Nandi Thrush, Black Dawn Archer of Atalanta

Nandi stared apathetically at the violently altered landscape. Thick flows of lava stretched out in front of her and her team. All of which were sucking in deep breaths after having sprinted an impromptu marathon. Just as they had completed scouting Kingman where a group of cannibals had taken up residence, the mountain they had just descended promptly exploded. She barely glanced at the notification about the landscaping event before said event happened all around her.

Flaming rocks and debris soared through the air before gravity regained its hold on the ejected earth matter, dragging it violently back to the ground all around them. If that wasn’t bad enough, a giant rapids like river of lava chased them like it was infused with some sort of primal intelligence, pouring from the mouth of the new volcano. Which was currently spewing ash and embers into the sky to settle across the desert all around them.

The ejecta from the volcano had already begun to dim the intense Arizona sunshine enough to drop the temperature by at least ten degrees. Well, at least it’s not bloody sweltering anymore. At least if you don’t stand next to the lava flows. She thought to herself as she wiped a fat chunk of ash from her brow.

Where the lava didn’t flow, jagged rocks jutted up at angles pointing away from the center of the volcano, consisting of a mixture of flagstone and quickly cooling obsidian. They looked like the angry decaying fangs of an ancient behemoth. Even though they had run nearly 26 miles across the desert avoiding the living lava flows, they only managed to put a couple miles of distance between them and Kingman. All because of the winding nature of the flow and the chaotic appearance of the obsidian fangs. She looked at the river of lava that now separated them from the city of cannibals. It must be a half a mile wide. No way we’re getting back across that.

Hualapai Peak is now known as Hualapai Volcano. Hualapai Volcano is now designated as a high-level hunting ground.

Nandi stared at the message for a second as a creeping sensation chilled her guts. “Toby? Are we currently in the Hualapai Volcano hunting ground?”

Her little green Virtual Private Assistant appeared in front of her and responded with what Nandi considered to be way too much cheer, “We sure are! Would you like to see the area map?”

“Uh, yeah?” I really don’t want to know.

Nandi’s heart sank as she saw the area that had been converted into the high-level hunting ground. She noted absently that their satellites must still be functional as the view she got was an up-to-date picture of the area south of Kingman displaying all of the lava flows. Everything between Hualapai Volcano and Warm Springs Wilderness was criss-crossed by orange lines of flowing magma. The only direction she could go without running into the flaming rivers was towards Bullhead.

“Looks like we can only head West at this point. We were headed to Bullhead anyway. Might as well finish that mission. I guess the positive side of this is the cannibals can only go east...” She let the last comment trail off for the rest of her party to digest.

“Which means that they will eventually be forced to face off with Flagstaff.” Jen said as she stared at her own map.

“Guess we better... oh, look at them go.” Eddie pointed towards Kingman.

Everyone watched as vehicle after vehicle tore ass out of the city heading east. At least a dozen vehicles faded into the distance before the city was done disgorging cannibals into the desert. “You don’t think...” Groehls started to ask the question she didn’t want to.

“Fuck. I’ll send a message to Zurmillion and Cassidy. Even if they aren’t headed to Flagstaff today, they will eventually. And that was a much larger raiding group than they normally send out.”

Junipher, Soul Singer

Junipher stood at the edge of the New Winslow River with her feet sunk into the wet soil, head turned up with arms spread wide basking in the copious Arizona sun. Since she had left Karl behind at Show Low for fear of what that troubling miasma would do to her seedlings, she had spent most of her days feeding off the sun and absorbing nutrients from the soil at her feet. Kaia, Karl’s massive soul bound companion napped lazily several feet behind her. He hadn’t left her side since they fled Show Low, faithfully carrying out his master’s last instruction to keep her safe.

Junipher was part Siren, and part Dryad. While her internal anatomy was largely human, she also had biological functions that mimicked her more natural heritage. Which gave her several abilities that a human type being wouldn’t have, such as the ability to feed off nutrients in the ground, or gaining passive boosts to stamina and strength when standing directly in the sunlight. Another side effect of her curious parentage was that she didn’t have a womb in the traditional sense.

