O' Scion of the Heaven-Eating Wolf

Your Soul Overflows. You Have Leveled!

You have unlocked your first Attunement, and may select a Form of Silver or below to bind to. Your new Attunement will grant unique benefits and possible Schemas.

You may gain increase your Anima, Logos, or Arcana by 1.

The Forms called to me within the void. Each had a shape and a feel, almost like a voice.

The ones most suited to my current shape were close at hand. They were like whispers in my ear. Ones that were less aligned with my domain, Forms for things like clouds, winters, and bloodshed, these were akin to echoes coming from the far distance.

Ibis translated - but my visit to the Pale Beyond seemed to have sharpened my own senses for this as well.

There was the Form of the Desert, which was like a sun made of baked clay, cracked and radiating heat. It would turn the sands within my domain to a wasteland that slowly eroded the life of anything that set foot within. It had a harsh, malicious hunger to its dreaming mind, and I turned away immediately.

Next to speak was the Form of the Crypt. I had enough dead, parched bones and mummified creatures lying around, but what connected me to this unlikely Attunement was likely the city of the undead. With the Form of the Crypt they would begin to grow again. They wouldn’t become living things, exactly, but the longer they remained the more consciousness they would gain, and they’d even have a chance of Ascending into higher forms of the dead.

And in truth? I was tempted. It was a strange choice for my oasis of life, but in another sense it was giving life to those who had been robbed.

The voice of the dead was plaintive and mournful but strangely calm. The worst had already happened. But I turned away for the moment.

The Form of Gifts was bright and loud, a bass thunder of confidence. Its offering was less straightforward than the other two. With the Attunement of Gifts I would be able to create a shard of soul in inanimate objects I formed, weapons and armors and even common tools. They would grow, and return some of their soul’s light to me in the process. As a way of growing that didn’t rely on devouring other life it was already a frontrunner.

The Form of the Tree was interesting, if only distantly available to me. The voice was soft and distant. The Tree would create a spiritual construct in the form you’d guess, spreading its branches above the oasis and gathering strength from the surrounding flora. In time it would be able to unleash a barrier that weakened enemies and strengthened allies.

The fact it would only be able to do this when full grown, and that its growth would be stunted by the lack of nearby plants, was enough to rule it out.

What I’d hoped for was an Attunement of Rain or Water. Something that would fit my genotype.

The latter was at least possible for me. I could sense it distantly in the Beyond, but it was well above Silver rank. A huge presence that could no more hear me than a whale could hear a krill swimming beside its leviathan shadow.

Once I grew further I might be able to form an Attunement there.

For now…

I listened briefly to the Forms of Ore, Fertility, and Devotion. Only the last even held my attention. Devotion would allow the little shrine I’d built to forge a proper connection to the gods and begin to earn Blessings as the shrine drew worshippers.

The choices were each tantalizing, but I could rule out the Tree or the Crypt. Neither quite aligned with my long term goals, and they were both too slow for any immediate gain. Gifts and Devotion each granted a way to grow, but the Blessings of Devotion would be for my creations, while Gifts would allow me to strengthen myself.

Blessings… I hadn’t studied them nearly enough. The one placed on the lemur had changed him, allowed the Lady of the Lunar Eye to form a thread with him. The actual benefit of the Blessing had amounted to nothing - but that bond with the divine had proven valuable.

Still.

I had to choose Gifts.

The ability to grow without needing to devour beings with strong souls was paramount. Not only that, but my strength for crafting tools and weapons was something that had helped me more than once. Shine-Catch’s spear, the arrows, the lightning towers - and if I brought the golems to my side I’d have twenty more strong warriors in need of weapons to match.

Without hesitation, I forged the thread, and took the Attunement of Gifts. The connection sank into my soul, and I felt the inscriptions of runework surrounding the Mana-rift within my core subtly change, new words and spells joining with the old.

You have selected

The Attunement of Gifts.

The Form of Gifts inhabits that which you create, giving a nascent soul to your works that will connect to your own, feeding you as these creations gather legends and great deeds. In addition, you may Name unliving things.

Oasis Dungeon

Soul Fragments

21/70

Mana

140/140

Mana Regen

7.0

Anima: 3 Logos: 1 Arcana: 2 Blessing of the Open Sky, Blessing of the Lunar Augur. The rainfall of a sky sundered by war. Gifts ~ Attunements ~ --- --- --- ---

For a moment I savored the new powers.

Then I went to find Shine-Catch.

