You have died.

Jack: I mean, no shit. Stupid screen.

Rory: If we can still talk, we’re only mostly dead.

Layla: And mostly dead is slightly alive.

Erin: What happened?

Jack: I *think* Ouroboros possessed you, then the two of you taunted the priest into nuking us.

Erin: WHAT!?

Layla: Oh yeah, it was epic. You melted that skinny crypt-keeper dude’s face right off. Turned him into a gribbly mummy.

Erin: The part about us getting NUKED, El.

Layla: Yeah, apparently the Empire has magic nukes. Robey-McSplodey-Pants said they had sixteen more. And lessee, a group of us created all the magitech that Alabastris uses. And one of them is still alive, in like, cryo-sleep, underneath the capitol. And there’s a shrine under there. Also, I am 100% super thrilled that Seiger Weiss was disintegrated by nuclear hellfire. We do think he’s dead, right? That guy was on another level, man.

Jack: So, what are we gonna do now? Is this the Ayrgard afterlife?

Restoring Chosen Vessels.

Error: Your home shrine is threatened by overwhelming enemy forces.

Rerouting vessel restoration.

Error: You have no other shrines availa̛b̴̻l̶̜e͓͢.̙͉͚

Error.

Error.

E̻͖̞̠̘r͏̼͔̖͈̣͉̥r̴͖͓̘̮͇͕o̰͇͟ͅr̼̫͕.͓̥͍

Restoring Chosen vessels at S̴̳̻͚̙̖h̨̹r͡i̢͙̠͕n̤e̛͔̙ ̢̭̬̻͉ͅof the B̼̭̱͍͚͙̝l̫̹͉͡o̭o̴̱ͅḑ̹͈ ̟͍̹̲̳B̟͓͈͉̯̩͎r̻͓̘ͅo̟̯͇̼͝t͏̤͈̬h̶̝̤ͬ̌̔̽͐ȩ̜ͥ̓̉̈̃̈́́r̴͉̜͕̹̮͙͕͗͒̓ͬ́̓̎s̙̜̱͕͙̎̈̑ͫ̍͂́ ̧̝o̻̎f̙͓͓̏ͫͮ̽͆ͣ̋.̛̙̱̞̞͖̬.̷̠̩̍ͮͦͅ.̲̂̑̂͂

Ṱ̛͔̬͈̫̲̘h̺̙̰ͅe̬̬̮̯͓̱ ̵͖͉̭͚Ḻ̗̦͘a̮t̻t̼i̵̬̬̳̼̣c͈e̩̯̞-̩̙̖̪͙ͅB̙͎̻͚̳o̝u͇͎͚̞͕͘g̷̖͕̭̲̟̺h̫̝̗̩̗̘ͅs͙͎͉̥̪͞ ̖̬͈̙̬of̠̭̖͇̮ ̸̤̮t̙̤̳̱̝̤̕ͅh̤̪e̞͔͇͙̯̝̼ ̻̬̠̦̪͝M͕̞ot̺̱̻̱͍͖̤͠h͏̺̘͙͖e̩̝̗̘r̛̜̪ ̗̯p͚a̺̻̤̲̱͖͈͟r̘̫̱͖t̴̫ ̶͖̳̣͖f̜̰͕̲̼͠or͎̫̲̹̭̘ͅ ̸͕͍͎̥t̹͖ͅẖ̡̭̠̼͕̭̗e̲͇͎̫͕ͅ ̗͕̤̤͎̙p̟̲̳̪̼a̱̝̮s̰̹̩s̟̣͚̣ag̶̥e͙ ̥͙̦̖͖͟o͔̞̠̩̖̯͝f̯͔͝ ͉͇̝̥̳̹͎H҉e̳̩͙ ̥̜̳̘̘̪̦W̡̮ḥ͞o̸̲̳̞̮͎͔ ͡S̙̝̕e̱̜̮̯͓͎̹e̡̦̳̩̪k͚̭͙̤͝s̴̩̺̙̯̙͍ ͖̼̙͚͈̲͘i̸n̻͍̟̙͉ ͉̠̯͍͔D͡a̴̬͈͍̭̜̲͖rk͝n̦̱̞es͚̮̀s̷̫̗̰̻.̠̙̭̠̱̱̰͞

System overridden. Adding new Shrine location to Chosen manifest.

I have given you all that is within my reach, my chosen. My strength fades, and I must slumber now. Go and do wonders in my name.

You have discovered the Seal of the Compass Wind. You have been awarded the trait Nightfather's Guidance: Sense the direction to the nearest shrine you have not yet discovered.

Restoring Chosen Vessels.

Restoring carried equipment.

You have lost one level from your highest class due to diminished life force.

For a moment, the only sound they could hear were the harrowing screams of three humans and a succubus being reassembled, mote of mana by mote of mana. Then, the sounds carried in the crisp night air were shouted profanities and curses of all stripe, labored breathing, and the echoes of blood-curdling screams reverberating against the rocky terrain. Beneath them, the impossibly black material of the shrine was emblazoned with the sign of the serpent eating its own tail.

“That… that was unpleasant,” Layla fell to her knees, then laid down on the cold stone.

“It beat getting my leg nearly chewed off and you setting the hole on fire combined, by a good bit,” Jack slumped to his knees next to her.

Rory simply fell to his hands and knees, then thought better of trying to remain upright and slowly sank to meet the stone.

“Thank you, Ouroboros,” Erin whispered to the night sky, then clanged and clunked over onto her side, laying her head on Layla’s leg. “That was bad.”

“Yeah, that ‘bout covers it,” Rory grunted.

Jack rolled onto his rear and threw his helm onto the stone with a clatter, “We died. We were dead.”

“Yeah, guess this job does come with some perks,” Layla croaked into the black stone. “My fucking head hasn’t hurt this bad since before we got here.”

“We diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed, El,” Erin grumbled into her calf.

“I feel like I might still be dead,” Rory whined.

Layla laughed, then winced and exhaled a pained noise, “Does that mean we should go through your pockets for loose change?”

“You and the fucking Princess Bride quotes, I swear,” he replied.

“You,” she rolled slightly to the left, “unggh… started it.”

It took them another ten minutes to relearn how to sit and stand upright without falling over. Their money, gear, and most of their experience was intact, and they had been spared the unimaginable agony of Seiger Weiss’ tender affections.

“Issat… Isenmar?” Rory stood at the edge of the shrine’s tiny plateau, staring to the East.

“It’s just… fire… that has to be… gigantic,” Layla whistled.

“Look over there, that’s Alabastris, right? See how the lights move over the horizon?” Jack pointed.

“Maybe mate, but at this height, we’d have to be, what El, couple hundred miles? From Isenmar?” Rory ticked away on his fingers and drew in the air.

“I don’t know the formulae, Rory, but I remember a little from geometry. If Ayrgard is Earth-sized, which it seems to roughly be, because we were pretty much right the first time we did this, then yeah. At this height, seeing Alabastris over the horizon would mean we were at least a couple hundred miles away,” she mused.

“So, we’re safe?” Erin rubbed at her shoulder.

“No way. We need to get the fuck out of the White Empire’s territory. After that shit, nowhere is gonna be safe. Let’s just assume they can call up Weiss’ soul and play twenty questions with him,” Layla gestured wildly, throwing her hands into the air.

“Also, what the fuck is Ouroboros’ thing with these shrines being on top of mountains!? I hate hiking.”