by J. J. Lorden
Lead your party in the cleansing of the evil infecting Qar’Dakar and lend your lifeforce to reawaking its ageless power
Quest Rewards—unknown
Erramir read his quest description aloud while the other two listened and studied theirs for similarities. “It’s changed a bit,” he commented. “The bit about needing three minimally advanced beings is new.”
The change bothered him; he wasn’t clear what had caused it, and there hadn’t been a system notification.
“Right, so I’ve got a change too.” Carson said, somewhat irritated. “Guess we’ll have to keep an eye on that, no good charging into quests half-cocked.”
Erramir nodded. “Yeah, I was thinking the same. The system didn’t give us any notification about these small changes.”
“Yeah, I don’t really get that,” Carson said. “Could be because it wasn’t a new quest, I suppose. Anyhow, check out the wording in my quest.”
Quest: Companion of the Blood—Your companion, Erramir, has taken up the quest to reclaim the ancient city of Qar’Dakar. He has invited you to join his mission to cleanse the city of an ancient evil and reawaken its living heart. Although the city acknowledges your elemental potency, your advancement is insufficient to continue.
Gain a deeper understanding of yourself and return when your blood has awakened. Be warned, Erramir and yourself are only two of three keys needed to begin this quest. Choose your third companion wisely.
Quest Rewards—Unknown
Carson scratched the back of his neck. “I think we’re kind of stuck. This insufficient advancement and awakening my blood thing–I don’t even know what that means?” He scowled and looked at his friends. “I’m warning you both right now, if this comes down to some blood cult that sacrifices virgins to a twisted undead god, I’m killing em’ all. I hate that shit.”
Erramir quirked a slight smile and held out a hand. “Agreed, we’re not killing any virgins, and we won’t put up with blood cults. But I think you’re getting ahead of yourself, man. Let’s see if we can work this out.”
“Yeah, alright. Just so long as we’re clear.”
“My quest description changed too,” Val said. “It’s mostly the same as yours, Car. All except the middle part, here, listen to this.
‘Although the city acknowledges your passion, your advancement is insufficient to continue. Gain a deeper understanding of yourself and return when your blood has awakened. Take caution; your role in this quest is mandatory. Should you fail to awaken, your companions will be unable to proceed.’
“Passion?” Erramir said, sounding confused. “What does that mean?”
Val blushed; she had a pretty good idea what the quest was referring to, and suddenly realizing she might need to explain the nature of her wood weaving experience to her two friends made her a bit uncomfortable.
“Yeahhh,” she drawled. “I think I know what that means. It’s just kind of embarrassing.”
Val glanced away and absently pulled Virg to her chest. “I mean, it’s also pretty cool, and it seems like you guys are going to find out one way or the other.” She sighed. “So here it is.” The two men looked at her, equally curious and concerned.
“My Wood Weaving ability is a passion ability.” She looked pointedly between them, waiting for recognition.
To her dismay, the men just kept dumbly watching her. “Arggh, gods. You two are thick as bricks,” she groused. “It’s a passion ability, as in passionate…”
The men’s faces wrinkled up, then they looked to each other for help, but both were clueless. They turned back to Val. Erramir was about to say something, but Val cut him off curtly. “Don’t. I get it, you’re confused.”
She sighed again and steeled herself. Why is this so difficult? It’s my damn body, my damn choice. That helped. “Passionate… as in… orgasmic.” That got their attention.
“Woahh! Seriously?” Carson blurted out. “You can have tree sex?”
“Damn, Val. That’s a first for me,” Erramir said. She narrowed her gaze at him. Valerie had expected shit from Carson, but she’d thought Err would understand.
“Hey...” he said soothingly while extending a hand. “It’s great though, don’t take that badly. I’m happy for you. Really. It’s actually pretty amazing.” His sincerity was evident.
Val nodded gratefully to Erramir then spoke to Carson with venom. “No, it’s not tree sex. I didn’t say that. I said orgasmic. It’s energetic and sacred and beautiful, and you will not make fun of it.”
