Legend of Ransera

Continued from here

☠ Unsettling. It was the only way to explain what awaited them when they crossed the village gates into Farbanti. For as far as they could see were the bodies of the villagers. Motionless like statues, some overgrown with black roots and vines. Each one of them looking up into the sky, and the same black lotus flowers sprouted from their eyes like the one they found beforehand. It was a gut wrenching sight to see, and Laebirius was stifling his urge to vomit. They knew they were dead, so moving through them was easy. It didn't mean however to throw caution to the wind as they still didn't know what caused this. "We should split up and investigate, try and find the cause of this." he suggested, tapping Creed & taidryn on their shoulders and motioning for them to follow him.

"There's no need for that." The voice came from all over the village, like a cascading echo. Coming from the Chieftan's home came the silhouette of a woman. Her body was covered in the same black vines as the villagers, her eyes replaced with that of black lotus flowers. She moved as if nothing was wrong, though there was, as there was a figure looming behind her. Hoisting her up into the air the vines and lotus flowers began to glow a faint lavender hue. "You killed my puppets and have trespassed into my domain." she spoke, her words echoed by an otherworldly voice and soon a creature tore through the doorway of the large hut.

It looked like a plant that was not of this world, but then again most fauna of Ecith seemed to come from other planes than this one. This creature however was different, sporting a pair of upside down bat wings, six mammal like legs and two ghostly translucent hands. It gave off an aura of not belonging in his realm, and a sense of dread washed over them all as it continued to use the priestess as a mouthpiece. "I can no longer return to whence I came, and so I took root here and granted the people of this village peace, a sweet and fulfilling mercy. I can grant the same mercy to y.........aaaaaarrggghhhhhh!!!!!!" it hissed as Leona cut it off from speaking any further with a torrent of flame, careful not to hit the priestess.

A loud hissing echoed from the village in its entirety. "KILL THEM, KILL THEM ALL!!!!!!!!" It raged, as all of the black lotus flowers glowed brighter, and the villagers began to move, rushing the group from all angles. A fight for survival soon ensured as all within the party drew their weapons, immediately cutting down the villagers that came in first. They found themselves being split into two groups. Yorha, Tana, Leona, & Creed held the line keeping most of the focus and fighting on them. Laebirius, Ohtoki, & Taidryn saw an opportunity to take the fight to the creature and took it. "Go you three, put an end to this farce now!!!" Yorha ordered. "Yes we will cover your backs while you deal with that abomination!" Leona chimed in, cascading a wave of zombie villagers in a sea of fire.

"Dont slow me down or get in my way little one!" Ohtoki barked as he dove headfirst into the fray, easily hacking down villager after villager as he headed toward the monster. Taidryn & Laebirius were right behind him as they both were engaged with zombies of their own, ferocious in their defense of the abomination that controlled them. Soon the area was filled with hordes of controlled villagers as Laebirius began the process of decapitating and hacking them all down. His strikes were controlled and precise as he could easily remove their heads, or bisect them in half.

He made his way to the square of the village as twenty or so more zombies were waiting there for him, along with the creature controlling them. Without hesitation Laebirius and the other two rushed the group, first cutting down the unfortunate first six zombies in the front by delivering well placed chops to their necks. As the others began to surround them, he'd simply back-flip onto the nearby fruit stand, using it as a springboard, and launch himself back into the fray, decapacitating two more in the process. Three of them in the horde were ranged enemies shooting barbed vines at them. Lae nor the other two warriors fighting alongside him were fazed as they could handle such, if not match them. With little effort, Lae was able to defend against the incoming projectiles with fair ease, raising his shield up for protection.

He quickly moved in and was able to put down one of them with a swift slash across its torso, Ohtoki and Taidryn soon joining him as they destroyed theirs as well. With fourteen down already, only six more remained. The creature had the remaining six surround them, the three warriors watching as they began to circle them like wolves circling a wounded animal, waiting for the moment to end it all. It was several moments before they all went to attack them at once. Lae figured the abomination believed that if it could overwhelm them it could win, but it would be sadly mistaken.

With a quick pivot in his stance, he waited for the zombies to come into his strike zone, and once the first one did he delivered several hacks to vital points. Then catching the punch of the second zombie with his shield, he used it to push the mindless attack back and tossed his axe into its skull. The sound of its body hitting the ground was accompanied by Taidryn and Ohtoki making quick work of the last four zombies. All three warriors turned to see the others were still fighting, keeping the horde from getting any closer to them. All that remained now was the abomination.

Leaping into the courtyard of the chieftain's property, it hissed and wailed, a choir of barbed vines jutting from every opening and surface one could see. "DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!!!!!!!!" the borrowed voice screamed, the vines lunging forward to threaten Laebirius and the others. All three warriors dodged out of the way and took up defensive positions. Laebirius knew he would need added help to keep up with Ohtoki and Taidryn, and summoned Dinok Jot. Tapping further into his rune of summoning, he used the ability of Awakening, empowering Dinok with his aether. The demonic centipede grew twice in size and its own strength. "Aid me, and fight that monstrosity." he ordered, to which the spirit complied happily as it charged the abomination.

With a loud thud Dinok collided with the plant creature, wrestling it as it fought back with its barbed vines, though still lashing out at them as well. Laebirius took the brief moment his spirit provided to catch his breath as offering his aether took some of his fighting strength away from him. Looking over he could see that Ohtoki and Taidryn were busy fighting off the vines that still thrashed about as Dinok coiled and attacked the creature head one. He looked the creature over, trying to see if there was a weakness he could exploit. He couldn't see any visible weakness on the damn thing, but he did notice something. It was going out of its way to protect the priestess from harm.

He then came up with a plan. "Restrain that thing! Keep it from moving!" he ordered his empowered spirit, looking to both Ohtoki and Taidryn. "Cover me, I know how to kill that thing!" he requested, to which both warriors nodded as they charged forward, cutting down vines that writhed and thrashed about in order to clear the way for Lae. Coming up close behind them he could see that Dinok had coiled around the the creature tightly to its protest, the sounds of struggle coming from the otherworldly creature.

It couldn't move or protect the priestess and Lae saw his chance. With the way cleared by the other two Laebirius mustered all his remaining strength. "GO BACK TO WHATEVER REALM YOU CAME FROM ABOMINATION!!!!" he roared, lunging forward, burying his axe into the neck of the priestess and cleaving her head clean off. Black mist and a blood-curdling screech blared at such a high frequency it could shatter bones. The zombie villagers soon all found themselves collapsing to the ground and disintegrating into black glittering dust. The priestess disintegrated, the abomination right with her. If one was paying close attention, one would have heard a faint feminine voice whisper "Thank you". The village soon fell silent, the remnant fires of battle crackling in the distance.

The group soon joined Lae, Taidryn, and Ohtoki as the necromancer held something. In place of the priestess was a large black lotus flower. Upon holding it Lae witnesses the truth behind what happened to the villagers. The priestess found the lotus flower amid the eclipse and succumbed to its parasitic influence. As the epicenter, the parasite grew from siphoning her life force until it was strong enough to spread spores and infect the other villagers. After seeing what happened the flower became glowing black dust in his hands. Exhausted Lae collapsed only to be caught by Dinok as it could and comforted its summoner. before allowing Taidryn to take him and being dismissed back to the realm of spirits. "Well done child of smoke and whispers, well done indeed." Yorha purred.

With that, the group began their journey back toward the safety and comfort of the Commonwealth. ☠

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"Common Speech"
"Vastian Speech"
"Vallenor Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"