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CYCLE 120Current time: Apr 04 2025, 02:52 PM


Don't You Ever Tame Your Demons IN Main Area
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#1
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set immediately after this thread

---

Tahi-shei watched in mute, silent horror bound in many, many layers of gauze and dissociation as Elias died slowly in front of him. When the alligator finally stopped moving, he raised his eyes to the Bone Fortresses. And then, with ice stabbing into his throat like Pride's stone inverted, he called out, "COLLECTOR!" into the abyss. His voice rang in his ears, high and tinny -- had he always sounded so empty? He didn't think so.

He stood next to the body. It would start to turn into Oil soon -- and he wasn't going to do another murder, so unless the Collector showed up soon, the deal was off.

The sika felt as though he'd been submerged in ice water. He didn't think he would ever wake up from whatever horrible dream he'd fallen into.

 
 
 
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A slow clap began somewhere to Tahi-shei's left, and a little bit behind him. And when and if the young deer turned, he'd find the Collector waiting: unblinking, staring, his voice erupting in his familiar croon.

"Very well done, Tahi-shei. I confess, I wasn't certain you had murder in you. I hadn't asked for that, naturally... but this will do nicely." Forward he strode, movements unhurried and smooth; he knelt before the body, one clawed hand reaching gently out to rest upon the piebald alligator's scutes and ridges. "Oh--of course I was watching--you didn't think I would miss this, so close to home? There is nothing more tragic and poetic than a beautiful creature cut down in its prime, don't you think-? Even after an explanation that he would not hunt and eat other Greaters, you still sought him out and slayed him. Bravo, truly."

The Collector pushed up. Turned. Smiled, the crinkle of crimson eyes visible behind the hood. "And now, of course, I will be true to my word. I will now empower the crown. I require the magic of his stone, as well--unless you do not mind never being able to take the crown back off," the Collector added. Hands dipped into cloak; a slender white tiara, of sorts, was withdrawn from within. It looked pale, twisted, like little spines of bones formed into a king's crown, sprouted here and there with tiny fungal blooms.

A pause.

"A minor drawback, I suppose... given its vast power."

@Tahi-shei

 
 
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Tahi-shei turned, reluctantly, and frowned at him. Still standing over the corpse. Still waiting.

The crown was pretty, in a twisted sort of way. He rather liked it. But everything came at a price. Most of the Collector's words sort of just filtered past him, maybe catching in his fur to come to mind later, but he certainly didn't hear them. Not until the last bit. He opened his mouth to say something like You said you didn't need the stone but an inkling of a memory reminded him that the Collector hadn't said that.

Flesh and magic.

A great deal of both.

Perhaps he would have had something to say, if he'd had more of his mind present. Something like 'sadist' or 'bastard' or potentially something far more vile. But words were barely real anymore -- no more than they had been when he'd first hatched. He barely had the energy to echo. Distantly, as though across a great chasm, Tahi-shei considered his options.

He'd never intended to kill someone for good -- he'd intended to leave their stone intact. Available. He'd meant to give it to Aran, actually. An... apology, of sorts, and a thank you. (But Aran thought he'd already gotten his consequences, didn't he?) He frowned.

On the other hand... being able to remove the crown, well. That was... almost a given, wasn't it? (But he couldn't let the Collector have this stone, could he?) Tahi-shei felt... almost sick, looking over at the Collector. Finally, words clawed their way out of his chest, hollow and cold.

"Is there an alternative."

 
 
 
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The Collector's eyes were red. Unblinking.

"Ahh, but there is always an alternative, mister Deimos."

The pause, then, was far too long, the Collector eerily still, silent, before suddenly erupting into fluid and smiling sound and motion once again. "You may abandon this one, and find another down the road. You might find a very powerful gemstone--enough to make up for not being fresh--in the short time before this one begins its decay but that I find unlikely." The strange crown was turned in his hands, this way and that, catching Canis' bone-refracted light across its bleached-white surface. "Or you may offer something, as when you came with your oh-so-noble companion, as a cost for breaking the contract altogether but my, that would seem a waste at this juncture, would it not? Now that you've come so far."

