knife through
butter. The area was filled with blood splatter and battle cries. Joseph created magical
barrier as a large fireball torpedoed towards him. It broke straight through making contact.
He let out a blood curdling scream as his now lifeless steed fell on his leg. His foe stood
over him and raised his blade. The human stopped as an arrow shot through his head,
spilling warm red liquid on Joseph’s face. Joseph removed his leg and stumbled as he got
up. He heard something big and fast approaching. He put up a barrier up on all sides as it
got closer and closer, smashing the trees in its wake. Then it stopped. Within a nanosecond
a giant fist punched through the barrier.
“What’s wrong with my magic?!” he thought.
The smell of smoke and death spread alongside the fire that torched the forest. His
comrades began to drop one by one. A fifteen-foot-tall green creature with four muscular
arms and one eye stood over Joseph holding a massive, spiked metal club.
“They have cyclops?!” he thought as it began to raise its weapon over its head.
“I have no regrets.” He continued as he stared death in the eyes.
“Hurry put up your barrier.” Yelled a voice before the monster shrunk down into an infant.
Thud! Boom! The descending club bounced off the barrier and landed on the ground. A
sword cut though the baby cyclops’ neck sending his it’s head flying through the air.
Joseph looked up to see who saved him. This elf looked tall and muscular in his white shirt
that was stained with blood alongside the intricate golden maze-like patterns that matched
the unicorn he sat upon. He had the appearance of a man, who was no older than twenty.
“Makeru?!”
“Get up, there is another one coming, bigger than the one we just fought.” Said Makeru as
he Stretched his hand out.
Joseph picked himself up and grabbed his sword. A much larger cyclops with six arms
bashed it’s way though the trees and elves then towered menacingly over the two. It raised
all six clubs and swung them at it’s targets.
“Let’s go!” said Makeru as he ran towards his opponent.
He swiftly avoided five clubs and reached His hand out, but the sixth club hit him with the
force of a semi-truck and sent him flying into a tree. Zues got up and ran into the chaos.
“Zues-” yelled Makeru, trying to lift himself up.
Blood spilled out of his mouth as he fell back onto his knees. His body was on fire and
everything around him began to blend together in a red, blurry mess.
“For them…” he thought as he got back up.
“I need you to make me an opening!” commanded Makeru.
Joseph clenched his teeth and put as much power in his barriers as he could. The clubs
bounced of the Barriers allowing Makeru to get close enough to touch it. The cyclops
became an infant and once again, Makeru cut it in half. The clubs rained down as Makeru
took a deep breath. Joseph stared in awe.
“I have the heart of a man.” Said Makeru as he we ran back into the fierce battle.
Multiple massive, scaley beast with large wing hovered over the forest as fire spewed from
their deadly jaws.
“What beast don’t these humans have?!” thought Joseph.
Huge glowing blue arrows shot the creatures out of the sky. A fairy hurriedly fly towards
Joseph and collapsed in front of him. He picked her up in his hand.
“What’s wrong?!”
“There are human forces surrounding the forest and they are closing in!” explained the
fairy. Joseph froze. His pale complexion lost what little color it had.
“F-from th-the beginning.” He mumbled as he dropped the fairy.
He stared into the space in front of Himself, sniffling, mouth agape.
“No…Humans…Humans! HUMANS!” he screamed as he fell onto his knees.
A sword sliced through his neck causing his head to roll on the soil beneath him. Makeru
continued to cut his enemies down. Three men surrounded Makeru and swung their
swords with tremendous speed.Makeru quickly parried the blows and cut one of them in
half. The other two simultaneously aimed for Makeru’s neck. Makeru shrunk down into an
infant and touched both of their shoes, turning them both into old men. He grew back to
his original size then cut the men down. He jumped in the air to avoid the fire ball that was
hurled toward him but a thin drop of water shot through his leg at the speed of a bullet. He
fell to the ground hard. He felt the ground shake and quickly used his three remaining
limbs toto jump out of the way. Makeru landed next to the spikes that had emerged from
the ground. Makeru focused his mana inside his leg and his wound closed up but he still
stumbled as he got up. Multiple Beams of water shot through his body then a long blade
pierced his torso. He placed his palm on the man who stabbed him causing him wilt and
shrivel into an old man. Makeru removed the sword from his torso.
“I would have died either way, no matter what I chose…Huh? Sorry Kamali.” Thought
Makeru.
He turned around and stared at the raging chaos. Watching the elves and humans kill each
other as smoke enveloped his lung with every breath. Another beam of water shot through
his chest. He stared at the man he had killed with a blank face.
