Welcome back one and all to the Gates of Enverdolmal!
I hope, as always, that you all have been well and that this finds you well.
I find it so crazy how One Last Knight has just crested 8K Reads on the English side, and 4K Reads on the Spanish side!
That blows my mind and makes me happier than you all could ever fathom.
YOU got me here.
All of you are amazing, beautiful, supportive, and above all else LOYAL.
And that means the world to me.
That means Enverdolmal to me.
You all are the reason that I continue to write. I write because you read!
(Well, I also write for my own sanity, as it is REALLY therapeutic for me. )
But you get it lol
I am, and will forever be grateful for the warm welcome that I have received from the Fiction Fantasy community thus far, and I hope it keeps coming lol.
I have a few Character Dives for you all from the last chapter, I hope they give you a bit more to chew on until the next chapter drops. I also will be completing and posting the remaining World Lore parts as well! So look forward to that.
I will see you all back here at the gates soon enough.
Enjoy!
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"Hollow lives. Part 1."
Character: Akua (Unknown last)
Species: Human.
Nation: Halfmann Island, Crater Coast Collective.
Age: 28 HLS.
Class: Shaman Brawler.
Weapon: Aether Cloak: Catatakah Form.
- (Name TBD) An Aetheral blade that can only heal. This effect only works if the individual in destined to survive the wound.
-Fangs & Claws while in Catatakah form.
-Catatakah Shaman short staff: This staff was a gift from the Catatakah twins, Bon-Bon and Don-Don. It can become rope-like and solidify back to its staff shape at akuas will. It can even be solidified into differing shapes to aid her in any number of task. The staff also doubles as her "tail" while she is in her cloaked Catatakah form, aiding in her balance.
Origin:
Akua has no recollection of her life before she awoke on Halfmann Island. She was but a child no less than 5 but no more than 8. She was taken in and raised by the enigmatic and reclusive Catatakah, a cat-like folk who inhabits the strange and dangerous island.
Akua is sharp, intelligent, and curious by nature. Although this curiosity tends to get her into all manners of trouble on the island she calls home, her natural and gifted abilities tend to get her by just fine.
Near-constant protection from the attentive Catatakah is also a great boon.
Akua was found and raised primarily by the Catatakah Chieftain himself, Midnight Lavendusk. From him and the many others, she learned to read, write, hunt, cook, and solve problems. Their bond is not only emotional but physical as well, as Akua's Aether pool (outside of her knowledge) is fed constantly by those of the Catatakah who surround her daily.
She may have no memory of where she came from before the island, but she is and had been keenly aware that she was no Catatakah from a very young age, having incidentally witnessed one of them changing back into a "human" after a hunt. She longs to escape and explore the world at large, something that Midnight disapproves of, yet secretly wants for the lot of them.
Akua knows his true feeling on that matter, yet nearly two decades of her own negative interactions with the outside world has lead her to understand the great Chieftains hesitation.
Abilities:
-Catatakah Cloak Form: This form allows her to bond with one or several of the many Catatakah around her and gain a massive boost in her own Aether pool level. The Cloak itself is composed of a solid Aether Cat-shaped shell that covers Akua's body from head to toe, forcing her into a bipedal stance and walking style. The shell potentially triples her agility, resistance, resilience, and strength. The abilities and traits of the Cloak are based on which of the Catatakah she bonds with in the moment.
-Expert hand-to-hand brawler.
-Knife combat.
-Shaman Stone Magics. These allow her to commune with deceased Catatakah and utilize their abilities or even summon them forth for assistance in all manners of things from combat to spiritual guidance. Her magics are tied to her study of the strange and powerful stones that naturally form in the caverns and caves that run beneath the Island.
Stats:
Strength: 6.5/10.
Stamina: 8/10.
Agility: 8.5/10.
Aether: 6.5/10.
Dexterity: 7.5/10.
Resilience: 7/10.
