Unbreakable Fate

This place... Artemis thinks to herself as she walks around nearest the ruined church in Armilar. I've been here in UF. It was one of the only places tolerant of Driders and other nonhuman folk. She cuts a corner and walks along a side path that connects back to a main road across from the graveyard of the church. It was a short time I spent here, but it made me realize that a unification could take place. She hops on top of a stack of rubble wondering if the undead she is looking at on the path in front of her had once been NPCs she had taken quests from. She hops down, taking her knife from her sheath and approaches the zombified man. He went brutally as his missing arm and ruined face imply. It grunts at her, blood spurting from its mouth which is closed as the knife is shoved upward through the chin. The remaining arm tries to grab her, but she knocks it away with ease, pulling the knife out as she does so.

Flicking through the book, Ophellia finally found the ritual she'd been looking for; the one used near the end of Deus in Absentia. Most of the materials she'd need were drops from various professions in the game; most of which she had stored in her guild's bank. Making sure she was alone, she took an item out of her inventory, her hand reaching into nothingness and returning with a small glass ball. She crushed it in her hand, and when she reopened it, she was holding a sheet of paper, listing various items and quantities.

After selecting the items she needed, which were: Powdered Unicorn horn, a dragon's claw, a Cockatrice eye, and three Hydra fangs. Following the book's instructions, she set about following the ritual. The location, she knew, had to be on a desecrated holy ground; the reason she'd opted to come here after obtaining the book.

Artemis kicks the undead back as the other approaches. A woman who had met the same fate as the man, though without a jaw. You were a talker. You droned on and on about how your boyfriend wouldn't propose to you and how you had met a wealthy man from the city. Her brow raises as she kicks the female undead back into the male. She rushes down the two of them with her blade drawn and stabs the female in the head. Her groans end as she lands on top of the male. The weight of the female keeps the male down long enough for her to plunge her blade into its head as well. You poor cuckold. She removes the blade from the squishy head. I did do a quest for you. You wanted to get a special ring you heard rumors about, but were too afraid to go get it yourself. She spits on the fully deceased man, stands up and begins walking towards the church once more.

After positioning the materials and spreading the powdered Unicorn horn into a protective circle around herself, Ophellia read out the words written in the book, making sure to speak loudly and clearly. Several seconds passed without change, and she started to think she'd messed up the incantation. As these thoughts entered her head, the air in the church turned icy. The dragon's claw burst into flames, the hydra fangs began leaking a foul black liquid, and the Cockatrice eye began to glow.

Something was in the church, just on the other side of her protective circle. She couldn't see it, but it was obviously there, almost like it was just out of sight. Whispers filled her head, mostly incoherent. The book said to sprinkle the last of the dust over herself and approach the altar. She followed the instruction almost artificially, ignoring the presence that was circling her. With her left hand she reached out and touched the cold stone.

Artemis leisurely walks down the pathway in front of her. Knocking down any undead in her path and slamming her boot on their head with a satisfying crushing sound. She exits the path and enters onto one of the main roads. She checks both sides for any indication of beasts and once feels she is in the clear she approaches the church across from her. She shivers slightly as she walks as the air turns cold. This abnormality brings a sense of unease to her as she takes the steps to the doors. The air grows colder with each step, telling Artemis the source is in this holy place.

"Oi! Svari! The hell're you doin' in here?" Artemis calls out as she grabs the handle for the door.

Svari doesn't answer. With the exception of her left hand, still glued to the altar, her body twitches, as though she were having a seizure. Her eyes rolled back, leaving only the whites visible. She could hear the thing in the church whispering, almost like it was inside her head, but couldn't make out many of the words. Even so, she felt that it was telling the truth.

Artemis swings the door open and peeks in to see Svari standing, frozen to a spot in front of some kind of altar. A protective rings surrounds her. On closer inspection, it appears as though Svari is convulsing. With all of the things in place it can only mean Svari is performing a summoning. but what are you summoning you crazed old woman? She steps into the church and looks around, searching for anything else that can indicate what is going on. With her knife drawn, she approaches the altar and in turn, Svari.

As soon as Artemis crossed over into the church, whatever was already in there crossed the room like a gust of wind, instantly decapitating Svari. Oddly, her body didn't drop, remaining upright and still touching the altar.

Somewhere Else
Eleanor rubbed her eyes. Through the gaps in the wooden wall of the barn, she could see the sun just starting to rise. Against the wall, her longsword rested, her armour neatly set out next to it. She was a Crusader, a Holy Knight sworn to protect God's people.

