Waking up hungry in my ergonomic stone chair covered in my moth blanket I realised in my rush to get the shelter ready yesterday I’d forgotten to eat… ok so maybe I was putting off eating leaves. But, doing what I usually did in these situations, I took the thought of eating the leaves and let it fill my mind till my focus was just,

“Eat the leaves.”

My claws almost unaware reached into the bucket and brought out a few of the dense, scale like, leaves and crammed them in my mouth and my jaw, semi-automatically, started chewing.

“Hmm… not bad, bland but crisp like a tougher celery.”

Continuing to scoop the leaves into my maw for the next several minutes till the bucket was around a quarter empty, I then stood and stretched, summoning my lantern which started dim and slowly grew in brightness till my eyes adjusted. Starting to really wake up I felt the dawning horror of remembering what I had done the night before, but for once not cos I got blackout drunk, but because I let myself go full Chunni and named myself something worryingly edgy, reassessing the damage I pulled up my name which had previously been blank but now firmly showed:

Name: Ivor Belphegor Thule

I sound like the villain from a Rocky movie for Christ’s sake. Jesus. Well no one was nearby so as long as I die alone on this island it should be fine. Although… I have to admit, deep down, it did sound kind of cool.

Deciding to move on, since it didn’t appear to affect anything anyway…

Alert!

Names carry weight in the realms of mana.

For naming yourself in honour of the Demon Benefactor of Inventors you have awoken the trait:

[Devilish Innovation]

When working on magitechnological projects, that take you in directions off the beaten path, you gain a natural intuition for what will work.

Why? Why would I so blatantly jinx myself like that?

At least it seemed like the results were positive…

Alert! The trigger for this trait has been set to during the act of relieving oneself on a toilet.

I’m just going to shut up now.

……………

After my interaction yesterday, I decided to further scout the area with my moth swarm before I ventured outside, so that I wouldn’t get flash banged by another monkey (this week’s entry on thoughts I never thought I’d have).

Carefully crafting the image in my head, a single moth peeled itself from the blanket and hovered in front of my face, ready for service. Linking to its eyes I let it handle manoeuvring out of my hobbit hole home, then taking control over once it was out in the open air. Nothing appearing amiss in the immediate area, I flew up to get a lay of the land.

My subterranean lair was about a third of the way between the ocean and the volcano. Flying my chosen moth in the direction of the volcano, I was again struck by its unusual shape. Basalt was a mafic formation, the runnier version of magma, so the volcano should be more gradual and flat. Even the name given to this type of volcano reflected this nature, being called shield volcanos. This volcano however came up steeply, and continuing closer, was topped with a caldera, a depressed bowl-shaped crater, that appeared to have something odd at its centre…

Embedded in the stone at the centre of the caldera was a lidded hole sealed with a bolt that had been grown over by a small withered sapling, locking it in place. Flying closer I felt an almost alien gaze catch me, as if frozen in amber my moth hovered in the air over the crater as my mind was suddenly split by a crackling bellow, it reverberated with the fury of flame and vengeance.

“IS THAT YOU GREIFSWALD?

COME TOO LATE TO STOP THE INEVITABLE HAVE YOU?

FOOL.

DID I NOT WARN YOU LONG AGO?

THIS WEAK THING THAT GROWS ON THE EARTH’S SURFACE LIKE A PARASITE CANNOT HOLD ME, AND NOW IT IS TOO LATE FOR YOU TO COME BOWING AND SCRAPING, ASKING FOR FORGIVENESS!!!

ASHASHASHASHASHASHASHASHASHASHASHASHASHASHASHA!!!

I SHALL BURN YOU TO NOUGHT BUT SOOT!!!”

Stunned by the force of the mental bombardment I continued to hover. Frozen.

“Wait… You are not Greifswald. Your presence is weak, even for how old he will be. And what is this vessel? Some bug? So, can he not even face me now? Sending petty insects as messengers and spies? How disappointing. Ssssssssssssss begone flea…” The voice continued at a slightly lowered pitch, sighing with an audible hiss.

Suddenly the sapling groaned, and a crack split the trunk, the bolt slid back an inch, the lid of this prison, for that is what it appeared to be, rattled loose, just enough for a jet of crimson flame to leap the gap and burn my scout to dust.

Snapping my eyes open with a gasp, I was comforted by the darkness of my hovel. Blind after the bright flash of the fire had engulfed me, not me, one of moths, I blinked my eyes to adjust. The swarm was flying round the room in a fluttering cloud, agitated and unsettled by the loss of one of its members. The part of my mind that had been connected to the moth ached as if blistered by the heat of the flame, though it had never actually come close to me, the death of the moth had lashed back across the distance. So that’s what it meant by ‘intrinsic’.

Still panting from the adrenaline of my most recent brush with death I calmed myself and tried to look at what I knew. Based on the position of the being I felt like it was reasonable to assume I’d just met Phlegethon. Which meant that I wouldn’t be able to activate my core trait until after that significantly more powerful than me being wanted to give me ownership of the island or I killed him.