Resistance: High: 7/10 Low: 8.5/10.
Intellect: 8/10.
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"Hollow lives. Part 1."
Character: Midnight Lavendusk.
Species: Catatakah.
Nation: Halfmann Island, Crater Coast Collective.
Age: ????
Class: Catatakah High Chieftain.
Weapon: " Fangs of our fathers." Battle Bo staff.
-Claws & Fangs.
Origin:
Midnight was born just over 3 centuries ago, just years before the "Great Blast Event". Although he has no conscious memories of his own from those days or the event itself, the spirits of his long-dead ancestors bring fragments of memories of times past to him in his dreams.
Those memories have blessed him with knowledge and wisdom beyond many, if not all of his living kin, thus gaining him the title of High Chieftain.
Midnight found Akua on the Northernmost edge of the Island as a young child. His scouts, Don-Don and Bon-Bon had spotted and reported her, and he had seen to approaching the child himself. Their bond was nearly instantaneous, and he chose to guide and protect her for the rest of his days and beyond.
With time and tutelage, the child would become an adept hunter and fighter. Skills that the great Catatakah knew that she would need not only to survive the Island but the greater world should they ever manage to escape.
Midnight knows vaguely of what lives beneath and is sealed under the small Island due to his fragmented ancestorial connection.
He knows more that he and his kin may very well be powerless to stop it from inevitably breaking out.
Abilities:
-Echoed Growl: Intimidates foes into fleeing a fight based on their resistance.
-Master Hand-to-hand combatant.
-Master tracker and hunter.
-Shape shifting: Catatakah form nearly triples all of his base states.
-Fangs of our fathers Battle Bo staff. 40 fangs are imbedded in this lethal weapon. All of which leave cuts and puncture wounds that can't be healed by any traditional means known to man.
-Can share his Aether with kin and those he bonds with.
-Can become a full Aether cloak for Akua after the Soul Binding was completed.
Stats:
Strength: 8.5/10.
Stamina: 8.5/10.
Agility: 9/10.
Aether: 9.5/10.
Dexterity: 8/10.
Resilience: 8/10.
Resistance: High: 8.5/10 Low: 9.5/10.
Intellect: 8.5/10.
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"Hollow lives. Part 1."
Character: Bon-Bon & Don-Don.
Species: Catatakian Twins.
Nation: Halfmann Island, Crater Coast Collective.
Age: 40 HLS.
Class: Scout.
Weapon: Fangs & Claws.
-Bon Bow. This bow fires bolts of Bon-Bon's own Aether in the form of Thunderbolts. He can only fire as many shots as his Aether pool will allow, but linking his pool with his sister can boost not only the shot count but the damage output.
-Don Daggers. These twin daggers are just a pair of Don-Dons favorite twigs. She can cloak them in her Aether, which manifests in the form of malleable Lightning. Although she can create nearly any form of weapon that she has seen before (mind you, this is a fair amount given the number of Humans and Hominoid's that she has come into direct contact with. ) Her favorite form to cast while in combat, is the humble dagger.
Origin:
Bon-Bon is the eldest of the two between himself and his younger twin sister, Don-Don. While he is animated, lively, and outgoing, Don-Don is very much the opposite, preferring to be either alone, with her brother, or hidden away re-reading one of the few books that have found its way to their little world.
Although the two can typically be found together in times of peace, at meal times, during nap time, at bedtime, and at nearly any other time of day or night, their scouting routes tend to take them far apart and to the opposite sides of the island. While this may seem strange, it is at a distance that the two work best due to their unique abilities.
Both Bon-Bon and Don-Don share a natural affinity for the Lightning element. This, combined with their ability to share each other's Aether means that they can each summon the other to the other in times of need, but only if one has the time and clarity to focus on the other's Aetheral signature. They also share a Third eye which allows them to send mental pictures to each other as well. Bon-Bon and Don-Don were born on the Island and raided by Midnight. Their parent passed on of natural age, and they were raised in peaceful times just over two decades before the Thing below Halfmann began to awaken.