After donning her armour and saying her morning prayers, she left the barn. She followed her usual patrol route around the town, chatting with the villagers as they opened their shops or headed for the fields. At noon, she stopped at the Inn for some food, before resuming her patrol. When she had entered the Inn, the sun had been glaring down on her, blazing in the sky. When she left, however, it was nowhere to be seen. Dark clouds hung overhead, and she had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She was about to head to the Guard's barracks, to request that the patrols be doubled for today, when a building erupted into flames.

Drawing her sword, she rushed over. The charred corpses of the several town militiamen, guards and villagers littered the area around the building. As she tried to offer a quick prayer for the dead, a large, wolf-like creature leapt into her path. Its eyes showed an intelligence beyond that of a normal beast, the flames licking its body seemed to possess some form of intelligence as well.

Behind her, the Church bell began to ring, warning the rest of the village of the attack.

Eleanor watched the Hellhound. Something about it seemed familliar, but now was not the time to think on that. She rushed foward, shouting a war cry as she did. She swung her weapon with righteous fury, only to have it ripped from her hands. Eleanor fell backwards, struck by some unseen force, as, to her horror, the blade melted in the monster's mouth.

Artemis' eyes grow wider as each of her steps slow to a crawl. As the head of the former Svari hits the ground, she stops. Her eye twitches and she lets out a blood curdling yell in terror. Her hand grips the hilt of her knife harder, near white knuckling the object and searches the room she stands in once more. She had felt a presence cross her as she was walking which must means whatever had attacked Svari will now come for her. She's unsure of how far away Olyx is to her current position, maybe she wouldn't even hear her if she yells her name.

Eleanor pulled her dagger free from her belt and thrust it at the pouncing Hellhound. She felt the strike land, tearing open the monster's throat. Had she missed, she would most likely be dead. After picking up a sword from one of the dead Guardsmen, she moved toward the centre of the village. It was her duty to help them. As she passed the body of the Hellhound, it lunged at her; fangs sinking deep into her calf. Eleanor was frozen, the pain from the bite destroying her focus. In panic, she dropped the sword and began struggling. She felt the wolf start to pull, dragging her by the leg towards the burning building.

Despite the light of the fire, inside the building was completely black. The pain in her leg had spread outwards, every nerve in her body screaming as if she was on fire. Her vision faded as she reached the fire, and she was unconscious before she crossed into the building.

Armilar

The church doors swung open, pushed by an icy gust of wind. The candles Svari had lit for light were blown out, and the items she'd used were destroyed; The eye 'popped', the claw turned to ash, and the fangs shattered.

The thing that had killed Svari seemed to look at Artemis, before taking off, leaving black footprints behind it.

Artemis turns as she feels a gust of wind push towards her. Before her eyes the door had opened and black footprints lead out of it. Without missing a beat she begins following the tracks, leaving the woman's corpse behind. There was nothing else she could do for her now, so wallowing in her death would be a waste of time. She does say a prayer for her before she departs, however. She feels as though it is the least she could do for the woman she had traveled with for three days.

The temperature drops again, the dark clouds that had formed overhead getting darker as it starts to snow. The footprints, however, seem to be smouldering, melting any snow that lands on them.

The footprints lead away from the city, into the forest on the northern side.

Artemis shivers once more as the cool temperature kisses her skin. She notices the footprints beginning to smolder which gives her a pause. Something that creates a chill and yet melts? I don't believe I've seen something like that. She follows the tracks as the snow begins to fall. "Olyx! We might have something exciting here. North side going into the forest!" Artemis yells out, notifying her companion. "I'm investigating!" She calls out once more before leaving the town and going into the forest.

Eleanor awoke on her back, snow falling on her face. It felt good when it touched the burns on her leg. Her forehead was cut, blood trickling into her eye. She tried to heal herself, but her divine spells didn't work. She probably couldn't walk, even if she did first aid on her leg.
"Shit." She said, using a rock outcropping to prop herself up.

----
Once in the forest, the tracks lead in a near perfect straight lines, diverging only to avoid obstacles, stopping abrubtly at the entrance to a cave.

Artemis follows the footsteps and sees them eventually end at the entrance of a cave. She peers into the seemingly unending ocean of darkness. This fog of war unnerved her, but without being bested by whatever had brought Svari down, she brings her bow from her back along with an arrow. "Grant me brilliant light." She whispers and the head of the arrow lights up with a dazzling white light. She fires into the cave's maw blindly, hoping the arrow will provide some kind of visions amidst this ocean.

