Elijah.
24th of Ianua, 1492.
Rhar Mountains, Surface Brooding Lair.
7:36 PM.
[Gloom Knight, Step 2: Incubation.]
[Step 1 Reward: Passive Skill - [Draconic Nursery Instinct] - The knowledge granted to you by the Exalted Gloom allows you to more easily bond with your draconic embryo, enabling you to know its needs, incubation progress, and comfort levels.]
[Rewards: Evolution - [Draconic Nesting Aura] - The power granted to you by the Exalted Gloom enables you to form a suitable incubation environment for your chosen egg via nesting, allowing your future mount to adopt your attributes.]
[Now that you have tamed creatures of a draconic origin, you must goad them into laying a clutch of eggs, then claim one to incubate until hatching.]
***
"It's a shame I can't do that."
I hadn't even realized I was playing with my blood again. A bad habit I picked up shortly after being freed and elevated in standing with just one drink.
Quickly, I pulled the blood into my thumb and turned to Art's blue eyes, staring apologetically into mine before they turned away.
I began to speak but soon swallowed my words once the lanky human- or once human- effortlessly lifted a boulder overhead. "Never thought I'd be able to do this, though." He smiled weirdly, then tossed the rock aside in a loud crash that echoed down the cave, returning irritated chirps and screeches mere moments later.
"Never thought any o' this would happen." Art planted himself in his chair next to mine with a soft chortle. "Being free of gray dwarves. Stealing strength from other creatures. Devoting myself to a God and a Dragon. Heh, much less these."
My eyes followed his gesture below the strange seats made for us. It was your standard chair if one ignored the glass box contained within the legs. A temporal domain was placed within. Alongside a plush pillow and an oversized egg, now an inky black instead of their normal crimson hue.
"Hey!" we both jumped from Kele's scream and turned to see her crimson orbs aimed at her five subordinates below. "One of you bring me something. I'm hungry."
As if on cue, the box my chair was built around started to rattle. Art and Kele's soon followed, so I waved my hand down towards the others. "All of you come up here! It's time!"
I listened to the fifteen beating hearts approach and take up posts around me with pride, refusing to acknowledge the thrashing seat beneath me until they arrived with eager eyes.
They brought blood packs too, which Art and Kele tore down voraciously while I stored mine for later; then stood, turned, and took a deep breath. Focusing on my spirit, I unleashed a wave of pheromones through the air before I pulled the chair off the nest and sat, focused and eager to see this miracle turn its course.
The creatures I called to this place had been artificially impregnated with the Exalted Gloom's draconic sorcery. Evidently, that was how dragons made different versions of the creatures to do their bidding, which made me all the more curious to see what traits they would have. Traits that, I was certain, synergized with our natural abilities perfectly.
Over the course of a half hour, the onyx shell that had been protected and kept cool by my chair broke apart, revealing a scaled hide that rippled with strength as it broke free from its cage. Yawning its beaked maw, it stretched leather wings out into the cavern, sending wisps of darkness trailing behind the strong gusts of its hapless flapping.
It appeared much like a dragon, the Greater Drake. It was around the size of a large dog or a small wolf, suggesting it would grow to be strong and durable enough to carry my weight in flight, yet agile enough for areal combative maneuvers. Not to mention, from my imparted knowledge, I knew it was in possession of a breath attack.
In short, it was perfect for the open skies of the surface.
At night.
As if it were waiting patiently for my drake to become familiar with me, Art's shell soon broke free. From it, came a beast much like mine, but was longer from snout to tail and sat in a squat-like posture, giving it the appearance of a black crocodilian with wings.
The Greater Draco was the best of both worlds, I was soon informed through the Exalted Gloom's influence. They were capable of traveling a greater distance than greater drakes and possessed a breath attack as well, but they were better suited to the ground rather than the air. As a result, they were perfect for the surface and underground operations of a Gloom Stalker.