“What are you?” he asked aloud with a blank face before collapsing and bleeding out.
Praxidike and Ailwi continued to cling to their mother on their way to the cavern.
“Are we almost there?” asked Praxidike.
“Yes very close.” Said Kamali.
“Are those fairies?” asked Ailwi, pointing at the strange orangish red lights approaching
them. Kamali squinted her eyes and created a large clear semi-sphere that emitted a faint
purple hue around everyone.
“Everyone, they found us, run!” she yelled.
the women ran with their children and separated from the group into the forest. Kamali ran
with her children’s hands in hers.
“Mom why are we running?” asked Ailwi.
Kamali stopped behind a large tree.
“Mom, what’s happening?” asked Ailwi through his heavy breath.
Kamali gulped and sighed.
“We are in a terrible battle.” She said.
“With who?” asked Ailwi.
“Humans.”
“What about dad?!” asked Praxidike panicked.
Kamali looked down and sighed.
“We need to help him!” Yelled Praxidike.
“Be quiet…”
“But you love him, he is your husband and our father! He needs-“
“I do love him, with all my heart even when he was seen as a disgrace for leaving the army I
stayed by his side, but now you are our sole responsibility, and your safety is what matters!”
“We are fam-“
“Yes and because of that we can not help him!” she said through burning tears.
The two hugged Kamali and cried in her arms. Snap! Kamali’s ear twitched at the sound of
a twig Snapping causing her to perk up. She cupped the cheeks of her children.
“You must go.”
“What?” The two asked in surprise.
“You must run without me. Now!”
“But mom-“
“Ailwi take care of you brother and keep him safe.”
“No!-“
“I love both of you so much please never forget that.” Said Kamali as her voice cracked
“Please!” yelled Ailwi.
“Run! Now!” said Kamali as he pushed her kids.
The two ran as fast as they could into the forest and were soon out of sight. Five men
surrounded Kamali ready to attack. Ailwi and Praxidike kept running and once again
stopped behind a tree.
“Ailwi. Mom, Dad.”
“It’s okay they’re strong, they know how to fight they can win.” Encouraged Ailwi.
“Please, you understand Ailwi, they need help!”
“But we cannot help them.”
A lump enveloped within the two’s throats. Praxidike fell onto his knees and punched the
ground.
“Why is this happening?!” he said as his tears ran from his cheek onto the white lily beneath him.
Tears began to weld in Ailwi’s eyes but he refused to let them fall. He knelt down and gave
his weeping brother a hug.
“It will be over tomorrow, hopefully.” He said while rocking him.
They both flinched as they hear a twig snap. Before them stood a lengthy human with a disgusting
toothy Grin. His mouth moved but neither of the two could understand a word he uttered.
“Stop please.” Begged Ailwi.
The man face contorted into a disgusted and unpleased expression. He raised a glowing
hand causing The two to move out of the way as fast as they could, allowing the tree
behind them to be torched by The fireball.
“Ailwi we need to fight!”
Ailwi looked at Praxidike with wide eyes then Back at their enemy.
“No we can’t!”
“We have to!”
Ailwi swallowed hard and got ready for the fight right in front of him. Zeus was still
galloping within the forest. Before being stopped by four men. Praxidike created a tree
which wrapped around the man. The Man set the tree ablaze and quickly grabbed Praxidike
by the neck.
“Let me go!” He yelled.
Ailwi threw a powerful gust of wind at the man, making him stumble and trip over the tree
root created by Praxidike, dropping the child in his grasp. He threw a fireball at Ailwi,
forcing him into hitting his back on the tree hard, knocking him to the ground. Fire
enveloped the man’s fist before dealing Praxidike a blow to the gut so hard that his rib let
out a sickening crack. The fiery barrage of didn’t let up each punch to his face and torso
would burn his skin terribly. Finally, the man stopped, and the fire ceased, allowing
Praxidike to fall to the ground. He Picked him up by the neck and stood over Ailwi with the
same disturbing grin as before. Ailwi looked at his burnt and battered brother in fear.
“Please…stop…let him go.” Pleaded Ailwi, grabbing the man’s feet as he cried.
The man kicked Ailwi off of him and laughed. Praxidike’s whole body was set ablaze within
the mans grasp screaming in agony.
“NO!” screamed Ailwi.
Praxidike went silent and the man dropped his burning corpse. Zues was still fighting off the men far into
the forest. Soon they caught him within a net, raised their mighty sword and brought it
down upon his neck, slaying the last unicorn. Ailwi gazed upon what was left of his brother
in terror. His blood ran cold, he lost his breath, and his head was painfully pounding like a
drum it was so loud that he could barely hear the sound of his heart that was pounding in
his chest like an engine. The man’s wicked laughter echoed in Ailwi’s entire body causing
his blood to boil.