Which was why a dozen seedlings sprouted from her hips, lower back, and abdomen, each wrapped in colorful flower petals of varying colors and shapes. Currently those seedlings were stretching as far as they could to absorb as much sunlight as they could. Their gentle sway brought a smile to her face and she allowed her fingers to gently caress their fronds. This activity caused an intelligent reaction from the seedlings as they jockeyed to position themselves in reach of her affections. While yet to be planted in the Mana enriched soil of her people’s Sacred Grove, they were forming their own personalities. All of which she was intimately connected to.

Junipher was naturally connected to all intelligent beings due to her mother’s contributions to her being. A natural kind of empathy allowed her to sense all living beings within a certain radius. The closer to those beings the more influence she had over their mental state. The range was generally only a couple hundred meters. And any direct influence required her to be within twenty or so meters of her intended target. However, being directly attached to so many budding intelligences, along with the hormonal changes in her body, she was now able to sense beings over several kilometers.

Which was why she spent most of her time near the river, as the sound of the rapidly flowing water tended to dampen her sixth sense enough that she didn’t have a raging headache. Instead, she just felt a dull throb anytime she moved her head too fast in any one direction. Although, that blaringly powerful being I sense at the top of the tallest floating mesa might also be what’s causing this headache, she thought wryly as she absentmindedly caressed her seedlings.

A second presence appeared within the tight range of her emotional radar, more powerful than anyone aligned with SooHoo, though not nearly as overwhelming as the other that hadn’t moved since she returned. She looked to the Mesa where she felt their presence, silently hoping they didn’t spell trouble for the settlement or Karl this close to her planting. I need to return to the Sacred Grove within the next week!

Kaia rose his head from where he lay and stared at her for a moment, then followed her gaze to the top of the floating mesa in the distance. After a moment of scrutiny, he shifted his posture and released a low growl, but didn’t move to take action. He knew there was no way he was getting up there to investigate personally. At least not without considerable assistance.

“Yes, my dear protector, our Master truly needs to complete his task and return to us, doesn’t he?”

Kaia cocked his head and whimpered quietly, then returned to his nap.

The Druid

The Druid stuck around Scotland long enough to ensure his Champion found the boat he’d left for him, then he decided to tour the newly initialized planet from low orbit. He noted several powerful entities doing the very thing he was doing across what the locals referred to as Russia, Iran, China, and Japan. The southernmost continent of Australia was practically void of life from what he could see. Apparently, the local wildlife was terrifying before the System, now, even more so. Africa seemed to have some rising stars, though none really called out to him as he meandered his way across the landscape from eighty thousand feet.

After surveying the eastern half of the world, he made his way along the south pole and came up over the South American continent and slowly followed the west coast of the large continent. Carefully observing the inhabitants and the monsters they fought, he noted a being of similar power to his own had taken an Acolyte from one of the primitive peoples that resided within the interior of the massive Amazon Rain Forest. All made more massive by the will of Mana.

He pressed on in a north-westerly direction, crossing over a wrecked and burning Panama Canal, several ships resting half sunken and burning in the man-made passage as the locals fought over what remained. And if the fighting in and around the canal looked brutal, nothing compared to what the Cartels in Mexico were doing to each other. An all-out war of dominance was in progress in the center of the country. As he neared the border of Mexico and Texas, he noted a massive mining operation further West being manned by enslaved peoples of all races, human and refugee alike.

He decided to follow that activity across the border of Arizona and saw where an unsteady cease fire had gripped the city of Tucson, while more of the Cartel members skirted through the mountains to meet with one of the cities in Phoenix. Ah, this is one of the sources of their slaves. A despicable act. Made more so by the System’s enforcement of such statuses.

A beacon of great power flared further north, which pulled his attention away from the slavers below him. He accelerated quickly to investigate the flare-up, slowing over a reddish-tan desert that held a thriving military settlement, flanked by four refugee encampments. This was the first city he had seen that held a full set of refugee groups to its service. Most cities or settlements on this planet accepted only one or two, and then only if they looked similar to the native Humans. To say the humans had an ingrained xenophobia was an understatement. He suspected that if they were allowed to mature, they would wage great wars of conquest across the Verse, all based on percieved threats and misunderstanding.

His internal musings were interrupted as he zeroed in the source of immense power which had brought him this direction. North of the settlement several rocky formations floated in the air feeding an equal number of small lakes below them from magically created waterfalls. This was the greenest area in this desert and the Druid happily approved of the change in scenery. His focus shifted to the tallest floating island where a man sat cross-legged, meditating next to a bubbling spring.

