"Woah, that's prettier than I expected." I said, pulling myself over the cliff face with my grappling hook. Korbin stood at the top, the glowing fluorescent hue of many colors beaming around his outline. As my head lifted over the edge, a long cylindrical cavern declining deeper underground was covered in crystals emitting bright green, blue and red colors. As I walked further into the massive natural tunnel, a sea of blue glowing moss covered the ground and walls surrounding the crystals, providing a permanent source of light for them to reflect off one another.
"Hey, Tom! Wait up for everyone else." Korbin hollered from behind, lending Derrick a hand up from climbing the rock face the old-fashioned way. Cassi squatted beside Korbin, her hand leaned over the edge.
"Come on big guy, easy does it." Cassi said over the cliff, no doubt to poor Lonni. His sheer mass had proven a bit of a curse given how many hand and footholds broke under his weight, causing him to crash down a series of jagged stone walls. Luckily his insane toughness and strong heavy armor made fall damage matter rather little, at least from the heights Lonni had tumbled down thus far. Cassi let out a series of labored grunts lifting Lonni up and over the edge. He stumbled over her, causing him to tip over right on top of Cassi nearly smacking heads upon falling. They locked eyes for one brief moment before quickly clambering to their feet.
"Thank you." Lonni muttered through labored breaths, no doubt from having free climbing the rocky terrain for the last 40 minutes in minimal lighting. We decided to follow the collections of crystals hanging closest to us in order to use Korbin's fiery abilities and my lightning emitting twinblade to illuminate them with. Seeing everyone up and on their feet, I resumed my trek lower into the glowing tunnel that curved to the side. Looking up at the wondrous surplus of crystals lining the walls, I wondered if I could get some sound knowledge on their nature through a certain skill.
[Vitreous Silica (Level 8)]
What the actual shit is that?
While Identify did reveal the name of these glowing crystals, my lack of knowledge of crystalline rocks kept its nomenclature from bearing any real meaning to me. I turned my attention to the moss, hoping it'll be named something more palatable for my relatively niche circle of knowledge.
[Ionized Dicranidae (Level 7)]
…nope.
Of course, the blue 'ionized' moss had to have a weird-ass name. Glancing up, patches of red glowing moss further up the massive cavern wall were just as oddly titled.
[Phosphated Dicranidae (level 8)]
"Okay, does anybody know what these things are? Their names are just ridiculous." I exclaimed, turning around to face the rest of our squad trailing a few feet behind.
"Yeah I noticed that, but not the 'ridiculous' part. These plants and crystals are for the most part nothing totally new to earth, outside of their insanely improved and diverse luminous nature. Even then, I'm no crystallographer, nor am I a biologist to determine whether this type of moss is anything we might find on earth now." Korbin replied, studying some of the ionized moss in his hand.
"Why do you know that?" Cassi asked, sounding genuinely taken aback by Korbin's knowledge.
"Believe it or not, the internet had more than dance moves and shitty pranks back in the day." Korbin answered, flicking the moss from his fingers.
"Alright, let's keep moving. This moss doesn't appear to be draining any of my resource pools on contact, but keep an eye on your statuses. We can't afford to be wasting health potions on avoidable mistakes." Korbin commanded, resuming his steady pace down the inclined cavern that now took on a cylindrical shape. Following after him around the bend, a massive wall of clear crystals absolutely infested the wall at the back of the walkway. In front of it were two wide slabs of stone seemingly shaped into chairs.
"Uh, am I crazy or does this look like a small theatre?" I asked, glancing around the sparking crystals illuminating the room, my boots squelching into the glowing moss underfoot as I circled around the long stone bench.
"I mean, I didn't see the popcorn machine on the way in." Derrick said sarcastically, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. Cassi wordlessly slugged him in the shoulder before walking around the other side of the stone bench.
"Ow!" Derrick groaned, rubbing his shoulder. Lonni held his belly letting out a baritone chuckle as he walked past him. In the spirit of annoying Cassi, I slid along the stone seat, stopping on the other side just before she stepped in.