Finally, a lean and powerful creature broke from its shell to approach the dark gnome. Like a snake with long legs and wings, Dragines were faster than the two others combined. Their streamlined bodies made them perfect for long-duration flights, swims, runs, or even climbs. Though, naturally, they could carry less than the others.
Rather than a breath attack, they had a powerful roar that could frighten anyone who heard it into a state of paralysis, making them perfect for the echoing caverns of the Darkworld. The domain of the Exalted Gloom's Inquisitor: Kele.
With haste, we corralled and herded our hatchlings down the twin staircases leading out of the cave to wheel about, entering the alcove just below. Inside was a grand castle of onyx and gold that almost seemed to grow out of the surrounding stone. And though the threshold was without a door, the three of us laid onyx, black opal, dark gems, and gold on the porch. Then stepped inside.
In a rather bright mood, apparently, the Exalted Gloom took our offerings with little more than a purr and led us inside to hear her glory, but not show it.
She took our mounts to prepare some draconic magic, giving us a wise rock pebble and instructions to form her lair in the Twilight Sanctuary whilst reminding us to make a wing for ourselves and, more importantly, a second hoard room for her. To be used for food.
Bowing graciously, we left the alcove, taking an immediate right to face a platform of stone and metal set before a sloping tunnel. There, we climbed aboard a train and took the Shade Tunnel down, stopping along each nest of the Black Plume to pick up or drop off various members before we arrived in the Sanctuary after a period of only minutes.
Being many of our first time, we took stock of the place during the slow monorail transit. The route snaked us through the carved boulders and gothic castles suspended above the vibrant Duskwoods. They orbited the Divine Gloom Tree, casting grandiose constellations around those standing on the surrounding mountain, gazing at the cosmic sea spread across the ceiling.
They, however, were tame in comparison to the castles of blood, Darkworld metals, and gold at the southern end. Madame's Opal and Syele sat to the left and right, constructed into the likeness of great wings attached to the alcove at the center. My target.
Dutifully, I placed the stone within and watched- prayed with the other devoted as the Exalted Gloom's lair formed into the likeness of a devil-horned owl with a draconic beak. And again, me, Art, and Kele laid out a mat of gold and onyx stones along with our praise.
This time, Cononthoth appeared in all of her glory, and with gifts to exchange. Armor made from scales procured from her own glorious scales; and our bonded hatchlings, sitting ready and eager to be named by way of a ritual.
"Hodur!"
"Slade!"
"Calamus!
The hour of ritualistic chanting and prayer ended with the declaration of those names, resulting in a deluge of energy flowing from us and the Exalted Gloom.
Into our mounts they flowed, maturing them into three paragons of their former selves in a matter of moments whilst painful changes rippled through our bodies. And therein brought visions that brought an entirely new perspective. From the eyes of Hodur, I looked at myself as a beacon of light-rimmed darkness. I smelled… sweet. I felt like… home. And then, the flow ceased.
Back in my body, I could see the words telling me what I already knew: that I could share senses with Hodur and call him from afar.
"The Tiny Devil has provided you with saddles and collars. You can ride throughout the day, my young riders. So go. Ride."
Rather than elaborate further, the other lights and letters persisting in our vision wiggled and wobbled to pull our attention to the map function of NoxNet.
I still wasn't used to it. I still couldn't wrap my head around the idea that, outside of those sworn into the Legions, no one could see the lines of twilight spreading around my feet to form mountain ranges and frosted forests and open tundras. But those sworn to me, Art and Kele and the thirteen others, they could see.
They could see the black box floating on the far side of the mountain, deep inside the territories of the Ligin Kingdom. More, they could see the plan that soon formed in my mind, being represented as a series of dissimilarly colored lines that ran above and through the mountain. However, I still explained to the Exalted Gloom while we prepped our undead and materials inside our saddlebags.
"We will ride over the mountain to investigate the necrotic presence. Meanwhile, our undead shall construct a tunnel nearby. I imagine us venturing over the mountain frequently in the near future. And it should lead to more people venturing into these parts."
