Whoaaaa I'm writing Terraria now? GG
Calamity Mod w/Research Function, WeaponOut & LuiAFK
I love this game so much :sweat_drops:
Rumors flooded his mind as he ran - the wild, arcane wind whipping his cheeks, his rasping breath stinging in his lungs. His reeling brain frantically parsed every rumor he could recall. He scoured every wayward scrap of information uttered by drunken travelers, slimy merchants, starving refugees and roving bandits. He searched and searched his own mind for a reason… any explanation to attach to this atrocity.
No, no, no… Where is everyone?… This can't be...
Such was his nature. He found comfort in reason. He found that by observing the cause-and-effect in the world, he could make sense of the chaos and despair which seemed to swirl continually about him. Such thinking made him something of an anomaly in their small village. An intellectual, they mockingly called him, 'our little bookworm', they chided. He disliked the townspeople's ribbing but loved them all the same. They were his closest friends. They were his beloved family.
...has nobody been spared? How… Am I the only one?
He pushed himself until his stomach lurched with the effort. He ran until his heels ached from pounding on the ground. As he flew, he glanced skywards to the dark clouds which had gathered unnaturally overhead. The pattern that glowed within it was still barely visible. A circular pattern which encased the borders of the village. A magic circle? Could it be? He had seen one similar in a book. He recalled an injured refugee speaking about one appearing over the ravaged northern region. Was it possible his loved ones were used as fuel for some arcane ritual? No!
The circle! That Circle! What was it!? What was it for?
No. He wouldn't accept it - although his studies presented it to him as the most reasonable explanation. What good did an explanation do him, if he were to lose everything? He must look for survivors. He must find somebody to cling to. He sprinted through the dusk, squinting as he willed his eyes to pierce the murky darkness. He ran through the smouldering remains of his lifelong home, calling out into the steaming silence. Calling. Crying. Calling. Crying.
No… no… who did this? Who did this to them...
There was no response. No life. Nothing. Just the stirring of the bitter wind as the sun scorned him its rays and dropped below the horizon. Tears streamed down his face as he stumbled into what used to be the town's main hall. Sturdy wood beams crumbled at a touch, all residual life drained from them. The pets the townspeople kept were reduced to nothing but silent bundles of matted fur, pierced through with emaciated bones. Bodies were scattered all around. Their skin wrinkled and yellowed, dehydrated - almost mummified - as if they had lain where they'd fallen for many years. Sightless eyes stared wide in terror. Faces contorted into varying expressions of shock and pain. There were no injuries marring the corpses, no evidence of violence - yet their silent screams called out for vengeance. Their lives were stolen from them. Stolen by means of black magic… but to what end?
There was a bird… no, a man with a vulture's beak… I saw his silhouette.
The young man groaned as he felt his heart aching within him. His breath came short as he stared at those barely recognizable faces, and - when he could bear it no longer, tore his gaze away and fled into the night. He didn't know where he was running to. He could hardly see for the tears that pooled in his eyes and ran hot down his cheeks. Soon the creatures of the night would be upon him… perhaps these very corpses would rise to their feet and begin a ghastly second life? He dared not let his mind dwell upon it for fear his heart would really break.
There… glowing - another magic circle?
Imprinted in the ground up ahead, dead center in the middle of the town, were the crisp lines of a complex insignia, an exact copy of the one drawn on the clouds. They were too perfect to be drawn by human hands and they glowed faintly with a fading - otherworldly light. A great number of footprints broke the lines in places, as if to walk to the center of the circle to retrieve something - or someone.
A summoning…
Undoubtedly a summoning. He never forgot anything he had seen. He could recall it perfectly, the image drawn in the old arcane book he'd stolen from a Traveling magician. It was a summoning, and each summoning had a cost. Great beasts required ten lives. Dragons, fifty… What manner of creature was called to this world if the sacrifice exceeded two hundred? What sort of monster cou-
*Crack*
There was no warning as the lightning struck, knocking him over into the hard ground. A deafening noise rang out as the remaining energy contained in the magic circles congealed in an instant, then burst. The white flash blinded him and the resulting darkness was so deep, he could do nothing but cling to himself and cower until his vision returned.
Urgh… I need to get away from here… I need to survive the night… I-
He blinked, not trusting he recently ravaged eyesight. Was his mind so addled he wasn't seeing correctly? Or was there really a figure laying there, unmoving, in the center of the arcane circle. He stood to his aching feet and tottered closer to have a look.
… what in the world...
The Guide didn't know what he expected, yet he was far past being shocked at the day's events. He stumbled forward with a gristly, almost suicidal flint in his eyes. He knew there was danger, yet in that moment he didn't care. At least this grim curiosity was preferable to dwelling on the great loss he had just sustained. Perhaps some horrid creature would greet him at the center of the circle. Perhaps some strange afterbirth of whatever the vulture-headed man had summoned. Perhaps-
"... what? Who… who are you?"
There was no response. The man simply lay there, buck naked, prone and soundly unconscious. The Guide gazed at him with shock, then confusion, then hatred. Was this the result of the summoning? Had everyone been sacrificed for the sake of this man? How dare he.
How dare you!
And with a quailing heart, The Guide drew his knife.
Say hi to me in comments, as I don't know anyone in this fandom tkx