Virginwood moved from her hands as she spoke, gliding slowly and menacingly toward Carson in a forward tilt. She glanced at Erramir. “And neither of you meatheads are going to tell anyone about it.”
“Shit, Val. Okay, no worries. I promise.” Carson responded, bending away from Virg, and holding his hands up defensively.
“Yeah, you have my word on it too,” Erramir responded with a nod of respect while keeping one wary eye on the threatening weapon.
“Good,” Valerie said, then relaxed visibly as she pulled Virg back. The two men chanced a glance at each other, both recognizing what Val apparently wasn’t.
“Ahhh, Val?” Erramir said. He approached her cautiously, even though he could see her anger had subsided. “Do you realize what you just did there... with your staff?” He pointed at the weapon she now held in its typical position, one end on the ground like a walking stick.
“Huh?” Val cocked her head in confusion. “Ohhhh….” Valerie only took a second to realize what she’d just done, manipulating the staff in midair and controlling it with her mind. “Damn, I am a serious badass.”
She lifted the weapon and, holding it in front of her, closed her eyes as she reached into her memory to feel what she’d just done. After a moment, eyes still closed, she released the weapon and felt her essence move into and join with it.
Opening her eyes, the staff floated away from her body, then she moved her hands about like they still held it. Virg began to spin and rotate about an invisible point. Val moved her hands around to her left, and Virg swung left. It mirrored her actions perfectly.
“Damn,” Carson said. “That’s amazing. The weaves that you’re controlling right now are just outrageous, Val.” He moved closer to study the magic cords only he could see. “Woahh, you’re manipulating air and earth too… what is that…” He trailed off and bent in closer. “I think… I think you’re also weaving an essence I’m not attuned to.”
He held a hand up, ostensibly to sense what he couldn’t see. “Val, what is that?” He leaned in, head slightly cocked, to less than a foot from the invisible connection between Valerie and Virginwood. “I can see where it should be. Like there’s a weave that the others are working around.”
So close to the connection, Carson put his hand right up next to it and extended his core essence, much as he’d unknowingly done with the vine in Irrienna’s door. He wanted to understand how Valerie was doing what she was doing. He was hopeful that maybe, just maybe, it might help him unlock an offensive spell.
His essence touched the void space where he suspected Val was manipulating a higher energy. His mind and body were suddenly filled with an intense and visceral sense of Valerie. It was erotic and intimate all at once, and it left his mind wholly and completely exposed to Val.
Carson panicked and jerked his hand away. “Wahh!” The link between them slammed shut, but his head still swam with unexpected emotion. He stumbled and collapsed on his ass.
“What the FUCK, Carson!” Val cried out, suddenly feeling decidedly unsteady and leaning heavily on Virg. The weapon had returned to her on instinct. A message notification flashed brilliant green in the corner of Val’s sight, and on reflex, she opened it.
*Unlocked Advanced Attribute: Presence—You have become aware of your connection to all things. In a sense, the universe speaks to you, and as a result, you have a powerful feeling in your gut that can guide you at critical times. As this attribute levels, your connection will increase, and new a
bilities will be unlocked. Presence can only be leveled with Advanced Attribute points.
Level 1 Effects: Unquantifiable, as sensitivity varies per player. However, your gut feelings have merit. Ignore them at your own peril.
Advanced Attributes Note—It is impossible to light the way for those unwilling to open their eyes. For this reason, any discussion of Advanced Attributes with players who have not unlocked them will be met with confusion or disbelief.
*Conditional—You’ve shared a peak experience with another being; this has elevated your consciousness and unlocked this Advanced Attribute. Continue to deepen that awareness to gain this attribute permanently.
Carson had received the same message, and he broke the silence with a whisper. “Woahh.” He looked to Val, curiosity and concern fighting for expression on his face. “You got this too, right?”
She glanced up from her system message and begrudgingly acknowledged the gain. “Okay. Maybe I’m not that pissed off…” Then she reread the text.