With the awakening came a plethora of "visitors" to their home, which gave the twins more than enough time and targets to hone the abilities that they had inherited from their parent. Bon-Bon and Don-Don are simultaneously the unofficial leaders of the Scout group.
Abilities:
Bon-Bon & Don-Don are nearly identical in their physical build and abilities. They differ only mainly in how they choose to utilize said abilities (as shown in their weapons choices. )
-Aetheral bond to each other.
-Can share each other's Aether pool.
-Can summon one another to the other location if the summoner can focus.
-Can shape their Aether into solid forms or cloak items in Aether to boost the item's durability or utilize said object in a different manner, an example being Don-Don's Don daggers.
Stats:
Bon-Bon: Strength: 6.5/10. Don-Don: Strength: 7/10.
Bon-Bon: Stamina: 8/10. Don-Don: Stamina: 7/10.
Bon-Bon: Agility: 8/10. Don-Don: Agility: 7.5/10.
Bon-Bon: Aether: 8.5/10. Don-Don: Aether: 8/10.
Bon-Bon: Dexterity: 7.5/10. Don-Don: Dexterity: 8/10.
Bon-Bon: Resilience: 7/10. Don-Don: Resilience: 7/10.
Bon-Bon: Resistance: High: 6.5/10. Low: 8/10. Don-Don: Resistance: High: 7/10. Low: 8.5/10.
Bon-Bon: Intellect: 7/10. Don-Don: Intellect: 8/10.
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"Hollow lives. Part 1."
Character: The Thing. (Unrevealed.)
Species: Nuckelavee Demon.
Nation: Halfmann Island, Crater Coast Collective.
Age: Several millennium.
Class: High Demon Deity.
Weapon: Unnaturally long arms and blade-like fingers.
-Any it can pick up.
-Poisonous smog-breath.
-Toxic bile spit.
-Shattering bray/scream.
Origin:
This demon was sealed beneath Halfmann Island for longer than it can remember, as along with its banishment came an instant detachment from its concept of time. All it could do was float in its tomb-like prison, alone and in the purest of darkness, waiting for the seals to break or weaken. The massive influx of lives lost, and subsequent bloodshed as of late has caused those seals to grow weaker with every passing decade.
Not just the lives lost and bloodshed, but the immense pooling of restless souls over Halfmann Island.
The Nuckelavee is an evil, cruel, menacing demon that was born of the millions of souls of Humans and Humanoids who died at sea. The demon roams the oceans killing and consuming anything in its path. The demon was subdued and sealed away by the combined might of the original seven Silver Spell Wardens, four of which were killed in the process.
The demon has no intention, no ambition, or even any real motivations outside of breaking free of its prison.
It wants nothing but death and destruction.
It couldn't've stored energy before, as storing or saving anything requires one to be able to tell that time is moving.
Several of the seals that have been weakened have given it back its sense of time, and now it bides that time, storing energy until enough souls have been gathered in order to weaken or break just a few more seals. It will then attempt its escape.
It will then rend the world, starting with Halfmann Island.
Abilities:
-Immense physical strength.
-Toxic breath and bodily fluids can be blown and sprayed onto combatants. The liquids tend to be either black blood or pure demon stomach bile, both of which can melt through nearly anything.
-Steel-like muscles deter most attacks.
-Can master any weapon it touches.
-Demon magic that can warp reality.
-Shattering bray/scream: This sound based attack can push objects and combatants away, intimidate any target pending on their resistance to High magic.
Stats:
Strength: 10/10.
Stamina: 8.8/10.
Agility: 7.5/10.
Aether: 9/10.
Dexterity: 8.5/10.
Resilience: 9.5/10.
Resistance: High: 8.5/10 Low: 9.5/10.
Intellect: 6.5/10.
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"Hollow lives. Part 1."
