Drip…Drip…Drip…
The dripping of water onto my face is what woke me. Everything hurt as I struggled to sit up. This cave reeked of death and still water. A pained cough escaped my lungs. My left wing felt sprained, so flying was out of the question. I couldn't quite get to my feet yet. But I needed to get my bearings and scout ahead.
"Tracer, up and at em." I spoke while I summoned my familiar. A jet black raven with lightning blue tipped wings appeared in my lap. Tracer looked up at me then our surroundings.
"Where at?" He spoke tilting his head to the side.
"Don't know bud, I need you to stay hidden and find the exit and stay there. And let me know what you see on your way there." I answered as Tracer turned away and spread his wings and darted off down the corridor.
With Tracer scouting ahead I mustered the energy to stand. My tail laid lazily on the ground. I ran my fingers through my hair out of habit and froze. "How in the hells did I break my horns?! It's fine, I did crash land." I cast Prestidigitation on myself to clean off the gunk and blood from my person.
Several people on the way out. Out of all of them there are three armored ones. Tracer's voice echoed out in my mind.
Good, stay out of sight. I'll be there in a moment. I reply mentally as I reach down and grab… nothing? "Shit my tome is missing too? How wonderful." I spoke exasperated while taking Note of what I did have.
Gauntlets of Ogre power… Gone
Cloak of Protection… Nope
Cloak of useful items… Yes
Any of my wands… Either broken in the crash or Gone
Attunement crystals… 3 of the 5 are here and functional 2 are in splinters.
Spell Casting Crystal… Got it
Key to my Demiplane… Broken
Bloodwell vial… secured around my neck
Spell Tome… missing but I do sense it
Ring of improved Familiars… missing.
"Fantastic, stranded in the middle of nowhere and most of my tools are either broken or gone." I stated as I started moving through the cave. It was a short walk before seeing a gentleman in dingy clothing.
"Excuse me sir? You wouldn't be able to tell me where I am would you?" I asked as I approached.
He turned to face me, his gaunt face and sunken eyes kind of put me off. It was like he was a zombie, or at least pretty close to it. The man glared at me before raising his rapier wide and sloppily. "Tarnished….Scum!" He all but shouted as he charged at me.
"Uh dude…" I spoke as I dodged the sword and used my tail to trip him up. "You really do not want to do that. I'm not hostile." I continued as he hit the dirt.
He tried again only for the attempt to end similarly. And with that my patience was up. I grabbed the back of his head and cast Shocking Grasp. The purple lightning made his body convulse before going limp. Just then an odd feeling washed over me for a moment. As I stood up I looked towards movements I heard and another unarmored individual rounded the corner. "Milo! You'll pay Tarnished!" And he too raised his weapon to me.
There it is again, Tarnished… What even are they and why do these people hate them so much? I think to myself as I dodged the incoming attack and cast Shocking Grasp on him too causing him to drop like a sack of potatoes. And just like last time a type of energy entered my very being. I scooped up his sword, a narrow and gold plated weapon. "Alright Vel, let's move on." I spoke to myself as I went to the next room pushing through the pain.
Through that room I put two more of those slow moving borderline corpse's to rest. I got to a large clearing, and as I looked around the sound of a crossbow getting loaded echoed in the chamber. As I looked up I saw an armored soldier aiming at me. As he fired I raised my hand and cast Gust to redirect the bolt.
"Really man, You know what fine. Hold this!" I spoke before casting Chill Touch twice. These two skeletal hands fired up and through the soldier's chest forcing him to stagger back and fall to his demise. I was starting to get the feeling that this would be a recurring theme of getting attacked without remorse. I could see another soldier with a large shield blocking the way forward. I figured a little extra juice would be enough to put down the soldier as well as anything around the corner. I aimed my hand towards the unaware soldier, after a few moments of willing my inner mana flow to begin circulation. I felt the warbling mass of constantly shifting chaotic energy form in my hands. "Chaos Bolt!" My voice carried as the undulating mass flew at the soldier. The bolt settled on a gossamer pink color before slamming into the soldier and leaping up the hall. The soldier crumpled to the ground, cursing under his breath. As the shield fell I followed up with Chill Touch again.
With that guard and others taken care of I was free to continue without getting jumped or sneak attacked. My journey up the winding chamber was uneventful. The natural bridge allowed me a moment to appreciate the beauty of the cave. After a few minutes I continued on, following the gentle mental tug in my mind by Tracer.
Then I felt it, the tug of my grimoire coming from deeper in the cave. As I walked into the chamber Tracer landed on my shoulder. A soldier was flipping through my spellbook, I cleared my throat to grab his attention. "Thanks for finding my spellbook. But I am going to need that back." I spoke as the soldier looked up and drew his great sword. "End of the road Tarnished. Don't know how you made it this far. But don't worry, Lord Godrick will love the contents of this book." The soldier spoke with no intention of giving me my book back. I just sighed as I shook my head. "Fine then, your funeral." Was all I said before I cast mage armor on myself.
This soldier was notably more skilled than the other two soldiers. Tracking my spells as I tried to get him with Shocking Grasp. Staying in my face so I couldn't accurately cast my ranged spells. He had gotten me with a few good hits. Twice in the gut and a thrust into my left shoulder. The only reason I wasn't bleeding out was because of mage armor. But this wasn't the first time I had been in the thick of things. Through the soreness my adrenaline began to overtake the pain I was feeling.