“Fat chance of that happening.” I murmured using one claw to lightly poke my pudgy midriff.

But even if I did the seemingly smart thing and avoided the Wyrm, when it escaped its prison likely made by this Greifswald, which was a name that seemed strangely familiar. Focus, the point is, it would most likely be pissed. Not even considering the fact that it was positioned atop a volcano that once uncorked would likely erupt wiping the island clean of its residents, of which currently I was a member.

“Well shit.”

………………..

After ruminating on the issue for several minutes I came up empty and reached up to the wall to haul myself to my feet. Which is when my two good brain cells collided, and I cast Newton’s Binding on my hand, before using the anchor to pull myself up. Releasing the spell, I then lifted my palm and allowed the spell to manifest once more in my upturned hand, I think you might just be the solution to my problems.

The spell description stated that Elder Gods could not pull it apart, so if I cast the spell on the lid of Phlegethon’s prison then I should be able to seal him inside for at least long enough for me to come up with a more long-term solution. The only issue was… how was my slow ass going to be able to sneak up on a creature that could detect a moth from 200m and shoot it out of the sky with the same amount of effort as swatting a fly?

With the arrival of a faint urge to use the little sloth’s room, I came up with an idea, that should help me coming up with an idea. Making my way to of the entrance to my cave, I removed the stone I’d covered it with and used the excess stone around the archway to create a tall box across from the opening. It had three walls and a sloped roof facing the hobbit hole. Then I let my claws dangle down till the brushed the ground, reaching for the thrum was easier each time I used it, channelling it down into the earth a deep hole gaped open.

Next, I used the last of the stone to create a stable seat over the hole that had a matching opening and a thin slab that could be swung into place over the only wall-less side. My outhouse was finished.

Sitting and pulling the door closed, I sat and began trying to think of a means to distract the Wyrm.

…………

Several minutes later I was disappointed to emerge with only a single idea for how to accomplish my plan, though if it worked then it had far further future implications for me.

The idea itself was simple, my abilities for the moment at least, were strongest in the area of shaping stone with geomancy and I needed to occupy the volcano dwellers attention as much as possible, and with my speed for as long as possible, which meant that I needed something that wouldn’t get burned to dust in seconds. What I’d come up with after ruminating on the bog was simple on paper and yet would probably be significantly harder to accomplish.

I was going to make a golem.

Now calm down. I hear what you’re saying, disembodied voices that live in my head (god I need to get out more). Well how on earth are you going to make a golem with what I imagine is probably very little experience in the creation of artificial magical lifeforms. And I’ll admit you’ve got me there ya bastards. But!!! And it’s a big one… I do have a faint idea. Ok. Still not that impressive, but while mulling this over on the old commode (ha rhyme) my newest trait had lit up like a Christmas tree, a mental Christmas tree that is, reassuring me, and you non-believers, of the possibility of success.

Heading back inside to begin work, I shaped a door for the entrance to my burrow and descended into the dark absently summoning my lantern. Struck by the need to refill my fluids I drank deeply from the bucket in front of the fire and saw it was nearly empty. Frustrated by the idea of walking back to the beach for more water I wished once more for a more convenient water source…hmmm. The second the thought of a clean water source crossed my mind I felt an almost imperceptible tug toward a spot on the wall opposite and slightly to the right of the entrance. Hoping this feeling would pan out, I began to dig.

The first thing I noticed was a sudden drop in temperature from the rock, digging further I felt a sudden release of pressure as freezing water sprayed me in the face. I’ve never been so happy to get ice bucket challenged. Running (yes it was a shuffle, shut up) back into the main room I grabbed my bucket before placing it beneath the stream. I quickly noticed an issue however, the water was showing no signs of stopping, I may have flooded my house…

“Shitting shit!”

……………..

No, my house didn’t flood in the end, I managed to seal the hole quick enough to stop it. Then I scooped out a basin in the floor deep enough to hold the water, though it was very close, the pressure of the water in the basin was high enough to stabilise the flow. Slumping to the floor with a sigh of relief I scooped up the crystalline waters and sipped from my palm as I chilled on the floor.

Struck by inspiration and a need to practice I used geomancy to sculpt the basin into a rounder shape. Having laid the ground work, I then began shaping the front of the basin into a frog like face, then extending its mouth into a beak, I created a lip around the edge of the basin that stuck out like a monk’s hair, with that I finished. Pleased, I sat back and tweaked a few details, the distance between the eyes and some lines on the beak to give it a look of age and definition I was properly done. Kappa basin was now a thing. So it wasn’t the best, it still looked a little lopsided and its eyes were blank spheres, but, not bad for a first try. I was somewhat pleasantly surprised to see a notification spring to attention out of the corner and enlarging it saw that the system at least appreciated my art.

Alert! For moulding stone into an artistic form, you have unlocked the skill [Sculpting].

“Cool.”

Ha! I’ve learned my lesson system… if that’s even your reeeeaaaallll name.

That’s all you’re getting out of me.

Clearly sensing a worthy foe, the system gave me no further notifications.

Now, especially with this skill to help, it was time to get on with making my golem…