Chapter 228 (per usual, since I missed an every-other-day schedule post this week, I'll post extra this weekend. Thanks for reading!) (Patreon)

Chapter 228

All heads turned in Luke’s direction, with Jared in particular being quite captivated.

“So I went around asking people who I knew that’d done it, and I even made a forum post about this exact topic inside our empire’s forums to let other people know what my findings were.  If you go look for yourself, should you ever visit the necropolis, I’m sure you’d see my post has been a very big hit.”  Luke continued with a wave of his hand.  “Some of the people I talked to gathering information were private guilds, others were undead soldiers in the Necropolis army.  Others still were orcs, and believe me when I say that the orcs in particular have a very keen liking to the Unholy Pillar even despite naturally being oriented to Fae Pillar more often than not.  I even talked to Princess Kathrine Vonsilla Crushada of the Blood Moon Requiem about it!  Her part of the recorded interview was rewatched more than any other part of my video.  She was very helpful by the way, being keen to answer my questions knowing I’m Riven’s thrall.  I can’t say exactly how often it is that people do it by a percentage, but I can tell you that it is far more common than you think.  I mean, just think about it!  How many people are born with a low quality orientation affinity?  It’s very high.  Anything above 20% can generally use abilities with effort, 30% affinity to a pillar is considered pretty good.  Above a 50% affinity is extremely rare and they’re all downright talented.  But what about those who have affinities less than 15%?  What about less than 10%?  Those would include people who can barely muster up a single ability even when straining to do so.  Gods help you if you have less than 6% affinity for your highest pillar.  So do you have any guesses?”

The question was directed at Jared, and the man slowly shook his head.

Luke held up a finger and wagged it in the air.  “The answer is that by Kathrine’s estimates - an entire fifth of most populations has their highest affinity less than 15%.  This also matches up with estimates from my own world Zazir before the merger.  What does this mean?”

There was a pause.

“It means that a fifth of any population won’t be able to gain levels or use abilities without extreme effort.” Jared eventually answered.

Luke nodded.  “Precisely.  A fifth of the population is, rather unfortunately for them, useless - in the grand scheme of cultivation and leveling.  Especially those below 10%.  Do you know how the resetting of Riven’s modified Elysium Altar works?”

“No, I do not.”

“It rerolls those numbers.” Luke replied.  “Not only do the affinities change, but the affinity percentages also change.  Most of the time, at least according to the people I’ve talked to, they even increase those affinities.  Not always, but far more often than the other way around.  So, theoretically, if you have a fifth of your total population that can’t level or cultivate very well or at all…”

His voice trailed off, and he made a flourishing motion with his hands.

Jared rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.  “They’re all going to the Elysium Altar to try and reroll their affinities.”

“Precisely.  The Unholy Pillar is, at least on this planet, probably the least common pillar affiliation out there.  This can be guessed at by the world forum posts, when you compare subsection forums and the amount of active users in each forum.  Here, take a look.”

A hologram appeared in front of Luke, and he began scrolling through the cotex pages almost immediately.

[Welcome to the Panu Cortex!

Here you will find forum categories and branching categories that you can scroll through subjects, post your own topics, acquire or share video feeds, create enemies or alliances in, and even bargain for goods here like a marketplace.  Be warned that each of these have strict sets of rules, and you will receive a notification if your content is prohibited as it is denied entry.  Most prohibited material from being made public involves key events in the world of Panu or even in your local area, secrets of Panu that the Elysium Administrator wishes to be found rather than publicly exploited, information released too early regarding worlds outside of Panu, and spam content.  Video feeds can only be uploaded by request.  You must ask the administrator directly for uploading content, and may or may not get your request recognized.  Sometimes the administrator may also post video content even without an express request.  In order to request video uploading, just mentally think of the time and place you want to upload and wait for a response.

Please note that restrained or imprisoned personnel may not access the forums of Panu’s cortex.  Forums extend to only to places you have visited and guilds you have joined before with the exceptions of the main page discussion boards and the world quest message boards - both of which are world-spanning and more heavily moderated.  No forums outside key areas visited and guilds can exist other than Global Forums.

Feel free to select from one of the already categorized subjects, or you may use the search function for more in depth selections of guild forums.  Your options are as follows:

• Main Page & Announcements (Global)
• Power Ladders, Guild & Individual (Global)
• World Quests & World Quest Ladders (Global)
• The Thane Necropolis (Empire-Wide)
  • Brightsville
  • Chicago
  • Rocksford
  • Milwaukee
  • Dungeon Alibast Township
  • Mandon
  • Bradshire
  • Belmington
  • Corpus Christi
  • Nicina
  • (+32 More Empire Options to select from)
• Deepnest
• The Golden Bull Sect (Empire-Wide is currently Unavailable)
  • Muvare
  • (+7 Unavailable Options)

NOTE: Continental differences along Panu have been detected in optional selections.  To acquire access to continent-wide forums or map-sharing specs, please visit more locations along the continents you have traveled between.]