“Why...WHY?!” he screeched as his wind broke through the fireball that was launched at
him and condensed into sharp, powerful blade that beheaded his foe.The blood spilled on
Ailwi’s frightened face and mixed with his tears.
“No…I d-didn’t mean too…”
The pounding in his head got worse as vomit spilled from his mouth. Then he fell to his
knees and Passed out from both mental and physical exhaustion. Once he awoke the sun
rose, shining it’s light upon the tainted forest. Ailwi got up and began looking for his
mother. After a couple of minutes, he found his mother’s corpse lying on the ground, her
torso severed in two. Soon he also found Makeru on the ground, his body riddled with
holes. Ailwi fell onto his knees and cried on top of his lifeless father.
“Please don’t (Hiccup) leave me!(sniff).” He cried.
“I need you.”
After some time, he walked back to the village.
“Someone? Anyone?” he called. The houses were broken down and charred. He walked
over to the Rubble that was once his house. A blinding blue light emitted from it revealing
his mother. She was made of the same blue light that blinded Ailwi.
“Mom?” asked Ailwi through quivering lips.
“Ailwi, my son.”
“Mom!” exclaimed Ailwi as he ran to her to give her a hug.
He phased through her and tripped. The spirit turned around with a face of pain and sorrow.
“Ailwi, I love you more than life itself.”
“I couldn’t save him.” Said Ailwi while still on the ground.
“You’re safe and that’s all that matters.”
Her body began to flicker.
“I don’t have much time.” She continued.
“What’s wrong?”
“My soul must travel to heaven.”
“No, don’t go! I don’t want to be alone!”
“You won’t. I need you to promise something.”
Ailwi got up and looked at his mother with curiosity.
“Do not bear any hatred in you heart, not toward the humans, not towards anyone.”
“What?! They killed everyone!”
“Please-“
“NO! how could I forgive them?! After everything they stole!?”
“Please Ailwi I beg of you.” She said while cupping his cheek and giving him a kiss on his
forehead.
“Please.” She continued before completely fading away.
Ailwi cried harder than ever as he fell to the floor.
“MOM! Come back! Please!”
“I promise…” he said as he curled into a ball.
Something gleamed within the wreckage of his house. He picked himself up and pulled it
out of the dirt.
“Dad’s Necklace.” He said as he clutched it.
Once he put it on his face began to change. His long white hair shortened and browned
and his ears shrunk and became round. He looked into a nearby puddle and stared at his
new human appearance.
“I’m a monster.” He said with a blank face. before falling to his knees, weeping loudly.

Been playing since January. Have S run every difficulty and consistently S G4 all the way to the Moon if not Iris. Wouldn't say its particularly hard, but when most of my runs come to an end, its when at some point it feels like the every enemy hits me all at the same time despite how fast or where I'm moving in relation to them or their fire. I have videos of me grappling to a spot and as soon as I do every enemy turns to where I grappled to and their fire meets me there at near the exact moment I land, within a few frames and it takes away most if not all of my health. It looks like they're all connected to the same gear on a pinball machine or something. It looks so unnatural. This drastically differs from most other moments in the game where you can use the grapple to dodge, and at least have some input as to whether you survive or not. I chalked it up for the most part to the difficulty randomly spiking to gatekeep finishing on G4.
ANYWAY, boot up today with the new update. See the door in Haven City so I start a Discovery run just to breeze the time. First attempt I slide around a corner in Oasis. On Discovery. I'm met with the fully charged blast from the slug, a shot from a sniper elite, about 7 missiles, and 8 or 9 bursts from regular bots. On Discovery. I die. All before I can stand up from my slide around the corner. ON DISCOVERY.
Needless to say, I guffaw, but I persist. Load up again on Discovery and this time I breeze my way to Haven city with plenty of time to get the area clear and door open. Clear the initial room after the first safe zone no problem. Go to hit the jump pad to clear the wall to fight the first goliath and as I'm going up I see a bunch of red arrows and missile markers above me. I'm dead before I even see the next room. ON DISCOVERY.
I've been joking with my buddy that I've been playing with that Roboquest is the game where the difficulty is made up and the class doesn't matter, but I'm pretty over it at this point. Because the game is fun but I cant take it just rolling the dice and deciding the run is over.
This isn't even taking into account losing control of my right stick 8 out of ten times a rail bot spawns or the auto aim actively fighting me from putting the crosshairs on the enemy, even when there is only a single one. That stuff happens to consistently to be a glitch, tho the auto run thing is extremely frustrating too. This game is amazingly fun but I think its time to uninstall.