"Sorry missy, I paid for the aisle seat. Bad bladder." I said in a raspy voice, hunched over impersonating a crotchety old man. She pushed hard on my shoulder, tipping me over on the seat and sliding me further down as I tried to cling onto the sides. Our little battle would've continued if it hadn't been for a massive blast of light emitting from the crystal covered wall facing us.
"GUYS!" Korbin yelled, as I glanced up at the hundreds of crystals projected a black and white screen counting down from 5. Everyone except Korbin rushed onto the stone bench, squeezing in so we all could fit, or urgency resembling that of eager children. Lonni finally slid far enough to fit at the other end when the timer hit 1, followed by a rather charismatic male voice echoing off the walls.
"Hello! Welcome to the Ruins Of Xernilia, home to several of the multiverses' most ancient and revered gods before its tragic global extinction event. Today, we'll be going over its peaceful, global oligarchy built upon prioritized on learning the inner workings of mana, richness in biological diversity, and religious unity."
As the voice began its explanation, a series of videos of a bustling society full of all kinds of humans and bipedal species I'd never seen before flashed across the projection. The footage quickly flipped from cities with skyscrapers that made Korbin's largest spire look like a quaint farmhouse, to massive fields full of all sorts of tangling flowers, fluorescent mushrooms of all sizes and colors. Even colorful mosses not dissimilar to what covered the stone here.
"Xernilia was once home to one of the first global cohabitation of multiple awakened races, with species as common as humanity and Elementals, to floral and mycota born races such as the Nepenthi, Porcinae, and Morelians." A series of videos showing multiple alien species, some appearing to be hulking green sentient plants with toothed mouths for hands and twisting vines for legs. Another race displayed looked like giant grey and yellow mushrooms with large, smooth caps atop their cylindrical bodies, with twisting mycelia comprising their limbs tissues. The third was another, far smaller mushroom-people, with shriveled green skin.
While the third race looked to be no taller than 4 feet, they exhibited incredible feets of magical ability, one of which was rejuvenating a larger, rotting mushroom person laying deflated on the grassy floor to full health simply by rooting their mycelium hands into the dying mushrooms. Finally, humans in light grey robes stood outside their farms watching humanoid creatures made completely of stone working tirelessly at their behest.
Typical.
"Those born of Xernilia in the early 7th era knew only of community, and the common goal of creating a world in which all could live in comfortable harmony. Such a dream was made possible by the efforts of 4 of their worlds strongest mages and warriors, who put an end to generations of territory wars between nations that predated their integration to the multiverse." The voice said gleefully, as the projections cycled over to 4 separate figures slaughtering hundreds of soldiers seemingly regardless of their banner.
Their abilities wildly differed from each other, ending in a colorful light show of separate affinity's ripping through troops and painting the battlefields with mana and corpses. One in particular clearly fought with far more fervor than the rest, leaving trails of dark smoke behind their nearly untraceably fast motions dicing through soldiers with two double edged swords. One blade was hardly the size of a dagger, while the other befit that of a typical short sword. Their enemies left behind would stumble in the dark clouds dispersed at his departure, where one of the other three would quickly dispatch them by the dozens.
"After gaining full control of their world's continents, the brave 4 heroes were propositioned by a god who'd grown an interest in their abilities by the name of Vashi. After much discussion, they arrived on mutual terms with their Devine overseer, who agreed to keep a watchful eye over their planet from afar." The overly enthusiastic voice continued, as the images switched to that of a titan of a being, towering over 4 human figures that looked ant-sized in comparison. Its skin was terribly pale, with sharp bones jutting out of its white fur covered shoulders and arms. The assumed God's hands bore incredibly long claws out of their fingers, and legs made entirely of wriggling snakes that hissed up from his flesh periodically. It wore a purple and black robe, with wings that had one sharp claw at the top of their ends. Its face was that of a wolf, with curving horns jutting from its forehead.
