Chapter 101 (Patreon)

Chapter 101

“You let him leave intentionally?  To buy yourself time?” Mara asked, confusion written all over her face with her hands behind her back.  She stood beside Allie on a rooftop under the starlight, watching their army of undead - minions and sentient creatures alike - march northwards through the darkened streets.

Allie solemnly nodded, red eyes glowing, watching Vin and Nin pile up bodies of the civilians they’d just slaughtered to add to their undead ranks.  “Riven… is too kind.  You even heard him say it yourself - he wouldn’t have allowed me to do what needs to be done.  He wouldn’t have allowed us to continue this war the way it needs to be finished.  He would stop me from butchering the animals that need to be butchered.”

“You know, I tend to agree with your brother on that one.”

Allie shot her a glare, but Mara held up a hand.  “No, don’t give me that look Allie.  You know I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.  Beyond being friends, I owe you a life debt.  However, don’t you think this is a little bit cruel?  I mean, they’re children Allie.  Surely you’re taking your revenge a bit far.”

“They’re being spared from a life of hardship and cruelty.”  Allie cut back, an edge to her words while stiffening under Mara’s scrutiny.  Her right hand tightened around her bone brooch, and her eyes lingered on the bodies below while her people piled up the materials onto wagons for future use.  “Imagine what kind of life they’d lead if they followed in their parent’s footsteps.”

“That is not for you to decide, Allie.”

“It is though.”  Allie turned her entire body, fully confronting her friend with a glare.  “Let me pose a question, one of morals since you seem to be so keen on the subject this night.  Do you think, for even a moment, that those children aren’t going to grow up to hunt us down if we let them live?”

Allie waved over the piles of the dead as her undead soldiers continued to march past the wagons being loaded up.  “After everything that has happened?  After their family members have died, their memories scarred, their loved ones hammering the ideas into them that their mortal enemies are the undead who scour this land?  They are indoctrinated now.  Prophet makes it so - he forces them to worship that holy book like some kind of new bible.  He force-feeds these children philosophical garbage so that one day they may become unquestioning soldiers like so many of the other religious fanatics of past generations have been.  So tell me, Mara, do you really believe that if we let them live - that they’d grow up to just leave us alone?”

Mara frowned from underneath her hood.  Her pale, dead eyes wandered over the carnage, and she winced at the gruesome sight.

“Well?” Allie pressed.  “Go on.  Tell me that I’m wrong.  Tell me that they’d grow up to be loving neighbors, ones that could forgive and forget all the things they’ve been told or seen.  Tell me that they would not grow into a new generation of hateful enemies that would breed even more of their kind.  Tell me, Mara, that they would not cost us the lives of our own in future decades to come.”

Mara’s frown deepened.  “We could always bring them up ourselves.  Allie, we could raise them as our own children-”

“HAH!”  Allie barked a cruel, cutting laugh and waved her hand across her front to wipe away the idea.   “MARA!  Listen to yourself!  Bring them in?  Raise them as our own?  Us?  The people who killed their families?”

Allie gave the other woman a grudging side-eye.  “Do not be so foolish.”

There was a long pause after that.  Mara continued to watch their army trudge along.  She listened to the screams in the distance of people their forces encountered along the way.  Her gut felt heavy, and her gaze was downcast.  “What if Riven finds out what you’ve done?”

“They’ll all be dead before he gets back.  There will be no witnesses, and I will mold a story that is believable.”  Allie stated with a shake of her head.  Her long brown hair flowed about in a midnight gust of wind when she pushed her fingers through it and downed her hood.  She took in a deep breath, then exhaled, and smiled underneath the bone mask she wore.  “I love my brother.  I love him enough to do the things that need to be done that I know he could never do.  I will save him from himself, I will make the hard decisions that would break him, and I will carve a piece of this world out for ourselves.  I hope you do not think me cruel, Mara, because I am doing this for us.  For you, for me.  For Vin and Nin.  But especially for Riven.  This may have started as a revenge story, but now it is something more.  The rest of the world may not accept us unless we force them to do so… and I will be the hammer that drives that nail in.”

***

The sound of singing woke Riven up again a day later, and despite having a rather sore body he was already feeling a lot better than he had even earlier that week.  Ethel and Fay had come to try and wake him up multiple times, but they only succeeded once.  Waking up had left his mind a little groggy, but the recovery from the poison had gone very well and he drank another cup of blood that’d been left for him on the little nightstand next to the bed.