Chapter 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu_pq-AgvNY&t=310s

Traveling the country is never an easy task by oneself. Your truck breaks down, you can't get any sleep, you can't charge your phone whenever you want to, but you're free do whatever you want as long as you maintain your budget. Jacob Rissen had arrived at Garden City, Kansas to make some money for his next adventure. He'd been here for a few weeks and would soon be leaving. Whether it was the bright lights of All mart or the fact that he'd been at the register for six hours, Jacob Rissen was beginning to get a painful headache. He lived a mostly stress free life except for when his truck needed fixing. If ever the stress built up or he made enemies he'd say his goodbye's to his friends and leave for the next town. It was a skill he'd gained from his time in the Marine's having to make friends quickly and say goodbye at some time afterwards. He hadn't been a model Marine by any standards and no one looked at him for leadership. Jacob stayed under the radar easily hiding his true self which is where he made his peace. If anyone was to look to him for advice just because he took the job shortly after high school he'd have to question their inferiority complex. After three years of duty he'd been removed due to a 'personality disorder' but knew it was for the best. That had all been two years ago but he had yet to develop past that point in the civilian world. 

"Did you find everything you were looking for?" Jacob asked as the customer finished loading their groceries onto the belt. He only half listened to the customer's answer sure that if there was an actual problem he could fix it. Several plastic bags were quickly filled with the customer's selections. Looking up to see past the customer he saw his boss judging him yet again. Cassie was a skinny girl of twenty three, one year and a few months younger than himself. He knew that she was watching to make sure he was careful with the glassware unaware that even at his speed he tried his best to keep the customer's satisfied. She'd recently changed her disposition to him and would watch him several times during the day surely wondering why he worked so hard. A promotion could be easily obtained but he wasn't interested in something so permanent. Stress wasn't something he planned to have in his life so avoided it as best he could. He switched from job to job every few months so had to work harder than most to keep good job references. In the time it took his boss to charge one customer, Jacob's line was quickly finished leaving him time to rearrange the candy bars and face the soda bottles in the cooler. He had no problem with pushing himself harder than anyone else knowing that he had to make up for the past months he'd been free from a job.
"Logan!" Shrieked Maria, a brown skinned, Central American nineteen year old girl who worked in the clothing department. She was incredibly short so it always surprised him when she clung onto him by surprise. Being a traveler had its advantages which included becoming someone new in every town. His boss and the store managers knew his name was Jacob Rissen but he went by Logan with everyone else. In every town he visited he planned out who he was going to be and how long it would last. It wasn't because he didn't trust them but sometimes he wanted to make a new identity when he entered a new town. Once people got to know him well enough he would usually leave them with a pleasant memory of whoever he was that time instead of the memory of Jacob Rissen never to be seen or heard from again. If anyone tried to look him up on the internet they couldn't find him and if they did they'd get more questions than answers. It was his own middle finger to society, harmless as it was.
"Hey. Where have you been hiding?" Jacob joked, wrapping an arm around Maria. She smiled from ear to ear blushing as she usually did when he played the romantic protagonist. Jacob Rissen was never this confident around women but knew that Maria had a crush on Logan. When no one knows or cares about you when you leave a town it didn't matter who you were in said town. Even if Jacob made a fool of himself he could just hop in his truck and continue down the highway. People would wonder where Logan had gone but would soon forget him afterwards. Even with Maria in his arm, Jacob was deciding on what name to go by when he left.
"We just got a bunch of new clothes in. If someone was to take me out tonight I bet I'd look good." Maria asked in that feminine way of asking a man out without making it a question. Reality struck Jacob like the cupid's poisonous arrow. He was twenty five and had lived a life of pain and misery only to find relief in his divorce. Almost immediately after leaving the Marines his ex-wife had left him for one of his friends. Needless to say he didn't talk to either of them turning to a life of self indulgence and failed relationships. Only recently had he found peace in traveling the country and wasn't ready to give it up. Maria's eyes looked up at him urgently wanting an answer he couldn't give her. Most of the women he dated had left quickly after they both got what they wanted from the other. Maria was an innocent of sorts. This was surely just because she was just a recent high school graduate and he would not take advantage of that.
"I... I really like you." Jacob said as he felt Logan's confidence leaving him. "But, I thought we were just having fun at work." Maria's smile quickly turned downward, opening slightly in disbelief. It was a strange sight he'd never seen in a woman that liked him. Whenever he made his ex-wife sad she'd scream and yell at him. A reaction like this made him immediately regret his decision almost wanting to marry Maria on the spot instead of push her away.