She was lying high on a rocky perch above the caves, sprawled out on a flat bed of stone alongside the boy, Bug-Catch, with just enough space between them to signal- some messy hesitation or reluctance. An unwillingness to leave or to draw closer. He was fast asleep. Her eyes were open, gazing up towards the stars in the heavens.

I couldn’t see them, myself. An odd limitation of seeing through domain was that the sky was mostly lost to me unless I used Possession.

I reached out for the spear to give it a Name. It had served Shine-Catch well, and she had been more faithful than I could have asked. In a quiet, strange way, she seemed to believe in me - or at least in the hope of a better world. It was hard to miss how often slow, sad moments seemed to catch her in a spell where she would simply fade into the world, watching time slide by with her wide yellow eyes.

For a moment I struggled to find the right Name. A meaning for the weapon.

“Yuh here, ghostie?”

The fact that she could sense my presence - she needed a proper teacher for her talents. Her Arcana was still as high as I’d seen. “Yes, I am.”

“Almost died today. Feel like, eh, I was maybe just lucky, and mebbe, maaaybe the next time- I’m not.” She played with the jade ring. The cold light of the desert stars flickered across the warped green stone as she tossed it from palm to palm. “Evil god tried to kill us both today, which, y’know... Bragging rights on living, but it was scary, an' I can’t help but feel there oughta be some legendary warrior here instead of me…”

The wind blew, snagging at the high rocks of the cliffside and drawing out a slow howling whistle across the calm of the sky. “I’m not sure it’s as easy as that. In the end, being skilled, trying your best, just leaves you more chances to find the luck you need to survive. I’ve yet to see a battle go the way either side hoped it would. And, if you pause to think about every legendary warrior you know-”

“Yes?” She lifted her head.

“Well, not to be morbid, but they’re all dead.”

“Ah.” That was maybe not the best thing I could’ve said. She grimaced.

“Who you talking to?” The boy blinked his eyes open, lifting his head and rubbing a knuckle at his nose.

“The god that doesn’t want me dead, Bug. G’back to sleep.” She waved him off.

“Oh.” And he more or less did. In moments his snoring shook the rocks.

“Still not a god.” I noted. “And I need a name for your spear. I think, if you’re going to be a legend someday, your spear should have a fearsome name.”

“Yer close enough t’one, with the making stuff and the spooky voice from nowhere, and… Hmm.” She tapped a finger to her chin. “Maybe like, Star-Bite. Or Sky-Cleaver. Big scary name.”

“A little grim? No. I think you need something hopeful..."

"First Light of the New Sky.”

'First Light of the New Sky'

Fulminate Lance

Skycryst Spear. Silver-Rank Craftsmanship.

Bronze-Rank Enchantment.

Mana Capacity

40 / 40

Durability

46 / 50

Forged from precious stones that draw on the energies of heaven to bring forth lightning's strength, this spear devours the Mana around it with a greedy, war-hungry spirit. Its slender and seamless make could only come of unearthly craft. Born from the Oasis Dungeon.

Blessing of the New Sky - This blessed tool protects the bearer from enchantments, its ability to absorb Mana amplified against evil or malicious spells. In addition, the owner's affinity for wind and light magic is increased.

The Name sank into the weave of magic in the spear and shifted the way Mana flowed within, causing a new color, a sunrise pink-gold, to bloom across the blade's edge. Shine-Catch sat up, whistling as she spun it across the back of her hand. "Feels different."

"I hope it serves you well. When things have settled below-" The aftermath of a revolution was a mix of triumph and ugliness, especially in such a small tribe. The dead had names and faces to be put to rest. The tribe's shaman sung for them as the bodies burned. "We'll see if we can raise the city for you. For now..."

"You're going to say 'for now' and then vanish, ain'tcha? Not even going to finish yer sentence."

"I wasn't going to." I was. I entirely was. "But I have an appointment."

"Hey, wait up. There was- a thing. Somebody who wasn't there. They were playing with everyone, twisting us up, making the ancestor-song go... fucky." The thought clearly bothered her. "I don't know who could do that. But I know Tusk-Mouth was an idiot, and wouldn't have tried that on his own."

"No, I agree. What worries me is I didn't sense them. They weren't Arak's servant, and they were powerful enough to hide from me. When I come back we'll set about trying to find them. For now..."

She rolled her eyes.

The moon was high in the sky, casting a blued light across the desert that turned the red dunes to a sea of wine-colored waves. The Blessing of the Lunar Augur would only serve me while that light lasted -

I could gaze into the past.