The man was of average build and equally average looks. A strong jawline framed by medium length curly black hair surrounded an average looking face adorned with a sharp nose. His eyes were closed and his head tilted to the side, his attention clearly focused on an area of dead wood to the south east. The Druid looked towards the desolated area and hissed in revulsion. Death magic!

He saw a group of adventurers led by the largest example of humanity he had seen on this planet. They were currently carving their way through a camp of vile skeletons like a hot knife through butter. Upon careful examination he saw that all the adventurers were well into their Advanced class. Also, the big man leading them was apparently the new Reaper his contemporaries had spoken of. Many hoped to gain similar accolades for their chosen Acolytes, though the Druid was less interested in that kind of thing. Only brings unwanted attention. But this man, he radiates so much power. Could it be?

“Do you need something?” A voice forced its way painfully into his mind, a hint of amusement and weariness carried along with it.

The Druid startled at the voice, realizing what he was doing might be considered, at the very least, rude. He drifted lightly down to stand next to the man and examined him more closely as he responded. “Eh, sorry. I felt an immense surge of power around here. I’m known as The Druid. I was just... getting the lay of the land, so to speak.”

The being beside him never moved, his head always tilted to the fight of the Reaper against the hive of skeletons. “Are you looking to take the Reaper as your Champion?”

A long moment of silence caused the Druid a bit of nervousness before he saw the beginnings of a small smile form on the man’s lips. “Champion? Hmmm. Yes. I think he will serve as a fine Champion. It seems I have been gone too long.”

The Druid listened intently, digesting the man’s words. Questions swirled through his mind, while rising concerns about just how powerful this man really was struggled to force their way into his mind. “Just how long has that been?” He asked without thinking, the words rolling from his tongue unbidden.

For the first time during their exchange the man turned his head up to reveal eyes the color of brilliant topaz. His small smile widened even further as he responded, “I do not know. I felt the memory of a dead race being channeled into that young Reaper and followed the threads to this location from another Verse. I don’t even think this is my original Verse, to be honest, though it is similar.”

Not his original Verse? Dead race? This man... he’s a God. A legitimate bonafide God within the System! He must be!

“Yes, I am a God. It seems the System has forgotten me. Maybe it’s time to remind it who I am.”

Karl Brunette, Merciless Reaper of the Foolish

For the last hour we cut our way through the mass of skeletons, working our way lower and lower into the gorge below us. The boney bastards fell quickly to my axes and Keegs sword and shield. Carly and Stephen cleared large swaths of the monsters leaving Courtney and Albert the least effective of our group. They both discovered pistols and rifles both suffered from a significant penalty to hit. Which made absolute sense considering the skeletons were... just that. Not alot of solid matter and squishy organs to cause fatal damage. The monsters were simply magically animated.

A burst of plasma splashed over his shoulder as Albert demonstrated the tried-and-true method of “spray and pray” to kill a skeleton that had managed to sneak up behind me. I flashed a smile his direction and went back to work smashing the yellowed bones of the monsters as we continued pressing forward. Our casters and Albert focused on bringing down the annoying archers and dangerous mages while Keeg continuously surged holy power to push back the horde of sword, club, and axe wielding foes in front of us.

Soon we had reached the bottom of the gorge to face a pair of oversized skeleton bosses. Neither were incredibly original or inspiring in their appearance or tactics. One carried an oversized bone claymore, covered in dented and rusty iron plates of armor, eyes glowing with hatred. The other was a mage type that floated inches above the ground, covered in a purple robe, carrying a gold and silver staff that sparked with ambient lightning.

The field of battle was just a hastily erected stone paved plaza with a vat of acid to strip bodies of their flesh. A ritual would then commence to animate the recently stripped bones. Empty cages sat around the edges of the gorge indicating that we had come too late to save anyone from this grizzly fate.

The resulting battle was considerably anti-climactic. Carly, Stephen and Albert pinned down the mage, quickly overwhelming its defenses and burning it down to oblivion while Keeg and myself relentlessly assaulted the claymore wielding bastard. The giant skeleton shattered against Keeg’s holy power infused shield with a satisfying crunch. When the King fell, so did his minions, incluiding the Mage.

[Quest Chain updated! Sub Quest: You Must Be Bluffing! completed! All party members have earned 2.5 million XP, 250,000 UMC and one random loot item. Loot box being generated now...]