The cave lights up, revealing both human and non-human bones littering the floor. Most of them are charred black, and a thin layer of ash carpets the floor.

The cave splits into two tunnels, one leading straight ahead, the other shooting of to the left.

Artemis walks into the now illuminated cave while stringing her bow to her back once more and investigates the bones quickly. What manner of beast is this? She questions the situation. She looks at both pathways and after weighing her options, decides to take the path to the left. I should wait for Olyx, but there's no telling where she got off to.

After binding her leg tightly and covering it with as much snow as she could, Eleanor dragged herself up, using a tree to steady herself. She'd had a satchel, where she carried her potions and ingredients. She looked around, clinging to the tree for balance, to see where she'd been dragged from. Flattened plant life and splashes of blood. If she was dragged her, her satchel would probably be along the way she was dragged.
---
The path leads for about fifty metres, before abruptly becoming a downward slope. At the twohundredth metre, it splits again. One path continues on deeper, the other splitting off to the right.

As soon as she had noticed the cave going deeper and deeper in, she makes work to make a quick torch using some kindling she had in her satchel and by setting it on fire by scraping her knife against a rock. The welcomed light kept her fears at bay, or at least in her head. It did, however, make small rats and the like run for any place for safety. She continued down the path, taking a right as soon as the option became available.

The right path is short, and quickly opens out into a large room carved out of the rocks. Rotted and broken pews line the room, all facing some sort of altar. Some of the pews are still occupied, though only by corpses.

She catches site of a few brazier stands, and lights them. Allowing her to see the kind of room that had just opened up to her. To her surprise it's some sort of altar room, much like the church she had just come from. She walks through the sea of pews, taking note of the corpses filling the seats. "Guess you lot prayed a bit too hard, eh?" She says making a very weak joke. She approaches the altar and investigates the area around it.

The altar is stained with dried blood, the corpse of a long-dead knight lying behind it. Held tightly in his fleshless hand is a crumpled note.

Artemis can see a body on the other side of the altar, she rounds it and observes the form. The skeleton of a knight lays before her with a note crumpled in his hand. She reaches down for the note and acquires it without too much difficulty. Though, without much resistance as she took it, she runs in her mind the situations in her past. If this were to play out the way I think it would, those corpses would begin to move. She waits for a minute or two in the case of an ambush and once she feels safe enough, she reads the note.

Ser Edmun,

'Tis with a grim heart that I must inform you of your apprentice,-" Dark blood smears the page, "-has succumbed to the dark machinations of Demons and other unholy abominations; a reminder to us all that even the most devout can falter in their service. It is your duty, both as her mentor and as a Knight of God, to grant her peace and guide our fallen Sister to God in this dark hour.

Deus Vult.
Knight Commander Aren Monlace; Order of the Holy Phoenix.

As Artemis finishes reading, the room distorts. A Knight in pristine armour slams the two large doors at the end of the room; though they appear to be somewhat transparent. Taking no note of Artemis, he stops to pray.

The doors rock once from an impact, and the Knight snaps to attention. Raising his shield and drawing his sword.

Artemis' head snaps to the doors, then to the knight. "You're a big guy, aren't you?" She says with a soft smile and brings her bow from her back. "It's probably just the armor, though. So I'll make doubly sure to take it from ya." She takes three arrows from her quiver and begins saying an incantation, "Gain strength with every miss. Ricochet Shot." She lets these arrows loose towards the knight in very well kept armor.

The arrows pass through the Knight with no signs of him even noticing their existence, and bounce around the room, damaging the pews, and some of the corpses.

Rather than shake again, the doors shatter. The Knight tenses, mere seconds before a massive black shadow collides with his shield, launching him through the air befre crashing into the wall behind the altar. The creature pounces, leeping across and tearing at the motionless Knight.

As the scene fades, the beast's rears its head, looking directly at Artemis, before vanishing.

Artemis rears back as the black shadow looks at her before it vanishes. With a nervous gulp, she slowly approaches the knight's body. With the speed at which the beast had ripped into it, she has no doubt she would have troubles fighting it if she were to take it alone with her current gear. She crouches down in front of the knight and looks at the motionless form and takes note of the injuries. My arrows had no effect on you. She sighs. "Thanks for making me waste those." She says as she brings her quiver to her front side to check how many arrows she has left. Only a few left.

The Knights corpse quickly decays, before falling into the same position as the earlier corpse and disappearing completely.