I dodged out of a downward slash before quickly casting Gust on him pushing him away. While he was recovering I had Tracer dash between his legs until cast Thorn Whip to pull him to the ground. Two spherical Barriers appeared around his hands, locking him there. Followed by another around his hip bag that had my grimoire in it. With the soldier locked in place I took the bag and tossed it over my shoulder. I looked down at the soldier and raised the bubble barrier that had his hands trapped until they were eye to eye.
"So now that I have your attention, where the hell's am I?" I asked as I wiped the sweat from my brow.
"Ignorant Tarnished, you'd think your ilk would know the name of the place you're invading. You're in the Lands Between, worm!" His words were drenched in venom. The hatred folks had foe these Tarnished was palpable.
"OK first of all… I'm not Tarnished. Don't know what that is." I said before the soldier interrupted me by spitting in my face. "Then by your wings and tail you're Misbegotten." He spat in disgust. I raised the soldier higher as I wiped the spit from my eye. He was high enough to reach the top of the clearing, a good 50 feet in the air.
"Unhand me you wretched creature!" The soldier demanded, causing me to grin. "As you wish." I replied as I exited the chamber, I snapped my fingers and the orb around his hands imploded. His hands and sword were destroyed and he fell to the ground. As he laid there, Tracer landed on his chest and cast Chill Touch to finish him off.
As I walked out of the cave I could see where I'd been dragged through the area. And I could see the way out, a large set of wooden double doors. I wrapped my tail around my waist under my tunic and leaped down towards the door. For as old as the wood looked it was still quite sturdy. Pushing it open took a lot, I was still weak from the crash and the mini gauntlet I just went through. As I pushed against the door embers began flickering off of the door as my infernal heritage leaked out a tad. My hands left scorched hand prints in the door as it creaked and slid open. The next room was stale and stagnant air, which I'd take over the smell of decomposition. There was another scent, faint traces of almonds and rotten eggs. Poison and lots of it was nearby. And a few feet away past this misty barrier was the source of the smell. A large pool of poison bubbled on the lower floor. In front of the barrier was a statue of two creatures, one crouched with the other standing in it. The one that was standing in the other had a hole in it. They were clearly connected to the barrier.
"I'll have to come back later. I am curious about what's beyond the barrier." I spoke to myself as I noticed the small golden light in the center of the chamber. It was odd, I felt drawn to it. As I approached it a small pulse of energy poured from it. I felt a connection to it, and to something else, a few things actually. I could sense an entire nexus of these golden flames, though I could only sense them. I took a seat at the flame to attempt to cast Identify on it. As I sat, another pulse of golden light radiated out. I could feel the soreness melt away and my mana slowly restore. I stretched as I sat and felt my spine realign from the crash. After letting this spark of radiance heal me I got to work casting Identify.
[Site of Grace- An area where a collection of miniscule roots and a fragment of the Erd Tree's Grace crop up. Used as a resting and restoration spot for Tarnished. Cures all ailments and heals any wound whilst in close proximity. Further if you were to utilize a way stone you may travel to any Grace you've been to before.]
"That's going to be handy. Though I still am going to learn the spell Teleport anyway for more pinpoint travels." I spoke as the gem I used projected the information in front of my face. While I was seated I took a bit more time to change Tracer to an owl. After that I swapped some of my spells from my spell book before heading out.
Just ahead was a medium sized room with a platform and a carved shaft leading upwards. I stepped on the platform and it began to rise quickly. As the lift rose I hooked my wings on my shoulders to make them seem like a cloak. After about 10 seconds the elevator stopped. I was faced with a large metal door. "Great another strength check, really missing my gauntlets." I spoke exasperated as I got into position. The cold rusted iron squeaked and whined as the door slid up. It was notably easier to do without having to push through pain. The sunlight blinded me for a moment.
"Well well, look at you…" A masked individual spoke out to me as I let my eyes adjust. "Another Tarnished coming to these lands to seek the Elden Ring. My, there are a lot of you." The individual continued as he sized me up.
"OK for the 3rd time today. I am not Tarnished! I am a Tiefling. Also don't know what in the hell an Elden Ring is." I spoke exasperated, bordering on angry. The masked individual looked at me quizzically. Another warm pulse flowed out of the nearby grace.
"My dear fool of a boy. Do you see the rays of gold that emerge from these graces?" He asked as I watched the site of grace blow a trail of gold Northwest.
"Huh, that's new." I answered as my attention went back to the masked individual.
"And I can see that The Grace of the Erd Tree has touched you. And that my boy, makes you Tarnished." He continued smugly, his voice was beginning to irritate me. But I wasn't outwardly showing it. "However unlike the other Tarnished warriors that have emerged from this very grave. You are maiden less. Doomed to fall to the wayside, unable to utilize the runes you've accumulated." He almost sounded excited about it.
It was then that I'd had enough, I began to walk past him. "Alright if you aren't going to at least try and be helpful. Then our conversation is over." I spoke as I neared the edge. I needed answers and could tell this guy wasn't going to be honest. He watched as I left confident that I'd be a corpse in the near future.