Augmented Aspects: Prologue IV (Patreon)

Prologue IV

“Three months have passed since the arrival of the person many are calling the great sage of energy, emerged from the recently converted Arcanarus Tower, and alerted the world of their recent accomplishments. Among those, in case you missed, was the curing of the Blight, which we are all no doubt now aware of. But also, the fact that Cassiopeia Spiritlight was also the progenitor of their own legendary bloodline, they were certified to perform Magical Enchantment Surgery, and finally what many viewers and participants have been wanting for such a long time, Qi, or martial energies.” The announcer for the Biprism channel spoke.

While other channels often overpowered the tiny channel, in recent weeks the emergence of new data related to cures for cancer from the parent company of Biprism has prompted the gaming world into a new light. Additionally, their recent announcement of body enhancement training programs has also become a big hit.

“Yes, so three months’ time have passed, but up until now no one knew where the prodigy of magic was, nor her sponsor Mallory Redgrave and her whole guild of employees the Midnight Hunters. But we have an exclusive for you. Tonight, we will reveal their final location, and it is a place no one has ever seen in the game.”

There was a slight pause as the announcer took a second to compose themselves before visibly calming himself before continuing to go on.

“You see, we have done our research. We have all seen the fact that the guild members, many of whom were highly influential and focused more of physical assets than anything, recently sold everything they owned. We are talking factories, laboratories, large swaths of rail yards, you name it and it was sold by the founding members of the Midnight Hunters, a guild that Cassiopeia herself joined upon exiting the Arcanarus Tower.”

“But what might have been hard to tell was where Cassiopeia went. For all we saw was her facing west, off in a particular direction from the edge of what remains of the Dorenboro empire. From there we saw her using her Teleportation to the now deserted capitol of the former Tigris empire. From there things get a little hazy as she followed the train tracks to there, but once there, she turned slightly and began heading even further west.” As the announcer spoke, a detailed screen of her movements and constant Teleportation jumps in the desert were shown. Then overtop there was an approximate map that was used to show her location. After the last part, the map of the known world of Biprism disappeared, showing Cass moving into what was effectively uncharted territory.

“Where is this? Where could she have gone? Well, we have done the math, and from what we can tell, she went past all known civilizations, even those that were claimed by the Blight. From there, she continued going west, for over a hundred miles past all known civilizations. From there she spent a day searching northwest, where she finally stopped once she found an old elven structure that looked like it had been completely covered by sand and lost to time.” The announcer stated, then paused for dramatic effect, before continuing.

“Well, fortunately for you Cassiopeia Spiritlight apparently had a plan, where she used a simple storm summoning spell to begin to wash away the desert sands that covered the nearly covered city. As time went on, we saw more and more buildings begin to emerge from the rubble and debris of time. Then finally we saw this.” As he spoke, the camera panned into a building with odd runic scripture written on one of the buildings.

“That my friends, is the game’s ancient high elven script for Library.” The announcer said. “Yes, even in the desert our famous bibliophile will stop to uncover a good book. No, but seriously, this got us thinking. How did Ms., I mean Dr. Spiritlight even know there was a building out here to begin with? Why did she come out here? And well as promised, we found the answer. Or at least what we think to be the answer. See this all goes back to Dr. Spiritlight’s time at the actual Arcanarus University, there we saw her interact with one Octavia De’Arcaneri. This was the first mage that taught Dr. Spiritlight a Tier VII spell, if you will recall. This is the same spell we believe she began casting here to cause cleansing rains to wash away the dust and debris from this clearly hidden city in the middle of nowhere. Coincidence? Well, we thought so too, at first.” Behind the announcer, the images of Cass casting spells and growing new plants and resources inside the city proper began appearing.

Aided by her powerful magic, the plants that grew not only managed to grow in the harsh desert environment but thrived. The plants even seemed to aggressively move into the desert regions, actively seeming to have a will to fight against the desert itself. Then the more the plants grew, the more the dirt and debris was gradually washed away by the different spells being cast by Cass. Once in a while a few roaming Blighted creatures would roam into her domain, only to be healed and then set free. Of course, the animals at first were forced to remain within the cleared section of the city, but soon that area they felt safe to move around in expanded, as did the size of the city that was being uncovered.

“You see it wasn’t until we found this building.” The Announcer says, highlighting one building that was clearly an important building for the original city’s structure. Judging by its size, shape, and grandeur, it was clearly a capitol building of some kind. “As you can see here, there is more of the runic script.”

The sign appeared, and then an auto translate feature ran on the screen changing the script from elven to English, at which time the name Deolar Capitol Building was clearly presented.

“See, I told you we would tell you where she was. This is Deolar, the land of her first ghost friend Octavia De’Arcaneri. What does this mean? Well, it means that people now know where she lives as Midnight Hunter Airships have recently begun to appear in the sky, dropping off supplies and residents alike now that plants that grow and can sustain food are present.” At this, the image changes to Cass pulling out a single communication sphere that she used to talk to Mallory with. Then did a quick turn about the reclaimed land, going so far as to show the healthy animals in place. Then left the beacon open and pulsing for anyone to find.

“Also, in case anyone missed the message, the Midnight Hunters have begun recruiting people for two key positions, Magic users wishing to advance their careers can apply, and also anyone interested in finally utilizing Qi can apply at the few remaining Midnight Hunter guild posts that have remained behind in a few major cities. Oh, and additionally, the guild offers to take anyone suffering from the Blight to get healed, free of charge, so long as spaces are available.”

A slight pause.

“What does this mean? Well for one, it seems that the Midnight Hunters have gone full in on Cass, using their Guild’s Unclaimed Land Acquisition Charter to claim the land that Dr. Spiritlight has so diligently begun to clear. Also, with them claiming land so far removed from all known civilizations, their direction of travel is also a closely guarded secret. We will keep you updated as we find out more about this emerging storyline.”

With that the news bulletin ended.