Elliot held his necklace up to his lips and shakily muttered a prayer. Talia knelt down behind him and wrapped her arms around him. She was shaking. Elliot figured it could be exhaustion, terror, or sorrow. He didn’t know which one he was feeling.

A soft groan of pain sounded from down the quiet dining hall. Elliot slowly stood as Talia let go of him. The young smith walked down the length of the table finding the wounded servant sitting against a pillar. Blood pours from her severed arm.

“Talia! We need healing.” Elliot shouts out.

Talia holds out her hand, one of the roots poking out of the stonework quickly grows a blue berry, which she plucks. She smashes it between her hands as she runs over to the servant. Her hands move over the torn flesh below their shoulder. The paste mixes with the blood and solidifies, preventing any more bleeding.

“She’s pale.” Elliot wipes the tears off his face as he faces this new problem that needs solving.

“She’s dying,” Talia says calmly.

“Fuck.” Elliot barely contains the word to a low volume as he turns around quickly.

He paces away from them before turning back and stopping with a look of contemplation.

“Do you think he could have medical supplies?” Elliot asks pointing a finger at her.

“I don’t know, we would need to check all the rooms,” Talia says.

“Alright, sure, you check downstairs, and I’ll check upstairs,” Elliot says with wide eyes.

“Sure.” Talia manages to say as Elliot runs for the door.

Entering the main hall Elliot sees the front doors are wide open. A man runs down the corridor, stops when he spots Elliot, and he holds up a hand to wave. It’s Hauss.

“Where are the others?” Hauss asks.

Elliot shakes his head and Hauss’ expression turns sour.

“I’m sorry,” Hauss says softly.

“Did the Judge’s escape?” Elliot asks.

“Not exactly.” Hauss shrugs. “They killed the rest of the guards and are working on killing the shambling mound.”

“Alright, that’s unexpected.” Elliot considers their options. “Help me search the upper floor rooms for any first aid supplies.”

Hauss nods and the two of them head up the stairs. Hauss takes the two doors on the left side of the hall and Elliot takes the two doors on the right. He opens the first room and finds a library. (11 Perception vs DC 10)

Something shiny catches Elliot’s eye. He walks over and pulls a book off a shelf that the system seems to call him to. He reads the title.

Of Perseverance and Wrath

Skill Book

Increase Con by +1 (0%)

Elliot shoves the book into his pack.

Elliot steps out of the library and goes through the next door. He finds a large bed, two dressers, there’s a chest under the bed, and something on the far wall. It’s a metal tank with glass panels revealing its full of black goo with strange serpentine-like creatures swimming in it.

Elliot shudders at the sight of the tank. Elliot moves toward the bed and pulls the chest out. He opens it showing a mass of wealth and a small black box. Elliot focuses on the chest for a second as its contents seem to speak to him.

800 Bronze Coins

25 iron Bars

5 Silver Denars

Auto-Injector

2 Stims

2 Burn

Hauss walks in as Elliot opens the black box, looking at the items inside. One seems to be a delivery system of sorts for injecting medicine into the body. There are two vials that easily slip into the injector. Then there are two items that look like modified inhalers. Elliot had only ever heard rumors of Burn. A drug made from the fungus that is responsible for the spores covering the western seaboard.

“That’s Stim and Burn,” Hauss says with some hesitation.

“What does it do?” Elliot asks quizzically.

“Stim heals wounds, numbs pain, and clears your mind. Burn, well it enhances all your senses, after a short period of being higher than a kite, and it leaves fungal spores in your lungs.” Hauss explains.

“Alright, it's what we need then.” Elliot closes the black box. “Help me with this chest.”

Elliot and Hauss drag the chest downstairs.

“What did you find?” Elliot asks Hauss.

“Some sort of sex dungeon and a room with twenty-four beds,” Hauss says.

“He was truly a multifaceted man,” Elliot says sarcastically.

They drag the chest down to the hall and set it down. Elliot takes the black box and runs into the dining hall. Talia has ripped up some cloth to formally bandage the wound. Elliot quickly hands her the autoinjector and one of the Stims. The servant has shallow, ragged breaths.

“He had one of these?” Talia questions with a shrug.

She slips the Stim into the injector and then pushes the injector against the servant's neck. Her breathing starts to stabilize. Elliot breathes a sigh of relief.

“Alright, Talia, can you get her to the Judge’s headquarters?” Elliot asks.

“Yeah, where are you going?” Talia asks.

“The Judges went to fight the shambling mound to save the town,” Elliot says as he looks away for a second. “I know I can help. I feel more strength in me.”

Level 2 Unlocked New Ability Acquired = Action Surge

“Then go. I’ll handle this.” Talia says.

Elliot hurries towards the exit but stops at Jeremiah, he mutters a quick prayer to the ether and takes his greatsword.

“Thank you,” Elliot says to the corpse.

