Beastborne- Mark of the Founder

by James T Callum

  But they accepted him after Hal explained that the mimic was sorry - he was not - and that Vorax was only trying to help Hal whom he considered as family. He added that Vorax would not do that again - he most definitely would - and if they didn’t accept the mimic with open arms, they did not look at him like an enemy.

  Mira looked skeptically from the mimic to Hal. “That doesn’t seem like a very mimic thing to say,” she pointed out.

  Hal turned to her and with his best Mira impression, he parroted her line from what felt like so long ago. “You don’t know.”

  That drew a snort of laughter from the Dragoon who shrugged and let the matter drop.

  Ashera made a small campfire, cooked a quick meal for everybody, and between downing potions to recover their HP, the group took care of their many hurts.

  And for once, they relaxed.

  Nothing was chasing them. They weren’t surrounded – strangely enough – by enemies trying to get them.

  The talk inevitably turned to Giel and his sacrifice. And though the mood was somber, there was a sense of relief in the air. A feeling like they could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

  Though Hal worried things would get worse before they got better, he wisely kept his thoughts to himself. No use spoiling the mood.

  They all toasted to Giel’s memory. What little stories they had of the hulking lamora they shared in remembrance. Elora remarked about the veritable treasure trove of potions Giel carried. And how, in the end, he drank them down at a dangerous pace to keep his HP up.

  “Maybe he had enough to survive the battle,” Mira said hopefully. Though it was a nice thought, nobody believed it. Not after the description of the Mature Shoggoth that descended upon him.

  And even if it hadn’t killed him, Giel would have likely succumbed to the toxic effects of downing so many potions back to back like that.

  Given what he now understood of Strain Affliction, Hal was unsure of what to do. Losing himself to the Beast was inevitable. At some point, hopefully far in the future, he would overextend himself and slip.

  The Fabled Class’s mechanics practically guaranteed it.

  And so, everything he did that made him sturdier or stronger would also make Besal stronger when he took control. Heightened levels of Strain already increased his HP and MP, as well as their regeneration rates. It also lowered his MP cost at higher tiers which would only help Besal heighten the Strain Affliction.

  It didn’t sit right with Hal, but he didn’t know any way around it. There was simply no solution. In the end, he couldn’t let fear rule his choices or stop him from progressing.

  Looking at his Quests, he expected the completion of A Beast Within, but he didn’t understand how Scientific Endeavors was completed. He looked to the quests themselves, hoping for some illumination. He found several prompts that took him by surprise.

  Quest Complete: The Beast Within.

  Against all odds, you wrested control from the Beast named Besal. In asserting your control over the darkest aspects of yourself, you’ve attained a higher tolerance for the brutal magic of the Beastborne. Besal’s power still courses through your veins, a portion of the corrupting power he wielded is now imparted to you. Bear in mind this is merely the first trial of many to come. But for now, rest easy Beastborne.

  Objectives:

  Reclaim your mind and body before hitting Strain Lv.5 (Complete).

  Rewards:

  Maximum Strain Increase +.

  Beast Magic Skill Increase +.

  New Trait: Edge of Disaster.

  1 Beast Magic Perk.

  Quest Complete: Scientific Endeavors.

  Upon fighting the Shadow Predators and Shadow Crawlers with shadow essence, you’ve learned that while similar essences increase status resistance, they mostly confuse monsters, and do not decrease damage dealt or taken. On the other hand, utilizing an opposing essence, such as your gamble of Humanity against Besal’s Horror, provides a uniquely combative experience.

  Objectives

  Test the nature of channeling Monster Essence and its effects on monsters of similar nature and those of opposing nature (Complete).

  Rewards

  All Attuned Essences +10.

  Your Maximum Strain has increased by 25 points.

  Your rate of Strain Accumulation has been reduced.

  Your Beast Magic has risen to Level 7.

  …

  Your Beast Magic has risen to Level 10.

  +3% Beast Magic potency ( +30%).

  -2% MP cost (-4%).

  You have 2 Beast Magic Perk point awaiting assignment.

  Azure Fate 0/1

  Embark upon the Azure Path, trading raw strength for greater control and efficiency.

  Ruby Stars 0/1

  Take your first step among the red-shifted stars of a dying universe, basking in the unfettered strength of the Elders.

  New Trait: Edge of Disaster.

  Every point of Strain acts as a point of Haste, increasing your movement and attack speed.

  Language Unlocked: Deep Speech.

  Nearly becoming an Eldritch Horror has left residual traces of the deep, corrupting influence on your mind. You are now able to understand the language of Eldritch Horrors and are resistant to the effects of their disconcerting speech.

  Your [Duelist’s Bracers] are broken.

  Your [Traveler’s Aketon] is broken.

  Monster Attunements Available

  Shadow: 2

  Shadowy Presence 0/3

  Become partially immaterial, making it difficult for physical attacks to land upon you. Chance increases in lower light.

  Lv.1: -7% Chance attacks land. Effect increases up to double in complete darkness.

  Lv.2: -9% Chance attacks land. Effect increases up to double in complete darkness.