Riven stopped him before he selected an option, pointing to ‘The Golden Bull Sect’ option quizzically.  “Who and what is that?”

Luke looked surprised at the question, then chuckled and shook his head.  “You really need to follow up more on the politics of your own empire, Riven.  Your sister hasn’t talked to you about it?  The Golden Bull Sect is another faction to the north of our own, relative to Brightsville - not the side of the world Chicago is on.  I went to Muvare once at the invitation of Mara, when they were discussing geopolitical issues with our relative neighbors.”

“Ah.  I see.  Are they close?”

“Not necessarily, but that is why I called them ‘relative’ neighbors.  They’re the largest faction on our continent after ourselves.  They seem friendly enough, or at least are cowed by the fact that they know they’d be crushed if they ever came into conflict with the necropolis.  Your sister is rather intimidating when she negotiates in politics, and she uses your name as a metaphorical stick to beat her rivals over the head with.”

Riven nodded with a laughing grin.  “Of course she does.  What’s the continent’s name?  Do we have a name for our continent yet?”

“We do not.  I’m sure that will be figured out in time though.”

Luke turned back to the cortex screen, then began shuffling through the options again  - getting back to his original points concerning pillar forums.

[You have selected: Main Page & Announcements (Global)

You have selected a major subforum: General Discussions (Global)

You have selected a minor subforum: Power and Cultivation (Global)

You have selected 6 specialized subforum options: Unholy, Holy, Fae, Archaic, Harmony, and Machine Pillar Discussion Subforums (Global)]

[Unholy Pillar Discussion Subforum: 604,822 Active Users]

[Holy Pillar Discussion Subforum: 3,429,112,317 Active Users]

[Fae Pillar Discussion Subforum: 2,829,808,773 Active Users]

[Archaic Pillar Discussion Subforum: 996,325,199 Active Users]

[Harmony Pillar Discussion Subforum: 893,111,225 Active Users]

[Machine Pillar Discussion Subforum: 2,665,343,586 Active Users]

Luke points out the active users for each of the global discussion forums, which Riven hadn’t even known existed until now, concerning the main pillars Elysium had to offer.  The numbers fluctuated by the second, but they usually stayed within a certain range for each subject category.  “Do you see a trend, Jared?”

Jared scowled.  “Yes.  It’s rather obvious.”

“Which is?”

“The Unholy Pilllar has far, far less active users than any other group, with less than a million total at all times.  The Holy and Fae pillars hover around 3 billion active users at a given time, with the Machine Pillar category right below them.  Harmony and Archaic Pillar categories are each hovering at a little less than a single billion active members - staying in the hundreds of millions.”

“Exactly.”  Luke agreed with a smile.  “Which very likely means, based on these numbers alone which very rarely fluctuate off the norm, that the Unholy Pillar on this planet is by far the least acquired of all six major pillars.  Now, I know I’m going off on a rant here - but why would I make this a big deal since we’re talking about Riven’s Elysium’ Altar being able to switch people over into an Unholy alignment?  Let’s find out!”

Without waiting for an answer, Luke clicked on the Unholy Pillar Discussion forum.  And when it appeared, the first three topics in that discussion forum were related to the Thane Necropolis - with many more following after it further down the most active forum discussions ongoing right this moment.  Some of the top on the list were as follows:

[Where is the Thane Necropolis located, and do they accept new recruits?  Am hoping to acquire the Unholy Foundational Pillar for myself, my friends, and my family from their altar.]

[Fellow undead and necromancers of the Thane Necropolis: a question on skeleton body part integrations for skresh.]

[In need of help acquiring a demonic familiar, am hoping to acquire a succubus like Riven Thane did.  Any advice on how to go about attracting one?  #NotAPerv]

[Casting advice needed concerning Tier 2 Chaos Spells]

[Blood Rituals and Blood Miracles - a Healer Priest’s guide to the Profane]

[An in-depth analysis of high level combat concerning Unholy-aligned abilities, with video footage including Paragon and Apex Rankers such as Riven Thane and his familiars, Allie Thane, Retesh Vorath, Krush Rinnil, Chitter Teh-Sneaker, and Lucas Von Calimont.]