"Yeah, it's all just... fun. I'll see you later. Gotta get back before the boss notices I'm missing." She said shuffling her feet as she walked away. He wanted to follow her and try to change her mind but knew that the man she wanted didn't actually exist. Jacob was back now for better or worse and she'd likely never see Logan again.
"How about a break?" Asked Cassie, his boss, from behind him. He jumped, frightened at her sudden appearance and curious about how much she had heard.
"I should probably just leave her alone for awhile." Jacob said realizing he'd just do more damage than good.
"You mean how you left me alone?" She asked smugly.
"You're my boss. Flirting with you really was just fun." Jacob joked knowing she knew the same. They both smiled at the memory of his interview.
"You gotta remember though. People aren't characters on TV. We have real feelings." She pointed out quickly turning to serious then back to a smile while she lightly pushed him out of the aisle. "Now go take your break heartbreaker." Now on bis break, he made his way out the building into the parking lot as his headache kicked in even harder than before. He had to close his eyes and blink several times as the parking lot switched from concrete to grassy plains in his eyes. Instead of cars he saw trees, instead of roads he saw fields, and instead of people he saw a herd of deer. After a moment it switched back to modern times eluding to the fact that he really wanted to get out of the city. Apparently he wanted it so badly his brain was playing tricks on him. His truck was parked far away from the customer vehicles and he quickly checked himself over in the rearview mirror. His brown hair was lightening up in certain areas thanks to the excessive sunlight it received these days. Even the short hairs on his face had begun to brighten. Like most people he had spent the majority of his time indoors but was beginning to see what the rest of the world missed out on as he traveled. Even his personality was better for it as the natural light kept him at ease. Traveling around taking jobs here and there seemed to be a better fit for him than living just to work at a job he hated. His family described him as a ghost whenever he called them and perhaps they were right in a sense. Jacob only stayed in a place for as long as he wanted and only worked enough to survive for the next few months. One month of work could keep him and his truck going strong for three. Once harvest time came he'd go back to Nebraska and find a farmer to work for. That would give him enough to travel for several more months giving him a long vacation from work. Even if he was in an accident and his truck was destroyed he had enough saved up to buy a similar one. He turned on his phone and connected to the store's wifi. Placing his phone in it's handless holder on the dash he leaned back in his drivers seat only to turn his face at the basket and remember he had to do laundry after work. Jacob sat there for awhile enjoying one of his favorite shows as the ground began to shake. He looked down at his hand to make sure he had only been drinking the soda he just bought before realizing the store was being hit with an earthquake. Glancing out the window he thought he saw something large flying in the sky before jumping out of his truck to run towards the building as quickly as he could.
"Calm down everyone! No pushing!" He shouted as he helped the people out of the building as the ground continued to violently shake.
"You calm down. What's wrong with you?" Asked a nearby elderly man. He looked around and saw that even though the ground was shaking he wasn't needed. Everyone continued to shop as if nothing was happening.
"It's an earthquake!" Jacob urged hoping for some sort of answer. If he was the only one feeling the ground shake he'd have to go to the hospital. He had enough money to pay for his life but not enough if he was dying of a stroke.
"It's just an earthquake." The elderly man said scornfully before noticing the concerned look on Jacob's face. "Probably not safe to be shopping right now but we're used to it."
"Sorry. I just came to town." Jacob lied. He'd been in town for a few weeks but hadn't felt an earthquake for at least few years.
"That explains it. It hasn't happened for awhile now but about a month ago it was earthquake after earthquake. The news says it isn't a problem but I blame those frackers." The man said before leaving Jacob to feel like an idiot. Even if the town was used to earthquakes he should have noticed something earlier. He'd been hopping around nearby from town to town before reaching Garden City and hadn't even felt shockwaves. Realizing that the customer's were all looking at him funny he looked at his watch and returned to his truck to get his phone. For the next few hours he accepted his coworkers jokes. Cassie, his boss, was sure to come by every half hour to joke with him.
"The ceiling is falling!" She said in a squeaky voice low enough for none of the customers to take her seriously.
"I can help you over here." Jacob said with a smile to a nearby customer looking for a register. Although he had made a fool of himself he smiled back at Cassie as she made her jokes. It was better than being ignored by his boss altogether but wondered if he should write her down as a reference for his next job.
"Did you-" Jacob began as he looked up at the customer. For a moment it looked like the man's ears were pointed outwards before returning to normal ears. Realizing it was fairly rude to stare at a larger man much stronger than himself he simply started loading his groceries into the bags.
