Utterly Mad

THIS POST IS THE FORUM EQUIVALENT OF A SEPARATOR IN A BINDER. LOOK, IT EVEN HAS A CRUDE SKETCH OF THE SLAYER LOGO AND A DICK DRAWN ON IT.

Holy shit, the archon's dead? Well, that makes things moderately easier. I normally just peek the doors open and throw explosives in there, then shut it again until he dies.

I actually don't know how tough he is in a fair fight, I've always been too cautious about my late-game survivors to risk taking him on.

I intend now to build adequate shelter, not a crude little pine construction. But first I made another venture into town, to scavenge addition supplies, tools, maybe even containers.

In the process I found, to my horror, a house seemingly grown over entirely by paper-like material, the street near it littered with the mangled bodies of revenants. And the cause? Multiple massive wasps, buzzing angrily around the area. I'd taken care to avoid individual instances of these corrupted creatures, but this nest is dangerously close to one of my intended targets.

I strayed deeper into the streets than I wanted to, but anything to avoid these things. They're rather adept at killing the undead, I doubt I'd have an easy time if they ganged up on me. Not to mention, I feel bad for these things, terrifying as they are. They are clearly mundane creatures of this world, warped by whatever perverse power caused all this. They do nothing more than what they would in their normal form.

But as with any animal, I will slay them if I have no choice, or if supplies are such that hunting becomes necessary.

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As I feared, it isn't some corrupted insect I need fear. Some monstrous revenant followed me out of town, gaining on me rapidly. It seemed to be all aglow, body partly mechanical in nature. And this was confirmed in the jolt it struck me with when it closed in, nearly flooring me from pain.

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Actually killing it was easier than I expected, but for a moment panic bested me. I assume the monster was wounded in clashes with chitinous things, be they mutant or otherworldly. I found myself examining the creature more closely, its body a wreck of advanced technology melded with a corrupted, inhumanly muscular body.

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I normally do the minimum needed to give the revenant eternal peace, in both body and soul. But in this case I attempted to cut away the machinery, perhaps fearing modern science could animate a body too damaged for these dark powers to control. I feel disgusting for butchering something once human, finding at least one component seemed reasonably intact.

The remaining pieces were merely short-circuited pieces of junk, and good riddance. I decided the lone intact device would serve as a morbid trophy.

Go, Random_Paladin, defeat the sacrilegists!

Aaaand ded. Game plus save will go here when the damn thing finishes uploading.

* World option has been changed to 14-day seasons. You can freely edit that if you desire longer.
* If you switch to a different version, remember to copy over the graveyard and memorial folders, not just the save and Mining Mod.
* If you find a lone car west of a river marked on the GPS, following the road east and north will have you pass by the camp. Sword's in the pine lean-to.
* Fun shit is farther southeast of the camp. Floating temple's cleared out, but beyond that is the island temple.

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And to make things worse, two developments. One, I realize when nearing my camp that I completely forgot about the stolen shopping cart I resorted to carrying tools in. Two, it isn't long before I see signs of a survivor following the river, just as I did with Kristin. If they're friendly, then this is a boon to my quest. But I'm no condition to fight if things turn ugly.

Worse, my camp is only partly set up to deter intruders. Thankfully it seems that they have yet to stray near the road, and I am free to purify essence to make use of my cloak. Bad as these injuries are, I don't want to risk being attacked while trying to merely sleep it off.

With the morning arriving, I'm surprised I wasn't bothered in my sleep, and everything still seems to be in place. There's only a dull ache where I presumably broke a rib or two, or perhaps lingering soreness from the gilded aegis forcibly setting and mending fractures.

I decide to approach them, cautiously. And without my weapon at the ready. I hope this won't prove foolish, but I suspect appearing armed will provoke them. Not to mention, the hammer is my only outward sign of being a member of the Cleansing Flame. I do ensure the hammer is charged with energy, so I can at least stun them if needed.

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Mercifully, they seem to be a desperate traveler, seemingly the only survivor of a pair. While it seemed her companion was picked off by...something, rather than killed in a foolhardy charge like the one Kristin and I made, we still share circumstances.

It soon became apparent that she was traveling north, and that the beast that pursued her was likely to my south. As I reached the road to hunt this thing down, I realized to my horror that it seemed to be shambling out of the treeline, just south of my camp. If I hadn't been bold enough to confront this survivor, I likely would've been caught completely off-guard.

But as with the flying monsters, the hue and cry of my hammer staggers it all the same. This thing appears as Legion made manifest, but I have witnessed worse.

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The beast falls before me, though it took all but one of the purified essence I had left after healing my wounds last night. I found her again and told of the beast I slew. Even if this thing seems unrelated to my mission, I few like I'm actually doing this world some good, for the first time in years.

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While I feel like a bold-faced liar saying I can protect someone, given what happened last time, having someone to watch my back might be desirable.

I led her back to my camp, thankfully she seems to know little of the alchemy book I left there, and the sword is hidden in the old lean-to I build the camp around. Decided we need to make a second place to rest, easily handled by gathering boughs of pine.

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Eventually I decide to ask her a bit about herself, and it became apparent that she vaguely recognized the markings on the hammer I carried. Seems she does in fact know a bit about the arcane, but where she learned it I'm unsure. No apparent connection to my order, to the Keepers of the Oath, nor to the Sanguine Order. Possibly an alchemist or scribe's apprentice. I will have to keep a close eye on her given the item I guard, but her reaction to my being a member of the Cleansing Flame suggests she's trustworthy.

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With the camp a bit more livable for two people, I decided to ask her about the additional quests she was considering. This seems rather crude, mundane work for a mage-hunter, but should be trivial to handle.

However, I would like to retrieve my cart as well, as I just realized that I left my book in there, in addition to essential tools. I awaken rather early in the morning, letting my still tired ally know only that I'll be back soon, and that she can keep resting. I ventured forth to the odd little oasis, to retrieve my cart and to scout the area out while I still had the cover of darkness.

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Even in the darkness, I could see something horrifying had made a complete mess of the place. Something massive was clawing at the battered doors, vaguely resembling a dragon. But from the stench of death and the way it moved, I suspect the monster has fallen prey to the same curse afflicting the revenants haunting this structure.

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A note as well, some sign of my brethren having visited this place? This bodes unwell. I prepare myself for battle...

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Though the Sun shall shine upon the Earth, many shall never see the dawn again. As the dead rise and hunger for the living, and horrors from beyond spread over all the land, both magic and technology struggle to turn the tide.

Though hope remains, one more falls to the horrors of a new era, leaving an unfinished mission. A wicked blade lies hidden only by a scant few boughs of pine, and winged death lurks in a ruined temple. For now, the Cleansing Flame is extinguished.

...five years later, upload failed. Hnnng. Fuck it, I'm gonna be out and about tomorrow, so I can dropbox it when I get some wifi instead of this potato net.

Time to set it up then.