Luke let out a low chuckle.  “As you can see, the most popular topic in this forum is talk about whether or not Riven and Allie allow others to acquire the Unholy Pillar for themselves - and Chancellor Mara Tovane herself answered yes with Allie’s permission, given they pledge loyalty to the necropolis.  Since her reply, she has been bombarded with applications and an entire team of government workers were assigned to help people try to navigate their way to our empire given on what little we know of the geography on our planet.  Of course, this may be hard to do for some - but it is certainly a big draw for those that are interested in the affiliation or outright desperate to get ANY chance at a reroll for their own affinities.  All of this being said - our capital, Brightsville, is now the unquestioned epicenter for the study and acquisition of the Unholy Foundational Pillar, and all its branches, on the planet of Panu.”

“Didn’t realize you were such a celebrity on the cortex, did you?” Athela teased while jabbing Riven in the ribs.

Fay nodded enthusiastically with a yawn.  “You get talked about a lot in this forum!  You’re probably the most popular unholy-oriented user on the planet, and you definitely have the most footage out there.  Compared to that rank 3 corpse lord elder lich, Retesh Vorath - you probably have twelve times as much footage as he does even though he’s a rank above you.”

“Kathrine informed me that it is rather rare to successfully convert an Elysium Altar the way you did, Riven.”  Luke continued again with a small smile playing at the corners of his lips.  “It’s apparently considered a world treasure by many factions.  You sometimes see terraforming altars, or ones that have some kind of affinity in some way or another, but to outright change someone’s pillars and reroll affinities is very much sought after by even the larger factions of the multiverse.  You hit it big, and Brightsville will no doubt be a long-standing attraction to the world and beyond because of it.  Though she did say that when the world opens up, you may want to start taxing people that come to use it - otherwise your world will be flooded with desperate masses of people from intra-system planets.  Some may even try to conquer Panu over such a treasure, or so she says.”

“Already have that problem!” Riven replied with a laugh, slapping Athela on the back of the head when she tried to jab him in the ribs again.  “Not much I can do about it now though.  Don’t get me wrong, this is all very interesting - OW!”

Riven got Athela into a playful headlock after another jab, and the arachnid woman hissed before warping into a smaller spider version of herself and scampering away with an audible humph.

Shaking his head at the exiting spider, Riven cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Luke.  “It’s all very interesting and I’m glad to know, but why bring it up?”

Luke turned his gaze upon the lightning mage, Jared.  “Because Jared here wants to convert his own pillars, and wants to join the necropolis.  Don’t you Jared?  You’ve already read these posts, haven’t you?”

Jared gave a sheepish smile and scratched the back of his head.  “Heh… Yeah.  Maybe.  I didn’t know how to ask, but I’d very much like to become a necromancer or warlock myself.  Something with minions to keep me safe.  An elemental storm mage is REALLY cool, don’t get me wrong!  But it wouldn’t be my first choice.  It’s only good for combat and doesn’t have much else in terms of use.  At least, none that I’ve personally found. I… hope I’m not overstepping here.”

The eyes of all others, at all four campfires, were now intently staring while they listened in on the conversation.

Riven blinked.  “Oh?  Is that all?  No, that's not overstepping whatsoever.  If you want to try your hand at a reroll then sure - you can come along with me next time I head to Brightsville and we can set you up at the altar.”

Jared’s face lit up with surprise, and then elation.  “Seriously!?  Just like that!?  I’ve heard that some of the guilds that go monster hunting give combat lessons and help acquire new abilities - do you know if that’s a thing?”

“Yeah, that’s completely fine with me - and no, I don’t know if that’s a thing or not.  It appears Allie has made it a mandatory thing to pledge to the necropolis though, so as long as you’re fine with becoming a citizen-”

Luke cut into the conversation a second later.  “It is a relatively common practice for guilds to help out their new recruits in the necropolis, yes - and there’s lots of experience to be gained due to the high amounts of rabid undead that spawn in the terraformed lands surrounding Brightsville.  Hunting parties and government contracts go out all the time.”

“I’ll do it!” Jared exclaimed excitedly, jumping to his feet just as others from other campfires started heading over with a barrage of questions being flung Riven’s way.

Riven held up his hands to calm the others down, and soon the room became quiet again.  “Yes, you can all come if you really want to - I didn’t realize it was such a draw.  But that only will happen after we’re done powerleveling my friends from the tutorial.”

He gestured to Tanya, her children, and Hakim.  “Also guys, I’d been wanting to talk to you about a decision you need to make.  Come on over and have a seat.”

Confused, Hakim and the others got up - making their way to push through the crowd and sit nearby.

“That sounds ominous.” Julie said with folded arms.  “What decision do you have for us to make?”

Riven held his hands up to either side.  “Well, first answer this.  Why do you think I’m powerleveling you guys?”

The four people he’d met in the tutorial exchanged looks, and they all shrugged.

“To be nice?” Tim replied hesitantly.