"That explains it Maria. Logan likes men. He is an attractive man, good luck." Cassie joked one last time before returning to her post. At the very least he had made the day easier for his coworkers and should be happy about that.
"Sorry about her-" Jacob began before bracing himself against his register. From the electronics department came a loud and forceful explosion shooting a piercing soundwave towards the registers. Almost instantly the headache he'd been fighting all day disappeared as the force of the blast knocked something loose in his brain. Down towards the electronic's department grew a giant tree branch big enough to build a small house inside of. Reality had a hard time reaching him as he stood there wondering what had happened. All around him were faces mirroring his own stunned look. Customers and employees alike stood like statues trying to grasp what had happened. How did a tree suddenly appear in the middle of the store? How was it still growing through the foundation? The tree branch from the electronics department quickly grew and became large enough for people to rest inside.
"Is that a tree branch?" His customer said before falling to the ground.
"Sir!" Jacob shouted as he regained his movement. He left his register quickly to help the man to his feet before seeing the arrow that had struck the man in the chest.
"What is... this?" He choked out, spilling blood from his mouth onto the white tile floor. Jacob was quick to leave the man's side as the customer's began to shout in panic. Civilian triage and military triage differed in certain places but were also alot alike. In the civilian world if someone looks dead you run to them. In the military world if someone looks dead you help someone else. Just because the man was talking didn't mean he wasn't dead. Treat the casualty, prevent further casualties, complete the mission. Jacob couldn't treat the causalty so had to move on to the next. Step two was critical to step three and if the man couldn't fight he couldn't complete the mission. Using his register he smashed the nearby soda cooler, wrapped a cleaning rag around the largest glass shard and held it like a weapon. It was the fourth luckiest he'd ever been as he looked up just in time to avoid a whizzing arrow. Dodging a bullet was one thing, but dodging an arrow was what really made time feel slower. When people say time slows down in a bullet fight they're wrong. Time speeds up even faster only slowing down when you're about to make a mistake but not fast enough to do anything about it. In order to keep from slowing down he made sure not to look back at the arrow and only forward at his goal. The archer who had tried to kill him was unseen as he hid behind a band of sword wielding warriors running down the aisles. Jacob couldn't take them all on with just a glass shard so took the route through the clothing department.
"Logan! What's going on!?" Maria screamed as she clung to him again. Jacob almost stabbed her as she surprised him but quickly tried to calm her down.
"We're under attack. I don't know why their using swords and arrows. Is anyone else nearby?"
"They killed them all!" She shouted again soaking his work uniform with red stained tears.
"Lept Ka!" Shouted a warrior thrusting his sword through the clothing rack. Jacob was quick to push Maria off of him as he grabbed his attackers hand through the rack and forced himself through, glass shard first. The rack had knocked over on top of his attacker but from the blood on the glass he knew they had to take this chance to run. If Maria was correct he would be of more use at the entrance to the store than the back.
"RRAAAAG!" Came a roar from behind them as they ran. Turning to look at the sound he saw the clothing department being burned down by none other than a green dragon. He knew it wasn't possible and that it must just be some kind of weapon but didn't think past it as he clutched Maria's hand in their sprint. Just as they reached the jewelry department the ground underneith him turned red showing some strange rune made of light. His feet immediately lost their balance as if being controlled by the strange looking glyph on the floor.
"Ir apo." Said a female's voice nearby. Before he could get up the voice's owner thrust a large expensive looking staff to his chest. The end piece didn't pierce him but rested on him instead.
"Ir mi." She said again with just enough emotion in her face to almost look sad. The end piece of the staff began to glow and heat up burning a hole in his shirt. The smell of burning fabric filled his nostrils as the cheap company shirt burned. Before she could do worse he pushed the staff away burning his hand. Although his hand was badly burned he forced both of them around the enemy's throat taking in her face as the life faded. He looked her over as she went unconscious, wondering why she decided to wear fake elf ears into battle. Part of him wanted to keep his hands there and continue his blood choke until she died but he had to get Maria out of the store. It didn't help that the strange woman's tears had found their way onto his hands. Confident that she would be out for a few moments he grabbed Maria's hand again and the two continued to run towards the registers.
"Jacob!" Cassie shouted from a nearby register she had apparently been hiding behind.
"Come on!" He said grabbing her with his other hand and pulling her from her safe space. The bodies of the customers were concentrated the most at the entrance of the store. Many of the dead had been killed from arrows rather than swords and one from a large perfectly circlular hole in the chest from what could have only been an energy weapon.