"More meat." Cononthoth corrected, though I felt a strong hint that she was pleased with my decision.
With many undead under my command utilizing enchanted drills and other machinery, the work was nearly completed by the time we arrived at some ruins that could have been a cathedral or building of government in its era. Now, it was nearly swallowed by the snow and forest.
"I see why they named it the Basilica of Sorrows." Art hopped off his mount with a chuckle. "It-"
"Please." Kele groaned. "Not another fucking joke."
"Alright, alright." He raised his hands in surrender, but his face betrayed his thoughts to test the waters.
"You two stay here," I told them. "Set up some mist burners and guard the perimeter."
With a nod, they were off. And with a kick to the warped door, so was I, entering a vast hall of disheveled seats and piles of wood slowly being reclaimed by flowers, fungus, and vines. Going right, I entered an identical room. Smaller, yet holding nothing of note inside. Thus I went across the main chamber and into a room of many broken shelves and bookcases, wherein I found a corpse.
Using my ring, I palmed the rotted corpse, sending power through its bones that returned as arcane fire to illuminate its eyes and speak to me in wheezing breaths.
It told of them being an adventurer from some time ago, sent to investigate a strange beast that called the Basilica its lair. After asking how he found the place, he gestured to an odd breastplate nearby, stating he found it within another dungeon and followed the clues here.
After discussing what to do with Nigel, my Lore Skull, I stored the breastplate and moved left through the only other door room. Inside were many spoiled grains and ruptured barrels scattered before the remnants of a bookshelf that failed to conceal the strange hole in the wall. Worn by time, but with noticeable grooves around the edges.
It was almost as if someone climbed in and out on a regular basis. Or, not someone. Something.
Something that radiated death just as much as I did. And so, I tore down the wall to come face to face with a massive and vile mash-up of creatures. The underbelly was of decayed fur while the head was that of a scaled lion with ram-like horns. Rotted claws were crossed over each other to the front. Cloven hooves pushed into the dirt to the rear. And large, draconic wings were folded neatly over its scaled back.
"Why that, is an undead chimera." Nigel surmised from his post on my hip. Then shouted, "Hello, cousin!"
Still, the creature paid us no mind. So I went right past it and down the staircase it guarded to find a chest loaded with gold along with tattered documents and a vial of holy water.
Tentatively, I took the water and sent it through the darkness first, intending for Madame Opal to turn it unholy and get it away from this place as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the gold went to me and the documents went to Amun to be salvaged.
Just like that, my task was complete. But… I felt as if I wasn't done. I felt ass if I had more to do still.
"Hmm." I turned, spotting the chimera. And then it hit me.
I prayed and prayed to Amun. If only for seconds before it fell before me. A little stone that looked like a tiny cave.
I threw to the undead chimera as I passed by and it jumped to life at once, snapping its head up to catch the rock and pin it down to be gnawed on or scratched until the stone wrapped around a canine.
And with that, I left; making sure to stop to raise the skeleton and leave a few others to rebuild the place in my absence. Because, of course, the Exalted Gloom had more work for us to do.
A pit of darkness opened nearby, leading me to Art and Kele's side to stand in a place unlike anything we've ever seen.
Even to my eyes, the realm was colorless and dreary; darkened by a perpetual overcast that seemed to snuff out as much sound as it did light. And many foul creatures stalked about. Maggot-like things churned in the mud beneath the uncaring soles of giant horned humanoids lumbering over the canopy of a fetid forest.
This was the Shadow Realm, I knew. But so too was this the Exalted Gloom, I realized.
This was Amun. This was Conontoth. And in turn, this was me.
Seemingly but unlikely spooked, our mounts took off just moments after they entered. Our connections had yet to grow strong, so it took a moment to connect and realize where, or rather, who they were running off to. And in realization, I followed at nearly double the pace, smiling like a child until I saw a familiar figure emerge from the gloom and fell to my knees.
"Of course!" I laughed. "This is where you've been all this time!"