"Those 4 heroes would go on to serve their god loyally, in exchange for explicit protection from any galactic invasion and natural disasters looming over their budding society. In nearly a single generation, their planet had transformed from a war torn global shanty, to one of prosperity for all willing to do their part. All under the protective wing of multiversal revered god." The voice said, showing footage of these races and even a few beasts tending fields of crops and doing construction together. Children played through meadows of high shrubbery and beautiful flora.
"That is, until one day a priest grew tired of worshipping their world's watchful patron, inspiring his fellow head priests to turn their people against their god in the pursuit of independence." The voice said in his typical energized tone.
"They called upon every sentient being around the world to band together in rejection of Vashi, attempting to weaken the god by way of demolishing its source of Devine support. Vashi arrived at the capital of their oligarchy, where millions as far as the eye could see stood in wait for their god, led by their 4 heretical priests." A sea of humans and plant people alike covered the screen, standing in formation nearly covering the entirety of the land below.
In a flash of white light, Vashi's hulking figure plummeted from the clouds above into the crowd like a meteor, expelling a wave of grey energy from his body that washed over the countless poor souls around him. Almost instantly, humans and sentient plants alike twisted and morphed into terrible beasts, most of them falling into quadrupedal postures before viciously ravaging their surrounding allies. Vashi slammed his hands into the ground, blasting another wave and creating a sea of monstrous minions all at once. Then, his hand lifted up into the air, ignoring the barrage of attacks unleashed onto him by the 4 priests. A giant circular shadow rapidly casted around Vashi's massive figure, before a stone plated worm 2 times his size crashed into the ground, instantly plummeting through and sundering a fissure across the land from its burrowing point.
"By nightfall, Vashi and his Titanus Gibslandris sank the top layer of Xernia in on itself from below, as its people transformed into mindless minions tasked with ending all sentient life." The projection switched to barren wasteland, full of craters and massive falling rock formations crashing through multiple fissures that went on for miles as far as the eye can see in all directions. Suddenly the shot zoomed into the remains of their capital, where Vashi had the shadow priests hovering between his pale clawed hands.
"As punishment for betraying him, Vashi sentenced the heretical priest who incited the global rebellion to an eternity of insatiable hunger, destroying his body and cursing his ambitious spirit to forever roam the surface of Xernia as a Rapacious Wraith." The upbeat voice continued, showing the priest's body exploding in a puff of red mist and leaving behind a white outline of his figure still trapped between Vashi's hands. The man's spirit twitched and convulsed, taking on a much greyer and solid tint as he grew in size. The spirit's hair extended down to their back, as their eye sockets began glowing a bright white light. Finally, the spirit was released back to its people, unhinging its jaw unnaturally wide and consuming every living being in its vicinity.
"While a vast majority of the population was wiped out in a single day, many more were consumed overnight by the Vashi's Rapacious Wraith. Still, many survivors fought desperately to establish some semblance of a civilization below the surface." The voice continued, the screen displaying many sentient species shuffling along the dark caverns and dodging falling boulders as the ground trembled.
"After a week, Vashi abandoned the crumbling planet, while his Titanus Gibslandris entered hibernation at its core. Many years passed as 3 of the 4 sons of the same priests who turned the world against their god took on leadership roles of their own, only with no intention of mutual peace." The voice explained, showing a battlefield of humans blasting water attacks onto hulking stone and metal golems, clashing at the center of a cavern just outside of a giant chasm. Rain poured in at one end of the cavern, where humans harnessed the water for their troops as their battle waged on with towering stone monsters.
"The son of their priest who harnessed the power of the sea adopted his fathers prowess in harnessing the water affinity, though the deathly nature of Xernilia's undergrowth his parents conceived him in birthed a second affinity, death." As the stone soldiers continued being pelted by constant bombardments of condensed oblong masses of water, a young man adorning dark blue and black robes stepped onto the frontline, lifting his hands up at the sea of stone monsters smashing through his soldiers. All at once, the water covering their stone skin darkened into bubbling black water, quickly otting through their hard rock bodies. Dozens of stone men dropped to the floor, screaming in agony as they slowly rotted away from the outside in.