A nearby warrior pointed at them with a sword and yelled out a battlecry. There was a familiar 'bang' to his right as he watched the warrior fall dead. Apparently Cassie kept a pistol at her station and continued to fire wildly at the warrior's direction as the three of them escaped out the doors of the store. As unsafe as some may believe, he was glad to have her armed, shooting behind them as they went.
"Put down the weapon!" Said a police officer taking cover behind his patrol car. Cassie was quick to throw the weapon as the trio ran past more and more bodies of civilans and enemies alike. They quickly made their way out of the range of fire as more and more police cars gathered in the parking lot looking more like a mass grave. They didn't stop running until they reached Logan's truck.
"Hold it!" Shouted a nearby officer before he could get them in his truck and escape.
"We need to g-" Logan began before his voice disappeared behind the loud rifles the officers began to fire. The four used the truck as cover careful to watch the massacre that was occuring. The enemy didn't seem to know fear as they ran towards the barricade. As more and more police joined the battle the bullets easily pierced the enemy. More and more warriors emerged from the doors but were quickly killed from gunfire.
"RRRAAAGGHH!" Shouted the building as the ceiling was torn apart by the dragon-like weapon they had brought with them. Fire sprayed from it's mouth, igniting several of the parked cars. Explosion after explosion were seen as the police took cover and contionued to fire at the dragons. The rounds found their way through the dragons thick armor and it wasn't long before all the headshots took their toll. The dragon fell quickly to the concrete, dead. It was unbelievable how soon the battle had ended. So many civilians had been killed as they ran but one police department was enough to stop the enemy's advance. If it had happened a few hours later there wouldn't be half as many casualties.

My name is Xaleer Calass Abrack, a renowned Wizard of the Underdark. I am currently starting to dabble in the research of Abberations, specifically Mind Flayers, their Tadpoles, and their Psionic Powers. I am at the age of 100, in the early years of my prime. I have recently dissected several Illithid Tadpoles, trying to figure out how Ulithards come about, and how some Illithids keep parts, and in rare cases the whole of their old personality, and how the Tadpoles change their host so drastically in personality. Though recently I have found myself a bit . . . Lonely . . . Lacking even. So this is a call out to anyone who wishes to join me in my research. My information is below (not including the spells I have learned, just my racial statistics.
Race: Durzagon (Half Duergar, Half Devil [Pit Fiend])
Level 20 Wizard
HP: 200 (1d6 + Constitution Modifier per level)
STR: 14 (+2) CON: 18 (+4) DEX: 16 (+3) INT: 20 (+5) WIS: 10 (+0) CHA: 10 (+0)
Medium Humanoid
Speed: 30 ft., Fly 30 ft.
Damage Resist: Fire Damage Immunity: Poison Condition Immunity: Poisoned Senses: Devil’s Sight 60 ft. - You can see in both Normal and Magical Darkness Languages: Common, Undercommon, Duergan, Dwarvish, Infernal
Racial Traits: Durzagon Resiliance: Advantage on saves against fire damage, spells, and illusions, as well as resistance against charmed and paralyzed. They are also immune to poison damage and poisoned condition.
Sulphiric Beard/Hair: Depending on the length of ones beard or hair up to 30 hair folociles can be pulled out that harden into quills filled with sulphuric poison and can act as Darts, Crossbow Bolts, or Arrows amough other shorter piercing weapons. Each does 2d6 piercing damage on top of an additional 4d6 poison damage on a failed constitution save, and half as much on a successful one. Unless the quills are fired from any sort of bow that deals more than its base piercing damage, it takes the higher number. If the Durgazan does not have hair, which is unlikely, the sulphuric poison that resides in its blood can seep into its weapon, giving it an additions 4d6 poison damage, but only if no hair is present it can use (does not include body hair). The Poison it infuses into the haiweapon is actually from its blood, of which is a sickly orange or green coloration.
Infernal Parentage: Because of their Pit Fiend Parentage in this case, most of these Durzagon tend to have wings, as well as thick tails that can deal up to 3d10 + STR Modifier Bludgeoning Damage. Some even have claws that can deal 2d8 + STR Modifier Slashing Damage. Also because of their tainted blood this unlocks a dormant spell their ancestors had when enslaved to the Mind Flayers ‘Mind Sliver’ and adds and enhances several of their inherent spells they get from their Duergar Parents and unlock the ability to cast Fireball 3/day.
Racial Spells (Scaled to Level 20 Durzagon)
Mind Sliver (at will): At level 1 you gain this Cantrip, it has a range of 60ft and is cast as a psionic spell.