“What?” Erramir stared between the two, “What the hell did you get?” He looked at Val. “One moment, I’m afraid you’re going to kill Car, and now this. Why are you both so calm suddenly? What’d you unlock?”
Valerie looked at him and considered for a moment as she collected herself, trying to decide if she was still upset or not. She settled on not and explained, “As Car was inspecting my link to Virg, I think he touched his soul essence to mine.” She looked at the mage, and he nodded slowly. “Right. Okay, so that was pretty intense. It was a bit like... suddenly being thrust into... umm... sweaty, visceral, completely unrestrained soul sex.” She flashed Erramir an embarrassed grin.
Erramir was stunned, both by the explanation and Val’s lack of reaction. Her tone was without even a hint of the fury that he expected would follow such a statement. Eyes wide, he looked at Carson. “You did what?”
“I didn’t know it would do that!” Carson pled, holding up his hands. “I was just trying to understand. You realize that I still don’t have any offensive spells.” Carson’s tone shifted from apologetic to irritated. “I was trying to learn something that might help me when we eventually have to fight… and suddenly I was, like... inside Val’s head and other stuff...” He trailed off. “It was freaky.” He shivered and crossed his arms. “I feel like I just had my soul unwillingly splayed open.”
After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he looked at Valerie. “I would never do that on purpose, Val, you know that, right?”
Val did know that. The man couldn’t hide anything in their moment of connection, and she’d sensed his shock clearly. She was more stunned by the lack of anger she felt toward him–that and intensely curious. If anything, the experience was one she wanted to try again. Just probably not with Carson.
She nodded at him. “Yeah, I know. It was just, really... unexpected.” Val considered her own statement, then continued, “But, truthfully, it wasn’t as bad as you’d think. You couldn’t hide your emotions, so...” A smile creased the corner of her mouth.
Carson blushed furiously; shock hadn’t been the only thing evoked by the sudden connection. His thoughts drifted to Princess Sedane, but he immediately corralled those thoughts back into his alone time box. He accepted a hand from Erramir and was hoisted to his feet. Carson nodded as solemnly as he could manage through his embarrassment.
“Yeah, totally.” He said, not fully trusting her lack of anger. “Suddenly I... ahh... and you... ahhh... I could... Ungh.” He let his head drop in defeat, then turned it just enough to catch a look at his friend, turned Amazonian goddess, and pleadingly asked, “Can we just drop this, please?”
Val shook her head but replied, “Sure.” Then she cocked her head. “You know... If you like, I can put the word out. I’m sure there’s a supple young willow looking for love somewhere in the forest.” Off to the side, Erramir started laughing.
Carson was utterly flummoxed. Val had snapped from offended to beguiling faster than a politician could spend money, and for a long moment, he could do nothing but gape, slack-jawed and silent. “I swear, Val,” he eventually said, still dumbstruck. “You’re like... another person in here. I can’t decide if it’s amazing or just disturbing.”
Carson shook his head. He wasn’t bothered so much by the comment, her jab was funny enough, but Val was acting so out of character. Conversations with Val about anything sexual were uncomfortable at best, and she was never playful about it. That, combined with being utterly exposed; having his innermost thoughts wide open while Val was in his head, had crossed a line he desperately wanted to reestablish.
Carson went to his toolbox. Lens, he thought. Focus on the facts. Lens being his tool for dealing with vulnerability. “Just so we’re clear, you got the advanced attribute too, right?”
Val cracked a coy grin. “I did. Pretty amazing too. Almost makes it worth it. Actually...” She paused momentarily. “I’d say it totally makes it worth it. Especially since I now know it’s possible to, soul merge, like that.” She grinned devilishly at him.
“Arrrhhhh... god dammit Val, can you stop already?” Carson bit back, pissed that his emotional tool had failed and knowing an angry response would solve feeling vulnerable but ran the risk of encouraging Val to try this again. No, no, no… I don’t want this. Memories of unnecessary fights and ruined friendships returned.
