A Tainted Blessing - a Murmas Quest

[Aia del Mana]

An excerpt from Memories in the Wind, Ch. 3, as told to Aia:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The winds whistled through the canyon as the slivered moon peeked through streaky clouds. The soft outline of an unmoving hooded figure could be seen standing by the bridge. Slow, disciplined breaths were hidden behind the loose-fitting cloak.

Fang looked up. By the shifting phase of the moon, it must have been seven days - the waning crescent almost gone from sight. Luna's hidden gaze would provide ample cover from the faceless figures guarding the bridge's entrance. Taking another disciplined breath, Fang stepped forward, watching the faceless guards for any acknowledgment of his presence. A second step, and then a third turned into a hasty tiptoe onto the first woodboard of the rope bridge, eliciting a soft creak, and then a louder one as Fang grasped the rope handholds. The bridge swayed under the new, unfamiliar weight, worsened by the canyon's violent crosswinds. Still, he was safely past the guards. Fang took a moment to stretch the seven-day cramps out of his limbs before trudging onward to the distant side.

Fang continued between the ridges of the valley path toward a faint amber glow. The gentle whistle of the wind turned to silence as he approached the glowing stone, suspended above the valley. Despite the silence, Fang could feel the eerie presence of dark, shapeless forms. He reached forward toward the stone, the echoes of Ledah's warnings resounding in his head. Ledah had lost all the sensation in his tongue and much of the rest of his face after his previous tasteless encounter. Thoughts of roast chicken drumsticks and seasoned cajun chicken wings passed Fang's mind; shuddering in fear, he retracted his arm.

Fang unloaded his pack and set it down against the valley ridge. A muffled yap sounded from within; smirking, Fang unpacked his tent and released a toothy canine from the tightly packed sheets. Barking happily, the now released Morlecid walked toward the stone, only to feel Fang's firm grasp on his neck, lifting him up off the ground and setting him down firmly away from the stone.

Several days of silence and boredom passed, with no sign of the Shade Sentinel. 

Fang decided to pass the time with some friendly sparring with the silent Shades. "TTL, you're first!" declared Fang as he set about preparing his creatures for combat. Fang glanced at his illusionary creatures to find them quite altered. "Oh, this'll be interesting," he said as he set his first ritual.

 

--end excerpt--

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Thy quest were twofold:

1. Draw (or otherwise illustrate, using any method available to thee) any one of Fang's non-Necrovian creatures that hath been tainted by the Stone. For the purposes of this quest, do assume that Fang doth only possess of creatures upgraded to their maximum level (i.e. taint a fully upgraded creature). Do not include any of the abilities or statistics of the creature - the drawing or illustration alone will suffice, as the second part should be the method that thou shouldst illustrate the creature's ability. (I am quite aware that the Tainted Angien already exists; please do not submit of a Tainted Angien as thy illustration.)

2. Continue the story above. Include an explanation of how Fang's tainted illusion-creature fares in combat against TTL, and also what Fang does after this battle. As with good story-writing - show; don't tell, especially in regard to the new tainted creature.

Submissions shall be scored on creativity, quality, and flavour in both story-writing and artistry. The winner shall be awarded one creature of the 14th anniversary; exceptional submissions will be awarded a wish-point.

One has until the end of the month of January - submissions should be given via forum-message to myself. There shall be no limits on the number of entries one may submit; each entry shall be judged on its own merits (although each submission should only contain of one creature and one corresponding story-continuation).

Blessings, and mayst thou all have a merry Murmas.

Edited December 22, 2019 by Aia del Mana
formatting

[Aia del Mana]

A benevolent sponsor hath offered of a Swordsman, and a further creature of the Fourteenth Anniversary.

If I do receive of five entries of sufficient quality, the victor may choose freely betwixt aught of these creatures (the Swordsman or of either Anniversary Creature), and the second contender shall also be awarded a creature of choice from that which doth remain. If I do receive of six or further entries, the third contender shall also receive of the remaining creature.

I do note this shall not invalidate of the sponsor's entries - I shall remain the arbitratress of this contest.

 

In addition, all participants will receive a code which shall be redeemable for three credits.

Edited December 24, 2019 by Aia del Mana

[Fang Archbane]

For references sake, and since my profile page only shows a small set amount of crits

Heres the list of what i currently own thats Non Necro (and Ayas right, all maxed).

Hollow / Colorless, 12th & 14th Anny
Tree / Colorless, Shop

Elu / Halloween

LR Archer / Colorless, Shop

Morph

Drach / Murmas Shop, Shop

Grasan / Colorless, Shop

MB Archer / Colorless, Shop

Aramor / Colorless, Shop

Joker / Colorless, Shop

Santa

Toxico

Winderwild

Knator

Daimon

Elemental

 

Id also like to sponsor 1 Joker, 1 Imp, and 1 Pimp on my end for you to use however you see fit.

[Aia del Mana]

(For the purposes of this quest, feel free to taint a creature not on that list - Fang is MP7 after all, and should be able to make illusions for all possible creatures.)

[Ungod]

I did a drawing and realized it sucked big time, so I added some PS equivalents to make the concept a little bit clearer (model taken from Gothic 1).

The story unfolds thusly:

  TTL was a mass of random thoughts kept together by a red thread. Among those thoughts
were memories that brought together sounds, colors and rituals - much like a newly-born
child's memories. When Fang's creatures attacked, TTL tensed its shape  into a powerful 
formation: a drachorn and a water being were supported by three winderwilds.
"Fun, fun, fun!", exclaimed Fang, as the drachorn was weakened by his Heretic Archer.
TTL tensed again and the drachorn crippled some of Fang's creatures, in a maelstorm of 
fire and wind from the flapping of winderwild wings. Now the battlefield was alight, 
and Fang grinned as his newly-tainted creature raised its weapon. 
  The heavy bolt pierced the air with a loud sound, but it went past the drachorn. A miss? Not
at all, as a painful cry was released by one of the winderwilds, its wing limp by its side.
TTL slept for only a second, as if feeling the damage, and perhaps felt relief at knowing
it was from an aimed hit ability. Confident, the shade armed its water being, but felt a sudden
numbness: the winderwild was almost dead, dark blood soiling the plumage.
TTL looked forward - the crossbowman straightened up and grinned. "This path is forbidden.
You may not pass". Where, where did it hear this before?
TTL was a mass of random thoughts kept together by a red thread. Among those thoughts
were memories that brought together sounds, colors and rituals. As the next crossbowman
loaded, TTL rememebered an arch and a forest, and a faint smell of jasmine...

Fang was quite pleased with the tainted crossbowman, so he decided to conduct a little
research on it. Would it revert to the normal archer he had before when he left? What are
the conditions for this taint to persist? Is it reproduceable?
He opened a notebook and wrote 'Experiment no 1'.

[Aia del Mana]

Sadly, I fear that I have not received of any further entries to this quest, and so by unanimous vote of one, I must declare Ungod the winner.

I do commend of thy thoughts on the Tainted Crossbowman - and mayhap shall attempt in future to make this creature reality.

[Fang Archbane]

Awesome, congrats to ungod.

Aia, feel free to either take the imp/joker/pimp to distribute later, or hand them to Ungod for winning since he usually rewards crits himself, either works for me.

I liked the quest concept a lot, if we could taint creatures at will without limits it would be interesting indeed. Great job to all, enjoy your rewards.