You drive a disorienting spike of psychic energy into the mind of one creature you can see within range. The target must succeed on an Intelligence saving throw or take 1d6 psychic damage and subtract 1d4 from the next saving throw it makes before the end of your next turn.
At Higher Levels. This spell’s damage increases by 1d6 when you reach certain levels: 3rd level (2d6), 7th level (3d6), 9th level (4d6), 11th level (5d6), 13th level (6d6), 17th level (7d6), and 20th level (8d6)
Enlarge/Reduce (at will): At the 3rd level you gain this spell and can cast it at will with no material components on yourself only and lasts until you release the spell and does not take up a spell slot.
Enlarge. The target’s size doubles in all dimensions, and its weight is multiplied by eight. This growth increases its size by one category – from Medium to Large, for example. If there isn’t enough room for the target to double its size, the creature or object attains the maximum possible size in the space available. Until the spell ends, the target also has advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws. The target’s weapons also grow to match its new size. While these weapons are enlarged, the target’s attack with them deal 1d4 extra damage.
Reduce. The target’s size is halved in all dimensions, and its weight is reduced to one-eighth of normal. This reduction decreases its size by one category – from Medium to Small, for example. Until the spell ends, the target also has disadvantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws. The target’s weapons also shrink to match its new size. While these weapons are reduced, the target’s attacks with them deal 1d4 less damage (this can’t reduce the damage below 1).
Invisibility (at will): At the 5th level you gain the ability to cast Invisibility at will outside of battle with no material components, and once per battle and at the 12th level it naturally increases to Greater Invisibility, replacing this, and can be cast on yourself only and does not take up a spell slot.
Anything the target is wearing or carrying is invisible as long as it is on the target’s person. The spell ends for a target that attacks or casts a spell.
Darkness (3/short or long rest): At the 7th Level you gain the ability to cast Darkness 3 times every short or long rest with no material components and has a range of 60 ft. it can last up to 10 minutes unless dispelled. It naturally upgrades to Maddening Darkness at the 18th level, it then is cast at the 3rd level at level 8, 4th at 10, 5th at 12, 6th at 14, and 7th at 16 and does not take up a spell slot.
Magical darkness spreads from a point you choose within range to fill a 15-foot radius sphere for the duration. The darkness spreads around corners. A creature with darkvision can’t see through this darkness, and nonmagical light can’t illuminate it.
If the point you choose is on an object you are holding or one that isn’t being worn or carried, the darkness emanates from the object and moves with it. Completely covering the source of the darkness with an opaque object, such as a bowl or a helm, blocks the darkness.
If any of this spell’s area overlaps with an area of light created by a spell of equal to its level or lower, the spell that created the light is dispelled.
Fireball (3/short or long rest): At the 9th level you gain the ability to cast Fireball 3 times per short or long rest with no material components and has a range of 150 ft. and unless you wish otherwise your allies will automatically succeed their saving throws at the spell will miss them and does not take up a spell slot.
A bright streak flashes from your pointing finger to a point you choose within range then blossoms with a low roar into an explosion of flame. Each creature in a 20-foot radius must make a Dexterity saving throw. A target takes 8d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The fire spreads around corners. It ignites flammable objects in the area that aren’t being worn or carried.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 3rd. At level 11 you can cast it at the 4th level, 13 at 5th, 15 at 6, 17 at 7, and 19 at the 8th.
Greater Invisibility (at will): At the 12th level your natural ability to cast invisibility increases to the Greater Invsibility spell, being able to cast it the same as before and does not take up a spell slot.
Anything the target is wearing or carrying is invisible as long as it is on the target’s person, and does not end if an action is taken, such as attacking or casting a spell.
See Invisibility (1/day): At the 15th Level you gain the ability to cast See Invisibilty on yourself and requires no material components and it lasts until you take a long rest and does not take up a spell slot.
For the duration, you see invisible creatures and objects as if they were visible, and you can see into the Ethereal Plane. Ethereal creatures and objects appear ghostly and translucent.
Maddening Darkness (3/day): At the 18th level Darkness evolves into Maddening Darkness. Its range is 150 ft and lasts up to 10 minutes unless dispelled. You automatically succeed your saving throw and take no damage if you are in the darkness, as do your allies if you so wish and does not take up a spell slot.
Magical darkness spreads from a point you choose within range to fill a 60-foot-radius sphere until the spell ends. The darkness spreads around corners. A creature with darkvision can’t see through this darkness. Nonmagical light, as well as light created by spells of 8th level or lower, can't illuminate the area. Shrieks, gibbering, and mad laughter can be heard within the sphere. Whenever a creature starts its turn in the sphere, it must make a Wisdom saving throw, taking 8d8 psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.