“Okay,” Erramir interjected. “So you two unlocked Presence then.” He needed to move this party along. Val sowing her metaphorical oats was beginning to mess with their team dynamic.
“Looks like it, although it’s conditional. Says I need to deepen my awareness to keep it permanently.” Val said, and Carson just nodded, face still twisted in annoyance.
“That’s good, really good,” Erramir said. “Don’t ignore those gut feelings. If you’ve got one, you’ll know it. Act on it. Trusting them may be all you need to get rid of the conditional tag.” He paused. “I’m not sure if that will work. But they’re powerful; those gut feelings are the reason I managed to not die while I was fighting the cat.”
Carson and Val acknowledged that they wouldn’t ignore gut feelings, then Erramir asked, “Did you both read the note at the bottom?”
“Yeah,” Carson said. “I wonder what would happen if you tried to–” He cut himself off and looked wide-eyed at Erramir. “You tried to tell us.”
“Yeah. I did,” Erramir said with a bemused smirk. “You guys thought I was nuts. Car, you told me I looked like my dog died.” The mage winced. Erramir continued, “If I hadn’t remembered that note, I probably would have called you both out for it. And, I don’t think that would have gone well; you guys were pretty dismissive.”
“I remember feeling like you were screwing around,” Val said. “As if it was a bad joke, and I didn’t want to be duped.”
“Man, I thought the same thing, like you were pretending to be one of those crazy dudes with ‘The world is ending’ signs. You know how you just want to get away from those guys? You never look them in the eye. That’s what it felt like.”
Erramir had actually talked with one of those guys. He had been crazy; one hundred percent, straight-up nutty. “Well, now we all know about them. The game wants to make sure advanced attributes are discovered on your own. I’m not sure I like that, but it’s definitely about preventing metagaming. I took a hard line on metagaming in my instructions to Elle.”
Erramir cocked his head with a pensive downward gaze. “Huh.” After a moment, he looked back at them. “There’s only one reason I can think of that Elle would have put in this mental block. Relative power. Compared to the standard attributes, abilities, and skills, advanced attributes must be much more powerful.”
“Well, Presence is definitely badass,” Carson said. “It quantifies gut feelings, validates them as trust-worthy when things are on the line. And that’s just level one.”
“Oh yeah, it’s amazing for sure,” Val said. Then she grinned. “It’s also exactly what we needed. My quest updated again. Check
this out.”
Her eyes focused on invisible text.
‘Your party possesses ancient blood, elemental potency, and creative passion. Additionally, all members have advanced and begun to grasp the nature of unity. With a gift of blood, you may start your quest to unlock lost secrets and reawaken ancient power.’
She finished, and Carson immediately said, “I think we need to look for a place where all three of us can activate something with our blood.” He looked to Erramir, who was nodding in agreement.
“A gift of blood, huh,” Erramir said. “I guess... look for some kind of...” His mouth twisted in thought. “Offering cup or something?”
He began to search, considering more the reoccurring theme of blood the system kept leveling at him. “I can kind of get how reawakening the city heart might require power and creativity, but I don’t get my part, and I’m the quest lead. What am I supposed to do?”
Carson coughed. “Pretty sure it’ll be something with your blood.” He scowled at Erramir. “But that’s obvious, bro. Come on.”
Erramir knew Carson was right, but he’d been hoping for some other idea from his friends. If his role was to cut himself and offer his blood, there was no skill involved. He could just send them with a bag of his blood and go do something else.
He didn’t want to think about it, so he pressed on. “Come on, asshole, help look. Let’s find this lock. Maybe something in here changed since the quest updated.”
“You mean something like this?” Val said pleasantly, looking at the ground in the dead center of the room.
The tangle of stone vines was gone, revealing three crescent-shaped depressions with their points touching to form a clover shape. In the center was the insignia crest of the rooted hammer–the same crest they’d seen above on the landing. The bottom of each depression was marked with a rune.