Tanya laughed.  “That was my thought too!”

“I suppose that’s part of it, yes.”  Riven admitted with a side-bob of his head.  “But not all of it.  You know that guild functions just went up, right?”

They all nodded.

“And you overheard me talking about the war that we’re about to enter in the hellscapes of Negrada.  Right?”

Their expressions became more wary, but they all nodded yet again.

Riven smiled.  “Allie will announce to the empire that we’re joining Negrada’s war soon, and we - alongside Negrada - are going to pay Elysium a large sum of money to do it.  It’ll be beneficial for both of us, but for different reasons.  The guild functions to be hired on as mercenaries will very likely be approved without issue, and if not - we can at the very least use my portaling abilities to get some of our elites into Negrada if the dungeon chooses to pay us.  It will be a very good opportunity for real combat experience, a chance to solidify our bond with one of the hellscape dungeons, and there’ll be lots of loot.  Allie will also announce a guild tournament, with prizes handed out to the top contestants, and it’ll be empire-wide in both combat and crafting categories.  She’s forming her own guild because I’ll be leaving for Chalgathi’s sub-quest over the next few months while she deals with the fallen elder god quest in the underdark, and I’ll be gone for a year - but I was hoping to get my own guild started with the four of you.”

“Four?” Tanya asked, obviously surprised.

Hakim’s own smile brightened his face.  “You want us?  I love the idea!  But we are far, far below you in terms of power.”

Riven dismissed him with a shake of his head.  “We’ll change that.  If you want it, I intend to bring all of you up with me.  Hakim, you’re already close to Fay’s level - and Tanya, you could stick to crafts.  For me, a guild is just a bunch of friends that go on cool adventures together.  Why not let it be you?  Besides, my demons don’t even count towards the 20 member limit!  It’ll be fun, at least I think so.  What do you say?”

“You forgot to tell them other thing.” Azmoth stated pointedly from where he was still using crayons to draw with Len as the little girl giggled and hummed.

Riven snapped his fingers.  “Oh!  Right.  Well if the four of you want it, and you certainly don’t need to do this - I’m willing to turn each of you into vampires.  It’s a big decision to make, yeah, but it’ll also seriously improve your chances for survival because you’ll have innate healing abilities - and my bloodline is good enough that a conversion will set each of you up in the ‘greater’ vampire category.”

***

Chaga moved furiously through the dungeon halls alongside his two vampiric brethren, red eyes flaring and blood magics tearing through armored rats and purple abominations one after the other.  The fifth floor was far harder than the others and was now giving the three Rippenvire vampires a tough time due to the concentrated high levelers Dungeon Petrus kept down here to keep its dungeon boss and treasuries safe.

Curses and damnations, why did it have to be here and now?

Couldn’t Riven Thane have gone to some other out-of-the-way village?

Why Jerbyville?  JUST WHAT WERE THE CHANCES?  This gods damned settlement was on the other side of the fucking world!

Despite his orders, Chaga was questioning whether or not this would actually work.  But orders were orders and he dared not be labeled a blood traitor like so many of those that’d surrendered to the Thane Necropolis in weeks past. - destined never to return home without swift execution.

The thralls of men he’d harvested from Jerbyville and the surrounding area fought valiantly to keep up with him, but neither he nor the other two vampires could waste time.  They needed to find the dungeon avatar or the boss itself in order to make contact.

“What’s the time on reinforcements?” One of his fellow vampires, a man with a blade extending from his cane asked while slicing through yet another armored rat.

Chaga turned left down a dark hallway and shifted his weight when he saw a large pair of barred double doors.  He heaved a sigh of relief, and straightened out his vest while adjusting his top hat.  “Three hours until Rippenvire and The Empire of Dying Suns have their death squads arrive, and we need to make a deal with the dungeon before they get here.”

Chaga turned to look the other man in the eyes, fangs bared wickedly.  “It’s time we get revenge on the man who killed all our brethren back in Dawn.  By this time tomorrow, his name will be erased from the leaderboards - and his body will be carried out as a corpse.  At least, that is what I hope.”

Without waiting for the thralls, Chaga started walking alongside his two compatriots towards the doors.  Without even needing to reach them, the doors unhinged and clicked numerous times before swinging slowly open with an ominous creaking sound - letting his eyes fall upon one of the biggest, purplest, meanest looking mutated rats he’d ever seen in his entire life.

Yellow eyes flared, and the dungeon boss began to rise.

“Yes.” Chaga said with a growing smile - beginning to raise his voice. “Yes, this one will do nicely.  Dungeon Petrus, if you would but spare me a moment - I would like to make you a deal.  One that would benefit you far more than it would ever benefit me.”