Elliot moves to Fred’s body and takes the staff. He clicks a button and it folds down into a rod. He slips it into his pocket. Elliot looks back to Talia, who is helping the servant to her feet. The pixie flies to Talia and wraps around her ear as it turns into a little green snake.

The young smith exits the dining hall. Hauss is outside sitting on the chest.

“Get those coins to the Judge’s headquarters. Jayce and Mo will help you defend it.” Elliot orders Hauss.

“Yes sir!” Hauss says.

Elliot turns and heads for the exit. He walks out of the castle and looks out over the city. The shambling mound is barrelling through an industrial building heading towards the lower housing district. That's most likely the biggest hotspot in terms of population density.

Elliot will never make it in time. He looks up at the castle ramparts and spots a loaded ballista. It’ll be a longshot, and a long shot, but he has to try. He climbs up to it, aims the ballista, he tries to calculate distance and wind. Then he fires. (18 to hit vs AC 15)

The bolt sails across the city and slams through the shambling mound's body. (18 damage)

It staggers and lets out a piercing roar that shakes the streets. Gunfire goes off, the traditional flintlocks of the Judge’s pelting the beast with iron bearings. It whips massive vines through the street.

Elliot looks around, spotting bolts, and he quickly begins to reload. The shambling mound slams its vines around the streets. Another home crashes down. Elliot gets the bolt loaded, aims again, and focuses his breath as he shoots. (17 to hit vs AC 15)

The shambling mound teeters back. (20 damage) It crashes down onto the streets sending up a plume of dust. Elliot breathes a sigh of relief.

Elliot runs down the streets to the shambling mound’s corpse. It takes him nearly thirty minutes to get there. As he arrives he spots Esmeralda atop the shambling mound holding her hammer aloft. Elliot slows down, walking towards the group of Judges and Guards who seem tense around each other.

Esmeralda spots Elliot and stares at him questioningly. Elliot nods, confirming the deed is done.

“Hah! We’ve slain two monsters today! Lord Neries and the Colossal Terror!” Esmeralda cheers.

“Huzzah!” A dozen Judge hammers extend towards the heavens.

The guards seem shocked by this news. One old judge moves towards the shambling mound. Esmeralda helps him up. He steadies himself, dusts off his leather duster, and looks out at the crowd. Townspeople are starting to exit buildings now.

“The Judges will not abandon the city that turned on them. We will help rebuild, we will help restore, and we will leave then and only then.” The old man calls out. “For now I need every able bodied man or woman to start clearing the rubble and wreckage left in the wake of this beast. If anyone has been buried we need to get to them quickly.”

The crowd is silent for a moment. Only a few of the Judges move to follow his orders.

“That was a command! Clear the debris now!” The man orders with a booming voice.

Elliot helps the rescue attempts. Digging through debris, moving chunks of buildings and the wall. He works for a few hours in the dead of night. He manages to help drag two people out from under fallen debris. Though he is interrupted when Mo runs up to him.

“Esmeralda, Talia, and Hauss are waiting for you at the Judge’s quarters.” Mo says.

“Can it wait?” Elliot responds.

“No.” Mo says flatly. “This is too important.”

“Fine.” Elliot sighs and follows Mo.

They go across town and into the Judge’s Headquarters. Esmeralda is there with the older Judge. Talia is wearing gloves and a butcher’s apron that's covered in black blood. Hauss has three tables with corpses on it that he’s pushing to be near Talia. The first corpse is Lillyput’s. The second is Frederick’s. The third is Jeremiah’s.

There is a fourth table by Talia. Lord Neries’ naked corpse lays upon it. His body has been sliced from along the bottom of his gut, up his left side, and all the way to his armpit. It looks like several chunks of him are missing. Those chunks are all slightly to the side, attached to machinery of some kind, and laid out in such a way that it is easy to see how all the pieces fit together.

“What is this?” Elliot asks.

“Lord Neries might have technically been dead for some time. He said he had extended his life with these augmentations to his body.” Talia starts to explain as Elliot takes an unsteady step backward.

“Isn’t that machine what led him to becoming a monster?” Elliot looks from figure to figure in the room. “We can’t be considering this?”

“We are considering it. Though we won’t do it if you say no.” Hauss slowly steps towards Elliot with his hands raised towards him. “Think about it. If we get this operation right, one of our buds gets to keep on kicking.”

“There’s also a power source in the machinery. We can take it, and use it for something far greater than a single life.” Esmeralda says as she moves her hands to her hips.

“Or we could just throw it all away if that's what you want.” Talia says. ”But at least consider the chance that one of these men may be worth saving.”

Elliot wracks his brain as he looks at the corpses of his three comrades. Jeremiah was loyal and strong. Frederick had a mission of his own that he was going to see through. Lillyput wanted adventure, but Elliot should have never put him in so much danger. But if they come back like him, like Lord Neries, will they even want to live?