Character: Vectus Reed Dierottis. The Rat King.
Species: Undead Human/Rat hybrid.
Nation: Verlaplek, Crater Coast Collective.
Age: At death- 45 HLS. Current: 147 HLS.
Class: Necromancer King of Thieves.
Weapon: Fangs & Claws.
-Scepter of unwitting souls. (Formerly The Scepter of souls Shepard.) This scepter once belonged to a Cleric of legend who helped guide the souls of the lost to the afterlife.
-Short sword and Buckler combination.
Origin:
Born under the name Vectus Reed Dierottis, and raised by "The King of Thieves" and "The Queen of Rogues" as his parents were known. The Rat King gained his title and crown not from royalty, but from his cruel and sudden rise to power via the murdering of said parents.
Vectus was seemingly born devoid of nearly all emotions outside of anger. His parents had left him mostly to the streets of the Five Boroughs and it was on those streets that he learned and honed his crafts, growing to rival and even topple some of the best and highest-ranking individuals in the dirty underworld by the age of just 20.
By 35 he had grown bored of the profession and even more so with having to be in charge. He was looking to make a clean exit with his considerable wealth. But that wouldn't come easy, as one could not just walk away from that life with a head full of the darkest and most dangerous political secrets...
In the dead of night, he made his move. He paid off his most trusted and was well on his way.
On a dark, cold road just west of Wegkrip, a group of assassins struck. From whom were they sent? He would look his killer in the eye and vow revenge...
But he was not to die that night.
After being beaten and battered to near death, his unconscious form was shipped to Verlaplek Island where he would be left to his fate.
The rats would come for him, as they came for any and all who graced the cursed place.
They would not kill him and consume him as they had done with all the rest. They would bow before him.
From the forest came a Witch. She offered him a chance at his revenge, a chance to escape the island. She offered him the opportunity to become her Champion, and the power to break free of the islands restricting magics.
In exchange for that power, he would have to be her Rat King. Control her hoard of rats, and use them to scout and hunt and eat. Use them to find more who were worthy of her gifts.
He took that offer.
And the deal was struck.
The rats ate him, consuming every inch of his flesh. The Witch summoned all that had consumed him and stripped them of their own flesh and gathering the bits of tattered flesh from their stomachs.
She then twisted and enchanted that dead flesh until it wrapped itself around the dead King's bones once again. He was now both man and rat.
She cast the rotting and wreathing thing into a pit and covered it with 7 feet of blood-soaked soil.
One foot for each soul that he would need in order for the ritual to be complete.
She would wait.
She would use him to gather her own strength, create her own coven of Witches, and escape the Island herself.
Abilities:
-Can break down into a hoard of hive-mind rats and scatter himself or engage in combat.
-Regeneration.
-Master of short blade combat.
-Poisonous fangs and claws.
-Necromancy and dark magic.
Stats:
Strength: 7/10.
Stamina: 8.5/10.
Agility: 8/10.
Aether: 9/10.
Dexterity: 7.5/10.
Resilience: 5.5/10.
Resistance: High: 8.5/10. Low: 9/10.
Intellect: 8.5/10.
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Hey hey!
I hope you all enjoyed that last chunk of content!
I have a couple more chapters on the way so keep an eye out yeah?
I hope you all are having a good holiday season.
I am not really one for the holidays myself, as I have no children, nor am I extremally close to my family.
NONETHELESS!
I hope all of you, no matter what you do, or how you celebrate, DO IT WELL, SAFE, AND A LOT!
The year is almost up, and with the end of this year comes my birthday!
12/31/1988.
whelp, I have officially dated myself lol.
I hope this finds you all well, as always.
More World Lore will be arriving soon as well so keep your OTHER eye out for that lol.
Have a good and happy holidays folks.
And as always,
Stay safe.
Stay healthy.
Stay vigilant.
See y'all back here at the gates in due time!
-Redd.