The last two words were a quiet croon. And then the Collector smiled.

"But then, with the crown of a King, who would want to take it off? What is your choice... Tahi-shei?"

__________


Should Tahi-shei wish to attempt to find a replacement stone, he may attempt to find a replacement using a Critical Success Detect Magic. He would have five roll attempts to do so.

@Tahi-shei

 
 
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"I suppose it's worth a try," he said dully, turning to look out among the bones. He took a couple steps forward -- not far, not yet -- and probed out. New magic was always tricky, but he was used to sensing things. The Collector had been the one to suggest such a spell to him in the first place. He closed his eyes, and focused on the inherent magic of the fungus first -- but before the spell was cast, he altered it to include the raw energy, the sort of neutral, natural force he tasted near the Spire.

He needed Fate to smile upon him.

Nothing happened, and he wrote it off absentmindedly as a poor attempt at casting a new spell for the first time. (He just needed to shake off the jitters.)
ROLL
5
Tahi-shei attempts to Cast Spell — Detect Magic
Barely Successful!



 
 
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He took a few more steps forward -- he could see Elias's stone, out of the corner of his eye, where he'd kicked it away. (An easy out.) Maybe, maybe not. He drew in a breath, pushed out his magic -- attempt number two, wasn't it? How many chances at this did he have? How long did it take for a corpse to decay? He wasn't sure. (He was sure he'd find out.)

A blip of magic on his radar, and then a second -- one Elias's, one somewhat stronger. He took note of its location -- maybe he would return for it, if he could.
ROLL
17
Tahi-shei attempts to Cast Spell — Detect Magic
Successful!



 
 
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He took more steps forward this time, his stomach starting to roll. He was racing against a clock, he knew, and it didn't help that the creature who stalked every nightmare was looming behind him and watching, probably with a wicked grin. The Collector, of course, took joy in other creatures's suffering. Tahi-shei had figured this out by now -- that did not mean he was impervious to the sadism.

Magic. Hope. Perhaps something akin to a prayer. What would he find? As his eyes closed, he wondered.

A second stone at the edges of his vision -- a blip of something useful. Not what he needed, though. Not powerful enough, he was sure. The magic was the same as the last one -- he needed something bright.
ROLL
12
Tahi-shei attempts to Cast Spell — Detect Magic
Successful!



 
 
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He needed to set a limit on this, he decided, and set this attempt as his limit. There was no use in toying with his own fate. No use in taunting Luck. Such things were already spitting in his face -- what would happen to him? To the stone? To Aran? What was he worth? What had he done?

So many questions.

He always had so many questions. Now, all he was looking for was an answer.

He received an answer -- a third stone. The same sort of magic. But it was not what he was looking for, and this was felt deeply in his bones. His eyes opened, and he turned back to the Collector. One way or another... he needed to make a decision.

Tahi-shei sighed. Looked the Collector over coldly. And finally said, in that awful monotone, "If these three stones I've found are enough magic, take them. If not... I'll take it as it is. The lizard's stone is promised to another already, and we both know what happens when a contract is broken."
ROLL
16
Tahi-shei attempts to Cast Spell — Detect Magic
Successful!



 
 
 
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Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:
gore


The Collector had waited where Tahi-shei had left him, ever so patient. When the Sika Deer returned, he perked a brow--had he made all five attempts already? Red eyes cast down over the three stones. He made no move to take them.

"I fear not. Not even five, hm? That is unfortunate, particularly given all the bones and stones left behind, here--ahh, but at the very least, you can now perhaps offer these new life, hm-?" How kind his voice, how softly understanding and perfectly solemn to the occasion.

"And now."

Black cloak swished. Hooves clicked, and he approached Elias' corpse only slowly: as if hesitant, or perhaps... reverent. There he knelt, bowed low, arms extending to place the crown upon the dead alligator's head. Its thin spires of bone were interwoven with white fuzz and fruiting bodies, a strange and organic object. "Let us hope that it's enough," he intoned softly, and then rested both hands upon the thick and white-marbled hide.