He went to dress himself with his hunger still mulling, pulling up his worn out pants and the bloodstained shirt that now had holes riddled all over it.  His cloak had been utterly destroyed, though he’d been supplied with a new cloak of lesser quality by… someone.  Nevertheless he put on the clothes and rummaged through his backpack and the bin of stuff Azmoth had carried to see if everything was still there.

None of it was missing.  He still had all the coins he’d accumulated up until now, he had the strange ivory amulet with those emerald eyes that he still didn’t know the value of.  He had the altar’s planting rod, then he found the guild core.  His mask was there too, as was his staff.

Despite this weapon having the ability to move around and act on its own accord to a very small extent, it hadn’t talked yet.  Could it talk?  It had part of his soul inside it, and that piece of him had merged with some weird-ass self-aware enchantments and another soul fragment to create it.  50 bucks said this thing could talk.  Unfortunately the staff usually just gave him compulsions, such as thoughts or feelings, and thus outright words weren’t necessarily needed most of the time.

Riven reached for his weapon, but then hesitated.  Withdrawing his hand and standing up, he sent the staff a mental image through their bond explaining why he was going to leave it here.  He didn’t want to look hostile or threatening anymore than he already did, and after the way he’d been treated there was no reason to bring it along while he was within this village.  The gnarled object shuddered in response and Riven got a confirmatory response back with a feeling of understanding.

Unfortunately the peaceful night was then interrupted by a new system notification.

[System-Wide Panu Announcement: World Quests have been initiated.

Hello all participants.  As your combined worlds have joined into one single world of Panu on the edge of integrated space, a new page is turned over in the history of the cosmos.  All newly integrated beings chosen to undertake starter events and tutorials have finished their initiation events, thus the World Quests can finally begin.

You have 5 years to complete all 6 World Quests as a planet.  Failure to complete any of these World Quests will result in various catastrophes, each catastrophe being independent and different from the others.  Regardless of whether or not these catastrophes are avoided, at the end of 50 years the integrated planet of Panu will then enter the Assimilation Phase - where other planets may interact directly with Panu without any restrictions.  Currently, other factions within the multiverse are not allowed to visit Panu unless they have acquired invasion tokens or enter through other system-regulated measures; and the Assimilation Phase ends this era of safety.

Not participating in the World Quests is your prerogative, but you will be rewarded by the system based on your participation in each of these world quests at hidden intervals.  These prizes are nothing to scoff at and will sometimes be listed beforehand, with leaderboards on every world quest being up for everyone to see.  If you make the highlights section in your given leaderboard, video will be uploaded displaying your actions and your reward will be drastically heightened.  These leaderboards and prizes, along with forums regarding these quests, are heavily regulated by the Elysium Administrator and will be available to you through Elysium’s Cortex.

With these leaderboards comes the ‘Guild & Faction System’ function.  Up to 20 people may be in a guild at one time.  Guilds may be created with the ‘Create Guild’ command, allowing you various options regarding the race towards these world quests.  The usefulness of guilds extend far beyond World Quests, however, with area quests or dungeons and raids being heavily focused on guild registrations.  Prize distribution is particularly concerned with guild membership, and it will remain this way even off-world for those of you who live long enough to make it that far.  A step beyond Guilds is a ‘Faction’, which can incorporate any number of guilds for war coordination purposes but does not have the same unique benefits as a guild would have.  Some examples of Guild Benefits that do not extend into the factions they belong to are: Blessings, Titles & Achievements, Raid Parties, Quest Rewards, Event Sharing, and XP Share.

For those of you from Earth, the Panu Cortex is very similar to what your ‘Internet’ was.  For those from the cybersword Drax faction, the Panu Cortex is very similar to what your ‘Neuralink’ was.  This cortex is specifically set up so that you may complete the world quests and invade against potential invaders by working together as a planetary society.  For those of you who are not from Earth, it may be wise to explore the ins and outs of this system in more rigorous detail.  There will be very limited forums, requests for video uploading options, communication centers, and limited map sharing.  Let it be known again: these sections are all very heavily monitored and regulated by the administrator - and you will quickly find out what is and what is not allowed to be shared on the Cortex.  It may be on a situational basis, and it may be a long-term rule, but experimentation with what you may post and what you cannot post is heavily encouraged.  You may create personalized forums for groups, countries, or guilds.  Geographical areas are already set up and monitored by the administrator itself.  You may also use the ‘search’, ‘suggested’ and ‘browse’ functions to see what you can find outside the system-given options.