Artemis nods at the knight's corpse and says a quick prayer for him or her. She takes the note and reads it over once more before stuffing it back in her pocket. I don't remember any sect known as the Phoenix in UF. Must be something that cropped up within the last seventy years. She stands from her crouched position and stretches. "Guess it wouldn't hurt much to try to return this note to whoever its intended recipient is." As she decides accepts the new quest that has befallen her, she strikes off out of the cave to find Olyx.

As Artemis nears the mouth of the cave, the ground begins to shake. Outside, rocks begin falling in front of the entrance. At first, it's mostly dust and small pebbles, but it quickly escalates into a full-blown rockslide, with massive boulders burying most of the entrance.

From the way of the Cathedral, a pair of red, bestial eyes stand out against the darkness, burning like coal.

Artemis raises her hand to her face and lightly taps it. "Alright friend. You just had your fill of that knight, right? You wouldn't want little ol' me. I'm not that flavorful." She says once more taking her bow and only a single arrow and aiming it down at the piercing red eyes. "Oh holy powers that be, grant me your power. Allow me to smite this beast." As she says this incantation her bow and arrow turn a brilliant white, seemingly transforming into a weapon of holy ability.

The arrow flies towards the creature, which makes no attempt to dodge it. As the arrow flies, it begins to burn, completely reduced to ash before it could do any damage. The monster lowers its body, preparing to pounce.

"Well, shit." Artemis says in a very disappointed voice, verging on panic. She notes how the beast is readying to pounce and decides to try to provoke it a bit more. "C'mon lil guy. Come over here and dislodge these rocks for me. I'll throw in a nice juicy bone for your efforts." She says, changing her tone to a sweet one. She strings her bow to her back again. She figures that using it wouldn't be very effective and decides to brandish her knife instead. She goes into a stance readying to make a run for it when the pounce happens.

As the beast pounced, the inside of its mouth lit up as fire rose from its throat and coated its teeth in fire. It had apparently misjudged the distance, seeming to be less confident than the similar creature that had killed the Knight.

Olyx chided herself harshly. She had to stop doing that. It would be the end of her one day if she wasn't careful. Daydreaming her way through days at a time had never helped her. In fact, now she seemed to be alone again and had lost three days. In truth, if it wasn't for the shouting of Artemis, Olyx wondered if she'd ever have come out of her trance. She shook her head, clearing the thoughts out and promised herself to pay more attention to the real world.

And now she really should go and find out what it was that Artemis had yelled about. She had heard the words 'North' and 'Forest' and 'investigation'. Well. It was something, if not much and so she began to walk over that way, humming merrily as she did.

The pounce left much to be desired and as soon as it leapt, Artemis bolted straight down the main path in front of the now blocked mouth of the cave. She didn't have much in terms of blocking the hound without she herself getting even more trapped in this unknown cave. Her plan is to trail her pursuer until she can wrap back around. She'll have to figure the rest of her plan out along the way as her breathing intensifies. She didn't fully know the properties of this world and she isn't ready to figure out if she'll respawn.

After much struggling, Eleanor found a branch thick enough to offer her support in place of her leg. It wasn't ideal, but she could manage. She prayed for God's guidance and protection, before walking towards a nearby hill to orient herself.

--
Skidding across the floor thanks to the loose dirt and debris from the rockfall, the monster watches as Artemis takes off down the tunnel. After about fifty metres, it starts to give chase.

Artemis tries to come up with a strategy in her mind. If she could get enough space between her and the hellhound, she could charge her shackle skill to pin the beast down. The problem here, of course, is that she would need to be able to run faster than it. She takes a quick look behind her as the hound recovers and begins the chase. Her had snaps to attention and she turns down a corner. As soon as she turns, she sees a small crevice large enough for a human to squeeze through. With no other options, she finds herself in the hole trying to make herself small enough to fit through. It does appear that this crevice leads into another smaller hallway type area.

The hellhound, thanks to its speed, completely missed the crevice at first, skidding to a halt and backtracking to peer into it. It began pacing, as if waiting for Artemis to make a move.

With her new found freedom for the moment, Artemis moves down in the smaller hallway, back to where she had come. With a bit of difficulty, she climbs up some fallen rocks to give herself a higher vantage point. She walks for a bit before finding herself peering down a hole in the floor on her level. On the plane below, she can see the hellhound pacing. The sheer heat it exudes can be felt even from her position. Sweat begins to form, trying to desperately cool her down. She grips her knife and lets her mind go blank as she drops down onto the beast and brings the knife down into it.