There was a... draining, a withering, as if all life was being drained from what remained of Elias: a drying-out, a shriveling, the skin shrinking around vanishing muscle, the blood coagulating and putrefying. Black oil began to seep from beneath the body, and from its eyes, its jaws, its nostrils; what was once vibrantly living rapidly decayed to nothing but oil and bone.

Yet atop it sat the fungal crown, shining brightly white, now: unblemished by the rot beneath.

Clawed hands lifted it from its now-foul home, lifted it high: ghostly white light shone from it... then faded. "Perfect. Be still, a moment," said the Collector, and turned, carrying this to place upon Tahi-shei's soft brown brow.

It was cold to the touch.

And the moment it touched Tahi-shei's brow, seeming to press down and join with his magic as if fusing there, he would see.

The world around faded, yet was replaced: a living, thriving bounty of fungus. And truly, it was everywhere: the yeasts, the molds, the spores and fruiting bodies, the mushrooms and the rest of it: all a carpet beneath physical vision. Dizzying, blinding, were the senses that came with it. Each nearby rustle of air, pulse of warmth, he felt and saw through the fungus all around him.

It was disorienting.

It was blinding.

It was enlightening.

After a moment, the Collector's voice cut through the overwhelming visions, a soft and curious three words: "Do you see..?"


Identified Item!

Tahi-shei has received an identified item from The Collector!

2★
Crown of the Fungal Prince
An eerie crown formed of thin bone spines and twisted fungus.


Click to view full☆☆☆☆★★
Crown of the Fungal Prince
A thin, elegant but eerie crown formed of thin bone twined through with twists of soft, white fungus. Grants the permanent passive effects of both Grey Sense and a short range Feel Around, allowing the bearer to view and navigate the world by its fungal life and granting permanent knowledge of all nearby fungus.

"Do you see..?"

ELEMENT:
MAGIC LEVEL: 100
DURABILITY: 20
SPECIAL: Allows passive fungal perception.
MATERIAL: Bone, Fungus
ATTACK: N/A
ADDED: Cursed: The bearer's physical eyesight will deteriorate by twenty percent per cycle worn. The eyes will gradually turn a milky, eerie yellow-white, until, after five cycles, the bearer is physically blind with dead white eyes. Crown cannot be removed by normal means.
DEFENSE: 0
WEIGHT: 1
EQUIP: Crown

Currently owned by: Tahi-shei


@Tahi-shei

 
 
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Tahi-shei didn't have the strength to resist him. Didn't really even care to. Curiosity would drive him towards it, eventually. That part was... just inevitable. Regardless of this Fungal Prince, regardless of the Collector, regardless of anything. That was just the type of creature that he was. And when the crown was set atop him -- bone and fungus, having just touched a body, and he couldn't fight that sudden nausea that tore through him at that thought -- and it was only worsened by the sudden sensory overload.

Tahi lurched, stumbled, and barely held his footing as everything was suddenly... everywhere. He swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly sour, and shaky red toadstools spiked up in the stone all around him. Steadying himself with something he knew, something familiar. He focused on them, breathed in through his nose, and the rest of his senses spiraled outwards before he realized that he'd been asked a question.

"I do," he said, and his voice was not so much rasped and weak as it was broken. He pushed himself up a bit, stared at the bones lying on the ground. He looked up to the Collector once more, the sudden shock having pulled him out enough to think straight. Just for a moment. He looked him over, and turned his head to the side.

"Well," he said first, voice unusually small but no less icy, "it's been a pleasure doing business with you." His voice held a sarcastic bite, but it was missable -- or ignorable -- if one wasn't paying close enough attention (As if the Collector ever failed to pay attention--!).
ROLL
6
Tahi-shei attempts to Cast Spell — Fungal Wake
Barely Successful!



 
 



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