  Lv.3: -12% Chance attacks land. Effect increases up to double in complete darkness.

  Shadetouched 0/1

  Mold shadows to your body, increasing your DEF and MDEF by 15%.

  Shadesight 0/1

  Replaces and augments Darkvision, illuminating shadows in shining starlight and utter blackness in dim light.

  Your Sword Skill has risen to Level 7.

  Your Sword Skill has risen to Level 8.

  +1% Sword damage (+8%).

  -0.25% Sword durability loss (-2.0%).

  Your Parry Skill has risen to Level 3.

  Your Parry Skill has risen to Level 4.

  +1% Parry success (+4%).

  -1% Stamina cost (-4%).

  Your Evasion Skill has risen to Level 2.

  …

  Your Evasion Skill has risen to Level 4.

  +1% Evasion speed (+4%).

  -1% Stamina cost (-4%).

  Hal was overwhelmed with the prompts and the choices.

  He looked at the rest of the perks he had left to pick, not to mention the rather ominous wording of Azure Fate and Ruby Stars. This was going to take some time.

  Luckily, they were going to rest for the night. He had time.

  72

  With 2 shadow attunement points, his only real choice was which ability to pass on. Shadesight was a straight replacement of Darkvision. As far as he could tell, it was better in every way.

  Darkvision had to be acclimatized. As Hal found out when they first entered the Coffin District, it was spoiled by bright light.

  From the description, Shadesight didn’t appear to have those drawbacks. It illuminated the shadows and dark places instead of adapting the eye to it.

  Considering all the dark places they had traveled lately and Hal’s deep-rooted concern of ambush and monsters popping out of the dark, Shadesight was a given.

  That left only Shadetouched and Shadowy Presence. As with most other Monster Attunements, Shadowy Presence possessed several Levels or Tiers. Shadetouched seemed to be an outlier in that regard.

  With only a single tier, it was sorely tempting. However, he also knew that with his broken gear his DEF and MDEF were suffering. A
nd even if he bought a new set of gear once he got back to Murkmire – something he definitely planned on doing – 15% wasn’t all that much.

  Shadowy Presence, on the other hand, would reduce the impact of DEF and MDEF. If he could avoid damage altogether, then Shadetouched became moot.

  Of course, that also meant if he went too deeply into evasive measures that he’d be in for a world of pain if and when he ever did get hit.

  Unlike Shadetouched, Shadowy Presence and Shadesight appeared to complement each other. Shadowy Presence worked better in lower light while Shadesight allowed Hal to see in no light and low light areas.

  That synergy decided it for him. Hal attuned to both Shadowy Presence and Shadesight. While there weren’t many shadows in their well-lit room, Hal could see much better all the same.

  Everything had a clearer, sharper focus as he Spliced shadow and treant essence.

  It took time for his eyes to adjust to the strangeness of constant sight. At first, he thought there were no shadows. But slowly he came to realize the truth. The subtle shades of blue that overlaid the starlit corners and deeper places of the hall were shadows.

  They only looked different but now that he knew what to look for, they were easy to spot. As for Shadowy Presence, he didn’t feel any different. The Barkskin was a few shades darker but he wasn’t rolling in wispy shadow.

  And he definitely didn’t look anything like the Beast did. His skin was still his own, bark-like though it was. If he focused on it or waited long enough, the Barkskin took on an appearance no different than his usual skin.

  Though he knew it covered his fingertips as well as everywhere else, there was no loss of sensation. He still marveled at that as he rolled his fingers about, examining them in greater detail.

  It was a compulsion. He needed to be sure that everything was the same. After all, Besal had nearly taken full control of his body. He had changed the way it looked. What if he had webbed fingers or a sixth toe?

  He shivered at the thought of extra appendages suddenly sprouting because of Besal’s corrupting nature. Essence-created appendages were one thing. They went away as soon as he willed it. An actual, physical new growth? Nope. He wanted none of that.

  How many creatures did Ashera say the Beast killed? A dozen Shadow Crawlers? Where were the shadow-based spells? With the two points of Shadow Attunement, he would be over 300% affinity.

  Shouldn’t that mean spells were relatively easy to come by?

  He didn’t expect a spell every mob, but at least a rate of 10%. He didn’t even have a single shadow spell.

  The only difference he could imagine was the Beast. He had been in control when all of those creatures were killed. That had to be it. While he clearly obtained the essence the Beast extracted from the creatures, it seemed gaining new spells was not possible with him in control.

  Distantly, from the deepest reaches of his mind, he heard Besal chuckle.

  Glancing around the small impromptu camp, Hal felt a level of camaraderie he never expected he would ever know. He let the warmth of those still with him wash over him and banish the thought of Besal.

  Elora slept with her bandaged head on Ashera’s shoulder. Mira crossed her legs with her spear over her lap, eyes shut in meditation on Hal’s right. Ashera sat across the fire, her pale sea glass green eyes watching the dancing flames.

  Hal draped an arm across Vorax. The mimic snuggled up against his side and for all the world looked like nothing more than a treasure chest. Noth sat in a pose similar to Mira directly above the fire, never feeling its warmth. She stood sentry for them all, stating she didn’t need rest.