The hellhounds' ear twitched, before a sudden gust of red-hot wind swept out from it, knocking Artemis away. Thankfully, further away from the blocked entrance as it turns, small flames begin to flicker across its black fur.

After crashing into the ground, landing on her back, Artemis notices a piece of paper, fluttering down from above and slightly singed on the edges.

Artemis gasps in pain from her fall and clutches her left side. No doubt a broken rib was the outcome of her attack and it appears as though the hellhound had not suffered any damage from her surprise assault. With weary breath, Artemis scrambles to pick up the paper. Wondering of course, if it had fallen out of her satchel as she was tossed. Not thinking too hard on it, she makes an attempt at reading the singed paper.

Codex: Hellhound
Hellhounds are powerful demonic wolves, and are often controlled by a much more powerful demon or a powerful Warlock. Any that appear in the material plane have been ordered there by their infernal masters. They are vicious, unrelenting and possess flames hot enough to melt stone. Fighting a Hellhound in cramped conditions is not recommended, as the aforementioned flames can reach to around twenty feet.

The best tactic for defeating a Hellhound is to first exstinguish its flames with Divine Magic or Holy Water, before climbing onto its back. Artemis realises this 'Codex' is very similar to the format of the codex used in the game-version of UF.

I'm glad for this deus ex charta, but this doesn't help me get out of this cramped space any. Artemis thinks to herself, tossing the paper as she struggles to her feet. My arrows buffed arrow did nothing against it. So I guess my only choice here is to toss my holy water. She winces in pain as she takes a step back. Should've waited for Olyx, you dumb woman. Could've used her help. She continues thinking, chiding herself. She reaches back into her satchel and produces a glass bottle emblazoned with divine looking writing. She winces once more as she tosses the container of liquid at the hellhound. She doesn't check if the container hits as she turns and runs in the opposite direction. It may leave her more injured, but it is much better than being dead.

The hellhound jumps back, away from the holy water as it splashes across the cave. Steam begins rising from its face, apparently hit by some of the holy water. It shakes its head, trying to dry itself.
---
Stuck on a tree root, she found it. Digging through the satchel, thanking the lord for her good fortune, Eleanor pulled out a vial filled with a vibrant red liquid. She uncorked it, and downed the contents. The effects of the potion began immediately; she could feel her leg knitting back together and cooling. The cooling offset the incredibly uncomfortable itching, but not by much. Once it subsided, she tested her leg.
"Excellent," She exclaimed in relief. Now, at least, she had a chance of survival.

After wiping the blood away from her face using a rag, Eleanor tried her magics again, none of which seemed to be working. Slowly losing hope, Eleanor reached the last of her spells.
"Detect Unholy," She said, and was immediately overwhelmed by a dark presence not far south. Drawing her sword, she rushed towards it.

Air pumps to Artemis' lungs in a frazzled manner. Her hand continues to clutch her side as she makes her way once more deeper into the cave. She sees the pathway ahead of her split once more into higher and lower ground, she takes the higher ground, hoping it would lead into an exit.

It doesn't take long to reach the outside, though as Artemis leaves, she's almost flattened as a Knight, a brilliant red cross held by some kind of bird emblazoned on her chest plate.

"Excuse me, citizen," Eleanor said to the woman she'd collided with, somewhat redundantly, "Have thou seen an infernal beast nearby?"

Artemis pants, trying desperately to fill her lungs with air. She had almost bumped into someone and as she opens her eyes she can see the knight. Through strained breaths, she points behind her with her thumb. "Back there." She says, collapsing onto the ground. If the hellhound came up to them now, she'd just leave it to play with the knight then try to slink off. She reaches into her pouch and takes out a glass bottle with a liquid green in color. She pops the cork off and chugs the liquid, some of it leaving the side of her mouth. Her hand hits the ground, bottle still in hand and she takes one final gasp.

Eleanor opened her mouth to speak again, but was interupted by a black mass hurtling out of the cave, narrowly missing her.
"Perhaps thou would be willing to assist in slaying the beast?" She asked, drawing her longsword, "'Tis much easier to slay a Hellhound with two people."

"Gimme a sec here." Artemis says, taking another potion from her satchel, this one red in color, and downing it. By some magic property, her rib feels as though it is being forced back into place and any other scrapes she had taken close up. "I guess I should finish the fight this thing started." She says, betraying her own sane thoughts. She hops onto her feet with new found vigor from the aid she had given herself and brandishes her knife once again.