"His name is Phanthu, an especially ambitious leader of aspiring death water mages seeking only to further their own strength, in hopes to one day escape their cavernous ruins of a planet. Having been especially close to his father, he grew an intense prejudice to any awakened species other than humans, proclaiming their heretical leadership is to blame for their societies tragic destruction. Phanthu passionately believed his father to have been forced to partake in their treachery that ultimately led to their demise. His faction has made the most ground here in the cavernous ruins of Xernilia, having declared the underground wars as soon as Phanthu assumed leadership." The unfittingly enthusiastic voice continued, before sliding across the battlefield to the stone men's back line. Fleeing from the situation entirely was another human, wearing thick metal armor being ushered by a group of hulking stone men.
"This is Andolis, son of their society's lead stone lithomancer. Andolis' father was the creator of Vashi's Titanus Gibslandris, along with the stone and metallic golems that protected and served their people. Andolis continued his father's experiments after his passing, electing to use humans as subjects in secret in hopes of creating a better soldier for his remaining people to be protected by. Quickly, his experiments got the better of his mental state, until finally he created the Khotunn race, a species of man magically infused through every fiber of their dna. Before long, all but Andolis had elected to become Khotunn, in the name of reviving their relationship with Vashi by killing all remaining life under Xernilia." The voice explained as the man fled from his troops like a coward, leaving them to die.
"It goes without saying Andolis is not favored to win this war, unless assisted by outside forces far greater than himself." The voice concluded as the projection flew through the caverns, halting amongst a mess of glowing mushrooms and purple and black flora writhing along the caverns floor and walls. The same mushroom and floral races that worked in harmony with humans now wandered the many caves, escorting the much smaller mushroom people as they rooted their mycila into the stone, sending their roots streaking throughout the cavern as their shriveled bodies slowly deflated. A single human walked amongst the mess of mindless plant life, sending beams of green energy into the ground summoning bundles of thick white roots underfoot.
"This Hyphaelius, son of their priest who united the human race with the floral species that inhabit Xernia. Much like Phanthu, he too blames his fathers fellow priests for the fall of Xernilia, though his prejudices lay with humanity itself. Hyphaelius has yet to make any major moves throughout the course of the underground wars so far, though his forces numbers have quadrupled in the last month alone." The voice happily explained.
Jeez, these folks really have it rough huh?
"Finally, the 4th and final son of Xernilia's heretical priests of Vashi, namely the offspring of the one whose spirit was cursed as a Rapacious Wraith on the planet's surface, Zeldrich. There's much debate whether he still lives after having been exiled from all remaining factions in spite of his fathers actions. Many believe he's fallen to time, or to a stray Vashi monstrosity roaming Xernilia's caverns. Some believe he lives in the shadows, plotting his revenge from afar. Which brings us to you, contestants!" The voice said as the screen displayed a slow zoom into a pitch black cave entrance.
"You will have to decide what faction deserves its fair shot at rebuilding Xernilia to its previous glory before its impending apocalypse. Choose wisely, as all faction choices will provide differing degree of rewards depending on their current standing in the Xernilia Underground Wars. Good luck!" The voice excitedly concluded, as the projection on the wall of crystals faded to black. Instantly, a prompt popped up on my notifications.
*Planetary Objective Updated!*
Select a faction leader and future god to help end the Xernilia Underground Wars before the apocalypse! Only one vote is required per faction, choose wisely.
(14 days remaining.)
[Phanthu] (Uncommon) - 25 Event Points, 4 Uncommon loot drop options
[Andolis] (Rare) - 50 Event Points, 4 Rare loot drop options
[Hyphaelius] (Epic) - 100 Event Points, 4 Epic loot drop options
[Zeldritch] (Legendary) - 250 event points, 8 Epic loot drop options
…
…well fuck. That was brutal.