  “Would you like to feel the warmth of the fire?” Hal mentally asked Noth.

  Noth, startled by his sudden question looked curiously at him. As if she had never considered it. She glanced at Hal’s party members in various states of relaxation. Seeing that nobody would likely see her aside from Ashera - who could already see her - she gave a coy nod.

  Focusing on their renewed golden tether, and with a warning to Vorax about what he was doing, Hal pushed his corporeality to Noth as the Reaper alighted on Hal’s other side.

  The Reaper shut her eyes, her pale blue-tinged skin seemed to warm ever so slightly. She sat beside Hal’s ethereal form, reaching her black-armored hands out feeling the warmth of the flames.

  As she did, her gauntlets began to… drip like heated candle wax. They melted from her hands, as she practically had them shoved into the flames.

  Her delicate pale hands rolled and flexed as they basked in the heat of the flames.

  Now that he had time to focus on his own sensations, he found being ethereal… incredibly cold. He didn’t like it, but seeing the smile that spread unknowingly across Noth’s pretty face made Hal hold his tongue.

  She deserved this. If he ever found a way to bring her that level of peace permanently, he would do it in a heartbeat.

  New Quest: Dark Legacy.

  Having a taste of Nothricient’s ethereal existence and seeing the exceedingly rare smile on her face at the simple pleasures of a warm campfire, you have taken it upon yourself to find a way to free her from this torment.

  Without your tether binding her to the material plane, her existence would be short-lived and consist of untold agony. Discover a way to give her corporeality on Aldim.

  Objectives

  Discover a method of making Nothricient permanently corporeal.

  Rewards

  Variable.

  That was a lot more open-ended than usual. He frowned and began to stroke his chin in thought, only realizing a moment later that he couldn’t. His fingers passed right through his face.

  Reminded of his immaterial state, he couldn’t help but think of the shadowy creatures that offered him knowledge. Maybe he could find a way to make Noth whole.

  Hal wanted to go back up to that room with the shadowy creatures in the man-sized emeralds.

  They had answers for him, he was certain of it. Even if they twisted the truth, all it would take was time and a level head to unravel it.

  Hal didn’t believe he would be an easy target for them. He wasn’t easily goaded into doing rash things – he did rash things fine enough on his own it seemed – and there was no great tragedy in his life that they could use to manipulate him.

  He had no vendettas to settle, except maybe against the Founder. Even then, he was more than aware of how overmatched he was. Simply looking at this place they now rested in hammered that point home.

  With the answers he could glean from those shadow creatures, he could find out what happened here and maybe undo the damage. What he needed was a way to complete the Coffin Contract.

  Despite everything that he discovered, it still didn’t update any further. Which, he guessed, made sense since there were only two objectives remaining.

  He needed to clear all the monsters from within the district, and as an additional objective, he had to discover the cause for the shadow creatures. While he could complete the former and finish the Contract, he personally wanted to know where those creatures came from.

  And why they seemed to know him.

  If he could at least find a way to destroy the monsters within the district, then the Contract would be fulfilled. The koblins would have a home, and they would have enough money to buy materials, tools, and equipment for a settlement.

  If these people were anything like any other humans, they probably wouldn’t want the koblins in their city. The ruling nobility or merchant class would probably thank Hal and his group then do whatever they wanted with the district.

  Even though Hal would own it, he didn’t underestimate the potential for the ruling class to try and undermine his good intentions. Especially if it got in the way of increasing their influence or wealth.

  There were ways around that. A few hints at unknown dangers. The instability of the district, and a few rumors spread about it still being haunted would make it hard for them to find workers to rebuild. Much less to find ten
ants who would wish to live there after dark.

  But the koblins, now they were a sturdy sort. Weird, no doubt, but sturdy. If Hal could plant the suggestion that the koblins would both keep the place safe and be model tenants, it might go a long way toward the koblins being left alone.

  In the future, he wanted to take the koblins to his own settlement, when it wouldn’t be tantamount to leading them into a deathtrap. For the low-level koblins, the journey to the Shiverglades would be perilous. So would establishing a foothold as a settlement for that matter. Until then, they could establish a point of contact with Murkmire.

  With any luck, the degree of separation between his settlement and the koblins would allow for backchannel trading between the two. Or at least provide Hal with some clout in Murkmire later on.

  Owning an entire district had to have some benefit, right?

  He planned to return one day. Not just to Murkmire but to the Founder’s secret complex below. There was much more he could learn.

  Freeing Murkmire from the Founder’s control would be an added bonus.

  Looking at the [Sending Stone] from the refugees in his inventory, Hal knew exactly how he could disseminate the rumors among the people of Murkmire. He wasn’t about to do all this work, lose a friend, die, and nearly be consumed by the Beast for simple human greed and xenophobia to defeat him.

  All that was left was for him to do before going to bed was to assign his Beast Magic perks. The description of Azure Fate and Ruby Stars both seemed like they were mutually exclusive. And yet, he couldn’t find anything telling him that he could only choose one.