Please visit the World Quests tab on your status page to see more information concerning these quests.

Please visit the Panu Cortex tab on your status page to observe and participate in the cortex, as well as view leaderboards and video footage.

Please visit the Guild & Faction System tab on your status page in order to view your guild statistics.]

[World Quests are now active.]

[Panu Cortex is now active.]

[Guild & Faction System is now active.]

The somber singing outside abruptly stopped amidst a series of exclamations, and soon it became a mild uproar as people beyond the cabin Riven was currently residing in began talking with mixed emotions about the worldwide message.

Riven was equally as vexed, excited and a little bit intimidated while re-reading the prompts - and his feelings were exaggerated even further when he pulled up the world quests.  There was not one, but two world quests that directly tied in to him… and he really didn’t know how to feel about it.

[World Quests (6 of 6 remaining).  You have 5 years to complete these quests as a worldwide team effort.  Further details on each of these quests will be presented to you individually when you come into direct contact with the given quest.  Only the basics are initially handed out otherwise.  Current Threat level is an indication of threat concerning the world at large, and not a direct representation of how it may or may not affect you individually.  The World Quests are as follows:

• World Quest 1, The Lich King’s Plague: In the far reaches of the northern Chaos Wastelands, an ancient lich begins to stir.  Advanced details are locked until you come into contact with this quest.
• World Quest 2, The Apocalypse Beasts:  ***ADVANCED DETAILS HAVE BEEN UNLOCKED*** Ah, this is one of my personal favorites.  I present to you the apocalypse beasts!  Your world has been cursed with 3 tyrannical creatures of astronomical power that are currently being incubated and grown into their adult forms.  Each of these absolute monstrosities is able to turn the world on its head, demolishing countries in their path and tearing the very fabric of reality apart.  Know that if these creatures are allowed to awaken you will likely not live much longer than the 5 years’ limit.  Each of these monsters have cultist worshipers from your own planets, given knowledge of these creatures before the integration even begun.  They will try to awaken the monsters’ adult forms to destroy your world entirely, leading to astronomical amounts of power as a reward for the cultists in their success for when they leave the smoldering wreckage of Panu.  Your goal is to stop and kill their cult worshipers, and find out where these creatures are being incubated so that you will have a world to live on when the 5 years of time runs out.  Current Threat Level: Extremely high, death toll within the billions.  Catastrophe upon failure of completion when 5 years has passed:  Nekra, the Skeletal Devourer will be unleashed onto Panu.  Chalgathi, the Plague Dragon will be unleashed onto Panu.  Chubin, the Glass Kraken will be unleashed onto Panu.  Other details:  Upon completing this quest and finding the incubation chambers of any given apocalypse beast, you may either kill them before they’re born for an item of immense power or claim their eggs for yourself.  Killing them will bless you with a unique, currently unspecified item, while claiming their egg for yourself will link them to you as a minion.  Claiming them as a minion will not produce them in their adult form, but rather they will begin as an infant version of themselves and must be cultivated to higher grades of power over time before coming into their true potential.  You have already been in contact with Chalgathi’s starter quests, thus you will soon receive an update on his particular questline now that the World Quests have been distributed.
• World Quest 3, Invaders from Beyond: Other galactic civilizations greedily watch your fledgling world, wanting these lands for their own.  Invasion tokens have been distributed.  Advanced details are locked until you come into contact with this quest.
• World Quest 4, Blood of the Fallen God: An unnamed vampiric elder god has fallen from grace after having sinned against the Elysium Administrator.  The elder god has been trapped within a hidden, guarded labyrinth in the deepest levels of the underdark, and you must stop him from awakening.  Advanced details are locked until you come into contact with this quest.
• World Quest 5, Realm of the Snow Giants: In the southern reaches of the glacial islands in the Numenor Sea, on the opposite end of the world from where the Lich King lays in wait, an ambitious king of the snow giants has united the warring tribes.  Advanced details are locked until you come into contact with this quest.
• World Quest 6, Drums in the Deep: The mer-people and naga of this world have been given a choice… Advanced details are locked until you come into contact with this quest.]